Trip Report **COMPLETED ** A (very delayed) August 2015 Post-Bar-Exam Trip Report!

Hello, new friends! I am back after a (very long) hiatus with my (very delayed) August 2015 WDW Post-Bar-Exam Trip Report!

I am not at all sure that anyone wants to read a report of a trip that happened two years ago, but well, I want to write it, so here goes!

Following our (crazy, exhausting) August 2015 trip, my husband and I immediately turned around and went on an even crazier and more exhausting two-week trip to China.

After that, I immediately started my new full-time job of…waiting on my bar exam results, which somehow felt more stressful and time consuming than studying for or taking the bar ever was. Fortunately, on October 31, I learned that I passed!

A few weeks later, I was sworn is an attorney-at-law and began my new full-time job!And if you’re an attorney or know someone who is, you know that it’s basically just a lot of lounging around doing nothing but taking Disney trips and reading and writing Disney trip reports. Oh wait, strike that, that’s my fantasy job. My real job, like all jobs, is a lot of work, and has taken a lot of adjustment. Fortunately, it is also very rewarding.

Now, almost two years (and a July 2016 trip to Disneyland completed, and a May 2017 trip to Disneyland in the works—more on those in a bit) later, I’m finally getting my bearings and ready to re-join the WDWMagic community!

So, come on, everybody! Here we gooooooo!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

I'm so glad you decided to write this report! I'm really enjoying it. This is going to sound weird, but you have perfect teeth! Can't wait to read more!

 

[LeighM]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who remembers Clearly Canadian! I am also really impatient when I get bad service in restaurants. I think this time I was just so exhausted it prevented me from being too upset about it.

I'm so sorry you were sick during your trip! Feeling less than your best at WDW is no fun. That's great that you were able to find a place to nap! I feel like someone could write a book about best places to catch a quick nap at WDW. I will be sad if/when Ellen's Energy Adventure closes, because that is definitely my go-to spot.

I preferred to go to Ellen's so we could experience again before it closes but I was not able to make it that far. I was so close to just laying down on the floor and having people step over me. There's something in nighttime meds that make me drop like a rock The first time, and only time, I rode Energy Adventure, I fell asleep unintentionally and woke up around the dinosaurs. I was so discombobulated when I woke up - where the heck did the dinosaurs come from??? I wanted to ride it again but stay awake for the entire ride.

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

Following Along!! Congrats on passing the bar exam and here's hoping you love your new career! We'd love to go to Tokyo Dining, thanks for the positive review. My DH says "Space mountain with the lights on looks like a big erector set." We've had it once with the lights on, but no fp for us You guys had so much serendipitous disney magic on this trip! Can't wait to read the rest!

Don't worry, I have a TR from 2015 that I need to put up, too!

 

[Pirate'sLifeForME]

First of all- I'm in!!! Congrats on passing the bar exam and your new job!!

Secondly- I forgot about Clearly Canadian as well!!! I used to love it. Ha ha.

Thank you so much for reading!

 

[Pirate'sLifeForME]

I'm so glad you decided to write this report! I'm really enjoying it. This is going to sound weird, but you have perfect teeth! Can't wait to read more!

Thanks for reading! And thanks for the comment about my teeth, too. I had braces in 7th grade, but I never wore my retainer and my teeth shifted back, so in my late 20s I bit the bullet and paid for Invisalign. It's nice to know that it was worth it!

 

[Pirate'sLifeForME]

Following Along!! Congrats on passing the bar exam and here's hoping you love your new career! We'd love to go to Tokyo Dining, thanks for the positive review. My DH says "Space mountain with the lights on looks like a big erector set." We've had it once with the lights on, but no fp for us You guys had so much serendipitous disney magic on this trip! Can't wait to read the rest!

Don't worry, I have a TR from 2015 that I need to put up, too!

You should definitely try Tokyo Dining, especially if you can combine it with Illuminations. The food was delicious and the service was some of the best I've experienced at any WDW restaurant. SM does indeed look like an erector set! I can't believe that they didn't give you a FP to ride again. Thanks for reading!

 

[Pirate'sLifeForME]

I preferred to go to Ellen's so we could experience again before it closes but I was not able to make it that far. I was so close to just laying down on the floor and having people step over me. There's something in nighttime meds that make me drop like a rock The first time, and only time, I rode Energy Adventure, I fell asleep unintentionally and woke up around the dinosaurs. I was so discombobulated when I woke up - where the heck did the dinosaurs come from??? I wanted to ride it again but stay awake for the entire ride.

Haha, what's funny is that this happened to me too the first time I rode EA, which is how I knew it was a good place to take a nap. Kind of scary to fall asleep in what seems like an ordinary theater and wake up surrounded by dinosaurs!

 

[LeighM]

Haha, what's funny is that this happened to me too the first time I rode EA, which is how I knew it was a good place to take a nap. Kind of scary to fall asleep in what seems like an ordinary theater and wake up surrounded by dinosaurs!

Hahahahaha. Yeah it definitely does something to the mind when that happens LOL. My husband woke up as soon as we started to move but not me.

 

[blreinsel]

I'm enjoying your report so far! Congrats on passing the bar exam! That must have been so stressful.. But all worthwhile now. I remember waiting for my teaching exam results and it was awful! I didn't have to wait nearly as long as you did, though!

What a bummer that your anniversary dinner turned out to be so crummy. You seemed to make the best of it, but it stinks that your expectations didn't even come close to being met!

Can't wait to read more!

 

[mustlovecats]

I'm really enjoying your trip report so I'm glad you decided to take time to write it! I took a trip in November 2015 and have been thinking about writing one. I had figured too much time had passed, but I'm rethinking that now!

We stayed at the Contemporary for our honeymoon back in 2014 and it was wonderful! It's such a great hotel to celebrate romantic occasions. We've stayed at several other hotels since then but I'm hoping we make it back there for our 5 year anniversary.

I can't wait to read more!

 

[Pirate'sLifeForME]

I'm enjoying your report so far! Congrats on passing the bar exam! That must have been so stressful.. But all worthwhile now. I remember waiting for my teaching exam results and it was awful! I didn't have to wait nearly as long as you did, though!

What a bummer that your anniversary dinner turned out to be so crummy. You seemed to make the best of it, but it stinks that your expectations didn't even come close to being met!

Can't wait to read more!

Thank you so much for reading! I have read your reports and enjoyed them. Looks like you have another trip coming up really soon--looking forward to reading about your next adventure!

 

[Pirate'sLifeForME]

I'm really enjoying your trip report so I'm glad you decided to take time to write it! I took a trip in November 2015 and have been thinking about writing one. I had figured too much time had passed, but I'm rethinking that now!

We stayed at the Contemporary for our honeymoon back in 2014 and it was wonderful! It's such a great hotel to celebrate romantic occasions. We've stayed at several other hotels since then but I'm hoping we make it back there for our 5 year anniversary.

I can't wait to read more!

Thank you for reading! I'm glad you are enjoying it! I think you should definitely go ahead and write your 2015 trip report. For me, it's been a really fun way to reminisce. You're right about the Contemporary! We would definitely stay there again sometime, but we are hoping to try the Poly next.

 

[Pirate'sLifeForME]

Day Four: August 4, 2015

I was really excited for this day, because it would be my first visit to DHS for a very long time, and Karl’s first trip ever! He really likes movies (and Star Wars), so I figured this would be a fun day for us. I was also really looking forward to our lunch ADR at Sci-Fi Dine In Theater!

We woke up bright and early and I went down to Contempo Café to get us some breakfast. Fortunately I remembered to take a picture! We split an egg wrap, a chocolate croissant, and a banana.

After breakfast, we hopped on a bus to DHS. When we got there, we obviously asked someone to take our picture.

Our first stop of the day was Star Tours. We both loved it.

Then we had FP+ for Toy Story Mania. It was the first time for both of us to experience this attraction, and we had so much fun. We laughed throughout and couldn’t stop talking about how cool it was!

After this, it was time for our lunch ADR at Sci-fi Dine-in Theater! If you read my pre-trip report you may remember that I was really excited to eat here, beause when I was a kid and my mom was planning our family’s first WDW trip, I read her Birnbaum book cover-to-cover and the place that I most wanted to eat was Sci-fi Dine-In Theater. I thought it looked so cool to sit in cars and watch movies while you eat. So now, more than 20 years later, I had to try it out for myself!

This place gets mixed reviews, but we absolutely loved it. We checked in for our ADR and were seated about 15 minutes later. This was our view.

For lunch, I ordered the Southwest Veggie Burger with sweet potato fries and Karl had the Sci-Fi Salad and some kind of side dish, but I can’t remember what it was. The pics of our food aren’t the best because of the dim lighting in the restaurant, so I didn't include them here. I remember that the food was fine—not the best ever, but not bad. Mostly we just had fun watching the old sci-fi movie clips.

Our meal lasted almost exactly the length of the movie loop. As we were paying our check, the loop started over again. Here are some pics I took on the way out of the restaurant.

Coming up: the rest of our day at DHS.

 

[Pirate'sLifeForME]

Day Four: August 4, 2015 (Part 2)

After lunch, we wandered around and caught some of the Jedi Training Academy, which was adorable.

We also walked through One Man’s Dream, another first for us. Karl had a FP+ for Tower of Terror at some point in the afternoon, but I am a chicken and didn’t ride with him. He absolutely loved it—I think it was the highlight of the trip for him.

We had been waiting for the line for The Great Movie Ride to go down, and at some point it must have, because we rode it. I was really excited to re-live this attraction, since it was one of the few that still exists from my childhood visit. However, I have to admit that it was not really as neat as I remembered it. And I love classic movies! I have heard rumors of this being replaced, and while it would be a little sad for it to go, I think it might be time.

I did enjoy this scene from my favorite Disney movie!

After The Great Movie Ride, we exited into the sweltering Florida heat and decided to go back to the Contemporary and get in the pool. I have no pics of the pool, but to be honest, the Contemporary pool isn’t much to look at anyway.

We had no set plans for dinner that night. We thought about going to one of the parks and getting a counter service meal. However, as you have probably noticed, the theme for this trip from my perspective was pretty much constant exhaustion! So I suggested instead that we go to one of the other monorail resorts for a counter service dinner. We decided on Gasparilla Island Grill at the Grand Floridian.

I failed at taking pictures, but we really loved Gasparilla Island Grill. We were basically the only people in the place, and it was very nice and relaxing. I can’t remember what we had, but I know we sat there for a couple of hours just talking and relaxing. It was a really nice way to end the day. Afterwards, we wandered around the Grand Floridian a bit, then hopped back on the monorail to the Contemporary. Back in our room, we enjoyed just looking out at Space Mountain and watching the Electrical Water Pageant.

Up next: Our last full day!

 

[Pirate'sLifeForME]

Day Five (and Six): August 5-6, 2016

This was the day of our trip that I was most excited about, which is why I had saved it for last. It was our first and only full day in the Magic Kingdom!

We woke up to what looked like a sunny (and muggy!) day.

We headed out for the Magic Kingdom and soon after, we saw this:

We walked up Main Street with one goal in mind—finding the Mayor. On our visit in 2013, Karl met the Mayor and told him that we were from Cincinnati. The Mayor said, “Cincinnati! Don’t you just love getting some Cincinnati chili at Skyline?” (In case you have never heard of it, Cincinnati chili is a type of semi-sweet chili typically served over spaghetti noodles or hot dogs that is available in the Cincinnati area. Skyline is one of the major Cincinnati chili restaurant chains.) We got a huge kick out of this, so Karl wanted to find him again. Fortunately, without looking too hard, we found him! I can’t remember what he said this time, but he was very nice.

Here is a pic of Karl with the Mayor in 2013, and then one of them in 2015.

After this, we apparently decided that an appropriate thing to do on a 194-degree day is to wait in line in the sun for the Tomorrowland Speedway.

After that, we had FP+ for SDMT, but I failed at picture taking. We had a great time though!

Next it was time for our lunch ADR at Be Our Guest. I was very excited for this. I was also very excited for the food and ambiance of this restaurant. I was also very excited to sit down in the air conditioning.

Up next: our lunch at BOG!

 

[Pirate'sLifeForME]

Day Five (and Six): August 5-6, 2016 (Part 2)

This was our first experience at Be Our Guest, and it did not disappoint. Karl ordered the potato leek soup, which came first. For entrees, I ordered the croquet monsieur, and Karl had the quinoa salad. (You can probably tell by now which one of us is the healthier eater). For dessert, I had the triple chocolate cupcake and Karl had the chocolate cream puff. We both agreed that mine was better.

For once I didn’t fail at taking pics of our meal! Here you go:

OK, so now that we are friends because I did such a good job of taking pics of our lunch, I have to confess something. Remember how at the end of Day Four we went to Gasparilla Island Grill for dinner because I was too tired to do anything else? And remember how I totally failed at picture taking? Well, buckle up. Because today was my most epic failure yet.

I think by this point in the week I was a little…Disney-ed out. (Don’t hit me). I was just at my limit in terms of exhaustion for the summer. The weather during our trip had alternated between a monsoon and eight million degrees with five thousand percent humidity. And the crowds had been really intense, and it felt like there was really no escaping them. The Contemporary stays busy pretty much all the time because of Chef Mickey’s and because it’s an easy monorail ride from the Magic Kingdom. This meant that starting before 7am every day the crowds would come flooding in and would wake us up, and they would keep going until very late at night. It’s nobody’s fault, but it made it hard to sleep, and by this point in the trip it had also made me a little cranky.

I remember at one point this day Karl and I were trying to pick out a Christmas ornament (we get one as a souvenir on all of our trips), and I just couldn’t commit to one. Finally, I said, “I just kind of feel like Disney has enough of our money for one trip and I Don’t want to spend anymore.” Now, of course, I’m kicking myself, but at the time it seemed totally reasonable.

I was also probably starting to feel the end-of-Disney-trip blues.

The point of all this is that after lunch, I just completely gave up on pictures. I know we rode a bunch of stuff. I know we rode Splash Mountain, and Peter Pan's Flight, and Space Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain RR, and the Haunted Mansion, and the Carousel of Progress, and the TTA, and the WDW Railroad, and It’s a Small World. In fact, the only thing I know for sure that we did NOT ride was Pirates of the Carribbean, because it was closed for refurbishment (I died a little inside when I realized PofC would be closed during our trip).

Despite experiencing all of these great attractions, I have no pictures. (I promise I'll do better next time).

Towards the end of the night, we visited the Hall of Presidents, and we watched the Main Street Electrical Parade. During the parade, I took my first picture since lunch.

After the parade, we wandered over to Tomorrowland in search of a Mickey ice cream bar, and apparently it seemed really important for me to document this moment.

We sat at a table outside Mickey’s Star Traders and ate our ice cream while taking in the terrific Tomorrowland background music loop. We reflected on what a great trip we’d had, and how excited we were to go to China in a few weeks.

After that, we made our way back to the Contemporary for the last time (sniff sniff!)

The next morning we got up early and made our way to the Polynesian for breakfast at Kona Café! #tongatoast

After that, it was sadly time to make our way on to the Tragical Express and back to MCO, and eventually to CVG. Our post-bar-exam anniversary trip was officially over.

Up next: final thoughts

 

[Pirate'sLifeForME]

Final Thoughts

Thanks for letting me re-live our trip! I hope you enjoyed the journey.

This trip, like most trips, had some highs and lows.

HIGHS:

1. Getting upgraded to first class on our flight to Orlando

2. Staying at the Contemporary in a Magic Kingdom view room

3. Getting to spend lots of quality time with my husband after a crazy-go-nuts summer.

4. Our wonderful dinner at California Grill

5. Riding Splash Mountain while dressed up (and a little tipsy)

6. Experiencing Animal Kingdom for the first time, and Hollywood Studios for the first time in many years.

7. Watching Illuminations from Tokyo Dining

8. Catching Wishes while on the ferry to the Magic Kingdom from the TTC

9. Lunch at Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater.

10. Our quiet dinner at Gasparilla Island Grill

11. Seeing the Mayor at MK

12. Our first, delicious trip to Be Our Guest

13. Tonga Toast!

LOWS:

1. The unrelenting rain, heat, and humidity.

2. The crowds, and not being able to sleep because of Chef Mickey’s.

3. Our dinner at San Angel Inn

Definitely more highs than lows!

Since this trip, I took a solo trip to Disneyland Resort (I was in LA for work and snuck down to DLR for a day and a half. I’m planning to write up that trip report next!) And on May 24, Karl and I fly to LA to visit Disneyland Resort together for four days! Because, spoiler alert: I fell head-over-heels in love with DLR last year. Tune in to my DLR trip report to find out why!

Thank you for reading, new friends! See ya real soon!

 

[LeighM]

Loved your trip report!!! Looking forward to the Disneyland report I really want to visit there one day but living in VA it's not like it's an easy, quick, or cheap trip LOL. Especially with the lure of WDW only being a 2 hour direct flight or a not so quick 12 hour drive So for now, I get to experience DL thru others

And there's nothing like the heat, humidity, and crowds in WDW that make you want to spend more time at your resort lol. That's why I love PO Riverside so much. While it is a large resort, the fact it's so spread out is actually a plus for me because it never feels crowded or noisy. And it's sooooo relaxing when you just have to get away from a midday MK

 

[Pirate'sLifeForME]

Loved your trip report!!! Looking forward to the Disneyland report I really want to visit there one day but living in VA it's not like it's an easy, quick, or cheap trip LOL. Especially with the lure of WDW only being a 2 hour direct flight or a not so quick 12 hour drive So for now, I get to experience DL thru others

And there's nothing like the heat, humidity, and crowds in WDW that make you want to spend more time at your resort lol. That's why I love PO Riverside so much. While it is a large resort, the fact it's so spread out is actually a plus for me because it never feels crowded or noisy. And it's sooooo relaxing when you just have to get away from a midday MK

Thanks again for reading! Now I am going to check out your trip reports!

I highly recommend DLR, but I understand that it can be hard for east-coasters to make out there. I probably would not have gone except that I had the flight paid for by my employer. And we are lucky that in the last year a few budget airlines have started offering cheap flights from Cincinnati to LAX.

Port Orleans is definitely on our radar. Sounds like it is good for people who love the parks but also can feel overwhelmed by them, like me. I would love to stay there next! My husband loves New Orleans, so I'm hopeful that I can use that to convince him to tag along for another trip.

 

[Pirate'sLifeForME]

Loved your trip report!!! Looking forward to the Disneyland report I really want to visit there one day but living in VA it's not like it's an easy, quick, or cheap trip LOL. Especially with the lure of WDW only being a 2 hour direct flight or a not so quick 12 hour drive So for now, I get to experience DL thru others

And there's nothing like the heat, humidity, and crowds in WDW that make you want to spend more time at your resort lol. That's why I love PO Riverside so much. While it is a large resort, the fact it's so spread out is actually a plus for me because it never feels crowded or noisy. And it's sooooo relaxing when you just have to get away from a midday MK

Also, aren't you totally jealous of people who live within a day's drive of WDW? I know I am!