Trip Report Double Birthdays & A WDW First Timer!

Hi everyone! :):)

I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays!
I wish reading and writing trip reports could be my full time job because I am SOOOOO far behind on everything:banghead:
But while I catch up on everyone else’s reports – I wanted to start on my latest. Every trip I’ve gotten to take this year has been so different than any of the others and this was no exception. It also could have been renamed the “I’ve never laughed so hard in my life trip”

This time I went with two of my coworkers (and best friends) who share a birthday weekend. Max & Mel. Also joining us was our friend Lindsey who is a fellow Disney lover and had been begging to join on one of my trips for a while – this trip would be the perfect fit.


(Lindsey, Max, Mickey:), Mel, Me)

For a little background – Max has never been to Disney. He also had no intentions of going, but one day early in the year, Mel and I were saying we need to plan something fun since both their birthdays are on a weekend this year. Disney was a suggestion and Max was surprisingly onboard! I knew they’d especially like it after hearing me talk about Food and Wine for the last few years, and we’d catch the Christmas decorations! Max can be a bit difficult, we work together every morning and bicker like brother and sister nonstop. He also makes me laugh harder than anyone. But travelling with him can be a whole other obstacle as we’ve learned on many other trips together. Mel and I had been so excited about the trip, it was the night before when we were finishing our packing and questioning what we got ourselves into. But we would make the best of any issues that came up, and he would be outnumbered between Mel, Lindsey and I ;)

Mel grew up about an hour from Orlando so had frequently visited Disney, but usually just for the day and running around hitting the big rides, so this would be a totally different trip for her!

Lindsey was there last new years (I can’t imagine). We don’t see each other that often so it was going to be fun to spend quality time together in our favorite place!


FRIDAY – NOVEMBER 11th
I had to work in the morning, and met everyone at the airport after. We were off with no problems and soon arriving home! :D







We were staying at Pop Century, so we quickly dropped our stuff, changed and hopped on a bus to Magic Kingdom.





Festival of Fantasy was running at 5:00 this day since they had been taping for the Christmas special. I had been trying to figure out all afternoon if we’d make it in time to watch, and it lined up perfectly that the parade was starting as we arrived to the park! We grabbed a spot near the end of the route and had a blast watching. It was the PERFECT thing to start our vacation and the perfect way to welcome Max to Disney World. He was so impressed.








 

samantha788

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Our next stop was our Toy Story FP! Everyone enjoyed this, and Max thought it was so cool that we were toy-size in Andy’s room when boarding the ride.




When we got off, A green army man snuck up to scare Max, it was so funny!:D:D




If you haven't seen Moana yet - GO! It is SO good, definitely up there on the favorites list.


 

samantha788

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Next up was a can’t miss – Beauty and the Beast!! :inlove: Luckily I didn’t have to do any begging on this one, it’s Lindsey’s favorite movie, Max loves stage shows, and Mel has heard me talk about it so much she was excited to see it too. And this was one of the best Belles I’ve ever seen-voice and looks!

And now the million pictures that comes with watching this show ;)
















 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
But being there during Christmas season made the absence of The Osborne Lights so painful

YAY ! Another TR! I wish I had friends who want to go to Disney with me :) I have a few friends who would love to, but are also in residency and we never get the same times off for vacation :(
Agreed with the Osborne Lights! When we were in HS this past trip I looked at videos of them from last year just to make myself feel better
 

LadyBelle

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
YAY ! Another TR! I wish I had friends who want to go to Disney with me :) I have a few friends who would love to, but are also in residency and we never get the same times off for vacation :(

I wish I had people to go with too. Before my friend couldn't go because of work, I practically was begging her to go. :(
 

samantha788

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Beauty and the Beast :inlove::inlove::inlove::inlove::inlove: I know that I can always count on you to take a million pictures of this show for me!
YES! I think of you every time, I know you love it as much as I do:inlove:

YAY ! Another TR! I wish I had friends who want to go to Disney with me :) I have a few friends who would love to, but are also in residency and we never get the same times off for vacation :(
Agreed with the Osborne Lights! When we were in HS this past trip I looked at videos of them from last year just to make myself feel better
That was a good idea about the Osborne Lights videos! It was so noticeable that something was missing:cry:
That's so frustrating scheduling keeps your friends from going with you. It's fun and makes for different experiences. And somehow I ended up going with 3 different groups of friends this year :confused: haha
Still bummed we just missed each other that Friday night!!

Your photos always come out so great...what camera do you use? It looks like you guys had so much fun. Looking forward to more!
Thank you so much!! We had such a great time, we laugh all the time about our stories.
I have a Nikon D3200 and a two lenses I swap between- I love it SO much :)
 

samantha788

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
After Beauty and The Beast, we went over to use our Tower of Terror Fastpasses!! We’re the worst and didn’t tell Max what the ride was:rolleyes: but he kind of figured it out by the time we got on haha.


Another ride picture winner – Max screaming, Mel yelling AT Max to open his eyes and I’m just having fun hahaha:p



Our next stop was Rock’n Roller Coaster. Mel had said this is her favorite ride EVER. If I knew sooner I would have switched one of our fastpasses, but there were none left by the time I found out. To the standby line we went with a posted wait of 45 minutes which was totally fair. Until we literally did not move. We had waited about an hour and were about halfway through the line. We contemplated getting out but we had already stood here an hour, it would have been silly to leave. Plus, being Mel’s birthday and it her favorite ride, we were okay waiting for her.

Another hour later we finally boarded the ride. I don’t know what the issue was but one of the cars was running empty which would have backed things up. The fastpass line was so long which makes me think some other ride, or Rock’n Roller Coaster were down at some point so fastpass+ could redeem whenever. It was just insane, I still can’t believe it took that long. But it was worth it for another priceless ride photo;)


The entire time I had been texting another one of our work friends who is from Orlando and had just gotten back in town that afternoon – he was going to hang around with us before we left for dinner but by the time we got off of the ride, we had to leave haha. So he joined us for the walk out of the park. He would end up meeting us at EPCOT the next day too!
Max modeling Lindsey’s backpack.




 

samantha788

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I had given us plenty of time to get over to Fort Wilderness for Hoop Dee Doo, we were going to bus to MK then boat over, but on our way out there was a Fort Wilderness bus pulling up so we hopped right on and made it there in no time! Then we had a long wait once we got there haha.



Mel had heard me rave about Hoop Dee Doo so much she knew, no question, this would be her birthday dinner. Lindsey was excited to try it too. Max, we knew wouldn’t be thrilled when he heard the menu- and we were right haha, but the show made up for it. He thought it was hilarious, as did the rest of us. The six bits character had everyone hysterical – even the performers were breaking character to laugh at him!












Only downside again was our waitress. We’ve been on a bad streak of waiters and waitresses for the last year and a half here! I’m always polite but from the minute we sat down, our waitress was just not in a happy mood to us or any of her tables. They are all part of the experience, so having someone being a downer takes away from the fun.
One really funny, and uncomfortable thing too, when they call out for anniversaries, one really young looking couple raised their hands. They were celebrating one month! Haha, they made them get up and dance and they looked so uncomfortable- the poor girl clearly was not into it.

In the end, we all had fun and laughed so hard. Mel got the special treatment for her birthday! The pictures are making me laugh as I post them, the two of them are so animated and clearly having a blast :D:D
 

LisaBelle

Well-Known Member
Yay! So happy to be reading your TR :). I always love your photos. LOVE all the photos of Beauty and the Beast. It is my favorite Disney movie. I CANNOT wait to see the new live action Beauty and the Beast movie.
 

kaitertot5249

Well-Known Member
If you haven't seen Moana yet - GO! It is SO good, definitely up there on the favorites list.
I LOVED Moana. I made a point of not knowing much about it before going to see it and I am so happy that I did, the music is incredible! My boyfriend even said that it was one of the best movies he's seen in a while, Disney or otherwise. He isn't as big of a Disney fan as I am so this is high praise from him.

It actually made Max tear up too! This ended up being his favorite thing we did on the whole trip.
The Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage is my absolute favorite thing at Disney. It is the only attraction or show that I remember from my first few trips as a kid and it holds a special place in my heart, I tear up every time I see it. Your photos make me want to go and see it right now!

Great report so far, I can't wait to read more!
 

samantha788

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Yay! So happy to be reading your TR :). I always love your photos. LOVE all the photos of Beauty and the Beast. It is my favorite Disney movie. I CANNOT wait to see the new live action Beauty and the Beast movie.
Yay! Thank you for reading! I get chills EVERY time I see a preview for the new movie. Cannot wait!!

I LOVED Moana. I made a point of not knowing much about it before going to see it and I am so happy that I did, the music is incredible! My boyfriend even said that it was one of the best movies he's seen in a while, Disney or otherwise. He isn't as big of a Disney fan as I am so this is high praise from him.


The Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage is my absolute favorite thing at Disney. It is the only attraction or show that I remember from my first few trips as a kid and it holds a special place in my heart, I tear up every time I see it. Your photos make me want to go and see it right now!

Great report so far, I can't wait to read more!
Thank you for reading! :)
I feel exactly the same way about the Beauty & the Beast show. I remember watching it in awe as a kid - and I love that it really hasn't changed through all the years. And no matter how many times I've seen it, still makes me tear up too!
I'm glad you loved Moana! And your boyfriend! I just saw it again with my parents and they both loved it too :) The music is amazing
 

samantha788

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
SUNDAY- NOVEMBER 13th
Happy Birthday Max!


Today was all about EPCOT and Food & Wine for Max. We took it a little slow in the morning but eventually made it out the door and over to EPCOT.

It was a beautiful day!!



Our first stop was a ride on Nemo :)




Then we spent a lot of time wandering around the living seas. I don’t remember the last time I’ve done that so it was fun to see it all.


Max...:D



We also caught the dolphin show while there and that was really neat – and they are just so cute!






The wait for Soarin wasn’t too bad so we went to that after, which everyone really loved!

Then we walked back up to Spaceship Earth for our FP. I knew this would be right up Max’s alley and he enjoyed it.




 

samantha788

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
THEN it was time for the world showcase and food & wine! We were starving and I was so happy Farm Fresh was right there because that mac & cheese was calling my name!




Then we headed over to Patagonia for empanadas – so good!



Very important passport checking ;)



Next up was Canada. Max is like Where's Waldo in all these pics:D Max & Mel both had the soup, I forget what Lindsey had. But then we explored Canada.










Minnie ears shadow :joyfull:




 

samantha788

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We then skipped over to France where we wanted to hang out for a while and wait for our friend to meet us. But not before some more pictures ;)








I grabbed a table while Max, Mel, and Lindsey went to get drinks and food. They came back with 4 of the passion martini slushes – and more crème brulee.
And yes – Mel cried again!:rolleyes: Hahaha We were dying at her reaction.





We finally met up with our friend Tony and continued to walk a little more. They stopped at Brazil and while waiting Mel & I went to get waffles from Belgium!

Mel’s friends with the baby were also at EPCOT this day with some of their other family & friends. We planned on meeting them in England to watch the British Revolution band. Max was still waiting for his stuff from Brazil with Tony, so Mel, Lindsey and I headed back to England in time for the band.

Then we see Max walking over and from across the courtyard, his mouth is GLOWING blue hahaha:D We still don’t know what he ate or drank, but it was hilarious.
 

samantha788

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
After the band, the courtyard cleared out and we were just all hanging around talking when Mary Poppins walked out! Since nobody was around we walked over to her and sent Max up first. Mel’s friend was yelling across the way to Max and Mary stops and asks Max if they’re his friends. When Max says yes, Mary starts walking over to scold them.



I don’t know how I captured this exact moment of them pointing at each other saying it was him hahaha:D




That was such a fun interaction, then Mary came back to finish taking pictures.





We continued our walk around the world making a few stops along the way for different people





 

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