First trip as adults and we're hooked! A Dec 2011 TR

Hey Everyone! This is my first trip report, so hopefully i'll be able to get the photo posting right. I really enjoy reading everyone elses TRs, so I'm hoping mine can help someone pass the time until their next trip home!! Here goes...


Who: Me (26, graduate student) and Austin (25, teacher)

When: December 17-23
Where: Pop Century
How? By car…. Over 15 hours of car..


Both of us have been to Disney as kids (Austin three times, and me once) but neither of us had ever stayed onsite! Plus, it had been over 10 years since the last time we went. First trip as adults!! Needless to say, we were VERY excited about this trip!

I’m the type of person who feels like they need to know as much as possible about anything they do! So when we started planning this trip back in May, of course I started reading these wonderful boards and learning lots and lots and lots about Disney! Thanks to everyone :wave:

Planning: We were bound to our dates by our school schedules, but we also LOVE Christmas, so we were excited to visit at that time of year. We also are planning on moving to Philadelphia during 2012, so we wanted to try to go to Disney once before the big move.

I have LOVED spending hours and hours researching, reading the forums, reading trip reports, and planning out our magical vacation. There are so many decisions, so many choices!!

I really wanted to upgrade to a moderate or deluxe, but we honestly just couldn’t afford it! I’m so glad we didn’t this time though, because we were in our room so rarely!! I do, however, look forward to trying many other resorts in the future!!

We chose Pop Century from the other values mainly because of it having it’s own bus. I also just thought it looked cool ☺
We chose not to get park hopper passes, just to save money. Worked out well for us on this trip!

We also got free quick service dining, and I’m so glad we did! Almost every time we sat down to eat, my husband said “Thank you so much for doing research and getting us free dining! I love not having to worry about spending money!” I know the pros and cons of free dining have been discussed to death, but it was the right discount for us for this trip!

Despite having free quick service dining, I also made us a few ADRs:
Dinner at Le Cellier!!! And Breakfast at Kona Café on our last day. I think for our first trip as adults, this was a perfect amount of ADRs. In the future we may book more, but we just wanted to play all the time, not spend an hour on a meal!!

Ok, onto the trip….. some of these pictures will be from my phone, some from our digital camera, then some from my sister’s DSLR that I borrowed, and then some from my brand new DSLR that I got on this trip!! ☺ enough cameras for ya?

December 16th – 17th:
I was already out of school, so I packed up the car and had everything ready to go by the time Austin got off work… I may have rushed him just a bit ☺

We loaded up our pups….

and took them to my mom’s house for the week. Then, we were on the road!!

We left at 4 pm and drove all night! Stopping only for bathroom breaks or snacks… such as this one:

We don’t have DD around us and we love it!!

As we got closer and closer the anticipation just kept building! Every sign made me shriek!!

And then……

We’re finally here!!! I must admit… I cried a little. Months of planning and reading, and booking and rebooking and obsessing… and we’re finally here!!

 

[Howe]

We then got in line for Primeval Whirl, which for whatever reason had a terribly long wait. But, while waiting in line, we saw one of Austin’s coworkers! So crazy. I really liked Primeval Whirl, loved the colors and the lights in the queue area. But I didn’t really like having to share a car with other people (no big deal, but it would just be more fun with only people you know) and the ride seemed very short. But overall, lots of fun!

 

[Howe]

Next we went to see Festival of the Lion King! We really enjoyed this show too, although not quite as much as we liked the Nemo show.

This guy made me think of Keenan:

After Lion King, we headed back over to use our Dinosaur fast passes.

Please look at how ridiculous I look in this ride photo. We noticed a trend, in pretty much every scary ride picture, everyone in the car is looking at the thing that is scary, and I’m looking at Austin. You’ll see at least one more like this in the TR.

 

[Howe]

After riding Dinosaur, we headed back over to use our Everest FPs. We really took advantage of using FPs after the window was over, so it will be weird next time we go back with the new rules in place.

After Everest, we hit up the Bug’s Life show. This is one thing I really remember from my trip to WDW as a kid. It was just as fun as I remembered. Austin had never been to AK at all, since all of his trips were Pre-AK, and he really liked the park over all. After Bug’s life, we decided to head out. We wanted to head over to AKL, and get ahead of the closing time rush.

Such a pretty tree!

After leaving animal kingdom, we hopped on a bus over to AKL just to look around and take some pictures. It was so pretty!

 

[Howe]

We both said that we would love to stay at AKL some time in the future! But then we waited forever for a bus to DTD, is that normal for AKL? Either way, it’s beautiful!

We finally got our bus and went to DTD. Our first stop was the Lego store, where Austin was in heaven.

We ate at Wolfgang Puck Express again for dinner! So good! We got pizzas again and both got the cheesecake. We walked around a bit and then called it a night.

 

[minnielaw]

Love, Love, Loving the trip report!! So exciting to see WDW through the eyes of some adult "first timers"

My husband went for his first time EVER just four years ago and it was so cool to watch him taking it all in.

It really shows that you did your homework and spent some time researching the trip. You chose wisely (in my opinion!) on your restaurants thus far and made great use of Fast Pass and EMH's!

Your photos with the new camera are wonderful, most especially considering that you had never used it before!

Can't wait to read more!

 

[Howe]

Love, Love, Loving the trip report!! So exciting to see WDW through the eyes of some adult "first timers"

My husband went for his first time EVER just four years ago and it was so cool to watch him taking it all in.

It really shows that you did your homework and spent some time researching the trip. You chose wisely (in my opinion!) on your restaurants thus far and made great use of Fast Pass and EMH's!

Your photos with the new camera are wonderful, most especially considering that you had never used it before!

Can't wait to read more!

Thank you so much, minnielaw! It really is crazy wonderful experiencing it all as adults.

I spent COUNTLESS hours researching, and I think we made pretty good choices, so I'm glad to hear others agree I am already looking forward to trying new restaurants and new resorts.

I really love my new camera, and was definitely learning on the go on this trip! But I am pleased with the way most of the pictures turned out. So glad you're enjoying the TR! :sohappy:

 

[Howe]

Day 5: Epcot

Same drill this morning! Coffee and chocolate croissants from the Pop food court! We actually got to Epcot before it opened, and there was already a very long line. Once we got in Epcot we picked up our Soarin’ FPs and then went over to Test Track and did the single rider line.

I'm glad that TT has a refurb coming up. While waiting in this queue, we both commented on how out of date the queue was. I'll be interested to see it after the refurb!

Next, was Nemo and the seas.

 

[Howe]

Then Journey into the Imagination with our buddy Figment! I remember loving Figment as a kid, and I think my mom thought he was really annoying.

We got an early lunch at sunshine seasons because we had early dinner reservations at Le Cellier! The strawberry shortcake was amazing!! Then we did The Lands, and used our Soarin’ FPs. By that time, we began to work our way towards the world showcase

 

[Howe]

Once we got to the World Showcase, we wandered around Canada a bit, and then grabbed some beers to drink before dinner. Is there anything better than just sitting down, enjoying a drink, and looking out at the lagoon with your favorite person in the world? I don’t think there is.

Our reservation was very early, 4:15 I believe, but that was literally the only time slot available at Le Cellier for the entire week we were visiting. We debated whether or not to keep the reservation, just due to the weird time, but I’m so glad we did! The food was delicious, and it was really nice to sit down and relax.

We checked in for our reservation a little early, and while we were waiting we got to play trivia with the hostesses! For every question we got right, they gave us a Le Cellier sticker. I thought that was a good way to pass the time. I think we ended up with at least 6 stickers… no clue where they are now. It wasn’t too long before we were seated.

Austin had a Unibroue beer, which he loved. I had a glass of red wine… pinot noir maybe? Cabernet? I don’t remember what, and I didn’t take a picture of it.

Pretzel bread!!!!

We had the scallops appetizer. Very very good. Sorry for eating it before I got a picture!

I had the filet… so so so good!

I think Austin had the Ribeye? I’m not positive, and this isn’t a very good picture of it.

He also had the macaroni and cheese, and loved it.

My pictures from Le Cellier didn’t end up as clear as I wanted them, but the tables there are SO close together, and everytime I took a picture the people to our left would stop talking and just stare at me, so I didn’t take too many shots. Overall though, Le Cellier was excellent!!

 

[Howe]

When we were done, the sun was setting, so we took a few pictures in the Canada pavilion. This little bunny hopped out and I snapped a few pics of him.

Then we wandered around for a bit, and had several drinks! I had coffee with baileys, and later a grey goose slushie.

 

[Howe]

We walked around the WS some more, and when we made it to the Japan Pavilion and I convinced Austin to let me do the Pick-a-Pearl thing. Here’s a little known fact about me: I’m a complete sucker for grab bags. I loooooove surprises, and I don’t even care that it could be a dud. I just love the anticipation. So of course, Pick-a-Pearl appealed to me. I do not like being the center of attention, but it was still very fun. I got a beautiful blueish pearl and had it mounted on a pendant. I highly recommend this experience! With the necklace setting I think we only spent maybe $40. Great souvenir that I can wear any day.

I’m so excited to pick my pearl! Austin did a great job taking pictures during this.

The guy beside me looks very impressed by my pearl!

 

[Howe]

More pearl pictures:

Here it is on the pendant:

This was such a fun experience. I read online to pick the ugliest, hairiest oyster. That’s what I did, and I ended up with a good size, blue silverish pearl! The CM said it was very rare… but I think they probably tell everyone that!

 

[Howe]

After Japan we wandered a bit more, took some pictures, and grabbed some Caramel corn from the Caramel shop… yummmm! Then we found a spot to watch Illuminations from and took a seat on the curb. This time we did not have the same romantic moment as before because a guy came and sat beside Austin and struck up a conversation. Austin is a very polite person, so even though the guy talked through the entire fireworks show, Austin didn’t ignore him or tell him to leave. Much nicer than I would have been!

 

[Howe]

I LOVE Illuminations!! Seriously. LOVE.

After Illuminations, we took some pictures, stopped for some shopping, and then headed back to the resort.

 

[Howe]

 

[Howe]

Next up, Day 6: DHS, our last full day at the parks!

 

[Howe]

Day 6: Disney Hollywood Studios

By this point in our trip, we were finally caught up on sleep and decided to try to get to DHS early so we could make a beeline for TSM FPs. While I got ready, Austin got our coffee and chocolate croissants in to go bags, so we could eat them while we waited for DHS to open. We went out to the bus stop to find, surprisingly, no one in line for the DHS bus! Hooray. This was about 7:30 am. So a bus comes, we get on with one other family, and we are off! We are both feeling a bit confused at this point as to why the bus is so empty. We get to the park to see…. Almost no one in line. All of the sudden it occurred to me that in all my planning for this trip, maybe I got the opening time wrong! Bingo. So here we are, about 7:45, waiting for a park that opens at 9am!! No big deal. Austin just laughed and said he was excited to get in early. He’s such a good sport. So since we had plenty of time, I took a few pictures while waiting in line (I was literally the first person in line so I had a good view)

 

[Howe]

We were waiting in line, and then around 8:30, the CMs started lining up at their turnstiles. Were we going to get in early?? We did!!! I went straight to TSMM and grabbed our FPs

Next we headed down Sunset Boulevard and walked right onto RnR! Austin had never ridden this ride before, so he was very excited. I rode it when I was here as a child, but it had been a long time, so all I remembered was that it was fun!

When we hopped in our limo, the CM told me to put my camera bag in the pouch in front of me, so I did. Our limo lines up, and we were off! So much fun, until the first loop comes and Austin and I both realize at the same time, WE’RE GOING UPSIDE DOWN AND OUR BRAND NEW CAMERA IS IN A FLIMSY POUCH!! We both try to reach ahead of us to protect it, but we can’t reach because of the restraints. So eventually I got my leg up and put my foot over the pouch. I’m pretty sure that the camera wouldn’t have fallen out, but man did we freak!! It kinda made the ride not too enjoyable, but we’d have a chance to ride it later!

Next we headed to the Hollywood Tower Hotel!! This one was new for Austin as well. I LOVE ToT, and I was very excited for the ride. I love the theme of this ride.

And the ride photo…

Here I am again looking at Austin when something scary happens!!

After we got off of ToT, it was not even 9am! We had got FPs for TSMM, rode RnR and ToT before the park was even supposed to open! It was fabulous. We decided to sit down and wait a few minutes until we could get a FP for RnR.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Loving the TR!!! I started crying when I saw the pic of you crying upon seeing the Castle. Nice upgrade on the camera...what an awesome gift!!! Your Dinosaur pic reminds me of mine the one time I went on it...scariest part of the ride and I'm cracking up about something and looking over at DH. That's fabulous that you got into DHS early. We also feel the same way about MVMCP- did it once and that was good enough.

The crazy thing - I have several good friends at WDW around the same time as your trip and I keep looking for any signs of them in the background of you pics...yeah- what are the odds?!?!?

Can't wait to read more! :wave:

 

[mickeykoala]

Thanks for posting the Harry Potter pictures. I want to get there but like you, hate leaving the magic to do so. I've really enjoyed all the pictures. Great trip report!