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)

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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….

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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:

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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!!

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And then……
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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!!
 

tchauvin

New Member
I loved, loved, loved reading this trip report. Im bringing my BF who is 31 and it is his first trip hopefully it will be for him what it was for you guys....
 

miriamsolana

New Member
Dear Courtney, thanks for sharing your fabulous TR!! I really really enjoyed it. It's great you went back! Where's your TR! Looking forward to read it.
Saludos desde México!
 

Howe

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this TR! You sound just like me!! I went back to WDW just last year after a 20-year gap and loved every minute of it. Now I'm 2 months from our next trip to WDW and our cruise (which happens to be our honeymoon) and I'm so excited I keep squealing every time Disney Cruise line sends me a new automated text reminding me to book excursions, etc etc.
I can also relate on the grad student business...I did my M.A. in French Language and Literature and wrote a ginormous Masters Thesis, then I did 2 years of a PhD and decided recently that academia is not my cup of tea, that I'm a teacher through and through..SOO now I get to teach French at a posh little prep school. WOO!
And congrats on your graduation!!!! My M.A. graduation was seriously the best day ever, I hope you enjoyed it!
Anyway, back to your fabulous trip report...I hope you'll do another one of your graduation trip!
-Your pictures are FABULOUS, especially the ones of the castle with all the beautiful lights on it. I hope to get a DSLR myself someday! For now, my point and shoot and iphone do the job, I guess.
-I loved seeing the Disney "magic" you captured, like the Mickey ears that the person at the desk circled your building, and the Christmas towel art.
-I LOVE that you decorated your room, I would have done the same thing if we got the opportunity to drive. (We're from Pittsburgh so it's like 18 hours-easier to hop on a plane and take advantage of the Magical Express)
-I love Hello Kitty too- I even visited Sanrio Puroland in Tokyo...think Disneyland for Hello Kitty lovers!
-I am myself also a total Potterhead, and on our last trip, my fiancé and I also visited WWHP. We somehow had a better experience though, because it was literally pouring when we got there and we had virtually NO WAIT for the Forbidden Journey, which we rode twice. BEST RIDE EVER. We braved the rain, because it already rains in HP movies and books all the time anyway!! And yes, I think that Butterbeer must be milk from the Gods. But I am totally with you when you said you missed the Disney Magic. While WWHP was ingenious, and I loved it, the rest of Universal was boring, and the rollercoasters were closed anyway because of the rain. The "magic" is certainly not there, and the people who work there aren't anything like CM's at Disney. We ended up back at DHS! Oh, and I love your pics of the Mandrakes, I didn't notice them because we zipped through the line so fast!!!
Anywho, great job and I look forward to reading more! I'm about to start my first TR from our trip from March 2011 so TTFN!:wave:

Ahhhhh! Thanks for the awesome comment! Sounds like we have VERY much in common! We are dying to try a cruise, so I'll be looking forward to your trip report! Also, I tried to convince my husband to take me to puroland for our honeymoon but he said no :( we were just out of college and very broke so I can't blame him! New TR should be coming soon hopefully!

I loved, loved, loved reading this trip report. Im bringing my BF who is 31 and it is his first trip hopefully it will be for him what it was for you guys....

Thank you so much! I know how will fall in love with the Disney magic!

Dear Courtney, thanks for sharing your fabulous TR!! I really really enjoyed it. It's great you went back! Where's your TR! Looking forward to read it.
Saludos desde México!

Thanks! I am working on the new TR now! Hope to start posting soon! :)
 

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