Graduation Celebration: HOT days, fun times, and plenty of food

I have only been home for 20 hours, and I am already missing the most magical place on earth, ESPECIALLY the weather. When I left Florida it was 95, and now I'm stuck with a high of 67. What's with mother nature? Anyway, I had an awesome 10 days at WDW, and I am excited to share my vacation with the wdwmagic family!

If any of you haven't read my pre-trip report, you can read it at this link: http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=750730

WARNING: There may be some grammar mistakes in this report. I am a very fast typer, and I sometimes skip words or make spelling mistakes. I'm only human. Also, I am no Tom Bricker (WDWFigment), which means my photos aren't fantastic, but I try.

After 5 months of planning, June 11th was finally here. I was supposed to wake up at 4:30 am, but I hit the snooze which caused me to sleep in till 5:30. After getting all of our stuff together, we hit the road. Goodbye boring/cold Illinois! Hello warm/tropical Florida!

Here is a fantastic (sarcasm) photo of me and my disney girls. Don't I just look so alive? At least I'm representing my team.


IMG_0251 by jessicamanning19, on Flickr

Here is our crazy amount of luggage, but hey were women! We need a lot of stuff!


IMG_0253 by jessicamanning19, on Flickr
At 6 am, we hit the road. Because everyone in our group has their license, we were all able to take turns driving. And guess who drove first? The one who has the least experience driving! My 16 year old sister, Jodi. I will admit, she is a pretty decent driver, but she scares me sometimes. With that said, my mom watched her very closely. She drove about 5 hours. Then, my mom took over until the middle of Tennessee.

AHHHHHHHH

IMG_0255 by jessicamanning19, on Flickr

Goofing off in the car:

IMG_0958 by jessicamanning19, on Flickr

Rock on!

IMG_0260 by jessicamanning19, on Flickr

I'm so glad Katie was excited for the car ride. Good thing she doesn't know about this website, or she probably would kill me.

DSC_0447 by jessicamanning19, on Flickr

YAY for Kentucky!

DSC_0462 by jessicamanning19, on Flickr

Hello Nashville! Sadly, I fell asleep, and was not able to take a picture of "Welcome to Tennessee!".

DSC_0469 by jessicamanning19, on Flickr

After driving through Kentucky and a little bit of Tennessee, my mom needed to rest her back, so I took over. I have a fear of driving in the mountains, and I was a tad freaked out about driving through them. Even though there not that bad, the mountains still freak me out. My mom talked me through, and I successfully drove through them. Phew! That was a relief.

Hello Atlanta! Katie took the picture because I was driving. Yes, I missed the Georgia welcome sign, but I was driving.

IMG_0267 by jessicamanning19, on Flickr

After Atlanta, I got tired, so my mom took over. We made it to the border of Georgia at about 11:00. We decided to stay in a hotel for the night. We made our exit in Valdosta, GA. Finding a hotel was a NIGHTMARE. Every hotel was booked because Lady Antebellum was in town for a concert. WOW, we would choose to stay in a town with every hotel booked. It was insane! We were so desperate we even tried staying in this crack motel...


IMG_0959 by jessicamanning19, on Flickr

HA! You gotta love the name. Unfortunately, they were booked, but the guy offered that we could stay downstairs... Oh my gosh. I don't even want to know what goes on downstairs. So we got the heck away from that place. Luckily, the sleep inn had one room left. It was a "suite" with a whirlpool. Woohoo! How fancy! You should have seen this place. It was no suite. Jodi and Katie were forced to sleep on the pull out couch, but they survived.

Stay tuned!!!!

 

[Patrick_Ears]

Yeah the Pop can be loud at times. When we stayed there this past April it was not that bad, butttt it was not summer yet also. I understand 3am is like waaaayyy early in the morning. You have some people getting up like in 2 or 3 hours to go back to the parks. But so far report looks like y'all are having fun.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

i finally caught up on your trip report! sounds like you all had a great girls trip and you had lots of fun dining experiences! it stinks that it was so hot while you were there. the heat can really put a damper on a wdw trip but i am glad to see that you all still had a good time.

I decided I wanted to try the soups. As I was pondering on which "exotic" soup I should try, one of the chefs came up to me and explained what was in each soup and what he liked the best. He was very helpful because I was completely lost on what I should try. I chose the mulagatani, mostly because of Seinfeld. If anyone is an avid Seinfeld watcher you know why I chose it!:lol:

It was pretty good. It was also very similar to chicken noodle soup, but the broth was somewhat different.

i LOVE seinfeld so i totally understand basing your soup selection on the soup nazi episode! mmm...mulagatani. i will have to go to boma to try it!

sad you are almost to your last day! can't wait to read more.

 

[wdwmagic]

Great report!!

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

I've always wanted to try Boma but I'm very skeptikal because I'm not a huge fan of trying new things.... But the food looks good so I think we may add it to our list in the spring!!!!

 

[disneygirl1]

Great update!!! How awesome are the zebra dome desserts at Boma??? We stayed at AKL in December and I swear we got them everyday! I was addicted! :lol:

 

[Disneygal1]

Loving the trip report, also enjoying the awesome pictures!!

Thanks! I'm glad you're liking it!

Yeah the Pop can be loud at times. When we stayed there this past April it was not that bad, butttt it was not summer yet also. I understand 3am is like waaaayyy early in the morning. You have some people getting up like in 2 or 3 hours to go back to the parks. But so far report looks like y'all are having fun.

You got lucky!:lol: It was very loud, but I agree with you that it was loud because of summer. 3 am is very early. I wouldn't have cared if they weren't screaming and such, but that was not the case.:roll eyes: On the bright side, I'm glad you're enjoying!

i finally caught up on your trip report! sounds like you all had a great girls trip and you had lots of fun dining experiences! it stinks that it was so hot while you were there. the heat can really put a damper on a wdw trip but i am glad to see that you all still had a good time.



i LOVE seinfeld so i totally understand basing your soup selection on the soup nazi episode! mmm...mulagatani. i will have to go to boma to try it!

sad you are almost to your last day! can't wait to read more.

Yay for being caught up! We truly had an awesome time. We really enjoyed trying a lot of new dining experiences as well. The heat was crazy. I've been to Disney many times during the summer, but for some reason it seemed hotter than most summers. I think the main reason it was so hot was because of the crowds. We tried to make the most out of the heat epceially by buying plenty of ice cold drinks and popsicles.:lol:

So glad to see a Seinfeld fan on here! I could not go without trying Seinfeld's signature soup nazi soup.:lol:

I'm sad too! I cannot believe that this TR is coming to an end.

Great report!!

Thanks Mr. Wdwmagic! I am so glad to see that you are enjoying it!

I've always wanted to try Boma but I'm very skeptikal because I'm not a huge fan of trying new things.... But the food looks good so I think we may add it to our list in the spring!!!!

You should definitely give it shot! If you chicken out with the new foods, there is always the "American" part of the buffet. I am skeptical of new foods as well, but nothing was too risky at Boma. I can't wait to hear it you like it!

Great update!!! How awesome are the zebra dome desserts at Boma??? We stayed at AKL in December and I swear we got them everyday! I was addicted! :lol:

Thanks! Ooooo! They were definitely my favorite. I love how they have a warning for them because they contain alcohol. Although, I could not taste any alcohol. I saw some people with the dome desserts to go. I wonder if they "card" people who buy them.:lol: On my next trip I definitely will be stopping by and getting some!

 

[Disneygal1]

Our Last Day: Magic Kingdom and Dinner at Trail's End

WOW! I cannot believe that I am writing my last day at WDW. Okay, now onto the TR!

We were bad girls and slept in. We actually meant to get up early, but we ignored our wakeup call.:lol: We got up at 10, and decided to have some breakfast and use some of our quick service credits at Everything Pop.

I had some delicious Mickey Waffles.

I cannot recall what the girls had, but they liked their breakfast.

After breakfast, we headed over to the Magic Kingdom. We chose to take the monorail instead of the Ferry because of our experience with a very long wait the last time. Little did we know, that we would face a long wait. When our monorail came, we saw that it was jammed pack. Because my mom has a bad back, she needs to sit while on the monorails, so we stood back and let others go on it. There was a very rude cast member asking use to move over and telling us to get on the monorail. After we told him why we would wait, he had a horrible attitude and low tolerance. (I know, it's peak season, but is it really necessary to be that rude?) He basically gave us an attitude, rolled his eyes, and let us on our way. Unluckily, the Tron monorail had to switch lines, so we had to wait an extra ten minutes. BUT my mom was able to sit on the monorail that we waited for, and that was all that mattered.

When arriving at MK, our memory of the crappy encounter with the cast member left us, and we were filled with the magic/happiness of the Magic Kingdom!

Of course, right when we arrived, Jodi and Katie ran over to space mountain. My mom and I just walked around and took everything in.

I was determined to go into the Barber Shop since I had never seen it, nor had been in there. I found it! I never knew how small it was, but it was very classic.

I also noticed that the scaffold had been taken down.

My mom did some shopping in the Jewelry store. I decided to take a picture of my favorite purchase I had made while on vacation.

I LOVE IT!

 

[Disneygal1]

After some shopping, my mom and I went to the Main Street Train Station to take in the amazing views.

I never noticed all of the flags until that day.

Ahh, I love that spot.

After my photo shoot, we met up with Jodi and Katie, and we went on some rides. We surprisingly didn't experience any breakdowns which was great, but the heat was getting bad, again. We also did some shopping and such. Then, Jodi, Katie, and I went over to Tom Sawyer's Island while my mom shopped. After all of the times I have been to Disney, I had never been on Tom Sawyer's Island, so I was pretty excited to check it out.

Creepy cave. I got so dizzy after walking through that thing. I can't even imagine tall people trying to walk through it.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

That's too funny that the couscous at Boma was the only thing on your plate that you didn't care for. That was one of the items on the buffet that I just couldn't get enough of!!! :slurp: Seriously loved it!!! I also had to grab a bowl of the mulligatawny- soley b/c of the Seinfeld reference. I know someone at our table had to do their best Newman impression after that! :lol:

LOVE the pic with all of the flags. I don't think I've ever noticed how many flags there are. Either way- such a great patriotic Disney photo.

Sad that you are on the last day of the report...means another GREAT report is coming to an end soon! Oh well- can't wait to read the rest. :wave:

 

[Disneygal1]

I loved Tom Sawyer's island. It's so neat. All of the details and hidden stuff are very cool. We tried looking for the paint brushes, but we had no luck. Then the heat was really beating down on us so we headed back to the main land.

We met up with my mom to be greeted with this life saver.

We talked to my mom, and she really couldn't take the heat anymore that it was becoming unbearable! We had seen two people pass out that day and call the paramedics. It was pretty disappointing that we were going to have to end our day early, but it was okay. We had gone on plenty of rides and really enjoyed our time down there, and that was really what mattered. Before we left, we did some last minute shopping on Main Street.

We stopped in the bakery, and I was craving this treat...

Ahhh, what the heck?! I'm on vacation! So, I got it, but I decided to save it for later. Oh, and there is funny story with that, stay tuned!

So my main goal for this trip was to get a balloon. My parents are very cheap, and never got me a balloon as a kid. Well, now I am an adult, and I am going to get that darn balloon!

I was very happy.:lol:

We stopped in the place (totally forgot the name) where you have your bought items sent. Unfortunately my mom's stuff hadn't arrived yet, but the cast member was so kind that he ran over to the store and picked my mom's stuff up.

While we were waiting...

I almost forgot to mention that we all wore the same t-shirts that day. We made them the night before we went to WDW. It reads "I'm Celebrating Jess's Graduation".

 

[Disneygal1]

This guy and his buddies came out while we were waiting.

After the kind cast member brought my mom her items, we went over to City Hall to ask them a very important question: "Where the heck has Think been?!". The cast member was very kind and was not aware of Tink taking any breaks, but he told us how Tink is sometimes not at Wishes because she gets "tied up" at Epcot. So maybe that's the reason why we hadn't seen her the entire trip...But we were glad to know that they were not getting rid of her anytime soon.

Then, our dreaded moment had come... Leaving MK, saying good bye to the castle and everything else. I absolutely hate this part in my trips. I looked back at the castle for the last time, and I felt myself holding back my tears. I knew this moment had to come, but I was not ready for it...

After "saying" goodbye, we exited and headed over to the monorails. And well what do ya know???? The monorails were currently "down", so everyone had to take the buses or ferries. We were greeted with this lovely line.

After waiting about a good twenty minutes, we got on the ferry and headed back to our car. We sat in the car (with the air condition on) and tried to figure out where we were going to eat. We actually didn't have any table service credits left, but my mom got lucky with her disney visa card. Since she had so many points, she received a 100 dollar gift card, so we used it for dinner. One of our favorite restaurants in Disney is Trail's End at Fort Wilderness. And what a great idea to spend our Trail's End at Trail's End:lol:, so we ate there.

Trail's End never disappoints. We were seated within five minutes.

YUM!

The dessert was good too. They also have real creamy soft served ice cream, unlike Chef Mickey's where their ice cream is somewhat not real. If you get what I mean...:lol: It just tastes funky haha... That's the best I can explain it.

Our meal was GREAT! Everything was awesome as usual and it was a perfect way to celebrate our Trail's End.

After Dinner, we went over to the Contemporary.

I'm on a boat! SNL anyone?:lol:

Don't worry! There is more to come!

 

[Disneygal1]

That's too funny that the couscous at Boma was the only thing on your plate that you didn't care for. That was one of the items on the buffet that I just couldn't get enough of!!! :slurp: Seriously loved it!!! I also had to grab a bowl of the mulligatawny- soley b/c of the Seinfeld reference. I know someone at our table had to do their best Newman impression after that! :lol:

LOVE the pic with all of the flags. I don't think I've ever noticed how many flags there are. Either way- such a great patriotic Disney photo.

Sad that you are on the last day of the report...means another GREAT report is coming to an end soon! Oh well- can't wait to read the rest. :wave:

Haha that is so funny! Jodi loved it. I guess it just wasn't my thing... Woo hoo for the mulligatawny! I'm glad I am not the only who based my choice off of the tv show. Haha I can just imagine the impression!

Thanks! I never knew about all of those flags. It definitely shows Disney's loyalty to our country!

I know! It is so depressing! I'm glad you are enjoying it though!

 

[Kajunpainter500]

" I'm on a boat" Ha HA I love that,very funny.:ROFLOL:

 

[spectromagic04]

Too bad that the heat was so unbearable that you had to end your last at the parks early!

 

[jhoff3405]

Still along for the ride. Couldn't agree more with your decision to have your last meal at Trails End!

You gals look like you just had so much fun!

I love your pics from the train station of main street...

 

[Patrick_Ears]

Yeah too bad you didn't take the bus back, the crowds look very heavy. I been there so i know how that feels in the heat.

 

[Steve-B]

Great pictures!

Those are some really good (if not great) pictures of Main Street and the castle!

 

[Disneygal1]

" I'm on a boat" Ha HA I love that,very funny.:ROFLOL:

Haha I'm glad someone understood it!:lol:

Too bad that the heat was so unbearable that you had to end your last at the parks early!

Yeah it kind of stunk, but I'm glad we were able to do a lot before we decided to leave.

Still along for the ride. Couldn't agree more with your decision to have your last meal at Trails End!

You gals look like you just had so much fun!

I love your pics from the train station of main street...

Yay Mrs. Hoffman, I'm glad you're still along for the ride! Trails End is definitely one of my favorite restaurants.

We had so much fun.

Thanks! Those are hands down my favorite photos from the trip.

Yeah too bad you didn't take the bus back, the crowds look very heavy. I been there so i know how that feels in the heat.

That probably would have been a better idea... :lol:

Those are some really good (if not great) pictures of Main Street and the castle!

Thanks!

 

[Disneygal1]

Final Post

After shopping at the Contemporary, we headed back to the Wilderness Lodge because we parked there.

While walking through the lodge, I notched some hidden mickeys in this lift fixture...

Ohh! And I almost forgot to mention the cupcake story... So when we got back to the car I decided to try my delicious looking cupcake. Well, I didn't realize that leaving a cupcake in the heat was a bad idea. To sum it up, when I got it out of the bag, I found it to be melted! Well, the frosting was. I kind of lost my appetite. So much for buying the cupcake...

When we got back to Pop, we realized that we had a ton of snack credits and quick service credits left. My mom heard someone mention that quick services could be transferred into snacks, so my mom went to the front desk to see how many snacks we had left. Well, to our surprise we had a lot of snacks left. By a a lot, I mean we had 57 snacks left. WOW!!!!!! So we decided to get 57 snacks for the dreaded car ride home. We had a really nice cast member help us out and tell us what we could get.

This is what we got...

After that, we went back to our room and packed. Then we went to bed. While trying to fall asleep, my mom and I had the "giggles" and we couldn't stop laughing at what was on tv. I can't remember what it was, but we could not stop laughing. We ended up waking Jodi and Katie and they started laughing. Haha it was very funny at the time...

We woke up around 4:30 am and left at 5:30. We didn't have to stop for food because we had SO many snacks. I basically ate mickey rice crispy treats the whole way home. :slurp: We ended up getting home at 10:30 pm that day. We made excellent time for driving from WDW to Chicago.

We had an amazing trip, and it was the BEST way to celebrate my graduation. No, I was not ready to go, but we had to get back to realty. I move out in three weeks. So, I will try to visit this website as often as I can! Also my mom and I are trying to plan something for December. Wish me luck on convincing my dad!

And to everybody who has stuck through my entire for a month, thank you! I hope everyone enjoyed reading just as much as I did writing it!

 

[Sarabell]

I loved the whole thing! I can see you had a great time! I can´t think of a better way to celebrate. I really enjoyed your trip report, and I hope you enjoy college, it´s the best time of your life!