Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho, It’s Off To Work We Go: An April/July 2011 Trip Report

Yep. It’s me again! And guess what? This report is going to go up soooo much faster than that last one. Well, Part I is at least. No, really. Promise! Here’s the thing, just three short weeks after returning from our Wedding/Disneymoon extravaganza, I found myself back at the World ready to take on another adventure; unfortunately though, without my husband in tow. Yeah that’s right, I’m such a great wife, so great that I left him behind and went to Disney World without him for our one month anniversary! And then, again, in the middle of the summer. Tsk, tsk. Bad wife.

Part I: Saturday, April 16 – Wednesday, April 20 at Port Orleans Riverside
You see, by day (when I’m not trip reporting :lookaroun) I advise, assist, and mentor engineering students throughout their co-op experiences. One of the perks of my job is that I get to travel around and visit students on all these different assignments. Well, lo and behold, after quite a few years of trying, I was able to hook up two of my students with Disney! Guess what this means?! Yes, smart cookies, this means a site visit to Disney World for Hollybelle! The timing of a couple things (the wedding, and work-related events) pretty much dictated when this trip would take place. And it just so happened to be smack dab in the middle of prime spring break time; the week before Easter. This was actually a good thing though, because it meant that my mom, Kim (a teacher), could come along with me for the fun.

Part II: Tuesday, July 12 – Friday, July 15 at Caribbean Beach
I needed to go back to the Central Florida area in July for a site visit with students in Tampa, so of course, being an annual passholder, I couldn't resist combining this short visit with more time at Disney. Unfortunately, Brett couldn't get away from work to join me this time either. So I called up my mom, and she so selflessly gave up a bit of her summer to join me again. :lol: Good thing she got that annual pass.

Because all good reports need an introduction to the cast, here we are slurpin’ down margaritas in the Bahamas:

For the first trip, I initially had Pop booked because there was no way an AP rate would come out for the weekend before Easter, but oddly enough, my mom came across a surprisingly great rate for POR on one of the non-Disney travel sites, so we upgraded! Woohooo! This was my first time booking a Disney resort through a third party and everything worked out perfectly fine.

Just an aside, both parts of this report will likely be more photo driven and have a lot less text than normal… I also have a May trip to report on and an upcoming trip at the end of September so I'm trying my best to get all caught up with the summer reports as quickly as possible. :lol: Yes, I know, it’s already September. How’d that happen?!

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Would you believe that we strolled (yes, I said strolled) down Hollywood Boulevard, took some pictures, grabbed fastpasses for TSMM, and STILL made it into the standby line while there was only a 10 minute wait for the ride? Exactly. How about a shout out to all those folks who like to sleep in?! Keep it up, my friends, I’m grateful to you.

LOL!!!:lol::lol:

Well it's about time! :lol:

No, I'm so excited you started! Your pictures are just gorgeous. I love how leisurely it all was. Sigh. Time to take pictures with no one waiting.

Jealous!!

Yes, I have an impatient co-pilot too He was complaining by day 2 about having to wait so much. But he sure doesn't complain about all of the photos we have now. :drevil: But seriously, my hubby's so good about humoring my photo-taking. He even gets into it himself sometimes!

Loved Day 2! I haven't seen Fantasmic in years, since we saw it at DisneyLAND back in 2004! I really hope we are able to see it on our next trip...it seems to NEVER be playing when we are at WDW. What's up with that?!?

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

Sorry I couldn't be of more help. I hope everything works out for you with the upcoming career fairs.

Keep an eye out for us next week... we'll be the ones limping around the parks after the half marathon! :lol:

Thank you so much!

And I will! Leaving in 15 hours can't wait!

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Love your morning MK shots!

Is that not the sweetest?!? Great job hubby!!

I'm loving all of your Spring Breaker tips in this TR. DH has been enticing me with ideas of a Spring Break trip 2012...it's funny how he asks me what I think?? Ummmmm, isn't it obvious what my answer will be?!?:lol:

Oh I just love this! Wonderful shot, Mom!! It really captures your reminicing...

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Awesome World Showcase day. I love that your only goal was to enjoy World Showcase. I bet separating the two, Future World/World Showcase and just spending a a day at each would be a great way to tour them. Obviously WS doesn't usually open until 11, but then a person could let themself sleep in!

Your mom is so cute! You two looked like you really enjoyed your time together.

 

[popsicletrees]

Holly, I loved this part of your report! Trips with just mom are so much fun, but I understand your feelings that it is just not the same without the husband.

Your photos of Port Orleans are beautiful!

Ok, the crowds were a bit scary for you. I realize that it was during Spring Break, though. I'm actually returning in two weeks during Fall Break. Anxiety is rising a little with fears that we will experience crazy bus and monorail lines too.

Props to Brett for the surprise for you. That was really sweet.

Oh, I understand about having a top park for each trip, like you mentioned towards the beginning. Although Epcot has been my consistent top park. Actually, if WS was its own park it would win out each time.

Looking forward to another report!

 

[MillerPoppins]

Finally caught up on this mini trip report and I heart it! You have such great trip reports Holly! But I can't lie, I am even more excited at the fact that the Pixar Weekend trip report is finally on it's way! The suspense has been killing me!!!!! :ROFLOL::lookaroun:zipit:

 

[HollyBelle]

I have only finished Day 1, but I thought it might be easier for me to comment on a day-by-day basis as I progress through your TR.

I love this cute scarf! I have a very soft spot for scarves

Me too! I love how they can change an outfit entirely.

I love your pics from POR. There is one in particular that is looking down a sidewalk with a canopy of trees. It shows the cool palm leaf impressions in the sidewalk. It's details like those that just steal my heart at Disney.

Love the GiftCard idea too...so simple! Why have I never thought of that??

The Disney details really are amazing. Like you said... even thought is put into the sidewalks!

Gift card = best idea ever. UNTIL I thought I had lost it at one point in the trip. Still though, it makes life so much easier... a) you don't have to worry about change, b) you can always see your remaining balance on the most recent receipt, and c) you know exactly what you've spent.

I have never heard you tell us this about you two. We are like this too...I have more patience than Ben. He is like Brett...gets claustrophobic. Well I have patience, but not as much at the end of a long day when my feet hurt and I'm sticky from the heat of the day. I agree with you though about Illuminations. I bet the fact that there is more seating around the lagoon helps too.

Ok, following along and on to Day 2!

Yeah. I can be a very patient person, but I tend to have trouble letting go of it when someone around me is being rude at the World. Or at, say, a live concert - happens ALL the time at those, people just pop up and invade your space after you've been politely waiting for an hour. I tend to fixate on it.

Ugghh... end of the day stickiness. :lol: Probably another reason why you and I love the mornings so much at the World.

Yes, I have an impatient co-pilot too He was complaining by day 2 about having to wait so much. But he sure doesn't complain about all of the photos we have now. But seriously, my hubby's so good about humoring my photo-taking. He even gets into it himself sometimes!

Loved Day 2! I haven't seen Fantasmic in years, since we saw it at DisneyLAND back in 2004! I really hope we are able to see it on our next trip...it seems to NEVER be playing when we are at WDW. What's up with that?!?

2004?! That was a ways back. We seem to never want to wait around for it. Which is kinda just us being lazy. Sad. :lol:

Love your morning MK shots!

Is that not the sweetest?!? Great job hubby!!

Aahhhhh, mornings!

I'm loving all of your Spring Breaker tips in this TR. DH has been enticing me with ideas of a Spring Break trip 2012...it's funny how he asks me what I think?? Ummmmm, isn't it obvious what my answer will be?!?

Oh I just love this! Wonderful shot, Mom!! It really captures your reminicing...

Honestly, we found spring break to not be too bad IF you can utilize all those morning hours - seriously, with the MK opening at 7am, you can accomplish a lot by 11 when the place is filling up. So, I'd suggest planning around early mornings, late evenings, and AFTERNOON NAPS!

Huzzah for Mom!

Awesome World Showcase day. I love that your only goal was to enjoy World Showcase. I bet separating the two, Future World/World Showcase and just spending a a day at each would be a great way to tour them. Obviously WS doesn't usually open until 11, but then a person could let themself sleep in!

Your mom is so cute! You two looked like you really enjoyed your time together.

Good point... that'd probably be the only way I'd let myself sleep in at Disney. We really did have the most amazing time wandering around World Showcase. I guess next time we need to start in Canada and work our way around.

Thanks, Melanee!

Holly, I loved this part of your report! Trips with just mom are so much fun, but I understand your feelings that it is just not the same without the husband.

Your photos of Port Orleans are beautiful!

Thanks, Rachel. Trips with mom really are fun. It was especially nice just to wander around taking pictures.

Ok, the crowds were a bit scary for you. I realize that it was during Spring Break, though. I'm actually returning in two weeks during Fall Break. Anxiety is rising a little with fears that we will experience crazy bus and monorail lines too.

By knocking out what you can in the mornings, I don't think the crowds will be too bad. Plus, fall break falls at so many different times for different schools/areas of the country, ,hopefully that will disperse the crowds a bit.

Props to Brett for the surprise for you. That was really sweet.

Yeah, I think I'll keep him. :animwink:

Oh, I understand about having a top park for each trip, like you mentioned towards the beginning. Although Epcot has been my consistent top park. Actually, if WS was its own park it would win out each time.

Looking forward to another report!

I agree, World Showcase alone is such a great place to spend time. This has to be why the Food and Wine Festival is my favorite time of year. I can't wait... we leave tomorrow! And it sounds like you'll be enjoying it in just a couple weeks!

Finally caught up on this mini trip report and I heart it! You have such great trip reports Holly! But I can't lie, I am even more excited at the fact that the Pixar Weekend trip report is finally on it's way! The suspense has been killing me!!!!!

Ummm... all for you, my lovely. Working on the text now, and I just wrote about your Boo. :sohappy:

Thanks, Karen.

 

[tiaragirl]

PART 1

MK

How smart are you, Holly bells, to get your kids hooked up with Disney. I give you props on that one.

Acadian house! Holla! While I'm not french-Acadian, the appreciation as an immersion student/french minor/person from an area with lots of Acadians is great! Love that - and all the groups of POR... I'm drooling.

I can appreciate the skipping meals for snacking.. eating just takes up WAY too much time! You're just lucky that your mother agrees with you on that one, because MINE always makes me stop to eat.

Your mom hasn't seen Spectro? Eeee, I can't wait for that TR! Spectro is my absolute favourite, Carly and I just didn't "get" MSEP this trip.

DHS/AK

Baby duckies

If Gaston does meet and greets I'm hauling Lauren there - he's her favourite, and I love him as well. I'm so sad we're not going to the parks in February because BaTB is my favourite show. Sighhs.

Your Fant! pictures have me teary - darn you! It's the onion smell on my hands, I swear..

And darn it, you and the hubs are too cute to be allowed. It's good that he knows that if there's one thing better than cold, hard cash it's a Disney gift card! Keep the flowers

EPCOT

The real question is: what is school bread? Everyone always talks about it and I've never had it.. or seen it..

It's also nice to see that Momma HollyBelle dresses classy at DIsney too =)

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Holly!

I read your TR on our way home last Saturday. I know my iPhone didn't do your awesome pics justice. LOL! I love that you and Mom managed to cover ground and have a blast even with the dreaded spring break crowds. That's awesome! I think the busy times are definitely a trade-off: when it's busy it's really busy but then you get those mega-expanded park hours. Loved reading all about your adventures. And isn't Brett just the sweetest...evah??? I'll need you to forward Tracey's contact info to him for future reference. Oh yes. We should get our men competing for the bestest other half title. That could really work out nicely for us girls, huh? :lol:

Can't wait to see Pixar Weekend. Now THAT is gonna be da bomb!

TTYS! :wave:

 

[meeskamickey]

Great part I trip report Holly! Awesome pictures, as always!!! I love, love, love the pictures of MK in the morning. There's something so special about the emptiness of it first thing in the morning...you totally capture that feeling when I look at your pictures! Also, I think it's so cool that you and your mom are real close and take vacations together. Can't wait to read part II as well as your other trip reports (I am of course assuming that you will be writing a report for each of your trips???).

 

[HollyBelle]

PART 1

MK

How smart are you, Holly bells, to get your kids hooked up with Disney. I give you props on that one.

Ahh yes, I'm sure you can see straight through my motives on that one. :animwink:

Acadian house! Holla! While I'm not french-Acadian, the appreciation as an immersion student/french minor/person from an area with lots of Acadians is great! Love that - and all the groups of POR... I'm drooling.

I can appreciate the skipping meals for snacking.. eating just takes up WAY too much time! You're just lucky that your mother agrees with you on that one, because MINE always makes me stop to eat.

Yeah, my mom can't talk because she's probably worse than I am about skipping meals. I love to snack!

Your mom hasn't seen Spectro? Eeee, I can't wait for that TR! Spectro is my absolute favourite, Carly and I just didn't "get" MSEP this trip.

I don't really get MSEP either. Maybe it's because I don't feel that nostalgic pull to it's original days. They can't bring Spectro back soon enough. I was able to see some of the good 'ol Spectro parade floats during the Wine and Dine half marathon last weekend and it got me so excited for it's return (whenever that may be).

DHS/AK

Baby duckies

If Gaston does meet and greets I'm hauling Lauren there - he's her favourite, and I love him as well. I'm so sad we're not going to the parks in February because BaTB is my favourite show. Sighhs.

Spoiler alert... GASTON is at the Halloween party. Squeeeee! :kiss: I have a feeling they're testing him out and getting the guy prepped for his very own legit meet and greet in the new Fantasyland.

Your Fant! pictures have me teary - darn you! It's the onion smell on my hands, I swear..

And darn it, you and the hubs are too cute to be allowed. It's good that he knows that if there's one thing better than cold, hard cash it's a Disney gift card! Keep the flowers

Hubby is a smart man, who knows me very well.

EPCOT

The real question is: what is school bread? Everyone always talks about it and I've never had it.. or seen it..

It's also nice to see that Momma HollyBelle dresses classy at DIsney too =)

School bread is some sort of dough filled with cream, with coconut shavings on top. It's good. But not crazy good like some other Disney sweets are.

I'm sure Momma Hollybelle is lurking around here somewhere... and I'm sure she's happy to know you approve of her classiness!

Holly!

I read your TR on our way home last Saturday. I know my iPhone didn't do your awesome pics justice. LOL! I love that you and Mom managed to cover ground and have a blast even with the dreaded spring break crowds. That's awesome! I think the busy times are definitely a trade-off: when it's busy it's really busy but then you get those mega-expanded park hours. Loved reading all about your adventures. And isn't Brett just the sweetest...evah??? I'll need you to forward Tracey's contact info to him for future reference. Oh yes. We should get our men competing for the bestest other half title. That could really work out nicely for us girls, huh? :lol:

Can't wait to see Pixar Weekend. Now THAT is gonna be da bomb!

TTYS! :wave:

Kelly!!! I hope you're feeling better.

I agree with you about the "busy" crowds. I kinda loved the fact that we got so much done in the early morning and then had time to just enjoy our afternoons. Seriously, a 7am MK opening is the BEST! I had no problem waving to the spring breakers as we left the park at 11am. Especially since we'd already accomplished all that we'd wanted to.

I feel rather lucky because Brett's really good at the "for no reason other than I love you" gifts. Got another such gift when we returned from this most recent trip. Yep. I'll definitely keep him. :kiss:

Great part I trip report Holly! Awesome pictures, as always!!! I love, love, love the pictures of MK in the morning. There's something so special about the emptiness of it first thing in the morning...you totally capture that feeling when I look at your pictures! Also, I think it's so cool that you and your mom are real close and take vacations together. Can't wait to read part II as well as your other trip reports (I am of course assuming that you will be writing a report for each of your trips???).

Sigh... MK in the morning. I'm excited that I was able to capture that feeling for you, as well. Empty parks in the morning are my favorite Disney feeling!

The plan is a report for each of the trips... I'm working on Pixar Weekend now, and then I'll probably just do a straight up photo review for Part II of this thread. And then there's the Wine and Dine Half Marathon! :sohappy:

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

In reference to your post above, did you and Brett do the half marathon?! My sister and I are training for next years! We figure we have a whole year to prepare and we should be able to train enough in that time to at least finish it!! :lol:

 

[NewfieFan]

Just saw this thread today for the first time (I guess I was in WDW when you were posting it). It may have been short but it was sweet! As always I love the story you tell with your pictures. I would love to do a trip with my mom sometime - how lucky are you! (Although, just like you I'm sure I'd be missin' my man and kiddos!). Looking forward to rest of your TRs (I'm a couple behind myself... I'll get posting one of these days)...

 

[HollyBelle]

Super late reply!

In reference to your post above, did you and Brett do the half marathon?! My sister and I are training for next years! We figure we have a whole year to prepare and we should be able to train enough in that time to at least finish it!! :lol:

Responding to your post in the other thread made me realize where I'd read that you were doing the W&D... I'm so sorry I didn't reply sooner. I still plan on doing a W&D report, so I'll share all kinds of thoughts on it. Hopefully, I'll get to it before the end of November. You and your sister are going to have soooo much fun! Although, just as an FYI now, if meeting characters is really high on your list for the race, then I would suggest looking into the January Half or the Princess Half, as each of those has far more characters than the W&D had.

Just saw this thread today for the first time (I guess I was in WDW when you were posting it). It may have been short but it was sweet! As always I love the story you tell with your pictures. I would love to do a trip with my mom sometime - how lucky are you! (Although, just like you I'm sure I'd be missin' my man and kiddos!). Looking forward to rest of your TRs (I'm a couple behind myself... I'll get posting one of these days)...

Hi, Sarah! :wave: My apologies for the super late reply. Did you and Kelly ever manage meeting up while you were at the World?! I hope so. I'll be looking for that trip report.

The mother/daughter bonding time was fabulous - and we were so lucky to have gotten to do it again in July.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Super late reply!



Responding to your post in the other thread made me realize where I'd read that you were doing the W&D... I'm so sorry I didn't reply sooner. I still plan on doing a W&D report, so I'll share all kinds of thoughts on it. Hopefully, I'll get to it before the end of November. You and your sister are going to have soooo much fun! Although, just as an FYI now, if meeting characters is really high on your list for the race, then I would suggest looking into the January Half or the Princess Half, as each of those has far more characters than the W&D had.

I think we will also look into the Princess half as well. For the W&D it's probably better that there's less characters, that way we can make sure we can get through it without keeling over. If we can manage that, then the next race we can work on characters!

 

[joanna71985]

Ack! I have no idea how I missed this TR until now. But I'm glad I found it! Love the pictures

 

[HollyBelle]

I think we will also look into the Princess half as well. For the W&D it's probably better that there's less characters, that way we can make sure we can get through it without keeling over. If we can manage that, then the next race we can work on characters!

Good point... but I have no doubt that if you train properly you'll still have plenty of time for characters!!! You may even have plenty of time if you train improperly. :lookaroun :animwink: :lol:

Ack! I have no idea how I missed this TR until now. But I'm glad I found it! Love the pictures

Thanks, Joanna!

 

[HollyBelle]

Welcome to Part II: Tuesday, July 12 – Friday, July 15 at Caribbean Beach Resort.

This trip was super short, with only two days spent in the parks. Seeing as how I can’t seem to catch up, and I’m becoming busier and busier with life in general, I’m going to try to limit myself to a quick photo review – with just a bit of commentary. Let’s see if I can actually do this. :lol:

Day 1 – Tuesday, July 12: Arrival/Downtown Disney

For this trip, my mom and I (and some stowaway chipmunks :lookaroun) flew into SFB on Tuesday around 10am, picked up a rental car, and made the trek to Tampa for the work-related portion of my trip. I dropped my mom off at a mall where she kept herself occupied, while I went to take care of business. Two hours later, I picked her up and we were on our way back up I-4 to Lake Buena Vista!

We arrived on property around 5:15pm and quickly made our way to the Custom House at CBR to check in.

Our room was in Barbados – the location was nice and the grounds were very pretty, but we had one of the worst rooms I’ve ever stayed in (Disney and non-Disney). Honestly, it was that bad. It just hadn’t been cleaned well – there was no way it had been vacuumed, the mirror had spots all over it, and there was dried toothpaste all over the sink/faucet, among many other things. We should’ve went straight back to the Custom House to ask for another room, but we didn’t. And then when we got back that night, we didn’t feel like moving all our stuff and dealing with it so late. The plan was to go talk to them the next morning, but we were afraid we’d miss our breakfast reservation at Ohana and rope drop at the MK. So in the end, we didn’t go say anything, although I know we really should have. I did provide them with very honest feedback once we returned home, but they didn’t go out of their way to do anything with it, so whatever. I’m over it now, so I don’t want to go on and on about it, but this room felt much more “value” than a value room has ever felt. And that’s frustrating.

Personally, I’m not a fan of the room décor – the cheap Finding Nemo border looks like it belongs in a kid’s bedroom, not a moderate level resort. Coronado Springs and Port Orleans both trounce Caribbean Beach in terms of style and ambience (within the rooms especially).

 

[HollyBelle]

We got ready to go out and opened the door to this… torrential downpour!

I checked in with Violet, to find that we were due for our share of rain over the next few days.

Meet Violet (best purchase EVER... next to Ginger, of course):

The plan, initially, was to go to Epcot, but the rain wasn’t letting up, so we headed to Downtown Disney instead to fill our bellies with the Earl and browse the shops!

 

[HollyBelle]

Pook! Pook! Pook!