Trip Report Meet the Floridians

Hello humans!

Most of you know me by now, but for those of you who haven't followed my past TR's (particularly my most recent), I'll do some brief introductions. Feel free to check out my past reports (in my signature) if you'd like!

Who: I'm Brittany! I'm 25 and completely Disney obsessed. My better half is Dylan, also 25 and not quite as Disney obsessed. Prior to meeting me, he had never been to WDW! It was obviously top priority to remedy that.

This is our baby, Tink. She also loves Disney.

We got engaged in Magic Kingdom in June.. my dream come true! Though our wedding won't take place in Disney, it will be Disney themed.

While we were enjoying our time in the World, I accepted a 1st grade teaching position in Osceola County, Florida. Fast forward a month, and we packed up a U-Haul to relocate from Pennsylvania to the Sunshine State!

We currently live 20 minutes from Disney property, and one of our first purchases should come as no surprise. This report will be a collection of our adventures as annual passholders, and I'll update it with a Table of Contents as we go. Now, without further ado...

To all who come to this happy place, welcome!

 

[blreinsel]

Saturday, September 16 cont.

We walked by some Irma damage.

So what exactly were we doing here? This.

I'd been dying to try Ample Hills for quite some time, but we've just never made time to do it. Today was the day! I really want to do the sampler, but for today we agreed to share a sundae instead.

We had the Baked/Unbaked ice cream topped with all of this deliciousness. It was SO GOOD! We sat at this cute little table by the water and enjoyed our treat.. a perfect evening, really. We will absolutely be back!

I took a creeper shot of this kid sitting near us because I thought that he resembled Sterg (@fractal). To somebody who actually knows Sterg, he probably looks nothing like him.

One last shot of our beautiful view before we finished our loop and headed back to the car.

Dylan spotted this rock in the landscaping along the path. I took these pictures and then returned it for somebody else to find.

We headed home after another successful day in the World.

 

[blreinsel]

Thank you for spelling Tambu correctly.
I would expect nothing less from a teacher.

Lol! We teachers are a special breed, as I'm sure you can attest to. I'm not sure what @lostpro9het's excuse is.

 

[fractal]

Saturday, September 16 cont.

We walked by some Irma damage.
View attachment 234987

View attachment 234988

View attachment 234989

So what exactly were we doing here? This.
View attachment 234990

I'd been dying to try Ample Hills for quite some time, but we've just never made time to do it. Today was the day! I really want to do the sampler, but for today we agreed to share a sundae instead.
View attachment 234991

We had the Baked/Unbaked ice cream topped with all of this deliciousness. It was SO GOOD! We sat at this cute little table by the water and enjoyed our treat.. a perfect evening, really. We will absolutely be back!
View attachment 234992

I took a creeper shot of this kid sitting near us because I thought that he resembled Sterg (@fractal). To somebody who actually knows Sterg, he probably looks nothing like him.
View attachment 234993

One last shot of our beautiful view before we finished our loop and headed back to the car.
View attachment 234994

Dylan spotted this rock in the landscaping along the path. I took these pictures and then returned it for somebody else to find.
View attachment 234995

View attachment 234996

We headed home after another successful day in the World.

A little bit like Sterg.

Love the photo of the Sundae on the table!

 

[lostpro9het]

Lol! We teachers are a special breed...

Ya'll are special alright...

I'm not sure what @lostpro9het's excuse is.

For me, its more about this...

 

[blreinsel]

Ya'll are special alright...


For me, its more about this...

That accurately depicts my kids pushing my figurative buttons all day... every day...

 

[Doc Disney]

We hopped in line and were fortunate enough to have this view while we waited.

OMG... How is that outfit even allowed

 

[blreinsel]

Saturday, September 23

Dylan and I decided on a quick MK jaunt after he got off of work today. Still not over the fall decor.

I had grabbed a FP+ for Pooh because it had been awhile since we'd ridden. It didn't take us long to realize that MK was PACKED today. I believe we rode HM after this as well.

We were both pretty hungry, so we decided on Pinocchio Village Haus for our late lunch/early dinner.

I think this restaurant is so cute and quaint.

I excitedly told Dylan about how you can sometimes luck into a table along the windows and watch the Small World boats float by... he wasn't nearly as excited. Unfortunately, all of the tables were taken so we found one nearby. Not long into our meal, one of the window tables opened up.

Anyway, I had the Chicken Parm sandwich and it was yummy!

Dylan just went with the pasta in marinara sauce and thought it was fine.

After our meal, I was interested in something sweet. We walked toward Storybook Circus to check out their bakery selection. We stopped for a few pictures on the way.

We stood along the wall and watched the trains roll by for a few minutes.

We continued on and soon we were here!

I didn't see anything that interested me, so we left empty handed.

 

[blreinsel]

Saturday, September 23 cont.

At that point, we were already tired of dealing with the obnoxious crowds and as you can see, the sky was looking scary. Two rides, dinner, and we were done for the day.

I did give the dessert thing one last shot and stopped in the Confectionary on our way out.

That gingerbread man had also had enough of the crazy crowds today.

Hmmm... what will it be?

Success in the form of a cupcake! It was delicious and was the perfect end to our day.

 

[Songbird76]

Wednesday, September 13 cont.

Next up we decided to take a ride on the safari.. I think it was posted at 10 minutes but was basically a walk on. We passed these hats on the way so I figured I'd take a picture to remind @wdisney9000 to pack his for November.
View attachment 232967

We hopped in line and were fortunate enough to have this view while we waited.
View attachment 232969

Can't see well enough? Here's a better one.
View attachment 232970



There's an okapi in this picture, but I took the next two in an attempt to show some of the Irma damage. It kind of blends in, but it was much more apparent in real life.
View attachment 232971

View attachment 232972

Black rhino was out to play
View attachment 232973

You can see the Irma damage better here. Our guide said that the hippos (and other animals) were loving all of the fallen trees. There was a hippo hiding under this one.
View attachment 232974

There weren't many giraffes out today, but we did see this beauty having a snack.
View attachment 232968

And that outfit was allowed? You're not even allowed on the BUS to the waterparks without coverups and THAT is allowed? My bathing suit covers MUCH more than that.

 

[Songbird76]

Thank you for spelling Tambu correctly.
I would expect nothing less from a teacher.

Ha!! I was going to comment on the fact that I was sure you would appreciate the proper spelling, but I restrained myself.

 

[blreinsel]

Friday, September 29

For years I've dreamt of going to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, but being a student and then a teacher prevented me from being able to get away for vacation in the fall. Now I live here and well... FL resident perks strike again! My parents happened to be in town (dealing with some Irma damage at their house in Leesburg) and my mom was more than happy to go to the party with me.

We saw so many cute costumes and I regretted not dressing up a bit... that is until it started pouring in true Florida fashion. We rode the tram to the monorail and the wind was blowing the rain right in our faces. We were drenched by the time we even got to the monorail. Not a great start to the evening. We arrived (looking like drowned rats) at probably around 5:30pm or 6pm and were through the turnstiles with our party bands in no time.

We walked around Main Street for a bit, just taking in the scenery and letting my mom take some pictures. I was bummed that we couldn't get any of the special party magic shots thanks to the rain. We were hungry so I suggested Tomorrowland Terrace.. they were closed. Rookie mistake, but we remedied that quickly by moving on to Cosmic Ray's. We both had the BBQ Pulled Pork sandwich and it was delicious! We were fortunate enough to snag a table without having to walk around for very long looking for one.

We finished our meals and decided to start walking around a bit. We wanted to get some party-specific merchandise and I knew that Big Top Souvenirs would have everything. On our way, we passed this lovely lady.

She walked right up to me and said, "hello darling!" with a flip of her coat.

We also spotted these guys (with a line far longer than we were willing to stand in).

We spent quite awhile deciding on our purchases, but both ended up with a shirt, pumpkin/Mickey necklace, and special party pin. We continued on through Fantasyland with no real destination in mind, passing by Ariel and Prince Eric on the way. It was tempting, but there was really only one character meet and greet that I was willing to wait for tonight.

We arrived at Gaston's Tavern and were told that we probably wouldn't make it inside to meet Belle and Gaston until after their break, but we could wait if we wanted. Since we would have been waiting about 40 minutes, we decided to move along and come back later.

We did some trick-or-treating in the meantime! I felt incredibly awkward doing this without kids at first, but I eventually got used to it and accepted my candy with a smile.

Inside Phillharmagic...

The size and brand of candy that they give you amazes me... I kind of regret not hitting up more treat lines than we did. Also... I'm slightly obsessed with the CM outfits for the party.

Blurry, but they were playing cartoon shorts on the big screen.

I think we did a few more treat lines, but we ended up at Small World because it was a walk on.

Once again, the screens at the end were working but we weren't the chosen ones.

 

[DisneyJeff]

I've said it before and I'll say it again... I'm so jealous that you can just "pop-in" to Disney whenever you want!!! Got a few hours to kill after work??? Let's do Disney!! Where do you want to go for lunch today? Let's do Disney!!!

 

[ScarletBegonias]

I loved MNSSHP! Sorry you guys had rain issues!

 

[blreinsel]

I've said it before and I'll say it again... I'm so jealous that you can just "pop-in" to Disney whenever you want!!! Got a few hours to kill after work??? Let's do Disney!! Where do you want to go for lunch today? Let's do Disney!!!

It's just as great as it sounds.

I loved MNSSHP! Sorry you guys had rain issues!

We had an awesome time regardless of the rain! Hoping to get the rest of the night posted soon.

 

[wdisney9000]

Dylan spotted this rock in the landscaping along the path. I took these pictures and then returned it for somebody else to find.

My wife told me about people that do this thing called Geocaching . People "hide" things and then upload and share the coordinates of the item they hid so others can find it and add to it, keep it or replace ti with another. We read some cool stories about people hiding things behind dresser drawers in the resorts or in the gardens at the parks. Maybe that rock was geocached.

https://www.geocaching.com/bookmarks/view.aspx?guid=8d82f41a-4962-4dd5-bee3-2302139355a6

 

[rshell68]

Saturday, September 23 cont.
At that point, we were already tired of dealing with the obnoxious crowds and as you can see, the sky was looking scary. Two rides, dinner, and we were done for the day.
View attachment 236555

It really is so nice to be able to just "pop" in do a few things knowing you'll be back soon. There isn't the pressure to do everything. Granted we are an hour and a half away so it doesn't happen as often as I would like (I am a little jealous ) but it is better than the 14 hour drive we used to have.

 

[prfctlyximprct]

I want to be able to go to Magic Kingdom for dessert!!!!! I may or may not be throwing a temper tantrum on my floor right now!

So happy you get to experience that Halloween party!! My best friend is a teacher so she’s in the same boat.. I told her to move to Florida like you LOL

 

[blreinsel]

My wife told me about people that do this thing called Geocaching . People "hide" things and then upload and share the coordinates of the item they hid so others can find it and add to it, keep it or replace ti with another. We read some cool stories about people hiding things behind dresser drawers in the resorts or in the gardens at the parks. Maybe that rock was geocached.

https://www.geocaching.com/bookmarks/view.aspx?guid=8d82f41a-4962-4dd5-bee3-2302139355a6

I bet you're right! So cool.. If I had more patience that would be really fun to do. I would just get frustrated if I couldn't find it and give up.

It really is so nice to be able to just "pop" in do a few things knowing you'll be back soon. There isn't the pressure to do everything. Granted we are an hour and a half away so it doesn't happen as often as I would like (I am a little jealous ) but it is better than the 14 hour drive we used to have.

It's the best! I try to not lose sight of just how lucky I am.

I want to be able to go to Magic Kingdom for dessert!!!!! I may or may not be throwing a temper tantrum on my floor right now!

So happy you get to experience that Halloween party!! My best friend is a teacher so she’s in the same boat.. I told her to move to Florida like you LOL

Lol! January... Just keep telling yourself January! Moving to Florida to teach is the obvious answer. I'm soooo excited for the Christmas party!!

 

[blreinsel]

Friday, September 29 cont.

We made our way back to the Tavern to hop in line for Gaston and Belle. I was given a blue card (which is better than a red card and reserved for Disney royalty only ) to help track wait times for the duo. We ended up waiting about 30 minutes... not bad!

We chatted about Maurice making our necklaces, which naturally sent Gaston into a tizzy over how insane the man is. Belle was quick to defend him and told Gaston that he was positively primeval. I get so happy when they quote themselves.

Gaston asked what our favorite part about him was, and the obvious answer is his muscles. He was happy to show off for us.

I forget what led to the next part of our conversation, but I told Gaston that last time I saw him he straight up swept me off my feet. He rattled off some comment about "of course he did" and my mom scolded him because I'm engaged. He asked me if I was still wanting to make my fiancé jealous so of course I said yes... nobody but Belle says no to Gaston. That smile is genuine, folks. I was complaining to Dylan later about my feet hurting and he told me to have Gaston rub them for me. He's such a good sport.

Poor Belle... The whole reason I stood in this line was to see her and Gaston ended up stealing the show.

Do you understand where my Disney obsession comes from yet? Lol

They were both amazing. Even my mom commented on how great they played their roles. They spent a lot of time with us too, which was awesome! Soooo worth waiting in line for!

Since we were already there, we decided to try the Pumpkin Cheesecake Dome! It was REALLY good, but REALLY rich. We agreed that we probably could have shared one, but who shares Disney food?

We left Gaston's and headed for Frontierland. I think we went through a few treat lines on our way, but we soon ended up at Big Thunder! The wait was posted at 10 minutes, but it was literally a walk on. When we exited, the wait was posted at 5 minutes. We probably should have ridden again, but we had other matters to attend to.

 

[sheriffwoody]

We agreed that we probably could have shared one, but who shares Disney food?

*slowly raises hand*

We shared that. Totally agree, it is RICH. Glad we only got one