Trip Report No Superstorm is Stopping Us!!

Hello everyone!
Oh my goodness, I cannot believe we are already here. If you haven't read my pre-trip report, you can find it here (https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads...ge-girls-do-spring-break.931781/#post-7896625), but if you just want to skip that I'll give you the quick lay-down of what's going on!

Back in September of last year, I was casually sitting in my dorm room at Penn State with my roommates, Danielle, Chelsea, and Acadia (yes, there's two Danielle's!). We were talking about how badly we wanted to go to Disney on Spring Break and all of a sudden just said, "well why not?!" It took some convincing of our parents and finding the funds to afford the trip, but just days later we were sitting on our beds on the phone with Disney and booking our Spring Break 2018 trip!

Originally, our trip was supposed to be from Wednesday, March 7th-Saturday, March 10th. We were going to be staying at Disney's Art of Animation (first time for all of us here!) in a Little Mermaid Suite, and planning on hitting one park a day. We only made one ADR at Akershus on Thursday because of the short time span we were going to be there.
But now that's when things change (and where the title comes from too!)

Initially our first flight was supposed to be on Wednesday at 6 am from Laguardia airport, and we were going to be leaving WDW on Saturday at 7:45 pm. That would give us time to hit AK on Wednesday on DHS on Saturday. Danielle, Chelsea, and myself are all from Long Island but Acadia is from State College, PA so tomorrow she was supposed to take a bus to NYC and then a train to Long Island so we could all travel to the airport together.
This morning I woke up to a very frantic mom telling me that she'd been on the phone all morning with Danielle's mom because we're expecting a superstorm Tuesday night that could potentially cancel our flight on Wednesday.
12 inches of snow basically means no flights on Wednesday which would thus mean NO TRIP! No way that was happening!

All day today we've been scrambling...parents talking, us doing research and trying to figure out how we're going to make things work. Alas, it seems as if things have finally fallen into place.
We are currently booking a flight out of JFK tomorrow night at 7:49 PM that will get in at 10:45. Acadia is taking a 1 AM bus from State College into NYC tonight and then taking a train to my house. Danielle's dad will be driving us all to the airport tomorrow and I will be calling Disney now to see if we can get an extension on our room at AoA.

I know...IT'S CRAZY! But there's no way we're letting this superstorm ruin our trip to Disney that we've been planning for so long! So now with one day less to get everything in order, I have to hastily go pack, run some errands, and get my last minute stuff done before we leave tomorrow.

But have no fear, the minute we arrive back on Saturday I will be officially starting this trip report for everyone. I'm so beyond excited to be going to Disney World with my best friends and hope you all will follow along this journey with us!

 

[Captain Barbossa]

Following along. Have fun and safe travels!

 

[riverside]

Safe travels!! And an extra night in Disney is never a bad thing!!!

 

[danitaytay]

Following along. Have fun and safe travels!

Thank you so much!!

Safe travels!! And an extra night in Disney is never a bad thing!!!

Thank you so much! Absolutely, I couldn't agree more! And less time waiting anxiously to get there lol

 

[danitaytay]

One last update before take-off:

Hello everyone...It's Disney Day!!!
I cannot believe it! I'm currently waiting at home because at 9:30 I have to drive to our local train station to pick up my roommate Acadia! I'm almost packed (just a few more things to throw in there) and then at 4:00 we will head to Danielle's house. Danielle's dad (thank god) is driving us to JFK at 4:30 and hopefully we won't hit too bad of traffic considering that traffic on the LIE is already horrific at that time without an impending storm.

As per usual the day before Disney, I didn't sleep at all, but considering Acadia's been traveling on a bus and train since 1:30 AM I'm not complaining much!

You'll see these smiling Penn State girls' faces soon enough, I promise!

I also don't want to make promises I can't keep, but I'm bringing a GoPro with me on the trip. I've never used one before, but I'm hoping to make a really cool recap video out of it that I will of course share if it works out.

I should really finish go packing so I'm going to do that now

 

[fractal]

Have a great trip! My son's a Jr at Penn State - We Are!

 

[kybred72]

HA! Snowmagaddeon ain't gonna stop you!

Sigh....the sleep before travel day = nonexistent

Safe Travels, you and your friends are adorable.

 

[DisneyJeff]

Following along. I can't wait to hear about your trip! Have fun!!!

 

[Rista1313]

Good luck with Travel! Following along!

 

[LeighM]

I was so glad when I found out that the storm was going to miss us in Virginia - some of my friends still don't have power from last week's nor'easter. I live in Hampton Roads and, since I've lived here, we've gotten above average snowfall, while Charlottesville (where I grew up) is getting below average snow amounts. Coincidence? I don't think so lol. We're flying into MCO on March 10th - I think we land around 1:30pm There's another possible snowstorm around March 11-12 though that we'll just miss. Can't wait to hear more about your trip!

 

[danitaytay]

Have a great trip! My son's a Jr at Penn State - We Are!

That's so awesome! We saw a lot of fellow Penn Stater's this past week, it was awesome!
...PENN STATE!!!

 

[danitaytay]

HA! Snowmagaddeon ain't gonna stop you!

Sigh....the sleep before travel day = nonexistent

Safe Travels, you and your friends are adorable.

Tell me about it! But no sleep is nothing in comparison to being in Disney!

Following along. I can't wait to hear about your trip! Have fun!!!

Thank you so much!!

Good luck with Travel! Following along!

Thank you so much!!

I was so glad when I found out that the storm was going to miss us in Virginia - some of my friends still don't have power from last week's nor'easter. I live in Hampton Roads and, since I've lived here, we've gotten above average snowfall, while Charlottesville (where I grew up) is getting below average snow amounts. Coincidence? I don't think so lol. We're flying into MCO on March 10th - I think we land around 1:30pm There's another possible snowstorm around March 11-12 though that we'll just miss. Can't wait to hear more about your trip!

The nor'easter was crazy! The rest of my family lives in upstate NY and they didn't have power for 5 days! Hoping you guys don't get affected by the snowstorm and have a great trip!

 

[danitaytay]

Hi everyone!
We just got back from the most amazing trip! Albeit being pretty tired, I head on a bus back to State College at 3 pm today. That gives me plenty of time to start typing up this TR!
So once I get all my photos, I'll start posting updates. Thanks everyone for following along

 

[danitaytay]

Day One!
Tuesday, March 6th, 2018: Will we ever get there?!

After an extremely hectic Monday spent changing our flights and hotel reservations from Wednesday to Tuesday, I woke up bright and early at 7:15 on Tuesday. I probably slept for about 4 hours, tossing and turning thinking about how I would be in Disney World in just a few hours!
I had to wake up bright and early to make sure Acadia got from the Megabus in New York City onto the train to my town okay. Her train was due in a 9:40 so in the meantime I took a shower and packed some last few things (I'm a really last minute packer!).

I hopped in my car at 9:20 and drove over to the train station which is just a few minutes from my house. The train pulled in at 9:40 exactly and Acadia and I were back off to my house.
As we were driving to my house Acadia realized she had left her toiletries bag at home and would need to stop at a drug store to pick up a few things before we left for the airport.
Around 10:30 we realized how starving we were so we went to a cute little cafe by my house called Soul Brew. We both had yummy pineapple and mango smoothies and whole wheat bagels topped with almond butter, bananas, coconut, and honey (sorry, no food pics! I tried my best this trip but sometimes forgot). It was super yummy and we were trying to have a healthy meal before we knew how much we'd be indulging on the trip.

After brunch, I drove us over to Duane Reade where Acadia picked up the stuff she forgot at home and I got a travel sized sunscreen and some travel tissues as I'd been dealing with a cold the last few days.
When we got back home we had a few hours to kill so we did some boring stuff like look through my high school yearbook and watch some TV.
We eventually decided to take a nap because Acadia had gotten on the bus at 1:30 AM and I hadn't slept so we were pretty exhausted. At 2:30 we got our last things together and I said bye to my dogs and family before my mom drove the two of us off to Danielle's house.

And we're off!

The four of us had made the executive decision to all bring suitcases that were small enough to carry-on to the plane so we didn't have to go through the hassle of checking bags! I proudly managed to fit everything I needed into a small bag I had bought the day before with my mom.
Danielle 2 lives about 20 minutes from me but my mom is an extremely neurotic person so we left an hour earlier than we needed to
Once we got to Danielle's house I helped her pack a few last things and we were finally off to the airport at 4:30. Chelsea was meeting us at JFK because she lived in the opposite direction of us.

This is nothing new for Long Island but especially with the impending snowstorm the traffic on the LIE was awful and our ETA for JFK continued to get longer. But finally we arrived at the terminal at 5:45 and said goodbye to all the parents!

Looking a bit disheveled but we're ready for Disney World!

Magicbands all together!

Coming up...will we make our flight?!

 

[danitaytay]

Day One, Part Two:

All four of us had done online check-in and were not checking any bags so we headed straight to security. What we thought would be a really quick run-through turned out to be a nightmare that almost caused us to miss our flight.
Security was an absolute nightmare. Our flight started to board at 6:55 and we got on line at 5:55. A nasty TSA agent yelled at me to switch the line I was on even though I was on a shorter line but I didn't feel like arguing so we moved over. There were two families in front of us, one was a family of three with a stroller and somehow had 9 bags. They took 25 minutes to get all of their stuff on the conveyor belt and get through security. None of the TSA officers would let us switch to another line so we just sat there at the front of the line for 25 minutes. There were so many people cutting us and none of them spoke english so when we tried to tell them to go to the back of the line they just yelled at us and continued to cut us
When I eventually told a TSA agent about our situation and how we were going to miss our flight she just shrugged her shoulders and told us we'd have to run.
We finally got through TSA and literally had 15 minutes to sprint to our gate, which was #37...of course one of the last gates.

Once we reached the gate we realized we had a few minutes and all of us really had to use the bathroom so we took turns going and watching our bags. I was also starting to feel very faint and shaky from the stress as well as not eating since 10:30 AM so we went to a kiosk and picked up some chex-mix and pringles to share on the plane as well as some bottles of water.

Donald, I didn't know that was you!

We began boarding at 6:55 but Acadia and Danielle's bags were both too big so they had to check them. Thankfully mine and Chelsea's were in the clear so we were all good to board!

We were in row 19, both with the aisle and middle seats. Chelsea and Danielle sat together and Acadia and I sat together. While we waited to take off we eagerly ripped open the bags of food and devoured them in minutes.
I didn't realize how hungry I truly was!

Pre-takeoff selfies!

We took off exactly at 7:45 and watched the city skyline disappear as we were off to Orlando!

We were all pretty exhausted and I hoped to get some sleep on the flight but unfortunately there was an infant sitting in front of us who screamed bloody murder the entire flight so there was no sleep for me! I made silly faces at her through the seat and tried to keep her entertained while Acadia was able to catch some zzz's.

We landed a little early around 9:55 but didn't get off the plane until around 10:30 due to there not being a gate for us.

I think I literally sprinted off the plane in excitement as we dragged our tired bodies to the "fonerail". I had to explain to everyone why I called it that and they all found it pretty amusing.

Once Acadia and Danielle got their bags from the baggage claim we headed down the escalator to the Magical Express!!! We couldn't wait to scan our magicbands for the first time

An empty Magical Express line, a miracle

The airport was about dead quiet as it was only our flight and one other so we waited for our Magical Express for about 20 minutes before boarding. We were surprised to see it pouring outside but no worries...we didn't see one drop of rain following that night!

Would we be in Disney if we didn't Snapchat ourselves on the bus?!

I'm a cheesy Disney nerd and love the Magical Express movie and was so wrapped up in it that I almost missed the entrance to Disney World! After a bright "Welcome to Walt Disney World!" from our bus driver we found out that AoA would be the first stop of the trip! YAY!!!

We're here!

The bus pulled into the resort just after 11 and we literally sprinted into the lobby. Check-in was super easy and all we had to do was connect our individual credit cards to our magicbands. I think we were all already in love with the hotel just after seeing the lobby.

Unfortunately by the time we had checked in and made the trek all the way to building 7 in the Little Mermaid room section all options for dining were closed and we were forced to go to bed hungry.

Our home for the next few days!

Albeit cheesy, we absolutely loved the room and the Disney magic it had! We couldn't wait to explore some of the hotel when it was bright out.

However, we were absolutely exhausted and knew we had an early morning so we quickly snacked on some nutrigrain bars that Acadia thankfully brought, got changed into our PJ's, and passed out around 1:15.

First Day Summary:
Total Miles Walked = 1.6
The Good - We're in Disney!!!
The Bad - The security nightmare and the wailing child on the plane
We were surprised by - How cute the Little Mermaid rooms were!
Today I tried - traveling to Disney World for the first time without my family
The Result...not as hard as I thought!
In one word today was...STRESSFUL!!!

Coming up... no waits whatsoever?!

 

[ELeigh]

Day One, Part Two:

All four of us had done online check-in and were not checking any bags so we headed straight to security. What we thought would be a really quick run-through turned out to be a nightmare that almost caused us to miss our flight.
Security was an absolute nightmare. Our flight started to board at 6:55 and we got on line at 5:55. A nasty TSA agent yelled at me to switch the line I was on even though I was on a shorter line but I didn't feel like arguing so we moved over. There were two families in front of us, one was a family of three with a stroller and somehow had 9 bags. They took 25 minutes to get all of their stuff on the conveyor belt and get through security. None of the TSA officers would let us switch to another line so we just sat there at the front of the line for 25 minutes. There were so many people cutting us and none of them spoke english so when we tried to tell them to go to the back of the line they just yelled at us and continued to cut us
When I eventually told a TSA agent about our situation and how we were going to miss our flight she just shrugged her shoulders and told us we'd have to run.
We finally got through TSA and literally had 15 minutes to sprint to our gate, which was #37...of course one of the last gates.

Once we reached the gate we realized we had a few minutes and all of us really had to use the bathroom so we took turns going and watching our bags. I was also starting to feel very faint and shaky from the stress as well as not eating since 10:30 AM so we went to a kiosk and picked up some chex-mix and pringles to share on the plane as well as some bottles of water.

Donald, I didn't know that was you!
View attachment 269895

We began boarding at 6:55 but Acadia and Danielle's bags were both too big so they had to check them. Thankfully mine and Chelsea's were in the clear so we were all good to board!

We were in row 19, both with the aisle and middle seats. Chelsea and Danielle sat together and Acadia and I sat together. While we waited to take off we eagerly ripped open the bags of food and devoured them in minutes.
I didn't realize how hungry I truly was!

Pre-takeoff selfies!
View attachment 269893
We took off exactly at 7:45 and watched the city skyline disappear as we were off to Orlando!

We were all pretty exhausted and I hoped to get some sleep on the flight but unfortunately there was an infant sitting in front of us who screamed bloody murder the entire flight so there was no sleep for me! I made silly faces at her through the seat and tried to keep her entertained while Acadia was able to catch some zzz's.

We landed a little early around 9:55 but didn't get off the plane until around 10:30 due to there not being a gate for us.

I think I literally sprinted off the plane in excitement as we dragged our tired bodies to the "fonerail". I had to explain to everyone why I called it that and they all found it pretty amusing.

Once Acadia and Danielle got their bags from the baggage claim we headed down the escalator to the Magical Express!!! We couldn't wait to scan our magicbands for the first time

An empty Magical Express line, a miracle
View attachment 269896
The airport was about dead quiet as it was only our flight and one other so we waited for our Magical Express for about 20 minutes before boarding. We were surprised to see it pouring outside but no worries...we didn't see one drop of rain following that night!

Would we be in Disney if we didn't Snapchat ourselves on the bus?!
View attachment 269897

I'm a cheesy Disney nerd and love the Magical Express movie and was so wrapped up in it that I almost missed the entrance to Disney World! After a bright "Welcome to Walt Disney World!" from our bus driver we found out that AoA would be the first stop of the trip! YAY!!!

We're here!
View attachment 269898
The bus pulled into the resort just after 11 and we literally sprinted into the lobby. Check-in was super easy and all we had to do was connect our individual credit cards to our magicbands. I think we were all already in love with the hotel just after seeing the lobby.

View attachment 269899

View attachment 269900
Unfortunately by the time we had checked in and made the trek all the way to building 7 in the Little Mermaid room section all options for dining were closed and we were forced to go to bed hungry.

Our home for the next few days!
View attachment 269901
Albeit cheesy, we absolutely loved the room and the Disney magic it had! We couldn't wait to explore some of the hotel when it was bright out.

View attachment 269902
View attachment 269903
However, we were absolutely exhausted and knew we had an early morning so we quickly snacked on some nutrigrain bars that Acadia thankfully brought, got changed into our PJ's, and passed out around 1:15.

First Day Summary:
Total Miles Walked = 1.6
The Good - We're in Disney!!!
The Bad - The security nightmare and the wailing child on the plane
We were surprised by - How cute the Little Mermaid rooms were!
Today I tried - traveling to Disney World for the first time without my family
The Result...not as hard as I thought!
In one word today was...STRESSFUL!!!

Coming up... no waits whatsoever?!

Great room pictures! I feel like stress goes hand in hand with air travel (at least for me :/) I hope you got a good breakfast the next day to make up for going to bed hungry!

 

[heatherhy01]

Great report so far! Thankfully you were able to rearrange your travel plans!!

 

[Captain Barbossa]

Ugh! I hate the Total Stupidity Agency. That's why I don't fly (and the screaming babies). Glad you survived your flight!

 

[MinnieM123]

Thank goodness you made your flight, with so little time after the TSA experience. It's just the luck of the draw with the various personnel--some are very efficient, while others should not be working there.

At my airport, they have dedicated lines for TSA Pre, Global Entry, and then a sort of general line, and finally, a specific line for families traveling together or others that need additional assistance. It kinda sounds like they put you in the more assistance line (which you obviously should not have been placed in).

 

[BoarderPhreak]

Ahh, the joys of the LIRR, MTA, JFK/LGA and LIE. Glad you overcame all those obstacles. We're having our third nor'easter in as many weeks as I'm sure you know... 5" on the island and counting so far.

Congrats on your arrival - enjoy! I'm totally jelly.