This will be my first trip report, but I am a seasoned Disney vacationer. That said, I have never done something like what I did last weekend.
Since last September, my boyfriend and I have been planning a trip to Disney World. We booked our hotels in October, and we have been planning our days, talking about the rides, and fantasizing about the food we will eat ever since. My boyfriend has never been to the parks, so I kept the descriptions simple. I told him about some of the rides and described some of the restaurants we booked (Ohana, Be Our Guest, Sci-fi) but made sure not to give anything away that would mess up his first experience. I have been absolutely thrilled at his level of excitement and genuine interest in this vacation. He's sort of a big kid, and he loves theme parks, so I guess he knew this was a big deal, but there's no way to really know before you get there the difference in quality.
This takes us to last Friday night (5/4). We were eating pizza at our local spot and talking about the trips. He was excited because it was almost time to pick our FastPasses, and he was expressing how excited he was to ride Space Mountain. I jokingly said, "Let's just go now. We have nothing to do tomorrow. Let's go!" He excitedly and seriously said, "Let's do it!"
For reference, we live just under 7 hours short of Disney, and this was 9 p.m. If we left in the next hour, we could make it by 5 a.m. For fun, I checked the website, and they had an 8 a.m. opening and a 12 a.m. closing. I played along and said, "Sure! Let's go!" Next thing I know, he's booking the tickets and we're packing up.
We left at 10 p.m., and I took the first shift in driving. He had studied for exams the entire week before (we are returning students in our late 20s), so I knew he would need more sleep than me. I drove until 2:30 a.m. and we were making excellent time. He took over from 2:30 to 4:30, and we pulled right through the main gate past the welcoming Mickey and Minnie. It was surreal. Our plans for the weekend had been to relax only hours earlier, and here we were in the most magical place on earth. Still, we had some time before the parking lots even opened, so we made u-turn, and sort of camped in the Walmart parking lot until 6 a.m.
By 6:30 a.m., we were parked and walking towards the ferry (the monorail was not yet running). I skipped half way to the boat, and we sang Hakuna Matata together.
When we got in the park, we waited about 20 minutes before they let us up to the castle. I asked him if he would rather watch the welcoming show or if he would rather get straight to the rides. I made the entire day about what he wanted to do as it was his first time. He chose the rides and we were the first people on the Tomorrowland bridge. The cast members were so friendly, and they made several cute jokes about the times they had been trampled in the morning rush before. They set the day off to a perfect start. I wish I had gotten the name of one of them because she was absolutely the sweetest person I have ever met, and she set the tone for the whole day. We rode Space Mountain two times with no lines, then decided to hit some other rides before the crowds came in. We did Buzz Lightyear, Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, and The Jungle Cruise all before 10 a.m., and then our FastPasses started.
I have to say, we were really very lucky with our FastPasses the entire day. For our pre-selections, we got Splash, Thunder, and Space all in the 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. range. We decided to wait until the end of each hour to use them so that we could knock out more rides in the morning, and the entire day we never waited more than 40 minutes for anything (and that was The Mine Train at the end of the day). He loved Space Mountain, and the entire day insisted that Alpha was better than Omega. As a huge Disney fan, I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't even know there was a difference in the tracks until this trip. We tried both tracks several times, and now I'm a firm Space Mountain Alpha fan. In all, we rode almost everything, but we did miss a couple of attractions. We never made it to the People Mover, Carosel of Progress, Country Bears, Hall of Presidents, or Tom Sawyers Island, but we are returning for our real vacation next month, so that just gives us more to do then.
I would say that some people might not have enjoyed the weather last Saturday. It rained nearly the entire day, and often times it poured. But we loved it! When it first started raining, we got caught in it before we remembered that we both had jackets in our backpack, so we were soaked and a mess but it was so much fun. We splashed in the puddles, twirled in the rain in front of the castle, and genuinely enjoyed just being a mess. I was a bit jealous sometimes when I saw other girls with their perfect hair and dry clothes, but I know I wouldn't have had nearly as much fun if my clothes had been dry as I did playing all day like kids in the wet weather. Also, I normally go in June, July, or August, so it was nice having a rainfall that didn't feel like a hot shower. It was a times chilly and absolutely refreshing.
One of my favorite memories from the trip was at the Liberty Tree Tavern. My boyfriend has a love for frozen drinks, and he bought a delicious lemon slush to share as a surprise. Unfortunately, we ran close to our ending time for our Space Mountain FastPass, so we had to drink most of it while walking to the ride. When we got there, we had one minute before our time expired and half a drink left. Without even stopping to consider an alternative, he popped the drink right in the backpack and told me to hold it steady on the ride. He acted as if this was the most natural solution in the world. I was a bit nervous, but the drink was frozen hard, so we were never in real danger of it spilling. Still, I love that he never once considered any of our belongings in our bag. All he cared about was riding Space Mountain and keeping his slushy. I love this man.
Around 3 p.m., the toll from the long ride and adrenaline filled morning really started to hit. We were both a bit exhausted and nearly on our last legs, so we went to the Starbucks on Main Street and both got triple shot coffees. We sat under one of the yellow umbrellas admiring the view and got the kick of energy that would last us until the end of the day. We are both heavy coffee drinkers, so this was a wonderful break for us.
The rest of the day went as beautifully as a rainy day in the Magic Kingdom possibly could. Low lines, cool weather, and happy memories. We rode everything as many times as we could until 8 p.m., and then we went to the castle to wait for the fireworks.
This was both of our first time watching Happily Ever After, and is there even a way to describe that show? It's absolutely mind blowing. It makes me feel bad that he saw this first actually, because will he still like Fantasmic after seeing this?? Will it live up to the great expectations it has set? Regardless, it is magical, perfect, and I spent a good portion of the show with tears streaming down my face. We played the soundtrack twice on our way home, and have watched it on Youtube once since returning, but we made a promise not to watch it again until we return next month.
After the Fireworks, we started loading up on FastPasses. It seemed a large portion of the crowd left, so we were able to get straight on Big Thunder, Splash Mountain, the Teacups, and Winnie the Pooh. After we rode Winnie, we saw there was a minimal line for the Mine Train, so we took our opportunity and hopped in line. We both agree that this could have been the best ride in the park if it was just a minute or two longer, but, like everyone, we were disappointed in the ending. It just stops out of nowhere right when the ride is getting great. But since our wait was so short we didn't complain, and we also go the back row which added a bit of pull to our drops.
The line for Peter Pan and Space Mountain was still long, but there were lots of FastPasses available for about 10:20 for Pan, and we hopped on and off in 20 minutes. I told him this was an old ride and nothing too special (I figured I just loved it because of my nostalgia), but there was a wonderful moment on the ride when I saw him look up at the track and sort of gasp. He said "Wow! It's like we're flying!" I wanted to marry him right there.
Our last ride of the night was Space Mountain. It was a consistently long line, so we went there right before closing to ensure we could get on while getting in as many rides before that as we possibly could. It was a perfect way to end an absolutely perfect day.
When we left, I felt like I was cheating. Normally I would be so sad to leave the park and drive home, but we were coming back for a five day trip in a month. Is that OK? Am I committing some sort of Disney gluttony sin? Well, if so, throw me on Mr. Toads Wild Ride, because I'm going to Hell.
The hardest part of the trip was the drive home. We didn't book a hotel because of our budget not really affording this vacation and stayed at a rest stop for a few hours instead. We split the drive home, and it really wasn't terribly bad. We were back and sleeping in bed by 2 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
My fear from this trip was that my boyfriend would have fun but not see the need to come back in a month, but he says as frequently as me now that he can't wait until our vacation. He's talked about Space Mountain every day, and honestly he's a perfect partner for me in that regard. I hope this is the beginning of a life time of magical memories at Disney together.
Tomorrow is our official FastPass + day. Here's hoping we have as magical a trip in June as we did on that perfect day in May.
Since last September, my boyfriend and I have been planning a trip to Disney World. We booked our hotels in October, and we have been planning our days, talking about the rides, and fantasizing about the food we will eat ever since. My boyfriend has never been to the parks, so I kept the descriptions simple. I told him about some of the rides and described some of the restaurants we booked (Ohana, Be Our Guest, Sci-fi) but made sure not to give anything away that would mess up his first experience. I have been absolutely thrilled at his level of excitement and genuine interest in this vacation. He's sort of a big kid, and he loves theme parks, so I guess he knew this was a big deal, but there's no way to really know before you get there the difference in quality.
This takes us to last Friday night (5/4). We were eating pizza at our local spot and talking about the trips. He was excited because it was almost time to pick our FastPasses, and he was expressing how excited he was to ride Space Mountain. I jokingly said, "Let's just go now. We have nothing to do tomorrow. Let's go!" He excitedly and seriously said, "Let's do it!"
For reference, we live just under 7 hours short of Disney, and this was 9 p.m. If we left in the next hour, we could make it by 5 a.m. For fun, I checked the website, and they had an 8 a.m. opening and a 12 a.m. closing. I played along and said, "Sure! Let's go!" Next thing I know, he's booking the tickets and we're packing up.
We left at 10 p.m., and I took the first shift in driving. He had studied for exams the entire week before (we are returning students in our late 20s), so I knew he would need more sleep than me. I drove until 2:30 a.m. and we were making excellent time. He took over from 2:30 to 4:30, and we pulled right through the main gate past the welcoming Mickey and Minnie. It was surreal. Our plans for the weekend had been to relax only hours earlier, and here we were in the most magical place on earth. Still, we had some time before the parking lots even opened, so we made u-turn, and sort of camped in the Walmart parking lot until 6 a.m.
By 6:30 a.m., we were parked and walking towards the ferry (the monorail was not yet running). I skipped half way to the boat, and we sang Hakuna Matata together.
When we got in the park, we waited about 20 minutes before they let us up to the castle. I asked him if he would rather watch the welcoming show or if he would rather get straight to the rides. I made the entire day about what he wanted to do as it was his first time. He chose the rides and we were the first people on the Tomorrowland bridge. The cast members were so friendly, and they made several cute jokes about the times they had been trampled in the morning rush before. They set the day off to a perfect start. I wish I had gotten the name of one of them because she was absolutely the sweetest person I have ever met, and she set the tone for the whole day. We rode Space Mountain two times with no lines, then decided to hit some other rides before the crowds came in. We did Buzz Lightyear, Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, and The Jungle Cruise all before 10 a.m., and then our FastPasses started.
I have to say, we were really very lucky with our FastPasses the entire day. For our pre-selections, we got Splash, Thunder, and Space all in the 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. range. We decided to wait until the end of each hour to use them so that we could knock out more rides in the morning, and the entire day we never waited more than 40 minutes for anything (and that was The Mine Train at the end of the day). He loved Space Mountain, and the entire day insisted that Alpha was better than Omega. As a huge Disney fan, I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't even know there was a difference in the tracks until this trip. We tried both tracks several times, and now I'm a firm Space Mountain Alpha fan. In all, we rode almost everything, but we did miss a couple of attractions. We never made it to the People Mover, Carosel of Progress, Country Bears, Hall of Presidents, or Tom Sawyers Island, but we are returning for our real vacation next month, so that just gives us more to do then.
I would say that some people might not have enjoyed the weather last Saturday. It rained nearly the entire day, and often times it poured. But we loved it! When it first started raining, we got caught in it before we remembered that we both had jackets in our backpack, so we were soaked and a mess but it was so much fun. We splashed in the puddles, twirled in the rain in front of the castle, and genuinely enjoyed just being a mess. I was a bit jealous sometimes when I saw other girls with their perfect hair and dry clothes, but I know I wouldn't have had nearly as much fun if my clothes had been dry as I did playing all day like kids in the wet weather. Also, I normally go in June, July, or August, so it was nice having a rainfall that didn't feel like a hot shower. It was a times chilly and absolutely refreshing.
One of my favorite memories from the trip was at the Liberty Tree Tavern. My boyfriend has a love for frozen drinks, and he bought a delicious lemon slush to share as a surprise. Unfortunately, we ran close to our ending time for our Space Mountain FastPass, so we had to drink most of it while walking to the ride. When we got there, we had one minute before our time expired and half a drink left. Without even stopping to consider an alternative, he popped the drink right in the backpack and told me to hold it steady on the ride. He acted as if this was the most natural solution in the world. I was a bit nervous, but the drink was frozen hard, so we were never in real danger of it spilling. Still, I love that he never once considered any of our belongings in our bag. All he cared about was riding Space Mountain and keeping his slushy. I love this man.
Around 3 p.m., the toll from the long ride and adrenaline filled morning really started to hit. We were both a bit exhausted and nearly on our last legs, so we went to the Starbucks on Main Street and both got triple shot coffees. We sat under one of the yellow umbrellas admiring the view and got the kick of energy that would last us until the end of the day. We are both heavy coffee drinkers, so this was a wonderful break for us.
The rest of the day went as beautifully as a rainy day in the Magic Kingdom possibly could. Low lines, cool weather, and happy memories. We rode everything as many times as we could until 8 p.m., and then we went to the castle to wait for the fireworks.
This was both of our first time watching Happily Ever After, and is there even a way to describe that show? It's absolutely mind blowing. It makes me feel bad that he saw this first actually, because will he still like Fantasmic after seeing this?? Will it live up to the great expectations it has set? Regardless, it is magical, perfect, and I spent a good portion of the show with tears streaming down my face. We played the soundtrack twice on our way home, and have watched it on Youtube once since returning, but we made a promise not to watch it again until we return next month.
After the Fireworks, we started loading up on FastPasses. It seemed a large portion of the crowd left, so we were able to get straight on Big Thunder, Splash Mountain, the Teacups, and Winnie the Pooh. After we rode Winnie, we saw there was a minimal line for the Mine Train, so we took our opportunity and hopped in line. We both agree that this could have been the best ride in the park if it was just a minute or two longer, but, like everyone, we were disappointed in the ending. It just stops out of nowhere right when the ride is getting great. But since our wait was so short we didn't complain, and we also go the back row which added a bit of pull to our drops.
The line for Peter Pan and Space Mountain was still long, but there were lots of FastPasses available for about 10:20 for Pan, and we hopped on and off in 20 minutes. I told him this was an old ride and nothing too special (I figured I just loved it because of my nostalgia), but there was a wonderful moment on the ride when I saw him look up at the track and sort of gasp. He said "Wow! It's like we're flying!" I wanted to marry him right there.
Our last ride of the night was Space Mountain. It was a consistently long line, so we went there right before closing to ensure we could get on while getting in as many rides before that as we possibly could. It was a perfect way to end an absolutely perfect day.
When we left, I felt like I was cheating. Normally I would be so sad to leave the park and drive home, but we were coming back for a five day trip in a month. Is that OK? Am I committing some sort of Disney gluttony sin? Well, if so, throw me on Mr. Toads Wild Ride, because I'm going to Hell.
The hardest part of the trip was the drive home. We didn't book a hotel because of our budget not really affording this vacation and stayed at a rest stop for a few hours instead. We split the drive home, and it really wasn't terribly bad. We were back and sleeping in bed by 2 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
My fear from this trip was that my boyfriend would have fun but not see the need to come back in a month, but he says as frequently as me now that he can't wait until our vacation. He's talked about Space Mountain every day, and honestly he's a perfect partner for me in that regard. I hope this is the beginning of a life time of magical memories at Disney together.
Tomorrow is our official FastPass + day. Here's hoping we have as magical a trip in June as we did on that perfect day in May.
Awww! What a great day at Disney!
