Trip Report Pirate Voyage and Pixie Dust with a MNSSHP Thrown In! (A Quick 3 Night Trip Report)

For those of you that would like to read my pre-trip report, it can be found here https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/are-we-really-doing-this-a-quick-b-day-trip-mnsshp.944860/
So this trip started out as a 2 night trip down to the World for my daughter Gracie's 8th birthday. Instead of throwing a birthday party, she decided that she would rather to a weekend at Disney instead.

I had originally booked 2 nights at All-Star Sports and we were going to drive down the morning of the MNSSHP do the party, have a resort day Saturday, and drive home Sunday. Well about a month ago I found super cheap flights from ATL to MCO, but the catch was that we would need to leave Thursday instead of Friday. Extra day? Count me in! So I went to try and book an extra night at All-Stars, but had no luck. Then I decided that I would bite the bullet and book a room at a Deluxe for the 1 night. $300 later we were booked at AKL Kidani for Thursday night. I also decided to upgrade from All-Stars to POR. We love the pools and boats to DS. I booked preferred at POR because the walks are horrendous if you are trying to get to the lobby or main pool/ food court.

Up Next: Arrival Day - Gracie's First Flight and Check In at AKL

 

[MomofPrincessGrace]

Arrival Day: Gracie's First Flight

So we left home at 6 a.m. CST and headed toward Atlanta. We arrived in Atlanta at around 9:30 EST with plenty of time to kill before our 11:30 flight. TSA was a breeze and we grabbed some McDonalds while waiting to board.

We were in boarding group 2 for both flights, and were on the plane within 5 minutes of when the plane began to board.

The flight was super short and sweet. She loved being able to look right out the window at the clouds.

 

[MomofPrincessGrace]

Arrival Day Part 2 - Magical Express and AKL

So upon arrival to the airport, we were easily able to find where to go to get to the Magical Express. Thank goodness that the ME has a bathroom because even though we used the restroom right before getting in ME, Gracie obviously had the bladder the size of a grape because she had to go again and couldn't hold it. We stopped at CBR before getting dropped at AKL. Jambo House was dropped first followed by the rest of us being dropped at Kidani. At this point, I still didn't get a room ready text. Instead I got a "your room is not quite ready yet" text.

When we got off the bus, we were greeted by a cast member outside who checked us in and walked us inside. He went to go get us a map and came back with a little Elsa crown for Gracie. We told him it was her birthday and he went and got her a birthday pin. The lobby is so beautiful and I love being able to see the animals right off the bat. I was super tempted to call in and make a request for the top floor, but honestly kept forgetting to call. I was so excited to see that we were given a room on the top floor. Our reservation was for a deluxe studio standard view.

We quickly found our room and were excited to check it out.

Once I opened the door I was honestly very confused.

This doesn't look like a studio.... At this point I almost started to cry. This was so amazing and unexpected.
I am absolutely in love with the layout of the 1 bedrooms. I also love that there were 2 seperate bathrooms, since me and my sister can both have plenty of room to get ready.

My favorite part was the balcony. Even with a view of the entrance, it was still beautiful!

Up Next: Pirate and Pals Firework Voyage

 

[MomofPrincessGrace]

As an aside, we decided before this trip that we would buy 2 of the refillable mugs to use on this trip. 1 for Halie and 1 for me and Gracie to share. I like that for less than $20 we can not only have unlimited drinks, but we also get to keep the mugs as a souvenir. We got the Halloween mugs, since we already have a set of the regular ones. Look how cute these are!!!

 

[MomofPrincessGrace]

Arrival Day - Pirate and Pals Firework Voyage

So even though I would have loved to stay and enjoy the amazing room, we had pirate dealings to get to.

About 2 weeks before our trip I was looking for ADRs for arrival night dinner. I came across the Pirate and Pals Fireworks Voyage as an option and looked up the reviews and pricing. Was it expensive, yes. Would I do it again, absolutely. Gracie is going to be a pirate for Halloween this year, so we already had the costume on hand that was perfect for pirate shenanigans.

We hopped on a bus from AKL to MK and walked the 5ish minute walk to the Contemporary. We checked in and got in line to meet Hook and Smee. Gracie LOVES meeting Captain Hook as he is so fun to garner a reaction from. After the quick meet, we set our sights on the snack tables! They had a freezer filled with Mickey Premium Bars and ice cream sandwiches. Bags of pretzels and popcorn. All the chocolate coins your heart desires (hint: fill up a cup with the coins to take with you!) and an assortment of mini desserts as well.

They divided up the room into 2 groups. Our captain for the evening was Patch. He was AMAZING and we could have not asked for a better person to lead our boat. We were on team Hook, and Patch pulled a name out of his hat for who would carry our pirate flag through the Contemporary down to the boat dock. Gracie was chosen and my mama heart almost exploded. She led us on our way and got to request permission for us to board the boat. She exclaimed that this was the best.day.ever.

Coming Up: The most amazing fireworks display ever!

 

[MomofPrincessGrace]

Pirate and Pals - Part 2

So we boarded our boat and set sail into Seven Seas Lagoon. We pretty much just drove around in circles, singing pirate songs, trivia, and learning more about others on the boat. We did a "sail by" the GF boat dock where we were instructed in true pirate form to tell those on dock that we were having more fun than they were! Haha. Once it was time, the boat came to a stop with a perfect view of the castle. The music was piped into the boat, and I have never been so impressed by fireworks ever. Be prepared for an influx of photos that I took, since who doesn't love a good firework pic!