Senior Trip 2012: 2 years in the making PTR!

LeCellier.Lover · Jan 15, 2012

So here’s a little history on the planning of this trip..

All four of us were on the same club volleyball team when we were 15. That year the 4 of us became very close so we decided to ask our parents if we could all go to Disney World together. They all said yes, so we went July of ‘09. Annie stayed with me and my parents while Jamie came with her parents and Jill came with her mom. Ever since that trip we’ve stayed best friends.
That next summer, the summer of ’10, we pulled an all nighter at Annie’s house and that night we came up with a brilliant idea, “Guys, how about we go to Disney again when we’re seniors in high school and are 18 so we can go by ourselves?!” We made a pact that we’d follow thru with it and ever since that day we’ve been dreaming about this trip.

That was back when we finished up our sophomore year of high school and now we’re big bad seniors with only 1 semester left..

So during this trip we will be celebrating our graduation and probably our last big “hurray!” together before we go off to college.... We’re all EXTREMELY excited for this trip! At the same time though it is kind of bitter sweet. We want these next few months to time to fly so we can go to Disney, but by the time the vacation gets here high school will be over and we’ll have to move on with another chapter in our lives, probably farther apart from each other.. Ok sorry I’ll stop with the sappy, sad stuff but I had to fill you guys in on our thoughts.

Back to the good stuff..

Us back on July 4, 2009 in WS

Here’s us in more recent times this past December making a Blackhawks gingerbread house (don’t mind Jamie’s ducky shirt, it was a gag gift.. haha!)

390441_350984451585471_100000217561349_1681659_568184203_n-1.jpg

Next up:
When we're going, Where we'll be staying and What we'll be doing :sohappy:

LeCellier.Lover · Jan 17, 2012

The dates of our magical trip:
Planning on flying out first thing in the morning on Monday, June 18th and returning home late at night on Saturday, June 23rd.

Where we’ll be staying:
We love it, you love, the 4 of us stayed there together when we went with our families in 2009.
The always awesome and larger than life

We just booked our room today too!

:sohappy:

We will be on the Dining Plan.. we have not made any ADR’s yet but restaurants of our choice include:
Lunch at Le Cellier (of course

)
Breakfast (or maybe dinner) at O’Hana
Dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern
Either Whispering Canyon or Tony’s Town Square
We still need 1 more ADR to fill up our trip. Decisions decisions....

For the first time ever (at least for me, but I think for all 4 of us?) we will be using the Magical Express! I’m excited because I’ve heard that there is a good welcome video that really puts you in the Disney spirit on your way to the resorts, is this true? The past couple of years every time I have gone with my family we have rented a car. So this will be a first having to be solely dependent on Disney’s transportation but I’m sure we’ll be just fine.

What are your guys’s thoughts on the Magical Express?

We are not sure of our exact plans as to which parks we’ll visit on which days. We are probably going to stick a Wizarding World of Harry Potter day in there since Jill and Annie are big fans. I will update you guys once we finalize everything..

ONLY 153 MORE DAYS!!

Ariel484 · Jan 18, 2012

Okay, a few things...

1.) You are not old.

I'm 10 years older than you are!
2.) You guys will LOVE college!

And with that out of the way...

This trip sounds like so much fun! :sohappy:

Regarding Magical Express: We've used it 5 times since 2009 and have been pretty happy with it. It's a good system for what it is. Having said that, the process can take awhile - I've heard of people landing at the airport at, like, 11:30 and not getting to their room until 2:30. The best case scenario I had was 2 weeks ago when I landed at 6:30 and was on property by 7:30. It all depends on whether you need to wait for a bus, how many stops the bus will make (as the hotels share buses), etc.

Will you have Magical Express deliver your luggage to your room? If so, I'd recommend packing a change of clothes, your swimsuits, any important toiletries, etc. into your carry-ons, as the luggage delivery can take awhile. You can also claim your own luggage if you like. And yes, they do play a welcome video! :sohappy:

What else, what else...oh yeah, when you make your ADRs, make the 'Ohana dinner one first. When you go see Harry, get there EARLY and make Forbidden Journey your first stop. We went to the Wizarding World in mid-June 2011 and it was very, very crowded. And if you're adventurous eaters, try Sanaa at Animal Kingdom Lodge for your last ADR. It's sooo good!

Happy planning! :sohappy:

PolynesianPrincess · Jan 18, 2012

YAY, you got it working!!! :sohappy:

LOVE the Gingerbread house

Where's the Kane gingerbread man though?!? lol

As for your ADR's, DEFINITELY do diner at 'Ohana. We tried it in November and it is soooo good! The breakfast there is a character breakfast, so it is different than dinner but what I would recommend is try and get the Crystal Palace before park opening (if you guys like Pooh and friends) That way you get to take in Main Street USA before it fills with guests

Le Cellier is the best, obviously :slurp:

And like Shannon said above, when you go to IOA, either go to Harry land first thing or wait until like 5pm or so. Both times we did it, we went around 5pm. The first time was Thaksgiving week last year and we waited 65 minutes for the Forbidden Journey. In May, again, went over at 5pm and waited 15 mins. Earlier in the day the wait had been about an hour. But to make sure you get there, I'd go first thing in the AM. We're not huge HP fans so going later was fine for us cause we didn't realyl mind if we missed it.

Ariel484 · Jan 18, 2012

derelicte19 said:
...(snip)...And like Shannon said above, when you go to IOA, either go to Harry land first thing or wait until like 5pm or so. Both times we did it, we went around 5pm. The first time was Thaksgiving week last year and we waited 65 minutes for the Forbidden Journey. In May, again, went over at 5pm and waited 15 mins. Earlier in the day the wait had been about an hour. But to make sure you get there, I'd go first thing in the AM. We're not huge HP fans so going later was fine for us cause we didn't realyl mind if we missed it.

I should add something here...I AM a giant HP fan

, and the only bad thing about getting on to FJ so quickly was that I didn't get to slow down and take in the details in the queue. So if that's something you're interested in, maybe you wouldn't mind a bit of a wait. I've heard that people can go back in the evening for castle tours or something, but I'm not sure how that works. :shrug:

tiaragirl · Jan 18, 2012

Rachel, hey girl! First, you guys are supercute - love your black dress!

Very proud of you for planning this trip - Disney celebratory trips are ideal! My cousin and BFF Lauren came with my family on our grade 12 trip, and then Laur/Erica/Paige and I went after our second year of university, and now we're going again to celebration the completion of our undergrad (of course, we're doing Disney Cruise and it's La/Rachael and I, but still!). Once you start going to Disney with your friends, it never stops!

I always go with the Magical Express - especially since you'll be by yourself. It's worth the 70$ to me to know that we don't have to round up all our stuff (Disney does it for you!) and try to find a (potentially sketchy) cab to get you to Disney! Even if it might take slightly longer it's worth it, plus they play Disney cartoons and the "YOU'RE ALMOST THERE" video that really makes the experience

We did Ohana for breakfast and it was fantastic! I'd also suggest a meal at 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian - if you do dinner/supper you get to see Cinderella/Prince/etc! Breakfast was great, too - buffet, Mary Poppins, Pooh/Tigger, Alice/Mad Hatter. Random characters but so cool to be in the Grand Floridian!

PS: I'll be 22 in March, and I'm a UNIVERSITY senior - the time flies! Love college, love your friends, and never give up Disney!

LOVE KENZIE

LeCellier.Lover · Jan 22, 2012

So sorry....

I’m so sorry you guys I’ve been really busy with school and volleyball these past couple of days....

Thanks for reading my PTR though, you guys are so nice and helpful!

Ariel484 said:
Okay, a few things...

1.) You are not old. I'm 10 years older than you are!
2.) You guys will LOVE college!

And with that out of the way...

This trip sounds like so much fun! :sohappy:

Regarding Magical Express: We've used it 5 times since 2009 and have been pretty happy with it. It's a good system for what it is. Having said that, the process can take awhile - I've heard of people landing at the airport at, like, 11:30 and not getting to their room until 2:30. The best case scenario I had was 2 weeks ago when I landed at 6:30 and was on property by 7:30. It all depends on whether you need to wait for a bus, how many stops the bus will make (as the hotels share buses), etc.

Will you have Magical Express deliver your luggage to your room? If so, I'd recommend packing a change of clothes, your swimsuits, any important toiletries, etc. into your carry-ons, as the luggage delivery can take awhile. You can also claim your own luggage if you like. And yes, they do play a welcome video! :sohappy:

What else, what else...oh yeah, when you make your ADRs, make the 'Ohana dinner one first. When you go see Harry, get there EARLY and make Forbidden Journey your first stop. We went to the Wizarding World in mid-June 2011 and it was very, very crowded. And if you're adventurous eaters, try Sanaa at Animal Kingdom Lodge for your last ADR. It's sooo good!

Happy planning! :sohappy:

Shannon!
Haha! Thanks for that reassurance :animwink: I’m so jealous you were able to run the 2012 Marathon! I hope to do that sometime in the future.

Thank you for all the info on DME! We’ll probably be taking the earliest flight out so hopefully we’ll get lucky with getting to our hotel rather quickly. Yes, we will have DME take care of our luggage for us. Thanks for the advice we’ll be sure to bring some extra stuff with us on our carry ons. Yay yay for the welcome video! :sohappy:

I checked out the menu for Sanaa and it sounds yummy so I’ll have to see what everyone else wants to do!

When we do WWOHP we’re going to try to get there first thing in the morning. How did you get there, did you take a cab? Do you remember how much the cost was to utilize one? That is true though about being able to take in all the details of the queue. Because of the time we’ll be there I’m kind of worried about how bad the lines will be (I’ve heard about the Honeydukes shop having a 2 hour wait before?!

) Sorry one more question.. when you went did you buy just a IOA pass or both a IOA and US pass?

LeCellier.Lover · Jan 22, 2012

derelicte19 said:
YAY, you got it working!!! :sohappy:

LOVE the Gingerbread house Where's the Kane gingerbread man though?!? lol

As for your ADR's, DEFINITELY do diner at 'Ohana. We tried it in November and it is soooo good! The breakfast there is a character breakfast, so it is different than dinner but what I would recommend is try and get the Crystal Palace before park opening (if you guys like Pooh and friends) That way you get to take in Main Street USA before it fills with guests

Le Cellier is the best, obviously :slurp:

And like Shannon said above, when you go to IOA, either go to Harry land first thing or wait until like 5pm or so. Both times we did it, we went around 5pm. The first time was Thaksgiving week last year and we waited 65 minutes for the Forbidden Journey. In May, again, went over at 5pm and waited 15 mins. Earlier in the day the wait had been about an hour. But to make sure you get there, I'd go first thing in the AM. We're not huge HP fans so going later was fine for us cause we didn't realyl mind if we missed it.

D!
YES I did get it working!

(hopefully I didn’t just jinx myself.... haha!)

Thanks, there actually IS a Kaner gingerbread man! He’s the one all the way on the left. You just can’t see it because they’re in pink, but there’s an 8 on both of his hands. AND do you like the blonde mullet I attempted to give him?!

Thanks for reminding me about getting an early ADR for Crystal Palace and being able to walk down Main Street before park opening, good idea! I’m going to talk to the girls and see what they all want to do.

As for WWOHP we’ll probably go first thing in the morning so we can try to beat some of the rush? How long were you at IOA, the whole day? Thanks for all the advice and helping me solve the "Why aren't my replies posting" problems

LeCellier.Lover · Jan 22, 2012

tiaragirl said:
Rachel, hey girl! First, you guys are supercute - love your black dress!

Very proud of you for planning this trip - Disney celebratory trips are ideal! My cousin and BFF Lauren came with my family on our grade 12 trip, and then Laur/Erica/Paige and I went after our second year of university, and now we're going again to celebration the completion of our undergrad (of course, we're doing Disney Cruise and it's La/Rachael and I, but still!). Once you start going to Disney with your friends, it never stops!

I always go with the Magical Express - especially since you'll be by yourself. It's worth the 70$ to me to know that we don't have to round up all our stuff (Disney does it for you!) and try to find a (potentially sketchy) cab to get you to Disney! Even if it might take slightly longer it's worth it, plus they play Disney cartoons and the "YOU'RE ALMOST THERE" video that really makes the experience

We did Ohana for breakfast and it was fantastic! I'd also suggest a meal at 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian - if you do dinner/supper you get to see Cinderella/Prince/etc! Breakfast was great, too - buffet, Mary Poppins, Pooh/Tigger, Alice/Mad Hatter. Random characters but so cool to be in the Grand Floridian!

PS: I'll be 22 in March, and I'm a UNIVERSITY senior - the time flies! Love college, love your friends, and never give up Disney!

LOVE KENZIE

Hey Kenzie!
Thank you so much

(that’s actually Annie with the black dress, I loved it too, super cute!)

Thanks, I’m pretty excited to be doing all the planning (with a little help from my mom though, she’s a Disney fanatic so she can’t help herself, she’s great!

)

I have to say I’ve read your past two trip reports and I LOVE them! You guys looked like you had a BLAST on your trips! (Shout out to your sister, Carly, for being a volleyballer just like me whoop whoop! Haha!

) I love both of your dresses from your recent Disney Dream cruise!
I’m glad it never stops because Disney trips are the best with your friends! I hope we can do a cruise together one day like you guys were able to do.

Haha! “sketchy cab drivers”.. that’s so true though! DME sounds like the way to go so we’re going to use it! :sohappy:

Thanks for suggesting 1900 Park Fare I looked up the menu and it sounds so yummy :slurp:

Thank you for all your advice and kind words! I feel like we’re on the same page since we love to travel with our friends :wave: I will cherish all of the time I get because it really does fly! I feel like just yesterday I was starting my freshman year of high school

Love Rachel

PolynesianPrincess · Jan 22, 2012

LeCellier.Lover said:
D!
YES I did get it working! (hopefully I didn’t just jinx myself.... haha!)

Thanks, there actually IS a Kaner gingerbread man! He’s the one all the way on the left. You just can’t see it because they’re in pink, but there’s an 8 on both of his hands. AND do you like the blonde mullet I attempted to give him?!

Thanks for reminding me about getting an early ADR for Crystal Palace and being able to walk down Main Street before park opening, good idea! I’m going to talk to the girls and see what they all want to do.

As for WWOHP we’ll probably go first thing in the morning so we can try to beat some of the rush? How long were you at IOA, the whole day? Thanks for all the advice and helping me solve the "Why aren't my replies posting" problems

Ahhhh, yes, now I see it!! haha, the mullet is AWESOME!!!

We split the day between IOA and the regular Universal Park. So we were moving real quick all day since we only had 1 day to see both parks. Even moving at the pace we were AND having an Express Pass we still didnt get to see everything we wanted

LeCellier.Lover · Jan 22, 2012

derelicte19 said:
Ahhhh, yes, now I see it!! haha, the mullet is AWESOME!!!

We split the day between IOA and the regular Universal Park. So we were moving real quick all day since we only had 1 day to see both parks. Even moving at the pace we were AND having an Express Pass we still didnt get to see everything we wanted

Haha! :animwink: Even though I don't like how much he's been bashed the past week, but I guess that happens when your a professional?

Ok I was just wondering because I don't know if the other girls will want to pay for both but we'll see. How much was the Express Pass? I know it's suppost to enable you to cut lines but was it actually useful?

diddy_mouse · Jan 22, 2012

This sounds like it's going to be a really fun trip for you!

Many moons ago, when I graduated high school, :lookaroun my mom let me bring my best friend on our trip to Disney. It was only the second time she had been and I'm so glad she was able to come. Nothing better than laughing your head off on Big Thunder Mtn with your BFF. :lol:

Magical Express really does help get you in the Disney mood (if for some crazy reason you weren't already) before you get on-property. My husband and I grabbed seats right up front so I could film us approaching the welcome sign. We were lucky that Riverside was the first stop so it didn't take too long to get there and check in.

You guys are going to have a wonderful time!

PolynesianPrincess · Jan 22, 2012

LeCellier.Lover said:
Haha! :animwink: Even though I don't like how much he's been bashed the past week, but I guess that happens when your a professional?

Ok I was just wondering because I don't know if the other girls will want to pay for both but we'll see. How much was the Express Pass? I know it's suppost to enable you to cut lines but was it actually useful?

The Express pass for when you're there is $40.00 just for IOA. I think we paid $25 for both parks. It allows you to cut in line once at every attraction. It was useful for us becasue we had to do both parks but usually when we do just IOA, we get there at opening and stay til close and are fine on time and get to see everything we want. That was pre WWOHP though lol. And the Express Pass isnt good for that ride

I don't think it's worth the extra $40 though

Ariel484 · Jan 22, 2012

LeCellier.Lover said:
...When we do WWOHP we’re going to try to get there first thing in the morning. How did you get there, did you take a cab? Do you remember how much the cost was to utilize one? That is true though about being able to take in all the details of the queue. Because of the time we’ll be there I’m kind of worried about how bad the lines will be (I’ve heard about the Honeydukes shop having a 2 hour wait before?! ) Sorry one more question.. when you went did you buy just a IOA pass or both a IOA and US pass?

We took a Mears Shuttle - round-trip was $19 per person. You call them to book it and they'll schedule your pick-up time in the morning (I think we chose 7AM) and they will pick you up in the afternoon, no earlier than 3PM. They picked us up right at our resort (Animal Kingdom Lodge) and I remember we stopped at All Star Music and Movies before heading to Universal. It was a nice service, but we were spent by 1PM, so we took a taxi back. I think it cost $40-$50, so that might be a good option for you guys to split...that way you aren't tied to a schedule.

We just bought an IOA pass...it didn't seem like there was much we'd be interested in at US. :shrug:

Honestly, the Harry Potter area WILL be crowded since you're going in the summer, but the rest of the park probably won't be. Hope you guys like it!

LeCellier.Lover · Jan 22, 2012

diddy_mouse said:
This sounds like it's going to be a really fun trip for you! Many moons ago, when I graduated high school, :lookaroun my mom let me bring my best friend on our trip to Disney. It was only the second time she had been and I'm so glad she was able to come. Nothing better than laughing your head off on Big Thunder Mtn with your BFF. :lol:

Magical Express really does help get you in the Disney mood (if for some crazy reason you weren't already) before you get on-property. My husband and I grabbed seats right up front so I could film us approaching the welcome sign. We were lucky that Riverside was the first stop so it didn't take too long to get there and check in.

You guys are going to have a wonderful time!

Aww that sounds fun! Yeah definitely the best when you get to ride all the rides (especially at 3 am in the morning at MK :animwink

with your best friends.

Haha! Yeah I'm usually in the Disney mood (mostly 24/7) the night before when I'm finishing up packing! That's a cute idea to sit upfront. I'm wondering what stop POP is? :shrug:

Thank you! We're getting so excited, we want to leave right now! 148 more days! :sohappy:

LeCellier.Lover · Jan 22, 2012

derelicte19 said:
The Express pass for when you're there is $40.00 just for IOA. I think we paid $25 for both parks. It allows you to cut in line once at every attraction. It was useful for us becasue we had to do both parks but usually when we do just IOA, we get there at opening and stay til close and are fine on time and get to see everything we want. That was pre WWOHP though lol. And the Express Pass isnt good for that ride I don't think it's worth the extra $40 though

Thank you for looking that up! That stinks that it isn't good for WWOHP though..(You think they'd want to make it available for the rides there so more people would buy it?) We'll probably just skip out on using the pass then since (hopefully) most people will be in Harry Potter and the rest of IOA will be bearable once we hit up the rest of that park? :animwink:

Ariel484 said:
We took a Mears Shuttle - round-trip was $19 per person. You call them to book it and they'll schedule your pick-up time in the morning (I think we chose 7AM) and they will pick you up in the afternoon, no earlier than 3PM. They picked us up right at our resort (Animal Kingdom Lodge) and I remember we stopped at All Star Music and Movies before heading to Universal. It was a nice service, but we were spent by 1PM, so we took a taxi back. I think it cost $40-$50, so that might be a good option for you guys to split...that way you aren't tied to a schedule.

We just bought an IOA pass...it didn't seem like there was much we'd be interested in at US. :shrug:

Honestly, the Harry Potter area WILL be crowded since you're going in the summer, but the rest of the park probably won't be. Hope you guys like it!

O yes now that you say that I think I remember hearing about the shuttle. Did you do a TR for that trip? I remember you wanting to go back earlier than 3pm and who knows we might be spent too so taking a taxi might be a better idea just so that we're not tied down.
We probably will just do IOA to save some money because there's still a lot to do in IOA right? We'll probably be spending most of our time there in WWOHP anyway :animwink: I'm expecting it to be very crowded but I'm just going to go with the flow (like Crush always says :lol: ) and enjoy it. Thank you, I'm sure we'll have a blast!

Thanks for all the great advice you guys!

PartOfYourWorld · Jan 29, 2012

Hi Rachel! I just noticed your PTR on here sorry I'm late to the game lol

this trip sounds like it is going to be tons of fun! And enjoy the last bit of your senior year it goes by fast! oh ya and so does college...can't believe I just graduated last May...and you say you feel old :lol:

you are going to looove the Magical express! It's the best way to go! I mean sometimes it stinks if your resort is one of the later resorts they stop at because usually they make drop offs at multiple resorts but it's a great time! You'll love the video they play too!

So glad you booked LeCellier lol Best restaurant EVER!

I personally looooove Ohana for breakfast!

As for a last ADR I would make it at a place you all haven't tried before! That will make it exciting! Can't wait to hear about all the rest our plans as it comes closer!

YuggYuggWDW94 · Jan 29, 2012

Ahhh, I'm so jealous!! I too am a senior in high school, so its nice to know there are other high school aged Disney fanatics out there! I wish I could do something like this but alot of my friends would rather go to the beach as a senior trip

. You will have so much fun! Don't worry about the Disney transportation, the Magical Express will be just fine!
I might be planning a trip for August before college, but I am running in college so one of the meets in october is in disney

.
If you have a park hopper, Epcot is the greatest as far as the dining plan is concerned. But I'm sure you are aware of that as you seem to be quite the le cellier fan

tiaragirl · Jan 30, 2012

LeCellier.Lover said:
Aww that sounds fun! Yeah definitely the best when you get to ride all the rides (especially at 3 am in the morning at MK :animwink with your best friends.

Haha! Yeah I'm usually in the Disney mood (mostly 24/7) the night before when I'm finishing up packing! That's a cute idea to sit upfront. I'm wondering what stop POP is? :shrug:

Thank you! We're getting so excited, we want to leave right now! 148 more days! :sohappy:

Usually 2 or 3, I think! I'm sad we're not going to Orlando, just because I'll miss POP. And the Tower.

148 days is nothing, girl! I just got my exam schedule, done April 16th - but trip is happening in 19 days! Got some American money todayyy, boo rah.

Senior Trip 2012: 2 years in the making PTR!

LeCellier.Lover

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Ariel484

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PolynesianPrincess

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Ariel484

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tiaragirl

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LeCellier.Lover

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