Trip Report That time I dislocated my kneecap in WDW...

Hi friends :) I’ll get back to that title in a little bit, I’m much better now but that certainly put an unwelcome twist on the trip. My best friend, trying to make me feel better, said I'm lucky-who gets to experience a hurricane and dislocate their kneecap both in Disney within a few months. She does have a point ;)



But first...a couple months ago, right before I went on my November trip, I was already getting bummed because I didn’t know when I’d be going back (I have problems:oops:…). That same day my cousin texted me saying she had a meeting in Orlando January 14th and asked if I wanted to fly down for the weekend and join her at Disney for a couple days. Well, DUH :D
We didn’t really talk about it much in the next few weeks until we saw each other over thanksgiving. My aunt was on board and I wanted my mom to come too but she said no – it’s too much trouble for her to ask off of work. I was bummed but understand the position she is in so didn’t push it – I also had an idea up my sleeve…
I suggested to my dad that we give my mom this trip for Christmas. I talked to her boss about getting the time off, explaining we wanted to surprise her etc and it was no problem. In the meantime, my cousin tells me that her little ones will be coming along, an even better surprise that once my mom found out about, she wouldn't miss this for anything.
SO I tell my mom the trip isn’t happening – made up an excuse about having mandatory things at work I really can’t get out of so my cousin is just going to the meeting and not spending any time at Disney. A relief for my mom so she didn’t have to worry about work. ;)
Christmas morning comes, my mom unwrapped her magicband and she was SO confused and excited when she figured out all our scheming. We let her unwrap gift certificates for the dining plan (something we never do), photopass, our hotel & flights, then the kids magicbands. Until that moment she thought it was just my aunt, cousin and me. She couldn’t believe it! What was even more exciting is that the trip was less than 3 weeks away!
My cousin didn’t tell the kids until New Years and they were just as excited!


So here we are –

Me
Eliska – 6.5
Julian – 4.5
Michelle- my cousin
Phyl- My Mom/Auntie to the kids :)
Bev – My Aunt/Nonna to the kids

We were in Orlando from Friday January 13th – Tuesday January 17th.
My mom and I stayed Friday night at Port Orleans French Quarter
Michelle & Fam stayed at a nearby hotel where her conference was going on
Saturday we all switched to a Cars Suite at Art of Animation

Hope you'll join along! :)
 

samantha788

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
YOUR JOB RULES. Meeting Nick Viall, AKL, and a Disney cruise all in one week? If you need a personal assistant, I'm definitely up for the task. :p



We will!!!! :D



I'm cracking up.. As I was reading this, I had pulled up Instagram and saw that I had a new follow request to which I thought, "who is this person??" :hilarious::hilarious::hilarious:
I could use an assistant!:D hahaha
Last week was probably up at the top of the "best work week" list!
 

LadyBelle

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
Your Snaps were amazing! I always saved them for last so that I could live vicariously through you. :D And that Stateroom was gorgeous!!

Looks like Ginger was having fun on 7DMT, but her seat companion wins best photo. :hilarious::hilarious:
 

samantha788

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Your Snaps were amazing! I always saved them for last so that I could live vicariously through you. :D And that Stateroom was gorgeous!!

Looks like Ginger was having fun on 7DMT, but her seat companion wins best photo. :hilarious::hilarious:
Thank you!! I'm glad you enjoyed them!:D
That kid was so great! We laughed so hard when we saw the picture. Mr Cool:cool:
 

samantha788

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Friday the was of course another early start as we were broadcasting our show from the ship.

The reason we were on the cruise for work was Disney hosting their annual Social Media Moms Celebration; the first part was in the parks Tuesday-Thursday then the second half of the conference was the cruise Thursday-Sunday. Ginger Zee was the keynote speaker for the cruise event, so GMA/Disney decided to have us do the show from the ship Friday morning. We were on the Wonder, which just came out of its dry dock with lots of new features, so it was a perfect integration!:)

5am nearly full moon


I loved all the art around the ship!


Nothing beats a sunrise :)







For being in the ocean, the show went off without a hitch! We got to feature Frozen, Tiana’s new restaurant, and of course Mickey, Mickey, Donald, Daisy, and Goofy!







Mickey and Minnie were SO cute! I have the live photo feature on on my phone, and when you animate this one, you hear me say "oh my gosh they're so cute" hahaha:D:inlove:





The characters stuck around for some pictures with the crew :D



One of the happiest moments ever haha


 

amjt660

Well-Known Member
Loving all the pics - and your job does give you some amazing opportunites
I am glad you were able to go and have fun.
And the group shot with M & M & D & D & G???
Priceless

Max
 

gdisneyfans

Well-Known Member
Ah, your GMA adventure looks like so much fun!!! It's so cool you got to go Disney and go on a Disney cruise with Ginger:geek: Can't wait to hear more about both trips!:)
 

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Just curious, what is your role with GMA? Also, were you a broadcasting major in college? We have a broadcasting program where I work...maybe I should get a second bachelor's degree and come join you :joyfull:

I LOVE the picture of you with Mickey and Friends. So so so good! And what a rare opportunity!
 

samantha788

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Your job is SO cool, i am so jealous!!
hah, thanks!! Some days are extra fun :)

Loving all the pics - and your job does give you some amazing opportunites
I am glad you were able to go and have fun.
And the group shot with M & M & D & D & G???
Priceless

Max
Thank you! My main priority was Goofy, then they all started posing together and it was the best ever:D

Ah, your GMA adventure looks like so much fun!!! It's so cool you got to go Disney and go on a Disney cruise with Ginger:geek: Can't wait to hear more about both trips!:)
Thank you!! It was SO fun!!

Just curious, what is your role with GMA? Also, were you a broadcasting major in college? We have a broadcasting program where I work...maybe I should get a second bachelor's degree and come join you :joyfull:

I LOVE the picture of you with Mickey and Friends. So so so good! And what a rare opportunity!
Meteorologist/Producer at GMA. I studied meteorology in college so have just learned the whole producing stuff by working here since my role is a crossover of the two. Most of the producers that work here though did study broadcasting or journalism. I would love for you to join me!!

A Disney Cruise is definitely on my bucket list! :inlove: Nothing better than a trip report in a trip report, its like a trip burrito!:hilarious::D
Loved the picture of Tiana too.
A trip burrito! hahaha, I LOVE it! You will love a Disney Cruise!!
 

samantha788

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We had some downtime between our show and the social media moms things we were involved in so naturally I went to visit Anna and Elsa haha:p
Their meeting spot was in Animator’s Palate, which looked AWESOME!
They told me they would never lose me in a snowstorm because my shirt was so bright hahaha






The conference stuff took up most of the afternoon and went great! Then we got ready for dinner and headed back upstairs for a drink. Donald and Rapunzel stopped by!:happy::happy:




We watched the sunset before catching the nightly show then had dinner at Triton’s Place. Another great meal.



Then headed back upstairs for the fireworks which was just awesome! My pictures are awful from using my iphone, but here's one! It's so cool that they set them off from the ship and are so close!



We called it a pretty early night and before we knew it were waking up to THIS view. Unreal!
 

samantha788

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Saturday- February 11th
My friends ran the 5k, which I wanted to do so bad but with my knee still not in great shape, I didn’t want to hurt it anymore. They said a lot of people walked, which I definitely could have done without a problem. Oh well, next time!

But while they were running, I was visiting the princesses!





While waiting for them to get back, I had breakfast (Mickey waffles!) with a picture perfect view and sat on the sundeck for a while.







 

samantha788

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Finally we were back together and headed off to the island!









I can’t get over how beautiful this place was, literally like a dream! We walked for a while then hopped on the tram to Serenity Bay.




that's me! all alone in heaven :joyfull:




We spent all day there. The bbq lunch buffet was really good and serenity bay was not crowded at all! It felt like you could walk forever out into the ocean. There was music playing at the bar there which we could hear by our chairs and in the water, pretty far away. And watching the pelicans dive into the water also provided endless entertainment!
 

samantha788

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We had to get back to the ship a bit early and reluctantly made the trek back:(






We quickly got ready for the night since the captain invited us for a tour of the bridge! He even let us press the button for the Mickey Whistle! He was awesome and it was so cool to see up there.







After we were treated to dinner at Palo – AMAZING! Then caught the Frozen show. Everyone kept telling us how good it would be, and on a different level from the other shows, and they were right. It was really great!


We ended the night with one more visit to our new friends in the lounge – we spent so much time with them and they truly made the trip for us. It stinks to say goodbye!:(


Sunday we were up early and off the ship, we were headed back to central Florida to shoot some more things for our other project before going to the airport. We finished up early and had lots of time so tried getting on an earlier flight but the NY weather was messing everything up so we ended back on our original flight time. This did allow us time to stop in Disney Springs for lunch at Morimoto!! I was excited to try this place, and to get another hour on Disney property;) Then it was really off to the airport to come back to reality.




I can't believe I finally got to go on a Disney Cruise!! Everyone would tell me how much I would love it, ask why I haven't been yet, and would tell me I would lose my mind. They were all right:DThe entire experience was better than I could have imagined. From the crew, to the food, the rooms, Disney everywhere, shows, Castaway Cay - it was all perfect. I can't stop talking about the island and looking at my pictures of how beautiful it is. It was really like a dream to be there. Pure paradise!
 

LisaBelle

Well-Known Member
Oh my goodness Samantha! Your cruise looks like such a blast! Wish I'd remembered to dvr GMA the day that segment aired. My sister and I are talking about taking a Disney cruise with our families next year. Some of them need a bit of convincing. I think I will show them some of your beautiful photos to tip the scales in my favor :).
I am super sad about Wishes ending :cry:! It is one of my favorites on every trip and I watch it every chance I get. It just makes me so happy . I listen to the soundtrack all the time and all my favorite Disney memories come flooding back :inlove:. Glad your friends enjoyed it and you were able to see it before it ends!
 

amjt660

Well-Known Member
Saturday- February 11th
My friends ran the 5k, which I wanted to do so bad but with my knee still not in great shape, I didn’t want to hurt it anymore. They said a lot of people walked, which I definitely could have done without a problem. Oh well, next time!

But while they were running, I was visiting the princesses!




How did you get two princesses to pose together??;)
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
OMG!!!! I'm obsessed with all these pictures the cruise looked so awesome! Ginger Zee was one of our favorites from DWTS so I had to call my Mom and show her the pictures (via Facetime). Loved how you got to go to the bridge of the ship! Love all your character pictures. I have been gushing over this post forever. You have the best job ever :)
 

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