Trip Report The "I'm not going to write a Trip Report, Just Kidding Yes I Am" Trip Report

"I don't have time", "This trip was far too special to share", "I don't have enough pictures"...you name the excuse, I've said it. We just got back Monday afternoon (May 5) and I really want to go back trough all my pictures and share my experiences with you guys to put a final close on my best trip to WDW ever to start planning the next one!


A little background information first, I had been planning this trip for my 16th birthday for a while. Probably 2-3 years. We had around 5 trips from the time I conjured up this idea to the time we stepped foot in the airport last Thursday. Why my Sweet 16? Because I could FINALLY do the Keys to the Kingdom Tour which was amazing! More on that later...


The Cast:

The Birthday Boy:

he's the Disney fanatic that planned this whole trip (the others just paid for it ) (his 11th trip)

The Grandma:

the totally hip grandma that kept up with us during the whole trip (sometimes she was ahead of us!) (her 4th trip)


The Mom:

the second disney fanatic of our bunch (her 12th trip)



Let's get started!!!!


Originally, my plans were to stay at the Grand Floridian (my favorite resort), but the Mom and Grandma didn't exactly like the price We originally booked All-Star Movies but upgraded to Caribbean Beach with the Memory Maker package later. I actually love the Memory Maker and MM+. Magic Bands are da bomb. Everything is so easy and it's a great new system!


We left school early Thursday to make our 5:30pm flight out of Indy. We had a nonstop flight via Southwest to MCO. We had a bit of turbulence due to some thunderstorms (a reoccurring trend during our trip).

You can see the MK and EPCOT area from the plane!

selfie alert! (another reoccurring trend during this trip!)

in the clouds ...


B Side, Level 1!!!! I always get lost at MCO and I can't ever find DME when I land! My only complaint about DME is that it takes forever (or it feels like...) to actually get the bus moving to WDW! I didn't get a picture from DME except this blurry one...but here we are!

 

[cw1982]

How do you get them to have the birthday button waiting for you at check in?

You can call Disney's guest relations number and they will note it on your reservation. That way the hotel staff knows ahead of time.

 

[ImagineerDude]

QUOTE="Violiav, post: 6117374, member: 95511"]How do you get them to have the birthday button waiting for you at check in?[/QUOTE]
I think they have them behind the counter, they are also in most of the shops and in the park. Just ask a CM.


Sorry everyone! I had another update but it didn't post!


Photopass pics:

And apparently we did it's a small world that night too:

After all that, we just hung out around Main Street waiting for the infamous Kiss Goodnight, which I'd never been lucky enough to see before.

I LOVE MK at night, especially after closing. And it was my birthday day


Usually, the rest of our family rushes out of the park to "beat the crowds" but it doesn't work. It was still crowded around 11:45 when we were taking some sweet pics of a nearly empty Main Street. Not sure how panoramic pictures will work on here...

I wanted to go up to the Train Station and spend the last few minutes of my 16th birthday in MK, so we did. We just sat on the benches and took pictures.


It was a few minutes after midnight, my birthday was over, and the Kiss Goodnight still hadn't started. We made our way down the steps and I got my last glimpse of the castle. Just as we were walking through the tunnel, the music began. We ran (a reoccurring trend in this trip now that I think about it lol) to the back of the station in front of the flagpole. Such a simple show, yet 2 out of every 5 people that I saw were sniffling on their way out, including me. A fantastical day at the most magical place on Earth during the most magical birthday for me ever had ended. Bittersweet moment. I wasn't totally crying yet because I knew it had only been our first day and we had the rest of a trip of a lifetime coming up.


We made our way to the busses and got back to our room in the Aruba village just after 1am where I found another surprise:

(as you can see, so tired!!!)

It was a personalized bag from Disney with a WHOLE bag of tostitos nachos, goldfish crackers, some Goofy's candy, 2 cans of soda, jelly bellies, and a Mickey golf towel (I just began playing golf this year). Yep, my mom and grandma actually got away with surprising ME with something at Disney!!


But now it's time for bed...and we slept in wayyyy later than we should have :O Whatever will we do now???!

 

[FlaggNL]

still great to follow

 

[mrdrift]

Awesome surprise, Happy 16th B-DAY !!!! Great report and pictures. will be watching for more.

 

[ImagineerDude]

All right so now it's Saturday. I've been 16 for a whole day! As I mentioned, we didn't get back until late last night and we didn't set any alarms because we didn't really have any plans for today until later. I rolled over to look at our clock. It was 10:30! I'd never slept so late in WDW before! Mom was well asleep and grandma was waking up so I told her I was going to check out the resort...in the rain I got a few pictures while I caught up with my dad on the phone and while I FaceTimed one of my friends on a wet hammock on the beach. Not the brightest idea once I got up!

Caribbean Beach is huge! Perfect resort for a person that runs on their vacation! It was very relaxing and I'd consider staying here again sometime.

I went back to the room around 11 and we decided to head to Downtown Disney for some lunch. We picked Earl of Sandwich. IT WAS PACKED! The line stretched out the back door of the restaurant. Wolfgang Puck was no better. The line itself took about 30 minutes and we scored a table outside to see the sun shining! Praise The Lord! We hadn't seen the Florida sun on our whole trip and here it is! I had a plain grilled chicken sandwich and the macaroni and cheese. It was pretty good. I was so hungry at this point no pictures of food were taken


We strolled across the way to Once a Upon a Toy where I bought $111 worth of phone cases...is that bad? I got a monorail one, an Olaf one for my sister, and a Goofy one also for myself! My grandma was searching for some things for my little cousins. While they checked out, I went across to the Pin Traders in search for a DHS 25th anniversary pin. There were none to be found here or DHS!

We made our way to a busy World of Disney store where I bought even more crap that I don't need! I got a Goofy driver head cover, a couple shirts, and a nice sweatshirt to wear because I don't think it'll ever warm up in Indiana!


We strolled over to the West Side and we saw this cool Café ...

I never really got a good picture of it


We made our way through a cramped ex-Pleasure Island to see the Characters in Flight hot air balloon tempting us. Hey, why not!

will post more in a few...at track regionals now!

 

[disneypearl]

Looks like you and your family had such a fun time for your birthday celebration! A trip you'll always remember for sure. I'm glad you posted some pictures of Caribbean Beach because I'll be there in a little more than a month. The resort looks beautiful.

 

[ImagineerDude]

Looks like you and your family had such a fun time for your birthday celebration! A trip you'll always remember for sure. I'm glad you posted some pictures of Caribbean Beach because I'll be there in a little more than a month. The resort looks beautiful.

Thanks! it's nice but it's HUGE. I'm sure you'll love it though. Just be patient with the busses

 

[stevehousse]

I was going to ask about the busses...what was your experience like and how long was your total travel time to a park on average?

 

[ImagineerDude]

I was going to ask about the busses...what was your experience like and how long was your total travel time to a park on average?

The only problem is that there are 7 villages so there are 7 stops. We stayed in Aruba which was one of the last villages and we were usually the first stop or the last one. It was sometimes easier to just walk once we figured out the resort insead of going around to all the villages by bus. There is also an internal resort shuttle. Once we got out of the actual resort, it didn't take much time at all.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Love this TR so far!

How awesome to be the first people on Space!! My cousin and I were the first people on Peter Pans Flight last year. We had a head start though because we were just exiting CRT from breakfast so we were already in Fantasyland! We were also the last safari, in the last row on Kilimanjaro Safaris that trip too!

I wish they made Disney phone cases for the iPhone 5c but they don't I don't know if it's because the 5c comes in all different kinds of colors or what. I have an awesome MK 40th case and an Epcot 30th case but can't use either of them cause they don't fit the 5c Maybe soon they will make cases and I, like you, will probably also spend over $100 on them! haha

I have never heard the Kiss Goodnight but I really want to! I keep forgetting about it or we leave before the park closes. Next time though!!

Can't wait to read more!

 

[ImagineerDude]

Love this TR so far!

How awesome to be the first people on Space!! My cousin and I were the first people on Peter Pans Flight last year. We had a head start though because we were just exiting CRT from breakfast so we were already in Fantasyland! We were also the last safari, in the last row on Kilimanjaro Safaris that trip too!

I wish they made Disney phone cases for the iPhone 5c but they don't I don't know if it's because the 5c comes in all different kinds of colors or what. I have an awesome MK 40th case and an Epcot 30th case but can't use either of them cause they don't fit the 5c Maybe soon they will make cases and I, like you, will probably also spend over $100 on them! haha

I have never heard the Kiss Goodnight but I really want to! I keep forgetting about it or we leave before the park closes. Next time though!!

Can't wait to read more!

check Amazon, or be like my sister...she just made the Olaf case I got her work for her 5c

 

[Violiav]

I've found some neat ones on the internet . etsy and so forth.

 

[walter1901]

What a great TR! Following along!

 

[mrdrift]

Great report, so did you do the hot air balloon?

 

[ImagineerDude]

Great report, so did you do the hot air balloon?

ahhhh! Yes! I haven't gotten a chance to do another update yet but it's coming!

 

[Zipadeelady]

I love the creepy photobomber!! I couldn't stop staring at her. yikes!!

 

[ImagineerDude]

I love the creepy photobomber!! I couldn't stop staring at her. yikes!!

omg I know hahahahahahaha