Trip Report The Princesses Take On Disney!

We have returned from another magical, pixie dust filled trip to WDW! We accomplished A LOT considering the time of year we visited, including some new things!

If you didn't get a chance to read my PTR and would like to, you can find it here:
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/the-princesses-return.908683/

And now, without further ado...

Day 1: Travel Day, 6/7/16

Being that we don't live together, we finished packing at our respective houses and then met at my parents' (which is right in the middle) to put things in our big, shared suitcase. We struggle every year to be under the weight requirement lol. Our airline has a 40 pound limit or else you have to pay an additional fee, so we take carry ons (as big as permitted) and stuff them full as well. Anyway, we got everything packed and weighed our suitcase to see where we stood... 48 pounds. Not even close. So we started unloading and putting things in our carry ons, deciding that some things could be left behind, etc. Finally we got it down to 39 pounds and were ready to go!

This was one of the things that had to stay behind. Everybody kept asking me who I would miss more: my boyfriend, Dylan, or Tink. The jury is still out on that one.

Ready to roll!

We had a 7:00pm flight out of Latrobe, PA so got on the road at 3:00pm. It takes just under 2 hours to get there from home and the airport only has one gate, making security a breeze. We stopped near the airport and grabbed dinner at Denny's.

We arrived at the airport at 6pm and had checked our bag, gone through security, and used the restroom all by 6:15pm. Gotta love it! Our flight actually took off at 6:54, so just a few minutes ahead of schedule which was nice.

Peace out PA!

I sat next to this lady on the plane that I will absolutely never forget. I don't even know how to begin to describe her! She was probably in her 60's or 70's and was an absolute diva - LOVE IT. She talked to us the entire flight and we pretty much learned her life story lol. She has a house here in PA and another in FL. She was flying down for the week to attend her granddaughter's preschool graduation. Like I said, we literally talked about everything, but once she found out we were heading to Disney she shared that she worked as a CM for her first job in 1971. She alternated between playing Dopey and working concessions (sometimes in the same day). She went to college and worked as a nurse for 30 years. It's hard to describe here, but she was HILARIOUS and we quoted her throughout our trip lol. Just to give you an idea.. At one point the lady in front of us turned around and said, "Could you talk quieter?" We were honestly not talking loudly, and certainly not as loudly as the man behind us. But she looks at us and goes, "I know enough to not cause trouble on a plane, but I've done my service to this country and I don't have to listen to her!" And then after getting off the plane, she saw the lady bending over getting something out of her bag and she goes, "I oughta go over there and kick her right in the ***." She was something else. Sorry, that was more wordy than I anticipated!

Anyway, we landed at 8:46, also ahead of schedule! The flight was a little bumpy due to the storm, but nothing major! We headed right for my favorite thing at MCO...

I GET SO EXCITED ABOUT MAGICAL EXPRESS.

We boarded immediately and pulled out right away at 9:20pm.

Magical Express selfie! The excitement is evident!

We stopped at Coronado Springs first, and then our stop, All Star Sports! We arrived at 10pm.

Last year our pin numbers weren't setup properly and we had major issues at the end of the week sorting it all out. So the first thing we did this year upon arrival was head straight to the front desk to make sure they got setup the right way. We talked with Rachel who was an absolutely magical first CM to interact with. I made the comment that she should be working as a princess because she just had the energy and silliness for it. The CM's really do make all the difference!

 

[blreinsel]

HA! I certainly wouldn't get randomly selected then but only becasue of the glare coming off my bright white thighs would confuse and distract the CMs. We're talking super nova bright...

You should probably leave those pictures out of the TR.

 

[blreinsel]

At that point it was about 2:30pm and we headed to the train station to claim our spots for the parade. It annoys me that it's not common knowledge that the parade won't get to Main Street until almost 3:30pm. I hate waiting an hour to be sure I have a good spot but it's a necessary evil. I noticed a lot of CM's walking around with the FOF and button photo props.. It kind of made me wish we were down on the street so we could have gotten pictures with them. Next year.

I was so excited to see the parade, especially because the soundtrack is one I constantly play at home when I have the Disney blues. Even Dylan is starting to learn the words. Prepare for FOF picture overload!

I couldn't get a good picture of my favorites this year.

I struggled to get a good picture of the sisters, too! That spinning float is a killer!

SWOON.

Though it would be terrifying, I think swinging on this float would be a lot of fun!

This might be my favorite float in the entire parade. I wonder how she gets up there, especially with her fin on?

 

[blreinsel]

I love watching Tink's facial expressions in the parades.. SO much sass. As my Tink gets older, I realize just how perfect and fitting the name is for her. She's quite sassy, too.

The lady of the hour...

It's impossible to catch this entire crew when they're facing toward you, I swear! So the back view will have to suffice.

Possibly my favorite costume in the parade!

 

[blreinsel]

Looks like he's waving right at us.

The moment we've all been waiting for...

Do you think I could catch them both turned toward us? Nope!

Right after I took the above picture, my phone went black. I tried to turn it back on and was greeted with this...

I told you it was HOT!

We hung out at the train station for a little while longer until the parade crowd cleared out a bit. You should know by now that down time = picture time with us.

That was when I noticed that the flag was half staff to honor the Pulse victims.. A somber note to the usual cheery Main Street.

Though I took this as an "I love Disney" picture, it'll always serve as a reminder of that terrible tragedy.

I didn't realize until after I was home that I had my ears facing the wrong way. I still love the picture though.

Every year I get post cards autographed by a character for my niece and two nephews and then mail them from Main Street. It'll be neat to show them this when they're old enough to understand.

We had a FP+ for Peter Pan, so headed that way. I really do enjoy the ride, but I cannot see waiting in line more than 30 minutes for it, TOPS. It's not that good. After PP, we hopped a ride on a magic carpet and boy did that wind on our faces feel good!

Next up, we headed for Adventureland!

 

[samantha788]

Love your FoF pictures from the train station!! I have yet to watch from there...one day

 

[blreinsel]

Love your FoF pictures from the train station!! I have yet to watch from there...one day

I love watching from there! It's nice to get away from the majority of the crowds for a little while. People are NASTY when it comes to parade spots.

 

[samantha788]

I love watching from there! It's nice to get away from the majority of the crowds for a little while. People are NASTY when it comes to parade spots.

oh my gosh yes! I JUST posted in my report about this women shoving her two daughters into my sister and I, stepping all over our stuff, while there was PLENTY of room in the rest of the section

 

[blreinsel]

oh my gosh yes! I JUST posted in my report about this women shoving her two daughters into my sister and I, stepping all over our stuff, while there was PLENTY of room in the rest of the section

Like you mentioned in your report.. It changes the mood SO quickly! I don't understand why people have to act like that!

 

[blreinsel]

We had a FP+ for Jungle Cruise so made our way over to the boats. I have to do this at least once each trip.. Skipper Anthony was fun and told some new jokes that I hadn't heard before.

It's crazy to think how innocent these jokes were until the very next day. I have to wonder if they've returned to the script now that Tick Tock is back in the parade and stage show.

No TR is complete without the backside of water.

The elephants are my favorite part of this ride.

After our cruise, we grabbed Dole Whips and headed out of the park for a little while. It doesn't get any more Disney than this.

I snapped a couple of golf course pictures for Dylan out the bus window on our way back.

We were back at the room around 5:30pm to relax and finish up packing.

 

[blreinsel]

We arrived back at the park around 7:30pm and found that the canine unit was there. You can kind of see him heading through the gate. It's sad that it even has to be a thought.. Disney is supposed to be a safe haven.

We went straight to Fantasyland for our FP+ to meet the sisters of Arendelle!

Elsa talked to us about the weather back in PA and we complained about the snowy winters. Though we also pointed out that we didn't love the smoldering hot weather that Florida had given us that day, either! She said she tries to make it snow in this kingdom but it always turns to rain. We scolded her for all of the rain we'd had throughout the week.

I love her cape. And that she always warns people to stand on the opposite side of her so they don't slip on the ice!

Anna talked to us about Olaf wanting to get gorgeously tan and said that he has better luck than she does because she's a red head.

I love this one.

We bid the ladies farewell and exited into the gift shop. Elsa Minnie is so cute! I was sure to send this picture to my niece, who loves both Minnie and Frozen.

It was getting ready to storm AGAIN, so I quickly made an additional FP+ reservation for Pirates.

On our way! This is one of my favorite areas to hangout in when it's dark.

We had a fun (mostly dry!) ride on PotC. I made a 10:00pm FP+ reservation for Space Mountain while we were walking through the queue to board our boat. We had a bit of time before that window opened, so we waited 10 minutes standby for Enchanted Tales with Belle. Every year I experience absurd behavior (or lack thereof) while waiting for this show. There were kids climbing on things, banging on the walls and other objects in the room, jumping up to touch the walls, etc. Why can't parents be parents?

I was really hoping to get picked to be part of the show so I could get a picture with Belle, but it didn't happen. They asked if anybody else wanted to participate (as one of the random enchanted objects), but Heather didn't want to and I didn't want to do it alone.

It was a great show as always.. One of my favorite things to do in MK.

 

[blreinsel]

After we relived the night Belle and Beast fell in love, we decided to hit up Cosmic Ray's for a late dinner.

Heather had the Angus Bacon Cheeseburger and fries with Triple Chocolate Cake for dessert.

I had the BBQ Pork Bacon Cheeseburger and fries with Triple Chocolate Cake for dessert as well. Holy man was this YUMMY! I think it might be new because I don't remember it from before. So much food.. I couldn't even eat it all!

While we ate, Celebrate the Magic and Wishes! were going on right outside the window and they piped the music in. It was great to get to see some of the show without dealing with the crowds.. Plus we were in the AC!

After we finished eating, our FP+ window for Space Mountain was open. We stopped for a PP picture before entering the queue. We got a little burnt that day, if you can't tell.

We had another great trip through space! I have to wonder what people think when I pop up in their ride pictures.

While we were waiting in line for SM, I had made another FP+ for Buzz so we headed there next.

One of my better scores! I don't think I'll ever get the perfect score like some of you guys do.

While in line for Buzz, I made ANOTHER FP+ for Haunted Mansion. I'm catching up to you @Tuvalu No pictures, but I really like the new shenanigans that the ghosts initiate at the end of the ride!

After Buzz, Big Thunder had a posted wait of 30 minutes so we decided to make that our final ride of the trip. We actually waited about 35 minutes. Not a terrible wait, but it was still HOT and it was pushing midnight at that point! We also had some obnoxious teenage girls behind us. One of them said, "let's fight!" They then proceeded to hit each other and kept crowding us/running into us. We finally boarded and had a great last wild ride in the wilderness!

We slowly made our way toward Main Street and stopped for a final PhotoPass picture.

We finally forced ourselves toward the exit. I'm getting sad all over again just writing about it! Lol.

Until next time beautiful.

We got back to the resort at 12:45am. I still can't get over how perfect our view was!

Still to come.. Departure day and final thoughts!

10.05 miles walked
21, 280 steps

 

[Noellikechristmas]

Fabulous trip report! I love all of your shirts

 

[prfctlyximprct]

Nooooo, I have goosebumps. It can't be the end! How will I make it through until November?

Anyways, LOL.. love all your birthday presents!! I think it's apparent you love all things Disney. We must be best friends. And how rude of Tink to not want to see your puppy! My mouth honestly dropped open as I read that her response was no. What the heck?!

Pretty jealous of your cannolis at Tony's.. I wish they were an option when I went. But isn't their food the best? I thought it was just a great little hidden gem. I never hear much about Tony's on the forums, but their food really is yummy and you do get a ton!

I absolutely adore your Minnie ears on Main Street photo.. don't be surprised if I steal your creativity.

Don't ever end this!! Tell me you called the airlines and extended your trip a few days

 

[blreinsel]

Fabulous trip report! I love all of your shirts

Thank you! Disney is slowly but surely taking over my wardrobe!

Nooooo, I have goosebumps. It can't be the end! How will I make it through until November?

Anyways, LOL.. love all your birthday presents!! I think it's apparent you love all things Disney. We must be best friends. And how rude of Tink to not want to see your puppy! My mouth honestly dropped open as I read that her response was no. What the heck?!

Pretty jealous of your cannolis at Tony's.. I wish they were an option when I went. But isn't their food the best? I thought it was just a great little hidden gem. I never hear much about Tony's on the forums, but their food really is yummy and you do get a ton!

I absolutely adore your Minnie ears on Main Street photo.. don't be surprised if I steal your creativity.

Don't ever end this!! Tell me you called the airlines and extended your trip a few days

Lol! You have my Uni TR to look forward to! I leave Friday.

If only we lived in the same city or even the same state. We would have many ridiculous outings together.. I'm sure of it! We seem to have quite a lot in common and very similar personalities! That could be good or bad.

That Tink made me so angry! How could you not want to look at this all day long?

Looks like you'll have to go back to Tony's for a cannoli.. You have availability in your ADR schedule, right? I wish I would have known how much food they give because I would have tried to schedule a later time so we were STARVING and could eat it all!

You go right ahead and steal my Minnie ears picture.. I stole it from Facebook or Instagram or something.

Extending the trip.. Isn't that everybody here's dream?? Your TR is going to have to hold me over until my trip next year. We're each other's lifeline.

 

[Scoppin]

I just caught up on all of your reports and it sounded like you had a great time.

Happy belated birthday by the way. Mine was a few days before yours.

I have promised my DS10 and DD8 a trip to WDW next year or year after if we are able to save enough for the trip. What they don't know is the stars have aligned and we will be going this September. Shhhh don't say anything its going to be a surprise that is going to blow their minds. But in a good way.

I have found your reports very informative. I have done a lot of research on just about everything regarding the trip. I won't go into our trip details as have a pre trip report which spells out everything. We will also be staying at All Star Sports. It was nice to see pictures of the resort of where we would be staying. I don't plan on spending much time in the room as would rather want to be at the parks. I am sure I will be pulled to get to the parks. I also liked reading about your bus rides. This was one thing I haven't been able to get much information on. I have been debating on if I should drive or take the bus. But from what I have read above, it usually doesn't take longer than 30 minutes to get from resort to park.

The park hours won't be as late for us as we are going in September, which may be better for my two to get their rest. But hoping it won't be as busy so we can get in more with shorter lines.

I will really have to remember to get the MDE app on my phone so I can get new FP+s while we are waiting in the line.

 

[FlaggNL]

Wow!

 

[FlaggNL]

Wow! I finally caught up! What a report! And what is better than reading this TR with Come Undone from Robbie Williams loud ot of the speakers! Thanks for sharing and a shame that you are almost at the end

 

[ScarletBegonias]

Love your TR's as always! I can't believe Tink was so rude. Geesh!

I wish we made it until nighttime on our last day in MK, but we always leave the park early to make sure we are all packed up.

 

[blreinsel]

I just caught up on all of your reports and it sounded like you had a great time.

Happy belated birthday by the way. Mine was a few days before yours.

I have promised my DS10 and DD8 a trip to WDW next year or year after if we are able to save enough for the trip. What they don't know is the stars have aligned and we will be going this September. Shhhh don't say anything its going to be a surprise that is going to blow their minds. But in a good way.

I have found your reports very informative. I have done a lot of research on just about everything regarding the trip. I won't go into our trip details as have a pre trip report which spells out everything. We will also be staying at All Star Sports. It was nice to see pictures of the resort of where we would be staying. I don't plan on spending much time in the room as would rather want to be at the parks. I am sure I will be pulled to get to the parks. I also liked reading about your bus rides. This was one thing I haven't been able to get much information on. I have been debating on if I should drive or take the bus. But from what I have read above, it usually doesn't take longer than 30 minutes to get from resort to park.

The park hours won't be as late for us as we are going in September, which may be better for my two to get their rest. But hoping it won't be as busy so we can get in more with shorter lines.

I will really have to remember to get the MDE app on my phone so I can get new FP+s while we are waiting in the line.

Thank you, happy belated birthday to you as well!

A surprise trip.. How fun! I would love for someone to surprise me one day, however I like to plan too much to probably let that actually happen.

Sports was a really nice resort.. The theming was great! Like you, we spend very little time in the room. Even when we would go back during the day we were usually sleeping, so it's not like we needed a fancy space or a lot of amenities. Definitely worthwhile to save a pretty penny. Bus transportation isn't terrible. The worst part is waiting for a bus when you have somewhere to be (like an ADR) and waiting for a bus at the end of a long park day. But the length of the waits is never that bad, and we were there during peak season. You should be just fine!

If we had Fall hours, I would be less likely to take afternoon breaks. But we like staying till late when the crowds start to clear out, so midday rests are critical for us to not exhaust ourselves!

Definitely download the MDE app.. It's so handy, especially now that you can make additional FP+'s from it!

Thanks for following along.

Wow! I finally caught up! What a report! And what is better than reading this TR with Come Undone from Robbie Williams loud ot of the speakers! Thanks for sharing and a shame that you are almost at the end

Thanks for following!

Love your TR's as always! I can't believe Tink was so rude. Geesh!

I wish we made it until nighttime on our last day in MK, but we always leave the park early to make sure we are all packed up.

Thank you! I'm always sure to do most of my packing the next to last night or last day so that I can enjoy late night MK without worrying about having a ton to do when I get back to the room. That's probably a lot easier to do without a little one though.

 

[blreinsel]

Day 8: Departure Day, 6/14/16

As always, the last day of our trip had arrived in the blink of an eye. Waking up in Disney is a little less enjoyable when you know it's your last of the trip. We packed up the last of our things and said goodbye to room 9310. We made the slow, sad walk to the lobby to checkout and make sure our room charges were settled.

I started a tradition last year that I continued this trip. I love to buy a balloon to float in the room for the week, but of course can't take it home on the plane with me. Instead, I find a little one arriving for their magical trip and give it to him/her. This year, I spotted a brother and sister duo and knew they were the perfect recipients. I approached them and asked if they were just starting their trip, to which they replied yes. I explained that we had two balloons that we weren't able to take home with us, and asked if they'd like to have them. They nervously looked at their mom, not sure if they were allowed or not lol. She was so shocked and grateful.. She thanked us multiple times, as did the kids. They were pretty excited about the fact that the balloons lit up. I look forward to this part of the trip.. Creating magic for somebody else is what Disney is all about.

We had time to kill before our Tragical Express arrived, so we grabbed lunch at the food court and just hung out there in the AC for awhile. I grabbed some last minute things in the gift shop, too.

Last meal in Disney.

I vowed to not forget to spend our leftover snack credits before we left.. So as we're standing at the Tragical Express bus stop Heather goes, "You forgot to use our snack credits!" I dropped everything and took off running back into the food court, grabbed things that could be shoved in our carry ons, and hurried to the checkout. The cashier took one look at me and said, "Leftover snack credits?" Yes. Just as I was paying, Heather texted me and said the bus had arrived. Off I went running again.. I'm sure I looked crazy.

ANYWAY.. Our Tragical Express ride was at 1:05pm. We rolled our luggage up to the bus driver for him to load it. I said, "You don't have room on there for us, right?" I forget exactly what he said, but he laughed and played along with my antics.

We had an uneventful ride to MCO, however upon arriving I received an email saying our flight had been delayed. Are you kidding me!? After several additional emails, it ended up being delayed until 5:19pm and we didn't actually take off until 5:35pm. Our original flight was to be at 3:53pm. We were not amused.

Our flight was fine and we touched down in Latrobe at 7:30pm. We collected our bag and made our way to the car. We stopped for one last picture for my golf-loving boyfriend.

And with that, another magical trip to WDW came to an end.

Final thoughts...
I had a great trip with lots of awesome memories, but I'm so ready to start going with Dylan. I think that going with him is going to be such a different experience, and it's certainly one that I'm looking forward to. He's extremely laid back and will force me to slow down and soak it all in.. A welcome change in park touring. I've experienced so many of the "big things" at Disney and I'm excited to start experiencing the "little things" that make WDW what it is.

Once again, I loved staying on property. The Value resorts are great for my trip style, though I am tempted to try and swing a moderate for Dylan and I's trip. We'll see what kind of deals Disney releases before I make a final decision on that. It'll have to be pretty good for me to see it as worth the extra money.

Memory Maker remains a must-do for me. If you have any reservations about it, I'm telling you.. Just do it. You will not regret it. I'm excited to see what kind of "couple" shots we get to take next trip.

The Dining Plan.. Holy cow did I love it! The restaurants that we choose to eat at make it worthwhile, and I will continue to pay for it on future trips. It would be really great if Dylan and I could get away when they have free dining, but that probably won't happen for a few years yet. The convenience and ease of using it alone made it worthwhile.

Crowds.. Early June is a great time to go, especially for teachers like myself who can't really go any other time of year. The weather isn't TOO hot yet, and the crowds are manageable with a good park plan. Is it busy? Yes. Is it overwhelming like later in the summer? No. If you have to go during the summer, I recommend going at this time.

Thank you all for following along, and I hope that you'll stay aboard for my Universal/IOA TR that I'll be starting shortly! We leave in 3 days!

See ya real soon!