Trip Report We can sleep when we get home...We're at Disney without the kid!

This trip was originally supposed to happen in the Fall to celebrate our 20th anniversary, but thanks to a deal offered by Southwest for January, we decided to celebrate the 19th instead!! We left our 13 year old special needs daughter with friends and family for 5 days so we could rest and recharge...

Who are we kidding...there's no rest at Disney! As Dennis says, we can sleep when we get home. We're at Disney, let's go!!!

So, here we go..

Day 1


I dropped Grace off to our friends on Saturday afternoon so I would have the rest of the evening for last minute packing and an early bed time. Dennis had to work until 9:00, so once he got home, we packed the last of the necessities and tried to get some sleep.

The alarm went off bright and early at 3:30 AM! Thanks to our organization, we were ready and out the door by 4:30. An uneventful drive and trip through security landed us at Starbucks by 5:30 for a delicious breakfast sandwich and some much-needed caffeine.

Our flight departed right on time at 6:50 and landed 10 minutes earlier than planned. Bonus! We had no wait at all to board the Magical Express bus, but due to the marathon events, the ride was longer than expected. It was fun, though, to see all the runners and their costumes. It must have been a popular event because the crowds were huge!

We arrived at All Star Music at about 10:30 and were surprised to find our room ready….and upgraded!! We were in the closest building with a king bed! We dropped our carry-ons, changed our clothes and were on the bus by 11:00. Quite a change going from Ohio and 15 degrees, to Orlando and 70 degrees! There was a pesky drizzle that we were afraid might dampen our spirits, but who were we kidding?!! We are in the most magical place on earth. Nothing will bring us down. (Except maybe a couple of Brazilian tour groups!) Due to the marathon, and an accident between a bus and a car, our driver had to take an alternate route to Hollywood Studios. The marathon runners were just coming through the park, so that slowed things down a little as well.

Once we were in the park, we realized we were really hungry. What better way to solve that problem than to begin our trip with a yummy grilled vegetable sandwich from Backlot Express? It’s one of our “must-dos”. Dennis had the banana caramel cupcake, but I don’t do anything banana, so I indulged in the chocolate mousse.

With bellies full, we headed to our first fast-pass for Tower of Terror! The standby line was really short as well, so after a quick trip on Rockin Roller Coaster, we took in Tower again. We were off to a great start!

 

[SweetEvangeline]

Day 1 con't...

We did encounter several Brazilian tour groups but fortunately, the crowds were light enough that they didn’t cause any problems. Getting from one side of the park to the other was interesting as they had the sidewalk blocked for the runners, but true to Disney style, they had a smooth, seamless way to get everyone across without disturbing the pace of the runners.

In the course of the afternoon, we took in the Animators class, where we drew pluto. I was shocked that mine actually looked like Pluto, too! J While we were looking for the animator’s class, we ended up in a line to meet Minnie, thinking we were in line for class. As it turned out, it was a great mistake. She was fantastic…one of our best character interactions all week!

We had FP for Toy Story which was a blast, and after some debate, we decided to also use our FP for the Frozen sing-along.

We were so glad we did. It was awesome! We had a great meet and greet with Sorceror Mickey.

After spending some time browsing in the shops, we had dinner reservations at 50’s Primetime Café. Once again, we had a fantastic meal and great service. I barely made a dent in my brownie sundae, but Dennis managed to polish off his s’mores with no trouble at all! Thank goodness we finished our vegetables so we could have dessert.

After dinner, we took a bus to the Polynesian and took a quick look around the refurbished lobby. It’s gorgeous! We didn’t waste much time and jumped on the monorail for our first glance at Cinderella Castle! I was on a mission to find a Disney Vera Bradley bag that I had my eyes on since our last trip. After a quick stroll down Main St, that mission was complete! Thanks Uptown Jewelers!

Our plan was to try to close down the park at 11:00, but the 3:30 wake up time was quickly catching up. We found our second wind and managed to hit Small World, Little Mermaid, Haunted Mansion, Pooh, Dumbo, and watch part of Wishes from behind the castle. We even managed to find room in our bellies for a Lefou’s Brew, which was delicious! We decided to take in one last ride on Astro Orbiter before heading out, and while we were in line it started to rain again. It made for an interesting ride and one full of laughter as the two of us tried to fit in one rocket. I don’t think those are meant for two slap-happy adults! By the time we exited the elevators, it was raining really hard, so we stayed under cover and got one last ride on Buzz Lightyear. We made the long trek back to the bus in the rain with tired legs, but happy hearts! We made it back to our room about 11:00 and crashed. We had plans for another early morning and full day of fun. Stay tuned!

 

[Kosmo1986]

Looks like a great trip!

 

[disneypearl]

What a nice start! Looking forward to following along.

 

[Zipadeelady]

Sounds like a wonderful trip, can't wait to hear more! And I must say I love Disney minus the kids. It' a whole different experience. My husband and I got to take a one day trip last September and it was amazing!

 

[SweetEvangeline]

Sounds like a wonderful trip, can't wait to hear more! And I must say I love Disney minus the kids. It' a whole different experience. My husband and I got to take a one day trip last September and it was amazing!

Thanks everyone! It was a great trip! I missed my daughter a ton, but the time we had together was priceless! I am blessed to be married to my very best friend!

 

[mrdrift]

Great start to the trip report. You made some great ride choices and accomplished quite a few rides in a short amount of time. Keep the dessert pictures coming, just making me so hungry. Following along.

 

[SweetEvangeline]

Great start to the trip report. You made some great ride choices and accomplished quite a few rides in a short amount of time. Keep the dessert pictures coming, just making me so hungry. Following along.

Thanks for following. There's nothing quite like Disney desserts!

 

[melmel89]

great start can't wait to hear more

 

[HouCuseChickie]

OMG!!! I wish I'd seen that Baymax cupcake when we were there!!! Love it!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Looks like a good trip so far. I think the banana caramel cupcake sounds good.

 

[SweetEvangeline]

Thanks,all! The Baymax cupcake was yummy, but I avoided the frosting. Bananas should be banned from everyone's diet!
I almost have day 2 complete, but returning to reality really stinks and I had to return to work! Stay tuned!

 

[Allym146]

Can't wait to read more, you guys look like you're a blast!

 

[fractal]

Sounds like a great trip! Looking forward to more.

 

[DisneySurprisePA]

Loved the picture with Mickey and the kiss. Very sweet!

 

[StephK]

Sounds great, looking forward to hearing more!

 

[SweetEvangeline]

Day 2, Jan 12, 2015

The alarm went off bright and early Monday morning at 6 AM. Aren't we supposed to relax and sleep in on vacation??!! Dennis had my coffee waiting for me when I got out of the shower, and "must-dos" were playing on the TV. Time to get moving! Wrap up that blister and let’s go!
We started the day by sharing a yummy bounty platter at Intermission Court. No better way to start the day than by sharing a Mickey waffle!

The weather was ominous for sure, but we jumped on a bus and headed to Epcot. We had planned to make a quick stop for Soarin’ and Test Track and that’s exactly what we did!

We almost decided to do Soarin’ a second time since the lines were so short, but we had a FP+ for Tuesday, so we decided to move on. We wanted to spend the rest of the day at Animal Kingdom, but assumed we would have to get to a resort to catch a bus to that park. Thank goodness we asked, because there was a direct bus from Epcot that saved us a bunch of time.

We arrived at Animal Kingdom at 10:30 and made It’s Tough to be a Bug our first stop. There’s just something about that show that makes me smile. Maybe it’s the poke in the back or the smell of the stink bug! Meeting Dug and Russell was on my bucket list for this trip so after we made sure we had left all the bugs behind, we jumped in line. We had a little wait as they took a short break, but the meeting was worth the wait! It just amazes me how those characters make adults feel like kids again! “Up” is one of my favorite movies of all time and I loved it that Russell noticed my grape soda pin on my shirt that I had purchased at Hollywood Studios yesterday.

We were both getting a little rumbly in the tumbly so we headed to Kusafiri Bakery for an elephant ear pastry. It wasn’t at all what we expected, and it isn’t something we would get again, but it was edible. That’s about all I can say about it, unfortunately. We wandered around for a while, visiting some shops and then headed to my favorite show on property, Lion King. We loved the new arena and the show was fantastic as always. I am always amazed by the energy level of the performers!
By this time were were ready for lunch, so we headed to Yak and Yeti where we shared a delicious honey chicken lunch and some chocolate mousse. We had fun watching the little boys at the table next to us try to hand-feed the ducks some of their French fries!

Dennis was ready to hit Everest, so we headed that direction. I can only handle the Yeti once per trip, but Dennis came off and got right back on. The crowds were low with the exception of the 2-3 very large groups of Brazilian tourists who fortunately we hadn’t encountered other than in passing. We were very thankful that we got through the lunch line before a group of about 25 approached Yak and Yeti! Dodged a bullet on that one, for sure!

 

[SweetEvangeline]

Day 2 cont....

The skies were growing more and more ominous, so we high-tailed it to the Safari hoping to get through it before it started to rain. We almost made it, but by the time we got back to base, it had started to sprinkle.

We hadn’t ridden Dinosaur since our first trip together in 2009 so that’s what we did next. I can’t believe we traumatized our then-7 year old daughter with that ride as her first experience with rides at Disney in 2009.

We walked to the train to take in Rafiki’s Planet Watch, and hopefully dodge the rain drops in the process. We lucked into a meet and greet with Rafiki himself with no line and no waiting!

We tried to watch a video in one of the little booths but we had sound with no picture. We joked about what those booths are actually used for!

We were getting really tired and my feet and legs were feeling the effects of the 9 ½ miles we walked yesterday so we decided to head toward the exit. We stopped in a couple of gift shops on the way out, and low and behold, the skies opened up and it absolutely poured!! Thankfully we were still inside the shop so we joined 10 of our closest friends in line while we waited to buy over-priced ponchos! We donned our new plastic and made a dash for the busses. We managed to keep our heads and shirts dry, but our feet didn’t fare so well. It was better than being totally soaked, though. We had dinner reservations at Boma and it would have been miserable in wet clothes and we didn’t have time to go back and change.

We had some time before our 5:00 reservation, so we enjoyed the lounge and a glass of Sangria. We had never been in the Animal Kingdom Lodge before. Even with the construction going on, it was breath-taking. We would love to stay here sometime if it wasn’t so far away from everything. Unfortunately with the rain and darkness, we really couldn’t take in as much as we would have liked, but it did inspire us to make a return to Boma in the future. The food was fantastic, and the zebra domes lived up to their hype! Oh my!! We sat next to two older ladies who were on a girls-only trip and had a great conversation with both of them. They were a hoot!

Our waiter even brought us a special dessert for our anniversary!

Our plan was to head to Downtown for a bit before we headed back to the room to watch our beloved Buckeyes play for the National Championship. Unfortunately, it started to rain again, so we cut our shopping shorter than we normally would have, but we managed to get everything we were looking for. I love my new Russell and Dug Christmas ornament and we picked up some lovely gifts for our friends and family who are caring for our daughter while we play.

We jumped on a bus to head back to All-Star Music and managed to find the beginning of our Buckeye game on Dennis’ phone. Thank you, God, for the ESPN live app! I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to stay awake to watch the whole game, but who could sleep during that excitement. We tried hard to keep our screaming and swearing to a minimum so as to not disturb our neighbors! I’m pretty sure they heard us whooping and hollering, though at the end when we were declared Undisputed National Champions!! Go Buckeyes!!! What a fantastic day!!! It doesn’t get much better than a day at Disney and a Buckeye victory!

We had early morning breakfast reservations, though, so at 1:30 we tried to settle ourselves in for at least a few hours of shut-eye. Stay tuned to see if we make it to our reservations before park opening….

 

[mrdrift]

Sounds like you had a great day visiting Epcot and Animal Kingdom. You were able to ride every thing you wanted at a nice relaxing pace, I wish my trips to the World would slow down so I can enjoy every thing you can't see when your on the must do every thing fast as possible pace my family like to move at. Following along.

 

[Buckeye]

Love your NATIONAL CHAMPION Buckeye attire. Go Bucks!

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