Trip Report We're on "Vay-Cay-Tion!" A Sept./Oct. TR

Hello everyone, and welcome to my very first trip report! We went to Disney 9/26-10/1, hopped on the Disney Dream 10/1-10/4, and hit up DTD and MNSSHP 10/4. We flew back home Monday morning. We had a whirlwind of a trip planned!

*A little note here. We accidentally left our camera bag (with the DSLR, 2 lenses, memory cards, and my digital camera charger) on a bus at MK. We did not notice until we got off the second bus we took to the Poly. We literally were back at MK not even 30 minutes after we left it (maybe around 8:15am, we had breakfast reservations at Kona). They sent out a radio call to all buses, and of course no one had it. Pretty sure either the bus driver or another person stole it. I was SUPER bummed and many tears were shed from me. I know Cody felt super terrible, we didn’t even have that camera a year I believe. We lost a lot of pictures, including a video of Aubs’ first time seeing the castle. We called the lost and found at TTC more times than I can remember. Unfortunately, after a week they close out the ticket, so i’m pretty sure the camera is long gone. I hope whoever has it turns it in, or drops it so they can’t use it. Luckily, I have my phone pics and the ones off my digital camera before it died. My parents also have pictures on their phones they took. And of course, I took my laptop on vacation JUST to be able to load the pics off the camera everyday. Did that happen? Of course not. But what can you do? There are many worse things that could have happened on our trip, and I am extremely thankful for the pictures that I do have. I also need to purchase the Photopass photos still, so i’ll add those in later *

So, with that sadness out of the way, its time to get on with the report!

When-Sept. 26-Oct. 5
Where- Caribbean Beach Resort, Disney Dream, Pop Century
Who- Me (Morgan), Husband (Cody), Daughter (Aubreigh, we call her Aubs for short). My parents, and Cody’s mom.
What- Family Vacay! We also celebrated Cody’s college graduation! It was Aubs’ first trip to Disney, and my mother in laws first trip since the 70’s. Last time she went she stayed in the Contemporary and the only park was the MK. She was way overdue for a trip! And my parents hadn’t been since 2004.

Day 1: Travel/Check In/DTD/MK

My day started super super early. Like stupid early. Why? Well, the night before I take a vacation I can never sleep. I tossed and turned for maybe 2 hours before finally drifting off around, oh 11pm? At 12:45ish, Aubs comes into my room. I hear “mommy, mommy, hey mommy, there’s a fly in the bathroom.” Oh dear goodness child, it is a FLY. So, guess what? Now i’m wide awake. I try to get her to go back to bed, but she doesn’t want to go. Honestly, I don’t feel like fighting with her about it tonight, so I put her on the couch and she was out in about 1 minute. Hmm. I go in her bathroom and low and behold, there is a dead fly in the toilet lol. Sorry, no pic of that!

Anyway, I take a shower and get ready. The alarms are set to go off at 4am. I blow dry and straighten my hair, do my makeup, get dressed then hang around till about 4. Get Cody up and make sure he gets in the shower, get Aubs up and dressed. In laws get here at 5:00 to get us to the airport by 5:30am. Cool! (FIL took us to the airport)

I don’t know why, but MIL (she drove there) took some weird back way to get to the airport. This stressed me out big time! We made it a little after 5:30am.

Check out this blurry pic of Memphis International Airport. Woo.


We said our goodbyes to FIL (aka Papaw) and headed in to check our bags! That was quick and painless (Memphis Airport is rarely ever busy), and went to wait by our gate. We grabbed some breakfast and didn’t have to wait long until boarding began at 6:30

We’re ready!


My parents and MIL!


The flight was great, and we landed at MCO a little early!


Heading to DME! We had a little wait in line for DME, but it wasn’t bad


They say its a 45 minute ride to Disney property, but it totally isn’t. Maybe 25-30. At least to me it seemed that way! The time flew by!



Yay! We’re on our way! Except MIL isn’t looking at the camera!


We’re here! This was the best I could get! We were near the back of the bus.


Hello Caribbean Beach sign that you can barely see! On the way to CBR, we got a text that rooms weren’t ready yet, darn.


We arrived at the Custom House, and went to the check in line, which took forever because they had like 2 people working the online check in counter. The family in front of us was NOT happy about that either! Geez! Anyways, we got checked in and given what location our room was in. We were in Aruba, building 56. Only bummer was that the bridge was out that connects Aruba and Jamaica to Old Port Royale. They did have a van shuttle and pontoon boat that helped people across. It ended up being not a big deal.

We headed to Old Port Royale after for lunch. Sorry, no pics. We were all starving! I had a burger and it was good.


After, we headed to DTD for Aubs’ BBB appointment at 3pm! We headed out around 1:15pm
 

DisneyMorgan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
*Now lets pause here for a little oopsies moment that I had. It took forever and a day for a DTD bus to come. Then comes an Epcot bus. Hey! lets take that bus then go to DTD!

Epic. Fail.


SO on the bus I realize my mistake. I blame the early morning and like 1.5 hours of sleep
smiley.png
We grabbed a bus from Epcot to POFQ, then the great debate of boat vs. bus began. We decided to just stick with the bus since it was hot and we had no clue where the dock was at POFQ. I just had to include that*



Oh heeeeey POFQ


AntMan bus is taking us to DTD!


We arrived at DTD around 2:00pm or so, and went to WoD to kill some time before the appointment.

I decided to go ahead and check Aubs in about an hour early, just to let them know that we were there. They let us in an hour early. Cool! 10 minutes later the line for check in was sooooo long! Wow!


Her fairy godmother was Katie, from the University of Mississippi. Cool! Not far from us! We’re not Ole Miss fans but Oxford is not a far drive.



Getting all dolled and glittered up!



It was hilarious watching Aubs, along with a few other girls. They were trying to get them to sit straight, but when you hair is being played with it turns into sleepy time. Aubs was fading fast!

 

DisneyMorgan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Almost done!


Little ham!



Next, we headed outside to wait for Cody outside of the Lego Store. He said it was an absolute madhouse. We found this fun construction wall.


After, Cody and i think MIL grabbed some Starbucks and we decided to head out. It was hot out! We decided to come back the next night for shopping since it was our AK day and it closes early.

While at DTD, we got the message that rooms were ready and to go to the Custom House since our room number wasn’t listed. We grabbed our carryons from Bell Services and they had a van drive us over to Aruba. That was quick and painless and BONUS! Our luggage was there!

We settled in and unpacked for a bit. I didn’t take any room pics because we had stuff everywhere, and I never did take any later on. However, my TA sent me some a couple months ago for me to see the new refurb.
These pictures are courtesy of my TA!! Which worked out nicely because this is the exact same layout our room was!




I must say, the room refurb was nice! The beds were comfy, and the pull down bed was great for Aubs! The bathroom tile was weird, I guess from the texture it kind of felt like sand. But hey, fits in with the tropical theme!

We were in Aruba, Building 56, Room 5605. Good location, you could see the bus stop from our room. You could also see Illuminations (and boy you could hear it too!! I could hear the music if I was outside!)




We had a FP starting at 5 for Cinderella and Rapunzel, so we headed out to MK around 5. This little one fell asleep on the bus!
 

draybook

Well-Known Member
I don’t know why, but MIL (she drove there) took some weird back way to get to the airport. This stressed me out big time! We made it a little after 5:30am.


I know the feeling. For some reason, my father in law takes us down Goodman Road, up Tchulahoma, and then up Airways and then east on Democrat. This takes a good 30 minutes. I don't know why he doesn't just take us straight down 78/Lamar and then west down Winchester. I guess in his mind it's better to take 30 minutes for a drive that should take 15....:confused:. Always stresses me too. Sorry to hear about your camera. It's cool that you guys are able to keep your heads up and realize that things could be worse. Looking forward to this TR!!
 

DisneyMorgan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I know the feeling. For some reason, my father in law takes us down Goodman Road, up Tchulahoma, and then up Airways and then east on Democrat. This takes a good 30 minutes. I don't know why he doesn't just take us straight down 78/Lamar and then west down Winchester. I guess in his mind it's better to take 30 minutes for a drive that should take 15....:confused:. Always stresses me too. Sorry to hear about your camera. It's cool that you guys are able to keep your heads up and realize that things could be worse. Looking forward to this TR!!

We always just get on 40 to 240. But MiL said "there's so much construction and traffic" lol, from all the new flyover crap. Silly silly there's no traffic at 5 am! But it's not a big deal, we still made it in plenty of time. But my impatient self was freaking out that morning!

Yeah the camera thing was a huge bummer. We got there Saturday, and lost it on Tuesday. So we lost pics of the first day, AK, and HS. In the end, between my phone and digital camera I still have over 2,000 pictures, not including photo pass which I still need to buy. More to come later! :)
 

draybook

Well-Known Member
We always just get on 40 to 240. But MiL said "there's so much construction and traffic" lol, from all the new flyover crap. Silly silly there's no traffic at 5 am! But it's not a big deal, we still made it in plenty of time. But my impatient self was freaking out that morning!

Yeah the camera thing was a huge bummer. We got there Saturday, and lost it on Tuesday. So we lost pics of the first day, AK, and HS. In the end, between my phone and digital camera I still have over 2,000 pictures, not including photo pass which I still need to buy. More to come later! :)


It should be interesting to see how Memphis drivers handle their new and improved high rise flyover when the winter weather hits it.......

I can't believe you guys still have that many photos, well done!!
 

DisneyMorgan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
It should be interesting to see how Memphis drivers handle their new and improved high rise flyover when the winter weather hits it.......

I can't believe you guys still have that many photos, well done!!

Oh geez, I don't even WANT to know how people will drive! Thankfully I don't have to take the interstate for work!

Thanks! I was surprised when I uploaded everything and saw the number lol
 

DisneyMorgan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Hello, Magic Kingdom! I have missed you so! Fall is my favorite season, so I loved the fall decor!



We headed straight back to Fairytale Hall, skipped the ridiculous line, and were maybe 2 families back to meet the princesses. (hmm.. I kinda like this FP+..)


Soon it was our turn, and the moment of truth.. Would Aubs like the characters???


in AWE! She loved Cinderella! She was gorgeous!


Next up, Rapunzel! Adorable!



Man! I really need to get my photopass pictures!! This was a great first character interaction!
After, we headed out towards our next FP+, Enchanted Tales with Belle!

 

slipperalwaysfits

Well-Known Member
YAY!!!!! Aubrey loved the princesses! So glad she felt their magic! The princesses still take my breath away...maybe that's why they are in fantasyland :). She looked great in her Bibbidi Bobbity attire!
 

DisneyMorgan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Me and Cody saw this attraction when we were at WDW in 2012, and we enjoyed it! I couldn’t wait for Aubs to experience it! She sure looked excited!


Unfortunately, Aubs was not picked for anything, so we headed in to surprise Belle!





Her face was just like whoa I can’t believe Belle is right there!!!!


Aubs was able to participate in the character parade, and she got to meet Belle!



Next on our agenda was to find some dinner! Off we went!
 

DisneyMorgan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We didn’t have an ADR, so we headed to the Tangled bathrooms for a quick potty break, then we headed to Columbia Harbor House for dinner! The computers in the line we were in were acting up so it took forever to order. However, when it was our turn, the manager said dinner was on them! Well THANK YOU! What a nice dose of some magic right there!


Me, my mom and Aubs headed upstairs to find a table, while everyone else waited for the food. We had a little bit of everything! We also ended up with a salmon platter that we didn’t order, so we just shared it. Everything we had was pretty tasty!

I had the chicken pot pie and broccoli. I’d have it again! Aubs had the kids mac and cheese with fruit, Cody had the fried shrimp (which were huge!) parents shared the fish and chips, and MiL was not that hungry, so she had the peach cobbler. Not bad for a free meal!


After, we had our last FP+ and that was Peter Pan! This would be Aubs’ first official ride! She had so much fun! ...and I don't have any pictures of it :( :(

She loved Peter Pan! It looked great also! Then she spotted IASW so we headed that way. Showed a 15 minute wait but we walked on. This ride was like a sensory overload! She was looking at everything!




Umm.. IASW was absolutely filthy!! It needs some love in the worst way!

After IASW, we decided to head back to see if Ariel's Grotto had a long line. It did :( so instead we hopped on the Little Mermaid ride before heading out of the park




We started to head out of the park. It was around 8:30 and we were all super tired from our first day! When we got to the bus stop, Wishes started. Ohhhh how my child does NOT like loud fireworks! She was totally scared :( Poor thing! Luckily a bus came right away and we were able to get away from MK.

When we got back to CBR, Illuminations was going on! Come on, fireworks! And WOW, Illuminations is LOUD from this location! You could even hear the music! We got Aubs inside and settled down. I got her a bath and washed her hair twice to get the gel and glitter out of it. She snuggled into her bed and was out. What a great first day!

Tomorrow, we hit up Animal Kingdom!
 

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Glad to see your report, neighbor! We usually fly out of MEM too, and I love that it's small and not very crowded.

So sorry about your camera :( I can't imagine how awful that was! The boutique looks like so much fun for the little girls, and Aubs is adorable all princessed up! Looking forward to reading more.
 

Cetta

Well-Known Member
I'm enjoying your report so far. I am so sorry about your camera going missing....kinda rude and unbelievable that someone would just take something and not feel guilty about it. Aubs looks so happy with the princesses! What a great experience!
 

DisneyMorgan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Glad to see your report, neighbor! We usually fly out of MEM too, and I love that it's small and not very crowded.

So sorry about your camera :( I can't imagine how awful that was! The boutique looks like so much fun for the little girls, and Aubs is adorable all princessed up! Looking forward to reading more.

Hey hey!! I guess the only downside to MEM is that it usually costs and arm and a leg to fly!! :cool:

Yeah that camera incident was not fun, but we tried to not let that bring us down much! Thank you! A lot of the girls in there were having so much fun, and they're were a few that weren't lol! Hoping to get some more posted later this evening!
 

DisneyMorgan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I'm enjoying your report so far. I am so sorry about your camera going missing....kinda rude and unbelievable that someone would just take something and not feel guilty about it. Aubs looks so happy with the princesses! What a great experience!

It's ok, Cody has already started pricing a new one! This time one that does a manual back up! I know!!! I can't believe it either, but there are some really mean people out there :mad: Hope they looked at all the pictures and felt extremely guilty!!!
It was a fantastic experience! She has a tendency to be shy around people she doesn't know so I was hoping she'd be ok with characters. She LOVED everyone she met!
 

DisneyMorgan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
DAY TWO: ANIMAL KINGDOM/AKL/DTD

Today is our Animal Kingdom day! I got up at 7:15 to shower and get ready. Me, Cody, and Aubs headed to Old Port Royale to find some breakfast!

A little bubble fun before catching the shuttle


Aubs got her first Mickey Waffle of the trip!



We're here! We're here!!



Aubs picked out her first pair of Minnie ears here (I knew she'd pick these)



First stop at AK was.. Starbucks! We needed some good coffee! Also, my souvenir mission this trip was to collect every "You Are Here" mug from each park.



While we were in line for coffee, Aubs met Daisy! (I just missed this! Cody had pics, but, you know... :( I still need to buy Photopass pics!!)

 

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