Who's Afraid of the Big Bad...Spring Break Crowds?

Hello Everyone and welcome aboard Jess's Walt Disney World Trip Report.


Well here I am again in cold, windy Pittsburgh when just a few weeks ago I was in….well cold, windy Florida. But a cold day in Disney is better than a warm day at home, right? That’s what I told myself as I bundled up for a chilly 4 day trip to Disney in March. And it’s Spring Break? Oh well – a crowded day in Disney is better than a…lonely day at home? Not quite sure how to end that but to sum it up…yes ANY day in Disney is better than ANY other day at home.


This trip was GIRLS ONLY. Why? Because boys have cooties, duh. But seriously with my Dad going away on a golf trip (currently on it) my mom felt better about vacationing without him and my fiancé is getting though his last rotations before he graduates in June (Yay!!) and my sister’s husband couldn’t get off work. Oh yes it’s Ladies Night…and day…and yeah so this trip is just us ladies.

For those of you who don’t know me (which you should…I’m a hoot)
I'm Jess.



I'm a big fan of food, villains and EPCOT.

There's my seester, Nikki and my dearest darling Momsie




The plan was – Pop Century for 4 nights – parks for 3 days – park openings/closings – get all 4 parks accomplished in 3 days during Spring Break crowds. OK GO.


March 24, 2013.

Our flight was scheduled to leave at 6:00pm. As we’re walking out the door to church – I see our flight was delayed to take off at 7. No big deal. About 4 seconds later I re-check and now it’s delayed to 7:45. Gah. There go my plans of hitting up AoA for a little when we check into Pop.

We head to the airport early anyway because they have a great restaurant there (Not the Pittsburgh one – the Latrobe one…about 15 minutes from my house) so we had some drinks and appetizers. At the end of the meal – we see our flight is delayed again to 8:15. FRICK DOUBLE FRICK. That’s ok – that’s why Steve Jobs invented iPads, iPhones and iPods to keep us busy. FINALLY the flight gets there and we are ready to board.

Who says we aren’t excited to go to Disney after a few hours in an airport?


Then we sit on the plane for another hour while they de-ice our wings. Joy. After the bumpiest flight of my LIFE…we landed in MCO around 11pm. Well shucks now we have to go to baggage to claim our bags like some kind of COMMONERS? Ugh – first world problems.
Anywho…off to DME to take us to POP.

We got to Pop around 11:45. 60’s section room 4349 – wonderful building location.





(Sorry for the blurry pictures - I was a bit frustrated with being so late and these were walking pictures. Not that there is any excuse for the pictures to come - I'm a point and shoot on the move kind of gal)

Very light unpacking and getting to sleep. DHS opens at 7 people – get to bed!
 

plaz10

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
March 25th 2013

5:30am alarm – yep that’s earlier than I get up for work. BUT ITS DISNEY so its OK.
We were all ready and heading down to the bus at 6:20. On the bus headed to DHS. Get there at 6:45.



Park opens and I take off for Toy Story FPs



Nikki and Mom not too far behind to jump in standby.



To no one’s surprise – I was the best in our vehicle (due to the fact neither of them have been there in 5 years and you’ve been there 5 times since? WHAT? Nope I’m just awesome)

Time to head down for some Love on a Roller Coastaaaaaaaaaaaaa!








We rode and got the front seat!!!
Mom loves ToT and my stomach does not so they went there while I rode single rider RnRc.






Oh there you are Perry!





 

Sandurz

Well-Known Member
Then we sit on the plane for another hour while they de-ice our wings. Joy. After the bumpiest flight of my LIFE…we landed in MCO around 11pm.

Ultra bumpy flights put my heart rate through the roof. Nothing in this world makes me more anxious. Getting freaked out just thinking about it......

I'm curious to see how bad the Spring Break crowds actually were! Looking forward to the rest.
 

plaz10

Well-Known Member
Original Poster




And the winners are....


Cheese danish and the best cupcake ever Red Velvet cream cheese cupcake. They were FANTASTIC as to be expected.







We then went to use our Toy Story FPs (I was best in vehicle again) and then jumped in line for Great Move Ride









 

plaz10

Well-Known Member
Original Poster









Now as you can see I'm no photographer. I only have a little point and shoot. But I love this picture.
And my flash was off – but the flashing lights of the Alien scene made for a SWEET shot of our space intruder…






Once out we used the RnRC FPs I had picked up after my solo trip and then did some light shopping…









Oswald Ears!

 

plaz10

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
What time is it? SNACK TIME. This is a recurring theme…

Nik/Mom headed to find a soft pretzel and I was headed to Sweet Spells for some food pics/villain pics and a grab a DHS staple…



















Yummy stuff in the making...



Greatest. Villain. EVER.

This is my...I'm really bad at taking mirror shots but i'll try for @HollyBelle




 

plaz10

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
And the winner of this round is...




Hello again Carrot Cake Cookie - your cream cheese deliciousness was missed. (This is now the 2nd cream cheese snack I’ve ordered today…)

I must say – that sucker is DENSE. Like…it’s delicious but it takes up valuable belly real estate…I may have to pass on this next time to try something a little lighter (probably not…)

I met them in line to get into Beauty and the Beast. Best sister ever didn’t take a bite of her Mickey pretzel so I could snap a pic.



And now some Beauty and Beast pics (but mostly Gaston pics for @HollyBelle) [H-Bells that's 2 shout outs in 1 TR...I hope you feel special! LOL!]









As per usual - Mom shed some tears. This is her favorite show on all of property. And at the end she's all "They just do it so well and the dancing is so good and its such a good film!"

We then headed over to the other side of the park – grabbed Star Tours FPs and walked into Muppets and into the theater (great timing but I like the pre-show)







What up Walter E?



 

plaz10

Well-Known Member
Original Poster



(still presented by Kodak on 3/25)




HILARIOUS show as always. But it really made me miss Bill – this is one of his favs. He always laughs at the corny jokes even though he knows they’re coming (he quotes them at home all the time) Sigh…so I texted him “Hey Bear you’re not even funny in 3D” which he replied “A salute to all Nations but mostly America…” Yeah I missed my normal Disney companion. Alright suck it up Jess you’ve got a A LOT more to do and only 3 days to do it! Move move move!

Move over to wait in line for 10 minutes to meet Phineas and Ferb. My sister has taken quite a liking to P&F since her son started watching it. I bought her a Perry tshirt for Christmas so she wore it today so she could meet the 2 of them.





Back to use our Star Tours FPs! (Mom sat this one out - she doesnt do well with motion simulators. Well neither do I but I can handle 1 ride on Star Tours per day)












We had the storm troopers in the beginning (boo – ever since the refurb I’ve always gotten Vader…disappointing) Then we went to Hoth…some place I don’t remember/couldn’t name…and Coruscant.





We had about 30 minutes until our Toy Story FPs and then my (first) surprise ADR of the trip – lunch at Mama Melrose! I thought it would be a good idea to beat the crowds mid day and get a rest in – plus my mom always loved this place on previous trips. But first the time until our FPs so we went to meet my favorite Mickey







And any time I see my favorite villain I have to participate in the activity…


 

plaz10

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We still had a little time so we shopped at bit and then grabbed a margarita at High Octane Refreshments.















We used our FPs. I got my highest score of the trip!!! (and obviously the vehicle but that’s old news by now)





Ok now to Mama Melrose. Holy crap it’s packed. Mom says we’ll never get a table...and I say UNLESS I MADE RESERVATIONS…score. Surprise ADRs are my fav.
Though I’d like to point out the amount of…I won’t say idiots…but…intelligence-challenged people who figured “hey…Spring Break crowds…most crowded part of the day…around lunch time…I bet I can score a table for 10 at any sit down place” OH yeah especially at a park who has a total of 5 of them. Good call. Thanks for yelling at the hostess though – you’re making yourself look AWESOME. It’s clearly her fault you’re a terrible planner. Anyway…



Drinks are in order! Nikki and I got the Magic Star Cocktail and Mom got a beer






They were actually really delicious. Now for some real food (that’s not cream cheese based…although cheese based yes)
We split 2 flat breads – 4 cheese and spinach/chicken





Very delicious and hit the spot. Dessert was cannoli cake and a free spaghetti and meatball cupcake because Nikki was celebrating her bday (it was really on the 15th)







Waitress – Karen – was AWESOME. In the midst of crazy time…she was polite and efficient.
 

plaz10

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
With full bellies we headed to the last in DHS we wanted to do – Voyage of the Little Mermaid. (It’s got a giant Ursula…duh. You should have seen this coming)





As we walk in these foreign girls are sitting 3 to a seat and mostly on my sisters lap/standing on their seats and talking the whole time. You guys are cool. Luckily nothing can ruin the awesomeness that is URSULA.



Except my horrible picture taking in dark rooms. But you see her evil eyes glowing so I’ll take it.

Well – we officially demolished DHS with the exception of Fantasmic! So we were done here for the time being.






Next Up: Traveling with people who aren’t your significant other means you have to do stuff you don’t want to sometimes: Animal Kingdom
 

plaz10

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Ultra bumpy flights put my heart rate through the roof. Nothing in this world makes me more anxious. Getting freaked out just thinking about it......

I'm curious to see how bad the Spring Break crowds actually were! Looking forward to the rest.

This was for sure the most bumpy flight I had ever been on. And I didn't have my fiance to grab on to - my mom was too busy grabbing onto me! Spoiler alert - the flight home was smooth as can be. It restored my faith in flying a bit!

Thanks so much for reading! You'll have to see what we could accomplish in 3 days during the crazy crowds!
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
I'm in! Sounds like you were off to a good start. I just ate dinner and now I am hungry again after seeing all the Starring Rolls goodies. Thanks!:D Can't wait to read more!
 

Sumrdog

Well-Known Member
Ok now to Mama Melrose. Holy crap it’s packed. Mom says we’ll never get a table...and I say UNLESS I MADE RESERVATIONS…score. Surprise ADRs are my fav.
Though I’d like to point out the amount of…I won’t say idiots…but…intelligence-challenged people who figured “hey…Spring Break crowds…most crowded part of the day…around lunch time…I bet I can score a table for 10 at any sit down place” OH yeah especially at a park who has a total of 5 of them. Good call. Thanks for yelling at the hostess though – you’re making yourself look AWESOME. It’s clearly her fault you’re a terrible planner. Anyway…

I love the way you tell this, I laughed out loud.

I am enjoying your trip report! We were at the Studios the following week and we accomplished virtually nothing due to the crowds...You guys are kicking butt! Can't wait to read more!
 

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