"Woooooo!!" .. "Where's Adam?" - A Spring 2012 Trip Report

"Wooooooooooo!!" .. "Where's Adam?" - A Spring 2012 Trip Report

Ladies and gentleman.... Boys and girls... Welcome to my wonderful trip report!! From April 26th - May 7th, my sister, my mother and I went on a grand adventure to Walt Disney World. We laughed.. we cried.. we argued.. we ate lots of food, rode lots of rides and even met a character or two. It was the longest trip we have been on but felt like it went by in the blink of an eye. Always seems that way, right?

Anyway, I hope you enjoy my story tonight; "Wooooooooo!!" .. "Where's Adam?" - A Spring 2012 Trip Report!


Overview:
This trip carries the same cast of characters as all my previous trip reports: Ashley (sister - 26) Terryn (Mom - 21 again..) and me (Darolyn - 29)

Me, Marie and Ashley - November 2011

Mama Dukes! - November 2011

If you have read my PTR, you know most of what I'm about to review. So you can skip to Thursday if you want. If not, here's a little bit of info:

This trip, we decided to drive to save more money so we could attend the Tower of Terror 10 Miler in September. While driving wasn't that bad, I'd definitely rather fly. Unfortunately flights were all $300+ per person with terrible times and I think we ended up driving for about $500 total! We left Thursday evening April 26 and left the world on Sunday May 6th. Our timeshare is located off property and since its within 30 miles of WDW, we cannot exchange it for DVC! Such a bummer. And since we didn't book our resort until January, our home resort was booked. Sooooo we ended up at Orange Lake Resort on 192. It was on the AK side of 192 and we could see the top of Expedition Everest and fireworks from Epcot outside our room. More on how we liked the property at the end of the report!

We were staying at the timeshare Friday 4/27-Friday 5/4. We weren't leaving to head home until Sunday so we needed a room for the last 2 nights. There was no question that we would stay on property. We had originally decided to stay in a regular room at the Wilderness Lodge. After a bit of researching though, I figured out we could rent DVC points at get a studio room at the Wilderness Lodge villas for $140 less. WOOT WOOT!!! So we changed over and rented the points. I'll review how well we liked this process vs dealing with Disney direct at the end. (All of my reviews will be done at the end including resorts, dining and just general things)

So now that the recap is out of the way.... My friend is dropping off a copy of Photoshop for me so I can edit my photos! I will hopefully post some more tonight or tomorrow. I have a busy weekend planned so I can't promise anything!! I just wanted to get it started!

 

[Mantana83]

You are gorgeous.....and you love Disney World......it's just too bad you are a Bruins fan

 

[Uncle Lupe]

Nothing like a little liquid courage to get you to play a washboard with a spoon. Was Ashley feeling pretty good after that or was that just a warmup?

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Oh man! I love me some HoopDeDoo Review! Simple entertainment, simple food, lots of beer and playing a washboard with a spoon; that's all you need for a great time! Love the comments and the pics.

It really was a great time. Everyone should see it at least once!!

Great TR!!! Sry to hear about the loss of your friend. Your pics a great! I had a similar issue once with a memory card full of Disney pics...only I didn't lose it I erased it trying to download the pics and lost all of them. An dof course that trip we spent getting pics of the kids with every character we saw AGH!! lol. The cake for your mom's bday was AMAZING!!!!

Yeah, the memory card issue stinks!! On our last trip last November, my sister accidentally erased all the pics on her camera from the last day. All our character pics were on there. She thought I had put them all on my USB stick but I hadn't. We just bought an external hard-drive for the computer so this wont happen again!

Very AWESOME trip report! It gets me all excited for our trip in November!

I just made an ADR today at The Crystal Palace for lunch and this will be our first time there! Hopefully, it's good! I noticed you went there for breakfast but I'm not much of a breakfast lover and I don't like to get up early! So, that probably wouldn't work well for us! LOL!

I'm so sorry about the loss of your friend. It's super hard losing someone you're close to.

It sucks that you lost your memory card. I've had something similar happen to me only I accidentally deleted all of the pictures on my memory card before I had put them on the computer. Yeah, I cried about it for a couple days. LOL!

I haven't been to Busch Gardens since I was a little kid, I would love to go back there one of these days. It looks awesome! I've seen that Cheetah ride on YouTube and it looks like a lot of fun! I love all the pictures of the tigers and cheetahs! I'm a HUGE cat fan! Big or small, I love them all! LOL! That rhymes!

Looks like you went to a lot of places with some YUMMY food! We've never been to Beaches and Cream either so we're trying it as well when we go in November! Looks like they have some really good food there!

I've been going to WDW every year since I was like 5 or 6 and I'm 32 now and this trip will have several firsts for my family and I! It will be exciting and you never know I may work up enough courage to write my very first trip report!

Again, your trip report was AWESOME! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for reading!!

There are certainly cheetah's aplenty at BG along with the lions and tigers. They are such beautiful animals.

We did A LOT of dining this time. I think we had 11 sit down meals the whole trip. It's so worth it though. The dining is just as much fun as the shows and attractions for us.

My mom just came in my room to tell me to read the last page of this... lol... because I worked at Friendlys for 7 years. (I quit a month and a half ago.) Made me laugh, but I don't like peanut butter, so that was not my favorite sundae.

haha I LOVE their ice cream. We went on Saturday so I could get my sundae fix!!

I feel the same way about the Beach and the Yacht club. It reminds me way to much of Cape Cod, which I can get anytime right here. The two resorts are beautiful don't get me wrong. Just doesn't give me that Disney feeling I always love. And I haven't done HDDR in such a long time!

And you definitely have to go back to Beaches n Cream to have a burger! Those are the best! I love the atmosphere there too!

Yeah, no BC or YC for me. Actually, I take that back, possibly BC but not YC. YC feels too stuffy for me and I've seen the rooms and they seem to plain for me. Too white. BC rooms look nice though. I think we're going to try and do Boardwalk villas for my cousins first trip next November. I looked into renting points and it's less to rent points for a studio for 5 nights than it is to book a moderate room at POFQ or POR!

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

You are gorgeous.....and you love Disney World......it's just too bad you are a Bruins fan

haha well thanks! Sorry to disappoint in my choice of hockey team but I am proud of my Boston sports teams!!

Nothing like a little liquid courage to get you to play a washboard with a spoon. Was Ashley feeling pretty good after that or was that just a warmup?

Ashley brought down the house with her rendition of "Cotton Eyed Joe" .. or at least that's what it sounded like!! haha

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Back at MK it was about 7pm or so, so we had some time before Wishes.

We knew there was one thing we had to do and since we hadn’t planned on being in MK that day, this was bonus time so we went right to Liberty Square to get our silhouettes done. Mom has the silhouettes from when we were small on her wall at home. I think I was maybe 4 or 5 and Ash was just a toddler. The guy who did them was awesome. He worked quickly and did a great job. Now Mom has another frame to hang on her wall of us, 20+ years later.

After that we hit HM (which was a walk on) Pirates and then grabbed FP for Peter Pans Flight. We headed over to Tomorrowland and the speedway had a short line so we hopped on those. Good thing those bad boys are on the track cause I was all over the place and I think Ashley could have possibly gotten a DUI after all that beer at Hoop Dee Doo!! Lol

We took a spin on Buzz and then redeemed our FP for PPF. I love this ride but it could definitely use some TLC. After that we staked out a spot on Main Street for MM&Y and Wishes. I love MM&Y and I hope the new show is just as good. I get all teary eyed when they show Walt on the castle. “For all who come to this happy place, welcome!” Gets me every time. As does Wishes. Mom took about 100 pictures of the fireworks and 95% of them are blurry and off center. I will post the only two good ones. The scrim was up at the bakery so it’s kind of in the way. Grrrrr….

We hightailed it out of MK afterwards to beat the crowds. It was back to the car and back to the timeshare. We had another early morning on Thursday to prepare for!

 

[plaz10]

I love this TR. At first I followed it like mad crazy because im a Disney stalker like that but then I thought "no wait - I'll read this JUST before my trip because I know it will be a good TR and will get me super excited for my trip" AND you did not disappoint. Thanks girl. Lookin' forward to more!

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

I love this TR. At first I followed it like mad crazy because im a Disney stalker like that but then I thought "no wait - I'll read this JUST before my trip because I know it will be a good TR and will get me super excited for my trip" AND you did not disappoint. Thanks girl. Lookin' forward to more!

Thnaks for reading! Glad I could help with your Disney excitement!!! You're leaving in like 2 weeks right?! Ahhhhh, you must be super excited. I'll be there in 26 days!

hopefully uploading the rest of the pics that I do have tonight so I can crank the rest of this out before you go!!

 

[razza1987]

We strolled to the front of the park looking at the animals along the way. they had a bird aviary, some kimono dragons and a kiddie ride area. Not gonna lie, I wanted to go play in the kiddie area haha

Now, my top 5 favorite animals are tigers, ostriches, penguins, dolphins and kangaroos. So far in my life I had seen tigers, ostriches and penguins in person (either at BG or Animal Kingdom or Lowry Park Zoo also in Tampa) but I'd never seen kangaroos or dolphins. Next year on the cruise we're doing a dolphin excursion so I could cross dolphins off my list but where the heck could I see kangaroos without going to Australia?! Shortly before our trip I learned BG had put in a new Wallaby area. For real?!? I would get to see kangaroos up close?!? This was awesome!! Even MORE awesome when we got there and learned we could feed them!!

We got some food, I think it was a couple bucks for a small bowl and proceeded through the door to the walkway. The wallabys and kangaroos were on the right side. I've fed ostriches before and they are kind of agressive but the kangaroos were very gentle.

They were digging in the dirt to get some of the cool dirt to lay in. I thought they hopped everywhere they went, but they walk too. I think we actually only saw one hop and he hopped from one end of the area to the other.

One was named Foster (all I could think of was the commercial "Beer... Fosters... Australian for beer!!) and he was a hungry fella. I don't remember the other names but there were probably close to 30 kangaroos/wallabys.

We ended up buying the photo package and we got a solo photo feeding the kangaroos each and then a photo of both of us. (we actually decided after we were done feeding and looking at the photos that non of them were that good so they gave us more food and took us back in so we could get a good picture.)

Some of them just laid around like this fella here...

hehehe and that's home for me

I'm enjoying your report. It's making me so excited for the 30 hour flight for my first Disney trip next Feb. You got some amazing pictures.

I can't believe there are kangaroos in other countries lol

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

hehehe and that's home for me

I'm enjoying your report. It's making me so excited for the 30 hour flight for my first Disney trip next Feb. You got some amazing pictures.

I can't believe there are kangaroos in other countries lol

Thanks for reading!! Where in Australia are you? I have a good friend in Melbourne and he keeps telling me to come visit. I would love to but flights are VERY expensive!! He also tells me that sometimes in the morning he will go out on his back patio and there will ba kangaroos laying on his patio chairs lol

 

[razza1987]

Thanks for reading!! Where in Australia are you? I have a good friend in Melbourne and he keeps telling me to come visit. I would love to but flights are VERY expensive!! He also tells me that sometimes in the morning he will go out on his back patio and there will ba kangaroos laying on his patio chairs lol

I'm about two hours from Sydney. And trust me I know flights are expensive lol. The most expensive part of the holiday to Florida is the $1780 flights per person lol. They compensate it though and give better deals for the rest of the holiday. I managed to get a deal for $1181 per person which included six nights at All Stars Music with 5 days at WDW hopper and simple dining plan. They need good deals like that with the cost of the flights lol.

I am so excited. This will be my first ever trip to America let alone Disney. I am 25 and feel like a child with my excitement for going to Disney. I am being a nice big sister and am paying for my youngest brother to go with me. Told him it was his Christmas and birthday presents for the next 5-10 years lol. Me and my youngest brother are really close and I didn't want to go to Disney for the first time on my own XD.

But yes as I was saying. Thanks for this report. Though I was still amazed to see kangaroos in America haha. I wonder if there are koalas in America too lol

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

I'm about two hours from Sydney. And trust me I know flights are expensive lol. The most expensive part of the holiday to Florida is the $1780 flights per person lol. They compensate it though and give better deals for the rest of the holiday. I managed to get a deal for $1181 per person which included six nights at All Stars Music with 5 days at WDW hopper and simple dining plan. They need good deals like that with the cost of the flights lol.

I am so excited. This will be my first ever trip to America let alone Disney. I am 25 and feel like a child with my excitement for going to Disney. I am being a nice big sister and am paying for my youngest brother to go with me. Told him it was his Christmas and birthday presents for the next 5-10 years lol. Me and my youngest brother are really close and I didn't want to go to Disney for the first time on my own XD.

But yes as I was saying. Thanks for this report. Though I was still amazed to see kangaroos in America haha. I wonder if there are koalas in America too lol

What an awesome sister you are, bringing your brother along! I'm very close with my sister as well (if you couldn't tell by this TR! lol) so I could never do Disney without her I don't think. We're going back the end of next month but Ashley isn't flying in until 2 days after us. It will be so weird the first two days being there without her!! lol

That's great that Disney gives you deals like that. That really is a great price for what it includes!

 

[Uncle Lupe]

I'm about two hours from Sydney. And trust me I know flights are expensive lol. The most expensive part of the holiday to Florida is the $1780 flights per person lol. They compensate it though and give better deals for the rest of the holiday. I managed to get a deal for $1181 per person which included six nights at All Stars Music with 5 days at WDW hopper and simple dining plan. They need good deals like that with the cost of the flights lol.

I am so excited. This will be my first ever trip to America let alone Disney. I am 25 and feel like a child with my excitement for going to Disney. I am being a nice big sister and am paying for my youngest brother to go with me. Told him it was his Christmas and birthday presents for the next 5-10 years lol. Me and my youngest brother are really close and I didn't want to go to Disney for the first time on my own XD.

But yes as I was saying. Thanks for this report. Though I was still amazed to see kangaroos in America haha. I wonder if there are koalas in America too lol

I hope you have a great, memorable and safe trip. Is Fosters really Australian for beer? Tell me TV isn't lying to me again.

 

[razza1987]

What an awesome sister you are, bringing your brother along! I'm very close with my sister as well (if you couldn't tell by this TR! lol) so I could never do Disney without her I don't think. We're going back the end of next month but Ashley isn't flying in until 2 days after us. It will be so weird the first two days being there without her!! lol

That's great that Disney gives you deals like that. That really is a great price for what it includes!

Disney have to give Australians great prices for their deals with how much it costs for the flight over there lol. WDW is much better value for money though. Disneyland wanted $865 for 4 nights whereas WDW wanted $1181 for 6 nights and simple dining plan and five nights at the park. MUCH better value

 

[razza1987]

I hope you have a great, memorable and safe trip. Is Fosters really Australian for beer? Tell me TV isn't lying to me again.

LOL Fosters isn't Australian for beer. Though Australians like it so I guess technically it's correct lol.

And thank you so much

 

[Disney_Belle]

I love MM&Y and I hope the new show is just as good. I get all teary eyed when they show Walt on the castle. “For all who come to this happy place, welcome!” Gets me every time.

I get tears in my eyes every single time. And I love when people cheer and applaud when Walt shows on the castle. I especially got emotional watching MM&Y in Disneyland and that part came on. Especially the "ah-ha" moment of realizing he made that speech in that very park. Gah!

Love the report!

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Disney have to give Australians great prices for their deals with how much it costs for the flight over there lol. WDW is much better value for money though. Disneyland wanted $865 for 4 nights whereas WDW wanted $1181 for 6 nights and simple dining plan and five nights at the park. MUCH better value

Yes, that is definitelty a much better deal!!!

I get tears in my eyes every single time. And I love when people cheer and applaud when Walt shows on the castle. I especially got emotional watching MM&Y in Disneyland and that part came on. Especially the "ah-ha" moment of realizing he made that speech in that very park. Gah!

Love the report!

Hopefully they leave that part in the new castle show. I'll be really upset if they take it out

Never been to DL but I would like to someday. We have 5 trips in the works now... yes 5 - 3 to WDW (next month, May 2013 and November 2013) and 1 cruise/WDW trip (Sept 2013) and a trip to DLP when we go visit family in England (February 2014) so maybe in like 2 years I'll be able to get out west to DL!!

 

[Vtlsgns2]

Thanks for the read, I'm enjoying it

 

[ejsanta13]

The meals were very good and the place wasn’t very busy. We walked right in without waiting for a table. It picked up throughout our meal but it was never full. I expected it to be a bit bigger than it was but it was a really cool place.

What we really wanted was the ice cream though…. Since we were full and knew none of us could eat a full sundae on our own, we decided to split the No Way Jose. I am a huge peanut butter and chocolate combo fan. We have an ice cream shop chain around our area (Friendly’s) and they have the absolute best peanut butter cup sundaes. I was eager to see if Beaches would compare.

It did not disappoint. It was overflowing with sweet goodness. It was so good!!! I think we managed to kill most of it but I don’t think we got the whole thing down.

I would say it’s pretty close to beating Friendly’s but Friendly’s uses a peanut butter sauce and this seemed more like actual peanut butter (thicker than a sauce) and I like the sauce better. But I’ll never turn down a No Way Jose. 2 thumbs up in my book!!

After lunch, we headed back to the car and drove to Downtown Disney. It was pretty dead there (being mid-day on a Wednesday I wasn’t surprised.) We walked around and browsed the shops.

A better pic without Ashley in it. Lol

We went in Basin for the first time and I really enjoyed all the different smelling bath bombs they had. I rarely take baths though so it was pointless for me to get any.

We got the obligatory Christmas ornaments. I got a Pirates of the Caribbean bulb with a pirate Mickey standing on top of it along with a 2012 bulb. Ash got a Dumbo ornament.

After we left World of Disney, Mom said she wanted to go back into Basin before we left but the way she said it, rather than pronouncing it the way it should be pronounced “basin” she pronounced it like “bison” (like the animal) Ashley and I thought this was the funniest thing ever and nearly peed our pants we were laughing so hard. Mom told us to stop making fun of her. The rest of the trip we kept saying “I need to go to the Basin” only pronouncing it “bison” . Still now, every now and then one of us will randomly say it. Still makes us laugh.

Do they still have Friendly's in Maine? They have closed most of them here in MA. Used to really geek over the Recees Pieces Sundae there. Looking forward to a B&C lunch during our Dec trip.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Thanks for the read, I'm enjoying it

Thank you!!

Do they still have Friendly's in Maine? They have closed most of them here in MA. Used to really geek over the Recees Pieces Sundae there. Looking forward to a B&C lunch during our Dec trip.

They do have them here in Maine. They actually just closed one of the two we have in our area. I hope they don't close the one by the Maine Mall. It's usually always pretty busy and if I couldn't get the sundaes there I might cry. LOVE them!!

 

[ShookieJones]

Thank you!!



They do have them here in Maine. They actually just closed one of the two we have in our area. I hope they don't close the one by the Maine Mall. It's usually always pretty busy and if I couldn't get the sundaes there I might cry. LOVE them!!

I'll have you know...all this talk about the Reeses peanut butter Sundae had me down at Friendlies scoffing one down the other night.
I'll admit I wasn't there JUST for the Sundae ----We have a Friendlies right up the way from our house and my daughter just got her first job there as a greeter.

My wife has been DYING to go down there and see how she's doing....(according to my daughter my wife is a 'major creeper') So I figured I get my peanut butter sundae fix while my wife got her creep on.
My daughter was working hard and the Sundae was RIDICULOUS!! Wow is that thing good.