Trip Report 6/1/17-6/9/17

_Let me preface this whole thing by saying this is my first trip using TP and out of the many, many times I’ve been to WDW this was BY FAR the best experience I’ve ever had. And now, without further adieu, the first installment of my trip report

Let’s start this story from the beginning, shall we? I booked this trip for the 1st week of June back in late January, was up to get my dining plans at 6:45 of the 180 day mark, and was up to get my fastpasses at 6:45 of the 60 day mark. One might say I was a little excited for this trip. Then I found touring plans and paid the $20 for Universal and WDW and it was the greatest purchase I’ve made in a LONG time.

All that aside, the day before we left finally came; May 31st, we were the night of the 31st, morning of the 1st, around 3am was the plan. I work graveyard shift occasionally at my job so I wasn’t too concerned about driving through the night if it meant I could get there quicker! So I went to bed with dreams of meet and greets and churros at around 6pm only to wak up at 1am, meaning we were leaving at 1am, which was fine with me! We loaded everything in the car and were on our way at 1:30 heading for the most magical place on Earth. Now, I’ll spare you all the details of our ride, but just say it was filled with Disney sing a longs and Sydney (my girlfriend who will be referred to as Syd from now on) snoring through the majority of Georgia.

We crossed the Florida state line and almost instantly it became about 10 degrees warmer; I knew I was home. We ended up getting to All Star Movies, yes I booked All Star Movies, pile on the criticism now please, at around 12;30pm. I had requested an early check in of 1:00 but it wasn’t ready, which was fine because I had a certain QS lunch on my mind…

While we waited for our room, we went over to Port Orleans French Quarter and my favorite on site QS: Sassagoula’s Food Factory! I had my beginets (best things I’ve ever put in my mouth) and was already content with my trip. We then looked around the rest of the Quarter and decided it was time to play some mini golf. We headed over to Winter Summerland to use our free vouchers for a round of mini golf. I think this is a great little perk that comes with booking the package because I love me some mini golf! I tried to take it easy on Syd, but in the end, I came out victorious (this would be a repeating pattern throughout the trip).

After mini golf, we went to go explore the Animal Kingdom Lodge to scout out where we wanted to stay for our next trip; because even while you’re on your current trip, you’ve always got to think ahead to the next one! This was my first time visiting AKL and I can see why everyone loves it. It was HUGE and absolutely beautiful! But what caught me the most was the smell. Oh my gracious that smell is something else. Anyway, by this time our room was finally ready…at 4:00. But I wasn’t going to let it bother me, I was at Disney World and my little Mickey shaped heart was content.

The room was in the Mighty Ducks Building, which was fine, but it was the exact opposite of what I requested. Still, wasn’t going to let it bother me, I didn’t anticipate spending a lot of time in the room anyways. Our next stop was Disney Springs for a 6:00 reservation at Planet Hollywood. I’m a huge burger fan and an even bigger Guy Fieri fan so this was a must no matter what the reviews said. We got there a little early but were seated almost immediately, and on the top floor! Our waitress’ name was Ariel (how fitting for our first meal, am I right?) and if you want an exceptional waitress, ask for her. I’m talking the best of the best of the best, super sweet, very informative, like perfect. Now let’s talk food. We were on the Disney Dining Plan meaning we had 6 TS, 6 QS, and 24 snacks. This meal alone was worth it all. I had the Bacon Mac n Cheese burger, Syd had the Original Ringer, and I started my drinking fest with a Space Monkey. Don’t ask me what’s in it, just know if you like chocolate milkshakes and alcohol, then buy it. The burgers were to die for, even the fries were amazing. I honestly don’t know how people don’t like this place! Plus there’s a giant screen to watch concerts/shows while you eat, and the movie props are super cool. This is somewhere I’m going to go back every time I get the chance. Each meal also came with a dessert, however it wasn’t one of the fancy shakes you see on the ads; nonetheless, the shakes we got were, shockingly, amazing as well.

After we ate, we headed back to Movies to get in bed early; we had EMH at 7am at MK and I could not contain myself anymore…

On the next post, I’ll share how we spent our rainy day at MK, watching Happily Ever After live for the first time, my first ever viewing of the rainy day parade and how we conquered EVERY. SINGLE. RIDE. at the Magic Kingdom in 1 day!

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Thank you for the report! Wow! You did a lot on your first day and you didn’t even go to a park! I smiled when you wrote about the smell of AKL-! Isn’t it one of the greatest smells in the world?

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This was our first time leaving at night and we’ll do it every time from now on. It basically gave us a whole extra day. It sounds like a lot, but really, we weren’t that tired once it was time for bed. The AKL smell is by far the best smell in the world, better than Soarin, better than Flight of Passage! I love love loveee it!!

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That was a busy first day! I’m looking forward to reading more of your trip report!

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Great report! Looking forward to reading the next installment!!

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Following for more!!! :slight_smile:

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I can’t wait to hear more!

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Great start…I like your attitude! It’s Disney…yay, whatever you do is going to be awesome :grinning:
We love mini golf too, we always fit it in.
Looking forward to the rest…

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Day 2: The Magic Kingdom!

Let me start this by saying I am terrified of thunderstorms/rain, so it would only make sense that the forecast this week called for thunderstorms and rain…but once again, it would not bring me down; I thought “'surely it’s just a little Florida storm” and went on my day.

So we got to MK at around 7:30 for our 8am EMH ready for tons of pictures and tons of fun. We were able to ride Space Mtn with a 15 minute wait, then booked it to Peter Pan to catch that before the heavy waits. We were able to get on with a 15 minute wait which was a super big relief. We then caught the Let the Magic Begin show which was my first time watching it and I loved it! Especially because we watched it from inside the castle!!Then we FP Pooh bc Syd made me…for the record, she literally logged in and changed it to Pooh, I have enough sense to not FP Pooh for 2 adults lol. Then we had to FP Thunder Mtn and once we get there, the ride was down. Now this was the first time I got a little upset bc the almighty plan was going down hill now :frowning: However we were able to use that FP on Haunted Mansion, but before that ride we had to do our 3rd FP which was Splash! This is one of my favorite rides at the whole resort and in summer, it’s a must do FP.

We did some of the other classic MK rides next…Pirates, HM, Dumbo, Phillarmagic, and Jungle Cruise. We then went and waited for the Festival of Fantasy parade and we caught it right in front of the castle! I love this parade and really WDW doesn’t touch it, because it really is a classic. Then it was time to do some meets! We had to meet Tiana and Rapunzel (my absolute faves) and you can’t go to WDW and not meet Cindy! And once we came out of that meet, my face was probably priceless because what did we come out to? A monsoon. With no rain jackets. And a non-waterproof camera. My day went down QUICKLY.

However, to my surprise, my great girlfriend DID pack the rain jackets!!! The camera was saved!!! Now, it was time for me to conquer my fears and suck it up; so while everyone else was under shade, what were we doing? Walking from dark ride to dark ride and waiting it out…this would become the theme of the week: waiting out the rain. However, it was a good plan because we were able to get on plenty of attractions. If that isn’t enough to make you wait out the rain, then what happened next will be…

So we’re walking in the Emporium and suddenly I hear “Singin’ in the Rain” and immediately look outside because that’s what you do at WDW right? So what do I see? A FULL ON PARADE IN THE RAIN! I asked around and a CM told me it was the Rainy Day Parade; me being the idiot I was asked “well when does it happen?” I was clearly amazed at this, her reply was rather simple: “on rainy days” :joy: In all my trips to the World, this was the first time I’ve ever seen this and it was such a treat! I would highly recommend staying for it!

After the parade, it was time for dinner and no day at MK is complete without a trip to Casey’s. This time I got the bacon mac n cheese dog and, as always, it was amazing! After that we ventured to Tomorrowland to ride the Peoplemover, Buzz, and maybe squeeze in a ride on Astro Orbiter…we were able to do all 3 with about 1 1/2 hours until Happily Ever After, so I thought it was a good time to go scout out our spot. Luckily, we found a very helpful CM by the name of Joe from Clarksville, TN. I told him this was our first time viewing Happily and that we were from Knoxville and that Tennessee pride took over as he led us to his favorite spot to watch the show. So we sat, and waited for about 1 hour as the surrounding areas filled up around us…the anticipation and excitement were so real, this is the moment I was waiting for.

Before we knew it, the Castle was changing colors and the music hit and the goosebumps filled my whole body. I won’t spoil the show for anyone who hasn’t seen it, but OMG, it’s about 50x better live. We watched it 5 times over our trip and each time noticed something new! It’s literally impossible for me to pick a favorite scene so I’ll say my top 3 in no order: Tiana at the beginning (AHHH TIANA!!!), Mufasa (Remember…yes, I cried during this part) and I actually loved the Quasi Modo scene. I thought the bells synced up with the fireworks was mindblowing. When it was all said and done, I only teared up 3 times, I was very proud of myself. This show isn’t as emotional as Wishes, but it does hit you right in the nostalgia and if you’re a mama’s boy like me, it’ll hit you right in the feels hard.

After Happily, we stayed for Once Upon A Time and to my astonishment got to move so much closer to the Castle as mostly everyone left immediately after Happily (like why?!?!?). The park didn’t close till 11 on this day, so by the time Once Upon A Time was done, we had time to finish our quest and hit every single ride in the park! The feeling of accomplishment was overwhelming (yes, we did it! Take that everyone who said the plan was too much :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:).

We ended up getting back to Movies at around 11:30ish and we hit the hay after quick showers with dreams of a world beyond belief that we would explore tomorrow!

In the next installment, I’ll tell you all about my huge mistake, our first awful meal, our useless fastpasses, and Pandora: The World of Avatar.

PS: If you like these posts, be sure to go onto iTunes and listen to my podcast called the Disney Dudes where my co host and I talk all things Disney, give some trip tips, and end every show with a top 5 ranking system! Check it out on iTunes!

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Oh! I love podcasts! I will check it out! I love your report !

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What is the exact name of your podcast? I cannot find it!

If I found the right one, I think it’s Disney Dudes, but the abbreviated under is Diz Dudes (or Dis Dudes). I downloaded a couple of them this morning! (hopefully it’s the right one, or I just plugged someone else, in which case it was AWFUL)

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I saw that spelling! You must be right!

hahahahaha I’m dying right now! It actually isn’t that one (thank God!)

It’s actually on SoundCloud right now, I’m waiting for the approval stamp from iTunes. If you search “The Disney Dudes Podcast” it should come up! The cover picture is a pic of Happily Ever After taken by yours truly :slight_smile:

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I’ll look for it on Sound Cloud!

The other one wasn’t bad, actually. I just would have felt really bad if I plugged one that wasn’t yours trying to explain what I thought was. LOL. We need a sarcasm font. :grin:

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Ah I see, well hopefully you’ll like ours too!!

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I found it and plan to listen to it on the drive to work in the morning!

I just found your podcast! I may not be able to listen for a few days but I can’t wait!

Yay!! Thank you! Let me know what you think, it took forever to get on iTunes but now it’s there and this week’s episode is on too!

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