A Pirate, a Princess and a Planner’s All New Disney Adventures -- Trip Report: COMPLETE!! 6/12 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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A Pirate, a Princess and a Planner’s All New Disney Adventures -- Trip Report: COMPLETE!! 6/12
We’re back from a wonderful 5 nights at WDW! If you’re interested in the background you can read my pre-trip report here.
Here we go…
Our car service showed up bright and early at 5:45 a.m. to bring us to our JetBlue flight out of the White Plains airport. We all had a little trouble getting to sleep the night before (those familiar night before Disney butterflies) so it was rough hearing the alarm at 4:30 a.m.!!! Our ride to the airport was uneventful and we made good time. I breathed a sigh of relief to see “on time” next to our flight on the departure board. We were allowed to pre-board with the other families with small children and we were just getting settled when the flight attendant announced that they had boarded us on the wrong aircraft!!! Everyone had to disembark and head back to the terminal. After about 10 minutes of waiting they announced that they’d gotten clearance to use the original plane they boarded us on so back we went. All this ended up delaying our flight by about 30 minutes but they made up time in the air and we landed just 10 minutes late. (phew, hate to cut into my time with Mickey!)
About 30 minutes after landing we boarded the Magical Express bus. It took a while for the bus to fill up so it was probably another 20 minutes before we got moving, at which time DD promptly fell asleep, yay! We arrived at the Beach Club at about 12:20 p.m. and were checked in by a very nice CM (James from the U.K.) who gave me a long-stem rose and birthday pin. Our room was ready for us (yay again!). After getting a quick printout of our ADRs (everything was in order) we headed to our room. We met Art the Greeter on our way through the lobby. What a sweet man! I said “hey, you’re famous!” and asked if I could take a picture. He was so gracious and said it was an honor. When we got to our room we were thrilled to find they’d given us a water view!!! We could see the lake, the Boardwalk and even Tower of Terror in the distance. The room itself was beautiful as well. Here's our view: After checking out the room we quickly changed into our bathing suits and headed down to SAB. All I can say is WOW! It exceeded our expectations! DH took DD for a quick swim while I put our name in at Beaches n Cream. When DD came out of the pool a very nice CM (Jesse) came over to the railing and blew bubbles for DD for the last 15 minutes or so of our wait. Once seated we realized how hungry we were. DH and I each got a burger – YUM – and DD just wanted ice cream so she got a Mickey Sundae (not exactly the lunch of champions but we gave her some slack being the first day of vacation and all).
After lunch it was back to SAB. DD had a blast on the little waterslide and building a sandcastle in the sandy section. It took quite a bit of persuading to get her out of the pool so we could go get showered and ready for dinner!
At around 6 p.m. we took a leisurely walk over to the Boardwalk for our 6:30 p.m. ressie at Spoodles. We were seated right away and I ordered the wood-grilled pork tenderloin with homemade gnocchi and DH ordered snapper with Israeli couscous. The food was quite good. We decided we’d “behave” and not get dessert. Well all that went out the window when we needed to use the restroom, which is oh-so-conveniently shared with the candy store next door. A ginormous piece of chocolate/peanut butter fudge was calling our name so we just had to get it!
Afterwards we walked around the shops a little and stopped to see some of the sidewalk entertainers, which DD loved. Then it was off to bed to rest up for our big day at Animal Kingdom!
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What a great way to start a vacation. Don't you just love how those pilots can locate the tails winds (or whatever it is they do) to make up for lost time.
Despite some confusion at the airport you made great time...the view from your room is wonderful.
The afternoon sounded perfect for your arrival day....I am sure that SAB kept the little one busy and Beaches and Cream sounded like the perfect way to start off your trip.
I love Spoodles....what a great choice for dinner, not to far but allowing for some relaxing touring of the Boardwalk area.
Can't wait to hear all about your first day at the parks.
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I was up bright and early ready to kick-off our first park day. The rest of the gang—not so much! After coaxing them out of bed, we had a quick breakfast in the room (we bought cereal, milk and fruit at the BC Marketplace the night before). Once everyone was dressed and ready we headed for the bus. Our last visit to the Animal Kingdom was in 2000 so we were excited to see all the changes that have taken place since then—and DD had never been to AK before so it was all new for her.
We arrived at Animal Kingdom right at 9 a.m. Our first stop was the PhotoPass photog to get some pictures in front of the entrance sign—we wanted to start loading up on pics since we’d pre-purchased the CD! Once inside we checked out the Tree of Life and had more pictures taken (including the baby Simba shot).
Once the pictures were out of the way we hot-footed it over to Expedition Everest. The stand-by line was just 10 minutes long so I hopped in line and got a rider-switch pass for DH. I loved the queue for this ride—I probably shouldn’t say this, but I actually wished the line was moving a little slower so I could take it all in! My seatmate was a mom who was riding with her teenage kids. We got the last seat in the back of the train, which her kids excitedly informed us was *great* because it’d be extra rough! I thought the ride was a thrill! I wanted to scream my head off in many spots, but I tried to contain it since I was sitting with a stranger haha! DH and DD met me in the gift shop so DH could take his turn. Next we headed over to Kilimanjaro Safari. We made a couple of pit stops on the way—first to see the monkeys and then to get some PP pics with King Louie. We finally made our way to the safari and the line was only about 10 minutes long. The ride was great and I got some beautiful pictures. I particularly like this one of the flamingos with the upside down tree in the background. We were making better time than anticipated so we were able to make an earlier Lion King show than planned. This was probably the highlight of the day for DD. She was clapping and laughing and totally enthralled! When the show was over we were able to hop right into the Pocahontas show, which was just about to start. I really appreciated how they time things so guests can go from one show right to the next. For lunch we tried Pizzafari. DH had the Italian sandwich, which was huge and good according to him (I didn’t try it) and I had the chicken Caesar salad, which was also huge and good! When we were done eating we headed back to Camp Minnie Mickey to get pics with the characters. The lines were practically non-existent so we were able to visit all 4 characters in no time.
The last stop of the day was DinoLand. After we rode TriceraTop Spin we realized that DD was quickly losing steam. It was 2:45 p.m. and we had a 6:10 p.m. ressie at Park Fare, so we decided it was time to head back to the hotel. DD fell asleep in her stroller on the way to the bus stop. The wait for the bus was pretty long (we were there for 20 minutes but the people in front of us said they’d been there for 45!!), once the bus came it stopped at Blizzard Beach then all the Boardwalk area hotels so we didn’t get back to the hotel until 3:45 p.m. At that point we decided we better plan on taking a cab to GF to buy us a little more time to rest before dinner.
I got DD dressed in her Cinderella skirt (we opted to save her costume for CRT) and at about 5:40 p.m. we headed downstairs and had the valet call for a cab with a carseat. One came pretty quickly, probably in less than 5 minutes.
By a little after 6 p.m. we were checking in for our 1900 Park Fare ressie. We were seated pretty much immediately. It must’ve been between seatings because it was empty in there (although it filled up later in our meal). We first met Prince Charming, then Cindy, then the Stepmother and Stepsisters. For some reason DD didn’t warm up to the characters like she usually does, although DH and I thought the characters were a hoot!
The stepmother came over to DD, who sucks her fingers when she’s nervous, and said, “get your fingers out of your mouth child!” then she said, “now wipe your face child” (and proceeded to wipe DD’s face with the napkin). The whole time DD’s eyes were big as saucers! The stepsisters were very funny. At one point one of them saw that a little girl had written in her autograph book, “Jasmine is the #1 Princess” so Anastasia grabbed the book and came screeching through the dining room to show it to Drizzella and the stepmother. Then when it was time for the waltz, Prince Charming was dancing with a little girl so Cindy was off to the side alone and the stepsisters started taunting her, “where’s your prince NOW Cinderella??” Very funny. When Prince Charming was picking little girls to dance a little bit of a stage mom must’ve come out in me because I started pointing over DD’s head and he did come over and give her a spin. Too cute! After dinner we did a little shopping at GF then took the monorail loop all the way around eventually ending at MK to catch the bus home and head to bed.
Sounds like a great day. I am really looking forward to having a meal at 1900 Park Fare so we can see the stepsisters. They look like they are such a riot.
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I thought the ride was a thrill! I wanted to scream my head off in many spots, but I tried to contain it since I was sitting with a stranger haha! DH and DD met me in the gift shop so DH could take his turn.
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