Guest Writer

Today's post will be guest written by my teenaged daughter.  I will admit to slightly editing ...to actually give it some paragraphs, and to correct a bit of spelling, but that is it.  As you read this, it is totally in her own words.  Enjoy!

Going to Disney world with one of my best friends was awesome, to say the least.  I had thought it was going to suck because of the heat and the crowd levels considering it was the middle of June, but I was pretty surprised when it didn't suck.

Welcome To Disney

 

The day after we got to Florida (our first official day of the trip), we went to Magic Kingdom. We got there early for "rope drop" and got to just walk on Splash and Big Thunder Mountain. We even got to walk on Space Mountain-which was way on the other side of the park-because there was still barely any people in the park. Like two of the rides weren't up and running but it was cool because we still ride everything we had wanted to at least twice.

The three partners in crime!

 

11:40 was when our lunch reservation for Be Our Guest was scheduled, And it was awesome. I don't normally enjoy counter service food at Disney, But the carved turkey sandwich was probably the best sandwich I had ever had in my entire life, Like I can't even.

In between lunch and dinner we shopped and rode small rides we didn't have fastpasses for.  For dinner we had a reservation for Cinderella’s Royal Table. My friend was totally excited when she saw Cinderella and the other princesses in the castle. She was like freaking out the whole time. The food was crazy good even though I ordered off of the kids meal because I didn't want any of the adult food.

THE Princess!

Too excited to speak!

 

My mom and my niece went back to the hotel after that and my friend and i stayed in the park for extra magic hours. Our plan was to ride Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain as many times as we could, but it started to rain and lightning so we just went on Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain. The wait time was really short, and we enjoyed it a lot.  We concluded our night with making blankets out of ponchos while eating chocolate on the People Mover. We went home on the bus, and we thought it was going to be scary and all that stuff but it was actually pretty relaxing.

 The next day was our break day, and unfortunately our last. We went to Downtown Disney on the bus to eat lunch at Earl of Sandwich, and then went to the Yacht and Beach Club to snack at Beaches and Cream where we got the Kitchen Sink sundae. We couldn't finish it. After we were full from all that ice cream, we went back to Downtown Disney where we shopped for about an hour and a half. We went back to the hotel and just hung out until dinner.

Are we supposed to eat all this?

My friend with a giraffe sitting on her head

 

For dinner be ate at Boma, and it was one of the best buffets I've ever ate at. We left the next morning. All in all it was one of the best trips to Disney world I've had in a long time, and I'm so glad my mom planned it out for us.

Summary

What was my take on the best part of the trip?  Well, I got to see the Magic of Disney through another’s eyes.  I’ve seen my kids’ first reaction to Disney.  I experienced my granddaughter’s first reaction to Disney, and hope to see my other two granddaughter’s first reactions to Disney next year.  But seeing it from another, someone not related to me, someone who I did not expect that reaction, well it was priceless!

What was my take on the worst part of the trip? It had to be the transportation system!  Hands Down!  I witnessed the obvious class system with the drivers.  The driver taking you to and from the value resorts treated the passengers like cattle.  How many can you pack on, even one driver saying if you can still breathe comfortably move closer so we can cram more on! However, the Deluxe Resort drivers were nice, friendly, happy, treating us like friends or valued guests. 

 So what is my take away from this trip?  While Disney is a fantastic and Magical place I will no longer recommend my clients stay at a value and rely on the Disney Transportation System.  At least not without warning them of what to expect. Overall, we loved our resort and had a blast at Magic Kingdom.  But our 'Break' day was anything but a break.

...and don't forget those ponchos!

Dowtown DIsney Disaster/Boma Save!

Instilling a sense of urgency in teenaged girls is, well practically impossible! At Magic Kingdom we were almost late twice… in fact I threatened to change the Be Our Guest lunch from 4 people to 2 people if they were late!

Our plans for this day was …swimming, shopping, hanging out, Beach Club Resort for a Kitchen Sink and dinner at Boma.  A relaxing, enjoyable day.

The girls wanted to eat at Earl of Sandwich for lunch, so that meant we needed to allow for an hour to get from our resort to Downtown Disney and an hour for them to eat.  And we needed to leave Downtown Disney by 12:30 to make our 1:30 ADR at Beaches and Cream.  If you do the math you will see that we needed to leave the resort by 10:30.  And that is hoping the buses are on time and not a long line.

At 10:30, my granddaughter and I are waiting in line for the bus.  The girls are nowhere to be seen.  Of course, there was no need to worry since another bus did not come until after 11.  (so much for a bus every 20 minutes!)

By 12 we were at Downtown Disney… my granddaughter and I decided not to have lunch but do a few minutes’ worth of shopping, while the girls went to wolf down a sandwich.

By 12:30 we were on a bus headed to Beach Club Resort .  We arrived right at 1:30. 

Birthday girls with Kitchen Sink.  Doesn't she look happy?

The Kitchen Sink was amazing!  And no, we could not eat it all!  But it was well worth every penny watching those girls, who were trying not to eat too much, try their best to eat every single bite!  I believe this is something everyone should try at least once!

By 3 we were back on the bus to Downtown Disney.  More shopping.  Way too much shopping, or at least way too much spending!  With all the construction going on here, I really would not have come if we were not using the bus system.  That being said, most of the construction is on the road, with very little disruption in the shopping areas itself.  When we were there in February there were wall everywhere, but most of them are down and it had a much more open feel this time…but still a lot of construction is going on and not expected to be finished any time soon.

By 4 we were back on a bus to Art of Animation.  This is when I realized that our dining reservation for dinner is at 7, at Boma.  Which requires two more bus rides to get to!  Another 2 hours of buses… and you guessed it…we get back to the room at 5!

This is where two bathrooms really come into play!   Two teenaged girls getting ready for dinner cannot be done without at LEAST two bathrooms.  Somehow we make it and…uh oh…the Downtown Disney bus has a line a mile long…so using quick thinking I decided to head to Animal Kingdom Park.  No wait and the bus was there!  We hopped on and arrived at Animal Kingdom Park at about 6.  Not bad!

Of course, just as we get off the bus there is a thunderstorm hitting!  And of course, the bus we need to get to is on the other side of the bus lot!  So off we scramble to try and get there before we drown.  Of course, the jokes start about how we didn’t need to take showers after all since we are all soaked to the skin.  (TIP!  Even if rain is not in the forecast, take ponchos with you every time you walk out of the room…especially in June!)

Luckily, we didn’t have too much of a wait for the bus, so we were at Animal Kingdom Lodge by 6:30.  Plenty of time to make our dining reservation!

Boma was superb as always!  It is quickly becoming one of my favorites.  While there is a lot of things I can’t eat, the chef on duty is usually pretty good about making things just for me.  For instance their hummus is not gluten free, and we all know that pita chips are not either.  If you get a good chef, he will whip up a batch of gluten free hummus and pita chips!  YUM!  And they always make me a few special desserts…like the zebra domes!

The girls enjoying a view of animals after dinner

Animal Kingdom Lodge as viewed from the savanna

Fire pit

View of the savanna from the lobby

 

After a dinner where we all ate way more than we should have, we spent a few minutes shopping…and then headed to the bus.  It was about 9pm.  Unfortunately, it is now several hours since Animal Kingdom Park has closed, so we are left with few options to get home.  First to Downtown Disney, where we passed Art of Animation on the way.  Since it was so busy at Downtown Disney, we sat for over 20 minutes waiting to get inside and to a stop to get off.  It is now 10:40.

Onto a bus for Art of Animation and home by a few minutes before midnight.

I di d a rough calculation of how much time we spent either on a bus or waiting for a bus…just on this day…and it came to almost 8 hours!  Had I been driving, I would have spent maybe an hour tops in transportation mode.

So, TIP#2, do not schedule dining at a different resort than you are staying at if you are relying on Disney transportation to get you there!

 

What do you think?

Taking a brief interlude here...

A website that is all my own!  In fact, it is so much my own, that I actually put it together!  

To those friends who know me, well, they know I am somewhat technically challenged.  The know what a BIG deal this is for me!

Please stop by and take a look.  Let me know what you think.  Just remember, it is still a work in progress...(please be kind)


http://jmorristravel.weebly.com/

Magic Kingdom!

With our Fast Pass Pluses in hand (well actually on our Magic Bands on our arms) we tackled Magic Kingdom.  Knowing it would be hot and crowed we were there 20 minutes before rope drop which was scheduled for 8 am, after a VERY crowded bus ride!  Sardines we were. 

Girls enjoying an almost empty park!

Even though the multitudes of people outside the gate made me cringe, once inside it was empty!  Numerous times we remarked how strange it was to see Magic Kingdom so empty.  In fact, we did not really encounter any crowds at all until after lunch. 

And speaking of lunch!  If you get the chance you HAVE to do Be Our Guest for lunch!  DELICIOUS!  My daughter declared this the best meal she has ever eaten at Disney!  We used the preorder feature…but did not pre order until about an hour before our appointment.  I was so astonished that the gluten free bread tasted like…BREAD!  Glorious!

A momentary break in the rain, but clouds never left us

By the time the storms came in we had done almost everything we wanted to do. Yup… storms in June are pretty much the normal for Disney.  We had a bit of time to wait for our dinner ADR at Cinderella’s Royal Table, so we donned our ponchos and walked around for a bit.  And then the lightening started.  We found refuge (along with what seemed like a million other people) inside the castle…you know that little walk way … which is NOT made to hold that many people! 

In my opinion, THIS was the best part of the trip (not getting wet or almost electrocuted, but the dinner)  The friend my daughter took had never been to Disney, and was a big secret fan of Princesses.  When we first met Cinderella she was crying and could not speak.  (you would have thought she was meeting her favorite boy band member or something!)  But once she got inside…well the look on her face was just of awe.

My beef with shrimp.  Yummy!

With each princess that made their rounds to our table she was more and more excited.  She was barely able to contain herself waiting for them to get to our table.  She said her meal was excellent, but truthfully I don’t know how on earth she even knew what she was eating. 

She can’t wait to go back…in fact I have it on good authority that her mom is now plotting a way to get her back soon…shhhh…

After dinner, well, the lightening was worse and the rain was a downpour.  They cancelled the Electrical Parade…because it was not safe for the Cast Members to be out in the open with that much lightening (seems it was ok for the guests….) So, I took my granddaughter (did I forget to mention I also had a 7 year old with us) and headed back to the rom.  The older girls stayed hoping for at least the fireworks show.

This was the beginning of the second bad experience with buses. 

We were in line for a bus at 9 pm.  Judging from the amount of people in front of us I guessed we would not make it on the next bus, but definitely by the second… oh how wrong I was!  When the second bus came up, suddenly there were two wheel chairs… I understand they get first priority. Each ACV takes up the space of three seats (where they strap them down).  Then, the parties with them get to board.  Since each ACV had a party of about 20…well there wasn’t a whole lot of room left on the bus.  So, I calmly told my granddaughter we would get the next bus, since there were no more ACVs waiting…However as soon as the next bus got there, the same thing happened.  So we wait for the next bus…. And it happens again.  So, if you are counting…we have now waited for 4 buses… Our lucky number was 5!  And we were sardines again! 

We did walk into our room, soaked at 11pm.  The girls left the park at around 11 and were in by 1am.

Disney with teens...WHAT was I thinking?

In January I decided to offer to take my youngest daughter and a friend to Disney to celebrate her 15^th birthday. At the time it seemed like a GREAT idea.

We booked a room at Art of Animation in a Little Mermaid room.  We were only going to the park for one day and a day at Downtown Disney.  Did I mention we were planning on going in JUNE?!

Since we had annual passes it seemed like the perfect trip.

So how did it go in reality?  Well, not as bad as I had feared, but not quite as smoothly as I had planned.

Art of Animation

 

The drive down was uneventful. We arrived at Art of Animation at about noon.  While I had done the online check in and had gotten the email that I was eligible to skip the front desk, the text I was expecting to get to let me know my room number did not come.  Instead my text said I needed to check with the front desk.

Since this program is still rather new, I figured this meant that our room was not yet ready…I mean it was NOON and normal check in is at 3pm.

At the front desk I was informed I was selected for a complimentary upgrade to a Cars Suite!  While I REALLY wanted to stay in the Mermaid room, what person in their right mind would turn down 2 bathrooms when traveling with two teenaged girls?

When we stayed in a Cars Suite in February, we had a view of the parking lot.  This time we had a rather nice view…

 

View from our window!

 

After getting settled in, the girls went on a short walking tour of the property and we stopped by the food court to grab a late lunch/early dinner.  My impression of the food court area at Art of Animation called Landscape of Flavors hasn’t changed much since February.  It is clean, plenty of spaces to sit, and a fairly large variety.  As long as you don’t have food allergies!  Once again the only choice for gluten free was a meatloaf meal that lacked a great deal of taste last time so I went for a sub and removed the bread. 

Afterwards, the girls decided on a swim at the Cozy Cone Pool.  The girls each gave it a two thumbs up review.  I enjoyed the covered ‘cone’ cabana where I could get some work done out of the sun!

My only complaint with the resort is the spotty phone and wifi connection.  I had zero phone coverage inside the resort and the wifi was not strong enough (or consistent enough) for the neat little feature my phone has to enable it to make wifi calls.  So, poor me had to sit by the pool to get any work done…