A WDW expert and a newbie attempt to vacation together! April 2015 update 11/14/15

[librarygeek]

I've finally gotten around to writing my April trip report! It was a fun trip, and as the title implies I went with a friend who had never been to WDW before. So it was very interesting to see things from his perspective!

Table of Contents
First day at the world!
Hollywood Studios
Epcot
Magic Kingdom
Typhoon Lagoon followed by Beaches & Cream
Our Last Day - Animal Kingdom

About Us


Let's start with me! My name is Becky, I'm 27 years old, and I'm obviously a huge Disney fan. I write a Disney blog called Disney in your Day (www.disneyinyourday.com) in my free time. During the day I'm a children's librarian, and I also do theater. I'm currently rehearsing for a production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. I'm married to an amazing man and we have two adorable cats. I'm also a runner and this was my first Disney trip in awhile where I wasn't there for a race. My previous trips had been Princess 2015, Tower of Terror 2014, and Princess 2014. And in September I head to Disneyland for the DL half marathon!



My friend that joined me is 31 and had never been to Disney World before. We'll call him Sulley because I love Monsters Inc. We were originally going to have other friends join us but they backed out, so we decided to just go anyway. Luckily my husband had no problem with that. He didn't join us because we're trying to save a little $! Sulley is a friend I met through theater.

Trip Details



We stayed at Pop Century and planned 4 days in the parks (one for each day) in addition to a water park day at Typhoon Lagoon.

 

[TinaMcTeer]

Joining in. I can't say my husband would be so happy to let me go on a trip with another man, but that is because he would be so jealous that I left him behind. Can't wait to read more.

 

[librarygeek]

Joining in. I can't say my husband would be so happy to let me go on a trip with another man, but that is because he would be so jealous that I left him behind. Can't wait to read more.

Haha! I've gone on some girls trips and I have friends who won't come because their husbands would be so upset if they went without him. I guess in that regard I'm lucky that DH isn't as big of a Disney fan as I am! I have an AP but he doesn't because we usually go once a year together, and then I'll go at least once or twice more without him

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Joining in! Can't wait to read about your trip!

 

[Disneybuckeye]

I'm in. I love adult only trip reports. Looking forward to reading about your adventures.

 

[bama belle]

Joining in! I have enjoyed your other TRs and DRs!

 

[librarygeek]

Joining in! Can't wait to read about your trip!

Thanks for joining in!

I'm in. I love adult only trip reports. Looking forward to reading about your adventures.

Awesome, thanks for following!

Joining in! I have enjoyed your other TRs and DRs!

Yay, glad you're here!

 

[LanaBear-ox]

Joining in!

 

[Sailormoon2]

Yep. Love adult's only trip reports, as they give me a better indication of how much DH and I will be able to accomplish.

 

[mom2cgj]

I'm in! Can't wait to hear all about it!!

 

[librarygeek]

Joining in!

Welcome aboard!

Yep. Love adult's only trip reports, as they give me a better indication of how much DH and I will be able to accomplish.

I feel that way too, since we don't have kids! Adults-only ones are fun to read

I'm in! Can't wait to hear all about it!!

Thanks for joining in!

 

[librarygeek]

First day at the World!

We flew in from Philadelphia, and our flight arrived in Orlando at 3:45. For the most part everything about the flight went smoothly. However, I found out I had pneumonia about two weeks before this trip (walking pneumonia, and I'd had it for over a month without realizing it wasn't just a bad cold). I had taken lots of meds but I was still pretty congested, and my ears were in massive amounts of pain on the flight, especially during the descent. I had one ear that just refused to pop for so long. Eventually everything unpopped, but they still kind of hurt!

We hopped on the Magical Express and arrived at Pop Century, where we found out we'd be in the 80's building! This was perfect because my friend and I are (sort of) children of the 80's (him more so than me), and there were lots of fun references around. I especially loved the pac man stuff!







We dropped our stuff off and headed to a place to get dinner - we hopped on a bus to the Magic Kingdom and then took the monorail over to the Poly. Once there we checked in to Trader Sam's, grabbed a pager, and went to eat at Captain Cook's. Captain Cook's is conveniently located right next to Trader Sam's, so if you have to wait you can get food there and your pager is still within distance. This was also the first time I'd seen the refurb of the lobby and all.





We had great timing because our pager went off just as we were taking the last bites of our meal. We headed into Trader Sam's and it turned out that our server was the husband of a friend of mine! I knew he was working there but had never met him - but I recognized his name, so that was fun. The atmosphere of Trader Sam's was really cool, and we really enjoyed our drinks. My friend got the zombie head one, and he still talks about how good it was and wants to try and find a recipe to re-create it. I don't want to spoil anything if you haven't been, but there are fun things that happen for each specialty drink that's ordered. You're also supposed to get souvenir glasses for a lot of them - when I was there they didn't have all of the glasses because it was still technically in soft opening but I'm looking forward to collecting more of them! If you're interested in really detailed information on Trader Sam's I did write up a blog post about it that you can find here.



After enjoying our drinks we decided to get on a bus to Downtown Disney to check out what was there. We wanted around through a number of shops, including the Lego store where we ran into one of my friends who works there! Sulley also seemed really impressed with the lego statues. He took a lot of pictures here.



Because I'm a sucker for ice cream and dessert, we also made a stop at Ghiradelli's and shared a sundae - the most delicious one ever! I forget what it was called but it had chocolate and strawberry and a whole chocolate covered strawberry on top!



After that we went back to Pop, so we could get some sleep in before our big day of theme parks. I was looking forward to seeing what Sulley thought about the parks, and Hollywood Studios was up first.

 

[KathyM2]

I had one ear that just refused to pop for so long. Eventually everything unpopped, but they still kind of hurt!

That is the absolute worst - flying when you are congested...the pain is awful.

there were lots of fun references around. I especially loved the pac man stuff!

I had no idea they had this at Pop...may have to go check it out as I love anything 80's.

Captain Cook's is conveniently located right next to Trader Sam's, so if you have to wait you can get food there and your pager is still within distance.

This is a really good tip - I want to go to Trader Sam's but my DD doesn't wait that well so if we can eat while we wait...that would be pretty cool.

we ran into one of my friends who works there!

Wow, you have a lot of friends that work at WDW!

chocolate and strawberry and a whole chocolate covered strawberry on top!

That looks really good! Want one now!

 

[Disneybuckeye]

Enjoyed the update. We are hoping to be able to enjoy Trader Sam's in September.

 

[Liza215]

I think you have us convinced to try ghiradelli! That looks amazing.

 

[librarygeek]

This is a really good tip - I want to go to Trader Sam's but my DD doesn't wait that well so if we can eat while we wait...that would be pretty cool.



Wow, you have a lot of friends that work at WDW!

You can also hang out at the patio outside Trader Sam's - they serve the drinks and food from Trader Sam's, it just doesn't have the cool atmsophere of the inside.

I do know a couple of people that work there! You'd be surprised how many friends I have who actually moved to Florida because of their love for WDW!

Enjoyed the update. We are hoping to be able to enjoy Trader Sam's in September.

I hope you have a great time!

I think you have us convinced to try ghiradelli! That looks amazing.

Definitely try it! Their sundaes are huge so I recommend sharing

 

[librarygeek]

Hollywood Studios

We arrived at Hollywood Studios nice and early the next morning - I think we were both just very excited to experience the first day at Disney! Once we got into the park I was loving the view - it was the first time I had been there since they took the hat down and you could see clear through to the Chinese theater!



we headed right for Rockin' Roller Coaster, because it was the only major attraction that we didn't have a FP+ for. We got there... only to find out that it was down. Womp. So instead we headed next door to Tower of Terror, where we had a FP starting at 9:10. ToT scares me -- the feeling it makes in my tummy freaks me out! I don't like to do it that often, but it's DH's favorite. So since he knew Sulley was coming for the first time and probably won't be back for awhile, he made me promise I would take him on it. I survived! Terrifying but fun.



Next we did the Great Movie ride where we got the gangster scene. We still had some time before the next FP+, and it had started to rain, so we ran over to the Animation Academy. They gave our group a choice between drawing Donald and Goofy. I'm so glad we ended up with Goofy because I hadn't drawn him before! This is honestly my favorite thing in Hollywood Studios and I'm so bummed it's gone now.



Next up was our FP+ for Toy STory Mania. It was a ton of fun, and Sulley enjoyed it a lot - even though I kicked his butt! I am used to losing because DH is better than me, so it was nice to win for once lol.



When we got out it was raining even harder than it had been before, so we ran into One Man's Dream. We looked around a little and then popped in to watch the film, which I hadn't seen before. It was really interesting and I'm glad I got the chance to finally watch it. I knew some of the stuff in there because I've read a lot of books about Walt Disney, but to see it all with the film clips was definitely something special.

While walking around this area I took the picture below. Sulley asked me, "What are you taking a picture of that for?" And I explained that it was just something at disney that I've never taken a photo of! Gotta find something new every trip!



We were both hungry by then and it was around 11 o'clock,so we decided to visit Pizza Planet. It was decent and since it was still early the place was pretty empty. And the best part is that the rain stopped and the sun came out while we were eating!



We popped across the way to watch Muppet Vision 3D, and I feel like there is an extra joke or detail that I don't remember before every time I do it. I just love the Muppets. After that our FP+ for Star Tours was ready. I was the rebel spy!! I get wayyy too excited about that. Every time they mention the spy on the ride, I have to whisper, "that's me. They're talking about me." It was my third time being picked as the spy and I still get just as excited each time. The first time I was picked in 2011 they had a pin that said "I am the Rebel Spy." I so wish I'd bought it since they don't make it any more. They have a shirt but I'm not a fan of the style of it. We had the Hoth scene and then the Naboo scene this time around.



Since we had used up all 3 FP+, we stopped by a kiosk to get another one. We were super lucky and it turned out one was available for Rockin' Roller Coaster! At this point it was around 12:30, and our FP was for 3:10, so we decided to go to the 1:00 showing of Beauty and the Beast. If you're not aware that's my favorite movie and I always love the show.





Outside of the theater I had to stop to take this picture of James Doohan's hand in the cement for DH - we are both big Star Trek fans and I had never noticed this before so I wanted to make sure I showed it to him!



Once that show was over we booked it to make the 1:45 show of Indiana Jones and made it just in time! Unfortunately at this point it had started to rain again, so they weren't able to do the last scene with the plane. And of course that's the coolest part! So that was pretty disappointing. Not so much for me since I've seen it before, but for Sulley.

We still had a decent amount of time before the next FP. Lights, Motors, Action was under refurb that week so it wasn't an option. I'll be honest, even at this point before the Animation Academy closed it still felt like it was difficult to make Hollywood Studios a full day park. Now without the drawing class there's no way. We decided to do Star Tours again and got two different scenes - the podracing and it seems I wrote in my notes "some sort of futuristic city." I enjoy Star Wars but I'm not the biggest fan to know all of the places lol.

After this Sulley suggested we go back and do the drawing class again, and you know I was up for that! I was glad he liked it enough too that he wanted to go back. This time around we got Merida. She was pretty challenging to draw, but fun.



Finally it was time for Rockin' Roller Coaster! It's one of my favorite roller coasters. When I first met Sulley two years ago he absolutely refused to do any roller coasters that go upsidedown. My group of friends and worked on him though, and now he likes them. And he loved Rockin' Roller Coaster! We checked out what other FPs we could get afterward and there was anotehr for Rockin' Roller Coaster, so we grabbed it!

We had done almost everything at this point, so we decided to try Voyage of the Little Mermaid. The show is decent but skips so much of the story. This was only my second time seeing it.



We moseyed back to Rockin' Roller Coaster, did that, and then it was time for our dinner reservations at 50's Prime Time!



Our server was very friendly, but not particularly into the hijinks. I don't think he actually did anything. The food was pretty good - that style of food is not my favorite but Sulley loved it. We also split the Peanut Butter and Jelly milkshake for dessert and that was great!




Since we'd done pretty much everything at the park, we decided to head back to Pop Century and just chill and watch TV the rest of the evening. The next day we would be heading to Epcot!

 

[Sailormoon2]

Wow! It seems like you saw quite a lot to me. What time were your various meal breaks at? Just to assess time between activities.

 

[suswa]

I think the view of the theatre when you are heading down the street is nice, though I think I will miss the hat.

I will look forward to a day where we can take it easy a bit and know for a fact we can do the whole park and then go back to the resort for a bit before fantasmic.

 

[KathyM2]

This is honestly my favorite thing in Hollywood Studios and I'm so bummed it's gone now.

I'm so so sad about this. I never got a chance to do it and I was really hoping to in October when we booked our trip.

Now without the drawing class there's no way.

Yeah...I think we'll definitely plan to go to DTD or something or hang by the pool after this park...

We also split the Peanut Butter and Jelly milkshake for dessert and that was great!

That sounds really yummy...almost like a meal though!