Dancing in disney

[twob4him]

Hello Disney fans from a fellow fan!

Have you ever wondered what it was like to travel with a dance group to disney? If so, read on!!

My two younger girls dance at our local dance studio and were asked to join the group of dancers who would perform in Disney in June 2014

We said "YES!" cause a Disney trip is always in order, dont you think?

Now that being said, I am a planner. I organize all of our family trips so this would be the first time I would be turning over the reins. Fortunately our awesome dance teachers handled the whole process with precision and organization that I love them for.

After we signed up in Oct, each girl was assigned a Pal Mickey (dance teacher) . They did many gift exchanges and parties for all of the dancers. FUN!!! They also had weekly practices throughout the winter. And then it snowed. And snowed. So much so that instead of our trip being the week after school ended, our trip began on the last day of school. Whoops We missed that last half day.

So the plan was this. We chartered a bus to the airport, flew to MCO, took a charter bus to Port Orleans French Quarter. We had a block of rooms so we were all near each other. There was a performance Sunday night in Downtown Disney and a group function on Thursday at Mickey's Backyard BBQ. The rest of the week was free. We had parkhoppers with waterpark and breakfast and lunch coupons for counterservice. Sounds like a dream come true! My girls were super excited and so was I!!

So here are my Dancin Girls!

First is Devon (10 yrs). She is my middle child. She obviously loves dancing. She is very smart. Quiet. Loves kids and babies. Loves to hang around with her friends!

[/URL]

and my youngest is Brooklyn (9yrs). She loves dancing, wearing custom clothing (thank goodness she still lets me sew for her for Disney), obviously loves Disney. Loves school too!

[/URL]

and then there is me, Cathy. I teach high school science and love to sew. Obviously I love Disney...complete Disney nut, one-track brain, the whole nine. I know you know what I mean since you are reading this and are probably the exact same! ha!

[/URL][/IMG]

And there you have it. The introduction!

As with all of you, I was especially anxious about the magic bands. We weren't even sure we were going to be able to have them on this trip since we were with a group. I was late making ADR's and only made our FP+ picks about 20 days in advance. Wow! And would they work was my question.

Sooooo, read on to find out. I usually take tons of pics. I have a nice DSLR but left it home this time. I really wanted to focus on the girls and not annoying them every five steps for a picture. So I had my iPhone 5 and my husband's Kodak Play Sport camera/video camera thingy...it was light. Plus I ordered photopass. Even so, I came home with 1000 pics most of which you will see here. Love pictures!

Ok, ready???

Cape May Dancers to Walt Disney June 2014....and we are off and running!

 

[twob4him]

Saving this post to add chapters to it...in case you want to skip the chat. Feel free to chat and comment however!

Oh and I finish what I start.....so this trip report will not leave you hanging in the middle.

Day one - Travel Day Getting to the airport

Day one - Travel Day, on the airplane

Day One - Travel Day, Getting to the Resort

Day Two - Morning

Day Two - Morning continued

Day Two - Late morning and early afternoon

Day Two - Afternoon part 1

Day Two - Afternoon part 2

Day Two - Afternoon part 3

Day Two - Afternoon part 4

Day Two - Evening Part 1

Day Two - Evening Part 2

Day Three - Morning

Day Three - DTD and Performance

Day Three - DTD and the rest of the performance

Day Three - MK Evening, Part 1

 

[mlnbabies]

Can't wait to follow.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I'm in! My daughter took up ballet last year (at the ripe old age of 3) and hoping that I can take her on a trip like this in the future ... oh, and that she has fun and get personal growth and all the jazz too

Definitely must be a weird experience to not really do much of the planning .. I know I would be a wreck having to turn my spreadsheets over to someone else

 

[disnuty]

Loved watching the girls dance! Can't wait to hear how rest of the trip went!

 

[twob4him]

Can't wait to follow.

I am adding more in a few minutes! Thanks for following along.

I'm in! My daughter took up ballet last year (at the ripe old age of 3) and hoping that I can take her on a trip like this in the future ... oh, and that she has fun and get personal growth and all the jazz too

Definitely must be a weird experience to not really do much of the planning .. I know I would be a wreck having to turn my spreadsheets over to someone else

It was tough but it did help me to try new things so I am happy in the end. I would do it again. Awwww your daughter is so little but they love dance so much and i agree it is good for them

Loved watching the girls dance! Can't wait to hear how rest of the trip went!

And I cant wait to hear about yours! Enjoy the weekend!

 

[twob4him]

After much waiting, the day finally arrived!! We were excited to say the least.

Our luggage was waiting by the front door!

[/URL]

Everyone matched for our travel day.

[/URL][/IMG]

[/URL][/IMG]

We headed to the dance studio to meet everyone who was taking the charter bus.

[/URL][/IMG]

It was so organized. We even had name tags on our seats on the bus.

[/URL][/IMG]

[/URL][/IMG]

We were off right on time. One thing I was surprised about was that everyone was where they were supposed to be on time the entire trip....adults and kids alike. We all received a packet of info and schedules but many times, people dont follow it. This trip we all did! yaa!! makes the teacher in me happy!

Everyone had these cute bows made by a parent for the girls for the trip....arent they cute?

[/URL][/IMG]

So the bus ride was uneventful.

Well, not exactly.

First, one of the little kids got stuck in the bathroom and was so upset and screaming. We kept asking the bus driver if he had a key. After 20 minutes of the parents and dance teachers trying to talk her through how to unlock the door, the bus driver finally stopped and tried to help. I think he had a key

And then there was the "fire" on the bus. Well it wasnt exactly a fire...yet. Apparently a backpack under a seat was sitting on an uncovered bulb and it melted through the backpack and made the seat hot...ready to burst into flames??? We evacuated the bus quickly. Then we fixed the lightbulb. I am not sure the bus driver did much. I found that to be kinda weird....but back on the bus we went. And we made it just fine the rest of the way.

So we arrived at the airport and checked our bags....got our boarding passes and headed to security. Somehow we ended up in a speed check line or something...where you don't take off your shoes or have bins to put your stuff in?? I was a bit confused since we were prepared for all of that. So we just dumped our stuff on the conveyer belt...bags and all and left our shoes on and went through the security screen no problem.

Our flight was delayed an hour or two. So we had plenty of socialization time at the gate...and we had a little picnic.

[/URL][/IMG]

More coming up next!

 

[mlnbabies]

Love the shirts!

 

[twob4him]

Love the shirts!

Thank you! They were our shirts from the recital...gotta love double duty!

 

[twob4him]

Hello again! I think I left you at the gate....picnicing!

[/URL]http://[/IMG]

The kids played and since families were along, there were all ages, which is perfect for my baby-sitting loving daughter!

[/URL][/IMG]


and off they go!

[/URL][/IMG]

And then we finally boarded. Everyone boards in sections and just picks seat. Why don't all airlines do this????? It made it so easy!!

Here we are getting settled...

[/URL][/IMG]

[/URL][/IMG]

and then came the fuel delay or something like that. Too much fuel???? So we had an extra 20 minute wait before we pushed back while they worked out that snafu.

The girls had gum for take off and off we went!

[URL=http://s166.photobucket.com/us...n Disney June 2014/IMG_0040-1.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[/URL][/IMG

[/URL][/IMG]

[/URL][/IMG]

I LOVE flying....hate the whole getting to the airport and waiting and cramming on a plane, etc. But the flying part looking out the window is such fun to me!

[/URL][/IMG]

At this point I wasnt sure Brooklyn was enjoying herself or not?? Let me just spare you the details and thank God that Devon spotted the little white bag in her pocket!

How about some more window shots? Shall we??

[/URL][/IMG]

Our flight itself went pretty fast...I think the airline allowed extra time in the flight plan so even though we were supposed to land around 5 pm, with all of the delays, it turned out to be 6 pm instead. Not bad. Here we are coming in for a landing!

[/URL]http://[/IMG]

[/URL][/IMG]

Flaps up!!!

[/URL][/IMG]

And Brooklyn.....we are here!!!!

[/URL][/IMG]

Now to disembark!

[/URL][/IMG]

What is our next adventure? Stay tuned...be back with more later today

WELCOME TO SUNNY FLORIDA

 

[MeMom]

We love flying, too. It's nice to get to WDW in less than two hours and not be worn out. On the way home, it's so much better than a cranky John driving for 11 hours.

The down side is the cost, if you are paying for a family. Sophie has one last trip that's free, and then Jill will be paying for five plane tickets there and back. That's a bundle of money. I think maybe as the girls get a bit older and better understand the concept of time, we may do more driving. Right now, it's hard to explain to Sophie and Bella that we'll stop in two hours or whatever. They just know they are trapped in a car seat for hours. It is nice to have a car when we're down there, so that's another plus.

You are in Florida! Let's see what fun is in store!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Sounds like a bit of a scary bus ride - trapped kids, melting backpack, seats on fire! Glad you arrived safe though

Flying can definitely be fun - especially with a group and especially when going someplace fun.

Not sure I got the "small white bag in a pocket" thing though

 

[disnuty]

What bus company? Sounds like an eventful trip before u even made it to PHL. I hope Brooklyn did better on the flight home. It looked like such a fun group. Glad to see some of the teachers are former students too Can't wait for more.....

 

[mlnbabies]

Sounds like a stressful bus ride. We are flying on SW from Dallas to LAX in Dec. Our first trip to Disneyland for my 50th birthday. Glad it was a smooth flight after the delay.

 

[twob4him]

We love flying, too. It's nice to get to WDW in less than two hours and not be worn out. On the way home, it's so much better than a cranky John driving for 11 hours.

The down side is the cost, if you are paying for a family. Sophie has one last trip that's free, and then Jill will be paying for five plane tickets there and back. That's a bundle of money. I think maybe as the girls get a bit older and better understand the concept of time, we may do more driving. Right now, it's hard to explain to Sophie and Bella that we'll stop in two hours or whatever. They just know they are trapped in a car seat for hours. It is nice to have a car when we're down there, so that's another plus.

You are in Florida! Let's see what fun is in store!

Its a love/hate relationship with driving...that is for sure. We are driving next trip I think. From NJ it is about 19-20 hours so with a couple of drivers you can drive straight through but.....I prefer to stay overnight in SC and arrive more "fresh". Agree about having a car in Disney. First it is free parking and second, it is so much easier to go out to dinner at night from resort to resort...rather than a taxi.

Sounds like a bit of a scary bus ride - trapped kids, melting backpack, seats on fire! Glad you arrived safe though

Flying can definitely be fun - especially with a group and especially when going someplace fun.

Not sure I got the "small white bag in a pocket" thing though

I love going with a group too! Fun to have people around you to help and talk to.
So the little white bag in the pocket. You have got to understand Brooklyn is a worrier of sorts. And the milkshake before boarding made a reappearance when she woke up from her nap. My seatback pocket was empty and i glanced at the bathroom...we weren't going to make it. But just in the nick of time, Devon handed me that handy white bag for Brooklyn that she found in her pocket . Parents around me started handing me bags and mints and tissues too! Sooo kind! After that she was fine!

What bus company? Sounds like an eventful trip before u even made it to PHL. I hope Brooklyn did better on the flight home. It looked like such a fun group. Glad to see some of the teachers are former students too Can't wait for more.....

Not sure of the bus company actually. The bus itself was nice and they were on time...all good! Luckily Brooklyn did better until it was time to go home. Poor nervous Nelly. She didnt eat much this time and made it home fine!

Sounds like a stressful bus ride. We are flying on SW from Dallas to LAX in Dec. Our first trip to Disneyland for my 50th birthday. Glad it was a smooth flight after the delay.

Ohhhh Disneyland for your 50th sounds fabulous!!!

 

[twob4him]

So we landed! I love MCO!!! I always feel like I am arriving home!

We disembarked and made our way to the first attraction...monorail ride #1

[/URL][/IMG]

[/URL][/IMG]



And off we go!

[/URL][/IMG]

[/URL][/IMG]

We were able to get our luggage, the whole group, in a reasonable amount of time. The travel agent met us and showed us to the two buses. We didn't do Magical Express. We were so excited and everyone cheered when we saw this...

[/URL][/IMG]

Some bus selfies....

[/URL][/IMG]

It was around 7:30 pm when we arrived at PORFQ!! The gate going up...

[/URL][/IMG]

We received our room assignments, food coupons and got our luggage and we were off!! Our building was building #4...very close to everything.

Devon's happy dance in the room!

[/URL][/IMG]

The room was great!

[/URL][/IMG]

[/URL][/IMG]

I miss it so much!!!! Here is the view from our room.....

[/URL][/IMG]

[/URL][/IMG]

The girls got out after this and went to the playground with their friends. I wondered around a little bit. It was so nice to hear them screaming and laughing and having fun!

So that was our travel day! Long day!!! Even with flying. Stay tuned for more updates....Pool morning and MK afternoon and night!

 

[disnuty]

We really didn't get to explore POFQ so I guess we will just have to stay again . It looks like an amazing resort. With the 4th fireworks and frozen thing we were actually at that hotel the least. We even had a river view too. We did go over to riverside and had dinner at Boatwrights which was amazing.

 

[MeMom]

I miss it so much!!!! Here is the view from our room.....

I bet you can picture yourself right there right now. I love Disney resorts.

 

[twob4him]

We really didn't get to explore POFQ so I guess we will just have to stay again . It looks like an amazing resort. With the 4th fireworks and frozen thing we were actually at that hotel the least. We even had a river view too. We did go over to riverside and had dinner at Boatwrights which was amazing.

I heard Boatwrights was great! I know you were so busy at the end there with HS. Did you hear the podcast today? They talked about it for a bit. Wonder what your perspective was of all teh Frozen stuff.

I bet you can picture yourself right there right now. I love Disney resorts.

You know when you can see a disney pic and imagine the sounds...crickets and background music....and the smells. Sigh.... I connect with the Poly like this...or at least I did until they took the waterfall out of the lobby. So i am still surprised at how much I loved this resort... I guess the size and theming really resonated with me or something.

 

[minnie2]

The room looks great!