First Couple trip!

Tempty

Mouseketeer
Joined
Oct 9, 2018
I'm 22, and since I was about 5 years old I have gone to Disney(World or Land, interchanging) once or twice a year with my family
I've got a job now which doesn't allow me to take trips with my family much if at all, and I needed my Disney fix!

Kind of a sad side note but it puts some things for the trip into perspective. I suffer from vasovagal syncope (basically just passing out when I come across certain triggers, my worst ones being heat, hunger, lack of sleep, and stress) and I was (officially) diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in 05/2018. I got so sick that I almost died, and I dropped 40 pounds in about 4 weeks. It was a very scary time, and I had spent a lot of time in and out of the hospital, back and forth with different medications, skyrocketing medical bills, etc. The whole thing also put me in a pretty bad period of depression. I just needed a vacation, desperately.
End sad note.

Also, my long distance boyfriend (he's in AR I'm in IN) had never been to Disney (in any form) before so we decided to go, just the two of us!

We flew out to MCO on 10/01
We had a reservation for California Grill at 7:15 PM, and since we landed at MCO at 5:30ish PM we did not have time to do Magical Express to the hotel. We were staying at Pop Century, which is I think the last stop on the route, and we just didn't have time for that. Also had heard horror stories of 3+ HOURS between getting to the bus stop at MCO and ending up at your hotel

10/1

So we took an Uber from MCO->Pop Century, cost about $30 but we got there in about 20 minutes as opposed to possibly 3 hours with Magical Express.
We stayed in 80s section, building 9, room number 9320 (3rd floor)
80s section is one of the farthest away from the bus stop, which was pretty annoying but I was already tired and didn't want to deal with arguing with cast members about moving us.
We changed clothes, and then I realized how big of a pain it would be to get from Pop Century to the Comtemporary....
Sooooo we took another Uber, this one was about $10 and we got there in about 10 minutes

We made it to our reservation, yay!

Our drinks were very good, but the menu has apparently changed even since we were there on 10/1 so I can't find the drinks we had.. That makes me a little sad, but oh well. Guess you can't get them anymore!
Boyfriend got the New Moon Roll as an appetizer (I only eat California Rolls in terms of sushi lol) and he said it was very good. Our server Nasser even made a joke, asking if my boyfriend "wouldn't let" me have it haha
We both got the Oak-Fired Filet of Beef as our entrees and oh my goodness it was delicious.
Absolutely the best piece of meat I've ever had. And again sadly the menu has changed, so you can't get exactly what we had. I don't remember what all came with it, but it did have herb gnocchi and some sort of tomato jam I think? Very good!
For dessert we shared the Warm Valrhona Chocolate Cake, which was good but to be honest I have had better molten lava cake lol
Our server was very nice, answered all of our questions, and was extra careful about dietary requests. My boyfriend didn't want the onions that came with the entree, and the oil they bring with the bread has some onion powder in it, so Nasser made sure to inform us of that in case he had an allergy. He doesn't, just doesn't like onions lol
But very kind of him to ask!
Pretty much the second we were done paying for dinner, it was time for the fireworks. We went out on the observatory deck, watched the fireworks, and I cried because it was so pretty.. I'm a sap, I know. Fireworks always make me cry lol

10/2

The next day, we got breakfast at the food court at Pop Century (we actually got breakfast every day there) and it was surprisingly good and not super expensive! The tiny bottle of orange juice was $5 though, which I've never understood... we're in FLORIDA, you GROW oranges. I digress.

I don't remember what food we got which days, but over the trip my boyfriend and I got the following: Mickey-shaped Waffles (comes with bacon and sausage), Bounty Platter (eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuit, Mickey-shaped waffles, and breakfast potatoes), French Toast (comes with strawberry topping, bacon, and sausage), Pancakes (supposed to come with strawberry topping but didn't, came with bacon and sausage), Chocolate Chip Pancakes (same story as Pancakes), and Breakfast Flatbread which I'm not seeing on the menu, but I think it had eggs, cheese, and sausage on it? Boyfriend said it was super good, his favorite thing there.

After breakfast we got on the bus and rope-dropped Animal Kingdom. Be prepared, the Pop Century bus stop is NOT covered, at all. It got very hot and miserable, very quickly, even in the early morning. We were never able to get a FP for FoP so that's why we rope-dropped. By the time we got to FoP, the line was already 75 minutes long. However that is MUCH better than the 180+ minute wait times I've seen. The queue is also so detailed that it does take 75 minutes to look at everything, so it wasn't so bad. FoP was AMAZING! Hands down my favorite ride I've been on, at any Disney park. I cried a little (see previous notes about me being a sap lol) I am 5'0" with a bigger chest than most people my size, so the chest/back restraints were kind of uncomfortable on me. Nothing unbearable, but squeezing in less than favorable places. Boyfriend was fine, he's 5'9" about 190 lbs and he had no problems with the restraints.

After we got off FoP we had a FP for Na'Vi River Journey (10-11 AM), so we got on that. It was very pretty, and the shaman animatronic is VERY impressive (my boyfriend even asked the classic "is that a person?"), however I'm glad we had a FP for it because I would have been very upset if we waited 70 minutes for that as well. I'd say it's worth maybe a 30 minute wait, tops. Also some of the effects are already not working, which is disappointing.

We then had a FP for Kilimanjaro Safari (12-1 PM), so we got on that. I had been on this years ago but forgot what it was like. All the animals, except for the lions, were out and able to be photographed easily. Pretty bumpy, but nothing crazy. Can't believe that one heavily pregnant woman got on it... no wonder she went into labor lol

Our next FP was for Expedition Everest (5-6 PM) and it was getting to be unbearably hot so we took a break and went back to the hotel. Unfortunately because it was so hot and I was so tired (and I had developed blisters on the bottoms of both of my feet), by the time we got back to AK and got in line for EE, I passed out :/ The 2 castmembers who helped us were very kind but of course they would not allow us to ride since I passed out right in front of them. I did not need any medical attention, just needed to get some water and some rest. We got some ice cream (because I was also starving by this point, we didn't eat lunch since we had a big breakfast and were going to have a big dinner) and headed to our ADR at Paddlefish (7:45 PM)

Our server at Paddlefish (Leanne I think was her name?) was very kind and informative. She had a quick answer to every question we had. We both got the Not Everyone's Margarita, it was very good but VERY strong lol
The bread and cinnamon butter served is very good as well.
We got the lobster corndogs (well, boyfriend did. I tried one, and did not like the texture of it) and if you like lobster, they're good. Boyfriend got the 1 1/4 lb lobster, which Leanne got the meat out for him. Boyfriend said it was very good. I got the crabcake BLT and while I liked it okay, I think it would have been better with the elements separated. The mac n' cheese they have though, oh my god it is AWFUL. It REEKS, and has absolutely no salt? Very strange, not a fan. The fries I got with my BLT were good though.
We did not get any desserts. Food was a mixed bag unfortunately, but at least our server was incredibly kind.

10/3
This was actually kind of a sad day. All the walking from the day before REALLY took its toll on me. My feet were absolutely covered in blisters, my calves felt like they were going to explode, and I had thigh chafing so bad that it bled and scabbed over. Oof. No sunburn though! I tried to force myself to keep going, so we walked to the food court for breakfast. Once we were done eating I realized there was absolutely 0 chance of me being able to make it to any park. So we sadly went back to the room and had a recovery day. I had "budgeted" a recovery day in the schedule anyway, but I wasn't expecting it to be so soon.
We ordered pizza for lunch... oh my god. I had forgotten how awful Disney pizza is. The smell of it almost made me nauseous. I ate it. because I was starving, but oh my god never again lol
This was also the day where we witnessed the "daily security check" where a man knocked on the door, poked his head in the room, asked "everything okay?" and then left when we said yes. Don't know what he could have seen in the 3 seconds he was looking, but alrighty then.

10/4
Went to breakfast, again it was good as always. Disney is weirdly stingy with bacon for some reason, by the way. Anyway. We got on the bus for Epcot, and while on the bus I was able to snag a Frozen Ever After FP for 10-11 AM. Just goes to show you need to just always keep trying for those FPs! Frozen was very cute, I was very relieved that all the animatronics and ride mechanics were working. We did get wet, which was kind of annoying. Oh well.
Next we headed to Test Track which we could not get a FP for, but the standby was about 30 minutes which is actually great for that ride. Last time I had been on it was shortly after the refurb, and I remember waiting 150 minutes for it. Oof. Boyfriend loved it, he's a huge car buff. Some of those effects are not working either, which was disappointing.
We went to Club Cool next because it was getting super hot again, and I've always loved CC. Boyfriend tried the Beverly first, before I had the chance to warn him. WHOOPS. Thought he might throw up lol
We headed to Spaceship Earth last in EP. It was a 30 minute wait, which is kinda long but I've seen way longer. Loooove SE.
After SE we headed back to the hotel. We went to the food court and got lunch, I got the Meatloaf (I got mashed potatoes and green beans as my 2 sides) and boyfriend got the Salmon (can't remember his second side but I know he got mashed potatoes). Food was actually very good. After hearing the review of the meatloaf on the 7 in 7 Vlog Review on YT, I was nervous about how i would be but I loved it! Tasted just like my mom makes. Boyfriend said the salmon was very good as well.
Hooooooooowever the meatloaf proved to be a poor choice, read on to find out why.

We went to the Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party that night, think we got there at about 6:30 PM maybe. We went up to the castle and we just kind of chilled out for a while, waiting for the Hocus Pocus... show, can't remember what the whole name is lol
Show was fun, but oh my god I cannot STAND people who will hold their phones up 3 feet above their head and record the whole show. Do you realize you're actively impeding the view for other people? SO inconsiderate. I'm only 5'0" as I previously mentioned so I have a hard enough time as it is without people doing that.
After the show we went to Casey's Corner for dinner (I had been craving the bacon mac n cheese hotdog for MONTHS) and after we were done... I felt very sick. Like, stomach flu sick. We got the footlong dog, so boyfriend and I shared, and he felt fine. I went to the bathroom, thought I felt better, so we got on PeopleMover and Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin.
PeopleMover is not NEARLY as fun when the Halloween party is going on, I was disappointed! We went through the Space Mountain part and since the lights are off and the sounds/music are replaced, you just kind of sit in pitch blackness with dumb rock music playing. Wow. Riveting. I was pretty mad lol
BLSRS... hoo boy that ride needs a refurb, BAD. Those ride vehicles are filthy and practically falling apart!
After the ride, I realized I was not feeling better. At all. I passed out, again. Soooo we had to leave, after only riding 2 things. I was disappointed but couldn't risk my health any more.

10/5
This morning I stayed in the room while my boyfriend went and got breakfast for us. How sweet <3
This also unfortunately turned into a partial recovery day, but like I said I couldn't risk my health. I ended up buying us tickets to the 10/5 MNSSHP too, even though 10/4 was the only night I had planned on us going. We went to the Magic Kingdom and got there at around 4:30 PM. We went to Main Street Bakery (Starbucks) and got some drinks, and we meandered over to Jungle Cruise. In all my times of visiting DW I had never been on it! We got in the standby line and I (trying to be quiet) mentioned I had never been on it. The castmember manning the lines then ushered us into the FP line! That was pretty nice but not really necessary, but we appreciated it! JC is fun, and I can't believe it was my first time riding it.
We then got on Pirates of the Caribbean, where we were seated behind a hysterical child who was begging not to go on because he was afraid of drops in rides. His mom kept saying there are no drops. I mean, there is one.. but it's small? I wanted to tell my boyfriend about it but I didn't want to risk upsetting the kid further. Poor kid was terrified after the drop, I felt so bad.
Aside from that, PoC was great as usual!
(I can't remember which order we got on, but we did Big Thunder Mountain Railroad somewhere in here lol
I actually kind of got hurt on it, because I'm so small and my boyfriend is bigger than me, and on every turn he slammed into me and hurt my ribs. Owwww.)
After that we got on Haunted Mansion, which is one of my favorites. We got stuck twice, which freaked my boyfriend out, but I told him it was likely just someone in a wheelchair getting on lol
Then we got on.... Small World? I think? The whole night is kind of running together.
Boyfriend hated SW lol "I don't get it, why do people like this?"
We then got on Peter Pan, which I had never been on before. 30 minute wait, but I didn't mind it. Loved the ride! Boyfriend was freaked out by the suspension system with the ride vehicles, said he felt like we were going to fall
Then we went to Friar's Nook and got some food. I got the hot dog with tots, which was fine. Not great. Boyfriend got the buffalo chicken tots and while he liked it, he said it was way too much buffalo sauce.
Afterwards we got on Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, 40 minute wait but worth it! Loved it! It was actually more "thrilling" than I was expecting.

10/6
We were woken up by housekeeping at 8 AM. Check out is 11 AM. We had the "room occupied" sign on the door. Why in the world does housekeeping come by extra early on check out day? If I want to be in the room until 10:59 AM I will, so leave me alone. Lol
She was very apologetic, but still. I understand they have to turn over the rooms, but 8 AM is ridiculous. That was really the only problem we had with housekeeping though. We got breakfast, we took an Uber to MCO, and then we went home.

I apologize for this being so long but there wasn't a way to cut things out while still providing a total run-down of the trip.
Any questions, feel free to ask!
 

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