No Princes Allowed! - A Mother-Daughter Trip - UPDATED 6/5

[rebeccaariel]

First of all, WELCOME to my trip report!

As the title suggests, this was a girls-only trip! My mom and I left my older brother behind and travelled to Disney World together. We've had a tough couple of years, but we overcame them and are looking forward to brighter times, so this trip was meant to celebrate that.

Time for some INTRODUCTIONS!

First there's me. I'm 20. I'm currently a film student about to go into my last year of undergrad university studies. I've been a Disney fan since birth basically. This is what I look like:

Then there's my mom.

She's honestly the best person in the whole world. Everyone may say that about their moms, but I really mean it. There's nobody better.

Now, on to the trip report!

 

[rebeccaariel]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Arrival Day - Downtown Disney and Yeehaw Bob

Day 1 - Epcot and Fantasmic

Day 2 - DHS

Day 3 - Animal Kingdom and Illuminations

Day 4 - Magic Kingdom and Boma

Day 4 - The Dark Side

 

[rebeccaariel]

ARRIVAL DAY

So our arrival day began very early! We left for the airport at 5 am and got to Orlando at about 11 am. It was lunch when we arrived at Port Orleans Riverside.

We had booked a garden view room and were shocked when we opened the door to find this:

A Royal Room! It really is gorgeous, pictures don't do it justice. We had an awesome location in Parterre Place, close to the South Depot and the food court. We were on the top floor too, which we prefer, because it tends to be quieter.

We arrived, settled in, then got on the boat for Downtown Disney. I wouldn't take the boat every time, because it is a lengthy trip, but it was a gorgeous day and we both really enjoyed the boat ride.

We got to Downtown Disney, which I've only been to once, and briefly, and I couldn't believe how huge it is! There's essentially everything you could want there: food, shopping, entertainment of all kinds. My mom and I particularly enjoyed the giant LEGO statues.

We wandered around, got some souvenir shopping done, and had a midday meal at Wolfgang Puck Express. I cannot recommend this place enough! It was so delicious. I had the mac and cheese, and it was real mac and cheese. The portion was a bit too large for me but it was delicious. I want some right now...It's a really good use of a quick service dining credit.

I had the key lime pie for dessert. Mmmmmmmmmm so good.

After a lovely afternoon, we took the bus back to POR and relaxed for a little. I took a nap and my mom went outside and read her book. Very nice. We weren't really hungry for dinner because of our massive Wolfgang Puck meal earlier so we just grabbed a snack and watched Yeehaw Bob. He is FABULOUS! Definitely see him if you get the chance. He's entertaining and hilarious. He really gets everyone involved in his show. Then we went to bed and prepared for our first day in the parks........

 

[leshunlenese]

Hey! You are back! And what an amazing 1st day already with the upgrade! The room looks beautiful!!

 

[rebeccaariel]

DAY 1 - EPCOT AND FANTASMIC

So our first day in the parks was an Epcot day, and then a park hop over to DHS for Fantasmic! The weather was awesome, and we got a ton done. Crowds were very low.

I had a really awesome meet and greet with Mickey and Minnie and Pluto at the Character Spot, but Minnie was my favourite, for obvious reasons.

We then had lunch at Sunshine Seasons, which is definitely the best quick service at Epcot. I had the sweet and sour chicken. Mmmmmmm.....

I also found this Hidden Mickey in the Seas pavilion! So cute!

We had dinner at Via Napoli. It was amazing. We each got a different kind of pizza, but both were fantastic. I got the Quattro Formaggi, and my mom got the Carciofi. I would highly recommend both those options. My mom got the tiramisu for dessert, and I got the gelato frizzante, which is basically like an ice cream float but with gelato and Italian soda. It was delicious. If you get the chance to eat at Via Napoli, definitely do it, I was really impressed. Also our server was really nice (and cute), so that didn't hurt.

After Via Napoli we headed over to DHS to watch Fantasmic. I really enjoy this show, it's gorgeous.

And that was our first day! More to come...

 

[wiigirl]

Great pics!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

I saw your link in the April sticky so I had to subscribe seeing as you were in Disney for almost the exact same days!

 

[saintstickets]

I'm in! Great start!!

 

[IheartDDuck]

I'm in. I love Mother / Daughter TR's. I adore traveling with my Mom, she's also my favorite person in the world.

 

[MinnieJay]

Your outfit in the pictures with Minnie is so cute! Love it!

 

[leshunlenese]

I was thinking the same that I love that Minnie shirt. Im not skinny enough for that but it looks great on you

 

[emmysmommy]

What adorable photos with Minnie!! I'm a huge fan of mother/daughter trips - me being on the mother end of the equation!

And who doesn't love WPE? Oh so good!

Looking forward to reading more!

 

[acwaters]

I'm in! I am living vicariously through you

 

[rebeccaariel]

Thank you all so much for joining in! I'll try my best to make this thing entertaining for you. So on to the next day!

DAY 2 - DHS

After seeing Fantasmic the night before, we headed back over to DHS for the day. We got to the park for rope drop and headed right over to Toy Story Mania, which was walk-on, and then we got Fastpasses for later. Then we rode Rock 'n' Rollercoaster and got this lovely picture.

I really love DHS. It's small, but it's got a lot of the rides I enjoy. And I just adore the theming.

The one thing I'm not so crazy about at DHS is the food. Compared to the other parks, it's just sort of "meh". Although I did love this cupcake I got at the ABC Commissary. Lemon meringue!

You know what underrated ride I love? The Great Movie Ride. It's so campy and fun! This time we got the gangster scene, which was cool because last time I remember getting the cowboy scene. An older lady played the part of the gangster, and she was pretty hilarious.

Oh, and my dream came true during this day! I was picked as the rebel spy on Star Tours! It sounds lame, but it's something I've really wanted since I first rode it and it happened! I got the "I am the Rebel Spy" t-shirt, of course, to commemorate the event. When I was picked, I was so excited that I shrieked "IT'S ME!" and embarrassed myself in front of the whole ride. Oh well!

One Disney tradition we have, even though we haven't been many times, is eating dinner at 50's Prime Time. The food is pretty good, but it's really the atmosphere we love. Unfortunately our server this time wasn't very into his role. He was a good server but just not as animated as the servers we've had in the past. I still enjoyed it though!

After dinner we headed out to try and beat the crowds, as we'd already seen Fantasmic. As we headed out, the weather got pretty scary! The clouds were very dark. And then the thunder and lightning started. I wasn't able to get a picture of the lightning despite my many efforts, but I did get some cool shots of the clouds.

And that's it for day 2! I hope I'm entertaining you all. I took close to 1600 pictures on this trip so it's pretty difficult to narrow down which ones to show you. Stay tuned for day 3 at Animal Kingdom!

 

[danceintherain]

Wow! You get a t-shirt if you're the Rebel Spy! That makes me want to ride over and over again.

I would love to do a Mother-Daughter trip to Disney with my Mom, but she's not that into Disney, and I think she'd have a hard time leaving the grandbabies behind if we were at Disney.
We have a beach trip planned in a month from now though, and she's concerned that we're going to get bored. Something that has NEVER happened to me at Disney.

 

[rebeccaariel]

Wow! You get a t-shirt if you're the Rebel Spy! That makes me want to ride over and over again.

You don't get the shirt for free, but there's a shirt available for purchase that says "I am the Rebel Spy" that I didn't want to get unless I had actually been picked.

My mom isn't as big a Disney fan as I am, but she had an amazing time because its Disney! You can't not have a good time.

 

[danceintherain]

You don't get the shirt for free, but there's a shirt available for purchase that says "I am the Rebel Spy" that I didn't want to get unless I had actually been picked.

My mom isn't as big a Disney fan as I am, but she had an amazing time because its Disney! You can't not have a good time.

Oh, that makes sense. Too bad they don't still give out shirts for everything like they did at Old School Disney. Granted, they seemed to always be mens XXXL but they were great sleep shirts when I was a little kid.

My Mom does like Disney, she's just convinced that she likes other places better and I don't think she can picture it without little kids around. I, on the other hand, can't wait until I get to go again kid-free.

 

[rebeccaariel]

DAY 3 - ANIMAL KINGDOM AND ILLUMINATIONS

On this day we woke up to rain! I was momentarily sad because Animal Kingdom doesn't sound like a lot of fun in the rain, but it actually turned out to be a really wonderful day. Turns out animals love the rain. The rain ended up stopping mid-morning and it was sunny for the rest of the day, but our morning ride on the Kilimanjaro Safari was really great in the slightly soggy weather. The animals were very active, and as the rain subsided during our ride, I got some lovely pictures. We then went on the walking trails and saw more very alert and active animals enjoying the weather. It was wonderful!

We rode Expedition Everest a few times. It was my mom's favourite ride. It hadn't been built the last time she was at Disney World, so it was cool to experience that with her for the first time. It's one of my favourite rides as well. I also adore Dinosaur. It scares the pants off of me every time, but I love it.

I had some great character interactions this day. The best, by far, was with Baloo and King Louie. After we took a photo together, he decided we were going to run away together. He skipped off with me, waving bye to the long ling waiting to see him, until he was stopped by the Photopass photographer. It was pretty cute.

We both saw the Festival of the Lion King show for the first time. It was amazing! I really loved it. If it's still there next time I go, I will definitely be seeing it again. I was pleasantly surprised because after the Finding Nemo show (I really didn't like that - unpopular opinion I know, but it bored me) I wasn't expecting much. But wow. It was really wonderful.

After the show, we headed back to POR for an afternoon swim, which was very relaxing. I was very impressed by the lifeguards at the main pool. They have all sorts of interactive games going on all the time for the kids. It was neat!

For dinner, we ate at Garden Grill at Epcot. The food was quite good. I liked the fish the best, and the mashed potatoes were really addictive. And the dessert - oh boy, was it ever good.

This was a great day, we were pretty exhausted at the end of it, but we stuck around for Illuminations, which was awesome as always. We found a spot to sit right beside the Rose & Crown pub, got some snacks, and had a great time. Pretty sure I fell asleep on the bus ride back to the resort though!

Stay tuned for Magic Kingdom...

 

[IheartDDuck]

Always have to do the "run to Toy Story Mania, ride, grab fast passes".

I agree completely about the food at DHS. It's my least favorite park for food. Except for desserts. They have incredible desserts.

Woo hoo, Rebel Spy! I always want to be the rebel spy. The one time I was picked, I yelled "WHAT WHAT!!!" Everyone thought I was crazy.

Yup, animals absolutely do love rain. You get the best animal shots on the Safari in the rain.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Yup, I def remember the rain that morning as I headed off the Disney-MGM Studios (no Hollywood Studios for this guy).
Thankfully the rain subsided and turned into a lovely day.

Glad you liked Festival of the Lion King. It is a truly brilliant show. One of the best (if not THE best) that Disney does.

Your photos are wonderful BTW.