jwjulie
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2013
"We'll always have Baymax! ... oh, and I guess the memories, too!"
A November 2014 Trip Report!
Hello, hello! Welcome to my first ever actually written trip report! This wasnt my first trip by a long shot, but for one in my group it was, and for another it was close enough since she hadnt been since the 80s! Lets introduce you to the ( main ) group :
Im Julie, your narrator and resident Disney nerd. Over the trip I learned that Im 28 going on 12 with the bladder of a toddler. Lets keep in mind here that I didnt intend to write a trip report. We were going to vlog it! But when half of our group didnt want to appear in it or didnt seem interested, we just enjoyed the trip through memories and documented with pictures. Which gives me a timestamp because of my habit of not using my good camera and using my phone instead and checking in on swarm gives me an update as to where we were most of the time ( because Im obsessed with my phone, okay? ). I love going to Disney World. I love walking around and taking in all of the little details, but I also love hardcore park touring and getting from place to place in the quickest way possible. Ive always loved Belle and will stop to meet her every chance I get, but Im going to admit that I have such a weak spot for Gaston that its not even funny. I could ride ToT over and over again, and enjoy taking a nice leisurely ride on the Peoplemover. This report will basically be my recollection of the trip, my opinions on things that happened, and Im not going to sugarcoat things either. Oh, and I also love instagram, so be prepared to see a bunch of pictures straight from my account ( which, if you want it, feel free to ask! )
This is my best friend, Bren. We met due to a mutual musical interest in 2007, which led to us realizing that we have a lot of other likes in common. She lives in a different city than I do, and we first met when I made a trip out there for a concert. After that, we went on a cruise together and spent a week in Disney following the cruise. We became fast friends, and Ill always be thankful for her. Some of these pictures are hers / courtesy of her. She loves the Haunted Mansion, the Disney Villains, and harassing the skippers on the Jungle Cruise. Oh, and Blood, Sweat, and Shears, but thatll come later! She doesnt, on the other hand, like fish. This came into play a few times!
This is Bill. Hes known Bren for years. I hadnt met him prior to this trip, and was a little worried about how wed get along. He likes to do things his own way, and would constantly repeat what he wanted to do until we actually went and did it. If he wanted to meet Ariel, and we went on Its A Small World, hed ask right away when we were done how long the wait was for Ariel. All in all, we did get along. Sometimes it was a little pressing, but we got along. He also turned into quite the avid pin trader during the duration of this trip. So much so, that it became a running gag to ask him if he had seen those pins or wanted to trade with a cast member. For going in pin-less, he had three lanyards full by the time we left, I believe, and that was probably by day three.
And finally, this is Kim. Id never met her either, but she was a friend of Bren when they were younger and when she was invited on the trip, she thought it would be a nice getaway. I always worry when I meet new people, thinking they wont like me, and this was no different. She turned out being the Mom of the trip, and we ended up getting along very well. Maybe it helped that we ended up sharing a bed and shed get up early to walk or jog and take some time for herself which let me starfish out on the bed haha. But I digress.
So lets get things started, okay? This trip was decided on, well, shortly after we returned from our boyband cruise / WDW madness in October of 2013. I started a trip report for that, and well, it didnt go over very well. AKA, I started it as a PTR and it never quite made it to a TR ( oops! ). After deciding that we wanted to go for some pre-Christmas fun, we settled on the week before Thanksgiving and then a resort. My big thing when I go to Disney is that Im always on the run. Im up early in the morning ( most days ) and out late at night, because I want to get my moneys worth of my time in the parks. Because of that, Ive only stayed at a moderate once ( and that was because we had gotten a good deal at the time ) and usually choose a value. We wanted to change that this time around, if only to spoil ourselves - but some of it was due to the fact wed have two more people on this trip so we could split it a few more ways! After looking into renting some DVC points, we settled in with a 9 day stay at Disneys Old Key West, which was our second choice. The first had been Boardwalk, but it was booked full. It was a little bit of a downer when we learned that we werent getting it, but I grew to love OKW almost as soon as I stepped off of the bus. But, back to the beginning!
I have a very big Disney addiction. This trip turned out to not be my only trip to the World in 2014, but the one that really opened my eyes to things that Disney had to offer that I previously overlooked. I turned 28 about a month before this trip, and decided that I was going to make this one to remember. Because of it being my second long trip of the year, I bought myself an annual pass. The dance studio that I danced with / worked for performed in DTD in late July as part of their Performing Arts Program ( we also did a three hour workshop in a rehearsal facility in Epcot where we went through the audition process, from a basic audition to callbacks and through to rehearsals and a performance. We learned actual choreography that was used / being used, and part of the Circle of Life routine from the FotLK show in AK! But thats another story. ) so I had picked up my AP then. That meant this trip, I would need money for souvenirs, food, and to pay for the hotel. Between the four of us, everything went rather smoothly leading up to the trip.
So we've got : Disney's Old Key West Resort, November 14th - 23rd, with one MVMCP, on our arrival day. All set!
Of course, things couldnt stay smooth as the trip became closer. My parents decided that they were going to take the time I was gone and go visit some of my fathers family in Ohio. My grandmother had recently moved back there from living in Sebring, FL for years. Its been a tough year for my family, as my mom is on dialysis and my father has been fighting Hodgkins Lymphoma for the majority of the year, so this was my trip to relax and unwind while they took time to do the same. That meant I was home alone, by myself, to finish packing and making sure that I had all of the things I needed ( usually, mom and I will do a last minute run down, and I always forget something! ). Spoiler alert : I packed everything that I needed. This also meant that I was alone in the house when I decided to do something fun with my hair.
I dyed it three colors.
I also dyed part of the bathroom floor a bright aqua, because I dropped the container while trying to carefully open it.
But I cleaned it, and bleached it, and mom will never know
Besides, I got comments for the first few days on the trip about my mermaid hair ( before the color began to wash out ), so it was all worth it.
Anyway, once the mess was cleaned, I crawled into bed for a few hours before my early morning pick-up to go to the airport. Morning came quickly! After saying a tearful goodbye to my two-year old yorkie, Toby, ( a family friend and her daughter were staying at the house to watch him for a few days until my parents returned ), I was out the door! Security was a breeze, the flight was on time, I got a nap in, and before I knew it, I was in Orlando riding the fake monorail on the way to DME.
But wait! Arent there other people on this trip?!
Thats right! I was flying in solo, while the other three came in from Chicago. Their flight was to land about an hour after mine, so I went in the Earport store, bought some Mickey pretzels, called my mom to tell her that Id made it safely, and sat down by some big trees and a fountain to wait. And wait. And wait.
I checked their flight status, and theyd landed a bit ago, but I was still waiting.
When they finally appeared, I ran over and gave Bren a huge hug. Then, she informed me as to why I was waiting for so long. Shed been the one to book the trip, so our DME tags were sent to her house. Shed mailed mine ( I got them the day before I left! ), and the others were given theirs. They didnt realize what they were for, and didnt put them on their luggage! So that had to be taken care of. They did that while Bren and I exchanged gifts. Some pins, a button, and some bows, and we were all happy. ( Spoiler alert : they might have ended up being the smart ones for keeping their luggage. )
I had some issues putting my magicband on, and decided it would be easier without the grey part like a small child.
We had a good laugh at my child sized passholder wrist. Before long, we were in line for the bus! It took a while for a bus to get there for us, and we kept watching and hoping that we werent being put on a Mears bus. Buses that had ads for the water parks kept showing up, and Bren kept saying Nobody wants to take the water park bus! which I found to be more funny than it probably was. Eventually, our bus came. I sat with Bren, and Bill and Kim sat together. We all chatted, and before long, we were there! According to the timestamp on my phone, we pulled in at 1:13pm, haha.
Upon stepping off of the bus, I was immediately in love. Upon checking in, I was even MORE in love. The building we were in was a very short walk across the street to both the main bus stop and the main building, and right through the building was the pool!
Building fourteen!
I couldn't resist the water landscape!
Since we had a ground floor room, our balcony wasn't that great, but it was our request anyway. This wasn't too bad to look at, but if you turned to the right, it was all of the air conditioner units!!
Bren didn't notice this at first...
I was in love with the resort already, even if I knew we wouldnt be spending a lot of time there.
----
Thank you for tagging along so far! I'll keep this post updated with my updates as I get them typed and get my photos uploaded and sorted! I hope I can be half as entertaining as some of you on here!
Table of Contents :
Day One, Part Two : "It really does feel like Christmas! Back home, in the cold."
Day One, Part Three : "I'm here for the hot chocolate. All of the hot chocolate."
Day Two, this is simple : "Who needs the parks when they party's right here?"
Day Three : "Downtown Disney, part two!"
Day Four : "Oh, Epcot, I tried SO hard to like you!"
Day Five : "For the first time in... four months!"
Day Six : Solo Time in the Magic Kingdom, Apology Cupcakes, and a Freezing Fireworks Dessert Party!
Day Seven : The Day We Wandered Elsewhere
Day Eight : "I much prefer life in my Disney bubble."
Day Nine : All good things must come to an end...
A November 2014 Trip Report!
Hello, hello! Welcome to my first ever actually written trip report! This wasnt my first trip by a long shot, but for one in my group it was, and for another it was close enough since she hadnt been since the 80s! Lets introduce you to the ( main ) group :
Im Julie, your narrator and resident Disney nerd. Over the trip I learned that Im 28 going on 12 with the bladder of a toddler. Lets keep in mind here that I didnt intend to write a trip report. We were going to vlog it! But when half of our group didnt want to appear in it or didnt seem interested, we just enjoyed the trip through memories and documented with pictures. Which gives me a timestamp because of my habit of not using my good camera and using my phone instead and checking in on swarm gives me an update as to where we were most of the time ( because Im obsessed with my phone, okay? ). I love going to Disney World. I love walking around and taking in all of the little details, but I also love hardcore park touring and getting from place to place in the quickest way possible. Ive always loved Belle and will stop to meet her every chance I get, but Im going to admit that I have such a weak spot for Gaston that its not even funny. I could ride ToT over and over again, and enjoy taking a nice leisurely ride on the Peoplemover. This report will basically be my recollection of the trip, my opinions on things that happened, and Im not going to sugarcoat things either. Oh, and I also love instagram, so be prepared to see a bunch of pictures straight from my account ( which, if you want it, feel free to ask! )
This is my best friend, Bren. We met due to a mutual musical interest in 2007, which led to us realizing that we have a lot of other likes in common. She lives in a different city than I do, and we first met when I made a trip out there for a concert. After that, we went on a cruise together and spent a week in Disney following the cruise. We became fast friends, and Ill always be thankful for her. Some of these pictures are hers / courtesy of her. She loves the Haunted Mansion, the Disney Villains, and harassing the skippers on the Jungle Cruise. Oh, and Blood, Sweat, and Shears, but thatll come later! She doesnt, on the other hand, like fish. This came into play a few times!
This is Bill. Hes known Bren for years. I hadnt met him prior to this trip, and was a little worried about how wed get along. He likes to do things his own way, and would constantly repeat what he wanted to do until we actually went and did it. If he wanted to meet Ariel, and we went on Its A Small World, hed ask right away when we were done how long the wait was for Ariel. All in all, we did get along. Sometimes it was a little pressing, but we got along. He also turned into quite the avid pin trader during the duration of this trip. So much so, that it became a running gag to ask him if he had seen those pins or wanted to trade with a cast member. For going in pin-less, he had three lanyards full by the time we left, I believe, and that was probably by day three.
And finally, this is Kim. Id never met her either, but she was a friend of Bren when they were younger and when she was invited on the trip, she thought it would be a nice getaway. I always worry when I meet new people, thinking they wont like me, and this was no different. She turned out being the Mom of the trip, and we ended up getting along very well. Maybe it helped that we ended up sharing a bed and shed get up early to walk or jog and take some time for herself which let me starfish out on the bed haha. But I digress.
So lets get things started, okay? This trip was decided on, well, shortly after we returned from our boyband cruise / WDW madness in October of 2013. I started a trip report for that, and well, it didnt go over very well. AKA, I started it as a PTR and it never quite made it to a TR ( oops! ). After deciding that we wanted to go for some pre-Christmas fun, we settled on the week before Thanksgiving and then a resort. My big thing when I go to Disney is that Im always on the run. Im up early in the morning ( most days ) and out late at night, because I want to get my moneys worth of my time in the parks. Because of that, Ive only stayed at a moderate once ( and that was because we had gotten a good deal at the time ) and usually choose a value. We wanted to change that this time around, if only to spoil ourselves - but some of it was due to the fact wed have two more people on this trip so we could split it a few more ways! After looking into renting some DVC points, we settled in with a 9 day stay at Disneys Old Key West, which was our second choice. The first had been Boardwalk, but it was booked full. It was a little bit of a downer when we learned that we werent getting it, but I grew to love OKW almost as soon as I stepped off of the bus. But, back to the beginning!
I have a very big Disney addiction. This trip turned out to not be my only trip to the World in 2014, but the one that really opened my eyes to things that Disney had to offer that I previously overlooked. I turned 28 about a month before this trip, and decided that I was going to make this one to remember. Because of it being my second long trip of the year, I bought myself an annual pass. The dance studio that I danced with / worked for performed in DTD in late July as part of their Performing Arts Program ( we also did a three hour workshop in a rehearsal facility in Epcot where we went through the audition process, from a basic audition to callbacks and through to rehearsals and a performance. We learned actual choreography that was used / being used, and part of the Circle of Life routine from the FotLK show in AK! But thats another story. ) so I had picked up my AP then. That meant this trip, I would need money for souvenirs, food, and to pay for the hotel. Between the four of us, everything went rather smoothly leading up to the trip.
So we've got : Disney's Old Key West Resort, November 14th - 23rd, with one MVMCP, on our arrival day. All set!
Of course, things couldnt stay smooth as the trip became closer. My parents decided that they were going to take the time I was gone and go visit some of my fathers family in Ohio. My grandmother had recently moved back there from living in Sebring, FL for years. Its been a tough year for my family, as my mom is on dialysis and my father has been fighting Hodgkins Lymphoma for the majority of the year, so this was my trip to relax and unwind while they took time to do the same. That meant I was home alone, by myself, to finish packing and making sure that I had all of the things I needed ( usually, mom and I will do a last minute run down, and I always forget something! ). Spoiler alert : I packed everything that I needed. This also meant that I was alone in the house when I decided to do something fun with my hair.
I dyed it three colors.
I also dyed part of the bathroom floor a bright aqua, because I dropped the container while trying to carefully open it.
But I cleaned it, and bleached it, and mom will never know
Besides, I got comments for the first few days on the trip about my mermaid hair ( before the color began to wash out ), so it was all worth it.
Anyway, once the mess was cleaned, I crawled into bed for a few hours before my early morning pick-up to go to the airport. Morning came quickly! After saying a tearful goodbye to my two-year old yorkie, Toby, ( a family friend and her daughter were staying at the house to watch him for a few days until my parents returned ), I was out the door! Security was a breeze, the flight was on time, I got a nap in, and before I knew it, I was in Orlando riding the fake monorail on the way to DME.
But wait! Arent there other people on this trip?!
Thats right! I was flying in solo, while the other three came in from Chicago. Their flight was to land about an hour after mine, so I went in the Earport store, bought some Mickey pretzels, called my mom to tell her that Id made it safely, and sat down by some big trees and a fountain to wait. And wait. And wait.
I checked their flight status, and theyd landed a bit ago, but I was still waiting.
When they finally appeared, I ran over and gave Bren a huge hug. Then, she informed me as to why I was waiting for so long. Shed been the one to book the trip, so our DME tags were sent to her house. Shed mailed mine ( I got them the day before I left! ), and the others were given theirs. They didnt realize what they were for, and didnt put them on their luggage! So that had to be taken care of. They did that while Bren and I exchanged gifts. Some pins, a button, and some bows, and we were all happy. ( Spoiler alert : they might have ended up being the smart ones for keeping their luggage. )
I had some issues putting my magicband on, and decided it would be easier without the grey part like a small child.
We had a good laugh at my child sized passholder wrist. Before long, we were in line for the bus! It took a while for a bus to get there for us, and we kept watching and hoping that we werent being put on a Mears bus. Buses that had ads for the water parks kept showing up, and Bren kept saying Nobody wants to take the water park bus! which I found to be more funny than it probably was. Eventually, our bus came. I sat with Bren, and Bill and Kim sat together. We all chatted, and before long, we were there! According to the timestamp on my phone, we pulled in at 1:13pm, haha.
Upon stepping off of the bus, I was immediately in love. Upon checking in, I was even MORE in love. The building we were in was a very short walk across the street to both the main bus stop and the main building, and right through the building was the pool!
Building fourteen!
I couldn't resist the water landscape!
Since we had a ground floor room, our balcony wasn't that great, but it was our request anyway. This wasn't too bad to look at, but if you turned to the right, it was all of the air conditioner units!!
Bren didn't notice this at first...
I was in love with the resort already, even if I knew we wouldnt be spending a lot of time there.
----
Thank you for tagging along so far! I'll keep this post updated with my updates as I get them typed and get my photos uploaded and sorted! I hope I can be half as entertaining as some of you on here!
Table of Contents :
Day One, Part Two : "It really does feel like Christmas! Back home, in the cold."
Day One, Part Three : "I'm here for the hot chocolate. All of the hot chocolate."
Day Two, this is simple : "Who needs the parks when they party's right here?"
Day Three : "Downtown Disney, part two!"
Day Four : "Oh, Epcot, I tried SO hard to like you!"
Day Five : "For the first time in... four months!"
Day Six : Solo Time in the Magic Kingdom, Apology Cupcakes, and a Freezing Fireworks Dessert Party!
Day Seven : The Day We Wandered Elsewhere
Day Eight : "I much prefer life in my Disney bubble."
Day Nine : All good things must come to an end...
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