When you wish upon a star: Three Birthdays at WDW can come true! April 2013

[snowweisz]

If you could pick one place in the whole world, to meet dear friends for the first time, to share a week of birthday celebrations, to have a week long sleepover and to spend the best time of your life, with your dearest of friends…. What place is there that'd be remotely better than WDW?

Welcome to our first ever Trip Report.
Let us please introduce ourselves, your cast for this report:


I'm Ana. Aka snowweisz.

I'll be 28 in like 10 days. I work for a major corporation on a job that I adore, even tho I have a degree in Interior Design. I am the poster child of a Disney kid: I grew up when the films were starting to be released on VHS, and I had sooo many of them, some of them I watched so many times that the tapes were ruined after a while. My first memory of going to the movies is seeing Beauty and the Beast when I was about 7… I think it influenced me, even as a kid. And I learned the value of art, and film and magic because of Disney.
I may be a grown up, I embrace my adult responsibilities, my work and I long for professional success, but I believe in dreams and every word of what Walt would say about making them come true.
I went to Disney World when I was 12, but I honestly didn't have many memories of that trip. I didn't speak as much English as I do now, so in many ways, this was a first for me.
Snow White is my girl <3


This is Sarah. Aka fanciful.

I'd never been to Disney World before and I decided that the perfect 24th birthday present to myself would be to spend it there for the first time with these two friends. I love fairytales, sports, and cooking. I really didn't know too much about the attractions or restaurants at Disney prior to this trip, but since I love food one of the things I was looking forward to the most was trying so many great dishes at some amazing restaurants. I was born right at the start of the Disney Renaissance and of course I grew up watching these movies like crazy. The sing-a-long song VHS tapes were my JAM. As a child my favorites were probably The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Mulan and Pocahontas and I had the most merchandise featuring those heroines but I fed on the classics too. I'm a huge princess fan in general and I believe that you can truly never be too old to enjoy what Disney has to offer.


This is Kaela. Aka kaelalala.

Hi I'm Kaela. I'm 20. I actually just turned 20 in the happiest place on earth surrounded by my best friends. But we'll get there later.
Some things I like are musicals, singing and dancing, The Little Mermaid, sleepovers, and princesses. I owned tons of the old Disney movies on VHS back in the day, and I adore Walt and his ideas and magic and everything.
I came to WDW a few times when I was younger, on family trips as well as for dance and choir. I applied for the Disney College Program last fall completely on a whim. I remember thinking that it might be something fun to try but if I didn't get in, not a big deal. But then I got accepted. And I clearly remember messaging Ana asking her what I should do. And of course, she told me girl, you better get yourself to Florida - so that's what I did. And now that I'm here I have never looked back. Without getting into too much detail, I'm becoming a seasonal cast member once I finish my program, and then eventually going full time. The program has completely changed my life and perspective on everything and has been without doubt the best decision of my life. I am so lucky to live and work in what is truly the most magical place on earth.



We dreamt about making this trip since Kaela got into the program. The night before she left, we were up so so late, thinking about places we could go, things we wanted to do, and how we'd take Sarah into all of our favorite attractions. We were crazy about making this happen, it would be so many levels of perfect.

Once Kaela settled into Disney, Sarah and I started planning the details of our trip.
We decided to go on the week of April 19-26. We would have both Sarah's and Kaela's birthdays during our trip and decided on the 23rd to celebrate mine, even though it wouldn't really happen until a month later.

We made a bunch of ADR's for places we really wanted to experience, we had a bit of a schedule structure, but left enough room for spontaneous things to happen. We took note of all the park hours and the event times.

We were booked 7 nights at a Pop Century Preferred Room with the standard Dining Plan.

After months of planning, tons of iMessage chats and Skype evenings… It was all happening

 

[snowweisz]

[post=48383488]When You Wish Upon a Star: INTRODUCTIONS[/post]

Day 1: April 19, 2013
[post=48393885]With a Smile and a Song: Ana's arrival & Downtown Disney[/post]

Day 2: April 20, 2013
[post=48436035]It's Gonna Be Great: Sarah's arrival & Animal Kingdom pt 1[/post]
[post=48446496]Hakuna Matata: Our first meal together & meeting Pooh![/post]
[post=48456367]Circle of Life: a Parade, a Festival, & Some Wilderness Friends[/post]
[post=48494772]Little Wonders: MK part 1[/post]

 

[Marsheliz]

I will be following along..
I totally need to know where you got the Cinderella shoes shirt.. I love that!

 

[fancifull]

I'm excited!

 

[kaelalala]

 

[dresden_smith]

Yay! I'm in! I love TRs about people my age!!! Looks like a fun trip

 

[wiigirl]

In for your TR.

 

[snowweisz]

Yayyy! Thank you guys for showing your interest

We're probably going to be posting about once a day, it looks. So thank you, stay tuned

 

[snowweisz]

I arrived to Orlando around noon on April 19th.
After a horrendous trip there, in which I missed my connecting flight from Fort Lauderdale, went through several tears at the length of the security line, had a frustrating discussion with costumer service for the horrible airline I flew, and finally ended up driving from Ft Lauderdale to Orlando with a girl I had just met back home&
But that was just about the only horrible thing that happened on this trip, so there won't be any dweling upon it.

Anyway, Kaela and I met in the lobby at Pop. I was exhausted and working at like, half of my physical and mental capacity. This was one of the most emotional moments of my life and I couldn't even enjoy it properly.
I was thanking all deities that I had insisted we do online check in because, bless Mickey's heart, our room was ready for us at that time.

We lied down on the beds at our Pop and I kept saying "I can't believe I'm here, omg is this really happening?"
I was sad to have been so exhausted, because I wanted to scream and shout and hug Kaela, but my body couldn't do it.

I was also starving, so I gathered all my strength so that we could hit the food court at Pop where we picked up our hotel mugs.

We had a quick lunch and set out to pick up my checked bag. Oh yeah, because I missed my connecting flight, but my bag didn't. Won't be dueling upon that either.
When we got back, I was filled with relief that I had my bag back with me. All the horrors of my morning had passed and everything was better.

So what better way to regain my strength and start feeling like myself again, than to do some shopping?

Therefore, Kaela and I hit Downtown Disney

I had not been to Downtown Disney on my first visit so this was new to me. The sheer size of the shops and all the variety of merchandise they had was making my blood flow back into my brain.
We hit Tren-D. I was salivating over the new make up line, and being the diva that I am, I knew I would be mesmerized. Here we also discovered that both Kaela and myself shop in the same way: We walk around for a long time, add stuff to our piles and then make decisions at check out.

At TrenD, I got a Minnie shirt, a Mickey tshirt and Enchanted Kiss from the Beautifully Disney make up collection. Obviously, I wore it all through the trip! And I'll be wearing it for a long while because it is a fantastic purchase!

We also hit World of Disney and maybe I was just shocked by the sheer beauty and the wide selection of amazing Disney things, but it didn't even feel that big. Here, I got a pair of flip flops because I forgot to pack mine.
We went by Basin and got shampoo bars. We went into Ghirardelli and Goofy's Candy Co. where we got delicious samples of chocolate and Goofy's Glaciers.

Some of my haul:

Some of Kaela's:
This picture also has the presents I brought over for Kaela. A pink hair bow and a clutch purse.

It shouldn't have been shocking, but I was immediately feeling better, my face revived and I was feeling so much happier.
I was still exhausted, but my excitement and my emotions were taking a hold of me now. This was Disney World! We were really there! And in about 12 hours, Sarah would be too!

 

[snowweisz]

I will be following along..
I totally need to know where you got the Cinderella shoes shirt.. I love that!

Isn't it stunning?
I just posted it, but they had it at TrenD and at World of Disney. Does anybody ever notice a weird thing with Disney sizing?

I normally wear a Medium, but the mediums they had at TrenD were huuuuge! And they didn't have a Small there, so I left super bummed that I couldn't get it. Then at WoD they had it again and the Medium was perfect! So I ended up getting it there.
I saw it a couple of times around the parks too, but honestly can't remember where. They also have a pjs version that is very cute!

 

[JessM]

I'm in! I've always wanted to do a girls trip, or just a friends trip for that matter, but I don't have many "Disney" friends. My group of friends does a cruise every year because they want to relax on vacation, I don't get it

 

[Marsheliz]

Isn't it stunning?
I just posted it, but they had it at TrenD and at World of Disney. Does anybody ever notice a weird thing with Disney sizing?

I normally wear a Medium, but the mediums they had at TrenD were huuuuge! And they didn't have a Small there, so I left super bummed that I couldn't get it. Then at WoD they had it again and the Medium was perfect! So I ended up getting it there.
I saw it a couple of times around the parks too, but honestly can't remember where. They also have a pjs version that is very cute!

I'm going to have to check that out when I go in September for sure!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Joining in ladies.
One DCP, one brand new, and one almost new. Sounds like a great combination.

 

[fancifull]

I'm glad you guys are going to be reading along!!

I'm in! I've always wanted to do a girls trip, or just a friends trip for that matter, but I don't have many "Disney" friends. My group of friends does a cruise every year because they want to relax on vacation, I don't get it

My friends from home love Disney but are always too busy (or poor) to actually DO anything. I'm not sure they've ever been to WDW at all? We joked throughout college that we would make it to Florida to see Harry Potter World one spring break or something but we never made it there either. It took meeting the best Disney fans on the internet for me to finally find friends to go!!! It was amazing though you should convince your friends to do it!!

 

[snowweisz]

(Obviously, the minute I said we'd post daily, was the minute my work week got super hectic and we fell behind. Siiigh)

While Kaela and I had a good night's sleep, Sarah boarded a plane back home to head to Disney.

We got up to get ready and let me tell you, this was no small feat.
Both me and Kaela are make up obsessed people and we started to lay out our "essentials"on the bathroom:

Yes, I promise these are just essentials.

I'm pretty sure our mousekeeper kept wondering what these girls were dumping in the sink every time she cleaned up our make up remains.

When we were up in the morning an getting ready, Sarah was arriving to Orlando and then did one of the things that makes me super sad I ended up missing my flight: She got to ride the Disney Magical Express™

Let's have Sarah take over:


"When I got off the plane, it was around 9:15am. I was texting Ana & Kaela telling them that I had arrived! Then I got a little lost! Totally unfamiliar with the Orlando airport and seeing a sign for Disney Magical Express but not comprehending what it meant, I wandered around for a while until I found someone to ask. Once I found it, the check in process was very quick. There was already a bus waiting to head to Pop and I was one of the last ones to board before we took off so there was almost no waiting. I was on the way to Disney World!!! I was still by myself, surrounded by cute and excited families and then the bus starts playing this video of kids finding out they're going to Disney World. I can't honestly say that my eyes were dry for very long. The drive went by fast and I tried not to pay too much attention to the video so I could keep my emotions in check. They started playing old Donald Duck cartoons and I was so happy and I probably looked really silly sitting there smiling and crying and laughing to myself. After a quick stop at Caribbean Beach, we pulled into Pop Century.


I got off the bus, grabbed my luggage and as the group of us walked in, the cast members were greeting us enthusiastically and blowing bubbles and I'm freaking out because any minute now I'm about to meet two of the greatest people I know. I walked into the lobby in kind of a daze, looking for Ana and Kaela. All at once I spotted them walking quickly towards me and I ran over. We hugged excitedly and made a scene and omg there's nothing I can really write that can describe what it's like to finally MEET and HUG and TOUCH the people you've loved for so long. It was truly the beginning of our own Disney Magic."

Kaela:
"And just like that, we were finally all together! After months of planning and anticipation, the three of us were finally here, and it was real, and everything was perfect. I wanted to cry right there in that lobby. But I didn't....because we had park hopping to do! It was then that I realized how truly exciting it was for me to share this part of my life with Ana and Sarah - taking them around to the parks felt like I was taking them into my home, and I was beyond thrilled to show them everything I knew and loved."


A lot of people have made jokes about Catfishing around this trip.
Truth is, we only knew each other online before we went on this trip… But I don't know, maybe some people here will get it. But knowing these girls online didn't mean that I didn't really know them. They are my best friends! They are people who I trust unabashedly, who have been with me through all the good and bad times of the past like, 4 years. This was a big deal for us!




Anyway,
Sarah changed out of her cold north weather clothes and into Florida appropriate gear. And we were off! To the Animal Kingdom!

There is a strategy at work here.
AK is mine and Kaela's least favorite park. Which, is not to say that we don't like it… just that on a scale of 1 to 4, it ranks 4.

The first thing we did was grab fast passes for Expedition Everest. The stand by wait was like 50 mins long and we were not here for that. Fast Pass was not a thing back then when I was there, so this was mine and Sarah's first experience with Fast Pass.


There was honestly not a lot that we wanted to do at AK. So while we waited for our FP time, we set out to do the other attraction we wanted to do there: The Safari.


The posted time at the Safari was about 30 mins. I was honestly happy with that. We got to talk, catch up on the last couple of days, Sarah talked about her plane ride there. We let it settle in that we were really together.


Jambo!

We had a hilarious, fabulous driver. And other than the sleeping lions, we got to see pretty much everything else we wanted.

Afterwards, we headed straight to use our Fast Passes!
I was dyyyying to do Everest! Sarah was a little scared but we dragged her anyway, of course.

It was so amazing! I love coasters, and this one is fast and exciting and it keeps changing your scenery aaaah! It's so so great! I would've gone back to AK if only for this…


Although, I would also go back for this:

OUR FIRST MEET & GREET WAS POCAHONTAS!
I always joke that Pocahontas only meets here because she must be busy negotiating peace treaties and being overall amazing and badass. But omg omg, this was one of the things we wanted to do the most!
She was peeeerfect in every possible way!
She asked me if my canoe ride was very long and was shocked to hear that I had actually lost my canoe and had to take a different transportation.
She also talked about how she and Mulan go on adventures and how she has to keep an eye on Meeko because darn, he just loves to get carried away by that sneaky Mushu!


It's worth mentioning, that Pocahontas is a 2nd favorite princess for all of us. So I'm pretty sure, all 3 of us floated away out of her spot with all the colors of the wind or something. We were starstruck.

 

[kaelalala]

Loooove that pic of us with Pocahontas! And every pic of us tbh. Our TR is going fabulously imo

 

[happybelle]

Joining in! I can't see the pictures tonight. I will come back once they are showing. Great start.

 

[snowweisz]

This is the part where we warn you that there will be A LOT of food pictures in this report.
We were all very committed to finding and trying great food spots all over WDW. There are so many possibilities, so many experiences and such a variety that can be enjoyed with the WDW food, that we didn't want to miss anything. Obviously, you need several trips to have all of them, but we tried to do as many as possible. We had the Dining Plan, and ADR's for all except 1 of our TS's. So we were prepared, had done our homework and were ready to enjoy it.




However, our first meal together was one we had been craving since we first read about it:
The Flame Tree BBQ!
We had read amazing things about the smokey flavored meats, the beans and the ambient.
It. Did. Not. Disappoint.


Sarah and I ordered the ribs and chicken combo. We wanted to have the best of both worlds.

Kaela went for the chicken:

Our meat was amaaaaazing! The smokey flavor was fantastic! It was so perfectly cooked, and it was so deliciously paired with the beans and the coleslaw!

We all had the chocolate mousse for dessert.

It was so so rich! I wish I had had more room in me to eat it but I was so full I only ate like half of it. RIP, it was so great.


I tried to get this bird to go steal food from a kid, like some people complained on online reviews that the birds did. But he wasn't hft.

Cant blame a sis for wanting a little extra show.




Writing about Flame Tree is so hard. Because it just makes me crave that amazing food all over again! Seriously, this is by far some of the best value you get at Disney for food. It's counter service, it's cheap, it has amazing atmosphere and it is SO good!
Anyone thinking about it, you should GO for it. Go now.


Being full now, we head out to meet Pooh & friends.
We're all fans of the sweet, fat and hungry bear and this meeting spot is so nice! It's out of the way, it's quiet and cool. It's a shame that it's going away.


We love this about Disney fur characters: They are SO cuddly omg! They give out these fluffy hugs and they are just so sweet and comforting. Have no doubt, all 3 of us felt like little children hugging Pooh and Tigger and Eeyore. That's just some of that Disney magic that you can't trade for anything. Even as a grown up.

We exited Pooh's place right on time for some parade watching. We just thought we'd see Mickey & Friends in some safari gear. Oh man, were we in for a surprise….

 

[kaelalala]

I am laughing so hard @ you trying to get the bird to steal food from the kid, lmao that is seriously still funny. that food was so delicious I am SALIVATING rn, let's go back to Flame Tree BBQ next time pls?

me and Tigger are so qt

 

[snowweisz]

I am laughing so hard @ you trying to get the bird to steal food from the kid, lmao that is seriously still funny. that food was so delicious I am SALIVATING rn, let's go back to Flame Tree BBQ next time pls?

me and Tigger are so qt

Ok, so I know it wasn't my highest point but come on! We would've been talking about it for YEARS! And it's all the fault of those people on allears who claimed it had happened! They incepted me!