You Are Going To Relax, Gosh Darn It! A June 2023 Trip Report

[disney castle days]

You Are Going To Relax, Gosh Darn It!
A June 2023 Trip Report​

Hello everybody! Welcome to those who are new, and welcome back to those of you who have previously read my trip reports!

My last trip report was started last July, but thanks to my Macbook needing a new battery and new screen, I no longer have any notes from that trip. This trip was also thrown together very chaotically so I did not decide to do a pre-trip report. My previous PTRs and Trip Reports are linked in my signature.

Anyways, I guess it is about time I introduce myself to you all:


Hi, I am Allison and I will be your guide through this trip report!

I am 20 years old and just graduated with my Bachelor's in Exercise Science. I am a full-time sports analyst and possibly will be getting my Master's in Sports Science soon. This trip was technically my graduation trip (although we aren't saying that since my brother also graduated in May lol). Something important to the title is that I am an EXTREME overachiever when it comes to everything. At the moment I currently am working on two research studies, while running my own business and doing training for my job. I have not taken a true break in years, which includes previously doing a job interview on vacation, as well as having Zoom meetings last trip. Relaxing is something that is not typically in my dictionary, but as you will be able to see throughout this, I was not given much of a choice.
This trip will mark my 14th trip to WDW. My favorite park is Magic Kingdom, although Epcot is growing on me now. My favorite ride is Big Thunder Mountain. BLT has been my favorite hotel for years, however, I think that OKW may have moved up the list after this trip. My favorite characters are Stitch, Wanda, and Mirabel. My favorite foods this trip was the Chicken Sandwich and the Sticky Wings from Bar Riva.

Joining me for this trip is my momma.



I'm not supposed to say my mom's age on the internet, but if you look at my signature and want to do some math, you can figure it out. She is a 3rd grade teacher and this is her 18th trip to WDW.
Favorites:
Park: MK
Hotel: Wilderness Lodge
Ride: PeopleMover
Characters: Stitch, Goofy
WDW Food: Sticky Wings from Bar Riva

Next up is my bestie Gavin:


We have a running joke that we never take photos together (although we actually did this trip but idk if he wants to be posted).
Me and Gavin have known each other since '07, all the way back in Kindergarten. We went to school together from K-12, and then his family moved to become WDW locals post-graduation. Now we only get to see each other when I am visiting, so we try to spend at least one day together to catch up.

Lastly is our trip mascot, Harold.




As I said before, my mom is a teacher. For summer break, she is supposed to take pictures of her duck wherever she goes. So Harold joined us on our adventure.

Alright, now that you have meet the cast and know who will make guest appearances, let's get into the rest of the details!

When: June 22 to June 28, 2023

Where: Riveria 1BDR Preferred View (22nd-25th) and BLT 1 BDR TPV (25th-28th)

Why: Why not? Somewhat to celebrate my college graduation, but mostly because we just needed a girl's trip!

Next up: Travel Day!​

 

[disney castle days]

Table of Contents​

Introduction

Day 1:​

Day 1, Part 1: And the rain came pouring down
Day 1, Part 2: A Dead Phone, A Mobile Order, and No Room Number
Day 1, Part 3: The Best Sandwich on Disney Property? And a Riveria Room Review

 

[disney castle days]

Day 1, Part 1: And the rain came pouring down​

Hello, Hello, Hello! Welcome to everyone joining in!

We are starting off the day before our travel day, with a nice little delay. JetBlue decided to give us a cute little 10-minute delay. Now we have been delayed as much as 8 hours before, so a little 10-minute delay was nothing but it did make me uneasy with all the cancellations that had been happening lately.

Jump forward to Thursday morning.

My brain decided that waking up at 4:45 am for a 10:45 flight was more than appropriate, so I was up bright and early. This was the day that the submarine was supposed to run out of oxygen, so I spent the morning watching the news about that and finishing some packing.

My mom finally woke up around 6:30 and started to get ready.

At 7:15 I got another alert from JetBlue...

We got undelayed!!

We were very happy about this because we thought that the notification would have the opposite message.

At 7:35 I stepped outside to put the suitcases in the car, and it was COLD. Now June in NJ is not normally cold, but it was barely 65 F outside. I put a hoodie on, and finished loading the car. Soon enough we were off to Newark Airport.

Here is us with Harold before leaving.

It took us about 50 minutes to get to the airport. I drive past the airport on a weekly basis, and this was a bit longer than normal for that drive but when driving towards NY at 8 am it happens.

We got to the JetBlue bag check around 8:25. This terminal was recently redone, and I don't think that this area was done well. There was only one bag check open for all of JetBlue, out of a possible 4. We had a bit of a wait here due to this, but soon enough our bags were checked. Our bags were both around 30 lbs which I was shocked considering how heavy they felt.

The security line was not too bad. Oddly enough, they had me leave my laptop in the bag and leave my hoodie on. Orlando makes you take computers out and take hoodies off, so it is weird to see the difference from place to place.

The next hour or so was pretty uneventful. We played on our phones and kept up with the submarine news via Twitter.

Our flight boarded at 10:20. The plane was an older model and did not have USBs, which was not great since both of our phones were already almost dead.

The man in the aisle seat looked like a combination of Indiana Jones and a member of an 80s rock band. He was very nice but very interesting.

The plane took off around 11:10 after waiting for the line of planes in front of us to take off.

Overall the flight was uneventful. I read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and my mom read The Memory Keeper's Daughter (I highly recommend both books!).

Our plane landed at 1:40 and we got off the plane to get the nice smack in the face of the 91-degree heat/humidity.

JetBlue now lands in the new terminal C, so we spent a little bit of time exploring the new Disney and Universal shops. The dragon in the Universal shop is SO COOL. We also checked out the ain't screens that show the water, and that was really neat as well.


We picked up our bags and made our way over to the Mears pick-up area.

The new terminal is a long walk to the gates but is very easy to navigate. We love that Mears has its own stop at Terminal C, although we wish that Sunshine Flyer would add one as well.

We waited about 10 minutes for the Mears bus to arrive. While we waited, we ate some snacks we had packed for the plane ride and charged up our phones a little bit.

The Mears had a total of four people, including us. We were the first stop and the other pair was going to Coronado.

As we were on the bus, we were met with our first Florida rain storm.

It was coming down hard, and a lot of cars were pulled over with the four-ways on waiting for it to calm down.

We kept moving right along, and soon enough we were home!




By the time we pulled into the Riveria, the sun had already come out.

Next up: A Dead Phone, A Mobile Order, and No Room Number

 

[erinch]

I’m in!

 

[suse66]

Joining in!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Joining in, we are staying at The Riviera in September!

 

[AliceNDinah]

Joining in to hear about your fun trip We were there last August, and I'm on the "I need to get back to Disney" train!

 

[disney castle days]

Joining in, we are staying at The Riviera in September!

We loved the food and the room ! It felt a little bit like a Hilton with some of the theming, but otherwise, we really liked it!

Joining in to hear about your fun trip We were there last August, and I'm on the "I need to get back to Disney" train!

I feel you! We just booked another stay for Christmas

 

[Bama Mom]

following, Getting undelayed was a pleasant surprise, I'm sure.

 

[disney castle days]

Day 1, Part 2: A Dead Phone, A Mobile Order, and No Room Number​

Thank you to all of you who have decided to join! This is going to be the most dramatic retelling of the whole trip, I hope you enjoy.

As we pulled into the Riveria, the rain decided to slowly start to fade away. Our hopes were looking up for a better afternoon.

With my phone at 10% and my mom's at 15%, we came up with a game plan: drop off our bags and charge our phones in the lobby before grabbing lunch at Primo Piatto.

As we walked into the lobby, we were greeted with an obstacle to our plan: the lobby is entirely too small. There was not an open seat in sight.

We dropped our bags off and decided to divert our plans to going straight to Primo Piatto.

Once we arrived, we noticed there was quite a bit of a line. We came to another crossroads: do we mobile order or wait in line?

Considering neither of us had looked at the menu at this point, we made the questionable decision to mobile order and find a seat.

Was this decision correct?

We walked into the dining room and scoured the room for a seat with an open outlet next to it. We searched far and wide and were not able to complete our conquest. While there are plenty of tables with outlets near them, all were taken.

Now we faced a new problem: with fleeting batteries, we had a mobile order and no room number.

Since my mom had more battery life, we decided to not touch her phone and wait for a notification. On mine, I violently pulled down the room number screen every five seconds praying for a miracle.

Soon my phone approached 5%

Then 4%

Then 3...

As all glimmers of hope were escaping, I pulled down one more time and was met with a rush of relief

We have a room (you can see how dead my battery was)!

Afraid that our phones would not make it much longer, I searched my backpack for a piece of paper but all I had was Sharpies. So onto my hand went the room number and floor.

Moments after I scribbled it down, I was met with the black screen of death. My phone had run out of life.

Our last hope was my mom's phone, which was running at 4%. We placed it in the center and waited to be alerted that relief had come and our food was ready.

After what felt like an eternity, but was only six minutes, a blue bar appeared on the phone. Our food was ready.

We picked up our bags and headed to room 8532.

Next up: The Best Sandwich on Disney Property? And a Riveria Room Review​

 

[MinnieFan4ever]

What luck! Cant wait to hear more.

 

[dizneedoll]

That was a close call with the phones. But, maybe next time bring an external battery charger with you!

 

[Wayland10]

That was dramatic- I’m on the edge of my seat! Following along and enjoying your writing style.

 

[disney castle days]

That was a close call with the phones. But, maybe next time bring an external battery charger with you!

We just bought one for my next trip!

That was dramatic- I’m on the edge of my seat! Following along and enjoying your writing style.

Thank you! Can you tell I want to be an author in the future

 

[Wayland10]

Thank you! Can you tell I want to be an author in the future

What sorts of things do you want to write? I’m interested in becoming an author as well. All I’ve published so far are academic articles, but I’m working on my first fictional book.

 

[erinch]

Waiting for the next installment!

 

[Paulaparm]

Following along

 

[footballmouse]

 

[Ensusieasm]

Can’t wait to read more!

 

[ambula603]

I'm here for the ride!