__disneygirl
well, all that's left now is the happy ending.
- Joined
- Aug 4, 2005
DECEMBER 5, 2011
Day 1, Part 2 In Which The Kingdom Stays Open In Honor Of A Very Special Princess
After less than 10 minutes of waiting it was time to board Disney's Magical Express!
As usual, once on board we waited for more guests to arrive. I instantly recognized the song they were playing as the tune of The Main Street Electrical Parade, and to my surprise, my mom knew what it was too!
"THIS IS FROM THE PARADE, ISN'T IT?!" she exclaimed. It surprised me because she is not obsessed with Disney music like me and hadn't heard that tune in ages! I guess it was burned into her brain from all the times I watched the video tape we took of the parade in 1998.
After a few more minutes, it was time at last for us to be motor coached to WALT DISNEY WORLD!
I was just in total shock at this point. I was having stomach pains. Any time I get REALLY excited, my stomach hurts. It's not even a BAD pain, though, it's just like such excitement that my body can't even settle, you know?
They showed some cartoons after the usual video of the characters arriving to Disney World. It was a hilarious one where Donald was out in the middle of nowhere and was trying to set up a folding chair and kept getting trapped inside it and kept saying PHOOEY and things of that nature. Oh, that Donald!
I took a video of us going through the gates which unfortunately got erased because cameras are evil! I am so sad about this because we had a truly great and enthusiastic bus driver who really got us even more hyped up than we already were. It was so much fun and we screamed and danced as the bus drove through the world famous arch. My mom even recognized the driver from a prior trip (in 2006) because he was so memorable!
Finally, after eighteen months of planning, obsessing, crying, losing my mind waiting for Disney, I was on Disney Property once again.
Seeing Pop Century again was indescribable and the CMs standing at the red carpet to welcome us were so sweet as usual! I have no pictures of any of this because I was totally beside myself.
My mom knew I could not stand and wait for the bags to be taken out of the side of the bus so she kindly waited while I RAN into the lobby, inhaled extremely deeply, and bolted to the Online Check-In line, which was a complete breeze! It was my first time using the Online Check-In service and it went flawlessly. I definitely recommend using it. It went so quickly!
Every time I stay at Pop, I am always excited to see what section we get placed in. I love leaving it up to chance so I never request a certain section. Prior to this trip, I had stayed in the 60's, 70's, and 50's. My favorite was the 60's, just because it's the closest to the food court, shopping area, lobby, and main pool (The Hippy Dippy Pool), and I like to be in the center of the action. This time, we got placed in the 80's and I was thrilled! Always exciting to stay in a new section.
Walking from the lobby to your room is always the most intense feeling. You are at the very beginning of your adventure. The anticipation is so palpable, it's like it's an actual thing you're carrying along with you. All of your plans and favorite Disney things are dancing in your head, for you know you are about to experience them all. THIS IS IT!!!!!! THIS IS WHAT YOU DREAM OF EVERY DAY OF YOUR LIFE. This is where you constantly wish you were and now YOU ARE HERE! You are really at Disney World and it is ONLY THE BEGINNING!!!!!!!!
Oh man, there's really no feeling like it in the world that I can compare it to. It's just the best.
And finally we reached our room. 80's section, Building 9, Second Floor, Room 9248.
Hula Timon enjoyed the bed. He was tired, it had been a busy morning!
I love this picture because it looks like he is gesturing with his arm, showing off the bed Vanna White style.
Immediately, I turned on the Queen.
As usual, she was so wham that I could barely deal. I love unpacking and getting settled while listening to Stacey frolic around Walt Disney World. Is there anything better in life?
I tried to tweet the picture of her I took above, but I guess it didn't send cause I don't see it on my feed! The only thing about our room location I didn't like was that I had VERY poor cell phone service there.
On this trip, I noticed Stacey does this often:
She gives the thumbs up while on rides, mostly intense ones. I'm just glad she found a way to be clear about how much fun she is having, because usually I'm searching her face to find some form of emotion! Sheesh!
I just love her so much.
ANYWAY, at this point I was honestly in disbelief and complete shock that we were even at Disney World. When you want something so bad for so long, it can feel surreal when you finally experience it. I kept saying over at over, "I can't believe we're at Disney World." I had been crying on and off all morning, it just means so much to me to be there and I had to get that emotion out somehow. Some of us scream "TEST TRACK BABY!", some of us cry, some do both. I do both.
Once I was done unpacking and watching 14 loops of Stacey, I decided to head out to try and find a shortcut to the busses and lobby/food/shopping area of Pop. I knew there would be an easier way than what we had taken to get there (which was going out of the lobby through the backdoors and on through the 60's and 70's sections-- pretty far!), and I really didn't want to take that long walk at the end of every crazy park day.
Luckily, I figured it out quickly! If you hang a right after the giant walkman and just go straight through the parking lot, you'll hit the bus area right away! It's like a 2. minute walk. Much less if you HAUL over there like a madwoman, as I often do. It ended up being a GREAT location with such a short walk to all the action. More Pixie Dust!
After that, I went back to the room to change and told my mom I wanted to leave soon so that we could possibly get into 'Ohana. Since we had to reschedule our trip, we lost our October ADR for 'Ohana and I had gotten so excited about dining there on our first night that I just couldn't it give up even though I know how popular and crowded it always is there. I know so many people who absolutely LOVE 'Ohana, so between that and all the DELICIOUS looking food pictures, I knew we had to at least TRY to get in!
I didn't know what time they opened for dinner, but I assumed that like most places, it was 4:00. I didn't want to rush my mom, but I did tell her that I thought the sooner we got there, the better. She moves slower on vacation, she likes to relax more than I do on our trips, and after being up since 4:00 AM she just wanted to chill for awhile. I didn't want her to look back on the trip and remember me being all naggy and telling her to hurry up, so I tried to cool it a little. Not an easy task! Though now, looking back, my favorite moments of the trip were when we were just hanging out and not rushing anywhere. On one of our last days, we sat at Starring Rolls for close to an hour just talking and enjoying the atmosphere and eating delicious treats, and it's one of my fondest memories. It's hard to find that balance of fitting in everything you want to do and taking it slow.
Pretty soon we were out the door and in the Magic Kingdom bus line!
Check out the massive early December crowds!!!! This was a constant trend on this trip, the place was just wall to wall people.
Timon was soooo ready for the Polynesian Resort! I mean, just look at his outfit:
The bus took a really long time to come. This is one thing I hate about the Walt Disney World Transportation System. I think that it's a really is a great benefit of staying on property and they do a wonderful job, but it's just such a time saver to get in your own car and just GO.
I was so adamant about us renting a car this trip because of all the time I felt we wasted waiting for the busses last trip. But then when we had to reschedule, I was charged a huge penalty for postponing our plane tickets. So they originally cost $340 for two roundtrip tickets. When I canceled those seats, I was told that I would get a credit for the full amount, but they charge a $150 dollar penalty per seat. They actually ended up giving me $60 back toward the new tickets, but the prices had risen significantly. So I had to pay $360 for our next set of tickets for a grand total of $700!!!!!!!!!!! Of course, Disney is worth the all the expenses, but the penalties you have to pay are really NOT fair and it just made sense to try and get that money back somehow. So when I looked at the price of a rental car for 10 days ($250) against the cost of taking the Disney busses ($0), the busses were looking PRETTY sweet!
Plus, they're Disney busses. And I love them. So it wasn't so bad. But I hate waiting. I HATE IT.
When the MK bus finally came, the driver did something weird that I have never seen done before. Once everyone was aboard, he stood at the front and went on for about 5 minutes about all the things going on that night not just at the Magic Kingdom, but in all of Disney World. It was very informative, but I wanted to GO! I mean, the drivers usually don't do that at all, but if they do talk or give info, it's usually over the loudspeaker while they're driving. It was all info I already knew anyway and oh man I just wanted to get to the Poly!
The driver's last announcement made the wait and not having a car all worth it. "Today is a very special day," he said. "The Magic Kingdom was originally supposed to close at ten o'clock tonight, but because it's this little princesses birthday, they are staying open until ONE AM in honor of her!"
You guys. I can't even tell you how awesome this was.
The look on that little girl's face I will not forget if I live to be two hundred years old. How special she felt. It was the most magical moment. I cried. She couldn't have been more than five. Imagine being five years old and someone who works for Disney announces that the Magic Kingdom is staying open in HONOR OF YOUR BIRTHDAY.
I remember that as soon as I saw the castle when we were approaching the Magic Kingdom, I started bouncing up and down and saying, "The castle! The castle!" at the exact same time, my mom said, "OooOOoooOh, I see a CASTLE!" We're collectively about 12 years old.
When we arrived at the Magic Kingdom, the bus driver said to a different little girl who was dressed as Cinderella, "Why aren't you at the castle? Aren't you late, Princess?"
Needless to say, this bus driver was the coolest person in the whole entire world. I love CMs that LOVE Disney and get it as much as we do. It's not just a job for them.
Disney is the greatest place in the world. I was so happy to be home at last!
UP NEXT: A run-in with the boyf and an unexpected 'Ohana adventure!
P.S... do ya like my new avatar? Rapunzel & Eugene!!!!!!
Day 1, Part 2 In Which The Kingdom Stays Open In Honor Of A Very Special Princess
After less than 10 minutes of waiting it was time to board Disney's Magical Express!
As usual, once on board we waited for more guests to arrive. I instantly recognized the song they were playing as the tune of The Main Street Electrical Parade, and to my surprise, my mom knew what it was too!
"THIS IS FROM THE PARADE, ISN'T IT?!" she exclaimed. It surprised me because she is not obsessed with Disney music like me and hadn't heard that tune in ages! I guess it was burned into her brain from all the times I watched the video tape we took of the parade in 1998.
After a few more minutes, it was time at last for us to be motor coached to WALT DISNEY WORLD!
I was just in total shock at this point. I was having stomach pains. Any time I get REALLY excited, my stomach hurts. It's not even a BAD pain, though, it's just like such excitement that my body can't even settle, you know?
They showed some cartoons after the usual video of the characters arriving to Disney World. It was a hilarious one where Donald was out in the middle of nowhere and was trying to set up a folding chair and kept getting trapped inside it and kept saying PHOOEY and things of that nature. Oh, that Donald!
I took a video of us going through the gates which unfortunately got erased because cameras are evil! I am so sad about this because we had a truly great and enthusiastic bus driver who really got us even more hyped up than we already were. It was so much fun and we screamed and danced as the bus drove through the world famous arch. My mom even recognized the driver from a prior trip (in 2006) because he was so memorable!
Finally, after eighteen months of planning, obsessing, crying, losing my mind waiting for Disney, I was on Disney Property once again.
Seeing Pop Century again was indescribable and the CMs standing at the red carpet to welcome us were so sweet as usual! I have no pictures of any of this because I was totally beside myself.
My mom knew I could not stand and wait for the bags to be taken out of the side of the bus so she kindly waited while I RAN into the lobby, inhaled extremely deeply, and bolted to the Online Check-In line, which was a complete breeze! It was my first time using the Online Check-In service and it went flawlessly. I definitely recommend using it. It went so quickly!
Every time I stay at Pop, I am always excited to see what section we get placed in. I love leaving it up to chance so I never request a certain section. Prior to this trip, I had stayed in the 60's, 70's, and 50's. My favorite was the 60's, just because it's the closest to the food court, shopping area, lobby, and main pool (The Hippy Dippy Pool), and I like to be in the center of the action. This time, we got placed in the 80's and I was thrilled! Always exciting to stay in a new section.
Walking from the lobby to your room is always the most intense feeling. You are at the very beginning of your adventure. The anticipation is so palpable, it's like it's an actual thing you're carrying along with you. All of your plans and favorite Disney things are dancing in your head, for you know you are about to experience them all. THIS IS IT!!!!!! THIS IS WHAT YOU DREAM OF EVERY DAY OF YOUR LIFE. This is where you constantly wish you were and now YOU ARE HERE! You are really at Disney World and it is ONLY THE BEGINNING!!!!!!!!
Oh man, there's really no feeling like it in the world that I can compare it to. It's just the best.
And finally we reached our room. 80's section, Building 9, Second Floor, Room 9248.
Hula Timon enjoyed the bed. He was tired, it had been a busy morning!
I love this picture because it looks like he is gesturing with his arm, showing off the bed Vanna White style.
Immediately, I turned on the Queen.
As usual, she was so wham that I could barely deal. I love unpacking and getting settled while listening to Stacey frolic around Walt Disney World. Is there anything better in life?
I tried to tweet the picture of her I took above, but I guess it didn't send cause I don't see it on my feed! The only thing about our room location I didn't like was that I had VERY poor cell phone service there.
On this trip, I noticed Stacey does this often:
She gives the thumbs up while on rides, mostly intense ones. I'm just glad she found a way to be clear about how much fun she is having, because usually I'm searching her face to find some form of emotion! Sheesh!
I just love her so much.
ANYWAY, at this point I was honestly in disbelief and complete shock that we were even at Disney World. When you want something so bad for so long, it can feel surreal when you finally experience it. I kept saying over at over, "I can't believe we're at Disney World." I had been crying on and off all morning, it just means so much to me to be there and I had to get that emotion out somehow. Some of us scream "TEST TRACK BABY!", some of us cry, some do both. I do both.
Once I was done unpacking and watching 14 loops of Stacey, I decided to head out to try and find a shortcut to the busses and lobby/food/shopping area of Pop. I knew there would be an easier way than what we had taken to get there (which was going out of the lobby through the backdoors and on through the 60's and 70's sections-- pretty far!), and I really didn't want to take that long walk at the end of every crazy park day.
Luckily, I figured it out quickly! If you hang a right after the giant walkman and just go straight through the parking lot, you'll hit the bus area right away! It's like a 2. minute walk. Much less if you HAUL over there like a madwoman, as I often do. It ended up being a GREAT location with such a short walk to all the action. More Pixie Dust!
After that, I went back to the room to change and told my mom I wanted to leave soon so that we could possibly get into 'Ohana. Since we had to reschedule our trip, we lost our October ADR for 'Ohana and I had gotten so excited about dining there on our first night that I just couldn't it give up even though I know how popular and crowded it always is there. I know so many people who absolutely LOVE 'Ohana, so between that and all the DELICIOUS looking food pictures, I knew we had to at least TRY to get in!
I didn't know what time they opened for dinner, but I assumed that like most places, it was 4:00. I didn't want to rush my mom, but I did tell her that I thought the sooner we got there, the better. She moves slower on vacation, she likes to relax more than I do on our trips, and after being up since 4:00 AM she just wanted to chill for awhile. I didn't want her to look back on the trip and remember me being all naggy and telling her to hurry up, so I tried to cool it a little. Not an easy task! Though now, looking back, my favorite moments of the trip were when we were just hanging out and not rushing anywhere. On one of our last days, we sat at Starring Rolls for close to an hour just talking and enjoying the atmosphere and eating delicious treats, and it's one of my fondest memories. It's hard to find that balance of fitting in everything you want to do and taking it slow.
Pretty soon we were out the door and in the Magic Kingdom bus line!
Check out the massive early December crowds!!!! This was a constant trend on this trip, the place was just wall to wall people.
Timon was soooo ready for the Polynesian Resort! I mean, just look at his outfit:
The bus took a really long time to come. This is one thing I hate about the Walt Disney World Transportation System. I think that it's a really is a great benefit of staying on property and they do a wonderful job, but it's just such a time saver to get in your own car and just GO.
I was so adamant about us renting a car this trip because of all the time I felt we wasted waiting for the busses last trip. But then when we had to reschedule, I was charged a huge penalty for postponing our plane tickets. So they originally cost $340 for two roundtrip tickets. When I canceled those seats, I was told that I would get a credit for the full amount, but they charge a $150 dollar penalty per seat. They actually ended up giving me $60 back toward the new tickets, but the prices had risen significantly. So I had to pay $360 for our next set of tickets for a grand total of $700!!!!!!!!!!! Of course, Disney is worth the all the expenses, but the penalties you have to pay are really NOT fair and it just made sense to try and get that money back somehow. So when I looked at the price of a rental car for 10 days ($250) against the cost of taking the Disney busses ($0), the busses were looking PRETTY sweet!
Plus, they're Disney busses. And I love them. So it wasn't so bad. But I hate waiting. I HATE IT.
When the MK bus finally came, the driver did something weird that I have never seen done before. Once everyone was aboard, he stood at the front and went on for about 5 minutes about all the things going on that night not just at the Magic Kingdom, but in all of Disney World. It was very informative, but I wanted to GO! I mean, the drivers usually don't do that at all, but if they do talk or give info, it's usually over the loudspeaker while they're driving. It was all info I already knew anyway and oh man I just wanted to get to the Poly!
The driver's last announcement made the wait and not having a car all worth it. "Today is a very special day," he said. "The Magic Kingdom was originally supposed to close at ten o'clock tonight, but because it's this little princesses birthday, they are staying open until ONE AM in honor of her!"
You guys. I can't even tell you how awesome this was.
The look on that little girl's face I will not forget if I live to be two hundred years old. How special she felt. It was the most magical moment. I cried. She couldn't have been more than five. Imagine being five years old and someone who works for Disney announces that the Magic Kingdom is staying open in HONOR OF YOUR BIRTHDAY.
I remember that as soon as I saw the castle when we were approaching the Magic Kingdom, I started bouncing up and down and saying, "The castle! The castle!" at the exact same time, my mom said, "OooOOoooOh, I see a CASTLE!" We're collectively about 12 years old.
When we arrived at the Magic Kingdom, the bus driver said to a different little girl who was dressed as Cinderella, "Why aren't you at the castle? Aren't you late, Princess?"
Needless to say, this bus driver was the coolest person in the whole entire world. I love CMs that LOVE Disney and get it as much as we do. It's not just a job for them.
Disney is the greatest place in the world. I was so happy to be home at last!
UP NEXT: A run-in with the boyf and an unexpected 'Ohana adventure!
P.S... do ya like my new avatar? Rapunzel & Eugene!!!!!!
The colors are like that because I do edit them. I would not recommend the camera actually. It has a lot of great settings, but no matter what setting you put it on, it really sucked as far as high quality night shots go. The best point and shoot I had was a Sony Cybershot, if you're looking for a good one.
The crowd levels that week sound amazing! Can't wait to read more. I hope you were able to get into 'Ohana. Such a fun place!
I love reading about people getting extremely enthusiastic about Disney as I do whenever I heard the word (Disney *twitch*) This sounds like a really fun TR and I gotta give you a big 
!!!!!!!!!
Awesome.
God, I love you two. AND STACEY!!!!!! 
I wouldn't be able to deal with that. Thank God you have Tumblr!
SO glad she's not going anywhere anytime soon! 
