"Au revior...that's French for get out of here!" A Jan '13 AoA TR COMPLETE

[emilyindisney]

Howdy, folks and welcome to my first TR!

If you're just joining my now, I'm Emily and its nice to meet you! Feel free to pop in here and say hello! You can find my PTR here, but I'll give a quick summary anyways.

This trip had a small cast- just my sister and I.

This is me! I'm a sister of Kappa Beta Gamma, a nursing major, and an avid runner.

This is Caitlin, my sister! She's a professional horse trainer, an attempted trivia buff, and also an avid runner. She's not a registered DIS user, but I know she lurks quite a bit. This TR might just bring her out of the wood work because I'm sure she won't be able to resist chiming in!

We traveled to our home away from home from 1/13-1/19 and were pumped to give the Art of Animation a try. I worked in conjunction with a AAA TA to book a park hopper package with the dining plan and a day at Universal to see Harry Potter.

7 Days. 5 Parks. 2 Sisters. Here we go!

 

[emilyindisney]

Pre-Trip Report

Sunday, January 13th
Sunday...we're on our way!
Where did the Magical Express counter go?!

Monday, January 14th
Monday Morning with the Mouse
A private safari?! (Part two)
Meeting a silly old bear and some jungle royalty
Photopass Pictures
Making a plan of attack

Tuesday, January 15th
Return to AK
The great rental car disaster
Dining under the sea
Best food of the trip

Wednesday, January 16th
Venturing from the World to the Universe
A not so terrifying free fall
"I think we're the oldest people on this ride..."
Closing thoughts on Universal: Islands of Adventure

Thursday, January 17th
12 Hour Magic Marathon
"Au revior...that's French for get out of here"
Celebrate a Dream Come True
Putting their service to the test
The mad dash to watch Wishes

Friday, January 18th
Stormy skies and a nasty CM
Why go to Europe when we get go to Disney instead?
Mickey is mortified!

Saturday, January 19th
A Grand end to a great trip
PTR Announcement!
"See ya real soon" and closing thoughts

 

[emilyindisney]

The day is finally here! After months of waiting, it was finally January 13th and we were leaving today. I got up around 10:00, figuring it was better to spend my day sleeping in then sitting around, anxiously waiting to go. Feeling a little festive, I started the day with a Mickey Mouse chocolate chip pancake.

Admittedly, I'm a little bit of an abstract pancake artist but you get the idea. Regardless of shape, it was pretty tasty.

I had packed earlier in the week so Sunday was mostly a waiting game. After I got dressed, I spent most of the afternoon watching a live action recreation of Toy Story on youtube. It was really awesome, so if you've got some time and want to check it out, you can find it here!

My mom was going to drive us to the airport which was great because (1 we wouldn't have to pay to park and (2 we wouldn't have to worry about bundling up in our winter coats to make it from the parking lot to the airport. My mom and I left our house at about 2:30 to head to my sisters apartment to pick her up. At about 3:30 we were BDL bound. At this point, it was still sort of completely surreal that we were actually going to Disney. My mom kept asking if we were excited, and I'm pretty sure I kept telling her no. After months of planning and anticipation it still didn't feel real.

If any of you guys also fly out of BDL, you know its a very small airport. Being in Connecticut, we're not too far from Boston or New York so we don't really have a need for a major airport. That being said, BDL is practically closed after 10 PM at night. Our flight was headed to MCO at 6:30, and couples with the fact that it was a Sunday night, it was fairly quiet. We walked right up to the JetBlue desk to check our luggage and had maybe a 5-10 minute wait to get through security. Deciding it was time for dinner, we grabbed a quick DeAngelo's sandwich before settling in at our gate.

I was a little bummed that I was missing my Pats play the Texans in a playoff game, but luckily I had a prime seat to watch the first half. Everyone else waiting for the flight was getting into the game, so it made the wait go by pretty quick.

We were boarding right at the 2nd quarter ended, but unfortunately the TVs weren't working on our flight so I missed the 3rd and 4th. Luckily, the pilot made regular score announcements. How he was getting the score while flying the plane, I don't know...

Next update: Where did the Magical Express counter go?!

 

[emma212010]

Hooray! I'm here! I'm first!

Great start! We have a really small airport up here in Vermont too!

 

[emilyindisney]

Hooray! I'm here! I'm first!

Great start! We have a really small airport up here in Vermont too!

Welcome! Glad you made it!

Yeah, haha, BDL is technically an international airport but that's only because they have like two or three European flights a week! It's funny to go to MCO and have to take a tram from one part of the airport to another when we're used to somewhere so small.

 

[disneyaddict101]

Told ya I'd be here! Haha great TR so far

 

[tlaw66]

this sounds like a fun trip count me in till the end

 

[emilyindisney]

this sounds like a fun trip count me in till the end

Woohoo!

 

[disneygirl520]

Subbing!!! Can't wait to hear more!!!

 

[emilyindisney]

Subbing!!! Can't wait to hear more!!!

Welcome, Heather! Glad you found me!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Joining in! I've been enjoying reading about fellow DISers' trips who went in January like we did. Can't wait to read more!

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

im here

 

[emilyindisney]

Joining in! I've been enjoying reading about fellow DISers' trips who went in January like we did. Can't wait to read more!

Feel free to chime in on the crowds. I've heard that this January was one of the busiest on record, though I've never gone in January before so I don't have much to compare to!

im here

Glad to see you!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Feel free to chime in on the crowds. I've heard that this January was one of the busiest on record, though I've never gone in January before so I don't have much to compare to!

Before this trip, we were in Disney in January 2011 and April 2012. Compared to January '11, it was definitely more crowded. And from what I've read on easywdw.com, January '13 as a whole saw more crowds than prior January months especially around MLK weekend. Still, relative to the past year it was low crowd levels. And compared to our April trip, it was overall lower and we had a great time once again!

Not sure is the crowds for this year was an anomaly because of New FL, so we'll see. We still love visiting WDW in January and are planning our '14 trip for January again!

 

[emilyindisney]

Before this trip, we were in Disney in January 2011 and April 2012. Compared to January '11, it was definitely more crowded. And from what I've read on easywdw.com, January '13 as a whole saw more crowds than prior January months especially around MLK weekend. Still, relative to the past year it was low crowd levels. And compared to our April trip, it was overall lower and we had a great time once again!

Not sure is the crowds for this year was an anomaly because of New FL, so we'll see. We still love visiting WDW in January and are planning our '14 trip for January again!

Good to know. We were sort of disappointed with the crowds because we were expecting it to be so, so dead. However the lines were still pretty good so we couldn't really complain. I'd definitely go back in January!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Good to know. We were sort of disappointed with the crowds because we were expecting it to be so, so dead. However the lines were still pretty good so we couldn't really complain. I'd definitely go back in January!

Yeah, we were also sort of wishing it was "everything is walk-on" crowds based on our previous January trip. Can't wait to hear more about your trip! We also stayed at AoA as well in a Finding Nemo Suite and loved the resort.

 

[emilyindisney]

As I mentioned earlier, we were off!

Seeing as we were flying at night, I couldn't take the obligatory 'out the airplane window' shot. Therefore, I had to settle for the 'out the airplane window while on the ground' shot. This was actually before take off in Hartford, but you get the idea!

We landed in Orlando at about 9:15. At the suggestion of a fellow DISer (FauntleroyFan ) we decided it would be better to pick up our own luggage this late, rather than wait for ME to deliver. We figured all we had to do was grab the luggage on our way down the stairs to the ME counter- easy, right?

We grabbed our luggage pretty quick, and stopped for a quick phone call to mom to let her know we'd landed. We headed down the stairs and took a left on the transportation level, remembering that ME is in the corner. We're walking and walking and...nothing! Where did the Magical Express counter go?!

From the confused looks on our face, someone passing by must have realized we had no clue what was going on. He explained that Magical Express was on the B side, and we were on the A side. We'd never picked up our own luggage before so it didn't even cross our minds that JetBlue luggage corrals were on the A side. Whoops! After a quick trip back up the stairs and to the other side, we found the familiar sight.

Luckily, the bus seemed like the bus was waiting for us because as soon as we got on we were Disney World bound!

We were so wrapped up in the ME video I didn't bother taking any pictures on our way in. Walking into the lobby we were absolutely delighted. The lights, the color and the art was breath taking. I had my suitcase in tow so I didn't stop for pictures now but I've got some coming up later in the week.

The CM who checked us in was great. He was actually from our hometown in Connecticut and was delighted when he saw on our reservation we were both from the same place. He immediately asked us how it was (to which we answered cold!) and told us how he had plans to return to see his parents in a few weeks. I wish I could remember his name because he was really great, and so helpful!

At this point we were sick of dragging our luggage so we made a beeline for our room. We were placed in building 7- the King Triton building in the Little Mermaid section.

A Mickey towel! Unfortunately, this was our only towel creation of the week. I even tried using my own towel folding skills to challenge the mousekeeping staff, but no luck

This was the bed closer to the bathroom. Note the Flounder and Sebastian wall piece in the center- my favorite part of the room!

Prince Eric hung on the wall next to the bathroom.

The curtain that divided the bathroom vanity area to the bedroom.

Overall the room was really awesome and I wish I had taken more pictures.

We decided to walk back to Animator's Hall so we could get our refillable mugs and check out the Big Blue Pool.

Back of Animator's Hall with my feet in the pool

See, told 'ya!

Crush was in front of one of the Nemo buildings.

Mr Ray was in front of the other one.

Around midnight we headed to bed, ready to head into the parks the next day!

Next update: Monday morning with the mouse!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

So cool to see the pics from your room!

We were staying at the building behind Mr. Ray!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

How did you fare with the snow storm? Hope you didn't lose power.

 

[emilyindisney]

How did you fare with the snow storm? Hope you didn't lose power.

Luckily we kept our power! We've got about 30 inches of snow in the yard, and most of the roads in my neighborhood haven't been plowed at all. The high ways are closed now but hopefully I'll be able to get back to school tomorrow night. Thank you for asking!