Mother-Daughter Trip of a Lifetime!! WDW August 29-Sept 3 2015- NEW Link to 9/16 PTR!

[Mollydolly334]

Been fun reading! Great job!

Thank you!! Glad you've enjoyed reading

 

[grantasl]

Did you ever apply for the DCP?

 

[DisneyJo]

It sounds like the perfect evening

 

[DVCAshleyB]

Nothing like a visit with the mouse to enjoy family bounding!

 

[Mollydolly334]

Did you ever apply for the DCP?

Yes I did! Unfortunately, I did not get accepted but hey, rejection is part of the business!

It sounds like the perfect evening

It was!!

Nothing like a visit with the mouse to enjoy family bounding!

Tell me about it! It's the pixie dust!

 

[missangelalexis]

Exploring the monorail hotels is a great way to spend the afternoon!

Your night at MK sounds fabulous! But the last night is always so sad, and I don't blame you (or your mom) for crying!

That final photo you posted is so nice- such a nice way to end your trip!

 

[Mollydolly334]

Day 6!!

Hi friends! I'm trying to get this TR finished up to make room for the new PTR for our September trip!

Sadly, this was our last day in WDW We woke up later than we would've liked, around 9:00. We had a 5:00 flight out of MCO to Milwaukee, so our Magical Express pickup was around 2:30 PM. We jumped out of bed, finished packing, and had the last of the pop tarts in the room before taking the resort shuttle to the Custom House. It was very convenient to just get to leave our luggage with bell services until our DME picked us up! We tried to tip the lady that helped us, but she claimed that she couldn't receive tips! Oh well, we felt bad but at least we tried!

From the Custom House, we hopped on a bus to Downtown Disney (I think the name ended up switching over a few days after we got back!) We had some major shopping to do, with little time to do it! We ended up getting to DTD at about 10:45 AM. First stop was the Christmas Store to buy an ornament! This has turned into an little tradition for every trip and the Disney ornaments are always my favorites on the tree . We agonized over the ear hat choices for quite some time, but ended up with this ornament:

(not my photo)


We LOVE it! The yellow really pops against our tree, plus the theme is fitting because this trip marked the first time we had seen the Beauty and the Beast show

After buying the ornament, we looked around in the art store. One of the souvenirs that I really wanted was a vintage-looking sign/poster of any kind. I was scouring the store and couldn't find anything, but my mom bought this picture frame:

(not my photo)

Fun fact: My sister and her boyfriend went to Disney World over Valentine's Day Weekend and came back with this exact same picture frame! I saw it in their apartment this past weekend and I was like "Did mom give that to you??" Nope, just turns out that Haley and Mom have the exact same taste in souvenirs!

After looking in the art store, we browsed Tren-D and the Marketplace Co-op. Oh my goodness, I could spend all day in the Marketplace Co-op. They have such cool and unique finds in there! I bought this set of plates for my apartment up at school, and my roommates love them just as much as I do!!

(not my photo)

Time was passing by quickly, so we took a peek into Basin again and then spent some time in World of Disney. We got a travel mug for my sister and I got these two cute antenna toppers (they were 2 for 8$ I believe)

(not my photo)

(not my photo)

Once we made our purchases at World of Disney, we set off in search of someplace to eat. We wanted to be on a bus by 1:30 so that we had plenty of time to get back to CBR and catch our Magical Express. We rushed through a torn-up Disney Springs and finally settled on Wolfgang Puck Express. At this point, we were both getting crabby. I couldn't find the posters I had been looking for, and we both hated having to rush around on our last day. Plus, the walking was catching up to us and our feet were throbbing. Finally, we made it and put in orders for our food. We both ordered personal pizzas and I ordered some jalapeño chips. My mom sat down to wait while I went on a mission to find my posters! Sadly, I never found them However, I did find a family absolutely SCREAMING at each other outside of a store. The mom was grabbing her teenage boy's arm and yelling, "WHAT THE **** IS WRONG WITH YOU!" Coupled with a strong Jersey accent, I couldn't help but giggle to myself. Here I thought that my mom and I were being crabby!!

With no posters in hand, I reluctantly made my way pack to Wolfgang Puck Express to eat. We quickly finished our food and trudged back to the bus stops. We stopped at Goofy's Candy Company along the way to use up our final snack credits. We bought chewy sprees, sour gummy worms, licorice Mickey heads, and chocolate covered pretzels. Then, we made our way to the CBR bus. We enjoyed passing the Fire Station on the way to the resort!

Since we still had a bit of time, we looked around Old Port Royale for a while and filled up our mugs one last time. Then, we strolled over to the Custom house where we boarded the Tragical Express We got to the airport and bought a whole bunch more souvenirs, including a tee shirt for my dad, a shirt for Mom, a Lotso Bear keychain for my boyfriend and Mickey head earrings for my best friend.

Overall, our flight was uneventful. It was delayed for about 40 minutes, but soon we were on our way. After picking up the car at the airport, we stopped by Subway for a late dinner and arrived home at about 10:00 PM. I crashed into bed soon after, dreaming of the day we would come back to Disney.....

THE END

Thanks so much for reading my trip report everyone!! I had a blast writing it! Stay tuned, I am going to take after one of my favorite trip report writers Nilla and do an in-depth review of CBR, our dining, new things we tried, things we liked/disliked, and what is coming up next!

 

[Mollydolly334]

Exploring the monorail hotels is a great way to spend the afternoon!

Your night at MK sounds fabulous! But the last night is always so sad, and I don't blame you (or your mom) for crying!

That final photo you posted is so nice- such a nice way to end your trip!

Thank you! Crying at Disney is a regular occurrence for me, both happy and sad tears And I look back on that photo often and try to picture the ambiance when I'm stressed!

 

[missangelalexis]

I have that same picture frame as well!

Spending your last day shopping sounds nice, though I'm sorry you had to rush!

Thanks for sharing, really enjoyed your report!

 

[Mollydolly334]

I have that same picture frame as well!

Spending your last day shopping sounds nice, though I'm sorry you had to rush!

Thanks for sharing, really enjoyed your report!

Thank you so much for reading along, I'm so glad you enjoyed it!! We hated having to rush, so we made sure to plan in more time at Disney Springs for the next trip! And it's a great frame, matches perfectly with our family room too

 

[Mollydolly334]

In-Depth Review: Caribbean Beach Resort

Honestly, my opinion about CBR tends to change every day! Our situation may be a bit different than other's because we are used to staying Deluxe. But, since we were going to be touring the parks in commando mode and not doing a resort day, we decided to save the money and try a Moderate! We stayed at Dixie Landings (POR) back in 2000, but I was only 6 years old. The only thing that I remember about Dixie Landings was going over to POFQ to use the lizard slide!

One thing that I wish we would have done is read up on the resort a bit more. We sort of walked in without a clue about our resort! While we loved the Pirate Room Upgrade, I might have paused at it if we were offered it again, simply because of the bad location. My mom and I did not enjoy having to take an internal bus just to get to the lobby/fill up our mugs. In turn, we probably would have utilized the food court/rapid mug refills more if we were closer to the Old Port Royale.

Although taking a bus everywhere was kind of a pain, we enjoyed not having to share buses with other resorts (something that we have had to do at all Deluxes we have stayed at). Overall, we were pleasantly surprised by the bus service. We never had to wait more than 10 minutes for a bus! CBR was a great location for us since it was very close to both DHS and Epcot.

We loved the food court. I wish every single resort had a food court! It was awesome to have so many options for quick service rather than your typical burgers and chicken nuggets! We didn't get to try out Shutters, but I've heard good things about it!

We didn't swim in the main pool, but it was beautiful! We enjoyed swimming in the quiet pool, but a hot tub would have been perfect!

As for the amenities, we were also pleasantly surprised. We had known about the outdoor hallways before we came, so those didn't bother us. The room was great, it had the two sinks plus a lock-off toilet and shower area. We did have some problems with the toilet making noise after flushing. You had to jiggle the handle really hard or else the toilet would not stop flushing! The beds were very comfortable! Since we both had our own bed, we didn't really mind only having full beds instead of queens. We had a nice view of the quiet pool.

In conclusion, I would give CBR a 7.5/10. It would have been a bit higher if the resort wasn't so huge, but it was partially our fault since we did not research the resort before we got there! Now we know that we like smaller resorts That being said, the dining options were good, the pool was great, and the theming was wonderful! The bus service was also a nice surprise. Would we come back? Not sure. We would probably try CSR (with a preferred room) and POFQ before we would come back to CBR.

 

[MommyTaraLee]

Day 5: Part 3!!

I even got to see the Kiss Goodnight!

We were there the same time as you, and that night, DD and I had a mommy/daughter date night in the MK... She chose to ride 7 Dwarfs instead of watching Wishes, but we took out time walking out and saw the kiss goodnight, apparently on just the other side of the street as you! One of my most favorite memories of the whole trip! And it inspired me to take her for a full Mother/Daughter trip in 2 weeks to celebrate her 10th birthday!

 

[fallonkendra]

I'm really late to this party, but I just read your entire trip report! What a great mother/daughter trip! I would love to do a Disney trip with my mom, but I have a feeling my boyfriend wouldn't let that happen - he loves Disney way too much!

I'm the same way with Disney ornaments - I actually try to buy a new tree ornament on every vacation I go on (not just Disney). Each year as I take them out to put them on my tree, all of the memories of that particular vacation come flooding back and it always makes me smile

I'll be on the lookout for your PTR for your upcoming trip!

 

[Mollydolly334]

In-Depth Review: Dining

This trip was the first time that we had the Disney Dining Plan! It was a no-brainer, since we had the Free Dining deal. We loved it! It gave us a chance to try so many different restaurants that we had never been to before! Dining has never been a huge thing for our family on trips; we prefer to spend the money elsewhere. But, Mom and I enjoyed doing both a quick service and table service meal per day. We are big snack people also, so our snack credits came in handy! It was very convenient to just scan our magic band at the restaurants and only worry about tips (and alcoholic drinks) at table services. That being said, the Dining Plan was wayyyy too much food for us. We usually share meals to begin with, plus each meal on the dining plan comes with an entree, side, AND dessert! Many times, we were too full to even eat our dessert, so we felt like we were wasting food. I am also notorious for not finishing my plate at sit down restaurants.

So, will we do the DDP again? If it's the Free Dining Promotion, absolutely!! If it's full price, probably not. This next trip, we do not have the DDP and are planning to share most of our meals and eat lots of snacks!

Where We Ate:

Electric Umbrella: We shared a chicken nugget and fries meal with strawberry cheesecake for dessert. We've eaten at Electric Umbrella before and have liked it because of the crowd-pleasing fare and good location. Nothing extraordinary, though I must say that their strawberry cheesecake was the best I had ever tasted. But, I wouldn't trust my judgment, I usually don't like cheesecake because it is too rich. This kind was nice and light Electric Umbrella is a good option for quick service in Future World, although we are definitely trying Sunshine Seasons instead next trip!

Coral Reef: I ordered the roasted pork belly and Mom ordered the cheese manicotti. The food was good, nothing spectacular. What we really loved was the atmosphere! This was probably my mom's favorite restaurant of the entire trip. We had a seat right up against the glass, and it really set our trip off perfectly! Plus, we had the nicest waiter and overall just loved the vibe of Coral Reef. We would definitely come back!!

Pecos Bills: We both ordered the BBQ pulled pork sandwiches with corn and fries. I really enjoyed Pecos Bills because I love BBQ and Tex-Mex fare. The toppings bar was awesome and the inside of the restaurant reminded me of Mexico! It was nice and big so we didn't have a problem finding a seat, plus it was in a pretty central location in Magic Kingdom! I would recommend!

Pinocchio Village Haus: We both ordered pepperoni flatbreads with garlic knots and a caesar salad. Not my favorite QS, but my mom loves it, so I go for her It's got the fun feature of being able to wave at people on IASW, but the food just isn't special in my opinion. If there's one thing I do know, it's pizza, and I've had better pizzas elsewhere!

Sci Fi Dine In: I ordered the chicken pasta, while mom ordered the turkey sandwich. Hands down my favorite restaurant in WDW. I love the milkshakes, the large menu, the amazing scenery, the old movie clips, everything! This is one restaurant we try to do every single trip. One time we did Hollywood Brown Derby instead, and I found myself longing for Sci-Fi

50's Prime Time Cafe: I ordered the buffalo shrimp skewer with mac and cheese and mom ordered the chicken pot pie. We did this on our very first trip back in 2000, and wanted to try it out again! We were actually kind of underwhelmed Our waiter was funny, but didn't joke around a lot, which we don't mind. But, the service was very slow and caused us to miss the Frozen fireworks We'd probably still come back though, because we love the look of the restaurant and the food is great!

Old Port Royale Food Court: I ordered Mickey Waffles and mom ordered a breakfast burrito! As we stated above, we loved the food court! Wish there was one in every resort. It was nice and quick, with many different options to fit everyone's cravings.

Trilo Bites: I ordered a buffalo chicken waffle slider! I loved this little stand. This waffle sandwich worked perfectly as a light lunch to hold me over until our dinner reservations. If you love spicy food, I would recommend this snack!

Sanaa: I ordered Tandoori Chicken, mom ordered Butter Chicken, and we shared the full service naan bread with dips. WE LOVED IT. We didn't get a seat by the window (sad!), but we loved the relaxed vibe of the restaurant. I liked how the food was adventurous, but still basic enough to please my pickiness. Our server was also wonderful and really took care of us. We considered this one of the "hidden gems" of Disney dining. We will be back, but not before trying out the other restaurants at AKL too.

Beaches and Cream: I ordered the turkey sandwich, mom ordered a burger, and we shared the Milky Way Sundae. Food was good, ice cream was amazing! We still couldn't finish it between the two of us! The hot fudge was so creamy and delicious. Great, upbeat atmosphere! We'll definitely be back!!

Casey's Corner: I ordered corn dog nuggets and fries. I actually really liked this QS, but it was crazy crowded. I will be back when it is not so crowded though. The location in front of Cinderella's Castle is awesome, plus I am a huge baseball fan so I love the decor! I'm also obsessed with corn dogs.

Wolfgang Puck Express: We both ordered personal pizzas. Overall, we were not that impressed. We waited about 25 minutes for our food, and the pizza was average. Plus, we were rushing through it so we could not really enjoy the meal. Probably won't be back, we would rather try Earl of Sandwich!

 

[Mollydolly334]

We were there the same time as you, and that night, DD and I had a mommy/daughter date night in the MK... She chose to ride 7 Dwarfs instead of watching Wishes, but we took out time walking out and saw the kiss goodnight, apparently on just the other side of the street as you! One of my most favorite memories of the whole trip! And it inspired me to take her for a full Mother/Daughter trip in 2 weeks to celebrate her 10th birthday!

OMG, what a coincidence! We must have run into each other at some point! That is so awesome. I hope you both have a wonderful time and happy "double-digits" to your daughter!!

I'm really late to this party, but I just read your entire trip report! What a great mother/daughter trip! I would love to do a Disney trip with my mom, but I have a feeling my boyfriend wouldn't let that happen - he loves Disney way too much!

I'm the same way with Disney ornaments - I actually try to buy a new tree ornament on every vacation I go on (not just Disney). Each year as I take them out to put them on my tree, all of the memories of that particular vacation come flooding back and it always makes me smile

I'll be on the lookout for your PTR for your upcoming trip!

Thank you for reading!! I can't wait to take my boyfriend someday! He has never been there before and I know he would absolutely love it. We also try to buy ornaments on every vacation, but Disney vacations is where it has truly stuck haha

 

[DisneyJo]

I have that photo frame too It's still empty though as none of my photos fit so next trip I need to shoot some shots further away so they do

Thanks for your great report and recaps

 

[Mollydolly334]

I have that photo frame too It's still empty though as none of my photos fit so next trip I need to shoot some shots further away so they do

Thanks for your great report and recaps

I agree that the photo frames are a bit too small! Ours is still empty too Thank you so much for reading!!

 

[Mollydolly334]

In-Depth Review: New Things We Tried!!

This trip, we made it a goal to try many new things since it was just us two. These are all of the new experiences we tried:

Club Cool- We love soda, so this was a fun little experiment. I actually didn't mind the Beverly too much! My mom's favorite was the Fanta Pineapple and my favorite was the Inca Kola.

Mission:Space- Since we didn't want to risk feeling sick all day, we did the Green Side. We really loved this ride! It was cool and different than most of the rides at Disney. I liked how it was interactive (you had to push certain buttons depending on your job). I was worried that it would be claustrophobic, but I actually liked how inclosed it was because it made the experience seem more real. Not sure if we'll ever try the orange side. My sister Haley (who NEVER gets motion sick) tried it on her February trip and she said that she felt queasy. Not a problem, because we love the green side!

Mad Tea Party- Just a typical teacups ride! We liked this because of the Alice and Wonderland theme. This was also a bit smoother than other teacup rides we've been on.

Hall of Presidents- My mother practically dragged me into this one. I didn't want to "waste" 20 minutes on an attraction like this. She proved me wrong though! I actually really enjoyed this show! I'm a history buff so I enjoyed the historical facts and the end with the animatronic presidents was cool. I might even ask if we can do this again next trip

Aladdin's Magic Carpets- Meh. Dumbo with different theming.

Tomorrowland Speedway- Takes the cake for the worst ride of the trip. We actually regretted wasting time to go on it It's probably really fun for little kids, but not so much for us!

Astro Orbiter- Surprisingly intense for what it is! We thought that it was just a higher Dumbo, but it was actually much faster and had more G forces than I expected! It also provided a great view of the castle. The only thing was that it was a pretty cramped space to fit in!

Carousel of Progress- My favorite "new thing" we did this trip. Yes, that even surpasses the 7 Dwarves Mine Train. I am a sucker for nostalgia! The song was catchy and it gave me a true feeling of Walt's vision for WDW. Only a few other rides have given me this feeling (Splash Mountain, Spaceship Earth, The People Mover, It's a Small World, Philharmagic, and Wishes come to mind). I will make sure to do this on every successive trip I go on

Seven Dwarves Mine Train- We had a fastpass for this, so we breezed right through the line. It was very smooth and the technology for the dwarves was amazing!! I wouldn't wait more than 40 minutes for this ride, though. I kept comparing it to BTMRR, and BTMRR won out almost every time.

Toy Story Midway Mania- Long waits prevented us from going on this sooner. We caught a 50 minute wait and decided to jump at it. It was fun, but kind of underwhelming. I definitely wouldn't wait any longer than 30 minutes for this ride. It is a lot easier (for me) and cooler than Buzz, but I'd rather enjoy a thrilling ride than do a shooter game.

Triceratops Spin- See Magic Carpets of Aladdin.

We loved trying out a bunch of new things, and even found some new favorites!!

 

[Terra Nova guy]

Enjoyed your report! I've been lurking for your last couple updates

You seem to feel the same as I do about the DDP. I did it once during free dining, but it's just too much food for my family. We don't mind one TS meal most days, I like being more spontaneous with QS and snacks throughout the day, so I prefer OOP. (unless it's free, then I prefer more money in my pocket!)

I'll look out for any reports you do in the future!

 

[missangelalexis]

I enjoyed reading your hotel & dining recaps!

I'm glad you were able to try so many new attractions this trip. Also very glad you became a Carousel of Progress lover It really does capture Walt's vision and will always be one of my favorites!