What do you mean you lost the tickets?! A Spring Break in the World TR

[mandyyyrose]

So let's talk about this trip we just went on, shall we?
How my overplanning and organizing all blew up in one millisecond.
But before that, a lot of good stuff happened too.

This was Draven's first trip to the world.
And also my millionth, or so it felt like.
But it would be my first trip without my parents...what could possibly go wrong?

That was a hypothetical question, but boy did I learn what could go wrong.
Things are a lot more expensive when you do them yourself.
Things (& people) get lost.
Flights get delayed.

But good things happen too!
Like counting lizards (more on that later)
Meeting characters, lots of them!
Minimal wait times!
And things happening automagically!

Anyways, you want to know the actual story, right?
I know you all just want to know about how I lost the tickets.
You're probably wondering what tickets I lost.
Well you'll have to wait and see!
It has a good ending though, mostly.

Anyways...let's get on with the show!

The Cast
The adorable featured couple for this Trip Report is Amanda (me) and Draven. He wouldn't wear ears, but he's been putting up with me for 3 1/2 years so he's pretty okay.

The Set
Coronado Springs Resort (thank you upgrade!)
1, 2, 3 parks!
1. Magic Kingdom
2. Animal Kingdom
3. Epcot
1 (part 2). Magic Kingdom again

We don't do Hollywood Studios. Social Media told me that we missed seeing Kylie Jenner because she was there the day we could have gone. *Half-hearted sarcastic sigh*

The Time Period
Sort of Friday the 4th
Saturday, March 5th
Sunday, March 6th
Monday, March 7th
Tuesday, March 8th
Wednesday, March 9th
Thursday, March 10th
Sort of Friday, March 11th

 

[nilla]

A Coronado Springs TR? Ok, I'm in

 

[Victoriasmom98]

I'm in, too......sounds like this trip was quite the learning experience.

 

[mandyyyrose]

The beginning is a good place to start, right?

The preface to this story is that as you can probably guess, we're both in college.

So I decided that we were going to go to Disney, without my family, for the first time ever.

This was easier said than done.

Mom and Dad did not take too kindly that "their little girl is growing up" but somehow I made it out of Pennsylvania without them.

Getting to Orlando could only have been smoother if I had remembered to pack my fitbit charger. Because of course, the one week I need mine, it's no where to be found!

So after a trip to walmart, target, olympia, and staples, with a defeated outlook we headed to Pittsburgh International Airport. Yay!

I had paid extra for priority check-in, which definitely was a good decision. After a quick meal, bag check, and security, it was just about time to board the plane. I ran to one last shop to check for a book to read, or something, and they had fitbit chargers! My morning was instantly made 1000 times better. We were the fourth people on the plane (which was absolutely full, yay Florida) and I got a window seat We were Florida bound and had beautiful weather for the entire flight.

We landed in Orlando at 5:40, and by 6:00 I had already changed our plans. Wouldn't it be nice to go directly to the room and relax? To most people, probably yes. However, as we were on Magical Express headed to Coronado Draven looked at me and asked "what's for dinner?". Of course, being in Disney and the foodie that I am, I whipped out MyDisneyExperience and was pleasantly surprised to see a 8:10 reservation at Chef Mickey's. So before we even got to the hotel we had already made 'spur of the moment dining reservations', a trend that will continue throughout this trip.

Note: After I took this picture I was informed that it's a no-no to wear your magic band and fitbit side-by-side

The questions running through my head...Coronado happened to be the 4th stop from the airport. What are the odds we would make it in time? I didn't feel like a big risk taker, and Draven was just along for the ride it seemed. "Okay, what we're going to do: get off at the first stop (All-Star Sports), switch to a Magic Kingdom bus, then we can walk or monorail it to the Contemporary, and we'll watch the fireworks after dinner from the balcony, sound like a plan?" He just sorta nods, laughs, and reminds me I'm crazy

And that's exactly what we did! At 10am we were on the road in Pennsylvania, and at 10pm we were watching Wishes from the balcony of the Contemporary.

By 11pm we had made it back to our room, thankfully because of online check-in we got to completely bypass the front desk and walked right in to our room. We were in the Cabanas section, literally 2 minutes from the bus stop and had a sort of lake view! Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures of the room though.

Note: This was my 2nd stay at CSR, and it's my favorite resort!

No lizards, lost tickets, or lost people so far!

Up Next: "You must like something! 1st day at MK"

 

[nilla]

Was that building 9? The Cabanas are the best!

We skipped Coronado last year, after 5 straight stays, just to do something new. We're back at CSR this year. It's fantastic.

I'm impressed by the MDE-to-park move, and the Chef Mickey's same day ADR. Great start to the trip!

 

[DisneyGateway]

Definitely following! <3 Coronado Springs! Going back this fall!

 

[provencio]

following.....

 

[mandyyyrose]

You must like something! Day 1 at MK

Before we get ahead of ourselves, I guess we should talk about Saturday night.

Where I last left off, we were arriving to our resort after wishes. Thankfully I had a vague-idea of the resort, and knew that we needed to get off at Bus Stop 4 (which is the 3rd stop...to make it more confusing) for the shortest walk to our room. We were in building 8A in a corner room, which is what gave us our nice sort of water view!

As we walked into the room at 11:30ish I counted the bags on the floor. One...two...three? There were three bags, but we only brought two! Upon closer inspection, there was a "Disney Floral and Gifts" tag on it...immediately I knew this was the work of my mother...
Mom knew the one thing I would forget was a drawstring bag to carry, which I ALWAYS forget. So she had one sent to us, full of snacks! It was a very sweet surprise, and the bag definitely came in handy so I didn't have to lug my purse around all week!

Once again, I suck and don't have pictures. But the snacks were much appreciated!

Then it was off to bed before our early morning Sunday!

Sunday morning rolls around, and at 6:45 I woke up. Somehow I managed to wake up before my alarm, that's true Disney magic!
Why is a college student up at 6:45 on Spring Break? Because it's Magic Kingdom Day!

Since Draven was a sleepyhead and didn't wakeup for a little bit I went out to explore around our building, which is when I took this picture.

You already saw this picture in my previous post, but I love it, so here it is again!

So I get back to the room at 7:15 and remind Draven *not so nicely* that he really needs to wake up. We have 8:10 breakfast reservations, and we're already running late. After calling the front desk, they assured me that MK buses started running at 7 (the park opens at 9) and that I would have no problem making it there.

Well, at 7:30 we arrive at the bus stop. The thing I love about the bus stops is the TVs that tell you the estimated arrival time of each bus. Well, my favorite and the most stressful part. When we arrived it said the next MK bus would arrive at 7:35. Then it changed to 7:38. Then 7:40. Then 7:45. At this point I was starting to freak out...

Then, I took a chance and tried my Uber app. We don't have Uber where I live, but I'd used it once in D.C. and was planning to use it later in my Disney week.
I had a general idea of how it worked, and figured there was no time like the present to test it! I opened the app and used the location settings on my phone to find our location, and then I typed in my desired destination (MK) and a driver was 5 minutes away and would come pick us up.

An important thing to note for the future is that Uber drivers cannot get to the 'back bus stops' and they always pick up at the front (by guest drop-off). After a 5 minute run to the front building, which is quite the hike, we were picked up in a 2016 Black Cadillac Escalade, not bad for a free ride.

The other thing to note, for MK, Uber drivers drop off at T&TC, which was not what I was planning. I kept staring at my phone checking the time, and thinking in the back of my head "If we miss this reservation...". But thankfully the monorail from T&TC was relatively quick and we arrived to the check-in line for 'before-opening-activities' promptly at 8:06.

After stopping for a few quick pictures on Main Street (which look awful, to be honest) we were on our way to breakfast!

Where was breakfast at? Cinderella's Royal Table!

Before we knew we were going to Chef Mickey's I had joked with him that we would go to the Rainforest Cafe for him the first night, and that I was 'throwing him off the deep end into Disney' Sunday morning with Cinderella's. Well Chef Mickey's spoiled that plan, which is fine.

We did make it to our reservation on time, and we met all of the princesses. Draven really enjoyed the attention from the princesses...especially when Snow White told him he looked 'like a gem' (way to over-inflate his ego, Snow)

What Draven didn't know is that there was a reason I didn't want to miss this reservation. This was his 'Welcome to Disney World' breakfast, and I wanted to make it special. And because I stalked the food boards on here, I learned that you could order a little thing that looks like this...

I had ordered this a few months in advance, yay early planning! It looked just as cute as I imaged. Draven was surprised, and a little embarrassed I think. The waitress sat it down after breakfast and told him that he "has a wonderful girlfriend" (which he does)


So as breakfast wrapped up, where should we head to next? *Stay tuned*

 

[provencio]

Loved the surprise... so cute!!!

 

[DisneyGateway]

That surprise is adorable!

 

[Kiersten]

I can't wait to read more! It's fun reading trip reports written by fellow college students.

 

[Sydney2977]

Yey! Excited to be reading your trip report! We were there the same time as you, and I haven't even finished uploading all my pics so I can start a trip report... I better get crackin' I guess. Can't wait to hear more of your adventures!

 

[mandyyyrose]

Hi everybody!

So I will say, I've been a little distracted from updating this, because I'm planning my next big adventure...a trip just for me! That's right, I'm going solo...but to where.

It's not related to this TR entirely, but yes, I'll be spending 3-4 days in Hong Kong Disneyland this July!

A program through my university is sending me to China for two weeks, with an amazing scholarship that covers basically everything! Now, I'll be flying in and out of Hong Kong, and you know what's a short taxi ride from Hong Kong International Airport? Disney, of course!

Anywayssss...back to WDW and the trip that already happened!

So, where we last left off, we had just finished breakfast at Cinderella's.

Off to New Fantasyland we went! First up...the Little Mermaid!

After we finished the Little Mermaid we headed to our FP for The Seven Dwarves Mine Train. I was really happy that we got these fastpasses because I booked them 55 days out instead of 60, and was nervous there wouldn't be any left. Surprisingly there was, and surprisingly this was our first of 3 times on this ride!

My favorite part of this ride was the little boy in front of us. They were in front of us in the FP line, and I noticed his shirt had Ariel on it. Curiously, upon closer inspection, it said "I love redheads"...Draven got a chuckle out of that and said he needed that shirt.
PSA: I did buy memory maker, so I have full rights to post these photos (just so everyone knows!)

The other thing we learned, Draven never looks enthused on anything...especially Roller Coasters...

Still breaking the 'fitbit and magic band shouldn't touch' rule. #rebel

This day we basically beepbopped around MK hitting up just about everything. I'm pretty sure the only things we didn't do were: Stitch, Carousel of Progress, and Tom Sawyer Island.

Shockingly, the park wasn't busy at all. I think the longest we waited in line was 40 minutes for Haunted Mansion.

My excitement for the day was that D finally got a pair of Mickey Ears!

So maybe he wore them for this picture, and then I carried them around for the rest of the trip. But he bought them!

The rest of the day went pretty smooth. I only walked away from him once...half seriously.

We wrapped up the night with a great view of the fireworks by chance! At 7:30 we hopped on the Magic Kingdom Railroad and made the last trip around and got off at the Main Street stop. At 7:45, we had made it to the station and decided to stop and rest. Thankfully, we had a PERFECT view of the Main Street Electrical Parade, and Wishes!

That wrapped up our first day at MK! What's next for tomorrow? An even earlier wake up, Uber attempt two, and mysterious fish! I haven't lost the tickets yet

 

[PH7]

Following along!

 

[mandyyyrose]

Day 2: An earlier uber, elephants, and...clash of the egos?

When I said today was an earlier wakeup, it definitely wasn't a lie. I had pre-booked our Backstage Tales Tours for today! Which meant, we had to be at Animal Kingdom at 7:15...which literally is not possible with Disney buses. So Uber it is!

I ordered our Uber somewhere around 6:45 in the morning, which I was really impressed with.
So there we are, D looking ...'normal', and me with my Mickey Ears on, ready to go like...

​

By 6:50, we were on our way to Animal Kingdom! And...there was no one in sight.

​

After strolling up to the gate, the CM very cheerily welcomed me, told me I was the very first guest of the day, and told me...I was 'randomly selected' to go through extra security screening. Seriously?

The tour was strictly no photos backstage, and since a large portion of it takes place backstage, that basically meant no photos.

I loved the tour!

D seemed thoroughly entertained.

It started off with a visit to the African Aviary and then we were taken to the magic back stage world!

We started off our adventure at the Elephant backstage enclosure where we got introduced to one of the elephants.

Then we visited the Rhino enclosure, the tigers, and then the nutrition center.

We also had a snack, and a presentation about the Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund, which was about the work Disney does with Sea Turtles at the Vero Beach Resort.

We finished the tour right about noon-1ish, and we were dropped off right in the middle of Animal Kingdom.

What did the rest of the day have in store? Clash of the egos! And some cute pictures before hand.

P.S. I thought I hated this picture when I first saw it, but now it's one of my favorites...

 

[Sydney2977]

I'm so jealous! One of these days we'll have to do the backstage tales tour too. Wasn't the weather gorgeous? I like that pic too!

 

[mandyyyrose]

Animal Kingdom: Elephants, Ubers, and clash of the egos (continued)

Where I last left off, we were finishing the Back Stage Tales Tour. If you are thinking about it, I would 100% recommend. Small group tours are the best! There were only 5 other people on our tour, and we had two tour guides.

Our tour came to an end around 1130-1145. And we were literally left by ourselves. It was definitely weird not having my parents leading the way! Anyways, we were left off right by Asia (?). Animal Kingdom is the one park that I can't visualize the park in my head...and it's definitely frustrating.

I really wanted to see the Lion King show, so we headed over there for the 12 o'clock show. We got great seats, and I think D actually enjoyed it.

Our fastpasses were for Kilimanjaro Safari, Everest, and Finding Nemo the Musical. Our fastpasses were pretty crammed, so we pretty much ran from one thing to another, to another. D really liked Kilimanjaro Safari, and wanted to know when we're going to do the Wild Africa Trek Tour...so that means he wants to come back!

After the Safari we took the train to Rafaki's Planet Watch, which I hadn't been to in years. I was excited for the 'petting zoo' although I do have to admit, it was kind of a disappointment. I don't have any good pictures from this day, so you can enjoy a picture of me being attacked by pygmy goats at a petting zoo near home...

They had goats at the AK petting zoo, but they weren't nearly this fun.

D really enjoyed seeing the reptiles/creepy things. Definitely not my thing...

After Rafiki's, we headed to Everest for our fastpasses

And yes, my eyes are closed. Everest scares me...

After we watched Nemo it was roughly 4pm, and we decided to head back to the hotel. Our dinner reservations at Disney Springs were at 8, but we both agreed that we needed a nap...

We headed to Disney Springs...and this is where clash of the egos happened.

To be honest...it was literally just lack of sleep, hunger, and mild irritation that got out of hand. Long story short...I almost abandoned D in the World of Disney store. He went out one door, I went out another. He figured the store was small enough we'd find each other eventually...not so much. I just remember being really, really angry.

So angrily we went to dinner. Cause D has learned it's better to feed me than fight me. #smartboy

I was really excited when we got to Rainforest Cafe. It's a tradition that we always go there on our trips. We were seated right next to one of the fish tanks! I like fish, so it was fun to me.

The other nice part of Rainforest is that, I'm kind of a big deal...at least I like to pretend. A few months ago I became a Landry's select club member, which is basically Landry's rewards club (Landry's owns Rainforest, T-Rex, and various other restaurants). Well, the waitress asked us if either of us were members, which is a common question I thought. I was kind of confused when she physically took my card...I was questioning if I did something wrong? After a while she came back, and took our order, and everything proceeded as normal. Except, I still didn't get my card back...

Near the end of our meal, a very well-dressed man came over to our table. He asked me if I was Ms. Amanda, and I nervously said yes. He then introduced himself as Christopher, the manager, and asked if everything was okay. Now, I was really confused. I hadn't complained about anything. He continued to talk, asking us about ourselves, and our trip. I was still super confused. Then I hear the magic words that made everything click "We really appreciate when our Landry's Select Members visit our restaurant, and we wanted to make sure everything is at or exceeded your expectations". While they may do that for all members, I thought it was really nice. The manager personally thanked me for coming, obviously I'm a big deal, right?

Then there's this fish...

This mysterious fish caught my eye. I wanted to know what type of fish it was. Turns out, no one I've met knows. D and I literally spent half of dinner trying to google search what type of fish this is, with no luck. I even asked the aquarium people at epcot, no luck! So this is mysterious mr. fish.

After dinner it was 10ish, so we caught the bus back to our resort, and promptly fell asleep as soon as we got in the room. Thus finished that day.

Up Next: My first flower & garden visit. I haven't lost the tickets yet.

 

[Sydney2977]

Great that D seemed to really like AK- he especially looks like he is having fun on EE! Your picture reminds me of how my son and his girlfriend look when riding rollercoasters. This is them- DS is in the sunglasses, making her put her hand up, but you can see her face is none too happy about that! What is also funny is the couple in front of them looks the same- guy excited, girl terrified!


The "clash of the egos" is funny when you look back on it, right? After over 20 years together, DH and I still can get like that when we haven't been properly fed! Cool that you found a mystery fish too. Looking forward to what you thought of F&G.