A great, big, beautiful vacation! December 2014 (updated 2/8)

[stephaniesnyder]

Disney World in December​

Hi everyone and welcome to my first trip report. I've been back from Disney for a little over a month now and the post Disney depression has set in. So I thought I would start my first ever trip report to relive the magic. We were at Disney World on December 11th and stayed until December 19th. We took advantage of the free dining promotion and stayed at Caribbean Beach Resort. This was my husband and I's third trip to the world. We actually got engaged at Hollywood Studios in December 2010 at the Osborne Lights. So Disney World in December is our favorite time of year to visit. My family had never been to Disney World and I begged them to come this time to see what Disney was all about. In all, there were 6 of us on this trip. Me (Stephanie), my husband Phill, my mom Pat, my dad Bob, my brother Jeff, and his girlfriend Bekah.

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So let's get this trip started!

 

[stephaniesnyder]

Table of Contents​

Day 1: December 11, 2014
We're Going to Disney World Today!
A Wild Place to Eat

 

[stephaniesnyder]

We're Going to Disney World Today!​

Well today is the big day. We were headed to the happiest place on Earth. We live about 3 hours from the airport, so my husband and I decided to spend the night before near the airport. We're not morning people, but on this day we couldn't wait to get up. We had to say goodbye to our sweet dog before heading off to the airport, which is never easy for me. I always feel so guilty leaving him behind when we go on vacation. How could I not with a face like that?!

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After we said goodbye to our doggy, we were off to the airport. We met my parents, Jeffrey, and Bekah there. Our flight was leaving at 10:15am, so we got to the airport around 8:00am. Once we got through security we headed straight to Jamba Juice for breakfast. Everyone got a smoothie and then we were on our way to the gate.

To be completely honest, I am not the best at flying. I am terrified of it really. I can’t explain why, but every time I have to fly I get super nervous. So by this point in the morning I was a nervous wreck. I just kept thinking that as soon as I get the flight over and done with, we’ll be in Disney.

We flew on Southwest. I absolutely love flying with them. They are always so friendly and it helps put me at ease about flying. Our flight was a little over 3 hours long. I watched Tangled and Frozen on my iPad to pass the time.

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We landed around 3:40pm and I could not wait to get to the Magical Express area. I had been listening to the Magical Express music loop on YouTube for months to get pumped up about the trip. So I was excited to hear it in person again. By the time we got to the Magical Express area it was about 4:20pm.

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It did not take long at all for us to board a Magical Express bus. It was about 5 minutes.

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I was so excited to be on that bus. I couldn’t believe we were going back to Disney and I was going with my family that had never been before. We grabbed a seat and watched the Disney cartoons that were playing on the TV’s. Then we waited and waited and waited some more. I was starting to get a little nervous about the time because we had an ADR to get to at Downtown Disney.

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I think we waited around 20 minutes until the bus finally left. I don’t think I looked out the window the entire drive. I was too focused on the video they were playing on the bus. It just makes me so excited to just get to Disney and see everything for myself.

We stopped at Yacht Club, Beach Club, and Boardwalk before stopping at Caribbean Beach. I was really starting to stress about the time. When we finally got to Caribbean Beach, it was around 5:45pm. I was really hoping we could be at a bus stop to go to Downtown Disney by 6:00pm. We were cutting it really close.

We arrived to the Customs House and checked in. The CM’s were super friendly. We had booked a room only reservation for our first night. I booked the package to start on December 12th. It was the only way to get the free dining. So I was really hoping that they wouldn’t make us switch rooms the next morning and luckily we were not going to have to. I requested to be in the Jamaica area and close to transportation. They met all of my requests. So I was really happy about that. After checking in, we went straight to our room to drop off our carryon bags. We didn’t even get a chance to really explore before we were off to dinner.

Up Next: A Wild Place to Eat​

 

[stephaniesnyder]

A Wild Place to Eat​

After dropping our carryon bags off in our rooms and taking a quick look around, we headed towards the bus stop. I really loved our room location. It was about a 2 minute walk to the bus stop. It was really convenient. Unfortunately, since we were in such a rush I didn’t get any pictures of our rooms or the resort. If you’re interested in seeing some Caribbean Beach pictures you can view some here. We did get refurbished rooms. They were really nice and clean. I was very impressed by our first impression of the resort.

We had to wait for about 20 minutes for a bus to Downtown Disney. I was really worried that we would be late for our ADR. There was nothing I could do about it though so I tried to not get too stressed. A bus finally arrived around 6:30pm. So we had 30 minutes to make it to our destination. We were headed to Rainforest Café!

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Phill and I always eat at Rainforest Café on our arrival nights when we go to Disneyland or Disney World. It’s our tradition. We love the atmosphere at Rainforest Café. It’s so fun to see all of the fish tanks. We have also had great food here every time we go. It’s a little pricey, but everything is pricey at Disney World.


Once the bus stopped at Downtown Disney, we literally ran to Rainforest Café. We got there a couple of minutes after 7:00pm. We checked in at the elephant and only had to wait about 5 minutes before we were seated. Phill and I ordered the BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger. It was really good.

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After dinner, we walked around Rainforest Café and watched a few thunderstorms. If you unfamiliar with Rainforest Café, every 30 minutes there is a thunderstorm and all of the animals move and make noise. There is also thunder and lightning inside the restaurant. There are also huge fish tanks throughout the restaurant to view.

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Once we finished dinner, we did a little bit of sightseeing around Downtown Disney. We didn’t stay out too much longer though. We had an early morning ahead of us.

Up Next: Animal Kingdom​