One Guy, A Girl, and A service dog: One INCREDIBLE Disney Vacation June 22-28th

[lilmissdisney216]

Hello Fellow DISERS! Its been almost a month since my most magical adventure down to Disney World. It is so hard to believe how amazing the whole trip was, it still feels like a dream. So many magical things happend that its so hard for me to remember them in my mind. What better way to do this than to write a TR. So here it goes!

Chapter 1: You're bringing the dog.........


First off some intros:



Me- Missy (26). I am a HUGE Disney fan!!! My love for the mouse goes back to when I was about 7 years old. My dad worked for GM at the time (aka generous motors as he calls it) and was actually on the team that worked on the original Test Track (he helped design and set up all the computer systems that made the ride run and function). He would fly us down to the World for an amazing vacation that GM would pay for. I always looked forward to going whenever the opportunity presented its self. I had been to Disney in 2007 with my girl scout troop I was in, and then the mother of all trips was in 2011 when I was so very excited to be chosen to be apart of the Disney College Program Internship. I was placed in my dream role, a fairy godmother at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and lived in the world of magic and dreams from February to August. I knew I would be back to the World eventually but just wasn't sure when. Now, I work as an assistant at an orthodontic office and I enjoy training my dogs (my kids if you will). Life has had its challenges for me (battling a severe anxiety/panic disorder, PTSD, and dodging kidney cancer) but now I've seen the bright side of the tunnel.



The Boy- Robert [Rob] (27). On the other side of the spectrum, Rob is a closet Disney fan. Not as open as I am but he really enjoys it. I cannot say how amazing and awesome this guy is. He's truly my prince charming and a dream come true. He has been in the United States Army Reserves for 8 years now and has served one tour of duty in Iraq. I am incredibly proud of everything that he's done and I can't wait to see what the future holds. When not doing Army things, he's an avid Dr Who fan, and works as a licensed practical nurse with pediatric patients. He's more calm and subdued compared to myself but we complement each other well. Having a nurse as a boyfriend can come in very handy (especially since I can be pretty klutzy at times). He's the most genuine and sweet person I have ever met. :swoon:





The Service Dog- Disney (2). Now onto one of the furriest and important piece of our family, Disney. She is a golden retriever and has been a lifesaver for myself (literally). Disney is a former Guide Dog in training that I had raised from 8 weeks old til she was about 1 year old. Unfortunately, not all pups want to take on the lengthy and tedious responsibility of being a guide dog. Disney came back to use about 2 months after I had returned her back to the school. She thoroughly enjoyed being a playful pet until I was diagnosed with severe anxiety/panic disorder and PTSD. It was not too soon after my diagnosis and with extensive work and planning with my medical team, it was decided that having a service dog was necessary in order to mitigate my disability. Now make no mistake, I was very hesitant to have Disney begin service training and work with me. I had fears of how she would react to being in the general public and having to go with me next to everywhere. Pushing my hesitations aside, I began training Disney as my service dog. I have had years of extensive study and work in dog training and have had experience through the guide dog school in my state of training for service work and Disney had had the working experience at the school so it wasn't hard to start building on what she already knew. Then I tailored her tasks to help to mitigate my disability. She has been amazing and our trip to Disney World would be a huge test of our handler/dog relationship. When she isn't working, Disney is a competitive agility dog, member of the Rock n Roll K9's Performance team (look them up on Facebook!), trick dog, and awesome cuddle buddy.


All introductions complete, its time for a run down of our itenarary. We opted to make the drive from Southfield Michigan all the way down to Orlando Florida. I don't mind driving but sometimes the motion will get the best of me. Luckily, we planned to pack as many motion sickness remedies that we could accomodate. Plus, it would be comfortable for me to be able to sleep through the rough spots so I wasn't as focused on my stomach.


Our itenerary was to be as follows


June 21: Leave Southfield around 3PM for Orlando. Drive through most of the night, have dinner in the car, and make stops to refuel. Stop in Tennessee to sleep and then continue on in the early morning hours.

June 22: Drive on into Orlando and arrive at Disney's POP Century Resort around 4 or 5 PM. Check into the room, get settled, and then hop on the bus to explore Downtown Disney. Pick up rapid fill mugs and either dinner or snack at Everything POP (depending on time we arrive back at resort in the evening from DTD).

June 23: Up at around 6AM to prepare for our 7AM ADR at Chef Mickey's. Plan to drive to Contemporary Resort rather than opt for the bus. Disney out to potty around 5:45AM. Head back to POP to explore the grounds and nap before heading to the parks around 5. Have late lunch/early dinner at POP and then head to MK around 545. Use FastPasses for Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, Its a Small World, and Space Mountain. Rider Swap would be needed on Space Mountain for Disney.

June 24: EPCOT for Seas with Nemo and Friends, Living with the Land, and Soarin FastPasses. Rider Swap for Disney on Soarin. Have lunch at Sunshine Seasons. Head back to resort to relax before Teppan Edo dinner ADR.

June 25: Hollywood Studios for Rockin Rollercoaster, Star Tours, and Muppet Vision 3D Fastpasses. Lunch at Pizza Planet and Dinner at 50's Prime Time Cafe.

June 26th: Universal Studios for TNA Impact Wrestling, Breakfast at Art of Animation (AoA), and some personal time on our own wherever we choose. Disney to Best Friends Pet Care for a much deserved day off of relaxation.

June 27: Major park hopping bonanza! (last day!!!) Breakfast at Be Our Guest, Lunch at Coral Reef, and Dinner at Biergarten. Fireworks at either EPCOT or MK. Main Street Electrical Parade and EMH at MK. Head back to resort to pack and prepare for departure.

June 28th: Check out, head to DTD for last day shopping, on the road by 3 to head home to Michigan.


Whew!!! I'm tired just remembering everything that went on during that vacation! It sure was a alot, but it was worth it.


Now one thing unique to this trip was the fact that we would be travelling with a service dog. It sounds so easy, but it can be a bit complicated. First off, it was very important that we chose a resort that would have plenty of room for Rob, Disney, and myself to co exist comfortably in our room with out wanting to kill one another. Secondly, we planned most of our fastpass experiences so that we wouldn't be in the parks during heat of the day when Disney would risk burns to the paws or heat exhaustion. Lots of water and a misting fan proved to be our best friends on several of our vacation days. Lastly, we had to attempt to plan and figure out the ride swaps and figure out which attractions would have a crate for her to wait in should both of us want to ride. The perk of having a car while we were there is that we had the option to drive to the parks if we wanted an early escape and didn't want to wait for the bus or if we wanted to explore off property. Besides, we had planned to do TNA at Universal and that proved to be much easier with the car.

Let me just say, Disney went above and beyond when it came to accomodating my service dog. They did an amazing job of asking if we needed anything, bringing her water to drink, offering towels when it got a bit damp one day, and some other special magical moments that we didn't see coming. They were outstanding.


So first chapter is complete. Please let me know what you all think! Updates coming soon!


xoxo Missy, Rob, and Disney Service Dog

P.S. You can follow Disney's adventure to WDW and her other adventures on her FaceBook page. Search for Disney Service Dog and you will find her (her profile photo is the one featured in this chapter of my TR). Thanks friends!! She thanks you too!!!

**MOD: you can close my PTR thread on the PTR board thank you!!!

 

[TCB in FLA]

Can't wait to read more! How perfect that Disney is going to Disney!

 

[mamamary]

Looking forward to the rest of your trip. Disney is adorable.

 

[elizabethswan]

great start to your trip report. looking forward to updates!

 

[lilmissdisney216]

So I figured now is as good a time as ever to write another installment of my TR!! thank you to all whom have joined in on the wonderful journey.

Chapter 2: You scheduled what??!!!

So after much planning and packing, we had finally come upon the day before we were to leave for Florida. Ironically enough it was also the same weekend as the annual Detroit Kennel Club Dog Show. Disney and I were scheduled to perform with the Rock n Roll K9s on Saturday and Sunday (departure day). I was hoping that everything would work out timing wise to make sure we would be on the road as planned.

After being on the team for about 3 years now, we have become pros at packing for these shows. And logistically all I would have to do was leave Disney's crate in the car and all of her things, pack mine and Rob's things and then head out for Florida.

Smoothly went Saturday and Disney and I headed home exhausted and ready for the next day. The big day.

Dog show Sunday approached and we had an early call time of 545AM at the Showplace. Ugh, it was going to be a loooooong day.

Remember when I mentioned that I wanted to try and make it out of the show (packed up and ready to leave) by at least 3PM. Unfortunately I found out that due to our performances ending at 3PM and Best in Show not being announced until 530, the team trailer could not be pulled in until afterwards. And per team rules, you do the show, you stay to tear down. Looks like we were stuck.

So I communicated with Rob and let him know that we wouldn't be leaving til perhaps 6 or 7. He wasn't too pleased.

After an exhausting show day, we were on our way home to head to Disney World. After calming down a rather grouchy Rob, we were able to pack up the car, dog and all, and manage to take the world's fastest shower. We said goodbye to my mom and my little pup and headed out onto the road. We had planned to make it to Tennessee by around 3AM to rest and then continue onto Florida.

Now after the dog show, you could say I was pretty exhausted. But to make matters even worse, I was coming down with a bit of a combination of stomach bug and a major allergy attack. Rob made sure I was settled in as comfortably as possible in the car and then proceeded to make sure I had my allergy meds and motion sickness meds. Needless to say I was out like a light for the next 11 or so hours. When I woke up, we had stopped somewhere that I had no idea where we were. Apparently we were somewhere in Kentucky. He ran Disney out to potty and I got out to stretch my legs a bit. After a few more hours, we were stopped in Tennessee at a secure rest area so that we were able to sleep. Once up, the sun was beginning to rise and it was time to refuel, feed and water Disney, and get one last stretch before pushing onto Florida. We were getting so close that I was getting excited!!!




/\ Disney and the Tennessee mountains at dawn.

Some dog show shots:





Disney as Glinda the Goodwitch



Figured I'd keep it short and simple tonight. Had an exhausting day at work and having some major allergy issues. More to come!

xoxo Missy, Disney, and Rob

 

[Sailormoon2]

This TR has made me sooo happy! I can't believe you just made reading about Disney a million times better by including my #1 favorite thing in the whole world DOGS!!!

 

[cajunfan]

Awww...can't wait to hear more! Disney is a cutie pie! (so are you guys, lol!) Following Disney on FB!
Lynn

 

[luckylady]

I'm in. What a cute couple you are and Disney, love her name, is a beauty.

 

[Hardheadedwoman]

Oh my gosh, I think this is the first trip report I read with a dog! (That's my baby Hobart on my profile photo!)

Following along! So happy to hear you've overcome so many obstacles - can't wait to read about your adventures at WDW!

Lissette

 

[AKL_Princess]

Can't wait to read more of your adventure in WDW with Disney!

 

[lilmissdisney216]

Thank you so much everyone for the amazing words!!! And thanks for joining in!!!! Figured that now is as good a time as any to continue the TR!

Chapter 3: Krystal,Orange Juice, and Welcome Homes.

Now given the last chapter we were in the mountains of Tennessee, we were getting closer to the incredibly lengthy "you're almost to Disney but not quite" state, Georgia. Now don't get me wrong, Georgia is one gorgeous state, but honestly, it feels like you drive through there forever! I was however incredibly excited because two of my favorite things are down south: Chic Fil A and Krystal Burgers!

I was beyond geeked to see an exit with a Chic Fil A and I instantly perked up at the thought of having chic n minis for breakfast (for those of you that have not experienced the delicious journey, they are mini biscuits with sort of a popcorn chicken piece in between it. have it with ketchup and it is yum o!!!.) So after my excitement spree and because Rob was sick of hearing me squeal over chic fil a, I finally convinced him to get off the freeway and stop for breakfast.

Now I bet you guys are wondering "what did you do with Disney?". Simple, since she's a service dog, she goes with me everywhere (with the exception of work, still haven't quite figured out the logistics with that one just yet). I was a bit worried because we have never worked out of our own home state before and trust me, the fear of being denied access was lingering. I swallowed as much of that fear that I could, got Disney in her "gear" and headed with Rob into the restaurant.

Surprisingly, no access issues whatsoever! Disney was on her best behavior and we were able to get our breakfast very quickly and get back on the road. We were getting ever so close to WDW that I was tingling with excitement!!

After about a few more hours and refueling again, we grabbed a quick lunch at my favorite southern burger joint, Krystal. Krystal is very similar to white castle for anyone who is familiar but they are super yummy!!! At this point, I had decided to throw the whole "I'm gonna diet I swear" mantra out the window and I splurged for the 2 cheeseburgers, large fry, and pop combo. It was totally worth it!!! Plus what is a trip without a few selfies!!!???!!!??



/\ what a ham!

As we got closer and closer to the Florida border, I was feeling a bit better than before with the whole motion sickness deal and decided to switch drivers with Rob once we made it to the Florida Welcome Center. I had heard about the free orange juice and was determined to have a cup. After all, its Florida fresh!

Nothing can describe the level of excitement that was building inside of me when I began seeing that we were getting closer and closer to the Sunshine State. I was so anxious (in a good way) and excited to get our vacation going! Pretty soon, we were across the Florida state border and were headed to the welcome center!!! Thank goodness!!!!! :woohoo And for Disney's sake, she was ready to spend more time not in her crate in the car.

The welcome center was super nice!!! Really clean and air conditioned (ahhhhh) and they even had cookies for Disney to have. She thanked them of course! Of course nothing could have prepared us for the Sugar Ray Leonard punch of the century that is the Florida humidity. WHOA!!! I had forgotten how strong that was!!!! None the less, we had cold orange juice to get to and a photo to take with the Welcome to Florida sign.




/\ super cute little cups for the orange juice!

After doing stereotypical tourist things, we made a driver switch and I proceeded to drive the rest of the way to the resort. We were making excellent time and we were expected to pull into POP around 4:30/5PM. We had planned to just grab a snack or a light dinner once we got there and use the night to get settled in and explore downtown Disney. Pretty easy night.

After about 4 hours or so of driving, we started to see the Disney World exit signs. The anticipation was building as I waited for a first glimpse of the gates.




10 miles........






4 miles.........







0.5 miles.........






YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After 22 hours and Lord knows how many stops, we had made it!!!! I felt like I had just won a car on the Price is Right! I could hardly believe that we had finally made it. I had chills and excitement radiating through my body and I could hardly wait to see POP Century again!

Since I'm a nostalgia freak, I felt right at home at POP. I love the shadow boxes, the fun themed things to do, and the theming is out of this world! POP is one of my favorite Disney Resorts!!!

We pulled into POP and parked in check in parking. Disney was so curious about everything going on around her but despite all the excitement, she kept her cool and went into work mode instantly.

Before we left home, I took the liberty of doing online check in to save us some time once we arrived at the resort. I put in our room requests (ground floor;landscape view) and made sure to have a phone number so if our room wasn't ready, we could be reached. The check in process was smooth sailing and the CM's were in awe over having a dog named Disney at Disney. It was also her birthday and first visit so they made sure to outfit her with a first visit and birthday button! Too cute!



/\ Waiting to get checked in (cameo apperence by Rob's foot on the left)

Once we had checked in, verified the card for room charges, verified dining plan credits, and recieved our room assigI nment, we headed back to the car to drive over to our home away from home for the next 5 days.

We were assigned to the 50's section room 1133. The location was perfect! We had views of the beautiful greenery outside our window/door and it was quiet! It was super nice for not only myself and Rob, but also for Disney. Rob pulled the car up and started to unload the luggage and Disney's crate. I made my way into our room to start figuring out room configuration with the crate and to allow Disney to check it out. We ended up having two beds in our room so we covered the extra bed with sheets we had brought from home so Disney could have the other bed to chill during our down time. She generally gravitated to her crate but she did have fun jumping between the beds. Silly girl...

After getting settled in, we got our vacation going. We parked the car in the lot and headed to the bus stop to catch the bus to DTD. Now as you may remember, Disney is an owner trained service dog. And as part of her training, the idea is to expose her to as many different things as possible. Each new thing or task we work on gets logged as part of her training log. Looking back at her log, I did not recall ever riding a bus with her. This worried me because she had never experience a bus ride and having to lay out of the way on the bus or even the noises a bus can make. I couldn't be too worried because then Disney would have picked up on it and she may have been hesitant. After some reassurance from Rob and from Disney, we got in line for the bus. Once it pulled up, the bus driver got out and pointed at us and said "come this way ma'am, you and the dog can get on first". I really appreciated this as it allowed me time to get Disney situated and comfortable before we headed to DTD. Even though we were loaded first, we took a seat at the back of the bus to try and practice her tuck.

Tuck, in service dog terms, is a command I give to Disney when she needs to be in a down stay in a tight space (i.e. under a bench, chair, bus seat, etc). It keeps her out of the way of others but still able to access me if needed. We had a tight space to work with but without any hesitation, she tucked like a pro.



Once settled into the bus and everyone was on board, we headed to downtown disney. My first place to stop was World of Disney. Back when I was a cast member, I worked in WOD at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique as a Fairy Godmother In Training and I was excited to get back to see everything. It was still as magical as when I worked there. Wishes being granted, pixie dust and hairspray were in the air, and the Fairy Godmothers were helping make Princesses dreams come true. I figured, what better way to start off our magical vacation than with a bit of pixie dust! (DISCLAIMER: I do have photos of Disney being pixie dusted but they are on our photo pass and I'm ordering the CD soon). We had to get Disney pixie dusted and I had a special wish I had to make. Rob and I have been together for about 3 years now, and we had had talks of marriage on the horizon but have no idea when the proposal was going to happen. I wished and hoped it would happen at some point during our vacation. HOw awesome would that be! But alas, only time would be the judge.

After pixie dusting and hearing Rob grumble about "glitter being everywhere :eyeroll:" we ventured outside to where there was a dance party going on at the center stage. The party was super fun and it was cool to see everyone just having a blast! We met a couple whom were sitting on the bench next to us from Michigan and they had raised guide dog puppies for the same school that Disney and my first puppy Daisy were from. I was excited to have a conversation with them and they were super nice! Disney did well with all the noise and commotion of the dance party. Nothing phased her and she was even a pro with laying on the ground that had been littered with some popcorn and a left over piece of a churro. Not one piece of these foods was eaten by my pup. WTG DIsney girl!

Once we had had enough of the dance party, Rob and I were feeling hungry and Disney needed to potty. We ventured over to the West Side to find her a potty spot and contemplate what to do for dinner. We found a relief area by Raglan Road that was grassy and cool. Disney took care of what she needed without wasting time adn then she was ready to go.

Being the spontaneous couple that we are, I had mentioned to Rob that the movie theater in DTD is a dine in movie theater. You order your food right at your seat and they bring it to you. He was intrigued and figured we should give it a try. This was to be the one meal that we had planned that is not covered on our dining plan. Now the dillema came as far as what to go see. Since we are both kids at heart, we voted to see Inside Out in 3D. We got the perfect seats in the accessible row and there was plenty of space for Disney to lay out and be comfy as we were the only ones seated in that row. We ordered our meals (Rob opted for a burger with french fries and I went for a chicken penne alfredo pasta with a side of garlic bread). The food was delicious and the fact that we literally had dinner and a movie made it better. Inside Out was really good! Very cute and will keep you laughing. Rob and I were in tears a few times!

After the movie, we decided to call it a night. We had early breakfast ressies the next morning at Chef Mickey's and we needed to be up by about 530 to allow us to have plenty of time before our 7AM ADR. We headed back to the resort with me making a quick pit stop at Everything POP to use my first snack credit. Everyone had been raving about the tie dye cheesecake and I was determined to have this bit of heaven in a cup.

O...M.....G....... that cake.....WAS AMAZING!!! perfectly creamy and rich.Yum!!!!




/\ So mom...where's mine?


We headed to bed, with visions of Mickey Waffles dancing in our heads. What a great first evening!

Some snapshots from the day:






This concludes chapter 3! Hang on tight! There's more to come!! !

xoxo Missy, Disney, and Rob

 

[Sailormoon2]

Disney is so sweet. What a good girl, to just follow along all these new adventures with no hassle.

 

[sweetpea29488]

Can't wait to hear more

 

[luckylady]

Oh m lord 22 hour drive! I won't complain about nine anymore. Great first day. Can't wait for more.

 

[lilmissdisney216]

Once again, thank you thank you for all the kind words. Time for another chapter.

Chapter 4: Its time to party! Isn't it?

So today is a big day for us all, we were finally going to Chef Mickey's Character Breakfast. This would be Disney's first time meeting the man in charge, Mickey Mouse. I was incredibly excited to get some shots of her with the fab five and I was excited to see them as well. Per the usual, Rob was looking forward to the food.

We woke up very early for our breakfast reservation (about 5:45) so that I would have plenty of time to potty Disney, shower, and get ready for the day. We had planned to arrive at the Contemporary around 6:45 for us to get checked in and have our photo taken. Since we were driving, we planned to head back to the resort after breakfast and explore a bit while chilling out (literally) before our late afternoon/early evening fastpass reservations. Once we had everything taken care of, we loaded up and headed to the Contemporary.

We arrived right on time as planned and were shuffled over to have our photo taken. It came out super adorable adn we all ended up looking at the camera. Amazing!

Once we had gotten our photo taken we headed in to be seated pretty quickly. I was LOVING the atmosphere and the energy in the room. I was so excited for the Mickey Waffles! We got seated at our table, got our drinks, and headed up to the buffet.

Now I had heard mixed reviews about the food at Chef Mickey's from those that have said it was delicious to those thinking the food was poor at best. Rob and I loved it! They had everything we could have wanted and more. Of course I had to get some Mickey Waffles and the cheesy potatoes were to die for! Super yummy!




MMMMMMM Delish!!!

We had just started our meal when the man himself made his way to our table! Mickey! DIsney was super excited to see Mickey and he was happy to see her too!! She got some lovin from him and a few photos didn't hurt either.




Yay Mickey!


After Mickey had been by our table, he was followed by Donald, Minnie, Goofy, and mine (and Disney's favorite), Pluto!

Pluto was super fun with interacting with Disney, she was giving him tons of kisses and got into a play bow a few times. Wish we could have visited with him longer.

After our breakfast, we decided to head upstairs to the monorail station to explore some of the resorts on the line. Our first stop was the gorgeous Grand Floridian. Simply beautiful. We didn't spend much time here because of how stuffed we were, we were practically waddling about!

We mutually decided to head back to the monorails and head to the car to get into the air conditioning to relax. BOarding the monorail was no issue. Until the captain came on the loudspeaker saying that they were having a system reboot due to an issue with the system. Just fine, we would be on our way in about a few minutes. No problem.












10 minutes later



We were still sitting in the Grand Floridian station with no air conditioning and no forward motion. Still waiting on another system reboot.







30 mins later


We finally began moving! Yay! It was getting a little toasty in there. Boy were we pleased to have the AC back on and finally be moving towards our destination. Rob was a bit grouchy that we had sat on the monorail for so long. On the other hand, we had had a super yummy breakfast so that made up for his crabbiness.

Besides, no such thing as crabby when you have this cute face to look at.

Finally we got back to the car and headed back to POP for a much needed nap and rest in the AC. Disney was so tired that she just hopped onto "her" bed and didn't even let me take her leash and vest off. I guess its true that you just let sleeping dogs lie.





That's all for now friends! More to come soon!


xoxo Missy, DIsney, and Rob

 

[stitchfan75]

I am loving your trip report! We have 4 Goldens like Disney where I work. They have made such a difference with our patients and staff! It's hard to have a bad day around them!

 

[Bubbenstein]

A little late but joining in!

What a sweet dog! Love the picture of Disney with the Lady statue

 

[allybabba98]

I am really enjoying your TR so far!! What a lovely dog Disney is. I am interested how all the kids did with Disney? It would be a great experience for kids to realize that he is working and for parents to have that conversation with their kids. Looking forward to reading more.

 

[Sailormoon2]

Disney and Mickey is just too precious

 

[ArwenMarie]

I love seeing your dog in all of these Disney places! He's just too cute.