"That Little Girl is Judging Me"- A Mother/Daughter TR

[Sam33]

If you're looking for a trip report to reinforce your feelings that Disney is going downhill you've come to the wrong place! This was my best trip yet. The food was magnificent, the magic bands and FP+ was awesome for us and it was my first trip where I knew exactly when I would be back. A recipe for success!

The cast for this trip was me and my mother. NO HUSBANDS ALLOWED! We left that at home for some quality girl time. Our last trip (and my mom's first) was SUPPOSED to be her only trip until I pop out some kids for her to take back to the World later. But she couldn't resist the magic and it was her idea that we must go back! My dad has only been once, in the 70's when he was in college and was quite whiny when he realized he would not be invited. My husband loves Disney World but isn't obsessed, he was fine with waiting until next year (he also just got a brand new big boy job and doesn't have vacation days yet! ).


So that's how we got here. We went to the World April 8th-April 13th and we stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge (OMG how beautiful is this place? How am I ever supposed to stay anywhere else?) with a pool view booked.
This is me:

(In honor of the Stanley Cup Playoffs starting today, and my Avs FINALLY being back in, I have opted to use this photo instead of the usual "here's me in Disney World" photo. GO AVS)
I am hockey crazed and Disney obsessed and I save a small sliver of my heart reserved for the Broncos. I do quality control for a local fast food place here in Denver and work a day or two a week at Barnes & Nobles. It is impossible for me to pick a favorite park. Every time I enter a park it becomes my new favorite (MAKE WORK YER FAVORITE-/Elf). If you forced me to pick a favorite ride I would lament for hours between Soarin, Haunted Mansion, Splash and Tower of Terror. And then I would settle on Star Tours! (I can't help it, my husband looks like Luke Skywalker). I also love Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, Frozen, Beauty and the Beast, and Jungle Book (don't ask me to pick just one)


This is mom!

She's a kindergarten teacher turned 1st grade teacher this year. She had a bit of a rough transition so this trip was pretty necessary. She loves all the parks as well, but would probably lean towards Animal Kingdom. And she LOVES Haunted Mansion and the Nemo ride. But if you ask her she will probably just list every ride as her favorite! She loves all Disney movies just like me, but her absolute favorite is The Little Mermaid



So join us for an obnoxiously optimistic trip report in which we have a great time and love everything about it (well, almost everything... )


​

April 8th/Part 1
April 8th/Part 2
April 8th/Part 3
April 8th/Part 4
April 8th/Part 5
April 8th/Part 6
April 9th/Part 1
April 9th/Part 2
April 9th/Part 3
April 9th/Part 4
April 9th/Part 5
April 9th/Part 6
April 9th/Part 7
April 10th/Part 1
April 10th/Part 2
April 10th/Part 3
April 10th/Part 4
April 11th/Part 1
April 11th/Part 2
April 11th/Part 3

 

[hellotoyou]

Looking forward to your review!!

 

[Sam33]

Looking forward to your review!!

Thanks for joining in!

 

[Sam33]

If you're wondering how long it takes to upload 487 pictures to Photobucket, it's approximately 7 hours! The excitement to get through your travel day in a TR and get to the beef of the trip report mirrors the actual trip pretty good so now that the uploading is complete; here we go.

The excitement leading up to this trip was unlike any other. I hadn't had an unusually stressful year and Denver had a mild winter compared to the rest of the country. My yearning to get to Disney World more than any previous trip was inexplicable, but here we are!

We had worked tirelessly to find the earliest flight out of Denver as possible. It was looking like getting to Orlando early was out of luck until we finally found a nice 7AM take off time. I can tell you this with certainty, I have never been more awake at 4:30AM as I was on April 8th. Disney day was here!



I had decided to stay at my parents house the night before. They lived about 30 minutes closer to the airport than I did and my work was much closer to their house as well. So I headed to work Monday morning with my bags packed. The husband would be working so late that it would be past my bedtime by the time he came home, so going home after work to say goodbye would be pointless.

I had had the wakeup plan ready for months. We would be staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge, so what better way to wake up than with "Circle of Life"? I set my alarm for 4:30 and I was so dang excited for my alarm to go off.


I woke up on my own at 4:27. Whatever brain. You win this one. I canceled the alarm and snuck into my mom's room and blared "Circle of Life" at her. She was fairly nonchalant about it but the cat freaked out.

We headed to the airport super early. We both get anxious. Not about flying, just about getting places. We grabbed some bagels and after about an hour and a half of hanging out at the gate it was time to board! We were flying Southwest but paid for early boarding and got a nice spot in the 2nd row

We usually don't do carry ons and there's nothing worse than finally landing in Orlando and sitting at the gate while everyone in front of you takes their time getting off so this was a big deal.


What's a flight to Disney without a super obnoxious child within earshot?
I can happily say that this was the ONLY child the entire week that annoyed me whatsoever (I think my womb is ready). Crying kids, whining kids, you name it. All adorable this time around. But this kid...wow. He had one of those moms that just refused to follow through with any punishment. And he had a REALLY hard time realizing that his headphones didn't mean he needed to scream.
I went ahead and paid for some wi-fi to watch Netflix on my Nook. That was really the only reason I wanted wi-fi. And of course Netflix was down. The internet worked perfectly but Netflix was just not working

A waste of $8.99 later, we were landing in Orlando!

It was POURING RAIN. We weren't too worried. The forecast had the rain stopping about the time we were intending on arriving in the parks. And if the weather app had anything to say about it, it would be the only rain of the week. We can deal.
We practically ran to the Magic Express and used our bands for the first time. They worked perfectly and we were soon on a glorious bus to the promised land of magic.




We were the last stop. Which basically just means more Mickey cartoons. I'm a sucker for Disney history, so classic Mickey cartoons are my favorite. They played the one where Chip and Dale shoot acorns with hockey shaped twigs at Donald and it's awesome.

We finally got to our destination, starving and ready for some magic.
We were greeted my a Cast Member right outside the bus with an iPad and she led us in to sit on one of the glorious AKL lobby couches.

Sooooo Animal Kingdom Lodge is kind of amazing...







Like, this is a hotel? Not a palace of some sort?

Anyway, she checks us in and tells us where our room is and I immediately notice something. We paid for a pool view and that room is not by the pool. In fact it's super far from the pool. In fact it's on a Savannah.
Free upgrade. What up.



We had seriously debated paying for a Savannah view. In fact, we had booked it and then changed it. The money we were saving by switching would have paid for ALL our food, drinks and souvenirs.
And our view was AWESOME. I spent the whole time wondering what everyone else was looking at because it seemed like all the animals were right out side our balcony every time we were in there! We lucked out.

We then decided if we ever stayed here we would for sure be paying the extra money. So worth it.


Up next; the room, the view and off to Epcot!

 

[Nairnyn]

I LOVE obnoxious optimism! I'm in!

 

[Sam33]

I LOVE obnoxious optimism! I'm in!

Yay!
I was just so anxious before this trip because of all the negative stuff about the new system. We had such a fabulous time I just have to share!

 

[Sam33]

When I last left off we had just realized our room had been upgraded and we were freaking out. We pretty much ran to the room to see. The happy anxiety had vanquished our hunger (which was A+ for me. I SO wanted to hold off on our first Disney food until we got to Epcot)!

In addition to the extra savings we got by switching, we were also worried we would be enslaved by the room and feel like we had to stay there to get our money's worth instead of doing whatever we wanted. Turns out we had to force ourselves to leave the room! THE VIEW WAS AMAZING. We were on the Sunset Savannah and shared living arrangements with 5 giraffes, 6 zebras and dozens of various birds, antelope, cattle and ostriches.



We thought this was amazing. Until later on in the week and this right here turned out to be the least animal-y afternoon of the trip! They LOVED that watering hole right there.





I needed a picture. You can definitely tell that my hair is not used to moisture whatsoever!







This was the only picture I got of our room! We were just too mesmerized by the animals.



Up next is a rainy, beautiful afternoon in the World Showcase!

 

[Sam33]

When we finally drug ourselves away from the animals, it was time to go to Epcot!
We had ZERO plans aside from a FP at Test Track. Initially we had an ADR at Chefs de France scheduled. But we decided we would much rather have no plans whatsoever and nothing to worry about missing! If we got a margarita, rode Test Track, and got to see Illuminations tonight would be considered a success.


The bus was waiting for us when we got there and we hopped on to a practically empty bus. I decided to time the trip because I had heard how far AKL is from everything and was curious if it was a large enough difference to keep me from recommending it again. It took approximately ten minutes. Not bad at all.

When we got there it was POURING. We put our hoods up and pressed onwards to World Showcase! First things first, we were starving. It was about 3:30 in the afternoon and we didn't want a full meal but there was no way we were making it to dinner. We hadn't eaten since 6:30 AM Denver time.

Where else could we go other than La Cava de Tequila?! I had been craving an avocado margarita since our trip in 2012 and there was no way I would be leaving Epcot this night without one. I have the recipe and it's decent at home, but something about enjoying it in the damp pyramid with some chips and guac just can't be recreated in my apartment!

Mom got the Pineapple margarita and I got the Avocado



We also went with the trio. Chips with Queso, Guac and salsa. It was quite overpriced but still delicious and hit the spot perfect. The Guac was nice and creamy, I usually make mine chunky at home. And the queso there is pretty much the only queso I like! I don't think we even tried the salsa.


(The salsa is off to the side)



Mom's margarita was amazing. It was pretty sweet but the chili powder on the rim contrasted perfectly! And my avocado was your typical la Cava margarita. Smooth and melon-y! (also, they made it fresh. I've seen reports that people have been getting pre-made ones)

The servings were quite large as well. We didn't finish it and had plenty of chips, guac and queso left when we exited the restaurant!

We shopped around the pavilion a while (I'll spare you the awful dark photos that my camera thinks are acceptable) and finished our margaritas (they're quite large )
You can't leave the Mexico Pavilion without visiting the 3 Caballeros! Donald Duck is BY FAR my favorite of the fab 5. He's simply delightful. Mexico boat ride is pretty much a must do for me. I love it. Especially when the animatronic children are playing with a Donald shaped pinata!

When we were ready to move on, we were pleased to see the rain had stopped! I had to make up for my lack of picture taking on the way in, so I hope you like pictures of China.

PONCHO CENTRAL




Me and my cute rain hair








Mom also looking fabulous in the rain






Also, this cracked me up..
















We stopped in the Stave Church to look at the Frozen display but it started to get crowded and I'm quite claustrophobic!

Isn't Pumba's bottom adorable!







Up next: more World Showcase, dinner, and my first ride on the new Test Track!

 

[LindseyLou2222]

And now I want to stay at AKL! Looks amazing!!

 

[Sam33]

And now I want to stay at AKL! Looks amazing!!

I don't know how I'll be able to stay somewhere else next trip! It was perfect

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Joining - Sounds like a fun trip!

I liked your line about your brain winning as far as you waking up just before the alarm went off ... also, scaring cats is always fun

"We headed to the airport super early. We both get anxious. Not about flying, just about getting places." I am the exact same way - just get nervous/anxious about travel working out and always get to airports and stuff waaaaay earlier than needed.

Yeah for free upgrade! And, yeah, I guess AKL is kinda ok, I mean, if you don't normally have giraffes and what not out your window

Ah the Avocado Margarita!!!!

(I do keep going back and forth between that one and the jalapeño one)

Ah yes, the Mexican It's a Small World is a must do!

great start!

 

[Sam33]

Joining - Sounds like a fun trip!

I liked your line about your brain winning as far as you waking up just before the alarm went off ... also, scaring cats is always fun

"We headed to the airport super early. We both get anxious. Not about flying, just about getting places." I am the exact same way - just get nervous/anxious about travel working out and always get to airports and stuff waaaaay earlier than needed.

Yeah for free upgrade! And, yeah, I guess AKL is kinda ok, I mean, if you don't normally have giraffes and what not out your window

Ah the Avocado Margarita!!!!

(I do keep going back and forth between that one and the jalapeño one)

Ah yes, the Mexican It's a Small World is a must do!

great start!

Thanks for joining in! I'm 99% sure I lurked through your oo-de-lally TR. I'm a sucker for Robin Hood. It drew me in, hah!


And yeah, We have lots of zebras here in Denver. We kept our cool. No big deal, zebras.

I have yet to taste the Jalapeno one. I'm petrified of hot food haha. I am going to force my husband to get it next year, though. I'm so dang curious

 

[saintstickets]

Subbing in! Great start to your TR....more please!

 

[Sam33]

Subbing in! Great start to your TR....more please!

THANKS! I'm doing more please right now. I have to do SOMETHING between now and the playoffs tonight. Driving myself insane

 

[Sam33]

Time for some more World Showcase! This is just, by far, our favorite way to spend our arrival day. Don't have to worry about lines being long by the afternoon, plenty of cocktails and just easy going. Mom was NOT feeling well after Mexico. After we left we soon realized she just had to burp. Crisis averted.

Last trip, I was sick the entire time. We later discovered that I'm allergic to brewer's yeast and as my go-to beverage is beer, I was sick the whole time. I was SO looking forward to not being sick this trip. So having a scare this early in the trip was almost a disaster. Mom would end up having a wicked cough the whole trip but she was able to push through it most of the time!

With the gases safely burped out of our stomach we continued on through to Germany.

Now, I hope you like pictures of World Showcase because between Germany and France we did nothing but walk around and take pictures. I also went to the bathroom about 7 times (had to help mom finish her margarita as well) but as we don't really need to go into those details...

(EXCEPT WE DO, can we talk about how nice the American Pavilion restrooms are? )



Mom is 100% German and really enjoys this window for some reason. We never made it in despite it being one of my few goals for the trip but stopping outside is enough right?


DO YOU REMEMBER THAT EPISODE OF FULL HOUSE! I just can't look at this and not think about Danny and Vicky and the oompa band







Me and Grumpy share a lot of views on life. Not in Disney World of course.


MY FAVORITE PAL KERMY! He single-handedly motivated me to learn the banjo. True story


Ah Italy, we walked right past here. We had a date with Italy later on in the week and we were starting to get hungry






Favorite topiary of all the topiarys (how the heck to you pluralize topiary)


Dreary day. Denver had been chilly all week but the day we leave for Florida it's sunny and 70 there. And we got to fly into this!




'Merica
















Up next is Morocco, France and dinner!

 

[Sam33]

Morocco is just so photogenic it's ridiculous. Also, it had stopped raining a while ago. Despite the large amount of ponchos left.




















We finally got to France and we were THIRSTY. We each went for the Grand Marnier slushie and it was fabulous. After careful deduction and research, though, I have decided that I prefer the Grey Goose Lemon slushie. But both are slam dunks.


We walked around France and had to stop by the Wine/Kitchen-y store. We found World Showcase wine glasses but decided to buy them on our last day on our way out of the parks (if you're wondering "HEY! DOESN'T WINE HAVE YEAST?" You would be correct. I do get sick from it but I can usually have one glass without getting sick but I can't even have a small taster of beer without getting sick. We think it's because of the aging process but who really know [someone does, but we don't])








My favorite princess. And the only one I ever liked as a kid. I was always kind of a tom boy




England time! We were SERIOUSLY craving some fish and chips. More than we'd ever craved them before. But we had to stop and take some pictures first. Winnie the Pooh is mom's FAVORITE. We never got around to meeting him this trip. But a bush is just as good, right? (It's not.)




This might be the cutest pooh of all time. The bush version. Yep. Wait, sorry, TOPIARY. I got yelled at later in the trip for calling it a bush by a very lovely CM

Now, we really wanted a picture with Pooh, but some nitwit had parked their stroller RIGHT in front of him. Well we decided to scoot it over and it tipped over We picked it back up, but I was mortified. But at the same time, LET'S NOT LEAVE STROLLERS RIGHT IN FRONT OF POPULAR PHOTO SPOTS, EH?

Anyways, fish and chips time. I saw the guy in front of us order and decided that one order would be plenty for us. We each got one good size piece of fish and plenty of fries.


It was delectable. So yummy. Fresh and hot and crispy and not too greasy. Every thing you ask for in a fried fish sample. And it hit the spot perfect. We watched some ducks fight and then decided to head over to the Nemo ride (it's a fan favorite) to kill some time before Test Track. But that will have to wait for another day

(Side note: I love how killing time in Disney World is riding an awesome ride and watching manatees. "killing time". Killing time right now is sitting on my couch. I MISS YOU DISNEY)

 

[RachelNinja]

What a spectacular view! I too love AKL because I stayed there during my Disneymoon, and we only had a pool view! I thought I'd have issues staying elsewhere since that was the first time on property, but Pop is pretty awesome too, haha. I guess staying at a Disney resort is fine with me regardless of where it is!

Mmm, that guacamole and that fish look delicious! It must've been so freeing knowing that you knew to stay away from beer to avoid being sick. Being sick in Disney stinks!

 

[PrincessCaitlin]

I am in and all caught up!

Between a Full House reference and a Parks and Rec one I think we could be best friends

Although I am a Red Wings fan...

 

[DisFanAmI]

Following along... I can almost taste the fish and chips now.

 

[Sam33]

What a spectacular view! I too love AKL because I stayed there during my Disneymoon, and we only had a pool view! I thought I'd have issues staying elsewhere since that was the first time on property, but Pop is pretty awesome too, haha. I guess staying at a Disney resort is fine with me regardless of where it is!

Mmm, that guacamole and that fish look delicious! It must've been so freeing knowing that you knew to stay away from beer to avoid being sick. Being sick in Disney stinks!

I was actually kind of looking forward to the pool view! That pool is awesome! But really, you can't beat giraffes!
And last trip was bad, knowing I would be sick every night and not knowing how to avoid that was so bad. It stinks not getting to drink beer but not being sick is the best thing in the world. Who knew that your life would be better if you weren't sick everyday

I am in and all caught up!

Between a Full House reference and a Parks and Rec one I think we could be best friends

Although I am a Red Wings fan...

Yeah..we can't be friends.

Just kidding! I can look past the Wings fan thing because there's really nothing better than Full House and Ron Swanson! As long as you don't like Todd Bertuzzi. Or Darren McCarty. Or Kris Draper.. (I could go on forever, but I will freely admit that Datsyuk, Yzerman and Lidstrom are amazing players and people and my Avs fan goggles can't even pretend they're not )

Following along... I can almost taste the fish and chips now.

Welcome! They might have been the best fish and chips I've had. I'm not a fish person but for some reason I was craving them. And they were just amazing!