Mimosas, Mickey Ears and Magic! 17 Days of Disney Delights *Complete

[SweetSerenity]

 

[cwiklamama]

Following along! I love your reports.

 

[accountingbabe08]

I love your review as well
Belinda

 

[followthatmouse]

May I join in?

 

[margareton27]

Following along! Love your reports

 

[karmic]

Looking forward to your report !

 

[Kari0180]

Love your reviews! Can't wait to see all the food!

 

[Texans_loyal]

17 days at Disney and a Super bowl victory?! You hit the lottery!!

 

[iheartbelle87]

Following!

 

[Tiffany marie Anderson]

tuning in can't wait

 

[TXFamilyofFour]

Your reviews are the best! Can't wait

 

[mmps108]

Following! 17 days?!!

 

[wannabee]

17 days..... amazing-- can't wait o read all about it

 

[wilma-bride]

C'mon girl, can't wait to read all about it!

 

[manicstreet]

Following along as your reviews are my favorite. Can’t wait to hear robs’ reaction to the eagles winning the super bowl. Someday I’ll know the feeling (a life long lions fan).

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

Thank you all so much for commenting and joining in! Day one starts now!

To start our trip Rob worked an early shift and I took the day off to take care of some last minute things before we left. I stopped at Walmart and got a case of 35 bottles of water, 6 cans of ginger ale, 6 cans of Coke, 6 cans of pineapple juice and a 6 pack of apple juice. All of which we drank on this trip, so we saved some serious money bringing drinks for the room with us!

After Rob's shift we had dinner and took a long nap and then it was time to hit the road! We left Jersey at 11pm and started the very long drive. I took the first 5 hours and got us to North Carolina. Thankfully traffic was very light and the weather was clear, so we were off to a good start and despite it being 4am I still felt pretty alert. And I did not forget a pillow and blanket like I did last trip! Rob was not feeling it this drive though and we had to switch off a lot until we got into Florida and I drove us the rest of the way there. Everything was going okay on I-4 until a rock flew up and put a crack in my windshield with 15 minutes left in the drive. Ugh. Not a great end to the drive, but after 15 hours we made it!



We arrived at SSR right at 2pm. We went to check in and were met with a very unfriendly CM. I swear, we almost always have someone not very magical when we check in. This lady was extra grumpy though. We ended up adding an extra day on just a few days before we left for this trip. Rob and I both work for the same company and got huge bonuses the week before we left, so we decided why not add an extra day onto the trip with our new found windfall! But, we had to do this as a cash reservation while the other nights were all booked with our DVC points since DVC was saying there was nothing available. This first day was separate from the rest of the trip and was under the preferred view category while the other days were under the standard category for our Studio at SSR. So, I asked when we checked in if there was any way to avoid a room switch and either get upgraded to stay in a preferred studio for the whole time (I mean, I can dream, right?) or downgrade this day to stay standard the whole time. I didn't care, I just didn't want to switch rooms. The woman said. "Well do you have enough points to do that?" Like, what? She didn't get what we were asking and I kept trying to explain to her that DVC wouldn't let me add onto my original booking or I would have already done that. I get that its not a small request when you're dealing with a stay the length of ours, but she was just rude about it the whole time. So, we were sent to the Congress Park section for our one night stay. I was so deliriously tired at this point that no pictures were taken of our view, but we couldn't really see anything. We were behind a bunch of trees in the section of Congress Park furthest from the entrance to Disney Springs.

We both made our calls to parents to say we made it safe and sound and then we passed out and took a nap for a couple hours. But tonight there was no time to waste because we had plans for our first night. Moonlight Magic! Oh my gosh, to say I was excited about Moonlight Magic was an understatement. For those of you who don't know what it is, it is a special event exclusively for DVC members and their guests. It is held at each of the different Disney parks throughout the year and it is free to attend. That's right, Disney and free in the same sentence! The park closes early to other guests and there are special character meet and greets and free food with the rides open and special fireworks. Yay! Of course the dates for the Magic Kingdom events were the day before and the day after our original dates. So, I had been (not so subtly) hinting to Rob for weeks that we should add on a day to the beginning of our trip so that we could attend. I even booked our spots juuuuussssttttt in case we could go. Well thankfully I got my way and here we are a day earlier than expected.

After a nap and showers we were ready to head out by 6:30. But what to eat first? We were both STARVING and still had a few hours until it would be time to chow down on some free food at the event, so our stomachs led us to Artist's Palette right at SSR. They had some pretty decent looking options and Rob and I both chose sandwiches. We paid and sat down with a pager/locator and waited for them to bring us our food which was nice.

Rob went with the Spicy Italian Beef Sandwich. Shaved Roast Beef atop a Sub Roll with Provolone Cheese, Horseradish Mayonnaise, Arugula and topped with a Hot Relish.



He really enjoyed this a lot! He was pleasantly surprised by the size and quality for this quick service meal.

I got the Turkey Club Wrap. Smoked Turkey, Cheddar Cheese, Bacon and Mixed Greens with Avocado Ranch wrapped in a Whole Wheat Tortilla. I'm not really a ranch person so I got it without the ranch.



Mine was great too! Also very quality and the wrap was huge! I love the chips here too. They are so fresh and seasoned really well.

Off to a great start! Now let's get to Magic Kingdom!

 

[Romib]

Following

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

We got right on a (packed bus) and scored the last two spots standing at the front. I don't mind standing on the bus if its in those front spots. We talked to some really nice people standing with us who were also headed to Moonlight Magic. We made the last minute decision to avoid the crowds that would be in the park at the end of a shorter night and there for fireworks at MK and decided we would walk over to BLT and watch Happily Ever After from Top of the World Lounge and then head to MK after everyone else was making their way out.

After arriving at MK we made the short walk over to BLT.





Once we got inside BLT, the DVC desk that you normally check in at for Top of the World was being utilized for Moonlight Magic check in. That was unexpected, so we were able to avoid crowds at MK later and got our wristbands and guide maps here at BLT.





Then they sent us right over to the elevators as Top of the World check in was over there today. For those of you who have never been there or never heard of it, Top of the World Lounge is exclusively for DVC members and their guests and it located on the top floor of BLT. They have drinks and appetizers for sale and a great view for the fireworks and pump in the music for them as well. You get your own private elevator to ride up in too which is always a little thrill. After showing a CM our DVC card they sent us up. Here we are headed up to the lounge.



There was a pretty decent crowd in here tonight and fortunately two spots opened up at the bar right after we walked in. We took a look at the menu and decided just to get drinks and no food.



I went with the Monorail Yellow, which is Don Q rum, Pina colada mix and orange juice.





Rob was boring and got beer.



Our bartender was pretty friendly tonight. He was super busy though as he was the only bartender making drinks for the entire lounge full of people.

As we were finishing up and ready to make our way out to grab a good fireworks spot (as we missed out on a better spot when we came here for Hallowishes in October) a manager came over to us and put food in front of us and said that a guest cancelled it but it had already been made so we could have it. I guess we look like the kind of people who love free food! And we do! So, we were a little late getting out for a spot again as we couldn't leave this sitting there.

First is the tortilla chips with fresh Pico de Gallo and Guacamole. What the menu does not tell us is that there is also cheese melted on this. Unless maybe the people who ordered it asked for the cheese.



For something so basic this was actually really good! I liked the guacamole a lot.

They also gave us Soft Pretzel Breadstick with Orlando Brewing Co Brown Ale Cheese Dip.



These were also excellent for something so simple. Ugh, now we were full!

We headed out to the observation deck for the fireworks. This was our first time seeing Happily Ever After!





I still have yet to see these from inside the park, which seems like the best way to see them because of all the castle projections. I swear I am doing that next trip!

As soon as the fireworks were done we headed straight out and got on the first elevator down. We walked back one to MK. There are now bag check locations everywhere around MK which should cut down on the lines but still doesn't if you ask me. We had to wait through bag check/meal detector screening on the walkway from BLT to MK and then finally got there as people were streaming out of MK after the fireworks.



We showed our wristband at the front entrance and were taken in all the way to the right to get in the park. They did a good job of bringing in people for the Moonlight Magic event to one area while everyone else was leaving for the night. We had to keep to the right and we got to go the back way to the Tomorrowland Terrace area.

We're in!



It was so awesome being in MK with such low crowds. You just never ever ever get truly LOW crowds here anymore so it was a treat to walk around with so few people.

We got right on People Mover first then we stopped at one of the food locations because I was so thirsty. We went into Cosmic Ray's which was one of the free food spots. You could get sodas, Powerade, water, hot dogs and chicken nuggets all for free. They had everything ready to go and kept the lines moving very efficiently. I just wanted a soda, so I got a Sprite and we continued our way around the park.

Next we rode Winnie the Pooh without seeing another guest. Seriously, we only saw CMs when we rode this. No one else was in line or anywhere near us on the ride. All empty honey pots that we could see. SDMT had a posted 35 minute wait, which is awesome for SDMT, but I didn't want to wait at all so walked on Little Mermaid next. Then we stopped for pictures at Gaston's fountain.

Rob said "Show me excited!"


Then he said, "Now show me more excited!"


There were so many cool character meet and greets. I am super sad we didn't do any, but the lines were pretty long for most of them. They had Chip and Dale in their Rescue Rangers outfits, Oogie Boogie, Esmerelda, Marie, and this awesome trio of Robin Hood, Friar Tuck and Little John.



So many others too! Seriously, Google the event to see the awesome characters that were out. It was so awesome! Even just walking past and seeing them was fun. Rob is not a character person at all and we wanted this time for rides, so off we went for more rides!

Next we walked right on IASW and Haunted Mansion. Then we stopped at Columbia Harbor House which was another food location and just got some water. Then we rode POTC with a very small wait. I heard the event had ice cream and I saw people with Mickey Bars, so we asked and found out the ice cream was available in the Storybook Circus area. Off we go for ice cream!







We saw other people with the fruit bars walking around, but the CMs were only giving out Mickey Bars without any type of option being provided, but I mean, who doesn't want a Mickey Bar?

We rode Little Mermaid again and then decided to head towards the front for fireworks.

Isn't the castle just beautiful at night?





I really was craving a hot dog, so we stopped in Casey's, which was another food stop and I got a hot dog.



This was not great. Somehow the bun was really stale. The food was constantly being moved out, so is not like it sat out, so maybe it was just an old bun. Sadly, most of this got tossed after a few bites. But, its free, so I'm not complaining.

Fireworks were starting at 11:30pm and at this point there was less than 10 minutes until the fireworks and there was no crowd. It was freaky. We walked right over and got a prime spot in the hub grass.



No one got in front of us or right next to us. We had all this room to chill and watch the fireworks sitting down in the grass. It was the best! And the fireworks were amazing! I can't believe they did this whole show just for this event. There were a lot of newer Disney songs throughout the 20 minute show. Remember Me from Coco and music from Moana and the live action Beauty and the Beast. It was spectacular. Check out tis finale!





At this point Rob couldn't stand to be here for another minute. Poor guy was so tired. We did humor me and stopped for a Photopass picture on the way out, which we rarely do.



This event was so much fun! I really hope they continue to do these every year and that I am here for an event next year as well. It was great to get the park to yourself and be able to go around and take pictures and ride rides and see fireworks without people right on top of you the whole time. And the fact that this was free was unbelievable. It was so well run and so much fun. It made me feel special as a DVC member as well. It's nice to feel appreciated when you spend so much money on Disney throughout the year. I feel like they are stepping it up for Passholders and DVC members a bit these past few years.

We headed out and there were HUGE lines for every DVC resort bus stop and no one at most of the non-DVC resort stops. Makes sense I guess considering it was a DVC event. They filled two buses with SSR guests and that barely put a dent in the line for our resort. Fortunately we got the last two standing spots on the second bus so we lucked out just like we did on the way in for the night.

It was an epic first day! We totally made use of our DVC perks and did a lot considering we drove all night and were so tired. Now it is time for an epic night of sleep!

 

[kastoney]

Hi Jeri! I'm so in for another one of your amazing reports!!!

I can't believe you all made it to the party after an all nighter of driving. I'm not sure I would have had anything left in me. But the party sounds amazing and I don't think I've ever seen such few people in the hubs for fireworks. Definite DVC perk.

I can't believe they couldn't get you in the same room for your entire stay. Disney certainly does odd thing sometimes

 

[vettegirl]

I am here my friend!! I know how exciting the first day of check in is and what a buzzkill to get a grouchy CM. We had very rude CMs when we checked into the DL Hotel back in December and I hate starting off that way. All the food offerings look delicious on the start of your trip. I enjoyed following along on IG and look forward to reading more.