An Instagrammable and Dole Whippy 4th of July Trip Report!**UPDATED 3/4

[rachel09985]

Hello!!!

First, I am pretty sure that "instagrammable" and "whippy" are not words! But, they are in my trip report title anyways

Second, thanks for joining! This is my 4th trip report! I just enjoy retelling my trip and sharing my photos- otherwise they would just sit in my computer for years, haha!

My name is Rachel and I am a 27 year old living in Minneapolis, working for a consumer packaged goods goods company in Marketing. I am a Ohio State University graduate and am originally from Toledo, Ohio, but have lived in Minnesota since 2009.

Favorites
Ride: Splash Mountain
Restaurant: 'Ohana
Sweet Snack: Citrus Swirl
Savory Snack: Jalapeno Cheese Pretzel
Nightime Show: Wishes
Quick Service Restaurant: Be Our Guest
Favorite Park: Was Epcot, now Magic Kingdom

June 2011

1994


My traveling partner is my boyfriend of 10.5 years!! Yes, we have been dating since high school! His name is Corey and he moved here in 2010 and was working for a company that we both used to work for, until he got laid off...which is kind of the reason we went to Disney!

This year in Panama city Beach


November 2012 Trip


Favorites
Ride: Splash Mountain
Restaurant: 'Ohana
Sweet Snack: Dole Whip
Savory Snack: Jalapeno Cheese Pretzel
Nightime Show: Illuminations
Quick Service Restaurant: Backlot Express
Favorite Park: Magic Kingdom

We also have a little pup- a 4 year old cockapoo named Lola. She is our baby! We miss her when we go on vacation.



This was probably one of the best trips we have ever had! I hope you will join me as I retell our trip!

Table of Contents
Day 1
Chapter 1 0 Days Left Till Disney! updated 7/16
Chapter 2 IG Sighting
Chapter 3 Our Room at POP
Chapter 4 Rainy Day Character Calvacade
Chapter 5 Dole Whip #1 updated 7/24
Chapter 6 The G-FLO updated 7/25
Chapter 7 Grand Floridian Cafe updated 7/26
Chapter 8 Illuminations updated 7/27
Chapter 9 Surprise Fastpasses updated 8/1
Day 2
Chapter 10 SOAKED!updated 8/1
Chapter 11 Knight Time updated 8/5
Chapter 12 Havin' some Brew updated 8/5
Chapter 13 Liberty Belle updated 8/5
Chapter 14 Liberty Tree Tavernupdated 8/8
Chapter 15 Instagram Meet updated 8/8
Chapter 16 Getting Wet Again! updated 8/14
Chapter 17 Perfect Luck! updated 8/15
Chapter 18 More Fireworks! updated 8/15
Chapter 19 Even More Fireworks! updated 8/15
Day 3
Chapter 20 Morning of the 4thupdated 8/22
Chapter 21 Hangin' out at Pixar Place
Chapter 22 $33 Lunch for 1??updated 9/2
Chapter 23 A Time for Nostalgia updated 9/2
Chapter 24 Beauty and The Beast Stage Showupdated 9/2
Chapter 25 Going on the Classics updated 9/4
Chapter 26 Free Bird and Fireworks updated 9/5
Day 4
Chapter 27 Walking Right Down the Middle of Main Street USA updated 9/8
Chapter 28 Crystal Palace
Chapter 29 Vinylmation Frenzy updated 9/11
Chapter 30 Checking into AKLupdated 9/15
Chapter 31 Giraffes!!! updated 9/15
Chapter 32 Le Cellier updated 9/26
Chapter 33 Ice Cream and Chasers updated 9/29
Chapter 34 Happy Hour updated 9/29

Day 5
Chapter 35 Broken Ring Pop updated 10/5
Chapter 36 Finding Nemo the Musical updated 10/8
Chapter 37 Tusker House updated 10/25
Chapter 38 Toucans and Frozen Chai updated 10/25
Chapter 39 Animal Kingdom Parade updated 11/2
Chapter 40 Vinylmation Fiasco updated 11/2
Chapter 41 DTD Night updated 11/3
Chapter 42 Superman! updated 11/11
Chapter 43 Runaway Bird updated 11/16
Chapter 44 Ohana means STUFFED updated 11/16
Chapter 45 Inappropriate Jokes updated 11/25
Chapter 46 Blasphemy! updated 11/25

Day 6
Chapter 47 Tipsy in Epcot
Chapter 48 Hot in Epcot updated 1/7
Chapter 49 Final Time in Epcotupdated 2/25
Chapter 50 The End!

 

[emmysmommy]

I'm here! Looking forward to all the photos and dole whippy goodness!

 

[Miss Potts]

Looking forward to your report!

 

[ThePin Princess]

Subbing!

 

[wiigirl]

Following along.

 

[TinkyCheeks]

Jumping in! Can't wait to hear all about it.

 

[GreatBiscuit]

I have been looking for a 4th of July TR to get a feel for the crowd levels. (HatTipSummer2014)....Subscribing.

 

[Aristocath]

This is exactly what I wanted to see as we are planning a July 4th trip next year. Can't wait to hear about it!

 

[mrsmoku]

excited to read your TR!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Joining in Rachel. I believe both of those words are indeed words as far as the DIS in concerned.

I'm super glad you do share your photos because they are always so unique!

 

[rachel09985]

First let me go into the W's: Who, What, When, Where, Why

Who: Me and Corey of course, with special appearances by two disboard members
What: A Disney Trip to Walt Disney World
When: July 2nd through July 9th early in the AM
Where: WDW; first 3 nights at POP then 4 nights at AKL
Why: To get away from life and for a good break


So here is the backstory:

Corey and I were going to go Disney in December this year. Then we got the news one week that he was being laid off with his last day end of June. So..instead of freaking out I suggested we go to Disney in July instead of December. If/When he gets a new job he probably won't be able to take off so soon so I suggested we go to Disney in July when he is off. Plus, I got Thursday and Friday off of work so bonus vacation days.

I went through some remorse when I bought the tickets. I was worried about money but I knew we would be fine. I actually bought the tickets in the beginning of May. The tickets were cheap one week then they went up over $100 each! On vacation in PCB I found the tickets cheap again and I bought them, kind of a spur of the moment thing.

After that I got busy on ADRs and other planning. Originally we were going to stay at Port Orleans Riverside our entire trip. Then I started looking into deluxe hotels. I am an annual passholder this year so I get a better discount now. I found out we could do AKL Standard view for only $216 per night! POR was $156 per night. To compensate for the extra money we decided to do 3 nights at POP then 4 nights at a deluxe. We figured it would be nice to go from a value to deluxe.

However, I already booked our flights that left at 8am on Tuesday. That meant ME was picking us up at 5AM! At that point we heavily regretted booking an early flight out. I would have liked to enjoy the resort in the morning, especially since I was paying for that night. Oh well- we would still have fun.

I looked into the dining plan but it just wasn't worth it. I figured it out and we would have lost money! So then I decided to get tables in wonderland. I ordered it May 27th and it was shipped on May 30th and I never got it!! It had to have gotten lost in the mail. Of course that would happen. I wanted it because we were going to eat at POP right away when we got there and I wanted to use the discount. I didn't want to go to DTD to get the card.

Another thing I did is get the Target red card debit card. I didn't pay for our hotel with those cards but I did pay for our spending money in the cards. I got $1k of cards for $950! Not a huge savings but that is one free meal basically.



Another thing I did before our trip is get a new iPhone! I had the iPhone 4 and I got the iPhone 5 32GB for only $100 with trading in my old phone. My iPhone 4 would die at like 2pm for the day so I knew the battery was going bad.



Another thing I need to point out: INSTAGRAM

Corey and I got obsessed with instagram before our trip. Me so more than him. Corey only instagrams on vacation but i instagram all the time. So I was excited to see his pics as he is a good iphone photographer.

If you are interested in following my username is rachel9985 and Corey's is cm1014.

I will be including Corey and I's IG photos with our caption at appropriate times! Some videos too!

Anyways, that is the background of our trip.

 

[Mickeysfriend10]

I was at Disney from July 3rd through the 11th. Looking forward to your report. I miss it already!

 

[pirateprincess1976]

Joining in! I actually follow you on instagram (bruinz442) and I've lurked on you other trip reports. Loved following along with the pics and can't wait to hear the stories

 

[emmebear]

i'm here!

can't wait to read about your trip.

i wish we got to see you guys more.

 

[rachel09985]

Ahhh, I just love departure day! I love knowing you will be in disney soon.

Another side story- Corey and I had a bit of an argument the night before. So I got really upset and down that day thinking the fight would ruin our trip and I just wasn't feeling our trip. However, we made up before our flight took off so I was feeling much better. Unfortunately, it impacted my sleep. I didn't get much sleep and I was worried the entire night.

Our flight left at 7am so my dad picked us up at 5am! Such an early morning especially when you didn't sleep. We dropped our dog off the night before at my dad's.

That day before at work I printed off our disney schedule and had it all ready!

Last minute we decided to cancel Whispering Canyon and do Le Cellier so I had to modify that before I printed them off. I work on Excel daily so I spent a lot of time on this instead of work



While packing I packed my old wallet that still had all of this mickey confetti from one of the parades in the pocket.



I also got new luggage that I was worried about being over as it was the biggest piece of luggage you can possibly get.

When we got to the airport I weighed it and it was perfect!



The night before I realized I forgot to get cash out for tips! So I decided just to get cash out at the ATM at the airport. Luckily they had my bank there.



I found this restaurant that was drying out pasta and I thought it was interesting so I took a picture of it.



Right by the ATM there was a caribou so we got some food. I got an iced latte, scone, and monkey bread for Corey.





I took my first IG photo.

"Pre boarding ritual; #icedlatte with #hazelnut #carib******** #disneyherewecome"

Haha, for some reasons the Dis considers Caribou Coffee a bad word. It is blocking it out

The iced latte was delicious but the scones and monkey bread were horrible and dry! I took one bite and it was so dry that I couldn't even swallow. I threw it away.

I had the essentials for any disney trip! Cures aches and pains and tummy aches!


I still felt pretty nauseous but figured I would get over it. Then it was time to board. I was in Zone 1 because I am a delta Amex member but Corey was in Zone 3 so I went before him. I was worried there wouldn't be enough room for his luggage as the flight was booked up. There wasn't too many disney people on this flight and I was surprised. I just love flights going to MCO because so many are excited for WDW.

Now, Corey has a carry on size luggage. Yes it is an upright and on the bigger side but it is standard size. So, when Corey was coming on and putting his luggage above the people behind me started getting po'ed. Of course they didn't know that we were together but they started complaining and said, "Look at how big his luggage is! That is a bunch of horsecrap as far as I am concerned; taking space of 2 bags when other people only get one!" I wanted to turn around and tell him off. Delta sets the carry on guidelines and our bag fits in the guidelines so shut up!

Rant over!

On the airplane we were listening to these people's conversation about their hatred over disney haha. The one guy said he took his family to disney once and said he will never go again. Then a couple from Orlando started knocking the price and saying it is robbery what disney does to people. They said they avoid disney at all cost.

At that point I decided it was time to watch a movie. A disney movie of course!



I still didn't feel good so I just had pretzels and ice water.



I felt like the flight went on forever! It was only around 3 hours but it took forever.

However, we made it in MCO! A few minutes behind schedule, but not too bad!

 

[Jennifer84]

I saw your food updates on the live thread, so I can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!

I think it's awesome that you put on a Disney movie after those people around you were complaining about Disney!

 

[MrsDrewsky]

Joining in!

Disney haters on the plane to Orlando. More room for the rest of us at Disney I suppose.

 

[smickchic]

Can you fill me in on using your Target Red Debit? I have that....Can I purchase Disney GCs from them and get the 5% off?

 

[Dmom2three]

Can you fill me in on using your Target Red Debit? I have that....Can I purchase Disney GCs from them and get the 5% off?

I do not think so. I have the target CC and it excludes GC purchases in the 5%.

 

[sommergirl25]

I do not think so. I have the target CC and it excludes GC purchases in the 5%.

I have read on the boards that it will work on Disney Gift cards. Many employees will say that it doesn't work but when swiped, it will take the 5% off.