BriarRose0708
06-12-2008, 04:38 PM
Hi everyone! I'm back from my week long Disney trip with my best friend Kim. We got in very late last night thanks to several delays in Atlanta where we connected. We had an amazing time and I'm really looking forward to re-living it all by writing the trip report.
The Cast
Me! 24 and Disney Planner
Kim! 24, my best friend, and Disney Planning Contributor
The where and when
POP Century Resort room 1152 (50's building 1) June 4 - 11.
Wednesday June 4
We arrived at the Rochester airport around 5:45 a.m. and were literally the only people there. I have never walked up to security without a wait before! Our flights were non-eventful, although I did forget my iPod at home so I had to settle for the XM radio courtesey of AirTran. We connected in Baltimore for a brief layover. Just enough time to stretch , use the bathroom and grab a quick snack. The flight to Orlando was full but not too uncomfertable. We landed on time at MCO and breezed down to the Magical Express counter, where we checked in right away. After a short wait for the bus we were on our way!
As soon as we pulled into the front of POP it finally hit me that we were actually there! After a quick shriek and a hug from Kim, we headed into the lobby to check in, where again there was no wait. We checked in and asked about adding park tickets but the resort's machine was down and we had to wait until we got to a park later to buy them. Having both stayed in the 50's section before on previous trips, we were hoping to be in the 70's, but we were placed in the Lady building on the first floor room 1152. It actually was a great location. Just turn right after you walk out of Classic Hall and keep walking straight. It was really close to everything and very quiet.
Kim took a few minutes to shower and I went to the food court to get refillable mugs and some fruit. It had been a magical start to the trip and we hadn't even been to a park yet! We caught a bus to the Magic Kingdom and arrived around 2:30. After buying the park tickets we were in! Walking down Main Street is one of my favorite things to do at the very beginning of any trip. Despite it being a party night, and the last one at that, the park crowd was very light, maybe lighter than what I experienced in October. We took a left and headed into Adventureland toward Pirates. The last minute of the Pirate tutorial was going on but we bypassed it and went right in. The wait was posted as 5 minutes and we walked on. We were very glad to have been able to get a ride in since it went down for refurn on the 5th.
After Pirates we cut through Frontierland to Liberty Square and queued up for Haunted Mansion since Kim had never ridden it with the improvements. It was great as always and we rode it many more times before our trip was done. It was about 10 after 3, and we knew it would be difficult getting out of the park during the parade, so we circled back through Fantasyland. Small World had a 5 minute wait (no surprise) so we decided to get it over with and take the obligatory ride. Now that we had that done the parade was over and we left to journey to MGM.
A quick monorail ride to the TTC later, we luckily caught a bus to MGM as soon as we rounded the corner. We got to the park a little after 4 p.m. and planned to catch the 5:15 Indiana Jones show before dinner. We grabbed fastpasses and walked to the Star Tours area. Another walk-on to ride to Endor, and we ended up in the front row! We walked around New York Street for a while and found Mama Melrose's so we could get to it later.
On the way to Indy Kim realized she didn't take the fastpass out of the machine, so into the standby line we went. We still ended up with center section seats about 8 rows back. Being a party of 2 definately helped us out all trip getting good seats and spots for shows or parades! After the show, which was awesome, we went straight to dinner at Mama Melrose's. This would be the first actual meal we had eaten all day, and we were hungry for it! I had the grilled chicken flatbread and Kim got the 4 cheese flatbread. We realized halfway through the meal that we could have just gone to Pizza Planet and gotten the same thing for half the price, but it probably wouldn't have been as good! Our server was very friendly and attentive, and our pizzas were delicious. The rest of the menu items looked very good, but since we were on a food budget economy won out over gourmet dining. If I am ever on the dining plan again I will go back.
Full from the yummy pizzas we skipped dessert and made a plan for the rest of the evening. Extra Magic Hours were going on, but since we had been up since 4 a.m. it didn't seem likely we'd make it past 10. We decided to see Muppets 3D, which was hilarious as always, then ride Tower of Terror or Rock 'n Rollercoaster, and end our day with Fantasmic.
We bought a Sweedish Chef plush/beanie for our friend back home, and we almost lost him on Tower of Terror! Luckily I caught the bag as it floated above our heads. Kim had gotten so scared she let go of it at the first drop! We were laughing so hard the rest of the ride and afterward about that. After coming back out from the Twilight Zone we joined the crowds flowing into Fantasmic. It was 8:15 and already packed for the 9 p.m. show. We were able to find space for 2 in the center section toward the middle. I was really happy we got such a prime spot with it being so packed. We waited out the 45 minutes by calling friends and family members, participating in the wave, and laughing over the near fatal Sweedish Chef incident. The show started at last and it was great. I hadn't seen it before but did see pictures online. My favorite parts were the princess float and the character steam boat at the end. I still had the "imagination" song in my head later that night.
Once the show was over we moved with the crowd out of the theatre and out of the park toward the buses. We grabbed a POP bus pretty quickly and got back to the resort a little after 10 p.m.
Funny story- we tried to find the new Toy Story Mania! ride for a good half hour and could not find it at all. We got close by searching in the animation courtyard, but it eluded us. We put it at the top of our list for thenext MGM day later in the trip.
We went to bed early because we were getting up early again for Extra Magic Hours at Magic Kingdom the next day. And that was day 1! We got a lot done but were very tired. Thanks for reading!
The Cast
Me! 24 and Disney Planner
Kim! 24, my best friend, and Disney Planning Contributor
The where and when
POP Century Resort room 1152 (50's building 1) June 4 - 11.
Wednesday June 4
We arrived at the Rochester airport around 5:45 a.m. and were literally the only people there. I have never walked up to security without a wait before! Our flights were non-eventful, although I did forget my iPod at home so I had to settle for the XM radio courtesey of AirTran. We connected in Baltimore for a brief layover. Just enough time to stretch , use the bathroom and grab a quick snack. The flight to Orlando was full but not too uncomfertable. We landed on time at MCO and breezed down to the Magical Express counter, where we checked in right away. After a short wait for the bus we were on our way!
As soon as we pulled into the front of POP it finally hit me that we were actually there! After a quick shriek and a hug from Kim, we headed into the lobby to check in, where again there was no wait. We checked in and asked about adding park tickets but the resort's machine was down and we had to wait until we got to a park later to buy them. Having both stayed in the 50's section before on previous trips, we were hoping to be in the 70's, but we were placed in the Lady building on the first floor room 1152. It actually was a great location. Just turn right after you walk out of Classic Hall and keep walking straight. It was really close to everything and very quiet.
Kim took a few minutes to shower and I went to the food court to get refillable mugs and some fruit. It had been a magical start to the trip and we hadn't even been to a park yet! We caught a bus to the Magic Kingdom and arrived around 2:30. After buying the park tickets we were in! Walking down Main Street is one of my favorite things to do at the very beginning of any trip. Despite it being a party night, and the last one at that, the park crowd was very light, maybe lighter than what I experienced in October. We took a left and headed into Adventureland toward Pirates. The last minute of the Pirate tutorial was going on but we bypassed it and went right in. The wait was posted as 5 minutes and we walked on. We were very glad to have been able to get a ride in since it went down for refurn on the 5th.
After Pirates we cut through Frontierland to Liberty Square and queued up for Haunted Mansion since Kim had never ridden it with the improvements. It was great as always and we rode it many more times before our trip was done. It was about 10 after 3, and we knew it would be difficult getting out of the park during the parade, so we circled back through Fantasyland. Small World had a 5 minute wait (no surprise) so we decided to get it over with and take the obligatory ride. Now that we had that done the parade was over and we left to journey to MGM.
A quick monorail ride to the TTC later, we luckily caught a bus to MGM as soon as we rounded the corner. We got to the park a little after 4 p.m. and planned to catch the 5:15 Indiana Jones show before dinner. We grabbed fastpasses and walked to the Star Tours area. Another walk-on to ride to Endor, and we ended up in the front row! We walked around New York Street for a while and found Mama Melrose's so we could get to it later.
On the way to Indy Kim realized she didn't take the fastpass out of the machine, so into the standby line we went. We still ended up with center section seats about 8 rows back. Being a party of 2 definately helped us out all trip getting good seats and spots for shows or parades! After the show, which was awesome, we went straight to dinner at Mama Melrose's. This would be the first actual meal we had eaten all day, and we were hungry for it! I had the grilled chicken flatbread and Kim got the 4 cheese flatbread. We realized halfway through the meal that we could have just gone to Pizza Planet and gotten the same thing for half the price, but it probably wouldn't have been as good! Our server was very friendly and attentive, and our pizzas were delicious. The rest of the menu items looked very good, but since we were on a food budget economy won out over gourmet dining. If I am ever on the dining plan again I will go back.
Full from the yummy pizzas we skipped dessert and made a plan for the rest of the evening. Extra Magic Hours were going on, but since we had been up since 4 a.m. it didn't seem likely we'd make it past 10. We decided to see Muppets 3D, which was hilarious as always, then ride Tower of Terror or Rock 'n Rollercoaster, and end our day with Fantasmic.
We bought a Sweedish Chef plush/beanie for our friend back home, and we almost lost him on Tower of Terror! Luckily I caught the bag as it floated above our heads. Kim had gotten so scared she let go of it at the first drop! We were laughing so hard the rest of the ride and afterward about that. After coming back out from the Twilight Zone we joined the crowds flowing into Fantasmic. It was 8:15 and already packed for the 9 p.m. show. We were able to find space for 2 in the center section toward the middle. I was really happy we got such a prime spot with it being so packed. We waited out the 45 minutes by calling friends and family members, participating in the wave, and laughing over the near fatal Sweedish Chef incident. The show started at last and it was great. I hadn't seen it before but did see pictures online. My favorite parts were the princess float and the character steam boat at the end. I still had the "imagination" song in my head later that night.
Once the show was over we moved with the crowd out of the theatre and out of the park toward the buses. We grabbed a POP bus pretty quickly and got back to the resort a little after 10 p.m.
Funny story- we tried to find the new Toy Story Mania! ride for a good half hour and could not find it at all. We got close by searching in the animation courtyard, but it eluded us. We put it at the top of our list for thenext MGM day later in the trip.
We went to bed early because we were getting up early again for Extra Magic Hours at Magic Kingdom the next day. And that was day 1! We got a lot done but were very tired. Thanks for reading!