The College Grad Pirates take Disney By Storm Trip Report About This Page:

[Magicdreamer287]

Ok everyone! I know some of you have been waiting for this and I have a few minutes to start it. Please excuse the possible long pauses between posts because I picked up a few days at work and I am getting ready to make my move to Florida in the next few weeks.

Anywhos on with the TR!

The Crew:
Captain Lauren (that's me!)
1st Mate Sarah
The Ship Jester Ben

The Resort: Caribbean Beach Resort

Day One: FRIDAY August 7th, 2009

Since Sarah and Ben slept over on Thursday, we all woke up at 4:00 Am to be on the road to the Airport by 4:30 am. OUr flight left Philly International at 6:35 am. We awake, dressed, loaded the luggage into the car, grabbed some breakfast and made it through security with no problems. Then we boarded the plane *ON TIME!* and were on our way.

Upon landing in Orlando International, we got our luggage and met the Magical Express! I was super excited about this part. I had slept on the plane so I was full of energy. My friends were just waking up as well. After all it was only 8:45 am. Here is a picture of Sarah on the bus.


Soon we arrived at CBR and asked them to keep our bags while we went to grab my campus rep badge and hit the parks until our check in time. They kindly did and we were given a taxi to take to access control because you can't get there by resort bus. The taxi cost way more than I thought it would. I was really upset about that, however, I was in Disney World. No bad thoughts.

But this is where the bad thoughts begin. Because my manager had switched me to Seasonal before the end of my Campus Rep term, I was unable to be issued my Campus Rep badge. This caused some issues. We then had to get a hold of my manager, who had the day off, and see what he would do for me. After 20 minutes of waiting I went out to pay the cab and took my friends to the lobby for them to wait for me. I didn't know how long I was going to be. 30 minutes later, my manager called access control and spoke with me. "Technically we are unable to issue your seasonal badge unless you are on the schedule for the week. Can you work?" Well I could but I would be out of uniform because I didn't have black shoes. I also wasn't trained where they were going to have me work. "I don't think I can help you Lauren." After more talking and discussing my options, I got my badge. It was a very stressful way to start my trip. After that, we called another cab to take us to the Contemporary so we could catch a bus to Animal Kingdom.

And we arrived at Animal Kingdom! The first thing we headed for was the Safari. They wanted to see the Animals. I snapped this awesome picture on the way.

Post safari we headed to Dinoland. Sarah was super excited about this. She LOVES Dinos!

We rode Dinosaur and walked around a bit before heading over to Expedition Everest. The line was crazy long so we opted for It's Tough To Be A Bug. After that show we headed to check in.

Check-in went smooth and we even made dinner reservations for Kona that night! Then we went "home" and NAPPED! I was wrong about the Pirate room. We didn't get them. We stayed in Barbados, which was a nice place to stay because it was close to the bus stop, a pool, and not too far of a walk from Old Port Royale. We found a shifty eyed towel bunny waiting for us. It was the only towel animal we got the whole trip and that made me very VERY sad. I've ever stayed at a place where they did towel animals so I was hoping for some.


Well this is all I have time for right now. I will hopefully have some more time tonight before bed. However, if not then I will pick up tomorrow with our Dinner at Kona and our EMH at Magic Kingdom!

[ArielsMomto2]

Glad you've started your TR. Sorry for the troubles at the beginning. I hope that's the end of them. Looking forward to more. Hurry back.

[Cam22]

Great start! Can't wait to hear about your dinner at Kona as we've never been there.

[OhToodles!]

WOW! Sounds like a rough start! I hope it gets better!
And I hope you feel better soon! I think I read on your PTR that you had food poisoning.

[bsblady01]

more please

[Meggera]

I hope that's the end of your troubles and the rest of your trip is fantastic. Great start!

[mcc0313]

Hope that your problems were over for the trip. Glad you were able to get your badge...

[chezp]

Great start!

[NanaTink]

Great start, can't wait to 'hear' more!

[Magicdreamer287]

After our lovely nap, and a big refillable mug of coffee for me, we got dressed and headed out for our dinner at Kona. We decided to take the boat from MK to the Poly. It was lots of fun! My friends loved the boat ride.

We got to Kona just in time for our ressie so we were seated a little late. However, the food was worth it. I have some allergies so the Chef came out and spoke with me. He was really nice. Ok highlights from Kona:
~ Hawiian Sweet Bread
~Smoothie with Berries!
~ Scallops
~ The Banana CremeBrule

After dinner we headed over to MK for Wishes. We got there with 15 minutes to spare! There was just enough time to find a great spot to catch the show! The show was pretty good though I got the feeling they are trying to put a new set together for Wishes. Things seemed a little off.
Soon we had the park for EMH and we enjoyed getting the most out of the park. We still cannot understand why Peter Pan is always so crowded. The line was over an hour long even during EMH. It was crazy. We did just about everything with the exception of Philarmagic and Tomorrowland. We even did a few things twice. The park was pretty crowded even for EMH and boy was it hot!
Sarah just wanted to ride Dumbo and Dumbo we did. They were like kids in a candy store. The only bummer I had was that they had each other and I had myself...which was fun, but it would have been more fun if I had someone too.
Oh well, it was fun anyways!

Day Two: Finding Buried Treasure in EPCOT! to come tomorrow or tuesday. I better get to bed. I'm not sick anymore, but I still have to work tomorrow!

[chezp]

Sounds like a great evening! You're making me hungry with your description of the highlights at Kona.

[Colexis Mom]

Great updates Lauren! More please!

[scdisneyfan]

Sorry how the day started! That is a real bummer to start the trip off with but sounds like you had a good day despite the start of it.
Kona sounded delish for dinner! I love that boat ride over there too we did that for our breakfast.
Too bad about the pirate room and the towel animals. We've only gotten one on every trip...for some reason they never do them for adults only
Cant wait to hear more!

[vfair]

Sorry about the rough start. Hope things continue to improve. Looking forward to more updates when you have time.

[disneydreamer33]

What a rough start. Hope it gets better. Glad you got over the food poisoning.