As a Cast Member I spend most of my time being just that, a Cast Member. I go to work and play in the parks in my free time. While I play of course I am treated as a guest but it's still a fry cry from what a guest acts like. I can come and go as I please, if I see a wait for a ride is too long I tell myself I can come back tomorrow, or next week, or next month even. There's no rush to try and cram everything in, there's no waking up early and staying out late, there's no exhaustion.
Well, I got a taste of what our guests go through last month since I became a guest myself when my mom and brother came to visit me. I was a guest in 2010 but to be quite honest, I don't think we really took too much advantage of it, I sometimes wish I could go back and do more on that trip. My mom and brother hadn't been back to WDW since our first family trip there in 1998. I was 6 and my brother was 4. I remember bits and pieces of it so for my brother it was like him getting his first visit twice.
Hit read more to read about our vacation and see some pictures from each day! Restaurant posts are coming soon!
What was really nice about this trip was my discount! I got us 60% off the room and a dining plan included. We stayed at All Star Movies from 8/21-8/26 in the 101 Dalmatians rooms on Pongo's side
My mom and I shared a bed and Sean got his own
The rooms aren't huge, keep in mind it is a value resort. On the right there is a curtain to shield off the mirror and sink area and next to that is the bathroom
We were on Pongo's side, across was Perdita
We also did the Disney Dining Plan because I got a discount for that as well. Because food is such an important part of any Disney trip,I will be doing several individual reviews of our meals during our stay. Let's just say, we were very full at the end!
So what was our agenda?
Wednesday, 8/21
I had work til 4:30 but my mom and brother were taking the Magical Express over to our hotel. I went home, changed and met them at our restaurant for the night, 'Ohana! I was a baker for the Polynesian last year so while I wanted to show them things I do this year, I also wanted to show them my home of last year. We sat around and ate and had a really great time, my brother was a bit embarrassing and made sure to really emphasize his aloha but, that's boys for ya! I actually knew the people working the pit so it was great to go up and have people remember me. And it was great being reunited with the food! More on 'Ohana in a later post but Wednesday was just a great relaxing way to spend the first night together
I'm still sad my dad couldn't come but that dad couldn't come but that doesn't mean he (and the dog!) don't get a button!
Thursday 8/22
Our morning didn't start out quite as planned thanks to Disney, what? Yes. As a Cast Member, I get into the parks for free by showing my Cast ID. As a CP I can also get up to 3 people in 6 times for free as well using something called a Main Entrance Pass. You're SUPPOSED to get it 2 weeks or so after you get here and here I was in mid August without mine. Turns out Disney decided to mail it to Rhode Island...in June. Long story short, my mom and I added a taxi trip to Celebration Florida to pick it up.
Then, we headed over to Magic Kingdom for the morning/afternoon. We took it easy and grabbed lunch at Be Our Guest, saw the parade, rode some rides like Big Thunder and Splash Mountains and overall had a really magical time!
Taking them to meet my boss himself!
After the parade we took the monorail over to Epcot for the rest of the evening. We had dinner at the Rose & Crown Pub not only because it's my favorite but because I make the desserts for them! We rode Test Track which everyone got a kick out of and spent a good chunk of time admiring the aquarium inside. We ended the night with Illuminations Reflections of Earth and some ice cream from France.
and Crush!
Friday 8/23
We did a swap for Friday, Epcot in the morning and Magic Kingdom at night. Epcot started off well with Soarin' but then I took them on Mission Space Orange and they didn't take it too well. We hung out for a bit in the Imagination Pavilion looking at the different water tricks, we explored the pavilions (and ended up running into my roommate who was working!) and taking the Friendship Boat back to the entrance when it was time to leave. My favorite bit? My mom and brother actually taking part in my favorite show in Epcot, Serveur Amusant!
Yes!
After a quick boat ride to the entrance and monorail over, we arrived back in the Magic Kingdom. We dined at the Crystal Palace which according to my mom and brother has the best mashed potatoes and got to meet Winnie the Pooh and friends! Unfortunately after that the rain cancelled the castle show I wanted to take them to see but we ended up jumping on some more rides like Space Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean. We even paid Belle a visit in her Enchanted Tales with Belle, I just really want to show Lumiere to everyone because he is THAT cool. We ended the night with the Main Street Electrical Parade, Celebrate the Magic and a not so great view of Wishes! but we were already planning on seeing it Sunday again anyways!
Saturday 8/23
This day was dedicated mostly to Hollywood Studios. I planned our trip around Extra Magic Hours and the park was open early for us but we didn't go because they wanted to sleep in. It ended up raining a lot but we still crammed in quite a bit with Indiana Jones, Beauty and the Beast, Lights Motors Action, the Great Movie Ride, One Man's Dream, catching a street show, eating at the Sci Fi Drive In, and my brother going on Tower of Terror and Rock n' Roller Coaster before ending the night with Fantasmic. Phew!
No matter how tired you are, you must get a picture with every park icon
Sunday 8/25
Our last full day in the parks already? We did wake up a bit early to catch our character breakfast at the Grand Floridian's 1900 Park Fare and then caught our bus over to Animal Kingdom. I personally believe AK would be Walt's favorite park and it's one of my favorite 'me time' locations so I was excited to bring them. My brother throughout the whole trip was so fascinated with Florida's birds, squirrels who ate M&Ms and the ducks (oh my god the ducks!) so now it was time to show him so actual foreign animals. We grew up with the safari at Six Flags Jackson near our house but Disney just does it better! We rode Mt. Everest (my favorite bit was hearing my mom go 'oh shit!' as we went backwards) saw Festival of the Lion King, did Kali River Rapids and did Kilimanjaro Safari.
Almost a vulture, nbd.
We ended up going back to the hotel for a bit during the afternoon to relax. It's tiring trying to cram everything in so this was our time to just chill a little bit before Extra Magic Hours for Magic Kingdom. We grabbed lunch at our resort and took cat naps. Then we headed to MK in time to catch the fireworks show again (better of course!) and to eat dinner at Casey's Corner. We met the princesses, saw some more of New Fantasyland, did some shopping and visited the haunts in the Haunted Mansion. We ended up staying till about 1 in the morning before we headed back. But not before one last picture in front of the castle!
Joining my favorite princess!
Monday 8/26
We got to sleep in again because there was no major agenda, our days in the parks were done. We headed over to Downtown Disney and ended up grabbing some lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. I myself haven't eaten there since 2010 so it was nice to go back an dine in the rainforest. We walked around the shops (which they all made a point to mention it's all the same thing just a different store, yeah yeah yeah!) and got caught in a pretty big rainstorm. We ended up taking shelter in the Lego store before catching a bus back to the hotel room. We each still had 3 snack credits left so we stocked up on those as we waited for their Magical Express Bus to come pick them up.
I didn't think I was going to cry, but I did. I will be writing a post soon about one of the nights this week where my depression was pretty bad and I didn't get homesick, but friends and family sick. I had such a fun time having them here and showing them around that when I went back to MK one night later that week I got upset to the point where I was crying in the park. I went on the Haunted Mansion by myself but they were on it with me just a few days ago. Or you stop and look around and you see everyone else with their family. That girl is with her dad, and this family is together, or those siblings are together, and you realize that you're alone in the place where families come together. It just made me more aware of how great the little vacation was.
Tuesday morning I was back getting up at 6 AM and putting my name tag on to get to work, my time as a guest was over and my Cast Member ears were back on. I plan on being a Cast Member for forever so I know that it won't be another 15 years before they come back to visit and now I can only hope that my dad gets to come too!
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