Friday, November 18, 2016

Disney World

Back in May, Loren decided that she wanted to do something fun, different and "adventurous" for her bachelorette party. She had never been to Disney World and so the girls went for a long weekend trip over Memorial Day weekend. We were able to find really cheap flights on Allegiant airline, so to Disney we went!

I have also never been to Disney World and that place is huge! We weren't able to see everything, but we did 2 of the major parks out there and had a blast. My 2 major take-away tips are: 1. to def stay at the resort (we stayed at one of the cheaper hotels, but it was still really nice) because the transportation around the grounds is free, great, and totally worth it; and 2. to buy the meal plan! The only extra money on food that I spent was for water bottles during the day, and I felt like I wasn't missing out on anything.

Everyone flew together from Austin and Jen was super sweet and made everyone a "swag bag" with some really fun goodies for the weekend.





We flew in on Thursday night, and were met at the airport by a sweet limo to take us the hour drive to Disney. We did a lingerie party for her on the drive, and got in the mood for our trip by watching Disney movies.





Vivian made those bridal mickey ears and brought them for Loren to wear all weekend
Vivian (Loren's sister) was our master planner for the trip and she had us booked for a late dinner at Disney Springs at a fun Irish-themed pub. There was live music and great food, a fun way to get the trip started!





We finally made it to our hotel about 1am. We stayed on the Disney grounds at the Port Orleans resort which is themed based off the Princess and the Frog movie. So everything was French, Louisiana, New Orleans etc. Kristen, Loren and I stayed in one room, and in the adjoining room was Vivian, Jen and Taylor. I learned that Disney puts a lot of effort into the details and everything is themed in every area of their parks, including even hotel staff is dressed certain ways to match the themes. Its pretty impressive. 








On Friday we spent the day at Epcot!





everyone taking selfies :)



really pretty flowers for some festival they had going on

Epcot is pretty cool, half of it is rides and attractions like the space ride (buzz light year) where they simulate the feeling of being on a space shuttle in space, and a huge aquarium with all the animals from Finding Nemo with a ride inside; and then the other half of the park is "Around the World" where you walk in a huge circle and go through a bunch of different countries (China, Mexico, Germany, France, etc).







Almost all the rides were like this where you sit 2 people together and go on a track through a mini show of various movies.


 Vivian does hilarious voice impressions, one of my favorites is the Asian one from Angela Johnson, and I was able to film here during lunch finally on Friday.





We also signed up to take pictures with Mickey, Minnie and Goofy! Then across the way there was a really short line to also take pictures with a big white man that Jen, Vivian, and Loren were excited about.  






Around the World was pretty fun since every area has the people, buildings, food, etc exactly like the country they are representing. Its geared more toward adults since there are no rides, just stuff to walk through and see. There was a game that Taylor found online where you could order a signature drink from each country and drink your way around the world, so the girls tried to order at least one from each country. We had dinner reservations in France, and then watched a light show from a globe in the middle of the lake at the end of the day. 



















being creepers so we could get a picture of Jasmine and Aladin











Saturday was Magic Kingdom! This park had the famous castle, and also a lot more rides (space mountain and other small roller coasters, and there were all the older Disney movie things (beauty and the beast, little mermaid, etc) and we got to meet some of the Princesses! Plus they had a parade after dark and a light show on the castle with fireworks. That show was probably my favorite part, it was really really cool!













space mountain!


we found a glass store next to starbucks and tried on tiaras :)

This was made entirely of glass!!





on a safari-themed boat ride

we met Merida, the Princess from Brave



in Gustav's tavern from Beauty and the Beast




Ariel!


We left the park for a bit to go have dinner at one of the nicest hotels, the Grand Floridian. It sits on the water and you can see Magic Kingdom from the hotel. Pretty nice, but totally overpriced!



beautiful sunset!
Now for the light show!



















Early Sunday morning, Taylor and Jen flew back home, but the 4 sisters drove a couple hours to the beach! We found a hotel right on the water and spent the afternoon relaxing which was really nice after walking our butts off the past 2 days.










This was such a fun trip! It was great getting to spend some time with Loren and getting to know her sister and the other 2 bridesmaids better before the wedding. Can't wait to go back to Disney and see the other parks one day!