Trip Report - August 31, 2014 - Part One

Happy Saturday! And welcome to another installment of the Trip Report. This past weekend I was in the Chicago area, celebrating my niece's 3rd birthday, which was a blast. In fact, today is her actual birthday; so in light of that:

Happy Birthday Faith! Aunt Katie Loves You! :)

Thank you for indulging me that moment. Now onto the Trip Report!

Sunday, August 31st was the first full day at Disney World. I woke up, packed the few items I'd taken out of the suitcase and called Bell Services to transfer my luggage to Coronado Springs. I wasn't meeting my cousins at Splittsville (located at Downtown Disney) until 10:30, so it was a pretty leisurely morning.

Everything Pop, however, was a ZOO! It was pretty crazy in there. This was Sunday of Labor Day weekend and although the crowds were predicted to be light during the week, you could tell it was still holiday crowd time. I attempted a picture of the breakfast rush, just to give you an idea.

After grabbing a quick muffin and Diet Coke, I made my way to the bus stop to catch a Downtown Disney bus.

As I waited at the bus stop, I was reminded why I have not been to Disney World / Orlando in late August / September for quite some time.  It is HOT.  Not like your normal heat, or even summer-level heat at Disney.  It was center of the sun, we're hotter than Mars, HOT and HUMID which just made it worse. Luckily, the bus came in about 5 minutes and I entered into its air-conditioned goodness!

After a quick ride to Downtown Disney, we were dropped off at the Marketplace area, where the shops are located. Most of them open at 10:00AM on Sunday and it was about 9:45 at this point, so I had a little time to kill.

I then witnessed one of my favorite "Aww!" Disney moments. You know those, when you witness something super-cute and sweet between guests, cast members, etc? One of the best parts about Downtown Disney is that they pipe in Disney music, so as you're walking along you're really immersed in the magic. There was a family with two young boys, and as they were walking by, "Kiss The Girl" from Little Mermaid was playing. The husband remarked to his wife, "Well, the song DOES say to kiss the girl", and he leaned over to his wife and gave her a smooch. The looks on the boys faces were PRICELESS, a mixture of disgust and embarrassment. So cute!

I had about 20 minutes to kill before I had to make my way over to Splittsville, so I wandered in and out of the shops. I was on a mission to see TrenD and the newly redesigned Marketplace Co-op area.

WOW! It looks amazing. The Co-op is styled after a series of boutiques, and so you have one area for clothes, another for housewares, one for purses, etc. Very, Very well done.

I knew my big souvenir purchase this trip was going to be a Disney Dooney and Bourke purse. You can buy them online at the DisneyStore.com, but I wanted to see it in person, the placement of the characters on the bag, etc. A very nice cast member helped me look at the bags and inspect each one, and then I made my selection!

I was SO happy; I have been looking at this particular pattern for a few years, and was very happy with my choice.

Giant purse bag in hand, I made my way through the construction are, and to Splittsville. It was a gorgeous day and even though, as mentioned, it was hotter than you-know-where, the sky was very blue and pretty.

I saw my cousins, we greeted each other, and then made our way in for bowling and lunch!

Coming up next - my review of Splittsville, both our bowling and dining experiences.

Have a magical day!