Tut, Tut, It Looks Like Rain, A Very Merry Thanksgiving TR Updated 4/28!!

[PrncessA]

I think this is the longest I have went before starting a Trip Report on a trip, but I was determined to get my Disneyland report wrapped up before I started a new one and time just wasn't on my side! If you haven't read any of my TR's before, there are links to all of them in my signature.

Welcome to our Very Merry Thanksgiving Trip!!! Officially our third trip to "The World" and a trip of many firsts again. I love that Disney World is a place of firsts no matter how many times you visit.

What are some of our firsts for this trip?

• We visited the Osborne Lights, for the first and sadly the last time.
• We tried many new restaurants!
• We stayed a new resort... would it become a favorite?
• We rode new rides!
• We attended Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party!
• We met new Dis friends!
• We skipped Thanksgiving, this one was very hard for my husband to swallow!
• And many more!

Without ado, let me introduce you to our gang:

First off we have me, your tour guide and operator! I also answer to the names Mom, Mommy, Sara and Disney Nut, and on occasion Sharon (which apparently what it sounds like when I say my name answering the phone at work).

To borrow from a previous TR, I am a self proclaimed Disneyaholic! I love everything about Disney from the history to the parks to the movies to the channel. I drive myself crazy sometimes with my obsession, but that doesn'’t change a thing. I am the obsessive planner in our family, although this time I had some help from the other members of the family. Sometimes this was a good thing, sometimes it lead to us standing in the Soarin' standby line for an hour... Since I have no Disney trip to plan right now, I am going a bit stir crazy. We are *gasp* skipping Disney for a year in lieu of a more relaxing and cheaper vacation in Cancun. I feel a little panicky writing that to be honest. However I should start planning our return in 2017 to celebrate my college graduation!



Next we have my dear husband, who has willingly been converted to a huge Disney Fan. He also answers to Dad, Daddy, Grumpy and Erik.

DH is a Disney convert, and tries to understand the planning of the trip, just enough to be annoying. LOL All kidding aside, for a person who had no interest in Disney World before marrying me, he has become a huge fan and loves to visit. He hates the heat, thus our November trip was born. He is a huge fan of The Nightmare Before Christmas, so meeting Jack was very important. He was not excited to try a new resort, so stay tuned for the review. He also was not excited to skip Thanksgiving, but being at Disney does kinda make up for it.



Next up is our wild child! E or Ethan is 11 and already a Disney adult!

Ethan is a Disney World loving child. He loves everything about Disney World from the buses to the monorails, to the parks, to the rides, to the broken tiles that are inserted into the walkways in Adventureland. E has extreme ADHD, very low impulse control, and becomes over stimulated easily. He also does not like to be talked to by female characters, which was new this year and lead to some stressful situations at a meal or two. He is growing out of meeting characters, which was such a bummer for me. But he still enjoyed meeting a few of them like Jack, Rafinki, Stitch and of course Donald. He will continue my Disney loving tradition!



Last but not least we have our Princess! Lorelai is our baby at 9 years old, although she was 8 on the trip.

Lorelai is 9 going on 16, and she is a handful wrapped up in sweetness. The pressures of raising a girl might just drive me crazy. She is a movie buff and will watch any movie or TV show; she doesn'’t care what it is. She is in love with the princesses and her favorite is Ariel. She is a spitfire and is very opinionated and headstrong! She loves Disney World, but doesn't like long days, she likes her rest times. She faced a lot of fears on this trip, and developed a little crush on a certain Belle suitor.

Now for the particulars:

The When:
November 17 - 27, 2015

The Where:
Disney's Coronado Springs Resort

The Food:
For the first time ever, we decided on doing the regular dining plan instead of the Deluxe. We originally had planned on doing no dining plan, but after looking at the costs of the meals it was cheaper to get the free dining and pay rack rate for the room, than to take a discount on the room and pay OOP for our food. This was a real eye openning trip for us in terms of dining, and we will never travel the same way again I am sure!

I hope you join us on a wonderful and magical adventure!

 

[PrncessA]

I will try and keep this as updated as possible.


Post Links

Day One Tuesday, Nov. 17th
Will We Ever Get There?
Will We Ever Get There Part 2

Magic Bands

Day Two Wednesday, Nov. 18
Good Morning Disney!!!
Good Morning Epcot!!!
Good Morning Epcot Part 2
Finishing Up Epcot
Dining at the Poly
Will We Ever Make It To the MK?
A EMH Night!


Day Three Thursday, Nov. 19
A Morning Off
A Visit to the Contemporary
Dining With Character Part 1
What Do I Forget This Time?
A Very Merry,Very Rainy, Christmas Party
A Very Merry, Very Rainy Christmas Party Part 2
A Very Merry, Very Rainy Christmas Party Part 3
A Very Merry, Very Rainy Christmas Party ... obviously I took way too many photos... Part 4

Day Four, November 20
Momma Get's Her Grove On
OH That Juice!!
Safari... and more
and even more
Our Evening

Day Five, November 21
A Table with a View
A Table with a View Part 2
In The Jungle
The Mighty Jungle
The Split
We Have A Spy In Our Midst!
LMA No More
The Osborne Lights are Not What We Expected

July PTR Update

Day 6, November 22
I Don't Think We Have Enough Photos
Let's Take Some More Before Breakfast
Let's Splash Around
Tut Tut It Looks Like Rain
Dinner With the Tramaines

Day 7, November 23
Early Morning Epcot
Breakfast With Character
Future World
A Rude Guest.. guess who
Mexico
Where are we from?
The Rest of the World in Photos
Dinner at a new fav!

Day 8, November 24
A Lazy Morning
An Exciting Evening

Day 9, November 25
Our Last Day at Epcot
Our Last Day at Epcot Part 2
Finishing Up Epcot
A Not So Magical Be Our Guest Experience

**Solo PTR Update**

Day 10, November 26
Thanksgiving Part 1
Thanksgiving Part 2
Thanksgiving and Not Quite Thanksgiving

Day 11, November 27
Now it's time to say goodbye...
To All Our Company

Wrap Up- See Ya Real Soon!

 

[BlvInMagic]

Joining in! Sounds like a fun adventure

 

[Katniss]

joining in...

 

[heatherrrrz]

OMG did you name your daughter after Lorelai on Gilmore Girls? If you did, that is so cool.

 

[PrncessA]

Joining in! Sounds like a fun adventure

Glad to have you here!

joining in...

OMG did you name your daughter after Lorelai on Gilmore Girls? If you did, that is so cool.

We sure did! Gilmore Girls is my favorite show, I almost cried I was so excited when they announced a revival. As soon as we found out we were having a girl, there was no doubt in our mind what her name was going to be. And boy does she live up to the name.

 

[Chicago Mo]

i'm here! can't wait to hear!

 

[heatherrrrz]

We sure did! Gilmore Girls is my favorite show, I almost cried I was so excited when they announced a revival. As soon as we found out we were having a girl, there was no doubt in our mind what her name was going to be. And boy does she live up to the name.

AHHH that's so cool. I can't wait for the revival.

 

[MissMaryQC]

Woo hoo made the first page!! Sounds like a great trip, can't wait to see how it went!!

 

[PrncessA]

i'm here! can't wait to hear!

I am almost certain I will have the first update today, I can't wait to get into it!

Woo hoo made the first page!! Sounds like a great trip, can't wait to see how it went!!

So glad that you are following along again!!!

 

[HomeSweetDisney]

Looking forward to hearing more about your trip! You have a beautiful family!

 

[jandlinz]

Looking forward to reading along.

 

[PrncessA]

Day One: Will we ever get there?

Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start… as my favorite Austrian nanny says. Originally this trip was to be a cruise, and was to take place beginning at Thanksgiving and extending into the week after. The cruise was even booked, and paid for in full through the travel agency. We were so certain on this that I had even joined a Fish Extender group and had already began to make our gifts…

But as like most of our trips things changed…

No one but Lorelai and I were excited about taking a cruise, which was putting a damper on the trip planning. Erik and Ethan really just wanted to go back to WDW, and to be honest it wasn’t hard for him to talk me into it, I mean I love Disney World! So the decision was made to cancel the cruise and book a WDW trip. Since we were no longer held to the schedules (and prices) of the cruises, we were able to move our trip to before and over Thanksgiving, meaning E and L would only miss a couple days of school right before Thanksgiving break, vs. the week they were going to miss after it.

I won’t bore you with the entire booking process, but it was an adventure to say the least. Coronado Springs was chosen early for the cost savings. We changed our reservation a few times through a travel agency before I saw a room available on the website with free dining. With Ethan being an adult this year, and us wanted to eat at quite a few buffets, the dining plan saved us money.

So we were booked November 18-28, Coronado Springs Resort, Free Dining. We were flying down using points on AA, but I was waiting for Southwest to open up their rates to compare them with AA flying back. Well… I overslept an entire hour on the morning they opened their rates and within the 15 minutes that I was checking out rates they jumped $30 a ticket!! Plus flying home on the 28th was twice as much as flying home on the 27th, the day after Thanksgiving. I booked the flights home and prayed that I could change the room dates. Luckily it all worked out and our dates changed to Nov. 17-27.

We decided to book a late flght so we could leave after school/work and reduce our number of days off. Of course the closer we got to the trip we were so ready to go, we really regretted taking a late flight, as we really just wanted to get there NOW. LOL

So the morning of the 17th dawned and Erik was up extra early, way before the sun to put in a full day at work and still leave early. I was up at 5am, even though I had been up half the night finishing up the packing.

Here I am rocking the “I just woke up, but I’m going to Disney!!!!” look.

I made the kiddos some Mickey inspired breakfast, that didn’t exactly turn out right. If you squint your eyes and turn you head to the side they might look like Mickey heads. LOL But who cares! We’re going to Disney!!

The kids tore the last paper ring off of our countdown and it was official! The morning was a bit frantic, filled with last minute packing and getting ready for school/work.

The kids were excited to wear their shirts to school.

They headed off to school with strict instructions to not dawdle or take their time coming home after, because the taxi would be here to pick us up.

Fast forward through a day of work, where I felt like the minutes were dragging and going way to fast at the same time! I had so much to do to make sure everything was covered for the over a week I was away, but minutes were sooooooo slow!!!

Finally 3pm came and I couldn’t take it anymore, and I headed out about a half hour early. I stopped at McDonalds to pick up food and met Erik and my mom at home. It was blur of last minute packing, cleaning, pet care instructions to mom and before we knew it the taxi was waiting outside our house… a half hour too early! Well at least we were able to pack the suitcases in the taxi before the kids came home.

The kids made record time coming home, although they both had to run back to school to get at least one thing they forgot. And we were saying goodbyes to mom and our dog Karli.

And we were on the road, for less than 5 minutes when Erik’s phone rang. Before he even picked it up I knew what it was… I forgot my phone. Luckily we were able to turn down the next road and we were home in seconds to pick it up.

Finally…. We are off, and we have a selfie for proof.

And the kiddos

We arrived at O’Hare in good time and I had decided on the way to do curbside check-in. With our huge suitcases it was a necessity! Our check-in agent was a hoot and told the kids jokes while he tagged our bags. I don’t know why we have never taken advantage of this before, because it is so much easier than lugging everything inside.

After checking the majority of our bags, we headed inside to find that security was PACKED every which way we looked. We were not lucky enough to get pre-check so waiting it out was the only option.

The time difference between the photo I took as we entered the line and the one directly after we made it through security was only 23 minutes, but when you are standing in line with two anxious kiddos it feels like longer. Erik was of course selected for additional screening, but at least the kids don’t have to take off their shoes. Ethan was insistent on taking his off though. I was ask about my Brita water bottle, but I was already prepared and it was empty.

I snapped a photo of the lighted globe that hangs in the terminal. I believe it is the K terminal or maybe H, since this is where we always fly out of. So pretty.

We made it to our gate and it was practically empty, which is really a change for us, it is usually so packed we can’t find seating. We grabbed some prime seating near the window with plenty of room for the kids to play and settled our stuff. I headed down the terminal to pick us up some Starbucks, Lorelai came with me to campaigning for a drink as well. I stopped at the Mc Donalds and picked up Sprites for the kids.

By the time I made it back Erik had a tale to tell. Apparently there while I was gone a group of people showed up at the gate and told the gate agent that they had been sent from another gate to this one for a flight to Seattle. According to Erik the gate agent was apparently having a really bad evening and was really rude to the people and told them they had the wrong gate and he had no idea where they should be. The people had left…

A little bit later another group showed up and started lining up at the gate. Well before we needed to to board our flight. They didn’t look like the sort who were headed to Orlando, so Erik and I suspected we would be changing gates soon. You can see them in this photo:

Sure enough about ten minutes later they announced that we would need to head down a few gates. So we left our wonderful spots and headed down with many other people to the other gate, which was super cramped. We did find seats but not as good.

Before long we decided to stand up to be ready for boarding since it was getting crowded in that area. After we were standing and our seats were sat in… they announced that our flight was delayed… we stood there and watched the time tick by.

These photos were taken a few minutes after our flight should have already taken off….

Bummed about the delay:

Twenty minutes later when they announced that boarding would begin:

Nothing can dull our Disney happiness!

have to share a bit of karma story. After we waited, standing for almost an hour, a young guy probably in his mid-twenties came up and jumped right in front of us before boarding. Annoying, but oh well what is one guy jumping in front of us going to do. He was a bit rude and kept shooting the kids, all of them not just mine, annoyed looks. Well, I guess we can’t all be as perfect as him.

Anyway boarding begins and first class and preferred boarding boards. Then they call Group 1 and the guy surges forward. We follow as thank you AA credit card, for that perk. He hands the gate attendant his ticket and apparently he is group 3 boarding. He proceeds to argue with the gate attendant that it doesn’t matter, but she held firm and made him step aside. Karma my friend.

Finally a half hour after our take off time we were sitting on the plane.

And sit we did, the flight was still being delayed.

We finally took off at 8:00 on the dot, an hour and ten minutes later than we were scheduled. But we were headed to Disney and that is all that mattered! Well that and the fact that Ethan couldn’t get his phone to play the Disney movies he had downloaded, and Lorelai didn’t want to watch the one that I had on my phone. I finally figured out Ethan’s problem and switched seats with Lorelai. But that didn’t make her happy… she was just grumpy! Finally 45 minutes before we landed they began the inflight movie of “Desendents” and she was happy, but since they started it so late they only showed about 30 minutes of it before we started the decent. It was a rough flight, for me at least. Erik was blissfully unaware a few rows up. LOL

Luckily we were able to taxi to our gate and deplane quickly!

A biobreak was a must, as I still do not know what an airplane bathroom looks like! And I came out to this cuteness.

We made our way to the fake-o-rail and the kids were in pretty good spirits. Erik and I were ready to be somewhere other than an airport!

Oh look a Christmas Tree!!

Let me introduce you to Stripes, Ethan’s stuffed tiger that now travels with him like Calvin’s Hobbs. Stripes became a mainstay in our daily lives when Ethan first read Calvin and Hobbs. He relates to Calvin he says. LOL

Down to pick up our luggage.

And finally to our Magical Express! The bus was pretty packed and we were the last people on, and confined all the way to the back of the bus. The kids didn’t mind. And at least there was enough room for Erik and I to spread out after being cooped up on the plane.

 

[PrncessA]

I am pretty sure that Coronado Springs was the first stop and we were off the bus at 12:27 and we were the only family who got off. There was no bell services who came to help so we pulled our luggage inside and I went to check in. I had done online check in and already received our room number, but I wanted to make a request for a microwave.

The CM who checked me in was very sweet and made sure that we had a microwave on the way to our room. She directed us to the entrance where she said bell services would be waiting for us…

Obviously Ethan ran into a CM and was rewarded with stickers:

We pulled our luggage to the fountain and waited a few minutes before Erik went to the bell services window to ask if we were waiting in the right place... we were… another five minutes later and we were met by a bellhop and directed outside to our awaiting carriage… or golf cart. LOL

We stopped at Luggage Storage to pick up our Garden Grocer order and took the long way around to the room. Apparently they were doing work on the walkways so we had to take the road. It was a nice ride and before we knew it we were pulling up to our room.

I had used Touring Plans to request our room location, and it was perfect. Our view was of the quiet pool. We were about a 5 minute or less walk to the lobby, about 10 minutes to the main pool, but only a minute away from the bus stop. We also were on the ground floor, the most important requirement after a long day at the parks!

I tried to get some photos of the room before we filled it with our stuff, but it was 1am and I was exhausted!

While most of the room felt fresh and clean, I was not a fan of the bathroom.

Our bellhop recommended calling housekeeping directly and requesting the microwave, that signals sometimes get crossed. We called just to make sure one was on the way since were tired and wanted to get to sleep.

I unpacked while we waited and the kids put the window clings up, while we watched Stacey. Finally about a half hour later the microwave showed up. Turns out they had sent them to the wrong room with it.

On a side note, I would like to say the dresser space at CSR is a bit laughable for 4 people. The dresser has 6 drawers, but they are very shallow and don’t hold much. With the packing cubes I was able to keep everything pretty organized and between hanging up a lot of items and using two open suitcases propped on the luggage rack and one of the footstools we made due. I really missed the dresser space they give you at a deluxe!

Finally we got in bed and were asleep in seconds I am sure. Tomorrow was our first Disney Day!!

 

[PrncessA]

Looking forward to hearing more about your trip! You have a beautiful family!

Thank you for joining! Thank you for the compliment, I think I'll keep them.

Looking forward to reading along.

Thank you for joining in!

 

[AinsleyLM]

Following! We are going around this time this year, so I am interested in your trip!

 

[Chicago Mo]

Luckily we were able to turn down the next road and we were home in seconds to pick it up.

OMG i would have been out of my mind forgetting all that stuff!!!

fter checking the majority of our bags, we headed inside to find that security was PACKED every which way we looked.

Isn't it always? Not a O'Hare fan AT ALL

I spy JACK!!!!

Karma my friend.

Isn't it a wonderful thing?

We finally took off at 8:00 on the dot, an hour and ten minutes later than we were scheduled.

Holy cow i would have been going berserk waiting that long! you my friend have patience of a saint.

Ethan first read Calvin and Hobbs

THEY SO LOOK ALIKE!!!

 

[tortilla24]

Woo! I'm here and loving it so far! And Lorelai is the cutest... love Gilmore Girls!

 

[BlvInMagic]

Wow - for such a late arrival, the kiddos look READY TO GO! Disney has such a great / glowing effect on everyone

 

[chasingthtdream08]

Following along! Stinks about the delays, but I would have had the same attitude, at least we're headed to Disney!!