Summer's over and I'm sad. So let's start a pre-trip report! Feb 2015 *update 1/7*

[Joyciemc]

I’m not sure I remember how to write these things anymore, as it’s been a couple of years since I tried. And my last attempt didn’t go so well since I never finished it (a fact I am very much ashamed of). I didn’t take notes that time, and quickly forgot details as I got further along in the report. Once too much time had passed I had to just give up. I wasn’t reading trip reports any more, either since I don’t like the DIS Boards mobile app and the site doesn’t work well on my tablet. So I basically fell off the DIS planet for a couple of years. Hope you’ll have me back As a peace offering, here are a couple photos from that trip that I never finished writing about:

Our friends Eric and Jen are on the left, then it's me and Ben. If you look closely, we are wearing our vacation shirts. We had a photo shoot before we left, and each of us wore a shirt with a picture of the other three in a wacky pose. On the back they said "Galanci Family Vacation", which is a mashup of our last names. Yes, we are intense/insane.

And here we are at MNSSHP:

Can anyone guess what Ben's costume was? Hint: he's not a lawyer (though one kid did guess that during the party)
Also, wearing a feather boa on Space Mountain is scary and not recomended. I can not believe they let me get on the ride wearing that. I also can't believe I didn't have better judgement.


Because it's been soooooo long, introductions are likely in order:

I’m Joyce and I love Disney! In real life, I manage an animal shelter (that photo was taken at work) and that’s why we share our home with a dog and 6 cats. Yes, 6. I am fully aware that is too many animals, but we make it work. And no, we are not getting anymore; we are full! Outside of animal stuff, I love reading, exploring abandoned things, beer, and being outside.

Ben is my husband (pictured here with our kegorator, a repurposed ice chest) and luckily, he also loves Disney. Ben works from home, and that means he’s left with lots of the animal chores around the house (to be fair, I take care of lots more of them at work!) and he’s a very good sport about it. Ben also loves beer (and rum), tinkering with our new boat, and designing fabulous drinking games like Battleshots.

During the time since my last failed trip report, Ben and I travelled to WDW again in May 2013 for the Expedition Everest Challenge 5K. We added on a few days at Vero Beach to the beginning of the trip and had an absolute blast!
We had a few ‘firsts’ during that trip, one big one being dinner at Victoria and Albert’s!

Now that was an experience. It started off with me being super awkward and weird (which is normal) in such a fancy setting. I mean, we sat down and the first question we got asked was if we’d like to see the Water Menu. And the server wasn’t kidding. They. Have. A. Water. Menu. We opted instead for the ‘house water’. But I finally settled in and didn’t embarrass myself too much. It was an amazing meal/experience! One of the highlights? Ben ordered iced tea and the ice cubes were frozen iced tea!

I had gotten very, very much out of shape and a week’s worth of vacation eating (Victoria and Albert's was only one of many meals) did not do much to prep me for running a 5K (the race was at the end of our trip) so I was super nervous about taking so long that we wouldn’t even finish and miss the after party. Surprisingly, I powered through and we finished respectably. The highlight was that after party, though (we didn’t miss it, haha)! Crowds were super low and the novelty of being in the Animal Kingdom late at night was such a thrill!

Ben and I were hooked and couldn’t wait to return for the race again in the future. 2014 was out because we had already used that year’s DVC points, but we tried to recruit our friends (Jen and Eric, they’re the ones in my partial TR, “I’m Speaking Italian”) for 2015. They seemed to be interested, but then they decided to have a baby (lots of our friends are doing that these days… Ben and I are hopeful that we’ll still have friends once these additions are born)- that happy event will happen early in 2015, so Jen is not planning on running any kind of race just yet.

Ok, bear with me for a moment; we’re going to take a little break from Disney talk so I can fill you in on what we possibly could have done in 2014 to entertain ourselves with no trips to WDW!

Our spring trip was to Sandals Great Exuma, Bahamas. It was fabulous and amazing and we actually made some friends who live just a couple of hours away from us. One of the couples was getting married while there, and we ended up being invited to the wedding. Definitely a random event, but so much fun! We also swam with pigs and visited some of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen.

The summer went by in a blink, with Ben and I becoming social members at a yacht club just down the road from our house. That quickly led to us perusing ads for boats which led to us actually going to look at boats which ultimately ended up with us buying a boat at the end of the summer. Neither of us are boat people (though Ben’s family did have a 35’ foot sailboat till he was in middle school), but we’re learning quickly and our new yacht club friends have been a big help! McFanci is officially ours, although we did not get to put her in the water this season. A Sun Ray Mirage 2500, we love her and can’t wait to enjoy some adventures together! She’s safely wrapped up and hunkered down for the winter, and we’ll reconnect with her this spring. In the meantime, boating classes start in a couple of weeks.

Before we decided to make such a large purchase, we had already planned a fairly epic fall vacation to the Pacific Northwest. We figured we could still take the trip, if we were very careful about our spending before and after… so we did! We flew in and out of Seattle, having found a great deal on non-stop flights, and visited Portland, OR and Vancouver, BC as well. We had a fabulous time and fell in love with that part of the country. We quickly began talking about ‘when we move’… though that won’t be for quite some time as we are very happy with our current location. We ate a lot of food, did a lot of walking, and drank a lot of beer (some seriously great breweries out there)!

We had no idea Seattle had a monorail. We didn't ride it or anything, but Ben spent a good 20 minutes getting this photo. It seems fitting in a WDW pre-trip report.

Not long before we left on that trip, my friend Mark mentioned that he was suddenly short one person for an upcoming trip to WDW. Tickets were already purchased, and there was plenty of room in the Treehouse Villa… he begged me to join him so that these things weren’t going to waste. After a little arm twisting (and a great deal on airfare), I made plans to meet him in Orlando right after I got back from Seattle. Unfortunately, Ben could not make this extension of the vacation so he got to stay home with our herd of pets. I just got back last week, and though it did NOT go as planned, did manage to have fun. However, more than anything that quick trip left me really looking forward to the trip Ben and I have planned…

And that finally brings us to the start of the pre-trip report! As I mentioned, we had been looking forward to another Expedition Everest Challenge, and that meant a trip in early May. But one day, Ben happened to remark that since Jen and Eric could not join us, and we’d already done the race, we weren’t really tied to that time frame… we could go earlier! I am not a patient person, so any shortening of waiting for something is always going to be approved by me. I checked out crowd levels and we decided on late February/early March. We also decided to add two days at Universal to the beginning, so that we could experience Diagon Alley, the new Harry Potter section of Universal Studios. (This was before I knew I’d be getting a sneak peek when I headed down with Mark) Coincidentally, we made these decisions exactly 7 months out; which is the earliest we could book a DVC resort other than our home resort. So we immediately booked our trip for 2/24- 3/3 at Old Key West (if you’re curious, our home resort is Bay Lake Tower. We stay at OKW more often, though because it’s fewer points). We haven’t booked our Universal stay, yet but we will be on property for one night there before moving to OKW. We stayed at Portofino Bay last time and I LOVED it, so that’s where I’m hoping to return… we’ll see!

By the time we get to WDW, it will have been two years since our last trip together. That’s actually a pretty long time for us, so we are both very excited! We’ve already made our ADRs, but the part I’m freaking out about is FP+. Luckily, I got to test it out on my recent trip, but I didn’t make those plans- I just hopped into an already planned trip at the last minute. I did get to see firsthand how difficult it can be to experience attractions (especially non-headliners) without a FP, though, so it made me aware of the importance of securing some FP ahead of time!

In an attempt to keep this moderately organized, I'll link to posts here.
The trip report within a pre-trip report: September 2014
Part one
Part two
Part three
Part four, the end of that trip

Let's talk about planning!
Where are we staying?
Bonus randomness
ADRs!!
Life update, randomness included!
Ooh, let's go to Disneyland, too!
Less than a month till Disneyland! And a cute baby picture!
That time the New England Patriots were coming to my work.
Excitement! Four days till Disneyland!!
Annual Passes have been obtained!
Annual Passes have been even more obtained. And DL trip sneak peek.
The Disneyland trip report!
Holidays are OVAH! And Day 1 and 2 plans.
More plans!

 

[amazingact21]

It's so good to see you back on the boards, Joyce! As soon as I saw the link to this PTR in your signature, I had to come over and subscribe.


Beautiful boat! And that game of Battleshot looks epic. I forsee a project for Alex when he gets home.



I'm so glad to hear you did the EE 5K in 2013 and like it. Isn't riding Expedition Everest at night the best? Like, it has ruined daytime riding on the attraction for me.
I wish I could run the race again. I'm tentatively planning to do it in 2015, but we'll see.


It's great that you have another trip coming up! Having a Disney trip to plan is such fun, although I know there's a lot of new stuff to have to learn. It's sort of like a puzzle, though, once you get the hang of it, it all falls into place.

 

[Joyciemc]

Thanks for popping over to read!

Battleshots was quite the labor of love, that is for sure

OMG, the EE 5K was the best! Well, running isn't my most favorite thing ever, but the experience as a whole was the best!

 

[Joyciemc]

Before I get into the planning of this trip, I thought I’d throw in a mini trip report of my most recent visit to WDW ( I apologize for a lack of pictures; my phone was nearly dead and I was so spacey from crazy travel that it didn't often occur to me to take any).

As I mentioned in the previous post, one of my best friends had a trip planned and one of the group dropped out late in the game. Mark and I have gone to Disney together a few times, and he purchased DVC shortly after Ben and I did. It was only natural that he ask me to tag along and use the already purchased park tickets. I couldn’t do the whole trip, because I was just ending my own vacation in Seattle, but I did make plans to fly down and meet him at Universal on Tuesday, September 16th. Before I get too far, a little background:

Mark and I met the very first day of our freshman year of college. We lived on the same floor and met briefly at an orientation meeting. The next day, I was walking home from class and he greeted me by name. It was so nice to have that bit of familiarity in a very new situation. We’ve been best friends ever since. After we graduated and became adults (sort of…), we took a few trips together over the years. He credits me as his ‘Disney-guru’ who has shown him the joys of travelling to WDW as an adult as well as being responsible for him purchasing DVC.
Mark recently purchased a home, and gained guardianship of Gerry. Gerry is an adult with severe autism who Mark first met when he was a staff member at a group home. They had quite the bond, and Mark was Gerry’s advocate many times when the care he received wasn’t up to par. Living with Mark has been a great thing for Gerry, and the two of them have traveled to WDW together a few times. This particular trip consisted of Mark, Gerry, Mark’s mom (Connie), and Gerry’s sister (Lisselle). I joined them two days into their trip… here’s what happened:

Ben and I had just completed our own epic adventure by landing in Boston after a 6 hour flight from Seattle. It was almost midnight (Eastern time) and we were home about 12:30am. Because Southwest doesn’t fly direct from Boston to Orlando, my flight was leaving from Providence, RI. At 6:30am.
Afraid that if I fell asleep I wouldn’t wake up, I opted to stay awake. I used that time to do some laundry and Ben made us a snack. Being the superstar that he is, Ben agreed to drive me to Providence even though he also had not slept. Thanks, Ben! I had almost the worst boarding position possible, so when I saw a window seat available I wasted no time getting settled. Except the couple already seated had a hard time getting up… the woman couldn’t figure out how to undo her seat belt. She was also studying the emergency card as though there’d be a test on it later. I thought it was especially amusing when she told her husband that she’d prefer the raft to the float in the event of a water landing. Noted, lady; I’m sure we’ll get a vote if that happens. I had been banking on at least a nap, but it was not to be. Even with headphones in and my eyes closed, she wanted to chat. As in, literally tapping me on the arm so that I would respond. No sleep for Joyce. At least the fight was smooth. After spending so much time on planes the last few weeks, I am pleased to say that the fear of flying I seemed to have been developing has eased up some. I’m sure that will last until my next scary flight.

I landed in MCO on time and made my way toward the cab stand. I was exhausted and it felt weird to be in Orlando without anyone to be excited with… I do remember trying to take a moment to get pumped, but I think I mostly just had to pee.
A weird quirk of mine (there are many, just ask Ben) is that I hate riding in cabs. It just feels super awkward to me to ignore the person driving, but making small talk is one of my socially awkward shortcomings so I don’t actually want to chat with the cabby, anyway. Ugh, it is hard to be me. Before leaving, I sorta checked into a shuttle type deal, but with the hectic pace of our vacation, I forgot to follow up. So I ended up taking a cab all by my lonesome to Universal Studios… a quiet, awkward ride. I tried to pay with my American Express, but it didn’t work and I panicked because I hadn’t brought much cash with me. Luckily my sleep deprived brain held its mush together long enough for me to try using my Visa, which worked. Phew! Now I was at City Walk with my over-stuffed backpack (my only luggage) and no clue where to meet Mark and the rest.
He had sent a text that they just arrived, but never received mine asking if I could leave my backpack in his car. Then I sent him a text asking where to meet, and didn’t get a response for a while. I realized that I was going to have to go through bag check with my ridiculous bag when I finally got the text that they were just outside of IOA. I apologized to the girl checking my bag for the fullness of it, but she didn’t seem bothered or phased and let me right through after just a quick look. I finally found Mark and we made our introductions (I had never met Lisselle before) and got a very brief warning that “Gerry has had quite the morning” before we headed in the park. Mark had purchased 1 day tickets to both parks and we got in pretty quickly. Mark went to Guest Service to get an Assistance Pass and I went in search of a locker for my huge bag. Luckily, it did fit in one and I considered it $10 well spent as now I just had a very light drawstring bag and felt free as a bird!

We then headed straight for Hogsmeade, with Lisselle power walking well ahead of us and Connie trying to keep up with her. Mark and I watched them go, knowing that neither of them knew how to get there. Sure enough, we found them stopped at the first fork in the road. This continued all the way to the back of the park and became a recurring theme.

The park was crowded, but when we got to Forbidden Journey the wait was only 20 minutes, so we headed in. I completely forgot I had my small drawstring backpack until the CM pointed me to the lockers so I could stow it. While I was doing that, Lisselle explained to a CM about Gerry’s needs (we had a Guest Assistance pass, but Mark wasn’t going to use it since the wait was short) and we were shown through the single rider line. Wasn’t long at all before we were on the ride! It was as fun as I’d remembered and everyone enjoyed it quite a bit.

We got a return time for Flight of the Hippogriff with Gerry’s Guest Assistance Pass and took the time to enjoy some Butterbeer while watching the Frog Choir perform.

After we rode, there was some discussion about what to do next and I suggested we head over to Spiderman. Mark dismissed this idea very quickly and that’s when I found out that we were only there to do Harry Potter stuff. Mind you, I did not pay for this park ticket and was in no position to complain, but that little bit of info would have been helpful in my decision to meet them at Universal vs. taking Magical Express (for free, vs. spending $50 on a cab) and hanging out at Disney (possibly napping by the pool) instead. Though I must say that while up until this point Gerry was doing really well, it would soon prove to be a very good thing that we were not overly ambitious in our park touring.

 

[Joyciemc]

Realizing that we had done the rides we wanted to in Hogsmeade (everyone voted against Dragon Challenge), we headed to the Hogwarts Express to begin the second half of our Harry Potter adventure. As we approached, the CMs were busy informing everyone that a two park ticket was required. Lisselle nervously asked Mark if that’s what we had and he reassured her it was. But then she realized that the front pocket of a shirt is not the most reliable place to store a ticket that you’re going to need again. Especially if you just rode a fairly intense ride that flings you kind of all over the place. Hrmm. Luckily, there is a ticket booth right there and we headed over to see what could be done. The CM asked if we had a receipt for the ticket, and Mark was able to pull up his email from Undercover Tourist. It took a while and we were kind of melting in the sun, but a new ticket was issued and Mark became holder of all park tickets at this point.

We didn’t have to wait at all to board the train, and we got a compartment all to ourselves; with Gerry along, it was always nice not to have to be squished in with strangers. He can be loud and moves somewhat erratically, and it’s always easier to not have to deal with the looks from people who don’t understand. As for the ride; it is awesome! I was prepared for a slightly themed train ride, and this blew my expectations away!

Gerry, Connie, Lisselle and I waiting to board:

Those photos were stolen from Mark. Once again, I don't have many because I was trying to perserve my phone's battery life..

When we arrived at Universal, er, I mean “London”, we were hungry and thought we’d check out the crowds at Leaky Cauldron. If you’ve already been, you might understand when I say that we almost missed enjoying Diagon Alley completely. Luckily, it dawned on me that the place was so well themed, of course Muggles wouldn’t be able to see it on the first pass by! I was totally and completely floored by this place; definitely a step up from the already amazing Hogsmeade! We didn’t look around too much,though, but headed straight to lunch.

The Leaky Cauldron is a counter service meal that has a similar system for food delivery as Be Our Guest; after you order, you’re given a candle stick to bring to your table (someone seats you) and your food is brought out to you. When we arrived, Gerry was beginning a meltdown and we really needed to find a place for him to sit; the ordering area was way too crowded for Mark to have him at the register. The CMs wouldn’t allow us to sit before ordering, so Connie and Lisselle had to sort of stand with Gerry in a corner and contain him the best they could. Meanwhile, Mark and I went up to order and I felt like we were in another country. Not due to the themeing, but due to the complete lack of ability to communicate our order…
Let me try to explain: there were menus that listed the names of the themed meals and drinks, but only a few had descriptions and those that did have descriptions were written fairly small.

This was borrowed from the interwebs to illustrate my point. Some things are obvious, but a bit more detail could have been useful...

It was pretty hectic in there, and the CM waiting on us was impatient to get our order, so we had to make some snap decisions while ordering for everyone in our group. The real problem came when we tried to order drinks. I asked for a Diet Coke, and the CM said they didn’t have that and pointed to the list of themed beverages.

Also borrowed from the interwebs

I’d thought those were just the specials, and assumed they’d have regular drinks, too. So I looked at the board and realized there were no descriptions of what things like “Tongue Tying Lemon Squash” and “Fishy Green Ale” were. So I ordered water (turns out I should have specified tap water or something, because I ended up with a $4 bottle of “Gilly Water”, which was a small bottle of water with a special label on it) and Mark asked for the closest approximation of Sprite.
This whole thing took way longer than it should have, and to top it off, she wouldn’t let me pay separately. Apparently, I would have to get my own magic candlestick and they didn’t have enough to give out 2 per table. Huh?

Once we ordered, we collected everyone and were shown to our table. The food came out without issue and we devoured our meals (I had ordered the mini pie combination… it tasted ok and came with a salad but the portion size was very small, especially for the $12.99 cost). Gerry was doing ok at this point, though he didn’t eat much at all. He *did* seem to enjoy his Fishy Green Ale, however

Me and Connie, eagerly awaiting our lunch (you can sorta see the bottle of 'Gilly Water':

After lunch, it was off to Escape from Gringotts, where we asked about the Guest Assistance Pass. I don’t know how long stand-by was, but they had us just enter immediately through the single rider line (I *think* that’s the line we went through, it was on the far right as you enter the bank) and we headed in, in awe of the place. But then we had to stop short because there was a filming crew in the line. VH1 was clearly filming a piece about the attraction and they were set up smack dab where we were told to go. Gerry picked this time for some rather loud vocalizations, and we received a lot of panicked looks from the crew. Finally a Universal manager-type person asked us if we were trying to get on the ride, and we had to explain that we were sent this way. After some running back and forth by a CM, we were escorted back out and around a corner through another door. We eventually made it to the loading platform (well, the back of it) and got on the ride. It was amazing!

I do want to mention that despite the above snafu, Universal seemed to be very accommodating of our party for the attractions. The Leaky Cauldron could have used a bit more flexibility, but overall we felt like they did a great job.

Once we were of the ride, it was becoming clear that Gerry has had enough. We still needed to head back to IOA so I could get my bag, so back on the Hogwarts Express we went. This time, 3 young men were seated with us, so it was a bit more stressful of a ride, especially with Gerry reaching the end of his rope. We did make it back, however, and we left the park a bit before 3.

I was disappointed to not get to do more, but also exhausted and very excited to finally be heading to WDW!

__________________________________________________________________
In some bit of relevance to the pre-trip report, I feel I should add here that I am SO glad Ben and I are planning to return to Universal as part of our trip. The small glimpses I was able to take of the new area were no were near enough, and I never even got to venture to other parts of the parks. I can’t wait to go back with the freedom to do whatever we want!

 

[BennyFedora]

Looks like I'm back from a DISboard hiatus as well

 

[khertz]

I'm so glad to see that you are back on the DIS! I loved reading your previous reports and was sad to see that you had never finished your last one. So imagine my surprise when I saw your comment on Lauren's TR and spotted a link to a PTR in your signature! I will admit up front that I'm pretty terrible at commenting on PTRs, but I do like to keep subscriptions so I can be ready for the TR to follow.

 

[Joyciemc]

I'm so glad to see that you are back on the DIS! I loved reading your previous reports and was sad to see that you had never finished your last one. So imagine my surprise when I saw your comment on Lauren's TR and spotted a link to a PTR in your signature! I will admit up front that I'm pretty terrible at commenting on PTRs, but I do like to keep subscriptions so I can be ready for the TR to follow.

Thanks for stopping by and checking in!

Too funny about the timing: I literally just-a-moment-ago finished your TR about your WL stay! I couldn't get over how grown up Paxton is, he was a litte baby the last time I remember!

There will be a trip report to follow this, and I will finsih that one, so stay tuned

 

[Joyciemc]

Looks like I'm back from a DISboard hiatus as well

Oops, I didn't mean to ignore you, Ben! Thanks for reading, lol

 

[Joyciemc]

We were staying in a Tree House Villa for this trip, and I was very excited to check one out! They are very roomy and really nicely decorated. I had the pull out couch, and it was quite comfy and I slept pretty well (except for the last night, but that’s not the bed’s fault!)

We all took naps, but mine ended abruptly when Gerry almost sat on my head. I had been sleeping on the couch, but had not pulled it out. Gerry has a habit of walking very quickly to a seat to sit down, and he picks his spot regardless of who might be already there. My cat-like reflexes got me up just before he landed where my head had been a moment ago. This was the first of many run ins I had with Gerry… he also will drink any beverage that is within reach (though he is especially fond of Diet Coke) and he must have finished ten water bottles of mine over the next few days; I kept leaving the last ¼ or so, and he got them every time.

After my near head-squishing, we ate dinner at the villa. Gerry seemed to be calming down from his earlier difficulties, but Connie was tired and offered to stay home with him while Mark, Lisselle and I headed to Downtown Disney for a bit. We did a little shopping, enjoyed shakes from Ghiradelli, and I was able to adjust my park ticket. The 5 day non-hopper pass Mark had already purchased is what I had linked to my Magic Band (he was able to customize one for me before he left home)

My very first Magic Band!

I needed to add park-hopping, and was prepared to be told that I’d have to pay to upgrade the 5 day pass. But since it can’t hurt to ask, I explained that I hadn’t used the any of the days yet and was really just looking for a 3 day park hopper. There was a little hesistation/confusion from the CM, but once he confirmed that I had not used it yet, was able to have me simply pay the difference between the 3 day hopper and the 5 day non-hopper ($25 or something like that). As a side note, none of these changes effected the FP+ reservations Mark had already made. I was definitely impressed by that.

The next day was an early one, as we were headed to rope drop at DHS! And much to my surprise, even with breakfast at the villa, we made it! Mark had planned a fairly full day and it started off really well. Although it was a bit rainy, this was one of the bright sides of the weather (the other was fairly low crowds that morning):

Between the Guest Assistance pass and FP+, we rode RnR and Tot a couple of times before heading over to the Movie Ride. We were a bit early, so we killed some time in the entrance area (where I don’t think I’d ever been before).

Gerry was beginning to lose patience again (he actually was having a hard time during those photos, but we somehow managed to capture a few moments of calm), and the only thing he wanted was Diet Coke. His tendency to grab drinks became a real issue as we passed the carts that have bottles on display, we all quickly learned to become human blockades and I don’t think he ever succeeding in actually obtaining any bottles illegally.

After the Movie Ride, we paid the Muppets a visit. We were shown to the wheelchair/ECV waiting area, which was helpful because it gave Gerry some room and a place to sit. He was starting to get very vocal again, but held it together fairly well. Right before the theater doors opened, a mom and son joined us in this area. The little boy was crying and yelling that he didn’t want to do it, at one point shouting “We’re all gonna die!” Mom was reassuring him (he ended up loving the show!) and I think our whole group was just relieved to be near someone that had enough of their own to worry about and wouldn’t be bothered by Gerry. Looking back, this is definitely the beginning of the end for our group of happy travelers… unfortunately; we didn’t know it at the time.

I had a chance to chat with Mark a little around this time, and he was really at a loss to what was bothering Gerry. The two of them had been to WDW several times together with very few issues. Our best guess at this point was that it was more hot/humid than he was used to (they’ve mostly travelled in the winter) and that Mark was also preoccupied by trying to make a fun trip for Connie and Lisselle, both of whom had never been before. Mark decided that we should split up a bit so that he and Gerry could try to relax somewhere and sent the rest of us to use our Star Tours FP+. We waited for him outside, meeting up in time to head to the Indiana Jones show.

If Muppets was the beginning of the end, this show was the end (but we still didn’t seem to realize it). This time, we did not sit on an end or in the back row, but were right in the middle of a section full of people. Gerry started off ok with just a few loud vocalizations, but then began some of his movement stimming (spinning is a big one, as is head-butting things and touching people’s faces) he almost never touches someone he doesn’t know, but if they are too close and he doesn’t have an option, he will. There were a few times that he got dangerously close to others, but between Mark and me we were able to keep him contained for the most part. We were all very relieved when the show was over, however!

We headed to Brown Derby for lunch, once again not yet realizing that Gerry was d-o-n-e with the parks. While waiting for our table to be ready, we realized that there was no way we’d make it through the meal. We let the desk know and headed out to get some much needed rest back at the villa.
Once back, we ate grilled cheese (I was sad about missing Cobb salad ) and everyone headed to their respective rooms for a nap. Despite my crazy travel schedule, I wasn’t tired and knew I’d never fall asleep. I asked Mark if he’d be ok with me getting a head start to Epcot. Even though they’d be heading out in just a little while, I was feeling a bit cooped up in the Villa with everyone else sleeping and really wanted a little alone time. So I walked to the Treehouse bus stop, where I had to wait for a bus to Saratoga Springs. Once there, I could switch to a bus to a theme park. Whew, that’s complicated!

While I waited for a bus, I called Ben and filled him in on how things were going. I waited a while, but just as I was about to give up and walk (which would have been quite the trek to Saratoga Springs), it finally arrived. I then waited at Saratoga Springs as a bunch of not-Epcot busses drove by. Time was ticking away, so when a DHS bus stopped, I hopped aboard. The sky was pretty overcast, so although it was warm and humid it didn’t feel too warm as I walked to Epcot. By the time I got to the International Gateway, though, I was a sweaty mess! My journey definitely took longer than I anticipated, but I eventually made it to Future World and met up with Connie and Mark at Test Track (Lisselle stayed home with Gerry)
We waited standby for Test Track and just had a fabulous time designing a ridiculous car. We also took a bunch of crazy photos in the exit area and were laughing so hard we were crying (Mark has those, since they were emailed to him. He hasnt sent me copies of many of the pictures we took, yet). It was great to have a little time to just relax (Mark especially) and let loose a little!

From there, we rode Soarin’ since the stand by wait was only 45 minutes and we had enough time before dinner.
We made our ADR at Rose & Crown with plenty of time and had a drink while we waited for our table to be ready. Dinner was awesome, and we all ate a ridiculous amount of food. Our server was super fun and the three of us really enjoyed ourselves.
We headed out feeling optimistic for the day to come…

 

[Joyciemc]

That night didn't go well at all, and ended with mark taking Gerry to the emergency room (where at least they figured out the problem; pretty fixable). As they were about to leave, Gerry slammed into a picture on the wall and shattered the glass, cutting hismself i nthe process. They didn't get back to the Villa until 3:30am!

With a very late start the next day, I became a tour guide for Connie and Lisselle and we began the long journey to the MK via buses. By the time we got there, it was nearly 11 and I didn't have high hopes for what we'd be able to accomplish...

We did ride Space Mountain, though!

This is the day that I truly became aware of how important it is to schedule FP+. We had missed the ones Mark scheduled, so we had nothing to work with and nothing useful was available. Space didn’t have much of a wait, but stand-by for Splash Mountain was 45 minutes… I am so not used to waiting in lines that long! Connie and Lisselle had never been, however, and both were up for the wait- luckily; they absolutely loved it. We opted not to wait for anything else, though and just grabbed lunch before heading back to check on Mark and Gerry.

When it was time to head out again, it was just Mark and I who headed to DHS. This was another highlight of the trip, as we were able to use all of our FP+ and actually made it to an ADR! We ate at Hollywood & Vine (a new one for me) to use the Fantasmic! Package.

It was my first time seeing the show (I just can’t justify waiting as long as you need to… even with the package or FP+, it seems you still need to show up rather early to get seats), and I am glad I finally got to see it! I doubt I’ll be back anytime soon, but it was pretty awesome!
We had great seats:

After an awesome night at the Studios, we returned to the Villa and spent a sleepless night while Gerry continued to have a very hard time. Once morning rolled around, I said my good byes and headed out. ME wasn't picking me up till 5pm, but I was no use with helping with Gerry, and the others still had to get ready for their own departure.

My solo adventure consisted of a verrrrry long journey to Magic KIngdom (where at lest I got ot ride the Mine Train!) followed by a suprise visit to opening day of the Food & Wine Festival. I got a chance to sample some yummy food and I may have indulged in a few beers...

After I ordered that flight of beer, I felt like I needed to keep pretending to look for someone so it didn't seem like I was actually drinking it all alone I did call Ben, though and he had a beer at home to keep my company

I eventually made my way back to Saratoga Springs, caught the ME bus and had an uneventful trip home.

It was not the trip I envisioned, and very much made me long for our February trip to hurry up and get here!

I didn't really enjoy writing up that mini-TR, so I am very glad that part's over! Now I can get on with planning a trip to make up for it!

 

[Imagineer5]

I'm here! I'm gladyou did a mini TR so I could see what you meant by a difficult trip. Do you have any photos of the Treehouse villas? That is another DVC that is on my to-visit list.

It sounds like it was a very stressful trip, but nice you were able to get out on your own a bit. I hate not being able to sleep - that can make or break a trip for me.

BTW, nice photos of Seattle! Glad you had a nice visit out there. I grew up in seattle (well from ages 8-18) and absolutely miss it, though my parents have since moved to Vermont so I have no other family there.

 

[vleeth]

My last trip made me want a redo! At one point I was in tears. But now it's time for the planning to begin!

 

[amyrella]

I'm so happy to see you and your husband back on the Dis. I enjoyed reading your previous reports so I'm very happy to see you have a PTR! We were at Magic Kingdom the same day as your solo visit there!

Can't wait to see what you guys have planned for your trip! Welcome back!

 

[Joyciemc]

I'm here! I'm gladyou did a mini TR so I could see what you meant by a difficult trip. Do you have any photos of the Treehouse villas? That is another DVC that is on my to-visit list.

It sounds like it was a very stressful trip, but nice you were able to get out on your own a bit. I hate not being able to sleep - that can make or break a trip for me.

BTW, nice photos of Seattle! Glad you had a nice visit out there. I grew up in seattle (well from ages 8-18) and absolutely miss it, though my parents have since moved to Vermont so I have no other family there.

We loved Seattle! I've lived in MA for pretty much my whole life, but the Pacific Northwest was the one place I've traveled to that I could see myself moving to.

I don't have any pictures of the Villa, but I might be able to steal some from Mark... though I think he mostly just took photos of bathrooms I'll see what I can do

My last trip made me want a redo! At one point I was in tears. But now it's time for the planning to begin!

Yes! I am looking forward to this trip more because of the issues with this one, even though I was just there. Yay for planning!

I'm so happy to see you and your husband back on the Dis. I enjoyed reading your previous reports so I'm very happy to see you have a PTR! We were at Magic Kingdom the same day as your solo visit there!

Can't wait to see what you guys have planned for your trip! Welcome back!

Hi! Thank you so much for checking in! Thanks for reading my other reports.

Wish I had known you were at the MK!

 

[Joyciemc]

I’m supposed to be cleaning my house, but instead of doing that, I’d rather focus on my Disney home. So let’s talk about where we’re staying!

Oooh, but before that… Lauren, here are the photos of the Treehouse Villas you had asked for. I didn't have any, but Mark posted these on Facebook:

Yup, just the bathrooms. To be fair, though, they were pretty great! The master bath had that big tub, with the shower in front of it and a glass wall and door. I’m not sure if it’s clear in the photo (ha! Clear, glass wall… get it?) but it was really cool!
The second bathroom wasn’t as stylish, but I loved the faucet! In addition to those great bathrooms, the Villas were just really nice in general. There was a large deck, a grill, and parking was nice and close. I definitely recommend them as long as you have a car! If you read my mini-report, you’ll see that I didn’t not get a chance to visit the Villa’s pool, but I know that there is one. And of course, you can use the amenities at Saratoga Springs, as well.


Ok, for the upcoming trip, Ben and I are returning to one of our favorites. Once again, though… vastly improved by having a car. Here’s why we love Old Key West:
1) We like to make our DVC points stretch, and a studio at OKW is one of the least amount of points/night. Yep. This is reason #1… so it’s a good thing there’s other stuff we like about it, too:

2) Olivias. The table service restaurant at OKW. Amazing breakfast… choosing between the Banana Bread French Toast and the Crab Cakes Eggs Benedict is a painful decision and one that I hope you never have to make.

3) Gurgling Suitcase. If you’ve read our reports in the past, you know that Ben and I enjoy the *occasional* adult beverage. Ahem. This is a very cozy place to get said beverages.

That's a photo of 3b) Turtle Krawl, one of OKW signature drinks. It's not terrible.

4) It’s beautiful!

5) The studios are the biggest of all the DVC resorts.

That's Mark! This is from his very first trip as a DVC owner... he took me with him, and we had a blast. (Spoiler alert: Ben and I are already trying to plan a trip with Mark so that he can get a break and enjoy WDW fully)

Mark again, this photo cracks me up everytime.

6) It’s a large resort, and availability is not usually an issue.

What’s not to love? So the accommodations for the WDW portion of our trip all sorted out. We’re planning on a night at Universal to start the trip, but haven’t booked that yet and aren’t completely sure which hotel it’ll be.

 

[Tracy161]

Joyce!!! So glad to see you back!!!

Congrats on the boat! You're gonna love it, no doubt!

Sounds like the recent trip to Disney had its ups and downs to say the least and I'm glad that you and Ben will get back soon.

 

[Imagineer5]

Thank you for the, um, bathroom pics! It does look like a lot of fun though!

And your OKW pics got me excited about staying there at some point. Maybe once DTD is done being under construction. They have two beds in the studios? They are huge! It's like night and day compared to BLT, wow! You are right - Olivia's is fantastic! Aria & I ate there in August 2013 before a DTD day. It is a beautiful resort.

 

[Joyciemc]

Joyce!!! So glad to see you back!!!

Congrats on the boat! You're gonna love it, no doubt!

Sounds like the recent trip to Disney had its ups and downs to say the least and I'm glad that you and Ben will get back soon.

Hi, hi, hi! I'm glad to be back, and it'e nice to see familiar faces (well, screen names, I guess )

There were some real highlights of the trip, but it was not the trip I had expected!

Thank you for the, um, bathroom pics! It does look like a lot of fun though!

And your OKW pics got me excited about staying there at some point. Maybe once DTD is done being under construction. They have two beds in the studios? They are huge! It's like night and day compared to BLT, wow! You are right - Olivia's is fantastic! Aria & I ate there in August 2013 before a DTD day. It is a beautiful resort.

Haha, I have no idea why Mark only had pictures of the bathrooms , but it's better than nothing I guess!

OKW is awesome, and the only studios with two beds (they're queens). Very big rooms, for sure! The boat to DtD will be a nice feature once they finally put everything back together over there.

 

[Joyciemc]

Ben just reminded me of a couple of photos Mark had texted to him during our trip.
Before I left, Ben told me not to have too much fun and requested at least two pictures of me having a bad time. On my first full day, we managed the task:

I'm sad here because I only got to eat grapes for breakfast... (which is a lie, because I also had an egg sandwich)
Bonus, another view of the Treehouse Villa... also not terribly helpful, but here you can see the table, a chair, and the curtain . Behind that curtain is one of the floor to ceiling windows that line the villa (very pretty but I kept picturing Gerry busting through one...)

I got in a short line at bag check, only to be thwarted by That Guy... they had like 15 bags hidden in their stroller and every single one had to be checked. Fail, Joyce.

A funny note about that one, Mark texted the pic to Ben and wrote "Joyce is stuck in Disney Security". But the photo didn't send. A somewhat concerned text came back from Ben asking what was going on. He thought I was in Disney Jail. We eventually got the confusion sorted out.