30 days to go...Let's do this!

[Bama Mom]

Hello all. We are officially 30 days from our February trip.

First off, the details:
Who: Just my hubby and I (I'll introduce us more in a minute)
What: Our first February Disney trip (our last trip together was in August 2019 and it was miserably hot and humid)
When: February 1st-6th at Port Orleans French Quarter
Why: It's been a tough year and I really need a break. I lost my Aunt (who raised me after my mom passed away), I've had health issues myself that I'm still waiting on answers for, we now have his mom at our house every other weekend for 5 days and it's like having a small child because of her dementia/bipolar so it's been a big change and has taken some adjustment to get into a new routine with her, and lastly but not least...just life in general.
How: How did this trip come about? Well I just randomly told hubby one day that if we went to Disney in February it would be cooler weather and he would be able to stand it. Plus we could take it slower and not be go-go-go like I usually am on these trips.

So who are we?


This is from our December trip to Gaylord Nashville from this December. I would post one from our August 2019 Disney trip but we both look terrible because of the heat and humidity.

Well I'm Sandy. Stay at home/work at home wife, mom and Nonnie. I work from home with our small businesses we own. I own one with my daughter (doing wooden signs, home decor, etc), plus a shirt/vinyl business and then my hubby and I also own an ornamental iron business doing metal handrails/fences and other things like that. This is our biggest business because we do handrails/fencing for several apartment building as well as have a commissioned job to make all the historic signs for the county next to ours. This is actually a combined job for the metal business and my vinyl business. We make historic signs for houses that are over 100 years old and they are about to start on business buildings that over 100 years old that they want us to make all the signs for as well.

Hubby's name is Lin and he is a welding instructor at the local community college for his day job and the rest of the time does all the heavy work, designing and welding for the Ornamental iron business but his favorite job is being a papaw.

We have three adult children, a daughter-in-love and a son-in-love and two fabulously sweet, beautiful, smart grand babies. Vivianne is 20 months old and Leo is 5 months old. Both of them belong to our oldest son and daughter-in-love.

I'll be right back with our plans so far...

 

[Bama Mom]

The trip is paid off and park reservations have been made for a while.

Now for the details...
We fly down to Disney on Tuesday, February 1st at 5:55 (Central)and land around 8:40 (Eastern). The flight is only 1 hour and 45 minutes. It beats a 10 hour drive (with no stops) any day! Now we just pray that the flight doesn't get cancelled. If it does, we hop in the car and drive. We have never flown down in the evening and usually take the earliest direct flight we can get. Unfortunately this trip we can't because of hubby's work rules. He can not take off more than 2 1/2 days in a row (since he is faculty but staff can take off a whole week) so that means he will work until around 11:00 or 11:30 and then come home and shower and we will make the hour and 45 minute to the airport. We fly out of Nashville because the airport an hour away doesn't fly southwest. We are hoping that traffic won't be terrible and we can make good time since we should miss all the traffic except maybe some small school traffic right before we get to the airport. I will have everything loaded and the car gassed up ready to go when hubby gets here. All we will have to do is throw in some last minute stuff.

I reserved Tony Hinds to pick us up at the airport and take us to POFQ. He came so highly recommended that we decided we would rather have a direct commute to the resort since we get in between 8:30 and 9pm. Plus he will make a quick stop at Publix so we can grab some things. That was a hugs plus to us. Knowing we also don't have to deal with the buses on the morning of our return home flight is a plus too. I think it will be a lot less stressful.

We are staying at POFQ this trip. We have stayed at POR back in 2008 when the kids were younger and we needed the 5th sleeper but never even went over to POFQ to check it out. I'm looking forward to it because it's just hubby and I this trip and think we will enjoy it. Of course on our 2019 August trip we stayed at The Wilderness Lodge so we will see if hubby has become a deluxe resort snob or not.

Our park plans right now are:
Wednesday: Magic Kingdom
Thursday: EPCOT
Friday: Hollywood Studios
Saturday: Animal Kingdom

We aren't doing hopper this time. I can't even remember the last time I went without them.

I wasn't planning on making many sit down ADRs but hubby prefers them so I have made several. I have several to let go of but we haven't finalized all of our meals yet so we need to do that soon so I can release those we don't want.
Right now we have:
Wednesday: Liberty Tree Tavern for supper. I ate here in March on my girls trip and I think it will be one hubby will enjoy.
Thursday: I have an "Ohana breakfast because I couldn't snag a Topolino's breakfast, which is what I wanted. I was finally able to snag one, however it's not until like 9:35 so I am going to try to modify it to an earlier time. But since we don't mind missing rope dropping EPCOT it's fine if we don't. We also have a Garden Grill lunch and a beaches and Cream supper.I know I am dropping the lunch but not sure about the supper yet.
Thursday: I have an Oga's Cantina reservation at 1:35. We weren't going to grab this but I would like to experience it at least once. I'm a Star Wars fan but hubby isn't. Then for supper I have a Mama Melrose reservation. I know there are mixed reviews for there but we have never eaten there and I think hubby will like it.
Friday: I have a Tusker House breakfast reservation at 9:20. My goal is for us to ropedrop FOP during early entry for resort guests and still make the breakfast ressie. I think we should be able to for sure.

So basically I have to drop one or two things and try to modify the Topolino's and we will be set.

Next up will be a shopping list and packing list.

 

[StephanieE]

How exciting! My DH and I have stayed at POFQ a handful of times. I love it! It's much quieter than most resorts and it's fairly small/easy to get where you want to go. I LOVE staying Deluxe but FQ is definitely my favorite mod so far!

Good luck with your planning!

 

[Bama Mom]

How exciting! My DH and I have stayed at POFQ a handful of times. I love it! It's much quieter than most resorts and it's fairly small/easy to get where you want to go. I LOVE staying Deluxe but FQ is definitely my favorite mod so far!

Good luck with your planning!

I am thinking it will be our favorite Mod as well. We aren't in the room much but do love a good quiet spot to sleep and I think this is our best bet for sure.

 

[Bama Mom]

I think Mother Nature has lost her mind! I live in North Alabama and in New Year's Day we had highs in the upper 70's with thunderstorms and tornadoes. Yesterday the temps dropped and it snowed. We have up to 3 inches but thankfully the roads seem to be good. We love in the country and some of our roads don't get cleared/treated like the main ones. Hubby had to go back to work from Christmas break today and it was delayed until 10:00. I was suppose to run errands but the wind chill is making it so cold outside I decided to just wait until tomorrow to do my running around and I'll just work today. But first, 29 days to go!

I am working on a shopping list from Amazon. Normally I don't really pack a lot of extras but there are a few things I wanna get this time. One is a strap for my glasses. They are loose on me so I want a strap so I don't feel like I need to take them off on some of the faster rides. I hate having to to that so I want to see if I will like those straps that help hold them on. Also I want to get some mask lanyards so it's more convenient pulling them off and putting them on. It will be easier to remember to put them on when we get in those areas where masks are required. Plus we won't have to stick them in our pockets. The other thing I wanna take this time is reusable straws. I have to use a straw most of the time because my front teeth are sensitive to cold and those paper straws don't always cut it for me. Especially if we get a slushy drink. They just seem to get too mushy in those. Right now those are my three main things I wanna order soon.

We reserved Tony Hinds for transportation from MCO to POFQ and POFQ back to MCO and he says we should have time for a grocery stop if our flight is on time. He also gave the the Publix address so we can just do curbside if we want to do that. So we most likely will. We won't need a lot. Just some snacks/drinks and a loaf of bread and some peanut butter for me. I have decided to take sandwiches into the park for me each day. It's not that I want to save money, that's just a plus, but I have been having some health issues and food in general has not been appealing to me. I am basically eating because I have to eat to survive. We don't have answers yet on all the issues and test result reasons but we are working with a fabulous doctor to find out. I am on some medicine for a trial three months to see if that helps with things but I will only be about 5 weeks into my three month trial when we are on this trip so I want to be prepared and have something like peanut butter that I can eat if I don't feel like eating but still need something. I know that was more info than needed but it's basically to say if I have a sandwich or something else light in my backpack and I don't feel like eating at CS lunches when hubby is hungry then I will have something quick I can just pull out and eat when I need it. No need to spend more time at at CS place getting me food. I guess I do need to make sure I have a sandwich keeper packed so my sandwich doesn't get crushed in my bag. So that needs to be added to my list of packing essentials. Normally I go bagless but with us going in February when the weather is so unpredictable I'll have to have one for my layers anyways so I figure this is the perfect time to have to bring in light snacks too. This of course leads to another health issue...My back. I recently found out I have degenerative disc disease. It was found during one of the tests performed for these other health issues. I've had back pain for years but just recently it has gotten more frequently. So I have to be careful not to over pack my park back and I do have a fanny pack (that can be worn across the chest or back area) so I can alternate between that and my backpack if I need to.

But enough about these yucky health issues, I will start working on must dos and watching wait times as we get closer to our dates so I know if I want to buy Genie + on any of our days. If we do it will be MK and HS days. I can't imagine needing it in the other two parks since we aren't hopping so will have nothing to do besides wait in lines at each park.

What are y'alls thoughts on genie+ in EPCOT and AK?

 

[Wood Nymph]

This is from our December trip to Gaylord Nashville from this December.

We stayed at this hotel ages ago when it was called the Opryland Hotel. It was a really nice hotel back then but it looks fabulous now!

But enough about these yucky health issues,

I hope you don't have any problems during your Disney trip.

What are y'alls thoughts on genie+ in EPCOT and AK?

I would consider buying Individual lightning lane for A couple of rides at AK and Epcot, but not Genie+. The standby lines usually aren't too bad for those two parks, especially at rope drop or later in the day.

 

[Bama Mom]

We stayed at this hotel ages ago when it was called the Opryland Hotel. It was a really nice hotel back then but it looks fabulous now!
I hope you don't have any problems during your Disney trip.

I would consider buying Individual lightning lane for A couple of rides at AK and Epcot, but not Genie+. The standby lines usually aren't too bad for those two parks, especially at rope drop or later in the day.

The resort is so nice and huge now. I had not been since they expanded it and it took a while to get used to where things are.. I would go looking around while the others were still in bed and I never did see it all.

Thanks. I am hoping the new meds I'm on will help keep the issues at bay. The good thing is that if I do have a flair up I can stop and rest since it's just hubby and I.

I am considering buying some ILL even though I swore I wouldn't. It may be best just so I know I don't have to stand still a lot since that is a trigger for my health issues.

 

[Bama Mom]

We are 4 weeks out...28 days. No real update except to say in 28 days we will be waiting to board our plane. EEK! Time has flown by while planning this trip. Of course it came about quickly compared to our normal trips. Normally I plan a year or two in advance but this one just came about way under that so it's been an easier wait.

 

[Bama Mom]

Twenty seven days to go. It all seems so real now that we are in the home stretch of planning and prepping. In just 27 short days we will be in Magic Kingdom. Oh I can't wait to see that castle!

 

[Jess_VacayMode]

So exciting! I love the photo of yall at Gaylord. I used to live right down the street and loved to explore. Love the gardens and waterfall inside. I am excited to hear about yalls trip. I am on the fence about going back until they work out the kinks with Genie+ but all this time on the DISboards is making it hard.

 

[Bama Mom]

So exciting! I love the photo of yall at Gaylord. I used to live right down the street and loved to explore. Love the gardens and waterfall inside. I am excited to hear about yalls trip. I am on the fence about going back until they work out the kinks with Genie+ but all this time on the DISboards is making it hard.

Aw thanks. It had been years since we had been to see the Christmas lights/festivities so was kinda shocked how big and extravagant it is now.

 

[Bama Mom]

Today there are 26 days on our countdown. YIKES! Hubby is off work today because there is a possibility of our rain changing to sleet and snow this morning so they cancelled his school today. Sheesh I can't get rid of him. He was suppose to go back from Christmas break on Monday but we got snow which caused his school to be cancelled. He went to work Tuesday and yesterday and now he is off again today. But I will use today to try to finalize our dining so I can release what we don't want so someone else has time to snag it.

Right now we have:
Wednesday (Magic Kingdom day) Liberty Tree Tavern supper at 5:35. for breakfast we will probably gab a Gaston's cinnamon roll (or at least I will) and grab a light quick service for hubby for lunch. I'll have my sandwich packed for if and when I feel like I can eat.
Thursday (EPCOT day) We have four ADRs this day but I know I am dropping at least one. We have an Ohana breakfast at 8:05 that I grabbed when I couldn't get Topolino's. However we were able to grab a Topolino's breakfast for 9:35. I am still trying to modify it to earlier because I'd like an 8:00 ish time slot if I can grab it closer to time. We also have a Garden Grill Lunch at 12:10 but I am dropping this one for sure. The last ADR we have is beaches and cream at 6:00 for supper. I'm not sure what I'll do with this one. I really like Beaches and Cream so we may actually do two sit downs today (which we have never done) but since we can walk to B&C from EPCOT I am definitely hanging on to this one and will decide later whether to keep this one or not. So mainly I need to decide which breakfast to keep and which to drop and then drop the Garden Grill lunch. For lunch hubby can snack around the world and I'll have my sandwich or just eat a funnel cake for lunch.
Friday (Hollywood Studios day) We have an Oga's reservation at 1:35. I really want to experience this so even though we don't drink and I don't normally do many fruity drinks we will just each order a nonalcoholic drink and if I don't like mine hubby can drink it so it's not wasted. Hubby isn't a star wars fan like I am so this is mainly for me. For supper we have Mama Melrose reserved at 5:45 for hubby. breakfast and lunch will just be whatever we feel like we want when we get hungry. Most likely lots of popcorn for snacks for hubby. I of course will once again have my sandwich.
Saturday (Animal Kingdom day) This is our last park day. We have a Tusker House breakfast at 9:20. I am hoping we can knock FOP out with early entry before breakfast then after breakfast do the rest of the park. We also have an Ohana supper at 7:40 but I will be cancelling this. I grabbed it for hubby but he said he has no desire to eat there after the newest reviews. The rest of the day will be eating wherever and when we are ready to at quick service places.

So that is our dining plans for the trip. Just need to drop some and try to modify the ones I need to modify.

 

[Wood Nymph]

I am considering buying some ILL even though I swore I wouldn't.

The ILL was definitely worth it for Rise of the Resistance.

Liberty Tree Tavern

We are eating lunch here. We really enjoy the food here.

Oga's reservation at 1:35. I really want to experience this so even though we don't drink and I don't normally do many fruity drinks we will just each order a nonalcoholic drink

I had the non-alcoholic Jabba Juice and it was very good. It was my first experience with popping pearls.

We have a Tusker House breakfast at 9:20

We haven't had breakfast here in several years, but it was always a must do when traveling with the grandchildren.

 

[Bama Mom]

The ILL was definitely worth it for Rise of the Resistance.
We are eating lunch here. We really enjoy the food here.
I had the non-alcoholic Jabba Juice and it was very good. It was my first experience with popping pearls.

RotR is one of the ILL I will most likely buy. Even though hubby isn't a Star Wars fan I am and I think he will enjoy it.
I ate at LLT in March but that was the first time and hubby hasn't ever eaten there but I really think he will enjoy it.
Thanks for the recommendation on the Jabba Juice. I'll have to read about it. It might be the one I lean towards.

 

[Bama Mom]

Twenty five days on the countdown and we have decided to change some plans. We have decided since EE will be down during our trip and I don't think my back could handle Dinosaur we have decided not to go to AK this trip and do MK twice. I will miss FoP but in order to get the most bang for our buck we though MK was a better option. Plus that gives us two days to accomplish more in MK since we are going to be going at a slower than normal pace for us. I did warn hubby we may just have to do quick service meals the whole day but I will look around and see what I can get and go from there.

 

[Bama Mom]

24 days!
EEK, we are getting so close now. I cancelled our AK reservations and swapped it to MK. I had told hubby we may not get any ADRs with it being so close now but I actually made two. One at The Plaza for dinner and I stumbled on a Be Our Guest for dinner as well. I am most likely dropping the BOG one. I had hubby look at both menus and he doesn't like the options for the price at BOG. We ate lunch there in 2019 and we prefer that menu over this one.

I placed my amazon order for our mask lanyards, the strap for my glasses (so I can try it our and see if I am even gonna like it), reusable straws and some different disposable masks. I have the plain blue ones and my reusable ones but ordered some polka dotted ones because they made me think of Minnie mouse. This coming week I will pull my suitcase our of the closet and clean it out (I store my ears and packing cubes in it) and start gathering things to throw in there as I think about them. I also need to wash all the new shirts I got myself and hubby. I had already planned a shirt and ears for Animal kingdom so I guess those will now be worn at MK. I am also keeping an eye on current wait times for the rides so I can see how they are closer to trip time. The other thing I am doing is keeping an eye on the weather predictions. Obviously this far our doesn't really matter but I am just periodically checking so I can see how the predictions are changing over the next 3 1/2 weeks.

 

[Wood Nymph]

I stumbled on a Be Our Guest for dinner as well. I am most likely dropping the BOG one. I had hubby look at both menus and he doesn't like the options for the price at BOG. We ate lunch there in 2019 and we prefer that menu over this one.

I had stumbled on BOG reservations for our Sept trip just a couple weeks ahead of time. We ate there and the food was good, but the whole experience was really rushed and busy. And the Beast just walked through the lobby every 20 minutes or so, waving at people. I loved the old lunch menu and would go back there if they ever brought it back. But we won't do dinner again.

The other thing I am doing is keeping an eye on the weather predictions.

I know! That is the biggest unknown and makes a huge difference when packing. At least we will have some warm clothes with us, since it will probably be 20 degrees here in Chicago when we go to the airport.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Just found this... You are very close!

My back. I recently found out I have degenerative disc disease. It was found during one of the tests performed for these other health issues. I've had back pain for years but just recently it has gotten more frequently. So I have to be careful not to over pack my park back and I do have a fanny pack (that can be worn across the chest or back area) so I can alternate between that and my backpack if I need to.

DH has same thing, degenerative disc disease... It is rough. Back pain is really miserable.

What are y'alls thoughts on genie+ in EPCOT and AK?

I am torn on genie + for those parks. I do think we are just going to get it for most days when we go just because it has been so long for us. I would also consider it for a short trip like you are having. You have 1 day for EPCOT, might as well. But EPCOT, I would say, do you want to ride all of the rides?

Twenty five days on the countdown and we have decided to change some plans. We have decided since EE will be down during our trip and I don't think my back could handle Dinosaur we have decided not to go to AK this trip and do MK twice. I will miss FoP but in order to get the most bang for our buck we though MK was a better option. Plus that gives us two days to accomplish more in MK since we are going to be going at a slower than normal pace for us. I did warn hubby we may just have to do quick service meals the whole day but I will look around and see what I can get and go from there.

This makes sense. And honestly we only do 1 day at AK on week long trips. It's great but I feel like it is the easiest to skip.

I placed my amazon order for our mask lanyards,

I need to get some of these!

 

[Bama Mom]

I had stumbled on BOG reservations for our Sept trip just a couple weeks ahead of time. We ate there and the food was good, but the whole experience was really rushed and busy. And the Beast just walked through the lobby every 20 minutes or so, waving at people. I loved the old lunch menu and would go back there if they ever brought it back. But we won't do dinner again.

I know! That is the biggest unknown and makes a huge difference when packing. At least we will have some warm clothes with us, since it will probably be 20 degrees here in Chicago when we go to the airport.

BRR! I am originally from Illinois but have lived in the south most of my life (Texas and then Alabama) so my body is not used to those cold temperatures anymore. I gave our BoG reservation away. A young couple happened to be looking for one to do their pregnancy announcement there for the exact date I had so it worked out well.

 

[Bama Mom]

Just found this... You are very close!


DH has same thing, degenerative disc disease... It is rough. Back pain is really miserable.


I am torn on genie + for those parks. I do think we are just going to get it for most days when we go just because it has been so long for us. I would also consider it for a short trip like you are having. You have 1 day for EPCOT, might as well. But EPCOT, I would say, do you want to ride all of the rides?


This makes sense. And honestly we only do 1 day at AK on week long trips. It's great but I feel like it is the easiest to skip.


I need to get some of these!

Oh my goodness yes! I can't believe we are so close now. I hated hearing you were not going to go on y'alls february trip. But it's completely understandable. Hubby gets students back this week (he teaches welding at the community college and you can't really wear masks while welding!) So here is hoping we both stay healthy the next few weeks.
Does your husband have trouble riding any of the rides? I actually was able to get an appointment with the specialist for this coming Friday, which was quicker than anticipated, so I will talk to him Friday about what he suggests. I'm hoping he will say as long as I'm not having a flair up and feel good I can do them. I hate I am missing a chance to ride FoP but I just can't justify AK since there is so little to do there. EPCOT is our least favorite park but right now we do still plan to go. Remy is my main objective here. That and seeing the new nighttime show. If it weren't for that we might would just do two days at MK and two days at HS.
I used a mask lanyard in March and it came in so handy.