50 and fabulous - A November, 2021 trip report - new link at the end!

[Ruthie5671]

Hello dear friends!!! It seems like it has been such a long time since I've been on these boards with anything resembling a trip report. In fact, our last trip was almost two years ago - July, 2019. I wrote a trip report. Have you read it? It's really entertaining (IMO) - haha.

Anyway, for a reminder for my old friends and a "hello - how are you" to my new friends, let me introduce myself.



I'm Ruthie and that's my husband Tony. We live in Frankfort, KY and as of this coming Saturday, will be married for 11 years. I just turned 50 last month. I'll be honest, it was a difficult birthday to swallow. It felt weird and every plan I had made for my birthday crashed and burned - and I can't even completely blame COVID. My wish was to wake up on my 50th birthday and have a castle view from the Contemporary Hotel and be swept away in all the magic.

Didn't happen.

Anyway, in real life, I am a social worker with just two short years before I can retire. For the past year I have been working from home and just recently started to make my way back to the office for a day or two a week. Quite honestly, I work better from home. I'm much more productive with work and house work. I also drive for a rideshare company on Saturday's so I can buy pretty things and take vacations. My dear hubby will be 54 by the time we depart for this trip. He is a part-time security guard and full time wasp killer around the house. I'm a big chicken and call upon him when creatures make their way into the house!! Doesn't everyone do this? No, just me? Okay.

This trip has been evolving for quite some time. I'm always mentally planning our next vacation. Where we will stay. What we will do. How much will it cost. I guess the good thing about COVID and all of its restrictions is that it gave us an opportunity to put enough money away to make a nice trip happen. The first thought was that we would go for my birthday - the first week in May. But things weren't looking very positive early this year when I would have made reservations, so sadly we passed on this. Then Tony wanted to go the first week in July.

Does he not know that it is hotter than the surface of the sun then? We went last time during that time of year and wanted to melt.

And then I had a thought. Tony loves the holidays and especially loves twinkle lights. We could wait a few months for Disney to get festive and it will have cooler weather and bonus - all the holiday festivities. So when I presented this idea to Tony, he was surprisingly excited about the plan.

Score one win for me!

Even since we made our initial plans, we have adjusted the dates and our lodging and our park days. But one thing has remained consistent - both Disney and I turn 50 this year. So we will all celebrate together. According to my countdown app, we leave in 157 days. Coming up next (or whenever I have a chance) - where are we staying? And how many "firsts" am I planning for this trip? Stay tuned . . . .

#50andfabulous

 

[Chicago Mo]

Hi there!
Sounds like a FUN trip! can't wait to read along we are also going in November!

 

[Ruthie5671]

Hi friends and Happy Friday! I hope that everyone is getting ready to enjoy a nice weekend! Our next planning part of the trip was picking the dates and where we were going to stay.

Now that I had convinced Tony that twinkle lights were the way to go, we needed to find some dates in November or December that would work for me. I didn't want to be there over the major holidays, as it would be crazy, crazy crowded and even more expensive than normal. But what I did think about was making sad days a little happier. The anniversaries of my parents deaths are November 16 and November 17 - 19 years apart but back to back days nonetheless. As anyone knows who has experienced this kind of loss, those days are just impossible to bear. My mom LOVED going to Disney.



It was her happy place and always loved to "hug the castle" when we were in the Magic Kingdom. My dad - the history buff - enjoyed the Hall of Presidents and annoying my brother and I with useless knowledge about days gone by. So my idea was this - if I had to endure horrible days, I should get to do them in my happy place. My dear husband gladly agreed (this is a theme in my life - I'm truly blessed - and a little spoiled as previous trip reports can confirm).

We decided to be in Disney from November 15 - 20. We drive as our mode of transportation, so we would leave Kentucky on November 14th and be home on November 21st. I wasn't too excited to stay at one of the All Star resorts. We have been at all three, and while they're cute and all that, I just didn't want to do that again. So we took a tiny step up to Pop Century Resort.



Although still considered a value, we have never stayed there before and it was well within the limits of our budget. We booked a fully handicapped accessible room due to both Tony and I using ECV's. We also got four day base tickets, put down our deposit and started the countdown.

Although we had the money in saving to pay for the trip in full, I only paid the deposit in the hopes that sometime soon a fall discount will be posted and I can apply that to our reservations and we will have some extra money to buy more things. That hasn't happened yet, but I'm still somewhat hopeful. And then Disney announced that they were having a version of their Halloween party so that got me thinking. Would there be a version of the Christmas party? And if there was, would we want to go? And if we did that, I will need at least one more day added to the trip in order to do all the things. I didn't even have to use any eye batting or sweet talk to convince Tony to add time to the trip. So I called Disney to see if we could add on a night to our existing reservation. The very nice cast member told me in fact, no, there was no availability.

And then I had the most crazy thought in the world - SPLIT STAY!!! I asked the cast member to hold on for a minute and explained the split stay concept to Tony. He was super excited about this possibility. So our plans adjusted to four nights at Pop Century and the our last two nights at Caribbean Beach Resort!!!



OMG - my first ever stay at a moderate resort!!! The first "first" of the trip. And there will be more - so you'll have to stay tuned!

#50andfabulous

 

[Ruthie5671]

Hi there!
Sounds like a FUN trip! can't wait to read along we are also going in November!

And thanks so much for reading along. I tend to ramble sometimes so please bear with me. What dates in November are you going?

 

[Chicago Mo]

Good Morning!
We will be "home" on the 20 staying the crazy week of Thanksgiving..
Yeah i know.


AND may bump into you at CBR!

 

[Ruthie5671]

Now that our dates are set, it was time to get down to the business of what we will be doing each day. Since we always drive down, we usually arrive in the magical bubble around 1:00 on day one. With half the day already gone to driving, Disney Springs is our day one destination. That way we have plenty of time to park the van, get it unloaded, pick up the ECV's and get on our way. Now I enjoy shopping as much as the next gal. But let me tell you that my dear husband can put me away with his desire to buy things. There is not a single store or dump shop that does not get the once over from Tony. When we were there two years ago, Tony bought a beautiful pair of Oakley sunglasses. I made him swear and promise that he would cherish them as much as he cherishes me and that he would not lose them.

They got stolen when some (insert inappropriate verbs here) person broke into our vehicle and stole everything they could get their hands on. Bye bye sunglasses. So I know that our first stop will be the Oakley Store. After that, who knows? I love going to World of Disney and Basin. I want to go to the new M&M's store too. I'm sure Tony will want to browse every place we encounter. That will be day one.

We got four day base tickets when we made the original reservations and I didn't adjust those tickets. Which brings me to the next set of "firsts" for us on this trip . . . .



It was just by chance that our trip coincides with the last week of the Food and Wine Festival. I've never been to any kind of festival at Disney - food, wine, flowers, whatever. When I realized that we were going to be there, EPCOT had to be the first park day. We must eat! We must drink! Tony wants to ride Soarin'! I want to ride Spaceship Earth! It will definitely be a full sun up to sun down first day. I cannot wait.

After planning day one, we just randomly choose parks for the remaining days. We did this prior to adding the additional time to the trip. We normally like a "rest day" in the middle of the trip to recharge. On our previous trip, we rented a cabana at the Contemporary Resort. It was part of the best day ever.



Have you read the last trip report from July, 2019? It was a good time. Well, most of it anyway. There was also the worst day ever. But it's a good read nonetheless.

Anyway, as I'm sure everyone is aware, Disney is doing a version of their Halloween part and that got me thinking. If they're doing a Halloween party then certainly they will be doing a Christmas party - right?!? All signs are pointing in that direction, although nothing official has been announced. So although we have park reservations made, I know they will be adjusted once the Christmas party dates are announced and I can secure party tickets - ANOTHER FIRST!! There may or may not be a planned coordinated outfit in the works for the party. But you'll have to wait around to hear about that.

#50andfabulous

 

[Ruthie5671]

Good Morning!
We will be "home" on the 20 staying the crazy week of Thanksgiving..
Yeah i know.


AND may bump into you at CBR!

Wow - Disney on Thanksgiving - that will be a madhouse. But such fun too!!!

I would love to bump into you at CBR. Just look for a fluffy gal riding in an ECV fussing at her husband for not moving quick enough. That's us!!!

 

[Chicago Mo]

Yep-
I agree about there possibly being a Christmas Party. it would be lovely for sure. Miss the cookies and Hot chocolate!
OHHH Food and Wine! FAVORITE of ours for sure. Frushi? YES PLEASE!
the drinks! OH.. My mouth is watering!!!
No to mention the decorations,


Yeah- thanksgiving. we are going with friends - it's along story- all over there on my PTR.. my stomach turns every time i think of crowds,

 

[Ruthie5671]

I feel like all I'm doing right now is waiting . . . . . .

Waiting to see if/when there will be a Christmas party and hope that the dates correspond with our trip so that we can do this event. Nothing just yet.

Waiting to see if there will be any fall discounts so that we can save a little money and put that towards other purchases. Nothing just yet.

Waiting to see what new restaurants will open up and then get to our 60 mark so we can make a couple of dining reservations. Not even close to that 60 day mark. So nothing just yet.

Normally by now we will have done our fast passes. I have to admit, I am team fast pass. I remember the "olden days" of running around to fast pass machines to pull tickets to hop on the next ride. I also remember the "super olden days" of just waiting in line for what seems like forever for a two minute ride. Yes, I'm that old. I like fast passes because it helps me plan out our day and have an idea of what rides I know we want and will secure those fast passes. I don't feel like this will be coming back before our trip, so this will be a different kind of planning. So this entry will talk about our "must do's" for each park. Sometimes Tony and I have the same priorities and sometimes not so much.

Magic Kingdom -

This is so nostalgic for me. I can spend my time at the Country Bear Jamboree, Carousel of Progress and the Hall of Presidents. I definitely miss the Festival of Fantasy parade but oh so happy that there will be a new fireworks show. My dear hubby is all about the mountains - space, thunder and (depending on the weather) splash. Honestly he would ride thunder mountain over and over again if given the opportunity. I am not a fan of the coasters, so this is my chance to find a shady area and do my other favorite past time - people watching!





EPCOT -

I can remember when I was a kid - maybe 12 or so - and my younger brother looked at Spaceship Earth and asked why there was a big golf ball at Disney. Good question! I'm very excited to see the new design around the entrance to EPCOT. Without a doubt, Spaceship Earth is my favorite ride in Future World. It has always amazed me how so much can be squeeze into the "big golf ball" and that no matter where you are in EPCOT, you can always see it. It is just calming somehow. I'm not sure why. On our last trip Tony realized how much he likes Soarin'. I have tried to ride it but my fluffy self cannot comfortably sit in the ride. It's okay, I think the motions would make me a bit dizzy. I don't think that I can pick a favorite country. Each one has so many interesting things - music, culture, shopping, eating and drinking. My favorite show is Voices of Liberty. And American Adventure has the nicest bathrooms!







Up next - Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom must do's!

 

[Ruthie5671]

Yep-
I agree about there possibly being a Christmas Party. it would be lovely for sure. Miss the cookies and Hot chocolate!
OHHH Food and Wine! FAVORITE of ours for sure. Frushi? YES PLEASE!
the drinks! OH.. My mouth is watering!!!
No to mention the decorations,


Yeah- thanksgiving. we are going with friends - it's along story- all over there on my PTR.. my stomach turns every time i think of crowds,

I've just started reading your PTR. Your family is adorable!

I'm ready for them to announce any holiday party plans - even just a maybe of plans! I'm getting pretty impatient and at the same time driving poor Tony crazy!

 

[Chicago Mo]

I don't feel like this will be coming back before our trip, so this will be a different kind of planning.

I don't know.. if the parks are opening as much as they are i would think they would.. OR
do the unimaginable
extra cost for the FP.

It is just calming somehow.

I contribute it to the amazing music!
I have one of the songs as my ring tone!

I've just started reading your PTR. Your family is adorable!

Oh boy..
it has changed so many times that why i had to add the chapter links- can you say train wreck?

I'm ready for them to announce any holiday party plans - even just a maybe of plans! I'm getting pretty impatient and at the same time driving poor Tony crazy!

I agree
I am sure they will have a Christmas thing like they are doing for Halloween..

yes this 60 day out thing is hurting my heart!

 

[Ruthie5671]

Sorry for the lag in the pre-trip report. I'm honestly struggling to have things to write that actually have to do with the trip! But the past few days have had some movement and of course I need to talk about Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios must do's!

Did everyone watch "Happily Ever After" the other night? As soon as the narrator started talking I was tearing up. And it just kept going the entire time the show was going on. Yep, I'm clearly a sappy person. But come on friends - you were doing the same thing. Admit it, tears well up every time you see a fireworks show, a parade, a favorite character, the welcome sign as you drive in, etc.

Although it is super duper early, I went on ahead and did online check in for our hotel reservations. The app kept telling me that it was okay to do it now, and who am I to tell the app that they are wrong??? So for Pop Century, my only request was ground floor. Now I honestly don't care about that, but Tony has a thing with elevators while in the ECV. I think he's worried he will get stuck or not be able to turn around, so I did tat for him. For CBR, I requested ground floor and close to the Sky Liner. There are no elevators at CBR - which is just odd - so this was a no brainer. I just assume that all wheelchair accessible rooms are ground floor, but I did that request anyway. As for being close to the Sky Liner, that was just the only other prompt I was given, so I chose it. I know the resort is huge, but we're only there two nights and it made the most sense. I assume that once the holiday party is announced (fingers crossed) we will be adjusting our park reservations. I was also able to link our old magic bands to the trip so we didn't have to buy new ones or use the app anytime we wanted to do something that the magic band could do.

Last post talked about our must do's at Magic Kingdom and EPCOT. Lets talk about Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios!

I must admit, I used to never be an Animal Kingdom fan. I don't particularly enjoy going to the zoo and I just assumed this was a Disney version of a zoo. Clearly, I was wrong. Oh so very wrong. My most favorite ride is Safari. I want to bring home a giraffe. And our van has a sun roof, so if we can smuggle one home it would at least have a way to stretch out! And if I only see one show during our trip, it has to be Festival of the Lion King. Another opportunity for me to cry. And sing!!



Surprisingly, we have never seen the Pandora part of the park. I know - who are we and why are we so strange? It seems like every time we go to AK we have so many things we want to do and the hours are usually so limited that we just haven't gotten over there yet. Hopefully this time.

As for Hollywood Studios, when we were there the last time, it was a complete bust as far as being able to see things. We rode only Toy Story Mania and saw Frozen Ever After, so there is the majority of the park we need to visit. Now in full disclosure, I am not a Star Wars fan.

Please still be my friend.

However, I really want to see that part of the park. I have no interest in making a light saber or tying to get on Rise of the Resistance. But from what I've read and seen, it is so immersive and I just want to take some pictures and look around. And then there is the Toy Story part of the park that I've only seen but not been able to participate in.



So we have lots of things we want to do!! Anything I'm missing? Any hidden gems we should try and find? I'm open to all suggestions! Until next time friends!

#50andfabulous

 

[Chicago Mo]

I will still be your friend.. Rise is an amazing ride. even if you dont like star war the ride is insane!
DAK was never our favorite either.. it was a half day park for us. Until Pandora. its so pretty and i cannot wait to see it at night!

 

[cajunfan]

Hi from Nashville!

I can't wait to read more about your trip. I am planning on going next May, so many changes going on right now, so we will see what happens.

Lynn

 

[rdkeim]

Just happened upon your PTR! I've read most (all?) of your TR's. You two are so cute! I think Nov. would be the ideal time to go to DW. I think they recently announced the Christmas celebration - different than MVMCP. More of an after hours type thing. Might be fun to try it - hope it works into your plans. After 2 postponements, we finally made it to Disney in early March. It was good and I was so happy to be there! Hope to go again next March with our son, DIL and 2 grandsons in tow. Happy planning!

 

[LifeTheDisneyWay14]

Hello dear friends!!! It seems like it has been such a long time since I've been on these boards with anything resembling a trip report. In fact, our last trip was almost two years ago - July, 2019. I wrote a trip report. Have you read it? It's really entertaining (IMO) - haha.

Anyway, for a reminder for my old friends and a "hello - how are you" to my new friends, let me introduce myself.

View attachment 580951

I'm Ruthie and that's my husband Tony. We live in Frankfort, KY and as of this coming Saturday, will be married for 11 years. I just turned 50 last month. I'll be honest, it was a difficult birthday to swallow. It felt weird and every plan I had made for my birthday crashed and burned - and I can't even completely blame COVID. My wish was to wake up on my 50th birthday and have a castle view from the Contemporary Hotel and be swept away in all the magic.

Didn't happen.

Anyway, in real life, I am a social worker with just two short years before I can retire. For the past year I have been working from home and just recently started to make my way back to the office for a day or two a week. Quite honestly, I work better from home. I'm much more productive with work and house work. I also drive for a rideshare company on Saturday's so I can buy pretty things and take vacations. My dear hubby will be 54 by the time we depart for this trip. He is a part-time security guard and full time wasp killer around the house. I'm a big chicken and call upon him when creatures make their way into the house!! Doesn't everyone do this? No, just me? Okay.

This trip has been evolving for quite some time. I'm always mentally planning our next vacation. Where we will stay. What we will do. How much will it cost. I guess the good thing about COVID and all of its restrictions is that it gave us an opportunity to put enough money away to make a nice trip happen. The first thought was that we would go for my birthday - the first week in May. But things weren't looking very positive early this year when I would have made reservations, so sadly we passed on this. Then Tony wanted to go the first week in July.

Does he not know that it is hotter than the surface of the sun then? We went last time during that time of year and wanted to melt.

And then I had a thought. Tony loves the holidays and especially loves twinkle lights. We could wait a few months for Disney to get festive and it will have cooler weather and bonus - all the holiday festivities. So when I presented this idea to Tony, he was surprisingly excited about the plan.

Score one win for me!

Even since we made our initial plans, we have adjusted the dates and our lodging and our park days. But one thing has remained consistent - both Disney and I turn 50 this year. So we will all celebrate together. According to my countdown app, we leave in 157 days. Coming up next (or whenever I have a chance) - where are we staying? And how many "firsts" am I planning for this trip? Stay tuned . . . .

#50andfabulous

Disney at Christmas is so beautiful, good call!

I do all the dishes and cooking in our household, my husband does all the gross stuff. Seems fair to me!

 

[Ruthie5671]

Wow I didn't realize it has been about three weeks since my last post. Things have been so busy that have nothing to do with trip planning. Work has been super crazy. We have had a string of people leave the agency and it makes it very difficult to manage when there isn't enough staff and it takes forever to get new folks hired on. These things that I cannot control make my stress levels fly really high!!! But you're not here to read about how much my job drives me crazy - you want to hear about planning!

Honestly, not much movement on that front.

Since we last talked, Disney announced their holiday plans and their new version of the holiday party. I've read the articles comparing the "old party" to the "new party" and how the new version is not as fabulous. Well, guess what friends? I don't care. I want to be on Main Street USA with a cup of hot chocolate watching the fake snow fall down with the twinkle lights dancing. Will it be expensive? Sure. Will it be crowded? Probably. Will it be fabulous? Absolutely!



I'm waiting for the tickets to go on sale so we can then adjust our park days. I really, really hope we can do the party on the day we move from Pop Century to CBR. That would then be a more relaxed move and our "rest day" and we can just wander around different resorts looking at holiday decorations and then enjoy the party. I'm waiting. Not very patiently, but I'm waiting. I'm also still waiting for any kind of discount on our trip. I am not excited that we have paid full priced rack rates for this trip. I always manage to find some kind of discount, even if it's a small one. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not cancelling the trip because of this and we have the money ready to pay for it all. But saving a few $$$ wouldn't break my heart.

And then there is the issue of . . . . . . . masks.

Now this is not an open invitation to be political about whether or not the vaccine works or masks are necessary. My words and my opinion here. Feel free to chime in if you want to, but please be kind.

I'm fine if the mask mandate is in effect when we go on our trip. I hope that they don't extended to if you're outside, but if they do, that will be okay too. Masks will not influence whether or not we go on this trip. We're going. I'm vaccinated and so is Tony. We are both under the umbrella of "vulnerable" but more so Tony than me. I worry about him constantly and he wears a mask when he's going to be in a crowded area. And I have a super cute Disney themed holiday mask that I got last year. I'm happy to wear it. And I'll have to get a few more. I do hope that everyone who is reading is careful and makes good choices for themselves and their family.

Soapbox put away.

My only other purchase for the trip so far has been new ponchos. While the rain chances diminish significantly in November, we have horrible weather luck and we need to be prepared. So I got a couple of ponchos from Wal-Mart. We will likely throw them away before we leave as we have no need for them at home, so I wasn't concerned about high quality. I was going to get bright yellow ponchos, but then I had visions of Big Bird, so I settled for royal blue. I plan on getting new luggage, but that will be after next weekends super duper selling everything in the house yard sale. Macy's is having a big sale right now on luggage but they always have sales, so I will just have to pay attention.

Other than that, I have nothing more to update for now. I hope that everyone is doing well and staying safe. Until next time friends!!!

#50andfabulous

 

[Ruthie5671]

I will still be your friend.. Rise is an amazing ride. even if you dont like star war the ride is insane!
DAK was never our favorite either.. it was a half day park for us. Until Pandora. its so pretty and i cannot wait to see it at night!

I want to ride ROR, but I'm not going to be crazy disappointed if it doesn't happen. I'm excited they are doing the projection shows again at Hollywood Studios!

Hi from Nashville!

I can't wait to read more about your trip. I am planning on going next May, so many changes going on right now, so we will see what happens.

Lynn

Hi Lynn and welcome! How are your plans coming along for May?

Just happened upon your PTR! I've read most (all?) of your TR's. You two are so cute! I think Nov. would be the ideal time to go to DW. I think they recently announced the Christmas celebration - different than MVMCP. More of an after hours type thing. Might be fun to try it - hope it works into your plans. After 2 postponements, we finally made it to Disney in early March. It was good and I was so happy to be there! Hope to go again next March with our son, DIL and 2 grandsons in tow. Happy planning!

Hi and welcome back! We are pretty cute. Unless I'm being snippy and Tony is being sassy. Then we're no fun. I'm super excited to be there around the holidays. I'm glad you had a trip and are planning another one. This will be it for us for a bit.

Disney at Christmas is so beautiful, good call!

I do all the dishes and cooking in our household, my husband does all the gross stuff. Seems fair to me!

Girl, I hate doing gross household chores. I can usually get out of the super yucky things that have to involve a mop or extensive scrubbing. I'm a delicate flower - no need for such silliness.

 

[Ruthie5671]

Hi Friends -

Sorry again for the long gap in pre-trip reporting. Once again, things had slowed to a crawl. And when I say slowed to a crawl, I mean other than checking my countdown app, there was nothing going on.

Until yesterday!

Yes, you know this was the day I've been waiting for. No, not a fall discount (although I'm still hoping). But it was time to order the tickets for the after hours holiday party!!! I know that Disney likes to do teases for things that will happen which drives me absolutely crazy. They've been saying for over a month that the tickets "will go on sale soon" and "details will be released soon". Just give me a date please so I'm prepared. But finally the details were released and it showed that it was more of an after hours party and had some different things than previous events. But - there were extra fireworks! And a parade! And snow on Main Street USA. And then they released the party dates.

And the prices.

I knew it was going to be expensive. And fortunately our date is far away enough from Christmas that it isn't as expensive as some dates. But then I got to thinking - AKA justifying - the expense. Tony and I love going to casinos and can easily drop several hundred dollars gambling and drinking and eating. And if you get me close to the Coach outlet store, money can be spent with no problem. And don't get me started on how much Tony likes to spend in gift shops. So after a little bit of arguing with myself, I won and the tickets were going to be purchased!

Now if you recall, we were going to do party day on the day we moved over from POP Century to CBR. But then I got to thinking. If we went to the party and stayed until late and didn't get back to the resort until midnight or later, we would still have to get our transferred luggage from bell services and hope that it all got moved over correctly and mess with however long that would take. I'm much too OCD for all that. So when the party dates were posted, we completely adjusted our entire itinerary! Here's what it looks like now . . . .

November 14th - Leave KY and drive to Valdosta. Stay in a yet to be booked hotel. I have enough points for a free night at a Holiday Inn. I just need to book the hotel.

November 15th - Finish the drive to WDW. Check into POP Century. Spend the day at Disney Springs. Let Tony buy his Oakley sunglasses so he will hush about it.

November 16th - EPCOT and the Food and Wine Festival. Can I get a DUI driving under the influence in a scooter??

November 17th - Animal Kingdom

November 18th - Rest day and after hours party.

November 19th - Check into CBR and Hollywood Studios

November 20th - We cannot decide - we will still have one more park day ticket. Our plan is to just see which park has availability and go there. I also want to explore the resort and just enjoy our last day.

November 21st - Start the drive home. Probably stop somewhere in Tennessee for the night. It is way too much driving to do in one day.

November 22nd - Come home

I am so excited. But I feel like I still have several things to do. I need to order our shirts for the holiday party and get the twinkle lights for our scooters. I need to order the scooters. I need to reserve the free Holiday Inn night. I'm still stalking the boards and different FB pages to see if there will be any fall discounts. At some point I need to pay the balance due.

And I want to start packing. Yes I know that's crazy. But if I go by my mom's packing rules I have already kind of started. She had this theory that if you put things on the dresser that need to be packed it is kind of pre-packing. So I have put our new ponchos and the digital cameral and battery charger on the dresser. We will not use either one of those things before we leave and it keeps a bit of her traditions alive. I miss her so much especially when I'm planning these trips. I get all of my Disney loving heart from her. I want to honor her and dad somehow while we're on the trip since the anniversary's of their respective passings will happen while we're there. If anyone has any ideas on how to do this without me bawling my eyes out I would really appreciate it.

So I know this was an incredibly wordy post but there was lots to report! Only 88 more days left until we leave. I'll have more pictures and things for my next post!

#50andfabulous

 

[Disneylvr]

Following! I really believe in resort/rest days. We did one on our last family trip in May 2019 (stayed at POP Century) and it was our BEST day just swimming, relaxing, dining and exploring all the monorail resorts.