Another Year of APs and a Surprise Cruise! Combo PTRs/TRs updated 6/16 Labor Day Parts 4&5, the end!

[amalone1013]

Oh my gosh guys, where have I been????

Slacking on the TR boards for sure in reading and commenting and writing my own... oops.

I'm going to try and put my early morning at work to good use here.​

 

[amalone1013]

A Mysterious Labor Day Trip?
A Mini TR
Part One

We were off on our semi-spontaneous trip!

Probably the most ridiculous airport selfie I've taken of us (does that still count as a selfie, when there's more than one self?)

Travel was uneventful, and we DME'd to All Star Movies for the first time! This was maybe our second time using DME. Our bus driver notified us that Gus (from the video) is an actor I do love the giant Disney characters at the value resorts, I won't lie. One last picture of it looking like every other value before their refurb:

Anyways, we got to sleep and woke up pretty early the next morning so we could make it to our first ADR of the trip, Boma! I was so pumped to get here after drooling over many people's TRs. I think we ubered here instead of bussing.. we spoiled ourselves a lot this trip, starting with many Uber trips.

I knew going here I would have to try the bread pudding and mickey waffles with both types of sauce... I think I read that on @xlsm's reports. So good! Also the eggs with goat cheese, I really enjoyed those. So much that I got a second helping. I'm so weird and picky, and then I love goat cheese I've gotten more adventurous so I enjoyed trying some things I would never pick on the buffet too, like the pap and bobotie, even if I enjoyed some more than others. And we finally got to try POG juice, which we both liked, but it was a one glass kind of thing for us as we're not big juice drinkers.

I have trouble not getting a biscuit if a biscuit is available...

With full bellies, we ubered over to Blizzard Beach! We got there just after opening, and couldn't believe how few cars were in the parking lot for a Saturday! Nothing like the waterpark at home; there people are lined up to get in 30-45min before it opens, and if you get there at opening time you have to park out in the Boonies. We stopped at the ticket window and upgraded our 7 day PH tickets that we had already purchased for our anniversary trip (with credit card points, woohoo!) to Platinum Plus APs. Since I am always deal hunting, we had picked up a gift card on the way to the airport from our grocery store, because they were offering extra fuel points on gift card purchases. The $500 gift card we purchased saved us ~$60 in gas. And the overall upgrade cost ended up being ~$40 less than I expected! I think it had to do with our tickets getting bridged to gate price for 7day PHs, since gate tickets are usually $20 more than online... that's the only math/scenario I could come up with.

And the next picture I have, is this:

You'll be disappointed to hear this was not our first stop We put our stuff in lockers, and hit the slides and such. We did find chairs and left a bag with shoes/towels/sunscreen out alone, but I'm paranoid so no electronics out except for an afternoon break we took with these lovelies. I believe that's a Banana Cabana for me, nice and tropical and delicious on the right, and I have zero recollection of what Zack had. But it was alcohol, which was big because he so rarely drinks even on vacation. It's just, typically he doesn't because he's driving at home, and when we stop to eat on a trip he just needs his Coke fix


I'm going to be weird and stop here so I don't lose this. I'll either come back and edit or start a new post continuing on.

I'm back!

We also selfied during our break

So I started to write up a BB review, but then figured I'd just do BB vs TL at the end of the next day. I can't remember if it really rained, maybe it sprinkled a few minutes. It went between sunny and slightly overcast/gray all day, though that was okay because I burn super easily so that helped me not this trip (though I also took SPF 100 sunscreen and made sure to go back and reapply halfway through). We also tried the mini donuts with chocolate dipping sauce that I've read about on the board - YUM. They were delicious, I'm sure partly because they were freshly made. We didn't really eat anything else that I can recall after our big breakfast. But we also did MB charging for the first time for these and our drinks. I had considered off site for this weekend, but then looked for an on site deal because I decided I didn't want to deal with cash/cards at the waterparks. This was a big deal for 2 reasons: 1, we've done a lot of Swolphin time so obviously no MB charging there, and 2, I usually pay for everything with Disney Gift cards I've gotten at a discount or earned free with reward programs, so we pay in person all the time.

I'd say we spent 4-5 hours at the park before heading out. We bused back so we weren't getting in to anyone's vehicle in wet suits Busing to BB at the time required transferring at AK, but I just read yesterday they are going to bus straight from the resorts now! That makes me happy, so if we did this again we could skip the ubers. We headed back to Pop.

Sucker for big Disney icons Also the 50s section at Pop because Lady and the Tramp is one of my very favorites We had dropped our backpacks at bell services at ASMovies that morning and they were already in our room which was really nice. We freshened up and changed and headed out for our dinner reservation. We decided to bus to a park and then transfer, so we could stop and get a TIW card and also AP cards (because we didn't get them at the waterpark - not sure if they forgot or what but obviously we didn't think of it in the moment). We got that straightened out though I don't think our TIW printed very well because the print/bar code is curved up at the end and I've noticed that often our receipts say TIW override. Ultimately we decided to do TIW again though for this weekend and knowing we had a week long trip for our anniversary, plus were planning to do 2ish days at WDW with Zack's parents before the cruise.

Anyways, we were off to AKL again... for Sanaa!

Soon we were checked in and waiting out here:

Do you think I can get one of these tables for my house?

Now you know we weren't coming here without getting Bread Service

Indian-style Bread Service $17
Choice of Five Breads and with all Nine Accompaniments - Traditional Naan, Garlic-Ginger Naan, Spiced Naan, Onion Kucha, or Paneer Paratha. Accompaniments - Cucumber Riata, Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, Mango Chutney, Tomato-Date Jam, Tamarind Chutney, Coriander Chuntey, Garlic Pickle, Red Chile Sambal, or Spicy Jalapeño-Lime Pickle
We went with the assortment of breads to try everything. And I can't remember which were favorites other than I was not a fan of the pickle ones

Painted Lemur $11.75
Amarula Fruit Cream Liqueur and Van der Hum Tangerine Liqueur from South Africa combined in a Chocolate-striped glass inspired by the distinctive striped tail of the Madagascar Lemur
This was delicous

For Zack:

Potjie Inspired $28
Choose one from the Journey - Braised Beef. Choose one from the Harvest - Chickpea Wat, Aloo Masala, Paneer Tikka, Lentil Dhal, or Cilantro-Coconut Vegetables? (can't remember what this is) Served with scented Basmati Rice.
And Me:

Potjie Inspired $28
Choose one from the Journey - Butter Chicken. Choose one from the Harvest - Lentil Dhal. Served with scented Basmati Rice

Zack was overall a bit hesitant about the choices here, but loved it. We split the meats somewhat between us. I knew I would like butter chicken as I'd had it before, but this was amazing. And the beef was too, very tender and delicious. Neither of us were crazy about the harvest choices. I went with the Lentil Dhal because I knew I'd had lentils before and it was pretty good, I'm just not someone who would eat that big of a serving of it anyways. Whichever Zack picked was based on the waitress' recommendation, but he wasn't big into it.

I couldn't talk him into splitting an order with extra meat at the time but next time! I would love to go back and do bread service plus split a meal with both meats. This was a hit for us and we saved $18 with our fancy new TIW card.

After I drug Zack around to find the QS with the Zebra Domes. Zack was also hesitant of these after I told him what they are, but he liked them too. We enjoyed, um, all 4 as we sat by the pool Then I think we ubered back to Pop to hit the hay! One waterpark day down, two to go plus MNSSHP!​

 

[missjackiemcg]

Probably the most ridiculous airport selfie I've taken of us (does that still count as a selfie, when there's more than one self?)

Welcome back! My cousin calls it an "US-ie"

We've never done a Disney water park, but it sure sounds like you had a great day for it! Love those fruity drinks

Bread service is on my someday-list for Disney. I think our family is too picky for the rest of the options, but hopefully we get there eventually!

 

[amalone1013]

A Dreamy Surprise Trip!
Plans
Cruise Trip - 89 days!

Since I apparently never came back to talk more about this trip... Today is our pay in full date! And our activities booking window opened up last night!

This trip planning has been full of plenty of stressing Since it's been so long... this was a surprise family trip for my in laws. And surprise - we're the only ones going with them I sat on the phone a year ago on hold at work to get our on board booking transferred to the cruise we had picked, which was a June one because one of Zack's brothers is a teacher (Zack's mom also works for the schools here) so of course that limits their time. But on top of that he also does summer courses, and for some reason he feels like he can't miss work ever (I know that may not be preferred, but he won't use his time off ever... he had jury duty at the end of the year, and had it postponed to Christmas Eve because he said he couldn't miss a day of work for that... ).

Anyways, he literally gave me an 18 day window for the trip. So we booked a 5 night Double Dip to Castaway Cay on the Disney Dream, on almost the most expensive dates. And then I don't know how many times we brought up/offered looking at different days/itineraries. And not even for us, but because we knew it was expensive and one BIL is not as good with money - we just don't know where it all goes. So we brought up changing it, switching to a 4 night in the same timeframe... I kept asking Zack to talk to him because if he wasn't going to go, it would be even less at other times... Nope, he's gonna figure it out.

Since we told Zack's parents on Christmas, we made them a scavenger hunt/puzzle to do. I made a puzzle with popsicle sticks and a picture and we hid pieces around the house with clues, then let them put the puzzle together. We also gave them a small gift, with a DCL magnet and cups they can use on the ship which I decorated, one side has an anchor with a Mickey head on top, the other their favorite character It was really fun to write up the scavenger hunt clues and watch them try to figure them out too.

And then two days after Christmas, one BIL called up Zack's mom and told him they weren't going. The other's reason is a bit more understandable, he has been applying to law school and got in last month! But him and his partner are planning to cashflow that as best they can so $$$ on a Disney cruise has gone away.

So we'll be flying solo with the in laws on the cruise, but I don't even care anymore since I could finally lock in plans since no one would commit to anything! The cruise fare went up $500 or so in the first few months after release, which we kept telling BILs telling them they could cancel and get their deposit back until... today, but they always brushed it off like, oh just $500. Sorry, in my world, that will cover most of the upcharges I'm looking at

Though I had to take a moment to be all over BILs call after Christmas because we could have gone this week over MILs spring break on a 5 night out of Miami that goes to Key West instead of Castaway Cay twice (I was pushing for this but they didn't have it in June) for almost half the price as the one we're doing. But then I got over it. Mostly.

​

Alright, so after that novel, here are the plans so far! Originally we were going to tag a couple Disney and Uni park days on, but we gave the in laws the choice of a big trip or splitting it up and they chose to split it (I think more so because they are trying to get us to forget the parks part because they say we spent too much )

The cruise leaves on a Sunday, so I have the in laws (and Zack's aunt who is tagging along) flying in mid day Saturday. Zack and I are planning to go down a few days earlier so right now we have Thursday night flights and a room at Pop Thurs to Sun. I booked his parents/aunt a room at Pop too for the night. That way they can take ME from the airport to Pop, and then we can all meet up in Disney Springs! I booked us dinner at Homecomin' since we were bummed we didn't take them there on the wedding trip (we ended up at ESPN Zone, not the same). I thought about doing Brunch before we go down to port the next morning, but no one is a big breakfast eater until 11am and we want to do an early port arrival so we have more ship exploring time. Right now I have a 9:20pm reservation because that's all I could get (it is a Saturday night in summer). I'm hoping I can move it up a little, but their flight doesn't land until 5pm so not too early just in case.

Sunday morning we will grab a rental car from the Dolphin to drive down to port. That way we can stop for supplies.

And we plan to do an early arrival time, so we have lots of time for Zack and his dad to look at the model.

Hopefully the Sail Away party is outside this year!

Our first full cruise day we will be at Castaway Cay. Last time we spent the entire day on the adult side, but since we'll have two days here this time I want to do some more exploring on the family side too.

And have more of these:

I also booked us a Mixology class this afternoon. I really wanted to do that last trip but they were all pre-booked by the time our booking window open, and I didn't quite realize we could have tried for openings when we boarded the ship.

The next day is our Nassau day. We did give a thought to going over to Blue Lagoon Island, which is where we went last time... but felt it was a bit silly to spend $80pp when we already have two days at CC. Honestly I'm almost worried about that being too much beach time for me, I'm not a good 'relaxing' vacationer. But I can read for hours, so I will make sure to load up my tablet before the trip. So instead we are doing a tour, which I was interested in last time - I'm a history nerd at times. We're doing the By Land and Sea Tour, where half is via boat and half is via bus. We thought it would be a good mix. And hopefully they don't back the Dream into the dock again...

Zack's parents paid for us to dine at Palo for our honeymoon, so we want to return the favor because it was AMAZING. I booked us at 7pm currently (I can't book a table with Zack's family yet as they are new cruisers and their activity window isn't open yet) because I'm hoping to have some daylight for the view and then watch the sunset during dinner, like last time.

Up next is our second day at Castaway Cay. Last time there was an adult snorkeling excursion we wanted to do but it was also booked up (must be the free rum punch it includes ). We're trying to decide which day to book it because... we are also booked for Palo brunch! I'm super excited for this, I really wanted to do this last time but the only day they had it was our Nassau day and it conflicted with our excursion. Right now we have it on this second CC day, but I was really hoping for the next/last day of the cruise which is a Sea day. I'm going to keep an eye on it in case it would open up, otherwise I plan on seeing if we can switch when we board the ship. But that is our dilemma... do we want to eat a giant brunch and then go snorkeling an hour and a half later? I might keep them both this day, and see if we can switch Palo as planned. If not, then maybe we could switch the snorkeling back to the first day if there is room.

Oh, this is also Pirate Night.

Our last day is at sea and we have no plans unless we can get Palo brunch switched. Since we have more time on the ship than our last cruise, I want to keep an eye out for some of the ship tours/talks we missed last time. I also want to spend some more time checking out the bars and maybe catching a youth open house because I want to see those areas

The next morning we have to get off the ship

We will be spending the next two days at Kennedy Space Center (or at least some will... others may only do one day) and we'll probably do one of the tours. This is something Zack's family missed last time because KSC was closed due to Irma. BILs are supposedly looking into coming for the weekend at least.

Then we all go home late Sunday night.




That's what we have so far, I'll have to come back and update when we know more about the pre-cruise portion. Also need to look into somewhere to eat around KSC/Port Canaveral for dinner.​

 

[missjackiemcg]

I'm excited you're back to update, especially about the cruise portion!! We are booked for a Very Merrytime Cruise on the Dream in December, actually ON Christmas, so I'm soaking up any and all cruise info right now!

I'm really hoping to do a Mixology class, too, and I'm worried they'll all be booked up, but since DH and I have cruised before and are "silver" I'm hoping the extra 15 days will help us.

And hopefully they don't back the Dream into the dock again...

!? Did that happen when you cruised over your Honeymoon!? My Mom will never get back on the ship if this happens in December! LOL

Up next is our second day at Castaway Cay. Last time there was an adult snorkeling excursion we wanted to do but it was also booked up (must be the free rum punch it includes )

Ooooh, I didn't know anything about the adults snorkeling excursion OR the free rum punch!!! Must look into this now

We will be spending the next two days at Kennedy Space Center (or at least some will... others may only do one day) and we'll probably do one of the tours.

It's been 10 years or so since we've been to the Kennedy Space Center, but we really enjoyed the behind the scenes tour we did. It was several hours long, but so cool!!

 

[amalone1013]

I'm excited you're back to update, especially about the cruise portion!! We are booked for a Very Merrytime Cruise on the Dream in December, actually ON Christmas, so I'm soaking up any and all cruise info right now!

I'm really hoping to do a Mixology class, too, and I'm worried they'll all be booked up, but since DH and I have cruised before and are "silver" I'm hoping the extra 15 days will help us.


!? Did that happen when you cruised over your Honeymoon!? My Mom will never get back on the ship if this happens in December! LOL


Ooooh, I didn't know anything about the adults snorkeling excursion OR the free rum punch!!! Must look into this now


It's been 10 years or so since we've been to the Kennedy Space Center, but we really enjoyed the behind the scenes tour we did. It was several hours long, but so cool!!

I've been such a slacker on updating. I haven't finished the wedding/honeymoon one, this has just fallen off... I'm going to try and get it going again for this cruise, and finish the mini TR for the waterpark trip, and probably do a little mini TR/recap for our anniversary trip. I feel like life has been crazy lately and then I follow a couple of very busy threads on here which doesn't help

A Christmas cruise sounds so fun! DH and I have been talking about in the future when his grandparents would pass... sadly his (small) extended family is not terribly close anymore and the grandparents are the main thing keeping them together on holidays, so down the line we want to think about doing the parks over Christmas with his parents and hopefully siblings... A cruise would be a great idea too, filing that away!

Only one mixology was fully booked when I got on to book our stuff, . If you can't get one I'd definitely check when you board, I've been reading and apparently it's really common to have lots of spots left still. And the snorkeling tour is the Abaco boat one on Castaway Cay The adult one with free rum punch is even cheaper than the family one they do

I'm really excited to do a tour of Kennedy. I knew so little last time that I was just amazed by everything I learned.

So we were on our veranda when they were docking in Nassau, and we heard it hit but couldn't see because we were on the opposite side... we were like, did they hit the dock? Nah, they couldn't have... but what was that?? And then when we walked by for our excursion we could see it.

There's more pics and video here. There's these extensions to the docks for larger ships, and they went straight into it. The funny but terrible thing was the night before at the show (first night) they kind of joked about how this was the Captain's first voyage after some time off!
https://disneycruiselineblog.com/2017/09/disney-dream-sustains-damage-stern-collision-pier-nassau/

 

[missjackiemcg]

A Christmas cruise sounds so fun! DH and I have been talking about in the future when his grandparents would pass... sadly his (small) extended family is not terribly close anymore and the grandparents are the main thing keeping them together on holidays, so down the line we want to think about doing the parks over Christmas with his parents and hopefully siblings... A cruise would be a great idea too, filing that away!

My Mom and I did WDW for Christmas just the two of us in 2006, and I was hooked! It made Christmas magical for me again, like the way I felt when I was a kid. Ever since that trip, we try to do Disney every other Christmas or so. It is insanely crowded, but if you know that and go into it with a plan, it can be the best trip ever!!

And the snorkeling tour is the Abaco boat one on Castaway Cay The adult one with free rum punch is even cheaper than the family one they do

Noted!! Put Jimmy in the Kid's Club and go drink rum. Got it.

So we were on our veranda when they were docking in Nassau, and we heard it hit but couldn't see because we were on the opposite side... we were like, did they hit the dock? Nah, they couldn't have... but what was that?? And then when we walked by for our excursion we could see it.

That's just crazy!!! I'm off to check out the link you posted for more info. I'm glad the damage wasn't worse!!!

 

[amalone1013]

A Mysterious Labor Day Trip?
A Mini TR
Part Two

Day two started with... Brunch! I'm pretty sure Trail's End worked it's way on to my list after reading about it on a few Dining Reports.

Just yummy breakfast foods with some lunch stuff mixed in, which is right up our alley I looooove breakfast food, really. I guess I only took this one plate photo... but you know if we were at a buffet we had more than one plate! Pretty much all of our breakfast ADRs were for 8:30am/9:00am-ish so we could hit the water parks around opening, and I'm sure they already had out the fried chicken and mac and cheese so of course we sampled those. Details may be fuzzy but Trail's End gets the stamp of approval from us! Also service was great. We got here by Ubering to Wilderness Lodge and then taking the boat over as that seemed easiest in my research. If we ever stay at Wilderness Lodge (dream ) we would definitely head here again. Our only issue right now is that it does take some effort to get there (which translates into time away from parks which is hard to convince Zack of).

After, we took a boat back to WL so we could Uber over to Typhoon Lagoon.

Of course, being a Disney fan I had to take a photo of River Country. This is the first time we've been by it. I was also trying to check out Discovery Island

Sooo, I took no other photos until dinner that night... thank goodness for photopass, who captured these gems:

I don't recall eating at the park again, or even getting any adult drinks this day. ​

 

[missjackiemcg]

Of course, being a Disney fan I had to take a photo of River Country. This is the first time we've been by it. I was also trying to check out Discovery Island

When we went over to Mickey's Backyard BBQ by boat, I was doing the exact same thing!! I was trying to video tape and snap some pictures at the same time LOL My family thought I was basically nuts...of course they did NOT know what they were looking at!!

We have never done a water park at WDW. I think because I grew up going to the Wisconsin Dells (waterpark capital of the world!!!) it just feels like we've been there done that. Though, I do think we would love it and should probably think about devoting some time there one of these trips!

 

[kastoney]

Catching back up on all your previous and upcoming adventures! I don't know how you bit your tongue during all the BIL drama. I would have been so ticked - and let them know - if we'd arranged everything for their schedule and paid more for it only for them to back out.

 

[Corrine 1973]

Joining in on the adventure and enjoying the mini PTR. Can't wait to read more. Those pictures at Sanaa. I have eaten at Boma several times but have never had the pleasure of going to Sanaa. Now that my kids are getting older I think I will definitely have to give it a try. Your pictures look so good.

 

[amalone1013]

I apologize for my last post, I didn't mean to cut off so abruptly there but I was at work and actually had to... work... so I posted so I wouldn't lose my work I will get on with the rest of that in a moment, but first...

A Flower and Garden Extravaganza!

Yes, we have planned ANOTHER trip! And it was very last minute overall. We were pretty determined to get to F&G this year, as we missed it the last time we had APs - we were saving our vacation time for a wedding or something Zack has been doing a lot of travel for work, keeping us from booking too far out. We ended up only deciding a few weeks out. It came down to, play around and try for another time in May, or push for this April date because that was when the Garden Rocks act was that interested us the most was. And let's be honest, I saw that MK was open until midnight a bunch of nights and we are really excited to get to go during those hours (even though we realize extended hours means busy). Also, I was definitely in withdrawal for trip planning. Last year we did WDW in Jan, Long Beach in March, SoCal/DLR in April (I mean, we went to my BILs wedding...), Vegas in April, I went to NE in July, we did Labor Day for the waterparks, our Sept trip, NE in November, and Nashville in December We did a long weekend in Orlando back in January, and that was sooooo long ago

So here we go!

We fly in late next Wednesday and our staying at Pop for the night. That reminds me, I think I need to call DME... we're too late for luggage services and don't plan to have checked bags anyways, but DME was a big reason we ended up doing Pop vs a hotel airport.

Thursday:
DHS, with FPs for Star Tours, RnR, and TSM!
Off to MK for the evening, whenever we feel like it
Food: Baseline Tap House for cocktails, HBD Lounge, PB&J Milkshake from Tune In Lounge, possibly Woody's lunch box for a breakfast item depending on when we get to the park (I'm trying to convince Zack for slightly less rope drop and more park closing - normally we are RD to close, but those are like 9am-8/9pm hours). We've also talked about trying to stop at Trader Sam's/Poly on the way to MK... I really want those pulled pork nachos from the QS...
Night Show: HEA, unless we ad lib and decide to see Fantasmic
Move to the Dolphin for two nights; I worked some credit card deals to get a reasonable rate OOP (like less than a value). I also had some upgrade certificates from Marriott that I have no plans for, so I tried to use them for these nights... and got confirmation this weekend that we are getting a fireworks view balcony room!

Friday:
Epcot, with FPs for Spaceship Earth, Mission Space, and Test Track
Off to MK for the evening, if we feel like it
Food: Garden Grill for GR package, F&G booths
Night Show: Illuminations

Saturday:
Epcot, with FPs for Spaceship Earth, Mission Space, and Soarin'
Orlando Informer Meetup that evening
I will admit that originally I hesitated over the price, but now I am very excited to go. It seems like a great event. And we finally get to see the Castle lights!
Food: F&G Booths, OI Food (going to try some food/drinks we never have)
We move back to Pop this day for the remainder of the trip. Also going to try and talk Zack into an outlet store on the way to Universal...

Sunday:
Animal Kingdom, with FPs for Dinosaur, EE, and NRJ
MK in the evening for the VIPassholder Event
Food: Yak n Yeti, Nomad Lounge, could also stop by Poly this day instead
Night Show: HEA unless we ad lib and do RoL

Monday:
MK with FPs for Space, PP, and 7DMT (can't believe I found that this weekend...)
Food: snack list - Cheshire cat tail, dole whip, Friar Nook's for tots, cinnamon roll from Gaston's...
Night Show: HEA or Illuminations, will depend on what we've seen other nights and how we feel... I'm thinking Illuminations

Tuesday: 6am flight home

F&G Booth Wishlist
Violet Lemonade
La Vie en Rose
Sugar Cane Shrimp
(@ariane37 please know that when looking at menus Zack was like, isn't that what Steve was talking about?? )
Grilled Street Corn
Brisket Burnt Ends & Pork Belly Slider
Beef Torta
Toasted Pretzel Bread
Honey Tandoori Chicken Flatbread
...and many more, really...​

 

[amalone1013]

I think because I grew up going to the Wisconsin Dells (waterpark capital of the world!!!)

Ahh the Dells was one of my favorite family vacations growing up!

Catching back up on all your previous and upcoming adventures! I don't know how you bit your tongue during all the BIL drama. I would have been so ticked - and let them know - if we'd arranged everything for their schedule and paid more for it only for them to back out.

Ugh, mainly because he lives half the country away. DH has gotten some earfulls though

Joining in on the adventure and enjoying the mini PTR. Can't wait to read more. Those pictures at Sanaa. I have eaten at Boma several times but have never had the pleasure of going to Sanaa. Now that my kids are getting older I think I will definitely have to give it a try. Your pictures look so good.

Thanks! Sanaa was great. We'd still like to get to Boma for dinner too!

 

[evre13]

F&G Booth Wishlist
Violet Lemonade
La Vie en Rose
Sugar Cane Shrimp
(@ariane37 please know that when looking at menus Zack was like, isn't that what Steve was talking about?? )
Grilled Street Corn
Brisket Burnt Ends & Pork Belly Slider
Beef Torta
Toasted Pretzel Bread
Honey Tandoori Chicken Flatbread
...and many more, really...​

Have so much fun at F&G - my friends and I were actually able to finish our passport a few weeks ago! I can attest to the deliciousness of the Toasted Pretzel Bread, the beef sorta, and the Honey Tandoori Chicken Flatbread! Other favorites were the spiced cauliflower at Morocco (maybe my sleeper favorite of the trip), the tuna tatami and fried chicken at Citrus Blossom. The only thing that wasn't really great was the scallop in Canada, but that was also at the end of our day drinking around the world, which may have impacted my enjoyment.

 

[Lesley Wake]

We should all try to meet up at the OI event! I know it’s me, Su-Lynn, Steve, and Karilyn.

 

[Cloe Colton]

Wow what an exciting trip to book!! I feel like sometimes the on the fly trips are so fun because you don't have to wait forever for them to get here!

 

[amalone1013]

A Dreamy Surprise Trip!

Plans

Cruise Trip - 31 days!



I figured since we are now officially 31 days out from this trip, I should update our plans! I can't believe we're so close now! It feels like forever ago I got to sit on hold for 4 hours with DCL to book the room for Zack's parents back in March... 2018

Annnnnd then a few months ago I cancelled that and rebooked through Costco online in about 5 minutes to add his aunt



Wednesday:

We recently changed our flight to come in really late this night. Like, landing at 1:30am late SW has changed up their flight times for us, and my leave at 6pm land at 11:30pm flight is gone. Originally we had a 2:30pm flight on Thursday (land at 8pm) but decided that since that still required missing at least a half day of work, we might as well take the full day and get in really late. Otherwise, our Thursday 'morning' flight option doesn't land until noon. So now, leave at 8pm land at 1:30am. I did convince Zack to stay at the Hyatt in MCO this night though, so I think I'll book that today.



Thursday:

We have a room at Pop booked Thursday through Sunday, so I might add ME on a morning flight or maybe we'll uber, that will probably be an in the moment decision. Will I get Disney blacklisted if I don't show up for my ME reservation? Beyond dropping our bags off... I have no plans. It's terrible, no dining, no FPs, no park chosen! These last minute trips are rubbing off on me!



Friday:

The one day I have dining reservations... Way back at the 180 day mark, before we knew if we'd be doing the parks on this trip, I snagged BOG breakfast AND lunch here for the entire group. Now only Zack and I will be there. And I have to cancel them both anyways (even though I really want to do lunch as we never have) because I booked...



The Backstage Magic Tour!!

I figured now was as good a time as any for this, since we have our APs for a discount and this was all bonus park time for us since now we will be alone. And I'm not sure when/if we'll get APs again (more like when, we may go in October for a park trip and Halloween Horror Nights with Zack's parents and brother, but after that may take a Disney break... I'm trying to plan a trip to Europe )



So, the tour is 9am to 4pm. Starting in June they are adding a RoL behind the scenes (instead of textile services) and a Tiffins lunch (instead of Whispering Canyon) which is part of what convinced me to pull the trigger on this. We haven't done a single Disney tour yet, so...

Saturday:

Zack's parents and aunt fly down this day, landing at 5:30pm. I have a room at Pop for them for the night, so they can take DME to drop their bags and then meet us there or at Disney Springs for dinner at Homecomin' Currently I have an ADR for 9:20pm. I'd like to do a little earlier but I haven't had any luck yet.



And looking at my plans on MDE, I see that I apparently also got BOG breakfast and lunch for 10 this day... so maybe we will still have lunch!



Sunday:

Departure day! We are picking up a car from the Alamo desk at the Dolphin and driving ourselves, as that's about $50 plus a few bucks in gas. I had booked the Homecomin' brunch this morning, but we were debating the time and the amount of food... First the timing, we were planning to do an early check in time on the ship. We got 10:45am for ourselves, but for Zack's parents we ended up with 12:30pm. So theoretically we could do brunch, but most are not huge eaters at 10am plus then they miss the regular menu too, so I think we're sticking with dinner.



Originally we were going to stop for a few things (like wine) at a store on the way...

But I figured out we can get wine delivered Sunday morning with Amazon Prime Now! So uh yeah, we'll do that. Plus probably grab a pack of waters and coke for the room. Then we will be off to the cruise! I figure, we will grab lunch at the buffet and do some exploring. Also on my list is: See if we can have a table to ourselves for dinner, try to add Zack's mom and aunt to our mixology class, and see if I can move our Palo brunch reservation to the last day.



Monday:

This is a Castaway Cay day, and we have our Mixology class.



Tuesday:

This is Nassau day. Everyone is doing a tour, Discover Nassau By Land and Sea. The first half is on a boat, and the second via bus (funny how that works ) and it is supposed to stop at a few historical sites (and Atlantis). I enjoy things like this, but we couldn't do one last time with our Sea Lion encounter, and everyone decided to do it with me. Hopefully they're not disappointed



This night we have dinner at Palo booked with everyone. Though now I'm second guessing that because I think that means we will miss a main dining room since it is the third night... we missed Royal Palace last time and I'd hate to miss one again! Maybe I will put it on Tuesday... I can get 6:30pm, and sunset is around 8pm, so that should work for my plan to watch the sunset during dinner...



Wednesday:

Pirate Night

This is also our second Castaway Cay day. And Palo Brunch Day. And Adult Snorkeling Day.

Still hoping I can move brunch to the next day.



Thursday:

Last day, day at sea. No plans currently.



Friday:

Disembark

Then we are off to Kennedy Space Center! We will probably do one of the up charge tours this time. We are still waiting to hear if BIL will be joining us. I also want to look into ideas of places to eat dinner, since KSC closes at 5 or 6pm and last time we kind of failed here.



Saturday:

A second day at KSC, for those who are interested. Not sure what the rest will do. Everyone flies out this night at 8:30pm. Right now I've got a reservation for a car from Friday morning to tonight, but now I'm wondering if maybe we should get a second car and those that don't do KSC could head back to Orlando and visit Disney Springs or the Disney outlets... Maybe we could all meet for an early dinner at DS before heading to the airport.



Sunday:

Ok, right now Zack and I have flights back Saturday night... but maybe we should switch them to Sunday night We do have Disney and Universal APs... Technically my PTO is through Tuesday currently...

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[Lesley Wake]

We have a room at Pop booked Thursday through Sunday, so I might add ME on a morning flight or maybe we'll uber, that will probably be an in the moment decision. Will I get Disney blacklisted if I don't show up for my ME reservation?

You’ll be fine! I’ve missed MDE from the airport and from the hotel before. They don’t really keep track of that!

We are picking up a car from the Alamo desk at the Dolphin and driving ourselves, as that's about $50 plus a few bucks in gas.

And don’t forget cash for the tolls!

 

[amalone1013]

And don’t forget cash for the tolls!

Ahh, I need to look into that. Last time we did so well and then Zack blew through the last one so we got hit with the rental car toll fee.

 

[MeghanEmily]

Ooh the changes to Backstage Magic make it more appealing to me, too! I'll be interested to know what you think of it.