FP+ to Celebration (or The Argument For or Against Trip Insurance) first post 1-2-17

[Mich123]

Hi There, and welcome to my second trip report attempt. My first report was many years ago, and it was about snacks. It was a great trip, but I didn't have an iPhone back then, so there weren't many pictures and I kept losing entries on the boards and I ended up abandoning (gasp!) the report. This time, I think I might be ready. I wanted to write about this somewhat unusual trip because I loved planning it and I read all of your trip reports for tips and advice, so I wanted to share my plans and my trip. Also, a couple of weeks after we got back, DH said, "So, have you written about the trip yet?".

The idea for this trip was hatched about four years ago, after a great family trip that coincided with a trip our dear friends were taking. We always spend Thanksgiving in Buffalo, at my in-laws, and we always spend the evening of the day after Thanksgiving with two other families; we've been doing this for about 22 years (egads, we are old!). Five years ago, we realized that one of the couples, we'll call them Daisy and Donald Duck, were going to be at WDW the same week in January that we were. Our other wonderful friends, we'll call them Minnie and Mickey, were disappointed that they would be there. We had a fun trip that January and some great shared adventures. Donald Duck has a way of getting into every show that involves audience participation (yes, he's THAT guy) and he managed to get DH onto the stage, too. We had lots of fun!


(CM, blue guy 1, blue gal 2, DH, Donald)

Fast forward to the next day after Thanksgiving, and, after drinking some lovely drinks (because the best travel plans always come about during a night of lovely drinks) we decided that we should plan a group trip for 2016, the year that DH, Donald, and Mickey would turn 50. We talked about it for three years and then set to some serious planning. In between, our family visited DL a couple of times and WDW a couple of times, and every time I was thinking about this big 50 trip and planning it, modifying the plans and re-planning it. For the past year, the group texted constantly about it--I once returned from a meeting to find 48 text messages about a dinner reservation--and we even scheduled conference calls to discuss the plans.

So, who are we? DH and I live in upstate NY, outside of Albany. We work a good amount, we love to vacation. I try to always have a vacation on my radar. I'm a big fan of WDW and DL, and I manage to convince DH to go on Disney vacations. I love the planning and convenience of a Disney trip. I like that it's a resort. I think the art is amazing and it's everywhere, the details are incredible and exceed my expectations. I also admire the Disney approach to customer service. And, I love my fellow Dis friends!

I'm going to head out for a moment to figure out the picture part of this report, I hope you'll stay tuned for takeoff day, which is often my favorite day in a trip report--all of the planning and the waiting and the trip is FINALLY here!

 

[Mich123]

And now for a few logistics:

So what are we going to do and where are we going to stay? The trip was planned for November 12th through November 19th, the goal was to stay at a Deluxe resort within walking distance to the parks, preferably Epcot and DHS. When we realized that November 11th was Veteran's Day, DH and I made a quick decision to head out a day early, since our offices were closed for the holiday. We changed our flight reservations and made a one night reservation at All Star Movies, a resort that was new to us. Within hours, thanks to MDE, our friends realized we were leaving early and they all changed their reservations, too!

Our package stay (which was priced and re-priced and finally reserved with a special code for 30% off and a water view) was for the Boardwalk Inn, which we loved! I had wanted to stay at Beach Club, because we'd been there in 2014 and loved it, but it was too expensive (it's amazing that there can be a $300+ difference in price between Deluxe resorts), so we decided to take advantage of the deal at the Boardwalk. I'm glad we did. The resort was lovely and the staff was amazing. My only negative would be that there isn't a quick service on premises and while the Boardwalk Bakery is nice, it doesn't have as many choices as Beach Club Marketplace. That being said, given the amount of eating we were planning to do, a walk to the Beach Club Marketplace wasn't going to kill us! I did like the Boardwalk Bakery's drink station and really made the most of my refillable mug. The funny thing was that my favorite refill was seltzer, which doesn't require the chip reader, so I think I could have brought along one of my previous refillable mugs and had the same fill of free seltzer. Is that allowed? I also have a love of ice, and the ice at Boardwalk Bakery was excellent. I know, weird, but, hey, this might be the detail you want to know.

I should also mention my love of walking. I had read trip reports with some amazing step counts and hoped that I would get at least 30,000 steps on one day of this trip and maybe even as many as 40,000. Would we be able to do it? My plan was that there might need to be some intentional walking (i.e. laps around the Boardwalk lake) to do it, but that it would be a fun goal to meet. I wore my fitbit, so I do have step counts.

And, the last logistical piece, which is very important to our trip: FOOD! Our package deal did not include free dining as our dates were a few days off from the offer and it didn't make sense with the cost of tickets to book two separate stays just for dining. Since this was an extra special birthday and trip, we decided to splurge and go DxDDP so we could go to a few signature restaurants. Also, we like sit down meals. I love breakfast, DH, not so much, but we had a few quick service and on the go breakfasts to "save" credits for signature restaurants. We also did brunch, and made some 10:30 a.m. breakfast reservations to take advantage of breakfast into lunch AYCTE options (Crystal Palace and Tusker House)--that worked out well. We went to a lot of new to us restaurants, which I will get to soon!

Coming up...we really do leave upstate NY!

 

[cinderaimee]

Following along! We were at the Boardwalk Nov. 14-19! What great weather that week can't wait to hear all about your trip!

 

[Mich123]

Following along! We were at the Boardwalk Nov. 14-19! What great weather that week can't wait to hear all about your trip!

Thanks for following! It was a beautiful week in FL--not too hot and not chilly at night, just perfect!

 

[Mich123]

So the countdown clock finally made it to ZERO. The day I thought would never arrive! We had an afternoon flight, which is an anomaly for us, as it's usually my goal to get to WDW by lunchtime. Since we'd added a day, this was all bonus time. And, unexpectedly, DD17 went to NYC with a friend for the day so we were on our own until the taxi came to get us at 11 a.m.

I started the day on the treadmill and put in 8,000 steps, since I knew it would be a long afternoon of sitting in the airport and on the plane. Then, I finished up my packing and ran some errands, and picked up the first meal of the trip:a latte and an Americano. Because nothing says vacation like Starbucks!

I also made a salad for the trip, which worked out great--I will definitely be bringing my own breakfast/lunch/dinner again. I try not to eat much gluten, so it's tough to find take out that works for me at the airport. This worked perfectly! Unfortunately, in my Disney mania excitement to be in Orlando, I left the container on the plane, it would have come in handy later on in the trip.

We flew nonstop on Southwest to MCO and it was uneventful. Once we landed, we speed walked to the Magical Express and were directed onto the wrong bus. Luckily, we realized it and went back to the CMs and found the correct bus, where we sat for about 25 minutes, waiting for it to fill? I'm not sure why, but we waited. It was the longest I've ever had to wait on the ME and it was a little painful because our friends had arrived about an hour before us and we knew they were already at All Star Movies.

Once we were on the road, it seemed like we were there quickly. There were a couple of stops ahead of All Star Movies, Coronado Springs and All Star Sports (what's the abbreviation for that??).

All Star Movies seemed like a busy place. It was a little more worn than other Disney resorts I've stayed at, and seemed to have a lot of traffic. It was absolutely a great deal! When we checked in, the CM whispered that I had a credit at the resort (it must have been a result of a later discount) and then took out a calculator and punched in the amount of the credit--$6.35 or something like that--then turned the calculator to me and nodded. I thought it was funny that she was so careful to keep that credit confidential, as if I'd be mugged on my way to the room because of the credit.