kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
They TOTALLY are the best! Despite what I spent this weekend for less than 48 hours in Florida...the memories were priceless!
Healing at our Happy Place: making GOOD 2017 memories: Mar, May, Aug, Oct, Dec TRs (3/24 UPDATE)
- Thread starter kittylady1972
- Start date
They TOTALLY are the best! Despite what I spent this weekend for less than 48 hours in Florida...the memories were priceless!
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
GIRLS TRIP DAY TWO: SURPRISE LAST MINUTE TRIP CONTINUED
So having gone to bed around 3am the night before...I was in no hurry to get up the next morning. There would be no rope drop for us and that was okay.
I woke up around 8am though and mostly stayed in bed and read on my phone and tablet waiting for my daughter to wake up.
Finally around 10:30am or so she started to stir a bit.
I managed to get her going not too long after that and our plan was to hit EPCOT. On Friday as we were heading to Florida, I had her make some FP+ reservations for us. As you can imagine there was not too much left by that point, but she had a few and we made them all later on Saturday knowing we'd be up late Friday. She booked Spaceship Earth, Journey to Imagination and Test Track, all of them after noon I believe.
Since this less than a week since she was even able to walk with a shoe and not a boot on her foot from her December operation, I feared too much walking might be pushing it a bit so we decided before the parks to search out a drugstore to buy her an ankle brace for extra support...plus a portable battery charger for our cell phones! We hit a Walgreens nearby and picked up those items and then headed to EPCOT.
It was a beautiful day and we stopped at the front to take photos:
We didn't quite get this one but did it anyway:
LOVE it here this time of year:
We admired all the flowers and fun Flower and Garden designs...and we were hungry. We decided to check out one of the nearby food booths which was all about berries. She picked out the Berry Buckle and I chose the salad. We sat on a bench nearby and scarfed this down...BREAKFAST!
I don't recall what we did next, but I know we walked into Mexico to try to ride the boat ride there...and the line was crazy. In fact all of EPCOT was pretty packed, what with the F&G Festival and perfect weather who could blame people for being there? We walked around a bit and then it was approaching our FP+ time for Spaceship Earth. Despite being in the World Showcase area, she insisted that we try to make at least ONE of our Fastpasses so we headed back and rode that one.
I think it was now close to 2pm and we were dragging a bit. I figured her foot could use a rest and our TT FP+ wasn't until 3:45pm. I pitched the idea of heading back to the hotel, hanging by the pool, getting some food and just chilling for a bit and then as long as we headed back out around 4pm we could make our FP+ reservation. She didn't argue.
All she really wanted was a frozen drink of some kind. I heard mention our hotel had a Starbucks and of course she loves them. We go inside the hotel and the Starbucks counter is inside a small grab and go place...and they do NOT do any of the SB Frozen drinks. Uh-oh.
We head upstairs and get into our bathing suits and hit the pool. During checkin I was given 4 free drink vouchers that could be used for non-alcoholic drinks (sodas), small glass of house wine or beer and the pool bar was a place to use them. We hit there and I ask about making a virgin frozen drink and the lovely bartender happily says sure and serves up this:
Girlie is happy! We hang by the pool which was a bit breezy and hardly anybody around but the water in the pool was warm. We decide to order some food and split a chicken caesar salad which was DELICIOUS!
Food done it was now time to head back to the park so we go up to our room...and of course it's being serviced so we find some chairs in the lobby of the floor below ours and wait for that to be done.
Now it's closing on after 4pm and we need to haul tail to get to that TT reservation!
We park the car, hit the tram, book through bag check, make our way as quickly as possible to TT and it's about 4:45pm when we enter the park gates. I had read that they MIGHT give us up to 15 minutes past our window to ride so I'm already hoping that will be the case and ready to cry if they don't.
As we approach the ride I see 4:58pm on the sign there...and some CMs standing outside. Ride is DOWN! Yep...you know what means? We rushed for nothing and now we have a FREE FP+ to come back later. So we hit the bathroom of course since we both REALLY had to go but had been willing to hold it to chance getting on the ride!
Then we head back to World Showcase...and take some more photos of course:
We ride the boats in Mexico. Daughter decides she wants a chocolate covered caramel from Germany so we head there:
She gets her caramel and I get a strawberry and we sit and eat that...then decide the China acrobats would be starting soon (I think the 6:10pm performance) so we head there to get a spot up front and park ourselves along the rope about 5:50pm. We are soon joined by many others and watch their amazing show. I'd seen some of it before years ago...but it's hard to get my family to watch it these days. She loved it.After stalking the Disney lines apps we finally see Test Track is back up again so we head there:
Despite the long lines they don't even fill our car...which is just weird to me.
We browse through Mousegear for a while and then decide to call it a night. After all, tomorrow is our last day at Disney and we want to get an early start if we want any hope of riding a few ride favorites with NO FP+ reservations!
Goodnight EPCOT!
We get to our hotel and daughter asks if we can get room service as she's never done that. We get some sandwiches ordered and I hop in the shower and they arrive not too long after I'm done. Still probably cheaper or about the same than if we'd paid for a meal at a Disney park for both of us!
We chill out and watch some TV, she ices up her ankle and we end our night!
So having gone to bed around 3am the night before...I was in no hurry to get up the next morning. There would be no rope drop for us and that was okay.
I woke up around 8am though and mostly stayed in bed and read on my phone and tablet waiting for my daughter to wake up.
Finally around 10:30am or so she started to stir a bit.
I managed to get her going not too long after that and our plan was to hit EPCOT. On Friday as we were heading to Florida, I had her make some FP+ reservations for us. As you can imagine there was not too much left by that point, but she had a few and we made them all later on Saturday knowing we'd be up late Friday. She booked Spaceship Earth, Journey to Imagination and Test Track, all of them after noon I believe.
Since this less than a week since she was even able to walk with a shoe and not a boot on her foot from her December operation, I feared too much walking might be pushing it a bit so we decided before the parks to search out a drugstore to buy her an ankle brace for extra support...plus a portable battery charger for our cell phones! We hit a Walgreens nearby and picked up those items and then headed to EPCOT.
It was a beautiful day and we stopped at the front to take photos:
We didn't quite get this one but did it anyway:
LOVE it here this time of year:
We admired all the flowers and fun Flower and Garden designs...and we were hungry. We decided to check out one of the nearby food booths which was all about berries. She picked out the Berry Buckle and I chose the salad. We sat on a bench nearby and scarfed this down...BREAKFAST!
I don't recall what we did next, but I know we walked into Mexico to try to ride the boat ride there...and the line was crazy. In fact all of EPCOT was pretty packed, what with the F&G Festival and perfect weather who could blame people for being there? We walked around a bit and then it was approaching our FP+ time for Spaceship Earth. Despite being in the World Showcase area, she insisted that we try to make at least ONE of our Fastpasses so we headed back and rode that one.
I think it was now close to 2pm and we were dragging a bit. I figured her foot could use a rest and our TT FP+ wasn't until 3:45pm. I pitched the idea of heading back to the hotel, hanging by the pool, getting some food and just chilling for a bit and then as long as we headed back out around 4pm we could make our FP+ reservation. She didn't argue.
All she really wanted was a frozen drink of some kind. I heard mention our hotel had a Starbucks and of course she loves them. We go inside the hotel and the Starbucks counter is inside a small grab and go place...and they do NOT do any of the SB Frozen drinks. Uh-oh.
We head upstairs and get into our bathing suits and hit the pool. During checkin I was given 4 free drink vouchers that could be used for non-alcoholic drinks (sodas), small glass of house wine or beer and the pool bar was a place to use them. We hit there and I ask about making a virgin frozen drink and the lovely bartender happily says sure and serves up this:
Girlie is happy! We hang by the pool which was a bit breezy and hardly anybody around but the water in the pool was warm. We decide to order some food and split a chicken caesar salad which was DELICIOUS!
Food done it was now time to head back to the park so we go up to our room...and of course it's being serviced so we find some chairs in the lobby of the floor below ours and wait for that to be done.
Now it's closing on after 4pm and we need to haul tail to get to that TT reservation!
We park the car, hit the tram, book through bag check, make our way as quickly as possible to TT and it's about 4:45pm when we enter the park gates. I had read that they MIGHT give us up to 15 minutes past our window to ride so I'm already hoping that will be the case and ready to cry if they don't.
As we approach the ride I see 4:58pm on the sign there...and some CMs standing outside. Ride is DOWN! Yep...you know what means? We rushed for nothing and now we have a FREE FP+ to come back later. So we hit the bathroom of course since we both REALLY had to go but had been willing to hold it to chance getting on the ride!
Then we head back to World Showcase...and take some more photos of course:
We ride the boats in Mexico. Daughter decides she wants a chocolate covered caramel from Germany so we head there:
She gets her caramel and I get a strawberry and we sit and eat that...then decide the China acrobats would be starting soon (I think the 6:10pm performance) so we head there to get a spot up front and park ourselves along the rope about 5:50pm. We are soon joined by many others and watch their amazing show. I'd seen some of it before years ago...but it's hard to get my family to watch it these days. She loved it.After stalking the Disney lines apps we finally see Test Track is back up again so we head there:
Despite the long lines they don't even fill our car...which is just weird to me.
We browse through Mousegear for a while and then decide to call it a night. After all, tomorrow is our last day at Disney and we want to get an early start if we want any hope of riding a few ride favorites with NO FP+ reservations!
Goodnight EPCOT!
We get to our hotel and daughter asks if we can get room service as she's never done that. We get some sandwiches ordered and I hop in the shower and they arrive not too long after I'm done. Still probably cheaper or about the same than if we'd paid for a meal at a Disney park for both of us!
We chill out and watch some TV, she ices up her ankle and we end our night!
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kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
Thanks! It was such a fun trip, albeit a bit crazy at times. I love that my 14yo daughter just rolled with everything and didn't really complain at all. Other members of my family would not have handled it nearly as well. My husband, who travels often for work, would have been going crazy if, like us, he was still sitting at the airport and NOT through security yet at 11am for a 12pm flight! I just trusted that eventually we'd get it worked out and we did and overall I was happy with the airline despite this snafu.
I'll post our final day soon I hope and then my overall impressions of our off-site hotel. As a proponent of ONLY staying on-site, I was trying to stick within a certain budget on this trip and so I just couldn't justify the extra cost for the only available on-site hotels. It did hurt us a bit to watch the early entry people go by us on Sunday while we waited to enter the park of our choice that day, but we still did what we wanted to do for the most part within our short timeframe.
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
GIRLS TRIP: QUICK THOUGHTS ON MY FIRST DVC EVENT
So I've never had the chance to attend a DVC Member event before...unless you count the little gatherings they have on the cruises.
I have to say, I absolutely LOVED this event!
We didn't arrive as early as we could have but got to the gates around 8:45pm. They had several people checking for reservations and giving out wristbands. For the most part that worked well even though there weren't any terrible formal lines for it. People gathered around a CM with a tablet in a somewhat formed line for checking in and then somebody else nearby put on the wristbands.
FOOD: We only got in line once for food, so I can't speak to all of the locations. We went to the Starlight Cafe right around 10pm and already lines were forming there. They did pretty well with the people behind the counter, though they could have had one person per line which may have helped. We had one girl who managed two lines at once, going back and forth. She asked what we wanted and how many and just added the food and drinks to a tray for us. We got seating right outside and the food was good enough (hotdogs, chicken nuggets, fruit, chips, cookies and drinks).
ENTERTAINMENT: I couldn't help but wander over to the dance party area and LOVED that Mickey and Minnie were out dancing with the crowd...and it really wasn't terribly created despite it being a pretty nice night overall. It was just so fun to watch and the upbeat movie playing throughout the parks all night long, even the carousel was playing current tunes, was pretty cool. People were singing and dancing in the streets as they walked.
The special fireworks presentation was really really fun. I loved how NOT crowded it was around the Castle hub area with just 10 minutes until the fireworks and that we could sit and watch them easily. We got photos taken in front of the statue and castle with almost no wait too.
CHARACTERS: We just didn't want to waste time waiting in lines, but I loved the variety of unique character photo meet and greets they had around the parks. Genie was meeting WITH Abu the monkey, the Bowler Hat Guy was available (and it was fun to watch him interact with guests) and other characters were around. Lines were too long for us but not horrible I guess.
I would LOVE to attend another one of these in the future. I know the EPCOT one is coming in October and I'm very interested to see how it works at that park. Hoping we can snag an invite to that one and the whole family can attend this time!
So I've never had the chance to attend a DVC Member event before...unless you count the little gatherings they have on the cruises.
I have to say, I absolutely LOVED this event!
We didn't arrive as early as we could have but got to the gates around 8:45pm. They had several people checking for reservations and giving out wristbands. For the most part that worked well even though there weren't any terrible formal lines for it. People gathered around a CM with a tablet in a somewhat formed line for checking in and then somebody else nearby put on the wristbands.
FOOD: We only got in line once for food, so I can't speak to all of the locations. We went to the Starlight Cafe right around 10pm and already lines were forming there. They did pretty well with the people behind the counter, though they could have had one person per line which may have helped. We had one girl who managed two lines at once, going back and forth. She asked what we wanted and how many and just added the food and drinks to a tray for us. We got seating right outside and the food was good enough (hotdogs, chicken nuggets, fruit, chips, cookies and drinks).
ENTERTAINMENT: I couldn't help but wander over to the dance party area and LOVED that Mickey and Minnie were out dancing with the crowd...and it really wasn't terribly created despite it being a pretty nice night overall. It was just so fun to watch and the upbeat movie playing throughout the parks all night long, even the carousel was playing current tunes, was pretty cool. People were singing and dancing in the streets as they walked.
The special fireworks presentation was really really fun. I loved how NOT crowded it was around the Castle hub area with just 10 minutes until the fireworks and that we could sit and watch them easily. We got photos taken in front of the statue and castle with almost no wait too.
CHARACTERS: We just didn't want to waste time waiting in lines, but I loved the variety of unique character photo meet and greets they had around the parks. Genie was meeting WITH Abu the monkey, the Bowler Hat Guy was available (and it was fun to watch him interact with guests) and other characters were around. Lines were too long for us but not horrible I guess.
I would LOVE to attend another one of these in the future. I know the EPCOT one is coming in October and I'm very interested to see how it works at that park. Hoping we can snag an invite to that one and the whole family can attend this time!
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Jenny Sanders
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2007
That sounds like so much fun!
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
Jump in' in!!!Hi!
Hello and welcome!!
It was SUCH a fun weekend! I don't regret it at all. The memories are so worth it!
piglet1979
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2015
This sounds like so much fun. I would love to do something like this at some point. My husband and I are just huge planners.
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
Believe me it was soooo much fun. I am the biggest procrastinator on EVERYTHING in life...EXCEPT Disney vacations. I always have them planned out, with spreadsheets and everything. Our May trip already has a spreadsheet started as does our October and December potential trips.
However because we've been so often I went into this with the proper expectations. I knew without FP+ reservations, we were going to struggle getting too many rides done unless we did rope drop, which we did on Sunday morning. I knew some rides we just weren't willing to wait to ride but knowing we will return in May that was okay with me...because I'll book those for that trip. I enjoyed that we could sit and people watch or catch entertainment at EPCOT without complaint. I'm comfortable driving to/from the parks knowing I have free parking with my AP and I have done it plenty of times. While I missed staying on Disney property, I knew enough to get a hotel as close as possible so Disney Springs/Hotel Plaza Blvd really wasn't all that different from being at someplace like Saratoga Springs in terms of location.
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
GIRLS TRIP LAST DAY: THE THREE HOUR TOUR!
So after a refreshing night's sleep, I woke the girl up around 7:30am to start our last day of vacation. Our plan was Hollywood Studios and since we had at least 3 rides we wanted to try to do in our short time there, I had already warned her we'd need to get there close to park opening of 9am. The only issue with our plan for this day was that it was EMH morning so all of the on-site guests would be getting in at 8am. I was hopeful maybe they'd still open the gates for us "regular" folks a bit early.
We quickly packed up the room and headed downstairs to check out which went quickly. Soon we were off in our trusty little rental car to Hollywood Studios.
We arrived just after 8:15am or so and parked here:
I take this because, as you may have read, I believe in signs from above. While this trip was a fun time, it was a chance for me to bond with my daughter and heal a bit as well. The day we left for this trip marked one month since my mom's passing. She adored my daughter and that feeling was mutual. As sick as my mom was at the end, one of the last calls she made on her own was to my daughter just a day after she had her foot surgery to check on her. I still remember being in the room when that phone rang. Mom was so sick at that time...and yet she reached out to check on somebody else. So what does that have to do with this photo? My parents have two favorite numbers: 46 and 64 They were both born in 1946 and they both graduated from high school in 1964. When we ended up parking in this row on our last day...well I took it as a sign that mom was watching out for us.
So...we hopped on the nearest tram and we had a very entertaining driver for that one as we got to the park entrance. Then we waited in line with a few hundred of our closest friends:
We even tried video chatting wit my husband back home, but it was too loud to really hear him. As for getting into the parks a bit before that 9am opening...that did not happen...but at least we were near the front of the line. As soon as the gates open, we bolted for Ride #1 of the day:
LOVE this ride...and while there was a line I think we waited about 20 minutes or so.
Ready to ride!
And after:
See that kid to the right of us as you face us...he was REALLY not happy if you can't tell...or it may have been the kid on the other side of him. Looks like a dad and two sons but I can tell you the sounds coming from over there...not good ones. There aren't too many happy people on this ride with us as you can tell. Look at that last row behind us!
Anyway with ride #1 complete, it was time for the second one. We had really wanted to do RnRC but we knew the wait just wasn't going to happen for us (over an hour) so we'd have to skip it this trip.
This line wasn't horrible, so glad it's gotten better with that extra track:
When did they get rid of Mr. Potato Head??
Now it's just a blank back wall with various Toy Story characters.
Anybody know if he's coming back?
Goofy girl:
Obligatory glasses shot:
and final scores, me in blue and her in red. Not my best effort. I was having trouble aiming at targets for some reason, it always seemed a bit off?
After about a 20 minute wait there, it was on to our final ride. This line was outside of the building, which is rare for us to wait in, but so be it:
I think this one may have been between 25-30 minutes overall.
This is not one of my favorite rides, as simulators and I don't generally get along. However I did pretty well this time around.
Now we still had one final thing to do...something that is also imperative for me on every trip. So this is where we headed next:
Got my Mickey bar...vacation complete!
We ate those on our way out of the park, and paused for one last shot down the main street:
Plus we wanted to do some photos right outside the park. So we got into line and my daughter says "Look it's Tommy!". I had no idea what she meant, but when the guy taking the photo was the same one who also took our photo earlier in the day in front of Tower of Terror. He was so kind, helped her take off her jacket, and held onto her jacket, my backpack and her soda. He talked about his own daughters and how he has to help them with all of their stuff too. After the photos were done, he handed back everything EXCEPT my backpack...until I said something to him. So funny!
Anyway he was great...took a few more shots for us:
As you can see, there were some dark clouds and some wind moving in and I was sure we'd finally see some rain this trip...but it didn't happen.
So we hopped in our rental and headed towards the airport, and I was scoping out exits to determine the best place to fill up within 10 miles of the airport which was required for our rental car. We found a place easily enough and were at the airport close to noon or so for our 1:50pm flight.
Security was a bit long, but we printed our boarding passes easily this time and got into line and no TSA Precheck as we had gotten before for some reason. Oh well.
Once through security we had one last ride over to the other terminal for our gate. As we got there, we decided to grab some food to eat while waiting to board our flight. There wasn't much appealing to us, and lines were long there too, but we ended up with Qdoba and carried it to our gate...gate 50. As we sat there and started eating I started looking around and realized...they should be boarding pretty soon and it seemed kinda empty and I didn't notice a gate agent at Gate 50. Having printed our boarding passes only 20-25 minutes earlier, I figured they should be accurate, but I checked a nearby flight board and sure enough...wrong gate. So I told my daughter and we then hauled ourselves down to Gate 54 which was correct...and found aLL THE PEOPLE!
We sat and ate some of our food and were in no hurry to board with the crowds. At some point the lady sitting near us asked if we could hold her salad as she wanted to use the restroom and didn't want to carry the food with her. No problem...I held her food as she walked off to use the restroom and they continued to board our plane.
When she returned I told her they were up to group 5 and 6 boarding, and she didn't even know what she was but she was also not worried about getting on right away. We ate some more and finally as the lines were dissipating we got up to board.
Entering the plane and carrying our food:
And one last shot as we prepare for takeoff:
The rest of our travel was pretty uneventful, unless you count the 3yo sitting in front of us, who yelled "are we going to crash" as our first flight landed in Charlotte and the whole plane started vibrating. I mean, I know the shaking is normal during landing as we slow down, but there was really a LOT of vibration on this one, and it was the newer of the two planes that we flew.
We had only an hour layover in Charlotte before our next flight, so we landed and found our next gate and headed there, stopping along the way for FROZEN YOGURT!
As we sat at the gate to eat that...I noticed something chocolate all over me...and found my cup had a hole in it! Thankfully I just sat it on the lid and on a napkin and ate quickly, but I had chocolate stains all down my white sweatshirt which my daughter found hilarious!
We landed on time in Baltimore just after 6pm, walked off the plane, headed directly to the level where our shuttle was waiting to take us to the parking lot, and it dropped us right off at our car. We were home within about 30 minutes of landing which was great. I had time to rest a bit before heading out at 8pm to an 8:30pm tennis match that lasted until 10pm!
Weekend and vacation complete!
So after a refreshing night's sleep, I woke the girl up around 7:30am to start our last day of vacation. Our plan was Hollywood Studios and since we had at least 3 rides we wanted to try to do in our short time there, I had already warned her we'd need to get there close to park opening of 9am. The only issue with our plan for this day was that it was EMH morning so all of the on-site guests would be getting in at 8am. I was hopeful maybe they'd still open the gates for us "regular" folks a bit early.
We quickly packed up the room and headed downstairs to check out which went quickly. Soon we were off in our trusty little rental car to Hollywood Studios.
We arrived just after 8:15am or so and parked here:
I take this because, as you may have read, I believe in signs from above. While this trip was a fun time, it was a chance for me to bond with my daughter and heal a bit as well. The day we left for this trip marked one month since my mom's passing. She adored my daughter and that feeling was mutual. As sick as my mom was at the end, one of the last calls she made on her own was to my daughter just a day after she had her foot surgery to check on her. I still remember being in the room when that phone rang. Mom was so sick at that time...and yet she reached out to check on somebody else. So what does that have to do with this photo? My parents have two favorite numbers: 46 and 64 They were both born in 1946 and they both graduated from high school in 1964. When we ended up parking in this row on our last day...well I took it as a sign that mom was watching out for us.
So...we hopped on the nearest tram and we had a very entertaining driver for that one as we got to the park entrance. Then we waited in line with a few hundred of our closest friends:
We even tried video chatting wit my husband back home, but it was too loud to really hear him. As for getting into the parks a bit before that 9am opening...that did not happen...but at least we were near the front of the line. As soon as the gates open, we bolted for Ride #1 of the day:
LOVE this ride...and while there was a line I think we waited about 20 minutes or so.
Ready to ride!
And after:
See that kid to the right of us as you face us...he was REALLY not happy if you can't tell...or it may have been the kid on the other side of him. Looks like a dad and two sons but I can tell you the sounds coming from over there...not good ones. There aren't too many happy people on this ride with us as you can tell. Look at that last row behind us!
Anyway with ride #1 complete, it was time for the second one. We had really wanted to do RnRC but we knew the wait just wasn't going to happen for us (over an hour) so we'd have to skip it this trip.
This line wasn't horrible, so glad it's gotten better with that extra track:
When did they get rid of Mr. Potato Head??
Now it's just a blank back wall with various Toy Story characters.
Anybody know if he's coming back?
Goofy girl:
Obligatory glasses shot:
and final scores, me in blue and her in red. Not my best effort. I was having trouble aiming at targets for some reason, it always seemed a bit off?
After about a 20 minute wait there, it was on to our final ride. This line was outside of the building, which is rare for us to wait in, but so be it:
I think this one may have been between 25-30 minutes overall.
This is not one of my favorite rides, as simulators and I don't generally get along. However I did pretty well this time around.
Now we still had one final thing to do...something that is also imperative for me on every trip. So this is where we headed next:
Got my Mickey bar...vacation complete!
We ate those on our way out of the park, and paused for one last shot down the main street:
Plus we wanted to do some photos right outside the park. So we got into line and my daughter says "Look it's Tommy!". I had no idea what she meant, but when the guy taking the photo was the same one who also took our photo earlier in the day in front of Tower of Terror. He was so kind, helped her take off her jacket, and held onto her jacket, my backpack and her soda. He talked about his own daughters and how he has to help them with all of their stuff too. After the photos were done, he handed back everything EXCEPT my backpack...until I said something to him. So funny!
Anyway he was great...took a few more shots for us:
As you can see, there were some dark clouds and some wind moving in and I was sure we'd finally see some rain this trip...but it didn't happen.
So we hopped in our rental and headed towards the airport, and I was scoping out exits to determine the best place to fill up within 10 miles of the airport which was required for our rental car. We found a place easily enough and were at the airport close to noon or so for our 1:50pm flight.
Security was a bit long, but we printed our boarding passes easily this time and got into line and no TSA Precheck as we had gotten before for some reason. Oh well.
Once through security we had one last ride over to the other terminal for our gate. As we got there, we decided to grab some food to eat while waiting to board our flight. There wasn't much appealing to us, and lines were long there too, but we ended up with Qdoba and carried it to our gate...gate 50. As we sat there and started eating I started looking around and realized...they should be boarding pretty soon and it seemed kinda empty and I didn't notice a gate agent at Gate 50. Having printed our boarding passes only 20-25 minutes earlier, I figured they should be accurate, but I checked a nearby flight board and sure enough...wrong gate. So I told my daughter and we then hauled ourselves down to Gate 54 which was correct...and found aLL THE PEOPLE!
We sat and ate some of our food and were in no hurry to board with the crowds. At some point the lady sitting near us asked if we could hold her salad as she wanted to use the restroom and didn't want to carry the food with her. No problem...I held her food as she walked off to use the restroom and they continued to board our plane.
When she returned I told her they were up to group 5 and 6 boarding, and she didn't even know what she was but she was also not worried about getting on right away. We ate some more and finally as the lines were dissipating we got up to board.
Entering the plane and carrying our food:
And one last shot as we prepare for takeoff:
The rest of our travel was pretty uneventful, unless you count the 3yo sitting in front of us, who yelled "are we going to crash" as our first flight landed in Charlotte and the whole plane started vibrating. I mean, I know the shaking is normal during landing as we slow down, but there was really a LOT of vibration on this one, and it was the newer of the two planes that we flew.
We had only an hour layover in Charlotte before our next flight, so we landed and found our next gate and headed there, stopping along the way for FROZEN YOGURT!
As we sat at the gate to eat that...I noticed something chocolate all over me...and found my cup had a hole in it! Thankfully I just sat it on the lid and on a napkin and ate quickly, but I had chocolate stains all down my white sweatshirt which my daughter found hilarious!
We landed on time in Baltimore just after 6pm, walked off the plane, headed directly to the level where our shuttle was waiting to take us to the parking lot, and it dropped us right off at our car. We were home within about 30 minutes of landing which was great. I had time to rest a bit before heading out at 8pm to an 8:30pm tennis match that lasted until 10pm!
Weekend and vacation complete!
Last edited:
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
FINAL THOUGHTS
I can't tell you how much fun this trip was to do, despite it being so last minute. I'm a big procrastinator by nature, but doing this on the fly was actually fun and I'm thankful that my daughter just rolled with everything and never once complained.
A quick thought about staying offsite. I'm not at all a fan of off-site hotels, mostly because you really can be quite far removed from the parks. When I was looking for places to stay, I was trying my best to find hotels as close to the entrances as possible. We got a pretty good deal on the Hilton on Hotel Plaza blvd and I loved that it was actually right across the street from Disney Springs, even if we didn't visit there. Since we had our own car, transportation wasn't an issue but I think if you had people who wanted to stay in the parks, you could have just caught a bus from the parks to the Disney Springs area and then walked back to the resort if necessary. I did not like their crazy "resort fee" and "parking fee" on top of the regular rates, but it was what it was and I dealt with it.
Service at the hotel was top notch. Checkin was easy and even at 2am the front desk staff was friendly. We received 4 drink coupons with our check-in and we used them at the pool bar to get drinks. You could get a soda, a small glass of wine or a beer I think. I ended up getting soda.
The server behind the pool bar was lovely. She had no issues fixing my daughter a frozen drink (when we learned the Starbucks in the hotel didn't do frozen drinks at all, my daughter wasn't happy) and she even took a food order for us and brought it to us by the pool. We ate a chicken caesar salad that was VERY good...probably a bit on the pricey side but that's hotel food for you. The hotel was currently renovating one of their pools it looks like, but when that's up and running I imagine that pool area on a warmer day would be quite nice! The pool was heated and they did have a hot tub as well. There were many teens around the hotel for some conference, but it wasn't too bad. We did have one night where it was loud in the halls though.
Room service when we ordered one night was VERY fast and friendly. That food was also good.
Maid service...well I was a bit disappointed there but not sure I have a good reason. We slept in on Saturday so left the Do Not Disturb up until close to 11am. We came back at 3pm to use the pool...no service. When we came back from the pool at 4pm...room was being serviced so we had to wait...so really just bad timing for us. The bed sheets were not as soft as I'd like (a bit pilled from over washing) but beds were comfortable and plenty of pillows. We had a refrigerator and coffee maker in the room as well as a safe. The bathroom was well stocked with towels and toiletries. Towels were nice and big too.
Anyway as a last minute off-site place to stay, I'd go here again for sure. It was probably about as convenient as being at Saratoga Springs and driving really. I can't wait to see what that whole Disney Springs area will be like once all that construction is complete though!
We return in about 3 months!
I can't tell you how much fun this trip was to do, despite it being so last minute. I'm a big procrastinator by nature, but doing this on the fly was actually fun and I'm thankful that my daughter just rolled with everything and never once complained.
A quick thought about staying offsite. I'm not at all a fan of off-site hotels, mostly because you really can be quite far removed from the parks. When I was looking for places to stay, I was trying my best to find hotels as close to the entrances as possible. We got a pretty good deal on the Hilton on Hotel Plaza blvd and I loved that it was actually right across the street from Disney Springs, even if we didn't visit there. Since we had our own car, transportation wasn't an issue but I think if you had people who wanted to stay in the parks, you could have just caught a bus from the parks to the Disney Springs area and then walked back to the resort if necessary. I did not like their crazy "resort fee" and "parking fee" on top of the regular rates, but it was what it was and I dealt with it.
Service at the hotel was top notch. Checkin was easy and even at 2am the front desk staff was friendly. We received 4 drink coupons with our check-in and we used them at the pool bar to get drinks. You could get a soda, a small glass of wine or a beer I think. I ended up getting soda.
The server behind the pool bar was lovely. She had no issues fixing my daughter a frozen drink (when we learned the Starbucks in the hotel didn't do frozen drinks at all, my daughter wasn't happy) and she even took a food order for us and brought it to us by the pool. We ate a chicken caesar salad that was VERY good...probably a bit on the pricey side but that's hotel food for you. The hotel was currently renovating one of their pools it looks like, but when that's up and running I imagine that pool area on a warmer day would be quite nice! The pool was heated and they did have a hot tub as well. There were many teens around the hotel for some conference, but it wasn't too bad. We did have one night where it was loud in the halls though.
Room service when we ordered one night was VERY fast and friendly. That food was also good.
Maid service...well I was a bit disappointed there but not sure I have a good reason. We slept in on Saturday so left the Do Not Disturb up until close to 11am. We came back at 3pm to use the pool...no service. When we came back from the pool at 4pm...room was being serviced so we had to wait...so really just bad timing for us. The bed sheets were not as soft as I'd like (a bit pilled from over washing) but beds were comfortable and plenty of pillows. We had a refrigerator and coffee maker in the room as well as a safe. The bathroom was well stocked with towels and toiletries. Towels were nice and big too.
Anyway as a last minute off-site place to stay, I'd go here again for sure. It was probably about as convenient as being at Saratoga Springs and driving really. I can't wait to see what that whole Disney Springs area will be like once all that construction is complete though!
We return in about 3 months!
ariane37
Dis veteran
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2012
Your last minute getaway sounds awesome!
First I rode PP, then went to HM and I was the only one in line. No CM outside the door and it was quite a few minutes and still, no CM. It was eerie standing there with Madame Leota's eyes popping open at me every few minutes lol! Eventually a mom and her young son came on line behind me and then a CM opened the doors around 8:20 and the 3 of us were the only ones in the stretching room. I did find that creepy 
So glad overall you thought it was a great experience!
That was my dad too, born 1946 and graduated 1964 
He was fun and I haven't heard anything about bringing him back.
I forgot to comment on this last time. A few years ago I went by myself to MK one morning when they opened at 8 because nobody else would get up
First I rode PP, then went to HM and I was the only one in line. No CM outside the door and it was quite a few minutes and still, no CM. It was eerie standing there with Madame Leota's eyes popping open at me every few minutes lol! Eventually a mom and her young son came on line behind me and then a CM opened the doors around 8:20 and the 3 of us were the only ones in the stretching room. I did find that creepy Now that's scary!
We haven't watched the acrobats in a few years but always enjoyed them. I'm glad you were finally able to watch a show since usually nobody wants to!
Before the event I read the characters that were going to be there for meets and it seemed they had a few good, rare ones. Very nice to do for their DVC peeps
So glad overall you thought it was a great experience!Ooh, the Epcot one sounds like it could be cool! So question, not all DVC members can go, you have to get an invite? Do you like, request tickets and they only give a certain amount per event?
Such a nice story
That was my dad too, born 1946 and graduated 1964 I only noticed this past November but when Chris and I did notice, I remembered reading about him being removed awhile before that. Don't like it, the area looks so bare even with the mural
He was fun and I haven't heard anything about bringing him back.
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
It really was awesome!
I forgot to comment on this last time. A few years ago I went by myself to MK one morning when they opened at 8 because nobody else would get up
Definitely creepy!
Yes it was cool. She really enjoyed them a lot!
Before the event I read the characters that were going to be there for meets and it seemed they had a few good, rare ones. Very nice to do for their DVC peeps
Ooh, the Epcot one sounds like it could be cool! So question, not all DVC members can go, you have to get an invite? Do you like, request tickets and they only give a certain amount per event?
Yes it is nice to see the rare characters. Watching "Bowler Hat Guy" was actually pretty entertaining.
Regarding the DVC Member Events...you just have to be online at the right time when they release tickets. I don't recall if they notify you by email if they are available or not but as of now the December events at EPCOT are not open. You just go online and request the tickets and how many. I know there is a limit on how many per guest and you can also invite guests with you...again within a limit. Yes they only release a certain number of tickets per event. The MK one had been sold out MONTHS ago (I think I booked it in December).
Such a nice story
Cool.
I only noticed this past November but when Chris and I did notice, I remembered reading about him being removed awhile before that. Don't like it, the area looks so bare even with the mural
Yeah when we went in November I think we went through the FastPass line so we didn't even see that area. We were pretty disappointed that he wasn't there though.
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
I feel like I come here and it's such a roller coaster of posts for me...either very very happy or very sad. Right now I'm back to somewhat sad so don't read further if you want to remain happy.
On the bright side...celebrated my birthday yesterday and it started out great...and kinda went downhill a bit. Coworkers surprised me with lots of lovely birthday treats, had a great lunch with some former coworkers, walked the mall a bit and did some mostly window shopping then came home...and napped.
Got some dinner...at a place I wanted...but the buffalo wings which I have always loved at this place and which I wanted...were disappointing. Family got me ice cream cake and sang to me..all good.
Evening ended with me in self pity as I realized that I had not heard from my dad OR my brother at all that day. My family. No mom around any longer to call me and wish me happy birthday. My remaining family...too busy to call. My brother's wife opened her own business this week and I know they are busy with that. My dad has been busy with estate issues for my mom. Finally got a text at 10:30pm from my brother apologizing for not calling because it was crazy...I figured as much. My dad emailed me this morning also apologizing...and also called me at work to wish me happy birthday. So at least they eventually remembered. I miss my mom though.
Then my MIL has taken a turn for the worse. She is beginning to get weaker and my FIL is soon really going to need some help with her as he has to have her out of the house 3 times a week for dialysis, and that requires stairs to traverse each time in their house. No way around that. It's scary to think of him having to get her around once she can no longer stand on her own. We feel her time is growing very short very quickly. My mom lost the strength to stand sometime in January...and she was gone by early February. At this point we feel we are probably looking at only weeks remaining. Even she herself (MIL) keeps insisting that she's dying and my FIL keeps telling her she isn't but we all know the truth and it just makes her angry that he denies that.
What's worse is then listening to my husband have to deal with his sister who is all the way across the country...and yet has not ONCE called him to ask about his mom. So what happens last night, on my birthday, when she can't get in touch with her dad back here and he isn't answering her texts? Her BOYFRIEND/FIANCEE calls our house to talk to my husband and ask about what's happening. Why my SIL who is a NURSE is not calling to ask about HER MOM is just UNFATHOMABLE to me!
Fiancee is asking MY husband if he needs to send her on a plane immediately. Well hello we are not trained medical professionals. He mentions based on the recent experience we have just gone through with my mom that we do feel time is short...but we can't say for sure how short. We can't make that decision for her. If she wants to come and say her goodbyes then that's up to her. She has a planned visit out here in just over a week for a court date to try to get a step closer to finalizing her divorce from husband #2, and father of her child, and while we think there's a chance her mom will still be around by that time...we simply don't KNOW that for sure.
Ok...rant over...just had to get that out somewhere.
***************
So in other news, I'm already looking at options for May for adding an additional person to our trip. My FIL may just need an escape by that time. We think Disney would be good for him since he loves it there. I have priced out flights and a room for him, since we don't have points for him to stay with us, just in case. I hope that the restaurants where we've booked all of our ADRs will be understanding if an extra person arrives with us and if not...we'll skip that meal! It's already too late to add an extra person JUST IN CASE for most of ours.
We'll see how the next few weeks go though. He doesn't have tickets so we can't even book FP+ reservations for him if we wanted to do so.
On the bright side...celebrated my birthday yesterday and it started out great...and kinda went downhill a bit. Coworkers surprised me with lots of lovely birthday treats, had a great lunch with some former coworkers, walked the mall a bit and did some mostly window shopping then came home...and napped.
Got some dinner...at a place I wanted...but the buffalo wings which I have always loved at this place and which I wanted...were disappointing. Family got me ice cream cake and sang to me..all good.
Evening ended with me in self pity as I realized that I had not heard from my dad OR my brother at all that day. My family. No mom around any longer to call me and wish me happy birthday. My remaining family...too busy to call. My brother's wife opened her own business this week and I know they are busy with that. My dad has been busy with estate issues for my mom. Finally got a text at 10:30pm from my brother apologizing for not calling because it was crazy...I figured as much. My dad emailed me this morning also apologizing...and also called me at work to wish me happy birthday. So at least they eventually remembered. I miss my mom though.
Then my MIL has taken a turn for the worse. She is beginning to get weaker and my FIL is soon really going to need some help with her as he has to have her out of the house 3 times a week for dialysis, and that requires stairs to traverse each time in their house. No way around that. It's scary to think of him having to get her around once she can no longer stand on her own. We feel her time is growing very short very quickly. My mom lost the strength to stand sometime in January...and she was gone by early February. At this point we feel we are probably looking at only weeks remaining. Even she herself (MIL) keeps insisting that she's dying and my FIL keeps telling her she isn't but we all know the truth and it just makes her angry that he denies that.
What's worse is then listening to my husband have to deal with his sister who is all the way across the country...and yet has not ONCE called him to ask about his mom. So what happens last night, on my birthday, when she can't get in touch with her dad back here and he isn't answering her texts? Her BOYFRIEND/FIANCEE calls our house to talk to my husband and ask about what's happening. Why my SIL who is a NURSE is not calling to ask about HER MOM is just UNFATHOMABLE to me!
Fiancee is asking MY husband if he needs to send her on a plane immediately. Well hello we are not trained medical professionals. He mentions based on the recent experience we have just gone through with my mom that we do feel time is short...but we can't say for sure how short. We can't make that decision for her. If she wants to come and say her goodbyes then that's up to her. She has a planned visit out here in just over a week for a court date to try to get a step closer to finalizing her divorce from husband #2, and father of her child, and while we think there's a chance her mom will still be around by that time...we simply don't KNOW that for sure.
Ok...rant over...just had to get that out somewhere.
***************
So in other news, I'm already looking at options for May for adding an additional person to our trip. My FIL may just need an escape by that time. We think Disney would be good for him since he loves it there. I have priced out flights and a room for him, since we don't have points for him to stay with us, just in case. I hope that the restaurants where we've booked all of our ADRs will be understanding if an extra person arrives with us and if not...we'll skip that meal! It's already too late to add an extra person JUST IN CASE for most of ours.
We'll see how the next few weeks go though. He doesn't have tickets so we can't even book FP+ reservations for him if we wanted to do so.
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
Happy Friday to all!
I finally got some photos off my camera last night from our trip. So the much anticipated EMPTY stretch room photo is here:
Very cool!
Another nice photo with my daughter and the Three Caballeros:
The Flower and Garden Festival is just so beautiful and fun to see.
Oh and the Bowler Hat guy:
Have I mentioned how much I enjoyed this trip:
It just makes me want to book another one!
However DH is pitching the idea HARD about another Disney cruise right now. I just refuse to pay full prices for it but if a great discount gets released that works for us I might consider the cruise.
I'm still wondering if a few days at the Disney parks in August is in order...or do we do Grand Cayman and Vero Beach as planned. I just can't quite work out that trip yet.
**************
In other news, my MIL apparently was doing better (again) yesterday so who knows what's happening there. I believe we have plans to visit them tonight for a while, for dinner and just hanging out a bit. I'm playing a tennis match at 9:30am so I can't stay much longer than 8:30pm really. That may give the family a way out as well. It's very difficult for them to see my MIL struggle both mentally (with just coming up with a sentence) and physically.
Anyway currently continuing to track flight prices for October and December but nothing that great right now. I have a feeling we'll make sure both of those trips happen.
Countdown to our NEXT WDW Trip is: 78 DAYS!
I finally got some photos off my camera last night from our trip. So the much anticipated EMPTY stretch room photo is here:
Very cool!
Another nice photo with my daughter and the Three Caballeros:
The Flower and Garden Festival is just so beautiful and fun to see.
Oh and the Bowler Hat guy:
Have I mentioned how much I enjoyed this trip:
It just makes me want to book another one!
However DH is pitching the idea HARD about another Disney cruise right now. I just refuse to pay full prices for it but if a great discount gets released that works for us I might consider the cruise.
I'm still wondering if a few days at the Disney parks in August is in order...or do we do Grand Cayman and Vero Beach as planned. I just can't quite work out that trip yet.
**************
In other news, my MIL apparently was doing better (again) yesterday so who knows what's happening there. I believe we have plans to visit them tonight for a while, for dinner and just hanging out a bit. I'm playing a tennis match at 9:30am so I can't stay much longer than 8:30pm really. That may give the family a way out as well. It's very difficult for them to see my MIL struggle both mentally (with just coming up with a sentence) and physically.
Anyway currently continuing to track flight prices for October and December but nothing that great right now. I have a feeling we'll make sure both of those trips happen.
Countdown to our NEXT WDW Trip is: 78 DAYS!
piglet1979
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2015
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
DCL releases Florida Resident discounts as well as Military Discounts from time to time. They rarely include any summer dates or other busy times though, that is what makes them tough. We qualify for the military discounts.
piglet1979
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2015
That stinks. We don't qualify for either. I checked with my dad before to see if he qualifies for the Military discount since he was in the navy when I was younger. He does as he only did his 4 years. I really need to get my husband on board to move to Florida.
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
MAY TRIP UPDATE: Nothing major to report. The only thing I did last week was check again on rental car rates for our upcoming trip in May. I ended up swapping out our mid-sized rental car at one company to a mid-sized SUV at a different company...for $5 less and I think I'll get some additional SWA credits for booking this one. I've never used this company at the airport for rentals (Alamo) as I've always use DOLLAR or THRIFTY so hopefully it will be just as painless. I know all of the rental car places are located there onsite at the airport though. I still want the kids to pack as light as possible as I'd rather not check luggage if we can help it.
AUGUST TRIP UPDATE: So last week, SWA had a great sale on flights from FLL to Grand Cayman. The cost of the flights I wanted to take August was about $400 cheaper for all 5 of us. However I just don't have the means right now to purchase them and now...the flights have gone back up in price. I'll keep watching them though. Part of me still wants to add a day or two at a Disney park for this trip. We'll see though.
OCTOBER TRIP UPDATE: So I glanced at the DVC properties available for our weekend in October. There wasn't much really, and I'm not sure I want to spend a lot of points on a stay for that time. I think we'll most likely stick to Shades of Green and I think we'll still have some friends join us. I invited a much larger group but nobody responded so I guess they aren't interested. I'm still stalking airline websites, and while I've tracked a few October flights, none of the flight prices have been that great. Part of me is tempted to just drive that trip but that may be tough to sell my family.
AUGUST TRIP UPDATE: So last week, SWA had a great sale on flights from FLL to Grand Cayman. The cost of the flights I wanted to take August was about $400 cheaper for all 5 of us. However I just don't have the means right now to purchase them and now...the flights have gone back up in price. I'll keep watching them though. Part of me still wants to add a day or two at a Disney park for this trip. We'll see though.
OCTOBER TRIP UPDATE: So I glanced at the DVC properties available for our weekend in October. There wasn't much really, and I'm not sure I want to spend a lot of points on a stay for that time. I think we'll most likely stick to Shades of Green and I think we'll still have some friends join us. I invited a much larger group but nobody responded so I guess they aren't interested. I'm still stalking airline websites, and while I've tracked a few October flights, none of the flight prices have been that great. Part of me is tempted to just drive that trip but that may be tough to sell my family.
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