missjackiemcg
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2013
- Messages
- 3,679
Welcome to my very long overdue 2nd trip report, following our kid-free adventure, including New Year’s Eve and the start of Marathon Weekend! It was very cold, (and that’s coming from people who live in Chicago and are used to Midwest Winters)!! It was also incredibly magical and filled with lots of firsts for us.
If you’d like to read about how this trip came to be, you can check out my PTR in my signature. If you’ve been waiting and wondering for the last 3 months if I would EVER get this thing started, your wish has finally come true! Here we go…
The who?
FB_IMG_1489147123853 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
Just us, Rob and Jackie. It was very weird to plan a trip without our son, Jimmy! It’s been 9 years since we have ventured off to the magic without him, so we certainly missed him. We kept telling him we would be riding rollercoasters and running races all week…so he wouldn’t feel like we were having fun without him. There were some things we just could NOT do without him—two of the main parts of our deal were absolutely no train rides and no Tomorrowland Speedway for either of us! He even made us shake his hands to seal the deal LOL
So, when I’d originally decided to make the trip to WDW to run my very first runDisney races, I also tried to work in a quickie cruise in the days leading up to the trip. One of my good friends squashed that plan when she booked her wedding for December 29th….so, instead we planned to be in town for her wedding and leave early the next morning for Florida!
20171230_080353 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
At 8:03 a.m. we were out the door on our way to my parents’ house in flip flops despite the snow—we were SO excited to head to the warmth of Florida….ha! More on that later.
We were able to get an awesome deal on flights using Southwest (our first SW flights ever!!) but flying out of the airport further from our house. Thankfully my Dad didn’t mind taking the drive to drop us off, and honestly it was about a 30 minute drive, so not too terrible in any case. This was a great decision for us because I priced out similar departure times for flights leaving closer to home via United…we saved over $1,000 by flying Southwest. #sold
By 9:35 a.m. we were already through security, sitting at Reilly’s Daughter having a grilled cheese, burger, chips and aluminum pints for breakfast. #vacationmode
20171230_094524 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
20171230_095824 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
Our flight took off at 11:35 a.m. for an exactly 2 hour flight to Orlando MCO! Our flight arrived 30 minutes ahead of schedule—amazing! We were riding the Fake-o-rail at 3:07 Florida time, and passing through the gates of Walt Disney World by 3:55 p.m. Ten minutes later we were walking through the lobby of Pop Century—mmm, the citrusy goodness of that lobby!!
20171230_125856 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
20171230_132411 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
20171230_140716 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
We had done online check in and received our text when we got off the plane that our room was ready. I had requested the highest floor in the 60’s building and that’s just what we got, so we were very happy in #4422, climbing through the green yoyo multiple times a day!
20171230_145559 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
20171230_150905 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
20171230_152437 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
Next up: Magic Kingdom is open til 3 am?! What are we waiting for!?
If you’d like to read about how this trip came to be, you can check out my PTR in my signature. If you’ve been waiting and wondering for the last 3 months if I would EVER get this thing started, your wish has finally come true! Here we go…
The who?
FB_IMG_1489147123853 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
And seriously....how could I say no to this little face!?
FB_IMG_1489147134415 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
FB_IMG_1489147134415 by Jackie Lagoni, on FlickrSo, when I’d originally decided to make the trip to WDW to run my very first runDisney races, I also tried to work in a quickie cruise in the days leading up to the trip. One of my good friends squashed that plan when she booked her wedding for December 29th….so, instead we planned to be in town for her wedding and leave early the next morning for Florida!
Saturday, December 30th
20171230_080353 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
We were able to get an awesome deal on flights using Southwest (our first SW flights ever!!) but flying out of the airport further from our house. Thankfully my Dad didn’t mind taking the drive to drop us off, and honestly it was about a 30 minute drive, so not too terrible in any case. This was a great decision for us because I priced out similar departure times for flights leaving closer to home via United…we saved over $1,000 by flying Southwest. #sold
By 9:35 a.m. we were already through security, sitting at Reilly’s Daughter having a grilled cheese, burger, chips and aluminum pints for breakfast. #vacationmode
20171230_094524 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
20171230_095824 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
20171230_125856 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
20171230_132411 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
20171230_140716 by Jackie Lagoni, on FlickrWe had done online check in and received our text when we got off the plane that our room was ready. I had requested the highest floor in the 60’s building and that’s just what we got, so we were very happy in #4422, climbing through the green yoyo multiple times a day!
20171230_145559 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
20171230_150905 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
20171230_152437 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
But I was still SO excited to be there, so that didn't bother me too much!
20171230_165033
We figured we’d just come back and try again during the week—I should really know better than that by now. We never made our way back. (See,
20171230_172333
20171230_174613
wdw2017364901568952_407592254486
wdw2017364901569092_407592254494
20171230_175926
20171230_183009
wdw2017365901627528_407594278410
wdw2017365901630168_407594212154
20171230_190540
20171230_190557
20171230_192323
20171230_194259
20171230_200230
20171230_200927
20171230_201430
20171230_201826
20171230_202121
20171230_202642
20171230_202653
20171230_202713
20171230_203007
20171230_203012
20171230_205105
20171230_212035
20171230_212536
20171230_213047
20171230_213137
wdw2017365901754590_408425361208
wdw2017365901754593_407599360520
wdw2017365901757403_407599483092
wdw2017365901757412_407599483096
20171230_225301
wdw2017365901765868_8151999691
20171230_231135
wdw2017365901777702_8152014670
wdw2017365901776108_8152013033
20171230_234034
20171230_235209
20171231_003802
20171231_004314
wdw2017365901793356_8152031897
20171231_005320
20171231_010437
20171231_010206-EFFECTS
hat the.... 



