No Kids, Gnu Year! Ringing in 2018 at WDW! **Complete 8/31**

[xlsm]

Good morning!!

I hope everyone had a great weekend. We were terribly lazy, and I just cannot bring myself to accept the fact that I need to get back into a normal routine.

While I'm typing, I have on a Lifetime movie - A Tale of Two Corey's - about Corey Haim and Feldman. The acting is terrible.It's a train wreck. But I cannot turn it off

I will try not to let it distract me from this TR update, haha!!

Chapter One: OMG, we're on vacation!

I know I've said before that I don't like writing departure day chapters b/c I feel like mine are not very exciting!

We were flying out of a small regional airport about an hour away. It wasn't the same one we left from in October...that one only had one gate. This one had TWO! Big upgrade, huh??

Our flight was leaving around 3:30ish I think, so after my MIL's boyfriend/manfriend/guy she's been living with for 7 years (what do I call him? I struggle with this every time!) got to our house to stay with our dogs, DH and I hit the road.

The airport was easy to find, and since it was small, the parking lot wasn't too crazy. It was really cold and I didn't want to drag our bags very far.

We checked our bags and went over to security. But first I had to take a picture of the Christmas trees on display!



I thought the stuffed animal deer were a nice touch, LOL!!

We got through security really easily (I love that part about small airports!) and made our way to the waiting area. It looked like someone's grandma's living room



At least the chairs were comfortable!

We played Words with Friends, because we are just that wild and crazy, and finally it was time to board the tiniest plane ever.

Goodbye home state!



It was really gloomy and cloudy on the ground, but once we got above the clouds, it was more clear



Drink and snack service came around, and I got a cute polar bear napkin. You must always document polar bear napkins!!



The plane was so small that even though I had a window seat, I couldn't actually see out the window. It was so low. If my chest had eyes, it would have had a nice view, though. To see out I had to bend down awkwardly. During one of these awkward bending moments, I noticed the sun was beginning to set and the clouds looked really cool.





It looked like a picture of a snow covered expanse of land to me.

The flight lasted about an hour and a half, so when we came in to land it was dark.

We had enough time to get to our next terminal but not to stop for any food. Well, we WOULD have had time to get food, but we were afraid we wouldn't. We had upgraded to first class for this flight, so we boarded first...what a relief to have room and not be crammed in the tiny commuter plane any more.





I am spoiled to first class now. DH upgraded me in May on my solo trip, and then his work flew him to Dallas first class, so now every time it's available and doesn't cost a fortune, he upgrades us. For this trip it was only $36 each, and it was a really nice plane.

One of the best part of first class is the bigger snacks...food will win me over every time!

,

DH got some kind of chocolate covered graham cracker thing, but I panic-picked the chips b/c I didn't want to take time fishing through the snack basket!

The flight from Atlanta to Orlando is only an hour, and I hate starting movies and not finishing them, but I saw that Wind River was available and turned it on anyway. The sound was really muffled though and I couldn't hear it very well. I was interested enough in it to want to watch the whole thing at some point.

I was starving and so tired of airplanes, that when we landed and I saw this:



I didn't even care that we still had to go pick up our luggage!! We had made it!! We were officially on vacation!

Whew, we made it through all that boring stuff!! Next update following immediately as fast as I can type it...checking out our room at the MCO Hyatt and finally eating dinner!

 

[missangelalexis]

I have a Tale of Two Coreys ready to watch on my DVR!

That is the strangest looking airport waiting area!

Cool sunset photos!

Glad you made it without a hitch!

 

[Lesley Wake]

Following along

We were flying out of a small regional airport about an hour away. It wasn't the same one we left from in October...that one only had one gate. This one had TWO! Big upgrade, huh??

Small airports are really my favorite. So much easier to get through security and you don't have to hike to your gate. Being in LA, we have 5 airports within 1-1.5 hrs from our house. My favorite is Burbank, which has more than 2 gates, but I can literally leave the house 1 hr before the flight leaves and still have time to get there, drop off the car (valet parking is actually cheaper than in the structure), get thru security, and grab a pastry before I need to board the flight!

We got through security really easily (I love that part about small airports!) and made our way to the waiting area. It looked like someone's grandma's living room

That looks cozy!

 

[xlsm]

Chapter One Part Two

We took the fake-o-rail from the terminal into the main part of the airport, made sure we knew where to check in to the Hyatt


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then went downstairs to get our luggage. I think this was the fastest my bags had ever come out onto the baggage carousel. We barely had to wait at all! It was an airport miracle!!

Back upstairs we went to check into our first of three hotels on this trip!

I really had no idea what to expect from this hotel, and overall expectations were pretty low. We got into the small glass elevator and went up to the floor with the check in desk. It was a pretty lobby!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/143888229@N08/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/143888229@N08/

Our room was on the 7th floor, so we had to scan our room key in the elevator to be allowed up there. I felt like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when they ride the Great Glass Elevator.

The walk to our room was really far, but there was a lot to look at, like this cool fountainy thing on the floor below ours

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It stretched the length of the hallway below and there were benches and chairs and things around it. I have a better picture coming up!

When we finally got to our room, the first thing I wanted to do was run to the sliding glass doors on the balcony to see if we could see the Christmas tree in the center of the airport by the security

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Yes we could!! I was so excited!

We also saw the security check in the most empty we'll probably ever see it:

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When we checked in, the guy at the desk told us the restaurant off the hotel lobby, McCoy's, was open until 11, and we decided that's where we wanted to go eat...but not before I took pictures of the room.

First up, the bathroom. Hotel bathrooms are very important to me b/c I always bring a ton of stuff and take up a LOT of room on the counters!

Hello! I even waved to you, LOL:

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https://www.flickr.com/photos/143888229@N08/

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It was a really nice, large bathroom. So far so good!

We had a room with a king sized bed:

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and there was a chair and table near the sliding doors

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Enough pictures! Bring on the food!!

But first our long walk from the room back to the elevator to the lobby. Here's a better shot of the fountain/fake river thing:

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McCoy's here we come! I could have eaten just about anything at this point. I think it was around 9:30/9:45ish.

The appetizer menu (not a great picture, sorry!):

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We wanted pretty much everything on the menu, but settled on the International roll:

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This was really good! There was salmon roe on top, which I don't think I'd ever had before. They pop in your mouth when you bite them kind of like boba balls - when it's a boba ball it's one thing, but knowing it was salmon roe and not starch/sugar, it's sort of creepy I can't think too hard about where food comes from sometimes!

Here's the dinner menu:

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We both ordered from the center - burgers just seemed easy and sounded really good! I went with the Strauss Grass Fed Burger (beef, lettuce, tomato, white cheddar, red onion jam, horseradish sauce) and fries.

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I liked that the red onion jam and the horseradish came on the side. I'm not sure if the burger really was excellent, or if it was just b/c I was incredibly hungry, but this burger and fries were so good!

DH had McCoy's signature burger, which included some kind of peanut butter bbq sauce glaze stuff on it. I have no pictures of that...hey, baby steps, ok?? I promise I get pictures of all the food for the rest of the trip.

If you ever find yourself at MCO and you want a sit down meal, I feel like I can recommend this in good conscience.

We finished up, got back on the elevator, and made the last long trek to our room

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It was bed time, we were exhausted!!

My thoughts on the MCO Hyatt - Even though we were only there for a short time, I really liked it! It didn't feel like an airport hotel to me. It was also surprisingly quiet. They do provide ear plugs, and will get you a white noise machine if you request it at the desk, but the only reason I used the earplugs was b/c DH woke me up snoring! I would definitely stay there again if we were getting to Orlando late or leaving on an early morning flight.

Ok, that's it for arrival day!! The good stuff is coming up in the next update...we finally get to Disney World!!

 

[xlsm]

I've always wanted to go to WDW for New Year's...I can't wait to read your TR!

It was a surreal experience! I'm glad we did it once...not sure I'm brave enough to do it again, lol

I have a Tale of Two Coreys ready to watch on my DVR!

That is the strangest looking airport waiting area!

Cool sunset photos!

Glad you made it without a hitch!

Ooh, it's terrible!! You have to watch it!! I need someone else to experience this movie with me, LOL!!

It really was the weirdest airport waiting area! But it was also the most comfortable! Much better than normal airport chairs.

Following along

Small airports are really my favorite. So much easier to get through security and you don't have to hike to your gate. Being in LA, we have 5 airports within 1-1.5 hrs from our house. My favorite is Burbank, which has more than 2 gates, but I can literally leave the house 1 hr before the flight leaves and still have time to get there, drop off the car (valet parking is actually cheaper than in the structure), get thru security, and grab a pastry before I need to board the flight!


That looks cozy!

Welcome aboard this crazy train!!

My SIL lives in LA, and she always flies in and out of LAX. When we went to visit her and go to Disneyland, I wanted to avoid LAX at all costs, so we flew into John Wayne airport. SNA is my only California airport experience, and I liked it b/c it was small, about the same size as the airport in our town I prefer to fly out of. Burbank sounds even better!

It really was cozy! It seemed super weird when we first got there, but we appreciated the comfy chairs!

 

[HomeSweetDisney]

I always say I am going to stay caught up with commenting on everyone's TR's but then I don't! Then again I haven't updated my own TR in months now soooo yeah

But please know I am reading this AND your other TR and enjoying them both very much!

I enjoyed seeing pictures of the Hyatt MCO...I had never seen room pics before! It looks pretty nice for an airport hotel - not bad at all!

That sushi looked yummy! I love salmon roe...but yes, I also try not to think about what I am eating sometimes

Looking forward to reading more! I am curious what your experience was like with crowds, etc during New Years week!

 

[Arielfan98]

Following! This looks like a great trip report so far

 

[missangelalexis]

Your room looks nice and I'm glad your meal was good!!

 

[MeghanEmily]

I'm already behind! Ahh! I'm here and I'm catching up...

so after my MIL's boyfriend/manfriend/guy she's been living with for 7 years (what do I call him? I struggle with this every time!)

Oooh pretty!!!

Sounds like a pretty good travel day, as far as travel days go. Interesting info about the hotel at MCO—seems like a pretty legit place to lay your head if you fly in late.

 

[lovin'fl]

We were there too. Looking forward to reading your thoughts about it.

 

[disneyAndi14]

Hi found this and your other report, following along. I tried to get a night at the Hyatt in February because we get in late but all booked up so we are going to stay at Pop Century!

Good start, it is always so nice to land at your destination with your vacation in front of you.

 

[Raeven]

While I'm typing, I have on a Lifetime movie - A Tale of Two Corey's - about Corey Haim and Feldman. The acting is terrible.I

That sounds like quite a Lifetime movie.

It looked like someone's grandma's living room

Such weird airport furniture!

DH upgraded me in May on my solo trip, and then his work flew him to Dallas first class, so now every time it's available and doesn't cost a fortune, he upgrades us. For this trip it was only $36 each, and it was a really nice plane.

Ooo I wish we could get that leg room then I wouldn't bruise myself on the plane crossing my legs and trying to find a good way to sit I don't know if Southwest even has first class actually? They have business select, but I don't think you can buy that I think it's from being a frequent flyer.

The flight from Atlanta to Orlando is only an hour, and I hate starting movies and not finishing them

Me too!

When we finally got to our room, the first thing I wanted to do was run to the sliding glass doors on the balcony to see if we could see the Christmas tree in the center of the airport by the security

I would've done that too!

Hotel bathrooms are very important to me b/c I always bring a ton of stuff and take up a LOT of room on the counters!

Same! And the shower quality is important too,

 

[xlsm]

I always say I am going to stay caught up with commenting on everyone's TR's but then I don't! Then again I haven't updated my own TR in months now soooo yeah

But please know I am reading this AND your other TR and enjoying them both very much!

I enjoyed seeing pictures of the Hyatt MCO...I had never seen room pics before! It looks pretty nice for an airport hotel - not bad at all!

That sushi looked yummy! I love salmon roe...but yes, I also try not to think about what I am eating sometimes

Looking forward to reading more! I am curious what your experience was like with crowds, etc during New Years week!

Im behind on every TR I'm reading! I clicked on one last night and it took me all the way back to the beginning...and it's a long one. So i feel you, LOL!!

I was really impressed by the MCO Hyatt! I had no real expectations, so i guess it exceeded all of them I would stay there again!

The sushi was really good! All of their rolls there sounded yummy to me, and it was hard to pick. I'd go back there again, too!

Following! This looks like a great trip report so far

Thank you! Hopefully it picks up a little bit once I get to the good stuff

Your room looks nice and I'm glad your meal was good!!

I might have eaten anything at that point, so I was glad the food was actually good

I'm already behind! Ahh! I'm here and I'm catching up...







Oooh pretty!!!

Sounds like a pretty good travel day, as far as travel days go. Interesting info about the hotel at MCO—seems like a pretty legit place to lay your head if you fly in late.

You're not behind, you're right on time!!

I never know what to call him to other people! In person I just call him Mike...cause that's his name.

It was a pretty good travel day. It was long and exhausting, but we made it to Orlando!! And I really liked the hotel!

We were there too. Looking forward to reading your thoughts about it.

Oh, awesome!! I'm curious to see how your experiences were similar or different!!

Hi found this and your other report, following along. I tried to get a night at the Hyatt in February because we get in late but all booked up so we are going to stay at Pop Century!

Good start, it is always so nice to land at your destination with your vacation in front of you.

Welcome!! Wow, I never thought about it being all booked up! I did a night at Pop in October, and was disappointed I didn't take more time to look around the resort at all the decorations.

I was so happy to finally be in Florida!

That sounds like quite a Lifetime movie.

Such weird airport furniture!

Ooo I wish we could get that leg room then I wouldn't bruise myself on the plane crossing my legs and trying to find a good way to sit I don't know if Southwest even has first class actually? They have business select, but I don't think you can buy that I think it's from being a frequent flyer.


Me too!


I would've done that too!


Same! And the shower quality is important too,

It is on its way to becoming a Lifetime classic for sure, LOL!!

It was weird! But it was better than the little airport from October!

I think it's a point of pride you managed to get such a complicated bruise!! I love the legroom, it's the best part. I don't know why first class tickets are so expensive when they let you upgrade at the last minute for so much less...but I won't complain too much about it!

I did it in May with LaLa Land, but I watched half on the trip down and the other half on the way back...it sort of worked! I just get really excited to watch tv on planes, ha! I hate starting movies on tv if they've already started, too. Unless it's Ghostbusters. I will always watch Ghostbusters!

The shower is important, yes! I hate bad water pressure!!

 

[Raeven]

I think it's a point of pride you managed to get such a complicated bruise!! I love the legroom, it's the best part. I don't know why first class tickets are so expensive when they let you upgrade at the last minute for so much less...but I won't complain too much about it!

It was! Josh got a bruise later on and I was like but it wasn't as big as my bruise

I did it in May with LaLa Land, but I watched half on the trip down and the other half on the way back...it sort of worked! I just get really excited to watch tv on planes, ha! I hate starting movies on tv if they've already started, too. Unless it's Ghostbusters. I will always watch Ghostbusters!

I watched live tv on our last flight and it wasn't that bad.

The shower is important, yes! I hate bad water pressure!!

Same!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I am following along!

I have always wondered how the hotel was at the airport. It seems like a great option if you come in late.

 

[xlsm]

I am following along!

I have always wondered how the hotel was at the airport. It seems like a great option if you come in late.

I always wondered too, it felt like a fact finding mission, LOL!! It worked really well for us and I was honestly surprised at how quiet it was.

 

[ariane37]

Ah good, not too far behind!

A Tale of Two Corey's - about Corey Haim and Feldman. The acting is terrible.It's a train wreck. But I cannot turn it off

OMG I wanted to watch this so bad and then forgot about it when it was on, but I watched the interview with Corey Feldman when it was over. I LOVED both Corey's and of course I grew up watching all their movies and was very sad when Corey Haim died. Surprisingly Corey F. was pretty normal during the interview; did you happen to catch him a couple years ago on Celebrity Wife Swap

It looked like someone's grandma's living room

It does! But we prefer smaller airports, also.

The Hyatt does look very nice and I'm glad your arrival day/night went well. If we ever arrive super late again I'd consider staying there for the night.

 

[xlsm]

Hi everyone!

Just when I say, "Oh, I'll have more time this week", reality sets in and suddenly I have 500 things to do!

L, my 12 year old, was in the Geography Bee at school on Tuesday. He got the first five questions correct, then missed 6 and 7 so he didn't make it to the next round. They could take ten students through to the second round, but only took 8 (the ones who'd missed zero or one) instead of doing a tie-breaker between the kids who had missed two (I think there were three or four of them). They started with around 30 kids, so being in the top half was pretty good considering he did zero studying for the thing. Our goal was just not missing the first question, so he met that, lol!!

Yesterday was our monthly district PTO meeting, which I run, and our school superintendent came to answer questions, which was nice.

Today was 7th grade awards and tomorrow is 8th grade awards, so there's no avoiding school this week!

Right now we are experiencing a cold front...it was 60 degrees an hour ago, and now it's 38. We were supposed to get some freezing rain and light snow, but that seems to be out of the equation. All the kids are sad b/c they wanted a four day weekend! I'll be honest - so did I!

It's time for another TR update, and it's hopefully more fun than the last two - we finally get to a park!

Chapter Two: How am I supposed to stay awake for this?

We woke up excited - it was finally time to move onto Disney property!! Even though I was excited, I still didn't want to get up *too*early - we had a VERY long day planned. I think I finally got out of bed around 7 or 7:30. DH wakes up ridiculously early b/c he's used to it for work, so he got up before me and got ready first, and then went downstairs in search of coffee.

By the time he got back I was up and dressed and eventually we made our way downstairs. We dropped our room keys off in the lobby and soon we were looking at this:



I have three Christmas trees up in our house during the holidays. I could fit a couple more and threaten to every year. I love Christmas trees! So this was quite a treat to get to see first thing in the morning. The stores were open and security was starting to get busy, and it was fun watching the airport wake up and start buzzing.

I wanted to go into the Universal store, and I wanted all the Harry Potter stuff! I had my eye on some Ravenclaw stuff for my 12 year old, and Slytherin for my 14 year old. I convinced myself to wait until departure day, though, and we moved on to the NASA store for DH.

He was kind of disappointed by the store, but humored me by posing with this astronaut!



We lugged our bags downstairs and made the long walk to the Magical Express area. We scanned our bands, were assigned a lane, and waited...



and waited, and waited. Earlier, DH had asked if I wanted to use Uber instead. At this point I was regretting it. I don't think we really waited all that long, but we were anxious and it felt like forever. We were also hot! They had the heat cranked up in the airport and it was also humid. I was wearing capri length leggings and a t-shirt with a hooded zip sweatshirt. That sweatshirt was off and tied around my waist very quickly b/c I thought I might melt. As soon as we were outside on the way to the bus, the sweatshirt went back on! It wasn't cold to us at the time, just a little chilly, and we were chuckling at the workers all dressed up like it was the Arctic.

there was more waiting on the bus, but eventually we were on our way.
Once things finally started moving, I was ready to see this sign:



Yes, it's blurry, but it's better than October when mom and I arrived at night and the lights on the sign were turned off!

We were the second stop on the route, and were so excited to see All Star Movies! As soon as we were off the bus, our attitude quickly changed about the temperature as we stood and waited for our bags to be taken from under the bus. Well, when I say *our* attitude, I mean mine. DH was fine, but I knew I'd be too cold in what I was wearing, and needed to go change into jeans.

Once we entered the lobby, I grabbed some jeans out of my carry on backpack and went to change. But I still managed pictures along the way.



This little red carpet area was set up for photo ops I guess but I never saw anyone using it any time when we were in the lobby area.

It was pretty busy at the check in desk, there were a lot of arrivals on our bus!



DH was in that line, b/c I thought I wanted to check in with the desk and get a map and check on room location, but once I had finished changing, we were both just ready to go to the park. He hopped out of line, we dropped our bags off in front, and walked over to the bus stop. I was cold, and glad I'd put on jeans instead of keeping on the capris. We were going to be at the park for about 12 hours so I'd have been miserable.

We were heading to Hollywood Studios this day (12/29), and that stop was the farthest from the building entrance



I think we waited about ten minutes or so before the bus came, but once we were on, it called for a cheesy smile and a selfie



DH missed the cheesy smile memo, I guess.

Hollywood Studios had my favorite holiday decorations from last year, and I was so excited to see all of the additions for this year. Once we got off the bus and walked toward the entrance, I noticed that they had added some holiday flair to Sorcerer Mickey and his brooms:



I wanted to go and get a picture directly in front of it, and thought there was a photopass photographer over there b/c there was a long line of people. Turns out I was wrong. No photopass person, just a ton of people trying to get that perfect shot. I gave up and just settled for a carefully lined up shot that cropped out all those people.



Good enough I guess!

Enough waiting around, get me through those gates!!



I got to enter through the AP holder entrance for once! On my other trips the line for it was usually longer than the regular lines



We got to the park well in advance of any of our fast pass times, so it hit us that we could do anything we wanted. We could just LOOK at stuff! How novel!

Welcome to Hollywoodland!



Donald, Huey, Dewey, and Louie were hanging out in the window, probably getting up to mischief.









(Fun Fact, L has pajama pants in the same print as Louie's sweater!)

We looked through the shops and just sort of sauntered along at first, enjoying being together in a beautiful place



We had a couple of goals: Get a photopass picture taken on Hollywood Blvd, See all the new Christmas stuff, get some food.

Check the first one off the list:



We were planning to check number two off the list and go see the Christmas tree, but I noticed something going on. People began lining the streets. I checked my watch and realized it was almost time for the March of the First Order. I love this and didn't want to miss it, and I wanted DH to see it for the first time!







It's such a cool experience, particularly if you're a Star Wars fan, which we are. I was wearing my Chewie and the Porgs shirt, even though you couldn't see it while I was zipped up in my hoodie, so I was representing, haha! It would get us a lot of attention later on!


Ok, it has taken me forever to write this, and it's time to go get the kids. I will get another update up tomorrow afternoon...maybe in the morning, but in the afternoon for sure

Things to look forward to on the rest of this day: Three FPs, yummy food, and the Star Wars dessert party!

 

[coloredimage]

The plane was so small that even though I had a window seat, I couldn't actually see out the window. It was so low.

Oh, that would have made me nauseated :< the reason why I sit in the window seat is because I NEED to see out the window out my motion sickness goes haywire. But those pictures are pretty!

Fancy!

It looks like, from your other pictures, that you guys were across the lobby from the room I was in in April! lol. Being able to see the tree is awesome though!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

We haven't seen this yet. Hopefully we get the full effect in Feb!

We were going to be at the park for about 12 hours so I'd have been miserable.

That is going to be a LONG day!