Well finally settled back at home with time to write a trip report.
Had a minor delay with flight home on SWA, but once all the flight attendants showed up, we were on our way and had a great (as usual) and relatively short flight. I guess ours was one of only a few flights to get into our smaller airport Tuesday, maybe because it was direct, we figured? Didn’t see a lot of chaos at MCO - lines were low and surprisingly, we sailed right through. DS wanted to go really early from reports he was seeing (he’s an aviation bug) so I gave him a little hard time about it but I knew he was right. So we had some sitting around to do, but it was fine. DH and DD got massages, DS watched a movie and I got some lunch and “window shopped” a bit. There was an undertone that everything was not right though - for instance they kept moving people from gate to gate which was the first time I’d seen that (with everyone practically running with all their crap, which was kind of funny - like, the plane’s not even here yet). I think people were probably a little nervous, as was I.
DS’s golf clubs didn’t make it home on our flight, not sure why, and they’re still not home. I was watching them load our luggage as we sat on the plane (weird), and saw some of our other stuff go on. (DH thinks they ran out of room because they stopped loading the plane when there were still bags on the truck. Maybe there was other luggage on there from other cancelled flights that they were bringing somewhere else? Maybe it was a weight issue? Things did seem a little out of sorts with that, like normally luggage is loaded before you get on plane, but this time, no. Could hear all the banging below. It could also have been that they were not positive we were going to actually go, because for a while we were missing a flight attendant and they weren’t sure one would show, they announced. I think by regulation they have to have a certain number of FAs for safety. Our theories, anyway.

) Have only had a bag missing once before and they delivered it to our house the next day. I hope he doesn’t lose them altogether as he has a lot of Disney, school and other memorabilia on his clubs. Oh, he had a nice golf day. Paired up with a man from Brazil and a couple from Canada. None of them really spoke English but they managed to communicate just fine on the course. DS said he was so cold his hand was stuck in a gripping position!
I never saw so many dogs on planes as I did this trip, either. Maybe because of holiday travel, idk. They were no trouble, though - just one was barking a few times in the airport. They get a little anxious, I think, from what I could see. I missed Toto when I saw a little dog just like him, but white (a Westie, like Snowy!). We were supposed to take him with us last year, bought a carrier and everything, but at the last minute we decided not to. It likely won’t ever happen, either, with the big one being part of the family now too. Oh well, I can probably do without the stress of that on vacation.
We had a really great trip, it was so hard to leave and get back to reality.

We stayed at Coronado Springs Resort in the Gran Destino Tower. We’ve stayed at Coronado before but this was the first time in the tower, and it was beautiful. We never made it in the pools as it was too cold, but the main pool looked as beautiful as ever, and they added a LOT of things for kids to play with since we stayed there before, which was great. Had flashbacks to when kids were little when my two, of course, had to run and go down the kiddie slide (they’ll probably still be doing that when they have kids, lol). We were the only ones there. DS and I even played ping pong in the freezing cold with no jackets on - it was sunny when we first went out to explore but sun went down and temperature dropped suddenly. (He told me a story I had never heard before and that was that in his college locker room they had a ping pong table so he got good at it. I was no slouch, either, lol, though I don’t remember the last time I played.) He’s fresh, though, and gunned me with the ball a couple of times, laughing like heck. Boys.
I thought everything at the resort looked pristine.

I didn’t realize there is an indoor walkway from the Tower to El Centro, which is a very nice feature. DS kept saying how much he loved the resort. All of us did. Has anyone else here stayed there yet? (Our last stay there was during his first college baseball trip when he was staying elsewhere with his team, though he did visit for a morning on his day off before we went to Epcot - DH went and picked him up at like 5am and when he arrived back he just flopped on the bed, I think he was just so beat and relieved to be with us, those trips can be a little stressful for freshmen; and during our prior stay there he was only seven or eight. You might remember DD and her bf stayed there last summer, too, but not in the tower. I’d posted a lot of her pictures. She’s hooked now, lol.)
The best thing they did there, besides the tower, imo, is add the bridge going across the water, as it was a pretty long walk to get to pool or main building in the scorching heat without it. Really nice addition. We aimed to go to the Three Bridges Restaurant one night for those pork tacos she’s been dreaming about since she had them in June, but the one night we could go, they were closed. Next time. I think they wanted to add some pizzaz there once they finished the Skyliner as Coronado still has just bus transportation and it’s a big convention resort. Fine for us, as we had a car anyway. Had a brand new Sonata (which is full size) with just 14 miles on it. Not a bad car for commuting or something. We need bigger in real life. As it was, trying to get all our luggage and the darn golf clubs in there was a challenge even though we tried to pack light (but didn’t/couldn’t, really, having to add in winter clothes and all that). Those in the back seat had to have the golf clubs on their lap, lol. The Bell Services guy was laughing the other day (as he practically dropped our stuff and ran).
What we thought was going to be a relaxing resort trip turned out to be somewhat different when we added two additional days of park tickets onto our stay, because we’d originally only planned just one park day. I think the cold weather, airline cancellations and maybe illnesses caused a lot of people to stay home so there were openings for what were originally mostly sold out. Parks were beautiful! We walked onto most rides (which is amazing at Christmas!) and had just a little wait for a couple of more popular ones - Frozen was probably the longest wait we did @ just over an hour, but totally worth it to see DS sing on the ride.
DD knows how to use
Genie+ and Lightening Lane so she worked her magic, but there are still some limitations, like there were with the old fast passes. We did get to do Guardians of the Galaxy and Rise of the Resistance, which was fun, though GotG is maybe a one and done for me, as I didn’t know it spins as well as goes like 60mph forward. (Some warning would’ve been nice! Doing that again first thing in the morning I would not eat much breakfast!) RotR was fun aside from some annoying groups taking flash pictures and fooling around during the show. We’re pretty easy but I could see how maybe a fight could break out with that as people were either waiting in line for like two or more hours in the cold or paying a lot extra for the experience, and it should’ve been really intense and amazing. DS, despite all that, gave it a 10/10. We also had a small wait on Slinky Dog but we had never done that ride before so we said why not. (Loved it.) And of course we did our favorites with no wait as we got there for opening - RnRC and ToT. We got to the front of Runaway Railway and it broke down for a short time, but thankfully picked up again. (Some people had left the line but we waited and it turned out to only be about five or ten minutes.) And DH and I got to do Remy’s Ratatouille for the first time, it hadn’t opened last year when we were there in Sept, but the kids had both done it before. (DS had gone w his gf’s family in November.

) I felt like we got a lot done and never dreamed that would happen. (Always saw parks were at capacity during Christmas.) We did three parks (MK, EP and HS) and DD also did AK.
It was strange seeing everyone in hats, coats, mittens and sneakers or boots. (Though we did have one January trip when we had to wear them too, as well as a FL baseball trip one March where we had to buy coats at the tournament. I actually prefer it over scorching heat but I was looking forward to being open toed with my beautiful Christmas-y pedicure.) Hardly anyone had sandals on. (I did the last day but the sun was out and it hit 50s.) Some people improvised with hotel blankets on.

I felt sort of bad for some of the kids in strollers or being carried, they looked cold and some were not happy about it.
Overall though I was a little surprised and glad to see lots of multi-generation families celebrating together. It reminded me a lot of our last two trips with Mom when she was 92 and 93. I had a cool thing happen that some of you will like. I was thinking a lot about Mom with it being Christmas and us being there, and I remembered how she’d said that being on Small World was “like being in heaven”. I even watched the video of it one night when I couldn’t sleep. She loved dolls and didn’t have many growing up poor. So I got talking to this older gentleman who had a “1st Trip” button on, and I asked him how his trip was going. He said to me, “It‘s like heaven here”, and I nearly died. I mentioned how my mother had said that same thing and he shared with me that he’d just lost his father in Sept at 97! We both got teary and he fist bumped me. We agreed that maybe they had a hand in our meeting and were both looking down on us right then.

I think, for sure, it was a God Wink (as we used to call those type things on the Breast Cancer thread). Loved that.
Christmas Day we went to Epcot. Thankfully the sun was out so it didn’t feel horrible, just a little chilly for those of us used to it. (I’d brought a light coat and jeans so I was fine. Same with the rest of the family. Was really glad I’d throw in some gloves when packing. We did see a few gloves for sale but overall there weren’t many. I heard people asking for them in stores.) Morning crowds were low, we were there at opening. Soarin’ was closed (whole Land Pavilion roped off, not sure if it was a strategy or what to get people down past that area) so we did Test Track first, then went over to GotG. Kids went on that a second time (don’t ask me how, I would have to ask them) but DH and I took a pass, lol. (I always feel the same way the second time on Expedition Everest, just a little nauseas; going forward I’m fine, but throw in backwards or spinning and I feel a little sick. I’m sure it’s the motion sensors in the head.) We hit the bathrooms and did a little shopping in Creations (the old Mousegear), I was able to find DD the Encanto top she was looking for in her size so that paid off. Oh, and I had sent some things from home for fun that we didn’t wear - some Mickey Santa hats and other gear - so I brought them with us to Epcot and found a family with no bling to offer them to and they were happy to get them! (And it probably helped keep their heads warm.)
Hit World Showcase before it officially opened and it was so nice just to be there. I think it’s among my favorite places on the planet. We had to zigzag a little as our time for Remy was later. (And my hip was a little sore as I’d taken a spill at MK the night before in the dark, but only if I walked fast or stopped abruptly.) We debated on waiting in line and then changing out the pass, but wait times were rising before our eyes by the time we got there - we’d shopped a little. DD and I bought capes made in Scotland in one of the English shops, we love them. (Like Claire’s from Outlander!)
DS was also sampling some of the Holiday Festival food and enjoying himself. We did, too. One of our favorites was outside France it was a beef dish with mushrooms and ham, really good. After we tried some of his, DH and I got one for ourselves, too. Then Belle arrived so we got our picture with her. Then we had the pastrami on rye sampler with the most delicious kosher pickle I’ve ever had (I love those) and the little jelly filled donut holes - one each, and all really good. They had a Jewish Storyteller who was funny and sang Hava Nagila with a fiddle, and DD had never heard it before, so she loved that. Our “Christmas dinner” was at the America Pavilion they had turkey dinner w mashed potatoes, string beans, stuffing and cranberry sauce - right up our alley - with some french fried onions on top and omg, it was so good! DS also got the blackened catfish and the cookie. (Catfish was too salty.) Later DH and DS split a bratwurst in Germany, and somewhere they got a Lindzer cookie (maybe there) which we split four ways. (I was too full but put it away and enjoyed it later.) I got a grapefruit beer in Germany as I was thirsty and it was really good. I had also gotten the egg nog beer in America with our meal but I thought it was a regular egg nog, so someone else drank it. (Could barely taste the egg nog.) Warmed up in the American Adventure, or tried to. Put another jacket I had in my backpack over my legs for the show but it was cold and my legs stayed cold! Also tried to maybe nap a bit but that didn’t happen, either, though DH and DD did catch a few zzz’s. (DD always fell asleep in shows since she was little, lol.)
Well this is getting long but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the boys, Toto and Grady. I was especially worried about Grady being in the loud kennel, and his not being sure if we were leaving him, but when we picked them up yesterday, he was happy and himself. Owner said we have great dogs, which was nice. Took them right for a run and then home. DD gave Toto a bath and I wiped Grady down with wipes, then they just literally sprawled out and went to sleep. We’re thinking they probably didn’t sleep much while there, with all the noise. Toto still seems a little off, it might’ve been all the responsibility he had watching out for Grady while there.

He knew we’d be back. Oh, and I let them out at home, and didn’t see them up on the deck like they normally would be after a few mins. I happened to look out my kitchen window and saw them running around in my neighbor’s yard! Our fence had blown down! Yelled for DD and off we ran! Thankfully their gate was shut and the chicken coop was empty! In fairness though, it had probably been down for days and they just left it like that.

Technically it’s our fence, but still. They have a dog, too. DH and DS fixed it later when they came home from work.
Thanks for sticking with it if you read this far. I’ll post some pics in another post.

I love talking to people who know Disney! It’s a little hard trying to explain things to people who don’t. Was nice to relive it, so thanks for reading!