We must be crazy! A last minute, fly-by the-seat-of-our-pants trip to WDW. *Updated 3/18

[Lisa Lisa]

This TR will chronicle our trip to WDW from February 12-15, 2016... Which we planned on February 11, 2016. Yes, we decided one day in advance to go to WDW over Presidents' Day/Valentines' Day weekend. How on Earth did we arrive at this idea? Well...

We own a vacation rental in the Outer Banks (NC) and had originally planned to go there for the long weekend. Then DH called me at work in the late morning on Thursday, February 11th to ask whether I had seen the weather forecast. Apparently it was going to be almost as cold in the Outer Banks (30s and SNOW!) as it was at home in MD (20s and a mixed bag of precipitation).

Photo taken in the Outer Banks on Friday, February 12 (Photo credit: Town of Duck)

I was busy at work and (half) jokingly told him to just book us a flight to FL. About 2 hours later, he texted to say that he had done exactly that and I was to take over from there. At this point it was about 1:00 on Thursday, and our flight from BWI to MCO was at 11:30 the next morning! 22.5 hours and counting.

I will sheepishly admit here that my first inclination was to go to Universal. Travesty, I know! In my defense, this was primarily because I thought it would be easier to do Universal than WDW on such short notice. I checked Universal's web site, though, and learned that there was not a single room available at any of their onsite hotels. I quickly got over that disappointment and hit up WDW's site. The only resort showing availability was CSR, which I knew nothing about. I went ahead and booked a standard room (the only kind available) and quickly checked out the resort map. Based on a brief look at the map, I requested a room in the Cabanas on the upper floor. That was all I had time to do until I got off work at 6:00. 17.5 hours to go. Tick, tick, tick...

I got home from work at about 6:30 and threw something together for dinner. Next, we dragged our suitcases out of the basement and started to pack. By the time we were finished, it was about 8:30. We had been talking on and off about which parks to visit, and we ultimately decided to go to MK on Saturday and AK on Sunday. That was a tough decision because we have never been to either HS or Epcot, but DD really wanted to go to AK, and we wanted to stick with 2-day park tickets (no park hoppers) to keep costs down. At that point I had to decide how crazy I wanted to make myself. We had not been to WDW in eight years, and I knew enough to know that there was A LOT I didn't know. I figured I could either stay up half the night trying to get up to speed and put some plans in place, or we could just show up and wing it. I very quickly read up on FP+ and decided to try to get FP reservations for both parks. I also tried to snag a couple of dinner reservations and ended up with Mama Melrose's for Friday at 8:00 p.m. and Rainforest Cafe at AK for Sunday at 8:00 p.m. (Anyone already seeing a red flag here?) I figured we would wing it for all our lunches and for dinner at MK on Saturday. Next I transferred our Disney Rewards dollars onto a redemption card. The basics covered, I decided to call it a night. In 9 hours we would be heading to the airport!

Will the trip be an unmitigated success? An epic fail? Possibly something in between? Stay tuned to find out!

 

[Lisa Lisa]

So why write a trip report? For one thing, I missed out on the whole process of planning and anticipating, which I really enjoy. I'm hoping that reliving the trip will fill some of that void! Secondly, I thought our experiences might help rookies and those who may be tempted to try a last minute trip. And as a bonus, perhaps I can provide some comic relief for the veterans here, some of whom will see our mistakes coming a mile away!

Before we get started, a little bit about us. I'm Lisa, Disney junkie and trip planner extraordinaire (except for this time). DH, Ben, pretty much goes along with all my plans, although he took the lead this time around! DD, Kendall, is 12 (13 in June), and was super excited when I shared our plans with her. Her reaction was refreshing as not much seems to excite her these days! We took Kendall to WDW in February 2008, when she was 4 – just about the perfect age for a first visit. The Disney magic was in full effect. I planned that trip months in advance. Studied my Unofficial Guide like I was preparing for a college final. Highlighted and dog-eared pages. Created and revised touring plans… You know the drill. For that trip we stayed at AKL Jambo House in a 1-bedroom villa, which we loved. We actually got some nice pixie dust at check-in, when we were upgraded from a value room to a savannah view. Sweet! DD is and always has been an animal lover, so we spent 2 (non-consecutive) days at AK, 1 at MK, and 1 at Sea World. That trip was a triumph of planning and organization. I'm sure there were some minor hiccups, but overall it went very smoothly. Interestingly, while we all had a great time, we did not get the Disney “bug” after that trip.

Here are some of my favorite photos from the 2008 trip:

Yes, sweetie. That's an actual giraffe down there!

The magic of Disney

This was a great moment. The CM with Rafiki saw DD with Simba and started the line with her!

We took a break from "big" vacations for a few years after that. We mostly went to the Outer Banks and to visit family. In 2011 we decided we were ready for something new. A good friend suggested a Disney cruise and pointed me toward the DIS boards, and I ended up booking a 4-night Bahamas cruise on the Disney Dream for February 2012. We had a fantastic experience – I couldn’t tell you which of us enjoyed it the most! We’ve sailed on DCL 4 more times since and are hoping to go to Alaska next summer. Besides instilling a love for cruising, our experiences on DCL have inspired a love of all things Disney. I’m actually surprised it took us as long as it did to get back to WDW!

Thanksgiving on the Dream, 2015

On the Fantasy, April 2014

Castaway Cay, November 2015

Okay, enough with the background. Next up: Travel day and arrival at CSR... and MOM, NONE OF MY CLOTHES FIT!!

 

[LindseyJo22]

Following along! I can't wait to hear about the very last-minute trip. The most last-minute we have done so far is like 3 months out, so I can't imagine only having a day to plan!

 

[Lisa Lisa]

Thank you for following, LindseyJo! I'm going to try to get the next installment up tonight.

 

[chasingthtdream08]

Following along! That's a fantastic surprise!

 

[Lisa Lisa]

Following along! That's a fantastic surprise!

Thanks for following! Yes, it was a great surprise for all 3 of us!

 

[tortilla24]

I'm here and excited to follow along! I love last second trips... you don't wait months in agony waiting for the departure day

 

[Lisa Lisa]

I'm here and excited to follow along! I love last second trips... you don't wait months in agony waiting for the departure day

Welcome, tortilla! You're right, we had no time to agonize! I'm working on the next post now.

 

[sara1215]

Sounds like an amazing whirlwind adventure. Can't wait to see what happens next!

 

[westcoastfldisneygirl]

Following! I'm from NC originally as well and enjoy the OBX. Can't wait to read and follow your trip report!

 

[lovin'fl]

Oh boy! Looking forward to this trip report. We are DVC members who go to WDW a lot but never a last minute trip (4 months out was the shortest I've planned a WDW trip). That would be the BEST present ever, for DH to tell me he had a flight booked to Orlando for the next day and that I needed to go book stuff and pack. That would be soooo awesome!!!! But my DH will NEVER do anything like that. I am sure you hit some snags now that you have to uber plan trips to WDW. But, being from MD too and we were home in the yucky weather that weekend...any day in WDW is better than a winter day here in MD.

 

[nimbuscat]

Following along!

 

[Lisa Lisa]

Sounds like an amazing whirlwind adventure. Can't wait to see what happens next!

Whirlwind is the right adjective! I'm trying to prolong the experience after the fact!

Following! I'm from NC originally as well and enjoy the OBX. Can't wait to read and follow your trip report!

We love the OBX too, but I'm glad we skipped it that weekend! We're planning to head down for part of spring break, so will get our fix then.

Oh boy! Looking forward to this trip report. We are DVC members who go to WDW a lot but never a last minute trip (4 months out was the shortest I've planned a WDW trip). That would be the BEST present ever, for DH to tell me he had a flight booked to Orlando for the next day and that I needed to go book stuff and pack. That would be soooo awesome!!!! But my DH will NEVER do anything like that. I am sure you hit some snags now that you have to uber plan trips to WDW. But, being from MD too and we were home in the yucky weather that weekend...any day in WDW is better than a winter day here in MD.

I'm actually shocked that my DH did it. He is the thrifty one in our family, and even a short trip to WDW isn't cheap! I kept checking the weather at home on my iphone while we were in FL, and I was so glad we had gotten out of there! Will this winter ever end??

Following along!

Welcome, nimbuscat!

 

[Lisa Lisa]

DAY 1: Friday, February 12, 2016
Resort Day, part 1 of 2

In the blink of an eye, it was time to drive to the airport. We live just outside of DC and were flying out of BWI, near Baltimore. The process of getting to the airport, parking, going through security, and boarding was smooth, as was the flight itself. Smooth, but not quiet. We got literally the last 3 seats on the plane, so needless to say we were at the very back, and we had some extremely loud company back there. And that’s all I’m going to say about that!

Once at MCO, we made our way to Terminal B and headed over to the Magical Express check-in area. We’ve been to that general area several times for DCL transfers, but we were new to ME. For our trip in 2008, we used Tiffany Towncar to get to AKL. We chose that option primarily for the included grocery stop, which was very handy. Since we were staying in a 1-bedroom villa with a full kitchen, we stocked up on things like breakfast food, snacks, bottled water, and beer. DD was also a fairly picky eater then, so we picked up some things we knew she’d eat.

The line to check in at ME looked long to me, but it moved quickly and then it was our turn to check in. I was a little nervous because the CM I had spoken to on the phone before we left home said that we should take our baggage claim ticket to the ME desk and give it to the CM who checked us in. It was nerve-wracking to leave our bag behind with no WDW luggage tag! The CM assured us that our bag would get to us, finished checking us in, and pointed us to the correct line. For a while it seemed like every line was getting to board a bus except ours, but finally it was our turn. We shared a bus with a bunch of people going to the All Star Resorts, plus one woman going to CSR. We were excited to be on our way!

Is there any better sight??

CSR was the first stop (yay!) and we headed inside to check in. There was no line to speak of and we were checked in pretty quickly. At this point we were given our generic, boring, unexciting, gray MagicBands. It’s a small thing in the grand scheme, but I found myself feeling jealous of everyone with colorful bands! In that moment, though, it was just a thrill to have MBs at all. When we were last at WDW, we had KTTW cards (and FPs were paper!). My request for a room on the upper floor in the Cabanas section was granted, and we were assigned to room 8683 in Cabana 8B. We really liked the overall location within the resort, but our room was in the back of the building overlooking the parking lot (which we expected) and near some really loud HVAC equipment (at least that’s what I think it was!).

Photo credit: WDW web site

Blah

Despite the noise outside, our room was pretty quiet. It was plenty big for the three of us, with two queen-sized beds (which were very comfortable, BTW). I liked the décor, and I especially liked the doors that separated the sleeping area from the dressing/bathroom area. That was great in the mornings so we could let DD get a little extra sleep while we showered and got dressed. It was about 2:45 at this point and we hadn’t eaten lunch, so we decided to quickly change clothes and head over to the Dig Site to grab lunch from Siestas Cantina. We had each packed a change of clothes and a swimsuit in our carry-on, so this should have been a piece of cake. The problem is that DD’s shorts, which she hadn’t worn since September or October, were way too small. I’m talking not even close. She had a short-sleeved shirt to put on (which fit), but the poor kid had to wear it with the sweater leggings she had worn all day! I told her not to worry – she’d have more clothes to choose from once our suitcase arrived…

The food at Siestas Cantina was okay – nothing to write home about, but it hit the spot at the time. We didn’t have swimsuits on at that time, but we found three lounge chairs in the sun and proceeded to sprawl out. At one point DH went back to the room to change into his swim trunks, but DD and I were too comfortable to move. We eventually decided to walk around and explore the resort, and when we stopped by the room our suitcase was there! We walked around the lake and then across the bridge and over to the main building to check out the restaurants and the gift shop. It was in the gift shop that I noticed a cute pair of sweatpants and filed that information away for future reference.

We were very impressed with the main pool area!

Photo credit: WDW web site

About 45 degrees warmer than it was at home!

Loved the "beach" with hammocks near our Cabana.

Once our tour of the resort was complete, we headed back to the room to get ready for dinner – and our first big mistake.

Up next: We really will eat dinner tonight; and every cloud has a silver lining!

 

[Anesthesia Fine]

Following along! Love the idea of a last-minute trip, and am excited to hear about everything you managed to do!

 

[halfpintpeggy]

Following also, love last minute trips! Wish you would have had warmer weather although it was better than at home.

 

[lovin'fl]

I guessed what your first mistake was...no park tickets to HS to eat at Mama Melrose. Ruh roh! Curious to see what you did.

 

[automaticsoap]

How fun! The most last minute trip to WDW I've planned was about 1.5 months out, which is tons of time compared to 1 day!

 

[Lisa Lisa]

Following along! Love the idea of a last-minute trip, and am excited to hear about everything you managed to do!

Thanks for following! Overall, I think we managed to squeeze quite a bit in. More planning time would certainly have been helpful, though!

Following also, love last minute trips! Wish you would have had warmer weather although it was better than at home.

Welcome! We were actually thrilled with the weather. The forecast called for high 60s on Saturday and Sunday, but it ended up being in the low 70s both days. That was like a heat wave compared to the weather at home in MD!

I guessed what your first mistake was...no park tickets to HS to eat at Mama Melrose. Ruh roh! Curious to see what you did.

Ding ding ding. You are correct! I'm hoping to post that part of our adventure tonight.

How fun! The most last minute trip to WDW I've planned was about 1.5 months out, which is tons of time compared to 1 day!

Thanks for joining in! You know, the last minute-ness of it really did add to the fun!

 

[AllysonL]

This is hilarious! We did the EXACT same thing... I actually came on here to start my TR. We booked 2 days before, and we were there the same time as y'all. We almost stayed at CS too, but a last minute room popped up at Pop Century so we went there instead. I wonder if we crossed paths!