Trip Report *COMPLETED*So much World so little time!

Forgive me if I forgot anyone..
@21stamps @Zipitidoda @Tuvalu @amjt660 @Jess G @PacNWTigger @Direwolf27 @blgauger @Ciara @KordovaJD @Doc Disney @mattchu758 @prfctlyximprct @Figment Forever @epcotlover888 @lostpro9het

Alright gang here we gooo!

Departure Day -Feb 1, 2017

I set my alarm for 7:15 am, and when I got up Brook was already coming out of the shower. My FIL was picking us up at 8:45 that morning for our 10:30 am flight. The plan was to arrive at PHL at 9 am. He picked us up a few minutes early and off we went! No line at security! Brook walked right on thru the metal detector, but I was stopped. The TSA agent said they were picking up metal on my thighs. Ummm...maybe lard, but I wasn't smuggling any metal. She asked me if I wanted a private room and that she was going to have to pat me down. I told her there was no need for a private room. She did her search and off we went! I stopped to buy my traditional Cosmo magazine and then we went off to find some breakfast. Brook decided she wanted McDonald's so we strolled over that way. Found 2 good seats over looking a runway. We ate, watched the planes take off and talked about our upcoming plans! After eating we walked over to our gate, but as usual it was packed so we sat at an empty one. We like being the last ones to board, so we're not sitting there for 20-30 mins. While waiting to board I got this guy...

We hadn't even left PA and our room was ready!! Awesome!!! We were happy with the location, we just really didn't want buildings 1 or 7(furthest from lobby and food court). The flight was nice, I read and Brook slept and listened to music. We landed early and made our way down to the ME. The bus wasn't crowded at all and off we went! We got to FQ and Brook made a beeline to find Elsie. I waited at the front desk to ask about upgrading to AP's. I thought it could only be done at the parks or DS, but we upgraded right there!! SO EXCITING!! The merchandise discount was so nice!! Brook came over and said she didn't see her and asked me if I could ask a CM if she was around. The lady we asked said she had moved over to POR! Sad, but no big deal. I knew I'd be in for a few boat rides lol. Our first of which would happen after lunch.We were hungry, but didn't want to eat too much as we had an ADR at Chef Mickey's . We dropped our bags in our room which was perfect as far as location goes! Literally a 20 second walk to the food court!

Brook ordered kids chicken fingers and I can't remember what I got. I'm thinking it was soup. From there we strolled down to the dock to visit POR. Guess we strolled a little too slowly because we missed the boat by seconds. By the time we got to POR we were told that Elsie's shift had ended 15 mins earlier. Rats! We missed her! From there we took a bus to the MK and hopped the monorail over to CM's for dinner.
I was able to move it up to 5pm as opposed to 7pm I believe. We decided to hit up the MK afterwards since we had the AP's now and didn't want to get there that late. We arrived 15 mins early and checked in. Decided against a picture, watched the parade of characters and just relaxed. Our buzzer went off first! We were the first ones in and first ones to attack the buffet. We enjoyed the food and desserts, the characters not so much. I had originally booked this meal when I thought Kevin and Mia would be joining us. It was just awkward lol. We are super fast eaters so we left before they could make their rounds again. I explained to the waiter we were supposed to have a child with us so we were more interested in the food.

She'd kill me if she knew I posted this pic of her with no makeup! After stuffing our traps, Brook did some shopping. She wanted a new pin lanyard and a few other items. When she was done we took the monorail over to the GF so she could stop in Basin, her fave store on prop. That birthday and Christmas money was apparently burning a hole in her pocket. She decided on 5 bath bombs and then we headed over to the MK. We were tired by that point and didn't do much but take in the sights. We had such a nice day, fun, relaxing and always exciting!

 

[amjt660]

Oops....my bad....put helium back in the balloon @amjt660.

Turns out the pay for 12 get 13 months is only for AP renewals.

@blgauger you may continue fretting over your dilemma.

Helium??!!?? Helium???!!!???

What type of expensive over the top drama camp type of organization you think we running around here
We can't afford no helium
I have to pick up the balloon pieces and tape them back together just to get some air back in
You think this here is Shanghai or something???


(so much fun on a Tuesday!!)

Max

 

[21stamps]

I'm confused.. I thought the AP was good for 13 months. I should probably check on that.

ETA- mine expires 13 months from activation. Courtney- your pass should too!

 

[Courtney6682]

Here pal... @21stamps we got ours Feb 1 2017

 

[Courtney6682]

Yes!!!!! It's about time, procrastinator!

Can't wait to read more!!

Hush! Like you're one to talk

 

[21stamps]

Here pal... @21stamps we got ours Feb 1 2017

View attachment 192837

Hmm. I wonder if it was 13 months if activated in 2016 only.

Hush! Like you're one to talk

Ha ha. Yeah, don't drag your report out for 3 months. I'm so excited to see the photos!!!

 

[Courtney6682]

Ha ha. Yeah, don't drag your report out for 3 months. I'm so excited to see the photos!!!

That's all I took, the two I posted lol...jk jk

 

[21stamps]

That's all I took, the two I posted lol...jk jk

Yeah, no. I won't post a spoiler..but you know what part I'm seething in jealousy for!!

 

[Courtney6682]

Yeah, no. I won't post a spoiler..but you know what part I'm seething in jealousy for!!

That's my next entry!! Day 2! I'm leaving work at 3:30 pm today so I will post tomorrow

 

[*Flynnderella*]

I'm in

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

Hmm. I wonder if it was 13 months if activated in 2016 only.
View attachment 192841

Ha ha. Yeah, don't drag your report out for 3 months. I'm so excited to see the photos!!!

I thought that if you bought AP the last fee months of 2016 through January it was good for 13 months. Didn't know that that may work for renewals for 2017.

She'd kill me if she knew I posted this pic of her with no makeup!

Your daughter is pretty. She doesn't need to worry about not having make-up on.

 

[Big Hair]

You got me. Now just starting in I am excited and am trying to figure/justify out a trip to POR FQ/RS off the DVC books. I actually walked through both during my solo trip in September and found it appealing and peaceful. I can't wait to hear more.

 

[Courtney6682]

You got me. Now just starting in I am excited and am trying to figure/justify out a trip to POR FQ/RS off the DVC books. I actually walked through both during my solo trip in September and found it appealing and peaceful. I can't wait to hear more.

I am the BIGGEST FQ fan on the planet!!! We have stayed there 4 times since July of 2015. The biggest draw for my family is the size. We have tried every moderate resort and ALWAYS come back to FQ. Personally, there is nothing worse than getting to a bus stop and then driving around to other stops around the resort for 10 mins! There is only 1 bus stop at FQ. It's also appealing to us to not have to walk 10 mins to the room or food court. Many of the rooms at FQ are within SECONDS of the lobby, food court and pool. As you know there is also the option of taking the boat to 4 DS or to POR. Pool sharing IS allowed because they are ''sister resorts'' FQ and POR rarely share buses. In 4 stays, we have shared under 5 times, so it's a very rare occurrence. FQ also has a kiddie splash pad area if u have younger ones along with the pool slide. They also offer the Cajun Campfire with free smores you can make yourself at bldg 6. There is also the scat cats club, which has live music!

As for POR, it just didn't do anything for me. I did enjoy the food court and carriage ride at night. We stayed in bldg 26 which was about an 8-10 min walk to the main pool and food court. It was very close to the West Depot bus stop tho. Maybe 5 mins. There are 4 bus stops around the reosrt. Their main pool was just re-furbed in Jan of 2016, so I can't comment if anything there has changed. POR has bike, surrey and fishing pole rentals for extra activities.

All in all you can't go wrong with most Disney properties. Let me know what u decide

 

[Courtney6682]

Your daughter is pretty. She doesn't need to worry about not having make-up on.

Thank you!! I tend to think so too!!

 

[Courtney6682]

I'm in

Excellent! Glad to have you!

 

[21stamps]

I am the BIGGEST FQ fan on the planet!!! We have stayed there 4 times since July of 2015. The biggest draw for my family is the size. We have tried every moderate resort and ALWAYS come back to FQ. Personally, there is nothing worse than getting to a bus stop and then driving around to other stops around the resort for 10 mins! There is only 1 bus stop at FQ. It's also appealing to us to not have to walk 10 mins to the room or food court. Many of the rooms at FQ are within SECONDS of the lobby, food court and pool. As you know there is also the option of taking the boat to 4 DS or to POR. Pool sharing IS allowed because they are ''sister resorts'' FQ and POR rarely share buses. In 4 stays, we have shared under 5 times, so it's a very rare occurrence. FQ also has a kiddie splash pad area if u have younger ones along with the pool slide. They also offer the Cajun Campfire with free smores you can make yourself at bldg 6. There is also the scat cats club, which has live music!

As for POR, it just didn't do anything for me. I did enjoy the food court and carriage ride at night. We stayed in bldg 26 which was about an 8-10 min walk to the main pool and food court. It was very close to the West Depot bus stop tho. Maybe 5 mins. There are 4 bus stops around the reosrt. Their main pool was just re-furbed in Jan of 2016, so I can't comment if anything there has changed. POR has bike, surrey and fishing pole rentals for extra activities.

All in all you can't go wrong with most Disney properties. Let me know what u decide

I didn't know about the marshmallows!

 

[Courtney6682]

Day 2- Feb 2nd- Visiting Florida Institute of Technology

We got up early this morning, altho it wasn't early enough as we were late getting to our tour. We grabbed an Uber to the Car Car Center at MK. There was no wait, so renting was a breeze. I asked if there was an AP discount offered and she said no, but would give me one anyway! I was very grateful and said it wasn't necessary, but she insisted. Awesome...love that Disney magic! We rented a Chevy Sonic which was perfect for the 2 of us. It really had some power! We left at 910, and check in for the tour was at 945 am I called the school and explained that we had come from Philadelphia and were about an hour and 20 mins away. I was assuming the woman would say sure, no prob...see ya when u get here. Not so much. She said the tour would leave at 10 and my GPS was saying ToA was 10:20 am.I asked if we could just catch up with them and she said no. Brook was crushed. So sad. I told Brooklyn to hang onto her hat, we were making that tour!! I floored it and off we went! There may have been a few times I looked down and we were going 90 mph...oops...my bad! We got there right around 10:25 am and went to the visitors desk. The lady I spoke with said she thought we would come so she had prepared a private tour for us! We met our guide, Priath and he took us all over campus. We toured the library which was amazing! They offer puppy therapy study group sessions there during finals! We saw the dorms, the radio station, the lecture halls, the gym, pools and cafeteria. The cafeteria was amazinggg! We enjoy eating and dove right in! There was a taco and nacho bar, a grill, a salad bar, a pasta bar, a sammich bar, and lots of desserts. I think Brook wanted to move in right then and there! After lunch we drove over to Melbourne International Airport and met our guide, Nick. We both liked Nick right away, he was friendly and just like Brooklyn came from a family with NO aviation background. He showed us all the planes that the students use and talked about elective classes. The one that caught my adrenaline junkies eye? Aerobatic Flight!! Learning rolls and dives...uhhh, no thanks!! Next, we toured the hangar where the students studying mechanics work on the planes. From there we were able to watch actual students doing simulated flying. That was really neat to see! They had little cubicles set up with half of a cockpit and a sim screen. This is where our tour came to an end. By this time it was 3:30. I was not looking forward to rush hour traffic, but we made good time getting back.

Next up...our return to WDW!

 

[21stamps]

Day 2- Feb 2nd- Visiting Florida Institute of Technology

We got up early this morning, altho it wasn't early enough as we were late getting to our tour. We grabbed an Uber to the Car Car Center at MK. There was no wait, so renting was a breeze. I asked if there was an AP discount offered and she said no, but would give me one anyway! I was very grateful and said it wasn't necessary, but she insisted. Awesome...love that Disney magic! We rented a Chevy Sonic which was perfect for the 2 of us. It really had some power! We left at 910, and check in for the tour was at 945 am I called the school and explained that we had come from Philadelphia and were about an hour and 20 mins away. I was assuming the woman would say sure, no prob...see ya when u get here. Not so much. She said the tour would leave at 10 and my GPS was saying ToA was 10:20 am.I asked if we could just catch up with them and she said no. Brook was crushed. So sad. I told Brooklyn to hang onto her hat, we were making that tour!! I floored it and off we went! There may have been a few times I looked down and we were going 90 mph...oops...my bad! We got there right around 10:25 am and went to the visitors desk. The lady I spoke with said she thought we would come so she had prepared a private tour for us! We met our guide, Priath and he took us all over campus. We toured the library which was amazing! They offer puppy therapy study group sessions there during finals! We saw the dorms, the radio station, the lecture halls, the gym, pools and cafeteria. The cafeteria was amazinggg! We enjoy eating and dove right in! There was a taco and nacho bar, a grill, a salad bar, a pasta bar, a sammich bar, and lots of desserts. I think Brook wanted to move in right then and there! After lunch we drove over to Melbourne International Airport and met our guide, Nick. We both liked Nick right away, he was friendly and just like Brooklyn came from a family with NO aviation background. He showed us all the planes that the students use and talked about elective classes. The one that caught my adrenaline junkies eye? Aerobatic Flight!! Learning rolls and dives...uhhh, no thanks!! Next, we toured the hangar where the students studying mechanics work on the planes. From there we were able to watch actual students doing simulated flying. That was really neat to see! They had little cubicles set up with half of a cockpit and a sim screen. This is where our tour came to an end. By this time it was 3:30. I was not looking forward to rush hour traffic, but we made good time getting back.

Next up...our return to WDW!

You go, Mom!!! Great job!!!!!

 

[Courtney6682]

Day 2-Feb 2nd...cont...

We arrived back on property around 4:45 pm. Here is where the title starts to come into play. I was originally going to title this report, 'The trip of not's'' but I didn't want to make it seem like it was a negative report. We had 6:45 pm dinner reservations at 1900 Park Fare, BUTTTTTT....we had more pressing matters to attend to with this...

I waited to purchase tickets AFTER upgrading to an AP because the discount was amazing! Only $89 per person as opposed to $119 pp! A saving of $60, yes please!! The event was 8-11 pm, but we were able to enter at 7pm. There was a special line for After Hours attendees, where we were given lanyards to wear. It was 7:30, by the time we got in, so we headed to Frontierland. My version of the moving park bench @Tuvalu , Big Thunder had a 10 min wait time posted so we decided to hit that while we waited for 8 pm to roll around. I knew it just had a re-furb and it seemed to me that the seats were bigger! I remember one rider always being squeezed to death at certain points and we did not experience that at all! Very nice! I will admit I do enjoy riding in the back of this ride, I guess it's growing on me By the time we got off it was a little past 8. We hit up Splash Mtn which at this point was a walk on. We easily could have ridden 20 times if we wanted to, but it was chilly so moved on. Next up was the HM. After that it was time for a snack. All you can eat snacks were included in admission. Choices were, popcorn, mickey bars and 20 oz drinks! Brook got and ice cream, I chose a popcorn and we both got waters. I wanted to every ride, but Brook quickly vetoed that. So, IASW was skipped. We were NOT however going to skip Peter Pan! I just love this ride, but feel bad about ''wasting'' a FP when there with the whole family, and I would certainly never wait 75 mins for it. After our ride over London we hit up 7D twice. From there it was onto Pooh and the Teacups which we rode alone!

We could have ridden again, but my daughter who has a driver's license and her own car insisted on the freakin Speedway! I hate this ride lol...its' so jerky! We rode separately in my attempt to take a nice relaxing ride, but I wasn't paying attention at one point and really hurt my thumb on the steering wheel when it jerked away from me! By this time it was 9:30 and we were ready for dinner. I remembered Friar's Nook and how I always wanted to try the pot roast mac and cheese. I got that and Brook ordered the BBQ chicken mac. We didn't care for either one and tossed them after a few bites.

We made our way over to Tomorrowland and it was so neat being there totally ALONE!! I took this at 945 pm.

 

[21stamps]

Day 2-Feb 2nd...cont...

We arrived back on property around 4:45 pm. Here is where the title starts to come into play. I was originally going to title this report, 'The trip of not's'' but I didn't want to make it seem like it was a negative report. We had 6:45 pm dinner reservations at 1900 Park Fare, BUTTTTTT....we had more pressing matters to attend to with this...View attachment 192895

I waited to purchase tickets AFTER upgrading to an AP because the discount was amazing! Only $89 per person as opposed to $119 pp! A saving of $60, yes please!! The event was 8-11 pm, but we were able to enter at 7pm. There was a special line for After Hours attendees, where we were given lanyards to wear. It was 7:30, by the time we got in, so we headed to Frontierland. My version of the moving park bench @Tuvalu , Big Thunder had a 10 min wait time posted so we decided to hit that while we waited for 8 pm to roll around. I knew it just had a re-furb and it seemed to me that the seats were bigger! I remember one rider always being squeezed to death at certain points and we did not experience that at all! Very nice! I will admit I do enjoy riding in the back of this ride, I guess it's growing on me By the time we got off it was a little past 8. We hit up Splash Mtn which at this point was a walk on. We easily could have ridden 20 times if we wanted to, but it was chilly so moved on. Next up was the HM. After that it was time for a snack. All you can eat snacks were included in admission. Choices were, popcorn, mickey bars and 20 oz drinks! Brook got and ice cream, I chose a popcorn and we both got waters. I wanted to every ride, but Brook quickly vetoed that. So, IASW was skipped. We were NOT however going to skip Peter Pan! I just love this ride, but feel bad about ''wasting'' a FP when there with the whole family, and I would certainly never wait 75 mins for it. After our ride over London we hit up 7D twice. From there it was onto Pooh and the Teacups which we rode alone!
View attachment 192909
We could have ridden again, but my daughter who has a driver's license and her own car insisted on the freakin Speedway! I hate this ride lol...its' so jerky! We rode separately in my attempt to take a nice relaxing ride, but I wasn't paying attention at one point and really hurt my thumb on the steering wheel when it jerked away from me! By this time it was 9:30 and we were ready for dinner. I remembered Friar's Nook and how I always wanted to try the pot roast mac and cheese. I got that and Brook ordered the BBQ chicken mac. We didn't care for either one and tossed them after a few bites.

We made our way over to Tomorrowland and it was so neat being there totally ALONE!! I took this at 945 pm.

View attachment 192938

Omg I have been waiting FOREVER for this!!! I'm green right now. Completely green with envy. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!!!!!!!!!!
But.. how dare you criticize the Speedway. I'm with Brook on this one!

 

[Courtney6682]

Day 2- Feb 2nd-Cont..

Buzz is a fave of ours so we rode that next twice in a row. It's rare for Brooklyn NOT to be a galactic hero and that night was no different. I was happy that I got 600,000 something!! The only time I ever maxed out was last Spring when the ride got stuck a few times

She looks so young here! In reality she was just 2 hours from turning 17!

After saving the universe we traveled thru Space. Again, we could have ridden 10 times in a row if we wanted but I'm old and was getting really tired. We decided to end the night on 7D which we also rode back to back. I was itching to get empty castle pics so we stopped there on our way out.

All in all it was great and I would do it again if given the chance. The place was DEADDDD...there were many times we couldn't even see another person! We ended up taking our time and weren't commando's but we could have easily ridden 50 rides instead of the 12 we did. We also didn't stay until 11 pm, we left around 10:45. Buses were not at their usual stops service was being shared with close resorts. FQ was sharing with SS and I believe we were dropped off first.

We climbed into bed exhausted. Brook was asleep before I could say happy birthday at midnight.

Next up...day 3. Brooklyn's 17th bday adventures!