Trip Report **Completed** The Wine and Dine Half Marathon and we are never changing hotels again!

Hello everyone! I have been (sadly) back for over a week now so I suppose its time to start my TR. I have been in a moderate Disney depression since I have been back, so hopefully this cheers me up. Its probably the freezing cold weather here in Buffalo, but I am longing for Disney and sunny weather (I know its only like 55 there right now, but its 25 here :)). I suppose this is the true sign of a Disney addict! Anyway, on with the TR!

Who?:

From left to right:
My Dad (Jeff), Me (Megan), Mickey :p, My sister Betta (her name is Elizabeth, we call her Betta), my nephew Max, my Mom (Mary) my sister Jill and Betta's friend Deanna
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Deanna came with my sister to help with Max :) She has been to Disney before, but not for several years. This is Max's first trip! The rest of us have been to Disney (several times...;))

When?
My Mom and I: November 3 - 12
My Dad and Jill: Nov 5 -12
Betta, Deanna and Max Nov 7 - 12

Where?
We moved hotels 3 times, I will introduce them as we go :)

Why?
Jill and I really wanted to run the Wine and Dine Half Marathon so we planned a trip around it! Plus, Betta wanted to bring Max to Disney the first time!

The Title?
Well, its pretty obvious! We ran the Wine and Dine Half Marathon :) Also, we were not keen on moving hotels during the trip. It is incredibly disruptive and takes up a decent amount of free time. I will comment more as we go.

T-5 days
As my Mom and I were driving to help my sister and Max pack for the trip we were getting a little bit Disney crazy and really did not want to stay at All Star Sports. We have nothing against people who like the values (or can only afford them), but we really don't enjoy them. When I was a kid we only stayed at values and we loved them, but we definitely have gotten spoiled lately. Knowing we booked All Stars to save us money I did not think a hotel move would be possible. However, the huge AP discount was still a thing so we started looking into other hotels. While at my sister's house I kept trying to change the hotel, but it was not working. Eventually I gave up and finally called Disney. I had the sweetest CM ever on the phone and we chatted for quite a bit about all sorts of things. In the end I decided on moving to the Wilderness Lodge because we love it so much! The CM also added a bit of magic and upgraded us to Concierge level for free. :):p:joyfull::inlove: Woohoo!!! The only downside is this would mean we would have to pick up our luggage in the airport for Magical Express. Annoying, but no big deal overall :)

November 3, 2016
We got up around 5 am and got ready to go to the airport. It was a gross and rainy day in Buffalo so we were happy to be heading to sunny Florida! While my Mom and I were finishing up last minute things and taking pictures my Dad started grabbing our suitcases and bringing them to the car. Only, we weren't done with them yet so he had to bring them back in. Because it was rainy he really looked the part of a grumpy airport worker :joyfull:
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We had a quick ride to the airport and we got there by 6 am. We had the same Southwest worker check us in that we had in October. Thats when you know you travel too much? haha
We both had TSA pre-check and for once I did not set off the metal detector! We were through security by 6:08 am. You have got to love TSA pre-check :)
For breakfast we had some bagels and water
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Petey and Drake were ready :)
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Since we had a crazy amount of time to kill we sat down at our gate and I already started working on my notes haha
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Then we took some selfies...
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Finally it was time to get on the plane. We ended up in row 4! I love sitting in the front, takes less time to get off the plane!
Magic Bands ready :)
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Purple Magic Bands for the win! The woman sitting next to me also had a purple Magic Band :)
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Next up: Arriving in MCO!
 
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Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
& me and @LisaBelle I am sure will join in too as she missed out last time

YES!!! Hopefully @blgauger and @prfctlyximprct let us join :)

Thanks @Longers! I would absolutely love to join you gals :joyfull:! Pizza and a Disney meet up with my WDWMagic pals. How could I resist?! Time to buy more lottery tickets :hilarious:

My Dads birthday was the other day and he won $50 on lottery tickets and he was immediately like "I'm saving it for Disney!!" Even when I pointed out he's not going anytime soon :p
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 10 - LAST DAY :(:(:(
I couldn't sleep for some reason and I got up for good at 6:45 am so that I could finish packing up! I watched some Flip or Flop to pass the time while everyone finished packing up.
We dragged our luggage to the airport check-in fairy early. There was a woman behind us who had two bags which were both over the weight and she said she would move some stuff from one suitcase to the other :jawdrop:. The guy told her like 10 times that wouldn't make sense since they were BOTH overweight! I didn't wait long enough to see how it resolved :p
Anyway, after this we went to the lobby to store our carry-ons. My Dad's stubborn streak continued so he decided that he didn't need to store his carry-on and he would carry his duffle bag around :banghead: Jill didn't store hers either, but because it was a backpack so that made sense!
Anyway, off to the bus stop we went. We had plans to go to DS and since it was early we couldn't take the boat. Since we were not in a hurry the bus came right away :)
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Obviously DS was dead!
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My Dad and Jill wanted to stop at Starbucks so we headed there
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My Mom and I waited outside, so we took some random pictures
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Hello Jill!
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We watched them test the Characters in Flight balloon
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After Jill and my Dad got some coffee we headed towards the Marketplace side.
You never get to see DS empty so I took a ton of pictures!
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Next up: DS continued
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 10 continued
We finally made our way over to Wolfgang Puck express. It wasn't open yet so we joked that we were going to rope drop it, and its a good thing we did because it was crowded.
For breakfast I ordered the breakfast pizza
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My Dad and Jill both ordered the Sunrise Sandwich
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My Dad was a kind soul and let me eat all his potatoes. I have a weird obsession with them! Must be the Irish in me :)
My Mom ordered (not surprisingly) a waffle
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We all really enjoyed our food, but we forgot to share as usual :) It was way too much food for us!
After eating we headed back to the hotel via the boat. Usually my Mom and I leave on later flights, but I knew that everyone else would want to get home so we had an earlier flight and DME was picking us up around 11:30.
Well, actually we first did more shopping. Jill got me a BB8 ornament (she spoils me!) from the Christmas shop. I was acting pretty cranky about leaving and she got it for me to cheer me up :) We also checked out Goofy's candy store and the art store but nothing really spoke to us so we headed to the boat dock. Usually the boats don't open until 10:30 but I checked the time when we got on and it was 10:11 :joyfull:
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Back at the hotel we had quite a bit of time to kill so we checked out the gift shop and sat around watching cartoons. Its so sad when you are leaving to see people just getting there all excited about their vacations :(
One last light fixture
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Since Jill lost the pin I got her, I got her a new one in the gift shop and gave it to her when we were outside waiting for DME. I actually dropped it in her bag and told her I thought I saw something in there. I reiterate the fact that we are weird ;)
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No one was happy about leaving :(
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Ugh writing about leaving always make me sad about leaving all over again :(
Finally our bus pulled up (late as usual) and I am glad we got to the stop when we did because the line was very crowded
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Soon enough we were at the airport and through security. I didn't get lost this time/take the wrong fonorail. On a side note my computer always corrects fonorail to funeral and it kind of goes with the theme on the way home :)

Next up: quick summary
 
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Big Hair

Well-Known Member
Thank you for following! Sometimes I think its hard to make it to DS because it takes so long to get there, but we really enjoy it there so always make time. I equally enjoyed Blaze and Via Napoli so I do hope you get to try both. Its especially odd that I like them since I hate pizza :)
We have been to Via Napoli once a few are ago. We had to try it because the trip before we did Tutto. We all agreed Tutto was better. We had a great experience at Tutto compared to Via but all this pizza talk has given me tunnel vision. Your are definitely right about making time for DS. Not so much about getting there but the times we have, it was super busy, way too many people in way to small of space, and they don't treat dining plan users and DVC members well, that we have experienced. I can't believe hardly anyone was there when you went. That must of been really nice.
 

blreinsel

Well-Known Member
um...can I come? :angelic:

& me and @LisaBelle I am sure will join in too as she missed out last time

Thanks @Longers! I would absolutely love to join you gals :joyfull:! Pizza and a Disney meet up with my WDWMagic pals. How could I resist?! Time to buy more lottery tickets :hilarious:

Uh YES! The more the merrier! :) It's crazy that the likelihood of me meeting all of you gals has skyrocketed in the past month.. how excited! @LisaBelle it's funny that you mention the lottery tickets.. Dylan and I both got a few lottery tickets for Christmas and we put our winnings right into the "Disney drink fund." :joyfull: I need to go buy a few more so thanks for reminding me. ;)
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We have been to Via Napoli once a few are ago. We had to try it because the trip before we did Tutto. We all agreed Tutto was better. We had a great experience at Tutto compared to Via but all this pizza talk has given me tunnel vision. Your are definitely right about making time for DS. Not so much about getting there but the times we have, it was super busy, way too many people in way to small of space, and they don't treat dining plan users and DVC members well, that we have experienced. I can't believe hardly anyone was there when you went. That must of been really nice.

I've had mixed dinners at Tutto. One time I ate there and it was great and the other time it was super meh! Overall I prefer Via Napoli anyway because its quicker :) That is true they don't have the same dining discounts and such at DS as they have everywhere else. Its is pretty annoying. I feel like its much more manageable in the mornings and afternoons than the evenings.

Based solely on your continuous love for Via Napoli, I have a reservation there in May! My fiance and I both love pizza. The Blaze pizza looked awesome too. We are getting a place similar to Blaze in our town called Lit Pizza. Blast fired, same concept.

Oh boy I hope you love it too! @sheriffwoody wasn't as into it as I am :) Its definitely more of a traditional Italian pizza than an American one...which is why I love it!

I have one there next month. I love that place.

So good :)
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Uh YES! The more the merrier! :) It's crazy that the likelihood of me meeting all of you gals has skyrocketed in the past month.. how excited! @LisaBelle it's funny that you mention the lottery tickets.. Dylan and I both got a few lottery tickets for Christmas and we put our winnings right into the "Disney drink fund." :joyfull: I need to go buy a few more so thanks for reminding me. ;)

You are moving to Florida right? Or thinking about it at least?!

This :joyfull:. But also this :arghh:.
When's the next trip?

I was trying to convince my Mom to go Feb 3-6 but she really doesn't feel like she can take off another day of work since her boss just passed away. So, March :)
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Ugh...I have been putting off writing this all day because I really do not want it to come to an end...but alas the time has come
Final Summary

Hotels -
As indicated in my title I absolutely hated changing hotels, especially three times. I am one of those weirdos that unpack their suitcases so I hated having to live out of mine. I also just felt like it was very disruptive to our days - waiting for luggage and things. Plus it meant encountering rude CMs which was a bummer! Wilderness Loge - We loved this resort as always! I really enjoyed concierge level, but definitely would not pay for it ;) Polynesian - I honestly didn't feel like I was there long enough to enjoy it! The view was beautiful and we did love Capt. Cooks! POFQ - Just today someone told me that POFQ was my second home :) I feel like its true! We love this resort because of how small and quiet it is. I wasn't a huge fan of the temporary cafe but thats gone now. I also wasn't a huge fan of the second floor and third building

Run Disney - Run Disney races are always fun! The medals are amazing :D The one huge bummer was the course but that really couldn't be helped with the construction. They did the best they could with the course and entertainment. I wish there were more bathrooms so that we weren't threatened by the balloon ladies :p The short walk to the corrals was great too much better than the Princess Half Marathon. I am really sad about the party at night being too late for us to make it to.

MVMCP - My experience this year was much more positive than last year. I had an absolute blast and felt like we got so much done. I loved meeting Sandy Claws too! Everyone else enjoyed it as well. We definitely did less standing around than last time we went :)

Restaurants - New for us was Ohana dinner (really want to try again when I'm not so nervous), Blaze and D-Luxe which were both yum, and Sanaa (two thumbs up, 10 if that was a thing!)

Time of year - It was packed!!!!! Much more so than we we went around the same time last year. I'm sure its because of the Food and Wine festival and the race weekend :) The weather was mostly nice, a few chilly times that prevented us from swimming but overall pleasant

Traveling with a baby - This was a good challenge for me to plan. It was so fun to see Max's reaction to things even though he won't remember them :) Overall he did much better than we expected.

Overall it was a great trip to be together with the whole family. Deanna was so kind to come with us and help with Max as she had to leave her own family behind to do so! I am looking forward to a trip with less moving around and less phases of the trip though :joyfull:
Also I was so happy to have met @Longers and @prfctlyximprct :) I love having Disney friends!!! You guys make me feel less crazy!
 

Big Hair

Well-Known Member
I will be there with children and grand child February 5 thru the 14th. Then daughter and I have base reservations at the Poly October 26 and 27. Can't add until March. DVC 11 and 7 thing. Only have 4 points left to use until September 1st, roll over points. Have a good time in March. It is great sharing with people who love the magic.
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
haha, yeah I just can't get into it. I like my Americanized pizza!

No judgement here :)

I will be there with children and grand child February 5 thru the 14th. Then daughter and I have base reservations at the Poly October 26 and 27. Can't add until March. DVC 11 and 7 thing. Only have 4 points left to use until September 1st, roll over points. Have a good time in March. It is great sharing with people who love the magic.

Aw no we will miss each other! If I convince someone to go with me in Feb I will let you know!
 

LadyBelle

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No

I nearly got that shirt at Target myself! Between you, me and @samantha788 we certainly kept Target in business. :hilarious: :hilarious: :hilarious:

I am envious of everyone that goes to Disney more than once a year. Heck, even every year! Alas, working at a University has its drawbacks about scheduling. Plus, adulting gets in the way every time.

Great report!!
 

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