Trip Report *Completed* That time we went to Florida and didn't tell anyone...

Hi everyone! I have a surprise trip to tell you about :)

Who?:
My Mom and I (Mary and Megan)
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Where?:

The Contemporary :) This is/was my dream resort so I am so happy we were able to stay there!

When?:
September 30 – October 3, 2016

Why?:

Well, on a rainy afternoon a few weeks ago my Mom and I were making tip envelopes for our November trip and in conversation I mentioned flights and hotels were on sale again. Collectively we convinced each other we should go back down to see if we could possibly see the MSEP once more. Also, we realized our dates would coincide with Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and my Mom knows I have always wanted to go to that - so that solidified our decision! We asked my sister Jill if she wanted to come, but she couldn't take a day off from work. We asked my Dad and he politely declined so it was just the two of us!

Why a secret?
1. I was sick of my fellow residents asking me why I always go to Disney and not anywhere else 2. I was given permission by my attending on my current rotation to miss a day of work, but was worried that would cause issues and 3. I'm an incredibly superstitious person and was worried that because I talked so much about wanting to see MSEP one last time on our last trip that I jinxed us so I refused to talk about it. A few of my closest friends knew I was going, obviously our family, and @Tuvalu because she saw me there :) Also @DisneyJeff may have known because we are snapchat friends haha.

T-1 day until we leave
I had an insanely busy day at work because we were interviewing potential residency candidates. Still, I managed to call our office and make sure that my schedule was blocked off from 2:20 pm on so I could leave on time for the airport. No problem everything was all set!

September 30, 2016
After a long morning I left the hospital to head to clinic. On the way I got a text that our room was ready! Hooray!!
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Unfortunately when I get to clinic what do I see? A full schedule! AHHHHH!!!!! :confused::mad:. They booked over the part that said "do not book." Luckily, I have a nice attending who took my last 3 patients for me so I was still able to leave by three. I rushed to my parent's house and we got got the car packed and headed to the airport! I didn't even have time to put contacts in haha
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We got to the airport at 4:00 pm. Southwest was dead so they again checked us in without having to use the computers. We both had TSA pre-check (yay, didn't have to take my computer out!)! Unsurprisingly the metal detector went off when I went through (again...no clue why), but when they wanded me all was good. I'm convinced there is some sort of metal in my body my parents forgot to tell me about!
We needed to eat dinner so sat down in the Anchor Bar (the best Anchor Bar in my opinion...in case no one knows what the Anchor Bar is its the birthplace of chicken wings) and I looked at my phone and it was 4:08 pm. No lie. We checked our luggage, went through security and sat down to eat in 8 minutes!!!
For dinner we split Buffalo bites (aka boneless wings) YUM!!!
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My mom was convinced that because we had plastic silverware someone was going to spill while cutting up the chicken. Well I did, but I had black pants on. Unfortunately, she did too but she had kakis on :( She predicted it correctly!
Sad stain :(
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We sat next to a really annoying woman who was in no hurry to order, but complained when it took too long because she had a flight to catch :joyfull:
Well, we still had plenty of time to kill at the gate so I worked on some TR notes.
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Actually some guy sitting across from us was also writing notes, but he seemed to be writing them about us, because he kept staring at us...:oops::eek:
Airport selfie!
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Soon enough it was time to board. You know how for Southwest you wait a little bit while everyone figures out where they are supposed to be in line? This was a great opportunity for us to hear a woman on the phone super upset with her doctor for not sending in her son's acne medication right away. "He needs it because he is a Freshman in college." I get being upset about waiting for a medication, but having been on after hour Friday call before it hurt my heart a little for the poor recipient of the call :oops:. She then proceeded to call her son and let him know it was all set. At this point her son informs her (I could hear everything) that they are "dropping part of his scholarship" and he doesn't know why. One could guess why as he also proceeded to tell her he had a couple C's. She didn't seem to think that had anything to do with it. Poor lady :confused:. We were also boarding at this time and she stayed on the phone and proceeded to knock into everyone with her bags :banghead:.
Luckily we didn't sit near her on the plane :)
We actually had a layover this time and I had a mild panic attack because we were not cleared for takeoff right away due to rain in Chicago. Luckily we still landed at 6:30 Chicago time - 15 minutes early! We rushed to the complete opposite side of the airport to make it to our connecting flight and we did. Everyone who was getting on our flight seemed to be drunk...no lie...everyone was drinking haha.
Time for Magic Bands!
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The gang was ready (in Halloween gear)
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Next up: traveling to the MCO
 
Last edited:

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 4
This morning we got up around 7 am. I wanted to take some pictures of the room to show you guys so here they are ! (I made the bed myself)
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I'm pretty sure the couch pulled out
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The TV was nice and big
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Loved this desk area
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The closets were pretty neat
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The sinks were a good height for short people like me!
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I thought the towel rack was interesting..haha
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I loved this room! It was definitely way bigger than a space we needed, but we loved it!

Next up: Ohana
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 4 continued
After snapping tons of pictures we headed towards the monorail
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Unfortunately the monorail was closed so went down to the buses and took the TTC bus which would also take us to Poly. The buses were actually a little bit quicker than the monorail haha
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We checked into 'Ohana and waited about 20 minutes for our table...no problem! We sat and realized and enjoyed our last morning in Disney!
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When we got seated we had to most amazing table. Our "cousin" said it was her favorite because of the view!
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I spy the castle!!!
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next up: eating !
 

RyPat

Well-Known Member
Day 3 continued:
Woohoo!! Bills beat the Patriots! I wish I could go back to those Pats fans in Epcot and say "YES, TODAY!!!" Was Brady playing? No....thats OK I will take the win. I would keep going on about how great it was except they blew up yesterday against Miami so I'm annoyed at them again...:joyfull:
Next up: MNSSHP!

Not only was Brady not playing, but even our back-up was out, we had our back-up's back-up - and he was injured! Hopefully this Sunday the Pat's can return the favor... ;)
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Great trip report. Following along. Darn Disney bug biting me again. Only been 7 months. Lol
That Disney bug always gets me too, clearly! Thanks for following!

Love O'hana! What a great choice for your last Disney breakfast of your trip. That table has such an amazing view too!

It was so awesome!!!! I was happy to have this breakfast reservation, actually snagged it the day before!

Not only was Brady not playing, but even our back-up was out, we had our back-up's back-up - and he was injured! Hopefully this Sunday the Pat's can return the favor... ;)

....all true. I am 100% confident the Pats will kill us tomorrow. Sadly, I will be at the game to witness it!
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 4 continued
Our waiter was a bit confused during our time at breakfast, he kept forgetting everything so everything came out a little disjointed (and it took forever to get syrup!!!) haha
Yummy bread!
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Skillet
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The amazing juice!
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Fruit
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I've said it before about 'Ohana, but I really enjoy that you can sit at your table and not worry about going up for food while waiting for the characters!
Lilo was up first
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Then the Main Man!
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Then Pluto!
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Next up: finishing breakfast!
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 4 continued
Then came Stitch!
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As I said our waiter was a bit all over the place. We asked for extra waffles and bacon and at first we only got the waffles. Finally I asked for bacon, but did not get it until we were almost ready to leave :p
I ate some and took a picture anyway, just out of principle
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After we were done we needed to finish packing our luggage so headed back to the monorail
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On the monorail we were with a group of people talking about going to the MK but did not get off at the stop. I did not want to say anything but they were arguing about if it was the right stop so I finally told them to get off!:happy:
We packed up and sadly said good-bye to our lovely room and our lovely hotel!
Hello monorail!
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Our final destination was Hollywood Studios!
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We had a FP for the Muppets so headed in that area.
On the way there we ended up ditching our plans to see the Muppets and decided to wait for Olaf instead!
The wait was listed at about 15 minutes, but we waited more than 20. There was a little boy in line behind us who was celebrating his Birthday and was by himself :( He said the rest of his family was at Frozen (Sing-a-long)! I felt so bad for him!
Either way, it was finally our time to meet Olaf!
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He was adorable as usual!
When we got out of his line we looked to see the wait time to meet Mickey and Minnie, but it was too long so we sat there for a bit and enjoyed the sunshine. Suddenly we realized that we were sitting in the middle of a line for Chip and Dale so we hopped in!
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When we got out of this line we happened upon Goofy's line so popped in there too!
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Next up: finishing off HS!
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Well, since I am leaving for Florida in 2 days I should probably finish this report!
Day 4 continued
After not doing anything other than meeting characters we headed to Aerosmith since we had a FP coming up!
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When we were in line there was a kid who kept telling the CM that he makes the best ride ever :p. It was so cute, but unfortunately the CM wasn't paying attention at all :confused:
We were seated in the second row, but somehow still got a little bit of whiplash :)
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After our ride we decided to head out of HS and said good-bye. We waited for the bus to MK because we figured we would stop in there briefly before the Tragical Express came.
It was insanely hot out at this point, so we figured our MK trip would be short. When I was going through security the CM asked me where I was from and I told him Buffalo. He told me the day before he was a Bills fan (because he is typically a Miami fan) and thanked me for the Bills beating the Pats (as we know, the same thing did not happen this past Sunday haha).
Since it was so hot we decided to take the train over to the Fantasyland station because we had Dumbo FPs
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Finally we landed in Fantasyland and headed to Dumbo
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Obviously this is a picture my Mom took since its flattering as usual...haha
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Next up: saying goodbye!
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Totally forgot to post this picture!
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Day 4 continued
Good-bye MK :(
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We walked back to our hotel and had some time for lunch so stopped at Contempo Cafe
My Mom ordered the Pasta with meatballs
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I ordered the Spicy Chicken Sandwich
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We both really enjoyed our lunches! We then headed to the the gift shop to grab some dessert
Lemon cookie for my Mom
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Gingerbread for me! (his arm broke...)
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We then headed out to the bus stop and waited for the Tragical Express
Look at this semi-hidden Mickey!
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Finally our bus came and we got on. Our DME bus driver honestly was a little bit creepy....I can't really explain it, but he was just odd, and kept staring at me in the mirror. It was weird!
We also we not allowed to watch any TV apparently
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On the bus I overhead someone tell someone else that the WL is next to AK :eek:
I swear, some people literally have no since of direction/placement at all at Disney :)
Goodbye Disney :(
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At the airport we did not have TSA pre-check so waited in the usual line. For some reason the TSA guy was super aggressive with his stamp and got ink all over my boarding pass and my passport. Despite not having TSA pre-check they were running the line like everyone was in pre-check and no one had to take their shoes off or take their computer out. I was so flustered that I guided us to the wrong fonorail and to the wrong terminal. I have no idea how I managed to do this and not pay attention. We got off the fonorail and back on only to be told we would have to go back through security :arghh: ( I may have dropped a few swear words towards the TSA guy, not sure how I managed to not get in trouble haha). Anyway, back in line my boarding pass would not scan because of the ink and I explained to this TSA worker what happened and she was super annoyed they made us go back through security. This time in line we had to take our shoes off and take my computer out. So much changed in 15 minutes! haha. Finally we made it to our actual gate with only about 20 minutes to spare! There were EMTs at the gate because a woman passed out on the plane that landed (mind you, my mom was totally oblivious to this) but luckily everything was OK!
Literally everyone at the gate (since it was mostly people from Buffalo) were talking about the Bills win :)
When we went to board the plane I explained to the Southwest guy my ticket likely would not scan because of the ink from the TSA guy. He told me I would have to go get a new one.........:eek:
He was joking but for a minute I almost had a heart attack haha
Finally we were on the plane and safely made it home!!

Next up: final thoughts!
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Final thoughts

Time of year
: I felt like crowd levels were decently low aside from the Food and Wine craziness (we did not partake this time) so that was nice! The weather was super hot still though....

Hotel:
Can't say enough good things about the Contemporary. This has always been my dream resort and will remain so! We loved being on the monorail loop, having access to tons of food options and the view from our room! The only thing I did not enjoy were the elevators since it seemed like they were always packed and hard to get on!

Restaurants: We really enjoyed all our meals! Can't say anything bad about any of them. New for us was Norway bakery which was great. We also really enjoyed the Contempo Cafe and I like that they have 24 hour options!

MSSSHP: Loved it. Definitely met and exceeded my expectations. The party we were at was not super crowded so I think that helped! It hit me at one point in time that I was trick or treating in MK and that feeling was so amazing! The parade and Hallowishes were both awesome!!

Length of trip:
Happy to have another short trip, but super excited to go back to a longer trip in a few days!

Next up:Food and Wine Half Marathon trip
 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
At the airport we did not have TSA pre-check so waited in the usual line. For some reason the TSA guy was super aggressive with his stamp and got ink all over my boarding pass and my passport. Despite not having TSA pre-check they were running the line like everyone was in pre-check and no one had to take their shoes off or take their computer out. I was so flustered that I guided us to the wrong fonorail and to the wrong terminal. I have no idea how I managed to do this and not pay attention. We got off the fonorail and back on only to be told we would have to go back through security :arghh: ( I may have dropped a few swear words towards the TSA guy, not sure how I managed to not get in trouble haha). Anyway, back in line my boarding pass would not scan because of the ink and I explained to this TSA worker what happened and she was super annoyed they made us go back through security. This time in line we had to take our shoes off and take my computer out. So much changed in 15 minutes! haha. Finally we made it to our actual gate with only about 20 minutes to spare! There were EMTs at the gate because a woman passed out on the plane that landed (mind you, my mom was totally oblivious to this) but luckily everything was OK!
You are my daughter-from-a-different-mother!! I totally did this SAME THING last trip! Details to come in my TR. :joyfull:
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
You are my daughter-from-a-different-mother!! I totally did this SAME THING last trip! Details to come in my TR. :joyfull:

I'm so glad I am not the only one...I was actually quite embarrassed by it haha. I have traveled through that airport plenty of times and never did that before :) In my mind something seemed off, but I kept chugging along haha
 

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