Trip Report When you add 2 weeks in Disney to your friend’s wedding in Mexico... COMPLETE!

So, what do you do when your friends are getting married in Mexico and you’re flying over from the UK to attend? Add a two week Disney trip onto it of course! Yep, that’s us! How could we not when we’re so nearby? Well, compared to being in the UK, being in Mexico is basically a hop, skip and a jump away from Orlando! And so that’s what we have done!

Ok, a little background. If you have read either of my last two trip reports you’ll know that in Dec 2017 we met Alisa ( @dclfan ) and her fiancé Jerome (trip report here). I met Alisa through talking on this board and after meeting at WDW, the rest is history. Here’s my first post from our joint July 2018 trip which explains our crazy awesome friendship:
A long time ago in a magical galaxy (and something something darkside) there were two Disney Twins who were separated at birth and kept apart by the evil Atlantic Ocean (darkside!). They grew up not knowing of each other’s existence, yet their twin-ness continued on. They both grew up loving all that is Disney and knowing Walt Disney World was there home. Both got a tattoo of their favourite line from Beauty & The Beast and dreamed of Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere. Both fell in love with their bearded, tattooed soulmates and then one day, by a miracle created by Walt himself, they met on WDW Magic and noticed their similarities. They also realised that they both had upcoming trips at the same time. A meeting of fate was about to occur in December 2017...

Ok so we weren’t quiiiite separated at birth! :joyfull:Seeing as our birth dates are a couple years apart also... but that bit doesn’t matter! Alisa ( @dclfan ) and I are Disney Twins! Literally from the moment my husband Russ and I met her & her fiancé Jerome for a drink at La Cava del Tequila, we got on like we’d known each other for years. I was nervous to meet up as I can be a bit socially anxious but it wasn’t awkward at all. I even messaged Alisa 5 mins after we’d met to say how much fun it had been and about how I’d been nervous. And she replied straight away saying exactly the same, she has social anxiety too! But we’d both felt comfortable straight away. That never happens for the both of us. Disney magic! :happy:

It’s crazy. We have the most ridiculous amount of similarities and things in common. Interests, general likes and dislikes, dreams, outlook on life, right down to tv shows and other little things. Even stuff from our childhood and things we did and liked back then is similar! Let alone the fact we both have the same tattoo in the same place and both fell in love with guys who have beards and tattoos.
Alisa’s also getting married to Jerome in a small wedding abroad this year, in December- aged 29. The same age I was when I got married to Russ in December in a small wedding abroad- when I was 29! :jawdrop:
We still keep finding stuff that we’ve both done, or like, or our other halves have done or something they like that’s the same and being like “OMG we did that/we like that/that happened to us too!” It’s so much stuff now we kind of just shrug it off when something new pops up, like “Well, of course. We’re twins! Duh!”

And even better- Russ and Jerome got on like a house on fire too! In fact at first, those two were chatting away more than us! It was the best trip in December last year. We ended up meeting another 4 times and hanging out. We had such a blast. It really was like we were all old friends. When we said goodbye it was as Alisa & Jerome were going to the Galactic Nights in DHS & it was about 15 mins till the park closed to the public (Russ and I didn’t have tickets) and we all just group hugged in the middle of Hollywood Blvd for like 5 mins ha ha! :joyfull: We didn’t want to say goodbye. People must have been like what are these bearded guys & girls with Minnie ears having a giant hug about?! It’s crazy now thinking how we technically have only met for a total of about 6-8 hours. As Alisa and I have literally messaged back and forth every day since we got home. We all Skyped each other on New Year’s Eve for hours (and several times since then too) and have been totally hyped and pumped about meeting up again. We feel so far apart!! Finding a new best friend that lives in America when you’re from the U.K. is noooooo! :cry:

And so with that... this is what this pre-trip report is all about! WE’RE GOING TO BE REUNITED!!!!

I am SOOOOOOO excited to see you again Alisa!! These are the only photos of us (I don’t know how we were so lame in the photo taking over 4 days- we were having too much fun I think!) but I love these photos as they show the fun we were having.


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And the one group shot of us all!


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And a couple Skype shots :joyfull:


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Note to selves. Lots more photos this time!! Ha ha I bet we’ll now be the total opposite and take waaaay too many photos!

Anyway, back to the trip! We’ve been planning and trying to make this happen since the day we left WDW. Russ and I have a trip booked for October but we couldn’t stay away that long- and Alisa wouldn’t let me! Originally we tried to make this happen for May, as my birthday is May 29th and over in the UK we have a holiday week at the end of May (in schools & I work in education so I get this too) and also Alisa & Jerome would be in their new Florida home & settled by then, so it was looking like the best time to plan a trip. But timing & finances just didn’t quite work out for May. Boo. So, we kept looking at another time soon that we could go & when Jerome would be home from touring. And it started to look like July could work. Seeing how much Russ and I LOVE America and that we have never been in July- let alone been there for AMERICA'S BIRTHDAY- a trip around July 4th became the plan! We're going to be visiting Alisa & Jerome in Tampa for July 4th before going to Disney World after! We are ridiculously excited. I am pumped to be there for July 4th which is new for us- and to finally be reunited with our Disney Twins! :inlove:

So... the details!

Who: Well I think you know by now- 4 crazy best-friends-within-hours Disney fans! And multiple Smoked Turkeys.

Russ & I (Sam):


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Alisa & Jerome:


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A smoked turkey:

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When: July 5th-10th (Alisa & Jerome)
July 5th-14th (Russ & Sam)

Where: Caribbean Beach! Yep, we know about all the "magical enhancements" currently happening there (as the CM called them upon booking!) but it's such a good rate and we know what we're heading into. Plus we're going to be spending so much time in the parks and hanging out, it's not about the resort this trip. But Alisa stayed there not too long ago anyway and said it's not really that bad if you're prepared. The newish rooms seem great anyway and we're really liking the look of the new QS at one of the pools! The menu looks great.

So you may also be wondering what all this Smoked Turkey talk is about. Well, back in December we discovered (of course) that this was Jerome & Russ' favourite Disney drink. On our last day hanging out this was what we decided to drink. But as detailed in my last trip report we went from bar to bar on the Boardwalk and no-one was serving them! It felt like a hidden quest to try and find one. So the guys never got to have their drink together. I mean, many other drinks were consumed (of course ;)) but no Smoked Turkeys! It's like all they talk about together now! :joyfull:

So this trip, MANY Smoked Turkeys will be found and consumed! Russ and Jerome are coming for you speciality cocktail menu, be warned! :cool:

So I think that's everything! We have a few ADR's booked and Alisa and I have already planned a years worth of plans to fit into our 5 days together in the world, so it's going to be a crazy, awesome adventure! AND WE CAN'T WAIT!

FP+ window is Sunday so that's the next step!

64 Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaays!!!! :eek::D:D:eek:

And so yes- Alisa & Jerome’s is the wedding we are attending! It’s so amazing to be a part of their day. We are so excited! We have known we are attending since July, but we didn’t know what our exact plans would be until quite recently! We knew we wanted to visit Orlando since we’d be flying over the Atlantic to the wedding anyway, but it took until late September/October to confirm work arrangements & the trip budget! At first we thought it might just be a few days before and after Mexico or maybe a week before then flying home. Nope! We’re coming over for a full 11 nights pre-wedding and then another 4 nights after! 3 weeks of WDW and Mexico awesomeness! We are soooo excited for the wedding; we’ve never been to Mexico, so that’s exciting in itself! And then witnessing this awesome pair that we’ve got to know and share so many fun moments with, even within a year, is just going to be amazing. Let alone getting back to WDW! I can’t tell you how much we are looking forward to that. Even though it was only July we were there it already feels so long ago- and it’s been a stressful few months. This couldn’t be more needed! Plus- celebrating Thanksgiving and experiencing all the Christmas festivities and build up is just the icing on the cake!

So, the who, when and where! Me (Sam) and my husband Russ:

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I realised recently that this trip is at almost the exact same time Russ and I took our first trip to WDW together 7 years ago! I’d been many times before with family, but Russ had never been- and didn’t think it would be his thing but was willing to give it a go for his Disney crazy then fiancé! I knew once he was there he would love it and catch the bug- and boy did he ever! Since that first trip together 7 years ago we’ve been back to WDW 9 times (including part of our honeymoon), Disneyland 3 times, Disneyland Paris 3 times, taken a Disney cruise and even visited Tokyo Disney! It makes me laugh as after the first trip or two when talking about WDW with others, Russ would always preface any talk with “Well, I’m not really a Disney kinda guy, but...” and then talk about the things he liked there. Now he just talks about how awesome it is!

So, I’ve now realised this is our tenth trip! Ahh. And how much has changed at WDW in just that time! Here’s some pics from over the years:

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So to continue on with the who, there’s also going to be cameos from these awesome guys!

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And now the when & where!

November 17th-22nd: Blue Heron Beach Resort, Lake Buena Vista

Nov 22nd-28th: Disney’s All Star Movies Resort

Nov 28th-Dec 4th: Mexico

Dec 4th-8th: WDW (Resort TBC!)

So yep- the trip started today! We flew out this morning and I’m currently writing this on our layover in Charlotte, NC over a beer feeling pretty jet lagged! Our flight to Orlando is in about an hour and we should arrive by 10pm (3am English time!). We’re still planning rope drop for tomorrow though! :joyfull:

And yep, for cost reasons the first part is off-site. We haven’t stayed offsite since our first trip in 2011 (actually we’ve stayed on Hotel Plaza Blvd in the Disney Springs hotels a couple of times, but usually as a night or two either side of onsite. But this feels properly “off site” even though this resort is only 5 mins drive from Disney Springs! We’re quite happy to have our own kitchen though and eat/cook American foods that we can’t get at home- and pretend we actually live over here for a little bit! Just being in America and Florida is vacation to us!

Next up though, it’s a move to onsite! Hooray! 6 nights at All Star Movies. Fingers crossed for a refurbished room! Even more exciting- for the first two nights we will be joined by Alisa / @dclfan! Jerome is away working so he can’t make it (nooo! And sorry Russ you’re left with two crazy Disney Twins for two days, without your Smoked Turkey buddy!) But I know we’re still going to have loads of crazy fun. Plus, it’s Thanksgiving! And we’ve booked Homecoming! It will be a good distraction too for Alisa from all the wedding planning stress!

So two days of Disney Twin craziness and then Russ and I will have another 4 nights at ASM together. Then on the 28th- we fly to Mexico!

We’ll be in Mexico for 6 nights and I’m sure lots of fun times will be had! I won’t report too much on here when there, but I’ll probably post a couple of pics. I’ll also be posting on our group instagram @beauty_and_the_beards (yep we have one lol! We set it up for our trip in July, I think a few WDW magic people followed along our trip! I don’t think we posted too much then- I plan to try and post a lot more this time!)

Russ and I also have a travel instagram (yep we’re one of those couples!) so if you’d like to follow the whole trip when it’s just us we’re @wanderlusttheworldandus

After Mexico it’s back to Orlando for 4 nights and… I don’t actually know where we’re staying yet! Everything so far has been booked up at WDW (apart from Deluxes which are out of our budget this trip) or only have one or two nights available. So I thought I’d wait until nearer the time to see if anything opens up to work out where we’ll go! The Disney Springs hotels are our back up. I’ll update when we actually have a room! I’m hoping for Caribbean Beach for at least a night or two as we loved staying there in July and we especially want to go back now that Old Port Royale and more is open! I really want to try Banana Cabana Bar especially since you can order food from Sebastian’s Bistro there! Those pull apart rolls and dips look yum!

So that’s our plans so far! And this trip is going to be interesting because with the last minute booking- we’ve had about 1 or 2 months to think about dining and way under 30 days for FP’s! It’s going to be a go with the flow trip, seeing which FP’s appear the day before and attempting rope drop or close for things like Slinky Dog and FoP. We’ve managed most attractions for FPs though to be honest, even the more popular ones. The nearer our trip there wasn’t as much flexibility, but the only things that we couldn’t get were Slinky Dog & FoP, and as mentioned we plan to standby those.

We also managed 2 Homecoming reservations and one at California Grill! We don’t have the dining plan, so we’re actually planning a lot of snacks (hello Epcot Festival of the Holiday’s booths!) and getting QS. We’ll see what other TS are free on the day- but we actually quite like sitting at the bar at restaurants and ordering apps or entrees off the menus that way instead anyway. There’s almost always immediate availability anywhere on property when you do that!

So, that is my pre-trip within my live trip report! Orlando, here we come!! :D
 
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DisneyJeff

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
So I’ll finish updating yesterday in the next post, but... well this just happened...

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I guess all those talks for free FPs and gift cards got to us! :joyfull: We’re now two of the newest DVC members with ownership in Copper Creek Villas & Cabins! Well, it was our tenth trip anniversary so... what else were we going to do?!

And even better... we have 2 nights at the Poly already booked for our return after Mexico! :D There was no where else available at the moment for the other 2 nights, but we’ll keep checking. Otherwise those points will be banked for next year! We’re actually really excited. Plus, cute rucksack! That’s important! Ha ha.

I just saw this post... (I know, I'm a little behind on my trip reports!) Anyway, congratulations on joining DVC!!! We own points at the Poly, although we haven't stayed there yet! :) We just booked a stay at Saratoga Springs for the last week in February. Can't wait go be "home" again!!

I love the backpack!!
 

Ariel1986

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I just saw this post... (I know, I'm a little behind on my trip reports!) Anyway, congratulations on joining DVC!!! We own points at the Poly, although we haven't stayed there yet! :) We just booked a stay at Saratoga Springs for the last week in February. Can't wait go be "home" again!!

I love the backpack!!

Thanks!! We’ve just finished our two nights there- loved it! I already love the points system! Enjoy February! And thanks for reading. And yeeep, it’s now my favourite backpack! :happy:
 

Ariel1986

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So I really need to catch up on yesterday and today to keep this trip as live, but I just had to say look at this balcony! We’ve left the Poly now and secured a night at Beach Club with our points. Shame we’re only here one night!

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Sorry @Tuvalu I think this one beats the roof view from your previous stay once again! ;)

We’re off too DHS now so I’ll update the last 24 hours later tonight!
 

krisri18

Well-Known Member
So I really need to catch up on yesterday and today to keep this trip as live, but I just had to say look at this balcony! We’ve left the Poly now and secured a night at Beach Club with our points. Shame we’re only here one night!

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Sorry @Tuvalu I think this one beats the roof view from your previous stay once again! ;)

We’re off too DHS now so I’ll update the last 24 hours later tonight!
Holy moly! You could ballroom dance on that balcony!
 

LeighM

Well-Known Member
Ready for more Disney :) For some reason I haven't been getting notifications so I didn't know yall got back from Mexico. Congrats to the happy couple!
 

Ariel1986

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Ahh and of course as always I managed to lose track of the last few days back in Disney, thus this is no longer a "live" report!

We're now back home in England :cry::depressed: The Disney blues are hitting hard. I remember reading several people saying they'd just got home in this and other reports- and when in Florida that seems like a bad dream. Now it's real!

I'm going to get this trip report finished this time though as we had a really awesome last few days- and I want to try and escape through reminiscing! It feels like we've been back an age and it's only been 3 days!
 

Ariel1986

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Ok lets try and get this wrapped up before Christmas!!

Where were we... feels so long ago now!

Wednesday 5th December

So it was a cold morning for Orlando (although actually, in the sun it was still warm for us Brits!) and we were on our way to MK! We had a couple of FPs booked (from that morning too- Jungle Cruise, Pirates and Buzz- maybe not the most difficult to get, but with the current crowds they actually were a real plus! We really had lucked out this trip being able to make plans on the day). We were also meeting Alisa today who was currently on her way.

There was a slight hold up on the monorail due to a traffic build up I believe, but we were at the gates before we knew it.

Hello beautiful but non-moving train!

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It was pretty busy today! We were going to head to Starbucks, but seeing the que out the door we changed our minds! Somehow, we decided that instead of a Starbucks we would grab some breakfast- and this breakfast turned out to be Casey's :joyfull: That's Disney magic! Although to be honest it was now just gone 12pm, so it technically was lunchtime anyway! We went for a very breakfasty coffee replacement of Bacon Mac & Cheese Fries and Corn Dog Nuggets! :D It took a while to just order, but after about 20 mins we had our food in hand and managed to find a stand-up table to eat at. It was delicious!

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It was now nearing the time of our Jungle Cruise FP- and Alisa was about 20 mins from getting into the park so we decided to ride and then meet Alisa at the entrance to Pirates for our next FP. En route to our FP we decided we needed to add dessert to our healthy breakfast! We picked up one of these sandwiches of deliciousness!

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After this we started heading towards Jungle Cruise when we noticed that the FP line was up and out to the pathway nearing Aladdin's Flying Carpets! This wasn't a good sign. I asked the CM holding the "line starts here" sign how long he thought it would be and with the sad exasperation of obviously dozens of previous angry tourists already berating him over the line he said "Please, please don't hold me to it, but it will probably be about 25 mins". I thanked the poor CM and we decided we weren't too bothered about riding with a wait for FP, plus Alisa would be here soon. So we decided to head towards Sleepy Hollow to admire the castle as the area around Pirates was pretty packed.

This is always my favourite place to admire the castle!

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Alisa then messaged to say she was in and at Starbucks, so we decided to head over there to meet her. Apparently I have no photos from the rest of MK apart from this gem on Pirates.

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Alisa was actually happy at some points today- apparently at this moment in time though she was in a "I'm back from my wedding in Mexico and I have to wait 10 days for my husband to finish his work tour before we can go on Honeymoon" depressive funk that even Disney couldn't lift. Either that or she was remembering the upcoming Red Head replacement scene :joyfull:
Not sure what Russ and I were doing either- that damn photo and flash gets us every time!
 
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Ariel1986

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I’ve just remembered before Pirates we stopped at the cart we’d previously got the ice cream sandwich at- as Russ had spotted the Cheeseburger Spring Rolls he’d wanted to try, when we had got the ice cream sandwich they weren’t yet available and the CM had said to return in 20 or so minutes. I don’t know where Russ’ appetite came from today- must have been still used to the all-inclusive all day food we had in Mexico! I couldn’t manage one but Russ went for both the Bacon Mac & Cheese and the Cheeseburger versions. He liked the Cheeseburger but the Mac & Cheese was meh. I had a bite of that one and agreed. Afraid no photo evidence!

After being blinded by the photo on Pirates we decided to head around to Frontierland, I’m not sure why we thought Big Thunder Mountain wouldn’t have a long que given the crowds, but we decided to take a look anyway. Nope! 70+ mins. And the crowds had already started lining up for the parade, which of course meant a bottleneck trying to walk back up to Liberty Square! We were trying to squeeze along the path left behind the waiting crowd and the fence when we were almost part of a brawl between a frustrated Dad pushing a double buggy and a parked scooter who the owner- or relatives of said owner- simply shrugged at the Dad when he motioned that he and the crowds behind him would not be able to get past with the scooter parked parallel across the path. The Dad slammed the break on his buggy with an exaggerated huff and went over to scooter, lifted it up from the wheels superman style and moved it to an angle that we could all then move past it, whilst glaring at the owner/relatives. It was like seeing a forum board argument play out live!

Anyway, so scooter-buggy-gate behind us, we headed up towards Liberty Square as Alisa wanted to try out the “meat stick” things she’d seen on the Disneyfood blog a while ago. The line, of course, was ridiculous though so we decided to head to the Tangled bathrooms as we all needed to go. There was even a que out the door here too! Maybe the ones near Pinocchio Village Haus? Nope! We decided we could all hold on to try the ones in Belle’s Village. Success! The crowds had not yet descended here. After this we decided it was just too crowded to bother fighting our way around the park- and we had plans to get to this afternoon/evening anyhow. So we made our way through Fantasyland and through the castle- to be greeted by the craziest looking crowd in the hub we’ve ever seen! It was for the parade of course, but on first glance it literally looked like every single square inch of the hub was occupied by people! I’m not sure why I didn’t take a photo, but we couldn’t believe the crowds! They did taper off a little when we got nearer- and we were able to navigate our way through the shops instead of Main Street, but we knew scrapping our Buzz FP and heading back to the Poly was probably for the best!

Back at the Poly we headed to Captain Cooks’ as Alisa wanted to try the Pulled Pork Nachos. She’d actually been wanting to try these for ages- back in July we ran out of time at Tambu to try them one evening (when craving nachos- she thought no worries we could grab some at Pecos Bills- nope they were closed!) and then they weren’t served until 4pm the next time Alisa was at Tambu one lunchtime. So she was finally getting to try them! Again for some reason I have no photo evidence- apart from of the ninja squirrel that was darting from table to table and eyeing up the nachos very intently!

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We all tried the nachos and none of us could actually decide if we liked them or not- there was no cheese! And pineapple and a sweet aioli type dressing. They were… interesting. The actual nacho chips were delicious though.

So next up this day was actually something non-Disney and different! We were heading to a concert in Orlando as that’s where Jerome, Alisa’s now husband was working coincidentally just for tonight! We had a really fun night which included sticker shock- in reverse- for 8 drinks at happy hour at Applebees ($32?! We’ve got too used to Disney and their sneaky “ah well, it’s Disney” prices!) along with a cool experience at the concert in Orlando. And of course meeting up with Jerome once more to say goodbye for now. And then at the end of the night saying goodbye to Alisa! That was sad. We’d been hanging out for what felt like a month, before and after the wedding and of course in Mexico! How was it all over?!

After saying goodbye, Russ and I headed to Captain Cooks once more (which was about to close) and grabbed a Turkey Pesto Focaccia (quite tasty, but very rich!) and some more snack noodles from the chiller to eat back in the room. Bellies full and a few drinks later, we soon passed out for the last night (already?!) in our Poly bed, ready for our move to Beach Club tomorrow! Along with busy park plans. We only had 2 days left on this trip to enjoy them!

A couple of pics from the evening:

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Home again! :inlove:

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Ariel1986

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So, on to Thursday 6th December!

We had a fairly relaxing morning- we slept in until about 9am and then called up the front desk to see if we could extend our check out to 12pm- success! We packed up and relaxed in the room and on the balcony- along with a final call to DVC to see if we could find a room for our last night. I literally within seconds JUST missed a studio at AKL as I hesitated by maybe 20 seconds to say “Russ! I’ve found a room tomorrow!” before selecting it- and by that time it was then unavailable! Argh! Oh well. More points for next year! There was no luck when calling either, so we just decided to book a room the normal way. Wow was everything pricey for the 7th December! Pop $170, Coronado $197?! We just had to deal with it though as we wanted the Magical Express, having no car (and I wanted one more night of Disney TV & must-dos! Priorities, obviously). Out of curiosity to see how the resort was looking- and because it was an old favourite- we decided to book Coronado for the last night.

All this resort hopping might seem crazy to some, but we actually quite enjoyed it! We didn’t really unpack after arriving back from Mexico so that didn’t take much each time, and the bell hops collected and transferred our luggage without a hitch! We would pack, give to the bell hop, then head to the parks- and return to our new resort with either the luggage already there in our new room or we would call and it was in our new room in 5-10 mins.

So, packed, Coronado booked for the following night and bags being transferred to the Beach Club, we headed on out to get the Monorail to MK!

It was warmer today- and bright blue skies! I just love Florida’s skies. It’s just not the same in England, of course!

As soon as we got to the gates of MK we could tell already it was much less crowded than yesterday! Town Square was unusually empty- and the que to meet Mickey was only 20 mins!

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Love me some Mickey balloons!

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First stop, of course, was Starbucks. We actually ended up talking to a fellow Brit, who was here with his kids- and ex-wife! They had booked the trip when still together, and even though they were both with new partners, for the kids they decided to still go! We thought that was nice of them to do- if not brave! And open to tell strangers! Although maybe as fellow Brits we didn’t feel like strangers! It was their first day- and first visit- so we tried to give them a few tips. Soon our coffees were ready so we said goodbye and headed outside to walk to Tommorrowland.

We decided to check wait times since the crowds seemed so much smaller today- and sure enough BTMR was 15 mins, Splash 5 mins and Space 30 mins! As we were nearby we decided to run into Space.

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Unfortunately Space appeared to have an influx of like-minded people as the wait ended up being 45 mins, but it didn’t feel too bad. What did feel slightly bad was ending up in the back 2 rows of the back rocket on the opposite track of where we’d been the other night- this was MUCH faster- and more rickety than at After Hours! Russ cricked his neck along with landing uncomfortably on an… area… after one of the dips! :jawdrop: :joyfull: So for the time being I think, Space is out for us again. Well, for Russ. I still enjoyed it! :cool:

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After Space we were a little peckish- and went old school family style by eating something we’d brought in with us! We didn’t end up eating the noodles last night, so after being in the fridge overnight we packed them with some packets of hot sauce to eat. That raised an eyebrow at bag check! Hey, we’ve been away for nearly 3 weeks and just paid $200 for Coronado for one night, we’ll take a saving here! They’d been in Russ’ bag for about an hour now so we thought it best to eat them soon. They still tasted pretty good and it was actually quite nice just to sit there at a table in Tommorrowland and enjoy the view.

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This was Russ’ “not so bad actually” face over bringing in our own food :joyfull:

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Next up we headed over to Fantasyland to finally see Philharmagic. This is probably my favourite MK attraction and we hadn’t hit it up yet! Luckily the projectors were running clear (last time on our only visit they were fuzzy!) and it was a great show as always. I always joke to Russ that I need one of these in our basement (we don’t even have a basement!) for me to escape reality now and then. I pretty much always tear up during The Little Mermaid and Aladdin parts!

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From here we headed on over to Under the Sea, because, well hello, my username is Ariel so that part is obvious. I love this ride. If it had existed when I was 5 my brain would have pretty much imploded. I used to decorate under my bed to be Ariel’s grotto and world when I was little, so this ride is like that x 1000. We’d stopped for a photo on the bridge outside BOG on the way to Little Mermaid.

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Ariel1986

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So after this we checked out times for BTMR. Of course now it was up a little- only to 35 mins but we didn’t feel like heading over that way- we had plans for Epcot and DHS as well as checking in to Beach Club- and it was already 3pm! So we decided to stroll back to the hub (via the Muppet's in Liberty Square!) and down Main Street, and to say goodbye to MK for this trip.

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There she is again :inlove:

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I didn’t want to leave! I shed a few tears looking at the castle. But we still had a day and a half left. It always goes so quick though! Even though we’d been away from England for nearly 3 weeks it still didn’t feel long enough!

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Off out the gates we went though and on to the first bus that turned up for the Epcot resorts! The first bus that appeared was for the Boardwalk, so we hopped on that. Once at the Boardwalk we went straight to Epcot as we were a little hungry and I’d be craving the Potato Knish from the L’Chaim store since two weeks ago! We also hadn’t had a room ready message yet (although this would turn out to be because we hadn’t done online check-in, duh!).

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Anyway, onward through the International Gateway we went!

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There you are delicious Potato Knish! We also grabbed some of the “Filled Jelly Donuts” which were not on the menu two weeks ago… and turned out to not contain any jelly! So we took them back and they offered us a Black and White cookie instead.

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I don’t know how these are supposed to taste, but it was very cakey and too filling to eat after the knish! So onward we went. It was quite busy around the showcase today- mainly because of the crowds queuing for the Candlelight Processional! It was Neil Patrick Harris tonight, who I would have loved to have seen- but there was no way we’d even be close to the theater coming at this point in the day! One thing we did get to see that we hadn’t before however was the pathway lifting to let the globe and fireworks pass through on to the lake! We just happened to get there as the path was closing and were right at the cut-off point. It made for a good view right at the gate though! That globe (of course) is huge! And it was really interesting seeing all the pyro settings. I can’t believe they do this every night!!

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After about 15 mins everything had passed and we were able to continue on our way around the showcase. We grabbed another Coffee Porter Stout from Prost! once more, a favourite of the Holidays Festival and continued on round.

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The knish and cookie had filled us up so much that neither of us fancied any of the other offerings! So we headed to the DVC lounge to grab a coffee before making our way back round to the Boardwalk area to go and check in at the Beach Club.
 

Ariel1986

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
What a beautiful time of day in World Showcase!

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We also quickly headed to the Speedway station nearby the Boardwalk to grab some beers and things for the last night or two before heading back to Beach Club to check-in. So more sunset views of the Boardwalk were captured! :inlove:

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Back at the Beach Club we got checked-in. Only one slight hiccup of our bands not registering at first- and then we were told the room door wouldn’t open with bands so we were given an old-school key and the maintenance man would be up shortly. First time in the DVC building! Hello Ariel! It’s almost like it’s meant to be… Beach Club is our favourite resort anyway before becoming DVC!

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We liked the entrance here with its own tree! And the room with the pool table. Russ really wanted to stop and play, but we’re in Disney for less than 48 more hours! We can play pool another time!

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Ariel1986

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The maintenance man was there when we arrived at our room- he was asking us how long our bands hadn’t worked and was it just the room- we explained we’d just checked in and they worked everywhere else, but he seemed confused as if we had called him. Anyway, once he saw we had a card that worked and we told him a card was fine as it was only one night, he left us to explore the room. And balcony! What a balcony! Why were we only staying one night?!

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We only stopped in the room for about 30-40 mins to recharge ourselves (and our phones!) and have a couple of drinks. Because it was time to finish the evening at DHS! We had a TSMM FP and the window was open. We headed out and decided on the boat since one was crossing the lake towards us as we approached the Yacht Club stop- also because with the temporary parking walkway the path at the DHS end from the Boardwalk isn’t as straight forward!

So pretty!

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It was quite a peaceful ride, we stayed on the back on the outside as it was quite busy, but we got to watch everything pass by in the open. When we arrived we realised that DHS was closing at 8pm… and it was 7.15pm! Doh! We thought it was 9pm. Oh well! We walked briskly to the gate and headed on in to Toy Story Land.

Just love the atmosphere here at night! Even when rushing to a FP! :joyfull:

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The competition was on, as always. And as always, Russ won!

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As we left, Russ went “Popsicle Wall photo, don’t forget!” before I did. Ahh, the Disney Indoctrination is complete! :D:cool:

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There was still about 15 mins until closing and we contemplated Slinky, but it was still over an hour. I would have waited, but I didn’t mind not doing so. We had managed at least one trip on Slinky- and without a FP- so I was happy. We sat enjoying the evening atmosphere in TSL before slowly walking back out to the main part of the park.

I just love the extra Christmas details! (Soldier holding up a Christmas hat Ham cookie!

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Ariel1986

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I think these lights are new? I loved them! Obviously we had to grab a pic!

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We decided to skip Jingle Bell Jingle Bam and avoid the crowds after it finished- but stood on Sunset for a little while admiring the snope and lasers before heading out.

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Even though we’d only been here less than an hour we’d still had an enjoyable time! And we decided to head back to the Boardwalk to grab something to eat and maybe catch Illuminations from the bridge on the Boardwalk, which wasn’t until 9.30pm so plenty of time.

We took a nice stroll along the river (after navigating the new exit to the river from the temporary parking walkway!) back to the Boardwalk and took a stroll around once there, stopping at the shops and to take in the atmosphere.

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We then continued back round towards the Beach Club, still with 45 mins until Illuminations so we decided to stop at Crew’s Cup Lounge which @dclfan had introduced us too in July for a bite to eat and some drinks. We didn’t mind if we didn’t finish in time for Illuminations, we were just going to play it by ear.

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We love the Crew’s Cup Lounge! The staff, drinks- and now food as we have discovered- are all awesome! We each just went with a beer tonight rather than cocktails (although Russ still almost got his beloved Smoked Turkey) and were going to order the Deviled Eggs and something else which I can’t remember- but our server recommended we try the Cheese Dip with Pretzel Bread to share and said we wouldn’t regret it (plus that it would be more than enough between us). So we decided to take him up on it.

OH MY GOD I’m so glad we did. This cheese dip was HEAVEN :hungry: It was definitely blended with garlic (I LOVE garlic along with cheese so this was more than heaven to me and Russ doesn’t even like garlic, but he LOVED this too!). But it was so light yet rich and creamy and topped with olives, onions and chorizo and it just tasted SO GOOD. And paired with Pretzel Bread- perfect! Our server even brought out pull-apart onion bread from the Yachtsman Steakhouse to eat with it also, not because we asked but because he said we had to try that too. It also paired like heaven! :hungry: So for $12 we pretty much were stuffed!

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As we left Illuminations had started, but we were happy to just wonder (roll!) back to our room to enjoy our giant balcony for the little time we had it!

So that was Thursday 6th! One full day left. But it was such a fun day! And even though we didn’t stay long in Epcot or DHS, it was still 3 parks in one day along with MK! We stayed up for a few more hours enjoying the room and balcony, before falling asleep ready for our last day and move to Coronado. I was ready to search for last min FoP FP’s! Our only must-do that hadn’t yet been achieved! Would we make it on…?
 

Rista1313

Well-Known Member
I think these lights are new? I loved them! Obviously we had to grab a pic!

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We decided to skip Jingle Bell Jingle Bam and avoid the crowds after it finished- but stood on Sunset for a little while admiring the snope and lasers before heading out.

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Even though we’d only been here less than an hour we’d still had an enjoyable time! And we decided to head back to the Boardwalk to grab something to eat and maybe catch Illuminations from the bridge on the Boardwalk, which wasn’t until 9.30pm so plenty of time.

We took a nice stroll along the river (after navigating the new exit to the river from the temporary parking walkway!) back to the Boardwalk and took a stroll around once there, stopping at the shops and to take in the atmosphere.

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We then continued back round towards the Beach Club, still with 45 mins until Illuminations so we decided to stop at Crew’s Cup Lounge which @dclfan had introduced us too in July for a bite to eat and some drinks. We didn’t mind if we didn’t finish in time for Illuminations, we were just going to play it by ear.

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We love the Crew’s Cup Lounge! The staff, drinks- and now food as we have discovered- are all awesome! We each just went with a beer tonight rather than cocktails (although Russ still almost got his beloved Smoked Turkey) and were going to order the Deviled Eggs and something else which I can’t remember- but our server recommended we try the Cheese Dip with Pretzel Bread to share and said we wouldn’t regret it (plus that it would be more than enough between us). So we decided to take him up on it.

OH MY GOD I’m so glad we did. This cheese dip was HEAVEN :hungry: It was definitely blended with garlic (I LOVE garlic along with cheese so this was more than heaven to me and Russ doesn’t even like garlic, but he LOVED this too!). But it was so light yet rich and creamy and topped with olives, onions and chorizo and it just tasted SO GOOD. And paired with Pretzel Bread- perfect! Our server even brought out pull-apart onion bread from the Yachtsman Steakhouse to eat with it also, not because we asked but because he said we had to try that too. It also paired like heaven! :hungry: So for $12 we pretty much were stuffed!

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As we left Illuminations had started, but we were happy to just wonder (roll!) back to our room to enjoy our giant balcony for the little time we had it!

So that was Thursday 6th! One full day left. But it was such a fun day! And even though we didn’t stay long in Epcot or DHS, it was still 3 parks in one day along with MK! We stayed up for a few more hours enjoying the room and balcony, before falling asleep ready for our last day and move to Coronado. I was ready to search for last min FoP FP’s! Our only must-do that hadn’t yet been achieved! Would we make it on…?

OMGEE that cheese dip looks so good!
 

Ariel1986

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
And so it had got to that last day. How does this day always come round and suddenly it feels like you only just arrived- even if the rest of the trip seemed to last for ages? Sigh. Best to just enjoy the day and ignore the reality looming for the next morning.

I spent some time last night checking for FoP FPs at about midnight, along with this morning around 8am. No joy. So the plan at the moment was to check out, send our bags over to Coronado and then head to Disney Springs for some last minute shopping, offsite for some American food stuffs to bring home, check-in at Coronado and then spend the evening at Animal Kingdom and try and hop on to FoP at close. We stayed in the room until check out to enjoy it.

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I was thinking about swimming as the Y&B is the best! But I wasn’t sure if it was warm enough or if we had time. So I packed my swim stuff in the bags to send to Coronado and we headed out. Doh! It was really sunny (and warm enough for us Brits!) and I realised I would have been fine swimming! We sat on a bench outside the Beach Club to take in the Boardwalk once more for a few mins.

Hello beautiful resort.

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I decided to randomly search whilst we sat for any FoP FP’s just in case- and what do you know, one popped up for an hours’ time!! Success right at the last minute!

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So plans for today would now change- AK, Disney Springs/offsite and then this evening who knows? And my regret of not swimming soon disappeared also. Although, the pool was practically empty and looked beautiful! We decided to walk through the area anyway to dip our toes in for a second.

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We then headed on through the Yacht Club to go grab a bus to AK! We ended up waiting 25 mins, but we ended up with a bus to ourselves at least!

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Ariel1986

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Once we arrived we headed straight to Pandora as our FP window was opening. I still love looking up at all the foliage and the mountains when I’m here. There were some loud drummers playing out of sight also, which added to the atmosphere!

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The actual FP que was quick with not too much wait to go into the rooms- however once in the pre-show room there was quite a long delay when they were trying to “match” us. We’ve had that before but this one lasted nearly 10 mins. Some new riders were confused why the pre-show was so long- they didn’t realise it doesn’t usually last this long.
Finally it was time to ride though!

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And… something went wrong. Lights started flashing behind the screen that lifts up when the ride starts- and we could here other riders laughing and screaming. It was really weird- but obviously the show had started without us/our screen didn’t lift? After about a minute I started saying to the first time riders that something was wrong- and then our screen suddenly lifted and the “portal” transition bit was going as usual for the start of the ride! But when we landed in Pandora- it was almost at the end! We were just about to fly over the ocean. Russ and I were confused and ready to tell the CM we’d missed over half the ride when it seamlessly transitioned to the beginning part and continued on! It then finished at the place that we’d joined. It was impressive how you wouldn’t have a clue if you hadn’t ridden before- and although slightly confusing for us at first, we still got the entire ride time and were able to enjoy it just the same.

After this we strolled through the gift shop and took a slow wonder back out through Pandora. I was a little hungry and thought about a pretzel, but we didn’t seem to pass a stand that sold one as we made our way out of the park- and I decided I could wait to get something in Disney Springs. As I opened up MDE a pop up for Tiffins appeared- offering a special $35 per person pre-fixe lunch option. We were really tempted, but not quite hungry enough- plus we had a few things to do. I really wanted to though and hope that appears again another time! We’ll probably give Tiffins a try either way. One of so many more that are on the ever-expanding list of places to try!
So we made our way out of the park- and I managed to score a Tower of Terror and Star Tours FP for DHS this evening in case we decided to go there. MK had a Christmas party, so that was off the list (there was one there last night too, otherwise we would have gone for one last HEA).

Onward to Disney Springs! Except… doh there’s no bus direct until after 4pm! We forgot that part. So we decided to get one to Saratoga Springs and get off at the stop nearest to walk to DS. We hadn’t done that before so were interested to see how the walk was. The bus ride wasn’t too bad from AK, probably 25 mins once we got to the bus stop that is nearest to the walking path. What a nice little trail to DS! It was interesting seeing it from this side of the water. The decor doesn’t really interest me at SSR- and I realise you’d need the rooms as near as possible to the walking path to make it worthwhile, but this peaked our interest in staying here. It was so pretty and so easy (maybe 5/10 mins to the old bus stop area/Christmas Tree Trail in DS?).

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Along this walk we decided to change plans to heading to the offsite supermarket first and then Disney Springs this evening instead, to eat and shop and relax, as it was open the latest. That meant no more parks this trip, but we had gotten everything done that we wanted- and we love DS. We hadn’t properly been there since we’d been back from Mexico, so we wanted to make sure we had some time. Plus we also wanted a little time to enjoy Coronado Springs.

So that was the plan! We headed offsite, grabbed a quick bite at the Crossroads area and headed to a supermarket to get enough American food bits (and a couple of 80% cheaper bottles of our favourite spirits/liquors! Seriously, England prices can be like Disney prices!) to keep us going until whenever we next return! Well, the drinks won’t last past Christmas probably, but still! :D

We also found a $20 bill on the ground whilst we were walking (woo!) and decided to use it to buy a $20 scratcher to win the jackpot and not have to go home! And... we won! Another $20… :joyfull: So therein began about 30 mins of winning various $10-30 amounts on each new scratcher until we eventually lost. Oh well, it was fun whilst it lasted! I really thought we’d be extending our stay and switching our flights home to First Class for a minute there. Next time!

So after this we made our way back to DS to catch a bus to Coronado to check-in. Writing this it seems like we did a crazy amount of walking- but we actually enjoy walking around- even offsite- and down Hotel Plaza Blvd as it’s all nostalgic to us from our first trip together. We like to take everything in, especially as we were going home tomorrow! We also didn’t buy a crazy amount from the supermarket so it was easy to carry between the two of us. It was also a beautiful time of day to be walking back!

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Back in DS a bus soon appeared for Coronado Springs and we were on our way to the last hotel of the trip. It was a beautiful sunset as we were on the bus. I couldn’t stop staring. Look at that sky!

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