Pre-Trip The Last Hurrah?

DH: Whatcha doing?

BES: err... Just poking around online.

DH (looking over my shoulder): Oh trip stuff? For Star Wars?

BES: Perhaps. Trying to figure out a good week crowd wise and get the resort I want. I’m tempted to book something for now and then change if I need to.

DH: Sounds good to me. Do it.

BES: Really?

DH: Yeah. The timing doesn’t matter whether I can or can’t go so just book when you want.

BES: Ok. I can cancel or reschedule until early November but at least I have something booked for now. Just to have it.

DH: So then you have it.

BES: Exactly.

385238


So I’m tentatively heading back to POP from Nov 11-16. 🥰

Shout out to @NessNewt for the TR title inspiration.
 

Back!Elbow!Shoulders!

Omnia mutantur, nihil interit
Premium Member
Original Poster
Day 6: Somewhere in Time Someplace on Mackinaw Island

DH picked at place for lunch and by picked I mean went with the first place we walked by. (This is his favorite method of picking. Results are mixed)

Our waiter was from NY and he was like super from NY. He was really nice but just maybe more chatty and direct than my delicate Midwestern sensibilities are used to.

He pretty much told us what to order and when DH admitted that we where just kind of winging it plan-wise the waiter almost sat down at the table and started an itinerary for us.

Waiter: “So here’s what you’re going to do...”

BES:
403886


Lunch was ok. I had a bottle of Soft Parade which was great especially on a hot day. I briefly coveted the Dragon’s Milk on the menu (it’s a very high ABV stout) but figured that wasn’t something I should drink before hiking about. 🥴

The lady at the table next to us did get the Dragon’s Milk. For her 60th birthday! Way to go lady. 🥳

After lunch we walked in the direction of the fanciest hotel on the island- The Grand Hotel. For non-guests to cost $10/person to go inside. Our waiter had told us how to avoid this fee but we didn’t feel right about that so we just walked near it.

403887


403888


403897


403889


403890


Eventually we stumbled upon to the Grand Hotel’s stables which were free to tour and had a bunch of old carriages on display as well as all of their horses.

403891


403892


403893


403898


Do you think the parents would remind that kid all of the time that they paid $25,000 for him? 😂
 

Swissmiss

Premium Member
Day 6: Somewhere in Time Someplace on Mackinaw Island

DH picked at place for lunch and by picked I mean went with the first place we walked by. (This is his favorite method of picking. Results are mixed)

Our waiter was from NY and he was like super from NY. He was really nice but just maybe more chatty and direct than my delicate Midwestern sensibilities are used to.

He pretty much told us what to order and when DH admitted that we where just kind of winging it plan-wise the waiter almost sat down at the table and started an itinerary for us.

Waiter: “So here’s what you’re going to do...”

BES:
View attachment 403886

Lunch was ok. I had a bottle of Soft Parade which was great especially on a hot day. I briefly coveted the Dragon’s Milk on the menu (it’s a very high ABV stout) but figured that wasn’t something I should drink before hiking about. 🥴

The lady at the table next to us did get the Dragon’s Milk. For her 60th birthday! Way to go lady. 🥳

After lunch we walked in the direction of the fanciest hotel on the island- The Grand Hotel. For non-guests to cost $10/person to go inside. Our waiter had told us how to avoid this fee but we didn’t feel right about that so we just walked near it.

View attachment 403887

View attachment 403888

View attachment 403897

View attachment 403889

View attachment 403890

Eventually we stumbled upon to the Grand Hotel’s stables which were free to tour and had a bunch of old carriages on display as well as all of their horses.

View attachment 403891

View attachment 403892

View attachment 403893

View attachment 403898

Do you think the parents would remind that kid all of the time that they paid $25,000 for him? 😂

Perhaps the hotel could use some of the money they charge non-guests to hire someone to proofread in their stables 😉
 

Back!Elbow!Shoulders!

Omnia mutantur, nihil interit
Premium Member
Original Poster
I guess I wouldn’t do very well at that hotel. I’m not much of a coat and tie kind of fella, especially if I’m on vacation!

We didn’t get close enough to see how strictly these rules were enforced but I’m sure very few ladies would even think of wearing slacks in August in MI. 🥵

Perhaps the hotel could use some of the money they charge non-guests to hire someone to proofread in their stables 😉

Haha! Perhaps they didn’t think enough of us ‘commoners’ could read for it to matter.
 

Back!Elbow!Shoulders!

Omnia mutantur, nihil interit
Premium Member
Original Poster
Day 6: (Mackinaw) Island in the Sun

Even though it was a bit before official check in we decided to head to our hotel for the night.

Saw this on the way:
405882


The Detroit Institute of Art has a program called InsideOut where they have various art replicas on display throughout the state. Pleasantly surprised to see one here.

Finally at our hotel- Mission Point Resort.
405883


405884


405885


405886


Our room was ready! We got actual keys too:

405889


Not too exciting of a room. Mind you this resort was “deluxe” pricing by Disney standards but it’s all about location.

405887


405888


After freshening up a bit we got coffee and a snack at the resort. We got to see a wedding while we ate.

405890


Next we explored the resort some more and decided to follow up our snack with a light dinner. We picked the outside restaurant on the resort grounds.

I had truffle fries and a cocktail that had bourbon. DH had a some sort of hummus, bread and olive app.

The waiter was less than enthused that we weren’t ordering more so the service was pretty slow. When we were finally done we had just enough time to start our next activity.

I was really excited about it. DH not so much.
 

Back!Elbow!Shoulders!

Omnia mutantur, nihil interit
Premium Member
Original Poster
Day 6: Tour de Mackinaw

Our next activity was bicycling around the island. DH hadn’t ridden a bike in years and was a little apprehensive about it. All of my recent cycling was indoors so I was looking forward to a real ride.

We rented these sweet rides at our resort. Super comfy and in perfect condition.

406434


There’s an 8 mile long road that goes along the perimeter of Mackinaw Island. It’s a state highway and totally car free.

Since we waited so late in the day most of the day tourists were gone and there was hardly anyone on the road. It was perfect conditions for DH to relearn how to ride.

Made a stop at Arch Rock:

406435


At some point DH started to get comfortable with it. Too comfortable.

DH: So this is what your spinning classes are like, huh?

BES: Well like for the warm up song.

DH: 😳

I was tempted to suggest a second lap but the bike rental place was closing. We turned in our bikes and I got ready to read in the hot tub while DH read in the room.

406436


I ended up just reading in a pool chair. The hot tub was more so a tepid tub.

A little kid at the pool had the correct description of it: “The hot tub is the temperature that the pool should be.” 😥

After reading time we decided to take a night walk downtown and grabbed some pizza at one of the only non-bar places open.

Back to the resort for our final night of vacation. This day my phone shows we walked 31,000 steps. Plus the 8 mile bike ride. We were definitely ready to sleep.

The lobby of the resort. Not sure why I didn’t take any day pictures of it:

406437

Fancy (and empty) restaurant at our resort:
406438
 

Back!Elbow!Shoulders!

Omnia mutantur, nihil interit
Premium Member
Original Poster
Day 7: Homeward bound

We got up and got ready for breakfast. There was a breakfast buffet at the resort’s sit down restaurant that was included in our resort package.

Our view at breakfast:
406911


We packed up and checked out and rolled our luggage downtown to the docks.

A Mackinaw Island traffic jam:
406922


On the return ferry:
406923


406924


406925


406926


Made it back to the main mitten and back to our car. The funky tire hadn’t lost pressure. Yay!

Since Michigan highway driving can be pretty intense we decided to drive on the back roads to the next town downstate and stop by a more official tire place on the way home.

Got an all clear that the tire damage was cosmetic and not structural. Double yay!

Now we felt comfortable getting on the expressway and heading home.

We dropped off our luggage and home and got the dog from my parents.

At home doggo brought me three toys at once. A sure sign she was glad to have us back.

406949
 

Back!Elbow!Shoulders!

Omnia mutantur, nihil interit
Premium Member
Original Poster
Back to actual pre-trip business!

Today I am 63 days out. 🥳
I am days away from booking FPs but have no game plan yet for this trip. 😱

Partially I been too busy to sit down and plan. Partially I’m not sure what to do.

Do I book FPs assuming I can ride everything or not?

I’m leaning towards booking everything and then switching out “the mountains” etc if I need to later.

Hopefully work will be slow today and I can at least figure out what park(s) each day.

Also it’s looking like DH is a no-go for this trip. ☹ He’s insistent that I still go. We’re both bummed he’s not going but on the bright side he’s now fully receptive to a trip. Now it’s a matter of when not if.
 

Darstarr

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
Back to actual pre-trip business!

Today I am 63 days out. 🥳
I am days away from booking FPs but have no game plan yet for this trip. 😱

Partially I been too busy to sit down and plan. Partially I’m not sure what to do.

Do I book FPs assuming I can ride everything or not?

I’m leaning towards booking everything and then switching out “the mountains” etc if I need to later.

Hopefully work will be slow today and I can at least figure out what park(s) each day.

Also it’s looking like DH is a no-go for this trip. ☹ He’s insistent that I still go. We’re both bummed he’s not going but on the bright side he’s now fully receptive to a trip. Now it’s a matter of when not if.
Book like you mean it. You can always switch it out later.
 

Back!Elbow!Shoulders!

Omnia mutantur, nihil interit
Premium Member
Original Poster
60 days out. FP selections made.

Work got in the way of my play. My shift started at 6am today and managed to book FP as I worked. The glitchy app and my poor WiFi access didn’t help the situation.

I had a nice chart of my plans for which park which day made annnnd I left it at home. 🤦🏻‍♀️I think my choices were good enough all things considered.

Got everything I was interested in besides SDD.
 

Back!Elbow!Shoulders!

Omnia mutantur, nihil interit
Premium Member
Original Poster
In a moment of weakness I almost bought an upgraded BB-8 Magic Band.

Why almost?

You know the answer. (Poor IT.)

The infuriating error message caused me to snap out it and get my head right. I already have several perfectly good bands from this year.

After much googling I figured out how to decline a band for this trip.

There are better uses for my $10.

On the subject of frivolous SW purchases...

I don’t typically buy clothing for a Disney trip but... I did buy something with this trip in mind.

DH’s review: “Yub Nub!”
 

Back!Elbow!Shoulders!

Omnia mutantur, nihil interit
Premium Member
Original Poster
A slight bummer of an update. I had to change my return flight to leave much earlier. So no more park time on my departure day. 😢

Why the change?

418559


My parents needs me to watch my nephew that night... because they are flying out early the next morning... to go to Disney. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Still not clear why my nephew’s mom can’t do it but oh well. 🤔

I was originally not getting home til late on Saturday night and then had planned for relaxing with DH all of Sunday. Now will be getting home Saturday afternoon and watching nephew until Sunday afternoon.

DH said that I should leave my flight alone and he would be glad to babysit our nephew until I got back but I decided it would be less stressful this way.
 

Darstarr

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
A slight bummer of an update. I had to change my return flight to leave much earlier. So no more park time on my departure day. 😢

Why the change?

View attachment 418559

My parents needs me to watch my nephew that night... because they are flying out early the next morning... to go to Disney. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Still not clear why my nephew’s mom can’t do it but oh well. 🤔

I was originally not getting home til late on Saturday night and then had planned for relaxing with DH all of Sunday. Now will be getting home Saturday afternoon and watching nephew until Sunday afternoon.

DH said that I should leave my flight alone and he would be glad to babysit our nephew until I got back but I decided it would be less stressful this way.
You are a good person.
 

Back!Elbow!Shoulders!

Omnia mutantur, nihil interit
Premium Member
Original Poster
You are a good person.

Thanks. My parents are the real MVPs here. They have my nephew most weekends, most of the summer and school breaks and whatever weeknights his mom randomly decides.

They really do need and deserve this trip. DH and I are always glad to watch him and help out however we can. Just wish this particular time didn’t involve a pricey flight change.
 

Loco_driver

Well-Known Member
We had a Lyft driver from Michigan last week. She was telling us about how we should visit Mackinaw island. Made me think of your trip pics! Crazy that you guys got snow for Halloween. It was nice and warm down in Orlando last weekend, although shockingly not so much when we landed in Texas the other night! Congrats on single digits until your trip now!
 

Rista1313

Well-Known Member
We had a Lyft driver from Michigan last week. She was telling us about how we should visit Mackinaw island. Made me think of your trip pics! Crazy that you guys got snow for Halloween. It was nice and warm down in Orlando last weekend, although shockingly not so much when we landed in Texas the other night! Congrats on single digits until your trip now!

Everyone should visit Mackinaw island... it's a beautiful place!
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom