I must preface this unexpected pre-trip report by stating I had no intention of visiting WDW in 2018 after we had such a great time in December 2017. Our plan has been to save up some of our DVC points and return in September 2019 when much of the park expansion work is completed. That said, earlier this year my mom participated in one of the Disney Institute programs, Disney's Approach to Quality Service, which was held over 4 days at the Yacht Club. She returned raving about the experience and how much she took away from the entire program. She made reference that if I ever had the chance to participate I should definitely jump on it.
Fast forward a few months and the topic of professional development came up around my office. I didn't think much of it until I remembered the DI courses so I started to do some digging. It seemed like most of my team here didn't have any programs they were interested in attending so I shot my shot and requested the same Approach to Quality Service Course. At first, it was not well received based on the total cost and the poor exchange rate here in Canada so I didn't put too much thought into actually going. But, after an application for a government grant was approved earlier this week to cover a significant portion of the program cost, I was given the green light to go ahead and book!
And so...I now have the good fortune of writing this completely unexpected, yet very exciting, "work" related pre-trip report!
WHEN: September 9 - 15, 2018
WHERE: Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa
WHO: At the moment this is a solo trip for me (Matt), though Kelly is definitely trying to find an angle to join with the kids. We'll see what we can come up with.
Untitled by Matt Mandrusiak, on Flickr
*post-haircut during the last trip. The only "solo" picture of me I could find!
While I am super excited to be staying at the Grand, I doubt I will get as lucky as we did when we checked in for a short one-night stay in December before moving to the Beach Club. Should you want to read more about the crazy cool night we spent in the Cape Coral Suite, here is a link to the last trip report. The course itself will be held at the Grand from September 10-13 and I am very much looking forward to getting the chance to explore the resort even more this trip.
The session days are pretty full from what I understand but they include some pretty memorable experiences including tours of some of the backstage areas and a bunch of other really cool features that I'm certainly looking forward to. Along with the course, each participant is provided with a 2-day park hopper pass so I've planned to arrive a day early and stay a day after (which could turn into more depending if Kelly, Ella and Lennon find their way down) to get a small taste of the parks. I'm happy I've been able to confirm this early enough to set up a few FP+ reservations when my window opens up.
I will be departing from Edmonton in the wee hours of the morning on September 9th, arriving in Orlando at 10:30am. I'm just awaiting my confirmation number for my resort booking to set up my DME to take me to the Grand. I plan on heading straight to the parks when I arrive to have a little fun before things get serious the next day.
And while this trip is unexpected, the WDW planner in me made sure to make a few dining reservations when all this discussion started just to be on the safe side. I figured I could always cancel them if things fell through. Since everything is now going ahead I'm very much looking forward to the following dining experiences...
September 9- Dinner at the Plaza
September 10 - Breakfast at Kona Cafe
September 13 - Dinner at the Edison
September 14 - Dinner at SciFi Dine-In Theatre
Regrettably, we didn't get to enjoy breakfast at Kona during the last trip and since it's a quick walk from the Grand I figured I couldn't pass it up this time around. I'm looking forward to a new experience at the Edison and heading back to a couple of old favourites in the Plaza and Sci-Fi.
Dinner on the first day of the course along with breakfast and lunch on the remaining days are included in the course so I'm sure I'll explore some different dining options during s few of the evenings I'll have to roam around. now knowing that things wrap up around 430 pm each day I may add another reservation at some point down the road. I will say, the pulled pork nachos from Cap'n Cooks and a Dole Whip at the Poly will definitely make for a nice dinner one of the nights.
September 14th will be another park day for me before returning home the next day. The plan now is to visit Animal Kingdom first thing the morning, do as much as I can there, then head to Hollywood Studios to get a look at Toy Story Land. However, now that I see the Halloween party is taking place at MK on both the 9th and 15th, I may have to revise my plans to make the most of my short time in the parks.
I'll continue to keep updating this report as time counts down to September. I'm very much looking forward to the course and getting a little unexpected Disney time in this year!
Fast forward a few months and the topic of professional development came up around my office. I didn't think much of it until I remembered the DI courses so I started to do some digging. It seemed like most of my team here didn't have any programs they were interested in attending so I shot my shot and requested the same Approach to Quality Service Course. At first, it was not well received based on the total cost and the poor exchange rate here in Canada so I didn't put too much thought into actually going. But, after an application for a government grant was approved earlier this week to cover a significant portion of the program cost, I was given the green light to go ahead and book!
And so...I now have the good fortune of writing this completely unexpected, yet very exciting, "work" related pre-trip report!
WHEN: September 9 - 15, 2018
WHERE: Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa
WHO: At the moment this is a solo trip for me (Matt), though Kelly is definitely trying to find an angle to join with the kids. We'll see what we can come up with.
Untitled by Matt Mandrusiak, on Flickr*post-haircut during the last trip. The only "solo" picture of me I could find!
While I am super excited to be staying at the Grand, I doubt I will get as lucky as we did when we checked in for a short one-night stay in December before moving to the Beach Club. Should you want to read more about the crazy cool night we spent in the Cape Coral Suite, here is a link to the last trip report. The course itself will be held at the Grand from September 10-13 and I am very much looking forward to getting the chance to explore the resort even more this trip.
The session days are pretty full from what I understand but they include some pretty memorable experiences including tours of some of the backstage areas and a bunch of other really cool features that I'm certainly looking forward to. Along with the course, each participant is provided with a 2-day park hopper pass so I've planned to arrive a day early and stay a day after (which could turn into more depending if Kelly, Ella and Lennon find their way down) to get a small taste of the parks. I'm happy I've been able to confirm this early enough to set up a few FP+ reservations when my window opens up.
I will be departing from Edmonton in the wee hours of the morning on September 9th, arriving in Orlando at 10:30am. I'm just awaiting my confirmation number for my resort booking to set up my DME to take me to the Grand. I plan on heading straight to the parks when I arrive to have a little fun before things get serious the next day.
And while this trip is unexpected, the WDW planner in me made sure to make a few dining reservations when all this discussion started just to be on the safe side. I figured I could always cancel them if things fell through. Since everything is now going ahead I'm very much looking forward to the following dining experiences...
September 9- Dinner at the Plaza
September 10 - Breakfast at Kona Cafe
September 13 - Dinner at the Edison
September 14 - Dinner at SciFi Dine-In Theatre
Regrettably, we didn't get to enjoy breakfast at Kona during the last trip and since it's a quick walk from the Grand I figured I couldn't pass it up this time around. I'm looking forward to a new experience at the Edison and heading back to a couple of old favourites in the Plaza and Sci-Fi.
Dinner on the first day of the course along with breakfast and lunch on the remaining days are included in the course so I'm sure I'll explore some different dining options during s few of the evenings I'll have to roam around. now knowing that things wrap up around 430 pm each day I may add another reservation at some point down the road. I will say, the pulled pork nachos from Cap'n Cooks and a Dole Whip at the Poly will definitely make for a nice dinner one of the nights.
September 14th will be another park day for me before returning home the next day. The plan now is to visit Animal Kingdom first thing the morning, do as much as I can there, then head to Hollywood Studios to get a look at Toy Story Land. However, now that I see the Halloween party is taking place at MK on both the 9th and 15th, I may have to revise my plans to make the most of my short time in the parks.
I'll continue to keep updating this report as time counts down to September. I'm very much looking forward to the course and getting a little unexpected Disney time in this year!
