Trip Report **COMPLETED** A Grand Christmas Trip (in November!)

Hey all! We have been back for about a week now so I will slowly work on my Trip Report :) Not sure if anyone even knew I went on this trip aside from people who follow me on IG and snapchat :joyfull:

Who?
Who else...my Mom (Mary) and I (Megan)
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When?
November 16-19

Where?
The Grand Floridian :) First time stay for us....and won't be the last! We fell in love! :inlove:
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Why?
We wanted to see the Christmas decorations...and well, why not?

T-1 Day November 15, 2017
We had a very early morning flight so instead of making my Dad get up early to drive us we planned on staying at a hotel across the street from the airport the night before. For some reason this plan continued to morph and we decided we should eat at the Cracker Barrel before going to the hotel. I have no idea why but it felt like a thing people do before Disney trips and we had never been before so why not?
So, after a busy day at work I headed to my parents house and we packed up the car and drove off to dinner.
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My Mom and I both got the Southern Chicken biscuits
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We both got Mac and Cheese and she got fries while I got hashbrown casserole (which had a bit too much onion for my taste).
My Dad got the chicken fried chicken (with mashed potatoes and hashbrown casserole) just because it seemed like a thing people eat in the South/at Cracker Barrel. I don't know...we are very Northern :)
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Yum!!! I have no idea why it took us so long to eat at Cracker Barrel but we really enjoyed it! It was way too much food though, my Mom and I should have shared. My Dad ate the rest of it over 2 meals the next day :joyfull:
Is it a visit to Cracker Barrel without a rocking chair picture?
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Anyway, after dinner my Dad drove us to the hotel and dropped us off. The worker was like "where are you visiting from?!" and we sheepishly said we were from here and just staying over for an early flight :p
We dropped our stuff off in our room and headed to the bar for a drink but it was full of business men who were sitting every other seat and we didn't feel like asking someone to move over or having to make awkward/polite small talk so we went back to the room. :p I talk to people all day long...sometimes I just don't want to talk anymore!
This is the only picture I have of the room because I thought it was funny that the phone was extra old :)
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We watched some TV then went off to bed early.....only we didn't. We were on the first floor and could hear everything outside including cars parking, backing up beeping, etc etc. :banghead:

Day 1 November 16, 2017
After a very eventful night of minimal sleep we both got up around 3:30 to get ready. We have an early flight coming up in a few months and we, after some discussion, decided it was not worth staying at the hotel the night before again. Too hard to sleep. If I am going to have to get up early I would rather it be from my own bed (because yes I still have a bed at my parents house...because I'm the baby child aka the most important :joyfull:) :hilarious:
I know you guys think these pictures are weird but its our tradition!
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Next up: flight time
 

PixieDust900

Active Member
Day 4 November 19, 2017
Well we got up at like 4 am for our 9:30 am flight thanks to the new DME pick up time (which was 5 am for us). I said it in a previous post but DME now comes 4 hours ahead of the flight because they were having trouble getting people to the airport on time apparently. Not sure if this is permanent or just during the holiday rush. We wanted to make sure we were still able to check in our luggage and thankfully we were able to. I think they extended the check in time an hour earlier - probably to accommodate the new DME times.
Bye Conch Key
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Grand Floridian is especially beautiful in the morning, despite being cranky about the new pick up times
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We got to see the Gingerbread House with no one around :)
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Took a picture of my stuffed animals like a weirdo :joyfull:
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Some random lobby pictures :)
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Random weird thing that happens in the middle of the night is that they apparently water everything. EVERYTHING! We navigated through tons of sprinklers and hoses :joyfull: Makes sense why the sidewalks are always wet!
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We waited for our DME which for once was on time and we were the last stop so while we hoped to waste some time on the DME we went right to the airport. We had TSA precheck and of course we were right through security so we had tons of time (like 3.5 hours). We ate breakfast, booked FPs for our next trip, did some online shopping and then eventually made our way home. I think maybe I would have been comfortable taking an uber to the airport if I was guaranteed to have TSA precheck but we have had it on our boarding passes in the past when we didn't actually have it so it made us nervous. Although we did actually formally go through the process of getting TSA precheck they still say its not a guarantee that you will have it. Oh well, despite the early DME time it was a fantastic trip!! As I said we adored the Grand Floridian and can not wait to go back !

Next up: 2 weeks and 1 day until we leave again :)

This TR was so cute! My parents have no interest in going to Disney, but I just found out my mom has a conference in April at WDW, so I am trying to convince her to extend her stay and we make it a mom/daughter trip. We shall see! I would love for her to experience it in a fun way (her only previous experience was walking around randomly at MK with her boss and getting in an hour long wait for it's a small world!).

When do you go back? We arrive the 17th of Jan and leave on the 26th. Is your mom going with you on your next trip too?
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Ahhh I hope we run into each other!! My head is usually in the clouds as well... but I trust the fate of the wdw magic ;)

So excited for your Bills! My Cleveland Browns went 0-16. How could they not win one game is beyond me LOL :p Joes eagles were looking pretty good until Wentz got injured! I can’t have the eagles in super bowl!!!

Thanks for sharing another wonderful report! I love Disney for the holidays, Grnad Floridian for the holidays just seems like the ultimate dream come true!!!

I'm sure we will run into each other one way or another :) The Eagles still looked pretty good without Wentz though! Grand Floridian was a dream :)
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
This TR was so cute! My parents have no interest in going to Disney, but I just found out my mom has a conference in April at WDW, so I am trying to convince her to extend her stay and we make it a mom/daughter trip. We shall see! I would love for her to experience it in a fun way (her only previous experience was walking around randomly at MK with her boss and getting in an hour long wait for it's a small world!).

When do you go back? We arrive the 17th of Jan and leave on the 26th. Is your mom going with you on your next trip too?

Aww one can only hope for a Mother Daughter trip! I think people tend to like Disney better when with someone who knows it well and can navigate the crows well! We arrive on Jan 17 too! We leave the 21st. It will be just my Mom and I again :)
 

kybred72

Active Member
Hello! Super enjoyed reading your trip report! Have always wanted to visit at Christmas time. It looks like the decorations take the magic up just an extra notch :) I love that you travel with and are so close with your mom, adore the matching outfits! <3
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Hello! Super enjoyed reading your trip report! Have always wanted to visit at Christmas time. It looks like the decorations take the magic up just an extra notch :) I love that you travel with and are so close with your mom, adore the matching outfits! <3

Aw thank you so much! I definitely agree that the Christmas decorations take the magic up a notch :) I told my Mom maybe we should pack a matching outfit for every trip...just because :joyfull:
 

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