Trip Report **COMPLETED** A (Love) Bug's Life

Hi everyone!
Happy Mother's Day!!!
We just got back from Disney yesterday and it is cold and raining here so seems like a good time to start our TR!

Who?
My Mom (Mary), my Dad (Jeff) and myself (Megan)
This photo is from our trip last year

Where?
Grand Floridian - aside from a very brief stay at the Poly during a race weekend my Dad has never stayed at a Deluxe. So, with a nice AP discount we let him pick any place he wanted and he decided on the Grand

When?
May 3 - 11, 2019

Why?
No big reason - we usually go around this time every year to help with the depression of the never ending winter here at home (and its still cold BTW...)

The title?
We have seen love bugs before but we have NEVER seen this many. I know they don't bite or anything but they were everywhere and at times the amount of them was just disgusting. We could not even sit on our balcony and if we were by the pool the only place they did not bother us was in the water. Ew This is the very reason I do not live in Florida...bugs.

Day 1 May 3, 2019
Our flight was pretty early so I got up at like 2:20 am
My parents picked me up just before 3 and we were on our way! I ALWAYS email Southwest to ask what time their counters open and this time I forgot. So, we got there at 3:20 and it was not open...whoops

Everyone was lined up in the full service line but we waited by the self tag kiosks and we ended up being the first ones done with our luggage. Since it was so early the TSA pre-check line was not open yet so we had to go through regular security which is only annoying when you have have a computer and an iPad to drag out

Be prepared for my Dad not cooperating for photos

Around 4 am the food places open so we grabbed a bagel

I spy our plane

The time flew by at the airport and very quickly we were boarding the plane! Our flight was on time for once!
Gang is all here..

Next up: more travel

 

[Doc Disney]

I had the cheesecake last year (2018) and it was great. I had it again this year (2019) and it just wasn't as good.

I can't really put my finger on the difference - there were a few small changes to the plating but I can't imagine it would have such an effect. It's a bummer.

Hm...that makes sense then why it did not seem to live up to the hype

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 8 continued
More safari

After our safari we ended up heading out of the park. We planned on eating lunch at Rainforest Cafe so we headed there
We always take elephant photos here so enjoy ... my Dad's succession of them make me laugh

When we got inside it was packed! We usually sit at the bar but it was so crowded and the wait looked very long so we ended up just leaving and planned on eating back at the GF. Of course this is the time we waited well over 20 minutes for a bus! We were starving!
Back at Gasparilla Grill we grabbed some lunch finally.
I got Mac and cheese (which was the kids version so came with fries)

My Mom got a cupcake (with fries on the side) - very interesting combo.

And my Dad got a cucumber salad (which is a side) with fries. I include this photo to show you how ridiculously small a "side" is

I will say. Gasparilla Grill redeemed itself this trip. We enjoyed pretty much everything we ate there. The last time we were there my Mom and I got a "side" of Mac and cheese (aka a Dixie cup) and it was not good but this Mac and cheese was especially delicious!

Next up: more GF

 

[93boomer]

Day 5 continued
I was super on the fence about ordering ice cream but my Dad said he saw some sundaes and they did not look that big so just order one.
He lied...they were big (for me)
My Mom and I both got the Plaza Sundae - mine was mint chocolate chip and hers was vanilla and chocolate.
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I barely made a dent but it was good!
Oh wait I just remembered our waiters name it was Mike - I remembered because we referred to him as mean Mike
After dinner we headed towards Tomorrowland
Purple Rock photo
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We elected to use our final FP for Buzz instead of Splash Mountain. What can I say...my entire family is obsessed with Buzz
So I rode with my Dad and something amazing happened
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GALACTIC HERO!
This was the first time I ever got it without the ride stopping. I was so proud of myself. My Dad had no clue what was happening I think
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I was in solidarity with my Dad for not having sunglasses (well secretly I did not tell him I was doing that haha) so super squint in this photo
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Next up: more MK

These sundaes made me drool! Cute dress!

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 8 continued
It was pool time next!

Of course we did spend time in the lounge eating some snacks between pool visits...I finally took pictures

Endless supply of POG juice

These are really helpful....can't see the food

Apparently I ate some scones and bread with butter

The pool was very hot and very buggy this day so at some point we did just end up relaxing in the room for a bit.

Next up: MK

 

[Doc Disney]

These sundaes made me drool! Cute dress!

Thank you! And they were really good!

 

[TrolleyFollower91]

Glad to see more ice cream this trip. I’ll give you back your patriotic card.

 

[Doc Disney]

Glad to see more ice cream this trip. I’ll give you back your patriotic card.

Phew thank you!

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 8 continued
After our break we got dressed and ready to head to the MK.
I felt compelled to take a picture of sunshine and trees since I had a feeling it would be awhile before we saw sun again

Hello duck couple

We took the boat so we stopped at the Poly first

Then we made it to the Magic Kingdom!

We stopped for a PP picture right away

We shopped in the Emporium for a few minutes (although I don't think we bought anything) and bumped right into Move It, Shake It

Does this parade usually have live singers ? I only ask because there were signs up that they were filming this parade so I wasn't sure if the singers were added just for that.

Next up: more parade

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 8 continued

We had dinner plans so we wandered back over to Town Square

Our dinner was at Tony's! We checked in just about on time but we waited over 15 minutes to be seated. This is definitely a restaurant that never runs on time.
We were seated in the sun room! There was only one table of people outside (aka love bug city) so we had a nice view.

Next up: more Tony's

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 8 continued

Bread to start

My Dad got the chicken parm

I had the gnocchi primavera

And my Mom had the spaghetti and meatballs

Everything was delicious as usual!
I say it all the time but we love Tony's despite all the hate it gets!
After dinner we headed over towards our FP that I picked up earlier in the day

Haunted Mansion!

Next up: More MK

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 8 continued
A bunch of photo pass pictures after our ride...

Then we sadly had to head out...
Goodbye Magic Kingdom

We headed out to watch the fireworks one last time...

Next up: more HEA

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 8 continued

Right after the fireworks I heard the Electrical Water Pageant. My parents went upstairs while I went to watch it. It was the first time I saw it all week so I was so excited. A perfect last night ending!

After this I slowly made my way back taking it all in.

Next up: last day

 

[NessNewt]

Love the picture of your parents eating the strand of spaghetti Lady and the Tramp style.

 

[Doc Disney]

Love the picture of your parents eating the strand of spaghetti Lady and the Tramp style.

My Dad was an unwilling participant

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 9 May 11, 2019
We got up around 7, finished packing, checked our luggage in and headed to the monorail.

Our final destination was Fort Wilderness so we headed to the boat dock

A light for you....

Once on the actual boat we had to wait a few minutes while they pulled out the other ferry. Our captain was telling us how hard it was to do that since it is such a huge boat. He also took this opportunity to tell us joke after joke after joke

Goodbye River Country...

Hello Fort Wilderness Boat Dock

Next up: more FW

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 9 continued
We were actually a few minutes late to our reservation because of the boat but we were heading to Trails End which is never busy anyway so it really did not matter.
My Mom and I are borderline obsessed with Trails End brunch so of course we dragged my Dad over there too

I must have been in a state of last day depression because those are the only pictures I took
The food was delicious as usual !! Can not recommend Trails End enough!
Some random Fort Wilderness photos...

Then we took the boat back to the MK (I almost stopped inside to get popcorn but the lines were nuts) and the boat to GF. We met some Patriots fans on the boat who were super nice and were praising the Bills for always giving the Pats a challenge? My Dad and I were like .... are you talking about the same Bills we know ?
We did keep our carry ons in the room so we went to grab those and spent time some relaxing until Mousekeeping came to see if we left yet (I think it was pretty close to 11). So...we did leave so they could get the room turned over.
Goodbye room

We did spend some time in the lobby waiting for the Tragical Express.
We ran into a CM there who grew up in the same neighborhood that we live in and my Mom ended up knowing his family pretty well. What a small world!

Then sadly we headed out to the Tragical Express

And our usual pouting face...

And that's it

We had a fantastic trip and my Dad really enjoyed his first true Deluxe stay
The only true negative was the love bugs. I mean...you could not enjoy the balcony or sit by the pool or do some things in the park without them being all over you so that was a bummer. We made do - but it did give me another good reason to not move to Florida

Thanks for following along!

Next up: 4th of July in Disney!

 

[Swissmiss]

Thanks for sharing ... I’ll be looking forward to your TR next month

 

[Captain Barbossa]

We met some Patriots fans on the boat who were super nice and were praising the Bills for always giving the Pats a challenge? My Dad and I were like .... are you talking about the same Bills we know ?

Ok, I have to admit that I laughed when I read this. I take it that they haven’t watched a Bills vs Pats game in quite some time. (no disrespect to the Bills Mafia)

As always, I enjoyed your TR! (also followed on IG) Looking forward to your 4th of July edition!

 

[Darstarr]

What a small world!

after all!!!

Thanks for another great TR!

 

[Katiekitten]

Thank you for another amazing trip report! Can't wait to see what the next one has in store.