Trip Report COMPLETED "I didn't put sun screen on your bagel yet" Fat for brains in WDW!!

Oh heeey! Wait, didn’t we just wave goodbye to WDW in April?!



Sure did! And now we’re back home again from our August trip! Man how time flies when you’re having a magical time.




I’m back for some more fun Disney memory sharing. The name is Beth, just in case we’re not homies yet. I just love this picture from California Grill after the wedding with Space Mountain behind me!! Makes me happy.

The scoop for this one goes like this….

This is our 4th mid August trip in a row for us, using our DVC. First stay at Grand Floridian Villas, 8 nights! Deluxe dining plan for the first time in a few years. There are a few meetups with some of our local buddies along the way but our travel party is just my family of 5 and my dad.



There’s the five of us all fancy for my sister’s Disney wedding back in April on the Boardwalk! The husband is Lucas, we're celebrating 9 years of magical wedded bliss again in Disney! The baby wolves are Alexa 9, Liam 7 and Brielle 4. Promise she wasn't' as cranky this trip, phew!!



Here’s me and my dad, totally awesome dude….he’s been on quite a few of our WDW adventures now. He loves Disney just like us and usually says something corny during the trip about loving how happy I am in WDW. He's known by most as Dampa; Alexa started that one when she was a baby. I cropped more sis out of this one since she wasn’t able to join us on this trip.

I have tons of pictures from this trip, this report will definitely take me a little more time than the last one, but be patient….I promise it’s worth it! More silly fun to be had with me, always a guarantee.

I’ll be back tomorrow with check in day, I had to at least get my booty in gear with an intro for all my buddies here!

 

[bmarkelon]

{Whoa, I actually finished this up while the kids are at soccer practice, carry on friends!!}

So, yeah….one week before this vacation I rear-ended someone hard and totaled my beautiful Buick Enclave. Nobody was hurt besides the car, and the other fool’s car that decided to stop last minute on a very busy road to take a left.

We had to hire a driver to pick us up for a ride to the airport, which was actually quite nice. 8AM JeBlue flight out of Westchester, also a first.



Not too early for a Bloody Mary to kick off vacation! Certainly not the best but took the edge off for this anxious flyer.



Brielle was my seat buddy on my right



And Alexa to my right, the dudes were in the row across from us and Brielle distracted me or else I would have taken their pic too.



“Gross, Brielle….what’s that smell?!” This sweet face fessed right up!

The eagle landed and we were off to Disney’s Magical Express, for our first time ever!!! We have rented a car every single other trip, craziness!



We were all excited to get on Mickey’s bus. But I really might have more excited about where it was taking us! I have always absolutely loved Grand Floridian of course. Also always dreamed of staying there; with the DVC built and opened up I told my husband there would be absolutely no stopping me!!



Oh hello there bus! We hopped on and really didn’t wait more than 10 minutes before we were on our way.



We were the first stop, hell yes! And were directed right to the GFV building to for check in right in that lobby. Of course our 2BR villa wasn’t ready yet but we expected that. So we headed straight to the pool to change into our thongs to be worn backwards. Wait a minute….where in the world are you @prfctlyximprct?! Kidding, we stuck to our Disney appropriate swim-wear.



The kids LOVE pool time. I took a couple other pics but they came out goofy because I was starving. So I knew it was time to eat.



I was definitely happy with my choice, it was a Bruschetta with Brie and beef…..I do not remember what the true name of this was, but that’s close. Lucas had chicken tenders and fries. My dad had some dope citrus chicken salad sandwich with avocado. That was delicious!!

I’ll stop here for now. Coming your way is a tour of our villa followed by dinner at Narcoossee’s.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

YAY! I've been waiting for this! Disappointed there is no thong pics though... I'm sure @blackthidot will be disappointed too!

 

[blackthidot]

YAY! I've been waiting for this! Disappointed there is no thong pics though... I'm sure @blackthidot will be disappointed too!

I have our thong party saved in my mind. I will never forget it. It may not have happened but that don't mean there is no memory of it all.

"Don't be a bully. I feel sad, I feel pain when you call me that name. I'm a person...just like you."

 

[bmarkelon]

YAY! I've been waiting for this! Disappointed there is no thong pics though... I'm sure @blackthidot will be disappointed too!

I have our thong party saved in my mind. I will never forget it. It may not have happened but that don't mean there is no memory of it all.

"Don't be a bully. I feel sad, I feel pain when you call me that name. I'm a person...just like you."

Backwards thong meetup in April, you both better be there!! Fobilicous!!!

 

[blackthidot]

Backwards thong meetup in April, you both better be there!! Fobilicous!!!

I think I am going to be Poly Force by then. Not Fobalicious.

 

[bmarkelon]

Forgot to share some of the Mad Hatter splash area fun, Brielle went nuts over there!! So much fun!





Here’s Alexa and Brie getting dumped on by the hat. It’s so funny how all the kids go nuts when that bell starts ringing with the warning that it’s about to spill over. I hit that later on in the trip a few times….hahaha!


Okay, so I was starting to get a bit impatient waiting for that text that our room was ready. I headed back over to the lobby to ask what was up and was told our room was all set. Lucas and I decided to bring our carry on up and check it out alone. My dad hung back at the pool with the kids. 6th floor, the top!


Here we go….




Looking down at the penguin fountain off the elevator, so cool!





A painting in the hallway that I loved!


Walking into the Villa I was seriously blown away and soooooooooo happy!!!!





Walking into our living room/dining area, kitchen in left corner. Tough to get it all in the piture!





The beautiful kitchen, pretty similar actually to the kitchen I designed in my own house a couple years ago.





Cute framed plates on the wall….hidden Mickey!





One of the queens in the 2nd Bedroom.





Pretty soaps! Love the smell of all of this stuff.





King size bed in the master suite that I would be sharing with my girls, lucky me!

 

[bmarkelon]

In for the tour of the villa. Ready. Waiting.

There's some of it, a bit more to come a little later! I am madly and deeply in love with GFV!!!!!

 

[mrdrift]

Good start to the report, glad the flight and bus to the GFV went off without any problems. The family picture is really beautiful with everyone dressed up for the wedding but that must of been very hot to wear in Florida weather. Looks like everyone is having a fun time in the pool area. Will be watching for more of the trip report.

 

[AmberFaith90]

The villa looks gorgeous! I love the framed plates! Can't wait to read more

 

[bmarkelon]

Master Bath





Master shower, I didn’t get the whole thing, there was a bench on that wall and this shower stall was massive. I was just loving the rainfall shower head up top!





My master walk in closet. I had no problem unpacking here; warned my husband that I wouldn’t be leaving.





There’s a freaking tv in my mirror?! Huh?! Pretty dope, and there’s the jazuzzi tub in the reflection there too with Pluto!





Okay, let’s talk about my view off our balcony. Speechless!!!





Oh hello there monorail! Trust me friends, I never took this view for granted. Got me some everyday. So magical!


We had our groceries brought up and our luggage was also in from Magical Express. Time to get all fancy for our dinner at Narcoossee’s. We had a lovely window seat with MK and Contemporary views; we’ve sat in almost the same spot all 4 times we’ve been there so I didn’t take a picture!





Lucas and my dad started with the lobster bisque which was quite good. Different, richer taste than the bisques I’m familiar with up here in New England.





I had the calamari because I’ve had it before and LOVE it!!





My dad and I had the Halibut with gnocci. I loved this entrée!





Lucas had the 2lb Maine lobster, which was also delicious!


I’ll post our desserts and then start our first big day in MK!

 

[bmarkelon]

Good start to the report, glad the flight and bus to the GFV went off without any problems. The family picture is really beautiful with everyone dressed up for the wedding but that must of been very hot to wear in Florida weather. Looks like everyone is having a fun time in the pool area. Will be watching for more of the trip report.

Thanks for joining the party! It actually wasn't too bad to be dressed up like that in April; now if she had planned that wedding in August….FORGET IT! I would have melted Olaf style. Actually I nearly melted on our night of Frozen fun in HS; but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

The villa looks gorgeous! I love the framed plates! Can't wait to read more

I promised my husband a return to our home of BLT next trip when he let me book this one but dang it's going to be so much harder now that I've found the love of my life in GFV!

 

[Maggie Mae]

Whoop Whoop! looking forward to more of your report!

 

[FlaggNL]

Looking forward for the rest of the TR! Great start!!

 

[Disney Shib]

Following along! I loved the wedding TR. Can't wait for this one.

 

[bmarkelon]

Sorry @blackthidot there will be no Strawberry Shortcake for you!



Silly Sully selfie while we waited for our dessert



Our Anniversary treat they brought us. I was actually planning on ordering this so lucky me with the bonus dessert. I went with the Crème Brulee instead!



It was delicious! Always my go to pick on the dessert menus. I didn’t take a picture of Lucas’ Chocolate Torte, he was getting impatient with my food picture taking. But it looked quite lovely and he enjoyed it.

We were all wiped out from travelling and an afternoon at the pool so we strolled with our bellies full back to our villa to call it a night.



Stumbled across this on our way back….magical!


What a perfect check in day! We watched Duffy’s bedtime story and some Disney classic cartoons for a little while and drifted off to sleep pretty early to rest up for an early start in Magic Kingdom.



Um, who starts their Disney day with a double rainbow?! We do!!

We just missed the opening show but were pretty much in there right at rope drop. All of us were super pumped up! I absolutely love getting into MK at opening, it’s like you feel the park waking up just for you. I stopped at a cart quick to buy my little buddy an autograph book and pen. The girls already had cute little Frozen notebooks and pens that I had bought them before the trip. Lucas grabs both the girls fancy Minnie ears. And we just kinda chuckle at spending money without thinking about it this early in the trip. Fun!!!




I love finding out what our first ride of each trip is because we seriously have no set plan ahead. We almost always head into Adventureland though. April. JUNGLE CRUISE was the chosen one this time!



We walked right on. Happy kiddos. I giggle at every single cheesy jokes on this every-time. It just makes me happy.

Then we walked right onto the Flying Carpets. One of many of Brielle’s favorites; she changes her answer to that question all the time.



Liam and my dad sat right behind me and Brie. Not sure where Lucas and Alexa ended up. We were able to walk right onto this one too and choose our carpets.



Just in case you haven’t noticed already; I’ve become a selfie taker! It’s really the only way I end up in any of our pictures. It’s not as lame when I’m not alone in any of my selfies, right?!

We were all smiles after walking right on our first two rides but it was time for our breakfast in the castle; Cinderella was waiting.

We bumped into someone along the way…..

 

[bmarkelon]

Oh why, hello there Tiana! We were her very first guests, it’s like she was just standing there waiting for us. AWE!



I love this, my girls are so happy and sweet! Tiana was asking them what their favorite food was and all 3 of my kids say steak so she told them she was going to whip up some steak gumbo. This is funny to me because through the years Lucas has become the pickiest pain in the butt eater and has pretty much quit red meat.



One more with T. I love moments like this, there’s so many surprise moments no matter how much you’ve planned! And that’s why we’ll keep going back.



Oh hey Cindy, what up? Brie’s face…haha



Be thankful my readers that this photo isn’t scratch and sniff, you might all barf like I almost did. I apologize to anyone that might enjoy this dish but dammit why didn’t I just order the apple French toast?! This was my only bad meal of this whole trip so whatever but I’m all set with CRT for awhile if not forever.



What’s good Jazz? How many dads have told you that you’re their favorite princess today?



Snow is the squeakiest princess but she was also Alexa’s first favorite which I loved when she was 3 and all the other girls were all about Cinderella and Aurora or whoever.



Could Brie BE any cuter?! Can you tell she enjoyed this princess meal? And that’s why we keep going back for a not so great meal. Sacrifices for the children.



Ariel!!! She’s been Brielle’s favorite for a couple years now. And she was the shyest with her, sweetness.

So, we’re all ready for the bill and have our family photos already delivered and the server decides to ask me if I wanted something else to eat since it didn’t look like I cared for my meal. Thanks buddy but we’ve got FPs to hit up!!

First up was Mine Train, holler! Liam chickened out when we were about to get on so Lucas had to wait off…..but turns out he ended up chilling and hopping on the train behind us. That was a warning sign for many more of these moments though, kinda weird. Brielle wasn’t too into it and was borderline crying on the ride. I just loved every second and my dad was sitting behind me singing, more like yelling, the Hi Ho song through the mine. It was great but we all agreed over way too fast in a Barnstormer kind of way and thank goodness for FPs.



The only picture I took over here, cute little Dwarf’s cottage on the way out from the ride. I wanted to enjoy my first ride, plus there were the scared kiddos that were slightly distracting.

Up next we pretty much walked right onto Little Mermaid. While we were riding Brielle says to me “I wish I could tackle Ursula, she’s so mean”. L.O.L!!! This kid says the wildest things, I just love her.

Next up is a Storybook Circus split, I went onto Dumbo with Brielle because she didn’t want to do the Barnstormer…fine with me!!

 

[bmarkelon]

Whoop Whoop! looking forward to more of your report!

There is so much more to come, the fun has only just begun!

Looking forward for the rest of the TR! Great start!!

Thanks for reading another one!

Following along! I loved the wedding TR. Can't wait for this one.

There might not have been a Disney wedding this trip but it was one of our family's most magical, I'm so excited to share!

 

[bmarkelon]

Dumbo selfie….you all saw that coming though.



I had promised my sister that I would visit her boo Gaston but Lucas was crazy on our schedule to get over to our Splash and Thunder FPs and then back to GF for some pool time so she had to settle for the fountain pic. I was pumped to get back too because our buddies from home were checking into GF too and we’d be meeting them at the pool!



Front row! I had so much fun on Splash with my big girl….it’s always been a favorite for me. My dad and Liam were sitting behind us. I snagged a rider swap and got to ride again in the front with Lucas right after, woo!!

Brielle didn’t want me to leave her again to ride Thunder so I somehow talked her into riding it with us. When I say somehow I mean, bribery. Yikes, that might not have been a good idea, she screamed and cried the whole ride. And freaking Liam almost chickened out again on this one too. I bought Brie a super cute Minnie nightgown on our way out of the park. We hopped on the resort monorail and were off to meet our friends.

We had to walk right by the pool to get to the villa building so we stopped to say a quick howdy before heading to our room to change. It’s always funny to me hanging with friends from home in Disney; we do it quite often though. These friends are practically family and actually live right across the street in our hood.

My dad kept insisting that he was going to buy the first round of drinks so I went straight to the bar with him to help him order them up.



Doesn’t that just look lovely? We sure were thirsty after hitting MK like we did. The Doctor (my neighbor, a very silly guy) likes his strawberry daiquiris by the pool. My dad went with a Yuengling. I chose the Moscado Colada for my homie and I. Oh and Lucas wasn’t screwing around and chose the Long Island…..yikes and gross….I watched them make that one and might have caught a buzz from the fumes.



Cheers! I love this chick, she’s one of my besties and her name just happens to be Alison like my sister. Not sure if you remember that my sister’s best friend that was at the wedding happens to be Beth. Dude, that’s crazy.



We had ordered them a case of waters and a case of Coors Lights on our grocery order and they wanted to see our room so we all headed up and I took this awesome picture on the elevator! So much fun!!



The girls were having a blast together in the pool. Jane and Brielle are the most ridiculously cute little besties, and they look alike a little bit. People mix them up all the time.



And another one; they were so cute and very much into some make believe game they were playing. They were mermaids I think.

I didn’t get one of the 3 little dudes, they were all over the place. Chasing lizards, hitting up the hot tub and playing some crazy shark game with Lucas.



I did get this cute one of me and my little buddy on our way back to the room to get ready for dinner.

Oh snap! Have I not mentioned where our dinner is yet? My most favorite restaurant in the world….CALIFORNIA GRILL.

 

[bmarkelon]

What a great family shot….oh wait, where’s Liam? He was throwing some fit about something, who knows. Too much magic already in one day I guess, it can be quite exhausting.


We hopped on the monorail to get over to the Contemporary. We all pretty much went in pretty much knowing what we were ordering. I’d been having dirty dreams about that tomato butter since April.



More Anniversary treats, they brought us each (well, the adults that is) a glass of champagne. And I seriously love this menu, I want one framed and added to my Disney art collection for real.



My Spicy Kazan Roll, if you haven’t had this please just do it. We also ordered 2 flatbreads to share, but I immediately stuffed my face so I didn’t take pictures of those. They were both really yummy though. There was one with tomatoes and one with bbq chicken I think? My dad also had the 3 signature meatballs and they were just alright for me.



There it is and it was delicious, again. Lucas and my dad also ordered it and so did my girl Alexa! Liam ordered the kid’s steak and Brielle ordered the kids flatbread.



Me and my girls. We were waiting for our desserts and the kids were getting a little silly. Brielle kept saying “bibbidi bobbidi boo I will turn you into a mouse”



The dudes felt left out and wanted to get in on our silly fun.



Lucas got this chocolate thing, whoa….way rich. Quite delicious of course, I don’t usually go with the chocolate desserts, guess what I chose? Anyone??



Yesss! The crème brulee. Cali Grill has a good traditional vanilla version, I was happy.

After dinner we headed downstairs for a little Contemporary arcade action. I get bored with that stuff quick; after I play a game of hoops and skee ball I’m good. Brielle and I went out to the gift shops, one of my favorite ways to work off a belly full of good food.



What in the world are these hats? I didn’t get it but put one on both our heads for another good photo opp Anyone happen to remember that dope Cheshire cat with the crazy long tail that I bought in April that I so love?! I bought both the girls the Marie version of that on this night.

After we got our fill of the Contemporary (our home turf) for the night we headed back “home” to GF. The girls and I were sleepy again and it was pretty late so we straight to bed with Duffy’s story again. I think Lucas and Liam might have gone down for a quick night swim? They tend to do that more than us.

Up next for us is a 1900 Park Fare breakfast in the morning then a little bit of Hollywood Studios and ending with dinner at Ohana with friends!