Trip Report **COMPLETED** The Tale of the Three Backpacks

Hi all! As I am fighting through Disney depression I figured I would start my TR to see if it helps...

Who?
The usual....my Mom (Mary) and I (Megan)

When?
January 17 - January 21, 2018 - originally it was supposed to be the 18th - 21st but the vacation creep hit us

Where?
Originally we planned on staying at Pop Century but my sleep deprived self changed to the Grand Floridian while at the airport going home from our last trip We fell in love with it last trip and I found a decent rate so we switched. Also I am neurotic and was worried about staying at a value with all the kids during the peak of flu season

Why?
Some little birdies told me they were going to Disney and it only took one mention on the forum to get me down there

Day 1 - January 17, 2018
Our flight wasn't as early as our last trip so we were able to sleep in - only I was wide awake at like 6 am
So we got up and ready and did some last minute packing before heading out
Usual date pictures my Mom makes us take

Anyway we were out the door by 7:20 am and ready for a quick trip the airport. Only, it wasn't. It wasn't supposed to snow this morning so I wasn't even stressed out about it but it was snowing pretty heavily which turned our 15 minute drive into a 45 minute drive. I mean....people were driving like they had never seen snow before which was obnoxious! Thankfully we had TSA precheck (although security was dead anyway) so we got through security in like 2 minutes and we were back on track time wise.
We had some breakfast....our usual bagels!

My Mom wouldn't take a normal picture

After breakfast we had a short wait to board our plane. We boarded quickly but sadly we were stuck de-icing for 20 minutes before we could even leave.
Gangs all here

Magic Band twins

Our flight was extra long for some reason...usually its like 2 hours and 20 minutes max and this time it was almost 3 hours I'm sure the weather had something to do with it but it was annoying Everything felt like it was in slo-mo this morning which is torture when you just want to be in Disney!
First stop: fonorail!

Next up: more airport fun

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 3 continued
As we were leaving France my Mom noticed that the area where Belle meets had a very short line. We looked up when she was coming out and it was just in a few minutes so we got in line. We spent the short wait time chatting with the family in front of us. They had two little girls and they were spending most of their trip meeting princesses and loving it. It was nice to hear about how excited they were...especially since it was their first trip!
Belle had her own portrait

You can see one of the cool drawing classes they had along the water in this picture

Belle! She was in her winter outfit

Belle explained to us that her father invented this drawing machine that was making her portrait. When she told us that I was thinking to myself that Disney really does think of everything and puts effort into adding little details.

We stopped for some pictures in Japan

We headed into the American Pavilion after this to get our AP gift (beautiful drawing of Belle). We also got VIP tickets for the Broadway Series concert later that day! This was a surprise for sure! We could pick what time we wanted so we picked 5:30 pm. I was so excited to get this pass! I really wanted to see the Broadways series and actually booked a dining package for it but canceled it a few weeks before our trip just so we weren't tied to a reservation we didnt really want.
We did better with this painting picture I think

Next up: a WDW Magic meet up

 

[Doc Disney]

I'm glad to see this this was an actual thing they were doing and that you were not just randomly dropping graffiti at Disney World!!!

I should start carrying chalk and just write Go Bills everywhere

 

[sheriffwoody]

We headed into the American Pavilion after this to get our AP gift (beautiful drawing of Belle).

I completely forgot to do this

 

[Jedi Stitch]

It just occurred to me that I have never watched a parade at Disney. With my wife at DLR, the Electrical and Mulan parade were canceled for inclement weather. With My Bother, Fantasy parade happened while we were in line for Splash. My Friend Mike did want to see any parades. When My fami and I went in 16 to WDW, we just never seam to hit any parades all off our ADR or Rides seamed to happen when a parade was going on. I think the next trip I will have to rectify that.

 

[Gurt]

How did I not see this before today! Sounds like another great trip.

 

[ksr99]

Hi all! As I am fighting through Disney depression I figured I would start my TR to see if it helps...

Who?
The usual....my Mom (Mary) and I (Megan)
View attachment 258865

When?
January 17 - January 21, 2018 - originally it was supposed to be the 18th - 21st but the vacation creep hit us

Where?
Originally we planned on staying at Pop Century but my sleep deprived self changed to the Grand Floridian while at the airport going home from our last trip We fell in love with it last trip and I found a decent rate so we switched. Also I am neurotic and was worried about staying at a value with all the kids during the peak of flu season
View attachment 258866

Why?
Some little birdies told me they were going to Disney and it only took one mention on the forum to get me down there

Day 1 - January 17, 2018
Our flight wasn't as early as our last trip so we were able to sleep in - only I was wide awake at like 6 am
So we got up and ready and did some last minute packing before heading out
Usual date pictures my Mom makes us take
View attachment 258867
View attachment 258868
Anyway we were out the door by 7:20 am and ready for a quick trip the airport. Only, it wasn't. It wasn't supposed to snow this morning so I wasn't even stressed out about it but it was snowing pretty heavily which turned our 15 minute drive into a 45 minute drive. I mean....people were driving like they had never seen snow before which was obnoxious! Thankfully we had TSA precheck (although security was dead anyway) so we got through security in like 2 minutes and we were back on track time wise.
We had some breakfast....our usual bagels!
View attachment 258869View attachment 258870
My Mom wouldn't take a normal picture
View attachment 258871
After breakfast we had a short wait to board our plane. We boarded quickly but sadly we were stuck de-icing for 20 minutes before we could even leave.
Gangs all here
View attachment 258872
Magic Band twins
View attachment 258873
Our flight was extra long for some reason...usually its like 2 hours and 20 minutes max and this time it was almost 3 hours I'm sure the weather had something to do with it but it was annoying Everything felt like it was in slo-mo this morning which is torture when you just want to be in Disney!
First stop: fonorail!
View attachment 258874

Next up: more airport fun

3 backpacks.....hmmmm sounds dangerous

 

[LeighM]

My Mom and I debated about this a lot and we still can't decide which we would prefer.....super hot or super cold. Super hot stinks because you can barely move but you get a lot of pool time. Super cold stinks because a. we are from cold weather and b. when its really cold it gets very uncomfortable being outside all day. Our backs were literally so sore from bracing ourselves from the cold

When I was younger, I loved cold weather! I always said that it's easier to put on a bunch of clothes and get under the covers when you're cold and lose power and in extreme heat, you could take off everything and still be miserable. But once I reached 30, things changed. The heat stopped bothering me as much and the cold started to cause a lot of pain. Especially in my back, like you mention. It seemed like I turned into my grandma within a season LOL.

 

[Dave Z]

Finally caught up. Your Disney pals from Cheektowaga......

 

[krisri18]

I completely forgot to do this

I've got 2, P will never look at his, you're welcome to it!

 

[sheriffwoody]

I've got 2, P will never look at his, you're welcome to it!

Are you sure?!! I'll send you a message

 

[krisri18]

Are you sure?!! I'll send you a message

Absolutely!

 

[Big Hair]

I completely forgot to do this

Me too, drat.

 

[Doc Disney]

It just occurred to me that I have never watched a parade at Disney. With my wife at DLR, the Electrical and Mulan parade were canceled for inclement weather. With My Bother, Fantasy parade happened while we were in line for Splash. My Friend Mike did want to see any parades. When My fami and I went in 16 to WDW, we just never seam to hit any parades all off our ADR or Rides seamed to happen when a parade was going on. I think the next trip I will have to rectify that.

We rarely watch daytime parades but as I was/am obsessed with the Main Street Electrical Parade we always made a point to watch it. I feel like the daytime ones are harder to plan for....but thats probably because we usually are back at the hotel for the daytime ones

How did I not see this before today! Sounds like another great trip.

Thank you

 

[Doc Disney]

3 backpacks.....hmmmm sounds dangerous

If they stopped breaking it would have only been 1

When I was younger, I loved cold weather! I always said that it's easier to put on a bunch of clothes and get under the covers when you're cold and lose power and in extreme heat, you could take off everything and still be miserable. But once I reached 30, things changed. The heat stopped bothering me as much and the cold started to cause a lot of pain. Especially in my back, like you mention. It seemed like I turned into my grandma within a season LOL.

LOL ditto! The cold is becoming a big issue for me as I get older

 

[Doc Disney]

Finally caught up. Your Disney pals from Cheektowaga......

Thanks for reading

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 3 continued
Broadway tickets in hand I was practically skipping along out of excitement when someone called out my name! It was @RedNoseMickey and I am so happy she called to me because my head was literally in the clouds It took me a minute to even realize what was happening so I apologize to her if I seemed out of it We chatted for a minute then took a picture before parting ways. It was so nice to meet her!

Random Epcot pictures. Somewhere in here we got a snack from Germany (popcorn and sea salted caramel) but I do not have any pictures

We sat down and made a plan for the rest of our day and I found a dining reservation for later in the evening. So, we decided to head out for an afternoon break

My Mom noticed that Daisy was out with no line so we popped over to say hi because she looked lonely

Then we took yet another PP picture

Next up: pool time

 

[LAKid53]

Day 1 continued
More fonorail
View attachment 258876
Every time we consider not taking this picture we think otherwise
View attachment 258877
This picture is the new usual!
View attachment 258878
Down to DME we went! I wonder when all the construction will finish....it looks like a bomb went off in that airport
View attachment 258881
We had a short wait before we boarded the bus ! Hooray!
Not sure why this is so blurry
View attachment 258882
Our drive was much shorter than last trip but of course we were the last stop of 4 stops...slo mo again
In the end it worked out well because we got our room ready text right before we got there!
Our building was Boca Chica so we headed there first to drop our bags off and change (maybe first we changed our credit cards I can't remember).
View attachment 258879
I took no pictures yet but we were super thrilled with our view! Paid for a garden view got a lagoon and partial theme park view...woohoo!
As we were gathering our things to leave the room my Mom noticed her brand new backpack (from Etsy...same backpacks we always have but we updated the colors) was completely torn apart. Like literally it was the first few second of using it and it was already broken! It was such a bummer! We were starving, though, so we stopped for a snack at Gasparilla Grill before we figured out a plan for the backpack.
We decided to share a cheese plate and some chips for a snack
View attachment 258880
I love cheese but this cheese plate was just OK....but hey it was food!
After our snack we headed up to the gift shop and my Mom found the cutest backpack! Here she is modeling it when we got downstairs!
View attachment 258883
View attachment 258884
Our destination for the day was Hollywood Studios but we got to the bus stop and we must have just missed the bus because the wait was listed as over 20 minutes.... We were in the midst of a FP so we decided to just take a Minnie Van there....because why not - it would get us there quicker!
View attachment 258885

Next up: Hollywood Studios!

Did you plan to color coordinate with the van, lol? How was the service?

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 3 continued
For some reason our monorail ride seemed extra long. I was dealing with a work issue so I missed it but my Mom had to listen to a conversation between two woman trying to outdo each other with these extravagant Disney trips or tours or surprises they have taken/had. She said it was pretty obnoxious Glad I missed it. Back at the GF our room wasn't ready so we changed and headed down to the pool for some sunshine (by change I mean into different clothes...it still wasn't bathing suit weather )

Even though it wasn't super hot out it was nice to have some time in the sun
From the earlier long trip back to the hotel I had had it with the monorail so we treated ourselves with another Minnie Van

Our driver was very nice and chatty and very quickly we made it to Epcot. I'm sure it would have been much cheaper to take an Uber but we wanted to test out my Mom's phone with the Minnie Van service

I had picked up a FP for Soarin' so we headed there first. Only we were in the FP line for like 30 minutes and we were still not even in the pre-show line. We debated a bit but ultimately knew we had to leave the line in order to make it to our Broadway show time. I asked a CM if we could leave due to timing issues and fully expected to be directed out the regular line but instead we got shuffled into a backstage area. It took several CMs to take us to an exit. The last CM was super nice about it and asked us if we were meeting a wheelchair party. I explained that we were leaving due to running out of time and she almost offered us paper FPs to come back but my Mom assured her we were OK and had ridden the ride many times before.
Anyway then began the great trek to the American Pavilion

Woohoo we made it with like 5 minutes to spare (in our please arrive 15 minutes early window )

We had Kevin Massey and Kara Lindsay! They are married and super cute! He was in Tarzan and she was in Newsies. My pictures are awful but I will share anyway

Anyway the show was great!! They sang songs from Tarzan, Newsies (which we never saw ), Frozen, and Aladdin. The show was only 30 minutes and I think that was the only downfall...I wanted it to be so much longer! I am so happy we were able to catch it!

Next up: Mexico!

 

[Doc Disney]

Did you plan to color coordinate with the van, lol? How was the service?

I did not The service was great! We have done Minnie Vans 3 times now and have loved it every time!

 

[LAKid53]

@Doc Disney, we were there over MLK weekend, so we just missed you. More importantly, when are you and your mom going to do another runDisney race? Now that you're no longer a sleep deprived resident, surely y'all can do the 2019 Princess....