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...:inlove:

Who?
The usual....my Mom (Mary) and I (Megan)
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When?
January 17 - January 21, 2018 - originally it was supposed to be the 18th - 21st but the vacation creep hit us :inlove:

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 :joyfull: 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
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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 :joyfull::joyfull:

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 :joyfull:
So we got up and ready and did some last minute packing before heading out
Usual date pictures my Mom makes us take :)
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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!
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My Mom wouldn't take a normal picture :joyfull:
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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
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Magic Band twins
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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 o_O I'm sure the weather had something to do with it but it was annoying :joyfull: Everything felt like it was in slo-mo this morning which is torture when you just want to be in Disney!
First stop: fonorail!
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Next up: more airport fun
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 3 continued
Our dinner reservation was coming up so we made our way to Mexico. We have eaten at San Angel Inn many times and my Mom insisted we could try something new but its her favorite (and I like it too!) and it was available so I picked it. I personally loved Coco so I was happy to see this cool display when we walked in :)
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It wasn't quite time for dinner so we headed to Gran Fiesta Tour
Somehow there is always a fiesta "hoy" :joyfull::happy:;)
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The people in the seat behind us kept asking why there were so many skeletons everywhere :hilarious:
After our ride we checked into dinner!
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The line was crazy long so we expected a long wait but we were seated quickly! Hooray!
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Since its so dark in there I only attempted one food picture :)
Sopa Azteca: Traditional tortilla soup served with fried corn tortilla strips, avocado, cheese, and pasilla pepper
So yummy!
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I also ordered the Tostadas de Pollo: Crispy corn tortilla smothered with black beans and topped with chipotle chicken. Garnished with crema Mexicana and queso fresco, avocado, and tomatillo sauce.
The tostadas were good but I probably would have done OK with just the soup and eating a few bites of my Mom's food because the soup was very filling! I think I only ended up eating a very small amount of the tostadas.
My Mom ordered the Mole Poblano: Grilled chicken breast served over parsley white rice, with a classic mole sauce made with nuts, spices, chiles and a hint of chocolate.
Super yummy as usual! Mexico did not disappoint us! It was delicious and our server was super sweet. I wish I remembered her name.

Next up: a few more random pictures
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 3 continued
When we came out of dinner the chill was back in the air. Any plans we had for the evening quickly went away and we decided to take some photos and head back to the Grand Floridian for some warmth.
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Overall we had a fantastic time at the Festival of the Arts. The displays were cool, the food was great, the photo ops were fun and the Broadway series was lovely! I think it may be my favorite festival now just because of the diversity of the things offered! I hope they keep this one around :)
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Back at the GF it was too early for bed so we sat in the lobby a bit and listened to the pianist. The GF is especially great at night between the band and the piano...super chill vibe in there!
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Then it was off to bed!

Next up: AK day!
 

amjt660

Premium Member
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 :facepalm: 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 :joyfull: )
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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 :joyfull:
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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 :)
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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. :joyfull:
Anyway then began the great trek to the American Pavilion :)
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Woohoo we made it with like 5 minutes to spare (in our please arrive 15 minutes early window :joyfull: )
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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 :joyfull:
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Anyway the show was great!! They sang songs from Tarzan, Newsies (which we never saw :jawdrop:), 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!
I agree that 30 min seems way too short
One hour would be more reasonable
Glad you enjoyed it

Max
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 4 January 20, 2018
This morning we both woke up super early. I wrote down 5:50 am so that must have been the time :) I briefly considered getting up for good and getting to AK EMH but decided against it and we both went back to sleep for a little bit.
Beautiful sunrise this morning
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In case anyone was wondering what the new Room Occupied signs look like (instead of Do Not Disturb)
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Beautiful water!
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We headed to breakfast and I switched it up and got a bagel instead of tater tots. One part of my bagel got stuck in the giant toaster and I couldn't figure out how to get it out. I literally had to stop myself from sticking my hand in there....common sense is not my thing sometimes :joyfull: Thankfully a CM came out of the blue and fixed it!
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We headed to the bus stop after this and waited about 18 minutes for a bus but soon enough we were on our way to AK!
We still made it in time for EMH so we tapped our bands and headed to Everest!
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It was listed as a 20 minute wait but we only waited 5 minutes :)
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Next up: my Mom has my camera :)
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 4 continued
I went to the bathroom and my Mom had my camera so enjoy these random photos she took :)
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Some random trees...
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Finally I got my camera back and took a picture of my Mom :)
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We had a FP coming up so we wandered in the direction of Pandora.
Along the way we found a monkey
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And a waterfall...
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I tried to go the back way into Pandora by Festival of the Lion King but there was a sign up saying exit only so we back tracked
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Finally we made it to Pandora
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Next up: more Pandora
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 4 continued
Pandora overload
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I like how the flowers are in different stages of opening...super small detail!
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I couldn't get a FP for Flight of Passage so we headed to Navi River Journey for our first FP
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Enjoy my blurry phone pictures ...
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Unpopular opinion but we really enjoy this ride! In my mind its a classic Disney boat ride and those are always great. Certainly its not thrilling but its a nice relaxing ride :) Totally get the argument that its not necessarily worth a long wait though!
More pictures of Pandora
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Next up: more AK!
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 4 continued
We headed to the Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail next
Along the way my Mom got put in jail :joyfull:
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The only bird I could find...:p
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I wanted to see if the baby hippo was out by chance but it wasn't ... not surprising :joyfull: It was like a newborn at this point.
Merekats!
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Hello sleepy gorilla !
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I have a million gorilla pictures so sorry....
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Next up: likely 10 or more Gorilla pictures :p
 

Minnesota disney fan

Well-Known Member
Day 4 continued
We headed to the Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail next
Along the way my Mom got put in jail :joyfull:
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The only bird I could find...:p
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I wanted to see if the baby hippo was out by chance but it wasn't ... not surprising :joyfull: It was like a newborn at this point.
Merekats!
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Hello sleepy gorilla !
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I have a million gorilla pictures so sorry....
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Next up: likely 10 or more Gorilla pictures :p
 

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