Trip Report **COMPLETED** The Tale of Two Trips (finally moving on from the PTR)

Hello everyone!!! I'm sorry for the long delay, but I am finally starting my TR I apologize in advance for the insane amount of pictures I got a new camera and took over 3000 pictures and videos! If you did not read my PTR I went on two trips in the span of a few weeks...hence the title I will split them in two but keep it all in the same thread. Also, I have a lot of last minute residency requirements to navigate through the next few weeks or so so I'm sorry if this takes me forever! Anyway, enough of me rambling - let's begin!

First trip!
Who?
From left to right: Me (Megan), my Mom (Mary), and my sister (Jill)

When?
March 11, 2017 - March 18, 2017

Where?
First time staying an entire trip here...the Polynesian!

Why?
I had to take an exam in Kissimmee on the 14th and I got the whole week off from work to go My Mom and sister came along for the ride.

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 8
This morning we got up around 6:30 so we could pack and check our luggage in. It was a little steamy out this morning

Along the way a bunch of people cut in front of us to check in for their flight, but in the end they were flying Air Canada and could not check their luggage. So much for skipping
After getting our luggage all set we headed up towards the monorail

So much steam

Our final stop was here

We were seated fairly quickly

Next up: Chef Mickey's continued

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 8 continued
Somehow we kept getting stuck behind slow people in the buffet line so I ended up with less food on my plate because I ate it in line

Jill for some reason has her eyes closed in like all the pictures

We all enjoyed breakfast, but it wasn't my favorite time at Chef Mickeys and everyone agreed. Overall it was just very rushed and a little bit more chaotic than usual.
We walked to the MK after eating and were treated to our own small security table
We had one ride in mind so we headed there

Next up: MK continued

 

[blreinsel]

Love all of the Beauty and the Beast pics... Can't believe you're temporarily over BOG. It'll win you over again.

Love your shorts on your last day.. and you're making me want to go back to Chef Mickey's!

 

[fractal]

Really enjoying the report and photos (great ones at AK!).

Thanks for the details review of V&A. Someday...

 

[MinnieM123]

Somehow we kept getting stuck behind slow people in the buffet line so I ended up with less food on my plate because I ate it in line

I laughed when I read this and saw your half-full plate. That's exactly what I'd do, too, if I was stuck in line. I wouldn't wait to get to a table either--just dig right in!!

 

[Doc Disney]

Love all of the Beauty and the Beast pics... Can't believe you're temporarily over BOG. It'll win you over again.

Love your shorts on your last day.. and you're making me want to go back to Chef Mickey's!

No worries I am still going for lunch soon I think I'm just over dinner for a bit! I love Chef Mickeys, but I think I prefer dinner

 

[Doc Disney]

Really enjoying the report and photos (great ones at AK!).

Thanks for the details review of V&A. Someday...

Thank you! I need to spend more time learning my camera but overall much improved over my old one

 

[Doc Disney]

I laughed when I read this and saw your half-full plate. That's exactly what I'd do, too, if I was stuck in line. I wouldn't wait to get to a table either--just dig right in!!

I always eat in line, long line or not I can't help it

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 8 continued
This was Jill's first time on Astro Orbiter. Yet again I gladly let my Mom ride with her @amjt660

Everyone enjoyed their ride, even my Mom who usually hates it!
After this we headed to the Peoplemover

That was the only picture I had apparently haha
After this it was time for our first FP....7DMT! Shockingly my Mom offered to ride alone again and ended up with an older woman who kept asking my Mom if she was "brave" to ride this ride...my Mom's like yea...its a kid-ish roller coaster

It was absolutely packed in the MK this day so we headed to one attraction we knew wouldn't be crazy...

While we were waiting for the train a CM working there was saying to us how cold it was.... It was finally warm and we were in shorts and tank tops

Next up: MK continued

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 8 continued
You can see that "cold" CM to the right with a winter hat on

We finally made it one full loop around back to Fantasyland

Our next FP was for Dumbo!!

We waited quite a bit of time in line, but finally it was time for our ride!

Next up: MK continued

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 8 continued
I never noticed before that it says 25 cents for the ride

After our ride we all wanted a little snack

My Mom wanted a cookie so she got an Olaf one

Jill wanted a churro so she got one in Fantasyland and actually got the last one for 20 minutes

None of us has actually ever had a churro before...which is weird. It was good, but we did not care for the chocolate sauce
I also ended up getting a strawberry lemonade from Prince Eric's Village Market

This is good because its made with fresh strawberries, but its also very sweet so I made it through like 5 sips before being done with it
After our snack break we headed towards Tomorrowland. Even the Peoplemover line was long so we just sat in the sun and enjoyed it

Look at the C of P line!

My Mom takes such great pictures

My Mom was sad we were heading home

But, happy because we were coming back in two weeks

Next up: Mickey !

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 8 continued
We stopped for some PP pictures
They were super into these weird poses with my Mom this morning. They did it at Chef Mickey's too

Anyway our last FP was to meet a VIP

This FP line was insanely long...so we played some Heads Up while we waited. The wait was worth it though because we had a great time with Mickey

Mickey played a card/mind trick with us

He kept putting is nose in our faces it was so funny

After Mickey we said goodbye to the Magic Kingdom and headed back to the hotel. We almost took the boat home but figured the monorail would be faster...which it wasn't because monorail red was acting up again
Back at the Poly we relaxed in the sun for a bit

Next up: saying goodbye to the Poly

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 8 continued

This is what happens when I am in the bathroom changing into cold weather clothes

Sadly it was eventually time for our Tragical Express and it was yellow making it even worse

Our drive to the airport was relaxing actually because our driver played jazz music and we didn't have to watch any videos haha
We all had TSA pre-check so made it through security pretty quickly
At the airport we tried this new restaurant in the Southwest terminal

Last drink before heading home

I won't bore you with non Disney food pictures but the food was actually really good. We had a fried chicken sandwich (Mom), brisket sandwich (me) and a burger (Jill). If you are ever in this terminal definitely check this place out
We spent our time during our dinner naming all the great things about our trip and our favorite parts. Overall this was definitely one of our favorite trips. We had a relaxed pace and we got to do a lot of things we have never done before
Sometimes people make me laugh on Southwest flights and these women were trying to find their seats printed on the ticket ...but they were obviously looking at the boarding position and it only took like 5 people to tell them to sit wherever
Anyway, our flight was fine except for some mild turbulence due to snow and eventually we were sadly back home. Nothing cures Disney blues like getting this in the mail though...

Next up: vacation number 2

 

[blreinsel]

What an awesome first leg of your trip! Glad you were able to make the most of the spring break crowds. Looking forward to the next part!

 

[LadyBelle]

Great trip report! Makes me want to go back even more!!

 

[Doc Disney]

Second trip!
Who?
You may know us as M and M
Megan (me) and my Mom (Mary)

When?
April 1 - April 8 2017

Where?
The Wilderness Lodge, one of our favorites

Why?
I was sitting on a bunch of Southwest Points and our APs still had some life left in them

Day 1
I had my boards this day and for months was worried about making it to the airport on time, but luckily my exam started early and I was out by 12 (flew through it, supposed to be a 9 hour exam) with plenty of time to decompress and get dressed

We left for the airport fairly early because we did not have TSA pre-check and I was worried the airport may be too crowded.
Well of course no one was in the airport and when I walked up to the Southwest counter the worker asked me where we were going. When I said MCO she asked which flight because there were two and one was delayed. I legit looked at the flight right before we left and it wasn't delayed then so hoped it wasn't ours and thankfully it wasn't.
Of course security was also dead and it took us only 10 minutes to get through
Well, no problem. One other motivation we had to get to the airport earlier was so we could eat. Off to the Anchor Bar we went!
Wings, boneless wings and mozzarella sticks. Vacation officially began with this cholesterol filled plate

We enjoyed our meal and we were entertained by a couple next to us who were really into their beers and drinks. The women was super terrified of flying so kept drinking and kept telling the waiter she needed "liquid courage." They were innocent enough until we got up to leave and she commented she liked our Vera Bradley carry-ons and her husband asked us if we had any money in them .
Well we still had a ton of time left so we next headed to the bar for some wine

While enjoying our wine we were entertained by a couple next to us trying to book flights. One was a flight attendant and they were arguing the entire time about where to go
After our wines we went to the gate to watch our plane arrive and charge our phones a bit

Soon enough it was time to board the plane and we ended up in row 5 The plane was fairly empty so imagine my surprise when a man insists on sitting right next to me
It would not have been so bad if he wasn't super annoying and kept tapping me on my knee to say something. Oh well!
Magic Bands for the win

Our flight was quick, but very turbulent. We just distracted ourselves with some HGTV
We are here! Fonorail time

I almost tried to get out of this picture, but my Mom made me

Next up: arriving

 

[Doc Disney]

What an awesome first leg of your trip! Glad you were able to make the most of the spring break crowds. Looking forward to the next part!

Thank you! It wasn't too bad crowd wise...this April trip was way worse haha

Great trip report! Makes me want to go back even more!!

Thank you! The Disney travel bug is both the worst and the best thing

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 1 continued
We FINALLY got my Mom's picture with Goofy. Only took like 10 trips to actually do it We may or may not have cut off a small child

We hopped on down to the Magical Express and we were delighted by the fact that we were escorted right on the bus

We had a dinner reservation this evening that I was super stressed about getting to so I kept pretending like it didn't matter if we missed it but I was happy we were pretty far ahead of schedule. We did sit on the bus for a bit, but we played some trivia and soon enough we were on our way! There was a baby, named George, on the bus who was not happy. Screamed the entire bus ride! It was Ok with me, I mean obviously it wasn't super pleasant, but the grandparents were super embarrassed and trying their best to calm him down. The only reason I bring this up is because I just want you to all remember the name George.
Polynesian was the first stop. Not going to lie, we were a little sad when we drove by..but WL was our home and thankfully was the second stop.
We stopped in our room quickly to drop our stuff off and there was a baby crying next door. We both looked at each other like oh no, but also laughed thinking it was baby George
We quickly headed downstairs to the boats

Geyser Point in the distance

When we were waiting for our boat Wishes started

This would be the first stop of the depressing downslope of saying good-bye to Wishes

Wishes was just ending as we landed at the Contemporary dock

Next up: dinner

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 1 continued
The weather was already significantly warmer than it was two weeks previously. I think we were both a little bit sad that we had long pants on

Our final stop should come as no surprise to anyone

We actually checked in 20 minutes early but for once we were not seated early. In fact, we were the last ones seated for the night and about 10 minutes after our reservation time.

Window views

Our waitresses name was Jenny and she was awesome.
Oddly enough they don't make enough bread for the day because she had to dig around for some bread for us and we only got one bread type

Next up: CG continued

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 1 continued
We were both way too tired for a drink so just ordered some pops. We also had planned all along to just order appetizers because we knew we wouldn't be super hungry so late at night.
We split the Roasted Tomato flatbread that we enjoyed so much two weeks ago

It was just as good as the first time!
We also each got our own Sonoma Goat Cheese Ravioli

This is so yum!!!
Jenny was kind enough to take our picture

She was making conversation with us and my Mom mentioned something about my exam that morning and next thing I know she came out with a surprise dessert for me
I forget exactly what it was, but had almond in it. Of course I shared it with my Mom. It was very good!

After dinner we headed back to the boats and waited about 20 minutes for one to come pick us up. It was around 11 pm so we were the last boat of the evening. Back at the hotel our luggage still wasn't there so we groaned a little bit about it but it actually came 5 minutes later
We briefly unpacked and off to bed

Next up: MK!