Trip Report **COMPLETED** The Winter Slump Cure

Hey everyone
We just got back from a very last minute trip to Walt Disney World so I decided to write a trip report because I took enough photos

Who?
Just my Mom and I (Mary and Megan)

When?
A very quick trip - January 23-26, 2020

Why?
A few weeks ago my Mom and I were staring out the window at a restaurant and it was so grey and depressing. All I could think about was sunshine so I convinced my Mom to go down to Florida for a weekend to get some sun Our winter so far has not been bad in terms of snow (yet...hopefully not at all) but the lack of sun every single day can get old (the winter slump).

Where?
Not many options when booking very last minute, but we ended up at the Yacht Club again which was great!

January 23, 2020
My Mom and I both had to work so we had an 8 pm flight. I was very lucky that I got out a little early because there was a major accident on the way home and it took me almost an hour with some weird back roads to get home. Thankfully the airport from where we live is the other direction on the thruway (but not thankfully for my Dad who had to drive back home in it after dropping us off). Anyway - we got to the airport around 6 pm and checked our luggage. There was a guy next to us who was about to pay $75 because his luggage was too heavy. The Southwest employees offered him a duffel bag for $25 which he could check for free. I thought that was nice!
Anyway - thanks to TSA precheck we made it through security in about a minute. The airport was literally dead. They actually had to start running the belt again because they shut it down
We stopped for some dinner at the Anchor Bar
We shared the appetizer sampler - wings, boneless wings, mozzarellas sticks, and fries

Then we headed to the gate

We actually boarded our plane on time which never happens when we have an evening flight.
We were seated in row 2!

New Grumpy Magic Bands

Next up: more travel day

 

[Swissmiss]

our weather people here promised last Sunday was supposed to be sunny, but nope gray. Yesterday we were supposed to see perks of sun but no it was clouds all day. Weather people say this weekend we might see sun, I am 100% skeptical about this forecast.

This is exactly like a video someone sent me recently - it looks like it’s a SNL skit. Shows a Canadian couple all excited about the extended forecast (and then of course the day arrives and the extended forecast does not come true) and then it cuts to the Canadian weather forecast agency saying how extended forecasts are BS and they do this on purpose to keep people from getting depressed.

 

[Doc Disney]

Ugh we too have had a particularly gray (and foggy) January. It’s been so bad that I was so excited to see the sun out the other day as I headed to the bus to go to work, that I snapped this picture:

View attachment 445650

And about an hour or so later the clouds and fog came back and we haven’t seen the sun again since

our weather people here promised last Sunday was supposed to be sunny, but nope gray. Yesterday we were supposed to see perks of sun but no it was clouds all day. Weather people say this weekend we might see sun, I am 100% skeptical about this forecast.

Today on the radio they said today would not be as sunny as yesterday - which was also not sunny

 

[Doc Disney]

I'm in for another trip Can't wait to hear more!

Thanks for following !

It's been SO depressing lately!!

Seriously

 

[Doc Disney]

That list needs to be amended. Chicago deserves an invite to the pity party.☁
Thanks for the ray of internet sunshine that is an M&M TR!

Everyone is welcome to the pity party!

Even though we don't have a ton of snow... I have such a hard time with the darkness and the gray in the winter... I just want to take a nap all day!

Agreed!!!

 

[Lilofan]

It's odd that Winter Park, FL which is an affluent suburb in Orlando has a very popular resident ski club. I guess one can get so tired of sunshine and palm trees...their version of a winter slump cure, go somewhere cold..

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 2 continued
Hello trees and sunshine

We headed over to Under the Sea after this
Some lights for you ...

We actually ended up waiting 30 minutes ! It was the longest we waited for almost anything this trip!

Then we headed to lunch at Cosmic Rays. We were going to go somewhere else ... but Sunny always pulls us back

We got kids Mac and cheeses (with way too many sides of fries) and chili cheese fries Oh, and plastic cheese.

We also got this PP picture sometime along the way that I forgot about

 

[Doc Disney]

It's odd that Winter Park, FL which is an affluent suburb in Orlando has a very popular resident ski club. I guess one can get so tired of sunshine and palm trees...their version of a winter slump cure, go somewhere cold..

I feel like everyone I follow on IG that lives in Florida is even sad because its been a little cold there

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 2 continued
Our next FP was for Buzz

I got Galactic Hero !

Then we headed to the peoplemover

Hello Tron!

Then we stopped to watch some Move It Shake It

Next up: more MK

 

[LadyBelle]

I am a lover of snow. Because we don’t get it that often. I present to you our weather for next week:

 

[RememberWhen]

I’m so looking forward to some future mother/daughter trips, but DD is only 2. We’ll get there. In the meantime I’m looking forward to hearing about the rest of your trip!

 

[disneymom&dad]

Love your trip reports. Being from the northeast I understand "WINTER BLUES" too well

 

[Doc Disney]

I am a lover of snow. Because we don’t get it that often. I present to you our weather for next week:

View attachment 445982

That looks nice - we are getting a lot of snow right now!

I’m so looking forward to some future mother/daughter trips, but DD is only 2. We’ll get there. In the meantime I’m looking forward to hearing about the rest of your trip!

Woohoo! They will come eventually!!! Thanks for reading

 

[Doc Disney]

Love your trip reports. Being from the northeast I understand "WINTER BLUES" too well

Makes me wonder why I live here sometimes

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 2 continued
Some more Move It Shake It

Then it was time for our Haunted Mansion FP. This was a VERY SLOW PASS. I think we were in the ride for close to 40 minutes.
I took this blurry light photo and nothing else I guess

I pretended to take a snooze.

Then...our last FP was to meet Mickey!
It was the Pro-Bowl this weekend (which maybe explains the crowds ? I don't know - it was WAY more crowded than I expected) and when we were in line we saw Stephon Gilmore. He used to play for the Bills which is why I even recognized him. Now he plays for a team that shall not be named.
Anyway -- onto Mickey

We said our hellos then headed out of the park!
I thought this bus wrap was cool.

Back at the Yacht Club my Mom grabbed a cupcake and we shared it while enjoying our balcony.

Next up: Epcot

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 2 continued
It was 79 degrees according to our phones, but it did not feel that warm. With the wind it actually felt a bit chilly. Usually we take a break by the pool in the afternoons, but we did not think it would be warm enough. So....we decided to head to Epcot in search of some Festival of the Arts fun.
As we started to walk to Epcot it started pouring. It was so weird....it was not even cloudy !
We took some shelter under some trees.

Thankfully it went away almost as quickly as it started and we were on our way
I should mention at this point that they were already in the backup Boarding Groups for Rise and it was only early afternoon. They were moving at a much quicker pace than I had seen in the weeks prior. We still did not want to get our hopes up, but it did look more promising than we anticipated!
Our first stop was the Deconstructed Dish for the Rainboba: Sparkling Water layered with Fruit Boba and topped with a Foam Cloud.

I wish I could say we liked it, but we did not. It really did not taste like much of anything. It also would help if either one of us actually enjoyed Sparking Water
Next up (and the last thing for this day) was the Almond Frangipane Cake layered with Raspberry Jam and Belgian Chocolate from Pop Eats. We have had this before and its safe to say we are obsessed with it. We talk about it all the time when we are running.

It did not disappoint. SO GOOD!
After this we headed out of Epcot and back to the room to get changed. We were 2 groups away from our boarding group for Rise so we debated about how to get to Hollywood Studios. I suggested the Skyliner because it can be faster than walking. My Mom suggested walking which we should have done because the Skyliner took FORVER.

At exactly 4:45 pm our Boarding Group 141 got called! Woohoo! Thankfully you have 2 hours to get there since we were moving at a snails pace It is so weird how one day can differ so drastically from the next in term of Boarding Groups. Like I said, the day before they did not even get to any of the backups!

Next up: Hollywood Studios !

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

LOL
, I have to laugh at your Buzz pictures. Did you know that your Mom has that exact same look on all the trip report pictures on Buzz?????
Also, you must know the secrets to Buzz to get that high of a score. I did it once, but don't know how

 

[Loco_driver]

I feel bad for all my friends up north this time of year!

Sunny and 72 degrees with no humidity. It’s a hard life down here in February

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

I feel bad for all my friends up north this time of year!
View attachment 446222
Sunny and 72 degrees with no humidity. It’s a hard life down here in February

Gee, thanks a lot!!! It's 35 beautiful degrees here with 45 mph wind gusts and drizzle. Everything is a shade of grey or white! Can't wait for our trip in 3 weeks!! Yea! Need some green and flowers. If I could figure out how to add a snow picture I would. I am going to attempt it now. we will see! What do you know, it worked!!! That's our front yard, well house, and amur maple tree!. We have more snow that that. The well house has snow up to the top! no pics though, too depressing

 

[Loco_driver]

Gee, thanks a lot!!! It's 35 beautiful degrees here with 45 mph wind gusts and drizzle. Everything is a shade of grey or white! Can't wait for our trip in 3 weeks!! Yea! Need some green and flowers. If I could figure out how to add a snow picture I would. I am going to attempt it now. we will see! What do you know, it worked!!! That's our front yard, well house, and amur maple tree!. We have more snow that that. The well house has snow up to the top! no pics though, too depressing

While we have had perfect weather this weekend, generally winter is our rainy season. This is actually the first sunshine we’ve had in quite a while. It usually stays around 50 degrees and wet, which is better than freezing with snow! We actually have a chance of snow later this week. I guess we’re about due since it’s been two years since we’ve seen any snow!

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

A few weeks ago my Mom and I were staring out the window at a restaurant and it was so grey and depressing. All I could think about was sunshine so I convinced my Mom to go down to Florida for a weekend to get some sun Our winter so far has not been bad in terms of snow (yet...hopefully not at all) but the lack of sun every single day can get old (the winter slump).

Short trips to get out of the grey are just necessary sometimes! I do love how my hometown of Seattle came in 2nd on the Depressing Winters list. I don't feel depressed there in the Winter, but so many people I know there have Seasonal Affective (sp?) Disorder. It is pretty grey for a VERY long time up there (think, Nov-March).

We ended up getting to The Yacht Club after midnight. We did stop to change credit cards since there was no one else at the desk.
Then we headed to our room - our view was amazing !

When we arrive late, we do the same thing. Or go down to the desk after a super-long day in the parks just to ask something/pay off the balance without a giant line. Of course, one year we did this and one time, my hubby's credit card had some random issue and Disney may have accidentally charged it twice (I don't remember, it was 2014), but we were at the desk more than an hour while we called the bank. I think it was after 2 am when we got to bed!

This was another way I justified this trip - I told my Mom we could run in the heat and hopefully get used to it

My justifications can be "Stretch" like this, too; but hey, they work!!

Then we headed to lunch at Cosmic Rays. We were going to go somewhere else ... but Sunny always pulls us back

I LOVE Cosmic Rays!! I love dipping my fries in plastic cheese and staring at the Castle--especially when the icicle lights are up!

I got Galactic Hero !

That takes practice!

Our first stop was the Deconstructed Dish for the Rainboba: Sparkling Water layered with Fruit Boba and topped with a Foam Cloud.

Almond Frangipane Cake layered with Raspberry Jam and Belgian Chocolate from Pop Eats. We have had this before and its safe to say we are obsessed with it. We talk about it all the time when we are running.

It looks like it may be sprinkling/raining because your table is all wet.....the drink and the cake sound AMAZING! I hope you get to HS on time! Yes, I know you have two hours but: crowds and slooooooowww gondolas!