Trip Report For The LAST Time In Forever - September 2021 TR

Welcome! Hopefully you followed along with my PTR here, but if not - I will go into the full introductions!

Pop Tv GIF by Schitt's Creek


Who: Me (of course)! Annie. Mainer and mom to be, along with my husband Ian (the dad to be)!

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When: September 24th - October 2nd, 2021

Where: Pop Century Resort (first time! also, Ian's first time not at a deluxe...)

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Why: WHY NOT? But actually.. for our babymoon 😍

I am going to jump right into Day 1, because I have 20 minutes of work left to kill time so.. LET'S GO!!



Day 1: September 24th

The start of this trip was a bit... rough. Our pup, Gus, was sick the entire week before we left. I mean, mess of the house and carpet every time we had to leave him to go to work kind of sick. Poor Gus and poor us. I had him at the vet up until the day before we left where he finally started showing improvement. The guy has a delicate stomach, what can I say?! I also felt better knowing my parents were the ones caring for him while we were gone.

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We woke up at 3 AM on Friday the 24th (yuck) to get picked up by my mom to head to the airport in Boston. We always put our Magic Bands on first thing in the morning to start the trip off on a good note!

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We live in Maine, but typically find much better and cheaper flights out of Boston (which is only about an hour and a half away). Before long my mom had her car loaded up with our suitcases and we were on our way!

We had an uneventful ride to the airport. Our flight was scheduled to board at 7 AM and we pulled up at 530..............

Only to then receive a text that our flight was completely cancelled, we couldn't rebook online or on the JetBlue app, and to see an agent at the airport. UM. OKAY? My mom and Ian were both telling me not to panic (read: don't cry) but I was struggling.

My mom dropped us off with promises that she would come back for us if need be, and off we went inside... To the longest line I've seen at Logan Airport in YEARS. There was no option but to stand in the customer service line and wait to be assisted. Apparently there was a physical plane issue. As we were standing in line, Ian and I discovered that there was only one JetBlue flight to MCO remaining for the day and there were only a handful of seats. We couldn't find anything on United, Delta, American or even Spirit. I was freaking out. We had Boo Bash tickets for that evening that we were SO looking forward to. How were we going to make it?!

Well.. as I stood there hyperventilating in my mask and trying to stay calm for this growing baby in my belly, Ian had found ONE flight on Frontier for 10 AM that would get us to MCO in time. It was PRICEY. There was no telling what refund we would get from JetBlue. But he wanted us to make it and have the best babymoon and vacation together. So he bit the bullet. I wanted to cry. I love this guy so much. If this is how he spoils me, our daughter is a goner!!!!

Naturally, I have no photos of this time period. After an hour or so we made it to the desk, they told us we had been rebooked for the earliest next flight on JetBlue... 4 PM the next day. NO THANKS. We requested a refund and they told us it would only be given in airline credit. Whatever. My brother is getting married next October, I'm sure we will use it.

Time to navigate to the complete opposite side of the airport to Frontier..

And by that I mean the international terminal because Frontier doesn't actually have it's own area at Logan.

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A rough start, but thank goodness this guy keeps a cool head and focuses on what he can control (I could learn a thing or two)

Nearly everyone in our line waiting for the Frontier desk had switched from the cancelled JetBlue flight and had intentions of making it to Disney that day. We were all sharing our grievances and feeling grateful for this flight. We eventually made it through the baggage steps, security and found the gate. Only to find the plane was delayed an hour. AHHHHHHH.

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Just sitting there wondering if this babymoon would EVER happen.

Side note: a man traveling alone with his baby asked if I could watch his son for a second while he went to the bathroom. He was gone for probably 25 minutes. I told Ian that if he ever flies alone with baby girl I would LOSE MY MIND if he did this. I get that it is so difficult to travel alone with children, but there are family restrooms and handicap stalls in the airport I've seen them myself...

After what felt like eternity, we finally boarded around 11 AM. After being awake since 3 AM. Time to squeeze into the tiny folding chairs that make up Frontier flights.

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Tight squeeze for a fluffy guy and a pregnant gal, but we were just happy to be boarded and on our way. Besides feeling SO squished, we survived the flight. I made sure to get up and move a couple times over the course of the 3 hours as well.

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Just before 3 PM we made it to MCO! A quick fonorail ride and we started seeing signs that we were home

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To be continued...
 

annienevells

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 3 continued...

After a few hours relaxing in the pool, we decided to take our first skyliner ride of the trip. Why not, it picked up right there at Pop?!

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We have been on the skyliner before, but in much cooler weather. We were wondering how it would go in 90+ degree temps, but we were pleasantly surprised.

I requested that we check out Riviera, and we did!

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It was beautiful, but we both agreed that whenever we rent DVC points again it will once again be at Poly (our happy place)

We knew we needed something in our bellies for a late lunch before we got showered and ready to head to Disney Springs for the evening, so we put in a mobile order at Pop for something quick and easy


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I was feeling my general pregnancy "off" so I just settled for some pasta with marinara while Ian got the chicken parm (which he LOVED. I mean.. raved about lol)

(side note, I felt lucky to only feel slightly off because I got sick 3-4 times a day for the first 25 weeks of my pregnancy to the point of being diagnosed with HG and having to get IV fluids twice this summer. I was so worried about this trip and turned a big corner RIGHT before we left)

After filling up our bellies, we headed back to the room to get ready. We did this fairly quickly and were soon back to the buses to head to DS!

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I will say here: I am not a DS fan. I don't like shopping. I don't like crowds. I could easily avoid DS every trip. But.. we decided to use the down time on this day to eat supper and maybe get a souvenir or two.

We were on a quiet bus, and soon were arriving at DS.

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It was SO HOT. Miserably hot. I checked into our ADR over an hour early because I simply COULDN'T anymore lol

Where to? City Works! Why? Basically just because Ian LOVES buffalo chicken dip and I saw it on the menu and decided we needed to try it.

We got in almost 45 minutes early, much to my relief.

Our late lunch was a recent memory, so we decided to split appetizers: Buffalo dip and pretzels

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Both were SO GOOD and perfectly hit the spot.

One of of favorite treats at home is to make half baked chocolate chip cookies in a skillet and put ice cream on top fresh out of the oven. So, when we saw a mini option on the dessert menu we just HAD to have it. The baby insisted!

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YUM! We were happy with this light meal and our time sitting the in the AC. Time to do as much shopping as I could handle.

We made it all the way here before I even stopped for a photo

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To be continued...
 

annienevells

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We moved on to a VERY busy World of Disney. I was super hesitant, but I knew it was my one opportunity and took it.

We never take home much by way of souvenirs, but we ALWAYS get a Christmas ornament every trip. I decided we needed one commemorating the 50th

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It took a decent amount of time to make it through the check out line, but finally we were exiting and on our way.

Where to next?

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The sunsets at DS at least are almost always beautiful, weather permitting.

One thing we love to do every trip is to make our own Mickey rice crispies treat at Goofy's Candy Co. Well.. I really should have done my research. I didn't know that they weren't doing them!

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Bummer.

We still decided to go in and get some treats.

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Ian's suggestion was for us to purchase the entire pumpkin pie version of the rice crispies treats. I was honestly tempted lol

(photos from back in the room of what we selected)

We each got a piece of fudge and a themed treat.

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Pumpkin fudge... TERRIBLE. I love pumpkin flavored things. I love fudge. Pumpkin fudge... SO BAD. My other treat was delicious though!

After we got our treats at Goofy's it was time to make the trek to the buses. My poor bloated pregnant feet were screaming. I was exhausted and hot. And of course... the Pop bus stop was the FURTHEST away. And took about 30 minutes to arrive

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This is proof of me fully sitting on the ground in my dress. Not a single care what anyone thought about it or me, just DONE

We eventually made it back to Pop and our room and I was in bed FAST.

Big plans for the next day? First day they started early entry for resort guests and we were headed to AK!
 

Back!Elbow!Shoulders!

Omnia mutantur, nihil interit
I had big dreams of sleeping in late after getting in bed at 2 AM, but baby had other plans for me. I am no longer able to sleep late, but I guess it's good preparation for when she is actually here!

It’s a blessing and a curse that you can’t sleep well later in pregnancy. Definitely helps you deal with the newborn nights a little better though.
 

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Day Two: Saturday, September 25th

I had big dreams of sleeping in late after getting in bed at 2 AM, but baby had other plans for me. I am no longer able to sleep late, but I guess it's good preparation for when she is actually here!

I tried to lay in bed and relax for as long as possible, scrolling social media and my guilty pleasure.. Tik Tok. Funny - while I was in WDW I was served up TONS of videos related to Disney but I do not get them as frequently in my algorithm at home.

Ian was sound asleep, and I was just a little bit jealous.

I finally decided to get up and put on my bathing suit and get ready for my relaxing day around 8:30. I decided I wanted to explore the resort and different decade areas, and then mobile order us some breakfast until the pool area opened at 10 AM (all while Ian continued to snooze)

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I think the walls at Pop are super cute. Had to grab a very sleepy looking selfie on my way through

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I just took my time walking around and taking photos of basically everything I saw

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After a bit of exploring, I was ready to eat. I put in a mobile order and made my way to Everything Pop! I did some browsing while I waited for our food

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I always WANT Disney merch like this for home, but NEVER have room in my luggage

Oh well, time for food! A picture for the 'gram on the way back to the room

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I got Mickey waffles with bacon and sausage for both Ian and myself. I woke him up and he was grateful for some food but still super sleepy. We ate our breakfast together, and then I headed out to the pool. He planned to sleep for another hour or so before showering and joining me at the Hippy Dippy pool!

Ahhhh ... this is what I REALLY needed


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I settled in with my book and enjoyed the sunshine. At some point I decided that I wanted a mocktail of some sort, and ended up with a yummy smoothie

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Pretty soon Ian joined me and we spent the next couple of hours in the pool, relaxing and chatting and just enjoying being on vacation!
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(suns out, bumps out?)

To be continued..
What book did you take with you? I'm always super nosy about people's reading.
 

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Girl, go ahead and get used to that now! It's mind-boggling how men are able to sleep through babies crying, but moms wake up at the tiniest sound from them. 🙃
I swear sometimes my husband was wide awake and faking not hearing the baby screaming. He snores like a chainsaw, but for some reason, when the baby was crying, he slept silently.
 

Zipadeelady

Well-Known Member
We moved on to a VERY busy World of Disney. I was super hesitant, but I knew it was my one opportunity and took it.

We never take home much by way of souvenirs, but we ALWAYS get a Christmas ornament every trip. I decided we needed one commemorating the 50th

View attachment 593286

It took a decent amount of time to make it through the check out line, but finally we were exiting and on our way.

Where to next?

View attachment 593287

The sunsets at DS at least are almost always beautiful, weather permitting.

One thing we love to do every trip is to make our own Mickey rice crispies treat at Goofy's Candy Co. Well.. I really should have done my research. I didn't know that they weren't doing them!

View attachment 593288

Bummer.

We still decided to go in and get some treats.

View attachment 593289

Ian's suggestion was for us to purchase the entire pumpkin pie version of the rice crispies treats. I was honestly tempted lol

(photos from back in the room of what we selected)

We each got a piece of fudge and a themed treat.

View attachment 593290

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Pumpkin fudge... TERRIBLE. I love pumpkin flavored things. I love fudge. Pumpkin fudge... SO BAD. My other treat was delicious though!

After we got our treats at Goofy's it was time to make the trek to the buses. My poor bloated pregnant feet were screaming. I was exhausted and hot. And of course... the Pop bus stop was the FURTHEST away. And took about 30 minutes to arrive

View attachment 593292

This is proof of me fully sitting on the ground in my dress. Not a single care what anyone thought about it or me, just DONE

We eventually made it back to Pop and our room and I was in bed FAST.

Big plans for the next day? First day they started early entry for resort guests and we were headed to AK!

We were also at DS Saturday evening. I usually like going to DS but this day was just awful and I was ready to leave almost as soon as we finished eating at Earl of Sandwich. It was sooo busy. We went into World of Disney and I would've purchased something but when I saw that checkout line we headed for the door. I do love your 50th ornament. I normally tend to buy mugs or ornaments but considering my luggage issue I didn't get either this past trip. Excited to hear about your AK day even though @Tuvalu seems to disagree with our choice in parks. ;)
 

annienevells

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 3, Sunday September 26th

Much to @Tuvalu 's chagrin we DID start our first real park day at AK. Probably would've been MK if not for Boo Bash on our arrival day 🤷‍♀️

Unfortunately, I did not make it an 11.5 hour non-stop AK day like @Zipitidoda - very impressive!

We got our day started bright and early, with AK's official open at 8 AM and early entry starting at 730! We made it to the bus stop by just before 7 and things were pretty quiet. It was still relatively dark out on our ride over, though brightening every minute.

Before long we were walking in to get in line to enter!

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We picked a line and were probably only about 20 people back

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Selfie to start the day!

I knew that this time at AK would generally be slower for me, but I wanted Ian to get in all of his favorites. It was at this time that I told him I prefer to walk through lines with him and take photos before taking the chicken (aka pregnant lady) exit instead of sitting around waiting. I asked if he wanted to RD FoP and he was very into that idea.

Once we cleared the resort guest entry just before 7:30 AM we were on our way to Pandora

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After winding around and making our way through the queue nonstop I was soon dropping Ian off at his link chamber and headed out to wait for him. We were through the line and he was off in under 20 minutes!

Where to next?

I've actually never done Na'vi River Journey. I never was inclined to waste a FP on it, and the line was always an hour + on our trips. Well it was a walk on at this time, so off we went!

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I thought that it was beautiful and well done, but it reaffirmed my previous choices lol .. but a Disney first for both of us!

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Where to next? The park had officially opened to all guests, but wait times outside Pandora were still holding at 5 minutes. I suggested a safari, and Ian agreed! Yes - I went on the safari. I feel like I bounce around more driving on New England pot hole riddled roads than the safari so.. there.


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We passed some friends on our way. I really loved the spontaneous character interactions on this trip :)

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Still 5 minutes, nice!

We basically walked through the line and onto our vehicle.

Our guide was great. Funny and knowledgeable and really took his time. I love a morning ride through the savanna!

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I was pretty happy with our view of the lions, as I can never seem to get a very good photo. This lion instantly reminded us of our dog Gus, and we had a little moment of missing him!

Where to next?
 

k8einwdw

Well-Known Member
Wait FoP is on the pregnant lady no ride list?
Well that is the silliest thing I ever heard. It is like riding a bike, only you can not fall off. And you don't have to pedal.
Probably because of the squishing when the restraints lock into place. I’m sure it’d probably be fine, but Disney wouldn’t want to be liable if something did happen, so they are extra cautious with what they do/don’t recommend for pregnant people.
 

Sbk1234

Well-Known Member
I think that one is less JIC (just in case) and a lot more of CYA (cover you a$$)


Max
My cardiologist told me that simulators are completely safe for heart patients because you don't really go anywhere, that it's the g-forces of rides like some rollercoasters that can be a real problem. She mentioned it was the same for pregnant ladies.
Of course, I'm no doctor so don't trust me on it. Consult with your own physician before riding, of course.
 

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