Trip Report From Batuu to the Boardwalk...and Beyond!

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We're back from an absolutely wonderful trip that involved many firsts! As many times as we have been to Disney, we are always looking to try new things and find new favorites, and this trip was no exception! If you read my PTR (here) you will know that we actually went on two trips back-to-back; many of you questioned my sanity when I posted about the short trip, but you'll have to keep reading to find out exactly how crazy it was. If you're ready for food, drinks, and DRAMMA, you have come to the right place!
 

bee

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
1-1, cont.

As we waited to board we debated whether to buy food now or order something later at our hotel. We weren't hungry yet and also didn't want to disturb our plane neighbors by eating anything with a strong smell, so we checked out Orlando restaurants that delivered and it looked like plenty would be open past our expected hotel arrival.

Despite being put in the C group, we were able to board pretty quickly and even managed to get a row to ourselves near the back!

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Up next: Plane adventures...
 

bee

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
1-1, cont.

Then we sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. Finally the captain announced that there was bad weather in the Washington, DC, area and we couldn't take off until we were given a new flight path that avoided the weather. :rolleyes:

To pass the time we played with a drawing app on my iPad...

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Every 15-20 minutes the captain would make another announcement that basically said, "We are trying but we can't go yet." It got to the point that they were allowing passengers to leave the plane and go back into the terminal. We figured with our luck that if we left they would immediately call us back, so we stayed on the plane.

Finally, over an HOUR after our scheduled departure, we were cleared to take off. And since we had to take a different route to avoid the bad weather, our flight would be an hour LONGER than usual, so that put us landing TWO HOURS late! 😑😑😑

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At least we had some entertainment!

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These clouds are DARK!

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We had some questionable weather in our area so it was a long time before the FAs were allowed to start the in-flight service. By this point we were RAVENOUS and absolutely DEVOURED the provided snacks.

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Before we even took off we KNEW we would be redeeming some of our Southwest drink coupons!

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The best part: The FAs didn't even take our coupons! FREE DRINKS! So when they came by again and asked if we needed anything else...you know I asked for another Blue Moon!

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And my nails matched!

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During the flight we started watching the Netflix original show Dead to Me. It was a perfect plane binge watch!

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Getting closer...

At some point I had to take out my headphones and put in my EarPlanes for the descent. I highly recommend trying EarPlanes if you have ear pain during/after landing!

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Another drawing app creation

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And I had to play BallZ

If there was a small bright spot to our flight delay, it was the fact that we could see the MK Halloween firework from the plane as we approached the airport!

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We FIIIIIIIINALLY landed and rode the Fonorail toward Ground Transportation. I called the front desk of the Quality Inn where we'd be staying that night and the hotel employee told me where to catch the shuttle.

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Good ol' MCO carpet

While we were waiting we ordered a pizza from the only place on Grubhub that delivered after 11:00pm. And then, five minutes later, I got a text that the order was cancelled. 😑😑😑 So we ended up using Postmates, which we had never used before because plenty of restaurants in NJ/NYC deliver later via Grubhub, Seamless, etc.

The shuttle arrived shortly and the ride to the hotel was quick. When we arrived in the lobby there was quite a line to check in and only one person working at the desk. Every step of the way I wished we had spent the extra $50 to stay at a Disney value resort for the night! We finally got to our room and it was very loud from noise from outside and the surrounding rooms. But at least our Taco Bell Postmates order arrived soon! :hilarious:

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Up next: Day 2! Certainly it can only go up from here????
 

bee

Well-Known Member
Original Poster

TheDisneyDaysOfOurLives

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
Yes
1-1, cont.

Then we sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. Finally the captain announced that there was bad weather in the Washington, DC, area and we couldn't take off until we were given a new flight path that avoided the weather. :rolleyes:

To pass the time we played with a drawing app on my iPad...

e41b6e1e38a8cb16060cdd0762e72d1a1416444e.jpg


Every 15-20 minutes the captain would make another announcement that basically said, "We are trying but we can't go yet." It got to the point that they were allowing passengers to leave the plane and go back into the terminal. We figured with our luck that if we left they would immediately call us back, so we stayed on the plane.

Finally, over an HOUR after our scheduled departure, we were cleared to take off. And since we had to take a different route to avoid the bad weather, our flight would be an hour LONGER than usual, so that put us landing TWO HOURS late! 😑😑😑

a8b77dce997e19d721076b7c4eb8d813aa5db9d7.jpg


9cff0c597bdff49985486866859289f8a2648929.jpg


0c1c1bb5e78f0a7f283900521863a0d525e0a9d2.jpg


2812a90583d34f05ca024cfe2e06540407241f30.jpg


1ef2fbee492fa92387d12e41b5bd4d2866798e90.jpg


At least we had some entertainment!

31fbb06551a782c419b9b192d68902d72a409ede.jpg


These clouds are DARK!

3546ab143aa7e524ed8987cce4a3a83f6ad1c0d3.jpg


2cf41bca335714349ca432e4a5e1337363a7f451.png


We had some questionable weather in our area so it was a long time before the FAs were allowed to start the in-flight service. By this point we were RAVENOUS and absolutely DEVOURED the provided snacks.

737aa7a02737ed541ae400e91fd5ed1b43254c15.jpg


Before we even took off we KNEW we would be redeeming some of our Southwest drink coupons!

6e7a23a984042588716e69a865ade7e46c137f37.jpg


The best part: The FAs didn't even take our coupons! FREE DRINKS! So when they came by again and asked if we needed anything else...you know I asked for another Blue Moon!

f8e8412c3dd60f6c1b75caf185c0840e1bacdbaf.jpg

And my nails matched!

e6218ba89cb5b9cbeea496e5b1b8785d9372979b.jpg


During the flight we started watching the Netflix original show Dead to Me. It was a perfect plane binge watch!

409ef67347777d8dbc5f86275380ad8a9f7df7e4.jpg

Getting closer...

At some point I had to take out my headphones and put in my EarPlanes for the descent. I highly recommend trying EarPlanes if you have ear pain during/after landing!

cbaee31c7d2caf48fb79f92b1ec26b70d9f8b257.jpg

Another drawing app creation

adfbf90c1261c123c2a1b166de97049c9b9a48e1.png

And I had to play BallZ

If there was a small bright spot to our flight delay, it was the fact that we could see the MK Halloween firework from the plane as we approached the airport!

6f9701b3445a165b94cee2a7ebd8dad8fe4d5216.jpg


We FIIIIIIIINALLY landed and rode the Fonorail toward Ground Transportation. I called the front desk of the Quality Inn where we'd be staying that night and the hotel employee told me where to catch the shuttle.

cfd954ebfc206c8f5d733e60fb1052498924b4d1.jpg

Good ol' MCO carpet

While we were waiting we ordered a pizza from the only place on Grubhub that delivered after 11:00pm. And then, five minutes later, I got a text that the order was cancelled. 😑😑😑 So we ended up using Postmates, which we had never used before because plenty of restaurants in NJ/NYC deliver later via Grubhub, Seamless, etc.

The shuttle arrived shortly and the ride to the hotel was quick. When we arrived in the lobby there was quite a line to check in and only one person working at the desk. Every step of the way I wished we had spent the extra $50 to stay at a Disney value resort for the night! We finally got to our room and it was very loud from noise from outside and the surrounding rooms. But at least our Taco Bell Postmates order arrived soon! :hilarious:

787a2d1b6b3ae63e876f129c270659d6f74b2bcd.jpg


Up next: Day 2! Certainly it can only go up from here????

Nothing worse than getting delayed on your way TO Disney. Man, I feel for you there. At least you didn’t have anything planned on the same day!
 

bee

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Trip 1, Day 2: Wednesday, August 21

Unfortunately, it did not go up from there. The bed was very uncomfortable and all of the pillows were too hard, plus we kept hearing noise from our neighbors throughout the night. We tossed and turned throughout the night and I gave up on sleep around 6am and sat in the bathroom with my phone in an attempt not to wake up M. It turned out she had never fallen asleep AT ALL so she texted me that she was awake and I could come back to the bed. LOL but not really!!

Somehow we managed to actually both fall asleep shortly after 6 and got a whopping two hours of sleep! :arghh: We woke up to see that our AC had leaked in the night and there was a huge puddle that spanned the entire length of the room!

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You can't even tell how bad it is from the photos!

At least we had free breakfast...

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This was pretty bad. The "egg" was suuuuuper dried out and totally inedible. All of the pastries/breads were dry and stale. At least the coffee was okay.

We went back to the room to get our bags and returned to the lobby to check out and catch the shuttle back to the airport.

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"Business center"

My review: DO NOT stay at this Quality Inn! We paid $51 and I wish we had just spent $100 on an All-Star! We barely slept at all since it was so loud and the bed was so uncomfortable. I wish I hadn't even attempted to eat the free breakfast. I also wish I had said something at check out and asked for a partial refund, but honestly I was so tired and ready to get out of there that I didn't even think of it. I did leave feedback in a survey sent to me after checkout and the manager apologized and said he hopes we will give them another chance. Um, no.

The 10:00 shuttle arrived a few minutes late but we FINALLY made it back to MCO. We got on line for the Magical Express and got our room ready text very soon after!

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We waited just a few minutes before we were on a bus, and we departed shortly after!

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Up next: We're finally home!!!
 

Darstarr

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
First of all, next time you fly out of ISP you get in touch with me! I will pick you up from the train AND bring you some food! The pizza place down the block makes the best potato and egg hero. My husband does a lot of work with a man from Taiwan who is vegetarian. First stop when he flies in is always for the potato and egg hero.

Second:
We woke up to see that our AC had leaked in the night and there was a huge puddle that spanned the entire length of the room!
This sounds a little familiar.
 

Spash007

Well-Known Member
I'm in! I think if you haven't been to LIRR terminal of Penn, you can't understand the madness. My now wife is from NJ, and the first time she came to visit me on LI she was flabbergasted by the stampede once they announce the track. I find it adrenaline pumping, but I take it most people find it terrifying. (And with suitcases it's so much worse)
 

bee

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
First of all, next time you fly out of ISP you get in touch with me! I will pick you up from the train AND bring you some food! The pizza place down the block makes the best potato and egg hero. My husband does a lot of work with a man from Taiwan who is vegetarian. First stop when he flies in is always for the potato and egg hero.

Second:

This sounds a little familiar.
OMG I will totally take you up on that if we find ourselves over there again! Thank you! 😍

That is one of the saddest looking "eggs" I've ever seen 😢

View attachment 405069
The quotation marks! 😆
Haha, it was sad!

This board fosters sick a great community.

Following along and hoping the drama calms down a bit
Thank you!

I'm not sure you can call that thing an egg. Oh my goodness.


At first glance, I thought it was a dried out lemon cookie!
Poor @bee ! :(


That's more along the lines of what I thought, honestly!
Hahaha! It DOES look like that!

I'm in!!!!
Welcome!

I'm in! I think if you haven't been to LIRR terminal of Penn, you can't understand the madness. My now wife is from NJ, and the first time she came to visit me on LI she was flabbergasted by the stampede once they announce the track. I find it adrenaline pumping, but I take it most people find it terrifying. (And with suitcases it's so much worse)
Welcome! I can handle a certain level of madness in my life, and I can say that Penn's particular variety of madness is not for me! Luckily we didn't have any suitcases for the short trip and it was well before rush hour. If you're into that good for you! :hilarious:
I'm a little late, but ready for more dramma!!
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Don't worry, the drama is just getting started!
 

bee

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
1-2, cont.

Finally!

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Star Wars hotel construction and the Backside of Batuu

We stopped at Coronado first and got our first look at the completed tower.

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And soon we arrived at our home for the night: All-Star Sports!

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Since our room was ready we went there immediately. On the way:

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🐝💜

We arrived at our room:

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Uhhh...

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I only took this photo of the room because you all have seen a million pictures of the old All-Star rooms by now.

After taking a few minutes to rest and charge our phones we went back to the main building to purchase a resort mug, which would last for both parts of the trip!

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Nice coffee setup

And from there we exited to the bus stops!

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It wasn't long at all before an Epcot bus pulled up!

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Don't remind me :cry:

Up next: Food!
 

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