Trip Report Fun With Friends & Family!! Vol. 2-7

As I'm attempting to organize my photos(they're still playing Pulp Fiction tricks on me & for the life of me I can't figure out how to get them back in order) I'm realizing that with the sheer amount of people in this TR it could get awfully confusing. My apologies, in advance. Fortunately though, out of the 18 participants in this TR there are only 6 that you've never met so hopefully it won't be too bad!!🤞🤞🤞

Along with the participants there are a few other confusing factors in this TR. Dates, resorts & flights, naturally!!
As I said to someone the other day while doing a presentation, "I live this therefore it's like second nature to me but I can see where it could be confusing to someone else"(not referring to this trip-I was doing something for work.) I told them that at anytime if it got to be too much of a whirlwind to please stop me & have me clarify things. I invite you to do the same!!

If I haven't scared you away at this point I want to say welcome to you all & hope you enjoy following along!!

WHEN:
In regards to my family:
For me: Tuesday, January 17th(started out as the 19th) - Tuesday, January 24th(was supposed to be the 23rd)
E, J & R: Thursday, January 19th(late) - Tuesday, January 24th(was supposed to be the 23rd)
C, D, A & E: Thursday, January 19th(late) - Sunday, January 22nd
D, S, K & K: Thursday, January 19th(early) - Monday, January 23rd

WHERE:
E, J, R & myself were booked at SSR. I was in charge of booking the room. A few weeks before we left I happened to notice that instead of booking a 1 bedroom villa I somehow only booked a regular room!!🤦‍♀️o_O Thank goodness I noticed it ahead of time but the bad news was that there were no more 1(or 2) bedroom villas available.
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With my tail between my legs I ended up getting us 2 rooms at POR!! It could be worse, right??;)
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C, D, E & A were staying at SSR while D, S, K & K were at Pop Century!!

WHO:
These awesome friends!! Do they really need an introduction??
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Then there's these friends!! Who I happened to run into by accident!! Remember my friend, A, that passed in December 2021? I had been going down once a month to see her & would stay at Disney since it was so close to her house. Here's her daughter & husband!! It was so great to see them & spend some time with them!! And it was so strange how I ended up running into them. One of those, IMO, "things that happen for a reason." I'll get into that later!!
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We had a surprise, awesome end to our trip by being able to hang out with @Darstarr & Ant!! I was excited for them to be able to meet some of our crew(including Spillsie!!🤣-right @Darstarr!!)
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Here's where it's going to get really confusing--the family!! But, you know all of us but 4 so hopefully this won't be too painful!!
Here we go:
D(my youngest sibling, has only been to Disney once as a child & once as an adult, swore up & down he would never go there again, can't stand it there-I'm sure you get my drift. Then he meets his girlfriend & she wants to take her kids to Disney for the first time. Now, here he is!!)
Myself, niece E, nephew J
D's girlfriend S & her son & daughter, K & K(more confusion!!)
Mickey's not part of the family but in a special way he is!!
Sisters C & E(remember last TR when I said it made them sound like nuns!!), BIL D(my sister C's husband & R's cousin-more confusion), niece A & last but not least, R!!
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Ok, now here we go!!

Here I was, traveling solo. Originally, I was supposed to fly down Thursday evening with E, J, R, C, D, E & A. But, in talking with a special friend of mine I found out that she was going to be there on Thursday so I changed my plans & flew down Tuesday evening after I got done working so we could spend some time together!!
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I went to Primanti's & got a turkey, bacon club sandwich.
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Time to leave gloomy Pittsburgh behind!!
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Right before I put my phone into airplane mode I found out my room number!!
BTW-the reason it only says 1 guest is b/c initially when I decided to add 2 extra nights on my trip I didn't want to pay for a 1BR at Saratoga just for myself so I decided I would stay at POR for those 2 nights then take the boat down(with my luggage) on checkout morning then finish out the trip at Saratoga. The good news is once the whole stay was switched to POR I didn't have to change rooms after the first 2 nights!!
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riverside

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Clearly you didn’t get the memo to wear a red Presley Motors tee.

The sushi came from Kona Island.

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(Captain Cooks doesn’t have sushi.)
I don't eat sushi normally so I wasn't sure where they got it from. Although, last trip I had it at Kona Cafe & loved it!!
And thank you for the clarification!!

As for the shirt, I didn't get the memo b/c I don't have one!! A few weeks before that trip they all had been in Tennessee & got them!! And, dare I say this b/c it's probably going to be an unpopular statement, I am not an Elvis fan in the least!!
 

riverside

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I was up at an ungodly hour the next morning. I always hate leaving but heading out at that time is like putting salt on a wound. At least no one was around to see me do the walk of shame!!
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I ended up sitting in the emergency exit row. Having the extra space is really nice!!
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The rest of the family was there for a few more days. While I was at work that evening they sent me some pictures to show that they were still having fun!!
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riverside

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
It was so late when we got there & the airport was very empty.
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The one thing I really like about Mears is that they operate 24/7 so when your flight is late you don't have to worry about them not picking you up.
We had a van.
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Finally!!
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We got our groceries & bell services took us to our room.

I made sure I brought our(E's) friend along!!
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Room pictures.
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This is the 2nd time I've stayed at an OKW villa. I can't say enough about the amount of space. It feels like an apartment!!
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riverside

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We all slept a little later since we got in so late the night before.
My sister, C, was on it though(they got there a week before we did) & got us this!!
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I took a walk around OKW.
This is our building.
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Such a pretty resort!!
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We finally made it to the bus stop a few hours later.
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I love the sea shells in the ground!!
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Before we could go into the park R had important business to take care of.
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He had to activate his first ever AP!!
 

riverside

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We mobile ordered lunch as soon as we got inside.
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I just love their corn dog nuggets!!
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R gets this hot dog quite often. Way too messy for me!!
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Time for a spin on the Peoplemover!!
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A favorite!!
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He's tired already!!
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We met up with the rest of the family & the 5 of us went on Space Mountain.
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Our boarding group was being called!!
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riverside

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Then it was time for round 2 with John & family!!
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If I had to guess R probably slept through it again!!😝
As you know, this attraction is a favorite of ours. We had to make sure we got our picture wearing our shirts. My BIL, D, bought them for us!! We got tons of compliments on them!!
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Dinner at another one of our favorites!!
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After dinner we were all heading in different directions.
This was my path.
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riverside

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I arrived at Epcot.
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R wanted me to pick up this shirt for him & not tell anyone. We kept telling him he couldn't be in our picture b/c he didn't have the shirt. So, he was going to surprise everyone on our Epcot day!!
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But, the real reason I went to Epcot was to spend some time with @LisaBelle & family!!
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Her son wasn't with them this time but I had the pleasure of finally meeting her daughter!! We had such a fun evening together!!

As I was leaving I watched this gentleman for a bit. He was great!!
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While I was at Epcot R, E & J went to DS so R could go to Art of Shaving. He wanted an appointment earlier in the trip since it was going to be so hot.
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On my way back to OKW R called me & asked if I could pick up pizzas, ginger ale & Jack Daniels at the store. Why he didn't put this on our grocery order I have no clue. So, here I was walking back to the room(which was not very close to the main building) in the rain carrying all this stuff.
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I made it back before it got too bad but it still wasn't fun.
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I should have hopped on a bus.

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We ended up hanging out at our room the rest of the evening.
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Looks like I got PCB filled at some point at MK!!
 

pkkurz

Well-Known Member
Then it was time for round 2 with John & family!!
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If I had to guess R probably slept through it again!!😝
As you know, this attraction is a favorite of ours. We had to make sure we got our picture wearing our shirts. My BIL, D, bought them for us!! We got tons of compliments on them!!
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Dinner at another one of our favorites!!
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After dinner we were all heading in different directions.
This was my path.
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Then it was time for round 2 with John & family!!
View attachment 816009
If I had to guess R probably slept through it again!!😝
As you know, this attraction is a favorite of ours. We had to make sure we got our picture wearing our shirts. My BIL, D, bought them for us!! We got tons of compliments on them!!
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Dinner at another one of our favorites!!
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After dinner we were all heading in different directions.
This was my path.
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Oh my, love those shirts!!!
 

BrerWayne

Well-Known Member
We all slept a little later since we got in so late the night before.
My sister, C, was on it though(they got there a week before we did) & got us this!!
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I took a walk around OKW.
This is our building.
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Such a pretty resort!!
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We finally made it to the bus stop a few hours later.
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I love the sea shells in the ground!!
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Before we could go into the park R had important business to take care of.
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He had to activate his first ever AP!!
Love the shirt! Where did he get it?
 

riverside

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We all headed to Rise next.
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Then we headed out. I remember this trip being extremely hot!!
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We made a stop at Yacht & Beach Club.
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Then sat for a bit at Ale & Compass Lounge until it was time for dinner.
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Can't say that I miss this place in the least. I ate here a few years back and I really liked it. This time, not so much.
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There was a lot of clowning around going on!!
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riverside

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Today was an AK day with a slight change of plans. We decided not to go until the afternoon.
The heat was already getting the best of us & we all know how hot that park is so none of us really wanted to spend too much time there.
J & I went to the quiet pool in the morning. It was super close to our room so that was nice!!
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We walked to the main area & hopped on a boat.
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Lunch was at Chip 'n Dale's Cafe!! I still say this is one of the best lunches in all of Disney!!
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You know we couldn't come here without going to the pro shop. Actually, I think that was the whole reason for going to Saratoga to begin with!!
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BTW-I had to make sure I got this in the picture. Notice the guy with his shoes ON the table?? How rude & nasty!!

J ended up getting a hat there. But, for some reason he put his other one on again right away.
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While we waited for a bus you know we couldn't let this opportunity pass us by!!🤣
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I really do love this resort!! It reminds me a lot of Riverside!!
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riverside

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We got a bus to AK from Saratoga.
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We went on the safari.
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R was saying that he had never been through Gorilla Falls so we had to rectify that!!
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The gorillas were very entertaining!!
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We were going to kill some time at Nomad Lounge b/c we were all sweltering but there was a 30 minute wait so we decided to leave instead!!
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riverside

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We didn't have far to go for our dinner reservation.
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But, we still had awhile so we stopped at Victoria Falls for a bit.
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I had really been looking forward to this reservation. It had been quite a few years since I ate here. I was actually nervous though about R eating here. I didn't think he would like it that much but as it turns out he did!!
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I can't remember what I ate but dare I say this might be the best restaurant on Disney property!!
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That day was D & C's anniversary!!
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It probably seems strange for me to rave about it & I can't remember any details!! It's been too long though!! But, I've ate there twice now and trust me when I say it is excellent!!
 

riverside

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
After dinner we took a bus to Epcot. They were having extra hours for deluxe resort guests. Let me tell you, I was very disappointed. Quite a few rides(that were supposed to be operating) were down so the wait times for everything else were long. I don't like to stay up late to begin with & this definitely was not worth sacrificing sleep for.
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After Soarin' we went to WS.
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J was tired.
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The line for Frozen was ridiculous but we did it anyway.
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We saw some fireworks while walking.
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Then out we went!!
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I guess Mousekeeping felt J's stuffed animals needed some reading material!!
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