Trip Report "It's for work, I swear!"

When I have my students complete identification questions, I always make them give me the who, what, when, where, and why of the word. So that's what I’m going to give you.

Who: Myself and @lostpro9het

What: Another trip to Disney

When: March 19 – 23

Where: Pop Century

Why: Here's perhaps the most important bit of info. It's not for fun trip (yes it is). It's for work, I swear! Sean has a conference. He cannot go to Orlando without me. He just can't.

The seeds of this trip were planted around October of last year. Sean mentioned a big IT conference and said he probably wouldn't go. Fast forward to a few months ago and he's decided he's going.

First things first...I book airfare via SouthWest. Let me tell you now. I HATE FLYING. I'm convinced we are all going to die. I've been reading a book to learn strategies to help with this, so we (and you) will see how it goes.

I had to do some research regarding the Orlando Convention Center, conference hotels (not a Disney one in sight – boo), and all the costs associated with the trip. We were trying to find a hotel that fit the following qualifications: remained within the per diem, free transport to Disney or Disney Springs OR within walking distance of DS. Guess what? None of those fit.

We chose Cabana Bay Resort at Universal. I had resigned myself to the possibility of not visiting WDW. Sacrilege, I say. I wouldn't have minded staying there, but if there's a Disney alternative, I'm taking it. Fast forward to today. We were trying to arrange a shuttle to/from the airport. It was approx. $70 RT for the both of us and we'd be at the mercy of Mears. I then looked up rental car prices. They weren't bad, plus we wouldn't be reliant on the shuttle AND we could visit Disney AND have all of our Disney food choices. This is really what we wanted.

I crunched the numbers.

Cabana Bay was almost $900, plus $12 for parking.

Pop Century WITH a rental car was $793. No brainer. I canceled Cabana Bay asap and booked Pop with a car rental.

Everything (except my FP selections) have been planned.

What can you expect on this trip:
  • Me flying – yikes. I'm not as nervous as I usually am about flying, so I take that as a good sign.
  • Me driving in Orlando. - I'm taking Sean to/from the convention center. Parking is $15/day (unless someone knows something I don't), so that's not even an option.
  • Me solo at the parks – I'm going to ride some rides solo and get some character photos.
We're super-excited that we will be at Disney 2-ish weeks.
 

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Well, the night wasn't all bad. We did get some grub at UNOs then made our way to HS for a few rides before I practiced my breath holding skills in the urgent care waiting room. I'm just thankfull they were able to fill the script while we were there rather than having to hunt down a pharmacy and wait there.
At UNOs we shared an individual windy city special and some Mediterranean-ish tapas. The food was ok but I really wanted IL Mulino but they had no availability.
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lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Sanaa was excellent as always. The bread service went up $2, suck it disney, and the Potjie has also changed to where you can no longer pick 2 meats it now has to be 1 meat and 1 veggie with only white basmati rice as an option. They said you could add an additional meat for $11. So sad :-(. So we split the bread service and the Potjie with the butter chicken and lentils. We ordered an extra rice to accompany it. Food was still excellent and even had a visitor come by to show off.
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lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Sanaa is a favorite of ours. Love the bread service. Looks like a great start to the night. Beer???
I'm pretty sure my Untappd post spoiled the surprise... :D
Ok... I saw on your Instagram that you went to Tiffins!! I got to know how it was!!? Did you have dinner or just drinks? I'm a little confused with the prophets post on Sanaa.
Drinks at Nomad lounge.

Our EE pics haven't posted yet but after a our ride we took a leisurely stroll over to NL for some drinks before our Dinosaur FP. I went with the Kungaloosh draft and she went with the Annapurna Zing. Both were excellent.
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After enjoying our libations we made for our Dinosaur FP followed by a Primeval Whirl. On the way out we decided to keep up with tradition. Every trip we are here as a family we make the kid pose for us in the dino car cuttout, she just loves it don't you know. So, since she wasn't here we decided to make do and took these pics and sent them to her. Yes, we're hillarious parents...
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