Trip Report One lump or two? A last minute Holiday trip.

Hello All - I haven’t attempted a trip report since probably February of 2022. Before that it was probably a 2016 trip. 😱

But I have a last minute trip coming up and I’ve been practicing my trip reporting skills on holiday get away to NYC this weekend - so going to attempt to document our Disney trip between Christmas and New Year’s. (Yes, that right. We are crazy enough to attempt it). We have been before, so we know what to expect and have mentally readied ourselves for the crowds.

The attendees:
From my immediate family, it will just be my daughter and myself. Photo from a past trip:
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I have loved this bow headband since it first hit the shelves many years ago. But it’s the bane of my family’s existence and they wish I would get rid of it. I now only wear it to MK. But….Hard to miss me/ easy to find me in MK! 😁

My sister in law and my nieces will join us as well, but I’ll probably keep them out of the photos.

This trip came about last week. After Christmas, We are headed down to visit my father in law in Florida near-ish Orlando. My husband and son decided to add on a day to go fishing with my brother in law. So my sister in law and I decided to head to the parks!

We are staying offsite - Doubletree Disney Springs area. Never stayed here before and it’s been years since we stayed offsite - so we will see how this goes!

There was some miscommunication with the number of park days - my sister in law purchased one day tickets, while I purchased two day tickets. 🤦🏻‍♀️. So that’s the trip title. ML (my daughter) and I may make it into the parks two days or it might be just the one day. We have reservations for Epcot the first day and MK the second. We shall see how many times we make it through the turnstiles!
 
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Bullseye1967

Bullseye1967

Is that who I am?
Premium Member
radiorae said:
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Funny story. On a long weather delay for Wishes, I found not 1 but 2 wallets on the ground. I took them each to the nearest CM and they each told me it would be much easier on the guest, if I looked for ID and tried to find the person than to just give it to them. They did say if I didn't locate them, I could still give it to them or another CM. I was lucky enough to find both the owners. ( One tried to give me $500 for my troubles. I wonder how much cash he had in it? No I didn't take his gift. ) On a karma note, When we had our hotel in Central FL, we went to DTD (now DS) at least 3 nights a week just because we could and because hospitality can suck and this was a nice outlet. We were good friends with many of the performers. If one looked half wiped by the end of their set in the melting summer heat, we made it a habit to bring them a cold water when we greeted them. I went to get a drink for a friend as his set was fading and I had no wallet?!!!! We were at the purple stage on the old PI. We had parked the lot past Cirque. I literally ran down there and found my wallet on the ground outside my car.
 
erstwo

erstwo

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Tuvalu said:
Fingers crossed your sunglasses aren’t partying with my pillow, MagicBand and Minnie umbrella!
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Me too! But I have a feeling they are headed to a bargain bin somewhere and then to the trash bin. I am so very blind - no way anyone else would want/ could use them!😁
radiorae said:
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YES! My daughter does the toss, toss all the time - I have pictures of it in action as young as 6 or 7 - it must come naturally to some people! 😁✨
 
erstwo

erstwo

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Bullseye1967 said:
Funny story. On a long weather delay for Wishes, I found not 1 but 2 wallets on the ground. I took them each to the nearest CM and they each told me it would be much easier on the guest, if I looked for ID and tried to find the person than to just give it to them. They did say if I didn't locate them, I could still give it to them or another CM. I was lucky enough to find both the owners. ( One tried to give me $500 for my troubles. I wonder how much cash he had in it? No I didn't take his gift. ) On a karma note, When we had our hotel in Central FL, we went to DTD (now DS) at least 3 nights a week just because we could and because hospitality can suck and this was a nice outlet. We were good friends with many of the performers. If one looked half wiped by the end of their set in the melting summer heat, we made it a habit to bring them a cold water when we greeted them. I went to get a drink for a friend as his set was fading and I had no wallet?!!!! We were at the purple stage on the old PI. We had parked the lot past Cirque. I literally ran down there and found my wallet on the ground outside my car.
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Love all of this! I’m with the guy who wanted to pay you $500. Canceling my cards, getting a new license (what if he needed it to get on a flight home?? 😱) all of that would be worth $500. It I also understand why you didn’t take it.
So glad your wallet was right there beside your car! ❤️. And yay for friends and CMs who give it their all!
 
Swissmiss

Swissmiss

Premium Member
Wow - with everything you did it is hard to believe it was less than 2 full days.

And what a bummer about the sunglasses. A few years ago I found frames that you can buy magnetic “clip ons”(you get two free clips when you buy the frames); I stopped getting prescription sunglasses because it is much easier to put the clip on and off and since it is essentially flat, it takes up less room in my pocket or purse than an extra pair of glasses.
 
erstwo

erstwo

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Swissmiss said:
Wow - with everything you did it is hard to believe it was less than 2 full days.

And what a bummer about the sunglasses. A few years ago I found frames that you can buy magnetic “clip ons”(you get two free clips when you buy the frames); I stopped getting prescription sunglasses because it is much easier to put the clip on and off and since it is essentially flat, it takes up less room in my pocket or purse than an extra pair of glasses.
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I felt like we got a lot done too!
Those sound adorable and very convenient!
 
fractal

fractal

Well-Known Member
As a long time summer visitor, it's hard for me to imagine WDW in 40 degree weather, but I'm impressed with your dedication and ability to down an ice cream sundae in the cold air.
I would love to see the Parks all dressed up for Christmas - maybe some day!

Hope you find the glasses!
 
erstwo

erstwo

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
fractal said:
As a long time summer visitor, it's hard for me to imagine WDW in 40 degree weather, but I'm impressed with your dedication and ability to down an ice cream sundae in the cold air.
I would love to see the Parks all dressed up for Christmas - maybe some day!

Hope you find the glasses!
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Thank you!
Always room for ice cream, right? Although I must confess I ate most of it while wandering the shops because it was so cold!
I’ve given up on the glasses - but it’s just as well. Went to the eye doctor this week. First time since before the pandemic and my prescription has changed!
 
erstwo

erstwo

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Just realized I never shared my ‘final thoughts’.

I didn’t have much. Just a few things.

1-the bathrooms outside (or maybe better described as at the back of?) Pinocchio Village Haus were gross. I mean really, really dirty. No CM in sight. But other restrooms were sparkling clean with a CM constantly on duty. It was a weird hit or miss.

2- for the very first time ever - I encountered someone smoking weed in the parks. I walked right through the cloud of skunk and whipped my head around so fast I almost broke my neck. They were NOT in a smoking area. I get that it’s legal a lot of places now - but some of us have jobs where it’s a no go. If you need it - if at all possible - please bring a gummy into the parks and let the rest of us avoid the contact high.

3- Disney at Christmas is still something very special

Finally - thanks to everyone for reading! I greatly enjoyed reliving this trip through this report!

One final picture- we were flying out of Terminal A at MCO. My husband has a Spirit airlines flight he loves for good prices when flying back and forth to see his dad. I’m not usually in Terminal A - so this was my first time visiting the Priority Pass lounge there. It was very nice.
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Nice food offerings - places to sit and charge phones, etc. Check to see if your credit cards give you access because it would be a great place to wait until it’s time to board with younger kids. They even had a small playroom!
 
sheriffwoody

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
erstwo said:
2- for the very first time ever - I encountered someone smoking weed in the parks. I walked right through the cloud of skunk and whipped my head around so fast I almost broke my neck. They were NOT in a smoking area. I get that it’s legal a lot of places now - but some of us have jobs where it’s a no go. If you need it - if at all possible - please bring a gummy into the parks and let the rest of us avoid the contact high.
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I feel this ALL THE TIME at home. It's not legal here, but I swear I smell it at every store I go in. I wish people would use gummies more. It's just the worst smell :hilarious:
 
Minnie1986

Minnie1986

Well-Known Member
erstwo said:
Day 4 continued-

The wait time for Seven Dwarfs was posted at 65 minutes for standby when we got in line. Ultimately, we waited about 45.
My photo pass photos from the ride never turned up. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Once off the ride, it was roughly 11:00. Even with an hour to go, the girls were content with their day. They requested some shopping on the way out of the park, so we headed towards the Emporium.

Still loving the park at night. There was a stage show going on. I know we all say this - but those performers are world class. It was cold, the crowd was smaller than usual but the performers were giving it their all!
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I took a little detour on the way to the Emporium. Yes - I know I said it was freezing cold outside (because it was!) but tradition is tradition.
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I stopped at the Ice Cream Parlor and I regret nothing. 😁. Ice cream sundaes just taste better here. ❤️
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My daughter and my niece finished their purchases and we had one last stop on our way out. Guest services.

I forgot to mention that on one of my trips up and down the ramp to Tron I realized I had lost my prescription sunglasses. 😎 I’m pretty sure I left them on the tea cups. I probably should have stopped by there directly but decided to check lost and found instead.

The poor CM at the desk was clearly at the end of a long night. There were two people in front of me - one was a rather nice man who took the QR code card agreeably after the CM did the courtesy check. The other was a very confrontational man who had lost his wallet.
After the CM went in the back and checked for his wallet - and the CM returned to give the standard reply of ‘I’m sorry, but I don’t see anything matching that description in the back. Please use this card and follow the instructions to create a report about your missing item. The man insisted that the CM needed to go back and check again because he had a very unique wallet and it would be easy for the CM to see it. There were a few rounds of this where the CM agreed it would be easy for him to spot IF it were back there however, it was not in the back for him to locate. Finally the man left in a huff.

So I approached the desk and let the CM know I was missing some generic, Costco prescription sunglasses. Looked him dead in the eye and said ‘I’m sure you’ll be able to find them in the 2000 other pairs of sunglasses people lost in the park today’ And then we both just kind of cracked up a little. 😁 My daughter told the CM she was sorry he had to deal with the guy before us - and he said no worries - all in a days work. 🩷
Of course, my glasses weren’t back there either. So I’ve filed my report and we shall see!

I had one more task at Guest services - I had purchased Genie + for all 5 of us that morning, but if you’ll remember - my sister-in-law left the park after a couple of hours. I asked about a refund and after a few clicks to confirm that she had not used any LL, I received one! Win!

On our way out:
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We walked to the Contemporary and this was our final photo of the night before our Uber picked us up:
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And that wraps up our Disney portion! I have a few final thoughts that I’ll share later. Happy weekend everyone!!
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Great Trip Report! I too am team ice cream in the winter. It just tastes better in cold weather.
 

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