Trip Report Pomp & Circumstance… Sunshine & Shadows… A Different Kind of Disney Trip (Completed)

Hello my friends! I know. I know. I have gone MIA AGAIN with an unfinished TR from September, and as @fractal pointed out, I do owe you not 1 ½ , but 2 ½ TR’s!

And now it is soon to 3 ½ …

I know I should pick up where I left off and not skip ahead, but writing has always been therapeutic for me and the last several months have been surreal. I’m thinking maybe if I write about it, maybe I will feel a little better.

This past December, my folks came to stay with us for the holidays.

Right after Christmas, my mom decided that she did not want to go back to my brother’s house in NJ. She decided she wanted to stay with us in NY. I think she sensed something and wanted to be close to the area she and my dad were born and raised. Since January, my dad has spent 5 weeks in and out of the hospital. Finally, he said no more trips to the hospital. He made me promise him, so we called Hospice. Sadly, my daddy passed away last week.

He was at home with all of us around him. He missed his 90th birthday by just a week. I guess he knew Heaven would give him a grander party. I miss him. I don’t think I’ve really accepted it yet. It just doesn’t seem real.

This is us on my wedding day…

So that’s the shadows I feel around me.

The sunshine? Well that goes with the pomp & circumstance… Julia has graduated from Full Sail University with a Bachelors of Science in 3D Computer Animation. So proud of my girl! She had a bittersweet birthday last week losing her pop-pop.

We will be flying down to Orlando for her commencement on May 10th. And since Full Sail is only about twenty minutes from Disney, Julia asked to go to her favorite park (EPCOT) for a day. She also asked to eat at Morimoto and maybe sneak a few hours in at the Studios. We will be flying out on Tuesday and back to NY on Saturday. So many memories to make…

This will be the first time we will be staying off site. We are staying at a “good neighbor” hotel in Lake Buena Vista, but it will definitely be a different kind of trip for us. Actually, I feel a great deal of guilt leaving my mom so soon after my dad passed. My brothers will both be staying at my house with her, but she is so attached to me… I’m not sure how this is going to go. I can’t even be out of the house for more than an hour without her having one of my girls call me and make sure I’m coming home soon. My parents were married for 69 years!!! I can’t imagine the grief my mom feels.

While I feel all that guilt, I also can’t wait to board that plane, close my eyes and just BREATHE. It’s been quite a stressful four months.

So here is my attempt at journaling this time… filled with so many emotions… from joy and happiness to sorrow and pain. Our time of sunshine and shadows.

 

[CAlvares]

Congratulations Julia!!
I’m not originally from North America, but my understanding is that each one of those little ropes refer to some achievement she had. Is that correct? If so, that’s so impressive!! You guys must be super proud!

 

[Songbird76]

View attachment 784623View attachment 784618

What are all the different cords for? I know different colors have different meanings, but I don't know what any of them are. Is the gold one honors? It looks like the one I wore for my college graduation.

 

[Figment Forever]

Heading home…

 

[cgersic]

I guess I didn't notice in the other pictures, but that's a LOT of hair on Ross's face?!

 

[dizfan917]

Kevin said "WHOA!! Look at his BEARD!!"

 

[Tiki Traveler]

I’m very late here but congratulations on your daughter graduating college!

My condolences on the passing of your father. I hope this trip (and any other recent trips) have given you a moment to breathe. You have a lot on your plate and if you need a little extra Disney magic so be it!

 

[Figment Forever]

How exciting!!
So happy to be following along!!
Wishing you guys an amazing trip full of wonderful memories!!

Thank you!

I'm getting nervous for the new system. I just want to be prepared for what they will ask and what I need to provide.

I am very nervous! It's sad - I shouldn't be. I wish their system was like Six Flags and Universal

Love hopes shirt!! She’s so awesome.

She has 2 Potato land tees! lol She is looking for the Ears!

I'm so sorry for your loss, and I totally get needing to escape right now. When my dad passed in 2017, I went and booked a trip to DLP because I needed an escape. I had to wait several months for it, but it was worth it, and I needed it. Did it make everything better? No. But was it a good distraction? Absolutely. And I'm sure your mom will make it. Does she know you are going?

And congratulations to Julia!! Does she know what she's going to do now? Does she have a job lined up?

Thank you so much! It was a little escape - but not too much. I'm a big stress bubble right now. Julia is setting up a "business" to take commission work and she has been applying to several job opportunities. Fingers crossed!

Congratulations Julia!!!!!

Thank you!

Congratulations!

Thank You!

Big Congrats!!!!

Thanks so much!

Congratulations Julia!!
I’m not originally from North America, but my understanding is that each one of those little ropes refer to some achievement she had. Is that correct? If so, that’s so impressive!! You guys must be super proud!

Yes - We are so proud of her!

I guess I didn't notice in the other pictures, but that's a LOT of hair on Ross's face?!

Yep lol

Kevin said "WHOA!! Look at his BEARD!!"

LOL It's his Duck Dynasty look

I’m very late here but congratulations on your daughter graduating college!

My condolences on the passing of your father. I hope this trip (and any other recent trips) have given you a moment to breathe. You have a lot on your plate and if you need a little extra Disney magic so be it!

Thank you so much!

 

[Figment Forever]

What are all the different cords for? I know different colors have different meanings, but I don't know what any of them are. Is the gold one honors? It looks like the one I wore for my college graduation.

The light blue cord is for mental health awareness.
The maroon and gold cord is for GPA above 3.0
The medallion is for Honors - GPA above a 3.5
The red, white and blue cord was to honor a military veteran. She wore it for my dad - her pop-pop. The original plan was to wear it at her graduation and then she was going to present it to him when we got home. When we knew he was not going to make it, she put it around him during his final time with us. She decided she wanted it to go with him - he deserved it. So when we got to her graduation, she saw the cords for sale and got emotional. I purchased her another one and she wore it. I told her pop-pop is always with her and is so proud.

 

[Figment Forever]

May 7th, 2024

No lie, my heart wasn’t too into this trip. I felt guilty for leaving my mom and just as guilty for not being excited for Julia’s graduation. As the day arrived, I tried my best to live in the moment and enjoy this trip. My daughter worked so hard for this day and I am so proud. I promised myself to let go and allow myself to have a good time.

Ross and Nick had to run the route in the AM, so the girls and I tried to get everything at home ready to go and keep my mom calm. My Jersey brother was coming that morning to spend the day with her and then my oldest brother was going to get to my house in the afternoon and stay until we returned home. Even at that, my mom was a nervous wreck. We kept assuring her that everything would be ok and that she would never be left alone.

My brother arrived by 11AM and Ross and Nick got home soon after. The plan was to leave by noon to get to the park and ride place. Our flight would board at 3:20pm. We left the house at about 12:30 and ran into traffic!! If I wasn’t stressed at this point. Poor Julia… she needed the bathroom when we were halfway there and I told her to hold it in!! I knew if we stopped, chances were we would miss the flight. Thankfully, we got to the park and ride in time! Julia used the bathroom and we were off to Newark Terminal A- Jet Blue.

We entered the terminal at 2:30 and checked our luggage and then off through TSA pre-check – BEST money ever spent!!! We used the bathroom and got some lemonade for Hope and Julia picked up a snack and then we were at our gate with 10 minutes to spare!

Once on the plane, I tried to sit back and relax. It was tough. It helped that my girls were so excited. Oh – Ross wasn’t sitting next to me. We were able to upgrade our seats at check in to Even More Seats – but they didn’t have 3 together, so I put Ross in the section behind us. Maybe that helped me relax a little. He was on edge after our “relaxing” drive to the airport. LOL.

This may have helped too…

Hope and I watched the movie, Migration. It was cute, but I couldn’t really concentrate. But we were in the air and on our way...

 

[Figment Forever]

We landed at MCO got our luggage and then took 2 separate Lyfts to the resort. This is the first time we stayed off Disney property. It was a Good Neighbor Hotel – but I booked through Jet Blue. We stayed at Buena Vista Resort Village and Spa. We got a 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom suite. I have to admit – It was AMAZING!! Was it Disney? No. Was it the most updated? No. But none of us cared in the least bit. And to be honest, we still didn’t do more than sleep at the hotel. There were 2 master bedrooms each with a Jacuzzi tub and a bathroom with double sinks. The third bedroom had 2 queen beds but no bathroom attached. The 3rd bathroom was outside the bedroom in the hallway. We also had a washer/dryer and a full kitchen. It was a LOT of space and we did enjoy it.

 

[Figment Forever]

By 8:30 we were settled and hungry. The original plan was to eat at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville. However, when I tried to get a Lyft, it had us going to Universal – I understand now why – but at the time, I was too hungry and cranky to figure it out so off to Blaze.

Ross did not want to rent a car, so it was Lyfts all the way.

Blaze was yummy as always. Hope needed to make her first purchase.

And then I need to make mine…. Lol

I got the peanut butter cold brew flavor of the month and it did NOT disappoint. I also got a box of cookies that we all munched on during the week.

After that, we went back to the resort. Little Miss promised me she wasn’t going to put her Legos together until we got home…. Yeah that didn’t work out!

I spoke to my brother and my mom. Everything seemed okay so I closed my eyes and fell asleep. But not before setting my alarm for 6:45AM

 

[Figment Forever]

Wednesday May 8th – EPCOT

Today was a VERY exciting day for me. Why? I was hoping to accomplish a very special meet and greet!

As much as I wanted to have us all sleep in, my alarm went off at 6:30. I woke up but stayed in bed making sure not to close my eyes for too long. I had Ross get a world clock up and running on his phone and at 6:59 and 59 seconds, I refreshed and got this…

I was excited. I never got a return time so early!

I wasn’t the only one up so early, Hope had woke up to finish her Lego set.

We took our time. I knew that if we were late for GoG, it wouldn’t matter. Besides, our VQ return time was being pushed back so by the time we headed for the bus, our return time had changed to almost 10:30.

Our resort had a free transfer to the parks, but we had to reserve a reservation for it 24 hours prior. For EPCOT, the bus took us right to the front. Plus there were only about a dozen people on board.

Once we tapped in, we made our way to Xander. It was awesome as always – we got Disco Inferno which was cool.

 

[Figment Forever]

After that, Nick requested to go to Club Cool – so that’s what we did.

Then it was time to travel the world. We started in Mexico. Our goal? To take our time and enjoy walking around. And of course – EAT!!

We sampled some tasty treats.

 

[Figment Forever]

We also stopped along the way to admire some of the topiaries.

And ate some more!!

At about 12:30, we were enjoying some bread pudding in America when Julia asked me if I would ride Guardians again if we bought the LL. I checked the availability and it was there. I caved in. I love that ride so much! Ross and Nick opted out. So I purchased LL for me, Julia and Hope and picked 6:00pm as the return time.

 

[Figment Forever]

We spent a bunch of time in Japan.

 

[Figment Forever]

Then Ross and I wanted to check out the AP lounge in Morocco. Now I have to explain… Ross refuses to carry his ID with him. I don’t know why – he just says he doesn’t want to. So of course, you have to show your id along with your pass to get in – and they were NOT budging. The CM asked if he had a FB page. He does, so I pulled it up on my phone and they said ok. I was bewildered, but that’s what they accepted to id him.

And after all that fuss…. I wasn’t too impressed. Am I crazy? Am I snobby? It was a million degrees out and they had hot tea and water. I thought maybe they would have soda or lemonade. For snacks they had packs of peanuts and cookies. (Jet Blue had better snacks)

Of course Genie was there!! So that was worth the time and effort. Hope was VERY excited to meet him. And his line was manageable.

But that wasn’t the meet and greet that I was excited for!

 

[Figment Forever]

We met back up with Julia and Nick – they are not AP’s so they were not allowed in the lounge, and we rode Ratatouille.

It was HOT – so ice cream was next.

We finished making our way around WS and went to visit my favorite purple friend.

After Figment, we watched the Pixar Shorts and then visited the Chase Disney meet and greet.

 

[Figment Forever]

Our plan was to head to the Land but first, Julia wanted to see the butterflies. Hope wasn’t interested, so she and I sat while Ross, Julia and Nick enjoyed it.

We got on line for Soarin.

They made a mistake when they placed us in a row, so they asked us to wait for the next ride. It was no big deal and we were so excited to get the top row – middle section!

After we took our boat ride. I think Ross napped on this one. (I may have too.)

It was hot and Hope was hoping to cool off a bit walking through Moana.

 

[fractal]

It was no big deal and we were so excited to get the top row – middle section!

Worth the wait!

 

[Figment Forever]

Worth the wait!

Absolutely!!!