Trip Report Sometimes you have to spend money to save money!

Hi! My name is Amy, and I am a Disney addict!!

Let me first provide a little backstory for those of you who haven't read my June 2016 PTR. My family of 5 is scheduled to stay at CBR in June 2016, Disney recently released a new bounce back offer of free dining with arrival dates that happen to include the day we were scheduled to arrive! The offer is only good for one week in the spring, what are the odds that our arrival would actually fall into that week!?! With 2 of my 3 kids being "adults", we will be saving a ton of money with the free dining, so I had to book a quick trip for myself so I could take advantage of this offer!!
When: Sunday, September 6 - Tuesday, September 8
Where: Pop Century
Who: Just myself this time!!
Just a warning, after this first post, this TR will be very photo heavy, as I don't really have much to say, but I did manage to take almost 600 pictures!!

Sunday
My plane didn't leave Dayton until 2:40 pm, so I had a leisurely morning to pack and spend some time with the kids before leaving for my "work trip". Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the kids don't know about the June trip yet, so I couldn't exactly tell them I was going to WDW without them!
The flight itself was uneventful, but my seatmate was a real treat!! She got on the flight at the very last second and just flopped herself in her seat. She hit me and the lady in the aisle seat numerous times with her sea tbelt, she sang (and not well!) almost the whole 2 hours, and then she kept leaning into my seat so she could see out the window! I was never so happy to get off of a plane!!
I waited about 10 minutes for DME, and was quickly seeing this:

Unfortunately, those are raindrops on the windshield!
We stopped at AoA before finally arriving "home".

I got all checked in (I did online check in, but still had to stop at the desk because I needed to pick up my MagicBand and pay for my second night since I made the reservation 8 days prior!), and was told that I didn't get my requested 70's lake view room, but they were able to give me a lake view room in the 80's building.
A few pics on the way to the room:




So, remember that 80's lake view room I was getting? This is the view I had from my room:

Not exactly a lake view!! Oh well, it didn't really bother me, but it was loud at night!
At least I got a king room!

Love the artwork since The Little Mermaid is my favorite!

 

[TheMouseFan]

I made my way toward Epcot.

 

[TheMouseFan]

Then back toward Beach and Yacht Club.

 

[TheMouseFan]

Then I sat on the porch beside the pool and relaxed for a bit.

I decided to try to check in early for dinner, and they had a seat at the bar available for me.




I ordered the grilled cheese and tomato bisque. It was delicious!

I decided to try the grilled banana bread and peanut butter for dessert. It was divine!!

 

[TheMouseFan]

I decided that I better walk back to DHS, otherwise, I might explode from all of the food I just ate!!

 

[TheMouseFan]

I was finished earlier than I anticipated, so I returned to POP and rested in the room for about an hour and a half before returning to DHS.

I found a bench and listened to Fantasmic! and watched what I could of Illuminations while waiting for the Frozen fireworks to start. They were fantastic!! (Thanks @Tuvalu for the suggestion on where to sit!!)

 

[Tuvalu]

Love those fireworks shots!!

 

[TheMouseFan]

I thought I would beat the crowds to the bus by already being outside the park, but I couldn't believe how many people were streaming out as the fireworks were going. Oh well, it was well worth it!!

 

[TheMouseFan]

Love those fireworks shots!!

Thanks! It really was a fantastic show! I hope the Star Wars one is just as good, since we should be there for a Star Wars weekend next year.

 

[Tuvalu]

Thanks! It really was a fantastic show! I hope the Star Wars one is just as good, since we should be there for a Star Wars weekend next year.

Unfortunately, this year's Star Wars fireworks show wasn't nearly as good as the Frozen fireworks. There was a looonnnggg pre-show on the stage, and when the fireworks finally started they lasted all of 6 minutes! We had seen the Frozen fireworks last summer and so our expectations for Star Wars was high...what a letdown in comparison. Fortunately we were able to see the Frozen ones again twice this summer .

 

[FlaggNL]

Thanks for this report! Love all the pictures! Thanks for sharing!!

 

[TheMouseFan]

Unfortunately, this year's Star Wars fireworks show wasn't nearly as good as the Frozen fireworks. There was a looonnnggg pre-show on the stage, and when the fireworks finally started they lasted all of 6 minutes! We had seen the Frozen fireworks last summer and so our expectations for Star Wars was high...what a letdown in comparison. Fortunately we were able to see the Frozen ones again twice this summer .

Well, let's hope that changes since they already made a big announcement about the weekend Star Wars fireworks!

 

[TheMouseFan]

Thanks for this report! Love all the pictures! Thanks for sharing!!

You're welcome, and thank you!

 

[bee]

I could not NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT walk that close to the International Gateway and resist walking right into Epcot! I admire your self-control. All that resort hopping looks so fun!!

 

[TheMouseFan]

I could not NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT walk that close to the International Gateway and resist walking right into Epcot! I admire your self-control. All that resort hopping looks so fun!!

It was definitely difficult to be so close to 3 of the 4 parks and not go in! I just had to keep thinking about what I was going to be doing in June with the $168 I was saving by not buying a 1 day park hopper!!

 

[Zipadeelady]

I spoke with my husband about what you did to get the bounce back and we really looked into trying to do the same but we just can't change our dates to the time offered.

 

[TheMouseFan]

I spoke with my husband about what you did to get the bounce back and we really looked into trying to do the same but we just can't change our dates to the time offered.

Bummer that you couldn't make it work!

 

[fractal]

You officially hit all the resorts we've stayed at;

CBR,
Poly,
Beach Club and the BC Villas.

Now I really miss them!

Wait, forgot we also stayed at PO Riverside.

 

[TheMouseFan]

You officially hit all the resorts we've stayed at;

CBR,
Poly,
Beach Club and the BC Villas.

Now I really miss them!

Wait, forgot we also stayed at PO Riverside.

Sorry, no PO Riverside pics this time! Just POP and AoA coming up from the last day of the trip.

 

[TheMouseFan]

I slept in a little bit again on Tuesday. Then I took my carry on bag over to bell services for them to hold for the morning.



Then I grabbed breakfast.

I then headed over the bridge to AoA.

 

[TheMouseFan]

My main objective was to explore the Lion King section because we will most likely end up staying there for our next trip, as we will be needing the two bathrooms at that point with the three kids!