Trip Report The Cold Never Bothered Me Anyway…Actually Yes, Yes It Did

Hello!!

So, excited to share another TR with you all! This quick trip was the trip that felt like it wouldn’t happen until we actually got on the airplane, so I was afraid to even write a Pre-Trip Report. But, we made it and had a GREAT time (even though the cold DID in fact bother us, sorry Elsa).

The Details…

Who: Me, and two of my wonderful colleagues who I will call A & P.

Why: A & P both had daughters who were going to be in WDW on a school trip, and wanted to be close to them in case anything went wrong. As for me, I never need a reason to go to Disney!!

Where: All-Star Music (to be at the same resort as the girls)

When: January 20-24, 2022

I was very excited to try out Disney in January. Typically, we go in the summer months and have been once over Thanksgiving and once over New Years Eve. I was looking forward to (hopefully) some low crowds and cooler weather! Little did I know, we were certainly in for some COOLER weather.

Up Next… Travel Day!

 

[fractal]

I'm in!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I'm in too!

 

[Bullseye1967]

Following along!!

 

[Seagull59]

Following!

 

[MickeyCB]

I'm in too! 5th place, not too bad!

 

[macefamily]

No medal for me, but I'll follow anyway.....

 

[amjt660]

I enjoyed your trip last summer with your Dad , sister and BIL

Looking forward to the January trip with your collegues.

Because we all know what happens when we go on a road trip with friends in the winter...

Following along!!


Max

 

[ShookieJones]

Perfect timing...Our 2018 trip in January just came up in my photo "memories'.
Lots of hats, gloves and coats in those pics but it was FUN.

Can't wait to hear/see what your frigid fun WDW experience was like. Following along!

 

[cgersic]

I'm in!!!

 

[youngdeb]

Following along! We usually take our trips to Disney in January/February to escape the cold here and hopefully have warmer temperatures down south. Definitely know how hit or miss it can be!

 

[Disstevefan1]

 

[KellBelle]

 

[ToInfinity]

I'm in!

Yay! Excited you’re here! (Also, LOVE Thor)

I'm in too!

Glad to have you!!

Following along!!

Woohoo! Glad you’re here!

Following!

Thank you! Excited to have you.

I'm in too! 5th place, not too bad!

Haha 5th place is great!

No medal for me, but I'll follow anyway.....

Yay! I think 6th place can get a medal too.

I enjoyed your trip last summer with your Dad , sister and BIL

Looking forward to the January trip with your collegues.

Because we all know what happens when we go on a road trip with friends in the winter...

Following along!!


Max

Haha that was definitely us!! Thank you! Glad you’re following along.

 

[ToInfinity]

Perfect timing...Our 2018 trip in January just came up in my photo "memories'.
Lots of hats, gloves and coats in those pics but it was FUN.

Can't wait to hear/see what your frigid fun WDW experience was like. Following along!

That is great timing!! Unfortunately, we were not that prepared. We had some sweatshirts, but were seriously lacking in the hat and glove department.

I'm in!!!

Yay!!! Glad you’re here.

Following along! We usually take our trips to Disney in January/February to escape the cold here and hopefully have warmer temperatures down south. Definitely know how hit or miss it can be!

Yeah! We have been in Feb before and wore shorts and swam in the pool, but this trip was NOTHING like that.

View attachment 616709

Woohoo! Happy you’re here!

Will do! Glad you’re here!!

 

[ToInfinity]

Travel Day

Our day began with a full day of work! We were able to leave to head to the airport at 2:30.

Thankfully, we did not encounter much traffic on the way there! I was very anxious about being late. We arrived and did the park-and-ride (which was new for me, I have always just been dropped off) and headed in.

We checked bags and made it through security pretty quickly. A & P were both wanting a little snack so we stopped at the Wendy’s in the terminal and got some nuggets. While we were eating, we were talking and A decided that she wanted to get the DAS Pass for the trip.
She is a diabetic (sharing with her permission, of course!) and sometimes has very extreme lows and highs. In fact, the week before we left, she had to go get a monitor for her arm due to some very high highs that almost sent her to the ER. She decided on the pass to prevent any possible issues that might arise from waiting in long lines and being unable to eat in line, sit, etc.

I had some experience with the DAS myself already, as we had used it in the past for my mom when she was in very bad shape from her cancer treatment. Then though, you had to physically go to each ride and scan bands to secure a return time. Now, it is SO much easier. It appears on the app and you book it much like you would a Fastpass or Genie+. I think this is a great change for those who need the pass. I thought many times on this trip how much better it would have been for my mom not to have to physically go to each ride every time, especially with the shape she was in.

We also had already purchased Genie+ for the trip, just wanting to try it out. More on that later!

Anyway, our flight left on time at 6:15 and we landed around 7:30.

When we left, it was dark. Above the clouds though, we saw the PRETTIEST sunset

(A took this of me as we were landing because she was cracking up. I have bad motion sickness on planes, cars, etc.)

 

[ToInfinity]

We landed and headed to…. The NOT Magical Express, aka Mears Connect.


On the way, we saw some 50th decor…

I was excited at first when we got to the bus area, as there was no line at all and we got on the bus right away.

BUT, we were the only ones on our bus for a LONG time.

We waited and waited and waited for about 40 minutes and others arrived. Then, we finally left for the hotel. The buses are the exact same ones as the ME, you could even see the outline where the portholes with characters used to be. However, I think in the future I would pay the extra amount and get the Mears Express service instead of the general bus service. I had thought about a dinner reservation for this night and actually had Chef Mickey’s originally, but I was so glad I didn’t keep it because there is no way we would have made it.


We arrived at the hotel around 9:15 and picked up our grocery delivery from bell services (from Shipt with Target- this was new for me but it was SO easy and I highly recommend).

Our room was in the Calypso section, building 1, room 1621 on the third floor. If you’re going to stay there, this was a great room. Very quiet and very clean!

We organized groceries and cleaned up a bit, then went back down to grab a quick bit to eat from the food court since I hadn’t had any dinner.

 

[ToInfinity]

I got the Chicken Parm Pasta. It was pretty good, but probably just because I was starving

A got the kid’s cheeseburger. She said it was pretty good. P didn’t get anything.

After dinner we fixed the credit cards on our magic bands, then headed up to bed after our long day. We had a full day ahead of us tomorrow!

Next Up… Magic Kingdom!

 

[amjt660]

Great start to the report!

Looking forward to more

Max

 

[Disstevefan1]

We landed and headed to…. The NOT Magical Express, aka Mears Connect.


On the way, we saw some 50th decor…

View attachment 616764
View attachment 616765
View attachment 616766

I was excited at first when we got to the bus area, as there was no line at all and we got on the bus right away.

View attachment 616767

BUT, we were the only ones on our bus for a LONG time.

View attachment 616768
View attachment 616769

We waited and waited and waited for about 40 minutes and others arrived. Then, we finally left for the hotel. The buses are the exact same ones as the ME, you could even see the outline where the portholes with characters used to be. However, I think in the future I would pay the extra amount and get the Mears Express service instead of the general bus service. I had thought about a dinner reservation for this night and actually had Chef Mickey’s originally, but I was so glad I didn’t keep it because there is no way we would have made it.


We arrived at the hotel around 9:15 and picked up our grocery delivery from bell services (from Shipt with Target- this was new for me but it was SO easy and I highly recommend).

View attachment 616770

Our room was in the Calypso section, building 1, room 1621 on the third floor. If you’re going to stay there, this was a great room. Very quiet and very clean!

View attachment 616772

View attachment 616771

We organized groceries and cleaned up a bit, then went back down to grab a quick bit to eat from the food court since I hadn’t had any dinner.

6 pillows! Nice!