Trip Report The I'm Ditching the Spreadsheets....an Unrecognizable Trip!

We arrived home around 10pm last night from our Disney vacation. The planning for this trip started in March, but by September it was not even close to the original. So how did it all turn out? Did I make the correct decisions? Was this trip as hectic as the last one? Should I have cancelled so many dining reservations? Did we miss too much because upon arrival I decided to rip up the spread sheets..the same ones that I so painstakingly obsessed over?! I'm thinking about all of this as I am attempting to organize my 609,504,302 photos.

There were a few hiccups, including my Etsy order not arriving in time, sprinting to the Magical Express just as the doors closed, leaving our Elf on the Shelf in the room after check out, getting stuck on a ride, a missing boat captain, broken ornaments, and a horrible 3 hour lunch. All in all it was an amazing trip. I do not regret the decision to change from the original plans, or the second, or the 3rd, or even the plans I had when we were on the plane heading to Orlando. I decided to throw out most of them and take a (semi) wing it approach.

 

[21stamps]

Must have been selfies. Or perhaps you are thinking of Buzz Lightyear in MK, which has Photopass?

I just checked. Yep, selfies.

As for Buzz, I can never forget that camera. Every single photo of me, ever, is always the worst one of the trip.lol.

 

[blreinsel]

How awesome that the CM sprinkled some pixie dust on your trip! Happy you got to do both.

 

[21stamps]

We were by far the last to arrive to the party. Barely any tables left. We found a high top and we're ready to grab some much needed food..and I very much needed a Gingerbread Martini.

Santa Goofy came by immediately, so we did our pics with him first.

The food was actually good. I had read a few bad reviews and was a little nervous. We both really enjoyed the salad, meatballs, and spinach dip.

My phone (even with the Fuel Rod) is always near death, so I'm not a huge food photo taker, but I did try to get a few of the offerings at this event.

T wasn't a fan of the child's beverage. I was a huge fan of the gingerbread drink.
Yes, I am double fisting. No shame

We were the last to arrive and the last to leave. I just couldn't rush for one more second. Kiddo was getting tired, I hoped that the sugar and hot chocolate would keep him awake through the show!

I didn't take a photo of them, but we did receive gingerbread cookies on the way out. Goofy was handing them out, and just kept giving one after another to T. I think we ended up with 6 of the cookies.lol

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

A visit with Santa -

Tristan asked him for a giant Stitch, a monorail, and a drone.

Santa says- "You're on the Good List. So I'll see what I can do."

T was over the moon.

View attachment 183359 View attachment 183360

Well it helps that they have the Real Santa there!

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

YES!! We did receive Pixie Dust!! Thank you Thank you to that dear wonderful amazing Disney Cast Member!!!

Wow!! How amazing!!!! And how wonderful for your son. It is great to know that there are CM's who really do care about the guests! I would have cried too.

 

[21stamps]

Wow!! How amazing!!!! And how wonderful for your son. It is great to know that there are CM's who really do care about the guests! I would have cried too.

He completely saved us! It would have been entirely impossible to do both. Times like that you realize how "magical" Disney really is. I had tears in my eyes again as I was typing that post.
That CM really made our day!!!

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

He completely saved us! It would have been entirely impossible to do both. Times like that you realize how "magical" Disney really is. I had tears in my eyes again as I was typing that post.
That CM really made our day!!!

Such things restore I belief that there still is "Magic" at The World. It is definitely great to hear things like this when we hear so much negativity about Disney.

 

[21stamps]

Jingle Bell Jingle Bam was a cute, fun show, with great lasers, and plenty of fireworks!

The reserved viewing area was a little odd due to the fact that there are so many people in front of you. Apparently the reserved spot has the best overall view? I'm not sure about this, but I'm just glad we got a spot without having to save one.

All in all I'm very happy that I decided to disregard the few bad reviews online. We both enjoyed the dessert party and the show!

After it finished we decided to sit near the lake for a bit while the masses headed for the exit.
We watched lights turn into snowflakes with our glasses on, and then danced around in the "snow" on the way out of the park. Then got in line for our first bus ride of the trip.

Goodbye Hollywood Studios!! Next time I'll set more time aside to enjoy all that you have to offer!

Now we're going to head back to GF, change in to pjs, grab some snacks, then watch the Electrical Water Pageant and Wishes from our room. T was asleep the past few nights before they started. He was determined to stay up tonight!

 

[HakunaMatata89]

following, glad to hear the story about the CM, its always great to hear when they give a family a little extra magic.

 

[21stamps]

Arrived back at the Grand Floridian. It was our first evening arriving in front of the building, prior to that we had been using the launch.
The Christmas decorations were even more gorgeous at night than in the daylight!

I wanted to hurry to the room and change before going back to the lobby and the Garden View Champagne Lounge. T talked me into shopping for Christmas presents for family and our 2016 ornament instead.
So here we are. 8pm and still in the same clothes we've been in all day. Oh well..it's Disney, right?

Finished our gingerbread house shopping, Stopped for a quick glass of champagne for me, and a charcuterie plate to share. Now time to get ready for bed and sit on the balcony... we get to sleep in tomorrow!!!
Pirate Adventure Cruise check isn't until 9:15am.

T's fave part of the resort was--- the chocolates. I wish I was joking.lol. The chocolates and the remote that housekeeping left on "his" bed every night.
2 things that he never gets during evenings at home.

Time for Wishes. T wanted to wear the JBJB glasses while watching.

Another perfect ending to a wonderful day.
We were both asleep within minutes of getting into bed. Luckily I remembered to get back up and go out Luke in a spot for tomorrow! Whew, that was a close one.

Tomorrow-

Pirate Adventure Cruise.
Boats.
MIckey's Very Merry Christmas Party!!!!

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

You got some great shots of the fireworks and water pageant from your room We picked up some gingerbread ornaments from The GF 3 years ago and they are still as good as new. Wish I could say the same for the gingerbread house we bought.

 

[21stamps]

Today is MVMCP Day, We were able to sleep in until 8:30am!!!!! We do have a few activities to do before heading to MK tonight. I'm also hoping kiddo will agree to a nap at some point during the day. I cancelled an Ohana reservation (was able to secure another one for Friday), so we now only have one scheduled item on the morning/afternoon itinerary-

Pirate Adventure Cruise!

We went to the main building to grab bagels and coffee for me. Then brought it back to the room while we got ready.

I was planning on going for a jog and doing some Christmas shopping while T was on the pirate cruise.

Check in was 9:15, and then I would have free time until 11:30!
Or so I thought.. first hiccup of the trip.

The Captain called in sick!!!

It was very frustrating. We waited and waited, a few parents were complaining. The 1st mate tried to keep the kids occupied while they tried to find a replacement captain and a map.
Basically, the people working at the marina had no clue what to do.

Meanwhile..my son is chasing ducks..lol

Notice his pirate medallion. He took his 2 necklaces very seriously. I mean, Jack Sparrow himself declared that T was a Real Pirate Apprentice, so obviously it was mandatory that he wore it on a Pirate Cruise.

 

[21stamps]

Finally they found a map, the 1st mate tried to keep the kids entertained..and then a makeshift Captain arrived! She didn't look too excited, and was without any pirate gear. A few of the kids pointed this out and asked where the Pirate Captain was.

Btw- it's now after 10am.

A few of the moms said they were going to the front desk to complain. I didn't have time for that, and figured I'd wait until he got back to decide if it was worth a complaint or not.

This is one other event that we missed last year. We were staying at the Polynesian and a boat full of kids dressed as pirates pulled up as we were getting in a Sea Raycer. T exclaimed that he wanted to do that! Unknown to him I had already called 2 months before, all spots leaving from the GF that week were already full. I planned that trip 65 days before we went. This trip I made sure that it was the first reservation that I made at the 180 day mark.
Then when I changed our dates in September I was so afraid that he would miss it again. Luckily I was able to switch the reservation from 12/5 and secure him a spot on November 29th!! This was one of the other "must dos" with JTA...and he's been extremely looking forward to it.

Anyway, captain is ready and they're finally taking off.

I won't have time to go shopping on Main Street, but I can still jog to Poly, pick up a few Stitch items, then buy a monorail at the GF gift shop..and ship it all to my office before being back to the marina at 11:30. I have to hurry though!

p.s I absolutely love when the monorail decides to pass by at the time when I'm taking a photo lol It's the little things

 

[21stamps]

You got some great shots of the fireworks and water pageant from your room We picked up some gingerbread ornaments from The GF 3 years ago and they are still as good as new. Wish I could say the same for the gingerbread house we bought.

I almost bought the gingerbread house! What happened to it?
I'm glad to hear that the ornaments still are good! We shipped them home and I was pleasantly surprised that were all still intact. We also purchased the chocolate assortment for my parents as a gift, and a few of the smaller cookies and chocolates for my siblings and his teacher. We did the ornaments for us and of course kiddo wanted a "shingle" to bring back. He hasn't wanted to eat it. It's still in the plastic lol.

 

[21stamps]

Picked up a Stitch pen, Stitch water bottle, stitch tee shirt, and rushed back to GF. I was smart this time and took the items with me..I wanted to send them with the monorail as one package. (All of these items are from Santa based on yesterday's meeting).

Got back to GF and there was only One monorail left on the shelf! Whew!! I hurriedly grabbed that and a gingerbread Mickey cookie mix and checked out.
Side note- Yes, we're in a gingerbread overload stage at this point, but I thought they would be fun to surprise T and make them for Santa on Christmas Eve. That didn't happen though and the box is still in our pantry.

I do have to take a moment to say--Hooray for Passholder savings!!! On this purchase alone the AP saved me more than $20! Woot woot!!!

I was out of time and couldn't ship the items just then. Went to concierge and they kept them for me until I could sneak back later. How was I going to this?? I wasn't sure, but didn't have a choice.

Ran back to the marina to meet kiddo and hoped he enjoyed his unfortunately short cruise!

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

I almost bought the gingerbread house! What happened to it?

We were told to spray the gingerbread with some shellac to protect it so we could keep it forever, or at least for a year. Within a month different bits of decorations started falling off. It was a shame because if I would have known that the shellac I used would not have worked I would have let me kids dig in.

 

[21stamps]

We were told to spray the gingerbread with some shellac to protect it so we could keep it forever, or at least for a year. Within a month different bits of decorations started falling off. It was a shame because if I would have known that the shellac I used would not have worked I would have let me kids dig in.

That stinks. Sorry.

 

[21stamps]

Arrived at the marina just in time to see the boat turning in.

The kids all yelled "Ahoy!" and waved to us while docking. It was adorable.

They unloaded and T was proud to show me his "Pirate Name". He was "Treasure T".
They had the map but still didn't find the treasure...it lead them back to GF and then on to Narcoossees where they found it in the bushes. The kids were very excited. They all received Pirate Mickey Ear Hats, a sword-( the map took them to Poly which is where they found the swords near a statue), and a pirate tote bag fool of pirate treasure gems!

He had a blast, even with the No Show Captain hiccup...so I'm satisfied with the experience
Hopefully the sick Captain feels better soon, and hopefully they come up with a backup plan in case he gets sick again.

Showing off his treasure
Kudos Disney. One happy kid right now!

 

[epcotisbest]

@21stamps I'm so glad to see the trip report has resumed. Really looking forward to the Wilderness Lodge part.
This is an extra fun photo:

 

[21stamps]

@21stamps I'm so glad to see the trip report has resumed. Really looking forward to the Wilderness Lodge part.
This is an extra fun photo:

View attachment 183597

Thank you! That was an extra fun day!

I promise that I'm getting to the Wilderness Lodge portion! 2 more nights at GF and then late night WL Check in.
I have to find my hidden Mickey worksheets and post a photo, I didn't take one while there.
I also should take photos of the souvenirs that we had shipped home. T wanted to buy something that would remind him of the Lodge. It was nice receiving them a few days after our trip and opening them up together. He thought the story and theme of the place was very interesting. Definitely glad that we were "forced" into staying there!