Trip Report The Magic is Back! It's Just More Expensive. May 2023

Hi! It's been a minute.



WHO: Me K, husband R and daughter (4) LP
WHEN: May 15-20
WHERE: Coronado Springs, Gran Destino Tower

I went back and forth about doing a trip report. I haven't done one for my past couple of trips, and honestly it was freeing not worrying about keeping up with all of our activities, but I kind of missed documenting it. I didn't keep notes or anything, so I'm sure I'll miss some of the action, but hopefully it'll still be fun to read!

Another thing that I've debated is whether to share pictures of my daughter. I typically don't share images of her in public places, I only do on my private personal instagram and private FB. I'm going to go ahead and share some here though since I feel like this forum is pretty niche. If I feel weird about it later, I'll just take them out.

Ok with all that out of the way, let's get started!

Arrival Day: May 15, 2023

I forgot to upload any photos from our travels, but it all went smoothly. We flew out of Memphis and got to use the new part of the airport, which is super nice. We got our rental car when we arrived at MCO at about 5:30pm. First up was a Publix run. LP fell asleep in the car, so she and R stayed outside while I loaded up on snacks and a case of water (and subs!)

We dropped our stuff off at Gran Destino Tower, scarfed down our subs and headed to....



Epcot!

Now you may be wondering WHY would we go to Epcot at 8pm on our first day. Surely that's not a good use of a ticket?! You'd be right. But we had other plans.



The sensible thing to do would be for just R and I to get annual passes, but since LP was with us, we justified getting her one by planning to take her for her 5th birthday, which would make the purchase worth it. Me and R will be going for Wine & Dine, but we're not taking LP because it'll be such a quick trip with me waking up VERY early to run a race. But now our plans for these passes are May '23 (this trip), Nov '23 (R & K only), Jan '24, May '24. Then we'll probably go another year before we go back.

This was an expensive night

LP was adamant she wanted to ride a dark ride...R must have been trying to explain dark rides to her and why they weren't scary? I don't even know. I was trying to figure out our passes and how to get refunded for the memory maker we'd purchased since we added photo pass to one of the APs. That'll come up again tomorrow.

I got LP to a dark ride pronto. Meanwhile R hit up the Mexico booth for a margarita (not sure if he got any food?)






She loved it. So much so that she insisted we do it again with R when he met us at the exit with his marg. I helped him finish it




We talked her into moving on after this. I was surprised she was still so spry for how late it was! She did have that little car nap, so I'm sure that helped. We stick to a pretty steady schedule at home, but so far I was pleased she was not breaking down at a shift in things. Perks of getting a little older!

We wanted a little snack on the way out, so we went to the Honey Beestro and got the chicken and waffle


Chicken and Waffles: Crispy honey-brined chicken and honey sweet cornbread waffle with whipped honey butter and spicy honey. I give it a 6/10. It had some good flavors, but the chicken was not the best quality.


B. Nektar New Wave Lemonade Mead (very good!) and Florida Orange Groves Winery Orange Blossom Honey Wine (decent)



LP gets my best angles



Saw the fireworks as we were heading out. Fireworks were not on our agenda for this trip because of how late they are, then the long journey to get back to the room after. Maybe next year.



Step count for the day (which is skewed because I push the stroller most of the time): 8571

Let me quickly address the sleeping arrangement. This is the first time all three of us have slept in the same room since she was a newborn. This first night was TOUGH. She did not want to settle down and sleep while we were reading/playing Zelda. So eventually we put away our Kindle and Switch and just settled in for sleep. Thankfully it was just this first night that she wouldn't settle. She still needed the sound machine and darkness to fall asleep though, so there was no staying up watching tv after she was asleep. But we mostly stayed out until later so it was fine!

Also, my allergies have been horrible this year, and the few days leading up to this trip were especially bad. I hoped being in a new environment would help, but I was at my worst this night. I couldn't breathe all night, and I apparently don't possess logic when I'm half asleep, so I didn't get up to use my inhaler until morning. Once I did that and took a zyrtec, I was fine.

Next: Day 1

 

[sheriffwoody]

I need to travel with you. The last few times I was in World Showcase, you could not *move* to the point that I was considering skipping it entirely on our next trip. This looks much more pleasant.

Haha I think we were lucky with low crowds! We also typically avoid Epcot on weekends

All caught up! LP is growing so fast. I love all of her little dresses. So cute!

Thank you!! She is very into dresses these days, so she had fun picking them all out.

She looks absolutely beautiful I that dress. She has such a sparkle in her eyes!!!

Thank you!

Life changing! They make two kinds, one with a standard plug and also a car charger type plug (for the car).

View attachment 719478

Whaaaaat, that's amazing!

Love all the impromptu character moments on your Magic Kingdom day! So magical for a little one! Also appreciated the looks and insight into BBB and CRT… always going back and forth on whether or not those would be worth it someday. And love your pictures as always!

It was seriously perfect! We have another MK day I've still got to write about and it was fun too. I would say BBB was absolutely worth it for us, CRT, I don't think we'll repeat but she did have fun.

 

[sheriffwoody]

Day 4: MK

For once we were up and out the door early enough to make early entry! Neither of the days we used the busses from Coronado Springs involved a wait. An MK bus was there when we walked up, but it was too full. Thankfully there was another pulling in behind it.

CSR seems to be very centrally located. Our drives to Epcot and HS were under 10 minutes and the bus ride to MK was only about 10 min. We got through security quickly and tapped in. I'd purchased Genie+ for this day AND an ILL for 7 dwarfs And my first genie selection was for Peter Pan. It was for later though, and I kind of hated to just hop around waiting for it, so we decided to go there during early entry.

I didn't take pictures of the process, but we walked up toward fantasyland with a sea of humans. I kept my eyes down on the front of the stroller and just followed the ankles in front of me. I was pleased I never accidentally hit anyone cause it's hard to steer in that thick of a crowd.



Took a picture for the time stamp - 8:34am. The wait said 30 minutes, and I think it ended up being 20. It was pretty much constantly moving, which is what happens with a ride like that when there's no LL people! It's nice. Moving along makes the time go faster.



LP liked it, but not enough to wait longer than we did.

Next she wanted to ride "the ghost ride" So we headed over there (early entry was over by now). CMs were stationed outside, which means...closed I noticed one of the CMs looked familiar though. It was a girl I went to college with! I forgot she is working over there now, and this is only the second time I've ever seen her at the park! We said hi and I could tell she was stressed having to be out there telling everyone the attraction was down. But it was still good to see her! Her role before this was a Jungle Cruise skipper but I never got to be on her boat.

With Haunted Mansion down, we decided on Pirates. Which was also down It wasn't showing up on the app at all, which was super weird. We headed back through Adventureland and guess who we saw?!







They looked for Abu again. R said he thinks it was the same friend of Jasmine. And it was cool to see Aladdin with her! We would have ridden Magic Carpets, but it was also down. Not a great morning for MK so far!

We hit up the Carousel. I always love riding this, even though it's super basic.





Since we were right there, I asked if LP wanted to meet some princesses. OF COURSE. She picked Rapunzel/Tiana






Obviously in here it's not obvious enough where to look for the box photos. Even the princesses don't look in the right spot. Stupid boxes. I will grumble about this until I die.



I got it wrong too





I used our first Genie selection for Pooh. I believe it was for 9:50am




Glad we didn't get evacuated again! I like getting evac'd off a ride, but we've done that twice on Pooh...I'm good.

Up next: more MK

 

[Tiggerish]

Well, it's been a few minutes, but I'm so glad to see a TR from you!! Love to see the parks through your photographers eye (hazy is just artsy, really, and barely noticeable even though you pointed it out) and LP is just adorable, especially in all of her character interactions, particularly the princesses!! So cute. I'm melting.

I noticed your TR on Thursday or Friday and starting liking posts, but my goodness, you've been busy over the weekend!! I had so much catching up to do. And it just got better and better.

I know this sounds crazy, but this photo stopped me in my tracks. I LOOK SO OLD! I know I'm 35, but in my brain, I feel 25 so seeing photos where I look like a very mid-30s mom kind of makes me head spin

It doesn't sound crazy, and you don't look old. At all. As a matter of fact, I totally relate to your feelings here. At the beginning of this month, I celebrated my 37th wedding anniversary. How could that possibly be, when on most days I don't even feel like I'm 37 years old??? (I was 22 when we got married)

Never stop being 25, no matter what the photos say. You barely look like you're 30.

It's probably the dress. It was so super comfy though, so who cares.

A comfy dress is worth its weight in gold.

So pleased you are doing a report and LP is so sweet. I would love to try and do a report on our trip in September but as I’ve never done one I don’t think it would be half as good as all of the ones on here.

DO IT!!! Personally, I would love to read your report. I've only ever done two of them, and they are A LOT of work, but so rewarding. I have so much respect for our friends who post many trip reports. Best section of the forums, IMO.

 

[Sillysidewalker]

Loving every word of your report. LP is adorable and her pictures from BBB are so sweet. The Adventureland Jasmine is the best!!!

I feel you on the sudden picture shock! I have one of these every vacation since it is the only time I get my picture taken.

Good luck on Wine & Dine. I was in the queue and had the half in my cart and chickened out at the last minute.

Following along.

 

[lindawdw]

It looked like you had a wonderful time enjoying the food and beverages at Epcot the night before and it's always fun to meet up with friends in the park! I always wonder if the kids can breathe when I see the plastic covers around a stroller too!!! It sounds like MK was having its difficulties with some attractions the next day but at least you were able to get some Princess time in for LP! Those photo boxes are really so bad.

 

[sheriffwoody]

Well, it's been a few minutes, but I'm so glad to see a TR from you!! Love to see the parks through your photographers eye (hazy is just artsy, really, and barely noticeable even though you pointed it out) and LP is just adorable, especially in all of her character interactions, particularly the princesses!! So cute. I'm melting.

I noticed your TR on Thursday or Friday and starting liking posts, but my goodness, you've been busy over the weekend!! I had so much catching up to do. And it just got better and better.


It doesn't sound crazy, and you don't look old. At all. As a matter of fact, I totally relate to your feelings here. At the beginning of this month, I celebrated my 37th wedding anniversary. How could that possibly be, when on most days I don't even feel like I'm 37 years old??? (I was 22 when we got married)

Never stop being 25, no matter what the photos say. You barely look like you're 30.

A comfy dress is worth its weight in gold.

Aww thanks so much for reading and for your nice comments! I am trying to get the report done because if I wait too long I'll forget everything, haha.

Glad I'm not the only one that feels that way! I mean, I'm happy with how I look and I have no problem with aging, I just feel like I'm not looking at myself sometimes. But yes a comfy dress is a must, especially on a Disney day!

Loving every word of your report. LP is adorable and her pictures from BBB are so sweet. The Adventureland Jasmine is the best!!!

I feel you on the sudden picture shock! I have one of these every vacation since it is the only time I get my picture taken.

Good luck on Wine & Dine. I was in the queue and had the half in my cart and chickened out at the last minute.

Following along.

Thank you for following along! Wish you were doing Wine & Dine, but maybe another year It's definitely hard to commit to something like that, especially with the pricetag.

It looked like you had a wonderful time enjoying the food and beverages at Epcot the night before and it's always fun to meet up with friends in the park! I always wonder if the kids can breathe when I see the plastic covers around a stroller too!!! It sounds like MK was having its difficulties with some attractions the next day but at least you were able to get some Princess time in for LP! Those photo boxes are really so bad.

Some of the stroller covers have vents! Ours does not though, so I don't use it when she's in there, but for this instance I let is slide since I could push it while holding the cover up enough to let air in Air can also come up from under it since it doesn't fit snug against the bottom of the stroller (or against the handle). UGHHHH yes the boxes are the pits.

 

[sheriffwoody]

Day 4: More MK

We visited the teacups next (no Genie for this, but there was no wait)






These two about killed me on this ride. R had it spinning SO FAST and LP was egging him on while I was

Next up was Dumbo, also without a LL since there was no wait.






We talked her out of doing the playground this time, so it didn't take long to do Dumbo, and she saw the Barnstormer from the Dumbo line. She didn't want to do it, but we mentioned she loved it last year, so she decided to try it.



It was getting close to 10:30 when we rode this, just to give you a time reference.



She rode with me! Yay! She put her hands up and "woooooo"ed the whole time. It was the cutest dang thing. I wish this little coaster was longer.



She wanted to ride again and the wait was 5 minutes max, so this time she rode with R. I videoed them, but it's so shaky. Still fun to have for the memories and me laughing uncontrollably the whole time trying not to drop my phone.

We saw Chip & Dale meeting again, so we headed up there, but they were leaving. AGAIN. So we struck out twice this trip and never met them.

Next up was our LL for 7 Dwarfs. It's annoying to spend the money, but she loves it so much and seeing her excitement makes it worth it.



The girl beside me was acting like we were on some huge coaster (like Screamin' Eagle at Dollywood or something...that's my only frame of reference ) and cussing and carrying on. In a funny way, thankfully. And she apologized for cussing with LP right there Pretty sure LP didn't notice, and honestly I'm the worst about doing that when she's in the car with me, so she's heard it all at this point Oops. She knows the "spicy" words that she's not allowed to say.



The vignetting on this lens is so bad We'll call that artistic too. We walked along the side of the castle toward our lunch destination. I think I'd mobile ordered while in line for the Barnstormer the second time.




Casey's for the win!! I got the Chicago dog (it was ok) and R got the chili cheese dog, which he said was good. LP had corndog nuggets. She actually ate a few! And R and I had no problem finishing the ones she didn't eat. We didn't have trouble finding a table since it was shortly after they opened, so that was nice.


The piano player came out for a bit too, which was lovely


While we were at lunch, I got us a LL for Pirates.


R got splashed pretty bad by one of the canon shots. LP found it quite funny.


Also got a LL for Haunted Mansion. Had to let my friend know we made it on after all! She responded "yay! We've been dying to have you."


We got a ride photo this time, but I'm not seeing it in with the rest of my photos, so I'll add it later if I come across it.

Up Next: Even more MK!

 

[sheriffwoody]

Day 4: MK continued

I got us a LL for Enchanted Tales with Belle, but not sure it's even necessary? They seem to let everyone in line in at the same time, regardless of LL or not. It was a cool experience! The pre-show with the mirror expanding was the best part. It was a little awkward picking the volunteers because the original girl who volunteered to be beast started crying and then no one wanted to do it. Eventually a mom got her little one to do it. She was probably 18months or maybe 2y. When this little girl roared as the beast, I nearly melted. SHE WAS SO FREAKING CUTE!!! She just deadpan looked at Belle and said "roar "

LP was Chip and she did great!







Photos could have been better. After I saw these, I regretted not taking any myself. The CMs in here have a big job keeping the story moving even when the kids aren't following instructions super well. Some are so young, they just don't understand. But they do a good job of helping the kids out when it's needed!

After this, R was ready to take a break, but I wanted to do at least one more ride, so I made a LL for Buzz. The line was SUPER long, so I was glad we had one. We had some time so we were going to do Carousel of Progress first, but it was down. LP spotted Buzz Lightyear meeting, so we hopped in his line. I feel like it moves so slow and it is so hot over there. But eventually we got there.


I couldn't help but laugh at her hand placement. Her height is just...bad...right now for these And when the princesses squat down, her hand goes straight to the bewb when she hugs them. They usually hold her hand so they can rest it on their shoulder. Super smart!


Caught her blinking, oh well. Hard not too when it's so bright! I might try to get her to wear her sunglasses more next time. She just gets tired of them so quickly, but maybe she would for pictures.

We got in line for the ride next and even with LL it was like a 10 minute wait. Maybe it had gone down earlier or something cause it was super backed up.


I take this ride very seriously


Pitiful

Sooo I was dumb and had told LP we'd get ice cream earlier, but we hadn't passed anywhere I wanted to stop yet, so I was hoping she'd forget. She didn't. So we stopped at the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor. I got her strawberry ice cream in a cone (she insisted) fully knowing it would melt all over her. Ice cream with her is always a disaster. She just cannot eat ice cream for some reason. After she stared at it for a few minutes, I tried putting some in a cup for her (which they'd given us with the cone because they're smart) and she still acted like she didn't know what to do with it So I ended up eating basically all of it. Whatever, it was good.



We headed out of the park. The plan was to pack our stuff up and return for the evening and possibly fireworks. This was our first time having to wait a bit for a bus. It was maybe 15 minutes? Not too bad! And our bus driver was waiting to start his shift, so he was hanging out with us and he made the kids balloon animals Thinking back, I wish I'd gotten his name to do a cast compliment because he was just so so so kind.



Her favorite souvenir of the trip



Saw the character bus outside when we got back to the resort! Didn't see the characters in the lobby though, I bet they were out back.

We rested a while and got packed up. I was trying to strategize our night. I thought we might try to stay for fireworks, but I was absolutely dreading the mass migration out of the park after that. So I looked and got us a reservation for dinner at the Grand Floridian Cafe thinking we could leave our car there and then walk back from the park after fireworks. Then after booking it, I remembered the dang walkway was closed (it's back open now, we missed it by a week). But we kept the reservation. I actually also happened upon one for California Grill that I almost snagged, but then realized we didn't really have clothes for that, and I kind of hated to not follow the dress code.

When it was time, we headed to Grand Floridian Cafe. Guess who fell asleep in the car We stayed in the car in the parking lot for as long as we could, and braced ourselves when we had to wake her up.



The walk over was fine, but she was a total crank for a good hour after that car nap.


We tried our darndest during dinner to get her to cheer up, and she eventually did.


R's...something. Marg? And my French 75. It was kind of strong to be honest! But tasty.



I got the burger. It was pretty good!


R got steak of course.

I can't remember what LP got, but probably mac n cheese of some kind haha

After dinner, we headed up to the monorail. LP really likes the elevator where you can see the lobby.




Up Next: Final night

 

[sheriffwoody]

Day 4: Ending the trip


We made it! Around 7:30. We had decided after it took her sooo long to get it together at dinner that we didn't want to risk the fireworks. Also, let me be clear, she was totally fine at dinner, just very whiny and obviously in a bad mood. I don't want it to sound like she was acting out or anything. But I just knew she didn't need to be out super late. We'll try fireworks next time! In January I think they'll be earlier, right?

We'd promised her another toy to end the trip and to meet Mickey, so I had a LL lined up for that.




The box caught her twirl!! Can you believe it?!

The line for Mickey was over an hour! What the heck?! So glad we had a LL since we'd promised her a Mickey meet



The box didn't catch Mickey's little magic trick with her, but I was filming so I got it.



They were so cute together


Talked R into jumping in for a family photo.



Pretty garden on the way out. It really looked and felt like rain, so I was worried. I think we'd have spent more time letting LP shop if I wasn't worried about a downpour. I feel bad, we kind of rushed her and she was paralyzed with indecision (I feel that, sister!)

She ended up picking a baby Pegasus from Hercules that has just been chilling on our coffee table since we got back. Maybe she'll play with it someday. She has so many dang stuffies. At least she has been sleeping with the Elsa we got earlier this trip.


She loved the window displays!


Goodbye for now MK! I was glad we got to end our trip here. It's so magical, and I love this time of day as it transitions from day to evening. So beautiful!



Made it back to the Grand Floridian with no rain. But we had a long walk to the car. They have you park behind the spa for a dinner reservation. We made it! And we made it back to Gran Destino without getting rained on. It did eventually rain, but we were fine, we needn't have rushed.




Goodnight, Gran Destino. We all headed to bed pretty quickly.

Our flight wasn't until 10:40am, which was PERFECT. We were able to wake up at normal time and have about an hour to get ready and get the rest of our stuff together. We left the resort at about 8am.





Such beautiful details at Gran Destino Tower!

We got gas near the airport and dropped off our car with no issues. At my old job, we had a great contract deal with National and it still works even though I don't work there anymore (shhhh) and I LOVE using them. I've never had an issue, knock on wood, and their processes are so smooth.

Inside the airport, the Southwest check-in line was unsurprisingly ridiculous. It's always so out of control. I told R to just hang with LP and let me deal with it, so I joined the cluster of humans with no discernible lines or order. Eventually got to drop my bag and it was 2lbs under the weight limit, WOO HOO. I was worried.


We convinced LP to say goodbye to her balloon animal pal. I really didn't want to tote that thing around all day, so I was glad she was ok with it.

And that's it on photos! Security went smoothly and a TSA agent showed me I could pop the wheels of the stroller to make it fit through the machine. I never knew! All the agents were friendly to us, which isn't always the case, especially at MCO. It was hectic but manageable this day.

Our flight was delayed about 10 minutes, but no biggie. We ate Jersey Mikes at our seats while we waited. When we'd checked in, me and R got A59 and A60 while LP got B1. Normally I would have just gotten on with the family boarding, but a HUGE family lined up like 30 minutes early, and I decided to risk just boarding at the end of A group. The attendant didn't even bat an eye. We let LP have the window on the flight back and I took the aisle, which means R got to be her entertainer. It was nice to be able to read for the majority of the flight

We were so happy to be home and get our pup! Our dogsitters (R's aunt and uncle) are also Disney fans and we brought them a retro Disney board game as a thank you. We chatted with them for a while and they're planning a family Disney trip for after the new year! They went to Universal last year between Christmas and New Years and had a horrible time. I did try to warn them

I'm not good at summing things up, but here are a few things:

• I enjoyed Gran Destino Tower and plan to stay there again!
• We had no issues with the busses to MK but I did really enjoy having a car for the other parks. I think we'd totally do that again for the convenience. We also stopped at McDonald's one evening, which was nice.
• Seeing how much we paid for Genie+ and ILL after the fact makes me a little ill...haha. But it was super convenient, I will admit. I don't think we'll use it every trip, but since we went a year between trips, it felt worth it to experience more. Since we have passes now, it won't be as necessary.
• BBB was 110% worth it. CRT was not (for us)
• Seeing the parks through my girl's eyes is so dang magical. I see what people mean now when they say this.
• The crowds were pretty light! The lines seemed long at times, but it didn't feel oppressively crowded like it has in the past. We'll be going around the same time next year and I hope we experience this again.
• Speaking of crowds, I don't recall any crappy guest interactions, which is RARE. Maybe I've just forgotten, but I feel like usually people in general are on my nerves more.
• As usual, I came back sick. We got back on Saturday and I started getting sick Monday. Happens EVERY FREAKING TIME. And doesn't help that I already have horrible allergy symptoms this year. I'm sick of wheezing constantly.

R says he has nothing to add to that.

Thank you all for reading along! I'd be happy to answer any questions you have about stuff we did or where we stayed! Next trip is for Wine & Dine for just me and R. I start training in July, so wish me luck! July in TN is not pleasant for running outdoors

 

[Swissmiss]

Thanks for sharing.

Hopefully when you really need to ramp up your training in September the weather will be better. I had a half marathon the first week of May and my weekend long runs were a real drag to fit in between storms but heat would have been worse !

 

[littleroo]

First of that family picture with Mickey is a framer! Secondly, thank you for sharing your amazing family adventures! We have missed many firework shows through the years in order to keep one of the kids from an utter breakdown. Wise choice on the last night! Good luck training and thanks again!

 

[Ellen Ripley]

Thank you for the report. Your writing is lovely and I always enjoy your pictures. LP is a cutie pie

 

[joshsprincess921]

I'm so happy you decided to do this report. I loved it and as always, I loved the pictures.
I love hearing your thoughts on Gran Destino since I'll be staying there soon. We are really looking forward to it.
I had to laugh because we just flew home from Orlando from our cruise last weekend and we had the same boarding numbers and yes the SW check in was insane. I have an issue with overpacking my bag. It has cost me money on some occasions and others I've opened my bag and took some things out at bag check because I wasn't going to pay $$$ for being like 2 pounds over. This trip we walked past the SW check in all the way to the far end and I discovered across from check in they have scales where you can weigh your bag. I never knew that. I was good, but was happy to know I can weigh my bag there and move things around if I need to before I go to check bags. So just a tip incase you didn't know about them either.

 

[MinnieM123]

@sheriffwoody --

Thank you for another excellent TR. Always love your amazing photos -- and they're so much better than (many) taken by the park photographers.

Really enjoyed the Disney themed, daily fashion show by LP! All the princess dresses and pink sandals were so cute.

The Gran Destino hotel was very attractive, and thank you for sharing those photos.

Glad that the crowds were somewhat light, and perhaps that also helped to chill out folks. Seems like I read about more issues, when it's crowded, and some lose their patience.

For the most part, it looks like the food in the parks has improved from previous years. (Portion size and price haven't, but from the photos I've seen, the selections look very tasty.)

 

[Katiekitten]

Thank you for sharing!
As usual your pictures are amazing and LP is so cute!

 

[riverside]

Great TR!! I always enjoy yours!! I’m so glad you decided to do it!!

 

[k8einwdw]

WOW you really powered through this report!

I enjoyed following along, as always! Thank you for taking the time to write a report!

 

[fractal]

Thanks for the report! Running through the parks with a little one is special.

Despite the vignetting on some shots, I love your photos with the 50mm, especially the ones with Belle!

 

[sheriffwoody]

I'm so happy you decided to do this report. I loved it and as always, I loved the pictures.
I love hearing your thoughts on Gran Destino since I'll be staying there soon. We are really looking forward to it.
I had to laugh because we just flew home from Orlando from our cruise last weekend and we had the same boarding numbers and yes the SW check in was insane. I have an issue with overpacking my bag. It has cost me money on some occasions and others I've opened my bag and took some things out at bag check because I wasn't going to pay $$$ for being like 2 pounds over. This trip we walked past the SW check in all the way to the far end and I discovered across from check in they have scales where you can weigh your bag. I never knew that. I was good, but was happy to know I can weigh my bag there and move things around if I need to before I go to check bags. So just a tip incase you didn't know about them either.

We discovered that too! R grabbed the bag while I was in the line and quickly weighed it. It was so chaotic, he didn't even tell me what it weighed, but I assumed since he gave it back to me, it must have been under We'll definitely be using that in the future (before getting in line). We've had to take stuff out before too, usually shoes does the trick. I'm not an overpacker, but we share the one big suitcase and it can heavy with both of our things in there. This trip LP had her own little suitcase too, but it was a carryon.

 

[LadyBelle]

Great TR! Adding Grand Destino to my wish list of resort stays.