Trip Report The Two Goofs Holiday Special!- Now with February updates!

Hello again my friends. We’ve just returned from our short, action packed, trip to the world. We had the hap hap happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap danced with Danny fu- oh wait, wrong thread! Anyways we had a great trip!

When: December 6-9

Where: Grand Floridian

Why: Because we wanted to, and we were celebrating six years of wedded bliss!

Who: Myself and my wife, A.

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Featuring appearances by Bucky the popcorn bucket, The Orange Bird backpack, Chewbacca, Scrooge McDuck, Whoopi Goldberg, Creepy dancing reindeer, Sant Claus, @Nunu, and many more!

So just sit back, relax, and maybe try to stay warm if it’s -4 degrees outside(looking at you @ajrwdwgirl!).

Travel Day/ Day 1. December 5-6.

I had been working nights all week and A works during the day, so we didn’t get to spend any time together this entire week. This isn’t unusual for us, but it did make packing a bit tricky, as we had trouble keeping up with what was in which suitcase. Also being a man, I didn’t actually pack my suitcase until about an hour before we hit the road!

We handled a few errands at home and were westbound on the interstate by about 6:30 that evening.

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Our usual rest stop on the way to Dallas. Anyone who’s ever visited one will know why, it’s like the Disney World of gas stations! 🤣 It’s hard to tell from this photo, but that store is around 60,000 square feet of pristine clean awesomeness! It has 84 gas pumps and over 70 restroom stalls!

Anyways, we arrived at our good friends’ place on the outskirts of Dallas at around 8:30. We were sleeping here for the night to avoid leaving our house in the middle of the night,or paying for a hotel near the airport. We quickly went to bed for a few hours rest, and were up and ready to head to the airport around 4 the next morning.

We got dropped off at the airport around 430 for our 6 am flight. Normally this would leave plenty of time for a nap in the terminal, but for some reason security at Love field this day was SLOW! First they stopped the line to bring in the dog, but then when the dog arrived, they only let people through 2 at a time. We ended up being in line for nearly an hour. Fortunately we still had time to grab a bite at whataburger for breakfast, and catch a small nap at the gate.

Our plane boarded on time, and we were in the air a little ahead of schedule. We had the smoothest, fastest flight we’ve ever had to Orlando. With a strong tailwind, the flight tracker showed ground speeds of nearly 700 mph! We were at the gate an hour and 40 minutes after takeoff. Our chief flight attendant was the absolute best we’ve ever seen. He was a huge Disney nut and was super pumped to be working the Orlando flight(he even wore his ears), his safety spiel was hilarious, and as we taxied the runway at MCO he played a little Disney trivia with everyone. When he gave his farewell message, people were literally screaming and cheering for him!

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This was painfully accurate today, but we didn’t mind too much!

We were the last stop on the magical express, but we finally made it to the grand a little before 11 AM!

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The lobby is absolutely beautiful this time of the year!

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The gingerbread house is really incredible to see! This was my favorite of all the special lobby decorations that we saw!

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We grabbed a snack and headed outside to enjoy it.
 

Loco_driver

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Here and following...!!! :)

And... OH. MY. GOSH. Buc-ee’s...!!!!!!! :joyfull:
We frequent the one in New Braunfels on road trips between Austin and San Antone, as well as the one in Tomball on road trips between Austin and Spring...the one in New Braunfels is the largest, so far, and I’ve included a pic of the Buc-ee’s swim trunks I purchased this past summer...!!!!! :hilarious::happy:

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Buc-ee’s is indeed the WDW of gas stations/convenience stores...!!!!!!! :joyfull:

And, on a side note...
The architectural firm I work for here in Austin is in the intermediate stages of preparing construction documents for the Aplin Ranch, and I was heavily involved in the design phase. It’s a ranch in the Central Texas Hill Country for Arch “Beaver” Aplin, whom the Buc-ee’s mascot was imagined from, and is a co-owner...!!! :)
Sorry for the slight thread hijack, but, we too love us some Buc-ee’s here as well...!!!!! :happy:

Lookin’ forward to more...!!! :)
Yes! I have stopped at the New Braunfels location many times on the way to San Antonio! It is so huge! We stopped at the one in Terell on our way to Dallas. It’s not quite as big, but is pretty close! There’s one off of I 10 in Alabama now, but it feels much smaller, it was very busy when we stopped too. They should’ve built a big one! Also I bet that ranch will be incredible, I love it out in the hill country!
 

donaldtoo

Well-Known Member
Yes! I have stopped at the New Braunfels location many times on the way to San Antonio! It is so huge! We stopped at the one in Terell on our way to Dallas. It’s not quite as big, but is pretty close! There’s one off of I 10 in Alabama now, but it feels much smaller, it was very busy when we stopped too. They should’ve built a big one! Also I bet that ranch will be incredible, I love it out in the hill country!

Hahaaa...!!!
Yep, I’ve heard about the one in Alabama that opened not too long ago....!!! :)
The smallest one I’ve ever seen is in Giddings...it only has about 20 gas pumps...!!!!! :hilarious:
And, thank you, the Aplin Ranch will be pretty amazing...!!!!! :happy:
 

Swissmiss

Premium Member
If I knew how to post gifs, I’d look for a Flinstone’s Happy Anniversary one 😀. But I don’t know how to post gifs and my teenager is currently giving me a taste of my own médecine because I should be getting ready for work (normally it is me either trying to get her butt out of bed or out the door). 🤣
 

Loco_driver

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Oh my, @Loco_driver , somehow I missed the anniversary part of your first post...!!!!! :cyclops::hilarious:
I’m sure it was an awesome one at WDW...!!!!!!! :joyfull:
BTW, DWifey and I celebrated our 31st just yesterday...!!!!! :happy:
Thank you! Disney certainly worked a little magic for us! Also congrats to you as well!

Hahaaa...!!!
Yep, I’ve heard about the one in Alabama that opened not too long ago....!!! :)
The smallest one I’ve ever seen is in Giddings...it only has about 20 gas pumps...!!!!! :hilarious:
And, thank you, the Aplin Ranch will be pretty amazing...!!!!! :happy:
Yeah there’s actually a few older locations around Houston that are just normal gas stations, albeit very nice, clean ones. It’s a little jarring to see if you’ve only been to the larger “travel centers”.
If I knew how to post gifs, I’d look for a Flinstone’s Happy Anniversary one 😀. But I don’t know how to post gifs and my teenager is currently giving me a taste of my own médecine because I should be getting ready for work (normally it is me either trying to get her butt out of bed or out the door). 🤣
Oh my I hope you made it to work on time! I’m up way to early for work myself, and should be getting ready too! Thanks for the well wishes!
 

Swissmiss

Premium Member
Oh my I hope you made it to work on time! I’m up way to early for work myself, and should be getting ready too! Thanks for the well wishes!

I’ve got to be honest - as long as I don’t have a meeting scheduled, I have a lot of flexibility with my time in the office. We have core hours we are supposed to be present, but as long as my work gets done and the month averages out to a 40 hour work week, all is good. 😀
 

Loco_driver

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Happy Anniversary, and looking forward to reading about your adventures.
Thank you! Please bear with me, I may a bit slow in posting at times on this one!
Oh my. Christmas time at the GF!! What a beautiful location for your 6th anniversary. Congratulations to the both of you. :)
It was great! Thank you very much!
Finally officially here. Stupid work is really interfering with my ability to select a choice meme. 😂

Happy anniversary!
Thanks! I know the feeling. Stupid work is always getting in the way! Glad to have you officially here, I was getting a bit worried. ;)
I’ve got to be honest - as long as I don’t have a meeting scheduled, I have a lot of flexibility with my time in the office. We have core hours we are supposed to be present, but as long as my work gets done and the month averages out to a 40 hour work week, all is good. 😀
Flexibility? 40 hour work weeks? I’ve never heard of these things! 🤣
 

Loco_driver

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Friday December 6 continued.

After Indy we used our first FP for star tours. We had the Hoth scene and the Boba Fett asteroid scenes. It was fun but a bit jerky. Still the best choice for the crummy “tier 2” options at DHS.

After our flight on star tours we took a little advice from @Tuvalu, and wandered around the muppets pre show room for a while. Luckily a show had just begun, so we had plenty of time.
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A solute to all nations, but mostly America!
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Waka Waka!

We watched the show near the front of the theater. I love this show, but it makes me sad to see what Disney has done with the muppets. This show still has the Jim Henson charm.

We left muppets and started making our way toward tower of terror.
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I never get tired of seeing this! Tower is my favorite(or is it?;))

The FP line for tower was super long, but we made it on in about 15 minutes.
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The two in the front you the right of A and I look legit terrified! The girls next to me were cheerleaders, they were quite loud!

After our visit to the Hollywood tower hotel, we were both feeling hungry. The QS options in DHS leave a lot to be desired. We decided to try pizzerizzo because muppets.
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It was adequate. I dig the old school pizzeria theming though, and the balcony was perfect for this day. We sat up there for quite awhile enjoying the weather and people watching. I managed to get us another FP for tower, so we decided to get up and walk that way. We took in a few sights along the way though.

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Always liked this Snowman.

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We took a detour over to launch bay to pay a visit to an old friend of ours. Anyone think the new logo on the arch is painfully bland?
 

Loco_driver

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Friday December 6 continued.

We swung by the launch bay to see if chewie had a line, but the queue was totally empty!
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Who doesn’t like a good Wookiee hug?

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Discussing our beards. He wanted to know how long I’d been growing mine.

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One of the few characters that stands taller than me! He also really wanted my shirt! Lol

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The Christmas decorations at DHS were very nice.

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I liked all the little trees they had on the light poles around the Chinese theater.

We did eventually make it back over to tower of terror.
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A is freaking adorable in this picture.

After our ride on ToT it was getting dark. We decided to go to galaxy’s edge.


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Echo lake looks great at Christmas. Really loved these.

Galaxy’s edge had a different energy to it from our last visit. It was pretty exciting to be there during the opening of such a major attraction!
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Most of the crowds were over near rise of the resistance.
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Filming for something, couldn’t tell what exactly, but they seemed to be interviewing people.
 

Loco_driver

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Love reading your trip reports!
Thank you for reading! Glad you enjoy them! They aren’t the best, but it’s fun to share. Plus it helps me remember our trips better.
Happy anniversary!! I can’t wait to see the rest of your trip 👍
Thank you! Glad to have you following along! I saw lots of people from your area on our trip trying to escape the cold! 🥶
 

Loco_driver

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Friday December 6 continued.

We had a reservation for ogas at 6 that evening. We were let in about 10 seconds after checking in.
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Our table was right in front of DJ Rex. The music wasn’t really my style, but seemed to fit the bar just fine. Rexs little announcements and song intros were pretty entertaining though!
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It was cool to see all the different props kind of work together. They created a pretty fun atmosphere. It certainly helped that our table full of strangers contained a lot of outgoing and fun people!

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A had a yub nub(if you leave the glass it’s not nearly as pricey), I had a fuzzy tauntaun. A liked hers quite a bit. Mine would’ve been pretty good without the silly foam, that apparently didn’t have as much of an effect on me as it does with some others.

I mentioned that A got the yub nub without the souvenir glass. Our server told us at the start to just leave the glass, and he wouldn’t charge us for it. Well when it came time to leave, he came over and handed us a box after we paid. Being a bit tired, and likely feeling slight effects from the alcohol, we simply put the box in a shopping bag we had from earlier and walked off. 4 days later, while unpacking my suitcase, I finally opened the box and discovered a brand new souvenir glass! A glass that we were never charged for. Accident? or Disney magic? Either way I have this sweet cup!
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Overall I thought ogas was a fun time. However, at $40 for two drinks and a tip, it’s just way too pricey. Probably will be a one and done for us!
 

Loco_driver

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Friday December 6 continued.

We grabbed one last selfie with DJ Rex before leaving ogas.

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We also had a reservation to make a droid. So that was our next stop.

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We decided to build an R unit.

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The finished product. It now proudly roams our home agitating the dog!

We exited SWL through the grand avenue section. We had no other plans for the night. We just wandered around enjoying the festive atmosphere and cool weather.

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I always enjoy the parks at night.

The projection show on sunset was really nice!

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The gingerbread house segment was my favorite.

Jingle Bell Jingle Bam was about 20 minutes from starting, and there was only a light crowd in front of the theater. We grabbed a spot, and I went to the Joffreys near the incredible section to grab us a few coffees(the long day of traveling was catching up with us). Unfortunately when I returned I got all turned around and couldn’t find A! I did finally find her just before the show started.

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The show wasn’t bad. It needs more large shell fireworks to make it great. I wouldn’t go out of my way to watch it, but would stick around if I was already in the park.

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We were a little tired, but having a blast!
 
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Loco_driver

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Friday December 6 continued.

When the show was over most people made a mad dash for the exit. We decided to hang out around echo lake to Let the rush die down at the bus stop.
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The tree looks so beautiful at night!
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There were several other couples hanging around enjoying the night. We all sort of took turns taking pictures for each other! Glad I’ve never had a fear of talking to strangers!

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There was a slight chill in the air. We didn’t mind at all!

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We made it to the bus stop about 40 minutes after park closing time. The bus wasn’t very crowded. We got a great view of the Christmas party fireworks finale on our way back to the grand.

We were both feeling a little hungry. We headed to gasparilla grill and split a pizza.

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Tasted better thank it looked. I was glad that the QS place was open 24 hours, great for a late night snack and a drink!

We finally made our way to our room, which we hadn’t seen yet. We were in boca chica room 8414. We appear to have been upgraded to a deluxe room!

Some room photos for @Nunu

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We had a great first day, and we were just getting started!
 

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