Pre-Trip The "we're big fat liars who couldn't stay away for even six months" pre-trip report

Greetings from New Jersey! It's me, Bee, your favorite opera singing vegetarian lesbian on WDW Magic!

For an idea of my Disney style, you can check some of my previous TRs. You can also read a bit about my wife, M (my traveling companion and favorite person in the whole world) and me:

Flowers, Family, and ??Fireworks?? (and lots of FOOD): A Memorial Week Trip Report
Yes, we're a little crazy! Our trip to the 20th Annual Beer and Heat Festival
Ex-Floridians take on Walt Disney World during summer
A February Drinking Around the World, Resort-Hopping Disneymoon!

At the end of my last report I reported on our plans not to renew our APs and not to go back to WDW for awhile. As we looked at the calendar for the rest of the year and considered holiday travel plans, it became apparent that it is going to be difficult-to-impossible to travel to see family for Christmas due to the timing of things this year. On a whim I checked the Southwest fares for around Thanksgiving, and there was a really good deal on direct flights to Florida. ORLANDO, Florida.

You do the math. Two Disney Freak Ex-Floridians plus cheap Southwest flights to Orlando plus a few days off from work equals…

We’re going back!

The best deal was for Wednesday-Monday (and that gives us a little buffer in case of delays, severe weather, etc.). I’m off Wednesday anyway and can take off Monday, and M can take off both days. Since we’re flying to/from Orlando, it’s only logical that we spend time at Disney at the beginning and end of our trip!

Before any of you get your hopes up on our behalf and imagine us drinking around the world and riding Frozen and New Soarin’, know that we do not intend to purchase park tickets. We went through various options including one day Epcot tickets, one day Hoppers, and multi-day Hoppers. But the cost of a one day peak ticket is JUST SO MUCH. And once we start talking multi-day tickets, I start talking AP upgrades, and it’s like If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Or If You Give These Disney Obsessed Lesbians Park Tickets. We’ll be tempted to go on multiple weekend trips for every little occasion like we did last year. We’ll want to get a TiW card. We’ll start booking dessert parties. WHO KNOWS where this could lead???

So in the end, we have decided this will be a no-parks trip. But it will be a resort-hopping, trying new things, relaxing together trip!! After all, there is SO MUCH to do outside of the parks, and as many times as we’ve been we haven’t done it all! Stay tuned for some specific plans.

Tag time, in no particular order, for both those who requested a tag and those who have followed along in the past and might be interested. If I left you out I apologize, and if you don't want to follow I take no offense. @ScarletBegonias @MinnieM123 @Tuvalu @figmentfan423 @dclfan @betty rose @Ciara @FlaggNL @C.FERNIE @sheriffwoody @LisaBelle @21stamps @Tiggerish @samantha788 @Tony the Tigger @fractal @lostpro9het @Doc Disney @WDW74 @jrogue @BuddyThomas @TheMouseFan @DisneyShe @ajrwdwgirl @docdebbi @Mickey2422 @WDWDarling @Mindy16 @minnie2000 @littleroo @disneypearl @Tom @maelstrom98 @Beastly74 @wdisney9000
 
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bee

bee

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Cast
Me (Bee) and DW (M). Both 27 at the time of the trip.

Dates
Wednesday, November 23-Monday, November 28

Hotel
Port Orleans French Quarter, a first for us!

Flights
Southwest

Tickets
NONE! No park time this trip.

Here is the basic outline of our plans:

Wednesday, November 23: Travel Day
  • 7:55 Depart EWR
  • 10:50 Land MCO, pick up rental car
  • Drive to WDW, resort hop
  • No lunch reservation in case flight is delayed or we are just too tired to do anything
  • Drive to Embassy Suites
  • 4:00 Check in ES, chill in room, get dressed for dinner
  • 5:00 Evening reception (free drinks) at ES
  • Drive to WDW Swan
  • 7:15 Il Mulino dinner
  • Resort hop, watch Illuminations from Boardwalk area
  • Drive to ES, sleep!
Thursday, November 24: Thanksgiving
  • Free breakfast at ES
  • Drive to M’s parents
  • Thanksgiving dinner
Friday, November 25: Black Friday (aka I stay inside and don’t even THINK about going shopping!)

Family stuff, see old friends, etc.

Saturday, November 26: Back to Disney!
  • Drive to MCO, return rental car
  • Board DME to POFQ!
  • Check in POFQ, relax, enjoy the resort
  • 6:35 Boatwright’s dinner
  • Resort hop/monorail crawl
  • Watch Wishes from ???
  • Back to POFQ, sleep!
Sunday, November 27: Relaxing Day
  • Explore, chill, hop
  • 12:00 Whispering Canyon Café lunch
  • AKL, Victoria Falls?
  • 4:55 Boma dinner
  • Explore, chill, hop
  • Back to POFQ, sleep!
Monday, November 28: Travel Day
  • Request late checkout
  • Disney Springs
  • 1:00 Frontera Cocina lunch
  • Explore DS
  • Back to POFQ
  • DME to MCO
  • 7:20 Depart MCO
  • 9:55 Land EWR
 
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bee

bee

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
figmentfan423 said:
Congrats on going back and resort hopping is so much fun I know you'll both have a wonderful time even without going to the parks. BTW @epcotisbest is the best for a no park trip tips.
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Thanks! Oh yes, @epcotisbest does write the best non-park TRs!

sheriffwoody said:
Congrats on booking a trip! I think a resort-hopping trip sounds like a lot of fun. It'll be a perfect way to spend the holiday!
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Thanks! We've always done some resort hopping in the past and loved it, but this will be the first time with no parks at all.

littleroo said:
So glad you get to go back!! You are so right about how a Disney vacation can grow and grow financially. I hope you stick to your guns. We shall see :p Looking forward to your trip report! Enjoy the anticipation!
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Thanks, we are glad too! It's funny, I have been so busy with an opera that opens next week (and auditioning for other stuff for the future) that I have barely had time to get excited yet. It almost hasn't hit me yet.

figmentfan423 said:
That's quite a full and fun schedule. We stopped by POFQ a few weeks ago and it was quite lovely. Wished we had more time to spend there.
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We visited last year on our resort hopping Disneymoon and knew we had to come back for a stay. I'm so glad it worked out!

littleroo said:
POFQ is our home resort. I will it so much when we go in a few weeks. Our favorite bartender shelly works there. You will just love her! The rest of the staff is great, too.
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Yay, glad you get to go back! Where does Shelly work? I don't know the bars of POFQ (although that seems like something I of all people should know haha).
 
epcotisbest

epcotisbest

Well-Known Member
This sounds like a good trip. We have another non parks trip coming up, though we are thinking about maybe SeaWorld this time.
Resort hopping is fun, trying different restaurants and exploring the shops and grounds at the resorts, we truly enjoy.
Sometimes we go dessert or appetizers hopping too. We might go to one place and have an appetizer, then another for a dessert. Then, maybe go somewhere else for another dessert. Share one dessert at each place so you can try several different ones.
Taking the boat from DS to OKW or from POR to DS is fun too. We sometimes take the boat from MK to different resorts just for the boat ride.
The evening you plan to watch Illuminations from Boardwalk, there is a bridge between the Boardwalk area and Beach Club, where the boats go from Epcot to the resorts and DHS where we like to watch Illuminations from.
If you have any extra time, rent a couple of bicycles at Fort Wilderness and ride around the campsites. Beautiful area and fun time.
Drive over to Celebration, rent bicycles there from the bike rental place near the Bohemian Hotel and explore the neighborhoods.
So many things to do, so little time.
 
wdisney9000

wdisney9000

Truindenashendubapreser
Premium Member
bee said:
your favorite opera singing vegetarian lesbian on WDW Magic!
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#OSVL! I love that! Following

DW and I have discussed a resort only trip numerous times and we always feel that we wouldnt have the will power to not buy a ticket. Heck, we would break down and buy tickets just to be able to spend $13 on Cucumber Margaritas and German Beer in World Showcase. Let alone, if we had lunch at any of the monorail resorts and we could see Cinderella Castle....it would be a wrap. We would be at the ticket window in less than 5 minutes, lol
 
bee

bee

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
epcotisbest said:
This sounds like a good trip. We have another non parks trip coming up, though we are thinking about maybe SeaWorld this time.
Resort hopping is fun, trying different restaurants and exploring the shops and grounds at the resorts, we truly enjoy.
Sometimes we go dessert or appetizers hopping too. We might go to one place and have an appetizer, then another for a dessert. Then, maybe go somewhere else for another dessert. Share one dessert at each place so you can try several different ones.
Taking the boat from DS to OKW or from POR to DS is fun too. We sometimes take the boat from MK to different resorts just for the boat ride.
The evening you plan to watch Illuminations from Boardwalk, there is a bridge between the Boardwalk area and Beach Club, where the boats go from Epcot to the resorts and DHS where we like to watch Illuminations from.
If you have any extra time, rent a couple of bicycles at Fort Wilderness and ride around the campsites. Beautiful area and fun time.
Drive over to Celebration, rent bicycles there from the bike rental place near the Bohemian Hotel and explore the neighborhoods.
So many things to do, so little time.
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Great ideas! You're so right about the boat rides! One night on a whim we took the boat from GF to MK; between our time on the dock and time on the boat we saw all of Wishes and the Electrical Water Pageant from the water. Thanks also for the Boardwalk fireworks tip.

TheMouseFan said:
Sounds like fun! We recently had a very short weekend where we did some resort hopping. We really enjoyed ourselves! It's nice to slow down the pace sometimes! Can't wait to hear how it all turns out!
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It really is good to slow down, especially when you've been to the parks so many times. Although I hope I didn't cram too much into this trip! :D

ajrwdwgirl said:
I'm going to tag along on your trip report because we are going at the same time. We are there for a couple of days and then on a Disney Cruise after Thanksgiving. It's cool that you aren't doing the parks, I don't know if I would be able to stay so close and not go (sometimes I have no willpower!).
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I really hope to do a DCL/WDW trip some day! That sounds so fun!

I'm a little worried about the willpower myself. The good news is, M and I keep each other in check. When one of us has a weak moment like "let's just buy a one day ticket" or "let's buy a whole cake and eat it tonight" (which you know with two women in a house there is a good chance somebody is having hormonal food cravings at any given time) the other one can be reasonable and help make the wise decision.
 
bee

bee

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
littleroo said:
Shelly bartends at either bar at POFQ. She is outstanding!
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Great to know! We'll find her. :D

wdisney9000 said:
#OSVL! I love that! Following

DW and I have discussed a resort only trip numerous times and we always feel that we wouldnt have the will power to not buy a ticket. Heck, we would break down and buy tickets just to be able to spend $13 on Cucumber Margaritas and German Beer in World Showcase. Let alone, if we had lunch at any of the monorail resorts and we could see Cinderella Castle....it would be a wrap. We would be at the ticket window in less than 5 minutes, lol
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Yes, #OSVL! I know a decent number of #OSV and a few #OSL and plenty of #LV but I don't think I know any other #OSLV...

I'm hoping we will just enjoy the relative calm of a resort only trip so much that it won't be too much of a struggle to stay out of the parks. I'm trying to keep in mind that we intend to have APs for 2017-2018 and will probably do some longer trips during that time period.

Tuvalu said:
It's Southwest's fault! (Trust me, I know...I had to exit out of the site before succumbing to temptation to book flights over my birthday!)

But really, it sounds like you're in for a very Happy Thanksgiving! :)
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@Tuvalu gets it! All Southwest's fault!

(But really, last year we spent at least a few hundred more dollars to fly around Thanksgiving, and had to take a bus and three trains to get to the Philly airport because there was nothing reasonable from Newark, AND we had a layover on the way to Florida.)

dclfan said:
Yay another @bee trip report and my first tag.

Following along again. Your plans sound great, there is so much to do at Disney without going into the parks but I'm usually too rushed to do it. Your going to have a blast.
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Welcome! Thanks for following!
 

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