I've got the Disney bug and I can't stay away. AKL June 2018 TR started 6/25

4 Days!!!


Tomorrow is a write off for getting ready as I am a glutton for punishment and accepted an overtime shift at work. It may be a heartbreaking day as a dear patient of mine that I have taken care of for years is near death and may very likely pass away tomorrow. It will be a comfort though to be able to say goodbye and ensure a peaceful passing. It is one of the main reasons I agreed to take the shift.

On a less depressing note I made some headway in preparing for the trip.

This morning I sorted through some of my clothes and I have pulled six dresses I might pack and three pairs of shorts. I have another tub of summer clothes to go through before I make my final selection but I am further along than I was yesterday! :laughing: I will be doing a laundry on the trip so I will make an attempt to pack light. Key word is attempt. I do need to pack for 14 days though since we will be going to Ohio to visit my grandparents right after Florida.

I also have my mouse ears ready to go in the carry on. Mom gifted me with these rose gold ears for Christmas before we even had a Disney trip planned.




Tonight I am going to see the Han Solo movie with my brother Alek and his girlfriend Sarah. I have heard that overall it is an enjoyable movie but I don't know if my mind will be able to accept anybody other than Harrison Ford as Han. My goal is to finish sorting through my summer clothes before I go out to the movie. That way on Friday I can make a final selection of what I want to pack.


Finally, here are my plans for our departure day:


Our flight is at 1:30 so I assume the Magical Express will pick us up somewhere between 10:30-11:30. Question for the Canadians, how early has ME picked you for your return to the airport since technically the flights are international? Is it three hours before the flight or two hours? I hope it is three. I always feel more comfortable with a bigger timeframe to get to the airport and through check-in/security.

Assuming a 10:30 pick-up we won't have time to do much so I'm thinking that we will perhaps end the trip with breakfast at Boma and a final hour or so of enjoying the animal viewing on the savanna.

When we land back in Toronto we will have to clear through Customs and then find my brother Alek in the airport. He will be taking a bus to the Toronto airport in order to meet up with us as we are going to drive to Ohio immediately after leaving the airport. It is generally a 4-5 hour drive to my grandparent's house from Toronto so we might just power through and arrive there late at night or we may get a hotel room along the way. It will really depend on our energy level. We will then spend a few days visiting my grandparents. Alek and I may take a day trip to Cedar Point to get our coaster fill but it will depend on how I handle the "baby" coasters at WDW. I call them bay coasters only in comparison to the crazy coasters at Cedar Point. Last year when we went I felt sick to my stomach and I don't know if it was due to the coasters or what I ate (greasy breakfast sandwich) or just feeling unwell in general. Perhaps I am getting too old for coasters? :scared:
 
Magic Express picks up three hours before flight, or four hours for international flights.
 




2 Days!!!

I can't believe we are so close to our trip! I am planning to pack this afternoon. I pretty much have to as I am working another overtime shift tonight. :scared: I know, I know, I suck at vacation. :laughing: This is why when I take vacation time I actually need to leave the area. I am incapable of staying home and relaxing if on "staycation". I am a pathetic soul.

This morning I booked our airport parking and our pre-flight hotel. We will be staying at a Courtyard Marriott. It is just a few minutes from the airport but is not classified as an "airport hotel" so it was $50 cheaper a night than the Courtyard "airport" hotel that is only 5 minutes closer, thought that one was a no brainer. It's been recently renovated which also tipped the scales in its favour.

We don't have a set departure time yet for Sunday since all we plan to do in Toronto is sleep. I think so long as we hit the road by 5pm we should be at the hotel with plenty of time to get a good nights sleep.

I thought since I have finished posting about our daily plans that I would highlight some of the snacks that are on my radar for the trip.

Magic Kingdom

Cheshire Tail in Fantasyland

Nutella and Fruit Waffle at Sleepy Hollow

Corn Dog Nuggets from Casey's. I know this may sound crazy but I have never had a corn dog! No idea if I will like them but people post about them all the time so I may give them a shot.

Mermaid cupcake from the Main St Bakery

All-American Sundae from the Plaza Ice Cream Parlour

Cookies and Cream cheesecake at Cosmic Ray's

Animal Kingdom

Macaroni and Cheese from Eight Spoon Cafe

Cannoli Cake at Pizzafari

Night Blossom from Pongu Pongu

Hollywood Studios

Bavarian Pretzel from Baseline Tap House

Epcot

Apple, Brie and Cheese Sandwich from Sunshine Seasons - I wonder what the cheese is other than the brie?

OR Brie Aux Pommes at the Boulangarie in France - leaning more towards this one

Cookies and Cream Funnel Cake in America

Anything from the Caramel store in Germany

Maybe something from the temporary bakery cart in Norway


I'm sure there are lots of other things out there that will catch my eye but those or some of the items I have heard about and I might try on the trip!




 
Right now I am on the fence about keeping the Early Morning Magic. It seems like a lot of fun but it is also pricey and I wonder if we could spend that money better elsewhere.

Based on our experience I wouldn't pay for this again. We ended up waiting in line to get in for half the event even though we were supposed to get in early, but the line for early ADRs and that were huge and moved very slowly that day so we missed like half the event. Only the 3 rides they mainly mention were open (not the extra ones I've heard can be open), and the buffet wasn't good at all. It was interesting to try once, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Corn Dog Nuggets from Casey's. I know this may sound crazy but I have never had a corn dog! No idea if I will like them but people post about them all the time so I may give them a shot.

I've never had a corn dog either! But I did try the nuggets and liked them.
 
Based on our experience I wouldn't pay for this again. We ended up waiting in line to get in for half the event even though we were supposed to get in early, but the line for early ADRs and that were huge and moved very slowly that day so we missed like half the event. Only the 3 rides they mainly mention were open (not the extra ones I've heard can be open), and the buffet wasn't good at all. It was interesting to try once, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Thanks for the input! I decided to cancel it and use the money elsewhere - PPO Garden grill breakfast. :)
 
Maybe I'll sort through my closet tonight but really all I want to do is sleep. I could sleep all day and all night. :laughing:

Yes. This. Nursing night shifts suck.


It should be a fairly relaxed day without any rushing around.
\

The BEST kind of day at AK!

Any good snacks or drinks we should try?

Well, you already had several I was going to mention on your list. DEFINITELY the mac and cheese from 8 spoons! I LOVED the shrimp one.

Anything bloody mary-ish from the Dawa is yummy, and Y&Ys eggrolls are great.

I am a glutton for punishment and accepted an overtime shift at work.

Of course you did.

It may be a heartbreaking day as a dear patient of mine that I have taken care of for years is near death and may very likely pass away tomorrow.

And now I see why.... :(

I know this may sound crazy but I have never had a corn dog!

:scared1:

WHAA....!?!

Macaroni and Cheese from Eight Spoon Cafe

Yes. Go, now!

Bavarian Pretzel from Baseline Tap House

Going to try this myself in October.
 
0 Days!

I am on vacation! Real vacation this time as I am out of town so can't pick up overtime! :laughing:

It has been a nice relaxing day today; I need to start spending the night in Toronto before my flights more often! Most of the time I end up having to leave home at 3am to drive to the airport and worry about traffic delays on the highway and then I am exhausted when I arrive at my destination. This way is definitely preferable!

I did most of my packing the past few days so this morning it was just a final few things such as toiletries. I did manage to forget a few things though as is tradition! Nothing important so I was able to pop into Shoppers Drug Mart and pick them up easily. I had to purchase ear plugs (mom snores and I can't sleep through that racket), hair ties, and gravol (anti-nausea medication).

We left home around 2pm and it was an easy breezy drive to Toronto. Our neighbour and my brother Alek are sharing responsibility for the house and the cats so we made sure they had what they needed before we left.

Once in Toronto we made our way to a MASSIVE mall - Square One Shopping Centre.


When we were driving into the parking lot a guy drove by on a motorcycle in a full Batman get-up. His helmet even had bat ears on it. It was hilarious and I wish I could have grabbed a photo.


We had never been to this mall before so we were amazed at the size. The reason for the trip was to purchase these beauties.



They were not sold in any of the stores near my town so I checked the Sport Chek website and it showed them available at their location in this mall so a shopping trip was born!

Naturally we had to stop in the Disney Store. I showed mom the Sebastian pool float that I am dying to buy. $75 though! Ouch!

I also found the perfect outfit there for my breakfast at Trattoria al Forno. It was just my size!




:laughing:


After checking out the Disney Store we decided to leave the mall as we weren't actually going to do any shopping other than for my shoes.

The hotel was a quick 15 minute drive and on the way we encountered this life and death situation.



I was so nervous that they were going to get hit. They were crossing eight lanes of traffic! The traffic doesn't look too bad in the picture but there were a lot of cars zooming by and when people stopped and put their flashers on to let the geese pass others started honking and being obnoxious. Luckily this family of 21 by my count made it across the street safely. What a relief!


Not much else to report. Mom and I grabbed dinner after checking into our hotel and now we are just relaxing in the room. I'm hoping I can fall asleep tonight as I had a hard time last night, pre-trip anxiety.

I'll be in Disney tomorrow!



 
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Yes. This. Nursing night shifts suck.

I don't mind nights too much, a nice break sometimes from the hectic rush of a day shift.




Well, you already had several I was going to mention on your list. DEFINITELY the mac and cheese from 8 spoons! I LOVED the shrimp one.

Anything bloody mary-ish from the Dawa is yummy, and Y&Ys eggrolls are great.

Thanks for the suggestions!



Of course you did.



And now I see why.... :(

I ended up picking up two OT shifts, a day and a night. Somehow my guy is still pulling through. It is amazing to me how long this process can go on for especially given his condition. I got to say my goodbyes though to him and the family so there was closure. :sad1:
 
It has been a nice relaxing day today; I need to start spending the night in Toronto before my flights more often! Most of the time I end up having to leave home at 3am to drive to the airport and worry about traffic delays on the highway and then I am exhausted when I arrive at my destination. This way is definitely preferable!

Yes! Last time (actually time before) I flew it was in the middle of the night and there was NO traffic, until 10 miles before the airport where there was an overturned semi truck. We barely, BARELY made our flight. Lesson learned: Crap can happen at ANY time of the day or night and plenty of time needs to be there for poo-poo. I'm a huge fan of overnighting near the airport!

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:lovestruc


:lmao:

What a relief!

I saw that on FB! EEK!
 
Vacation has been amazing so far!! We are at the halfway point now. :sad: There has only been one small hiccup and that was yesterday. Everything was going great and we went back to the hotel for pool time and I went into the Mara to fill up our mugs and this sudden wave of nausea came over me so I had to dash to the pool bathroom where I promptly upchucked for several minutes. :crazy2: It was awful. A lifeguard was in there at the time and heard me in distress so she got me some cool clothes, water, mouth wash etc and made sure I was okay. It was so weird because it came on so suddenly and then I felt better after. It was sad because I was afraid to go in the pool after that, even though I was feeling better, just in case it happened suddenly again. I didn't want to be responsible for a pool shutdown! So after resting a few minutes on a lounge chair I went back to the room and took a two hour nap. Good thing I set an alarm because Mom said she wasn't going to wake me up and would have just let me sleep but then we would've missed a very important fast pass!


Mom, the lifeguard and I all seem to think it was probably a combination of the heat, the food earlier, needing more water (even though we have been trying to stay diligent with our water intake) and needing more rest.


Other than that incident it has all been fantastic and I don't want to leave!!
 
Glad to hear the trip is going well, that is quite a hiccup though. Ugh, poor you. Glad there was a CM there to help right away. It's amazing the effects the sun/heat can have on the body.
 
Glad you are having a good time.
Heat sure can wreck havoc and it is not just hot in Florida, it is hot everywhere.
We hate 100 degree days here in Wisconsin, which is unheard of.

Glad you felt better, you are lucky you didn't faint-sometimes the body doesn't know what to do, so you either faint, throw up-or the other direction.
 
Welcome one and all to this little PTR. If you enjoy obsessive Disney planning, itinerary making, resort roulette and deep contemplation of Disney snacks then this is the report for you!

I am very lucky and have been to the Disney parks several times throughout my life, especially in the past ten years or so. I have a serious case of Disneyitis and while I enjoy travelling the world and experiencing new places I can't help but yearn for the comfort of my happy place hence this pre-trip report.

Our last trip was December 2015 at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. This time we will be headed back in June 2018. It will have only been 2 1/2 years since our last visit but as is always the case with WDW some things have changed, new things have arrived and some have gone away. That is part of what I love about visiting WDW, every trip has something new to experience!

My name is Lessa and I am a disneyholic! I am an RN and I work A LOT (I am a sucker that finds it hard to say no to overtime) so I am very much looking forward to getting away on vacation and having a break away from reality. I love my job but it will be nice to have a break to recharge. I love pretty much everything Disney and I am a child at heart. I am the person my friends and co-workers go to when they decide to plan a WDW vacation and want advise. I am known as "the Disney girl".

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Joining me on this trip will be my mother, Beth. She also loves her trips to WDW and she gets all teary eyed every trip when we first arrive, she loves her family time at WDW that much. My mom has MS which means that we will be trying to have a more relaxed vacation. That is one of the reasons that we are going for a week and a half, lots of time to tour the parks without being rushed and no stress about missing out on anything.

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Not joining us on this trip are my brothers, Alek and Erich. They also love Disney and our family vacations but they are holding out until our "epic 2021" trip to visit WDW again. That seems so far away but it really isn't in the grand scheme of things.

Originally I was planning a Baltic cruise vacation for June but we decided to change our plans for a few reasons and so now we are headed to WDW!! I will get to the Baltic one of these days it just won't be this year!


Are you planning a summer Disney vacation? Are you a first timer? Going on your 22nd trip? Have you visited recently? I would love to hear from my fellow WDW addicts as I plan this WDW vacation!
 

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