What are we celebrating? Everthing! A January 2018 Trip Report - THE END - New TR link added

BIG BIG BIG NEWS

So remember several pages back when I said that we were going back to Disney in April, 2019???

Well I got a unique offer code in the mail.

Guess who's going back to Disney in 7 weeks?

And arriving on July 4th?

I'll give you a minute to try and guess.

Enter Jeopardy music.

I know!!! It's us!!! I'm so excited. Two trips in one year. And then again next April.

I'll continue the trip report more tomorrow. I just had to share in my joy.

WOW!! That is awesome! Congrats!! YOu will have such a great time. Enjoy!! Now you get all the fun of trip planning, all over again!! and sooner than expected!
 
It is always sad when you wake up and realize that this is your last morning in the nice room in the bubble of Disney. The bags are packed and it is time to go home.

EXCEPT . . . . our vacation wasn't over! I had very wisely scored a fabulous deal on a Sheraton Vistana condo and added a few "extra" days to our vacation. The cost wasn't too bad and it would give us time to relax and enjoy some time in Orlando. And as a bonus, Tony's uncle was in town having driven over from the Tampa area, so we were going to have a chance to meet up with them. So we did not have our normal sad pouty faces when it was time to check out. I had done the majority of the packing the night before, so it took little time to get things together and call bell services to come get the bags. We had requested a late check-out the evening before, so we took our time leaving the hotel. We stopped at the food court and grabbed some quick lunch. I'm not even going to bother trying to find pictures of what we ate. I had a burger and I think Tony grabbed a turkey sandwich. The purpose was to use the last counter service credits that we had. We also had a crap ton of snack credits left, so we got several things of fruit, bottled water and other goodies that would be handy in the cooler on the way back home. After dropping off our ECV's with the bell hop, we got back into the van for the short ride to our next destination.

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Not my picture. I know - shocker.

We have never stayed here before, but @Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina has nothing but fabulous things to say about it, so for a few nights, it seemed like a good plan. It took about 20 minutes to get here and we went thru the security gate and up to the main building to check in.

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Also not my picture. I had requested either a ground floor room or something close to the elevator. Unfortunately, neither one of those requests were a possibility. We were on the third floor and at the end of a long hallway. It was okay, just rough when you're lugging around a bunch of luggage. But once we got into the condo, it was really, really nice.

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Okay, that picture is dark, but it is a picture of the kitchen from the living room. The door to the right is the super small balcony.

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Nice TV in the living room. There was also a DVD player and the ability to play games. There was a similar TV in the bedroom. Tony was thinking they would make nice gifts to take home, but they were well secured to the walls. o_O

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A nice king-sized pillow top bed greeted us in the bedroom. We had been sleeping separately in double beds while at Disney, so it was nice to snuggle up with the hubby. I missed him. :love:

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The bathroom was nice and spacious.

Our first order of business was laundry. The condo had an "apartment sized" washer and dryer, so it took a few loads to get our laundry done. We decided to just relax in the condo while the laundry chugged. And the more we relaxed, the lazier we became. So we took a nice long nap. And while we had big plans to hit the town and see what was outside of Disney, we never took another step outside the door that night. There was not even an attempt at dinner. We ate the car snacks we had brought with us and that was just fine.

In the midst of our laziness, I had a chance to catch up on things that were happening at home and happened to take a glance at the weather. As with the theme of the trip, mother nature was laughing at us once again and the local weather dude was predicting ice and snow over the next few days. Just as we were planning on driving home. Tony and I decided to keep an eye on it and decide tomorrow what the plan would be.

Up next - my fear of heights is real and deep.
 
Yum! The Grand Floridian Cafe sounds delicious. We definitely need to try that one day. I do love that resort, but we'll probably never stay there either. Hope to pop in to see the gingerbread display on our MK day in Dec, though.

I cannot imagine staying there. Even with super duper discounts it is so expensive. But it was beautiful to see. Dinner was yummy.

Yes the GF is a beautiful resort, but we have never eaten at the GF cafe. Glad you enjoyed your meal :thumbsup2

Dinner was delicious. It was a nice way to end our trip.

The last day is always a little bittersweet, but sounds like you guys did it right! I'm glad that you still had more vacation to look forward to! :yay:

We've never been to GF cafe, but have an ADR there for our July trip and I'm looking forward to it! :flower1:

You will enjoy the meal and the atmosphere. Take time to look around!

Your dinner at Grand Floridian Cafe sounds great! That's the only restaurant at the Grand we haven't tried yet. Their menu sounds yummy!!

Last day of vacation is always sad, but you are getting close to your July trip. You can start a PTR!

We are less than a month away from our next trip. Just crazy that we booked another one so quickly when I know we're going back next April. I don't think I'll do a pre-trip report for the July trip though. I don't have much to report and I really want to get this one done before we leave.

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I wanted to go in and see the movie, but our timing was not good at all. We tried twice, just missing the start of the movie by about 10 minutes each time. But that's okay - just another thing to jot down for our 2019 trip. Yes, I already have a mental list of things I want us to do that we missed this trip. I have issues, I know. I knew that there was a really great photo pass spot and wanted to get in line. But I spied a group of gals drinking what looked like a smoothie. But in a champagne glass. I was intrigued, so I asked and they pointed me in the direction of the alcohol cart, telling me it was a liquored up orange slushie. They had me at liquor. Oh. My. Goodness. Stop what you're doing, drive to Orlando and purchase one of these drinks. I'm sure it has an official name, but I'm just going to call it a spiked orange slushie. And because it was so yummy, it joined us in the pictures.

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I think that one is the Grand Marnier Slush. I remember having one (the last time we went) in 2013 and I remember it being AMAZING. But, I don't remember what color it was... I just remember is was THE.MOST.AMAZING.SLUSHIE.EVER!

It was the most amazing slushie ever. I feel like there will be another purchase in, oh, maybe a few weeks!!!!!
 


Love your pictures! Great trip report!

~Stephanie H

#dvcrentals

Thanks so much for reading along!!!!

I just found your TR and am now following along. At this point, you are not yet at Disney, but I can feel your enthusiasm and fun spirit in your posts. THis should be a great trip!

Also, we are probably going to stay at All Star Movies in November, so I'm looking forward to hearing that part, too.

We enjoyed the resort. I like the values. The theming is always so cute and the savings by staying there rather than a more expensive resort allows us to stay longer!

[Yum. this post is making me want to make a reservation for Homecoming on my next trip. We've eaten there once before and it really was delicious. The restaurant staff were absolutely great, too, which is notable since it was our arrival day, 100 plus degrees out, and we had a bulky stroller and a cranky toddler with us. Like you, I wasn't really into the moonshine cake when I tried it. The pie you had looks much better.

It was very, very good. Tony liked the moonshine cake (he's an odd bird), but it just didn't sit well with me.

That is a bummer that TSM was down. It's a fun attraction.

I have not been to the Beauty & the Beast show yet, but hope to next time. Belle is one of my favorite princesses!

We were in Florida in Jan 2018 also (at Universal) a few weeks after you, and, yes, it was unseasonably cold.

I was so bummed about TSM. When we go next month we are not going to Hollywood Studios. Toy Story Land will have just opened, and I just don't want to be there with so much madness going on. We will catch it next time.

Cold - oh my gosh - it was crazy. The weather was a pain the entire trip. I hope that mother nature is nicer to us when we go back.


WOW!! That is awesome! Congrats!! YOu will have such a great time. Enjoy!! Now you get all the fun of trip planning, all over again!! and sooner than expected!

I know. I can't believe we booked another trip so soon. Disney really is my happy place and Tony likes it too. Not as much as I do, but he just wants me to be happy. I'm lucky he will just go along with my crazy plans.
 
The Sheraton Vistana is gorgeous! We had the opportunity to view the suites when we had the pleasure of meeting @Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina and Steve in March. We've always wanted to try it there- there are good deals advertised! We've usually stayed onsite at Disney or Universal. But, we do travel with my mom, so it would be good to have more room!!
 
I've loved reading your trip report. As a fellow social worker it makes me so happy to live through you until our trip in September.
 


I kept thinking about 10 times over the weekend that I need to finish this trip report. I'm pretty close to done (because the pictures are down to just a few) and I really, really want it done before we leave for the next trip in just two short weeks!!! I have so much to do between now and then. It has been a busy couple of weeks in the Kellogg house. Tony and I celebrated our eight year wedding anniversary on June 12th.

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We clean up nicely - and will never look that fancy ever again.

June 12th is also Tony's 4 year kidneyversary. He was lucky enough to be a receipiant of a living kidney donation. The surgery date was/is the date of our anniversary, hence the new word kidneyversary. We are very blessed that his health is good and other than having to take medication for the rest of his life, you would never know he had the surgery done. So we have spent some time just being grateful for the blessings we have.

When we last left our trip report, we were waking up to our second day in the condo. Our only solid plans for the day was to have dinner with Tony's uncle. Tony and I had a lazy morning and developed a plan for the day. We wanted to do some exploring of the area and Tony had two special requests - to see the biggest Bass Pro Shop in Florida and ride the Orlando Eye. Since I had just spent the past week dragging him around Disney to character meets, photo pass opportunities and whatever other craziness I could come up with, I just couldn't look into his cute green eyes and say no. But I first wanted to check the weather at home and hope that there had been a change in the forecast.

That would be a no. Our local weather dude (not what I was calling him at the time) was forecasting ice and snow possibilities. If you have ever driven in Tennessee and Kentucky on I-75, you know that the roads can get a bit twisty, especially over Jellico Mountain. So we made the sad decision to leave a day early. I called the front desk and explained the situation and they were nice enough to refund our last nights stay without any penalty. We then realized that it was our last day in Orlando and it was time to get things moving.


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We were finally able to wear one matching outfit. The weather was very nice this day. No long sleeves or heavy jackets required. Our first stop was Bass Pro Shop. I didn't even bother going in. I am so not interested in anything related to fishing, camping, hunting, etc. But it is Tony's idea of heaven on earth. I watched Netflix in the van and lamented sadly to @Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina that our trip was being cut a day short. After Tony was done browsing (which took about an hour) we headed toward the Orlando Eye.

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I'm so afraid of heights. I mean really, really afraid. And I didn't want to go. I would have been happy to continue sitting in the van watching Netflix. But I decided to be brave and go in. With tickets in hand, I found every excuse in the world to put off getting on the ride. Need to potty? Lets do that. Oh, what's outside? Cute train with children on it. Are you thirsty? Maybe a soft drink is in order. Need to potty again? No? Are you sure? Okay, fine. I'll get on the ride of death.

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And while I was scared the entire time, it made Tony happy and so by extension, I was happy. Sort of. At least I got some pretty pictures.

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That's our white van. Hi Carlos!

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I was never so happy to get back to the ground and to my van.

Up next - our last Orlando dinner. Where will we go-go??
 
The Sheraton Vistana is gorgeous! We had the opportunity to view the suites when we had the pleasure of meeting @Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina and Steve in March. We've always wanted to try it there- there are good deals advertised! We've usually stayed onsite at Disney or Universal. But, we do travel with my mom, so it would be good to have more room!!

It was a good deal for the space we had. If we ever have another trip that is outside the Disney bubble I wouldn't hesitate to go back there.

I've loved reading your trip report. As a fellow social worker it makes me so happy to live through you until our trip in September.

Another social worker! Welcome to the party.

Just dropping in to say WOW! Your next trip is just around the corner!!

We leave in two weeks. I have so much to do!
 
Tony and I celebrated our eight year wedding anniversary on June 12th.

Congratulations! :woohoo:

June 12th is also Tony's 4 year kidneyversary.

Double congratulations! :woohoo::woohoo:

So we made the sad decision to leave a day early.

Better safe than sorry, but I'm sure it was a bummer. :(

And while I was scared the entire time, it made Tony happy and so by extension, I was happy. Sort of. At least I got some pretty pictures.

You did it! :thumbsup2 And made some great memories I'm sure. :goodvibes
 
What great news on the kidneyversary :goodvibes

It's a shame about cutting your vacation short, no wonder you booked to return so quickly! We have a ticket for the Orlando Eye when we go in December. Our daughter bought it for her dad's birthday and I get to share :thumbsup2

Are you writing another trip report when you go back?
 
It took me more than a minute to recover from my "near death experience". I told Tony that I would never, ever, ever get into another contraption that was going to have me floating thru the air with a large chance of my plummeting to the earth at record speed. He rolled his eyes at me. Thanks for the support honey. We got into the van and mapped out our destination to our dining place for the evening - Hash Hash a Go-Go. This was another recommended restaurant from @Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina (she's a smart lady!) and I was able to score a coupon from Travel Zoo that if I remember correctly was 50% off.

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Not my picture - thanks again Google!

What should have been about a 20 minute ride stretched out to over an hour due to traffic, construction and car accidents. Tony's uncle Bill and his girlfriend Susan had been waiting for us for quite a while, but they would not seat them until the entire party arrived. So by the time we got there, they had been chillaxin' at the bar. This would be a perfect opportunity for me to insert some family reunion pictures.

I took none. Which was so dumb on my part. I had never met Bill and Susan before, so pictures would have been such a good thing.

Yeah, not one single phone came out.

They seated us pretty quickly and I felt a margarita was in order. I was still slightly shaking from the death ride and also pretty bummed that we would be heading home tomorrow. The server brought us drinks and water and gave us the disclaimer of the large sizes of the entrees. I had already heard about that and Tony and I had discussed sharing an order of whatever we got. Bill and Susan followed suit. Tony and I shared meatloaf, mashed potatoes and grilled vegetables.


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I mean it was seriously that big. Bill and Susan got chicken and waffles.

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What one person can eat all this by themselves? Crazy sized portions and with my coupon, the dinner was really inexpensive. We lingered for a long time talking and allowing the ton of food to digest. But Tony and I had to finally say our goodbye's and head back to the condo. It was fun to meet some of Tony's extended family. We got back to the condo and started to get things organized for leaving the next morning. I was really sad that we were cutting our vacation short one day, but we felt that if the weather was going to be bad, we needed to be home and not trying to navigate ice covered roads. The plan was to get up and gone by 8:00 the next morning. It was a decent plan, just an unsuccessful one.

Have you ever had one of those mornings where everything you touched either broke or dropped or just randomly stopped working? Yeah, that was our departure morning in Orlando. When we got back the night before, the parking lot was full, so we had to park pretty far away from the building. So once we finally got the luggage on the cart (it was like a game of Jenga) and down the elevator I waited with it while Tony got the van. We didn't do a spectacular job of loading the cart and things were just slipping and sliding everywhere. My irritation level was rising by the minute. The van got loaded and I got the trash and stuff thrown out and we finally made our way out of the parking lot. We decided to stop at Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast which ended up being the slowest drive-thru in central Florida. It honestly took 20 minutes to get our order. Then we had to stop and get gas and some caffeine. Tony was carrying both drinks while I was filling up the van. And he dropped my diet coke. I seriously could have smacked him at that point. His drink was safe and sound, so I just knew he did it on purpose. Okay, not really, but that was my official breaking point and we hadn't even gotten on the highway yet.

Tony went back in and got another diet coke for me. And then we were finally on the road.

Driving home is much more depressing then driving to the destination. Atlanta traffic was absolutely ridiculous, which of course, delayed us. By the time we got past Atlanta and we got into Tennessee, I had the brilliant idea of just driving all the way straight thru to home. This is something I never do. It is a lot of driving for one person and I was already pretty irritable. But it made no sense to stop at this point. Might as well just get it over with. So with fresh caffeine in hand, we kept moving on into the dark of night and finally got home sometime around midnight.

So I bet you're wondering about the weather. Did the storm of the century come in as predicted? That would be a solid no. There was some snow a few days after we got home. Yeah, mother nature hates us.

Up next - final thoughts and the details about the next trip (which is just next week).
 
Finally! I've been waiting for your Hash Hash post! So glad you guys were able to give it a try. This really looks like a place DH would adore, so I'm putting this on the list for our next family trip. Those portions are crazy, but I bet DH will still refuse to share. That's okay. DD and I can share, and he can be full to the point of misery.

It does seem like Mother Nature was not on your side this trip. Hopefully the next one will be better! At least you won't have snow possibilities and cold weather.
 
Your wedding picture is so beautiful!!

Oh, thank you. It was a fabulous day.

Congratulations! :woohoo:



Double congratulations! :woohoo::woohoo:



Better safe than sorry, but I'm sure it was a bummer. :(



You did it! :thumbsup2 And made some great memories I'm sure. :goodvibes

Thanks - having the kidney surgery on our anniversary was something special. I was very bummed we cut our trip short and then the weather never really came. The story of the trip.

I agree!

Ruthie, I also enjoyed the Orlando Eye photos and your reaction to the ride. I'm not fond of heights, either, but I've agreed to ride the London Eye when we visit London next fall. I hope I don't regret it.

I was really scared initially, but I also knew I was perfectly safe. But there's no way in the world I'm ever doing a ride like that again. Good luck in London!!

What great news on the kidneyversary :goodvibes

It's a shame about cutting your vacation short, no wonder you booked to return so quickly! We have a ticket for the Orlando Eye when we go in December. Our daughter bought it for her dad's birthday and I get to share :thumbsup2

Are you writing another trip report when you go back?

We were bummed to leave early. But it was the right choice. And yes, booking another trip so quickly was partly because there was so much we didn't do and because we got a unique offer code I couldn't pass up. I will write another trip report!
 
Ruthie, when you shared an entree, was it expected by the server? Did they charge you a "plate" fee? I really want to try Hash House a Go Go, but ordering too much food just seems wasteful to me. Thanks!
 
Final trip thoughts . . .

Despite the weather issues, this was an amazing trip. Being back in Disney after not being there since 2009 was such a good time. While I had some times that broke my heart (I will always equate Disney with mom) there were very few things that I would have changed. So in no particular order here is what I was glad we did and what I will do differently next time.

I was so glad that we -

  • Had the ECV's. I cannot hide the fact that we are fluffy people and having the ECV's literally made the trip possible. No amount of preparation could have made us ready to do all that walking.
  • Spent time in all four parks and Disney Springs. Since things had changed so much since the last trip, I didn't want to exclude something simply based upon our last experience. Because if I had done that, we never would have went to Animal Kingdom. And that is now my new favorite park. Who knew?
  • Got the dining plan. For us, having everything all paid for up front and being able to just choose what we wanted was nice. It may have not been the most economical approach (I didn't save the receipts), but it was worth it for us.
  • Stayed on property for our time at Disney. This is a no-brainer for me. I'm fine to wait for busses, boats or monorails and let the cast members take such wonderful care of us. The more people to tell me to have a magical day, the better!
  • Prepared for the weather. Even though we bought a few things, if we had not brought Tony's heavy jacket, we would have been in trouble. And the fleece blanket we bought I used every day cuddled up on the couch all winter long.
Things to do differently next time -
  • Branch out of my comfort zone. I spend a lot of time worrying that my fluffiness would prohibit me from riding rides, especially boat rides, and that I would struggle to get in and out. Well, I probably will struggle. But you know what, the sweet cast members and my lovely husband will offer a hand or arm or whatever is needed so that I can enjoy the ride. So IASW and Frozen Ever After are all fast passed up and ready to go!
  • Two days for EPCOT. One day is just not enough to see everything, and there is a ton to see.
  • Catch the fireworks shows. We didn't see one fireworks show last time. That will change!
  • Buy memory maker. It was expensive for us to not love every picture. For our next trip I found a MM share to be a part of. It was much easier.
  • Not drive straight thru coming home. That was just a bad move. I was the mayor of grumpy town by the time we got home.
And now it is time to turn around and head back to my happy place. I know most people think we're crazy to go right back six months later. But for non-Disney folks it is hard to help them understand that this next trip will be completely different from the last one. We are doing six nights, but only four park days and not going to Hollywood Studios. I know, you think I'm crazy, but I'm not. We get there only three days after the new Toy Story Land opens up. Hollywood Studios is going to be crazy crowded. Let them get the wiggles and jiggles out of the new area and the crowds to calm down. We'll catch it next time. There is no post Disney condo time, but we do have a non-park day right in the middle of the trip for swimming time and Disney Springs.

Thanks to everyone who read and commented on this report. It has been fun to write and I hope that you've enjoyed this journey with me. I promise to write another report when we get back. I hope it doesn't take me another six months to get it finished!!! See you real soon!
 
Finally! I've been waiting for your Hash Hash post! So glad you guys were able to give it a try. This really looks like a place DH would adore, so I'm putting this on the list for our next family trip. Those portions are crazy, but I bet DH will still refuse to share. That's okay. DD and I can share, and he can be full to the point of misery.

It does seem like Mother Nature was not on your side this trip. Hopefully the next one will be better! At least you won't have snow possibilities and cold weather.

The food was absolutely delicious, but the portions were huge. The pictures just don't do it justice. Seeing other customers get their food makes you realize the size of what you are getting. If your hubby can eat all that food in one sitting, that's going to be amazing.

Yes, mother nature. She really had it out for us. We are prepared for the upcoming July heat!


Ruthie, when you shared an entree, was it expected by the server? Did they charge you a "plate" fee? I really want to try Hash House a Go Go, but ordering too much food just seems wasteful to me. Thanks!

There was no sharing fee charged. The server actually encouraged us to share. There was also bread offered before the meal. We were so full.
 

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