"I brushed my teeth, and I don't have cooties." An August DFTW and Disneymoon TR

[MeghanEmily]

Have you thought about Frontier? You can fly into MCO directly and use the ME. Also for my daughter and I, it came out about $100 cheaper than Allegiant for our December plans.

I'd never come across Frontier at any of our airports, but I looked up their airports and they don't seem to fly out of anywhere within about an 11 hour drive from our place, or a 6-hour drive from where we'll be for Christmas, so no go for us. But it looks like a great deal if you live where they fly!

 

[fallonkendra]

Hurray for extending your trip! I never say no to a few more days at Disney!

Looking forward to finally meeting you! Naturally, we'll meet for the first time in Florida (which I looked up, and is like 3100km away from your current home, and 4500km away from my current home), despite growing up like 2 hours apart...

 

[pkondz]

I find Allegiant is pretty much the budget airline to end all budget airlines, but I've never flown any of the other smallish airlines like it that serve mostly holiday-type travel before, so I don't know how it compares in that regard. But it's definitely a little different than Air Canada/West Jet, which is what we usually fly. The planes we've been on have been small-ish, but not tin cans. And it may depend on the flight, but our experience is that they charge you for everything beyond a "personal item," including carry-on bags. On our last flight the flight attendant making the safety anouncements said something about how oxygen will flow from the mask, and seeing as it's Allegiant, they'll be charging for oxygen by the second, etc. Otherwise, we've had good experiences. We've done the rental car thing (that's what we did last time) and also taken a taxi. I haven't decided yet whether we'll rent a car this time, or strictly use ubers/taxis. I've done the math, and it's cheaper not to rent a car for our whole stay. I guess it might be an option to rent just for our airport travel days and drop off at another location at Disney, but that seems like it would be a pain, and if we bother to rent a car then I want to have the benefits for our whole vacation. Tough call. Still deciding.

Okay. Good to know. I have flown Allegiant. Kay and I flew it to Phoenix. I didn't mind them at all. Every time I've flown to Disney, it's been to MCO. I'll have to crunch numbers in the future.

Fun fact though: last time we rented a car at Sanford—I think it was from Alamo? Not sure. It was included in a flight package we booked—we got in late that night, maybe 11pm, and even though we'd reserved an economy car in advance they didn't have anything smaller than a giant SUV or a pick-up left for us. It was absolutely this Seinfeld episode in real life:

I remember that episode. Classic!
But.... did you pay the price you were originally quoted?

 

[ewalshslp]

HI! I've been lurking on your report, but decided I had to reply...I'm an SLP!!!! I am really enjoying your report!!! If you ever have and SLP questions, feel free to reach out!!! I LOVE my profession... you made a great choice!!!

 

[ashw100]

But apparently he just kept whispering to N's mom and to anyone else who would listen, "This is amazing!"

Wow swayed the skeptic with the first ride, good job

Unfortunately, that's when I realized that I had no concept of how the friendship boats worked, or where I was even going! I was paranoid that I would end up at DHS, have to backtrack, and be late for my next thing, so when it stopped at the Boardwalk stop, I anxiously got off...and ended up walking further to the Beach Club from there than I would have using the IG. Ooops.

I have no idea how these work either, one day I will try.

After the Seas, he took them to Club Cool! He and I had a plan. He would conspire with his father, who loves to tease people, to trick the rest of his family into trying Beverly. The funny thing is that they actually ended up getting each family member one by one, but the rest of them were never paying attention, so the surprise was never ruined! After each person tried Beverly, they became part of the trickster squad and went after the next victim together! At the end of the terrible game, N's dad tried it to see what all the fuss was...and then he felt terrible and mean because he thought it was downright awful!

People were freaking out asking me where I got them, because not long before Disney had started producing rose gold ears and had sold out of them completely. People would walk by me on the street and whisper about me to their friends, she HAS them!! I even stopped wearing them part way through the trip because the attention was getting to me!

I seriously do not get the fuss. I LOVE rose gold and will buy the ears if I see them, but people were freaking out over these and Etsy has had them for years . If people wanted them so bad, why don't they just get them there?

 

[mamamelody2]

Just found your report. Enjoying it so far!
Congrats on your wedding!

 

[ariane37]

I've been torn about booking Trail's End because of the location and how I've heard about people having long waits here, but it also has an awesome reputation for allergy-friendly dining, so I've got it booked for now.

I say keep it! We didn't have a wait when we did brunch, just when we did Thanksgiving dinner. And given that it was a holiday I think it was a tad understandable. I know @Raeven had a wait and she wasn't there on a holiday, but I still think you should try it! And it's really not hard to get to, if you're at MK just take the boat.

8:00am: N and I go on the Marceline to the Magic Kingdom tour. We were torn between this and the Undiscovered Future World tour, but this one won by a slight margin.

Nice! You know I did both, right?

Disney is the only thing I could imagine motivating me to go outside and run. I really kind of hate to run.

I love the idea of running a Disney marathon; they look like so much fun and I especially like when they have rare characters, or characters in different outfits, along the routes. But um, I despise running and unfortunately even Disney hasn't been able to sway me yet!

I also wanted to mention, although I hate to be the bearer of bad news, that Dragon Challenge closed last month Still plenty of Potter to enjoy though!

 

[heaven2dc]

I really am enjoying reading your TR! First of all love your wedding dress - so unique and gorgeous <3 I could just imagine the stress you were feeling regarding trying to meet up with N's family at Epcot. I would love to have a big family reunion at WDW but we all have such different touring styles that I'm afraid it just wouldn't work out. (Me, my 2 youngest sons and my oldest with his wife and 2 daughters were supposed to be at WDW this week but had to delay our trip for another year so it's been fun living vicariously through your TR.)

Love the rose gold nail polish! Your manicurist was sharing way too much info lol Usually it's the hair stylist who does that from my experience

This is by far one of my favorite TR's!! Can't wait for the next update!

 

[MeghanEmily]

Hurray for extending your trip! I never say no to a few more days at Disney!

Looking forward to finally meeting you! Naturally, we'll meet for the first time in Florida (which I looked up, and is like 3100km away from your current home, and 4500km away from my current home), despite growing up like 2 hours apart...

That's hilarious! It would have been much easier for us to just meet years ago!

I remember that episode. Classic!
But.... did you pay the price you were originally quoted?

I did! ...kind of. I had pre-payed with my flight package, but of course that price didn't include all the "extra" fees. I also didn't intend to drive it because I was under 25, but since it was booked on my credit card they wouldn't let Nathan be the driver, so we also paid ridiculous young driver fees. But we didn't get upcharged for a larger vehicle. In fact, I actually put up a stink because the smallest vehicle they had was an Explorer, which I would have been okay with driving, but it smelled strongly of cigarette smoke when they put us in it, and everything else they had was huge. So eventually someone with good customer service put us in one of their "best in class" vehicles for the same price, and that was pretty nice.

HI! I've been lurking on your report, but decided I had to reply...I'm an SLP!!!! I am really enjoying your report!!! If you ever have and SLP questions, feel free to reach out!!! I LOVE my profession... you made a great choice!!!

Thanks so much for reading, and for replying!! How awesome that you love being an SLP! That's really encouraging to me after writing all my midterms in the last two weeks! Do you work primarily with kids? Adults? If I have any questions I'll know where to go, thank you! I'm really excited to learn more and get a chance next year to get out in the field a bit with my practicum opportunities.

I have no idea how these work either, one day I will try.

I got a pretty straightforward explanation on here. Basically: Epcot --> resorts --> DHS --> resorts --> Epcot. I can probably handle that in future.

I seriously do not get the fuss. I LOVE rose gold and will buy the ears if I see them, but people were freaking out over these and Etsy has had them for years . If people wanted them so bad, why don't they just get them there?

I have no idea why this was such a thing! I love rose gold. I take great pride in loving rose gold "before it was cool." But I can't imagine getting this worked up about buying ears in the parks. You're right, they're all over Etsy. And obviously nobody cares whether the design is exactly the same as the WDW ones if they saw mine from Etsy and thought they were the same anyway.

Just found your report. Enjoying it so far!
Congrats on your wedding!

Thanks so much!

I say keep it! We didn't have a wait when we did brunch, just when we did Thanksgiving dinner. And given that it was a holiday I think it was a tad understandable. I know @Raeven had a wait and she wasn't there on a holiday, but I still think you should try it! And it's really not hard to get to, if you're at MK just take the boat.

Thanks for this! I think we will!

Nice! You know I did both, right?

I knew you did Marceline, but I don't think I remembered that you did the Future World tour. Did you like them? Prefer one over the other? I'm really looking forward to it. Nathan was more interested in the other one until I told him that we'll likely get a behind the scenes experience with Haunted Mansion, which is one of his favourite rides.

I love the idea of running a Disney marathon; they look like so much fun and I especially like when they have rare characters, or characters in different outfits, along the routes. But um, I despise running and unfortunately even Disney hasn't been able to sway me yet!

Running is the worst! I know some people walk the 5K. They don't really sweep or enforce a time limit with that one as long as you keep moving. But even still, it's pretty early to get up in the morning and pretty pricey just to walk around Epcot.

I also wanted to mention, although I hate to be the bearer of bad news, that Dragon Challenge closed last month Still plenty of Potter to enjoy though!

Oh no! I remember hearing it was closing soon for a new HP experience, but I don't think I realized quite how soon. ...oh well, it has zero effect on me! Nathan liked it but didn't love it, so he won't be too disappointed either.

I really am enjoying reading your TR! First of all love your wedding dress - so unique and gorgeous <3 I could just imagine the stress you were feeling regarding trying to meet up with N's family at Epcot. I would love to have a big family reunion at WDW but we all have such different touring styles that I'm afraid it just wouldn't work out. (Me, my 2 youngest sons and my oldest with his wife and 2 daughters were supposed to be at WDW this week but had to delay our trip for another year so it's been fun living vicariously through your TR.)

Thanks so much for reading and commenting!! Touring with a bigger group is such a challenge, especially when you're not used to doing it together. I'm sorry to hear your trip got delayed, but glad it's still happening and you still have it to look forward to next year!

Love the rose gold nail polish! Your manicurist was sharing way too much info lol Usually it's the hair stylist who does that from my experience

Thanks! Yeah, she was very...open. That's a good point!

This is by far one of my favorite TR's!! Can't wait for the next update!

Thanks so much! I'm really enjoying writing it!

 

[amazingact21]

I quickly learned how difficult it can be travelling in a pack of adult Disney-virgins... Everyone felt the need to travel in groups of 1-3 people, never keeping up with the rest of the group. I'd look behind me to see if we were still together, and I'd have already lost two groups of two who were straggling behind.

It's quite the challenge. Everyone sees something that interests them and wants to stop for a closer look, plus different paces...it can a test of patience to get everyone where they need to go!

Absolutely! N's family loved Soarin'!

Aw, yay! Glad to hear it was a perfect first ride pick.

so when it stopped at the Boardwalk stop, I anxiously got off...and ended up walking further to the Beach Club from there than I would have using the IG.

The Friendship Boats are confusing if you don't know the route. Besides, they take close to 40 minutes to make their circuit, so you were probably better off walking, anyways.

It felt like a giant maze, even after a few days staying there. Like, I kept expecting the minotaur to be standing in front of our door every time we came back here.

Oh, boo. Sorry to hear the setup at Coronado wasn't great. I didn't realize they were doing construction at that resort, too. But I'm happy to hear they gave you some pins for the inconvenience.

People would walk by me on the street and whisper about me to their friends, she HAS them!! I even stopped wearing them part way through the trip because the attention was getting to me!

Hahaha, oh gosh, I can only imagine! People are nuts over those rose gold ears. I'm sure you got very sick of hearing about them. Especially when you were wearing your Married buttons and would probably have preferred they'd wish you a happy marriage or a quick congratulations...

 

[ewalshslp]

Thanks so much for reading, and for replying!! How awesome that you love being an SLP! That's really encouraging to me after writing all my midterms in the last two weeks! Do you work primarily with kids? Adults? If I have any questions I'll know where to go, thank you! I'm really excited to learn more and get a chance next year to get out in the field a bit with my practicum opportunities.

Hi Again!!! I work primarily in Early Intervention (3-5) as a diagnostician. I complete all the evals for children entering into our preschool program. I also work part time at our local University as a clinical supervisor....AND I do a little per diem work at a nursing home...so I sort of do it all!! LOL!! I told you I loved this profession!!
What are you most interested in? Kids? Adults?

 

[vamassey1]

I quickly learned how difficult it can be travelling in a pack of adult Disney-virgins

Been there done that. Focus people!

After a quick bio break in the Land pavilion—

Seems like someone always had to go to the bathroom, at different times of course.

Absolutely! N's family loved Soarin'!

Perfect choice to start with. I'm so glad it was a hit.

Unfortunately, that's when I realized that I had no concept of how the friendship boats worked, or where I was even going!

I don't either. We usually just get off at the first stop and them walk to where ever we need to be.

But the biggest hit was the giant aquarium at The Seas, which they spent lots of time in after the ride let out.

It usually is and a great spot to loose a lot of time.

After the Seas, he took them to Club Cool! He and I had a plan. He would conspire with his father, who loves to tease people, to trick the rest of his family into trying Beverly. The funny thing is that they actually ended up getting each family member one by one, but the rest of them were never paying attention, so the surprise was never ruined! After each person tried Beverly, they became part of the trickster squad and went after the next victim together! At the end of the terrible game, N's dad tried it to see what all the fuss was...and then he felt terrible and mean because he thought it was downright awful!

I love this! What fun. Too bad N's Dad felt guilty.

This was a hit for everyone except N's mom and youngest sister, who were really angry that N didn't tell them what to expect from the ride because they found it too fast/rough/scary, etc. Oops! Not a shining moment for N. Oh well. (Even though I'm pretty sure they're both smiling in that last ride photo!!)

I personally can't imagine what would upset someone but SIL didn't like it either.

Apparently when his oldest sister heard they'd get to ride monorails, she was super psyched at the possibility, so N gave them detailed instructions, and the two older sisters went on a dole whip adventure together and had a great time.

What an adventure. I'm glad they did this.

Everyone else went on their upcoming FP+ for Spaceship Earth. They all really liked it...despite the fact that as they were beginning the ride N's mother leaned over to him and whispered, "Are they about to tell us we came from monkeys??"

Too funny!

Then N, who is now a Disney expert, at least compared to his family, checked what was available for a 4th FP. He scored an immediate FP for Living with the Land, and they all rode. N's father was super into it because he loves to garden and grows all of his own produce in the summer months. We definitely thought of him (spoiler alert!) when we went on the Behind the Seeds tour later in the trip!!

Another win for N!

Neither of us had eaten lunch yet, so we decided to give the Pepper Market a try.

I've never eaten here. Did you like it?

Here's one of the relaxation areas where my mom sat and tried not to fall asleep while I had my service:

Very nice. I could nap here too.

When it came time to choose my nail colour, the lady told me they had a new polish that looked like rose gold that had been popular (no duh!) lately, and I was sold. I had been calling this past year the "Year of the Rose Gold" since, for example, I'd purchased a new iPhone in rose gold, and my engagement ring had been rose gold, etc. I had even purchased a pair of rose gold sequinned ears from Etsy for this trip, and I got SOO many compliments on them. People were freaking out asking me where I got them, because not long before Disney had started producing rose gold ears and had sold out of them completely. People would walk by me on the street and whisper about me to their friends, she HAS them!! I even stopped wearing them part way through the trip because the attention was getting to me! But anyway, I digress. The photo isn't fantastic—there are probably better ones in my wedding pictures—but this was the colour:

Perfect, it was meant to be. The color looks great and very classy.

Here she is with my aunt and grandmother in their matching wedding shirts:

Very cute. I'm looking forward to more wedding events.

 

[missjackiemcg]

N and I go on the Marceline to the Magic Kingdom tour.

Ooooh, I hope you love it!! Even though I knew a lot of the stories that were shared on this tour, there was just something far more magical about hearing them again while walking the streets of Magic Kingdom. Having the little ear pieces in while riding Carousel of Progress and Haunted Mansion was really cool, too, because it adds another layer when you have someone cuing you to notice different things than I would normally be looking at or noticing when I ride.

Rob and I are doing the Keys to the Kingdom Tour at 8:30 this morning!! Maybe we'll bump into you

At some point we'll need to visit the runDisney Expo to pick up our race packets for the 5k the following day.

I really kind of hate to run.

This really made me laugh because it is SO something I say!!!!! I really hate running, too, but I always feel like I have accomplished something when I'm done We are planning to head to the expo pretty early on, as well, so I'll be on the lookout for you and @fallonkendra and @Pluto0809!

I'm also hoping I might catch @missjackiemcg,

I'll be there somewhere!!!

 

[Raeven]

I know @Raeven had a wait and she wasn't there on a holiday, but I still think you should try it! And it's really not hard to get to, if you're at MK just take the boat.

The wait was 40 mins For us it's still the worst meal we've had at Disney. My recommendation for a good meal at Ft Wilderness is at the Hoop De Doo.

 

[ariane37]

The wait was 40 mins For us it's still the worst meal we've had at Disney. My recommendation for a good meal at Ft Wilderness is at the Hoop De Doo.

Hoop de Doo is good too ( and I didn't mean to rhyme lol)!

 

[pkondz]

Hoop de Doo is good too ( and I didn't mean to rhyme lol)!

You did too.
So toodle-oo.

 

[MeghanEmily]

It's quite the challenge. Everyone sees something that interests them and wants to stop for a closer look, plus different paces...it can a test of patience to get everyone where they need to go!

Absolutely, this! Adults aren't as easily re-directed as kids, either! (Or you can't pick them up and drag them!) So when they see something they want to check out...they're gone. It's a different type of touring for sure!

Oh, boo. Sorry to hear the setup at Coronado wasn't great. I didn't realize they were doing construction at that resort, too. But I'm happy to hear they gave you some pins for the inconvenience.

I'm a sucker for Disney pins, so I was pretty satisfied. Our building itself was super confusing, but the resort as a whole wasn't too bad. ...well, I say that, but we found it tricky to find the rooms for our bridal party, too.

Hi Again!!! I work primarily in Early Intervention (3-5) as a diagnostician. I complete all the evals for children entering into our preschool program. I also work part time at our local University as a clinical supervisor....AND I do a little per diem work at a nursing home...so I sort of do it all!! LOL!! I told you I loved this profession!!
What are you most interested in? Kids? Adults?

Wow! You're working in a bit of everything!! That's amazing! I think I'm most interested in working with kids. I'm not a huge fan of working with large groups of kids—in past I've worked at bible camps, done birthday parties, volunteered in classroom, etc.—but I really enjoy hanging out with kids one-on-one and figuring out why and how they do what they do. I wasn't sure when I started the program...I came from a music (vocalist) background so I thought I might enjoy specializing in working with singers on issues like vocal injury. But now I'm really enjoying my language development class and the projects we've done where we've taken language samples from kids. Our program has a heavy practicum component where we get lots of short work placement opportunities, and two longer placements where one of which will be with kids and one of which will be with adults. So I'm kind of counting on those experiences to help me figure out whether I'm right about working with kids or not.

Seems like someone always had to go to the bathroom, at different times of course.

Truer words were never said!

It usually is and a great spot to loose a lot of time.

Absolutely! And in the summer nobody minded wasting a little time in here in the AC!

I've never eaten here. Did you like it?

It was pretty good! Not the best quick service I've ever had, but I enjoyed the times we ate here. No major complaints.

Ooooh, I hope you love it!! Even though I knew a lot of the stories that were shared on this tour, there was just something far more magical about hearing them again while walking the streets of Magic Kingdom. Having the little ear pieces in while riding Carousel of Progress and Haunted Mansion was really cool, too, because it adds another layer when you have someone cuing you to notice different things than I would normally be looking at or noticing when I ride.

Rob and I are doing the Keys to the Kingdom Tour at 8:30 this morning!! Maybe we'll bump into you

I'm glad to hear your good review! N loves both HM and CoP, so I think it'll be a good fit for us. I'm also a big HM fan. And I thought it might be a good chance to get a taste of this kind of tour and see how we might like Keys to the Kingdom on another trip. I'm anxious to hear how you like it because we're considering it for someday down the road!

This really made me laugh because it is SO something I say!!!!! I really hate running, too, but I always feel like I have accomplished something when I'm done We are planning to head to the expo pretty early on, as well, so I'll be on the lookout for you and @fallonkendra and @Pluto0809!

I definitely do feel great running after I've finished and have pushed myself further than I thought I could do...but in the moment I'm not a fan! I know we'll all be proud of ourselves when we finished the 5K I'll keep my eyes peeled for you the morning of our tours and at the expo! Make sure to say hello if you see us

The wait was 40 mins For us it's still the worst meal we've had at Disney. My recommendation for a good meal at Ft Wilderness is at the Hoop De Doo.

Ugh! I remember reading about this in your report now that you say that. I'm hopeful and willing to give it a try once. From what I can tell, one of the best allergy chefs is still here for dinner as of late so we're hoping to catch him on a night he's working. But either way I've heard some good things for allergies there lately. But it only gets one shot for us. If we have an experience anything like yours, we won't be going back.

Hoop de Doo is good too ( and I didn't mean to rhyme lol)!

You did too.
So toodle-oo.

Oh dear...this could get dangerous! I better shut this down before we start a rhyme war...

 

[pkondz]

Oh dear...this could get dangerous! I better shut this down before we start a rhyme war...

No war?
What a bore. I'm out the door.

 

[MeghanEmily]

No war?
What a bore. I'm out the door.

And so it begins...what have I done...!??

 

[pkondz]

And so it begins...what have I done...!??

What have you done?
Look at 'em run!