Tracy161
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2006
January 2017 Recap
Hello again! I thought I’d do a recap of my most recent trip first, since that’s still relatively fresh in my head and my memory of my May 2015 trip won’t be any worse later than it already is.
My January 2017 trip only started out as a single day trip and grew from there. I’d planned to travel down to see my dad shortly after Christmas and spend a week with him at his place near St. Pete. Typically we head to Epcot for the day whenever I visit and this trip was no exception. However, my sister (not the one who lives in England) and her family thought it might be doable for them to come down and join us! Yay!
So plans were made and I did a little brainstorming. You see, when I’m on extended Disney trips, I’m more apt to relax a bit (recovering park commando here). But when I’m only at Disney for the day? I like to pack things in. I knew I couldn’t keep that pace with my 1 and 3 year old niece and nephew, nor would I want to. I also couldn’t quite come to terms with not seeing my beloved Epcot (obviously with the kids we’d be hitting up MK!). So… what’s any good Diser to do than add a couple days on to her visit?! 
So, that’s exactly what this good Diser did! 
We’d go to Disney together on Wednesday, January 11 and I’d stay through Saturday at Pop Century. Done!We arrived to my dad’s Sunday afternoon and had a couple fun-filled days at the aquarium and beach!
But come Wednesday (not Monday, for any of you fellow Parrotheads out there...), it was time for me to do what any normal 34 year old does when preparing for a day at Disney. Don the proper attire. Obviously this meant a red dress with white polka dots and Minnie ears because… duh.
We made good time to MK (less than a 2 hour drive from my dad’s). We headed straight to Wilderness Lodge which is where the rest of my family was staying. Wait, what?! Back up. It just so happens that my dad’s girlfriend is a DVC member and stays at Disney a lot. My dad is also an Annual Passholder and stays with her and her family a lot. She very graciously invited my sister and her family to stay with them at the WL so we could all get in an extra day together – yippee! So that’s just what we did. This worked out well for me, too, because I got to visit a resort I’d never been to before – and holy cow is it beautiful!
Soon, it was time to head to the park!
@missangelalexis I guess I have been to Disney during "Christmas time" more recently than 1997...
but when it's after Christmas, it doesn't quite have the same magic as when you go before. Not a complaint though! 
My 3 year old nephew Dominic was in heaven at MK (would you look at the awe in that kid's face?!
) – he sure takes after his aunt, doesn’t he!? But my poor little nearly 2 year old niece GiGi… well, let’s just say she hasn’t caught the bug yet. The picture above was a rare moment of calm. Don’t worry… I haven’t given up all hope yet. She’s obsessed with Minnie Mouse, so that’s a start. I'm at my photo limit so I'll close there for now!
Next up: more Magic Kingdom fun with the family!
Hi Tracy!
She's looking at the crowds in the above photo and wondering how that's going to affect wait times for Dumbo.
Joining-in!
You can see GiGi's hair to the other side of my sister. Don't know why the poor child didn't make it into the picture. If I had to guess, I'd say she was probably crying... 
