But How Did You End Up on the Monorail?

[MLB1974]

Backstory

My family went on our “once in a lifetime” Disney trip in January 2018. At the time, we almost didn’t get on the plane, as my mom had just been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given 3-6 months to live. After pretty much being forced on the plane by my stubborn mom, we all fell in love with the Disney experience. This was no surprise for me (though I hadn’t been since I was a teenager) or my princess-loving 5 year old, but it was quite a surprise for my DH who had previously viewed Disney as some sort of evil empire. That trip was epic, and we video called my mom every day to share our experiences. When we returned, my mom told me she had never seen us so happy and she wanted to gift us with a return trip for after she was gone.

Fast forward to March 2019. That wonderful, infuriatingly stubborn lady defied all odds and stayed with us for 14 months. After she passed, I was devastated and in need of something to distract me. I decided that planning a Disney trip was exactly what I needed. After looking at the calendar and considering work schedules, I convinced my DH that August would be the perfect time to go. Neither of us had ever been to Florida in August. The projected temperatures didn’t even look that bad. 90s? We get 90s in NY. Why do people say to avoid Florida in the summer? Little did we know.

After deciding on the time period (August 12-20), we were faced with the first big decision...where to stay? I reached out to a friend who had hooked us up with DVC points on our first trip, and she said she would see what she could do. A day or two later, I received an amazing message: If we booked something on our own for the last three nights, she could get us into AKL-Kidani Village for the first five! I immediately agreed and did a happy dance through my living room. AKL is my dream resort! A few hours later, she forwarded me the reservation and I saw something that brought actual tears to
My eyes...Savannah view. I began planning like mad, and the planning took me right up to the night before our departure.

Who are we?

Me: Michelle, your narrator and trip planner. 45 years old at the time of the trip.
Favorite park: Last trip Epcot, This trip Animal Kingdom
Favorite rides: Expedition Everest, Flight of Passage, Slinky Dog Dash
Favorite Restaurants: Wolfgang Puck Bar and Grill, Tusker House
Favorite Resorts: Animal Kingdom Lodge, Polynesian

DH or J: 46 at the time of the trip. Reluctant Disney lover.
Favorite Park: Hollywood Studios
Favorite ride: Tower of Terror
Favorite Restaurant: Chef Mickey
Favorite Resort: Wilderness Lodge

DD7 or M: Still 6 at the time of the trip, DD7 was psyched to get on some rides she missed out on last time due to height restrictions. A combination daredevil and scaredy cat, M loves rides and is my Disney partner in crime.
Favorite Park: Animal Kingdom
Favorite Ride: Flight of Passage, Slinky Dog Dash
Favorite Restaurants: Chef Mickey and Wolfgang Puck Bar and Grill
Favorite Resort: Animal Kingdom Lodge

The photo below is from that first trip in January 2008. It was 45 degrees that day, and we swore that the next time we went to Disney it would be hot. Hmm...

 

[scrappydew]

I'm sorry about your mom, but she sounds like she was an amazing lady.

Enjoying your report!

 

[Hezzy04]

Excited to follow along!!

 

[ariane37]

Hello from NY, hope you are healthy and safe! It's a bit crazy here for sure but looking "up" more and more. We were there last August when you were AKV is definitely exciting! Looking forward to reading more.

 

[rdkeim]

Following!

 

[MLB1974]

Hello from NY, hope you are healthy and safe! It's a bit crazy here for sure but looking "up" more and more. We were there last August when you were AKV is definitely exciting! Looking forward to reading more.

Thanks for reading!

 

[MLB1974]

Travel Day...
Our plan was to be at the airport a little before 9AM for our 10:30AM flight from Long Island to Orlando. Since we were flying out of a smaller airport further out on LI, we didn’t need to leave extra early and wouldn’t be dealing with the crazy traffic usually involved in getting to one of the bigger metropolitan airports. Our only concern was the weather. The predictions had shown potential storms hitting the Orlando area around 2PM. Sure enough, I got a text message around 6AM from friends who would be traveling with us for the first part of our trip. Our flight was showing it was already delayed by half an hour. After refreshing the flight status screen about 40 times and checking the weather reports in NY and FL, I began to fear that it would be a day of waiting around the airport and hoping to get a flight out between storms. I gave up on getting any more sleep, and started getting everyone up and ready. We all agreed we would head to the airport as planned which is a good thing because by the time we got there, our flight had gone back to “on time.”

So it was clear sailing from that point on, right? Well...not so fast. DD7 had broken her wrist a week prior to our trip and was in a cast up to her elbow. I’d done the research and warned her that they might have to swab her cast. Well, they did, and when security put the little swab in the machine, it set off the alarms! At that point, we had a problem. The supervisor was called, and because M was only 6, they couldn’t do a full body search as would normally be the protocol. Instead, they had to swab the hands of both myself and my husband and remove and swab EVERY item from all of our carry ons! They even yelled at DD7 when she tried to sit down on the floor telling her to stand up and don’t move. Finally, after what felt like an hour and was probably closer to 20 minutes, all of our swabs came back negative, and we were allowed to proceed. To this day, we have no idea what set off their alarm or what DD7 could have touched to have that happen. We headed off to meet our friends and lament the mess that security made of my meticulously packed carry ons.

After that, our travel was uneventful. In fact, DD7 sat with her BFF and BFF’s older sister on the flight with me and J in front of them, and BFF’s parents next to them. I was able to semi relax and alternate between reading and watching TV for the smooth 2 1/2 hour flight.



When we arrived in Orlando, we headed for the Magic Express, waved goodbye to our friends, who were heading over to one of the All Star resorts and settled in for our bus ride to AKL. As we gazed out the window, our hopes of getting in an afternoon swim vanished as the much anticipated storms arrived. Instead, we checked in and explored the beautiful room and resort. DD7 and I even chatted with a CM over the pin book at the store in the lobby, and he gave us some pointers for identifying fakes. We’d done our research ahead of time, but it was great to see side by side comparisons of real vs fake and to speak with someone who was clearly knowledgeable on the subject. We went back to visit him several times during our stay there.

After we’d spent a couple of hours at the resort, it was time to head to DS to rejoin our friends for our first ADR at Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’!

(To be continued...)

 

[cajunfan]

Can't wait to read more. Sorry about your Mom, but glad your had the extra time with her!

 

[MLB1974]

Hello from NY, hope you are healthy and safe! It's a bit crazy here for sure but looking "up" more and more. We were there last August when you were AKV is definitely exciting! Looking forward to reading more.

Thanks for joining! Where did you stay in August?

 

[MLB1974]

Can't wait to read more. Sorry about your Mom, but glad your had the extra time with her!

Thanks so much! She was only 68.

 

[ariane37]

Thanks for joining! Where did you stay in August?

Last August we were at CSR We'd stayed before and liked it enough, we also booked that trip last minute so Pickens were a bit Slim lol

 

[Isabelle12345]

Following!
I am really sorry about your mom. It sounds like she was an amazing woman
I hope you got to enjoy the trip despite the weather! Can’t wait to hear more!

 

[MLB1974]

Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’ and a Word
On the Disney Deluxe Dining Plan

Back around May of 2019, as I was making and changing ADR’s all the time, the big question became: To DDP or not to DDP? We loved the DDP on our first trip; DH and I both liked not having to think about what we were paying for a meal or a snack. Since we had purchased our park tickets through AAA, there was no option for a dining plan for the end of our trip at Pop Century, but DVC does not have a ticket requirement for the dining plan; we could get one for the first five nights (Six days).

As I obsessively crunched the numbers (Me: Hon? Look at this menu. What do you think you will want to eat here in August? DH: ) I realized pretty quickly that we would get value from the dining plan, but we had more table service meals planned than we would get on the DDP and far fewer than we would need to get the DxDDP. Somewhere along the way of my numbers crunching an idea dawned: We would have friends with us for several of our meals. Could we share? Would it make sense for them?

Thank goodness for Disboards! I searched it up and was able to confirm that using credits to buy meals for others at the same table was just fine. Our friends were happy to pay us the difference and get their wonderful three course meals at a discount, and we got a few extra credits to use for our additional TS meals. Win-Win! So we went with the Deluxe...and of course, then the rumors started that CMs weren’t allowing it at certain restaurants. Armed with an email response from Disney saying it was fine but still nervous that certain restaurants would give us trouble, we stayed the course. Well, after stressing about it for months, I never had to take out that email. It was a complete non issue.

We got to Disney Springs about half an hour before our 6PM reservation time, made our way to Homecomin’ and were given a pager but cautioned that it was unlikely we would be seated before our allotted time. Thankfully, there was an outdoor “lounge” area outside, so we relaxed in comfy chairs and waited to be called.

Once we were seated, we all agreed to get different appetizers to try. My favorites were the fried green tomatoes and the lollipop chicken but everything was delicious. My only disappointment was that nobody ordered the deviled eggs I’d heard are so yummy. Maybe next time!

We used six dxddp meal credits for 6 adults and two children. If we had to do it over, we might have only used 4 or 5. It’s truly SO MUCH FOOD! I’d heard that Homecomin’ meals are huge, so we decided to let the two kids (6 and 7) share. That meant I had to pick something that Molly would eat, and it was a no brainer. During the planning process, Molly saw the Homecomin’ menu.

“Does that say chicken and DONUTS?” she shrieked while bouncing on my bed in excitement. I knew we would have to get it, and it didn’t disappoint. There was more food than the two of us could eat, and we even got a doggie bag.

For dessert, Molly and her BFF shared the chocolate cake and gave their thumbs up. I’d decided my dessert months before. Bring on the chocolate pecan pie! OMG was that good! But I was stuffed. I ate about a third of it and brought the rest back to the room. That made for a great late night snack the next day. I believe Jerry got the key lime pie and enjoyed it well enough. Key Lime is his favorite.

After dinner, we gave up on our plan to stop at Sprinkles for an ATM cupcake. It has been a long day, we had an early wake up the next day, and we were just too stuffed to look at more food. Sadly, we never made it back there. We waved goodbye to our friends and hopped a bus back to AKL. I set an alarm for 6:15, and it was off to sleep,

 

[MLB1974]

Just wanted to pop in and say that we are all weathering this extended pandemic okay. It is an epic fail on my part that I never finished this trip report. Is there any point in trying to do it now? I still remember most of the details...

 

[rdkeim]

I would definitely follow if you finished your TR!

 

[Chief Powhatan]

I hope you decide to finish up your TR!