Double, Double, Toil & Trouble: a Halloween-inspired trip of “two’s” – an October 2016 TR

Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina

Life is short. Live it well.
Joined
Sep 12, 2008
Hello everyone! After what feels like a very L-O-N-G hiatus, I think it’s time for me to get back on the boards and started on a very much long-overdue autumn trip report.

As many of the “regulars” know (and who keep up with my crazy life on Facebook), it’s been a chaotic few months in the Bo-Bina household: most recently, we have pulled up roots from our Canadian homeland and transplanted ourselves in small-town Michigan . There have been a lot of hard endings, a lot of new beginnings, and a ridiculous amount of emotions (and paperwork!) since the middle of September, which sadly has kept me away from one of my favorite past-times: hanging out here on the Disboards. That said, we’re finally pretty much fully settled in, and while life is far from what we could consider “normal” (or at least, the old version of normal) it’s getting a little more predictable every day. We’ve actually enjoyed not one, but TWO trips since all the hullaballo began (one in October, and one at Christmas) but I think I’ll report chronologically so it stays all straight in my head .

Introductions are probably warranted, for anyone new who might be joining in. Links to all of my previous trip reports are in the link in my signature, if you really want to get to know us better…..but for the short summary, here we are:

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I’m Gina, and the big guy next to me is my husband Steve. This May, we will celebrate 24 years of wedded bliss: I can easily say we are not only spouses, we are best friends. We share the same goals, the same dreams, and the same tastes….and we often finish each other’s sentences. When it comes to our Florida vacations, we also share the same goals: lots of fun, a little relaxation, great food, and at least one new experience added in along the way.


This trip, from the outset, had a distinctive theme: doubles.

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There were only two of us travelling: our son, Jake, was now graduated from college and living on his own, and work commitments kept him from joining Mom and Dad.

For only the second time since our love affair with Orlando began, we would be enjoying a full two weeks of vacation [our sole other two-week vacation was back in August 2014].

We would be staying at two different resorts: our “old favourite”, Sheraton Vistana Resort:

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and a first stay at Wyndham Cypress Palms:

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We had tickets to two Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Parties.

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We had reservations for two days at Discovery Cove.

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We had plans to spend two days at SeaWorld, and two days at Aquatica.

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We had two official “resort days” scheduled in (could we actually RELAX twice in one trip? :confused:).

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We would be attending two different dinner shows: Pirates Dinner Adventure and Capones.

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It was our 11th Florida vacation (okay, so maybe the two one’s was pushing the whole “doubles” thing, but yet……..).

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In addition to doubling up on several of the major park and events, we also had a selection of single activities planned……Madame Tussauds, Sea Life Aquarium, the Orlando Eye, and the Museum of Military History, to name a few. There was also a plethora of offsite dining involved, including several new experiences (places like Longhorn’s Steakhouse, Texas de Brazil, and Maggiano’s) as well as a bundle of old favourites.

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Our dates, selected way back in February 2016 (as soon as flights were released by Jetblue) were October 14th to October 28th.

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I hope you’ll join me on this Halloween-inspired trip report…..I have to say, over the past few months I have missed the humour and friendship of the “regulars” who so kindly keep up the chatter and entertainment here on my threads. We all have a lot of catching up to do! :hyper:

As always, there will be lots of photos, lots of honest feedback on what we liked and what we would take a pass on next time, and a whole bunch of useless information that I inevitably feel compelled to share. And as an added bonus, ya'll will get to "meet" some of my inlaws who joined us for part of the two-week extravaganza.

We kick off our adventures in the next entry!

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Following along! Can't wait to hear about your travels. We leave in 28 days and I'm sure that I'll find something here that I 'need' to add to our trip :joker:
 
Glad that everything is going well Gina. I'm not on Facebook so am looking forward to hearing all about everything.
 


As they say at Vistana, and applies just as much to DIS - Welcome Home Ms. Bo-Bina!

Looking forward to tagging along for the adventure!
 
Bienvenue aux Etats-Unis! Oh wait, you left Cananda, lol!

Glad you're settled and back to the Disboards!
 
I have loved your reports, glad to see a new one! You give great reviews on your trip happenings, I'm ready to hear all about it!
 
I can't wait!

I have read several reports but have never posted. I can't believe I am the first to comment.

:welcome: So glad to have you reading AND posting! Please don't be shy.....feel free to chime in whenever you feel so inclined. I have a really fun group contributing to my threads, and would love to have you joining in the chatter.

Gina has returned!!!!

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Finally out from under my rock! (err....make that, out from under the moving boxes :p)

So glad you are here reading along :goodvibes.

Following along! Can't wait to hear about your travels. We leave in 28 days and I'm sure that I'll find something here that I 'need' to add to our trip :joker:

Welcome aboard :).

28 days....lucky you :thumbsup2. I feel a little like a fish out of water with not currently have another trip officially in the planning stages. I would give my eye teeth to be heading back in under a month!

Glad that everything is going well Gina. I'm not on Facebook so am looking forward to hearing all about everything.

Hello, my friend! :goodvibes Good to have you joining in once again. It wouldn't be the same without you!

Yay!!!! So glad you're back. Can't wait to read all about your adventures.

Hello, hello! Welcome aboard.....the next post should be up sometime soon :thumbsup2.

As they say at Vistana, and applies just as much to DIS - Welcome Home Ms. Bo-Bina!

Looking forward to tagging along for the adventure!

Aw, thanks Munro :goodvibes. Your contributions are always a lot of fun. Don't hold back....continue to try and keep @dancin Disney style in line (assuming, of course, she ever shows up ;) ).

Bienvenue aux Etats-Unis! Oh wait, you left Cananda, lol!

Glad you're settled and back to the Disboards!
Thank you! And :welcome:! So far, life in the USA is pretty great. And there's a Tim Hortons right up the street :thumbsup2 :rotfl:.

Yay! I'm so excited to hear about all of your fun!

Awesome!! So happy to have you along! :goodvibes

Welcome back to disboards! You were missed. Can't wait to hear about your trip.

Thank you :goodvibes. It is good to BE back. Its nice to be doing something other than unpacking boxes and filling out immigration paperwork :rolleyes2.

YAY! I'm here- can't wait to read about your adventures!

Hi Patty! So glad to have you back! You'll have to help @bankr63 with our dear friend @dancin Disney style ..... 'cause she can be a handful :teeth:.

I have loved your reports, glad to see a new one! You give great reviews on your trip happenings, I'm ready to hear all about it!

Thank you for such kind compliments :blush:. I am always so grateful that people take time out of their day to read my ramblings. Without you all, these reports would be mighty boring. Welcome aboard!

I made it in early this time and am so excited to read about it all!!!!

I was hoping you'd join in :goodvibes. Glad to have you back!!

Welcome Back friend! You have been missed.:hug:

Aw, thank you :cloud9:. You guys are good for the soul. Glad to have you along, as always :flower3:.
 
Thursday, October 13th


As some of you may know, Steve and I had been living apart since the 12th of September: Steve had unexpectedly been called to Michigan to act as a consultant for his company’s American branch. While he had done short, random visits to Michigan multiple times between March and September, this stretch was much longer and we were both missing each other terribly. We had eagerly counted down the days and weeks until this trip, when we would have two wonderful uninterrupted weeks together: this vacation was shaping up to be a sanity saver as much as a southern getaway ::yes::.


Steve was able to make the 7 hour trip home from MI the night prior, and grab a good night’s sleep before having to embark on our 4 hour commute to Buffalo to catch our flights to Florida. Had we had the privilege of a crystal ball back in February, flying from Toronto would have been much more convenient (albeit more expensive) under the circumstances, however……with airfare booked long before our lives turned upside down, flying from Buffalo it would be. We were just so happy to have the opportunity to be together, neither one of us were terribly concerned about the long drive ahead of us :drive:.


We took the morning to wash up Steve’s laundry that he had brought home with him the night before, finish packing the suitcases, give the house a complete cleaning from top to bottom, and then drop off the kittens to their caregiver for the next two weeks.

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We had adopted two Maine Coon siblings in September from Fixed Fur Life (a non-profit organization in our area https://www.fixedfurlife.com/about/ ), just a week before Steve was shipped off to Michigan. Knowing that we had a vacation already booked, we chatted with the director about the best option for the babies during our long two week absence. They very generously offered to keep the cats in their kitten room, free of charge, as their thanks for taking the two cats together. When we first met the kittens at the adoption center, staff had told us that they would not adopt out the kittens separately as they had such a strong sibling bond. They had multiple families offer to take one cat or the other, but not both together…..and after seeing them together, and the connection that they had, we couldn’t have taken from each other if we tried.

Because I’m a proud mama, here’s those same two babies now…….8 months old today:

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Fixed Fur Life would be caring for them in their kitten room, a large open area with no cages and lots of kitten-appropriate stimulation. My babies, being Maine Coons, were huge for their age and ridiculously active to boot, so I had no concerns that they would be able to hold their own among the other current adoptees. It still broke my heart, though, to hand those fuzzy little bodies over to the Director and bid them goodbye for a whole 14 days. I’m not ashamed to admit there was more than a tear or two on our way back to the house to load our luggage :sad1:.


We stopped for a quick lunch at Dairy Queen, filled the Journey with gas, and hopped on the 401 for the initial part of the drive. We broke for a quick bathroom break in Pickering, then headed to the 407 for the next leg of the trip. Traffic was a non-issue (even after transferring to the QEW) and our efficiency continued at the border as we encountered no wait at the Queenston/Lewiston crossing. We were through customs in less than 5 minutes from the time we initially pulled up :car:.


The only traffic we encountered was in Buffalo, though our arrival time (right around 5 pm, in the midst of the after-work commute) probably had much to do with that.

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After a short delay as we dealt with the afternoon slowdown, we headed to the Days Hotel Buffalo Airport to check into our room for the night.

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Many of you know that we have had less-than-stellar experiences at the Days Hotel on previous trips, but we’ve also had a few perfectly acceptable stays in recent vacations. We talked quite a bit about our park-and-fly options when we were planning this specific trip, and quite honestly, it came down to value: the price ($79 for two weeks of parking, a one night stay in a king room, shuttles to and from the airport, and complimentary breakfast in the morning) and proximity (literally right across the street from BUF) were unbeatable. We spend very little time in the park-and-fly hotel, so it doesn’t need to be elegant or fancy. As long as it’s clean, we’re good to go.

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Check-in was quick and painless. They remembered us from our previous stays (I like to think that’s because our personalities are captivating and charming, not because we are labelled as “those guests” that seem to have all the problems) and had us with keys in hand in very short order. We took our luggage up to the room and it was just as we expected.

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While certainly lacking on an elegance factor, it was spotlessly clean and absolutely acceptable. Lots of space for the two of us, and more than workable for a single night’s stay. We gave it our customary inspection (especially the bed…..because I don’t think you can ever be too careful where that’s concerned, in ANY hotel) then decided to head out for dinner at one of our Buffalo favourites.



The Cheesecake Factory is up next.
 
Oh how those 2 kittens have grown. Just got in from work and could do with a Cheesecake Factory near me mmmmmmmm........
 

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