Nothing Can Stop Us Now! The End! Well almost, quick recap of Jan 22 trip! Update on April trip 4/21*

[MomtoLandK]

I think your plans for your April trip sound great! We will also be there in April (the first week). We are also staying at the Wilderness Lodge. We've stayed there a couple of times, but not since around 2012, so I'm really excited to stay there again. I hope you get a quiet room this time. We have a courtyard view room booked which I think is what we've always stayed in and always had quiet rooms fortunately. I'm really looking forward to Geyser Point since I've never been there. Of course, we haven't been to Disney since 2019 thanks to the pandemic, so there are a lot of new things I'm looking forward to!

 

[disneyAndi14]

I might be wrong but I think Jenny Sanders is doing savouring the savannah tour this trip so she might be able to give you some info.
Love the magicbands and shirts

I just saw a post from Jenny and she loved the tour! I do have it booked and may keep it now with all the rave reviews!
I love magic bands. I should start wearing to work haha

 

[disneyAndi14]

Nice shirt and I like the MBs

I've done it and really enjoyed it. You get much more close time with the animals. The driver is very happy to sit and let you take photos while talking about the animals. The food was good and it was really nice to just chill while having some munchies. I'd do it again, but it is pricey. Only you can decide if the $$$ is worth it. It was worth it for me to do once... and I might do it again some time in the future, but don't have plans to when I go in August with DD. But now that you've mentioned it... I'll ask and if she wants to (and pays her own share) then I will

Thanks for the information. I do have it booked for now. I do get 15% off with the AP and that will help. We have loved all the tours we have done at AK and I am sure this one won’t disappoint

Yeah... I woke up this morning to more snow. I almost cried. Luckily it wasn't too much to shovel. (Maybe 1" or so.)

Ugh! I see a 40 degree day in our future next week, yay!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Great plans for your trip. I like getting to Disney early too.

Thank you! I do love getting to Disney as early as possible!

I LOVE your shirt and the magic bands are cute.

I’m excited to wear these in April

Your trip is getting closer.

Yay!!

I've had more than my share of noisy rooms. I swear I attract rude neighbors. I'm going to start packing earplugs I think.

Ugh, us too. I do have earplugs packed for every trip!

I'll bet you are! UGH! It was 73 here today, so no complaining from me!

I’m jealous lol

I did it a few years ago and really liked it. Worth the money for sure! If though I had to choose between that or the Wanyama (not sure if they are doing that because I don't know if Jiko is open) I'd choose Wanyama- it's a safari of the Jambo savanah and then dinner at Jiko.

Thank you for the info, I have seen all positive reviews for the tour. I will have to check out the one at AK with Jiko for dinner!

How fun! What great memories for you and your daughter!

We have so many wonderful memories!

Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed reading your trip report.

I’m so happy you took the time to read my report! Thank you

 

[disneyAndi14]

I think your plans for your April trip sound great! We will also be there in April (the first week). We are also staying at the Wilderness Lodge. We've stayed there a couple of times, but not since around 2012, so I'm really excited to stay there again. I hope you get a quiet room this time. We have a courtyard view room booked which I think is what we've always stayed in and always had quiet rooms fortunately. I'm really looking forward to Geyser Point since I've never been there. Of course, we haven't been to Disney since 2019 thanks to the pandemic, so there are a lot of new things I'm looking forward to!

Thank you so much! Yay for April trips! I’m so excited to stay at WL and check out GP. Here is to hoping we both get great room with great views and quiet at night! Fingers crossed

 

[pkondz]

Ugh! I see a 40 degree day in our future next week, yay!

We're supposed to see 33 on Tuesday. Can you imagine? Temps above freezing! Who knew!

(And I'll believe it when I see it. )

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Nothing can stop us now

Hello Everyone,

We are back from our mother and daughter trip. This was our 25th trip traveling with just the two of us. We started these trips together in 2010 and we have not stopped! ✈.

My name is Caroline and my daughter is Andi! I’m a nurse by day and Disney dreamer by night! Andi is a 4th year college student, wow time flies! She was 10 when we started our trips together!

She starts back to in person classes tomorrow. She works 3 part time jobs, she tutors Spanish to middle and high school students, she is a Teacher’s Assistant to one of her Spanish professors, and she works at a local garden shop in her college town! She is a busy girl. She has been on the Dean’s list every semester of her college career so far. She will graduate with a major in Spanish and a minor in Latin America studies. To say we are proud of her is an understatement!

We both love Disney trips and travel well together. Our trips have changed some over the years. We like to spend more time in lounges now and our park commando days are over. We love the parks, however, we don’t stay in the parks from rope drop to close anymore. We tour much slower and do the things we love, rather than hitting everything!
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AK has been our favorite park for the last few years, this trip I have to say DHS was right up there with AK.

Let’s get started with our August trip!

Stats for this trip

We stayed 6 nights at WDW and 1 night at Universal

We ended up staying at 3 different resorts in WDW

We had park reservations for each day

We had the Boo Bash scheduled for 1 night

We had wonderful dining experiences

We flew on Delta from Minneapolis

We do not rent a car, we use Disney/Universal transportation and Lyft as needed.

Join in, If you want excitement, 4 Resort reviews, a Boo Bash review, A Food&Wine review, and numerous dining reviewsyou are in the right spot!


Now for the back story and how I really didn’t want to go on this trip and how I almost turned around several times before I got on the airplane.

Unfortunately, I had developed an Achilles tendinitis on Sunday 8/22. I went to bed without any problems and woke up with severe pain in my right ankle. It was bad and I was told by my doctor, I should not be going on a trip, ugh! I could barely walk. My right ankle area hurt so much. I called my TA and had her change our dates to 8/28 instead of leaving on 8/26. I did everything possible to improve the pain. I rested, iced, and elevated all the way to Saturday and my ankle still hurt a lot.

I was taking anti inflammatory medicine and had my foot in a brace. I thought I would be better by travel day, boy was I wrong!

I had thought about renting an ECV but I was nervous about driving one and getting on the transportation with it.

Andi said she would push me in a wheelchair so I ordered a light w/c from scooterbug and hoped for the best.


8/28/21 Travel Day,

I had to leave my house at 5am to get down to my sister’s place by 8am. Andi was meeting me there. The flight was at 10:30am from Minneapolis.


The morning I left, it was so foggy out. I could barely see for the first hour or so, I seriously wanted to just turn around and go home. Eventually the weather improved and I made it to my sister’s house.

We got to the airport and checked our bags and as we headed to TSA precheck, which I have had for several years, I realized it was not on my boarding pass. Ugh! This was a mistake, but, of course, they wouldn’t let me through. Andi took everything she could and I had to head to regular screening. It moved fairly fast but I had to take my shoes off and this was so hard and painful for me, again, I was ready to turn around and head home. I could have just sat down and cried.

Thank goodness, our gate was super close to security and when we got there, I was able to sit down and rest. We had comfort + seats on the plane and this gave us extra leg room. This was really nice and we were the only 2 in our row.

Our flight was uneventful and we made it into MCO at 2:30pm. We gathered the luggage and headed to ME.

We got right on the bus and left shortly after this. We did have to stop at 3 resorts before the Riviera. We arrived at about 4pm. We had received a text about 2 hours prior saying our room wasn’t quite ready yet and nothing since. We did have to check in at the front desk since we didn’t get another text. The Riviera check in area is so small! I did talk with a CM and our room was ready now. We had a deluxe studio on the 9th floor. We really liked the room and we had a view of Epcot and Space Mountain. We would be able to see Epcot and MK fireworks from our balcony.

Stay tuned for the first evening! Did we make it to MK? Did we just hang out at the resort? Did we have one of the best meals of the trip? You will soon find out! Here are some pictures of The Riviera!
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My obligatory mirror selfie on travel day!

If Pre Check is not on your ticket simply go back to the ticket counter and they will put it on for you. It happen to both me and my husband. Problem solve in less than 10 minutes

 

[disneyAndi14]

We're supposed to see 33 on Tuesday. Can you imagine? Temps above freezing! Who knew!

(And I'll believe it when I see it. )

same here, my husband makes maple syrup and he is itching to get out there and start tapping his trees He is excited for the temps next week. I’m skeptical I hope it gets warmer!
Here is a picture from his last years syrup project

 

[disneyAndi14]

If Pre Check is not on your ticket simply go back to the ticket counter and they will put it on for you. It happen to both me and my husband. Problem solve in less than 10 minutes

Ahh thanks! I wish it was that simple, I did not have my known traveler number at the time because I always add this prior to checking in and for some reason it was not there. I carry it on my phone now so it won’t happen again!

 

[pkondz]

same here, my husband makes maple syrup and he is itching to get out there and start tapping his trees He is excited for the temps next week. I’m skeptical I hope it gets warmer!
Here is a picture from his last years syrup project
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Wow!!!
Can I come over and buy some from him????? That looks great!

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Love maple syrup-your husband could make a pretty penny selling his bounty. I watched a documentary about how it is harvested and found it fascinating. They froze some of it as lollipops which I thought would be heavenly! Yummy yummy stuff

 

[disneyAndi14]

Wow!!!
Can I come over and buy some from him????? That looks great!

He would love that! He has quite the little operation and he loves having something to do this time of year. He is hoping to have a big batch this year!

Love maple syrup-your husband could make a pretty penny selling his bounty. I watched a documentary about how it is harvested and found it fascinating. They froze some of it as lollipops which I thought would be heavenly! Yummy yummy stuff

He sells to people around here and his work. He really enjoys this hobby. He is always watching YouTube videos on the process. The lollipop idea sounds very yummy. He is aging some in a bourbon barrel this year and very excited about that process! His syrup is delicious so much better than store bought “fake” syrup!

 

[pkondz]

He would love that! He has quite the little operation and he loves having something to do this time of year. He is hoping to have a big batch this year!

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

His syrup is delicious so much better than store bought “fake” syrup

Wish I lived closer. It sounds heavenly! The bourbon barrel aged syrup sounds delicious. I hate fake syrup so pay for the expensive stuff. Worth every penny but definitely a treat food. Bet it’s still not a patch on your husbands though

 

[Steppesister]

Holy maple smokes! YUMMY!!!

 

[SonnyEclipsesSpaceAngel]

Great trip report thank you for taking us along on your adventure. The Riviera is a beautiful resort. I am glad my mom will be staying there in May

 

[Paulaparm]

First off, the maple syrup looks great!
I am a fan of the early morning flight...but then there's the idea of a later flight a day earlier to get a whole day on your first day...hmmm. But we travel with our 5th wheel now, so it's a moot point for us
We ate at Homecomin' for the first time this trip (February) and loved it! We also loved the moonshine drinks. Thank goodness for Disney transportation
I agree with your assessment of the crowds. It seems like the low crowd times are non-existent now. I'm hoping that things will level out within a year or two, but who knows. That being said, I'll still go and enjoy myself!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Wish I lived closer. It sounds heavenly! The bourbon barrel aged syrup sounds delicious. I hate fake syrup so pay for the expensive stuff. Worth every penny but definitely a treat food. Bet it’s still not a patch on your husbands though

He is busy tapping his trees. He has to wear snowshoes this year. I’m excited to try his new batch this year! The bourbon barrel maple syrup is a new project for him. I have heard it is delicious!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Holy maple smokes! YUMMY!!!

Yes it is a lot of work but he really enjoys it! I personally just enjoy the product haha

 

[disneyAndi14]

Great trip report ☺ thank you for taking us along on your adventure. The Riviera is a beautiful resort. I am glad my mom will be staying there in May

I’m so glad you enjoyed reading my TR. I loved staying at the Riviera. It really is a wonderful resort with many amenities! I hope your mom has a wonderful trip.