Trip Report: Arriving at Saratoga Springs (Day 1, Part 2| November 2020)

 The Magical Express stopped at Old Key West first. Dad made a joke about us getting our room text as we pulled into Saratoga, but it was so early it felt like there was no chance. But the Disney gods blessed us and my dad got the text practically as the bus brakes. We were in Congress Park room 1732.

A very nice man from Bell Services drove us to our room. He told us a lot about the hotel and our room.

After a quick check of the room, we were off to Animal Kingdom. You could see the busstop from our room which was nice. There wasn’t much of a wait and the bus driver told us where to sit.

The health screening and security process was very easy. I liked that there’s no longer a finger-scanner because I can never remember which finger I used. 

Once we were in the park, we checked out the Lines app to see what we wanted to do. We decided on Kilimanjaro Safaris as our first attraction. The line ended up going out into Harambe, but wasn’t bad. It was a quick moving line.

We were seated in the front row of our truck. It was nice to have a whole row to ourselves. It was a good ride, but the animals weren’t particularly active.

Up Next: Lunch with Santa

Trip Report: Traveling During Covid (Day 1, Part 1| November 2020)

 Today we begin the 2020 trip report. This has been planned since we did our 2019 father-daughter trip (if not earlier). It was supposed to be my dad, stepmom, and I. 

Then, Covid happened. 

I could talk forever about Covid and Disney, but I don't want to. The important thing in relation to this trip is that my stepmom ended up not being able to go. So, this turned into another father-daughter trip. I finally got a reservation for a Little Mermaid room at Art of Animation. But it didn’t make sense to have two rooms anymore so I cancelled and tagged along with my dad at Saratoga Springs.

Onto the actual trip.

I had all these plans to get tons of sleep the week before we left. I wanted to be well-rested for Disney. But I ended up super stressed and didn’t sleep well.

I spent the night before our trip at my dad’s because we were flying out of Buffalo and he lives a little closer. I had to wake up at 4:15 and probably only got four hours of sleep.

We were out the door around 4:45. We took my car so I ended up driving. I also almost hit a deer! That would’ve been a horrible start to a trip.

Check-in and security was very quick. We both have TSA pre-check, but there were only like 3 other people there. And the parking lot was so empty.

Our flight ended up having 34 people on it. Southwest was boarding 10 people at a time-we were one of the first ones on the plane.

The flight attendant was funny. During her safety spiel she said it was a no smoking and no complaining flight. 🤣

I was hoping to sleep a little on the plane, but, as is usually the case for me, I couldn’t. Instead I did Soduko puzzles and watched YouTube videos I had downloaded before the trip. It felt very safe to fly-everyone masked up and we sat distant from everyone. 

We landed early-a bit after 10 am. That was nice and happens a lot. We got to baggage claim easily. The airport felt dead which was weird. But we had a lot of issues finding Magical Express. The wait for our bus was maybe 20 minutes. We were seated around 11:20 which was perfect because the new Holo Taco collection was releasing then. I did get my order in if you were concerned.

Up Next: Arriving at Saratoga Springs

Trip Report: Reunited with Murphy Cat (Day 8, Part 3 | December 2019)

If you missed the last update, you can check it out here.

Airport security at MCO wasn’t too bad. TSA pre-check may be one of my best investments ever-especially when flying out of MCO. We got lunch-I did McDonald’s-and then we waited at our gate. 

The Southwest gate agent was hilarious. Here are some of his gems:

“You can get an upgrade with a smile...and a credit card. Mostly a credit card.”

“Everyone needs to hold onto their own boarding pass. If a kid can hold an iphone or ipad, they can hold a boarding pass.”

Luckily it wasn’t a full flight and there were going to be about 20 empty seats. We decided to sit near the back of the plane so hopefully people wouldn’t sit in our 3rd seat. It worked!

I ended up sleeping most of the flight which was nice.

It was so cold in Buffalo when we landed. The worst was waiting outside for the shuttle to pick us up. I had not dressed appropriately for this kind of cold.

My dad’s truck was practically encased in snow and ice. Our shuttle driver was really nice and helped with that.

We picked up some Taco Bell-the late night dinner of champions. We made it to my dad’s house around 11:30 PM.

The next afternoon I was reunited with the Murphy cat. That’s the only good part of coming back home from Disney World.

I’m returning to Disney in November of 2020 so more trip reports should be coming in the new year.

Thanks for reading!

Holly

Trip Report: Final Rides of the Trip (Day 8, Part 2 | December 2019)

 After breakfast, we had FastPasses for Haunted Mansion. I still really like Haunted Mansion. It’s definitely a classic and I would never want it to go away. But it does give me the creeps. I’m a big scaredy cat.

Then, we were off to Tomorrowland. We took a spin on the TTA because why wouldn’t we? 

If you missed the last update, you can read it here.

And I finally got a pretzel like the Childless Millennial I am. 

Our Jungle Cruise FastPass was almost ready so we were off to Adventureland. On our way into the line, the CastMember wished me a happy birthday and then gave us two anytime FastPasses. This was perfectly timed Pixie Dust because we were a little anxious about using our final FastPass and getting back to the hotel to catch the Magical Express.

Instead of waiting, we got on Buzz with the anytime FastPasses. We did get stuck again, but at least it wasn’t in the space room this time. I was still victorious over dad! Unfortunately, our ride photo didn’t come through.

Then, it was time to leave. 

They had opened the back walkway since the Festival of Fantasy parade would be starting soon. It was nice not to face the crowds, but sad not to go down Main Street one more time.

We took a bus back to the French Quarter. We still had some time before our Magical Express bus arrived, so we sat by the pool for about 30 minutes. There was a kid yelling “Help!”. After a few adults looking around it ended up being nothing. Please don’t let your kids do this-especially at a pool.

Unfortunately, our Magical Express showed up and we had to leave.

Up Next: Reunited with the Murphy Cat

Trip Report: The Last Morning (Day 8, Part 1 | December 2019)

If you missed the last update, you can find it here. 

Sadly, today is the day we leave. I got up, showered, and finished packing. We said good-bye to our room a little before 9 and took our bags to airline check-in. That is one of my favorite perks by the way. It makes flying out so much easier.

Then, we were off to Magic Kingdom. I always like to end my trip at Magic Kingdom. That park is peak magic. 

The bus stop was pretty busy, but two busses showed up close together. We got on the 1st one and were off.

We buzzed through security. The security guard commented that I was ready for her. I try to be prepared and have all my zippers opened so it was as easy as possible for them.

We decided our first ride would be Big Thunder because it's the best! Touring Plans said the wait should be 20 minutes. It ended up being more like 40. But Splash Mountain had gone down so I’m sure that was a factor.

Then, we headed to Sleepy Hollow for breakfast. I’m not a huge nutella fan, but I am obsessed with the nutella and fresh fruit waffle. It’s filling and a good price. While eating, our phone’s got a push notification that Hollywood Studios would be opening early tomorrow-6 AM.

Up Next: Final Rides of the Trip

Trip Report: Day 7, Part 4: Boardwalk Dinner (December 2019)

 If you missed the last update, you can ride it here.

At the Boardwalk we looked at their Gingerbread display. I was able to pick up a pin from the little shop at the display. Then, we sat on the boardwalk while we waited for our reservation. It was only about 6 so we double checked and were able to update our reservation to 6:15.

We were seated in this little back room. It felt kind of removed from the rest of the restaurant, but not in a bad way. Our server was very nice and friendly, but not too chatty. This is a big deal for us because my dad and I aren’t huge people-people.

The food was very good. I think I got lasagna. And we got the Zeppoli for dessert. The server convinced us to not split it. That was a good call. They were amazing. I really wish you could get them from the bar, but unfortunately you can’t. We asked and our server did say i twa a big favorite.

Then, we stopped at the Beach Club to see their gingerbread display. I was able to get a pin. Apparently, there were only 2,000 made and they were almost out. We also checked out the gift shop. My dad loves the gift shop at Beach club. He doesn’t know why. I think it is one of the bigger ones so maybe that is why.

My dad is becoming an elitist so we ordered a Minnie Van. This time we ended up with a Suburban. We talked about the Candlelight Processional with our driver. He told us one time Whoppi worked at the Haunted Mansion when she was the narrator. Can you imagine just walking toward a Doom Buggy and seeing Whoppi Goldberg as a ghost-host? 

We picked up our mugs and then went to the food count. We got the cinnamon sugar beignets because apparently we hadn’t eaten enough tonight. 

A guest was staying in the room next to us, so the construction was over. Yay!!! 

We packed up. Boo!!! And went to bed. 

Steps walked: 21, 572

Up Next: The Last Morning 

Trip Report: Day 7, Part 3: Scary Skyliner (December 2019)

 If you missed the last update, you can check it out here.

The worst part was the departure and return to the station. When you are coming into the station it looks like you’re going to hit the gondola in front of you. Definitely, anxiety inducing. 

There was a couple in our gondola who had ridden Rise of the Resistance and were telling us about it. There was another couple and the four of them really connected.

We got off at Caribbean Beach and sat on a bunch to make a plan for the rest of the night. We were hoping to check out Grand Destino, but it looked like we couldn’t. Technically it wasn’t opened yet, but we had hoped. So, we decided to look for a dinner reservation. Initially, we were looking for Via Napoli reservations. But instead we got a 6:50 reservation for Trattoria al Forno. We’d only had breakfast there so it would be nice to try something else.

We got back on the Skyliner (headed to Hollywood Studios). Then we walked to the Boardwalk. I’ve done this walk before, but my dad hasn’t. It was a little chilly and windy at times, but the walk isn't that bad.

Up Next: Boardwalk Dinner