Winging it with No Dinning Plan! A Feb. Trip Report

Riding Big Thunder during the fireworks is on my list of things to try next trip!
Def try it, it was great!

www, Mama!! BEFORE I read this text, I saw the picture and it made me smile - you all look so happy! It's a wonderful picture. You look amazing, don't put yourself down, you don't look "horrible"! But, I hear ya, I am the SAME WAY - I hate every picture that I'm in, actually - so I definitely sympathize with not liking how you look in a pic!
I still shared it, that counts for something, right? Ha. We were tired! It was a great day but a long one.

Riding Thunder during the fireworks is on my Disney bucket list! It sounds like such a fun and unique way to experience the fireworks. I know you were hoping for 7DMT that evening, but I think two rides on Thunder and a ride on Splash was a nice alternative. :goodvibes
They def were nice alternatives... For sure! And they were sad that, that was the end of the trip, not that we didn't get on 7DMT, so that was good.

It's always so sad leaving :( It's nice that you spent some final moments on Main Street enjoying some treats.
Waiting out the crowds really paid off the last couple trips. It makes the end of the day a little less stressful.

And I don't think SDMT usually closes during the fireworks so it must have just been down :(
Good to know. We may try that strategy in Feb, especially with the park closing at 8:00.

Oh, sadness :( I hate when the trip winds down to the end, but it looks like you had a great ending to the night! Love your treats to end the evening :)
It was a great way to end the night for sure!
 
Food Breakdown: Day Six

Today was our most expensive day with the Trattoria Al Forno Breakfast. And if we had ended up going to Columbia Harbor Housefor dinner, it would have been even higher.


Trattatoria Al Forna: $126.21
Lunching Pad: $11.38
Sunshine Terrace: $17.55
Big Top Souvenir: $21.58
Friar's Nook: $28.33
Confectionary: $18.39


The dinning plan would have cost us: $1,791.86

Travel Day: Food Total: $37.56
Day One: Food Total: $142.45
Day Two: Food Total: $149.25
Day Three: Food Total: $152.25
Day Four: Food Total: $181.25
Day Five: Food Total: $166.68
Day Six: Food Total: $223.44.
Remaining Balance: $738.98

We did not eat anything at the resort on our travel day. So, this is our final tally. We clearly saved a HUGE chunk of money by not doing the dinning plan for this trip. BUT I will say, that we planned our meals accordingly, only a few table service meals. And really, I think THAT really kept our costs down. BUT for us, I think we sometimes NEED to have the scheduled time to make sure we eat and rest for a bit. I think we had more "Hangry" moments because of that. We would just keep going and going, and not stop for food.

I think for us, doing Disney both ways, has a benefit. It will just matter how we want to tour that trip. Our trip next February, we are actually doing a split stay, so I added the dinning plan to part of the trip. So, I feel like we are going to get the best of both worlds. (Well, hopefully)
 
Day Seven: Travel Day (Home)

So, we had a long last day and we were all SUPER tired in the morning. I have that we woke up at 8:20, which for us is LATE!

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I picked out journals from amazon for the girls today. I figured they could write down there memories in them. And I personally loved the Sadness on the card, very appropriate!

The girls found there items and wanted pend so they could write in there books. So, we threw on some clothes and headed down to the gift shop. I think Andy started to pack? Maybe? Probably not... He problaby just laid in bed. Regardless, we went shopping.

I looked for the Dole Whip Hat that I decided not to get last night and the necklace. I had not luck on either. So, I decided to "splurge" on the shower gel that they have in the rooms. I savored it and Andy ordered me more to refill my Disney Authorized bottle for Christmas!

The girls picked out pens, (Morgan picked out a Tinkerbell Pen and Gwen shoos a Minnie Heart Pen) and I let them pick out a pins well. I think one of the girls found one they really liked, so I let them each pick one. Morgan picked out a Fancy Star Wars Pin and Gwen picked out a jeweled Marie Pin. After our shopping spree, we grabbed some breakfast and headed back to the room to pack up.

(I summarized our meal costs... thinking that we didn't get food, since I have zero pictures) Oops!

Gwen picked out a Chocolate Croissant, Morgan picked out a Cinnamon Roll, And I ordered a Breakfast Po Boy for Andy and I to share. I also grabbed a milk for Andy as we ran out.
The description for the po boy was as follows:
Breakfast Po'Boy
Scrambled Eggs, House-smoked Ham, Shredded Cheese, Sautéed Onions and Peppers and Red Pepper Aoïli

It was good. Nothing to dream about, but def big enough to share.

The girls watched some shows and ate breakfast, while Andy and I got us all packed up. And packing took way longer than I would have wanted it to. But it was what it was. Housekeeping did come and knock on our door at 10:45 to see if we were gone yet. Which was a little annoying but they didn't make too big of a deal about it.

We were finally all packed up and able to leave the room at 11:05! If you were ever wondering, you magic bands are automatically deactivated from the room at exactly 11:00. We tried! Thankfully, we made sure to be fully done with the room before we left it!

We headed down and checked our bags in with Magical Express and then headed to the pool to swim for a bit.
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We only had a small amount of time to swim, but we all took a quick dip in the pool.

We went and changed after our quick dip. And i have to say, that the bathrooms at FQ were really nice. They had bathrooms, changing stalls and 1 shower, if you wanted to rinse off. All 3 girls changed faster than Andy. Sometimes I swear, he is so slow! So, we waited for Andy by the tv.
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I just thought it was funny, because they were getting too big for those chairs! By now, it was 12:30 and I was getting nervous about the time. I kept pacing from where Morgan and Gwen was into the main lobby to make sure the bus hadn't shown up.

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It did allow me to take a few last pictures of the lobby!

I had texted Andy at 12:27 asking if he was almost done. And he came out and a bus pulled up at the same time! Good timing but I was starting to really panic! I do think our magical express was a good 10 minutes early! So, make sure you are early! Thankfully we got on the bus and headed out with no problems. We did stop at Riverside before heading to the airport.

Andy & I checked work email on our phones on the ride and the girls watched the tv's. Vacation was over. :(

We made it through security with no wait, some how! We have usually had long long lines to wade through. There was a line for Pre-Check? It was like the lines at the gate for Annual pass holders and no wait in the regular line.

We got through security and found a place to sit down and have lunch. We found a restaurant and were seated at a table immediately. The girls pulled out there homework!
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Since they hadn't done any of it on the way down. Like I said, Vacation was over!

But not completely! Andy and I both ordered beers with our lunches.
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This was really good. Highly recommend it! It wasn't sweet like a Grapefruit Schoffenhoffer. But still very fruity and light.

Andy ordered the pulled pork sandwich.
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I ordered the Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich.
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Morgan ordered the kids pasta with sweet potatoes tater tots.
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And Gwen ordered the Hush Puppies.
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All of our food was excellent. Except Gwen didn't like the hush puppies. I believe when we ordered we had asked the waiter if they were spicy. And he said no. We flagged the waiter down and asked if we could order something else for Gwen. She wanted the mac and cheese. He said no problem, and left. He came back a minute later and said he wanted to let us know that the mac n cheese had breadcrumbs on it. Which we were very thankful for. And changed her order to Grilled Cheese!

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Gwen had me take a picture of her with "Kitty Perry". She was very proud of her name!

I took Gwen to the bathroom while we waited for her Grilled Cheese to come out. And I saw this!
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We were delayed! Boo. So, we had more time for homework and another beer! We tried to just relax and hang out while we waited to see how late our flight was going to be delayed. We finally settled the check and found our way over to the gate.

I am not sure how delayed we ended up being, I didn't write it down. But it wasn't to bad.
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But I made the deal that the girls could stop doing homework once we were on the plane. And soon enough we were boarding.

It was a full flight home, and we waited patiently for our group to board. They boarded all families and we just waited since Gwen was over the age. A Southwest employee came over and asked how long Gwen was and i said her age. And she told us to board anyway. It was probably just easier to have us board then. So, it worked out!

Our flight home was uneventful. And we made it to Philly late.
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It was dark, gray and rainy! We were def not in Florida anymore! Thankfully it wasn't snow! We got a shuttle back to our car and we headed home.

And that ends our trip!

It was a great trip! I want to say thanks to everyone for following along! I will be jumping back over to my Disneyland Trip Report to finish that now that this has been completed! I hope to see you all there, if you aren't already there!
 
I really enjoyed your TR. It looked like you all had a great time.
We are staying at POFQ the last night of our upcoming trip. I’m excited to try it out. Now time for me to read along with the DL report.
 


Food Breakdown: Day Seven

Bonus food breakdown! Doesn't really change anything, but wanted to finish it up properly!

Sassagoula Breakfast: $19.88


The dinning plan would have cost us: $1,791.86

Travel Day: Food Total: $37.56
Day One: Food Total: $142.45
Day Two: Food Total: $149.25
Day Three: Food Total: $152.25
Day Four: Food Total: $181.25
Day Five: Food Total: $166.68
Day Six: Food Total: $223.44
Day Seven: Food Total: $19.88
Remaining Balance: $719.10

Also, If you want to follow along, here is a link to my Disneyland Trip Report.
 
Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us! I love that you always tell it like it is, the good and the bad, and this trip had so much good stuff to share! I love your girls, and feel like we get the privilege of watching them grow up a little bit in your reports. They're both adorable, and I love how thoughtful Morgan is, and how spunky Gwen can be! (Kitty Perry cracks me up!)
 
I really enjoyed your report.

What an awesome last day at MK, I love BTMRR, all time favorite for me!
We have watched the fireworks from there once and I love seeing the fireworks from some of the rides!
I think we had the same skipper on JC, she was so good! Perfect for the JC dry humor! I remember the line you wrote so funny.

It was fun watching your girls tour WDW!

I am heading to your Disneyland report!
 


The rules included:
  • No using our phones.
  • No talking to the drivers. (assuming that it was Morgan and Gwen)
  • No trying to take over for the driver.

I see you did a great job following all those rules!

Thanks for your trip report. I liked your style of eating... lots of snacks and drinks. I NEED some of those tater tots!

I hope you have a blast on your next trip.
 
I really enjoyed your TR. It looked like you all had a great time.
We are staying at POFQ the last night of our upcoming trip. I’m excited to try it out. Now time for me to read along with the DL report.
Thanks so much for following along! It really is so great to share our trip with everyone.
This was our first time at POFQ and we will be staying there again in February for part of our trip. It is a great resort. Where are you staying before that?

Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us! I love that you always tell it like it is, the good and the bad, and this trip had so much good stuff to share! I love your girls, and feel like we get the privilege of watching them grow up a little bit in your reports. They're both adorable, and I love how thoughtful Morgan is, and how spunky Gwen can be! (Kitty Perry cracks me up!)
Thanks so much! I feel like you learn how to tour and what to really expect by reading trip reports. So, I feel like you kind of have to keep it real. Thankfully, our bad moments, weren't that bad really.

I am so glad I have been able to reallly show the girls personalities, everyone has them figured out! I just wish we could make an appearance at the May trip! Maybe I can still convince Andy that we need to do a really short trip. (although I have basically given up hope on that) But I am thinking in the very back of my head, maybe I can convince him while we are there in February in the Dinsey bubble.

I think we had the same skipper on JC, she was so good! Perfect for the JC dry humor! I remember the line you wrote so funny.
She was great, right? Some of the Skippers you can just tell that they are saying the lines. She WAS funny. It also helped that everyone in the boat was getting her jokes as well.

Thanks for your trip report. I liked your style of eating... lots of snacks and drinks. I NEED some of those tater tots!
I liked our style of eating, it just didn't work well for the girls some days. I could def snack my way through all of the parks if it was just me and DH.

I hope you have a blast on your next trip.
Thanks so much! I will def do another trip report after we go.

Another great trip report!!
Thanks so so much! And thanks for following along!
 
Shopping always helps the last day blues!

Good to know about the MBs deactivating right at 11.

Stinks that your flight was delayed! Back to reality indeed :(

Kitty Perry..love it! :rotfl:

Thanks for sharing another great TR!!
 
We got through security and found a place to sit down and have lunch. We found a restaurant and were seated at a table immediately. The girls pulled out there homework!
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Since they hadn't done any of it on the way down. Like I said, Vacation was over!
Sad when reality starts to set back in!!!

We use the same Math curriculum at our school...it is not my favorite, but it made me smile to recognize it here :)

We ALWAYS seem to be delayed coming home from MCO!! Glad it didn't take you TOO long to get on your way home and that they let you board early.

I appreciated your keeping track of the dining $ you spent. We have been lucky to get free dining on a couple of our most recent trips, but for next year we are cruising followed by a few days at WDW and I just don't want to add on the extra expense. I'm glad to see how it played out for you guys!
 
I was so behind. Just no DIS time over the last 6 weeks. I have loved reading your TR. We arrived I think the day after you got home. We also lucked out and saw the fireworks whikle riding Big Thunder this trip as well. By far my favorite memory! And it looks like I'm missing you by a week next Feb. We leave 2/14. But now I'm trying to figure out how to stay until 2/15 to attend the 2/14 DAH:).
 
Thanks so much for following along! It really is so great to share our trip with everyone.
This was our first time at POFQ and we will be staying there again in February for part of our trip. It is a great resort. Where are you staying before that?


Yacht Club. We couldn't get a that night with the military discount for the rack rate was INSANE! We previously stayed at BC and loved it. It's my goal to stay at all of them. I need to save a LOT of money...God help me!
 
I just finished reading your trip report and thought it was great. Favorite part was the jungle cruise joke! This really makes me want to write up a report on our upcoming trip in December. I think it is a great way to remember the vacation.
 
Then she turned and started screaming out in to the water without the mic:
"I love you!"
"I want to meet your parents!"
"I want a commitment!"
:lmao:

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BTM Selfie
cute pic

BTM Ride Photo
We were on the ride at 8:06! I find this photo hilarious! We have NO idea who those people are behind us!
LOL my husband would be the type to do that.

It was a great way to end our trip. Fireworks on Big Thunder was perfect. We were all exhausted!
A great grand finale.

I enjoyed your TR thanks for taking the time to write it.
 
Slowly catching up on everyone's TRs! I don't want your trip to end, your check in on Southwest is the death knell at the end of the trip :sad: I'm starting to feel like Gwen must have!

I need to borrow your family, mine won't ever ride splash with me!!

This one was my favorite. Which would you want a Speedy Funeral or a Proper Funeral?

I'll take the "with mourners" upcharge, please! :rotfl:
 

What?!? The people mover isn't a thrill ride? Are you sure?
I always do this too... it's definitely a thrill ride if you look at it the right way ;)

Andy and I split the Mexican Tater Tots. They were really good! There was a good amount of the stuff they put on top and the tater tots were nice and crisp
Oh my gosh, I know they change the menu at this place once every few months but these look amazing! I hope they are still serving them when I get there next!!!

I was actually just saying last night that Buffalo Sauce and Indian Spices might be my favorite flavors... I could eat them all the time. So good
Me too, plus Mexican/southwest. :thumbsup2

an I just tell you... we had seriously... THE ..... BEST... SKIPPER... EVER. She was just naturally funny. She had a way of telling the lines and they seemed so natural and she peppered in her own stuff, and it was HILARIOUS!!!! She had a "Mean Girl" vibe to her, I could totally have seen her on Saturday Night Live with her personality
That's awesome! Our "night" cruises have been some of our very favorites!

We were on the ride at 8:06! I find this photo hilarious! We have NO idea who those people are behind us
Bahahaha, that's funny for them to get in on a joke! But I'm glad it wasn't your one and only ride photo!!!

watched the rest of the fireworks right at the exit of the ride. Sorry for my horrible look in this picture! I look awful. But it was a long day
No you don't! And as the daughter of an mom who never wanted to be in the photos, I promise your girls will be so happy you got into the pictures as well, one day when they're grown up :flower3:
 

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