(Complete!! 2/23) How Bougie Can We Be? - Nov 2024 TR

[Araminta18]

Woody's vs Oga's Smackdown - Wednesday Nov 20, 2024 (part 11)​

Over at Woody's, I got us a kid's grilled cheese meal, with totchos and milk and a cutie, and then the hot chocolate holiday tart. But then bonus: they gave me a cupcake! They seemed to have a tray and were just asking everyone picking up their food if they wanted a cupcake and so obviously the answer was yes. That was super nice.

There's the cupcake there in the back. All of it was really good and just hit the spot.

We finished up eating at like 8:50, so we decided to go look in Dok Ondar's before the park closed. It's always nicer to shop late at night when it's less crowded! But we ended up only getting 2 kyber crystals: one blue and one red, hoping for the chasers. The time stamp on our receipt was 8:58 LOL.

Then we were heading to Oga's by way of the Millennium Falcon and there was a photographer so of course we stopped:

There was literally no one around! Just us and the Falcon.

The photographer, rightly so, disappeared right at park close, but there was NO ONE there in front of the Falcon, so we took some more pictures and just enjoyed the atmosphere.


So pretty. Also, the top picture is my phone camera and the bottom picture is Trevor's phone - what do you think?

Then over to Oga's where I was right - it was 9:03 and we were seated by 9:05. And the nice thing was we were actually seated at one of the tables, vs standing at the bar. We were sharing a booth with another family, and we got the stools vs the bench, but I'll still take it.

Hi Trevor!

We ordered both of the new snacks:

The Umbaran Cheese Roll: spice dusted pretzel bun stuffed with herbed cheese and a dipping sauce, and then the Thruster Roasted Bantha Flatbread: Naan flatbread topped with spiced chorizo beef and a four cheese blend.

As for drinks, I got the Blurggfire: Minute Maid® Lemonade, Pomegranate Juice, and Habanero-Lime.

Mine was good - I like the spicy rim and then the juice is good.

Trevor got the Cliff Dweller: Citrus Juices, Coconut, Hibiscus-Grenadine, and Ginger Ale.

Trevor liked it but I thought it was just interesting.

Then the food arrived! First up, the Umbaran Cheese Roll: spice dusted pretzel bun stuffed with herbed cheese and a dipping sauce,

This was hot in both senses - warm but also super spicy. Well, I thought it was spicy - the pretzel and the cheese. The dipping sauce was a sweet mustard that we both thought was weird. Honestly, all the flavors were weird - Trevor described the cheese as "musty". We ended up scraping a bunch of the cheese off the pretzel roll and then it was better. I wonder what kind of cheese it actually is.

Then, the flatbread! Thruster Roasted Bantha Flatbread: Naan flatbread topped with spiced chorizo beef and a four cheese blend.

The lighting makes it so hard to take a decent picture! But the server made a point of telling us that the cheese was dyed red. This was good but I thought it was spicy. I thought both were too spicy for me, but Trevor liked the spice levels of both.

Mostly just nice to have real food at Oga's! They did end up seating a third party at the booth with us so it got a bit crowded, but it wasn't too bad.

 

[Araminta18]

Good Night! - Wednesday Nov 20, 2024 (part 12)​

After we finished (a little after 9:30), we did look around Oga's a bit - usually it's so crowded we don't get the chance, and it was nice to be in there where it didn't feel overwhelmingly loud and we could look around a bit.

Trevor's rocking with DJ Rex!

Then we headed out, slowly. Trevor had a lot of fun hacking stuff.


We also opened up the kyber crystals that Trevor bought:

Womp womp. But considering all the other luck on his birthday, still good.

Honestly really it was just us slowly walking out and Trevor hacking stuff and enjoying the atmosphere.


I love watching him enjoy himself on these things. He's so easygoing that most of the time he's happy to do whatever, so I like watching him when he's like "yes this is a thing I want to do". And hacking in an empty Galaxy's Edge is one of those things.

At 9:50 we'd made it out of Galaxy's Edge and were heading to the exit, while enjoying the Christmas decorations.


Christmas tree!

Then our bus stop was the second stop (yay!! I hate having to walk far to the bus stop) and there was a bus there but this time I was like nope, can't run. But thankfully we made it and by 10:02 we were on our way - at 10:20, we were back at the Grand.

Our room is the top one there in the turret! So pretty.

Your random pretty chandelier that Tiffany likes picture.

By 10:30, we were in the room. Tomorrow we had to leave.

Fun with Metrics:
Steps walked: 28431 steps (10.5 miles)
Ride count: 10 (Guardians x2, Frozen Ever After, Soarin, Safari, Dinosaur, Everest x3, Flight of Passage)
Savings with AP discount: $74.20 (merch)

 

[Araminta18]

Last Morning at the Grand Floridian - Thursday Nov 21, 2024 (part 1)​

We woke up to our last day. Sadness. The plan was to eat breakfast and then pack up. Our flight home was at 2:40, so we (I) wanted to be heading to the airport by about 12:15ish.

We headed to breakfast around 8:15 - Trevor rocking his Star Wars shirt he got at May the 4th earlier this year:


Couple last lobby pictures:


So pretty.

Breakfast wasn't anything new, so no buffet pictures - scrambled eggs and bacon and toast and strawberries and milk. Apparently this is like my ideal breakfast.

Our view this morning was interesting because we got to watch the landscaping team pull up an ENTIRE flower bed:

They were so fast! The pulled them all up in like the 20 minutes we were eating. Kind of amazing. Apparently Trevor and I are very interested in watching landscaping now. LOL

Then back to the room to pack up. Part of packing up though was eating snacks we weren't taking home:

Baklava and cookies! Yum. It makes packing go by faster if every couple of minutes you take a snack break for a bite of baklava or cherry cookie.

I was pretty impressed - we were done packing by 10 am, and had separated out the stuff we wanted to ship home instead of pack:

We were shipping home the Halloween wreath, the Sleeping Beauty jewelry box, the two Merry Menagerie plushies, and then the Mary Poppins pillow and the Tiana pillow. When we tried to ship something home from Disney Springs they were using UPS and it was bonkers expensive but you can still ship home from the hotels or the parks and they use their own flat rate shipping. We took this whole group of stuff (with the receipts) to the gift shop and it took a little bit cause the CMs were new, but we eventually got it all settled, and GUESS HOW MUCH IT WAS TO SHIP ALL THESE HOME. For context, at Disney Springs, they were going to charge me $42 + the box (at least $15). This price?

$35! Heck yes. I hope they never get rid of this perk. It did arrive home quickly - they don't pack it super well so highly recommend putting in plushies or pillows or something as like the padding, but absolutely worth it.

Anyways, we were definitely reluctant to leave our lovely room. It was just so big and pretty and just so nice.

And look at these details - Mary Poppins umbrellas in the VENT COVERS. Crazy.

So definitely sad to leave, but so glad we got to have that experience. Happy birthday Trevor!

But at 10:45, we were all packed up and everything set, and the bags were with Bell Services, so over to the Magic Kingdom we went. Why? We wanted to try for one last Tiana's ride, hoping that the Tiana animatronic would be working. My boarding group luck had failed me - I was slightly off clicking the button and so we got boarding group 45. And Tiana's was not having a good day - at 10:45, they were up to only boarding group 24. But I was hoping we could see if they'd let us in early.

By 11 am, we were walking into the Magic Kingdom:

Not a cloud in the sky!

Over to Tiana's we headed - would we get lucky?

 

[Araminta18]

Elusive Tiana - Thursday Nov 21, 2024 (part 2)​

Just kidding, pictures first!

I was really loving the balloons this trip.

Ok, now over to Tiana's.

When we got there they still were like 15 away from our boarding group, so we just went up and asked, saying that we had to go to the airport later so we couldn't wait around, and the CM was super nice and let us in!!!

There was a bit of a line (as you can see), but we were moving pretty steadily until we got to the top of the stairs here:

It was 11:20 when we got to this point, and we just stopped moving. At 11:30 they announced that they were having technical difficulties and it was down. Which we'd kind of figured by that point but still. We were already cutting it a bit close by trying to ride and so when it hadn't come back up by 11:45, we had to bail. Oh well! We tried! And the CMs were still super nice to let us in.

Back to the Grand we headed.

Goodbye Christmas tree!

We wanted to get back to the Grand as quickly as we could to maybe get some snacks from the lounge, so we didn't want to wait for the monorail, and the boat had just gotten to the Grand when we got to the launch. With the boat loop being Magic Kingdom, then Grand Floridian, then the Poly, then back to the Magic Kingdom, we decided not to wait, and instead to take the walking path back to the Grand Floridian.

It's not a bad walk, but it is kind of long. Or feels kind of long.

We did end up beating the boat back to the Grand Floridian, but not by much. But we still won! What was our prize?

Lunch at the lounge - hummus and veggies and cookies and chips and ranch. It wasn't amazing, but it wasn't bad. Course, dessert was:

Mickey Premium bar! #worthit

As we were eating we did notice that the flower bed that had been pulled up that morning was fully replanted with new flowers - A+ to the landscaping team!

We quickly ate and then it really was time to leave. We retrieved our bags from Bell Services and were waiting outside for our uber to arrive.

Goodbye pretty Christmas decorations!

We were in the uber by 12:45, and on the way to MCO. It was yes, a bit later than I like to be - I'm definitely one who likes to be at the airport 2 hours in advance, even though I don't think I've needed that two hours in years, especially with TSA precheck. And it continued - we were through security by 1:30 pm. So 70 minutes til take off - plenty of time.

Trevor had luck with his southwest boarding group and I did not - he was in the middle of A group and I somehow was B1. Not sure how that happened, with us checking in at the same time! But it worked out for him - after they did pre-boarding where the poor gate agent was all by himself and had to wheel all 5 folks in wheelchairs down the ramp all alone, and Trevor got to board, he got the exit row with extra leg room! And then when I boarded, I got the aisle seat. And we got super lucky - the middle seat stayed empty! Woot!

The flight home was quiet and uneventful - Trevor took a nap that looked like the most uncomfortable nap on the planet.

We were back home by 6 pm, unpacking and doing laundry and all the things.

It's always sad when the Disney trip ends, but we had a fantastic trip for Trevor's birthday, so I can't complain too much about it ending. Stay tuned for the wrap up post!

Fun with Metrics:
Steps walked: 8954 steps (3.3 miles)
Ride count: 0 (tried for Tiana's but no dice)
Savings with AP discount: $0.00

 

[Araminta18]

Wrap up and Haul (Part 1)​

Ok, haul!!

First up, cookies:

The front is all the cookies we got from Christmas party, including all those gingerbread ones the CMs gave Trevor for his birthday. We didn't actually try any of those while we were there (some of the rest we did), but they were good! Soft. not overly sweet or seasoned. Trevor originally thought they may have much frosting but no it was just the right amount.


Better view. Honestly, my favorite gingerbread is those in the box from the Ganachery!


I love how this looks but still not my favorite - tastes too strongly of licorice.

Love the snowflakes!

And on to souvenirs, including from Universal:

Wicked spirit jersey!


Love this Mary Poppins shirt.



These were the medallions and the map we got from the garage sale - like 3 of these they paid us $3 to buy.



Two bags and two wallets in one picture...I may have a problem.

 

[Araminta18]

Wrap up and Haul (Part 2)​

Trevor was on the fence our whole Universal time on that Hogsmeade pillow but he eventually caved.


Cherry Tree Lane! Fun fact, one of our bathrooms I've turned into a Mary Poppins bathroom, so that Cherry Tree Lane sign is in there. Also Bluey crocs! And do you not love the stickers from Muppet labs?!


I buy postcards and use them as art prints.


We bought the souvenir photo from Tiana's - they have such cool ephemera in it, including a recipe! Also, we stopped at Japan pavilion and that's where I got the Howl's Moving Castle print.


Lotions and toiletries from Grand Floridian!


And the tea and hot cocoa and rock candy we stole/took from the Lounge.

Yea, overall, great trip. We had so much fun riding all the things at Universal and I was so glad I fit on everything! And then the Grand was everything we wanted, and Trevor got so much fun attention for his birthday. Just so nice. The only problem is now we're spoiled - how do we not stay there every time? (the sticker shock is the answer but still )

Thank you for reading and following along! I really appreciate it!!!

EPIC Fun with Metrics:
Steps Walked: 171,696 steps (65.5 miles)

Video Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLD2n0Bq57wmb1zbm7W-wLbCPJQqHfxfX

Songs Heard While Riding Guardians:
Disco Inferno
One Way or Another
September

Money saved with AP discount:
$501.11

Total Ride Count:
Tiffany: 63
Trevor: 61

Universal Ride Count (31 for Tiffany, 29 for Trevor):
Trollercoaster x2
Gringotts
Revenge of the Mummy x2
VillainCon x2
Spiderman
Bilge Rat Barges
Hagrids x4
Velocicoaster x6
Forbidden Journey
Seuss Trolley
Kong
Hogwarts Express x3
River Adventure
Cat in the Hat
Caro-Seuss-el
Rip Ride Rocket (Tiffany)
Hulk (once for Trevor, x2 for Tiffany)

Disney Ride Count for both of us: 32
Space Mountain x2
Tower of Terror
Rockin Roller Coaster
Star Tours
Rise of the Resistance
Millennium Falcon
Slinky x2
Toy Story Mania
Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway
Haunted Mansion
Seven Dwarfs
Tiana's x3
Big Thunder Mountain
Jingle Cruise
Pirates
Buzz
Guardians x3
Living with the Land
Frozen Ever After
Soarin
Safari
Dinosaur
Everest x3
Flight of Passage

 

[bettertheangel]

It's over too soon! But it sounds like it was an amazing trip. Thank you for sharing it with us. Your posts are a pleasure to read.

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

That was an impressive haul! Looks like a great trip