"Let's See What We Can See!"- Surviving WDW With Three Under 3! COMPLETED 2/18!

[ambula603]

I'm here! We had end of school and a big camping trip but now I am finally able to check the boards. I love your day zero recaps.

What is with the smelly people? Ew!!

Here we go! So ready to see what you saw!

 

[Mollydolly334]

This should be the DIS official motto: 5.25 hours of sleep -- not ideal, but enough to get you through your day when paired with Disney Adrenaline!



Sounds and LOOKS ah-mazing!



Maybe I'm just tired but this is the funniest thing I've ever seen an airport do. An OFFICIAL "Recombobulation Area." This is amazing, and I need all airports to designate an area as such.



Gross behavior + a gross smelling guy. Omg. I'm so sorry for you both! Hopefully your return flight wasn't like this!



I love this recurring theme of "passing the time by watching Dance Moms" in this TR



YAY! I can't wait to hear about GDT!!!

Luckily, both of our return flights were MUCH better! Hahah I always love that sign!! I remember the first time they added it, we all just laughed so hard! Dance Moms is definitely a "comfort show" for me something I can just have on in the background and not have to pay attention to!! What show is that for you??

Disney Adrenline has gotten me through many a Disney travel day.

Great morning plans!

So nice to have 1:1 time with your mom!

Yum!!!!! I would love both those choices.

A library in the airport???? That's the best thing ever!!



What in the world is wrong with people? Seriously that behaviour is too, too much!

Ewwwwww!! Personal hygiene people! It's not that difficult.

Much better! Although I need to eat earlyish IRL as I am usually in bed by 9:30.

I loved getting breakfast with my mom! It was a perfect, relaxing way to start the trip And I KNOW! People were crazy all day today; luckily, it was the worst behavior we saw all trip!

You have to tell me about this Dance Moms reunion from when the girls are older. I loved watching and over 2020 I watched all the seasons with my daughter.

Your travel day sounds like it was a really nice day and everything went as planned.

Its on the Lifetime App!! It's Brooke, Paige, Chloe, Kendall, Jojo, and Kalani, plus all of their moms, coming back and talking over big moments on the show, how they are doing now, etc. It was a great watch! And YES it was a very smooth travel day, thank goodness!

I knew Tom cheated but had no idea it was with Raquel!!! I lost a lot of time following that story.
So my husband and I like to send each other gifs throughout the day to get a laugh, and he tried a few times to send me Vanderpump ones. But he had to ask me, "Why are most of them this British kid yelling?" And then curiosity got the better of him and he wanted to see the It's Not About the Pasta scene. Pretty sure I'm close to getting him to fall down the VPR rabbithole.

Good to know about the Valley. I ended up watching Vanderpump Villa. It was okay.




This is exactly why I've been hesitant to buy some! Good to know.




That's awesome! I'm glad you were able to go to the airport together.




A great way to start vacation. I'm sure you both were so, so excited to be headed to Disney (at different times, but still).




What?!?! This is awesome!




Oh dear. That's very unfortunate.
When I lived in Europe, Germany especially, this was a constant battle. Summertime, no a/c, deodorant not being a popular item, conserving water a big deal...
Hopefully the people at Coronado and Disney Springs were more cognizant and didn't make Jake suffer any longer.

HAHA I love it!! I have such a love/hate relationship with James. He's so rude sometimes and his issues with alcohol has always made it hard for me to like him. But, dang, he is SO FUNNY (100% the funniest of the group) and makes for perfect reality TV lol.

Oh my goodness, I bet it was awful in Europe!! Definitely a culture difference... I bet that took so long to get used to!! The U.S is just so anal about deodorant/cleanliness etc!!

It really was a relaxing, smooth day (especially for a travel day)! We got very lucky!

That's where I get my Disney jewelry. I don't have the Minnie earrings but I do have a pair of Goofy earrings.

TJ Maxx is the best for cheap, cute stuff!!

This was such a sweet little moment, it brought a tear to my eye! What a great way to start your day, and even better that Jake was able to join you for the ride to the airport after.


This is so awesome; I had no idea!!! What a great idea. I would definitely take advantage of this if Chicago offered one! PS It made me laugh when you mentioned the cranky TSA at O'Hare--it is SO noticeable, isn't it?!! They're better at Midway


I feel like I need a Recombobulation Area for my whole life. Especially right now at the end of the school year!


ME TOO!!! That's where I like to run ahead to the bathroom, too

It was the perfect travel morning spending it with my mom HAHA- The O'hare people are so Scrooge-like! Jake and I much prefer flying out of Midway... O'hare is just so much closer to both us and Haley/Ryan! But parking/navigation at O'hare is an absolute nightmare.

What a cool airport!!!

I love the Milwaukee airport! But I may be biased because I usually associate it with fun vacation memories

Oh this is too funny, I sent my mom a picture of this like a month ago since she's always saying she's discombobulated after going through TSA, and I told her she needs to find this airport to fly into from now on! I had no idea where it was! Apparently we need to take a trip to Milwaukee!

And what was with all the stinky people?!?! I'm not sure if I could handle that for a flight, flying is stressful enough without having to deal with a stinky neighbor plus all the people watching movies without headphones! I'd lose it, I'm so impressed you kept your cool!

HAHA I love it! You definitely should visit Milwaukee- it's like a mini, quirkier Chicago Hit me up if you need any recs

Jake and I are (to a fault) non-confrontational so even if they were directly next to us or blowing smoke in our face we probably wouldn't say anything we need to get better at that!!

I need to remember to go there. I got my DD some earrings for Christmas but haven't bought myself something. Yours are very cute and your travel outfit looks great.



What a great way to start your vacation.



One on one time between mothers and daughters is special. I have 2 daughters and it's tough when I'm dealing with both in Disney. It's fun to be all together but they both pull me in different directions.



I love this idea.







I'm feeling some foreshadowing here.

You're a very cute cheerleader. There's no way you would have ruined anyone's Disney trip.








I love this text!!!


Looking forward to more.

Awwww, thank you so much I'd like to think I wasn't annoying as a tween though. And yes, definitely some foreshadowing... absolutely no rude or out-of-line behavior from the cheerleaders at all! Just the sheer amount of them made things difficult!

I'm here! We had end of school and a big camping trip but now I am finally able to check the boards. I love your day zero recaps.

What is with the smelly people? Ew!!

Here we go! So ready to see what you saw!

Yay!! Hi Amber so glad you're here! It was a fantastic trip!

 

[Mollydolly334]

Day 1 (The One Where Everyone is Rude and Stinky!)- Part 2!


I last left off at Jake and I’s exciting arrival at CSR in our Lyft! We pulled in at 6:05 PM.



So, 1.5 hours from landing to arriving at the hotel; not too shabby, especially since we hit some rush-hour traffic!

We were immediately hit with the classic “Disney lobby” smell as we arrived, as well as this beautiful view!





WOW! So stunning and clean! We had been watching a lot of POVs and tours of this resort before arrival, and somehow, the lobby seemed smaller and more intimate in-person than it did on videos. We loved all of the gold undertones and Spanish vibes!

We headed straight to the room to drop off our stuff and let Jake switch from glasses into contacts.



We were assigned room #0465 on the fourth floor of Gran Destino Tower!















Overall, we were VERY impressed with this room, especially at the price point we paid. It was definitely the nicest and fanciest room of the 3 resorts I stayed at. It looked brand spankin’ new! The shower and bed were especially fantastic and felt very luxe. It didn’t feel like your typical Moderate at all!



The room also had a pretty sweet view of a parking lot , but we could see the backside of the Cabanas buildings as well as some of the Swan and Dolphin!

We were in and out of the room pretty quickly (I was kind of rushing Jake along, he could tell that I was ready to GO! ). Jake and I headed down to the bus stop at 6:25, headed for Disney Springs!



Can’t you see the bliss on our faces? I was so overjoyed to be back in my happy place.

A Disney Springs bus came about 10 minutes later… and this was where we really started to see the “cons” with CSR.

Enter… cheerleaders… EVERYWHERE.

I had kind of a bad feeling about staying at CSR and the cheerleaders after seeing so many in the airport… I knew that CSR was a convention hotel and usually the home of large groups like this. But, this bus ride was actually the roughest of the trip . It was absolutely packed to the gills with excited and loud cheerleaders, (the excited and loud kids I don’t care about, it was just really crowded)!

We also got to experience firsthand the inconvenience of having multiple bus stops at the same resort. There were 3 additional bus stops after the Tower before finally getting on the road… which felt like an eternity to two people who just wanted to get their vacation STARTED!

We pulled into Disney Springs at 7:05 PM! It was absolutely gorgeous outside; nice and hot with a hazy dusk starting.



If you read my PTR or know my sugar-addict self at all, you’ll know where our first stop was going to be…



Gideon’s Bakehouse! Are you surprised? You shouldn’t be

The lady running the line stated that there was no virtual queue at this time, and that the standby line was about 45 minutes. Jake (bless his soul) said that it was totally fine, but that he was going to find an alcoholic libation to pass the time. I set up camp in line for the meantime!



The CM gave me a card with all of the May specials on it, but let’s be honest, I had this menu memorized before we left Wisconsin

Jake returned shortly after with his drink! He stopped by the Shine Bar at Homecomin’ to grab a RumShine Punch (Strawberry RumShine, blackberry brandy, banana liquor, pineapple juice, and house-made grenadine). He had asked for their most popular shine, and this is what they gave him!



I took a sip, and it was yummy but STRONG. Jake hadn’t really eaten all day besides plane snacks in preparation for our big dinner at Homecomin’, and he was feeling the effects QUICKLY.

It was such a beautiful night, and the vibes were poppin’. There was a live band outside of Raglan Road playing Irish music, and everyone was laughing and dancing up a storm! We had a great time just people-watching!



The tipsier Jake got, the quieter I got!! I hadn’t eaten anything since my big breakfast at 9:30 AM Wisconsin time (it was almost 8 PM Florida time), and although I didn’t feel physically hungry, I felt my blood sugar start to drop! I was a little concerned, because I didn’t feel very Disney-ish at this point Jake, on the other hand, was feeling ALL of the Disney magic. Luckily, Jake knows that Quiet Molly = Hangry Molly, so he knew that all I needed was some food and I’d be good as new.

The sun was just starting to set, and it was gorgeous!





Fortunately, we only had to wait about 30 minutes instead of the 45 they originally predicted, and we were inside by 7:45!



This place is so cool and unique on the inside. It would fit right in at Harry Potter World at Universal! After much deliberation, we decided on a Peanut Butter Cold Brew for me, and these items to split between us for the next few days: a cup of Peanut Butter Buttercream, a cup of Marshmallow Buttercream, a Cookies and Cream Cookie, a Peanut Butter Cold Brew Cookie (the May special cookie), a Triple Chocolate Chip Cookie, a Peanut Butter Crunch Cookie, and a slice of Valentina’s Cake (red velvet cake with cookies and cream buttercream).

We secured the GOODS!



Immediately after receiving it, I took a large swig of my Peanut Butter Cold Brew. That, my friends, brought me back to LIFE!! Once I got that boost of sugar and caffeine, I was ready to conquer our first day!!



The Peanut Butter Cold Brew was really good! Nice and sweet, and I could taste the maple syrup they use as sweetener. However, I’m a peanut butter addict and regularly eat it out of the jar with just a spoon… the more the merrier!! I could have definitely used more peanut butter/salty flavor in this. But, it was lovely to sip on this evening- I rate this an 8/10 and I would definitely get it again!

The sunset had gone from gorgeous to STUNNING.



Disney Springs was SO photogenic tonight! I had such a rush of gratitude that I actually teared up. I was finally feeling like I was in “vacation mode,” and I was in my favorite place with my favorite person. Life was good

Jake and I decided to hit up one more place to grab a snack to eat before dinner- Everglazed!



On the way, we saw this ad for the new Planet Of The Apes movie. Fun fact- Jake and I have never seen a move in the theater together!! We started dating during the height of COVID (January 2021) and we just never thought to go to the movies together (although we have been to the drive-in movie theater a couple times). My mom got us a gift card to a movie theater for Christmas to break this streak, and Jake wants to use it on this movie, since the original Planet Of The Apes movie is his all-time favorite movie!

We popped into Everglazed to buy our donut, then sat outside by the food trucks to enjoy!

We decided on the ube glazed donut. Readers of my past TRs will know that after our honeymoon trip to Hawaii, Jake and I became obsessed with all things ube-flavored!! For those who haven’t had ube before, it is a purple sweet potato that has a nutty, vanilla-like flavor (similar to almond extract or cake batter flavoring). It’s so delish!



This donut was great!! It had a squishy, almost mochi-like texture to the dough and we could tell that it was very fresh. However, it had a bit too much sanding sugar on the outside and got really crunchy towards the end. Again, we rated this an 8/10- we would definitely buy and eat this again!

And, because we had no self-control, we decided to dig into our buttercream frosting from Gideon’s as well



We tried to change the lighting on my camera, and it made the frosting look radioactive!



So, previously, the only frosting from Gideon’s that I had tried was the peanut butter buttercream (I had a slice of the PB&J cake back in July). As always, that frosting was INCREDIBLE and had such strong PB flavoring.

However, I tried a spoonful of the marshmallow buttercream, and immediately hated it. I strongly dislike cream cheese frosting, and this definitely had that “cheesy” tang to it. Jake, on the other hand, LOVES cream cheese frosting (our wedding cake definitely required some compromise ), so he just took the marshmallow buttercream for himself, and I happily took the peanut butter buttercream! We had a few more forkfuls before calling it quits and saving the rest for later. We didn’t want to spoil our big dinner!

After our sweet snacks, we were definitely ready for some shopping!




​

 

[ambula603]

Luckily, Jake knows that Quiet Molly = Hangry Molly,

Smart man! Glad it was a shorter wait than expected.

a cup of Marshmallow Buttercream

Say whaaaaat!? I had no idea this was a thing. But like you, I also do not like cream cheese icing, so good to know I probably wouldn't love this. But the idea of a cup of icing is incredible!

OK CSR is showing off! I love those details. I may have to check it out if the price is right! We are looking at a night or two this fall break so maybe I should entertain it. Will have to see how the rest of the trip goes for you there. I don't love a ton of bus stops, but that lobby is immaculate! And the bathroom was gorgeous, too!

 

[Newsies]

We headed straight to the room to drop off our stuff and let Jake switch from glasses into contacts.

This made me LOL because this was also the first thing I did when we arrived this year

We also got to experience firsthand the inconvenience of having multiple bus stops at the same resort. There were 3 additional bus stops after the Tower before finally getting on the road… which felt like an eternity to two people who just wanted to get their vacation STARTED!

Ughhh so rough!!! This is my least favorite part of the mods, the internal buses are such a killer, and packed to the brim with cheerleaders? Nope nope nopity nope.

It was such a beautiful night, and the vibes were poppin’. There was a live band outside of Raglan Road playing Irish music, and everyone was laughing and dancing up a storm! We had a great time just people-watching!

Nobody talks about this, but people watching the Raglan Road crowd is the best part about waiting for Gideons!

Disney Springs was SO photogenic tonight! I had such a rush of gratitude that I actually teared up. I was finally feeling like I was in “vacation mode,” and I was in my favorite place with my favorite person. Life was good

This makes me SOOOOO happy to read. I'm so glad to hear that the cold brew was able to help you rebound! That first day of Disney is always such a toss up because you can get into a lull at one point and realize you're exhausted, excited, hungry, and a bit nervous/not focused on eating all at the same time. I'm so happy that you were able to overcome the "first day hump" and start really enjoying your evening at Springs!!!

This donut was great!! It had a squishy, almost mochi-like texture to the dough and we could tell that it was very fresh. However, it had a bit too much sanding sugar on the outside and got really crunchy towards the end. Again, we rated this an 8/10- we would definitely buy and eat this again!

This looks so good!

 

[Mamiamjo]

Hi Molly, Enjoying reading about your trip! Looking forward to the rest of your report.

 

[piglet1979]

I’m a peanut butter addict and regularly eat it out of the jar with just a spoon

This is my daughter. I am not a big Peanut Butter person. I will eat it but it has to be with something else and not a lot of it.

 

[suse66]

We were immediately hit with the classic “Disney lobby” smell as we arrived, as well as this beautiful view!

Gorgeous!

We were assigned room #0465 on the fourth floor of Gran Destino Tower!

Beautiful room!

Can’t you see the bliss on our faces? I was so overjoyed to be back in my happy place.

Awwww!

We also got to experience firsthand the inconvenience of having multiple bus stops at the same resort. There were 3 additional bus stops after the Tower before finally getting on the road… which felt like an eternity to two people who just wanted to get their vacation STARTED!

This is where I took a page out of Caroline's playbook...budget a little extra money for ride share. It really made all the difference!

If you read my PTR or know my sugar-addict self at all, you’ll know where our first stop was going to be…

Jake returned shortly after with his drink! He stopped by the Shine Bar at Homecomin’ to grab a RumShine Punch (Strawberry RumShine, blackberry brandy, banana liquor, pineapple juice, and house-made grenadine). He had asked for their most popular shine, and this is what they gave him!

Yum!

The tipsier Jake got, the quieter I got!! I hadn’t eaten anything since my big breakfast at 9:30 AM Wisconsin time (it was almost 8 PM Florida time), and although I didn’t feel physically hungry, I felt my blood sugar start to drop! I was a little concerned, because I didn’t feel very Disney-ish at this point Jake, on the other hand, was feeling ALL of the Disney magic. Luckily, Jake knows that Quiet Molly = Hangry Molly, so he knew that all I needed was some food and I’d be good as new.

Oh oh! Good thing Jake knows his wife well!

Immediately after receiving it, I took a large swig of my Peanut Butter Cold Brew. That, my friends, brought me back to LIFE!! Once I got that boost of sugar and caffeine, I was ready to conquer our first day!!

Yay!

The sunset had gone from gorgeous to STUNNING.

Love the sun over the water!

We decided on the ube glazed donut. Readers of my past TRs will know that after our honeymoon trip to Hawaii, Jake and I became obsessed with all things ube-flavored!! For those who haven’t had ube before, it is a purple sweet potato that has a nutty, vanilla-like flavor (similar to almond extract or cake batter flavoring). It’s so delish!

Oh so that is what Ube is like! I was wondering and wanted to know before Hawaii next summer.

However, I tried a spoonful of the marshmallow buttercream, and immediately hated it. I strongly dislike cream cheese frosting, and this definitely had that “cheesy” tang to it. Jake, on the other hand, LOVES cream cheese frosting (our wedding cake definitely required some compromise ), so he just took the marshmallow buttercream for himself, and I happily took the peanut butter buttercream! We had a few more forkfuls before calling it quits and saving the rest for later. We didn’t want to spoil our big dinner!

I did not know you could buy frosting!! I may or may not make chocolate buttercream frosting when I am super stressed and eat it right out of the bowl!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Great start! We love staying at Gran Destino! We often use Lyft here, it is “cheap” because CSR is close to everything!
I really like the peanut butter cold brew from Gideon’s Bakehouse.
I’m glad you felt better after a little snack!
The moonshine from Homecomin is delicious and strong!

 

[amazingact21]

Gideon's at the start of a Disney trip is my idea of perfection.

I'm glad to hear the Ube donut at Everglazed is good. All I've ever heard from the shop is that the donuts are too sweet, but I've never seen anyone discuss the Ube one before. Now I know what to order if I ever go.

I was laughing at Jake getting hit by the moonshine. I'm sure it was a strong drink after a day of traveling.

 

[hpygrll]

We love Everglazed so much - we always stop there the first day to buy a bunch for the room (we're usually there for race weekends so definitely need the donuts after that!).

Also, we LOVE the 2 person exit row seat on Southwest - that's like Southwest's version of first class! haha - we always try to grab that row.

Loving your report so far.

 

[SimplyGoofy]

My goodness, reading through your daily plans makes me tired! I’m impressed you were able to keep all of that straight!

Despite the early wake up (isn’t that always the case on Disney days?!) I’m glad you enjoyed a smooth travel day. I’m sorry about all the stinky people. It was SO HOT when we were there that I was worried about being the stinky one… I wore plenty of deodorant, but surely it doesn’t last long in that heat!

Gran Destino Tower looks amazing! It really looks like a deluxe! It reminds me a lot of the premiere/deluxe resorts at Universal.

That peanut butter cold brew at Gideon’s sounds delicious. One day!

 

[vamassey1]

We were immediately hit with the classic “Disney lobby” smell as we arrived, as well as this beautiful view!

This really is a beautiful lobby!

Overall, we were VERY impressed with this room, especially at the price point we paid.

We stayed her for 3 nights in 2021 and really loved it.

Can’t you see the bliss on our faces? I was so overjoyed to be back in my happy place.

Yes, I can see it.

Jake returned shortly after with his drink! He stopped by the Shine Bar at Homecomin’ to grab a RumShine Punch (Strawberry RumShine, blackberry brandy, banana liquor, pineapple juice, and house-made grenadine). He had asked for their most popular shine, and this is what they gave him!

This sounds so good.

We had a great time just people-watching!

I love people watching.

We secured the GOODS!

Immediately after receiving it, I took a large swig of my Peanut Butter Cold Brew. That, my friends, brought me back to LIFE!! Once I got that boost of sugar and caffeine, I was ready to conquer our first day!!

I keep hearing good things about this drink. I really need to try it.

The sunset had gone from gorgeous to STUNNING.

Beautiful!

Disney Springs was SO photogenic tonight! I had such a rush of gratitude that I actually teared up. I was finally feeling like I was in “vacation mode,” and I was in my favorite place with my favorite person. Life was good

Perfect description.

 

[cheryllarsen]

What fun! Can't wait to see how it goes!

 

[cheryllarsen]

Thanks for sharing! I enjoyed reading this post.

 

[cindianne320]

The Tower room looks amazing!
I'm embarrassed that I don't even know where Gideon's is... I need to try it, but the line intimidates me! Can't wait to hear about your dinner!

 

[Mollydolly334]

Smart man! Glad it was a shorter wait than expected.


Say whaaaaat!? I had no idea this was a thing. But like you, I also do not like cream cheese icing, so good to know I probably wouldn't love this. But the idea of a cup of icing is incredible!

OK CSR is showing off! I love those details. I may have to check it out if the price is right! We are looking at a night or two this fall break so maybe I should entertain it. Will have to see how the rest of the trip goes for you there. I don't love a ton of bus stops, but that lobby is immaculate! And the bathroom was gorgeous, too!

I was SO excited about the cup of icing!! I love to buy cans of frosting and eat it with a spoon at home, but I (usually, unless I'm PMSing ) never finish the can. These mini sizes are perfect so that the frosting doesn't harden over time and get gross!

I would definitely say that CSR feels more like a Deluxe than a Moderate. It has a fancier, more mature feel to it, which your girls might like since they are older!!

This made me LOL because this was also the first thing I did when we arrived this year



Ughhh so rough!!! This is my least favorite part of the mods, the internal buses are such a killer, and packed to the brim with cheerleaders? Nope nope nopity nope.



Nobody talks about this, but people watching the Raglan Road crowd is the best part about waiting for Gideons!



This makes me SOOOOO happy to read. I'm so glad to hear that the cold brew was able to help you rebound! That first day of Disney is always such a toss up because you can get into a lull at one point and realize you're exhausted, excited, hungry, and a bit nervous/not focused on eating all at the same time. I'm so happy that you were able to overcome the "first day hump" and start really enjoying your evening at Springs!!!



This looks so good!

HAHA I remember reading about the contacts in your TR and laughing, being like "I just wrote that down in my TR too )

YES about Day 1. I feel like either Day 1 is kind of a bust or the best day ever. Jake and I were saying that Day 1 (for us) should always be either a resort day or a DS day. Historically, that schedule just always goes smoother for us. I feel like going to a park on Day 1 is so overwhelming because you're tired and just trying to take everything in- and not even realizing that you are ACTUALLY IN DISNEY WORLD!

Hi Molly, Enjoying reading about your trip! Looking forward to the rest of your report.

Hi!!! Thank you so much for reading along

This is my daughter. I am not a big Peanut Butter person. I will eat it but it has to be with something else and not a lot of it.

It's funny, because I used to not like PB all that much (I've even talked about it in my oldest TR!). I didn't like anything that was "too rich" or "too heavy." Clearly, that has done a 180 Not sure why, maybe just my maturing taste buds? I really got on the PB train in 2017 or so.

Gorgeous!

Beautiful room!

Awwww!

This is where I took a page out of Caroline's playbook...budget a little extra money for ride share. It really made all the difference!



Yum!

Oh oh! Good thing Jake knows his wife well!

Yay!

Love the sun over the water!

Oh so that is what Ube is like! I was wondering and wanted to know before Hawaii next summer.

I did not know you could buy frosting!! I may or may not make chocolate buttercream frosting when I am super stressed and eat it right out of the bowl!

OMG Susan you need to get ALLLL of the ube things in Hawaii!! So excited for you; you will LOVE Hawaii and Aulani I know it!! If you need any tips please just let me know!

Same here with the frosting If I'm PMSing, I can demolish an entire can in a weekend (my favorite kind is the Duncan Hines Dolly Parton vanilla buttercream or the Pillsbury chocolate fudge ). I'm too nervous to make my own, I'm afraid I'll screw it up and the butter will break or something!

Great start! We love staying at Gran Destino! We often use Lyft here, it is “cheap” because CSR is close to everything!
I really like the peanut butter cold brew from Gideon’s Bakehouse.
I’m glad you felt better after a little snack!
The moonshine from Homecomin is delicious and strong!

Hi Caroline!! It definitely won't be our last time staying at GDT. I remember reading lots of your TRs where you've stayed there! We just need to check the convention calendar We definitely should have just Uber'ed to DS- luckily our bus service got much better as the weekend progressed but that first day it was ROUGH!

Gideon's at the start of a Disney trip is my idea of perfection.

I'm glad to hear the Ube donut at Everglazed is good. All I've ever heard from the shop is that the donuts are too sweet, but I've never seen anyone discuss the Ube one before. Now I know what to order if I ever go.

I was laughing at Jake getting hit by the moonshine. I'm sure it was a strong drink after a day of traveling.

SERIOUSLY. Day 1 out of 11 at Disney and a stop at Gideon's is my personal heaven. The ube donut is definitely not too sweet- it's a perfect balance of sweetness and just doughiness. And it's definitely less crazy than the other ones topped with candy and cookies

LOL luckily Drunk Jake is nowhere near as much of a menace as Drunk Molly is. But I was definitely harshing his mellow

We love Everglazed so much - we always stop there the first day to buy a bunch for the room (we're usually there for race weekends so definitely need the donuts after that!).

Also, we LOVE the 2 person exit row seat on Southwest - that's like Southwest's version of first class! haha - we always try to grab that row.

Loving your report so far.

Thank you so much for following along! We were TOTALLY kicking ourselves for not snagging that exit row. Wont make that mistake again!!

Donuts are the PERFECT carby snack for lots of running!! Sadly we didn't make it back there; I really wanted to try the Apple Strudel and the Peanut Butter Explosion donuts. Next time!! What donuts are your fave??

My goodness, reading through your daily plans makes me tired! I’m impressed you were able to keep all of that straight!

Despite the early wake up (isn’t that always the case on Disney days?!) I’m glad you enjoyed a smooth travel day. I’m sorry about all the stinky people. It was SO HOT when we were there that I was worried about being the stinky one… I wore plenty of deodorant, but surely it doesn’t last long in that heat!

Gran Destino Tower looks amazing! It really looks like a deluxe! It reminds me a lot of the premiere/deluxe resorts at Universal.

That peanut butter cold brew at Gideon’s sounds delicious. One day!

It was EXHAUSTING but somehow we did it!! I'm not usually a Type A person but I am when it come to two things: Work and Vacation

Oh, Jake and I were DEFINITELY worried about it all trip; we joked on Day 1 that it was US that were stinky because we were the common denominator in all of those situations!! I'm sure I offended other people with my stench at some point because the heat was definitely intense!!

Yes! I would definitely put CSR as a "Deluxe" instead of a "Moderate." I feel like they need to change that ranking!

Also I'm soooo excited for your TR! I read your run-through on your PTR and it sounds like you had an amazing trip- but I'm SO sorry that you and the girls came down with COVID!! Evie, Ollie, and Ethan all came home with congestion/coughs, but somehow the adults came out unscathed. I hope you're feeling much better!!

This really is a beautiful lobby!



We stayed her for 3 nights in 2021 and really loved it.



Yes, I can see it.



This sounds so good.



I love people watching.







I keep hearing good things about this drink. I really need to try it.



Beautiful!




Perfect description.

We LOVED CSR and will definitely be back! Just need to check the convention schedule first

The peanut butter cold brew was the perfect little pick-me-up and had the right amount of sweetness. If you're a coffee person you will LOVE this!

Disney was so photogenic tonight I took soooo many pics!

What fun! Can't wait to see how it goes!

Thanks for sharing! I enjoyed reading this post.

Thank you so much for reading along!! We had an absolute blast and I can't wait to share more!!

The Tower room looks amazing!
I'm embarrassed that I don't even know where Gideon's is... I need to try it, but the line intimidates me! Can't wait to hear about your dinner!

HAHA don't be embarrassed- I used to be "anti-Gideon's" back when it first opened because of the crazy lines. But then I finally tried it and loved it! The cookies are great, but the cake is where it's at!!

 

[DVCjj]

Love this trip report as always. I get excited when I see you're doing another one!
I laughed out loud about your eating frosting by the spoonful and immediately thought "possibly a little yucky".....then I remembered I've made a few mini meals out of homemade Tollhouse cookie dough. Don't care about the cookies...just want the dough. Last night I made yet another banana bread and just had a taste for the dough (added tons of walnuts). DH loves it baked, I love it unbaked. So I have NO reason whatsoever to judge your frosting. Yes, yes, I've heard about cookie dough and raw eggs for years and years. I'm really old, did 50 miles (7 days at Disney) and I'm not dead yet. Yes, it sounds reckless but I get a stomach ache from vegetables and never from dough.

 

[Mollydolly334]

Day 1 (The One Where Everyone is Rude and Stinky!)- Part 3!


After stuffing our faces with some much-needed sugar, we took a pit stop in Candy Cauldron . Don’t worry, it was just for a bottle of water!! Then, we went to DisneyStyle to look around. I love this store! I feel like they always have the cutest clothes in here compared to the other clothes-centric shops.





I took some pictures to keep in mind for some future souvenirs! We didn’t buy any souvenirs this night. I never like to buy things on the first night of the trip… I want to see *ALL* of the things and make sure I spend my money wisely!





We headed over to the Marketplace section to hit up some of the shops around there as well!



I was instantly drawn to the cute pattern on this hat in World of Disney. I love Flower! Sadly, I’m not much of a hat person, so I passed this up. Would I find another souvenir with this pattern later in the trip??



I also took a pic of this Spirit Jersey to keep in mind for later!

Next, Jake and I wandered over by Rainforest Cafe to hit up some of the shops there.



I took a picture of the new Eet restaurant to show Haley!! Haley and I are both huge fans of Food Network and were really hoping to eat here at some point in the trip.

Jake and I browsed the Marketplace Co-Op, Tren-D, Disney Days of Christmas, and The Art of Disney. Throughout all of the stores, we noticed a TON of Mr. Toad merch.



This made Jake very happy, since Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride was one of his favorite rides in Disneyland when we went for the first time back in April 2023. He loves the general insanity and chaos of that ride.

We were starting to get ready for some real food, so we headed over through The Landing to our final stop- Homecomin’!

Jake and I checked into Homecomin’ and were seated in no time at 9:15 PM! When we were planning the trip, I asked Jake if he had any input on ADRs. Zero hesitation, he mentioned Homecomin’. I instantly agreed; I’ve eaten at Homecomin’ many times, and it consistently has some of my favorite food at WDW. We thought that it would be the perfect way to start the trip off with a bang! We had a fantastic meal here on our last WDW trip together back in November 2021, and Jake still talks about the devilled eggs! So, those were a must-eat tonight.

We had a cozy little table tucked next to some booths. We sat directly across the booth that my friends and I sat at on my WDW bachelorette party back in July.





Some alcoholic drinks were in order! I had been debating ordering The Hummingbird drink, but I don’t prefer cream-based alcoholic drinks. So, we decided to share the Shine Flight (with waters on the side)!



From left to right: Strawberry Lemonade, Rumshine Punch (Jake had a whole cup of this a couple hours prior), Blue Hooch, Moonshine Margarita, and Sweet Tea Shine.

I went for the Blue Hooch first. I can never resist a blue drink!



However, this was my face immediately after drinking . It was SO STRONG and SO SOUR! Bleghhh!

It was fun sharing this flight, but I probably wouldn’t order it again. I’m really sensitive to the taste of alcohol, and all of these tasted soooo strong! I’ve loved the other cocktails I’ve ordered from here (The Florida Crush is amazing), so I’ll probably just stick to those from now on.

I overwhelmingly preferred the Strawberry Lemonade Shine, so I grabbed that glass all to myself, and I also claimed the Rumshine Punch and sipped on that. Jake loved the Sweet Tea Shine and the Moonshine Margarita, so he claimed those. Neither of us liked the Blue Hooch. The waitress commented that she likes to mix the flavors together, so at the end of the dinner, we had a fun time being chemists and mixing together the leftover flavors! The Rumshine Punch mixed with the Sweet Tea Shine was a good combo!

After those strong drinks, we were ready for some food! Of course, we had to start with the Church Lady Deviled Eggs.



YUM. These continue to be our favorite deviled eggs ever! The filling is so creamy and has the perfect amount of mustard.

Ever since I went to Homecomin’ for lunch on my bachelorette party last year, I knew what I was ordering. Last year, I had ordered the Sweet Potato Mash Skillet as a side, and it literally changed my life. Here’s a picture of its gloriousness.



Inside the skillet was the butteriest, creamiest mashed sweet potatoes I have ever eaten, and on top was a bruleed mini marshmallow layer. Sweet potato casserole is my favorite at Thanksgiving, and this put me in food paradise. It was still on the menu, so I was excited to order this again.

Imagine my sadness when the waitress exclaimed, “Oh, we changed the menu a couple weeks ago and we don’t have that anymore!”



Y’all. I almost started crying right there. That was like 75% of the reason I wanted to go back to Homecomin’ in the first place . I could tell the waitress felt bad, and she recommended the new side of roasted sweet potatoes instead!

I managed to put on the brave face after the trauma Jake and I decided to order a variety of things and pick on everything between the two of us. Jake went with the Chopped Pork BBQ Plate, which came with a biscuit, slaw, and a side of mac and cheese! I had the kid’s chicken tender meal- the waitress was really sweet and allowed me to order this as an adult. This came with two sides, so I chose the roasted sweet potatoes and the broccoli salad. I also ordered both the hot honey and sweet & spicy BBQ as sauces for my chicken!

It was right around when we ordered our entrees that we started noticing the tables sat around us. This was really the day of RUDE people!! There was a child at the booth next to us (probably around 5 years old) that was CLIMBING the booth and literally using our table as a stepstool and walking right on our table! Multiple times!! We tried shooting the parents a look, but Mom and Dad were blissfully oblivious, drinking their beverages and even encouraging the kid (probably because it kept him busy)!

There was also a table near us that had a really disruptive 8-ish year old boy. He came up to our table and gave us the middle finger while “flossing” (again, multiple times with parents blissfully unaware). We did our best to just ignore it, but when Jake got up to use the bathroom, this boy walked over to our table and literally sat right in Jake’s chair across from me! He stared right at me, like, “What are you gonna do about it?”



I was in shock. I work with neurodivergent children, so I definitely have a high level of patience/understanding when it comes to disruptive children. Obviously, when you vacation in WDW, you’re going to come across a lot of misbehaving kids! But, these were clear examples of just plain negligent parenting. It was wild- Jake and I were both dumbfounded!

Thankfully our food came out nice and quick; service was very prompt tonight!





The mac and cheese was definitely the star of the show! It was so creamy with TONS of cheese. It tied #1 for the best mac and cheese of the trip- and trust me, I had my fair share



Check out that cheese pull!

Honestly, all of the food was delicious. We definitely had to pace ourselves because it’s so rich, plus we were eating kind of late and had a big park day tomorrow! The breading on the chicken was so crispy and both sauces paired so well with it. The BBQ pork continues to be a favorite of mine here, and the broccoli salad was a nice fresh option (even though the gobs of mayo kind of canceled out the health benefits .) The sweet potatoes were fine. Can you tell I’m still salty?

We had really been hoping to order the Dessert Trio tonight; the Hummingbird Cake is right up Jake’s alley, and I’m a sucker for pecan pie. But, we admitted defeat and passed on dessert tonight! We figured we could snack on some of our Gideon’s treats back in the room later if we wanted a sugar fix.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable first meal in Disney at Homecomin’ (besides the bad parenting happening around us ). We were out of there at 10:20 PM and headed straight to the buses!

While we were walking up to the bus station, I texted my mom a picture of Jake and I from earlier in the day. As we were walking up to the bus sign, I confirmed our bus number with the attendant, and saw a bus labeled “Golden Oak.” I immediately said something to the effect of, “Ugh, the Golden Oak bus is for people who live in Disney, that is the dream!” and went on a tangent to Jake about Golden Oak and the beautiful houses. However, I didn’t realize that my “talk to text” was accidentally turned on, and it had been typing out my speech as a text to my mom!



Jake and I read this and cry-laughed for like 2 minutes. It made me sound absolutely delirious!!

A bus pulled up immediately, and we were back at CSR by 10:45 PM! Jake and I weren’t quite ready for the night to end, and we wanted to get familiar with the resort. So, we decided to take a stroll around CSR and “see what we could see.”









The pool was closed, but we were really excited to eventually try out the Dig Site!



Once we got to the Mercado area, Jake immediately began to feel all of the *nostaliga*! He said that he and his parents visited this QS and Rix Sports Bar often during their trips!





I had to take a picture of these giant pastries at Cafe Rix. The chocolate croissant was the size of my forearm!



This was the old lobby area before they built Gran Destino Tower!



We walked back to the tower and decided to check out Toledo and Dahlia Lounge before heading back to the room for the night! There was also a cute bar in the lobby called Barcelona Lounge; it was a coffee bar in the morning and turned into a regular bar at night! Sadly, we never got anything from here during our stay.





Very fancy! We knew that we at least needed to grab a drink from Dahlia Lounge at some point during our stay.

Finally, at 11:30, we retired back to the room. We took showers and dug into our Gideon’s cookies! I took a quick picture, but Jake decided to save the Valentina’s Cake slice for the next day.



Here’s our cookie haul!



From left to right: Peanut Butter Crunch Cookie, Triple Chocolate Chip Cookie, Cookies and Cream Cookie, and Peanut Butter Cold Brew Cookie.

Close-ups!





I used a little knife and cut the cookies into bite-size pieces so I could have a little smorgasbord, haha!



It ended up working out perfectly; my favorites were the Cookie and Cream and Peanut Butter Cold Brew Cookies, and Jake’s favorites were the Triple Chocolate Chip and Peanut Butter Crunch Cookies! I love when this happens . The Cookies and Cream cookie had a really nice vanilla flavor to it; almost like a malt flavoring (which I love). And the Peanut Butter Cold Brew cookie had a great amount of salt and was covered in Reese’s Pieces- my favorite candy!! The other two were good as well, but a bit too one-note for my preference.

Overall, we both really enjoyed that Gideon’s isn’t afraid to use salt in their cookies- it made the flavor so much more dynamic! That being said, these cookies were MONSTERS and super dense! I’m a sugar fiend and can demolish more sweets than a grown man . But, even I couldn’t eat a whole cookie in one sitting! These cookies lasted us for our whole stay at CSR, and we loved keeping them in the fridge and munching on them at night.

Right at midnight, I purchased Jake and I Genie + to have it all set for 7:00 AM the next day. Deliriously tired and happy to be at WDW, we watched some classic cartoons before falling asleep at 12:20 PM. We were pumped for our first park day tomorrow!



Goodnight!



​

 

[ambula603]

Inside the skillet was the butteriest, creamiest mashed sweet potatoes I have ever eaten, and on top was a bruleed mini marshmallow layer.

I immediately copied it to quote that I couldn't wait to try this...so I went on the same downhill spiral when I read they don't have it any more!

I managed to put on the brave face after the trauma

I am a little embarrassed to say I HAVE cried at a table when they didn't have my food. Usually, it is because we are traveling and I am tired, but mostly it is just because I LOVE food and usually look at the menu before we go. The girls find it hilarious.

But, these were clear examples of just plain negligent parenting.

This made me so mad. As parents, there are times we can't control our littles...but these kids sounded plenty old enough and the parents just seemed checked out. Maybe they shouldn't have had such a late dinner!?

Can you tell I’m still salty?

I'm still right there with ya!

Ok, I need more info about the Gran Destino Tower. Does it book separately? How do I find a calendar of events? We may stay there a night in October if I can find one. But I think I want the tower, not the older hotel.