franandaj
I'm so happy, I could BOUNCE!
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2009
- Messages
- 37,539
Hi folks! Here we are again with another trip!
If you don't already know us, my name is Alison. I've been writing trip reports here on the DIS for about 15 years now. My TRs used to feature my late wife and myself, but obviously that’s not possible any longer. My new traveling companion is Jill, whom I met here on the DIS. We’ve been friends IRL for over 10 years and we are starting to rack up quite a few adventures together.
So far we’ve been to the Caribbean, Mexico, New York City, Jordan, Egypt, Napa, London, Spain, Lisbon, and the Azores. And of course Walt Disney World and Disneyland. And we’ve got a whole lot more on the list too! But this trip is about going back to WDW.
I’m basically retired, kind of, and rapidly approaching one of those birthdays that ends in a zero. I live in Long Beach, CA so I'm Disneyland adjacent, which is why we have a lot of West Coast Disney adventures. I like to cook, play the saxophone, and hang out with my kitties. Jill just passed one of those birthdays that ends in a zero. She lives in Denver, and is still employed. Because of that she has to work around this pesky thing called "Paid Time Off". She loves the Chiefs, and is a mother of dachshunds.
I think this is about the time that I should insert a picture of us, so that you know who we are. This picture is from our Westbound Transatlantic Cruise that we finished just about two months ago. You can read about that trip in my ongoing Trip Report here.
Why did we choose to travel to WDW for Christmas you might ask? Well, sit back and I’ll tell you.
This trip came about when I was thinking of taking a solo trip to WDW during January of 2025. At that time I already had an upcoming trip with Jill and our friends, Jenny and Michael. We would be staying in one of the Copper Creek Cabins. But even before I left on that trip I knew it wouldn't be enough. It had been a while since I’d been to WDW and knew I needed several trips in the plans. Jill had recently converted to WFH and was contemplating joining me. She could work in the daytime and we could go out for dinner at night once she was through.
It was somewhere around the end of January, beginning of February 2024 that both of us realized that it had been a very long time since either of us had visited during the Christmas season and we made the switch from January to December. We booked each of our home resorts (Animal Kingdom and Bay Lake Tower) on February 4th, and then the planning began.
Around September Jill realized that due to an error (in her favor) of PTO, she wasn’t going to have to work at all during the trip, so the planning began all over again. We booked all our dining at about 2 months before the trip. Just a couple days before we left on our Westbound Transatlantic Cruise on the Disney Dream.
We returned home from the cruise on the first weekend of November. And we had about five weeks at our respective houses before embarking on this adventure. So let’s get started!
Day 1
In order to preserve precious PTO, Jill wanted to take the 5:35PM flight out of Denver, which meant I didn't have to take an early flight either. Now that I travel on my own (without an SO in tow), it's weird and amazing how I can have my suitcases packed and waiting in the foyer of my house the day before leaving.
My cat sitter and ride to the airport, Naked Jim, is getting up there in age and I think senility is kicking in. The day before the trip he called me to verify the time I wanted to be picked up. I told him 11:30AM. So when 11:30 came and went, I gave him a call immediately. Luckily he answered his phone. “4:30 today, right?” He said.
I was like, “umm….no. I said 11:30.”
“I'll be right over.” He said, hanging up the phone. Luckily the airport is super close, and he doesn't live far from me. I was at the airport and had dropped off my bag by 12:02, and was waiting at the gate by 12:23PM. My flight departed at 1:20, so I made it in plenty of time.
I sat at the front of the plane (which is unusual for me). Normally I go to the back of the plane to try and get a row to myself or at least an empty middle seat. A woman sat in the window seat and I had the aisle.
I had a Vodka Cranberry since I was traveling Business Select on Southwest. The Flight Attendant was a little snooty. I asked for a Cosmopolitan. I didn't realize that there was more than Vodka and Cranberry juice in a Cosmo. She said “I don't mix drinks.”
So I asked if she had Cranberry juice, “and do you have Vodka?” I inquired. “Can you just put a splash of Cranberry in with the vodka?” Evidently the answer was yes, because I got one.
While I was flying, Jill popped into the Centurion Lounge in Denver, and had a glass of wine and a snack.
When the plane landed, I jumped to get off the plane. Jill was waiting for me. She had stopped at Jersey Mike's and picked up dinner for us.
I stopped to get a glass of wine as we walked to the gate. I don't know what the problem was, but my glass of wine sat there on the counter poured and everything. Several people picked it up before finally handing it to me. This gal sat there holding my drink talking to her buddies while I’m waiting to get to my gate. Hello!!!!!
We got to the gate, and I finished my wine just in time. We boarded the plane and again had an empty middle seat. As soon as we took off, I dug into my sandwich, cause I was starving.
Jill waited until she got her beverage to eat her sandwich. I had another Vodka cranberry on this flight, and then I essentially dozed off for the remainder of the flight.
We landed, picked up our luggage and called an Uber. Soon we were on our way to Kidani. It was after midnight when our ride dropped us off. The room was ready hours ago, so we schlepped our luggage into the lobby, and each took a couple pictures while it was empty.
Then we went up to the room. It was a long schlep with our bags on the carpeting. Plus they had just shampooed the carpeting. We didn’t understand why the floor in the elevator was wet, until we got off the elevator on our floor and we could smell the freshly cleaned carpets. Plus rolling our suitcases on the wet carpet was like dragging them through molasses.
We kept going and going and going down the hallway and thought we would never reach our room, but finally we did. I took pictures immediately before we trashed the place (we actually didn’t, and kept it fairly neat throughout our stay.)
The Bedroom….
The Master Bath….
The Second Bath….
We rang up for the Owner’s Locker which had been delivered even before I left for the airport in California. We also had them bring up the groceries that Jill had ordered via Instacart. I had also packed some groceries in my suitcase. I brought brioche from home (the loaves are $7.99 each, why order a loaf in FL when we only want 4 slices) to make French Toast, some cereal, butter and a couple other little items. I put them in this tub so that they wouldn’t get squished in the suitcase.
I started taking the stuff out of the locker that we would need. I immediately filled the Britta Pitcher so that I could have water for my ESWB (Emotional Support Water Bottle) and placed it in the fridge. I started to go through the various groceries, sorting out which ones required refrigeration, etc. When I went to put the milk, bacon, and eggs into the fridge, I noticed a big puddle of water.
It appears that my Britta pitcher had cracked in the owner's locker. I had a roll of packing tape in there, so I secured it as best as I could. I put the pitcher in the plastic bin I had used for my cereal and brioche and hoped that would control the leaking. It wasn’t obvious in the picture where the crack was located, so I drew the line in there for you.
We went to sleep around 1:30AM. My stats for the day.
Table of Contents can be found in Post #4
If you don't already know us, my name is Alison. I've been writing trip reports here on the DIS for about 15 years now. My TRs used to feature my late wife and myself, but obviously that’s not possible any longer. My new traveling companion is Jill, whom I met here on the DIS. We’ve been friends IRL for over 10 years and we are starting to rack up quite a few adventures together.
So far we’ve been to the Caribbean, Mexico, New York City, Jordan, Egypt, Napa, London, Spain, Lisbon, and the Azores. And of course Walt Disney World and Disneyland. And we’ve got a whole lot more on the list too! But this trip is about going back to WDW.
I’m basically retired, kind of, and rapidly approaching one of those birthdays that ends in a zero. I live in Long Beach, CA so I'm Disneyland adjacent, which is why we have a lot of West Coast Disney adventures. I like to cook, play the saxophone, and hang out with my kitties. Jill just passed one of those birthdays that ends in a zero. She lives in Denver, and is still employed. Because of that she has to work around this pesky thing called "Paid Time Off". She loves the Chiefs, and is a mother of dachshunds.
I think this is about the time that I should insert a picture of us, so that you know who we are. This picture is from our Westbound Transatlantic Cruise that we finished just about two months ago. You can read about that trip in my ongoing Trip Report here.
Why did we choose to travel to WDW for Christmas you might ask? Well, sit back and I’ll tell you.
This trip came about when I was thinking of taking a solo trip to WDW during January of 2025. At that time I already had an upcoming trip with Jill and our friends, Jenny and Michael. We would be staying in one of the Copper Creek Cabins. But even before I left on that trip I knew it wouldn't be enough. It had been a while since I’d been to WDW and knew I needed several trips in the plans. Jill had recently converted to WFH and was contemplating joining me. She could work in the daytime and we could go out for dinner at night once she was through.
It was somewhere around the end of January, beginning of February 2024 that both of us realized that it had been a very long time since either of us had visited during the Christmas season and we made the switch from January to December. We booked each of our home resorts (Animal Kingdom and Bay Lake Tower) on February 4th, and then the planning began.
Around September Jill realized that due to an error (in her favor) of PTO, she wasn’t going to have to work at all during the trip, so the planning began all over again. We booked all our dining at about 2 months before the trip. Just a couple days before we left on our Westbound Transatlantic Cruise on the Disney Dream.
We returned home from the cruise on the first weekend of November. And we had about five weeks at our respective houses before embarking on this adventure. So let’s get started!
Day 1
In order to preserve precious PTO, Jill wanted to take the 5:35PM flight out of Denver, which meant I didn't have to take an early flight either. Now that I travel on my own (without an SO in tow), it's weird and amazing how I can have my suitcases packed and waiting in the foyer of my house the day before leaving.
My cat sitter and ride to the airport, Naked Jim, is getting up there in age and I think senility is kicking in. The day before the trip he called me to verify the time I wanted to be picked up. I told him 11:30AM. So when 11:30 came and went, I gave him a call immediately. Luckily he answered his phone. “4:30 today, right?” He said.
I was like, “umm….no. I said 11:30.”
“I'll be right over.” He said, hanging up the phone. Luckily the airport is super close, and he doesn't live far from me. I was at the airport and had dropped off my bag by 12:02, and was waiting at the gate by 12:23PM. My flight departed at 1:20, so I made it in plenty of time.
I sat at the front of the plane (which is unusual for me). Normally I go to the back of the plane to try and get a row to myself or at least an empty middle seat. A woman sat in the window seat and I had the aisle.
I had a Vodka Cranberry since I was traveling Business Select on Southwest. The Flight Attendant was a little snooty. I asked for a Cosmopolitan. I didn't realize that there was more than Vodka and Cranberry juice in a Cosmo. She said “I don't mix drinks.”
So I asked if she had Cranberry juice, “and do you have Vodka?” I inquired. “Can you just put a splash of Cranberry in with the vodka?” Evidently the answer was yes, because I got one.
While I was flying, Jill popped into the Centurion Lounge in Denver, and had a glass of wine and a snack.
When the plane landed, I jumped to get off the plane. Jill was waiting for me. She had stopped at Jersey Mike's and picked up dinner for us.
I stopped to get a glass of wine as we walked to the gate. I don't know what the problem was, but my glass of wine sat there on the counter poured and everything. Several people picked it up before finally handing it to me. This gal sat there holding my drink talking to her buddies while I’m waiting to get to my gate. Hello!!!!!
We got to the gate, and I finished my wine just in time. We boarded the plane and again had an empty middle seat. As soon as we took off, I dug into my sandwich, cause I was starving.
Jill waited until she got her beverage to eat her sandwich. I had another Vodka cranberry on this flight, and then I essentially dozed off for the remainder of the flight.
We landed, picked up our luggage and called an Uber. Soon we were on our way to Kidani. It was after midnight when our ride dropped us off. The room was ready hours ago, so we schlepped our luggage into the lobby, and each took a couple pictures while it was empty.
Then we went up to the room. It was a long schlep with our bags on the carpeting. Plus they had just shampooed the carpeting. We didn’t understand why the floor in the elevator was wet, until we got off the elevator on our floor and we could smell the freshly cleaned carpets. Plus rolling our suitcases on the wet carpet was like dragging them through molasses.
We kept going and going and going down the hallway and thought we would never reach our room, but finally we did. I took pictures immediately before we trashed the place (we actually didn’t, and kept it fairly neat throughout our stay.)
The Bedroom….
The Master Bath….
The Second Bath….
We rang up for the Owner’s Locker which had been delivered even before I left for the airport in California. We also had them bring up the groceries that Jill had ordered via Instacart. I had also packed some groceries in my suitcase. I brought brioche from home (the loaves are $7.99 each, why order a loaf in FL when we only want 4 slices) to make French Toast, some cereal, butter and a couple other little items. I put them in this tub so that they wouldn’t get squished in the suitcase.
I started taking the stuff out of the locker that we would need. I immediately filled the Britta Pitcher so that I could have water for my ESWB (Emotional Support Water Bottle) and placed it in the fridge. I started to go through the various groceries, sorting out which ones required refrigeration, etc. When I went to put the milk, bacon, and eggs into the fridge, I noticed a big puddle of water.
It appears that my Britta pitcher had cracked in the owner's locker. I had a roll of packing tape in there, so I secured it as best as I could. I put the pitcher in the plastic bin I had used for my cereal and brioche and hoped that would control the leaking. It wasn’t obvious in the picture where the crack was located, so I drew the line in there for you.
We went to sleep around 1:30AM. My stats for the day.
Table of Contents can be found in Post #4
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