Stop the World, I Need to Jump Off! Gabe's spontaneous trip

[HauntedGabe]

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Yep, it was stop the world I need to jump off. Life hit that final straw and a flame was near. The year that just about every aspect of life that could be challenging challenged me. I called my son the night my Dad who chose to throw a hospital up for grabs. Dad had been thrown out with 15 minutes notice and I was way over an hour and a half away and said son I just can’t take it anymore. By the end of the conversation with ManChild I had in hand the cheapest WDW vacation in over 25 years of visiting the world. Of course it is now the wee hours of the morning and DH is sound asleep oblivious to the outcome of bringing my father back to my Mom from the hospital nor the long conversation I had with my DS.

So the next morning I started looking at airfares. Yikes! About 2 weeks out is no time to be shopping for reasonable airfare. DH comes home from work and I give him a run down on my Fathers antics of the day before and end the sentence with I AM GOING TO WDW, ARE YA IN OR OUT? So that night I book a flight out of Midway. I never fly out of Midway but Southwest’s prices are so much cheaper that the long, long drive seems to make sense at the time. LOL. More to come on that. I book the first flight out in the morning and the last flight home to return and pay the $10 to bump myself up in the boarding process ‘cause I want a window I can park my noggin on to sleep both ways.

DH ultimately decides not to join me though I tried until about 3 days out. So I call DS back and proceed to book my/our mini vacation. Now I have seen ManChild maybe 3 days in almost a year and was happy he was excited about my spontainous mental health trip. He needed a break from reality too.

[HauntedGabe]

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I was determined to stay at my favorite moderate hotel POR; however it was going to be 60% off if I stayed at the Coronado. So Coronado it was. I had him book the cheapest version, I didn't care if my room looked at a parking lot since the room views are from an outside access so I don’t sit outside my room anyhow. DS was going to stay with me most of the time and I purchased the Dining Plan because ManChild loves to eat and it was 50% off so it was a no brain-er. By the grace of Pixie Dust my park passes are free, Magical Express and my mental health trip is booked. Now all I have to do at the end of the week is tell my DD who is away a college I am bolting without her. I ducked a few days later when she came home for Easter when I told her. Relief she didn't beat me. I put her back on the bus Easter Sunday night and realize next Sunday I will be back in my Happy Place.

[HauntedGabe]

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It is 3am and my DH has graciously gotten up and turned my coffee pot on already so when my alarm goes off I’ll have my much need caffeine. The Pup knows something bad is going to happen, he has seen my packed luggage plopped in the living room since last evening and is very aware that means someone is leaving, watching my college kids do it for many years now. This time it was me, the Alpha Mom, the Grand Pupa of Pup care. I see the head lights of the taxi take some treats and put Pup in there with the sleeping DH and out the door I am, coffee in tow. Get in the Taxi to hear, I am not very familiar with this area out here or the South Side of Chicago, what is the best way to get to Midway. Oy, my adventure has begun. Next, which expressway will be quickest at 4 am? I think I’ll take this shortcut through the Rail Yards. Yep, Freight Train. Oy.
Pay the driver, tip the driver and look at the long line for curb check in. It moves fast, tip the dude and walk in.

I have not a clue where to go so I follow a Flight Attendant. It works. I have to say the TSA folk were very pleasant. I fly enough but this group seems to be nicer than most. I have a lady in front of me that has packed so many liquid economy sized toiletries that X-Ray comes to a grinding halt. Finally, my turn, everything on the belt as it should be phone, ITouch, Laptop all out etc., coffee mug empty, I choose my clothing smartly not to make any fuss at Security. Shoes slip on and off. So when clueless lady before me is escorted off with her liquid filled bags I walk through the metal detector and the alarm sounds. Miss, step to the side one of our agents will be here shortly to escort you to your random screening. Joy! Well it wound up it wasn’t me but my backpack and carry-on. Which was pretty easy since I just unloaded half of each into the little bins. The bags passed inspection and subsequently the drug testing which followed and I was on my way. And Gate Change. More Coffee for my travel mug and time to line up. Group 31, not bad. Mid-plane and a window, room for my carry on which is light because I just took out my little blanket and pillow both the size purchased for an infant. In the air on-time and asleep I was. Adult couple next to me very quiet to. Very peaceful. Landed a bit early, texted the DS. Instead of getting off early he has been extended a few hours. Didn't care, it was 930 am around 70 degrees and sunny and I was in Orlando.

[HauntedGabe]

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I was surprised the Magical Express was as backed up as it was. Equally as surprised as to how many children there were. I always took my kids out of school for our WDW trips but soon learned this was Spring break for the Great State of Mass. and every child in the state was in line for the ME, lol. It also seemed to be the get a way time for Home School Children too. About 30 minutes and I am boarding a bus marked Disney Cruise Line. Hmmm. We load up and we had a very nice lady as our driver and she explains that indeed we are going to WDW and not to Port. Off we go all whilst listening about wonders ahead on our Disney Cruise. Strange. Our driver did slow down and pause as we went under the Disney World Arch, such a nice feeling. The ME lets us off by baggage storage house. We are told to proceed to check in area and they will handle our luggage from there if we so choose. So I happily plug along to the Guest area and stop at the bell service desk. I can’t check in, my son must, so Bell sends me right back to the luggage house. I take a deep breath and decide to hand over my carry on and backpack which has all of my electronics minus my phone and ITouch. And I’m off to explore the Coronado. I have about 4 hours I’m thinking before we will be together to check in. So I try to get the lay of the land. We only breezed through this hotel once before transferring for Animal Kingdom from Blizzard.

[HauntedGabe]

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The Coronado is huge. I thought POR was big and a hike. The lake in the middle was harder to cross over from the Main Hotel area to the guest buildings and many pool areas.
No matter how you walk, it is a long walk unless you pay dearly for one of the very few close guest buildings. The pool area was beautiful, the children’s park was the best playground equipment I’ve seen on Disney Property and the Arcade, well it was very dinky. But in this area they had soft drink refills, a plus for those in that area or while using the pool. And as I digress in my first day accounting's, the Disney choice of changing their counter service over to a buffet for breakfast and lunch a big mistake. For the most part all the vacationing guests packed into the quick snack area in the morning instead and left the quick service nearly empty. Convention guests seemed to eat in the Sit Down venue. Between the offerings for the buffet and the 10% quick service tip required to fill up your refillable mug for you, guest were balking even though the reviews by Disney say the guests are loving. Go figure.

I decided with a few more hours to go and I did try out the Wi-Fi connection from my ITouch, to head to DTD for lunch. 30 minutes plus later a bus came. Bus issues from this hotel continued to be a challenge throughout most of the trip. Off to Earl I was. It was great. The line was long, but it moved very quickly. I people watched as I ate and then wandered around to see some of the changes since my last trip. I stayed away from Pleasure Island, had seen enough pictures of that mess and didn't want to ruin my happy mood.

[HauntedGabe]

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Got a text after a while from the DS and he was starting his voyage to the resort so I did too. After 40 minutes of waiting for a bus back…Oy I was back at the resort as my phone started ringing. Hi Mom! I’m here, where are you? Thankfully I took a brief tour and had him start describing to me what was around him and I flipped from the bus stop up front to the lake side. He was walking towards me from his bus area, smile, and good to see him again, though I could see him and he wasn't seeing me. Reunion. Fed the ManChild.

Check In was pretty crowded but there was an online check-in queue that was pretty long and then the regular one that we only waited a few minutes for. He checked us in quickly, had our cards, dining plan set, and our free refill mugs, got to choose our colors, great change and off to the bell hop to retrieve my bags and to drive us to our room. So glad we did that, if our starting point was 12 O’clock our room was 2nd floor, at 6 O’clock yet across the lake, so you had to circle around. Wonder why they only put one bridge in there? We got into our room; both of us changed and freshened up. We had 730 ADR’s at Kona because the MK was open until 2 am that night. But first it was off to find our bus stop, catching up along the way and off for a brief stop at Epcot as it was the last day of Test Track being open. It was one of my must do’s for the day. And we were off………

[Keasmom]

Sounds like an awesome start to a great holiday.


Coronado sounds huge, like, miserable huge not just big. But the events leading up to the holiday and the reunion with your manchild sound great.

What did you have at Earl of sandwich and did you take photos of the food??


LOL< great start to the Tripper.

[Thumper10]

Great start, I am enjoying it. You are great at accounting for all of the little details- something I am to impatient to type into all of my TRs- but it really makes it awesome to read.

[Thumper10]

And I would've bolted for Earl just as quickly as you did after you got there- LOVE that place.

[HauntedGabe]

Thanks guys. It was a trip like no other so the booking, travel and arrival was very different. And the procedures changed from when my DD and I went to visit my son a few years back. So I'll finish the day off that was amazing and then hit the highlights and oddities.

[HauntedGabe]

And to finish out the long first day.....

So off to Epcot…it is a corny magical moment but placing my finger on the germ infested finger scan at the turnstile and having a one day park hopper pass pop out delighted the heck out of me. By the way, that thrill didn't stop each of the six days. I then had an obligatory lecture on signing my pass and taking a photo of the back of the pass. I learned how it eases replacement if the guest has this information to present to guest relations.

Beeline to Test Track as it closes for an extended refurbish after this evening. Anticipating a long line or the single rider lane I was surprised that the queues were all very reasonable. As I zipped through the queue it did indeed need some tender loving care. Our vehicle was in good shape and our ride was continuous without any break downs or malfunctions. Off the bucket list of must do’s. Over to Soaring which ManChild thought ahead and went and got some FP’s for. Woot! Front Row.

Thought about SSE however we boarded the monorail and off to Kona at the Poly. We chose to walk. I have done this before and it is a pretty and well lit walkway. Yet I didn't recall it being that far from the TTC to the Main Lobby. By this time I’m running on pure adrenaline so the stroll was enjoyable and the conversation was wrapped around the buildings overall condition and the pro’s and con’s of leveling the resort and starting over. It was a conversation we had over the years yet more interesting this time as we were deliberately observing specifics of the resort as the conversation went on. Kona running late with their ADRs so went to the bar and purchased this big honk’n pineapple drink. Yummy. Dinner and off to the MK for extra Magical Hours via the Monorail.

[HauntedGabe]

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Love approaching the MK by Boat or Monorail. The vast majority of the time I’m on the bus and it just isn't the same. And then there is me…It became my ritual to wet ones my hands after the finger scan and putting my pass away. Thinking of how many people touch that tiny little scanner and how many passes the CM touches, ewe, can you tell I am a germaphobe.

I had a few must do’s this trip, seeing the new Circus area at night being number one at the MK. A small chunk had just opened and it was beautiful to just watch the new Dumbo with all the special effect lighting, water, along with the music. We went over to the GG coaster and while the props were cute the coaster just sat there with all her rails hanging out. She looked naked. I’ve seen this coaster set up three different ways, with the animals, the corn and now this. While the queue props were nice, the overall visual was a minus. You enter the ride from the opposite side now and they painted parts of the vehicle but overall the same. I wasn't thrilled with the chicken wire held up by 2 by 4’s enclosing the coaster itself. If that was imagineering, it missed. Going from the incredible reimagineered Dumbo to the reimagineered Coaster, well the Coaster was an overall disappointment but rode it none the less. I skipped riding Dumbo that evening since I had more than my fair share when my kids were small. The sidewalks are very cool with the peanuts in them and all. The restrooms are state of the art and welcome change in the back area. The train station is a work of art, Imagineering at its best and a definite plus over what was there. This area was nearly empty and it is about 1030pm. Tip: Great time to take in all the little details and there are a lot of them. Seeing again later in the week, it has a far more magical feel at night.

[HauntedGabe]

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Off to the Jungle Cruise. Another one of my priorities, riding JC at night but hit Snow White and Small World on the way through. I have to say JC at night is charming. Ya, technology has come along way since the attraction opened but on a warm evening it is hard to beat. We flipped over to Tomorrowland and did a bunch of attractions. We rode the People Mover and just relaxed. DS was being a gracious host but I was fading and he had worked all day, it was time to head back to the resort. Up Main Street that was very quiet and a pleasant way to end my day of arrival.

Now neither of us paid attention when the bellhop delivered us to our room, we were just taking in the sights of the resort and I was making mental notes on how to navigate to the main lobby. We left for Epcot in search of the bus stop. Neither of us noted our room number and we were not in a notable landmarked room. Yep, we were doing some weaving around. DS was thinking he remembered the beginning of the number. Thank goodness for a family that had many washcloth creatures in their window that I recalled when passing. We quickly passed out in our queen sized beds. Oddly, it was a restless sleep for me.

[Keasmom]

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Love approaching the MK by Boat or Monorail. The vast majority of the time I’m on the bus and it just isn't the same. And then there is me…It became my ritual to wet ones my hands after the finger scan and putting my pass away. Thinking of how many people touch that tiny little scanner and how many passes the CM touches, ewe, can you tell I am a germaphobe.

I had a few must do’s this trip, seeing the new Circus area at night being number one at the MK. A small chunk had just opened and it was beautiful to just watch the new Dumbo with all the special effect lighting, water, along with the music. We went over to the GG coaster and while the props were cute the coaster just sat there with all her rails hanging out. She looked naked. I’ve seen this coaster set up three different ways, with the animals, the corn and now this. While the queue props were nice, the overall visual was a minus. You enter the ride from the opposite side now and they painted parts of the vehicle but overall the same. I wasn't thrilled with the chicken wire held up by 2 by 4’s enclosing the coaster itself. If that was imagineering, it missed. Going from the incredible reimagineered Dumbo to the reimagineered Coaster, well the Coaster was an overall disappointment but rode it none the less. I skipped riding Dumbo that evening since I had more than my fair share when my kids were small. The sidewalks are very cool with the peanuts in them and all. The restrooms are state of the art and welcome change in the back area. The train station is a work of art, Imagineering at its best and a definite plus over what was there. This area was nearly empty and it is about 1030pm. Tip: Great time to take in all the little details and there are a lot of them. Seeing again later in the week, it has a far more magical feel at night.

Jungle Cruise at night, is very magical, and nearly scary.

Sounds like a great time though, and Kona for supper-oh yum.

I hope they just remodel Poly, and not tear it down. A multi level modern structure would just be depressing after the truly Hawaiian feel of the current one.

[Keasmom]

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Off to the Jungle Cruise. Another one of my priorities, riding JC at night but hit Snow White and Small World on the way through. I have to say JC at night is charming. Ya, technology has come along way since the attraction opened but on a warm evening it is hard to beat. We flipped over to Tomorrowland and did a bunch of attractions. We rode the People Mover and just relaxed. DS was being a gracious host but I was fading and he had worked all day, it was time to head back to the resort. Up Main Street that was very quiet and a pleasant way to end my day of arrival.

Now neither of us paid attention when the bellhop delivered us to our room, we were just taking in the sights of the resort and I was making mental notes on how to navigate to the main lobby. We left for Epcot in search of the bus stop. Neither of us noted our room number and we were not in a notable landmarked room. Yep, we were doing some weaving around. DS was thinking he remembered the beginning of the number. Thank goodness for a family that had many washcloth creatures in their window that I recalled when passing. We quickly passed out in our queen sized beds. Oddly, it was a restless sleep for me.

LOL, I carry a sharpie to write the room number on the key thing. Otherwise, I wouldn't remember it and would have to stop and ask the desk every time.