Complete: PhotoTR: Budget Jolly Orlando Holiday Week

Thank you sherrih! Here's hoping!

This trip starts bright and early tomorrow morning! I added a night as I found a hotel near universal on the cheap that can be covered with cc points, so it will not count against the cash challenge for this trip. I'm tentatively planning tomorrow evening at Islands of Adventure in UO, checking out Grinchmas and watching the light show at Hogwarts Castle. The BFF joining me, M, will fly in on Monday. That gives me the full weekend now to enjoy some solo time!

Long time MO may remember that the book A Year of Disney was inspired when one of our fellow MO suggested that our TRs would make a good book. Challenge accepted! It's funny, that challenge lead via a very windy road to Standing Pines Resort (SPR). So perhaps it is a bit of coming full circle that another Disney fan suggested this week that the fun challenge of doing several parks and a week at Disney for less than $500 would make a fun story for a blog post for SPR. I will do the TR, because I love it. If it gives good source material to working with AI to quickly develop a blog post, maybe. My hesitation is that some of the things that make this work for me - comfort with the area, already have one AP, access to AK via DVC party night - are not available to everyone. On the other hand, maximizing cc and other travel reward programs, understanding different ticket deals and splitting VRBO costs with a friend would be widely applicable. Yeah, maybe. Maybe that's another challenge. If I can rework the TR into a good blog post using AI in less than an hour, that might be a good use of time.

I will visit and benchmark some of the campgrounds near Disney this trip. Among other things, I'm interested in what they are doing for holiday activities and decorations. Please drop a comment if there is a campground or even a particular non-Disney resort that you think would be a good stop for a visit to enjoy the spirit of the Christmas season. It would be fun to visit and share a few new places!

Oh dear… I watched your video just in case you included the under the hood scary whatever … just don’t lift the toilet tank lid !
Cause I did that once in a Florida location. Mold is badder than anything I have ever seen in Florida .

If you don’t mind spending $39 for the self parking and have the time… The Marriott Bonvoy Resort on Bonnet Creek near Disney Springs has a wonderful holiday theme . They have Santa’s Office with letters to write to Santa and an incredible gingerbread display . I have never seen a Village like this one ! Wow
Plus a hidden fairy tale scavenger hunt to look for hidden decorated secret doors and a mailbox in lobby to write a letter to a fairy plus a great library to just relax and read any of the books . Really nice coffee shop too .
If you can find your way to (4th floor ) , I think.I’m not sure about the hours :  They have the most impressive childrens center including an area for sensory quiet corner and more activities outside to search for secret doors and play miniature golf. They have a decorated Xmas tree in one of the golf ball holes as a marker . I should know what the correct term is… when the caddy is standing with the pole …
Anyway I don’t think I have ever seen such a nice childrens activitycenter Ever !
They also have staff member always present for assistance you might want or need.
This resort is beautiful and worth a visit. I hope you have time.
Also we got lucky and kept inserting our credit card to pay to exit the parking garage and it wouldn’t work So the person on phone just pushed the button to get a free exit ! So try jiggling it and pulling it out too fast a lot Maybe that’s the secret . Haha
One more thing Ijust remembered …search for the Secret Elf wearing a Mickey Mouse shirt propped on the book shelf . He was in the lobby library but I wonder if he hides in a different location every night . 
And they have a rooftop bar with incredible view !

We also weren’t terribly impressed with Sherwood Forest. It would be okay, but not our preference.

We might have crossed paths today at the Polynesian…… we ate at Kona for breakfast and then spent the day at the Oasis Pool…..

A planned work session with a friend went longer than planned, so I left for UO around 4. That was plenty of time to get there, park, get in the park and find a good spot for the Christmas parade. All was well until it started raining. The parade was cancelled. Bummer. So I decided to head back to the other park and stroll around there for awhile. The weather made for a dramatic sky, so I tried a short 360 pan of the park from the waterfront.



And the lights of Suess Landing all dressed up for Grinchmas made me smile. Just look how happy the welcome sign is!



The rain started up again as I reached Hogsmeade village. Thunder sounded in the distance and the weather app on the phones indicated thunderstorm.



There was a break in the weather, so I meandered the village looking for a good spot to watch the show.



But then the rain started up again, this time with some lighting in the sky. So I went back to my favorite spot in the park and enjoyed the side view of the castle holiday light show from the outdoor patio of the Three Broomsticks under a covered table.



That much time in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter meant it was time for a frozen butterbeer. I also tried the meat pastry with salad. I really liked the butterbeer; the food was meh at best. The platters are much better. Then again, maybe I just wasn't that hungry.



But the time spent on dinner gave the rain time to slow down. I walked out of the park in some drizzle, laughing at myself. So, I missed the parade and did a side view instead of a full view of the castle show. Let's call it 25% of what I wanted accomplished on that visit. But it was fun, so time well spent!




Driving back, both I-4 and 192 were the usual mess of stop and go traffic. I put on Christmas music and sang, enjoying some time making a joyful noise that would not offend anyone else because the sad reality is I can't carry a tune in a bucket. I'm totally tone deaf, but love singing in the car for fun. About 45 minutes after walking out of the park, I walked in the front door.


Today is a flex day. The only solid plan is picking up my friend at the airport this evening. Catch you again tomorrow with another update!

The vacation condo host is awesome. She's thoughtful, considerate and kind. I would happily stay with her again. I can't quite say the same about the property manager. The smoke detector has been randomly chirping. I reset it the first time and thought that fixed it. When it went off the second time, I reported it as a maintenance request. I also tried pulling it to remove batteries, but it appears hard wired into the system. When I spoke to the property manager yesterday, he fussed about reporting it too late and said best they could do was send someone today. Here's hoping. In any event, we have tonight at AKL for the party, so we should get some good sleep tonight!

My friend M is sound asleep still. I've been up for a few hours. I'm ready to drive over and start our resort lobby holiday decorations tour. Ready may be an inadequate word. My family says I get "ants in my pants" when I am ready to go and do. That sounds about right this morning!

I just asked AI to write a voiceover narration script for a video of the trip. It was, um, interesting. And it sounded like a fabulous trip, just not the one I took! Maybe that technology just isn't quite there yet.

I am paging through photos and videos of the trip this evening, thinking about how to put these together. This one video of a surprise character meet at Rivera caught my attention. That was a fun 30 second encounter with no waits, no line and no expectations! Those are the very best.



In a quick rundown, Tuesday morning was hanging at the condo with BFF till lunch, then heading over to SeaWorld. That park seems in worse shape than I recall, but then again I haven't visited there since 2018 and the pandemic years were strange. BFF did one coaster, we caught part of one show and walked through an aquarium. Honestly, we picked the side of the park that was under construction and not looking too great, so we did not stay all that long. It was fun while it lasted. And it gave us time to swing by the Cheesecake Factory to pick up a little something for desert!

Wednesday we were up and going earlier. We packed overnight bags for AKL and the evening party. We were on Disney property by 10ish. I was shocked to get a text the ready was ready around 11am. That's never happened before. We went up, dropped our bags, had lunch at the pool quick service restaurant and went out for a resort lobby tour for the afternoon. The first bus went to HS, so we went that way to take skyliner over to boardwalk resorts. I forgot my friend doesn't do heights. She said she would be fine, but soon after boarding I knew we would be stopping at Rivera to look for a drink or two or three. That wound up being one of the highlights of the trip. It was the first time I'd visited the resort. I like the pool bar and general layout. I think I'm going to talk to DH about doing a boccee court at Standing Pines after seeing how nice it looked at RR. The icing on the cake of the visit was the surprise character encounters. Chip, Dale and Daisy randomly popped out to visit with guests. That was so much fun!

A short gondola ride later and we walked off at international gateway to go check out Beach and Yacht club lobbies. As always, the gingerbread carousel impresses! But I'd stayed at BC during the holiday season before, so was expecting the really cool lobby decorations. Yacht club was the surprise. I adore the train and Christmas village! I could have stayed there all afternoon, poring over every detail. I may even take little video of our home Christmas village, as this is something DD and I both love. This year, DD set up the village while I was in FL and she did an amazing job!

Realizing the gondolas were out for the rest of the trip, we grabbed a bus to MK and then back to AKL. In retrospect, maybe we should have just driven over. But the buses are part of the fun, so was worked out just fine. We had about an hour to change and chill before heading to AK for the DVC party. It was BFF's first time ever at AK. She did it right, starting with Everest as a walk on. Then we did Dinosaur, at which point my friend was speculating out loud I was trying to do her in. No, no, not me! She likes coasters and thrill rides! She's talked me into Space Mountain and one shockingly adventurous water coaster at Great Wolf Lodge before. But that was the end of the thrill rides for this trip. It's not fun unless everyone is having fun. But I am surprised by the reaction to Dinosaur. I don't like coasters, but really enjoy that ride. Then it was snacks and the dance party, the Bug show under the tree of life and over to Pandora for the river ride and FOP.

BFF loved FOP! When she started giggling just after the start of the ride, I split my time between watching the screen and watching her. I can't remember the last time I saw her have so much fun and laugh so much! It is possible the whole trip was worth it just for that reaction. She went back for a second round, while I wanted to go watch the shows at the Tree of of Life. That more or less finished the evening for us, around 11pm.

Oh, I almost forgot the best ride of the night. That minor foot injury bothered me more than I was willing to admit. After walking around SeaWorld the day before, I'd accepted that I was going to get a scooter for the party night. That could have broken my budget for the trip, but it was a worthwhile expense. I didn't absolutely require it, but having it made getting around the park so much easier. I took it from land to land, then parked and walked around the individual lands. That worked well. The best part was that even though I was okay with the normal $50 fee, I found out that there was no charge for the party night. The $20 deposit was returned when I dropped the scooter off at the end of the night. I would absolutely suggest anyone attending a party night who has any kind of mobility issues try a scooter. It worked well for the lower crowds and made the evening much more enjoyable for me.

Thursday I met with a business contact for brunch, then BFF and I checked out and made the rounds of the MK resorts. We ran into a MO buddy in person at Poly, which was great! That was a fun time to visit with someone new. Everything in the MK resorts for Christmas was lovely, as usual. Plus I actually ate at GF for the first time ever, so that was fun. It didn't compare to RR, as it was crowded and no special magic, but visiting GF is always fun around the holidays for the giant tree and gingerbread house. Three resorts did us in. We ditched plans for WL and FW in favor of returning to condo for an early evening.

Friday was Discovery Cove. I loved it! Even in colder weather, it was a fantastic day! The lazy river is 20+ minutes long. The all inclusive food and drink meant I snacked throughout the day while creating new cocktails out of the included wine and different frozen slush options. We splurged on a daybed with two padded lounges and a cover for the day. It was not needed as there were plenty of lounges available, but it certainly was a fantastic indulgence as we both napped at different points during the day. It also had a good view of one of the dolphin areas, so I spent an hour or more over the course of the day with a drink in my hand simply watching the dolphins play in the water. We also did a walking tour of the cold water Grand Reef with all the coral, fish and rays. That might be fun in the summer, but we enjoyed watching more than freezing on a chilly December day.

Saturday was pack up, check out and meet one of my local friends for breakfast before driving back to SC. We ate off property at a great little place in Winter Garden. I saved the address so I can visit again for breakfast one day on the next trip. Fantastic and great prices! We split the drive back until I dropped my friend off at her place. I'd planned to stay with her that night, but after looking at the predicted weather finished the last hour and drove all the way home. I'm glad I did, as Sunday was rain all day long. It was good to get home before the storm.

I'll come back to add photos and videos from this trip. It was a wonderful visit and time well spent! I'll also go add up the different expenses along the way to see if I met the cost challenge and report out on that. I think I was well under budget, but the receipts will tell the real story and that daybed indulgence at Discovery Cove may have just slightly tipped it over.