On The Road Again
We’re getting ready to hit the road soon… last time we were down was August, 2019 when we had a resort stay at All-Star Movies and one night at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party.
After that enjoyable few days, just as we were getting ready to pack up and head down to Miami to see my Mom and sister, a hurricane showed up and made us head back north instead.
So, this time we’re hitting Miami first. We’ll be there for about 5 days and will be there to celebrate my Mom’s 94th birthday. (Because of the hurricane, the last time we saw her was her 90th! Yikes!)
The plan after that was originally a stay we had booked at Pop Century ($179 per night.) Mostly hanging at the resort, Disney Springs, eating, exploring other resorts, eating, and a day at Blizzard Beach. (Kids have nut allergies and we all look to the freedom they have to try new foods at Disney.)
We wanted to keep the expense a little low key: son is heading to college this year, plus didn’t want to have to worry about how a full park trip would go in the times that we are in this summer.
Our future goal is a nice full trip next year when hopefully more things are settled and we have some time to sock away more trip funds.
Plans Change
We were moderately happy with our $179 Pop room deal. I am looking forward to trying out the sky ovens. But after years of tracking Priceline and Hotwire hidden deals, I FINALLY spotted a hidden deal on our trip dates.
Coronado Springs for $159 per night. After all was said and done, the CSR deal ended up being about $40 less than the Pop room we already had. No brainer, that.
Then my DW and DD14 came up with an idea.
FLASHBACK
On our last park trip, we visited Animal Kingdom for the first time - and only for that day.
Which was a very rainy day. With water. everywhere.
Falling at the end of our trip we were all a bit tired and the wetfulness pushed a few of us over the line. The morning march of the crowds at the then newly opened Pandora also stressed out some people. So, we ended up calling it a day early and headed back to our resort to swim and relax. Which was the right call for sure, we had learned our lesson on earlier trips when my wife gets tuckered out. But, I missed seeing Pandora at night.
END OF FLASHBACK
The Pitch
So, the girls asked told me they had an idea and wanted me to think about it:
What if we do 1-day at Animal Kingdom instead of Blizzard Beach?
Me: 
Was this a test? Am I misunderstanding what they are asking?
Now, my wife and I both like to be smart about money and stuff, but if anyone is going to be an upgrader, it is usually me.
I ran off to the computer to buy some discounted gift cards.
So, an AK day it is!
(Although, with an AP voucher sitting on my profile, it appears I can purchase previously said Blizzard Beach tickets for a discounted $49 per person, so… there might be a surprise snow storm one day.)
So, here is a placeholder photo from our first AK trip in 2017 to start off a trip report thread.
And, as we are driving, I’ve called in my old I-95 convoy partner to help with supplies for the ride down.
