This will be a very short trip report since it was only 48 hours–June 5 and 6.
As a little background, two years ago at a graduation party for her daughter Kate, my friend Amy mentioned that her MIL was taking the family to Disney. I think it was a group of 15. She knew I’d been to Disney numerous times and asked for help. I was able to get them an ADR for Oga’s (when Oga’s was much more popular), walked them through booking LLs each day (back when they were $15 a day for G+) and basically served as their virtual tour guide. Amy and Kate fell in love with Disney and couldn’t wait to go back. Kate already had the Disney bug and quickly developed Liner level skills.
The following summer in 2023, Amy, Kate and Eliose (the youngest) go to Disney for eight days. Before the trip, I teach Kate about BG1 and help her book LLs through the day. They are rope dropping and killing it. Kate is hooked and applied for DCP and started her program in January 2024.
Kate is a year younger than my DD and they cheered together in high school. I’ve referred to Kate as my Disney Step Daughter while she’s been in her DCP. My DD and I were trying to find a time this summer to visit Kate but it just wasn’t working out.
So about two weeks ago, on May 23 ,Kate calls and says, “I get to bring to guests two the CM preview of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. Want to come down on June 5-6 with mom?” Ummmmm, why yes, yes I do.
@Flavita here’s your tag
18 Likes
My Mickey senses must have been tingling because I literally had ordered new ears about an hour before she called.
6 Likes
Kate next sends me a screen recording of places we can stay with her CM discount with prices. On a three way call with Amy we decide on Grand Floridian. My part of the room ended up being $134!!
15 Likes
Love everything about this including the title!
4 Likes
Next, we looked at flights. Spirit round trip flight with personal item gets booked for $94 round trip. Flight leaves at 5:45AM on Wednesday and departs Thursday night at 10:30PM.
I often joke that Spirit Airlines is a gateway drug. I’ve been able to fly from SDF to MCO round trip for as little as $40.
This trip is the fourth I’ve taken since October.
My husband says I have an addiction to Disney. Spirit just makes it so easy. See… gateway drug.
12 Likes
That’s the right answer! 
Thanks for the tag.
Looking forward to following along!
5 Likes
Amy picked me up at 3:30AM Wednesday morning. The airport is about 40 minutes from home. We are at the gate in under an hour from the time she picked me up. We both have TSA precheck and had just a carry-on bag.
We were slightly delayed at departure as there was a “communication error” and the plane needed to be refueled. We took off about 15 minutes late but arrived at MCO just after 8AM.
Kate picked us up and we headed right to Grand Flo. We referred to her as our KUber.
After breakfast at Gasparilla Island Grill, we headed right to the pool.
5 Likes
We loved the zero entry pool and stayed in the water most of the day. The pool was fantastic.
11 Likes
Our room was ready sometime after 2:00.
I did not expect to be so blown away by the rooms here. Our room was absolutely gorgeous. We were in 7504, Conch Key, top floor. We had a vaulted ceiling which made the room feel even bigger and much more luxurious than a regular hotel room.
16 Likes
The subtle nods to Mary Poppins were beautiful. The penguins in the chandelier were so cool.
This wallpaper!!!
17 Likes
More room photos
Real coffee mugs and glasses
Closet doors and robes in the closet. Even the hairdryer was in a fancy box
13 Likes
Our view from the balcony. When you sat in the chairs you couldn’t see through as it was solid but it was way too hot to be out there.
I’d choose this location and room again. It was near the boat dock and not far from the food court. The walk to the monorail wasn’t far either. We were really close to the pool as well.
15 Likes
We had dinner at Steakhouse 71. I rarely eat red meat and ordered the “sustainable” fish. Amy and I joked about where one might fish for “sustainable”. Kate didn’t think the mom jokes were funny.
The salmon was delicious.
12 Likes
Finished the evening with fireworks viewing at Grand Flo.
17 Likes
We had planned to leave the resort by 6:45 Thursday morning to be early for EE but we couldn’t get motivated to leave that early. The plan was AK, hop to Epcot for Guardians ILL, hop to MK for our 4-5 TIana preview and then hop back to Epcot and/or DHS.
Kate had comp tickets for Amy and I and since we’ve both been in the parks quite a bit (I think Amy has been down to visit Kate at least once a month since January) we had no real set plans for each park. We ended up at AK around 7:40 which was still within the EE time for resort guests.
At AK we waited standby for FOP. I timed a 54 minute wait because I’m a good Liner. Kate is earning her “Mouseters” in leadership so she had to leave for a class after FOP. She would meet us again at Epcot.
Everest was down when we got off FOP so we headed to Dinosaur.
We then rode Everest as single riders and that’s where it went downhill slightly. It was around 10AM and the “feels like temperature” was already 101. As soon as I exited my train I ran to a CM who was changing the trash and threw up multiple times. The CM was so nice and brought me a bottle of water and a towel. I plan to send an email to guest services recognizing him for his kindness.
I didn’t feel terrible after that but I didn’t feel great. Amy had never seen It’s Tough to be a Bug so we headed into the air-conditioning. She was in tears laughing at all the kids who were freaked out. This poor girl behind us was losing her mind. I’m really sad ITTBAB is going away. I’ve always enjoyed it and get a kick out of it.
Amy then got the pulled pork Mac and cheese from Eight Spoons. She said it was delicious. I’d planned on getting the buffalo chicken chips but I knew my stomach couldn’t handle that so I got an uncrustable, applesauce, and graham crackers.
We saw Kevin and Russel and then headed to the bus to hop to Epcot.
9 Likes
Kate met us after her class at the Epcot gate around 12:30. Since we had CM tickets we couldn’t enter the park without her.
I could literally feel the heat radiating from the walkways at Epcot all the way up to my knees. It was sooooooo hot!!
We purchased ILLs for Guardians but after getting sick on Everest, I didn’t want to chance it. Guest services easily refunded my money. I waited in Connections Cafe while Amy and Kate to rode Guardians. They got September. Arrrgh! That’s one of the songs I’ve not gotten yet. I added an electrolyte packet to my water and was feeling much better.
After Guardians, we had the thank the Phoenicians. This was Amy’s first ride on Spaceship Earth.
Next was lunch at Les Halles. Quiche Florentine and creme brulee for me. Croque Monsieurs for Amy and Kate. I was so excited to eat and not feel like I was going to get sick.
Next we headed to the monorail to MK so we could get checked in for the Tiana preview.
10 Likes
We got to the TTC around 3:30. The express monorail was down so we headed to the Ferry. It was leaving as we approached. We could see the next ferry coming. As it got closer, Kate realized we needed to check in at TTC before heading to MK.
We got out of line, found the check in, and got our wristbands. We missed the ferry but could see people going up the walkway to the express monorail. It had reopened but was only running one car; however, we didn’t wait long.
We took a slow walk down Main Street and took the long way to TBA. MK was not nearly as hot as Epcot but the real temperature was 98 and the feels like must have been 105+. Every bit of me was dripping in sweat. There would be no walking with purpose today because it was just too hot.
We walked right on to TBA with no wait. We took our time checking out the queue. It is very well themed. I loved everything about the queue. The ride itself was fantastic. The animatronics were great. All I have to say is Tiana has on one large sparkling diamond wedding ring in the beginning of the ride and I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. Naveen has great taste in jewelry!
Someone remind me how to blur text and photos and I’ll go in to a little more detail about the experience in the next post.
13 Likes
so far these are my favorite rooms at all of Disney!
2 Likes
I’ve stayed at ASMo, Pop. GDT, POFQ, CBR, and WL and these newly decorated rooms at Grand Floridan are by far the most beautiful and my favorite.
4 Likes
testing my skills on blurring text
4 Likes
