Tomato
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I thought I remembered that. We always ask for a chef when Gregg goes.
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10 Days and counting…
It has been almost a year since my dad has passed, and our big vacation is finally arriving. And after the past few weeks everyone has had on top of this year overall… a vacation couldn’t be more welcomed. As usual, all the trip planning has come down to me, which is a badge of honor I wear. Originally my younger brother was supposed to come, but with moving and a new job, he opted out. So we decided to invite my (soon to be) Mother-in-Law in his place! Which ends up working out to have both my mother and my partner’s mother there… because I’ll be proposing🤞(my partner knows it’s going to happen, just doesn’t know when!) I plan on live reporting during the trip, but here is my precursory trip report.
The Who:
DM(52), DMiL (53), DP(26), and myself (26)
Important note about my partner: this is their second time going to WDW, but their first time going as a newly diagnosed Celiac. I spent the majority of my planning around the food, which coming from a small rural area with no options, is a big deal to them. So expect a lot about the GF options!
The When: 1/6/26 to 1/15/26
Lodging: Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo House - Grand Villa
Tuesday, 1/6: Travel Day
-Leave for the airport around 2 am
-
PIT to MCO: 6:00am - 8:45am
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(DM’s flight) MHT to MCO: 7:15am - 10:40am
-Travel from the airport booked via Mear’s Connect
If the room isn’t ready, which I don’t plan on it being, bags will be dropped off and we are heading right to Disney Springs, specifically for Erin McKenna’s Bakery. My partner has their heart set on a GF cinnamon roll and stocking up on any baked goods they can for the trip.
Then come back and unpack our bags and Amazon Fresh order once the room is ready. Planning on taking advantage of a full kitchen
My goal is to track down a good bottle of African wine for that night. If all goes to plan, I’ll be proposing during sunset. Photo of the ring for all those curious…
Wednesday, 1/7: VIP Tour
Our VIP tour is booked and ready to go!
Pick up time will be at 9:30 am at the hotel. I read that to get the most of your time and money, to meet the VIP guide at the park you’re starting out in. But we all want to experience the hands-off, total VIP experience and being privately transported is definitely a part of that for us. Our night will end with a VIP viewing of the Starlight parade!
It is kinda weird for me not to have any true plans for this day, but it is also probably what I’m looking forward to the most!
Thursday, 1/8: Animal Kingdom
This is where our trip begins to become more relaxed, as we plan on hitting up the big AK rides in the morning (FOP, EE, KS, DINOSAUR, etc), but the goal is to avoid rushing and soak in the atmosphere, and be back to the hotel before our 5pm dinner at Boma. DM and I loved Boma, so I am very excited for my partner and their mom to try it.
Friday, 1/9: Magic Kingdom
The plan is to take it easy that morning, and be at MK by 2pm for The Plaza Restaurant. My partner is really looking forward to the GF options here. The plan is to get some of the other rides done such as POTC, HM, and TBA but again, not a huge rush. We got a 7pm reservation for The Beak and Barrel which my partner and I are extremely excited for!
Saturday, 1/10: Hotel Day
A big request from my DM was to make sure we had one full hotel day. We start the morning at Boma for breakfast at 9am, and from there we can enjoy having the day off. We do have reservations booked for the Starlight Safari at 7pm. My DM and I did this on our ‘23 trip, and are very excited to do it again.
Sunday, 1/11: AK/MK
This is my DMIL’s last day with us, as she leaves earlier than we do. We will be at AK this morning, doing Up Close with Rhinos at 11am. Everyone in our group are huge animal lovers, so this is a very exciting treat for us. We plan on going from AK back to AKL for lunch at Sanaa at 2:45pm. Our only other plans come to us that night at MK for the Fireworks Desert Party.
Monday, 1/12: EPCOT
Down to just the 3 of us, the goal is to spend most of the day at EPCOT. My DM loves Soarin’ which my partner plans on sitting out for (too motion sick), and of course we want to drink around the world. My partner plans on searching every pavilion for as many GF snacks that there can be found (specifically Japan) and acquiring another Kimono.
My partner and I plan on having a private dinner together at Jiko at 6:45pm to celebrate our engagement. I’m really looking forward to this.
Tuesday, 1/13: DHS
Another day of taking it easy and going with the flow, with our only true plan for a 4:35pm early dinner at 50’s Prime Time Cafe as a part of the Fantasmic! Dining Package. We haven’t seen F! in many years, with my partner never having seen it at all, so looking forward to seeing all the updates!
Wednesday, 1/14: Horsies
The only thing left to do that has been requested of me is to see the horses at Fort Wilderness. This is a very important request that I must fulfill. So besides making our way over to the barn that day, we plan on taking it easy and packing up the night before. Maybe do a monorail crawl as well? Who can say!
Just 10 more days… and I will be back at home in the world
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Sounds like you have an incredible trip planned!
And the ring is gorgeous!! 
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What an exciting trip for all of you! AKL Grand Villa - TOP SHELF!! And that ring is absolutely gorgeous!
Looking forward to your updates as you’re able to share!
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Your trip sounds amazing - can’t wait to follow along for the celebrations and memories!
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I’m sorry for your tremendous loss. My own father passed at 53 yo. I hope this trip together blesses and comforts you and your mother deeply.
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Thank you!! I’m hoping they love it <3
And thank you so much. It’s been a difficult year not having my dad. My mom spent the past few years, especially the last year of my dad’s life, being a caretaker and it is important to me that she gets to relax and feel pampered as much as possible <3
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What a wonderful idea! That’s always my go-to place for baked goods, and always made me feel very safe. I can’t eat there anymore due to my restrictive diabetic diet, but definitely a great place. Everyone else goes to Gideon’s, but nothing compares, in my book, with Erin McKenna’s.
I’m sure you won’t have a problem with finding that at AKL!
Gorgeous ring! Hope all goes to plan.
Awesome! Which parks will the tour take you? (Well, obviously MK, but any other parks?)
I’m sure that this trip will allow her to relax and feel pampered.
I’m looking forward to your trip report!
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That makes me feel so good to hear!! This might be one of the things they are looking forward to most this trip haha.
HS, EP, and MK! The plan is to hit majority of the big ticket attractions so the rest of the week is more laid back. So things like SDD, ROTR, TRON, GOTG, etc… we are booking for the max amount of time allotted to us, so hoping to get as much in as possible. Going to be a busy day for sure lol
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Well, if you live in an area with very little safe places to eat, it’s so nice to be taken care of.
Word of advice. Make sure you always talk to the chef at every place your partner eats. Some people eat GF for other reasons than being celiac, so make sure that they are aware that your partner has celiac. (I am not celiac, but I’m completely grain-free because it helps with another immune disorder I have, but isn’t a life/death thing). WDW restaurants do a great job of dietary restrictions, but unfortunately, you cannot let your guard down because people make mistakes. (You won’t need to worry at a place like Erin McKenna’s, since everything is GF.) Always question if something doesn’t seem right, since you saw that @Dreamer said her DH had an issue at Sanaa. Servers are great, but talking to the chef who will be preparing the food adds more safety.
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This is great to know, thank you! We will absolutely be doing that. I know there are allergy friendly options built into the Mobile Order QS options, but would you say it is better to just go up to the counter and talk to them directly then too?
I would, especially if there is a chance of cross-contamination. QS are more likely to have dedicated stations for allergies & intolerances, unlike kiosks or festival booths. That’s just me, though. If your partner has been GF for any period of time, being glutened may cause adverse digestive issues pretty quickly, which is not fun on vacation.
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Our kids have nut allergies - even though WDW has done a great job of adding allergy info to menus, the first time we try a QS food location we almost always talk to a chef. They always point out additional helpful info and usually give us a baseline for future visits so we can order more quickly on subsequent visits.
At TS locations the wait staff CMs are trained well now - but listen to them carefully and ask any questions you have. They are not infallible and if they can’t answer something they will check with chefs and/or bring them out if needed.
One time at CSR’s Three Bridges the CM told us they knew the fresh churros were safe because they were making them there on site - but we asked if she could double check the chocolate sauce even though it was all on the allergy safe menu for nuts. Chocolate often has a cross-contamination issue and when she checked the labels, it did have a tree nut warning. (She was going to report to the menu people.)
The next time we were there (a year later) and wanted to order the churros, that CM told us she did not trust those as safe because they had changed to being made over in the Tower where they might have cross issues.
TL;DR: Food info changes and always worth asking about allergens, especially if you haven’t been to a place in awhile.
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Please rest assured that just being in the Disney bubble will be restorative. Or have been for me. 
More than I could have imagined.
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Less than 24 hours until we leave for the airport…
Packing started? 
Amazon Fresh order placed?
Just need to finish packing, tidy up the house a bit, and drop the dog off for boarding.
I’ve never been so travel anxious before though. I don’t think I’ll be able to relax until we are on the plane 
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My 
location is once I reach my gate at my departure airport. Right up til then I’m a ball of anxiety
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Midnight and we are awake! The goal is to be on the road by 2 am to get to PIT.
Travel anxiety slowly turning into actual excitement…
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I can finally say I’ve reached that level of peace now! 
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