I just read through your report - I hope you have the best time and get to feel everything you need to feel - grief, joy, celebration and anything else that just happens. Looks like you have an amazong trip planned!
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Thank you!! I expect a lot of tears on this trip :’)
Finally made it on the Mears Connect bus. Off to AKL we go!
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Woo hoo - that is when I really relax - when I get on the Mears bus. At that point it doesn’t matter how many stops it makes!
Can’t wait to see that GV!!
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I hope you and your family have a wonderful trip. It’s a wonderful way to honor your father, bring your family together, and start a new chapter all at once. Best wishes for the proposal and may your father’s memory be a blessing.
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Glad you got your room request!
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My DP, DMIL. and I got to AKL lodge around 10am. The first thing we noticed is that the Christmas decorations are still up! That made my DP extremely happy.
Our room wasn’t ready as expected, so we dropped our bags off and went to the Mara to eat breakfast. DP got the GF waffles and was very pleased by how they handled allergies with the allergy coordinator. Food was good too!
After this we explored the hotel until my DM got to AKL around 12 pm. We dropped her bags off too and decided to go right to DS so my parent could get their GF baked goods at Erin McKenna’s.
I cannot say enough good things about this bakery, and not just the quality of food and the wide selection, but also the staff. My DP was SO excited and the staff there were so excited for them! It was probably the happiest I’ve seen my DP in a long time.
Baked goods acquired:
-cinnamon roll
-chocolate cupcake
-a double chocolate “bakery sink” cup
From there, we went off to the World of Disney. My DMIL was in search of a magic band and my DM really wanted a loungefly of her own. Once those were acquired as well, my partner got a Shakin’ Jamaican Cold Brew from Joffrey’s (also reported as delicious) and then we went back to the hotel.
And back to the Mara we went! DM wanted lunch so we went to the Mara, where DM and I shared spicy jerked chicken strips and DP munched away at their cinnamon roll (reported as amazing).
It was about 3pm when we finished eating and were still waiting on the GV. So we explored the resort a bit more and enjoyed watching the animals.
We finally got our GV ready around 4:40pm on the Zebra Trail. Wow was it worth the wait! And it was the room we requested too!
DP had changed their mind about not wanting to visit a park on our travel day, so we decided to just check out MK around 6pm the vibes despite how busy it was.
We didn’t stay too long, as we had an early morning ahead of us, but DP did get a popcorn bucket…. another good acquisition. We ended our night with stopping by the Mara for dinner (I can’t stay away from their pulled pork sandwich) and crashed hard.
And now today is our VIP tour at 9:30am!
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Congratulations to you both!
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Congratulations! Can’t wait to hear about your vip tour!
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Alright, to continue on with my trip report
Wednesday 1/7
This was our VIP tour day. We met with our guide Aaron outside the lobby around 9:30am. Our first park was HS, and our private car took us backstage behind RRC. I definitely geeked out a bit. When we arrived to our drop off stop, apparently every VIP in training was there to greet us lol. We acquired snacks from their little welcome cart and made our way into the park. And of course ROTR was down, so the first ride we hit was MMRR. This was a hit in the whole group. After that, we headed to Toy Story Land and did TSM, which is one DM’s favorites. By the time we were done, it was a little after 10:30am and ROTR was back up, so we made our way to that.
DF was not hugely impressed by it, and said it was too much walking and waiting and by the time they got to the ride, they were over it. DF is not a huge Star Wars fan so this didn’t surprise me. I personally loved it though.
We came off the ride to “thermal detonators” waiting for us that Aaron had grabbed. From there we went back to Toy Story Land and did SDD. HUGE hit with everyone. My DMiL and DF found it to be the perfect level of coaster for them.
After that, we went back to the car and made our way to EPCOT. We came out right behind GOTG which was our first ride. Wow, I forgot how much I loved this ride. But I think I was the only one in my group who didn’t feel dizzy afterwards lol. But still favorite amongst everyone. From there, we walked over to RRA. This ride is fine, but it made DF SO motion sick, even in 2D. So that was definitely a one and done. Our last EPCOT ride was TT, which was another huge hit. I personally love the new update, I think it fits the overall theme of EPCOT better.
After that, we hopped back into the car and made our way to MK. Unfortunately this is where things take a bad turn. My papa (DM’s dad) had been recovering from pneumonia and suddenly took a turn for the worst, and was being put on hospice. This was incredibly difficult news for my mom, but we persisted onwards to keep her mind off of things (he lived all the way in Northern CA, so it wasn’t exactly easy to drop things and go anyways).
Our first stop was Tron, which I was the only one in the group who had done it before. Thankfully the Ares overlay was still there (DF and I are huge NiN fans) and we all went on. DF and (extremely surprisingly) my DM LOVED it. Like, absolutely could not get enough of it. So this was a must repeat.
Then was 7DMT, which we did twice in a row. Following this is one of DM’s favorites, “the Pooh ride” and then we made our way over to the HM (which we did twice) after eating at Cosmic Ray’s quickly. HM was one of the rides where we went back stage, and even backstage was themed to HM! That was also a geek out moment for me lol. We then did POTC and then JC.
Sadly, during JC my DM was getting concerning texts from her sister (the skipper was giving her a hard time about being on her phone during the ride… which DM was really not happy about) and we found out after the ride that my papa had passed from kidney failure. Aaron was great at letting my DM and I just taking our time and getting our emotions out. I wasn’t sure what my DM would want to do, but she insisted we keep going. She wanted to do Tron again with DF! So being our last ride, we went and did that.
Our plan was to watch the nighttime parade and we still had a bit of time, so we went over to the area where they kept the VIP tour merch. I walked out with a VIP lug and keychain, my DF got the loungefly, and DM got a water bottle.
From there we went the train station viewing platform to our relax, and Aaron brought us popcorn and ice cream to watch the show. At 7:15 we met our max of 10 hours, so unfortunately we had to say goodbye, and DM gave Aaron a big hug lol.
The parade viewing was so fantastic and was such a cute parade! It was such a positive ending to our very emotional, exhausting day.
We ended up taking a Minnie Van back
to the hotel to end our night in style (and I really really do love the Minnie Vans, especially leaving MK).
Despite the loss of my papa, we all agreed it was a fantastic day and totally worth it. It has made our following days more relaxing and less rushed as we got majority of the major attractions done. Our guide Aaron was so amazing and both DM and DMiL enjoyed chatting his ear off lol. He also was a tour guide for Trent Reznor and his family… so yeah DF and I were absolutely in awe of that lmao.
Our next day would be AK, so we went to bed exhausted and ready for another park day
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I’m so sorry hear that.
Oh, my condolences. 
Who is who?
Me, too! I’m thinking that if we budget well, we’ll be taking Minnie Vans on our next trip.
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Im so sorry for your loss, and for your mom’s.
I can imagine it’s been an intense and emotional few days between this, the memories of your dad - and the engagement (congratulations!)
I like to think it’s healthy for joy and sorrow to exist in the same space, and hope this has also been your experience. Hope you also find some quieter moments over the course of the trip to process it all.
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I’m so sorry for your loss. I’m glad you all were able to be together and supported (except by that JC skipper 
).
Following up a VIP tour with a Minnie Van ride…
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DM, me, DF, and DMiL
We’ve done a couple on our trip so far, and while they’re $$$, on a busy night it is worth it imo
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It’s been a trip of many emotions. The family scene during HEA that plays “You’ll be in my heart” left both me and my mom weeping 
But finally being officially engaged to DF has also been such a positive experience. We’ve been together for 12 years (since middle school, we met online on a children’s website haha) and have been living together since 2018… but we finally have gotten to the point in our lives where we feel ready to get married, focus on our careers goals, and hopefully start a family. It was nice to have both of our moms here to celebrate with us as well. 
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