JoAnn's Princess 2018 trip

I've been back a week now. And I miss it already.

Arrival day - Thursday

My flight was uneventful. We left a few minutes early and arrived 40 minutes early. Yay!!! That was until we sat on the tarmac for 20 because the plane at our gate hadn't left yet. I did't wait long for the Magical Express after I finally got off the plane. Pop Century was the first stop and I arrive just before noon.

JMed was waiting for me in the lobby when I arrived. We opened the Petals Bar. After we caught up over a couple of drinks, I got something to eat before heading to ESPN to pick up my race stuff. I met my cousins there. We picked up our race stuff and did a little shopping at the expo.

We went to Disney Springs for dinner at Splitsville. This was the first of three 'new to me' restaurants this trip. I had the fiesta chicken bowl which was really good.

Back to Pop for the night as it was a long day.

Friday - 5K day

I was up around 3:00am to get to the 5K. After getting dropped off at Epcot, it always seems like we are walking a 5K just to get the start line.

I finished the race in an hour. I met Spook at the Boardwalk resort where we waited for my cousins to join us for breakfast at Trattoria al Forno (they had to run back to their hotel after the race). Breakfast was good. This was my second breakfast here. It was as good as it was the first time.

After breakfast I went back to Pop to shower and rest. My cousins picked me up and we went shopping in the afternoon before going to DHS for dinner at Mama Melrose's. It was another early night as Saturday was the 10K which means another 3:00am wake up.

Thank you!

Saturday - 10K

Up at 3:00 again. This time for my first 10K. My cousin kept me motivated during the whole race and we completed in less than 2 hours. After the race we had breakfast at Kona Cafe. I enjoyed the mimosa flight with the loco moco.

I went back to Pop to clean up and rest. I went back to the Expo to find an "I did it" souvenir from the race. I wasn't going to buy it until I actually did it. I took the bus to the Contemporary with plans to go to MK for a little bit. I could barely walk so I took the monorail to the Grand Floridian where I was meeting my cousins and Spook for afternoon tea. We had a nice relaxing time during the tea.

After tea, Spook and I went to Animal Kingdom Lodge to meet Kristin and Becks and their spouses. JMed joined us later on. I enjoyed our time. It was nice meeting Kristin and Becks. Hope our trips overlap again. We didn't stay late as Spook, Kristin and Becks had the half marathon in the morning. I was really tired by this time. I took an Uber back to Pop.

Thanks Jeff. The 10K was not my best idea. I'm still suffering from it. I did something to my knee. It was so bad I went to the doctor's yesterday only to be told to come for xrays if it's still hurting in the next week or two. Stinks getting old...

Sunday - no race for me and finally some park time

I got to sleep in but was still up by 6:00. I went to MK for a bit before going to Ft Wilderness to meet Spook for brunch at Trail's End. My trip to MK was a bit of an adventure. Because the half marathon was still going on, we couldn't go directly to MK. We were supposed to go to the TTC. Traffic was horrible. The bus driver was going to turn around at Wilderness Lodge to go straight on the road to the TTC instead trying to make a left with everyone else on the road. When she was telling her plans, i was thinking 'why not just drop us off here and we can take the boat to MK'. Then she received confirmation that the boats were running so she dropped us off at the resort.

Brunch was really good. After brunch, we went to MK for a couple of hours.

I left to go to Epcot for fast passes I had scheduled for the afternoon. While there I checked My Disney Experience to see what was available for dinner (my previously made plans had changed). There was an opening at Nine Dragons (another new to me restaurant). It was good. I would eat there again. I had the pot stickers and honey sesame chicken.

I left Epcot after I dinner and back to Pop to turn in for the night.

Monday - Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Disney Springs

My last full day

i started the day at Magic Kingdom with Robyn and her friend Jackie. I spent about a couple of hours before leaving to go to Animal Kingdom for my Flight of Passage fast pass.

I met up with my cousins for lunch before my cousin T had to go to the airport for her flight that evening. We went to lunch at Flame Tree BBQ and then walked around a bit. I had to get one ride on Expedition Everest. I needed a rest. I took a bus to Art of Animation because I wanted to see where the gondola was going at Pop and AoA. The bridge wasn't far from my room. Plus the AoA bus came first. I took a few pictures for a facebook group I belong to for value resorts. I sat on my bed and didn't move for 2 hours.

The plan was to meet Robyn and Jackie at Disney Springs that evening. I got on the bus when I heard from Robyn that they were getting ready to leave for DS. I met up with them by the World of Disney Store. We decided to try The Polite Pig for dinner as none of had eaten there. The food was really good. We had a few issues. I took my smaller bag and forgot to take my AP. I ordered my meal with Jackie for the discount. I asked for an ice water. After we paid, we noticed the cashier charged us for two sodas. Jackie talked to them about a refund. There was confusion on how to refund it since there was a discount involved and it was charged to her room. They ended up giving her cash. Robyn's fries were cold. She alerted the server and they were replaced very quickly.

After dinner, I went back to Pop. I was not looking forward to the long walk to the Pop bus stop. i was surprised to find the bus was at bus stop 1 and was there. I walked right on. Then I noticed the bus was also going to AoA. This is the first I have seen the two resort sharing a bus. I found on facebook, that it has become common for the to share later on in the evening instead of having 2 half full buses. Makes sense to me.

When I got back I started organizing my stuff for my departure the next day.

Tuesday - departure day

I had a few hours before catching the tragical express back to the airport. I packed up my stuff and checked my bags at the resort. I had some breakfast and walked around the resort. I was on my way to the airport shortly after 11:00am. I made it through security in record time. I grabbed some lunch before going to my gate. I normally take a non-stop flight. The only options I had for my return flight were either really early or really late. I flew through Washington DC Reagan National to get a decent flight time. We were tracking about 20 minutes early into Reagan National but we couldn't land. So we kept circling until we could land.

By the time we landed, I had 10 minutes to get to my connecting flight before they shut the doors. I bolted through the jet bridge and happened to look at the gate monitor. As luck would have it, my flight to Hartford was at that gate. I waited about 20 minutes and got back on the same plane.

I was home around 8:00pm.

I am so glad we got to meet. Hope you can make October work out. The doctor told me to keep icing it, take neproxin (I had been taking ibuprofen) and stay off of it as much as possible. I worked from my couch today.

That was the after picture. Jen took a before picture too.

I enjoyed it too.

thank you