On the trip in Oct with our Mom, both my brother and I upgraded out tickets to an annual pass and with that why not plan another trip..and so we did!
The last trip we did the Not So Scary Halloween and this trip we did the Mickeys Very Merry Christmas!
This trip I didn't stay at a Disney Resort but rather we stayed at an Official Disney hotel at Disney Springs, the Holiday Inn Disney Springs. So on this trip I had to pick up my bags when I arrived at the airport they just didn't magically appear in my room as they did on my last trip and I wasn't whisked away on the Magical Express but rather took a Lyft from the airport to the hotel and did the same on my return trip. Using Lyft/Uber was very easy and lots just make sure you get the correct door number for pick up and the cost was about 38.00 USD one way.
Since we didn't stay at a Disney property we didn't do the meal plan as we did in Oct and that was ok this way could see if the meal plan was worth the extra expense or not ..note that last trip it was "free" with our hotel deal...for this trip I didn't really eat as much as I did on the last trip, the last trip was the Food and Wine Festival so lot's of options for food ..this trip I just did quick service meals and my brother and I did do a couple table services during our week. I would still do the meal plan again when traveling during the food and wine festival as most of the food options are snack credits.