Trip Report: Dinner & Fireworks (Day 4, Part 3 | December 2022)

 We checked out the gift shop at The Meadows Trading Post. I was getting hungry so I ate a snack from my bag. We also sat there for a while to rest and I looked at restaurant availability. But we didn’t book anything. Instead we took a bus to the Settlement so we could eat there. 

They had food trucks which we checked out, but none of them spoke to me. Instead we mobile-ordered from P&J’s Takeout. I got the chicken nuggets with fries. They had strawberry shortcake so I got that since I was missing Hoop Dee Doo. My fries were a bit under-cooked, but overall it was a good dinner. 

We took a boat back to the Magic Kingdom. My stepmom called it a night and headed back to the hotel. Dad and I walked to the Grand Floridian. We wanted to catch the Electric Water Pageant. The walk wasn’t bad, but there’s almost no shade so be careful in the sun.

Enchantment started soon so we watched outside of Gasparilla Grill. I don’t understand why they don’t pump the music in.

Then, we headed inside to check out the Gingerbread House. It was done in the Colors of the 50th anniversary.

We went back outside for the water parade. Sadly, we had the wrong time. This isn’t the first time this has happened to us. Someday we’ll see the parade again. 

Instead of walking to Magic Kingdom, we took the monorail. We did the whole loop to let the crowds leave the park disperse. That was a good move. Plus, it’s always fun to ride the monorail.

Dad and I took the respective buses back to our hotels. I stopped at the Pop Century gift shop to buy some Powerade. I also bought some pins. I try to get a magnet when I stay at a new hotel, but they didn’t have one.

In the room I updated my vlog and then headed to bed.

Today’s Highlight: Boat to myself

Steps Walked: 22,607

Trip Report: Feeling that Florida Heat (Day 2, Part 2 | July 2021)

 With our snacks finished, we continued around the World Showcase. We finally found Remy in Japan! That was the hardest one of the whole festival I think. We continued our hunt in Germany and China, but we didn’t get anything to eat.

When we got to Norway, we did pop into Kringla. Neither of us have eaten here before, but we had seen some good things online so we wanted to try the almond kringla. While in line we impulsively purchased the lefse. The lefse was a hit with both of us. It reminded me of putting cinnamon sugar and butter on my toast as a kid. The kringla was a bit dry for me. I don’t think it was poorly made, its just a drier item.

After our treats and some free cups of water, we continued to Mexico. We rode on Three Caballeros. We also checked out our recent favorite: the glasswork cM in the Mexico pavilion. It’s always fascinating to see him work.

As is usually the case in Mexico, we could not find Remy. We probably searched the whole thing three times before finally finding him. Since we finished our loop of the World Showcase, we headed to Future World. We stopped at the Odyssey building to refill our water bottles and go to the bathroom.

First, we checked on Test Track, but the line was too long for us. Instead we went for Spaceship Earth. Sadly, it wasn’t as cool in there as we expected. My picture didn’t come out either. My dad said it was because the guy in front of us raised and blocked me. I’ve since had other issues so it could be a larger tech problem. 

Then, we decided we were done with Epcot so we took the monorail to the TTC. We planned to try and tour the Grand Floridian DVC villas since I’ve never seen them. For some now forgotten reason we got off at the TTC and decided to walk to the Grand.

Things started going downhill during this walk. We had to stop part way through the Poly because I didn’t feel good. I was feeling a bit confused. I was definitely overheated and in retrospect probably approaching heatstroke. I thought I was taking care of myself, but I guess not. I think it may have been an electrolyte issue, because when I added a Powerade everyday I felt better.

Once we got to the Great Ceremonial House, we sait in the lobby for about 30 minutes so I could rest and drink some water. Dad kept saying we could just go back to our room. I really wanted to get to Magic Kingdom tonight to watch Happily Ever After.

I started to feel better so we continued on to the Grand Floridian. We wanted a few minutes for a guide and then toured a two and three bedroom villa.

Up Next: Final Happily Ever After

Disney Transportation: Monorail

 I love the monorail! A Disney trip never feels complete until I take a spin on the highway in the sky. I don’t even need to be going anywhere specific-I’ll just do the whole Magic Kingdom resort loop. 

There are three different monorail loops. The first one is the Express monorail. It goes between the Transportation & Ticket Center (TTC) and the Magic Kingdom. The second is the Resort monorail. It goes to the TTC, the Polynesian, the Grand Floridian, the Magic Kingdom, and the Contemporary. The final one is the Epcot monorail which goes between the TTC and Epcot.

The monorail is one of the most accessible forms of Disney transportation. Each monorail car is divided into two sections and each section can accommodate a whole wheelchair/scooter. The transportation Cast Members will put a ramp down so you can drive right on.They also let the CMs at your stop know so they are ready with another ramp. 

You can also keep your stroller in its normal configuration. That’s probably extra nice at the end of the night.

Normally, people will stand on the monorail. There are bars to hold onto so you don’t fall down. But now with Covid they are limiting people on each car. Those two sections in each car are divided by a hanging barrier. And each section only seats up to two parties. There are two bench seats across from each other with a fairly open area between them (where the scooter would go). So each party would get a bench and be distanced from each other.

The Epcot monorail is not running right now due to Covid. That is sad because it is a fun ride. The monorail will go into the park a little bit before going to the station to drop you off. It gives you some great views of the front of Epcot. 

The monorail is fun. I always love hearing “Por favor manténgase alejado de las puertas”. 

Holly’s Hot Tip: If you’re staying at the Polynesian and want to go to Epcot, walk to the TTC. That’s faster than doing the whole resort loop and transferring at the TTC. Especially if you’re staying in the DVC rooms, because they are incredibly close to the TTC. 

I also did a YouTube video on this if you’re interested:

Thanks for reading!

Holly

Trip Report: Poly Pulled Pork Nachos (Day 3, Part 4 | November 2020)

 Then, we slowly moseyed out of the park. I saw some birds being fed near the front of the park. The natural Florida birds kept trying to steal food so the Cast Member had to keep shooing them away. They aren’t just aggressive when it comes to your food.

We took a bus to the Grand Floridian. The plan was to eat dinner at the Polynesian so we were going to take in the other monorail resorts first. There were no Christmas decorations, but it’s still a beautiful resort.

Then, we took the monorail to the Contemporary and did a little bit of shopping. 

It was time to go to the Polynesian. We had to get off the monorail at the TTC because Polynesian station is down while the resort undergoes construction. We walked to the lobby which was actually a little hard because the resort was so dark. 

Dinner was at Captain Cook’s. I got my pulled pork nachos and dad got the Thai coconut meatballs. Both are some of our favorites.

We were done for the night so we took a bus to Disney Springs and then walked back to our room. I was a little uncomfortable (my back hurt) so I updated my notes and went to bed.

Steps Walked: 21,316

Up Next: Day 4!