March 2013 Trip Report: Day 2, Part 1 (Calling an audible)

I was the first one to wake up so I ate breakfast by myself. I was sleeping on the pull out in case you were wondering. It was pretty comfortable.

I got bagels from the gift shop so that was my breakfast. I ate at the island and had the chair turned so I could watch the monorails come and go.

My dad woke up to a voicemail from Mickey and Minnie wishing him a happy birthday which is so cool. Dad and I were alone today. I think this was the day Brian, Katie, and my stepmom were going to a Braves game. Brian and Katie are huge Braves fans and this was a huge selling point for Katie.

The plan was to go to Animal Kingdom so we headed to the bus stop.

After waiting through several not Animal Kingdom buses we did something we’ve never done before:

We called an audible and walked to Magic Kingdom.

                                

Look at all those sweatshirts and coats L

It was a little rainy today, but it’s still a beautiful walk. If you’re staying at the Contemporary I highly suggest taking advantage of this walk (especially at the end of the night).

First thing we did was head to Space Mountain to pick up a fastpass for 9:50.

Since we were already in Tomorrowland we went to Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. It was a walk on and we were able to ride twice. He won once and I won once.

Then, we walked through “old’ Fantasyland and got in line for Peter Pan. It had a posted wait of fifteen minutes, but we were walking the whole time, I really enjoyed the ride and it’s always a fun experience.

Up next: We try to ride the Wildest Ride in the Wilderness

March 2013 Trip Report: Day 1, Part 3 (Back to Epcot)

We headed back to Epcot around 6:30 and were walking on Spaceship Earth just after 7. My camera battery was dying so I left it behind. So, again there aren’t a lot of pictures for this post.

This was my first ride since all of the changes. I like the future part and how it’s interactive. The lights during the descent felt a little trippy.

Like a lot of people Judi Dench isn’t my favorite. I prefer the Jeremy Irons version.

Just before 8 we split up for dinner. My parents went to the Yorkshire fish shop for fish and chips. My dad said it was good and had a very mild fish taste. His only “complaint” was that he would have liked a third piece of fish.

I went to Cantina de San Angel and got the kids empanada meal. It was good, but my boss is Cuban and makes amazing empanadas. He even told me I would be disappointed and he was right.

The chips left over

It was getting colder and windy and I was sitting outside so I was kind of uncomfortable.

When we finished our separate meals we meet back up and headed to Test Track to use our fastpasses.

I had seen ride videos so it wasn’t a complete surprise, but I liked the new design. It was a little more thrilling this way, but I miss the old pre-ride video.

When we finished Test Track it was time to get our spots for IllumiNations.

Normally, we watch from the UK, but we wanted to try something different and ended up in Norway.

Here’s the one blurry picture I have of our view.

It was a fairly good view. There were some tree branches that blocked the higher fireworks.

Unfortunately, a group of teenage girls stood near us and talked through the whole thing. I’m just more of a sit back and enjoy the show kind of person.

After the show we made our way out of the park. The plan was to go slowly and enjoy the park as it emptied out, but the cold made us move faster.

Back at the hotel I grabbed a tea from the Contempo Café and then went to the room to unpack and go to sleep.

Oh, one other thing about the room: the water pressure in the shower. Normally, water pressure is horrible in Florida and hotels in general. But this was crazy high. It actually kind of hurt and I felt like my body was going through a car wash.

Here’s the view I had from my bed on the pull out.

Up next: The first full day and foiled plans

March 2013 Trip Report: Day 1, Part 2 (Epcot)

After lunch we got on the monorail and made our way to Epcot. I don’t know why, but apparently I didn’t take a lot of pictures this night.

We had to get our tickets at guest relations, so when the monorail looped around the park my dad and I were joking about being in the park without tickets.

After our shenanigans we got our tickets and headed into the park.

The plan was to do Journey into Imagination, because I’m a huge Figment fan. But there was a thirty minute wait.

What?!

It was probably a mistake, but we didn’t want to risk it so we grabbed a fastpass for Test Track with a return time. Then we went to Living with the Land.

For us, Future World seems to always involve a lot of walking from one side to the other.

I love Living with the Land. I do miss having a real person narrate it, I don’t have a problem with the recorded version.

And apparently I learned the difference between a Meer cat and a prairie dog from the boy sitting behind me. But I didn’t retain that information.

Next, we headed to the Imagination Institute to hand with my favorite purple dragon.

Then, we stopped in Club Cool. I like this place and trying all the different drinks. But I miss the freezing walkway you used to have to go through.

After that we thought about going on a grand and miraculous journey. The wait time said 5 minutes for Spaceship Earth, but it looked a lot longer.

Since our room was ready we headed back to Bay Lake Tower.

We checked out the room and hung out for about an hour.

The room was nice. There was some wear and tear, but nothing particularly bad. And the space was more confined then I expected, but we were comfortable. It’s also interesting because the rooms are curved throughout because of the architecture.

One odd thing: apparently there’s no ice machines. My dad and I wandered around and never found one. I know there’s a freezer in the room, but what if I need a lot of ice.

Up next: back to Epcot for dinner and IllumiNations

March 2013 Trip Report: Day 1, Part 1 (Getting There)

I didn’t start taking notes until we got to Orlando, so some of this is from memory alone.

This was on my phone:

 

We got up early and headed to the Buffalo airport. We live in Rochester, NY but Buffalo is a bigger airport and has more options. For flying-not food. The food options (especially for breakfast) are severely lacking. So, I grabbed a smoothie and then we settled in to wait for our plane.

If we can, we like to get the first flight of the day. I believe this one left somewhere between 7:30 and 8:00. We were supposed to land at MCO around 10:30.

I HATE flying. I’m afraid of heights, have anxiety, and am incredibly sensitive to air pressure changes. So, I’m usually afraid, anxious, and in pain while on a plane. So, I basically black out the whole flight experience and don’t remember it.

The plane did land a little early. Yay!!!

And we got to the good old Magical Express around 11 AM. We got on our bus fairly quickly, but were toward the back of the bus, so I couldn’t get very good pictures.

My dad has horrible luck when it comes to lines and that extended to our Magical Express journey.

The bus stopped at four hotels-Polynesian, Grand Floridian, Wilderness Lodge, and the Contemporary. Of course we were last.

Side note: apparently I thought our driver-Brian-was very funny.

My brother and Katie arrived about an hour earlier and were able to request one of the two rooms we really wanted.

My dad and I are hyper-planners. Part of this involves us finding room views so we can make specific requests. Now, Touring Plans has all the views which is super exciting.

When we went to check in…we couldn’t. The reservation system was down so we left our carry-ons with Bell Services and headed to the Grand Floridian for lunch.

It was nice to see the DVC construction. This is my favorite resort and I’m very happy with the DVC addition.

In my notes I say that it was windy and 54 degrees, but this this is fine because it’s better than the winter weather at home.

Ha-ha.

These feelings will not last.

Anywho…we went to Gasparilla’s.

I got the pepperoni flatbread. It was pretty average. My last trip I got the personal pepperoni pizza from here like every day so this flatbread had some high expectations to live up to.

My dad got the chicken cordon bleu and Denise got the corn beef Panini.

Dad said his was good and Denise said her’s was amazing.

After eating we walked around the resort to take in the new kid’s splash area and more of the DVC construction.

Up next: The monorail and Epcot