Saturday morning I woke up to use the bathroom, and I immediately suspected my feet would not survive consecutive park days. Add in that we were transferring resorts and had some packing up to do that morning, which would set us back, and that we'd probably have better luck at Magic Kingdom on a Halloween party day Sunday (as people don't pick the park that day because non-party guests have to leave early and miss fireworks), and it made the decision pretty easy to postpone our second park day to the following day.
We had to do our final pack-up before taking our luggage down to bell services for our transfer. It's a little crazy to have to pack up all of your stuff in the middle of the trip, but I suppose it was a good test run for going home, to figure out where we might be short on space after Jacob's Under Armour shopping sprees and the purchase of a hippo. Fortunately, Carter's new suitcase arrived the previous evening and it worked great for repacking his stuff. We were even able to have bell services dispose of the old one (farewell, old friend!).
The one downside to doing a resort day on a transfer day is that I usually feel the need to keep extra stuff with me (like swim stuff, ponchos, and my computer) because we will have pool time and might have some downtime before the room is ready. I want to be prepared for everything, not to mention that in some cases I need the space for whatever doesn't fit in my suitcase! That meant hauling around an extra heavy bag for half the day in that awful heat...ugh.
Before we headed out, we took a few more pictures of the room now that it wasn't covered in the boys' mess!
The couch we barely got to sit on because Jacob's bed was folded down on it from the moment we walked in the room
We dropped off the bags and briefly split up. Carter and I went back down to Sanaa to get him breakfast, as he loved his previous breakfast there. On our way back out, we spied this rather large turtle that lives out on the savanna but in an enclosure right up next to the building.
Then we stopped over to Jambo House to look at souvenirs. We knew there was a tiny blue carved soapstone hippo we wanted (an homage to the blue hippo at home that started it all), and I was also looking at this other really cool decorative carving that looked a bit like an eternal knot. I really wanted to get it, but I wasn't sure if it would fit in my luggage or make it home safely crammed in full luggage, so I held off. I was going to think about trying to make it back if I didn't find any other souvenirs, though spoiler alert: I did not. Boo.
From there Carter and I took the bus to Animal Kingdom and then hopped on an Old Key West bus. Craig and Jacob had already headed over there to get a head start on some pool time, and that was our first stop, as well. It was so nice to be back at Old Key West. Just seeing the sign on the way into the resort and the familiar sights made me so happy. It truly is our home away from home there. After stopping to change, we headed to the pool, which was lovely as always. It also remains my favorite slide! After about an hour of pool time, we were getting pretty hungry, so it was time to wrap up and head to lunch. We wanted to eat at Olivia's right there at Old Key West, but they close between 2 and 5 and we had just missed the end of brunch. So, we decided to go over to Port Orleans for lunch instead. We hopped on the boat to Disney Springs and then transferred to Port Orleans French Quarter.
Happy to be back on the boat!
Jacob loves the burger at Sassagoula Floatworks & Food Factory, and Carter and Craig decided to get jambalaya! I had a really good pulled pork sandwich.
Jacob decided he was too full to get beignets that day, so we figured we'd skip it and go back another day for those. We were getting ready to take the boat back to Disney Springs to go back to Old Key West and wait for our room, but a thunderstorm was coming in so the boats were closed. We had to take a bus over to Disney Springs instead and transfer to Old Key West from there. It started absolutely monsooning just as the bus was picking us up, so it was a rather wet boarding process and it rained so hard that the bus leaked a bit! Unfortunately we had to go through security at Disney Springs despite just hopping back on another bus, which was a massive pain with the extra heavy bag from carrying around transfer day stuff. Luckily the rain was slowing down by then, but it was still pretty drippy as we made our way to the next bus.
While we were at Port Orleans, we got notified by text that our room was ready. Initially I was a bit annoyed because it was in the Southpoint section, where we've never stayed before. It's the farthest one out and it wasn't one of the two neighborhoods that I had requested. Fortunately, it was one of the first buildings in the section, so it ended up being in a pretty good spot after all--only about an eight-minute walk to the hospitality house and just a minute or so to the bus stop.
One annoying thing when we got back and tried to grab our luggage was that they lost our food and water that we had left with bell services for the trip over. At least all of our luggage was there, but it was annoying to know we had food and snacks that we didn't have access to. It took pretty much an entire extra day to find them, which meant we didn't have our snacks, water, or breakfast items for that evening or the next morning. So much for trying to save money. Another disappointment was that the Dole Whip machine was broken the entire time we were there, so there was no key lime Dole Whip. That was a huge bummer because the key lime swirl is the best, and I kept holding off on other Dole Whip because I was holding out for key lime!
When we got into our room, we were surprised to see that it was the reverse layout from the one we've had every other time we've been there. Same space, but our bedroom was off to the left instead of the right. It was odd being in essentially a carbon copy room, but everything was a mirror image to what we're used to! We had a golf course view this time, but sadly the course is under refurbishment so it was a little rougher around the edges than usual.
Giant bamboo tree next to our patio
We relaxed for a bit in the room before getting ready to head off to dinner, but once again, a nasty storm hit. That made going much of anywhere for dinner a bit more complicated, but we got a reservation at Olivia's and hopped a bus to get there. Along the way, there was a gorgeous rainbow outside. I wish I could have gotten a better picture, but by the time we got to the hospitality house, it was starting to fade.
We had to wait a bit longer than we were expecting because there were a lot of people taking up tables with post-meal chit-chat. While we waited, I snapped some pretty pre-sunset photos. It's such a lovely resort at all times of day.
We finally got seated and our meal was delicious as usual. Jacob got his beloved prime rib, Carter got the southern fried chicken, Craig got salmon, and I got the bacon jam cheeseburger. The boys had wanted to do a night swim after dinner, which I usually love, but I was so full and the last thing I felt like doing was put on a swimsuit. I just wanted to hang out in the room for a bit, so I walked back myself while the boys stayed back and eventually shot hoops for a while. On my way, I captured EPCOT fireworks from a distance.
It was such a peaceful walk home, despite the distant booms. Upon arrival at the room, I ended up doing an hour or more of work. This vacation hit at a terrible time for my work projects, but honestly, there's never a good time. If I would have gone earlier in the summer, it would have delayed getting other projects moving, so my timelines would have been messed up that way, too. So the best I could do was keep up with email every couple days and see what I could move forward when I checked in. I managed to push a few things forward, which was helpful for when I got back on Tuesday. That time alone was much-needed and very well-spent.
The boys came back just as I was wrapping up, and that was pretty much it for another day at Disney. Not exactly our most productive or efficient day ever, but it was really nice to be back home at Old Key West and ready to go for the last full day of our trip!
We arrived at EPCOT around 4pm. It felt late to be starting another park, but we were going to make the best of it. We felt like EPCOT might be our best bet since there were fewer must-do rides and the countries allow for more flexibility since you can explore them as quickly or slowly as you like. As always, the first sight of Spaceship Earth gets me so excited!
Carter had two initial priorities upon arrival. He wanted to check the store near the front of the park for something he'd been bugging me for since early in Animal Kingdom. There was a type of cotton candy in the candy store in Africa that was cookies 'n' cream flavored, and while I didn't let him get it then, he became obsessed with tracking it down elsewhere. While we weren't going to buy it right then either, he just wanted to know it was there! Once we confirmed its presence, it was on to priority #2--Club Cool! We were ready to get our samples of our favorites! We figured we'd start on a low note and do a shot of Beverly before making our way down the line! Country Club is still my favorite, followed by Cucumber Sprite. We had a blast getting our fill, particularly for free after doing a paid sampler last year.
When we left there, I started checking ride wait times, and was shocked to see Guardians down around 35 minutes, which was crazy low. We hustled right over there and got in line. It was still outside the building, but at least I knew this one would be worth it! I'm usually either rushing into the ride or so elated coming off it that it's not often I take a minute to see the big starship from the backside.
It was definitely a wait, and maybe a bit longer than posted, but it moved reasonably well enough and we kept ourselves occupied. I was so excited to see what song we'd get! We finally made it through, and the anticipation through the first part of the ride, right up until it goes dark, was so fun! And boom, when I heard the first notes of "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", I threw my arms in the air and let out a huge whoop! It's one of my favorite songs even outside of the ride, so to get it on the ride was amazing! Regardless of the song, that ride is just elite. It is by far my favorite ride on property, and my cheeks are always sore from smiling by the time it's over. I will say that I think "September" is still better, but it was still SO much fun! And I felt really lucky, because the posted wait when we left was double what it was when we went in!
When we came back outside, the sky was looking a bit threatening. There was a big, dark cloud in one direction, and audible thunder. We decided to pop into Connections for dinner, where we split the two slices of pizza and shared an order of parmesan truffle fries, with the promise of a pretzel later in Germany. The rain never really hit us, but apparently it was close enough to close Test Track for a bit. However, as we walked back out with Mission: Space on our agenda, we heard Test Track testing. That's how we got on it one time previously, too, catching it testing and getting in the line just in case it opened. We decided it was worth a try, especially since it had been refurbished with a new storyline since our last ride. We stood there for maybe 10-15 minutes before it opened, and we were maybe 150-200 people back, which didn't seem terrible.
We walked through the first room almost without stopping, and then it slowed down a bit in the second room. And then it got really slow. I was trying to figure out if it was having issues or it was just a slow line, but then we realized that there was also a massive Lightning Lane line that was getting a ton of people through at a time. What was supposed to be a short wait took forever. In the end I think we were in there about an hour, which included a 15 minute delay when we were on the platform, two loads away from getting on. Thankfully they got it running and we finally got our ride. The new version wasn't quite as fun as the old one--Carter really missed making his car--but the homage to the original World of Motion ride there was pretty fun. It definitely had a bit more of that original EPCOT futuristic optimism that my dorky 9-year-old self loved back in 1987, and some of the cars in the queue had that feel, as well. It took everything I had to not sing "Fun to Be Free" to Carter at the end.
While we were in that line, Craig and Jacob had made their way to Coronado Springs for dinner, before heading over to Hollywood Studios for a bit. Jacob had his eye on a reasonably priced Steak Frites and then got gluten-free churros for dessert! Unfortunately, lines at Hollywood Studios were a bit longer than they wanted, so they didn't end up riding anything there.
By the time we got out of Test Track, we were definitely short on time. The sun was setting, and park close was merely an hour away. We started a brisk walk over to the World Showcase, and the sunset was giving me lovely views.
We didn't really stop too many places because of how short our time was, but we did make an exception for China because their store is really cool. Carter wanted some exotic potato chips, but he was leaning toward the crayfish ones, and I didn't really want to pay a bunch for a bag of chips that might just smell like fish. We didn't have time to argue about it or stop to pay, so we had to let it go. We popped back out and the lighting on the gate and pagoda was so lovely.
The half-light gave everything a new feel. Even though we've been in EPCOT at dusk before, I didn't really remember it feeling like this. Maybe because we dealt with rain and sore feet and were in a different section the other times?
We of course had to stop in Germany because I will probably forever check there in case they bring back my elusive blown glass Mickey ornament, but we did have a good laugh over the pickle ornament selection this time. If you recall, there was a misunderstanding where the boys thought I wanted a glass pickle instead of the Mickey head. Despite my insistence that the one pickle we have is enough (despite it being a Clausen-branded tin that came with gummy pickles inside), I almost would have consented to the pickle in a Santa hat if it wasn't $30 and I wasn't terrified of getting it home. Also, the Arribas store there had this stunning crystal Spaceship Earth. Bargain price: $79,000. Who on earth is buying that?! (or the glass or crystal Cinderella Castles, for that matter.)
Germany always makes me smile and makes me wish even more that I could get to the real thing one of these years--especially as we're now on the cusp of Oktoberfest once again. The grounds are taking shape and my wanderlust may be pretty strong this year! But for now, EPCOT will have to do.
We grabbed our giant pretzel, which was delicious, and ripped off pieces as we continued our fast walk. Of course I had to get the night version of the Japanese gate photo with Spaceship Earth (almost) smack in the middle.
Morocco looked so pretty and I desperately wanted to wander back to photograph the gorgeous hanging lanterns, but alas...time was ticking!
We did make a brief stop in Canada because that store is always so fun. And we had a feeling that we'd run into a familiar face:
When we came with the kids when Jacob was five and Carter was a baby, one of Jacob's souvenirs was a giant stuffed bear that was actually also a puppet. He's still a favorite, to the point that he's typically remained a mainstay on Jacob's bed even as he's weeded others out. In subsequent trips we didn't see the bear again, until we were in a store in Animal Kingdom this time, and there he was! Same face, but slightly different fur--softer and some lighter streaks--and sadly no hidden Mickey head in the paw prints. But he was the same bear otherwise, and had we not already had an extra stuffed hippo and not enough packing space, I might have lost that battle to bring home his brother. But seeing him in Canada as well was a nice full circle moment. We had a fun chat with the cast members there when we told them the story of the original Bear. The one said (in her adorable Canadian accent) that a stuffy was usually her choice of souvenir as well, but now she has a giant bin of them she can't bear to part with. I said that we had it times two (and really three with me), and she said that she was expecting her first baby and is now telling herself that she can give them to her--which I strongly affirmed! They also had a super cute beaver there that I'm sure would have been happy with the Buc-ee's beavers back at home.
Once we wrapped up there, my mission at that point, with about 10 minutes before park close, was to make it to the Journey of Water with Moana. It was nearly complete but not open last time we were in the park, and we only got to glimpse it from the monorail last time. Heck, most of that area was a massive construction site the last two times we were there, and it was pretty amazing to finally see it done. That whole area was pretty, though we never got to go into the new Communicore building.
As much as we love Figment and wanted to ride Journey into Imagination, Moana had to take precedence since we've ridden Figment before and I would not forgive myself if we didn't do one of the main things I didn't get to do last time. Unfortunately, this would probably be our last chance to ride the current version before they do a major refurbishment soon. It's likely going to bring back our old friend Dreamfinder, who was part of the ride when I first fell in love with Figment. I liked the ride and pavilion so much when I was nine that I HAD to buy a little vinyl figure of him as my souvenir, and after one of our last visits, I dug him out of my memory bin and he once again lives in my shadow box. Next time I go in there I'm bringing out the fun 80s Daisy Duck (think Cyndi Lauper-style) as well. But the Imagination pavilion looked lovely from afar!
We also didn't step foot in The Land or The Seas on this trip, which was also a bummer as I love both of those places. Soarin' is always a joy, Livin' with the Land is a classic, and I always enjoy viewing the aquariums in The Seas. But Moana called...
I'm so happy we made it, not only because it was really cool, but also because I got some of the prettiest pictures of the entire trip in there.
Note the jumping fountain
This may be one of the prettiest pictures I have ever taken.
This one was quite stunning, as well. Or maybe it's just that Te Fiti is stunning herself?
The attraction is a series of water-based activities that are dependent on your movement. It was fun and so pretty. One was like a water harp.
One used your hand motions to shoot out streams.
One was a waterfall that stopped as you walked through it.
The jumping fountains (which I have always loved over at Imagination) were so pretty and well lit here.
Another one where the arm motions shot up water...
By the time we were done, the big fireworks show had already begun. The bad news is once that happens, Spaceship Earth's fun lights, which I love to watch and photograph, turn off. And once they're back on, they're sort of limited for a while, during which all the firework spectators create a mad rush out of the park for the buses, which it generally behooves you to beat so you're not waiting forever for a bus or standing the entire drive back. We knew we had to stop in the store to get Carter's "Gray Stuff" cotton candy, and we also made a split second decision to throw in a Little Golden Book. Yes, I know we're past the children's book phase BUT it was a Figment one and it featured Dreamfinder, so I knew it had to be a good one. Turns out a lot of it was taken from the music in the original ride, which made me so happy! For like, $6, I couldn't pass it up!
On our way out I tried to get as many pretty photos as I could, but alas, it wasn't the best.
This is the ball's classic look, but I love the points of light.
This one was a surprise--I think my phone just couldn't manage the momentary brightness when these turned on!
But most of what I got wasn't awesome, and considering how sore our feet were after 22,000 steps and almost 10 miles, I couldn't justify staying there through the rush to get anything else. We were also staying at what promised to be a much busier resort, so we didn't want to get stuck in an endless bus wait when we were pretty much incapable of walking or standing anymore. We did beat the big rush, but I'm pretty sure it was still a standing ride home. My feet were so sore, as were Carter's, and I was very concerned we couldn't do a park day the next day like we had planned. Two days in a row is always a risk, but with Carter having an actual foot issue (either plantar fasciitis or something called Sever's Disease), I really didn't want to push it. I figured we'd sleep on it and see how we felt in the morning. Boy, did I need that sleep!
Friday was our first park day. As usual it was shaping up to be a hot one, and we were starting at the hottest park there is, Animal Kingdom. Seriously, it is always merciless there despite the abundant trees. Every time I see my token picture of the Tree of Life as you step into the heart of the park, I immediately sense the oppressive heat on the walk to Africa. But I guess it works with the theme, right?
We did breakfast in the room now that we finally had our groceries, and headed out--though as usual, later than I would have liked. Luckily it was a super short ride to the park, since it is literally about five minutes away from the resort. As it was already 10:30, lines had already had plenty of time to build up, and the one ride Jacob really wanted to do, the safari, was an hour wait. We didn't do Lightning Lane that day so we had little choice but to wait. We'd never done the standard queue before, and boy, did it ever twist and turn! It was mostly shady, still hot, but somehow tolerable, and it was just under an hour in the end. We ended up in the front row of the vehicle--well, it was a split front row for handicap accessibility, so two and two with no seats to our right. Craig snapped this picture of Carter as we got settled.
As much as I love the safari and will likely always ride it, it was a little anti-climactic this time because we saw half of the animals around our resort repeatedly the previous couple days. Like, yeah, that's cool, but I saw more of them closer up yesterday. But we did get to see hippos, which of course are our current favorite family animal.
You can just see the head poking up in the middle near the rock
We also saw an elephant that was reaching its trunk up, and it looked like a fruitless effort because it was so far away from reaching the leaves. Even the driver said, "Not sure you're tall enough, buddy!" But just as we were moving out of view, sure enough, somehow the elephant got it!
We saw a couple more elephants that were play-fighting in the water.
It was a pretty standard safari--decent views but not much out-of-the-ordinary or spectacular. We wrapped up there and Craig and Jacob decided they were moving on from this park, while Carter and I were staying to ride more rides. Craig took a quick picture of the three of us, and off they went.
I wish we could have spent more of their one park day together, but with time being so limited, it really only made sense for us to split. Carter and I made our way to Expedition Everest, spotting the hippo carved in the Tree of Life along the way.
Always need to get this perfect view!
Everest is one of our favorite rides on property, and we were excited to ride despite the 30+ minute wait.
Killing time in line...love this pic!
Meanwhile, Craig and Jacob had arrived at Magic Kingdom to hit up Pinocchio's for lunch, and had a photo bomber!
Carter and I were lucky enough to end up in the front row on Everest, and it was outstanding--there are great views on the lift hill and where the broken track is, and it's just a fun, fast ride every time! Supposedly they're going to be fixing the formerly animatronic Yeti, so I guess we'll see if that comes to pass. I always like to get this shot on the way out, too.
We were starving by the time we got done and decided to try the Buffalo chicken mac & cheese nearby. Carter ate most of it, but I had enough to get me through to our next stop and my main goal--Dole Whip! We ate in this little garden area that was overrun with those birds that are everywhere at Disney and love to steal popcorn and other food. Zoom in and look around the statue...they're everywhere!
We headed back to Africa to get our Dole Whip, in Fanta float form. It was so good and so refreshing!
While we sat there, I checked wait times and Flight of Passage was suddenly super short (for that ride, anyway). We drank down our Dole Whips and started off in that direction. It's actually a very pretty walk to Pandora through the back route near the Lion King show (which we still haven't done despite Jacob loving the movies).
I saw this fun plant along the way and apparently it's called an American Beautyberry. I love random exotic stuff in Florida.
One of the coolest things about this route was how the landscape very carefully changed from a rustic African/Middle Eastern feel to Pandora via some ambiguous rock structures and plants that could blend into both.
Arriving in Pandora
We'd never gone through the non-Lightning Lane line for Flight of Passage either, and I was actually a little bit excited about this one because I'd heard the line was actually pretty cool. It certainly was!
The foliage is so interesting, and someday I will go in the winter to see it in the dark!
Bioluminescence is so pretty!
As cheesy as these things can be, this section with a lab that included a Na'vi test subject was actually really cool.
While we were in line, I got confirmation when the boys would be back at the resort in the evening, so I was able to order Carter's new suitcase for delivery while we waited. We got through the line pretty quickly. I think it was posted as 45 minutes but I think it was shorter than that. And as always, it's such a fun and exhilarating ride! I'm always still highly amused by the memory of Craig's first ride, which left him panicking and us laughing because he was not expecting it to feel so real! Such a fun moment, and I was thrilled we were able to fit it in again with a reasonable wait.
At this point we were ready to move on to park #2. I wish we would have had more time to do a few more things--we didn't really go on any of the animal trails, we didn't sneak a glimpse of the former Dinoland area that's being completely redone, and we didn't ride Kali River Rapids, which I know Carter likes. It's not my favorite, but it's been fun to do as a family. But between our time constraints and the complications of getting wet, it just wasn't in the cards this time. I knew this would be a "side effect" of consolidating our park time, that we'd miss some stuff we like in favor of higher priorities, but we definitely got in our favorites and it was now time for other things...enough other things that I'm going to make that a separate post!
