Oh Florida! An East Meets West Girl's TR: 8/9 p56 & 8/17 p57

[eandesmom]

Caught up!

Cynthia: the advantage to having a hard time remembering departure day is that it means nothing bad or stressful happened. Seeing as nine times out of ten that's not usually the case, only being able to recall the basics is a relief. Nothing starts off a friends getaway better than smooth travels.

LOL! I hadn't thought about it that way but I'll take it!

And oh, how I completely agree with you about packing for yourself! I'd love taking trips more if I wasn't having to account for a husband's favorite shirt or spare baby wipes.

Exactly, except I do forget stuff on work trips as it is almost too easy!

And again, yes! I am the same way about breakfast, too. It's too much effort to cook a big breakfast when you're the last one to sit down and eat and everyone else is already finished. A cronut sounds like the perfect solution to your meal problem. You'll still get to be in the parks with the others all while satisfying that craving. Hope it worked out!

Well it wasn't the same as a lovely sit down breakfast served to me but it was a decent back up plan!

I can't imagine those red eyes but I know its the best way to fly. Flying east just sucks up the whole day even when I try to get the first flight of the day. Glad you got there on time and on your way to meet up with everyone and get your Cronut! The cronut is on my list of delicacies to try in October!

Jill in CO

East is a drag travel wise for sure!

Wow, I feel like I'm traveling through time in these chapters!

I was.

I'm not sure I could ever do a red eye, but I sure understand NOT wanting to lose an entire day.

They aren't my favorite but really it's only 5 hours if a direct flight and it is livable

You ARE my friend with the Starbucks cup in hand.

That's a requirement! Ann and I land so early it won't even be open though, UGH!

What a perfect solution...the Cronut and then something from one of the booths. You could not have picked a better choice.

Oh I'd have still preferred a sit down breakfast but timing wise it simply wasn't an option and this did get me out and to the parks right away which was good.

I love your photopass pic of just you...so pretty.

Thanks Kathy!

I can definitely see the benefit of a red eye flight going in that direction. Landing at 9:40am sounds just about right. I am one that likes the early flights just so I can arrive early and take advantage of the almost full day.

And yes, I am the same way. Steer clear until I get my coffee. You have been warned, lol.

9:40 is great to get a pretty full park day but boy if I was headed to DL I'd be landing later, 6am flights are NOT my thing. LOL! For a red eye it's an awkward landing time as you miss the main breakfast window but the important thing is being there!.

 

[MEK]

Maybe inside miles this weekend?

I did outside yesterday while it was still decent out. There is NO WAY I could run outside today. I could barely STAND outside to pump gas today.

I'm not sure I could ever do a red eye, but I sure understand NOT wanting to lose an entire day.

I think if I lived on the west coast I would give it a try, but I would probably be dead the whole day. Every time I meet with Cynthia after she takes a red eye she seems totally fine. I have NO idea how she does it?

You ARE my friend with the Starbucks cup in hand.

What a perfect solution...the Cronut and then something from one of the booths. You could not have picked a better choice.

I love your photopass pic of just you...so pretty.

It really is a great picture of her!

I can definitely see the benefit of a red eye flight going in that direction. Landing at 9:40am sounds just about right. I am one that likes the early flights just so I can arrive early and take advantage of the almost full day.

I used to love early flights until I found myself unable to sleep the night before. Now I gravitate towards the later flights, but I definitely see the advantage to a red eye.

And yes, I am the same way. Steer clear until I get my coffee. You have been warned, lol.

Me too!

That's too bad that the direct red eye flight is limited to a few days - layovers are never fun. (Especially that early in the morning! )

I totally agree!

STARBUCKS! Thank goodness for coffee.

Amen to that!

You do have a BEAUTIFUL view from your room.

I LOVED our room view. Thank you Cynthia!!!!!

I look forward to seeing what you thought of the cronut!

I think Cynthia really liked it and I didn't, which is weird because I love donuts and I love croissants. It sounds like the perfect combo, but for me it feel short. I really think it was because I was overly hungry when I tried it and sometimes the sugar rush gets to me on a really empty stomach.

Cynthia I'm glad you finally made it safe and sound, and with coffee!

Was there ever any doubt on the coffee?

Nice on the surprise DISmeet MEK!

I was more than surprised. More like shocked!

 

[MEK]

I love travel with the family; but nothing beats being by yourself and not having the worry about anyone else. Still....it is nice to have someone else around to help keep an eye on the carry-on stuff when you want to look around the terminal.

Glad you made it safe and sound!

It is a PITA to lug your carry on stuff into the restroom or in line for food. I have to agree to that, but traveling solo is pretty freeing!

@MEK: Sounds like a lovely evening with Rosie and Carol! I was lucky to meet them a few years ago during one of their escorts trips - actually the same trip that I met Marv for the first time! They are really lovely, I wish we would have been able to spend more time with them! But I am glad that their strange behaviour had a really good reason! You must have been really surprised. I have to say that when I found out about them, I was only surprised for a brief moment, knowing them both from the DIS, I thought they are a great fit - same type of humor! But then I also had the advantage of learning about it in an email and not by them suddenly standing in front of me!

I loved meeting Rosie and Carol! They truly are lovely and, yes, their strong behavior (which I didn't even think that strange at the time), definitely had an explanation.

I was TOTALLY surprised. Yup - I think a warning email would have worked, but they were really intent on surprising me.

@eandesmom : I can understand your reasons for the red eye, but being forced to do red eye flights back to Europe all the time, I just can't understand why anyone would choose them voluntarily... They always suck all energy out of me! But maybe with only a three hour time difference they might be less horrible...

I can attest to the fact that Cynthia always seems quite awake and chipper of her red eyes. It's pretty amazing, actually!

caught up...the lovely new Dis wasn't giving me notifications for a while.

I think I am finally getting the hang of the DIS, although I can't figure out where to find dates on people's posts. I don't really like that. Looking for a certain date helps get me oriented.

What a nice surprise to see Pat!

It's always awesome to see Pat! She is so much fun!

Great start, Cynthia!
I keep forgetting how lucky I am to only be one hour ahead of Disney time, so there's no real adjustment for me. I understand the benefit of the red-eye though, that helped us when we went to Europe.
YAY! You arrived! Sounds like everything went smoothly!

It never occurred to me that you would be one hour ahead. Score on that! That's like getting a whole extra hour on you arrival day. Gotta love that!

Woohoo! And you'd made it to Epcot - great arrival picture! The last two trips I've tried to arrive as early as humanly possible so I have that much more of the day at Disney - I would do the same as you if I lived on the West coast... red eye all the way! Besides, that's what coffee is for anyway, right?! I'm excited to hear all about the reunion with Mary Ellen! Also... cannot believe you'll soon be running under the sign.

I would totally do the same thing if I lived on the West Coast. Thankfully, I don't have to and I am there in two hours!

Do we run underneath the entrance to WDW sign? I know we run under the Magic Kingdom sign and entrance! I tried to watch some videos last week and it definitely got me excited, but I am still kind of nervous. Yikes!

 

[MEK]

Good point about how much easier it is to travel solo! I've gotten used to trips with a toddler now, but had a work trip last fall and packing for just me was SO easy! I kept feeling like I must have forgotten something, since I needed so little.

After packing for kids, packing for yourself is a breeze! Kids need all kinds of miscellaneous stiff and its usually in use up to the last minute, which makes packing even harder.

Ugh, I think a redeye would be a tough way to start a WDW trip, especially with a layover like that. Makes me feel better about being in the midwest - only a 4 hour flight, so not terrible (though we do lose an hour).

I'll stick with my 2 hour flight! Thank you very much!

Ha, we've been talking all about Cronuts in my TR lately, now you are too. I ate a day-old one, so need a re-do with a fresh one next trip.

Ahhh yes - the cornets that survived the bottom of the stroller. Wasn't it your idea to have one with vanilla ice cream? I have to try that!

MEK and Cynthia,

I"m still way back a few pages where MEK updated. And I must say, I"m officially jealous that you all got to have such a GREAT meet up with Marv, Pat, and Rosie and Carol! How fun!!!

I was excited enough that I was meeting Rosie and Carol, but throw Pat and Marv in there and its a totally party. I was thrilled to see all of them!

I am kinda hoping all that construction mess is over and done with before my trip.

Oh WOW - it better be done by then, unless they move on to a new project. With Disney you never know.

Promise I'll catch up with your post Cynthia! Hopefully tomorrow or Monday.

You are keeping up pretty darn well considering how busy you are with school and everything!

 

[saintstickets]

So - is it wrong that I did not love the cronut. I was certain I would and it was just "eh" to me. In all fairness, I feel like I have to try it again, but earlier in the day or maybe for dessert. Maybe the timing was wrong for me.

I've tried the cronut numerous times and really like it but IF (that's a big if btw) it is hot and fresh. I've had it at other times when it was lukewarm and it wasn't as great.

I have the same problem with sugar and usually avoid it on an empty stomach. A serving of bacon usually fixes that problem, though.

Hmmm...maybe they should wrap the cronut in bacon?!?! Now we're talking!!!

Nice update ladies. Just because y'all are going to be in the World soon, there is no excuse for not keeping your peeps updated. After all, I've been adding to my TR and it's audit/tax season! Well, I've tried to keep it updated. Maybe I've responded to a couple of comments? Oh heck, have a great time and we'll get caught up when you return!!

 

[vamassey1]

Cynthia I don't think I could do the red eye. I do understand not wanting to waste time traveling. We usually drive and it takes the better part of the day. I'm glad you had a relaxing Mother's Day to get you ready for travel. Beautiful picture in Epcot. You do look bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I'm really looking forward to trying the food kiosks in Epcot for F&G. The last time I went of F&G was in 2007 so this will be new to us.

Looking forward to more.

 

[emmysmommy]

Red eye or not, heck, get me to WDW post haste! I'm glad to jump in and following along!! I love hearing about your girl trips.

 

[MEK]

Hey Guys - I see there are some new replies and I will respond ASAP, but I want to post a new update before I leave for work this morning, so see below!

 

[MEK]

Everybody Loves Epcot

In our last update Cynthia wrote about her travel night and her arrival to the world. That means I’ve got some catching up to do!

BTW -This will be my last update before I leave for the PHM. I can’t believe that a week from now I will have already run through the castle. Hopefully I will live to tell about it!


Monday May 12th.

I woke up and enjoyed some coffee, probably on the verandah. But I didn’t have a cool Disney mug, so I didn’t take a picture. Major fail!

I was sort of in a hurry to get going. I wanted to go for a run and then head over to Epcot.

I was so excited to find the start of the running path directly across the cul-de-sac from our villa.

Secret confession - We stayed at OKW in 2011 and I never did find the running path to SSR. No wonder. I never ventured down to our current location.

My first picture is here at the Treehouse Villas



And that actually IS the villa we stayed in on our June 2012 family vacation. I would say this villa was about 3/4 miles from our OKW villa (if that).

I ran around the treehouses, but I also ran over to Grandstand area. I passed one of my favorite quite pools (I actually have quite a few). But I bonded with this pool during our Summer 2012 trip because the treehouse pool was broken during most of our stay.






I ran back along the golf course and took some pictures there








When I got back to OKW it was my turn to take some pictures of the view









OK, so I got a little carried away with the view pictures



Here’s our villa - the last door on the top right



After my run I showered quickly and hopped the next bus to Epcot. I didn’t take any pictures until well after I entered the park. I do remember texting back and forth with Pat and Rosie to determine a meet up spot.

It appears that the first attraction on our list was none other than single rider Test Track.





I love single rider. As some as you may know, Denny will not get in a single rider line. It’s just one of his weird things. So I rarely, if ever, do single rider when I vacation with him. Good thing my DIS friends aren’t weird like that.

I guess the bad thing about single rider is you don’t design a car, so if you are into the design phase you probably won’t be a single rider fan.





I couldn’t wait to feel the wind in my hair.



Looks like we didn’t get split us that much for being single riders



Post ride topiary



Wait! Pat? Cynthia? Does this look familiar?



We decided to ride Spaceship Earth next



And I found someone to take our picture AND work they did it correctly. Score!




Continued In Next Post

 

[MEK]

I love Spaceship Earth



But I can never seem to just put my camera away and enjoy the ride. Nope - I am forever in search of that perfect picture.







































Try as I might, I have yet to get this picture



As you can see, my partner on this ride was Pat!











Continued In the Next Post

 

[MEK]

And once again - I ended up out in the Pacific Ocean



Bye Pat



After Spaceship Earth we headed over to the Festival Center







I love these little floating flowers.



From the entrance to the festival center



We walked around inside. I didn’t take any merchandise pictures, but I did take some flower pics.













The displays were really cute and informative











I’m not sure what kind of seminars they conduct at Flower & Garden (I guess they are about gardening doh), but here’s the setup



After we finished exploring the festival center it looks like we hit Test Track again!



See - that’s a different head in front of me!



And here I am going for the selfie



I took some pictures of the exit onto the track







Continued In the Next Post

 

[MEK]

Oh Florida Sunshine





There I am - in a car full of total strangers!



After exiting TT it was time to head into the world showcase, but not before getting some garden pictures on the way.











We were surprised to find that one of the displays had developed a big sink hole and the CM’s were busy trying to fix that.



An unblemished section










This was one of my favorite topiaries











I remember that we stopped at one of the food kiosks and grabbed some seats back here.



At this point I was receiving texts from Cynthia about her location. She was at OKW and ready to head towards Epcot.

We decided we should start circling to the front of the World Showcase to meet her at the infamous cornut stand.











Continued In Next Post

 

[MEK]

Not sure where Rosie and Carol were at this point, but the three of us stopped for a picture



or two



And I am going to stop here, just before meeting Cynthia so I can save those pictures for my next update!

Up Next - More Epcot, a signature drink, and an amazing dinner.

 

[ljcrochet]

SOunds like a fun morning in EPCOT.

Good luck on the half marathon next weekend. Can't wait to read all about it.

 

[SimplyGoofy]

I love the views from your run! (I'm always impressed that you run while on vacation!)

Multiple rides on Test Track? You've gotta love the single rider line. Anika and I only rode it once on our last trip as the lines were INSANE (probably as it was just six months post-refurb), but I hope to ride it several times on the upcoming trip.

A topiary of Kermit and Miss Piggy?! Is this new? I've never seen it on another trip report!

Have a wonderful time on your trip and good luck on your run! I'm quite sure you will live to tell about it.

 

[MEK]

I've tried the cronut numerous times and really like it but IF (that's a big if btw) it is hot and fresh. I've had it at other times when it was lukewarm and it wasn't as great.

Hmmmmmm - so I wonder if that was why I didn't love the cronut? Could be, because I really expected to LOVE it and that didn't happen.

Hmmm...maybe they should wrap the cronut in bacon?!?! Now we're talking!!!

Bacon? Ice cream? I think both of those would be a great addition. So- I need a HOT cronut with egg, cheese, and bacon. Now that sounds pretty yummy to me!

Nice update ladies. Just because y'all are going to be in the World soon, there is no excuse for not keeping your peeps updated. After all, I've been adding to my TR and it's audit/tax season! Well, I've tried to keep it updated. Maybe I've responded to a couple of comments? Oh heck, have a great time and we'll get caught up when you return!!

Hey - I just updated this morning. You were just too early. In fact, I did a rather long update with lots of pictures.

You know - I haven't seen your TR lately. Could I have lost my sub? I'm going to track it down now because that's totally unacceptable!

 

[eandesmom]

That's too bad that the direct red eye flight is limited to a few days - layovers are never fun. (Especially that early in the morning! )

STARBUCKS! Thank goodness for coffee.

It was a short layover if I recall, maybe less than an hour and given how huge Dallas is, I had time to make the gate change, take a bio break and get coffee so pretty painless!

You do have a BEAUTIFUL view from your room.

I look forward to seeing what you thought of the cronut!

LOVE that area of OKW, I may never want to stay anywhere else!

I'm a bit scared to make it my first choice in a list, it's always been further down and yet I've gotten it both times

I had a cronut on my prior trip so was looking forward to it, it was AMAZING on the previous trip so I was just hoping it would live up to it again.

Cynthia I'm glad you finally made it safe and sound, and with coffee!

Nice on the surprise DISmeet MEK!

Coffee is critical!

I love travel with the family; but nothing beats being by yourself and not having the worry about anyone else. Still....it is nice to have someone else around to help keep an eye on the carry-on stuff when you want to look around the terminal.

Glad you made it safe and sound!

I do like having a mix. I obviously travel a lot solo for work but vacation is different to be sure.

Yes, it is nice to have someone look at your stuff when you want to look around the terminal...or go to the bathroom. My last work trip I asked a colleague to do that twice, he might regret horning in on my shuttle ride next time. LOL!

I can understand your reasons for the red eye, but being forced to do red eye flights back to Europe all the time, I just can't understand why anyone would choose them voluntarily... They always suck all energy out of me! But maybe with only a three hour time difference they might be less horrible...

For some reason the Euopean ones take a larger toll on me. I can do it, and have, and have powered through the day but it is a longer flight and larger time change so it's pretty brutal.

caught up...the lovely new Dis wasn't giving me notifications for a while.

What a nice surprise to see Pat!

I am getting alerts but not a single email notification still

Great start, Cynthia!
I keep forgetting how lucky I am to only be one hour ahead of Disney time, so there's no real adjustment for me. I understand the benefit of the red-eye though, that helped us when we went to Europe.
YAY! You arrived! Sounds like everything went smoothly!

Nice on the no time adjustment, that's DL for me!

 

[shan23877]

That flight sounds like a killer! A cronut seems like the perfect breakfast treat after that!

I am impressed at your dedication Mary Ellen! And what a beautiful view while you ran!

F&G is such a beautiful time of year at Epcot. I love the addition of the food stands this year. I think we'll try Single Rider this year. Maddie is old enough now and never feels like she gets enough rides on TT

Enjoy the PHM ladies!!

 

[KatMark]

Great updates, MEK.

I'm with Dennis...I'm not fond of Single Rider line either, but Mark will do it. Although perhaps since I am not a fan of the design the car thing on Test Track, I should take that route.

I love your pictures on Spaceship Earth (still can't believe I didn't guess that on your FB post last week). Great picture of the group.

Gorgeous flower pictures, Mary Ellen. How I wish we would be seeing those now instead of all the snow on teh ground.

And another single rider picture on TT. I love your enthusiasm in the picture of people you don't know.

And a great picture of you, Marv and Pat.

 

[teekathepony]

GOOD LUCK at the Princess Half, Mary Ellen!!

What a beautiful run around the resort. And such a beautiful view too!
I admit I've never done the single rider line. Johnny has once or twice, he sure got through quick!
You guys all had a great morning at Epcot! Ahhh some day I really HAVE to see the Flower & Garden Festival, it looks so absolutely gorgeous! I especially love the Kermit & Miss Piggy topiary!