A Pulled Together Last Minute Whirl-Wind 3-Day Couple-Only Trip!

[Hisgirl]

Hi All! I have finally let the dust settle and am ready to pass on the info about our seriously last minute trip. We had an anniversary coming up and well, you know how that desire to go to Disney just starts creeping up on you? Well, I decided I would pull a rabbit out of a hat and put together a last second trip!

The first thing on the agenda was plane tickets, and I used some air line miles along with some cash and got a pretty good deal. Then, I called the car rental agency and also used points from hubby's travel and got a basically free rental car. So far so good!

Next on the list was the hotel. Sure, I wanted to stay at AK like last time, sure I wanted to explore a new property, but after seeing what the Disney tickets were going to run (and getting an estimate on a new furnace, yikes!) I had to go with frugal.

So....called the Marriott hotel group and used points and cash to get a room at the marriott complex. All we needed now were two Mickey t-shirts and ebay took care of that! We were ready to go!

 

[Hisgirl]

Our flight was obnoxiously early, so off to the Atlanta airport we went...I think we left the house around 4:15. We landed in Orlando around 8:30. I was surprised at the lack of Disney's presence airport. There was a time, long ago, when your Disney experience seemed to literally start as you entered the terminal!

Our plan was to drive to Epcot right away, but on the way there, I started wishing I had a really small camera. We searched for a Walmart or Target on the GPS and ended up lost waaay in back country. Not a great start.

We finally got a cute tiny high pixel camera and headed to Epcot. We parked about on the 4th row in as there weren't many folks at all. I was wearing a new pair of Sketcher Reggae Rasta sandels as they had served me well two years ago. My plan to walk a mile a day for a month prior to coming here went over like a lead balloon and I was nervous how my 52-year old legs would hold up!

We headed into Epcot, SO excited for the Flower festival! I had canceled lunch reservations at Canada because we had decided to eat our way across the countries! What better plan that that!

However, before we could head to the countries, we wanted to ride Soarin and Test Track. Since we weren't there at rope drop, the Soarin line was waaaay long and the Fast Pass was cutting into our lunch hour. We almost made the decision to stand in line for 45 minutes but bailed and reluctantly left.
I love Soarin. It's a must do. But it's a must do at rope drop or a fast fast pass!

We headed over, quickly, to Test track and got in the singles line. The main line was already long, but we literally walked right in! I love this ride! My hair was blowing all over the place so if you come in with a hair-do, you'll walk out with wild hair!

I also commenced my shoe watch. Each time I come here, I love to observe which shoes folks wear. So far, most people had on tennis shoes but tons of young teens were wearing flat sandels with no support. And 2 girls were wearing super high heels !

 

[wiigirl]

Enjoying reading about your trip.

 

[Hisgirl]

The crowds were slim so far and we happily headed to the countries, first enjoying the glass flowers mixed in with the gardens!



We chose to go towards the left as it seemed most folks started on the right. I stopped and had my very first Dole Whip. Pineapple frosted frozen yogurty goodness but probably not frozen yogurt. I didn't eat the whole thing but it was really refreshing.

First food we had was a salad with watermelon and pickled onions. The watermelon totally worked with the greens and gave it a really fresh pop. I loved it. Husband got the shrimp and grits and it was meh, ok.





Next, we went into Mexico. They had a Guava Custard and I approached the gal working the cash register.
"I'll have a Guava custard please!" She stared at me. "Que?"
"I'd like a custard, a Guava Custard please!" Smiling...
She again seemed confused, "Yo no se....Que?"

I opened my little passport book and pointed to the guava custard and she suddenly understood and rang us up. That was a little odd. I would have thought the Epcot CM would all be able to understand english.

This custard was good, a bit interesting, not to hubby's taste

 

[Hisgirl]

Oh!

Did I mention I was wearing a pedometer? I decided if I was going to eat my weight (practically!) across the world, I wanted to know how far I had walked to feel a little better about the gluttony!



I love how not only did it keep up with the miles, it told me how many calories and fat I had burned off! Yay! I just walked off that custard!


We kinda breezed through Mexico. While I love the architecture, I'm not a huge fan of the boat ride. It definitely is a must do for first and second timers but I've been here a lot and I tend to skip it. I love the little outdoors restaurant in Mexico! The prices are great and I always love how the birds fly around asking for bits. My kids always liked that.

Next stop was China. Good gracious this dragon was beautiful!!



Before coming to Epcot, I did a lot of research on 'Secrets you don't know about Walt Disney World', "Ten Tops things that are mysterious about Epcot', "Mystery, Secrets, Underground Disney".....basically anything that sounded like that!

That way, as we went into each country, we would know some interesting little-known bit. In China, I read the dome area was acoustically perfect and your voice would echo right back at you when you speak towards the dome!

Did I remember to do just that?

No, of course not.




I had forgotten about the cool soldiers and the beautiful artifacts. (No, I didn't actually 'touch' his nose, just pretended...)



As we moved from country to country, I was surprised how low the crowds . ooOh, I forgot to state the days we were here! Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, April 25-28 of this year.

 

[Hisgirl]

The plant and flower topiaries were stunning. I had no idea how extensive they were....I mean ALL OVER the park! They didn't leave out hardly one character. I read where it takes about 18 months to create each one.

Look how cute!



We walked through Italy and Germany and got to America. I never want to miss the singing in the foyer of the beautiful building, so we stopped for a bite.

This was a BBQ with slaw and it was really nice



The drum and fife corps came out and I love this guy's stance, ha!



Just look at that face!



We had made it about halfway across and I knew it was about 1.4 miles around the countries. So far, my feet were alright, but I sure was ready to cool them off! By the time we arrived in France, that cool fountain was just the thing! I asked hubby to ask the French CM a question so I could quickly dip my toes in the cool water!

In France, the topiaries were out of this world!



I love France! The music during the film is worth the visit alone. My husband stayed outside and watched an amazing waiter/acobat feat and I rested in the movie.

After this, I got a rice, strawberry sushi looking thing in Japan but it wasn't my favorite. Hubby was drinking beer across the countries and he got some type of Japanese beer. At this point, I'm starting to feel a little pooped and it was about 86, so I was ready to sit and do some people watching.

We headed to the UK and found a lovely black iron bench. I looked up and said, "I spy Peter Pan!"




I can honestly say, this was the most delicious thing I had! It was a rose blush lemonade, a green tea ginger trifle and a pastry filled with goat brie and topped with kumquat churney!



Good GRACIOUS, that rose water was good in the lemonade! I got some from Fresh Market back home and now I always add a couple of drops in anything citrus!

We sat and people watched and really enjoyed the afternoon....

 

[Hisgirl]

The music and peace and quiet of Epcot is so relaxing. I loved my new microscopic camera. Look at this close up!'






This picture, actually, represents anything BUT peace and quiet for me. I had a deathly reactiones to a honey bee sting so I carry epi pens everywhere I go. (anyone who needs them, the co-pay is a bear! I found out you can go to the manufacturer and get a $0 co-pay card for free! Yippee!)

We finished the park, poking our head into the gardens at Japan and Canada, but I was beginning to tire. We started heading out the park to ride the big silver ball and maybe do another ride. We are wanting to bring the 3 grandkids so we went to the Energy ride to make sure it wouldn't scare them.

Goodness! That thing went on and on and on. I actually layed down and took a nap! I think that's one ride which can use an overhaul. We rode through the Big Silver Ball (I know, I KNOW...I don't know the name of the Big Silver Ball! How embarrassing! But you knew what I was talking about, didn't cha! )

After that, we headed back to our place for dinner. We were hot and sweaty and not too bad off. I always bring a small travel deodorant, a fresh pair of panties, and some wet wipes and I basically take a little bath about halfway through our Disney days. It really helps to feel all clean and dry!

We found our car right away cause I took a picture of the parking row with my phone.

Tomorrow....the Magic Kingdom!

 

[Hisgirl]

Okay, next day!

We got to the Magic Kingdom way before rope drop! Yay for getting up early!

It was so exciting to see the opening song and the train with Mickey!

We walked..if you can call moving at about 25 m.p.h....straight to Peter Pan. We rode this ride because it seems within ten minutes of rope drop, the line is 55 minutes! We wanted to see the new Little Mermaid ride but it was broken. We had to stand in line and while the standing in line area was kinda cool, I was a little bit disappointed in the ride itself. It had everything we would have expected, but for some reason, it didn't quite have the same magic as Peter Pan.





Afterwards, we got in line at Thunder Railroad and that was a lot fun! We headed to Splash mountain and waited in line.





About 15 minutes into our wait, they told us it was broken and we had to leave.

Having the mermaid ride break-wait and now this was throwing us off our schedule. We follow the unofficial guidebook schedule to the LETTER. I am a Disney Nazi when it comes to the schedule and we hardly ever stand a moment in line...but here we were, with two mess ups and well.....hubby accidentally got Winnie the Pooh Fast Passes instead of what he was suppose to get so we basically just thew away our schedule.

We went to the Haunted House and walked right in. Love the creativity of this place but we're thinking the 8, 6, 5 year old grand loves would be scared half to death!

We went to Buzz Lightyeard Space Ranger Spin and I kicked Hubby's rear end on points.





We had lunch in Tomorrowland and found out we should have split one sandwich. The portions were huge! The crowds were also HUGE today!

We walked around the park, looked at tee shirts, got an ice cream cone on Main street and people watched, then rode the train around the park.

We really need to use the train more to access the park! I always forget how well it does going to the far corners of the park!

We settled in and found a secluded place to watch the parade. Me and the Beast kinda had a moment when he looked right at me.




I spoke with a CM and asked about the crowds and she said they hadn't had one slow day all year.

I wore a blister on the bottom of my heel and had to visit first aid. How nice they were! I got an awesomely weird bandage that stayed on my heel for two days and it really helped!

After the parade, we headed back to changed for Boma at Animal Kingdom. (Has anyone noticed I am spelling out all the little acronyms? That's because I never have any idea what they mean and I'm doing it for that one person who is like me and is scratching their head at all the lettters! )

We had a great dinner at the buffet, watermelon rind salad and coconut chicken curry stew! Then we walked around the Animal Kingdom Lodge, looked at all the animals and took photos. We really love this place and like the Jambo House over the over one.



The detail is amazing. We stayed in a villa with a kitchen two years ago because we had 5 folks and wanted to cook breakfast. It was fun and expensive!

Now onto Saturday! Instead of a park...we were exploring resorts to prepare for grand loves! What do the other resorts look like? How about the pools? Who has the coolest pool? We were taking a whole day to explore resorts!

 

[Hisgirl]

Today was really odd to wake up and not need to rush out the doors to get to rope drop.
We took our time , had a nice leisurely breakfast, researched where we were going...

Oooh, I forgot to mention....we changed hotels! The first morning up, we came down to our free hot breakfast and there were literally about 250 teenagers all in the restaurant! The line was huge! The kids were yelling up and down the halls and after one night of being woken up repeatedly, we went across the street to the Springfield Inn.

ok...so for Saturday, our plan was to visit lots of resorts to compare. First we went to Boardwalk. I really like this place! We got coffee and a pastry and walked around the boardwalk. It had a nice feel and I think it would be fun at night. The prices were kinda steep for what we need though, and hubby was balking.

We walked over to the Swan and Dolphin. The ground were pretty and we went to the beach and pool. We also went to the Caribbean Beach resort which had an awesome pool! We visited Saratoga, Polynesian, Fort Wilderness and at this point we found out something we didn't know. Most all resort rooms won't allow 3 kids. We didn't know this. I know a few do, but the places we were viewing told us it was 4 to a room.

For grandparents, kids and grandkids....we are going to need a villa! So off to Wilderness Lodge. The pool, geyser and lodge were beautiful and very much like Animal Kingdom Lodge. We think this is where we'll end up.

So....all in all....it was a very successful trip. I was kinda limping on the way home but my feet held up well and we walked about 16 miles, which isn't much at all. I will say, though, for my age, it was a little warm and I'll be adding April and May both, to the list of months I prefer to not visit. Looks like with menopause behind me, I'm gonna stick to fall months from now on!

Gosh, I love this place so much. After coming back home, I have found myself wanting to go back soon. I may take my older parents (82 and 83) to Epcot as they have never been. Thanks for coming along for our trip! Blessings to you!