A Restful Spring Break? - A March/April 2024 Trip Report

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Day One - First Park Day - How long should one wait to see a Rat?

Today was an EPCOT morning!

• When planning, I realized that I don't think we have EVER rope dropped EPCOT! Typically we like to start with Magic Kingdom, but since we were staying at Yacht Club I wanted to take advantage of how close we were to EPCOT.
• AND I wanted to go to EPCOT NOT on a weekend.
• I had toyed with going to Animal Kingdom this morning, but AK, opened much earlier than EPCOT, and I wanted our first day to not be too early.So, EPCOT it was today!

So, EPCOT it was!

I set an alarm for 6:45 AM, so I would be awake to get a boarding group. Morgan’s internal alarm clock was still on and she was up at 5:30 this morning. So, I had her get out a military timer and count down for me.

Right at 7:00 AM I grabbed a Guardians of Galaxy Boarding Group
https://flic.kr/p/2pKuAQd]Boarding Group[/url]
We got Group 44 and it said the estimated time of 11:00 AM. Not too bad, we thought.

Once that was taken care of, we all started milling around.
https://flic.kr/p/2pKkY1E]Tinkerbell Gifts for the day[/url]

Tinkerbell Gifts today, were baseball hats and clips to hook your ears to.
https://flic.kr/p/2pKuAQt]Tinkerbell Gifts[/url]
Morgan isn't a huge hat person since she is always wearing her glasses. But she does wear them in Disney. I ordered the yellow one for Morgan and when it came in I loved it!!! So, Morgan and I will probably be sharing the hat! ha.

I got up and went down to The Market at Ale & Compass
https://flic.kr/p/2pKomJW]Carpet Outside of hte Elevator[/url]
I snapped this for a time stamp for when I went downstairs. But I do love the carpet here.

I purchased 2 refillable mugs for the trip. I figured with this long of a trip they would pay for themselves. Plus, one of them I was going to give to my mom and I wanted one for my morning coffee, for sure!
I filled one this morning with coffee for me and the other with hot chocolate for the girls to share. Here at Ale & Compass it was hot water and hot chocolate packets.

I also checked out the resort merch. I wanted a Yacht Club Coffee Mug but the one they had was clearly more of a decorative mug not one you would drink out of. Bummer.

Back in the room, I enjoyed my coffee on the balcony for a bit.
https://flic.kr/p/2pKtVRR]Coffee on the Balcony[/url]

https://flic.kr/p/2pKvbxu]Enjoying the View[/url]
It was a really nice view!

But eventually I had to get ready and head out.

We left the room at 8:22. EPCOT opened at 8:30 for resort guests. I knew this was later than we should have but again, we were trying to be chill today.

https://flic.kr/p/2pKsN2Y]Heading out[/url]
We were right by the stairs, so we took those down and out the side door. This was MUCH quicker than walking the hallways to the lobby.

https://flic.kr/p/2pKsN39]To EPCOT![/url]
We were ready for the day! (notice no one wearing there tinkerbell gift?!? Gwen and I did decide to wear our ears that looked the most Flower and Garden-y

We passed through security at 8:33 AM. I knew we wouldn’t be in the front of the line but It was still better than with everyone else.

https://flic.kr/p/2pKoiTN]Butterfly Topiary[/url]
Butterfly topiary as we walked and walked to find the end of the line for Remy.

We headed to find the end of the line for Remy all the way in Morocco.
https://flic.kr/p/2pKojBw]Morracco[/url]
Officially we were in line at 8:38, by the time we walked all the way to Morocco!

The line didn’t move for a bit. I think the ride was a little slow to get moving this morning.
https://flic.kr/p/2pKsNDK]Miss Piggy Topiary[/url]
We enjoyed the topiaries as we passed them.

https://flic.kr/p/2pKuBwD]Miss Piggy and Gwen[/url]

About 10 minutes in, we had made it to France.
https://flic.kr/p/2pKuBwo]France Pavilion[/url]

While in line, Morgan and Gwen joked about getting crepes to eat in line and when we got to the part where you could see the que getting in and it was full!

Since the line still had a way to go, I hopped into line at Crêpes À Emporter by La Crêperie de Paris to get Morgan and Gwen Crepes.

Morgan got a Red Berries Crêpe
Gwen got a Housemade Hazelnut & Chocolate Spread Crêpe
https://flic.kr/p/2pKG6fs]IMG_5355[/url]
Both girls enjoyed the crepes. Andy and I were waiting for some food booth food.

I was able to hop back into line fairly easily since it was basically old school back and forth line in that area.

A bunch of people were totally jealous of the girls having food in line. And a bunch did just that as well.

Around 9:50, we finally made into the inside part of the que. The time had gone by pretty fast at this point, with the snack break and all.
Heads Up
Morgan found a free version of Heads Up. We played that in line for a bit.

Que of Remy

IMG_5360

At 10:04 AM we were FINALLY on the ride
Ready to Ride
I def did not think we would need to wait this long!!! I had thought we would have a weird gap of time that we would need to fill before starting flower and garden booths.

Physical Set on Remy

Running Away

Under the Stove

Fire!

Remy Ending
It was a fun ride with a rat.

We got some photos on the bikes outside on the way out.
Gwen & Me

Morgan and Gwen Ready to ride / drive?

Gwen ready to drive

Gwen say the Remy Big Footie on the way out. She asked what her Big Footie limit was this trip. I told her 2 was her limit for this trip and suggested she wait cause she might see something else. And we didn’t want to carry it around all day.

The girls wanted to do Egg Hunt, so we looked for the Eggs in the countries as we worked our way to buy the cards.
France's Bunny Egg
First Egg of the Day! France's Bunny!

Cogsworth & Lumiere Topiary
Checked out the Topiaries as we walked as well.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Checked out the Topiaries as we walked as well.

We headed to England, just taking our time enjoying the the area.
England

First, the girls wanted to make sure they found the egg here,
Easter Bunny in England
This bunny was sneaky and had kind of gotten over grown a bit...

We headed behind the shops in England and found these topiaries
Elephant Topiary
I thought the elephant was so cute.

We also saw the Winnie the Pooh Topiaries... These are so cute!
Pooh & Rabbit

Tigger, Pigley & Eeyore

Eeyore
I feel you Eeyore!!!

And then we almost walked right past Hook & Tik Tok Croc!
Captain Hook Topiary

Tik Tok Croc Topiary


-----------------------------------------Next up..... Eggs, Food Booths & Water -------------------------------
Untitled

 

[KimM82]

Here following along. My 89 year old grandmother texts as well... I love it! Why does life always throw curveballs at us when we least need them?

 

[jrmint427]

Morgan’s internal alarm clock was still on and she was up at 5:30 this morning. So, I had her get out a military timer and count down for me.

That's so early to be up on vacation, but it's so nice you had a helper for the count down time!

We headed to find the end of the line for Remy all the way in Morocco.

Whoa! I wouldn't have expected that!

Since the line still had a way to go, I hopped into line at Crêpes À Emporter by La Crêperie de Paris to get Morgan and Gwen Crepes.

That was a great idea! I'm sure that helped the line go faster.

I def did not think we would need to wait this long!!!

I'm so surprised by how long the wait was! It sounds like it was moving, just a lot of people.

Next up..... Eggs, Food Booths & Water

I see the Avocado Toast, can't wait to hear what your family thought about that!

 

[Araminta18]

• When planning, I realized that I don't think we have EVER rope dropped EPCOT! Typically we like to start with Magic Kingdom, but since we were staying at Yacht Club I wanted to take advantage of how close we were to EPCOT.

Yes! Gotta rope drop Epcot when you stay at one of the Epcot resorts.

We got Group 44 and it said the estimated time of 11:00 AM. Not too bad, we thought.

Nice job!!

I snapped this for a time stamp for when I went downstairs. But I do love the carpet here.

so glad I'm not the only one who takes pictures just for the timestamps!

Back in the room, I enjoyed my coffee on the balcony for a bit.

ooh this looks amazing! Just coffee and balcony...lovely.

We were right by the stairs, so we took those down and out the side door. This was MUCH quicker than walking the hallways to the lobby.

Oh nice! I hate having to go in and out through the main door esp when you have an exit right by the room. That's awesome!

While in line, Morgan and Gwen joked about getting crepes to eat in line and when we got to the part where you could see the que getting in and it was full!

Since the line still had a way to go, I hopped into line at Crêpes À Emporter by La Crêperie de Paris to get Morgan and Gwen Crepes.

Oh my gosh that is soooooo smart!

At 10:04 AM we were FINALLY on the ride

woof, that's a long wait! bummer. glad you got on though!

I love all the topiary pictures too!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Here following along. My 89 year old grandmother texts as well... I love it! Why does life always throw curveballs at us when we least need them?

Welcome!!! Life is funny like that. I have been on the bandwagon of life is short for awhile. And this past year has really solidified that for me. You don't know what tomorrow will hold!

hat's so early to be up on vacation, but it's so nice you had a helper for the count down time!

Morgan gets up at 5:30 every day for high school, we hadn't tired her out enough yet. But don't worry we break her later on in the trip!!!

Whoa! I wouldn't have expected that!

At first I though maybe they just hadn't let anyone into the wrap around que yet. And I think that might have been part of the reason.

That was a great idea! I'm sure that helped the line go faster.

If def did. The wait was broken into 3 segments, before crepes, crepes, and after crepes HA!

I'm so surprised by how long the wait was! It sounds like it was moving, just a lot of people.

I don't think they let anyone in the ride till a little after 8:30. My best guess is they had a hard time setting it up and working this morning. We had a time where we weren't moving at all (not running yet) and then a big burst, where they got it working, and started to fill the wrap que. But there was already tooo many people in line.

so glad I'm not the only one who takes pictures just for the timestamps!

I have so many random ones... feet top of peoples heads...

 

[suse66]

It was 10:35 AM when I saw this beautiful carpet!

You are officially on vacay when you see that!

Once dropped off at the Yacht Club, we went over to the check in desk and checked in, even though I did online check in. I wanted to make sure the room would have a sleeper couch, which the CM confirmed. This CM also, manually programmed our Magic Bands to the room This ended up being a thing the whole trip. Not sure if it was because we had older magic bands or something new with Disney tech.

Hmmm, interesting!

When we walked in, it was pretty much empty and we were able to sit basically wherever. The girls picked the same spot as last time, the submarine looking seats.

Great seats!

I ordered a Shorty's Singapore Sling
Plymouth Gin, Heering Cherry Liqueur, Bénédictine, Cointreau, fresh Lime Juice, Pineapple Juice, and Grenadine
I did not get a photo of my drink. I wasn't in full picture mode just yet. It was just ok. I really wanted the Cool Headed Monkey but they didn’t have the fun glasses anymore, so I went with something else. I wouldn’t order the Singapore Sling again.

I drank too many of those in university to ever want one again,lol!

We love Jock Lindsey's. The food is surprisingly good and I dod usually like the drinks here. I think I just choose poorly this time.

The food is really good there.

After the Key Lime Pie Cake we had last time, she was looking forward to trying the Chocolate Cake Version.

We ended up ordering ALOT!!!
2 Pieces of Cake - Red Velvet & Dark Chocolate
7 Cookies - Coffee Cake, Cookies & Cream, Banana Bread Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Chip, 2 Peanut Butter Crunch, Pistachio Toffee Chocolate Chip
We were going to do just 6 but my math when ordering got mixed up some how.

It was a lot, but we had waited so long. And I wasn’t sure if we would be back again. We also brought 4 cookies home with us and are now in the freezer to eat later on.

Oh my goodness, that is a big order!

Moscato / Vodka / Pineapple
This was very good, the vodka in it cut the sugar in the dole whip. I wanted to get a wine, but that list! It's overwhelming!!! And I was still in I need things to be easy mode.

I need to try this!

We quickly checked out the Easter Eggs in the lobby as we came back in.

I didn't realize they had Easter Eggs at the Yacht Club as well.

We waited till 9:00 to see if we could see the Fireworks from the room and we could!!!

Sweet!

Also, this was our night view!

Beautiful view!

I purchased 2 refillable mugs for the trip. I figured with this long of a trip they would pay for themselves. Plus, one of them I was going to give to my mom and I wanted one for my morning coffee, for sure!
I filled one this morning with coffee for me and the other with hot chocolate for the girls to share. Here at Ale & Compass it was hot water and hot chocolate packets.

I also checked out the resort merch. I wanted a Yacht Club Coffee Mug but the one they had was clearly more of a decorative mug not one you would drink out of. Bummer.

Back in the room, I enjoyed my coffee on the balcony for a bit.

I always get a mug. Between coffee, tea and sparkling water, I always get my money's worth.

I def did not think we would need to wait this long!!! I had thought we would have a weird gap of time that we would need to fill before starting flower and garden booths.

That is a very long wait.

We got some photos on the bikes outside on the way out.

Super cute pic of you and your mini me!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Day One - First Park Day - Just more green things

After England, we headed into Canada.
https://flic.kr/p/2pKFrtK]Morgan and Gwen in England[/url]

The area had been closed last time we were there, so, we walked up to the "town area". Found the egg from the overlook.
https://flic.kr/p/2pKv9an]Canada[/url]

We deaded down to the waterfall.
https://flic.kr/p/2pKv9as]Canada Waterfall[/url]

We got a family selfie in front of the waterfall.
https://flic.kr/p/2pKFsfK]Canada Waterfall Selfie[/url]

A nice woman offered to take a family photo for us as well. Andy said it's one of his favorites from the trip!
https://flic.kr/p/2pKvHnL]Waterfall Family Photo[/url]

Once in the main area, we found Canada’s Bunny.
https://flic.kr/p/2pKtjR3]Canada Easter Egg[/url]

https://flic.kr/p/2pKoRei]Goose Topiariues[/url]
Some Geese Topiaries as we walked out of the Canada Pavillion.

https://flic.kr/p/2pKutoi]Goose Topiaries[/url]

We stopped in Port of Entry and purchased the Easter Egg Hunt cards for the girls. I made sure to make sure they still had prizes before we got them. (One year, they only had 2 of the choices left, and there may have been tears)

The girls added the stickers to the ones they found already.
https://flic.kr/p/2pKvHnR]Starting on Easter Egg Hunt[/url]

https://flic.kr/p/2pKuty8]Easter Egg Hunt[/url]

There was a photo pass photo CM stationed right outside of Port of Entry. And he only had 1 family in line, so we hopped in line.
https://flic.kr/p/2pKEhAK]Photopass Photo[/url]

https://flic.kr/p/2pKEhLz]Photopass Photo[/url]

https://flic.kr/p/2pKFsSg]Photopass Photo[/url]

He also did a few magic shots for us.
https://flic.kr/p/2pKEifL]Photopass Photo Orange Bird[/url]

https://flic.kr/p/2pKGHxt]Photopass Photo Dandelion[/url]

https://flic.kr/p/2pKEifR]Photopass Photo Butterflies[/url]

And he did a photo with just Morgan and Gwen.
https://flic.kr/p/2pKGHTy]Photopass Photo Morgan and Gwen[/url]

I joked as we were done that we got our moneys worth for photo pass with this one guy alone!

It was almost 11:00, and we were getting hungry, so we headed towards the Bruncot booth to rope drop some food.

https://flic.kr/p/2pKvHvw]Butterfly Topiary[/url]

https://flic.kr/p/2pKtk1X]Encanto Topiaries[/url]
One more Topiary on the way.

https://flic.kr/p/2pKvHvr]Encanto Topiaries[/url]

https://flic.kr/p/2pKv9jW]Encanto Topiaries\[/url]

https://flic.kr/p/2pKtk28]Encanto Topiaries[/url]

https://flic.kr/p/2pKoRnV]Encanto Topiaries[/url]
I love his hair!!!!

I lied ONE more Topiary...
https://flic.kr/p/2pKoRnK]Pluto Topiary[/url]

-----------------------------------------Next up..... Eggs, Food Booths & Water -------------------------------
https://flic.kr/p/2pLqgfr]Untitled[/url]

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Oh my goodness, that is a big order!

We have 4 cookies in our freezer just waiting to be eaten. Hopefully it will keep the Disney Blues away in a bit.

I didn't realize they had Easter Eggs at the Yacht Club as well.

Beach Club had a small table worth as well!

Super cute pic of you and your mini me!

Sometimes I can't believe how much she is my mini me! She does have more of Andy's personality. but she is def my clone. Andy took a video of us a few days later and we are both dancing to the parade music and I am not even sure we knew we were both doing it or not.

 

[mommyk8]

What a long travel day, but lots of fun at Disney springs. Can’t wait to rest the rest of your report.

 

[jrmint427]

A nice woman offered to take a family photo for us as well. Andy said it's one of his favorites from the trip!

That is a great family pic! You got some beautiful pictures of the Encanto topiaries too.

 

[Jsharp13]

So it was over an hour wait for Remy, even walking into the park around 8:33 am? I'll need to keep that in mind if we want to rope drop in a few weeks!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

So it was over an hour wait for Remy, even walking into the park around 8:33 am? I'll need to keep that in mind if we want to rope drop in a few weeks!

Yup!!!! If you want to do it faster, I would get there at least a half hour before early entry to be at the front of the pack! I think it might also not have opened right on time either.... Since we were standing still for awhile.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

You got some beautiful pictures of the Encanto topiaries too.

The Encanto ones were our favorite!

 

[rdkeim]

You got some great family pictures on your Epcot day! The one of just your DD's is very nice too. Hope your good day continues!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Right at 7:00 AM I grabbed a Guardians of Galaxy Boarding Group

Nice work!

It was a really nice view!

That is a gorgeous view. You really lucked out with your room!

Since the line still had a way to go, I hopped into line at Crêpes À Emporter by La Crêperie de Paris to get Morgan and Gwen Crepes.

That was an excellent idea! Those crepes look very good - I love crepes.

It seems Remy requires 30-60 minutes of waiting whether you do it before park opening or once the park opens, which is crazy! Nonetheless, I’m glad you made it on despite some possible attraction issues that morning.

We got a family selfie in front of the waterfall.

Aww, I love that waterfall! Both your selfie and your family picture are great!

I joked as we were done that we got our moneys worth for photo pass with this one guy alone!

That’s a great collection of Photopass pictures, including several wonderful magic shots! I feel like the Photopass photographers are very feast or famine - they’re either excellent and you get a bunch of great shots or they’re lackluster and you get maybe one “meh” shot. I’m glad you got a good one!

 

[Stacybaeasm]

And that wait is why I STILL have not gone on Remy. Another thing that stays on my list for next time. Remy and Tron.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

feel like the Photopass photographers are very feast or famine - they’re either excellent and you get a bunch of great shots or they’re lackluster and you get maybe one “meh” shot. I’m glad you got a good one!

That is so true! Some of them look like they were handed a camera for the very first time.

That was an excellent idea! Those crepes look very good - I love crepes.

It seems Remy requires 30-60 minutes of waiting whether you do it before park opening or once the park opens, which is crazy! Nonetheless, I’m glad you made it on despite some possible attraction issues that morning.

Yes, I think you will wait a bit for Remy unless you are willing to pay. And we did for the very first time but I don't think we will ever again.

But I think we will ALWAYS get crepes before getting in line after this trip.

And that wait is why I STILL have not gone on Remy. Another thing that stays on my list for next time. Remy and Tron.

I know. It's crazy!!! And it's not really worth paying for it.

 

[ambula603]

I used the pano feature on my phone for this. And we had a few very funny mishaps before I figured out the speed at which to pan at.

Once we were seated, I pulled up Touring Plans to see exactly where our room was. And I saw it was a corner room, and I was pretty sure that it was a pretty good spot! So I was excited to see the room later!

I laughed at both of these points. I would totally fail at the pan feature. I DESPISE that I am getting so old that I can't do basic tech things like this! And my girls love to make fun of me for it!

I would also totally check the room location while eating. Hehehe. As I said in my report, we know too much but it's always good to get the intel about your room before you check in!

I can appreciate two feedings. And we have never been to either of those places! We aren't big drinkers but we did have the Hangar Bar on our list last trip, just never made it over to Disney Springs.

THAT ROOM. Wow. What a lucky get! I adore that area. We always stay at Boardwalk but I have Yacht and Beach on my someday list. It is such a vibe!

I am dying to try that Valentina cake. I love marshmallow cream or marshmallow anything really. YUMMY!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I laughed at both of these points. I would totally fail at the pan feature. I DESPISE that I am getting so old that I can't do basic tech things like this! And my girls love to make fun of me for it!

I know!!! I tried to do snap chat and felt stupid!

I can appreciate two feedings. And we have never been to either of those places! We aren't big drinkers but we did have the Hangar Bar on our list last trip, just never made it over to Disney Springs

The Trackers on YouTube love Wine Bar George and they don't drink. I think it feels like you should go to them being a bar and a restaurant with Wine in the name. But they were both great. But there is also ALOT of food options at Disney Springs if you ever do make it there.

THAT ROOM. Wow. What a lucky get! I adore that area. We always stay at Boardwalk but I have Yacht and Beach on my someday list. It is such a vibe!

Yacht Club tends to be slightly cheeper than Beach Club. We love it! Obviously!