Sorry it's been a while we just got back (a few days ago) from a weeks vacation at Beaches in Turks and Caicos. It was a very relaxing and different type of vacation for us since we weren't on the go all day everyday. For those not familiar, Beaches is the family version of Sandals and all inclusive. The Turks and Caicos resort is huge and beautiful! Somethings about the vacation were great, others average. We found that we are very used to the Disney way of things and their attention to detail, so even though some things were outstanding at Beaches little details just weren't there to make it an exceptional place. For example, the room was nice, but there was some water damage on the door frame in the bathroom and the shower head was weak, almost just dripping. Also the food was just average, and the waits for food (if we were at a restaurant when it was busy) was really too long. Plus their kids offerings were poor, which was weird for a "family resort." We found that if you went early for dinner (say around 6:30) then everything was fine, but if we waited till after 7 to check in, we wouldn't get food until almost 9.
The great things were the pools, beach, swim up bars, laid back atmosphere (which I find on most of the islands), the kids club, and adult only options. I think for us when the kids are older it is worth doing again.
Anyway back to our Disney trip which is why we are all here!
We left Riviera to get to our ADR over at EPCOT. With no line for the Skyliner we hopped right on and took the short ride to the International Gateway then made the short walk to check in at Via Napoli. It's one of our favorite places to eat and a must do as long as we don't have the Dining Plan.
We waited a couple minutes to be seated and then ordered our drinks. I had a beer and Deb had a fancy frozen something!
We got a Mozzarella Caprese for an appetizer (we were hungry).
This was excellent and was nice and refreshing before heavy pizza. For the pie we got a half pepperoni (my half) and half Carciofi (Deb's half).
We each kept to our own halves and had a piece or two left over to bring back to our room.
We decided we didn't want to hang out much in EPCOT and instead wanted to to to Magic Kingdom for a bit. Since we had some food, and no monorail available we made a pit stop at the resort. On the way out we grabbed some pictures of topiaries.
The crowds were very manageable and walking around was not too bad.
The bus to WL was quick and we dropped off the pizza and were off to MK. We jumped on a boat and were in front of the castle in no time at all.
Crowds were about medium, and for the first time this trip we noticed that implementation of the mask policy was super loose here. After some pictures the wait for SDMT was reasonable so we headed right over there. The line was around the side of the coaster back to Aerial's, but still was only posted as a 35 min. wait.
Glad you had a safe trip to Beaches. We've thought of doing a trip like that too. Sounds like maybe we will wait a bit until the kids are bigger for that one.
Glad you had a safe trip to Beaches. We've thought of doing a trip like that too. Sounds like maybe we will wait a bit until the kids are bigger for that one.
Thanks! Yes we thought that the kids would love it when they are teenagers. I was actually a little surprised there weren't more families with kids our ages there. There were a few, but it looked to me like the majority of families were a little older than ours. the kids still had a great time though, and loved the kids club stuff!
I've been given the ultimatum from Deb to finish this report before our next trip, which is rapidly approaching. T-minus 12 days until we leave for a combined 8 day trip to Disney and Universal. We haven't been to Universal since 2007ish and so much has changed.
Either way, it's my hope and goal to finish this report in the next 12 days. Feeling a little motivated I should get two posts done today and finish off our Sunday. Also I've got some interior painting to get done this week, so it'll be a busy 12 days for me.
We left off as we got in line for SDMT and as we mentioned above, this was the first experience we had this trip with less compliance in mask wearing. In this line it was also the first time we dealt with others ignoring the "please stand here" marks in the line as the family behind us ignored them completely and stood almost on top of us. We just ignored them as we weren't really too worried about it, just more annoyed they couldn't follow the guidelines.
We moved right along though without stopping much.
The people in front of us tried to have half their family skip the line and when they past the CM to get into the actual indoor queue they said they had four more people coming. The CM politely told them that if the weren't in line already they'd have to go to the back of the line, which made sense to us. Not so much to the people in front of us. They attempted to argue for a second, called there family and then were told to either move on or step out of line by the CM. They decided to go through and kept telling each other the rest of the family would be let through, which by the way, did not happen. We made it on the ride after a 30 minute wait.
After a fun ride we continued right around the back of the castle and made our way to Deb's favorite ride, Haunted Mansion.
It was posted as a 5 minute wait, but it was more like 10. They must have been having some problems with the ride, because it kept stopping as we were waiting to get on, and then it stopped at least 3 times while we were on it.
Once we got off it was on to BTMRR. The wait time here was posted as 30 minutes, but we couldn't actually see the line from outside the FP entrance. We figured it was much shorter than 30 minutes, and we were right. After an actual 10 minute wait we were ready to go.
Now it was about 7:00pm so we thought about getting one more ride in before heading back to WL. POTC it was, posted another 30 minute wait, which again was not correct. We waited about 15 minutes and were on our way!
After we finished that up Deb wanted a treat so she grabbed another one of here favorites.
Looks like the Raspberry and Pineapple Dole Whip swirl to me. From there we made our way to the front to head back to the hotel.
Always have to snag a fancy picture on the way out. We jumped on a boat for a nice cruise back to WL. The sun was rapidly setting which gave us a nice view of the Contemporary.
The resort was peaceful, partially because only the DVC portion was open, so it felt pretty empty.
Back at WL we decided that we were actually getting a little hungry. After almost a full pizza in the afternoon we didn't really want a full dinner, instead we thought we'd try Geyser Point. We've always wanted to try it and now seemed like a good opportunity.
When we checked in the CM told us it was about a 30 minute wait, and we debated about it for a minute. Why not? was our final decision and CM told us they would send us a text when the table was ready. If we didn't want the table at that point she said we could just cancel it. We decided to head over the the Territory Lounge, another place we've wanted to try. Not having the kids made it easy. It was also completely empty except for one other couple which left soon after we arrived.
They have Elysium Space Dust IPA on draft which I told Deb she liked. She got one of those and I had a Jameson. Deb needed to get some work done and this was a nice quiet place to do it. We also must have stopped up at the room because she didn't carry he laptop around with her all day.
I was fairly wrong and she only kinda liked the beer. She sipped on it while we hung out and chatted with the CM tending bar. Eventually we got our text to head back to Geyser Point. We transferred the IPA into a to go cup and walked over.
Getting a little hungrier we ordered fairly quickly and Deb settled on an Elysium stout which she said was really good.
Mickey Ears still going strong (along with the fanny pack/ pouch thing) we relaxed and waited for our food.
The food came out in cool little upside down pot things. Leaving it a mystery as to which one with with which person.
The waitress had it figured out though. I got the Teriyaki Wings which were excellent!
Deb got the Shrimp on a Wire which was also excellent.
Now completely full and tired we were off to bed. A Huge day was coming tomorrow with a lot of big plans to fly by the seat of our pants!
End of days step total was 23,284 for a distance of 10 miles. Not too bad, but just a primer for what was to come.
Welcome back for this weeks updates! Saturday is rapidly approaching and the suspense as to whether I finish this report or not is killing my wife! We'll have to see if I can get through writing about our last full day over the next 4.
We slept in a touch on Monday, not super late but, later than normal. Our plan for the day was to start at Epcot which didn't open till 11. Last night we were briefly talking to another couple in Territory Lounge, and they had mentioned the weather looked bad for today. They weren't wrong and I had taken this earlier in the day to give everybody an idea of the possible weather for the rest of our trip.
90% chance of thunderstorms didn't look promising. When we woke up we noticed it had rained overnight. We mobile ordered breakfast and I went down to pick it up. It was about 9am and the resort was deserted. I made my way around the pool and managed to get a few pictures of it.
A little farther back I guess.....
The Splash area right behind the pool...
Kids will love this when we get there this weekend. We fly in during the afternoon and plan is just to get in the pool when we get there. Also it'll be 95 degrees..... YIKES!
Once I got these I started to walk towards picking up breakfast and I was enjoying the fresh air when I realized it was a little too fresh. Then I touched my face for an itch and, yup I had forgotten my mask back in the room. Walked around the entire resort for about 10 minutes without it. I didn't actually see anyone while I was out but I still felt like an idiot..... I made my way covertly back up to our room, grabbed a mask and then picked up breakfast.
Shocking we had the exact same thing we had yesterday, cinnamon bun and oatmeal. We sat out on the balcony and ate, then headed down to the bus stop. We decided to get on a bus for HS, then we could walk to EPCOT and go in through the International Gateway to avoid the battle at the front of EPCOT. Plus it's like a maze getting through all of the walls.
We jumped on a bus at 10:45, got to HS and thus began the marathon of walking that was the rest of the day.
We arrived at the gates to EPCOT at 11:30 and got right in. Alice was out in England waving to people from afar.
Then were the topiaries of Tigger and Piglet and Eeyore .
Our first stop was Soarin, we were in line around 11:40. It was posted a 45 minute wait which was way off. We waited about 25 and were in our seats.
Carrying on with the day we got on Soarin, and were off to the side. Which I hate, and we were able to grab this beauty.
Still can't believe they designed this and thought it was acceptable. Oh well, maybe one day they will fix it.
Walked right of Soarin and over to LWTL, one of our favorites. The wait time was posted as 25 minutes, but we walked right on. It was a pleasant ride as usual with some nice food growing. Apparently we had to get a picture of a edible flower sign.
Then we decided that we could jump on Test Track so we hiked it over there. This was one of the longer waits of our trip, it was posted as a 45 minutes wait which was accurate. No more designing your own car or anything, but it was still fun.
Then it was time to leave EPCOT and head over to Animal Kingdom. We made our way through the maze of walls to the front of the park and jumped on a bus for AK. Once there we hiked it over to Everest which I was talked into going on..... again.
We escaped the Yeti I think, then were off to PAndora. On our way to we hung out in an empty walkway between Africa and Pandora for a few.
We noticed the line for FOP was short, and only posted as 35 minutes. Actually the line didn't start outside of the actual queue and we jumped on that opportunity.
Trying to take in some sights in the line was tough cause we were moving through it fast!
Another great flight around Pandora, and then we had to decide what to do. After some discussion we decided to go to HS and try to get on MMRR then some other rides till the park closed. After that we'd walk back to EPCOT and to eat and stay there until it closed. With our plan intact we made our way back to the busses.
We jumped on FOP flew around Pandora and were ready to park hop when we got off. The next stop was back to HS to grab a snack, get on MMRR, do some Toy Story rides, and visit Galaxy's Edge again.
From AK we trucked it to the bus stop and quickly caught a bus that was waiting to leave for HS. We decided to gauge the wait time for Mickey and Minnie's when we got into the park then we'd settle on a snack. Realizing we must have eaten some food since breakfast I don't have anything written down..... IDK.
We arrived at HS at about 6:15 and the posted wait time for Mickey and Minnie's was 25 minutes. This was a pretty accurate estimate and after winding all around the weirdest queue ever, we were at the front of the Chinese Theater.
We lost Goofy and then found him again on a crazy ride. I thought it was ok, the trackless technology was cool, but I still miss the old movies ride. My bet though is that the kids will love this.
Next we needed a snack, so that we could eat something more substantial later EPCOT. I really wanted to get a pretzel and beer from the Taphouse. All I have written in my notes is that it was a waste of time. So the line was either out of the bar again, or it was closed. Either way we settled for a Mickey Pretzel.
It looks subpar and probably tasted subpar (compared to the Taphouse pretzels anyway). Next up was Toy Story Mania. I lost..... again, which wasn't shocking. The wait for Slinky Dog as still really long, at least posted over an hour. We didn't want to wait for that so it was back over to Galaxy's Edge. We wanted to try and stay as late as possible to see if we could get some good pictures.
Once we got there Deb decided to give the Blue Milk a try. It's dairy free for anyone that wants to know, and it was rather tasty!
Then it was time to steal some more Coaxium, and the wait was not too bad. This time I was the left pilot and Deb was the right. We had our own cabin again which was cool. Also we learned that I am terrible at being the left pilot and we both felt a little off when we were finished. I kept over shooting targets and swinging us back and forth. Ooops, lesson learned. Here was some from inside the ship, this room is by far my favorite!
Since the shops were really crowded last time, we visited them now, with no crowds and got some more pictures.
It was getting to be past park closing and the the park was starting to empty out. We grabbed some pictures with as few people as possible in them.
We really tried to take in some of the details that were harder to notice in the crowds. We took out time heading to the front and got this of Muppets Courtyard!
All finished up at HS we made the trek back along the path to EPCOT. Come on back to see dinner and the end of the night!
Squeezing in another update here, and I think I might actually finish this before we leave tomorrow.
We made the walk out of HS and over to EPCOT. The walkway over and the Boardwalk was abandoned, which made for some good pictures.
Last time Deb insisted that going by the hotels was faster, which I'm sure was not correct. So we took the short way this time. Also we were able to get a picture of the Ratatouille Ride and area. Looks like it will be pretty nice.
We got into EPCOT around 8:45 and were pretty hungry. We made our way over to Spice Road Table to see what their availability was. It was only Tapas so the wait was pretty short. We started to walk around Morocco, but as soon as we walked away from the check in area we got our text that our table was ready.
I had never tried this restaurant before but Deb had. I heard good things and the kids definitely would not like it making this a good time to try. The menu was pretty limited, but we each found something to eat.
First up our drinks!
Beer for me and strawberry cider for Deb!
Next I got the Spicy Shrimp and Deb got the House Made Hummus Fries.....
Both were excellent and hit the spot. From here on my note taking was drastically lacking, but I know there wasn't much left to do. We started walking around the countries which were emptying out.
We got some pictures of these super creepy masks. Not sure where though!
We started walking around the World Showcase to try and get some good pictures of the pavillions. We decided on some dessert /snacks. I'm pretty sure got a beer in Germany and Deb got some caramel popcorn.
It was way too much for the two of us and a good portion of the bag made its way home to eventually get stale.
Our planned worked though, and here are a couple pictures of the abandoned pavilions.
Its was a nice peaceful walk, and by the time we were leaving the park it was 11:00. Timed it just right and we caught a bus back to WL. Exhausted we were quickly asleep ready to head back to the real world on Monday.
Days total for my steps was 32,150 which my app says was about 14.4 miles. All in all a great day, 4 parks, some good food and a lot of exercise.
Welcome back! After a nice break from my last post and an 8 day trip to WDW and Universal I'm ready to wrap this up and (according to Deb) start my next report.
We got up around 8, and after the exact same breakfast we had the last few days made our way over to MK for the morning. Luckily (or maybe not), Deb remembered that there was a purse release today ( I didn't know there was such a thing). We headed right into the store on Main Street where she spotted this beauty.
So now we own one of those. Funny story they wouldn't let her wear it on the plane later with her backpack and counted it as a 3rd carry on. We had to frantically squeeze inside her backpack which was fun with a line of people behind us.
After our purchase we stopped off for a Castle selfie,
and then went to Haunted Mansion for one last ride. But, alas, HM was down. We made our way to Tomorrowland and jumped on the Carousel of Progress because we hadn't ridden it in decades. Then over to Buzz for one last duel.
I lost again....... Good news was that HM was back up and running and was a walk on, so over there we went. Then the wait for PP was less than 30 minutes and we jumped in line for that. As we were getting indoors in the line it started to lightly rain, but we didn't think much of it.
When we got off PP it was a straight Florida downpour.
We waited outside PP under the overhang for about 10 minutes then bundled up and decided to make a run for it. Somehow we had time for this picture.
We got to Main Street and hopped in one of the stores to grab some take home candy for kids. Also we are SOAKED!
We left MK and jumped on our bus back to WL which was now freezing thanks to full blast air conditioning.
I know that bus is for the Poly, but I took a picture of it so here you go!
We posted up in the lobby to wait for our DME bus to the airport, and dry off. Luckily we could change into dryer clothes and the rain kept up for a while.
On our way to the airport we snagged one last photo.
After an uneventful flight we landed at JFK on time and were heading home.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this almost as much as we enjoyed our trip! Next up keep a lookout for "Can we go in the pool?... Not Today; Our 8 days on the surface of the sun!"
Hi Tim! I enjoyed reading about your April trip. Can't wait to read about your recent trip - especially your day of fun surprises!!
-Nikki (Deb's MWT friend )
Hi Tim! I enjoyed reading about your April trip. Can't wait to read about your recent trip - especially your day of fun surprises!!
-Nikki (Deb's MWT friend )
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