Saturday 8/9
We left the house at 5:15 am and arrived at the Providence airport around 6:30 am. After dropping Amanda,
Avis, and Nick off at the terminal, I parked the car in Lot E. It was super easy and there was a shuttle waiting for me. It took no time to get back to the terminal. TSA was quick, even though only Amanda and I have Pre-Check we were all through in just a few minutes.
We ran into some close friends in the terminal! As I walked toward the Priority Pass Lounge, I heard “hey buddy!” and there was Steve. It was very confusing at first! They were headed to Costa Rica via Orlando. Unfortunately, they were on Southwest and we were on Breeze.
After a quick hello and chit-chat, their plane was boarding and we headed to the Priority Pass Lounge. We didn’t have super high expectations because last time it was really bad. However, it ended up being pretty good and a great way to start our trip. The only hiccup here was that Amanda had trouble logging into her account but then realized the pass was in her Apple Wallet all along.
Our plane boarded a bit early, we actually were some of the last passengers to board. We took off on time at 8:00 am and we were on the ground in Orlando at 10:30 am. Avie and I sat together and Nick and Madre were in a different row. The only minor annoyance on the plane was not the child kicking our seat but the mother telling him to stop kicking the seat.
After getting our luggage we were on our way to the Drury Plaza in a Lyft at about 11:00 am. We checked our bags with bell services since our room was not yet ready. We walked around the hotel a bit, checking it out. We then decided to walk to Disney Springs. For a hotel that calls itself a “Disney Springs Hotel” it was a longer walk than you might expect. Before our trip I read that it took about 15 minutes to walk there and I figured that was probably an overestimation for slower walkers, but it was pretty accurate for us. The walk was pleasant enough and the only time we had to cross the street there was an overhead walkway which put us on the east side of Springs near the Earl of Sandwich.
We decided to have lunch at the Polite Pig. It was a bit hectic being a Saturday but was definitely worth it. Food was fantastic--Avie had a Mediterranean Salad with Lemon Hummus Vinegar dressing that she loved. Nick and I got the brisket (delicious) and Madre got the fried chicken sandwich which was also amazing. We had a couple Hazy IPAs--I don’t remember what it was--there were really good.
After the Polite Pig we walked around Springs for awhile. Nick was looking for a new pair of sunglasses and he found a super expensive pair at Coach that he did not get and then we went to Tommy Bahama where they were having a sale that included Maui Jim sunglasses. Still, pretty expensive so he did not buy any. The sales people in the store were pretty pushy so we left.
We got a text that our room at the Drury was ready so we walked back there. We got room 1129. The room was nice with two queen beds and balcony view of the pool, Epcot, and the Contemporary. We only paid for a standard view so this seemed like an upgrade.
Amanda and I went down to the store in the Drury to buy some wine and beer. However, the prices were really high so we decided to order DoorDash. We went to the pool bar and ordered drinks while we made our order. At first we had a Tripping Animals IPA which was fantastic and then a mojito-type cocktail.
We had some trouble with our Dasher. It looked like he was on the way to the hotel but then he turned around. I think he did a “double dash” because it looked like he stopped at another store before meeting us.
We went back to the room and watched Jurassic Park and Anchorman. At about 6:00 pm we went to the Drury’s 5:30 kickback. This was a free dinner that also allowed for 3 drinks per adult. The dinner was hot dogs, pulled pork, mac n cheese, and veggie soup. Amanda and Avie really liked the soup. There was also popcorn which was pretty good and took it back to the room.
When we got back we watched Grownups. I had seen parts of it before, but tonight it was really funny! Nick ordered Wendy’s from DoorDash and after a cancelled trip or two it was delivered. He got something with Wednesday sauce and it looked gross. We also got medium frosties which were much bigger than we thought and we both spilled them on the beds! That was it for night one!
