Boardwalk to the Beach Club.. with a cruise inbetween! April 2015

[TXMNie]

Joining in! Sounds like a great trip so far! We are hoping to stay at the Boardwalk Villas a year from now!

 

[MEK]

Disney Barbie! I remember you from your combined Florida / Boston trip!

Looking forward to reading about your latest adventure! Sounds like a wonderful trip. I just love the BWV and will be staying there again this August!

 

[jandlinz]

Looking forward to reading more! I'm curious to see your cruise.
-Lindsey

 

[tonga]

I'm excited to read about your cruise too. We were on a Carnival cruise those same dates, and kept seeing the Fantasy at different ports and wishing we were on her. We're going on our first Disney cruise in March.

 

[disneybarbie]

Mmmm key lime sparkling wine! Sounds so light and refreshing, I hope they have it next year!
That's pretty great that they do a storytime on the TV, I've never heard of that!

That wine was really good - like a prosecco but with a hint of lime!

Sounds like how we spent our first night. I wish we'd seen the Smokehouse lit up like that, so pretty. Sounds like a great night.

It was really nicely done, I love seeing all the extra areas set up for F&G and F&W in Epcot

Sounds like a great start to the trip- can't wait to hear more.

Thank you! More on the way - sorry for the delay, just seem to have been so busy lately!

What a nice start! Did you get magic bands at home and at the resort?

Thanks! We had some bands from our last trip (Jan 2014), so I brought those along with us, and we were give more when we checked in at the Boardwalk.. we had both picked different colours and were able to wear either band to access the parks/our room/FP+ etc... I matched mine to my outfit

Hey! loving your report so far. I was supposed to go to F&G this year but couldn't because of work oh well... Cant wait to hear all about it and your cruise. Disney Cruises are the best!

That key lime wine sounds amazing btw Im a big fan of sparkling wine.

PS im so stealing your trick with the chocolate for the flight attendants. Its such a great idea.

Thank you for reading along so far! Hopefully you'll get to F&G another year ... definitely try the chocolates tip for your next flight, it seems to make their day!

Sorry i've been overlooking people's updates lately



I love this shot! Very artistic.



This is perfection!



How cute is this?! I can imagine having a ritual every night getting 'home' from the parks and saying, "Bedtime story and then bedtime!"

Thanks Lesha! I have found I don't always get TR thread email updates and have to catch up lol. More on the way.. making updates a priority this weekend

Joining in! Sounds like a great trip so far! We are hoping to stay at the Boardwalk Villas a year from now!

Disney Barbie! I remember you from your combined Florida / Boston trip!

Looking forward to reading about your latest adventure! Sounds like a wonderful trip. I just love the BWV and will be staying there again this August!

Looking forward to reading more! I'm curious to see your cruise.
-Lindsey

Thank you for all reading along so far!

I'm excited to read about your cruise too. We were on a Carnival cruise those same dates, and kept seeing the Fantasy at different ports and wishing we were on her. We're going on our first Disney cruise in March.

Hi! That's a small world about the Carnival ship.. we must have been in the same ports nearly every day of that cruise!



Sorry for the long delay between posts.. I've written up the next day and just figuring out the best way to insert photos now, the way I used to do it doesn't seem to work as well with the new boards


Emma x

 

[disneybarbie]

Sunday 12th April 2015


Animal Kingdom and an evening at Epcot


As usual, due to jet lag, I was awake very early on our first morning – which I no longer mind at all as it means I have plenty of time to get up and go for a run around my favourite place on earth!


From our balcony..

It was still quite dark when I got outside


Once my Garmin watch picked up a signal, I was off... I could tell I was excited as I ran my first mile too fast, especially with the humidity!


I saw several other runners out as well as some walkers – everyone said 'good morning' or smiled (unlike at home where most people seem to look away when I run past them! Crazy runner ) I ran to the Studios (the Sorcerer Mickey topiary is a great turning point!) and then back to the Boardwalk, across the canal to the Swan and Dolphin.. I wanted to try and find the path that loops around the Epcot resorts.. and I found it!


It's a nice quiet side walk which even has a few small 'hills' due to the landscaping around the resorts. I found an entrance near to the Beach Club Villas to get back in to the resort, one final lap of Crescent Lake and I was done.






Back to the room to shower and get ready for the day.


New colour Magic Band!





This trip I started using a screen shot of our daily Fast Passes as the lock screen on my phone – it worked out well as I could quickly see the attractions and times without having to open the MDE app.






Animal Kingdom had EMH which suited us and our jet lag perfectly – we were among the first on our bus too!





The sky was cloudy that morning but it was already very warm, and the sun came out mid morning.





The park entrance was already open but it seemed so quiet!






I liked the new area around the Tree of Life – much more open and there are now more animal carvings and some water features too.






We went to Kilimanjaro safaris first, we had a FP for it later in the day but wanted to see what different animals would be out first thing.. we were on the second jeep of the day.


As usual I said I wouldn't take any photos.... but it never seems to happen!



........

 

[jandlinz]

Great AK safari pictures. I'm not a runner, so in my head I was thinking, "Why would you run for exercise when you're at Disney?" I give you credit.
-Lindsey

 

[ursalita]

Wow, your workout details.

Looks like it started out as a great day at AK. Nice pic of the rhino on the safari.

 

[trackie]

Joining in! I'm so jealous of your long vacation! Looks like you had a lot of fun! Loving it so far!!

 

[disneybarbie]

Great AK safari pictures. I'm not a runner, so in my head I was thinking, "Why would you run for exercise when you're at Disney?" I give you credit.
-Lindsey

Thank you! Hehe - up until a few years ago I would have thought the same about exercising on vacation, but since training for the WDW Half Marathon last year it has definitely become part of my routine now.. and there is nowhere better to run the WDW!

Wow, your workout details.

Looks like it started out as a great day at AK. Nice pic of the rhino on the safari.

Thank you! Nothing like running at Disney for a good workout/running pace

Joining in! I'm so jealous of your long vacation! Looks like you had a lot of fun! Loving it so far!!

Thank you for reading along!

 

[disneybarbie]

….........



Some of the animals weren't out yet (too early for the elephants!) and the giraffes were stood right by the gate where they enter the savannah – just started their shift


Next we walked around to Asia to visit the Yeti – only a 5 minute stand-by line so we were straight on!





We stopped for some breakfast at the Kusafiri bakery – we shared an apple cinnamon muffin and a scrambled egg, spinach and goats cheese wrap.. both were excellent.





Next we walked the Pangani forest trail – and had an extra treat as there was an eight month old gorilla baby there!


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We walked around to Dinoland USA to ride Dinosaur, again no wait, and then back to Everest to use our first FP of the day.






We did the Maharajah Jungle Trek next, which was good even though the Tigers were very sleepy. And then used our next FP for Kali River Rapids.





I don't know what it is about this ride but I always end up in 'the' wet seat... everyone else got out of our boat relatively dry... accept me! As we exited, other guests waiting to ride were looking at me and saying 'wow, you really do get wet!'



It was really warm so I knew I'd dry off quickly! We stopped for a frozen lemonade and coke –

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and then stopped to listen to a cast member giving a demonstration with an owl. It was really interesting, and at the end he announced the next Flights of Wonder show was about to begin. I'd had a goal this trip to try something new (for us) in each park.. and as we'd never seen this show before, we decided to watch it.




........

 

[I_Luv_Stitch]

Love your TR so far!
Can't wait to read more

 

[LindseyJo22]

Loving this so far! I was wondering where you were coming from that the flight was 9 hours, then I saw that UK on your phone screenshot!

You are super quick on the running pace I personally stick to walking, and a Disney vacation gets plenty of that in, even with the food. I think we averaged like 10 miles a day last year, according to my Fitbit.

I may have to steal that idea about the Fastpasses on the phone. Especially since the reception can sometimes be iffy in the parks. Nice to be able to see it without going through the app.

Looks like you guys had a fabulous trip and I can't wait to read more Plus, a Disney Cruise! That's definitely on my to-do list, but a few years into the future!

 

[jandlinz]

Great AK pictures. The baby gorilla is so cute.
-Lindsey

 

[Sailormoon2]

Kingdom had EMH which suited us and our jet lag perfectly – we were among the first on our bus too!

Do you remember what time that bus was at? Just wondering how early they start running from the Epcot resorts.
Also was it easy to find a jogging route? Or had you looked at a map in advance? That loop looks perfect for me too. What time did you start at?

 

[cindianne320]

What a great morning at AK! The baby gorilla is so cute, and those wait times can't be beat!

 

[Dugette]

Hi, Emma! Just got caught up and so excited to hear about your trip! Funny, I could have used that same title for our trip and it would have been accurate!

my seat was so close to the front of the plane I could see the pilots in the cockpit!

Wow, I thought they always kept those doors closed/locked! So strange to think of an "upstairs" on a plane - never been on one like that. Glad it went well for you, despite the delay.

I had been awake for almost 24 hours... definitely slept well that night!

I don't know how you do it!

This trip I started using a screen shot of our daily Fast Passes as the lock screen on my phone – it worked out well as I could quickly see the attractions and times without having to open the MDE app.

I heard this same tip and actually did the lock screen with my spreadsheet for the day (so, FP+ and other notes/ADRs). Worked really well for taking a quick peek at things without having to mess around with the phone.

You got so much done so quick in such an empty Animal Kingdom!

Looking forward to more!

 

[khertz]

Yay, I'm so glad I found this at the beginning!!

Nice upgrade on the flight! I'm sure that makes those 9 hours a lot more bearable.

This trip I started using a screen shot of our daily Fast Passes as the lock screen on my phone – it worked out well as I could quickly see the attractions and times without having to open the MDE app.

This idea is GENIUS! Totally stealing that for my next trip!!!

Looks like a beautiful morning at AK so far. I love the idea of trying something new in each park. It's easy for Disney trips to become routine, so it's smart to focus on doing something new each time.

I can't wait for more! Seems like it was an epic trip!

 

[Leshaface]

I saw several other runners out as well as some walkers – everyone said 'good morning' or smiled (unlike at home where most people seem to look away when I run past them! Crazy runner )

I don't know why people are so rude when they're walking/running. Whenever I jog outside, the majority of people look away or just ignore me You don't have to verbally say hi back to me, a wave would be fine right?!

This trip I started using a screen shot of our daily Fast Passes as the lock screen on my phone – it worked out well as I could quickly see the attractions and times without having to open the MDE app

I did too and makes things so much easier!

Look at all that room, that looks great!

 

[RachelNinja]

Such dedication getting up early for your run! Out of all places though, that would definitely be a great place to exercise. I live in an apartment on the service road right off the highway so there's always a ton of traffic. There isn't much space between the sidewalk and where the cars zoom by, so even going for a walk isn't something we can do comfortably here. At times when we've had to walk there, my husband and I go one behind the other because some drivers are crazy. But the idea of that Epcot loops sounds so inviting! It seems like it'd be so peaceful in the morning, and I love that everyone was friendly and saying hello!

Using the FP list as the lock screen?! GENIUS! Haha, why aren't we all doing that?!?