Springtime Surprise Trip Report: April 13–Yoga at HS
Stats of the day: 21,045 steps (10,890 rD-related); 8.77 miles
I got up on time and made it to the bus to yoga. I much prefer the logistics of yoga at HS vs MK, since you don’t have the extra step of loading everyone on the ferry. Once I was through security and lined up at the tapstiles, it was time to just wait. But I ended up standing next to (but on the other side of a tape line that MUST NOT BE CROSSED
—per a CM) from
@lookingforsunshine and her friend, so that was a neat coincidence. I was in the first group of people to get in, so I got a second row mat. These mats are a vast improvement on the terrible cheap things they had when I did Princess Yoga in 2022, and the little towel was handy.
On the way in, there were Pixar characters to take pictures of, but I was mostly focused on getting a good spot, so I only snapped one picture before heading for the mats.
On the center “stage” Woody and Mike were hanging out, so I grabbed some selfies while we waited for 5am
The yoga was good and well-suited to novices. It was a good way to get started on the whole “wake up in the middle of the night to do stuff” routine. Before we left, they played the animation show that they do in the evenings, which was super fun (except for the woman standing next to me and texting with her bright screen the whole time—seriously, who are you texting at 6 in the dang am, lady?) and then all the Pixar characters came out for selfies and stuff. I skipped the selfies, but tried to snap pics as they passed me (I’ll spare you seeing how bad those turned out).
After yoga, I hopped on the bus to the Grand Floridian because I had a breakfast reservation. I think GF is a bit too fancy for my taste, and probably wouldn’t go there again. Also, they seriously skimp on the amount of food when you get the Mickey waffle—it’s one waffle (bigger than the little ones at QS breakfast, but still not huge) and 2 pieces of bacon! If I’d known if would be so little, I’d have gotten the pancakes, despite my desire to have a Mickey Waffle, because I saw those go by to another table and there were 2 fluffy, plate-sized pancakes! At least I got a couple biscuits to eat too, otherwise I would’ve needed a second breakfast, and I try not to eat like a hobbit too often
After breakfast, I still had a ton of time to kill before the expo buses would start (my original plan had been to catch one from GF after breakfast, but everything took much less time than I thought) So I hopped the monorail to MK and caught a bus back to Pop so I wouldn’t have to carry my yoga mat through the expo. I caught the first expo bus, got my bib and shirts from the Platinum CrD pickup, did my shopping (and winced at the price of the pin set—but still bought it), shopped the vendors (because I needed a blue Sparkle visor to finish off my Joy costume, and I bought another Sparkle skirt because I shouldn’t be allowed to have a CC unsupervised), grabbed a discounted water park ticket, and then headed out. I was at the bus stop to leave the expo by 10:15.
An hour later, I was on the skyliner and headed for Epcot. I had an early afternoon LL for Guardians, but other than that, I was just going to walk around and enjoy the Flower & Garden topiaries. I grabbed a hot dog in America for lunch and then went in to listen to the Voices of Liberty and then watch The American Experience because I’ve missed it the last couple times I’ve visited and I’m a sucker for it (and Hall of Presidents)
After wandering around World Showcase, it was time to head to Guardians. I love this ride! But I always need a snack or a drink afterward, so I got an ice cream sandwich. I was going to eat it on a bench, but I felt a couple tiny drops of rain, and didn’t want to have to clean my glasses, so I went into the cafe. I felt a like an absolute genius when it started POURING a little while later. I had a poncho in my purse, but I really didn’t want to deal with wet shoes, so I hung out in the cafe for a bit, then crossed over to the shop and wasted some time in there. Finally, it stopped raining! I checked the app, and it didn’t say anything about the skyliner being closed for weather, so I headed toward the IG. Of course, once I made it all the way there, there was a sign that the skyliner was closed!
I headed for the station anyway because I know they usually get people where they need to go and I didn’t want to walk all the way back to the front of Epcot for a bus (I would’ve just headed there to begin with if the app had told me the skyliner was down) It took forever for them to get everyone bused out of there and I was very annoyed, but at least I was under cover when it rained again. Finally, I got a bus back to my resort and made it to my room.
But then I had to walk all the way back to the main building to complain to someone that housekeeping had invaded my room against my wishes and moved a bunch of my stuff!! I checked the phone, but there was no button to call the front desk or anything, and I wanted to make sure that my “no housekeeping” preference was definitely noted. They felt bad, and later I got a call from the building manager explaining that the housekeeping system and the preferences systems hadn’t been speaking to each other that day (not exactly the words he used) and he told me to keep my “room occupied” sign on my door all the time (which caused its own problem, but that’s a story for another day) to prevent further intrusions.
I spent some time relaxing, setting out my 5K clothes, and putting together my sash of core memories before I settled in for bed. I actually managed 6 hours of sleep. I figured out that if I played an audiobook (Neil Gaiman reading his Norse Mythology) at low volume, it worked to kind of drown out the screeching children at the pool. This is now my new bedtime routine, because it also gives that part of my brain that wants to focus on stupid stuff instead of sleep something to latch onto, without being something that will keep me awake. I doubt this would work with any other narrator, but I know that Neil’s voice knocks me out (I once nodded off on a plane because I was listening to him, and I don’t sleep on planes—EVER)
) because they’re great practice for the entrance ramp into Epcot.
