Spring Break 2018! Let's go get some pics for insta! Finished 6/29

[Cloe Colton]

Hello!

This is my first ever trip report!

This is a bit late but I decided to write up a trip report about my Spring Break trip to Walt Disney World!

To introduce myself my name is Cloe



Favorite Character(s): Cinderella and Rapunzel
Favorite Park: Magic Kingdom by default but EPCOT and Animal Kingdom are in a close tie for second!
Favorite Rides in each park (because I can't just pick one!): MK - Space Mtn, HS - TOT, AK - FOP and EPCOT - TT
Favorite Restaurant - Via Napoli

and on this trip I will be traveling with my sister, Calista


Favorite Character: Tinkerbell
Favorite Park: Animal Kingdom
Favorite Ride: Dinosaur
Favorite Restaurant - Not a table service restaurant but her favorite place to eat is Sunshine Seasons

And our beautiful Mom, Pat!



Favorite Character: Sleeping Beauty
Favorite Park: EPCOT
Favorite Ride: TOT
Favorite Restaurant - Via Napoli

Day 1 Part 1

I have been to Disney World many, many times, basically as much as I can and have gone my whole life. My first trip was at 6 months old and basically went every other year growing up until I had my own money and now it’s more like 2-3 times a year! I just became an AP on my last trip and literally don't know why I waited so long. I don't want to even think of the dollars I could have saved the last few years! I’m the only one in family with an AP though, it didn’t make financial sense for my Mom, Calista or even my DH, Dan to get one. I just knew I’d get use out of mine between this trip and my anniversary trip in July with my DH. I will say though, even if it was cutting close to even the discounts alone on the AP would have made it worth it! Plus, we loved having the memory maker (we’ve never had it before), so nice to have quality pictures in that intense Florida sun!

We are all born and raised from a pretty cool place, Niagara Falls, NY. So we get to play tourist from time to time in our own neck of the woods, too. But we face some pretty brutal winters and have a VERY short summer season so Disney and sunshine are always on our minds!

My mom and for the most part, Calista, are always down for a Disney trip. Calista did study abroad last semester so she now thinks she’s uber cultured so she isn’t as into Disney as much as she once was.

I’m not really sure how this trip came about tbh! Lol My mom and I are always plotting Disney trips so I think this was one that just came to fruition!

It wasn’t going to be a super long trip. I had just started a new job in January and wanted to go to Disney. But I also didn’t want to request too much time off right away so we decided a Friday night-Tuesday night trip would be just perfect, where I would only need to request two days off.

So the plan was to take the latest straight through flight out of Buffalo, NY through Southwest. I would work from home on Friday and log off around 3:30, my Mom works in a school and so she would be home by like 3:15 and ready to leave by 3:45 and Calista would have started her spring break with her last class ending on the Thursday before so we would all be ready to go and off to the airport by 4 at the latest! With our flight leaving at 6:25PM this would get us to the airport right under two hours ahead (which is more than enough time at the Buffalo airport, even on the Friday of spring break).

Well, best laid plans don’t always work, right? Calista had decided to join a sorority this semester and there was a presentation she had to attend at 3:00 at her school on the Friday we were leaving as part of her initiation. Her college btw, is about a 20-30 minute drive from our house depending on traffic and the airport is about a 30-40 minute drive in basically the other direction. Great. Now what??

Plan A. She drives herself to school and then meets us at the airport. Nope, no point in paying for two cars at the airport! Plan B. Calista drives home after the meeting and then we leave whenever she gets home. Nope, traffic could be bad and we could end up super late to the airport especially since we had no idea how long her meeting was. Plan C. Find someone other than myself or my Mom to drive Calista to the meeting and then we would pick her up on the way to the airport. BINGO! My brother, Mike, was off from work and was willing to drive her to the meeting.

Would we make our flight to the most magical place on earth? Stay tuned to find out​

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Joining in.

 

[Cloe Colton]

Joining in.

Hello and welcome!

 

[Cloe Colton]

Day 1 Part 2


March 23rd FINALLY arrived and to be completely honest, working was very hard that day! I was just so excited to finish out the day so I could start my vacation! I had said goodbye to my husband, Dan, before he left for work at 10:00AM and cuddled my sweet pug, Joy, while I finished up the work I needed to complete. (And maybe took a couple of cute pictures of her in old Mickey ears of mine to post while I was away because she too has her own Instagram! - joybabythepug)




At 3:30PM I happily logged off and made sure I had everything I needed packed and was ready to go by the door! Even had time for a quick pic!



My Mom rolled up at 3:45PM and we were ready to go pick up Calista! Up until the meeting, Calista had tried to find out if it was ACTUALLY mandatory and tried her best to get excuse from it. But no one would give her a straight answer and it wasn’t worth missing the meeting if it meant she wouldn’t be allowed to join her sorority. Come to find out, half of the new sorority and fraternity candidates who were supposed to be there didn’t show up (I knew it probably wasn’t make or break) and the meeting was only a little under a half hour. In the end, everything worked out and honestly, I think we would rather her to wait on us for 15-20 minutes than the other way around. If she had been home we probably would have been late to leave the house anyway! (You’ll see a pattern of slowness with her lol) And not only did her meeting end early but on our way to pick her up I received a text alert that our SW flight had been delayed to 6:55PM. So we had even more wiggle room. But had we not planned for the worst I think we would have been really strapped for time and could have missed our flight or would have been really stressed getting there, which no one ever wants to happen! That’s just no way to start a vacay!



So we made it to the airport and through security without any issues. We sent my Dad a “we made it to the airport without any problems” picture just so he knew we were all set in regards to Calista while waiting in line for security.



Once through security it was photo shoot time, obviously! One thing I should have mentioned about myself and Calista is that we live for good Disney and trip photos and those start even in the airport! And when the lighting is on point, even better!





The photoshoot was supposed to include cute pictures of Calista with cute Donald Duck ears that I had made her to match her shirt but my Mom had packed them in her checked luggage so that wasn’t going to happen. But you will see the ears later!

With our flight being delayed we had some time to grab something to eat in the airport. I went for chicken fingers, Calista got a quesadilla and my Mom got a turkey sandwich that had cranberry aioli on it. She hated it lol but me and Calista enjoyed our meals and there was enough food between the two of ours to share with my Mom so she wouldn’t be hungry. (Cranberry aioli must be the new and popular thing because we saw it a couple of times throughout our trip and always made sure my Mom DID NOT get anything that had it on it!)

Quick selfie before our flight!



Our flight was uneventful. I did run into my neighbors while waiting in line to board the flight which was fun to hear their vacation plans. We actually knew a lot of the people on our flight because the school district my Mom works in was starting their Spring Break and if you know weather in the Buffalo area, you know that most people around here escape as soon as they can! Lol

We landed in Orlando and my very favorite thing as soon as I step off of the plane is to smell the air (even just the airport air lol). It has such a distinct Florida smell and as soon I smell it I know I am home!

We hopped on the fake-o-rail to start our vacation!




You'll notice in the second picture my Mom had already had us stop in the airport gift shop to buy a pair of readers and a diet coke (our family's version of a caffeine boost!)!

On a past trip I tried to save some time in the airport by sending my Mom to get the rental car process going while Calista and I wrangled the luggage. Boy was that a mistake! My Mom isn’t the greatest with directions and managed to find herself not at the counter in the airport but the one in the garage. When my sister and I had grabbed all the luggage and made our way to the counter IN the airport that my Mom should have been at, we couldn’t find her. To top it all off, when we were calling her to figure out where she was her phone kept dropping our calls because she was in a parking garage! We eventually found her and were able to complete the process from the garage kiosk (thank goodness because the line IN the airport was already like seven families deep). But after that incident, we now all stick together and get the luggage first and THEN go get the rental car. We probably lose a few minutes by not splitting up but it’s better than losing your Mom!

Side note: I know most people opt for the magical express. My family has always rented a car since we started going and love the convenience of just hopping in the car when you are ready and heading to a park! (except MK, thats the only park having a car is the least desirable!) And I have tried it on trips with DH in the past (when he and I were too young to rent a car on our own) and neither of us were fans. On one trip he and I sat on a couch in Port Orleans Riverside while I called my Mom trying to figure out where we should go to eat (we could really go anywhere because it was January and dead and freezing!) and because neither of us were in the mood to take the bus to the monorail to walk somewhere we ended up in the food court of the hotel eating chicken fingers. Maybe now with the parking fees and the availability of ubers we may consider it going forward but for now we are sticking with our own car! haha

Thankfully the line for EZ Rental Car was short this night and we only waited maybe five minutes total before we were off to the garage to get our car and get on our way! From time of landing at 9:30PM to the time we got the rental car at 10:30, I would say an hour is about our usual time frame when landing. Not too bad! Off to the Boardwalk for a late night snack!

​

 

[Cloe Colton]

Day 1 Part 3

Where did I leave off? Oh yeah, we were off to the Boardwalk!




Our first stop after a late flight is always the Boardwalk for the Pizza window! With a few fun pics along the way!






The Boardwalk lobby is so pretty! (Peep my Mom trying to get into the selfie she was in it and then moved at the last second and this is what we ended up with!)

We found the Pizza Window at the Boardwalk on one of our weekend trips for the last season of the Osbourne Family lights (so thankful I saw it at least once!) When we took the boat back from Hollywood Studios to the Boardwalk we realized we were starving and it was like 11:45PM! By the time we would have gotten back to our resort the food court would have been closed and we would have been sunk! Thankfully, the Pizza Window at the Boardwalk is open until midnight, so now when we fly in late we know we can always rely on it!

It was a little chilly this night but we all had light jackets to thow on and since we were in Disney we didn’t really care what temperature it was!

I unfortunately don't have any pictures of the pizza we ordered but just know it was delicious! We usually get pizza pie because it’s cheaper as long as you are ordering for more than two people and it's usually fresher!

After our yummy pizza snack, we had to get some pictures of Calista with the Donald Duck ears I made her. It actually worked out much better that my mom had packed them at the airport because the Boardwalk made a much cuter backdrop!




Some nice gentlemen who were clearly a few drinks in offered to take a photo of the three of us



We took a few more photos and then were off to our resort, Pop Century!





I had booked our trip prior to the 3/21 parking deadline so we were grandfathered in from not paying parking charges. However, I think this parking fee change may have affected the process of us getting into Pop or the guard was just oblivious. He couldn’t find my name on his list of reservations and kept trying to look it up even though I had handed my Mom a magic band for him to scan from the beginning (once he scanned the band we had no problems). Eventually he scanned the band and we were on our way but for how late it was we were pretty frustrated that we had any sort of hold up to begin with.

I had received the room ready text at 2:40PM before we’d even left for the airport. I just love online check-in, ESPECIALLY for late night arrivals when you just want to get to your room! We were in the 60’s building, room 5256 which was a newly renovated room! I had only requested to be in the 60’s building so I was so excited to get a new room! I honestly didn't even know what buildings had been renovated at the time and thought only the 70s building was so it was a great surprise! From what I could gather, the rooms in our building had only been finished like a month prior so they were really, REALLY new!

I know some people aren’t a fan of the reno’s but we loved it. I will be honest I didn’t know what the new rooms looked like and at first glance thought they’d given us a room with one bed! Lol Took me a minute to figure out that there was a murphy bed that pulled down into a second bed. I blame it on the late night! Haha





A picture of all of the ears I made for Calista and I for this trip! (I'll explain why so many later!)

The only thing I didn’t like about the reno was that if you are laying in the murphy bed with your head on a pillow you can’t see the faces of who is in the other bed. And me, my Mom and Calista like to talk before bed while watching TV which meant I had to scoot down the bed a bit to be able to see them. Other than that though I’d say the room was A++!

What are we up to tomorrow?!

Total miles walked - 2.4
​

 

[Cloe Colton]

March 24th, 2018
Day 2 Part 1

One very important thing to note about us is that we are definitely not early risers! We like to get ready for the day and then head out to the parks for a late breakfast/lunch. Everyone does Disney differently and I think I’ve only rope dropped once in my life! It was for the opening weekend of Pandora last year for the second day to ride Navi River Journey without a fastpass and that will probably be it! Lol We've been to Disney so many times that we would rather sleep in a bit than deal with the getting up super early to ride something we've ridden many times before. (I know we are not the Disney norm and I'm not saying any way is wrong or right...just that our way is the way that works best for us! ) I definitely take this fact into consideration when making reservations for us or booking fastpasses. It would be pointless for me to try and book them early only for us to miss them.

We got up around 9AM and each took our turns showering and getting ready. Usually I get up first and am ready first, Calista usually takes a while so we are normally waiting on her and my Mom always falls somewhere in between. But hey, it’s vacation! Theoretically, Calista should be the first to get up and shower first since she takes the longest but she’s also not a morning person…so what can you do! On this morning we only had our late breakfast reservation to get to so there was time.




Side note: I am the one who plans and books everything and I LOVE doing it. But that also makes me the keeper of times and keeping us on schedule which can turn into me being “bossy” (according to others ) but then when I let a FP go or let us be late to something my Mom and sister will get mad or upset that I missed something lol there's just no winning there! Anyone else feel this way?

On our way out of Pop this morning we had to get some good pics to post on Instagram to celebrate the start of our trip! Plus, I was LOVING my outfit. Rapunzel inspired ears made by me, romper from Francesca’s, Cinderella purse from Danielle Nicole, sandals from Aldo (do not wear these for park wear – they are not feet friendly!) and my millennial pink magic band, yasss!







Anyway, we all were ready to go to our breakfast, any ideas where we were off to??



Bon Voyage Breakfast! From the moment I heard about this breakfast I was desperate to go! Rapunzel is one of my very favorite Disney characters and my Mom always says DH Dan reminds her of Flynn. I was more excited to meet Flynn than any of them! Ariel and Prince Eric were a great perk as well! On top of everything else, my DH and I’s first dance song at our wedding was to I See the Light from Tangled so it was so special to finally do this breakfast. (Even without Dan, he’s not much for character interactions, no imagination Clearly he needs a trip to see Figment!)

Our breakfast was scheduled for 11:25am and we got there a few minutes early, checked in and then waited probably 15-20 minutes before we were seated. Which for us, wasn’t a big deal but I could see if you had fidgety kids or FP’s to get to, this wait might be a little aggravating.

I got married July of last year and waited a few months before I changed my last name (like December , we had so many trips planned after the wedding that I was afraid to change my last name and not have any identification to show who I was!). I was lazy after officially changing my name and waited a few more months before changing my last name on my Disney account. Which happened AFTER I had already booked quite a few things. It became very annoying trying to figure out which name each dining reservation was under since it varied from restaurant to restaurant! (Apparently the system doesn't just change everything to your new last name, whatever your name on the account is at the time of booking is what it gets booked under, OYE!) I'm surprised none of the castmembers ever commented that I would say one last name and then another right after if they didn't find a reservation but no one ever questioned it, so I must not be the only one!

Since we had to wait a few minutes for our reservation we took the extra time to use the restroom. For Bon Voyage you use the bathroom that is located in Abracadabar which is attached and so we took some fun pictures in there. I had yet to go there so it was cool to see what it looked like. It was much smaller than I imagined.





Finally, our name was called and we were seated at a booth next to the dishes cabinet which was a nice spot. I have seen some tables where the lighting was bad for photos so I was happy to be seated where we were.

First out were the fun pastries that they bring to each table. My Mom, who apparently is new around here, went straight for the Tangled Sun pastry before I’d even taken a photo! Thankfully, I caught her before she took a bite and was still able to get a photo lol



I ordered the peach Bellini because I was feeling fancy and it was delicious! I would highly recommend!



First out was Flynn Ryder, and boy he was handsome! We took some fun pictures and I had to get a picture doing the smolder!




Next out was Rapunzel who complemented the three of us on our long, blonde hair. She was super sweet and so much fun!



Prince Eric was the next to arrive. The hair, phew. Lol I feel like Disney could do better with that lol.


Overall, he was super sweet and every time he’d walk by my Mom he would specifically say hi to her which made her day.



Mom showing us a video of him walking by her and saying hello to her! haha

Lastly was Ariel! She was super bubbly and so fun!




I will say, I wish each character had their own character attendant to take group photos. You spend enough money that it shouldn’t be a hassle to grab a waiter or someone else who is more than likely busy to take a quick photo. Not that any cast member ever acts annoyed, I just feel bad asking (but still do lol).

Prior to the trip I had stressed about getting the 10% discount with my new annual pass for this breakfast. Since I wouldn’t be activating it until we got to the park that day I figured we would be out of luck in getting the discount for the breakfast. And it really wasn’t worth going out of our way for me to go to guest services beforehand to get the card (I had offered to walk over to the EPCOT's International Gateway but my Mom said not to bother). But to my surprise, when the waiter scanned my magic band at breakfast to pay, it registered that I did in fact have an AP and automatically applied the 10%! It was such a welcome surprise, and made me even more glad I didn’t jump through any unnecessary hoops!

After lunch we took a couple of quick photos on the boardwalk before heading to Hollywood Studios!



Would Spring Break crowds be as bad we remembered?

​

 

[winnieofpooh]

Following!! I love all the pictures, and Rapunzel is my favorite character too!!

 

[Cloe Colton]

Following!! I love all the pictures, and Rapunzel is my favorite character too!!

Welcome!

She's definitely the best!

 

[Cloe Colton]

Day 2 Part 2

When I was younger Spring Break was always our go to time for Disney trips as it still is for many families. Makes sense, you’re sick of winter, everyone is off of school, Disney is magical, why not go to Disney?! Well the last time we went on Spring Break was 2009 and we swore never again because the crowds were so bad. Two hour waits for Haunted Mansion and Jungle Cruise, wall to wall people, no thanks! Granted this was before fastpass+ so it didn’t help that you couldn’t get fastpass return times until the end of the day (if you were late risers like my family) and then everything else had a long wait. Now at least, I can plan it so we at least have some short waits even if there are crazy crowds! Also, the last three years in my previous job as an accountant, we weren’t allowed to take vacations January-Mid April so that made it impossible to go over Spring Break anyway!

To our surprise Hollywood Studios wasn’t busy AT ALL on this Saturday. (The whole trip wouldn’t be this way but at least we have one low crowd day!)

When we got to the park first thing I had to do was activate my annual pass, except outside the park they had a whole stand of the rose gold ears which were on my souvenir list of things I definitely wanted! I asked the cast member if the system would recognize the annual pass for the AP discount since it had at breakfast but she said it wouldn’t. So I had her hold the ears while I actived my AP which was super easy and convenient! I quickly bought me and Calista a pair of the ears and we were on our way in!

First things first, I had to get a photo with my first ever AP!




Once I got a good photo we headed into the park. I have to say I really miss the hat! The Chinese theater, while cool, just isn’t as much of a landmark as the hat was. But alas, we still stopped for some pp photos and tried out the new memory maker feature for the first time!




You can really see the difference and value in the memory maker when you compare their photos to my own cameras photos!




For some reason I was thinking that our first FP for RNR didn’t start until 1:50 so we were slowly making our way over, taking as many photos as we wanted. It wasn’t until we hit Hollywood Blvd that I realized our first FP ENDED at 1:50 that I began to scurry us along lol I knew we had the 15-minute grace period but I don’t like to rely on that! Based on the time stamp on my photo of us walking in line we made it by 1:44.




Side note: I love RNR but I will always FP it now. One of our past trips before TSMM had the additional track I had picked that as our FP over RNR. Well, I tend to get lightheaded in heat and there is almost NO wind or airflow in the RNR line. I got to the point where I thought I was going to pass out and couldn’t even muster the strength to walk out of line. Thankfully, my mom had leftover cinnamon glazed pecans in her bag to give me enough sugar to get through the rest of the line. That combined with the adrenaline on the ride I was fine. But after that, I will never take the chance again and always FP it! Even on this trip I worried about making this choice since I knew they were closing a TSMM track but I figured it would all work out!

It actually worked out that we were at the end of the FP timeframe (I guess I’m a better planner than I even know! Lol) because as soon as we got off the ride it was time for our Tower of Terror FP!

We stopped to take a few pictures in the FP queue. I wanted to get a nice picture of my Mom in the ears I had made her. Can you tell I love portrait mode? Lol Makes me feel like I know how to take pictures lol






Can you tell the difference between the nice photos I got of my mom and Calista with the pretty flowers behind them and the interesting photos she took of me? We got a good laugh out of that! Maybe I do know what I’m doing lol I've basically resigned myself to the fact that I'll usually snap some pretty instagram worthy shots for Calista and I just get what I get haha! Sometimes I get a good one!

TOT selfie!



Dropping in?



Our next FP wasn’t until 3:25 for Star Tours so we decided to take a walk over to TSMM to see what the wait was of course stopping for some pp along the way!




At that point during the day the wait was just about two hours. I talked to a CM and asked if the waits dropped toward park closing and he said they were usually around 45 minutes then. We were coming back for a late dinner so we agreed 45 minutes was much more manageable than 120!

Our walk over wasn’t for nothing though! The Toy Story Army men were lined up for photos so we got some fun photos with them!





And since we were over there I suggested taking a walk through Walt Disney Presents. I mostly wanted to see if Starlord and baby Groot M&G had any wait and there was literally no one waiting to meet them. My Mom and Calista have never seen Guardians of the Galaxy so they were a little lost but I have (I actually saw the first one on my birthday one year with DH), so it was fun for me! I’m so mad though, I took a selfie with baby Groot and for some reason my phone never took it? Or it did and didn’t save it? So I was super bummed about that because I didn’t realize until after we’d left that I had some weird technology glitch.




I will say though, up until this point I had stopped asking CMs to take additional pictures on my phone and to just use their own cameras. It wasn’t until this photopass where I realized that not all of their photos turn out great. And since it isn’t an instantaneous upload (its quick, but not that quick) you usually don’t know that they came out bad until the moment is gone. I know in the grand scheme of things one picture not making the cut isn’t the end of the world, but I have a TERRIBLE memory and photos help me remember what I did so I like having them. After this happened, I tried to make sure that I at least had them snap a few on my Iphone 8+. The quality wouldn’t be as great as their cameras but it would be better than a photo completely blackened by a bad flash.

Untitled by Cloe LeGault, on Flickr

Even with our M&G's we still had PLENTY of time to kill. I think with the lack of rides in Hollywood Studios and the fact that I’m sure a lot of people were still traveling in for Spring Break we were getting through everything super quick!

We decided to go watch Voyage of the Little Mermaid. It’s not my favorite, I feel like the screens and quality of video could be updated but it’s still fun to watch and I enjoy that it isn’t a super long show. The last time my mom and I tried to watch this was during my sister’s cheer summit trip while she rode RNR with some of her friends. We thought she’d be at least 30 minutes to an hour so we thought the Voyage of the Little Mermaid would be a good time killer but during the show she was texting me asking me where we were because they had done single rider and gotten through the line in about 15 minutes and sounded like something was wrong so I didn’t get to fully enjoy the show (BTW she was fine lol) so it was nice to watch it this time without any distractions.

After Voyage of the Little Mermaid we still had about fifteen minutes to kill (I swear this problem has never happened to us in any Disney park! It was weird to have time to kill lol) so I suggested heading in the direction of Star Tours and we could stop if we saw anything fun. Well we walked past the Olaf M&G and ironically the wait was posted at 15 minutes, so it was perfect! We all love Frozen and thought it sounded fun to meet Olaf. In fact, one Halloween I dressed as Elsa, Calista dressed as Anna and my Mom dressed as Olaf.




The Olaf line was actually more like 5 minutes so it was even better! He was so fun to meet!






If you’re keeping time here we were still about ten minutes early for our FP lol so we took a restroom break and then used the 5 minutes leeway to scan in early. My Mom always sits Star Tours out since it makes her sick so it would just a galaxy tour for the two of us!



Since our trip was going to be a short one we decided that today would probably be the only day we could give ourselves a midday break so we decided to head back to Pop for some pool and sun time! With a quick Starbucks drink and snack on the way out.



Side note - Taking a picture with our starbucks in Disney is one of our traditions (has to be with a filter on snap - Mom's request!). We started when we came on our trip to see the Osborne Lights for their last season. That trip was very last minute and was such a gift and was just completely unexpected. We were so excited to be in Disney on that trip that even getting a Starbucks drink was exciting! And we've done it ever since! That trip actually started a lot of our mother-daughter trip traditions - getting pizza at the boardwalk, Starbucks selfies and videoing our ride on Test Track!

We each got Venti Very Berry Hibiscus and me and my Mom shared the cheese Danish. So delicious! Why does Starbucks always taste better in Disney?? ​

 

[Cloe Colton]

DAY 2 Part 3



Back to the resort! We were all so happy to get a mid day break in this day. Just to lay by the pool and feel the warmth of the sun for a little bit was just pure paradise!

We stopped on our way down to take a pic of our footwear



Ah relaxation!



We never used to take mid-day breaks in Disney. We always were go, go, go! We started doing them on our last trip in May 2017 for my bachelorette when it was 95 degrees each day! It’s so nice just to regroup and relax for a minute before going out for the night!

We spent about an hour at the pool before heading up to the room to shower and get ready for the evening back at Hollywood Studios!



We were back out the door around 7:10PM. The sun was setting as we got to HS and it made for such a beautiful night!







We stopped for some photos again in front of the Chinese Theater



My original plan was to hit up TSMM as soon as we got there but realized if there was any sort of line we would miss out on riding anything else before the park closed at 9. So we went for TOT first before heading to TSMM. There was a sweet little girl in front of us whose Dad explained every part of the ride while it was happening which actually made for a hysterical ride!



After TOT we made our way over to TSMM and waited maybe 20 minutes for the ride? We were so happy we didn’t wait during the day! I got my personal best score of 206,200 so I was pretty happy!




We got off of TSMM around 8:55 which was perfect timing for our 9:05 Sci Fi Reservation! Calista had been dying to go here so it was one of the first reservations I made for this trip. I originally had booked one for around 8 but figured it was silly to waste ride time if we were already doing a late dinner!



I thought the atmosphere at Sci Fi was cool. We still have a drive in around us so I don’t know if it was as cool for us as it might be for others who don’t have one? It also felt weird that my Mom had to sit in the row behind us, we talked to her as much as we could but it still felt weird. We split the spinach dip (which apparently isn’t on the menu anymore?) which I thought was okay. It had a bit of a weird flavor and not what I was expecting. And for dinner I had the Classic American Burger. Again, it was just okay. Overall, I don’t think I’d race back here unless someone else wanted to go. In fact, I had originally had it booked for my anniversary trip with DH and changed it because it just wasn’t worth doing again for me. But to each their own! It was still a fun experience





It was cool to walk out with no one else in the park. Overall we had a great day at HS! Where to next?!

Total miles 6.4​

 

[ShyMiss]

Please share: how did you get such bright pictures at Sci Fi? Ours are always terribly dark. Yours are awesome!

 

[Cloe Colton]

Please share: how did you get such bright pictures at Sci Fi? Ours are always terribly dark. Yours are awesome!

For the ones of us in the car I did use the flash on my phone - others around us were using flash for theirs so I did too haha and then I actually used the lightroom app to brighten them!



This is how they looked before editing. Its amazing how much editing can help!

For the one of the room I actually didnt have to edit at all, I just made sure to focus the screen before I took the photo. I have the iphone 8+ which I think does pretty well in low light compared to older versions!

 

[Cloe Colton]

Day 3 Part 1

EPCOT DAY! I was so looking forward to EPCOT to see the Flower and Garden festival again and to try out some fun foods and drinks!

Of course Calista was taking a while to get ready again this morning while me and my Mom were all ready to go. While we were waiting I was having fun and showed my Mom a pair of socks I brought from WonderlandSupplyCo (friend of mine’s Etsy shop) and she was like “omg, they are so cute, you need to wear them today!” Unfortunately, the only shoes I had brought with me that they would work with were my fuzzy pink slides (I'm extra but not that extra!)



So instead I decided to do a photo shoot with them at Pop! while Calista finished getting ready so I could at least post a photo and support my friend!

We took some really fun photos and boomerangs but my favorites ended up being with the large Playdoh!





Once we finished the photo shoot and got back to the room Calista was ready to go! Off to EPCOT!

When we were walking from the car to the tram it was the first time this trip I realized how much different the weather truly is in March compared to May or July when we’ve gone the past couple of times. You felt like you could actually breath while you were walking and you weren’t immediately drenched in sweat!



This was our first real day of Spring Break crowds. The masses around the entrance topiaries were insane. It was so hard to get a photo but we did our best!




One of my favorite things I had bought for this trip was my beaded flower backpack from ALDO. It literally screamed Flower and Garden to me when I saw it and just had to have it! Plus, the colors matched my shirt!





We got to the park around 11:40 and our first FP for Spaceship Earth was 11:55 so by the time we got all of our photos it was time to ride! I always try to aim for the time we will get to EPCOT for this FP because I hate backtracking if I don’t have to. Of course after SE we had to get some photos at the Bubblegum wall!




After SE it was time for lunch. All three of us live for the Turkey, Monterey Jack and aioli on Ciabatta sandwich from Sunshine Seasons. So we always skip a late breakfast knowing we will eat here pretty much first thing. I think they may have changed the sandwich recently but they still had the old option available as well so we were able

After lunch, it was time for Soarin. Which surprisingly only had a 30-minute wait standby! We were hoping that this would be a sign of the crowds for the rest of the weekend, it wasn’t! lol

My Mom absolutely loves Soarin. I do too, but I can’t stand how the side cars get a warped view. The last version didn’t so why does this one have to? But it’s still overall a fun ride! My favorite is the scene over Polynesia. My favorite smell!

After Soarin the plan was to use our Living with the Land FP. We tapped in and got all the way to the boarding area and it broke down. We waited about five or ten minutes but decided it was probably best just to leave. We’ve ridden it so many times and would rather not get stuck on it. So it was time to leave The Land! We stopped for a few photos on our way out.




Time for a Starbucks break!



We decided to take a walk through the butterfly garden and take some pictures with the flowers!





And some more photos








And off to our next FP, test track! For some reason in the car making room they separated the three of us into two car making spots so Calista made a car and me and my Mom made our own. I love the end of Test Track but I do miss the old version. It felt like more happened at least. Especially in the efficiency section, what a jip! Lol



Mission Space was up next! When Mission Space first opened up a million years ago I had done the intense version but one trip it started making me feel so sick. So now I stick to green like a wimp lol I would love to see what the new Orange side is like but it’s not worth it to me to deal with how I’ll feel after. I think the new green side is fun, kinda like soarin… but from space?



After Mission Space we stopped for a refreshment and Mickey Bar break. Best Disney snack if you ask me!





Now let's go travel the World!​

 

[disneyAndi14]

Joining in, wow you all look so cute in all the pictures!

We really liked the Bon Voyage breakfast as well

Love your ears and backpack. Andi and I get some every trip pictures like you and your mom!

Sci-fi is one of my favorites, mostly for the relaxing vibe and corny movies on the screen.

I totally agree about Soarin, it stinks if you aren’t in concourse B and TT before the redo was better, I liked being a crash dummy, lol!

Was the POP okay? We will be there in August for 4 nights, the rooms look nice refurbished!

 

[Cloe Colton]

Joining in, wow you all look so cute in all the pictures!

We really liked the Bon Voyage breakfast as well

Love your ears and backpack. Andi and I get some every trip pictures like you and your mom!

Sci-fi is one of my favorites, mostly for the relaxing vibe and corny movies on the screen.

I totally agree about Soarin, it stinks if you aren’t in concourse B and TT before the redo was better, I liked being a crash dummy, lol!

Was the POP okay? We will be there in August for 4 nights, the rooms look nice refurbished!

Thank you!

Yeah the Bon Voyage breakfast was so fun! I like that it's not in a park too so if you want that princess experience you can get it without going into a park.

Yeah it's so fun to have those mother-daughter traditions!

Sci-fi was fun, I would definitely go back especially if my sister wanted to! I just felt bad my Mom was stuck behind us haha

Yeah I feel like enough people complain about the warping on Soarin they could do something to fix it!

And Pop is great! We stay there a lot since we don't spend a lot of time at the resort but love the Disney feel. I think youll love it!

 

[Eunice D Scott]

Love all of the photos.

Off topic, but where did you get the adorable pink lace jumper. My daughter would love that.

 

[Cloe Colton]

Love all of the photos.

Off topic, but where did you get the adorable pink lace jumper. My daughter would love that.

Thank you!

The pink romper was from Francescas! It was super comfortable and the bottom was a little longer than most romper which I really liked!

 

[DLo]

Just found your report so joining in a little late. So far looks like a fun trip

 

[Cloe Colton]

Just found your report so joining in a little late. So far looks like a fun trip

Welcome!

We had a great time!

 

[Cloe Colton]

Day 3 Part 2

It was time to hit up the World Showcase after our Mickey bar break! Of course after stopping for a photopass with the butterfly topiary. My Mom’s mom passed away just before I was born 27 years ago (actually 27 years ago from yesterday). My whole life every time we’ve seen a butterfly my Mom always says it’s her mom with us so butterflies have such a special meaning to us. Which I think is partially why we do love F&G so much!


I actually had a butterfly brooch on my wedding bouquet and my Aunt actually just gave me a mint tin with butterfly artwork on it this weekend. So we are big butterfly people!




First stop, violet lemonade! I’ll be honest, my main motivation for trying this was for the photo op. But I did think it was super refreshing! Very sweet. My Mom and Calista didn’t love theirs. But we still got photos!
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I love the topiaries at F&G, I wish they were up all year! One of my favorites was Eeyore with Piglet on his back. We always call my parents dog Mila, Eeyore because she acts like she’s sad all the time and my dog Joy, who is a pug, makes little snorting sounds like a pig all the time so I call her Piglet. My parents other dog, Milo, we call Stitch because he can be a little crazy haha but I think I missed finding the Stitch topiary!



Next stop was France! I tried the La Vie En Rose slushy last year and was ready to get it again! This time my Mom was ready to party and got one of her own! It was pretty strong! But still refreshing and delish!




We took a few minutes to enjoy our drinks, people watch, and rest on a bench before we moved on to our next country. It’s always nice to take a minute and smell the (la vie en) roses when you are in Disney!






Next up was the Florida Fresh booth, I had the watermelon cucumber gin slushy on my mind! This was my absolute favorite F&G treat. It was SO refreshing. I do wish the size was bigger but it was still so good!




Again we took a minute to relax at some of the tables over by the booth and enjoy our drinks. Normally we are very much always moving when it comes to the World Showcase so it was nice to take a minute and relax.

Close up of my backpack



Off to Germany! Even though we had dinner reservations for Via Napoli I still wanted to try the toasted pretzel bread topped with black forest ham and melted gruyere cheese at the Bauernmarkt.



We originally only bought one because we thought it might spoil our dinner a bit but it was so good and so perfectly sized we got a second one! While we ate I took some pictures of the Snow White Topiaries




At this point it was only 6PM and our dinner reservation wasn’t until 7PM. So I suggested taking a walk over to Norway and hopping in the Frozen Ever After line if it didn’t seem too long. We only waited about thirty minutes before we were hanging with Elsa and friends. I love this ride, I think its super cute and just a fun addition to WS.

We are usually a little wary about riding it though since the first time my Mom and Calista rode it we were seated in a boat with another family (they had the first like three rows and we had the last) and they thought it was funny to put their hands in the water and splash everyone (which shocked me because theme park rule number one is keep arm, hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times!). We told them to stop repeatedly and then they were mad that we were mad so the one girl decided to make threats toward me and Calista the remainder of the ride. When we got off I politely explained what happened to the CM and they allowed us to ride it again but we were so annoyed and frazzled that we didn’t even enjoy it as much as we should have the second time through. So we are always a little on edge with this ride and we usually try to ask for the first row so if someone rude was behind us we would hopefully be out of their splash zone! We had a great time on FEA this time though!



Side note: Before the frozen incident happened, I never even paid attention to see if we were going to be seated with a whole family where we would be the only ones not in their group in their car. Now I do. And I have no problem asking to be put into the next car. I get it, you are all together and think you’re having fun but its inconsiderate to those who aren’t in your family to ruin their ride. End rant.

After FEA, I took a few pictures with the Anna and Elsa topiaries while my Mom called my Dad and told him what we were up to.




It was time for dinner! I was actually surprised we had made it through Frozen and still had plenty of time to make our way back to Italy for dinner. Even with a quick pit stop in the China Pavilion booths for my Mom to look. She likes to buy what I think are kimonos but she wears more as a cardigan, and she usually picks up a couple of the fans for her coworkers because the school they work in isn’t air conditioned. And of course me and Calista played a bit with the marionettes!



If I had to pick a favorite restaurant in all of Disney, I think it would be Via Napoli. I think for the price of the pizza, the atmosphere, the location, the cast members and the food the price is so worth it! I only found out about this place after seeing it featured on a Disney instagrammers account, he had taken nice photographs of the ovens and given it a rave review and so I had to try it out. That was probably two or three years ago now and we always make it a point to come here every trip. We always start with two orders of arancini so we each get our own and then split the fourth and then a large Margherita pizza. The slices are so thin that we usually can eat almost the whole pie. Its vacation right? Haha (Sorry no pic of the pizza, we inhaled it too quickly lol)






After dinner we decided to do one last ride on Test Track before leaving the park. I don’t know what it is but rides at night just seem faster to me!

So earlier in the day when we’d first gotten to EPCOT, Calista was unsure whether she liked her outfit or not and hated every picture we took of her in it. I thought it was adorable and she got at least three or four compliments on it! But when Calista thinks her outfit is not cute she gets a tad mopey and cranky. This is the second time it’s happened while we were at EPCOT so when we got in line for Test Track my Mom and I joked with Calista that we weren’t going to come to EPCOT with her anymore because it was too stressful to get a picture that she liked enough to post. Clearly we weren’t serious but Calista was mad we said anything so she was again a bit cranky on our TT ride.



Her trying to look like she isnt having fun

It was time to go once we got off of TT so we made our way out of the park.

I love this view on the way out. The colors are so pretty!



We got back to Pop and I received an update from the hubby about our pup, Joy!



We did a little souvenir shopping in the Pop store and then grabbed a snack from the food court. We weren’t super hungry but wanted something to snack on. The lines for all of the food stations were super long so we all opted for something we could grab from the coolers. I got an M&M cookie, Calista got a brownie and my Mom got what she thought was a brownie but was like a bran muffin but the snacks certainly hit the spot!

Overall it was such a fun day at EPCOT!

Total miles 7

Tomorrow - Magic Kingdom!!

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