Quick Disney Trip Report, Day 1

For Spring Break, we decided to take a few days off before the actual vacation to head to Walt Disney World and beat the crowds. It kind of worked, but stay tuned for details ...

Cast of Characters = me, TK (husband), Jax (9), and Addie (6)

Setting = Walt Disney World with a reservation at Gran Destino for March 9 - 12, 2022 

Day 1

Adventure = Animal Kingdom, Disney Springs, Beach Club Resort

We woke up so early (5:30 a.m.) to get to Animal Kingdom by 6:45 a.m. because the park opened at 7 a.m. for resort guests and we had our reservation set for Gran Destino at Coronado Springs. We headed in the parking lot and were not able to park close to the entrance because cast members started directing us toward the middle. We ended up in Unicorn Q, so Addie called herself the Unicorn Queen for the duration of time it took us to walk to security. 

When we entered the park, we headed straight to Kilimanjaro Safari, but it did not open until 7:45 a.m., so we made a loop and headed back to pick up breakfast at Creature Comforts which is Animal Kingdom's Starbucks location. It was the emptiest I've ever seen so I made the comment to the barista that I was "Queen of the Starbucks" and she wrote it on my chai latte cup. Of course, I got a chuckle out of that. TK got a caramel latte and I bought a croissant and a chocolate croissant for the kids. We enjoyed our breakfast on line waiting for the Safari to open up. 

We entered the truck at 7:46 a.m. which was truly awesome. We saw a ton of animals and loved it. We learned that a group of giraffes is different when moving vs. standing around. When they are moving, they are a journey, and when they are standing around, they are a tower. Something new! 

Afterward, we walked out of the Safari and right over to Gorilla Falls Trail. We were able to see the animals and talk to cast members without waiting our turn to get close to the glass or fence. 

Then, we headed over to Maharajah Jungle Trek to see the tigers. We enjoyed taking our time to check out the animals and of course, the kids loved every minute. We took a ton of photos throughout the stroll.

After we saw all of the animals, we decided to ride Triceratop Spin because Addie enjoys it. When we rose above Dinoland U.S.A., I could see the barren space where Primevil Whirl used to be. That was a little sad. As we walked toward Discover Island, we had the great luck and pleasure to see a mama duck and her ducklings waddling around before a cast member shooed them into the bushes. 

We were ready to head out at 10:30 a.m. because we saw what we were focused on for the day. We headed over to Disney Springs to get our updated annual pass cards and 50th Anniversary magnets. When we made it through security, I checked into the virtual queue for the magnet and then spoke to the cast member at Guest Relations who sent us over to the Ticket Center. Our spot in line was group 13. I received a text about heading over for the magnets while waiting and then we were called up to the desk within minutes and scooped up our cards. The magnets were available back in Art of Disney and we showed our IDs, got our cards scanned, and received our magnets. Easy peasy! 

After we checked off those two tasks, we walked by Sprinkles to pick up a Cookie Cupcake that was a limited-time offering. I walked right up to the register, used my annual pass discount, and got one cupcake for all of us to share. I need to know what the cupcake tastes like, but I don't need to eat it all myself. 

On our way out, I popped into Ron Jon's Surf Shop to see if there were any rash guards for Jax. He is growing like a weed, so his rash guards all look like Winnie the Pooh shirts. I found one in black and found out that they offer a Florida resident discount (15%) that is more than the annual pass discount (10%). Jax also popped into the Pintraders and purchased a Hondo Ohnaka Funko POP to add to his collection. 

Since it was getting close to lunchtime, we headed to the resort. Our room at Gran Destino was not ready yet, so we headed to the front desk to ask about club level. They didn't have any upgrades available, but our room became available while we were chatting. It was a few minutes after noon. We went up to the room that was on the 10th floor and had a great view of Hollywood Studios and the parking lot. TK had to go to a doctor appointment, so after the kids ate their lunch in the room, we watched Disney Hits on the TV and then headed out for a short walk. They had yard games set up, so the kids played giant checkers with my help. It ended in a tie because I wanted to enjoy my vacation. We had to run back to the room quickly for the bathroom, but then we went to the food court area to grab a small lunch for me. I had half of a tuna salad wrap and got the kids some water. We went for a walk to see where the pool and the Three Bridges Restaurant were located. It started to drizzle, so we went back to our room to wait for TK to get back. 

When TK returned we set up our mobile order and headed over to the Beach Club Resort to grab the food from the Marketplace. We sat outside by ourselves for a while and enjoyed our dinner. We chose Beach Club for dinner because we wanted to end our night with serious ice cream sundaes at Beaches & Cream. Of course, each of us enjoyed our dessert. TK had the No Way Jose (topped with peanut butter and fudge) and I had a mini version of that. It was gluttonous but glorious. Jax had an ice cream sandwich and Addie had a small chocolate ice cream sundae. 

After filling up, we rolled out to the car to head back to the resort. We watched Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and went to bed. 

2016 Trip Report: Day 5 - Let's Go See Some Animals

Wednesday, July 27

We got up nice and early to go get breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Of course, I bought some little things for Addison in the store. I cannot resist. Cracker Barrel's store always has the best stuff. It ranges from old timey candy to ruffly Easter dresses for little girls. I love it and it runs in the family because my mom always spends some money there too. We have been buying her Cracker Barrel gift cards so she doesn't have to spend her own money there anymore. 

After eating, we all piled back into the car to head out to Melbourne to go to the Brevard Zoo. It took about an hour to get there, so I sat in the trunk and read Inferno on the way. When we got there, it was HOT. I know you're like, "It's Florida in the middle of July, so yea it's hot." But, honestly, it was 93 degrees up in New York, where we came from, and I've been to Vegas in July, so I know hot. This was humid and we were at a zoo so the vegetation just emits heat.

I was able to use my AAA card to get a discount on tickets and we got a map of where to go. The whole zoo was a big loop, so we started to the right and eventually got to the giraffe feeding. Uncle George bought a few leaves of lettuce and Jackson took one and turned right around to feed it to the giraffe whose big head was resting on the fence right next to him. He wasn't the least bit afraid, but Addison wouldn't even hold the lettuce, so Jax got to feed the giraffe a second piece. 

We walked around and saw rhinoceros, lemurs, crocodiles, fish, macaws, monkeys, kangaroos, jaguars and a bunch of other animals. At the halfway point, there was a little restaurant and I got myself a watermelon slushie and got TK a root beer float. On the way out, we found the splash park for kids and I let Jackson go in with his shorts on and Addison went in with her romper on. I just changed them before they got in the car. Jackson had fun with the other little kids and Addison crawled around in the warm water. I am sure it wasn't very refreshing, but they had a good time. 

After we took the hour-long ride back to the hotel, we all got dressed and headed out to dinner at Cici's Pizza. We had BOGO coupons, so that was the cheapest dinner all week, by far. They had a lot of different pizzas and those hot cinnamon rolls never disappoint. 

We decided to go back to Disney Springs so we could shop again and see more of the new area, including The Landing which was a new series of shops and restaurants. My brother came with TK, the kids and me over to what was the West Side. We hit the Star Wars store, the Marvel store and then Sunglass Hut so TK could get his sunglasses tightened. Then, we made a pit stop at Raglan Road for a beer to go. While we waited for our beer, we got to see some Irish step dancers perform and that is always pretty cool. We walked back to the Lego store to meet the rest of our family and Jackson and Addison were able to get a couple of things. On the way out, we stopped in Uniqlo and Under Armour. I didn't buy anything again, but TK got some UA items. 

When we got back to the room, TK, my brother and Uncle George headed out to the sports bar, Drafts. I waited for my dad and then we walked over. We had a couple of beers and talked until 11:30. We all walked back to the room and I tried to move Jackson to our room, but he refused to sleep with anyone but Nonna, so we let him so he wouldn't wake his sister. TK and I had our beds to ourselves and fell asleep rather quickly. 

2016 Trip Report:Day 3 - Water and Disney Springs

Monday, July 25
We woke up and headed over to the resort's water park, Shipwreck Island. We got there before the park opened, so we had to wait outside for a few minutes.

When we finally got in, we headed up the stairs to the second level. There was a huge splash pad with a pirate ship and slides. The whole area was surrounded by a lazy river. Addison liked the little sprayers and Jackson wasn't interested in all of the water going every which way, including into his face. We nudged him down a slide and he hated every minute of it. We decided to try again another day with him. All of the tubes for the lazy river were gone, so I walked around the river. Lazy, my butt. 

After splashing around for a while, we headed back to the room to eat the leftovers from the night before's Italian feast. Then, we showered and changed, and headed to Disney Springs. I was so excited to finally see the new area. First, we approached the parking garage and there was a sign that told us how many spots were open on each level. Amazing. When we parked and took the elevators to the entrance, the doors opened up and I was impressed, but I usually am when Disney is creating something new.

There was a beautiful fountain, Spanish-style architecture and a fantastic array of stores and restaurants. We walked around a little before dinner. There are a lot of new restaurants and shops, including Melissa, a shoe store that sells some Disney-themed merchandise. (What a beautiful name, right?) Of course, we had to visit the Lego store for Jackson. He used some of his Disney gift cards to buy Legos for himself. It was getting late, so we decided that we would come back at another time to shop.

Our dinner reservation was at 4:15 p.m. at T-REX so I checked us in at the booth and waited in the gift shop for our name to be called. It only took five minutes before they ushered us in the restaurant and over to the Ice Age Room. All of the rooms that we walked by looked really cool, like the Ocean Room with a huge octopus covering half of the room. From our room, we could see fossils, an animatronic Triceratops and a Pterodactyl. At first, Bianca was afraid of the dinosaurs, but she warmed up. Jackson loved all of it and was making faces and noises the whole time. Addison was afraid here and there, but mostly, she seemed a little confused and annoyed. I had the Tuna Tataki because I knew I would be getting dessert elsewhere a little later on.

When we were all stuffed, we went shopping in World of Disney, but I didn't find anything that I wanted. We went for ice cream at Ghirardelli and I ordered a sundae that I knew about, but wasn't on the menu. It was vanilla ice cream with hot fudge and a warm chocolate chip cookie at the bottom. They discontinued all of their peanut butter items, or I would have gotten the Gold Rush. Jackson was going to town on Dad's Cherry Vanilla cone. He was shoving his face in it and making a total mess, but he loved it, so I didn't care.

We hit Once Upon a Toy on the way out and TK and Jackson found the light sabers and Star Wars items. Soon, Jackson started to act out and we headed back to the room.