2016 Trip Report: Day 4 - Water and Food (What's Better?)

Tuesday, July 26
On what was probably the most relaxing day of our trip, we headed down to the Shipwreck Island again, but this time, we decided to stay on the bottom deck where there was a zero entry pool with spraying palm trees and slides for the kids. The deepest the water got was like four feet.

Jackson wasn't interested in going in, but I put his life jacket on, picked him up and took him in with me to force the issue. I knew he liked to splash around and that he would love it after he actually loosened up a little. Well, I was right because I could not get him off those slides. He said he wanted to go down them a million times. He only got out to eat lunch and by the end of our time there, he was jumping in to TK off the side. He was even doggy paddling by himself. Addison was also having a great time in the shallow end and then swimming from one of us to the other.

The bottom deck also had a quick service restaurant and a bar. We had lunch there and the portions were huge, and our order was also huge. I had a giant cheeseburger and got myself a refillable mug of beer from the bar. I was able to refill my cup anywhere in the resort for $6. Addison was napping while we ate.

Back at the room, we got ready and Jackson and TK took a nap so they both could be in a good mood. I took a walk with my parents and Uncle George with Addison in her carrier on me. We saw the market, the bar and the ice cream/coffee shop. They sold Hershey's Ice Cream and Starbucks Coffee. Addison ended up falling asleep when we sat down to drink the beverages we bought.

When we got back to the room, we waited for everyone to get ready and I went out to the balcony to read my book, Inferno by Dan Brown. I think I ended up closing my eyes and dozing off.

For dinner, we headed out to Texas Roadhouse because we heard it was good and a lot of fun. We heard right. The wait staff was line dancing and they played country music the whole time. They had peanuts on the table and they served warm rolls with cinnamon butter. I had a 6 oz. steak, rice, shrimp and two $4 margaritas. It was a lot of fun.

When we got back to the room, we went down to my aunt and uncle's room because we had desserts left over from two nights before. I was able to see the fireworks again from the balcony. At that point, my dad and uncle left to go get my brother at the airport. The rest of us went to bed.

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.