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.
