Trip Report Time for Flowers! Flower & Food (Garden) March 2017

Hello and welcome to my trip report! My hubby (Brad) and I returned a little over a week ago from a quick trip to the World to celebrate Flower and Garden, which we refer to sometimes as Flower and Food. It was my husband's first time at F&G, but I had gone a few times solo and we have done Food and Wine. So he was interested in how this festival would be.

So here's a little quick info:
Who: hubby (Brad) and myself (Amy)
When: March 3-March 6
Resort: All Star Movies (cheapest option, and all we need is a place to sleep)

Some tags to people who have read some of my other reports (I know I will forget someone, but everyone is welcome!): @figmentfan423 @Gabe1 @donaldtoo @betty rose @PacNWTigger @Tuvalu @fractal @JenniferS @bee @BuddyThomas @Mr Ferret 88 @MouseDreaming @PUSH @Wrangler-Rick @MOXOMUMD @MinnieM123 @Songbird76 @Cesar R M @prfctlyximprct @93boomer @Courtney6682 @MySmallWorldof4

Okay....Ready now....Here We GO......

So the vacation actually started on March 2, but late. I had parent-teacher conferences that night and our flight was early Friday morning so we decided to stay the night up in Minneapolis so we wouldn't have to get up so early. We only live about an hour- to hour 15 minutes away from the airport but we wanted to be close to the airport for that early flight. So when conferences got done at 8pm my husband was waiting outside the door ready to pick me up.

We spent the night in a Homewood Suites and connected to it was a Chevy's restaurant. All during conferences (which I only met with 8 parents that night in a span of 3 hours and I have 150 students) I was thinking about a margarita at Chevy's. So what did we do once we checked in? That's right headed over to Chevy's, it was a little after 9pm by then so at least we got late night happy hour! We also got their sampler platter which was pretty good.

With my margarita!
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After margaritas we went back to our room and watched the 10 pm news for a couple minutes and then headed to bed. Our flight was leaving a 6am so we were going to be up early!

Our journey to the airport was pretty uneventful (thank goodness) and security wasn't too bad, about a 15 minute wait. I had bought us mini-muffins from our grocery store at home so we had those and I had a coffee that was finally cool enough to drink once we started boarding!

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If you have flown Spirit before you'll know that they have their Big Seats Up Front for an extra charge. I think that charge is worth it for extra space, so I booked those seats for us. The flight was good we both slept a little, read magazines, and I listened to Disney podcasts.

Goodbye Minneapolis!
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Somewhere between Minnesota and Florida

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Hello Orlando! I was able to spot the Swan & Dolphin and Spaceship Earth this time from the air. I was pretty excited about it but I don't think it really shows up in my pictures.
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When we landed at MCO I saw a really big Air Force plane and I thought to myself "That's weird and so big. Hey wait I've seen that type of plane before when I saw..." and then I saw it....Air Force One. Our president was also visiting Florida. I'm not going to get political, but I think it is pretty cool seeing Air Force One. The only cooler Presidential experience I had was when I was near the Washington Monument and I was facing the White House and Marine One rose up off the lawn and flew right over my head. I saw AF1 before when we landed in Minneapolis a few years ago and it was exciting then (except for the 2 hour traffic jam we had because President Obama was touring the city) and I was excited this time too but now worried about the traffic. I had a fast pass to get to. Luckily this time we didn't have bad traffic as the president had already left the airport area.

Anyway, we got to our gate and because we were in the front we were off and to Magical Express pretty quick. I was a little nervous about the wait for ME especially after some people's recent experiences (@Tuvalu ) but as we arrived it wasn't bad at all. The total time of check-in, boarding, and leaving was about 10 minutes. Excellent!

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We have arrived HOME!
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Walt even welcomed us on the METV!
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ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
We had received a text that our room was ready, so we were pretty pumped about that. We were assigned a first floor in the Mighty Ducks section. I had requested 1st floor (well done Disney) and to be near transportation (didn't look like Disney came through for this). I looked at the map and it did not look like we were really close to the Movies bus stop, but I wasn't going to complain as it was a short trip and we could handle the walk. Well, as it turns out we were about a 5 minute walk away from the Movies bus stop BUT only a 1 minute (we timed it) walk from the Music bus stop! So we ended up using the Music bus stop often.

Our room also turned out to be a king room. And honestly we were both looking forward to having our own beds. But it was fine.
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The wall border is cute.
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We did have an alarm clock! We did tend to use our phones and the wake up call service. The wake up call was Mickey this time, the last couple trip it was Baymax so I was pretty happy waking up to Mickey in the morning.
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So we had gotten to the resort before noon (I think it was even before 11am), so we headed to Epcot. The front display this year was pretty cool with Mickey and the gang around the Maypole. To be honest seeing flowers blooming in March always captivates me, since I come from snowy and cold Wisconsin.
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Coming up....more Flower and Garden fun. And more importantly food from the Flower and Garden booths. Flowers and Food! :joyfull::hungry::)
 

donaldtoo

Well-Known Member
Hello and welcome to my trip report! My hubby (Brad) and I returned a little over a week ago from a quick trip to the World to celebrate Flower and Garden, which we refer to sometimes as Flower and Food. It was my husband's first time at F&G, but I had gone a few times solo and we have done Food and Wine. So he was interested in how this festival would be.

So here's a little quick info:
Who: hubby (Brad) and myself (Amy)
When: March 3-March 6
Resort: All Star Music (cheapest option, and all we need is a place to sleep)

Some tags to people who have read some of my other reports (I know I will forget someone, but everyone is welcome!): @figmentfan423 @Gabe1 @donaldtoo @betty rose @PacNWTigger @Tuvalu @fractal @JenniferS @bee @BuddyThomas @Mr Ferret 88 @MouseDreaming @PUSH @Wrangler-Rick @MOXOMUMD @MinnieM123 @Songbird76 @Cesar R M @prfctlyximprct @93boomer @Courtney6682 @MySmallWorldof4

Okay....Ready now....Here We GO......

So the vacation actually started on March 2, but late. I had parent-teacher conferences that night and our flight was early Friday morning so we decided to stay the night up in Minneapolis so we wouldn't have to get up so early. We only live about an hour- to hour 15 minutes away from the airport but we wanted to be close to the airport for that early flight. So when conferences got done at 8pm my husband was waiting outside the door ready to pick me up.

We spent the night in a Homewood Suites and connected to it was a Chevy's restaurant. All during conferences (which I only met with 8 parents that night in a span of 3 hours and I have 150 students) I was thinking about a margarita at Chevy's. So what did we do once we checked in? That's right headed over to Chevy's, it was a little after 9pm by then so at least we got late night happy hour! We also got their sampler platter which was pretty good.

With my margarita!
View attachment 194233

After margaritas we went back to our room and watched the 10 pm news for a couple minutes and then headed to bed. Our flight was leaving a 6am so we were going to be up early!

Our journey to the airport was pretty uneventful (thank goodness) and security wasn't too bad, about a 15 minute wait. I had bought us mini-muffins from our grocery store at home so we had those and I had a coffee that was finally cool enough to drink once we started boarding!

View attachment 194234

If you have flown Spirit before you'll know that they have their Big Seats Up Front for an extra charge. I think that charge is worth it for extra space, so I booked those seats for us. The flight was good we both slept a little, read magazines, and I listened to Disney podcasts.

Goodbye Minneapolis!
View attachment 194235
Somewhere between Minnesota and Florida

View attachment 194237
Hello Orlando! I was able to spot the Swan & Dolphin and Spaceship Earth this time from the air. I was pretty excited about it but I don't think it really shows up in my pictures.
View attachment 194238

When we landed at MCO I saw a really big Air Force plane and I thought to myself "That's weird and so big. Hey wait I've seen that type of plane before when I saw..." and then I saw it....Air Force One. Our president was also visiting Florida. I'm not going to get political, but I think it is pretty cool seeing Air Force One. The only cooler Presidential experience I had was when I was near the Washington Monument and I was facing the White House and Marine One rose up off the lawn and flew right over my head. I saw AF1 before when we landed in Minneapolis a few years ago and it was exciting then (except for the 2 hour traffic jam we had because President Obama was touring the city) and I was excited this time too but now worried about the traffic. I had a fast pass to get to. Luckily this time we didn't have bad traffic as the president had already left the airport area.

Anyway, we got to our gate and because we were in the front we were off and to Magical Express pretty quick. I was a little nervous about the wait for ME especially after some people's recent experiences (@Tuvalu ) but as we arrived it wasn't bad at all. The total time of check-in, boarding, and leaving was about 10 minutes. Excellent!

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We have arrived HOME!
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Walt even welcomed us on the METV!
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Thanks for the tag!
Gonna' do my best to follow, but, you know me...perpetually behind here...! :confused: :oops: ;) :)

Anyway, as I've mentioned before, we've stayed in an ASMusic family suite 3 times before, and they were plenty fine for us, as we also just mostly use our resort as a place to crash and clean up. :)

YUM-O on the margarita...!!! :hungry:

I can definitely spot SSE up there in that pic! :)
We've actually flown very close to Epcot 2 times on flights home shortly after takeoff.
Both times I forgot to get a pic...! :facepalm:
Too caught up in the moment, I guess...! :geek: :D

Anyway, thanks again for the tag, and I'm lookin' forward to more...!!! :)
 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Thanks for the tag! Very happy you did not have to contend with DME crowd madness ~ I guess arriving on a Friday morning (versus mid-day on a Saturday) is the way to go!

BTW, you might want to fix your first post where your resort is listed as All Star Music....I was like :confused: when you said your room was in Mighty Ducks....then I realized you meant Movies! :joyfull:
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
Yea! I've been waiting for your most recent TR!! :inlove: That was also cool that you saw Air Force One at the airport.

By the way, I thought the room at All Star Movies was very nicely decorated--much nicer than I had expected to see from one of the Value resorts. :)

Yeah, I don't mind the values. They aren't the most posh, but the price allows me to get there often. And most of the time I spend in the room is with my eyes closed anyway!

Yay! Looking forward to this!

Definitely cool! I remember when I was a little kid in elementary school living in NY, we were let out of class during the day because the Pope (JohnPaul II) was going to drive by our school. I was super excited and I am not even Catholic!:p

Thanks for following along! It would be cool to see the Pope, I'm not Catholic either, but sometimes there are things in this world that are just cool to see and might be a once in a lifetime types of things.
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
Thanks for the tag! Very happy you did not have to contend with DME crowd madness ~ I guess arriving on a Friday morning (versus mid-day on a Saturday) is the way to go!

BTW, you might want to fix your first post where your resort is listed as All Star Music....I was like :confused: when you said your room was in Mighty Ducks....then I realized you meant Movies! :joyfull:

Thanks for pointing out the mistake. We took the Music buses often so sometimes it felt like that was our resort! And I was super tired while typing. :)
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
I'm following along too. Thanks for the tag. I'm loving the topiary pics...I don't know why but I'm a sucker for topiaries...LOL! :D

Excited for your trip report full of Flower and Garden (and rum and coke?)! The flowers look gorgeous. I can not wait to see them in person!

Unfortunately there weren't many lounge trips this time so hub rum and coke's were limited!:)

I can't wait to get back to Flower & Garden! It's so beautiful! I'll definitely be there next year! Looking forward to the rest of your TR! :)

Following along. I've only been to Flower & Garden once a few years ago and loved it. Going back next March for a few days and I can't wait :)

Thanks all for following along. Flower and Garden is one of my favorite times to visit. Oh heck, who and I kidding...every time I can go is my favorite! But F&G is gorgeous!:joyfull:
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
I'm excited to read another one of your trip reports! Was the Spirit flight nonstop? I've never flown Spirit before. What did you think of it?

This flight on Spirit was non-stop and this was the second time I have flown the airline. Both times it was to Orlando. I don't mind them at all, with all their surcharges it make me prioritize when packing. I totally forgot that their weight allowance is 40 pounds compared to other airlines at 50 pounds. I remembered it at the airport. Luckily our bag was only 35 pounds. We shared a suitcase and did not take a carry-on bag. We both took a small personal bag that is allowed for free. Both times I flew them I splurged for the big seat in front for $45 and if that is available I recommend that.

We fly on Suncountry and Delta more frequently and I think it compares pretty well to both of those airlines. When I priced out the flights to Orlando when I factored in baggage fees and that I bought the $45 big seat, Spirit was cheaper. It wasn't cheaper by a ton, but it also had a better flight time.

In a comparison with Delta....Delta often changes the times of its flights after I book and sometimes I receive a notice but more often than not I don't and that makes me angry. Spirit changed the flight time on this flight (to an hour earlier with made me happy) and they sent me an email and I had to go to their website and click an acknowledgment of receiving the flight change information. I thought that was a good system, because then there was no confusion on whether or not I was contacted.

So I guess a long winded answer is I don't mind Spirit at all, just add up all the costs before booking to make sure it is a good deal.
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
Thank you for the tag friend! My daughter and I always try and find any Disney related landmark/icon from the sky and never seem to have any luck! So cool that you spotted SSE!

I rarely have a window seat on flights as I usually pick the aisle. I like to get up and move around (aka visit the restroom) and I don't want to keep asking people in my row to get up. But there were just two seats in my row so hubs had the aisle and I took the window and I don't mind making hubs move! :) Actually there was enough room in our row for me to get out without making him move. So anyway, I guess I picked the right side (which was the left side) to see the sights.
 

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