Trip Report Blisters! Why Did it Have to be Blisters?! A 2019 Flower and Garden Report COMPLETED

Hello Disney Friends! Welcome to the "Trip Report That Almost Wasn't Posted". More on that in a minute. Now for the details:



Who: Me @LisaBelle and my sister, Tina @TangledTina
What: Tina's 50th Birthday Celebration
When: May 28-June 2, 2019
Where: The Contemporary Resort

How this trip came to be:
In 2016 Tina and I celebrated my 50th birthday by running the runDisney Princess 5k. You can read that trip report here. We knew that we wanted to take a sister's trip for Tina's birthday, but she hadn't decided what she wanted to do. We considered sitting on the beach, a cruise and visiting a new city. Then in July of 2018 our families went on a joint vacation to WDW. That TR is here. That trip had lots of bumps in the road and left Tina wanting another dose of Disney magic. In November of 2018 she called me up to discuss her birthday trip. The conversation went something like this: Tina: How would you feel about spending my birthday trip at Walt Disney World? Me: I'm calling to book it right now!

Because we were experiencing Flower and Garden for the first time we wanted to stay at an Epcot resort. Tina chose the Beach Club and we spent the winter months dreaming of lounging at Stormalong Bay and walking into Epcot via the International Gateway.




Fast forward to about 3 weeks prior to our trip. I received a phone call from Disney saying that they were overbooked at Beach Club and we needed to switch resorts . Because of the inconvenience they would discount the price on a monorail resort! After some discussion we decided on the Contemporary. We'd stayed there with our families in July, but we had stayed in one of the Garden Wing buildings. It was a long walk to both the Contempo Cafe and the monorail so this time we wanted to stay in the main building. They were able to accommodate that request so we booked it.

Why this TR almost wasn't posted....
As soon as Tina and I returned from our WDW trip we needed to "finalize" (read completely plan and book ) our next family adventure- a 2 week drive from Ohio to Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota. With those plans made I spent June uploading all of my WDW photos, dealt with Disney concerning Memory Maker issues and finally got those pictures uploaded. Our family vacation took up 2 weeks in July and then it was time for professional development and preparing my classroom for back to school! No worries, I can write my TR on weekends for sure over Thanksgiving and Christmas break, right?! This school year has been crazy busy and suddenly March rolled around and I still hadn't started my TR. Too late now I thought. Flower and Garden 2020 had begun and I felt like no one would want to read about last year's festival when they could real about this year's offerings. Then COVID 19 came along and closed down our beloved Disney World ! With that I decided that now might be a good time to finally post this TR!

So without further ado, here we goooooo!

Monday, May 27, 2019
Today was Memorial Day and my family did our usual cookout while I finished laundry and packing. We were flying out of the Cincinnati airport early Tuesday morning. I live closer to the airport so we decided that Tina would spend the night at my house to make the morning less rushed. Tina sent me this photo as she was packing. Tina had planned to arrive at my house in the evening, but due to laundry/packing issues she was running behind. Then the weather near her turned ugly which delayed her even more. There were actually tornadoes in Dayton that night. Luckily, they weren't close to Tina's home.



Tina finally arrived at my house between 11:30pm and midnight. We double checked our Magic Bands, plane check-in, flight time, etc. As we were discussing our outfits for the next day Tina asked my opinion on which shoes she should wear. She had bought a new pair of shoes that hadn't been broken in yet. They looked great with her outfit and they felt so comfortable when she tried them on that we felt like they should probably be okay. Remember this conversation.

Tuesday, May 28, 2019
Our flight was scheuled to depart at 8am. Because I don't like to be rushed I wanted to be at the airport by 6. This meant we needed to leave my house by 5:30. We woke up about 4:30am. We got dressed, drank a quick cup of coffee and were on the road to the airport by 5:35am. We parked, took the shuttle to the terminal, checked our bags and had made it through security by 6:35. On the way to the gate I sent this text to my family, all of whom were still sound asleep back home.



Tina and I took some airport pictures to pass the time until we could board the plane.



Time passed quickly and by 7:45 we were on the plane!



I channeled my inner J from @riverside's reports and read the safety instructions while we waited for takeoff.



We left the gate at 7:59. During the flight we looked over the Flower and Garden menus to prioritize our food choices for the afternoon. Our original plan was to drop off our bags and hop on the monorail to Epcot. During the flight Tina suggested that we drop off our bags and pop into the MK for a few photos and 1 ride before heading to Epcot. MK is always our first park, so I was excited to keep this tradition alive. Besides, who says no to MK?! Checking our progress.



Our flight was uneventful and we landed at 9:50, which was about 20 minutes ahead of schedule! We used the restroom and jumped in line for Starbucks. We both got a caramel macchiato to drink on the Magical Express.



We checked in with Magical Express and we were first in our line.



We boarded the ME at 10:35 and pulled out of the airport at 10:43.





At 10:47 we received our room ready text. We were super excited about this because we would be able to freshen up a bit before heading to MK!



At 11:07 we drove under the sign and felt like our vacation had officially begun!



Up next: The Contemporary

 

[myhappyplace]

Loved all of your night photos at the After Hours event!! So nice that you had a relaxing, rewarding evening with your sister!

 

[LisaBelle]

We’ve done an after hours event once at DLP and everything was a walk on. Lighting is lower than at WDW, which added to the experience (some areas are downright creepy when you are the only two walking through them!)

Sorry to hear about your experience with the lack of information and the fire alarm. We had a similar experience last year at work. My takeaway was that even though fire drills are meant to help us prepare for the “real deal”, when the “real deal“ comes it isn’t “pre-prepared” and many people aren’t good on the fly. Took at least 15 mins before we were told anything, and even that was coming from one person on a megaphone in a different area. Because the fire was in an unoccupied and closed off area of the building (one-third of the building was being renovated) and because the fire happened on the hottest day of the year, the recommendation of the fire department was to keep us inside on the opposite side of the building. Even before the announcements started being made, we learned it was a fire because I got a message from my boss asking about the fire - he was away at a meeting (thousands of miles away) and someone in that meeting was informed. They did at least recognize all the shortcomings in an organization-wide email the following day, so that at least is something. The irony of the whole situation: it was started from a spark from a welding tool ... that was welding the new fire escape stairs to the building!

That's crazy that your boss knew more thousands of miles away than you did on the scene! Oh my goodness, truly ironic about the fire escape construction being the cause of the fire. Glad everyone was okay!

Glad you enjoyed After Hours! It’s definitely 100% worth the money in our book! As far as the fire alarm...I work for a fire protection company, and I can almost guarantee you that they forgot to disable their system before doing “hot work” (the welding you referred to in the food court area). They probably set off their smoke/heat detectors, which caused the building system to alarm. Happens all. the. time.

I would definitely do another After Hours event. One of my favorite park nights ever. Makes sense about the fire alarm. Thanks for the insight!

Loved all of your night photos at the After Hours event!! So nice that you had a relaxing, rewarding evening with your sister!

Thanks! We absolutely loved After Hours! It was definitely a magical evening.

 

[Tuvalu]

May 30, 2019 continued...

Well technically it was now May 31st, but since our day wasn't quite over I'm opting to just call it May 30th !

We walked back to the Contemporary and started to get ready for bed. I took these photos of our After Hours event brochure while Tina took her turn in the bathroom.





I think I mentioned this earlier, but when we picked up our refillable mugs on our first day, the CM told us that we could get drinks from Contempo Cafe 24/7. We did not find this to be true, but checked almost every night anyway. One night they were cleaning the drink machines and every other night they were doing some sort of cleaning or light construction work in the area. We were thirsty so I decided to grab our mugs and try to grab some drinks. I opened the door to our room and could see that they were doing some sort of welding or other activity right above the drink machines and the area was blocked off. I also noticed that it smelled a little funny. Luckily we had water and juice in the room so it wasn't a huge deal. Tina grabbed some water and hit the bed while I took my turn in the bathroom.

While in the bathroom I thought I heard a bleeping noise, but Tina wasn't saying anything so I just ignored it. A minute or two later when I came out of the bathroom I could still hear it. Curious about what it was I opened the door to our room and discovered that what I was hearing was the fire alarm going off on the other side of the A frame! It seemed to only be alarming in a small area of that side of the resort and I could see some people exiting their rooms. People on our side of the A frame were looking out the doors, but the alarms on our side were not going off. I decided we weren't taking any chances so I woke up Tina and we threw on clothes and our shoes and headed for the stairs. I noticed that it was still only a small area with alarms buzzing and it didn't look like everyone was evacuating. I also noticed a lack of CMs. We headed down the stairs and outside. When we got outside we saw some guests and only 1 CM who wasn't really directing anyone. No fire equipment.
Thinking better safe than sorry, we stayed outside and walked across the way to some outdoor seating.







No one was telling us anything, and a few of us were asking one another for information. At some point I heard that it was a false alarm, maybe something with some maintenance equipment and that the fire department had okayed people going back in. I didn't see the fire department from where we were, but no one else was leaving the building and all seemed calm. Those of us who were outside started to head back in. Tina and I decided to take a sleepy selfie to help us remember our Disney fire drill.



There were a number of people lined up to talk to the one or two CMs at the desk. While we wanted to know exactly what had happened, we decided that we wanted sleep more. We headed back upstairs to bed. I was expecting to hear something the next day via a note to our rooms or something, but we were never provided with any information. It definitely wasn't good show, but since "all's well that ends well", we didn't spend much time dwelling on it.

Up Next: Hollywood Studios

As soon as you began this post, I knew exactly where it was headed!

You see, Woody and I had a similar experience in August at Gran Destino Tower in Coronado Springs.

Tuesday, August 27

I awakened a little after 5 am to use the bathroom. I debated going back to bed, but decided to shower since we had a busy morning ahead ~ packing, checking out of Coronado, checking into Grand Floridian (to stow luggage until room was ready), and then catching the bus from GF to the Studios where we had morning FPs and a lunch ADR at Mama Melrose.

Suddenly I heard a constant, rhythmic beeping. I opened the big barn bathroom door and listened. The noise was coming from the hall. I opened our room door and discerned it was the fire alarm! A female voice kept repeating, "This is a fire emergency. Please evacuate the building."

I wondered why there was no fire alarm in our room. I'm not sure I would have heard that hall alarm had I not already been up. Woody was sleeping peacefully. I was trying to remain calm but my insides felt like this:



View attachment 416198

I woke the anti-Woody, who said it was likely a false alarm. I picked up our room phone to inquire. Of course the room phone connects to a call center, not the actual front desk, so the CM put me on hold while she contacted the resort directly.

“Ma’am, you need to GET OUT!!”

Okay so now I am in full freak out mode. Woody kept reassuring me that it was a false alarm, that false alarms in hotels have happened to him numerous times over the years, blah, blah, blah.

All I can think about is The Towering Inferno.

I was tempted to throw everything into my suitcase (since we were checking out later anyway), until Woody reminded me we were on the 9th floor, we’d have to lug that suitcase down many flights of stairs....and possibly back UP said stairs if the elevators hadn’t resumed operation.

Right. So I stuffed all our electronics into a bag (priorities!) and we headed for the stairwell. The alarm was still beeping and the voice kept repeating, “This is a fire emergency. Please evacuate the building.”

We were the only ones on the stairs. We exited the building into darkness. No one else was around.

Woody and I walked towards the front of the Tower and were met by a CM in a suit who directed us to a staging area to wait for the fire department. He was giving out no other information.

I didn’t see any smoke or flames which I took as a good sign!

There weren’t nearly as many guests in the staging area as I expected considering the number of rooms in the Tower. Were the rest still sleeping?

View attachment 416197

A Magical Express bus arrived and dropped off a family toting their luggage. Another CM in a suit prevented them from going towards the entrance and directed them to the staging area.

“Can you imagine what they’re thinking?” Woody said to me. “Great, the hotel we booked is on fire?”

FINALLY.....

View attachment 416271

What in the world took them so long?

View attachment 416196

And why the truck parked beside a Cabana instead of the Tower, I have no idea!

We waited almost 30 minutes longer until the “all clear.” Fortunately we were able to ride the elevator back to the 9th floor. A man who rode with us joked that we should all be given extra Fastpasses for the inconvenience.

The reality was:

View attachment 416270

At least our stuff didn’t burn!

 

[LisaBelle]

Friday, May 31, 2019

After our late night fire drill morning came sooner than we would have liked! We wanted to be at HS for rope drop because we weren't able to get a FP+ for SDD. As had become our pattern, I got up first, got dressed and ran down to Contempo Cafe to grab us some coffee. Poor Tina's feet were rebelling and she had a hard time choosing a pair of shoes for the day. We headed for the bus and made it to HS, through security and into the park by 8:48.





We joined the masses and began to work our way up Hollywood Boulevard. We were hoping for a good position to make a beeline for Toy Story Land.







A few of our closest friends joined us on our trek!





Howdy Sheriff Woody!


We joined Slinky's queue right about 9:00. The queue was long, but once they repositioned the rope lines it moved fairly quickly. By 9:06 we were here.



This was only our second time on this attraction, so we enjoyed looking at all the details in the queue. I loved Buster's dog tag.





Pencils and crayons! As a first grade teacher these are two of my favorite things!





Love Squeaky!



At 9:27 we were almost ready to board the ride.



Such a fun ride!



Up next: More fun in Toy Story Land!

 

[LisaBelle]

As soon as you began this post, I knew exactly where it was headed!

You see, Woody and I had a similar experience in August at Gran Destino Tower in Coronado Springs.

So sorry you and Woody had to begin your day that way! As I read about your experience I remembered that Tina and I both made sure to grab our phones, chargers and park bags on our way out of the room. As you said, priorities!

 

[LisaBelle]

Friday, May 31, 2019 continued...

We exited the ride around 9:30. Only 30 minutes from joining the queue. We were pretty happy with that. My husband loves the Toy Story Aliens so when we saw a PP photographer here we had to stop for some pictures for him.





The soldiers were marching by so we stopped to watch them for a few minutes.




By 9:36 we were joining the queue for Alien Swirling Saucers. We weren't thrilled with the wait time, but decided to wait any way. The line didn't look too bad, so we were hoping the wait time was inaccurate. Spoiler alert, it wasn't! It was a beautiful, sunny day and it was warming up fast. Oh, how I wish this queue had more covering!



Loved seeing this guy peeking down at us!



Keeping ourselves entertained!



I'm sure we waited at least 45 minutes before we made it here.



I love the music on this attraction! It is whimsical and I found myself smiling and laughing the entire time!





I wanted a few photos of Slinky.





Slinky Selfie!



We were hungry so we stopped by Andy's Lunchbox for a snack.



We shared the raspberry lunchbox tart and we each got an iced coffee. I forgot that I am not a fan of the Joffrey's coffee, so Tina drank both coffees.



Love the seats in this area.



During our 2018 trip Tina, my daughter Allie and I enjoyed some girls only time in the parks. Allie dubbed us the Tres Biddies. Allie was Biddie #1, Tina was Biddie #2 and I was Biddie #3. (I thought we were all showing our own number, but I guess we were all holding up the 3 for Tres Biddies).



This morning we found ourselves missing our Biddie leader so we sent these photos to Allie to let her know we were missing her.





Our Soldier friends were back, but we had a Fast Pass to get to so we headed out of Toy Story Land for now.





Up next: Criss-crossing the park.

 

[LisaBelle]

May 31, 2019 continued...

I liked these banners.



We walked through Pixar Place and noticed that Jack Jack had been there.



Frozone was checking in on Edna Mode.



We didn't have time for a visit because our Star Tour was ready to depart.



Ready for my trip to space.



I have no clue which scene we had, but we enjoyed it. Next thing you know we were back here...



Tina and I LOVED our View Master when we were kids.



Ready to play.



The Birthday Girl won!


Love these monkeys!



Another nod to Allie!



Our first ever picture at the popsicle wall!



One last picture and we said so long to Toy Story Land for this trip.



It was time for lunch and I couldn't wait! Our ADR was at a restaurant I'd wanted to try for years...



Up next: Lunch!

 

[LisaBelle]

May 31, 2019 continued...

We checked in and were told to wait in the lounge. We took turns freshening up and taking photos while we waited.







I loved the decor in here. I wish we'd been able to sit at one of these tables.



I'd really been looking forward to the interactions with the cast members. Our server was friendly and efficient, but not interactive. We did enjoy the hijinx at some of the other tables.

We both ordered the Sampling of Mom's Favorite Recipes with fried chicken, pot roast and meatloaf. We shared a Peanut Butter and Jelly milkshake.





Oh my goodness was this meal delicious! I loved everything! My favorite was the fried chicken. I think Tina's favorite was the meat loaf. I would go back just for the PBJ milkshake. It was super creamy and peanut buttery with just the right touch of jelly!
We hadn't completely cleaned our plates, but our server made us members of the Clean Plate Club anyway.



There was a photopass photographer outside so we took these pictures.









It was sweltering and Tina's feet were swollen and very uncomfortable. Days of walking had taken their toll and the blisters that had popped up on our first day had grown. We decided to stop by first aid to see if they could help her out. They gave her some bandages and suggested that she pick up some mole skin.





Up next: Shopping

 

[riverside]

I love the magic shot with the army man!! I've never seen that one before.
You can't go wrong with 50's!! That's the same meal I always get--never been disappointed with it!!

 

[LisaBelle]

I love the magic shot with the army man!! I've never seen that one before.
You can't go wrong with 50's!! That's the same meal I always get--never been disappointed with it!!

We were excited about the army man magic shot, too! 50’s is now one of my favorites! It will definitely be a go to ADR in the future!

 

[MickeyCB]

I'd really been looking forward to the interactions with the cast members. Our server was friendly and efficient, but not interactive. We did enjoy the hijinx at some of the other tables.

I'm bummed for you that you didn't get a feisty waiter.
One of our favorite meals there was when my son was 12 or 13 and a pain. He had his phone out and the waitress scolded him and said "Scooter, what did I tell you about toys at the dinner table? You put that away"!
He was mortified, I laughed my head off. And you know what his name was for the remainder of the trip!

 

[LisaBelle]

I'm bummed for you that you didn't get a feisty waiter.
One of our favorite meals there was when my son was 12 or 13 and a pain. He had his phone out and the waitress scolded him and said "Scooter, what did I tell you about toys at the dinner table? You put that away"!
He was mortified, I laughed my head off. And you know what his name was for the remainder of the trip!

That’s a great story! Fingers crossed we’ll have a more energetic server on our next visit!

 

[LisaBelle]

Hello Friends! Sorry for the delay in reporting. I am a teacher and the last few weeks of the school year are always super busy and it was just as busy, if not more so ending the year remotely. Now school's out for summer so it's time to finish up this TR!

May 31, 2019 continued...
To recap, we had just finished lunch at 50's Prime Time and made a quick stop at First Aid to grab some bandages for Tina's blistered toes. We headed out to Hollywood Boulevard for a few more PP pictures.



Awkward hugging photo, but I wanted everyone to see Tina's cool Star Wars Ears. They are hard to photograph because they're clear and light up at night!



We did some shopping. One of my shopping goals for the trip was to buy at least one new set of ears. Here we were with only one more full park day remaining in our trip and I still hadn't bought any new ears. I spent quite awhile trying on ears, but couldn't commit! I did buy these pens, though. I love them! I spend a ridiculous amount of time deciding which pen will best amuse me during staff and leadership team meetings !

Tina wanted to see the Stormtroopers march, so we headed out of the shops.


Tina got a great selfie with them!





We followed them up the boulevard and stopped to watch the show.



After the show, Tina gave this Stormtrooper a bit of attitude to get his attention. She was successful!



Love Tina's reaction! She had so much fun interacting with the Stormtroopers!



We headed into Launch Bay for some Star Wars meet and greets. We'd never been in here before, so we were looking forward to it. We both love Star Wars, but of the two of us Tina is a much bigger Star Wars fan.

First up was Kylo Ren. I'd read that Kylo Ren was a scary meet and greet, but I was not fully prepared for how uncomfortable he made us. Couldn't even smile. I kept trying to use my peripheral vision because I wanted to keep an eye on him the whole time. We were extremely intimidated by him!



BB8 was lighthearted! It was a bit awkward to figure out how to stand with him, but we loved meeting him.





Loved this! It takes you right back to the first moment of every Star Wars movie.



Tina loved looking at all the lightsabers.



Next up was one of Tina's favorite characters, Chewbacca! While we were waiting in line to meet him we chatted with the CM. She noticed Tina's birthday button and we had fun wondering if Wookies can sing "Happy Birthday!"

Hugs for the Birthday Girl!





If it weren't for my ears you wouldn't be able to see me at all!



Telling Chewie that it was Tina's birthday.



Celebrating!





This was one of the best character interactions we've ever had. It was definitely a great highlight for Tina's birthday.

Up next: Another new character meet and greet!

 

[LisaBelle]

May 31, 2019 continued...

We left Launch Bay and walked over to Pixar Place. My husband Paul loves the Edna Mode character from the Incredibles, so Tina and I decided to pay her a visit. Here is a look at one of her designs. I love the baby Edna in the upper right corner.



Edna's wall of fame. It was a walk on, so we didn't spend much time looking here. I wish we'd taken a bit more time to peruse, because some of the magazine covers and awards looked like they'd be a fun read.



Then it was time to meet the legend! I got a few pics of just me and Edna to send to Paul.





Then Tina joined us.



Tina definitely mirrored Edna's attitude!



Then it was time to check in at the Hollywood Tower Hotel.

A banner of my favorite princess along the way.



I love this attraction which is really weird, because I am afraid of heights and hate the feeling of falling. Here is a funny (or mildly amusing) story about what finally got me to go on this ride. Believe it or not, it was a t-shirt! On our second family trip to Disney in 2008, the kids wanted to try this ride. I was a definite NO WAY! I don't think Paul was all that excited to try it, but awesome Dad that he is, went with the kids. I was worried that the kids, especially Allie, wouldn't like it once they boarded. I nervously wandered the gift shop to pass the time while they rode. While I shopped, I found a Tower of Terror t-shirt that I LOVED. I don't remember exactly what it said but I loved the catch phrase and the pictures front and back. I had it in my hand and was headed to the cash register to buy it. About to join the line, I looked at it again and realized that I would feel like a fraud if I wore the shirt without actually riding the attraction. About that time Paul and the kids exited the ride. They all loved it! We spent a few minutes so Paul and the kids could look around the shop. I was at war with myself the whole time because I really wanted that shirt. Paul said I should just get it but I couldn't do it (I know, I am so silly). Paul also said he thought I'd actually be okay on the ride if I wanted to try it. We decided we'd try for a fast pass later in the trip and I'd buy the shirt if I actually rode it. Unfortunately, we never made it back during that trip. When it came time to plan our 2010 trip I decided that no matter what I was going on Tower of Terror and I would celebrate by buying a t-shirt. The trip arrived and I rode and LOVED ToT, but didn't like any of the t-shirts ! It would be 2012 or 2014 before I would finally find the perfect Hollywood Tower t-shirt to commemorate my triumph over my fear of heights and falling. That my friends is the story of how a t-shirt shamed me into riding what has become one of my favorite attractions !

Sorry, that was kind of long winded! Back to the TR!





So many interesting lights in this queue.


A beautiful view from the porch.



More lights!







I love this room.






Tina doesn't enjoy this ride as much as I do, but she is a good sister and puts on a happy face for the ride photo! I will admit that I get incredibly nervous before the ride begins, but once we start I have lots of fun!



A ToT selfie before heading out of HS for this trip.



Up Next: Beach Club

 

[LisaBelle]

May 31, 2019 continued...

Because this was our first time at Flower and Garden we wanted to have quick and easy access to Epcot. We had originally booked a room at the Beach Club, but just weeks before the trip found out they'd over-booked and we had to switch to the Contemporary. We'd never been to the Beach Club before so we decided to take the boat from HS over to the Yacht and Beach Club to do some exploring.





Love the lighthouse. It made us think of our mom. She always loved lighthouses.



So pretty!



Looks relaxing!





Heading inside the Yacht Club.









Loved the hidden Mickey in the carpet.


We walked through the lobby and down some hallways and headed outside. Stormalong Bay looked beautiful! We enjoyed the Contemporary, but it's pool cannot even come close to this. We decided Yacht and Beach Club are on our "must stay" list in the future!











We finally got to see Beaches and Cream in person! Unfortunately we weren't eating there today. It is another must do on a future visit.





Back inside, but now in the Beach Club.


We checked out the Marketplace.



Up next: Finishing up at the Beach Club.

 

[LisaBelle]

May 31, 2019 continued...

We were getting hungry but wanted to save room for our upcoming dinner ADR, so we just took a few photos. I remember talking with a CM as I purchased something here, but I have no idea what I bought, probably a bottle of water!



A last look at the Beach Club as we headed into Epcot.



This would have been our view if we'd received the room we'd requested .



This was our first time ever walking to Epcot and entering via the International Gateway.



The Skyliner was still in the testing phase.





Inside Epcot we browsed in a shop and then grabbed these beauties to keep us cool as we walked to our dinner location. Grand Marnier slush for me and a Citron slush for Tina. I'd never tried the Citron and Tina had never had the Grand Marnier, so we shared. I love both of them. Pricey for sure, but this is one of my favorite items to splurge on.





We enjoyed our slushes as we walked toward Italy to check in at Via Napoli. We were very excited for this ADR because neither of us had eaten here before. I've drooled over all the pizzas pictured in other's trip reports and I couldn't wait to finally try it for myself.



We checked in and waited about 10 minutes before being called to our table. I took this photo while we waited. I loved all the colors in this light.



The view from our table.





I liked that we could see the pizza ovens from our table.



Tina ordered a beer flight. I didn't write down which beers were in the flight, but the current menu says the beers are Peroni, Moretti La Rossa and Menabrea Ambrata. No clue which is which in the photo or if those are even the correct beers . The heat and humidity made that Grand Marnier slush go straight to my head so I went with diet Coke.



We both ordered Margherita pizzas. As you can see from these photos, there was a bit of inconsistency in the amount of cheese on the pizzas. I got lucky and received the pizza that had more cheese.





We both enjoyed our pizzas.

For dessert I went with the Zeppole di Caterina (ricotta cheese fritters served with whipped cream and chocolate sauce) which were yummy!



Tina had the Coppa di Brutti Ma Buoni. On the menu it is described as "ugly but good" amarena cherry and vanilla gelato sundae. She also ordered a cappuccino. Tina won the dessert round! Holy Moly was this delicious! I love cherries and this tasted amazing. I will definitely order this the next time we go to Via Napoli.





This was not my favorite meal of the trip, but I really enjoyed it and will definitely go back. We snapped one last picture of the pizza ovens as we waddled back out to World Showcase.



Up next: More Italy

 

[LisaBelle]

May 31, 2019 continued...

The Italy pavilion is so picturesque! We strolled around, took these photos and had some PP pics taken as well. I don't think the PP pictures turned out very well so I apparently didn't include them when I uploaded this album!











We found Lady and the Tramp. Lady's ear is looking a bit wild !







It had been a long day that had really taken a toll on Tina's feet. We decided to head back to the resort to purchase some things to soothe the blisters. I remember stopping to take these pictures on the way out, because the ones I'd taken earlier in the week had come out very dark since I'd taken them at night.





A few more of the beautiful topiaries as we headed to the monorail.









Up next: A new view of Happily Ever After!

 

[LisaBelle]

May 31, 2019 continued....

We rode the monorail back to the Contemporary and stopped in one of the shops to purchase epsom salts and moleskin to help soothe the blisters. As we exited the shop we realized that we were right by the observation deck and Happily Ever After had just begun!





This was a new HEA vantage point for us. As you can see, we were directly under the monorail track. If you look carefully in the photo below you can see the monorail moving along the track between MK and the Contemporary. I really enjoyed watching the fireworks from here.





Then we headed to our room to relax! We were resourceful and filled gallon ziplock bags with ice and epsom salts. We took those and our bottle of wine out to the balcony to enjoy the gorgeous view.



This was the sparkling wine that came in Tina's birthday gift basket. We (especially Tina) really enjoyed it.



We were thoroughly enjoying ourselves and then the icing on top of the cake appeared! I love the water parade! It was a great way to end our day.







I remember sitting on the balcony for quite awhile. It was wonderful to sit and relax. Tina's feet felt much better and as we headed to bed we felt rejuvenated and ready for the next day.

Up next: Our last park day !

 

[LisaBelle]

June 1, 2019 Our Last Park day! How could we already be on our last park day?! We got up and ready to go. The plan was to head to Epcot. When we thought we were staying at the Beach Club we had planned to eat breakfast at Les Halles one morning. Tina had been looking forward to that so we wanted to eat there as well as try to fit in as many Flower and Garden food booths as possible. We always finish every trip at the MK so our afternoon and evening would be spent there.

I took a balcony selfie before heading out.



We were ready to board the monorail.





Hello Epcot!



Pluto was out and had little to no line. We decided to jump in line. Of course the family in front of us took forever and then Pluto needed to go get some dog biscuits, so we ended up waiting longer than expected. The pictures came out cute, so it was worth the wait!





Then a few more PP pictures. I'm really glad we had these taken since the fountain is no longer there.



A not so successful attempt on my part at showing some attitude !



Hello Figment!



This one felt super weird as we did it, but I liked the end results.





Then I took a billion pictures of the flower carpets. I'd been waiting years to see this and I wanted to soak it all in.













All so beautiful.







Up next: A visit with Figment

 

[LisaBelle]

June 1, 2019 continued...

A few more pics of the flowers and topiaries.









We finally had our fill of flower pictures! Tina had never ridden Figment, so we headed there.











Figment is not a must do for us, but it is a nice break from the heat!

I apparently couldn't resist taking yet another picture!



Now it was finally time for one of the Flower and Garden treats I had most been looking froward to- Violet Lemonade . I am usually not into foods with floral notes, but this always looks so beautiful in trip reports and most people rave about it so I had to have it!





It was love at first sip ! OMG! I could drink this every day. Not too sweet and the perfect amount of slushiness!





My mother in law always wants me to taste edible flowers so I took this picture to send to her.





I planned to get another violet lemonade before we left that day, but it didn't work out. I hope this will always be a part of Flower and Garden and I truly hope that I will get to visit this festival again in the future. It was definitely a highlight of my trip!

Trying to make sure we had a picture of every topiary!



Tina wanted to stop at the DVC booth so that she could get a character drawing. I sat on a bench and enjoyed my violet lemonade while she talked to the DVC CMs. Then we headed to France.

I was happy to see the PP photographer here.







Up next: More World Showcase!