Trip Report **COMPLETED** A (Love) Bug's Life

Hi everyone!
Happy Mother's Day!!!
We just got back from Disney yesterday and it is cold and raining here so seems like a good time to start our TR!

Who?
My Mom (Mary), my Dad (Jeff) and myself (Megan)
This photo is from our trip last year

Where?
Grand Floridian - aside from a very brief stay at the Poly during a race weekend my Dad has never stayed at a Deluxe. So, with a nice AP discount we let him pick any place he wanted and he decided on the Grand

When?
May 3 - 11, 2019

Why?
No big reason - we usually go around this time every year to help with the depression of the never ending winter here at home (and its still cold BTW...)

The title?
We have seen love bugs before but we have NEVER seen this many. I know they don't bite or anything but they were everywhere and at times the amount of them was just disgusting. We could not even sit on our balcony and if we were by the pool the only place they did not bother us was in the water. Ew This is the very reason I do not live in Florida...bugs.

Day 1 May 3, 2019
Our flight was pretty early so I got up at like 2:20 am
My parents picked me up just before 3 and we were on our way! I ALWAYS email Southwest to ask what time their counters open and this time I forgot. So, we got there at 3:20 and it was not open...whoops

Everyone was lined up in the full service line but we waited by the self tag kiosks and we ended up being the first ones done with our luggage. Since it was so early the TSA pre-check line was not open yet so we had to go through regular security which is only annoying when you have have a computer and an iPad to drag out

Be prepared for my Dad not cooperating for photos

Around 4 am the food places open so we grabbed a bagel

I spy our plane

The time flew by at the airport and very quickly we were boarding the plane! Our flight was on time for once!
Gang is all here..

Next up: more travel

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 7 continued
After wandering around a bit we headed to check in for lunch at Chef Art Smith's. We were supposed to eat there around 1:00 after the water park but I easily moved it up to 11:45-ish
This was my Dad's first visit (theme of the trip?)

I always wanted to try the Bunch of Puppies (House-made hushpuppies served with pimento cheese and red jalapeño jelly) and I figured this was the trip to do it since my Dad would enjoy them too.

They were pretty tasty!
For lunch my Dad ordered the Art Burger (Two beef patties topped with American cheese, Art's special sauce, tomato-bacon jam, lettuce, tomato, onion and pickles on a brioche bun)

My Mom and I shared the fried chicken with Mac and cheese

Ok...I will start off saying that I was not super excited to come here to begin with. The last time we went there was last summer when I had very bad heartburn (like the worst I have ever had) and I just remember being miserable waiting for our table and our food because I knew once I got food I would feel better. Literally has nothing to do with the restaurant but its an association I have made in my mind. That being said, we really did not enjoy this meal. The Mac and cheese was good but the chicken was dry and stringy and my Dad's burger was just OK. I hate saying this because 2 years ago we were obsessed with this place but right now we are just over it. We ended up canceling our reservation for July. We all actually agreed the fried chicken we had at 50's Prime Time was better the day before
Anyway, after lunch we headed to Ghirardelli to get some ice cream.
My Mom and I shared the sea salt caramel sundae

I'm actually not sure why I was making this face But...it's very attractive....

Who knows what my Dad was doing either

We took an Uber home which was nice. Sometimes it just seems like too long of a walk to go all the way back to the other side for the buses
Back at the GF I did a bit of work and then we headed down to the pool
Hello buddy

Next up: more pool time

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 7 continued
We told my Dad about our game at the pool which is .... will the waiter notice us and ask us if we want a drink? To our surprise the waiter immediately noticed us and handed us menus. In this game you don't turn down the drink even if you don't really want one
P.S. there is a small chance that my Dad actually waved over the waiter when my Mom and I were not looking but we didn't see it so it still counts.
I got a cucumber and mint vojito (Ketel One Botanical Cucumber, Mint Vodka, Lime Juice and Pure Cane Sugar topped with Soda Water)

I think my Mom had a strawberry margarita

Our drinks were great...for a few minutes....UNTIL a lovebug flew in mine and we were done
My Mom stopped drinking hers too because you couldn't see well enough to see if there was one in there.
After the pool we went back to the room and got ready to head to Epcot

We headed to Figment first

Next up: more Epcot

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 7 continued

Oh, I should mention. We got a voicemail earlier in the day about an issue with checking out and a credit card. We went down to the concierge in the club level and it was just that my Mom's credit card was not set up for self check out or something. They "fixed" it. When my Mom went to buy something in the Figment gift shop she was unable to charge with her MB so clearly not fixed at all
We popped up to the DVC lounge for a minute to grab a quick drink

Then we headed to our next FP - The Seas

After our ride we stopped for a PP picture

This was our last evening in Epcot so my Mom and I needed to finish the Spike Bee Hunt so we worked on finishing our map

Next up: Day 7 continued

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 7 continued
As you can tell in the photos the sky was looking very ominous so we ended up cheating and looking up the rest of the answers online because we did not think we would make it back to World Showcase (we found over half so it kind of counts ).

We headed over to Port of Entry to turn it in - hello dark clouds

The prizes were patches like they were the year before too

We had one final FP so we headed over towards Test Track

Well...we were in the second half of the loading area when the ride shut down They told us we could wait or exit but really did not give us any way to actually exit so we stood around and waited.

Next up: more Epcot

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 7 continued

We ended up waiting over 40 minutes before they finally let us out. The radar showed the storm was supposed to linger for another hour so no reason to keep waiting. We actually headed out of Epcot after this because it was rainy and there was no way we would make it around World Showcase without slipping all over. I was a bit bummed because I missed out on a few things I still wanted to have at the festival booths but there's always another festival !
We were planning on eating dinner at the Electric Umbrella to get a "check" but because of the rain it was packed so we just ended up eating at Gasparilla Grill. Oh. I forgot we fixed the MB situation first - the CM could not figure out what happened but it all worked out in the end
I got a grilled cheese and tomato bisque again

My Dad got a roast beef sandwich (took two angles and still can't really see the roast beef)

My Mom got a cupcake

She also got a sausage pizza which took like 20 minutes to get to us so she was pretty full from the cupcake by the time she got it
I also forgot to take a picture of the pizza but my Mom said it was fine - nothing special but not bad either.
After our dinner we wandered around a bit
Lounge from above

Then we watched fireworks as usual

That's it! Off to bed after this!

Next up: Day 8 - last full day

 

[riverside]

We all actually agreed the fried chicken we had at 50's Prime Time was better the day before

I'm not a huge fan of fried chicken but I must say that I think 50's has some of the best fried chicken that I have ever had. It has been consistently good each time I've gone there. My sister really likes it also.

 

[LeighM]

My Dad especially loved the lobby (well who doesn't)

My husband. He did not like anything about Wilderness Lodge, including the lobby

 

[annienevells]

The multiple angle shots on the roast beef sandwich is something I TOTALLY do and made me laugh out loud

 

[LadyBelle]

I hate saying this because 2 years ago we were obsessed with this place but right now we are just over it. .

I've always thought that about some restaurants. That they become so popular, that they push quantity over quality and that the food suffers because of it.

 

[MickeyCB]

Very late to the TR party, but all caught up now and enjoying it very much!

 

[BrerWayne]

Great trip report as always. So disappointed to read about Homecoming. Was one of the places I wanted to go to on my next trip. Now I’m rethinking it. Those sundaes are always amazing though!

 

[Epcotfan21]

So sorry to hear about your Homecomin experience! We’ve been twice. Once for dinner and once for brunch and both were excellent.

 

[Doc Disney]

I'm not a huge fan of fried chicken but I must say that I think 50's has some of the best fried chicken that I have ever had. It has been consistently good each time I've gone there. My sister really likes it also.

I agree- its consistently good.

My husband. He did not like anything about Wilderness Lodge, including the lobby

What?! Really ?

 

[Doc Disney]

The multiple angle shots on the roast beef sandwich is something I TOTALLY do and made me laugh out loud

clearly not a professional photographer

I've always thought that about some restaurants. That they become so popular, that they push quantity over quality and that the food suffers because of it.

I hope thats not the case! I'm hoping it was just an off day

 

[Doc Disney]

Very late to the TR party, but all caught up now and enjoying it very much!

Yay! Thanks for reading !

Great trip report as always. So disappointed to read about Homecoming. Was one of the places I wanted to go to on my next trip. Now I’m rethinking it. Those sundaes are always amazing though!

My sister went to Homecoming a few weeks before us and she thought it was good so maybe its just a fluke.

 

[Doc Disney]

So sorry to hear about your Homecomin experience! We’ve been twice. Once for dinner and once for brunch and both were excellent.

Every other time I've been there its been good so who knows! Maybe just a bad day!

 

[Doc Disney]

May 10, 2019 Day 8
We got up around 7:30, ate some breakfast in the lounge (there were waffles again - two days in a row so there really is no pattern) and got ready to head to the Animal Kingdom.
My Mom did not want to get stawberries on her shirt

There were a ton of people waiting for an AK bus but 2 came in a row so we just waited for the second and no one else was on it
We got there before rope drop so we headed towards Africa.

We were on a mission to see baby Grace so we rope dropped Gorilla Falls

We stopped to see some meerkats along the way

So we saw baby Grace...kind of....
This is Mom - with her back to us but she had the baby tucked under so we saw glimpses of her.

I could have stayed there forever but we did have plans so we decided to head out.

Next up: more AK

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 8 continued

Our first FP was for Flight of Passage so we headed over there

After our wonderful ride we headed out of Pandora. We stopped for a PP picture

Then we headed towards Everest

Next up: more AK

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 8 continued

Then we headed over towards Africa again.
We stopped for a PP picture

We relaxed in the shade a bit while we waited for our Safari FP window to open

Then it was Safari time!

Hello friend...

Next up: more AK

 

[NessNewt]

Yea...it was weird everyone is so obsessed with that cheesecake !

I had the cheesecake last year (2018) and it was great. I had it again this year (2019) and it just wasn't as good.

I can't really put my finger on the difference - there were a few small changes to the plating but I can't imagine it would have such an effect. It's a bummer.