Trip Report Cycling through Celebration, a cream cheese covered remote and the Closed Wallet Rebellion of 2016.

So last week we spent seven nights in a one-bedroom at Saratoga Springs Resort in the Congress Park section. We like Congress Park and have stayed in that section before. The walk over to Disney Springs is fun and since the new section just opened with several new shops and restaurants, we walked over several times during the week.
I think the first evening there is when I declared the wallet closed and decided to try to save a dollar or two this trip. What started it was sticker shock at some of the prices I was seeing.
But let's start at the beginning and I'll go into more detail later.
We got an early start and arrived to WDW via the 535 entrance to Hotel Plaza Blvd.:

 

[Zipadeelady]

You may not go to the Parks @epcotisbest but you write some of my favorite reports!!

Also, that farmers market looks great. We will have two days in Orlando before we go to the Parks and I'm thinking I would love to go to there. Our down days are Friday and Saturday though. Hopefully they will expand their hours.

 

[TheMouseFan]

Wow, love the pics of Celebration! I will definitely have to try to make it there on one of our adult only trips! (Unfortunately, I have no idea when one of those is going to happen!!) Loving your report and can't wait to read more!

 

[ScarletBegonias]

What a trip report so far! Loving all the pics. Celebration is beautiful!

and that sandwich on the last page looks SO GOOD!

 

[epcotisbest]

You may not go to the Parks @epcotisbest but you write some of my favorite reports!!

Also, that farmers market looks great. We will have two days in Orlando before we go to the Parks and I'm thinking I would love to go to there. Our down days are Friday and Saturday though. Hopefully they will expand their hours.

Thank you for the kind words. More of my TR coming up.

 

[epcotisbest]

Wow, love the pics of Celebration! I will definitely have to try to make it there on one of our adult only trips! (Unfortunately, I have no idea when one of those is going to happen!!) Loving your report and can't wait to read more!

Thank you. We like going over to Celebration. Thanks for reading along.

 

[epcotisbest]

What a trip report so far! Loving all the pics. Celebration is beautiful!

and that sandwich on the last page looks SO GOOD!

Thank you. We ate in the room a lot more this trip than ever before. Thanks for reading.

 

[epcotisbest]

So after lunch with the fresh guacamole and salsa, we spent the rest of Sunday by the pool, reading and relaxing. This is the pathway over to the Paddock Pool.

 

[epcotisbest]

Kids splash area at Paddock Pool:

 

[epcotisbest]

Later we would head back over to the main pool where I saw this sign and decided what we would do that evening:

 

[epcotisbest]

Somehow we never managed to watch the new Star Wars movie when it opened so watching it at SSR on the outdoor screen seemed like a good idea. They passed out big bags of Pop Secret Star Wars themed popcorn. Mine was Chewbacca:

 

[epcotisbest]

Unfortunately, about half way through, I looked over at my wife and she was sound asleep. I nudged her awake and we made our way back to the room and turned in. Still have not seen the new Star Wars movie.
I will share some evening photos I snapped while waiting for the movie to start.

 

[epcotisbest]

 

[epcotisbest]

So the next morning, I got up early and made breakfast. Eggs, sausage, ham and bagels with cream cheese and jam. Trying to be quiet, I found a local channel's early morning news to watch the weather forecast. As I took the bagel out of the toaster, I quickly spread cream cheese on one half, then reached for the other half and absent-mindedly picked up the television remote instead and promptly spread a big ole dollop of cream cheese all over the remote.
I spent the next 10 minutes trying to clean the thing, as I did a good job of spreading the cream cheese. Hey, you want your remote to have an even layer don't you? I tried hard to get it all out of the nooks and crannies, but I doubt I got it all, and probably somewhere at SSR, there is a remote that is starting to smell a little strange.

 

[epcotisbest]

After a hearty breakfast, we were the first ones at the pool Monday morning. A good time to hit the pools early, as everyone else is headed to the parks. Of course, if you get there too early they have not opened the pool yet.

 

[epcotisbest]

Lunch was a big ole salad and rotisserie chicken. I have been making an effort to eat better and continued that effort on this trip. Now, the salad portion size is a bit big, and I always use too much dressing, but my sugar numbers are coming down, so there is some success.

 

[epcotisbest]

Later, we would head back over to Disney Springs to wander aimlessly. No real schedule or destination, just wandering.

 

[epcotisbest]

Saw several people enjoying the amphicar rides, but at $125, I can't see myself ever doing this, even during a trip when the wallet has not been closed.

 

[epcotisbest]

 

[epcotisbest]

The Boathouse is nice:

 

[epcotisbest]