Trip Report Flood here, Flood There

Well, HELLLOOOOO There!

I promise to post lots of pictures in this trip report, once I figure out HOW to get them from my phone to the computer.
I also promise to FINISH this trip report...I know, I know, that's a big commitment, but this teacher is still on summer break and can make it happen!

In April of 2021, DH and I were planning to go home to Seattle to visit my family. We were really looking forward to it. But rental car prices were out the wazoo at $750 a week, even on the discounted sites. So I was thinking that Seattle may not happen. Fast-forward to May 20, 2021. There was a mega flood at my mom's house in Seattle and the kitchen/living room needed renovations that still won't be done till Labor Day.

Where can we go last minute that doesn't require us driving any motor vehicles for a week? Oh, AND we can use our RCI timeshare to STAY ON PROPERTY?!!!!!!!!!

OLD KEY WEST----HERE WE COME!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm really excited to try out OKW, as I've only been to Olivia's.

We booked the trip at 62 days out and got all the dining reservations we wanted at 60 days--yay!
Of course, this means we are getting up BEFORE DAWN tomorrow to go to the airport on the cheapest flight of the day but hey, anything for a week of DISNEY MAGIC!!!

I may change the title of my trip reports but I've been in the WORLD enough to know when it rains, certain areas become quite flooded---the Epcot Entrance, especially (at least in 2014!)

 

[Katiekitten]

I love Larry Dodson's prints I remember buying one from Epcot and having him sign it. I'm following along!

 

[Darstarr]

and since S doesn't read this, I can tell you I bought the Aulani print, too.

 

[ArmoredRodent]

From the biographic paragraph at the end of your post (I don't know what to call that paragraph):

"I said I would be the Ellie to his Carl for life." Very nicely said.

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

awwww, thanks @ArmoredRodent

Here are the Larry Dotson Prints we got. The Animal Kingdom one is for my Mother-in-Law.

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

Dinner at The Edison was wonderful. S had never tried Candied Bacon before and really enjoyed it! I liked it but it was a little too peppery for me. We both ordered Grilled Cheese and tomato soup. S loved how there were a variety of cheeses on the sandwich!

S is a man of very few superlatives ... proving the adage "opposites attract." In any case, S said the candied bacon was "Awesome, I want 15 more pieces!" Which is very, very high praise coming from him.

C ordered a salad, which I did not get pictures of.

For drinks, I ordered a raspberry lemon drop, which was delicious and a chocolate martini---for my second round. S had the cider, which he loved.

We don't often order dessert at WDW but we decided to order the dessert here. I just looked their menu up and I didn't see it on the menu but it was sure there last week! It was Neapolitan ice cream in a hard chocolate shell and it was sooo delicious!!! C got the key lime pie and really enjoyed it.

We were overlooking the stage and there were three singers that came out a couple of times for about 15 minutes each time to sing a bit. That was enjoyable and I loved that we could all have a real conversation in between.

I thought I'd gotten a pic of the women singing on stage, but apparently, I didn't.

 

[BigDis]

Joining the cool kids club and following along!

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

Joining the cool kids club and following along!

So glad you're here.

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

After our amazing dinner and dessert, we headed back to our room. We'd gotten the room ready text just before dinner so we were eager to see it, having never been to OKW.

We requested the Peninsular building but got Hospitality House instead. Honestly, we LOVED the location of the Hospitality House rooms. Close to everything!

I hope these room pictures do it justice. I don't think I take quite as many room pics as @riverside and @Tuvalu

The one bedroom was huge and it even had a separate jacuzzi room with a second sink. We all know how amazing second sinks can be when getting ready in the morning! Not sure why I took a picture of the vacuums, I barely vacuum at home...no way would I do it on vacation!! I have a pic of the living room somewhere, I'll see if I can find it.

 

[LisaBelle]

The Larry Dotson prints are awesome! I have one of Wilderness Lodge, which is our favorite resort. I would love to meet him. I’ve looked at some of his other prints online, but am kind of holding out til our next trip to WDW.

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

The Larry Dotson prints are awesome! I have one of Wilderness Lodge, which is our favorite resort. I would love to meet him. I’ve looked at some of his other prints online, but am kind of holding out til our next trip to WDW.

Glad to find a fellow fan! For the last few years, we've only been able to find his prints during his signings. We used to see them all over the parks. So make sure to check his website and hopefully he will be doing a signing/selling while you are at WDW!

 

[macefamily]

We are back from a very busy and hot week in The World!

We woke up at 2:45 am (because we really like those cheap flights) and made our way to the airport. I know a bunch of us take those early-morning flights to maximize our time in the World... @Doc Disney @fractal and I know @Tuvalu and @brifraz start their drives super early sometimes!

S and I made it to the airport and we were off to the magic!

After an uneventful flight, S's sister, C picked us up at MCO and just before noon we were soon seeing this sign!

********apologies if my pictures are blurry, the ones I'm uploading here sure weren't blurry when I took them!*********

I hear you about those early flights. We take a 6:05AM out of Philly to MCO. We live about 2.5 hours from the Philly airport so we're on the road about 2:00 AM. Last trip we were driving to Disney by 9:30 AM from MCO. We got back to our room at 11:00 PM at the end of day one. 22 hour day.
The good thing is that the roads are pretty much clear of any traffic on the trip to the airport, and your first day at Disney actually feels like you've spent two days there already.

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

I hear you about those early flights. We take a 6:05AM out of Philly to MCO. We live about 2.5 hours from the Philly airport so we're on the road about 2:00 AM. Last trip we were driving to Disney by 9:30 AM from MCO. We got back to our room at 11:00 PM at the end of day one. 22 hour day.
The good thing is that the roads are pretty much clear of any traffic on the trip to the airport, and your first day at Disney actually feels like you've spent two days there already

Exactly! I think we were up about 22 hours our first day this trip, too. At least you don't have any traffic on the way to the airport! Yes, you feel like you have some serious "extra Disney time" with the long first day!

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

For our first full day in the parks, we awoke early and hit Animal Kingdom! Rope Drop for S and me has never really been possible and we are okay with that meaning longer lines. We still got to AK before 9, though. We went straight to the Safari's in hopes that we could see some animals before it got too hot!

These are some of the quick shots I got on the Safari's. I do love the hippos, even though I've only ever seen a hippo move through the water once.

I didn't snap a picture in time but the driver said the flamingo island is in the shape of Mickey. I'd either never heard that or never managed to remember that info in all my previous Safari trips.

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

After the Safari's, we had breakfast reservations at: Tusker House! While waiting to check in, I noticed another Hidden Mickey in the window of the tower just behind the waiting area....

We actually didn't have to wait past our time to be seated and were escorted right away to our table. The mimosas weren't just ANY mimosas, they were: Passion, Orange and Guava (POG) mimosas. C really loves these and I pretty much just love all mimosas.

We had an awesome server named Neil who had been at Disney almost 30 years!!
We noticed Tusker House was less crowded than we'd ever seen it and Neil said their reservations have been way, way down in June and July. He thinks it has something to do with the family style serving and the price. I think he's right.

Of course, character pics could be an issue, too but based on our experience, we think it's the new menu.

Neil was really friendly and kept asking the three of us what we liked about the food, what we would change. We were really friendly and respectful, we aren't the complaining type at all. Since Neil was asking, it was great to be able to share our thoughts. We said the black and white bread--it's supposed to look like a paw print but just is lacking any flavor at all. The chips and dip Neil brought us after a bit of a conversation about the food in general and he wanted us to try them.

I put in a couple of the characters because: a) Daisy @Tuvalu <3 <3 and B) Goofy just to show you that the characters are really stopping and trying to interact with every table even though we can't go up to them yet.

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

Following along
We love that Art store and always find something we love. Browsing those stores at DS is a past time we enjoy too.
We do early flights, too. We get up at 3am to get to our 5am flight to MPLS, then another flight to MCO and arrive at 1pm or so. We are tired but Happy! Can't wait for more.......

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

Following along
We love that Art store and always find something we love. Browsing those stores at DS is a past time we enjoy too.
We do early flights, too. We get up at 3am to get to our 5am flight to MPLS, then another flight to MCO and arrive at 1pm or so. We are tired but Happy! Can't wait for more.......

Glad you're here!

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

After Tusker House, we went to FOP to get a return time (about 2.5 hours but at least we have a return time). After that, we headed to Dinosaur. Even though I'd ridden Dinosaur in Nov of 2020, I'd forgotten just HOW DARK parts of that ride can get. It's a pretty simple ride, I think I love it just for the thrill of not getting eaten by the DINO. I'm really not sure why I love it so much, it's just pure FUN, I guess.

After Dinosaur, we headed to EVEREST. The line said about 50 minutes and I think we were on in about 25. The line moved almost constantly. It was hot but I do love the fans they sprinkle throughout the queue. Poor C, she got the front row. She really didn't want the front row and neither did I! The worst part is when you stop on top of the mountain and wait to go backwards. That's the only time the front is just too much for me.

I just read that the track on EVEREST is shaped like Mickey. No wonder it has all those curves at the end!

We loved the DINO merch shirt at the exit to the ride. I heard they've now taken out ALL the dino merch, which I'm surprised by. There really wasn't much other than two tee-shirts, specific to the Dino ride in there. It seemed like much more of a general merch store.

I can't remember where the drinking fountain is that I took a picture of, I want to say by Creature Comforts or one of the stores on Discovery Island. I loved all the amazing details and don't think any other park has a drinking fountain this well-themed (but maybe there's a really cool Star Wars one that I'm missing?)

After Dinosaur and Everest, we hit the Jungle trails and saw our favorite gorilla family! We were really too far back to get any good pictures (mine turned out blurry) and it was very crowded. There was a 5-day-old Gorilla baby out there! Mom had the baby pretty shadowed by her body so it was even harder to see.

While we were watching the gorilla's some lady screamed "The mom has the baby on the nip!" LOUDLY. VERY LOUDLY. C, S and I just looked at each other and started laughing. Ummmm, thank you Captain Obvious?


Then it was off to FOP, where we waited about 20 minutes and really enjoyed our Flight through Pandora. I DID NOTICE that on the first drop right as the show begins, on the left hand side, there's a giant waterfall. Halfway down the waterfall are a couple of Hidden Mickey's on a little platform of land.

I love finding random Hidden Mickeys.

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

After FOP, we went here:

C really wanted to see some of the Food and Wine fest and S was really excited about seeing the Epcot Fireworks.

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

Once in Epcot, we hit Spaceship Earth---no line close to 4pm!! S really loved how they brought back the original fountain to the park. I'm not sure if it's original or not, but it was there when he was a kid and he's excited it's back. We rode: Mission Space and then onto Test Track. This is a pic of the crazy designed car from Test Track that S and C designed. It got bigger and ended up with giant hubcaps and stars on it. They were having a good time laughing.

We got on Test Track and just after we did the speed test, we got stopped, just inside. They were trying to pull another car onto the track but the car wouldn't move. We could see the new car and the Engineer standing over the car trying to get it to work. I think we were sitting in the car for about 20 minutes and then they finally came to evacuate us!! I've never been evacuated from a ride before so it was a little thrilling to me. Since we were the third car from the exit, we didn't have far to walk. At the exit, they gave us fastpasses for "any ride but Frozen." I think the pictures of the stalled car are on hubby's phone. If I find them, I will add them.



With that, we headed over to the Season's pavilion.

While riding on The Land, we heard again and again "please remain inside your vehicle..." Our boat was well-behaved but I guess other boats may not have been...

At this point, it's about 6 pm and we haven't even touched Food and Wine yet...

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

We finally made it out to World Showcase after all that and we went ..... RIGHT, THROUGH CANADA.
S had talked about the "cheddar soup" in Canada for the Food and Wine fest. He'd had it last year and really loved it. But he passed on it Sunday night....Our first stop was looking at the France kiosks and their champagne options. C and I would be all for some great champagne but....we couldn't justify waiting and waiting for champagne in a really long line.

We ended up getting the Lobster Roll at Hops and Barley off to the side of the America pavilion. We got lucky and found a table under a tree in the pavilion. The lobster roll was delicious--says this seafood-loving gal who is trapped in a landlocked state.

Also, I found Remy on top of the Hops and Barley building near the America Pavilion.

After the lobster roll, I got a lemon granita in Italy--it was good, not $14 good, but decent. I was actually surprised that most of the pricing for the Food and Wine fest wasn't way overpriced (this drink being the exception).

C had a brat and beer in Germany and we sat in the German courtyard for a bit. It was about 8:30 pm when we finished and we headed to find a decent spot for the fireworks. We ended up between Mexico and the Friendship Boat dock, right on the fence for a perfect view of the show.

S, C and I loved just seeing Fireworks at Epcot again. After the show, we sat and waited and waited for the park to clear out. I think we only waited about 15-20 minutes after the show ended to make our way to the front of the park, but even waiting that long really helped us not be in the middle of the mad crowds.

Next up....ON THE HUNT at EPCOT and FINALLY to MK!!

Oh, I found the pic of the Test Track car that caused our Evac....