Trip Report Florida Fresh Spring March 2018

Hello all and welcome to my trip report! I've been back for about a week but I've been slow to upload pictures and I actually caught a pretty nasty cold that has had me down the last couple of days.

So here's the intro:

Who: Me (Amy) and my husband (Brad)
Where are we from?: Northern Wisconsin (So were were definitely in need of some Florida sun.)
When: March 10-17, 2018
Resort: All Star Sports (we stay value because it is the cheapest and we can use that extra $$ for good food and drinks)

Start of the journey:

We actually started our trip on Friday March 9 and drove up to Minneapolis and stayed at a hotel near the airport. Our flight was leaving early in the morning and we didn't want to have drive early in the morning to the airport. So we relaxed at the Hilton by the airport and had a nice dinner at the Mall of America. We did have a crazy experience at the pool area here...we were just getting into the pool and we saw a pre-teen girl get out of the hot tub and was walking quickly (not running) towards the pool and she slipped and her head banged like a basketball on the pool area floor. It was pretty horrifying. I was about to get out of the pool and go help her but her parents were there and helped her and got medical help. So that put a little bit of a damper on what turned out to be our only pool time of the trip but I'm sure the girl had a worse time of it then we did.

Me with my first beer of the trip at the Mall of America. It was a Surly Furious, a local brew.

Relaxing at the Hilton with a drink. A fancy rum and Coke for hubs and a Grain Belt (another Minnesota beer) for me. This was at about 7:30-8pm and we were basically falling asleep.

At the airport bright and early for our flight! The Caribou coffee place wasn't open yet, but I like their coffee so much better than Dunkin', Starbucks, or even McDonald's so I waited about 15 minutes for it to open before heading to the gate.

All aboard! We splurge a little bit and always get the big front seat when we fly with Spirit, it is almost like first class but without the booze and the meal.

Bye bye!

 

[Songbird76]

It was time to check into Jiko for our dinner. I had heard a lot of good things about this place but hubs never wanted to try it, well this trip I just booked it and told him we were going. And this place made us so sad, that is so sad we hadn't gone here before! It was fantastic!

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My African beer from Namibia
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The view from our table.
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A peek at the menu
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For appetizers we ordered the bread service and the wild boar tenderloin. I can't tell you how the wild boar was because we never got it. We didn't realize it until our entrees came, it was kind of funny. But in the end we didn't miss it we left stuffed and couldn't even get dessert!

Here is the regular bread that comes with the meal.View attachment 272409


And our bread service. One of the best things is hidden which is goat butter. Oh so good! The only spread we could have done without was the mango, it was too sweet for us.
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This was my meal:

Snake River Farms Wagyu Strip Loin
Bobotie Macaroni and Cheese, Grilled Delta Asparagus, Kachumbari, South African Red Wine Sauce
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Brad's meal:
Botswana Seswaa-style Beef Short Rib
Cassava-Potato Purée, Sambal, Mushrooms

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We liked it all but I think Brad's short rib was a little better than my entree.

A blurry look at the wine rack as we rolled out of there.
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Bye Jiko! We will be back!
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That asperagus looks suspiciously like Brussels Sprouts....

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

The flight went fine and we landed about 30 minutes early, so that is always ALRIGHT with me!

We usually enter the airport on the side of the Earport but we were over by the other WDW store and there was a heavy load of people around us so I only got this blurry shot.
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Magical Express wasn't insane at all. I thought it would be super crowded on a Saturday in spring break season but we ended up waiting less than 10 minutes to get on a bus and left shortly after boarding.

We always take these nerdy shots in the ME area.
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I was going to watch the video but shortly after Gus gave his safety announcements the feed cut so I pulled out a book. My husband thought it was super geeky that I was reading a book about the Haunted Mansion on the way to WDW. But hey, that is me...super geeky.
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Soon I could see paradise in the front window....
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And then we were there! Hurrah!

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We had done online check-in and had not gotten a notice about our room. There wasn't anyone in line when we walked in so we checked in and made a request about our room location and I put some gift cards on our account. They also offered us the deal for not taking housekeeping. I know it is a little controversial on here about taking it vs not taking it, but we decided to take money and run. We are fairly neat people and don't tend to make a mess so the $60 we got was used for food at Flower and Garden. It worked out fine for us. We called the third day in and got a more towels and soap (they brought a big bag of shampoos and soap). I plan to do this again when we go in July. However we will be there longer so we will probably schedule a couple days for our room to have a good clean.

So with that all taken care of we made our way to the bus stop and to our first park.
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Finally made my way over here! Looks like I have a lot to catch up on.

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

Oh before we headed out of AK we did cruise through the one of the stores and I took some pictures of merchandise I liked but wasn't necessarily going to buy. It is so much cheaper this way! Especially since I like so much of it!!! We were also on the look out for the aunt of a friend of ours, she works in this store so we were going to say hi, but she wasn't working that day.

This might be my new Friday post picture on Facebook!
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Gotta love the tea cups!
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Seeing this made me sad because I took this in the few days Disney decided to get rid of the Citrus Swirl, which I love. I thought I would have to eat that new orange/vanilla concoction. Luckily the real citrus swirl came back!
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So many shirts. So not enough money, although the 20% AP discount is helpful. It always takes me a lot of willpower to not buy shirts.

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

That asperagus looks suspiciously like Brussels Sprouts....

I thought so too, and they looked delicious!

 

[Songbird76]

I thought so too, and they looked delicious!

Yes they do! We had sprouts with dinner tonight! I would take those over asparagus any day, though I do like asparagus too.

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

Yes they do! We had sprouts with dinner tonight! I would take those over asparagus any day, though I do like asparagus too.

They looked roasted with a balsamic glaze maybe?

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

That poor girl. I hope she was ok!!
I have a question....I love the idea of getting the gift cards for giving up mousekeeping, but we stay for about 2 weeks...I know you can get towels and soap and stuff, but how do you do trash? I don't need anyone to come in and make the beds or anything, but I would want the trash emptied....how does that work? Do you set it outside your door, or bring it to a dumpster of some sort, or do you just have to deal with it until you check out?

Good question about the trash. I would assume if you put it outside the door they would take it or you could probably call to have it taken. With just the two of us we didn't fill up any of the trash cans. We will be there for 2 weeks again in July and plan to take the deal again for most of the stay if it is offered to us. I think we will arrange for a couple days of a full room clean then. We were told if we wanted a room clean then they would just add $10 back onto our bill because you get the full amount on your gift card right away.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

That asperagus looks suspiciously like Brussels Sprouts....

Yeah it was sprouts, which I don't like but I don't like asparagus either so it didn't bother me.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I thought so too, and they looked delicious!

Yes they do! We had sprouts with dinner tonight! I would take those over asparagus any day, though I do like asparagus too.

They looked roasted with a balsamic glaze maybe?

Sprouts =

Asparagus =

If there was a glaze it might have been some of the red wine reduction, which the reduction sauce was .

 

[Gabe1]

After the safari we wandered to Expedition Everest.

Found this cute picture of a good pal.
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Brad fought through the children to play the drums.
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Had a nice ride on Everest. We did wonder though if there is a name for the Yeti? The Matterhorn's yeti is Harold, but does AK's yeti have a name? If not we should name him.
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Then we made our way out of the park and did a tree selfie.
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I have to love the big genuine smile on Brads face always.

Question: Duly noted the glasses on Everest. I always take mine off....do you guys always leave glasses on attractions? Learning curve.

Oh before we headed out of AK we did cruise through the one of the stores and I took some pictures of merchandise I liked but wasn't necessarily going to buy. It is so much cheaper this way! Especially since I like so much of it!!! We were also on the look out for the aunt of a friend of ours, she works in this store so we were going to say hi, but she wasn't working that day.

This might be my new Friday post picture on Facebook!
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Gotta love the tea cups!
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Seeing this made me sad because I took this in the few days Disney decided to get rid of the Citrus Swirl, which I love. I thought I would have to eat that new orange/vanilla concoction. Luckily the real citrus swirl came back!
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I really love that first batch of T-shirts. Some of my most favorite stores are at AK. I tend to buy the most stuff there.

 

[MinnieM123]

Question: Duly noted the glasses on Everest. I always take mine off....do you guys always leave glasses on attractions? Learning curve.

I also have the exact same question for @ajrwdwgirl . If I wear regular eyeglasses or sunglasses, I've always taken them off, because I was afraid with the speed and angles the coaster takes, that they'd fly off my face during the ride. Apparently this is not the case?

 

[Songbird76]

I also have the exact same question for @ajrwdwgirl . If I wear regular eyeglasses or sunglasses, I've always taken them off, because I was afraid with the speed and angles the coaster takes, that they'd fly off my face during the ride. Apparently this is not the case?

Yes, I've been wondering that myself. I just got glasses for the first time ever in January...I was wondering about whether or not I should wear them on rides. I'd hate to lose them, or scratch them, etc.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I have to love the big genuine smile on Brads face always.

Question: Duly noted the glasses on Everest. I always take mine off....do you guys always leave glasses on attractions? Learning curve.



I really love that first batch of T-shirts. Some of my most favorite stores are at AK. I tend to buy the most stuff there.

Brad always leaves his glasses on all rides and I leave my sunglasses on if it is a ride that is going to be outside (unless it is night time). We haven't ever had a problem with them. Even on the "wildest ride in the wilderness".

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I also have the exact same question for @ajrwdwgirl . If I wear regular eyeglasses or sunglasses, I've always taken them off, because I was afraid with the speed and angles the coaster takes, that they'd fly off my face during the ride. Apparently this is not the case?

We haven't ever had a problem with them coming loose. I guess I would be "ok" if I lost my sunglasses, but Brad's are prescription so he would be more in a pickle, but he does pack a back up pair ever since he lost a pair in Paris. I would say if they fit your face well it should be fine. But then there is always the phrase better safe than sorry.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Okay, finally a real update... Still for Sunday March 11 but now we have transferred to Epcot!

So beautiful with Spaceship Earth and the topiaries.

Usually there are photopassers out in front but there were not this time. We found them on the sides of the topiary display. Maybe it was getting too backed up at the entrance. But we got a great magic shot!

Then next stop bathroom....with flowers! I thought of @Tuvalu right away when I saw the bathroom flowers, I hope that isn't too weird. I did get some strange looks because the bathroom was full of people. But I'm used to strange looks!

I asked Brad if there were flowers in his bathroom. He was really confused until I showed him the picture. And he said no, no flowers. He didn't notice any for the rest of the trip either and I think he was a little jealous. I only noticed the flowers in the bathroom thing in Future World at Epcot. Nice touch I guess.

 

[Zipadeelady]

Okay, finally a real update... Still for Sunday March 11 but now we have transferred to Epcot!

So beautiful with Spaceship Earth and the topiaries.
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Usually there are photopassers out in front but there were not this time. We found them on the sides of the topiary display. Maybe it was getting too backed up at the entrance. But we got a great magic shot!
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Then next stop bathroom....with flowers! I thought of @Tuvalu right away when I saw the bathroom flowers, I hope that isn't too weird. I did get some strange looks because the bathroom was full of people. But I'm used to strange looks!
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I asked Brad if there were flowers in his bathroom. He was really confused until I showed him the picture. And he said no, no flowers. He didn't notice any for the rest of the trip either and I think he was a little jealous. I only noticed the flowers in the bathroom thing in Future World at Epcot. Nice touch I guess.

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If I didn't know about @Tuvalu already I'd be one of those people giving you odd looks too. Now when I see something like that I just nod my head with a smile and say "Tuvalu". It doesn't even need to be flowers in a bathroom, it can be anything in everyday life.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I really liked this topiary display this year I think it tells a fun story.

Then it was off to use a fast pass for Livin' with the Land. I always love this ride, but I love it even more in the Spring. Coming from the long cold and blah Wisconsin winter seeing these beautiful greenhouses full of flowers and vegetables is just stunning!

I would have loved to see this Mickey in another week, you can start to see a pink flower on the side, so I'm sure it would going to really be blooming later.

Brad stopped to tie his show and I decided the background and him would make a very nice picture.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

If I didn't know about @Tuvalu already I'd be one of those people giving you odd looks too. Now when I see something like that I just nod my head with a smile and say "Tuvalu". It doesn't even need to be flowers in a bathroom, it can be anything in everyday life.

Yep!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Time for more flowers and butterflies!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

We saw a lot of butterflies flying around but I was only able to capture one. My picture of it turned out a little blurry but I think that is because as I was snapping it a kid standing next to me tried to grab it.

Some of the F & G merch!

Mickey AND Orange Bird?! Yes please! I am the proud owner of this shirt.

This one was cute too, but didn't make it in my suitcase.

This was a cute tote bag too, but I have totes coming out the whazoo at home so I passed.

I really like the figments on this one, but alas I passed on this design as well. Spoiler...I only bought the Mickey and Orange bird shirt. I mean I bought other stuff but that was the only F & G shirt.

Loved this one! But the design was on the back. I hate when shirts have the cool design on the back because then I can't see it. What's the point of that!?

And a look at the gorgeous flower quilt.