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!

 

[MinnieM123]

Absolutely love your F&G photos!!

Brad is smart to have a backup pair of eyeglasses--especially when your traveling away from home. Opticians always recommend that--same for contact lens wearers, too.

 

[LadyBelle]

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.

There are times where I’ve taken my glasses off because I’ve been too paranoid because if I did lose them, I’d be without a spare and would not be able to see. Other times, I would put on Croakies (eyewear retainer) so my glasses would stay on. Or at least in my mind they would.

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

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".

Guessing the g-forces keep them from falling off?
I love the magic shot with Orange Bird! Hope they offer that one when we go. I love the Figment shirt, and the Mickey and Orange Bird shirt too. Actually I love all the ones you took pictures of. What is a girl to do?

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Absolutely love your F&G photos!!

Brad is smart to have a backup pair of eyeglasses--especially when your traveling away from home. Opticians always recommend that--same for contact lens wearers, too.

Yeah, now he is smart it took losing (I actually think he was pick pocketed) his new prescription sunglasses at Disneyland Paris to from then on make sure he had back up glasses and sunglasses. And I think he was pick pocketed because they were in a black case which was sticking out of his pocket when we went into a store and when we came out of the store they were not in his pocket. We immediately went back into the store and searched and so did the cast members but it wasn't found. Our tour guides on our Normandy trip told us that Disneyland Paris is widely known for the pick pocketers. The annual pass is so cheap and people let their guard down at Disney that it makes sense.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Guessing the g-forces keep them from falling off?
I love the magic shot with Orange Bird! Hope they offer that one when we go. I love the Figment shirt, and the Mickey and Orange Bird shirt too. Actually I love all the ones you took pictures of. What is a girl to do?

Yep probably the g-forces! When I first read that I thought about Rock n Roller coaster and G-force records.

I'm sure they will still have the magic shot there, and we also got the Orange Bird in our shot on the bridge by the International Gateway with France in the background. The guy who did the magic shot that I shared on here told us that Chip was a magic shot in France and Mushu in China. We never got a photopass of us in China but we did get the Chip on.

As for the shirts, I understand your pain. It is so tough to choose which shirt to get when the designs are so awesome!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

It was time to head into World Showcase and start some munching. As we entered we started hearing loud music and saw a stage set up. The Steve Harvey show was filming episodes and it was the last day of filming. It was interesting to see set up, I guess, but I had no interest in attending the filming. I don't watch the show and we had some Flower and Garden food and drinks to try!

Our first stop at Flower and Garden for food was La Isla Fresca, and what a great stop it was! We got the Jamaican-braised Beef with Pigeon Pea Rice and Micro Cilantro which we enjoyed a lot but I let Brad eat over half of it because I got the cake which he had no interest in. The cake was Tropical Mousse Cake: Layers of Passion Fruit Cake, Coconut Mousse and a Tropical Fruit Glaze with Fresh Pineapple, and this was fantastic and a new favorite of mine.

To drink Brad got the Tropical Freeze with Cruzan Mango Rum, he liked this a lot because he really likes mango drinks. I thought it was good too. It did have pineapple chunks on the top as a decoration and he was getting frustrated with them so I fished them out and ate them so he could drink freely. I also almost got Brad to try my beer here. My beer was Golden Road Brewing Tart Mango Cart Wheat Ale, and it had a very strong and pleasant mango flavor. I really couldn't tell it was beer at all and when I told him that he was tempted to try but then chickened out. Fine by me as I didn't have to share!

Even though the above picture shows the food on a table we actually ate it on a bench across from the character meet and greet that used to have Duffy Bear.

Next stop was Mexico!

We got:
Pork Taco: Slow-braised Pork Taco served with Apple Relish, Goat Cheese and Chile de Árbol Sauce
Chilaquiles: Chilaquiles served with Chorizo, Mexican Cream and Cotija Cheese

Both were good, the apple really shown through on the tacos and Brad didn't care for that so I got to eat most of that. The Chilaquiles were really good. We planned an getting more another day but didn't. Now that makes me a little sad.

Then we went down what we call the tropics path and where the orchids are during F&G. There weren't as many orchids there are I remember there being last year, but perhaps they just needed a little more time to bloom. It was still lovely though.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

As we were leaving Mexico, Donald was doing his meet and greet and the line was only 3 small families. So we met Donald!

Our next fast pass was for Frozen and as we came out a cast member was greeting people with this concoction...Marshmallow dressed as Elsa. We thought it was hilarious and Brad wanted my picture with him.

In the shop I saw this coffee traveler mug I liked and I thought about buying it but forgot. Maybe next time.

We didn't get anything to eat in Norway but we did get some stuff in China. Spicy Meatballs with Crispy Tofu and Fried Chicken Dumplings with Peanut Sauce. The tofu was not crispy but the overall taste was okay. Hubs really liked the dumplings but there was cabbage in it so I just took a small taste of the peanut sauce and that was tasty. We ate it in the little garden area of China. That is our favorite spot.

A sign by the outpost.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

After China we were America bound so we could catch the Voices of Liberty.

We made a quick picture stop in Italy though.

We got to the American Adventure about a minute before the Voices of Liberty started. We both wanted to lean against a pillar so we ended up sitting on opposite sides of the rotunda area. Brad dis a Facebook live broadcast of it. IF you have read my reports before you know that my hubs and I (but especially Brad) love the Dapper Dans. The Voices are right up there for him too.

There were two guys on both ends that seemed familiar to me and about halfway through it hit me, they were Dapper Dans!

We watched the main show as well and enjoyed the new ending and version of the song. Although we both agreed we liked the old version of the song better.

After the show we went to the Smokehouse and shared some food.
Beef Brisket Burnt Ends and Smoked Pork Belly Slider with Garlic Sausage, Chorizo, Cheddar Fondue and House-made Pickle
Central 28 Brewing Company Sunshine Greetings Orange Hibiscus Wheat Ale

The pork belly slider was really good, we regretted sharing this. I also enjoyed the beer a lot too, it had just a hint of orange.

Beef Brisket Burnt Ends Hash with White Cheddar Fondue and Pickled Jalapeños
This had been a favorite of ours in the past, and it was good but not as good as the slider.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

After the Smokehouse we headed to our last fastpass.

Another cute shirt!

And even more F&G merch, this time Minnie style.

And our fast pass was for Spaceship Earth. As soon as we hit the top of the ride our screens rebooted and we never got to choose our own adventure.

And back on the bus to the Sports. I like looking at the advertisements.
Love the flower and garden sign.

But I could do without the Arie the Bachelor sign. We like watching the show but we didn't care for him as a Bachelor. He kind of had a creepy way about him that clearly is in this picture. He just has a creeper smile. Sorry.

 

[LisaBelle]

Love seeing Orange Bird on so much merchandise! The flowers are gorgeous! All these food pictures are killing me! The orange hibiscus wheat ale looks so refreshing. I love the grapefruit beer in Germany. Is the orange beer similar to that?

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

We relaxed at the hotel for a little while and then headed over to Disney Springs. Tonight was about meeting up with friends. One of my college roommates lives in the Tampa area and we hadn't seen each other for years so she was in town at Universal and agreed to meet up with us. Her husband couldn't make it as he was out of town on business and her kids are old enough that they stayed at Universal on their own for a couple hours. It was great to see her and catch up, hopefully we can meet up again sometime soon.

Anyway, we met for dinner at The Edison.

The food overall was good, but not wowing. We left satisfied and full but nothing was so spectacular that we were anxious to return. We agreed that maybe we would return for appetizers and drinks, and maybe to see the night time stuff. My friend had the burger and she liked it. I didn't take a picture of because I thought that might be a little creepy of me.

We got the clothesline bacon. This was good, but only four strips.

Hubs was excited.

I got the deviled eggs to share. They were good but had a lot of mustard flavor.

Brad got a rum and coke to drink and I decided to be adventurous and get a ginger mule. It was really good but smaller than I had expected. I could have taken it down with a few sips, but I was really thirsty at the time.

This was Brad's meatloaf and it was the best of the food. If we went again I would get this.

I got the fried chicken and it was okay. It was no Homecomin' fried chicken and needed a little zip like salt or pepper. Actually the guy at the next table asked me how it was and I told him what I just typed here and he didn't end up getting it. The mashed potatoes were good but could have used some gravy but I did ask for butter and that helped out. I should have asked for salt and pepper too. I think it is a little pretentious of restaurants to not put salt or pepper on the table.

After dinner we parted ways and Brad and I headed to Wilderness Lodge to meet up with some of his friends who were at WDW on their Spring Break.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Love seeing Orange Bird on so much merchandise! The flowers are gorgeous! All these food pictures are killing me! The orange hibiscus wheat ale looks so refreshing. I love the grapefruit beer in Germany. Is the orange beer similar to that?

I would say that the grapefruit beer has more of a pronounced citrus flavor to it. I would say that the grapefruit beer is a bit better.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

A last look at the Edison before heading out.

We ended up having a pretty scary bus ride to the Wilderness Lodge. We were the last ones let onto the bus and while there was plenty of room for people to step back and make some space people wouldn't. So even though we were supposed to be behind the yellow line the bus driver said if we could at least touch it with our foot he would let us ride. Well this bus driver was very trigger happy with the brake and broke quickly! There were a couple times we thought we would fall forward into the windshield or out the door! Luckily we made to to the Lodge safely and Brad's friends met us at the front entrance and we could see some of the fireworks going off.

Brad's friends are pastors (husband and wife) that he went to seminary with in St. Paul and they live over by Green Bay. So even though they live in the same state as us we haven't been able to see them in years either. So we walked down to Geyser Point and that place was lovely. While we had a drink with them at the lounge we say the end of Happily Ever After and the Electrical Water Pageant.

Brad and his friend had mai tais, you can kind of see his on the left of the picture. I had a Kona longboard. I can't remember what his other friend had.

After a nice time with them we headed to the Magic Kingdom. We had a romantic boat ride with just us in it.

We walked into the Magic Kingdom with about 2 minutes to close and it felt really strange to be entering with tons of people leaving. We had planned just to do pictures on Main Street and in front of the castle but decided to get in line to see Mickey. We walked into line and immediately they roped off the line.

I loved all the cool signs in the waiting area. These were magic ones that are animated.

 

[LisaBelle]

I would say that the grapefruit beer has more of a pronounced citrus flavor to it. I would say that the grapefruit beer is a bit better.

Good to know! Thanks!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

More of Mickey line signs and Mickey himself!

I thought this projection on the floor was pretty cool.

And in the area by Tony's Town Square.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

After meeting Mickey we took pictures up to the hub. I think we hit almost every photopass photographer with no wait.

And that's the end of Sunday March 11! Up next more Studios and Star Wars!

 

[LisaBelle]

Love those end of the night Photopass pics! Especially like the one of you sitting on the ground in front of the castle. The castle is even more beautiful at night.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Love those end of the night Photopass pics! Especially like the one of you sitting on the ground in front of the castle. The castle is even more beautiful at night.

Thanks! I like the ground one too, Brad actually took that one. By that time the photopassers had packed up.

 

[MinnieM123]

OMG--so much to say--more later. But while I have a minute here, I thought it was so much fun that you and Brad picked out 2 of the Dapper Dans in the Voice of Liberty group! I mean--who else would have spotted them in the group?!

 

[Songbird76]

Yeah, now he is smart it took losing (I actually think he was pick pocketed) his new prescription sunglasses at Disneyland Paris to from then on make sure he had back up glasses and sunglasses. And I think he was pick pocketed because they were in a black case which was sticking out of his pocket when we went into a store and when we came out of the store they were not in his pocket. We immediately went back into the store and searched and so did the cast members but it wasn't found. Our tour guides on our Normandy trip told us that Disneyland Paris is widely known for the pick pocketers. The annual pass is so cheap and people let their guard down at Disney that it makes sense.

Paris in general is known for pick-pockets. Someone tried to open my bag when we were in Paris a few years ago, but I was aware and thought it was weird that there was a huge wide staircase and there was no one around except for us and these 2 young guys, but instead of walking around us, they stayed in back of me, so I was paying close attention and I felt the zipper on my backpack. I turned around and off they ran. The pocket they got partially unzipped only had my guidebook and a little noteblock that I had phone numbers in, which they didn't want, so they got nothing from me. I was glad that I was smart enough not to keep anything valuable in the backpack and that was paying attention and followed my intuition that told me it was odd behavior for them to stay so close to me when there was so much room. Paris is known for stuff like that. That and street performers, where they will gather a crowd and while the crowd is watching, someone else goes and picks the pockets. Never stop for street performers there!!