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!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Oh I guess I could share Brad's flavor. I was sure he would get the chocolate peanut butter one, as that is his go to. But he surprised me and got butter brickle or something like that. It was good but no Oatmeal Cookie!

It was very windy but sitting in the sun it wasn't too bad. It was relaxing. I even enjoyed some little birdies snuggling the boardwalk.

After that we went over to the Dolphin to pick up our ride. It was incredibly windy and the wind was blowing water off the big fountain they have over the entry. Luckily one side was out of the way and we entered dry.

After picking up the car we headed over to the outlets at Vineland to go to the Disney Character Warehouse. There were some okay things but not a huge haul. I don't remember where I took a picture of this. I assume the outlet because it is the next picture on my camera after the car but it seems like it would be too new. Anyway, I know I didn't buy it but the design was cool.

Coming up: Brad get's his way and we finally have dinner at the Boathouse. I do not like seafood, so I've been putting it off as long as possible.

 

[Kiwiduck]

$50 to get ice cream delivered shows a very deep commitment to ice cream.

 

[Tiggerlovr90]

I am enjoying your pictures and report. Thank you for sharing.

 

[Songbird76]

Actually we were also headed to the Dolphin to pick up a car rental. We were going to visit my dad the next day who lives about 1 1/2 hours north of Orlando. But Ample Hills is so close to the Dolphin, how could we not stop?

A couple pictures of construction while we were waiting for the boat.
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And a cool little duck.
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On the boat!
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And by the time we got to the Boardwalk, there was room for ice cream. We tried a few flavors at Ample Hills but I knew all along what I wanted.
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The Oatmeal Lace ice cream. Oh so delicious! I might have done a little happy dance after tasting it. I have done my research and I see I can order it on line from Ample Hills, but there is a $50 delivery charge. I haven't hit the point yet where I need to order it...yet. But it is nice to know that it is an option.

Look, it is so beautiful!
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I just read something in here and I want to see if I read it correctly, because if I did, you have just solved a major planning issue I've been having. Am I correct in my understanding that you can actually rent a car at the Dolphin? And is that just for a day, or can you rent it longer? If you have a link, I would be greatful. Then I don't have to take over your thread with car rental questions!

 

[Gabe1]

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.
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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.
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Hubs was excited.
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I got the deviled eggs to share. They were good but had a lot of mustard flavor.
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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.
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This was Brad's meatloaf and it was the best of the food. If we went again I would get this.
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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.
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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.

I find that pretentious also. From all the reviews I've read Edison seems to have an awesome atmosphere appears to lack the quality food that the price should demand. I've heard that comment about their bartenders too...small glasses, lots of ice and fruit, very little liquid. Friends said they had to leave because if they stayed like they planned they would have had a huge bar tab. Disappointing. Hope they get it together.

 

[Gabe1]

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?!

Nobody...well maybe...ahem... @TrolleyFollower91 and @Tuvalu

 

[Longers]

Just caught up and love the picture of you sitting on main street - obviously also loving the ice cream photo

As we didn’t have a car we didn’t get to an6 outlets or character warehouse this trip but normally we have to go and have a look.

I love looking through everyone’s photos - while some are normally the same it’s interesing to see new ones or different angles.

 

[MinnieM123]

I just read something in here and I want to see if I read it correctly, because if I did, you have just solved a major planning issue I've been having. Am I correct in my understanding that you can actually rent a car at the Dolphin? And is that just for a day, or can you rent it longer? If you have a link, I would be greatful. Then I don't have to take over your thread with car rental questions!

Yes, you can rent a car there. Check out the National Car Rental and Alamo web sites for WDW Dolphin, car rental.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

$50 to get ice cream delivered shows a very deep commitment to ice cream.

I know that $50 delivery charge is a little hard to swallow (no pun intended) but if I have to go on a break from visiting WDW in the future it might be a consideration.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I am enjoying your pictures and report. Thank you for sharing.

Thanks for reading and following along!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I just read something in here and I want to see if I read it correctly, because if I did, you have just solved a major planning issue I've been having. Am I correct in my understanding that you can actually rent a car at the Dolphin? And is that just for a day, or can you rent it longer? If you have a link, I would be greatful. Then I don't have to take over your thread with car rental questions!

Yes you can rent from Alamo at the Dolphin for as long as you need the car. I think National was the other rental car agency at the Dolphin too (they use the same desk). The desk hours are only from 8am to 4pm, but no matter what time you return the car you give the keys and get a receipt from the valet of the Dolphin anyway. We have also rented a car from Dollar located at the Lake Buena Vista Wyndham right across from Disney Springs. The Dolphin was more convenient though.

You can also pick up from the Car Care Center (they will pick you up at your Disney resort, just call), I think the rental companies there are also Alamo and National.

As for the link just go to Alamo.com (or national's site since I'm 99% sure that was the other company) and choose WDW Dolphin as your pick up and return. If you have any other questions, ask away!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I find that pretentious also. From all the reviews I've read Edison seems to have an awesome atmosphere appears to lack the quality food that the price should demand. I've heard that comment about their bartenders too...small glasses, lots of ice and fruit, very little liquid. Friends said they had to leave because if they stayed like they planned they would have had a huge bar tab. Disappointing. Hope they get it together.

Yeah, I hope they get it together a little more. I read yesterday that they are going to do a burger of the month feature now. And if we drink there again, I'll probably just go with beer. They can' water down or skimp me on beer if I order a bottle.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Just caught up and love the picture of you sitting on main street - obviously also loving the ice cream photo

As we didn’t have a car we didn’t get to an6 outlets or character warehouse this trip but normally we have to go and have a look.

I love looking through everyone’s photos - while some are normally the same it’s interesing to see new ones or different angles.

I figured you would like the ice cream photo! We have only done the outlet when we have rented a car, next time we might take an Uber since we aren't going to rent a car. I like seeing what type of deal I can get.

 

[Gabe1]

Actually we were also headed to the Dolphin to pick up a car rental. We were going to visit my dad the next day who lives about 1 1/2 hours north of Orlando. But Ample Hills is so close to the Dolphin, how could we not stop?

A couple pictures of construction while we were waiting for the boat.
View attachment 274470

View attachment 274471

View attachment 274472



View attachment 274473

And a cool little duck.
View attachment 274474

On the boat!
View attachment 274475

And by the time we got to the Boardwalk, there was room for ice cream. We tried a few flavors at Ample Hills but I knew all along what I wanted.
View attachment 274467

The Oatmeal Lace ice cream. Oh so delicious! I might have done a little happy dance after tasting it. I have done my research and I see I can order it on line from Ample Hills, but there is a $50 delivery charge. I haven't hit the point yet where I need to order it...yet. But it is nice to know that it is an option.

Look, it is so beautiful!
View attachment 274468

It be a lie if I said my DD had not also researched Ample Ice Cream delivered to her apartment. She kinda cringed at the delivery price too.

 

[Songbird76]

Yes you can rent from Alamo at the Dolphin for as long as you need the car. I think National was the other rental car agency at the Dolphin too (they use the same desk). The desk hours are only from 8am to 4pm, but no matter what time you return the car you give the keys and get a receipt from the valet of the Dolphin anyway. We have also rented a car from Dollar located at the Lake Buena Vista Wyndham right across from Disney Springs. The Dolphin was more convenient though.

You can also pick up from the Car Care Center (they will pick you up at your Disney resort, just call), I think the rental companies there are also Alamo and National.

As for the link just go to Alamo.com (or national's site since I'm 99% sure that was the other company) and choose WDW Dolphin as your pick up and return. If you have any other questions, ask away!

You and @MinnieM123 have just made my day so much better, and made my planning for our next trip WAY easier! I've been trying to figure out how to handle our switch between Disney and non-Disney portions for over a month and have been considering sticking in a Wyoming portion just so we could use DME for the Disney part and be at the airport to rent a car for the non-Disney part, because I didn't figure DME would take us back to the airport if we didn't have a flight that day. This is amazing news to me that I can rent a car on property.

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

After the Smokehouse we headed to our last fastpass.

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Another cute shirt!
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And even more F&G merch, this time Minnie style.
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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.
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And back on the bus to the Sports. I like looking at the advertisements.
Love the flower and garden sign.
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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.
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The merchandise this year seems more eye catching to me than previous years. I like that they used Captain Hook in the F&G sign. It is different, and I agree with you on the Bachelor. I haven't watched since the first season. I think I am in the minority who just doesn't care, but yeah, his smile is creepy.

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

After meeting Mickey we took pictures up to the hub. I think we hit almost every photopass photographer with no wait.
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And that's the end of Sunday March 11! Up next more Studios and Star Wars!

I love that shot of you all alone sitting in front of the castle. How cool to be all alone there!

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

Monday March 12!

We decided to head to the Studios today, it opened at 9am so we got to "sleep" in a bit. We did start our day with Mickey waffles!
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While the herd headed to the rope in the middle of Hollywood Blvd we met up with Donald and browsed the shops.
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Super cute, but just a photograph.
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At rope drop we were going to head to Toy Story but we had a fast pass for it, which started at 9:05 am, so we cut off from the herd and headed to Launch Bay and did all the meet and greets. There was only one family ahead of us for all of the characters.

We started with this handsome fella.
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Then went to Kylo, Brad is a little spooked by him. I agree he is spooky, but also kind of awkward too.
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Then we met up with BB8.
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I would skip Kylo Ren and just meet Chewy and BB8.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

The merchandise this year seems more eye catching to me than previous years. I like that they used Captain Hook in the F&G sign. It is different, and I agree with you on the Bachelor. I haven't watched since the first season. I think I am in the minority who just doesn't care, but yeah, his smile is creepy.

I did like that merch a lot this year, except for putting cool designs on the backs of shirts I don't like that. I agree with you about the Captain Hook thing, he is one of my favorite topiaries.

We only watch the Bachelor because we view it as a comedy. It is so funny how dramatic it can be and how much "love" they can feel after a group date with 15 other girls (or boys). It stress relief for us.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I love that shot of you all alone sitting in front of the castle. How cool to be all alone there!

Thanks, I'm hoping on our July trip we can do some similar shots in front of some of the other park icons. Or maybe this one again but further down Main Street to get some of that and the castle in the background.

I would skip Kylo Ren and just meet Chewy and BB8.

I like that Kylo is kind of creepy. Chewy I think is the best of the three for non-awkward photo ops, he interacts pretty well. I never really know what to do with BB8 either.