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]

Great pictures!!! The good ones are making me hungry

Ha!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Many many years ago i worked at Sears and Steve Harvey and two of his body guards came in. He was shopping for a new microwave, lol. You'd think he had people for that. Anyway, he's a super super nice guy. Funny and kind and really personable!

Cool story. I don't really know much about him, but I haven't ever heard anything bad about him.

When i want two months pregnant, Its-It came out with a pumpkin flavored ice cream sandwich. Problem was that they only sold it back home in the Bay Area (California) and I live in Ohio now. I didn't really have any pregnancy cravings except this ice cream sandwich. Man i wanted one so badly, but didn't want to pay the $30 delivery fee. My friend back home heard me talking to my sister about it, and she sent me a package of them. I made my husband clear out the freezer so there was room for them, because that package had THIRTY sandwiches. Best. Friend. Ever. And she didn't even know i was pregnant and craving them. Just sent them because she's amazing.

What a great friend!

 

[PrincessJasmyn]

Finally all caught up! I'm a newbie here and this is the first trip report I have read so far!!
You have me excited for my trip in 5 weeks!!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Finally all caught up! I'm a newbie here and this is the first trip report I have read so far!!
You have me excited for my trip in 5 weeks!!

Thanks for ready and welcome to these forums! Have a great trip in 5 weeks!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Wednesday March 14

Today Brad and I split up for the day. He went golfing and I took a tour.

I'll start with Brad's golfing day. He went to the Palm and golfed 18 holes. He was partnered with 2 other guys, both semi-retired and live in the Orlando area in the winter. The older guys didn't know each other either but they did tell my husband that they golf everyday. Hubs was jealous of that.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

More pictures from the Palm golf course. Hubby was very pleased to be golfing again and was very happy with his game. He was nervous about golfing since he had recently recovered from a broken ankle. But it didn't trouble him on his game.

After golfing he went back to the resort. He napped and did some laundry since I was still on my tour. Eventually we met up again, and here is his picture of his journey to meet up with me. But where are we meeting up?

 

[Gabe1]

Finally all caught up! I'm a newbie here and this is the first trip report I have read so far!!
You have me excited for my trip in 5 weeks!!

Welcome!

Hope you enjoy your time with us. Can't wait to hear about your trip too!

And when you have completed this trip report I highly recommend our lady @Tuvalu who is always in Disney World with either her Hubby or her Daughter. Her latest trip report....\

https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/i-vowed-never-again-yet-here-we-are-live.939332/

 

[Gabe1]

Wednesday March 14

Today Brad and I split up for the day. He went golfing and I took a tour.

I'll start with Brad's golfing day. He went to the Palm and golfed 18 holes. He was partnered with 2 other guys, both semi-retired and live in the Orlando area in the winter. The older guys didn't know each other either but they did tell my husband that they golf everyday. Hubs was jealous of that.
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Very wet out there along with the cool water fog and some interesting captured shadows in those photos! Glad he had a great time.

More pictures from the Palm golf course. Hubby was very pleased to be golfing again and was very happy with his game. He was nervous about golfing since he had recently recovered from a broken ankle. But it didn't trouble him on his game.
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After golfing he went back to the resort. He napped and did some laundry since I was still on my tour. Eventually we met up again, and here is his picture of his journey to meet up with me. But where are we meeting up?
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Love that Disney Dwarf Flag holder, hubs looks very different in Golf Attire, can only imagine what he looks like in his Minister-Sunday attire.

Intrigue....Water, Monorail...Magic Kingdom...where are we going next????

 

[MinnieM123]

Thanks for sharing the golf course photos. I've never played golf (not my thing), but the reason why I like your pictures is because I've never seen the golf courses at WDW. Been to all the parks and water parks, etc., but it's always nice to see places I've never scouted out before. Glad that Brad had fun!

P. S.: I think the only other place I've never seen at WDW is the ESPN Wide World of Sports area, but unless there was a sporting event that appealed to me, I don't think there's much to see there.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Very wet out there along with the cool water fog and some interesting captured shadows in those photos! Glad he had a great time.


Love that Disney Dwarf Flag holder, hubs looks very different in Golf Attire, can only imagine what he looks like in his Minister-Sunday attire.

Intrigue....Water, Monorail...Magic Kingdom...where are we going next????

He is quite a handsome fella!

And yes, I thought I'd add a little suspense as to where we finally met up!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Thanks for sharing the golf course photos. I've never played golf (not my thing), but the reason why I like your pictures is because I've never seen the golf courses at WDW. Been to all the parks and water parks, etc., but it's always nice to see places I've never scouted out before. Glad that Brad had fun!

P. S.: I think the only other place I've never seen at WDW is the ESPN Wide World of Sports area, but unless there was a sporting event that appealed to me, I don't think there's much to see there.

I like looking at his WDW golf pictures too. I have golfed before and was quite into if for awhile but haven't gone in years except for a little putt putt mini-golf. I haven't been to the Wide World of Sports area either, not much for me there either.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

So on Wednesday March 14, hubs went golfing and I had the day to myself. I thought for quite awhile about what I wanted to do that day. I had Dine with an Imagineer booked, but I've done that by myself before and we have it booked to do together in July. I thought about just doing a park on my own. Or sleeping in and doing some lounging at the pool, which with the temps I'm glad that wasn't my final plan. Or I thought about doing a tour. There are a few tours that looked interesting and ultimately that is what I decided to do. I chose the Destinations Tour, which is a tour that focuses on World Showcase. I always think I am going to spend more time in World Showcase exploring the nooks and crannies than I actually end up doing so this seemed perfect. And lunch was included at a place I wanted to eat at but hubs didn't want to (at least not this trip).

The tour met at 8:15 (starting at 8:30), this was a non extra magic morning so I was a little nervous about taking the bus but decided that was cheapest route to go. I made it to the bus stop at about 6:50am and the bus finally came at 7:15 am. I was am always antsy about arriving places on time for like appointments and things so I knew I had time but I was getting ready to order an Uber. I also wanted to get there as soon as possible because I thought it would be cool to see a sunrise with Spaceship Earth.

By the time I got to see Spaceship Earth it was a little past what I had been picturing in my head but it was still gorgeous to see it still nighttime purple (although fading) with hints of gold with the sunrise. It made me very happy to see.

Not too busy yet.

It was awesome to get pictures of the topiaries with no one around.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I checked into my tour. The check-in was by the Pin store in front of the fountain. When I checked in I ordered my lunch. Lunch was to be at the Rose and Crown, and I was pretty psyched about it. Last time I ate there I had a cold but the burger I got there was really good and I figured if it was good when I had a cold it would be really good when I was well! Unfortunately the burger was not a choice for our lunch. I choose the bangers and mash, but the scotch egg was included as our appetizer so in the end I was not disappointed. Although beer was not a choice for our lunch beverage, so I would be eating in a pub with no beer! Spoiler alert...I survived not having a beer.

After I checked in a wandered around in the area and took some pictures until the tour was ready to start. It was so wonderful to not have loads of people in my pictures. And it felt so weird too to be in this area without hordes of people!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Some more pictures of around the area.

Ready to start! Disney does provide headphones to use with the audio headsets (used so the guide doesn't have to yell at us), but I usually bring my own. It was chilly that morning, so the hat stayed on for most of the tour, as did my hat and gloves.

Ok, maybe everyone knew that but I never paid attention. Sure I noticed there was a design in the pavement but it never registered what it was but this is the emblem of Epcot in the pavement. Not a great picture but I think to get a super great picture I would need to be in a spot to get a aerial view.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

As I share pictures from my tour I won't be sharing much of the information shared with us from the tour. I don't want to spoil the tour for anyone that would want to take it. And even though we went backstage a couple times, I followed the rules and didn't take pictures, although one lady on our tour didn't (at least she didn't the first time we went back stage). But I will take the time here to share my thoughts about the tour.

I will say that I enjoyed this tour immensely. Our tour guide was knowledgeable and friendly. He also had a slightly sarcastic sense of humor which I very much enjoyed since that is my style as well. I loved being at Epcot early in the morning. I also love learning about other cultures and the tour was full of stories about the different countries cultures and customs and how they were connected to the pavilions in the World Showcase. Our guide, Robert, pointed out so many things that I hadn't noticed before or had wondered about before. I had forgotten my little notebook to take notes, because I knew there would be interesting things I would want to remember later, but I just used the notes app in my phone. I probably looked rude by being on my phone while he was talking sometimes, but really I was the nerd taking notes!

I wondered about if it would be worth the 5 hour time investment, but I don't regret it at all. I have always enjoyed WS and appreciated the detail included in its design but now that I know even more about the details I am even more impressed and in love with this area about Epcot. If you are interested in the design and cultures of the World Showcase I would highly recommend this tour.

So here are some more pictures:

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

We went around World Showcase from Mexico and ended in Canada. Okay....coming up posts light on text and heavy on pictures....

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Next stop China!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

A little more of China.

After China we went backstage by the African Outpost. There we did see the Illumination barges. Also back there was the extra Food and Wine booths. The Golden Dream (the ship usually in front of the American Adventure) was back there too, they must have been doing some sort of maintenance on it because it was in its normal spot a couple days later.

Then we had a comfort break and explored Germany a bit.

Notice anything about this guy?

 

[Gabe1]

I just love the photos of the two of you this day. The big smiles but mostly your matching dimples.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I just love the photos of the two of you this day. The big smiles but mostly your matching dimples.
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Thanks! I'm probably just extra smiley in this picture because of the big beer! Which after we took the picture and before I drank out of it wasn't mine but the gentleman next to was the owner of it. Our server put our drinks in the wrong spot. Luckily he didn't drink out of mine either! Plus mine was the smaller version!