Trip Report "That's not Ben!"

This trip report is brought to you by covid 19.
I hadn't planned to do a report, but I'm not working at the moment so I thought I'd relive our trip by sharing it with y'all.
When: March 6-11
Who: myself, E @MSUJafar and A @StupidJudy98
Why: A hasn't been on a trip with us since 2017. It's her senior year at Wayne State University, and this was her Spring Break. For those of you who know that I'm a teacher, that means I was playing hooky. Not to worry though, I left excellent lesson plans for the days I was out.
Where: Shades of Green resort. We didn't have enough DVC points and since E works for the Department of Defense, we are eligible to stay there.

I had to throw this in for laughs! Callum, was that you?!

I worked on Friday, March 6th. It killed me not to be able to tell my kiddos that I was going, especially when they were watching "Happily Ever After". We have "Fireworks Friday" and they watch it every Friday morning.
I had caught a ride to work with a friend that morning since the airport is only about 10 minutes from my school. E and A picked me up at 3:30 and we were on our way to catch our 6:00 flight.
I have zero pictures from that evening, so here's a summary:

• We had Chicken Tortilla soup at Max and Erma's (They're all closed in Michigan except for the one at the airport)
• Our flight was uneventful. We landed a little early.
• We had a little trouble locating our driver which caused E to leave his carry on at the airport. I guess we're so spoiled by Magical Express that we had trouble keeping track of all our bags! E had to Uber back to the airport the next morning to pick it up. Not the best way to start the trip, but I was able to push back our Kona breakfast ADR so he wouldn't miss it.
• Our hired car included a stop at a grocery store, so we picked up some water and other drinks and snacks.
• We were tired, E was understandably cranky anticipating his 5:30 alarm and it was late, so we went to bed.

 

[Darstarr]

Bring it...

 

[BuckyMom]

I'm in!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Hey I was there during that time too! March 5-14. Maybe we will be in each others pictures.

 

[PineapplePrincess]

Bring it...

Oh no, now I'm feeling too much pressure!

I'm in!

Glad to have you!

Hey I was there during that time too! March 5-14. Maybe we will be in each others pictures.

That would be funny! I was trying to keep an eye out for familiar faces.

 

[PineapplePrincess]

Saturday, March 7
Whilst we were waiting for E to return from MCO with his carry on (I forgot to mention yesterday that ALL of his underwear and socks were in it, so he REALLY needed it), I took a couple photos of our view.

So pretty! It's been a long time since we've visited WDW when it hasn't been a million degrees with 200% humidity, so imagine my surprise when I was able to step out on the balcony and take a photo without waiting for the lens to de-fog.

E texted us when he was on his way back, so we were ready to go when he arrived. I'm kicking myself for not taking any photos of the walk over to the Poly. It really is a beautiful walk in the morning...not so much at the end of a long day!
We checked in for our breakfast and waited just long enough for a couple photos before we were seated.

E and I shared our usual breakfast of macadamia pancakes (with extra butter and pineapple sauce) and press pot. A was able to order just regular pancakes, so everyone was happy!
After breakfast, we made our way through security and had a short wait for the monorail before we were on our way to MK.

We arrived just in time to see The Trolley Show.

After watching for a few minutes, we headed to Adventureland for our first FP. Although I have no photographic evidence, it was Jungle Cruise. There was a very short wait for Magic Carpets, so we rode that next. We finished our adventure in Adventureland with some pirates. Front row, baby!

 

[KellBelle]

Along for the ride! We have a stay booked at SOG in December. First time.. eager to hear your thoughts!

 

[macefamily]

Like your pics !

 

[macefamily]

I'll be looking for us in your pics too ! We were there 3/5 - 3/9.

 

[Laura Loves Tigger]

Following all g!

 

[Laura Loves Tigger]

along. Lol

 

[myhappyplace]

Enjoying so far!

 

[ELeigh]

It really is a beautiful walk in the morning

Best part about staying at shades of green for me was easy access to the poly. It makes it so easy to stop in for the pulled pork nachos at Capt. Cookes or a drink upstairs. I hope you guys had a great stay!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

Along for the ride! We have a stay booked at SOG in December. First time.. eager to hear your thoughts!

Personally, I enjoy staying there. The rooms are huge and everyone is so polite and respectful. It lacks Disney theming, but it's so close to the Poly!

Like your pics !

Thanks!

I'll be looking for us in your pics too ! We were there 3/5 - 3/9.

That would be awesome if you were in them!

along. Lol

Thanks for following!

Enjoying so far!

Thank you!

Best part about staying at shades of green for me was easy access to the poly. It makes it so easy to stop in for the pulled pork nachos at Capt. Cookes or a drink upstairs. I hope you guys had a great stay!

We didn't have the nachos, but we enjoyed some 'Ohana food at the Tambu lounge twice!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

Saturday continued...
On the way out of PoTC I always grab a sword and challenge E and A to a duel. They roll their eyes, but I know they'd be disappointed if I didn't do it. Since they weren't biting, I challenged one of the CMs to a duel. She said, "Are you sure? I'm pretty good." I replied, "You probably practice 3 hours a day." To which she quipped, "Yep. Just like Will Turner!" I can't tell you how happy this interaction made me! I wish I would have gotten her name...she made my day!
We had a FP for Splash a little later. In the meantime I got my photo taken by this wall which I had never seen before.

Fit for a Pineapple Princess!
Then it was on to Philharmagic.

Yikes!
Only one rocking chair on the porch! I jokingly asked a man who was sitting there on his scooter if he broke the other one. He said, "I think it was already broken when I sat on it!"

It was a real bummer that HM was down that day. It's definitely a favorite for all of us.
We were ready for a snack, so we shared some:

E ordered 1 cheeseburger and 1 pizza, but they gave us 2 cheeseburgers. The line was so long that we decided to just eat them.
After Splash, I grabbed a FP for Dumbo. This was supposed to be a cute shot, but it didn't work out quite as planned!

We waited about ten minutes for the People Mover. Obligatory Tron construction update photo:

Then grabbed a FP for the Teacups.

At this point, we decided to call it a day at MK. We had After Hours tickets for Monday and planned to get a lot done then. No photos from the rest of our evening, so here's a summary:

• We put our name on the wait list for Trader Sam's and then had a drink on the Tiki Terrace. It was A's first Disney drink and I can't believe I didn't commemorate it with a photo!
• It was chilly outside, so we went up to the Tambu lounge. I got the text from Trader Sam's, but we decided to stay at Tambu. I did go down to tell them that we weren't coming. Those stairs are killer!
• A had the 'Ohana noodles, E and I shared the dumplings and the mixed grill. It was all so good! We would be back.
• We called it a night pretty early since we were all pretty tired. Tomorrow it would be our AK/DS day.

 

[winstongator]

Saturday, March 7
Whilst we were waiting for E to return from MCO with his carry on (I forgot to mention yesterday that ALL of his underwear and socks were in it, so he REALLY needed it), I took a couple photos of our view.
View attachment 457060View attachment 457061
So pretty! It's been a long time since we've visited WDW when it hasn't been a million degrees with 200% humidity, so imagine my surprise when I was able to step out on the balcony and take a photo without waiting for the lens to de-fog.

E texted us when he was on his way back, so we were ready to go when he arrived. I'm kicking myself for not taking any photos of the walk over to the Poly. It really is a beautiful walk in the morning...not so much at the end of a long day!
We checked in for our breakfast and waited just long enough for a couple photos before we were seated.
View attachment 457063View attachment 457064
E and I shared our usual breakfast of macadamia pancakes (with extra butter and pineapple sauce) and press pot. A was able to order just regular pancakes, so everyone was happy!
After breakfast, we made our way through security and had a short wait for the monorail before we were on our way to MK.
View attachment 457068
We arrived just in time to see The Trolley Show.
View attachment 457070
After watching for a few minutes, we headed to Adventureland for our first FP. Although I have no photographic evidence, it was Jungle Cruise. There was a very short wait for Magic Carpets, so we rode that next. We finished our adventure in Adventureland with some pirates. Front row, baby!
View attachment 457073

Pirates has some great ride photos. You're great in the front row, and rows 2 and 3 know what they're doing. Row 4 is see no evil, hear no evil, and Goofy.

 

[Swissmiss]

Following as well

 

[StitchSNK]

I replied, "You probably practice 3 hours a day." To which she quipped, "Yep. Just like Will Turner!"

I LOVE THIS!!

I'm also following along!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

Pirates has some great ride photos. You're great in the front row, and rows 2 and 3 know what they're doing. Row 4 is see no evil, hear no evil, and Goofy.

It's the best Pirates photo we've ever gotten. I think it's the first time we were in the front row.

Following as well

Yay!

I LOVE THIS!!

I'm also following along!

Welcome aboard, Matey!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

Sunday, March 8
Today was exactly one month from A's 22nd birthday so we were joking around about how she's 263 months old. I should have done the baby Simba pose!

We weren't really in any hurry, so we stopped for a PP photo on the way in. Then we decided to rope drop Navi River Journey. There was no wait. As soon as we made it through the queue, we got on. It was a nice relaxing way to start the day.
We had a FP for the Safari. We had the absolute best driver...shout out to Kareem! He was entertaining, informative and funny! There were a lot of animals active today.

Sorry about the blurriness!

After the safari, we had a FP for the animation class at Rafiki's Planet Watch. It had been a long time since we were there.
Train selfie!

The class was pretty fun. We didn't really need a FP though. We drew Bruce the shark. It's not as easy with the lap boards, but they did pre-draw the circle and some guide lines for us. I didn't take any photos of our drawings. They were just okay.
After petting some goats, we were ready for some lunch. We grabbed some egg rolls and fried rice from Yak & Yeti takeout window and enjoyed them by the fountain.

Our last FP was for Flight of Passage. It was amazing, as always!
I really wanted A to get her photo taken with Chip and Dale, and she reluctantly agreed.

The wait for Dinosaur was 20 minutes, so we decided to ride it.

Pineapple Princess is hidden in the greenery!
We stopped at Nomad Lounge for a drink on our way out. We really wanted the chicken skewers with peanut sauce, but they weren't on the menu. Our server told us they are seasonal.
We saw Kevin on our way out.

It looks like those kids are "laying hands" on Kevin!
That wrapped up our time at AK. We hopped on a bus to OKW so we could boat over to Disney Springs.