Trip Report Time for Flowers! Flower & Food (Garden) March 2017

Hello and welcome to my trip report! My hubby (Brad) and I returned a little over a week ago from a quick trip to the World to celebrate Flower and Garden, which we refer to sometimes as Flower and Food. It was my husband's first time at F&G, but I had gone a few times solo and we have done Food and Wine. So he was interested in how this festival would be.

So here's a little quick info:
Who: hubby (Brad) and myself (Amy)
When: March 3-March 6
Resort: All Star Movies (cheapest option, and all we need is a place to sleep)

Some tags to people who have read some of my other reports (I know I will forget someone, but everyone is welcome!): @figmentfan423 @Gabe1 @donaldtoo @betty rose @PacNWTigger @Tuvalu @fractal @JenniferS @bee @BuddyThomas @Mr Ferret 88 @MouseDreaming @PUSH @Wrangler-Rick @MOXOMUMD @MinnieM123 @Songbird76 @Cesar R M @prfctlyximprct @93boomer @Courtney6682 @MySmallWorldof4

Okay....Ready now....Here We GO......

So the vacation actually started on March 2, but late. I had parent-teacher conferences that night and our flight was early Friday morning so we decided to stay the night up in Minneapolis so we wouldn't have to get up so early. We only live about an hour- to hour 15 minutes away from the airport but we wanted to be close to the airport for that early flight. So when conferences got done at 8pm my husband was waiting outside the door ready to pick me up.

We spent the night in a Homewood Suites and connected to it was a Chevy's restaurant. All during conferences (which I only met with 8 parents that night in a span of 3 hours and I have 150 students) I was thinking about a margarita at Chevy's. So what did we do once we checked in? That's right headed over to Chevy's, it was a little after 9pm by then so at least we got late night happy hour! We also got their sampler platter which was pretty good.

With my margarita!
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After margaritas we went back to our room and watched the 10 pm news for a couple minutes and then headed to bed. Our flight was leaving a 6am so we were going to be up early!

Our journey to the airport was pretty uneventful (thank goodness) and security wasn't too bad, about a 15 minute wait. I had bought us mini-muffins from our grocery store at home so we had those and I had a coffee that was finally cool enough to drink once we started boarding!

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If you have flown Spirit before you'll know that they have their Big Seats Up Front for an extra charge. I think that charge is worth it for extra space, so I booked those seats for us. The flight was good we both slept a little, read magazines, and I listened to Disney podcasts.

Goodbye Minneapolis!
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Somewhere between Minnesota and Florida

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Hello Orlando! I was able to spot the Swan & Dolphin and Spaceship Earth this time from the air. I was pretty excited about it but I don't think it really shows up in my pictures.
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When we landed at MCO I saw a really big Air Force plane and I thought to myself "That's weird and so big. Hey wait I've seen that type of plane before when I saw..." and then I saw it....Air Force One. Our president was also visiting Florida. I'm not going to get political, but I think it is pretty cool seeing Air Force One. The only cooler Presidential experience I had was when I was near the Washington Monument and I was facing the White House and Marine One rose up off the lawn and flew right over my head. I saw AF1 before when we landed in Minneapolis a few years ago and it was exciting then (except for the 2 hour traffic jam we had because President Obama was touring the city) and I was excited this time too but now worried about the traffic. I had a fast pass to get to. Luckily this time we didn't have bad traffic as the president had already left the airport area.

Anyway, we got to our gate and because we were in the front we were off and to Magical Express pretty quick. I was a little nervous about the wait for ME especially after some people's recent experiences (@Tuvalu ) but as we arrived it wasn't bad at all. The total time of check-in, boarding, and leaving was about 10 minutes. Excellent!

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We have arrived HOME!
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Walt even welcomed us on the METV!
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amjt660

Well-Known Member
After Ample Hills ice cream, we headed over to the Studios to see the Star Wars fireworks. We ended up walking. Both of us saw a boat at the Yacht Club but we decided not to wait to see if it was an Epcot or a Studios boat. It turned out to be a Studios boat, as it passed us when we had about 3 minutes left to walk. But we didn't want to chance waiting as we had another time and missed the fireworks.

Anyway, we found a decent spot for the show. And sure enough once the show started some kids went up on their parents shoulders. :mad: I don't mind if a parent holds their kid on their back so the kids head is even with their eyes but the shoulders thing is just insensitive. My dad never put us on his shoulders. I remember as a kid barely seeing anything of Illuminations because of all the tall people. Anyway...getting off track....

We stayed at the YC in Dec 16 and would be passed by the boats almost everytime we walked to DHS!!
Oh well the walk is good for you and helps you build up your appetite for more great food!!

I posted in my TR about the kids on shoulders and totally agree with you on this one.

Enjoying the TR and looking forward to more!!

Max
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
We stayed at the YC in Dec 16 and would be passed by the boats almost everytime we walked to DHS!!
Oh well the walk is good for you and helps you build up your appetite for more great food!!

I posted in my TR about the kids on shoulders and totally agree with you on this one.

Enjoying the TR and looking forward to more!!

Max

When my husband kept complaining about the walk to the Studios, I told him after all we ate the walk would do us some good! :) Actually if we hadn't been so full we probably would have beat the boat. We were walking kind of slow because of the full tummies!
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
Loving your report...we were there same time!

Thanks a lot! I like reading trip reports, but it is really cool to report someone's report from when I was there at the same time because I look to see if I just happen to be in their pictures. So let me know if you see yourself!

Pretty full first day! Glad to see Ample Hills getting some attention, I really enjoyed it when I visited there and hope to go back and try some more flavors soon.

Yes, it was very good ice cream. I looked at their website and I see their ice cream can be shipped to my home! :eek: That is danger with a capital D right there! :)
 

Courtney6682

Well-Known Member
Of course we couldn't choose just one flavor so we got the sampler to share. As I said my favorite was the oatmeal lace, which totally surprised me as I usually like chocolate above anything else. Fortunately, hubby did not like it at all so I got all of it. He ended up liking the pecan one and I didn't so much, so he ate most of that one.

What a great view to enjoy sweets with my sweetie!
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Was that a pretzel cone I spied in the background? I haven't had one in years and used to love them when I was little! Somehow my daughter and husband have NEVER heard of pretzel cones?!
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
Was that a pretzel cone I spied in the background? I haven't had one in years and used to love them when I was little! Somehow my daughter and husband have NEVER heard of pretzel cones?!

I don't think it was a pretzel cone. To be honest, I didn't pay much attention to the cones, I just used them in my picture. Even as a kid I didn't like my ice cream in cones. A pretzel cone might be interesting though.
 

MinnieM123

Premium Member
I don't think it was a pretzel cone. To be honest, I didn't pay much attention to the cones, I just used them in my picture. Even as a kid I didn't like my ice cream in cones. A pretzel cone might be interesting though.

I can't stand cones either. I always buy ice cream in a little cup. Never understood why (especially in the hot summer months) cones were an option--the ice cream would always melt down over your hand--just never made sense to me at all.
 

bee

Well-Known Member
That's so funny! I wonder if it's a regional thing...I'm from Philly. It's a hard crunchy shell just like this....soooo good!!!

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I've never heard of pretzel cones but OMG that looks soooo good! I always liked cones. Maybe it's because I always ate ice cream fast enough that it didn't have time to melt! :p

ETA: To OP, I've been enjoying your report and photos!
 
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joshsprincess921

Well-Known Member
I just checked their menu @Songbird76 and @ajrwdwgirl and it looks like they do have them if you're interested for next time;)

I'm so excited, we may have to stop by in August!

I was listening to this morning's Be Our Guest podcast and they were talking about Ample Hills vs Beaches n Cream and they mentioned the pretzel cone at Ample Hills and how good it was.
 

mlegerto

Well-Known Member
Joining in! Great start.

We took the pretty path back. Brad said that what he was looking forward to most about Flower and Garden was seeing the flower quilt between Future World and World Showcase. He had enjoyed my pictures of it that last couple years that he was excited to see it for himself. He said he was not disappointed.

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I LOVE THIS PHOTO. I actually love all of your F&G photos. I'm in Canada myself and it's been cold, snowy and wet recently so these brightened my day! Thanks!

As we were walking to the International Gateway we had to walk through France, and we noticed that at the slushy stand there was no line just two people finishing their order. There is always a line there! So we decided to have a pre-dinner drink.

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Grand Marnier Slush? Yes please!

O.M.G....SO good!
 

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