Quick Trip Jan 27th - Jan 31st (Days 3, 4 and going home)
Day 3 - Woke up to beautiful sunshine and low 50s' (which was fine with us it warmed up to upper 60s). Sat on the balcony for a bit. I forgot to mention that our room had a beautiful view of the water and Tower of Terror!
We made our way to the bus for a morning at AK. This park has grown on me for sure! I really enjoy it and can't wait for AvatarLand to be open.
We had an enjoyable breakfast at Tusker House and got pictures with all the characters. Daisy was particularly animated with my son and seem to have a "crush" on him ha,ha.
We had some time before our first FP so went to Tough to be a Bug, always fun. First FP was the Safari and it was fantastic. Afterwards made our way to Pangani Trail and there was one gorilla that had his feet up on the glass and arm over eyes, it was like he was saying "no paparazzi please!". We went on Dinosaur and then EE. The park was very crowded, I'm guessing because of the beautiful weather after a couple of days of rain and it was a Friday. It didn't deter us and we still had a great morning!
We then took a bus to Epcot (we had great timing on busses) and hit The Land and Imagination but the line was slow (yes a line!) so we got out so we weren't late for our reservations at LeCellier. We first took a picture in front of the falls and it’s a great picture of the two of which I will look and always think, "that was a great day!".
Great lunch at LeCellier, did not disappoint! I wish I could have pretzel bread and filet mignon right now!
We decided to head back for a break as we were meeting other friends that night. A quick nap turned into about 1 1/2 hours! It was worth it!
We went back to Epcot to meet friends, before they got there we went on the Mexico ride and walked around a bit and took in the nice atmosphere. Our friends showed up with really bad beer from Canada ha,ha but hey it was a nice guesture! TT was only 30 minutes so made our way over there. I really really miss the old TT, I like the last 10 seconds but that is it, the fireworks were going on at the same time and that was cool.
We thought about going to MK with our friends but it closed at 11 so decided to walk around the Boardwalk and get some appetizers at ESPN club. Overall it was pretty quiet for a Friday night. It was a great night.
Day 4 - This was our day to go back and do things we wanted to do again! 30,000 steps, 3 parks and Disney Springs!
Started at the Studio and went on RR and ToT (that is the way to wake up!). We went back to StarWars Launch and got a pic with Darth Vader (said 30 mins but it was 10). We also went to Indiana Jones and that was enjoyable. We hit GMR (my son is going to film school, so this is always a favorite).
We headed to busses to go to MK. We had ADR for our Be Our Guest Lunch. Once we got to MK I got a locker for our sweatshirts and checked out Gastons tavern and some wait times before our lunch. I HIGHLY recommend ordering ahead if you know what you want (we love the turkey sandwiches). We basically skipped all lines on bridge and kiosks and just paid and on our way. We sat in the room to the right which was bright and cheery. Food was great and when I couldn't find napkins anywhere the manager hand delivered them to me.
We wanted to head to DisneySprings from MK and was surprised we could not find a bus (we may have looked too quickly) but we are always up for a boat ride to the Poly, so we did that and took it in before heading to the bus stop.
Spent an hour shopping and walking around. I’m looking forward to going back when it’s done! We just missed the bus going back but it was easy enough to hop on Beach and Yacht club and walk from there. Took a quick break and facetime the rest of the family. We headed back to Epcot to meet our friends again (they are AP holders). I had a champagne cocktail in France, it was very good! I had 2! I'm not a big drinker but it was a beautiful night and the drink was yummy!
We decided we were going to MK with our friends since it was open until 1 a.m. Monorail to Ferry (waved to the Poly). When we got there as the parade was going on so went "behind" Main street (I wouldn't look too much, I don't want to ruin the magic, lets just say that in H.S. I marched down main street and did not like being backstage ha,ha) Made it for Space Mountain FP and then HH and TMR. TMR is so good in the dark. Made our friends go on Small World and then said goodbye as they were tired. DS wanted to try the LeFeu brew at Gastons which was really good. Headed over to Splash and had our last ride. Our family favorite so it was bittersweet.
Headed back to hotel and while on bus was shocked when my friends said they just got back to their car! A CM had told us they could get a bus from MK to Epcot but that was incorrect, they had to go to TT first and get the bus and then the Trams weren't working (they knew that) and were parked far away!
Hit the bed and set the alarm to get up early so I could take it all in before the flight home.
Going home was uneventful, just sad!
Had a great trip, I had never been in January and I would go again. Extremely lucky that our weather in the Northeast was fine so did not have any winter hassle travels.
Our friends used to be Universal people (they moved to FL about 10 years ago). Met them at Epcot about a year ago and I like to think that I helped convert them! They now love Disney and go alot!
I would stay at the Dolphin again if the price was right. I miss the Disney theming and friendly cast members but can't beat the location.
We booked this 2 weeks ago, got most of the FP we wanted and ADR's (I just kept looking for BoG). We used old bands and had no problems linking our tickets. We also had buy 3 get 4th day free.
Such a great trip! We will be going to DisneyLand in August when we drop my son off at school. I want to do something special to surprise the family while we are there, so suggestions are welcomed!
Thanks for listening!
