Our Go with the Flow Weekend - Day 1 May 26th

[MissStyles]

Who:
Me – Emily, 27 No matter how many times I go
it’s never enough!
DBF – Bob, 26 Enjoys EPCOT most and anything
cultural – his 4th trip with me
When:
Saturday May 26th through Tuesday May 29th
The plan:
To have NO plan at all

Saturday I awoke at 6:05 am and knew that was it for me. I had to get up!
I let Bob sleep while I got ready and surfed the net. I couldn’t wait any
longer and woke him @ 6:52 am. After some more getting ready and a quick
breakfast we were on the road by 8:02 am. By 10:26 am we were pulling into
Coronado Springs. This was our first trip as FL residents, and it was just
amazing being able to get in the car and 2.5 hours later already be there. I
did comment on how our mode of transportation was less safe than flying,
but I figured hey I’m a daredevil (sometimes!)…and this was just so convenient.
The hotel was jumpin’…but we didn’t have to wait in line to check in. We were
placed in building 7A in the Ranchos section. I was hesitant at first, but it worked out
great for us. It was really quiet back there and a quick walk to the dig site pool and
less than 10 minutes to the main building. I had stayed here once in 2003. I forgot
how lovely the resort was. The theming is excellent. Our room was not ready so
we parked our car and got on the first bus that arrived at El Centro – Magic Kingdom.
I enjoyed the music that has been added to the busses as well as the narration by the
same guy who does the monorail spiels. Upon our arrival we activated our FL resident
seasonal passes and were in the park sometime around 11:30. We had no plan so we
just went with the flow (we did this all weekend and it worked out perfect for us). A couple of
notes: the parks were pretty crowded, but also extremely manageable Especially with the use of fast passes. Sometime though they weren’t available. I was glad that I wasn’t there to do
and see everything. We’re content with just being in the parks and walking
around/soaking up the atmosphere. I felt bad for people who were on their first trip
or don’t get to go that often. Also, the bugs were really bad. This was my first encounter
with love bugs and I will say I am pretty much afraid of any type of bug especially
if they are touching me. They freaked me out most of the trip but didn’t ruin it if that
makes any sense. It was the one good thing about leaving I guess. I’m going to try
not to go during love bug season again though! Maybe I’m just a wimp though.
Now, back to my trip…We decided to get fast passes for Space Mountain and Bob chose the TTA for our first ride. It’s always a great time for the TTA. After our relaxing spin we decided on El Pirata y Perico in Adventureland for lunch. Bob had the vegetarian tacos and I
had the kid’s quesadilla meal. We were going to do Pirates, but the line was too long for
us so we decided to get Dole Whip instead (after shopping around Adventureland for
a bit). I had the vanilla pineapple swirl and Bob had straight up pineapple. It was
deliciously refreshing as always. After finishing our snack we decided to catch Philharmagic
which was cute as always. It was now time to use our fast passes. I was worried we
wouldn’t be able to go on the left because usually the fast pass people have to go to
the right, but we were actually waved in to the left side. I should take this opportunity
to express that I really believe that left side is smoother. I don’t know why, but to me
the right is sooooo much bumpier. I’ll do it if I have to, but I really prefer the left!
After our “smooth” ride through space it was nearing 2pm so we decided to head
back to the hotel to get find out our room number and relax. Once we got back we
headed to the lobby to see where we could get a reservation for dinner. We didn’t
have any ADRs because we didn’t want to plan out where we were going to be and
we wanted to see what would happen if we didn’t have them. It was no problem for us
and we secured an 8:45 pm ADR for Marrakesh that evening. It’s one of our favorites so
we were both really looking forward to it. We went to our room and unpacked and just
chilled for awhile. We decided to go for a swim. The slide was so fun, but I was kind of
chilly in the pool so we headed over to the spa and relaxed in there for awhile which was
wonderful. Bob stayed at the pool awhile longer just relaxing while I went back and
showered and watched tv. We were both ready to go to EPCOT by 5:45 pm. We decided
to drive and I’m so glad we did. It was really convenient having a car! This was my first
time on property with one. It only took 10 min from parking lot to parking lot…so if you
have the opportunity to rent a car I really recommend it. The busses are fine, but this was
nice especially with our going with the flow theme of the weekend. Once we got to EPCOT
we decided to go on Spaceship Earth. I enjoyed it, but I was sad because I know they
are going to be changing it soon. I’m glad I have the ride downloaded to my computer!
Next we headed to Test Track where we did the single rider line. It only took 10 min and
Bob was in the car right behind me so we could see each other most of the time. From here
we hit up Club Cool (I almost wrote Ice Station Cool – oops!) and then Journey Into
Imagination. For some reason Bob enjoys trying the Beverly even though it’s not too
tasty. I think because it’s Italian and really into their traditions. We decided to stroll through
the countries until our dinner. We made it all the way to Germany starting in Canada.
We both love to shop and enjoyed browsing through all the various stores. This is the
essence of Disney for us – just being there. By now we were starving and it was nearly
8:30 pm so we headed to Marrakesh and were seated immediately. The meal was
absolutely delectable. I had a salad and vegetable cous cous. I eat cous cous all the time
but their version is just different. I loved whatever spices they use. Bob had chicken bastilla
and a fish dish which I tried a bite of and enjoyed too. My meal was huge and ofcourse
I almost ate all of it because when I’m in Disney I eat a ton. After our meal EPCOT was
closed so we walked slowly out. I was glad we had a long walk to our car…I guessed it was
about a mile from the restaurant. We needed it! We headed to Downtown Disney to top off our
evening with some shop browsing and Ghiradelli’s ice cream. The line was insane. It was
actually probably the longest line of our trip. We probably waited a half an hour for a scoop of ice cream, but it didn’t phase us one bit, we were just so happy to be on vacation. We sat by
the water and enjoyed our ice cream on our already full stomachs (blueberry cheesecake for me
and kona coffee for Bob). It was the perfect ending to our first day at Disney. We headed back to
the hotel and fell right asleep with smiles on our faces. Where will we end up tomorrow? Time will only tell!!!

[Christine]

What a nice leisurely trip you're having! Sounds fantastic!

[pogo]

Now this is one relaxing "Day One" if I ever saw one.

We do almost the same thing except we know what park to start in for each day. But what we do when we get there is another story.

I can't wait to read more about your trip.

[bettie]

Yay!! I cannot wait to hear the rest. I'm wondering if you enjoyed the rice/coconut combo that we came up with at the Pepper Market back in the 2003 trip.

That's fantastic that you were able to eat at Marrakesh even with the crowds! I'm not surprised they were really bad this weekend. Probably one of the best times to not rely on the bus system!

[disneydrmr]

Well, sounds like having no plan is a working plan for you! What a great day! Looking forward to seeing where you end up next!

[pdrlkr]

Thanks for the report!

[mrsgaribaldi]

I love to take it easy too in Disney. Sounds like a great day. Thanks for sharing

[sleepingbooty]

I'm loving your report! My hubby and I are going without the kids in August and I am so looking forward to going with the flow!

[faline]

What a relaxed day! For having no plan, you accomplished quite a lot!

[January-2007]

Ghiradelli’s ice cream. The line was insane. It was
actually probably the longest line of our trip.

We noticed this too, everytime (and we were there like 3 nights) the line to Ghirardelli's was out the door long. We skipped it this trip, something to look forward to next trip!

So glad you had a great first day! Can't wait to read more! Thanks for sharing!