Day 5 (Part 1) - Snacks of the Caribbean
Today we had lunch booked at Olivia's Cafe in Old Key West resort. I think I mentioned my parent's favourite vacation spot is the Bahamas, and my mum loves conch-based foods lol, so I thought that she would enjoy eating here. Also I've seen videos of Old Key West and I like the "vibe" of it. Sandcastle pool is so cute! The rooms from the videos I've seen looked pretty dated, but I understand they're renovating. I'll have to see what the new rooms look like, I think I'd like to stay there someday.
Getting to Old Key West was going to be the tricky part. In hindsight we probably should have just paid for a mini-van but I thought I could manage it for free aha. We decided to boat over to Hollywood Studios and then catch the bus to Old Key West. Seemed simple on paper but I think we waited 45 mins for the Old Key West bus to come. I called Old Key West as I thought we'd be late for our reservation but they said as long as I showed up before closing it would be fine lol!
There was a slight change of plans once we got to Olivia's because I hadn't realized they had brunch on the weekends. Disney website had lied to me once again lol. But it worked out fine and all the conch based items were still on the menu aha. The staff were quite funny, they must have been told about my phone call because they all said "you came! you made it! yay!!" when we arrived lol.
Mum had conch chowder and conch fritters lol, and I had chicken and waffles, my first Mickey waffle of the trip if you can believe it! I took a picture to commemorate aha.
Mum really liked eating here and says she'd for sure go back. I guess that means the conch was good lol. We also enjoyed the calypso versions of Disney songs playing, and all the pictures on the walls of DVC members, all of them that we saw were from the 90's. Definitely a reminder of our trips from back then.
After our meal, we decided to explore a bit. We went over to the pool bar and mum got her favourite tropical drink aha. We sat for a bit and looked at the sandcastle pool. I noticed a sign that said "Christmas in July" aha, listing all the Christmas themed activities going on that week.
There wasn't really that much to explore. Seems like a massive resort, but most of the land is for the individual unit builidngs. The "common area" with the pool, restaurant etc. wasn't that big. We went into the store on our way out which I think was one of the more interesting ones we saw. They had a lot of fun tropical themed things that we didn't find in any other stores. My mum had been looking for a new wallet, and got one that was all pastel colours, with a map of Florida that had a symbol for each city. Like "Orlando" had a little rollercoaster symbol aha. Hard to describe but it was the perfect thing for her and I'm glad she got it aha.
I bought my dad an Old Key West Shirt with a lighthouse on it. And a postcard with Mickey and the gang for my friend. She travels a lot and always sends me postcards, and I can rarely return the favour! So this was my chance aha.
We had a fastpass for Rivers of Light at Animal Kingdom tonight and for Expedition Everest just before the show. We hadn't intended to go to Animal Kingdom till around dinner time but we'd now covered everything we wanted to see at Old Key West so decided to go there earlier. We were waiting at the main bus stop and one of the buses going through stopped and asked where we were going. He wasn't going to Animal Kingdom but said that bus was right behind him. He was very excited telling us how beautiful the bus was lol. We were confused until we saw it, it was completely covered in an "Ant Man and the Wasp" ad aha. I do wonder how they do that, a giant sticker?
I think I'll end here and follow with the Animal Kingdom part of the day.
So... 
But we have so many really special things planned it will be worth waiting for--and we are all busy saving our $$$. Until then, I live vicariously!
