Beware of Poachers and Look at the Little Gorillas! 3 trips in 1. NEW TR started 8/31/19**

[disneyAndi14]

I used to work at a city pool and I didn't go into public pools for YEARS!! I will now if they're not terribly crowded, but I just don't think too hard about it, LOL

Andi’s definitely came from school swim class, it really grossed her out

I love her sweatshirt

That one is a favorite of mine as well!

I love these special photo ops for the Festival!! I need to make it to this one sometime for sure

I love finding new photo opportunities, The Tink in the lantern was really cute. I hope they keep it!

You guys look great in these!! We always end up looking like they're mugshots

You are so sweet! Most of the time my head is cut off or I am not even looking in the right spot!

 

[MinnieWebster]

I can see if you have little ones the early bird would be important.

Yeah. They actually let families with kids under 5/6 board early, so it still might not be as necessary. We often see families with kids of all ages in the early boarding group

 

[disneyAndi14]

Day 3, Part 1. Yummy pizza on a whim!

It was morning time again and we were up and at it. Looked out our window at the beautiful savanna and said hi to a few big birds, and then we headed out the door.

We had Epcot plans again this morning. We took the bus and I don’t recall any long wait or anything to annoying, yay! Except when we arrive at Epcot, it was holy long lines for security Batman!!
We waited at least 20 minutes. Andi had went ahead of us in the no bag line. I sure envied her today until I realized I was carry her things as usual!

We got in and went right to TT for our first FP+. I made all our FP early this trip and I am not so sure I liked that strategy. I think earlier overall is better except I made the first one to early. I don’t think you should make your first FP until 10am that way you can do another headliner right away without the FP, duh. This is Disney 101 people! I failed this trip. I also did another dumb thing. I did parks back to back I never do this usually, oh well I am a slow learner

My sister loved TT, Andi made a souped up car and we won for being the fastest but nothing else

I took a picture of Andi next to this car for my son Jack, he does love a fast car

It was time for a coffee and scone, we went to the Starbucks and it was the least crowded I have seen this one, that was nice. I think we all had a mocha or latte, it was good. The scone was blueberry and it was fine, nothing great but good with the coffee. We also got a large filtered ice water. It was cold out so we hung inside for a short while. We got a picture with our Starbucks!

We did Figment next, D did not remember this from before so it was a new experience for her. She thought it was cute.

We went to check out the Seas area next. The Nemo ride was 25 minutes already! We wandered through the aquarium area. This was fun to take the time to look at the different fish and the dolphins were out as well. It was busy in there! My back was acting up some, I probably should have skipped TT, oh well, I can’t skip every ride!

It was time to head over to LwtL. This attraction always puts me in a good mood. It has many memories for me. The first time I ever visited Epcot in 1989 we rode this and enjoyed it so much back then. D was with me on that trip. Hey @Dis_Yoda look a lady is actually working in the lab!
I took that picture just for her

The Land was hopping and we left after our FP and worked our way over to SE, we had another fun ride on this. I rode by myself and let Auntie D ride with Andi. When Andi was around 8-9 years old, she made a gift for me for Mother’s Day at school and asked me if it was okay to give it to her Auntie D instead! Gosh that did hurt a little anyways now you all know how much she loves her Aunt! She did everything she could with my sister growing up and idolized her!

Our plan was to venture around the WS and try food at the different festival booths, however my back was bothering me and I just couldn’t imagine standing to eat all the different snack items. D mentioned the good pizza we had in Italy and wanted to go there! I could not get an ADR on the MDE so we made our way to Italy and tried a walk up reservation and it was no problem, yay!

We were at Via Napoli, if you all hadn’t guessed yet! We sat in the porch area to the right of the restaurant. This was just fine. We had a very nice waitress. We all just ordered water and decided on a large pizza with mushrooms on the whole pie and pepperoni on half. This was just what the food doctor ordered! Yummy! We all really enjoyed that pizza! The crust was done just perfect, the thin red sauce was delicious and the toppings were just perfect. We almost ate the whole pizza.

This was such a good choice for us and I was feeling better after the pizza and rest. Andi wanted the Festival cookie that looks like a painters palette. She got this and it was a really good chocolate chip cookie on its own. It really didn’t need the super sweet frosting.

We decided to go into the Odyssey building, I think that is the name, to have a look around in there. They had a seminar going on and also some food choices in here. D and I decided to try the Pop-Art tart. This was a sugar cookie crust with raspberry filling. It was really good. That was the extent of our Festival of Arts samplings, lame I know but at least we tried something!

It was still chilly out especially in the morning, it did warm up a little by the time we left. We said goodbye to Epcot for now.

We chilled at our room for awhile. It sure was a joy to watch the animals from our deck. Today we had zebras, wildebeest, birds, and the 3 giraffes. We settled in to take a little nap and we could hear a child next door screaming and hollering! He was running back and forth just screaming. We don’t know where he came from because it had been so quiet in our room. We decided to go down and check out the resort and hot tub again since we wouldn’t be napping with all that noise! It was odd because we never heard this loud kid again, thank goodness!

Stay tuned for Day 3, Part 2. The Curse of the Poly Pearl and Dining in a Forest!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Yay! Someone actually working in the lab! Where they still studying the same three things?

Looks like a wonderful lunch at Via Napoli! Too bad you didn’t get to try more things around the festival! My mother was there this past week and she said she really enjoyed it all. (Wish I could have joined her but #adulting and saving money)

Glad you only had one issue with a loud kid!, that is frustrating when you are wanting to nap!

 

[ariane37]

Sorry your back was acting up but at least the rest and good pizza helped! I saw so many people eating that festival cookie last month, adults just chowing down on it lol. It must be good!

 

[Terra Nova guy]

I think earlier overall is better except I made the first one to early. I don’t think you should make your first FP until 10am that way you can do another headliner right away without the FP, duh. This is Disney 101 people!

Definitely! I’ve tried different things with my FP, sometimes waiting until afternoon and sometimes morning. Both have pros and cons but before 10:00 is too early, at least for most rides.

 

[SweetSerenity]

Ha! Someone is in the lab, but the sign says they are still researching the Venus fly trap. That's one special plant.

 

[Gina Starr]

Omg the bag check line at Epcot was horrible! The one day my husband got stuck behind a tour group and it took probably 15-20 minutes to get through!

We saw the dolphins too! I didn’t know there was dolphins in The Seas.

I always hear people rave about Via Napoli but I’m not really a pizza connoisseur. And I read they don’t offer a gluten free crust.

We tried several Festival food offerings but again not a lot was gf so it was mostly my husband.

I think your next day was when we arrived so I’ll be excited to see if any of our plans overlapped!

 

[Jenny Sanders]

Via Napoli continues to be a great choice for TS dining in Epcot!

 

[MeghanEmily]

Day 3, Part 1. Yummy pizza on a whim!

Yum! Sounds like my kinda day!

I don’t think you should make your first FP until 10am that way you can do another headliner right away without the FP, duh. This is Disney 101 people!

I agree! We're all over the place with how we plan our FPs, but this is my favourite way to do it. Make the first FP for around 10, and then do as much with short rope drop lines as possible, and end up hitting the FP closer to the end of the window.

The Land was hopping and we left after our FP and worked our way over to SE, we had another fun ride on this. I rode by myself and let Auntie D ride with Andi. When Andi was around 8-9 years old, she made a gift for me for Mother’s Day at school and asked me if it was okay to give it to her Auntie D instead! Gosh that did hurt a little anyways now you all know how much she loves her Aunt! She did everything she could with my sister growing up and idolized her!

Oh no!! I always used to call my aunt, Lisa, my "kindred spirit" growing up. I hope I didn't upset my mom too much with that!

Wow, this looks so good!!

This is cute! Sounds tasty.

We settled in to take a little nap and we could hear a child next door screaming and hollering! He was running back and forth just screaming. We don’t know where he came from because it had been so quiet in our room.

Oh no! That's lousy! Thank goodness it was just that one time.

 

[Bama Mom]

Trip Report Interruption!!!
We are going to Disney World again!!!
I am so happy we are going now that I booked the airfare!! For those of you, who fly Southwest, is it important to add on the early bird booking? Andi wears headphones the whole flight so I don’t really care if I sit with her or not. I didn’t do it yet and probably won’t unless you all think I should.

We usually drive the ten-eleven hours but are flying for our August trip. It was cheaper than driving once we figured in the gas, food stops and nightly parking fee. I got early bird for our return trip just because I didn't want to mess with being online to check in 24 hours early while at Disney. The flight down isn't an issue because I'll be home to do it but didn't want to mess with it on the return flight. We probably would have been okay since it's just hubby and I and we would have been okay if we didn't get to sit right next to each other, but It was on;y $40.00 total to do it so I did.

 

[cajunfan]

I haven't noticed if anyone answered your questions about SWA and early bird check in.

My answer, is it depends. If it is important to you to be in an isle or window seat and not in between random strangers, then yes, it might be worth it. Is it important that you have ample overhead luggage space available? Then yes it might be worth it. Do you prefer being in a certain area of the plane (front, back, etc.), then yes it might be worth it.

When we travel southwest we hardly ever carry on anything but a backpack each since you get two free checked bags. I also automatically do early boarding since I am Pooh sized and buy too seats (one for my left butt cheek and the other for my right butt cheek, lol ) They let me on first so that I have an paid for empty seat next to me.

So it really just depends on how you like to travel, how crowded you think the plane will be...and for me it would depend on the length of flight. If you have stops between origination city and MCO (even if not changing planes), once they do the passenger count after people de-plan, you can then move about to a different seat.

Hope this helps. Yes, SWA was the way we fly often...it was the only direct flight to my home city for me for a long time. Now that my son is older, and flights are so much more expensive I usually drive.

lynn

 

[kastoney]

We had brutally cold weather and this past week we have received another 14 inches of snow! I really could just cry! I do not see any warmer weather days in our future so yeah it stinks!!

Hope things are getting better for you! We've had a colder than normal winter here too and some snow, but no where near that much.

We took the bus this morning and arrived in the park around 9am after the mile long hike from the bus stop. Wow, the current bus stops are far away!

These really are ridiculous!!! I understand they need to make room for the gondola's and all but clearly guest convenience didn't weigh on them at all.

Andi, started laughing at me, because I said Gonedoughla”, hey, I am from northern Minnesota, we pronounce everything as it is. Vowels are always a long vowel to me, that is how I grew up! I am sure I sound like an idiot to some, haha! Think the movie Fargo, I do sort of speak like that. Not quite as bad but yeah similar. If it was pronounced the other way it would be spelled Gondala, do you all get it??

Would it be wrong in May to just ask you to ready menus or signs to me? A good Minnesota accent is something I rarely get to encounter.

Andi is not ever going to have a Northern Minnesota accent because she hates it and speaks 2 other languages beautifully so she is constantly correcting me!

Funny Jason is the same way. He is from West Virginia....and well you can just imagine the accent that was his destiny. But he hated it and worked much harder then he probably needed to to make sure he left it in WV.

It was warm enough for the hot tub, not the pool for us. D and I spent some time in the hot tub and it was wonderful.

Oh I love the AKL hot tubs. I feel like they do a good job of separating them from the rest of the pool so you have seclusion. There are even a few rooms that are basically right in front of them that I have my eye on. I figure if Casey can go to bed and we can hit a hot tub its a win/win for all

Only one or not, love it!

e got the giggles and we would repeat wow that is a lot of crab legs! I do not like working to get a tiny piece of crab out so I only tried one.

If that is the case then you would hate my beloved Maryland crabs. They are a ton of work, bu the work (and the beer) are the fun of it!

We are going to the very last day of the festival and I know Casey is going to love this!

I am so happy we are going now that I booked the airfare!! For those of you, who fly Southwest, is it important to add on the early bird booking?

Congrats on another trip!!! We always do the early bird booking, but since I've never not done it I can't speak to the other side. For $15 I figures its better to be safe than sorry, but we also need to ensure we have seats with Casey. I'm thinking this isn't a requirement for Andi

OMG that is ridiculously humungous!!!

My favorite!!! May some be in our future next week. And awesome to be able to walk right up.

 

[schumigirl]

Oh that pizza looks amazing!!!!! But I did have to go back and re read the cookie description......now it makes sense.....I wondered why Andi got a cookie with a hole in it!!!

I have lots of nieces, but one in particular I’m incredibly close to....and I had her all the time when she was a baby......we still remained so close after we moved away, and I think it bothered my sister at times.....but deep down I think she was glad her daughter has me too.......grudgingly lol.......

Oh screaming children in adjacent rooms are never what you want to hear!! Hope the hot tub was peaceful.......

Has your weather improved yet.........hope so.

 

[Tracy161]

That would be awesome, we could enjoy our love of the PM together!!

YES YES YES!!!

We wandered through the aquarium area. This was fun to take the time to look at the different fish and the dolphins were out as well.

It's nice to do this once in a while, I really enjoy watching all the cool animals. But you're right - it does get really crowded in there!

This pizza looks SO good! But sorry your back had been acting up

I want to know what they do with all the cookie holes they remove I'd be willing to find a use for them

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a good morning and yummy lunch at Via Napoli!!

Oh that stinks about the noisy child

 

[disneyAndi14]

Yay! Someone actually working in the lab! Where they still studying the same three things?

Looks like a wonderful lunch at Via Napoli! Too bad you didn’t get to try more things around the festival! My mother was there this past week and she said she really enjoyed it all. (Wish I could have joined her but #adulting and saving money)

Glad you only had one issue with a loud kid!, that is frustrating when you are wanting to nap!

I thought about you and your pictures of the deserted lab, lol! With all our rides on this, I have maybe seen a person in there twice!
Our pizza was perfect that day, if my back was not bothering me so much, the Festival would have been fun to explore!
It was weird with the loud kid, maybe just visiting the people in that room? It was quiet for the most part after that. Our nights were very quiet thank goodness!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Sorry your back was acting up but at least the rest and good pizza helped! I saw so many people eating that festival cookie last month, adults just chowing down on it lol. It must be good!

That pizza was so yummy, we may need to go here in March! Andi loved the mushroom pizza, something she will at least eat!
The cookie was just the right softness and had a lot of flavor!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Definitely! I’ve tried different things with my FP, sometimes waiting until afternoon and sometimes morning. Both have pros and cons but before 10:00 is too early, at least for most rides.

I agree, my strategy was to pick up more after the first 3 so I booked early. 10am will be the earliest I do them now.

 

[disneyAndi14]

Ha! Someone is in the lab, but the sign says they are still researching the Venus fly trap. That's one special plant.

I know! It is so funny how that plant has been researched for so long!