Pool Hoping and Springs
With the room finally organized in preparation for it to be completely trashed by later tonight once we made ourselves at home, we decided to get out of the room and get some sun. Now before we headed to the pool we knew that some of the pools have been having waits to get into them. Welcome to Spring break…and I can see this happening now with the florida heat and everyone wanting to take a break. It also wasn't in our favor when the main pool was under refurbishment. But before we did anything…cheers to vacation
We headed off to the little mermaid section and we weren't surprised to see the line formed to get in. A CM came out when we got there and said that as soon as people leave more of us will be let in. There were probably 3 groups in front of us and who knows how long it would take to just get a seat. So we headed back to the room in plans to pool hop to a different resort.
Now a few things to know about pool hopping, even without a pandemic its not allowed…and the scan in gates have made it hard to do it. However the nice things about the moderates is that they have many quiet pools that aren’t as cool but a pool is a pool. We headed back to the room, Alish packed her backpack up with a drink for everyone and we headed to the skyliner.
Our plan, get off at the first stop, Caribbean Beach and whatever pool we come across first is the pool we will go to. Luckily for us their was a quiet pool right across the street from the Skyliner Hub. Again, with the quiet pools…they’re small and have limited seating. We changed the plan and decided to claim the little beach area as our own and if we are dying in the FL sun we just go take a dip in the pool.
Today was the dream weather, sunny and warm but not melting. I guess earlier in the week it was high 50s low 60s so I’m glad we didn’t get stuck with that.
We baked in the sun for about an hour and a half. Just enough to now crisp the skin the first time its seen the sun since summer…we will save that for our beach day.
It was a relaxing afternoon full of life talks…from Brittany inviting me to Hawaii if her Ireland honeymoon gets canceled, to Alish moving to Hong Kong, to Brittany telling me a break boys hearts, and me inviting myself to Alish’s friends house to a family dinner later in the trip.
Time flew and we didn’t even swim. We decided to head back to the skyliner and back to the room before Joe got out of work. Our plans for the night was to go to Springs, we originally had reservations at city works but canceled them because Joe wouldn't have been able to join. So surprise surprise while we waited for Joe we played sushi go.
With Magic Bands not a thing anymore with a room reservation Brittany still had one of mine from my trip in November that she gave Joe so he could scan himself in. Turns out like all my magic bands it didn’t work.
Once was everyone was showered, changed and ready for the night we first took a celebratory shot. When we were at the store Brittany told everyone to pick out a little shot bottle because its apparently “Our thing and something we do on our vacations”….aka I’m just trying to save money and not have to buy disney price drinks. The idea was great until Brittany dropped her honey whiskey on the ground and made our room smell like breakfast. But not to fear we had so many bottles to choose from.
Joe was amazed at how much we had to drink but was ready to join the party. This was his first vacation with us, he would always be forced to stay at home with the dog. So he better be ready for whats in store for the next few days. On top of the first vacation with my crazy family, this was also his first Disney vacation. He told me this is my first time staying at a resort….until Brittany said AKL.
Joe was so excited about finally experiencing the Disney busses…wild. Welcome to the nice change in Disney Busses where you all get separated but you’re not sitting on stop of someone.
When we got to Springs Brittany wanted to check the wait for Gideon’s. If you are unaware what that it is the newest craze if you like cookies. The new location opened up at springs and there is always a wait. Brittany was at Springs a week prior and texted me saying there was a 3 hour wait….for a cookie. We checked it out to entertain her but they have an online queue that you need to enter once you get to Springs and that was already full for the night.
Our only mission for the night was get something to eat and maybe get a drink somewhere. We decided to try the Hanger Bar, it was an hour wait, so we put our name down and they said we had to wait there if we wanted a seat. We did not want to wait an hour standing there, so we decided to get food. Half of us wanted chicken guy and half of us wanted earls. So we walked to Chicken Guy and tried to mobile order earls but there was a fee to do that. We ended up leaving Brittany with Kiss and Garrett while me Joe and Alish headed for the other side.
Joe was weaving through the crowds and practically running, Alish and I tried our best to keep up and we all managed to make it to earls. I haven't been here in FOREVER! And like always I struggle between the Earls club and thanksgiving sandwich…but like every time the holiday wins.
The chicken guy group finally caught up and we all squished together in a booth.
I have never seen so many people scarf down their food like it was going to be taken away from them. It felt like we were on a time crunch but we truthfully had nothing else planned for the night. At this point we decided to try one place to drink and the group chose the Edison. We headed back to the other side of Springs and put our name down on a list. It was a short wait and they said they would text us when they were ready for us.
We headed to the west side, Brittany and I went into the Disney Lifestyle store. I picked up the overalls we looked at back in November but never bought, thats when Brittany said “Joe got me those and I’m wearing them tomorrow you should buy them so we match” Was a planning on buying them? No before coming I knew all I wanted was the tangled floating lantern mug and maybe the new yellow spirit jersey. We left the store not purchasing anything because we lost our group.
The Edison was ready for us so we headed back and was very sad when they walked us through the restaurant and put us out on the patio. It wasn’t the real experience I was hoping for but none of us really wanted to wait any longer. This is the time we wish we brought sushi go, the service was slow but our waitress was great.
The drinks here were good, nothing to really rave about. I think it truly is for the atmosphere with the live music and we got gypped from that. The waitress also thought it was hilarious that me Samantha went with the Samantha drink.
After our drinks I asked Alish if she would be willing to use her discount. She called out of work today so I knew Disney is weird with using discounts when that happens. She said it was after her scheduled time so she would. That means we headed back to get me some overalls and the spirit jersey because I knew if I didn’t get it I would probably regret it like the hades one they had here. Lesson learned.
Brittany wanted to check Gideon’s one last time before we left…and we all entertained her by doing so. The line was short, but we knew there was a virtual line. Brittany went up to the work and asked if there was any way to get in the line tonight, the girl said no but shook her head yes and motioned us to jump in line. So we did and waited 10 mins max.
The theming was cool, the store itself is super tiny. The cookies are a lot bigger in person but get yourself some milk to go with it. I ended up saving mine for home because of this reason.
Is it worth the 3-4 hour wait? Absolutely not! Its a cookie with a lot of chocolate chips. But we all know that if all the Disney Influencers rave about something its going to blow up and normally it doesn’t live up to the hype. My only advise if its a must do for you on an upcoming trip is get to springs early and get into the virtual queue. I would say do what we did but that might have been a lot of luck on our part. Or just wait for the next must get snack and wait for the hype to die down.
Once everyone got their cookies we decided to call it a night. We headed to the bus stop and why the boys took off sprinting to the bus beats me. I just know one minute everyone is walking and next everyone is running full speed leaving me trailing behind. Jokes on them because we had a huge line to wait in. One bad thing about the new bus operations, no more cramming onto busses at the end of the night. Get ready to wait longer than you normally would.
While we waited I taught Brittany all I could about the Shein clothes app. I’ve been using it for years, great for vacations when you want new clothes because everything is cheap. So I taught her the basics, checking in everyday gives you money and once I had about $10-$12 free for just checking in, Sundays are free shipping, and write a review because you get money back. Plus coupons…and with all of that that’s how I got the bathing suit I wore this day for 12 cents.
A bus finally came to take us away. Alish and I sat in the back and it was a breezy time, they leave the top emergency exit hatch slightly open to circulate air floor. We got back to AoA around 10:30ish and I was ready for that good Disney sleep.
