We learned our lesson yesterday and let everyone sleep in as much as they wanted to today. When we were here last December, we talked about taking an evening and going hotel hopping at Disney, but Emma didn't want to and since it was her graduation trip, we went with her call. We had done it once before when the girls were little though and wanted to try it again. Since it's Easter Break for most places, the parks themselves are super-crowded like they were at Christmas and we didn't really want to face that again. But using Disney transportation to visit different hotels (for basically free, after we paid for parking) sounded like fun, so that was our goal today. "Doing Disney without Disney" is what one of Scott's friends called it, but really, the resorts have almost as much Disney to them as the parks themselves. Part of the fun of planning today was trying to negotiate the different types of Disney transportation, and we changed our plans several times today as new ideas occurred and opportunities arose.
We started our day by parking at the shopping area called Disney Springs. We had heard that we wouldn't be able to enter hotel parking areas unless we had reservations. (That's why we had dinner reservations before going to the Wilderness Lodge last night.) We also figured the buses that left from Disney Springs could take us to any of the resorts and we could catch other forms of transportation from those places, like the monorail or the Skyliner. We were pleasantly surprised that parking is complimentary at the Disney Springs parking ramps, and that saved us what we expected was going to be $25.
We boarded a bus bound for the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We had been to this resort once long ago when the girls were both little, but we didn't remember much about it. We agreed that while the lobby area was impressive, there was something that was just a little bit more impressive about the Wilderness Lodge lobby that we visited last night. The lobby area is decorated with artifacts and motifs from African cultures. It always struck Scott as a little strange that "Animal Kingdom" focuses on African and Asian cultures. We are sure that Disney is NOT trying to imply that Africans and Asians are some how more animal than human, but it does seem to be problematic to decorate the "Animal Kingdom Lodge" with African cultures. The fact that these cultures are considered "exotic" to us harkens back to the same colonialism that Adventureland has throughout it.
Anyway, we needed breakfast- or brunch, since it was getting close to 10:00 am. We found the quick service restaurant called Mala and ate in the breezy shade outdoors. It was a really pleasant morning to eat outside and we were tucked back in a pretty quiet corner. After breakfast, we explored the area by the pool and found a flock of flamingos. There was a small playground, called the Hakuna Matata Playground, and it was tucked back into a shady area. Abby had gotten the zoomies and was running around and around the playground. She didn't want to go down the slides. We think maybe she got burned on one of the slides she tried in Petersburg because she usually goes straight for the slides. At 11:00, the bar by the pool opened and Scott got a Safari Amber, which is apparently brewed by a Tampa company. Before we left, we went out behind the lodge to see where the giraffes are supposed to be able to come right up to the balconies of the rooms. The giraffes and zebras weren't out there at this point, though we did see some pelicans up close. We did pick up a 50th Anniversary tart for Emma. She wanted us to bring back desserts for her, so there was an empty cooler waiting in the car to transport some home in. The trick was going to be getting them successfully through the day to get them to back to the car safely.
We wanted to use the gondolas of the Skyliner next, so we took a bus from the Animal Kingdom Lodge to Disney Hollywood Studios which we knew sat at one end of the Skyliner's route. We rode the Skyliner to the stop for the Caribbean Beach Resort (where we stayed last Christmas Break with Julie's parents), but we continued on the next line to the terminal for the Pop Century Resort and the Art of Animation Resort. We decided to go to the later because Julie said the Pop Century Resort looked "dookie." By that, she probably meant that she didn't like the random late 20th Century theming. The Art of Animation resort is one that we hadn't seen before, even from a distance. There are four areas that have huge outdoor decorations from four movies- The Little Mermaid, Finding Nemo, Cars, and the Lion King. We didn't see all of the areas, but we did see the Finding Nemo ones up close as we walked through the center area by the pool. They were in the process of repainting a lot of the place, it looked like. Scott got a Sam Adams Summer Ale here and a lemonade for Julie and we went into the main building, called Animation Hall, where we sat in the restaurant, called the Landscape of Flavors, and visited the gift shop. These areas had cool music playing. The songs were familiar songs from the movies, but they were done in slightly different pop styles than the soundtracks and they were fun to listen to. Scott got a 2022 pin for our Disney pin board. Julie picked up a "Mermaid Tail Cupcake" to bring home to Emma, but Scott thought it looked a little "fishy." We saw the Cars area from a distance, but we didn't look closely at it or any of the other areas of this hotel because Abby had been sleeping for a while and we didn't want her to overheat. We agreed, though, that this would be a great hotel to stay at if Abby was just a little bit older.
We waited in the Landscape of Flavors restaurant for a while because we wanted to keep Abby cool as she slept. Julie checked the Disney app on her phone to see if dinner reservations were available anywhere. She was surprised to she options come up for Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Resort. It's a "character dining" experience, so Mickey and his friends come visit you during the meal We had tried to eat there at Christmas but were unable to get reservations then. The reservations were for 5:15. It was only a little after 1:00, so we had time, but we now had to be aware of that reservation as we continued to explore, so we made some changes to our route.
We got back on the Skyliner and rode it back over Hourglass Lake to the transfer at Caribbean Beach Resort again, and went to the opposite terminal at Disney's Riviera Resort. Julie wanted to stop here and see it because it is one of the newest resorts. There wasn't much theming here, but we knew to expect that. If there is any theme at all, it might be "French" because there are many movie posters and decorations that are in French. The lobby was very unimpressive and small, but there were some cool mosaic murals of
Peter Pan and
Tangled that we passed on the way from the Skyliner. We didn't find much to keep us here long. Scott got a Kronenbourg 1664, which is the same beer they serve at France in Epcot. He had to wait for a little bit though, because the barista at
le Petite Café had just gotten a half dozen or so orders. She gave him a free order of brownies for waiting. Abby enjoyed eating some of the brownies as we waited for the bus, but we still might have some to bring back to Emma.
From the Riviera, we took a bus to the Magic Kingdom. We saw the people going in and we had to admit that we were surprised that we would ever be so close to the Magic Kingdom and not go in. But we went to the Monorail station instead and got on the resort monorail. It took us clockwise around Seven Seas Lagoon, through the Contemporary Resort, past the Transportation Hub, and to the Polynesian Village Resort. The Polynesian Village is one of Julie's favorites because her family had stayed here once when she was young. Scott got a Longboard Lager from Kona, a Hawaiian beer, and Julie went out to get a 50th Anniversary pineapple Dole Whip. It came with a white chocolate medallion (which Abby ate), a little umbrella, and "EARidescent" shimmer sprinkled on it. Dole whip is a favorite of Julie's and since she hadn't been able to get any at Christmas time, due to the long lines, she had to wait and get some today. She did share it with Abby, of course, and its sugar seemed to wake Abby up quite a bit. She was excitedly playing in the lobby afterwards. We now hated the idea of going back to our own hotel this evening, so we agreed to see if there were by chance any openings for tomorrow night. We probably wouldn't have tried but we had gotten lucky with the Chef Mickey reservation. Julie went to the front desk to ask if they had any rooms. They aren't set up to make reservations there, but one girl was willing to call the reservation line to see. She was on hold a very long time- maybe twenty minutes or so. She was very friendly about it, because it's Disney of course. She talked with Julie as she was waiting and even gave Abby a coloring book and crayons as we waited, but Abby was pumped up on Dole whip sugar at that point and was dragging Dad around the lobby as Mom waited. We ended up saying it doesn't seem like it's meant to be. They were at 99% capacity for tonight anyway. We thanked her for trying, gave her a tip, and headed on to our last stop. Before we left, we picked up a Moana cupcake with an edible flower on it for Emma. Then we got back onto the Monorail and continued around the circle, past the Magic Kingdom to the Contemporary Resort.
Scott likes the now classic look of the Contemporary Resort, with its A-Frame design and the Monorail lines running right through the middle of it. We've stopped and shopped here on previous trips. In the Fantasia gift shop, Abby hugged a stuffed Figment the Dragon, so we paid for him and he is coming home with us. We also got something for Anna here. We waited in some chairs by the big windows that face the Magic Kingdom until it was time to go to dinner at Chef Mickey's.
The point of the dinner was to see Mickey and his friends. We knew we were going to pay a lot for that privilege, but it was a bit chaotic to say the least. Abby was very wound up and wouldn't sit still. She was kicking her shoes off and was even crawling underneath the highchair, making it very hard for us to eat. There were five characters- Minnie, Mickey, Goofy, Pluto, and Donald. They came around one at a time and stood in an area nearby where they would turn and address each table. The diners were not allowed to approach the characters, and this is a COVID protocol that has not yet been dropped. (It may be later this month because Disney has announced that they will be having close contact and hugs at the meet and greets with the characters by the end of April, but at this point they are still distanced from guests.) Abby watched closely as Minnie, Mickey, and the rest interreacted with her, but by the time that they moved on to the next table, she was wriggling all over again. After the characters had gone through once, we decided we would let her watch Peppa Pig on Julie's phone and that did quiet her down. It quieted her down so much that she barely noted Minnie and Mickey as they started through on a second round of visits. The food was supposed to be fancy here, but we didn't care much for it. There was no menu except for drinks, so everyone gets the same food. Abby got the best deal with a children's plate that included chicken nuggets, corn dogs, and macaroni and cheese. She did eat some of it and Dad had the rest. For the adults, the first course had a chef salad, which Julie liked, bread which Scott enjoyed, and citrus-poached baby shrimp and a "plant-based" salad which neither of us tried. For the second course, there was prime rib (which was served pretty rare but was good), roasted turkey (which was tasty), roasted garlic gratin potatoes (which were almost like scalloped potatoes), gnocchi (a noodley dish which was kind of sweet) and a few other things that we didn't eat much of. All of this was served "family style" and it came out just as the characters were starting to appear. Even if Abby hadn't been as wound up as she was, it would have been difficult to eat, but it was pretty chaotic with her. The desserts were the best part, though Scott could only try no-thank-you portions. There were apple crumble tarts, strawberry cream cakes, and Mickey domes. The Mickey domes were chocolate mousse domes with little chocolate ears and sitting on an Oreo cookie. Abby loved the mousse and ate several of them, getting all over her face and hands each time. Scott had a Cigar City Jai Alai IPA from a Tampa brewer, making it his fifth beer at the fifth resort today.
Abby saw the boats out on Seven Seas Lagoon, and since we hadn't ridden a boat yet, we took the Monorail to the Ticket and Transportation Hub, and got on the ferry there to the Magic Kingdom. Once again, we were right outside of the Magic Kingdom gates but we were not going in. We did see a couple get engaged, though. He popped the question as they were posing for a Disney photographer in front of the Mickey and Minnie topiaries. We were getting very tired and had some decisions to make. One plan was to finish the monorail hotels by going to the Grand Floridian, and another plan was to ride the monorail in a loop around Epcot. Ultimately, we were so tired that we ended up leaving. It was already after 7:00 and we had a journey just to get back to our crappy little hotel. We decided it was best to beat the post-fireworks crowd in getting out. There is no transportation from the parks to Disney Springs, where our car was. (We wondered if that was because parking is free at Disney Springs.) Instead, we had to take a bus to a resort first and then catch a different bus there in order to get to Disney Springs, so we ended up going to our car via the Wilderness Lodge. By the time we got back to International Drive, it was after 8:30. We decided that its impossible to spend a day at Disney and not leave feeling exhausted but feeling like you missed some things and wanting more. We knew that it was going to be impossible to see all of the resorts in one day as long as we were taking a leisurely pace, but we were surprised that we only got to five.
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