Monday, February 20, 2023- Disney Resort Hopping- Day 2

 

    When we first made our reservations for this trip, only a few weeks ago, we were planning on staying two nights.  After some discussion, we made reservations at the All-Star Music resort for Monday night and Tuesday night.  Later, we decided to add one more night, but since President's Day week is a popular time, we were only able to add a night at the All-Star Movies resort, next door.  We tried several times to see if the Disney cast members could consolidate all of our nights into either one hotel or the other so we wouldn't have to change rooms today, but they are so booked up that it wasn't possible.  So we had to pack up this morning and move our stuff, first to the car, and then later, to the new room in All-Star Music.   It's next door, but it was a bit of a pain to have to do to move to a virtually identical room. 

     We went to breakfast in our hotel and then we took Abby to the Toy Story section of it so that she could play on the playground there.  There were two climbing sets, one that was her size and one that was for older kids.  She got a little banged up when she tried to go down the bigger slides.  She was happier just playing in the sand there and of course she met new friends as she played.  The playground was ok, but not particularly "Toy Story" looking.  It gave Abby a chance to enjoy herself.

     We wanted to go to the Boardwalk resorts this morning because we had never visited them.  We knew we couldn't get a bus directly there, and we asked a cast member for her suggestion.  She first suggested Disney Springs, but then she chased after us to remind us that the Skyliner goes from Hollywood Studios to that side of Epcot, a fact that we knew but hadn't considered.  We got the bus from All-Star Movies and took it to Hollywood Studios.  Abby was excited to ride the Skyliner there and was anxious to get in the gondola cars.  We transferred at Caribbean Beach and went to Epcot's International Gateway.  Then we backtracked, over the arching bridge to the Boardwalk Resort.

     Julie had heard a lot about the Boardwalk Resort and was anxious to look around there.  It was only a little after 10:00 when we arrived, and there was a lot that was not open yet.  We strolled around a little bit, and eventually found the pool area.  It had another playground that was Abby's size and it was themed more like the Boardwalk theme.  Abby played on that for a while but we wanted to start looking for lunch.  We eventually found the main lobby (which was on the 2nd floor, since we were approaching from the boardwalk side, which is basically the back).  We found the infamous "nanny chairs" that we had seen on YouTube.  They were originally meant for nannies to sit on while the children rode the amusement rides.  Most people now agree that the faces and toes are a bit weird and creepy, but Abby sat on them with no worries.  We were looking for the typical quick service restaurant and a place to eat inside so Abby could cool down, but we weren't having much luck.  Eventually Julie found the Big River Grille and Brewing Works, and we decided to try lunch there.  We split a plate of nachos.  Scott also got a beer here, a Southern Flyer Light Lager.  He was glad this brew pub was there because the other beer he was seeing didn't get him very inspired.

    As we left the brew works, we noticed the sign for an Open House to view one of the Disney Vacation Club's properties.  We had fun seeing the "model home" and the sales pitch gave Abby some more time to cool down.  The DVC is a time-share situation, where you can buy into plans that let you stay at Disney resorts all over the world.  We've gotten information from them in the past but we're hesitant to join.  First, there's a point system that is probably easy to understand once you get used to it, but it seems confusing to outsiders.  There are many different levels you can join at based on how many points you expect to use annually.  The initial cost is quite a daunting thought, but maybe the biggest reason that we haven't done it in the past is that it commits you for soooo many years.  Even though we've come to Disney a lot, we like being flexible and go to many other places too, and we do so without usually using deluxe accommodations.  We've got a meeting with Ashley, the guide, scheduled for tomorrow morning at the Grand Floridian, because he was suggesting that this would be our "home base."  It doesn't feel as homey to us as a place like the moderate resorts do.  We're not going to go to that meeting.

     After the DVC sales pitch, we continued around Crescent Lake to the other resorts that are in the area.  We passed the Swan and Dolphin hotels, but we had already seen them as "optional" because they aren't Disney owned, even though they operate on Disney property.  We continued around to Disney's Yacht Club and Beach Club resorts.  They are connected and very similar to each other.  We didn't go inside, but Julie saw Hurricane Hannah's by the pool.  We stopped there for some refreshments.  Scott got a Blue Moon, which he is counting for both Yacht Club and Beach Club, since this area seems to be shared by them.  Julie got a Lava Smoothie, which had a raspberry puree on cocoanut and pineapple.

     Abby had been patiently watching video's on Julie's phone and had asked to go swimming.  We decided to head back to All-Star Music to maybe let her use the pool there.  Instead of taking the Skyliner back to Hollywood Studios, we took one of the Friendship Boats.  It was a little noisy, but added a little variety into the day again.  We took the bus from Hollywood Studios to All-Star Music.  We checked into our new room and got all of our things together in one place.  We are in the "Rock Inn" section of the hotel, which has giant electric guitars and speakers as its motif.  The room looks identical to the one that we had last night, though-- same Murphy bed, same barn doors, same art.  By the time we got everything together, Abby had fallen asleep in the air conditioning and it was a good thing for her to get a nap.  Julie napped for a while too.  Then we ordered some pizza to bring back to our room while we waited for Abby to wake up.

     Once Abby had been roused and fed, we went to the front of the resort to catch a bus to the Magic Kingdom.  It was the second time in our lives that we had been that close to the front of the park without going in.  But we passed from the bus stop to the Resort Monorail line.  That monorail took us through the Contemporary Resort (which we plan on visiting tomorrow) and on to the Polynesian Village.  We went quickly with the crowds into the main building, down one floor, and out the back door.  There, on the lake side of the resort, was a view of the fireworks over Magic Kingdom.  Since they were already starting, there was a crowd that had gathered.  If we had been able to move down to the beach, the unobstructed view over the Seven Seas Lagoon would have been nice.  As it was, we were watching them with the lights of the pool in the way.  The music was played in sync with them, but it wasn't very loud.  Still, the colors were nice and Abby enjoyed them for a while anyway.  Before we left the Polynesian Village, we filled our resort mug with some drink to share and Scott got a Kona Longboard, which is a beer brewed in Hawaii, and one he enjoyed the last time he had it here.

     We went shopping briefly in the two stores before we got back on the Resort Monorail and took it to the next stop- The Grand Floridian Hotel.  We visited the gift shop there first, and Abby bought a Minnie Mouse like she had said she would on the way to Florida.  Minnie is pretty big and matches the Daisy Duck that Abby got back in April.  The gift shop was closing, but we managed to get a table in the Enchanted Rose Lounge, which is themed to the Beauty and the Beast live-action movie.  The main part of the lounge had already closed, but we were seated in the bar area and got some drinks.  Julie got a Rosemary Cooler which was a non-alcoholic drink made with lemonade, vanilla and rosemary.  She didn't like it and wasn't able to finish it. Scott, on the other hand, tried a Schöfferhofer Pomegranate Hefeweizen from Germany.  He was much more impressed with the beer offerings this evening than he had been this morning.

     After we finished up at the Grand Floridian, Abby was getting fussy, no doubt because she was hungry and tired.  We took the monorail back to the front of the Magic Kingdom and rode the crowded bus back to All-Star Music and made our way to the back of the resort where our room is.  Considering we hadn't actually gone to a park and had actually had a long break during the day, it was surprising how tired all of us were!  It's probably good that we aren't doing a park this time.

Sunday, February 19, 2023- Disney Resort Hopping - Day 1

      We left our hotel in Hardeeville, SC, before 8:30 this morning and headed south, with hopes that we would be at Disney World for lunch.  When we checked into our hotel in Pennsylvania on Friday night, it was 19 degrees out.  This morning when we left the hotel it was 58, and we eventually had a high of at least 85 today.  Of course, we stopped at the Florida Welcome Center for orange juice when we crossed into the state.  Abby drank not one but two cups of juice, and then she was so proud that she told everybody that she saw there about it.  She certainly enjoyed the orange juice, which is a bit of a surprise because she didn't like it when we stopped last April.  Things change fast when you're three.

     Driving took us a little longer than we had hoped.  Traffic and the needs of a three-year old are things that you don't have any control over when you are travelling. We had pulled off of 95 near Jacksonville in order for Abby to use a potty, but we then watched a fire engine pull onto the expressway and saw the back up that the accident was causing on the entrance ramp. We tried to find another way around that city, which took time.  Julie's dad had warned us that the traffic around Daytona was going to be heavy because it's the weekend of the Daytona 500.  Actually, the traffic wasn't that bad there, but we did see the Goodyear blimp and several airplanes pulling advertising banners around the racetrack.  We finally made it through the thick traffic in Orlando to pull into the Disney All-Star Movies Resort shortly after 2:00.

     We checked in and since we hadn't eaten lunch yet, we immediately went to the quick service food court.  Abby got the pizza that she has been wanting for the last few days.  She has been nibbling at it all day, but the slice was so big that she will probably still have some to eat from it tomorrow.  A cast member asked Julie if Abby had any allergies, and when she said no, gave Abby a free cupcake with orange frosting.  

      We then went up to our room.  The All-Star Resorts (All-Star Movies, All-Star Music, and All-Star Sports) are Disney's budget hotels.  They certainly aren't cheap, but they are the least expensive option for staying at a Disney resort, on the Disney property.  We stayed in the All-Star Movies hotel once or twice before (in 2014 at least), and Julie has stayed at all of them at one time or another when she was coming down with the kids from JFK. There are several wings of the All-Star Movies Resort and each one is themed to a different Disney movie, including 101 Dalmatians, Fantasia, Toy Story and the Mighty Ducks. We are in the section for Herbie, The Love Bug.  There are giant objects and characters in each of the sections, so ours has oversized Volkswagen Beetles and automotive tools.    As we were about to enter our second floor room, we heard what sounded like Mickey talking to us.  It turned out to be one of the workers below us who was doing a spot-on impression of him.  When we opened the door, the TV had the message "Welcome Frank Family" on it.   The room is fine, but one of the beds is a Murphy bed that folds down from the wall.  Another interesting feature is the "barn door" style door that separates the sleeping area from the sink. Another barn door serves as the door for the bathroom.  Abby immediately commented on the picture of Minnie, Mickey and Donald that hangs over the bed, but another more elaborate one of Huey, Dewey and Louie is revealed when the Murphy bed is pulled down.

     It was time for Abby to have some fun.  The trip hasn't been great for her so far, so we planned to give her some pool time this afternoon.  There are several pools here, but the biggest is the Fantasia pool, with the sorcerer's apprentice, Mickey Mouse, conducting the water fountains at one end.  Abby loved being in the pool with mommy, and was figuring out how to float using her swim vest.  Julie figures that they were in the pool for at least an hour, and Abby loved every minute of it.  Eventually, Julie got cold, though, and needed to get out of the pool.  They went and waited for Scott to get back.

    Scott had gone off on his quest to have a beer at each Disney Resort.  He started with a Jai Alai at the All-Star Movies Resort pool bar.  It is brewed in Tampa and has a grapefruit taste.  He walked through the neighboring All Star Music Resort (where we will be the next two nights) and went to the All-Star Sports Resort.  He had a Bud Light there, because it seemed to fit with the giant footballs and baseball bats decorating this resort.  He was impressed with the astroturf that is in the middle of the football section where kids were running a few plays.  The swimming pool is shaped like a baseball diamond, complete with two scoreboards and a backstop.  Goofy is on the "pitcher's mound" in the pool's center, recreating a scene from an old cartoon as he uses a cannon to fire baseballs at the plate.  When Scott crossed back through All-Star Music, he found that the line at the pool bar was very long, so he continued back to All-Star Movies, and eventually found Julie and Abby waiting for him to get into the room.

     We visited the gift shop and Abby bought a Micky bubble wand that lights up.  The bubbles she was spreading got people smiling when we were waiting for the bus, but we made her turn it off on the bus itself.   Scott got a pin that says "All-Star Resorts" for our Disney board in the living room.  We also got a collectible cup that is refillable at any of the quick serve restaurants in any of the resorts.  We've gotten these cups once before, but knowing that they weren't good in the parks made us hesitate to get them again.  This time, though, the resorts are all that we are doing, so we will carry this one with us and will be sure to drink our money's worth of soft drinks over the next couple of days.

     It was after 5:00, and we decided to go to one of the "outlier" resorts, that isn't really connected to the others with cool transportation like boats, the Monorail, or the Skyliner.  We chose Coronado Springs.  We had never been to it at all. Since the bus transportation links the resorts to places like the parks but not to other resorts, we had to take a bus from the All-Star Resorts to somewhere else (which ended up being Disney Springs) and then transfer to a bus going to Coronado Springs.  This resort has a theme based on "ancient" Mexico and the American Southwest.  We entered the main part and found a pretty fountain where Abby threw a couple of pennies in. The gift shop is called Panchito's after the Mexican rooster in the Three Caballeros.  Our plan was to take one of the three bridges to the "Three Bridges Bar and Grill at Villa del Lago."  It was a pretty walk out on the lake, with Spanish/Mexican guitar music and a nice view of the Gran Destino Tower.  Julie had hoped to sample a sangria flight there, but we didn't have reservations.  We were told that the wait for a table would be 2 hours and 45 minutes, and we quickly decided not to eat there.  Instead, we went to the quick service restaurant, El Mercado, and ate there.  Scott had a spicy Buffalo chicken sandwich that was great, but many of the drink options seemed weak.  We think the sugar-free lemonade was actually water.  Scott wanted to get a beer there too, so before we left, he got a can of Corona Extra, which seemed to fit the Mexican/Southwest theme of the place.

     We had talked about trying to go to one more resort tonight, like maybe Fort Wilderness, but we were all feeling pretty exhausted after a long day.  We took the first bus we could, which was going to Hollywood Studios, and from there we took the bus back to the All-Star hotels.  As we passed the pool bar, Scott got Julie a Dole whip pineapple smoothie as a treat to take to the room.