Disney 2017

Disney 2017

A short trip while Mike was with the band and Liz and I stayed at the Yacht Club

Day 1

Got up at 3 am, left house by 3:50 am, and caught a 6am Jet Blue filght that landed in Orlando at 8:40.  We were checked in at the Yacht Club by 10 am and got a gorgeous, newly remodeled room on the 4th floor, overlooking the lighthouse and toward EPCOT

We wasted no time and walked  (walked!!!) to EPCOT, and proceeded to France, where we had lunch at the Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie.  Liz had a Tartine aux Fromages (cheese sandwich and I had the Quiche Florentine.  We also split a half bagguette - yum!  It was a very good lunch.  Over the course of the next few hours, we snapped pictures of many lovely gardens and rode the following:

the new(ish) Frozen ride in Norway,

Soarin’

Spaceship Earth

Living with the Land

Ellen’s Energy Adventure

England - saw the folk band and saw a bazookie, sort of a larger version of a mandolin.

Finally, we had dinner at the Spice Road Table at Morrocco - good but not great.  

We pretty much crashed then, and headed back to the hotel, where Liz went to sleep and I called the front desk to get our A/C working.  

Day 2

First thing in the morning, we took a boat to Hollywood Studios, which was not very crowded

We rode Toy Story Mania three times, Star Tours, saw the March of the First Order, a Star Wars thing, saw the making of Star Wars documentary, and the Star Wars museum.  

This was a day for the Marching Band at Magic Kingdom.  

Lunch - Pecos Bills.  Disappointing - they had changed to a southwest theme with burritos, taco burgers, southwest burgers and nachos….I don’t like a burger served with chips, a burger should be served with fries.  

After lunch, we did the Haunted mansion and watched the Muppet Freedom show while waiting  for the band.  The band was great - the biggest and last of three there.  Next was the parade, Festival of Fantasy, which was very good, and we had a front row view.

The rest of the afternoon was spent riding the various rides and walking around Magic Kingdom.   Mostly in order, we rode Pirates of Caribbean, got Pineapple Dole Whip snacks (awesome!), rode the Peoplemover, slept on the Carousel of Progress (at least I did, as usual), Buzz Lightyear, where we saw Mike and his buddies, and got a few pictures with them.

Finally, then did Mickey’s Philharmonic, headed for dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern and finally limped back to the bus and rode back to Yacht Club.  We were exhausted by then.  What a great day!  I think the highlight was seeing Mike - as he put it, “how weird, but totally normal to see you guys at Magic Kingdom!”  He was having as good a trip as we were, and it was good to share that.

day 3

animal kingdom

africa

gorilla walk

festival of the lion king

kilamenjaro safari

Bus to yacht club/walk to epcot

lunch - fish & chips England yum!

shopping - england, morocco, japan, china, mouse gears,

Listened to a set of the British Revolution

heard Led Zep, Kinks (All Day), Wonderwall, (Oasis), Duran Duran (Rio, and Hungry Like a Wolf) and Who are You by the Who

dinner trattoria al forno

hotel - exhausted, legs in pain, tired….

day 4

breakfast at Ale&Compass - yogurt parfaits with strawberries, blueberries & granola

checked out of room - checked bags with Bell keeps

EPCOT

walked into international entrance

went to Soarin’, rode it standby - no wait

Living with the Land, no wait

Soarin’ again, using fast pass, got same seats, lower left side, worst seats in the theater, twice in a row.  Still enjoyed the ride and shook off being angy once the ride started

Inoventions (or what is left of Inventions, house of future is closed, most of the exhibits are gone, the entire one on the Land side is closed and just used for character meet&greets.  Did the Glidden color stuff.   Was fun

Did the Flower Festival exhibit hall, nothing that interesting

Spaceship Earth - used a fast pass, fitting that we ended there for our last ride - we used to end trips with the kids that way.

Finally, walked back to France, had lunch at the Les Halles Boulangirie Pastiserie - ham and cheese and a chocolate brioche for me  and apple & brie sandwich and a berry partfait for Liz.  We both got water, then saved the bottles, empty, for the plane.  We refilled them after we were at the gate at the airport - where I am typing this just now.  Waiting at Gate 1, for a Jet Blue flight back to Newark airport.  Hope to be home by 7:30 or so….We board in about 30 or 40 minutes….Magical Express was sort of dull - we boarded then drove to four other resorts ( Beach Club, Swan & Dolphin, and finally Caribbean Beach) before actually heading to airport.  But we are here…..

Final trip thoughts - for a fast trip, it was good - did not miss not having a car, and really liked the location of the Yacht Club - walking into and out of Epcot is a wonderful experience - just removes the stress from getting there and back.  The Biggest disappointment for me was the table service meals, Morocco Spice Road  Table was ok, Liberty Tree Tavern was good, but loud, noisy, and chaotic at the entrance.  Trattoria Al Forno was good, but about like going to Bertucci’s at home - not really anything special.  The counter service meals fared a bit better: France on the first day was very good, as were the fish and chips at England.  The disappointments were first Columbia Harbor House, where we were about to order and walked out, because we didn’t like anything  on the menu, then Pecos Bill’s which has changed its theme from Burgers and Fries with lots of fixin’s to southwest burgers, tacos, and burritos, and tortilla chips - which to me is always a sign of trying to save money and pass off an inferior side (chips) rather than fries……..

We did have fun shopping for the kids - for Sarah, we got a wooden Twinning’s Tea box and 10 individual teas, for Mike, some Micky pj’s and boxers, and for Elizabeth, next door at home, feeding our cat, some fridge magnets and  stuff about graduating in 2017.

For me, the most fun was taking lots of pictures - I view the parades, rides, animals, and so on, as opportunities to improve my picture taking - so less trying to document the trip and more trying to get good shots of challenging subjects (for example, dancers in the parade zipping by.  I took lots of pictures, hundreds actually, but forgot to shoot them as both raw & jpg, so I couldn’t transfer them to my tablet, so they will have to wait until home for editing and sharing.  

Finally, I note that, as with every visit, much has changed, and much that has not looks dated and stale…..yet I still find enjoyment.  It was strange not having any of the kids with us, I look forward to a day when the kids, and maybe their families all go with us…..but that isn’t any time soon yet.