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It’s Friday and I’m not at work: Late spring getaway, day 2

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Friday, May 6th.

In spite of going to bed at 1am we were both wide awake before 8am. We dressed and headed out to this fantastic Whole Foods, where we stocked up on breakfast food and snacks for our room (again, the fantastic benefit of having both a rental car and a studio with refrigerator, microwave, and dishes), and then created a custom six-pack of beer, which included some old favorites and some new samplings from Florida breweries.

Checking out the view from our balcony on our first morning

For those of you who are curious, the total was around $82, which included the six-pack of beer, some reusable bowls, plenty of fresh fruit, cereal, and yogurt, and snacks. After that we made a quick stop at a local Starbucks for coffee and a breakfast pastry, and then we headed back to the BoardWalk to unload our groceries.

By 10am we’re back in the Camry and headed to the Magic Kingdom, where we are scheduled to have our traditional (tradition because we’ve done it once before) first-day Magic Kingdom lunch at the Plaza Restaurant. We arrive a bit before our scheduled 11am lunch, and thus take our time browsing the shops on Main Street. It’s sprinkling lightly, and is very grey and damp. By the time we reach the Plaza it’s outright raining, so we hope by the time we eat the weather will clear and we can enjoy an afternoon in the Magic Kingdom.

Our server is Ileana, and she is lovely and friendly without being overbearing; although the Plaza sees its fair share of visits from the Mayor and other “streetmosphere” characters, they seem to have a good sense of which tables are into that sort of thing (not us), and who wants to just enjoy a meal and observe the action.  CP orders a Diet Coke and I order a strawberry milkshake (hey, it’s vacation!), and  we split a vegetarian sandwich and a Plaza club.  We certainly enjoyed our meal, but we were seated in the main room this time (unlike our last visit, where we had a table in the solarium) near several tables of loud diners.  We didn’t linger, thanked Ileana, and were on our way.

Dessert for breakfast. Also known as "vacation."

Sadly, by the time lunch was over the rain had gotten worse, not better.  We had umbrellas with us, but after a few minutes of traipsing through the rain trying to dodge strollers and large families (and again feeling like we were swimming upstream through crowds), I turned to CP and admitted that I just couldn’t do it. Maybe if we didn’t visit as often as we do I’d feel more compelled to push through bad weather or no, but we both just weren’t feeling it.  We headed back toward the entrance, stopping for a few minutes to listen to the Dapper Dans sing to the gathered crowd, and then walked back to our car and returned to the BoardWalk.

By the time we returned to the hotel the rain had let up, so we walked around the BoardWalk, snapping pictures, watching the boats go by, and enjoying the

The BoardWalk on a cloudy day.

creak of the wooden boards beneath our feet. We returned to our room to nap, as the rain had started again and we couldn’t think of anything else that sounded better than a snooze on a grey afternoon.  We awoke around 3:30, and after some last minute hemming-and-hawing on my part, decided we would in fact keep that evening’s Jiko reservation for dinner.  We showered, dressed in our fancier duds, and decided to stop by Downtown Disney before our 5:35pm reservation.

This is yet another moment where no amount of trip planning can make up for momentary insanity. It was Friday afternoon. It was a beautiful day. Add those two things together and of COURSE DD was going to be mobbed.  After deciding not to voluntarily place ourselves in that madness, we drove back to the BoardWalk, because – neurosis alert – I couldn’t remember if I had turned off my flat iron before we left.

Still beautiful even on a rainy day.

CP ran in and confirmed that I did, so we got back in the Camry and headed to the Animal Kingdom Lodge, since we had decided to browse the hotel and the savanna views before dinner.  We poked our head in the Zawadi Marketplace, arguably one of Disney’s best resort gift shops, and then visited the Arusha and Uzima overlooks to take in the animals.

Around 5:30 we checked in for dinner and were promptly seated in Jiko’s wine room, a cozy, dark-paneled dining room that featured a floor-to-ceiling wine rack than ran the expanse of a long rounded wall.  For nearly half an hour we were the only diners in the room, and our server, Stephanie, was phenomenal from start to finish. She helped me select a lovely South African pinotage and CP a tasty Kenyan beer, Tusker.  After bringing us warm cloths to wash our hands, Stephanie helped us select appetizers – originally we were going to have a (ubiquitous in Disney) tasty-sounding flatbread, but Stephanie suggested the “Taste of Africa” breads and spreads and two salads: the Jiko salad for me (with peaches, plantains, hazelnut praline and goat cheese) and the Market salad for CP (with poached egg, homemade croutons, bacon, and greens).  The Taste of Africa included lentil papadum, fresh naan, and pita, and for spreads included chermoula, kalamata hummus, lentil and spinach dip, and sambal.  We greatly enjoyed our appetizers, sitting in the quiet wine room taking in the sights. Even the family seated next to us with four children was lovely, with Stephanie doting on the children and the children behaving themselves admirably.

Why, hello....

For our entrees, CP ordered the Peri Peri chicken, a fantastically spiced dish named for a former college program cast member at AKL who shared the dish’s recipe with the staff.  As for me, I splurged and ordered the $41 (!) oak-grilled filet, which was served with tender roasted potatoes and fresh grilled asparagus and which was worth every single penny.Full but undaunted, we continued with dessert, CP ordering something chocolate (which wasn’t on the menu then, nor is it now – it was perhaps a pastry chef’s experiment?) and me ordering the Cape Malva pudding, a terrific bread pudding served with two fruit sorbets and a lovely vanilla custard. My dessert was accompanied by a terrific South African dessert wine, and CP ordered a pot of the most delicious chai tea either of us have ever tasted.

Our meal at Jiko was by far the best either of us have had…ever? We felt this way not only for the food, but for Stephanie’s impeccable service. She was attentive without being overbearing, was honest about her suggestions and took the time to chat with us and really get to know us.  We had hoped to make a return trip to Jiko on this trip, but ended up not going back for fear of having an experience that could diminish the joy of this one.

Evening on the BoardWalk...

Floating on cloud nine, we departed Jiko and headed back to the BoardWalk, where we freshened up, ditched our bags, and walked to Epcot via the International Gateway. Well, first we debated going to Epcot, as at  this point CP wasn’t sure if she was feeling well or not (dinner? something else?). So before we (maybe) left for Epcot, I decided to walk the BoardWalk by myself, taking pictures, watching the street performers, and just generally enjoying the atmosphere. A few minutes later, however, CP called my cell phone, asking where she could meet me so we could head to Epcot. Success! When we arrived the park was mobbed that night (not surprising, given that it was an Extra Magic Hours evening and the Magic Kingdom had closed at 7pm for Grad Nite), so we decided to avoid the IllumiNations crowds and headed instead to Future World.

Dear Disney: Can we talk about your newest marketing strategies? Signed, Dubious.

We browsed the Art of Disney store, road Spaceship Earth, and ended with a browse through MouseGears, which was nearly empty until IllumiNations ended, at which point it was instantly packed with people.  To avoid another swim upstream through yet another hot and sweaty crowd, we saw outside MouseGears and people watched, and headed back to the BoardWalk to get a good night’s sleep, as we were determined to give rope drop a fair shake and see if it would change our WDW experience. Oh, would it ever.

Late spring getaway: Day 1

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Thursday, May 5th.

Cinco de Mayo. My grandmother’s birthday. Day one of our spring Disney vacation. All told? A good day.

Unlike our October trip, the first day of our May trip started with me at work.  Exciting! Actually, with all the adrenaline I had trying to get everything done by the time CP picked me up at noon, it was a fairly exciting morning.  In the end it turned out I walked home from work a bit before noon, as CP was waiting for our new refrigerator to be delivered and needed some help with the last-minute packing.  Amazingly we ended up ready to go ahead of schedule, dropped our housekeys off with our cat sitter, and we were on the road by 12:45.

A Lego replica of the Mark Twain House in Connecticut. Not exactly Downtown Disney-esque in its stature, but this is the Hartford airport.

Realizing we were hungry and that our flight wouldn’t arrive in Orlando until after 7pm, we stopped off at a Panera for lunch, as the Hartford airport isn’t exactly brimming with exciting (or even decent) lunch options.  Soon we were back on the road, and within 40 minutes we were arriving at the airport. The thing I love about the Hartford airport is that you can park in long-term parking in a lot right across from the terminal, all for the price of $8 bucks a day – in the end, our parking for this trip cost less than it cost for one of us to take Amtrak one-way to the Newark airport for our October trip. (Thank you, JetBlue, for starting Hartford service!).   By this time it was 2:30, our check-in went quickly and painlessly, and we had plenty of time to kill in an airport that offered few diversions. So, we wandered about, found a quiet bathroom in the airport hotel, and played games on our iPhones until we decided it was time to get through security and get to our gate.

We breezed through security painlessly, and I was delighted that we avoided full-body scanners given the uproar around them that had pervaded the news in the previous weeks.  Once at our gate, I called to wish my grandmother a happy birthday; checked in with my mother; and generally enjoyed the people-watching you’re guaranteed to find at a gate of people about to board a plane for Disney. (I mean, really – you have to figure 80-90% of people on our flight were Disney-bound. Why else do people go to Orlando?

For some reason I was feeling more nervous about this flight than ones on trips past.  I had already taken my mother’s little helper, but was still feeling it.  Boarding the plane, I took a deep breath, and settled into my customary window seat a row or two behind the wing, the same place we sit just about every time we fly JetBlue.  I should also mention that JetBlue is a MACHINE – they de-planed the flight before us, cleaned the plane, and boarded us within minutes, and thus we were ready to depart ahead of schedule.  Take-off was fairly bumpy and I will certainly admit that I had a white-knuckled grip on the armrests; even CP admitted later that it wasn’t one of her favorite take-offs, either, and she loves to fly. After a few minutes, however, things settled down, and I was able to watch tv and doze until we began our descent into Orlando.  It turned out to be a lovely flight; even the infant seated across from us slept peacefully the entire trip and didn’t make a peep.

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Maybe My Boss Won’t Notice If I Don’t Come Back?: October Trip, Day 10

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Sigh. Last day.

A vehicle you *don't* want to see at your bus stop.

We were up this morning at 8:45, after deciding late the night before that as much as we’d love one final TSM ride, we just weren’t up for the morning dash, and Fast Passes would be useless since they would likely have a return time that fell after our departure from WDW. Instead we ate another Mickey waffle, drank our coffee/hot chocolate mix, and mused that maybe going to a park on our last day was a bad idea: we were just so sad.  In any case, we finished packing, checked our luggage and obtained our boarding passes, and then returned to our room to make sure we hadn’t left anything behind.  We grabbed our carry-on luggage and checked it with Bell Services before leaving for the bus stop, where we found a Hollywood Studios bus had broken down, its lift immobilized with a scooter still on board. A giant bus tow truck came out, as did two replacement buses and voila! The original bus was fixed. This was good, as the broken-down bus was blocking the entire bus stop, and thus no one could get through until the broken bus was gone.

In any case, we hopped on a very full Epcot bus, where we found very large crowds, not altogether

Retro Epcot logo...a nod to WDW's upcoming 40th anniversary?

unexpected on a Saturday during Food and Wine.  Our first stop was Mouse Gears, where I hoped to find a vintage, very soft cotton Mickey shirt that I had seen somewhere during our trip, but I of course could not remember where.  Alas, no luck at Mouse Gears, but CP found a Pluto shirt, so all was not lost.  Then it was off to Club Cool for some soda and sticky feet, plus one last check of the International Gateway stores to look for my shirt. Again, no luck. Although we originally had chosen Epcot this morning because we wanted a Kaki Gori (we kept forgetting during the week), we decided it was too hot, too crowded to go trudging around the World Showcase.

Dragon boat racing at DTD.

Feeling defeated and sad about our imminent departure, we headed out to the bus stop and caught another bus to Saratoga Springs, where we departed at Congress Park to walk to DTD. On our way, we stopped to watch the dragon boat races that were taking place on the water, and then headed to Once Upon a Toy to buy more Toy Story buddy packs (having bought one we loved the night before at the Emporium).  After a bathroom break we then hit World of Disney, where I found my beloved shirt! We then walked through Pleasure Island and the DTD West Side (according to my notes of this day: “sad, smoky, and tacky”).  On our walk back to the Marketplace, CP was blessed with good luck (read: pooped on by a bird, luckily I had brought Shout wipes!), and we watched the exciting final moments of another dragon boat race as we headed toward Earl of Sandwich. As it was around 1pm, it was mobbed, so instead we decided to try Wolfgang Puck Express.

Delicious...until the hair.

Our hearts of romaine salad was great, the margherita pizza was pretty decent, but our crème brulee came complete with a long black hair, and our server had disappeared earlier, never to be seen again. Blech.

Following vacation protocol that clearly states the need for daily if not hourly dessert consumption, we tossed aside the crème brulee and headed to Goofy’s Candy Company, where we procured the following delicious treat:

Hello, sweet mother.

We took it to go and headed to an ATM to get cash to tip bell services, and then remembered we hadn’t been back to Art of Disney to purchase any prints from the Art on Demand kiosk.  Art of Disney was, however, completely mobbed, and a bunch of kids were enjoying randomly pressing the kiosk buttons far too much for us to get in and actually use it to order prints. Business card in hand to call and order later, we headed back to the bus (driven by a woman with a death wish) and were in the AKL lobby by 3:30.  CP magically repacked our carryons to fit all of our new purchases, and by 4:05, we were on the (Not So) Magical Express bus, headed to the airport.  After a quick stop at Pop Century, we were gone.

JFK airport at night.

Our return to Connecticut was largely uneventful: we had a gate change at MCO, but still had plenty of time to shop at Lush and Borders and eat our Goofy’s snack before boarding.  A group of TSA agents sat playing cards in the corner. All was quiet. Our flight, blessedly uneventful; we sat next to an off-duty Southwest flight attendant who was perhaps more enamored with our JetBlue flight than we were. After some confusion with finding our bags (they were on a belt that said…Aruba.), we were on our  airport shuttle and home by 12am.

Home and sad.

Rope Drop? You should know better by now: October Trip, Day 9

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A beautiful day at Downtown Disney.

So, yeah, if you haven’t realized this by now, we’re not really morning people if we can help it. Another beautiful day, one which we slept through until 10am.  After Mickey waffles, hot chocolate/coffee mix and showers, we departed for Downtown Disney around noon. The first item on our agenda was a stop at the Days of Christmas store to buy a Toy Story Christmas ornament,  and then we visited the Pin Traders for some pins, Basin for a free hand treatment and the purchase of some soap to take home, and World of Disney to purchase a Stitch magnet for our fridge, and some chocolate coconut Mickey candies to bring back to my office.  Our shopping trip complete, we decided to wait for a bus to Port Orleans to transfer over to Epcot, but a crazy yelling mom at the bus stop made us feel so uncomfortable we decided to walk over to Saratoga Springs instead. We got lucky and quickly caught an Epcot bus at the Congress Park stop, and soon we were at Epcot.

Our first stop was Club Cool to see if I could finally get my hands on some Mezzo Mix, which luckily was readily available this day.  Twenty or so tiny cups later, and feeling like maybe we hadn’t enjoyed Test Track the first thirty times we’d ridden it this trip, we headed there to scope out the single rider line, which at 20 minutes was too long for our taste. We instead took another bathroom break at the Odyssey building, and headed to La Cantina de San Angel, the new quick-service restaurant in Mexico to have some chips and guacamole and margaritas while sitting on the water.

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All I Want Is An Ice Cream Cone: October Trip, Day 8

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Another 9:30 morning and another trip to the Mara for yogurt parfait and…a Mickey waffle! O sweet Mickey waffle, how I love you!

I think the heat and walking of our trip, coupled with CP’s cold, left her (and me!) feeling pretty tired by this point. Instead of heading right out to a park, we decided to lay low and watch some tv, and left for the Magic Kingdom around noon. After another long, chaotic bus ride, we headed down Main Street to Fantasyland, where we grabbed Fast Passes for Peter Pan, and then headed to Tomorrowland to ride…the Speedway.

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Really starting to hate Disney buses now: October, Day 7

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This morning we slept in again, this time until 9:30. We got ready quickly and left for Hollywood Studios around 10am.  We figured that if we were lucky, we could power-walk to TSM and manage to snag one of the few remaining Fast Passes for the day, which we did, with a 5:30-6:30pm return time.

Most ridiculous thing I've ever power walked for?

With the day’s most urgent task out of the way, we strolled back to Starring Rolls for breakfast, sharing a bagel, blueberry muffin, and bananas and having what passes for a WDW latte.

Facing the same HS-boredom problem as we did earlier in our trip, we departed HS for Animal Kingdom, where we went directly to Expedition Everest for a trip through the single rider line.  We then doubled back to Dinosaur, which I admit still scares the crap out of me, no matter how many times I warn myself of the audioanimatronic being that’s going to start screaming in my ear.

Don't be fooled. This is one terrifying dinosaur.

After browsing the dump shop, we went back to EE for another ride, and just managed to beat a tour group into the single rider line. I sat next to a business man who was riding for the 1st time with his colleagues, and although he feigned bravado with them, he surreptitiously caught my eye and asked how scary the ride would really be.  I reassured him, and off we went.

As you probably expected the businessman did just fine, and after concluding once again that CP is incapable of appearing in a ride picture with a smile, we departed Animal Kingdom with the intention of heading back to Downtown Disney again for lunch. We decided the fastest route would be to take a Saratoga Springs Resort bus and walk to DTD, which wasn’t a bad plan, but was made a bit less enjoyable by the long jerky bus ride we endured and the hot walk in the midday sun from the Congress Park bus stop at SSR to Downtown Disney.  A caprese sandwich at Earl of Sandwich later, we were both restored, and wandered through Goofy’s Candy Company, browsing the sweets and sampling some fudge.  Tired after what had been a very hot morning on the go, we headed to the bus stop for yet another long, noisy bus ride back to Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Let’s take a minute here and discuss the Disney bus situation.  Now, I’m a big believer in public transportation both for its convenience and for its sustainability.  After three mid-2000s visits to Disney relying solely upon Disney transportation, I am ready to buy a fleet of cars, marry a car dealer, and buy as much stock in Hummers as I possibly can.  Well, not really, but the truth remains that the Disney buses are so unreliable and frustrating that I will never again visit WDW without renting a car. Something changed in the mid-2000s regarding the way Disney dispatches its buses, and it’s now a rare occasion when a bus comes in a timely manner and/or said bus isn’t filled to capacity.  Further, there is something so horrible about the Downtown Disney bus route from every Disney resort imaginable.  I don’t know if it’s the two DTD stops, or the inevitable stop at Typhoon Lagoon to pick up soaking-wet passengers, but something makes the trip seem interminable.  Especially interminable should your bus driver be scheduled for a break  at the DTD West Side stop after he’s picked you up at the Marketplace. Add another 20 minutes to your trip? Why not!

Barney might need more than a biscuit after that Fast Pass line....

Anyway. Once back at Animal Kingdom Lodge it was time for more afternoon napping and a check-in with Oprah. We left AKL again around 6pm to head back to Hollywood Studios, arriving around 6:20pm, giving us ten minutes to use our TSM Fast Passes. Walking briskly we arrived right on time, and were both pleased to finally break 100k each.

Afterwards it was time for another dinner of champions: the Tune-In Lounge milkshakes.

Home to Disney's best milkshake.

Sipping our chocolate and peanut butter and jelly concoctions we walked down Hollywood Boulevard, out of the Studios, and down the lakeside path to Epcot, stopping at both the Boardwalk Inn and Beach Club to both browse the resorts and find a restroom.  At one restroom we stumbled upon a group of drunken Food and Wine revelers, tooting furiously while lamenting the sauerkraut they had just consumed. Ummm…yikes.  We moved quickly on, and soon were at the International Gateway, and then headed to Morocco for Casa beer and falafel pitas.

While eating our snack we noticed a private event setting up on the World Showcase Lagoon. Always interesting in these types of affairs, we lingered for a few minutes, watching the staff set up. It was then we noticed one staff member eating right off the trays of food, or rather grabbing his food and then stealing away to eat it behind a topiary.  This deeply inflamed my sense of righteous indignation, so I found the first manager I saw to let her know. Whether or not she did anything I don’t know, but I’m hoping she dealt with the situation – if I had paid beaucoup dollars for a private Disney event, I’d be pretty peeved if a server ate my food, and with his bare unwashed hands to boot!

A lovely sunset at Hollywood Studios

After walking away indignantly, we meandered through the massive crowds, finally stopping at the Puerto Rico booth for another torched cherry colada.  We walked by Test Track to scope out the line, but CP wasn’t feeling particularly good, and we decided to head back to AKL.  One very fish-smelling bus ride later, we were back in our room for soda, showers, and sleep.

Highlight of the day? Walking from the Studios to Epcot.  Sometimes I think the price of theme park admission (or the cost of a Disney trip, really) would be worth it even if we never rode a ride; it feels a privilege to meander through such an interesting, often beautiful built environment. The path between these two theme parks is secluded, quiet, and quite lovely.