The characters we chose for our Magic Bands were Ariel and Eric from The Little Mermaid. These characters will come into play again a little later on.
We dropped our dogs off at the kennel on Saturday morning. This is a very infrequent event because my mom is usually able to watch them for us, but she was visiting family in Canada. The drop-off is always extremely traumatic - mostly for me, and somewhat for the dogs. I know they'll be well-cared for, but it's just not the same as leaving them in their own house with my mom there to watch over them! The three of them stayed in the same kennel together, so I knew they'd have one another's company, but I still felt so guilty. I appreciate my mom every day, but on a morning like this, it becomes so apparent that I am incredibly fortunate to have her live so close to us! After a simple check-in process, the dogs were escorted away from us and we headed for the airport.
We had a late-morning flight and were flying on Spirit for the first time. It is very much a no-frills airline, which is more than fine with us for a short flight and brief weekend trip. We each took just a backpack, so the flight down was quick and painless.
We landed in Orlando in the early afternoon, rented our car, and drove to WDW. We check into the Contemporary - we'd gotten a very good rate for a lake-view room in the tower and were excited about being within walking distance of MK! After checking in, we grabbed a snack at Contempo Cafe, which usually has come of the best snacks around. We got a Peanut Butter Pie and a Candy Apple Cupcake, both of which were SO yum! We spent a little bit of time wandering around the resort, and then we hopped on the monorail for a stop at the Polynesian for Dole Whip Floats. Again, delicious! And I could hang out at the Polynesian for days and days and never tire of it!
We took the monorail over the MK, which was decorated to fall and Halloween. Everything looked so festive! We had a dinner reservation at a new-to-us restaurant: Jungle Skipper Canteen, over in Adventureland. On our way, we stopped by the Tangled area so I could take a photo with a button I order from Parkbound Buttons. They make a ton of cute buttons, and can also do custom buttons - they made the ones for our 20th anniversary vow renewal celebration! This particular Tangled button really sums up my feelings about life...I am definitely living my dream!
We had a short wait for our table, so naturally I took photos of Sunshine Tree Terrace and my Orange Bird!
The restaurant has a similar theme to the Jungle Cruise and it was pretty neat inside. While there weren't a ton of vegetarian options, we were really enjoyed the experience. The ambiance was great, and we tried a dessert we'd read about online: Kungaloosh, which is chocolate cake with caramelized bananas and caramel-cashew ice cream. All of the rave reviews we'd read were spot on. We loved it!
After dinner, we wandered around MK for a while, and then decided to head over the DHS to see the Star Wars fireworks. We saw the previous version, Symphony in the Stars, back in May, and thought it was one of the best Disney fireworks shows we've ever seen. It was changed it to Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular sometime since then, so we were really looking forward it. What a HUGE disappointment. Seriously. A complete letdown. I don't even have any photos to share because the ones I took were awful. And we weren't the only ones who didn't like it; as we left the park, people around us were talking about how unimpressed they were, too. Frankly, I felt irritated that we'd chosen to do that instead of other things on a Saturday night! Luckily, we'd driven over to DHS, so we hopped back in the car, drove back to the Contemporary, and watched Wishes at MK. The soundtrack is played at the Contemporary during the show, and it was just about perfect because we found a spot where no one else was near us.
After Wishes, we walked over to MK to see the Main Street Electrical Parade for perhaps the final time. It is leaving WDW and being taken to DL for the foreseeable future; I don't know if it will return sometime or not, and we don't have any trips to DL planned right now, so we wanted to be sure we saw it on this trip.
MSEP is certainly a classic and is cherished by Disney fans everywhere. We love the soundtrack and listen to all the time. We've had the same CD for easily 25 years. The theme song of the parade is called "Baroque Hoedown," and among the countless songs from the parks and movies that I adore, "Baroque Hoedown" is definitely one of my very favorites.
When we renewed our vows in 2014, we'd asked for "Married Life" from Up to be played for the processional at the Wedding Pavilion. As for the recessional music, we asked for a Disney medley, but did not know which specific songs would be included. When we started back down the aisle after our kiss, we'd taken about three steps when we realized that the music they were playing was "Baroque Hoedown!" What a moment that we will treasure forever! We stopped and goofily grinned at each other before continuing down the aisle because it really could not have been more perfect.
So this parade means a lot to us - one time I clapped nonstop throughout the entire thing for 20 minutes, something I am still proud of because 20 minutes of clapping is a LOT of clapping - and we found a good viewing spot. I cried when it ended, but we will continue listening to the soundtrack for as long as we live. And we hope to see it again sometime!
On Sunday morning, we took the monorail over to the Polynesian for breakfast at Captain Cook's. Of course we had Tonga Toast, because all other breakfast choices pale in comparison! After breakfast, we returned to the Contemporary for a few hours, then we walked to MK and took a bus over to Beach Club. We had lunch at Beaches and Cream and then walked over to Epcot because we had fast passes for the new Frozen ride in Norway. I was trying to manage my expectations because I didn't want to be disappointed. I'd been so looking forward to the ride (although I loved its predecessor, Maelstrom, I did think it was showing its age), but there was really no need to worry about unrealistic expectations because it was fantastic!
We were meeting our friends Dean and Rose at Crew's Cup Lounge, so we left Epcot around 5:00 and walked to Yacht Club. We hung out there for a little while, and then the four of us decided to go over to Boardwalk to check out the new Abracadabar. It has a fabulous atmosphere - like a 1930's and 1940's vibe with a magician theme. It was so great and we'll definitely be going back during future trips! We said our goodbyes to Dean and Rose - we loved catching up with them and are already looking forward to hanging out again on our next trip - and we headed over to Jellyrolls. My beloved Scotty was performing and as always, it was highly entertaining. We were able to chat with him during one of his breaks, and it was awesome to see him! Towards the end of the night, he began playing, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" from The Lion King, and when he sang the lyrics, "It's enough to make kings and vagabonds believe the very best," he looked over at us and smiled. When he finished the song, he said, "That was for the Kings" - and he gestured to us - "and the vagabonds" - and he gestured to everyone else. Obviously that was one of the cutest things ever, but what he didn't know was that song was our recessional music when we got married, so it is very special to us. Have I ever mentioned how much I love Scotty?!?
Monday was the day we dread on every trip - departure day - but we were able to get a late check out time so we could enjoy MK for the morning. We had breakfast at Be Our Guest, and rode a few of our favorite attractions, and I wanted to get a certain photo over at Ariel's Grotto. I'd purchased another button from Parkbound Buttons with Ariel on it - along with the words "Starbucks Lovers," which is a commonly misheard lyric from Taylor Swift's "Blank Space." Perfect on so many levels!
Just before lunch time, we walked back to the Contemporary, packed up, and checked out. We drove to the airport, went through security, and waited at the gate, only to learn that our flight was delayed due to lightning. Not a big deal. At first. Time dragged on, and when it was finally time to get ready to board the plane, they made an announcement that the first leg of the flight - Orlando to Baltimore - had been cancelled and that the plane would be heading straight to Detroit. This was the first time in all of our travels that our flight was outright cancelled. We were able to find a Southwest flight with some availability later that evening, but it cost much more than the refund were we getting from Spirit. So frustrating.
Luckily, the kennel allows late pick-ups, so once we finally landed, we drove straight there to get our girls. Even though it was after 11:00, the staff member was incredibly pleasant and helpful. Each dog received a positive report card, but the comment on Maddy's made me smile, because we certainly think so, but we know we are biased!
Despite the return trip travel headaches, it was a wonderful weekend!
Happy Tails to you!
I think your brick is really cool. Keep meaning to take Rita to go find it. Where is it?
ReplyDeleteOutside MK, on the walkway to Contemporary
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