Laura and I both were awake fairly early. We took our time getting ready though. We had decided to have a sister day today, and stay in Orlando. I needed a break from the driving, and she needed a day of vacationing.
We got rolling sometime after 9. Our first stop? BJs warehouse. Laura had mentioned that her boyfriend had eaten ALL of the trail mix she had bought at BJs at home at Christmas time, and she couldn’t find anything comparable in Pennsylvania. There was a BJs about 20 minutes down Osceola Parkway, so it was time to look for trail mix.
In NH, we have state run liquor stores. Grocery stores can sell beer and wine, but liquor is sold only in the state run liquor stores. So imagine our surprise when we found a liquor store attached to and operated by BJs. We refrained from checking it out though.
Laura found her trail mix, bought 2 boxes of it, we took advantage of nice inexpensive gas to refuel the rental car for the 2nd time already this week, and we were on our way back to vacationing. It was cold out (50?), so we didn’t worry about leaving trail mix with chocolate in the trunk of the car.
Next stop? Winter Summerland mini golf! We were one of just 2 cars in the parking lot, roughly 15 minutes after they opened. The cast members were sporting parkas and I think they thought we were crazy for being out mini golfing in this cold without jackets, until they asked where we’re from. Then they told us to have fun.
We played the summer course. The theming was fun, the course was a little challenging, but not frustrating, and we laughed harder than I have in a very long time. Laura thinks we might have tied. I haven’t checked her math.
After mini golf, it was off to Disney Springs. It was an easy enough drive over there, and we easily found a parking space in the relatively empty Orange garage.
Our first stop at Disney Springs? Chicken Guy for lunch. We both had crispy chicken tenders. I had the garlic parmesan sauce and the sweet and sour sauce. The sweet and sour sauce had a LOT of pepper in it. I love the garlic parmesan sauce there. Laura liked it too.
After lunch, Laura and I explored World of Disney. Then we hopped on a bus to the Grand Floridian. We got one of the new buses. They have fancy floors and charging ports. Woah!
We had decided to check out the new Enchanted Rose Lounge. I’m not a fan of the red roof, but I (we) really enjoyed this lounge. The theming is really nice, the atmosphere is relaxed, the cocktails are good, and the view is great. I had the Kir. Laura had the Island something (Island Rose maybe?). We both were really happy that we came here.
Then it was time for a monorail trip and what is becoming our traditional sister selfie.
We got off the monorail at the Contemporary because we both like looking around the store there. It was a fairly quick stop overall.
As we got back on the monorail, I noticed we would be arriving at the Polynesian shortly before Trader Sam’s opened. We decided to check out the line as soon as we got to the Polynesian.
When we got to Trader Sam’s, we found a fairly short line, so we joined it. We were added to the list quickly, and told Trader Sam’s would be opening in about 15 minutes. We just waited in line. The wait passed quickly, and pretty soon Laura and I were snagging the last 2 barstools at the bar.
Trader Sam’s was some of the most fun I’ve ever had at Disney, which obviously is saying something. The bartenders were fantastic. The atmosphere is awesome. Laura got one of the barstools that sank (and so did a couple others, so she had “friends in low places”). The bartender saw us taking a selfie and insisted on taking a “better picture”, that resulted in a picture of us with props and a selfie the bartenders announced was the “best picture”. We had the pot stickers and 2 rounds of drinks. I had the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Rhum, advertised by the bartender as being like a pina colada and a painkiller had a baby. It was a perfect description, and a perfect drink. Laura had the margarita. The drinks were great and the pot stickers were too. The whole experience was great!
As we got back on the monorail, I noticed we would be arriving at the Polynesian shortly before Trader Sam’s opened. We decided to check out the line as soon as we got to the Polynesian.
When we got to Trader Sam’s, we found a fairly short line, so we joined it. We were added to the list quickly, and told Trader Sam’s would be opening in about 15 minutes. We just waited in line. The wait passed quickly, and pretty soon Laura and I were snagging the last 2 barstools at the bar.
Trader Sam’s was some of the most fun I’ve ever had at Disney, which obviously is saying something. The bartenders were fantastic. The atmosphere is awesome. Laura got one of the barstools that sank (and so did a couple others, so she had “friends in low places”). The bartender saw us taking a selfie and insisted on taking a “better picture”, that resulted in a picture of us with props and a selfie the bartenders announced was the “best picture”. We had the pot stickers and 2 rounds of drinks. I had the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Rhum, advertised by the bartender as being like a pina colada and a painkiller had a baby. It was a perfect description, and a perfect drink. Laura had the margarita. The drinks were great and the pot stickers were too. The whole experience was great!
We both walked out of there saying we understood why people wait hours to get in here. By the time we got to the bus stop to get on a bus to Disney Springs, Laura was already texting a coworker that’s going to Disney in a couple weeks telling him to go here, and what time to get in line. And I couldn't resist the tropical flowers.
When we got back to Disney Springs, we did some more shopping, mostly on the marketplace side. We also had dinner at Earl of Sandwich. We killed a fair amount of time and got in the car a little after 7 to drive over to the Beach Club, me kind of wishing I’d gone with the 7:50 ADR for Beaches and Cream when I booked it the previous day, instead of the 8:20.
As we walked into the Beach Club, Laura noticed that some guest was talking with security, but it didn’t seem THAT weird. Disney crawls with security and we both know it. Since we still had a good 40 minutes until we could check in for our ADR, we checked out the marketplace here at the Beach Club and also went over to the Yacht Club. Everything seemed like business as usual.
About 8, we walked back to Beaches and Cream and checked in. Then we sat outside to wait. We pretty quickly noticed a helicopter circling approximately every 90 seconds, complete with search life. WEIRD!
At just about exactly 8:20, I got the text to return to the podium. We were seated pretty quickly. After much debate over what to get (spoiler alert: I need to find another travel buddy...first time not solo in forever and STILL couldn’t get a true Beaches sundae…), we ordered our desserts.
Laura got the brownie sundae. I got the specialty strawberry milkshake. Yes, that’s a cupcake on top of the milkshake. And I got to take home the cup. I actually had the cupcake packed up too and left that with Grammy and Grampa and crew the next day. Laura brought half of her brownie back to the condo. A note about the refurb here: Beaches and Cream still has its charm. They did a nice job decorating it, and the artwork is adorable. But larger absolutely means louder here.
As we left the Beach Club, we began to wonder what was going on with that helicopter. There were 4 Disney security vehicles and about half a dozen sheriff's office vehicles by the car port/lobby entrance area. Then we got down to the parking lot where there was a similar collection. We left without incident, only to find police cars at the entrance to every Epcot resort we passed. UMMMM.
Laura went searching online while I drove. Turns out the guest she had seen talking with security had been reporting that they thought they saw another guest with a gun under their jacket. This launched the kind of response you’d only see at Disney or a school. Apparently, as we had been wandering, they’d actually (sort of) locked down the entrance to the Beach Club, and launched searches. They apparently concluded there was no actual threat shortly before we finished dessert.
Needless to say, Laura had a glass of wine when we got back to the condo and watched some TV. I watched the news on my TV and we agreed on a departure time for the next morning.
I thought you asked about the BJs near the Mall at Millennia. Too late now, but the one on Osceola Pkwy is also in a pretty good area.
ReplyDeleteI did. At that point I was searching for BJs from the Villages. When I google mapped it from the condo, Osceola came up, and I decided it was so close to Disney to just go with it.
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