After a night of tossing and turning, the alarm went off at 3. Much to Gizmo’s dismay, I was in the car and on my way to the airport at 3:40. By 4:15, I had parked, sent mom a picture of where my car was located (she would be picking it up later to save me some parking money...yay for parents that live 12 minutes from the airport), and was on my way inside. By 4:30, my suitcase was checked, and I was at my gate.
Yes, I decided to up my game this trip. I had way too much fun on Etsy and had shirts for each day of the trip.
Obviously, a 5:35 am flight was the first flight out of the gate this morning, so the plane was already there. In New England fashion, we were boarded and ready to go early. I managed to snag a window seat in the 2nd row! Boarding went so smoothly that the flight attendants thanked us for making their jobs easy.
Immediately after takeoff, I got to watch a beautiful sunrise, but you know what a red sky in the morning means! I was glad to be getting out of New England.
The flight was uneventful. Like downright boring. I played word games and listened to music. I probably should have read the book I’ve been working on since the start of summer vacation but me, focus on a plane?! So instead I took a few pictures and mindlessly watched the flight tracker.
In case anyone is wondering about the snack situation, Southwest has streamlined things. They have 5 or 6 drink options with a number assigned to each. You put up the right number of fingers for your selection. Long flights also get a snack mix...it tasted a lot like Gardettos (does that even exist anymore?) so snack time was a lot like my pre-teen days.
The flight landed a few minutes early and arrived at the gate at 8:43. I had a beautiful view as we made our final approach to the gate.
Deplaning was quick, and after a quick restroom stop, I was at baggage claim. I realized too late that my flight’s luggage was already on the carousel, and by that I mean, my suitcase was about to head back behind the scenes. It re-appeared pretty quickly, but I didn’t notice right away so I had to make a not-so-graceful dive to snag it. Clearly I need to slap some stickers on the back of the suitcase too!
So...luggage acquired by 9:01, I quickly made my way to the escalator down to the rental car level. I’m a Dollar Express member after waiting in one of their over an hour long lines years ago, so I headed straight to the garage, where the board where my name and garage space number for my assigned car should have been listed, was having technical difficulties. Thankfully, there were a couple of people working, and one quickly took my name, found out what space I needed to go to, and sent me on my way.
I’d been assigned a Toyota Corolla. I can’t say that the exterior was in the greatest shape (I swear I found additional scratches every time I looked at it), but the interior was clean, mileage wasn’t terrible, and it ran just fine. I loaded my stuff in the car, got the car registered to my Sunpass, and was on my way by 9:15. That’s right, off the plane, luggage collected, and rolling towards Disney all in half an hour!
Traffic was surprisingly light, even on I-4 around 535, and I was on Disney property very soon. I have to say, I like the new blue update to those pearly gates!
When I got to Movies, I parked, put the sunscreen on that I’d forgotten about before leaving my house, using the reflection in the car windows (keeping it classy!), and then stored my luggage with luggage services. I’d been anticipating a long line here, but there was virtually no line when I got there. The CM was really pleasant, and gave me a piece of information that I’d been missing for years. On several occasions, I’d been surprised when I returned to luggage services after my room was ready and was told the luggage I had stored was already in my room. I’d sometimes wondered if they just, as a courtesy, took my backpack over when they brought my suitcase after its Magical Express arrival, but turns out it is their policy to deliver stored luggage when the room is ready, and their goal is to do so within an hour of the room becoming available. Who knows when Chappek will change this, but, good information for sure.
Luggage stored, it was time to hit some parks! Well...one anyway. I was in line for an Epcot bus shortly after 10!
A bus appeared reasonably quickly, and I was walking into Epcot by 10:30. The new security set-up is great, and the security cast members were being really proactive with clearly making it known what should be taken out of bags (umbrellas, big sunglass cases) to avoid secondary screening. I made it through without incident. Since it was so early (Food and Wine booths don’t open until 11) and I assumed that Soarin’ already had a wait, I did a little picture taking. And yes, I had Memory Maker for this trip!
Luggage stored, it was time to hit some parks! Well...one anyway. I was in line for an Epcot bus shortly after 10!
A bus appeared reasonably quickly, and I was walking into Epcot by 10:30. The new security set-up is great, and the security cast members were being really proactive with clearly making it known what should be taken out of bags (umbrellas, big sunglass cases) to avoid secondary screening. I made it through without incident. Since it was so early (Food and Wine booths don’t open until 11) and I assumed that Soarin’ already had a wait, I did a little picture taking. And yes, I had Memory Maker for this trip!
Picture taking complete, I checked MDE, and found that Soarin only had a 15 minute posted wait. The park had officially opened at 10 (which meant it actually opened around 9:30), and it was 10:40 at this point. So, I headed for Soarin. This turned out to be a walk-on, and within minutes, I was on the ride, in row B1.
After Soarin, it was time to eat! I made my way to the other side of Future World, to get started with Food and Wine Festival. My priority for today was Emile’s Fromage Montage, aka the cheese challenge. There were 5 cheese dishes around the festival, and once you collected the stamps for each one in the passport, you could redeem your prize at the Shimmering Sips booth. Thanks to the internet, I knew the prize was a strawberry cheesecake ice cream treat in a souvenir (plastic) stemless wine glass, and that was totally up my alley! Plus...cheese!
First stop? The Flavors from Fire booth for the corned beef something something. It was shredded corned beef, beer cheese and potato chips. Oh and pickled onions, but thankfully those were easily moveable. What’s not to like?
After Soarin, it was time to eat! I made my way to the other side of Future World, to get started with Food and Wine Festival. My priority for today was Emile’s Fromage Montage, aka the cheese challenge. There were 5 cheese dishes around the festival, and once you collected the stamps for each one in the passport, you could redeem your prize at the Shimmering Sips booth. Thanks to the internet, I knew the prize was a strawberry cheesecake ice cream treat in a souvenir (plastic) stemless wine glass, and that was totally up my alley! Plus...cheese!
First stop? The Flavors from Fire booth for the corned beef something something. It was shredded corned beef, beer cheese and potato chips. Oh and pickled onions, but thankfully those were easily moveable. What’s not to like?
Next stop was the Swanky Swine booth. This was the one stop of the cheese challenge that I really wasn’t interested in, but, I went for it. This stop was for pork rinds with pimento. Now, being a northerner, I’ve never actually had either. So I’m not entirely sure if my opinion is based on personal preference, or on quality, but regardless...I didn’t like the pork rinds OR the pimento.
After that experience, I needed air conditioning, so I poked around the closest of the little store huts at the entrance to World Showcase. Then I saw the princess cavalcade.
Next up? Right next door. The Hawaii booth was also part of the cheese challenge, and I knew I liked what they were serving. How can you go wrong with passion fruit cheesecake?
Another store visit, then off to Mexico, where the food booth line had shortened dramatically. I found this to be the trend any time I was in Epcot. The lines went in cycles, so if one was longer than I wanted, I just did a nearby booth and then circled back. It always worked and I always found a shorter line.
Anyway, here in Mexico I got the El Tigre Margarita, which I think involved passion fruit and prickly pear juices. It was fantastic! And there was a (incredibly unenthusiastic) photopass photographer nearby to provide proof of a margarita in Mexico.
Once I’d finished my margarita, I headed inside the pavilion for some good air conditioning. That really just means I rode the Mexican boat ride. I think we’ve covered before that I’m not a fan and don’t really understand it...like at all...but it does have good air conditioning, and it was a walk-on.
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