I woke up after sunrise today and definitely dragged my feet getting going. I don’t wanna go home!
Eventually I got up and got dressed and started organizing quietly. Nick woke up pretty quickly and then packing began in earnest. It got done faster than I think either one of us expected, so we killed a little bit of time, and then dragged our luggage to bell services.
It was evident as we walked that it was a massive check out day. Hmm, maybe we should have done a Monday-Sunday trip instead of Sunday-Saturday to get a reprieve from the crowds!
We stored our bags with the manager from bell services who was observant enough to notice either Nick’s tattoo or the collection of 603 stickers on our suitcases to know we were headed back to NH. Then it was off to the bus stop, where we were on a bus to Hollywood Studios very quickly.
At Hollywood Studios, it was a short walk to the Skyliner, where we got our own Skyliner. Nick’s beard really loved the skyliner breeze!
At Caribbean Beach we transferred, which seemed ridiculous, and pretty soon we were at the Riviera. Here we killed some time just sitting in the lobby, before we headed upstairs for breakfast (brunch) at Toppolinos, which is a very photogenic area.
We were seated just before our reservation time and had a fantastic breakfast. I actually like the current style of character breakfast better. The characters were great about posing at every table and it was less disruption. And the food here was amazing! They’ll let you order a whole bunch of stuff from the fixed price menu, plus you get a bucket of pastries (croissant, chocolate chip muffins and maple danish…with whipped butter, Nutella (sorry…hazlenut spread) and house made strawberry jam). Plus they have POG juice. Nick got the waffle meal and a side of eggs. I got the fruit plate and a side of waffles. Those waffles were outstanding! So were ALL of the pastries!
After breakfast we stepped out onto the rooftop patio for some picture taking. What a great spot!
Picture taking complete, we made our way back to the skyliner, which we took to Epcot. We had time to kill! Then we walked over to the Beach Club and caught a bus to Disney Springs. Again, we had time to kill!
Disney Springs was, obviously, a mad house. We poked around a couple of stores and then headed for the boat dock. We took the boat back to French Quarter, where we parked ourselves at a table outside the lobby and just enjoyed the perfect weather and relative peace before we had to get ready.
Eventually I went in and got the luggage and brought it back out. We did the final major luggage reorganization and then I ran in and changed into jeans. About 4, Nick went to get food from the food court, thinking we had plenty of time before our 4:45 pickup. That process took forever, and he didn’t re-emerge until after 4:30, when I’d gotten the text from the driver that he was there, but thankfully, he had said if we weren’t ready he’d see us at 4:45.
Nick scarfed his burger and we shared one more of those raspberry cheesecake things. Then we scrambled out front at 4:44, where Clarance picked us up in an SUV again to take us to the airport.
There was traffic on the way, but we made it ok. I think if I use a towncar again, I’d request a slightly earlier pickup upon departure just for my anxiety’s sake! Tiffany Towncar picks up 2 hours before your flight. We have pre-check and we’re two adults so this all worked fine, but, I would have been more comfortable getting to the airport about 2 hours before the flight, not less than 90 minutes before the flight, simply because I’ve seen how long MCO lines can get.
Clarence dropped us off curbside and we headed in. Checking our bags was easy, and pretty soon we were walking 10 miles to security. Seriously, the pre-check line couldn’t have been further from where we started! But we made it and we were through security in less than 10 minutes.
We took the tram and found our gate in the ghetto terminal. I really look forward to JetBlue moving to the new terminal! Our flight was on time so we didn’t have to wait that long. Boarding was relatively easy, and because sometime after booking, JetBlue had changed our flight to fly on an E190, we had our part of the row to ourselves. It’s a 2 seat by 2 seat plane. This is kinda nice on a relatively late flight. We were scheduled to get into Boston shortly before 10 pm and still had to drive home after that, and I fall asleep on a plane a lot easier knowing the only shoulder I might fall over on is Nick’s. We were both bummed though that this trip was ending!
I could say the flight was uneventful but that wasn’t entirely true. The guy on the other aisle was visibly sick for the first half of the flight (but had a miraculous recovery shortly before landing) and I think we had every screaming baby that could possibly be headed to New England on our plane. Lots of turbulence too. But…we made it into Boston, and eventually they got the jetbridge working and let us off the plane.
In true Boston fashion, our luggage took FOREVER. But eventually we had that in our hands, and I called the hotel. They directed me to the door to meet the shuttle, and the shuttle pulled up to the curb about 30 seconds after we walked outside. Phew!
It was a quick ride back to the hotel. I left Nick at the curb with the luggage and pulled the car over. No sense in loading luggage in a snowbank! We were both glad to see I didn’t have any flat tires after hitting a particularly nasty Boston pothole on the approach to the hotel the week before. (But my car did need an alignment when it went in for an oil change a week later. BOSTON).
The drive home was uneventful. We cheered when we reached the NH border, because Massachusetts, and walked in our house just before midnight.
Final thoughts:
I hate all things Genie and Lightning Lane. Pay to play is stupid and the lines were so much more efficient last summer when there were only standby lines. And the tech side of this is an absolute failure. Plus everyone is walking through the parks with their heads in their phone more than they were before. No thanks.
Flower and Garden Festival is such a nice taste of spring after a New England winter.
I’m so glad we got to try so many new to us restaurants, but it definitely did take away from park time. So I have mixed feelings about the whole table service every day idea. Maybe it’s because we were doing so many at resorts? That being said, we ate seriously fantastic food the whole trip, and slowing down might not have been a bad thing. See next point.
The crowds forced us to slow down a lot. In all honesty, this was exactly the pace we needed. We both realized partway through the trip that between all the family stuff, my school chaos, and recently being sick, it was the first time in months we really had the opportunity to get out together for true quality time. At home, (even when quarantined), I’m often working on reports and such, and so he’s playing video games. There hasn’t been much (any?) balance this school year. It was nice to have the opportunity to get out together, have fun and laugh together.
We’re both totally in love with Port Orleans French Quarter.
We encountered one or two cast members that were visibly tired of being policy enforcers, but overall, the cast members were outstanding this trip. Kudos to them!
Photopass quality was significantly better this trip than in August!
I loved the 50th anniversary statues. They’re such a great addition to the parks!
I wore sneakers this trip for the first time in a long time. The combination of VERY lightweight New Balance sneakers and Bombas performance running socks DID actually work. My feet didn't get hot and I only came home with 2 blisters and no swollen ankles. Guess my days of flip flops in the parks are over. Most of you have no idea how much effort went into finding the right sock and sneaker combo though🤦
Even with the crowds….I can’t wait to go back!
I hate all things Genie and Lightning Lane. Pay to play is stupid and the lines were so much more efficient last summer when there were only standby lines. And the tech side of this is an absolute failure. Plus everyone is walking through the parks with their heads in their phone more than they were before. No thanks.
Flower and Garden Festival is such a nice taste of spring after a New England winter.
I’m so glad we got to try so many new to us restaurants, but it definitely did take away from park time. So I have mixed feelings about the whole table service every day idea. Maybe it’s because we were doing so many at resorts? That being said, we ate seriously fantastic food the whole trip, and slowing down might not have been a bad thing. See next point.
The crowds forced us to slow down a lot. In all honesty, this was exactly the pace we needed. We both realized partway through the trip that between all the family stuff, my school chaos, and recently being sick, it was the first time in months we really had the opportunity to get out together for true quality time. At home, (even when quarantined), I’m often working on reports and such, and so he’s playing video games. There hasn’t been much (any?) balance this school year. It was nice to have the opportunity to get out together, have fun and laugh together.
We’re both totally in love with Port Orleans French Quarter.
We encountered one or two cast members that were visibly tired of being policy enforcers, but overall, the cast members were outstanding this trip. Kudos to them!
Photopass quality was significantly better this trip than in August!
I loved the 50th anniversary statues. They’re such a great addition to the parks!
I wore sneakers this trip for the first time in a long time. The combination of VERY lightweight New Balance sneakers and Bombas performance running socks DID actually work. My feet didn't get hot and I only came home with 2 blisters and no swollen ankles. Guess my days of flip flops in the parks are over. Most of you have no idea how much effort went into finding the right sock and sneaker combo though🤦
Even with the crowds….I can’t wait to go back!
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