Trip Report - March 2024

[Noreen411]

Thursday 3/7/24 Continued
We stopped in Creations and I bought my sister a Figment Loungefly. She loves Figment and there was a whole display of them. I forgot to take a picture of the display. I have since given her the Loungefly and forgot to take a picture of it so asked her to take a picture and send it to me.



The Figment topiary was adorable especially with Spaceship earth as the backdrop.



The photographer had us do an interesting pose here - where I’m taking a picture



It was time for Scott to ride Guardian’s of the Galaxy with his ILL. Even though I can’t ride, I still like taking the outside pictures.

The photographer was very excited to get this picture since the monorail was going by just as he was taking the picture.

 

[Noreen411]

Thursday 3/7/24 Continued
We walked into World Showcase



We rode Remy when it was time. This is a cute ride.



At the Odyssey building we tried the tempura shrimp from the festival booth. This was pretty good and a nice sized portion.


We did two laps around World Showcase just enjoying the walk

On the way out of the park, there was no line at the “Little World” picture so I got a quick solo picture when Scott stopped in the bathroom. He’ll often do things like that and I’m always surprised to see these pictures show up. It kind of loses the same effect when I do it since I’m the one always checking the app.

 

[Noreen411]

Thursday 3/7/24 Continued
We drove to the Boardwalk for our dinner reservation at Flying Fish. We went a little early to walk around the Boardwalk and have a pre-dinner cocktail at Abracadabar.


Scott had Bombay Sapphire with Olives. I had my favorite drink…Hoodunit’s Punch.


We checked in at Flying Fish a little before our reservation. We let them know we are at Abracadabar, didn’t want to be seated early, but wanted to let them know we are there.

We received a text pretty quickly that our table was ready. The host even walked over to us at the bar hurrying us up to settle the bar bill and be seated. That was a little annoying, it’s not like it was past our reservation time. Maybe we need to wait until the last minute to check in at restaurants.


The waiter was friendly, giving us suggestions to try.

The bread is very good.


When Scott ordered another drink, the waiter gave him the shaker to pour it so he (the waiter) wouldn’t spill it.


The waiter suggested he create an appetizer assortment for us with a few things from the menu and an off-menu octopus they had. That sounded good to us so we went with his suggestion.

Part of the appetizer selection included Hamachi. This was light and refreshing but not necessarily something we would get again.


On a separate plate, the rest of the appetizer selection included the Pork Belly and the off-menu Octopus. This was a great suggestion from the waiter; it was very good.


For an entree we had the Chilean Sea Bass. This was perfectly cooked and we both enjoyed it.


For dessert we had the Key Lime Cake. The waiter recommended this and it was delicious; it was light and tasty.


We really enjoyed our meal at Flying Fish other than the host rushing us to be seated.

 

[Noreen411]

Thursday 3/7/24 Continued
We went to Hollywood Studios after dinner to see Fantasmic. The show started at 8 and we arrived maybe 10 minutes before 8. There were still a decent amount of seats available. We stayed in the back bleacher section to make getting out of the theater after the show easier. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Fantasmic and we both really enjoyed it.




We walked through some shops on the way out of the park, stopping for some photos.




When we drove back to Vistana Villages later that night, a lady near the elevator asked if we were at a theme park today. She said we seemed very spunky for spending a day in the park and getting back so late.

 

[Stacybaeasm]

Another great day of park touring.

 

[Noreen411]

Another great day of park touring.

It definitely was

 

[Noreen411]

Friday 3/8/24
Scott went to the gym at 5:30 and I went at 6. Since we request the St Augustine section specifically for the large 24 hour fitness center, we were a bit disappointed that so many machines are currently out of order. That’s not normal; in the past maybe one machine is out of service then it’s replaced. This morning there was only 1 working treadmill. After part of my workout (the elliptical and weights) I ended up walking over to the Bella section to their fitness center for the treadmill. The fitness center in the Bella section was smaller, but had a few working treadmills so I used it. I forgot to take pictures of that fitness center, but it was very nice with a decent assortment of equipment; just smaller.

Our normal morning routine of laundry, jacuzzi, showers, and breakfast followed.

We drove to Hollywood Studios.


Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway railroad is always fun.


We watched the Muppets show. It’s old and corny, but still cute.

We saw the Frozen Sing Along. This is great; the historians are the real stars of the show if you ask me.

 

[Noreen411]

Friday 3/8/24 Continued
We headed through Star Wars Land and took several pictures.






Then we headed into Toy Story Land.


Toy Story Mania is always fun and we’re doing better trying to remember the tips we’ve read to work together to try to get higher scores as a team.

The saucers are a simple ride but cute. I wouldn’t wait in a long line for it, but when we ride we always enjoy it.


We talked about picking up the raspberry poptarts that I really like from Woody’s Lunchbox. Scott had a ziploc baggy with him just for that purpose, but the mobile order was a long time away and it was crowded so we figured we’d get that another day.

 

[Noreen411]

Friday 3/8/24 Continued
We left the park and drove to Disney Springs. We walked around a bit and decided to have a late lunch at the Boathouse. We found seats at the bar where we like to sit.


Scott had Tanquerey with Olives. I had Duck Duck Razz; this is such a cute tasty drink, but it’s stronger than you think.


We shared our food as we often do.

We started with 5 Sea of Cortez shrimp. These are always so good and fresh.


We were brought rolls with butter. These are puffy little rolls with a buttery glaze on them; they are great. It’s so hard not to eat them all.


We ordered the Filet Mignon sliders. These are really tasty.



Of course we needed a side of fries. The Boathouse has the best fries at Disney.


Scott wanted the clam strips so we got those as well. Another good choice.


After lunch we walked around Disney Springs a bit just wandering and shopping here and there.

 

[Noreen411]

Friday 3/8/24 Continued
We drove back to the resort. I’m pretty sure we went to the pool for a while. Back in the room we watched some more of Hotel Transylvania just having a relaxing late afternoon.

We showered and changed for the evening. Scott was starting to get hungry. I was still full from our late lunch. Scott suggested he just order some food from Saltgrass Steakhouse and bring it back rather than going out. That sounded like a good plan. He took a quick ride to pick up his food and I did some computer stuff in the room.

He brought home a burger, Mac & cheese, and carrot cake.



While I was still full and didn’t want any food, I did have a few bites of the delicious carrot cake.


He also brought home a Minnie Mouse key chain for me.


We continued watching a movie and just hanging out; a nice relaxing evening at the resort.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I always enjoy your trip reports and your more laid back approach to your trips. I always say I’ll do the gym while at Disney but after walking 20k+ steps I just can’t get myself there. Maybe next time!!

 

[Noreen411]

I always enjoy your trip reports and your more laid back approach to your trips. I always say I’ll do the gym while at Disney but after walking 20k+ steps I just can’t get myself there. Maybe next time!!

Hi. Thank you for your kind words. We used to be more park commandos from open to close. Now we’ll tour a bit more leisurely; with the annual pass and longer trips, we know we’ll have time to see/enjoy what we want to. And if we don’t see something right away there is next time. We’ve become a bit addicted to the gym and know it’s a slippery slope of not going a day which becomes a few days, a week, etc. It’s a good habit we have that we don’t want to stop.

 

[Noreen411]

Saturday 3/9/24
We went to the gym about 6:30. Our normal routine of laundry, jacuzzi, showers, and breakfast followed.

Before we left, Tony (from maintenance) knocked on the door and wanted to change the AC vent. We ended up chatting with him for a while. We remembered him from last trip when he came to fix the dishwasher. We didn’t have to stay while he was there changing the AC vent, but we were just having a nice chat with him.

Our plans changed today as we originally were planning to visit another area on the west coast of Florida. When we put the address into the navigation, there was a ton of traffic and it would have taken us 3 hours to get there. We called and cancelled those plans and will do that another day.

We headed back to the resort and as we were pulling in, Scott stopped suddenly and jumped out of the car. There was a turtle crossing the road. Scott picked the turtle up and carried him to the other side; with the turtle flapping his little feet as he was being carried. Scott did his good deed for the day.

We decided to head to the pool for a little while since the sun was out and it was a nice day. We’re not sit at the pool all day people, we spent maybe 1.5 hours there enjoying the slide, the pool, reading my kindle. It was very nice.

We showered and got dressed to head to Hollywood Studios.






We went on Star Tours. I know it’s not that popular anymore with the newer Star Wars attractions, but we always enjoy this.


We were walking past Muppets and it was about to start so we went in. We were laughing at ourselves that we saw the Muppets show again. It’s not a fancy attraction, but we enjoy it.


Scott wanted a pretzel and it’s always better shaped like Mickey Mouse.


We headed to Toy Story Mania next. We are getting better each time we ride and getting better scores.

 

[Noreen411]

Saturday 3/9/24 Continued
We headed over to my favorite ride at Hollywood Studios…Tower of Terror. Of course we stopped for pictures on the way. When we were lined up for the elevator, there was an issue and the elevator was out of service. It was very efficient how they moved us over to the next bank of elevators reminding us to stay on our same numbered row.





Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railroad was next - this is always cute.



This picture cracks us up. The photographer said to look like we’re bored at Disney. That would never really happen since we love Disney.


It was time for us to head out for our dinner reservation.

 

[Noreen411]

Saturday 3/9/24 Continued
We drove to the Riviera for our dinner reservation at Topolino’s Terrace. We were a little early to have a pre-dinner cocktail at the bar.


Scott had an Old Fashioned which had a stamped ice cube. The bartender stamped it when making the drink. I had a French Rose.



We decided to stay at the bar to eat rather than moving to a table so let the hostess know freeing up our table for others. We shared our food

The bread is very cute. It’s a bit hard on the outside but we still ate it.



We started with the Pork Belly appetizer. This was good, but we would give the edge to the Pork Belly from Flying Fish.


We had the Filet Mignon. This is a really good filet.


We also had the Seared Scallop Enhancement. These are great. I always say I’m not a huge scallop fan but we’ve been having some really good scallops lately and I’m enjoying them. Scott always likes scallops.


For dessert we had the crème brûlée which was good and very artistic.


Later that night Scott was craving pizza and felt like a snack. We drove over to a pizza place near Publix for him to get his pizza. He ate a slice or two and put the rest in the fridge.

 

[Noreen411]

Sunday 3/10/24
It was daylight savings so we lost an hour (Spring Forward). We woke up a little later than usual (with the new time) so didn’t go to the gym until 7.

My Fitbit band broke (it’s pretty old). Scott took his band off his Fitbit and put it on mine to use since I’m more into paying attention to how many steps and things like that.

Most of our normal morning routine of laundry, jacuzzi, and showers followed. We skipped breakfast today as Scott had something in mind for lunch.

While I finished getting ready he sort of fixed the glove compartment in the car.

We drove to Magic Kingdom. It was a little chilly on the ferry from the TTC to Magic Kingdom. It’s always a pleasant surprise to us to be a bit cold at Disney since we often visit in the fall when it’s still very hot.



We headed to TRON since it was time for our ILL. I am liking this ride more each time I ride it. Scott enjoyed it from the first ride. Knowing what to expect with the fast launch makes it easier for me; I still get a bit nervous right before we go on but once I’m on, then I enjoy it. The ride is very smooth.




Even though I’m enjoying TRON more now, I still want to go on a peaceful ride afterwards rather than going to another coaster right away.

Carousel of Progress was the perfect attraction for us to enjoy after TRON. Scott even stayed awake throughout. We always walk through the row to the end and normally nobody is sitting near us. I can’t help but sing along with the chorus and bop my head back and forth.

Scott wanted another one of his favorite Mickey cookies so we got that and wrapped it up for later. He had a ziploc with him just for this purpose.


It was time for our 7 Dwarves Mine Train ILL so we headed over and were quickly on. I really like this attraction, it’s so cute. Scott still laughs at me when I sing along when you are in the mine.


We headed into AdventureLand and stopped to see the Tiki Birds. A cute calm attraction


It was time for us to ride Big Thunder Mountain next. This is always fun. Scott prefers this to Mine Train, but I think I’m leaning more towards Mine Train if I were to rank the two.

 

[Noreen411]

Sunday 3/10/24 Continued
We were ready for lunch. On our way to Casey’s we passed the egg roll cart. I wanted to try them after reading about them. While on line for the egg roll cart, we mobile ordered Scott’s foot long hot dog, fries, and soda from Casey’s.

Scott went to find us a table at Casey’s while I waited on the egg roll line.


I got one each - the cheeseburger and the Pepperoni egg roll. I didn’t like them, neither did Scott so they ended up in the trash. I’m glad I tried them.


Scott thought his food was great.


I ended up getting the corn dog nuggets and fries using mobile order. I was being lazy not wanting to wait on line to order since I could have just gotten the nuggets without the fries (we didn’t need 2 orders of fries) but the convenience of mobile order won out. I enjoyed my nuggets and fries.


We headed out of the park after lunch. When Scott stopped in the bathroom I told him I wanted to see how long the line was in front of the train station. There was no wait so I got a solo picture. Scott got there a few minutes later and a line had formed so we didn’t wait to get another picture right now.


We stopped at Publix for more bottled water. At home we usually get Poland Spring. I haven’t seen Poland Spring in Publix this trip (not sure if they had it on prior trips). We realized we’ve gotten different water brands each time we purchased cases of water this trip. This visit we picked up a case of Aquafina mainly because the caps looked larger and like they would close more securely. The last case was Dasani which we both like but the caps are kind of flimsy now. We also had Publix brand of bottled water one of the times we picked up water. I prefer either Poland Spring (even though we didn’t get that in Florida) or Dasani; but I liked the caps best on the Aquafina. That was certainly an odd stream of thought in my trip report, but we all need to stay hydrated at Disney.

Back at the resort, it was nice out so we decided to go swim for a little while.

We went through some of our shirts that we bought to see if any needed to be returned.

 

[Noreen411]

Sunday 3/10/24 Continued
After showering and changing we drove to the Contemporary for our dinner reservation at California Grill. We had a 7:55 reservation which we thought was a great time since the Magic Kingdom fireworks were at 8:30 and we could watch from the outside viewing area. We planned to head back to Magic Kingdom after dinner since they were open until 11.

We went to the Contemporary early. We returned one of the shirts and bought a new shirt. It’s easy enough to return things since you can return to any store on property, but it would be even easier if there were more fitting rooms so you’ll know if you like how something fits right then and there.

We checked in early at California Grill to see if we could go up to the bar for pre-dinner cocktails but the bar was full.

We walked around a bit outside and took a few pictures.



We were texted on time to go upstairs and be seated at California Grill.


Scott had Bombay Straight with Olives. I had an Old Fashioned.


It’s a pre-fixed menu so we’ll each have an appetizer, entree, and dessert. That’s a lot of food. We made sure to order different appetizers and entrees to try each others, but we knew we were both ordering the same dessert.

The bread is very good, but the dipping sauce wasn’t as good as our last visit. I preferred the bread with butter.


Scott had the Surf & Turf roll appetizer. He thought it was OK


I had the Rapini pizza appetizer. The waiter recommended this one over the Sardinian pizza appetizer that I was originally planning to order. My pizza was just OK.


After our appetizers it was just about time for the Magic Kingdom fireworks at 8:30 so we went outside. It was cold outside. It was a very different perspective to watch from up here. The fireworks were well behind the castle; when you are in the park it looks like it’s right behind the castle.

 

[Noreen411]

Sunday 3/10/24 Continued
It’s great how the restaurant holds on delivering food while people are outside watching the fireworks. This also delays the flow as they are holding food for a lot of people then it’s probably a big rush to try to get the food out after.

It took a while for our entrees to arrive; the waiter came over to apologize for the delay and said they would be out soon. We weren’t rushing them or complaining; he just came by to let us know.

Scott had the Venison entree which he thought was pretty good.


I had the filet which I really liked.


For dessert we both had the White Chocolate Cherry Crème Brûlée. This is delicious. The best crème brûlée either of us have ever had.



While we originally planned to head back to Magic Kingdom after dinner, we didn’t finish dinner until about 10:15 and the park closed at 11 so it didn’t make sense to go back to the park.

Instead we headed back to the resort.

 

[jrmint427]

We drove to Magic Kingdom. It was a little chilly on the ferry from the TTC to Magic Kingdom. It’s always a pleasant surprise to us to be a bit cold at Disney since we often visit in the fall when it’s still very hot.

We were at Epcot this morning and also surprised it was chilly early on! Looks like another fun day at MK and great meal at California Grill. The restaurant is a great spot to watch the MK fireworks.