Travel
— “To go on or as if on a trip or tour.”
-Merriam
Webster’s Dictionary
Day
5: Hollywood Studios and My Favorite
Dinner Ever!
For breakfast today, my parents and I
wanted to try Kona Café at the Polynesian, but we couldn’t find any
reservations so we ended up at the Grand Floridian Café. The Café has been one of our go-to nicer
breakfast spots since the first time we stayed at the Grand Floridian. This time, I tried the gluten free pancakes,
and they were so yummy and filling.
Honestly, I recommend splitting them because they give you four giant
pancakes. My mom got the quiche, and my
dad got French toast, which they both really liked. After we finished, we were on our way to
Hollywood Studios.
The first ride we went on is definitely
my mom’s favorite ride at Disney World, Toy Story Mania!. We got to go on the new track, and the
entrance to it makes you feel like you’re actually in Andy’s room as you go
through his door and wait in line next to his dressers. My dad won, of course, and rubbed it in for
the rest of the trip. That was really
the only ride we had FastPasses for, but when it was announced The Great Movie
Ride was closing, I just had to go on it one last time. I honestly almost cried getting off of it
because I really liked the only ride that took you directly into the movies;
hopefully, the new ride has a similar vibe.
After getting off the Great Movie Ride, we took the opportunity to go
see Olaf because there was basically no line.
Since we typically see Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, we decided to
see a different show there this trip, Beauty and the Beast. The show is a great condensed version of the
movie, but I think it’s funny they still have the same costumes from when I saw
the show at 3 years old.
My parents and I always go to church
when we’re at Disney so after having a relaxing afternoon and getting dressed
up, we took a taxi to the church. Pro
Tip: it’s actually cheaper to take the
bus to Disney Springs and grab a taxi there to the church, or vice versa. On our way back, that’s just what we did, and
we took the bus straight to the Contemporary.
After window shopping in its stores, we checked in and took the elevator
to the California Grill. We celebrated my birthday at this dinner so our table was decorated with Mickey confetti. Our waiter was
absolutely amazing; he walked me through all of the gluten free options on the menu
and made our dinner fun. My dad and I
decided on the Oak-Fired Filet with Black Truffle Risotto. Instead of the steak, my mom got Black
Grouper with the same risotto. I also ordered an alcoholic Blackberry
Lemonade, which was made with fresh lemonade. Honestly, there aren’t words to describe how
amazing that dinner was. The filet was
so tender and flavorful; I could honestly eat it every day if I had the
chance. Right before our waiter brought
our dinner out, the new fireworks show, Happily Ever After, played, and that is
probably one of the best places to view them.
I could really appreciate the music and the artistry of the fireworks
together from that view. That’s
definitely one meal I highly recommend splurging on and definitely my favorite
meal of the trip.
Day
6: Magic Kingdom Fun and More Dole Whips
Since we hadn’t gone to Magic Kingdom
for a morning on the trip, we decided to do that this morning. We saw Mickey’s PhilharMagic, which always
makes me laugh, and rode It’s a Small World.
The last time we were in Disney world wasn’t long after the whole
Fantasyland expansion took place so we spent time actually exploring the Beauty
and the Beast area. I really wanted to
try a LeFou’s Brew so we stopped at Gaston’s Tavern, and I got to try it for
the first time. It’s a refreshing frozen
apple juice drink, but it’s a little too sweet for me. We then went to Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor,
but I was a bit bummed because we didn’t get made fun of on the screen. My dad got a Dole Whip before we went on
Jungle Cruise, and that wrapped up our morning at the Kingdom.
It had been raining all day so we
went back to our room for the afternoon and ventured to Narcoosee’s for dinner,
which was about ten yards away from our hotel room. I hadn’t been there since my 16th
birthday so it was nice to try it out again.
I got the shrimp and pasta dish, along with a white sangria. The sangria tasted almost like juice, which
means it was delicious, and the shrimp pasta was really good but got a bit rich
towards the end. For dessert, my mom and
I split a raspberry sorbet dish with fruit, which is one of our favorite
desserts. And you guessed it, my dad
held out on dessert so he could go the Polynesian and get yet another Dole Whip
(yes, that’s two in one day).
Day
7: Rainy Day in Disney
This was one of the days I decided not
to schedule anything (FastPasses or dining reservations), so we didn’t actually
have a plan of what we wanted to do. We
hadn’t gone to the pool a lot yet because of afternoon storms, and we had
decided that’s what we wanted to do.
However, Florida had other plans for us because it was downpouring the
whole morning. So we had to figure out
something else to do. My second favorite
hotel in Disney is the Wilderness Lodge, and it just got done with a large renovation
of its quick service restaurant plus a new restaurant opened there. My dad really loves the Wilderness Lodge so
we decided to go there and see everything new.
We got to see where the new cabins are, which is on my bucket list of
places I want to stay at Disney World (in addition to Cinderella’s Castle, of
course).
For lunch, we went to the newest
restaurant at Wilderness Lodge, the Geyser Pointe Bar and Grille. As I’ve mentioned like a hundred times
already, Disney World is amazing with allergy-friendly menus. Geyser Pointe is pretty new so they didn’t
have a separate allergy-friendly menu, but our waitress was super great about
making sure everything was gluten free for me!
My mom and I split the shrimp on a wire and waffle fries, which was a great
combo with the spicy kick of the shrimp and saltiness of the fries. There were a couple of other things I wanted
to go see before we left, like go see some of the countries in Epcot and go see
The Music of Disney Pixar Live!, so we decided to go back to our room to
regroup before going out again for the night.
Later that night, my parents and I went
to the Germany pavilion in Epcot to buy some gummies there (Haribo for the
win!). Also, fun fact, at Club Cool, you
can get a free slushy for your birthday!
We then park hopped to Hollywood Studios and got to ride Toy Story Mania again (my dad won yet
again). Then it was time to go see The
Music of Disney Pixar Live!, where a live symphony played songs from a lot of
the Pixar movies while specific movie clips played in the background. Even some of the Pixar characters were there
in person! I have my video of it linked
below in case you want to see it! The show
blew my mind because it was so beautiful (you can watch it below!), and I’m so sad it’s not sticking
around for the long haul. Once we got
back to our hotel, we went to Gasparilla Grill and had flatbreads. The Cast Member who checked us out was so
nice and gave my dad and I free cupcakes.
Such a great last night of our trip!
Day
8: Leaving the Kingdom
Always my least favorite day of
vacation, the day I have to go back home.
This time was even more so because the sun finally came out after days
of rainy weather. After packing up a lot
of our bags, we went to the pool for the morning, and it was so nice. The pools are definitely one of the best
things about Disney resorts. I went down
the slide for the first time in 13 years (I’m still a kid at heart!). Then, after we finished packing all of our
stuff up, we went back to the Magic Kingdom.
For lunch, we ate at The Plaza yet again, but this time, I had a grilled
chicken sandwich on a gluten free bun, which was so delicious. And, as much as I hate waiting in line for rides
at Disney World, we waited in line for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad since I
hadn’t ridden it at all this trip. My
dad stopped for one final Dole Whip, and I got a Mickey Mouse ice cream cup
(obviously, I can’t eat ice cream cones).
And then we were on our way back to our hotel to grab the Magical
Express for the airport.
I hope you enjoyed the rest of my Disney World vacation recap! And if you read all of both of these posts, congrats to you since they were both super long! Where did you guys vacation this summer?
I hope you enjoyed the rest of my Disney World vacation recap! And if you read all of both of these posts, congrats to you since they were both super long! Where did you guys vacation this summer?
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