THE SUMMER 2021 LONGEST GOODY FAMILY WDW TRIP THAT EVER WAS: DAYS 1 AND 2 (ARRIVAL AND OUR FIRST RESORT SWITCH)!!!!

OK so I will for sure get on with the trip report in a minute. But before I do, I’m gonna start a new tradition on the blog – First Paragraph Shout-Outs! What I’m gonna do is I’m gonna shout out some of the biggest fans of the blog right in the first paragraph of every post until I’ve shouted out all of them. So here we go – BIG SHOUTOUT TO BELLA AND LANI!!!!

And that’s the end of the First Paragraph Shout Outs.

You know. On account of I’ve shouted out all the fans of the blog.

Ahem.

OK. So. I’m baaaaaack. And you and me? We are gonna go on quite an adventure together. Because we are starting a new series of trip posts. And if you didn’t guess from the title of this post, this is the longest Walt Disney World trip we have ever taken.

And I mean, if you didn’t guess that from the title of this post. You’re not the best. At the guessing.

This is a “do-over” trip we had originally planned in 2020 but then, well, the world ended. COVID obviously changed things and it’s crazy that we finally made this happen. And being that we were vaccinated, we hardly had to even wear masks. Which was great, of course. Although now whenever I make this face at the sight of Disney popcorn…

…people will now be able to see and judge.

I’m just saying. Masks had their benefits too.

But yeah – this trip was, including travel days, 16 days. Crazy, man.

16 days.

In Florida.

In the summer.

I know. Much like the fact that the aliens in Signs, who can only be killed by water, travel for some reason to a planet that is over 70% water, It makes zero sense.

Oh sorry. Spoiler alert.

But we really have little choice these days. Owen is going into high school. Myles is going into his senior year. We have been relegated to trying to work around school schedules for a while now and if we want to take a trip of this length, it has to be in the summer.

Kids, amirite? They make going to Walt Disney World such a challenge.

But 16 days is gonna make for quite a series of blog posts. I am going to do my best to release more than 1 a week so as to avoid writing posts about a summer trip in between Christmas parties.

OK anyways yeah. Let’s get on with the trip!

Day 1 – Travel Day and a night at Animal Kingdom Lodge

So It’s probably best I start on Day 1 around 1PM, after I had finished up my work from home and Nickie had come back from handling a big meeting at work. If you want the details on the first part of the day, though, check out my new blog – weoppositeofheartworking.blog.gov.com/this-blog-totally-exists.

It’s just basically posts full of gifs of people punching walls. And punching mirrors. And punching other people. Lots of punching.

Work is the best.

So once Nickie had returned home, we all quickly got our stuff together and ordered up an Uber to take us to Logan Airport.

Oh and we bid our sad goodbyes to these little doggos.

Ugh, our Lilo & Stitch. Two whole weeks without them. Rough. But thankfully, we had a rotating group of people…Wait.

Let me start that over again.

Ugh, our Lilo & Stitch. Two whole weeks without them.

Ruff.

Nailed it.

Anyways yeah. Thankfully, we had a rotating group of people coming to stay with them and watch the house – my mom, Emily and Courtney from next door, and our good friend Renee. Thanks you guys for taking such good care of them for us. And for not burning down the house.

You guys are alright.

So we grabbed all our bags out of the trunk of our car to bring them to the sidewalk so we could wait for the Uber. It was…

Hm? Oh right. Yeah we have to keep our luggage in the trunk away from Lilo’s sad little eyes. If she sees any suitcases and thus realizes we are going away, she kind of spirals. When we went to Turks & Caicos, we ended up calling the vet because of all the stomach issues she was having.

I don’t know where she gets all her anxiety from. I mean, maybe we need to put her in some sort of therapy? Medication? God, are we terrible dog owners ugh, WHAT THE HECK AM I SUPPOSED TO DO SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!! I am totally not going to sleep tonight thinking about it someone get me a drink.

Yeah, no idea where she gets it from.

Anyways, right. Luggage.

The Uber picked us up at around 1:30 and off we went. When we got to the airport, lines weren’t too bad. My TSA PreCheck was extended to the boys’ tickets but since we were on separate reservations (because I was using miles for some of the tickets), it wasn’t extended to Nickie. So the three of us totally Mean Girl’ed her and left her to fend for herself with the rest of the commoners while we enjoyed the Good Life.

Which basically means we didn’t take off our shoes.

Actually, it wasn’t as nefarious as all that. We took all the carry-ons through the PreCheck line so we didn’t have to take out any liquids or laptops or any nonsense like that. And we met her right on the other side of the security line. So actually, we were heroes. If you really think about it. But save your accolades. We don’t do what we do for any sort of glory.

Once Nickie met up with us, it was time to find somewhere to eat. And since we were in terminal A, we landed on the Bruins Bar.

To be honest, we had eaten here once before and the experience wasn’t great. But the options were kind of limited. It was either here or Currito. And I mean, there ain’t no beer at Currito.

Look at these guys. Owen looks so excited. And Myles looks so planning Owen’s demise.

We put in an order for drinks and while we were waiting for the waitress to return, we gave the kids their airport bags.

Oh look, Myles is happy again! Presents are his love language.

The boys got some candy, a few now-not-as-useful-due-to-relaxed-protocols Disney masks, personalized Disney water bottles, some nerf-ish balls, and assorted other little goodies.

I don’t think I ever took a picture of the water bottles while on the trip but here is a picture from RIGHT NOW. Staying current for the win.

Yeah, no Nickie. We lost hers somewhere along the way. Womp. But pretty cool stuff, no? We got these from the sparklesNpolkadots shop on Etsy.

Oh we also had some Oreos for the trip. And not just any old Oreos. But ‘Murrica Oreos. With Pop Rocks!

And when I say “some” I mean like a year’s supply. My mom had come by the day before with like 6 packages. This body I have developed is the result of a lot of hard work. Not just by me, but by the team behind me.

Thanks for the support through all these years, Mom!

Aw look at me and Nickie.

Anyways right. The Bruins Bar.

I started my meal off with a Sam’s Summer.

We also ordered a pretzel to share.

And it was a pretty good pretzel. Nice and buttery. And super soft in the middle. Me and this pretzel have a lot in common. Is what I am saying to you now.

For their lunch, the boys each got a bowl of chowder and split a bacon cheeseburger.

They seemed to like it?

Here’s the deal. I got a chicken sandwich but for some reason I can’t find a picture of it. But the menu describes it as being grilled chicken, bacon, swiss cheese, avocado, and house aioli on a bulkie roll. So you’ll just have to use your imagination. That’s the power of reading. That chicken sandwich can be anything you want. If you use your imagination.

Wait. You’re imagining the chicken sandwich was eating me, aren’t you? You’re sick, man.

In lieu of a chicken sandwich pic, here’s one of us gearing up for our trip “Wonder Twins Style.” Magic bands, activate!

Shape of…an ATM!

The lunch was better this time around. Not like gourmet or anything but it seems like they’ve worked out the kinks. And the service was much improved on this visit compared to our last. It wasn’t perfect but I mean, neither were the actual Bruins this year.

Hey-oh!

After lunch, we donned our masks and made our way to the gate.

And I mean I wasn’t gonna post this next picture. It’s kind of plane.

When Nickie booked these tickets, she booked only windows and aisles for the four of us. Same row, all with one seat in between them. And she did it because then, middle seats weren’t really being sold. But damn COVID and it’s whole starting to go away thing, this was a full flight. Thankfully some generous souls were ok with moving from the middle seat to the window seat.

You guys are like angels sent to Earth.

So we had two seats on one side of the aisle and two on the other. Which meant we could finally get some time away from the kids.

I mean, we had suffered through a WHOLE MEAL together already.

Apologies for the blurriness above there. We were obvs squad excited.

We were on Delta so we had a pretty good choice of seatback movies. And I dunno. We were going to Walt Disney World. I wanted to watch something bright and cheery. You know, something light.

Promising Young Woman it is.

OK fine. It was some pretty heavy stuff. But the movie was fantastic. Highly recommend. It was up for Best Picture, you know. What are you waiting for? Go watch it already, dummy.

The relaxation of COVID protocols did mean one good thing.

Alcohol!!!

I saw on the Delta menu they had these Tip Top canned cocktail things and one of them was an Old-Fashioned. So I mean, of course I had to try one. You’ll be seeing A LOT of Old-Fashioneds on this trip.

Also, on every trip.

As you can see, I paired my Old-Fashioned with some Goldfish crackers. Like a friggin boss.

But, and I know this is gonna surprise you, this wasn’t the best Old-Fashioned. Like, the Old-Fashioned in a can wasn’t the best one I’ve ever had. I definitely was feeling like I should have just grabbed some whiskey or bourbon on the rocks. I mean, I finished it. I’m not some stupid idiot. Only stupid idiots don’t finish Old-Fashioneds.

Nickie opted for a chardonnay.

Oh. She fancy, huh?

And don’t be too upset about my cocktail faux pas. I remedied that real quick with some Woodford. And thankfully, this picture is also blurry. You know, to really get you in my head at this very moment.

The flight itself was about 3 hours or so. I mean, I think it was at least. What do I look like, John Q. Pilot?

And as we were getting closer to Orlando, my movie finished so Nickie and Owen let me know Jeopardy! was on.

I love me some Jeopardy! but I mean, its not the same when everyone else can’t hear me get the answer. How am I supposed to overinflate my ego and overcompensate for my low self-esteem if no one can hear me shout out the answers?

No worries. I just made overexaggerated fist pumps and hand gestures so Nickie and Owen were aware.

I know. I’m a catch.

Also, we did find a trivia game where seats could play against one another. So I played Owen in a couple quick games as we were making our descent. Dude is a formidable trivia opponent.

We landed at MCO a little before 8:00 and though Magical Express is currently running, we do currently have to grab our own bags at baggage claim so we made our way over there. And our bags came out super quick so we gathered them all and walked them over to the Magical Express line. Or I mean, lack thereof.

The bus was already waiting for us so we walked right through and boarded.

Another since-COVID thing though, a single bus is now going to a bunch of resorts. I think ours went to 5 total? And we were of course the last resort on the route. We boarded the bus at around 8:20PM and reached our resort at 9:34.

Look, we loved this trip. Like, a lot. You’ll see. But there were also a lot of Ross-face moments.

Oh, you know. Ross-face moments. Like, “just our luck” moments where things just kept not going our way. Some of them were our fault, some of them were just the universe hating us. But regardless, when they happen, you make a pathetic little Ross-face.

Again, we LOVED this trip. Probably one of our best. And there were a lot of times where things did go our way too. But yeah, this was a Ross-face moment.

We did finally reach our resort for the night though – Animal Kingdom Lodge!

So purty you guys.

We all were pretty hungry at this point. And being that it was 9:40PM and the Mara food court closed at 10PM, we made straight for it to pick up some food to bring back to the room we hadn’t seen yet.

As you can see, place was EMPTY. I mean, sure – it was close to closing time. But the whole of Animal Kingdom Lodge was super quiet. As of right now, the place is only open for Disney Vacation Club Villas so that definitely explains part of it. And honestly, it was nice feeling like we had the whole place to ourselves. But it’s a bummer that places like Jiko and Boma are closed. For now, at least.

Anyways, seeing as we were hungry…

OK fine. We got some food too. And guess what? I am ALREADY doing a bad job at being a blogger. We like just got here. But yeah, I didn’t take a picture of Owen’s food tonight. He got the chicken strips. Sorry. But I mean. They’re chicken strips. I think you’ll live.

Myles got the Tamarind Barbecue Pork Sandwich (Tamarind-seasoned Barbecue Pulled Pork on a Brioche Bun with Coleslaw and French Fries.)

He seemed to enjoy it. I know this on account of he didn’t share any with me.

Nickie and I split the Braai Chicken Flatbread (a flatbread with Sun-dried Tomato Pesto topped with Oak-fired Chicken pieces, Bacon, Red Onion, Mozzarella and Saag Dahl Ranch Drizzle.) And you guys know how much I love Saag Dahl Ranch Drizzle.

Old “Saag Dahl Ranch Drizzle” they used to call me.

This flatbread was good stuff. The Mara is honestly one of the best food courts on property. They have some unique stuff there and everything we have ever gotten there has been delicious. Plus, the Saag Dahl Ranch Drizzle.

Oh and of course we got some Zebra Domes (Chocolate Mousse baked with Amarula Cream Liquor-coated White Chocolate drizzled with Chocolate Stripes and Chocolate Shavings.)

These were not made with real zebra, as the description would have you believe. Instead these little guys are made with chocolate mousse baked with Amarula Cream Liquor-coated White Chocolate drizzled with Chocolate Stripes and Chocolate Shavings. So I mean, still good. Even if it was a little bit of false advertising.

We also grabbed four refillable mugs for ourselves, knowing on such a long trip we would definitely get some use out of them.

Oh, so like I said, we ended up bringing these to our room. While we have typically been only able to get Kidani Village when we book DVC for Animal Kingdom Lodge, this time around we scored a room in Jambo House. Here is said room.

And said Owen.

And said Myles.

And said lamp.

I love lamp.

But the best part about this room? We got a Savannah view, y’all.

Pretty fancy. Obviously, not a ton to see animal-wise at this time of night, but still pretty. And don’t worry my little Smurfs – we have some animal-ness coming up tomorrow.

And I mean, that kind of did it for Day 1. I seriously can’t believe I got nearly 4000 words out of that day. I basically just flew on a plane and ate a pizza.

I am the master of taking a long time to say nothing. Onto Day 2!!

Day 2 – Switching over to Copper Creek!!

Day 2? More like Day “whoo, it’s early.”

Yeah, these are the jokes folks.

Anyways. We woke up at around 6AM on Day 2 because we had a little bit of work ahead of us before we could enjoy any sort of alcohol…fun. Any sort of fun.

But I mean. Things weren’t all bad. Check out the view we woke up to.

It’s like waking up on a real African Savannah. I mean, with at least slightly less of a chance of being eaten alive. I mean, there’s always a chance. I remember in Kindergarten, I saw my teacher get eaten alive. It was terrifying.

Oh wait. No, that was 11^th grade.

And it wasn’t my teacher. It was Carl from the Simpsons in that “Treehouse of Horror” episode where Homer is King Kong.

And it wasn’t terrifying at all. It was actually quite humorous.

And remember when I promised you animals? Well, here they are. Animals.

I believe those are.

Um.

Those guys are definitely…

Er.

Animals!

As I mentioned, we bought our refillable mugs the night before so Myles and I headed down to the Mara to grab some coffees and hot chocolates for the room and I was super glad we woke up early because there was no lin…

Oh, hm. The Mara doesn’t open until 7:30.

Son of an impala.

Myles and I decided to use our time just kind of walking around the resort for a little bit, waiting for the place to open. We saw some flamingos but I never took any pictures of them. You’ll just have to trust me.

Yeah, trust me.

We also saw some Bigfoot and a dragon.

Wait. Is it Bigfoot? Bigfoots? Bigfeet? Whatever. The point is I would never lie to you.

Finally, the Mara did open and we were able to fill our mugs. And I was able to take a picture of them on a Walt Disney World table.

Also known as a trash can.

When we got back to the room, we enjoyed our morning bevz on out the balcz.

It really is a nice view.

I wish Animal Kingdom Lodge was a little more convenient. It’s an insanely pretty resort, but I prefer a resort where I can walk to a park. Eh, a good place to stay if you have a car though for sure.

The plan for today involved switching resorts so the four of us took one more walk around to explore before leaving.

Seriously? With this lobby?

Owen totally approves.

I love how they have all these little viewing areas to relax and take in the sights…and smells…of the animals.

Ooh, I know that one. Giraffe, right?

But eventually, we had to say goodbye to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We ordered up an Uber and were off at around 9AM. Before the official start to the awesomeness of our day, we first had to be dropped off at the Enterprise rental location to pick up our car.

Now, Nickie had rented a midsize thinking it would be plenty of room for our luggage and us and Myles’ friend Liam who was coming later and his luggage. We ended up with a Toyota Corolla.

And guys. If you find yourselves in need of a car that would fit you. And three of your family members. And their luggage. And Liam. And his luggage.

DON’T GET A TOYOTA COROLLA.

Ross-face.

I didn’t even get a picture of it. But whatever, you guys. It was a white Toyota Corolla. Look it up.

Once we had our go-kart packed up, it was time to head to Disney Springs!!

Because we had brunch plans. At Raglan Road!!!!!!!!

I know. I am excited too. Couldn’t you tell by all the exclamation points?

We were one of the first people let in so we were led right to a seat near one of the mini-stages.

Our waitress, Jenny (who was awesome by the way) came over quickly and took our orders. And soon enough, she brought us some soda bread with a sweet Guinness dipping sauce.

I started off with…

A drink.

Of some sort.

Seriously, I have NO IDEA what that drink is. I remember enjoying it. But I have no idea if it was whiskey, gin, something else. No clue.

I bet you’re really glad you came here.

Well don’t fret. I am pretty sure I remember the food we got.

Pretty sure.

We started with the Whiskey BBQ Lollipop Chicken (Whiskey BBQ chicken lollipops with roasted corn and bacon crumble.)

Ooh boy were these good. A really nice sweet sauce covering these dudes and the bacon crumbles were like, “Oh hi, I am bacon. I am delicious. Please enjoy.”

Just be aware, these don’t taste like normal lollipops.

Myles was the only one that got anything remotely brunchy for his meal, choosing the Pork Hash Tagged (Braised pork belly, scallions and potato hash topped with two fried eggs.)

Owen got the kids’ fish and chips…

Both kids seemed to enjoy their food. Myles has been all into pork belly lately and I mean, I’ve never been prouder.

Nickie and I went splitsies because we were both having trouble deciding between the same two dishes. So we split the Worth the Wait Beef Sandwich (12-hour braised beef, sautéed mushrooms, crispy onions, garlic aïoli and smoked cheddar on ciabatta)…

…and the OMG Burger (Dry aged prime short rib and brisket beef burger, Irish bacon, Dubliner Irish cheddar, crispy potato straws with Jameson Irish whiskey BBQ sauce.)

Both of these dishes were phenomenal, so it was hard to choose which was a favorite. As we were eating, I immediately said I preferred the burger but by the end of the meal, the Worth the Wait was declared the winner. You really can’t go wrong with either.

I mean, unless you decide to like flush it down the toilet instead of eating it. That would be doing it wrong. You’d be missing out on some great food and that stuff would be murder on your plumbing.

For dessert, we got the Ger’s Bread & Butter Pudding.

Which, I mean, I guess looks fine in that picture. Nothing special, right? Some bread pudding, golden raisins, a couple sauces.

But the magic happens after you tip the bread pudding over and out of its bowl…

…and cover it with those cups of butterscotch and creme anglaise sauces.

Oh man. I lovded htis ssedrte.

Sorry, got some drool on my keyboard there. But I love this dessert. You should get it. Get it now.

As we were enjoying dessert, the entertainment started off with a couple step-dancers on the main stage.

And the band soon followed, playing a bunch of Irish songs I didn’t know, but still enjoyed.

To be fair though, the only Irish songs I know are The Wild Rover, Beer Beer Beer, and the Lucky Charms jingle.

OK fine. I only know of those first two songs. The Lucky Charms jingle is really the only one I know.

While the band was playing, one of the Irish step dancers moved over to RIGHT NEXT TO MYLES’S HEAD.

Watch out, Myles!

Overall, a really nice brunch at Raglan Road and an awesome way to kick off the trip, proper-like.

After brunch was over, we didn’t really stick around Disney Springs too long. It was pretty hot and we were anxious to get to our next destination and home for the next 5 nights – Copper Creek Villas at Wilderness Lodge.

We picked this place to go to next specifically because of how similar the lobby is to the one at Animal Kingdom Lodge.

You see, I have a condition known as Acute Newlobbaphobia. If I switch from one hotel immediately to another with a wildly different lobby, I go into a state of anaph-lodging shock. It’s not pretty. So I have to find easier transitions.

Seriously tho. This place is so pretty.

We didn’t have to wait too long for our room to be ready and we got into at around 2:28.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is that it was on the first floor and smelled a little bit like garbage.

But I mean, I’m sure that smell will fade at some point, right?

Right??

Oh well. Maybe the wilderness smells like garbage. If so, this place was super authentic.

I took some pictures of the place anyways. It was still a nice room.

Pretty much immediately after we checked into the room, the boys wanted to go play basketball so they headed out while Nickie and decided to go to the pools.

The main pool was a little crowded so we started off in the quiet pool at Boulder Ridge.

Man, we are ALL KINDS of RAWR.

We took a quick dip in the pool and then relaxed in the hot tub for 20 minutes or so before deciding to try our luck again at the main Copper Springs pool.

But we didn’t spend a ton of time there. One ride down the water slide (which may be the worst waterslide on Disney property) and that was about it. Seriously, you guys. That waterslide is junk. It’s insanely short and moves slow as crud. I know the Copper Springs pool has some awesome landscaping and I dig the double jacuzzi action there but that waterslide is terrible.

Waterslide? More like waterSUCK. Amirite?

Count it.

Nickie and I were feeling pretty parched so we wanted to grab a drink. Even though we were already planning on having dinner there later, we settled on stopping in at Geyser Point.

When we got there, we found two seats at the corner of the bar. Which everyone knows are the best bar seats because you can still face each other while sitting at the bar.

Nickie ordered a Comsopolitan and I tried out the signature Huckleberry Punch (44° North Mountain Huckleberry Vodka, Bols Crème de Cassis, Lemon Juice and Cranberry Juice.)

The Huckleberry Punch was a nice drink. Very sweet, but very refreshing. And I love sitting at that bar. With all the open windows and what not looking out over Bay Lake. Of course, I love sitting at most bars. So I mean.

While the plan was initially to go back to the room to change for dinner, we were feeling pretty comfortable (translation: buzzed) and we saw some tables around the bar open. So we called the kids and told them to just come over when they were done so we could get something to eat and snagged a table with a couple couches.

To start, we ordered the Handcrafted Cheese and Charcuterie.

And guys. GUYS. This charcuterie was unexpectedly amazing. The prosciutto and salami were good…nothing super special but very fresh and yummy. Both cheeses on this plate, though. The chunks of Parmesan cheese and those balls of herbed goat cheese were like some sort of dream I had once. I have a lot of cheese dreams.

The pickles, mustard, and honeycomb were also delicious accompaniments and those big crusty pieces of sourdough could survive as a meal on their own. We ordered extra. I recommend you do too.

The real star of his charcuterie, though? That little jar there in the bottom left corner.

That thing is filled with a duck rillette, which is sort of like a pate. And I am sort of in love with it.

But, well. It was a little uncomfortable eating it in front of this crew.

Our waitress told us they call this group the Mean Girls because there is this one lone duck that they seem to keep trying to bully out of the group.

Which was super hard to watch. I offered little Janis Ian some rillette but that only seemed to upset her more.

Annnyways, enough about that charcuterie. That wasn’t the only life-altering appetizer we ordered. Behold the Cheesy Barbecue Brisket Dip with House-Made Chips.

Oof, this thing is GOOD. For sure it won the coveted Dip of the Trip award. That I just made up.

For his entrée, Owen got the Kids’ Cheeseburger with Fries. He obviously liked it since he couldn’t wait for me to take a picture before having MULTIPLE bites.

And the rest of us got the Bison Bacon Cheeseburger with Crispy Onion Straws, Marionberry Sauce, and Garlic Aioli. Myles got his own…

…while Nickie and I split.

Geyser Point is seriously always an awesome meal. Every single thing we ate tonight was incredible and our waitress was so great. She not only taught us about the classist inner workings of duck society and brought us two burger halves rather than rely on us to clumsily cut a burger in half (which as we all know is impossible), but she was super friendly. We talked to her about Disney, her favorite restaurants and dishes on property, and a bunch of other stuff.

I wish I could remember her name because she was one of our favorite servers of the trip. Thanks for being all kinds of neat-o, Geyser Point waitress.

Since we all already had our bathing suits on, we decided to head back to the Boulder Ridge pool.

Well, actually…first, I had to go to the front desk because we had a package waiting for us.

Before the trip, Nickie ordered a breakfast box for us from Storybook Delights in Orlando, which was a place we found out about because of the Ear for Each Other group on Facebook. For those that don’t know, this was a group set up as a sort of marketplace for cast members out of work due to COVID. Tons of talented people on there. We’ve purchased a few things from there and not only has it all been great, but it’s also felt great to support these cast members that have put so much into making our trips so magical.

Anyways, yeah…the breakfast box.

As you can see, there were some chocolate chip muffins in there, cinnamon rolls, scones, and a few quiches. The plan was to have this last a few days so we could have some quick breakfasts in the room before heading to the parks.

Nickie also ordered a second Mimosa box, which came with bottles of orange juice and Moscato.

To be honest, I never tried these. I dunno. I’m like…not the BIGGEST fan of Moscato. I love a good Mimosa but I typically drink them with champagne or prosecco.

But that breakfast box? I was down with that whole situation.

To the pool!

As you can see, place was packed.

And also as you can see, dudes were jacked.

We swam around for a while but eventually found our way to the hot tub. Like we do.

Annnd pretty much as soon as we had sat down in the hot tub, we learned why the place was so empty. A lifeguard informed us there was lightning in the area and that no one was allowed in the pool.

Which just. This is still AMERICA, isn’t it? If I want to risk a horrific death just so I can boil myself, that is my GOD-GIVEN RIGHT. Fascists.

Disclaimer: that last paragraph was complete sarcasm. I totally appreciate Disney cast members not wanting me to die. Just a little subtle social commentary is all.

So with no pool or hot tub, what to do?

We walked over towards the grassy area where they show the outdoor movies to see if any activities were going on or we could find an open pool or ping pong table at Reunion Station.

Unfortunately, nothing was available. So we did the next best thing…

We looked goooooood.

And besides, the outdoor movie was starting soon. So we decided to hang around and wait for it to begin.

Oh and we also lobbied HARD for pre-movie trivia as we had heard they occasionally do such things. But the multiple (seriously, like 3 or 4) cast members we asked all told us they only did trivia on holidays.

Womp.

But still, a movie ended up happening.

And it was SNOW WHITE. How exciting is that?

Yeah, that exciting.

Nickie grabbed us some drinks at Geyser Point to enjoy during the movie. She came back with a bourbon on the rocks for me.

Just what I always wanted.

So fun, right? Watching movies. Being outside. Bourbon. All that was missing was the Electrical Water Pagea….

Oh hey!

The Electrical Water Pageant. At around 9:15 or so, we heard the music and they paused the movie so everyone could enjoy the show.

This is def a cool perk of staying at a Magic Kingdom area resort. I love how it’s not really something Disney has to do. Like, no one is going, “I gotta stay at the Grand Floridian so I can get my eyes on that Electrical Water Pageant.” It’s a cool little treat.

After the Pageant ended, we decided to go back to our room to get a good night’s sleep since we had to be up so early in the morning. And it worked out because just as we were getting ready for bed, we found this on the TV.

Ninth inning of the Sox-Yankees game and the Sox were up 4-1? Wicked pissah.

Just an FYI, the Yankees ended up getting 1 more run that game so the Sox won it 4-2.

And um. Well, that’s it for Day 2. Can you believe it? Two days into this series and we haven’t even been to a park yet. Still though – two great days to kick off what was an epic trip.

And stay tuned for Day 3!

Next post – Day 3