Monthly Archives: February 2018

Disney, Travel

January 9, 2017

Our original plan this morning was toget up and be at the park early to try and avoid long wait times. However, once our alarm went I was still really tired after a late night the night before, so I made the decision for us to sleep in a bit more. Luckily our Fastpasses were made for the afternoon, so we weren’t missing any of those by sleeping longer.

Eventually, we did get up and got ready for the day. By the time we reached Hollywood Studios, we didn’t have a ton of time before we’d need to leave for our lunch reservation. We checked the wait times on the app, and headed straight for the Star Wars Launch Bay.

I had just watched all of the Star Wars movies before this trip (8 of them at that point, Rogue One was still in theaters, but we had even saw that before leaving Canada) – so I was really interested in the character meet and greets.

We went to meet Kylo Ren. He wasn’t pleased when I called him Ben and refused to join the First Order.

After meeting Ben Solo, we ran into some Jawas.

Afterwards, we headed out of the park – I know, so much accomplished haha. We caught the boat, and headed over to the Beach/Yacht Club for a lunch reservation at Beaches & Cream <3. I love these resorts, I think they are so pretty!

I also took a picture of Sea Breeze Point. I was aware of Disney weddings at the time, and I thought this was such a gorgeous venue – I had no idea I’d actually be getting married there 366 days after taking this picture (Luke and I weren’t even engaged yet at this point)!

After lunch, it was time to head back to the park to do some Fastpasses!

Since it was the middle of the afternoon, the Photopass lineups were not too bad at all, so we stopped for some pictures before heading in to the park.

Once we entered the park, we stopped at a bunch of Photopass Photographers, because I have a weird thing with trying to justify the cost (even though I can’t imagine not having Photopass on a WDW trip…)

We had heard rumours about The Great Movie Ride being on the chopping block, so we wanted to make sure we went on it in case it was gone by the next time we took a trip to WDW (it closed in August 2017, so this was a good move on our part). The line was a little longer than I typically will wait, but we did it anyways. Posted time said 45 minutes, it was closer to 30. I am glad we got to on it once before it was shut down.

We were now getting close to the end of our window for Rock N’ Roller Coaster. I don’t love this ride, but I don’t hate it either. I’m just a weird height where my ears slam back and forth from side to side against the safety bar, and since I was dealing with severe psoriasis on my head/ears/neck at the time,  I got off the ride in pain.

Since Luke had made me suffer through that ride, I made him suffer through more Photopass pictures haha.

We were within our Tower of Terror window by this point, which is a ride we both love (although I fought pretty hard against going on it during our first trip to Disneyland haha)

We left Sunset Boulevard, and found another Photopass photographer.

We headed over to Star Tours for our third and final Fastpass of the day. We both love this ride, and it’s always worth going on at least once every trip for us. Plus the queue is fantastic – sometimes I’m a little sad that the Fastpass line moves along so quickly…. I’m also a big fan of the personalization they offer with some of the rides now – notice the names on the screen behind this guy 😉

I really wanted to meet Chewbacca, so we checked the app and saw that the wait time was fairly short so we headed in that direction and got into line.

What a great meet and greet! Chewie is so huggable, and you couldn’t wipe the grin off my face afterwards.

We ran into some Jawas afterwards.

We spent some time looking around at the Star Wars stuff,  until it was time for us to check in for the Star Wars dessert party.

After the fireworks were over, we headed out to the buses and caught our bus back to Saratoga Springs. We weren’t sure if there would be enough non-dessert type food at the party to hold us over, so we had made a reservation at The Turf Club for late that night. Once we finished eating, we walked back to our room and fell asleep almost instantly.

Next: Animal Kingdom, January 10th Part One

 

 

 

Disney, Travel

Walt Disney World Tips & Hacks

  1. Entrance at Animal Kingdom backed up/busy? Keep to the extreme left after going through security and enter the Rainforest Cafe restaurant, then turn right and head straight through the gift shop. You will be in a little courtyard/bar area – there will be a Cast Member and a scan-in station to enter the park.
  2. The doors in the haunted mansion open to let you onto the ride are underneath the stretchy photo of the ballerina. You can see a red light on the wall.
  3. There’s a very quiet washroom in Epcot in Future World West. The entrance is a double sliding glass door in between Fountain View (Starbucks) and Club Cool, but is not marked with a bathroom sign. You an also find some tables/couches and plug-ins in here, and it’s never too busy. Update September 2019 – this entire area is now under construction as part of Epcot’s multi-year renovation, so currently this tip is useless. RIP Club Cool.
  4. Some quick service restaurants offer mobile ordering. It’s very easy to use, and can save you a lot of time. Aloha Isle in Magic Kingdom is one place that offers it – the line was easily 20 minutes long when I went to grab a Dole Whip, so I pulled out my phone, mobile ordered one and had it in my hand in about 3 minutes. There will be marked signs for separate lines for pickup.
  5. Disney transportation is great, but sometimes you don’t want to wait for a bus. Lyft and Uber are great, and it’s never too expensive to get around on site.
  6. The entrance to Magic Kingdom can get pretty busy. Sometimes it’s faster to walk from the Contemporary Resort – they have a separate security line and entrance. This tip is entirely based on where you are coming from though.
  7. Speaking of the Contemporary – they have a great quick service restaurant named Contempo Cafe. It takes less than 10 minutes to walk from Magic Kingdom over to the Contemporary, and it’s a great way to escape the crowds of the park while enjoying some good, cheap food – we had a great flatbread pizza for under $10. Also – peanut butter pie.
  8. If you have time, it’s so worth it to take an Uber or Lyft to a nearby Walmart. We found great Disney souvenirs – magnets/key chains for $1, tshirts for $12, hoodies for $25, hats for $12, etc. This is over half price of what you would pay in the parks for something similar. You can also pick up cheap bottled water, which you are allowed to bring into the parks with you. We start every trip with a Walmart run, and it’s never more than $10-$15 for the Uber.
  9. Toward the end of the night, Disney will inflate the wait times for the more popular rides. We once entered the queue for a ride at Disneyland 15 minutes before the park closed. The posted wait time was 120 minutes. We were on in less than 20. They keep the posted time high so cast members don’t have to deal with 2 actual hours worth of people at the end of the night.
  10. Most of the best food is found outside the parks at the resorts. You do not need to be staying at a hotel in order to eat at their restaurants. From Animal Kingdom, head to Animal Kingdom Lodge for Boma or Saana. From Magic Kingdom, see #7 above, or #11 below. From Hollywood Studios or Epcot, head to the Beach Club Resort for Beaches and Cream, or see #12.
  11. If Magic Kingdom gets super busy & you need a drink – there’s a tiki themed bar at the Polynesian Resort called Trader Sams (kid friendly until 8pm) where the bar itself kind of comes to life when certain drinks are ordered. Decent food too.
  12. One of our favourite hidden gems is Crew’s Cup Lounge at the Yacht Club Resort. It’s a quick walk from Epcot (or a boat ride from Hollywood Studios). It’s a bar/lounge, so no reservations accepted. The food is fantastic and much cheaper than the signature restaurant (Yachtsman’s Steakhouse) it shares a kitchen with. Luke loved his burger here.
  13. After using your pre-selected 3 Fastpasses, you can grab a 4th, 5th, etc one at a time. We’ve found they never offer up the great ones right away – grab any of the ones being offered using your app, then click modify. As you keep refreshing, you will usually get different options. We’ve grabbed many tier 1 rides using this method.
  14. There’s a Starbucks in each park where you can get pretty neat park specific You Are Here mugs.
  15. The parks are least busy the first 2 hours of the day. If you can get there around then you’ll walk right onto rides for the first hour or so. They get most busy around noon-2.
  16. All quick service food locations will give you a free glass of filtered ice water – you just need to ask!
  17. Thirsty at Epcot but you’re craving pop/soda? Head over to Club Cool where you can sample some Coca-Cola products from around the world! The little sample cups are small, but by the time you try each kind you’ll have had enough pop. It’s all free to try! Update September 2019 – Club Cool has been closed as part of the multi-billion dollar Epcot renovation. RIP.
  18.  Wear your best shoes. The parks are large and you will walk 20,000+ steps per day.
  19. Kids tend to have sensory overload sugar infused dehydration meltdowns between 2-4 pm. Take an afternoon break back at your hotel room for naps, pool time, etc.
  20. Avoid the park that has Extra Magic Hours – it might seem like the park to choose for the day, but everyone has that idea, making that park busier.
  21. At Hollywood Studios, most people are running to Toy Story Midway Mania or Rock N’ Roller Coaster at rope drop. Head to Tower of Terror instead, and you’ll walk on with zero wait (just make sure you have a Fastpass for Toy Story or RNR Coaster for later in the day if you want to ride).
  22. Save your phone battery a bit – open up your My Disney Experience app and take a screenshot of your Fastpasses/dining reservations for the day, then set it as your lock screen. You won’t need to keep unlocking your phone and opening the app to check on the times for your reservations (trust me, you’ll be so over stimulated by the parks that you won’t remember the exact times of everything)
  23. Looking for a quieter place to sit down or get out of the crowds for a few minutes? In Animal Kingdom, our favourite place for this is Nomad Lounge. In Hollywood Studios, head to One Man’s Dream, a little museum-type building filled with history on Walt. For Epcot, see tip #3. Magic Kingdom – head to the Carousel of Progress, Country Bear Jamboree, Enchanted Tiki Room or the Peoplemover.
  24. Don’t skip Disney Springs. It has undergone millions of dollars in changes over the past few years, and it is fantastic. Any food option you can think of, the largest Disney store in the World, etc.
  25. At Disney Springs, check out Uniqlo. They have Disney-branded clothing at a fraction of the cost that the parks charge (tshirts for $15, etc)
  26. Chocolate pecan pie from Homecomin’. Good fucking lord, one of the most delicious things I’ve ever put into my mouth. And yes, I needed to swear there. It’s that amazing.
  27. The outside patio by Trader Sam’s at the Polynesian is a great place to watch the Electrical Water Parade. Also Geyser Point at Wilderness Lodge!
Food Review

The Melting Pot – January 26, 2018

For Luke’s birthday this year, I decided to treat him by taking him to MY favourite restaurant haha. He always enjoys the Melting Pot, so he wasn’t too upset about my choice.

The Melting Pot is a fancy fondue restaurant, with burners set into the tabletops to keep everything warm. You can  choose to do one, two, three or four courses depending on your hunger and budget.

We had just returned from our two week Disney wedding trip, so we were really trying to be budget-friendly with eating out, so we decided to skip the classic 4-course meal we typically get at the Melting Pot. They were offering a promotion called the “Crave” combo, which gave us a choice of a cheese fondue and a chocolate fondue to share, along with a salad for each of us for $25/person.

We started with drinks!

We each drove our own vehicles to the restaurant (Luke met me there from work), so my drink was non-alcoholic (Alberta has a strange thing where there are two levels of Class 5 licenses, I’ve just never gone to get my advanced one, and as such I have a zero tolerance policy for alcohol on my license). Luke enjoyed the Whiskey Thistle – Jameson Irish Whiskey, white peach syrup, raspberries, fresh lemon and Sprite, $11.50. I went with my trusty favourite, the Strawberry Basil Lemonade – a light and tasty blend of fresh strawberries, basil and lemonade, $7.50. I typically have the recommended shot of strawberry vodka added to it, but kept it non-alcoholic this time.

I did have a sip of Luke’s, and it was quite delicious! I still prefer my choice, but it’s also one of my favourite restaurant cocktails anywhere…

Our first course was the cheese fondue. We’ve tried a few different kinds, but always seem to come back to the Spinach Artichoke – featured Cheeses: Butterkäse, Fontina,  Melted with: Fresh spinach, artichoke hearts, garlic.

For those who have never been, they actually melt the cheese in front of you. Your server will turn on the burner on your table once they take your order, and there is usually already an empty pot sitting on there. They come out with a tray containing all of the ingredients required for your requested cheese fondue, and they mix it all at your table. They pour in oil, then add the shredded cheeses, lots of garlic, chopped spinach, artichoke hearts, a few drops of tobasco sauce, etc and stir it all up until the cheese is melted.

The server also brings out the dippers for the cheese at the same time – we’ve had a bit of variation with these items over the years, but for the most part it’s been consistent. On this trip we received two types of bread, granny smith apples, broccoli, cauliflower and cherry tomatoes. On various past visits, we have had baby carrots, tortilla chips and a third type of bread (although this was our first time seeing the tomatoes – it might be based on what’s in season, what’s in stock right now or just the items that came with the Crave promotional package we had chosen).

We always end up asking for more apples, they are so good with the cheese! We typically finish off all the dippers with this course, and today was no exception – we handed back empty dishes to our server 🙂 We are also pretty good at getting every last bit of cheese out of that pot haha.

Next up was the salad course. We were each allowed to pick our own salad – we rarely switch this up, and order the same thing every time…

I love their Caesar Salad – Romaine lettuce, shredded Parmesan cheese, croutons and Parmesan-encrusted pine nuts with Caesar dressing. Their dressing tastes house-made, and it’s elevated even more by sprinkling some of their Wine and Garlic seasoning on top. I’m not a huge pine nut fan (I know, they are really expensive, but I don’t like most nuts), so I usually pick those off and put them on Luke’s salad. Their croutons appear to be house-made as well, and they are very generous with the shredded parmesan!

Luke ordered the Melting Pot House Salad – Romaine and Iceberg lettuce, cheddar cheese, fresh tomatoes, croutons, and sliced egg with your choice of peppercorn ranch dressing or our Sweet & Tangy House Dressing.

He opted for the peppercorn ranch dressing. This is his go-to salad every time we go to the Melting Pot, he always finishes it and really enjoys it.

Our third and final course for this meal was the chocolate! Again, we’ve tried a few different kinds but always come back to our favourite, the Flaming Turtle – milk chocolate melted with caramel and candied pecans.

The Flaming part of its name comes from the presentation of it being flambed at the table. The server stirs until the flames have disappeared, and then pours in the candied pecans.

I’m always impressed by the variety on the tray of dippers they bring. This one had cheesecake, pound cake, brownies, blondies, melon, strawberries, bananas, oreo-coated marshmallows and graham-cracker coated marshmallows.

Some of these (the cheesecake especially) don’t work great on your fondue spear, but your server leaves a spoon so you can drizzle the chocolate fondue over top of it. I also find the marshmallows too large to stick in my mouth at one time, so I like to chop them in half before dipping them into chocolate. We always eat everything on this plate, and then ask for more fruit and marshmallows (I seriously can’t get enough of them with those coatings!).

At some point, Luke got a beer and I really wanted a root beer – I didn’t take any pictures.

Overall, it was another successful trip to the Melting Pot, and I left feeling full even without the fourth course.

Disney, Food Review

Tony’s Town Square – December 30, 2017

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For our first meal on our trip, we decided to try something new and made a reservation at Tony’s Town Square. It was December 30th, and we figured the park would be really busy, so we really wanted to make sure we had an ADR. We made it for quite late, just to give ourselves wiggle room in case our flight was delayed (which turned out to be a good call – we were never in danger of missing our reservation, but our flight was over an hour late).

We checked in, and had a bit of a wait before being called. We were eventually led to a 4-top table in the back corner, and handed our menus.

We were brought a plate of bread with some oil while we read over the menu. We were both really hungry after a day of traveling, and we crushed the bread fairly quickly and then said yes to a second plate haha. I really enjoyed the spices/seasoning that was mixed in with the oil (although I’m fairly certain it was just basic Italian seasoning).

We decided that since it was the first night of our wedding trip, we would do something we’ve never done at a restaurant before – order a bottle of wine! #treatyoself Keep in mind, I’m fussy with wine, and the only way I’d agree to drinking any of this was if it was a really sweet wine – so Luke, being the great husband he is (although he was still technically just my fiancé at this point), agreed to split a bottle of Moscato with me.

Coppo Moncalvina Moscato d’Asti, Piedmont – refreshing aromas and flavours of tropical fruit and sugar cane with a touch of acidity on the finish – $39/bottle

This was really good Moscato! It was nice and sweet, just the way I like my wine, without being sickly sweet over the course of a bottle. I don’t understand the language they use to describe wine, I can never taste the difference between different kinds of fruits used – obviously I’m not a wine connoisseur seeing as I only drink Moscato haha. We had no issues finishing this bottle off (Luke drank way more than I did, I’m such a lightweight haha), and it wasn’t too expensive at all for restaurant prices!

For food, we skipped appetizers (as we almost always do), and went straight for entrees. Luke went for the Chicken Parmigana – lightly breaded chicken breast with melted mozzarella and Tony’s Marinara Sauce over spaghetti $26.

The spaghetti was nothing special, the sauce was basic but the chicken was cooked well.

My eyes were larger than my belly, and I ordered the Italian Trio – three classic favourites on one dish. Chciken Parmigiana, baked rigatoni and fettucine alfredo $32.

I’m not a huge fan of alfredo sauce typically, but this was really good! The chicken parm was standard, but tasty and the baked rigatoni was surpisingly one of the stars of this entire plate. I expected the bowl of baked rigatoni to be fairly basic, but it was so good!

There’s really nothing special about the food at this restaurant, but overall it was tasty and hit the spot. We had been led to believe that this restaurant wasn’t very good, so we went in with very low expectations – and we ended up being pleased with it! There’s no mistaking this place for fine dining, and there’s definitely better options on property, but I’m glad we went there and tried it – and we wouldn’t mind going back again..

The restaurant itself is really cute, with lots of Lady & the Tramp references (as seen on the menu above). The walls were decorated in artwork from the movie, and there was a giant fountain in the restaurant which was adorable.

The total cost of our meal was $100.11 – this included an 18% tip and a 20% discount thanks to Tables in Wonderland.

I purchased a Tables in Wonderland card for the first time ever (seeing as this was my first trip to WDW as an annual pass holder, it was the first time I was ever eligible for the card). The cost to purchase a TIW card is $150 (no tax), but it will allow you to save 20% on food and alcohol at many restaurants on property.  It does add an auto-gratuity to your check of 18%, but Luke and I tend to tip that much anyways. Also, parties of 6 or more have the 18% auto-gratuity added on even without a TIW card, and we knew almost every meal during the entire second week of our vacation would be with at least 6 people at a time.

I wanted to track the numbers and see how much we ended up saving by purchasing the card, so the numbers will be shared at the bottom of each review 🙂 Keep in mind I didn’t calculate the 18% gratuity in the cost to break even, since we would have been paying that anyways.

Tables in Wonderland Original Cost: $150                                              Break Even Point Before this Meal: $150                                                        Savings this Meal: $19.40                                                                                            Total until Breaking Even: $130.60

We also had done up a spreadsheet with estimated food costs per meal, and came on this trip planning to spend a little over $2600 on food (which is so much money, we were hoping to keep that lower, but at the same time not deny ourselves whatever we wanted since it was our wedding/honeymoon). I’ll be including those numbers at the bottom of each post as well so you can see how well we did with our estimations. Also – our estimated costs did NOT include tips, that was a separate calculation, and I will not be including tips in the actual cost listed here either.

Predicted food budget: $2631.67                                                                             Estimated Cost of this meal: $15(WestJet) + $37.87 (Pop Food Court) + $101.18 (Tony’s) = $154.05                                                                       Actual Cost: $19.48(WestJet) +$0 (Pop Food Court) + $82.65 (Tony’s) = $102.13                                                                                       Over/Under: Under by $51.92                                                                     Remaining: $2579.75

Next meal: Narcoossee’s Brunch

 

 

Disney, Food Review

Naples – November 13, 2017

One of the places I wanted to go back to was Naples, so we made a reservation for supper there on our last night.

We checked in and were led to a table outside. We were handed the menu – which is a giant one-page thing with the food on one side and drinks on the other.

One thing on the drink menu caught Luke’s attention: Mule Flight – a flight of three unique, Italian-inspired mules, all topped with ginger liqueur and lime juice $18

From left to right, that’s the Venetian – Absolut vodka, prosecco, Sicilian – Skyy vodka, averna and Naples – Stoll vodka, blood orange juice. Mules have become one of Luke’s favourite drinks to order at restaurants, so he was excited to try some different kinds (and I might have sampled each of them as well…).

We both liked the Venetian and Naples, but the Sicilian just tasted like straight vodka.

I was boring and just wanted water, but I didn’t take a picture of that – just imagine a tall glass filled with a clear liquid.

They brought us some bread with olive oil/balsamic to start. I hate balsamic, so I very carefully dip my bread so I only soak up the oil – it’s a process I’ve pretty much mastered by now haha. Luke likes it all, so he just eats it like a normal person. This is a good crusty Italian bread – and I like just about every type of bread out there!

A big reason for wanting this reservation was because of the appetizer we’d had the last time we were here: Panzerotti – fried pizza dough filled with fresh mozzarella, artisan ricotta, parmesan, marinara, three for $10, five for $14.

These are delicious little puffy pockets of cheesey goodness, with a big bowl of marinara to dip them in. I could make an entire meal just out of these <3

We also ordered a regular sized pepperoni pizza $35 (they have individual, regular and large- which is massive!). I love the tiny little pepperonis they use, and the fresh mozzarella. Overall, a very tasty pizza 🙂

 

Our total bill came to $63.03 after saving $4.50 with my annual pass.

Disney, Food Review

Flame Tree BBQ – January 2, 2018

We were feeling a little hungry, and decided we wanted a snack around 11:30am, so we headed over to Flame Tree BBQ. We didn’t want anything big, so we ordered some fries to split.

It was also really cold out, so Luke ordered a coffee and I got a hot chocolate.

Our fries tasted like fries, and our drinks were warm. It was everything we’d hoped for.

Cost: $7.57 after using my Tables in Wonderland card ($1.77 saved)

*See post for Tony’s to see explanation of the math below*

Tables in Wonderland Original Cost: $150                                              Break Even Point Before this Meal: $119.80                                                      Savings this Meal: $1.77                                                                                          Total until Breaking Even: $118.03

Predicted food budget: $2631.67                                                                            Estimated Cost of this meal: $0 (not planned)                                                   Actual Cost: $7.57                                                                                      Over/Under: Over by $7.57                                                                    Remaining: $2135.81

Next: Nomad Lounge

Disney, Travel

January 8th, 2017 – Part Three

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Eventually, Snow White came out and it was our turn to meet her. We handed her our Record Store Day Disney vinyl to sign (well, just the case, we were smart enough to leave the actual record home). We still haven’t actually done anything with that yet, it’s just sitting beside our record player..,

This was also a really amazing Snow – she looked the part, and her voice/giggle was spot on – I was very impressed by this casting!

This might be one of my favourite character meet and greet pictures ever haha – I didn’t get the memo on how to pose for this one…

After our meet and greet with Snow White, we continued on our way around the World Showcase. Next up was Italy, so we looked around a bit in the shops. Nothing was jumping out at us to purchase, so we journeyed over to the American Adventure. The show was only a few minutes away from starting, and it was something we had never watched before, so we decided to go watch.

The inside of that building is gorgeous! The American Adventure Rotunda is actually a reception venue option for a Disney Fairy Tale Wedding, but it’s only for the Wishes collection (we had an Escape wedding), and the minimum guest count is high (I believe it’s a minimum of 80 people – which means big $$$) – so obviously it was not an option for our wedding. I’ve seen gorgeous wedding photos from there though!

Anyways, back to the American Adventure audio-animatronics show… it’s a great place to have a nap? It’s definitely showing its age, and since I’m not American I guess I just don’t care that much about the country’s history (plus almost everything mentioned during that show was taught to us in school). Basically – it’s not something I feel the need to do every trip. I’m glad we did it once, but I almost fell asleep a few times…

Once the show was over, we rushed back over to the Italy Pavilion – it was time for a meal I was really looking forward to after hearing lots of great reviews – Via Napoli! It was….disappointing. The food was fine, but the service left A LOT to be desired. You can read all about it here.

After our pizza and terrible service, we slowly started making our way back to the Mexico side of the World Showcase. We stopped in Norway to see the giant troll –

It wasn’t long before it was time for our second dining reservation of the night – because everyone needs second supper, right? This time we checked in to La Hacienda de San Angel – Luke made this reservation because he wanted to drink margaritas while watching Illuminations from a different angle  – this proved to be a great choice, since it was so cold out that night!

We had to wait a little bit past our reservation time, but we were led to a two-top table shortly before Illuminations began. You can read about our experience here.

Once we settled up our check and left the restaurant, Epcot was officially closed – however there were extra magic hours that evening for guests staying on property. We decided to take advantage of that, and went to meet Baymax.

I was actually wearing my Baymax dress that day, so this meet and greet was a must!

We then crossed over and got into line to meet Joy and Sadness!

After meeting these characters, we decided to head our of the park for the night, but Spaceship Earth was a walk-on as we went past, so of course we had to get on that again!

We headed out to the bus stop (and even remembered to head to the Saratoga Springs stop, since we were checking in to that hotel for the remainder of our stay), and then stood and waited. And waited. And waited. There were quite a few of us at the bus stop, and it was cold out – and it took forever! Finally, 35 minutes later a bus showed up…

By the time we reached the main lobby of Saratoga Springs, we were exhausted – but of course we still had to go check in, get our room number and new Magicbands, and pick up our luggage from bell services. We got in line in the lobby, and figured it wouldn’t be too long of a wait since there was only one family in front of us. Again, we waited. And waited. And then waited some more… the family in front of us took forever! The kids were running around the lobby loudly, the dad kept asking questions – but eventually it was our turn and we were able to check in and get our room. After a quick stop at bell services, we collected our luggage which had been transferred over from Old Key West, and they drove us to our building.

I was going to take pictures of our room, but I was way too tired (and it was pushing midnight by this point), so I just went to bed instead.

Next: We finally make it to Hollywood Studios!