Day 415: Sunday May 2nd
Another Sunday means a picnic bike ride through Wilderness Lake and Connerton.
We've found lots of fun picnic places, but this one at Storybook Park might be our favorite.
That about it does it for Sunday, but I did take this awesome picture of Etta.
So, the pool is weird now. My pool bag now contains masks (in case we need to go in to the Clubhouse to use the restroom), and hand sanitizer. In fact, I bought a bunch of these little bottle holders so I don't have to move the one I do have from place to place anymore. Now its on my bike, my purse, Ellie's leash, and the pool bag and I never have to move them around!
Again, another pool trip with nobody else around.
And another craft bag from the library.
I thought these little chick magnets were super cute.
Our Misfits Market Day has moved to Mondays. And they also redid it so now you spend $30 worth of stuff instead of just paying a flat fee and picking out what you get for that fee. I think I might like it better, because now the "Add on" stuff I used to buy (like bread, brussels sprouts and those banana bites) can all be part of my box with no extra cost.
Check out Etta. She's so funny.
We also got some good news, Hayden is about to be eligible for the Pfizer vaccine! If we could just get Hayden fully vaccinated, I'd feel like we could all breathe a collective sigh of relief.
Because, restrictions are loosening and it makes me nervous he hasn't been vaccinated lately. Ron DeSantis came out to say he was signing an executive order to revoke all local mask mandates, making Disney say 'whoa, whoa, buddy. Not us. Not yet', and they pushed this notification to everyone's phones.
Day 417 Tuesday, May 4th
So, for early May it is down right HOT out there.
Which always leaves me talking about how I can tell a difference in the heat from when we moved here FIFTEEN!! years ago till now. And I'm not just imagining it.
So, it's REAL uncomfortable for an after-lunch walk. In an effort to keep up my walking after each meal, though, I have been setting the timer and walking for 25 minutes from the front to the back door. Not as much fun as a walk around the neighborhood. But, it gets my steps in.
We also continued our work on the 2000 piece puzzle. This one was pretty easy... until this point, then it got rough.
At least after dinner the heat has been relenting just a bit. Or, the sun is down enough that it isn't beating down on you at least. So, after dinner walks are still a thing to visit all the neighborhood cats.
Also, since the stimulus check arrived, I've realized we check the mail like once a week. By the time I think about it every time- it's stuffed full.
But we did get our Orange Bird Passholder magnets in the mail!
Day 418 Wednesday, May 5th
Still hot = after lunch walk inside.
But also, it was Cinco De Mayo, so I made this whole awesome taco bar thing. And it was kind of amazing.
Better than a taco bar, in my opinion.
So yummy.
We also finally got around to watching Romeo and Juliet, 'The Claire Danes One' (Office quote!). So, Hayden said he could appreciate the art style and the music. But, he still was no fan. I had high school flashbacks on this one.
Oh hey, and it was Dippers Birthday. Happy Birthday, Dips!
Some evening walks are hotter than others- this one... was.... not great.
Still feels like 94. Gross.
Hayden noted the humidity and likened it to opening the dryer and sticking your head in, when the clothes have only been in there like 5 minutes. Hayden: "It's all wet and hot and damp. And it really hits you in the face."
Day 419 Thursday, May 6th
Asa and I took our vaccinated selves out to Culvers for lunch. We did order curbside and then eat it outside, but baby steps!
And we're still doing curbside pick up. Asa was a little confused when they brought out the basil plant (he never knows what I order), but I loved the way they packaged it. Thanks, Publix!
The pool was pretty empty for an afternoon, so we headed on down after our errands.
And then for dinner, Asa made me Max and Ermas. So, that's a chain restaurant up north- and they used to have this sandwich I loved and the best cheese fries. He totally nailed the copy cat of them both.
The sandwich has chicken, mozzarella, sundried tomato pesto and fresh basil on it, which a simple spring mix salad on the side (the ranch- complete with tomatoes on top- is for the fries). I was super excited when I found the right kind of bread at Costco. And again, he totally nailed it (we've since had this a second time and it was equally as delicious!)
We do see some weird things on our walk sometimes. Not sure what happened to the No Outlet sign.
Day 420: Friday, May 7th
On Friday Asa and I headed back out to Disney- this time to Hollywood Studios to see how the crowd levels were. As soon as we arrived, we got our usual Covid Warning notifications.
And we still had to get our temperature taken. They said they would be phasing these out on May 16th, and I was pretty amped about it. I hate this extra stop. Like, it isn't a big deal, but it's weird. Still, this would be our last time through Disney needing our temperatures checked!
It was fairly quick to get through there and security. On the plus side of Covid, they let you walk through the metal detectors with basically all your stuff and it goes SO. MUCH. FASTER. than how they used to have security guards dig through every zippered pocket of your bag. I hope that stays for good.
So here we are at Hollywood Studios. It had been 15 months- our last time here was February 13th, 2020. You know, before shit hit the fan.
Hollywood Boulevard. Welcome Back.
We made a bee line to Galaxy's Edge.
It's just as I remembered it.
Mostly we really wanted to get some Hollywood Studios food and just walk around. It was busier than I anticipated- and because of limited capacity, there are lines just to get IN everywhere. Stores. Restaurants. Even the marketplace, you have to wait your turn to enter. Luckily, Disney is embracing- and in some cases- flat out demanding you place your order on the MyDisneyExperience app. Like, some places you can't order any other way. Lucky for us, Ronto Roasters had a 'Pick up Now' option available. So, we were able to get ourselves a Ronto Wrap, the only food I really, really wanted from Galaxys Edge. Along with it, we got an awesome iced tea. So good.
We also spotted a few characters. It's Chewie and Rey!
And of course, some droids.
We made our way over to Toy Story Land hoping to nab some totchos and a lunchbox tart from Woody's Lunchbox... but you could only mobile order here, and the next available time was nearly THREE HOURS away. Pro tip: if you're going to Disney soon, keep an eye on this. Or some people in your group could end up real hangry. See, not everything is open in Disney these days. Shows that soak up a lot of people are still closed (though, Festival of the Lion King in AK is opening soon- like next week soon! So, hopefully we see some more of those things come back soon). It'll help soak up the crowds more. A lot of hotels are still closed. In fact, it's hard to get a room- and you're certainly not going to get the discounted FL resident rate, or passholder rate. Those are long gone. But the worst of it all is the food situation around meal times. So, I'm going to try and mange this while we're there for our anniversary, because I certainly don't want things going awry then.
The other thing is the six foot distancing in the lines. Man, that can stretch them out for awhile.
See that sign there- at the end of Toy Story land? Thats for Slinky Dog Dash!
And that guy holding the sign- well, that's for Toy Story Mania. Just bananas.
Still, it was nice to just be there and walking around. But, it was a hot day. Cool for what we've been having, but still hot. And masks and the heat are a tough combo.
One of the things the Pandemic has taught me, is all those times you say 'SOMEDAY....' I want to do this or that... well, that someday might never come. That experience, that snack, your ability to get there, could all go away. So do the things while you can do the things. Big... and small.
So, small thing- a carrot cake cookie from Trolley Car Cafe at Hollywood Studios. It's a Disney Food Blog fave- and I've wanted to try it for YEARS. But, the line is usually long, or we're not often in Hollywood Studios, or we eat something else, and I'm like 'no bigs, I'll catch you later'. Well, it's finally later. So, I got it. And it was MORE than worth the $4 price tag. It's HUGE. And it's not a cookie. It's like a handheld carrot cake. It's light and moist and FILLED with cream cheese frosting. So, just a heads up. Get the cookie. Get any cookie.
Splitting the Ronto Wrap and cookie were enough to keep Asa and I from being hangry. But, we needed to act soon, because it was like 2 pm and that's all we had. So we decided to hop on the Skyliner and go to resorts. Their quick service had no wait.
Lucky for us, they're boarding Skyliner cars just your party. So once again, Asa and I got a Skyliner car all to ourselves. So, off we went.
We got off at the first stop (I think you have to), at the Caribbean Beach Resort. We were hoping to go over to the Riveria, but instead of waiting in a line for that Skyliner, we decided to take a walk around the lake that circles both resorts. It's a pretty walk.
Asa and I love the Caribbean Beach Resort. It's my favorite moderate resort for sure. We stayed there in 2019 for our anniversary, and had plans for five nights there for year 10. (This is us taking a moment on the beach).
Now mostly along the walkway, there was nobody else in eye sight, so we often walked with our masks pulled down. If we came across someone, we pulled them back up. But, generally we thought it was a little silly to have them on when no other guests were around. (We were really hoping we could get away with this during our anniversary this year at Fort Wilderness too).
We made our way over to the Riveria. We actually had never been there before. It opened either late 2019 or early 2020. So while we were staying there in 2019 you could see it being built, it wasn't complete, and we couldn't go over there. But for our 2020 anniversary, we were super excited that the new Riveria and all their dining options would be open for our trip. Unfortunately, you know how that turned out.
Anyway, this resort is something special. We didn't go inside, but even the outside is something. The mosiac murals are AMAZING.
Spoiler Alert: My 40th Birthday Weekend Extravagaza is going to be AMAZING. My whole family is coming down, and we're staying at some of the best rooms Disney has to offer. We'll be spending one night here, and I. CANNOT. WAIT.
But for now, we were just here to nose around and get some food. We placed our mobile order, and the app told us to wait outside until our food was ready.
And then all we had to do was go in and grab it from the counter. Easy peasy.
And delicious!!
The fries weren't too bad either.
The Skyliner also goes right through the Riveria, so we hopped on board to head over to the Epcot stop.
Now, we could have stopped at Epcot, as it was after 2 and we already tapped into our park reservation for the day, meaning we can park hop. But, we were pretty full, and eating is like the whole reason you go to Epcot. Instead, we decided to walk along the Boardwalk, taking one of my FAVORITE walks on Disney property: the boardwalk from the back entrance of Epcot to Hollywood Studios.
Asa and I last did this on February 13th- the last time we went to Disney in the "before times". We did Epcot, walked to Hollywood Studios, and walked back. We also got our possible last ever Fastpass that day with Slinky Dog Dash.
Anyway, the hotels back there (both the Boardwalk and the Beach Club) are still only half open. Only the vacation club villas are open, so it was QUIET. There weren't many people, and only about half the shops and restaurants were open. (Is anyone else dying to set foot in Jellyrolls again?! I am!!)
But the one place that was open was the little Margarita stand, and they have something new: a DOLE WHIP SMOOTHIE. You read that right: A DOLE WHIP SMOOTHIE.
I knew I had to have it. And it did not disappoint. It was smooth and tart and I almost liked it better than a traditional dole whip, thanks to the smoothie texture. We found a nice spot to enjoy it, in the shade, and just hung out.
Just look how quiet. Disney will never be like this again. So, I'm glad I went the times I did.
After our smoothie, we took the walk back to Hollywood Studios where we had parked.
And for the ride home, I filled up my water bottle at the bathrooms over by the Skyliner.
And that's it for our latest trip to Disney.
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