Chasing Adventure

After driving for four days, spending time with family, and then setting up down on the farm, we were done adulting and wanted to be kids again. We booked a 3-day quick trip up to Disney to visit Magic Kingdom, Epcot (of course), and Hollywood Studios.

We drove up on a Sunday, and had plans to meet our close friends, the Brainards, who had spent the weekend in the parks. It was so good to see all of them, since it had been a couple years since our families got to spend any time together. We had brunch in the cafe at our resort, Old Key West, and Greg got schooled in Connect Four by Benjamin. Good times! 🙂

We then ventured onto Hollywood Studios where we battled it out in Toy Story Land (Greg won, again) and rode the new Rise of the Resistance ride in Star Wars land. That was a 2-hour wait, but the ride was surprisingly incredible. I was only surprise because they lead-in for it was so much more than any other ride, I thought it was just going to be that. No, we got on a ship and …. well, you just need to experience it for yourself.

We knew it was going to rain, but planned to just go with it and got good seats for the Fantasmic water and light show. It definitely rained (no, we didn’t bring ponchos or umbrellas, lol) and we huddled under our hoodies and hats. The show was great and we got our picture in front of the Christmas tree on the way out. Slightly damp (understatement), but still great memories!

The second day, we planned on Magic Kingdom because I wanted Greg to be able to ride Tron (I rode it in Shanghai). The line for Tron is virtual queue only, and you have to be in the park in order to get in “line”. We have annual passes and didn’t opt for the early morning hours, so we missed the morning queue. We had already made plans to be in Epcot that evening for dinner (festival booths), but I put us in the virtual queue when it opened again at 1pm. We stayed in MK until about 3pm when we realized we wouldn’t be getting to ride Tron until at least 9pm at night. We figured we would go to Epcot and if we could get back to MK in time, we would ride it.

We got great curb seats for the Festival of Fantasy parade, and Tinkerbell (she’s my chick) waved right at me!!!

Epcot also had their Festival of the Holidays going on and we enjoyed the various foods and music/entertainment so much, I didn’t take any pictures. Yes, even I am shocked by that. We fully intend to go back next year though and I’ll definitely take pictures then!

Epcot offered a passport book, in the same setup as the Food & Wine passport, so we were able to track what we liked and didn’t. In the passport, they allowed guests the opportunity to partake in their Holiday Cookie Stroll. Basically, out of the 10 or so booths to choose from, as long as you purchased five, you got a prize. We found out when we went to collect the prize, it was a fabulous ice cream dessert. Imagine how high on sugar we were! Another fun activity they offered, was Olaf’s Holiday Tradition Expedition Scavenger Hunt. If you’ve done the Remy search during Food & Wine, this is the same thing, but Olaf is hiding. Easier to find since he’s white though!

One of the holiday activities offered, was visiting different countries to hear about their tradition for the holiday. In France, Pere Noel shared how French children celebrate the magic of Christmas. In Japan, we heard the Daruma storyteller share the fascinating story of the daruma doll and Japanese customs of the New Year. In Italy, the Italian women shared the tale of La Befana who was a witch that visited children on the Eve of the Epiphany with gifts. In Norway, it was a funny story about a trickster Barn Santa. It was so fascinating to hear all these different stories and customs.

Oh, the food… we both agreed this festival was overall better than Food & Wine. Of course, we did the Cookie Stroll: Holiday Sugar Cookie, Snickerdoodle Cookie, Black & White Cookie (he ate the chocolate, I had the vanilla), Gingerbread Cookie, and the Linzer Cookie (favorite from Germany!). For food, we LOVED the Turkey Poutine from the Refreshment Port – tasted like Christmas dinner in each bite. From Canada, we enjoyed the Seared Salmon and Beef Bourguignon. From France, we devoured the smoked salmon with dill and cucumber. From the Holiday Kitchen, we thoroughly enjoyed the smoked salmon potato latke. From Japan, Greg tried Sweet Potato Mochi Cake for the first time. From America, we opted for the turkey dish that was also like Christmas dinner on a plate. From Italy, we loved the Farfelle Salomone Affunicato (pasta with smoked salmon and cream sauce). From Germany, we enjoyed on the cheese fondue. Along with various beers and wines with the dishes, we were quite full at this point. Definitely will come back and spend a few days eating our way around Epcot festival booths again!

FINALLY our virtual queue got called about 8:30p and we had an hour to get over to MK to ride Tron. We quickly jumped on the Monorail and rode over. Totally worth it! It’s a very quick ride, but it’s on a motorcycle that is going pretty fast. Even me who has a low tolerance for my equilibrium being sloshed about, loved the ride (again)!

Seeing the parks all decorated for Christmas was such a treat and Epcot had way more Christmas festivities than I ever remembered. We can’t wait to go back.

A couple weeks later, we drove up to the Disney Vero Beach resort for dinner and a little bit more Disney magic, just because we could. Living in the Midwest for so many years, I had forgotten what it was like to just pop over to Disney like I could when I lived here. The restaurant had been remodeled, but we enjoyed our quiet dinners. Greg opted for the fish and chips (those fish pieces were huge!) and I went with the filet mignon (drool-worthy).

The Vero Beach resort did Christmas theming with the ocean vibe, as expected. We enjoyed the resort decorations, and walked the beach a little bit. This was also a bit nostalgic, because the dock at this resort was where we had our first kiss during our courtship. (googly-eyed smile)

We already have plans to be back in January!

~Katie