Post-Trip Report: Renée’s Road Trip to Walt Disney World (January 2025)

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VIRGINIA: Welcome to Where I Long To Be, A Magical Trip Report Podcast.

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VIRGINIA: I'm your host, Virginia.

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VIRGINIA: Thanks for tuning in and for choosing Where I Long To Be, as I know the number of podcasts there are out there to choose from is vast.

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VIRGINIA: I'm honored that you are choosing to spend some time with me.

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VIRGINIA: Don't forget to subscribe to the show if you haven't already done so, so that every new episode will automatically be available on whatever platform you're listening on now.

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VIRGINIA: On today's episode, I am welcoming back Renée, who is Magical Travels By Monte on Instagram.

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VIRGINIA: She is a travel agent who specializes in Disney vacations, and her information is in the show notes if you need your own magical trip planner.

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VIRGINIA: Her services are free since Disney pays her after your trip is over, so you've got nothing to lose.

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VIRGINIA: As a reminder, if you didn't listen to the pre-trip episode, Renée and her family, which included her husband Matt, infant son Oki, Orzo, the family dog, and Renée's mom, Michelle, were all staying at Port Orleans Riverside for eight nights and then moving to the Yacht Club for two nights.

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VIRGINIA: They had park hopper tickets and a few non-park days sprinkled in there.

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VIRGINIA: While Renée and her mom used to go almost annually, this will be Matt's first trip back since he was eight years old, so a lot has changed.

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VIRGINIA: That should be enough to get you going into the episode, so please welcome Renée.

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VIRGINIA: Renée, welcome back.

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RENEE: Hi, Virginia.

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RENEE: Happy to be here.

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VIRGINIA: I'm so happy to see you here, especially now that we have actually met in person at this point.

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RENEE: Yes, at Epcot.

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VIRGINIA: I know.

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VIRGINIA: It was so fun to hear my name, look up, and see you there.

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RENEE: Yes.

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RENEE: I saw you across the way and I thought, no way.

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RENEE: We just happened to run into each other.

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VIRGINIA: I am so surprised that you spotted me because I find it very hard to spot people at Disney because after a while of walking around, everyone looks the same to me.

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RENEE: Yes.

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RENEE: I was so happy to see you there.

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VIRGINIA: Well, let's get into all the details of this trip because we said hello, we had a hug, but I was like, we're saving it for the podcast.

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VIRGINIA: I didn't even get any details yet, so this will all be new for me.

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VIRGINIA: This was a trip with your husband, Matt, your mom, Michelle, baby Okie, and dog Orzo.

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VIRGINIA: Yes.

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VIRGINIA: This was a split stay between Riverside and Yacht Club.

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VIRGINIA: I guessed a couple opening questions.

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VIRGINIA: How was it traveling with a dog this time?

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RENEE: It was really fine.

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RENEE: I don't know if you can hear Okie in the background.

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VIRGINIA: I can, it's fine.

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RENEE: Okay.

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RENEE: Orzo is a great traveler.

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RENEE: He was a great companion in the backseat.

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RENEE: We have a van, so I just brought his dog bed and he had the back bench for the driving portions.

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RENEE: And then he has, we call it his tent.

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RENEE: It's kind of like a crate, but it has soft sides.

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RENEE: And we brought that with us and set it up in the room for him.

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RENEE: And yeah, he was really great about it.

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RENEE: He enjoyed being in Florida, lots of new smells and stuff, especially at Port Orleans.

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RENEE: There's a lot of nature and he enjoyed those walks and everything like that.

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RENEE: And I think he had a good time.

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VIRGINIA: Would you bring a dog back at another time?

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RENEE: I would.

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RENEE: If it's a dog like Orzo, I would.

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RENEE: I think I mentioned in the pre-trip that we have another dog, Daisy.

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RENEE: And she went to sleepover camp and she had a great time.

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RENEE: They send us pictures and she was there being very athletic.

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RENEE: And so I don't think it would be a good fit for a dog like her.

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RENEE: But for a lazy guy like Orzo, it's really fine.

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VIRGINIA: Okay.

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VIRGINIA: All right.

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VIRGINIA: And I know that you had said that they give you a little dog welcome package.

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VIRGINIA: So what was that like?

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RENEE: Yeah, that was fun.

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RENEE: It comes in a cute little drawstring bag that has Pluto on it.

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RENEE: And inside is a little dog bone shaped mat that you can put their food bowls on.

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RENEE: It actually came with a Pluto water bowl and also a little tag for their collar.

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RENEE: Not something that you need to have on them while they stay there, but just sort of like a souvenir for the dog.

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VIRGINIA: Yeah.

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VIRGINIA: When you switched resorts, did they give you a second one?

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RENEE: They did.

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RENEE: Yes.

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RENEE: So there is a pet fee and I think it's just part of what you get when you pay the pet fee.

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RENEE: So we do have two of those.

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VIRGINIA: Well, that's good.

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VIRGINIA: Then you can bring a souvenir home for Daisy.

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RENEE: Yeah, that's true.

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RENEE: That's true.

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RENEE: Yes.

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VIRGINIA: Oh my goodness.

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VIRGINIA: All right.

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VIRGINIA: So next follow-up question.

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VIRGINIA: In general, how was traveling with a baby for the first time?

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VIRGINIA: Because Okie is what, seven months old?

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RENEE: Yes, he's seven months old.

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RENEE: It went really well.

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RENEE: I think he's at the perfect age for a long road trip.

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RENEE: We just worked around his nap schedule, and he sleeps especially well in the car.

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RENEE: So he took some longer naps.

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RENEE: And we really just paid attention to what he wanted to do.

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RENEE: When he was ready for a break, we stopped for lunch.

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RENEE: And he's not too mobile yet.

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RENEE: He's not crawling yet.

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RENEE: So he was easy to kind of keep contained and entertained as well.

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VIRGINIA: Did you do a pack and play for the room?

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RENEE: We did bring a pack and play with us that folds up to be very compact.

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RENEE: Yeah.

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VIRGINIA: Okay.

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VIRGINIA: All right.

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VIRGINIA: Then I guess let's get into all of the details of this trip, because it was a good long one.

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VIRGINIA: You were driving down, actually, with your mom and Okie and Orzo, and Matt was flying.

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VIRGINIA: So how was the drive with just the two of you ladies, a baby and a dog?

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RENEE: We had a lot of fun, I think.

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RENEE: On that Saturday the 18th, we woke up at about three in the morning and the van was already all packed.

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RENEE: We just had to gather our snacks and stuff like that.

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RENEE: So we were on the road probably by 3.30, and Oki usually sleeps until about 7.

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RENEE: Then with him being in the car, I thought maybe we could push it till 8.

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RENEE: So he went right back to sleep and we just kept driving until about 8 in the morning and then we stopped for a little bit of a breakfast.

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RENEE: When he was ready to nap, we got back in the car and then we stopped for lunch when he was getting fussy, and then he took another nap.

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RENEE: On the first day, we made it to Richmond, Virginia, which was really nice because that's about halfway.

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RENEE: We front-loaded the driving and then the next two days, we could be a little bit more casual.

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VIRGINIA: I know that on the way down, you were planning to stop at the Winkler Botanical Preserve outside DC.

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VIRGINIA: Did you actually end up doing that?

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RENEE: We did not end up making that stop mostly because the entire drive, we were racing a snowstorm that was about to hit our coast.

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RENEE: Going through a lot of the different towns down the coast, there would be those signs on the side of the road that have text on them that can change.

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RENEE: It was always saying like, expect snow this afternoon, take precautions.

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RENEE: We just thought, we'll just try to make really good time on the drive and try to beat the snow and we did.

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VIRGINIA: Okay.

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VIRGINIA: That is good.

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VIRGINIA: Stopping in Richmond, did you find a hotel as you were about to get ready to stop?

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VIRGINIA: It was like a last-minute thing or did you plan that day?

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VIRGINIA: Where are you going to be stopping for the night?

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RENEE: A little, a mix of both.

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RENEE: I had plotted out a couple of places that I thought we could potentially end up at that first night and then my mom on her phone, she just picked one out of the options that I had pulled up.

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RENEE: We ended up staying at a Fairfield Inn, which is, I really like the Fairfield properties and I know that they're dog-friendly.

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RENEE: That was nice.

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VIRGINIA: The next day, you were finishing up your drive, planning to arrive in Orlando around 1 p.m.

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VIRGINIA: But I have a big note here that you really wanted to stop at a Buc-ee's.

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RENEE: Yes.

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RENEE: So we took two more days to drive.

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RENEE: On Sunday, we made it to the Florence, South Carolina Buc-ee's.

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VIRGINIA: Oh, okay.

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RENEE: And we stayed at a Home Two Suites.

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RENEE: I don't know if you've ever stayed at that brand, but those rooms are just huge.

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RENEE: So that was a really luxurious stay.

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RENEE: And then the next day, we drove the rest of the way to Orlando and we stopped at the Buc-ee's in Daytona Beach.

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RENEE: So we hit two Buc-ee's on the way down.

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VIRGINIA: So you did a double dip.

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RENEE: Double dip at Buc-ee's, yes.

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VIRGINIA: All right.

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VIRGINIA: So what were your thoughts?

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VIRGINIA: Because this was a first time at a Buc-ee's for you.

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RENEE: Yes.

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RENEE: The first stop honestly was very overwhelming.

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RENEE: I had seen some YouTube about what Buc-ee's was, but actually getting there and seeing it myself, it was like I had like decision paralysis.

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RENEE: I didn't know what snacks I wanted.

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RENEE: I did get a brisket sandwich.

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RENEE: I think we got like candied nuts and an icy and a apple pie and just a random assortment of things.

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RENEE: Then the second trip, I had a better idea of what I was looking for.

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RENEE: I tried the turkey sandwich.

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RENEE: We got some more snacks and we'll get to it later, but on the way, on the drive back, we stopped at Buc-ee's again.

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RENEE: I felt like an old pro.

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VIRGINIA: Okay.

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VIRGINIA: Yeah.

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VIRGINIA: I had plenty of time at that point to process it.

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RENEE: Yes.

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VIRGINIA: And know what you were going for.

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RENEE: Yeah.

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RENEE: The soda selection is like outrageous.

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VIRGINIA: Yeah.

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VIRGINIA: I just remember because I've only been to one once and it was in Texas.

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VIRGINIA: I just remember like the amount of jerky they had.

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RENEE: Oh, yeah.

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RENEE: The whole counter.

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RENEE: Jerky.

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RENEE: Yeah.

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VIRGINIA: That's crazy.

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VIRGINIA: I'm not a jerky person.

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RENEE: So yeah, we didn't get any of that, but we did admire it.

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VIRGINIA: All right.

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VIRGINIA: So what time did you end up pulling in to Orlando on Monday?

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RENEE: So we got to Port Orleans around 4 PM, which I thought was pretty good.

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RENEE: And at that point, we really needed to stretch our legs.

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RENEE: So we just sort of dumped all of our stuff in the room and walked down to the quick service.

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RENEE: We got refillable mugs for the stay and we had dinner at quick service and then just relaxed.

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VIRGINIA: Okay.

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VIRGINIA: Were you in the section of Riverside that was not the mansions and I'm blanking on what they call it.

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VIRGINIA: It's like, it's not the swamp.

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RENEE: We were in the alligator bayou.

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RENEE: Yes.

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RENEE: Yes.

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RENEE: So it's close to the river and close to the west bus stop.

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VIRGINIA: All right.

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VIRGINIA: What did you think about the room?

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RENEE: It was really nice.

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RENEE: The decor was like a little bit dark.

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RENEE: I'm used to, I think Disney rooms being really bright and a lot of white and kind of lighter tones.

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RENEE: So it was dark.

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RENEE: There was like dark wood, dark green paint and stuff.

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RENEE: But I really enjoyed it.

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RENEE: It was nice.

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RENEE: It was very cute.

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RENEE: And the closet area was huge.

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RENEE: That was helpful.

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VIRGINIA: Yeah.

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RENEE: Yeah.

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VIRGINIA: Yeah.

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VIRGINIA: With the curtain.

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RENEE: Yes.

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RENEE: Yep.

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VIRGINIA: Where did you situate the pack and play?

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RENEE: So there was a large space in between the wall that had the door and the first bed.

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VIRGINIA: OK.

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RENEE: So we took advantage of that.

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RENEE: And I actually kind of rearranged a little bit.

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RENEE: There was a table with two chairs, and I moved one of the chairs over to the closet area just so that we could push the table up to the fifth sleeper bed bench thing.

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VIRGINIA: OK.

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VIRGINIA: I've never stayed in that particular section of Riverside.

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VIRGINIA: Every time I've been there, I've been put into the mansion side.

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VIRGINIA: I think it's because it has the fifth sleeper.

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VIRGINIA: I think they prioritize people who have more people in their room.

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RENEE: Probably so, yeah.

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RENEE: And the fifth sleeper turned out good.

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RENEE: We never actually put the bed down, but when it's up, you get a nice bench.

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RENEE: And so, that's where everybody laid out their outfit for the next day, and we took advantage of all that space.

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VIRGINIA: Yeah.

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VIRGINIA: So, let's see.

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VIRGINIA: I know that you mentioned maybe doing some grocery shopping and things like that.

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VIRGINIA: Did you do anything like that at the beginning of your trip to prepare for the rest of the week?

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RENEE: Yes.

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RENEE: On our second day there, we did grocery shopping, and it was either our first, yeah, on our first day, we did some laundry, just to kind of start off with not a big bag of dirty clothes.

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VIRGINIA: And this was also, this is Tuesday, January 21st, just so we can stay within the timeline, that you had mentioned that you thought you would like to do some monorail resort hopping.

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RENEE: Yes.

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VIRGINIA: So, how did your day pan out?

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RENEE: So, that was really great.

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RENEE: It was a great plan to not be in the parks that day because it was super rainy and very cold.

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RENEE: It was not really that enjoyable.

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RENEE: I mean, compared to the weather up here in the north, it was kind of nice, but we actually didn't pack all that well for like 40 degrees and rainy.

00:12:34.851 --> 00:12:40.731
RENEE: So, it was nice to go around the monorail resorts and not really have to go outside so much.

00:12:40.731 --> 00:12:44.171
RENEE: We took the bus to Magic Kingdom and then got on the monorail.

00:12:44.971 --> 00:12:53.491
RENEE: We went to the Contemporary and filled up our reusable mugs with coffee and hot chocolate, and we just sort of poked around in the stores.

00:12:53.491 --> 00:13:00.951
RENEE: Then we headed over to the Polynesian and got lunch from Captain Cooks, which I had never had before, but that was really tasty.

00:13:00.951 --> 00:13:02.271
VIRGINIA: What did you end up getting?

00:13:02.271 --> 00:13:04.951
RENEE: I got the Korean chicken bowl.

00:13:04.951 --> 00:13:05.531
VIRGINIA: Oh, okay.

00:13:05.531 --> 00:13:06.491
VIRGINIA: I have not had that yet.

00:13:06.491 --> 00:13:07.191
RENEE: I thought it was good.

00:13:07.191 --> 00:13:12.771
RENEE: It seems like it's the regular Disney World chicken tenders, but they put a different sauce on it.

00:13:13.591 --> 00:13:14.831
RENEE: It was actually kind of spicy.

00:13:14.831 --> 00:13:15.411
RENEE: It was good.

00:13:15.871 --> 00:13:19.951
RENEE: Then we got a Dole Whip after that, which was nice because it kind of cooled down my mouth.

00:13:19.951 --> 00:13:21.991
RENEE: That was good.

00:13:21.991 --> 00:13:26.071
RENEE: Then of course, we went to the Grand Floridian to finish off that trio.

00:13:26.071 --> 00:13:31.751
RENEE: We did some of the photo ops and poked around in the shops and filled up our mugs one last time.

00:13:31.751 --> 00:13:35.611
RENEE: Then we just took the monorail back to Medjugangnam and then the bus to our resort.

00:13:35.611 --> 00:13:37.691
RENEE: Then we did laundry that afternoon.

00:13:37.691 --> 00:13:38.671
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:13:38.671 --> 00:13:43.571
VIRGINIA: That sounds like a nice relaxing, just kind of go with the flow kind of day.

00:13:43.571 --> 00:13:44.131
RENEE: Yes.

00:13:44.131 --> 00:13:44.431
RENEE: Yes.

00:13:44.431 --> 00:13:45.771
RENEE: That was very nice.

00:13:45.771 --> 00:13:47.431
RENEE: Love visiting those resorts.

00:13:47.431 --> 00:13:48.071
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:13:48.071 --> 00:13:55.131
VIRGINIA: So Wednesday, January 22nd, you had a breakfast reservation at Traderia Al Forno.

00:13:55.131 --> 00:13:57.731
VIRGINIA: I have never been there, but I know people really love it.

00:13:57.731 --> 00:13:59.311
VIRGINIA: So what were your thoughts?

00:13:59.311 --> 00:14:00.211
RENEE: It was great.

00:14:00.211 --> 00:14:01.971
RENEE: The food lived up to the hype.

00:14:01.971 --> 00:14:07.471
RENEE: I got the egg dish that everybody talks about for breakfast and that was really good.

00:14:07.471 --> 00:14:10.071
RENEE: And I also got an iced coffee, even though it was freezing.

00:14:11.331 --> 00:14:15.271
RENEE: I had heard a lot about the iced coffee and actually it was really, really yummy.

00:14:15.271 --> 00:14:21.991
RENEE: I guess my one complaint would be, it seems like when the weather is nicer, they can open up the entire front.

00:14:21.991 --> 00:14:25.991
RENEE: So the front wall is sort of like an accordion wall.

00:14:25.991 --> 00:14:29.471
RENEE: And there was a large gap in between the floor and the wall.

00:14:29.471 --> 00:14:33.411
RENEE: And it was just such a cold, windy day that it was super drafty.

00:14:33.411 --> 00:14:35.431
RENEE: But that would be my only complaint.

00:14:35.431 --> 00:14:37.111
RENEE: And we really enjoyed our meal.

00:14:38.711 --> 00:14:42.291
RENEE: Okie slept through it somehow, so that was cute.

00:14:42.291 --> 00:14:56.331
RENEE: And I would definitely recommend getting a reservation because we had a reservation and we overheard someone come to the front desk and ask if they could just be seated without a reservation and it was going to be an hour wait.

00:14:56.331 --> 00:14:59.191
RENEE: So definitely secure a reservation if you're trying to go there.

00:14:59.191 --> 00:15:01.011
VIRGINIA: Tell me about the characters you got to see.

00:15:01.011 --> 00:15:03.071
RENEE: It's not character dining anymore.

00:15:03.111 --> 00:15:04.011
VIRGINIA: What?

00:15:04.011 --> 00:15:04.551
RENEE: Yes.

00:15:04.551 --> 00:15:06.191
RENEE: I guess it was character dining.

00:15:06.191 --> 00:15:08.011
VIRGINIA: Because this was Rapunzel, right?

00:15:08.011 --> 00:15:09.111
RENEE: Yeah, I think so.

00:15:09.111 --> 00:15:09.591
VIRGINIA: Oh, wow.

00:15:09.591 --> 00:15:10.791
RENEE: And Flynn.

00:15:10.791 --> 00:15:12.311
RENEE: So they never brought that back.

00:15:12.311 --> 00:15:13.011
VIRGINIA: Oh, shoot.

00:15:13.011 --> 00:15:13.651
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:15:13.651 --> 00:15:15.051
RENEE: Yeah.

00:15:15.051 --> 00:15:22.491
RENEE: It's set up that it would be a good character dining because there's a lot of space in between the tables and I can see how it would lend itself well to that.

00:15:22.491 --> 00:15:34.731
VIRGINIA: Yeah, that's a shame because I think that in terms of the choices for Boardwalk restaurants, I think sometimes Boardwalk gets hyped as this place with a ton of restaurants.

00:15:34.731 --> 00:15:37.191
VIRGINIA: I don't find it to be that.

00:15:37.191 --> 00:15:38.671
RENEE: Yeah, I would agree.

00:15:38.671 --> 00:15:41.991
RENEE: We walked around and there's some stores and stuff.

00:15:41.991 --> 00:15:43.651
RENEE: There's kind of a lot of construction.

00:15:43.651 --> 00:15:45.951
RENEE: There's cake bake now.

00:15:45.951 --> 00:15:50.611
RENEE: But I can see if you were staying at Boardwalk, you don't have a ton of options for food over there.

00:15:51.191 --> 00:15:51.491
VIRGINIA: No.

00:15:51.831 --> 00:15:53.571
VIRGINIA: And I've stayed at Boardwalk before.

00:15:53.571 --> 00:16:03.771
VIRGINIA: And the big negative to me is that you have to walk so far down to the Boardwalk to go into their quick service to even grab a quick breakfast.

00:16:03.771 --> 00:16:05.611
VIRGINIA: And there's no indoor seating.

00:16:05.611 --> 00:16:06.891
RENEE: Oh, really?

00:16:06.891 --> 00:16:07.531
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

00:16:07.531 --> 00:16:09.191
VIRGINIA: So I do like that resort.

00:16:09.191 --> 00:16:10.151
VIRGINIA: Don't get me wrong.

00:16:10.151 --> 00:16:12.271
VIRGINIA: But that's a downside to me.

00:16:12.411 --> 00:16:26.591
VIRGINIA: And one of the reasons I prefer Beach Club, I haven't stayed at Yacht, but I preferred Beach Club to Boardwalk because I could walk under a covered walkway, get something at the quick service, and there were places to sit down and eat over there.

00:16:26.591 --> 00:16:26.991
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:16:26.991 --> 00:16:28.931
VIRGINIA: What was after breakfast?

00:16:28.931 --> 00:16:32.351
RENEE: We had originally intended to take the Skyliner around.

00:16:32.351 --> 00:16:40.011
RENEE: But again, that day was so rainy and windy and chilly that the Skyliner just didn't seem appealing at that time.

00:16:40.011 --> 00:16:48.231
RENEE: So we did kind of walk around the Boardwalk a little bit just to see it, even though it wasn't really that enjoyable of a weather day.

00:16:48.911 --> 00:16:50.391
RENEE: So we ended up after that.

00:16:50.391 --> 00:16:51.911
RENEE: We had driven to Boardwalk.

00:16:51.911 --> 00:16:56.391
RENEE: So then we just drove to a Publix and we got water and fresh fruit.

00:16:56.391 --> 00:16:59.731
RENEE: And then we went to Character Warehouse after that.

00:16:59.731 --> 00:17:00.351
VIRGINIA: Oh, yes.

00:17:00.351 --> 00:17:02.011
VIRGINIA: And this was your first time.

00:17:02.011 --> 00:17:04.271
VIRGINIA: So what were your thoughts?

00:17:04.271 --> 00:17:06.011
VIRGINIA: And did you score any good deals?

00:17:06.151 --> 00:17:07.191
RENEE: It was a good time.

00:17:07.191 --> 00:17:07.771
RENEE: It was fun.

00:17:07.771 --> 00:17:09.831
RENEE: I don't have to do it every visit for sure.

00:17:09.831 --> 00:17:13.131
RENEE: But I can see how once in a while it is a lot of fun.

00:17:13.131 --> 00:17:20.411
RENEE: And you definitely want to go in the beginning of your trip because you see some of the same merch still in the stores at full price.

00:17:20.411 --> 00:17:27.411
RENEE: And you see people walking around the parks wearing stuff that you're like, Oh, I hope that you got that on this kind of character warehouse.

00:17:27.411 --> 00:17:28.951
RENEE: And we did.

00:17:28.951 --> 00:17:30.351
RENEE: We got some good deals.

00:17:30.351 --> 00:17:33.671
RENEE: I got a long sleeve shirt, a sweatshirt.

00:17:33.671 --> 00:17:36.131
RENEE: I got two outfits for Oki and a magnet.

00:17:36.131 --> 00:17:40.991
RENEE: And I think it was all like the price of like what one spirit jersey would be.

00:17:40.991 --> 00:17:42.291
RENEE: So I felt like I got a good deal.

00:17:42.411 --> 00:17:47.071
RENEE: And my mom picked up some stuff for like the Star Wars lovers in our lives.

00:17:47.071 --> 00:17:49.571
RENEE: She's already starting her Christmas shopping.

00:17:49.571 --> 00:17:51.331
VIRGINIA: She's already doing her Christmas shopping?

00:17:51.331 --> 00:17:51.791
RENEE: Yes.

00:17:51.791 --> 00:17:55.891
RENEE: She like saw something there and she was like, oh, this is perfect for so and so.

00:17:55.891 --> 00:18:02.011
RENEE: So there was some Christmas merch there, I think just because the Christmas season had just ended.

00:18:02.011 --> 00:18:04.151
RENEE: So she was inspired.

00:18:04.151 --> 00:18:04.631
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:18:04.631 --> 00:18:04.951
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:18:04.951 --> 00:18:05.291
RENEE: Yeah.

00:18:05.291 --> 00:18:05.451
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

00:18:05.451 --> 00:18:06.831
VIRGINIA: I was going to say this is really early.

00:18:06.831 --> 00:18:16.811
VIRGINIA: And my experience when I've tried to be really on top of the ball with my shopping for the holidays, I end up spending so much more the earlier I start because I forget what I've got.

00:18:16.811 --> 00:18:19.591
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

00:18:19.591 --> 00:18:20.151
RENEE: Yeah.

00:18:20.151 --> 00:18:22.771
RENEE: She usually has all her stuff wrapped by like Halloween.

00:18:22.771 --> 00:18:24.431
RENEE: So she was an early bird on that.

00:18:24.431 --> 00:18:25.111
RENEE: I know.

00:18:25.111 --> 00:18:25.831
VIRGINIA: Look at her.

00:18:26.091 --> 00:18:27.071
RENEE: Yeah.

00:18:27.071 --> 00:18:28.631
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:18:28.631 --> 00:18:30.051
VIRGINIA: What was after that?

00:18:30.051 --> 00:18:37.071
RENEE: That evening, we went back to the resort and then we walked to the French Quarter and took the bus to Disney Springs.

00:18:37.071 --> 00:18:38.591
RENEE: And we just kind of hung out.

00:18:38.591 --> 00:18:39.831
RENEE: We tried to stay warm.

00:18:39.991 --> 00:18:42.071
RENEE: We went like in all the different stores.

00:18:42.071 --> 00:18:47.551
RENEE: Didn't really walk around a lot outside, but we wanted to take advantage of that boat to Disney Springs.

00:18:47.551 --> 00:18:49.231
RENEE: So that's what we did that afternoon.

00:18:49.231 --> 00:18:52.451
RENEE: And then that night, I had to pick Matt up from the airport.

00:18:52.451 --> 00:18:53.011
VIRGINIA: Yes.

00:18:53.011 --> 00:18:55.771
VIRGINIA: He had a 10, 20 arrival time.

00:18:55.771 --> 00:18:56.171
RENEE: Right.

00:18:56.171 --> 00:18:57.491
VIRGINIA: Was he on time?

00:18:57.491 --> 00:18:58.631
RENEE: Yes, he was on time.

00:18:58.631 --> 00:19:03.671
RENEE: And he didn't have a bag because he had already packed his stuff and I had it in the car for the drive down.

00:19:03.671 --> 00:19:06.431
RENEE: So he didn't have to wait for his bag to get off the plane.

00:19:06.611 --> 00:19:10.911
VIRGINIA: And Wednesday the 22nd was the day that we had arrived with my girl group.

00:19:10.911 --> 00:19:13.731
VIRGINIA: And that makes it sound like it was a little singing group.

00:19:13.771 --> 00:19:15.031
VIRGINIA: It was not.

00:19:16.431 --> 00:19:19.051
VIRGINIA: But it was so cold that day.

00:19:19.431 --> 00:19:22.671
VIRGINIA: We were at Disney Springs too that evening.

00:19:22.671 --> 00:19:25.771
VIRGINIA: So we could have run into each other that night even though we didn't.

00:19:25.771 --> 00:19:28.991
VIRGINIA: We all ended up buying long underwear from Uniqlo.

00:19:28.991 --> 00:19:29.331
RENEE: Oh, yeah.

00:19:29.331 --> 00:19:30.211
RENEE: There you go.

00:19:30.211 --> 00:19:31.691
VIRGINIA: It was so cold.

00:19:32.151 --> 00:19:33.891
VIRGINIA: I was wearing five layers.

00:19:33.891 --> 00:19:34.591
RENEE: Yeah.

00:19:34.591 --> 00:19:35.191
RENEE: It was chilly.

00:19:35.411 --> 00:19:35.691
RENEE: I know.

00:19:35.691 --> 00:19:39.051
RENEE: The long sleeve that I got at Character Warehouse, I immediately put on.

00:19:39.791 --> 00:19:41.431
RENEE: Yeah.

00:19:41.431 --> 00:19:42.051
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:19:42.051 --> 00:19:45.191
VIRGINIA: So Matt arrived very late.

00:19:45.191 --> 00:19:50.111
VIRGINIA: And I know that you had said that typically, you guys are early risers.

00:19:50.111 --> 00:19:58.691
VIRGINIA: But the fact that he flew in late, you had to deal with a dog and taking Orzo out and also getting Okie ready to go for the day.

00:19:58.691 --> 00:20:02.631
VIRGINIA: What time did you actually end up getting to Animal Kingdom on Thursday the 23rd?

00:20:02.631 --> 00:20:03.891
RENEE: So I was pretty surprised.

00:20:03.971 --> 00:20:12.491
RENEE: We ended up getting there between 9 and 10 because I had gotten us an individual lightning lane for Flight of Passage.

00:20:12.491 --> 00:20:16.671
RENEE: And the window was like 915 to 1015 or something like that.

00:20:16.671 --> 00:20:23.731
RENEE: So we walked down to the quick service, we filled up our mugs, and then we got the bus at the main bus stop over there.

00:20:23.731 --> 00:20:28.011
RENEE: And then we were on Flight of Passage probably by 930.

00:20:28.011 --> 00:20:29.011
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:20:29.011 --> 00:20:32.111
VIRGINIA: I know that you were very excited for Matt to ride that.

00:20:32.431 --> 00:20:34.191
VIRGINIA: So what did he think?

00:20:34.191 --> 00:20:38.291
VIRGINIA: And I don't think I even asked before, is he an Avatar fan?

00:20:38.291 --> 00:20:46.571
RENEE: So we both would go to see Avatar in the movie theater just for like the spectacle of it.

00:20:46.571 --> 00:20:49.271
RENEE: But we don't actually think the Avatar movies are very good.

00:20:49.271 --> 00:20:50.191
VIRGINIA: I don't either.

00:20:50.191 --> 00:20:50.811
RENEE: Yeah.

00:20:50.811 --> 00:20:53.231
RENEE: And my mom has never seen them, but she doesn't care.

00:20:53.231 --> 00:20:54.591
RENEE: She loves Flight of Passage.

00:20:54.591 --> 00:20:55.331
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:20:55.331 --> 00:20:57.551
VIRGINIA: Did she also have an individual lightning lane?

00:20:57.551 --> 00:20:57.931
RENEE: Yes.

00:20:57.931 --> 00:20:59.351
RENEE: I got one for all three of us.

00:20:59.351 --> 00:21:01.231
RENEE: And so we did Rider Switch.

00:21:01.371 --> 00:21:03.251
RENEE: So Matt got to ride twice.

00:21:03.251 --> 00:21:04.231
VIRGINIA: Oh, nice.

00:21:04.231 --> 00:21:04.971
RENEE: Okay.

00:21:04.971 --> 00:21:07.371
VIRGINIA: Perfect for his first and second time.

00:21:07.371 --> 00:21:09.271
RENEE: Yes, exactly.

00:21:09.271 --> 00:21:10.051
RENEE: All right.

00:21:10.051 --> 00:21:16.511
VIRGINIA: Did you spend any time down there in Pandora exploring that area while you were there?

00:21:16.511 --> 00:21:19.191
RENEE: So it was still very rainy that morning.

00:21:19.191 --> 00:21:21.931
RENEE: That was kind of the last of the rain was that morning.

00:21:21.931 --> 00:21:30.331
RENEE: So we went into Sutuli Canteen, and we had intended to eat breakfast food there, but the breakfast ends at 10 in the morning.

00:21:30.471 --> 00:21:33.411
RENEE: So we just pivoted and just went right to lunch.

00:21:33.411 --> 00:21:35.171
RENEE: We got some noodle bowls.

00:21:35.171 --> 00:21:37.051
RENEE: Everybody pretty much got the same dish.

00:21:37.051 --> 00:21:42.011
RENEE: You can customize it, but I think we all picked the same options and everybody was pretty happy.

00:21:42.011 --> 00:21:46.931
RENEE: And then after that, since it was still kind of Icky out, we met Mickey and Minnie.

00:21:46.931 --> 00:21:51.371
RENEE: And then we did the Lion King show, and then we left Animal Kingdom.

00:21:51.371 --> 00:21:53.471
VIRGINIA: So you left Animal Kingdom.

00:21:53.471 --> 00:22:04.191
VIRGINIA: I'm imagining this was to go back and let Orzo out for a bit because of the rules with dogs, which can you refresh listeners' memories as to what that rule is?

00:22:04.191 --> 00:22:04.531
RENEE: Yes.

00:22:04.531 --> 00:22:10.411
RENEE: So the rule is that you need to get back to your dog every seven hours.

00:22:10.411 --> 00:22:15.031
RENEE: And if you want housekeeping, you need to have the dog out of the room.

00:22:15.031 --> 00:22:24.091
RENEE: But what we learned is if you don't want housekeeping and you just want to call and get that daily room check, you can be in the room with the dog.

00:22:24.131 --> 00:22:28.051
RENEE: They literally just poke their head in and look around.

00:22:28.051 --> 00:22:28.751
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

00:22:28.751 --> 00:22:30.171
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:22:30.171 --> 00:22:31.671
VIRGINIA: What did you do after this?

00:22:31.671 --> 00:22:37.211
VIRGINIA: Because when we spoke before, you mentioned something about a late lunch or early dinner at Frontera Cocina.

00:22:37.211 --> 00:22:37.631
RENEE: Yes.

00:22:37.631 --> 00:22:45.191
VIRGINIA: But it's sounding to me like maybe the time that you ate your lunch at Animal Kingdom might have been pushing up against that a little bit.

00:22:45.191 --> 00:22:46.591
VIRGINIA: Did you keep that reservation?

00:22:46.591 --> 00:22:46.971
RENEE: Yeah.

00:22:46.971 --> 00:22:48.331
RENEE: So we did keep the reservation.

00:22:48.331 --> 00:22:51.551
RENEE: I ended up calling and making it just a tad bit later.

00:22:51.691 --> 00:22:54.771
RENEE: I think we moved it back like half an hour.

00:22:54.771 --> 00:22:57.691
RENEE: We were eating our lunch at Animal Kingdom at like 10.30.

00:22:57.691 --> 00:23:00.371
RENEE: So it was kind of more like brunch time.

00:23:00.371 --> 00:23:06.051
RENEE: So by maybe that was 4.15, we ended up going to Frontera.

00:23:06.051 --> 00:23:06.711
RENEE: That was fine.

00:23:06.711 --> 00:23:11.331
RENEE: We took the boat from Port Orleans to Disney Springs and then headed there.

00:23:11.331 --> 00:23:16.071
RENEE: And by the time we got there, we were drenched because it was a wet walk.

00:23:16.271 --> 00:23:24.691
RENEE: And I didn't realize how far the boat stop was from where Frontera actually was.

00:23:24.691 --> 00:23:25.491
RENEE: But it was fine.

00:23:25.491 --> 00:23:28.591
RENEE: It was nice and warm and bright in there.

00:23:29.531 --> 00:23:32.071
RENEE: And for whatever reason, it didn't really bother us.

00:23:32.071 --> 00:23:34.791
RENEE: We were dripping at the dinner table.

00:23:34.791 --> 00:23:36.591
VIRGINIA: What was the food like?

00:23:36.591 --> 00:23:38.311
RENEE: The food was very, very good.

00:23:38.311 --> 00:23:42.371
RENEE: We had a very animated waitstaff.

00:23:42.371 --> 00:23:47.811
RENEE: And so I don't think we were going to get chips and guacamole, but they talked us into it.

00:23:47.811 --> 00:23:50.951
RENEE: Not, you know, twist my arm, chips and guacamole.

00:23:50.951 --> 00:23:52.631
RENEE: But it was really, really good.

00:23:52.631 --> 00:23:58.391
RENEE: I'm kind of new to enjoying guacamole, but that was probably one of the best guacamole that I had had.

00:23:58.391 --> 00:24:01.251
RENEE: We also got a side of fried plantains.

00:24:01.251 --> 00:24:02.651
RENEE: That's something that Matt really likes.

00:24:02.651 --> 00:24:04.451
RENEE: And they were so good.

00:24:04.451 --> 00:24:05.251
RENEE: Yes.

00:24:05.251 --> 00:24:10.231
RENEE: And then I was going to order carnitas tacos.

00:24:10.231 --> 00:24:23.811
RENEE: But then the waiter informed me that the chef, and I'm forgetting his name, but the chef owner of the restaurant won a food network competition cooking some other pork taco dish.

00:24:23.811 --> 00:24:26.471
RENEE: So I just was like, yeah, I'll order that.

00:24:26.471 --> 00:24:28.531
RENEE: And it was very good.

00:24:28.531 --> 00:24:31.311
VIRGINIA: I cannot remember who owns that restaurant.

00:24:31.311 --> 00:24:32.591
RENEE: Yeah.

00:24:32.591 --> 00:24:33.091
VIRGINIA: I'll hold, please.

00:24:33.551 --> 00:24:36.631
VIRGINIA: I'm going to Google it because it will drive me crazy.

00:24:36.631 --> 00:24:41.491
VIRGINIA: Because they make their own salsa products.

00:24:41.491 --> 00:24:43.451
VIRGINIA: Rick Bayless, that's who it is.

00:24:43.451 --> 00:24:44.251
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

00:24:44.251 --> 00:24:45.331
VIRGINIA: Totally know that name.

00:24:45.331 --> 00:24:46.651
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:24:46.651 --> 00:24:52.111
VIRGINIA: Yeah, I think they make their own salsa and stuff like that, that you can buy in the grocery store, if I'm not mistaken.

00:24:52.111 --> 00:24:53.291
RENEE: I think that that's right.

00:24:53.291 --> 00:24:53.991
RENEE: Yeah.

00:24:53.991 --> 00:24:54.451
RENEE: Okay.

00:24:54.451 --> 00:24:55.731
RENEE: So all that was very yummy.

00:24:55.731 --> 00:24:59.271
RENEE: And they make all their tortillas in-house, and you can really tell it's nice and fresh.

00:25:00.931 --> 00:25:11.651
VIRGINIA: Now, with your soaking wet feet, I have to ask, because this was a concern of mine going into the trip, knowing that it was going to be raining for those first couple of days.

00:25:11.651 --> 00:25:13.811
VIRGINIA: What was your footwear situation?

00:25:13.811 --> 00:25:16.551
VIRGINIA: Did you have a way to get your shoes dry?

00:25:16.551 --> 00:25:18.691
VIRGINIA: Did you have other shoe options?

00:25:18.691 --> 00:25:20.211
VIRGINIA: How did that all work?

00:25:20.211 --> 00:25:28.831
RENEE: So personally, I just had one pair of sneakers and some flip-flops, and the flip-flops I didn't intend to wear in the park.

00:25:28.911 --> 00:25:31.691
RENEE: That was more just around the resort and in the room.

00:25:31.691 --> 00:25:33.671
RENEE: So my shoes were soaked.

00:25:33.671 --> 00:25:42.891
RENEE: What I usually do is just take the hair dryer that's provided by the resort and stick it in the shoe where your ankle would be and just turn it on until they're dry.

00:25:42.891 --> 00:25:44.071
RENEE: And that was okay.

00:25:44.071 --> 00:25:45.851
RENEE: And then I left them over by the heater.

00:25:45.851 --> 00:25:49.951
RENEE: We actually had the heat on in the room the first couple of days, so that helped, too.

00:25:49.951 --> 00:25:53.111
RENEE: And then Matt had sneakers and Crocs.

00:25:53.111 --> 00:25:55.751
RENEE: So the Crocs were good for when it was really wet.

00:25:55.751 --> 00:25:58.231
RENEE: And I think that my mom had two pairs of shoes.

00:25:58.311 --> 00:26:00.191
RENEE: So she, like two pairs of sneakers.

00:26:00.191 --> 00:26:01.611
RENEE: So she just rotated.

00:26:01.611 --> 00:26:06.071
VIRGINIA: I have been in Disney before, in fact, December of 23.

00:26:06.071 --> 00:26:17.891
VIRGINIA: I was in a day at Disney where it did not stop raining the entire day, like torrential downpour, like where you see the lakes of puddle as you walk through the park.

00:26:17.891 --> 00:26:22.271
VIRGINIA: And for months and months after that, I had PTSD.

00:26:22.271 --> 00:26:25.751
VIRGINIA: And every time it would rain here in the city, I'd be like, I don't know if I can go outside.

00:26:25.951 --> 00:26:26.171
RENEE: I can't.

00:26:27.131 --> 00:26:33.651
VIRGINIA: It was terrible because wet feet, like especially if you're somebody like me, my feet blister pretty easily.

00:26:33.651 --> 00:26:35.931
VIRGINIA: So to have a wet foot like that, it's just miserable.

00:26:35.931 --> 00:26:38.891
VIRGINIA: So I'm always concerned about that.

00:26:38.891 --> 00:26:39.511
RENEE: Yes.

00:26:39.511 --> 00:26:40.451
RENEE: Yes.

00:26:40.451 --> 00:26:44.611
RENEE: Well, I had brought like six times the amount of socks that I needed.

00:26:44.611 --> 00:26:48.571
RENEE: And so I just threw a couple pairs of socks for myself in the baby bag.

00:26:48.571 --> 00:26:53.191
RENEE: And if I needed to change my socks, that was, I just went for it.

00:26:53.591 --> 00:26:54.291
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

00:26:54.291 --> 00:26:54.811
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

00:26:54.811 --> 00:26:59.351
VIRGINIA: I remember that day in December 23, I bought extra socks in the park.

00:26:59.351 --> 00:27:01.391
VIRGINIA: And that is how I now own Mickey socks.

00:27:01.531 --> 00:27:02.691
RENEE: Nice.

00:27:02.691 --> 00:27:04.291
RENEE: I needed extra socks.

00:27:04.291 --> 00:27:04.551
RENEE: Yeah.

00:27:04.551 --> 00:27:05.971
VIRGINIA: Oh, my goodness.

00:27:05.971 --> 00:27:09.111
VIRGINIA: After your dinner, did you do anything else?

00:27:09.111 --> 00:27:10.611
VIRGINIA: Or did you just head back to the room?

00:27:10.611 --> 00:27:12.411
RENEE: We went to the ganachery.

00:27:12.411 --> 00:27:14.611
RENEE: That was one of the things that Matt really wanted to check out.

00:27:14.611 --> 00:27:20.311
RENEE: And we just got a little, you can pick an assortment of chocolates out of the case.

00:27:20.371 --> 00:27:24.251
RENEE: So we just got a little six pack of chocolates to enjoy later.

00:27:24.251 --> 00:27:25.991
RENEE: And then we headed back to the boat.

00:27:25.991 --> 00:27:26.371
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:27:26.371 --> 00:27:29.091
VIRGINIA: So that brings us to Friday, January 24th.

00:27:29.091 --> 00:27:32.191
VIRGINIA: This was a day that you intended to start at Magic Kingdom.

00:27:32.191 --> 00:27:32.991
RENEE: Yes.

00:27:32.991 --> 00:27:34.531
VIRGINIA: So walk us through this day.

00:27:34.531 --> 00:27:35.151
RENEE: Yes.

00:27:35.151 --> 00:27:39.491
RENEE: So Friday, we did end up going to Magic Kingdom.

00:27:39.491 --> 00:27:42.631
RENEE: I got everybody up and ready for rope drop.

00:27:42.631 --> 00:27:49.231
RENEE: And we ended up taking a minivan just because our experience with the bus the day prior.

00:27:50.311 --> 00:28:00.251
RENEE: I was not feeling confident that even if we got ourselves there very early, that we were going to end up getting to rope drop on time.

00:28:00.251 --> 00:28:16.211
RENEE: And so I felt like for the sake of making sure that we could get on what we wanted to get on that morning, I really wanted to make sure that we didn't like just miss rope drop and then end up having woken up very early and rushed to get ready kind of for nothing.

00:28:16.651 --> 00:28:19.391
RENEE: So we took the minivan, which I love that service.

00:28:19.391 --> 00:28:23.091
RENEE: And they have a car seat in the van for the babies.

00:28:23.091 --> 00:28:27.371
RENEE: So that was really easy to just meet them out at the parking lot.

00:28:27.371 --> 00:28:31.791
RENEE: And then they dropped us right off at the entrance of Magic Kingdom was great.

00:28:31.791 --> 00:28:34.951
VIRGINIA: Did you request it morning of or did you schedule it?

00:28:34.951 --> 00:28:40.451
RENEE: I requested it the morning of and I was a little bit nervous because that must be a very popular time.

00:28:40.451 --> 00:28:43.171
RENEE: And it was taking a long time to match with a driver.

00:28:43.651 --> 00:28:47.771
RENEE: But then after we did get match, they were like six minutes away.

00:28:47.771 --> 00:28:48.891
RENEE: So it was okay.

00:28:48.891 --> 00:28:52.551
VIRGINIA: Under certain circumstances, many van well worth it.

00:28:53.231 --> 00:28:55.691
VIRGINIA: It is quite a bit pricier than a regular lift though.

00:28:55.691 --> 00:28:58.311
VIRGINIA: So you have to really kind of make that decision.

00:28:58.311 --> 00:29:03.531
VIRGINIA: But luckily when you open the lift up, you can compare and make an informed decision.

00:29:03.531 --> 00:29:04.391
RENEE: Right.

00:29:04.391 --> 00:29:04.691
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:29:04.691 --> 00:29:07.451
VIRGINIA: What did you do at Magic Kingdom?

00:29:07.451 --> 00:29:10.731
RENEE: Our intention was to rope drop Buzz.

00:29:11.651 --> 00:29:14.551
RENEE: But when we got there, Buzz was down.

00:29:14.551 --> 00:29:17.411
RENEE: So they like hold you at the bridge of Tomorrowland.

00:29:17.411 --> 00:29:22.891
RENEE: We walked over to Buzz and they said that they're having a delay, but they expected that it was going to be open soon.

00:29:22.891 --> 00:29:27.611
RENEE: So we went to the PeopleMover and we got on one of the first rides of the PeopleMover.

00:29:27.611 --> 00:29:28.611
RENEE: We rope dropped the PeopleMover.

00:29:28.611 --> 00:29:29.851
VIRGINIA: She rope dropped the PeopleMover.

00:29:29.851 --> 00:29:31.651
RENEE: Yeah.

00:29:31.651 --> 00:29:36.671
RENEE: And then while we were on the PeopleMover and we were looking over at Buzz, we saw that it opened.

00:29:37.211 --> 00:29:41.231
RENEE: So we got off the PeopleMover and went right to Buzz.

00:29:41.231 --> 00:29:45.631
RENEE: And then after that, we went all the way across the park to do Haunted Mansion.

00:29:45.631 --> 00:29:46.271
VIRGINIA: Hold please.

00:29:46.271 --> 00:29:47.151
VIRGINIA: Hold please.

00:29:47.151 --> 00:29:48.431
VIRGINIA: You can't just breeze past that.

00:29:48.431 --> 00:29:49.491
VIRGINIA: Who won?

00:29:49.491 --> 00:29:51.251
RENEE: Oh.

00:29:51.251 --> 00:29:55.771
RENEE: I won in our, so it was Matt, Oki and me in our car.

00:29:55.771 --> 00:29:58.531
RENEE: And for the longest time, I was losing.

00:29:58.531 --> 00:30:09.431
RENEE: But then I must have just, I don't know, gotten very lucky at the end and got a really high value target a couple of times because I ended up getting into the lead in the very last room.

00:30:09.491 --> 00:30:10.071
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:30:10.171 --> 00:30:11.791
RENEE: So yeah, I was quite proud of myself.

00:30:11.791 --> 00:30:12.671
RENEE: Yeah.

00:30:12.671 --> 00:30:13.371
VIRGINIA: Well done.

00:30:13.371 --> 00:30:18.771
RENEE: And my mom was in the car solo and she was doing both guns.

00:30:18.771 --> 00:30:19.811
VIRGINIA: Oh, she did both?

00:30:19.811 --> 00:30:20.011
RENEE: Yes.

00:30:20.011 --> 00:30:20.651
VIRGINIA: Oh my gosh.

00:30:20.651 --> 00:30:21.351
VIRGINIA: How'd she do?

00:30:21.351 --> 00:30:22.511
RENEE: Her left hand won.

00:30:22.511 --> 00:30:26.011
RENEE: I don't know what her score was, but she was surprised by that.

00:30:26.011 --> 00:30:27.391
VIRGINIA: Oh, that's funny.

00:30:27.391 --> 00:30:28.251
VIRGINIA: That is so funny.

00:30:28.251 --> 00:30:29.651
VIRGINIA: I've never tried to do both.

00:30:29.651 --> 00:30:32.611
VIRGINIA: I just, it's hard enough for me to concentrate on one.

00:30:32.611 --> 00:30:32.751
RENEE: Yes.

00:30:32.811 --> 00:30:38.491
VIRGINIA: But Alex has done both before, and he almost got Galactic Hero on both at one time.

00:30:38.491 --> 00:30:39.451
VIRGINIA: That's amazing.

00:30:39.451 --> 00:30:40.691
VIRGINIA: I don't understand.

00:30:40.691 --> 00:30:42.491
VIRGINIA: I just don't have that kind of coordination, but-

00:30:42.491 --> 00:30:43.291
RENEE: That's talent.

00:30:43.291 --> 00:30:43.731
RENEE: Yeah.

00:30:43.731 --> 00:30:45.231
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

00:30:45.231 --> 00:30:45.591
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:30:45.591 --> 00:30:47.371
VIRGINIA: What was after that?

00:30:47.371 --> 00:30:55.851
RENEE: After Buzz, we zipped over to the other side of the park and did Haunted Mansion and also Pirates and then Jungle Cruise.

00:30:55.851 --> 00:31:05.971
RENEE: I had gotten us an individual Lightning Lane for Mind Train, which should have been at 10.15, but it was down and it was down almost all day.

00:31:05.971 --> 00:31:06.791
VIRGINIA: Oh, no.

00:31:06.791 --> 00:31:07.111
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:31:07.111 --> 00:31:07.251
RENEE: Yeah.

00:31:07.251 --> 00:31:16.351
VIRGINIA: I was going to say that sometimes when a ride like that is down, it's kind of a blessing because then it opens up a world of flexibility that you didn't have.

00:31:16.351 --> 00:31:16.511
RENEE: Yeah.

00:31:16.511 --> 00:31:19.371
VIRGINIA: Then you just do whatever you want to do and you know it's sitting there waiting for you.

00:31:19.371 --> 00:31:24.391
VIRGINIA: But if it ends up being down the whole day, that totally does not help.

00:31:24.391 --> 00:31:27.271
RENEE: We did eventually ride it, but it was hours later.

00:31:29.231 --> 00:31:35.011
RENEE: After Jungle Cruise, we went to our lunch reservation at the Skipper Canteen.

00:31:35.011 --> 00:31:41.111
RENEE: I thought that was appropriate to do Jungle Cruise right before our dining reservation, so we had the context.

00:31:41.111 --> 00:31:45.011
RENEE: We did the cheese bread, I got the chicken dish.

00:31:45.011 --> 00:31:45.711
RENEE: It was nice.

00:31:45.711 --> 00:31:48.011
RENEE: It was a good experience.

00:31:50.071 --> 00:31:54.331
RENEE: He hasn't been out to eat very much, but he was doing pretty good in the high chair.

00:31:54.831 --> 00:31:58.671
RENEE: I think there's just a ton of distraction in that restaurant.

00:31:58.671 --> 00:32:00.931
RENEE: There's a lot happening, a lot to look at, so that was good.

00:32:00.931 --> 00:32:04.851
VIRGINIA: How did Okie do on those rides that you mentioned?

00:32:04.851 --> 00:32:09.911
RENEE: He did really good in the ride photo for Buzz Lightyear.

00:32:09.911 --> 00:32:15.011
RENEE: Sadly, my elbow is in his face, but yeah, he was doing good.

00:32:15.011 --> 00:32:22.391
RENEE: There's just so much to look at, and he was at the age where he's very observant and looking around, and so he did good.

00:32:22.491 --> 00:32:33.291
RENEE: In the Haunted Mansion, we got stopped in that first hallway where the lights are really flickery, and so he was not sure about that.

00:32:33.291 --> 00:32:38.291
RENEE: But then after we got going again, I think he was relaxed and enjoyed it.

00:32:38.291 --> 00:32:40.151
RENEE: Then Jungle Cruise, he slept through.

00:32:40.151 --> 00:32:45.011
RENEE: He slept through a lot of things that I thought he wouldn't be able to sleep through, but he managed to do it.

00:32:45.011 --> 00:32:46.931
VIRGINIA: What about pirates?

00:32:46.931 --> 00:32:48.791
RENEE: Pirates, he was fine.

00:32:48.791 --> 00:32:53.191
RENEE: The ride photo for that, he is just sort of looking ahead.

00:32:53.191 --> 00:32:56.611
RENEE: I don't know, he had like no reaction to the drop.

00:32:56.611 --> 00:32:58.511
RENEE: So yeah, he was just chilling.

00:32:58.511 --> 00:32:59.751
RENEE: All right.

00:32:59.751 --> 00:33:00.111
RENEE: All right.

00:33:00.111 --> 00:33:01.791
VIRGINIA: What was after that?

00:33:01.791 --> 00:33:06.631
RENEE: After that, Matt and Okie and I went back to the room.

00:33:06.631 --> 00:33:12.311
RENEE: On the way out, we did that souvenir stand where they cut out your silhouette.

00:33:12.311 --> 00:33:13.371
VIRGINIA: Oh, you did a silhouette?

00:33:13.371 --> 00:33:13.691
RENEE: Yeah.

00:33:13.711 --> 00:33:15.731
RENEE: So we got that done for Okie.

00:33:15.791 --> 00:33:16.231
RENEE: Yes.

00:33:16.231 --> 00:33:19.011
RENEE: That was on my list of things that I definitely wanted to do.

00:33:19.011 --> 00:33:21.711
RENEE: So we did that, which was super quick.

00:33:21.711 --> 00:33:30.331
RENEE: And then we took the bus back to the resort so that we could take Orzo out of the room, so that the room could get cleaned and he could get a walk.

00:33:30.331 --> 00:33:35.071
RENEE: And we ended up walking over to French Quarter and got beignets.

00:33:36.871 --> 00:33:42.371
RENEE: And actually on the bus ride back to the resort, Okie lost his shoes.

00:33:43.271 --> 00:33:47.291
RENEE: And I had packed a backup pair, but I don't know.

00:33:47.291 --> 00:33:48.951
RENEE: He hadn't worn them in a while, I guess.

00:33:48.951 --> 00:33:51.951
RENEE: And when I went to put them on his feet, I realized that they were kind of small.

00:33:51.951 --> 00:33:57.811
RENEE: So we ended up getting in the car and going to Target and getting him some footwear for the rest of the trip.

00:33:57.811 --> 00:34:04.731
RENEE: Yeah, he probably normally in Florida could have just gone barefoot because he doesn't actually walk yet, but it was chilly.

00:34:04.731 --> 00:34:07.431
RENEE: So we wanted to get him some socks and get him set up good.

00:34:08.211 --> 00:34:12.831
VIRGINIA: Yeah, I don't think it really started to get warm until Sunday.

00:34:12.831 --> 00:34:13.391
RENEE: Yeah.

00:34:13.391 --> 00:34:14.471
VIRGINIA: And it wasn't even that warm.

00:34:14.471 --> 00:34:16.111
VIRGINIA: I'm using warm in an air-coast.

00:34:16.111 --> 00:34:18.151
RENEE: General terms, yeah.

00:34:18.151 --> 00:34:19.051
VIRGINIA: Warmer.

00:34:19.051 --> 00:34:20.751
RENEE: Yeah, relative.

00:34:20.751 --> 00:34:21.431
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:34:21.431 --> 00:34:31.031
RENEE: And then after that, since we were already in the car and we knew we wanted to go back to Magic Kingdom, we ended up driving to Magic Kingdom, which was interesting.

00:34:31.031 --> 00:34:33.951
RENEE: Obviously, I had never done that before because I never had a car there.

00:34:34.431 --> 00:34:40.051
RENEE: But you drive to the TTC and then we took the monorail to the park.

00:34:40.051 --> 00:34:46.311
RENEE: But actually, when we got to the TTC, we realized that Okie had a poop explosion.

00:34:46.311 --> 00:34:46.551
RENEE: Oh, no.

00:34:46.551 --> 00:34:53.251
RENEE: And the entire outfit was, we needed to switch it up real big time.

00:34:53.251 --> 00:34:59.211
RENEE: So that we scrambled to get him sat in the car.

00:34:59.211 --> 00:35:03.731
RENEE: But the backup outfit that we had in the baby bag was definitely for warmer temperatures.

00:35:03.811 --> 00:35:06.671
RENEE: At that point, the sun had set and it was pretty chilly.

00:35:06.671 --> 00:35:11.751
RENEE: So when we got into the park, we just bought him an outfit to put over his backup outfit.

00:35:11.751 --> 00:35:15.171
RENEE: So he got some souvenirs that day.

00:35:15.171 --> 00:35:19.511
RENEE: And at that point, you can probably hear him.

00:35:19.551 --> 00:35:20.171
VIRGINIA: It's okay.

00:35:20.171 --> 00:35:21.591
RENEE: Okay.

00:35:21.591 --> 00:35:23.291
RENEE: Yeah, he's hanging out.

00:35:23.291 --> 00:35:28.731
RENEE: At that time, when we had gotten back, Mind Train was back up.

00:35:28.731 --> 00:35:38.171
RENEE: While Matt and I had gone back to the resort, my mom stayed at Magic Kingdom and she rode Mind Train during that time because it had come back up.

00:35:38.171 --> 00:35:41.131
RENEE: And we were like, you should just ride it.

00:35:41.131 --> 00:35:45.291
RENEE: I thought we would do a rider switch and my mom would ride it twice because she loves that ride.

00:35:45.291 --> 00:35:48.031
RENEE: But it had been up and down the whole trip.

00:35:48.031 --> 00:35:52.331
RENEE: So I was just like, if it's up now, you should just ride it because we don't know what it's going to be like.

00:35:52.331 --> 00:35:54.491
RENEE: So Matt and I did Mind Train.

00:35:54.811 --> 00:36:03.251
RENEE: And then we sat outside of cosmic rays to watch the fireworks and snacked on some chicken fingers.

00:36:03.251 --> 00:36:06.411
RENEE: And that was actually a good view of the fireworks.

00:36:06.411 --> 00:36:09.151
RENEE: We were kind of off to the side of the castle.

00:36:09.151 --> 00:36:17.171
RENEE: So the main castle stuff and then the stuff that's behind the castle, we're definitely like far apart from our vantage point.

00:36:17.171 --> 00:36:19.011
RENEE: But I think we had a pretty good view.

00:36:19.011 --> 00:36:21.911
RENEE: We could see Tinkerbell, so I was happy with that.

00:36:22.411 --> 00:36:23.671
VIRGINIA: Oh, that's great.

00:36:23.671 --> 00:36:24.491
RENEE: Yeah.

00:36:24.491 --> 00:36:25.791
VIRGINIA: I love it when she flies down.

00:36:25.791 --> 00:36:29.671
VIRGINIA: It's just like that triggers my tears.

00:36:29.671 --> 00:36:39.451
VIRGINIA: And when the Hercules song is playing and it's the line, this is where I'm meant to be every time.

00:36:39.491 --> 00:36:41.271
RENEE: Yeah, so good.

00:36:41.271 --> 00:36:45.351
RENEE: It had been, well, the cast members were saying it was really windy.

00:36:45.351 --> 00:36:48.451
RENEE: So they had roped off like a lot of fantasy land.

00:36:48.851 --> 00:36:54.531
RENEE: So I was already warning our party like maybe Tinkerbell's not going to fly if they think it's really windy.

00:36:54.531 --> 00:36:56.951
RENEE: Maybe they won't put her out there, but she did.

00:36:56.951 --> 00:36:57.851
RENEE: She was out there.

00:36:57.851 --> 00:36:59.811
RENEE: So that was great.

00:36:59.811 --> 00:37:06.411
RENEE: And then after the fireworks, we jumped on teacups because we were right over there.

00:37:06.411 --> 00:37:10.091
RENEE: And then we did Winnie the Pooh because we were close.

00:37:10.091 --> 00:37:15.271
RENEE: And then we tried to get on It's a Small World, but when we were standing in line, it went down.

00:37:15.271 --> 00:37:17.051
RENEE: And so we figured, well, it's kind of late.

00:37:17.051 --> 00:37:18.091
RENEE: Maybe it won't come back up.

00:37:18.211 --> 00:37:19.851
RENEE: So we just left at that point.

00:37:19.851 --> 00:37:22.731
VIRGINIA: Yeah, probably for the best.

00:37:22.731 --> 00:37:23.371
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

00:37:23.371 --> 00:37:23.671
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:37:23.671 --> 00:37:28.051
VIRGINIA: So that is now Saturday, January 25th that we're at.

00:37:28.051 --> 00:37:28.591
RENEE: Yes.

00:37:28.591 --> 00:37:31.411
VIRGINIA: And this was a Hollywood Studios day.

00:37:31.411 --> 00:37:32.311
RENEE: Yes.

00:37:32.311 --> 00:37:34.671
VIRGINIA: You had two reservations for Ogas.

00:37:34.671 --> 00:37:36.011
RENEE: Yeah.

00:37:36.011 --> 00:37:37.911
VIRGINIA: Which one did you cancel?

00:37:37.911 --> 00:37:39.191
RENEE: So we ended up going at noon.

00:37:39.191 --> 00:37:40.851
RENEE: We canceled the 930.

00:37:40.891 --> 00:37:42.111
RENEE: Yeah.

00:37:42.111 --> 00:37:50.111
RENEE: We had kind of assessed the game plan for that day, and we had been waking up pretty early and staying out pretty late.

00:37:50.111 --> 00:37:53.371
RENEE: And so we wanted to take it easy that day.

00:37:53.371 --> 00:38:00.851
RENEE: We allowed ourselves to sleep in a little bit, and we got quick service breakfast at the resort.

00:38:00.851 --> 00:38:05.491
RENEE: And then we ended up taking the bus to Hollywood Studios.

00:38:05.491 --> 00:38:12.191
RENEE: Probably got there maybe like 10 in the morning, and just took in some of the vibes.

00:38:12.191 --> 00:38:16.891
RENEE: And then we headed over to meet Chewbacca and Darth Vader.

00:38:16.891 --> 00:38:19.351
RENEE: And Okie really liked Chewbacca.

00:38:19.351 --> 00:38:21.971
RENEE: He was petting him like our dogs.

00:38:21.971 --> 00:38:28.971
RENEE: But then when we were in line for, I guess they call him Lord Vader, you encounter Lord Vader, but you meet Chewbacca.

00:38:28.971 --> 00:38:32.511
RENEE: When we were waiting for Lord Vader, Okie fell asleep.

00:38:32.511 --> 00:38:36.311
RENEE: And so through the whole encounter, he was asleep, which was kind of funny.

00:38:37.911 --> 00:38:40.531
RENEE: So, yeah, we're enjoying those pictures.

00:38:40.531 --> 00:38:48.211
RENEE: And then from there, we went to Batuu and just sort of walked around, having Matt be there for the first time.

00:38:48.211 --> 00:38:51.871
RENEE: I wanted him to see it all and hear all the sounds.

00:38:51.871 --> 00:38:55.791
RENEE: Like they have that soundtrack there, all the noises of Batuu.

00:38:55.791 --> 00:38:58.971
RENEE: And then Mando was walking around.

00:38:58.971 --> 00:39:06.271
RENEE: And so, yeah, and he called us over because I was carrying Okie and talked about things about younglings and things like that.

00:39:06.411 --> 00:39:07.191
RENEE: So that was cute.

00:39:07.191 --> 00:39:10.671
RENEE: I had never gotten to interact with Mando before, so that was fun.

00:39:10.671 --> 00:39:11.671
VIRGINIA: That's really cute.

00:39:11.671 --> 00:39:12.711
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

00:39:12.711 --> 00:39:15.471
RENEE: And then we did our Ogas at noon, which was nice.

00:39:15.471 --> 00:39:16.711
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:39:16.711 --> 00:39:24.071
VIRGINIA: And I know that your priority that you mentioned in our pre-trip interview was trying to get to see Indiana Jones.

00:39:24.071 --> 00:39:24.271
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

00:39:24.271 --> 00:39:25.611
VIRGINIA: Was that on today?

00:39:25.611 --> 00:39:25.711
RENEE: Yes.

00:39:25.711 --> 00:39:26.851
VIRGINIA: On that day, I should say?

00:39:26.851 --> 00:39:26.971
RENEE: Yes.

00:39:27.451 --> 00:39:31.491
RENEE: After Ogas, we headed over to the Stunt Spectacular.

00:39:31.491 --> 00:39:35.611
RENEE: And we always get an icy to enjoy that.

00:39:35.811 --> 00:39:47.291
RENEE: So while Matt and my mom were in line, I ran over to the little snack stand that's kind of over by 50s primetime and got us some icies.

00:39:47.291 --> 00:39:50.311
RENEE: So yeah, that was a really enjoyable time.

00:39:50.311 --> 00:39:57.171
RENEE: And then after that, we did Star Tours and the Muppets 3D show, had to say goodbye to that.

00:39:57.171 --> 00:39:58.091
VIRGINIA: Oh, yeah.

00:39:58.091 --> 00:39:59.631
RENEE: Yeah.

00:40:00.011 --> 00:40:01.391
VIRGINIA: Were you emotional at all?

00:40:01.391 --> 00:40:03.491
VIRGINIA: Are you excited for the future?

00:40:04.931 --> 00:40:05.991
RENEE: Or both?

00:40:05.991 --> 00:40:07.131
RENEE: A little bit of both.

00:40:07.131 --> 00:40:10.171
RENEE: I mean, I definitely don't do the Muppets show every trip.

00:40:10.171 --> 00:40:12.391
RENEE: It's probably in every other trip for me.

00:40:12.391 --> 00:40:16.511
RENEE: But obviously we had to do it this time because I don't think I'm going to see it before it closes.

00:40:17.771 --> 00:40:19.211
RENEE: And I enjoyed it.

00:40:19.211 --> 00:40:20.231
RENEE: I think it's funny.

00:40:20.231 --> 00:40:22.371
RENEE: But I really enjoy Monsters Inc.

00:40:22.371 --> 00:40:24.871
RENEE: So I am excited to see what they do with that.

00:40:24.871 --> 00:40:25.611
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:40:25.611 --> 00:40:26.551
RENEE: Yeah.

00:40:26.551 --> 00:40:27.751
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:40:27.751 --> 00:40:29.331
VIRGINIA: What was after that?

00:40:29.331 --> 00:40:42.471
RENEE: After that, Matt and Okie and myself went back to the resort and Okie got a bath and we did laundry since we had that blowout the night before.

00:40:42.471 --> 00:40:45.291
RENEE: I just wanted to get all his stuff clean.

00:40:45.331 --> 00:40:46.891
RENEE: We didn't want that to linger.

00:40:46.891 --> 00:40:47.671
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

00:40:47.671 --> 00:40:48.731
VIRGINIA: No.

00:40:48.731 --> 00:40:50.851
VIRGINIA: You do not want to let that linger.

00:40:50.851 --> 00:40:53.231
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

00:40:53.231 --> 00:40:55.151
RENEE: And then after that, it was really nice.

00:40:55.151 --> 00:40:59.331
RENEE: Our building was super close to the laundry.

00:40:59.331 --> 00:41:06.451
RENEE: And I can't remember the last time I did laundry at Disney, but it was nice to use the app and it tells you exactly how much time is left.

00:41:06.451 --> 00:41:09.671
RENEE: So you're not sort of like bouncing back and forth and wasting your time.

00:41:09.671 --> 00:41:11.071
RENEE: But that was really quick.

00:41:11.071 --> 00:41:13.891
RENEE: And then after that, we took the bus back to Hollywood Studio.

00:41:13.891 --> 00:41:18.671
RENEE: So my mom had just hung out at Hollywood and we took the bus back that afternoon.

00:41:18.671 --> 00:41:22.231
RENEE: We got bowls at Fairfax.

00:41:22.231 --> 00:41:26.771
RENEE: They have those like waffle bowls, but they have savory food in them.

00:41:26.771 --> 00:41:27.471
RENEE: And that was pretty good.

00:41:27.791 --> 00:41:28.611
VIRGINIA: How were they?

00:41:28.611 --> 00:41:29.731
VIRGINIA: I mean, what is in the bowl?

00:41:30.671 --> 00:41:32.431
RENEE: I think there's three options.

00:41:32.431 --> 00:41:35.891
RENEE: One is like a buffalo chicken thing, and nobody in our group got that.

00:41:35.891 --> 00:41:40.551
RENEE: And then the other two, I want to say, have Asian flavors.

00:41:40.611 --> 00:41:43.731
RENEE: And I think all three of us got that.

00:41:43.731 --> 00:41:50.371
RENEE: My mom didn't think that the sweet waffle bowl went well with the savory filling.

00:41:51.751 --> 00:41:52.151
RENEE: I don't know.

00:41:52.151 --> 00:41:55.531
RENEE: I thought maybe it was a weird combination, but I ate my whole thing anyways.

00:41:55.531 --> 00:41:57.631
RENEE: There was mashed potatoes in it maybe.

00:41:58.391 --> 00:42:00.051
RENEE: Oh, I'm having a hard time remembering.

00:42:00.051 --> 00:42:04.611
RENEE: Maybe it was, it might have been like a barbecue pork.

00:42:04.631 --> 00:42:07.571
RENEE: Obviously, I don't really remember exactly what it was, but it was good enough.

00:42:07.931 --> 00:42:10.011
RENEE: I would get it again.

00:42:10.011 --> 00:42:14.931
RENEE: But we wanted to be sort of in that area because we wanted to do Fantasmic that night.

00:42:14.931 --> 00:42:23.191
RENEE: So after we ate our bowls, we did Hollywood scoops for Mickey Brownie Sunday and took that into Fantasmic.

00:42:23.191 --> 00:42:24.091
RENEE: We did the 8 p.m.

00:42:24.091 --> 00:42:25.091
RENEE: show.

00:42:25.091 --> 00:42:26.671
VIRGINIA: How did Okie do with Fantasmic?

00:42:26.791 --> 00:42:36.311
VIRGINIA: Because I know that sometimes slightly older children, like kindergarten age, can get very frightened of the loud villain sequence.

00:42:36.431 --> 00:42:37.651
RENEE: Did he do okay?

00:42:37.651 --> 00:42:39.831
RENEE: He was fine because he slept the whole time.

00:42:39.831 --> 00:42:40.811
VIRGINIA: Oh, okay.

00:42:40.811 --> 00:42:41.571
RENEE: Yeah.

00:42:41.631 --> 00:42:45.831
VIRGINIA: He was literally having dreams while Mickey was fighting people in his dreams.

00:42:45.951 --> 00:42:47.131
RENEE: Yes, exactly.

00:42:47.131 --> 00:42:47.471
RENEE: Yeah.

00:42:48.211 --> 00:42:52.811
RENEE: When we had sat at Cosmic Race for the fireworks, I have ear protection for him.

00:42:52.811 --> 00:42:56.611
RENEE: So I had come prepared again with the ear protection.

00:42:56.731 --> 00:43:00.151
RENEE: Thinking that he was going to watch it, but he just slept.

00:43:00.151 --> 00:43:06.571
RENEE: So he slept in a baby carrier on me, and I just had my hands over his ears.

00:43:06.571 --> 00:43:08.611
RENEE: Fantasmic was amazing.

00:43:08.611 --> 00:43:13.691
RENEE: I haven't seen it in a really long time, and I forgot how good it is.

00:43:13.691 --> 00:43:15.431
RENEE: That's a must do for me now.

00:43:15.431 --> 00:43:16.451
RENEE: That was amazing.

00:43:16.451 --> 00:43:17.631
RENEE: I loved it.

00:43:17.731 --> 00:43:18.711
VIRGINIA: I love it.

00:43:18.711 --> 00:43:24.531
VIRGINIA: I say this frequently, but I don't personally feel like there's a bad seat in the arena.

00:43:25.531 --> 00:43:34.651
VIRGINIA: Sometimes people get up in their feelings about like, I have to be in this particular spot or we have to get a quote unquote good spot.

00:43:34.651 --> 00:43:35.071
RENEE: Yeah.

00:43:35.071 --> 00:43:36.831
VIRGINIA: You can see everything from everywhere.

00:43:36.831 --> 00:43:39.811
VIRGINIA: It's just a matter of are you seeing it dead on or are you seeing it from the side?

00:43:39.811 --> 00:43:43.551
VIRGINIA: And even from the side, I think it is still so enjoyable.

00:43:43.551 --> 00:43:48.011
VIRGINIA: So I would encourage people not to get stressed out about where you're going to sit.

00:43:48.011 --> 00:43:51.071
VIRGINIA: You can roll up right before it starts and still have a seat.

00:43:51.071 --> 00:43:52.411
RENEE: Yeah, agreed.

00:43:52.411 --> 00:43:53.011
RENEE: Totally agree.

00:43:53.151 --> 00:43:58.691
RENEE: We sat near the back just in case we had to exit if Okie didn't like it.

00:43:58.691 --> 00:44:08.791
RENEE: And I was happy because it was very windy and so I felt like the people down lower were definitely getting splashed and I was not trying to do that.

00:44:08.791 --> 00:44:12.531
RENEE: And we were kind of off to the side, I'd say like middle right.

00:44:12.531 --> 00:44:14.111
RENEE: And yeah, I would agree.

00:44:14.111 --> 00:44:15.451
RENEE: We could see everything perfectly.

00:44:15.451 --> 00:44:16.851
RENEE: It was really great.

00:44:16.851 --> 00:44:19.411
RENEE: Definitely adding it to my must do list.

00:44:19.411 --> 00:44:20.331
RENEE: Loved it.

00:44:20.331 --> 00:44:20.471
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

00:44:21.331 --> 00:44:24.591
VIRGINIA: When the show was over, did they have you exit through that back way?

00:44:24.591 --> 00:44:25.551
RENEE: Yes.

00:44:25.551 --> 00:44:25.871
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:44:25.871 --> 00:44:26.491
RENEE: Yes.

00:44:26.491 --> 00:44:27.751
RENEE: That was really interesting.

00:44:27.751 --> 00:44:34.611
RENEE: And by the time we exited, they were doing the projection show on the Chinese theater.

00:44:34.611 --> 00:44:45.871
RENEE: Like it felt really empty because I think a lot of people that were still in the park were either trying to get into the next phantasmic show or watching the projection show.

00:44:45.871 --> 00:44:51.591
RENEE: And after that, we actually slipped in line for Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway.

00:44:51.591 --> 00:44:59.831
RENEE: I think people might have assumed that it was closed because the projection show was happening on the Chinese Theater and it was almost a walk-on.

00:44:59.831 --> 00:45:00.451
VIRGINIA: So that was fun.

00:45:01.051 --> 00:45:01.571
RENEE: Okay.

00:45:01.571 --> 00:45:04.371
RENEE: I really wanted to do that ride, so I'm happy that we got it in.

00:45:04.371 --> 00:45:06.531
RENEE: And then after that, we just took the bus back.

00:45:06.531 --> 00:45:10.751
VIRGINIA: Well that's a hot tip for anybody who's going to be in the park at the projection time.

00:45:10.751 --> 00:45:10.991
RENEE: Yeah.

00:45:10.991 --> 00:45:12.191
VIRGINIA: See if it's still open.

00:45:12.191 --> 00:45:12.471
RENEE: Yeah.

00:45:12.471 --> 00:45:19.851
RENEE: I actually asked the cast member before we walked all the way over there, I asked if it was still open and she was like, I think it is.

00:45:19.851 --> 00:45:21.811
RENEE: So yeah, it was.

00:45:23.551 --> 00:45:30.811
VIRGINIA: So now we are at Sunday, January 26th and this was another Magic Kingdom Day.

00:45:30.811 --> 00:45:31.131
RENEE: Yes.

00:45:31.131 --> 00:45:38.111
VIRGINIA: So I have a note on here that you also were hoping to maybe get some pool time in if the weather was good enough.

00:45:38.111 --> 00:45:40.931
VIRGINIA: Now I'm going to say it was probably not.

00:45:40.931 --> 00:45:43.071
RENEE: No, the weather was not good enough.

00:45:44.211 --> 00:45:55.851
RENEE: I went into the little pool area that was closest to our room and I dipped my fingers in and it seemed like it was definitely a heated pool, but I just I didn't have it in me to put on a bathing suit and jump in.

00:45:55.851 --> 00:46:00.351
VIRGINIA: Yeah, no, I did a hot tub on this day, but I was like, I'm not getting into the pool.

00:46:00.351 --> 00:46:01.611
RENEE: Yeah, yeah.

00:46:02.271 --> 00:46:05.671
RENEE: I was thinking about the walk back to the room in a bathing suit.

00:46:05.711 --> 00:46:06.791
RENEE: I can't do it.

00:46:06.811 --> 00:46:08.551
RENEE: No, thank you.

00:46:08.551 --> 00:46:08.971
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:46:08.971 --> 00:46:10.971
VIRGINIA: So how did this day turn out?

00:46:10.971 --> 00:46:14.131
RENEE: So we started the day back at the quick service for breakfast.

00:46:14.131 --> 00:46:16.911
RENEE: We really enjoyed our quick service the previous day.

00:46:16.911 --> 00:46:22.351
RENEE: So we went back and we tried to try some different items that we didn't have the day before.

00:46:22.351 --> 00:46:27.271
RENEE: So we got like the yogurt and the oatmeal and stuff like that instead of the Mickey waffles.

00:46:27.271 --> 00:46:28.351
RENEE: And it was really good.

00:46:28.351 --> 00:46:32.351
RENEE: There's some seating like next to the lobby.

00:46:32.571 --> 00:46:38.631
RENEE: And so we didn't eat our quick service in the quick service area because it's super busy.

00:46:38.631 --> 00:46:40.371
RENEE: But it was really quiet next to the lobby.

00:46:40.371 --> 00:46:41.651
RENEE: So that was nice.

00:46:41.651 --> 00:46:45.171
RENEE: And then we took the bus to Magic Kingdom.

00:46:45.171 --> 00:46:52.571
RENEE: And that also kind of helped us avoid their big morning rush to the buses.

00:46:52.571 --> 00:47:00.611
RENEE: And so it felt less chaotic because you go around the loop and pick up all the people at different stops before you head to the park.

00:47:01.051 --> 00:47:04.731
RENEE: And it was definitely not as crowded as it had been previous days.

00:47:04.731 --> 00:47:06.071
RENEE: So that was nice.

00:47:06.071 --> 00:47:06.731
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:47:06.731 --> 00:47:07.071
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:47:07.071 --> 00:47:08.531
RENEE: Yeah.

00:47:08.531 --> 00:47:13.411
RENEE: And then once we got to Magic Kingdom, we took some pictures.

00:47:13.411 --> 00:47:15.791
RENEE: I wanted to get pictures of Okie.

00:47:15.791 --> 00:47:18.091
RENEE: We had a onesie for him that said My First Visit.

00:47:18.091 --> 00:47:21.731
RENEE: So I wanted to get some pics of him in the hub grass.

00:47:21.731 --> 00:47:22.831
RENEE: And then we did...

00:47:22.831 --> 00:47:24.691
VIRGINIA: Wait, did you get him a button?

00:47:24.691 --> 00:47:25.371
RENEE: Oh, yes.

00:47:25.371 --> 00:47:25.731
RENEE: Oh, yes.

00:47:25.751 --> 00:47:26.691
RENEE: He had a button.

00:47:26.691 --> 00:47:28.331
RENEE: Yes, for sure.

00:47:28.331 --> 00:47:28.491
RENEE: Yeah.

00:47:29.751 --> 00:47:37.691
RENEE: And then after that, we did the Carousel of Progress and the People Mover again while we were over there.

00:47:37.691 --> 00:47:44.691
RENEE: And then we did Dumbo, which I don't think I have ever done, but we were trying to do all the rides that didn't have a height requirement.

00:47:44.691 --> 00:47:46.611
RENEE: So we did Dumbo.

00:47:46.611 --> 00:47:55.931
RENEE: And while we were over in that area, we did the meet and greet with Donald and Goofy in the circus tent part.

00:47:56.391 --> 00:47:59.351
RENEE: Yeah, and I'm not sure that I ever met them in there, but that was fun.

00:47:59.351 --> 00:48:03.411
RENEE: They have like nice fun props behind them and stuff like that.

00:48:03.411 --> 00:48:10.371
RENEE: And then after that, we headed to Mickey's PhilharMagic, and then the Country Bear Jamboree.

00:48:10.371 --> 00:48:15.711
RENEE: I hadn't seen it since I got its reimagining.

00:48:15.711 --> 00:48:18.531
RENEE: And we loved the Country Bear Jamboree.

00:48:18.531 --> 00:48:19.411
VIRGINIA: Oh, I did too.

00:48:19.411 --> 00:48:21.551
RENEE: Yeah, we were singing along.

00:48:21.551 --> 00:48:22.671
RENEE: It was just like bright.

00:48:22.671 --> 00:48:24.431
RENEE: The costumes are great.

00:48:24.431 --> 00:48:25.531
RENEE: That was really, really cool.

00:48:25.671 --> 00:48:31.071
RENEE: And then when we exited the Jamboree, they were doing the hoedown right there.

00:48:31.071 --> 00:48:35.471
RENEE: So we just sort of like, you know, hung out and enjoyed that.

00:48:35.471 --> 00:48:41.011
RENEE: And then after that, we took the monorail to the Polynesian because we had a lunch reservation at the Polynesian.

00:48:41.011 --> 00:48:43.731
VIRGINIA: OK, and that was at the Kona Cafe, right?

00:48:43.731 --> 00:48:46.271
RENEE: Yes, the Kona Cafe, which I had never eaten before.

00:48:46.271 --> 00:48:47.371
VIRGINIA: This was the first visit.

00:48:47.371 --> 00:48:47.771
VIRGINIA: Right.

00:48:47.771 --> 00:48:48.531
VIRGINIA: OK.

00:48:48.531 --> 00:48:50.811
VIRGINIA: So what did you end up ordering?

00:48:50.871 --> 00:48:57.571
RENEE: We got a bao bun appetizer and I got like a pork ramen.

00:48:57.571 --> 00:48:59.491
RENEE: And it was really it was tasty.

00:49:00.151 --> 00:49:00.391
VIRGINIA: OK.

00:49:00.391 --> 00:49:01.471
RENEE: I enjoyed that.

00:49:01.471 --> 00:49:05.731
VIRGINIA: I haven't been in a while, but Alex really loves ramen.

00:49:05.731 --> 00:49:07.671
VIRGINIA: So I have to make it back over there.

00:49:07.671 --> 00:49:08.631
RENEE: It's a good spot.

00:49:08.631 --> 00:49:09.191
RENEE: Yeah.

00:49:09.191 --> 00:49:11.971
RENEE: And I think Matt got some sort of noodle bowl.

00:49:11.971 --> 00:49:16.651
RENEE: And we were commenting that, like, he was eating a lot of noodles on this trip.

00:49:16.651 --> 00:49:18.011
RENEE: OK, but they're all very good.

00:49:20.591 --> 00:49:21.211
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:49:21.211 --> 00:49:22.091
VIRGINIA: What was after Kona?

00:49:22.091 --> 00:49:33.551
RENEE: And then after Kona, we ended up taking a minivan back to our resort because we intended to take the monorail back to Magic Kingdom and then a bus from the monorail.

00:49:33.551 --> 00:49:35.611
RENEE: But we were all really tired.

00:49:35.611 --> 00:49:39.631
RENEE: And so we were like, this seems like a good option to just get us back.

00:49:39.631 --> 00:49:44.851
RENEE: And so we ended up just sort of hanging out.

00:49:44.851 --> 00:49:50.171
RENEE: I don't think anybody really fell asleep, but we kind of had like a rest period where we just hung out in the room.

00:49:50.171 --> 00:49:54.011
RENEE: And I believe that my mom ended up doing a load of laundry then too.

00:49:54.011 --> 00:49:56.951
RENEE: So kind of a lot of laundry was done on this trip.

00:49:56.951 --> 00:49:59.031
VIRGINIA: I have said it before, and I'll say it again.

00:49:59.031 --> 00:50:05.851
VIRGINIA: Laundry is so mundane, but there's something about doing it at Disney that makes you feel like you live there and it's special.

00:50:05.911 --> 00:50:06.291
RENEE: Yes.

00:50:06.291 --> 00:50:06.711
VIRGINIA: I don't know.

00:50:06.711 --> 00:50:07.811
RENEE: Yes.

00:50:07.811 --> 00:50:08.291
RENEE: Yeah.

00:50:08.291 --> 00:50:10.331
RENEE: Agreed.

00:50:10.331 --> 00:50:19.551
RENEE: And then that afternoon, we took the bus to Animal Kingdom because it had later hours that day.

00:50:19.551 --> 00:50:21.311
RENEE: It was opened until eight.

00:50:21.311 --> 00:50:24.251
RENEE: And a lot of the other days, it was only open until six.

00:50:24.251 --> 00:50:34.151
RENEE: And so we thought that would be a good time to get there and definitely see the park after the sun sets, because Pandora and the Tree of Life is just totally different after dark.

00:50:34.731 --> 00:50:42.951
RENEE: And so when we got off the bus and into the park, they were just starting the light show or the projection show on the Tree of Life.

00:50:42.951 --> 00:50:45.031
RENEE: So we caught that.

00:50:45.031 --> 00:50:53.591
RENEE: And then my mom and I did Everest while Matt and Oki got a snack at the Yakin Yeti Quick Service.

00:50:53.591 --> 00:50:54.671
RENEE: And then we did...

00:50:54.671 --> 00:50:55.831
VIRGINIA: More noodles?

00:50:57.871 --> 00:50:59.271
RENEE: It might have been noodles.

00:50:59.271 --> 00:51:01.071
RENEE: I actually don't know what he ended up getting.

00:51:01.071 --> 00:51:02.491
RENEE: I think chicken was involved.

00:51:02.611 --> 00:51:05.151
RENEE: But I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if there are noodles also.

00:51:05.151 --> 00:51:05.691
VIRGINIA: It's Matt.

00:51:05.691 --> 00:51:06.491
VIRGINIA: It was noodles.

00:51:06.491 --> 00:51:09.551
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

00:51:09.551 --> 00:51:13.391
RENEE: And then after that, we had to do Dinosaur.

00:51:13.391 --> 00:51:14.351
RENEE: We did Rider Swap.

00:51:14.351 --> 00:51:16.111
RENEE: So I wrote it twice.

00:51:16.111 --> 00:51:17.871
RENEE: So that was a proper goodbye to Dinosaur.

00:51:17.871 --> 00:51:26.571
RENEE: And when I wrote it the second time with Matt, I thought that we were going to get evacked because we were stuck in the last scene for like minutes.

00:51:26.571 --> 00:51:28.031
RENEE: And I was like, oh, this is awesome.

00:51:28.031 --> 00:51:29.551
RENEE: We're totally going to walk out of this ride.

00:51:29.911 --> 00:51:33.811
RENEE: But then, I don't know, it eventually ended up starting up again.

00:51:33.811 --> 00:51:40.351
RENEE: And then after that, I wanted us to go back to the Pandora part.

00:51:40.351 --> 00:51:43.771
RENEE: So I was kind of having us like speed walk over to Pandora.

00:51:43.771 --> 00:51:53.551
RENEE: And I kind of had it in the back of my mind that if we made it, we could hop in line for the river journey ride.

00:51:53.551 --> 00:51:56.311
RENEE: But I didn't want to pressure them to walk too fast.

00:51:56.311 --> 00:51:57.991
RENEE: But we did get to Pandora just in time.

00:51:58.071 --> 00:52:00.731
RENEE: So then I was like, you guys, we got to hop in this line.

00:52:00.731 --> 00:52:06.251
RENEE: Because it is very visually stunning, but it's not worth an hour wait for me.

00:52:06.251 --> 00:52:06.911
VIRGINIA: It is not.

00:52:06.911 --> 00:52:07.331
VIRGINIA: No.

00:52:07.331 --> 00:52:12.251
RENEE: So yeah, the like animatronic at the end, I think is really great.

00:52:12.251 --> 00:52:15.171
RENEE: But yeah, I can't stand in line for a long time for that.

00:52:15.171 --> 00:52:18.131
RENEE: So we ended up hopping in line and it was basically a walk on.

00:52:18.131 --> 00:52:20.631
RENEE: And we had the boat to ourselves.

00:52:20.631 --> 00:52:21.371
RENEE: So that was cool.

00:52:21.371 --> 00:52:23.571
RENEE: And then we did, you know, when you walk out, it's dark.

00:52:23.571 --> 00:52:26.371
RENEE: And so you get to see all the lights and stuff in Pandora.

00:52:27.111 --> 00:52:35.971
RENEE: And when we were on the bus to Animal Kingdom, I was just checking to see what was available for virtual queues.

00:52:35.971 --> 00:52:40.011
RENEE: And the virtual queue for Tiana's Bayou was still open.

00:52:40.011 --> 00:52:46.651
RENEE: So I got us a virtual queue for Tiana's, not really knowing if we were going to make it there.

00:52:46.651 --> 00:52:51.311
RENEE: But we still had the energy when we were done at Magic Kingdom.

00:52:51.311 --> 00:52:55.871
RENEE: So we took the bus to, I mean, when we were done at Animal Kingdom.

00:52:55.991 --> 00:53:00.651
RENEE: So we took the bus to Magic, basically just to ride Tiana's.

00:53:00.651 --> 00:53:02.371
RENEE: And we did ride or swap on that.

00:53:02.371 --> 00:53:04.851
RENEE: So my mom rode twice.

00:53:04.851 --> 00:53:10.571
RENEE: Matt and my mom, the first ride, were in the back of the log, and they didn't get too wet.

00:53:10.571 --> 00:53:15.551
RENEE: And then when I rode it with my mom, we were in the front and we got absolutely soaked.

00:53:17.311 --> 00:53:23.411
VIRGINIA: Yeah, I think my, unless it's the high part of summer, my new move is asking to sit at the back.

00:53:23.411 --> 00:53:30.331
RENEE: Yeah, I had taken off a lot of my layers so that I just had a t-shirt on.

00:53:30.331 --> 00:53:35.831
RENEE: So then after we rode, I went to the bathroom and took my t-shirt off, but put the rest of my layers back on.

00:53:35.831 --> 00:53:37.151
RENEE: So that was really good.

00:53:37.151 --> 00:53:39.951
RENEE: But my mom went on in like her full outfit.

00:53:39.951 --> 00:53:43.691
RENEE: So we were like, we should just leave after that.

00:53:43.691 --> 00:53:45.251
VIRGINIA: Was this your first time riding Tiana's?

00:53:45.631 --> 00:53:46.671
RENEE: Yes, yes.

00:53:46.671 --> 00:53:47.611
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:53:47.611 --> 00:53:50.151
VIRGINIA: Do you like the changes?

00:53:50.151 --> 00:53:51.291
RENEE: I liked it.

00:53:51.291 --> 00:53:53.971
RENEE: It was a little bit glitchy when we went through.

00:53:53.971 --> 00:53:57.111
RENEE: Like I noticed some things that were off.

00:53:57.111 --> 00:54:01.751
RENEE: Like a lot of the characters' mouths didn't move.

00:54:01.751 --> 00:54:05.091
RENEE: Like when they were speaking and I was like, I'm pretty sure their lips are supposed to move.

00:54:05.091 --> 00:54:12.311
RENEE: And the logs got really backed up at a couple places, but that was fine because I really wanted to like take it in.

00:54:12.511 --> 00:54:18.731
RENEE: So our ride, I think, took longer than the average ride, but I got to really take a good look.

00:54:18.731 --> 00:54:19.951
RENEE: So that was right.

00:54:19.951 --> 00:54:20.571
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

00:54:20.571 --> 00:54:21.431
RENEE: Yeah.

00:54:21.431 --> 00:54:21.731
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

00:54:22.011 --> 00:54:25.091
VIRGINIA: I really I think it's beautiful and I like the new song.

00:54:25.091 --> 00:54:25.931
VIRGINIA: Yes.

00:54:25.931 --> 00:54:33.451
VIRGINIA: The one thing I wish it had, which is hard to do based on where you are in the storyline of Princess and the Frog, because this is at a time period.

00:54:33.451 --> 00:54:34.371
VIRGINIA: After Dr.

00:54:34.371 --> 00:54:35.871
VIRGINIA: Facilier has left.

00:54:36.451 --> 00:54:42.371
VIRGINIA: There's no element that's pushing you up and over the hill.

00:54:42.371 --> 00:54:43.471
RENEE: Yeah.

00:54:43.471 --> 00:54:48.131
VIRGINIA: I wish there was some like, oh, we're trying to get away from something.

00:54:48.131 --> 00:54:49.731
VIRGINIA: Oh, look, we made it to the party.

00:54:49.731 --> 00:54:50.911
RENEE: Right.

00:54:51.091 --> 00:54:58.871
VIRGINIA: Because when we got to the part, as many times as I've ridden Splash Mountain, when we got to the part, I was like, wait, is this the big hill?

00:54:59.291 --> 00:55:00.151
VIRGINIA: Is it?

00:55:00.151 --> 00:55:02.211
VIRGINIA: Then as we started to go up, I was like, okay, this is it.

00:55:02.211 --> 00:55:08.671
VIRGINIA: Because normally there were those foreboding, vultures or whatever they were.

00:55:08.671 --> 00:55:14.031
VIRGINIA: I just think there needs to be a little bit of element of tension of will you make it to the party?

00:55:14.031 --> 00:55:15.151
RENEE: Yeah, I get that.

00:55:15.151 --> 00:55:16.211
RENEE: I totally get that.

00:55:16.211 --> 00:55:24.571
RENEE: I think that that is a common gripe about it, that they could have a little bit more of a twist to the story.

00:55:24.571 --> 00:55:25.771
VIRGINIA: But I love the party room.

00:55:25.771 --> 00:55:26.431
VIRGINIA: It's beautiful.

00:55:26.431 --> 00:55:26.931
RENEE: Yes.

00:55:26.931 --> 00:55:28.831
RENEE: The party room is gorgeous.

00:55:29.431 --> 00:55:35.371
RENEE: I think if I hadn't watched ride-throughs before, I'm not sure that I would have really picked up on the story.

00:55:35.371 --> 00:55:40.631
RENEE: But since I had already kind of known what was going on, I think that was easier to get.

00:55:40.631 --> 00:55:41.451
RENEE: Yeah.

00:55:41.451 --> 00:55:41.951
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

00:55:41.951 --> 00:55:46.351
VIRGINIA: I had not watched any ride-throughs when I wrote it this last time.

00:55:46.351 --> 00:55:52.011
VIRGINIA: And the only reason I knew kind of what the story was, was like from reading articles about it.

00:55:52.011 --> 00:55:52.591
RENEE: Oh, okay.

00:55:52.591 --> 00:55:52.811
RENEE: Yeah.

00:55:52.811 --> 00:56:00.011
VIRGINIA: So I'll agree, like seeing the visuals of what you're seeing, there's not a whole lot, you know, letting you know exactly what's happening.

00:56:01.511 --> 00:56:02.671
RENEE: Agreed.

00:56:02.671 --> 00:56:04.591
RENEE: Yeah.

00:56:04.591 --> 00:56:05.031
VIRGINIA: All right.

00:56:05.031 --> 00:56:09.291
VIRGINIA: So am I correct that that brings us to Monday, January 27th?

00:56:09.291 --> 00:56:09.891
RENEE: Yes.

00:56:09.891 --> 00:56:10.351
RENEE: Right.

00:56:10.351 --> 00:56:11.131
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:56:11.131 --> 00:56:12.771
VIRGINIA: Hollywood Studios.

00:56:12.771 --> 00:56:14.051
RENEE: Yep.

00:56:14.051 --> 00:56:15.591
RENEE: Hollywood Studios Day.

00:56:15.591 --> 00:56:18.151
RENEE: We took a bus to Hollywood Studios.

00:56:18.151 --> 00:56:22.911
RENEE: I think we got there pretty early, but it was not rope drop.

00:56:22.911 --> 00:56:26.311
RENEE: And we got breakfast in Batu.

00:56:26.311 --> 00:56:28.231
RENEE: We went to Ronto Roasters.

00:56:28.631 --> 00:56:36.511
RENEE: And actually, I think Matt went to Docking Bay 7 because he wanted, I think there was falafel.

00:56:36.511 --> 00:56:44.271
RENEE: So while my mom and I were eating our breakfast items, he was waiting for the lunch menu to open there.

00:56:44.271 --> 00:56:50.411
RENEE: And so we all, we found a nice table to eat at and just sort of hung out and enjoyed it.

00:56:50.411 --> 00:56:59.111
RENEE: And then we also got blue milk from the milk stand because I felt like Matt should probably try that as a Star Wars fan.

00:56:59.111 --> 00:57:05.091
RENEE: And then after that, we headed into the Toy Story section and we waited in line to meet Buzz.

00:57:05.091 --> 00:57:10.411
RENEE: We joke that Oakey kind of looks like Buzz, I think just because he has like a bald head.

00:57:10.411 --> 00:57:13.691
RENEE: And we had a Buzz onesie on him.

00:57:13.691 --> 00:57:16.811
RENEE: So I was like, oh, we should probably try to meet Buzz.

00:57:16.811 --> 00:57:19.291
VIRGINIA: Do we know that Buzz is bald?

00:57:19.311 --> 00:57:20.851
VIRGINIA: He's wearing like a head thing.

00:57:21.511 --> 00:57:25.611
VIRGINIA: He could take that off and totally have like a real full head of hair.

00:57:25.651 --> 00:57:27.171
VIRGINIA: Yeah, gorgeous hair.

00:57:27.171 --> 00:57:33.991
RENEE: Yeah, I think actually in that Buzz Lightyear movie, now that I think about it, I think he does have hair.

00:57:33.991 --> 00:57:35.011
VIRGINIA: No, I can't even remember.

00:57:35.471 --> 00:57:38.591
VIRGINIA: I saw it once, and I don't remember what he looked like.

00:57:38.591 --> 00:57:39.951
RENEE: Yeah.

00:57:39.951 --> 00:57:40.711
RENEE: Yeah, you're right.

00:57:40.711 --> 00:57:43.091
RENEE: He could have a gorgeous set of hair under that.

00:57:43.091 --> 00:57:44.551
VIRGINIA: He's a hair model actually.

00:57:44.551 --> 00:57:46.011
RENEE: Yeah, right.

00:57:46.031 --> 00:57:49.311
RENEE: He doesn't want to rub it in, so he covers it up.

00:57:49.311 --> 00:57:54.691
RENEE: And then, yeah, so we had to wait in line for Buzz for a bit.

00:57:55.191 --> 00:58:01.211
RENEE: And then after that, we kind of felt like we had satisfied what we wanted to do in Hollywood Studios.

00:58:01.211 --> 00:58:09.351
RENEE: I would not have minded riding tower or rock and roller coaster, but the lines were just incredibly long.

00:58:09.351 --> 00:58:14.591
RENEE: And it wasn't worth it to me to wait 90 minutes to ride a short ride.

00:58:14.591 --> 00:58:23.331
RENEE: So after that, we took the Skyliner to Epcot and did a little bit of festival stuff.

00:58:24.631 --> 00:58:28.631
VIRGINIA: Did you have any festival of foods that stood out to you?

00:58:28.631 --> 00:58:30.211
RENEE: We really enjoyed Japan.

00:58:30.211 --> 00:58:31.991
RENEE: We got that.

00:58:31.991 --> 00:58:37.651
RENEE: It's like a fish shaped pastry that has a bean filling.

00:58:37.651 --> 00:58:37.991
RENEE: Yeah.

00:58:37.991 --> 00:58:41.491
RENEE: And then it has like a sweet icing on the side.

00:58:41.491 --> 00:58:43.171
RENEE: We really liked that.

00:58:44.811 --> 00:58:49.111
RENEE: Not festival related, but I thought Matt should try a violet sake.

00:58:49.111 --> 00:58:52.591
RENEE: So we got that over at the little drink stand that's over there.

00:58:53.151 --> 00:58:56.551
RENEE: And we caught the drum show that they do there.

00:58:56.551 --> 00:59:03.071
RENEE: And then we also ran into a surprise character meet thing.

00:59:03.071 --> 00:59:13.951
RENEE: They had the rabbit, Rafiki, and one of the penguins from Mary Poppins meeting in one of the little alleyways in Epcot.

00:59:13.951 --> 00:59:14.291
RENEE: Yeah.

00:59:14.291 --> 00:59:19.451
RENEE: So we went over and we met rabbit, who I don't think I've ever met before.

00:59:20.331 --> 00:59:20.911
RENEE: So that was good.

00:59:20.911 --> 00:59:26.531
RENEE: And I think we were either the last or second to last family before he had to go back to the 100 Acre Wood.

00:59:26.531 --> 00:59:29.491
RENEE: So that was pretty good timing.

00:59:29.491 --> 00:59:31.631
RENEE: And then right after that is when I ran into you.

00:59:31.631 --> 00:59:32.111
VIRGINIA: Oh yes.

00:59:32.111 --> 00:59:32.811
VIRGINIA: This is Monday.

00:59:32.811 --> 00:59:33.371
VIRGINIA: This is the day.

00:59:35.291 --> 00:59:36.011
VIRGINIA: Okay.

00:59:36.011 --> 00:59:39.871
VIRGINIA: So I know you walked in the direction of Italy since that's where I saw you.

00:59:39.871 --> 00:59:40.591
RENEE: Yep.

00:59:40.591 --> 00:59:41.031
RENEE: Yep.

00:59:41.031 --> 00:59:48.271
RENEE: And after that, we went to, in Mexico, they have the ring carver.

00:59:49.271 --> 00:59:51.971
RENEE: It's like a stand, yeah, where they can carve rings.

00:59:51.971 --> 01:00:04.051
RENEE: And so last time we had been in, we actually got it done at Disney Springs last time, but my mom and I each got a ring carved and we really liked them.

01:00:04.051 --> 01:00:08.551
RENEE: So we got another ring carved in Mexico.

01:00:08.551 --> 01:00:09.271
VIRGINIA: Okay.

01:00:09.271 --> 01:00:10.551
VIRGINIA: How long does that take?

01:00:10.551 --> 01:00:11.611
VIRGINIA: I've never done it.

01:00:11.611 --> 01:00:14.791
RENEE: It's really quick, actually.

01:00:14.791 --> 01:00:15.991
RENEE: They do it like right in front of you.

01:00:16.071 --> 01:00:21.391
RENEE: I think the first time we did it, it was maybe like 25 minutes.

01:00:21.391 --> 01:00:28.171
RENEE: Then this time, there was someone in line ahead of us, but I don't think it took more than an hour.

01:00:28.171 --> 01:00:28.771
VIRGINIA: Okay.

01:00:28.771 --> 01:00:29.431
RENEE: Yeah.

01:00:29.431 --> 01:00:30.231
VIRGINIA: All right.

01:00:30.371 --> 01:00:31.691
VIRGINIA: I'll have to check it out.

01:00:31.691 --> 01:00:37.971
VIRGINIA: I was over in that area that same day, actually, and I don't think they were open yet.

01:00:37.971 --> 01:00:38.651
RENEE: Oh, okay.

01:00:38.651 --> 01:00:38.931
RENEE: Yeah.

01:00:38.931 --> 01:00:44.711
RENEE: I think it is hit or miss, but they do also have a stand in Disney Springs, so two opportunities to catch it.

01:00:45.071 --> 01:00:48.591
RENEE: And it's really for like a personalized, very unique souvenir.

01:00:48.591 --> 01:00:50.651
RENEE: It's not that expensive.

01:00:50.651 --> 01:00:51.491
VIRGINIA: Right.

01:00:51.491 --> 01:00:57.031
RENEE: There are different choices for the medal that you can get, and then it's a dollar for each letter that you want carved.

01:00:57.031 --> 01:00:58.411
VIRGINIA: Oh, that's not bad at all.

01:00:58.411 --> 01:00:58.951
RENEE: Yeah.

01:00:58.951 --> 01:00:59.191
RENEE: Yeah.

01:00:59.191 --> 01:00:59.891
VIRGINIA: Okay.

01:01:00.771 --> 01:01:01.371
VIRGINIA: All right.

01:01:01.371 --> 01:01:01.611
RENEE: Yeah.

01:01:01.611 --> 01:01:03.111
RENEE: So would recommend.

01:01:03.111 --> 01:01:05.531
RENEE: And then we were kind of done.

01:01:05.531 --> 01:01:06.251
RENEE: We were tired.

01:01:06.251 --> 01:01:15.631
RENEE: We had to get back to the resort, so we picked up some quick service in China, the beef teriyaki bowls and headed out after that.

01:01:15.631 --> 01:01:15.851
VIRGINIA: Sorry.

01:01:15.851 --> 01:01:17.651
VIRGINIA: What time of the day are we at right now?

01:01:17.651 --> 01:01:19.711
VIRGINIA: Is this dinner and lunch?

01:01:19.711 --> 01:01:23.651
RENEE: That would be probably in between dinner and lunch.

01:01:23.651 --> 01:01:24.171
VIRGINIA: Okay.

01:01:24.171 --> 01:01:24.371
RENEE: Yeah.

01:01:24.371 --> 01:01:25.011
VIRGINIA: Lunar.

01:01:25.011 --> 01:01:26.351
RENEE: Yeah, lunar.

01:01:27.591 --> 01:01:28.011
VIRGINIA: All right.

01:01:28.011 --> 01:01:31.471
VIRGINIA: So did you go back to the room and have a rest?

01:01:31.471 --> 01:01:32.031
RENEE: Yes.

01:01:32.031 --> 01:01:37.391
RENEE: And so that was the night before our second half of the splits day.

01:01:37.391 --> 01:01:44.531
RENEE: So we just went back to the room and I think we put a Disney movie on the TV and we kind of packed up a little bit.

01:01:44.531 --> 01:01:45.591
VIRGINIA: Okay.

01:01:45.591 --> 01:01:49.831
VIRGINIA: So the next morning, Tuesday, January 28th, you did the move.

01:01:49.831 --> 01:01:53.031
VIRGINIA: Did you allow, well, I suppose you had your car.

01:01:53.031 --> 01:01:56.131
VIRGINIA: So you probably drove your things over to yacht.

01:01:56.131 --> 01:01:57.751
VIRGINIA: What time did you end up getting over there?

01:01:57.751 --> 01:02:02.371
RENEE: We didn't get over to yacht until maybe like two o'clock.

01:02:03.471 --> 01:02:08.491
RENEE: That night or the previous night, we had kind of toyed with what we wanted to do in the morning.

01:02:08.491 --> 01:02:16.851
RENEE: Did we want to try to get to Animal Kingdom or whatever, but we didn't want to be cutting it close with checking out of Port Orleans.

01:02:16.851 --> 01:02:24.571
RENEE: So we actually landed on doing a breakfast reservation at Whispering Canyon for 9-10.

01:02:24.571 --> 01:02:26.591
RENEE: And then we got back.

01:02:26.591 --> 01:02:29.531
RENEE: I had called and asked about a late checkout.

01:02:29.531 --> 01:02:32.111
RENEE: And they were going to let us stay in the room until 1230.

01:02:32.111 --> 01:02:34.491
RENEE: But I think we ended up checking out at like 11 anyways.

01:02:35.291 --> 01:02:38.551
RENEE: And then we just took our time.

01:02:38.551 --> 01:02:42.731
RENEE: And I forget if...

01:02:42.731 --> 01:02:45.231
RENEE: No, I don't think that we stopped at the grocery store.

01:02:45.231 --> 01:02:50.891
RENEE: But we might have just driven around for a little bit because we weren't waiting at Yacht Club very long.

01:02:50.891 --> 01:02:55.611
RENEE: But I don't think they had our room ready until a little bit after 2 at Yacht Club.

01:02:55.611 --> 01:02:56.211
VIRGINIA: Still not bad.

01:02:56.531 --> 01:02:57.831
VIRGINIA: That's early.

01:02:57.831 --> 01:02:59.291
RENEE: Yeah, no, that is early.

01:02:59.291 --> 01:03:00.631
RENEE: We definitely got into the room early.

01:03:00.751 --> 01:03:06.691
RENEE: I think actually we might have just found a rocking chair outside and hung out.

01:03:07.771 --> 01:03:13.691
RENEE: But my mom, she took the bus to Epcot, so she met us there later.

01:03:13.691 --> 01:03:15.191
VIRGINIA: Okay.

01:03:15.191 --> 01:03:15.571
VIRGINIA: All right.

01:03:15.571 --> 01:03:22.351
VIRGINIA: So after you got yourselves into Yacht, you went straight to Epcot or you went to Animal Kingdom as planned?

01:03:22.411 --> 01:03:22.731
RENEE: No.

01:03:23.031 --> 01:03:26.631
RENEE: At that point, we had walked into Epcot and met up with my mom.

01:03:26.631 --> 01:03:28.191
RENEE: Yeah.

01:03:28.191 --> 01:03:34.151
RENEE: Then we were going to do some of the front of the park stuff.

01:03:34.151 --> 01:03:37.591
RENEE: We wanted to ride Nemo, but when we got there, it was down.

01:03:37.591 --> 01:03:42.371
RENEE: So we just walked around the Seas Pavilion and looked at the aquariums and stuff.

01:03:42.371 --> 01:03:44.271
RENEE: Okia likes that kind of stuff.

01:03:44.271 --> 01:03:47.431
RENEE: Then while we were over there, we rode Living with the Land.

01:03:48.371 --> 01:03:52.751
RENEE: Then we had our 530 Dining Reservation at Garden Grill.

01:03:52.751 --> 01:03:56.331
VIRGINIA: Had you been to dinner at Garden Grill before?

01:03:56.331 --> 01:03:59.151
RENEE: Years ago, yes, we weren't there.

01:03:59.151 --> 01:04:01.131
VIRGINIA: What did you think about it this time?

01:04:01.691 --> 01:04:04.351
RENEE: We really enjoyed it.

01:04:04.351 --> 01:04:10.751
RENEE: They bring you a huge skillet of food and you would like to ask for more food because it's all you care to enjoy.

01:04:10.751 --> 01:04:15.371
RENEE: But we didn't have a lot of room for much more food.

01:04:15.371 --> 01:04:19.271
RENEE: I think we got another cornbread or something because it was really good.

01:04:19.271 --> 01:04:28.871
RENEE: Okie ended up falling asleep at dinner, so all the characters came around and sort of like, you know, mimed like, oh, we're being quiet and we got some cute pics.

01:04:30.531 --> 01:04:32.411
VIRGINIA: Really cute.

01:04:32.411 --> 01:04:38.211
VIRGINIA: People always say, you know, they're not going to remember the trip, but you're going to remember this trip.

01:04:38.211 --> 01:04:39.311
RENEE: Yes, exactly.

01:04:39.311 --> 01:04:40.151
VIRGINIA: Well worth it.

01:04:40.151 --> 01:04:40.971
RENEE: Exactly.

01:04:40.971 --> 01:04:41.611
RENEE: Totally.

01:04:41.611 --> 01:04:42.291
RENEE: Good memories.

01:04:43.431 --> 01:04:46.311
RENEE: And then after dinner was over, Nemo was back up.

01:04:46.311 --> 01:04:49.291
RENEE: So we went over and rode Nemo.

01:04:49.291 --> 01:04:51.911
RENEE: And it's that ride is just so cute.

01:04:51.911 --> 01:04:54.411
RENEE: And then we did Spaceship Earth.

01:04:54.411 --> 01:04:57.991
RENEE: I feel like you have to do Spaceship Earth when you go to Epcot.

01:04:57.991 --> 01:04:59.611
RENEE: That's a must do for us.

01:04:59.611 --> 01:05:03.431
RENEE: And then we did the Moana Journey of Water.

01:05:03.431 --> 01:05:06.311
RENEE: That was the first opportunity I had to see that.

01:05:06.311 --> 01:05:12.731
RENEE: This was the first trip that Epcot didn't have construction walls in a really long time for me.

01:05:12.731 --> 01:05:17.351
RENEE: So that was nice to see all that center bit completed.

01:05:17.351 --> 01:05:18.731
RENEE: It's really lovely.

01:05:18.731 --> 01:05:20.471
RENEE: And Journey of Water is just stunning.

01:05:20.471 --> 01:05:24.751
RENEE: We knew we wanted to do it after dark, so that's what we did after dinner.

01:05:24.751 --> 01:05:30.331
RENEE: And then we stayed for Luminous and then walked back to the hotel.

01:05:30.331 --> 01:05:30.711
VIRGINIA: Okay.

01:05:30.711 --> 01:05:32.751
VIRGINIA: That's a nice full day you had there.

01:05:32.751 --> 01:05:34.691
RENEE: Very full day, yeah.

01:05:34.811 --> 01:05:35.091
VIRGINIA: All right.

01:05:35.171 --> 01:05:38.531
VIRGINIA: So that brings us to Wednesday, January 29th.

01:05:38.531 --> 01:05:38.751
RENEE: Yes.

01:05:39.231 --> 01:05:40.971
VIRGINIA: Another visit to Epcot?

01:05:40.971 --> 01:05:41.471
RENEE: Yes.

01:05:41.471 --> 01:05:55.391
RENEE: We rope dropped from the International Gateway and headed to Remy's right away, which was a little bit of like a wild situation because they hold you on that bridge by France, and then it's like a mad dash.

01:05:55.451 --> 01:05:57.471
VIRGINIA: A little bit of a run to the situation.

01:05:57.471 --> 01:05:58.171
RENEE: Yes.

01:05:58.571 --> 01:06:04.811
RENEE: In trips in the past, I've done rope drop Remy's and then go right to Frozen.

01:06:04.811 --> 01:06:08.691
RENEE: But by the time we got off Remy's, Frozen was at like 65 minutes.

01:06:08.691 --> 01:06:09.351
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

01:06:09.351 --> 01:06:11.111
RENEE: So we just skipped Frozen.

01:06:11.111 --> 01:06:11.691
RENEE: That was fine.

01:06:11.691 --> 01:06:12.091
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

01:06:12.411 --> 01:06:14.611
VIRGINIA: I do not have to do that every single time.

01:06:15.531 --> 01:06:15.831
RENEE: Yeah.

01:06:15.831 --> 01:06:16.511
RENEE: That's fine.

01:06:16.511 --> 01:06:23.291
RENEE: So we rope drop Remy's and then we did the new meet and greet with Mickey and friends in the new building.

01:06:24.111 --> 01:06:27.091
RENEE: Then after that, we were able to get on Guardians.

01:06:27.091 --> 01:06:30.471
RENEE: That morning, I had gotten us in the queue for Guardians.

01:06:30.471 --> 01:06:35.971
RENEE: Matt sat that one out because he wasn't sure if that was going to make him feel ill.

01:06:36.911 --> 01:06:44.031
RENEE: Just my mom and I did that and we got Konga, which is not my favorite song, but there was no bad time on Guardians.

01:06:44.031 --> 01:06:45.151
RENEE: So that was good.

01:06:45.151 --> 01:06:47.431
VIRGINIA: So he went the whole trip not riding Guardians?

01:06:48.271 --> 01:06:48.551
RENEE: Yes.

01:06:48.551 --> 01:06:52.211
VIRGINIA: Do you think he would maybe give it a try next time he goes?

01:06:52.211 --> 01:07:04.591
RENEE: I think maybe because Flight of Passage went over pretty well for him, and I don't know if I had misremembered how Guardians was, but as I was riding the ride, I don't know.

01:07:04.591 --> 01:07:11.871
RENEE: To me, I was like, oh, this is not as motion sickness-y as I remember it being.

01:07:11.871 --> 01:07:12.331
RENEE: So I don't know.

01:07:12.331 --> 01:07:14.391
RENEE: Maybe I could talk him into another trip.

01:07:14.391 --> 01:07:14.971
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

01:07:14.971 --> 01:07:17.751
VIRGINIA: Maybe at the end of a day so that it affects him.

01:07:17.751 --> 01:07:18.911
VIRGINIA: It's whatever.

01:07:18.911 --> 01:07:19.571
RENEE: Yeah.

01:07:19.571 --> 01:07:19.931
VIRGINIA: Sleep it off.

01:07:19.931 --> 01:07:20.611
RENEE: Exactly.

01:07:20.611 --> 01:07:21.011
RENEE: Yes.

01:07:21.011 --> 01:07:21.391
RENEE: Right.

01:07:21.391 --> 01:07:22.691
RENEE: Right.

01:07:22.691 --> 01:07:23.411
RENEE: Yep.

01:07:23.411 --> 01:07:28.051
RENEE: And then after that, we were pretty hungry because we hadn't eaten yet that day.

01:07:28.051 --> 01:07:35.011
RENEE: So we headed to the patisserie in France and got ham and cheese croissants and a baguette.

01:07:35.011 --> 01:07:35.731
VIRGINIA: Yum.

01:07:35.731 --> 01:07:37.071
RENEE: Love that baguette.

01:07:37.071 --> 01:07:43.291
RENEE: And then we just sort of like hung out in World Showcase until our lunch reservation at Shikisai.

01:07:43.291 --> 01:07:44.411
VIRGINIA: How was Shikisai?

01:07:44.411 --> 01:07:50.211
VIRGINIA: Because I have not been there yet and I've been so tempted to add it to my reservations.

01:07:50.211 --> 01:07:52.011
RENEE: I really enjoy Shikisai.

01:07:52.011 --> 01:07:53.171
RENEE: That was my second time there.

01:07:53.171 --> 01:08:07.591
RENEE: The first time we went was in September of 23 and it had just opened while we were in Disney and moved from a walk-up list to being able to get reservations.

01:08:07.591 --> 01:08:09.391
RENEE: So it was brand new.

01:08:09.391 --> 01:08:11.991
RENEE: The food was really good both times.

01:08:11.991 --> 01:08:16.791
RENEE: I think I ordered the same thing both times, even though the menu was huge.

01:08:16.791 --> 01:08:31.111
RENEE: The only thing that I noticed about Shikisai that detracted from the experience is that the menus look really worn and even the tables are not holding up and stuff.

01:08:31.111 --> 01:08:34.031
RENEE: The service obviously was above and beyond.

01:08:34.351 --> 01:08:36.451
RENEE: They do a great job.

01:08:36.451 --> 01:08:45.271
RENEE: But I just felt like a lot of the elements of the restaurant were original from day one and they just weren't holding up.

01:08:45.271 --> 01:08:48.371
RENEE: They're just sort of showing the wear and tear.

01:08:48.371 --> 01:08:49.171
VIRGINIA: Interesting.

01:08:49.171 --> 01:08:52.071
VIRGINIA: Because I don't consider that to be very old at all.

01:08:52.071 --> 01:08:53.471
RENEE: No, it's really not.

01:08:53.471 --> 01:08:57.931
RENEE: Yeah, the menus were peeling and warped.

01:08:57.931 --> 01:09:05.171
RENEE: I remember them just being really beautiful books almost, but they had seemed very aged.

01:09:05.171 --> 01:09:07.511
RENEE: Yeah, stuff like that.

01:09:07.591 --> 01:09:09.011
VIRGINIA: Okay.

01:09:09.011 --> 01:09:11.411
VIRGINIA: What did you do after your lunch?

01:09:11.411 --> 01:09:16.071
RENEE: After lunch, we just bopped around World Showcase.

01:09:16.071 --> 01:09:18.471
RENEE: We ended up getting some souvenirs in Germany.

01:09:18.471 --> 01:09:20.511
RENEE: My mom liked the Turvis Cup.

01:09:20.511 --> 01:09:23.431
RENEE: We got okey, a soccer ball.

01:09:23.431 --> 01:09:25.531
RENEE: We went to the refreshment outpost.

01:09:25.531 --> 01:09:27.271
RENEE: I got a Dole Whip.

01:09:27.511 --> 01:09:31.611
RENEE: Then we met Winnie the Pooh.

01:09:31.611 --> 01:09:43.511
RENEE: We had just been walking through that UK garden area, and his meet-and-greet time was just about to start, and there wasn't really a line, so we did that.

01:09:43.511 --> 01:09:50.031
RENEE: Okey was asleep when we were in line, and then woke up when we were in Christopher Robin's bedroom.

01:09:50.031 --> 01:09:53.731
RENEE: So that was, you know, fall asleep in one place, wake up in another.

01:09:53.731 --> 01:09:55.671
VIRGINIA: That's got to be so disconcerting.

01:09:55.671 --> 01:09:55.811
RENEE: Yeah.

01:09:55.831 --> 01:10:00.651
VIRGINIA: Or at least, I don't know, my imagination of what a baby is feeling to be like, wait a second.

01:10:00.951 --> 01:10:02.951
VIRGINIA: I was outside before, now I'm inside.

01:10:02.951 --> 01:10:03.331
RENEE: Yeah.

01:10:03.331 --> 01:10:08.031
RENEE: Inside and like a giant yellow bear is gently touching you.

01:10:08.031 --> 01:10:08.871
RENEE: Yeah.

01:10:08.871 --> 01:10:09.171
VIRGINIA: Okay.

01:10:09.171 --> 01:10:12.131
VIRGINIA: Now that just took it to a creepy place.

01:10:14.111 --> 01:10:16.191
RENEE: Well, his face reflected that.

01:10:16.191 --> 01:10:18.691
RENEE: He was kind of like, I do not know what's happening.

01:10:18.691 --> 01:10:19.971
VIRGINIA: I did not sign up for this.

01:10:19.971 --> 01:10:20.751
RENEE: Yeah.

01:10:20.751 --> 01:10:22.011
VIRGINIA: Oh, that's funny.

01:10:22.011 --> 01:10:23.431
RENEE: Yep.

01:10:23.431 --> 01:10:25.771
RENEE: And then after that, we headed back to the room.

01:10:25.771 --> 01:10:26.671
RENEE: We needed a break.

01:10:28.111 --> 01:10:30.831
RENEE: We refilled our mugs.

01:10:30.831 --> 01:10:36.451
RENEE: I like to get the pin from the resort that I stay in, if I haven't stayed there before.

01:10:36.451 --> 01:10:41.611
RENEE: And we hadn't been at Yacht, so I wanted to get that pin.

01:10:41.611 --> 01:10:44.271
RENEE: And then that afternoon, we headed back to Epcot.

01:10:44.271 --> 01:10:45.991
RENEE: My mom hung out in the room.

01:10:45.991 --> 01:10:49.351
RENEE: She wanted to pack and just have a slow evening.

01:10:49.351 --> 01:10:52.091
RENEE: So Matt, Oki and I headed back to Epcot.

01:10:52.091 --> 01:10:53.931
RENEE: We got a jumbo pretzel in Germany.

01:10:54.731 --> 01:10:57.931
RENEE: We got a strawberry boba tea in China.

01:10:57.931 --> 01:11:00.771
RENEE: We did a bunch of memory maker photos.

01:11:00.771 --> 01:11:12.011
RENEE: And then for Festival of the Arts, they had some cast members that would draw out your name and then color it in in various themes.

01:11:12.011 --> 01:11:14.211
RENEE: So we got Oki's name drawn.

01:11:14.211 --> 01:11:19.391
RENEE: And then it's colored in like Toy Story themed, like each letter is a character.

01:11:19.391 --> 01:11:19.631
RENEE: Yeah.

01:11:19.631 --> 01:11:21.791
RENEE: And his bedroom is Toy Story themed.

01:11:21.911 --> 01:11:24.251
RENEE: So that's why we wanted to do that.

01:11:24.251 --> 01:11:24.451
RENEE: Yeah.

01:11:24.451 --> 01:11:26.471
RENEE: So I thought that was a pretty cool souvenir.

01:11:26.471 --> 01:11:29.951
RENEE: And then we did Journey of Water again, just because I loved it so much.

01:11:29.951 --> 01:11:32.131
RENEE: I wanted to hit that one more time.

01:11:32.131 --> 01:11:35.931
RENEE: We did Living with the Land again, because it's kind of different in the dark.

01:11:35.931 --> 01:11:37.411
RENEE: So I thought that was good.

01:11:37.411 --> 01:11:42.431
RENEE: And then we walked back to the Resort just around Park Closing.

01:11:42.431 --> 01:11:44.491
RENEE: We didn't stay for Luminous again.

01:11:44.491 --> 01:11:49.331
RENEE: And we just refilled our mugs one more time and packed up and relaxed.

01:11:49.331 --> 01:11:50.331
RENEE: Yeah.

01:11:50.331 --> 01:11:50.771
RENEE: All right.

01:11:50.931 --> 01:11:54.471
VIRGINIA: So Thursday, January 30th, your departure day.

01:11:54.471 --> 01:11:55.511
RENEE: Departure day.

01:11:55.511 --> 01:12:03.271
RENEE: We had a breakfast reservation at Allen Compass in the Yacht Club for 730.

01:12:03.271 --> 01:12:05.771
RENEE: And I was in charge of setting the alarm that day.

01:12:05.771 --> 01:12:08.151
RENEE: And I guess I mixed up a.m.

01:12:08.151 --> 01:12:08.951
RENEE: and p.m.

01:12:08.951 --> 01:12:11.791
RENEE: So we kind of slept through a breakfast reservation.

01:12:11.791 --> 01:12:17.811
RENEE: But I went to the host stand and just like explained what had happened.

01:12:18.331 --> 01:12:21.791
RENEE: And it was not busy at all.

01:12:21.791 --> 01:12:25.651
RENEE: So they were like, OK, we'll just put your reservation on hold.

01:12:25.651 --> 01:12:27.791
RENEE: We'll say that you checked in, but we'll put it on hold.

01:12:27.791 --> 01:12:30.571
RENEE: And when you're ready to come over and eat, you can be seated.

01:12:30.571 --> 01:12:32.631
RENEE: So that worked out fine.

01:12:32.631 --> 01:12:33.611
VIRGINIA: OK.

01:12:33.611 --> 01:12:34.411
VIRGINIA: How was that?

01:12:34.411 --> 01:12:38.071
VIRGINIA: Because I feel like I've heard good things about their breakfast there.

01:12:38.071 --> 01:12:40.491
RENEE: That was my second time eating breakfast there.

01:12:40.491 --> 01:12:45.471
RENEE: The item that I was looking forward to ordering doesn't exist anymore.

01:12:45.471 --> 01:12:47.631
RENEE: So I had to come up with something else.

01:12:47.731 --> 01:12:50.091
RENEE: Yeah, they had a really good breakfast pizza.

01:12:50.091 --> 01:12:53.931
RENEE: And they have another pizza that's on the breakfast menu, but it's not the same.

01:12:53.931 --> 01:13:03.791
RENEE: So we got, I think they just called it like the American breakfast and add Mickey waffles and eggs and potatoes and a meat or something like that.

01:13:03.791 --> 01:13:04.971
RENEE: And it was very good.

01:13:04.971 --> 01:13:06.811
RENEE: That was good.

01:13:06.811 --> 01:13:09.151
VIRGINIA: And then we had not as unique.

01:13:09.151 --> 01:13:10.091
RENEE: Yeah, yeah.

01:13:10.091 --> 01:13:16.331
RENEE: And they have that the option to add on the buffet also for like five extra dollars or something.

01:13:17.451 --> 01:13:21.191
RENEE: But none of us ended up doing that.

01:13:21.191 --> 01:13:27.071
RENEE: So then we had to check out of Yacht and bring my mom to the airport.

01:13:27.071 --> 01:13:30.151
RENEE: And then we started our drive back north.

01:13:30.151 --> 01:13:30.531
VIRGINIA: Right.

01:13:30.531 --> 01:13:48.291
VIRGINIA: And for listeners who did not listen to the pre-trip, you're hearing correctly, Renée and Michelle drove down with Okie and Orzo at the beginning of the trip and on the way back, Michelle flew back and Matt joined his family to do the drive home.

01:13:48.291 --> 01:13:54.211
VIRGINIA: So a little bit of a musical chairs going on there in the car.

01:13:54.211 --> 01:13:55.771
VIRGINIA: How was the drive back?

01:13:55.771 --> 01:14:05.611
RENEE: The drive back was, it was still not bad, but I think it was a little bit tougher than the drive down because you're not like excited to start your vacation.

01:14:05.611 --> 01:14:13.871
RENEE: And also since we dropped my mom off at the airport, kind of like the middle of the day, I think it was probably around 11 o'clock.

01:14:13.871 --> 01:14:16.931
RENEE: We didn't get a super early start to the first day.

01:14:16.931 --> 01:14:24.671
RENEE: So we kind of did the drive like in reverse where this time on the way back, the first day was the shortest drive and then the last two days were longer.

01:14:24.671 --> 01:14:27.571
RENEE: So I think that's just kind of a little bit tougher.

01:14:27.691 --> 01:14:39.451
RENEE: But we did get to stop at the Jacksonville Buc-ee's and also again at the Florence, South Carolina location.

01:14:39.451 --> 01:14:42.411
RENEE: So we have two Buc-ee's and on the way back also.

01:14:42.411 --> 01:14:43.191
VIRGINIA: Okay.

01:14:43.191 --> 01:14:47.111
VIRGINIA: So yeah, you've been to Buc-ee's four times total now.

01:14:47.111 --> 01:14:47.811
RENEE: Yes.

01:14:47.891 --> 01:14:48.931
RENEE: All right.

01:14:48.931 --> 01:14:50.631
VIRGINIA: You're an expert.

01:14:50.631 --> 01:14:50.951
RENEE: Yeah.

01:14:50.951 --> 01:14:56.831
RENEE: We still, they have a lot of wacky snacks, like prepackaged stuff.

01:14:56.831 --> 01:14:59.171
RENEE: We have some leftover.

01:14:59.491 --> 01:15:01.931
RENEE: We were like, oh, this is kind of like a cool souvenir.

01:15:01.931 --> 01:15:07.091
RENEE: So in the pantry now, we've got some Buc-ee's, pretzels and stuff like that.

01:15:07.091 --> 01:15:07.931
RENEE: Yeah.

01:15:07.931 --> 01:15:16.911
VIRGINIA: So for your drive home, I cannot recall, did that end up putting you back at home on Sunday, the second or yesterday, the third?

01:15:18.191 --> 01:15:21.451
RENEE: We made it on Saturday, the first.

01:15:21.451 --> 01:15:22.231
VIRGINIA: Oh, okay.

01:15:22.231 --> 01:15:23.051
RENEE: Yes.

01:15:23.051 --> 01:15:35.911
RENEE: So we did on Thursday, the 30th, when we checked out, we made it about 300 miles to Harteville, South Carolina.

01:15:35.911 --> 01:15:42.611
RENEE: And then on Friday, the 31st, we got to Woodford, Virginia.

01:15:42.611 --> 01:15:45.631
RENEE: And then on Saturday, we made it all the way home.

01:15:45.631 --> 01:15:46.031
VIRGINIA: Okay.

01:15:46.031 --> 01:15:48.871
VIRGINIA: What time did you end up pulling in to the house?

01:15:48.871 --> 01:15:51.231
RENEE: I think we got home around 3.30.

01:15:51.231 --> 01:15:51.531
VIRGINIA: Okay.

01:15:51.531 --> 01:15:52.451
VIRGINIA: That's not bad.

01:15:52.451 --> 01:15:52.731
RENEE: Yeah.

01:15:52.731 --> 01:15:55.291
VIRGINIA: And I was imagining you coming in quite late.

01:15:55.291 --> 01:15:55.891
RENEE: No.

01:15:55.891 --> 01:16:01.211
RENEE: We ended up leaving the hotel on the last day, at like five in the morning.

01:16:01.211 --> 01:16:03.891
RENEE: So it's a little bit of an earlier start, and then we got home by 3.30.

01:16:03.891 --> 01:16:06.531
RENEE: And then I just immediately started laundry.

01:16:06.531 --> 01:16:07.211
VIRGINIA: Oh, of course.

01:16:07.211 --> 01:16:08.071
VIRGINIA: Yeah, of course.

01:16:08.071 --> 01:16:10.071
VIRGINIA: Not nearly as fun doing that at home though.

01:16:10.931 --> 01:16:14.311
RENEE: No, no, no fun little app that dings when it's done.

01:16:14.311 --> 01:16:16.351
RENEE: Yeah, none of that.

01:16:16.351 --> 01:16:18.411
VIRGINIA: Oh, what a trip.

01:16:18.411 --> 01:16:19.371
RENEE: Yeah, yeah.

01:16:19.371 --> 01:16:29.111
RENEE: I was when I was looking at my notes this morning in preparation for our chat, I was actually very happy and surprised about everything that we got done.

01:16:29.111 --> 01:16:30.891
RENEE: I feel like we accomplished a lot.

01:16:30.891 --> 01:16:31.431
VIRGINIA: You did.

01:16:31.431 --> 01:16:33.691
VIRGINIA: Well, you know what my follow up question is going to be.

01:16:33.691 --> 01:16:34.471
RENEE: What's that?

01:16:34.471 --> 01:16:35.271
RENEE: When are we returning?

01:16:35.271 --> 01:16:36.131
VIRGINIA: When are you going back?

01:16:37.291 --> 01:16:41.971
RENEE: Well, we're contemplating a bounce back for September.

01:16:43.011 --> 01:16:48.211
RENEE: My birthday is mid September and also I've never done the Halloween party.

01:16:48.211 --> 01:16:52.591
RENEE: So even just like a long weekend to catch the Halloween party would be fun.

01:16:52.591 --> 01:17:00.971
RENEE: And then we have a Disney Cruise planned for exactly a year from now.

01:17:00.971 --> 01:17:02.471
VIRGINIA: Oh, okay.

01:17:02.471 --> 01:17:05.631
VIRGINIA: So even if you don't end up making it down, you still got some Disney magic.

01:17:05.871 --> 01:17:06.371
RENEE: Yes.

01:17:06.371 --> 01:17:07.671
RENEE: I still have a countdown.

01:17:07.671 --> 01:17:07.971
VIRGINIA: Yeah.

01:17:08.631 --> 01:17:09.071
RENEE: Right.

01:17:09.071 --> 01:17:10.691
VIRGINIA: Okay.

01:17:10.691 --> 01:17:11.231
VIRGINIA: All right.

01:17:11.231 --> 01:17:14.311
VIRGINIA: Well, Renee, it has been so much fun talking to you.

01:17:14.311 --> 01:17:15.971
VIRGINIA: I'm so happy we got to meet in person.

01:17:15.971 --> 01:17:18.111
VIRGINIA: And now that I know, I assume you're a Virgo.

01:17:18.111 --> 01:17:19.631
VIRGINIA: That's why I like you so much.

01:17:20.131 --> 01:17:20.491
RENEE: You got it.

01:17:20.491 --> 01:17:21.951
VIRGINIA: Because I'm a Virgo.

01:17:23.431 --> 01:17:25.631
VIRGINIA: Virgos are the best.

01:17:25.631 --> 01:17:26.751
RENEE: Yeah.

01:17:26.751 --> 01:17:29.751
VIRGINIA: So it was really nice to meet you.

01:17:29.751 --> 01:17:32.931
VIRGINIA: And I hope that you will consider coming back at some point in your future.

01:17:32.931 --> 01:17:33.811
RENEE: Yes, absolutely.

01:17:33.811 --> 01:17:34.831
RENEE: This was a lot of fun.

01:17:34.931 --> 01:17:36.391
RENEE: Thank you so much, Virginia.

01:17:36.391 --> 01:17:36.851
VIRGINIA: All right.

01:17:36.851 --> 01:17:39.031
VIRGINIA: Take care.

01:17:39.031 --> 01:17:41.891
VIRGINIA: Thank you again to Renée for being on the show.

01:17:41.891 --> 01:17:45.951
VIRGINIA: It was so wonderful to meet you in person when our paths crossed in Epcot.

01:17:45.951 --> 01:17:48.291
VIRGINIA: That is all for today, listeners.

01:17:48.291 --> 01:17:49.651
VIRGINIA: You are the best.

01:17:49.651 --> 01:17:50.371
VIRGINIA: You always are.

01:17:50.371 --> 01:17:54.351
VIRGINIA: And I hope I catch you in the parks at some point in the future.

01:17:54.351 --> 01:17:57.631
VIRGINIA: Until then, keep daydreaming about where you long to be.