Pre-Trip Report: Kelly’s “Bonus” Summer Trip (May 2026)

[00:00:11] Welcome to Where I Long To Be, a Magical Trip Report Podcast. My name is Virginia and I am your host. Today, I'm only a couple days away from leaving on my trip, so I'm going to make this fairly short and sweet. Thank you so much for tuning in to today's show. If you haven't left a rating or a review of the show, I would really appreciate it if you would do so. It has been a while since I've had a new one, so I would love to have that. And if you leave me a review, I will be sure to read it on the show.

[00:00:42] I'm also taking hot takes, questions, anything you want to submit through the Send Virginia a Voice Message button, which is on my website, whereilongtopodcast.com. The button is on the right-hand side of the screen at all times. Just click it, record, and your recording may end up on the show as well. And with that, let's get into the pre-trip plans for my old friend, Kelly. Welcome back, Kelly. Hi, Virginia. Thanks for having me.

[00:01:08] I'm so glad to see you. I always love talking to you, and I wanted to tell you that you are sometime in the very near future not going to be the only Kelly who has been on the podcast because I have two other Kellys coming to the point where I'm having to start using first initials of your last names so that I can keep track of who's who. It's fine. I can share the spotlight. All good. Well, why don't you tell listeners who maybe have not listened to any of your previous strip reports a little bit about who you are?

[00:01:35] Yeah, sure. So my name is Kelly, obviously. We've already established that. I live out in Western Massachusetts, and myself, my wife, and my daughter are huge Disney fans, Disney vacations of all varieties. And I also have a kind of side business as a – well, I don't kind of. I have a side business as a travel agent. I work full-time at a university, and then I also plan trips and really enjoy doing that.

[00:02:01] Mm-hmm. And this is for anybody who listened to the Pat episodes. Kelly is the person who connected me with Pat, and so I have done interviews with Kelly and Pat together, and I've done an interview or two with Pat by himself. I can't remember if it was one or two. And so I told him – I don't know if you – I'm sure you listened to his episode because he and you are such close friends.

[00:02:27] But I'm giving him credit for making Charles say he'd be interested in going on a Disney cruise. Not because Charles listened to the episode because he did not. I am absolutely certain he did not. But he was just curious about who I was interviewing when I explained. He was like, well, we should do that. So I told Pat, you're going to be our lady once we are ready to book that at some point in the future. Oh, great. Well, yeah, Pat is a true believer in the Disney cruise now.

[00:02:52] And I'm taking him on a – well, I'm not taking him. A big group of us are going on a different cruise line this summer. So we'll see if the cruise magic for him is just Disney or it's other cruise lines as well. Remind me, what cruise line are you using for that particular cruise? Yes. Yes, we're going on Princess, so the Enchanted Princess, and we are going round trip out of Rome. And with a small group of 42 people we will be sailing with. Wow. So we're really looking forward to it.

[00:03:21] That's going to be amazing. I cannot wait to see all your photos and everything. And Princess Cruises, I believe, is the cruise line that my in-laws used to sail with all the time, and they loved it. Yeah, I've sailed Princess before, and I like them. Hopefully Pat will be okay. All right. Well, let's talk about this trip. When are you going? What inspired you to go at this time?

[00:03:46] What are you special about this particular trip compared to maybe other trips that you've been on? Yeah, so we are leaving on May 16th and coming back on May 20th. We are referring to this as our bonus trip because we actually have a pretty big summer of travel planned and had said that we could not squeeze in Disney World. We are going to be able to get to it, but through a variety of events, we are now going. So we keep calling this our bonus trip.

[00:04:16] We're trying to keep the budget down on this one, but still do the things that we want to do. And we're also really excited because it's going to be the first time in a couple of years that just the three of us have traveled together. So we go on a lot of trips with extended family or friends, which is amazing and a blessing. And there's always something wonderful about that type of group travel. But we're kind of excited to have some time, just the three of us.

[00:04:45] Yeah. And how old is Esme? Yeah. Yep. Esme is 11. She will be 12 in the fall. So wrapping up fifth grade, which is actually middle school where we live. This was her first year in middle school. So that was a big transition. Okay. Yeah. Here in New York, middle school starts in sixth grade. So it's a little bit different. All right. Yeah. They grow up so fast. We were talking a little bit before we started recording about how it just goes by in a flash.

[00:05:14] You don't know where it's gone and you wake up and suddenly your child is a teenager and they have opinions. I know. And big emotions, right? I mean, lots of big emotions. Mm-hmm. Yep. All right. Where are you staying for this trip? We are staying at Disney's All-Star Sports. And this will be a first for us. We've stayed at Pop Century. We've stayed at All-Star Movies. And we did like a one night at the music once.

[00:05:42] But this will be the first time at All-Star Sports. Is your family a sports family? Do any of you play sports or are you fans of any sports? Esme is a big soccer player. She loves soccer. And so I think she's particularly excited about this resort because of her soccer. She plays a little basketball as well. I played sports when I was younger, but I am very unsports-like right now at this point in my life.

[00:06:09] Maybe a little bit of pickleball, but that's the extent of it. I feel like everybody's playing pickleball lately. Like to the point where they're making not just in like Dick's Sporting Goods or something. You can walk into the coach store and see a bag that is made to hold a pickleball racket. Right. It's getting – it's pretty trendy. And, you know, I think a lot of traditional shopping malls are kind of turning entertainment malls. And they've just opened up like a whole pickleball establishment at our local mall.

[00:06:39] Interesting. Yeah. Anyway, it's all the craze. Yeah. I'd rather have a whole pickle section where it's just like bread and butter, dill. That would be up my alley. I mean – I think I'd be good at pickleball. Well, I mean, I enjoy eating pickles as well, but that's a whole other story. Yeah. The American Dream Mall that's here in New Jersey, in Rutherford, New Jersey, I went there recently. And I think that's what you mean by entertainment mall. Like there is shopping there. There are stores.

[00:07:07] But there's more things to do than there are stores. So it's got like an aquarium and indoor mini golf and a water park and a, you know, theme park with some rides and stuff. It's crazy. But I suppose like during the winter especially, those are nice when you're up north like we are to be able to have a place to take advantage of some fun and not be out in the cold. Well, that sounds a lot more exciting than our mall, but maybe we'll have to take a trip down sometime. Oh, you should.

[00:07:34] I mean, I have not been to it yet, but the water park and the theme park that are inside the mall are Nickelodeon owned. Okay. That's great. Wow. It looks cool. I'd like to I'd like to do it. But we've, we've done the indoor golf, we've done the aquarium. And during the pandemic, we did the indoor skiing slash snowboarding. And that was fun. Oh, that does sound like fun. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Let's get into it. So Saturday, May the 16th. What time is your flight?

[00:08:03] Well, this is, this is what brought about this trip is I was able to get round trip flights for $150 each. And because I had Southwest points, I used my points. So then I just had to pay the $11 processing fee for our tax or whatever it is. And so the downside is that we leave at 515am. I mean, that doesn't sound like a downside to me. I like to fly early.

[00:08:32] I mean, I don't mind flying early. But it's the when you have to think about getting up at like three in the morning or leaving the house at three in the morning, because we're a good 45 minutes from the airport. But I do love that once we get there, we have a full day ahead of us. Would it be worth it to get a super cheap hotel room right by the airport just for the one night?

[00:08:52] So I have not crossed that off the list yet. Colby and I keep going back and forth, whether it's worth it or not. I mean, regardless, you got to wake up early anyway. But you know, does eliminating that 45 minute drive make it worth it? I think so. You said your flight leaves at 515? Yeah.

[00:09:11] Okay, so then that's probably a 430 boarding time. Plus, you have to get through security plus the 45 minute drive. I mean, I think it would be worth it if you could find something for pretty cheap, because then you could go to bed early and get a little bit of extra shut eye. What time does that get you into Orlando, though? So we get into Orlando, I think at like 810 in the morning. Okay. All right. So you get almost rope dropped.

[00:09:37] We're not going to hit a park that day. We're going to we're going to use it as kind of a chill day. But yeah, I think we'll still be able to do a lot. Okay. For your chill day, do you plan on enjoying all star sports going to Disney Springs? What's your thinking?

[00:09:52] So we are thinking that, as you know, it has been a long cold winter up here in the northeast. So I think the idea of getting to the pool, and actually spending some time in the sunshine and doing a little swimming as my loves to swim. So I think that that is the ultimate goal and maybe eat like a little breakfast at the resort as well.

[00:10:15] I did not visit the quiet pool when I was at all star sports last week, but I know there is one. So there's a second pool should you need it because the main pool is, you know, good size, but it's very busy because it's a big resort. Do they still have the deal where you get the free water park ticket on your check in day? You know, that's a good question. I feel like it's opening back up in the summer. I'm gonna double check this. But we were not doing the water park. We did the water park.

[00:10:43] Last May. So we were thinking maybe more just hang out of the pool. Okay. Let's see. I'm gonna look it up. I know I should know this. You know what, you're gonna miss it, I think, because the summer dates for getting to use the water park appear if AI is correct, because I'm not going to click on any of these links while you and I are talking. It begins May 26.

[00:11:03] Okay, I remembered it not being for because last year, they kind of had it going on for almost all of 2025. So I remember that it was only for summer dates this time around. So that makes sense. All right. Do you have any other things that you're adding on like a meal plan or tickets to anything like a tour or anything of that nature?

[00:11:27] So we aren't doing a meal plan. And we are doing lightning lane multi pass. So that's that's one add on. We are also doing horseback riding on our last day, which which we have not done before. And Esme seems very interested in that not done before at Disney or not done before ever, I would say not done before ever. I think the extent of her riding a horse is when she was really little, and they just walk them around in like a circle.

[00:11:55] Yeah. So so so this one is is my understanding is more like riding out on the trails. Cool. All right. And that's over by Fort Wilderness right at the at the campsites. Yeah, the campsites. Yeah. Okay. And they do have segue riding over there. So once she's old enough, if you feel brave enough to ride a segue, you could always get that scheduled. I don't know if I feel brave enough to ride a segue. Maybe maybe that maybe they would. I don't know.

[00:12:20] Yeah, I don't know if I would either. I mean, I feel like I would have to just go to a little test drive and then but I don't I don't know that they let you confirm like here, try it for a couple minutes and tell us what what you think. I don't think that's how it works. But well, I might have to try to watch it when I'm down there. So if I'm in that area, and I can see other people doing it, maybe that will make me decide if this is something I want on my bucket list or not. Yeah. Have you looked at the different sections of All Star Sports to see which one you're hoping to be assigned to?

[00:12:50] You know, we so part of the reason we're staying at All Star Sports is because as a travel agent, once a year you get kind of a discounted resort stay and All Star Sports was one of the ones on the discount list. So you don't really have a lot of choice. It's kind of where where you are when you get there. I mean, always it's the preference would be to be closer to the lobby and the pools.

[00:13:14] I believe Esme said she wanted to be in I mean, I think she's interested in anything soccer, but I think we looked in it's football and it's football, basketball, and then there's one like a tennis area. Okay, call center court. Yeah, you know, I did a lot of research to get ready for this. But clearly, I didn't really think through my areas of where we might stay.

[00:13:43] This is also the type of thing where you do your research, and then you set it and forget it. And you're like, Okay, that's all set moving on to the next thing, because we're all busy. I think only ever stayed in the tennis section both of the times I've been there. And I think it's super cute, because I love a tennis aesthetic, even if I don't actually play tennis myself. And if you're a Donald and Huey Dewey Louie fan, you've got those characters that you can take photos with right there in that section, which I think is cute.

[00:14:11] That's neat. Yeah. So maybe when we get there, you know, sometimes they'll ask you if you have a preference. So we'll take a look. Yeah, I think that for this particular trip, you know, this whole idea of it was a bonus trip. It was like, Okay, this is where we're staying. Move on. Right? Yeah. So makes sense. All right. So do you have any dinner plans on that first night on Saturday, the 16th?

[00:14:35] Yeah, so we're gonna go to Wailulu Bar and Grill over at the Polynesian Tower. This was a Pat recommendation. And we have not eaten there before. And we also chose to do kind of an early dinner, the whole idea of getting up as early as we're going to get up.

[00:14:52] We almost did a reservation at the California Grill and tried to do the whole fireworks thing. And then we were like, Are we really going to enjoy a dinner and fireworks at nine something at night when we've gotten up at three o'clock in the morning? So so we had we had to have that kind of hard conversation as a family. And, and even if Colby and I could power through, I'm not sure. As may would be a good dinner companion at that time. So what time is your dining reservation?

[00:15:20] So we're at like 4pm. So we're gonna we're gonna eat early, and maybe hop on the monorail after and visit some of the resorts. As may is an all star shopper. So she will want to see every gift shop at every resort that she can walk into.

[00:15:39] That'll be fun. Yeah, there are some good gift shops there right along the monorail. And I think having that early dinner, you are going to thank your past selves for that later, that you set that up. So good job for you. Don't forget that you may still want a nap at some point during your day, especially if you're out in the sun and using the pool and everything.

[00:15:58] Yeah, that's that's not a bad idea. Hopefully, I'll sleep on the plane. But I'm not I'm actually a pretty good plane sleeper. But Colby and Esme are not as as as good at sleeping on a plane. I'm excellent at sleeping on a plane. I just get too excited when it's dizzy. Right, right. I'm amped and ready to go. Right. Sunday, May the 17th. What park are you going to that day? Hollywood Studios. And what are your three lightning lane picks that you are going for?

[00:16:25] Well, you know, the multi pass is always tough, right? Because you've got that tiered system. So it never feels like your first three picks are what you would want them to be necessarily. But we went with Slinky Dog Dash, because we just haven't been on Slinky Dog in a while. So we wanted to prioritize that. I think our last couple of trips to Hollywood Studios, we ended up skipping it. And so we really wanted to put that at the top of the list. Toy Story Mania. That's that's a love for all of us. And then Star Tours, the adventures continue.

[00:16:56] How early are you starting your first lightning lane of the day? So our first lightning lane, I think is the Star Tours. And I think that we did it closer to like nine or 930. Because we do want to rope drop Rise of the Resistance. Okay. Which which I know, which I know is like a trek across the entire park. But we've we've done it before. We can be fast walkers. Okay. Any dining reservations to this day?

[00:17:25] We're gonna do dinner at the East Primetime Cafe, which I haven't done since I was probably in my late teens, early 20s. I think Colby said she's never done it. And we know Esme hasn't done. Do you think that either of them will get into the antics with the servers? I think Esme might.

[00:17:44] Okay, I think we watched on video on YouTube to try to give her a sense of what it was like, but I'm not sure she fully understands the banter that might happen back and forth. But I think she'll I think she'll get into it. Okay, she might get too into it, which might be the problem because she she she could be a little sarcastic. So we'll see. I think a good way to get started just simply by putting your elbows on the table and wait for somebody to react.

[00:18:11] That's a good idea. So I have to tell you, though, I all along was set on that I was gonna have fried chicken there because I love fried chicken. But you talked about how good the pot roast was on a previous episode. So now I'm thinking, do I have to get grandma sampler? So I can have what I was gonna say have both so get a little bit of everything, right? I would do that. Yeah, so so you I mean, you spoke very highly of the pot roast.

[00:18:35] It is so good. I mean, every place I've had pot roast on Disney property, for whatever reason, it's just always, you know, knocking it out of the park. I'm trying to think if I've ever Liberty Tavern, do they have pot roast? I think I've had pot roast there. They do. Okay, or they did. I don't know if they've changed their menu. It's been probably a year and a half, two years since I've been to Liberty Tree at this point.

[00:18:56] Right. It's probably a Liberty Tree. That's right. It's probably been about two years since I've been there as well. But I feel like that if I've had pot roast anywhere, that's where it would be. Anything else that you're looking forward to in Hollywood Studios, maybe that you have not had the chance to do yet? Well, the new villain show, that's that's definitely high on our list. We definitely have to do that. And we always enjoy kind of just walking around and checking out the various snacks.

[00:19:22] Tachos might be my favorite Disney snack out there. So I've been debating, do I skip the snack tachos and go for the breakfast ones this time? I don't know. Like, should I shake it up? I'm not sure. Woody's breakfast bowl is really good. Okay, that's, that's the one with like the potato barrels with everything on top of it, right? Mm hmm.

[00:19:52] And they also they do sell that on the kids menu. So if you're not looking for quite as gigantor of a bowl so that you can save room for snacks later in the morning, then I ended up getting the kid size last time we were there. And I was like, I'm doing the kid size every time from now on, because this is perfect, because then I'm not so stuffed that I can't go off and enjoy other things.

[00:20:13] I think that's a good idea. And I love that at Disney, you can do the kids meal options, because I'm always more of like, I want to try multiple things. I don't want one thing to make me not want to eat for five hours. Right, exactly. Especially when it's that hot out, you know, that's miserable is feeling so full and walking around in the heat. No, thank you. Yeah, I agree on that. All right. Anything else for this day?

[00:20:36] I think the only thing that I would mention is we're on the fence about Fantasmic. We all love Fantasmic. We are hoping that it kind of fits into things. But we're also really trying not to overschedule ourselves this time around. And one of the things Esme's done in the past is over in Batu, she's done like the bounty hunter stuff at night, and she really enjoys that too.

[00:20:59] So I think we may let her decide as as we get into the evening, do you want to do this or not? Like, are we gonna work to get seats? Or, or do we skip it? I mean, I think the good news is, especially if you've seen Fantasmic a bunch of times, other people will probably disagree with me. I don't think there's really a bad seat in the Fantasmic audience.

[00:21:18] I would say the only seats that I really don't want to sit in are the first couple rows because I don't want to get wet. But other than that, I mean, you can see everything. And if you know you've enjoyed the show before, I say just roll up whenever you feel like rolling up, even if it's after the show has already started. That's a good point. Yeah, you'll find a spot and and if you don't feel like doing it, you don't do it. Good advice. I like it. All right. Monday, May the 18th.

[00:21:46] So this is Animal Kingdom for us. And this is Esme's absolute favorite park. Completely aware that there is a lot of construction going on. And so we will see how that plays out in our day. But this is absolutely where she wants to be. That's where she longs to be. She longs. Yep. She longs to be at Animal Kingdom. I see what you did there. I like that.

[00:22:09] I know. Are you doing multi-pass for this day as well? Because I know a lot of people have been opting not to do it only because there's not as much to do and they find that they can still get through it in the day. So this this was a hard decision for us. And I think I think the problem with multi-pass is once you get accustomed to it, it's then hard to say no. And, you know, you go and you set your Hollywood studios and that one's more expensive. And then you like, well, let me look at Animal Kingdom.

[00:22:38] And then that one's only sixteen dollars a person. And you're like, yeah, why not? So so that is my long way of saying is we did do the multi-pass. I do not think it was necessary, but we did. And so the three that we went with were Zootopia Better Together, because that's that's new for us. Kilimanjaro Safaris, of course, and Expedition Everest. And we will rope drop Flight of Passage.

[00:23:05] OK. And speaking of the food and the snacks and all those offerings, do you have any food goals for your Animal Kingdom Day? We actually have quite a few food goals, actually. So Nomad Lounge. We have in the past tried to do this and we have never gotten the timing right to be at the right time for kind of the walk up line that usually starts at, I think, 10 a.m. So right before we go, I got to do some like double checking on everything. But my understanding is I need to be over there at 10 a.m.

[00:23:34] Or I think you can do it on the app, too, now as well. So we need to get Nomad Lounge because that's a number one priority for us. So if we don't get that, I'm going to be upset and I'll talk about it in the post trip. OK. I'm going to cross my fingers that everything works out with that. And I'm thinking based on when people's school year ends. Now here in New York City, we go nearly to the end of June.

[00:23:57] But I know a lot of people wrap up by the end of May. So I think maybe you're heading at a time that is not when people will be out of school yet. It's not Memorial Day leading into that week. So I'm hoping for really good crowds for you. Me, too. And I think that, you know, when you look at the crowd level calendar, it's kind of middle of the road. But but I think I think you're not going to see as many families out there. Just people pulling their kid out of school like I'm doing.

[00:24:25] So which which is fine. Yeah, I think you'll be fine. And yeah, you can join join in the app. And then it just tells you I think once it tells you you have about 15 minutes to get back over there, which is not too bad unless you're in the middle of the safari or something. So. OK, just be planning around that. All right. And then closes the earliest of all the parks. So what do you think you'll do after you leave? Will you enjoy the pool or anything or you think you'll just kind of call it a night?

[00:24:55] I think we'll probably again leave this up to Esme a little bit. But I could see us either bouncing over to the Animal Kingdom resort to just walk around and maybe grab a drink or do something over there. This could also be a Disney Springs evening if she's still got it in her to do that. Or if if she'd rather just go back and swim in the pool, I think that's fine, too. So I could I could go I could go anyway.

[00:25:22] I do want to add on the food list, though, that Esme and I have a tradition around the Yeti Sunday. Have you ever had the Yeti Sunday? Tell me what it is. I feel like maybe I have not since I'm not able to remember what it is. Yeah. So it's over in it's the Anandapur, I think is how you pronounce it, ice cream truck. It's over by by Mount Everest.

[00:25:43] And it's just this cute little ice cream sundae that at the top has kind of some blue topping on it and a little piece of chocolate with a Yeti. And I think it's just one of those things that when Esme was really little, we got it and sat and ate it together. And now every time we go, Esme wants to get the Yeti Sunday together. So that's just like one of our little traditions. OK, I'm pulling it up. I think I have had this before. Yeah, it's cute.

[00:26:11] I mean, it's is it is it the best ice cream I've ever had at Disney? No. But is it a nice little treat? And it's fun when you're in that side of the park. Yeah, absolutely. And right across from that ice cream truck is that kind of like stadium seating that faces out towards the water. So we often get it and just sit there for a while and relax. I love traditions like that, especially when you start them when your kid is so young and they still want to do them after all this time.

[00:26:39] Like there is just nothing like that. And that was, you know, I love the ones that are accidents like that. Right. Like we didn't we didn't go out to set a Yeti Sunday as a tradition. I don't think the Yeti Sunday is a popular Disney snack, but it's it's just something that means something to us. Hey, Tuesday, May the 19th. This is the day I'm most excited about Epcot Flower and Garden Festival. Yes. Is is that your favorite festival? I think so. I have done. Have I done all the festivals?

[00:27:08] I believe I have done all the festivals at this point in time. And I think Flower and Garden is my favorite. I will say that when I was at Food and Wine a couple of years ago, I was pretty sick. I actually think I came on the podcast for that. Like that sounds familiar. And I was I was I was so sick. Like I just felt terrible. So maybe like I didn't have my best showing there. But I do love Flower and Garden.

[00:27:36] I think maybe this is the third time that Colby and I have done Flower and Garden and maybe Esme's second time. Yeah. I mean, the topiaries are beautiful. The food is so fun. Like it's just it's a good vibe. Yeah. It's my favorite of all the festivals. And the merch. I mean, for Esme, you know, world class shopper that she is. I think that Esme will will be pleased with some of the merch that she finds when she's there because there's just some really cute stuff this year.

[00:28:04] You know, that's a really good point. So Esme, I know I've told you this in past past pre trips before, but Esme is is so I don't want to say out of control with her shopping, but like you have to put limits. So so we end up giving her Disney gift cards or gift cards that she's gotten for her birthday or whatever. So to my knowledge, she has one hundred and seventy five dollars in gift cards. Oh, wow. And that's what she has.

[00:28:32] So I may have to remind her because she will spend it all on the first couple of days if you don't remind her of the other things that are coming. So I'm going to have to remind her that Flower and Garden will have some good merch. Yeah, they had that a cute T-shirt. They had a tank top I really liked. I didn't end up buying any of it, but, you know, I love it. And they always have like gardening things. So I don't know if you all garden at home, but they will often have different gardening tools that you can get that say Flower and Garden and everything, which I think is fun.

[00:29:02] Yeah, not much of a gardener, but I've been Colby and I have been talking about putting a raised bed in the backyard just to do some like summer vegetables. But but I do not I do not have a green thumb. Oh, I don't either. The only reason our plants are alive here in our apartment is because Charles keeps them alive. My job is to keep them alive, Charles and Alex, and he keeps the plants alive. And that's good.

[00:29:24] But if I had a backyard, I would totally do a raised garden because my dream is to have fresh tomatoes growing on the vine because I am a tomato fiend. I will just cut up slices of tomatoes to eat as a snack. I just love tomatoes. And I think it's my southern roots. Yeah, Esme loves cherry tomatoes. So we always have cherry tomatoes and she'll just sit there and pop them like they're candy. Yeah, I love those big containers of them. You can get at Costco or whatever.

[00:29:53] So get so sidetrack about tomatoes, but but it seems like an important part of the conversation. And we're talking about Epcot. You do have tomato girl on living with the land and she's pretty famous. That's true. And I do love living with the land. Can we just take a moment to acknowledge that that is one of the best attractions? It's so good. I mean, who would have thought floating on a boat and looking at vegetables growing would be as exciting as it is.

[00:30:21] But give me a couple strums of that guitar playing that beautiful melody that just makes me feel so zen. I love it. And I love looking for the hidden Mickeys. There's so many good hidden Mickeys in there, which is which is I think maybe what sealed the deal for me on living with the land. OK, remind me and forgive me if you and I have talked about this personally before. Have you all ever done behind the seats? OK, no.

[00:30:48] And we had thought about doing it for this trip. And then we kind of balked with like so Epcot is the day for us that we always over plan. We always say we're going to spend a big chunk of the day like kind of walking the countries and enjoying snacks and seeing everything there is to see. And then we tire ourselves out at the first part of the park. So we were trying not to over plan.

[00:31:14] But then today I said, but maybe we should do the behind the seeds tour. And of course, there's no tickets anymore because it's because it's last minute and it's a week away. I mean, I can keep checking. But I did have that regret moment today of maybe I should have done that. So I went. So I went and looked. But I keep checking. And I think I have heard I have not used any of these services yet.

[00:31:38] I mean, I've used these services for dining reservation, but some of those dining reservation finders will also look for things like behind the seats and the animal kingdom, like the up close with rhinos and that sort of thing. Excellent. So worth a try, especially if it's the free one where you can just pop it in there and get a notification if something comes up. So I think if you don't end up doing it this trip, then you most definitely need to do it at some point in the future because it is one of the most affordable tours to do on property.

[00:32:07] It is not too long. And if you love living with the land, it's really cool to be able to walk behind all of the plants and learn about how they're they're growing them. And they usually will cut up some fresh vegetables there and let you just taste them right on the spot. It's really cool. OK, well, now now I'm recommitted to maybe looking this week and and seeing figuring out a strategy around this, if not this time next time. But right. But, you know, these were the you know, like I said, I keep calling it the bonus trip.

[00:32:37] We were trying not to over plan. And then, you know, the closer the get you get, the more you're like, but maybe maybe I should do this. Maybe I should. Like, for example, I promised that we weren't going to do any individual lightning lanes. Did I buy three for Cosmic Rewind today? Yes, I did. You have to. I mean, I mean, it is my favorite and I feel like there's just too many good things at Epcot to to just rope drop that one.

[00:33:06] Well, I just I also want to. Well, we can get into this, but so I ended up getting the individual lightning lanes for Cosmic Rewind. And then for multi-pass, I've got Remy, Spaceship Earth, which maybe I'll change. And Turtle Talk with Crush, which maybe I'll change. The problem is at Epcot is you've got all the good ones are in that top tier. And then you and it's not that the other ones I don't like. I just know you'll probably be able to walk on. Yeah.

[00:33:32] You know, so but I think trying later in the day to grab some of the other ones as we go through the slots. So so my my first lineup here doesn't seem too exciting. But are you planning to rope drop? We will probably rope drop test track. OK. Have you done the new version yet? We have not. OK. All right. I liked it. I will be interested to hear if you're able to do it. I'd be interested to hear what you think of it. Yeah, I think we're I think we're definitely going to end up rope dropping test track.

[00:34:00] The other option would have been Frozen Ever After. But I think if Esme were to choose between the two, she'd pick test track. And then and then maybe maybe we'll do what I like to call rope close for Frozen Ever After, which is just the end. I like that. That and I just I don't know what else to call it. So I call it rope close. Trademark. You heard it here first, folks. Kelly Gray, wishlist travel, rope close. No, I like that. I like that.

[00:34:26] And I think that in terms of things that I mean, I don't want to stand in line for anything. I'll just be honest with you. I like to keep my line waiting, you know, fairly short. But if I can do a lightning lane for test track, I think there's more interesting stuff to look at in the Frozen line. If I'm going to choose a line to be in. I think that's true. And chances are we're going to be that way towards the end of the day anyway. So it could be a good one. You know, I don't know if we'll watch the evening show at all.

[00:34:56] That's another thing that we always say we're going to do. And then, you know, we we skip it. And partially because we've done it before. Not that I don't love it every time. It's just always when you're there for one day. It's what what do you prioritize? Right. Are you going to do most of your eating at the festival booths or do you have any dining reservations? Yes, we are going to hoping to really predominantly hit the festival booths. And I actually wrote a little list here of the things that we most want to try. Oh, run it by me. Are you ready?

[00:35:26] So this first one's for Colby because I don't eat fish. But Colby really wants the blackened fish slider with the fried green tomato. Fried green tomato. Yes. That was my favorite thing I had. OK, I'll let Colby know that is on her bucket list. And they have strawberry shortcake at the same booth. And I highly recommend getting that. See, I would like the strawberry shortcake. So so we we did that booth, you know, at dinnertime.

[00:35:51] And so I just got the blackened fish slider for my my entree. And it's little, but it was plenty. And then I ate the whole strawberry shortcake as my dessert. And that was a good dinner. And you were good to go. So that's that's one. The grilled asparagus. Did you see that anywhere? I think it's OK. So grilled asparagus looks intriguing. I think sometimes you have to get there and really look, too.

[00:36:15] But like it's on my list of things that I'm intrigued by the grilled street corn, the trio of chips and dip. OK, I haven't had any of these other ones. The chicken and waffle looks really good. But then I heard someone some review online said the chicken was a little dry. So we'll see. Will I do it? Will I not do it? I had it two festivals ago, but I did not get it this time. I remember enjoying it back then. OK, well, that's good to know. Over in France, they have like a croissant fromage.

[00:36:45] It's like got all kinds of cheese and deliciousness. So I don't do goat cheese. So the France booth is very goat cheese heavy. So I did not hit up anything there. But I know people who like goat cheese love it. I am a fan of goat cheese and so is Colby. So we'll probably give that a try. Esme is intrigued by the frouchie. I've had it in previous years. OK, did you like it? It's OK, but some people are obsessed with it. OK, I feel favorite, but it's not offensive either.

[00:37:16] I mean, Esme, Esme is funny because she will say that sushi is her favorite food. Really what she likes is avocado sushi. She doesn't like any fish in it. But I feel like she might like the frouchie because she likes fruit and she likes the idea of sushi. So we'll check that out. And then crab wontons on my list. China booth. Correct. And then we didn't get the crab wontons, but I did try the other thing there. What was it?

[00:37:45] Is it the egg rolls? Is it like pork spring rolls or something? No, we did the it was the fruit skewer. I can't remember what it's called. Oh, I know what you're talking about. It's and it's got like a sugar coating on it. Yeah, it was OK. And then we also had the cock one of the cocktails there and it kind of tasted medicinal. I for me, China was a miss for both the two items I got. We didn't. I maybe drank half my cocktail and then I threw the rest away. OK, so tell me like in your like, what do you think I should be on the lookout for?

[00:38:15] I mean, definitely. I like that blackened fish sandwich. It was really, really good. I'm trying to think what else we had. See, oh, we went to Brunch Cot and Oh, OK. Oh, the shrimp and grits. OK, they don't they have some kind of French toast over there, too, that people are raving about? And I had that as well on the last day and the French toast was delicious. Yeah, definitely recommend both of those items from Brunch Cot.

[00:38:43] I'm trying to think if we hit up anything else. There were some where we were just like it wasn't working out in terms of timing of where we ended up being. And we also did some dining reservations. So we were only eating at the booths. Yeah. And I mean, who knows what will happen? Esme's other favorite place to eat is is it Seasons that's right across from Living with the Land? Sunshine Seasons. Sunshine Seasons, right. Yeah.

[00:39:12] She loves the chicken drumstick and mashed potatoes there. Like, so I'm sure we will end up there at some point so she can have that. So you never know what you never know what the day will bring. Right. Yeah. And that's one of the things about trying to have, you know, a little bit more laid back time and not locking yourself into too many things is the ability to just say, oh, let's go here. And then you go do it. And it's it's really nice and freeing to have that experience.

[00:39:40] That being said, you do, you know, you have lightning lanes and things like that that you already have booked. So but those can be moved around. Right. I mean, and we and we often edit our lightning lanes. So I wouldn't be surprised if day of we're switching around timing or swapping up what we want to do. So, you know, that's no big deal. Anything else from this day that you wanted to mention? No, I think that's I think this is going to be a packed day for us. I just I hope that we pace ourselves enough.

[00:40:10] So we actually don't we don't end up so tired at Epcot that we don't we do this to ourselves every time. And you may ask, well, why is it your last day every time? I don't know. It's always just how it works, like kind of with the crowd calendar predictions and the other things we're trying to do. Once again, you know, if you even believe the crowd calendar predictions, right, that's a whole nother thing. I don't know if I do. So it'll be what it will be.

[00:40:36] And you know plenty about Disney, you know, just personally and with your travel agent knowledge that you're going to be able to pivot and make on the fly decisions to make it a great day regardless. I mean, I think that's always my biggest advice to folks with Disney is, you know, certainly plan because you don't want to just be standing there being like, what should we do? But, you know, when one thing doesn't work out, you just move to the next thing. Yeah. And you pivot with it. Right. Don't sweat it. But I think a lot of people get hung up on we have to do everything.

[00:41:07] You can't. No, you can't do everything. You just can't. And you have to, you know, be willing to kind of just go with the flow. Yes. As Crush says. As Crush. Right. And I may or may not go visit him at Turtle Talk. We'll see. I seem to be the only one in my family who's like semi excited about that. I love watching him interact with the audience. Oh, me too. Me too. I think it is hysterical. And Colby and Esme are kind of like. No, I love it. I think it's great.

[00:41:34] And then I also really like the Finding Nemo show in Animal Kingdom. I prefer it actually to Lion King. You know, we have a more Broadway ask to me. I don't think we've done the Finding Nemo show in a few years. So we should we should definitely add. I feel like we've done Lion King the last few times we've gone. So maybe maybe switching that up a little bit would be a good idea. Yeah. Very comfortable seats in there. So even if you just need a place to stop and be in the air conditioning and rest your weary bones, it's a good place to do it.

[00:42:04] All right. That works. All right. Wednesday, May the 20th is your departure day. What time of day is your flight? 7.55 p.m. And side question. Do you go back to work the very next day? So I will work the next day potentially remotely. And and I could end up with a late start. OK. Yeah. But don't don't worry, UMass fellow colleagues. I will put my time in appropriately. I'm sure you will. Yeah, of course I will. No, I mean, like, really, of course.

[00:42:34] No, really. Not sarcastic. No sarcasm. I love working at UMass. So what about Colby? Is she working the next day as well? So Colby, that's a good question. So Colby is on a faculty contract. So she has the summer off. And I don't know if I'm pretty sure she's trying to get all her grading done before we leave for this trip. So I have a feeling like she's done when we get back. Oh, nice. Yeah. Nice for her. Right. Right.

[00:43:04] Right. For her. OK. We'll be happy for her. What about Esme? How much more school does she have to go after she gets home? She's probably similar to New York. So she's like third week of June. So she's got quite a bit left. She's got some of her MCAS testing this week, which is great. And she's talked to, you know, it's interesting having her in middle school now because she had to talk to her teachers herself and kind of figure out what she was going to do to keep up with everything.

[00:43:34] And, you know, she'll log on to PowerSchool and get things done. And we're trying to convince her that the Friday night before we leave that she should just plow through some work. Right. Instead of like having it hang over her head. A hundred percent. Yes. Yeah. So, I mean, you know, there's always a balance. I don't love pulling her out of school, especially now that she's at middle school. But I also feel like for a few days of family time, if it works with our schedule, then it works with our schedule. So.

[00:44:04] Yeah. Yeah. So I know how people have hot opinions on that topic, but. Me do. And I think it does get harder as they get older. I do too. But while you still feel comfortable doing that, why not? Right. And it is hard because Colby's kind of downtime is different than my downtime. And then it's different than Esme's breaks. So like Colby can never take February or April break. Or I shouldn't say never, but she would need to get kind of special permission to do that.

[00:44:33] What are you going to do with your day though? Because 7.55 PM is, you know, leaving you a lot of time for some fun. Absolutely. So we've got the horseback riding. That's. Yes. That's at 10 AM. We initially had reservations for Ohana because Esme is still a big Stitch fan. But when the horseback riding came up, we said, what do you want? Ohana, a horseback riding. And she picked horseback riding. So we're going to do that.

[00:44:58] I technically have a reservation to do the Spanish mosaic artwork at Coronado Springs at 1 PM. That I had booked that before we booked the horseback riding. So I don't know if we will do that as well, or if maybe we'll do the horseback riding, head over to Coronado, have lunch there, and then maybe do the art project. And then I don't know, maybe Disney Springs again. I mean, I, I'm always tempted on the last day to hang out by the pool, but then I also

[00:45:26] don't love getting on the plane after I've been like hanging out in the pool. Right. So not that you can't. Oh, go ahead. Do you think you'll a hundred percent do the Spanish mosaic or you, you may cancel it? We might cancel it. Okay. Yeah. I feel like that's going to make your last day of your trip feel. Yes. Go with the flow. I think that's true. And I assume I can get my money back on it. I haven't even really looked yet. So I want to, I wanted to make sure everything, and it's not like it was the most expensive

[00:45:55] thing, but that, that could be a factor in whether I cancel or not. Right. I mean, I, I think if it were me, I would probably try to do some other things that are in the area of Fort Wilderness, Wilderness Lodge, that kind of thing, just so that you're not having to bounce around quite as much. Yeah. That's, I mean, and you know, I haven't eaten. So we, we've eaten at Storybook Dining, which obvious, which is obviously an evening thing for the most part. Maybe they do lunch too. I'm not even sure.

[00:46:24] But, but there's a lot of like quick service slash like other sit down, like Geyser's Point, right? People talk about Geyser's Point a lot. Yeah, you can just walk up to that. No reservation required. Yeah. And we have never been there before. Yeah. That would be kind of nice. Also, I don't think you have to be staying there, but they have the scavenger hunt at Wilderness Lodge. We've done the scavenger hunt before. Okay. And that was pretty, that was fun. I don't know if Esme would want to do it again or not, but we have done the scavenger hunt. Yeah.

[00:46:53] And I don't know about Fort Wilderness, like what else do they have? Do they have other activities like that, that you could do in that same area? There's also the quick service right there at Fort Wilderness, which serves a lot of the same food as Hoopty Doo. Oh, okay. Yeah. I've done Hoopty Doo before. So, yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, as you could tell from kind of this conversation, we're doing some firsts here. Things, you know, I'm used to going to Disney and kind of being familiar, but you know, a new resort for us.

[00:47:23] We've never done the horseback riding, kind of checking out some new places to eat. So, you know, some old classics, but some new things as well. Yeah. Well, this sounds like a fun bonus trip that you're getting in here before your other fun that you're having this summer. And I can't wait to hear all about it when you get back. Yes, I know. That's going to be a lot of fun. So, yeah. Thanks for talking through this. And thanks for some of the ideas. Now I have to go back to Colby and be like, okay, here's what Virginia said. Let's figure this out. All right.

[00:47:53] Well, have a wonderful time and I will talk to you very soon. Thank you. Thank you so much to Kelly for being a part of the show again. I always have so much fun talking to you and I know that you will continue to be a part of the Where I Long To Be podcast family. Kelly's post trip report episode is up right now and you can go listen to it. If you are subscribed to the show, it should be next up in your queue. And if you're not subscribed to the show, then that is something for your to-do list this week.

[00:48:23] That's all for now. As always, keep daydreaming about where you long to be.