Our plane arrived at 10:30pm local time, Thursday night. We got the rental car, and zipped down the freeway towards Walt Disney World, aka Happiest Place on Earth. When we got there, the first thing that happened was…we got lost.
That’s right folks, Walt Disney World is not an easy place to navigate in the middle of the night. By 12:30am, all the lights are low and the street signs disappear behind the protective & verdant leaves of palm. It took us nearly an hour to find our hotel, Port Orleans Resort – Riverside.
We checked into our hotel room at 12:45am, and there was no food. Let that be a lesson to you! There is no room service at Disney Resorts, for fear of lawsuits. We ordered a pizza from Dominoes and it arrived at 1:30am…but we had to go to the lobby to get it…again, no direct room delivery-lawsuits!
Since we went to bed at 2:30am Friday Morning, we decided to sleep in and didn’t make it out until 10:30am. We very quickly got lost (again) driving around, and finally we stumbled upon downtown Disney.
It was lunchtime, and we decided to try Bongo’s Cuban Restaurant.
We split a shredded chicken sandwich and fried plantains. The fried plantains appetizer was yummy, but I was expecting it to be served with Salsa (how I prefer to eat them!). The mojito was really tasty, though, so in a few minutes I forgot about the lack of salsa.
Dennis & I discussed plans for the rest of the day. We really only had half a day because we were going to surprise Bret in the early evening. Of course, the logical way to make a decision in this instance, is to text Jon. My Brother is full of good ideas.
We wrote, “At Disney World in FL, What to do for half a day?”. He wrote back something to the tune of, “Animal and Magic Kingdoms are great, and Epcot is a classic choice as well.” Cheerio, so we were off to the Animal Kingdom.
Everything was going peachy until we were confronted with the 80 dollar entrance fee. Hmmm, 80 bucks per person for 4 hours? I think not!
We decided to check out the mini-golf as an alternative. It had been a long time since either of us had played, so it would be entertaining.
There were geckos scurring all about the golf course, I was a wee concerned I’d hit one with the club as I swung for the ball…We played 18 holes, and I won by 2 strokes.
The reason I won was because of this hole in one on Zues Thunderbolt! Woo-hoo!
After mini-golf, we were both quite hot & sticky. We needed to cool off, and so a stop off at Beaches N Cream (old fashioned soda bar & ice cream parlour) was on our list. Walking into this place was like a step back in time, it was so cute. There were smiles on all the patrons faces!
We walked in just as somebody had ordered “Everything But the Kitchen Sink”. This monstrosity is an 8 scoop sundae with everything, two waffle cones, a whole can of whipped cream, chocolate fudge, sprinkles, cherries, caramel, and oreo cookies. It’s amazing, but one guy once ate one in around 8 minutes! And that was after a burger with fries!
Anyways, Dennis ordered a three scoop sundae and I had a Florida Sunshine (sherbert & orange soda & whipped cream)!
After the ice cream, we decided to head back to Port Orleans-Riverside and chill at the themed pool & hot tub. It was about 84 dF with 999% humidity, so a nice dip would really hit the spot. The pool area was super neat, it featured a water slide, water falls, a poolside bar, kiddie pool, and huge hot tub. Sweet!
For dinner, we went over to Ruth & Bret’s where we tried (in vain) to surprise Bret. He turned 50 this year, and Dennis wanted to pay him a visit. They were really good buddies when Dennis lived in FL, and it had been too long since they visited. Ruth brought home chicken wings, potato salad, and carrots. It was a really nice dinner-there was so much to catch up on!
I was happy to also become acquainted with their little rugrats Andrew (6yr old) and Holly (3yr old). Both kids were very well behaved, and cheerful.
We stayed until nearly 11pm, and made general plans for Saturday. Ruth works for Disney and was all too happy to give us a tour of the property.
Now, I must admit, I was *finally* excited about the Theme Park. Tomorrow, would be a full day of Disney. With Ruth & Bret at the helm, I just *knew* it would be a great day!
Tags: FL, Orlando, Walt Disney World