One of my resolutions is to finally get around to documenting all of the traveling I did last year. It's been a few months since Haley and I went to Walt Disney World...and I was pretty much immediately ready to go back as soon as we left. I had always maintained that I'm not a "theme park person," but it turns out I just hadn't ever been to the right theme park.
We left early on the Friday before my birthday, and somehow managed to have the entire airplane row on a Southwest flight to ourselves, with an empty seat between us. Disney magic starts early, apparently. We arrived around 11, made our way to our resort, and then hit the ground running. We used Disney transport the entire time we were there--both to and from the airport and getting around the park. Avoiding the cost of a rental car and parking was pretty amazing, I must say. We didn't buy park tickets for Friday, but we did have tickets to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party (I wrote a little bit about that here), which got us into the park at 4. Since the party didn't officially start until 7, we had plenty of time to explore!
We started out by exploring some of the resorts until it was go time for the park, and when it hit 4:00, we made a pass through Magic Kingdom. We had dinner reservations at Be Our Guest in the Beast's castle and oh.my.stars. was it seriously the most amazing thing ever. The beef bourguignon was absolutely incredible--like, one of the best things I've eaten in my entire life. Of course, we had to peek into the west wing when we were finished, and then meet the Beast. And by "meet" I mean, "dance with" because when the Beast asks you to dance, you dance. Even if it's embarrassing and results in photographic evidence of you smiling like a giddy five-year-old (definitely not posting those--you'll just have to take my word for it!).
One of my favorite parts of the day was the high tea we did at the Garden View Tea Room at the Grand Floridian Resort. It was a bit on the pricey end, but so so so incredibly worth it. The Grand Floridian is gorgeous (and it was the location of our first princess sighting--Cinderella--the day before!) and every little detail of our tea was absolute perfection. They even gave us roses before we left. Definitely a highlight of the entire trip, and a welcome respite after a day of wandering Magic Kingdom; it was nice to just slow down a bit.
We didn't slow down for long, though! From the Grand Floridian, we headed to the Polynesian, another resort on the property, for drinks at Trader Sam's. If you're looking for something fruity, fun, and alcoholic, this is the spot for you. :) We were outside on the patio area, but as soon as we finished our first drink, a huge storm rolled in. We originally had planned to go back to Magic Kingdom for the fireworks show, but since it was looking like it would probably be cancelled and we were in danger of becoming waterlogged, we decided to head to Abracadabar on the Boardwalk for another round of drinks. We met up with Haley's friend Billy, who happened to be at Disney at the same time, and the three of us had a blast talking, laughing, and sharing drinks. It was such a great evening, and I love the turn-of-the-century-magician theme of Abracadabar--the fact that it's a whiskey/bourbon bar is icing on the cake.
Afterward, we took a Minnie Van (Disney-specific Ubers that are red vans with black polka dots--adorable!) back to our resort and said goodnight to our first full day at Walt Disney World.
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If you're interested in a Disney vacation of your own, Haley offers Disney planning services absolutely free of charge through Travel with the Magic. Visit her blog or shoot her an email at haley@travelwiththemagic.com.
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