Luckily, I'm still in my ignorance is bliss stage as we get to the airport without any delays, breeze through security, and make it to our plane. We are American Express users mainly for the miles, and this year Sam got a free companion flight in first class. This was my first time flying first class, which is probably for the best because I can really see myself getting used to the extra room and free drinks and food.
I know I'm almost home when we land at MCO and disembark into the airport. There was no line at Magical Express. Woohoo! And it is only a few minutes until we get to board a bus headed for the Yacht Club.
I actually enjoy riding Magical Express. I know that I have seen the videos many times before, but I guess there is a certain nostalgia for me to hear it again. And I know that soon I will be back in the action ready for a fabulous vacation. And of course it is exciting when we finally enter my happy place!
Sam's conference is often at the Yacht and Beach Club or the Contemporary Resort. This year it was back at Yacht and Beach for the second year in a row. That is our favored location because it has such a great proximity to two parks, Epcot and Hollywood Studios. I was pleasantly surprised to receive a text saying that my room was ready and we were again on the first floor. We didn't make any room requests, but it is nice staying on the first floor because then you don't have to wait for an elevator. However, we had a huge haul to our room. It was very far from the lobby with a lot of twists and turns down hallway after hallway. I am completely directionally challenged, so this is a real issue for me. I usually opted to enter and leave through the exit closest to our room and cut across outside to the lobby so I wouldn't get lost in the tangle of hallways.
The room was nice, clean, nothing fancy. The bed did seem incredibly small, and Sam said that it was the worst mattress he ever slept on. I don't know if it had just reached the end of its life, because we never have had this issue before staying at a Deluxe resort. I had no problems with the mattress, but I could sleep on the floor if I had to so basically anything is fine for me.
We had a fastpass for Space Mountain, so we headed to the bus stop to get to the Magic Kingdom. The Magic Kingdom was packed! That didn't bother us- we had a fastpass.
The photopass picture reminds me that one thing I love about being an annual passholder at Disney World is the ability to download all photopass pictures from my account. I don't have to purchase Memory Maker or purchase individual pictures, I get them all. It's one of the nice perks of being a passholder.
After we ride Space Mountain, it's time for our fastpass to Big Thunder Mountain. Yeehaw!
After Big Thunder Mountain, we had a fastpass to the Haunted Mansion, which is one of my old time favorites. The parade was going on, so we had to walk along a congested path to try to get past Liberty Square. It was not easy because people would stop along the path to watch the parade, which led to a stand still between a tight two way traffic area. People going the opposite way somehow managed to get through, but our side was jammed. We managed to find a short cut to get through to the entrance for the Liberty Square Riverboat and took the opportunity to chill a bit on a bench in the queue. It was peaceful there in the shade. We were going to ride Haunted Mansion when our fastpass time became due, but the fastpass line was backed up, and I was worried that by the time we got out we may be late for our dinner reservations over in Epcot. So we got out of line to make our way to Epcot. We are on a relaxing vacation this time, so whatever we don't do, no big deal. I was not going to miss dinner though. On the way out, we stopped at multiple photopass photographers to get our picture taken. See that annual pass is already paying for itself... LOL
It seems that most of our dinners at in Epcot. They just have the best table service restaurants that we like to go to. We took the monorail to Epcot and headed straight for Italy for our reservation at Via Napoli. We tried Via Napoli right away when it first opened, and we liked it but it wasn't one of our favorites. Then, we tried it again in 2015 and for some reason it just clicked. Now it is a usual stop for us whether with the kids or just the two of us. We tried the Mozzarella Caprese and the Family Style House Salad. The salad was huge!! There was no way the two of us could finish it. Of course I did put down the mozzarella though.
I am a big fan of the Lasagna Napoletana there, and of course, the Lemon Drop. It was a great dinner, and we left so full it was hard to walk. It was a nice stroll through World Showcase and out the International Gateway to make it back to the Yacht Club.
It was actually pretty early, only around 8 pm. But since we were up at 3, it felt like midnight. We decided to turn in early to be ready for our first full day tomorrow. Good night!
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