Thursday, April 20, 2017 (Part 3)
After a bit of a rest in the room, but before going to meet my parents, I decided to head out for a quick photoshoot around our building in Congress Park. It has been a while since I’ve stayed at Saratoga Springs, so it was nice to take it all in. It really is a peaceful and beautiful resort area.
With my photoshoot complete, I had received word from my parents that they had arrived at the Boardwalk and would be leaving for Epcot shortly, so I headed out to catch a bus.
I arrived at Epcot pretty quickly, so since my parents would be coming in from the International Gateway, I went out to World Showcase. More photos on the way.
While I waited for them to get there, I stopped at one of the Flower and Garden outdoor kitchens and got a signature drink – the frozen Violet Lemonade. Soo yummy.
My parents arrived as I was enjoying my lemonade. My other sister who had come down with them was not there, as she was also running the Dark Side Challenge and decided her first stop would be the expo to get it out of the way before Saturday. While we waited for her to get there, we did some World Showcase traveling. I was hungry by this point, so we stopped in Mexico and I got some nachos from La Cantina de San Angel. They were delicious and hit the spot perfectly, but it was also a massive amount so I did not finish them.
After Mexico, it was off to Japan since my Mom wanted to purchase some tea that she likes from one of the stores there. While we waited for her, my Dad and I just strolled around the pavilion and took in the sights. We noticed a Photopass photographer by the koi pond, so once my Mom joined back up with us, the three of us got a photo taken.
With our Photopass picture taken, we continued to stroll through World Showcase and made a stop in France. My Mom and I both got macarons (I enjoyed the one from the day before so much that I needed another) and my Dad got a dish of ice cream from the ice cream shop. We ate our treats and then got word that my sister had arrived, so we met up with her in the United Kingdom. Then it was off to Norway to utilize our Fastpass for Frozen Ever After.
It was not my first time on the Frozen ride – we were also able to get a FP for our trip in November for Wine and Dine Half Marathon weekend. It was my mom’s first time, though. She didn’t dislike it, but her verdict was that it was nothing special and she wouldn’t go out of her way to do it again. I think it’s cute, though.
After Frozen, we also had a FP for Mission: Space (we had had one earlier for Spaceship Earth as well, but we didn’t use it – I’m regretting that since I ended up not getting on it at all this trip – sad
). I decided to bypass this FP as well though and start heading over to Hollywood Studios for the Star Wars fireworks. My Dad and sister stayed back to use the FP and also stay for Illuminations later, but my Mom walked out with me (she was going to head back to the Boardwalk to settle in and relax for the rest of the evening. Once out of the International Gateway, we parted ways – one of the Friendship boats was waiting at the dock so I chose to take that rather than walk all the way to DHS.
The highlight of the boat ride was the adorable little girl who ended up sitting next to me. I noticed her glancing at me a couple times, and after smiling back she quietly said to me “So what’s your favorite thing here?” It was so cute and once the conversation started, she did not stop talking the whole time, and kept asking me questions (she had a twin sister sitting next to her and she was a lot more shy!). The mother who was across the aisle from us apologized a couple times, but it was no problem and the whole thing was really sweet.
I said goodbye to my little friend once we arrived at DHS, and on my way in I got a Photopass picture on Hollywood Boulevard.
Since there was still a little over an hour until the Star Wars fireworks started, I decided to head to Rock ‘n Roller Coaster and take another ride using the single rider line. I didn’t know how long it would take and started getting a bit worried that it was going too slow, but ended up making it with enough time to spare.
After Rock ‘n Roller Coaster, I think it was a little more than a half hour until the fireworks started, so I went to stake out my spot. I guess I was very approachable that evening because while waiting, I ended up in another conversation with the father who was sitting in front of me. It was nice, and made the time pass very quickly. It turned out that while he currently lived in Washington D.C. with his family, he had grown up in Wisconsin nearby where I am from.
I don’t have any pictures of the show, since it was another one I just wanted to take in and enjoy, and my fireworks pictures never turn out well anyway. But I really liked it and thought it was very well done. The combination of some fireworks, the projections and the movie music was a lot of fun.
With the show over, I called it a night. I bade farewell to the family in front of me and wished them an enjoyable last day (they were traveling home on the Saturday of that weekend). I then made my way out of the park and caught a bus back to Saratoga Springs.
Coming Up: Extra Magic Hours morning!
) and we headed off towards Fantasyland to go to Peter Pan. S & E eventually decided though that instead of going to Peter Pan, they were going to head to Tomorrowland (can't remember which ride they were going to do - the Speedway maybe) and then we'd meet up for ride #2 at Space Mountain. Things didn't go quite as planned though, since there was a big backup and bottleneck of people heading towards the two areas of the park (for EMH, they now have to scan Magicbands to make sure people are resort guests - I don't quite get doing this inside the park, since I feel like there should be a way to check this when you scan in at the turnstiles). So the result was I didn't make it in time to meet everyone at Peter Pan, since they just went in. I actually spotted them getting off the ride as I was nearing the loading area, but they didn't see me. I sent a message to my Mom and she then waited for me while my Dad and sister headed off to Space Mountain. Once I got off Peter Pan (a classic ride - one of my Fantasyland favorites 
) my Mom and I were off to Tomorrowland and waited outside Space Mountain for everyone else to get off (S & E made it over and were on the ride too).
