So, as threated, I went to Disney World last weekend! It was a blast!
Growing up, my family was not an amusement park family. (we were a sailing family, and also a ‘go to odd Central American countries’ family.) I did get to go with friends’ families to King’s Dominion and Busch Gardens and had a blast. But I’ve always loved carnivals and roller coasters and all that and (as I thought about on this trip) I have a real appreciation for curated spaces, like parks and college campuses.
The first time I went to Disney World was in 1998, with Charles. We were spending our 4th Christmas in a row with my parents in Beaufort, SC, and had started to realize that we didn’t need to spend all the time with the parents. And it turns out they were fine with us borrowing a car and disappearing for a couple of days. So I quickly booked a room at Fort Wilderness, and we drove some six hours south, spending the afternoon and evening at Epcot. The next day we did Magic Kingdom. It was all Christmassed up and although 85 degrees, quite comfortable. We had a blast.
We never made it back to DW together, although we did do Universal in 2016 for Harry Potter. But I got to go back when in town for G&S gatherings, doing both Magic Kingdom (on my own) and Hollywood Studios (with friends). But that last visit was probably mid 20-aughts. I was excited to go back!
Friday was just about travel. I’d taken the day off, and the flight was at 1:30, so I finished packing, closed up the apartment and headed to the airport. Despite the news stories about the horrible lines at the airport because of the govt shutdown, it was mostly fine getting through security. Although even through I have TSA Precheck, I often still have to remove my belt and shoes because I have a pacemaker and often have to bypass the scanners and be patted down, which is what happened here.
Flight was uneventful, except I’d declined to select my meal ahead of time and ended up with a lunch that was not what I would have ordered at all! (*whine*) I’ve cleverly started traveling with a tote bag whose only job is to hold the outer layers I need to slough off as I go from a cold city to a hot one, and that worked well.
Finding an Uber wasn’t hard once I found the place that the Ubers lived – it was confusing, not on the same level as “Ground Transportation”. Uber was not cheap, but it was a farther drive than I thought it was. The Uber driver was Jahn, very chatty, who trades gold online when he’s not driving for Uber. The people you meet!
It’s now late afternoon, almost evening, and I check into the Port Orleans Riverside resort, not to be confused with the Port Orleans French Quarter resort right next door. Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect, my travel agent had suggested it and it was a lot less expensive than the Fort Wilderness option, which is where C and I had stayed back in the 90’s. Turns out it’s lovely. A big central building with reception and a store and wings off to the dining options, and then a large campus with buildings of rooms. It was a mild schlep (and then carrying luggage up stairs) to get to my room, but not awful. The room itself was roomy, although geared for a family (two queen beds, plus a foldout bed for a little one).
I’d purchased a magic band, although I probably could have done just fine without one. (I did get the cheapest one, in lilac! – plot point for later.) When connected to the mothership, this is a watch-like device that will act as your room key, your ticket to the parks and does some special stuff when in the parks. I was only mildly irritated that they’d suckered me into buying such a thing, but a little more annoyed that they wouldn’t just put a watch display on something that looked like and which you wore like a watch.
Got cleaned up a bit and headed back out to poke around and then get the boat to Disney Springs. Walked the length of “Ol’ Man Island”, which was pretty close and had a great pool, then explored the main building and the restaurants and the store. The store not only had Disney merchandise, it had snacks and sodas and booze. I had a funny interaction with a (very gay) store employee.
Me: what time does the store close?
VGSE: (with a rictus of a smile) We are open until 11:00 every night.
Me: (laugh) Boy, I can just see your future stretching out in front of you!
Then to the line for the boats for Disney Springs. I of course had timed this so I hit it at the same time everyone else wanted to go, so it was quite a long line and took quite a bit of waiting – good training for the next few days. Particularly because I was right behind a very large family with a bunch of squirmy kids. I must say, I was very zen with my internal monologue: ‘you are visiting a place that is designed for families with children, don’t you dare get pissy that they exist, it’s for them, not you’. I did think, along the way, that it would be an interesting sociology study to see how people behave, particularly these families, when having to wait in line for an hour. Particularly when the kids are so hyped to be there it’s like Christmas Eve.
Finally on the boat, pleasant boat ride, stopping at the other resort on the way. The boats dump you at the east end of Disney Springs, and I got out and dodged crowds and walked around. This was, I think, my third time to Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney) and it’s been different every time. I remember it used to be branded as the “Disney where the adults play” and it was all about clubs and stuff, and even had a section where you had to pay to get in. They got rid of that pretty quick. But it was bright and loud and colorful. I of course was tired from traveling and didn’t have a ton of energy. I also wasn’t super hungry and didn’t have a lot of thoughts about what I wanted for dinner, just that I wanted to sit down and have a drink.
I ended up at The Edison, at the bar. This turned out to a lot of fun, with some live music. I ordered a cosmo and got this!
That made me laugh.
For dinner, I steered around all the giant burger options and got a cobb salad, which was perfectly fine without being special, and turned out to be pretty much the exact right thing for my appetite. (as always, you have to make an effort to remember to eat vegetables when traveling). Had that, enjoyed the music, and headed back out to find some ice cream. I went to a gelato place and got a scoop of chocolate hazelnut and a scope of custard cream in a ‘waffle boat’, literally a boat-shaped cone container. Walked around eating that – the custard one didn’t taste like much of anything, the chocolate one was fantastic, and the boat itself wasn’t as good as I’d thought it would be.
Energy level and timing had me thinking I’d just uber back to the resort (I could have also taken a Disney bus, but I hadn’t explored the bus system yet), but I decided to just take the boat back and this was the right call. Very nice being on the water in near darkness, enjoying the warm weather and hearing the night sounds.
Back at the resort, went to the store, bought some bourbon and a bottle of Diet Coke (“one jack and coke” quipped the salesguy), and back to the room to chill and get ready for the next day.
Next up: Magic Kingdom!
Oh, I should mention that the week before I left, I’d been invited by my former upstairs neighbors to meet them at Bemelman’s Bar.
I’d gotten there early because I was coming from a doctor’s appointment just a few blocks away. It was lovely! They showed up after an hour or so and we got table noshies that turned out to be dinner. We’ve been getting in the habit of visiting ‘auld NYC haunts’ and this was a really good one. Thanks, guys!
The Toast Point Page 