Nick and I headed down to Florida and Disney World (the happiest place on earth) in mid-April. We lost our beloved pooch at the very beginning of April. We still had time off for our trip to Greece (which was canceled for a second time) and decided it would be a good idea if we still got away for awhile. The house was feeling so weird and empty without Scout.
A couple of different factors went in to choosing Disney. Nick and I had been separately as kids in the 90s and had always talked about going together as adults. Unless I'm sitting on a beach, I like active/sight seeing vacations, and Nick does not like the beach. We also needed to get out of Michigan where Winter feels like lasts from October to May. We considered COVID, our comfort level, and researched what Disney World was doing to keep visitors safe during the pandemic, and ultimately we decided we would be comfortable taking the trip and visiting the parks. So, we threw together a Disney vacation 2 weeks before we were set to arrive!
We were able to get a direct (and cheap!) flight from our city to Orlando which meant we were able to take advantage of the complementary Disney Express (which they are doing away with in 2022). The airport had clear signs that directed us to where the bus would be and the Disney employees made the entire process of getting to the correct bus hassle-free. The coaches were loaded every other row and masks were required.
We decided to stay on the Disney property to get the full experience and to make getting to and from the parks easy. We chose Pop Century because it was the least expensive option on short notice. We arrived at our hotel after check-in time and were a bit disappointed to find that our room was still not ready and could not be given a time frame of when it would be ready. I feel if check-in is at 3pm, the room should be ready at 3pm (first world problems). Luckily we were able to leave our luggage at the hotel and jumped a bus right from the resort over to Disney Springs.
Disney Springs (formally Downtown Disney) has restaurants, shopping, a bowling alley, a movie theater (currently closed), and, in non-COVID times, live events. A mask and temperature check was required to enter the plaza. Nick and I went into the Star Wars and Marvel stores and ate some dinner at City Works.
After, we headed back to our hotel to relax after a day of traveling and to get some good rest before heading to Animal Kingdom in the morning. Pop Century does not have the charm and magic of a Disney resort such as The Grand Floridian, or Wilderness Lodge, or Animal Kingdom Lodge. Pop Century resort is made up of a main building that has the check-in desks, an arcade (closed due to COVID), dining, and small gift shop, two full sized pools, one pool for younger children, and several motel-style buildings with guestrooms. It's got a 'through-the-decades' theme and we stayed in the '50s building.' It's budget hotel. If you either don't have or don't want to spend a lot of money on lodging at Disney, Pop Century is a perfectly acceptable place to stay.
The next morning we hopped a bus at our hotel and headed over to Animal Kingdom - our first day at our the parks! At the time of our visit all Disney theme parks where at 35% capacity and require a reservation. Because we planned our trip on such short notice we were only able to get reservations for Animal Kingdom and Epcot because Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios were all ready at capacity. In order to visit Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios we purchased Park Hopper passes and were able to visit those parks after 2pm.
The day was overcast and rainy, but I was still excited like I was kid! On the recommendation of my brother, we headed straight to the safari. And it was worth it! We got to see so many amazing animals!
We visited the Tree of Life, Pandora - The World of Avatar, had some Flame Tree Barbeque for lunch, and went on Expedition Everest before it started to pour.
We tried to wait it out, but it just kept coming and coming and there were not many places to stay dry. I suggested we head back to the hotel and wait it out there which was the absolute wrong idea. We hustled through the downpour to find an insanely long line for the bus back to our resort. It should be noted this is a HUGE downside of staying at Pop Century. The transportation lines are the longest of any resort because it accommodates so many people. So we were both soaked and Nick was a tad cranky so since it was after 2pm we decided to head over to Hollywood Studios. The original plan was to see if we could take a bus back from there, but alas the line situation was the same, and the gondolas were not running because of the weather.
Luckily, the rain started to let up so we decided to go into the park. Once inside, I bought and changed into a dry shirt and felt much better. I also grabbed a poncho in case of another downpour and then off we went!
We started at Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. This was Nick's favorite part. He was cool on the outside, but knowing him, he was totally excited and geeking out on the inside. He would not let me take his picture in front of anything! We got to 'fly' the Millennium Falcon (Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run).
We roamed around and visited the other areas of Hollywood Studios and ended the day with the Tower of Terror before a nice, relaxing gondola ride back to Pop Century.
Come back soon for Part II of our Disney vacation!
