Leaving the Happiest Place

Driving away from Lake Buena Vista with great memories, some trinkets, and surprisingly well rested we are ready to move on.  We spent eight days in the area and enjoyed every moment.  We learned a few things...we can't spend the entire day outside in the humidity, the parks are fun but you spend a great deal of time in the bus traveling to get there, and its important to plan ahead as restaurants really work on reservations at the parks.  We also decided that we will not be taking any future grandchildren to Disney until they are at least 4 years old.  It was a good time to be there but thinking January or February might be better weather wise. 
We drove the Gulf Coast Highway as we headed towards Panama City, Florida.  Such beautiful blue/green water and white sand beaches.  After checking into our hotel we drove around exploring the area and looking for a place to eat.  Once again we took the advice of our hotel as well as Yelp...we ended up at a "quaint" little beachy dive.  This trip has definitely taken me out of my comfort zone and this was no exception!  We read that there is often 1-1/2 hour wait...fortunately we arrive before the dinner rush!  The tables were close together with paid advertisements printed right on them.  The room small with an oyster bar right next to us.  Steve tried a few appetizers, baked oysters, clam strips, and boiled shrimp and I had grilled shrimp. It was quite an experience listening to the locals, watching the oyster shuckers, as well as the attire of the waitresses but the food was very good.  When we left...there was a line out the door...most definitely over an hour wait. 

Walt Disney World

We have spent seven days here at Walt Disney World.  With four parks to visit we have had a very busy week.  There are actually more than four but we chose not to go to the water parks.  When the kids were small and we visited Disneyland we would spend all day at the parks but no more.  With the heat and such...eight hours proved to be enough time to see all that we wanted.  Did we see and do everything we wanted?  Probably not but we had a wonderful time.  There were things we liked and didn't like about each park.  The transportation system here is amazing!  Buses come and go to the parks every half hour, monorails, taxis, city buses, ferries are all park of the way people are moved throughout the Disney area.  Unlike Disneyland it is not possible to walk to the parks from hotels unless you stay at one of the very high end Disney owned properties.  However, we could walk to Downtown Disney from our hotel which I did one morning for a Starbucks.  We both enjoyed the daily ride as we planned our day.  We have had a variety of weather...heat, humidity, thunder, rain, as well as beautiful sunshine today!  We went to each park at least once...both of us like The Magic Kingdom and Epcot the best.  One day we enjoyed a German meal where we sat family style and met some nice people.  She works part time for Disney so it was fun to hear an insiders view of Disney.  She actually works another job during the week and has "fun" at The Magic Kingdom on the weekends!  We spent two days at Epcot enjoying visiting the different countries and we got in on the Food and Wine Festival which was so fun!!  Favorite rides and attractions include...Grizzly Rapids-got so wet!! American Pavilion at Epcot with Songs of Liberty, and all the wonderful shows we saw.  We also enjoyed looking at all the Disney Art and learning more about behind the scenes through tours and movies. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kennedy Space Center

On Tuesday we traveled to Kennedy Space Center where we spent 5 hours touring the area.  It is a vast area full of many buildings where there are many exhibits to view, movies to see and spacecraft to admire.  There are many packages but we just did the basic tour which included an hour bus tour as well as movies and presentations.  It was a hot day so we were glad to be indoors for most of it.  I particularly enjoyed reading about the astronauts and hear their personal stories, whereas Steve likes all the technology.  We headed to Downtown Disney later that evening to have dinner at Wolfgang Puck's café.  The food was delicious and we sat at a window table that overlooked all the activity on the man-made lake.  There are so many restaurants here at Disney but it is important to make reservations well in advance!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Destination Disney

We are now in the Orlando area...actually...Lake Buena Vista.  We decided not to stay in a Disney property...we saved quite a bit by not.  It has turned out to be a good choice for us.  Our hotel is inside the Downtown Disney area of hotels and we have great shuttle service to and from the parks.  It is very different than Disneyland/California Adventure where you can walk everywhere.  Here you must depend on different types of transportation whether it be a bus, monorail, ferry or your car.  We arrived yesterday afternoon and after we got settled we took a shuttle to Epcot where we spent around 3-4 hours.  We were able to get our bearings and do a few rides and such.  We look forward to returning here later this week for the Food and Wine Festival!  After returning from Epcot we found a table down by our pool for a light meal...so relaxing to sit outside and it had finally begun to cool down.  Today we visiting The Magic Kingdom, taking the first shuttle this morning at 8am.  We were surprised to learn that a lovely breakfast buffet came with our hotel room so we enjoyed that before we left.  Both Steve and myself have the Disney app on our phones which has proved to be super beneficial whether scheduling a fast pass, checking wait times or making meal reservations.  It is very important to make meal plans ahead of time...not too many walk ups taken.  Arriving early we were able to explore most of Tomorrowland this morning.  We also wandered into Adventureland and Frontierland.  We found several attractions that Disneyland no longer has so it was fun to see them again.  We also found that we like Buzz Lightyear and Pirates better at Disneyland.  We enjoyed riding the Peoplemover as we could overlook the area.  We had a delicious lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern and also enjoyed some Dole Whip later in the day.  Drinking lots of water is a must in this heat and humidity.  We headed back to the hotel at 5 ready to take a break.  After eating out by the pool once again we enjoyed watching the Downtown Disney and Epcot fireworks from our deck...a nice way to end the day.  Tomorrow we are headed to Kennedy Space Center.  Blessings!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Savannah

We left early Saturday morning so we could spend a good amount of time seeing the city of Savannah, Georgia.  We are sure glad we did.  This is a wonderful city that is very welcoming to tourists.  Finding the visitor's center, we decided to take a trolley tour of the city.  Beginning at 9am...the first trolley out...we were able to see so much of the city before many others joined the journey.  We ended up riding the whole way w/o getting off the first time so we could see where we might want to explore.  Visiting a beautiful cathedral, walking the river walk, visiting the City Marketplace and eating at Paula Deen's restaurant, "Lady and Sons" were a few of the highlights.  My two favorite shops were Paula Deen's and a darling retro Kitchen shop...so fun!  We also visited Savannah's candy kitchen but resisted the urge to purchase anything!!  It was a wonderful day...we would love to go back!  That evening we ran a few errands, got settled and enjoyed a quick swim before the thunderstorm hit!!