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All in Vacations

Live Animals at Opryland

Feb 15

Feb 15 Live Animals at Opryland

We went to Opryland about a month ago. During our trip, they had a live animal showing at noon each day of the weekend. It happened in the Delta at the fountain. Melody was really excited to see it on Sunday (we missed it on Saturday because it happened while we were eating lunch). On Sunday they brought in turtles. They had two, and Melody thought it was really neat. They let them walk around us as they kept an eye on both the turtles and all the tiny hands to keep them from touching them. It was a really neat, free activity to do while we were there. Be sure and look at the activities schedule during your visit to check out any free activities like this one!

Opryland January 2022

Feb 6

Feb 6 Opryland January 2022

For many years, my mom and I took trips to either Disney, a cruise, or both for MLK weekend for my birthday. We have not done this as frequently since having Melody. But Brad was out of town, and we decided to head to Opryland for MLK weekend. While we go often, mom has never went with us, so it was a fun treat.

DoubleTree Disney Springs

Jan 25

Jan 25 DoubleTree Disney Springs

Back in October, we made a last minute decision to head to Disney World for Melody’s fall break. We had Hilton points, so that made the trip more appealing. We had enough to stay for free at DoubleTree at Disney Springs. It was the best deal out of all the Disney Springs Hilton hotels, and we did like the idea of having the separate bedroom and mini-kitchen.

Leaving Disney World - October 2021

Dec 16

Dec 16 Leaving Disney World - October 2021

I did not mention this when writing about our time at Epcot, but we ended the night with a semi-upset child because she didn’t spend her gift card money from her Nannie. See Nannie gave all the girls a gift card since it is so rare they all go to Disney World (at the same time that is). Melody had been so torn on what to get, and she never found anything she loved. We didn’t really have time to go to the Creations Shop in Epcot at the end of our night. And Disney Springs sounded miserable that late too. So we told Melody we would go to Disney Springs when the opened. So that we did.

Epcot - October 2021

Dec 13

Dec 13 Epcot - October 2021

We spent our last day at Disney at Epcot. We opted to dedicate the whole day to Epcot. We had briefly considered returning to another park, but realistically staying at Epcot all day allowed us to see both Emily’s group and Rebekah’s group.

Magic Kingdom and Epcot - October 2021

Dec 11

Dec 11 Magic Kingdom and Epcot - October 2021

Tuesdays always seem to be a great day to visit Magic Kingdom, so we opted to do that. We ended the night at Epcot for the food! Epcot is our go to for great food, and we always have to fit in our must-dos. We snagged a decent timed reservation for Chefs de France on this evening, so we opted to do that.

Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom - October 2021

Dec 9

Dec 9 Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom - October 2021

We decided our first day would be spent at Hollywood Studios followed by the evening at Animal Kingdom. We opted for Hollywood first for a few reasons. One, we knew we wanted to also do Magic Kingdom and Epcot for sure. And those were fitting on Tuesday and Wednesday. Magic is never a good idea on Monday, and with the Food and Wine Festival going on, Epcot wasn't ideal for Monday either. We love doing Animal Kingdom at night, so that left Hollywood during the day. Melody LOVES Dinoland at Animal Kingdom, and we find it best in the evenings.

Traveling to Disney World - October 2021

Dec 7

Dec 7 Traveling to Disney World - October 2021

Not much fun is involved on travel days to Disney World. Especially when you are driving 10-12 hours. We got up as early as we could and headed down. We had to make the trip in one day, and we needed to get down to Orlando early enough that we could go to Shades of Green to get our park tickets before the ticket office closed.

Disney October 2021 Planning

Dec 5

Dec 5 Disney October 2021 Planning

Months ago, we found out both our in laws (brother/sister/nieces) and best friends were both going to Disney World during Fall Break. While it sounded fun to plan and tag along, several things kept us from booking a trip: money, 50th anniversary, Brad’s travel, crowds, etc. We also didn’t want to invade on their vacations. Well about two weeks before fall break, we still were not sure if Brad would be home or not. So I started looking at several options for Melody and me, including Disney. A few days before fall break, Brad found out he would be home, and we started floating around the idea. We kept going back to not going due to money and just the exhaustion of driving and a short trip. Melody was clueless about our family and friends going. But that changed the Friday before fall break. Her best friend, Lydia, found out she was going, and Melody started asking to go to Disney too. After a lot of talking, negotiating, and even some arguing, we decided Saturday morning we would head to Disney on Sunday. THE NEXT DAY! Thankfully I am a seasoned Disney goer, so this wasn’t impossible.

Disney World Park Pass System

Jul 27

Jul 27 Disney World Park Pass System

Something new to Disney World since COVID is their park pass system. It was originally put in place to truly manage park capacity in the early days of reopening after COVID. You could not park hop, so this kept Disney World in complete control of where everyone would be. Then park hopping started. They still require that you book a park pass for your first park, then after 2 pm, you can park hop to any park with availability. It looks like the park pass system is here to stay until at least January 2023. So I wanted to do a post about booking said passes. Check it out below.

Jul 25

Jul 25 Beach 2021

Back in June, we took a quick trip to the beach with Brad’s family. We stayed at Gulf Place on 30A in Miramar Beach, Florida. We have never stayed in this specific area, but Brad’s family was familiar with it and had stayed there. We didn’t book the trip until closer due to the uncertainty of Brad’s work travel, so we only were able to get a room for 3 nights. But we made the most of our time there and had a lot of fun!

Everything Pop Dining - May 2021

Jul 23

Jul 23 Everything Pop Dining - May 2021

During our recent Disney World trip in May 2021, we stayed at Pop Century. During this time, there were still a lot of COVID protocols going on. [I am not sure when you are reading this as to the accuracy of how things are in the present, so keep that in mind.] With these changes, I wanted to refresh our experience at the food court here at Pop.

Pop Century Revisited

Jul 22

Jul 22 Pop Century Revisited

So if you have been here awhile or have been reading up on my Disney posts from the past, you will know we were NOT fans for Pop Century back in 2017. We had a lot of bad experiences here, and even though there is some nostalgia from it being the first Disney hotel Melody stayed in, it was totally not our favorite by any means. I never would recommend this hotel. Well back in May we gave it another try. Not because I wanted to, but when we booked our trip it was pretty much all that was available that was reasonably priced. So we gave it another go.

Rise of the Resistance

Jul 18

Jul 18 Rise of the Resistance

Back in May when we visited Disney World, we were lucky enough to snag a boarding group for Rise of the Resistance. We went into the trip assuming we likely would not get to ride it, but we still booked a park reservation for one of our days for Hollywood Studios. We attempted to get it for 7 am. Read below about our experience. If you want to remain spoiler free, but you want to read about the boarding groups, you can read my post. I will keep the boarding group information at the top. Now as soon as you get beyond the boarding group screenshots, I cannot guarantee it will be spoiler free!

Garden Grill during COVID

Jul 16

Jul 16 Garden Grill during COVID

I have to admit, this was the hardest reservation for us to get at Disney World during our trip in May 2021. We really wanted this our first day for lunch, but we never got it. So we kept the reservation we happened to find before our trip for one of our evenings at Epcot.

Via Napoli Revisted

Jul 9

Jul 9 Via Napoli Revisted

Back in May when we went to Disney World, we were able to snag a reservation for Via Napoli. I wasn’t entirely sure if we would keep it since my dad isn’t the biggest pizza fan, but we opted to go anyhow. Brad and I went back in February 2019, and we really loved it. So we thought it would be worth trying again. We were uncertain of how things would be since due to COVID, the International Program was on hold, but we still wanted to try it again.

Disney's Skyliner

Jun 29

Jun 29 Disney's Skyliner

When the Skyliner was announced at Disney World, I knew I had no intention of riding it. It sounded terrifying. And with the accidents that happened after it opened, my fears had meaning. But when we booked our trip back in May 2021, the only affordable option was Pop which utilized the Skyliner for both Epcot and Hollywood Studios. Both were parks we intended to visit multiple times. So I had to overcome my fears.

Hollywood and Vine Play 'n Dine

Jun 27

Jun 27 Hollywood and Vine Play 'n Dine

When we visited Disney World back in May 2021, character meals were still minimal and came with little contact even when present. One we could not get before arriving was Hollywood and Vine during the breakfast hours. During those hours you are greeted with Disney Jr. characters. I thought for sure Melody would love this and be less skeptical. She is obsessed with Doc McStuffins, and she is a fan of Fancy Nancy. With little contact as an added bonus, I really wanted to snag this reservation. Well the night before a 9 am reservation opened up, so I grabbed it.

COVID and Disney World - May 2021

Jun 20

Jun 20 COVID and Disney World - May 2021

So in this COVID world, things are constantly changing. I really feel like that is totally the case these last few months. On our recent trip in May 2021, we expected it to be much different. We expected temperature checks, masks indoors and outdoors, relaxation zones, and plenty of social distancing. But literally days before our trip, that all went out the window. There were still rules, but not quite like we expected. Below you can check out what our trip was like with a lot of COVID rules in place. **Note that a lot of the rules have even changed when this article was published. It is a constantly changing thing. This is just how it was May 2021.

Chefs de France - May 2021

Jun 18

Jun 18 Chefs de France - May 2021

One of Brad’s most favorite restaurants at Disney World that we do almost every single trip is Chefs de France. On our last few visits, I finally found food I really loved there. My favorite has always been the lobster bisque, but on our trip in 2019, I found a new favorite - flat iron steak with pomp frites. It was amazing. But with COVID, they have limited their menu dramatically. So I wanted to do another review with the current menu. Below are review from previous trips: