Spring Break Girls' Trip: WDW

Last fall, Mark's mom decided to organize a trip to Disney World for the girls, and she was generous enough to include me! They picked the week of Katie's spring break to go, which happened to be the same as my spring break. Heidi was able to skip one week of her classes, so the four of us were able to embark on a great adventure and make some memories together!

Our trip included 4 days of park hopping at WDW plus one day at Universal's Islands of Adventure, and a travel day on either side. Here's our basic itinerary:

• Sunday--travel day, shopping at Disney Springs, and dinner at Portobello Italian Restaurant 
• Monday--morning at Epcot, lunch at Tokyo Dining, and Hollywood Studios for the afternoon, a quick dinner, and Star Wars fireworks
• Tuesday--morning at Animal Kingdom, lunch at Flame Tree Barbecue, late afternoon and evening at Magic Kingdom with dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table followed by the Celebrate the Magic show and Wishes fireworks
• Wednesday--Universal Studios, shopping at Disney Springs, and dinner at Grand Floridian Cafe
• Thursday--morning at Magic Kingdom, lunch at Be Our Guest, and afternoon and evening at Hollywood Studios, with dinner at Mama Melrose and Fantasmic!
• Friday--morning at Magic Kingdom, lunch at Casey's Corner, and afternoon and evening at Epcot, with dinner at Beaches and Cream plus Illuminations fireworks
• Saturday--travel day (Mom and Katie went back to Disney Springs for shopping and lunch before their late afternoon flight)

Overall, I think everyone had a great time. I'm not sure anyone else in the group has become as much of a Disney fan as Mark and I are, but each of us had a few highlights (along with some challenges!).

The biggest issue was that Heidi came down with a stomach bug that had her cooped up in the hotel room for most of Tuesday and part of Thursday, and just not feeling well otherwise. She was able to see each park, though, and she was really good-natured about the whole thing. We were all glad it didn't get worse, and that no one else got sick. Mom was dealing with some hip pain, but she really powered through and walked all around everywhere despite it. Since coming home, it sounds like her chiropractor has improved the pain greatly. I had a little bit of knee pain, but managed to keep everything under control with just two days of taking my arthritis meds. I also got a weird rash on my ankles on the last day that went away shortly after coming home (apparently this isn't uncommon--some call it the Epcot rash, which is where I got it! It's more formally known as golfer's vasculitis). All that said, Katie held up better than the rest of us; just a touch of sunburn and a few rides that jostled her shoulder. So...those were the rough patches!

But the highlights included several of the rides--Heidi's favorite was Tower of Terror; Mom enjoyed Test Track. We also had some wonderful meals--Tokyo dining was a big hit. The weather was gorgeous--cool in the mornings and evenings, no rain at all. And we had a few lovely Disney surprises, like a ride over to our hotel building with the luggage delivery guy on arrival day and unexpected Fantasmic! dinning package tickets and a bonus Fast Pass from our server at Mama Melrose. Of course, the main thing was just spending the time together! Given that the 4 of us shared one hotel room for a week, everyone got along so well. We had lots of great conversations, and I'm sure we'll enjoy reminiscing whenever we get together (but hopefully not in a way that makes the guys and Heidi's kids feel too bad about not being there!).

Ok, now for the pics! Since we did jump around a bit from park to park, I'll post photos by category instead of  in chronological order.

Our hotel, the Caribbean Beach Resort

In the morning, walking toward the main building.

The courtyard by the main building.

The eating area in the main building.

Universal Studios: Islands of Adventure

The entrance to the Harry Potter area.

The ride in this castle was really interesting,
plus the queue went through the castle itself.
My favorite part of the line was the room
 with portraits that talked to each other. 

Katie was really looking forward to this area!

Inside the post office where Katie bought a wand.

A very cute themed candy store.

This was my favorite area at Universal.
It felt just like stepping into a Dr. Seuss book!

In the comic strip themed area.

Somehow, I didn't get many pictures in Super Hero Island.

Epcot

Our first character greeting: Baymax.

Ranger Mickey topiary in honor of the
National Parks Service Centennial celebration.

A classic Flower & Garden Festival pic.

We enjoyed sampling the Coke flavors
from around the world at Club Cool.

Part of an amazing acrobat show in China.

Hollywood Studios

Storm Trooper sighting!

Enjoyed seeing the Star Wars fireworks for the first time--it's a great show!

Always love the Beauty and the Beast musical.

With the Sorcerer's Hat gone, there are some
nice photo ops in front of the Chinese theater.

Glad we got to see this show, which recently closed permanently.

Part of Fantasmic!

Animal Kingdom

I really didn't want to do this pose...
but it turned out very cute!

For Mark!

Part of the new location of the Lion King show.

Magic Kingdom

At Cinderella's Royal Table
(I felt quite under-dressed with all these princesses!)

Jasmine complimented my earrings and
said I must have gotten them from the Cave of Wonders!

Outside the Tangled themed bathroom--my favorite in the park :-)

I really love the Celebrate the Magic show. 

in front of Be Our Guest

the cottage in the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train queue and ride 

taken on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Food

dessert at Portobello--so rich and chocolaty!

breakfast quesadilla for breakfast (split 3 ways)

one of my favorite meals on property--Tokyo Dining

Heidi and Katie both enjoyed this chicken dish there.

Darth Vader cupcake at Hollywood Studios

One of our biggest meals, at Flame Tree BBQ in Animal Kingdom.
Mom & I split the platter on the left; Katie had the pulled pork on the right.
I especially enjoyed the pulled pork and the onion rings :-)

fancy salad at Cinderella's Royal Table.

surf and turf

lovely desserts, including the "clock strikes twelve" 

classic WDW breakfast: Mickey waffle!

This tasted much better than it looks in this photo!
It's a surf and turf burger with onion marmalade and lobster
 from the Grand Floridian Cafe.

Mom's chocolate fondue dessert.

Katie's dessert sampler.
I ordered the almond fruit tart on the left.

another less-than-photogenic entree, but this braised pork with
mashed potatoes and green beans at Be Our Guest was delicious!

desserts at Be Our Guest--mine was the orange eclair on the left.

a giant carrot cake cookie from Writer's Stop
(which just had a total menu overhaul--no more bakery items!)

excuse the blurry photo of this tasty salad at Mama Melrose

mushroom pizza (something Mark would never want to split!)

Casey's Corner--my pulled pork coleslaw dog and Katie's corndog bites.

finally got to try a sweet almond pretzel in Norway with Katie!

Huge reuben sandwich with onion rings and
cherry Coke at Beaches and Cream.

My new favorite dessert on property:
grilled banana bread with peanut butter, topped with
vanilla ice cream and caramelized bananas. Yum!
I'm going to try to replicate this at home one of these days.

Katie always picked cute desserts :-)

As you can see, we had a great time! Lots of beautiful scenes, entertaining shows, fun rides, and delicious food. Plus, great company all along the way!

Thanks again, Mom and Dad, for treating us to this fun trip and all the memories we made together!