On Sunday, September 5, 2021 at 7:38:52 PM UTC-4, Sue/WDW1972 wrote:
DAY 4 – Sunday 9/5/21
Who: Sue (62), DVC Member
Holli (50’s), friend
Chris (34), son
Amanda (32), daughter-in-law
Ari (5), grandson
Plan: Pool, Remy’s Ratatouille preview, Lava Lounge
Actual: The Hollands got back around 9 last night, and Ari had used some birthday gift cards to buy a Jack Skellington in a Santa costume. He said they didn’t have the regular one so he had to get the Christmas one. This kid loves Nightmare Before
Christmas, and has several pajamas, a backpack, assorted popcorn buckets, etc. We hung out for a while, then headed to our beds around 9:30.
After sleeping well again I got up just before 5, made my cappuccino and brought it back to bed while I watched the morning news & did online stuff. I headed out to the living room just before 7, once I heard Holli folding the murphy bed back up into
the wall. Ari & Jack Skellington soon came out of the other bedroom to join us. Eventually I made breakfast – Ari wanted a hot cooked egg vs the other hard boiled egg this morning so I cooked his first and brought it out to the balcony along with his
chocolate milk. Holli had already eaten her English muffin so I made my egg and slice of bacon then joined Ari on the balcony.
After breakfast we hung around a little, then Holli & I agreed to go to the pool earlier. We changed into swimsuits, grabbed our stuff and were out the door at 8:15. Chris & Amanda had just gotten up and were getting ready to start their day. We walked
over to Congress Park and once again were not the first to arrive at the pool. It was very nice out there – it’s a shame I didn’t make this preview reservation for late afternoon, but I was concerned about the likelihood of rain/thunderstorms this
time of year.
I left Holli at the pool & went back to the villa at 10. Since I figured I’d be sweating over in Epcot I just cleaned up some but didn’t do the whole shower, wash & dry hair thing. By 10:30 I was headed to the car and drove over to Beach Club
Villas to “visit” a dvc friend who’s staying there right now. I parked the car and walked through the pool area to the Epcot walkway out back. I was a bit concerned International Gateway would be a zoo due to the Skyliner dumping thousands of rooms
of non-Crescent Lake guests into the area, but it wasn’t bad.
There was a long line, and that was for the dvc preview people. Everyone else just breezed right past and went into the park. I didn’t really understand this, as nothing was checked or done in the long line, other than sweating in the sun. I think
maybe if you didn’t have a park reservation they would have done something to get you in but since I had one I think my time in this line was a waste.
Chris & his family were in line at Test Track, about to board. Ari had Amanda send me a picture of the car he designed, and it was really nice! I walked towards Canada and it was hotter than the surface of the sun around World Showcase. Basically I
sought out shade wherever I could. The food & wine kiosks were not very busy, but it was too hot to consider getting anything. Wine would be hot in no time, and although I love the cheese soup in Canada it just didn’t sound right in this weather! I sat
on a bench across from Simmering Sips to wait for the others.
After Test Track they got Ari some mac & cheese from that booth (over by Test Track) and then walked over to meet me. We continued to France, arriving about 10 minutes before noon. They were only letting the 11-12 people in at that point so all of us
12-1 people stood off to the sides. I chose the doorway to the air conditioned perfume shop <g>, but to the side so I wasn’t blocking anyone. A minute or 2 before noon they called for us to line up and it didn’t take long to get into the area.
Remy had a 10-minute standby wait posted, which sounded pretty good. The Creperie had a huge line of people snaked around outside the building, in the hot sun. There’s no way I’d have done that! We walked up to the attraction, then waited while
Chris had to go park the stroller back where we’d come in, and then joined the queue. We were boarding our rat at 12:11.
The attraction is similar to the railway thing at the Studios, and is basically a kiddie ride. You wear 3-D glasses, and they have the expected special effects. I never saw the movie, but it was a cute & fun little ride. I would not wait 40, 50, 60
minutes or more to ride it though. I’d say 20 would be my upper limit – which means I’m not likely to be riding again any time soon <g>. They do have a single rider line here, and since the cars are 2 rows of 3 (like Test Track), there should be
plenty of opportunities for single seats.
Coming back outside they had a couple motorbikes set up, which Ari & Amanda posed on. There was nothing to prevent people from riding again, so they decided to stay & do it again. The standby wait was now 30 minutes. I decided to head out, and said I’
d see them later. I walked back to Beach Club Villas and texted Holli when I was almost at the car to let her know I was headed back.
She was all showered and ready to go, so we took the bus to Congress Park and then walked from there to Disney Springs. At the Marketplace we walked over to Rainforest Café and entered the Lava Lounge. This is an outdoor bar over the water, with
several tables as well. You can get the full menu out here. With ceiling fans it was decently comfortable, and we grabbed the 2 empty seats at the far (shady) end of the bar.
They were very busy – this is a popular spot today! We each got the pinot grigio, prompting the bartender to ask if we wanted to just get a bottle. We declined, knowing we’d have wine at the villa later. We shared the chicken strips, with the
coconut curry sauce we like. It was a nice little lunch – not filling, but tasty. After settling the check we walked back to the villa and enjoyed the air conditioning! Housekeeping came by to do our trash & towel service, which didn’t take too long.
The Hollands got back from the pool around 3:30 – evidently they got back to the villa while we were at lunch and went to Paddock Pool. They’d done Remy one more time, then left because it was so hot out. After showering and getting dressed they
headed over to Disney Springs for dinner at Guy’s Chicken. Before they left I had Ari check the top drawer of my dresser, which is where I put his Jack Skellington popcorn bucket since he wasn’t behaving yesterday.
Once over there they refilled Ari’s popcorn bucket and he ate almost the whole thing. It started pouring while they were waiting to get inside Guy’s Chicken (or is it Chicken Guy?). It sprinkled here. A little after 5 we cut up more of the cheese
and laid out crackers. We had another bottle of sauvignon blanc and enjoyed everything while watching the evening news and then trash tv shows on TLC.
The Hollands got back around 6:30, and Amanda heated up the leftover spaghetti for Ari since he hadn’t eaten much chicken. She got sucked into the trash tv shows too. We’re such a bad influence, lol.
Today was another great day. My pool time was a little short, but it was also very hot out there so maybe it’s not a bad thing <g>. It was way too hot for traipsing through the parks, but I’m glad we were able to do the DVC preview of the Remy
attraction. I expect it’ll be mobbed once it opens, so this eliminates any pressure to see it. Lava Lounge was a good pick, although it’s much nicer when it’s not humid and about 10-20 degrees cooler <g>.
Tomorrow the Hollands head to Hollywood Studios and Holli & I go back to Gainesville.
Sue/WDW1972
Thank you for this TR. My brother and SIL are flying down tomorrow for a week at OKW. I’ve been able to tell the a little about current conditions at WDW. It’s helpful.
Judy
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