Disney Travel Day
Our flight left Boston at 6:50 am, which means we had to leave the house at 4:00AM. We drove down to MA last night to get as much sleep as we could before heading out to Logan International Airport. Traffic going into Boston was already steady, but I guess that is normal work day flow.
Being dropped off at the airport makes things so much easier, and comparing our experience to when we flew to Seattle, checking our bags was a breeze. We had 45 minutes to spare even after getting through security. It was plenty of time to get coffee and breakfast sandwiches. The flight was quick and uneventful, which is always good.
We deplaned, grabbed our bags, and a new coffee before ordering an Uber to take us to the resort. We arrived at Shades of Green a little bit after 11:00AM, so much earlier than I thought we would. Arriving at your Disney Resort is the beginning moment of peace. Our room overlooked one of the pools and had easy access to Evergreens, the sports bar. After unpacking we relaxed for a few minutes by the pool with a few strawberry daiquiris.
Our lunch reservation for Sanaa at the Animal Kingdom Lodge is at 1:30 and we wanted to Uber over and explore first. We chose Uber because the bus route would have taken over an hour and taking an Uber takes about 15 minutes. We were dropped off at the wrong entrance though, and this is where I learned how big the Animal Kingdom Lodge is. On our way over to the correct section of the lodge we explored, and got to see the wildlife roaming the grounds. Sanaa was an amazing experience. Our table overlooked the savannah grounds where the Zebras, Giraffes, and other wildlife were roaming. We started with the bread service, and split a lamb kafta plate. The food was amazing but the experience was really worth the hype.
The adventure didn’t end after lunch. Leaving the lodge we accidentally got on the wrong bus (we were intending to go to Disney Springs), the bus we were on dropped us off at the Saratoga Springs Resort and we walked the rest of the way. Our first official stop at Disney Springs was Dockside for a road soda (margarita). I was incredibly excited to try out Gideon’s Bakehouse, they weren’t open during our last visit but the theme is right up my alley. The crowds were really beginning to pick up as we walked around and did some shopping. Taking a break from the crowds we headed for our favorite spot at Paddlefish for a final marg. It was getting close to when the fireworks at Magic Kingdom were going to go off and we made the last minute decision to beeline it to the Polynesian. The plan was foiled rather quickly when we figured out-the hard way- that the bus stop location at Disney Springs had moved since we’d been there.
The night quickly took a very drastic, and very serious turn for us as we were learning that a very devastating tragedy was actively taking place at home. We were sitting on the bus, excitedly hoping we were going to make it to the fireworks on time when texts started rolling in with trickles of information about what was going on. This blog is about our time in Disney, so I will not go into great detail about the event itself but it is important to acknowledge that it happened and is something that will affect our community for a lifetime. The short bus ride felt incredibly long as we reached out to friends and family to see if they were ok.
We were in the happiest place in the world, while our hometown was suffering. That is an incredibly difficult pill to swallow. It is easy to forget life while you are on vacation. You wrap yourself in activities, let work, life, and your problems fall away. Sometimes it’s not possible to leave everything behind. The night ended somber, with us trying to work through everything that was happening while we were over a thousand miles away.