"October Surprise" Trip Report - Day 1
“October Surprise” (or ICOT25 Celebration) Day 1
Trip Dates: October 11 – October 18
Resort: All Star Music
Transportation: Southwest Airlines, then Mears Connect to resort.
The Plan:Tuesday, October 11th: Arrival, then EPCOT for the evening.
The day started off as well as can be expected…Alarm goes off at 6am and I am ready for it. (BTW – That old commercial “I’m too excited to sleep!” gets it pretty close. I slept, but was almost anticipating the alarm going off.) Packed whatever last minute items I needed (or thought I might need…No, the ‘kitchen sink’ didn’t come along for the ride!) and made ready for the trip to the airport.
Flight boarded a little late and we were about 15 minutes late taking off. Most of that time was made up in the air! So, Southwest deplanes from Terminal B, but their baggage claim is in Terminal A, so it’s across the airport I go. Grab my checked bag and head BACK across the airport to Terminal B to catch my Mears Connect bus to All Star Music. I think I had the slowest driver for Mears, but we got there after a stop at Pop Century. The bus was serving Pop, ASMu, ASMo, and Animal Kingdom Lodge.
My room was ready, so I made a quick stop for my refillable mug – same pattern(s) as were there for my January trip – filled up my ‘water bottles’ and made my way to the room. Geez! Could they place me any farther away? Building 5 and on the backside. I’ve got a great view of trees and that’s about it. LOL No, I am not complaining.
Got my things situated and headed out to EPCOT for the evening. I wasn’t expecting to do a lot, as I said, ‘easing’ into this trip. It was already 5:30pm when I got there. Stopped to get my “Tiny World” and “SuperZoom” shots before I headed deeper into the park. These are both set up in the main entrance – Tiny World before you get to the acrylic ‘statue’ and SuperZoom just on the other side, between the ‘statue’ and Spaceship Earth (for anyone wondering where they are.)
Since I hadn’t eaten anything since my ‘breakfast wrap’ in BWI airport, I was a bit ‘peckish’ and made my way through the construction to World Showcase to grab a bite. Not ready to start sampling F&W offering, it was off to the UK for some Fish and Chips and a Bailey’s Coffee Shake. For some reason it seems that the shake portion is smaller than in the past, but it was delicious. There was one huge piece of fish with the chips, but was sufficient to fill me up and keep me going. From there I made my way slowly around World Showcase, checking out what kiosks were operational and the offerings available for my next EPCOT day. Didn’t ride anything or see any shows, just walked the promenade. “The Vybe” was on stage at the America Gardens Theater. Not bad, but I only stuck around for one song (that I didn’t recognize. LOL) Crowd level wasn’t too bad.
Made my way back to ‘Future World’ (Yes, I will keep calling it that!) to see what the Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind plaza looks like just as it started getting dark. Impressive, at least to me. Got a couple pics of the ship with Spaceship Earth in the background, then saw a PhotoPass photographer set up, so I got in line. I swear the photographer was taking about a hundred pics of the group of 6 at the head of the line! All 6, each one individually, pairs, etc. Next group, same thing. Then they switched out photographers and things moved a little more quickly. I don’t begrudge groups getting multiple shots, but boy does it slow things down. Got a few pics here and moved on toward Spaceship Earth to make my way out of the park. The display on Spaceship Earth is lovely and I got a brief video at the end of one of the segments. Will have to get more later.
The heat and humidity was starting to wear on me, yes even after only 3 hours in the park, so I made my way back to the room and called it an early night. Coming from 44 degrees and getting hit by 90, it took a lot out of me. What can I say, I’m a wimp! LOL
Just for the record…No matter how you feel, drink fluids (preferably non-alcoholic) as often as you can while touring the parks! Calf cramps are no fun when you are trying to get ready for bed!
Tomorrow is a DHS morning. We’ll see how early I can get out and to the park and how much I can get in. Not going to push it, but still want to hit some of the ‘major’ attractions. Maybe MK for the evening, but we’ll see how things shake out.
Stay tuned for more daily reports!!! LOL
