My first blog post!!! I’ve been tossing around, “What should I start with? Which trip should I talk about first?” Well I decided to start with my most recent!
I was very excited to be invited to attend my travel agency’s Disney Agent Education Program this past March. About 40 agents from Mad Hatter Adventures Co descended upon the Walt Disney World Resort! This would be my very first time meeting ANYONE from the agency in person…including the owner! To say I was nervous is an understatement.
My flight was leaving from Philadelphia bright and early at 6 a.m. I was able to meet some fabulous agents as soon as I arrived to my gate. Before I knew it, we had landed at MCO, and we made our way to the Magical Express. Lines were very short, as it was only 8:30 a.m. in the morning! We were staying at Port Orleans French Quarter and this was our queue:
We arrived at French Quarter and to our surprise, our room was ready. I grabbed a quick breakfast of Mickey Waffles before heading to the room to dump off my carry on and rest for 10 minutes as I was getting a headache.
They were in the process of refurbishing the rooms at this resort. We did not get a refurbed room which was totally fine! We only spent time in the room when sleeping and showering. This is probably my favorite Moderate Level resort. It’s small! Everything is a short walk away. There’s a boat to take you to Disney Springs, and only one central bus stop for transportation to the parks. I like the theming and the grounds. It’s just beautiful!
Now it was time to head to EPCOT! We had free time today until a cocktail welcome party in the evening. We wanted to make the most of our short time here, and check out the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival! So off we headed to the bus stop. This is a nice new addition to the bus transportation areas at the resorts. It allows you to see when the next bus will be arriving. Rats…we just missed the Epcot bus!
I had to stop at the ticket window to activate my Annual Pass (AP). I’m a DVC member and they had an amazing Annual Pass special this past year. I grabbed my passport and we were on our way!
Well…almost on our way. We had to stop for some PhotoPass pictures. You wouldn’t know it by looking at this picture, but I only met these people for the first time that morning! (A perk of having an AP…Memory Maker is included!)
We all had various FP+ set up for the morning. We headed for the Land pavilion so some could ride Soarin’. I personally do not go on that ride, so I spent some time browsing around Sunshine Seasons. Everyone was hungry, so we grabbed something small. I opted for the Kid’s Chicken Caesar Salad meal. This came with 2 sides and a drink. I chose things I could take with me and snack on later. This is an INCREDIBLE value! The grand total for everything pictured was $6.38. This salad is super tasty and I wouldn’t hesitate to get it again. (As a side note…adults can order from the kid’s menu at any quick service dining location! It’s cheaper and typically comes with a drink and 2 sides.)
From here, we went to ride Living with the Land. There was actually a line for this! We probably waited 20ish minutes. We had some other people who were meeting up with us at this location, so we didn’t mind the wait. I couldn’t help but take a picture of this quote on the wall. (Which I never see because there’s never a line when I ride it!)
From here, we headed over to Journey Into Imagination with Figment….which was down! So to regroup, we headed to the DVC Member Lounge located directly above Figment. This is a great place to get a drink, snack, charge your phone, get out of the rain/heat/crowds, etc. We chatted for a little bit and got to actually know each other and then headed back down to Figment.
Fun fact! Did you know that there are several photo booths all around? These are included if you have Memory Maker! This one was at the end of Journey Into Imagination with Figment. Typically it looks nice and professional, but we all 3 jammed in the booth so had to push the curtain back out of our way.
Now it was time to head to the World Showcase and check out some of the Flower and Garden booths! (These booths are similar to the Food & Wine Festival booths. They offer snack sized foods and different beverages.)
Our first stop, which ended up being my favorite out of them all, was The Honey Bistro hosted by the National Honey Board.
We ended up splitting things so we could sample more! This was the Honey Tandoori Chicken Flatbread with White Cheddar Cheese, Charred Vegetables, Clover Honey Sour Cream and Micro Watercress ($5.25 and DDP Snack Eligible!) This was my favorite out of everything I tried at the booths! It had such a good flavor.
This was the Roasted Cauliflower with Buckwheat Honey Carrot Puree, Wild Rice Pilaf, Asparagus, Honey Blistered Grapes and Sunflower Brittle ($4.50 and DDP Snack Eligible.) This was also very good!
We made our way around counter-clockwise. I personally didn’t eat anything at the next few stands. Besides food booths, there were so many amazing topiary displays! This was one of my favorites. We had a FP+ for Frozen Ever After. I’ve only been on this once before so I wanted to make sure to ride it this time!
My next food booth was Bauernmarkt Farmer’s Market. I tried the Potato Pancake with Caramelized Ham, Onions, and Herb Sour Cream. ($4.50 and DDP Snack Eligible!) This was good. Not great, but good.
We had a FP+ for Spaceship Earth and had to be exiting the park by 6 p.m. ish, so we started to make our way back to the entrance.
I had to make one quick stop before exiting to check out some merchandise! I completely regret not getting this backpack…
Up next… {AEP Day 2!}
