We were welcomed with a great breakfast spread and these lovely goodies for the program.
Then, we had three hours of class. They were informative and entertaining. Because I try my best to stay as plugged in as possible to Disney announcements, gossip, blogs, podcasts, forums, FB groups, and on and on, not much was super new to me. You would think that would have made it dull, but it really wasn't. In fact, it was so much fun to get in a group of people and talk about Rivers of Light, Pandora, Skipper Canteen, Tiffins, and on and on and on. There was no lack of enthusiasm for all things Disney in that room! Our facilitators did a great job of answering all questions, from the basic to the very specific.
Since we were working at the Boardwalk, we split up into two groups to tour that resort. I had not been inside it before, so it was great to check out.
It has a fun pool (to be fair, there is a scary clown face slide, but the rest of the pool is super cool! Unless you have a serious thing about clowns, I wouldn't let that scare you away from considering this resort).
The lobby is gorgeous with some great turn of the century touches. I was a fan of the mer-horses!
The rooms are spacious and well furnished and the beds looked super comfy.
All in all, it feels like a great deluxe resort. The other thing it really has going for it is the location. When you walk out the back of the resort, you are on the Boardwalk. it is totally gorgeous. There are places to eat everywhere. Then you can literally just waltz right into the back of Epcot (through the International Gateway). Being able to walk into a park is a pretty incredible perk.
Then we hopped onto the bus and headed over to Art of Animation. It is technically a value resort, but it is the only resort that is based on the idea of family suites. It does have one section of standard rooms, but the primary focus is the larger suites that sleep 6. The theming of this resort is probably the most FUN and in-your-face Disney of any resort at WDW! If focuses on the animation from The Little Mermaid, Finding Nemo, Cars, and The Lion King.
Before we toured the resort, we had lunch in the Landscape of Flavors. It is such an awesome food court. If you're staying at Pop Century, it's worth the walk around the lake to check this place out and enjoy a yummy meal! I think part of what makes this a great family resort is the number of choices in the food court area. It makes it pretty easy to please a big group!
The main pool at AoA is called the Big Blue pool. It is giant and has some fun theming. Because it's a value resort, it doesn't have a slide, but it does have music playing underwater!
The theming in the Cars section is just amazing! There are life sized Cars characters everywhere and the pool has Cozy Cone Cabanas where you can catch some shade in your pool side chairs!
We went into the rooms in the Lion King section of the resort. I have booked people in these suites, but seeing it myself really helped. I think that there is actually more room than I expected there to be. There is a bedroom that has a bathroom. Then, there's a second bathroom. The couch turns into a bed and the kitchen table is actually a fold down bed. In other words, there are three sleeping spaces, and it still feels like there is a lot of room. The amenities are more like a value hotel, but the space feels much much bigger! I honestly can't believe I haven't stayed here yet, but I can assure you I'll fix that soon!
This is the table/bed. I have a video of pulling it down. Happy to text it to anyone who wants to see it!
Then, the Little Mermaid section has the same room set up as Pop Century (it was supposed to be the same resort when they built it). It has two double beds. It is a long walk to the front of the resort, but it wasn't as long as I had imagined. If you have your own car, it's really easy to get to the parking lot. So if you plan to drive around property, it can be a really great option. These rooms almost never go on sale, but they are pretty fun!
A little detail that I love is that the fish on the buildings by Ursula are swimming away from her and they are swimming towards Triton and Ariel!
Up next is the Polynesian! Totally classic Disney. They lobby has been re-worked so that you can see Cinderella's Castle from the front door, and that is pretty cool. They also have Dole Whip--sold yet? And the monorail?! Plus, we got a hula lesson in the lobby! EEK! Ok, let me back up!
So, we got to the Poly and we were all dying to see the new bungalows! We were told it was unlikely, but I was holding out hope! We had to wait a while for the keys to the room. Fine with me--DOLE WHIP TIME!
If you don't know about my total obsession with Dole Whips, check out this blog post! We also got a hula lesson, because Disney Cast Members are the BEST.
In fact, I generally just love the details around this resort. It's very much my style :-)
We DID get to go into the bungalows. These are literally floating in 7 Seas Lagoon and they are completely magical. They sleep 8, they have 3 bedrooms, and a kitchen/living room that's amazing.
The pull down bed here is SO cute!
And there is a plunge pool on the deck. You can watch fireworks from here every night.
This is the dream, folks. This is as good as it gets ;-)
I pretty much spent the rest of the day trying to figure out how to swing one of these bad boys. Girls trip--that's how I'm going to do it. Now I only need 7 other friends to split it withe me for the weekend. I'll be taking volunteers in the comments section ;-)
After we left the Poly, we did a quick run through the Beach and Yacht Clubs. These resorts share the most amazing pool on property--Storm-along-Bay. It's incredible and it has a sand bar in it! I don't know how I walked away without pictures of the pool, but I did have picture of the flower arrangement in the lobby. I might have been getting tired!
Around 5 or so, they told us we were done with the official "work" for the day. You could take the bus back to Animal Kingdom Lodge, or you could go off on your own. So, it was Magic Kingdom time for me!
I ended up park touring with my new friend from Ohio Danni. We only made it onto Big Thunder Mountain and a meet and greet with Tiana and Cinderella. Tiana was hilarious and adorable!
We watched Wishes from the outside terrace. They pump the music in, which makes it just wonderful! After the fireworks, they seated us almost an hour early, which was nice!
I want to do a post all about the California Grill, so let it be noted that the meal was nothing short of spectacular. It was just the best.
We had no plans to get dessert, but our waiter basically told us that you can't miss the creme brulee from the California Grill, and he was right!
We wandered down to the gift shop in the resort and did a little shopping. Then, we hopped on the monorail to the bus stop and took a bus back to Animal Kingdom Lodge.
We agreed it was the best day ever....until the next day!
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