“Hope ‘Springs’ Eternal” - Disney Trip: Part 3

We structured our trip to Disney World a little bit differently than some might. 

In an effort to give the kids a break — and for the adults to rest weary leg muscles — we took time off between parks. 

When Neil and Theresa took the kids to Disney World in 2018, they went to the parks three straight days. You can easily kill 13 hours at any given park and barely scratch the surface of rides and attractions available. That can take a toll on your body. 

After our first day at the Magic Kingdom (Wednesday), I was happy to have a day off from walking and waiting in lines. The Magic Kingdom is awesome, but my feet still ached the following morning. 

We slept in a little bit on Thursday morning, then headed down to the hotel’s “Landscape of Flavors” food court — which is a cafeteria with made-to-order entrées and a la carte food and beverages in the Art of Animation Resort. 

Landscape of Flavors is open from 6 a.m. to Midnight each day. 

I ordered the “Waffle Bounty Platter” ($11.59) which included scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes, bacon, sausage and character waffles. I also added a croissant ($3.49) and a fountain drink ($3.99)

(Look... I know that might seem like an excessive amount of food for breakfast, but these are the lengths I go to when doing “research” for this blog!)

Scotland brought her new plush Mickey Mouse with her to breakfast. The toilet paper is a raincoat she made for the doll. 

Landscape of Flavors also offers other breakfast meals in the morning, along with made-to-order omelets and various a la carte items. 

The fast casual setting is one of the greatest strengths of staying at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort — it’s incredibly handy and convenient. It's also nice that they are open until Midnight. 

They also had these Easter egg displays in the food court (you could vote for your favorite):

Next to the food court is a fully outfitted Disney Store called the “Ink & Paint Shop.” Having a store on property might seem excessive to some, but it is actually nice to have one nearby. 

You walk through the merch store to get to the lobby. That area of the complex is really attractive. There are "cast members" on hand to answer questions, along with a business center that includes a computer, printer, fax machine, and a vending machine selling portable chargers. 

Outside the front door of the lobby is where you can hop on one of the buses to go to various Disney properties. 

After breakfast we decided to go swimming at the Big Blue Pool. 

There are multiple pools on the property (and one closer to our hotel room), but the Big Blue Pool is the largest and includes a separate splash pad. The whole thing is very attractive, with a “Finding Nemo” theme. 

Bridget put in a couple loads of laundry while we swam. The laundry operation was set up to send text messages when your laundry was completed (you could also check the status via mobile site that counted down the time). She and I took turns monitoring that from the pool. 

She didn’t get any pics of the laundry room, but said it was really nice. 

It was a beautiful day for swimming, but we had other activities on the agenda. 

Disney Springs was our next destination. It is Disney’s outdoor shopping mall (open to the public) that features boutique shops, specialty restaurants, a movie theater, and a hot air balloon ride. 

Twenty-plus years ago, our friend Tracy got me a t-shirt from the Planet Hollywood location in Disney Springs. It is a globe-shaped restaurant that looked a lot more fun back in the day (when it was painted like a globe, before PH rebranded). It was neat to finally get to see the restaurant in person. 

We ate lunch at Blaze Pizza — a wood-fired pizza joint in the center. We each got our own pizzas and they were delicious (they also offer some unique fountain drinks and juices on top of the standard fare). This is my pizza (pepperoni and italian sausage):

It was really warm that afternoon. There was a choir singing in an amphitheater. They must have been sweltering under the robes. 

Bridget and I had success finding matching Disney World shirts at the World of Disney Store. They had plenty of XLs available for me. I also picked up a “Star Wars” shirt while we were there. Scotland posed for us in front of Cinderella outside the store...

Speaking of “Star Wars,” there are two stores selling SW merchandise — Star Wars Galactic Outpost and the Star Wars Trading Post. Of the two, the Star Wars Trading Post had the best selection (but I didn’t find any additional shirts or merch I couldn’t live without). 

Before I forget, if you visit the World of Disney at Disney Springs, Stitch might “spit” on you from the roof, so watch out for that! (my brother-in-law, Neil, texted me this photo from when they went back to the mall a few days later):

After doing a little more browsing (I wanted to look at the Marvel Super Hero Headquarters), Bridget and I headed back to the hotel to watch the first game in the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Frozen Four on ESPN 2. 

(Which basically turned into a 90-minute nap for me. By the way, Minnesota Duluth beat Providence, 4-1.)

Neil, Theresa, and the kids did some more shopping and visited an outlet mall in the area.

During an intermission of the second Frozen Four game, Bridget and I walked down to the food court and grabbed some stuff to eat. 

We weren’t terribly hungry. Bridget — prepared woman that she is — had ordered a box of snacks to have delivered to the hotel from Amazon Pantry on the day we arrived. (She saw this Pro Tip online.) That meant we had chips, animal crackers, Cheez-Its, chocolates, and a 12-pack of bottled water on hand.

That said, we both got a plate of Disney’s House-made Potato Chips ($3.49) and bowls of the Chicken Noodle Soup ($4.39) at Landscape of Flavors and took them back to our room. 

Disney’s potato chips are phenomenal, by the way. 

It wasn’t nearly as exciting as our day at Disney’s Magic Kingdom Park, but it was nice to be able to relax a little bit and enjoy some of the other amenities Disney offers. 

By this point I was really enjoying myself. 

Nearly all of the trips Bridget and I have gone on have been either business-related or hockey-related. It was kind of nice to be doing something different — where we could just chill out and have fun. 

Next up: In “Part 4” of my Disney Trip series, learn about the odd-tasting drink I had at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. 

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