Wilderness Lodge Holiday - Part Three
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Today promises to be a bit warmer than the last couple of days. We might even get to 70 degrees today!!
We had originally planned to go to Animal Kingdom this day but had spent the day there not even a week before so, instead, decided we would visit the Epcot area hotels to see what they had for holiday decorations.
The first bus we saw was one to Animal Kingdom and we thought we had missed it as it started to pull away from the curb but the bus monitor at the station pulled it back. Strangely, we boarded a totally empty bus!! One additional passenger showed up and the three of us were off to Animal Kingdom. Once we got off the bus, we began to look for a bus to either Swan/Dolphin area or Boardwalk. A bus did arrive at the stop but the driver said he was dropping off only and we needed to check with the bus monitor to ask about getting a bus to our desired location. (Someone else posted recently that buses were not going back to resorts from parks until later in the morning so I wondered if that was what this was about.) We found the bus monitor and she directed to a stop and told us to just let the driver know where we wanting to go. Another family was also trying to return to the Boardwalk area so we were able to get a bus together.
The bus arrived at the Swan first so we got off there. We explored the Swan and the Dolphin; then walked over to Boardwalk and explored that resort. Next up was the Yacht Club followed by the Beach Club. My favorite decoration from these resorts was the gingerbread carousel at the Beach Club. We also had a nice conversation with the cast member there about the making of the carousel.
As we left he Beach Club, we were getting hungry so decided we would see if there were any tables in the United Kingdom lounge where we might order fish and chips and, if not, we would walk over to Morocco. Since no tables were to be had in the lounge, it was on to plan b. At Morocco, we were seated outside (at our request) where we shared an order of fried calamari.
We had tried several times over the last couple of months to see the American Adventure. Either our timing was off or it was closed for technical issues. Today, we entered just as the singers were finishing - I would have loved to hear the entire group of holiday songs but, at least, we actually got to see the show today.
Since it was a pleasant afternoon, we decided we would return to our resort and try to find someplace to sit outside in the sun. By time we got back and got a table outside by the pool, it was already after 3 o'clock so we only got to stay out for about 45 minutes or so before cooler air was settling in again and the sun was disappearing.
For dinner, we headed over to Geyser Point. Since there was a wait to be seated, we opted to eat at the bar. I had a chicken sandwich while my spouse had the smoked turkey.
With full tummies, we headed back to the bus stop to get a bus to Epcot. Our plan was to see the holiday version of Illuminations. It had been about a year since we had last seen Illuminations and, since the show will be changing, we wanted to see it one last time. I was even able to get a fastpass for it!
We still had some time to wait as we entered the park. Spaceship Earth was 10 minutes on standby so we went on that. We also went to the Mexican pavilion and rode the ride there. We hung out for a while and got on line for the fastpass area. They allowed us to enter the area around 45 minutes prior to the fireworks.
The show was wonderful and I am so glad we made sure to see it!!
Once back at the bus stop, we only waited about 10 minutes for a bus which quickly deposited us back at Wilderness Lodge.
Thursday, December 13, 2018
This is our day to check out. While I had made some fastpasses for today, I canceled them as we decided we would just pack up and leave. We had a couple of errands to run on the way home so we were on the road by about 9:30 that morning.
