Shopping Day!

J. is playing golf on the course that winds through our resort.  He was up early and I am enjoying a lazy-ish morning.  On my 2nd cup of coffee and giving careful consideration to getting showered and dressed soon.  I'm heading to Disney Springs where the world's largest Disney store is and will do a bunch of fun shopping.  Pins, apparel, garden items.  Super excited for a long morning of browsing.  Everything I buy can be sent directly here to the resort for me to pick up tomorrow so I don't have to hassle with shopping bags.  I'll meander through the area and find a nice place to eat. 

We did Epcot yesterday.  Soaring Over the World did not disappoint and we'd love to soar again but sadly, no fast passes available.  Waiting over an hour to ride again isn't in the cards for us.  Epcot is massive and we split up for lunch.  J. crossed the 'pond' via boat to go eat Moroccan and I stayed on the park side of the pond and headed for Mexican.  We also enjoyed the garden sites and the butterfly building - so pretty!

We spoke to people who come to the parks often and marvel at how there really is no comparison between Disneyland and Disney World.  There's so much LAND here - still so many possibilities to build at some point and just the massive 'connectedness' of the parks.  It's really amazing what is created here and how efficiently it runs.  Even lines for restaurants are 'staffed' - they direct you to the shortest line and ensure no one is line jumping and ensure things run as efficiently as possible.  It's pretty impressive.

I'd have to put this out there - I think I'd rather save up for five years and come HERE for my Disney fix vs. Disneyland.  Disneyland just doesn't compare at all for me at the moment after spending a week here.

Tomorrow is our last full day and I think we're planning to head to The Magic Kingdom for part of the day.  I also might visit a park solo later today depending on my stamina.  I hate having a day of non-park time since we paid for the passes for six full days, all parks, any time.  J. asked me how much our tickets were and I had to say I have no idea.  It was all a 'package' and I don't really know the net cost of the park tickets. 

Considering I moved to Old Key West based on pricing, it's worked out pretty well.  It's Disney's first 'time share' property and it's really quite lovely.  Small buildings with multiple rooms, all with small kitchens (some have a full kitchen if there are multiple bedrooms in the unit).  Like a studio apartment.  Everything is well maintained and maid service is (still) daily.  Our unit is steps away from a 24 hour pool and we've enjoyed that as well.  We ate dinner at the pool last night - shared a big sandwich with homemade potato chips and had a margarita (J.) and an on tap beer (me.  And I have to say that drinking anything other than Blue Moon is hard for me but we paid for a Bud Light so I drank it).  Meeting nice people and families who vacation here year after year - some staying for weeks at a time.  Of course, we got hit up to attend a presentation to 'buy in'.  And we aren't planning to attend, not even for the $100 credit they offered.  We've considered making a vacation home purchase for years - but always stop ourselves when we think about going to the same place year after year.  We made a list of all the countries we've visited in the last five years and realize none of that would happen if all our vacation dollars were going to pay for 'one place'.  So we pass. 

I'm sold on staying here again, though - and do think we will arrange another visit.  I'd really love to bring 'the whole family' at some point - though that feels complex, fraught with drama and...of course...super expensive.  But it would sure be fun. 

It's approaching 9AM so I'd better get dressed.  I'm 'late' (I planned to leave the apartment by 9 but I'm not going to make that).  It's been nice to have a quiet morning of not needing to get anywhere or do anything specific. 

All in all, we've had a lovely time here and are still dreaming about the ship - so much fun!