CRP | Staycations #4,5 & 6

Continuing our journey around all the Walt Disney World resorts, next up we have Saratoga Springs, Coronado Springs and the Yacht Club!

Saratoga Springs sits prettily on the lake by Disney Springs and is mainly a DVC resort meaning that (to my knowledge anyway!) the rooms are studios or villas.  Saratoga Springs is also host to the treehouse villas which look incredible but we stayed in a two bedroom villa. The resort is inspired by Saratoga Springs, New York and there are references to this area throughout the whole resort.  I loved how clean and fresh the resort was, it feels so spacious and roomy so you're enveloped in the whole story.  The villa was, of course, immaculate and it's nice to have a little kitchenette in the rooms so you can truly feel at home!  In fact, we got a quick service meal and took it back to the room to have a little family meal!

Coronado Springs is a moderate resort based around Mexico and the southern states. Dena says that it's one of her favourites and that is high praise indeed.  Coronado Springs is massive and the accommodation borders a lake.  The main pool has a huge Mayan pyramid and looks pretty impressive!  It's also a great spot to catch a movie under the stars.  Coronado also has a cute little outside bar if you want to grab a refreshing drink to unwind.  I love the moderate resorts here - they are great value for money; the standard of the resorts is impeccable and although the rooms are a little bit smaller than the deluxes, they are more than enough.  

The Yacht Club is a deluxe resort in the Boardwalk area, just a stones throw away from Epcot.  The Yacht Club shares a lot of its facilities with its sister hotel, the Beach Club.  The Yacht Club tells the story of the hey-day of Coney Island so think lots of white plank boards and nautical references.  We got a magical upgrade to a lake view on the groud floor and it was stunning!  The room itself was also lovely, very nautical with a hint of Mickey here and there!  The Yacht and Beach have so many great bars and restaurants close by, it's probably one of my favourite areas here at WDW.  The Yacht and Beach have an amazing sand bottomed pool too as well as a few other smaller pools dotted around with jacuzzis.  I didn't venture into the pools unfortunately as it was a little too chilly for me!

What's on your playlist?

The great thing about living in the United States is that when you want to travel around, it can make for an amazing road trip!  There's nothing better than driving down the road with your windows down and your favourite song playing on the radio.

We've already had some great trips so far - we drove to Savannah, South Carolina and Atlanta... as well as a few trips to the Kennedy Space Center and whenever I hear songs that we played on those drives, I'm instantly transported back there (more often than not, we were singing at the top of our voices as well!) 

However, the main problem that we have here is that we don't own a car and we're either having to spend a fortune on collecting the rental car from the airport or another location or forgoing the road trip altogether and taking a bus.  There is a solution though: Turo allows you to find the perfect car for your road trip by renting a car from a local driver and you can choose from a whole range of cars by searching your dates and location.  Once you've decided on your car, collect from the owner and you can have a stress-free, unforgettable road trip!  Car owners can also list their own car on Turo and many renters leave their own playlist in the car for the road trippers to enjoy - what better way to broaden your musical horizons whilst making memories!

Our next road trip is a pretty big one; we're planning to visit 11 states in 25 days so of course, we're already planning our playlist for the journey!  Here's what we love to sing along to at the moment:

What's on your road trip playlist?

A visit to Savannah, Georgia

After a while of living and breathing Walt Disney World, you need to escape the bubble and go to see what real America has to offer.  However, that being said, as silly as it sounds, I was a little apprehensive about actually leaving Orlando so Savannah was a great little place to visit.  It's a port on the coast of Georgia, Florida's neighbouring state, and only about a 5 hour drive! 

It felt great to jump into a hire car (finally!  Freedom!), turn the radio up and drive.  I'd realised how much I actually enjoyed the driving part of trips and the mini holiday actually starts then, not when you arrive in your destination however many hours later. 

Savannah is a gritty but beautiful little city, steeped in history and culture.  Throughout the city, there are beautiful squares (Chippewa Square is where Forrest Gump's bench was set), each with their own personality and interest.  At the centre of the city is Forsyth Park with its picture perfect fountain.  Throughout the park, there are families playing, couples strolling hand in hand, cyclists, and buskers filling the air with music.  I loved that about Savannah, you can almost sense the art and creativity in the air.  

As you wander through the streets, you can drop into antique shops or vintage clothes shops and browse for a bargain.  On West Broughton Street, you'll find a lot of high end shops as well as small independent shops, we had to stop by the Savannah Bee Company and sample all the amazing honeys and get a bag full of popcorn (birthday cake and Key lime pie flavour) from Savannah Rae's.  I loved the old cinema buildings as well as the beautiful Antebellum style town houses.

Savannah is famous for it's riverfront and we walked along it but found it to be full of regular tourist restaurants and shops; the streets nestled in the heart of the city were much more appealing to us.  It was also super easy to navigate around the city.  We obviously brought the car but we left it at our motel (The Thunderbird Motel - Krispy Kremes for breakfast and Moonpies on your pillow!) and just walked around, I think it's a better way to get a feel for a place. 

We also visited the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum.  It's a small, privately run museum but it is definitely worth a visit that documents segregation in Savannah.  I definitely learned a lot and even now, makes me so sad to think about it.  

We also took a trolley ghost tour.  I love learning about the paranormal side of anything and I was most looking forward to this.  Our ghostly host shared stories about many of the spooks and spectres that reside in Savannah, I just wish we could have stopped at more of these eerie locations!  Whether you're a believer or not, I think Savannah definitely has a paranormal vibe about it at night! 

We were only in Savannah for three days but it definitely left an impression on us.  It's a city full of grace and poise, but is also a little rough around the edges so you can feel at home and relaxed there.  Southern charm, indeed!

CRP | 8 months in...

Clearly, I've been slacking in the blogging department during my program here at Walt Disney World. I always feared this would happen but life is so crazy busy out here, there is always something to do and I just haven't dedicated enough time to writing. That being said, I've been meaning to write some new posts and share my news for a while now so I'm going to try and devote more time to it!

I think the last time I posted was way back in November at the end of the Food and Wine Festival. Since then, understandably loads has happened! I've nearly completed my bucket list challenge of staying in all the Disney resorts and I have been able to make it out of state a few times as well! 

I'm very much settled into Florida life now and if I'm honest, once of my main concerns is how I'm going to readjust when I go back home. It's such a unique and weird place to spend your daily life in; you're very detached from the rest of the world and you can lose your sense of time as not much changes within the World - everything is very consistent on a day to day basis. 

That being said, I thought I'd use this post to share some of my highlights of my Program so far! 

1. Being able to enjoy all the "special" times and events. 

When most people visit Disney World, they come for a week or maybe two and obviously you enjoy whatever is happening at that time. If you're lucky enough to visit a few times of the year, you might experience a special festival or holiday. When you get to spend the whole entire year here, you get to see them all! We've been to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, a Very Merry Christmas at the Magic Kingdom, Frozen Fever and Star Wars Galactic fireworks at DHS, Food and Wine, Candlelight, Easter, Flower and Garden at Epcot and fingers crossed, we'll be here for the launch of Rivers of Light at Animal Kingdom. When Disney does a special event, they really do it well and it's such a privilege to be able to go trick or treating at Magic Kingdom or try 30 different food kiosks at Epcot. And that's just the parks and it not mentioning Christmas and Easter at the resorts.

2. The staycations. 

I love love love having the opportunity to stay in as many Disney resorts as possible. It's been one of my very favourite things to do. It was on my bucket list to stay in them all and I'm well on my way (three more to go!). Staying in a resort is a great way to unwind and disconnect from the craziness of the parks but still feel a part of the Disney Magic. I also love to learn about the different stories behind the resorts; it makes you appreciate how amazing and talented the imagineers are! 

3. Travelling 

Although it can be hard to get time off work and this can make it super difficult to organise trips, the program is a great opportunity to travel. We've done carefully organised and planned trips as well as spontaneous day trips to cities across the other side of the country. It's also so good for the soul to get out of Orlando and WDW and experience "real life" every now and again. You also get the added bonus of 30 days travel time at the end of your visa here and we're currently planning an 11 states in 25 days road trip, which frankly, would be completely unfeasible if it weren't for the this program. 

4. Trying new things! 

The great thing about the WDW property and Florida being so tourist-centric means that if you want to try something new or learn about something new you can. I've been canoeing at Fort Wilderness (I never thought I'd canoe) and discovered a new found fascination with space. I know people who have sky dived, held baby alligators, gone manatee spotting, gone to a chocolate museum, the played escape/logic games... you name it, you can probably do it here in Orlando!

Here's to keeping my fingers crossed and posting more frequently!   

CRP | Epcot's Food and Wine Festival

The past six weeks or so have been crazy busy at work due to the 20th Food and Wine Festival at Epcot.  It's pretty much exactly what it says on the tin: a massive celebration of international food and drink in the World Showcase.  There have been 31 extra food kiosks around the lagoon and in Future World and it's been a great way to try some different cuisines!  It was initially our plan to try something at every food carts but due to hectic schedules and other plans, we only managed to try 21 out of the 31 - not too bad of an effort though! 

What was great about this festival was the fact that every single dish we tried was delicious!  The chefs did such a good job of making sure all the food was great quality.  Most of the dishes were around $5 too and tapas sized so it was pretty affordable.  

Along with the awesome food and drink, there were free concerts performed by some well known (and some less well known) bands and singers although I didn't manage to catch any of them.  

I think I visited the festival on three separate occasion as a guest and I have been thinking about what my favourite dishes were... it has been a really tough decision!  I think my favourite savoury dish was the Kalua pork sliders and favourite sweet dish was the liquid nitro chocolate truffle from the Chew Lab.  I was also really pleasantly surprised by the Pumpkin Cider from the Florida Farm Fresh stand - who would have thought that Pumpkin spice would make for a delicious cider?  It was like a refreshing mulled wine!  

A lot of guests have visited Epcot purely for the Food and Wine festival so it has been great hearing how the festival has grown and become bigger and better every year.  It seems as if Disney are striving to make it even more impressive and a few episodes of the Chew were filmed in the park, which I think must have been pretty exciting for foodies!

Now the festival is drawing to a close, I think Epcot is going seem quiet for a little while before Thanksgiving, Candlelight and Christmas kick into action.  It's been so much fun being able to get to take part in all of these incredible things that happen in the Disney parks; I still pinch myself to remind myself that it's all real... I think I'm pretty  much going to be saying that all year round!  

CRP | The breakfast blog

Warning: there is more eating involved in this blog! I think I said a couple of blogs ago that breakfast is one of my favourite meals and working a lot of evening shifts means that it's the easiest meal to eat out for.

A lot of the restaurants offer a la carte breakfast dining or buffet and to be honest, I have tended to just go for the buffet as its great value for money and the best way to fuel yourself for a busy day at the parks or work! I really must try and steer myself away from the buffet at some point though and try some of the delicious sounding breakfast options! I really need to try real American French toast (that's confusing!). 

First up, we have breakfast at Trail's Emd at Fort Wilderness. I really want to give them props for their guest service too; we arrived a little bit late for the breakfast sitting but as the buffet was still out, they allowed us to have that instead of ordering lunch. Although you have similar breakfast staples across all buffets, they also have individual twists suited to each resort. For example, at Trail's End, they had cornbread muffins straight up from the South! One of my favourite items from this buffet was the chocolate chip Mickey waffles (I will never, ever get sick of Mickey waffles!). It was also great to have loads of fresh fruit - something that we aren't really eating a lot of at the moment. I also unstandably enjoyed the huge selection of pastries: donuts, muffins, cinnamon rolls.... Yum! All, of course, washed down with bottomless coffee. 

Next up, we have The Wave at The Contemporary. Our second restaurant at The Contemporary, The Wave bases itself on modern American cuisine and this is evident in its buffet extras. They offered sweet potato pancakes, eggs benedict, salmon and an awesome build your own parfait station.  I stocked up on more Mickey waffles smothered in hot maple syrup served with crispy bacon. They also had a large selection of cheeses, ham, various fruit salads, breads and pastries. The Wave fits in perfectly in The Contemporary, it's design is almost 1980s like, but that fits Walt's vision of the future. I've really enjoyed both my meals at The Contemporary and I'm desperate to eat at Chef Mickey's, where you can watch the monorail soar silently overhead while you enjoy your meal! 

Thirdly, we took a little tour off property for a genuine American breakfast experience! Our American friends took us to one of their staple restaurants: Crackerbarrel! Crackerbarrel is Southern cuisine which, seems to me, means hearty portions of delicious food! The menu was HUGE! I struggled to choose what I wanted but ended up going for blueberry pancakes. These pancakes were some of the most delicious I have ever come across. They were light and fluffy with crispy edges and packed with blueberries. The portion was so generous I couldn't finish it and I really liked those pancakes!! While you're waiting for your food, they have a little peg game to play and you can also play board games there as well. Attached to the restaurant is a shop filled with all kinds of goodies, from food to holiday decorations to music. It was one of those places you could happily wander round for ages. 

America really knows how to do breakfast! 

CRP | Staycation #3 The Grand Floridian

It's been so hard trying to keep up to date with my blog but I'm going to try and catch up a little bit!! I've been busy staycationing so we'll start with probably my favourite so far....

The dream finally came true! I got to stay in The Grand Floridian and it really was everything I wished it could be and more. This resort is so beautiful and elegant without feeling stuffy or uncomfortable. If you couldn't tell, I loved it! 

We managed to actually see a little bit more of this resort as we had a bit longer there. The main entrance is a wonderful hub of activity: shops, hairdressers, restaurants and plenty of comfy chairs to sit and relax on. There's also a band that plays, which definitely helps transport you to a bygone era! 

The whole resort is reminiscent of a Victorian seaside town, complete with th architecture and areas to promenade around. We explored two of the swimming pools; one of which is nestled right next to the lagoon. 

We ate at the quick service restaurant (hurrah discount) that is right next to the jetty. Again, the food was delicious and wasn't too badly priced either. There were setting up for a wedding reception too and I really couldn't think of a more beautiful setting: in front of the lagoon, Cinderella's Castle on the horizon - a perfect view of Wishes. Of course, we came back later to watch the fireworks from this viewpoint! 

The rooms themselves were heavenly! They were so luxurious and the Grand Floridan provides a nightly turn down service including little chocolates on your pillow. There were also bathrobes (loved a hotel with bathrobes) and plenty of toiletries including a foot scrub and after sun. For me, it's little touches like this that put this hotel above the rest! I would put this hotel on par with the Four Seasons - it's really that good! 

I enjoyed myself so much that I would love to go and stay again and see what else this resort has to offer. They have restaurants that have amazing review and I hope to try a few of them throughout my program. 

Staying in the resorts is something I'm so glad I'm able to make the most of; they're so different and are a great way to escape some of the intensity of the parks and room sharing!