Everyone woke up the next morning, raring to go.
We finally had some time to check out our home away from home, and we were thrilled. We requested a higher level room, close to the elevator- thinking that the shorter we could keep the walk back to the room, the better, with four little legs tagging along.
In my research, I had come across a number of images representing the floor plans for a two bedroom villa, each showing the room to basically be split into thirds, with the living space in the middle, and the bedrooms sandwiching the living space. I had also stumbled on a description of a different configuration, and as luck would have it, we ended up in one of the oddly-shaped rooms, surrounding the atrium. The room was perfect in every way. It felt plenty roomy for two little toddlers to spread out and play, while still allowing for four adults to have a little quiet space.
One major concern that a lot of people have about Wilderness Lodge right now is that it’s under a lot of construction. We are not ‘a lot of people.’ We have two kids that are obsessed with all things construction. Our room overlooked the work site, and this allowed us a perfect opportunity for some down time. We fully expected to need a break from the parks at some point(s) over the week, and we were more than happy to add one more activity to the list.
Another exciting discovery was the perfect view of the Electrical Water Parade!
Once we had checked out the room, we got ready to head to Epcot for our first day of adventure.
We packed snacks, extra clothes, snacks, little toys to help get through any lines, and more snacks, then loaded it all into the stroller. Remember, Nonie & Pops had graciously allowed us to borrow some trunk space on the drive down, and we sent them with our stroller. It didn’t take long at all before we realized the stroller needed some TLC. All three wheels were flat. We had just filled them before leaving, so this was a clear indication that there was something actually wrong with them. A few phone calls later, and we decided that getting them fixed would be complicated, time consuming, and perhaps not even possible. A few more phone calls later, and we had a rental stroller lined up, though Orlando Stroller Rental.
The stroller was to be delivered to the bell desk, and we could pick it up later that day. It came with a free cooler that we could keep! This company was wonderful to work with, making things as easy and stress-free as possible.
Remember this for later- we opted out of the rain cover, because I had read that the storms were so short that by the time you got your cover out, open, and over the stroller, everything would have been wet, and the storm would have passed
Crisis averted, we set off to start our trip with a day in Epcot, and no stroller.
Our first FP+ that day was Figment. Our other FP+s were Nemo, and Spaceship Earth. I had strategically scheduled our Nemo FP+ just before lunch, so we would be right near our reservation at Coral Reef. Our kids love fishies, so I thought they would get a kick out of the huge tank wall.
They absolutely did.
Figment was a great way to start the day. The kids LOVED the ride, and it was a nice gentle introduction. The activities after the ride were also fun for them. What a great first Disney experience.
After lunch, we brought the kids back to the room to attempt a nap. It was tough to keep them up on the bus ride, but we did- and they rewarded us with a decent nap.
The plan from there was for TT Dad and I to sneak away to the Expo, returning in time to pick up the stroller, and get back to Epcot for our dinner reservation at Akershus, with the princesses.
One of the more repeated pieces of advice I saw while researching for this trip was ‘Don’t try to cram in too much into one day!’
I get it, now.