Walt Disney World - We're back!

Our travels since July have taken us to multiple states and lots of different stops, but Florida is where we call home. Why Florida? There's a few different reasons, but one that can't be downplayed is Walt Disney World! While we're here we're planning on going frequently!

We arrived in Orlando on Wednesday. Thursday, after dinner, Theresa asked me if I wanted to hit up Disney Springs. Definitely!

We didn't mention it to the kids, instead saying we were going to take them some place special. They set in the back seat, trying to piece together clues to figure out where we'd take them. 

Ian - Is it some place fun? 

Yes. 

The signs on the roadway were big clues too. "Disney World - Next Exit". They were getting excited and finally Ian asked if we were going to Downtown Disney. You figured it out! Except it's called Disney Springs here!

We're still aiming to walk 500 miles this year and I think it's going to be a lot more fun to walk around a Disney property versus an RV resort. There's so much new stuff here at Disney World!

One thing that hasn't changed though, and is always a kids' favorite, is Goofy's Candy Company! 

Right before we left California, our next door neighbor gave the kids a Disney gift card as a going away present. They haven't forgotten and were excited to spend it on whatever they wanted! Like candy!

Ian really wants cotton candy. Alli really wanted to get a Minnie Mouse caramel apple. 

Thank you Mr. Sam!

There's some pretty cool things here, like the Rainforest Cafe. It spews fire from the volcano above every 30 minutes!

I always like to stop by The Art of Disney to see what new things they have. 

This photo and many of the ones above have Hidden Mickeys and Hidden Characters scattered throughout the print. This one has 52 Hidden Characters and 32 Hidden Mickeys! They loved looking through it. 

The next day, after finishing school, we hopped back in the car to explore Disney Springs again. This time we stopped in the Lego Store. Disney Characters made out of Lego! I love Ducktales! Woo-ooh!

We each checked out which Batman character we'd be from The Batman Movie. Ian and Theresa were Batman, Alli was Vacation Batman, and I was the Boy Wonder Robin. 

Since the focus is walking, instead of just going back and forth on the Disney Springs side, we continued on to Saratoga Springs and Disney's Lake Buena Vista Golf Course too. 

A bunker with a Mickey Mouse shape! 

Three days later, back to Disney Springs! More walking!

Ian has been eyeballing this popcorn bucket since we got here. He loves Disney popcorn. And the best part about these Walt Disney popcorn buckets is that they are refillable! 

Alli loved Ian's cotton candy the other day, but she really wanted pink this time. I thought it would taste the same, but this one had a watermelon flavor!

It's been a week of visiting Disney Springs to walk around. We've been here 4 times already! We'd thought of holding off buying passes until after the Thanksgiving break, where we'll be headed to Colorado for a couple weeks, but... why wait?  

Disney Springs has a Ticket Center right here where we can buy our passes. Cast Member Kelly was great at getting us all set up, linking the passes to our accounts, and making our first reservations. 

It's a different coast, but we're Disney Annual Passholder's again!

And so, the very next day, where are we? Epcot! The night before we watched stories on the history of Epcot, plus a lot of the new things that are coming. 

Our passes are scanned... 

We're home!

So technically, we're still avoiding people and crowds for the time being. Our mission today is to explore the park and get more walking miles in. But there's a couple things we're going to take advantage of. The all-new Club Cool was something we've been excited to see return!

Eight different soda flavors from all around the world. Perfect for taste test lovers like us!

Italy, Madagascar, Dominican Republic, Korea, Philippines, China, Russia, and Moldova. Which ones will we like? 

We got as many cups as we could carry and took them back outside to enjoy. 

There were some winners and definitely some losers. 

Beverly tastes bitter of course, but I thought it was a little sweeter than usual. It was way better than that Tonic Water we drank a few weeks ago. 

I thought the Bonbon Anglais was tasty. The underlying flavor of this soda was Banana. Weird!

The kids thought the orange Country Club soda from the Dominican Republic was the best. 

Theresa liked the Korean Joy Apple-Lychee was great. It was her favorite. 

My favorite sodas from Club Cool in the past have been the ones that tasted like Melon. Royal Wattamelon from the Philippines is the one I'm most excited to try. It was good, but the watermelon flavor could have been stronger. 

China's Suan Mei Tang (Sour Plum Tea) sounds interesting. Theresa - Oh my, this tastes like BBQ sauce. Surely you can't be serious. I gave it a try and... Wow. It's BBQ sauce. There's even a little bit of a smoky flavor to it! That is not good. Beverly, you've got some competition!

Theresa did not have high hopes for Cucumber Sprite from Russia. Does cucumber really need to be in soda? She tried it and was surprised. It's got a fresh cucumber flavor. It's not her favorite, but she'd try it every now and then for a new taste. 

Last up was Viva Raspberry. If you like raspberries, this is the one for you. The kids and I liked it. 

Hi Joy! It's fun seeing characters again!

Like I said, the goal is walking today, so we walked towards the back exit of the park. There we found the new (to us) Disney Skyliner! These gondolas travel to a few different Disney Resorts and even Hollywood Studios! 

They are happy to be back on rides too! 

Using Ian's popcorn bucket, we got a refill of Maple Popcorn from the Canada pavilion. We snacked on it while we road the gondola over to Hollywood Studios. 

It's before 2pm, so park hopping isn't allowed. So instead, we turned around and started our walk. 

It goes along the Boardwalk and all the way back to Epcot, right about 1 mile! We ducked back inside, circled the World Showcase, stopped into Club Cool again, and then walked back out to the Boardwalk. 

This time we walked over to Disney's Beach Club resort. The kids loved seeing the pool and giant slide, wishing they could go on it. Inside they are getting into the Christmas Spirit with this carrousel made out of gingerbread and chocolate! Love it! It reminds us of all the amazing cakes we saw at the Grand Californian lobby. 

Eventually we walked all the way over to Hollywood Studios where we walked around all the lands that are new since we've been here last. 

And our goal of getting in a lot of walking was a success! The kids loved walking around Disney. We traveled the path between Epcot and Hollywood Studios 3 times and got a total of 10.5 miles of walking in for the day!