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Old 17 Jan 22, 07:13 PM  
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Supersofe
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Cookies and Scream- November 2021- Day 6 Lake Apoka, Resort Hopping and Epcot

Day 6: Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, Resort Hopping and Epcot

My Pre-trip report is here


Day 5 is here

This morning we really caught up on some sleep and weren’t up and ready to leave the hotel until 9.30am! We caught the local weather forecast on the TV and were happy to hear that we were in for some good weather today as it had been a bit overcast with rain for the last few.

We were planning a slightly more chilled day today and our first stop was to First Watch (I drive) for breakfast. I had seen this on Tim Tracker’s videos and it seemed like a nice place for breakfast. With it being a Sunday it was a little busy and we were told that it would be a 35/ 40min wait (in hindsight you can actually put your name down via the website before arriving). We decided just to wait as it seemed easier than trying elsewhere. As we only had a British mobile number we weren’t able to get a text when our table was ready (we had this issue a few places) but the hostess told us to wait nearby and she would yell at us. While I waited on the bench, J went and filled the car up with gas which was a good use of time. The price of gas has gone up a lot compared to when we were last in Florida in 2018 so be warned!

We got called about 30mins later and shown to our table.
We both got the Million dollar sandwich, I got mine with breakfast potatoes and J got his with grits. I got a morning meditation juice and J got a coffee. They had cute little flavoured creamers to go in your coffee like pumpkin pie, J enjoyed the oatmeal cookie flavor. The food was lovely though the syrup drizzled on the sandwich seemed a bit unnecessary. I didn’t make a note of how much this cost I’m afraid.




After breakie we headed to the Lake Apopka Wildlife drive about 40 mins away. I got the idea for this from the Dibb, it is a free drive around a nature reserve but is only open on Fridays and weekends. There were volunteers at the entrance who gave us a map and told us about the drive. They suggested that we use the audio tour on the website (via our phones) which worked well.

The drive around took about 2 hours in total. We got out the car to have a look around at various stops and we saw so many gators (some very close to the road!) and a huge variety of birds too. It was really interesting hearing about how this area was totally ruined by pollution and how they are trying to bring the wildlife back. We really enjoyed this visit and I would really recommend it if you fancy something a bit different close to Orlando.



At about 2pm we finished the drive. Our plan for the afternoon was to head to Blizzard Beach but when we put it in our phone for directions Google helpfully told us it was closed! This hadn’t been advertised when I was planning our trip a few weeks before and unfortunately at this point Typhoon Lagoon had not reopened. So we needed to re-plan! We decided on a bit of resort hopping and luckily I had made a park reservation for Epcot for this day too.
We drove to Epcot and got there at about 3pm. From the entrance we got the monorail to the ticket and transportation centre (at Magic Kingdom) and then we waited 10minutes for another monorail to the Grand Floridian.

I have never been to the GF before and wanted to see the giant Gingerbread house. The resort itself did seem very nice but it was also very busy with lots of people milling around everywhere. The gingerbread house was very impressive but I’m not sure how much of it was actually made of gingerbread! The queue to buy treats from here was very long!



We had a nice wander around outside and it was a lovely day. Then from here we took the walkway to the main entrance of Magic Kingdom which took about 10 minutes.
We waited about 10 minutes at the Magic Kingdom entrance for a boat over to Wilderness lodge. This was a lovely ride on quite a small little boat. The captain was hilarious with lots of funny jokes to rival Jungle Cruise which to keep us entertained the whole way.

Once we got to Wilderness Lodge we took a meander around to Geyser point. We wanted to eat and to be shown to a table we had to use the entrance kind of round the back of the lounge (someone had to tell us this!). At was about 4.45pm and there were a few tables left.


Geyser point was lovely, it is undercover but open sides with a view out to the lake which was so beautiful especially at this time of day. J ordered the crab cakes and a beer; I went for the cheesy beef brisket and I wanted the Ear-descent drink (where you add a little fizzy Mickey) but they didn’t have any of these left (like a lot of the 50th anniversary stuff unfortunately) so I went for a lemonade instead. We knew the food wasn’t designed to be big meals but J’s crab cakes were pretty small (he had some of my crisps!). However, both meals were very delicious and we loved the setting looking out at the lake. This came to $41 in total.



After tea we went and had an explore of Wilderness Lodge. We had a little game of corn hole around the corner from Geyser Point which was fun (though I am terrible). Wow, this resort was so beautiful. The lobby was insane, the Christmas tree was incredible and there was a lovely fire with rocking chairs to sit in. It also seemed a lot quieter than the Grand Floridian which I think I would prefer if I was staying here.


Now it was time for us to catch a bus back to Epcot. Unfortunately we just missed one (we saw it leave) so we had to wait 15 minutes for the next one (it was a bit chilly but luckily we had packed our jumpers!). The bus to Epcot did feel like quite a long drive from Wilderness Lodge.
Just as we entered Epcot, Spaceship Earth was doing a light show, sparkling away which looked lovely. We had some photo pass photos in front of it while it was quiet. Then we headed for a ride on Spaceship Earth (10mins wait) which was very enjoyable and relaxing. I am looking forward to the update though!


We headed over to ride Nemo and friends which we walked on to. This was good but the little song was very out of time and the different speaker seemed to be playing different parts of the song which didn’t make for a very relaxing ride! After this we had a look around the aquariums, I loved seeing the Sea Turtles but the manatees were already tucked up in bed.

Then we headed over to Soarin’ which had a 15 min posted wait time. We basically walked on and were seated in C1 in the middle so very good seats. I’ve never been that bothered about this ride before but for some reason (probably my long wait for some Disney magic) I completely fell in love with it this trip. It was so smooth and relaxing and the smells were incredible (I must be going soft).

After this we headed to Sunshine seasons for a snack and a bit of a sit down. I got a warm cinnamon roll and J got a coffee ($8). This was perfectly nice, though Cinnabon has really spoilt me and nothing compares!


It was about 8.15pm now and we headed for a go round of living with the land which I secretly love. It was a bit annoying though we kept catching up with the boat in front. I love the section through the greenhouses but I’m not sure the night time is the best time to experience this. We also noticed that the Garden Grill restaurant wasn’t spinning (we noticed this a few times during our trip), I think that takes away the USP of this place slightly.

Next up we decided we had time for a ride on Test Track; we got to the entrance at about 9pm and the wait was posted as 35min. The queue moved very slowly, we were waiting in the room before the car design studio for what felt like ages! I’m a bit indifferent to Test Track to be honest, a lot of build up for the fast outside section which is basically the only good bit (and it was extremely cold on this occasion!).

We left Test Track at 9.40pm and we thought we had until 10pm to find our spot for HarmoniUS. We were wandering around to world showcase when at 9.45pm the show started! We managed to find what seemed like an OK spot by one of the shops.

I’m not sure about this show to be honest. Although we felt pretty central I really couldn’t see the side screens or tell what was going on on the main screen either. The best location to watch (i.e. dead centre) was roped off for a dessert party which is quite frustrating. The fireworks themselves were very impressive but I think I preferred Illuminations. It just seems a shame that with the round shape of the park, it’s not equally visible from each spot. However, we did come back later in our trip and find a much better spot (basically the other side of the lake round in world showcase by Japan), we had a much better view and I did enjoy it this time (I'll post photos on that day). I think there are a lot more viewing options over on this side of the lake.

As we left the park after the fireworks Spaceship Earth looked absolutely magical. The new lights make such a difference!


We drove back to the hotel but unfortunately we got stuck in traffic (just a road closed). We were back and tucked up by 10.45pm.

This day was a little different from our usual but honestly one of my favourites of the whole trip. We were disappointed not to get to the water park but I really loved trying out all the Disney transports and seeing some lovely resorts (I might have to start saving now for a trip to Wilderness Lodge in 10 years). We also managed to get a surprising amount done at Epcot considering we hadn’t really planned on going.

Thanks for reading, let me know if you have any questions! I’ll try and get on with day 7 soon where we head for some more coasters at Busch Gardens!
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Old 17 Jan 22, 07:56 PM  
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princess allie
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A lovely day, we also love the Lake Apopka wildlife drive, well worth a visit.
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Old 17 Jan 22, 08:46 PM  
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MrsSilverStar
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Sounds like a lovely day! Wilderness Lodge is so gorgeous, would love to see it at Christmas.
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Old 22 Jan 22, 12:10 PM  
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Supersofe
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Originally Posted by princess allie View Post
A lovely day, we also love the Lake Apopka wildlife drive, well worth a visit.
Oh yes definitely, it was even better than expected!
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Old 22 Jan 22, 12:11 PM  
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Supersofe
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Originally Posted by MrsSilverStar View Post
Sounds like a lovely day! Wilderness Lodge is so gorgeous, would love to see it at Christmas.
Oh it was so beautiful, never seen such a huge tree (until we got to Animal Kingdom Lodge!)
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Old 22 Jan 22, 05:34 PM  
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A great day Lake Apopka sounds lovely

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Old 23 Jan 22, 11:00 AM  
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A fun day of resort hopping and seeing all the Chrsitmas trees. You did well in the evening at Epcot getting on a few rides and seeing the new night time show.
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2017: NYC and Orlando. Salzburg. Boston.
2018: Orlando. Berlin.
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2021: Jamaica. Rome.
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2023: Orlando. Niagara and Toronto.
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