Day 4: Wednesday February 21: Break Day! (DS and Pool)
Wednesday was our rest day! When I’d come in 2008 with my friends this was the approach we took—2 full days in the parks, a rest day in the middle, 2 more full days. It worked well for young 20-somethings. I figured it’d work well for some mumble-somethings, some mutter-somethings, and a 4yo. We had an ADR for City Works in the late afternoon but that was our only set plan.
I still woke up at 5-something because my body sucks that way, but I didn’t get out of bed till close to 6. I’d had a vague idea of heading to the Joffrey’s by the Skyliner and theoretically this would’ve been a good morning to do so, but then I thought how that would require walking and I decided not to.
But I enjoyed having a morning of not needing to buy G+, set up party for VQ, or try to join VQ and choose LLs.
It worked out well because on Sunday, our travel day, I received an email with proofs I needed to approve of a story I had coming out, with a due date of EOD Wednesday. I rightly assumed I wouldn’t have time Sunday-Tuesday, so I was glad our plans allowed me to get those done. And that I had my iPad to look over the PDFs instead of just my phone.
The story’s pretty short, so I got the proofs checked and approved with maybe 10 minutes of focused, no-distractions effort. (Hard to come by at WDW!)
I think DH and DD4 were waking up by 7:00 or 7:30. We had a slow morning and leisurely breakfast from our groceries (yogurt, fruit, cereal bars, etc.). Our tentative plans were to head to Disney Springs. DD4 also wanted to go to the pool. She’d had some private swimming lessons the previous summer but since she takes so long to warm up to people, hadn’t trusted the instructor enough to let the instructor "swim" her in the pool (vs pulling her on a float) till around lesson 6 of 8.
So! Since she was expressing an interest in trying more we wanted to support that. But it was still a little cold so DH and I decided we’d head to DS for a bit, get me replacement sunglasses since I’d lost mine the previous day, hit up Gideon’s (that was the main thing I wanted to do at DS) then see where we were at re: returning to CBR for a swim.
MIL and FIL didn’t want to go quite as early, so around 10:30 DH, DD4, and I headed to the bus stop to catch the DS bus.
As I said, our set plans consisted solely of City Works, selected because DH is a beer aficionado and it had a children’s menu DD4 would like. I’m more of a wine person and would’ve liked Wine Bar George but the kids’ menu was a bit lacking. Maybe another time!
I think we were at DS by 11:00 or a little later. We walked some, noting Chicken Guy as we passed, looking for a place where I could get new sunglasses. Like I mentioned, my previous pair was a $20 pair from Wal-Mart. I’m not precious about them and didn’t like having to pay DS prices, but eventually found an acceptable pair at Planet Hollywood for $30. DD4 picked out a souvenir, I think a yellow (her favorite color) ball of some sort which I believe has already gotten lost.
She then started saying she was hungry. We headed back to Chicken Guy after confirming we could get her beloved mac & cheese (yes, DD4 is a stereotypical 4yo in terms of her tastes).
I actually hadn’t looked up anything about Chicken Guy in advance so it was a small surprise to us that this is a Guy Fieri restaurant!
We ordered: 3 tender meal for me with side of fried pickle chips. 4 tender and coleslaw for Taber. Mac & cheese and fries for Nova though she tried some chicken and pickle. Bbq sauce, sweet & sour sauce, honey mustard, ranch for pickle chips.
As I recall the sweet and sour was the only sauce I felt a little meh about, though I think that’s because I decided it didn’t meld/go with the chicken that well. My fault for picking it!
But the chicken strips were very good, especially for QS. The tenders were actually tender and fresh, not ones sitting under a heat lamp for an hour. DD4 also enjoyed her Mac & cheese.
But of course I didn’t get pictures of any of it.
We hit up the restroom (DD4 and I had a 10-minute wait, the reason for which came clear when a lone mom emerged with her 3 (4?) children. Oof. My hat is off to you, fellow mom!)
Bellies full, it was time to head to my main DS goal, Gideon’s! After seeing it pop up on so many TRs and reading more about the goth vibes, I knew I had to try it. (I'm not an outright goth, but I generally write SFF so there's some crossover in fandoms.) DH is also a casual Tim Burton fan, so I got him onboard by likening it to Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, etc.
Plus, we are a cookie-loving family.
We made our way to Gideon’s. I think we arrived by around 12:00. We were told it was a 30-minute wait and that wait was on the shorter end for them. I have a higher line tolerance than DH so wasn’t too bothered by it, but after the Frozen wait the day before I didn’t think he was that super-keen to wait 30 minutes for cookies.
However we weren’t sure we’d make it back if we left, so wait we did, and all of us were glad for it!
Behold, the first rest day picture I took!
We got 5 cookies, planning to share among the five of us: classic choc chip, banana bread choc chip, coffee cake, and the February seasonals, strawberry delight, Eternal Flame.
But they are food and so I have no pictures.
Showing admirable restraint, we tried none of them right then, but it was neat just to look around the shop.
Behold, the last rest day pictures I took!
So dark! So gothy!
The trading cards they give you are cool, too.
DD4 still wanted to swim at the pool, so we headed back to the bus stop. While we were waiting, we got a text from MIL and FIL that they’d just arrived at DS and wanted to know where to find us. We texted back that we were waiting for the bus since DD4 wanted to swim.
We texted back and forth to get the lack-of-meetup sorted, with MIL and FIL saying they’d try to make it back to the bus stop. (They didn’t have any interest in shopping by themselves.)
I was also keeping an eye on later dining availability for City Works and went ahead and changed it from 4 to 5. That turned out to be a good call; DD4 wouldn’t have had much time to swim otherwise.
MIL and FIL didn’t make it to the bus stop before the CBR bus came. We got on anyway since we needed time to get ready for swimming.
I think we were leaving around 1:30, back to the room by 2, and at the pool right around 2:30. That left us with a good hour for swimming, then a half hour for clean up before heading back to DS for City Works.
(DH and I had also looked at the map and while we didn’t walk to CW during our morning/early afternoon, we confirmed landmark locations and were sure we knew how to get there.)
It all went to plan! I think DH, DD4, and I arrived at the pool just 10-15 minutes before MIL and FIL (they weren’t swimming so didn’t need to change or apply as much sunscreen). They kept an eye on our things and I think read a bit while DH and I were in the pool with DD4.
She had a great time swimming! I think I mentioned earlier she’d done some swimming lessons, and she was at least more adventurous than the last time we took her ourselves. She’d previously only wanted to be pulled around on a float, but this time with her water wings she was willing to try kicking and “swimming” a short distance from one of us to the other. She still hasn’t gotten the hang of holding her breath and doesn’t like getting her face wet, but hey, it’s progress!
At 3:30 we headed back to the room, cleaned up some, and then we’re headed back to the bus stop by 4. I was really glad I changed the reservation time. If I hadn’t DD4 would’ve had 30 minutes at best for swimming, then we would’ve had to rush to City Works. This way, we weren’t in a rush and I think we checked in at 4:50 or a little after.
I don’t remember exactly what everyone got, but in terms of drinks, both MIL and I got a black cherry cider, I think it was (though she did just a taster size). DH got an IPA of some sort and maybe FIL did too.
But as far as actual food? Memory is gone, though I’m sure mac & cheese was on the kids’ menu and DD4 got that.
DD4 is a fairly egalitarian mac & cheese connoisseur, but perhaps that's only because she's not yet tried Jesus's grandma's mac.
I think it was around this time I realized I was getting a sore throat, but I brushed it off. (This comes up later, unfortunately.)
We headed back to the hotel by 6:30, when crowds were heading into DS. Fine by us to miss those!
DD4 was asking for a Mickey Bar, so once we got back to CBR DH and I left her with MIL and FIL (her request) while we walked to the mercantile to get her one.
It was a nice walk; at dinner MIL and FIL said they’d spent the morning walking around the resort and enjoyed it. DH and I hadn't been able to explore the resort at all so we liked having even this short time to do so. We took note of the playground, which DD4 would’ve enjoyed but it was of course closed since it was past 7 by that point, and we had no time to go during the rest of the trip. I think next time I want to build in more time just to explore the resort.
Mickey bar procured, we headed back to the rooms. DD4 made short work of it.
The adults split part of the classic chocolate chip and banana bread cookie from Gideon's, and also finished the last of the Mickey celebration cake we'd gotten at A&C.
Cookie verdict: both were very good! I wasn’t sure how I’d like the covered-in-chips aspect; if I eat a cookie I also want to taste cookie. But I understand why these are so popular!
Of the two I give the edge to the banana bread since the flavor profile is a tad more complex. But neither of those wound up being my favorite cookie of the bunch; stay tuned for that!
Because it was lights off by 9 to rest up for our day at HS.
Day 4 Lessons Learned (and ReLearned)
- Rest days remain a solid choice, especially when traveling with a young child who still requires a lot of sleep.
- ABC (always buy cookies!)
- Consider a rest day devoted to resort-exploring, your own or another!
- If travel is required for an ADR, probably best to have it later in the day to ensure you complete all your exploring and playing first. (Also if the pool is involved and it’s winter, plan on afternoon pool time for warmer swimming weather; adjust any ADRs or other reservations accordingly)
Up Next: Hollywood Studios!
