Easter fell after the April 15th tax deadline this year...or so I thought when I booked this trip 7 months in advance. Thanks to some federal holidays, the deadline was pushed to Monday the 18th, the day after Easter. But to be honest, no tax professional or clients wanted their work after Good Friday. So, for the most part I was really able to enjoy the Easter holiday (Good Friday - Easter Monday), which William also had off school, for our trip to Disney World.
We stayed at a new-to-us hotel, the Disney Vacation Club's Riviera Resort. It has two multi-story towers that flank the lobby. It's claim to fame is being a stop on the Skyliner transportation system. From the resort, we could ride to Hollywood Studios or to Epcot in enclosed gondolas. We have enjoyed riding the Skyliner on other trips, and this was definitely convenient to have from the hotel. Ironically the way our touring worked out, we had to make it a point to use the Skyliner because our days weren't focused around those two parks. But we made excuses to get there to ride!
Friday: We started out EARLY at Magic Kingdom. It was miraculous we made it to rope drop since we had gotten into Orlando so late overnight. But we made it in (after I make Mickey waffles at the hotel breakfast!), and were able to catch up with our earlier arriving friends, the McCorkles, to ride Seven Dwarfs first thing. It was a melting ice cream sort of day, but we enjoyed riding and snacking through the park. We closed out the night with dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern and watching the end of the fireworks from the sleigh outside the Christmas shop. I don't have enough pictures to prove we were there from 8 a.m to 10 p.m., but my camera roll shows I didn't take resort photos until 10:30 p.m., so that must have been when we finally checked into our room.
Saturday: Since we'd had two late nights, we planned to sleep in on Saturday before hitting up Animal Kingdom. This is literally the worst idea ever for anyone who actually wants to ride the rides and avoid the lines. We got in line for the safari at 11 a.m. armed with a Mickey bar, margarita and IPA (you can guess to whom each belonged!) and waded through the line for an hour for our always one-of-a-kind trip through the savannah. After another snack and drink refill, we went through the Gorilla Falls Trail, an absolute favorite of mine and John's. William doesn't appreciate it as much, but can make due while we chat about the gorillas like they're long time family members. We bought Lightening Lane for Flight of Passage and enjoyed that amazing ride before heading home to the pool and pool bar for late lunch/first dinner. We had big plans for second dinner!
Saturday night: Thanks to Ava's handiwork, we scored last minute reservations at California Grill to celebrate Hannah's 13th birthday. It's definitely the Shields Family's favorite Disney restaurant. I think it's the McCorkle Family's favorite, as well.
Easter Sunday: Having stayed one other Easter, I knew to expect some resort activities. William and I went down early to grab breakfast and scope it out. The Easter egg hunt was called a "Candy Scramble" and the only reason it wasn't all gone in 15 seconds was because the was a literal ton of candy! We had fun watching it get set up, having William participate, and then doing a scavenger hunt around the resort. A really lovely morning! Afterwards we went to Disney Springs for donuts, Starbucks and shopping. It was super hot so we didn't stay long. We finally got some truffles from the Ganachery and will have to add it to our list for another trip. That night we had dinner reservations at Topolino Terrace, the restaurant in our hotel. It was meant to be a redemption of the poor visit that William and I had in February 2020 shortly after it opened. But, honestly, it wasn't. We were too tired and stuffed on sugar, but the menu was uninspiring and the service just ok. I can officially cross this one off the list. One really fun mention for the evening was William packing up some of the trinkets he got in his Easter eggs and "hiding" them throughout the hotel...well, on our floor. He kept the candy but didn't need all that costume jewelry!
Monday: We did what we were supposed to do and got up early to get to Hollywood Studios and enjoy our favorites. We were focused on the non-Galaxy's Edge parts of the park, since we knew we'd be hitting up those spots on Tuesday. After a full morning, we took the Skyliner one last time back to the Riviera and got ourselves ready to head to outer space! Next stop: Galactic Starcruiser!
