DAY 6: FANTASIA GARDENS, SKYLINER, AND BOATHOUSE
It was the third sleep-in morning of the vacation (what are we, crazy relaxing people now?). I enjoyed another yoga workout in the living room, and we ate a leisurely breakfast at the house. Then we drove (specifically, DD16 drove!) to Fantasia Gardens, where we had an 11:15 tee time. The area is under construction for the new Swan Reserve, but the lot was accessible (once you find the entrance). It’s free to park if you’re golfing there.
We had done the Gardens course here (the one with the Fantasia characters) back in 2016, and that’s the one we played again. But golfer DH spotted the Fairways course (the one with no characters and tricky greens), and we decided we might want to try that one sometime, now that we’ve done Gardens twice. Anyway, the Gardens course is cute, especially the Fantasia musical cues. It was not too crowded and had a decent amount of shade, and we appreciated both.
Our plan after that was to walk over the Epcot International Gateway and hop on the Skyliner, which we’d never ridden. A few of us were borderline hangry and grabbed a snack in the pro shop. I asked the staff if we could leave the car, and they said sure. We started off on foot, crossing the road from Fantasia Gardens to the Swan and Dolphin, and walking past those resorts to the Boardwalk Inn. Now, it was midday in Orlando in August, so even though these were not long distances to walk, they felt it. We took a break at the Boardwalk, ordering pizza slices and smoothies (both good!), buying sunscreen ($18.99!) in the Screen Door shop, and generally taking in the atmosphere. We had stayed at Boardwalk Inn on a previous trip, so I wanted to stop in to take a peek around. As I was leaving, I noticed a bride and groom (and wedding photographer) preparing to see each other for the first time - aww!
We finally finished our half-loop around Crescent Lake and reached the Epcot Skyliner Station. We boarded and took off toward Riviera, riding past that station to Caribbean Beach Resort, and then transferring to ride back to Epcot. I thought it was a lovely way to travel!
The second half of the walk, though, seemed even longer than the first! We walked past Beach and Yacht Clubs, back past the Swan and Dolphin, and across the road to our car. The whole thing took almost 3 hours, and while I’m very glad to have ridden the Skyliner, I probably shouldn’t have been so casual about scheduling all that walking on a rest day (thanks to my patient family for making the trek)! At the house, we showered and relaxed a bit before dinner. DS13 and I checked out the PlayStation mini game system in our loft; we played some variation of Tetris that I had never seen before.
We drove to Disney Springs for dinner at The BOATHOUSE (actual capitalization - not sure why!). This was another reservation we picked up when our party sized changed. We decided to save our original plan, Ford’s Garage restaurant, for next year, when we have our car lovers along on the trip. We asked to eat outside and were seated quickly, and it was very pleasant on the deck, with a water view and a nice flow of air. On Liner recommendation, DH and I both got the filet sliders. They were so good that apparently the only picture I took all night was of them! DD liked her fish tacos, but DS was not so wild about his Mac and Cheese with Shrimp and Andouille Sausage, hold the andouille sausage - mostly because they forgot to hold the andouille sausage! The BOATHOUSE dessert menu looked tempting, but we had another idea.
We wandered over to World of Disney, but only ended up browsing there for a short time. And then, without further ado, we went on to our dessert destination (and possibly new champion as DH’s favorite Disney restaurant), Ghiradelli! We had a bit of a wait (enough so that my Columbia Freezer Dress had stopped living up to its name), but the rewards were sweet.
I think this was the night we finished up by watching the premiere of Marvel’s What If? on Disney Plus (we liked it). Then, it was early to bed, before our final Rope Drop morning of the trip.
and think I need one too!