Day 1-Long Late Nite Drives & AK Scary Vibes (Disney '21)

I realized that I never posted pics of my 2021 Disney trip (probably because I only very recently edited the pictures, it was an extremely frustrating trip), but I thought it was WAY past time to share them with you. Now that some time has past, I think I can also avoid being a Negative Nelly, but I can't make any promised on that. I do have to warn you, like my Colorado trip, the pictures aren't that good and, now that I'm looking at both sets of these, compared to my last several years of pictures, it is REALLY making me want a new camera...I actually almost hit "purchase" on the cart yesterday, but I stopped myself last minute. I can't guarantee that won't happen today. Oh, and this one is going to be a long post with a lot of pictures, so be warned, but I'll probably break up the other days just to be safe.

But anyhoo, on with the trip! It's going to be hard to remember a lot of these details as well, because I've blocked a lot of this trip out, according to the EXIF data in my pics, I apparently left at like 11:30 p.m. on the night of September 25th! I don't even remember that! But I apparently arrived in Florida at 10:30 a.m.: And arrived at Disney a little after 1 p.m. on the 26th: Here's another reminder why I might need a new camera...a very crappy photo of the entrance to Saratoga Springs (a resort I always wanted to stay in, but my sister never wanted to): I didn't pick the best time to go, the resort was under construction. I did inform them I had mobility issues, which got me a room close to a bus stop, but it was one of the furthest bus stops in the loop, which would come into play later on. I would like to say I was really good at taking pictures of the resort, but I wasn't. Instead of my usual "point the camera wherever" mentality, I had more of a "hide the camera" mentality, which caused a lot of cropped images. I was more aware of the other guests than my surroundings this time, and I just felt like everyone was watching me take pictures. It was all very paranoid of me, which means I should preface this with another caveat...this was still COVID times (although towards the end). I had spent a significant amount of time out of contact with other human beings (more so than usual), so this whole trip was a significant shock to the system (one I'm still dealing with) and I'm still not sure what possessed me to do it, it wasn't one of my smartest moves, but alas, there I was, after a long road trip, before my knee surgeries, with massively swollen feet from the drive (but we'll get to that), terrified of every single person around me, walking around Saratoga Springs pool (which I wouldn't go into a public pool now if my life depended on it, but I miss swimming): Here was my section: And, of course, the room: Saratoga Springs is a DVC resort, which is Disney's version of a time share, so this room had a little kitchen, but I didn't use it much. And at one point, I ended up with a severe ant problem, but by the time I could get someone there from maintenance, the ants were gone because I cleaned them out myself and they didn't come back. I actually got chastised pretty rudely by maintenance for trying to fix the issue myself (it took them two days to come out, what was I supposed to do?), which didn't help my social issues much. Let me also say I didn't have an ant problem beacause I was messy, far from it. They seemly came out of nowhere and left just as quickly once I sprayed the entire area with OFF bug spray and wiped it down with bleach wipes and used a LOT of Lysol (thank goodness for COVID paranoia that caused me to bring extra cleaners, but I'm surprised I didn't suffocate!). I did bring snacks of my own so I wouldn't have to go out as much to eat, most of which were ruined by ants, so I did lose weight this trip as well...the first Disney trip ever where I lost weight!

At least Saratoga Springs had an elevator, especially since I was on the second floor: I think I just tried to get too artsy with the pics, which was part of the problem: The resort was beautiful, but trying to find my way around was TERRIBLE! Thank goodness for AirTags, or I wouldn't have found my room most nights! Even getting to the bus stop was a challenge, and I was never sure I was going to the right bus stop (although it didn't really matter): I eventually made it there in the end: What I wasn't expecting were the buses. We were still in a pandemic, but people were still sitting on top of each other like it was nothing, most of which were not wearing masks, despite park guidelines! Not only having not been around people for a couple of years by that point, but now having strangers literally touching my skin, laughing, crying, coughing, talking in my face, you can imagine how freaked out I was! You know those people that have freak out episodes on planes? I understand them. There were NUMEROUS times I almost stood up on a bus and screamed "LET ME OFF! I CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE!". I even debated driving to the parks myself...it was THAT bad. I never did, only because I was more terrified of driving myself to the parks than taking the bus (which is saying something), but I was eyeing the taxi stations HARD more than once! It goes to show that I'm more scared of human interaction than my own comfort. I tried to always get a window seat, leaning as far against the window as I could, and I kept my camera pointed out of it (still not getting that good Saratoga Springs entrance pic): I should also add, I almost didn't leave the room, but I forced myself to go to Animal Kingdom because I only a very limited trip and I had to squeeze in as much as I could. This would also backfire on me as it ruined my feet and legs, but hey, I ended up getting knee surgery, so it wasn't all bad, right? I did eventually arrive at the park, which felt like it took forever because of the closeness of the people on the bus (I remember that first ride better than the last), but when I checked the EXIF, it was literally 16 minutes, so about right: I also hadn't really eaten all day, and it was already pretty late, so I headed over to Flame Tree BBQ, one of my favorite Animal Kingdom eateries, to get some dinner. (Yes, blasphemy for someone from the MidSouth to "like" Florida BBQ, but it ain't half bad, it could be worse considering). Because of the pandemic, they had online ordering, which was WONDERFUL for me! I had a friend while I was waiting, do you see him? I was able to order online, and pick up my food with very little to no human interaction! I don't remember what the drink was (something mango I think), but it was the usual pulled pork sandwich and onion rings: It was the 50th Anniversary of Walt Disney World Resort, and they had these gold Disney statues everywhere. I only found 3 that day in AK, but I had planned to come back again to find the rest. Fate had other plans. I never made it back to Animal Kingdom. I was there for a total of about 2 hours max (again, according to the EXIF data, almost exactly 2 hours and 2 minutes from park entrance to exit!). I never would make it to Hollywood Studios. That was a first for me.

Animal Kingdom closes earlier than the other parks, and it was already starting to get dark. I tried to go to the new Avatar area, but I kind of panicked a bit and only ended up just taking pictures, not riding any of the new stuff or checking out the gift shops:

By this point, I was freaking out over the people, tired because I had been up almost 48 hours, and was already limping. I'd had enough for the day. It was time to leave and crash in the room. I'd have my first episode with not being able to find the darned room from the bus stop. I walked around way too long before I figured out the AirTag trick. I ended up at two other sections before I started pinging the tag. It would just become routine for me after that, and even then, it didn't always work. My sense of direction really sucks, especially in the dark.

Next time, we find ourselves on my birthday! We'll be in the Magic Kingdom and then we'll walk to Disney Springs from Saratoga Springs (stupiest idea EVER) to get a very expensive birthday cake I bought myself (because that's what lonely people do if they want a birthday cake), walk ALL THE WAY BACK carrying said cake as well as a ton of newly bought mech, and spend a quiet birthday night in my room, eating cake and reading Jane Austen (coz what's a B-day without Persuasion), with my feet propped up (hint: it didn't help and by then I also had sun poisoning) See ya next time!.