T H E F I R S T V I S I T
As you may already know, my boyfriend Andrew made his first visit to see me here in Orlando recently. I was really excited for him to visit me because not only is being away really hard sometimes, but he's never been to Orlando or Disney World before! That thought is incomprehensible to me, but when he decided to make his trip to me, I was determined to dip his toes into Disney life and into some things that Orlando has to offer besides Disney. Some of the things we did were adventures and new things for both of us, and some of the dates and activities that went on during the few days he was here were all things that I planned beforehand to try to make his trip as chill and stress free as possible. We only had a few days together, so we didn't do any of the parks. I want to wait until it's a little cooler and a little less crowded to show him the parks, but I wanted to share the things we did with you in case you're a CP or looking for a few good ways to wind down and chill out here in Disney (and not Disney, too). He spent the Fourth of July with me, so to find places that weren't crawling with crowds was a challenge, but I think we did a pretty cool job of doing a few more low-key things around the Disney Property to begin to show Andrew how cool Disney really is. I like to think of this trip as an appetizer to the real coming trips where I start to drag him to all of the parks. I'm sure I'll keep you updated on what we do in future trips, but this is just the first in the "How to Introduce a Boy to Disney.." saga. Enjoy, and feel free to make recommendations and comments.
T H E B O A R D W A L K
The Boardwalk was our number one choice thing for this trip! We visited The Boardwalk a few times during this stay, and it was wonderful. The theming there is perfect for a summertime stroll along the water; we split a pizza and ate it while we watched the fireworks shoot from Epcot and Hollywood Studios. It's not too crowded there, so we were able to really catch up and enjoy each other's company without being stressed out or interrupted. There's a beach with lounge chairs by the water, and movies playing every night on the lawn. Could it be more perfect? The cute summer theming also make for some pretty cute photo ops, and there's also a Photo Booth to take full advantage of. One of the times we visited was the Fourth of July, and the crowds weren't too bad to watch the Fourth of July fireworks shoot out from the American Pavilion at Epcot. There's also a fun little piano bar on the water, Jellyrolls, that serves up popcorn and songs on request (it's my new favorite Disney attraction, tbh). Not to mention, the sunsets on the water are unbelievable and totally something to see as it is. There is no better place to grab a strawberry margarita than Joe's on the Boardwalk and walk around for a while.
D I S N E Y S P R I N G S
The only other Disney thing that we had time to do while he was here was Disney Springs, and it was more fast paced and crowded, but still a lot of fun in its own right. Disney just closed down the arcade, Disney Quest, so we missed out on that by a day or two. BUT there is still a ton do, in terms of people watching and window shopping. There are a ton of activities at Disney Springs, like riding in a hot air balloon and taking an amphibious car for a spin around the Springs; those things are on our lists, but we haven't had time to get to those things yet. One of my favorite things there is the Kidz Bop styled dance parties, where they play some really cool dance tunes around every corner, in case you're ever feeling a little dancy. Or, if you're feeing a little more sophisticated, there are other live music options scattered around the Springs. All in all, a more upbeat and fast paced experience.
G O O D E A T S
We're still under the category of "poor couple" so finding extravagant, really neat places to eat hasn't really been an opportunity for us yet. We did grab yummy appetizers and drinks from Paradiso 37 in Disney Springs for dinner one night, but IHOP and Wendy's were pretty much our diet (as usual, except replace IHOP with PopTarts on a daily basis). However, our lives were changed by this cool little place we found through google, Holler and Dash. It's a biscuit shop that we decided to go to through the Yelp reviews, and it was so delicious that Andrew bought me a coffee cup from there to commemorate the deliciousness. It's homemade, country styled biscuits of all types. The cheese grits are exceptional. The portions were big enough to fill us all the way up, plus some. The coffee was perfect. It was life changing and we will go back. I love it so much that I left a link for you guys to find it if you're ever around the area.
The time that Andrew spent here with me was too short, obviously. He got a chance to meet my roommates and dip his toes into the area, I'm excited to share future endeavors we encounter on his visits with you! Hopefully that will be sooner than later.
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