For my dad (a.k.a. Stove)'s 70th birthday, we surprised him with a trip to Walt Disney World! My WDW portion of the trip report will be relatively brief, since we had another surprise coming, but I do want to take some time to share our land-based Disney fun.

Since Aaron and I had the farthest to travel, we took a redeye flight from LAX to MCO. I've taken the LAX > MCO redeye many times (it's my preferred flight because I arrive in the morning and get a full day at Disney), but this was Aaron's first time joining me. While I can sleep anywhere (truly - I have a sleep disorder), and the adrenaline of being at Walt Disney World is enough to power me through the day, it turns out that Aaron is not as well-suited for redeye flights. He didn't get much sleep on the plane and was definitely dragging that morning.

After arriving at MCO, we went to The Club at MCO, a lounge that we accessed using Priority Pass through our Capital One Venture X cards.

It's not a super fancy lounge, but they have shower rooms which are handy to get ready in after a redeye flight. Unfortunately, one of their two shower rooms was unavailable, so Aaron and I had to take turns. We also attempted to order breakfast, but our order never arrived, and we got tired of waiting. They also have self-serve items like cereal and oatmeal.

My parents and Rachel would be arriving later (Landon would be joining us on Friday), so Aaron and I went ahead and Ubered to The Boardwalk Inn.

Our room wasn't ready (not surprised - it was 9AM), so we left our bags with Bell Services. I needed to get new Guest Passes printed, so we took the Skyliner to Guest Relations at Hollywood Studios.

After, we took the Friendship Boat to the Swan and Dolphin, then walked back to the Boardwalk.

Aaron may have pulled a hamstring posing for this photo...

He seemingly had an blast of energy.

The Boardwalk is my favorite resort area on property.

We grabbed some seats in the lobby and waited for the rest of my family to arrive.

After my parents and Rachel arrived, we headed to Animal Kingdom!

Everyone was very hungry, so we headed straight for Nomad Lounge. We joined the waitlist, and we were called for a table about 15 minutes later.

Time for Dad's first surprise -

Rachel started the tradition of personalized birthday koozies (for my 30th birthday at WDW), and Dad is the last Shinglebell to receive his - had to hold out for a milestone!

After Nomad Lounge, we went on Kilimanjaro Safari. Whenever we go to Animal Kingdom, we always do the safari. Sometimes the wait time is really long, but it always seems worth it to wait for the safari.

Thankfully the Cast Member thought that we were too big to squeeze 5 to a row, so Aaron and I got the back row to ourselves.

I managed to get a few cool photos -

I was surprised to get a rhino photo like this.

After the safari, Rachel suggested we go to Pandora to try Mo'ara Margaritas from Pongu Pongu.

Then we headed back to the Boardwalk Inn because our rooms were ready!

We booked a separate adjoining room for my parents, and Aaron, Rachel, and I shared this room. Unfortunately, we didn't luck out with a view (it was of a rear courtyard - not bad, but not a Boardwalk view).

The rooms at the Boardwalk Inn received a hardgoods renovation in 2023, swapping carpet for LVT and adding the new millwork closet and beverage station near the entry.

We had a little change of plans because we were able to snag a last-minute reservation to Space 220 Restaurant, so we headed to Epcot for dinner. Rachel and I had previously visited Space 220 Lounge, however we had not eaten at the restaurant.

     

We were a little confused because the last time we visited Space 220 Lounge, we were seated in the upper ring and were told that the lower ring is the restaurant. This time, we had booked the restaurant, but were seated in the upper ring. Our table was near the wall, so the view wasn't great. I was a little disappointed with our table location.

     

Space 220 Restaurant has a prix fixe menu which comes with an appetizer, entree, and dessert. I've heard rave reviews about the food at Space 220, but to be honest, I wasn't that impressed.

     

We had a nice dinner, but ultimately I left Space 200 coming (once again) to the conclusion that this restaurant is over-hyped.

 

The arrival and departure to the restaurant is a unique experience, but I think that they've allowed the atmosphere to compensate for the food.

When we left Space 220, Epcot was closed, so we walked back through the International Gateway to the Boardwalk.

NEXT: Stove's Birthday Trip | WDW [Day 2] Magic Kingdom & Monorail Bar Crawl