We took a gamble on a great deal from David's to stay at the Beach Club for \~$400/night from August 1-5. To be honest, I felt quite anxious leading up to it because of the high heat and humidity. I'm happy to report that the trip went wonderfully, and we made beautiful memories with our almost two-year-old!

8/1: we flew in, checked into our hotel. We planned to hit stormalong bay but our flight was delayed, so  by the time we actually got to BC, we ended up calling it an early night. We booked a deluxe studio in the DVC room, and it was perfect! Highly recommend ordering grocery delivery in advance: all we had to do was grab the grocery bags from Bell Services (they had refrigerated everything for us!) and bring them to our room, where we stored them in the mini-fridge. Fresh fruit for my berry-loving toddler, yogurt, cold brew coffee? Yes please!

8/2: we ate a leisurely breakfast at the BC marketplace (Mickey waffles, hooray!), went for a walk around Crescent Lake, people-watched at the Boardwalk (at 9am there were already tons of people lining up at the Cake Bake Shop, which I was surprised by! Not my type of place, but to each their own.), and watched the Skyliner. We then hit Stormalong Bay, where my toddler was DELIGHTED by the sandy-bottom pool. We had packed sand toys for her to play with; I highly recommend doing this! When we got too hot, we took an afternoon break for toddler to nap, and then explored the BC and YC lobbies hunting for Flounder and Max. Then, we took the Skyliner to Riviera, where we had reservations at Topolino's. Get the creme brulee tiramisu and an espresso martini, and thank me later!

8/3: we impulse-purchased one-day tickets to Epcot. In the morning, we rope-dropped Remy, and also hit Soaring (they now have a rider-swap in a dedicated room right next to the ride, which made things super easy!), Living with the Land, and Nemo. We had a walk-in lunch at Shiki-Sai (a light and cold sushi lunch on a hot day was very refreshing!), then headed back to BC for a nap and rest. We went back out around 6pm, when things were starting to cool off, and rode Journey into Imagination, Spaceship Earth, and 3 Caballeros. Sadly, Frozen was closed for most of the day and when it reopened, it stayed at a 45-minute plus wait and we just couldn't make ourselves do that with a toddler in tow. Next time, for sure. We also let toddler blow off some steam by playing on the outdoor playground outside Connections, and she loved it! We had an 8:15 window view reservation at La Hacienda de San Angel Inn, which meant we got to watch the fireworks while sipping margaritas and enjoying the cool A/C. Best day ever!

8/4: we hopped on the friendship boat to Hollywood studios and then took a bus to AKL to see some animals! The giraffes, antelopes, zebra, and flamingos were quite fun to behold. Toddler loved the Hakuna Matata playground, too. We then took the bus back to HS and took the Skyliner back to BC to switch things up (and give us a final ride on the Skyliner). Another afternoon siesta, followed by dinner at Ale & Compass (seafood pot pie is a must!), and a final visit to Stormalong Bay: this time, there was a double-rainbow in the sky! It felt like the perfect magical farewell from WDW.

  
8/5: saddest moment is always check-out time. We had a quick breakfast at the YC marketplace (I actually recommend this pretzel bun breakfast sandwich FAR above the bagel one at BC marketplace! Wish we had tried it sooner.) and then headed to MCO.

All in all, it was a great trip! Thanks everybody for the wonderful tips for staying cool in the August heat and humidity, especially: (1) taking breaks during the hottest part of the day (1-4pm), (2) bringing personal cooling fans for everybody, (3) staying EXTRA hydrated, and (4) popping into the shade/air-conditioned spaces whenever it feels like it's too much. World Showcase did feel extremely toasty at times, but the gift shops and other indoor spaces were plentiful along the way!

We'll be back in January to stay at the Boardwalk, and I can't wait!!!

August 1-5 recap: Double Rainbow (and so many wonderful memories!) at the Beach Club