“Rise” to the Challenge, FREAK!! Done and new trip report started 5/2/21

[Disneyhanna]

Love all the updates! Sunny and 80s sounds like a dream! Breakfast in France is the best way to start the day. Your magic photo with Chip is so cute, I will have to look for that one! I really like that purple magnet for the Arts festival, I wish Disney would mail them! Too bad about the flash on Nemo, I hate when people do videos with flash especially. That DVC tour is a great deal, I hear they are not push at all. I suppose the only risk is possibly ending up with DVC when you don't intend to join . I will for sure miss SE when it goes away for a few years, they haven't released the date and I am anxiously waiting to hear, hopefully they don't pull a fast one and shut it down without warning!

House of Blues looks really cool, I'm glad that Disney is adding so many veg-friendly options. I can relate to your overpacking 100% . We get free checked bags with Delta and I usually fill my bag and part of my mom's, oops! Love those OKW couches, not something you see every day.

What a great spot you got for the fireworks! We just did our first dessert party, the after fireworks plaza garden version. We loved the POG juice and cider as well, and had way more dessert options than we could possibly try! I teared up when Tink flew overhead, that was so amazing! I've seen the show a lot but I agree it is so much better at the dessert parties. No stress and you can see so much better! Spoiled is definitely the right way to describe it!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Your second day sounded wonderful. The MK dessert party really does take away a lot of stress that comes with watching HEA. It's the one thing my husband insists we splurge on each trip, and I definitely think it's started to spoil us a bit.
Interesting fact about the extra FP due to staying at OKW. Guess something positive came about with that resort! Just had to endure nail clippings and faraway ice...

It really was and the weather was still nice and warm!
It really was a plus staying at OKW for the extra FP
Splurging on a dessert party is so worth it. I use to think no way would I pay extra to watch HEA! I now 100% would do this again!
I just can’t let it go about the ice.........

 

[disneyAndi14]

Sounds like a great morning in Epcot! Nice to enjoy breakfast in a quiet WS!

That was a good deal the DVC kiosk offered you!

Sounds like an awesome first experience at the dessert party! I've never done one but it's something I'd like to try at least once!

An overall great day for you two!!

It was a very nice Disney day!
The DVC informative meeting was definitely worth our time with the incentives!
The dessert party was so worth it for us. Andi really enjoyed it as well and she is always skeptical about the extras!

 

[disneyAndi14]

sounds like a wonderful day. I remember when I went with my family for our first trip and then when I went with my hubby for his first trip. Both times we watched the fireworks sitting at tables on the terrace. These times were both before Disney started charging for it. It was a wonderful place to watch the fireworks from and at the time, there really weren't that many people there with us.

Of course Disney figured out away to use the Terrace seating with a cost
It really was a nice option to try. I really enjoyed it!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Loving your pictures of MK and Epcot.......and the size of the sandwiches from HoB!! They were massive......and looked good too.

The dessert party looked good too. We did it back in 2007, think it was quite new back then, and sounds much improved now....

We had a really nice day, not to crowded or overly packed with things to do! I like to have days like this!
I really enjoyed the party and loved the savory options added to the dessert ones. The seating for us was perfect, we are so short that viewing out on MS really isn’t the best for us.

 

[disneyAndi14]

tell them I'm happy to wait for a room. (I'm going to the parks anyways.) Worked both times.

I will do this from now on! No more trusting TP for me, it just hasn’t worked the last 3 trips

True... and yet...
Without it, we'd never have upgrades and new things. So... I'll put up with it, knowing better (I hope!) things are coming.

Totally true! It will be so exciting to see the new Epcot in the future

Cute photo.
And I see it didn't take you long to shed your sweatshirt.

Thanks! It was a beautiful day and warmed up quickly

Interesting. It hasn't grown on me... I more or less tolerate it when I'm made to go on it.

Figment is so weird maybe that’s why I like it!

Good deal indeed. It's why I did it too. (Although I only got 3 FPs and no gift card.)

That is odd you didn’t get a gift card. I have always heard you get a 50.00 card for going to a presentation. I think ours was more because of the new resort.

really enjoyed doing that. Will again, I'm sure.

100% has spoiled me now. Desserts, egg rolls, and seats during HEA sign me up!!

Did you wave?

We sure did, Tinkerbell was so awesome, may have cried a little!

So excited for this and may add it in July...

Jenny, I know how much you love the dessert parties, now with alcohol I’m sure you will sign up

 

[disneyAndi14]

Right?! All the walls made me so sad but I'm still really excited to see it once it's all finished!

It is sad! It also is exciting for the future of Epcot! Still love this park and WS is the place to be now!

Haha, must have been a good salesperson! Although, $75 each would be hard to pass up.

He was so nice and easy to talk with. The gift card and extra FP really did help!

I'd love to do this sometime, I can certainly eat my monies worth in desserts

I highly recommend. The egg rolls are so yummy, I loved the savory options as well as the sweet.

 

[disneyAndi14]

Can't turn a day like that down!

Perfect weather day!

I'm so glad I got to see it one last time before the walls went up.

Yes, it is massive construction now, we head into WS now much better!

Hard not to, especially that time of year. You could end up having pretty much any type of weather imaginable.

Very true, I didn’t really need to buy 3 more shirts and wear those since I had so many clothes! Oh well always fun to get new items!

That's fantastic! I love it when you get a skipper that adds a little extra to it.

So true, we have had some duds and it is not near as enjoyable

Enjoying it is the priority anyway.

The party was really enjoyable and I really missed on getting any decent food pictures.

Great review! I'm glad you had a good time at the dessert party!

Thank you, It really was a very nice experience!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Love this picture!

Yum yum...everything looks good!

The French breakfast was very nice!

The aquarium is my favourite...so lovely and peaceful.

I can’t agree more, we love it in there

How great is that????

Very good incentives for checking out the DVC options!

will really miss SE too!

Yes, we love this, so many memories for Andi and I!

So perfect! I am seriously considering this for when Jack and I are there in July.

I highly recommend. I think it is worth it! I’m so glad Jack is going with you, how fun!

It sounds amazing!

Tinkerbell right over head, truly magical!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Your breakfast in France sounds delicious and peaceful!

House of Blues has never been on my radar to eat at but your lunch sounded nice!

Our French breakfast was so nice and it was peaceful at that time of day!
HOB was nice for a different place and usually you can walk up here!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Me too! Provided we get to DL in April they have switched back to the original and I'm so excited

I hope you get to do your DL trip and how nice to have the “old” Soarin, I would love that!

Wow! I had no idea they incentivized doing the tours so much. Can't wait to see what you think about it.

I’m not sure if this was because the Rivera was brand new and they wanted people buying there but it was so nice. We had $350.00 in gift cards and 7 extra FP each this so awesome

We've never done a dessert party, apart from the small one we met at a few years back ❤ so I just recently learned that there were so many different options in MK. I just thought everyone ate and sat and watched fireworks. Leave it to Disney to turn one dessert party into 3

I had always put off paying extra for the parties and then when I did try 2 in May during our Epic trip, I really liked it! I definitely thought it was worth the money for reserved sitting one at MK!

Yum!!! They can keep the deserts but bring on the egg rolls

I agree, the egg rolls were yummy and the dipping sauce was maybe a ranch base was so good.

And this of course is why I now know there are 3 different parties. For adding alcohol I'm surprised the price didn't go up too much

I agree, very worth it in my opinion

Love it! Shiver me timbers

Arrrrr, matey!!

Yep, I am your neighbor next door in Wisconsin!

Hello neighbor, what part of Wisconsin? Andi is in Eau Claire and loves it there.

Oh, I am so sorry! It sounds like you have an angel in Heaven watching over you! Sending hugs your way

 

[disneyAndi14]

Love all the updates! Sunny and 80s sounds like a dream! Breakfast in France is the best way to start the day. Your magic photo with Chip is so cute, I will have to look for that one! I really like that purple magnet for the Arts festival, I wish Disney would mail them!

Thank you! We loved the photo opportunities in France, very nice. I wish Disney would mail out to all AP’s since some of us can’t be at all the festivals!

That DVC tour is a great deal, I hear they are not push at all. I suppose the only risk is possibly ending up with DVC when you don't intend to join

It was a nice incentive for sure!!

House of Blues looks really cool, I'm glad that Disney is adding so many veg-friendly options

Andi really likes the Impossible burger option. It was nice inside and not busy!

We get free checked bags with Delta and I usually fill my bag and part of my mom's, oops! Love those OKW couches, not something you see every day.

We love that about Delta with our Delta AEx card! The OKW lobby was really old school Florida!

What a great spot you got for the fireworks! We just did our first dessert party, the after fireworks plaza garden version. We loved the POG juice and cider as well, and had way more dessert options than we could possibly try! I teared up when Tink flew overhead, that was so amazing!

I agree, so nice to try the reserved seating option. Loved it. I had tried the HEA after firework party in May except I wasn’t feeling well and didn’t get to enjoy the food. This time was so much better!!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Hi Everyone!
I saved all my receipts this past trip and totally forgot to put costs in the first 2 days



I buy Gift cards from BJ’s, Sam’s Club and Target. I look for good deals and get the cards at a discount. I use these for everything. Food, room cost, hard ticket events, and shopping. I do save money this way.
I try to keep a $100.00 a day budget for food between the 2 of us. This works well for the most part and we eat when, where, and what we want each day!
It’s a little harder to keep track now because I don’t charge everything to the room anymore. I use the GC everywhere we go. I may go back to charging the room. It is so much easier except I worry about all the extra charges the hotel adds now. I also hate waiting in the lobby line to pay it off each night.
Day 1 food costs
Blaze $9.53 with AP discount
Sprinkles $7.61 with AP discount
Lunching Pad $7.24
Instacart with delivery fee and Bell service fee $36.00
Total = $53.14
Day 2
Boulangerie $9.06
H of Blues $36.53, with tip and AP discount
LibertySquare $3.50 water
Total = $49.09
HEA dessert party paid with a gift card many months before and I believe it was $160.00 for the 2 of us.
Stay tuned for Day 3 coming up soon!

 

[Jenny Sanders]

Jenny, I know how much you love the dessert parties, now with alcohol I’m sure you will sign up

YES! Definitely thinking about adding this!!!!

 

[pkondz]

I will do this from now on! No more trusting TP for me, it just hasn’t worked the last 3 trips

I will still use TP... they have worked for me. But I always confirm where they are trying to put me when I get there.
"We have you in a room (points far far away on map) here."
Me: "Can I get anything in this building or this building on the main floor on this side? I'm happy to wait."

Totally true! It will be so exciting to see the new Epcot in the future

Figment is so weird maybe that’s why I like it!

That is odd you didn’t get a gift card. I have always heard you get a 50.00 card for going to a presentation. I think ours was more because of the new resort.

He gave me a choice of GC or 3 FPs. I chose the latter. I put more value on that.

We sure did, Tinkerbell was so awesome, may have cried a little!

Awww....

 

[disneyAndi14]

Let’s do this Freak!”

Day 3, Thursday 1/16/20. DHS morning with a wonderful breakfast!

We got up early this morning. Our plan was HS by 6:30am to get in the park and strategically positioned for TSL and getting a boarding group for Rise!

We used the bus app and wouldn’t you know it, it wasn’t right, roll eyes! The bus was early and we literally just missed it. Well, I was nervous about the timing so we walked to the Hospitality House and called a Lyft.

This worked out well and we were at the park and just past the SW stage by 6:30am! I was explaining to Andi how to get our boarding pass. We turned both phones totally off then went into the MDE app and waited. We could hear many conversations going on around us, very entertaining at 6:30am. A little girl with her family was asking why are we standing here and what are we going to do this morning. The dad says, we are going back to the room to rest in half an hour. The poor little girl was quite deflated and couldn’t understand why she had to come in the park so early for nothing!

A couple teenage boys kept repeating let’s do this freak, over and over. Andi and I found all the conversations entertaining. Andi tells me, my roommates and I call people, who are irritating to us, freak!

This became our mantra this trip, can you believe we said Freak many times, lol! We got a good laugh from this and we said it often!



7:00am came and Andi was able to get boarding group 45 for us, we were happy with this! Andi did figure out, don’t refresh!! It slows things down and the next two times we did this she got us excellent boarding groups!



We went into TSL and could have rode SDD right away except we chose Andi’s favorite TSM! We walked on and were rootin and shootin in no time at all. We love this ride! We thought we would ride again, however, once we got out and walked around the wait was already 40 minutes, wow!

We decided to check out GE and get some pictures. It was only about 7:30am and it was busy. We had a few pictures done by the Falcon. You can hardly see the Porg on my arm, he blends right in. The shirt I have on today is one of the Uniqlo purchases.


We went to try the single rider for Smugglers Run except it wasn’t open and the stand by was over 100 minutes already, what??

I was able to modify our breakfast reservation at Topolino’s to 8:45 from 9:30, yay! We decided to head over there now. We took the Skyliner for the first time and it was wonderful, we loved it, we had our own cab. There was a nice breeze coming in and smooth ride except for take off and landing had some mild bumpiness.

We arrived at Riviera quickly and spent some time looking around this beautiful resort. The mosaic art was stunning. I didn’t get the best pictures. The lobby is amazing, very clean and white with marble all around. The grounds are also stunning. So green and lush with several pool areas and outside seating areas.

You really feel like you have escaped to the south of France. It reminded me of Nice and Monaco, areas I have visited. I loved this resort. I was excited to have the DVC tour later on this day.

We went up to the top floor and checked in at Topolino’s!


Stay tuned for breakfast at Topolino’s with cutest characters ever!!

 

[Cloe Colton]

Nice job with getting a boarding group! It seems like the process gets crazier and crazier every day! I'm glad we've ridden it once because unless I have to I think I'm avoiding the boarding group deal.

Can't wait to hear your thoughts on breakfast at Toppolinos! Eating there in March!

 

[Jenny Sanders]

Yay! Successful boarding group!!!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Can I get anything in this building or this building on the main floor on this side? I'm happy to wait."

Thank you for the tips, I will do this for sure!

He gave me a choice of GC or 3 FPs. I chose the latter. I put more value on that.

I always thought you got both, not just one. I must have been misinformed. I really got a good deal!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Nice job with getting a boarding group! It seems like the process gets crazier and crazier every day! I'm glad we've ridden it once because unless I have to I think I'm avoiding the boarding group deal.

Can't wait to hear your thoughts on breakfast at Toppolinos! Eating there in March!

Thank you, we had good luck with the boarding groups! I feel the same way about our March trip, if we can’t get one, no biggie, we experienced it 3.5x in January
Breakfast was awesome!!