A Trip Filled With Character: Our June 2023 Trip (Completed 8/3)

[nemolover22]

DAY 6 PART 3
Quick MK Evening
After dinner, we decided to go to Magic Kingdom to do a few rides that we didn't get to do and go to the confectionary. Before leaving Epcot, we took some photos in the front since this was the first time we have been up there!



After taking some photos we took the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom. Our plan for the night was to be out of the park before the fireworks so we first headed over to ride Jungle Cruise. We had a great skipper who said some jokes that we never heard before! Then, we headed over to Peter Pan to ride that. I really wanted to ride Small World and see Philharmagic but Magic Kingdom was very crowded and it looked like it could storm so we headed to the emporium and the confectionary. Anne & I enjoyed watching people make their own popcorn! I picked up some rice krispie treats to have when I got home.


After we picked up some sweets, we headed to the bus stop to get back to our resort. My family was arriving to Disney this evening but their plan didn't land until after midnight so my mom gave me her magicband so I could drop the groceries off in their room before they got there so they could have something to eat and drink when they get there since everything would be closed. Paul and I quickly got their few grocery items in our room and drove over to Pop Century where they would be staying. We thought about taking the skyliner but thought it would be quicker to drive. The magicband didn't work on their door so I had to go the front desk but eventually we were able to get in their room and put away the groceries. Then, Paul & I headed back to the Riviera. Steve got us some Mickey bars while we went on this quick errand so we ended the night sitting on our balcony enjoying Mickey bars and people watching.

Total steps for the day: 23,486​

 

[nemolover22]

DAY 7
Family Time
This morning I woke up and was very excited because my family was here! Paul & I woke up hungry so we went down to get breakfast. Paul got the french toast bread pudding and I got the famous Riviera banana bread.

Our breakfasts were delicious! I loved the banana bread and tried some of Paul's bread pudding which was also delicious. Around 9:30am my mom and sister (Rachel) hopped on the skyliner to head over to the Riviera. My mom had to work remotely till noon and I told her the Riviera would be a great place to work. I met them down at the Le Petit Cafe where I got another mocha and brought them up to our room. We had a great time visiting and they haven't seen Anne or Steve in several months so it was good to catch up. Then, around 11am my dad, sister (Belle), and her boyfriend headed over on the skyliner to come meet us at our room. My dad really loved the balcony in our room. At noon when my mom finished with work, we all headed down to the bus stop to go to Disney Springs. We had a lunch reservation at 1:15pm so we went in Uniqlo and World of Disney. Paul and I got some souvenirs in World of Disney where I got a matching spirit jersey with our dog Shellie which she loves!

Then, we headed to Chef Art Smith's Homecoming for our lunch reservation. We were seated a large round table by a window that overlooked the springs.

We got some fried pickles as appetizers and then all ordered. I can't remember what everyone got but I think most people either got the fried chicken, pork, or country fried steak. I got the fried chicken which was a big serving so I took most of mine to go.


After lunch, my mom needed to go back to our room to get her work stuff so I gave her my magicband and my leftovers. Then, Paul, his parents, and myself did some shopping at springs. Anne & Steve got overheated so they went back about an hour before Paul and I did. Paul and I went to stores we hadn't been to yet and Paul got a new water bottle at corkcicle. Then, around 4:30pm Paul & I headed back to the room. We had planned for my family to come back to heat up their leftovers in our room for dinner and play some card games but unfortunately my dad and Rachel got sick. My mom, Belle, and her boyfriend came over around 5pm to play some cards. Then, it started storming so after playing a few rounds of card games we drove them back to their room since the skyliner was down. Once we got back to the room, I ate leftovers for dinner and Paul went to the quick service to get some food for dinner. We had wanted to go swimming but it was still storming. I thought the weather was clearing up around 9:00pm but we could see from our balcony that the pool still wasn't opened. We were hopeful and got dressed in our suits and went to the giftshop in hopes that the pool would reopen. Sure enough after a few minutes the lifeguard blew their whistle and the pool was back reopened. We we were one of the first ones in the pool so we went on the slide and swam for about 30 minutes until we went back to the room to get ready for bed.

Tomorrow we have our last park day!

Total steps of the day: 10,363​

 

[nemolover22]

DAY 8 PART 1
Bright Suns
This morning we woke up sad because our vacation was coming to an end because it was our last park day We talked the night before and everyone loves the Guardian ride so much that we wanted to ride it all together. Since we didn't have plans to go to Epcot today the plan was for me to see if we could get a lightning lane for in the afternoon for us to be able to hop over there to ride real quick. Thankfully, I was able to purchase a lightning lane for everyone but my dad and it was $15 a person.

After this was booked, we finished getting ready and hopped on the skyliner and made it to Hollywood Studios around 7:30am. My family made it in the park a little before we did and stopped at Starbucks. Unfortunately, my dad wasn't with them because he still wasn't feeling well. We were hoping that he would feel better soon so that he could join us at some point. The park didn't open for early hours until 8:00am so we headed over to Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway to start our morning. To our luck, we were able to walk on the ride and get on before 8:00am so that was great! That ride was great as always, but it was time to head over to Rise of the Resistance.

We had a great ride on there and since there was exactly 8 of us it was cool to all be in one vehicle. After Rise, we headed over to the Falcon but on the way we saw the Mandalorian again but this time Grogu wasn't with him. I was very happy that we were able to get a picture with them both earlier in the week and glad that we didn't wait. After the Falcon, we got some group photos.



After taking some photos, we headed over to ride Slinky Dog Dash. Once we got off that, we took a little break outside Toy Story Land. We didn't have much time to wait for a ride before our lunch reservation. Paul got another Num Num Cookie that we shared and then Paul, myself, Belle, and her boyfriend headed over to Aliens Swirling Saucers since it had a short wait. No one else wanted to ride so they hung out outside of Toy Story Land and met the Incredibles.

Once we got off the ride, we met back up with everyone and headed into One Man's Dream for a quick AC break. We watched the trailer for the new live action Little Mermaid movie which I can't wait to watch once it comes out on Disney plus. When we got out of the preview, Paul & I saw an old coworker so it was great to quickly catch up with her! Then, we headed over to our dining reservation, Mama Melrose for the Fantasmic package. Look who we ran into on the way..

My dad! He wasn't feeling 100% but didn't want to miss out on lunch or the fantasmic package so he met us over there. We were glad to see him and were quickly seated at a large table. With the package you can order an entree and then either an appetizer or a dessert. A lot of us were smart and split an appetizer and dessert so that you could do both so I highly recommend that. I chose to do my own thing and just get an entree and dessert. I got the chicken parmigiana and chocolate gelato.



None of us were really blown away by our meals. There was nothing wrong with them but they just didn't taste as amazing as other meals we have had this week. We probably won't rush back there because there are other places we want to try. Paul makes a really good chicken parm so I definitely prefer his over theirs. Our main reason for dining here was for the Fantasmic package so it did the trick. After lunch, we headed back to Toy Story Land to ride Toy Story Mania. I was upset because Paul beat me this time. After that just the girls headed over to see Darth Vader in the Visa meet and greet. After seeing Darth, we all took a skyliner back to our rooms for an afternoon break.​

 

[nemolover22]

DAY 8 PART 2
Fantasmic
After our nice afternoon break, we got ready to head to the skyliner at 3pm to go to Epcot.


We met up with my family at the International Gateway gift shop and then all headed over to Guardians. My dad stayed in their room to continue resting since he wasn't going to ride this ride anyways. We made it over to Guardians and scanned in for our ride. This time we got Disco Inferno which was also another fun song to ride to but so far my favorite is Conga! Once we got off, we headed back to the international gateway to ride the boat over to Hollywood Studios. It was a very hot afternoon so it was a brutal walk all the way there but it was worth it. Once we got to Studios, we met up with my dad at the front of the park and went to ride Rock n Rollercoaster. This is not my favorite but with rumors of it changing I wanted to ride it just in case. Once we got off, a lot of people wanted to ride Tower but my dad, myself, and Rachel did not so we just wondered through the giftshops on Sunset Blvd.

When we went to meet up with everyone at the Tower of Terror giftshop, we noticed some characters come out so we of course had to meet them.



Once we all met back up together, we split up for dinner. Some of us just wanted ice cream while others wanted actual food. So some people had ice cream at Sunset and the rest of us went to Backlot Express. I loved the chicken tenders I had there earlier in the week so I was excited to have them again. Unfortunately, they were not good this time and the service was terrible with messing up people's orders. The ice cream people soon enough met up with us back at Backlot and then rode Star Tours since it was a walk on. After Star Tours, we headed towards Fantasmic because we wanted to get a good seat. Paul and I had matching shirts so of course we needed a picture together!

It was lightning while we waited for Fantasmic so we were expecting rain or for it to be cancelled but miraculously enough neither happened!


Fantasmic was amazing as always!! I'm so happy this show is back and I love the new additions they added. Once the show ended, we made our way through the slow moving crowds towards the exit of the park. Once we got out, we all went on a skyliner together and then exchanged goodbyes at the Caribbean Beach stop before we parted ways. I am glad that our trip overlapped with my family's so that we were able to spend 2 days together.

Total Steps: 23,769​

 

[nemolover22]

DAY 9
Goodbye Disney

This morning we woke up at 5:45am because Anne and Steve had an early morning flight. We said goodbye to them and thanked them for an amazing week! It was great to spend this time with them and I hope we see them soon. Then, Paul & I went back to sleep and woke up around 7:00am. I started slowly getting ready and at 7:30am went down to Primo Priatto to pick up some breakfast for us to eat in the room. I got the french toast bread pudding and I think Paul had the bounty platter.



This is very delicious and I highly recommend! We enjoyed our last little bit in this room and around 8:00am we said goodbye and headed down to the lobby.



We ordered an Uber and got picked up at 8:30am. The Uber only cost $27 so we were happy with that because it was cheaper than Mears by a couple dollars. We made it to MCO a little after 9:00am and dropped our bags off. We reserved MCO Reserve for 9:30am so we hung out by security for a few mins and then headed over there. MCO Reserve was very easy and quick so I definitely recommend that because it is completely free! Once we got to our gate we hung out there for about an hour and then it was time to board our flight. We experienced a little bit of turbulence but nothing major. We landed back home at 1:20pm. Paul and I were both exhausted and he was starting to get sick. We quickly picked up our car and made it home at 3:20pm. We were so excited to be reunited with Shellie but we were both so tired. We both felt like we were hit by a truck! It took 2 days for me to start to gain energy but poor Paul still felt sick and when he went to Urgent Care they said he had an upper respiratory infection. I'm glad he didn't get sick until after we made it home.


Overall, we had a great trip! We tried a new resort, many new restaurants, and rode some new rides. It was great to be back at Disney and for it to feel more normal than it has been since 2020. I'm not sure when we will be back but hopefully soon! Thank you so much for following along ​

 

[Counting Stars]

Really great trip report! Sorry DH became ill, that seems to happen to a lot of us when leaving Disney. Glad it didn't spoil the trip. Hope your Dad is well now also. Thanks for taking the time to share!