Monday (Sleep-in, Steakhouse 71, MK):
-Originally had planned to go to MK, leave the park for lunch at Contemporary, and return to the park. We switched to sleeping in and going over for our 12:25 lunch reservation to start the day. It was a better plan.
-Also allowed us to skirt the rules and park at Contemporary. I didn’t feel great about it but it didn’t hurt anyone and the TTC is nonsense; so, in a way, Disney really forced our hand.
-Steakhouse 71 was great. I had heard the DIS staff rave about The Wave and then Steakhouse 71 for so long I wanted to see if it held up. I thought it was a really nice lunch.
-We’d already been to MK while we were with the kids so we were very relaxed. We’d stacked multiple
Genie+ and had a very pleasant day. Hit all the rides we’d missed on Friday.
-This is where Genie+ really shines. A day in MK, arriving late, stacking G+, not rushing. It’s a very rare set of circumstances but at least there is some time when G+ feels useful.
-I loved Happily Ever After. I’m still bitter that it was replaced so quickly (relative to the snail pace that Disney usually takes revamping nighttime spectaculars). I think Enchantment is a massive step down in narrative, music and execution. I’d still gladly watch it every night and probably cry most of them. Basically impossible to screw up that setting.
-Walked on a couple more rides after the show. Had an opportunity to jump in line for Jungle Cruise right at 9:00. Another time it would’ve been a great chance to be one of the last people in the park but my group was already headed out.
-I walked out of the park at 9:05. Got to the car at Contemporary about 5-10 minutes later. We were back to our rental home before 9:30. I estimate we saved 30 minutes to an hour by not dealing with the TTC. That’s sad. Disney needs to do better.
Tuesday (Epcot, Le Cellier)
-Pretty easy to hit all of the attractions at Epcot. We used G+ to get Test Track and never really looked at it afterward.
-My mom was really feeling all of the walking from the previous days and we got her a wheelchair for the day to give her Achilles a break. It is, at this point, healed as well as it’s going to get. We are starting to believe they made a big mistake by not doing surgery. It appears to have healed incorrectly and we are encouraging her to get opinions on whether a better outcome would be possible with surgery. It’s very difficult to think she may never walk better than this and to imagine how much worse it could get as she gets older.
-Epcot quick service were virtually overrun without a festival going on to disperse the crowds, even on a relatively light day of crowds.
-The walls/billboards are ridiculous and since they’re dragging their feet on construction I can’t imagine how long we will be forced to deal with them.
-We realized we hadn’t booked anything for dinner at Epcot when we were walking out of Steakhouse 71 on Monday. Serendipitously, someone must’ve dropped a 7:00 for 4 at Le Cellier right around that time. I had never placed a high priority on eating there but the rest of the group was for it.
-Le Cellier was really good. I don’t plan to go back, it’s a little pricey for my taste, but it was a good one off experience.
-Because I knew it was likely to be a one off I figured “when in Rome” and ordered the Ribeye. One of the better restaurant steaks I’ve had.
-Could’ve easily split it and ordered an accompaniment and would definitely recommend that to anyone looking for a way to experience Le Cellier without breaking the bank (although I’m a ribeye over filet guy, so take it for what it’s worth).
-Ratatouille, or whatever the ride’s name is, was fine. I think Runaway Railway is a better application of the same technology. I hate 3D glasses on attractions with a passion.
-We watched Harmonious walking to the car. We don’t have the same emotional connection to the Epcot nighttime spectacular as we do to MK and, to a lesser degree, Fantasmic! so we wanted to avoid the stampede and traffic. It worked out well.
That pretty much wraps the trip. It was a great vacation, if unsuccessful racecation.
I’ll be posting about the future and my plans to motivate my training tomorrow and will try to post daily going forward to help stay accountable.
. Tomorrow is a horrible crutch that I use to justify not doing things today.
