First of Four - Sept. 30-Oct. 7, 2023. F&W check!

[DancinDaisyDuck]

Just returned from my first trip of the year on my AP. MY goal is to hit all four EPCOT fests this year and F&W was number one. I had conference work in Orlando scheduled for October 4-7 so I traveled down early and dragged my husband with me to do the parks and Mickey's Not So Scary before it was time to work. I also snuck out of conferencing a couple times, don't tell my boss, lol.

Quick intros -
Me.
Husband.

Done!



Day 1 - travel day and MK.
Originally we were supposed to leave from our home airport and connect in JFK to get to Orlando but because of the intense rain and flooding in NYC that weekend we were canceled and rebooked for the next day. I was not about to lose a day of our already short trip so luckily we connected with a very helpful Delta agent on the phone and was able to leave from a nearby airport instead and still arrive in Orlando on the 30th early enough to enjoy an afternoon in the MK.

I had to stop by guest relations to activate the AP, which took a while and I was worried we would miss the 1 p.m. TRON virtual queue drop. We JUST made it in, I think Husband scanned in at 12:59:50 because I kept hitting refresh and it worked! It took about 4 hours for our group to get called. I had bought G+ and an ILL for TRON and 7DMT at 7 a.m. while we were in the air (thanks in flight WiFi!) for later in the evening and then stacked more LL's at 11 and 1. So we walked into the park with 5 LL's and a TRON virtual queue. It had been about 8 years since Husband had been at WDW so we had a lot of ground to cover! Crowd level this day was moderate because there was no Halloween Party and G+ definitely allowed us the opportunity to get a lot done. We did standby for Small World, CoP, and Tiki Room and LL's for everything else. During our afternoon/evening we did: Jungle Cruise, Pirates, Tiki Room, BTMRR, Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan, Pooh Bear, Small World, 7DMT, TRON x2, and Buzz. Space Mountain was down all day long so we hoped to do it later in the trip. Spoiler: we didn't. We were beat by 7:30 p.m. so we decided to take care of our bodies and go back to the resort, get some dinner, unpack, and crash!

We stayed at POP Century. For my first 7 or 8 trips I only stayed at POP. But, I branched out a bit and have done some All Stars, moderates, and a deluxe so it had been nearly 8 years since I had been at POP. It was so good to be back! We had a room in the 50's section looking out over the Bowling Pin pool. The refurbished rooms are great! I love that you can decide between a table and a bed, if you're on your own or just need 1 bed the extra surface area was really useful. There is so much more storage than there used to be, especially in the bathroom area. And I don't think there's a better reason to stay at POP now than for the Skyliner. I will be back here for my February trip and really looking forward to it.

Day 2 - Animal Kingdom morning and MNSSHP
We slept until about 7ish and then took our time getting to AK. I went back and forth on getting G+ for this day, but ultimately bought it and FoP because both were priced super low for the day and sometimes the wait times at AK can be a head scratcher. Since Husband had never been to AK before and we only had a few hours to experience the highlights I got it as an insurance policy, but I honestly didn't need to get G+ for this time. There was no way of knowing at the time, but a soaking rain shower was going to park itself overhead for HOURS and kept crowd levels super low everywhere this morning.

Anyway, we got to AK and did Pandora stuff first. I couldn't care less about this IP but Husband really likes these movies and the worldbuilding so I'm glad at least one of us appreciated it. The Shamen of Song was out and I do think she's one of the most beautiful animatronics out there. We did FoP through the LL but the standby wait was 40 minutes at about 9:45 a.m. (park opened at 8:30 for resort guests) so again I probably didn't need to buy the ILL. We were met with a soaking rain at the exit to FoP but we were on a schedule so we put on our ponchos and forged ahead to the safari. Sadly, it was not the best safari. Most of the animals were taking shelter from the pounding rain but we did see some elephants, the cheetahs, and lion and lionesses. After that the rain had lightened up but we wanted to dry off so we saw the Festival of the Lion King. I love that show and never miss it. After that we went over to Asia and rode Everest, my favorite ride in all of WDW! It's more fun in the rain, I think. Lunch was at Flame Tree BBQ, we split the sampler platter and a beer. It was delicious! We ended the morning with Dinosaur and then went back to POP for some rest and to watch the Bills vs. Dolphins game and get ready for Mickey's Not So Scary!


I had been to this party many, many times but it was Husband's first time. This party was sold out but it rained until about 4 p.m. so the crowd didn't really show up until about 6 so we enjoyed some lighter wait times for shows that don't run during the party. I wanted to make sure to see Country Bears and Philharmagic, and we took another tour through the Haunted Mansion. We wanted to ride the PeopleMover but it was down so we got in line around 6:30 to meet Stitch in his Elvis costume. That took about 45 minutes and we were hungry so we went to Cosmic Ray's for some of the Party specific eats. I had the spicy chicken sandwich and Husband had the meatball sub, both were really tasty. Husband LOVES meeting characters and we had some time to kill before the fireworks so we waited about an hour to meet Pooh and the gang in their cute costumes. I despise waiting that long for a character meet but since I had planned most of the week it was Husband's turn to get to do something he wanted. After that we went to do some magic shots around Fantasyland and rode Little Mermaid. We got a fantastic spot in the Hub for the fireworks with a great view of the Jack Skellington puppet. It was a good show but I miss Hallowishes. We stuck around for the Hocus Pocus Spelltacular show (so good!) and then walked down Main St. to watch the second Boo to You Parade. Got to see the Headless Horseman and Powerline and really enjoyed the parade as usual. We exited the park and got back to POP just after midnight.







Days 3 and 4 coming soon!

 

[DancinDaisyDuck]

Day 3 - EPCOT
It had been a late night getting back from Mickey's Not So Scary so even though I was still up before 7 to get G+, LL for Remy and our Guardians Virtual Queue and ILL, we lounged around a bit and hit the Skyliner around 9 a.m. It was the first time for either of us using it at Disney, but since we ski and snowboard so much in the northeast we are no strangers to gondola systems. It felt odd getting in one without putting anything in a slot on the side beforehand!


Husband had scored Group 6 for Guardians but I had booked a 9:50-10:50 a.m. Remy LL. We got a baguette sandwich and a donut to share from Les Halles and then rode Remy. Husband was very impressed by the trackless ride system and I was like "oh, just you WAIT." We then HOOFED it to Guardians because we were super late for our boarding group. I should have known it wouldn't be an issue like at TRON, no one cared as long as you didn't show up before you were called. We had a great ride to save the Galaxy and got Disco Inferno as our first song. We would return about an hour or so later for the ILL I bought and had Everybody Wants to Rule the World, which was kind of anticlimactic compared to the other upbeat songs I've had in the past.

We stopped for a midday fry flight and bebé beer.


G+ was needed today, the pre-holiday weekend crowds were starting to creep up even though it was only Monday. We used LL's for Test Track, Soarin' Over California, and Spaceship Earth. We never got to do Frozen, all the LL's were gone before I could snag one. We weren't that depressed about it though and I really enjoyed showing Husband all my favorite "old EPCOT" hits like Living with the Land, the Seas, SE, and he even requested we go to Turtle Talk! We also got to meet Mick and Min in their 100 outfits and witnessed the most precious interactions with a child with disabilities I have ever seen. There was not one dry eye in that room.



It definitely took us much longer than I had planned to get most of the front of the park done so we didn't get back to start Food & Wine until almost 4 p.m.! I knew I wanted to start the cheese crawl (Emil's Fromage Montage) and would have more time later in the week to finish it. We began in Hawaii with sliders for both of us and the passionfruit cheesecake to share. Then moved on to the mimosa flight from Shimmering Sips. We started in Canada and worked around World Showcase counter clockwise. I know most people like to begin in Mexico but I like going this way and ending with a margarita or light beer and empanadas. In the UK I had to get my favorite pub blend, a Snakebite, and we stopped at the France kiosk for an escargot croissant. Got another stamp on the cheese crawl at Brazil, that cheese bread is so delicious, and a frozen Caphirina. Moved on to one more cheese stamp in Greece with my favorite griddled cheese with pistachio and honey. Boyz II Men were playing their first show when we got carrot cake in the USA so we listened to a bit of their set while we rested our feet. We stopped in Italy for a limoncello cocktail and then got to catch up with an old friend who was also in EPCOT this day. We were getting pretty full so we skipped stopping in Japan but Husband wanted the gingerbread creme cookie sandwich from Germany. While he got that I had to go into Kringla to get some School Bread to go for the next morning's breakfast. Finally in Mexico we rode Gran Fiesta Tour and stopped into La Cava for an El Diablo margarita.






By this point it was nearly 8 p.m. All the walking around was starting to catch up with us. We had made it back to the Odyssey building and didn't want to do another lap but I wasn't ready to leave just yet. We decided to walk to France via Canada because I felt like I needed protein and only the filet from the Canada booth would fit that bill! I also remembered it was late enough that Impressions de France was running, which I absolutely adore, so we went to watch that and then got a brioche ice cream sandwich from Les Artisans de Glace to cap off an epic day of eating, drinking, and walking. I would have liked to stay for EPCOT Forever but it was clearly time for us to head back to POP. We watched the higher fireworks from the Skyliner, which was actually a beautiful way to see them.

Back in our room, we relaxed, watched some of Toy Story 3, and fell asleep way before the ending. We had one more jam-packed day to go in Hollywood Studios. The trip had been going so smoothly beyond my expectations that I crossed my fingers we would have the same level of success in the trickiest park yet.

More Photos in the next post!

 

[DancinDaisyDuck]

 

[cassidy57]

I am really enjoying your trip report. I leave in two weeks, so I really enjoyed the festival food pictures. This is helping me to pick and choose what I would like to eat.

 

[DancinDaisyDuck]

Day 4 - Hollywood Studios!

Today was the. perfect. day. in. Hollywood. After a nice restful night I was up before my alarm, showered, and ready to rock at 7 a.m. I got a Slinky Dog LL for 11-something, which on any other day might be a great return time but I was not happy with it. My favorite G+ strategy (when not stacking in the afternoon) is to try and get the first return time for before the 11 a.m. drop (or whenever 2 hours after park open is) when EVERYONE can grab the second lightning lane if their first return time is later in the afternoon. If you can get a couple LL's before 11 or whenever, you have the better chances of getting the most popular or hard to get rides out of the way early. So, instead of being Ok with 11-something to ride Slink, I modified and BINGO WINGO I booked 9:05! It turned out that it didn't matter, because before we even left the room we got a push notification Slinky would be down during our return time and we were issued redemption passes. But that meant I could book ANOTHER LL so I got Rockin' Rollercoaster. Why not Smugglers or Mickey and Minnie's? Because other than Rise, RRC is the other ride in HS that goes down allll the time so in the event the ride was down, we would get an other redemption pass and then could book another LL immediately. I know this is why G+ gets very little love, and that's valid. I watched a lot of YouTube to figure out the best ways to use the system to my advantage. But now that I've got it nailed down, it's quite easy to navigate.

Anyway, we got to the Skyliner line and it was WAAAAYYYY backed up. We had walked right on the morning before so we were really surprised. But again, these are two large resorts sharing the same station and we were coming up on the long weekend for Indigenous People's Day and many states (not NY, lol) have a fall break that week, too. So we felt the uptick in crowds yet again, but gondola systems are designed to move large groups of people efficiently so it really took about 8 minutes to get to the load station. We got through park security and the turnstyles with enough time to enjoy about 10 minutes of resort guest early entry before rope drop. Slinky hadn't come back up, and good news - Coaster was also down! It wasn't our return time yet so we weren't issued redemption passes but I kept my eye on it. I made the quick decision to turn right and go do Tower standby. The wait was short, and we had a great drop sequence. I love Tower, I could spend hours in the queue noticing all the details in the lobby especially.



While we were in line for Tower, Slinky still hadn't come back up, Coaster was still down, and we were in part of the garden where you can kind of see through the foliage to backstage. We heard fire truck sirens and saw some flashing lights through the trees. Not a good sign. I wondered if that was the reason Coaster or Slinky was down! Turns out, there was a crane parked on the stage of Indiana Jones that must have had some kind of fire because all the performances were canceled this day (which was a bummer because I thought Husband would really enjoy it) and I saw some reports from others on social media that the crane remained parked there completely immovable.

Sometime after Tower Coaster had come back up but we had an hour before our return time. Slinky was also back up, but I didn't want to race over there just to stand in a super backed up LL. Even though Studios has the smallest footprint of any park, I wanted to avoid criss crossing and needed to stay in the general area of Hollywood Boulevard/Chinese Theater. So we decided to do some character meets! Husband was so pumped. We met Olaf, Donald, Max, saw Chip & Dale having a picnic on the Brown Derby lawn, went to the Launch Bay and met Chewy & BB8. We had some great interactions and I am so happy I got the Photopass package with my AP. I don't always do pictures but I figured if I'm going at least 3 more times this calendar year it would be worth it. After meeting our friends, it was time to ride Coaster so we got in our Super Stretch and made it to the show just in time. Once we had scanned in to Coaster I made a LL for Toy Story Mania! for essentially that minute so we then went to Andy's backyard. It's so cute back there! We did TSM first and Husband beat my score so now we were even between TSM and Buzz from the other day where I wiped the floor with him. After we used our Slinky redemption passes. Then it was time for lunch!





My go-to lunch at Studios for many years was always Sci-Fi Dine In. As a kid I watched all those movies and just generally love mid-century kitsch. I thought Husband might get more of a kick out of an interactive themed restaurant so I booked us at 50's Prime Time, which I had never done before. We had a great time! As a lover of 50's and 60's motif, I was in heaven. We split the deviled eggs appetizer, the sampler platter (brisket, meatloaf, fried chicken and sides), and chocolate peanut butter cake for dessert. Everything was delicious, but I think the best thing about this lunch was what happened at the table next to us. I know WDW used to be better than it is today, sometimes I think that's in the eye of the beholder yet I think those opinions are also really valid. The critique that the service has gone downhill is fair, especially at such a premium price point we would expect premium service. Well, all that aside, I can assure you we witnessed exceptional service. Our server, Cousin Briana, had a large corner of the restaurant and she was handling it like a champ. She had a large table of 10 and, as can happen, one of the waters spilled onto the table and got the little guy (he must have been 2 or 3) all wet. She took care of cleaning it up right away and the family were really kind to her about it. She brought him a towel and I think she comped one of their meals, too. But then, about the time they were settling the bill, she came over with TWO toddler outfits brand new from the store because she didn't want him to have to spend the rest of the day in wet clothes. I thought that was going above and beyond, and something any server at an Applebee's wouldn't dream of doing. The service and magic are still there. Yes it's unfortunate you have to really look hard for it sometimes, but I think cast do what they can within their small sphere of influence. I sent her a Cast Compliment in the app and left a great tip.





After lunch we wanted to do more character meets, so we went over to Municiberg and met Frozone, Sully, and Edna Mode. Back over to the Animation Courtyard and Launch Bay for Vampirina and Darth Vadar. I think after we scanned in to TSM I made a LL for Mickey and Minnie's so we did that. I miss Great Movie Ride like I miss Maelstrom (which is A LOT) but I have to say at least this replacement is so much better than Frozen Ever After. I know, it's a hot take but I said what I said Timing didn't work out to see Frozen Sing-A-Long or Beauty and the Beast but I've done both and while Husband and I love theatre he isn't really that into theme park shows. I told him he had no choice but to see Fantasmic! later.

I got a LL for Smuggler's so it was finally time to go to Batuu! I had made an Oga's reservation at the 60 day mark for 5:30 so we had an hour and a half to explore, ride Smuggler's, and scan into Rise. The Rise standby time had been as low as 35 minutes earlier in the day and as high as 110 minutes. We go through both rides with still about an hour before we could go to Oga's and then I noticed Rise had a 40 minute wait in the app. Since we were right there we decided to go for it and ride again. It took about 25 minutes to get to the pre-show! Unfortunately, we were about to get interrogated and then the system went down. We were walked out of the building and everyone who had been through the first half of the attraction were issued redemption passes on our way out to use if it came back up. We explored Batuu a little more and then checked in to Oga's. I had really enjoyed myself the first time I was there but this time was just "meh." We had a server who was a bit distracted, wasn't really in character (I was more into it than our server and that's saying something), and the drinks were not as good as I recalled from last year. Husband and I agreed it's a cool thing to see once but we won't be back. When we paid the bill I noticed Rise was back up so we got to save the galaxy once again!



At this point, except for shows, we had done everything. There was about 90 minutes before Fantasmic! and we were hungry. It had also started raining briefly but I checked the weather app and it was a short passing shower. So I put ourselves on the walk up wait list at the Hollywood Brown Derby lounge. It said a 20 minute wait but we were called back immediately and there were loads of tables available. I think the rain kept folx away. By the time we were seated the rain had completely cleared. Hollywood Brown Derby is my favorite restaurant in all of WDW right now. I have never had a bad meal there and it feels like such a treat every time I go. We ordered escargot, charcuterie, and crab Louie to share with a martini flight. Such an enjoyable way to hang out together with almost exclusively personal service from the wait staff and bartenders. Everyone was hustling to get to Fantasmic! and we watched as they all power walked to get there. We took our time and strolled into the amphitheater with about 10 minutes to spare and got a spot next to the concession stand in the back row. It's not the most ideal place but we had a full view of the entire show. It had been since waaaay before the pandemic that I'd last seen this show and hadn't experienced the revised version. It was as amazing as I remembered, tears were absolutely shed, and I loved the addition of the Moana section.



We slowly made our way out of the park after the show. I would have loved to stay for the next show but I knew that wouldn't be wise, lol. I also had some laundry to do back at the hotel. The next day was a transition day for me to the conference center and I didn't pack enough clothes to not rewear some later in the week. When we got back to POP we spent some time packing up, finishing all the snacks we'd accumulated over the last 4 days, I did laundry, and we relaxed watching some tv.

A few more photos in the next post, and then the rest of the week to come!

 

[DancinDaisyDuck]

We asked Edna how to post like fashionistas and this is what we got. The CM and PP photographer were in hysterics.


Getting lost in a Sully hug


Frozone is that tall, and I am that short!


More proof that I am 5"1' on a good day


This rainbow was beautiful and stretched all the way behind us






None of my Fantasmic! pics came out well because of the extreme Zoom I needed to use. But it was beautiful.

 

[DancinDaisyDuck]

Jet juice at Oga's. Very small, server said it was strong. It was not.


The Outer Rim at Oga's. Essentially their take on a margarita with passionfruit foam on top and black salt. It was, to quote the kids these days, "mid."

 

[DancinDaisyDuck]

Day 5 was a travel day home for Husband and a transition to the conference day for me. But, before we left property we had one more magical experience - breakfast a la arte at Topolino's Terrace! I had wanted to do this meal since it debuted and I had not visited the Riviera yet. I was so excited to snag this ressie at the 60-day mark.

We packed up the room and left our bags with bell services before getting on the Skyliner. I love this mode of transportation! We got off at the Riviera and we had a little time so we walked around the gorgeous grounds. The mosaics by the fountain are stunning, the recreation areas by the pool are beautiful, the lobby is beautiful, and I loved the library with artifacts from Walt and Lillian's travels around Europe. The artwork all around the resort is beautiful, too, and I seriously considered getting a print to take home. After getting serious DVC jealousy by walking around and envisioning ourselves staying here (fat chance), we rode the elevator up to the top floor and checked in to Topolino's. We were seated at a window table looking toward EPCOT. It was a beautiful morning without a cloud in the sky, sunny and not too warm for once.



We ordered our dishes - I got the quiche and Husband ordered the smoked salmon - and enjoyed the house made pastries. We were visited by all 4 characters throughout the meal with all of them stopping for interactions and pictures once and then stopping for a quick interaction or a wave a second time. We had a lovely breakfast, the food was delicious, we could tell most everything was made fresh in house and the portions were huge. Even Husband couldn't finish his bagel. We asked if we could get multiple dishes or something as a side like the waffle without bacon or sausage and our server politely informed us that the restaurant no longer did that. When she came by again to check on how we were doing I said everything was so good and we didn't need the extra food she said this is why they stopped doing more than one entree there because of the amount of food waste. I understand wanting to get more food for the price point, but honestly the food quality at Topolino's is so much higher than Chef Mickey's or even O'hana breakfast.







After we ate we spent some time on the terrace enjoying the nice weather before heading back to POP to pick up our bags and ordered an Uber to the airport. I said good-bye to Husband and picked up my rental car. The conference was at Rosen Shingle Creek, about 10 minutes away. I ran some other errands, stopped at Publix for snacks and to-go meals (conference center food is expensive and my per diem never comes close to reimburse), took a spin around Target and bought some Christmas stuff for next trip. That night I had the conference opening session and reception, and then crashed hard! I had considered going back to a park but I really needed that day off!

Day 6 - I got up and decided to try my luck at the TRON virtual queue just in case it worked out that I could sneak away to the MK later that day. I got a pretty high group (maybe 70?) so I thought that boded well. All morning during conference sessions I kept checking the app and it seemed like I wouldn't get called until the afternoon. Perfect! I finished at 1ish, got changed quickly, hopped in the car and the traffic deities were on my side because I-4 was clear! I made it to the TTC in no time, got a great parking spot in the Hook lot, a tram was there waiting for me, a monorail was there waiting for me, and before I realized it I was walking down Main St. USA! The weather was again pristine and it was a party day so the wait times weren't terrible but I was really just there to ride TRON and do one or two other things before I needed to get back to Rosen for a dinner. At some point while I was on 4 my boarding group was called so I went straight to TRON. I must have hit the queue at just the right time because I only waited about 15 minutes to get digitized and then another 10 or so to get on the light cycle.

After TRON, I saw the wait for Space was 20 minutes and since we didn't get to ride it earlier in the week I got in line. I waited more like 10 minutes! While I was in line for Space I ordered a snack from Cosmic Ray's, the Stitch mousse cake. It was cute but didn't have a ton of flavor, which is par for the course for most Disney pastries especially at quick service. I ate my snack while enjoying Sunny's show. After that I got on PeopleMover and tried to FT Husband from it because he didn't get to do it. He was busy so I sent him a video. I didn't have time for much else but I did meet Mickey on my way out around 3:30 p.m. I was the only one in line to meet him! We had a lovely interaction and then I headed back to the TTC. The MNSSP guests were corralled at the turnstyles just itching to get let in so I figured I got out at just the right time. A quick drive back to Rosen and dinner, and then bed.



Day 7 - I had the morning free so I planned to return to the MK to do one more ride on TRON and take advantage of rope dropping Adventureland and Frontierland. Well, I-4. had other ideas. Even though I hit the road at 7 a.m., a bus caught fire right by the outlets and traffic slowed to a snail's pace. I didn't get to the TTC until nearly 7:55, I walked to the monorail station because a tram had just left, and then the monorail was suuuuper packed when it pulled in the station. I scanned in at the park about 8:05 and noticed 7DMT was 35 minutes in the app so I decided to chance it. I had group 33 for TRON but the closest return time I could get a 7D if I bought it was after when I needed to leave and return to the conference center. To my luck, it took 20 minutes to get on the ride! I got a cold brew at Friar's Nook and then liesurely strolled to Liberty Square and walked on almost every ride on the left side of the park. Mansion, BTMRR, Pirates, and Jungle Cruise. While I was on Pirates my TRON group was called so I went there after watching some of the castle show. I had hoped to do one more attraction in Tomorrowland after TRON but it took me nearly an hour this time to get through it and I had to go. That afternoon I went to conference sessions until the end of the day and then changed again to head to EPCOT for the evening!

That morning castle view. Nothing like it!

I got to EPCOT around 5 p.m. That morning I booked an ILL for Guardians in the evening but I still had a few hours before that return time. I got on Soarin', Living with the Land, Spaceship Earth, and ate some more around the world to complete my cheese crawl. The watermelon hibiscus lager from Refreshment Port was DELICIOUS, I wish that was an option all year round. I was lucky to get a spot in the Journey of Water soft open virtual queue and made my way through at a speedier pace than I'd like but I had a galaxy to save. Friends, Journey of Water is the nighttime attraction you didn't know you needed in EPCOT. She is STUNNING. I rode Guardians, got my finisher prize at Shimmering Sips, and got a fantastic spot about 30 minutes before the show to watch EPCOT Forever. That show is so great, just for the punch in the feels for the nostalgia! Tears were shed when the Tapestry of Nations music started. Due to the construction I had to walk the extra long way around to the exit and then to the car. I wound up going over 24,000 steps this day!




One day more to come!

 

[DancinDaisyDuck]

A couple more pics

I spent HOW MUCH on park tickets and THIS is what he does? The man can't resist an arcade.


View from the stage




Next time I see this lamppost it will be decked out for Christmas!!


This is the Maelstrom margarita and it is SPICY! More than the Diablo, ironically. 11/10 would get again.

 

[DancinDaisyDuck]

The theme park time warp had really caught up to me by the end of the week. Between 4 super packed days at the beginning of the trip to being inside a conference center, not eating too many vegetables, and not enough sleep I was really starting to feel the fatigue on my last day. It was the final day of the conference, and I was presenting a session at 10 a.m. I planned to head to Animal Kingdom after the last session that morning and it was nice to sleep past 7 and not worry about booking lightning lanes or getting into a virtual queue. I packed up the room, ate some breakfast, and went to present my session. Everything went really well and I enjoyed the end of the conference.

I changed into one last park outfit and went over to AK for an afternoon of slower pace, enjoying the vibes, taking in some live entertainment and doing laps on Everest in the single rider line. I didn't get in soon enough for the 1 p.m. Nemo show so I hung around Discovery Island, browsed the shops, met Moana, and headed to Dinoland. I wanted an ice cream cookie sandwich and hoped they had the seasonal pumpkin one from years past but unfortunately they didn't have the right ice cream for it. I went with just regular vanilla and chocolate chip cookies. It was still really tasty.




I got in standby for the next Nemo show, but some floatillas were coming by the lake so I went over to wave at Pocahontas, Meeko, Goofy, and Launchpad. I know many folx are not huge fans of the Nemo show, but I adore it. I loved the original version so much and had mixed feelings about the revamped shorter show. All the songs are still there but the storyline has been really condensed and I think it lacks the emotional beats because of the time limits. I was thrilled, though, to get to see Jared Bradshaw in the cast. He and his wife, Lindsey Northen, were Broadway actors in NYC (he was in shows like Jersey Boys and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and she was the Glinda standby in Wicked for many years) and when the pandemic closed all the theatres they relocated their family to Orlando and now work as entertainment Cast in the Nemo show. They have an Instagram account and YouTube travel channel and are just genuinely kind and talented people. Jared has several tracks in Nemo, this day he was on as one of the sharks but he also does Bruce the main shark and Mr. Ray. I hope next time I see the show I can catch Lindsay, she does either Peach the starfish or Dory.





After Nemo it was time to run laps on Everest. It wasn't peak crowded today and it was after 2 p.m. so many people hop out of AK since it closes so early and the other parks stay open so much later. I love a late afternoon in AK! I did 3 rides on Everest doing single rider, the standby wait was over 30 minutes but I got on each time in about 10 or less. Gosh, this is still my favorite ride in all of WDW, even with TRON and Guardians in the mix. A highly themed, practically made, classic thrill ride just has something the newer technologies really lack for me. Maybe it was the Joe Rhode of it all, but I can just feel the Imagineering all over AK in a way that I can feel the Imagineering when I go to Disneyland in CA. The people who worked so hard to create this experience leave their heartprints there.

Anyway, I was not feeling my best by this point. Maybe 3 laps on Everest in 45 minutes had something to do with it. I also was just reaching my saturation point and a salad and a comfy bed were starting to seem really good to me. I still wanted to hang a little longer and debated getting on the waitlist for Nomad Lounge. But since I had to drive back up to the airport I didn't want to get anything alcoholic and the food options weren't speaking to me. I decided to drink some more water and hit a late afternoon Safari. I was in the back row of my safari truck, which was great for viewing but not great for someone who gets motion sickness. After the Safari it was going on 5 p.m. and I had a decision to make. I wanted to stay through park close but I also had to drive back up to a hotel by the airport, gas back up, and have an earlier night because I had an early flight the next morning. I made the call to take care of myself so I ordered a salad at Panera next to my airport hotel and made my way out of the park and drove back north. I love AK at dusk and nighttime but there was no way I would make it and if I forced myself I knew the consequences would not be good. When I'm back in December it gets dark much earlier in the day so I'll enjoy a 5 p.m. sunset drink at the Dawa Bar then.

Travels home went smoothly and I'm back to planning my next trip! Some final thoughts:
- Halloween is not my favorite holiday but it's absolutely my favorite time to visit WDW! The Party was super fun as always and I am so happy Husband enjoyed it.
- G+ is sometimes necessary depending on what you have going on and what's worth it to you. I'm always in favor of making your own choices, and I know it's not a perfect system. Once you get the hang of it, it really does work.
- I had not had my own transportation during a stay before and I really liked having a car to get around. Nothing against the buses or Skyliner! I actually loved having the Skyliner there at POP. Unfortunately, I will need to pay for a rental car myself (work covered it while I was at the conference) and I can't budget for it in December. Maybe my spring trips.
- Exceptional service and the magic are still there! Do you have to look harder for it? Yes. Do we want it? Of course we do. Are we entitled to it? No, we aren't, but I genuinely think most Cast want to do what they can for us within whatever frameworks and rules they have to work in. That's out of their control.

Welp, that's all for fall! Christmastime is next in just a couple months! Thanks for following along everyone. See ya next time!

 

[cassidy57]

I loved your report and I am looking forward to reading your December trip report