Hi! We did an overnight Tuesday 6/22 to Wednesday 6/23 to celebrate getting our APs back!
Evening at HS
On Tuesday we spent the evening at HS. It was on and off raining for most the evening, actually it was more like sprinkle vs down pour cause I don't think it ever really stopped raining lol. We got into the park about 5 pm, took pictures in front of ToT and got in line for ToT at about 513. Posted time was 15 mins and while in line they opened more queue and the posted time jumped to 20 mins. We waited for the front row and were on the ride at 536. We were off at 541. The rain picked up so we ran for cover in the stores on Sunset, waited for it to lighten, and then headed to Star Tours which was posted 5 mins. We had good timing and literally walked straight onto the ride at 555. We waited in the store for a bit to see if the rain would lighten before heading to Muppets. We got into muppets and had bad timing, just missing the show. So we headed back into the rain again. Smugglers Run was posted 35 minutes so we headed over there. We got in line at 618, on the ride at 636, and off at 644. We were shook that we got on so fast considering the posted wait and how heavy the rain was! We moved onto Toy Story Land, walking on the saucers at 651 (posted 10 mins), hitting the bathroom, and then getting in line for TSM (posted 20 mins). We got in line at 702 and were off the ride at 738. The park was set to close at 8 so we quickly got in line for MMRR. We were on the ride at 809. This was our first time riding MMRR and we loved it! We didn't have any idea going what it would be like going into it and we were all excited by the technology! So fun! Def felt like a mix of ROTR and Spider Man at Universal.
We left the park straight away, no shopping this time, cause the rain was absolutely pouring in side ways! We had placed a mobile order at Ale & Compass so we drove over to the Yacht Club. The guard gate made us press the "I'm here" button in front of her, and while I understand trying to maintain security, at that time of night and with the rain, who is realistically trying to subvert the rules and park at the Yacht Club?? We were concerned about the food being prepared too fast and getting chilly, which happened back in March when we mobile ordered at Ale & Compass. Thankfully the food came out piping hot and delicious! Highly recommend their burgers and the saffron risotto cakes!! We ate at a table in the hallway to the left of the lounge and the joint was poppin due to a conference or something being held there. Grateful we had good timing with seating!
We picked up some treats to go from the market and made our way to the Double Tree for the night.
MK RD
On Wednesday we planned to RD MK. Thankfully we had learned on Monday that they were doing a formal RD so we could plan better. We parked at the TTC and were in the park by 725. We took a couple pictures on Main Street before moving to the bridge to Tomorrowland where they held us until 8:01 am. Then it was a classic mad dash to get to Space Mountain. They had an outdoor rope queue set up which caused a bit of chaos trying to bottleneck the crowd.
They had both sides going thank God and we were off the ride by 823. We went to Buzz which was posted 5 minutes and walked straight on. We rode it a second time and walked on again, albeit a little slower because people were walking slow lol. When we got off our second Buzz it was 840 and we headed over to BTMR. We got in line at 850 and it was posted 5 minutes. While in line they opened more of the queue and the posted time changed to 10 minutes. We waited for the back and were on the ride at 904 and off the ride at 910. We had a quick water break and headed to Pirates which was posted 5 minutes. We got in line at 914, the posted time changed to 10 minutes at 916, then 20 minutes at 919. I didn't record when we got on the ride but we were off at 935, so 21 minutes total from entering the line to getting off the ride. We had a Dole Whip and bathroom break before heading to Philharmagic. Both Dole Whip places, Aloha Isle and Sunshine Tree Terrace were scheduled to open at 10 but both were open early when we went at 942. Both places had only two people working, and one was a trainee, so the waits were longer than expected but the whips were delicious! We got in line for Philharmagic at 1029 with a posted 10 minute wait. I forgot to write down how long we waited and what time we got done but we headed out of the park afterwards. We did some shopping on Main Street and were out of the park by 1130.
Thoughts
Overall the crowds at rope drop weren't bad and the wait times did fluctuate a lot throughout the morning so I highly suggest continually checking the app for line updates. Our plan was to hit the rides that consistently get high wait times right away: Space, Buzz, BTMR, and Pirates and we were able to do all of them by 935 with basically no waits. We definitely could have continued on with the "2nd tier" rides with minimal waits but we were pooped from our HS evening the night before and we're FL residents so we can come back whenever.
As for the HS evening, we were surprised at how much we got done with minimal to okay waits. We've been APs since 2011, save for the covid year, and we're used to not having to wait for really anything ever, so we were definitely concerned about no FP and the post vaccine summer crowds. We focused on lowering our standards about wait times lol and knowing what amount of time was a reasonable amount of time to wait for each ride and that really made for a good experience. It also helped that none of the lines we waited in, save for TSM a couple times, were ever at a stand still for more than like 30 seconds. It really helps when the line at least feels like its continually moving. It was an excellent first trip back to the parks and we're looking forward to many more!