We go a lot, but just returned from a 2 night quick trip with family who flew in and paid full price for tickets so we toured like a tourist! Because of that, we did 2 things we'd never normally do: travel on a busy holiday weekend & buy
Genie+/LL. We had a fantastic whirlwind trip, and had a lot of success, so I thought I'd share some of what we did.
First, this was a trip for 2 two year olds. We had no interest in anything they couldn't do or find interesting. This alone made our touring on a busy weekend so much easier. We skipped things that one of the toddlers was scared of (HM, pirates) and avoided lines like the plague. We tried a show and it did not go well. There was a lot of excitement in the transportation options, checking out animals at the hotel and AK, wandering, finding every set of steps possible to walk up and down, and jumping in puddles in front of the castle.
Friday:
Check in at AKL (room was ready at 11am)
Tried to swim (both Kidani and Jambo pool closed)
Picked up family at MCO
Drove to T&TC
Rode tram (toddler's dream!)
Walked to Captain Cooks for dinner
Watched fireworks on beach (toddler noise friendly - both are scared of fireworks close up)
Watched boats and monorails
Tram back to car (yay!)
Saturday:
@7am buy LL for MMRR, booked TSMM
Early entry for MK
Rode Buzz (5 min)
Rode Dumbo (5 min)
Rode Ariel (10 min)
Rode Teacups (10 min)
Met Cinderella and Elena (20 min)
Watched cavalcade
At 11am, booked Alien SS
Got Mickey D's for lunch on way back to AKL
Lunch, nap
At 1pm, didn't book anything
Arrive at HS at 3pm and race to TSMM (got in during grace period)
Book Disney Jr show (completely unnecessary but we didn't need anything else, and I knew it'd get us front row)
Ride Aliens
Disney Jr show
Meet Disney Jr characters (little to no waits)
Watch Pixar cavalcade
Ride MMRR
Walk in Frozen right as doors were closing (5:30 show - had to leave early because they couldn't sit for it)
6pm dinner at Hollywood & Vine (the beef was AMAZING)
Drive back to AKL
Sunday:
Book safari @ 7am
Breakfast at Sanaa & pack car
Bus to AK (car would have been faster but one toddler is super into buses)
Ride Safari (standby was 120 minutes)
Book Pooh for after 2pm
Walk gorilla trail
Play at Boneyard
Mobile order at Restaurantosaurus
Book Speedway
Bus back to hotel to get car
Car nap at T&TC
Tram!
Book Ariel (it was a favorite the day before)
Ferry boat!
Race to Pooh (we really were cutting things close!)
Ride Speedway
Ride Ariel
Book Mickey (not a long line but we were running out of options)
Watch 2 cavalcades
Lots of castle pics
Shop
Meet Mickey
All lines were ridiculous, and LL bookings were now later than we wanted to stay, so we left for home
Things to note:
- The crowds were intense - have not seen anything like it since pre-Covid
- Restrooms were always clean, and I only had to wait once (behind 1 person)
- Never had to wait for a changing table
- Every LL was at least 10 minute wait, if not more. I saw reports of people walking on and that was not the case for any of the rides this weekend
- Mobile order took 15+ minutes after hitting "I'm here" which we've never experienced. Places were SLAMMED. Captain Cooks was the worst (waited 30 minutes) but thankfully, good outdoor space to run in while waiting. No issues finding tables due to CM's playing door guard.
It was a whirlwind, but we had a wonderful time and more importantly, the toddlers had a blast without any meltdowns