How -you- doin', East Coast? (October 23-25 2020)

[Jaina]

Onto ToT. It took us 18 minutes to move through the line (minus the presentation in the study) and we were on the ride vehicle by 10:12. It was very fun to ride ToT again, and Rey interesting to experience the trailering vehicle like we never had in CA. I really hope we make it back over in a few years so my husband can ride it again. I got him a t-shirt from the shop as a consolation prize, haha.

We exited ToT and at 10:24 got in line for Rock 'n Roller Coaster. I think the wait said 55-60 minutes, and we were back near the Carthay to start. It was fun to see a different version of that.

That was a long, fairly warm (until we finally reached the fans) line. I was grateful for my umbrella and my portable neck fan! The guitar outside the ride is just so cool, and we took lots of pictures. (Plus , you get bored in lines that long… ) We got on at 11:14, which meant a 50 minute wait. You can see how weird some of the social distancing in lines looks in a pic below. I really wanted to love this ride, because it was so cool, and I could tell the track was awesome. But it was just too rough for my head, and I felt like it was going to cause some damage! I know I’m also getting old, but Incredicoaster isn’t nearly that rough. N really enjoyed the ride, I think.

We decided it was time to see if we could get our ROTR boarding group figured out, so we went up to look for guest services, and got to wait in another line there, haha. It took about 10 minutes of waiting, and just a few with a helpful CM to get us linked in the app and a party of two created for our boarding group. Totally worth it, of course!

It was just after noon, and we found a spot around Echo Lake to sit and have a snack and rest for a few minutes. I also snapped some pictures with my little The Child friend, (I had named him Buda) who was going to be my traveling companion before N joined my plans. Man you guys, my hair was just delightful the whole weekend, between all the sweating and the Florida stickiness. There wasn’t enough gel in the world!

N didn’t remember if she had ever been on Star Tours, so that was next up in our plans. The outdoor part of the queue is so much cooler than ours! I loved it! The inside was, of course, pretty similar. You can see another funny-looking socially distanced line here. Some people are better at figuring out where to stand than others. I'm one that gets lost in my thoughts and my body goes on auto pilot. I constantly had to check myself and go back to where my line should be. N was better at it. I didn't get in anyone's space or get any dirty looks, but I definitely wasn't perfect at staying on my spots! We got in line at 12:15 with a posted wait time of 35 minutes, and were in our seats by 12:30, so actually just 15 min. N enjoyed it. She enjoyed all he rides, and was very fun and easy to tour with!

We walked over through Galaxy’s Edge with the intent of riding Millennium Falcon, but the line was sooo long that we hit Toy Story land and decided to ride the Alien Swirling Saucers instead. That as was super cutely themed, and the wait ended up being about 12 minutes. (1:08).

The boarding groups for Galaxy’s Edge had been moving pretty slowly, so I was planning to just keep my dining reservation at the Hollywood Brown Derby at 2:20, (checking in as soon as allowed) and show them my reservation if I ended up making us a few minutes late for ROTR. Yep, that was the plan, and I felt good about it, but then right after we got off the Swirling Saucers, our boarding group was called! It was 1:17, and I thought if we hustled over there, we could most likely get out of there in time to hurry over to my reservation. The line moved pretty quickly, and I was feeling smug about my chances of not even being late when the inevitable happened. Yep, breakdown. And you and I both know that means a minimum of 45 minutes (unless anything had changed since I had last read up on/experienced ROTR)... They made the announcement about the breakdown around 1:30, when we were 2 parties from the end of the line.

 

[crystal1313]

Loving your TR!! Love the photos from the 90’s!! Brought me back for sure (I graduated HS in 98).

when you walked from the speedway, is there a path that meets up with the path from the boardwalk? I looked online and it just looked like grass, no sidewalk.

I have curly hair too and I’m worried what plans it will have while in Florida. I’m thinking I will let it air dry and then put it up in a bun or ponytail every day. lol. Or maybe a hat. Haha.

Cannot wait to read/see the rest!

 

[Jaina]

Loving your TR!! Love the photos from the 90’s!! Brought me back for sure (I graduated HS in 98).

when you walked from the speedway, is there a path that meets up with the path from the boardwalk? I looked online and it just looked like grass, no sidewalk.

I have curly hair too and I’m worried what plans it will have while in Florida. I’m thinking I will let it air dry and then put it up in a bun or ponytail every day. lol. Or maybe a hat. Haha.

Cannot wait to read/see the rest!

Thanks for following along!

So, I was wishing I had just walked along Buena Vista Street instead of over through the Boardwalk (though it was pretty), but it was easy to figure out where to go once we got oriented and looked at "walk" on Google Maps instead of drive. There's a video on you tube that is quite helpful, and I wish it had been up before my trip, but someone just added it. Search "walk from Speedway Gas Station on Lake Buena Vista Dr to Hollywood Studios Walkway" on that site to find it! It's by Dream to Stream.

I use the curly girl method, so my hair isn't generally prone to much frizz, so just using water-soluble gel before I went in the morning and then using a little water to calm it down on some of my bathroom breaks was sufficient. But mine is short. Longer hair you might be happier just putting it up or back! Of course we showered every night and went to bed with damp hair, so it was an adventure...

 

[crystal1313]

Th

Thanks for following along!

So, I was wishing I had just walked along Buena Vista Street instead of over through the Boardwalk (though it was pretty), but it was easy to figure out where to go once we got oriented and looked at "walk" on Google Maps instead of drive. There's a video on you tube that is quite helpful, and I wish it had been up before my trip, but someone just added it. Search "walk from Speedway Gas Station on Lake Buena Vista Dr to Hollywood Studios Walkway" on that site to find it! It's by Dream to Stream.

I use the curly girl method, so my hair isn't generally prone to much frizz, so just using water-soluble gel before I went in the morning and then using a little water to calm it down on some of my bathroom breaks was sufficient. But mine is short. Longer hair you might be happier just putting it up or back! Of course we showered every night and went to bed with damp hair, so it was an adventure...

Thank you!! I’ll check out the video. I need to do more research on the curly girl method!

 

[kclark9830]

Loving the report!

 

[Jaina]

Thanks for everyone following along!

In reality, it was a great time and place for a nice 45 minute rest. There was plenty of floor space for sitting, the a/c was excellent, and at almost 2 pm, after not much sleep the night before, we were tired! But I kept doing the math and going back and forth in my head trying to figure out if it got going right at 45 minutes, if I could maybe make it within 10-15 min after my reservation a d beg for mercy, and it just seemed really unlikely. Buda and I had a nice photo sesh though, in my boredom. I finally decided to try the trick of rescheduling my meal to sometime in December, and then canceling it, and it actually worked! I was sad to miss out of dining there, but kind of excited to not be charged $10, when it wasn’t just me being flaky…

They got us into the room at 2:07 actually, which I felt like was early. Unless they just waited a bit to announce that it was shut down. Is it still a 45 min restart?

The ride was, of course, awesome, and it seemed slightly different than ours in one or two spots. I don’t remember seeing Finn hiding, or going up in the air at once point. Can anyone confirm any differences, or was I imagining that? N thought it was amazing, and I was so glad we were able to get a pass and work it out!

I added a mobile order for immediate pickup to N’s at the Backlot Express for pickup after 2:15, and we headed that direction, at which po8nt we caught a super cute Fab 5 Cavalcade. I was so happy we saw that!

We just just got chicken fingers and a burger, but should have just gotten one meal. N had weight loss surgery 6 months ago, and though she can eat pretty much anything now, she can still only do small portions. We did share a lot of meals a d snacks after that, and it worked out well. The ice cold water cups seemed like manna from heaven, and we both got like 3 (to drink and refill our waters). We also saw a Pixar Cavalcade come through while we were eating.

I had been wanting to see One Man’s Dream, so we passed over in front of Mickey and Minnie’s (which still had about a 70 min wait at 3 pm) and took some pictures here on our way.

Loved the exhibits inside to look at before the show! They reminded me a lot of some of the stuff that is in The Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. One of my fe regrets from Friday is that he movie started (3:20) when we were about ⅔ of the way through the exhibits and I never got to finish them. We both loved the though. Totally worth it, and nice to sit in the a/c for a while.

Since we were right there, and since it also had good a/c, we decided to take another ride on TSMM. That queue is the best! I feel like I’m always going to miss it when I stand in line in CA now. So, so cute and creative. We waited 17 min and rode at 4 PM.

We really wanted to do ToT one more time, so we headed back over there. He wait said like 45 minutes, but we must have hit a cleaning cycle first thing, because we sat there for like 10-15 minutes in the same place in the dry hot sun. I was so grateful for our umbrellas, but was still dying a little. We got in line about 4:15 and rode at 1:55, so around 40 minutes total.

 

[Jaina]

It was 5:09 and the MMRR line said it was down to 50/55 minutes, so we decided it was time to try it! That was also kind of a hot line, but the sun was getting lower, and it moved somewhat steadily. Well, until about 6 PM, when it also broke down… but I was very glad we stayed and waited, because it was up and running about 10 minutes later, and we got to ride at 6:23 PM. So we ended up waiting like 75 minutes, which was our longest wait of the trip. But it was super cute and we thorough enjoyed it! I looked forward to riding it at DLR again when it’s done!

It was about 30 minutes before closing, and we decided the plan was to hit the nonexistent lines at the Swirling Aliens ride and then get in line before 7 (closing) for another ride on Slinky Dog! (And, I loved these beautiful buildings on the right as you head into Galaxy's Edge!) We did ride the aliens at 6:42 with zero line, (and yes, that weather and those lights were doing awesome things for my hair...) but while we were on, the skies opened up and it started pouring! And the exit for that ride isn’t covered at all, so we were grateful for the cute “Scrabble” restroom right across the way. We ran for it, and changed into ponchos and shoe covers (Amazon, and really helpful) and changed our plan to getting in line for Millennium Falcon, which I was pretty sure would have a fully covered line this late in the day.

I was right, luckily, and we got in line for our last ride of Hollywood Studios (which would also mean we would have ridden every open ride that day, and 3 of them twice). I think that was worth all of the confusion and walking associated with being dropped off.

MF was fun, since we had our own ship, and both got to be pilots. I don’t think that we did that well, but we did have a good time. Luckily it had stopped raining by the time we got off. (We rode at 7:16, which means we waited about 20 minutes.

We caught a Lyft back to our hotel at 8 PM. We did about 24k steps that day, and you better believe I slept better that second night! We needed to get up slightly earlier the next day to mobile order and be dropped off at the Contemporary. I was switching to a different parks backpack the next day, and needed to switch over and organize, which explains the huge mess on my bed! I could probably pack lighter, but I like to be prepared...

 

[crystal1313]

@Jaina what shoe covers did you use from amazon? Did they work well? You can pm me if you want. Loving al the photos!!

 

[disneycat321]

YAY! You went!

I haven't been on the disboards in awhile, but I remembered that you'd talked about going to WDW on the DLR boards awhile back, and now I'm SO excited to read all about it!

Isn't TSL amazing?! 100% my favorite part of HS. And I agree - that TSMM queue has ruined me for the DCA version's queue, for sure!

I absolutely loved RNRC on our first two trips to WDW, but then this past time in 2019, it was too rough for me! I guess I've gotten old now and can't hand it anymore. I still like it, but I agree - I wanted to like it more.

I'm so glad you got to ride everything at HS while you were there!

I'm looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip!

 

[Jaina]

YAY! You went!

I haven't been on the disboards in awhile, but I remembered that you'd talked about going to WDW on the DLR boards awhile back, and now I'm SO excited to read all about it!

Isn't TSL amazing?! 100% my favorite part of HS. And I agree - that TSMM queue has ruined me for the DCA version's queue, for sure!

I absolutely loved RNRC on our first two trips to WDW, but then this past time in 2019, it was too rough for me! I guess I've gotten old now and can't hand it anymore. I still like it, but I agree - I wanted to like it more.

I'm so glad you got to ride everything at HS while you were there!

I'm looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip!

Thanks for the comment - I had actually forgotten to work on this recently! :-/ Life is busy, and it's been a bit of a crazy week. I'm so glad I went, or I don't think I could keep from driving the 6+ hours to go into Buena Vista Street later this month, and that is a LONG way to drive for just a little shopping and tasty food!

 

[disneycat321]

Thanks for the comment - I had actually forgotten to work on this recently! :-/ Life is busy, and it's been a bit of a crazy week. I'm so glad I went, or I don't think I could keep from driving the 6+ hours to go into Buena Vista Street later this month, and that is a LONG way to drive for just a little shopping and tasty food!

It's a 7ish hour drive for us, but from the north. We definitely wouldn't do the drive just for Buena Vista St, but my in laws live in the area and we will likely be visiting them in the next month or two, so I think we'll head over there. Part of me kind of doesn't want to because it might be too sad! I think we will end up going, though. I'm kinda desperate for any Disney at this point! I've even been considering visiting our local Disney Store just to have something....

 

[Jaina]

It's a 7ish hour drive for us, but from the north. We definitely wouldn't do the drive just for Buena Vista St, but my in laws live in the area and we will likely be visiting them in the next month or two, so I think we'll head over there. Part of me kind of doesn't want to because it might be too sad! I think we will end up going, though. I'm kinda desperate for any Disney at this point! I've even been considering visiting our local Disney Store just to have something....

Oh, if I was in the area, absolutely! And, I visit our local Disney stores (I prefer the outlet - things with prices I'm more likely to actually buy) every 1-3 weeks since they finally opened!

 

[Jaina]

Okay guys, here we go. Day 3: The Magic Kingdom! I'm so happy that I didn't listen to some recommendations I read to skip this one. Yes, it's very much like Disneyland, but there are so many differences, and it definitely had the most to offer for a one-day visit. Saturday at the Magic Kingdom was probably our best experience of the trip!

I did listen to recommendations here and on Facebook to Lyft into the Contemporary and walk from there. Wow, talk about a short walk. Compared to our jaunt from the Speedway the day before, it was great! We got up earlier than we wanted to (though we did sleep much better!) and were picked up at our hotel by our Lyft driver at 7:40 AM (for a 9 AM opening). I had mobile ordered a breakfast sandwich at the Contemporary in case we had any trouble getting in, but I don't know if we would have even needed it. I was good, though. I wished we had gone over about 20 minutes before we did, and taken some time to really check out the hotel, but we did enjoy what there was to see just waiting for our order to be called. (By the way, on the whole, I found the CM's who were in charge of letting you "in" to the restaurants when your order was up kind of unfriendly. Just a weird side note.)

The small security screening for guests walking in was quick and friendly, and we entered the gates at 8:15 AM. It would have been nice if we had gotten there even 15 minutes earlier, but knowing we were still on Pacific time, and it was only 5-something for us, I tried to just be grateful we got there as early as we did. I would have loved to just chill and explore and check out the Main Street area, but I know how hot it was going to get (it was already super humid and sticky-feeling), I want to get in a line! So I tried to soak it in as I walked. Our first masks-of-choice (made by me out of a bandana, but too soft and clingy for that weather and walking) were not that comfortable in the stickiness, and we switched out pretty fast. They were cute though! And you guys, the CASTLE! That was my favorite part of my previous trip, and though I missed the whiteness a lot, it's still just so darn big and beautiful! I have waaaay too many pictures of it during this day... Even though I knew it might be slightly quicker to the 7DMT going to the right, we totally took the opportunity to walk right through that amazing thing.

We got in line for the 7DMT at 8:26, and the wait said 15 minutes. We ended up waiting just less than that. The ride was super fun, and we really enjoyed it! The only disappointment was that we didn't have magic bands, so we couldn't even see our pictures. :-/ I like that even if you don't have the picture package or MaxPass at DLR you can still load the pictures into your app and look at them and show them to friends at least! (The clouds just made for stunning pictures all day!)

After that we were headed to the Haunted Mansion, since it was really close, and I knew the line might be long later. (Thankfully my problem of being a little lost all day on my first trip to the MK didn't happen. I spent enough time poring over maps and making sure I knew what was where that I didn't have to refer to a map or the app too often to find my way. One exception later that morning, haha.) But as we walked through, I saw that Peter Pan was 5 minutes. As a DLR native, you knew we couldn't pass that up, especially since N didn't know if she had ever been on Peter Pan, but loves the movie. The queue was awesome, and I enjoyed the differences in the ride. Couple it with that shorter wait (at 8:48 though, before official opening) I'd definitely give props to WDW's version over DLR. Even though I still love our PP!

The HM is super interesting on the outside, and it's very spooky how it's set back like it is, and not well-lit at night. We had a walk-on ride (8:55) but it was weird just walking through the stretching room... I don't generally love the HM (or any spooky things) but I can always appreciate it. And I did love the outside of the ride! Such a beautiful building! I liked it in its own way, not more than our white classic on the west coast. The ride itself was pretty comparable to me.

We wanted to ride Splash Mountain or BTMR, so we headed that direction. It really was kind of miserably sticky at this point, and I was dripping! But the views were amazing!

Splash was already at 40 minutes (at 9:08) and N didn't really want to risk getting all wet that early in the day, so we decided to save it for later (don't do that!). BTMR said 5 minutes, so we decided to ride that instead, since I know it can also get long. It actually took us more like 12. Though there line had a lot to look at, it felt a little claustrophobic to me. Maybe just because it was so warm. The ride itself was fine. We weren't quite brave enough to ask for the back row, so we sat somewhere in the middle, which I regret a little. The ride was fun, and had great views, but otherwise was a just-okay experience, even though I know the track is basically just a mirror image of ours at DLR. I'm sure it would have been more fun in the back and/or at night. I couldn't get the goat trick to work at all. Is it possible there? (So much feedback because BTMR is my favorite Disneyland ride most days) We did giggle at these guys, because they were just standing there like that, and it looked like they were headed off to something really awful or really boring instead of getting on a roller coaster at Disney.

 

[disneycat321]

Oh, if I was in the area, absolutely! And, I visit our local Disney stores (I prefer the outlet - things with prices I'm more likely to actually buy) every 1-3 weeks since they finally opened!

I wish we had a Disney store outlet! That must be a magical thing!

You definitely made the right choice going to MK for one of your days, especially now with no FP. Isn't 7DMT so fun? We loved it. And oh my, the Cinderella castle.....

We couldn't even FIND the goat the last time we rode BTMRR at WDW...pretty sure that was user error, though.

 

[Jaina]

I wish we had a Disney store outlet! That must be a magical thing!

You definitely made the right choice going to MK for one of your days, especially now with no FP. Isn't 7DMT so fun? We loved it. And oh my, the Cinderella castle.....

We couldn't even FIND the goat the last time we rode BTMRR at WDW...pretty sure that was user error, though.

I do love our outlet. They have lots of regular Disney Store stuff at regular prices, but they always have tons of Disney Parks stuff, and usually a good amount of clearance, and sometimes the friends and family sale on top of that IS magical!

I feel like I saw several goats, but none in the right place!

 

[Jaina]

This is when some of the fun happened. Splash was more like 60 minutes now (at almost 9:30) so we headed over to Adventureland to go on the Jungle Cruise, which said it was a 15 minutes wait. If only we had found it right away, haha. So we walked "through" Adventureland, admired the Flying Carpets (and agreed neither of us had any desire to actually ride them... I feel the same way about Dumbo unless it's at Disneyland, I discovered. The round-and-round motion doesn't tend to make my stomach feel amazing, so there has to be something else to recommend it before I'm excited to try it. If I had been with my kids I would happily have ridden all the flying rides, haha.) We WERE excited to see the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, since I have fond memories of it as a child, and of the movie from the same time period. My dad liked it a lot, so I did too. N was excited to take lots of pictures of it because she has been reading it with her 4th grade class, I think. (again, my mask was off for maybe 5 seconds, and there were no other people within 20 yards of us that time of day!)

We kept walking only to find that we had hit the hub again. Wait, we missed something. Where was the Jungle Cruise and POTC? This was the one time that I did have to look carefully at the map. Ah. There's another whole piece to Adventureland. Crazy, I hadn't remembered that! So we did find the Jungle Cruise (and were all sweaty after all our walking and the crazy humidity! That's not water in that first picture, and I was already on mask #3!) and waited 22 minutes. (Rode at 9:53) It was fun. Cute. A little concerning, because the way they split up parties on the boat made it leeeean a little more to one side than the other. Our guide was actually really great, and she had jokes I don't remember hearing before. It was a little harder to hear with all the plastic.

Next we decided to do POTC. I remember being underwhelmed with it on my last trip, but what I did enjoy was the queue, and it seemed a little better than I remembered. Maybe they had the fog higher, because last time I remembered just being able to see all the ceilings so well. The line WAS almost into Frontierland, which was concerning (see first picture, haha, and my "oh dear" face) but with our shade umbrellas it wasn't too bad, and I was thankfully able to refill my water from the drinking fountain halfway through the line. We waited 35 minutes and rode at 10:45. And all that a/c of the last part of the line and the ride itself was very refreshing for these poor desert rats who just aren't used to humidity!

While in line, we had placed a mobile order for a pineapple/raspberry Dole Whip (N has never had a Dole Whip) but it wasn't time for it yet. So we took a few minutes to actually go up into the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, and enjoyed checking it out! The view was awesome, it was nostalgic to see all of the fun innovations in it, and there was the most amazing spider web at the end. (Not Disney, haha) I enjoyed sending some Marco Polos of it to my dad at home.

Time for our Dole Whip! They are not even my favorite, but it was so refreshing, and nice to sit down and take our masks off for a few minutes! I kind of wished we had done the pineapple/vanilla mix instead, but it was good.

It was just shy of 11:30, and we were right next to the Country Bears Jamboree, which was about to start. Both of us wanted to do that one again (it's been a while since it was at DLR) so we checked it out. I remember feeling like the theater was bigger in DLR, but that might just be because I was like 8 the last time I saw it there. And I didn't remember the songs being so....um, adult? So much drinking and forlorn love! We got a kick out of that, and enjoyed the air conditioned break. Those breaks really did make up the difference for us this day. There were several shows to sit and enjoy. If the other parks had a couple more of those, I think it would be nice.

Speaking of air conditioned shows, we were right by the Hall of Presidents, and it was still warm (though less sticky, since the sun had come out) and that was a must-do for us. I knew it was in our best interest to avoid much criss-crossing of the park, since it's so big, so we decided to do that show next. Wow, we LOVED it! I don't know if I did it before, but seeing allllll the representations of the Presidents all up there together, seemingly interacting was a cool experience. We both talked about doing it again if we had time, just to see the part where they called everyone by name, but it didn't end up happening. I enjoyed all the things to see in the waiting area too, but I'm kind of a history geek. My dad and I spent a week in Washington, D.C. when I was 19, and it was an amazing trip! The picture of Jefferson's pocket watch is for my kids, who are still a little young to know much American History, but what they do know, they know because they have most of Hamilton (the clean version) memorized!

 

[Jaina]

Right as we exited the Hall of Presidents, (12:15 PM) the princess cavalcade was coming through. I couldn't figure out why the castle part looked sooo familiar. I figured they were reusing on, but why would it be familiar to me? You guys. Remember this picture?

Pretty sure this is the SAME float that I saw there 20 years ago. What are the odds? Or do they reuse this one often? I was so entertained!!

Also, we were RIGHT by another must-do, Sleepy Hollow. N is a trooper, and didn't mind waiting in the 10 minute line with me, or sharing this little beauty. Very fun, very tasty. One of the better treats we had during the trip. I think we had more pumpkin spice in 3 days than I usually would in a month, haha. (I love pumpkin spice in baked goods though)

We admired the castle and took some pictures with it, then decided it was a good time to go do a little shopping on Main Street before it got more crowded later that day. They were keeping track of numbers of people in and out in the big connected shop area, and we didn't want to wait in line for that, too! One thing that surprised me at WDW was that we saw sale/clearance prices in some of the stores. Maybe I just haven't looked hard enough, but I've never seen anything like that at DLR. I got some cute more-than-basic pins for my kids at $5 each and they were BOGO we found at the register. So that was crazy, but fun. I also got a shirt there, and some other little souvenir. I LOVED this blue set, but not quite enough to buy any of it that day when I knew how much I'd be spending at the ADR... We saw the saw cavalcade come through again as we were finishing shopping. (Also, the only real Halloween decor we even saw were these cute pumpkins all over the Hub and Main St)

It was getting close to time for me to check in for my ADR at Be Our Guest(!) so we wandered over that direction via the edge of Tomorrowland and then over through the castle. It was starting to sprinkle just a little, but it was fun to look around Fantasyland a little without hurrying to get on 7DMT.

As we separated and I headed in towards Be Our Guest. I had to wait a few more minutes before I could check in, and of course it started raining! Not too bad though, and I was checked in quickly. It's so pretty over there! I enjoyed waiting for a bit and seeing the fun details and architecture. I had a 2:20 (I think) ADR, checked in at 2 PM, and was seated by 2:15. My server (who was great) encouraged me to get up and walk around and take some pictures after she got my drink order (just water, please).

I don't generally eat much bread (not because I don't like it) but I was starving, and this bread was just too cute with its little Mickey head butter... For my appetizer I ordered the French onion soup, which I was a little disappointed in. Not because it wasn't good, I just don't think French onion soup is my favorite (I've decided now. ) I think I would have enjoyed the salad more, but it was fun to try it. For my entree I picked the filet mignon, because I am definitely a steak person, and it did not disappoint. Not quite as good as the steak we had at the Blue Bayou in January maybe, but the extras (whatever they all were) were super tasty. I cleaned my plate, just barely, but thankfully had room to eat most of my dessert too. I haven't been that full in a long time! I super enjoyed the grey stuff in the little white chocolate cupcake, and the raspberry lemon macaron was delicious in that small amount (I wouldn't have liked a full-sized on - too sweet) but the hazelnut dark chocolate (which is right up my alley) was too sweet in the wrong way for me. Overall, very delicious. The Beast did come out and walk around several times while I was there, but I wasn't that close to where he was. Without at drink, for one person, it was almost $80, which is the most I've ever spent on a meal by myself! I think it was worth it, but I wouldn't see myself doing it again, or with a whole family, unless we come into money.

I took a few more pictures on my way out, and texted N to see where she was at. She was right next door at Gaston's, so I got to walk over there and check that out. I don't remember what she said she ate, but she was enjoying the Grey Stuff Cupcake, and I made room in my stomach to at least try it, since I've heard good things. Wow. It was SO good. Probably the tastiest dessert we tried the whole time. (the pic of the cupcake is not mine, but she forgot to take one before she started eating!)

Guys, I don't know if I've ever done a whole piece-of-a-trip update without any real attractions in it... (If that tells you anything about our normal touring style, haha!)

 

[noodle73]

It was just shy of 11:30, and we were right next to the Country Bears Jamboree, which was about to start. Both of us wanted to do that one again (it's been a while since it was at DLR) so we checked it out. I remember feeling like the theater was bigger in DLR, but that might just be because I was like 8 the last time I saw it there. And I didn't remember the songs being so....um, adult? So much drinking and forlorn love! We got a kick out of that, and enjoyed the air conditioned break.

Hahaha ME TOO! I definitely did not pick up on the many adult references in the songs when I was a kid.

Also I love seeing the Be Our Guest photos. I would have liked to have done with BoG or CRT but I just couldn't justify the price for all four of us.

 

[CandyMouse]

Great trip report! I've never been to Disney World, I don't think I could handle the humidity, but I love seeing the pictures! Looks like a great time!

 

[disneycat321]

We went and watched Country Bear on our last trip in 2019, and it was my first time ever because I started going to DLR regularly after it had already left. My husband remembered it from his childhood. I, too, was cracking up at some of the lyrics. I kept looking at my husband like, "Is this for real?!" Definitely a surprise!

Those AC breaks at WDW are not a luxury, they are a necessity! Our trips there have been in May, June, and July - HOT HOT HOT with lots of rain, so lots of humidity! We have a whole different touring style there than we do at DLR, and it's all because of the weather. But it's been a great way to find new cool things like the shows at AK (which I know are not currently running). We went to the Finding Nemo show our first time purely to get out of the blazing heat, and we ended up loving it! Epcot has the circle vision movies in China and Canada, and the movie in France. We've really gotten to know where all the AC breaks are!