magicdancer
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- May 17, 2021
Just back from a quick trip to Disney World.
My best friend and I met up for a whirlwind trip - 2 nights at a Disney Springs area hotel and 1 day at MK
Both of us have done the BIG family trip thing pre-covid and we have always wanted to do Disney together so we just grabbed at the chance when it presented itself.
I personally have not been to Disney since 2017!
Thursday - Arrival Day and Disney Springs
I checked into my hotel in the morning so I could check my luggage and then wandered over to Disney Springs.
I spent a couple of hours wandering the shops (my favorite is Art of Disney)
Lunch: Got a salad at Earl of Sandwich - just ok - I needed the healthy food but the taste/quality wasn't amazing to me.
Wandered all over Disney Springs checking out shops etc. I finally ended up at Gideon's so got in the virtual cue (70 minutes).
Went and got gelato at Vivo Il Gelato. It was very yummy but can't believe it it is almost 9.00 for 2 scoops! Next time I would just do 1 scoop though as it was a bit too much. I really wanted to try 2 flavors which is why I got it. I got the chocolate and strawberry and it was very good.
Hung out in the shade for awhile and then wandered in shops again until I got notified I could go back to Gideon's.
My friend had perfect timing and arrived at Disney Springs right when it was our turn for Gideon's!
I got the PB Coffee (I don't usually do sweet coffee, but it wasn't sickly sweet to me and I liked it a lot!!)
I also tried the chocolate chip cookie and one of the monthly specials that had white chocolate and m&m's. The white chocolate one was my favorite. Took me 3 days to finish these cookies! They were good though and I am glad I went to the trouble to get them. My friend had the pistachio one and liked it too.
We then wandered back towards our hotel to rest.
Both of us took a short nap and then we got up and ready for our dinner reservations at Jaleo! I chose this restaurant to try the salt air margarita and the food looked good too. I knew it would be pricey but wanted to give it a try.
We checked in and discovered I had made the reservation for August!!!! Luckily they were nice and able to still seat us.
I ordered the salt air margarita and my friend got the sangria. We both agreed that the salt air margarita was the winner of the two. I really like margaritas and this tasted amazing to me - the salty foam on top was unlike anything I have tried before.
We got the flautas to share as an appetizer and I got the fried cod and potatoes with honey aioli and my friend got the chorizo.
It was all AMAZING. We truthfully had sticker shock when we sat down and even considered leaving but we are glad we didn't. The waiter told us we would need 2-3 plates to fill up like a meal but we ordered 2 drinks/each and 3 plates to share between us and didn't quite finish the food. Yes - it was pricey! We split the bill down the middle which made it about $65 each before tip!! 10/10 if you want a yummy place to splurge - we loved it!!
Then we wandered back to the hotel to go to bed since we would need to wake up at 5am the next day!
Friday - Magic Kingdom on a Party evening and we had early entry.
Took a shuttle from our Disney Springs hotel at 6am
Dropped us at TTC around 6:25?
Once the ferry had about 15-20 people - it took off towards the park. Still dark outside at this point.
Once we arrived they had just let people start lining up at the entryway and so we were about 3 people back in line.
At 7:00am we got our first LL for Jungle Cruise for 11:40am.
We were let in about 7:05am and we ran for coffee - LOL (I knew that line would build and I needed it with the early wake up we had). This turned out to be a good idea because we were in and out for the coffee in time to still line up for early entry and we weren't too far back at the Fantasyland entrance. As were leaving with our coffee the line had already built to about 10 people.
Did 7DMT and Peter Pan (done with PP about 8:10am)
We immediately headed to Splash (delayed opening) so kept walking to BTMRR.
Did BTMRR (SO fun! - forgot this one was so good). *Waited maybe 10 minutes or so for this one
Splash was open when we got off so got on with no wait. I am excited to see this ride when it reopens with the Tiana theme as it is one of my favorites but definitely overdue for this change!
Haunted Mansion after that (10 minute or less wait). Again, a fun one I hadn't done in a long time - my kids were too scared to ride it last time we went as a family. We were done with this ride by 9:20.
Small World (no real wait) - a classic!
Little Mermaid (no wait)
**Got our next LL for Winnie the Pooh and this is when we noticed the park filling up and posted wait times beginning to build. I do think wait times were exaggerated but we both agreed that having access to the lightning lanes helped us do a lot more! Maybe if we had 2 days in the park we would have felt differently.
Went to get a cinnamon roll and Lefou's brew at that point. Cinnamon roll was great - I did not like the drink (this was one of our longest waits! The line was long and there was not mobile ordering)
Did Barnstormer (25 minute posted wait - we waited about 20 so pretty accurate)
Used our LL for Winnie the Pooh so about 5 minute wait and then we were at about 11:30am.
Used our LL for Jungle Cruise (posted wait was 70minutes at that point - we waited about 8 or so with LL)
**At some point (maybe waiting in line at JC - we got our next LL for Space Mountain)
After Jungle Cruise we had wanted to do Pirates standby. Posted wait was 35 minutes and although we knew it was probably exaggerated, we had a Skipper's Canteen reservation for 12:35 that we didn't want to be late to.
We decided to go ahead and check in early for the meal and they seated us at 12:15/12:20. I think we got super lucky with that because we were only a party of 2. There were larger families that were there ahead of us that hadn't been seated because they needed a larger table.
We LOVED Skipper's Canteen. Compared to food across the rest of the park we were very impressed. We got the corn pancake appetizer to share (this was my favorite). I got the "tastes like chicken" and I thought it was a solid meal. Glad to be able to get some vegetables with it. My friend got the noodle dish and added chicken and said it was great too. I would definitely go back there again. I might even do that appetizer as my entree next time!
After lunch we headed over to Tomorrow Land.
Did the People Mover - posted wait was 20 minutes but we waited in line, did the ride, and were off before 20 minutes was up. I think this was when we got a LL for Pirates.
Used the Space Mountain LL - SOO fun - no real wait with LL.
Then we went to Aloha Isle to get Dole Whip floats and find a spot for the parade. That line was long but unlike Gaston's Tavern moved VERY quickly. They had a much faster system there.
Found a spot on the shady side of Main Street and enjoyed the parade. I think we were able to get our LL for BTMRR around this time too. That was our favorite ride of the day so we decided we wanted to go on it again. Both the Pirates and BTMRR LL were for 5:10 - 6pm.
Then we wandered the Emporium (didn't buy anything)
Did the 4pm Castle show - I had not seen this one and I liked it. I wonder though if they will plan a new one soon. Seems like it is time for a castle show with some of the newer characters.
At this point we decided to enjoy some ambiance so wandered to Fantasyland and rode the Carousel. We then saw that Pirates was down so we had been given a free LL. Unfortunately no LL's were available for a ride we wanted to do so we opted to not use it. However, I did notice that we would have been allowed to use it the next day too! We weren't going to another park but that made sense to me if we were since it happened so close to closing time.
We did Mickey's Philharmagic. The new Coco scene was really cute.
Then we hustled over to use our BTMRR LL. Had a lot of fun doing that ride one final time.
We had decided that after BTMRR we would check Pirates one last time to hopefully get on it before park closing since we hadn't done it yet. Sure enough as soon as we got off Big Thunder we saw it was running again!! We were super excited so we ran over there.
As we arrived I saw the posted wait was 20 minutes. I knew this could not be true as it had just started running again. We then heard a cast member trying to turn away a family that didn't have party wristbands!! This made no sense to us as it was only 5:35pm. That meant that even if it actually took 20 minutes to get through the line; you would still be boarding before 6pm! Didn't seem fair at all - we walked into the standby entrance and the other cast member there didn't stop us so we just kept going. My friend said the family argued with the cast member that same point (of being on it before 6pm and they did let them through).
I was very right about the wait time. It was a walk on ride and we were off at 5:45pm!! This gave us plenty of time to wander down main street and to the exit by 6pm. This was my first time doing a party day right till closing so I honestly did not know how they would handle getting in ride lines as it got close to 6pm. I was very glad we were able to get on Pirates but surprised they were trying to turn away people that early!! I have done a Halloween party and I know people pay for those tickets to get smaller crowds but I also don't think it is fair to turn away non-party goers if they can be on a ride before 6pm. Not sure what the official rule is or how CM's are told to handle it???
Anyway it was an amazing day! I had a lot of fun but it reminded me why I enjoy the longer trips. It can also be fun to go a bit slower and do things land by land. I think we toured efficiently and didn't criss cross the park too much but I personally like doing MK over 2 days to do 1/2 the park each day and work in more shows, character greets etc.
Summary: 7:30am -6pm on a party day with early entry - 16 Rides/Attractions (including all headliners and Big Thunder 2x); Parade, Castle Show, 1 sit down meal, and 2 lines for snacks.
We know we did that well as 2 adults able to move around the park very quickly. We also benefitted from having a smaller party for dining.
At that point we were exhausted so headed to Disney Springs to relax.
We took a bus from the Contemporary ( I did not realize they stopped running buses to Disney Springs directly from the park). Walk and wait was easy.
We went to the Hangar Bar and got drinks and the pretzel that came with meats and cheeses. Drinks were great, food was great, - first time there and we loved it. Great way to unwind at the end of the day.
Loved our trip!
My best friend and I met up for a whirlwind trip - 2 nights at a Disney Springs area hotel and 1 day at MK
Both of us have done the BIG family trip thing pre-covid and we have always wanted to do Disney together so we just grabbed at the chance when it presented itself.
I personally have not been to Disney since 2017!
Thursday - Arrival Day and Disney Springs
I checked into my hotel in the morning so I could check my luggage and then wandered over to Disney Springs.
I spent a couple of hours wandering the shops (my favorite is Art of Disney)
Lunch: Got a salad at Earl of Sandwich - just ok - I needed the healthy food but the taste/quality wasn't amazing to me.
Wandered all over Disney Springs checking out shops etc. I finally ended up at Gideon's so got in the virtual cue (70 minutes).
Went and got gelato at Vivo Il Gelato. It was very yummy but can't believe it it is almost 9.00 for 2 scoops! Next time I would just do 1 scoop though as it was a bit too much. I really wanted to try 2 flavors which is why I got it. I got the chocolate and strawberry and it was very good.
Hung out in the shade for awhile and then wandered in shops again until I got notified I could go back to Gideon's.
My friend had perfect timing and arrived at Disney Springs right when it was our turn for Gideon's!
I got the PB Coffee (I don't usually do sweet coffee, but it wasn't sickly sweet to me and I liked it a lot!!)
I also tried the chocolate chip cookie and one of the monthly specials that had white chocolate and m&m's. The white chocolate one was my favorite. Took me 3 days to finish these cookies! They were good though and I am glad I went to the trouble to get them. My friend had the pistachio one and liked it too.
We then wandered back towards our hotel to rest.
Both of us took a short nap and then we got up and ready for our dinner reservations at Jaleo! I chose this restaurant to try the salt air margarita and the food looked good too. I knew it would be pricey but wanted to give it a try.
We checked in and discovered I had made the reservation for August!!!! Luckily they were nice and able to still seat us.
I ordered the salt air margarita and my friend got the sangria. We both agreed that the salt air margarita was the winner of the two. I really like margaritas and this tasted amazing to me - the salty foam on top was unlike anything I have tried before.
We got the flautas to share as an appetizer and I got the fried cod and potatoes with honey aioli and my friend got the chorizo.
It was all AMAZING. We truthfully had sticker shock when we sat down and even considered leaving but we are glad we didn't. The waiter told us we would need 2-3 plates to fill up like a meal but we ordered 2 drinks/each and 3 plates to share between us and didn't quite finish the food. Yes - it was pricey! We split the bill down the middle which made it about $65 each before tip!! 10/10 if you want a yummy place to splurge - we loved it!!
Then we wandered back to the hotel to go to bed since we would need to wake up at 5am the next day!
Friday - Magic Kingdom on a Party evening and we had early entry.
Took a shuttle from our Disney Springs hotel at 6am
Dropped us at TTC around 6:25?
Once the ferry had about 15-20 people - it took off towards the park. Still dark outside at this point.
Once we arrived they had just let people start lining up at the entryway and so we were about 3 people back in line.
At 7:00am we got our first LL for Jungle Cruise for 11:40am.
We were let in about 7:05am and we ran for coffee - LOL (I knew that line would build and I needed it with the early wake up we had). This turned out to be a good idea because we were in and out for the coffee in time to still line up for early entry and we weren't too far back at the Fantasyland entrance. As were leaving with our coffee the line had already built to about 10 people.
Did 7DMT and Peter Pan (done with PP about 8:10am)
We immediately headed to Splash (delayed opening) so kept walking to BTMRR.
Did BTMRR (SO fun! - forgot this one was so good). *Waited maybe 10 minutes or so for this one
Splash was open when we got off so got on with no wait. I am excited to see this ride when it reopens with the Tiana theme as it is one of my favorites but definitely overdue for this change!
Haunted Mansion after that (10 minute or less wait). Again, a fun one I hadn't done in a long time - my kids were too scared to ride it last time we went as a family. We were done with this ride by 9:20.
Small World (no real wait) - a classic!
Little Mermaid (no wait)
**Got our next LL for Winnie the Pooh and this is when we noticed the park filling up and posted wait times beginning to build. I do think wait times were exaggerated but we both agreed that having access to the lightning lanes helped us do a lot more! Maybe if we had 2 days in the park we would have felt differently.
Went to get a cinnamon roll and Lefou's brew at that point. Cinnamon roll was great - I did not like the drink (this was one of our longest waits! The line was long and there was not mobile ordering)
Did Barnstormer (25 minute posted wait - we waited about 20 so pretty accurate)
Used our LL for Winnie the Pooh so about 5 minute wait and then we were at about 11:30am.
Used our LL for Jungle Cruise (posted wait was 70minutes at that point - we waited about 8 or so with LL)
**At some point (maybe waiting in line at JC - we got our next LL for Space Mountain)
After Jungle Cruise we had wanted to do Pirates standby. Posted wait was 35 minutes and although we knew it was probably exaggerated, we had a Skipper's Canteen reservation for 12:35 that we didn't want to be late to.
We decided to go ahead and check in early for the meal and they seated us at 12:15/12:20. I think we got super lucky with that because we were only a party of 2. There were larger families that were there ahead of us that hadn't been seated because they needed a larger table.
We LOVED Skipper's Canteen. Compared to food across the rest of the park we were very impressed. We got the corn pancake appetizer to share (this was my favorite). I got the "tastes like chicken" and I thought it was a solid meal. Glad to be able to get some vegetables with it. My friend got the noodle dish and added chicken and said it was great too. I would definitely go back there again. I might even do that appetizer as my entree next time!
After lunch we headed over to Tomorrow Land.
Did the People Mover - posted wait was 20 minutes but we waited in line, did the ride, and were off before 20 minutes was up. I think this was when we got a LL for Pirates.
Used the Space Mountain LL - SOO fun - no real wait with LL.
Then we went to Aloha Isle to get Dole Whip floats and find a spot for the parade. That line was long but unlike Gaston's Tavern moved VERY quickly. They had a much faster system there.
Found a spot on the shady side of Main Street and enjoyed the parade. I think we were able to get our LL for BTMRR around this time too. That was our favorite ride of the day so we decided we wanted to go on it again. Both the Pirates and BTMRR LL were for 5:10 - 6pm.
Then we wandered the Emporium (didn't buy anything)
Did the 4pm Castle show - I had not seen this one and I liked it. I wonder though if they will plan a new one soon. Seems like it is time for a castle show with some of the newer characters.
At this point we decided to enjoy some ambiance so wandered to Fantasyland and rode the Carousel. We then saw that Pirates was down so we had been given a free LL. Unfortunately no LL's were available for a ride we wanted to do so we opted to not use it. However, I did notice that we would have been allowed to use it the next day too! We weren't going to another park but that made sense to me if we were since it happened so close to closing time.
We did Mickey's Philharmagic. The new Coco scene was really cute.
Then we hustled over to use our BTMRR LL. Had a lot of fun doing that ride one final time.
We had decided that after BTMRR we would check Pirates one last time to hopefully get on it before park closing since we hadn't done it yet. Sure enough as soon as we got off Big Thunder we saw it was running again!! We were super excited so we ran over there.
As we arrived I saw the posted wait was 20 minutes. I knew this could not be true as it had just started running again. We then heard a cast member trying to turn away a family that didn't have party wristbands!! This made no sense to us as it was only 5:35pm. That meant that even if it actually took 20 minutes to get through the line; you would still be boarding before 6pm! Didn't seem fair at all - we walked into the standby entrance and the other cast member there didn't stop us so we just kept going. My friend said the family argued with the cast member that same point (of being on it before 6pm and they did let them through).
I was very right about the wait time. It was a walk on ride and we were off at 5:45pm!! This gave us plenty of time to wander down main street and to the exit by 6pm. This was my first time doing a party day right till closing so I honestly did not know how they would handle getting in ride lines as it got close to 6pm. I was very glad we were able to get on Pirates but surprised they were trying to turn away people that early!! I have done a Halloween party and I know people pay for those tickets to get smaller crowds but I also don't think it is fair to turn away non-party goers if they can be on a ride before 6pm. Not sure what the official rule is or how CM's are told to handle it???
Anyway it was an amazing day! I had a lot of fun but it reminded me why I enjoy the longer trips. It can also be fun to go a bit slower and do things land by land. I think we toured efficiently and didn't criss cross the park too much but I personally like doing MK over 2 days to do 1/2 the park each day and work in more shows, character greets etc.
Summary: 7:30am -6pm on a party day with early entry - 16 Rides/Attractions (including all headliners and Big Thunder 2x); Parade, Castle Show, 1 sit down meal, and 2 lines for snacks.
We know we did that well as 2 adults able to move around the park very quickly. We also benefitted from having a smaller party for dining.
At that point we were exhausted so headed to Disney Springs to relax.
We took a bus from the Contemporary ( I did not realize they stopped running buses to Disney Springs directly from the park). Walk and wait was easy.
We went to the Hangar Bar and got drinks and the pretzel that came with meats and cheeses. Drinks were great, food was great, - first time there and we loved it. Great way to unwind at the end of the day.
Loved our trip!
