Mini Trip Report - WDW and UOR 8/9/20 - 8/14/20

[Elsaspiritanimal]

I just got back from WDw and UOR and wanted to share my experience with two friends having a blast at WDW for a much-needed break from reality! We are Disney aficionados on both coasts. She is the Disneyland expert where I am more of the WDW expert, although we have both been to both coasts multiple times and love all things Disney, especially Mickey, Baby Groot, and Baby Yoda. Here are my quick thoughts on traveling, our hotel, and the parks each day!

 

[Elsaspiritanimal]

Travel: Flew from home through Chicago to MCO. First flight maybe had 12 people on it, and I would say the flight from ORD to MCO was slightly less than 2/3 full. Very pleasant though I did get bumped up to first class on both flights and had no one next to me. Pretty sure that will never happen again but I will take it! They modified the meals they gave a snack box in first and offered 8 oz bottles of water instead of glasses. Same for wine they handed you the individual bottle and a plastic glass instead of pouring into a regular wine glass for you. So it was still a great experience!

Swan Hotel: Had to wait a bit to check-in, they didn't have a dedicated Premier access or mobile check-in line. After about 20 minutes though the concierge came to check us in. I did get a one-category upgrade to a resort view (Titanium Elite) but not balcony. Since we didn't plan on spending much time in the room it was fine. Hotel was very clean; they are only offering room service once every 4th day but I typically don't use anyway. It was nice they had 6 towels and 6 bottles of water already stocked upon arrival. Still only one tiny bottle of shampoo, conditioner, and lotion; but they gave you a number to text and they would bring whatever needed directly up to the room and leave outside the door.

Elevators we only had one night around 10pm after getting back from Epcot that we had to wait for 4 parties in front of us. Took about 5 minutes. Since we were on the 10th floor it was easier getting down since hardly anyone was coming from above us to have to wait that way.

With the Dolphin being closed, food was harder to come by with fewer options to choose from. Java was great in the morning and if you got there before 8 there was very short waits and the sandwiches were fantastic. After 8 the line grew pretty quickly. Also walked to the boardwalk for pizza one night so that was another decent quick option.

The pool was great as usual. No issues finding spots; and they still had music going so it still felt like great atmosphere at the Grotto. It was obviously busier in the afternoons but still very manageable. Morning we had it to ourselves and got to see the 8th wonder of the world - the backside of water!




Buses: They definitely kept everyone spaced out and the driver came out to assign seats. They are no longer displaying the bus arrival times; just the "operating" times, but they seemed to start about 45 minutes before park opening instead of 30 minutes before.

 

[Elsaspiritanimal]

Animal Kingdom: I have literally never had such as easy rope drop experience. We caught the first bus at around 7:20. The temp check, security, and tapstiles we just walked through with no waits straight to Pandora and got in line for FOP. The custodial cast members were lined up on the pathway to the Tree of life greeting you and blowing bubbles - it was so special! It was the best way to start our trip. They let you in the queue so we were held in the lab until exactly 8a.

Rope drop crowd:


After that line moved quickly and we rode twice with 5-10 minute waits then quickly rode Navi' River with 10 minute wait.

Pandora in all of its morning glory:


Headed to safari's - this was the longest wait of the day at 15. Crazy!! Great ride saw a bunch of animals including the female lion jumping up rocks to get to a more comfortable napping position! Rode Everest twice, then Kali, then hopped on the train to try out the animation courtyard. Super fun! We drew Hopper from Bugs life but mine ended up looking more like the Beast. Oh well not everyone is an artist right?

Safari:


Everest:



Caught the train back and rode Everest again before lunch at Yak and Yeti. We split the Ahi Tuna nachos and Firecracker shrimp. Both were delightful and it was a great way to take a rest with the mask off in the AC and re-hydrate.



From there we went over to Dinosaur, Bugs life show, then did some shopping. FOP was still showing a 15 minute wait time so we headed back that way. 3 times in a row and literally we walked on the ride! The 2nd and 3rd time they had a cast member asking if we wanted a reride - so they let us through a door at the exit so we didn't have to walk the full queue again. It was absolutely amazing!!



After that we hit Navi river one more time then decided to call it a day. Did a bunch of photo passes - it was like having a personal photo shoot because there was no one in line to each photographer spent so much time and did so many great shots. I'm sure I missed something here, but rode 15 rides (including FOP 5 times!) and had a very leisurely day. Could have rode FOP or anything else more but decided to call it a day and Everest was down at the end which was the only thing we really wanted to re-ride at that point.

Took the bus back to the Swan - waited less than 5 minutes for it to show up which was great! Grabbed dinner at Boardwalk pizza - it was a gorgeous evening out.

 

[DisneyLifePapioNe]

I’ll definitely be following along!!!

 

[amyjeanbeck]

Wow! Sounds like you had an amazing day and your photos are beautiful. I haven't been to Yak and Yeti, but am looking forward to it. Especially after seeing both of your tasty dishes.

 

[Lynne G]

Awesome pictures, glad you are doing this trip report.

Looks like you had a beautiful day. AK is one of my favorite parks.

Have never stayed at the Swan or Dolphin. Have been at YC and BC, though. Nice to be in the Epcot area.

 

[Elsaspiritanimal]

I’ll definitely be following along!!!

Welcome! Thanks for following along!

 

[Elsaspiritanimal]

Wow! Sounds like you had an amazing day and your photos are beautiful. I haven't been to Yak and Yeti, but am looking forward to it. Especially after seeing both of your tasty dishes.

Welcome and thank you AmyJeanBeck! Yes it was one of the best days I've ever had at Animal Kingdom! I really couldn't believe how fun it was to be riding all the things yet moving at a such a non-commando pace.

Highly recommend Yak and Yeti. I think it has such a fun atmosphere on top of the good food. We were seated on the second floor so we also had a very nice view of the bridge to Discovery Island, so it made for good people watching. But the decorations and theme are top notch so it is worth visiting for that alone!

 

[Elsaspiritanimal]

Awesome pictures, glad you are doing this trip report.

Looks like you had a beautiful day. AK is one of my favorite parks.

Have never stayed at the Swan or Dolphin. Have been at YC and BC, though. Nice to be in the Epcot area.

Yay thanks for following along glad you are here! There is something so peaceful yet energizing about AK, it is one of my favorites as well. When I took my mom there last year for the first time, she was blown away. She said you really didn't understand what the fuss was all about until you actually experienced how gorgeous it is there!

I've always wanted to stay at YC or BC! I've eaten at a few of their restaurants and I love the vibe of both places. For sure can't beat being in walking distance of two parks!

 

[schumigirl]

Looking forward to reading along Elsa.......

Fabulous start and your pictures are beautiful!!! That last one is lovely. And good score on FOP repeats....

Food looks so good too........

 

[Elsaspiritanimal]

Looking forward to reading along Elsa.......

Fabulous start and your pictures are beautiful!!! That last one is lovely. And good score on FOP repeats....

Food looks so good too........

Hello Carole thanks for following! I love all of the different skies Florida gives you throughout the day! It is a photographer's dream I think! And yes I was quite happy to get so many rides on FOP!!

Glad to see you here!

 

[Elsaspiritanimal]

The next day was our Epcot day so we hit the pool in the morning with the late open, then got ready and walked over around 10:30. It is a beautiful walk around the Boardwalk but it definitely got quite warm in the full sun with a mask and hoofing it! I really started missing the friendship boats running towards the end.

We arrived unscathed however and through all security checks (super easy and fast) at the International Gateway and to Test track by 10:55. Waited about 20 minutes (including pre-park opening wait). Still such a fun ride and a great way to start the day!



Headed over to Frozen (literal walk on) and then Gran Fiesta tour, also a walk on. By this time it was noon and time to do some Festival booths! We decided to split everything so we could try more. Pretty much everything was good, but my absolute faves were:
1. Orange wine slushy at Citrus blossom. I can't even tell you how tasty that thing is. I had 3. I did not share. The crispy chicken with orange aioli was also good, but the real standout here is that slushy.


2. Gourmet mac and cheese in the Festival center. Super creamy, great flavor, big portion. Yum. It was so good I forgot to grab a pic until it was about halfway done...whoops! Plus the lady playing Disney tunes on the grand piano was SO MUCH FUN! I could have listened to her all day.


3. Lobster roll and carrot cake with warm cream cheese frosting from Hops and Barley. The Blue star Wheat and A Wake coffee blonde beers were both very good too.


After stuffing ourselves at 5 booths, we took a break and headed back over to Future world to ride Figment, Soarin', Living with the Land, Nemo, and Spaceship earth. All were walk-on despite various posted wait times. Did some shopping at temporary mouse Gears (found a rare XL Mickey face mask there), then decided watched the Epcot experience. Nice break in the AC.

Living with the land:


Epcot experience:


Test track had been down, so we rode 3 times in a row with 10 minutes or less wait. Rode Frozen and gran fiesta tour again, then decided to tackle more of the food booths.

Canada Pavilion:


My hair idol:



Alice in England!

 

[Elsaspiritanimal]

Ended the night at Epcot with Living with the land, Soarin', then Frozen right at park close. Took a leisurely walk out around the World showcase. Saw very few people left since everything closed up promptly at 9, if not earlier. Was great for taking the nighttime pictures though!











Walked the boardwalk back and was such a lovely night. Ride count: 16 rides including 5 test track, 3 Frozen, 2 Soarin'. Again took our time enjoying the ambiance and the food so if we really wanted could have ridden more there as well, but Epcot is all about savoring and that is what we accomplished!

 

[Elsaspiritanimal]

Magic Kingdom Day! Took the first bus again at 8:15ish. Again no wait for temp checks or security. They held us at the tapstiles until exactly 8:30. We were the 2nd people in line for Starbucks! Got our coffees and headed to Seven Dwarfs mine train. We could see people already riding so we quick gulped down the coffees (MAJOR brain freeze) and got in line. It was a walk-on so we rode twice with no waits! By the time we were done with the second ride though the line was starting to build so we moved on at exactly 9a. Headed over to Big thunder, Splash, then Pirates all walk-on. Jungle cruise we waited about 20 minutes but the line move quickly the whole time.








Headed over to Tomorrowland and rode Space 2 times with about a 5 minute wait each. Walked over to Haunted mansion and rode twice with about 5 minute wait each time there as well.







Had a noon ADR at Plaza so did the mobile checkin on the way and received our table ready text about 2 minutes later. I had the burger with fries and my friend had a salad and the loaded fries (all about balance!). Both were very good and again was a nice break in the AC with mask off.

 

[Elsaspiritanimal]

The afternoon was actually a little hard to figure out what to do next because it seemed like everything was a low wait! We decided to head over to Fantasyland so we could get pictures by the castle on our way. It really is beautiful. Although the original gray/blue coloring will always feel like "home" to me, I love this latest rendition and it really seemed to evoke some of the Disneyland vibes that I love. Very fun update to it.






Rode Pooh which is always so adorable, then Barnstormer because I needed to get my Tron construction update pics. That is seriously the shortest ride in the world, but I can see where the littles would just love it. We did request to do single rider because it seriously challenges the limberness getting in and out of those seats!



We headed back to Buzz, Carousel of progress (Give him a left you big lug!), then Space Mountain was posting short waits so we rode that 3 more times with 5 minute wait or less. Decided we needed ice cream so we got glorious chocolate shakes at Auntie Gravities. It was so thick I needed a spoon but no complaints on that one! We rounded out Tomorrowland with a ride on the speedway. So wish that People mover was running! I love that ride and hope they get it fixed soon.



From there we ventured back to Little mermaid, Small world, Peter Pan, and then Philharmagic. This was our only long wait of the day. It was posted at 5 minutes, but with the social distancing protocols we had to wait 2 movie cycles so that one took close to 40 minutes. Still a fun show but be aware if you see the line outside, it will take awhile. Pre-covid you would have gotten in no problem so just need to adjust expectations on that one.

 

[Elsaspiritanimal]

After that back over to HM for a ride, then Big thunder (we got a rainbow over the castle!!!), and finished the day out at Splash. There was about a 20 min delay, maybe for cleaning? So this took a while too but we were trying to get a lot of rides in on that one not knowing when the retheming might happen! I swear they changed the "angle" of the splash on the drop because my forehead and hair got soaked each time, but nothing on the mask. Craziness.




The park had officially closed at this point, we headed back to main street for some more pics and shopping. I seriously can't reiterate how awesome the photopass was this trip! Too bad we were wearing masks but we got so many fun and different shots! Also we had heard that the shops were closing 30 minutes after close, but there were still quite a few people in the stores and the CM confirmed they would be open at least an hour after closing. We stayed taking pics as long as we could on main st - our persistence paid off and the main st lights came on around 7:55! I did not hear the kiss goodnight at all though. So not sure if they aren't running it or we just missed it while in a store.








We walked over to Cali Grill for an 8:25 reservation. We did end up having to wait 15 minutes for a table, but it is always worth a wait there! We got some awesome drinks - I had Blackberry Lemon Sour - to quote @schumigirl, Lush! My friend had a spicy margarita which she also really enjoyed. Since we had decent amount of ice cream in the afternoon we wanted lighter food so we split the Beef Short Rib wontons and the California roll sampler. Both were excellent and a perfect way to end the night.







Ubered back to the hotel, laden with our packages from shopping and called it a night. Not sure if I listed all of them here but got 24 rides in - very successful given our slower pace than usual and stops for food and snacks. We had such a wonderful day though! Really such a treat to have been there.

 

[schumigirl]

Love....love......love your pictures!!!!

You did a lot in that time....and what fun you had, and the food.....oh my it looks so good.......lobster roll, chicken and that lush cocktail .....lol.....looks fabulous!!!

I am impressed the amount of rides that you did........

Can`t wait for more Elsa......

 

[Elsaspiritanimal]

Love....love......love your pictures!!!!

You did a lot in that time....and what fun you had, and the food.....oh my it looks so good.......lobster roll, chicken and that lush cocktail .....lol.....looks fabulous!!!

I am impressed the amount of rides that you did........

Can`t wait for more Elsa......

Thank you! Yes I was also very happy I wore stretchy clothes for most of the trip because I ate my share of food....and maybe a few other people's shares too. Totally worth it!

 

[Elsaspiritanimal]

Next over to the Dark side....



No not that dark side! We'll get to that later.

This one....

 

[Elsaspiritanimal]

Universal! My friend flew home the next morning, so I took an Uber to UOR while she headed to the airport (so sad to say goodbye to my dear friend!). But luckily I had my letter for Hogwarts so I couldn't be too sad with the prospect of the castle, Hogsmead, and Diagon Alley beckoning me home.



I arrived at the front gates of the Studios at 7:55 and there was no wait at the tapstiles so off to Diagon alley I went! Walked right into Gringotts and had some time to take pics with no one around. Ride is so much fun as always - but my 3D glasses were fogging up from wearing the face mask. I had to push the mask up really high and the glasses down pretty far on my nose but that did the trick.











I've always wanted to try breakfast at the Leaky Cauldron but have always been so focused on rides in the past, so I made it a point to stop by. My mobile order wasn't working (found out I needed to relink my credit card) so they took my order at the counter after showing me to my table. I got the mushroom and leek pasty. Oh my did I enjoy that. I don't know what I was expecting but the dough was almost southern biscuit-like and the filling was creamy and full of flavor. Highly recommended. It was nice that they served it with fruit and potatoes, plus you could choose the drink so of course I got the frozen butterbeer! It super filling though so it could easily be split between two people. Plate almost demolished!



I found my way into Knockturn alley after breakfast and wandered through Diagon alley finishing my butterbeer. I don't know why but I found it so much better than normal this morning I loved every drop! Once I finished I went to Gringotts for another ride. Had about a 5 minute wait at this point.



Now that the rest of the park was open, I made my way over to the Mummy. What a great ride but man I think I'm getting old I felt every twist and jerk on that one! I waited about 10 minutes - but it was great I had never seen the queue before always having either Express or being a single rider, so I rather enjoyed that. Then I made my way over to Transformers, always a fun ride too! Waited for the Hogwars Express to Hogsmeade - it was so weird having a compartment to myself! I tried all of the different spots for sitting but it was quite a nice experience.