Mom & Son 20th Birthday TR (10/13 - 10/17) *Completed* 10/25

[Becky2005]

It was a whirlwind weekend trip with my son for his 20th birthday which happened to fall on the same day as Disney's 100th! You can read my pre-trip report here

Arrival day

Our Plans: Go to Disney Springs go to the Christmas Store get celebration & birthday buttons, Coke Store for a Coke Flight and see the Coke Bear, get a Bowler hat, a Starbucks Florida state mug (he collects them), and on the hunt for Oswald Ears. Hoop Dee Doo Review for dinner for the 6:15 pm show.

Our Reality Arrival Day Part 1:

We stayed up way too late the night before getting all those last minute things packed along with my son finishing up homework he had to get done before we left. We needed to leave for the airport around 2 AM. I gave up and finally went to bed at about 11, so I could get a few hours of sleep. We finally do get to the airport and with as many times as I have picked people up you would think this wouldn’t be a problem. Yet it was! I missed the exit for where I *thought* we would be parking. Made our way back around and it turns out that the parking lot doesn’t open until 4:30 AM. I’m an obsessive planner and I know if it had listed it anywhere on the website, I would have made note of that. So off we go to the other long-term parking, which is cheaper but it is uncovered so I was hoping to avoid it. Luckily, I snapped a picture of what row we were in last minute because I would have never remembered on the way back home! I wasn’t even 100% sure I locked the car as the bus came so quickly when we were getting things out of the trunk. You normally don’t get direct pick-up at your car but apparently, it was so early and a little cold the person was nice about it. We made it through TSA with no problem and we waited as I am one of those early birds for flights as our flight didn’t leave until 7:30 AM.

Our flight was slightly delayed but not by much. We arrived at MCO close enough to our original time around 11:15 AM.

We had arranged for Mears bus to take us to the hotel. I had read various reviews but it went smoothly for us. We got our bags, found the bus terminal, scanned in, and boom we were on the bus. We did have to wait a little bit for others before they left but I would say no more than 15 minutes. We were staying at All Stars Movies. There were a few other drop-offs but it didn’t take that long.

We weren’t sure our room would be ready as it was early so we were prepared either way. Luckily for us, it was ready and we got a great room. We were in our room just before noon so transportation wasn’t that long. We did not book preferred but I think we ended up with it. We were in the Fantasia section and had room 5858 which I thought was great. It was right by Mickey’s hat on the 2nd floor. From my understanding the entire Fantasia section is preferred but maybe not?



On our way to the room, both my son & I were very confused by these birds we kept hearing. We weren’t 100% sure if they were real or animatronic because it is Disney – it could be either. That is until we get to our room and realized it was my suitcase!!! It is old and the wheels apparently sound like Tweety bird. We both honestly thought it was birds! We were obviously very tired but did we take a nap? Of course not!

Arrival Day Part 2 up next...

 

[rdkeim]

Following!

 

[erinch]

Following!

 

[Becky2005]

Our Reality Arrival day part 2:

My son ended up getting a birthday pin at the check-in desk so we didn’t need to go to the Christmas shop in Disney Springs which was a good thing. I wanted a celebration pin to go with his but didn’t get one until later in the trip.

We bought our refillable mugs and took a quick look through the gift shop so we would know what was there. I know we took those back to the room before we got ourselves to Disney Springs.

We finally made it to Disney Springs and I think it must have been about 2 pm or so because I know we were on a time constraint because of dinner plans. As many videos and research as I do you would think I would know locations but I never do and places tend to be way bigger than I anticipate. We got turned around several times during our shopping. We did get to the Christmas shop but they were busy so I didn’t want to deal with the Celebration button at that point, I knew I could get it later somewhere else. My son got his Florida Mug, Bowler hat and found his Oswald Ears. The deal was if he were to wear them, I told him I would wear ears too (easy enough for me). The problem was I had a hard time finding any I really liked. I did end up getting 100 years ears that I did like. Then we were trying to get to the Coke store which is forever away to get to! LOL! He had really wanted to try the Coke flight but we were afraid that would take too much time and we decided we would try to come back after dinner instead for that. We did take a look around and he ended up buying a hat & stuffed Coke can.

By the time we were done and with knowing we had to take a bus to Ft. Wilderness and then another internal bus we decided to head on over to Ft. Wilderness with our packages vs. taking them back to the hotel. We knew we would be early but it was that in-between time & not knowing exactly how long it would take, I didn't want to risk being late. We have stayed in the cabins before so were familiar with the layout and internal bus loops.

Had a great bus ride over to Ft. Wilderness talking to the bus driver the entire time basically about Hoop Dee Doo because her birthday was coming up and she had never done it before. I hadn’t either but know more than I probably should. No problem getting on the bus to the Outpost (I forget which one is Settlement and which is Outpost but we got there). We were too early to check in so we did walk around just a bit, checked out the store and I was just trying to not pass out mostly. I knew I was dehydrated at that point and also needed food (I had only eaten the cookies we had on the plane at this point). I knew I would feel much better once we ate. We did hang out by the bar window they have there. There were some places to sit in the shade, so we just hung out until check-in time after checking out the other things.


The Plush Coke can that we had to bring with us to dinner!

Up Next Arrival Day Part 3 -- Hoop Dee Doo Review!

 

[Becky2005]

Our Reality Arrival day Part 3: Hoop Dee Doo Review

We got checked in and received our paper with our table number on it. Very important you get that piece of paper even if you do online check-in. We did stand in line once we got the paper but you really didn’t need to since the table is already assigned to you. In my defense I knew there would be some of the food on the table and the sooner we got in the door & seated the better for me at that point. We had level 3 reservations and we were up on the right side of the balcony. You did have to twist your chairs to see the show but it wasn’t too bad.

Once we were seated, we basically inhaled the cornbread not really even waiting for them to bring us something to drink. My son and I are somewhat picky eaters so we didn’t eat any of the coleslaw or salad. I had sweet tea to drink and my son had coke. They came in mason jars which was fun.

Before the show began, my son said it reminded him of the mess hall at Boy Scout summer camp and how they would do the skits. He nearly cracked up when the show started and they made their grand entrance…his words were “This IS a Boy Scout skit”.

The main course was good. Believe it or not, my favorite out of the meal was the mashed potatoes! For some reason, those were excellent mashed potatoes. We aren’t big rib eaters so we tried those but not our thing. We got another loaf of cornbread. They did come around and ask if we wanted more chicken or ribs. I was full at this point (and feeling *much* better which I knew I would) but my son got a bit more chicken.

At one point they do ask who has birthday’s – now they ask if you have it on that day but not sure how many follow that. Even if your birthday isn't that exact day, you can say it is. They come around ask your name, where you are from and how old you are. After they get everyone, they sing Happy Birthday to the entire room. It was cute.

They then do anniversaries. The couple next to us was celebrating an anniversary and I believe they were from the UK. This works similar to birthdays and then they sing Let Me Call You Sweetheart to the entire room.

It was a good dinner show. Not something I would probably do all the time and the Level 3 reservation wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. I was trying to do Level 1 or 2 so we could be on the main floor but with how our day was going Level 3 worked out great. You do get some interaction even being up in the balcony.



My son’s impression was that basically it was a Boy Scout summer camp skit on a bigger scale. He also enjoyed it but was a one and done for him.

I wanted to take the cornbread back to the room as it was good & I felt bad that we barely touched the 2nd loaf & I knew it would get thrown out plus that would be easy enough to take with. I did ask if I could do so & the answer was if I wanted to carry it out he didn’t see why not. They didn’t have any to go boxes (which I wouldn’t have expected them to). It worked out as I rearranged our shopping stuff and was able to put it in one of the smaller bags. We did bring ziplock baggies with us for the trip, so I knew I could transfer it to one once we got back to the room.

We decided at the end we were done for the night and just wanted to go back to our room and go to bed vs. going back to do the Coke flight. It was a bit crowded on the bus back to the main bus depot and then had to wait for the Disney Springs bus. Busses to other parks came so we could have hopped on one of those and then just transferred that way. I think some people did that. We could have also taken the boat the MK but I knew exactly where to go at that point from Disney Springs and was too tired to think.

I felt bad for a few people who were coming to the show after ours and didn’t know about the internal busses to get to the show. You could tell they were so lost & even after another guest explained it to them. I may forget 90% of what I research before going on vacation but it is when I see things like that happen I know why I'm a bit obsessed (even with non Disney vacations) to try to learn as much as I can before I go. It truly can be confusing on how to get there if you aren't aware.

Next up our Epcot day!

 

[suse66]

Following along! Sounds like a great first day!

 

[Becky2005]

Our Epcot Day
Our Plans:
My son wanted to check out World Showcase, so that was the main plan. Early Entry to get Test Track, Remy & Frozen taken care of. Since Journey of Water was on soft opening hoping to get a VQ for that but knew it would just depend. Meet Mickey & Minnie since they will be in their 100th outfits. We did have a haircut appointment at Harmony Barber shop at 3 PM so park hopping to MK would be involved.

Our Reality Epcot part 1:

The alarm went off to get up so we could be at the bus stop 90 minutes before early entry as that is everything I read before to do even though officially it says busses start running 45 minutes ahead of time.

We were both pretty tired so I asked my son if he wanted to get up or sleep in? The choice was his. If he slept in, we would miss early entry but I would go ahead and buy Genie+ then. Sleep won! We just decided to say forget it to early entry and sleep in. I figured since the countries were the most important it would be fine. We needed the sleep.

We didn’t sleep in too much though as I knew we still had a lot to accomplish especially with knowing a park hop was involved and now our plans were a little skewed. Probably an extra hour or two as we still got to Epcot just a few minutes after official opening time.

I got a Lightening Lane for Test Track as that was the only thrill ride he wanted to do and since I bought it right at 7 AM, I think the return time was around 9:25ish.

I had bought the Memory Maker so I made sure to stop for photos as much as I could. Easily could have done more but my son is not one to like getting his picture taken, so I took what I could get.

We stopped at the entrance and got our pictures taken. We also had time to stop by Club Cool before heading over to Test Track. We didn’t get the Coke flight but at least we could try some of the flavors. Believe it or not, my son actually *liked* Beverly!!!! His reaction was “this is good” even with the aftertaste. He did not like the plum one (I think it is the one from China?).

We then went on Test Track. The last time my son went to Disney World he was 7. He remembered liking it when we went on that trip, however, once we got off the ride, he did NOT enjoy it. So definitely won’t be doing that one again.

I tried to make a Lightening Lane for Remy but they were out so at that point I got one for Frozen which was around 4:30 pm at that point. That timeframe actually worked well for us with the haircut involved.

In hindsight I should have gotten Remy first and either just waited for Test Track or done that afterward. I’m sure I read the order to do it in, so oops! Hard to remember everything!

Virtual Que for Moana attraction also opened and I was able to grab one. The downside to this was I had a hard time getting notifications so I would just check my phone. It was going to be quite a while before our group got called.

Shopping was involved as my daughter wanted a Figment loungefly and we were also on a hunt for a Numio Oswald. No luck for either one of those.

We stopped for more pictures near the 100th with Mickey statue and as we were in line something happened to the Photopass photographer’s camera. He had to leave and told us he would be back. Those of us in line just decided to take each other’s photos with our phones instead of waiting. This was just a clue on how things would go this weekend, luckily we rolled with things.

Next up Epcot/Magic Kingdom/Epcot

 

[Becky2005]

Our Reality Epcot part 2:

This might not be in exact order as I didn’t write anything down and am doing this trip report from memory after being home now for several days and real life getting in the way. It will be more highlights.

Remy’s was about a 35 minute wait at least according to the app, so we decided to head over that way and wait in line. The wait time had changed to about 45 minutes by the time we got there. We decided to go ahead and wait in line to ride. It was about this time I regretted my decision of not doing this one first for Lightening Lane. Luckily, we knew this was going to be the only long line we would be waiting in. It was a cute ride but I felt you definitely needed to know the story going in and there is a lot going on to pay attention to. Not sure I would wait in that long of a line for it again.

It was after the ride, I realized our VQ for the Moana attraction had been called. We hustled over there but knew it would be after our allotted timeframe. I wasn’t sure how strict they would be on allowing us to enter. I figured since it was a walkthrough it shouldn’t be a problem but it was also in soft opening & new, could have been either way.

We were able to check-in, with out any problem whatsoever. They didn’t say a word about our timing. It was a neat walkthrough but unless you (or you have little ones) that are looking for a place to do some water play and/or you have someone who loves Moana, it wouldn’t be something I would go out of my way to see. I know I have seen one of the effects somewhere else before but still can’t place that one. It is walking up to a waterfall that stops to let you through. My opinion on it was it felt similar to something I had done before although obviously I hadn’t. As I was explaining this to my daughter, her answer was “oh like path we have at the zoo”. Yep that was it, we have the same type of water cycle path near what is called Tropic World there just not Disneyfied and not quite this grand scale.


We took this picture and then realized a little bit farther down the path was a Photopass photographer. We did get our pictures taken there.

At this point, time for a Mickey bar and then park hop over to Magic Kingdom as I didn’t know exactly how long it would take us to get there but I had read to give yourself an hour to get between parks plus I knew we had to check-in a bit early. Took the Monorail over and then the Ferry from TTC.

Made it to the Barbershop and it was a bit crowded because they were roping things off for the parade. I knew the shop was small and there were several strollers. We were a bit too early to check in at least I thought so. We finally went in after a couple of the kids came out and went in the stroller.

We got to watch a dance team that was performing before the parade come through before we went in. It was a fun thing to do.

You definitely need a reservation though as soon as you can make one. So many people came in to check things out and they were full. It is a small shop but still fun. The barber my son had happened to be from our area originally and still has family around here so that was neat. It didn't take too long and we were done before our 3 pm appointment time since we got right in.

At this point, my son decided he would rather go back to Epcot and not do anything in Magic Kingdom because we were coming back the next day.

Next up: Back to Epcot we go!

 

[Becky2005]

Our Reality Epcot part 3:

Let’s get those countries done! But first, we meet Mickey & Minnie!

Once we got back, decided we would got meet Mickey & Minnie before heading back to World Showcase. I wanted to make sure we got there before they left for the day since I think they were only meeting until 5 pm. There was a bit of a line and it would have gone a bit faster except we had a very large group in front of us that had multiple configurations of group pictures taken. We got lucky though as we got closer they said in 5 minutes Mickey & Minnie were going to have to go check on their party favors. I wasn’t sure we would get to see them before they left. Luckily, we did and the family behind us was the last group before they had to leave.

I have the hardest time interacting with non-face characters. It is always so awkward for me. It was the fact that they were in their 100th outfit which we won’t see again made it a must do this time around, so I punted and did it.


With that checked off our list it was time to go ride Frozen. After we got off of Frozen we wanted to be sure we watched the American Adventure so we made a beeline to get over there as there were only a couple more shows for the night happening and we didn’t want to miss it.

After the show, it was time to checkout the countries. The mission look for the stick flags from each country (except USA & Norway since he had those already). Since we were at the American pavilion the decision was to go toward Italy since we also wanted to ride Grand Fiesta Tour. We started out slow looking around checking out some of the stores, got to Mexico and did the ride. We then got to Canada and we realized time was getting away from us! He did want to watch the movies but we just didn’t have time. Now my son likes to use $2 bills while on vacation so he had fun with some of the people who had never seen them before in the countries. Let’s just say it was a mad dash rush to start hunting down the biggest stores to find those flags by the time we got to the end.



At this point we are in World Showcase, Epcot closes at 9 pm and I know if we can get in line we can ride even if the park is closed. Our goal was Living with the Land and we tried but I kept looking at the time and it was something like 8:58 and we weren’t close to the building at that point I told him there was no way we would be able to do it and we decided to just head on back to the hotel. I also wanted to beat the mass exit after the park closed, although it was still crowded.

Next up: Magic Kingdom day

 

[Becky2005]

Magic Kingdom Day – A very long and interesting day!

Our plans: Early Entry to get several of the rides out of the way, along with Genie+, breakfast at Cinderella’s Castle at 10:05 AM, go back for a rest/nap at some point & Halloween party. For the Halloween party, the goal is to get a picture with the 7 dwarfs, photopass pictures, see the parade, show & fireworks. Doubtful we will make it until the very end but playing that by ear.

Our Reality Magic Kingdom part 1 Early Entry:

We packed our bag the night before and a major decision was – Do I bring my costume or not just in case we decided to stay in the park? I was being Boo, so it wouldn’t have been that big of a deal to bring the clothes and change. I would have had to bring the bigger backpack is all. The decision was made that we were going to come back anyway, so leave it in the hotel room.

We got up early this time around as I definitely did not want to miss Early Entry for Magic Kingdom. Early Entry started at 7:30 AM so I wanted to be at the bus stop by 6 AM. We were! We were the only 2 people on the bus. According to the electronic bus schedule, the bus was to come about 6:10 AM or so. It pulled up just a couple minutes after 6! We did wait a few minutes there before he went to the park.

We couldn’t pull up to the bus area for about 5 - 10 minutes (it wasn’t very long but I thought it was funny). I did see other busses at their stops so not sure but I know he stopped, talked to the security guard & I heard something about 6:40. He pulled up and told us we had to hold there for a few minutes. You know you are *super* early when even the Disney busses themselves are told by security to hold and not enter yet. I’m pretty sure we were dropped off before the 6:40 timeframe though.

We were in the park a few minutes after 7 as we stopped and had photos taken in front of the castle and according to Photopass those were taken at 7:03 AM. I did get a Lightening Lane for Jungle Cruise.

Our plan was to go to Peter Pan’s flight first, which we did! Made a beeline for that as everyone else went to Mine Train. Go on no problem. Off to a great start.

Next up, Winnie the Pooh – or so we thought!!!! Went over there and the ride was down. OK fine, change of plans, let’s head over to Buzz Lightyear.

Made our way over to Buzz Lightyear and guess what!!! Surprise it’s down!!!

I’m like OK then and actually laughing because at this point it is almost park open time but we are still in early entry and you will never guess what ride we ended up going on!!!! There was another family who basically did the same concept as us! Buzz is down, now what?

We looked and Carousel of Progress was right there and running for Early Entry so on it we go (along with the other family)! If you had told me I was going to Early Entry Carousel of Progress, I would have never believed you! Who does that? Probably one of the last rides anyone would recommend using your EE time for but that is exactly what we did.


Up next: Magic Kingdom Part 2 Breakfast in Cinderella’s Castle

 

[Becky2005]

Our Reality Magic Kingdom, Part 2 Breakfast in Cinderella’s Castle

We did a couple more rides before breakfast, I think Jungle Cruise happened because I know I had some issues getting another lightening lane but it was user error not anything with the program itself. Most things had low wait times, so in the end probably didn’t need it. I believe we got one for pirates too. I don’t remember as this day tended to be a blur of running around.

Anyway, I knew we had to check-in early but I couldn’t remember exactly how early! I had 20, 15 & 10 minutes in my head and I wasn’t sure which one. I didn’t want to mess it up since it was an expensive prepay, so I went with 20 on the safe side. It was a bit confusing for check-in but we got it taken care of and it was only a couple minutes before our table was called.

The meal was fine. I don’t particularly care for this one way or the other. The last time I did it was in 2005 when we did our first big family trip and it was a 1 & done for me. My son wanted to eat in the Castle though as he didn’t remember it from back then considering he was under 2! He would have wanted to do this with or without characters.

The princess started coming fairly quickly and I was surprised to see Merida there. Unfortunately for me, she was the first princess and the only one that I have never seen her movie, so I couldn’t even fake it to understand what she was saying. Her accent was *so* thick, 90% of what she said, I had no idea. This was on me, not her. If at least I knew her story, I could have punted a bit but totally no idea. My son couldn’t understand anything she said, so I was doing most of the talking even though he is quite capable. We did a lot of smiling & nodding on that one! Whew!


Since we couldn’t easily take pictures of both of us with the Princess my son & I decided we would switch off taking pictures with the princesses. His favorite princess is Snow White and I did embarrass him a little with her (showing her the picture of him with her from 2005) and at least we could understand her.

We also saw Jasmine and Ariel both were nice and I knew how to have a short conversation with them.


After our meal, there was a birthday cupcake involved which was nice. I’m really glad the cupcakes are yellow cake & not chocolate. I had no idea what they would be but he isn’t a huge fan of chocolate so this worked out better.

We also got our choice of a wand or sword along with the Wishing Star. My son didn’t care but ended up taking the sword anyway (I’m a 5 year old & wanted my wand! LOL!) as he felt weird saying no even though I know he could have. We gave the sword to my youngest grandson after we got home, so we knew someone would enjoy it.

We did not see Cinderella at all. She did not come through the dining room nor was she downstairs before or after our meal. I saw an area that I think might have been her meeting spot. For us, it was no big deal so we didn’t ask about it. I know I saw some kids with autograph cards which we didn’t get, so not sure if something was said to them about it at that point. I felt really bad though if someone went to this meal specifically to see her. It did surprise me a bit that she wasn’t there. I thought I had read she didn’t go around the tables so I wasn’t expecting that but I thought we would see her before/after our meal.

My opinion hasn’t changed on this meal, definitely not one I would go out of my way to do but if someone has never visited before and/or loves the princesses, not a bad meal either.

Up next: The rest of Magic Kingdom before the Halloween party

 

[Becky2005]

Our Reality Magic Kingdom, Part 3 Magic Kingdom before the Halloween party

I truly have no idea what order we did things in. I know we had to do the Hall of Presidents as we had already taken care of the Carousel of Progress. I had a list of rides that we wanted to do along with if they were open or not during the Halloween party and/or on Genie+. There is some weird time element when you get to Disney World that time speeds up along with things taking way longer than you think and we weren’t even trying to get on the bigger type rides!

We did manage to get on Winnie the Pooh & Buzz Lightyear as those did come back up. At this point, time was ticking faster than expected and it was already early afternoon.

We went on the Haunted Mansion as I wanted to get that out of the way before the party so we could decide if we were going to redo it or not. I know it is popular during the party. My son decided to be a real estate agent during this ride. He was cracking me up as he was telling me all the great reasons to buy the haunted mansion. It just needed a little bit of dusting and don’t worry about the ax murderer in the attic. The ghosts give it a bit of charm.

We had nearly everything done we wanted to but we wanted to see the Country Bears and Tiki room as we had never seen those before and knew they would not be available during the party.

We got stuck a bit for the parade, so we had to wait for that to pass before we could go see the Country Bears. All I’m going to say about that is I think I am missing something. Both my son & I got done and had a “what was that?!?”. We wanted to be sure to see it because we know it is going to change but that is time I will never get back. I know a lot of people like it so I feel like there is some connection I am not making with it. Onto the Tiki room after that and by this point, neither one of us knew what we were going to be getting ourselves into. I could take it or leave it. However, if I had to do one or the other, I would choose Tiki room over Country Bears.

After all was said & done here is what we accomplished attraction wise before the park officially closed along with EE (not in order):

Peter Pan’s Flight
Carousel of Progress
The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh
Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
It’s a Small World
Mickey’s Philharmagic
The Peoplemover
Jungle Cruise
Haunted Mansion
Pirates of Caribbean
Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor
Enchanted Tiki Room
The Hall of Presidents
Liberty Square Riverboat
Railroad
Country Bear Jamboree

By this time, it was close to 4 or possibly even a little after, we looked at our list and the only thing I still really wanted to do that we hadn’t done yet was Under the Sea: Journey of Little Mermaid. I looked and that was open during the party so we decided we should go back to the hotel, change, have dinner there and come back. There were a couple of other things but we had already tossed them off the list as they were maybe’s and with the rides down on early entry knew we couldn’t fit it all in.

It was a madhouse when we left for those trying to get in. Cast members were directing everyone that wanted to go to the busses to go one way and those going to the Halloween party to go the other. I was really glad we were just going to go take a quick break and come back after that scene was done.

Up Next: Halloween party

 

[Becky2005]

Our Reality Magic Kingdom, Part 4 the Halloween Party

Once we made it back to our resort, we ate our dinner there as I knew there wouldn’t be much in MK or there would be a lot of waiting. Made more sense to just sit and eat in less stress environment.

We headed back to our room so I could change, grab the bigger backpack and while I was doing this my son laid down for a quick nap! It was definitely quick because it didn’t take me much to get ready plus I didn’t want to waste too much party time. My feet were feeling everything though and I had the start of a blister. I did all the tips & tricks and still ended up with sore feet. I did bring 2 pairs of shoes, so I bandaged myself up and changed shoes for the event.

We headed back out and it was easy to get into the park at that point. I know we got back in before the official close because we stopped by one of the cut-outs and the timestamp was 6:03. I was a little confused at first because they had cast members blocking some of the ways and my brain took a minute to realize that yes, the whole park was open to us, they just needed to see the wristband. Remember by this time, the hurry up and go, go, go was starting to get to my old brain. I’m not used to such short trips.

My daughter wanted an exclusive Halloween spirit jersey so we went and did shopping for that merchandise, found it but had to wait for her to reply to some texts as I wasn’t sure which one she wanted. The spiderweb one or the Hocus Pocus one. Hocus Pocus it was. The fun part is my son had been reading nametags constantly to see if anyone was from our state. The cashier happened to have a local community college listed on her nametag & we assumed it was Illinois but you never know, could easily been another state. Sure enough it was the one we thought. Now that shopping was out of the way, we went to get on the Little Mermaid ride since we missed it earlier.

We did watch the first stage show. I wanted to get that out of the way since I knew how our morning had gone and who knew how the weather was going to turn. There were several signs that sections were going to be closed off during the fireworks due to the weather (I think it was the wind).

We did very little trick or treating, basically Laugh Floor and sat to watch the show which was funny we quite enjoyed the way they did it. We then went to one other station. It was plenty of candy between the two of us.

Originally, I wanted to get a picture with the 7 dwarfs but I was actually having fun just enjoying the atmosphere and didn’t really want to go wait.

I knew my son wanted to see the fireworks, that was one of his must do’s, so I asked him if he wanted to see the projections on the castle or just the fireworks. The answer was, we are here, may as well do the whole experience.

With that answer, I knew our best bet was to get a decent spot near the castle for the first parade and then just stay put for the fireworks. That is exactly what we did. We definitely had to see between people’s shoulders for the parade but not too bad. We were near the walkway which once the parade started, they let people fill in. The people who were leaning on the railing behind us during the parade left afterward and we went over there because I’m old & knew if I sat down on the ground, I would not be getting up again anytime soon. Leaning worked for me. I knew we would be able to see even if we just stayed there. It did seem like a forever wait between the parade & fireworks and once it got closer, we did move in a bit because I knew if there was space it would probably be filled.

Once the fireworks were over, we went and rode Haunted Mansion (this time without the sales pitch to buy it!). It did stop for a little bit at the ballroom scene but then it started moving again. Ride stopping seemed to be our theme this trip.

There were several photos I would have liked to take but my son isn’t big into pictures and there were other things we wanted to do. He did indulge me throughout the trip (but he prefers if I don’t post him).



We ended the night with It’s A Small World which was his favorite ride. We didn’t quite stay until midnight but probably about 11:45ish, so pretty good considering we did EE too.

I feel like me missed a ton that I know was available but on the other hand, when everything was finished, we enjoyed ourselves, so I don’t feel like the things we missed were a big deal.

One thing I will say is I tended to binge watch the stage show, parade & fireworks before I went where as my son didn’t want to know & wanted to be surprised. I probably shouldn’t have watched so many videos because seeing it in person felt like “I’ve seen this a million times”. The Boo to You song does get stuck in your head! It is still being brought up randomly at our house.

We only ended up doing a few rides during the event and Haunted Mansion was the longest wait which wasn’t even that long.

Would I do it again, probably. You definitely have to make priorities and/or change things as needed.

I did try to convince my son to wait it out a bit as we were leaving with the mass exodus of people and I knew our bus would be standing room only but alas, we didn’t and we stood on the bus with a bunch of other tired people. The bus driver was funny though as he was telling us jokes throughout the ride. I wished I remembered some of them as they would have been some great ones to text in to the Laugh Floor during the regular show. I of course, can’t remember a single one now.

Up next: Hollywood Studios

 

[Becky2005]

Hollywood Studios Actual Birthday Part 1

Our plans: Early Entry to get Rise out of the way as I had read that goes down quite often and possible Tower of Terror. ToT was iffy as my son doesn’t really like drops but wanted to ride it to say he did it & know for sure if he liked it or not. He was bound & determined to do ToT, so on the list it goes. Lunch at 50’s Prime Time which is where he requested his birthday meal be at.

Our plans were to ride the following & see lots of the shows:
*Rise of the Resistance
*Alien Swirling Saucers
*Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
*Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
*Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
*Toy Story Mania
*Beauty & the Beast – Live on Stage
*For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration
*Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular
*Muppet*Vision 3D
*Lightening McQueen’s Racing Academy
*Walt Disney Presents 100 Years of Disney On Display
*Vacation Fun: an original animated Disney Short with Mickey & Minnie
*Fantasmic!

Our reality, Hollywood Studios Early Entry:
The good news is we got to sleep in a little as early entry wasn’t nearly as early as MK day was. Still an early morning though and it was relatively cold in the morning. We were partway to the bus stop & I debated if I should go back for my jacket. I didn’t really want to take the time to do so & I was hoping it would warm up. My thinking was worse case I end up buying myself a sweatshirt or something, so I just went without it. I did decide today to NOT buy Genie+ since I didn’t feel it helped us much in the other parks and it was in the $20 range. Although I also found out while waiting for the bus that this was a day off school for those in Orange County. It explained so much about the weekend.

We didn’t have to wait for the bus to drop us off but it was a bit of a wait before they opened the park – backtracking a little with the trip report as I forgot about this tidbit, I always grabbed a map of each place because I really don’t know the layouts that well. In Magic Kingdom, I just grabbed one from the top not really paying any attention and it happened to be in French! My son noticed and informed me. He said he should have just let me take it & not say anything. I probably could have done just fine with it since I could probably figure it out visually but would have been funny. This comes into play because it became a running joke to “make sure it’s not in French” when I was mentioning grabbing a map.

Once we were let in, I didn’t grab a French map but somehow I grabbed 3 maps!!! I did hand 2 of them back to the information person. LOL! I have issues.

We mad it to Rise and just beelined through the queue. Got on and off no problem. It was still EE at this point but I did see the wait times starting to rise. I was surprised on some of them. Anyway, at this point IF my son truly wanted to do Tower of Terror I knew we needed to go there. I asked if he was sure. He was hesitant but said “let’s do this”…so we went and got in line. I think it was probably a 30 minute wait or so. I couldn’t tell you but wasn’t a walk-on but wasn’t a long wait either. You could tell he was getting more anxious the farther we got in the line.

We got through the library and to the point where we could see the ride elevators. And then it happened!!!!! I heard the cast member say something but it was mumbled and I wasn’t sure exactly what she said. I heard something about it being down and hoping for it to come back up soon. I could see the look on my son’s face that he was regretting his decision but it was the “we are this far now”.

A few minutes later a cast member came over to our area and asked if we knew what was going on. We all said we couldn’t hear what it was. At that point, the ride was down, they didn’t know when it would be back up and if we wanted to leave let him know & they would help us at that point. We could also stay and see if it comes up soon. I knew we needed to leave but did ask my son & we both agreed now was the time to go.

I knew if they cleared the line, the other ride times would grow quickly. They took us down in a regular elevator so on a technicality, he DID ride an elevator on Tower of Terror. He did laugh that it still took you through the gift shop!

Up Next Hollywood Studios part 2

 

[Becky2005]

Our reality, Hollywood Studios part 2:

We went over to Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway at this point because in the app it was 35 minutes. It was 45 by the time we got over there and as we were in line, all of a sudden you see them adding ropes to the que and the time surged. I looked and not only was Terror still down, Rock & Roller coaster had gone down also! So yikes! Definitely looked like they cleared the line, so it was good call to get ahead of the crowd.

We went and saw the Indiana Jones show and there were technical difficulties, so they were doing a shortened show. They only did the first 2 scenes instead of 3.

We went to see Frozen but the show was full so we went and watched Vacation Fun at that point. We went back for the next showing of Frozen.

At this point I’m not sure what order we did things in as it has become a blur. I do know we decided to change our lunch reservation to a dinner one as we were trying to fit more stuff in.

One goal was to try Blue Milk so we made our way over to Galaxy’s Edge. He got his Blue Milk and he thought it was ok. He liked it well enough but not sure he liked it enough for the cost.

We got some pictures taken and a discussion was had about going on Smuggler’s Run. Originally, he didn’t want to do it because it was just us 2, and thought it would be more fun with our whole family. The wait time wasn’t too bad, so I told him, I think we should do it as I feel like you will regret not doing it.

We got really lucky as there was a guy who had to split from his party (I think they were a party of 7) and he offered for us to be the pilots which my son did but I declined. I was a gunner. The other 3 people who joined us also refused to be a pilot. So, we had the one guy who knew what he was doing and my son on pilot. I was a gunner but I think I ended up setting mine to automode somehow. Anyway, this other pilot guy had us laughing so hard with his commentary (and he was cracking up too with it). One comment was “Are you trying to hit everything?” We managed to NOT have our ship come out smoking (which according to him is what happened the first time he did it) but we did owe quite a bit for repairs. I don’t know who you are sir but you made our experience so much fun! It was probably one of my favorite rides we did and I’m definitely glad we didn’t skip it.

We did Star Tours & MuppetVision.

Did One Main’s Dream we had to do a double loop though as the show started and when you leave, you are outside. So we had to go back in since we were only about ½ done. At that point, a bench was open, so I just sat while my son finished reading everything and looking around. A CM asked me where my son was when I was sitting down, which confused me at first but then I realized I had the celebrating button on, he was close by and she talked with us for a bit and then sang him Happy Birthday. She had such a wonderful voice. That was so sweet of her.

We kept looking at Toy Story Mania and Alien Swirling Saucers and the wait time on those were way too long throughout the day, so we never did end up riding those. However, my son wanted to go in the gift shop to buy a stuffed Rex and in one of the videos I remember saying you could go into the gift shop without riding the ride, you just go through the exit. I was really starting to doubt myself as we kept going farther and farther into the exit! There were a couple times we wondered if we should head back because it felt weird. We finally *did* find the shop but it is WAY far down in the exit. You would think it would be closer up. If you didn’t know, there is no way you would ever go to that shop.

Up next: Hollywood Studios part 3

 

[Becky2005]

Our reality, Hollywood Studios Part 3:

Went to dinner to 50’s Prime Time and the food was good but our waiter was not one for too many antics. Now, not sure that was his personality or if we looked like we were just too tired to care (quite possible we did look that way at that point). The antics were one reason we went there. I do want to be clear that our waiter was a perfectly fine waiter so that wasn’t the issue. My son did get a birthday cupcake and the waiter did ask if he wanted singing or not. My son did choose the singing. He thought it was nice that they asked which way he preferred.

We were going to try to make it over to Lightening McQueen’s show but we knew would couldn’t make it and there was still some shopping that we wanted to do.

My son had been looking this entire time for Steamboat Minnie & Mickey that he saw on Shop Disney. They came as a pair and he was *hoping* that maybe in person he could just buy Minnie (he already has Mickey) but no luck. It was in one of the stores near the front though that we found the Pegasus from Fantasia. He saw them originally online but wasn’t sure if he actually wanted them but once he saw them in person, yep, those were bought.

My daughter had sent me a ticktock about new merchandise and one was a Stitch Hoodie. I just happened to look down at a rack of clothes randomly and boom there they were! She was so excited because it had been viral so she didn’t think I would find any. I was able to get her size. They also had other ones but I was only looking for the Stitch so I couldn’t even tell you what the other ones were.

We decided to skip Fantasmic! As we were tired, had to pack since the Mears bus was picking us up at 5:55 AM and we were to be there 15 minutes beforehand and again trying to beat the crowds to the bus. It was still crowded who were we kidding. We waited for a 2nd bus this time around so we could sit because there was literally a bus pulling in right behind the one that was standing room only.

Overall, a good day but of all the days to buy Genie+ today was the one that I should have especially if you wanted to do anything in Toy Story land.

Of our planned rides/attractions – we ended up with most of them.

*Rise of the Resistance
*Alien Swirling Saucers
*Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
*Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
*Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (we tried!)
*Toy Story Mania
*Beauty & the Beast – Live on Stage
*For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration
*Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular
*Muppet*Vision 3D
*Lightening McQueen’s Racing Academy
*Walt Disney Presents 100 Years of Disney On Display
*Vacation Fun: an original animated Disney Short with Mickey & Minnie
*Fantasmic!


Up next: Departure Day!

 

[Becky2005]

Departure Day:

We had to get up super early for the Mears bus but we weren’t the only ones. We got there in plenty of time, so we sat in the lobby for a bit as it was actually on the cold side. We saw another couple who I could tell was also getting ready to go home & I was guessing they would be going to the bus too. They were. When we decided it was time to venture outside and wait for the bus, we saw a Mears bus pull away. This made us extremely nervous that we missed our bus. Another family joined us so all of us were a bit anxious. If I hadn’t seen the first bus pull away, I wouldn’t have been concerned.

We did get a text message that we could track our bus but the tracker never seemed to move. The others also had the same driver listed and at that point, we figured we were all in this together & if the bus didn’t show up, we would figure it out then. Our bus finally showed up a few minutes later than our assigned time but it was still fine. We stopped at Sports to pick up a few more people and then on the way to the airport. There were already a couple of people on the bus so not sure where the first stop was. She did tell us at this time of day, not much traffic and it should take us about 30 minutes.

I was quite nervous taking the bus back to the airport because reading the boards it was iffy. It was one thing coming to the resort when it didn’t really matter what time we got there, it was another when it was possible to miss a flight. Flying always makes me nervous since there are so many unknowns for timing before you can get to the gate.

We made it home, which was the end of our whirlwind birthday Disney weekend.

Up next: Final Thoughts

 

[Becky2005]

Final Thoughts:

We had fun, however, 3 park days is NOT enough time for me to enjoy Disney World. I do like having some downtime/rest days. I’m more of a 7 day person. I won’t turn down a trip if circumstances require a shorter one but not my ideal way.

I would NOT make a timed reservation again on arrival day. It seemed like a good idea at the time and I figured with arriving so early would have had plenty of time. We should have either done one or the other. Downtown Disney OR Hoop Dee Doo but not both on arrival day.

All Stars Movies worked well for the 2 of us. I probably would pay for preferred as it was really nice how close our room was. I didn't mind taking the buses everywhere. I find the beds comfortable and a food court was fine. Now we didn't have bad weather and I didn't have to walk outside in the middle of a rainstorm to get to the lobby or my opinion might be different. I think it would have been cramped with more than 2 adults though. I suppose if you had elementary school age might work or one teen. It would be hard with a baby and all the baby gear you would need but that is just my opinion. I know it is not cheap to stay on-site and plenty of families make this work. As long as you know what you are getting, it isn't a bad hotel.

Early Entry even though only 30 minutes was a nice perk and worked well when the rides were working. Definitely follow the 90 minutes at the bus stop vs. the official 45 minutes.

Remember everything is more spread out than you think and takes you way longer to get there.

Genie+ was a hit or miss for me. I don’t think it is a must but the one day we didn’t get it we probably should have. On the MK day, I felt most things had low wait times anyway so wouldn’t have needed it but Hollywood had some rather high times and that might have helped. I know this is all changing in 2024 so who knows how it will work then. I know there are lots of tips & tricks some of them I used, and some I totally blanked on but we did make it work for us.

Park Hopping, we really wouldn’t have needed it and easily had so much to do in each park from open to close. In the past, the way I have used it was by saving it for our last day and then going around to each park and hitting up a favorite ride in each park one last time before we left. That worked out really well and now that they are removing the time restriction it will be much better.

If I were to do the Halloween party again, I would probably not dress up since I wouldn’t want to take the time to change and/or bring my costume with me as I easily could have stayed in the park vs. going back.

I might leave earlier at the end of the night if I did so but it all depends on who I am with next time around. I would focus on other things vs. parade/show since I have already seen them now but with someone new, who knows. If I am there when a party is offered, I would probably go to it again but I wouldn’t plan my trip in such a way to make sure it fell on a party.

Not that we could have changed the dates since this was a birthday trip, but if it wasn’t and it wasn’t the summer (my usual time to go), I would double check the school calendar for Orange County to see if it was a 3 day weekend.

Thank you for reading my long winded report and I hope it helps you on your next trip.

I am already planning 2 trips in 2025. One with extended family and one with a friend of mine.

 

[Counting Stars]

Really great report- loved the detail and your final thoughts! What a special trip to take wih your son Thanks for taking the time to share your trip with us.

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Thank you for your report! I enjoyed reading it.

I’m glad you had a fun trip with your son!