Starbucks at HS and AK during morning EMH

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

At animal kingdom there is a Joffreys stand before bag check. It was not open before they let us through the tapstiles though. This was on an 8 am EMH morning. Well, it may have opened eventually but we were too far to the front of the pack to see if it ever opened.

Our hope is to have FOP FP (I think AK day is 60+5) and rd NRJ, which I understand to be a much more leisurely trip. Hoping that will afford us the opportunity to get coffee and be towards the back of the pack but still ride quickly.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

Vast majority are sweetened concoctions loaded with sugary additions. When you do that it really doesn't matter what beans were used.

I don’t want to burst your coffee bubble but Starbuck’s hasn’t cornered the market on this, Dunkin Donuts and Joffrey’s do the same. They all serve a variety of coffee and non coffee drinks with sweetners, syrups and whipped creams for those who don’t just like a cup of black coffee. I love dark roasted coffee, I prefer Starbucks to Joffreys, Dunkin. It’s just a choice when I can’t make my own octane! And I love that it’s open at rope drop! Or in the afternoon when the Disney droopies hit!

 

[DizneyLizzy]

Our hope is to have FOP FP (I think AK day is 60+5) and rd NRJ, which I understand to be a much more leisurely trip. Hoping that will afford us the opportunity to get coffee and be towards the back of the pack but still ride quickly.

Our AK day was also 60 + 5. I think I could have gotten FoP fast passes in the afternoon but that wouldn’t have worked for us. Honestly it was much less stressful to just know we were going to do rope drop and have an early morning than it was to wonder for weeks if we were going to be able to get a FoP FP. We had a 9:15 river journey FP and spent the extra magic hour doing FOP, getting some coffee, leisurely walking to Asia with said coffee, and walking onto Everest twice before heading back into Pandora for NRJ. It was actually a nice morning.

Big caveat: my 4 and 1 year olds weren’t with me for the super early morning rope drop. Ha. My mom, who had already ridden FoP, and my husband who is scared of heights and motion sickness prone, met my sister and I at the park with my kids at 9:15 at River Journey. Our 6:30 am arrival and pre-opening wait would not have gone as well with my two kids!

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

Our AK day was also 60 + 5. I think I could have gotten FoP fast passes in the afternoon but that wouldn’t have worked for us. Honestly it was much less stressful to just know we were going to do rope drop and have an early morning than it was to wonder for weeks if we were going to be able to get a FoP FP. We had a 9:15 river journey FP and spent the extra magic hour doing FOP, getting some coffee, leisurely walking to Asia with said coffee, and walking onto Everest twice before heading back into Pandora for NRJ. It was actually a nice morning.

Big caveat: my 4 and 1 year olds weren’t with me for the super early morning rope drop. Ha. My mom, who had already ridden FoP, and my husband who is scared of heights and motion sickness prone, met my sister and I at the park with my kids at 9:15 at River Journey. Our 6:30 am arrival and pre-opening wait would not have gone as well with my two kids!

My kids would definitely not tolerate a 6:30am arrival!! We're going on a non-EMH day right at the beginning of March (unless they add extra EMH for some reason). It looks it could be a toss up whether they make it an 8am or 9am open, based on last year's schedule. If they do push to 8, we'll likely get coffee at the resort and hope to get to AK at 7:30ish for a NRJ RD. Easy WDW just did an AK rope drop post and said the NRJ line even a few minutes after park opening was negligible. We'll have even more time for a leisurely arrival if its' a 9am open.

My current plan actually has us RSing FoP in the evening, as that works better with our overall flow, so I'm hoping we'll be able to get that FP. If not, I'll probably RD alone as hubby is prone to motion sickness and won't do FoP first thing in case it messes with him for the whole day. I'd only have to worry about dragging myself to the park 90 minutes before open and I'd leave the kids to him.

 

[tinkerhon]

LOL...you are correct. IMHO (for @Hopefully), the reason I believe everyone adds all that extra stuff (caramel, chocolate, etc) is because their plain coffee taste really bad. Also, I have a difficult paying $3.00 for a small and almost $5.00 (or more) for a large cup of bad tasting coffee. I have better things I would rather spend that money on like Dole Whips or spoiling my wife.

I guess - it's all subjective - I know ppl that love DD and to me it tastes like flavored milk - guess a few of us made the point that the OP was not asking for opinions on coffee

 

[Huff]

I don’t want to burst your coffee bubble but Starbuck’s hasn’t cornered the market on this, Dunkin Donuts and Joffrey’s do the same. They all serve a variety of coffee and non coffee drinks with sweetners, syrups and whipped creams for those who don’t just like a cup of black coffee. I love dark roasted coffee, I prefer Starbucks to Joffreys, Dunkin. It’s just a choice when I can’t make my own octane! And I love that it’s open at rope drop! Or in the afternoon when the Disney droopies hit!

True to an extent. Yes, many coffee houses serve up sweetened coffees. But I find most others at least I frequent use far better grade coffee beans. What I don't get is the price of Starbucks. They do not have upscale coffee. Starbucks uses among the lowest quality beans and over roasts them in an attempt to compensate. I too love dark rich coffee, no cream, no sugar, no nothing! Starbucks is burnt, bitter, not smooth and rich in comparison to better grade coffees that I prefer. I like the coffee at Kona Cafe at Poly. It's French press Kona which I enjoy. Not all Disney restaurants use Joffrey's. Try Bongo's, Sanaa or Les Halles.

At home I keep whole beans in the freezer and grind as needed. Buy them from a local import specialty store. So good but when traveling you do have to settle a bit! Heck, when on the road 7-11 coffee will do!!

 

[DizneyLizzy]

My current plan actually has us RSing FoP in the evening, as that works better with our overall flow, so I'm hoping we'll be able to get that FP. If not, I'll probably RD alone as hubby is prone to motion sickness and won't do FoP first thing in case it messes with him for the whole day. I'd only have to worry about dragging myself to the park 90 minutes before open and I'd leave the kids to him.

If you’re planning on doing FoP with a fast pass in the late afternoon or evening you will have no problem getting a fast pass! Yay!

On the other hand, a morning of rope dropping by yourself would probably be pretty great...

My husband is motion sick prone and even has to close his eyes a bit on Soarin with the heights, so my mom advised he skip FoP. She was right. It was honestly the best attraction I’ve ever ridden and not over-hyped at all, but it had way more big drops than Soarin, and was much more real feeling. My hubby would have had his eyes closed the whole time. He was better off sleeping in and helping my mom with the kids.