Just got back. We did a lot in 8 days. One of those things was walking.
First 5 days were in Disney–
Day 1 - Sleep deprivation for fun and profit We got off to an early start. 2:30am wake up. 5:30am airline departure. We were supposed to arrive at 8:10, but we were collecting bags by 7:30, then checked in eating breakfast at the Boardwalk deli by 9 after a very quick Lyft ride from MCO. The whole family was still kind of stunned by the early wake up so we didn’t have an aggressive touring plan. We did Remmy at 9:30am. That’s a fun ride. Nicely done. Strolled the countries collecting kidcot stickers. I forgot that most of the stores were closed before 11am, so it was kind of basic. Started noticing the Ratatouille scavenger hunt.
Had lunch at Mexico’s San Angel Inn. I’ve always wanted to eat there. The ambiance is great. The food was good enough I suppose, but the price was steep for what we got, even for Disney. Not a great value. It did help that we got there at 11:30. It was getting noticeably crowded by the time we left. I imagine all of the diners would be elbow to elbow by 1pm.
Made group #130 @ the 1pm Virtual Queue check in for GoG. I plugged that into the lines app and it said 8:30pm! That wasn’t right. Disney predicted 5:00pm. By the time we completed test track and mission space, it was down to 4:30pm. After Spaceship Earth and Soarin, it was down to 4pm. It was an hour wait oncer checked it. Great ride. Exited into the first of many daily afternoon showers. Got a lot of milage from our cheapo ponchos that DW brought. Had two sets. The old would get hung up in the closet to try each night. The air return vent is in there, so it was a good spot for drying things. Had a wet walk to dinner at Via Napoli. Still my favorite Epcot dining. Great value comparatively, pizza is always a family pleaser, even when everyone is operating on minimal sleep, and the left overs are easy to deal with.
We were in our room by 7:30 exhausted. Our standard room at Boardwalk was a 3rd floor w/ nice court yard view balcony close to the elevator. No complaints. Wife needs to ice foot. Turns out that my plan might have been too aggressive
Day 2 - AK the perfect rope drop. DS10 is grumpy & DW has a swollen ankle & can’t walk. They say “go without us” so DS12 and I run for the park. Left room at 6:25, got the bus at 6:30, at the gate at 7, as we walk up, a new new gate opens and we lucked into the front of the line. Never nailed a rope drop like that before. We were walked to the pandora bridge at 7:20, maybe 30 people back from the sign holders. So many good things happen when you get to walk on for the first attraction, because it carries over. So after an FoP walk on, we got a Navi River walk on. Then we got a Kilimanjaro walk on, then we had time to get some badges for our 2014 Wilderness explorer books before catching the first train to conservation station for the animation experience. One walk on after another. I call DW and she tells me that she’s going to go to the urgent care so we come back to wish her well and pick up DS10 who is finally moving. Made it back to AK in time for 12pm Yak and Yeti reservation with a bunch of “just barely caught that bus” luck filled action. Had never been to Y&Y before. Decent dining experience except for DS10 who found his burger was too salty, but whatever, he’s still not feeling great after the first day sleep disruption. “Feathered Friends in Flight” got him out of his funk a bit. That show is always a winner with my family. Finished off the Wilderness Explorer books. Cast members always gave an “Oh Wow” when they saw how old they were. Enjoyed the Kite show for a 5 minute break. That’s all it is really. Hit Finding Nemo for the 3pm show to escape the heat. Stopped at Everest for a lulls in the crowd. That ride seems to fluctuate between 5 minute waits at 25 minute waits pretty quickly. Lines at Kali River were too long so we passed. Had a good afternoon, but noticed that things were getting a lot more crowded than expected. Turns out it was the English on summer holiday may have thrown off the touring plan crown calendar. Cancelled Tiffin’s reservation for 6pm because DW can’t make it. Got in line for FoP at 5:30PM but bailed after 20 minutes because the stand by line was not moving at all.
DW was back from Urgent care. She found a spot that had free transportation and took our insurance.
DW got a cortisone shot and needed to stay off her feet for a few days. The hotel gave her a comp wheel chair which was very kind of them. We returned to the hotel and wheeled her to the pool for a lighter dinner. The “power bowl w/ chicken” was surprisingly good.
Day 3 - Wheel chair genie stacking - Thought I’d try Genie+ at the magic Kingdom, I made a low crowd level stacking plan months ago and the park was definitely in a medium crown level pattern. That threw me off. I also made my plan figuring I wouldn’t get to make my second selection until 11, forgetting that because the park open changed to 8:30, the second selection was available at 10:30.
Anyway, here is how it went:
7:00am - Peter Pan for 11am (Arrived at 11:40, Saved 60 minutes)
11:00am - Jungle Cruise was booked later than I wanted so I took Haunted mansion for 11:55pm (Arrived 11:55, Saved 40 minutes and escaped heat )
11:55pm - Splash Mountain for 2:30pm ( Saved 40 minutes & escaped much heat )
1:55pm - Big Thunder was booked too late, so I took PoC for 3:00pm ( Saved 10 minutes maybe )
3:00pm - Space Mountain for 7PM (Arrived 7pm, Saved 10 minutes, maybe )
5:00pm - Buzz light year for 6:30PM (Arrived 6:45; Saved 30 minutes )
6:45pm - Laugh Floor 7:30pm (Didn’t get anything that the wheel chair didn’t offer )
8:30pm - Booked Big Thunder on the way out of the park for 10:30pm, rains returned & got a free LL for tomorrow
Definitely got more in with Genie plus. Maybe saved about 2.5 hours over all and avoided some punishing heat. Felt like I left some value on the table. JC and BTMR were my two big misses, but I don’t really love those rides, so I’m OK with the misses. Kids missed BTMR, but we got a lot in. I really only try to fit in JC to inflict the dad jokes on my family. First time ever for Country Bears and Hall of Pressies on this trip. They helped beat the afternoon heat.
I dined at Jungle Canteen in 2019 and had one of the best theme park meals. Went back this year and had a mixed bag. The hanger steak was not good. I found it tough and I’m an avid chewer. DS12 had the kids meal steak and it was much better. Waiter said they don’t do the jokes any more. But the apps and deserts and other entrees were good.
Wife was grumpy about the wheel chair but she was happy to be in the parks again. We brought the chair into about 1/2 the queue’s and she limped the other half. I could write a lot about the wheel chair experience but I’ll just say that I feel like there are more people on motor scooters every time I go to Disney. Wall-E was prescient. Disney should make the people pass a simple driving test before they are allowed to use powered scooters in the park.
– I’ll get more pictures and days posted later.