We arrived in Orlando on Sept 6. Our plane was on time and actually arrived a little early in Orlando. I had reserved a ride with Tiffany Car service, our driver texted us when we landed and met us at baggage claim. We stopped at the Publik store where I had scheduled an order for pickup. It only took a couple of minutes for them to bring our groceries to our vehicle. We got to the Villas at Grand Floridian about 10 minutes before 4 PM. The first hiccup on our trip, they did not have our room ready - we waited until about 4:25 to check in. We did not get the room we requested, not even close. We had requested 1609 or 1509 and had requested an upper floor. We ended up with room 1226 on the second floor. Our room was nice and I had no complaints.
We went to the MK that night, and had dinner at the Liberty Tree Tavern which was excellent.
On Monday (Labor Day) we went to Epcot. I had made a lightning lane multipass and sp for GOTG. We got to ride all of our rides. I followed the tips I received here and rode the Space Ship earth as an early lightening lane ride right when we got into the park and was able to snag another ride while we were still in line. GOTG was down most of the day and I received a notice my LLSP would be good all day if the ride opened. Late in the day it was going again so we rode with our LLSPs. Strangely enough Disney refunded my LLSP for that day - GOTG was down at least 7 hours. We ate a late lunch at Space 220 and we really enjoyed the experience - I thought the food was good.
Tuesday we went to Magic Kingdom. Second hiccup occurs, the Haunted Mansion was my early ride but it was down when we arrived so I could not stack rides. Rode Tiana’s Bayou Adventure as the wait time was short, first time riding since the change over from Splash Mountain. For me and my wife it just did not hold the same experience as Splash Mountain- I know the ride is the same but the theming did not “speak” to me the way Splash Mountain did ( Song of the South controversy is a separate topic). We rode all of the rides that we wanted to including Tron - we skipped the Dwarf’s Mine train - wait was long.
We had a late lunch at Cinderella’s Royal Table - my wife was surprised and excited. She said she thought the castle was empty and did not know the restaurant was there. The food was very good and we enjoyed the experience. Took a break afterwards and returned to the VGF. Went back in the evening for MNSSHP. We rode some rides (the Dwarf’s Mine Train was off line), saw the parade and watched the fireworks.
I have to say I have gone to MNSSHP about 10 times now and I am probably over it and would skip it in the future. Kind of a “been there done that” experience.
I will continue in Part 2. Easier for me to break this up into parts.