The day is finally here! This trip was planned in June after DD18 lost out on prom, graduation, and all the other fun end of senior year activities. Her first semester revamped schedule came out with an earlier finish, and I immediately hopped online to book. It was going to be just the two of us, but DH was able join and DD21 decided to finish her already online semester from Disney. Crossing fingers for good wifi!
Our last trip was in 2017, so we are excited to see all the new additions. We have 2 chances for a BG and I’m hoping all of your tips can help us be successful.
Checked in to Swan about an hour ago and got upgraded to a balcony room! Second floor, so not an amazing view, but not complaining at all. DD taking a quiz and then we will head to EP.
Plans are:
12/10- EP 8:30 R&C
12/11- AK bus from YC. Lyft to UO for OI meetup.
12/12- HS then OI meetup again
12/13- HS BD lunch, Oga’s (surprise for my girls, they don’t even know it exists.) Shula’s for dinner
12/14- MK SC lunch, LTT dinner
12/15- EP LeC dinner
I’m a little technologically challenged and my new phone arrived yesterday, so hopefully I can figure out how to post pictures, etc. on the go. Thanks for all of your reports and information. It has helped so much as planning in 2020 is unlike ever before!
We usually stay at Beach Club, but stayed at Swan in 2017 and found it makes much more sense economically. The price could not be beat on this trip! I love short stints at other resorts like AKL and GF, but the Epcot area is our favorite. The bonus of walking is huge with Covid!
We were there a year ago on the Boardwalk and it was surprisingly empty, just like your picture, even though it was normal times. There was nobody in Ample Creamery as we sampled and sampled before we picked 4 flavors. So sad it is no longer there!
I don’t recall being able to get mini cones at Ample last year. But we had mini cones in San Diego in September. They were so, so good and allowed us to have lots of flavor!
So last night we just leisurely wandered and looked at the Holiday Kitchens. DD18 got her sushi while the rest of us got schnitzel and fondue in Germany. We then headed to Mexico where we tried some margaritas. DD21 got the cucumber one, which I thought was delicious. I got the horchata one, and it was not as good as I’d hoped, but was still fine. We rode the ride and headed to Soarin. Walked right on to Soarin and Spaceship Earth. Nighttime touring helps!
TT was down so we headed to R&C early for dinner. 2 of us got the shepherds pie, which was delicious, while 2 got bangers and mash. Sticky toffee pudding for dessert, which most everyone enjoyed. DH was a little less enthused about it, but he eats it regularly in London and is pickier than we are😂
Took a boat back to Swan. I think they are doing a nice job with the distancing, etc.
I somehow managed to get everyone out the door this morning by 6:45 am. We walked to YC and found a bus waiting there for AK. We were on our way at 6:58, just in time to make everyone in the group practice getting a boarding group. DD18 was a successful ‘failure’ and I had an app glitch, so DH and DD21 got to see what it all looks like. Tomorrow is the real thing.
Arrived with a small crowd and breezed through the temp check/security. We got to FoP at 7:25 and walked right on. Love that ride! Nice to see the queue as well. Then quickly rode NRJ which had no wait. Headed to EE and rode twice. Rode KS next and had one of the best rides ever. Lots of animals eating breakfast. Next was Dinosaur with no wait. It seemed darker than I remembered. That ride always scares me! So fun, though.
DD and DH had some work to do, so we headed back on a bus to BW. Grabbed lunch at YC marketplace via mobile order and now going to have a little nap before a late night at UO.
My biggest regret, TP-wise, was deciding that because we woke up a bit tired after MK day, we didn’t need to be there that early and would have plenty of time getting to everything by going right at opening. I figured we’d have to accept about 30-40 min for FoP instead of a walk-on by doing that, but that everything else would still be doable. Correct on the FoP part, but all the other wait times were higher than I expected and stayed that way and it created an indecisive feel for much of the day, whether we should leave and skip some things, or wait and see if lines go down, etc. I refused to wait 110 min for NRJ on principle. Always better to be there super early, get stuff with lines done while you can, and then relax and have flexibility later.
Catching that first bus helped us a lot. I knew we didn’t have a lot of time to devote there, so I was thankful for the light crowds and 5 minute waits.
I would not have waited 110 for NRJ, either. That’s crazy!
So sad it is no longer there!
