We have been on other trips but this was my first trip as a liner and I think the trips were night and day different. It was so nice having more insight and being able to plan and rearrange with my new knowledge.
Our trip was May 31- June 5. It was me, DH, DS8, and DS2. My sister was also there with her DH, DS6, and DS7 so we tried to line our schedules up as best we could.
Arrival Day:
I did mobile check in for ASMo so around 3:30 pm I got a text that our room was ready. We got exactly the room we requested and it was perfect: quiet, close to the lobby, and easy to get to. Room 9711 for anyone interested. We choose ground floor because we have a stroller. We got to the room about 5 pm and quickly changed and hit the pool. We ended the night with forky cupcakes (sugar rush!) and key lime cheesecake (the key lime slime on top of normal cheesecake made for an interesting texture). We got to bed around 10 pm only to be woken up by DS2 throwing up all over his bed a little before midnight; he gets car sick and I’m sure the swimming and sugar did not help. The phone in our room wasn’t working so I had to walk to the lobby and request new sheets. The CM told me that housekeeping would meet me at the room with new sheets but it was a little after 1 am when they finally dropped them off. We quickly made the bed and tried to go back to sleep so we could be up for rope drop.
Park Day 1: MK
We grabbed the 6:56 am bus to MK from the resort and got to security at 7:15am. We made it to the tap stiles to scan in only to discover that our tickets had been removed from our accounts. We went to guest relations and found out the resort deleted our tickets from reservation upon check in the day before. The wonderful (really wonderful) CM Bob got on the phone and about 30 mins later he was told the solution was to rebook our entire package. This would mean my card would be refunded in 3-5 days and recharged immediately to rebook our entire package again and it would mess with our dining plan since we had already used some entitlements. The CM said that was unacceptable and programmed complimentary tickets into our account (although not complimentary because we already paid for them, but still a great gesture to save us a big hassle of rebooking). The CM also knew we were trying to rope drop and gave us 2 anytime FPP for our time. This could have ruined our day but with a little pixie dust we were on our way, thanks again Bob!
We got back thru security and taps at 8:05 and went straight to BTMRR (w/RS) then Splash (w/RS).
We stopped for mickey waffles and coffee at Sleepy Hollow and met Mary Poppins on our way to Magic Carpets. Next we met up with family for our 10:30 FPP at HM and caught the Move It Shake It dance party in front of Tony’s before lunch check in. This is our second time doing the FoF parade at Tony’s. Despite what others say, we enjoy the food there and so did our family who joined us (I left a review at the end of the report for anyone interested). They ate at Boathouse the night before and raved about how much better Tony’s was then Boathouse in terms of flavor (they said Boathouse was very bland).
After lunch we were planning a midday break but decided to keep pushing through. Next we hit laugh floor, some people don’t enjoy it but it is one of DH’s favorite and this time he was picked to be Randall. We did m&g with Buzz, and planned to jump on the people mover next. I really wish bloggers would stop talking about the people mover so it can go back to being the forgotten gem that it is. It had 35 min wait and line around tomorrowland so we skipped it. We planned to go to Under the Sea next but in the 5 minutes it took to walk there the line jumped from 15 to 40 minutes, no thanks. We moved on to Philarmagic (we were going for all the AC MK had to offer during the midday sun). Then we grabbed some water and headed to the FoF parade viewing area from our package. The only downside of this package is the lack of shade in the viewing area (we melted in the sun but still enjoyed the parade and our unique view). After the parade we hit PPF for our FPP then spent about 30 minutes letting the kids play at Casey Jr. Splash n Play. We grabbed some snacks at Big Top before jumping on Dumbo.
Then, it was finally time for our 7DMT FPP (w/ RS) and after I tapped in I grabbed a 4th pass for Under the Sea right after dinner. We still had some time before dinner so we used 1 of our anytime FPP’s for Space Ranger Spin because there were none left to pick up. Next was dinner at BOG which we will probably not do again (see review below), we waited 20 minutes past our reservation to be seated and the food was just okay.
Then we met the Beast, rode Under the Sea, and used our 2nd anytime FPP for a second go at 7DMT. We planned to hop on the people mover during HEA but it was stopped when we got there and again had a line at the base of the escalators. We decided to call it a night and beat the after HEA crowds to the bus.
Day 2: AK
We hopped on the bus to AK at 7:26 am and got to security at 7:41. We decided to RD Navi River since we had a later FPP for FOP. We walked right on to Navi then made our way to Tusker House for breakfast with RoL package. Our reservation wasn’t until 8:40 but they seated us right after check-in at 8:15. The restaurant was not crowded at all so we met all of the characters in the first 20 minutes and then enjoyed more food after that.
We were out by 9 and took a stroll to Everest. The posted standby time was 25 mins but we were on board in 17 mins and used RS. Next, we used our FPP for Safari and walked trails when we finished.
We had a FPP for Everest so we walked back there while the rest of our family used their FPP for Kali River. It started getting very hot so we decided to do a M&G with Russell and Dug before catching a midday break. After our M&G Kevin was walking around so we snapped a few pictures with her before heading to the buses.
We took a long 3 hour break outside the park and came back for our 4pm FoP FPP (w/ RS). While DH and DS8 were riding I snagged a 4th FPP for Dinosaur then went to Pongu Pongu and shared pineapple lumpia and a night blossom with DS2, both delicious. Everyone was hungry by that point so we did a mobile order for flame tree (review below). After dinner we let the kids dance at the Hakuna Matata dance party followed by a long play at the Boneyard before our 4th FPP at Dinosaur. Then we took a spin on Primeval Whirl with a picked up 5th FPP, followed by Triceatop Spin. We enjoyed Donald’s Dinodance Party for a few minutes and then hit up Dino-bites for ice cream cookie sandwiches. We had seating for RoL from our dining package but we had done all we wanted by 7:30 pm and decided to make it an early night to prep for EMM the next day. Of course when we got back to the resort everyone was hungry again so we had burgers before we showered and went to sleep.
Day 3: HS with TSL EMM
We left the resort at 6:25 am and decided to drive to HS. We got to the parking lot at 6:42 with a spot in the very front row of standard parking. Check in was a breeze and we were at Backlot for pastries and coffee by 6:55. We ate and made our way to the holding area a few minutes before they walked us to TSL.
We started with TSMMx2 which was a walk on both times, then M&G for Woody and Bo Peep (about 20 min wait time), then moved on to SDDx3, and AS2 ( I could only stomach one ride). We ended it with a M&G for Jessie (Buzz never made an appearance but we met him at MK 2 days prior so no big deal). After our Jessie M&G it was 8:42 am and we could have gotten in another SDD ride before RD crowd hit but we decided to move on.
We crossed the park to RD RNRC then DH and DS8 rode Star Tours (I can’t ride it due to motion sickness). We went back to Backlot for our 2nd breakfast around 9:35 (see below).
After breakfast we had a FPP for Disney Jr Dance Party (the FPP is not really needed but I wanted to use up my FPP early so we could book 4th FPP if needed).
After that we met with our family who did not attend EMM for our ToT FPP. We got to the gates just as the ride went down and our FPP converted to anytime. Our other family members wanted to ride RNRC with their anytime so they did that and we decided to try to wait out ToT. We waited it out by grabbing frozen jack and cokes outside of RNRC and catching Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy. ToT was still down after that so we did all 3 M&G for Star Wars characters then grabbed some water and sat down outside Star Wars Launch Bay to eat our leftover pastries. We got some great pictures of Rey, Boba Fett, Darth Mal, Kylo Ren, Chewbacca, and Captain Phasma as they walked to A Galaxy Far, Far Away.
Right after that, ToT came back up so we walked over there used our anytime FPP and RS. We got done just in time because as we were walking out we heard people complaining to CM’s because the FPP line had grown to a 75 min wait and standby was 150 mins. We met back up with our family for a 2:15 pm FPP for TSMM and said goodbye to them as they were heading out to HDDR and flying out the next morning. After our goodbyes we decided to mobile order at Woody’s Lunchbox. By the time we finished eating, storm clouds were rolling in. We decided to head back to the car since we had done done everything we wanted except the Mike and Sully M&G (the wait didn’t go below 45 mins all day).
The storm blew over fairly quickly as we rested in the room so we took a quick dip in the pool. When we’d had enough we all showered and jumped on a bus to Disney Springs. We walked around DS for a while playing the “I don’t know what sounds good game” until we saw someone eating out of a cone with a fork and got curious. We ended up at 4 Rivers Cantina Food Truck eating taco cones and then did some shopping and grabbed Margaritas from Dockside Margaritas. I can’t remember his name, but we had the fastest bartender I’ve ever seen and his drinks were so smooth. DS2 had been asleep in his stroller since we got to DS so we let DS8 walk around and enjoy being an “only child” for a bit. We called it a night around 1030 and went back to ASMo. Also, DS8 build Darth Mal’s light saber which was huge compared to him.
Day 4: EP
We left the resort around 7:20am and drove to the TTC then walked to Poly for an 8 am Ohana Reservation. Because our characters took so long we left around 9:15am and hopped on the monorail. I completely forgot to walk to the TTC before boarding so we ended up sightseeing on the resort rail before switching rails at the TTC to get to Epcot.
By the time we got through security again we caught the tail end of our FPP for TT. With RS it took us exactly one hour which is more time than I like to spend on 1 attraction. That made it so we were at the tail end of our Mission Space FPP. After the ride the kids played in the advanced training area for about 20 minutes. We then walked to Fountain View for coffee and snacks on our way to our FPP for figment (nostalgic for DH). We were hoping to meet Ralph and Vanelope but the line was out of the queue so the kids played in the pavilion for a few minutes while I booked a 4th FPP for The Seas. I was surprised to see the standby at 45 mins for The Seas because I almost never see it above 20 mins. We rode The Seas and then looked around that area while I waited for the 1:31 FPP drop.
I was able to pick up Soarin’ for 6:25pm and repeatedly modify until I got it down to 3 pm. We decided to keep it at 3pm and go get lunch in China and rest until our FPP. We took our time eating at Lotus Blossom to cool down before walking back to the Land Pavilion. We did RS at Soarin’ so after I tapped in I hopped on the 3:31 FPP drop and snagged a FPP for FEA at 6:25 pm. Living with the Land had a 5 min queue so we rode it and to our surprise DS8 love it. He "wished the ride was longer" (we garden at home so I guess it caught his interest). After that we decided to walk WS and DS2 quickly fell asleep in his stroller. We started at the Canada side, stopped for a macaroon ice cream sandwich in France and watched part of Serveur Amusant, watched Matsuriza in Japan, then skipped Norway since we would be back for FEA, and went to Mexico. Mexico is one of my favorite pavilions as far as theming and the fact that it is air conditioned. We rode Gran Fiesta, before walking back to Norway for our FPP for FEA.
We decided to head back to the resort and get dinner there. It started raining just as we were walking to the monorail and we enjoyed a rainy walk back to the car at the TTC. We got back to ASMo and had the Steak and Shrimp dinner. We grabbed some drinks from the bar, used up the rest of our pennies and quarters, and browsed the gift shop one more time before we used our last 3 snack credits for dessert.
Overall, we did almost everything we wanted to with the exception on the 2 M&G’s I mentioned and people mover. My touring plans were pretty accurate with times, and although we had to rearrange a few rides due to long waits, we had a great and productive trip. The weather was very hot (93-98 degree temps with “feels like” temps of 101-110) but we made the most of free water, AC rides, shops, shows, etc to get through it. We were pleasantly surprised by the amount of .51 pressed penny machines still around. We had seen a few posts lately about them converting to the $1 machines and were worried our favorite souvenir was being phased out. While there were a lot of $1 machines, we did still manage to find a lot of .51 machines.
Food reviews: I didn’t take pictures of the food but you can probably find them online.
Tony’s Town Square: We all tried a bit of each other’s orders and enjoyed everything. We will be back to Tony’s on future visits.
Apps-Fried Mozzarella: nothing special but not bad. New Garlic-Parmesan Wings: The wing itself was just okay, there wasn’t really any flavor but the dipping sauce for them was very good. Calamari: Nice flavor and texture. Spinach Dip: good. Kids had fruit and carrot sticks.
Entrees- Italian Trio: The meatball and chicken parmesan was a much bigger portion than I remember and it all had good flavor. Roman Style Steak with bacon marmalade: delicious, especially the bacon marmalade. Shrimp scampi: what you would expect but nothing noteworthy. Kids pizza was good and a decent size.
Dessert- cannoli, gelato, tiramisu, and cappuccino for dessert and all were good. We all indulged in a wine cocktail that was on the specials sign, it was really good.
Be Our Guest Dinner: We will not do dinner here again…sure the atmosphere and meeting the Beast were nice, but the food was not worth the cost (or dining credits).
Apps- Escargot and Spiced Tuna both good. Kids wedge salad was a good size.
Entrée- Pork Tenderloin: the tenderloin itself was very good however, the crispy pork belly was a charred black lump, the corn puree was just okay and the mystery vegetable (not listed on the menu and I couldn’t identify it by taste) served on top of the puree was very weird both texture and taste wise. Lamb Chops were good and you could definitely taste the spice rub. Kids chicken breast was bone dry.
Dessert: the best part was definitely the truffle but I could have gone without the rest despite how cute Chip is. Letting the kid’s paint Chip was a nice touch though.
DH and I tried the Rosa Regale which was sweet and bubbly.
Tusker House (breakfast):
There was a great selection of food and everything we had was good. They didn’t have beef bobotie on the buffet as advertised but they had chicken curry instead and it was delicious.
Jungle Juice Mimosa was delicious. My sister said the Bloody Mary was too sweet for her liking.
Flame Tree (early dinner):
Rib Sampler: Good amount of food but the rib and pulled pork were just okay and our chicken was bone dry with the skin rock solid.
Kids chicken drumsticks were much better and actually juicy.
Pulled Pork fries stole the show and were very good, next time I’ll just order that.
Backlot Express (TSL EMM Breakfast):
The CM’s encouraged us to get more than one entrée here. We tried the Chilaquiles which were great, the Chicken and Donutsx2 (all the fried food you can imagine and delicious), and the Avocado Toast plate which was good. We got plenty of pastries and even took some with us for snacks later in the day. Overall EMM as a whole was a great experience for us and the food really added to the value of the event. It felt especially valuable when we saw the massive RD crowd stampeding towards us as we left to RD RNRC.
Woody’s Lunchbox:
Smoked Turkey Sandwich with Potato Barrels: good but nothing special.
Three-Cheese Grilled Cheese with Veggie Pasta Salad: grilled cheese was buttery and delicious and the pasta salad had a surprising kick to it.
Mystic Punch was immediately slurped down by DS8 so safe to say it was good and we enjoyed the Grown-Up’s Lemonade.
4 Rivers Cantina Food Truck:
Brisket Barbacoa Taco Cone, Chicken Tinga Taco Cone, and Pork Sofrito Nachos: all delicious and a great change of pace from the park food.
Ohana (breakfast):
Our food was good other than the eggs being a little too runny for our taste. In our experience the characters were very slow and after almost an hour of eating they still had not made it around so we had to sit and wait on them after our plates were cleared.
Lotus Blossom:
Orange Chicken, Beef Noodle and Sesame Chicken Salad were all very good. Our last trip to Epcot we had a horrible meal at a different pavilion so we didn’t have high expectations but were pleasantly surprised.
World Premiere Food Court:
Double Bacon Cheeseburger and fries: Okay but nothing special.
Steak and Shrimp Dinner: We were surprised by how good the green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, and the shrimp were. The steaks were precooked so they were a little over and dry but still decent for the food court.
The kids had the monster pizza slice with side salad and it was the perfect size for them to share before dessert.
Do not, I repeat, do not get the pink dome tarte dessert. I do not remember the name of it but it was terrible, like eating a mouth full of perfume. DH went to grab dessert and bring it back to the room for me while I packed up and he thought it looked cool. It did, but it was not good.
Just say “no!” I tried it so you don’t have to…
Can I ask which Resort you stayed at and how was it ?