UOR Food Options:
Toothsome at CityWalk
Strong Water Tavern @ Sapphire Falls (has patio)
Bar 17 Bistro @ Aventura (open air rooftop bar & restaurant)
Mama Della’s @ Portofino (good food for the price)
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Wait! I woke up and found that @sanstitre_has_left_the_building has changed his mind? How unlike him……
So….is this still a “budget” trip? Just asking before you dive into your ADR rabbit hole (oh, I’m too late-right?)
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News update
I slept terribly last night. Lights out at 4am but couldn’t get to sleep. I had an ear worm from a song I over-listened to earlier in the day and I kept thinking about the trip. Not excitement. Guilt. I’d make a fantastic Catholic.
I kept drifting in and out of consciousness. At about 5.30am Calvin woke me up and I ended up getting up, having some cereal and watching the end of a DFB video I started earlier on.
Back to bed and woke up at 10am. Got up because Calvin was pestering. Took him for a walk and we took a slight random detour we don’t normally take. And who do we bump into? Sarah! That never happens. Calvin was excited to see Sarah, and her dog Bertie. We walked back to her house and, as usual, I was reassured that Calvin showed no reluctance and even ran in her front door and up the stairs.
So maybe that was a message of reassurance from the universe.
I booked my travel insurance and fast track for security at Manchester airport.
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Good question. I mean, yes, it is and I’ve been trying to figure out the point of it.
June will be a relatively luxurious trip and I’ve already planned my dining and park days and so on. Ditto December — and that trip is about showing my friends a good time.
So this trip is gravy. Anything I do is a bonus and is better than being at home. I definitely will not be doing dessert parties, for example, and I’m even wondering if I want to get tied down by doing ADRs.
One thing is clear: whenever I’ve seen footage of FArts I’ve thought l: I’d love to do that. And I’m endlessly banging on about wanting to do Epcot (well WS) properly. So EP is a priority for sure. At least one day. No ADRs — I want to do food booths. Get the full festival experience. No need to do rides. (But see later.) Will aim to see Harmonious.
Obviously a day at MK. There are places in MK I’ve actually never been to: that whole Dumbo / Barnstormer / Gaston area, for example. Because I’ll be Ubering in it does make sense to have breakfast at S71, even though that was on the schedule for June. (I really want to do as many new things as possible. and not duplicate past — or future — trips.) Other than that: what about those spring rolls, or a hotdog from Casey’s? So far as Enchantment goes, I mean I would like to see it, but I don’t have to. Could I find a clever spot somewhere (I’m all about projections rather than fireworks)? Or maybe I do PeopleMover and catch glimpses of it from there? I zig while everyone else is zagging.
Obviously a day at UOR. Not sure whether most days should start there with early entry: do some rides, have some breakfast? Volcano Bay? Or my resort pool, which has a lazy river? And a bowling alley.
My approach to AK will not be ride-focussed at all but rather to really explore the place. Do Gorilla Falls and the Conservation Station (never done either). The only ride I’d like to do is NRJ. Food: obviously Nomad and Satu’li. Maybe that barbecue place?
At HS I’d like to do SDD and MMRR. Wander around SWGE (no rides) and TSL. Visit that Walt museum thing. That looked interesting on a DFB video. Maybe hop to Epcot for rides and food?
So that’s my five full days. Arrival day looks tight for UOR pairs — my flight gets in at 3pm and the parks close at 7pm. I have global entry and I think I’ll only take hand-luggage, so I could maybe get through MCO quickly. But I don’t want to be breathlessly rushing. There’s a lot to see at Cabana Bay.
Departure day will be UOR, obviously. My flight departs at 7pm, so there’ll be time to get stuff done, especially with early entry.
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So far as G+ and LL+ are concerned … I read the pinned thread and, oh good God, it’s complicated. I am not spending days staring at my phone stacking LLs.
It could be fun to see what plain old regular G recommends. I could see myself buying LL+ for 7DMT and MMRR. Is G+ worth it just for NRJ?
Oh, I quite like the idea of doing the 50th anniversary statues challenge: selfie with each one.
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I’d love to meet up if the stars align. DH and I will be there for 2.5 park days 2/3-2/5.
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No G+ isn’t worth it just for NRJ, just do it at tope drop or park close.
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Rope drop definitely won’t be a thing at WDW. But I’m open to doing it at park close.
Unless … when is the Tree of Life projection stuff and how late does it run? I really want to see that.
Don’t do EP Fri-Sun. so.many.people. mostly drunk.
At MK instead of SH71 if you want to save that for a future trip, how about getting that waffle thingy from that place to the left of the castle (words are not coming easily today, but I trust you know what I mean)
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I wouldn’t go to AK after a UOR day if your focus is the trails since they close early in the winter months. If you did want to try G+ one day I would do AK/HS split. Get your SDD LL at 7am and then your NRJ at 2 hours past park open for AK. Then you can just pick whatever LLs you want to fill out the rest of the day.
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If you don’t mind saying, who did you book insurance with?
Not if you just RD NRJ. I got there at 10amish and the line was posted 25 min and I overheard someone say it was 10 min in reality (We had an LL for it so we walked on).
*Even if you don’t rope drop but you make it there in the morning you can still ride NRJ first and it shouldn’t be long. I still got there at 10am and the line was 10 min…this was a moderate level day when I look back at the historical crowd calendar but it was predicted to be a 7 but was really a 5.
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Don’t bother with the resort lazy river. Go straight to the Fearless River at VB. It’s a faster float with a life jacket. My family spent hours in it, water is extra warm. You won’t be disappointed!
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I disagree. I highly enjoyed both for different types of river floating! There is a slow lazy river in VB too also worth doing…do all the LAZY! 
When we drove we did our afternoon at Cabana Bay and just floated in the lazy river. It was wonderful and not crowded that day (I think it was a Thursday). The weekend that thing was packed.
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Barclays: Travel pack, £12.50 a month and recommended as the most comprehensive for COVID
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Yes good point!
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Good luck with your trip. I hope it gives you the peace and joy and magic you are looking for.
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It is hard to keep up, but I believe the process @sanstitre_has_left_the_building follows is this:
- “I’m thinking about going on a trip!”
- “There’s no way I’m going on a trip!”
- “I’m going on a trip…if I can find a good deal.”
- “I’m going on a trip, no matter what. I need to go. I have to go. My sanity depends on it.”
- “I’m not going on a trip.”
- “There are some good deals out there, maybe.”
- “I’m going on a trip!”
- “Trip’s off. Can’t leave the dog.”
- “Sarah’s okay with it. I’m going!”
- “The world is ending, I’m not going.”
- “The world is ending…I NEED to go!”
- “The world isn’t ending as I thought, but I still want to go.”
- “I’m not going. It costs too much.”
- “Who cares about money. I’m going!”
- “But I still need to plan as cheaply as possible.”
- “Well, those extra expenses don’t count…I’ll add them into the plan.”
- “The trip has become too expensive, so I’m not going.”
- “Trip is happening…like next week!”
Granted…these steps are in no particular order.
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Now you just listenup, Mousematt.
Last year, Chapek only made 32.5 and Iger only made 46.
Can you PLEASE stop being so stingy? Sheesh! Some people!
And yes, the CM’s make a living wage, cuz they are still alive. So, you know, by definition and everything, they are just fine, and don’t really need more, anyway.
YOLO, Mousematt. Spend that money, or else the execs might be forced to start some kind of GoFundMe thing. Yachts don’t just buy themselves.
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