This was my first time at WDW though I have been to DL and DL Paris in the past so I was not entirely clueless. It was my first time staying on Disney property though and this trip was just an extended weekend birthday trip for my DH.
Arrived on Friday 12/13 and left Monday 12/16. Stayed at POFQ, was a very quiet resort. Forgot my phone at home and realized once we were at the airport. Thankfully I quickly downloaded MDE on DH’s phone and logged in. But yeah I did panic.
Friday night we visited the AKL and ate at Jiko, which was amazing! The waitress even gave my husband a pre-birthday desert and his birthday pin. He begged her not to have anyone sing and she assured him she wouldn’t. The food was exquisite and it was a great start to the trip.
Saturday morning we planned to visit HS and then go to MK in the evening for dinner. We were meeting some friends at HS who showed up by 6 to get BP to ROTR. We planned to head out around 6:30am ourselves and the first Uber cancelled on us and then our second literally drove almost all the way up to POFQ and then just sat there. We could see her car further out but it was pouring rain. After trying to reach her twice she finally answered and stated she was not going to finish the trip cause it was raining too hard and was going to cancel. I waited but she never did so I had to cancel myself and got charged the cancellation fee. Finally got a new Uber on the way.
After all that we got to HS at about 7:20 and our BG was 106 but I cancelled it knowing it was too late for us. Ended up disputing the cancelled Uber trip and got a refund. Did our Star Tours FP at 7:45 and then went on to visit GE, ate breakfast at Docking Bay 7 and got in line for SR. I was right pilot and my husband was left and I grinned like an idiot the entire time. CM aftewards raved at our score and said she hadn’t seen a score like that in a while (it was only 9300). Bought the gift card prior to spending money on merch, had blue and green milk (they were a little heavy handed on the rum lol). Met Chewie, Vader and BB-8. Chewie was the best, even made a deal about my husband’s bday. Vader was incredibly intimidating and I’m a 501st member! Thought I was used to people dressed as Vader but he is something else. Finished out by going to Oga’s. We ended up waiting a bit since there were 5 of us for that which was fine but the CM kept apologizing and when we got in they gave us free food (the snack bowl). Oga’s was a lot of fun, wasn’t planning on buying the Porg mug but once I saw it was numbered and 1st edition I did. The life of a SW fan lol.
We went back to chill at POFQ and @Randall1028 wasn’t kidding, the Mickey beignets are to die for. Took the bus to MK and got there around 5pm, did the Little Mermaid ride and walked around a bit before our reservations to BOG. At dinner they put a candle in DH’s chip cupcake and gave him a birthday card signed by Belle and the Beast. Meeting Beast was amazing, my DH said it really made his bday magical.
Fireworks were about to start as we left dinner so we jumped on It’s a small world with no wait and once we got off the ride we went to the Haunted Mansion with about a 20 min standby wait. I had never experienced it at night and it really set the mood even more. On our way to the front of the park we took the little bridge left of the castle and when we were about 20ft away they let off a few fireworks which scared me at first but was pretty cool to see them and be so close to the castle.
Sunday was Epcot day and we had FP to Mission Space. DH LOVES all things space and Mars so he was really excited about Mission Orange but I was nervous about it so I took Green for myself. Green was super laid back for me and I enjoyed the visuals very much. We then went to FP Spaceship Earth and the FP line was lined up way past where you tap in which was weird. We didn’t have to wait too long, maybe 20 mins.I then went to get a Mickey Pretzel (never had one) but the couple in front of me got the last two so not this time.
We toured the countries next starting with Mexico, the boat ride was cute and then we did the Frozen ride. I was impressed by the animatronics but the ride itself was not what I expected from a popular FP item. It’s cute and I’m very glad I did it but it doesn’t have a ride again factor for me. Got to meet Mulan in China which was cool, I don’t know if she usually has a photographer with her but she didn’t on Sunday. My number 1 goal for Epcot was meeting Aurora as she is my namesake and I got to do that, it was a dream come true and I got a little chocked up lol. She didn’t have her own photographer either. Then DH asked if we could do Mission Orange again so I was like sure… I’m glad I did it, but it’s like no other ride I’ve ever been on and definitely a different sensation than Green. I didn’t get sick but I don’t think I’ll do that ride again, I will gladly do Green while he does Orange next time.
We had dinner at Le Cellier and the food was good, our waiter was phenomenal but the tables are a little too close together where there’s zero privacy but you are also not eating in a group setting. It’s kind of hard to explain. I don’t think we’ll go back but it was a nice one time thing. We went back to our room after the fireworks. Next day we flew home and you all weren’t kidding, that goodbye song in the video on the trip back is heartbreaking. We are already talking about our next trip. DH said it was his best birthday and the whole weekend was magical 
Summary of what I’ve learned this time around:
- Dining Plan isn’t for us. We eat way too sporadically for it to be worth it for DH and me and would come out cheaper just buying what we want when we are there.
- Magical Express makes staying on location SO worth it. Not having to worry about my bags after I checked in at the local airport and then they were magically in our room when we got back from dinner? That was perfect. Also the resort airline check in was amazing and once again I didn’t have to worry about my bag, we just walked on up to level 3 at MCO once we were dropped off and went right through security.
- Definitely stay longer
- Book the VMMCP next time to get low crowds at night for the rides
- Thinking about going the week immediately after Thanksgiving/very beginning of December next time instead of the weekend before Passholder blackout dates.
- Get zippered pockets on pants to put ID and phone in so I don’t have to bother with bag check
- Possibly resort hop next time
I think that’s it. I’ll be in Orlando in July and plan to drop by one day just to ride ROTR.