I am loving this trip report!
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A few shows later - the changes to the plan meant we could catch the first BotB show at 11, then right into SWaGFFA (no seats, no shade!) at 1130 and IJSS at 12. Now our first FPP - MV3D. Very unnecessary!
Walked in with 3 mins to go, not too bad. Then a break to eat. Oh, we also stopped in on Pixar Place and shared a (huge!) Num Num Cookie in between WDP and BotB. Tasty!
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Nearly done now, 3pm and going to finish well ahead of the plan even with the re-rides I reckon.
Had lunch at the ABC Commissary, then got thoroughly rained on (not forecast!) on the way to and while waiting for LMRA. Having done that, we headed for the Star Wars LB, just watched the movie and looked at the props etc, no character meets.
Then time to re-ride SDD - big win there, on and off in 8 mins while the standby is posted at 70 mins. Never forget to check for same-day FPPs! On that note, we have modified our Frozen ones from 4 to 3pm as we are ahead yet again. Once those are used we’re going to start trying for MK ones as we are heading there on the evening (one of only 2 non-party nights while we are here - want to see the fireworks!)
PotJ is not running all season apparently, so only Frozen, JT:TotT and (if we can find them - been up and down there at least 3 times) the CoH left. We have an Oga’s reservation at 6.20pm but may try to move that earlier and move on to MK or back to AoA for a quick nap.
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Ok, final update for HS. Sorry, my phone started getting low so I reserved my battery for photos and FPPs.
We did the 3.30pm Frozen - FPP pointless again other than as a way to burn it, as seating is plentiful and all a common area. After that we had a little break and then tried to watch JT:TotT at 4.20, but it got rained off (rain on and off all afternoon, it was only for like 3 mins tops this time, I feel for the kids who missed out because of it. Some frustrated parents clearly felt the same way as the CMs got a little mobbed).
We managed to grab an instant FPP (4th) for ToT, so went and did that, then returned for the 5pm TotT. After scanning at ToT we had managed to get a 5.25pm TSM FPP (5th), so we then went and used that, leaving MFSR, ASwS and ST as the only rides we didn’t manage to do twice - and all have re-rides or FPPs already planned later in the week.
Figuring that was enough rides for one day, we had a 30m wander around SWGE, tried the (overpriced) blue milk with rum and then went to our 6.20pm Oga’s reservation for a couple of drinks, charcuterie and (even more overpriced) collector porg mug. My OH love porgs, we have a cuddly one at home and will have inevitably made it two by the end of his trip. She isn’t a big SW fan but really perked up when they turned up in various shows 
Left Batuu as the sun was setting, and we were going to bus direct to MK but as that bus wasn’t present and an AoA one was, we have headed back for a quick freshen up and phone charge, before we head back out to hit TTA, HEA, JC (have a 6th FPP for this) and OUAT. Then back to bed! Phew!
No more photos just now as they are on the charging phone - this is on my iPad. Have packed some charging cables for further days as I understand Guest Relations will charge phones if you provide the cables. Worth a shot!!
Edit: Got back, added photos
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Morning all! We made it back to MK by around 8.30pm last night having left our room at 8pm. By the time we got through security and into the park it was around 8.40, and we just about made it over to TTA, on, around and off by 08.56. Absolute chaos getting over into TL as the extra exit down behind Main St USA was open so there were two streams of people going through the MSU/TL “junction” near TLT at right angles to each other.
Anyway, getting off TTA (which we rode now to save time at MNSSHP later in the week - wanted to ride at night) we had not a lot of time to get to somewhere to view the fireworks. Fortunately there were spaces in the area on the hub-TL bridge just next to the new TL sign. Good view of the top 2/3 of the castle, and most of the projections / all of the fireworks are on this side anyway. Also no crowds, just a bin. I always seem to end up watching from behind a bin…anyway, happy with it for a literal last minute arrival!
Fireworks over, we again had a tough ask - making it to JC (only opportunity for a night time ride this trip). Getting through the hub was a challenge given people leaving, going into TL or just staying there for OUAT. But we made it there by 9.27pm, used our FPPs and were on board a boat for 9.33pm. All went well until both our boat and the one in front got stopped for ages before being able to disembark. Credit to the Skipper for managing a full 15 mins (including the usual 8min ride time) of pubs, but we didn’t get off until 9.48. High-tailed in over to the hub again and managed only to miss the intro, Peter Pan and Cinderella bits of OUAT - caught about 2/3 of it. Will take that over missing night-time JC!
Leaving the park was horrific. I have no idea what happened last night, maybe because it’s one of only a few non-party nights this month? The lines for every resort bus were rammed. We left promptly at/just before 10pm, got to the AoA stop shortly after, were not on a bus until 11.07pm (many, many people were still behind us by then, in fact as far back as we had been at 10pm, so if it carried on as it was they will have been there well past midnight) and were in our room just after 11.30pm. Had a brief view (finally!) of the EWP from the line for the bus. Not worth standing there for over an hour (though that was the only line we really had to wait in all day, so fair I guess).
As a consequence, we changed the plan for tomorrow (now today, as I’m writing this at KSC the next morning) to start a little bit later - got a solid 7 hours sleep, which off that MK exit is pretty good. There was a letter in our room about express check out, so we didn’t need to see anyone at the desk - another good time saver and very welcome.
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Love all of your photos!
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Looks like you are having a great time 
congratulations on your standby travel success. You are doing well with your planning too. What great photos
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Evening all! Another day nearly over, been a bit of a rush today! We got up at 7, packed up, tried to get a 7.45am bus to Disney Springs, only to find out they didn’t start until about an hour later. No problem, a quick Uber only cost us $9+tip and took us directly to the Hilton at Disney Springs to pick up our hire car - easiest way to both get to KSC and then on to Universal, and Avis (together with Budget) are one of only two companies with sites near enough to both WDW and Universal.
I’d booked a group K (Mustang or similar) as it was about $13 more than the cheapest option, and for lucky - had heard some stories of people getting VW cabrios, but I got a nice Grey Mustang convertible and had a lot of fun driving it to KSC and back. Lovely car 
As for KSC itself, the lie in meant we only had 4.5 hours (10-2.30) there, so I used a variant of a plan I found for cruise ship passengers. Arrived at 10, on a bus to the S5 centre by 10.40, at the centre by 11.40 (the tour has got longer!) and then a 10 minute wait, two 10 minute presentations and into the centre itself by 12.
We stayed around half an hour, looked around the exhibits, and then found a bus already waiting when we came out at 12.30. Pulled away at 12.33, back at the VC complex at 12.46. We have been super lucky with transport so far (except the Skyliner!) Headed into the Atlantis exhibit and stayed until half 2. A little later than I had planned but A) the Challenger/Columbia memorials are new to me, and I felt important to spend a decent amount of time contemplating, B) I was at Atlantis’ final launch and she’s a special bird to me, C) (because of B) my name is on a banner in there, not that five minutes staring at it helped find it, and D) the shuttle launch experience took longer than I remembered, 30 mins end to end.
Anyway, we wrapped up there, headed back to the car via Starbucks (coffee is important) and drove back to Universal. Some small difficulty getting to the Doubletree to drop the Mustang off as the exit was closed, but we got there, then walked across the road to the Holiday Inn, checked in, dumped the bags and headed straight out to Universal.
Here we ran into a problem. The will call machines wouldn’t accept my order number, and by the time Guest Services sorted out our ticket pickup, we were 7 mins too late to get into the park for Stay & Scream. A few quick enquiries did reveal though that a side gate to the far right of the main gate (behind said Guest Services) would be opening at the same time as the main gate (5.50pm) and on heading around there, not a soul was waiting. Confirmed we were in the right place, and by 5.50 about 20-30 people had joined us - vs the hundreds and hundreds then waiting outside the main gate. Big, big win given how the night started.
It’s now 7pm and we are two (of ten) houses down, 15min line left for the third. We only need to do five of them as we are back again tomorrow (bogof ticket) but may press on as it’s the tough ones to get into we will have left (swapped tonight’s and tomorrow’s plans due to the SnS mishap). Looking good! Will be a late one but tomorrow is only a 10am start for VB, then back to HHN. Looking forward to it!
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I was obsessed with everything to do with space travel when I was a kid. Your pictures of KSC are amazing! Thank you!
One day I hope to bring my kids there.
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Halloween Horror Nights and Volcano Bay update! We are getting back to WDW in a couple of days, honest! The trip was organised this may as prices for WDW for 17th-19th were crazy for some reason, so a good time to head to UOR.
HHN went really well. After our initial entry through the side gate, we knocked out Universal Monsters right away, and then the next three houses (Graveyard Games, Nightingale and Depths of Fear) with 25 min waits each (posted at 25/25/45). We then stopped at 8pm (2 hours in) to get some drinks - bought the souvenir Freestyle mugs and they have already paid for themselves.
By this point, lines had started to build for real, and we had to take a 50m wait (60m posted) to see House of 1000 Corpses. That was very good, super true to the movie. After that (9pm ish), all houses had 80m plus waits posted, so we walked through some scare zones, got food from the Starcourt Mall food court and then caught the 10pm Marathon of Mayhem show, followed by the 10.30pm Academy of Villains. Both were good, I preferred MoM but that’s just personal preference.
After seeing both shows and spending time in 4 of 5 scare zones, we figured we should get back to the houses. Killer Klowns had a posted 70m wait (the shortest, and not as near the other soundstage houses) so we got in line for that. Turned out it was only a 35m wait, and another excellent experience, so a win there! By the time we cleared KK, it was midnight, so 2 hours left with 4 houses to do.
As we have BONGOF tickets and were doing Stay & Scream the next day, we figured we would do one more of the major houses and leave ourselves in a good position for an early night going into our hotel move+ IoA day. Entered the line for Ghostbusters at 12.05 and got into the house at 1.10, a 65m wait vs. 80 posted. It was another good house, but hard to justify that wait. We spoke to someone who had waited over 3 hours for Stranger Things and still enjoyed it - I think not for us though, we’ll do that at opening on day two.
Walked back to our hotel, straight to bed at 2.15, up and off to Volcano Bay at 09.15. Still staying just about on the right side of getting enough sleep!
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Hello from a very wet Universal Studios! Possibly wetter than our VB day yesterday. That worked out pretty well, had a late® start to catch the partner hotel shuttle bus at 10, got to Citywalk and immediately got onto the connecting bus to VB, arriving around 10.30am.
I’d probably done the least planning for VB of any of our destinations - just looked into what rides were there (but not where) and how the Tapu Tapu worked. So on arrival we first collected our TTs and then got our bearings. I remembered the Krakatau aqua coaster was worth doing and we were looking for something to tap(u) into the virtual line for, but everything was a walk on (around 10.40am by now).
So we rode Krakatau - great experience, very unique. Must use magnets we reckon. After that we rode all four of the large five-person raft slides (sorry, bad at names for the VB attractions!) as walk-ons (I.e. no virtual line - still 5-10 mins of physical line in each case), followed by the two two-person tube slides. Worth noting that the experience tends to be quite different between the two colours of slide for each attraction, so we did both for each.
At that point we had not too many slides left to try, but lines were starting to build, so we tapped into the 40m line for Ohno (skipping Ohyah as those two are really similar, but Ohno has a larger final plunge), then picked up some long board pizzas for lunch. As the virtual queue got under 10 mins it updated to “return anytime” and we left it about another 15 mins with no problem.
Returned to and rode Ohno, then got another walk on on the drop slides found way up on the volcano, before walking through the Volcano itself. It’s quite cool in there, lights and things that the TT can be used to interact with. A nice diversion. We then wrapped things up by around 14.20 (so a little under 4h in the park) with a lap on the lazy river - we had no interest in the 125ft drop slide, are too heavy for Punga Racers (150lb limit) and the raging river was closed for water quality checks.
Dried off (towel $6, locker was $16 all day I think), got changed and walked back to the bus stop, where yet again there was a bus ready to go. Hopped on that, back at Citywalk in 10 mins or so, where we caught an Uber back to the hotel (a short ride, but also short on time and still with sore feet!)
After a shower and change, we walked back to USF by 4.45pm for our second HHN. We had a little trouble finding the entrance to the Finnegans holding area so went around that corner of the park a few times, before finally getting in (by Starbucks) at 4.57pm.
Joining the (already large) line/mob for Stranger Things in the holding area at 5.03, they started moving us into the actual line at 5.25, until we stopped and started our “proper” wait at 5.34. The house opened at 5.45 and we were through by 6.18. Less than 20 mins after opening and with the wait then posted at 150m, that’s another win in my book. Excellent experience, very true to the show, but wouldn’t want to wait 3h+for it!
Quickly wrapped up Us (22m wait) and Yeti (30m - and the best non-branded house in our book). We then re-did HoTC as it was our favourite house and only had a 25m wait, rode FnF as the 10m wait was another even than the 20m expected with EPs the following day (maybe skipped the pre-show?) then headed out of the park at 8.30pm with everything done, to get a decent rest. Picked up some Panda Express and Cinnabon on the way (we don’t get those in the UK) and ate it in our hotel room, then bed for 10.15pm for a 5.15am start. Would have been earlier but the weather for Saturday looked awful so I spent an hour or so re-planning to swap our IoA and USF days (as IoA is far more outdoors-oriented). Managed to get a working plan together - not as simple as simply swapping the days as we need to be out by 5pm on Sunday to get back to WDW, whereas the IoA plan runs 9am-8pm (Hagrid 
). Will elaborate on how that went in the next post.
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Back at USF, much drier today thankfully. Glad we pushed on yesterday as it worked out really, really well for us.
As I mentioned in my last post, we’d originally planned to do IoA on the 18th and USF on the 19th, as we need to get away early tonight and USF closes 3 hours earlier. However with tropical storm Nestor bearing down on the evening of 17th, we made the call to swap the days, as USF has more of its major attractions indoors. That required an hour or so of pre-planning to accommodate the park swap necessary to make best use of the evening hours after USF closed. Job done, we headed to bed…
Up the next morning at 5.15am, packed up and got an uber to the RPR - only about 10 mins away. Checked in at the front desk, left our luggage and were issued with our temporary room keys/early entry Express Passes. A short (5min) walk down to the boat, which soon left with only us and one other family on board, getting us to Citywalk around 6.30am.
Walking to the park, we scanned in and were granted admission around 6.40, at which point we headed straight to a very rainy Diagon Alley. With the Express Passes (which can’t be used before 8am) and the weather, our expectation was that lines for rides would not be a problem, so we first did the show at Ollivander’s (out by 7.08) and then spent around 30 minutes wandering around looking at things in the rain, including the Knight Bus just outside DA.
As 8am arrived and we could use our EPs, we got in line for EfG. This was super busy, I guess due to the rain, and we waited around 15 mins to get on. Great ride - but I don’t like the increasing trend for several pre-show hold ups followed by further queuing segments. It especially slows things down when using EPs - perhaps that’s the point?
We then wandered over to MiB - still bucketing down. Rode that, then straight back to DA for the first Beedle the Bard show. Cancelled due to rain. Ok, that’s how the day is going to play out then! Considered our options and decided to rab breakfast at Starbucks, re-plan (again) and then crack on with the rides.
We started by making our way down to The Mummy (having done F&F during HHN). This was nearly a walk-on just after 9.30am with EPs, and a great experience - one we’d definitely be coming back to re-ride.
After that we started keeping an eye out for RRR opening, but in the current rain, there was no chance! So we rode Transformers, then headed back up past DA to see how things were going for the shows there (they weren’t), carrying on round the lake to ride The Simpsons, then on to the 10.30 AA show - which turned out to be a meet & greet. Going great so far!
WNC was still closed due to weather (shutdowns in order seem to be RRR, Hagrid’s, WNC, then everything else), so we rode ET - classic! Coming out of that it was 10.41, so we ran full pelt during absolutely torrential rain to make the 10.45 Horror Make-Up Show. Hilarious, and more importantly nice and dry!
Coming out of the show, we looped backed to do T&H, then tried BtB again - still no joy, so we picked up a big pink donut and headed to the first proper AA show. Always fun, needs more of the sea otters! Show done and dogs petted, WNC had finally opened so we quickly rode that to finish off the rear part of the park, then headed back to the front.
Did DMMM and Shrek 4D in quick succession. Got a very poor pair of glasses for Shrek and had to watch with one eye closed! Love the DMMM ride, that’s new since my last visit. By then it was just before 2pm so we grabbed some lunch from Mel’s and sat on a bench outside Schwab’s. Just as we finished up eating around 2.20, the parade turned up right in front of us - nice! It’s no Disney parade but entertaining enough. Always appreciate a bit of Spongebob.
Parade and lunch over, RRR still hadn’t opened by 2.45pm so we did RtNY and then caught the Blues Brothers show sitting on some steps near Finnegans. By that time it was around 3.30, still no RRR and slightly too early to leave the park, so we re-rode Mummy and Gringotts before getting in line for the HE around 4.30pm (standby line then 60 mins, we had EP and waited around 15 - also had to go the long way around as by the time we left Mummy at around 4.10 they already had the HHN barriers up).
Arriving into IoA for 5.10, and after a quick restroom break and locker acquisition, we got into the line for Hagrid’s at 5.29. Such a long line! Although posted 90 mins and still contained within the attraction, which was a good sign. Through the garden, the ruins, down tunnels, through storage rooms and workshops, it just goes on and on! We got onto the ride at 7.20pm - and what a ride! Loved it! Wouldn’t wait 2 hours for it a second time mind.
Hagrid’s done, Hosmeade was packed with people wanting to see the first Dark Arts light show, but we had a little spare time before park closing, so we rode FJ and FotH with EPs - both walk-ons - then watched the second Dark Arts light show at 8.05pm from a nearly empty Hogsmeade. Much better! Walked to the front of the park, boat back to RPR, ordered some Thai food up from the restaurant, then time for bed again! The rest of Universal to do the next day…
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Hi again! Got a few days behind on these. We are just on a bus to AK, having done a bit more USF, IoA, MK and EP over the last three days.
USF/IoA went really well. Got up at 7.45am, on a boat soon after and in USF for just around 8.30am. Only a few things to re-do here so we didn’t want to do the full 8am start. We first rode RRR twice (no EP line), then re-rode Mummy a second time and finally Gringotts, before heading over to IoA via the HE, arriving around 09.30am.
From there we basically worked our way around the park clockwise, starting with a pancake breakfast (and hot butterbeer) in the Three Broomsticks and then moving on to Poseidon’s Fury. Honestly not worth the 20 min wait! Covered off all of SL with no real waits, first time I’ve survived 1F2F without getting wet. Wouldn’t wait in line for any of these except maybe the HitSTR.
Finally got to MSHI, the part of the park we were really looking forward to, around 12! Rode Hulk, SFA, Hulk again (no wait either time) and SM3D - my OH really hatss drop towers since she once got stuck on one for a few hours, so no DDFF. Wanted to get wet only once, so we bypassed DDRRF and went direct to Kong. Glad we EPed past the line as we found this one a little disappointing - clearly using the F&FS technology and just not exciting or interesting enough for such a new ride.
Looping back to Toon Lagoon we rode DDRRF…still not as wet as Popeye (out for maintenance) but pretty thoroughly wet all the same! About 20 mins wait even with EPs, one of the longest ones of the day. Straight over to JPRA to get a little wetter, but I’ve always found that a fairly dry ride. Do enjoy it though, it’s a nice combination of theme and thrills.
We skipped Raptor Encounter and the DC is closed for construction of the new coaster, so we grabbed a turkey leg from a cart and continued on back into Hogsmeade by around 3pm (I.e. after only around 5 hours in the park). Re-rode FJ, saw the Frog Chorus and part of the Triwizard Spirit Rally, wandered around for around 30mins looking at things and eating butterbeer ice cream, then hopped back onto the HE to USF around 4pm. Observed that although Hogsmeade must surely be bigger, DA absolutely has more real shops and things to investigate.
Back to USF around 4.20pm, we headed straight back through to RRR for our third and final ride of the day. Out of the park for around 4.50pm, we caught a final water taxi back to the RPR, picked up out bags and waited out front for our Mears shuttle to Pop.
The shuttle arrived 10 minutes early at 05.20pm and we were at the Pop desk by 6pm, in the room (70s block) by 6.15 and out again by 6.40. Arriving back at HS around 7.05, we grabbed something to eat from Fairfax Fare and then used our FPPs for Fantasmic immediately after. Made sure we were seated by an aisle for a quick escape to ToT afterward!
Watched the show - think it has been the same basically forever but always entertaining - and then managed to get to the top of the steps before everyone started standing up and blocking them. Figured that was the key to a quick getaway and it worked out really well - managed to stay ahead of most of the crowd and hit ToT around 8.40 as a walk on (30-40 min wait soon after). Much better at night, and a great crowd!
ToT done, we headed over to use our SDD FPP for our third walk-on of the trip, then back to the GCT to watch the two night-time shows at 09.35 and 10pm. Nice to get three closing shows in one evening, not so nice to have to stand/sit on the floor for 45 minutes! Out of the park, back on the Skyliner and back in our room by 10.45 - very efficient! Staying at WDW for the rest of our stay now with MK, EP and AK days to go.
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Ok, now we’re back to WDW, on with the updates! On the morning of the 21st we got up at 5.30am for a 6am exit from the room, grabbing an MK bus and getting there around 6.40am. Managed to work our way towards the front of the RD pack before the crowd was released into the park, and further towards the front as we approached Fantasyland (no running, just a decent walking pace and careful use of open space).
The original plan was to do Pooh and them PPF, however as we were front and centre by the time we actually got to the FL RD we decided not to miss the opportunity and ended up being numbers 8 and 9 onto 7DMT just after 7am. Seemed fairly tame after Hulk and RRR but still a good ride!
Off 7DMT we were very slightly behind the original plan but with walk-ons at Pooh and PPF we soon caught up. Heading down to TL we had a 5-10m wait for AO, then (although SM was tempting) did BLSRS as a walk-on and then went over to the castle for the 7.55 welcome show.
With the show done there was no sign of any MSVs yet, so we walked right down the middle of MSUSA to meet them at the front of the park. Got onto the fire engine with no wait, and were swiftly transported right back to the castle. Some may say a little pointless, but it’s about the journey, right? Good job it was the fire engine too - the horn wasn’t very effective in moving everyone, but the siren sure did the job! Always like to catch the vehicles before they stop running, and this was our best chance to do that.
We wanted to finish off FL and TL before starting on the other side of the park, so headed over to SM while it was still quiet.10m standby posted, actually a walk on onto Omega. Went right back around, still a walk on, onto Alpha. Done! Over the the TS, posted 15m wait, actual nearer 10. Not as good as the DL version, seems more barren. Could be my memory!
That was most of TL done by around 9am, with time to spare before our 9.30 BoG breakfast, we we rode TB twice without getting off, then TLM, then straight to breakfast next door, arriving slightly early at 9.25. Good job as it took around 15 mins to order and find a table in the West Wing. I would usually go for the “toast with sweet things” option but at a fixed price of $29 I chose the charcuterie, and my OH the Feast A La Gaston. Not nearly enough eggs but all good food!
Departing BoG around 10.05, we encountered our only proper wait of the trip (besides Hagrid) at ETwB. It’s such a low capacity attraction and there were loads of FPPs turning up and getting priority, it took us around 30 mins to get in. Would definitely have taken this as a fourth FPP if available (I had 7DMT, HM and SM). Lumiere is impressive and it’s fun and cute and all, but maybe not worth the wait this one if you dont have kids.
Away from Belle’s cottage and with FL nearly all done, we headed back over to 7DMT around 11.10 and rode it using our FPPs. As we had done it in the dark earlier, that was really enough for this trip - neither of us felt the need to ride it a third time. Over to IaSW, another practical walk-on, and then, as we were back ahead of plan, MP before heading back to finish off TL.
We first rode CoP - nice and cool as always, and again no wait - and then MILF. Despite my best efforts, I have still not managed to be That Guy. Never mind, loved the show! TL done, there was just time to get over to SH and get an order in before the CMs started getting serious about closing off areas for the 2pm parade.
Luckily the food was ready more seconds before the parade arrived, so I spent 15 mins juggling my phone and a tray full of chicken, waffles and drinks whilst standing outside SH, by the bridge. It also began raining during this time, but fortunately my phone is water- and indeed coleslaw-proof. Glad we saw the parade before it was potentially rained off or we got too wet ourselves!
Parade done but rain getting worse, we dashed over to JC and entered the standby queue, here posted at a fairly accurate 15 mins. Appreciated the covered line and indeed boats! After JC we were advised by the CM at TETR that we had 10 mins to the next show, so took a quick look break and then right back to it!
Experienced TETR (I love this - OH is luke warm), and then purchased a (for Disney) reasonably priced dole whip in souvenir tiki bowl. Basically made the bowl $3-4 - it’s a decent enough souvenir for that price. It was then time to use our HM FPP, so we did just that - the first of two rides due to MNSSHP. Feels like the HM has been changed since I was last here, but I know on at least one trip it was closed, so perhaps I am confusing it with the DL or DLP versions…
By now it was around 3.10pm, with an LSR departure next due at 3.30. We spent 10 mins running around trying to find a guest relations desk that would charge our phones - no joy - and then decided to just get on the boat so we could secure seating on a life belt box.
Rode the LSR all the way around TSI, then disembarked and headed to TSI itself. Nearly had a major problem here as the weather was changing as we sailed over, and when we docked the CM announced that we had to go right back. However, due to an incoming LSR, we were forced to dock on the island anyway (biggest boat wins), and we took the opportunity to see the mill, barrel bridge, hill and two of the three caves on the island before we were shooed off again - no Fort Langhorn sadly, that already had the familiar Bins of Gandalf (you shall not pass) present.
Back into the bustle of the park, we attempted to use our SM FPP, but the weather closing in had just forced the ride to close - along with BTM and most things in the area. This seemed like a good opportunity to swap in CBJ (which we had scheduled for our departure day), so we watched that while we waited to see what the weather did. Still no joy, so we headed over to PotC and did that with a 5-10min wait (chose not to use the anytime FPP we now had due to the SM closure).
At this point we were coming up on our 5.50pm reservation at Tony’s, so with SM and BTM still closed we proceeded to Town Square, where we tried one more time to charge our phones - no joy, and no ability to buy fuel rod chargers using a non-US card it seems, I tried 4 of them before giving up! So we ate dinner - the trio, very filling, and by then it was time for the party.
We had an initial problem as despite having lots of CMs about asking to see party wristbands, none seemed to be giving out either these, trick or treat bags or maps. The main Guest Relations at TS sent us to Tortuga Tavern, who had candy but no wristbands, and tried to send us back to the front of the park. We were unwilling to add another 20-25 mins walking to do that, so just carried on until we found a supervisor, who then advised the sports had moved since last year and was no longer at TT but around the corner.
Definitely a poor experience staying in the park all day and then trying to do the party, but we did eventually get wristbands, bags from a later TorT line, but never any party maps. Anyway, as the weather had improved, we didn’t bother with the planned start to the evening at HM, and instead rode SM and BTM with essentially no lines, collecting candy along the way.
We then proceeded to HM. With a 30 min standby line and behind on time, I decided to chance my arm and ask if the anytime FPPs we had were still good. We were accepted! And on checking the app the FPPs showed as active to 6AM - unsure if that was the case before but certainly another win here. HM at night was exactly the same as during the day, but good to ride during the party regardless.
HM re-ridden, we thought about watching the 8.35 HPVS show, but would have missed the first few minutes so instead decided to ride PotC while lines were hopefully low. There was again round about a 10min wait - and five live pirates (2 in the queue, 3 on the ride). Good fun!
With the Eastern half of the park done, we headed over to FL for a brief stop riding MTP (with spooky music), before we carried on to (Deep) SM and rode for our third time of the day. Even better in complete darkness! SM is easily our favourite coaster at MK, even with (perhaps because of) the rough ride.
By then we were pretty worn out, so we did a quick stop at MILF - as expected, it was open as a walk-through, with lots and lots of candy being given out and constant jokes about audience members on the screen. Having checked off the last party-specific overlay, we started heading for the hub for the shows. Ended up watching the NSSA from the same TL bridge location we watched HEA from a few nights before, as the fire is decent enough and there was space to sit down and rest our weary feet.
We rounded out the evening by continuing to the hub, perching on fences near the Partners statue to watch the HPVS and finally continuing into FrL to view the 11.15 BTYP from the corner outside the DH, for a quick escape to the front gate after it passed.
Worth nothing that the actual HPVS was apparently cancelled, so we got the Sanderson Sisters introducing various villains and then them all singing together on stage, with lasers and fireworks. If I had to guess, the show should contain those elements plus a light show on the castle - presumably there was an issue with the projectors. Still well worth watching.
As was the parade actually! I sorely miss the MSEP, but this was one of the better parades we’d seen outside of that one. Has a tune that gets stuck in your head too! We were again able to view whilst sitting down, which we again appreciated!
Very nearly got away with our exit strategy. Got up and headed for the entrance via AL as soon as the parade passed, went through the shops on MSUSA and got to TS just as the first float was passing through. I reckon if you did this from slightly further back in FrL and really booked it to the entrance it might work - but there would be more people in the way so maybe not!
Anyway, turns out Disney has a plan for this - they corralled a small group of people in the centre of TS and created a gap in the parade to allow us to leave in fairly short order. Back to the bus stop, however we had to wait ages for a bus to arrive and even longer for it to load. The sheer number of scooters, together with the priority they are accorded, do cause some real issues with timing travel between locations. Got back around 1am (having left the park at 11.30) for an 8am EPCOT start. Two full days left!
6 Likes
Ok, two days to go! 22nd was EPCOT. Evening EMH, not morning, so we didn’t get up until around 8am, leaving at 8.30 to catch the (very foggy!) Skyliner. This got us as far as RCB, where we found that a replacement bus had been put on as the EPCOT line was down. The bus took us straight back by Pop, and between that and having to use the busy main entrance we were delayed getting into the park until nearly 09.10. FEA was down at this time and we were late anyway so we proceeded direct to SatW - 20m posted, actually a walk-on.
Followed that up with LwtL - first time I’d ridden that, genuinely very interesting. Love all the different plants in the greenhouses. Breakfast at SS to round off the Land pavilion, and then over to the Seas. We were now well ahead of time for our Seas FPP so instead did TTwC and then walked around the aquarium bit for 15 mins. Then used the FPP - again, I’d never actually ridden TS, although I have SCUBA dived in there! Clever how they put Nemo and friends inside the tanks.
Time to move to the other side of the park - had managed to move forward our next FPP for SE and now used that. Seems to have been the same ride basically forever, but again, always a good one. Although I only rode Horizons once, in 1992, I still miss that one! Too early for our TT FPP, so we did first the Orange and then the Green MS, both still walk-ons. Interesting that green now has its own separate flight rather than just being orange with the centrifuges off.
Finally time to use the TT FPP at 12.30. Possibly the biggest disappointment of the trip. Neither of us had been since the TT2.0 refit, and we strongly prefer the old experience with the crash tests. Having done both Hagrid and Cars at DCA, even the fast outside portion of the ride wasn’t that exciting, and we decided on the spot that we probably wouldn’t bother with the evening re-ride we had planned.
Time to start grabbing same day FPPs! We got one for JiI (4th) right away, and used that just before the 1.31pm drop. First time on JiI for us as well - just hadn’t really done EPCOT properly before on previous trips (mostly due to jumping in the fish tank). Wish I’d seen the original back in 1992, but the current show certainly isn’t short on Figment! Then started on the WS while trying to complete the F&WF Fromage Montage and snag an FEA FPP…
After stops at Earth Eats and Cheese Studio to kick off the FM, we started the WS at Mexico around 2.15pm, having a quick wander round, then jumping on the boat ride. Found the missing bit of IaSW! Pretty sure that scene is integrated into either the DL or DLP version, maybe both. Nice ride, probably the best country-specific experience there now Norway is hosting Frozen instead. Speaking of which, persistent refreshing paid off when at 2.41 in line for the boat ride, with standby at an hour, we finally snagged an FEA FPP for 2.50! Also grabbed a Jarrito and moved on.
Norway - again a wander around, followed by riding Frozen on our FPP and swiftly grabbing one for SatW (6th) for 6.50, just before dinner. We have seen quite a lot of Frozen this trip - suppose it sells! Moved on to China, where we first watched the film, then the 4.10pm acrobats, then wandered around. Worked our way around the remainder of the WS with little trouble - watching AA, noting that the only two rides are right at one end, and that without the films in Canada or France the latter half is very sparse. Mexico, Norway and China seem to be hit heavy hitters for entertainment value and are all clustered together. Also saw Billy Ocean performing, nice bonus! Completed the FM passport with foods in Norway (Swiss stall), Germany and France (Brazil stall).
With much of Canada roped off, we finished the WS around 6.45, leaving us 35 mins to get to SatW, ride it on our FPP and get back to LC for our 7.20 reservation. We managed 7.24 - not too shabby. We both had the NY strip steak medium rare. I feel mine was a little overcooked but OH said hers was perfect. Also ate some of mine! She had the cheese soup, I tried the onion this time. After dinner, we felt it had been a long day out in the sun (not much shade around the WS), I didn’t feel 100% and having already re-ridden MS and SatW we were not going to bother with evening EMH, so we watched the new EF show from the IG before getting on a Skyliner for the 20min trip back to Pop.
About EF - it’s a really interesting show. Interesting because it does acknowledge that there’s a lot of work going on at EPCOT right now, more surprisingly contains One Little Spark and almost unbelievably features the phrase “Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow”. Genuinely thought they had let that slide into obscurity. It felt good to hear Walt say it. Onward to AK!
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Last proper day! Having made it back early from EPCOT and got a decent night’s sleep, we were up and raring to go at 6am for a 7am Pandora RD. Now, we had been having some problems with Magicband purchases as Pop had somehow lost my card details, so I went to the front desk to sort that out whilst OH waited for the bus. Unfortunately the bus came and went in a very short time. Fortunately another turned up almost right away. Unfortunately another scooter turned up after everyone had got on…
Still, we were underway by 6.36 - right on time but into the park just before 7am with the crowd still held at the first bridge. Maybe 200 people ahead of us at this stage. Thankfully the walkways to Pandora are wide (very wide in places) and with no kids in tow we were again able to make our way to the front of the pack - and I do mean the front. The plan called for NRJ as we had FPPs for AFoP later on, but much like 7DMT we couldn’t turn down the opportunity, and were number 5&6 onto AFoP. Loved the ride, but wouldn’t wait 2-3 hours for it! It does a really good job of simulating motion though, clever use of wind.
Walked onto NRJ immediately afterward - early morning hordes all stuck in the AFoP line I guess. We then had Dinosaur planned but instead went to EE as OH was super keen to ride it. That we did, twice in a row with no line, requesting back row the second time. Love that ride, our favourite coaster at WDW outside of RnRC - would ride it over SDD or 7DMT every time.
Over to DLUSA, where we found PW is out again - CM advised it is only open for evening events, which I know is not entirely true lately, but we certainly didn’t see it running all day anyway. I hear there was an evac last week so maybe that’s why? CM also wasn’t aware the Cretaceous Trail was a thing so we remain slightly dubious- but accept they can’t know everything.
Rode Dinosaur - this probably goes to the top of our list of things we would have re-ridden given the right circumstances (but didn’t). I know this ride gets some bad press, but I like it. Incoming Pterodactyl was indeed incoming, which was nice. First time I’ve seen it operating! Just fix the Yeti now please! We were a bit behind on plan due to the AFoP and extra EE rides, so we went direct to ITTBAB at around 8.35. Walked right in, saw the show - again, always love this one - and then hung around DI for the Winged Encounters show, which eventually went ahead around 09.10. Very impressive!
WE ticked off, we visited the animals of the Oasis (no DiVine shows so no reason to leave this until later) and then made our way back to Asia for breakfast at the Y&YLFC, before catching the 10.30 Up bird show. I’m not sure it was necessary to add Russell and Doug to this, but the core show is still there and perhaps they make it appeal more to the kids. Good show overall.
After the show, we completed the MJT - decent view of the tigers today but the bats were off-show somewhere - and then headed for the 12pm FN showing. Always seems to be packed that one, but we got seats no problem at around 11.45. Nice to rest the feet for a good half hour, and the show is still good although I must have seen it 4 or 5 times now. Headed back to DLUSA to finish off by having a quick look at Dino-Sue and walking the Cretaceous Trail - which a nearby CM claimed didn’t exist, and which, to be fair, seems to be mostly a CnD photo op these days. Still, it is signposted…we were also going to do TTS, but all things considered had better things to get on with, it’s just another Dumbo after all.
Time to use our KRR FPP, deliberately booked for early afternoon to allow better drying out - we needed that, ended up backwards and got pretty wet. That was Asia finished off, so we returned to DI for lunch at the FTB. Have been there every visit to AK and it never disappoints. Then back over to Pandora just before 2pm to watch the Pandora Rangers show. No suit in sight - apparently a common issue - so we watched about half the substitute show and then spent about 15 mins exploring the land, before using our AFoP FPPs for our second no-wait ride of the day. Winning!
From Pandora, at around 3pm, we headed up the direct path to Africa, passing the new location (new to us!) for FotLK on the way. Although the Harambe Acrobats were just starting a show, we wanted to press on the RPW before it closed at 5pm (last train 4.30), so walked over and found a train about ready to leave. Straight on, and around 5 mins later we were walking along the trail to HH. A quick walk through CS, a failed attempt to buy any Meeko merchandise from the stand there, a decision to leave the goats of AS alone for the day, and we were back on another train 35 mins later.
By now it was coming up for 4pm, and we thought it best to knock out the longer FotLK in preference to HA, so after verifying with the CM at GFT that we would still be able to enter after 4.30 (closing time 5pm) we wandered over and took our seats for the show. Got lucky again here as there were two spare seats on the second row of lion section we were directed into. Really enjoyed the show - again, same as always, but being so close to it was a new experience. Even got a high five from one of the monkeys!
Once the show was done, we started walking the Gorilla Falls trail before it closed at 5. I had forgotten how much else there is to see before you get to the gorillas - all interesting, but we wanted to be sure of seeing the big apes before they went in for that night, so pressed on and were rewarded with some outstanding close-up views. A couple of them stood up and banged on the glass although no-one seemed to be provoking them at the time - not sure if this is learned behaviour from visitors or just something they do?
After seeing the gorillas, we returned to Harambe (irony not lost on me) to watch the Acrobats. I think I preferred this show to the Chinese one at EPCOT - more team work and overall entertinment. Maybe we’ve just seen too many Chinese acrobats spinning furniture! We then headed down to Otter Grotto and the DI Trails to see a few more animals before bedtime - OH is mad keen on otters in particular. The DI trail is much better signposted that I’d remembered at the OG end - other end still pops out by the ITTBAB exit.
We had then planned to eat at Harambe Marketplace before a sunset KS, but found HM had closed at 6pm (it was around 6.10) - should have paid attention to that one! So instead we took a very leisurely walk up to Ks and through the FPP line, boarding around 6.20. As planned, this was a good time of day to do the tour - we saw (at least) giraffes, lions, cheetahs, hippos, crocodiles, elephants, wildebeest, bongos, hyenas, rhino, springbok, Ankole cattle and various birds. We were going to do KS again as a walk-on but as I had just managed to snag a 7.15 RoL FPP (4th) which would allow us to leave the park a bit earlier and the line had increased to 20min+ we didn’t bother, and instead opted to ignore the building RoL FPP line to ride a sunset-lit EE for the third time (and our third walk-on) - love that ride.
We then entered RoL via a much shorter line - no rush with guaranteed FPP seating. The show was very good - our first time seeing it and it was nice to see some of the “non-standard” properties such as The Rescuers and The Fox and The Hound used - OH is a big fan of both so appreciated this, while I’m more of a Tarzan fan so appreciated the good portion of that in there as well. There did seem to be something up with the left water stream or projector as the image quality there was very poor and hard to make out at times. Still, an excellent show in our book.
While sitting there I had grabbed a 7.35 EE FPP (5th), so we bypassed the predictable post-RoL line and rode for a fourth time in complete darkness - even better! We then headed back to Pandora for the after-dark experience, and with great luck I managed to collect an FPP for NRJ (6th) along the way to save us the 50 minute wait (which, to be fair, we wouldn’t have bothered with). 15 mins or so wandering around Pandora at night - even better than in the day, though harder to photograph - and we re-rode NRJ. Like a lot of rides, we enjoyed this more our second time - I think you take in more on re-rides. I’m not sure it’s worth a 1h wait though, impressive as the effects are.
And with that, our last park was done. We headed to the bus station, catching a ToLA showing as we passed by, and getting there round 8.50, so slightly ahead of the closing rush. Made it back to our room for around 9.30pm, happy with that. Just a few bits to mop up in the morning - we had by this point decided not to do a full 4-park re-ride tour as we had pretty much had our fill, but still had some experiences to try before leaving for home…
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And the final day - all gone far too fast! Just for once we had a leisurely morning, as we had already ridden/re-ridden most of the things we had planned before the trip, and we didn’t feel like getting up at 4.30 just to ride MFSR again - in all honesty I preferred Star Tours. We did have a 12.30 FPP for AFoP but having ridden it twice the previous day we again didn’t think the bus, walk, wait, walk and bus back were worth it for a third go.
So instead, we went on a Tonga Toast hunt, leaving the room at 09.30am, and by 09.45 we had dropped off out bags and were on the Skyliner. We arrived at Epcot by 10.05, and after wandering through the park we were on a monorail (couldn’t skip that!) to the TTC by 10.25, arriving at Capt. Cook’s (via a short walk) by 10.45.
By 11.05 the promised Toast had been polished off - certainly worth the diversion! A quick walk and monorail ride back, and we were once again inside Epcot at 11.45. Heading over to Shimmering Sips (by the lake) we finally redeemed one of our F&W passports for the free cheesecake. Lovely - and with pineapple on, it was a nice follow up to our tropical breakfast.
Back onto the Skyliner, and by 12.20 we were standing in HS, heading towards Tatooine Traders. We understood that this was the place to pick up a shoulder Porg - OH really wants one since she saw someone in MK with one - but they were out. Apparently they sell as soon as they are made - it was also slightly unclear, but irrelevant to us, whether they were getting any more at all.
Slightly frustrating to walk all that way in the heat with no results, but at least we tried! Walked back to the Skyliner and we were in the Pop lobby for 12.50. A quick change in the restrooms, and our DME pickup arrived at 13.35 as scheduled. A note about that - we had no intention of sitting in the airport for hours, so had given a domestic flight that left at 1656 as ours (actual flight was 1625), which resulted in a planned pickup at 1305. Still far too early, so I called DME and changed to a 1725 flight, for which I was given a 13.35 pickup. 3h50m for a domestic still seems excessive - with the maximum 75 min transfer time it would give 2h35m at the airport - MCO has never been quite that bad in my experience!
Anyway, we got to the airport around 14.10 - no stops, direct 35m transfer - to find that the Delta flight we were planning on taking to Atlanta was very, very full. A quick search revealed a Southwest flight with free seats, and we (just!) managed to get on that one. In Atlanta there was further fun and games as an Air France flight had been cancelled and the passengers re-assigned to our flight home, so we barely got on that one as well! Still, we managed it and the flight home was from that point uneventful - slept at least half of it! We also had a two-hour nap when we got home, and slept a full 12 hours last night (with our old and new porgs) - an exhausting but fulfilling trip!
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Now that the trip is done, a quick summary of what we achieved in 9-10 days (anything not listed at all was done once as a standby) - quite happy with this!
MK (one daytime + MNSSHP + one evening + 45 mins = 19h, 5 FPPs)
SpcM x 3 (EMH x 2, MNSSHP)
7DMT x 2 (EMH RD, FPP)
HM x 2 (FPP, MNSSHP FPP)
PotC x 2 (10m standby, MNSSHP)
JC x 2 (FPP, 10m standby)
MILF x 2 (Walk-on standby, MNSSHP)
tB x 2 (Walk-on standby, stayed on)
BTM x 1 (MNSSHP)
SplM x 1 (MNSSHP)
PPF x 1 (EMH)
tMAoWtP x 1 (EMH)
AO x 1 (EMH)
D x 1 (SDFPP)
MTP x 1 (MNSSHP)
MCoA x 0 (it’s Dumbo)
SFT x 0 (meh)
HoP x 0 (not our thing - did it once before)
CD x 0 (party times didn’t work out)
EPCOT (one whole day = 12h, 6 FPPs)
SatW x 2 (RD, SDFPP)
MS x 2 (walk-on standby x 2)
TT x 1 (FPP)
FEA x 1 (SDFPP)
SSE x 1 (FPP)
JiIwF x 1 (SDFPP)
TS x 1 (FPP)
OC x 0 (closed)
IdF x 0 (closed)
HS (one daytime + one evening = 17.5h, 8 FPPs):
SDD x 3 (EEMH, SDFPP, FPP)
RnRC x 3 (EEMH x 2, FPP)
ToT x 3 (EEMH, SDFPP, Walk-on standby)
TSM x 2 (EEMH, SDFPP)
MFSR x 1 (EEMH RD)
ASwS x 1 (EMH)
F! x 1 (FPP)
FSAC x 1 (FPP)
MV3D x 1 (FPP)
CoH x 0 (rain/couldn’t find them)
AK (one whole day = 14h, 6 FPPs):
EE x 4 (EMH x2, Walk-on standby, SDFPP)
AFoP x 2 (EMH RD, FPP)
NRJ x 2 (EMH, SDFPP)
KS x 1 (FPP)
RoL x 1 (SDFPP)
D x 1 (EMH)
KRR x 1 (FPP)
PW x 0 (closed)
DV x 0 (closed)
TTS x 0 (still Dumbo)
USF (one whole day + two HHN + one early opening + 45 mins = 22h, or 10.75h without HHN)
RRR x 3 (EP x 3)
tM x 3 (EP x 3)
HPatEfG x 2 (EP x 2)
Ho1kC x 2 (standby)
BtB x 0 (rain)
CWatB x 0 (rain)
aDinPwB x 0 (just no)
IoA (one daytime + one evening = 9h)
TIH x 2 (EP x 2)
HPatFJ x 2 (EP x 2)
HMCA x 1 (1h50m standby)
DDFF x 0 (drop tower)
PBBRB x 0 (closed)
VB (one daytime = 4h)
KAC x 1
HiM x 2 (both sides)
TT x 2 (both sides)
MPRRR (both sides)
KWWR x 1
ONDS x 1
SBS x 1
TtFR x 0 (closed)
PR x 1 (too heavy!)
KBP x 0 (nope)
KSC (one daytime = 4.75h)
KSCBT x 1
S5C x 1
SSA x 1
SLE x 1
Overall, we only had serious waits for:
HMCA = 110m
GB (HHN) = 65m
Ho1kC (HHN) = 50m
ST (HHN) = 40m
KKfOS (HHN) = 35m
Yeti (HHN) = 30m
HE = 30m
ETwB = 30m
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And the answers to my earlier questions, as discovered on the trip:
-
Q: We are flying from the UK as standby passengers, and the LGW-MCO is rather full, so we may end up coming via ATL/JFK/BOS. Obviously we clear immigration/customs during the layover but how much time should we then allow from landing to resort via DME, and (as it will be a domestic flight) is there a way of getting hold of the yellow bag tags so we can leave the luggage to be picked up for us and get a cab to the HDDR if short on time?
A: Landed (international) 13.58, on gate 14.06, through immigration, with bags, on the airport train 14.36, boarded DME 14.47, departed 15.00, at AoA 15.27, check in by 15.50, in the room by 16.00. Yellow bag tags were unavailable as UK passengers but unnecessary. -
Q: Does getting to the 2030 HDDR from a 1720 international / 1840 domestic flight seem possible in the first place? Planned method is either DME + Minnie Van or cab straight from the airport, happy arriving at 2030. Seems a better bet than trying to hit HS before 2000…
A: Managed to comfortably make it to MK by 16.50 from a 14.05 arrival, then on to the HDDR by 17.40 (35 min early) after 30 mins in the park. So in the region of 3h from arrival to HDDR should be possible but only if you’re near the door of the plane, the airport is quiet and the moons align on transport. 1720 to 2030 may just about have worked - but wouldn’t recommend trying it. I would leave a minimum of 4h and burn any extra time in the MK as we did. -
Q: Are there any shows at HS that it would be advisable to arrive particular early for? The plan without HDDR (ending 1905 at OC) is pretty much fine but the one with it (ending 1615) has sub-5min arrivals at IJ/Frozen/BatB and I wanted to check if we will actually get in to these shows on a CL8 day?
A: Frozen was a pointless use of an FPP, but did fill up as we got closer to show time, BatB had seating around 5-10 mins before the performance but was filling up fast, IJ was pretty full with 10 mins to go. Would recommend arriving no later than 10 mins before shows to avoid disappointment. Would also recommend aisle seats for Fantasmic for a quick exit to ToT or RnRC. -
Q: Does allowing 2h from HS to HDDR via Skyliner + quick change at PC + bus + ferry boat seem reasonable? Or better to do Skyliner to Epcot + walk + monorail + ferry boat?
A: HS to AoA/Pop by SL is consistently <20m door to door. The bus to MK takes around 20 mins but you may also wait about that for one. The ferry boat takes around 20 mins also, again perhaps with a wait. Putting that all together with 20 mins to change, 2h is in the right ballpark. Epcot-HS by SL is about 20mins between stations, add another 30-40 mins to make it through the park and to the TTC on a monorail, then another one to MK, then the ferry, gives slightly less than 2h for that route, and that’s without bag searches. I’d be inclined to do the version with the hotel stop. -
Q: Similarly, does 2h HS to MK via the same route seem like it would allow enough time to stop at Captain Cook’s for a quick bite on the way (while at the TTC to swap monorails)?
A: It took us 1h5m from our room to CC via SL and monorail, and another 40m to be served, eat and get back to the TTC (opposite sides of the resort!) 2h doesn’t seem possible in this scenario, allow at least 2h15m and preferably 2.5h - and don’t bring bags, you’ll be searched multiple times. -
Q: Is 2h arrival to AoA reasonable for a domestic arrival using a DME?
A: Managed this off an international but we were seated near the door. With a smaller plane and no immigration to clear I would cautiously say this should be possible off a domestic, but I would also say not to plan for it - allow time for problems, waiting for DME etc. -
Q: Is 1h15m enough time to allow for a TL-FW bus and shuttle to HDDR, or should we push that out to 1h30m?
A: Didn’t end up visiting TL, and did the HDDR by boat, so this did not come up in any sense, sorry. -
Q: Are there likely to be resort buses after the middle HDDR show, or does that tend only to be the final show? I.e. might we have to return via DS?
A: No buses after the 6.15 show except within FW. We took the boat back to MK and a bus back to Pop from there (no AoA bus in sight and the LM rooms are about the same walk from either lobby). -
Q: HS to MK. I believe there is a direct bus - is this correct, is it likely to be quicker than a GF (or Poly) bus + monorail and is 1h30m adequate time for the trip?
A: There are direct buses between all parks. 1h30m is certainly adequate time, 1h is still probably enough. No need to go via a hotel unless you want to dine there or something. -
Q: Is 45m a reasonable estimate for a bus from MK back to AoA at closing?
A: On most days yes, if very busy (16th Oct was a 10!) no. That night it took us 90 minutes from park exit to hotel room, and about 70 of those were waiting for a bus to turn up and then load. -
Q: Is it not possible to get to the TTC (for the Poly) from PC without going via a park? Ironically it’s very easy to get there when off-site but I can’t seem to do it this trip.
A: Nope! Easiest way from AoA/Pop is probably to take the SL to HS and then a bus to the Poly from there. We did SL to EPCOT and then Monorail to TTC, which took longer (1h15m Pop room to CC) but was more fun in our book. -
Q: In-park plans aside (I have TPs for those), do the timings on the final day above seem alright? They are within the official app travel times, it then again it thinks there’s a monorail direct from EPCOT to the Poly, doesn’t know about the Skyliner yet and has an awful search function, so I take it with a pinch of salt…
A: Don’t do four parks on a partial last day with a flight to make. We needed up just doing breakfast at the Poly, cheesecake at EPCOT, porg hunting at HS, and that took us 3.5h end to end. Adding in MK, AK and actual rides would have made for a very rushed and stressful day. Using extra time to do re-rides as you go along is a much better proposition!
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