Popping into the Bubble

Walt Disney World
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So I find myself popping into the Disney bubble real quick this weekend with a complete lack of planning and going off my very outdated 2021 knowledge. Going with 2 cousins that live in Orlando but rarely go to WDW so… :woman_shrugging:

Help us?!?

My parameters are kinda specific and will strike some as ludicrous…
Not going into any of the parks.
Still not doing inside dining (so To Go or outside seating)
Not making any ADRs

Saturday is easy - 4pm Jaleo tasting menu and a quick peek around DS (anything specific I might not know about worth attention?)

Sunday - want to travel around to see resort holiday displays and graze on really good food

Very tentative plan… :joy::joy::joy:

Park at TTC (for quick getaway at end of the day)

Uber(?) to AKL (is Uber best plan? can we catch from TTC or do we walk to Poly and catch there?)

Sanaa To Go, AKL holiday display, look at animals

Uber to Boardwalk Inn

Holiday displays at Boardwalk Inn, Yacht Club, Beach Club

Skyliner/Holiday displays at Riviera, Caribbean Beach Resort, Art of Animation, Pop Century

Uber to Wilderness Lodge & see holiday display

Eat at Geyser Point

Is there a launch from Wilderness Lodge direct to Contemporary these days?

Launch/monorail to Grand Floridian/Poly

Maybe get more To Go from Kona/Capt Cooks?

10pm(?) fireworks from Poly beach (that’s a thing right?)

Assuming we won’t have time to see all of those holiday displays, how should we prioritize ones to cut?

Any other great food grazing options on the flight plan that I didn’t include?

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I don’t think so. You may have to go back to MK and catch a monorail. Edit: my info is obsolete. Keep reading. :blush:

Looks like a fun trip! Surprise trips are great!

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Oh, and checking my prior notes on mobile ordering…Is this still good advice?
Put in mobile orders early! (Ex 10:30am for 1pm). You can modify (time?) or cancel BEFORE pressing “prepare my order” for a full refund.

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Some resorts may not let you arrive via Uber without an ADR, especially ones you can walk or monorail to a theme park. But that depends on the CM at the gate, and maybe time of day.

Only park buses can take you to AKL, not ones from other resorts. You can take the ferry from TTC to MK then a bus from MK to AKL. - Or did you mean to catch Uber, not catch a bus?

Yes, it runs a triangular route. WL - FtW - CR - WL or WL - CR - FtW - WL. I think there are two different launches, running in different directions. This route does not start until 3:00pm.

There is no boat that connects the Contemporary directly with the Grand Floridian/Poly. They are one two separate water routes. You can take the monorail.

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Yes, if we want to attempt to take an Uber to AKL, can we catch one at TTC or would catching one at Poly be easier? (To avoid time of going to MK first to catch a bus). Or where do Ubers pick up for people leaving MK?

If we get denied an uber drop at AKL, I guess we’d have the uber drop us at AK and then bus to AKL from there?

Oh, yes. I was thinking if the launch from WL to CR didn’t exist, we’d need to launch WL to MK and then launch or monorail to GF. So yes, we’ll monorail CR to GF.

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This is still true but not as necessary for most locations as it was in the past. I’d still do it more than 30 min before you want to eat to be safe.

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Ubers aren’t permitted for direct pick-up or drop-off at MK. Ubers for MK drop-off and pick-up at TTC. While I have not done it myself, I would think Uber would be a fine option from either TTC or Poly for your plan.

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I have Ubered to AKL without an ADR before and haven’t been turned away. Since it doesn’t have a walking path to a park you should be fine.

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We used mobile order many times during our WDW trip last month. Ordering 30-45 min before we planned to eat worked well.

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DW and I had heard amazing things about the cookies at Gideon’s Bakehouse. However, when we arrived at Gideon’s around 9:00 pm (closing time was 11:00 pm), we learned you need to join a virtual queue even to order cookies to-go and the virtual queue was already full for the night.

So if you want to try Gideon’s I’d go there first to get a spot in the virtual queue before heading over the Jaleo’s.

Caveat: We were there on a Saturday night so maybe it is not as busy other times.

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Nod. They really are fabulous. Had them in ‘21. We got into the queue early and then I still made a separate trip back to get the cookies. But with all the holiday sweets that abound, not sure I’ll make the effort this time. I might peek how long the queue is.

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You’re not eating in restaurants; does that mean you’re also avoiding shows? If not, there Cirque du Soleil’s Drawn to Life at DS. It opened in November 2021. I have tickets for my trip in February.

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Well…sort of yes but for different but related reasons. :sweat_smile: I’d just mask for shows, but I’ve also got a noise tolerance issue so I suspect I wouldn’t make it through something that long at that type of noise level. (I can usually still do non-musical full length plays fairly well most of the time but I have mixed results with short louder shows. Long loud shows quickly turn to grin-and-bear-it, which is just better avoided). My neurology is definitely short circuiting. :woman_shrugging:

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May be random – and it may be too late for this weekend – but my kid with noise sensitivity really likes Loops earplugs to dampen noise to a tolerable level. They use them at school assemblies that are too loud – so similar to going to shows.

I hope you have a great weekend!

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When we went to WL and Ft. wilderness this past year, 2 seperate times the boat did not stop at CR. This was the boats from MK. Do they have a resort only route?

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Yes. The resort-only route is the blue flag route. It did not resume immediately after Covid, I think it was fall of 2023.

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Good to know!

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Yep, I actually have a pair. It does make things slightly more bearable. But not usually successful enough to move loud environments to “enjoyable.”

Unfortunately, the underlying issue is I’ve had a nonstop 24/7/365 headache for over 8 years, and I can feel the sound vibrations on my face and the rest of my head and it resonates with the headache, so it’s not enough to just cut the noise level to my ears.

Thanks for the tip though!

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You poor thing! Everything is worse with a headache, and my usual suggestion for that sounds like it would torture you. :grimacing:

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Yes there is nowadays
I took it in July
Heard a boat captain tell folks so last week while at FW waiting to go to WL

And remember the 3 pm timing thing
Somewhat annoying but I get why

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