Trip Report- The name of the game is stamina. And flexibility. The game has 2 names

Beautiful castle pics!

I’m confused - you didn’t have a DAS but we’re getting the benefits of it anyway? When we had a scooter, DH drove it down the exit of BTMRR, we did the main line of Splash until you get to a disabled marker before the stairs and then they took us through to the exit from there, and on Space he had to get in a wheelchair that we pushed through standby - there are no stairs but it’s very steep! We weren’t entitled to the DAS.

Yeah, kind of?? They treated the scooter differently than a wheelchair, and I’m not exactly sure why. The return time/DAS issue was really only a thing on SM and BTMR. At BTMR we went through the exit like you said, but they wouldn’t let us go immediately (we didn’t have FPP), so they gave us a return time (like the DAS).

At SM they struggled a little with what to do with me. If the standby line was short, they just sent me directly thru the FPP line. If standby was longer they treated it like a DAS. But it was interesting that when I saw standby was long, I would go to the CM and as for a return time. They would scan my magicband and then tell me I didn’t have the DAS. I explained that it’s not a DAS thing, it’s a scooter thing. And then they proceeded to do the return times. I think this happened twice.

I also found it interesting that the procedures were quite a bit different than what I had experienced just 6 months ago. It was a crucial 6 months though…I think this is the 6 months when the rider swap went digital, and maybe they are just trying to get away from paper returns (which is what I had 6 months ago).

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It’s very interesting. The thing is, the return times is a DAS thing, if the line is accessible then you’re supposed to go through it. They may have given us a return time on BTM now you mention it, and we used the FP/wheelchair line on ST, but otherwise it was standby all the way no matter how long or short the lines were.

That’s exactly it. The standby line on Space and BTMR is not accessible on wheels. So rather than send us thru the accessible route immediately, like an instant and eternal FP, they made us wait the standby time.

Enjoying your trip report! I was so interested in your description of EMM at MK because we have tickets in a couple of weeks and also planned to RD SM and Buzz just as you did. Sounds like you guys had plenty of time to do those things and still make it back for breakfast before it closed. That is perfect for our plans!

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Space is accessible, we rode about 6 times. You weren’t allowed to take the scooter in, you had to transfer to a wheelchair. I’m not saying you did anything wrong, you asked and they gave it to you. But I do think they need to decide what the rules are and stick to them.

I totally agree. I would love to know what to expect… I could plan my FPP accordingly, and not have to go thru the learning curve each time I go to the park. Maybe it’s more complicated or less common because it’s a knee scooter, not an electric scooter or wheelchair? But it’s not unheard of… I think I saw 2 others in the parks last week.

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Once during a managers meeting our supervisor ask “what do you do with a star employee that suddenly stops performing well.” About half said fire them the other half said cut their hours. I said pull them aside and ask what’s wrong or what’s going on in their life. Not to toot my own horn but the person that would stop to find out what’s wrong is the same person that will hold a door, take a plate, or ask that people move out of the way for someone in need. I think Disney encourages their employees to make guests feel better or happier. That is why I love Disney. Years ago I was standing in line for SE with my cane. I was told to get out of line by the CM and to follow her. She explained that I could use the handicapped entrance and I did not have to wait in line. At that point of my life I could have waited but 15 years later no way I can walk but not for great distance or stand for a long time. Disney is so helpful to all I went to UOR several years ago at that time you could not get a ECV in city walk only in the parks I had to walk through city walk to the parks to get a ECV. I told them that I needed the ECV to get back to my car or they could call the ambulance now because there was no way I would make it.

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I think you are absolutely right about this. I think the question your supervisor asked would be a good one to ask in interviews… the answer would tell a lot about if the person considers the needs/feelings of others.

What did UOR do when you told them that?

They sent a person with me to my car and that person brought the ECV back for me. It has been several years now and you could get a wheelchair in city walk but they were all small ones which I don’t fit in and no one could push me in it either.

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Well I’m glad that they worked it out. Too bad it too such insistence from you.

Loving your trip report! Thanks for sharing!

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Thursday:

This was our second MK day. We had 2 castle meals planned for the day, so I presented all the girls with tiaras first thing in the morning. The youngest of the girls was 14…so we are all probably too old for tiaras, but we enjoyed them and wore them all day nonetheless. We left Kidani at 6:40am for a 8:05am BOG breakfast. Happily, the express monorail was running this day, and my 8 year old nephew enjoyed riding through the middle of the Contemporary. We got thru the tapstiles with no issues, but were held before the railroad tracks until about 7:50. I had prepped my family that I really wanted a MM photo with the castle before breakfast, and before the park was packed. We were some of the first people down mainstreet, and I always love seeing it so empty. (And also being able to look around at the buildings, without worrying about running over someone with my scooter.) After we took the castle pic, my brother asked if we could just turn around and do a main street pic. That was kind of cool. (My husband took off right after the castle pic, and was almost to the hub before he realized we were doing another pick.)

We pre-ordered for BOG, which makes it much faster to get checked in and get food. They had changed the procedure a little since the last time I was there. Last time, the pre-order guests went to a CM in the foyer, and she checked us out. This time they sent us into the armor room (to the right as you enter the castle) where there were several self-service kiosks. We completed our order and found a seat in the West Wing (it’s my favorite). Our food came really quickly, which we were happy about. We ate, refilled our drinks, and headed out.

When you check in at the edge of the drawbridge to BOG they give you a plastic rose to hold until you see the next CM. ( I think if you don’t have magicbands they also help the carts with the food find you.) As we were waiting with the rose, my 8 and 10 year old nephews kept arguing about who gets to hold the “biscuit.” It was hilarious. We took pictures with everyone and the biscuit. And then when we started moving, someone dropped the biscuit…and then there were 2 biscuits! Problem solved! Not really…it snapped right back together.

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There was a 7DMT line forming along the east side of 7DMT, just before the turn onto the main drag there. We were about 50th in line, and at about 8:50 they led us to the ride. We got onto the ride about 9:03, so not enough time to ride it again before the rope-droppers joined us. So we went to Space Mtn from there. Standby was short, so we went right thru the FPP line, and it was still short when we got out so we rode again.

We hopped over to Buzz, and my husband got his first 999,999! He was so happy!! He told the CM at the gift shop, and he was presented with a special sticker. So cute that this was such a big deal for him. We couldn’t help but bow to the master…

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We wanted to ride splash again this morning, but it was closed for a very long time. We headed over to Frontierland anyway, riding HM on the way. We also stopped for a diet coke at a snack stand in liberty square, and we saw that we still had about 70 snack credits. Oops…we were leaving in 2 days. At this point the snack floodgates opened, and we encouraged the kids to get snacks!! We hit up BTMR next. Splash opened about 1:30, and we high-tailed it over there and rode before our CRT reservations. We had 3 separate reservations, some for 2:30, others at 2:35 and the last group at 2:40. Mom and dad met us at the castle at 2, and we checked for our lunch. We let the CM know what was going on with the group and she said she would do our best to get us together, and could we please come check in again at 2:30. So we hit up UTS while we waited. It was such a beautiful day, I couldn’t help but snap some pictures on the way.

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Side note: We’ve never been a matching-shirt kind of family, but we were doing them for MNSSHP, and we decided to do one more day as well. There’s something to be said about easily being able to count heads and keep track of everyone. Also, I think it actually makes it easier for the CM’s…when we have 11 people going thru a ride it’s easy for them to tell when our party ends and the next starts. I don’t know if we’ll do it again, but it was actually super handy, and the day after the matching shirt days we really noticed more difficulty keeping track of each other.

We got back to CRT just after 2:30, and they got us right in. We took a quick pic with Cindy (she said I could call her that cause we’re that close), and then had a seat. It actually took quite a while for them to call us up, but I kept reminding the group that if it meant we got to sit together, it was worth the wait. And they were able to get us all together! Our server was Lynn, and she was awesome. When she brought out our diet cokes with actual plastic straws we all commented on the straws, and the next time she came around she brought a handful for us to take with us. So fun. Lunch was good. The princesses were sweet. We especially liked Merida…she was a lot of fun.

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Headed to Space next, then hit the Laugh Floor. At this point we were trying to prioritize to get in the most important things before the park closed for the MNSSHP. My dad requested that we ride Small World, so we did that together, and then the guys headed to Splash again while the ladies went to do some Emporium shopping. At this point the park was getting SUPER crowded with MNSSHP guests, and we were happy to get out of there.

On the way back to the resort I was enjoying the thought that that we didn’t have any PPO stuff going on Friday, and like an idiot, I decided to see if GG had any PPO reservations available. To my delight/remorse, they did!! I can’t believe I scored an 8:05am reservation for 9 people one day prior! I’m sure I just hit it at the right moment when someone was re-evaluating their plans for the next day, and cancelling their rez. No one in my group really appreciated the score…sigh. At least I knew how awesome it was.

Anywho…next up: Friday at Epcot.

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I’m really enjoying following along on your report. Looking forward to reading about Epcot.

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Your pics are fab! I can’t believe you got that ADR either, at least you know we appreciate your skills here!

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Which princesses did you see at CRT? We have reservations but not until our second to last park day and I’m a little scared to not plan on meeting one somewhere else and then them not show up at CRT!

So funny about the GG ADR. I frequently check what’s available tomorrow for a party of 8 just to see what we might score on our trip. I’ve seen everything hard-to-get except BOG dinner. Crazy what you can find if you’re ok with last minute!

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We saw Cindy (of couse), Snow White, Merida and Sleeping Beauty. When we were there last spring we saw Cindy, Jasmine, Ariel and Sleeping Beauty. I think if you have a specific Princess in mind that you NEED to meet, don’t count on it for CRT. :slight_smile:

Well at least we can count on meeting Cindy, right? :laughing:

Thanks!

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Loving your reports! Two things especially from MK: love the tiaras, and I love the pic of dad holding hands with son. So sweet :slight_smile:

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We left our resort at about 7:25am on Friday morning (pretty late for us). We got parked at Epcot and to the security checkpoint quickly, but then we were held at security until about 7:50am.

Once they opened, security was a breeze and we got to GG by 8. We waited for a few minutes, and then they got us seated. They are so awesome here…they seriously know what they are doing. As they seated us they reminded us that the characters would be around to say hi, and that we should seat the kids on the ends or where they could get out easily. Then they explained that they serve everything family-style, but that we could have as much of anything as we would like. We started with fruit and stickybuns, and then they brought out 2 skillets with Mickey waffles, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and tater-tot hashbrowns. It was really delicious. The characters were nice and friendly, and stayed for some pics and then moved on. They would’ve stayed longer if we had been engaging them, but we just kinda wanted a pic, breakfast, and then to hit soarin. They read the non-verbals well. I think we had eaten and had our bill by about 8:25am. It didn’t feel rushed…it’s just that they know what they are doing. We decided to linger for about 10-15 more min cause it was more comfortable there than standing around the entrance to Soarin. She gave us some diet cokes to go, and we were on our way. They let us into Soarin immediately…and it made me wish we had gone sooner. I think we were seated in the theater at about 8:55. Wouldn’t be fast enough to ride again without the RD hoard. But we rode again anyway, with about a 10 min wait. We got seated in B1 the second time, which is exactly what my little bro was hoping for. Can’t argue with that.

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Then we hit Mission Space. Some of us went green and some orange. It’s the first time I’ve done the green, and I actually really enjoyed it. I like that they take you around the earth, and talk about what you are seeing on the way. Some people rode a second time, and we made sure everyone had tapped in so that we could be eligible for a tier 1 as soon as they did the TT drop at 11:21. We went to SE to use another FPP but sadly it was down. As we were walking away it came back up!! We tapped in and got right on. (For informational purposes, if you have a wheelchair/scooter they will have you enter on the south side of the ball…there’s a wheelchair symbol there.) We were enjoying the ride when it stopped again. For 14 minutes. Wow…that was a long break. The automatic announcement about staying seated played a few times, but someone must’ve been doing something because there was a CM that kept getting on the speaker, asking guests to stay seated. We were stuck at the portion where papyrus/parchment is created. We got lucky there, because it’s just some nice music in the background. Would’ve been really annoying to be stuck near the newspaper kid that keeps yelling. I actually don’t mind getting stuck on rides though. I think it’s kind of a cool experience, and I would love to be walked off of a ride, with all the lights on.

Side note: We went to DL in CA a few years ago, and got stuck on the Indiana Jones ride 2-3 times in one day. Unfortunately we were all near the exit on all of the breakdowns, so we didn’t get to see anything cool. We did have to go down a ladder to get off though. And then we got some anytime FP’s. It happened to be opening weekend for the new Guardians ride, so the anytime FP’s sure came in handy! We also got stuck on the Matterhorn that trip. There were 6 of us, and we had done the single rider line, so we were all spread out. I could see my husband way up, on the side of the mountain, stuck in his sled. They had to tie each sled from the front and the back, and then help each guest out. Kinda fun. And more magic FP’s.

As we exited SE, it was POURING rain!! We paused for a second, and then went for it. Our next stop was FEA…quite a haul in the rain, but we all made it, and no one melted. It was my goal to tap in for FEA before 11:10, so we could try and get the TT FPP drop at 11:21, but unfortunately the drop didn’t happen because of the rain. Oh well. Still loved the Frozen ride. I don’t know why…I just do.

Although our next stop was Teppan Edo for lunch, we had to grab some School Bread in Norway. I had never had it before but I’ve heard such great things about it that I had to try it. And it lived up to the hype. Although I think I preferred the mousse dome.

On our way to Japan we found some drummers in Germany and stopped to watch them for a few minutes. They were great percussionists, but also just great performers.

I went ahead and checked in for Teppan Edo, and although we had an ADR for 11, they said their tables seat 8-9 people and how would we like to split up. Dang it. We chose 5&6. I had planned on taking a moment to figure out who was going to each table, but my family arrived just as they were calling us back and it ended up being a little helter-skelter. My husband and I ended up with my brother and his wife, and their daughter. And then they put about 4 more people at our table, and they added some additional people at the table with the rest of our family also. The other party at our table were Japanese, and they were having fun interacting with the staff, but in a way that didn’t feel like they were excluding us. And then our chef came out and he was so awesome! If you can make a request about which chef you get, I would DEFINITELY recommend Akira. He was playful and efficient. I really loved his sense of humor. There was a lot of laughing and shouting at our table, and then I looked over at the other table where our group was sitting and it was a lot quieter. Sigh. This is the 3rd time I’ve eaten here, and definitely my favorite. The food was great and the entertainment was outstanding.

After this we dropped down to Future World and did Soarin (my folks weren’t with us for the morning rides) and Figment. I was buying a shirt and some Diet Cokes (are you sensing a theme here?) in the Figment gift shop and the CM asked me if I wanted the shirt sent to my resort. I told him that wouldn’t work because we were leaving the next day. Then he rang up the sodas, and I used some snack credits to pay for them. He looked at the receipt and then exclaimed “you are leaving tomorrow and you have 49 snack credits left?!?!” Too cute. Then he let me know that’s its F&W and all of the booth have at least 2 items that count as snack credits, and that we could use up some credits and eat some good food. Great suggestion!!

The kids had a blast playing in the water near Figment. Then we hit Nemo and TT. At this point we needed to sort out dinner. We had saved a set of QS entitlements for tonight’s dinner and we decided to go to Mexico to use them (mostly because it was close). The food was okay. I had the empanadas, and they were good, but not dinner-y enough. One of the nephews had the nachos, but he didn’t eat much of them, so I helped him out. I really wished I had ordered those.

We sent the 3 older kids (ages 25, 15 and 13) on a journey of their own (they decided to go to HS for a bit and ride TOT and watch Fantasmic), and we gave them instructions to eat lots of snacks. The rest of us tried to use up some snack credits with take-home food at Mouse Gear, and then we split for the resort to do some packing. I think by the end of the night we only had about 12 snack credits let. That’s a lot of snacking!

Next up: AK, MK, flight home and sadness.

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