Trip Report: The one with the epic split stay, AKA the one that saved my sanity

[Wenmoo]

I’m late! I was going to start this before we left and try to do the live thing. …but couldn’t commit to live .
But I’ve so enjoyed all the trip reports I’ve been reading here, they have really lifted my spirits over this last long, dark year, so here I am. Hopefully my trip report will do the same for some of you.
Let me catch you up for a minute. Traveling with DH, DS 16, DS 14, DD 11, DS 8. We drove from NY on Friday. We left NY at 3:30 am and arrived at yacht club for a 1 night stay at around 1:30am. We’ve done the drive a bunch of times before but this time traffic was bad and the trip was horrible long. But thats behind us now so on to the good stuff!

Saturday 4/2:
Started our day at whispering Canyon for the Easter brunch. Food was awesome, service was great. Waitress was super fun, throwing our napkins abd things at us. Sorry, forgot to take a picture
By 10:15 we were done with brunch and went to park at BCV, where we will spend the next few nights. Walked over to IG and off to WS.

Had WS basically to ourselves up until Norway. Hopped in frozen line, which looked insane long, but it was basically 10 minutes. We never stopped walking once we git in line. From there we headed to the Mexican Pavillion and walked on to 3 Caballeros.

Test track was 58 minutes by the time we made it there and spaceship earth was 45 so we skipped those and walked on to the seas instead. Soarin was an hour at that point and LWTL was like 35 so we headed to figment. Our first time…not impressed…sorry .
Then back to WS for snacks for lunch. The pretzel with the ham and guyere was amazing. Potato pancake with applesauce pretty good. Kids had crepes.

After snacks we walked back to BCV and got settled in.
Walked back for dinner at Tuttu Italiana. Good food. Quick service. Then a little shopping in UK.

We were still tired from our trip so we walked back to BCV and ended our night like this:

[vcka]

Sounds like a GREAT first day even if traffic gave you a rough start. Enjoy! Looking forward to your TR. I too have been cheered this past year by other’s TRs.

[Wenmoo]

Sunday 4/4: We’re going to Hollywood!
Scored BG 1! This was my first try in the real world, and the only attempt I would get this trip. I did read all the tips here and I had practiced from home a handful of times. I turned my phone off and back on at about 6:30. I had DS 16 abd DS 14 trying too. I turned off my wifi and used the time.gov clock. Hit right at 6:59:59. I could not believe my success! I am a huge ride chicken but decided after reading the posts here that I couldn’t miss this one. So glad I went on. I loved every minute and never felt motion sick at all. Thanks for the nudge friends .

Ok so let’s back up to how we got here. We left from BCV at 8:15am and hopped on a boat. Arrived a little later than I hoped and hit the morning rush into the park. Our boarding group was called while we were on the boat but we had until 930 to get there so we thought we would try MMRR first. This was our first time on this ride and it did not disappoint. So cute. And it was walk on.

From there we headed over to GE.

After RotR, DS 14 and DS 8 had to spend their money and had their hearts set on a lizard monkey (is that what they’re really called?). We were second in line so quick and easy in and out.

TSMM was next on the list. 35 min posted wait but we only waited about 20. I should mention were not really a thrill ride family so those are out for us. By this time it was time for DS 14 and DS 8 to build their droids. This was supposed to be a 20 min experience but ended up being about an hour so DD and I went to get some fun magic shots.

So then it was lunch time. Backlot express was close and convenient. Then we boated back to BCV for a bit of a rest. We had a dinner reservation at 50s prime and so eventually headed back for that. We decided to walk this time. It was a longer walk than I remember and I kinda regretted it by the time we got back .

Ok, 50s prime used to be one of our faves. We haven’t been in a couple of years. We were so excited. But it was so disappointing. No interaction with the waiter, people rushing around everywhere, and food was just ok. Mine was barely warm actually. And it’s the first time I kinda questioned if we were safe. Tables were close and people seemed packed in.

We caught a couple of cavalcades after dinner

It was about 6pm at this point and we hit Muppets, walked on MMRR and TSMM for a second time.
Ended the night with Hollywood scoops and a num num cookie, which was as amazing as I heard they were.

Back to Epcot tomorrow!

[emcglone]

Wow! I’m amazed at how quiet it looks! We’re the crowds really that low?
Looks like a fun trip so far.

[Wenmoo]

The crowds really haven’t been bad so far. Getting to the parks before park open has helped. Crowds pick up late morning into the afternoon but we haven’t felt like it’s been packed. There are always areas where it feels like park is empty.

[missoverexcited]

Great job on the BG! Love all the pics. Sorry about 50s.

[OBNurseNH]

I know! And over Easter weekend! I was amazed to see that too and thought maybe just good timing with the camera

[Wenmoo]

Definitely lower than expected!

[Wenmoo]

A couple more thoughts from the first 2 days:
Blue milk is delicious.
They do such a nice job with the pop up characters.

CM have been excellent! We are definitely feeling the magic.
There aren’t as many photopass photos around, but those that are have been amazing. They really spend their time with you and do some fun poses and things. I wondered if I should get MM this time around but they are making mask photos fun.

So far, we have felt incredibly safe here too. Mask compliance has been near perfect and for the most part, people are adhering to the distancing and markers. I was nervous…but Disney is really doing a great job with safety.

[Wenmoo]

And this view though

[StephanieV]

Great trip! Multiple questions.
Where did you get the nail decals? Cute!
Did you get the shakes from Beaches & Cream or the QS at BCV? I’ve been trying unsuccessfully to get an ADR at B&C but still want to get a shake.
Do you get to keep the mason jar?

Also, major kudos for driving down overnight in one shot!

[OBNurseNH]

That’s fine I guess.

[Wenmoo]

The drive was all hubs…he gets carsick so he’s gotta drive the whole way. I keep him awake and alert. It was painful though toward the end…nit gonna lie!

Etsy dor the nails! $3.45! Can’t remember the shop but there are lots of options.

Martha’s vineyard for the shakes. We did try B&C but no luck. Martha’s vineyard is right next door…we walked up and had 6 shakes in 10 min!

[Wenmoo]

Crowds right now 12:35:

[missoverexcited]

Wow!!

[Wenmoo]

Mousse cup was super good .

[amvanhoose_701479]

Martha’s vineyard for the shakes.

I didn’t even realize they had shakes! Not seeing it mentioned on the menu either!

[Tall_Paul1]

I didn’t even realize they had shakes!

Not on menu, but bartender will go next door to the B&C kitchen to put the order in, as long as you’re about 15 min before closing of B&C or earlier. They were so good, and the fact you get a cupcake or brownie on top of it justified the price to me.

[Wenmoo]

Monday 4/5: World Travelers take 2!

We arrived at IG at about 10:10am. They started letting people in at 10:15. Walked leisurely to soarin, taking a couple photos on the way.

Soarin was a walk on. I mentioned im a ride chicken right? So in all our trips here over the years, I’ve never done this ride. The fam convinced me I would be ok and I had some extra confidence from RotR yesterday so I did it. It was amazing! I did have to close my eyes at first but eventually I was ok and really enjoyed the ride. I vowed that we must do that one again before the day was over.
From here, we walked onto LWTL. We just love that ride.

Then over to SE. Wait was posted at 50 min but TP said 25 and thats about whst we waited. TP definitely more accurate than MDE.

From here we checked out some shops and everyone was hungry so we headed to regal eagle. This place never disappoints. The food was good and ready pretty much as we sat down. We are loving the mobile order. Once we got used to it…its the way to go!
Crowds around WS were pretty light so we did some shopping and just enjoyed the atmosphere. I will say that the huge islands of metal they’ve placed in the lagoon are a huge eyesore. As someone else said, I hope they are worth it.
Frozen was posted at 65 min, line looked like that or more, and we did that one on Saturday so we skipped it. Thought we might go back later in the evening but the wait really didn’t go down by much.
My crew needed some poll time so we headed back to BCV for a bit. The kids enjoy that pool, but for me, I need something more relaxing . I’ll take a nice quiet pool over SAB anyway.
Headed back to IG (I so love walking into the parks) for our dinner reservation at Rose and Crown. This was a highlight of the trip for me. Excellent food, excellent service. Table outside on the water. Hubs had some kind of half and half beer with a stout on top. I didn’t get a picture but it looked cool and man was it smooth. 20210405_175638|666x500

I just love UK.

After dinner we did some more shopping around the world and made our way back to soarin. It was a little before 8 at this point abd we waited about 30 minutes. Remember this was a must do again for me. Family could have cared less. This time we got B2, last time we were c3 so this was an upgrade. Upgrade proved to be too much for me. This great view meant I couldn’t look to the side to ground myself about 2 minutes in I thought I was gonna puke . Closed my eyes for a bit but just the movement of the seats was a bit much at that point. But eventually I opened my eyes again and enjoyed the last minute or so of the ride.
After soarin, with my feet on the ground…we walked around Canada and found our way back to BCV.

Who can guess where we are headed for the second part of our epic split stay?

[Amy11Russ]

So I’m catching up on this, and I was looking through your pictures and matching up your kids to the ages you listed in the OP, and I was like she says she only has one DD11… I COMPLETELY thought you were one of your kids. It took me until the full family picture to realize you were the mom.
Looks like a great trip!