Sounds like two INCREDIBLE days! Happy belated!
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Another random thought…
Gideon’s cookies are good, but overhyped. I would definitely get them again. However, I would never wait in a long queue for them. Maybe I would wait a little bit for the hot cookie hour if available
I had the Cookies & Cream, Peanut Butter and Pistachio Toffee Chocolate Chip. All were good, but Pistachio Toffee was my favorite. However, it really needs way more toffee.
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Just wanted to make sure you only woke up once for LLMP / SP since you can make LL selections for your entire length ticket starting at 3 days before? Wasn’t clear from your phrasing (also not sure if you had a multi-day ticket or multiple one-day tickets). I get that you had to wake up each day for VQ, and I agree that sucks. LLMP day I had to get up at 5am (4am in the summer 
).
Also one hack is to book a date-based ticket that starts earlier than you actually intend to go so you can get a few days head start on booking. The longer your length of ticket, the more days this can buy you beyond 3+.
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My gifted tickets were a little unique / special. They were single day & date based. I was locked out of the system until 3 days before each dated ticket started. Trust me…I tried getting all the days done in one go! 
I was very lucky to have them given to me, so no adjusting available! I’m very certain that I maximized my LL usage on my solo birthday ride marathon! I’m pretty pleased with 25 attractions! I might have been able to do two - three more rides, but would’ve had to not stop for food later in the evening. I’d eaten nothing but Gideon’s cookie all day since my lunch birthday party! I needed protein! (I got Totchos!)
Which I had to eat off the top of a garbage can because there was no seating at Woody’s Lunch box! That’s the Disney Dining Experience! 
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Wanted to say thank you (again) to @mkmuzzy and @mathhound for the new additions to our Christmas tree!
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You’re welcome! I enjoyed meeting so many Liners in person as I gave these to people, and trying to learn/remember all the names.
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This made me chuckle. 
I totally understand.
Glad you had such a great birthday trip. I know you went back and forth between spending it at WDW or UOR. Seems like you made an excellent choice for your 50th.
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I’m so glad your leg held up and everyone took such good care of you.
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I did start to feel the injury when I got back to the hotel on night #3. I was going to see about extending my stay another day until I felt it. That aggravation was still there until this morning! I think a fourth day would’ve been a mistake! I was going non-stop!
I slept 14 hours when I got home and 12 hours last night! I’m feeling better today, but taking it easy. At least every muscle in my body is no longer sore / tired after all that sleep!!
They really did! I had to miss out on some group activities but I got to, finally, meet in-person spend with a few people I’ve developed relationships with over the last couple of years!
I think so too! I love UOR, but over a couple days I got to do a number of VIP things at WDW that I’d only dreamed / heard about. Plus, I spent my actual 50th birthday (the same day as Walt) at WDW riding everything at WDW with zero lines! It was a dream come true!
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This makes me so happy for you!
If you feel like coming back later with other details, thoughts, it wouldn’t make me mad I missed the play by play of your typical reports.
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Of course! With so many Liners actually there I didn’t know what I could add!
Anything specific??
I love doing TRs and talking about and reading about people’s trips / plans. If anything I thought the “wrap-up” post was too long! It didn’t seem so long when I wrote it, but then I noticed it had a dozen “thoughts” after I wrote my main TR!
Let me think… 
#1 - I did get to say “goodbye” to The Muppets! The show was still popular. I know adults complain about “lame” 3-D attractions / gimmicks. However, I saw at least 3 kids in that show having a blast seeing 3-D jokes “pop” out at them. It was really “magic” to them!
Adults need to remember that a lot of this stuff is meant for little kids. We loved it when we were smaller!
#2 - I did Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor for the first time! It was great! I might not stop in every trip, but my family would like to see it!
#3 - Meeting Maribel was great! I got lucky. There wasn’t any long queue waiting outside the garden. There was a short one already admitted “inside”. I had noticed a queue at RD for her and passed by. She was great. My DD23 asked for a Maribel souvenir. I had Maribel make my daughter a personal video! Also, this is the first Disney Princess to hug me. I know that’s not the norm with the ladies and I totally understand. Guys can be creeps! However, it was so nice to get a hug instead of the lame “elbow grab”!
#4 - I mentioned that the night before arrival and on arrival date, all my Liners plans got cancelled. Multiple people were sick. Yuck! This is when I cancelled my HDD plans and got a one day ticket added on to my trip. I did DHS and MK on my arrival night. I was at DHS from 4:30p - 9pm and then took the bus to MK. The bus arrived at 9:15pm and I was inside MK by 9:40pm. I bought the stalest Mickey Pretzel ever made! Then I hopped on Space Mt. with a short wait. I saw that Tron was posted 120 minutes. It was about 30 minutes before closing. I figured, “What the heck! I’ll hop in queue and that will be how I close out the night!”
That posted 120 minutes at Tron was an actual 25 minutes! It was typical “DON’T COME HERE” crowd control at the end of the night.
#5 - MMRR is the best (modern) dark ride in Orlando. Haunted Mansion is my all-time sentimental favorite. RotR held this crown for me when I rode it once last year. Everything was working last year on my visit. However, with getting to do RotR multiple times and so much offline it has slipped down my list. It’s so disappointing to see a robot slumped over or a barrier in place to hide a scene.
#6 - TBA is fun, but not as good as Splash. The story is a bit disjointed and uninteresting. The criticism about there being no tension / drama at the drop hill is true. Mama Odie feels forced into the story.
Spolier:
Mama Odie just pops in and says, “You are all great people!” and “You are gonna make a SPLASH!” a couple of times. (I’m paraphrasing)
It would have been so easy to have Dr. Facilier be the villain trying to stop the party. You could be getting away from him during drop hill. Mama Odie could have saved you at the last second and instead of going through an evil drop her “magic” could send you to the party…
See! I fixed the ride in about 2 minutes of barely trying!
#7 - I still have never seen Carousel of Progress! I told myself I would do it this time, but shows were not a priority this trip. I still have guilt about it!!
#8 - I did have Gingerbread Shake at the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor. I was pretty good and worth stopping for!
I ate the Gingerbread Cake from Golden Outpost. I had it last year too. It’s moist, but I wish it had more ginger flavor! Theme parks are too shy about going “all-in” on “exotic” flavors at times!
How’s that?? I can probably think of a few more things!
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For some reason, I was thinking you went to UOR too. And it was just missing from the report! I believe I missed that you must have cut that out in favor of Disney due to your injury.
Is that still doing well/recovering?
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I had an eight day trip with both WDW & UOR planned. I had to cancel it because my leg wasn’t going to be able to do that much walking. I was really bummed out about it. Then a friend offered me tickets to go to WDW as a birthday gift - if I could make it. It gave me motivation to stick with my therapy and at home exercises!
It felt almost 100% before the trip. However, I did do far more walking than I promised my DW & doctor!! I’m an addict! If I was awake I was heading to or boarding or exiting a ride!
I had zero pain before the trip. Today the area is “tender”. I have PT on Friday. I’ll try to nurse it until then. I’m hopeful it will recover. My whole body is tired / sore!
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Oh! TBA will get you Soaked!! It was a cooler morning so I wore a hoodie. I’m glad I did as it took the brunt of the blast of water. It’s not just the big drop either that will soak you!
My hoodie never really dried out the rest of the day!
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Back to UOR in February, right?
For some reason, UOR is what I’m missing these days. It’s been so long since we’ve been there! To be fair, it’s also been a while since Disney for us as well. I think it may be the new park pulling my interest back in.
DH agreed to a trip next Christmas. I booked it…and then cancelled! I’m thinking 2026. Soooo far away…and I don’t want to wish the time away in between now and then
TRs help. Sometimes. And sometimes they encourage FOMO…
Hope PT sets things back on the right course for you!
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This is a “make-up” trip for missing HHN with DD23. She had a job interview yesterday for a more career focused position - not retail. If for some reason she can’t go, then I probably won’t either.
I’m still trying to decide on DLR after Easter. I want to go. However, I’m not sure if DW really wants to go. Since it will be my once in a lifetime DLR trip I want to go at the kind of pace I did last week! She doesn’t go at that pace - ever!!
This is the determining factor. I have zero regrets about going on this trip. However, it probably wasn’t the smartest decision. I was feeling zero pain and now I’m back to tenderness / slight aggrivataion.
The positive aspect is that I must have walked 10 - 15 miles each day. It took 3 days at that pace to really bother me. Hopefully, that means a “normal” pace will not be any issue going forward!
I fully understand. This was my first trip this year. Until a couple years ago I was a every 2 - 3 years visitor. The FOMO is rough when your countdown is 500+ days away! I’ve been there!
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Whaaaaaaat??? Tell me this isn’t true.
It’s a classic!
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Sadly, it is! I walked past it twice and told myself to go inside! I will one day!
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Oh! In my further “bag check” adventures. I got stopped at EVERY bag check until late the last day. It turns out it was my empty eyeglasses case and my phone. If you have anything that is a “solid brick” take it out of the bag. Hold it out in front of you as you go through the security scanner! I only found out when a CM finally told me. I must have done 3 - 4 bag checks before then and no other security CM said anything…
It was so frustrating because the bag check would take so long as they emptied out everything while poking & probing. Plus, the security TMs were pretty rude. I understand it’s a “Thankless” job, but don’t make it worse by being a grouch!
IMHO - They should have a separate X-Ray machine and Metal Detector off to the side for people who need additional screening. Just like at CityWalk or the Premier UOR hotel boat docks. Slowly waving the wand around me and rummaging through bags for 5 minutes isn’t “magical”
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Another thought!!
Last year at Jollywood I rode MF:SR for the first time. I was given the “right” pilot seat since it was my first ride. I had a blast!! Later that night I went back to ride again. I was the only person in the cabin. I did Right Pilot again and had fun!
This year, I did MF:SR again. I went through Single Rider. Sadly, it skips the Hondo robot now. I was told in the past that the SR queue didn’t skip this! I went right up to the cabin.
I was put in a family of four and given Engineer.
MF:SR is the SECOND WORST ride at all of WDW if you aren’t a pilot.
(Mission Space is my #1 worst WDW attraction! )
I couldn’t see the screen because of all the glare from the buttons. I had no clue about when I was supposed to push any buttons. Overall, it’s just boring and a mess.
I will only ride this again if my DD wants to do it. I will make certain that she’s a pilot for sure!
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