micheledb49
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2013
I love the just back threads, so I figured I would contribute.
We (myself, husband, & 4 year old son) arrived July 3 & departed July 5th.
We stayed at Beach Club.
Day 1, July 3 Epcot:
- Amazingly not crowded for a holiday weekend.
- Had a fast pass for FEA and really enjoyed it, but wouldn't want to wait more than 40 minutes for it.
- Did Character Spot for the first time & will now make it a must on every trip.
- Ate at Coral Reef for the first time. Service was great, food was blah. Won't return any time soon.
Day 2, July 4 DHS
- Had 8am res at Hollywood & Vine. First family to line up in breakfast line. They let us in at 7:55.
- We went straight to sign up for Jedi training but most families did not. It's tucked behind the corner of the Indiana Jones outpost & easy to miss.
- At the end of breakfast I heard another family say they were going to go sign up for Jedi training. I had already seen about 100 people run by the window and I felt bad they didn't realize they could have signed up first.
- Apparently it was their lucky day because the CMs were amazed how short the sign up lines were. And on a holiday!
- Jedi training was highlight of trip for kiddo. Darth Vader & Seventh Sister came out to fight. Then Kylo Ren came out at the end. Very cool! At first I was disappointed because I'd forgotten where to tell my child to line up & he got Seventh Sister. But I think it was a good thing because he was a bit scared. But now it's all he talks about.
- Heat index temp was 112 this day. It was almost unbearable.
- Had FP for Toy Story, but wow, lines are short now. 30 minute stand by all day.
- Went back in the evening to DHS to watch fireworks & they were great but we were too far off to the side to really get to see the show as it should be seen. I think you really need to be in the middle to see everything clearly over the trees.
Day 3, July 5 MK
- Had 8am breakfast at BOG. Really really enjoyed it. Loved the West Wing. Splitting adult meal is the way to go.
- Left Beach Club at 6:30 am, caught the bus just as it arrived and were way way too early arriving at MK. Second family there, waited until 7:50 to be let in.
- We had a FP for 7dmt, so we decided to do BTMR first. There was a CM right before Peter Pan not letting anyone go by. Then the announcement came on that the park was open, and she still didn't let us go through. Everyone was getting so frustrated & she was just joking and laughing. It was bizarre. We see people funneling through the castle and she still won't let us go by. Then people start coming the other direction & into Peter Pan so our group (like 25 of us) just went past her. By the time we got to BTMR there was a 10 minute wait which is no big deal, but frustrating. CM seemed on some crazy power trip.
- We were able to do a ton of rides from 9 – 11:30ish (BTMR, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Magic Carpets, Haunted Mansion, Little Mermaid, 7dmt (FP), tea cups, Barnstormer (FP), Buzz Lightyear (FP).
- Had lunch at Liberty Tavern. Really really good and really nice to sit in AC.
We live in Austin, TX and used to live in Orlando and we could not believe how insane the heat was. We left the parks every day by 1 or 2 for swim breaks. Stormalong Bay was packed each time we arrived and the water was so warm it wasn't even refreshing. The line for the slide was always almost to the bottom of the stairs.
The crowds in the parks were much lower than I expected for a holiday weekend but the weather was much hotter. Everything was super clean and we had all amazing CM interaction (except the crazy MK one).
Only saw a handful of tour groups & had no issues.
We were supposed to have a longer trip but it got cut short, so we've already booked another stay for early September and can't wait
Happy to answer any questions...
We (myself, husband, & 4 year old son) arrived July 3 & departed July 5th.
We stayed at Beach Club.
Day 1, July 3 Epcot:
- Amazingly not crowded for a holiday weekend.
- Had a fast pass for FEA and really enjoyed it, but wouldn't want to wait more than 40 minutes for it.
- Did Character Spot for the first time & will now make it a must on every trip.
- Ate at Coral Reef for the first time. Service was great, food was blah. Won't return any time soon.
Day 2, July 4 DHS
- Had 8am res at Hollywood & Vine. First family to line up in breakfast line. They let us in at 7:55.
- We went straight to sign up for Jedi training but most families did not. It's tucked behind the corner of the Indiana Jones outpost & easy to miss.
- At the end of breakfast I heard another family say they were going to go sign up for Jedi training. I had already seen about 100 people run by the window and I felt bad they didn't realize they could have signed up first.
- Apparently it was their lucky day because the CMs were amazed how short the sign up lines were. And on a holiday!
- Jedi training was highlight of trip for kiddo. Darth Vader & Seventh Sister came out to fight. Then Kylo Ren came out at the end. Very cool! At first I was disappointed because I'd forgotten where to tell my child to line up & he got Seventh Sister. But I think it was a good thing because he was a bit scared. But now it's all he talks about.
- Heat index temp was 112 this day. It was almost unbearable.
- Had FP for Toy Story, but wow, lines are short now. 30 minute stand by all day.
- Went back in the evening to DHS to watch fireworks & they were great but we were too far off to the side to really get to see the show as it should be seen. I think you really need to be in the middle to see everything clearly over the trees.
Day 3, July 5 MK
- Had 8am breakfast at BOG. Really really enjoyed it. Loved the West Wing. Splitting adult meal is the way to go.
- Left Beach Club at 6:30 am, caught the bus just as it arrived and were way way too early arriving at MK. Second family there, waited until 7:50 to be let in.
- We had a FP for 7dmt, so we decided to do BTMR first. There was a CM right before Peter Pan not letting anyone go by. Then the announcement came on that the park was open, and she still didn't let us go through. Everyone was getting so frustrated & she was just joking and laughing. It was bizarre. We see people funneling through the castle and she still won't let us go by. Then people start coming the other direction & into Peter Pan so our group (like 25 of us) just went past her. By the time we got to BTMR there was a 10 minute wait which is no big deal, but frustrating. CM seemed on some crazy power trip.
- We were able to do a ton of rides from 9 – 11:30ish (BTMR, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Magic Carpets, Haunted Mansion, Little Mermaid, 7dmt (FP), tea cups, Barnstormer (FP), Buzz Lightyear (FP).
- Had lunch at Liberty Tavern. Really really good and really nice to sit in AC.
We live in Austin, TX and used to live in Orlando and we could not believe how insane the heat was. We left the parks every day by 1 or 2 for swim breaks. Stormalong Bay was packed each time we arrived and the water was so warm it wasn't even refreshing. The line for the slide was always almost to the bottom of the stairs.
The crowds in the parks were much lower than I expected for a holiday weekend but the weather was much hotter. Everything was super clean and we had all amazing CM interaction (except the crazy MK one).
Only saw a handful of tour groups & had no issues.
We were supposed to have a longer trip but it got cut short, so we've already booked another stay for early September and can't wait
Happy to answer any questions...
