RobDoc
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Aug 14, 1998
- Messages
- 34,194
It has been awhile since we've done this, but with the WONDERFUL weather here at WDW the last couple of days, we decided to visit all 4 parks today. It was 76 today, with 79 predicted tomorrow (and upper 70's-low 80's for the next week with no rain).
We do have one requirement when doing this - we need to enter each park and go on at least one attraction before exiting for the next park.
We've been at OKW 9 nights now with 2 more to go before returning to snow and sub-zero temps.
So, we decided to go for four today.
We left our villa around 10:30am and caught a bus to AK at 10:50 - arriving about 11:10. We got thru security and the turnstyles without problem and hiked back to the Safari. The stand-by estimate said we'd have a 10 minute wait and that would have been accurate had it not been for 4 large South American tour groups (flags in hand) using the FP line. There were 5 ride vehicles filled with their group(s). We still boarded the truck in about 15 minutes and had a good, enthusiastic driver. There were a lot of animals on the savannah today included 2 Massai giraffes that blocked the road for a couple of minutes - allowing for some great photos.
After the trip we hiked back to the bus stop and caught a bus to DHS (elapsed time about 90 minutes to this point).
Again, no issue getting thru security or turnstyle. We checked the attraction board - TSM - 50 min, TGMR - 10 min, ST - 10 min - so we opted for Star Tours. The wait time was accurate and we hoofed it back out the gate.
There was no boat waiting or in view, so we decided to take the walkway to Epcot. We did beat the boat to BWV and on thru the Intl. Gateway entrance - again without issues with security or entry. We considered walking back to the American Adventure to listen to VoL, but instead opted to ride SE and then on to MK. Elapsed time arriving at EPCOT was just under 3 hours.
No wait at SE, although there were a couple of stoppages during the ride. Back out the main gate and onto the monorail to MK. Elapsed time was about 4 hours 15 minutes.
At MK, again no problems (or wait) at security or entry. We decided to take in HM where the wait was promoted as 15 minutes. We were in the stretch room within 10 minutes, even though there was a queue several rows deep, but many opted to walk thru the new cemetery. Our strectch room was full, but everything went smoothly.
After exiting HM we decided to get some lunch at Columbia Harbour House. We both enjoy the Anchors Aweigh sandwich and had a relaxing meal upstairs. Crowds were low in all of the parks today. There were a noticeable number of foreign accents - mostly Spanish and Portuguese, but also UK, Aussie and several others - the tour groups have been generally well-behaved without the boisterous enthusiasm noticed by many in the past.
We decided that we had met all of our goals for the adventure and also complied with our self-imposed rules so we headed to the bus stop for the next OKW bus. We arrived back in our room at 4:10pm - just over 5.5 hours total elapsed time. We probably got in about 4+ miles of walking altogther and are now ready for a nap.
We'll have a quiet day tomorrow as we prepare to return to snowy reality, but our stay has been a good one in spite of a little minor issue at check-in - corrected with a short discussion with the manage on duty when it "couldn't" be fixed in our first hour there.
We have not had access yet to the new online reservation system - hopefully tomorrow, but MS has been fine until the online system is fully operational.
I did post the letter in our room last Friday about the advent of the new/upgraded TV lineup - but sadly that has not yet come to be. The TV has been fluky at times, but no new channels as yet - a week later. The little speech offered at the MK was a minor inconvenience yesterday, but Disney seemed to try to compensate guests with additional EMH and attractions (fireworks) at the other parks. MK is having an extra (unpublished) MSEP tonight at 7PM. This was announced over the public address system this afternoon at MK.
Our next WDW trip will be with 5 grandkids, ages 11-6 and all WDW veterans by this time (5 trips for the older ones and 3 for the youngest). We are foregoing our usual family trip to HH this summer in favor of WDW. We held a vote and the grandkids were unanimous!
We do have one requirement when doing this - we need to enter each park and go on at least one attraction before exiting for the next park.
We've been at OKW 9 nights now with 2 more to go before returning to snow and sub-zero temps.
So, we decided to go for four today.We left our villa around 10:30am and caught a bus to AK at 10:50 - arriving about 11:10. We got thru security and the turnstyles without problem and hiked back to the Safari. The stand-by estimate said we'd have a 10 minute wait and that would have been accurate had it not been for 4 large South American tour groups (flags in hand) using the FP line. There were 5 ride vehicles filled with their group(s). We still boarded the truck in about 15 minutes and had a good, enthusiastic driver. There were a lot of animals on the savannah today included 2 Massai giraffes that blocked the road for a couple of minutes - allowing for some great photos.
After the trip we hiked back to the bus stop and caught a bus to DHS (elapsed time about 90 minutes to this point).
Again, no issue getting thru security or turnstyle. We checked the attraction board - TSM - 50 min, TGMR - 10 min, ST - 10 min - so we opted for Star Tours. The wait time was accurate and we hoofed it back out the gate.
There was no boat waiting or in view, so we decided to take the walkway to Epcot. We did beat the boat to BWV and on thru the Intl. Gateway entrance - again without issues with security or entry. We considered walking back to the American Adventure to listen to VoL, but instead opted to ride SE and then on to MK. Elapsed time arriving at EPCOT was just under 3 hours.
No wait at SE, although there were a couple of stoppages during the ride. Back out the main gate and onto the monorail to MK. Elapsed time was about 4 hours 15 minutes.
At MK, again no problems (or wait) at security or entry. We decided to take in HM where the wait was promoted as 15 minutes. We were in the stretch room within 10 minutes, even though there was a queue several rows deep, but many opted to walk thru the new cemetery. Our strectch room was full, but everything went smoothly.
After exiting HM we decided to get some lunch at Columbia Harbour House. We both enjoy the Anchors Aweigh sandwich and had a relaxing meal upstairs. Crowds were low in all of the parks today. There were a noticeable number of foreign accents - mostly Spanish and Portuguese, but also UK, Aussie and several others - the tour groups have been generally well-behaved without the boisterous enthusiasm noticed by many in the past.
We decided that we had met all of our goals for the adventure and also complied with our self-imposed rules so we headed to the bus stop for the next OKW bus. We arrived back in our room at 4:10pm - just over 5.5 hours total elapsed time. We probably got in about 4+ miles of walking altogther and are now ready for a nap.
We'll have a quiet day tomorrow as we prepare to return to snowy reality, but our stay has been a good one in spite of a little minor issue at check-in - corrected with a short discussion with the manage on duty when it "couldn't" be fixed in our first hour there.
We have not had access yet to the new online reservation system - hopefully tomorrow, but MS has been fine until the online system is fully operational.
I did post the letter in our room last Friday about the advent of the new/upgraded TV lineup - but sadly that has not yet come to be. The TV has been fluky at times, but no new channels as yet - a week later. The little speech offered at the MK was a minor inconvenience yesterday, but Disney seemed to try to compensate guests with additional EMH and attractions (fireworks) at the other parks. MK is having an extra (unpublished) MSEP tonight at 7PM. This was announced over the public address system this afternoon at MK.
Our next WDW trip will be with 5 grandkids, ages 11-6 and all WDW veterans by this time (5 trips for the older ones and 3 for the youngest). We are foregoing our usual family trip to HH this summer in favor of WDW. We held a vote and the grandkids were unanimous!
Bill
Never done this, 2 parks is my limit
