Yes, the fireworks view is just okay. With the lack of speakers by the better viewing spot, it was not as great of an experience as it was during our trip 2 years ago at BRV.
6 nights in CCV 2BD plus 1 night in BWV studio!
- Thread starter kgou
- Start date
Day 2 - AK, pool break, hop to HS
This might have been the first trip where our first park day was at AK! After having some quick breakfast and coffee in the room, we were ready to rock. Since we had our car, driving seemed like the best option rather than waiting for the bus or ordering a Minnie van. Parking at AK couldn't have been easier! We were only about a 5 minute walk from our parking spot to the gate. The car locator feature in MDE was very handy!
Our plan was to try and ride standby on Everest and Dinosaur before crowds got crazy. We were walking in by 8:45ish. Not rope drop by any means, but still earlier enough that both rides had really low waits. As we were walking into Asia, I noticed it was very quiet and no activity seemed to be happening on Everest. Checked MDE and sure enough, ride was down. We pivoted and stopped for cold brews and the stuffed pancake sandwich, and then made our way to catch that dino.
By the time we reached Dinosaur, the wait had built to be about 20 minutes. Still not bad at all and we hopped in line. First time for my spouse and kiddos and I am glad they all got to experience it before the retheme! From there, we had a LL for Kilimanjaro Safaris followed by Navi River Journey. We took a quick lunch break at Satu'li Canteen which I wrote about upthread. Highly recommend! After lunch, we hit our ILL for FOP. Our LL for the new Zootopia show was cancelled during this time, and I was super disappointed about missing it. We decided to head out after FOP, and we passed the Zootopia entrance on our way out. The attraction had JUST come back up and the standby wait was only 10 minutes so we jumped in line. Sadly the Clawhauser animatronic was not working and that was the main draw for me. Overall the show was cute but a bit hard to understand the dialogue IMO. We'll have to catch the Clawhauser animatronic on a future visit.
We hit the main pool at WL during our break and while it was busy we were able to grab some chairs without an issue. The kids had a great time splashing around and doing the slide. We stayed at the pool longer than I planned and our park hopping to HS was later than I planned as a result.
We took the bus over there and missed our reservation for Oga's by about 5 minutes. The cast members allowed us to get back on the waitlist, and we were seated in about 15 minutes. The entire experience at Oga's didn't feel as immersive as it had on past visits, so we'll probably not be back any time soon. From there, we had our reservation at Sci-Fi which I also wrote about upthread. Do not recommend at all for reasons already shared. This will be a one and done for us.
I had stacked some LLs for after dinner, and we were able to ride Runaway Railway, Rock n Roller Coaster, and Smuggler's Run. The kids were begging to jump in the standby line for Star Tours, but I was exhausted and told them we'd have to wait until the morning as we were back at HS.
Overall, it was a great first park day and it was fun to try some new-to-us experiences!!
This might have been the first trip where our first park day was at AK! After having some quick breakfast and coffee in the room, we were ready to rock. Since we had our car, driving seemed like the best option rather than waiting for the bus or ordering a Minnie van. Parking at AK couldn't have been easier! We were only about a 5 minute walk from our parking spot to the gate. The car locator feature in MDE was very handy!
Our plan was to try and ride standby on Everest and Dinosaur before crowds got crazy. We were walking in by 8:45ish. Not rope drop by any means, but still earlier enough that both rides had really low waits. As we were walking into Asia, I noticed it was very quiet and no activity seemed to be happening on Everest. Checked MDE and sure enough, ride was down. We pivoted and stopped for cold brews and the stuffed pancake sandwich, and then made our way to catch that dino.
By the time we reached Dinosaur, the wait had built to be about 20 minutes. Still not bad at all and we hopped in line. First time for my spouse and kiddos and I am glad they all got to experience it before the retheme! From there, we had a LL for Kilimanjaro Safaris followed by Navi River Journey. We took a quick lunch break at Satu'li Canteen which I wrote about upthread. Highly recommend! After lunch, we hit our ILL for FOP. Our LL for the new Zootopia show was cancelled during this time, and I was super disappointed about missing it. We decided to head out after FOP, and we passed the Zootopia entrance on our way out. The attraction had JUST come back up and the standby wait was only 10 minutes so we jumped in line. Sadly the Clawhauser animatronic was not working and that was the main draw for me. Overall the show was cute but a bit hard to understand the dialogue IMO. We'll have to catch the Clawhauser animatronic on a future visit.
We hit the main pool at WL during our break and while it was busy we were able to grab some chairs without an issue. The kids had a great time splashing around and doing the slide. We stayed at the pool longer than I planned and our park hopping to HS was later than I planned as a result.
We took the bus over there and missed our reservation for Oga's by about 5 minutes. The cast members allowed us to get back on the waitlist, and we were seated in about 15 minutes. The entire experience at Oga's didn't feel as immersive as it had on past visits, so we'll probably not be back any time soon. From there, we had our reservation at Sci-Fi which I also wrote about upthread. Do not recommend at all for reasons already shared. This will be a one and done for us.
I had stacked some LLs for after dinner, and we were able to ride Runaway Railway, Rock n Roller Coaster, and Smuggler's Run. The kids were begging to jump in the standby line for Star Tours, but I was exhausted and told them we'd have to wait until the morning as we were back at HS.
Overall, it was a great first park day and it was fun to try some new-to-us experiences!!
Day 3 - HS, pool break, hop to MK
After our experience at Sci Fi, I started releasing some of the sit down dining that I had booked. On this day, we had a dinner reservation at Tony's that I dropped. Given the wait time, caliber of the food, and the expense at Sci Fi, parsing down our sit down dining experiences on this trip seemed like the best route.
We caught a Minnie Van over to HS and were dropped off by 9:35am. As promised to the kids, we did the standby line for Star Tours. Posted 5 minute wait and wound up being 15 minutes. Up next was a LL for ToT, and we did rider swap as that is the one of the only ride my youngest won't do. After that, coffee was necessary and we grabbed the Epic Cold Brew Spectacular! from Epic Eats. This is the one with the Indiana Jones hat. It was fine, wouldn't go out of my way to get it again. We parted ways so my oldest and I could do our ILL for ROTR. The ride went down on our walk there, so we pivoted and stopped for a frozen coke and a Mickey pretzel. She had a bit of a headache and I was hoping the caffeine would help. We swung by First Aid and they gave her some medication to help with her head. Next up was the Indiana Jones show, also a first for my spouse and kids. It was nice to get a break in the shade and sit for a bit. Everyone enjoyed the show and after that, ROTR was back up so we jumped in line to redeem our ILL, which had converted to a "use at any time" pass since it was down during our original return time. We don't do ROTR very often, and definitely enjoyed it!
We had LLs for Slinky, Toy Story Mania, and Swirlin Saucers (can't bring myself to use the abbreviation, lol) in the mid afternoon. We started with Toy Story Mania, did a late lunch break at Woody's Lunchbox, and from there did Slinky and Swirlin Saucers. I was beyond ready for a break by that point, and a bus pulled up as soon as we were approaching the bus stop. Great timing!
The kids enjoyed some more pool time and while they swam we made our gameplan for Magic Kingdom. Our priority was to see the Starlight parade while grabbing some food at Pecos Bill's and maybe the fireworks and a ride or two. By the time we were ready to head there, I checked the bus schedule in MDE and saw that a bus would be arriving momentarily. More great bus timing!
We got a great spot for the parade right by Pecos Bill's and I was able to also get my beloved jalapeno poppers from Westward Ho while we waited. Overall I think I prefer catching parades in the Main Street area because the vibes are 10/10. But Frontierland is a great spot too and less congested. We did a quick ride on Dumbo, filled up our popcorn bucket, and headed to the boat for our trip home. We caught some of the fireworks while waiting at the boat launch. Since we had MVMCP the next night, I wasn't trying to be at MK super late, which kind of pained me as wait times were not long. Trying to relax on my park warrior ways now that we are DVC!
After our experience at Sci Fi, I started releasing some of the sit down dining that I had booked. On this day, we had a dinner reservation at Tony's that I dropped. Given the wait time, caliber of the food, and the expense at Sci Fi, parsing down our sit down dining experiences on this trip seemed like the best route.
We caught a Minnie Van over to HS and were dropped off by 9:35am. As promised to the kids, we did the standby line for Star Tours. Posted 5 minute wait and wound up being 15 minutes. Up next was a LL for ToT, and we did rider swap as that is the one of the only ride my youngest won't do. After that, coffee was necessary and we grabbed the Epic Cold Brew Spectacular! from Epic Eats. This is the one with the Indiana Jones hat. It was fine, wouldn't go out of my way to get it again. We parted ways so my oldest and I could do our ILL for ROTR. The ride went down on our walk there, so we pivoted and stopped for a frozen coke and a Mickey pretzel. She had a bit of a headache and I was hoping the caffeine would help. We swung by First Aid and they gave her some medication to help with her head. Next up was the Indiana Jones show, also a first for my spouse and kids. It was nice to get a break in the shade and sit for a bit. Everyone enjoyed the show and after that, ROTR was back up so we jumped in line to redeem our ILL, which had converted to a "use at any time" pass since it was down during our original return time. We don't do ROTR very often, and definitely enjoyed it!
We had LLs for Slinky, Toy Story Mania, and Swirlin Saucers (can't bring myself to use the abbreviation, lol) in the mid afternoon. We started with Toy Story Mania, did a late lunch break at Woody's Lunchbox, and from there did Slinky and Swirlin Saucers. I was beyond ready for a break by that point, and a bus pulled up as soon as we were approaching the bus stop. Great timing!
The kids enjoyed some more pool time and while they swam we made our gameplan for Magic Kingdom. Our priority was to see the Starlight parade while grabbing some food at Pecos Bill's and maybe the fireworks and a ride or two. By the time we were ready to head there, I checked the bus schedule in MDE and saw that a bus would be arriving momentarily. More great bus timing!
We got a great spot for the parade right by Pecos Bill's and I was able to also get my beloved jalapeno poppers from Westward Ho while we waited. Overall I think I prefer catching parades in the Main Street area because the vibes are 10/10. But Frontierland is a great spot too and less congested. We did a quick ride on Dumbo, filled up our popcorn bucket, and headed to the boat for our trip home. We caught some of the fireworks while waiting at the boat launch. Since we had MVMCP the next night, I wasn't trying to be at MK super late, which kind of pained me as wait times were not long. Trying to relax on my park warrior ways now that we are DVC!
VGCgroupie
Im in this photo
- Joined
- May 29, 2017
- Messages
- 9,758
We also felt this way on our last visit to Ogas. I thought it was WDW Ogas vs DLR Ogas. But maybe its just Ogas overall.
I struggle hard with this one. I wonder how long it will take to learn to not do it all in one day.
I am so impressed by your AK, pool and HS all in one day! Amazing!
Girlstar30
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2025
- Messages
- 5,337
I really enjoyed the sci fi smash burger I had, too bad it was a miss. Ive never been to Tony's but that is on my list because the breadsticks while watching parade is highly recommended by my favorite disney food blogger 
How crowded were the parks? Im not a fan of the new Beak and Barrel either. I dont like "timed" restaurants/bars. At beak and barrel it was very much order, pay, and get out i Also depending on where youre seated you can't even see the parrot.
I dont drink alcohol and i wanted the limited edition pirate cup and it was no alcohol, too bad or you have to use one of your two drink limit on it. I thought that was tacky, just give me a lemonade or something jeez. I enjoyed oga better when we went but doesnt surprise me that it changed for the worst. Beak and Barrel is the first place ive been too in my decades of Disney that they would not allow one extra child in if the number of people didnt match the reservation. It is small and popular so I get it, but overall experience just too strict for my taste.
How crowded were the parks? Im not a fan of the new Beak and Barrel either. I dont like "timed" restaurants/bars. At beak and barrel it was very much order, pay, and get out i
Also depending on where youre seated you can't even see the parrot.I dont drink alcohol and i wanted the limited edition pirate cup and it was no alcohol, too bad or you have to use one of your two drink limit on it. I thought that was tacky, just give me a lemonade or something jeez. I enjoyed oga better when we went but doesnt surprise me that it changed for the worst. Beak and Barrel is the first place ive been too in my decades of Disney that they would not allow one extra child in if the number of people didnt match the reservation. It is small and popular so I get it, but overall experience just too strict for my taste.
Last edited:
Day 4 - MK, pool break, return to MK for MVMCP
As was the theme for my trip, I also released some sit down dining on this day. Originally I had Crystal Palace booked for breakfast and Steakhouse 71 booked for dinner. Our breakfast reservation was at 8:10am or something like that. I love that breakfast experience and we have not been there for a few trips now. Both of my kids were really looking forward to it, but mean mom over here cancelled it anyway. Prioritizing a less hectic morning seemed more important if I wanted them to go the distance at MVMCP that evening. For our Steakhouse 71 reservation, we decided we'd rather get to the party earlier and after watching some of the party videos on YouTube we thought we'd rather try some of the party exclusive offerings instead of a sit down dinner.
We took the bus over and headed straight for Sleepy Hollow. We got the Waffle with Chocolate-Hazelnut Spread, Bananas, Berries, and Whipped Cream to share with some cold brews. I can't remember the order in which we did rides, but we had LLs for Winnie the Pooh, Pirates, Tiana's, and ILLs for Mine Train and Tron. When I booked my LLs, getting the ILLs for Mine Train and Tron seemed like maybe it was overkill since the party was that night, but it ended up being a good move. More on that later. We also walked through the Swiss Family Treehouse, and the kids got a kick out of it because they have watched the movie several times over the last year.
We headed back to WL after Tron for our daily pool break and by this day is where we noticed the lobby crowd had reallllllly gotten crowded. The main pool was also crowded but we did some time there and then back to the BRV pool.
I started stacking LLs to use after our break/before the party's official start time while we were still in MK earlier in the day. Since we were day guests, we did not need to enter through the party guests line, which was still very busy around 4:30ish, and instead we entered through the day guests line. From there, we got our party wristbands, ornament, and marshmallow treat from
Tortuga Tavern. The marshmallow was dipped in chocolate with candy candy pieces. I think it was meant to be dropped in a hot chocolate from a treat stop, but we didn't wait that long. It was so good!
We rode Space Mountain via LL that night but I am struggling to remember what else I had stacked on LL
We did the tea cups, speedway, Carousel of Progress, People Mover, Ariel, and I think Dumbo again all before the party officially started. We did a couple of cookie stops and then headed to Pinocchio's to get the party exclusive ravioli dish. Mobile order pick up was chaotic and seemed understaffed, but the food was worth the wait. The ravioli had NO business being as delicious as it was. Honestly, this and the pretzel from Geyser Point were the best things I ate on this trip.
We posted up by Pecos Bill's again for the first showing of the Christmas parade and had some frozen hot chocolates while we waited. The parade was awesome but again, I think I prefer watching parades on Main Street for the vibes. We rode Tiana's after the parade, and Pirates. We also got some treats from Aloha Isle. First time trying the coconut Dole Whip and it was so good, but the classic combo of pineapple and vanilla is my forever favorite. We also did Mine Train during the fireworks and had somewhat of a view while we were in line. It was a posted 30 minute wait and ended up being 26 minutes. In retrospect, I wish we had not spent valuable party time waiting in line for this but the kids really wanted to ride it at night. We never did Tron that night ...I never saw the wait dip below 60 minutes! We waited about 25 for Peter Pan later in the evening. I think that was the lowest it got all night.
For our last thing that night, we split up so I could take my oldest to visit the princesses and my husband took my youngest to visit Winnie and friends. OMG. The wait for the princesses was crazy!! Well over 45 minutes. The Winnie line didn't take as long. It pained me to wait this long for characters but my kids are only getting older and it feels like I should prioritize the character visits while they still ask to do them.
My kids made it until 11:45pm which I was pleasantly surprised by. No melt downs at all. We had no trouble getting a Minnie van back to WL. Given the late hour and how we did well with no meltdowns, I didn't want to push it by waiting on a bus or boat.
This was our second year in a row at MVMCP and we'll probably take a bit of a break from it for now. At no point were any of the attractions true walk ons. If we go during the holidays for 2026, I'd be more apt to give Jollywood a try. MVMCP seemed way more crowded than in past years and part of the draw for me is low wait times for the attractions. It's worth going if you've never been for the parade and fireworks alone, though!
As was the theme for my trip, I also released some sit down dining on this day. Originally I had Crystal Palace booked for breakfast and Steakhouse 71 booked for dinner. Our breakfast reservation was at 8:10am or something like that. I love that breakfast experience and we have not been there for a few trips now. Both of my kids were really looking forward to it, but mean mom over here cancelled it anyway. Prioritizing a less hectic morning seemed more important if I wanted them to go the distance at MVMCP that evening. For our Steakhouse 71 reservation, we decided we'd rather get to the party earlier and after watching some of the party videos on YouTube we thought we'd rather try some of the party exclusive offerings instead of a sit down dinner.
We took the bus over and headed straight for Sleepy Hollow. We got the Waffle with Chocolate-Hazelnut Spread, Bananas, Berries, and Whipped Cream to share with some cold brews. I can't remember the order in which we did rides, but we had LLs for Winnie the Pooh, Pirates, Tiana's, and ILLs for Mine Train and Tron. When I booked my LLs, getting the ILLs for Mine Train and Tron seemed like maybe it was overkill since the party was that night, but it ended up being a good move. More on that later. We also walked through the Swiss Family Treehouse, and the kids got a kick out of it because they have watched the movie several times over the last year.
We headed back to WL after Tron for our daily pool break and by this day is where we noticed the lobby crowd had reallllllly gotten crowded. The main pool was also crowded but we did some time there and then back to the BRV pool.
I started stacking LLs to use after our break/before the party's official start time while we were still in MK earlier in the day. Since we were day guests, we did not need to enter through the party guests line, which was still very busy around 4:30ish, and instead we entered through the day guests line. From there, we got our party wristbands, ornament, and marshmallow treat from
Tortuga Tavern. The marshmallow was dipped in chocolate with candy candy pieces. I think it was meant to be dropped in a hot chocolate from a treat stop, but we didn't wait that long. It was so good!
We rode Space Mountain via LL that night but I am struggling to remember what else I had stacked on LL
We did the tea cups, speedway, Carousel of Progress, People Mover, Ariel, and I think Dumbo again all before the party officially started. We did a couple of cookie stops and then headed to Pinocchio's to get the party exclusive ravioli dish. Mobile order pick up was chaotic and seemed understaffed, but the food was worth the wait. The ravioli had NO business being as delicious as it was. Honestly, this and the pretzel from Geyser Point were the best things I ate on this trip.We posted up by Pecos Bill's again for the first showing of the Christmas parade and had some frozen hot chocolates while we waited. The parade was awesome but again, I think I prefer watching parades on Main Street for the vibes. We rode Tiana's after the parade, and Pirates. We also got some treats from Aloha Isle. First time trying the coconut Dole Whip and it was so good, but the classic combo of pineapple and vanilla is my forever favorite. We also did Mine Train during the fireworks and had somewhat of a view while we were in line. It was a posted 30 minute wait and ended up being 26 minutes. In retrospect, I wish we had not spent valuable party time waiting in line for this but the kids really wanted to ride it at night. We never did Tron that night ...I never saw the wait dip below 60 minutes! We waited about 25 for Peter Pan later in the evening. I think that was the lowest it got all night.
For our last thing that night, we split up so I could take my oldest to visit the princesses and my husband took my youngest to visit Winnie and friends. OMG. The wait for the princesses was crazy!! Well over 45 minutes. The Winnie line didn't take as long. It pained me to wait this long for characters but my kids are only getting older and it feels like I should prioritize the character visits while they still ask to do them.
My kids made it until 11:45pm which I was pleasantly surprised by. No melt downs at all. We had no trouble getting a Minnie van back to WL. Given the late hour and how we did well with no meltdowns, I didn't want to push it by waiting on a bus or boat.
This was our second year in a row at MVMCP and we'll probably take a bit of a break from it for now. At no point were any of the attractions true walk ons. If we go during the holidays for 2026, I'd be more apt to give Jollywood a try. MVMCP seemed way more crowded than in past years and part of the draw for me is low wait times for the attractions. It's worth going if you've never been for the parade and fireworks alone, though!
VGCgroupie
Im in this photo
- Joined
- May 29, 2017
- Messages
- 9,758
Note to self. Watch Swiss Family Robinson.
thank you!! I feel like we got a ton done without running ourselves too ragged, but on some of the nights it was definitely hard to motivate myself to park hop after our pool break!
Tony's gets a lot of hate but I LOVE it! Especially if you get the patio seating. I am sad that we didn't get there this trip but will aim to try it next trip!Ive never been to Tony's but that is on my list because the breadsticks while watching parade is highly recommended by my favorite disney food blogger
Honestly, not bad for Thanksgiving week. We were there over Thanksgiving a couple years ago, and the parks seemed less crowded this year than they did then. At no point did things feel unmanageable, but honestly I think we avoided some of the highest wait times during our daily pool breaks. I was pleasantly surprised. It was definitely busy, but at no point was I like holy cow, this is nuts.
I don't really drink alcohol either. I maybe have 5 drinks over the course of the year. Can't remember what I got at Oga's but was underwhelmed. I have no desire to check out Beak and Barrel at this point based on a lot of the feedback I've heard!
omg you must. I recommend the 1960 version! It's on Disney+.
-
Disney Dining Review: Donald's Tales of Adventure Dinner Buffet at Disneyland
-
Bluey & Bingo Could Headline Disney World's 2026 Summer
-
DIS Unlimited: Bluey at Disney Parks & Disney Cruise, 'Zootopia 2' Breaks Records, & More!
-
Snap These New Holiday Photo Moments at EPCOT
-
NEW 2026 Disneyland Kids Summer Ticket Offer & Hotel Discount
-
Bluey & Bingo Coming to Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, & More!
-
Live BLUEY Show & More Coming to Disneyland in 2026
