Another quick trip! Plus first Genie+ at HS

[Dotluvsdisney]

Another quick overnight for us! Aaron and I bought DVC resale points and had expiring points to use, quickly. Oh what a good problem to have! Hollywood here we come , Kidani, thanks for the tub for our achy breaky feet! Snagged a one bedroom the Sunday night after Thanksgiving.

Our ride into Mickey land was 2.5 hours from our home in N Fl. Decided on the way down that we’d try out Genie+ since it was “only” $17. Aaron and I are frugal travelers but, it’s our anniversary so we made some small splurges, like inviting G+ along!

I tried the tips learned here, at 6:59:50 seconds, according to a world clock, I paused the archaeology documentary we were listening to and got my little fast fingers busy. Pull down to refresh, down to refresh, down to refresh! At almost 7:01 I made it in. Lightning Lanes for everything popped up. First stop, Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, 8:50-9:50 am.

What a treat!!!! Our first time and we both loved it, start to adorable finish. Hubby took video, I will try to figure out how to share that later.

It was a busy day but, not horribly crowded for which we were very thankful! Caught some cute holiday characters and decor. Nothing gets me more in the mood for Christmas! Will post more about our Sunday Fun Day and following morning at Epcot later! Have a magical day all!!!

 

[Dotluvsdisney]

Oh what a night! But mostly day. We had such a great time using G+ to get on some hot rides at HS with minimal waits. We arrived at Hollywood Studios and went right over to MMRR. After tapping in at 8:45 (5 minutes before our time) I looked for our next LL option. A fancy LL for 10:15 at Rise? Nope, didn’t move fast enough. We did get a 10:45 for Smuggler’s Run. Hooray for my Star Wars loving hubby! In the meantime we headed over to check out RnR.

So I lovingly refer to my hubby as my grumpy cat because this is his face most of the time when he’s away from home. If you know a Grumpy Cat, or love one like I do, you know what I’m talking about.



Thrilling stretch limo coaster with 3 inversions looping through Hollywood at night? My Grumpy Cat was not impressed.


I’m converting him over to Disney love slowly but surely though! Step 1, avoid MK. Step 2, make alone time with his bride. Here’s the smile on our way to Star Wars land. (Forgive my lack of Disney vocabulary.)

Aaron and I both loved the Ronto Wrap, seeing the Star Wars craft, Storm Troopers and Chewy. Here’s my cute cat enjoying his meaty snack! I had the Coruscant Cooler. (A little too sweet and tart for me but it had that magical ingredient, bourbon!) We also appreciated having a spot to sit and people watch for a bit. We made sure to down lots of cold water. It was over 80!

About time for SR! Headed over, tapped in at 10:40 and basically walked on. We were both so impressed by the design of the queues in the newer attractions. Millennium Falcon, eek! Aaron did say he wished they had done more to add to the theming like Universal did for Harry Potter’s world. Light sabers that interact with the scenery! More ideas for things I can’t remember! He’s the detail oriented one of us.

Oh! A G+ note! After tapping into SR, I checked to see what LLs were now available. We booked some time at Toy Story Mania at 11:50. Oh look, there’s Jesse! I was not quick enough on the draw to get a well framed shot. Foreshadowing…
I’m low key competitive. Hubby won again! My turn to turn on the grumpy face. He got me in Buzz too. At least I can blame it on the Navy. He’s had professional training! My sweet love always gives me ups. He pointed out that I had higher accuracy .

We had an amazing morning and THOUGHT we’d be cool enough to park hop to Epcot after dinner BUT our aforementioned achy breaky feet told us to stay in and relax. If we did choose to park hop, we could’ve used G+ to stack some LLs there. I looked around 4 in the afternoon and there were some LLs for Frozen. Our damage at HS: parked at 8:30 am, enjoyed MMRR, RnR, Star Tours, SR, Toy Story, and Muppets before heading out to AKL at around 1:00 pm. Next up, relaxing and snacking at Sanaa then early morning at Epcot. That’s the way to Monday!

 

[footballmouse]

 

[Dotluvsdisney]

About us, hubby is active duty Navy and I am an SLP. We got married a little over 4 years ago and wow! Have dealt with our fair share of trials and tribulations. Aaron has been my rock through it all. I’m so proud of him and so happy we found each other! (Thank you online dating.)

We gifted ourselves military Disney tickets and a 100 point DVC resale because, life is short, and we wanted to enjoy it more. After a few years of dealing with some crazy circumstances, we have FULLY enjoyed the Disney magic.

We have now stayed at BWV, SSR and AKL-Kidani. Just a quick overnight but, oh so refreshing. I’ve been a Disney-phile for years! I saved to go after I graduated from college staying at a value resort. I took my son as a single mom on that single mom budget. Living a few hours away, we were able to take advantage of those FL resident deals.

I heard so many horror stories about the changes! I was scared to return! But, we have had some great times this year. I was happy to find plenty of magic and new experiences in our visits this year. This past trip was our first time using G+. IMHO Disney has always required lots of planning, research and patience. Do you remember rope dropping then racing to those Fast Pass kiosks? Keeping those precious papers wrapped in sandwich bags so they didn’t get ruined by sweat and Disney river water?

I finally had some time to get ready for post pandemic Disney. I watched the Disney Food Blog and Molly videos. I found you fabulous DIS board members, I joined a DVC FB group. Thank you all! I’ve lived vicariously through many of your trips and stories!

We arrived at Kidani before 2 and, lucky us, our room was ready! We were close to the elevator and delighted to find a jetted tub. Our dogs were barking! We rested, refreshed then had the bread service and lamb kefta at Sanaa’s Lounge (50/50 gluten free for the hubs). Took the shuttle to Jambo and grabbed fries and zebra domes at Mara. Ogled the gorgeous lobbies. Then snuggled and tucked ourselves in.

A Disney Monday is the best way to Monday. Wow! We had an incredible morning at Epcot before heading home to Jax. More to come!

 

[Dotluvsdisney]

Monday morning! Ugh. Just kidding! Because we were at Disney! Sorry to all of you working folks! We woke up at our normal time, around 5. Annnd, thoroughly enjoyed a break from the normal rush. Sipped coffee and snuggled. Chatted about things not related to work, kids or world affairs. Our focus was on the issues that matter. How to get Virtual Queue for Guardians ride and whether to rope drop Frozen! Our first time for both of these.

We logged in right before 7 and got those fast fingers ready for round 2! Boarding group 14 . Now, I am going to compare this to my time trying to ride Avatar FOP at AK. First, I had to book a resort room with my FL resident discount because other than waiting 2+ hours in line there was no other way to score a ride. I just don’t have that kind of patience! Then m, I had to go for the pass as soon as the 6 month booking window opened. I think this was in year 2 after opening? It was definitely not in the 1st year. I much preferred the Virtual Queue for Guardians. I will say, I feel for those who want to sleep in on vacation. Which I am SURE is the majority. That’s not us. We are weird early morning people! So G+ and Virtual queue worked for us with our small party of 2.

We gathered our things, kissed Kidani Lodge good bye (until next time!) and got into our car for Epcot before heading home.

I have a special love for Epcot. My mom worked in the China pavilion when it opened. As a 6 year old child, I remember getting a first peek at the park! Walking into the dome. Riding Figment. A special employees only dinner with fireworks. I was small but it made a grand impression. And I still love it today! Flower & Garden is my favorite. Found the Chinese horoscope symbols made of seeds. Here is my sign. It’s only the most powerful sign in the Chinese zodiac.

This time around we were focused on rides however.

We entered the park right at our Early Entry time of 8:30. Headed to Norway for Frozen. Saw a cute mini Olaf on the grass roof but didn’t capture it! Wait time posted? 40 min. Actual time? 20 min. As we waited, got notification that our Guardians time was ticking. Got a bit worried that we wouldn’t make it but, read up and they give you an hour plus an additional hour grace period.
Loved it! Hubby did too! And took another great video. I really need to figure out how to share those. Maybe YouTube…

Off to Guardians!!! I did not know what to expect. We wanted to be surprised! Aaron said it was his favorite ride of all time. You saw his face on RnRC. Grumpy Cat was laughing and delighted! He could probably give the play by play. I’ll just say, it was full of unexpected maneuvers and fun music! And some spinning. So the motion sick prone: beware. We felt a little queasy but I grabbed some soda at Club Cool right after which cured me.

Dorothy needed food stat! Walked back over to the World Showcase and tried Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie
Yes I copied and pasted.
You have to go. The line looked daunting but moved quickly. We got toasted sandwiches for breakfast and baguettes and a pastry to bring home.


Hangry mood avoided!

Aaron wanted to shop in Japan so I took in the drum show and enjoyed my coffee and sandwich.


We ended our day low key on Living with the Land.



Time to head home! We had such a wonderful time together. We are looking forward to next year! Visits with teens, hubby’s first stay at Poly and another sweet anniversary celebration for Labor Day. I’ll definitely be adding G+ to our military passes for next year. See ya real soon!

 

[Mich123]

Fun report! What a great childhood memory of early Epcot and your mom.

 

[Dotluvsdisney]

Fun report! What a great childhood memory of early Epcot and your mom.

Thank you! I can’t believe it’s been 40 years! I still have her name tag from Disney. Used to get employee newsletter/magazines full of Disney characters and art. Wished we had a couple of those!