April 2023 Uni/Dis Trip

[BostonEd]

Hi, everybody. I provide a pretty bare bones report, but it helps me remember some of the details I forgot!

I'll do the Disney part of the trip here. I already provide the Universal portion here. Family of four, I'll change the names for more Disney-related characters. Not sure why, but I don't like the whole DW, DS, etc, naming convention.
Me, dad, don't really need a name since I'll be referring to myself, but you can call me Mickey I guess.
Tinkerbell, mom
Miles from Tomorrowland, son, age 12, who is actually too old for that show now, but kinda looks like him!
Hermione, daughter age 10. OK, that's not a Disney character, but her love of all things Potter took us on that Universal detour, and again, she actually does look like her a little bit, so we'll keep it.

A little background: the full name of the most magical place on earth is the Walt Disney World Resort. We really like to lean into the "Resort" part of that. We're not open-to-close park people. (Although Miles and Hermione showed way more stamina this trip than Tink, so I'll have to take that into account for future trips!) Anyway, this means our room and where we stay is important. Generally, I'm a big Wyndham Bonnet Creek fan, which has everything you need, and we can really spread out. But I wanted to pay the extra dough for being onsite, since this was an extra special trip (postponed two years due to Covid).

I originally booked a BRV studio. I always wanted to stay in the WL, and the pull out sleepers would be great. But then I saw that some of the studios look out at this laundry cart area, and one studio doesn't even have a balcony. Pretty low risk of getting that one room, but I NEED that balcony for the extra space for the full Resort experience. And the laundry cart view wouldn't usually be a deal breaker on its own, but for a special trip, I decided not to risk it. I saw that I could get a full 1 bedroom at Saratoga Springs for less, and enough left over to rent a car. So that's what we did and I was very happy. SSR is a little bit out of the way, but no further than Animal Kingdom lodge, which we had stayed in for our second WDW visit as a family. (I've been many times before I had kids, starting in 1972.) Oh, and these DVC rooms were booked with cash during the 25% off promotion, so the rates were actually LESS than renting points! Shocking, I know.

Wow, I already wrote more than I thought I was going to. I'll start the actual day-by-day report next.

 

[BostonEd]

Tuesday, April 18

We said goodbye to the Royal Pacific and hopped in a Lyft heading to the Disney Car Care Center to pick up a car. I reserved a full size, but they said we could pick anything. I opted for the BMW. Drove past Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa (SSR) to go to the Winn Dixie to buy too many groceries for the week. I told Tink, "Hey having a kitchen is great for breakfast and a few snacks, but we're going to be eating out most of the time!" Oh well.

We zipped back to SSR, a really quick drive from the Winn Dixie. I heard that SSR doesn't really have the kids appeal of other resorts, but I don't think that's true after the refurbishment of a couple years ago. The huge paintings of the Disney horse characters in the lobby, plus the details in the room, were too cute. And the 3 pools we went to were great. It didn't hurt that I had an ideal room, right in the middle of the Springs section, looking out toward the fountain. And we were right across the street from the main pool. (I believe cash reservations can request preferred rooms at DVC resorts.)

Speaking of room details! The pull outs were tremendous! I pulled out the smaller murphy bed with Goofy, and asked the kids, who wants to sleep here? And they were both, "me me me!" Then I pull out the full size, with Mickey and crew at the Victorian house, and again they were "me me me!" Hermione stuck with the smaller bed, because it felt like a cozy nook to her. That bed is plenty big for all but the tallest adults. Tink was very happy that we had our own room.

It was a nice warm day so we hit the High Rock Spring Pool. Got a couple margaritas, which thankfully the bartender allowed me to tweak to my taste (more fresh lime, less sour mix). Thus started our resort vacation!

We had a simple dinner of some things from Artist's Palette, and some bites from our fridge. I started mapping out the next day, getting my LL and Genie+ plans in place. Then early to bed for an attempted rope drop.

 

[Counting Stars]

Great beginning to your report- love that you were able to get the 1 bedroom at SSR. We were there last spring and I thought the newly redone rooms looked terrific. Loved taking the boat to Disney Springs... Looking forward to finding out how rope drop went for you. We can never seem to manage it

 

[footballmouse]

 

[BostonEd]

Heh... didn't quite make rope drop, but it was OK.

Wednesday, April 19, Hollywood Studios, Part 1

I got up in time to grab what I could on Genie+ and ILL. All the reading and videos worked out, because I got a good time for RotR and loaded up my first LL of Millenium Falcon pretty close in time to RotR. I felt relaxed after that, so did not push the family too much. We left SSR maybe around 8:15? I don't remember what time HS opened, but we got a decently close parking spot, and strolled up Hollywood Blvd, no rush, and get in the line for Mickey And Minnie's Runaway Railway at around 9. I think we waited 15-20 minutes. They really changed the track from the movie ride a LOT more than I expected!

After that, we went around the corner to Toy Story Mania!, which I've actually never been on before. I was skeptical going into it, but it is definitely a more involved experience than the Buzz Lightyear thing in the MK. Worth the 20 or 25 minute wait for sure.

We were already feeling a little peckish, and wanted to beat the lunch rush, so grabbed some stuff at Woody's Lunch Box. Geez, I really should have written down what we got. I think a couple grilled cheeses and stuff to share among all four of us? Anyway, I know what I didn't get: totchos! And I immediately regretted it. Though we did get very lucky and got a seat in a shady spot.

As we left the shade, the sun was getting warm so the kids got Mickey Bars and we watched the green soldiers march by. We took the long way around to Galaxy's Edge, so we took a great picture of the kids with the slinky dog zipping behind them. Then another snack! Actually, this snack was mostly for Tink and me: Jack-Jack's num num cookie from Joffrey's Coffee Cart. (Should that be nom nom?) We're all fans of Jack-Jack, so we had to get it! (It was a fairly ordinary but large cookie.)

We continued walking around to Galaxy's Edge, to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, which I had ILLs for. What an impressive multi-staged attraction. I really like the AT-AT room; wow. But at the same time, I don't think I'm ever going to pay $15pp again for it. Maybe if I win the lotto.

We checked out Galaxy's Edge a bit more, and saw Kylo Ren walking around, taunting people.

Then a LL for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run. This was also a blast, but oh no. If you read my Universal report, you know Tink/Sweetie does NOT do well on the projector rides. And they made her a pilot! I think the engineers were more than a little miffed.

Tink needed to recover, so we made our way over to have a nice sit, watching the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular! On the way, we grabbed a couple tasty beers for us and a huge pretzel and lemonades for the kids to enjoy at the show, from the BaseLine Tap House.

Wow, this is taking longer than I thought. I'll finish this day later.

 

[BostonEd]

Just a quick aside: totchos are actually very easy to make at home. I haven't done it yet, but it is on deck for this summer.

 

[BostonEd]

Wednesday, April 19, Hollywood Studios, Part 2

After an enjoyable "break" watching the stunt show, we walked over for our Slinky Dog LL time. We were a little early, and it was getting a little hot, so we stopped into the Walt Disney's Dream exhibit in the Walt Disney Presents space. After cooling off, we continued our trek and got in line for Slinky Dog Dash. Not every ride has to be the Velocicoaster; this was a blast. Hermione was so proud that this was the first time she had her arms up the whole time.

Back to Joffrey's Coffee Cart for churros!

Miles is still a little bit averse to scary rides, and Tink was kind of done with them too, so Hermione and I went over to The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror., while Tink and Miles strolled around Sunset Blvd, and tried to see if they could catch us when our elevator hit the opening. Hermione had a little panic attack when we sat down, and started to try to climb out! I knew she could handle it, and a nice woman in front of us helped, telling her that "you got this!" But in the end H did say it was way more scary than Hagrid's!

Did some shopping at Mickey's of Hollywood, and Hermione got a new set of Minnie ears. (Just the classic black and red, thank you, none of the over-the-top nonsense ears.)

And after that we decided to leave! (Remember what I said about leaning into the "resort" element of WDW?) Got in our car, drove back, changed and headed to the High Rock Spring Pool. So sad the Donald statue is gone. Customized margaritas, again? Yes. Yow, those are expensive, though.

Later, we hopped on the boat and had dinner at Terralina in Disney Springs. I was a little worried, because this was one of the last places to have reservations at our time, that was not a junky place like Planet Hollywood. And we were in the mood for Italian, and the other Italian place, which would have been our first choice, was booked. But Terralina was solid. Nothing ground breaking, but good. Well made cocktails also. And the kids enjoyed their Shirley Temples.

We went window shopping around DS for a while, and then went into World of Disney. Um, no. If Tink is in a store, there is no "window shopping". There is purchasing happening. Oh well. I was still stuffed, but T, M, and H wanted ice cream so we stopped at Swirls on the Water and enjoyed some while waiting for our boat back to SSR. I had several tastes from everyone's cup, so don't worry about me missing out!

We finally got back around 10, but tomorrow was a sleep-in day, so no worries. (Although I would still have to get up by 7 for booking the various lanes.)

 

[BostonEd]

Thursday, April 20, EPCOT

Woke up in time to snag a decent return time for the GotG virtual queue. Also got a LL for Remy. This was a sleep in day so I went back to bed for a while.

We hung out the room for a bit, and then Hermione and I decided to check out the Paddock Pool for a bit. The slide and splash pad area over there was superior to the High Rock pool, but the pool itself was a tad smaller. The snack bar looked good though, and had some good breakfast items. After going down the slide and getting splashed by a humongous bucket a few times, we went back to the room.

Since we weren't in a rush, (and since I was scared about how far we would have to walk without trams in the Epcot lot), we took the bus. Actually, I would have preferred leaving a little earlier. We didn't arrive at the gate until around 12:45; I would have liked to have gotten there by 11:30, or even 11. We did fine this day, but the timing felt a little more tight that I would have preferred. Slightly rushed. Anyway.

All of the people who clog up the Spaceship Earth line at park opening were long gone, so we strolled right in. I was able to get a LL for Soarin', so we headed that way. Another lunch screw up! We ended up eating at Sunshine Seasons, which was fine, but I guess I didn't realize how late it was already, and if I caught that, I would have eaten somewhere else. Anyway, we were able to make our LL time for Soarin'. I felt we waited a little too long for that, given our LL status. I think it was almost 25 minutes.

I actually really wanted to ride Living with the Land, but they moved up our GotG virtual queue time, and combined with the longer wait for Soarin' we couldn't go! So we trekked across Future World (or whatever it's called now), past the walls of Te Fiti, and into the Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind line. I think we waited at most 20 minutes, and that was well managed with all the stuff you can look at while you wait. I'll probably get into this more later, but for my next trip to WDW, I will probably take a more relaxed route to park touring, and not get any LLs or anything like that. Except for this! I definitely want to do this again as soon as possible! Maybe even rope drop this, and get Genie+ for it!

We strolled up towards France via the UK and Canada, enjoying the garden festival topiaries and other things to see. My brother and his wife, Pongo and Perdita, just happened to be in Epcot the same day, so we hung out with them at France, had some adult beverages. Perdita was there for a work conference, and had a dinner she had to get to, and Pongo had a virtual queue time for Gardians, so they took off, just in time for our LL for Remy's Ratatouille Adventure. The ride was fun enough, I suppose, but I'm not going to stress getting an LL for it ever again. I thought the Spider-Man ride at Universal was better.

We kept going counterclockwise around the showcase, and I was looking for snacks for the kids. Which were surprisingly difficult to find! There were plenty of menu items I would have enjoyed at the various food booths, but I couldn't find anything they liked until we got to the Japan Pavillion. There we tried some interesting Japanese treats and checked out all the quirky items in the store.

After Japan was America, which had funnel cakes, which--whoops--would have fit the bill for a snack, but I like that the kids tried some funky things, like chocolate rice cakes. (Which I have to remember to look for next time I'm near H Mart.) We took another walking break at the America Gardens Theatre, which had a funk revue playing.

We continued touring the countries and made it to Mexico a little early for our ADR at San Angel Inn Restaurante. The food was acceptable, but we also were close to the water for the view, and I've always wanted to eat in the pyramid. Bucket list item checked?

Frozen Ever After was down! This was going to be our next LL. We got in line at the Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros, which was my plan anyway. But I think everyone who wanted to go to FEA, got in line here instead, so there was like a 20 minute line! Unheard of for this ride!

After we got off, Frozen was still down and it didn't look like it was coming back! :-(

I really didn't want to do this, but apparently Tink promised Miles that we would go back to America to get funnel cake! So we completely backtracked, when we were soooo close back to the front. We probably could have gotten on Figment if we wanted. But no. Back we went. And now it was getting close to time for Epcot Forever, so that pretty much ruled out doing anything else. While Miles got his funnel cake, Hermione wanted to get ice cream, and we were already going backwards, so might as well hit L'Artisan des Glaces Sorbet and Ice Cream Shop!

The crowds were already forming for Epcot Forever, so we grabbed a spot somewhere near the International Gateway, as Tink really did not want to deal with the mobs going out the front. Well, maybe if we didn't get a funnel cake, we'd be in better shape! Probably not, actually. But after the show, there were plenty of mobs going out the gateway, so we stopped in the little shop there for around 15 minutes. That didn't really help much! We passed the huge Skyliner line, and sat on a bench, until I decided to take a Lyft from the Beach Club. We looked around there a bit, to avoid surge pricing, and finally hopped in our Lyft.

We did everything we specifically set out to do (except FEA), but I definitely regret not getting to Epcot a little earlier, as I mentioned. We did everything, and we weren't particularly "rushed", but it just felt a little kind of scrunched in.

Hands tired! Tomorrow will be easy, as that was a resort day.

 

[BostonEd]

Friday, April 21, Resort Day

Another easy morning, followed by breakfast (practically brunch) at The Paddock Grill, followed by pool time at the Paddock Pool. We walked around, checking out the resort, spying on the fish and turtles by the bridge between the Paddock and Springs sections. After cooling off in the room for a bit, Tink and Hermione went back to the High Rock Spring Pool, while Miles & I shot some hoops at the basketball court. We hunted lizards on the way back.

After showers 'n' such (wine), we drove over to dinner at Sanaa. Yummy stuff, but the kids wouldn't even try the bread service! I understand "pickiness" to some degree, but yeesh--it's bread! Of course they enjoyed Pumba's grub for dessert, though! Again, Tink and I enjoyed what we had, Lamb Kefta and Tomato Soup, and then the fish (samaki wa kupaka). The fish was fine, but based on the description, I thought it would be more memorable. (I barely remember even ordering it.)

After dinner, we did some animal watching at the lookout right by the restaurant. Drove back by way of Disney Springs for some more window shopping.

 

[BostonEd]

Saturday, April 22, Animal Kingdom

The bus stop was really close to our room. Went to peek at the arrival times to plan our departure, bus or car? 5 minutes, let's bus!

Got to the entrance around 8:10. Made it back to Kilimanjaro Safaris at around 8:20. Got a good spot in line, but the trucks were stopped due to animals on the road! We ended up waiting over 1/2 hour from a "Five Minute Wait" spot. I was overly sensitive to this type of "first thing in the morning" delay due to my experience at Hagrid's, so it probably felt worse than it was. Safari was fine. Not the best guide I've ever had, but the kids have never been, so it was great to them.

We were zig-zagging a lot today. I think we were thrown off by the delayed safari trip.

Off to Pandora! Oh yeah, as usual, I got up in time to grab an ILL for FoP. I got Genie+LL for something else, can't remember. It'll come to me. Anyway, we moseyed into Avatar Flight of Passage. I was kind of getting sick of projection-based rides, but this was nice.

We walked around Pandora for a bit. We came early to AK because it closed at 8PM. If it stayed open even until 9, we probably would have done a sleep-in day so we could have checked out Pandora at night. Than the obligatory Na'vi River Journey. I don't know why, but this seemed especially lame. I think I enjoy even the three caballeros more than this. Beautiful to look at, I guess, but... so? I guess that one shaman or whatever they are at the end was somewhat impressive.

We walked around Africa and Asia checking out the park generally. Saw some character floats, fun! Made our way to Expedition Everest. Even Tink (kind of) liked it. But the kids chickened out. Even Hermione! I said, it is no way worse than Hagrid's, but I guess she just was apprehensive.

Beer and snacks from Thirsty River Bar & Trek Snacks for the kids. I mean beer for the adults, snacks for the kids.

We had time before lunch, so we enjoyed the walk and all the carvings on the way to It's Tough to be a Bug. We saw Kevin on the way there, too. The kids cracked up at all the surprises during the show.

We had a delicious lunch at Yak & Yeti Restaurant. I hate to admit it, because it's part of the Landry's chain, but it was good. I can't remember their name for it, but I had the poké bowl type thing, except it wasn't a bowl, it was a freakin' platter. Sooo much food. And tasty.

Some shopping after lunch at the Mombasa Marketplace. Then onto the Festival of The Lion King. Still not 100% fully staffed, but the fire eaters and monkeys were there, so that was good.

We were kind of getting tired, but I got an LL for Dinosaur, so figured why not? On the way, we did some animal spotting at the Tree of Life Gardens. We closed up the place at Dinosaur. Eek, I didn't realize how dated that ride was getting.

I was tempted to pull my family over to the rapids, as that would have been refreshing, but it looked like everyone was getting tired. So we left and did not have to wait too long for a bus.

Very casual final night dinner from The Artist's Palette and our fridge.

 

[BostonEd]

Sunday, April 23, Departure Day

I called and asked about a late check-out, and was surprised I couldn't get one. It was Sunday, and crowds were getting lower and lower each day. Whatever.

We squeezed in a final pool visit anyway. We barely made it out by check out time. Worth it!

Our flight didn't leave for a while, so we walked around Disney Springs a bit more. I parked in SSR's closest possible parking spot to DS.

Drove to the airport, and flew home! I might have some more "random thoughts" that I'll put in another post. Bye bye!