Belated December Disney, Universal including Epic report, complete

[newfamilyman]

We celebrated our son’s college graduation with a splurge Disney/Universal trip the second week in December. We are DVC members who have traditionally done split stays in the past; this time none of my waitlists cleared, so we spent the entire 10 nights at the Riviera. We love the Riviera, a modern resort with excellent transportation options. The only negative for me is the lack of a second bathroom in the one-bedroom villas, which admittedly few DVC resorts offer.

This visit was our first trip since Instacart became available, as we have ordered from Garden Grocer in the past. Publix had everything that we needed at very reasonable prices, especially compared to what we are used to spending in Los Angeles. However, I made a mistaken assumption when I placed the order that my name would appear as the account holder. As soon as our flight landed, and I turned off airplane mode, I discovered that the order had been cancelled because my name had not automatically populated. While still waiting to arrive to our gate, I replaced the order, making sure to include my name and even our room number since it was then available, and our groceries still beat our arrival to the resort.

When the app stubbornly refused to unlock our room, we had to go back to the front desk to get key cards. The next problem was that I had purchased filters and ground coffee, but the room had a Keurig. I called housekeeping, who informed me that the units are supposed to have the Cuisinart drip machines, which come with a reusable filter, so there was no need to for disposable ones. The housekeeper replaced the Keurig with a brand-new Cuisinart, right of the box.

Other than experiencing a glitch when I tried to use my phone to connect to the Chromecast-enabled TV in the bedroom (luckily I had no problems casting from my iPad), we experienced no more issues with the room. I should point out, though, that if you decide to enjoy a relaxing bath in the whirlpool tub, be prepared for extremely loud noises about a half hour or so after you drain the tub as it clears out the pipes, I guess?

We spent our first day, Sunday, at the Magic Kingdom. It was a good thing that we brought our ponchos because during the daytime, we experienced the fabled Florida weather of periodic showers but by dinnertime, the rain was coming down in sheets without relief. I hope the crowds attending the Christmas party that night got refunds.

Weather aside, the park’s early closing time discouraged attendance and created the only Disney day this trip where we experienced small crowds. We entered with the maximum five LL selections, two individual and three multi pass, and as a result, we never waited on any particularly long lines.

I was most excited for our first ride on Tiana’s, and the retheme was a letdown. It started off like Living with the Land but with fake vegetables and ended with broken animatronics. Furthermore, marrying a dark-ride story to a thrill ride track, albeit only a moderately thrilling one, results in a relationship with irreconcilable differences. The complete absence of any jeopardy leading to the drop robs it of any anticipatory excitement and made me miss the ominous music and vultures of Splash Mountain. I love a well-themed log ride, but the imagineers really missed the boat, if you will, with this retheming.

The Jingle Cruise overlay, by contrast, was amusing and enjoyable. The decorations were on the rushed and underfunded side but still effective, and the theming gave openings for seasonal jokes, including an amusing pun about literal white elephant gifts.

It was also our first time on Tron. As someone who is unfortunately getting more prone to dizziness and motion sickness with age, this ride was a little too intense for me. I’ve read complaints that the ride was too short, but if you’ve got motion sickness issues, it was a few second longer than I would have preferred.

We ate lunch at the Plaza Restaurant. I got the club sandwich with an onion ring side upgrade that really hit the spot. It is a cozy restaurant that makes for a great spot to take a break.

Dinner was at the Liberty Tree Tavern. I made the reservation for the last time before the party, and by then, the downpour was truly intense. The restaurant is all about theming. The food was enjoyable enough but nothing stood out or was memorable and was my least favorite of the three all-you-care-to-eat, family-style restaurants that we visited this trip.

Monday was our day for Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. I purchased unlimited express passes, something unfortunately no longer available at the Hollywood park without a VIP tour.
Having read how early the express pass lane merges with the regular one on Hagrid’s, I was pleasantly surprised at the relatively short wait. Hagrid’s got me in a couple of places but overall was enjoyable. I bowed out while the rest of the family did VelociCoaster twice, which remained their favorite Universal coaster.

Islands of Adventure excels at water rides. Dudley Do Right Ripsaw Falls continues to be my all-time favorite log ride. While the theming is sparse and low-tech, at least there isn’t much to break down, and the track is fantastic at balancing thrills with relaxing stretches. We needed the dryer afterwards. Jurassic Park ride pales in comparison with Jurassic World, but is still fun, even in the rain with ponchos. Hopefully Orlando will get the new-and-improved version that it deserves. It was too rainy to add Bluto’s Barges this trip.

During our last visit, the Bourne stunt show broke down only a few minutes in due to technical difficulties, so I was looking forward to seeing the full show. It was Déjà vu when the show again broke down shortly after it had begun. It was strange to me how the actors stop and calmly walk off the stage, which must be a sign of how commonplace breakdowns are. This time, they were able to fix whatever was wrong, and the rest of the show ran uninterrupted. It was truly astounding how the practical sets merged with the enormous LED background, even as the action itself was reminiscent of the type of fighting you see in “Waterworld” or the old west stunt shows that used to be a theme park staple. I’d still want to see it again and marvel its accomplishments.

Lunch was at Mythos, the only comfortable place to eat in the recurrent rain, so it was wise that I had made a reservation. The service was extremely slow, but the Greek salad was excellent.

We ended up spontaneously having dinner at Bigfire restaurant in CityWalk. I initially wanted to eat at Lombardo’s in the Studios, but we weren’t going to make the reservation in time, and the park was closing early for a private event. Bigfire turned out to be excellent. I followed the server’s recommendation to get one of the steaks, and it was delicious. We got s’mores for dessert, which proved to be the only unsatisfying part of the meal. The server told us that it was designed for four people, and it was $19. However, the fixings were extremely limited, with an inadequate amount of chocolate provided relative to the marshmallows and graham crackers.

 

[erinch]

enjoying your report! Lombardos is meh at best

 

[newfamilyman]

enjoying your report! Lombardos is meh at best

Thanks for your comment and am glad we didn’t miss anything!

 

[newfamilyman]

Tuesday was Hollywood Studios, which was packed to the gills. Luckily, having four LL reservations, including the ILL for Rise of the Resistance, made the park day feel pleasant for us, with minimal lines, while the standby lines seemed extremely long. The strategy of having a ride ready upon arrival and two later in the day worked well. I discovered that Slinky Dog Dash was about my speed now, and I obviously sat out while the rest of the family did Rock ‘n Roller Coaster. It is always a treat going on the original Tower of Terror, since I don’t really find California Adventure’s version anywhere near as fun. I also really enjoyed the museum exhibit. It had some fun models, and the highlight was seeing costumes from Muppet Christmas Carol.

Having done Rise of the Resistance many times in Disneyland and once before in Orlando, the CMs we encountered this time were the best ever and exceeded all expectations. As a group, they collectively embraced their role of First Order minions to the hilt. They made the ride more fun, even as we worried how they might be scold us. It’s too bad all CMs working this attraction don’t take the opportunity to have so much fun with their part.

We saw the show Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After, which for me was the worst Disney stage show I’ve ever seen. The good reviews it earns on Reddit have me completely baffled. It has a cast of only three, Malificent, Cruella, and Captain Hook, with technology trying and utterly failing to make up for the dearth of performers. The songs were utterly bland and forgettable, continuing a troubling pattern following the similarly weak Wish and Snow White. The plot was silly and unimaginative, seemingly the result of someone remembering the excellent DCL show Villains Tonight and stealing the gist of the plot while leaving behind all of its humor and catchy tunes, not to mention cast.

Lunch was at Sci Fi Diner. The service was inattentive, but the food was delicious. It’s interesting how they time the clips so that you are ready and presumably encouraged to leave once the loop restarts, just like how a meal at Garden Grill lasts the length of a complete rotation.

Hollywood Studios is not a full-day park for us, so I booked the Hoop-de-Holiday Revue which had exclusive performances for DVC owners that night. This show proved to be a one-and-done for us. Luckily, the resort was only a short drive from the Riveria, and it was also only a brief wait for the bus that took us to the Pioneer Hall stop.

The meal was the highlight of the evening. The second of the three family-style restaurants that we attended, it had the best food of the lot, save for the dessert. The fried chicken was delicious, and the server was very attentive to ensure that we truly got all that we cared to eat.

As for the show itself, while not being a bluegrass enthusiast, I appreciated the trio that kicked the evening off, and in general, when there was singing, the show was entertaining enough. The problem was the “comedy” skits, which for us were unfunny and overly long. The Hokey Pokey number in particular felt like it was never going to end, and I was truly bored out of my mind for the last half hour.

Wednesday was Animal Kingdom. We entered in the morning with our four LL reservations, including the ILL for Flight of Passage. Driving seemed to take less time than the bus, and the free parking was great. Even though Wednesdays were supposed to be the least crowded day, the park felt packed. However, with the lightning lanes, wait times were again brief.

Having remembered really enjoying the Finding Nemo show, the updated gutted it in the worst possible way. Shrinking it cut the best part of the show, which is the songs, and fast-forwarding the story took the fun out of it. I really liked, though, that unlike how they manage shows at Universal, Disney saves the best seats in front for those with lightning lane reservations. At least it feels like it wasn’t a wasted perk, and this was an easy reservation to get once we used our first one.

Another lousy attraction, as has been loudly criticized up-and-down online, is the new Zootopia movie. The best thing I can say about it is that it serves a purpose as a place to get some rest if not sleep, as they kept the bug effect from the previous tenant.

Expedition Everest is another fun coaster that goes to the extreme of my comfort zone. We were able to ride it twice, since we happened to be passing by after it resumed service following an extended breakdown.

Dinosaur was a fun ride, and we were all glad that we had a final chance to ride it. The work that is being done on the Tropical Americas area is impressive. Cranes and construction zones were in full force.

While not usually a fan of zoos, I appreciated the animal enclosures, and the cast members were quick to explain about the enrichments provided and other interesting tidbits of information.

We went to Yak & Yeti for lunch. I hadn’t been able to get an ADR; however, as a Landry’s Select member, my wait time was cut from 90 minutes to 15 minutes. Landry’s Select members are put at the top of the list following reservations. If you’re trying to go to Yak & Yeti on a busy park day without being a Landry’s Select member, you’re in for quite a wait. In my experience, the membership fee has paid for itself many times over. The food was delicious, if the service was slow.

Dinner was at one of our favorite restaurants in all the parks, Tiffin’s. The bread appetizer, served on tiered trays like you would get at a tea, was a great way to start the meal. I got the fish filet, which was delicious. The ambience is relaxing after a long park day.

As we were leaving the park, there was a holiday show projected on the Tree of Life, which was unexpected. We don’t usually stay for the kiss goodnight.

Thursday was our first EPCOT day, and again we entered the park with four LLs. Unfortunately, unlike our last visit, I didn’t have any luck with magical drops. Having chosen Test Track, we were never able to get additional LL reservations for Remy or Frozen. The latest iteration of Test Track was fun, and I was glad that they had dispensed with the silly car-building exercise which was unimpactful to the ride itself.

It was our first time experiencing Living with the Land’s glimmering lights overlay. We had a daytime reservation which limited the impact of the lights, so this is definitely an attraction to be experienced after dark for maximum impact. Even so, the ride achieved 30 minute or longer waits during the day, so our LL reservation paid off.

Also new to us, Moana’s water features were underwhelming. On a hot day, which this one was not, I suppose the opportunity to run through water would be welcoming, especially in this park, but it was hard to understand why so many millions were spent on this middling walk-through “attraction.” We missed the old Innoventions buildings.

A bigger disappointment, though, had to be the holiday food booths. It was incomprehensible how many people were waiting in extremely long lines for such thoroughly mediocre food. We tried a few booths when the lines were manageable, and none of the food items rose above mediocrity, which isn’t true of California Adventure’s Food and Wine festival. While I did get a chuckle listening to a guest’s failing attempt to pronounce rugalach, the black-and-white cookie I ordered did not give any decent Jewish deli a run for its money.

The final and most expensive disappointment by far was our dinner at Takumei Tei. The cost of the omakase meal served here was highway robbery. There was no course on the menu that approached justifying the price; in fact, the meal was so overpriced and disappointing that it may be difficult for us to ever again eat in the pavilion. If you get nothing else from this report, I hope that you can avoid making our mistake.

There was a long line for the Skyliner after dinner, but luckily, by the time that we boarded, it coincided with the fireworks, and we were able to enjoy the entire spectacle save the finale from the perfect vantage point of the Skyliner car. Talk about a goodnight kiss!

 

[DLo]

Following along . Looking forward to reading more . I appreciate your direct honesty !

 

[newfamilyman]

Friday was our biggest day of anticipation, our shared VIP Epic tour day. The included valet parking was a breeze to find and made getting to the park easy. We first encountered by far the most exuberant security guard we’ve ever seen (you may have already seen videos of him, which seem to be widely shared). He yelled a greeting to everyone and then shouted that a celebrity was present, coming over to us and announcing Shaggy was here, and in fairness, my son did look a bit like Shaggy that day.

There was a quick dedicated security lane for VIP tour guests. We hit an initial snag upon entering the building, since we arrived close to our start time of 10 but was told that we were scheduled for the 9:30 tour. Luckily, I kept the e-mail showing that we were confirmed for 10, and they brought us to our tour which was getting ready to board their first ride, Mario Kart. We aren’t gamers or Nintendo fans, and this ride was as uninteresting and confusing to us here in Orlando as it was in Hollywood. Mine-Kart Madness was as bumpy and uncomfortable as previous reviewers led us to believe, so it was a definite one and done for our party. The ride skipped Yoshi’s Adventure, and that wasn’t a ride that tempted us later in the day.

Our next land was the Isle of Berk, and our first ride there was Dragon Racer’s Rally. I had some initial misgivings of motion sickness, but our guide told me that if I didn’t try to move the ride vehicle, I should be OK. Generally spinning rides do make me very nauseous, but this was a different kind of spinning, like a fast-moving Ferris wheel, and the ride was so incredibly short that it was OK. It’s certainly not a ride I would have waited for.

The other ride in that land that we rode was Hiccup’s Wing Gliders. This was much shorter than Hagrid’s and was right about my speed. It was a fun ride, but it wasn’t one that I felt like I needed to do again later.

The other ride in the land, Fyre Drill, was down that day, and it was too cold to ride it even if it had been running. We didn’t go to any shows on this four-hour tour, but later in the day we did come back to watch The Untrainable Dragon. This was a musical with some effects, such a dragon suspended from the ceiling by an elaborate motorized system and dragon puppets. There was only one song that I found to be catchy and overall wasn’t a show I would need to see again, though it still blew away the Disney Villains show.
At that point, we took a snack break in the Celestial Park area, though the snack was not included. I guess Universal decided that they didn’t need to provide a snack to justify the cost of the tour like they do at their other parks, but it would have been a nice touch.

We then made our way to Harry Potter Ministry of Magic. I had spent way too much time deliberating on whether to go on Battle at the Ministry ride given so many reports of its penchant for provoking intense nausea. Both the tour guide who originally brought us to our group and our group’s tour guide assured me that I would be OK if I sat in the middle. Apparently both of them felt queasy if they were sitting on the sides, which explains why there is such a division among people on Reddit as to whether the ride made them sick. Our tour guide made sure that I got a middle seat, and I was doing fine until the ride broke down. We got to see one of the animatronic death eaters, but the other one was broken or perhaps just shut down. After a delay, the vehicles moved along in the light, with none of the animatronics or screens playing, so it was a “behind-the-scenes” kind of experience. None of us felt the ride would be worth waiting on a long line to do again, since there was no telling how long the express line would take or if the ride would break down again.

Interestingly, we recently attended a screening of the film “Bob Gurr, Living by Design,” followed by a Q&A with the famous imagineer, the last one still alive who worked closely with Walt. The question was raised about his views of newer rides like Ministry of Magic and Rise of the Resistance, which break down so often, compared to the rides that Gurr designed, including Haunted Mansion, Autopia, and the Monorail, which are much more reliable. This park’s reliance on state-of-the-art attractions and their attendant breakdowns has clearly impacted many guests’ experiences.

Le Cirque Arcanus show was also not included in the tour, so we went later in the day. While the show accepts Express Pass, there was no distinction other than having a separate line into the same large pre-show area. This show is a technological marvel, both in the preshow and the show itself. An awesome amount of effects and puppets are on display, once again demonstrating Universal’s dominance compared to the newer shows that Disney has been presenting.

It was then time for Celestial Park and the Stardust Racers. I sat this one out, but the rest of the family enjoyed this ride enough to try again later, though they said it did not surpass VelociCoaster as their favorite coaster at Universal.

We ended the tour at Dark Universe, which was our favorite of all the lands. The Monsters Unchained ride managed to perfectly remove all of the nausea-inducing elements that plagues its sister attraction, Incredible Journey. We went on it again at the end of the day and neither time did I experience any motion sickness. It is a fun ride that was our favorite in the park and easily repeatable.

I also sat out for Curse of the Werewolf, which the group went on as the last ride of the tour. Spinning rides are the worst for me, though the family reported back that if you balance the weight in the ride vehicle, it doesn’t spin. We were going to try later that night, but the express pass line wasn’t really moving, and we didn’t feel like waiting an hour or more. With Universal charging so much for their express passes, they really should more meaningfully shorten the wait times of the rides at Epic.

Since we finished the tour in Dark Universe, we ate in Das Steakhouse. I really liked their system of ordering on the app and then scanning your table QR code so that the food is brought to you, completely bypassing all lines whatsoever. The food was good as well.

The Invisible Man character is probably the best character that I’ve seen in a park. His biting sense of humor was unique and hilarious. We observed him interacting with a couple, and the wife was so nervous, she dropped the pineapple from her drink. The Invisible Man snapped, “Why are you ordering drinks if you can’t even manage their garnish?” While they were taking a selfie, he barked, “It would take less time to paint a portrait. Icebergs have melted faster.” When the wife wished the Invisible Man a nice day, he snapped, “Don’t tell me what to do!” The Igor character, walking around with a disembodied arm, was similarly witty.

We ate dinner at Bar Helios in the Helios Grand Hotel. It did have impressive views, but the food was unpleasantly overpriced for the quality and portion size. We won’t be returning. Back in the lobby afterwards, there is a dedicated park entrance saying that it is only for hotel guests, but we used this entrance without being asked to produce a key or if we were guests. There wouldn’t have been another way to re-enter the park from the hotel in any case.

We had a lot of fun at Epic, and I look forward to returning after they’ve added a few more attractions. The shared VIP tour was a great way to see the park without any lines, though it was quite a splurge.

Saturday was our last splurge of the trip, when I had booked a LL Premier Pass for the Magic Kingdom. Unfortunately, our son woke up sick, so that caused us to rethink our plans. We ordered an early lunch from the Riveria’s Primo Piatto that we brought back to the room. The salad Nicoise was surprisingly delicious. Eventually we decided to go to MK without him, which is where the premier pass came in handy. It was incredibly relaxing not to have to worry about lines or trying to refresh LL for hard-to-get reservations, and as it was a non-party day, the park was packed.

We had a mid-afternoon reservation at Beak & Barrel, where we were given arguably the worst table. It was off to the side, with neither seating nor views of any of the action taking place in the main room. However, the food was surprisingly outstanding and delicious, and the service attentive, which compensated for some of the disappointments. Not being able to sit, though, made the break less relaxing. When they say that you are not guaranteed seating, they mean it.

We didn’t want to leave our son alone for too long, so we returned early to have dinner at Topolino’s Terrace, which turned out to be my favorite meal of the trip. The server was comical, which made up for some of his lack of attentiveness, and the sole meuniere was better even than at my favorite restaurant, Palo on DCL. We will gladly return.

Our son had recovered from his 24-hour bug on Sunday, so he joined us for our final day at EPCOT, though we cut the day short. I had originally booked EPCOT on this day in order to see one of DW’s and my favorites, Henry Winkler, narrate the Candlelight Processional, but we didn’t want to push it, especially since we were leaving tomorrow, and we wanted our son to be healthy enough to fly.

We were able to get reservations for the first time to Space 220, so we ate lunch in the lounge. It was great not to have to order from a price fixe menu, and the food was both delicious and reasonably priced. This is another restaurant where we would return.

We returned from the park early so as not to push it and decided to walk from the resort to Sebastian’s Bistro, which was both a short and pretty walk at night, with all the lights. This was the third of the family-style meals and our second favorite of these meals. There was no entrée as good as the fried chicken at Hoop-de-doo, but the plantains came close, and I also enjoyed the beef with the chimichurri sauce when we got a cut that was medium-rare instead of medium-well. Dessert here was also the best of the three. All-in-all, it was a solid choice for ending the trip, even if we never got to see the Fonz.