Some people are thoughtful and break these into a series of posts - like television befopre streaming - and we tune in for episodes. Not me. Here is the full monty...
After our big welcome home trip in December 2022, we finally got back to VGF in September of 2024. We did use a few points on a very short summer trip in 2023 (at BLT), but that was essentially a weekend stopover. The SEPT excursion was two separate trips that both included my wife…I was on the second part. Her 50th birthday was two weeks ago, and we had talked over the past few years about her spending some time at Disney with her friends to celebrate. With 2023 points sitting around, we decided to book three rooms for 20-22 SEPT (we kept a single room through the 23rd for the late departures) for 9 women. I can’t really review her trip, other than to share that they all took and (completely) loved a Disney Fireworks cruise on Saturday, 21 SEPT. They got a nice hour-long waterborne tour of the MK resorts, as well as seeing where nu-Reflections had just broken a little ground as well as the bat-house that maintains the 4000 bats that eat mosquitos for Disney. Then they centered up on the castle and watched the fireworks on 21 SEPT.
I showed up on the 22nd, where three of my wife’s friends remained (departing on Monday morning), and we all shared a dinner at Citricos on Sunday night. They were exhausted from going hard on FRI-SAT-SUN, so after dinner we all went to bed. Citricos was good, but not quite as tasty as I remembered it from that 2022 trip. Still, one of the better restaurants on property. The GF lobby seemed a bit more relaxed than it was on that Christmas trip, and it was nice to hang out there during the week. It was our first trip to Disney without my son in twenty years. DW and I went in 2000 and 2002 as a couple, but that was a lifetime ago.
On the 23rd, we headed to DHS for the first of our two park days (MON and THUR, with a MNSSHP on TUES night). Since this was a relaxed trip, we didn’t head over until closer to 10 AM, well after rope drop. I had done the Multi-LL thing, but could never get Slinky Dog to drop into the early afternoon. So we wandered around a bit, and finally decided on a 30 min wait for Smugglers Run to start the park festivities. Once in line, the wait jumped to 65 min (which we had to deduce with the app a few minutes in). Instead of bailing we just stuck with it, a mistake in retrospect. Sitting in that line pushed our check-in for our first Multi-LL ride back (from the start of the hour window to the second half), so stuff kept filling up and I couldn’t make another selection waiting in that MFSR line. To top it off, Hondo was broken and we ended up as engineers on the ride. Not my favorite hour of the week. Once done, we headed over to MMRR (our first MLL), one of our favorite rides. It was already getting warm in the parks – a theme for the week. It would be low-mid 90s all week (until the edges of Helene pushed some wind around Thursday). After MMRR, headed over to Sci-Fi Café for lunch. Hadn’t eaten there since our first trip in 2000. Food was decent, the air conditioning was welcome. The prices were a bit much - $25 for a burger (with fries) was about $8 too much, even for the DIZ. Enjoyed the drive-in feel, but doubt I’ll do that one again. After that, wandered about a bit, doing Star Tours twice (still my fave SW ride at the park, by a wide margin), and heading over to Tower to see the anniversary stuff (of which there wasn’t any…I must have been confused). Wife did a bit of shopping, then we rode Toy Story Mania (I beat her soundly), and off to the skyliner for EPCOT. We got a little food and drink (Lemon Zest Hefeweizen in Germany was our favorite), then rode the golf ball, Soarin, walked through Moana, and finished with Guardians:CR (getting the best song – Everybody Wants to Rule the World/Tears for Fears) before heading back to the hotel. Made a dinner off a charcuterie and cheese board at Enchanted Rose, my first time inside (although we were in the side room).
The 24th was a Springs day and the Halloween Party. I debated those tickets, as we hadn’t had great experiences previously (having gone in 2014 and again in 2021). But it was a chance to go as adults and not worry about rides (as we would with my son), so I wanted to give it a whirl. Besides, we weren’t getting up early the next day, so we could stay a bit later and sleep in. We ate at 1900 PF (my first time, but not hers), which was a nice experience. It’s a bit weird (for me) meeting face characters as two grown adults eating at a two-top. My wife can play the game and have fun, but I’m just not able to (and I feel bad about it). No worries, though. After that, drove over to Disney Springs for some relaxed shopping. Of course, I bought absolutely nothing, but my wife got some geegaws and prints. We started with a drink at Jaleo, wandered all the over to the Christmas Shop and Art of Disney (with a Pineapple Dole Whip for DW on the way) on the other side, then wandered back to Jaleo for a late lunch (and another drink). Then back to the hotel for some brief relaxing, followed by a monorail to MK for the MNSSHP at 5 PM (I can’t stand crowded lines, so I requested a one hour delay on our entry).
MNSSHP (9/24): I had debated the 9/24 or 9/26, ultimately settling on the 9/24 a few weeks back; that paid off as the 9/26 party was cancelled on the 25th in advance of Helene. Anyways, we keep going to these things (loving Disney and loving Halloween), and I keep coming away feeling somewhat fleeced. This particular party started well, casually walking around, riding the low hanging fruit (Peoplemover, Dumbo, Ariel, Small World, Pirates). I wanted to ride HM but the wait times were over 30 min, so I demurred (we had a Multi-LL scheduled for Thursday). After Pirates, we got some beignets, and found ourselves an OK spot for the first parade. Which started a little late but was good fun. We then headed over towards Tomorrowland to get a few character interactions – but the size of the crowd really made that sluggish. Got into line for Stitch in Elvis costume, which was a (reasonable) 35 minute wait. Then planned to hit up some Alice in Wonderland characters by the Teacups before the fireworks, but they were going on a short break. Tried to get a hot dog at Caseys before the fireworks but that was also a fail, due to massive crowds (and very slow service). Finally, tried to get a water (those used to be free at these parties) before the fireworks, but that was also a fail, as the only open vendors in the fireworks area had lines of at least 25 people waiting each. Settled into the fireworks (which were quite good, and we lucked into a decent vantagepoint a walkway or two up from Caseys). Headed back to the Teacups for the Alice characters, which took almost 15 minutes due to the massive crowds. Once we arrived, the characters were about to break (again), but we stuck around to see Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Wife then mobile ordered a hot dog before we headed out through the Emporium, close to 11 PM. Here are my gripes: 1) they need to fully staff the park if they are going to pack it to the gills; 2) they need to let in 33% less people OR charge 33% less money per ticket. Attendees paid more for the 7 hours of the party than folks do for the normal 12 hour days. Unless something drastic changes, I’ll never do one of these again. I appreciate the parades, the unique fireworks show, and the special characters. Stripping out the benefits (water, mickey bars, etc) while hiking the prices and then selling at least as many tickets as they do for routine MK days – as nakedly greedy as anything they’ve done in the past few years, which is saying something. But enough whining.
The 25th of September was my wife’s actual birthday, the big 5-0. This was designed as a total slack day. She was going to the VGF spa in the morning for some obscenely expensive service (that she said was great and totally worth it), while I did some laundry (a DVC first for me in BPK). I then waited for her in the VGF lobby (a much nicer lobby than BPK) and lucked into some hugs from Chip and Dale. I may struggle with face characters, but I’m great with the suits! I was surfing my phone, when one of them came up to see me out of nowhere. They took some pictures with other guests and themselves (Daisy was there as well). But they had lighted off before my wife was done, so that was a “me” treat. We then wandered back to Disney Springs to try a new spot for lunch – Summer House on the Lake. Which was, truth be told, outstanding. One of the better meals I’ve had on property in the many times I have come. The drinks were good, the gazpacho was outstanding, and the service was relaxed. I’m a big fan, and we will definitely be visiting in the future) hopefully when it is cool enough to sit outside on the back deck). After that, she was fortunately shopped out from the day before (and we were starting to get a little precipitation) so we headed back to the room so she could get a big nap before our late dinner. I can’t nap quite so easily, so I read for a while, wandered the resort a bit, and checked into the status of Helene (this was when I learned the party the next night had been cancelled). I fiddled around with our 9/26 itinerary to front-load it before the scheduled rain of 4 PM (so we could get to MK, ride our Multi-LLs, and be out around that time). Boring stuff. Finally, got dressed, and headed over to Narcoossees. Part of my attraction to VGF was this restaurant and its menu. It was undergoing refurb for our WH visit in 2022, so I was very excited to make it her birthday dinner on this visit. We had a late seating, to allow us to enjoy the fireworks as a part of the experience (probably a pain to the kitchen and waitstaff, admittedly). We splurged on drinks and shareables, so it wasn’t a cheap visit, but we found the food excellent. Citricos’ steak was a little better, but Narcoossees had better seafood. I prefer seafood, so it was a win for me.
On the 26th, we slept in a bit before heading out to EPCOT, keeping a close eye on the weather. It was a downpour while waiting for the monorails, and we got soaked (in our ponchos) headed to our Guardians:CR ILL. But it lightened after that, and we walked around the World Showcase (sans ponchos), got another Lemon Zest Hefeweizen and waited until our lunch time. My wife has pretty strong ties to Germany and German cuisine, but we’d never dined inside of Biergarten before. We enjoyed this meal, but had to run before the entertainment started. Wandered all the way around to the monorail, and then back to MK. After a tough day of downtime Tiana’s opened as we arrived, just in time for our Multi-LL. An effective retheme, and Tiana definitely deserves some real estate in MK. Then a quick walk over to HM, my first look at the Hatbox Ghost, and we decided to head back to the resort before it really started raining. To be fair, though, it never really rained that much. Got lots and lots of wind though. We managed to get ourselves organized for the trip home, ate at Gasparilla, watched some TV, and wound down. Ready to head home the next day.
Thanks to good fortune, I managed to snag an Ohana breakfast for the late morning on the 27th. Before departing, we took advantage of mailing stuff from the resort home. We learned that Disney would ship almost anything you bought there (with a Disney receipt) home at a significant discount. It made the packing much easier (as most of what we bought could be shipped home). It made the line in the VGF sundries shop downstairs a bit long (which I felt a little bad about). Then off to Ohanas. Overpriced (as all of the character meals are), but my wife loves Stitch, and it was her trip. The food was decent, the energy was delightful, and I always love getting a few minutes at the Poly. It would end in time for us to get some gas and head to MCO. We had fretted about travel arrangements, but flights out of MCO wound up being unaffected. Travel home went uneventfully, and our couples trip was done. We were smart and ended on a Friday, so we had the weekend to recover (though I got pretty sick).
After our big welcome home trip in December 2022, we finally got back to VGF in September of 2024. We did use a few points on a very short summer trip in 2023 (at BLT), but that was essentially a weekend stopover. The SEPT excursion was two separate trips that both included my wife…I was on the second part. Her 50th birthday was two weeks ago, and we had talked over the past few years about her spending some time at Disney with her friends to celebrate. With 2023 points sitting around, we decided to book three rooms for 20-22 SEPT (we kept a single room through the 23rd for the late departures) for 9 women. I can’t really review her trip, other than to share that they all took and (completely) loved a Disney Fireworks cruise on Saturday, 21 SEPT. They got a nice hour-long waterborne tour of the MK resorts, as well as seeing where nu-Reflections had just broken a little ground as well as the bat-house that maintains the 4000 bats that eat mosquitos for Disney. Then they centered up on the castle and watched the fireworks on 21 SEPT.
I showed up on the 22nd, where three of my wife’s friends remained (departing on Monday morning), and we all shared a dinner at Citricos on Sunday night. They were exhausted from going hard on FRI-SAT-SUN, so after dinner we all went to bed. Citricos was good, but not quite as tasty as I remembered it from that 2022 trip. Still, one of the better restaurants on property. The GF lobby seemed a bit more relaxed than it was on that Christmas trip, and it was nice to hang out there during the week. It was our first trip to Disney without my son in twenty years. DW and I went in 2000 and 2002 as a couple, but that was a lifetime ago.
On the 23rd, we headed to DHS for the first of our two park days (MON and THUR, with a MNSSHP on TUES night). Since this was a relaxed trip, we didn’t head over until closer to 10 AM, well after rope drop. I had done the Multi-LL thing, but could never get Slinky Dog to drop into the early afternoon. So we wandered around a bit, and finally decided on a 30 min wait for Smugglers Run to start the park festivities. Once in line, the wait jumped to 65 min (which we had to deduce with the app a few minutes in). Instead of bailing we just stuck with it, a mistake in retrospect. Sitting in that line pushed our check-in for our first Multi-LL ride back (from the start of the hour window to the second half), so stuff kept filling up and I couldn’t make another selection waiting in that MFSR line. To top it off, Hondo was broken and we ended up as engineers on the ride. Not my favorite hour of the week. Once done, we headed over to MMRR (our first MLL), one of our favorite rides. It was already getting warm in the parks – a theme for the week. It would be low-mid 90s all week (until the edges of Helene pushed some wind around Thursday). After MMRR, headed over to Sci-Fi Café for lunch. Hadn’t eaten there since our first trip in 2000. Food was decent, the air conditioning was welcome. The prices were a bit much - $25 for a burger (with fries) was about $8 too much, even for the DIZ. Enjoyed the drive-in feel, but doubt I’ll do that one again. After that, wandered about a bit, doing Star Tours twice (still my fave SW ride at the park, by a wide margin), and heading over to Tower to see the anniversary stuff (of which there wasn’t any…I must have been confused). Wife did a bit of shopping, then we rode Toy Story Mania (I beat her soundly), and off to the skyliner for EPCOT. We got a little food and drink (Lemon Zest Hefeweizen in Germany was our favorite), then rode the golf ball, Soarin, walked through Moana, and finished with Guardians:CR (getting the best song – Everybody Wants to Rule the World/Tears for Fears) before heading back to the hotel. Made a dinner off a charcuterie and cheese board at Enchanted Rose, my first time inside (although we were in the side room).
The 24th was a Springs day and the Halloween Party. I debated those tickets, as we hadn’t had great experiences previously (having gone in 2014 and again in 2021). But it was a chance to go as adults and not worry about rides (as we would with my son), so I wanted to give it a whirl. Besides, we weren’t getting up early the next day, so we could stay a bit later and sleep in. We ate at 1900 PF (my first time, but not hers), which was a nice experience. It’s a bit weird (for me) meeting face characters as two grown adults eating at a two-top. My wife can play the game and have fun, but I’m just not able to (and I feel bad about it). No worries, though. After that, drove over to Disney Springs for some relaxed shopping. Of course, I bought absolutely nothing, but my wife got some geegaws and prints. We started with a drink at Jaleo, wandered all the over to the Christmas Shop and Art of Disney (with a Pineapple Dole Whip for DW on the way) on the other side, then wandered back to Jaleo for a late lunch (and another drink). Then back to the hotel for some brief relaxing, followed by a monorail to MK for the MNSSHP at 5 PM (I can’t stand crowded lines, so I requested a one hour delay on our entry).
MNSSHP (9/24): I had debated the 9/24 or 9/26, ultimately settling on the 9/24 a few weeks back; that paid off as the 9/26 party was cancelled on the 25th in advance of Helene. Anyways, we keep going to these things (loving Disney and loving Halloween), and I keep coming away feeling somewhat fleeced. This particular party started well, casually walking around, riding the low hanging fruit (Peoplemover, Dumbo, Ariel, Small World, Pirates). I wanted to ride HM but the wait times were over 30 min, so I demurred (we had a Multi-LL scheduled for Thursday). After Pirates, we got some beignets, and found ourselves an OK spot for the first parade. Which started a little late but was good fun. We then headed over towards Tomorrowland to get a few character interactions – but the size of the crowd really made that sluggish. Got into line for Stitch in Elvis costume, which was a (reasonable) 35 minute wait. Then planned to hit up some Alice in Wonderland characters by the Teacups before the fireworks, but they were going on a short break. Tried to get a hot dog at Caseys before the fireworks but that was also a fail, due to massive crowds (and very slow service). Finally, tried to get a water (those used to be free at these parties) before the fireworks, but that was also a fail, as the only open vendors in the fireworks area had lines of at least 25 people waiting each. Settled into the fireworks (which were quite good, and we lucked into a decent vantagepoint a walkway or two up from Caseys). Headed back to the Teacups for the Alice characters, which took almost 15 minutes due to the massive crowds. Once we arrived, the characters were about to break (again), but we stuck around to see Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Wife then mobile ordered a hot dog before we headed out through the Emporium, close to 11 PM. Here are my gripes: 1) they need to fully staff the park if they are going to pack it to the gills; 2) they need to let in 33% less people OR charge 33% less money per ticket. Attendees paid more for the 7 hours of the party than folks do for the normal 12 hour days. Unless something drastic changes, I’ll never do one of these again. I appreciate the parades, the unique fireworks show, and the special characters. Stripping out the benefits (water, mickey bars, etc) while hiking the prices and then selling at least as many tickets as they do for routine MK days – as nakedly greedy as anything they’ve done in the past few years, which is saying something. But enough whining.
The 25th of September was my wife’s actual birthday, the big 5-0. This was designed as a total slack day. She was going to the VGF spa in the morning for some obscenely expensive service (that she said was great and totally worth it), while I did some laundry (a DVC first for me in BPK). I then waited for her in the VGF lobby (a much nicer lobby than BPK) and lucked into some hugs from Chip and Dale. I may struggle with face characters, but I’m great with the suits! I was surfing my phone, when one of them came up to see me out of nowhere. They took some pictures with other guests and themselves (Daisy was there as well). But they had lighted off before my wife was done, so that was a “me” treat. We then wandered back to Disney Springs to try a new spot for lunch – Summer House on the Lake. Which was, truth be told, outstanding. One of the better meals I’ve had on property in the many times I have come. The drinks were good, the gazpacho was outstanding, and the service was relaxed. I’m a big fan, and we will definitely be visiting in the future) hopefully when it is cool enough to sit outside on the back deck). After that, she was fortunately shopped out from the day before (and we were starting to get a little precipitation) so we headed back to the room so she could get a big nap before our late dinner. I can’t nap quite so easily, so I read for a while, wandered the resort a bit, and checked into the status of Helene (this was when I learned the party the next night had been cancelled). I fiddled around with our 9/26 itinerary to front-load it before the scheduled rain of 4 PM (so we could get to MK, ride our Multi-LLs, and be out around that time). Boring stuff. Finally, got dressed, and headed over to Narcoossees. Part of my attraction to VGF was this restaurant and its menu. It was undergoing refurb for our WH visit in 2022, so I was very excited to make it her birthday dinner on this visit. We had a late seating, to allow us to enjoy the fireworks as a part of the experience (probably a pain to the kitchen and waitstaff, admittedly). We splurged on drinks and shareables, so it wasn’t a cheap visit, but we found the food excellent. Citricos’ steak was a little better, but Narcoossees had better seafood. I prefer seafood, so it was a win for me.
On the 26th, we slept in a bit before heading out to EPCOT, keeping a close eye on the weather. It was a downpour while waiting for the monorails, and we got soaked (in our ponchos) headed to our Guardians:CR ILL. But it lightened after that, and we walked around the World Showcase (sans ponchos), got another Lemon Zest Hefeweizen and waited until our lunch time. My wife has pretty strong ties to Germany and German cuisine, but we’d never dined inside of Biergarten before. We enjoyed this meal, but had to run before the entertainment started. Wandered all the way around to the monorail, and then back to MK. After a tough day of downtime Tiana’s opened as we arrived, just in time for our Multi-LL. An effective retheme, and Tiana definitely deserves some real estate in MK. Then a quick walk over to HM, my first look at the Hatbox Ghost, and we decided to head back to the resort before it really started raining. To be fair, though, it never really rained that much. Got lots and lots of wind though. We managed to get ourselves organized for the trip home, ate at Gasparilla, watched some TV, and wound down. Ready to head home the next day.
Thanks to good fortune, I managed to snag an Ohana breakfast for the late morning on the 27th. Before departing, we took advantage of mailing stuff from the resort home. We learned that Disney would ship almost anything you bought there (with a Disney receipt) home at a significant discount. It made the packing much easier (as most of what we bought could be shipped home). It made the line in the VGF sundries shop downstairs a bit long (which I felt a little bad about). Then off to Ohanas. Overpriced (as all of the character meals are), but my wife loves Stitch, and it was her trip. The food was decent, the energy was delightful, and I always love getting a few minutes at the Poly. It would end in time for us to get some gas and head to MCO. We had fretted about travel arrangements, but flights out of MCO wound up being unaffected. Travel home went uneventfully, and our couples trip was done. We were smart and ended on a Friday, so we had the weekend to recover (though I got pretty sick).
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