Final report! - Cant believe I booked Super Bowl weekend -

[tx911]

@tx911 I was able to book Caring for the Giants today! How does payment work? Is it like dining where you pay when you get there and they only charge you credit card that you used for booking for a no show?

Yay! I think I paid when I booked.

 

[Wedgeout]

I was able to book Caring for the Giants today! How does payment work?

Yes, also paid at booking for those type tours. Received discounts too (DVC Or AP).
Done the Elephants, Rhinos, & the one you walk over the hippo area, private safari & snack out on the savannah. (All were great experiences!).

 

[VGCgroupie]

Yes, also paid at booking for those type tours. Received discounts too (DVC Or AP).
Done the Elephants, Rhinos, & the one you walk over the hippo area, private safari & snack out on the savannah. (All were great experiences!).

Thanks! Just coming off of a ride focused trip and so looking forward to our trip in April of taking things slowly. I promised myself I am not buying LLMP because Im sick of being on my phone while at the parks and adhering to a tight schedule.

 

[tx911]

Thanks! Just coming off of a ride focused trip and so looking forward to our trip in April of taking things slowly. I promised myself I am not buying LLMP because Im sick of being on my phone while at the parks and adhering to a tight schedule.

I’m going in April too!

 

[cruisehopeful]

I’m going in April too!

You 2 should meet up in the hot tub.

 

[VGCgroupie]

I’m going in April too!

When? April 11-23 for me with cruise in the middle!

 

[tx911]

When? April 11-23 for me with cruise in the middle!

15-20

 

[VGCgroupie]

15-20

So we may just cross paths! I will be at BWV, by the time I make it over to RIV you will be back home.

 

[VGCgroupie]

I updated the main post for anyone new to my thread. But for those who so kindly have been following along I will post my final trip thoughts here.

The airport and transport to/from
The family security line moved 75% quicker than my Clear w/ TSA Precheck. Great for my daughter but very annoying for me who pays for Clear and TSA.

We did a private car service. We chose to not to Minnie Van not due to the price but due to the fact that they don’t offer a grocery stop. Our driver met us at baggage which was great our last car service didn’t do that even though it was advertised as such. He said we are headed to BLT fright? I said yes but we have a grocery stop first. He said that wasn’t on his schedule. So they dropped the ball there. There was an awkward silence since I wasn’t having the no grocery stop nonsense. He said he could go but we would have to be and out in 10 minutes or less. So we stopped at Publix and rush shopped like supermarket sweep. They provided little bags of toys for my son and granddaughter which was very nice and unexpected. Nice start to a trip. We used Moore Magical Moments.

MK - If you are there when they are doing the Mickeys Magical Friendship Faire don't skip it. It’s long and so worth it!
The cavalcade was longer and better than I have experienced in the past also.

We did mostly everything we wanted to do at MK, it was a great park day! We rope dropped EE and it was so worth it. We even got a prime spot for the Fireworks. This was a Saturday, the day before the Super Bowl.

The walk to/from BLT was good. The day we did it I wasn’t super impressed but after our next 3 park days I was craving that walkable option!

Coffee options at MK SUCK! It is likely better for others if you drink dairy milk.


HS - We did EE and it again was so worth it. We got to experience RNR a few times before its final closing. We got to ride Tower of Terror several times. Which I just noticed that it might be called Hollywood Tower Hotel not Tower of Terror? Have it been calling it the wrong name this whole time?

We saw Fantasmic for the first time at HS and we love it much more than at DLR. We missed the pirate scene but not enough to say DLR version is superior. Being able to not sit on the ground?!! YES!!!! Not having to drop cash for a premium seat! YES!! Steamboat willy at the end? YES!! Key takeaway, in Feb row 4 isnt the best idea. Next time we will sit much farther back.

Coffee options at HS are strong and I LOVE IT!

Epcot - Our Epcot day wasn’t nearly as spectacular as our MK and HS days. The LL was more money here any other LL for the other parks has the least amount of rides and sells out LL times. The wait for LL was often very long. Test track LL took 45 minutes. Test Track was down in the AM so booking the LL for it wasn’t even an option for people after scanning in. LL at Epcot is terrible imo.

We rope dropped and the park seemed empty.. everyone was at Guardians. I have never done stand by for Guardians so I had to gauge wait time off the sign not by experience. Posted time was 45 min. It took 1hr 15 min. I had also bought LLSP for Guardians and that $21 is well worth and hour of my park time. Basically every single ride at Epcot took longer than posted, except Caballeros.

We were exhausted and it was the baby naptime so we took the monorail back and napped and went to the DVC meet and treat. I learned we are not take a nap midday people. We have no self control and will sleep too long. Between a 1.5 hour nap and the long monorail ride back to BLT it ate up alot of our day. I ordered DoorDash food while on the monorail and that was seemless which was nice.

I really wanted to experience Festival of the Arts but it just didn’t happen. By the time we completed rides and characters it was over. EEH was a bust and I can only see it working the last 30 minutes. The only rides that had short wait were the rides that always have short waits. Remys wait did go down alot around 10pm 99.5% of all dining closes and showcase closes so its just blah. It’s not like when you get to be at MK when it has less people, that feels magical, Epcot just felt closed.

Coffee options at Epcot are great for me!

AK - We decided not to do EE at AK because everyone was exhausted. We rode Everest 2 times, Avatar 2 times (no LLSP) and did the Safari 2 times. Friends in Flight was amazing. My son got honorary bird trainer. He and I did the circle for the bird to fly through and he also got to do the grape launching. He lived for this type of stuff and Im sure that will be a core memory for him.

We missed some things since we arrived at 9:15 am but thats okay.

End of day at AK seems like a great time to catch all the good rides, maybe because people leave to park hop. We were at the park at 6:30 and Pandora was lighting up.

I ate the best tofu of my life at Satuli Canteen quick service. I have eaten more tofu in my life than most people so that says ALOT. Coffee options at AK were pretty great.


Disney Transportation.
I hate the bus.
I hate the bus when I have to wait for the bus.
I hate the bus when I dont have to wait for the bus.

I hate the bus.
It’s a soul sucking experience for me and I plan to try to avoid it at all costs in the future.

Bus from BLT to AK was 38 minutes and we didn't have to wait for a 2nd bus nor did we have to wait for an ECV to be loaded, if that had happened we would’ve neared an hour. 38 minutes of being packed like a sardine in a freezing bus.

Monorail to from BLT/Epcot was seemless. While it can take awhile at least the ride is enjoyable and you dont have to breakdown a stroller to boot!


BLT - Our 2 bedroom room was nice. The refurb is great. It wasn’t cleaned as well as I would’ve liked it to be cleaned. Was woken up 20 minutes earlier than I needed to get up by a faint whistle sound, I think it was maybe a vacuum. Walls and floors were pretty thin. LOVE seeing the castle going to/from the elevator each day. Pool was closed and looking real gross since it has water in it still and no work has appeared to have started.

They put Happy Birthday to my granddaughter on the TV which was a very nice touch!

Chef Mickeys my daughter and her husband loved. Us vegans have had much better character dining food. So Chef Mickeys for dinner is a skip for us in the future.

We love seeing the monorail and the giant iron Mickey in shops. We really like BLT. We will for sure stay again. We will stay only when we will be visiting MK and Epcot. I don’t plan to ever visit AK or HS while staying at BLT again. I don’t see myself ever owning here, if I was buying a 2nd MK resort it would be VGF (shocker to me!!!)


TOTWL - We did the free reservations, it was nice but nothing to write home about. The view is possibly much better over at the lower decks of the contemporary. I cant imagine paying the Villains Dessert price for that. Although if the food is as good as the drinks maybe it’s worth it!


DVC VDay meet and treat - I didn’t go but my husband took my son. He loves dancing with characters. To me that is much more special than just a photo op with a backdrop. We got some valentines and a small tin with mini off brand m&m’s. Was it worth the monorail ride over from Epcot? For my son absolutely yes. For those who don’t find value in the dancing, probably not.


Member lounges - We only went to the after hours at Epcot. Mickey and Minnie was amazing as usual, no wait. Although they didn’t seem to want people to hang out with Mickey and Minnie even though there was nobody there, it felt awkward and wasn’t like our previous experience with Nick and Judy. They had pretzels this time which was nice for us.

McKims we got in with no wait with MMB. The apple chips were so good so they must be terrible for me.

Am I still all in as a DVC member?
My feeling being a DVC member after this trip. Still love it. I can’t imagine ever paying rack rate for BLT. I love that I can be there without thinking about how much I spent on the room.

 

[tx911]

I updated the main post for anyone new to my thread. But for those who so kindly have been following along I will post my final trip thoughts here.

The airport and transport to/from
The family security line moved 75% quicker than my Clear w/ TSA Precheck. Great for my daughter but very annoying for me who pays for Clear and TSA.

We did a private car service. We chose to not to Minnie Van not due to the price but due to the fact that they don’t offer a grocery stop. Our driver met us at baggage which was great our last car service didn’t do that even though it was advertised as such. He said we are headed to BLT fright? I said yes but we have a grocery stop first. He said that wasn’t on his schedule. So they dropped the ball there. There was an awkward silence since I wasn’t having the no grocery stop nonsense. He said he could go but we would have to be and out in 10 minutes or less. So we stopped at Publix and rush shopped like supermarket sweep. They provided little bags of toys for my son and granddaughter which was very nice and unexpected. Nice start to a trip. We used Moore Magical Moments.

MK - If you are there when they are doing the Mickeys Magical Friendship Faire don't skip it. It’s long and so worth it!
The cavalcade was longer and better than I have experienced in the past also.

We did mostly everything we wanted to do at MK, it was a great park day! We rope dropped EE and it was so worth it. We even got a prime spot for the Fireworks. This was a Saturday, the day before the Super Bowl.

The walk to/from BLT was good. The day we did it I wasn’t super impressed but after our next 3 park days I was craving that walkable option!

Coffee options at MK SUCK! It is likely better for others if you drink dairy milk.


HS - We did EE and it again was so worth it. We got to experience RNR a few times before its final closing. We got to ride Tower of Terror several times. Which I just noticed that it might be called Hollywood Tower Hotel not Tower of Terror? Have it been calling it the wrong name this whole time?

We saw Fantasmic for the first time at HS and we love it much more than at DLR. We missed the pirate scene but not enough to say DLR version is superior. Being able to not sit on the ground?!! YES!!!! Not having to drop cash for a premium seat! YES!! Steamboat willy at the end? YES!! Key takeaway, in Feb row 4 isnt the best idea. Next time we will sit much farther back.

Coffee options at HS are strong and I LOVE IT!

Epcot - Our Epcot day wasn’t nearly as spectacular as our MK and HS days. The LL was more money here any other LL for the other parks has the least amount of rides and sells out LL times. The wait for LL was often very long. Test track LL took 45 minutes. Test Track was down in the AM so booking the LL for it wasn’t even an option for people after scanning in. LL at Epcot is terrible imo.

We rope dropped and the park seemed empty.. everyone was at Guardians. I have never done stand by for Guardians so I had to gauge wait time off the sign not by experience. Posted time was 45 min. It took 1hr 15 min. I had also bought LLSP for Guardians and that $21 is well worth and hour of my park time. Basically every single ride at Epcot took longer than posted, except Caballeros.

We were exhausted and it was the baby naptime so we took the monorail back and napped and went to the DVC meet and treat. I learned we are not take a nap midday people. We have no self control and will sleep too long. Between a 1.5 hour nap and the long monorail ride back to BLT it ate up alot of our day. I ordered DoorDash food while on the monorail and that was seemless which was nice.

I really wanted to experience Festival of the Arts but it just didn’t happen. By the time we completed rides and characters it was over. EEH was a bust and I can only see it working the last 30 minutes. The only rides that had short wait were the rides that always have short waits. Remys wait did go down alot around 10pm 99.5% of all dining closes and showcase closes so its just blah. It’s not like when you get to be at MK when it has less people, that feels magical, Epcot just felt closed.

Coffee options at Epcot are great for me!

AK - We decided not to do EE at AK because everyone was exhausted. We rode Everest 2 times, Avatar 2 times (no LLSP) and did the Safari 2 times. Friends in Flight was amazing. My son got honorary bird trainer. He and I did the circle for the bird to fly through and he also got to do the grape launching. He lived for this type of stuff and Im sure that will be a core memory for him.

We missed some things since we arrived at 9:15 am but thats okay.

End of day at AK seems like a great time to catch all the good rides, maybe because people leave to park hop. We were at the park at 6:30 and Pandora was lighting up.

I ate the best tofu of my life at Satuli Canteen quick service. I have eaten more tofu in my life than most people so that says ALOT. Coffee options at AK were pretty great.


Disney Transportation.
I hate the bus.
I hate the bus when I have to wait for the bus.
I hate the bus when I dont have to wait for the bus.

I hate the bus.
It’s a soul sucking experience for me and I plan to try to avoid it at all costs in the future.

Bus from BLT to AK was 38 minutes and we didn't have to wait for a 2nd bus nor did we have to wait for an ECV to be loaded, if that had happened we would’ve neared an hour. 38 minutes of being packed like a sardine in a freezing bus.

Monorail to from BLT/Epcot was seemless. While it can take awhile at least the ride is enjoyable and you dont have to breakdown a stroller to boot!


BLT - Our 2 bedroom room was nice. The refurb is great. It wasn’t cleaned as well as I would’ve liked it to be cleaned. Was woken up 20 minutes earlier than I needed to get up by a faint whistle sound, I think it was maybe a vacuum. Walls and floors were pretty thin. LOVE seeing the castle going to/from the elevator each day. Pool was closed and looking real gross since it has water in it still and no work has appeared to have started.

Chef Mickeys my daughter and her husband loved. Us vegans have had much better character dining food. So Chef Mickeys for dinner is a skip for us in the future.

We love seeing the monorail and the giant iron Mickey in shops. We really like BLT. We will for sure stay again. We will stay only when we will be visiting MK and Epcot. I don’t plan to ever visit AK or HS while staying at BLT again. I don’t see myself ever owning here, if I was buying a 2nd MK resort it would be VGF (shocker to me!!!)


TOTWL - We did the free reservations, it was nice but nothing to write home about. The view is possibly much better over at the lower decks of the contemporary. I cant imagine paying the Villains Dessert price for that. Although if the food is as good as the drinks maybe it’s worth it!


DVC VDay meet and treat - I didn’t go but my husband took my son. He loves dancing with characters. To me that is much more special than just a photo op with a backdrop. We got some valentines and a small tin with mini off brand m&m’s. Was it worth the monorail ride over from Epcot? For my son absolutely yes. For those who don’t find value in the dancing, probably not.


Member lounges - We only went to the after hours at Epcot. Mickey and Minnie was amazing as usual, no wait. Although they didn’t seem to want people to hang out with Mickey and Minnie even though there was nobody there, it felt awkward and wasn’t like our previous experience with Nick and Judy. They had pretzels this time which was nice for us.

McKims we got in with no wait with MMB. The apple chips were so good so they must be terrible for me.

Am I still all in as a DVC member?
My feeling being a DVC member after this trip. Still love it. I can’t imagine ever paying rack rate for BLT. I love that I can be there without thinking about how much I spent on the room.

Wow, you definitely are all in on multiple rides of the attractions! I only ride once per day on the rides. If I'm back at the same park later in my trip I will do a second ride (e.g. Guardians, Tron). You are much more ride-focused than I am, but you have a young child so that makes perfect sense

I really don't mind the bus at all! That makes it tough at WDW if you are that strongly anti-bus. It's impossible to avoid completely.

I agree, BLT is awesome!

ETA: It's Tower of Terror. The (fictional) hotel that the story takes place in is the Hollywood Hotel. I wish we could stay there with points

 

[Genie+]

When? April 11-23 for me with cruise in the middle!

15-20

Nice!

We’re going 18-25. Somehow we ended up with 4 reservations lol

Night 1 - BW view 1BR

Night 2 - VGF 1BR
Night 3 to 6 - same room, different membership

Night 7 - Contemporary

Similar mindset as VGCgroupie this trip - more laid back. It’s a great time of year to soak in the ambiance of WDW!

My only ride priority is Guardians as many times as possible

 

[VGCgroupie]

Wow, you definitely are all in on multiple rides of the attractions! I only ride once per day on the rides. If I'm back at the same park later in my trip I will do a second ride (e.g. Guardians, Tron). You are much more ride-focused than I am, but you have a young child so that makes perfect sense

Yes. I am home now and oh so tired. April will be a more relaxing I promise myself!

I really don't mind the bus at all! That makes it tough at WDW if you are that strongly anti-bus. It's impossible to avoid completely.

Oh it would be so nice to not mind it.

I agree, BLT is awesome!

The refurb and that extra bathroom, so good!

ETA: It's Tower of Terror. The (fictional) hotel that the story takes place in is the Hollywood Hotel. I wish we could stay there with points

Phew okay good! I wasn't over here showing my noobness of HS

 

[Brian Noble]

It's impossible to avoid completely.

I think you could pull it off if you (a) rented a car and (b) stayed somewhere with alternative transportation to MK. Of course, there are also downsides to rentals, but as they say on the Transportation Board:

There is no Pixie Dust in Transportation.​

 

[VGCgroupie]

Nice!

We’re going 18-25. Somehow we ended up with 4 reservations lol

Night 1 - BW view 1BR

Night 2 - VGF 1BR
Night 3 to 6 - same room, different membership

Night 7 - Contemporary

Similar mindset as VGCgroupie this trip - more laid back. It’s a great time of year to soak in the ambiance of WDW!

My only ride priority is Guardians as many times as possible

I will be buying SP for Guardians, that is a non skip for me.
Fingers crossed they don't force you to move at VGF! I will for sure be stopping by VGF multiple times for cake. And now I NEED to try the coffee there. I have to know if it's cake level good.

 

[tx911]

I think you could pull it off if you (a) rented a car and (b) stayed somewhere with alternative transportation to MK. Of course, there are also downsides to rentals, but as they say on the Transportation Board:

There is no Pixie Dust in Transportation.​

Rental car, yes! That's the way to go if you want to skip the bus. The only time I mind the bus is if there is a very long wait after a long park day.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Rental car, yes! That's the way to go if you want to skip the bus. The only time I mind the bus is if there is a very long wait after a long park day.

We have never done it but I don't think Id like parking then entering the park especially for MK. Maybe for HS and AK it would be okay.

The only one I really have to figure out is AK. The bus from AKV to AK cant be that bad since they are so close. I could pony up the cash for a Minnie Van or Uber.

 

[VGCgroupie]

We had some talk early in the thread about Pandora and when it starts to light up. The park closed at 6. This is what it looked like at 6:27. By 6:50 is was pretty dark. You dont even need to be staying to ride anything you can just hang out in Pandora. The ground lighting up was the best part.

 

[tx911]

Nice!

We’re going 18-25. Somehow we ended up with 4 reservations lol

Night 1 - BW view 1BR

Night 2 - VGF 1BR
Night 3 to 6 - same room, different membership

Night 7 - Contemporary

Similar mindset as VGCgroupie this trip - more laid back. It’s a great time of year to soak in the ambiance of WDW!

My only ride priority is Guardians as many times as possible

Tower studio all the way for me!

 

[tx911]

We have never done it but I don't think Id like parking then entering the park especially for MK. Maybe for HS and AK it would be okay.

The only one I really have to figure out is AK. The bus from AKV to AK cant be that bad since they are so close. I could pony up the cash for a Minnie Van or Uber.

Yeah, an Uber should be pretty cheap AKV to AK. I won't spend the $ for a Minnie Van.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Yeah, an Uber should be pretty cheap AKV to AK. I won't spend the $ for a Minnie Van.

My husband said they should make Minnie Coopers for when you don't need to transport as many people and make them cheaper.