footballmouse
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2008
- Messages
- 3,061
Welcome back for another 1 day trip report. I was in Orlando the last week of July for a girls trip. A few of us co-workers have been going on a girls beach trip for the past few years but this summer we decided to try Orlando since it was coming out a bit cheaper than the beach. This trip included me (Jenny), Nicole, and Tammy. We all work together at a hospital in Cincinnati. When planning the trip, the resort we picked looked like it would be fun and from looking at Google maps there were a few places we could walk to. We don't rent a car, we get an Uber from the airport and just walk to nearby restaurants for dinner. We arrived in Orlando on July 29 and we were too early to check in, they were just starting to clean the condo so we walked over to the main pool. Wow, was it a hike!!! Once we arrived we saw the rules that were posted. No outside drinks to be brought in and no snacks allowed. That stinks. The pool area was packed and you could only get food from the pool bar (little pricey). We hung around there until check-in time and then we used the resort shuttle to get us to our building. Condo was nice, no complaints there but you definitely can't tell how far away things are by looking at a map. There wasn't anything in walking distance so in the evening after spending all morning and afternoon at the quiet pool across from our building we just ordered dinner and watched the Olympics. We placed a WalMart order for breakfast & lunch type foods to be delivered.
I decided to look up some things to do the weekend before we left. They aren't big Disney fans like I am so I wasn't too hopeful they would want to go to a park. I saw that Hollywood Studios had an After Hours Party while we would be down there. I sent them some information and they actually wanted to go. Yeah!!! We bought tickets for 7/31 and I was super excited.
We spent the day at the pool and then got ready to go and Ubered to Disney Springs for dinner. Nicole has always wanted to eat at Rainforest Cafe so that's where we went. I wanted to say "lets look at other options" but it was fine. I did find a really nice sweatshirt that I wanted to get in the gift shop but didn't want to carry it around for the rest of the night and definitely too hot to wear. After dinner we jumped on a bus to the Riviera to catch the skyliner. Now I explained to them what this was and they were both okay with riding it. However, once we got there Tammy started to panic. We jumped in and she was just gripping the seat, wouldn't say a word. We kept telling her that it was okay and it was a quick ride, and then we stopped.
Thankfully it was short and we started again in no time. I'm sure it seemed liked an hour to her though.
We got to the front gates and I was so happy to be back there, it's been almost 6 years. We scanned in at 7:05, got our party wristbands and was all set. Since the party hadn't started yet we used this time to browse around the shops and I was hoping to be able to catch the Muppets. We took a little too long browsing and by the time we made it back to the Muppets, the last show had already started.
We started walking and landed at Star Tours. This was actually pretty fun, we all enjoyed it even though Tammy was scared. I checked the wait times and noticed MMRR had a short wait so we made our way over there. We probably waited 5 minutes. This was the first time on this ride for me and it was really cute.
After MMRR we made our way back to get in line for Fantasmic. We were moving with the masses and I was hoping to get a back row but as we were making our way in I realized we were going to be allllllll the way on the far side of the seating and it would have taken us forever to get out when it was over. I decided this would eat too much of our party time so we made our way out. I was kinda disappointed to do this b/c I really wanted to see the show and I felt bad that Nicole and Tammy were going to miss it but they agreed to skip it.
We went over to Tower of Terror b/c the wait was 13 minutes which meant it was a walk on. I explained to Tammy what the ride was like and she watched the doors open a couple of times. That's when she said that she might throw up on certain rides but it's ok, it's happened before. 
I made the executive decision that she wasn't riding with us! She agreed it wasn't for her so we sent her to the gift shop. Nicole and I made our way to the lobby and we were both so nervous. If she would have backed out I think I would have been okay with it b/c I was getting a little too scared. Normally when I ride this I have one of my sons with me (they're grown adults) and when we buckled in I realized why I needed them. I hold on to them for dear life!!! I forgot there wasn't anything to hold on to so I started to panic. I tapped the young guy on the shoulder who was lucky enough to be in front of me and asked if he was okay if I possibly grabbed his shoulder during the ride, he just laughed. Well, I wasn't kidding. As soon as we flew up I grabbed his shoulder. I tried to be a big girl and just go with it but I couldn't. Grabbing his shoulder ended up moving to holding on to the back of his shirt! OMG I was so embarrassed when the ride was over. I kept apologizing and smoothing out his shirt. We had so much fun though, people in our elevator were telling us how proud they were that we did it. We were a hot mess while loading in our elevator.
I didn't mention how hot it was that night. Holy moly, it just wouldn't cool down. Then I realized that I was out in the pool all day so my body temperature was very high, I couldn't cool down.
While we were in that area, we decided to do RnRC. It was the longest we waited for a ride during the party, probably 10-15 minutes. Tammy agreed that she would be able to handle this ride after I explained it to her. Once we finally made it to the "alley" and she actually saw the limos taking off, she decided she couldn't do it. Out the chicken exit she went. I told Nicole not to expect me to scream on this ride, I tend to hold my breath through most of it. The initial start of the ride takes my breath away.
Our next land we decided to tackle was Toy Story. On our way there we grabbed some waters and I got a Mickey bar, we really needed those waters. Nicole was so excited to see Toy Story land. We got on Slinky Dog pretty quick, maybe waited 5 minutes. Tammy felt that this ride was doable for her so the good friend I am, I let them ride together and I rode with a man whose wife and daughter were in front of us. Honestly, I wasn't about to ride with Tammy on anything that went fast. She did fine and everyone enjoyed Slinky.
Both Tammy and Nicole said no to Alien Saucers so we moved on to TSM. I noticed the line wasn't moving for about 5 minutes so we got out of line and made our way over to Star Wars. Now I've never been to Star Wars land before, I don't think it was open the last time I was there so this was all new to me. We jumped in the line of the first ride we came to, I had no idea what it was b/c I missed the sign (if there even was one). We just kept walking and walking. In the back of my mind I kept thinking is this possibly RofR? It can't be b/c we were all by ourselves. Once we had to go back outside for the line, I realized that I was correct. There was absolutely no line for RofR, we walked right on. Such a neat ride. This was our favorite, for sure! Our next ride was Smuggler's Run, this was our least favorite ride. It might have been more fun if you're the pilot but I don't think so. I won't ride it again.
We had about 30 minutes left of the party so we hightailed it back to Toy Story so we could get in line for TSM. We came in the back way so when we passed Alien Saucers, Nicole saw what they were and decided she wanted to ride them. We rode and Tammy sat out and waited. It was fun but we were getting thrown into each other and we were still hot and sweaty. I told her to hold on so she would stop touching my arm! After this we finally got to TSM, no wait.
As we passed the snack and drink carts throughout the party we were grabbing waters or Cokes and some snacks. By the end of the night, the CM's were telling us to take 2 or 3 of each item we were grabbing. I was hoping we could jump on SD one more time but by the time we got off TSM it was 12:35, party ended at 12:30 am.
We made our way out of the park and to the Uber pick-up area, man is that a walk at the end of the night!!!! We got back to our condo around 1:15. It was a lot of fun, both Nicole and Tammy were glad we did it.
I would highly recommend doing an After Hours party. As you can see, we rode everything in 3 1/2 hours. Since the party started at 9:30, we were allowed in at 7:00. We started riding rides at 9:00. I kinda felt bad that we couldn't move at a slower pace, this was Tammy's first time at the park. She's going back in October for vacation with one of her patients and their family so she'll be able to see it in the daylight. It was definitely a go, go, go kinda night but if you've been to the park before and rides are your main focus, this is for sure the way to go.
I decided to look up some things to do the weekend before we left. They aren't big Disney fans like I am so I wasn't too hopeful they would want to go to a park. I saw that Hollywood Studios had an After Hours Party while we would be down there. I sent them some information and they actually wanted to go. Yeah!!! We bought tickets for 7/31 and I was super excited.
We spent the day at the pool and then got ready to go and Ubered to Disney Springs for dinner. Nicole has always wanted to eat at Rainforest Cafe so that's where we went. I wanted to say "lets look at other options" but it was fine. I did find a really nice sweatshirt that I wanted to get in the gift shop but didn't want to carry it around for the rest of the night and definitely too hot to wear. After dinner we jumped on a bus to the Riviera to catch the skyliner. Now I explained to them what this was and they were both okay with riding it. However, once we got there Tammy started to panic. We jumped in and she was just gripping the seat, wouldn't say a word. We kept telling her that it was okay and it was a quick ride, and then we stopped.
Thankfully it was short and we started again in no time. I'm sure it seemed liked an hour to her though.We got to the front gates and I was so happy to be back there, it's been almost 6 years. We scanned in at 7:05, got our party wristbands and was all set. Since the party hadn't started yet we used this time to browse around the shops and I was hoping to be able to catch the Muppets. We took a little too long browsing and by the time we made it back to the Muppets, the last show had already started.
We started walking and landed at Star Tours. This was actually pretty fun, we all enjoyed it even though Tammy was scared. I checked the wait times and noticed MMRR had a short wait so we made our way over there. We probably waited 5 minutes. This was the first time on this ride for me and it was really cute.After MMRR we made our way back to get in line for Fantasmic. We were moving with the masses and I was hoping to get a back row but as we were making our way in I realized we were going to be allllllll the way on the far side of the seating and it would have taken us forever to get out when it was over. I decided this would eat too much of our party time so we made our way out. I was kinda disappointed to do this b/c I really wanted to see the show and I felt bad that Nicole and Tammy were going to miss it but they agreed to skip it.
We went over to Tower of Terror b/c the wait was 13 minutes which meant it was a walk on. I explained to Tammy what the ride was like and she watched the doors open a couple of times. That's when she said that she might throw up on certain rides but it's ok, it's happened before.
I made the executive decision that she wasn't riding with us! She agreed it wasn't for her so we sent her to the gift shop. Nicole and I made our way to the lobby and we were both so nervous. If she would have backed out I think I would have been okay with it b/c I was getting a little too scared. Normally when I ride this I have one of my sons with me (they're grown adults) and when we buckled in I realized why I needed them. I hold on to them for dear life!!! I forgot there wasn't anything to hold on to so I started to panic. I tapped the young guy on the shoulder who was lucky enough to be in front of me and asked if he was okay if I possibly grabbed his shoulder during the ride, he just laughed. Well, I wasn't kidding. As soon as we flew up I grabbed his shoulder. I tried to be a big girl and just go with it but I couldn't. Grabbing his shoulder ended up moving to holding on to the back of his shirt! OMG I was so embarrassed when the ride was over. I kept apologizing and smoothing out his shirt. We had so much fun though, people in our elevator were telling us how proud they were that we did it. We were a hot mess while loading in our elevator.I didn't mention how hot it was that night. Holy moly, it just wouldn't cool down. Then I realized that I was out in the pool all day so my body temperature was very high, I couldn't cool down.
While we were in that area, we decided to do RnRC. It was the longest we waited for a ride during the party, probably 10-15 minutes. Tammy agreed that she would be able to handle this ride after I explained it to her. Once we finally made it to the "alley" and she actually saw the limos taking off, she decided she couldn't do it. Out the chicken exit she went. I told Nicole not to expect me to scream on this ride, I tend to hold my breath through most of it. The initial start of the ride takes my breath away.
Our next land we decided to tackle was Toy Story. On our way there we grabbed some waters and I got a Mickey bar, we really needed those waters. Nicole was so excited to see Toy Story land. We got on Slinky Dog pretty quick, maybe waited 5 minutes. Tammy felt that this ride was doable for her so the good friend I am, I let them ride together and I rode with a man whose wife and daughter were in front of us. Honestly, I wasn't about to ride with Tammy on anything that went fast. She did fine and everyone enjoyed Slinky.
Both Tammy and Nicole said no to Alien Saucers so we moved on to TSM. I noticed the line wasn't moving for about 5 minutes so we got out of line and made our way over to Star Wars. Now I've never been to Star Wars land before, I don't think it was open the last time I was there so this was all new to me. We jumped in the line of the first ride we came to, I had no idea what it was b/c I missed the sign (if there even was one). We just kept walking and walking. In the back of my mind I kept thinking is this possibly RofR? It can't be b/c we were all by ourselves. Once we had to go back outside for the line, I realized that I was correct. There was absolutely no line for RofR, we walked right on. Such a neat ride. This was our favorite, for sure! Our next ride was Smuggler's Run, this was our least favorite ride. It might have been more fun if you're the pilot but I don't think so. I won't ride it again.
We had about 30 minutes left of the party so we hightailed it back to Toy Story so we could get in line for TSM. We came in the back way so when we passed Alien Saucers, Nicole saw what they were and decided she wanted to ride them. We rode and Tammy sat out and waited. It was fun but we were getting thrown into each other and we were still hot and sweaty. I told her to hold on so she would stop touching my arm! After this we finally got to TSM, no wait.
As we passed the snack and drink carts throughout the party we were grabbing waters or Cokes and some snacks. By the end of the night, the CM's were telling us to take 2 or 3 of each item we were grabbing. I was hoping we could jump on SD one more time but by the time we got off TSM it was 12:35, party ended at 12:30 am.
We made our way out of the park and to the Uber pick-up area, man is that a walk at the end of the night!!!! We got back to our condo around 1:15. It was a lot of fun, both Nicole and Tammy were glad we did it.
I would highly recommend doing an After Hours party. As you can see, we rode everything in 3 1/2 hours. Since the party started at 9:30, we were allowed in at 7:00. We started riding rides at 9:00. I kinda felt bad that we couldn't move at a slower pace, this was Tammy's first time at the park. She's going back in October for vacation with one of her patients and their family so she'll be able to see it in the daylight. It was definitely a go, go, go kinda night but if you've been to the park before and rides are your main focus, this is for sure the way to go.
