Nothing Can Stop Us Now! The End! Well almost, quick recap of Jan 22 trip! Update on April trip 4/21*

[disneyAndi14]

It really makes it WAY more fun when there's chatter and banter- I've made some really splendid friends on the DIS that way!

So true, I have made such good friends on here, including you my dear!

IT is crazy. So uncalled for and stooooopid. Common decency and kindness seem to be such a lost art.

I don’t understand how much society has changed and not for the better!

I want to say that it was a fluke that the power went out and it should be a winning strategy next time!

I’m sure it was and we will have better luck next time!

LOVE TS's! We had so much fun last time- the kids and I.

I have wanted to try a drink there for quite sometime and it just has t worked out. I think staying at WL will allow us to get over there right at opening!

I think POG is becoming more widely available now so I can probably make those at home for my RV homeys

Yummy, Ilove Pog juice, I will need to look for it.

Boooo!!! Been chilly (for our area) too lately. Not a fan!

I think the whole country has had winter these past couple weeks!

STILL need to try this place. The wait has always been so prohibitively long.

We did the walk up list and they always quoted 60-70 minutes and we literally got our table ready text 10 minutes later. We were still up in our room so they were way off with the estimated time!

I found that too. Evening hours are actually better now and the new "rope drop".

Yes and this is why I am doing a deluxe in April so we can check out the evening extra hours as well. 2 hours at night is so much better than the 30 minutes. The AP discount made it a little easier to stay at a deluxe.

o cute!

Thanks that was the only day I could wear a t-shirt under my sweater

s a game changer. I'll be elated when they finally extend a line to AK.

Wow I would love this, have you heard it will eventually go to AK?

I didn't love them nearly as much as Wishes, but still think they're pretty. The music isn't nearly as good for sure.

We noticed they didn’t do the big fireworks directly above the castle near as much as they use to with HEA. Why have a male voice signing Elsa’s song. So strange to me!

How fun!! Looking forward to your next TR.

 

[disneyAndi14]

Your trip sounds lovely, thanks for sharing!

It really was despite the cold weather!

Aaah, see, you did the wrong dessert party. You have to enjoy those drinks *before* fireworks and then your double vision will really make the show into something

You got that right! Lol

 

[disneyAndi14]

Well... shoot. You go to Disney in winter to get away from the cold!

I know! It was chilly but we had the most beautiful weather in December so we can’t complain I guess! I was really hoping for better weather

Better than snow, but... still.

We got about 5 inches of snow yesterday and it was -26 on Thursday, good times, haha

Ugh... tooo late! But think you did that to maximize your Disney time?

Yes, it gave us a full day on Saturday and decreased the cost of our flight by a fair amount!

Wow, that sure is pretty.

Destino is a beautiful resort.

Those are all in Gran Destino?!?!?

Yes between the tower and the grounds of CSR. Toledo, Barcelona, and Dahlia are all in the tower. Dahlia and Barcelona are mainly lounges but have some snacks!

Every time I see that, my brain does this: "Wolf Gang Puck... no... Wolf Bang Guck... um.. Wolf B so

That is funny because I write it and my brain always goes to Wolfgang Puck. The Wolfgang express never opened back up, bummer because it was a good spot. There is a fine dining Wolfgang only now.

Really! I've steered away from that as the sound of it didn't appeal at all. Might have to revise my opinion.

Oh my gosh these egg rolls are so good and the dipping sauce is delicious

While I don't drink coffee... I just can't see myself waiting in line an hour for a cookie (or cookies.)

I know, I was told the wait would be about 30 minutes and at the time they were not doing virtual queue. Once I waited I was invested in it and had to stay in the line! I was rewarded with goodness!

Like so many places, now.

It was quite obvious how short staffed WDW is right now. It irritates me because the corporation doesn’t take this in to account and lower the prices!

Okay, thanks for this. I've been wrestling on whether to just buy it for our whole trip or a la carte like you did.

I would definitely buy it the day of, this works very well, just buy before 7am and get your favorite rides in your tip board and you will be able to click on the popular ride right away. Slinky Dog goes fast, Jungle cruise and PPF go fast! The regular genie will let you customize your favorite rides and then it will ask you if you want to purchase Genie+ this way you will be all set! I wish resort guests got preference at 7am but we don’t. If you want to pay extra above Genie+ for the fancy rides, you do get preference as a resort guest at 7am. This helps a lot for Rise and Remy!

The word's gotten out, I suppose.
That or the majority of people going to Disney right now are the hard-core fans who know all the tricks.

Boy, I am not sure, we encountered a lot of people who didn’t seem to have a clue, lol I think it is the park reservation system and no park hopping until 2pm that also add to the congestion

Another perfect shirt.
Do you wear clothes with an agenda for certain photo ops? Or you wear them for the park and just happen upon these photo ops?

I really don’t but I knew I wanted to wear Remy at Epcot and Lady and the Tramp at MK. I didn’t even realize the gold statue was there until Andi pointed it out!

Oh! DD wants to do one and I didn't think they had them right now.

Yes they are back. The sit down one during the fireworks is the most costly, the after fireworks one is the least at around 100.00 a person, if I am remembering correctly. We loved the sit down one in 2019 before the pandemic and it was better and less expensive. It is worth trying once so if your daughter wants to do it, I would, on the Disney website you will get the description of the 3 they offer and the prices.

Hmm... think I'll still do it. We enjoyed having a place to sit and relax while watching. The food/drink was secondary for us.

I think it is good to try once!

I may be PMing you if that's okay?

Sure!

Ooohhh... nice. Love WL.

I’m so excited to stay here, we have never stayed, mostly because our house is wood post & beams and Andi wasn’t feeling it at Disney

Maybe our dates will overlap.
Not quite sure when we'll be there yet (might book that today), but my window is between Aug 16 -26. Most likely be there for a week, somewhere within those days.

That would be cool our dates are 8/26-9/3 so we may just miss you unless dates change a little!

We're skipping Uni this trip and just staying at WDW. Not sure how we're getting there yet, but probably Lyft. (Maybe rent a car... we'll see.)

We found Lyft reasonable, quick, and good replacement to DME. I suggest getting the Lyft app close to your trip and you will likely get a deal for 50% off your first three rides!

Ya.... loving this winter... not.

Oh my gosh, ours is so snowy this year, we must have at least 2-3 feet on the ground, yuck

 

[disneyAndi14]

We've found January to always have some cool weather and rain at WDW. Still can't believe the perfect weather we had in 2021 the week after Thanksgiving at WDW with 70s and no rain. But it does make for a long winter to come back to Wisconsin in early December.

The weather we had the first week of December in 2021 was wonderful. I think we are done with the late January trips. This was our 3rd one and all 3 had cold weather. It use to be worth it with low crowds not so much now, it was crowded!
I hear you about the long winters!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Loved the recap . Can’t wait for the full report.

 

[pkondz]

We got about 5 inches of snow yesterday and it was -26 on Thursday, good times, haha

Yuck. I've lost count of how many times I've shoveled the driveway over the last week or so. One storm, one blizzard and a few snowfalls.
I'm ready for spring. Any day now, would be fine. (And it's not gonna happen any time soon.)

Yes, it gave us a full day on Saturday and decreased the cost of our flight by a fair amount!

Yes between the tower and the grounds of CSR. Toledo, Barcelona, and Dahlia are all in the tower. Dahlia and Barcelona are mainly lounges but have some snacks!

Lots of options!

That is funny because I write it and my brain always goes to Wolfgang Puck.

Great minds think alike!

Oh my gosh these egg rolls are so good and the dipping sauce is delicious

Okay! Then I'll try 'em!

I know, I was told the wait would be about 30 minutes and at the time they were not doing virtual queue. Once I waited I was invested in it and had to stay in the line! I was rewarded with goodness!

Ah. The ol' bait & switch. "Wait will be just 30 minutes."
Which means you think "I bet it will be less... maybe just 10!" and they think "It's close to an hour, but if I say that, they'll leave."

It was quite obvious how short staffed WDW is right now. It irritates me because the corporation doesn’t take this in to account and lower the prices!

How about not charging for parking since you canceled DME?
How about offering a discount since you've removed EMH both morning (mostly) and evening.
How about offering $10 off per day for rooms since you're not providing mousekeeping?

Just... sad.

I would definitely buy it the day of, this works very well, just buy before 7am and get your favorite rides in your tip board and you will be able to click on the popular ride right away. Slinky Dog goes fast, Jungle cruise and PPF go fast! The regular genie will let you customize your favorite rides and then it will ask you if you want to purchase Genie+ this way you will be all set! I wish resort guests got preference at 7am but we don’t. If you want to pay extra above Genie+ for the fancy rides, you do get preference as a resort guest at 7am. This helps a lot for Rise and Remy!

Okay, thanks.
My understanding is you can buy it any time after midnight and then be ready to go right at 7am.
When you click on the popular ride, it gives the option to book LL? Or is that separate?

Boy, I am not sure, we encountered a lot of people who didn’t seem to have a clue, lol

Oh! Okay.

I think it is the park reservation system and no park hopping until 2pm that also add to the congestion

Makes sense.

Yes they are back. The sit down one during the fireworks is the most costly, the after fireworks one is the least at around 100.00 a person, if I am remembering correctly. We loved the sit down one in 2019 before the pandemic and it was better and less expensive. It is worth trying once so if your daughter wants to do it, I would, on the Disney website you will get the description of the 3 they offer and the prices.

We did the sit down one too, a few years ago. Why she wants to do it again.

I think it is good to try once!

Or in DD's case... twice.

That would be cool our dates are 8/26-9/3 so we may just miss you unless dates change a little!

Well poop. Looks like we'll miss you. She needs to be back with a good week prior to school starting so she can set up her class room. She'd probably need less time, but she's planning on moving to another school for next fall.

We found Lyft reasonable, quick, and good replacement to DME. I suggest getting the Lyft app close to your trip and you will likely get a deal for 50% off your first three rides!

I already have (and have used) the app, so no free rides for me.

Oh my gosh, ours is so snowy this year, we must have at least 2-3 feet on the ground, yuck

Where it's shoveled, it's anywhere from 4 to 8 feet high. Enough!!!

 

[vamassey1]

We are going the end of April, what are your dates?

Sorry going to miss you again. I'm going April 9-16 on a solo trip to visit DD.

The Beignets are totally worth a trip over to FQ, yum! Plus Mickey shaped makes it even better!

We had the beignets when we stayed there way back in 2010 but they weren't Mickey shaped. Gotta get the Mickey heads. If it were just to eat beignets I can get those here at several places but I want the Mickey head ones.

Enjoyed your recap and you've made me very hungry. So many good food places.

 

[amazingact21]

We could see Everest and the Tree of Life!

That sounds like a wonderful view!

We also tried the Donald Duck mouse cake from Gaston’s.

How did it compare to the lemon blueberry mousse at Satuli?

I was rewarded with one of the best cold brews I have ever had. I tried the Banana Bread cold brew.

I've heard this cold brew is delicious. Honestly, if it's as good as the peanut butter than I'm not surprised. Gideon's knows how to make a good cold brew.

We found the evenings are better now especially at HS.

I have been thinking this is the new standard. I feel like where rope drop was the ticket, now it's evening time.

 

[disneyAndi14]

When you click on the popular ride, it gives the option to book LL? Or is that separate?

The Genie will help you plan your day and you pick “favorite attractions” and this makes it much easier at 7am to click on SDD otherwise you have to scroll down to find it and you lose precious time. I think you can play around with it now in MDE.

We did the sit down one too, a few years ago. Why she wants to do it again.

We loved the sit down one. We did it in 2019.

Where it's shoveled, it's anywhere from 4 to 8 feet high. Enough!!!

Same here and guess what it is snowing again right now!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Sorry going to miss you again. I'm going April 9-16 on a solo trip to visit DD.

We have been so close to being there at the same time! Enjoy your time with DD!

We had the beignets when we stayed there way back in 2010 but they weren't Mickey shaped. Gotta get the Mickey heads. If it were just to eat beignets I can get those here at several places but I want the Mickey head ones.

Enjoyed your recap and you've made me very hungry. So many good food places

We can’t find beignets anywhere around here. I remember having some in New Orleans in the “real French Quarter” yummy. We had so much fun eating and drinking down there. I went with my 2 sisters.
The Mickey ones are very good and so cute!

 

[disneyAndi14]

That sounds like a wonderful view!

It really was and the little lake with the fountain was right below us. Wonderful views.

How did it compare to the lemon blueberry mousse at Satuli?

It was similar but actually a little better in my opinion. I think the cake with the fresh blueberries was delicious

I've heard this cold brew is delicious. Honestly, if it's as good as the peanut butter than I'm not surprised. Gideon's knows how to make a good cold brew.

This was so good. It made my long wait so worth it!

I have been thinking this is the new standard. I feel like where rope drop was the ticket, now it's evening time.

Yes, I don’t know if it is the change with the 30 minutes for every park or why it is so crowded now every morning. I remember Andi and I getting so many rides in the first 2 hours.

 

[gopherdame]

Usually just lurk but wanted to say how much I enjoyed your report. We live just north of the cities in Blaine. Sorry you didn't have the best weather. We used to always go in January too, but I don't think the high crowds make it worth it now. We go at Christmas now so the grandkids don't miss school. It is so busy but the weather was wonderful. I'll be watching for your next trip report.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Andi also had the moonshine from Homecomin and she loved it. She said it was strong and made her drunk, lol She bought the refillable cup and definitely wants to go back now, yay!

Yeah!!!

We ate and drank at 3 Bridges twice, Toledo once, Rix once, and the Barcelona lounge.

Is Barcelona Lounge open in. the evening again? I was just watching some videos and all the youtubers went right when the hotel reopened, and it was only open in the morning.

I waited almost an hour to get into Gideon’s Bake House and I was rewarded with one of the best cold brews I have ever had. I tried the Banana Bread cold brew. It sounds strange but omg it was so delicious. I loved it!

I almost want to go just for the cold brew! Is that bad?

We were able to enjoy 1 attraction in each park during the 30 minutes. We did MMRR at HS, Navi one day and FoP one day at AK, PPF one day and 7DMT one day at MK.

I mean half an hour is not long, so that isn't suprising.

I was surprised how crowded it was on a normally low crowd, off peak time at Disney. I guess that is not true anymore. I think so many people do remote learning now and there isn’t set school breaks anymore.

I think everyone is literally making up for lost time...

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

I think everyone is literally making up for lost time...

I think so too!
Apparently lots of the parks are fully booked this week and no more reservations are being taken for many of them. 1 day all 4 parks are booked up! Makes me wonder if they will start doing away with reservations so that they can get more $$

 

[disneyAndi14]

Usually just lurk but wanted to say how much I enjoyed your report. We live just north of the cities in Blaine. Sorry you didn't have the best weather. We used to always go in January too, but I don't think the high crowds make it worth it now. We go at Christmas now so the grandkids don't miss school. It is so busy but the weather was wonderful. I'll be watching for your next trip report.

Thank you so much! We lived in Champlin, MN for awhile, we built our first house there!
The weather was really a bummer, we still enjoyed the trip. I was just hoping for warmer weather since it is so cold here.
I agree about January, we loved it for the low crowds but this year, wow, it felt like Easter time crowd wise. Very busy.
I’m hoping our end of April will be a little better, I am guessing not. At least the weather will be better and we do love F&G!
I loved our early December trip, beautiful weather and all the Christmas decorations!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Is Barcelona Lounge open in. the evening again? I was just watching some videos and all the youtubers went right when the hotel reopened, and it was only open in the morning.

Yes Barcelona is open in the evening again and it is such a nice atmosphere down there. The drinks were great and there was a musician playing his guitar and singing. I loved it

almost want to go just for the cold brew! Is that bad?

You should for sure! I waited a long time and I think I would do it again for the cold brew, is delicious!

I mean half an hour is not long, so that isn't suprising.

It really isn’t and it seems so much shorter then the old EMH hour, not sure why but we could get so much more done during that hour!

I think everyone is literally making up for lost time...

You are so right about that! This whole year will be crazy at Disney.

I think so too!
Apparently lots of the parks are fully booked this week and no more reservations are being taken for many of them. 1 day all 4 parks are booked up! Makes me wonder if they will start doing away with reservations so that they can get more $$

I saw that as well, this weekend is booked, hard to get a park reservation. So much has changed since the pandemic and most of it makes me sad

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

. So much has changed since the pandemic and most of it makes me sad

Ditto

 

[Steppesister]

So true, I have made such good friends on here, including you my dear!

I don’t understand how much society has changed and not for the better!

Exactly. No one wants to have polite discussions and be in disagreement without getting angry or defensive. (I confess, I am guilty of this too) I think we've lost the art of truly listening.

I have wanted to try a drink there for quite sometime and it just has t worked out. I think staying at WL will allow us to get over there right at opening!

YAY!! A great reason to stay there.

Yummy, Ilove Pog juice, I will need to look for it.

This reminded me I still need to do it.

I think the whole country has had winter these past couple weeks!

Even Tucson has been freezing at night and only on the high 60's.

We did the walk up list and they always quoted 60-70 minutes and we literally got our table ready text 10 minutes later. We were still up in our room so they were way off with the estimated time!

Wow! Nice! I don't think I've ever had that happen even with a traditional ADR. Last time I did a walk up VQ, it was at Tony's and I waited 30 minutes.

Yes and this is why I am doing a deluxe in April so we can check out the evening extra hours as well. 2 hours at night is so much better than the 30 minutes. The AP discount made it a little easier to stay at a deluxe.

I have a lot of travel coming up, so Disney is probably out this coming year, despite having an AP. Just so $$ and it's tough to find a roommate to split the room cost.

Wow I would love this, have you heard it will eventually go to AK?

Only rumors, sadly.

We noticed they didn’t do the big fireworks directly above the castle near as much as they use to with HEA. Why have a male voice signing Elsa’s song. So strange to me!

For REALS! Just.. WHY?!

 

[disneyAndi14]

I have a lot of travel coming up, so Disney is probably out this coming year, despite having an AP. Just so $$ and it's tough to find a roommate to split the room cost

Is your Italian cruise still on? I hope so. Keep me in mind maybe some day we can go together and share the cost of a room. I don’t think we will renew our AP anymore. It expires the end of September.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Makes me wonder if they will start doing away with reservations so that they can get more $$

I don't think they will. Once they have more CM they will just up the # of reservations. It sounds like they still don't have all the CM they need.

Yes Barcelona is open in the evening again and it is such a nice atmosphere down there. The drinks were great and there was a musician playing his guitar and singing. I loved it

I was comparing the Barcelona Lounge to the Lounge upstairs. The snacks seem better upstairs. I am hoping we try at least one of them on our trip! Speaking of which, are we overlapping trips?

You are so right about that! This whole year will be crazy at Disney.

I know so many people who have never been that are going! It's crazy. I am trying to mentally prepare myself for our trip!