Oh, has it Been Raining? No, this is Just Sweat. Sept/Oct 2022 Trip Report! (Updated 9/16!!)

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Day 8, Part 1: What do you want to rope drop? I dunno, breakfast?​

Friday, September 30th, 2022

After two days with no parks, we were up nice and early this morning excited to do something besides loop around the BW and drink! Originally we had the cabana booked for this day, but since the cabanas were still closed, we decided to just head to Epcot where we had park reservations.

At 7 I booked us the ILL for Guardians, at this point we didn’t know if DAS would be able to be used with the VQ (spoiler, it can be), so we figured we might as well book the ILL so we could see it at least once! Also, we did have the Epcot after hours party coming up, but at this point there was still some rumors flying around that it might be cancelled, so I didn’t want to chance it!

This morning the parks were doing the phased reopening, so MK was opening at 8, Epcot at 9, HS at 10, and AK at 11, and bonus, the first two hours at each park were for Disney resort guests only!!

Since we had park reservations already for Epcot this day, we decided to stick with that. We had missed a lot of food booths in the two days the parks were closed, so wanted to get to as many as possible!

I also booked a G+ for TT this morning, but the return time wasn’t until 1, so we didn’t know if we’d be in the park still at that point to use it.

We headed out to the park at 8:30 for the 9 am opening, and were surprised when we got there to find they already had let people in! We were also surprised, and pleased, to see the skyliner wasn’t back up and running yet, so the IG was nice and empty!

Once in the park we did something we didn’t think would be possible anymore….swing by France for breakfast and mimosas to enjoy with non-existent crowds!

Since we had been let into the park before they were actually ready to open, we hung out in from of Les Halles until they opened about 15 minutes later. It was wonderful back there, only us and a CM (from France!) who we ended up chatting with for a while. Love the international cast is coming back. (Are they fully back yet? I feel like there are some countries that still aren’t back…)

We took a ton of pictures of the emptiness back there.




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https://flic.kr/p/2okkTTu

Wow, look at the beautiful blue sky in this video!









Finally, just before 9, they opened Les Halles and we headed in.

About 30 seconds after we entered, this older guy came rushing in who acted all huffy and pissed we were there. He was be super obnoxious and grumbling about us taking too long as we decided what we wanted, so we eventually told him to just go around us. It was literally just him and us in there, no idea why he had SUCH an attitude. What a grump!







We finally decided to get the chocolate brioche to split this morning, and then two others to take with us for breakfast the following morning! We also got mimosas, because, well, it’s tradition!

We took our goodies to the fountain in the front of the pavilion to enjoy.




Just photobombing the food...

While enjoying, a group of CMs walk by and one goes “Now these two know how to start the day in Epcot!” HA!!!!!! I mean, yeah, we really do

It was actually pretty funny, we had so many other guests come up to tell us what a great idea we had, and one guy saw us and comes over and is all “WHERE DID YOU GET THAT!?!” (pointing to the mimosas) so we told him and he yells to his family “Change of plans, we’re getting drinks!” HA!!!!!!

Next up: We Finally Ride Guardians!​

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Breakfast of Champions!!! What a fantastic spot to rope drop. I am a little sad that word has gotten out about this wonderful spot but happy for them that they're busy. Imagine if it was still in the spot that is now the ice cream shop! I get asked all the time where I got a drink in the morning (I also do a mimosa but hold the OJ )

 

[Wood Nymph]

It was actually pretty funny, we had so many other guests come up to tell us what a great idea we had, and one guy saw us and comes over and is all “WHERE DID YOU GET THAT!?!” (pointing to the mimosas) so we told him and he yells to his family “Change of plans, we’re getting drinks!” HA!!!!!!

That must have been really fun to be in Epcot all by yourselves! The brioche is huge. I can see why you headed straight to Les Halles.

 

[VAtink]

Breakfast of Champions!!! What a fantastic spot to rope drop. I am a little sad that word has gotten out about this wonderful spot but happy for them that they're busy. Imagine if it was still in the spot that is now the ice cream shop! I get asked all the time where I got a drink in the morning (I also do a mimosa but hold the OJ )

Right? I think it's one of the best ways to start the day in Epcot! And HAAAA, I like your drink of choice!

 

[VAtink]

That must have been really fun to be in Epcot all by yourselves! The brioche is huge. I can see why you headed straight to Les Halles.

It was really nice this morning, made us miss the days when hardly anyone went to France in the morning.

Those brioches are really big, and really really good! They are so perfectly light and airy, and the chocolate is just an added bonus.

 

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Day 8, Part 2: We Finally Ride Guardians!​

Friday, September 30th, 2022

We last left off with us having a glorious breakfast in France. Once we wrapped up our meal, we decided to do some shopping. My mom wanted to get some presents for her sister and decided to do a Remy theme. She got a bunch of Remy kitchen stuff for her sister, and I got a Ratatouille shirt with various cheeses on it!

Once again they didn’t have any larger plastic bags, only the super small ones, but fortunately mom brought the Monsters Inc tote I gave her at the start of the trip so we put all our purchases in there. I have no idea why she brought it, but I’m glad she did!

After shopping, we decided to get some photopass pictures in the area and as we made our way towards the front of the park.















(yeah, we stopped at a lot of photopass photographers!)

After we finished up with our pictures, we made our way to the front of the park to use our pre-booked DAS for SE!

This time it was up and running, and before long we were on the ride!

After SE I saw Pluto meeting nearby with a short line, so we decided to go meet him!



We were going to meet Goofy next, but arrived at his meet just as they were closing the line to new guests.

By that point we were getting close to our ILL for Guardians, so we found a seat in the shade to peoplewatch and wait for our return time to come up. Finally, it was time to head over and I was SOOOOOOO excited!

There was hardly any wait with the LL, and soon we were on! We got September for our song this time around.



I was expecting Guardians to be a lot more intense than it was, instead it was just plain old fun! I would say that I find Everest to be way more intense than Guardians which I was really surprised by!

Once off the ride it was time for some food booths!

Next up: Back to the Food Booths!​

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I love all the Ratatouille kitchen stuff they have. So cute!! But WHY can't we have package delivery back?? Love all your pictures!! I am not really a thrill ride person and was so nervous to ride Guardians the first time (I've never done Everest or Rock 'n Roller). My theory is that the 80's music really distracts me / adds a lot to my enjoyment. When I rode with the Christmas song, I felt like it was more intense (obviously it wasn't) and didn't enjoy it as much.

 

[Wood Nymph]

I was expecting Guardians to be a lot more intense than it was, instead it was just plain old fun! I would say that I find Everest to be way more intense than Guardians which I was really surprised by!

Guardians is another of the new rides that I can't ride because of motion sickness. But at least it has an interesting preshow.

 

[Counting Stars]

So glad your trip picked up in such a great way. I imagine those were seriously scary days in Florida!
And a very unique set of memories from this trip You took some great pictures together- love the photo-booth shots!

 

[VAtink]

I love all the Ratatouille kitchen stuff they have. So cute!! But WHY can't we have package delivery back?? Love all your pictures!! I am not really a thrill ride person and was so nervous to ride Guardians the first time (I've never done Everest or Rock 'n Roller). My theory is that the 80's music really distracts me / adds a lot to my enjoyment. When I rode with the Christmas song, I felt like it was more intense (obviously it wasn't) and didn't enjoy it as much.

Me too, I'm so happy he's the mascot of food and wine! I totally agree, I don't understand why they don't bring package delivery back. We definitely purchase less now than we would since we don't want to carry stuff around with us.

That's interesting it felt more intense with the Christmas overlay! I've heard so many people say they didn't like it with that song, I wonder if they'll change it up this year.

 

[VAtink]

Guardians is another of the new rides that I can't ride because of motion sickness. But at least it has an interesting preshow.

Haha, the preshow is pretty interesting, although after seeing it a few times it starts to feel so long!

 

[VAtink]

So glad your trip picked up in such a great way. I imagine those were seriously scary days in Florida!
And a very unique set of memories from this trip You took some great pictures together- love the photo-booth shots!

Yeah, we were a bit worried that night the storm hit, but fortunately it wasn't bad around us. I'm so happy we got to have a few more days of fun after the parks opened up again! It certainly made some unique memories!

 

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Day 8, Part 3: Back to the Food Booths!​

Friday, September 30th, 2022

Our first stop after riding Guardians was the Fry Basket where we got the Yucca Fries and I got the Salty Dog drink.



These were both delicious, the drink was super strong!

We then made our way over to the Swanky Saucy Swine where I got the ribs and mom got the lettuce cups.



The lettuce cups were definitely the winner here, great flavors. The ribs were good, but not great.

By the time we wrapped up with that food, we were in the mood for some margaritas, so off to Mexico we went!

I was surprised to see the line for La Cava was pretty short considering how crowded the park was getting. We only had to wait for a few people before we could go in and order.

We ended up getting the avocado margarita for me and the cucumber for my mom.

After paying we took our drinks outside and to the side of the pavilion where they had some tables set up in the shade.





It was nice up there, empty, and we had a great view of the crowds streaming into WS!



Seriously, there were some wild crowds in Epcot later this day after the initial two-hour resort guests time ended.

Quick aside: One thing that we noticed this trip that we’ve never seen before at any trip any time of the year was the crowds in Epcot were always large. There were no “weekday” crowds this trip, every single day we were in Epcot it was basically Saturday afternoon crowds by 11:30 in the morning. I do wonder if the hurricane was partly to blame for this, both with shortening peoples trips so they packed more in the days before and after the hurricane, and then the locals who ended up having time off that week so came to the parks. We spoke with a group of locals the first day the parks opened back up after the hurricane, and they were all there because their work was closed that day.

Anyways, after enjoying our drinks in Mexico we made our way around WS checking out food booths for some more snacks.

We ended up not stopping until we got to India where we got the Crispy Paneer!





This was SOOOOOOO good! It was one of my top dishes this year!

After finishing up our food we made our way all the way back to Shimmering Sips where we picked up our cheese crawl redemption prize!

While the weather was stunning this day (like 75 degrees and no humidity!), we were starting to get hot from all the walking so the soft serve was a fantasic treat!

We got our redemption prizes, then we took our goodies to a nearby table.



After finishing up with our food, we swung by the Twinnings shop so mom could stock up on tea (she really loves tea!)

Once our shopping was complete we headed out of the park for our mid day break. I also ended up booking us a VQ for Guardians at the 1:00 drop (actually did it at 1:10 since I forgot about it).

Next up: A Quick trip to HS!​

 

[NJlauren]

Omg that crispy panner was amazing!! I could go for it right now! I hope it is back next year!

 

[VAtink]

Omg that crispy panner was amazing!! I could go for it right now! I hope it is back next year!

Isn't it great?!? When I came home I checked all the Indian restaurants around me to see if they had anything similar, sadly they did not. I really hope they come back this year!

 

[Wood Nymph]

Epcot does seem busier than it used to be. But I think you are right that some of it was due to the hurricane.

 

[snikki]

We discovered Les Halles last trip and it was an amazing breakfast! It was crazy packed when we went but we still enjoyed ourselves. I will have to get a mimosa next time.

We were there in November and thought the same exact thing about Epcot crowds. I even noted it in another thread. I did not find the weekday crowds to be lower than the weekend. We decided to stop into Epcot on the Saturday we were leaving. I was dreading it but it was just a typical day at Epcot. The crowds may have been a bit lower actually.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

And I shouldn't have read this before dinner lololololol

 

[VAtink]

Epcot does seem busier than it used to be. But I think you are right that some of it was due to the hurricane.

Yeah, it was wild, I kept expecting the crowds to die off during the week, but it never happened! The funny thing is, the Saturday of Epcot's 40th the place felt empty (except for the merchandise line). Wonder if people stayed away thinking it would be a madhouse.

 

[VAtink]

We discovered Les Halles last trip and it was an amazing breakfast! It was crazy packed when we went but we still enjoyed ourselves. I will have to get a mimosa next time.

It's so great, the food there is amazing! I do miss the days when WS opened after FW and not many people knew that France was open for breakfast. We used to love doing breakfast there feeling like we had the place to ourselves! I feel like now Les Halles always has a line (except right after a hurricane of course )

We were there in November and thought the same exact thing about Epcot crowds. I even noted it in another thread. I did not find the weekday crowds to be lower than the weekend. We decided to stop into Epcot on the Saturday we were leaving. I was dreading it but it was just a typical day at Epcot. The crowds may have been a bit lower actually.

Right?!? I even noticed on touring plans that they showed (in the after the fact numbers) that Fridays and Mondays in Epcot ended up being worse crowds than Saturday and Sunday most of the fall!