Sailing the Skyliner: Life is the Bubbles on Spring Break - A March 2024 Trip Report

[vamassey1]

Wow, what a fabulous family vacation. You did so much and saw so much.

 

[jrmint427]

Jungle Cruise, Magic Carpets & Main Street Bakery​

As our Jungle Cruise continued, we came to the main reason we all ride this one:



I could have sworn some scenes were updated since last time we rode, but it looks like the last changes were in 2021 so we should have seen those in 2022. Unless I’m missing something?




Although I had promised coffee was next, the girls really wanted to ride Magic Carpets and I was able to get a LL for almost immediately after JC, so I suggested we knock that out quickly. At 9:43am the posted time was 30 minutes (!), and Touring Plans said it was going to be a 23-minute wait. So, this actually seemed like a good use of a LL. We only waited 6 minutes.

This was our first trip the girls were considered old enough to ride by themselves (ages 7 and 9). The girls announced they wanted to ride together, so Grammas rode in the back of their car.



That meant Pat and I got to ride together!



The girls had a great time on this ride! I probably wouldn’t go on this one without kids, but I always enjoy the views.



I took surprisingly poor notes this day, but I’m pretty sure that the next LL I got after tapping into the Magic Carpets was to meet Mickey Mouse at 5:40pm. With six rides complete, it was almost 10:00am and truly time to find some breakfast and caffeine. We headed back toward the Main Street Bakery.

As we approached, we saw the Dapper Dans singing on a trolley that was making its way down Main Street. I don’t think I’ve seen them in person before, but have always wanted to catch a show! We were in line at Starbucks around 10:05am and it took almost 20 minutes to get our drinks, and another 6 minutes to get our food. My mom had found a table at Casey’s while we were in line, so we took our breakfast back there to eat.

I used 5 snack credits to get 3 food items and 2 coffee drinks, bringing us to a total of 11 of 32 snack credits used (and $30.49 worth of food and drink in this transaction). We got a Vanilla Danish (Pat), Mickey cinnamon roll (DD7), blueberry muffin (DD9), Venti Iced Latte (Pat) and Venti Hazelnut Latte w/ Almond Milk (me). I also wanted a spinach feta wrap (only because they don’t carry the Impossible breakfast sandwiches at Disney Starbucks for some reason), but despite the price point being less than the pastries ($5.79 vs. the $6.99 cinnamon roll), for whatever reason, you cannot use a snack credit on the sandwiches or wraps.




I think Grammas got the girls each a lemonade.



We shared our breakfast foods and had a relaxing meal at Casey’s.



Up next was one of my dad’s favorite rides at WDW.

 

[Stacybaeasm]

Hawaii sounds like so much fun...although I am EXHAUSTED just hearing about all of your hiking.

 

[cheryllarsen]

We haven't been brave enough to do a trip without a stroller yet!

 

[cheryllarsen]

Thanks for sharing! I enjoyed reading your trip report.

 

[awrites]

What a fun trip to Hawaii! Thanks for sharing the mini-report!

Carpets is also one I wouldn’t ride without a child! Hard to choose it when there’s so little unique theming to it, unless you’ve a a kid or kids asking to go. And it looks like your girls had a fabulous time riding on their own!

 

[jrmint427]

Wow, what a fabulous family vacation. You did so much and saw so much.

It was a great trip! We managed to fit a lot in while also having time to just relax at the beach and the pool, which was perfect for me.

Hawaii sounds like so much fun...although I am EXHAUSTED just hearing about all of your hiking.

Haha I still think it was less exhausting than most Disney days! But those uphills/stairs were a lot.

We haven't been brave enough to do a trip without a stroller yet!

I wasn't sure how it would go but the girls did great without one at these ages!

Thanks for sharing! I enjoyed reading your trip report.

Thank you!

What a fun trip to Hawaii! Thanks for sharing the mini-report!

Carpets is also one I wouldn’t ride without a child! Hard to choose it when there’s so little unique theming to it, unless you’ve a a kid or kids asking to go. And it looks like your girls had a fabulous time riding on their own!

Thanks for reading it! The girls definitely enjoyed riding Carpets on their own, but I wonder how many more years they will want to go on that one.

 

[jrmint427]

Train & Sword in the Stone​

The train is one of my dad’s favorite rides. He’s always loved trains (like Walt!) so if there was ever an option to ride a train on any vacation growing up, you can bet we were on it. I grew up near King’s Island in Ohio and have memories of riding the train there every single time we visited, even if we didn’t actually need to take it to the water park (it only went to the water park and back). I’m pretty sure the WDW train was closed for refurbishment during both our 2019 and 2022 trips, which was disappointing for my dad. I knew we had to make a point to ride it this trip too (and I’ll admit, I really enjoy train rides too).

We were at the train station by 10:53am.



We waited 5-6 minutes for a train to arrive. We didn’t have anywhere we needed to be right away, and ride lines were increasing, so we decided to do a full loop back to Main Street so we could see the full track, and then stay on for a second loop to take us to Fantasyland, where we wanted to end up. We settled in for a nice, relaxing ride.



Well, not so relaxing. It was on the train that I realized my cell phone battery was already very low and needed to be charged. I rummaged in my backpack only to find I had forgotten BOTH chargers that I took on this trip and had charged the night before. I had a cordless charger that attached to the back of my phone with a magnet, which I had left back in the room. I also packed a charging cylinder, which was fully charged, and I had it with me; but I left the cable to it back in the room. Everyone in our group was relying on me to as guide and Genie+ manager, so no one else had brought a back-up charger for their cell phones.

My mom mentioned she read or saw they sold chargers in the park, and I then recalled that you could buy them for $30. My phone wasn’t going to last another hour, never mind the rest of the day, so I was bummed but knew I was going to have to buy another expensive charger, despite the two I had already packed. I googled where to find them and saw that I could get a Fuel Rod charger at Storybook Circus in Fantasyland, so that was going to be our first stop when we got off the train. My parents offered to split the cost with me since I was managing Genie+ for everyone. With a big sigh, I finally settled in to enjoy the rest of the train ride.

It was fun to see the construction workers actively working on Tiana’s ride each time we stopped at the train station in Frontierland. There was some pretty art on the building where we stopped too.




When we got off the train in Fantasyland, our first stop was Storybook Circus. I think we were on the train for almost 45 minutes, as it was 11:48am when I bought the FuelRod. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I could swap out the FuelRod for free each time it ran out of juice. There were 8 FuelRod stations at Magic Kingdom, and I saw they had them at every park and some of the resorts. This ended up coming in handy!

I got the charger just in time to book our next LL at 11:42am. I noticed that when I was following the two-hour rule, I couldn’t book at 11:42am on the dot; it was more like 11:42 and 30 seconds, making me think they counted seconds in the two-hour rule. I booked Big Thunder Mountain for me, Pat, his mom and the girls, who both surprised me by saying they would try it. I’m not exactly sure when our window started, but I think it was for around 8:00pm. Since my parents didn’t want to ride it, I booked them Peter Pan for 6:05pm, which I then pushed back to 9:05pm (end of our BTM window) and was eventually able to line up right with our BTM window closer to 8:00pm. It was much easier to play the Genie slots for only two people!

Ride lines were a little long and it was getting hot this day, so we decided it was time to watch PhilharMagic. On the way there I saw a PhotoPass Photographer taking Sword in the Stone pictures. We had never tried to pull the sword out before so I suggested we stop and all take a turn. Does anyone know how often the sword actually comes out of the stone?

DD7 went first. I liked her under-hand approach.




DD9 went next, also with an under-hand approach.




I figured it anyone was going to pull it out, it would be one of them. I went next.



Womp-womp, no luck either. Pat was up next, sure he would be the one.



Would he be the one to pull the sword out?

 

[bluecastle]

Cool ending! Like my old Nancy Drew books that I could never stop reading a the end of each chapter.
We love the train too and were so disappointed that it was closed for so long. It’s a must do on our next trip. One time, we saw a real deer not too far off from the train and we all joked about how at first we thought it might be an animatronic!

 

[jrmint427]

Cool ending! Like my old Nancy Drew books that I could never stop reading a the end of each chapter.
We love the train too and were so disappointed that it was closed for so long. It’s a must do on our next trip. One time, we saw a real deer not too far off from the train and we all joked about how at first we thought it might be an animatronic!

Haha! Gotta keep some suspense That is so cool! It's hard to know what's Disney magic vs. real life when you're in the Disney bubble!

 

[jrmint427]

Sword in the Stone, Part 2 & PhilharMagic​

Pat was up next to try to pull out the sword in the stone.



Almost had it…




But not quite.



His mom tried next.




Then my mom.



And then my dad. It was all on Grandpa!




Sadly, the sword was not budging for anyone in our family. But we had fun trying! We moved on to catch the next showing of PhilharMagic. The posted wait time was 20 minutes, so we were pleasantly surprised when we only waited 3 minutes to enter the theater. This is a really cute 3D (or 4D?) movie. I love the Ariel and Coco scenes best. DD9 still wouldn’t wear her glasses for this, but we all enjoyed it.

 

[jrmint427]

Castle Pics & Monsters, Inc.​

We wanted to find another indoor attraction with A/C, so we headed toward Tomorrowland for Monsters, Inc. On the way, I saw a PhotoPass photographer with no line on the side of the castle. It’s a requirement to stop when there is no line, right? I thought we would just take pictures of the girls this time, but the photographer had fun turning around and snapping pictures of the whole family.

I wanted individual pictures of the girls with the castle. This is what I got. Cute, but no castle



Then he turned the camera on my dad!



Then me and my mom.




Then I got at least one with my girls with the castle.



Not exactly the photoshoot I had in mind, but the photographer was fun and had a lot of energy. Now, onto Monsters, Inc!

We got to the line at 12:39pm. It was long, winding around outside. I was pretty sure there were at least two shows ahead of us, if not more. The posted time was 25 minutes. We debated whether to wait or not. I think half our group wanted to bail for lunch, but one of the girls was adamant that we wait in line and watch Monsters, Inc. right then. So, we agreed we’d see the show and then get lunch. We ended up waiting 28 minutes. The Inhuman Resources is my favorite sign (I work in HR). I always think to myself that I need to get one when I see this.



We went into the theater at 1:07pm. DD9 submitted a joke but it wasn’t selected. The kid they spoke to said they wanted to be a librarian, which I thought was sweet. That is what I would want to do if not HR. I really love this show, even though I know the format/standard jokes pretty well by now.

It was finally time for a late lunch!

 

[awrites]

Stubborn sword! Great pictures of everyone trying it though!

I love the Ariel and Coco scenes best.

…Ariel and Coco are in it???? Whoa, apparently I missed a lot! When we went I was so focused on trying to help DD4 through her fear of the 3D/4d that I remember barely anything about it! We’ll have to catch it again next time (maybe without the glasses for DD) along with Monsters Inc.

 

[jrmint427]

Stubborn sword! Great pictures of everyone trying it though!

We had fun trying!

…Ariel and Coco are in it???? Whoa, apparently I missed a lot! When we went I was so focused on trying to help DD4 through her fear of the 3D/4d that I remember barely anything about it! We’ll have to catch it again next time (maybe without the glasses for DD) along with Monsters Inc.

Yes, they are! DD9 was fine without the glasses, I don't think it's as enjoyable without them but at least the rest of us could watch that way.

 

[jrmint427]

Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café & Tron​

The QS options at MK are not great, especially for a vegetarian. Many of my favorite items of the past have been discontinued. This list includes: The Lighthouse Sandwich at Columbia Harbour House (hummus with tomato and broccoli slaw sandwich), Vegetarian Chili at Columbia Harbour House, The Vegan Slaw Dog at Casey’s (twice), even just a plain veggie burger at Pecos Bill’s. Why would Pecos Bill’s get rid of a veggie burger option?! In 2022, I tried the Burger to the Moon at Cosmic Ray’s. I wasn’t expecting much but loved the Brussels sprouts on it and decided that would be my new go-to. But then they discontinued that burger too!

I reviewed the MK QS menus many times before landing on Cosmic Ray’s as our QS plan for this day. We arrived at Cosmic Ray’s at 1:24pm. I tried to do mobile ordering while in line for Monsters, Inc., but the app kept giving me an error and I could not get it to work. So, we waited in a very long line (where kids were running between the lines and one stepped on my foot), and it was 1:50pm before we had most of our food. The place was packed even though this was well beyond normal lunch time, and we were lucky to find a small table to squeeze around (my mom was amazing at finding tables for us). I think we fit 6 chairs for the 7 of us as close to the table as we could get and called it good. This was before my parents brought their food too.



I’m pretty sure I booked our next LL at lunch, or while waiting in line for lunch (my time should have been 1:42pm) and went for an Ariel meet and greet.

They had an Impossible Patty Melt (Impossible Burger topped with plant-based Swiss cheese, pickle slaw, and asteroid sauce on toast, $12.79). I wasn’t overly excited for this, but it looked like my best option, and I knew Cosmic Ray’s would have plenty of options for the rest of the family too. This is what the Patty Melt looked like.



And the inside:



Is that really all the toppings they could spare? Despite me giving this sandwich a hard time, it was actually pretty good. I liked the sauce and pickle slaw (is that what it was?) on top. It was a heavy sandwich, so I could have split it with someone (but no one else wanted any). I wouldn’t go out of my way to get this again, but given the options at MK right now, this is what I would go back to.

I didn’t take pictures of every food item at this lunch for some reason. Exhaustion/heat/chaos? My dad ordered the grilled chicken sandwich. He wanted it without the cheese spread it was supposed to come with, which made it complicated apparently. For some reason they rang it up as a burger with cheese and it took awhile for them to fix the mistake. My dad said the chicken sandwich was, “Surprisingly good." The fries were good, the seating was not good. We’re pretty sure my mom ordered a burger, but it doesn’t sound like it was memorable for her.

Pat ordered the Greek Salad with Chicken (mixed greens with grilled chicken, cucumber, tomatoes, olives, feta cheese, pita chips and Greek vinaigrette dressing, $11.99). He really liked this.



I think my MIL ordered the cheeseburger and fries, which she liked too.



The girls both ordered the kids mac n’ cheese with fries and fruit (apples for one, orange for the other) as their sides. How many pictures of mac n’ cheese will I post in this trip report??



There is no alcohol offered at MK QS restaurants so Pat and I both got Coke Zero as our drink ($4.49 each). We used 2 adult QS credits (tracking 7 of 16 used) and 2 kid QS credits (tracking 8 of 16 used). The total for the meal with tax would have been $50.84.

Our Tron window opened while we were eating, at 2:10pm. After Pat, his mom and I finished eating, we took off for our ILL. My parents stayed with the girls while they finished eating and then went to watch the 3:00pm parade.

DD7 said her favorite part of the parade was when Minnie and Mickey waved right at her. The girls said it was very hot, though. They tried to stay in shade until the parade started while my dad held spots, but they had to go in the sun to see the parade.

Meanwhile, the rest of us were very excited to ride Tron for the first time. We stopped for PhotoPass pictures outside.




We entered the LL queue at 2:40pm. The pre-show was neat as it revealed the track to the coaster. They had lockers to drop our things, so I left my cell phone there. I was nervous for this ride! Pat and I ended up getting the front row without asking for it. For some reason this made me even more nervous. When the restraints came down, there was wiggle room and I felt even MORE nervous. I looked over at Pat and asked, is that really it for the restraints? Are we going to be okay?

Our ride picture is one of the most unflattering, but I think our faces say it all.



My MIL had a much better pic but her poor ride partner looks terrified!



What a ride! The front row was wild. I was terrified when we went on the outdoor run, and I kept lifting up off my seat against the back restraint. I was holding on so tight to the handlebars.

I agree with everyone who says it is too short. We paid $63.90 for 60 seconds of entertainment which sounds ridiculous as I write that out. But I’m grateful we were able to ride with very little wait (15 minutes). We estimated we saved about 45 minutes vs. waiting in the VQ, so we paid $1.42 per minute saved or $0.47 per person per minute saved.

We texted my parents when we got off the ride. The beginning of the parade was just approaching them, and I think they were near Liberty Square. We were going to try to meet them, but I realized the parade would be over by the time we got there. We caught part of the parade from a distance as it was going down Main Street. We agreed to meet at the Ariel meet and greet in Fantasyland, which was our next LL, and caught up with each other shortly before making it there.

 

[bluecastle]

I think your ride photo is great! I wish I could ride it. (Back issues and motion sickness)
You had a very short wait time compared to some that I’ve read. if I paid that much money and still had to wait a long time, I would not be a happy Disneyphile.
Reading about your LLs for characters is making me sad that they are not included in the upcoming changes. Maybe that will change. I’m hoping!

 

[vamassey1]

The girls had a great time on this ride! I probably wouldn’t go on this one without kids, but I always enjoy the views.

I still have not ridden The Magic Carpets. I have issues with going round and round, but I have ridden Dumbo a few times to I need to give this a try too. I'm sure the girls felt so grown up getting to ride together.

As we approached, we saw the Dapper Dans singing on a trolley that was making its way down Main Street. I don’t think I’ve seen them in person before, but have always wanted to catch a show!

I love the Dapper Dans!

We were in line at Starbucks around 10:05am and it took almost 20 minutes to get our drinks, and another 6 minutes to get our food. My mom had found a table at Casey’s while we were in line, so we took our breakfast back there to eat.

This is our usual go to for breakfast in MK and yes the line is long.

We didn’t have anywhere we needed to be right away, and ride lines were increasing, so we decided to do a full loop back to Main Street so we could see the full track, and then stay on for a second loop to take us to Fantasyland, where we wanted to end up. We settled in for a nice, relaxing ride.

I have always said I was going to make the loop all the way around, but haven't done it yet.

. I rummaged in my backpack only to find I had forgotten BOTH chargers that I took on this trip and had charged the night before. I

This happened to me in 2018 and I purchased the Fuel Rod in Pecos Bills and have not regretted it. Danielle and her friends all have these for the parks.

Sadly, the sword was not budging for anyone in our family. But we had fun trying!

Loved watching everyone try. I don't think I have ever seen anyone pull it out yet.

Not exactly the photoshoot I had in mind, but the photographer was fun and had a lot of energy. Now, onto Monsters, Inc!

The picture of everyone with castle and the one of just the girls are really good.

Pat ordered the Greek Salad with Chicken (mixed greens with grilled chicken, cucumber, tomatoes, olives, feta cheese, pita chips and Greek vinaigrette dressing, $11.99). He really liked this.

This salad does sound good. I need to keep this in mind.

Our ride picture is one of the most unflattering, but I think our faces say it all.

We really enjoyed Tron and hope to do it again.

 

[Disney102015]

Finally catching up!!

I’m pretty sure the WDW train was closed for refurbishment during both our 2019 and 2022 trips, which was disappointing for my dad

I just rode the train on my last trip and couldn’t even remember the last time I rode it with all the downtime. Maybe a decade ago??

There were 8 FuelRod stations at Magic Kingdom, and I saw they had them at every park and some of the resorts. This ended up coming in handy!

I also had to get an emergency fuel rod on my last trip. $30 was tough to swallow! And the ones I got only got my phone up to about 50%, then I had to swap for a new one. Oh well, works in a pinch I guess!

DD7 said her favorite part of the parade was when Minnie and Mickey waved right at her

Aww this is so sweet!!

 

[Stacybaeasm]

Just got caught up. Wow, Cosmic Rays was BUSY! I haven't seen it that busy since pre-shutdown. Counter service at MK has gone WAY downhill. I did Pecos Bills on my last trip and never again. I remember when I loved eating there but wow was it bad.

Your Tron pics look great! I still haven't done that one and I'm not sure if I will. I don't think I can do the bike seats (I am a fluffy girl AND I have bad knees so I don't know if I could get in that position.) I'm not sure those back seats are worth the time and effort. I keep hearing how short the ride is and just not sure the value of it all, you know?

 

[jrmint427]

I think your ride photo is great! I wish I could ride it. (Back issues and motion sickness)
You had a very short wait time compared to some that I’ve read. if I paid that much money and still had to wait a long time, I would not be a happy Disneyphile.

Thank you! I agree - as I'll share later in the trip, there is one ILL we paid a lot for and still waited way too long. I was not happy.

Reading about your LLs for characters is making me sad that they are not included in the upcoming changes. Maybe that will change. I’m hoping!

I didn't know they took characters off the list until you posted this! That is very sad. I guess it will help with overall wait time for the characters, but that is a bummer. I like meeting characters but not enough to wait in long lines for them.

I still have not ridden The Magic Carpets. I have issues with going round and round, but I have ridden Dumbo a few times to I need to give this a try too. I'm sure the girls felt so grown up getting to ride together.

It is just like Dumbo! The girls loved the independence.

I have always said I was going to make the loop all the way around, but haven't done it yet.

Next trip!!

This happened to me in 2018 and I purchased the Fuel Rod in Pecos Bills and have not regretted it. Danielle and her friends all have these for the parks.

Oh no! Well I'm glad to hear they find them useful too. I'll just have to remember to pack mine next time we go!

Loved watching everyone try. I don't think I have ever seen anyone pull it out yet.

Same!

I also had to get an emergency fuel rod on my last trip. $30 was tough to swallow! And the ones I got only got my phone up to about 50%, then I had to swap for a new one. Oh well, works in a pinch I guess!

Ugh it was tough. I had the same experience, one new rod would not charge my phone all the way. I was glad for the convenience of many swap stations, and learned to take advantage when I saw one vs. waiting for my current one to run out of juice. I also alternated with one I had brought later in the trip with the Fuel Rod to keep my phone well charged.

Just got caught up. Wow, Cosmic Rays was BUSY! I haven't seen it that busy since pre-shutdown. Counter service at MK has gone WAY downhill. I did Pecos Bills on my last trip and never again. I remember when I loved eating there but wow was it bad.

So busy! And that's disappointing, I just want one really good QS option at MK.

Your Tron pics look great! I still haven't done that one and I'm not sure if I will. I don't think I can do the bike seats (I am a fluffy girl AND I have bad knees so I don't know if I could get in that position.) I'm not sure those back seats are worth the time and effort. I keep hearing how short the ride is and just not sure the value of it all, you know?

Thank you! I've heard the back seats are really fun too, but agree, not sure it's worth the time or money for such a short ride every trip.