Where is Dino Land? Early Spring Trip 2/27-3/9/25! Updated 4/19*

[disneyAndi14]

Where is Dino Land? Early Spring Trip 2/27-3/9/25!

Hello There! I’m Caroline an avid Disney World fan, and a heck of a good one, if I do say so myself!

I have a very long history of traveling to Disney! I can’t get enough of it.

I am an AP holder at WDW and USO and have been for years!

I travel from Minnesota and visit the parks at least 3-4x a year!

This trip is with my sister Donna (D). Most of you, who follow my reports, know I travel most of the time with my daughter Andi. We both have a love for the parks and Andi is a walking encyclopedia on all things Disney!
Andi through the years!

Well Andi is an adult with a full time job and fiancé so she can’t travel with me as often as she could in the past.

Andi and I have an early September trip planned for this year to do all thing’s Halloween . We love Halloween time at the parks. We will be doing MNSSHP, HHN, and visiting the new Epic Universe at USO! I am really excited for the new park! I have to say most of the rides look too intense for me but wow it looks like an amazing park!

MY sister D is retired and has really enjoyed visiting Disney and USO with me so I planned this trip for us.


We will be staying at Disney’s Boardwalk Inn for 7 nights, Universal’s Portofino Bay for 2 nights and Universal’s Adventura for 1 night.

D had a 7 day PH for Disney and a 2 day park to park with 2 days free pass for Universal. I had my AP for both.

Our trip starts on 2/27/25. I worked from home for part of the day. We had a flight from Duluth to Minneapolis (2 hour layover) then on to Orlando.

The first flight was right on time and a quick 45-50 minutes later we were having a drink in the Delta Sky lounge. I honestly don’t know what I am drinking. I asked for a vodka cranberry and I think I got vodka/soda water?? I drank it, lol D had a beer. There was a nice buffet spread of food, however, we decided to head to a restaurant in the airport.

We split a bacon cheeseburger and buffalo spiced fried cauliflower.

This was a solid meal at the airport. Once we finished it was time to head to our gate for our flight to Orlando, yay!

Our flight was on time, we had comfort plus seats, a few drinks and snacks, and it was a decent flight, as far as flights go!

We landed in Orlando at 11:30pm. The airport was packed at this hour! MCO is always busy, I actually think it is less crowded midday than any other time.

After a restroom break, luggage grab, and arranging a Lyft, we were on our way to Disney! Our Lyft driver was a big whiner and complainer, he went on and on about the airport, traffic, his sad life, etc… I tried to just tune him out.

We arrive to BWI around 1am. I had received a text before we even leaved Minneapolis with our room ready text. The room was 4292 on the fourth floor. I looked it up and it was not a connecting room and had a balcony, yay! These were my requests.

I stopped at the front desk to make sure my MB would work since many times I have had problems getting into the room. It was dead in the lobby except for the creepy nanny chairs staring at me, haha There was a little old man and a young girl at the front desk. They were both so nice at 1am. Apparently the whole Disney computer system was not working at this hour, ugh! The sweet older man gave us celebrating buttons and a Birthday button for Donna. He also took us up to our room and opened it with a master key! He helped us with our luggage and gave us a little room tour. Our room was huge! You literally could dance in here. We loved it! Here are some pictures of the room!



Morning pictures of our balcony area and view, I could see the tip top of the Eiffel Tower and the very top of the Skyliner.



I will do a little Magic or Tragic about each day, I am stealing this from All Ears catch phrase when describing things at Disney!

Magic= the easy travel day, good airport food, our big beautiful room, and such friendly CMs at 1am!

Tragic=super long day, room opening ability with MB was a big no, and the weird Lyft driver!

Stay tuned for our first full day at Disney!

ToT scared the bleep out of me!!

 

[suse66]

I'm first!!!! Gorgeous room and a not too bad travel day. Can't wait to hear all about it!

 

[SEAGULL59]

Following along!

 

[Wood Nymph]

That was a long travel day. At least the flights were on time.

Did you have a corner room?

 

[Steppesister]

Here, Caroline!

 

[disneyAndi14]

ToT scared the bleep out of me!!

I think we finally settled in and fell asleep around 2am the first night. The room was nice and quiet The beds were very comfortable. I forgot to get pictures of the bathroom, it was to the right when you entered the room and had the vanity area with 2 sinks and a large closet behind the sinks. The toilet and tub/shower were in a separate room. I really like this set-up. I just stayed at BWI in early September24 and our room was wonderful but this room was way bigger. I’m not sure why but I loved not having a connecting room. We couldn’t hear a sole in rooms by us except when people were in the hall. There was several families around us and they enjoyed yelling to each other out in the hallway and let their kids run and yell down the hallways. Thank goodness it was always early evening when we were taking off again to dinner or a park.

They were definitely loud talkers! I would say this was the only negative for us at BWI.

We also noticed this trip, the Boardwalk area was packed every day. I have never seen so many people on the Boardwalk and the lawn area leading up to the resort, crazy busy!

We had FP for cash (FP$$) for DHS today.

I went with MMRR at 10-11, ToT 12-1, TSMM 4-5. I tried to modify TSMM too earlier without any luck.

We got up around 8:30-9am. We took our time in the room, organizing and unpacking our suitcases. We checked out the balcony. I made an Instacart order to be delivered between 3-5pm. We did order some wine so we needed to be present for the order. If you don’t order alcohol your order can be dropped off at bell service.

BWI now has a little coffee shop off the front lobby. I went down and got us a coffee. I got the special iced cinnamon one, it was delicious and D had a black French roast. Anyone else think the coffee in the rooms is awful? Do not like it. I always order cold brew and creamer with my grocery order.

We headed to DHS via the boat. I love traveling this way. This is why the Epcot resorts are such a favorite for the walk ability and the boat rides! We were on the lookout for the magician boat captain we encountered last April, however, we never did see him. Boo

We did not wait long and a boat was at our service.

DHS is such a cluster in the morning at the entrance, at least we were past RD this morning.

We were in line for MMRR at 10:51am. Here is a silly picture of us. Don’t ask me why the cat is in it, I sent it to Andi. I had sent her a random ceiling light in the queue for the where are we game and the girl guessed MMRR, crazy how she knew that!

We had a great ride!

Decided to try the Rise single rider line next. It worked great! We literally waited around 10 minutes. No Pre show with the single rider so be aware! We met up at the exit. Both of us had a good ride and didn’t mind missing the pre show.

I had made a MFSR FP$$ next. We went and could have been pilots but D was to afraid of screwing up, so a couple, first time riding, were the pilots. We were the gunners. It was fun.

It was time to have a snack at Baseline Taphouse. D was able to secure the end of a long outside table with another couple on the end.

I went in and ordered 2 of the delicious Mango Cart Beer, a pretzel with beer cheese and the charcuterie board.

This was perfect and the sun was on our backs, the day was gorgeous, and temp in the 70s.

We rode the old Star Tours next. I haven’t been on this in a while and of course got one of the old versions. We did have the front row which is nice.

ToT was next. The SB line was really long and FP$$ was really short. I noticed this a lot this week. I don’t think as many are splurging for the FP$$ and choosing to wait in SB.

D had rode last trip and did fine but this time, we had a wicked ride sequence and she was terrified and didn’t like it at all. I loved it, it was amazing the last few times it had been pretty mild and short sequences, not this one.

She was not impressed and didn’t want to ride again.

We headed out to rest and returned to DHS around 5 or so?

We rode TSMM with our FP$$, D beat me, we both were still Beavers for our prize. We did AlienSS next, and Muppets as our last attraction. I will really miss this area and the show! Such a favorite of mine.

We took the Skyliner to Epcot, it took a little longer than expected but fun to ride.

We entered Epcot and checked the single rider (SR) line at Remy, it was long so we skipped it. We made our way to Via Napoli.

We each had a drink, I had the white sangria, yum, and D had a beer/sangria combo and it was delicious!



We shared the calamari and a small pizza with mushrooms, onion, and pepperoni Sorry for the poor pictures, believe me it was delicious We loved everything!

We made our way out during the fireworks show and spoiler we saw Luminous so many times this trip, it was growing on me! I like the beginning song the best and the water/light/firework effects are really amazing. @suse66 will be so proud of me, lol

We walked back to the room and called it a night!

Magic=boat transportation, Baseline, SR Rise, Muppets, staying in the Epcot area, Via Napoli, and Luminous.

Tragic=crowds, loud people in the halls at the resort, room coffee, FP$$ today was hard to modify or get many additional rides.

Stay tuned for Day 2! Let’s go get that Dino!

 

[disneyAndi14]

I'm first!!!! Gorgeous room and a not too bad travel day. Can't wait to hear all about it!

Thanks for joining in!

Following along!

Thanks for joining in!

That was a long travel day. At least the flights were on time.

Did you have a corner room?

Thanks for joining in!
It was not a corner room which why it was weird but nice

Here, Caroline!

Thanks for joining in!

 

[pkondz]

Here!
Back later to read and comment.

 

[VAtink]

Joining in! Can't wait to read more!

 

[Wood Nymph]

Anyone else think the coffee in the rooms is awful? Do not like it.

I make it with about 6 ounces of water, and it doesn't taste too bad that way.

We entered Epcot and checked the single rider (SR) line at Remy, it was long so we skipped it.

We did the single rider line for Remi in the morning of our recent trip. We were only in line for about two minutes. We rode two in one car, two in the other, so none of us rode alone. We might have to try the single rider line for Rise on our next trip.

We made our way out during the fireworks show and spoiler we saw Luminous so many times this trip, it was growing on me!

I think that is the best part of staying at an Epcot resort.

 

[eliseisawkward]

Oooooo!! BWI is on my list of maybes for a future trip and that room looks AWESOME so might have to pull the trigger there. I also love the boat transportation for the Epcot area resorts, you really can’t beat it!

I wonder if the FP$$ are just too pricey for most casual or occasional visitors. We considered it for our trip, but decided against it since we weren’t trying to do any headliners while we were there. Looks like it’s definitely worth it when you do want to do bigger or more popular rides!

 

[pkondz]

I’m Caroline an avid Disney World fan, and a heck of a good one, if I do say so myself!

I agree!

I travel from Minnesota and visit the parks at least 3-4x a year!

Nice.

Most of you, who follow my reports, know I travel most of the time with my daughter Andi.

Andi and I have an early September trip planned for this year to do all thing’s Halloween .

Oooh... colour me green with envy.

We love Halloween time at the parks.

How can you not?!?!?

We will be staying at Disney’s Boardwalk Inn for 7 nights, Universal’s Portofino Bay for 2 nights and Universal’s Adventura for 1 night.

Very nice.

I honestly don’t know what I am drinking. I asked for a vodka cranberry and I think I got vodka/soda water?? I drank it, lol

Caroline getting tipsy on mystery drinks!

buffalo spiced fried cauliflower.

That sounds pretty good... And I'm not a fan of cauliflower.

Once we finished it was time to head to our gate for our flight to Orlando, yay!

MCO is always busy, I actually think it is less crowded midday than any other time.

Interesting. I haven't been often enough to make any comparisons.

Our Lyft driver was a big whiner and complainer, he went on and on about the airport, traffic, his sad life, etc… I tried to just tune him out.

Just drive the car, dude.

it was not a connecting room

I noted later you mentioned noise. Have you had issues in the past with connecting room noise?

It was dead in the lobby except for the creepy nanny chairs staring at me, haha

He helped us with our luggage and gave us a little room tour.

He did! Really nice of him.

Here are some pictures of the room!

But... no dancing?

I could see the tip top of the Eiffel Tower

I looked in the photos you posted and didn't see it?

room opening ability with MB was a big no

Did you try to open it with the MB? I got the impression you didn't even try but went straight to the lobby?

I think we finally settled in and fell asleep around 2am the first night.

The room was nice and quiet The beds were very comfortable.

There was several families around us and they enjoyed yelling to each other out in the hallway and let their kids run and yell down the hallways.

Although I do understand. It's Disney and the kids are excited.

We got up around 8:30-9am.

Short night!
But Disney waits for no one.

If you don’t order alcohol your order can be dropped off at bell service.

Did not know that.

Anyone else think the coffee in the rooms is awful?

Yes.

Because I don't drink coffee so by definition all coffee is awful.

We were on the lookout for the magician boat captain we encountered last April, however, we never did see him. Boo

I remember him.

DHS is such a cluster in the morning at the entrance

Not that I know what they could do about that.

Here is a silly picture of us. Don’t ask me why the cat is in it

I had sent her a random ceiling light in the queue for the where are we game and the girl guessed MMRR, crazy how she knew that!

Andi is schmart.

No Pre show with the single rider so be aware!

So where do you join? Right at boarding the cars? Or boarding the "ship" outside? Or...

We went and could have been pilots but D was to afraid of screwing up, so a couple, first time riding, were the pilots. We were the gunners. It was fun.

Heh. She probably would've been fine and the others, being new, wouldn't have known the difference.
I know I wouldn't.

It was time to have a snack at Baseline Taphouse.

Good choice.

This was perfect and the sun was on our backs, the day was gorgeous, and temp in the 70s.

ToT was next. The SB line was really long and FP$$ was really short. I noticed this a lot this week. I don’t think as many are splurging for the FP$$ and choosing to wait in SB.

Interesting.
For me, that would make it worth the $$

D had rode last trip and did fine but this time, we had a wicked ride sequence and she was terrified and didn’t like it at all.

Oh dear...

I loved it, it was amazing

Still scared from your ride, huh?

Muppets as our last attraction. I will really miss this area and the show!

<sigh>
Yeah... but hopefully the change will be a good one.

Like this picture of you.

We shared the calamari and a small pizza with mushrooms, onion, and pepperoni

Yum!

spoiler we saw Luminous so many times this trip, it was growing on me!

I've never seen it, so can't say if this is a good thing or not!

 

[Steppesister]

I'm here now that I found it. Reading now...

 

[Steppesister]

What a nice photo of you two.

We will be staying at Disney’s Boardwalk Inn for 7 nights, Universal’s Portofino Bay for 2 nights and Universal’s Adventura for 1 night

What a perfect lineup!

There was a nice buffet spread of food, however, we decided to head to a restaurant in the airport.

Nice! But wait, you went somewhere else and paid when an included buffet was right there?!

After a restroom break, luggage grab, and arranging a Lyft, we were on our way to Disney! Our Lyft driver was a big whiner and complainer, he went on and on about the airport, traffic, his sad life, etc… I tried to just tune him out.

Just why.....? Is his business a self-therapy session?

The sweet older man gave us celebrating buttons and a Birthday button for Donna. He also took us up to our room and opened it with a master key! He helped us with our luggage and gave us a little room tour. Our room was huge! You literally could dance in here. We loved it! Here are some pictures of the room!

Awww, that is so awesome! Love this!

I will do a little Magic or Tragic about each day, I am stealing this from All Ears catch phrase when describing things at Disney!

I love this!

There was several families around us and they enjoyed yelling to each other out in the hallway and let their kids run and yell down the hallways.

This is now a thing. I struggled with that too that last 2 trips. What is WRONG with people?!

Anyone else think the coffee in the rooms is awful? Do not like it.

YES!!!!

DHS is such a cluster in the morning at the entrance,

Uh oh!

We went and could have been pilots but D was to afraid of screwing up, so a couple, first time riding, were the pilots.

I did it and hated not being a pilot. Never again.

a pretzel with beer cheese and the charcuterie board.

The BEST!

We rode the old Star Tours next. I haven’t been on this in a while and of course got one of the old versions. We did have the front row which is nice.

Kinda sorry I didn't do this one last trip. Haven't in years!

we both were still Beavers for our prize

I will never in my lifetime get beyond this. I just simply suck at this ride.

D had a beer/sangria combo and it was delicious

Say what? I'm skeptical on this one.

 

[vamassey1]

I'm here but need to get caught up!

 

[vamassey1]

Andi and I have an early September trip planned for this year to do all thing’s Halloween . We love Halloween time at the parks. We will be doing MNSSHP, HHN, and visiting the new Epic Universe at USO! I am really excited for the new park! I have to say most of the rides look too intense for me but wow it looks like an amazing park!

This sounds like a great trip with Andy. I'm really worried about the rides at Epic too and excited to just see everything.

MY sister D is retired and has really enjoyed visiting Disney and USO with me so I planned this trip for us.

Hello D! This is a great picture of you two.

We split a bacon cheeseburger and buffalo spiced fried cauliflower.

I would really like to try some fried cauliflower.

Here are some pictures of the room!

Beautiful and spacious.

It was time to have a snack at Baseline Taphouse. D was able to secure the end of a long outside table with another couple on the end.

I still haven't done this.

D had rode last trip and did fine but this time, we had a wicked ride sequence and she was terrified and didn’t like it at all. I loved it, it was amazing the last few times it had been pretty mild and short sequences, not this one.

So sorry D didn't like it. We had an awesome ride in January too.

Muppets as our last attraction. I will really miss this area and the show! Such a favorite of mine.

I'm going to miss the Muppet area too.

We made our way out during the fireworks show and spoiler we saw Luminous so many times this trip, it was growing on me! I like the beginning song the best and the water/light/firework effects are really amazing. @suse66 will be so proud of me, lol

I haven't seen Luminous yet either. It's good to hear it's growing on you. I asked Danielle if it had started to grow on her yet, but she said she's usually in the office doing paperwork so hasn't watched it yet.

 

[Stacybaeasm]

Here!!! Woo hoo!!! What a great surprise to find on my stressful Monday back from spring break.

Great travel day. Do you like Terminal 1 at MSP? Now that Southwest has decided to charge for luggage, I may fly other airlines home but I haven't been in Terminal 1 since like 2000.

What a room!!! We could have thrown an amazing Dis party in there. I mean, none of us were there, but still!!

And what a great first day. I find that FP$$ is always hard at Studios. There just isn't enough there I think. And I do love Via Napoli. but I always cancel my ressie because of festival booths. Oh well, first world problems and all that.

 

[disneyAndi14]

I'm first!!!! Gorgeous room and a not too bad travel day. Can't wait to hear all about it!

Following along!

That was a long travel day. At least the flights were on time.

Did you have a corner room?

Here, Caroline!

It’s not finding the link for me when I click on your new report. Don’t know if it’s just me or everyone?

Sorry about the link, not sure why it didn’t work. I did it like I usually do! Thank goodness for tech savvy @pkondz

Here!
Back later to read and comment.

Joining in! Can't wait to read more!

I make it with about 6 ounces of water, and it doesn't taste too bad that way.

I may try it that way, I love a cold brew in Florida because I never drink it in Minnesota!

We did the single rider line for Remi in the morning of our recent trip. We were only in line for about two minutes. We rode two in one car, two in the other, so none of us rode alone. We might have to try the single rider line for Rise on our next trip.

We checked it several times and I got good at estimating the SR line at Remy and we used it a couple times! Rise SR is really nice if you have done the ride enough that you are okay missing the preshow!

I think that is the best part of staying at an Epcot resort.

Same, it is hard to beat! When Andi was younger we loved the MK resorts but soon realized Epcot resorts were our favorites

Oooooo!! BWI is on my list of maybes for a future trip and that room looks AWESOME so might have to pull the trigger there. I also love the boat transportation for the Epcot area resorts, you really can’t beat it!

I really like it! I honestly like it better than Beach Club, YC is still my favorite in this area! BWI usually has the better discounts between the 3.

I wonder if the FP$$ are just too pricey for most casual or occasional visitors. We considered it for our trip, but decided against it since we weren’t trying to do any headliners while we were there. Looks like it’s definitely worth it when you do want to do bigger or more popular rides!

I think that maybe the case! The SB lines were extremely long this trip for almost all rides and FP$$ were never very busy, we often didn’t even encounter another person until we were close to the attraction. Now FP$$Fancy rides (aka LLSP) very hard to get this trip if you hadn’t picked these at the 7 day mark!

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Just why.....? Is his business a self-therapy session?

I was thinking exactly the same thing as you!

Sorry about the link, not sure why it didn’t work. I did it like I usually do! Thank goodness for tech savvy @pkondz

Not to worry I’m here now. Well actually I was here yesterday and about to comment when I heard someone throwing up ( sorry if tmi). Poor youngest son had some sort of stomach bug going on so I didn’t get to comment as bottles of water and sympathy from the outside of the bathroom for were in order. He’s grand now so whatever it was didn’t last long just a bit of a shame to end his Paddy’s Day holidays that way but sure it coulda been worse. At least he got to enjoy the actual day

I really like it! I honestly like it better than Beach Club, YC is still my favorite in this area! BWI usually has the better discounts between the 3.

Ooh now I want to try the BWI as like you YC is my favourite. I’ve stayed YC BC and Swan&dolphin resorts but never BWI. I love the location and Epcot is my favourite park plus my boys don’t really enjoy buses so it’s wonderful to be able to get to 2 parks using other modes of transport.
Maybe next time (whenever that may be) we will give BWI a go. Your room looks amazing. Big enough for a disco in there I’d say.
Love all the photos of Andi through the years. I feel like I’ve watched her grow up from reading your TRs and love all your mother/daughter trips.
Your ToT photo made me laugh. Some of those poor kids look downright terrified
Enjoying the Magic or Tragic recaps. Looking forward to reading more.

 

[disneyAndi14]

Oooh... colour me green with envy.

Awww thank you! Sorry to color you green, ! Halloween is a favorite time to visit, even if it is early September haha

Caroline getting tipsy on mystery drinks!

It really was and I didn’t really care for it at all but I drank it!

That sounds pretty good... And I'm not a fan of cauliflower.

The cauliflower was very good!

Interesting. I haven't been often enough to make any comparisons.

I have been at all hours now and arriving around 1pm is better than midnight, crowd wise! The airport is just a cluster most times!

Just drive the car, dude.

Exactly, whiner also complained about how busy the airport is at night! Simple don’t drive at night dude!

I noted later you mentioned noise. Have you had issues in the past with connecting room noise?

Yes, terrible experiences with super loud neighbors! Even late at night!

He did! Really nice of him.

He was very sweet and helpful at 1am!

But... no dancing?

Not yet, haha I did a few sock slides later in the trip! It was fun

looked in the photos you posted and didn't see it?

I’m sorry! I zoomed in with my phone to look at it but must not have snapped a picture? I looked at my pictures and didn’t see it either, trust me it was there a tiny peek of it!

Did you try to open it with the MB? I got the impression you didn't even try but went straight to the lobby?

Yes with the CM there, no luck, they had also given us a keycard and that didn’t work either! In the morning one of my MB worked but not all of them! I learned how to sync other MBs on the MDE app so that was a plus. It is in the resort reservation area! Now I know!

Short night!
But Disney waits for no one.

Exactly! It did catch up to us a few days later since we are old, haha

Did not know that.

Yes, if you have an alcohol order you have to be there in person!

Because I don't drink coffee so by definition all coffee is awful.

No coffee, not even cold brew or fancy coffee? I’m not a huge coffee drinker so it has to be good

I remember him.

Pick a card any card! I wonder if he retired?

Not that I know what they could do about that.

Well, they are trialing letting everyone in at 8:30am and having resort guests scan into the rides! It helps some with the huge cluster around 9am.

Andi is schmart.

She sure is! She won many trivia contests in school related to History because of our trips to Disney! She was the only kid in her class who knew the year and name of the person who invented the first printing press haha

So where do you join? Right at boarding the cars? Or boarding the "ship" outside? Or...

They walk you outside past the transport ship you normally get in, you enter right in the room with all the stormtroopers. So if you haven’t been on the ride very much you do miss all of the pre show.

Heh. She probably would've been fine and the others, being new, wouldn't have known the difference.
I know I wouldn't.

I know, I really wanted to be the pilots!

Good choice.

Baseline is such a wonderful area to take a break at DHS

Interesting.
For me, that would make it worth the $$

It did make it worth it for us!

Still scared from your ride, huh?

Haha It did traumatize her, I had to switch our ToT for the next DHS day!

Yeah... but hopefully the change will be a good one.

I do love Monsters Inc. so I really hope so!

Like this picture of you.

Thank you!

I've never seen it, so can't say if this is a good thing or not!

I really disliked it the first couple times, now it is growing on me!