Most of us had a much more relaxed start today. By ‘most’ I mean all of us except my son. Now that he is 18 (he was 14 when we were last here) he is now old enough to do the Keys to the Kingdom Tour. This is a 5 hour tour taking you behind the scenes at Magic Kingdom. Our youngest is only 15 and you have be be 16 to do it so she wasn’t able to. So we decided that my son would do it, and the rest of us would wait until my daughter was old enough. He had to be at Magic Kingdom by 7.45 so he got an early bus over there while the rest of us had a bit of a lie in!
We pottered around the resort for the morning. Had a little wander over to The Boardwalk and then got the bus over to Magic Kingdom. The tour was due to finish at 1pm and it was a bit earlier than that when we got there. So we spent some time looking in the shops on Main Street as they were near where he was due to finish. I went into the shop that sells Pandora and bought my park exclusive charm. I buy one every year when we go and this year I chose one that said ‘2022’ (with the ‘0’ being Mickey ears). We also wandered around ‘Crystal Arts’ which we never really bother with as a lot of it is pricey glass ornaments which we would be unlikely to get home in one piece even if we did buy one. At the back of the shop is a glass blower and we stopped to watch. It was fascinating. I’ve seen glass blowers before (not at Disney) but this one was explaining everything she was doing and why.
By this time my son had finished and met up with us. We walked up to Tomorrow Land and did People Mover – he had been on his feet for 5 hours and People Mover is a nice sit down. We then did Dumbo and went over to do 7 Dwarves Mine Train (we’d locked in a DAS when we arrived). After that we headed back to the resort as we were planning on going into Epcot for the evening and watching the new night time show: ‘Harmonious’.
Back at the resort we weren’t feeling particularly hungry so we just had snacky things. I had another anniversary dessert – just not a cheesecake this time.
‘Harmonious’ started at 9pm so we decided to head into the park at about 7.30 to get something to eat and then get a good spot. As we were at Beach Club we walked in through the International Gateway which comes out in the World Showcase between France and the UK. We’d decided to try the Quick Service restaurant in America which had changed to a BBQ place since we were last there, and it was in roughly a right area to get a good spot for the fireworks.
We ended up sat at the edge of the World Showcase Lagoon – the show takes place on the water – in Italy. We sat on the floor for about 30 mins while we we waiting and it was definitely worth it. I have to admit I’m not a fan of ‘Illuminations’ which it replaced. This is somewhat controversial as ‘Illuminations’ was quite well loved. ‘Harmonious uses water to create projection screens (very similar to the now defunct ‘Rivers of Light’ In Animal Kingdom). It has clips from films representing countries across the World Showcase and in some cases the songs are sung in the language of that country. I thought this was really good and was pleased that ‘Touch the Sky’ from Brave had been included. Another plus was that as we had the new Magic Bands – Magic Band + – they lit up and vibrated in sync with the show.
And then – best thing about staying at Epcot – it was just a short 10 min walk back to our room 🙂
We are staying in multiple resorts during our stay and today was our first change. We did a bit of packing last night but still had more to do today. We needed to be out of the room by 11am but wanted to make the most of early hours in the parks so we decided to head to the park first and then come back to move.
Park booking for today was Epcot so we were on the app at 7am to get another boarding group for Guardians. Success! Group 9 🙂
So we got on the bus to get to Epcot for early hours and by the time our boarding group was called just after we arrived. On our way to the ride we stopped at ‘Gateway Gifts’ which is one of the shops just when you enter the park. Today was the launch of the new Magic Bands – Magic Band+. My son wanted to buy one of these and they were being sold at one shop in each park. When Disney releases a new product lines can be huge so we wanted to be there early. We were lucky in that there was actually hardly any queue (my son heard later on that the queues at Magic Kingdom had been insane!). Magic band purchased we headed over to Guardians but little did we know that this was NOT going to be a regular ride!
All went well at first. We walked through the queue as it wasn’t very busy. We got into the first pre-show room and then into the second, all as usual. Even got onto the ride as usual. The way the ride works is that the cars head off around a corner and then there is a short climb up to the start of the ride. We started the clim and then stopped. Okay, most likely no problem. If there were issues unloading at the end of the ride (maybe a wheelchair transfer) then often the ride is held so that there isn’t a backing up of cars. Usually lasts less than a minute. This didn’t. 5 mins later the lights all went on! Now for most Disney parks fans the one thing they dream of is an evac (a ride evacuation), especially on a dark ride where they will have to put the lights on and you see things you don’t normally see – Haunted Mansion is the dream evac for this reason. But with this one we hadn’t really gone anywhere so it would be a pretty boring evac.
There were lots of regular announcements telling us to remain seated and after about another 5 mins the lights went off and we started again. It wasn’t really an issue as the ride proper hadn’t really started so it didn’t interrupt the experience. However, when we got to the end there was a cast member there and as everyone got off he was scanning our bands. Turns out that they were giving us all an free lightning lane to ride it again due to the interruption – result!
We didn’t have time to ride it then but knew we were going to go back this afternoon so that would work out great. So having done the ride we had a ride on Test Track (my son’s favourite ride) and then it was back to the resort to check out.
Then it was a quick drive over to Beach Club. This is our DVC home resort (where we own points) and it is lovely. The theming is great, and it is a 5 min walk to Epcot which is a BIG plus. It also has one of the best pools on property. The only downside is that there is a distinct lack of quick service options. The Market Place (the resort shop) has some things, but what we really miss is an actual restaurant to sit in to eat the meals.
Anyway, our room is lovely. It’s a deluxe studio (the smallest type of DVC room) and has a mini kitchen which we didn’t have in Port Orleans. One good thing about this resort is there is a drop down bed (Murphy bed) under the TV so it technically sleeps 5 (double bed, double sofa bed, and single Murphy bed). This is great for us as the children don’t want to share a bed at their age so the air bed we used at Port Orleans is not needed now!
We got to the resort but the room wasn’t ready (as expected, check in is not technically till 4pm) so we left most of the luggage in the car and took a few things that we didn’t want to leave there in the heat – we did that one year with one of my daughter’s American Girl dolls and its face became very squidgy! – to bell services and then headed back to Epcot.
Earlier on in the day we had booked a lightning lane for Ratatouille and we also had the lightning lane we had been given for Guardians. However, when we checked we saw that the Guardians one was actually an any experience lightning lane. This meant that the first ride we checked into would use that one. Our plan had been to do Ratatouille first as it is right next to the International Gateway entrance which is where you come in when walking from the resort. But we obviously didn’t want to miss out on our extra Guardians ride – which is at the opposite end of the park – so we headed over to do that again.
Remember how I said on Monday that there are six songs for the ride and you get given one at random? Well, this was our third ride and for the third time we got ‘September’ – think I will always associate that with the ride now.
Everyone else then decided to go and do Mission Space. This is one a WON’T do as I felt so ill the first time I did it. So whilst they did that I went off and did Spaceship Earth.
We then checked the app and our room had been allocated at the resort which meant it was ready. So we headed back to unpack
Beach ClubThe LobbyEntrance way – mini kitchen on the leftRoom (sofa is a sofa bed)RoomDrop down bed
We did a bit of unpacking and sorting and had a bit of a rethink over our upcoming plans. See, we really like Guardians. And the only reliable way to get a ride (apart from paying) is to get a boarding group a 7am. Only, to do that you have to have a park reservation at Epcot. We had spread our park reservations out across the different parks. The way the system works is that you reserve a park and then after 2pm you can park hop to a different park. So we decided to change some reservations. We have switched a lot of them to Epcot and then are going to rely on park hopping to go to different parks for the afternoon/evening. Did I mention that Guardians is the best ride ever? 😉
It was now late afternoon so it was time to park hop and we headed to Magic Kingdom for rides and fireworks. We did Pirates of the Caribbean and Seven Dwarves with the DAS and then got a good spot for the fireworks. I struggle a lot with crowds and we were told about a Disabled section that we could enter with our DAS but we were also told that you need to be there really early! So instead we decided to watch it from the end of Main Street. This was partly because it would be less crowded but also we could then keep to one side out of the way of the crowds before we headed back up into the park to do some rides.
The firework show – ‘Enchantment’ – is a new one since we were last here. It has been specially done for the 50th. Like ‘Happily Ever After’ it uses a mixture of projections on the castle and fireworks.
Verdict? It was good. But it was definitely no ‘Happily Ever After’. Nor ‘Wishes’. I don’t know what it was, but something didn’t feel the same. Though they still have Tinker bell flying from the Castle down to Tomorrowland – and yes that bit still made me cry.
We hung back by City Hall as the crowds poured down Main Street. Although the park doesn’t close after the fireworks people with small children tend to leave then. Once it had calmed down we headed back up into the park and rode Big Thunder Mountain in the dark – something I’ve wanted to do for a long time 🙂
Today panned out quite differently to how I planned it. Last night I saw someone in a DVC group on Facebook post about a new DVC loungefly bag that they had bought. It was gorgeous! For those who don’t know, loungefly is a brand that produces, amongst other things, pop culture themed bags. They now produce mini backpacks for Disney and they are EVERYWHERE. Walking round the parks it is safe to say that they are the bag of choice for most women (you see far more loungefly bags than any other brand). This one that was posted on line was one of the nicest I’ve seen. They said they got it in the shop at Wilderness Lodge. DVC merch is not sold in the parks, only in DVC resorts.
We were doing Animal Kingdom today and we got there just before the park opened. We quickly locked in a DAS for Flight of Passage and headed to Expedition Everest while the queues were light. By 8.45 we were over in Pandora ready to right Flight of Passage. I decided that after I had done this I would go in search of this bag. So, at 9am, just as non-resort guests were piling into the park I was heading out, leaving the rest of the family to do some more rides.
First thing to do was to get a bus to Wilderness Lodge. I didn’t know if they would still have them, but worth a try.
Nope – sold out. I asked in the shop if they could see if any of the other resorts had them. The cast member looked on the system and said that there were 37 at the Contemporary Resort. Or at least, they did 48 hours ago as the system hadn’t updated since then.
So, how to get to Contemporary. Whilst you can get buses between parks and resorts, you can’t get them between resorts. Therefore I’d have to get a bus to a park and then another to Contemporary. So my obvious option was a bus to Magic Kingdom. Contemporary is right next door and fortunately you can walk there from Magic Kingdom (though of course my feet were killing me – it may only be 9.45am but I’ve been going for 4 days now with not enough time for them to recover).
So I did and I got lucky. One DVC loungefly bag purchased!
So, how to get back to the resort? Yes, I could walk back to Magic Kingdom but my feet were painful. So it was a case of go to the bus stop and see what park bus came first and get that to then switch to a Port Orleans one. The first one that came was Disney Springs – the shopping area. Now this was perfect as Disney Springs is very close to Port Orleans so I did that.
By now the rest of the family were also heading back to the resort and we all arrived back at roughly the same time.
We had planned a park free afternoon and after a break in the resort we headed to Disney Springs for some shopping and our favourite pizza place for lunch: Blaze Pizza.
By late afternoon it was looking like it was going to chuck it down – and anyone who has been in Florida rain knows what that can be like – so we headed back to the resort. Unfortunately due to the imminent rain the boat that runs between Disney Springs and Port Orleans was shut – that had originally been our plan – so bus it was.
Later that evening I didn’t feel like eating much so when we went to the quick service at the resort for dinner I just had one of their 50th celebration cheesecakes 🙂
Today was our first trip of the holiday to Epcot. Very often people think it as the park to miss if you are short of time but I love it, though it does take it out of you. Some say that it stands for Every Person Comes Out Tired.
The real excitement about today was Disney’s newest ride, The Guardians of the Galaxy. This has replaced the Ellen Ride over near Mission Space – and unlike many, I did like that. Guardians is, at the moment, unique in the parks as you cannot queue for it: there is no standby line. You need to try and get a boarding group using the app at 7am (if you have an Epcot reservation for that day). We read up on some tips on how to be successful and we tried on two phones, with a third phone counting down the seconds until 7am. At exactly 7am you need to refresh the page in the app and then select ‘join virtual queue’. We got lucky and got group 11 which gave us an estimated boarding time of between 9 and 9.30!
So we then faced one of the most tricky decisions when it comes to organising your day at Disney: when is best to eat earlier in the day to work around later dining reservations. We had a reservation at 3.30 so late for lunch but early for dinner. Ideally we therefore wanted a late breakfast so that it could be a lunch reservation. So we decided to skip eating at the resort and get the bus over to Epcot. Whilst we were on the bus (around 8:10 and the park had opened for resort guests at 8) we got a notification to say that our boarding group had been called! So as soon as we got there we quickly locked in a DAS return for Frozen and then headed over to Guardians.
Now. I had my concerns with this one. The over riding reports I’d read had been about motion sickness. They had even started handing out sick bags at the exit. I took some motion sickness tablets before we left the resort and I figured that I would do it to be able to say that I’d done it. If I felt bad then I wouldn’t have to do it again!
As the park was still only open to resort guests there were no long queues once we got inside – though the ride is clearly built for long queues!
Guardians of the GalaxyThe queueing systemThe queueing systemThe queuing systemThe queuing system
This ride was AMAZING. I will not be able to do it justice in a description but it is basically cars on the track that spin around so that you are looking at different things (not free spinning or spinning like the Tea Cups at Magic Kingdom, but controlled spinning by the ride). It is apparently the longest indoor rollercoaster in the world and is Disney’s first backward launch coaster. There are six possible songs that play and it is random which you get – we got ‘September’ by Earth, Wind, and Fire. Apparently the Imagineers reviewed hundreds of songs till they got their list of 6 which suit the movement and motion of the ride. This was a BRILLIANT song to get and was perfect! Did I start to feel sick? A little bit, right towards the end where you corkscrew down around the moon and then the earth. But would I ride it again. 100%. I think we will be trying for a boarding group on each of our Epcot days!
There was now where much to go from here as we had hit a peak so early on. We used our DAS for Frozen and did Test Track. We then headed over to the Land to do the obligatory Figment ride – what is a trip go Epcot without going on Figment??!! We were also able to get a DAS return time for Soarin’ so while we were waiting for this to come round we had a late breakfast in Sunshine Seasons as it is just opposite the ride. A bit disappointed with this if I’m honest. This used to be a lovely place to get breakfast but it now only does grab and go pastries etc, and doesn’t even list itself on the app as serving breakfast.
So, onto Soarin’. Now this USED to be one of my favourite rides but I have to admit I’m not so keen on the new version of it. For those that don’t know, this is a flight around various landmarks from around the world such as the pyramids, the Great Wall of China, and the Taj Mahal. You are suspended in the air on seats that swoop as if you are flying. But it’s still a good ride 🙂
We then spent a bit of time in the worldshow case before heading for our late lunch / early dinner reservation at Space 220. This is Disney’s newest restaurant as is attached to Mission Space. The idea is that you go up in an elevator to a space ship/viewing area far above the theme park and you are gazing out into space while you eat. I have to say that the theming is great, right from the moment you check in and you are given your boarding pass for the ‘flight’.
Boarding passEntranceThe liftThe floor of the lift. You can see the theme park below as you rise up
Inside, it really does feel as if you are not on earth. It is pricy – $55 for a two course set menu. I had calamari and Spaceghetti. The sauce on the spaghetti was amazing.
After lunch we did another ‘must do’ ride at Epcot – Spaceship Earth. My husband finds this boring but I like it as it is traditional. We did however end up with a ride stop on this and we were stationary for about 10 mins – two security guards with torches walked past us at one point. Sadly for us we got stopped within smelling distance of the fires in the Library of Alexandria (if you know, you know)!
Having been in the park since 8.20am I was getting very tired now – as was my daughter. So after a quick time in the main shop to check out the merch, the two of us headed back to the resort.
Today we are off to Animal Kingdom. This park has my favourite ride on property so looking forward to this.
Again we utilised Lightning Lane before we left and booked in a ride (Nav’i River Ride), with the intention of doing a DAS as soon as we got there for Flight of Passage.
This park used to be a half day park but since they added Pandora (the Avatar section) there is more to do now. However, for some bizarre reason they have now decided to close before it gets dark. I saw this is ‘bizarre’ as Pandora was designed to light up at night with bioluminescence on the ground and on the plants, and rocks, etc (if you’ve seen Avatar then you will know what I mean).
When we got there both Dinosaur and Expedition Everest where showing as pretty much walk-ons so we went to Dinoland and did Dinosaur first. Definitely not a favourite of one of my children, so often this is a once and done ride. It is a dark ride and VERY intense as you try to escape earth before the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs hit! Expedition Everest is the big roller coaster in Animal Kingdom with a backwards section in the dark. As we had early entry due to staying in a Disney resort the standby line was only 10 mins so we did it that way – anything around 5-10 mins on a lot of rides is pretty much a walk on.
Dinosaur
We decided to then go down to Pandora as it was nearly time for our lightning lane that we had booked at 7am. As we were walking past the lake we saw the new Kite Tails show starting so stopped to watch. Disney has tried to do a number of different shows at this location and none of them have been really successful (though I liked Rivers of Light). This was okay but I wouldn’t stop to watch it again. It was giant inflatable kites of Simba, Zazu, Timone, and Pumba which were pulled through the air by speed boats. A nice diversion but little else.
Kite TailsKite Tails
What it did do though was delay us enough for Kali River Rapids to open at 9am. One of my daughter’s favourites as she loved to get wet we decided to do that on the way to Pandora. I got drenched!
Then Pandora. Nav’i River Journey always seems to get mixed reviews. It’s a gentle dark water ride and some consider it boring. I actually like it – but I’m also a fan of the movie. The design of the ride is a clever mix of a standard river ride with plants and rocks, and projections.
But Flight of Passage. If you have never ridden this then it is so hard to explain. You are riding on the back of a banshee through Pandora and it is the closest I have ever come to feeling as if I’m flying. The ride seat is like a motorbike so it is like you are straddling the banshee. To make it seem even more realistic you can feel the banshee ‘breathing’ against your thighs. It only lasts 4.5 minutes but it is so worth the wait – which can still get up to 2.5-3 hours on busy days. This is the ride in Animal Kingdom that you need to purchase a lightning lane for. It hasn’t lost anything in the four years since we last rode it. Still AMAZING!
PandoraPandora
After doing Flight of Passage we headed back to the resort for a snack for lunch. This is one of the best bits about staying at Port Orleans – the beignets! They are a bit of a Disney World institution. Last time we were here they were available from Sassagoula so you could order them as part of your meal. They’ve now moved them to the Scat Cat Club Cafe next door. They are quite big and so we ordered 6 between the 4 of us. They are basically a French doughnut which were introduced to New Orleans in the 18th century and are served hot. Of course, being Disney, these are Mickey shaped. I did treat myself to a mug in the resort shop so that I can remember the feeling of being sat in Port Orleans while I’m at work 🙂
Beignets from Port Orleans French QuarterBeignet all day!
We are deciding to try and spend the hottest time of the day back at the resort for a rest – let’s see how well that works out. So after a break we headed to Magic Kingdom for the evening. We split up and the kids went off together while my husband and I rode the People Mover and did Carousel of Progress. People Mover has the added bonus of getting a good view of the new Tron Coaster that is under construction. There is also a point where the ride goes through the Space Mountain building in total darkness – like you literally can’t see your hand in front of your face. We got stopped in that section and were there for quite a while. Eventually they turned the lights on so we got to see what most people don’t see. It wasn’t an evac though and the ride did start up again.
Tron constructionStop and lights on on People Mover
We all met back up and did some more rides together. The plan had been to stay for the fireworks but it looked like a storm was forecast so we decided to head off back to the resort a bit early. Leaving at the time that the park closes – or when a storm starts – is never a good plan as the queue for buses can be really bad!
An early start – though not as early as we had planned – this morning and after breakfast at the resort we got the bus to Hollywood Studios. We weren’t sure how the new booking system worked for the DAS so tried booking a ride whilst having breakfast. We then realised that you do actually have to have scanned into the park before making the reservation, which is fair enough. We were however able to book a lightning lane at 7am so we got that done for Slinky Dog Dash.
Central hub area at Port Orleans French Quarter
Once at Hollywood Studies (and the bus stops have been moved since we were last here and it is a LONG walk!) we first locked in a DAS ride for Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railroad – a new ride since we were last here. We then headed straight for Star Tours as the wait was very short. I don’t normally ride this as it is not good for motion sickness. However, this year I have decided to take motion sickness tablets each morning so I thought I’d see if they made a difference. They didn’t really, so I will sit out this ride if the rest of the family want to go on it again.
With the opening of Galaxy’s Edge in 2019 (the new Star Wars section) this is the park that has had the biggest changes since we last visited in 2018. And, as a huge Star Wars fan, the bit my husband was looking forward to the most.
Well, it is impressive. For those that know the park this sits where the Cars show used to be. As you head towards The Muppets 3D show there is now a new tunnel to the right of it and this acts as the transition between Earth and Batuu. It really does work as when you emerge from the tunnel it really does feel like you are in a different world. The centre showpiece is of course the giant Millennium Falcon – not sure if it is to scale or not, but it felt like it was. We explored the merchandise shops briefly and walked on around through Toy Story Land and round to Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railroad as it was time for our DAS.
The final scene in Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
This ride is in the Chinese Theatre at the centre of the park and replaced the much loved Great Movie Ride. I was sceptical when I heard about this ride, mainly as it uses the new style Mickey and Minnie cartoons. However, I was pleasantly surprised. This also uses the trackless ride system and is very cleverly done with projections that completely change to environment that you are in. You go under the sea, through a fairground, and dance a waltz in Daisy’s Dance Studio (along with a very violent conga!). Definitely recommended.
As soon as we had scanned into the Runaway Railway we went on to the app to lock in a DAS return time for Rise of the Resistance but not till a lot later on. By this point the heat was starting to get to me. The rest of the family wanted to do Alien Swirling Saucers which REALLY makes me feel ill, so they did that whilst I sat in the air con watching the film about Walt Disney ‘One Man and his Dream’. Sentimental, but I do love it.
Lunch was at the ABC Commissary. Hollywood does suffer from a small selection of indoor sit down quick service restaurants and we were lucky to get a seat here.
The prime purpose of this trip (we will be back many times to Hollywood Studios during our trip) was a visit to Oga’s Cantina, for which we had a booking. This is one of the hardest to get reservations on Disney property and is the bar from the first Star Wars film.
Oga’s Cantina
Our reservation was 3.30 but it was about 3.45 when we got in. The bar is very small and cramped. There are a few booths around the edges, and some tall tables for standing at in the middle. There is also standing space at the bar. You don’t get a choice on where you go and we were lucky enough to be seated at one of the booths – though that doesn’t mean you get a booth to yourself. There were two other parties there with us.
The experience is 45 mins long and so if you are going I would recommend looking at the menu in advance to decide what you want.
I had a Jabba Juice and an Oga’s Obsession.
Jabba JuiceOga’s Obsession – a Petri dish of jelly with perls and popping candy
The headline drink is the blue milk which my daughter had but wasn’t keen on.
My overriding memory of this experience is that it was loud. I did use my air pods as I guessed this would be the case and the noise cancelling did help. Would I recommend this? If you can get a reservation and you are a massive Star Wars fan, then yes. But I do think it is a ‘once and done’ thing. There have been lots of complaints online about the whole set up. If you have kids and get sent to a standing area then they will either be looking at the front of a bar or the legs of a table (as they won’t be tall enough to see the top of the bar or table). People have also not being happy about the fact that you are on your feet all day in the parks and they book this thinking that it will be a nice rest for 45 mins, only to find out that they have to stand. I’m glad we did it (and very glad that we got a booth) but wouldn’t book it next time.
Then it was time for Rise of the Resistance. This ride did not open when Galaxy’s Edge did and so is the newest ride in the park. This uses the trackless ride system that was first used at the Ratatouille ride in Disney Paris (which has recently opened at WDW). The biggest thing that got me about it was the sheer scale of it – at one point you enter a room with full sized AT-ATs! The pre-show is very good. For those who aren’t aware the pre-show is technically part of the queue and introduces you to the ride. However for wait times they measure until you enter the pre-show as it makes the queue seem shorter! When your feet ache that extra time you spend on them during the pre-show seems to last forever!
Part of the pre-show for Rise of the Resistance.
The idea behind this ride is that you have been captured by the order and taken to their ship. This happens during the pre-show and you are taking in a group of 8 for an interrogation about the location of the Rebel base. However, during the interrogation you are liberated by the resistance and then you enter the ride vehicle as you try to escape the ship.
As I said, this is a trackless ride, but far more advanced than anything they’ve done before as it involves two levels and so the GPS system has to communicate over those two levels. We have heard that this ride goes down a lot due to technical issues. The ride itself is good, but it is the theming that ranks it up to an excellent experience.
We were getting tired so headed back to the resort for a dinner (quick service from Sassagoula) and an early night.
Well, it has been four years since I last went to Disney – thanks to Covid – and yesterday was the day we finally set off! We flew to Miami from Heathrow. There are a couple of reasons for this but the biggest one is that the flights are SO much cheaper. Secondly, immigration is usually a lot quieter than at Orlando. Flew with Virgin on a plane, appropriately for our family, called West End Girl 🙂
The flight was 9 hours and I have to say that it went very quickly. I’m not a good flyer and this is the one thing I dread about going to Disney, so I was pleased that it didn’t seem too long. When we landed it was nearly midnight our time so we checked into a hotel at Miami airport. In the past we have driven straight up but it’s safer to just wait till the next morning when your body clock is 5 hours ahead of the actual time.
So this morning we drove the 3.5 hour drive up to Orlando, but not before a quick stop at the American Girl store. We have been doing this (either in Miami or Orlando) every year since 2014 and even though my daughter may now be 15, it is a big part of our holidays. We did come out with two dolls (oops!). We also did a quick Walmart stop for some essentials.
We arrived at our resort at around 4pm. We are staying at Port Orleans French Quarter for the first five nights (this is a multi resort stay!). We have been here before and it is our go to Moderate resort. It has a slightly larger sister resort, Port Orleans Riverside, but we prefer French Quarter. The theming is New Orleans and it has 7 separate accommodation buildings around a central lobby and dining area, pool, and some open spaces where events like campfires and movies take place. Lovely tree-lined narrow streets separate the buildings. It also has the advantage of being a short boat ride to Disney Springs (which we will use later in the week).
Room at Port Orleans Riverside
I was very pleased to see that the battery in my 4 year old Magic Band still worked and let me in the room. I spotted it and bought it as we were checking out of Bay Lake Tower back in 2018 and so I’d never actually used it.
Once we had unpacked a few things we headed off to Magic Kingdom. The first task was to set up our Disability Access Service (DAS) passes (both myself and my son are able to get these) as they make queueing for rides a lot easier. I would struggle to with the noise in the queues without it. We had a quick look at the 50th Anniversary merchandise and then headed up Main Street.
As usual, I burst into tears at the site of the castle. It’s a bit of a family joke now that I cry as soon as I see the castle and I didn’t disappoint! There is something about the feeling of walking down Main Street, hearing the music, and seeing the castle. After all, it’s my happy place 🙂
I’m home!
Today was our first time using the new Genie+ service. It was still the Fast Pass system when we were last here. I’ll do a separate post explaining in detail how it works and how we used it as a family, but with that and the DAS we managed to ride Buzz, Peter Pan, and Voyage of the Little Mermaid. We decided to leave before the fireworks started and watch them properly another day.
Voyage of the Little Mermaid
So it was back to the resort. The only downside to staying here is that the rooms only sleep 4. Whilst we are 4 the two children don’t want to share a double bed, so we end up with a blow up bed for one of them. But it’s only for 5 nights before we move onto a resort that does sleep 5.
Tiring first day with the long drive as well, but going to bed happy.
Everyone has heard of Disney World and various other Disney theme parks across the world. But far fewer people have heard of the Disney Cruise Line. As a family we went on our first Disney cruise in August 2016 and we now like to mix up a holiday with both parks and cruise. This year is slightly different as we are not heading over to Florida. Instead we have driven down to Dover and are about to embark on a Northern European cruise on the Disney Magic.
Previously we have sailed on the Disney Dream and the Disney Fantasty – sister ships and the biggest in the fleet. This time we are sailing on the Disney Magic which, along with her sister ship the Disney Wonder, is the smaller class of ships.
I will try and blog as we sail though wifi and data will be patchy at times. This is my 6th cruise which means it is our first as Gold Castaway Club members (their rewards programme). Joining us for their first Disney cruise are my parents.
So, it is that time of year again. Disney have released details of the free dining offers for UK guests and packages go on sale on 25th April 2019 for stays in 2020.
However there are some differences this time.
Normally the offers are available all for stays all year round except for Easter and Christmas. However, this time they can only be booked for stays up until 3 October 2020. This does unfortunately meant that you cannot get free dining for stays during October half term. This is the first time Disney have done this – we have done October half term on the free dining offer before – and it is not clear exactly why things have changed this time round.
Another big difference is that they have restricted some resorts and room types that can be booked under the offer.
So here are the details.
When can you book?
25th April to 2 July 2019
When can you stay?
1 January 2020 to 29th March 2020 or 13 April 2020 to 3 October 2020
What do you need to book?
Free dining is only available when you book a package. This means booking your accommodation and park tickets together. ‘Package’ does not include flights and you can book these separately at a different time. You also need to book a minimum of 5 nights stay.
What do you get?
This all depends on where you stay. ALL package bookings will get a $200 gift card which you collect from The World of Disney in Disney Springs. The specific dining package depends on your resort level.
Value resorts:
These resorts don’t get one of the dining plans but instead get a ‘free breakfast’ offer. This is slightly confusing though as you don’t have to use it for breakfast. It is basically a quick service meal credit and you can use it at any quick service location at any time during the day. The following resorts are offering this deal.
Disney’s All-Star Resorts, Disney’s Pop Century (excluding pool view rooms), Disney’s Art of Animation (excluding Little Mermaid standard rooms).
Moderate resorts:
These resorts get the quick service dining plan. For the first time Disney have put restrictions on which rooms you can use this for and this might cause problems for some – like us – you book the rooms with a 5th bed at Port Orleans Riverside. The following resorts are offering this deal.
Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort (excluding water view rooms), Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground, Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside (excluding standard view and standard view 5th sleeper rooms) and Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – French Quarter.
Deluxe resorts and Deluxe villa resorts:
These resorts get the Disney dining plan. This also includes room restrictions, along with some resort restrictions. Noticeable exclusions from the offer are the Contemporary and Polynesian resorts. The following resorts are offering this deal.
Deluxe Resorts:Â Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge (excluding pool view rooms), Disney’s Beach Club Resort, Disney’s Boardwalk Inn, Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Disney’s Wilderness Lodge and Disney’s Yacht Club Resort.
Deluxe Villa Resorts: Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Kidani Village, Disney’s Beach Club Villas, Disney’s Boardwalk Villas, The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Disney’s Old Key West Resort, Disney’s Riviera Resort, Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa and Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge.
As always you can pay to upgrade your dining plan – so you can stay at a moderate resort, but pay extra to get the DDP. Do work out the numbers though because sometimes it is cheaper to upgrade the resort instead.
Of course lots of us love staying in the ‘Disney bubble’ (I know we do) but if you do you have to face one awful reality – eating on site is more expensive than eating off site!
Disney give many different dining options, from snacks and quick service meals, to buffets, character meals, and signature dining. We are all different and we all have different tastes – and budgets – so advising on dining is a tricky one. One thing I would always recommend is costing it out before you go and deciding on whether or not to purchase one of the dining plans.
Dining plans allow you to purchase credits in advance that can be used in restaurants throughout Walt Disney World. At certain times of the year they are also offered as ‘free dining’ offers. The important thing to note is that dining plans can only be purchased if you are staying on site.
All plans are worked out on the basis of the number of nights you are staying. So stay 7 nights and you get what is listed below x 7 for each guest. Each plan also includes 1 resort mug per person which can be refilled with soda/coffee at any resort.
So, what are they?
Quick Service Dining Plan (QDSP): This is the basic plan and gives you the following:
2 x Quick Service meals (main plus drink)
2 x snack credits
Disney Dining Plan (DDP): This is what people tend to think of when they think of the dining plans and is their most popular plan. You get the following:
1 x Quick service meal (main plus drink)
1 x Table Service meal (main, dessert, drink)
2 x snack credits
Deluxe Disney Dining Plan (DDDP): This is the top one and be warned, it includes a LOT of food.
3 x Table Sercice meal (main, dessert, drink)
2 x snack credits
Which one is for you?
Well that all depends on how much food you want and WHERE you want to eat.
Fast food: this is a bit misleading, but this is what is classified as quick service. It is counter service food where you order at the counter and seat yourself. However, if you are now thinking ‘oh, McDonald’s food’ you couldn’t be far wrong. Yes, you can get burgers and fries, but there are SO many more options – especially at Epcot where you can get international food. You do not tip at these locations
Waiter service restaurants: these are your table service meals. You are seated, order from the waiter and the food is brought to you. On the plan you do not get starters, but you can order and pay for these in addition to using your credits. Some restaurants are classed as signature dining and require you to use 2 table service credits. You do need to tip here.
Buffets: these are also classed as table service meals. You are also required to tip here.
Character meals: these are all classed as table service meals and can be either waiter service or buffet. If you are planning on doing a lot of character meals this might make the DDP or DDDP better options for you.
So, it is that time of year again. Disney have released details of the free dining offers for UK guests and packages go on sale on 25th April 2019 for stays in 2020.