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 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!
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.
2019 brings some new events at all four parks at Walt Disney World. So what is coming up?
Magic Kingdom
Starting on 18th January Magic Kingdom will be hosting ‘Mickey and Minnie’s Surprise Celebration’ to honour these staple Disney characters. New merchandise, events, and foods will be available. There will be a new version of popular dance parade called ‘Move it! Shake it! MouskeDance it! Street Party’. The Dapper Dan’s and the Casey’s Corner pianist will also add some new Mickey and Minnie magic to their repertoire from 18th Jan to 30th Sept.
Epcot
The Epcot International Festival of Arts is in its 3rd year now and runs from 18th Jan – 25 Feb. We were lucky enough to visit this during its first year in 2017. Amongst other events the Disney on Broadway concert series returns to the America Garden’s Theatre in the world showcase, this year expanding to 7 days a week.
The theatre will also be in use during the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival from 6th March to 3rd June. The Gardn Rocks Concert Series will also expand to 7 days a week during this time.
The biggest event for Epcot in 2019 is probably the end of Illuminations: Reflections of Earth. This 20 year old nighttime firework and music display will come to an end in the second half of 2019. Stay tuned for more news of its replacement!
Hollywood Studios
2018 was a big year for this park with the opening of Toy Story Land in June, but it looks like 2019 will be even bigger! Of course the big event is the opening of ‘Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge’ in late autumn, but that is not all.
The park itself has its 30th anniversary on 30th May (having originally opened under the name MGM Studios) and Pixar will be a big theme this year. Pixar Place is now transformed into a Metroville city block from ‘The Incredibles’ films. Here you can meet Edna Mode, look out for clues as to the whereabouts of Jack-Jack, join in with a lively party and catch Mr Incredible, Mrs Incredible, and Frozone at various points during the day.
When Disney started building both Toy Story Land and Galaxy’s Edge, large sections towards the back of the park were closed. One of the casualties of this was the Mike and Sulley meet and greet. The good news is that these popular characters are now back and can be seen inside the Walt Disney Presents Theatre.
The new park expansion also saw the end of the Cars related experiences including a Lightning McQueen meet and greet. Later on in the Spring, Lightning McQueen returns with a new show experience telling the untold story of Lightning McQueen.
Animal Kingdom
This park celebrated its 25th anniversary last year and this year from 18th Jan – 30th September it will mark the 25th anniversary of ‘The Lion King’. A ‘Hakuna Matata Time Dance Party’ will see Timon and Rafiki dance with live musicians celebrating music around the world. Immersive 3D photo opportunities will also be available with more celebrations yet to be announced.
So make 2019 your year to visit Walt Disney World!
So quite a bit earlier than usual Disney have released dates for this year’s Halloween Party. Usually dates are released and tickets go on sale around April/May, but this year it would seem that Disney want us to be planning early.
This is a good thing as it can help people budget for the party if they know it is going to be on when they are there, or it can help them plan park days if they are not going to the party.
Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party (known as MNSSHP) is a hard-ticketed event held in Magic Kingdom from 7pm till park closing on a selection of dates from mid-August until the end of October. If you buy a party ticket you can enter from 4pm without having to buy a regular park ticket. If you don’t have a park ticket then you will need to leave the park before the party starts. And yes, they do police it – if you don’t have a party wristband they will ensure you leave the park. This means that there is not a regular showing of ‘Happily Ever After’ (the firework show) on party nights.
We love MNSSHP having now done it three times. This is the only time that guests over the age of 14 are allowed to dress up in costumes (the best aspect of the party as far as I’m concerned), there is free candy, special fireworks, a special parade and show, Halloween themed snacks and desserts, along with merchandise
Ticket prices are from $85-135 for adults and $74-130 for children (under 10). Slight discounts apply to some dates for DVC Members and Annual Passholders.
One thing that people might not know is that when the parks close to guests they don’t actually close down. This is when hundreds of cast members step in and clean, do maintenance, and get everything ready for guests the next day.
I have stayed at monorail resorts three times now and two of those have been towards the end of October. On both occasions I have been woken up at some point at around 3am to the sound of Christmas music – a sign that the performers are rehearsing for the Christmas parade.
This time lapse video is a fascinating example of the overnight work in the parks. Magic Kingdom hosts both Halloween parties – Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party’ – and Christmas parties – ‘Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party’. The park is fully decorated for each season. So imagine visiting with the park full of pumpkins and autumn foliage but the very next day when you enter it is instead full of candy canes and fir trees.
Here is how the magic happens on that one night each year.
So quite a bit earlier than usual Disney have released dates for this year’s Halloween Party. Usually dates are released and tickets go on sale around April/May, but this year it would seem that Disney want us to be planning early.