Trip Report BoardWalkin’ Around the World

Hello!

It’s been a minute since I’ve had a trip, but I have so enjoyed keeping up with things in your reports!

Now, I am SO excited to share that, like many others here, I’ll be visiting the mouse THIS week! And away we go!

When: May 30-June 4, 2023

Where: BoardWalk Inn

Who: Me and my dad, R. We are very excited for this father-daughter trip!

 

[jmunzert]

a thing of beauty!!!

 

[ToInfinity]

Day 3 (6/1): MK & HS
After our late (and damp) evening, we slept in a bit this morning and had a slower start. We had pop tarts in the room and arrived at MK just after 11:00am.

Originally, I had an ADR for Be Our Guest. We always enjoy it, but I had cancelled it while we were still lounging in the room because we weren’t sure if we’d make it in time. On the way to MK, I was shocked to pick up one instead for The Plaza! We also like The Plaza and haven’t been in a few trips so that was exciting. It is such a small restaurant so it is typically hard to get reservations.

Today was going to be a “show” day at MK! I also had no Genie+ this day. We headed in to visit the birds first.

I love that Walt imagined this one himself.

Did you know that originally, he wanted it to be a restaurant that featured live birds?

On to pay the bears a visit next.

It was time for our ADR at The Plaza, so we headed to Main Street. On the way, we were impressed by this. The moat was drained around the castle, but really it was just sectioned off from the rest of the river with a pump constantly pumping out any overflow.

 

[ToInfinity]

We checked in for the plaza and were called a little before our reservation time. This seemed to be a trend through the week. We decided it was because we were a party of 2 and that is less common.

Our waitress was fantastic. We started out with a necessity…

And these delicious appetizers! I got the crab cakes and Dad got the salad.

The crab cakes were FANTASTIC. They were my favorite thing I ate the entire trip. Highly recommend.

For our entrees, I got the meatloaf and Dad got the pot roast. Pot roast normally isn’t on the menu, it was offered as a daily special.

I dropped my fork on the ground mid-meal and a waiter passing by saw and brought me another. He said it was a plastic one in case I dropped it again. there also was a new real set of silverware too.

With our bellies (very) full, we left and headed to our next destination…

The Liberty Belle!

I don’t even remember the last time we did this, but we really enjoyed it.

I enjoyed this view of BTMRR.

 

[ToInfinity]

With our theme of MK shows, we went here next.

Before the show, we both enjoyed looking at all of the items that were on display in the lobby. We both love history, so it was pretty cool to see all of the original belongings from the presidents.

When we left, we ran into the marching band and these sisters…

They were pretty funny yelling things at the band.

One more show to round out the day: Philharmagic! Dad hasn’t seen this since I was a little kid. We waited,

And waited,

And waited,

And it got *very* crowded in the waiting area. People were getting irritated because they kept saying the doors were going to open but then they just didn’t. CM’s were also encouraging people to fill ALL the available space, but I assure you, it was filled.

Once we got in, we enjoyed the show. I grabbed a strawberry dole whip on our way to the front of the park.

Then, we saw one more surprise show! I didn’t realize what time it was, but we saw all of FoF.

I grabbed a M&M rice crispy treat from The Confectionery for later, and we saw these guys right before we left.

I had a friend who was in HS for the day, so the plan was to leave MK, run to the room for a bit, and then go meet them in HS!

 

[Darstarr]

We started out with a necessity…

Blue Moon

 

[ToInfinity]

Blue Moon

Haha good eye. I forgot to mention that!

 

[ToInfinity]

Day 3 Continued…

Here is why I LOVE the proximity of the Boardwalk to all of the parks. We left MK on a bus right at 4:00 and were able to make it back to Boardwalk, go up to the room for a few minutes to regroup and freshen up, make it back down to the boat dock for HS, and be on a boat by 4:35. We made good time, I’d say!

This was our first time taking a boat to HS that I could ever remember.

My friend A texted me that they were getting on ToT and were headed to BatB next. The show started at 5:00. We were walking in to HS at 4:55. Would we make it?

Yes! Literally RIGHT on time.

We didn’t get to sit with A and her family because they actually were a little late arriving from ToT and even though we saved them a spot, CM’s wouldn’t let them on the side we were sitting on.

We met up afterwards though!

A and her family went to do RnR and Dad and I went to do ToT.

As many times as I have ridden this, I have literally never noticed this “elevator” in the lobby.

Again, we were told to “fill all available space” but “stay with your party”.

 

[ToInfinity]

It worked out perfectly and we we met up again with A afterwards. They hadn’t done Star Tours yet and it was a walk-on, so we headed there next.

And then, here! A’s daughter requested this one.

After our show, it was time for A and fam to go do Rise. They headed that way but Dad and I were hungry so we went to ABC Commissary to try this!

Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese!


We both thought it was very good and the Commissary has great fries also. We felt like it was basically Buffalo chicken dip on bread.


I wanted a great seat up close for Fantasmic, so we went that direction after we ate. It also was sprinkling a little. We were literally the third party in the stadium! We sat on the third row. I wasn’t sure if we’d be allowed to save seats for A and family, but the CM’s were very kind and let us.

SO exciting. I love this show.

A little prep work beforehand.

 

[ToInfinity]

Before the show began, the audience enjoyed both the wave and creating our own light show.

Finally, it was time to begin!

 

[ToInfinity]

We said goodbye to A and walked back to the Boardwalk. The line for the boat was too long. We kept track and actually walked all the way back before a boat even passed by us, so it was definitely way quicker.

The Boardwalk at night is magical!

We ended the night and went to sleep at a decent time. Good thing! Little did I know, tomorrow would be a busy day!

 

[ToInfinity]

View attachment 723163
a thing of beauty!!!

Apologies for missing this earlier!

But, YES! Still not a fan of Genie+ due to the $$$, but I do feel like I have finally figured out how to use it effectively and get our monies worth.

 

[Tiki Traveler]

Your cork Mickey ears w/your own pins are very cute! I’ve never seen a pair like that before!

Enjoying your trip report!

 

[Minnie1986]

We finally made it to the BoardWalk! We were the fourth stop on the bus so it took quite a while. Not sure I’d recommend Mears Connect. This is the third time I’ve used it and it seems to have been worse and worse each time.

Room wasn’t ready, but I went to the front desk but sweet CM Judy worked some magic for us! We picked up our small grocery delivery from Bell Services (actually, they were so kind and delivered both that and our bags to the room!)

I knew they were in the process of renovating the rooms here. I was SO hoping we would get a new one. When I asked, they told me that ALL that are now available are renovated! They are still doing some lower floors, but it is no longer possible to get an old style room. They are preparing to start on the villas next.

Here are some fresh BoardWalk Inn room pictures! We are in love!

View attachment 719751
View attachment 719752
View attachment 719753
View attachment 719754
View attachment 719755
View attachment 719756
View attachment 719758

I love the renovations, and the silhouettes on the wall!

 

[Minnie1986]

We were pleased to see that daily housekeeping has officially returned. It was lovely coming back each day to the beds made and things tidy.

View attachment 722027

After a rest and costume change, we were on our way to MK! Dad decided he wanted to ride the monorail over so into Epcot for a second time we went.

View attachment 722028

View attachment 722029

View attachment 722030

I was still quite excited about the way it worked out with these LL’s.

View attachment 722031

I thought these planters looked literally like GIANT flowerpots.

View attachment 722032

(Although by definition, I guess that is what a planter is. )

On to the monorail we go!

View attachment 722033

How does one stack LLs like that? SO glad how that all worked out!

 

[ToInfinity]

Weeeeeeeeeelllllllll….. considering there is another trip (& a very exciting one at that!) coming up very soon, I suppose I better finish this one up. There are a million excuses I could come up with, but let’s just say it’s been a busy time.

 

[ToInfinity]

Your cork Mickey ears w/your own pins are very cute! I’ve never seen a pair like that before!

Enjoying your trip report!

Thank you! They are from Etsy. I do love them, but they certainly aren’t “all day” ears because they’re quite heavy with the pins.

How does one stack LLs like that? SO glad how that all worked out!

I set alarms all day every 2 hours and made modifications to the times until it was what we wanted! We love using Genie+ like this.

 

[ToInfinity]

Day 4 (6/2): Spontaneous 4 Park Challenge?

(Forgive me if I forget small details. It’s been nearly a year after all… )

Today was our HS morning. I woke up at before 7:00 and purchased Genie+, securing a LL for SDD at 12:25. I was pleased with that time considering we had an ADR at Roundup Rodeo BBQ at 1:25. I also had an ADR for Oga’s at 7:15 pm.

First though, I had the breakfast of champions.

We made such great time the previous night walking from HS to the Boardwalk that we opted to do that again today. We headed out a few minutes after 7:00.

I love the little details at Boardwalk.

It was a beautiful morning!

We made it here by 7:20. Quicker than the boat and WAY quicker than the Skyliner.

A bit crowded this morning, but not bad. We were in a bit after 7:40.

The plan was to rope drop Rise. That plan was quickly foiled when it had a delayed opening. Off to fly the Falcon instead!

After we got off, the wait had jumped up a LOT. I looked and realized that SDD was down too.

 

[ToInfinity]

Luck was on our side and just after we exited SR, I checked and Rise had just opened. We headed in and only waited about 20 minutes!

We left Galaxy’s Edge and ran into these guys. I loved that Max was in the Powerline suit!

We decided to go to Hollywood Boulevard next. RnRc was listed as a 40 minute wait, but we opted for single rider. It ended up being about 25 minutes. I have been a chicken and not ridden this for several years now but worked up the courage this time. After the fast starts of Tron and Guardians, this no longer seemed like a big deal.

Photo proof that I rode from Dad.

I loved it! (Here’s to hoping it is open again for our upcoming summer trip!)

 

[ToInfinity]

A little over 2 hours after park opening, I grabbed another LL for Runaway Railway. The time worked out nicely.

ToT was listed as a 25 minute wait so we jumped in. Based on the time stamps, it ended up being much shorter than that.

(I wish these buildings existed!)

I saw a thing the other day where a group of people got to go past the queue and tour the lobby. I’d LOVE that.

Our MMRR LL was creeping up on us but I needed some sustenance.

This will do.

Dad also took some work calls while we sat under the umbrellas across from the Starbucks.

Nothing can stop us now!

Well…apparently Daisy can, considering we did stop here for an uncomfortable amount of time.

 

[Tiki Traveler]

Yeah! Wrapping up one trip report with another trip on the way!