Trip Report Celebrate We Will (live-ish)

It's a Brifraz Trip Report! As if you need any other reason to celebrate than travelling to WDW with us, we've got a couple big deals around here. Our daughter just graduated from college!! She survived 4 years at an Ivy League school and has come out graduating with two degrees (engineering and music) and graduated with honors. There can't be more, can there? Yup, indeed there is. Last week was my last day as a full time high school teacher. I just retired from teaching music in public schools after 31 years!! That's got to be enough, right? Well, I hope so because that's all we've got. And we are definitely ready to celebrate (in fact, we may have started celebrating this past weekend as Father's Day and college Graduation coincided).

A college graduation trip to WDW has long been in the plans for us. After our daughter did her summer CP last year, we weren't sure if it was going to survive - 3 months of parking cars at Epcot certainly could've soured her on the idea. But, she was brave and strong and definitely still wanted a graduation trip. Some time over the past few months, talk of adding her boyfriend into the mix started, so he will be joining us for most of the adventure. And then, in March, I finally decided to hang up the old baton (I don't actually use a baton when I conduct, but the premise is accurate) and stop spending 6 hours a day standing in front of 40+ kids at a time trying to get them to make music. So, we've got a lot to celebrate. And, celebrate we will (because life is short and sweet for certain). In fact, there are more 'splurges' in this trip than any other, because these are big things that only happen once. So, we are celebrating them with things we definitely can only afford to do once!

What do the next 10ish days have in store for you, intrepid reader? Well, here's the teaser... Epic Universe, a crazy double Early Entry morning, Amorette's Cake decorating, Atlantic Dance Hall (yes, it really is still open), Trader Sam's (assuming we can get in), a Monorail Crawl, and the biggest adventure of them all... a VIP tour.

We also will be doing quite a bit of our touring with another family that we are friends with from up here at home and the aforementioned boyfriend will be joining for 7 of our 9 days of fun. It's going to be a great time, but first we will of course have to deal with the 15 hour drive coming up this Thursday starting at about 4am. See you later, friends.

 

[brifraz]

What a slacker. “Live” trip report??? Sorry. Yesterday was pretty chill.

As you know, the girls went into IoA while I chilled out. They started with Hagrid’s which was far too long of a wait for early hour. Not sure why Express Pass is already going before normal park open, but they watched the TM count out 50 people from Express for every 10 from standby. To me, that seems a bit questionable.

They had hoped to also do Velocicoaster, but not after that wait, so they caught the train to Hogsmeade and did Gringotts with almost no wait.

This guy almost didn’t let them on. Something about waiting a little while until Express Pass people started showing up… but eventually he relented and on they went.

Then they headed to the Simpsons for a little fun with Homer and co.

They were going to hit up Rip Ride Rockit, but decided to just be relaxed, get some pictures, and hit the AP lounge and then meet me.

Meanwhile, after updating you all, I had stopped in Cowfish to grab their Pride month special for us to enjoy. Cake sushi!

Cake is not really a chopstick food, but…

We were meeting up with another family for lunch at Boathouse so headed to Disney Springs. Sadly 2/3 of the other family were feeling a bit under the weather, so just the three of us plus one for lunch.

Those were great, but the big highlight was the first official Duck Duck Razz for our daughter.

They always split the filet mignon sliders and fries and this time was the same, but the filets were bigger than usual - definitely more than the 1oz. Sorry, no pics - ate too fast!

 

[brifraz]

We did just a little shopping in DS, but then headed to Epcot. Not for a full visit, just one attraction and a drink.

Spaceship Earth was its usual self, although on the descent a lot of star lights were out (on the left at first and then on the right) and an odd patch of triangles was lit early on that I don’t recall being lit in a while.

Then, up to Geo 82.

Amazing space and what a view!

Fun decor!

Our waitress was absolutely delightful and kind and helped a lot with drink choices.

All good, but definitely a bit alcohol forward in flavor in our opinions and the leek martini is a unique taste that I enjoyed, but I doubt many will.

I think they could use a little menu expansion in both the food and drink areas. Just a bit more variety in their options would help.

We decided to call it a day a bit early and just headed to our room to relax and have some dinner. No big excitement. Speaking of rooms, last night was the end of our offsite time. We were at the Palazzo Lakeside. It was an interesting little place. Definitely a cheap option on 192, but a little nicer than most of those places and trying to be higher end we think. Not terribly successful at being higher end and just a bit odd, but perfectly serviceable for our first 3 nights.

Up early this morning so the girls can hit Universal again while I chill at the Boardwalk hoping our room becomes available! Enjoying some morning peace at the Belle Vue lounge.

 

[littleroo]

I love, love the Bellvue Lounge!! I am actually surprised it still exists because I never see it get any use. When, we stay at The Boardwalk, I go ro the lounge a few times to get away from the hustle and bustle and relax.

I enjoyed your Universal Studios adventures. Epic looks awesome! We will go down after this summer to check it out but we want to wait for the crowds to die down.

I am glad you enjoyed the Geo Lounge! My husband and I are really looking forward to this reservation in August.

 

[brifraz]

I love, love the Bellvue Lounge!! I am actually surprised it still exists because I never see it get any use. When, we stay at The Boardwalk, I go ro the lounge a few times to get away from the hustle and bustle and relax.

I enjoyed your Universal Studios adventures. Epic looks awesome! We will go down after this summer to check it out but we want to wait for the crowds to die down.

I am glad you enjoyed the Geo Lounge! My husband and I are really looking forward to this reservation in August.

Also love Belle Vue and pretty much all the quieter spots at the resorts. Glad they continue to survive!

Epic is definitely impressive. It caters to thrill seekers which is more my wife and daughter than me. I’m sure they will be back multiple times. Me? Maybe once or twice.

Geo 82 was beautiful and relaxing with a great location. We will definitely request bar seating next time so we can talk to the bartenders and maybe get drinks more suited to our tastes. If you are up for a savory, onion forward drink, try that martini. It’s very interesting.

 

[littleroo]

Also love Belle Vue and pretty much all the quieter spots at the resorts. Glad they continue to survive!

Epic is definitely impressive. It caters to thrill seekers which is more my wife and daughter than me. I’m sure they will be back multiple times. Me? Maybe once or twice.

Geo 82 was beautiful and relaxing with a great location. We will definitely request bar seating next time so we can talk to the bartenders and maybe get drinks more suited to our tastes. If you are up for a savory, onion forward drink, try that martini. It’s very interesting.

Great feedback on Geo 82! We will definitely request the bar. I feel like you may be tempting me with the Beverly

 

[brifraz]

Now I’m at Blizzard Beach waiting for the girls to get back from picking up our daughter’s boyfriend at MCO.

Only open one hour, but not terribly crowded yet.

It appears the natives are bored and making ritualistic tube towers.

 

[brifraz]

Not the best Blizzard Beach Day… started fine. Everyone arrived around noon. We did the chair lift and Teamboat Springs together and then grabbed some lunch. There was a food truck here that does sandwiches on garlic knots and they were awesome. Then a little wave pool time, the younger folks did the mat slalom slide and then… storms. Started around 2:30pm and we waited it out for an hour and a half, but to no avail. Even though the radar would clear out, suddenly another storm would pop up. Thus, at about 4pm we bailed out. No rain as we started to head out and then massive downpour about halfway to the car.

Now, drying out and relaxing in our room at Boardwalk before heading to a late dinner at Beaches and Cream. Got a nice view.

But also we are as far as possible from the lobby. No worries!

 

[riverside]

But also we are as far as possible from the lobby. No worries!

I know the feeling. We were too when we stayed there a few weeks ago!!

 

[cgersic]

Thanks so much for the Epic pictures! I'm not sure if/when I'll make it there as I'm not much of a Universal fan, but I really enjoy seeing it. Enjoy the day!

 

[brifraz]

Time for a little catching up… last night we had dinner at Beaches and Cream. Of course, the shakes and floats were the highlight.

But the food is really good as well and we definitely enjoyed our meal.

Nothing terribly fancy, just well done diner-ish food. Then we headed to Atlantic Dance Hall to burn off some of the calories. We got there at about 8:30pm and it was totally empty.

The music was a mix of 70s to current and the DJ was doing a great job of mixing. A little before 9pm a few others started to arrive and outside it started to pour down rain. They actually started fireworks at Epcot a little early.

By 9:30 or so there were maybe 20 other people there and a decent bit of dancing going on. We stayed until a little after 10pm. The bartender was great and we had a fun time. If you need a little adult time and enjoy a variety of music and maybe a little dancing, I can’t recommend it highly enough. Hoping it doesn’t go away!

Oh, forgot to mention… before we went to B&C, I ran out to the car to grab rain gear and they were loading up a fancy van with important looking folks. Very important folks. I took a peek in and I’m almost certain it was Jeff Vahle and Josh d’Amaro in there. Given there were 4 VIP guides, lots of other suits, and security out in force, I’m even more certain. And this morning we saw a number of VIP guides bringing important people to the Attic meeting room, which again reinforced my belief that I saw some serious bigwigs.

 

[brifraz]

This morning we did the Amorette’s cake decorating experience. I’m just going to tell this story through pictures, pretty sure you will get the idea!!

It was an awesome experience and now we have two beautiful cakes to enjoy!

 

[brifraz]

For lunch it was time to introduce our daughter’s boyfriend to one of our all time favorites, Raglan Road. At 11:30am it is very quiet in there!! But great food as always.

 

[the_rich]

For lunch it was time to introduce our daughter’s boyfriend to one of our all time favorites, Raglan Road. At 11:30am it is very quiet in there!! But great food as always.
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One of my favorite restaurants. The slow lamb is amazing.

 

[brifraz]

After lunch, we brought our cakes back to the room and relaxed for a bit. Disney naps are the best naps!

Next up, some Epcot time. Here’s what I want everyone to do: take a couple slow, deep breaths, relax, and enjoy.

 

[Katiekitten]

Your cakes look amazing!

 

[brifraz]

Yup, in case anyone has forgotten, Living with the Land is amazing and wonderful. Spread my ashes in the sand there!!

I’ll get the rest of our Epcot fun posted later, but we are about to hit the rails with Mickey and Minnie!

 

[brifraz]

After our wonderful ride through the greenhouses, it was time to go deep under the sea with Nemo. About a 5 minute wait and then we were on our clam, ready to rock.

Wait, what’s that Dori? Nemo is missing again??

Let’s just play fun guessing game instead.

The game is… guess what aspects of this pavilion are not show worthy today. Well, the robot arm angler fish was not working but was still lit in an awkward pose with Nemo by its butt. In the final scene with Nemo characters in the real aquarium, characters were cut off at the bottom of the projection kind of killing the illusion. Then outside, the entry was not happy.

No waves at all and seagulls just clicking with no ‘mine!’ audio. Rough day for the Living Seas.

We then headed to do Spaceship Earth again, curious if anything in the descent had changed. Spoiler - it hadn’t. Still large areas without stars and oddly lit groups of triangles. And the facial recognition had some trouble with me.

Just a case of the Mondays perhaps?

Next up some dinner in space!

 

[brifraz]

I have mixed feelings about Space 220. Experience is cool. Food and drinks are excellent. Hate price fixe menus. Cost is pretty high. $100 per person for dinner with a single drink warrants even more upscale in my opinion. I’m fine with requiring an entree per person, but I rarely want/need three courses.

Argue about those things as you wish, but here’s pretty pictures!

View from our seats (we were right by the windows but not Earthside).

Beautiful drinks.

Appetizers - antipasto, tuna tartare, buffalo cauliflower. No pic of the calamari (it wasn’t terribly photogenic)

Main courses of grouper and filet mignon (all three of my companions got the filet).

And delightful and beautiful desserts.

All in all a delightful meal but with a price tag and requirement I’m less than a fan of.

 

[brifraz]

Also, it was nearly a two hour meal, so by the time we headed out it was fireworks time. Didn’t get a great spot but still could enjoy.

It was an extra evening hours night so we promptly headed to Soarin after fireworks. No real wait. Then explored water in the darkness with Moana, very photogenic.

We wrapped up the night with no real wait for Mission:Space and about 20 minutes for Frozen.

I leave Mondays adventure with a couple shots of Epcot looking very nice at night.

 

[brifraz]

This morning, it was up and at ‘em early and walking over to Studios. We started our morning with Mickey and Minnie. I still hate that they got rid of The Great Movie Ride, but I love MMRR.

And the sun in the first scene is my favorite. Next we headed to Rise. It was 8:55, so we were happy to be getting there before they opened things up to everyone. But… nope. They closed off Early access, well, early. Definitely a bummer. Why? No clue. Annoying, yup. Instead of a 20 or so minute wait, we were in the huge mass getting in at 9am and waited just over an hour.

We then headed to catch some new (or at least refreshed) shows. Little Mermaid is fun, but the computer graphics are laughable. Just terrible. And no idea why? They look like very early Pixar experiments in characters. Not sure the show is even remotely an improvement over the old one.

We stopped for some lunch along Sunset Blvd - nothing noteworthy but good and filling. And then caught the 12pm Villains show.

This was a much better show, with a fun gimmick for audience participation and well done visuals and performances. Although I’m looking forward to when it gets replaced but MuppetVision.

Mid afternoon rest in the room time. Heading to Epcot soon and some fun times for dinner tonight.