Trip Report – April 30th to May 8th
Mon 5/2 – MK
Tues 5/3 – MK
Wed 5/4 – EPCOT
Thurs 5/5 – HS
Fri 5/6 – EPCOT/MK
Trip notes
Finally back after 10 years! I’ll make comments by parks, but not broken down by days.
Magic Kingdom – here’s what we did:
Overall – we had an awesome time, especially staying on-property at the Wilderness Lodge. It’s a great resort and we enjoy it almost as much as the parks themselves. I had some reservations about this visit, first the driving had me a little unnerved, as it was 30+ years since we had done that drive, but it was mostly uneventful. And second, I've been reading on this forum and others on how things have slipped with the Disney magic, price increases and things that have just gone away. While these statements are all true, it was still a super trip that we are glad to have made and don’t regret going or spending $3.50 for a bottle of water. If you are looking for an economical trip, you will be disappointed here. Not saying that you can’t economize while doing Disney, but it isn’t on the inexpensive end of vacation destinations. We look forward to our next trip!
- Just my wife & I – we’re in our late 50’s and maybe our last trip before grandkids!
- Driving south Sun 4/30 & Mon 5/1; 10-hours day 1- & 6-hours day 2
- On property Sunday afternoon 5/1 through Friday night 5/6
- We did NOT use Genie+ and our longest wait times for the popular rides was maybe 45 min. I believe we should have considered Genie+ for Studios, but the other parks, we felt it not necessary.
Mon 5/2 – MK
Tues 5/3 – MK
Wed 5/4 – EPCOT
Thurs 5/5 – HS
Fri 5/6 – EPCOT/MK
Trip notes
Finally back after 10 years! I’ll make comments by parks, but not broken down by days.
Magic Kingdom – here’s what we did:
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – I rode this once, it’s a nice coaster if there isn’t a long wait
- Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin – we did this 2x due to shorter wait times and we were close by. It could use some updating, but we do enjoy it.
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant – one of my wife’s favorite rides, had a short 5 min standby line!
- Haunted Mansion – one of our favorites; we did have to wait ~40 min., but well worth the wait.
- "it's a small world" - *sigh* - we jumped into a short queue during the only torrential downpour of our entire trip to ride. My grandparents took my wife & I on this ride on our 1987 trip, and it was their favorite ride, so it I ride it in their memory.
- Peter Pan’s Flight – hadn’t ridden this for many visits due to its long wait-times; we lucked into a 30 min wait and did it. Wanted to ride it because you never know when these rides could be gone! (Yes, I’m referring to you Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride!)
- Pirates of the Caribbean – another mist-do ride for us; we did this 2x during our trip. While there have been some “updates” over the years, I don’t feel it diminishes the ride overall.
- Prince Charming Regal Carrousel – my wife loves a good carrousel and with 5 min. wait times almost all the time we were in the MK, we did this 3x during our trip!
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – just me for this one; it was in construction 10 years ago, so I wanted to do this. Maybe a 45 min wait when I got in line. Very nice ride and I thought the theming was cool.
- Space Mountain – this is my personal favorite; rode this 2x. 2nd time I got in the very last seat on Alpha side (only rode that side due to LL… ;-( ) I was amazed how rough this ride is – it really tosses you around, which I love, but sometimes my old body does not…
- Splash Mountain – we had to ride due to the (eventual) retheme of this ride – a classic for sure!
- The Barnstormer – only rode it due to 5 min wait and we were close by. I did NOT see the chickens – they must have been removed.
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh – OK, so I got over my “hate” for this ride as it took out Mr. Toad, but we did it and it’s fine, but nothing special. OK, I still have issues….
- TTA PeopleMover – for some reason, I love this ride and we rode it 2x. Another classic that I hope never goes away.. Take that Disneyland!
- Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress – one of my favorite due to nostalgia, as I think I did this on my 1st visit back in the 70’s. It definitely needs the “modern” section updated, but I still like it.
- Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade – so we had a Disney magical moment here. On our 1st full day, we were standing off the main hub area in the shade deciding if we were going to stay and watch the parade. A CM approached us to ask if we were going to watch and we said sure, so he asked if we wanted VIP seating. Soon we were sitting at the bridge at Liberty Square where the parade passed directly by. No one standing in front of us, and the characters interacted with us. My wife recorded it and she was in tears – what an awesome moment for us. And it was a great parade too!
- Fireworks - Disney Enchantment – very awesome, much better than EPCOT’s latest show; we saw this once from Main Street and just the fireworks from the WL dock.
- Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros – haven’t ridden this in many visits and it was a short queue. Nice way to relax indoors.
- Mission: SPACE – actually did both missions and I don’t think I recall ever doing the Orange mission due to motion sickness in our family group. I was surprised that I felt the G-forces in my face – crazy!
- Soarin' Around the World – my wife claims that I rode this on one of our earlier visits, but I think this might have been my 1st time on this ride. It does live up to the hype – it is an amazing experience and I’m glad I waited the 35 min.
- Spaceship Earth – a classic ride that we always do. Had a 5 min. queue, so we took advantage and rode.
- Test Track – I did the SRL and was on in about 10 minutes. Weird riding with another family, but I do enjoy the outdoor track, one ride that I try to do every time we’re there.
- Canada Far and Wide in Circle-Vision 360 – a nice upgrade to the last one we saw hosted by Martin Short. Film work was beautiful, and we do enjoy these movies in the World Showcase.
- Harmonious – so to be honest, we thought this show was not as good as IllumiNations. 60 days out, I was logged in trying book a fireworks package at the Rose & Crown and of course it sold out for my 2 available dates within seconds. So I made an earlier 6:15 dinner reservation and they had a sign at the check-in booth that fireworks packages were available. I asked if there were any available for that evening and they did have one! So we cancelled the 6:15 and came back for the show. Even with good seats, we felt it was a good show, but no great.
- Impressions de France – Probably one of our favorite things to do @ EPCOT and imagine our surprise when we learned this show currently only runs in the evening! (shares the venue with Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along – GASP!) I know, some of the film is dated, but the views paired with the music is truly magical. We never miss this one.
- Leave a Legacy – We always find our family square when we visit. They moved all of these outside the entrance, so once we found them, we were able to find us!
- Reflections of China – another movie that we enjoy, although it is hard to fully appreciate with all the political issues going on.
- Remy's Ratatouille Adventure – So this is probably our favorite attraction at EPCOT. We rode 2x, with the 1st time only a 30 min wait. I read that this attraction comes second to MMRR; I would offer that we both felt this ride superior. We rode both 2x, but we thought the overall theming of the ride made this a better experience. Not to be missed!
- Alien Swirling Saucers – it’s similar to the classic Whip ride that you may find at amusement parks; it had a fairly short (25 min) wait, so we decided to ride. Nothing special – kids love it, but our car must have had a problem, as it was so bumpy, like literally teeth-rattling bumpy. Very odd for sure.
- Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway – disclaimer – we are purists when it comes to the new Mickey animation. We enjoyed the ride as we did it 2x, and I would ride it again, but we did enjoy Remy more.
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run – my adult son’s favorite ride & I rode it 3x due to the SRL, but I was an engineer every time and the first 2x, the “pilots” were very young kids who had no idea what to do. Only on my 3rd time with a family that was dialed in did I get to experience the full ride! Well done and a great experience, especially for those Star Wars fans.
- Muppet*Vision 3D – a classic that we enjoy immensely. I think the pre-show is almost as good as the actual show.
- Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith – Again via the SRL I got to do this with a 20 min wait. A great ride, albeit a short one.
- Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance – so I must have watched the POV YouTubes on this attraction 2 dozen times before I rode it. It is quite the experience and not to be missed! 1st thing I queued for and still had a 40 min wait. Did not get to Studios as early as I had hoped, but I would ride this every time! FYI – I got the B Mode ending w/Kylo in his ship on a screen vs. the animatronic Kylo. Had I not known how the ride goes, I would have never known the difference.
- Toy Story Mania! – Another 1st for us due to long wait times in the past. We did it 2x with 30-40 min waits, and this blows away Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin in MK. So glad we did this. Ironically the 2nd time the ride broke down as we were 5 feet from the unload platform. So we were stuck for 20 min and had to walk out through the ride with the guests who were mid-ride. They did give us a LL pass, but it was late and everything that was available (no ToT, Slinky Dog, Smugglers, RotR, etc.) we had done, so this was not a great benefit. It was cool to see the backstage area, so I’ll take that.
- Walt Disney Presents – nice to walk through the memorabilia that they have displayed for Walt Disney & to see the early history of WDW.
- Droid Depot – did this to build a R-series droid for our 30-year-old son as thanks for watching the house during our trip. It was an enjoyable thing to do, and he was happy with the surprise. Not too much to the assembly, but a child or teen would enjoy this more.
Overall – we had an awesome time, especially staying on-property at the Wilderness Lodge. It’s a great resort and we enjoy it almost as much as the parks themselves. I had some reservations about this visit, first the driving had me a little unnerved, as it was 30+ years since we had done that drive, but it was mostly uneventful. And second, I've been reading on this forum and others on how things have slipped with the Disney magic, price increases and things that have just gone away. While these statements are all true, it was still a super trip that we are glad to have made and don’t regret going or spending $3.50 for a bottle of water. If you are looking for an economical trip, you will be disappointed here. Not saying that you can’t economize while doing Disney, but it isn’t on the inexpensive end of vacation destinations. We look forward to our next trip!
