Trip Report 11 Days, 6 Theme Parks, 1 Monsoon, Lots of Characters, Lots of New Experiences, and Plenty of Memories.

Hello All,

My husband Matt and I just returned from the most magical vacation. We spent 11 days in Orlando. With time spent at Universal and Disney.

I hope you will follow along!

 

[Tiki Traveler]

It was time for the dreaded Tower of Terror. I tried to chicken out. I tried to back out but Matt was having none of it.

I was literally almost in tears in the pre show room. But I made good on my promise and rode.

View attachment 717958

For me - the front row on TOT….

I’ll ride w/my eyes closed (some of the time) in one of the back rows

 

[kbarry117]

Friday May 5th

We both slept in a little bit this day. We were given a late check out of noon so we had a nice leisurely morning.

We ate some leftover shepherds pie and donuts for breakfast and then proceeded to pack up all of our stuff.

We got a Lyft and we were soon heading to Disney.

We got to Pop Century just fine.

Matt went to the front desk to inquire about our room. Since we were staying for 8 nights we really wanted a room with a King bed. Thankfully they were able to fulfill that request but it wasn't going to be ready for a few more hours!

We were more than happy to wait! We decided to leave our bags with bell services and head over to the Polynesian.

Our original plan was to go to Disney Springs but the idea of the pulled pork nachos was too great so off to the Poly we went.

A bus for the Magic Kingdom was pulling up right as we walked over. We got a brief glimpse of Magic Kingdom and then headed toward the monorail.

I went ahead and mobile ordered Captain Cooks while on the monorail.

We arrived shortly after and our food was ready not much after.

We shared an order of the nachos and an order of chicken nuggets. Plus we decided to get a refillable mug for our trip.

Everything was delicious. Those nachos absolutely lived up to the hype.

We took a quick walk around the Poly and got our room is ready text.

We decided to switch up our transportation back to Pop. We took a bus to Hollywood Studios and then took the Skyliner back to Pop.

Our room was a quick walk from the Skyliner station. We were in the 70s section right by this! Room 6103.

We were greeted with this when we walked in:

Ahhhh! So excited to be back!

We got settled in our room and called to have our bags delivered.

It took about 2 and half hours for them to be delivered and we realized we were missing one! Thankfully it was quickly found and delivered.

After a nice rest in the room it was time to head back to the Poly for our first ADR of the trip.

 

[kbarry117]

We decided to be a little less adventurous and take a Lyft to the Poly.

We found a nice spot on the Trader Sam's Tiki Terrace.

We order two Spikey Pineapples (extra Spikey) and an order of the Kahlua Pork Tacos.

We enjoyed our drinks. And holy moly. Those tacos were probably the best thing we ate the entire trip.

We had a pretty decent spot for fireworks and really enjoyed Happily Ever After

After the show it was time to head inside to our reservation at Ohana. This is one of Matt's absolute favorites and he was really looking forward to it again.

Started with some delicious bread and salad.

I had a magical star cocktail. It was so yummy

And Matt had a Pina Colava

We soon got our platter of food

Everything was so delicious.

We didn't get a picture of the meats but honestly we were both a little disappointed in them. The meat was okay. The chicken came out really late and we were both super full. Matt did enjoy the shrimp though.

We both enjoyed the wonderful bread pudding.

We were definitely stuffed. We took a Lyft back to Pop and fell right asleep.

We were super excited for our first park day tomorrow.

 

[kbarry117]

Saturday May 6th

Magic Kingdom Day!

I set my alarm for 6:55 this morning so I could try and get a Tron boarding group! I was successful and we were group 82!

I then proceeded to go right back to bed for another hour!

We ended up getting to Magic Kingdom around 9am. It ended up being perfect. Security and Entrance lines were not bad at all.

Since the crowds were light we did stop for a couple of pictures.

We did the Zoom in shot first.

Then we had a fun little photoshoot.

After our photoshoot we headed to Buzz which was showing a 5 minute wait.

Matt nailed it. I did not lol

After Buzz we had a pass for Space Mountain and headed there next.

After Space we decided to head over to Big Thunder.

One our way over we ran into Vlogger Kyle Palo. We had a nice little chat and took a quick pic before moving on.

We had a great ride on Big Thunder!

You will see that my ears got quickly replaced with a new hat. It was a scorcher of a day and I had already gotten a lot of sun the previous days and I could feel my head burning. The hat was a good purchase.

 

[kbarry117]

Magic Kingdom Continued...

We headed to Pirates next

We look thrilled!

After Pirates it was time for some breakfast. Matt had a snack that we really wanted to try.

The Cheeseburger Spring Rolls. He ended up loving them!

We also go a Strawberry/Vanilla Dole Whip to share

After our nice little break we headed to 7 Dwarfs.

We had a great ride! It was fun experiencing this one during the day.

After 7 Dwarfs we hid up the classic Philarmagic.

We saw that Dumbo had a short wait and Matt didn't get to ride it last time.

After our ride it was time to try a couple more snacks we had been wanting. We headed over to Gaston's Tavern.

Matt got a cinnamon roll and I got the masters cupcake and the Lefou's Brew

Matt loved the cinnamon roll. The cupcake was okay and I loved the Lefou's Brew.

After our break it was time to head over to Tomorrowland since our boarding group was getting semi close.

We rode the People Mover and the clouds were starting to look a little ominous.

Thankfully it only briefly sprinkled.

We still had some time so decided on Carousel of Progress. I had never seen this before and honestly I quite enjoyed it. And Matt had a nice nap.

Next Up: It was finally time for our boarding group

 

[kbarry117]

We headed up to Tron and were so excited to experience this attraction.

Matt tried the test seat out front and unfortunately his size 15 feet prevented him from getting in the position that he needed to for the bike. I had ACL surgery a few years ago and already knew that I would be asking for the back car.

It was so cool seeing this for the first time.

We put our stuff in lockers and headed down to the boarding zone.

When we got to the front we told the cast member that we would like the accessible car.

They directed us to the back wall and about 2 minutes later we were boarding.

Holy moly this ride was so much fun. That launch was intense.

We came out of Tron and the parade was happening. We stopped for a few minutes and enjoyed.

We stopped in the confectionary so I could grab one last snack that I wanted to try.

I did the butter popcorn with milk chocolate, peanut butter M&Ms and regular M&Ms. It was so good! Matt who doesn't like popcorn even enjoyed it!

We saw that Mickey had a short wait so we decided to do that before heading out.

When we got out we saw Mulan was meeting and decided to grab a quick pic.

She was super nice and I am so glad I got to meet her.

We headed back to Pop for a nap before we had dinner at Steakhouse 71.

 

[sheriffwoody]

All caught up! I'm bummed that the HS After Hours was disappointing since MK is so great! Maybe it's because there are fewer rides or something. Looking forward to the rest!

 

[kbarry117]

All caught up! I'm bummed that the HS After Hours was disappointing since MK is so great! Maybe it's because there are fewer rides or something. Looking forward to the rest!

I think that is exactly it! We loved the MK one. I just don't think there is enough to do at HS.

 

[kbarry117]

We made it back to the room and had a nice little rest before taking a Lyft to the Contemporary

When we got there Steakhouse 71 was absolutely packed. There were people everywhere.

We got checked in and waited about 20 minutes past our reservation time to be seated.

Our server quickly greeted us and we started with some drinks!

We decided to share the Sunshine Punch
Orange Sherbet, Sprite®, House-made Grenadine

I got the French 71
Courvoisier VS Cognac, Prosecco, Pear Nectar, Agave Syrup, Lemon Juice

And Matt got a Gin and Tonic.

We both got appetizers. Matt started with the crab cake

He loved it!

I had the French Onion Soup. This was so delicious. Maybe one of the best French Onion Soup's I have ever had.

Matt got the New York Strip with macaroni and cheese.

I got the Filet with mashed potatoes

We also decided to share the au gratin potatoes. Those were amazing and definitely the best side.

We also decided to get the sauce flight. The Wild Mushroom was our favorite!

We walked around the Contemporary for a little bit after our delicious meal and finally made our way back to Pop.

We grabbed some dessert from the Food Court and called it a night!

 

[kbarry117]

Sunday May 7th Epcot!

I once again set my alarm for 6:55 and was able to get boarding group 26 for Guardians.

We got up for good shortly after that and took the Skyliner to Epcot. Thankfully there wasn't a line and we got to Epcot quickly.

Our boarding group had been called so we made our way to Guardians first.

Holy moly this ride was so fun! I was a little worried about motion sickness but this didn't bother me too bad! We really enjoyed our ride and we had the song Everybody Wants to Rule The World.

After Guardians we headed to Test Track

I have no idea why Matt looks so disapproving of me in this picture. Honestly I was probably screaming or had just finished screaming.

After two thrilling rides I needed a little break but Matt was ready for Mission Space Orange. (He is nuts I know).

We then decided to slow things down and visit

I really enjoy this ride except we got stuck in the EAC part. Lets talk about motion sickness. Being stuck there was not fun for me. Thankfully I was able to close my eyes and we weren't stuck long.

Who knew that the ride I had to be worried about motion sickness was Nemo.

After our ride filled morning we made a quick stop in club cool. All the flavors were not our favorite but it was still fun to try.

I finally tried Beverly! At first I thought it was pretty and good and then the bitterness hit and no thank you!

We then headed in search of some snacks.

I got a Mickey Pretzel

Matt got Fish and Chips

And we each got

A Snakebite. Guinness and Cider.

We found a nice shaded spot and enjoyed our snack.

We made our way out of Epcot and back to the room for a nap and relaxation.

After relaxing we went back to Epcot via the Skyliner.

Our first stop was

Such a cute ride! We both really enjoyed it.

Then we had an early dinner reservation at

 

[kbarry117]

The line to check in was pretty long and we waited maybe 20 minutes. After giving our name though we were seated within five.

This was one of our favorites last trip and were so excited to try it again.

We started with the arancini. So good!

Then the main event!

We did half sausage and half pepperoni. So good!!

We both tried not to eat too much because we still had some snacks we wanted to try.

We got the rest of the pizza to go and headed to one of my favorites!

'

Nothing like a good visit to Arendelle.

Next we ventured to a ride that I had never been on!

We walked right on and had a great time.

It seemed wrong to leave Mexico without a margarita.

We both got the Fiesta Margarita (Lime, Strawberry, Mango) and of course added the extra shot.

I made a little bit of a mistake. My margarita was overflowing and naturally I decided to just take a sip off the top. Yep that was definitely pure tequila. Thankfully I was then able to stir my drink and not make a huge mess.

We took our time walking around World Showcase. We stopped at a few stores. We sat on a bench for a little while just chatting about life. It was wonderful evening.

We still had a few more snacks to try.

Our first stop was Bauernmarkt: Farmer's Market

We tried:

Potato Pancake with Carmelized Ham, Onions, and Herb Sour Cream

Toasted Pretzel Bread topped with Black Forest Ham and Melted Gruyere Cheese.

Both of these were delicious!

We also had to get a pretzel in Germany. We ended up trying to save this and never ended up eating but a few bites.

 

[kbarry117]

Sorry before I continue there are two pics from earlier that I forgot to include!

Had to take a pic with these two favorites!

We also enjoyed a gorgeous sunset with our margaritas earlier.

Now continuing our evening

After our Germany adventure Matt still had one more thing we wanted.

We headed to America.

He wanted to get his banana pudding from Regal Eagle. This is one of our favs in Epcot. (Sorry no picture).

While he was doing that I headed to the Fife and Drum to refill our popcorn bucket and get a slushy treat.

I finally got to try the American Dream! It was so good and so refreshing on this hot evening.

We were making our way back towards the Skyliner and decided to make one last pit stop in France.

We had to get the La Vie en Rose Frozen Slushy and the Beignet. Both were absolutely delicious.

The Skyliner line wasn't too bad and we were on our way shortly.

Our timing was pretty great and we got to watch the fireworks

It was a fun and unique way to watch the fireworks.

We got back to Pop and went for a quick night swim to round out our evening!

Next Up: Hollywood Studios (The Perfect Kaci day)

 

[kbarry117]

Monday May 15th

We really didn't have many plans for today so we slept in a little bit.

Matt went to the food court and grabbed us breakfast to enjoy in bed.

This became one of our favorite traditions of the trip (And yes there is a Rice Krispy treat on the tray. They became my favorite little treat this trip). It also became a fun game of how much are we going to be charged. We got the same breakfast a few days in a row and every time we were charged something different.

After our lazy morning we headed out to Hollywood Studios.

Matt decided we were going to have what he called the perfect Kaci day.

We took some pictures when we got into the park.

We then headed over to do something that I had been talking about forever.

We met Olaf! I was so excited!

We had to get warm hugs!

After Olaf we headed to Star Tours which had a five minute wait (This was not part of the perfect Kaci day but Matt wanted to ride)

We take our seats and for some reason I cannot get my seatbelt to tighten. It was so loose. I spent the entire ride trying not to fall out of my seat!

After our exciting adventure we headed over to one of our favorite classics.

Muppet Vision! We both absolutely love this.

 

[kbarry117]

When we got out of Muppets, Matt noticed that area where Max and Goofy were meeting only had a small line. We asked a cast member and they said Max and Goofy were coming back any minute so we hopped in Max's line while it was short.

About 5 minutes later we were meeting him!

He got a good laugh about our funny T-shirts.

After our great meet we hopped in line to meet Goofy.

What a great meet and greet.

Next up on the agenda was to meet Mickey and Minnie!

It was finally time to try Baseline Tap House. I had read so much about it in other trip reports and could not wait to try.

We had the charcuterie board and shared the Golden Road Golden State Cerveza and the Ace Space Bloody Orange hard cider.

And of course we had to get

The pretzel.

Everything was good and we will definitely be back!

Had to visit Anna and Elsa at the Frozen Sing A long.

One more ride on the "relaxing train"

 

[kbarry117]

Another Photo Shoot!

We took a little time to just enjoy the park.

We made our way to Toy Story Land for our Dining Reservation!

This was so well themed!

Started with the three salads and the delicious biscuits.

The BBQ. This was just okay. I really enjoyed the sausage and some of the rib meat. I didn't try the chicken and the brisket was pretty much all fat. But I am still glad we tried.

For our sides we got the Mac and Cheese, Corn, Potato Salad, and Loaded Tater Tots. All of these were delicious and made the meal!

I got the cupcake and Matt got the chocolate cream pie for dessert. His was definitely the winner.


What should one do after a big meal? Ride Alien Swirling Saucers of course!

And we ended the perfect Kaci day with a refill to the popcorn bucket and a ride on Slinky Dog.

This really was the perfect Kaci day. We took everything at a little slower pace. I got to meet some characters, ride a few of my favorite rides, see a couple of shows, and spend the day with my favorite person.

 

[joshsprincess921]

That Beverly will sneak up on you!

How do you do on Star Tours with your motion sickness? Last time I rode it (over 10 years ago), I got so sick and haven't wanted to get back on it.

 

[kbarry117]

That Beverly will sneak up on you!

How do you do on Star Tours with your motion sickness? Last time I rode it (over 10 years ago), I got so sick and haven't wanted to get back on it.

The Beverly was terrible!

As far as Star Tours I did have to close my eyes quite a few times! But honestly I was so focused on not falling out of my seat that it took my mind off of feeling sick. I don't think I will ride again for a while!

 

[kbarry117]

Tuesday May 9th.

We knew when planning this trip that we wanted to plan a couple of "rest days".

We had no plans for this day except a dinner reservation at Disney Springs.

We slept in. Had our usual breakfast in bed and just relaxed.

Around 3 we started getting ready to head to Disney Springs.

Our first stop was Chicken Guy. We just split a three tender meal and it was so good!

We walked around Disney Springs for a while and did a little window shopping

Our walk led us here...

There was no virtual queue so we got in line.

After about 20 minutes in line it was announced that we made it to "cookie hour".

I vaguely remember hearing something about this!

They do a good job of funneling people in and out of here.

We quickly discovered that cookie hour meant a warm chocolate chip cookie with ice cream on top. Who says you can't have dessert before dinner? This was pretty delicious.

We continued our adventure and soon it was time for our dinner reservation.

We both started with the Blue Hooch :Blue Flame moonshine, lemon-infused moonshine, blue curacao, house-made simple syrup, fresh lemon juice and a splash of Sprite. Our strongest shine on tap

Not necessarily our first choice but they were "out" of the other ones according to our server.

Everything with this meal started out strong. Our waiter was friendly and our appetizer came quickly.

Bunch of puppies: House-made hushpuppies served with pimento cheese and red jalapeño jelly

These were so good.

Then our meal started to go downhill. We sat and sat and sat. Finally after about 40 minutes are waiter came and told us that our order hadn't been sent to the kitchen because of the WiFi and he just noticed. Even though all of the tables around us had their food.

We were understanding and patient.

20 minutes later our meals came out.

Matt got the famous friend chicken and I ended up with the kitchen sink which is just a sample of sides.

We loved Homecomin the last time we ate here and this was not good. Matt took a bite of his chicken and realized it wasn't cooked all the way on the inside.

My mashed potatoes and green beans were excellent. My mac and cheese was missing the mac part. It was just solid cheese.

The manager was very apologetic. As much as we loved Homecomin it was a miss this trip and we are looking forward to trying a new place next time.

We decided to cheer ourselves up with some retail therapy

I think Matt was getting sick of my browsing

We found a few good items and headed toward the bus stop.

The line for Pop Century was long.. We waited about 20 minutes and a bus pulled up!

This was the longest and most crowded bus we took all trip.

Overall I am glad we had a rest day and I loved browsing around Disney Springs.

 

[joshsprincess921]

Mac n cheese, but missing the mac?? That's crazy! I wonder went wrong there.

We are big Chicken Guy fans. I wish they'd open one near us!

I have yet to try Gideons!

 

[kbarry117]

Mac n cheese, but missing the mac?? That's crazy! I wonder went wrong there.

We are big Chicken Guy fans. I wish they'd open one near us!

I have yet to try Gideons!

It was the craziest thing. I swear there was maybe one noodle in that whole side dish!