Trip Report Cosmos Rewind: A Quick F&G Festival Trip Redo

Hello, friends! After hiding in shame for a year after failing to complete my first trip report, I’m back to try again, this time with a nice baby sized trip to ease my way (in hindsight, trying to document a 10-day land/sea/Christmas extravaganza was perhaps a bit ambitious on my part lol).

The details:
Who: My mom and me
Where: All Star Music
When: March 20-23, 2025
Why: My mom and I did a mother/daughter trip for Flower & Garden in 2018 and wanted an encore! We’re both big flower people so springtime is our jam.

Here's a picture of us from our 2018 trip:

Time to pack some snacks and make some tracks!

 

[radiorae]

Thursday, March 20th

I had to work a half day Thursday, but my flight wasn't until 3:30 so I was good on time. The airport isn't too far from me, but getting to the actual gate requires approximately 6 buses, a train, 3 moving walkways, and a razor scooter so I always give myself extra time.

The flight was pretty uneventful, and soon enough we were landing in Orlando! I had to triple check my area to make sure I didn't forget anything while leaving the plane; this was my first time going carry-on only and I was so afraid of forgetting it in the overhead bin since I never put anything up there. Luggage obtained, I set off. On the way, I saw this cool thing:

My mom's a librarian so the book cart immediately caught my eye. I didn't have any books to leave behind, but I thought it was a cool idea.

Soon I was on the Buddy-Mobile (Dwyorail? BuddyBus? We'll workshop it.) I could already tell it was warmer, but it looked soooo dreary.

I got a text from my mom; she had just landed as well. I had booked us both Mears Connect, but I knew it was going to be tricky, as my mom was getting into Terminal C and I was flying into Terminal A/B. There's an airport shuttle that runs between the two but I didn't want to take a shuttle just to take another shuttle. So I rolled the dice and hoped my Mears bus would scoop her up when it stopped at C before heading to Disney. Worst case scenario, I reasoned, I'd meet her at the resort. Plan made, I checked into Mears and hopped aboard -- and got a cruise bus!

I only had to wait a few minutes before we were heading over to Terminal C. Would my mom make it to the bus?!

Nope! Something something best laid plans something something...

Not a huge deal though -- my mom hopped on the next one. Meanwhile, our driver announced we'd be making 5 stops -- Yacht Club, Coronado, Sports, Music, then Movies. I joked to my mom that she'd likely make it to the hotel before me.

Somewhere between MCO and WDW it started raining, but nothing too bad. It wasn't long before I was through the Mickey gates and rolling past the backside of Galaxy's Edge -- or as I like to call this particular view, Butt-tu.

Many silly bus cartoons later, I finally arrived at All-Star Music. And guess who pulled up right behind my bus...

Perfect timing!

 

[Tiki Traveler]

F&G is on my bucket list! Happy to read about this year’s festival!

Also -

 

[Wicked Sisters]

Looking forward to hearing about your adventures.

 

[mpaulam]

I’m in for the fun!

 

[radiorae]

F&G is on my bucket list! Happy to read about this year’s festival!

Also -

I hope you get to see it one day, especially if you like gardening. It’s such a pretty time of year with all the flowers, and the temperature isn’t “surface of the sun” levels yet.

 

[radiorae]

Thursday, March 20th
All-Star Music & Disney Springs

We stayed at All-Star Music. I don't have any DVC membership or AP discounts, and I can't justify the rack rate for a lot of the resorts, so I'm more of a Value girlie lol I do think the All-Stars get a bad rap for being tacky, but I recognize everyone's taste is different. I will say, if you're looking for the least tacky, Music is your way to go. I have pictures later, but the landscaping just felt more full and there were nice pockets of quiet area to relax in.

NOW LOOK AT THESE GIANT TACKY MARACAS THAT DEFEAT MY POINT

We were staying right up front in the Calypso area! If you're thinking of staying at All-Star Music, definitely consider a Preferred Room as the resort is laid out differently than the other All-Stars. At Movies and Sports you never have to walk past more than one building to get to yours, regardless of room type. At Music, you have to walk in a straight line past both preferred buildings before getting to the standard buildings. And if you're in the Country Fair section, you have to walk past both preferred buildings AND all the way around the second pool, which might as well be another building's length of walk. It's not a huge deal, but as we know every foot can feel like a mile at the end of the night.

Here's an obligatory picture of our room that has been posted a thousand times before!

We took some time to unpack our things, and then it was off to Disney Springs for dinner!

Do you guys ever pay attention to the different music on the buses? I wonder sometimes if the driver's get tired of the same five songs on loop, or if they have a favorite resort bus soundtrack. I don't know if I have a favorite, but I do know my LEAST favorite is All-Star Sports. It's a full 30 min loop of bombastic cymbal crashing and high energy band music, which is great when you're in the mood, but a little jarring first thing in the morning, or last thing at night when you're dead tired-- you know, the times when you're most likely riding the bus

Disney Springs was packed and COLD. There was a completely unnecessary breeze rolling through making it about 10 degrees cooler than it would have been otherwise. We didn't have any reservations and it was already getting close to 8:30 so we hopped place to place to try and find food. Gideons? Line closed for the day. Morimoto Asia Street Food? Closing early because they were sold out. Swirls on the Water? Out of the flavor my mom wanted. In the end, we went with Ol' Faithful...

The Earl did not disappoint. DO YOU SEE THAT CHEESE PULL??? *chef's kiss*

Now that we were no longer starving, we bounced into a couple shops before closing time. My mom got some cute mini cards from LovePop -- they sell these tiny packs of 3 for $15 in different themes; she likes to get them for coworker birthdays or "thinking of you" type gifts. We also stopped in Uniqlo -- I like the designs but their clothes never fit me right. My mom did score this super cute mickey shirt -- it's dark blue with coral on the pocket, and on the back is a mickey head made out of moon jellies!

We wandered over to World of Disney next but didn't go in. I noticed this cool detail on the columns I never noticed before --

We went next door to get some treats from Amorette's since Gideons was a bust. I got the Mini Easter Croquembouche.

I also waved to Shelly while I was in line.

Treats secured we headed back to the room to get some sleep; it was going to be an early morning tomorrow!

 

[radiorae]

Friday, March 21st

Good Morning All-Star Music!!!

We were up bright and early (and I mean EARLY) for Extra Magic Hours. I’m not a morning person generally, but for Disney I will always make an exception. We were out of our room by 7:00 for a chilly walk to the bus stop.

Now.

Remember when I mentioned the bus music loops in the other post? And how sometimes they sometimes misread the vibe? Well. Here we are, climbing aboard the bus at 7:15, bleary eyed and exhausted, and what do we hear?

Garth Brooks. “Friends in Low Places”.

It feels to me like more of a “11 pm and still at the bar” kind of song, but who knows, maybe the bus driver had a wild night and wanted to keep the party going. I’m here for it

Soon enough we were heading into our first kingdom of the day.

We missed the early hour rope droppers because while I will get up, I have no intention of being mowed down by a stampede before I’ve even had coffee.

We headed towards Pandora to hit everyone’s favorite DAK attraction…

NAVI RIVER JOURNEYYYY!

I know people aren’t thrilled by it, but I enjoy it for what it is. I love a dark ride. And I also love that the wait is non-existent first thing in the morning!

After our river journey we took some Pandora sunrise pics.

I bet you could make and frame a cool photo set using a Pandora sunrise/day/night combo. I’ll have to dig through some of my older photos to see if I have any good ones.

We headed back to Earth to find coffee and brave Everest next.

We were able to get one walk-on in, but by the time we were done the wait was up to 20 min so we did the single rider line for a second round. Both rides were fantastic per usual.

The gift shop had the silliest shirts; I had to take a picture. I just imagine some designer sitting at their desk at 2am loopy with sleep and just throwing out the most ridiculous puns they can think of to see if anything sticks, and then some other person signing off on stuff deciding that, “they all stick! Make them all!”

Expedition completed, we set off on one additional mission… extra large

 

[radiorae]

I promise to not let this trip report die too I’ll get back to it in a sec, but in the meantime— I forgot to post our Everest pic!

It always weirds me out that they photoshop the engine (engineer car? My Thomas the train engine knowledge is veryyyy rusty) in the back cause I have to double a double take and remember if we were actually sitting that far back in the train or not. I think in this particular instance we were in the second to last car.

 

[radiorae]

Friday, March 21st
Animal Kingdom (continued)

We made our way to Dinoland USA where I tried to enjoy the little details before the whole land goes the way of the dinosaur.

I am very excited for Tropical Americas, but I am sad Dinoland will be gone. I still maintain that Restrauntasaurus is one of the best themed dining spots in parks, though I miss their dino diner costumes.

We headed over to the Institute to find our dino.

“HELLLLLLLLLLLO THERE!”

There were a lot of effects I’ve never noticed before! It was cool to see the ride closer to what I imagine its original state was. The Carnataurus still scares the jellies out of me. Every. Time.

The proof:

This is actually one of my better photos! Usually I’m hunched down into a protective blob. Progress! Meanwhile my mom looks decidedly unimpressed

At this point we had accomplished 4 rides before 9 and had been up since 6, so it was time for breakfast and coffee. We joined the herd at Isle of Java. The coffee selection was minimal but the breakfast sandwiches were fantastic

We sat on the edge of one of the planters between Discovery Trading Company and Flame Tree Barbeque and took in the crowds. It was a chilly day but not uncomfortable. And while I had been afraid of spring break crowds, things were pretty manageable. Bizarrely, there were almost zero stroller age kids. Instead, there were a LOT of high schoolers in packs, seemingly on band/choir/color guard trips? They all seemed hyped to be at Disney and it was cool to have that excited energy in the air versus the “dear god it’s hotter than the surface of the sun I’m miserable” energy, or the “I’ve been waiting in this line since the dawn of time and if that guy bumps into my backpack one more time I’m going to throw down” energy you feel in the parks sometimes.

While we ate Kevin came out and said hi.

Tummies full, we headed back to Pandora to uhhhh fly.

And then we saw a butterfly!

It was nearing 11, so we headed to the Tree of Life to catch the parrots in Winged Encounters for their last morning flight. My mom and I both love birds so it’s really cool to see them. I didn’t catch a picture because I was just enjoying the show, but here’s a parrot gif to make up for it:

After the show we had accomplished everything we wanted to do in the Animal Kingdom, so we turned to the exit to head out. On our way we overheard a teen in a group relaying text messages from a missing friend they were trying to find. It was really funny— he was getting increasingly frustrated and at one point exclaimed, “I asked him to send us a picture of where he’s at and he sent me a picture of a TREE. BRO ITS ANIMAL KINGDOM. There are trees EVERYWHERE.”

And, you know… he’s not wrong.

 

[radiorae]

We tried to grab an MK bus but the line was insanely long and it seemed like every bus but that one was coming through the DAK loop.

“We could try one of the MK resort buses,” my mom suggested. All of those lines were empty, and buses were flying in and out. We hopped out of line and made the trek around the loop. Of course, as soon as we switched lines, an MK bus showed up. We made the right choice though— within another minute a Polynesian bus came through. We climbed on with one other family and proceeded to watch the MK bus cram as many people as humanly possible into the thing, with people still leftover waiting for the next one.

When we got to the Polynesian, I convinced my mom to take a slight detour to see what the new tower looks like. The verdict?

Mom: “It’s kind of squat.”

We continued onto the monorail and soon we were walking under the train station where we were met by a surprise:

I have ALWAYS wanted to ride in one of the Main Street vehicles. For whatever reason it just never worked out… until now!!!

The very friendly Sal ushered us aboard before flooring it to the castle at a cool 3 mph

The Dapper Dans were out!

I see a Castle!

Sal warned us that he’d have to park short of the castle because Friendship Faire was currently playing on the stage, but he welcomed us to stay aboard and watch the show from our seats!

It was such a nice treat

We thanked Sal and hopped off after the show. After a bus, a monorail, and a car ride we were feeling well traveled and ready for lunch. Any guesses on where we’d end up?

 

[erstwo]

The Plaza? Maybe?

 

[Zipadeelady]

I'm going to say Friar's Nook for some cheddar tot's and a strawberry lemonade slushie!

 

[radiorae]

The Plaza? Maybe?

I’ve actually never eaten at Plaza! I might have to change that soon

 

[radiorae]

I'm going to say Friar's Nook for some cheddar tot's and a strawberry lemonade slushie!

Nope but I love Friar’s Nook! My dad and I can’t walk past without obnoxiously chanting “BRATS AND TOTS! BRATS AND TOTS!” It’s the little things

For anyone wondering what in the world I’m talking about:

 

[radiorae]

While on the bus, my mom scanned MK menus for something to eat. She settled on pot roast. Liberty Tree was full, but Diamond Horseshoe was not.

I enjoyed the quiet atmosphere, and the space was so charming! We come from an area where you can’t throw a rock without breaking the window of some founding father’s childhood home, so I’ll take frontier horseshoe over colonial tavern ambiance any day. It’s a nice change of pace.

Our server was quick! Within a few minutes we had drinks and the only six pack I’ll ever need in life:

Our server (I wish I remember her name!) recommended the vegetarian meatloaf— she said it was a favorite of Ariana Grande No idea if there was any truth to it, but the meatloaf was very good (and we’re not vegetarians)! The vegan mashed potatoes it came with… not so much. Sometimes only butter will do lol

Looking at this picture I realize I forgot to mention our other stop in the hub at the popcorn cart My mom is a huge popcorn lover and they had this adorable carousel bucket that lights up, spins, and plays music. I personally was very glad she bought it cause it meant I could enjoy it without having to be the one to pay an arm and a leg for it

Here’s a better pic from the internet:

But back to the Horseshoe! We enjoyed a slow lunch as we discussed plans for the rest of the day. Our table was closest to the entrance, so while we ate we were treated to several High School marching bands and the Festival of Fantasy parade from our seats. Entertaining as it was, it all faded to nothing when this beauty arrived:

It was So. Good.

Full to bursting, we said our goodbyes to our server and rolled ourselves out the door. Though we didn’t go far….

 

[radiorae]

I hadn’t seen the new Country Bears Jamboree show yet, so we moseyed on over to the theater. Wendell was greeting folks out front.

We were given some of the best seats in the house!

Well… sort of

Let’s try this again:

I thought the new version was alot of fun, and judging by the full theater it seems like the crowd agrees. I’m glad the bears got some love and attention instead of being dumped for a shiny new IP.

After the show we backtracked to It’s a Small World for a happy cruise around the world. I was surprised how great it looked! I can’t tell if it just got some lighting upgrades or more, but it was more colorful than I had seen it in a long time and there were no broken (or missing) dolls in sight!

Worldwide trip completed, it was time for another concert.

If you’ve always walked past Philharmagic or been on the fence about it, this is your friendly nudge to tell you to go! You won’t regret it. And it has AC!

We wandered towards the castle next. Anastasia and Drisella were holding court by Cinderella’s fountain, but we walked past to look at some judgmental mosaics instead. Just look at this side eye! ART!

 

[radiorae]

We stopped in front of the castle for some beauty shots.

While we were marveling at the Castle’s general splendor, a cavalcade rolled through. It was… dare I say… incredible?

Elena was hiding around the side of the giant box.

I hate the box (present?). You can never get a picture of whoever is on top, or even see the character (it was Raya) because it’s just too tall.

Nick is on the case.

Aladdin was explaining the rising cost of bread prices in Agrabah due to global inflation.

Moana was indicating to Terk just how far she’d go.

The unlikely duo of Pocahontas and Bruno.

We don’t talk about this guy.

Jose and Panchito rounded out the gang and were having a ball.

After the dance party, we headed towards Adventureland… but where in the land of adventure would we go first? (no really — I have no clue and need to consult the photo library and notes… to be continued!)

 

[radiorae]

For our first stop, we had to see a lady about some totally legit, non-pilfered goods.

The pirate picture skull was not blinding people today, which was nice. I am not a fan.

Voyage complete, we fought the sea of people (they really need to move the magic carpets— it makes such a bad bottleneck!) to do some bird watching.

Afterward my mom wanted a little snack, so we slid through the bypass back to Frontierland for some corn dog nuggets and bacon

While we were relaxing, the cavalcade rolled through again. This time I was able to see Raya on top. And a bonus wild Merida!

After snacks, we passed back through to Adventureland again. Come to think of it, we did a LOT of Adventure/Frontier zig-zagging between rides, snacks, and bathroom breaks. I can’t imagine that area without the cut-throughs— they’re such a time saver.

Our daredevil excursion to Schweitzer Falls was, regrettably, cancelled. But we still had an enjoyable cruise down the jungle river.

I have no idea what was said because we were seated way in the back by the engine but ah well. You win some, you lose some.

Adventures adventured, we wandered back into the hub where it was time… for another snack

I know this trip report makes it look like we were eating very five seconds, but I swear we weren’t The spring rolls were a big deal because neither of us had ever had them, and by the time we usually walk past the cart they’re already closed. By some minor miracle, despite the sun starting to set, they were still open so we jumped on the opportunity. I have to say, I think most trendy Disney food is overhyped, but in this case, I have seen the light.

I am officially a cheeseburger spring roll convert lol

Speaking of light, the sunset lighting was gorgeous on the castle! Naturally, we had to take some pics, though you might notice something is not quite right…

 

[Tiki Traveler]

@radiorae - Looking forward to the rest of your trip. Great commentary and photos!