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.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

4 hours until our departure time. I was planning to go to bed 3 hours ago. And then, @MeffysMom noticed an odd sound from the basement. One dead water heater and an inch of standing water across most of our basement later, I'm hoping to get about 3 hours sleep before the 14 hour drive. Best laid plans, eh? Woo-hoo!!

Have a safe drive. And too bad about the water heater/water in the basement, but at least you had time to deal with it before you left and don't have to have it as a "surprise" when you get home.

 

[brifraz]

First, update on the plumbing situation - we have a regular plumber who is great and he already has fixed that situation. And house/cat sitter has confirmed that things are all good.

Drive down was going amazing - almost an hour ahead of schedule until Georgia. And then storms and accidents in Jacksonville. Ended up getting in a bit later than planned.

I’d like everyone to imagine we looked like this exact shot for all 15 hours in the car.

Plan was to check in at the hotel and then get food, but we decided to eat first and avoid backtracking on I4. So here we wait for our table.

We really like Toothsome’s and are seriously ready to do some eating.

 

[brifraz]

The best food and drinks are the ones served after a prison sentence. Okay, maybe 15 hours in the car isn’t prison, but…. It also helps that Toothsome’s does well with both.

Somehow we always get this table. Seriously, this might be our fourth time at this table.

And the weird steampunk robot dude was hanging out behind me.

Drinks were excellent. Although the big one (current Pride month special) was a bit spicy.

And we decided to share three apps between us. Totchos (a new version with Brie), tropical chicken salad, and the Brie en croute- which was kind of dessert.

Really a delicious meal. As we ate, the girls (who have Universal APs) came up with a plan.

So, they dashed into Islands of Adventure for a quick ride before closing while I visited with an old musician whose music I’ve played many times.

Yup, I think it’s the first time I’ve been in a Margaritaville, but there’s a live band playing so why not, right?

 

[brifraz]

And the girls visited with Mr Potter.

But now. SLEEP.

 

[brifraz]

Good morning! Epic Universe day! Grabbing a quick bite and then headed to the park.

 

[brifraz]

Waiting to rope drop Berk!

 

[brifraz]

Wing Gliders at rope drop and got on the first train.

Then the girls did the Rally Racers while i exlplored Berk a bit.

And we were done those two by 10:30am.

 

[brifraz]

Next up was Stardust… but it went down so we went over to Monsters Unleashed.

Very cool. Amazing animatronics. But a bit intense if you aren’t a horror fan. We were done about 11:10 and Stardust was back up so the girls went there while i scoped out Potter Land Part 3.

 

[brifraz]

I’ll catch up with pictures later, but we decided to go in here…

Just before this happened outside…

All the outside stuff is now down and Potter and Bowser wait times are shooting up. Good choice and timing by us!

 

[brifraz]

By the time we exited Potter, the rain was past. Timing was perfect. We wandered Paris a bit and tried to get into the Circus Arcanus, but it was having issues and the next show was at best ‘delayed’ and possibly getting cancelled. So back to Berk! Got in line for Toothless at about 2:45 and it’s looking like the wait will really be all of 90 minutes.

 

[brifraz]

But worth it!

 

[brifraz]

Lots to share and lots of pictures, but after 13 hours in Epic, I’m exhausted and my phone is almost dead. So tomorrow morning I’ll get everything posted, I promise!

 

[brifraz]

 

[brifraz]

So much catching up to do! But I’ve got some time. The girls are doing IoA with their APs, so I’ve got a couple hours to kill in CityWalk with a nice shady seat and good WiFi.

When I left off the legit reporting, @MeffysMom and Meffy were riding Stardust Racers while I checked out Potterville France.

Well, happy to say that just like the previous two Potter themed areas, it is beautiful and completely immersive.

Having just been in Paris last summer, the feel is spot on. Definitely thought ‘did we walk down this street last year’ more than a few times.

The shop fronts were spot on Parisian but with Potter magic touches.

Here the entry to the ride.

Again, not at all out of place and subtle. More on the ride later. Lots of mysterious alleyways.

And magic windows. This portrait talked to guests as they passed. Calling out their shirts or actions. Very fun.

And, for this guy, an awesome highlight of live entertainment on the street.

And they were playing a surprisingly authentic version of European jazz.
Of course, with a magic twist of their ‘enchanted’ music box backup band.

Our plan originally was to try to do Super Nintendo next, but visiting Potter and looking at the time and incoming weather gave me a different idea.

 

[brifraz]

So, it was getting to be about noon. For those keeping count, 4 major attractions done in 2 hours. It looked like storms would be hitting just after 1pm, so I suggested food and the Potter and the Ministry ride. Figuring that’d get us fed and happy and then a couple hours inside waiting for the ride.

Got lunch at the Cafe de l’air de Sirene - the turkey/brie/apple sandwich was great. But this was the big highlight.

Yup, butterbeer crepe for the win. Flavors reminded us of the old butterscotch pudding cups in the best way. Now, 1pm and ride time.

What can I say about Potter? The tide is fun and well done, but the queue is just incredible. Okay the first bit outside is just a crappy weave, but then it gets awesome.

Through the floo network you get to London’s Ministry, which is an attraction unto itself.

You then go through different rooms in the ministry to get to Umbridge’s trial.

And, along the way lots of foreshadowing clues about the attraction.

And then toward the end of the wait you go through her office.

Just incredibly well done. The ride seems very similar to the other Potter rides, but the Death Eater animatronics are pretty cool and interact pretty seamlessly with the videos.

And, pretty perfectly, we got out at 2:30 and the rain had stopped.

 

[brifraz]

We headed back to Berk at that point. All the outdoor rides were still down from the storms and Potter and Mario Kart were both at 3 hour waits. Lots of little fun elements throughout Berk to enjoy.

Yes, he periodically sprays cold mist.

And lots of walk around characters who are very fun.

So we went to meet Toothless. The wait was listed at 80 minutes and was exactly that. But not at all entertaining in this queue. At least the payoff is great.

And we got very lucky that Hiccup was his current handler by the time we got to the front because he definitely had the best interactions of the 3 we saw while we waited

Next we headed to The Untrainable Dragon show.

But, alas. Tech issues and the show was cancelled after about 15 minutes of waiting. But we did get a single Express Pass for anything except Potter or Mine Cart.

So, over to Super Nintendo we went!

 

[brifraz]

Express Pass in hand, we were ready to skip the 90 minute Mario Kart line. Wish we could’ve used it for Mine Cart because there was lots to see in the Mario queue and now that outdoor things were up and running the wait for Mine Cart was up to 3 hours.

But, no worries! We are ready to race.

No, we were REALLY ready to race.

As a glasses wearer, those things with the goggles were much better than normal 3D glasses. And, seeing how much more they did, well… it’s just a really cool ride.

By the way, SNL is pretty cool, but a bit of sensory overload!

It was about 5:30pm and time to get fed before our evening adventures. Went with easy comfort food at the Meteor Astropub.

Really a nice little place. We didn’t sample a whole lot, but based on our two meals, Epic is doing good right.

Pretty and yummy drinks.

And excellent grilled cheese and tomato soup and chicken and waffles.

And delightful dessert!

Now well fed, we headed back to Berk for the 6:15pm show. But, alas, still not running. So we dashed to Potter to catch the 6:25 show there, but sadly just missed it.

 

[brifraz]

So, we explored faux magical Paris a bit more. And grabbed a macron.

And then really enjoyed the Cirque Arcanus show (7:15). Very fun little show with some very cool effects.

It was past 7:30pm, so we knew we’d have to accept a couple hours waiting for Mine Cart; back into the craziness of Nintendo’s went. The Donkey Kong area is very well hidden, but just as well done.

The wait was showing at 105 minutes and took exactly that. But, the queue? Well… kinda sucks. Over an hour of next to nothing except tons of humans in switchbacks and a few diversions.

Then a couple minutes of plot exposition with this guy.

And then another 20 minutes of line. But the ride is fun. Maybe not nearly two hours of line fun, though.

Well, it was after 9:30pm, so 30 minutes after park closing time. But the app was still showing wait times…

 

[brifraz]

Yup, everything was still open. So the girls hit Stardust again and I got some late night pics.

I don’t think either of those trains were actually them, but still cool at night.

Paris was lit up nicely, too.

And nice empty streets make for good pictures.

Some fire in Berk looking much better in the darkness.

And quality creepiness in Darkmoor.

Sadly, too late to see the blade burning. While I was in there, it hit 10pm and everything suddenly was closed. So, despite all signage and the app and website, closing time was 10pm.

Got a couple last shots of the SNL portal and then the exit.

Very glad it was open later and we did everything we wanted to except the dragon show, but Stardust twice!

Definitely an enjoyable, but exhausting day. And now, it’s getting close to time to meet the girls and head to Disney Springs.

 

[brifraz]

Oh, yeah… my view this morning.

And the girls did Hagrid (showed 60 minute wait, but took them about 75) then Hogwarts Express to Gringott’s, Simpsons, and Rip Ride Rockit. Hoping they got some pics I can share later.