Trip Report *COMPLETED* A One-derful Birthday Celebration

Helloooooo humans! If you've read my last report, you'll remember that we took our then six-month-old to WDW, and it was a huge adjustment from the way we used to do Disney. It obviously didn't scare us off though, because we are getting ready to go back for more! I hope you all enjoy following along! Let's get down to business!

Who: The usual crew, me (Katie), my husband and Disney partner-in-crime for many many trips, Jason, and our son, Lincoln, PLUS my mom (we'll call her Grandmama), and my younger sister (we'll call her Auntie A, or A) - you may remember my mom and sis from my cruise TR. We're looking forward to having some extra hands to help with Lincoln, and Grandmama has even offered to take care of bedtime a couple nights so J and I can stay out late!

When: Monday, May 30th - Saturday, June 4th

Where: Port Orleans French Quarter! An all-time favorite for us. We'll miss having access to the Skyliner (makes it sooo much easier when you have a stroller), but I can't pass up a stay at POFQ, especially at the same price we paid to stay at Pop back in December.

Why: This kid is about to be ONE on June 5th! I cannot believe how quickly the past year has absolutely flown by. I cry every time I think about it, or look at pictures from when he was so tiny, so I'm sure I'll be an absolute wreck on his actual birthday.

Funnily enough, one of the first things I thought about when we found out we were pregnant is the fact that we're going to be stuck going to WDW in the summer if we want to celebrate his birthdays there. We've been in mid-May and September multiple times, so we're hoping it's not too much worse, as far as heat goes. We're also nervous about summer break crowds, but honestly, I don't think the crowd levels have felt "normal" since our last pre-COVID trip. I don't know if there's just an influx of people making up for cancelled 2020 trips, or if this is our new normal.

We are leaving two weeks from today, and I hope to post at least a couple more updates between now and then!

 

[erstwo]

F@nny is a “bad” (or maybe more if a rude?) word in the UK. And this website is hosted from England so that might be the issue!
Lincoln is adorable. Love that photo of him watching Kite Tails! So awesome that you could use your mom and Aunt’s /the second bathroom this trip. I remember those days of coming back to the room early to put the kids to bed on time. At the time, it was hard knowing the parks were still open and we were in bed, but those are also Sweet memories for me!

 

[k8einwdw]

F@nny is a “bad” (or maybe more if a rude?) word in the UK. And this website is hosted from England so that might be the issue!
Lincoln is adorable. Love that photo of him watching Kite Tails! So awesome that you could use your mom and Aunt’s /the second bathroom this trip. I remember those days of coming back to the room early to put the kids to bed on time. At the time, it was hard knowing the parks were still open and we were in bed, but those are also Sweet memories for me!

It was definitely helpful having the second bathroom next door! Lincoln is pretty good about sleeping through noise, but I’m always nervous about showering after he’s gone to bed. I swear he has a sixth sense for when I’m nearby and not holding him.

 

[MickeyCB]

It was definitely helpful having the second bathroom next door! Lincoln is pretty good about sleeping through noise, but I’m always nervous about showering after he’s gone to bed. I swear he has a sixth sense for when I’m nearby and not holding him.

My daughter says our granddaughter Una hears when Aleisha's eye lids close!

 

[k8einwdw]

My daughter says our granddaughter Una hears when Aleisha's eye lids close!

I know that feeling all too well!

 

[k8einwdw]

Wednesday, June 1st - Magic Kingdom Day

We all woke up at 6am this morning - Lincoln had thankfully slept all the way through the night...this time. Magic Kingdom was opening to resort guests at 8:30, so we wanted to be out of the room around 7:30. In the mornings, J and I would give Lincoln his first bottle of the day and get him sun-screened and changed, while my mom got herself ready for the day. Then, Lincoln would eat breakfast and play in her room while J and I got ourselves ready.

At 7:00. I secured our first two Lighting Lane return times. We were hoping for Jungle Cruise, but that one books up so fast these days (why??), and it was already in the mid-afternoon a few seconds after 7:00. So, I settled for a 10:00-11:00 Pirates for the whole group, and a 10:35-11:35 Seven Dwarfs for Grandmama and Auntie A. Seven Dwarfs is the extra charge ride at MK (although, I'm sure it'll be Tron in a few months). J and I have ridden it plenty of times, and we could take it or leave it, so we opted out of paying the extra charge for that one. We left our rooms around 7:40, and drove to MK. We decided to upgrade to preferred parking at MK, since that parking lot is massive, and we didn't want to have to carry the stroller onto a parking tram. Once we made it to the TTC, we hopped on a monorail, and we were walking into MK at 8:31.

During early entry, only Fantasyland and Tomorrowland are open, so we decided to hit up Fantasyland first. We were hoping to hit Peter Pan before the line got ridiculous, but we were already too late for that, so we headed across the way to It's a Small World, where we only had to wait about 10 minutes. It ended up being a great choice - Lincoln was in awe throughout the entire ride. We definitely chose the right theme for his nursery!

When we got off Small World, it was just before 9:00, so we hoofed it over to Frontierland to hit up the rest of the park clockwise, as we normally do. Big Thunder was posted at 30 minutes, and we didn't want to miss it again, so J, Auntie A, and I rode, while Grandmama strolled with Lincoln. We only ended up having to wait about 10 minutes! When we got off, Splash was posted at 5 minutes. J is not a fan of Splash, so he hung out with Lincoln while the three girls rode Splash. We ended up having to wait closer to 30 minutes. I was in the back row by myself, so I thought I could avoid getting *too* wet...I was wrong.

After Splash, it was time for our Pirates LL return time. This was our first time taking L on Pirates, and I was a little nervous about the drop, but he did just fine, and enjoyed looking around at everything. After Pirates, it was time for Grandmama and Auntie A to head to their LL return time for Seven Dwarfs. J and I took L to the baby care center for a diaper change, and then J grabbed us a couple spring rolls from the spring roll cart to snack on while I fed L a bottle. We stayed in the shade by the baby care center, hoping L would go down for a nap, but no such luck.

Up next: More MK, and Lincoln can't hang

 

[k8einwdw]

Wednesday, June 1st - Magic Kingdom Day - Continued

After Grandmama and Auntie A returned from Seven Dwarfs, we all decided on Pecos Bill for lunch, so we placed a mobile order and headed that way. J and I both got our usual beef nachos, and we got L a pb&j uncrustable and a cutie mandarin. We love Pecos Bill - I mean, we eat there practically every trip - but we always end up sitting in the back corner of that back left room, where it is so. dark.

L was super drowsy at lunch, so once he had eaten, we put him back in the stroller, and he fell right asleep. When we finished lunch, we headed out, and saw that people were starting to line up for Festival of Fantasy. I had forgotten that they had a Noon showing of the parade, but we had some time to kill before our next LL return time, so we found a spot near the Frontierland bridge, and stayed to watch the parade. As others have noted in their TRs, it wasn't as full of a cast as before - there were fewer performers between the floats - but it was nice to see a full-length parade back. Side note: I was so hoping we'd get an announcement for a new nighttime parade at D23 - I mean, it's been nearly six years since MSEP left - a girl can dream, I guess. Anywho, back to Festival of Fantasy...Lincoln managed to sleep through the entire parade. He woke up right after it ended.

Once L woke up, we headed to our next LL return time - 11:55-12:55 for Haunted Mansion. This was another first for L, so I was a little nervous about how he'd react, especially in the stretching room, but he wasn't bothered by it at all. We did get stopped by playful spooks a couple times, and he started to get a little antsy toward the end.

After Haunted Mansion, we strolled back through Fantasyland to see if there were any reasonable wait times to kill some time before our next LL. Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh were both long waits, so we headed back to Storybook Circus. J and I wanted to take L on Dumbo, but Grandmama and Auntie A weren't feeling it, so they headed to Barnstormer, and we decided we'd meet up in Big Top Souvenirs afterward.

I recently found a cute Little People Disney Parks playset at a consignment sale for $10. When I brought it home, Lincoln immediately recognized Dumbo. We were shocked that he remembered it months later!

After we got off Dumbo, we headed into Big Top Souvenirs. It was HOT, so J and I got some Goofy's Glaciers and found an open table to enjoy them and wait for Grandmama and Auntie A. They arrived a few minutes later, and also got Goofy's Glaciers. Great minds think alike! After everyone was sufficiently cooled off, we headed back out. We had some time to kill before our next LL at Under the Sea, so we decided to pop over into Tomorrowland to hit up Peoplemover. It was posted at a 10-minute wait, but it broke down at some point during the wait, so it ended up being more like 25 minutes. As always, I remarked to Jason, "Remember when we first started coming to Disney, and you could just walk on the Peoplemover whenever you wanted?" Those were the days. Of course, I had to grab a pic of the Tron construction once we finally made it on. It looks like they're basically done with the outside now, so we're hoping that means they're reopen the railroad soon!

After Peoplemover, we went Unda da Sea, and though we have no photographic evidence, I can attest to the fact that we did wave. I fed L a bottle on the ride, and he fell asleep as soon as we put him in his stroller afterward. While he slept, we debated on whether we wanted to go back to Tomorrowland, or backtrack somewhere else. Everyone was feeling snack-ish, so we decided to head back over to Adventureland to get some Dole Whips while L napped. Aloha Isle wasn't offering mobile ordering, and we didn't want to wheel the stroller through the line to order, so J said he would find a shaded spot to wait with him. He ended up sitting inside Tortuga Tavern. Once the three girls had ordered, paid for, and gotten our treats, we hoofed it over there. Unfortunately, the soft serves were pretty melty and drippy by the time we made it. If I recall correctly, Auntie A got the Fritz Freeze (vanilla and raspberry soft serve in pineapple juice), J got the Tropical Serenade (coconut soft serve in POG juice), Grandmama got a coconut cup, and I got a coconut-pineapple swirl cup.

L woke up while we were eating our treats, so we all let him try a bite of ours. He's not a big fan of ice cream, so it's no surprise he wasn't impressed by any of them. After we had finished our treats and washed the stickiness off of our hands, we decided to hit up the Enchanted Tiki Room, since it was nearby, and we thought L would enjoy it. We seemingly walked up right after a show had started, because we ended up in the front of the line, and had a bit of a wait. L enjoyed being passed around in line, and he LOVED the show! The whole time, he pointed up and said "bird...bird..."

Up next: Magic Kingdom Wrap-Up

 

[MickeyCB]

J and I wanted to take L on Dumbo, but Grandmama and Auntie A weren't feeling it, so they headed to Barnstormer, and we decided we'd meet up in Big Top Souvenirs afterward.

I'm not sure L was feelin it either!
"Ehh it's ok".

 

[k8einwdw]

I'm not sure L was feelin it either!
"Ehh it's ok".

He has perfected the unimpressed face

 

[k8einwdw]

Wednesday, June 1st - Magic Kingdom Day - Continued

I'll apologize in advance, this one is going to be very text-heavy. After we had finished up at Enchanted Tiki Room, it was after 5:00, and we were planning to get dinner outside of MK, so we decided to start making our way out of the park. We walked through the Emporium on our way out, but I don't recall anyone buying anything. We did, however, stop to buy L a Mickey balloon on our way out. It stayed afloat an impressive amount of time after we got home! Once we left MK, we hopped on the resort monorail to head over to the Poly. I had read the menus for Contempo Cafe, Gasparilla Grill, and Capt. Cooks to everyone, and we all decided Capt. Cooks was the best route for dinner. No complaints here!

For dinner, Jason and I both got our beloved pulled pork nachos, Lincoln got the chicken nuggets kids meal with grapes, Auntie A got the grown ups chicken nuggets meal, and Grandmama got the Asian noodles. L also entertained the table behind us while we ate...how such an extroverted kid came from two introverts, I'll never know.

Lincoln:

Jason and I:

After dinner, we headed back to the TTC to get to the car. It was Grandmama's night to take Lincoln back to the resort for bedtime. I offered to let her drive my car, but she said she'd be fine taking the bus. But, she didn't want to have to handle Lincoln and the stroller on the bus, so we grabbed the baby carrier out of my car so she could wear Lincoln on the bus. We accompanied them back to the bus stop, and then J, Auntie A, and I decided our next plan of action. I wanted to go to MK so we could see Enchantment (we have yet to see it, and doesn't look like we will be either). J wanted to go back to the Poly to hang out at Trader Sam's. Auntie A wanted to go to Hollywood Studios to ride Rock n' Roller Coaster. Since Auntie A doesn't get to go to Disney as often as we do, we let her win.

We took the monorail over to the Contemporary, and hopped a bus to HS. While on the bus, I got a text from my friend Alesa, who was in town for a work conference, that she was on property and wanted to meet up, so we made plans to meet her later on. Wen we made it to HS, we headed straight for RNRC, which was posted at a 40-minute wait. We decided to take our chances with the single rider line. We made the wrong choice. I don't know what it is about the single-rider line for RNRC, but it moves sooooo slowly, whereas single rider on Everest is always so quick. We ended up waiting over an hour before finally making it on, and by the time we got off, HS was closed, so we headed out.

We took a bus back to Poly, where J and A headed up to Tambu Lounge for drinks, while I met up with Alesa. She and I hung out and chatted for a bit, and J and A eventually joined us after they settled their bill at Tambu Lounge. It got to be after 10:00, and we wanted to get a decent amount of sleep, so we parted ways and started on our way back to the car. I told J and A that the TTC was a short walk from the Poly, so we should just walk to the car. Well, I had never made that walk in the dark, and we definitely got lost trying to find our way out of the Poly. We finally made it to the car, and got back to the room around 11:00.

Up next: A rough start to our HS day

 

[Tuvalu]

As an FYI for future trips:

You could have taken a bus to DHS from the MK bus depot (no need to go to Contemporary.) The MK bus depot has individual gates for DHS, AK and Epcot (when the monorail is down.)

 

[k8einwdw]

As an FYI for future trips:

You could have taken a bus to DHS from the MK bus depot (no need to go to Contemporary.) The MK bus depot has individual gates for DHS, AK and Epcot (when the monorail is down.)

Thanks! I couldn't remember if they still had buses from park to park.

 

[k8einwdw]

Thursday, June 2nd - Hollywood Studios Day

After Jason and I had gone to bed at 11:30, Lincoln took the opportunity to wake up at 4:30 am, and would. not. go back to sleep. We let him hang out with us and watch tv in our bed until 6:00, when we dragged ourselves out of bed to start getting ready for the day. HS was opening at 8:00 for resort guests, and we planned to leave the rooms as soon as I had secured our LL reservations.

My plan was to get LL return times for Slinky and ROTR first, and then hit ToT and RNRC during early entry, and MMRR after the park officially opened. At 7:00, I found a Slinky Dog return time for early in the day, and when I hit "continue," it froze. I eventually had to close out the MDE app and start all over, and by then Slinky was gone. The next goal was getting a return time for ROTR...and the earliest time left by that point was7:55-8:55 pm. I grabbed it without remembering that it was our night to bring Lincoln back to the room. Thankfully, my mom agreed to swap nights. Grandmama said her #1 goal for the day was to ride RNRC, so I grabbed a LL return time for 9:30-10:30, and we left the rooms around 7:15 to head to HS.

We got to HS and through security, and we were walking into the park at 7:55. We made a bee-line to Toy Story Land to hit SDD before the line got crazy. We decided to utilize rider swap for the first time - J and I rode first, after waiting about 20 minutes, and then Grandmama and Auntie A rode via rider swap.

While Grandmama and Auntie A rode, I suggested to Jason that we go over to the Joffrey's kiosk that's over near the old entrance to Midway Mania. He said he really wanted to try the new Cold Brew Black Caf at Kat Saka's Kettle in Galaxy's Edge. They had been serving this coffee in Galaxy's Edge in DL for a while, but it had finally made it to WDW. It made more sense to me to go there when we would be in Galaxy's Edge later in the day, but I didn't feel like arguing, so we went. This is what we ordered...

And this is what we got....whomp whomp. Now, it was only the second day that they were serving this coffee in WDW, so I'll give them a little grace. But it was a little disappointing when it had been so hyped up by people who had tried it in Disneyland.

After we had gotten our coffees, Grandmama called to say they were off the ride. I said we were in Galaxy's Edge, but we'd walk toward Toy Story Land to meet them. "I haven't seen Star Wars Land yet, we'll just come over there so we can see it." Now, I'm sure most of us here are our groups' planners. The glue of our Disney trips. So I'm sure you can understand why I was more than a little peeved when Jason decided to give my mom (and uninterested sister) a 15-minute long grand circle tour of Galaxy's Edge...at park opening. I had told the group in the car on the way over that the only ride Lincoln could do and would enjoy at HS was Runaway Railway, so I wanted to prioritize that early in the day. By the time I finally dragged everyone out of Galaxy's Edge, Runaway Railway was up to a 60-minute wait. No way in H-E-Double Hockey Sticks would Lincoln stick it out in line for that long. I was ready to snap, so I had to walk away for a moment to compose myself so I wouldn't lose my cool. I'm sure I was overreacting (and I'm sure the lack of sleep played a part in that), but I take it personally when carefully laid plans fall apart, and it seemed like that had been happening all morning. Since becoming a mother, I've tried to learn to roll with the punches, but I was struggling on this day.

After I had composed myself, I looked on MDE to see when we could get a LL return time for Runaway Railway. The next available time was 2:30-3:30. Jason, Auntie A, and I were all dragging already, so we decided we'd go get Joffrey's for Grandmama and Auntie A, hit our RNRC return time, and then head back to the room for a nap, and we would come back later and ride Runaway Railway. We hit up the Joffrey's by ToT, and sat in the shade while Grandmama and Auntie A drank their coffees, and L enjoyed a snack. When it came time for our RNRC return time, J and I said we didn't feel like riding. We were both exhausted, and we had ridden it the night before, so we gave our magic bands to my mom and sister, and let them ride twice, while we walked through the Sunset Blvd shops with L.

After Grandmama and Auntie A had ridden RNRC twice, we all went through the shops on Hollywood Blvd as we made our way out of the park. Grandmama bought Lincoln a couple toys, and we were leaving the park around 10:45. Once we made it back to POFQ, J and I took a nap for a little over an hour, while L napped in his stroller and Grandmama strolled him around the resort, and over to Riverside. Once we had woken up, we took over Lincoln duty so Grandmama could get some rest. Once everyone was well-rested, we grabbed some lunch from the food court, and picked up the birthday cupcakes that our sweet travel agent had ordered to the front desk for Lincoln.

We headed back to HS, and got into the park right around 3:00. We headed to Runaway Railway first. We finally got to watch the pre-show for the first time ever this time. When it came time to board, we decided to split into a party of three and a party of two so that they wouldn't cram all five of us onto one row, but that plan backfired when we ended up in completely different trains. Regardless, everyone enjoyed the ride - Lincoln had been a little scared by this one on his first trip, but he liked it a lot more this time around.

After Runaway Railway, we decided to head out of the park - we had a dinner reservation at Epcot, and we all agreed that we'd rather stroll through World Showcase than try to hit up another ride in HS.

I said it on my last TR, and it bears repeating - Hollywood Studios is the worst park for babies and toddlers. There is so little that they can do. The only rides without a height requirement are Runaway Railway and Toy Story Mania, and we haven't felt like L would be interested in Toy Story Mania thus far. We may attempt it on our next trip. He's also been too little to enjoy the Disney Junior Dance Party thus far, although he'd probably like it now that he's walking. We miss doing some of the bigger rides at HS, but we don't feel like it's fair to Lincoln to be stuck in a stroller all day while the grown-ups take turns riding all of the bigger rides. I really hope that Disney considers families with younger kids when they make future updates to HS, although I'm sure it'll be a while before we see any big changes in that park.

Up next: Dinner in Epcot

 

[meggo819]

Hollywood Studios is the worst park for babies and toddlers.

So true! And when we were there in April, even the meet and greet lines were 45-60 min long. So I treated the Skyliner like a ride and took my 5yo and 2yo out of the park to ride to Epcot and back.

 

[k8einwdw]

So true! And when we were there in April, even the meet and greet lines were 45-60 min long. So I treated the Skyliner like a ride and took my 5yo and 2yo out of the park to ride to Epcot and back.

Yep, we would’ve taken him to see Mickey and/or Minnie, but the lines were always crazy. Probably with all of the other families with kids too little to do anything else at HS.

 

[Spash007]

Wednesday, June 1st - Magic Kingdom Day - Continued

I'll apologize in advance, this one is going to be very text-heavy. After we had finished up at Enchanted Tiki Room, it was after 5:00, and we were planning to get dinner outside of MK, so we decided to start making our way out of the park. We walked through the Emporium on our way out, but I don't recall anyone buying anything. We did, however, stop to buy L a Mickey balloon on our way out. It stayed afloat an impressive amount of time after we got home! Once we left MK, we hopped on the resort monorail to head over to the Poly. I had read the menus for Contempo Cafe, Gasparilla Grill, and Capt. Cooks to everyone, and we all decided Capt. Cooks was the best route for dinner. No complaints here!

View attachment 667082

For dinner, Jason and I both got our beloved pulled pork nachos, Lincoln got the chicken nuggets kids meal with grapes, Auntie A got the grown ups chicken nuggets meal, and Grandmama got the Asian noodles. L also entertained the table behind us while we ate...how such an extroverted kid came from two introverts, I'll never know.

Lincoln:

Jason and I:

After dinner, we headed back to the TTC to get to the car. It was Grandmama's night to take Lincoln back to the resort for bedtime. I offered to let her drive my car, but she said she'd be fine taking the bus. But, she didn't want to have to handle Lincoln and the stroller on the bus, so we grabbed the baby carrier out of my car so she could wear Lincoln on the bus. We accompanied them back to the bus stop, and then J, Auntie A, and I decided our next plan of action. I wanted to go to MK so we could see Enchantment (we have yet to see it, and doesn't look like we will be either). J wanted to go back to the Poly to hang out at Trader Sam's. Auntie A wanted to go to Hollywood Studios to ride Rock n' Roller Coaster. Since Auntie A doesn't get to go to Disney as often as we do, we let her win.

We took the monorail over to the Contemporary, and hopped a bus to HS. While on the bus, I got a text from my friend Alesa, who was in town for a work conference, that she was on property and wanted to meet up, so we made plans to meet her later on. Wen we made it to HS, we headed straight for RNRC, which was posted at a 40-minute wait. We decided to take our chances with the single rider line. We made the wrong choice. I don't know what it is about the single-rider line for RNRC, but it moves sooooo slowly, whereas single rider on Everest is always so quick. We ended up waiting over an hour before finally making it on, and by the time we got off, HS was closed, so we headed out.

We took a bus back to Poly, where J and A headed up to Tambu Lounge for drinks, while I met up with Alesa. She and I hung out and chatted for a bit, and J and A eventually joined us after they settled their bill at Tambu Lounge. It got to be after 10:00, and we wanted to get a decent amount of sleep, so we parted ways and started on our way back to the car. I told J and A that the TTC was a short walk from the Poly, so we should just walk to the car. Well, I had never made that walk in the dark, and we definitely got lost trying to find our way out of the Poly. We finally made it to the car, and got back to the room around 11:00.

Up next: A rough start to our HS day

Those GIFs describe us and our own L perfectly! Now that he’s talking, he does not stop talking to strangers, and I just hover awkwardly trying to figure out the right response! It’s like these COVID kids are making up for lost time!

And as the planner - kudos to you for walking away and coming up with a good plan B in DHS!

 

[k8einwdw]

Those GIFs describe us and our own L perfectly! Now that he’s talking, he does not stop talking to strangers, and I just hover awkwardly trying to figure out the right response! It’s like these COVID kids are making up for lost time!

Yep These COVID kids are built different

 

[k8einwdw]

Thursday, June 2nd - Hollywood Studios Day - Continued

We left HS a little after 4:00, and decided to take the Skyliner over to Epcot, since Lincoln enjoys the Skyliner, and Grandmama and Auntie A had never been on it. Everyone enjoyed the relaxing ride, and we were walking into the International Gateway around 4:30.

We had a 5:55 dinner reservation, so we had some time to kill before then. We took our time walking around the World Showcase...

And I had a Violet Sake in Japan. I'd heard great things about this drink for years, but had always forgotten about it on our Epcot days. It was really good!

We got to see the infamous taco barges in person for the first time...

And around 5:15, I approached the host stand at Via Napoli to see if there was any chance they could take us early. They took down my info, and about 15 minutes later, we were being seated.

We were seated in the covered patio area, and I wish I could remember our server's name, because she was great with Lincoln. I always forget to write CMs' names down. For dinner, we split the Tagliere ( meat and cheese board), the adults all split a large Quattro Formaggi Pizza, and L got the kids' spaghetti. We hadn't eaten at Via Napoli since 2018, and the pizza was even better than I remembered. So good, in fact, that I'm considering booking it again for our upcoming trip!

After dinner, Grandmama and Auntie A took Lincoln back to the hotel to get him bathed and down for the night. It was supposed to be their night to stay out, but they graciously offered to swap nights, since we had a fiasco with the ROTR Lightning Lane that morning. We walked with them up to Future World (which is no longer called Future World?), and from there, they took a bus back to POFQ.

Up next: Back to Hollywood Studios - will the ROTR Curse be lifted?

 

[k8einwdw]

Thursday, June 2nd - Hollywood Studios Day - Continued

After sending Grandmama and Auntie A on their way, Jason and I headed back through World Showcase and exited Epcot via the International Gateway to take the Skyliner over to HS. It was around 7:00 when we left Epcot, and our LL return time for ROTR was 7:55-8:55. Since ROTR goes down if the wind blows too hard, I checked the status while we were on the Skyliner, and sure enough, it was down. We decided to stick it out and kill time in HS while we waited to see if it would re-open.

Now, if you've read some of my previous TRs, you may remember that I have terrible luck when it comes to ROTR. This was our fourth time at WDW following the ride's opening, and I had yet to go on it. September 2020 - Couldn't get a boarding group. December 2020 - Jason got a boarding group, but I was pregnant and couldn't ride. December 2021 - Got a LL return time, but the ride was down most of the day. I was discouraged when I saw ROTR was down this late in the day, but I wasn't ready to give up yet.

We grabbed a drink and people-watched for a while, and meandered through Toy Story Land and Galaxy's Edge. All the while, I was refreshing the wait times in MDE to see if ROTR had come back up yet.

Just after 8:00, I saw that ROTR had re-opened, so we made a beeline over there. There was already quite the line of people waiting to enter the Lightning Lane queue, so there's no telling how long the ride was down. We joined the queue and crossed our fingers. All went well for about 15 minutes - we were gradually moving through the line, and everyone was excited. Then, we stopped moving. After about 10 minutes of standing in same spot, people were growing impatient, and beginning to sit on the floor along the walls. By about 20 minutes into our stall, I no longer saw a single person standing up.

After about 30 minutes of waiting in the same spot, we got the official announcement over the intercom system - ROTR would not be coming back up, please gather your belongings and exit the way you came in. There was a collective groan, and we all started making our way out. At the exit, CMs were there with iPads to scan our magic bands. We would all be refunded for our LL, and we all received a multiple-experiences LL that could be redeemed at ROTR or any other non-extra attraction the next day. On the car ride back to POFQ, we discussed our options. Jason said it was ultimately up to me, since I had not been able to experience ROTR yet. HS is my least favorite park in WDW, and I really didn't feel like going back for a third day in a row, so we decided we would use our multiple-experiences LL the next day at Epcot.

So, I can now say that I've been to WDW four times since ROTR opened, and I have yet to ride it. I read online that ROTR has gone down every single day since it opened in WDW. I don't follow Disneyland news enough to know if that's the case out there as well. You expect a few hiccups from a new ride when it first opens, but ROTR has been open in WDW for nearly three years. Personally, I think they need to close it until they can get to the bottom of the issue and fix it, but I know that won't happen, since it's the main draw of Hollywood Studios for many people.

After leaving HS, we got back to POFQ around 9:30, and I told J that I felt like a deserved a treat for my troubles, and by a treat, I meant beignets. But, the line at Scat Cat's was nearly all the way out to the lobby, and I was not feeling a long wait, so I settled for a Gideon's cookie in the room.

After drowning our sorrows in cookie, we headed to bed around 10:30. We had our last park day in the morning, and we were hoping for a good night's rest.

Up next: Epcot Day

 

[k8einwdw]

Friday, June 3rd - Epcot Day

After a tumultuous Hollywood Studios day, we were looking forward to a more relaxed, enjoyable day at Epcot. Lincoln awoke at 5:20, and I kept him entertained until 6:00. when we all started getting ready. at 7:00, it was time to take our chances with Genie+. GOTG Cosmic Rewind had only been open for a week, so we decided to divide and conquer to double our chances of getting on the ride - I would attempt to get a LL return time, and J would try to get a boarding group. To our surprise, luck was on our side, and we were both successful! I got a LL return time for 9:40-10:40, and Jason got group 67, so we would all get to ride twice! I also grabbed a LL return time for Spaceship Earth for 8:30-9:30.

Epcot was opening for resort guests at 8:00, so we headed out of the room as soon as our Genie reservations were secured, and we arrived at Epcot shortly after 7:30.

The Early Entry rope "dropped" at 7:55, and we headed straight for Soarin', where we would utilize rider swap. Grandmama and Auntie A rode first, and were able to walk right on. While they rode, Jason, Lincoln, and I waited in the carpeted area at the exit of the ride. We were the only people in there, so we let Lincoln get a break from being held and crawl around on the carpet. When Grandmama and Auntie A emerged, they took over Lincoln duty so Jason and I could ride. We got the top middle glider - perfect seats! When we exited the ride, we found Lincoln entertaining a lady in a scooter- he was fascinated by all of the buttons and gadgets. That kid makes a friend wherever he goes!

After Soarin', we hit up the farm ride - this was L's first time riding, and our first time seeing the 50 that they've added for the anniversary.

The original plan was to hit up the Seas pavilion after we finished up in the Land, but L was getting sleepy, so we put him in the stroller, and he was asleep in no time. While he napped, we took turns riding SSE with the LL return times I was able to secure earlier.

When both parties had finished up at SSE, L was still snoozing away.

Up next: Burn baby, burn

 

[cgersic]

Last time I was in Epcot, we had my great niece who was 1-1/2 at the time and was just starting to learn wobbly walking. While my niece and her husband rode Soarin', I had Calleigh being entertained at that carpet area you speak of. I finally had to pick her up and walk her around because her little knees were getting carpet burned so badly! But what a great place to people watch!