Trip Report COMPLETED: The Rise of Park-Hopper

Prelude: The Fandom Menace

Hi! It's been a while. You all look like you haven't aged a day! Is that a new brooch?

So...I have a Disney problem. The first WDW trip of my adult life was in January of 2014. Me, my boyfriend (BF), and our very knowledgable Disney Friend (DF) stayed at POR, my first time on-property, and long story short, it was dope. So dope, in fact, that I promptly became a full-fledged Disney psycho, rivaling DF's level of fanaticism. You can read about that magical trip here. I brought BF back for a week at AKL just 10 months later for his birthday. You can read all about that slightly-less-magical trip here. We realized that was probably a little too soon a return, so the next year we did Universal instead...with a last-minute day at MK and a one-night stay in a Poly studio added on. Have I mentioned we're monsters? You can read about that magical wizardry-filled trip here.

After that last trip, we vowed not to return until there was a ton of new stuff to see and do in the parks. So we didn't. Unless you count Gay Days at Disneyland in 2016. Or the 2017 freelance gig in Orlando that led to a one-day visit to Pandora opening week. Or the tiny little four-day trip to WDW with DF in the Pirate Rooms this past summer. Did I mention I have a Disney problem? There's pixie dust residue on ALL my dollar bills.

The opening of Galaxy's Edge and Rise of the Resistance felt like a grand enough reason to drag BF back to the parks (on top of Toy Story Land and Pandora and, yes, even Frozen Ever After), so I booked five nights in January at Pop Century. The reasoning there was threefold: Skyliner access seemed smart for a Studios-centric trip, I've been hearing good things about the refurbished Pop rooms, and I sadly don't have a money tree in my backyard. I remember Deluxe Resorts being expensive in 2014 and 2015, but now they're buh-SPEN-sive.

On a phone call with his aunt, BF mentioned our upcoming trip:

"What are your dates?"
"January 19th-24th."
"Hm. I think I could make that work."

And just like that, BF's sexagenarian aunt (BFA) and her best friend who I'd never met (BFABF) invited themselves onto our trip! I suppose I could've found it a little annoying, but I saw it as an opportunity to show some WDW newbies the ropes. I added them to all our FPs and ADRs. I hoped they were fans of roller coasters and pricey themed dining experiences, because that's what they were getting!

I figured BF would want to see all the Galaxy's Edge stuff as soon as possible, so I planned our first park day to be at Hollywood Studios. It was a Monday in January, so the holiday crowds would be gone and the parks would be as close to chill as they get these days. Except I forgot one thing: that Monday was Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday. I stupidly thought it was a week earlier, but I was wrong. Like, Enchanted Tiki Room (Under New Management) wrong. Yep, it takes a real genius to try to beat the crowds on a day when every Tom, Dick, and Chewbacca would be in the park. But it was too late to change it. There was no way I was gonna score Savi's Workshop reservations, Oga's Cantina ADRs, and Slinky Dog FPs on any other day!

Would the magic be rekindled? Would we score a boarding group for Rise of the Resistance? Would the seats on Everest get covered in terrified old lady barf? Only time would tell.

Next: Attack of the Loans (I had to take out to afford this trip)

 

[UnhealthilyObsessed]

Day Five: Return of the WED-Eye

Have you ever slept in until 10am at WDW? Because I have, and boy, it’s the Aristocat’s pajamas.

Lest we endure a third consecutive breakfast of potato-less omelets, I suggested we grab a bite at Docking Bay 7 at Galaxy’s Edge. We took a shortcut I had discovered to our Skyliner station, just in time for our last day of vacation, and breezily zipped over to Studios. The morning rush at Trolley Car Cafe had ended and the wait for a cup of coffee wasn’t a literal eon, so we fueled up and pushed on to Galaxy’s Edge.

Docking Bay 7 is a killer quick service option. We both got chicken salads with this delicious curry-ranch dressing. The details are incredible. If the dining room itself was a little...grander, I’d probably put it past even Satu’li Canteen. One tiny gripe is that there’s a cast member standing at the exit, keeping people from entering. But it means that, unless you have the sixth sense to mention that you did mobile other, you have to enter the very narrow entrance and squeeze past everyone in line waiting to order. That cast member stationed at the exit should simply mentioned that it’s exit only unless you did mobile order. Quick fix! I saw her let people in who showed them their order confirmation and I think it would help the straight-up logjam at the entrance.

As we exited Docking Bay, we noticed that Stormtroopers were harassing a guest on the level below. That guest turned out to be Robert Irvine from Restaurant: Impossible. Fun! BF is a fan of both that show and Robert’s bicep circumference. Robert and his posse were escorted into Smuggler’s Run, and I noticed the single rider line was operational. We decided to take it for another spin. This time we waited a little longer, but we ended up having plenty of time to take photos at the chessboard AND we ended up riding together (still as lame engineers, but still). The gag of the whole thing was that the simulator adjusts the time of day with the actual time of day, so this time our flight was in daylight. Super-coot deet!

We stopped into Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities next, as when we were at Galaxy’s Edge on Monday, there was a line to get in. Today was by no means un-mobbed inside, but at least we could come and go at will. This store is super-dope, despite having literally nothing I would ever actually buy. We peeked back into all of the Marketplace shops, and BF bought the Outpost Mix popcorn (he gave it a thumbs up, while I thought it tasted like Fruity Pebbles, a food I fiercely dislike) and a Black Spire Hot Chocolate (he gave it a hard pass, and I was kind of into it). And not to be a gossip, but Robert Irvine didn't wash his hands after he used the restroom. I'll keep that in mind next time he's on TV, yelling about kitchen cleanliness!

It occurred to us that we had barely scratched the surface of the First Order corner of Galaxy’s Edge. Honestly Rise of the Resistance and Smuggler’s Run are great and everything, but the placemaking is the true master stroke of Imagineering in this land.

It started to sprinkle a bit, so we figured we'd spend that time commuting from Studios to Animal Kingdom. But then it started to POUR, so suddenly Voyage of the Little Mermaid seemed like a great idea. We queued up for the show, which was starting in like three minutes. And I've never seen this before in my entire life, but we didn't make it in for that show. I guess half of Florida had the same idea as us. So we went with plan B, something I knew very little about: Star Wars Launch Bay.

We had done this at Disneyland in 2016, but the layout here is completely different. We watched the behind-the-scenes doc and then lined up to meet BB-8, which was great. Then purely by chance, I noticed a pretty small placard for another Disney Visa character experience. Sweet! I flashed my Um, this one was a surprise, and it was honestly scary, and it was Darth Vader. BF completely reverted to a little boy and seemed to join the Dark Side purely out of fear?!? It was hilarious. We geeked out over all the costumes and vehicle models, and eventually braved the still-falling rain (the forecast said literally nothing about this) and headed to Animal Kingdom. The bus was waiting for us! I must say, after yesterday's Magic Kingdom bus debacles there and back, we deserved a little favorable bus karma.

First thing was first: I HAD to show BF Nomad Lounge. I did this in June 2017 after a long day at Animal Kingdom, and it felt like this oasis in an entirely other universe. We found a table, and minutes later, found an even better table, overlooking the water. I ordered a watermelon margarita and fish tacos (YES, they were flour tortillas and not corn, but I'm only human!) and BF got the charcuterie plate. I cannot recommend Nomad Lounge enough. It's one of those areas in WDW that really transports you.

Then it was Everest time. God, I love this ride. We rode up front, which I love because of the view of the World when you pause at the broken track. We followed that up with a stroll through Maharajah Jungle Trek, and just in the nick of time, because they were roping off the entrance. The vampire bats were, by far, the most active we'd ever seen them, and it was a dizzying mix of awesome and terrifying. One of them was walking upside down along a rope, occasionally pausing to spread its wings perfectly in Batman formation. I didn't know whether to shake his wing or run for my life.

The male tiger was out and walking in a very tight circle, which made me sad because I thought it meant he was going stir crazy. Then I found out they bring his family in first for the night and then come back for him, so he was just pacing outside the door because he knew he'd get to go in soon. Kind of a relief!

Y'know what also freaks me out? The bird room! I'm always terrified one of them is going to clip me. No thank ya, ma'am! Still, I brave it anyway because they really are beautiful.

On our way to It's Tough to Be a Bug!, I found the coolest Animal Kingdom t-shirt with both animals and the Fab Five on it. So I bought her! I like to buy at least one t-shirt a trip, but it's hard to find one that's just shy of too cheesy. Then we took in 9 minutes of Pixar heaven and then headed to the fading eyesore known as Dinoland, USA for our Dinosaur FPs. After all, we had a date with our girl Phylicia Rashad. BF requests we do this ride every single time, but I'm pretty sure this is the first time he's done it with his eyes open. Now that's progress!

Though we didn't have FastPasses or feel like waiting standby, I had to show BF Pandora at night. We drummed, we marveled at the bioluminescence, and we dodged crowds, because Ms. Pandora at night? She crowded.

We took the back path out of Pandora, passing the new Club 33 location at Animal Kingdom (I didn't realize it was open; it was still being built this summer) and checking in at Tusker House. This has been on the ol' Disney bucket list for quite some time. Our table wasn't ready yet, so I grabbed an African margarita (almost too authentic), and of course the second I sat down at an outdoor high-top, our table was ready. Tusker House was big and loud and fun and delicious. I had pork shoulder and salmon and chicken and salads and hummus and veggies and oh, man. Everything was so good. Our server was great, and we got really fun (and repeated!) interactions with Donald, Daisy, Mickey, and Pluto. I am a big fan. Honestly there is now very little left on my Disney dining bucket list.

It was after dinner that I made my biggest planning blunder of the trip. The park had technically been closed for about 30 minutes and we hurried out of Tusker House to check out the Tree of Life nighttime show. We could hear the music playing, it was definitely happening, and just as the tree came into view the show ended. That was the mini-blunder. The big blunder was INSISTING that they'd do the show one more time, and all we had to do was look around in shops for a bit and be patient and then we'd get the show pretty much all to ourselves. First I tried using the restroom right past Island Mercantile, but a cast member SPRINTED at me and informed me the only open bathrooms were at the park entrance. With a little too much glee, to be honest. As BF poked around, I noticed a cast member leading a VIP group further into the closed park. As they got closer, I realized it was the Property Brothers, and one of them had a small woman in a low-worn baseball cap that you just know was Zooey Deschanel, baby! BF came out of the store, and we waited. And waited. And y'know what else? Waited. The show never returned, and I looked like a big ol' dummy. But at least we got some relaxing time in front of the Tree of Life, and we beat the rush to the buses! Again, there was one waiting for us to take us back to Pop Century.

I took a stroll around all the buildings at Pop, appreciating its design and details. After another good night's sleep, we got up and gloomily packed our bags, feeling blue that another great trip was over. But I wasn't done with Disney magic. I finished packing and dashed out the door and to the Skyliner station, taking it to Caribbean Beach and back for one last ride. I'm not sure when I'll return to Walt Disney World; my niece turns 3 next summer so I'll almost surely pester my family for a big trip before that. Maybe we'll rent a bunch of DVC points and get a couple villas and do it in style. No matter when I come back, though, it won't be soon enough.

Next: J.J. Abrams Writes and Directs a Sequel to This Trip Report, But it has All the Same Story Beats as The Original Trip Report But With Different Characters.

Bye for now!!!

 

[MinnieM123]

Have you ever slept in until 10am at WDW? Because I have, and boy, it’s the Aristocat’s pajamas.

It's always the silly things that catch my attention. Your comment above made me burst out laughing! (Nice play on words, there.)

 

[Weather_Lady]

Great report! I love your writing.