Trip Report From Disney to Jacksonville

This is my first attempt at posting one of our trips with pics. If I flame out, I apologize. Just trying to be part of the community and share. Anyway, as usual, we planned this thing last minute. In August, we bought into DVC, and this would be our maiden voyage. Because we didn't book out long enough, we had to do a split stay at Saratoga and Boardwalk; no problem. The problem was because we were arriving at midnight on a Wednesday, we needed somewhere else to stay from 1:00 AM to about 11:00 AM when we could check into Saratoga. We found a place on 192 with not so good reviews but it was a shower and a bed with free continental breakfast. The main reason we planned this trip was that so my soon-to-be speech therapist daughter who has accepted a contract position in Jacksonville could check out apartments. Thur - Sat -- Disney. Sun -- Universal. Mon -- Jacksonville, then back home in PA.
This was at the rental car counter in MCO at 12:30 AM. A little wet.

 

[macefamily]

The next day, Saturday, would be an early start as well. (My daughter was not liking this one bit). We were getting up to try and get into a group for Rise of the Resistance. My wife practiced the task for weeks. We hit the gates for 7:10 AM. We also had brunch reservations at Art Smith's Homecomin'. We were hoping to get both accomplished, and we did. We got into group 40, and we made our reservation for 9:30AM !

The Southern Mary. A meal by itself. I have never finished one.

Church Lady deviled eggs

Bee Haven Bay fried green tomatoes. The wife doesn't like tomatoes, but she loves these !
After an Art Smith brunch you're pretty much done eating until a late dinner.

 

[macefamily]

That's me at Art Smith's brunch.....

 

[macefamily]

Things worked out perfectly. After a bit of drama at 8:00AM, my wife managed to get us into a RotR group. We were group 40. That gave us enough time to hit Disney Springs for a 9:40 AM Art Smith's brunch. We waddled out of there at 10:30 AM, and our group was ready to be called around 1:00 PM giving us enough time to return to the park and get in line. We were actually a little late. Our wait time was around 30 minutes until we got to the action.

 

[macefamily]

It's my first time in 25 years of visiting Disney that I can say I hit two brand new attractions on the same trip.
Runaway Railway was a pleasant surprise. My wife loved it. Fast Pass was still a 30 minute wait.

 

[macefamily]

Time to do the rest of Hollywood Studios. After a stop for a few Long Island Iced Teas at the mobile bar near Runaway Railway, the adventure continued. The bartender from Hawaii, Jeremy, made a great drink.

 

[macefamily]

We checked out of Saratoga and checked into Boardwalk. I liked both, but I really liked the proximity of Boardwalk to Hollywood Studios. As usual, I was the early riser and I was out walking around Sunday morning. It was the only day my wife and daughter could sleep in, but we turned the clocks ahead Saturday night so it wasn't much of a respite.

The view from just outside our pool area at the Boardwalk. The Swan is very close to us.

The view from just outside our room at the Boardwalk.

 

[macefamily]

This little guy was jumping around the pool area.

After letting the family sleep in until 8:30 AM, I started making noise to wake them up.
We will spend our Sunday at Universal Studios. We will also take advantage of the
Extra Magic Hours at Hollywood Studios from 8:00PM to 10:00PM.
Going to be a long day.

 

[macefamily]

I really thought we were entering the perfect storm by visiting Universal on Sunday. Universal was a drop-off location for the nearby Arnold Palmer golf tournament so they had one of the garages closed off.

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The lines going into the pay booths were at least ten cars deep. However, when going into the parks it was surprisingly light. I think the locals stayed away knowing the golf tournament was going to mess things up.

 

[winstongator]

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It's my first time in 25 years of visiting Disney that I can say I hit two brand new attractions on the same trip.
Runaway Railway was a pleasant surprise. My wife loved it. Fast Pass was still a 30 minute wait.

I also did Rise of the Resistance and Runaway Railway for the first time last Tuesday. Was an awesome day. I enjoyed both a bunch, and they are the highlights of DHS now.

 

[macefamily]

OK, I'm in the home stretch for this trip report. We're at day 4, Universal Studios and Extra Magic at Hollywood Studios. It was also the final day of the Bayhill Arnold Palmer Invitational which is right up the road from Universal. Ugh ! But we found out that it wasn't that bad afterall.

 

[macefamily]

Wait times were not excessive. Gringott's was 45, but we did single rider and walked right on. Same with Forbidden Journey. My daughter and I were second in line for single rider.

RIP Rip Torn.

I haven't won MIB in about three years. I don't know how my daughter does it, but she
usually scores 700,000 - 900,000. I'm lucky to hit 300,000.

 

[macefamily]

Mardi Gras at Universal ! Last year we rode on one of the floats for the parade. We didn't sign up this year because we wanted the time to try and get as many rides completed as possible. Another great thing about Mardi Gras at Universal is the food...jambalaya, gumbo, po-boys, and beignets. Tried them all !

 

[macefamily]

We were wrapping up our day at Universal and getting ready to head back to Hollywood Studios for the extra magic hours.

 

[macefamily]

In the title I mention Jacksonville. Well, that was part of our schedule on this visit. My daughter accepted a speech therapist position at a school district near Jacksonville so we would spend our Monday driving to Jacksonville to look at apartments, and drive back to Orlando airport for a 6:30 PM flight back to PA. It was hectic, but we survived. We'll be coming back this summer to help move my daughter in.
But for now, we had two more hours of Disney and we were going to make the most of it.

 

[macefamily]

We raced around Hollywood Studios trying to get the most out of our two hours. We never have done Slinky Dog, but the wait time was still 60 minutes. We decided against it and walked right on Toy Story Mania. One of the CM's commented on my daughter's backpack which is a Coach Disney bag. They exchanged some humorous banter and another CM also chimed in. They were great; Chad and Kathleen who were both from NY. We rode the ride, and as soon as we finished we were pulled off of the ride and put right back in line in the front for another ride. Thanks to Chad and Kathleen ! They made some Magic for us on our last evening at Disney.

 

[macefamily]

We jogged over to Smuggler's Run, and it was only a 20 minute wait. It was my first time as a Pilot; not too successful.

 

[macefamily]

We finished up and hurried across the park to ride our favorite, Tower of Terror. We were able to get in line, but it seemed like everyone else wanted to finish up on ToT. It was about a 30 minute wait, but we made it.

 

[macefamily]

We got off Tower of Terror and started our melancholy exit from Hollywood Studios knowing it was the end of our March journey. I feel lucky now knowing what happened just a week after our visit; a full Disney closure. As we exited down Sunset Blvd., something caught my eye which was a fitting tribute to the end of our trip. A cast member did something special which touched our hearts.

See you real soon !!

 

[Disstevefan1]

Excellent report. Looking forward to your next one.

 

[Darstarr]

Thanks for sharing!
I could use a little Disney right now!
Tell your daughter good luck with the new job!