We are empty nesters and still like our time at WDW. Sunday we arrived at MCO and has reservations on Mears. We entered the line at 4:30 and got to our resort, French Quarter, at 6:00. I am not sure I will use Mears again. I had checked in on line two days before our trip and went directly to our room. I had asked for a room close to the bus station and ended up in building 7. Turns out it was just a short walk across the parking lot to the bus station. We had no problems getting in our room using magic bands we had purchased two years ago. The TV was on and had Welcome to the Graphite1326 family (well it had our real name on it) nice touch. We were hungry and decided to walk to Riverside and see if we could get in to Boatwright's. They said it would be about 30 minutes if we wanted to wait. We decided to shop while we waited and it was 30 minutes for us to be seated. We had a great meal with a friendly server. We were tired from our trip and went back to our room to get ready for the next day, watch a little TV, and then crash for the evening.
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Trip Report Jan/Feb trip.
- Thread starter graphite1326
- Start date
MelliesMimi
New Member
We are empty nesters too! We just booked our second adults only trip for September at the Beach Club Villa's. Can't wait to pick up some new perspective from fellow empty nesters!
Wicked Sisters
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
Looking forward to hearing your adventures. We loved POFQ last September.
Our first full day we went to MK. It opened at 8 and with early entry for us it opened at 7:30. The park closed at 4:30 that day and thought the crowds would be light. Our plan was to hop to another park at 4:30. We had bought some yogert with fruit the night before and had that for breakfast. Then we headed to the bus stop. Chilly morning. We got in early and went right to Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. It was a walk on. Did the ride (I won). Now I must tell you we are both in our 60's but still like going on the rides. We got off, saw there was no line and rode it again (I won again). By then it was almost 8 and headed toward Big Thunder MT.
It was only a few minutes and we entered that part of the park. BTMRR was a walk on and the train was not completely full. We rode in the front of the train but the ride is much better in the back. So we got off and headed right back on again. This time in the back. Much better in the back.
After that we headed to PotC; a walk on. Then Jungle Cruise: a walk on. We were able to go on so many rides in such a short time we weren't sure what to do with all our time. We decided to explore the Swiss Family Robinson tree which we have done for a few years.
After that it was off to Haunted Mansion, we rode the Liberty Square Riverboat to kill time, and worked through the park catching the attractions we like; HoP, CoP, and so on. Along the way we grabbed lunch at Columbia Harbour House. Maybe it's just me but I used to like going here but found the food this time to be not as good and not as many choices. Then to Tomorrowland for Space Moutain which ended up being about a 30 minute wait. I want to say here that some guy who sat in the front of the car decided to film the ride. He had his light on so it looked like we had a head light. We could see the whole ride as we went. It didn't bother me that much because I have been on the ride so many times. But I felt sorry for the other riders who didn't get to experience the complete dark ride. Much more thrilling in my opinion.
Somewhere in there we did catch the parade.
I forgot to mention earlier that I had tried to get a virtual queue on Tron at 7 but didn't get it. I was succesfull at 1 but my group was 98. It was getting late in the afternoon and Tron was only loading in the early 80's. We did the Railroad to kill a little time and were walking around hoping that we would get called soon. Finally around 3:45, the loading number was at 88, I asked a guy in a suit what happens if they never reach 98 by 4:30?. He said I lose my time. I was really disappointed. While we were standing around deciding what to do suddenly our loading time popped up. HMMM maybe he put a bug in someones ear because it jumped 12 numbers that quick. We got in line about 4 and when we got off it was about 4:30. Time to head to another park. To be continued........
It was only a few minutes and we entered that part of the park. BTMRR was a walk on and the train was not completely full. We rode in the front of the train but the ride is much better in the back. So we got off and headed right back on again. This time in the back. Much better in the back.
After that we headed to PotC; a walk on. Then Jungle Cruise: a walk on. We were able to go on so many rides in such a short time we weren't sure what to do with all our time. We decided to explore the Swiss Family Robinson tree which we have done for a few years.
After that it was off to Haunted Mansion, we rode the Liberty Square Riverboat to kill time, and worked through the park catching the attractions we like; HoP, CoP, and so on. Along the way we grabbed lunch at Columbia Harbour House. Maybe it's just me but I used to like going here but found the food this time to be not as good and not as many choices. Then to Tomorrowland for Space Moutain which ended up being about a 30 minute wait. I want to say here that some guy who sat in the front of the car decided to film the ride. He had his light on so it looked like we had a head light. We could see the whole ride as we went. It didn't bother me that much because I have been on the ride so many times. But I felt sorry for the other riders who didn't get to experience the complete dark ride. Much more thrilling in my opinion.
Somewhere in there we did catch the parade.
I forgot to mention earlier that I had tried to get a virtual queue on Tron at 7 but didn't get it. I was succesfull at 1 but my group was 98. It was getting late in the afternoon and Tron was only loading in the early 80's. We did the Railroad to kill a little time and were walking around hoping that we would get called soon. Finally around 3:45, the loading number was at 88, I asked a guy in a suit what happens if they never reach 98 by 4:30?. He said I lose my time. I was really disappointed. While we were standing around deciding what to do suddenly our loading time popped up. HMMM maybe he put a bug in someones ear because it jumped 12 numbers that quick. We got in line about 4 and when we got off it was about 4:30. Time to head to another park. To be continued........
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Our plan was to head to the Hollywood Studios bus station at MK. I guess a lot of people had the same idea as us. The bus stop was packed. It would take three buses to get to us. We decided to catch the monorail or boat to GF and catch a bus from there to HS. Headed over and decided the boat was the better option. I guess great minds think alike. About a dozen of us were doing the same thing.
It didn't take long and we were in HS. We grabbed a burger at Dockside Diner. Messed around in the park, which was kind of crowded so the lines were long. With the exception of Star Tours which doesn't seem to have long lines anymore. I like ST and hope they never get rid of it. I like it better than the new Star Wars rides. But that's just me. It was getting chilly and we decided to call it a night.
It didn't take long and we were in HS. We grabbed a burger at Dockside Diner. Messed around in the park, which was kind of crowded so the lines were long. With the exception of Star Tours which doesn't seem to have long lines anymore. I like ST and hope they never get rid of it. I like it better than the new Star Wars rides. But that's just me. It was getting chilly and we decided to call it a night.
Something I would like to mention. POFQ tiolets are the loudest. That's what it seemed like. Our neighbor must have been a family of four. Staring at 4:00 AM they must have got up used and flushed the toilet (SCALOOSH!!). I was now awake. Half an hour later SCALOOSH!! I'm still awake. half an hour later again SCALOOSH!! And finally SCALOOSH!! . I might as well get up. Not kidding it went on all week. We didn't get much sleep.
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The next day we headed to EPCOT. However, before we left the room I tried getting a queue on Guardians but failed. We slept in a little since it didn't open until 8:30 with early entry so we were in line at 10 of 8. As always they dropped the first rope and let us walk closer to our destinations before we were stopped again. Our choice was Soarin. Most people that went to the initial right were going to Remy's Ratatouile Adventure. Finally after a looooong wait and a lot of trivia questons from a CM they let us in. We were top center on Soarin. Always the best seat. Right now it's the California version. I used to think it was the better of the two versions now that they went back to it I'm not so sure even with the distorted Eiffel tower.
As usual we wanted to do Living with the Land but wanted to grab a pastry at the cafe. HOWEVER, as we were looking over the pastries which were behind a sliding glass door a woman walked in front of us and as she slid the glass open sneezed into the pastries. Are you kidding me? She didn't think anything of it, got what she wanted and left. We went on to Living with the land without our pastry. Living with the Land is one of my favorite attractions and I hope they never change it.
From there we headed over to Test Track.
As usual we wanted to do Living with the Land but wanted to grab a pastry at the cafe. HOWEVER, as we were looking over the pastries which were behind a sliding glass door a woman walked in front of us and as she slid the glass open sneezed into the pastries. Are you kidding me? She didn't think anything of it, got what she wanted and left. We went on to Living with the land without our pastry. Living with the Land is one of my favorite attractions and I hope they never change it.
From there we headed over to Test Track.
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rshell68
Well-Known Member
littleroo
Well-Known Member
I am enjoying your TR! It truly is a sad thing, to sit back and watch the entitled in this country. Out of curiosity how old was the woman? I don't know if I could have kept my mouth shut.
I am a heavy sleeper and never noticed the sound of the toliet flushing at POFQ. I wonder if maybe it was specific to your location.
I am a heavy sleeper and never noticed the sound of the toliet flushing at POFQ. I wonder if maybe it was specific to your location.
I would guess she was in her 40's. Nose ring. Seemed oblivious. Hind sight I should have gone up to the counter and asked if they had any pastries in the back since someone had just sneezed all over the ones they had in the display.
I never noticed the toilet before either but at 4 in the morning there is no other noise so it seemed loud. It was the room right next to us that would have the bathrooms next to each other separated by the wall.
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Test Track had a 40 minute wait time so we got into the standby line. It ended up being more like 20 minutes. We always enjoy the ride and designed a car that ended up 1st in two of the three posts. The girls in the back seat were having a great time and screamed the whole ride. Awesome. Loved it.
We had to use the restrooms when we got off TT and finally found some of the artist that we came in January to see. It is the Festival of Arts at EPCOT and since my wife and I are both artist we wanted to check this out. In fact, we use the money we make at selling art for our vacations. Once we have enough we plan a trip. Disney or otherwise. The artist were good but we thought it was going to be more demostrations and a variety of different kinds of art. It was a "variety" of artist renditions of Disney characters. They were all good and were displayed throughout the park. A few artist were there but off to the side working on their art.
We decided to hit World Showcase starting with Mexico and casually work our way around to Canada for our 12:50 reservation at Le Cellier. Besides my wife wanted a margarita. "It's only 11?" Eh we are on vacation so I guess it's ok. We went inside the pyramid thinking we could get on the boat ride. The line was all ready too long and passed on it. So she grabbed a magarita and walked around taking our time and did some casual shopping.
We had to use the restrooms when we got off TT and finally found some of the artist that we came in January to see. It is the Festival of Arts at EPCOT and since my wife and I are both artist we wanted to check this out. In fact, we use the money we make at selling art for our vacations. Once we have enough we plan a trip. Disney or otherwise. The artist were good but we thought it was going to be more demostrations and a variety of different kinds of art. It was a "variety" of artist renditions of Disney characters. They were all good and were displayed throughout the park. A few artist were there but off to the side working on their art.
We decided to hit World Showcase starting with Mexico and casually work our way around to Canada for our 12:50 reservation at Le Cellier. Besides my wife wanted a margarita. "It's only 11?" Eh we are on vacation so I guess it's ok. We went inside the pyramid thinking we could get on the boat ride. The line was all ready too long and passed on it. So she grabbed a magarita and walked around taking our time and did some casual shopping.
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We headed to our reservation at Le Cellier. Ordered our drinks and then stepped outside to try and get a queue on GotG. I wasn't the only one. Tuff break I couldn't get cell service so I didn't get on. That's not the first time I had trouble with cell service in that area. Steak was great though.
We reversed course and headed for France. The wait time for Remy's Ratatouille was about 50 minutes so we got on. after that we got to America just as the Voices of Liberty were starting. After we went upstairs for the show which I really like but fell asleep dang it.
We worked our way around the rest of World Showcase. We like going back in places like Morocco and just look around. The line was down at the Mexico boat ride and got on. It was getting chilly and decided to call it a day. With it cold at night we decided we didn't want to watch the night show and fight with the long bus ride line back to the resort after the fireworks. We got on Spaceship Earth on the way out.
Back at the resort we had the Gumbo to warm us up and headed to Scat Cats for a drink. End of another great day.
We reversed course and headed for France. The wait time for Remy's Ratatouille was about 50 minutes so we got on. after that we got to America just as the Voices of Liberty were starting. After we went upstairs for the show which I really like but fell asleep dang it.
We worked our way around the rest of World Showcase. We like going back in places like Morocco and just look around. The line was down at the Mexico boat ride and got on. It was getting chilly and decided to call it a day. With it cold at night we decided we didn't want to watch the night show and fight with the long bus ride line back to the resort after the fireworks. We got on Spaceship Earth on the way out.
Back at the resort we had the Gumbo to warm us up and headed to Scat Cats for a drink. End of another great day.
Jan. 31st Animal Kingdom.
I love wearing Hawiian shirts. Very comfortable. However, on this day I wore my rooster Hawiian shirt. It has rooster doing a kung fu kick with a grill fork in one hand, a Heineken in the other and very colorful. The reason I am mentioning this is becasue I got comments on it all day. Mostly from CM's. They loved it. A lot of guest commented too. So if you happen to see this "loud" shirt. It was me.
I love wearing Hawiian shirts. Very comfortable. However, on this day I wore my rooster Hawiian shirt. It has rooster doing a kung fu kick with a grill fork in one hand, a Heineken in the other and very colorful. The reason I am mentioning this is becasue I got comments on it all day. Mostly from CM's. They loved it. A lot of guest commented too. So if you happen to see this "loud" shirt. It was me.
Animal Kingdom, still not a full day park for us. We got there at rope drop. First stop is Flight of Passage. Pretty much a walk on although there were plenty ahead of us. Great ride and we ended up going on twice (later in the day) althought the wait time later was close to 50 minutes. From there we went to Navi River Journey which wasn't walk on but not long wait either. From there we did the usual we like to do. Kilimanjaro Safari, Garilla Falls, then to Expedition Everest. This was still a walk on even though we didn't get there too early. From there over to Dinasour. Then grabbed some lunch at Flame Tree BBQ. We caught the Lion King show and then Tough to be a Bug. Along the way somewhere we went to Rafiki Planet watch or rather just caught the train ride. . We were there about 10 minutes and decided to get back on the train. I think we just like the train ride. Got off the train and went over to Maharaja Jungle Trek. We were disappointed that no tigers werre out.
We decided to call it a day since we saw and did all we wanted to. We designated this evening as a Disney Springs evening and headed back to the resort.
We decided to call it a day since we saw and did all we wanted to. We designated this evening as a Disney Springs evening and headed back to the resort.
Disney Springs! We visit there even when we are not doing a Disney vacation. Took the boat ride from FQ to DS. Man it was cold out on that water. But it's still a nice ride. After walkig around trying to find something to eat we ended up at The Chicken Guy. We thought about one of our favorites Raglan Road but we didn't have a reservation and it was a thirty minute wait. Now that I think about it, it took us 30 minutes to find The Chicken Guy. Oh well it was still good.
My wife shopped while I tagged along (secretly complaining that we tarveled all this way and spent all this money to shop, Could have done that at home). It's a man thing.
After some tired feet, mine, we headed back to the boat dock to FQ. Time for a drink and some beignets. I normally have a beer but I didn't think it would go well with beignets and had a red wine instead. Nothing like a full stomach and a little alcohol to put you to sleep.
My wife shopped while I tagged along (secretly complaining that we tarveled all this way and spent all this money to shop, Could have done that at home). It's a man thing.
After some tired feet, mine, we headed back to the boat dock to FQ. Time for a drink and some beignets. I normally have a beer but I didn't think it would go well with beignets and had a red wine instead. Nothing like a full stomach and a little alcohol to put you to sleep.
No questions so far?
Zipadeelady
Well-Known Member
I need to see a picture of this shirt!
Zipadeelady
Well-Known Member
I can spend all day at Animal Kingdom! Love that park. I still haven't seen the new Nemo show. Did you get to see it while you were there?