Trip Report Loco’s sweaty summer adventures(of the seas).

Greetings my friends. Have you missed me for the last year? Wondering where I’ve been? Seen a random sighting of me in a @Tuvalu TR and wondered why I wasn’t doing an awesome TR myself? Have no fear! I am here to report on not one, but two summmer trips!

Trip one June 9-13(plus a cruise June 13-21).

Due to the excessive length of this vacation and the large amount of luggage needed, we decided we’d just make the road trip down to Orlando. We departed at approximately 3 AM on June 8, with plans to just stop wherever I got tired of driving. The wherever ended up being the Fairfield Inn by Marriott at Flamingo Crossings just outside the Western Way entrance to WDW at around 7:45 pm local time. Total travel time was 15 hours and 45 minutes. Total distance was 961 miles. Needless to say the sleep came quickly and easily for me that evening!

The hotel was quiet, clean, and convenient for anyone looking to stay near WDW without breaking the bank. I had enough CC points to cover the room for the night, but rates were as low as $100 the night we stayed. A tremendous value for that room!

June 9, 2025.

After a solid nights sleep we were up early enough to enjoy the complimentary breakfast at our hotel before making our way to WDW proper. We passed under the Western Way entrance around 7:30 AM

Our first park of the trip.

We were early enough to enjoy early entry this day and joined the masses on the way over to Gaurdiams. We were on the ride and off right at 9 AM. Our song was “I Ran”. The Tears for Fears song still eluded us on this day.

Our next stop was the Land pavilion. After a quick ride on Soarin we made our way through the greenhouse.

Back out into the heat to make our way toward Imagination. There were remnants of F&G still visible.

The queue for for imagination was surprisingly long, but we didn’t mind waiting in the AC for a bit.

Figzilla had just began greeting guests as we exited the ride. We stopped for a quick pic. Apparently I’d already been sweating profusely(a common theme in this TR)

What better way to cool down than to grab a drink and cool off in the DVC lounge? We were among the first guests of the day.

 

[Loco_driver]

A Loco TR?!

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Following along!

Welcome welcome!

 

[Loco_driver]

Tuesday June 10.

Despite the late night at Epcot, we were up early for MK early entry. I enjoyed the morning calmness on the balcony while having breakfast.

Shortly after joining the line at the boat dock I saw two very familiar faces approaching. The conversation with @Tuvalu amd @TrolleyFollower91 helped make the wait for a boat fly by. We stopped for a selfie at the front gate before saying our farewells in town square.

Sadly our paths would not cross again despite being at the same resort for the week. I’m sure we’ll meet again in the not too distant future!

I don’t have a ton of photos or notes from this day so you’ll have to forgive me.
I do know we started our day in Tomorrowland with what would end up being our final ride on this version of Buzz Lightyear.

Competition is always fierce in our household l!

My notes say our second attraction was Pooh, followed by little mermaid. I do remember the queue for Pooh taking quite a while. We finished fantasyland off with a trip on Small World

A wanted to get a few castle pics of us before the humidity took over my shirt. Smart woman!

Next up was an unremarkable ride on Jungle Cruise followed by a walk on ride on pirates.

It was getting hot by now. Time for a spin on the people mover to get off of our feet for a bit. The skies appear fair here, but things would not stay calm all day.

I found a last minute lunch reservation at an old favorite. Table service lunch seemed like a great idea in this heat. We were rewarded with a great four topper table at Liberty Tree Tavern!

Our lunch was a calm experience, and our server(who’s name now escapes me) was wonderful. The food was as tasty as it’s ever been here. It was just the respite we needed on a hot day.

 

[Loco_driver]

June 10 continued.

After lunch it was time for Haunted Mansion. Still not nailing it.

We’d spent a significant amount of time in the outdoor portion of the queue, and my shirt shows it!

A spin on the carousel of progress did the trick to cool me off before we decided it was time for an afternoon nap. We made a beeline for the exit.

We had big plans for an evening of fun at MK. After a nice break in the room we boarded the boat back to the park. See those tall clouds to the right? Those are gonna be a real problem in about an hour.

I’d had plans to ride Tiana’s this afternoon and the wait time was only 30 minutes in the app. Unfortunately they had to close the attraction due to lightning in the area. We chose an indoor attraction to wait out whatever summer storm was brewing. This is the calm before the storm photo.

We exited Small World to pure chaos. Rain was coming down in sheets and lightning was striking everywhere! We were forced to wait in an extremely crowded Pinocchio’s Village Hause while the storm raged. During a small break in the storm we made a run for it to mermaid. The storm picked back up while we were in there. Luckily the CMs let us skip the queue for a second ride in an attempt to stay dry.

Having heard enough of the little mermaid soundtrack we braved the rain and made it to Big Top Souvenirs just before it somehow started coming down even harder!

We sheltered in place for over an hour.

The radar showed no real end in sight for the rain. We knew we had no choice but to end up with wet clothes and wet feet to get out of the park. We did the best we could to avoid huge puddles on our way to the bus stop. By the time we made it to the bus the rain had let up just a bit, and a nice rainbow appeared. Don’t let the picture fool you, it was still raining.

One perk to our room location was it’s proximity to Whispering Canyon Cafe. After changing into some dry clothes I joined the waitlist from the room and we were seated 10 minutes later.

Burnt end nachos with a side of shenanigans made for a fine consolation for missing nighttime fun at the Magic Kingdom.

 

[Tuvalu]

We did the same attractions as you that day but in a different order!

And we were smart enough not to venture back out after our afternoon break at the Lodge.

 

[Loco_driver]

June 11.

Our earliest morning of the trip. The 5:45 AM alarm jolted me from a deep sleep. I still enjoyed the sunrise on the balcony.

The only thing that would get me to wake up so early on vacation.

We played an early morning round at the Palm golf course. The last 18 hole course I had yet to play at WDW.

Another side effect of the previous nights storms was that the course was cart path only. No driving onto the fairways. It made for an exhausting round since I rarely hit it straight!

We made a friend by the 17th tee box.

It was a fun(but hot) morning of golf! The course was in great shape and the staff was top notch!

The majority of the afternoon was spent napping through another outrageous summer storm. We didn’t mind at all since we were in our room and the main pool was silent!

The evening would be spent at what is normally my least favorite park.

We had a particular destination in mind for our first stop.

 

[Tiki Traveler]

So glad to follow along!

 

[littleroo]

I will be interested to hear your thoughts on Hollywood Studios as I recall you and I feel very much the same way!

 

[rshell68]

Glad you got golf in! It’s crazy hot down here!!

 

[Loco_driver]

So glad to follow along!

And I am glad to have you here!

Glad you got golf in! It’s crazy hot down here!!

So hot!

We have plenty of heat here(this is from Thursday), but I still don’t like it!!

 

[Loco_driver]

June 11 continued.

Our destination was not Tower of Terror. Instead we joined the queue for the final showing of Villains: Unfairly Ever After

The digital set pieces were impressive in person.

The live performers were great as well!

My personal favorite was cruella. The performer absolutely nailed it!

But we got the same ending that most people probably get.

We both really liked the show. This was a great addition to the park!

We had time to kill before dinner, so we joined the posted 30 minute queue for TSMM. The wait time proved to be accurate.

I squeaked out a victory this time.

We also saw an old friend in Toy Story Land. It’s Zelda, who met while she was training with @wdisney9000 ! We did not approach her since she was hard at work.

Here’s a throwback to when we did get to pet her while she was on a training break!

 

[luvinthemajik]

June 11 continued.

Our destination was not Tower of Terror. Instead we joined the queue for the final showing of Villains: Unfairly Ever After
View attachment 874531

The digital set pieces were impressive in person.
View attachment 874526

The live performers were great as well!
View attachment 874527

My personal favorite was cruella. The performer absolutely nailed it!
View attachment 874528

But we got the same ending that most people probably get.
View attachment 874529
We both really liked the show. This was a great addition to the park!

We had time to kill before dinner, so we joined the posted 30 minute queue for TSMM. The wait time proved to be accurate.
View attachment 874530

I squeaked out a victory this time.
View attachment 874533

We also saw an old friend in Toy Story Land. It’s Zelda, who met while she was training with @wdisney9000 ! We did not approach her since she was hard at work.
View attachment 874532

Here’s a throwback to when we did get to pet her while she was on a training break!
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Aaawww Sweet Zelda and her amazing trainer, @wdisney9000.
Thank you for posting these lovely pics.

 

[Bullseye1967]

June 11 continued.

Our destination was not Tower of Terror. Instead we joined the queue for the final showing of Villains: Unfairly Ever After
View attachment 874531

The digital set pieces were impressive in person.
View attachment 874526

The live performers were great as well!
View attachment 874527

My personal favorite was cruella. The performer absolutely nailed it!
View attachment 874528

But we got the same ending that most people probably get.
View attachment 874529
We both really liked the show. This was a great addition to the park!

We had time to kill before dinner, so we joined the posted 30 minute queue for TSMM. The wait time proved to be accurate.
View attachment 874530

I squeaked out a victory this time.
View attachment 874533

We also saw an old friend in Toy Story Land. It’s Zelda, who met while she was training with @wdisney9000 ! We did not approach her since she was hard at work.
View attachment 874532

Here’s a throwback to when we did get to pet her while she was on a training break!
View attachment 874534

How cool you got to see Zelda again!

 

[Loco_driver]

How cool you got to see Zelda again!

It is in fact a small world after all. We just happened to be walking by and noticed a dog and thought “gee that dog looks familiar”. A text to her trainer confirmed it was in fact sweet miss zelda. She was actively doing exactly what she’d been trained to do when we were walking by, so I really didn’t want to disturb her family.

 

[littleroo]

That is incredible that you got to see, Zelda again! I wonder what the odds on that are in Vegas?

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

Following along, Loco Enjoying your report and fun photos. We have been seated at that same table at Liberty Tree a few times, and it's a really nice spot! We haven't been back to WDW since they added the Villains Show and it looks like a wonderful attraction.

 

[Loco_driver]

June 11 continued.

We took advantage of the 40% AP discount that was being offered at Hollywood and Vine.

We’d eaten here before, but it was many years ago. 2016 to be exact.

The characters came around to our table in rapid succession, which was fine by us.

The food was standard Disney buffet fare. Nothing particularly great, but enough to satisfy most palettes.

Our server Ping did a fine job of keeping our drinks filled and our table clear of of unwanted dishes. The discount made it feel like a real bargain!

After dinner the app was showing just a 30 minute wait for Rise so we headed towards galaxys edge to try our luck. The lights were still on, but we missed our Muppet friends by just a few days. I will dearly miss what was one of my all time favorite attractions.

The 30 minute posted wait proved to be false. We were in this room in 10 minutes and on the ride in 20.

This room still makes my jaw drop whenever I see it.

Another ride where we were greeted with severe weather upon exiting. The rain was pouring once more and we were all advised that we could not wait under the cover of the exit area due to safety reasons. Having no where close to go for cover, we simply joined the queue for rise again and hustled to the cave section for shelter.

You can in fact get through this part of the pre show without getting wet from the rain for those who may be curious. The rock work actually forms an awning on the left hand side.

After our second ride the rain was still coming down at a pretty steady clip, but was not accompanied by any lightning. We decided to just enjoy the cooler temps and make the best of the after hours event that we’d paid for. We headed to Smugglers Run and were given our own private ship to fly.

After smugglers run the rain was pretty much done. We walked towards Toy Story land and lucked out when they opened Slinky right as we were passing by the entrance. We walked straight on to the ride, but our picture never showed up.

Continuing around the park it was time for a scenic train tour with engineer Goofy.

Things went exactly as planned. Yep. No problems whatsoever.

 

[Loco_driver]

June 11 continued.

It was time for a trip(or three) to the twilight zone.

The ride was a “13 minute” wait when we arrived. In fact they let us skip the pre show if we were so inclined.

Shafts one and two went down just as we were about to board our third ride. Afterwards the wait had balooned to 20 minutes.

We made sure to partake in a few of the included ice cream treats afterwards.

We decided on one more ride on Rise of the Resistance since it was showing to have no wait. We walked directly to the pre show. Upon boarding the star destroyer we were informed that we’d be placed in a “special interrogation room” and were escorted to the very end of the left hand hallway. We ended up with an extremely rare Shirley status ride. We both had our very own ride vehicles!

It was an interesting experience having the entire attraction to ourselves!

It was an experience won’t soon forget!

We had time for a walk-on ride of star tours on our way out of the park. We had an absolute blast playing in the rain and running around the park like kids. The after hours event is still great, and really is the only way I like to experience DHS!

 

[littleroo]

Wow!! Can I say wow again? That is incredible that you 2 had it to yourselves! I am so happy for you!

I, too, will miss the Muppets and think it was taken far too soon!!

 

[mpaulam]

Better late than never! Finally here and enjoying your trip!

 

[cgersic]

I would have completely geeked out having my own ride vehicle in Rise!!! Too fun!