It's a bit late, but here is my trip report!! I took a friend who has never been to WDW in her life, so for each attraction, I asked for a rating of 1 - 5 stars from her.
DAY 1 - Travelling
Stuck for HOURS in Atlanta traffic. Took 3 hours longer than it should have. Arrived at 1 am. We stayed at the Hilton, but apparently, confusingly enough, there are two Hilton hotels right outside of Disney Springs. We arrived at the wrong one and had to go to the Palace hotel.
We arrived at the hotel, paid the $70.00 parking fee which we knew we had to pay anyways. Afterwards, they informed us there was a $25.00 deposit and there was going to be a total of $180 in general hotel fees by the end of our stay. We were too tired and exhausted from the drive to complain so we just decided to REALLY budget our food for the trip. We limited ourselves to one meal per day, usually dinner. We skipped breakfast, and we ate tons of snacks we brought for the trip inside the parks.
The Hilton Palace was pretty nice. A bit overrated on their website. The room we had had a gorgeous view, and the room would have been nice if it didn't have some extreme wear-and-tear going around. It was a pretty old room. On top of that, there was a pair of large men's boxers hanging on the door in the bathroom. We still did not complain.
DAY 2 - EPCOT/HS
So I planned this trip thinking: "Columbus Day Weekend... It can't be that bad! I went in July and crowds were manageable!" HAHAHAAHAHA no. I've never seen EPCOT so packed in my entire life!! Or ANY of the parks!! We managed our vacation pretty well... But this weekend was INSANELY crowded! I've never had to maneuver around crowds in EPCOT. You'd think it would be so huge, but noooo. Anyways. We made the most of our time. We got up early, 7:30 to be exact. Hilton's bus transportation is supposed to pick up the hotel guests every half hour and they start 2 hours before the parks open. Well, we waited an hour. We finally decided to just book it. We walked through Disney springs (Which is really REALLY nice in the morning by the way. When nothing is open, and nobody is there, it's a very peaceful walk.) and we headed to the bus transportation area. I was hoping to catch a bus to contemporary so I could take my friend on the monorail to Epcot. The bus driver informed us that those busses don't run until 11:00 am. So we hitched a ride to Old Key West instead, then got on a bus to Epcot. In order, here is what we did!
Spaceship Earth (Me: **** Friend: *****)
It's the same as ever still. The ride vehicles are definitely starting to creek and sound rusty though.
Frozen Ever After (Me: *** Friend: ***)
After Spaceship Earth, we BOOKED it over to Frozen Ever After!! Waited a half hour. Wouldn't have gone on it otherwise. IT DIDNT BREAK DOWN! WOO!
The Seas with Nemo & Friends (Me: ** Friend: *)
Eh.
Journey Into Your Imagination with Figment (FP+) (Me: * Friend: *)
The line went to the entrance of the building... And here I thought it was a useless FP+ I just had.
O' Canada (Me: **** Friend: *)
I still love this. My friend ended up getting dizzy and got a headache from it, extreme motion sickness on this. Huh.
Impressions de France (Me: ** Friend: ***)
We napped through half of it. My friend enjoyed the music, as she's a music major in college.
The American Adventure (Me: ***** Friend: *****)
A while back I complained about how the audio sounded muffled. Martin later said it sounded fine when he went. I guess if you sit towards the back it's kind of hard to understand. We sat in the fourth row this time, much better experience!
Mission: Space - Green (Me: * Friend: **)
Well that was very underwhelming. Friend said it was relaxing. At least it was one of the only walk ons of the day.
Mission: Space - Orange (Me: *** Friend: ****)
I didn't know they changed the actors! Wow! It's a lot less intense without the original guy. It kind of sucks and feels really corny/cheesy now with the new lady.
Living with the Land (Me: *** Friend: ***)
Same as ever
Soarin' (Me: *** Friend: ***)
Waited about a half hour. Not too bad. Same as ever.
In conclusion, I'd like to note a few more things. We had a FP+ for Test Track but it closed all day due to weather. The boat ride in the Mexico pavilion? The line went all the way to the LOBBY! Jesus Christ why! It said to have had a 35 minute wait. Wow. We ate lunch at the Electric Umbrella. Food is always pretty good there. Always liked it. It has that wonderful nostalgic EPCOT soundtrack playing all the time. We skipped Reflections of China because of how my friend felt after O' Canada. When we got tired, we took a nap in the waiting room for Circle of Life. There is an outlet on the far right next to the entrance and the edge of the benches if you ever need one!
HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
Later that night, we decided to book it on over to HS to hopefully catch Fantasmic! Fantastic was cancelled, though, due to the weather. We got over there at around 7:00 pm-ish, so there were no lines for a lot of the attractions at least!
Voyage of the Little Mermaid (Me: ** Friend: ***)
Starting to really show its age. It's still a cute show that serves its purpose.
Star Tours (Me: ** Friend: ***)
I've never really enjoyed this attraction very much since they added 3D glasses.
Muppet Vision 3D (Me: *** Friend: ****)
It's always an average must-do for me, since there's never a wait. My friend REALLY enjoyed it and thought it was funny!
Toy Story Mania (Me: ***** Friend: *****)
This ride is SOOOO much more enjoyable when you don't want 40+ minutes for it! Fun tip! Ride this during the Star Wars fireworks show! It was a walk on!!
DAY 3: HS + AK
HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
We headed out first thing in the morning to catch the various shows at Hollywood Studios! We automatically skipped Hilton's bus system to save time, or at least feel like we were going somewhere. Doing those extra attractions the previous night really made HS less stressful in regards to cramming things in all at once with two parks the next day.
Tower of Terror (Me: ***** Friend: ****)
It's always good fun. Waited about 40 minutes. Luckily we had nothing better to do.
Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular (Me: **** Friend: *****)
Same as always! It'd be 5 stars if it was the first time I was seeing it. But you know, it was like, round 40 for me. My friend absolutely LOVED it. That's the thing about shows. They're PERFECT for first timers.
Beauty and the Beast: Live on Stage (Me: *** Friend: ****)
Also starting to show its age. My experience was a little brought down from some high schoolers constantly talking in the back. I eventually got the courage to say "Could you please talk about it after the show is over?" Luckily, they were shockingly polite and just said "Yes. Sorry." That's a big problem with shows in theme parks. Specifically in an outdoor theatre. For some reason, people don't get the vibe that others actually WANT to pay attention to the show.
ANIMAL KINGDOM
Once we did those three things, we got on a bus and headed over to AK. Honestly, out of the 3 parks behind MK, this park is actually the best right now! I never thought I'd say that, as I've never been a big fan of AK. But yea... There's nothing much to do in HS, and EPCOT was terribly exhausting with subpar/boring/old/wear-n-tear attractions. It didn't help that it was crowded too. AK was nice!
Finding Nemo: The Musical (Me: ***** Friend: *****)
WHERE HAVE THESE ACTORS BEEN ALL MY LIFE!?! WOW! Last time I saw this show, the actors were..... Pretty bad. But this cast! HOLY GUACAMOLE!! They were FANTASTIC! Best I've ever seen the show done since opening year!!
DINOSAUR (Me: ***** Friend: ***)
My friend ranked it so low because she was actually genuinely terrified. At least the ride is doing what it's supposed to do! I always love it.
It's Tough to be a Bug (Me: **** Friend: ****)
It's all good fun. I do wish they could find a way to shorten the queue line. It's NEVER past a little ways before the holding room. It's an excruciatingly long walk to get there.
Festival of the Lion King (Me: ** Friend: **)
We had an unfortunate situation that ruined the experience for us. While I already didn't care for the show that much, this really big tall fat guy on an electric scooter came and parked right dead smack in front of my friend. I switched seats with her so she could kind of have a good view of the show. He didn't get out of his scooter so I couldn't see ANYthing. He had no control over his 5 children. They were running through the aisles throughout the entire show. I'll talk more about my frustrations with fat people on scooters later. Sorry for any offense, but it's a big problem.
Kilimanjaro Safaris (5:00 pm) (FP+) (Me: ***** Friend: *****)
Always the highlight of AK
Expedition Everest (FP+) (Me: *** Friend: *)
My friend was TERRIFIED. She has a huge phobia over coasters. I kept telling her it wasn't that bad. After the ride was over, she agreed that it wasn't as bad as she thought it was, but she still hated it because of the intense build up before the ride. Luckily, this experience opened up her mind to the fun coasters over at MK. As for me, too many broken effects and hairbands for me to give it more than 3 stars.
Avatar: Flight of Passage (FP+) (Me: *** Friend: *****)
I was kind of underwhelmed by this ride. At least we didn't have to wait the 215 minutes! It was long walk-on with FP+! My problem with the ride is, well for starters, it took a while for it to start. So I was in that uncomfortable bike-seat for a good solid 10 minutes at least. My back had started to hurt after a while. When the ride started, I immediately noticed that I was on the end seat. And any ride where I can see the edge of a screen on a simulator-based attraction just really takes me out of it. I will say though, while I wasn't truly invested in the Soarin'-Simpsons-Star Tours hybrid on steroids, looking to the right and seeing the MASS TON of people on one singular ride! That was IMPRESSIVE! And it looked like everyone was enjoying it very well! I was more amazed by the ride system than the actual ride itself. Half of the time I was looking to my right at the vehicles moving. I dunno. I guess it just wasn't for me. My friend loved it and said it was amazingly relaxing.
Note: We tried to wait in line for Na'vi river Journey... But it broke down, so we left a solid 10 minutes after waiting to go to the Safaris.
Kilimanjaro Safaris (9:00 pm) (Me: **** Friend: *****)
Last time I did a night safaris, there were lots of animals out! Not so much luck this time, though. Still fun!
Rivers of Light (Me: ** Friend: ***)
Fun fact! If you wait until the VERY LAST MINUTE for the 9:30 show, you can get in to the FP+ entrance! At least, we did. This show is honestly just the most boring of all the nighttime shows. But I'm glad we did it, so that my friend could get at least ONE of the nighttime spectaculars in.
DAY 4: MK + HS + MNSSHP
Magic Kingdom
We decided to try out the bus system again at Hilton. We waited an hour and a half for the busses. An hour in, I texted the front desk asking what is up. The informed us that we were the last hotel on a system for the bus and the bus kept filling up before they got to our hotel so they just never came. So that was stupid.
Peter Pan's Flight (FP+) (Me: ** Friend: ***)
Same as ever. Friend enjoyed it.
Mickey's Philharmagic (Me: **** Friend: *****)
Always fun! My friend absolutely LOVED it. I wish they'd update it with new movies though, for the returners!
The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure (Me: ** Friend: ***)
I normally mildly enjoy this dark ride, but there were a LOT of animatronics that never moved. Friend didn't notice.
The Haunted Mansion (FP+) (Me: *** Friend: ****)
Those doom buggies could use a little refurb on their movements! My friend loved it!
The Country Bear Jamboree (Me: **** Friend: ***)
An interesting thing I noticed heading to this show that my friend picked up on as well... The theatre was definitely full! But it was interestingly full with a LOT of adults taking their kids to see the show because they grew up with it. I heard a lot of "I remember this show when I was a little kid. You'll love it, little Johnny!" stuff.
Stitch Meet n' Greet
I put this on here because it's the only meet n' greet we did and I wanted to see how they were incorporating SGE for this. It was strange being in the first pre-show room and not going to an actual attraction.
Space Mountain (FP+) (Me: ***** Friend: *****)
Always good fun. It broke down a LOT during our trip. Which must have explained why the FP+ line was so long when we got there.
Carousel of Progress (Me: ** Friend: **)
As classic as this is... It's honestly just really badly awkward now. Just a nap now. Friend thought it was a cool concept, but napped through most of it. It's just in such a sad state. The AA mouths barely even move for god sake.
TTA PeopleMover (Me: **** Friend: ***)
Always a nice relaxing sofa: the ride.
The Enchanted Tiki Room (Me: * Friend: *)
I'm not going to lie. We had the ENTIRE theatre to ourselves on a BUSY afternoon, except for about 6 people. We laid down on the benches and slept throughout the entire show.
Jungle Cruise (FP+) (Me: **** Friend: ****)
A hilarious good time! One of my friend's favorites!
HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
To escape the increasing amount of crowds in the afternoon at MK, we took a bus over to HS and chilled for a solid hour at ABC Commissary.
Walt Disney Presents (Me: *** Friend: ***)
I don't know what all the fuss was about changing the name of this museum. It's basically still the same thing!
Walt Disney: One Man's Dream (Me: *** Friend ***)
It was still playing, my good friends! It's DEFINITELY showing is age and grain though. If it could be digitalized that would be sweet.
Star Wars Launch Bay (Me: * Friend: *)
We literally walked in and walked right back out when we saw the wait times for the meet n' greets. It was really crowded in there too.
Frozen Singalong Spectacular (Me: **** Friend: ***)
I forced my friend to see this. Ended up being a LOT better than she thought it would be, which I knew would happen! It's shockingly very entertaining!
Fantasmic! (Didn't happen.)
We had a FP+ for Fantasmic! The place filled up rapidly, aaaaaand... "Due to technical issues, the show is currently delayed..." GOD FREAKING.. We waited a solid 15 minutes for this show. Taking up our Halloween Party time. Eventually we just decided to leave. The sad part? When we were waiting for the bus to arrive, I could hear the show playing in the background. So they did get it up and running... I'm not going back to this show again until I know its been massively updated. Because in July, they stopped in midway through the show at the snake-bit due to "technical issues" as well. Its an AMAZING show. But it obviously NEEDS TO BE FIXED!
Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party
This is honestly the first time I've ever done this, and I'd DEFINITELY do it again! This was great! No lines, yet still a decent sized crowd. Weird! We literally took the opportunity to ride the rides that had a long wait in the afternoon, while everyone waited for meet n' greets.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (Me: ***** Friend: *****)
Just an all round good fun ride! Walk on!
It's a Small World (Me: *** Friend: ****)
Again, a walk on! My friend loved it very much, she got sentimental because she DID go to Disneyland when she was 7 and she rode the version there many times.
Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor Comedy Club (Me: **** Friend: ****)
A hilarious good time. We went to the very last showing for the night. It was very interesting seeing how the voice actors on set had to choose people out of an audience of only, like, 15! It honestly, in my opinion, made it more funny! Because the actors couldn't go for any "safe looking people."
Fireworks (Me: **** Friend: ****)
We watched the halloween fireworks from the walkway that goes to Tomorrowland Terrace. It's a good uncrowded spot + view!
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin (Me: **** Friend: ****)
Always good fun. Walk on!
Pirates of the Caribbean (Me: **** Friend: ****)
We did have to wait 35 minutes for this.. But thats because it had been broken down all day. Always a nice ride.
Seven Dwarves Mine Train (Me: ***** Friend: *****)
It was about 11:30 when we got to this ride. I was thinking we'd never be able to get on it. It was only a 20 minute wait! Woohoo!
We concluded the night at 11:55 at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe. We also ate there for lunch earlier. And let me just say... It is INSANELY WEIRD being in there with the restaurant being absolutely EMPTY!! It's ALWAYS full! It was honestly really peaceful. I LOVE the soundtrack in the main lobby.
We then headed back to the transportation and ticket center to catch Hilton's busses back to the hotel. Since the busses to Disney Springs ended at 11:00 pm apparently. We got to the TTC at around 12:30. We waited until 1:00 am, no bus. (Keep in mind it's supposed to come every 30 minutes). So I call the hotel, and they say that the bus was supposed to arrive at 1:00 am and that its on its way. We wait until 1:30 am. I call them again. They inform me that the busses only go until 2 hours past normal park operation hours. I was in SUUUUCH a y mood that night. I ranted my a** off to them complaining about the old rooms, the HORRIBLE bus transportation system, the rude service, and the underwear hanging in our room. I told them that I was NOT paying those hidden resort fees as a result. They waived all of the fees except for the parking fee, which was fine. We later got a bus ride that was going to the OTHER Hilton hotel. Makes me wish we were at that other Hilton hotel instead. DO NOT. I repeat. DO NOT STAY AT THE HILTON PALACE!!!
I guess my other only complaint would have to be fat people on electric scooters. My friend and I played a game, which she thought was offensive at first.... Until it went on and realized. I started counting, throughout the day, the amount of fat people on electric scooters. Only regarding fat people. Nobody with like a cast or visible physical condition. Just fat people. Sorry if I offend anyone... But it is honestly eye opening. All those movies that make fun of stereotypical fat tourists wearing sunglasses with big cameras riding around on electric scooters? Its true. And it's scary. Throughout the trip, we counted a total of 175 fat people on scooters. Do with that information what you will. The handicap seating area for Fantasmic was completely filled up with an occasional actual person with physical disability, followed by dozens and dozens of fat people on electric scooters. I KID YOU NOT... There was a GROUP of about 5 fat people on electric scooters at Epcot, with one skinny person in their party walking! It. Was. SAD!!!
Overall, outside of electric scooters EVERYWHERE, and the horrible Hilton palace experience, it was a good trip.
DAY 1 - Travelling
Stuck for HOURS in Atlanta traffic. Took 3 hours longer than it should have. Arrived at 1 am. We stayed at the Hilton, but apparently, confusingly enough, there are two Hilton hotels right outside of Disney Springs. We arrived at the wrong one and had to go to the Palace hotel.
We arrived at the hotel, paid the $70.00 parking fee which we knew we had to pay anyways. Afterwards, they informed us there was a $25.00 deposit and there was going to be a total of $180 in general hotel fees by the end of our stay. We were too tired and exhausted from the drive to complain so we just decided to REALLY budget our food for the trip. We limited ourselves to one meal per day, usually dinner. We skipped breakfast, and we ate tons of snacks we brought for the trip inside the parks.
The Hilton Palace was pretty nice. A bit overrated on their website. The room we had had a gorgeous view, and the room would have been nice if it didn't have some extreme wear-and-tear going around. It was a pretty old room. On top of that, there was a pair of large men's boxers hanging on the door in the bathroom. We still did not complain.
DAY 2 - EPCOT/HS
So I planned this trip thinking: "Columbus Day Weekend... It can't be that bad! I went in July and crowds were manageable!" HAHAHAAHAHA no. I've never seen EPCOT so packed in my entire life!! Or ANY of the parks!! We managed our vacation pretty well... But this weekend was INSANELY crowded! I've never had to maneuver around crowds in EPCOT. You'd think it would be so huge, but noooo. Anyways. We made the most of our time. We got up early, 7:30 to be exact. Hilton's bus transportation is supposed to pick up the hotel guests every half hour and they start 2 hours before the parks open. Well, we waited an hour. We finally decided to just book it. We walked through Disney springs (Which is really REALLY nice in the morning by the way. When nothing is open, and nobody is there, it's a very peaceful walk.) and we headed to the bus transportation area. I was hoping to catch a bus to contemporary so I could take my friend on the monorail to Epcot. The bus driver informed us that those busses don't run until 11:00 am. So we hitched a ride to Old Key West instead, then got on a bus to Epcot. In order, here is what we did!
Spaceship Earth (Me: **** Friend: *****)
It's the same as ever still. The ride vehicles are definitely starting to creek and sound rusty though.
Frozen Ever After (Me: *** Friend: ***)
After Spaceship Earth, we BOOKED it over to Frozen Ever After!! Waited a half hour. Wouldn't have gone on it otherwise. IT DIDNT BREAK DOWN! WOO!
The Seas with Nemo & Friends (Me: ** Friend: *)
Eh.
Journey Into Your Imagination with Figment (FP+) (Me: * Friend: *)
The line went to the entrance of the building... And here I thought it was a useless FP+ I just had.
O' Canada (Me: **** Friend: *)
I still love this. My friend ended up getting dizzy and got a headache from it, extreme motion sickness on this. Huh.
Impressions de France (Me: ** Friend: ***)
We napped through half of it. My friend enjoyed the music, as she's a music major in college.
The American Adventure (Me: ***** Friend: *****)
A while back I complained about how the audio sounded muffled. Martin later said it sounded fine when he went. I guess if you sit towards the back it's kind of hard to understand. We sat in the fourth row this time, much better experience!
Mission: Space - Green (Me: * Friend: **)
Well that was very underwhelming. Friend said it was relaxing. At least it was one of the only walk ons of the day.
Mission: Space - Orange (Me: *** Friend: ****)
I didn't know they changed the actors! Wow! It's a lot less intense without the original guy. It kind of sucks and feels really corny/cheesy now with the new lady.
Living with the Land (Me: *** Friend: ***)
Same as ever
Soarin' (Me: *** Friend: ***)
Waited about a half hour. Not too bad. Same as ever.
In conclusion, I'd like to note a few more things. We had a FP+ for Test Track but it closed all day due to weather. The boat ride in the Mexico pavilion? The line went all the way to the LOBBY! Jesus Christ why! It said to have had a 35 minute wait. Wow. We ate lunch at the Electric Umbrella. Food is always pretty good there. Always liked it. It has that wonderful nostalgic EPCOT soundtrack playing all the time. We skipped Reflections of China because of how my friend felt after O' Canada. When we got tired, we took a nap in the waiting room for Circle of Life. There is an outlet on the far right next to the entrance and the edge of the benches if you ever need one!
HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
Later that night, we decided to book it on over to HS to hopefully catch Fantasmic! Fantastic was cancelled, though, due to the weather. We got over there at around 7:00 pm-ish, so there were no lines for a lot of the attractions at least!
Voyage of the Little Mermaid (Me: ** Friend: ***)
Starting to really show its age. It's still a cute show that serves its purpose.
Star Tours (Me: ** Friend: ***)
I've never really enjoyed this attraction very much since they added 3D glasses.
Muppet Vision 3D (Me: *** Friend: ****)
It's always an average must-do for me, since there's never a wait. My friend REALLY enjoyed it and thought it was funny!
Toy Story Mania (Me: ***** Friend: *****)
This ride is SOOOO much more enjoyable when you don't want 40+ minutes for it! Fun tip! Ride this during the Star Wars fireworks show! It was a walk on!!
DAY 3: HS + AK
HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
We headed out first thing in the morning to catch the various shows at Hollywood Studios! We automatically skipped Hilton's bus system to save time, or at least feel like we were going somewhere. Doing those extra attractions the previous night really made HS less stressful in regards to cramming things in all at once with two parks the next day.
Tower of Terror (Me: ***** Friend: ****)
It's always good fun. Waited about 40 minutes. Luckily we had nothing better to do.
Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular (Me: **** Friend: *****)
Same as always! It'd be 5 stars if it was the first time I was seeing it. But you know, it was like, round 40 for me. My friend absolutely LOVED it. That's the thing about shows. They're PERFECT for first timers.
Beauty and the Beast: Live on Stage (Me: *** Friend: ****)
Also starting to show its age. My experience was a little brought down from some high schoolers constantly talking in the back. I eventually got the courage to say "Could you please talk about it after the show is over?" Luckily, they were shockingly polite and just said "Yes. Sorry." That's a big problem with shows in theme parks. Specifically in an outdoor theatre. For some reason, people don't get the vibe that others actually WANT to pay attention to the show.
ANIMAL KINGDOM
Once we did those three things, we got on a bus and headed over to AK. Honestly, out of the 3 parks behind MK, this park is actually the best right now! I never thought I'd say that, as I've never been a big fan of AK. But yea... There's nothing much to do in HS, and EPCOT was terribly exhausting with subpar/boring/old/wear-n-tear attractions. It didn't help that it was crowded too. AK was nice!
Finding Nemo: The Musical (Me: ***** Friend: *****)
WHERE HAVE THESE ACTORS BEEN ALL MY LIFE!?! WOW! Last time I saw this show, the actors were..... Pretty bad. But this cast! HOLY GUACAMOLE!! They were FANTASTIC! Best I've ever seen the show done since opening year!!
DINOSAUR (Me: ***** Friend: ***)
My friend ranked it so low because she was actually genuinely terrified. At least the ride is doing what it's supposed to do! I always love it.
It's Tough to be a Bug (Me: **** Friend: ****)
It's all good fun. I do wish they could find a way to shorten the queue line. It's NEVER past a little ways before the holding room. It's an excruciatingly long walk to get there.
Festival of the Lion King (Me: ** Friend: **)
We had an unfortunate situation that ruined the experience for us. While I already didn't care for the show that much, this really big tall fat guy on an electric scooter came and parked right dead smack in front of my friend. I switched seats with her so she could kind of have a good view of the show. He didn't get out of his scooter so I couldn't see ANYthing. He had no control over his 5 children. They were running through the aisles throughout the entire show. I'll talk more about my frustrations with fat people on scooters later. Sorry for any offense, but it's a big problem.
Kilimanjaro Safaris (5:00 pm) (FP+) (Me: ***** Friend: *****)
Always the highlight of AK
Expedition Everest (FP+) (Me: *** Friend: *)
My friend was TERRIFIED. She has a huge phobia over coasters. I kept telling her it wasn't that bad. After the ride was over, she agreed that it wasn't as bad as she thought it was, but she still hated it because of the intense build up before the ride. Luckily, this experience opened up her mind to the fun coasters over at MK. As for me, too many broken effects and hairbands for me to give it more than 3 stars.
Avatar: Flight of Passage (FP+) (Me: *** Friend: *****)
I was kind of underwhelmed by this ride. At least we didn't have to wait the 215 minutes! It was long walk-on with FP+! My problem with the ride is, well for starters, it took a while for it to start. So I was in that uncomfortable bike-seat for a good solid 10 minutes at least. My back had started to hurt after a while. When the ride started, I immediately noticed that I was on the end seat. And any ride where I can see the edge of a screen on a simulator-based attraction just really takes me out of it. I will say though, while I wasn't truly invested in the Soarin'-Simpsons-Star Tours hybrid on steroids, looking to the right and seeing the MASS TON of people on one singular ride! That was IMPRESSIVE! And it looked like everyone was enjoying it very well! I was more amazed by the ride system than the actual ride itself. Half of the time I was looking to my right at the vehicles moving. I dunno. I guess it just wasn't for me. My friend loved it and said it was amazingly relaxing.
Note: We tried to wait in line for Na'vi river Journey... But it broke down, so we left a solid 10 minutes after waiting to go to the Safaris.
Kilimanjaro Safaris (9:00 pm) (Me: **** Friend: *****)
Last time I did a night safaris, there were lots of animals out! Not so much luck this time, though. Still fun!
Rivers of Light (Me: ** Friend: ***)
Fun fact! If you wait until the VERY LAST MINUTE for the 9:30 show, you can get in to the FP+ entrance! At least, we did. This show is honestly just the most boring of all the nighttime shows. But I'm glad we did it, so that my friend could get at least ONE of the nighttime spectaculars in.
DAY 4: MK + HS + MNSSHP
Magic Kingdom
We decided to try out the bus system again at Hilton. We waited an hour and a half for the busses. An hour in, I texted the front desk asking what is up. The informed us that we were the last hotel on a system for the bus and the bus kept filling up before they got to our hotel so they just never came. So that was stupid.
Peter Pan's Flight (FP+) (Me: ** Friend: ***)
Same as ever. Friend enjoyed it.
Mickey's Philharmagic (Me: **** Friend: *****)
Always fun! My friend absolutely LOVED it. I wish they'd update it with new movies though, for the returners!
The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure (Me: ** Friend: ***)
I normally mildly enjoy this dark ride, but there were a LOT of animatronics that never moved. Friend didn't notice.
The Haunted Mansion (FP+) (Me: *** Friend: ****)
Those doom buggies could use a little refurb on their movements! My friend loved it!
The Country Bear Jamboree (Me: **** Friend: ***)
An interesting thing I noticed heading to this show that my friend picked up on as well... The theatre was definitely full! But it was interestingly full with a LOT of adults taking their kids to see the show because they grew up with it. I heard a lot of "I remember this show when I was a little kid. You'll love it, little Johnny!" stuff.
Stitch Meet n' Greet
I put this on here because it's the only meet n' greet we did and I wanted to see how they were incorporating SGE for this. It was strange being in the first pre-show room and not going to an actual attraction.
Space Mountain (FP+) (Me: ***** Friend: *****)
Always good fun. It broke down a LOT during our trip. Which must have explained why the FP+ line was so long when we got there.
Carousel of Progress (Me: ** Friend: **)
As classic as this is... It's honestly just really badly awkward now. Just a nap now. Friend thought it was a cool concept, but napped through most of it. It's just in such a sad state. The AA mouths barely even move for god sake.
TTA PeopleMover (Me: **** Friend: ***)
Always a nice relaxing sofa: the ride.
The Enchanted Tiki Room (Me: * Friend: *)
I'm not going to lie. We had the ENTIRE theatre to ourselves on a BUSY afternoon, except for about 6 people. We laid down on the benches and slept throughout the entire show.
Jungle Cruise (FP+) (Me: **** Friend: ****)
A hilarious good time! One of my friend's favorites!
HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
To escape the increasing amount of crowds in the afternoon at MK, we took a bus over to HS and chilled for a solid hour at ABC Commissary.
Walt Disney Presents (Me: *** Friend: ***)
I don't know what all the fuss was about changing the name of this museum. It's basically still the same thing!
Walt Disney: One Man's Dream (Me: *** Friend ***)
It was still playing, my good friends! It's DEFINITELY showing is age and grain though. If it could be digitalized that would be sweet.
Star Wars Launch Bay (Me: * Friend: *)
We literally walked in and walked right back out when we saw the wait times for the meet n' greets. It was really crowded in there too.
Frozen Singalong Spectacular (Me: **** Friend: ***)
I forced my friend to see this. Ended up being a LOT better than she thought it would be, which I knew would happen! It's shockingly very entertaining!
Fantasmic! (Didn't happen.)
We had a FP+ for Fantasmic! The place filled up rapidly, aaaaaand... "Due to technical issues, the show is currently delayed..." GOD FREAKING.. We waited a solid 15 minutes for this show. Taking up our Halloween Party time. Eventually we just decided to leave. The sad part? When we were waiting for the bus to arrive, I could hear the show playing in the background. So they did get it up and running... I'm not going back to this show again until I know its been massively updated. Because in July, they stopped in midway through the show at the snake-bit due to "technical issues" as well. Its an AMAZING show. But it obviously NEEDS TO BE FIXED!
Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party
This is honestly the first time I've ever done this, and I'd DEFINITELY do it again! This was great! No lines, yet still a decent sized crowd. Weird! We literally took the opportunity to ride the rides that had a long wait in the afternoon, while everyone waited for meet n' greets.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (Me: ***** Friend: *****)
Just an all round good fun ride! Walk on!
It's a Small World (Me: *** Friend: ****)
Again, a walk on! My friend loved it very much, she got sentimental because she DID go to Disneyland when she was 7 and she rode the version there many times.
Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor Comedy Club (Me: **** Friend: ****)
A hilarious good time. We went to the very last showing for the night. It was very interesting seeing how the voice actors on set had to choose people out of an audience of only, like, 15! It honestly, in my opinion, made it more funny! Because the actors couldn't go for any "safe looking people."
Fireworks (Me: **** Friend: ****)
We watched the halloween fireworks from the walkway that goes to Tomorrowland Terrace. It's a good uncrowded spot + view!
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin (Me: **** Friend: ****)
Always good fun. Walk on!
Pirates of the Caribbean (Me: **** Friend: ****)
We did have to wait 35 minutes for this.. But thats because it had been broken down all day. Always a nice ride.
Seven Dwarves Mine Train (Me: ***** Friend: *****)
It was about 11:30 when we got to this ride. I was thinking we'd never be able to get on it. It was only a 20 minute wait! Woohoo!
We concluded the night at 11:55 at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe. We also ate there for lunch earlier. And let me just say... It is INSANELY WEIRD being in there with the restaurant being absolutely EMPTY!! It's ALWAYS full! It was honestly really peaceful. I LOVE the soundtrack in the main lobby.
We then headed back to the transportation and ticket center to catch Hilton's busses back to the hotel. Since the busses to Disney Springs ended at 11:00 pm apparently. We got to the TTC at around 12:30. We waited until 1:00 am, no bus. (Keep in mind it's supposed to come every 30 minutes). So I call the hotel, and they say that the bus was supposed to arrive at 1:00 am and that its on its way. We wait until 1:30 am. I call them again. They inform me that the busses only go until 2 hours past normal park operation hours. I was in SUUUUCH a y mood that night. I ranted my a** off to them complaining about the old rooms, the HORRIBLE bus transportation system, the rude service, and the underwear hanging in our room. I told them that I was NOT paying those hidden resort fees as a result. They waived all of the fees except for the parking fee, which was fine. We later got a bus ride that was going to the OTHER Hilton hotel. Makes me wish we were at that other Hilton hotel instead. DO NOT. I repeat. DO NOT STAY AT THE HILTON PALACE!!!
I guess my other only complaint would have to be fat people on electric scooters. My friend and I played a game, which she thought was offensive at first.... Until it went on and realized. I started counting, throughout the day, the amount of fat people on electric scooters. Only regarding fat people. Nobody with like a cast or visible physical condition. Just fat people. Sorry if I offend anyone... But it is honestly eye opening. All those movies that make fun of stereotypical fat tourists wearing sunglasses with big cameras riding around on electric scooters? Its true. And it's scary. Throughout the trip, we counted a total of 175 fat people on scooters. Do with that information what you will. The handicap seating area for Fantasmic was completely filled up with an occasional actual person with physical disability, followed by dozens and dozens of fat people on electric scooters. I KID YOU NOT... There was a GROUP of about 5 fat people on electric scooters at Epcot, with one skinny person in their party walking! It. Was. SAD!!!
Overall, outside of electric scooters EVERYWHERE, and the horrible Hilton palace experience, it was a good trip.
