OK, maybe not total. But our daughter who lives in Jacksonville was planning to head down to the parks on MLK weekend. We were floundering on it, but on Friday, 1/15, 6:30 PM my wife and I fully committed and booked a flight from PHI to MCO. Got up Saturday at 1:00 AM, got ready, finished packing and set off for Philly by 2:15 AM. Our flight left at 6:00 AM and we were in Orlando by 8:30 AM with our daughter waiting for us with her dog Bean. We knew the ensuing day would be long, but we were really psyched to do the International Arts Festival at Epcot and try the new menu items, so no breakfast. We wanted empty bellies. I will continue to document this mini-trip as soon as I get my photos arranged.
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Trip Report Our quickest trip plan to execution....7 hours !
- Thread starter macefamily
- Start date
meggo819
Well-Known Member
This *is* interesting! Seems like the water is much shallower than I would have thought.
I don't remember specifically, but I think we made it to HS around 2:30 - 3:00 PM.
danyoung56
Well-Known Member
Yes, you can't start park hopping till 2pm.
First stop, Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway. Line looked intimidating, but again, with the six foot rule and no pre-show, it moves fairly steadily. I do miss the pre-show. Without divulging spoilers to those who haven't ridden it yet, the first room show and finish are really cool.
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After Runaway it was time for a drink. We headed over to the Brown Derby outdoor bar. Ron the bartender was there. The guy seems to be there all the time which is good because he mixes a killer Long Island Iced Tea. My daughter got a Tito's and soda. Wifey doesn't drink; when she does it's an event. We sipped our drinks and took a slow roll over to Toy Story.
kk0311
Active Member
You are correct
After Toy Story we took a quick crossover into the world of Star Wars. We walked through some of the shops and saw that Smugglers Run was only 35 minutes. My daughter and I were ready to try piloting the Falcon another time. The first time wasn't very good. It was around 6:00 PM so we had another hour or so in the park. We still wanted to head to Epcot for a light dinner, and then we had to pick up Bean from the Disney kennel no later than 9:00.
DisneyGigi
Well-Known Member
Love Ron! Miss Orlando but very glad Ron was still there.
Yes, Ron is a Disney mainstay. I'm always happy when I see him. For a brief time before the Covid, there was a portable bar down near the entrance to Mickey/Minnie Runaway Train. The bartender there was originally from Hawaii, and he made some fantastic drinks. I believe his name was Jason or Jessie. That bar never reopened after the Covid shutdown.
It's always a sad feeling when you're walking out of a park and you don't know when you'll be returning. But I felt that we hit it pretty hard and achieved a lot for the day. 25,790; most steps ever !!!. On our way out we got to say 'goodbye' to the big guy.
But it wasn't quite over yet. We still had over an hour, and our initial plan was to head to Epcot for a light dinner.
But it wasn't quite over yet. We still had over an hour, and our initial plan was to head to Epcot for a light dinner.
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DisneyGigi
Well-Known Member
Jayson! Yes, loved him too, he was there in 2018 and 2019. That bar moved around a bit but he made me drinks a couple of times at different spots. I hope he is still there somewhere. He was so nice. Hope you guys are having a ball, it sounds like you have.Yes, Ron is a Disney mainstay. I'm always happy when I see him. For a brief time before the Covid, there was a portable bar down near the entrance to Mickey/Minnie Runaway Train. The bartender there was originally from Hawaii, and he made some fantastic drinks. I believe his name was Jason or Jessie. That bar never reopened after the Covid shutdown.
Swissmiss
Premium Member
Not sure I would have even been able to sleep after the excitement of booking such a fun last minute trip 
.
Sorry your brunch at HOB was only average; we had brunch there a year ago and it was quite good. In fact, normally we go for the gospel brunch but we got contacted that they needed to rescind our tickets because a group bought out the venue (turns out it was the high school choir singing in the last Candlelight processional) and they offered us a discount on the new brunch so we gave it a try. And having never been on that side of HOB, I really loved all the artwork
.Sorry your brunch at HOB was only average; we had brunch there a year ago and it was quite good. In fact, normally we go for the gospel brunch but we got contacted that they needed to rescind our tickets because a group bought out the venue (turns out it was the high school choir singing in the last Candlelight processional) and they offered us a discount on the new brunch so we gave it a try. And having never been on that side of HOB, I really loved all the artwork
Our initial plans always were to head to Epcot for an 'end-of-day/end-of trip' light dinner which was lining up nicely. First thought was to hit Smokehouse which we never tried before, but sneaking in was Via Napoli because we love it so much. We walked feverishly to the left as we entered Epcot and dodged oncoming traffic as we fast-paced our way to Italy. My daughter was the first one to the door which read "Closed at 7:00 PM" and it was 7:20PM. We had to phone order to Smokehouse.
We phone ordered our meals and found a seat inside. I had ribs, my wife ordered pulled pork, and my daughter had a burger with pulled pork and brisket on it. We made our way out of the park taking in the sights knowing that it was our last evening together for a while. We left Epcot to pick up Bean at the kennel, and we were the last ones there.
I have to mention that my daughter and I became violently ill about three hours after eating at Smokehouse. We didn't share any food, nor did we order the same things. My wife was fine. Not sure what the common item was but we paid dearly for it. Nonetheless, we got through it and we moved on. The next morning we decided to take a trip to Kissimmee Lake Park, which we never went to, and grab lunch on the way to the airport at a dog-friendly restaurant. We've gone to the Rock and Brews in Kissimmee which is dog-friendly, and we knew there was one in Orlando close to the airport. We decided to stop there. So here you have Bean sitting like a nice boy at the park, and the Rock and Brews in Orlando with our sriracha shrimp appetizer; notice Bean eating the orange ? He's such a Florida dog. My daughter was happy that we joined her on her long weekend, and we were happy to see her. Next trip will probably be with the family which includes two more boys, mom, and sister in law. Sounds like a two bedroom at Saratoga or OKW ! But who knows, all it takes is a cheap airfare offer and we could roll out of bed on a Friday morning and be packed for a Saturday A.M. flight......Stay safe everyone.
Nice. It's adventurous to throw caution to the wind sometimes. It's a little more adventurous in times like these, but sometimes you gotta say 'what the heck.' I'm up for it so long as I have the vacation time and an airfare under $100.
