Trip Report September 2025

OK here goes. We flew in out of JFK (Connecting flight, We actually started in upstate ny) on Delta. I have come to a quick conclusion I don't like JFK. Who designed that anyway. Our gates were so far apart that they told us it would be a mile walk or take the shuttle. We had plenty of time so we took our time and walked, but when we got there our gate had changed and we had to walk back. We were loaded on the plane but sat for quite a while. Our final flight was a hour late landing.

We got to French Quater via the Mears bus about 1:30. Our room wasn't ready so we checked our bags into Bell service and grabbed something to eat. After, DW wanted shop in the store and I stood around and looked bored (I'm good at that when she is shopping).

I recieved a text saying our room was ready in building 4. BUILDING 4!! What a great location. We grabbed our bags (note I tried to tip them but they refused it, HMMM?) and headed to our room. This our first visit with the updated rooms. Loved it. More storage space and a sliding door for the bathroom area. However, with the more counter and storage space the adjoining/connecting door is gone. So if you are traveling with a larger party that has their own room you don't have that option. However, I don't really know if it is still offered in other rooms. No tub just a shower which was fine with us.

We put all our stuff away in the drawers and in the bathroom area and headed to Disney Springs. LOL we must have been tired cause we actually went to the bus stop only to realize we had to use the boat service. We just laughed it off and headed to the dock at the back of the resort.

 

[Tuvalu]

Connecting doors have not been removed, not all rooms have them.

And POFQ has both boat service and bus service to Disney Springs (but the boat is a nicer ride. )

 

[graphite1326]

Connecting doors have not been removed, not all rooms have them.

And POFQ has both boat service and bus service to Disney Springs (but the boat is a nicer ride. )

I didn't know that about the doors in the rooms. I guess we always got a room that had one.

We were planning on using the boat. We just made a mental error and automatically walked to the bus stop realizing what we had done as soon as we got there. Do the buses go to DS even when the boat is running?

 

[Tuvalu]

Do the buses go to DS even when the boat is running?

Buses to DS begin to operate in the morning and operate continuously until DS closes. French Quarter and Riverside share the DS bus.

Boat service has more limited hours of operation - service begins later in the day, and as you discovered does not operate during inclement weather.

Disney wants to make sure guests in all resorts have transportation to DS from open to close; thus the reason those resorts with boat service also have bus service.

 

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room picture

 

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I just want to say is that the bed and pillows were very comfortable. I slept very well.

 

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Our first full day we went to Animal Kingdom. We did the early entry and of course headed to Flight of Passage.

We walked on FoP. It pays to get there early. After getting off FoP we walked over to Navi River Journey. This ride was also a walk on. I know a lot of people here don't care for this ride but I like it. I would like to see some more animatronics though.

We were going to do Expedition Everest but decided, because of where we were, Kilimanjaro Safari was a better choice. We usually do this attraction later in the day. Everyone always says that the animals are out more in the moring. They are wrong. I was disappointed with how many animals we saw and have seen more later in the day. Of course we did the Gorilla Falls trail right after. This is always a good attraction. Sometime I'm just going to take this trail and spend a good hour walking through.

I checked the EE wait times and it was still at 5 minutes. It was wrong. It was less than 5 minutes. Pretty much a walk on. Great ride. I'm 69 years old and still like doing rides like this. Most of my friends won't.

Since it was righ there we went toThe Great Bird Adventure. From there we headed to Dinasour. Also a walk on.

I did not get any Lightning Lanes for AK. Why would anyone with the crowds like this.

Lunch at Flame Tree BBQ. I've been going to WDW since 1996 and this is the first time I have eaten here. I got the Ribs and chicken combo. $15.99? That has to be the best deal in all the parks. Too much food but it was very good. I'd like to say that many people here say that the food prices are too high. I don't see it. A burger and fries is usually $14.99 which is pretty much what you would pay if you went out for a burger anywhere (we are not talking about the McDonalds type burgers. The burgers at WDW are better and bigger).

WE went to Fesival of the Lion King after lunch.

From there we to Maharajah Jungle Trek.

We decided we didn't feel like getting wet on Kali River Rapids and decided to also skip the train ride to Conservation Station.

AH! EE only has a 25 minute wait. lets get on it. We got in line and was about 10 minutes into it they announced due to bad weather it was closing. We decided not to wait and to head to Hollywood Studios. So we walked out to the HS bus station. Lucky for us we only waited about 5 minutes. Sometimes the day just goes your way.

 

[Dave B]

Cant wait to hear, and 1st!!!

 

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Sorry for taking so long I was having trouble downloading pictures.

To pick up where I left off: we headed to Hollywood Studios. I check the app for wait times and Smugglers Run was less than 30 minutes. We made a B-line for the ride (does anyone know what b-line really means?) We got in line and it was less than 30 minutes. I have ridden this a few times and for some reason I just don't find this ride that good. Maybe it's because you're concentrating on doing your job and can't pay attention to the screen. Or maybe the bumps after you hit something and the fast turns just don't seem real enough. I've been the pilot once and didn't enjoy that either. I really don't know. This may be a ride I skip in the future.

Rise of the Resistance had a long wait time. We knew we were coming back to HS so we headted to Toy Story Midway Mania. The wait time here was also posted at 30 minutes and proved to be about right. My DW beat me again. However, my cannon or whatever it's called didn't seem like it was shooting straight. That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

From there we headed over to RockNRollercoaster and Tower of Terror. It was kinda a flip of a coin which to do first cause neither wait times were very long. Not even 30 minutes. We did ToT first and by the time we got to RnRcoaster the wait time got longer. We did the single rider lines and somehow got on the same train. Awesome ride and I am going to be sad to see Aerosmith leave. I hope it doesn't have the same affect on me that Splash to Tiana had. That ride just isn't the same. It doesn't tell a good story like Song of the South did. We will get into that when I get to MK.

We grabbed a burger Catalina Eddies as we decide what to do next.

DW wanted to do a little shopping along the way so we took our time and enjoyed the park. She would shop and I would stand outside and people watch.

We did one more ride at HS. Star Tours. Ya know I like this ride and hope they never take it out. But it seems I am one of the few since the wait time is always a walk on when I'm there.

It was getting late and we decided to head back to our resort. Tomorrow at Magic Kingdom.

That old duffer is me with my back to the camera lower left.

 

[Tuvalu]

Beeline is the quickest, most direct route between two points. It stems from the belief that a bee flies directly back to its hive in a straight line.

 

[graphite1326]

Our second full day was at Magic Kingdom. It was a Holloween Party event day and we thought the crowds would be low. We were not wrong. We did the early entry and decided to get in line for TRON even though it isn't open for early entry and as soon as we got off there we were going to head straight to Tiana. When we got to TRON it seems we were not the only ones getting in line. There were quite a few people already there. TRON is a great ride. Wish it was just a little longer but it's still worth the wait.

As soon as we got off TRON we headed over to Frontierland and got in line to Tiana. Posted was 35 minutes and that was about right. I gotta say it was kind of a let down. It just doesn't tell a good story and not many animatronics. We always used to ride Splash a couple of times per trip becasue we really enjoyed it. Tiana is probably not the case. We will ride it probably but it isn't something I would wait a long time for or waste a lightning Lane on.

Of course, with Thunder Mountain down the next thing to do is Haunted Mansion. It was a walk on. From there we went into Hall of the Presidents. It's a good show and a chance to get off your feet. From there we made our way to Pirates which was about a 30 minute wait and then Jungle Cruise which was about a 30 minute wait.

LUNCH! At Skipper Canteen. It was good but the portions are small and I left there hungry. Disappointed after spending $95.00 for two of us. And the jokes are what I expected. Funny but corny.

We then went to the Tiki room. We haven't done that show for a few years and decided to do it. We even walked up the Swiss Family Tree House which we haven't done in a while either.

Over to Tomorrowland and did Laugh Floor, Space Mountain, & Carousel of Progress. CoP is always a must for me. My parents took the family to the NY State fair when as about 7. I remember being on it and impressed me even then.

Ah we always ride the train so we took the path past TRON and grabbed the train to the front of the park since that is all it is doing right now.

ICE CREAM! At the Plaza Parlor. I even got a Mickey sticker. We watched the parade while we ate our ice cream. It doesn't get any better than that.

I checked the wait times app and 7 Dwarfs Mine Train was only 35 minutes so we headed over there. The wait time post was about right. From there we went into Philharmagic.

We got to do more than we thought we would. I think it was due to low crowds. So we got on the monorail to TTC and transferred to the EPCOT monorail.

 

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EPCOT is my DW favorite park. I checked the app for wait times and found that Gaurdians and Test Track were quite long. However, Soarin was listed at 10 minutes. I remember when Soarin was the ride everyone wanted to get on and now it's pretty much a walk on. So we headed to Soarin and pretty much walked on.

From there we walked over to Living With the Land. This is one of my favorite rides, Gives me time to relax a little and I really enjoy it.

After we caught the Awesome Planet film. We hadn't gone to it in a while and decided to go. It's not a bad show but they could do more and there is hardly anyone in there every time we do go.

From there we went over to the Seas only to find the ride wasn't running and we didn't want to wait. I hadn't been to the Pixar Short Film in a while so we decided to do that. From there we headed to World Showcase.

I gotta have some Cheese Soup from the Canada booth and also got the Filet Mignon. Awesome, we get this every time.
SHOPPING! My wife's favorite thing to do and my least favorite. Honestly, I tell her she could shop at home and we wouldn't have to spend all this money to do it. We were in GB so I grabbed a Harps beer and a bench and sent her on her way. I finished the beer about the same time she got back (I am not a fast drinker) and we crossed the English Channel, so to speak and arrived in France.

Ratatouille wasn't a long wait time maybe 40 minutes so we decided to get in line. I don't think we actually waited in line that long and enjoyed the ride. You can't be in France and not get a treat. I am not sure what I picked out, I just pointed at something that looked good and it was. We walked out to catch the waiter do her balancing show with the stacked chairs AND during the show she asked me to hand her one of the chairs up to her .

We worked our way around the showcase stopping at Morroco to watch the eh-hem belly dancer. The band at the America theater was a local band so we didn't spend much time there but we did do the American Adventure show and then continued on.

We were still a little hungry and grapped a Bratwurst at the Germany Pavilion. Of course we had to shop here.......

From there we continued on and shopped again at China......

The Frozen line was too long and we aren't fans of the movie, well actually we have never seen it BUT we did have to get a school bread which is always good.

The DW had to grab a Margarita at Mexico then walked into the pavilion to.......shop. We did do the boat ride of course.

By then it was almost time for the fireworks and found a spot that we could see. The show had started and we both decided we had seen these before and didn't want to fight the crowds and the long wait time at the bus stop. We knew we were coming back the next day and decided to leave.

 

[erstwo]

‘The English channel so to speak’ . Love it. Calling that bridge this from now on.

Normally, I’ve never tell people what to watch. But you should watch Frozen. The songs & lyrics by the Lopezes are outstanding and I hadn’t laughed so hard at a Disney movie since finding Nemo came out with Dory.

 

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EPCOT the very next day. Did the rope drop to get on Gaurdians. Left the resort about 6:45. Got there and was a ways back in the first line, which was just before Spaceship Earth (the big ball). They let us in about 7:45 and we waited. The doors didn't open right way do to some issue and they opened the doors at about 8:40. This has to be the best ride on all of WDW. Great ride. From there we headed to Test Track.

The line wasn't too bad maybe 20-30 minutes. This was our first chance to do the latest version. I have to say it's better than 2.0 but I still like the orginal the best.

I cannot do spinning rides anymore (age 68) so we passed on Mission Space. I have always done the green version. Maybe I will do the orange version on our next trip but I need to look into it a little more.

From there we headed to The Land Pavilion and did our second ride on Soarin. I have always liked this ride and now that everyone is going to Gaurdians and TT it's pretty much a walk on. From there we did our second ride on Living sith the Land.

We hadn't eaten so we grabbed a snack at Sunshine Cafe.

We didn't get to do the aquarium the day before so we headed over there and spent about 30-45 minutes looking around.

On to World Showcase.

One thing we always do every time we visit is get the Fish and Chips at Great Britian. We got our order and went down on the deck and ate while enjoying the breeze and water.

I sure wih they still had the street performers here at BG. I got to be King Arthur once. For that matter they haven't had a good show in Canada since Off Kilter.

We took our time walking around. Skipped Ratatouille. I can't remeber what the wait time was but it was long enough that we didn't want to wait. It's a good ride but it's not that good to wait in line for a second time. We continued on. The group at the Amerca stage was still the same local band so we didn't catch a show. Did someone cancel? I got a Pizza Roll at the Italy booth. Bad choice it wasn't very good. Then on around and just enjoying the day and in and out of the pavilions. Frozen was still too long so we skipped it but we did grab a second school bread. We did a second ride on the boat ride in Mexico. It's just nice relaxing ride and a chance to get off our feet.

By now we were getting kinda hungry and were looking at the festival food booths for something to eat. I found a really good sandwich over on the Canada side but on the way toward the Imagination pavilion. I wish I could tell you the name of the sandwich and which booth but I just can't remeber but it was a good size and real good.

We decided that it would be a good time to head to Disney Springs. On our way out we did anoter ride on Soarin (3rd). We grabbed our resort bus (French Quarter) and got on the boat over.

ICE CREAM at Ghirardelli's is a little pricey but really good. We spent the rest of our evening walking around and enjoying.

Tomorrow Hollywood Studios.

 

[graphite1326]

Rope drop to Rise of the Resistance. Got in right away with little wait. It's a pretty good ride but with all the money they have in it I'm not sure if it's that good of a ride. We skipped a second ride on Millennium Falcon and headed the back way to Toy Story Land for a second ride on Toy Story Mania. My DW beat me this time. After that we skipped Slinky & Alien swirl (which in my opinion is a waist of space). I'm just not into Slinky. Not enough thrill for me. So we headed to RnRollercoaster for a second ride on that and then onto Tower of Terror. Neither of these rides had long wait times.

We decided to spend a little time at Walt Disney Presents to get a little break and grab some AC. We caught the little film at the end and headed over to Star Wars Launch Bay. No characters were out when we were there so we just walked around.

We grabbed a burger at Sunshine Boulevard for lunch.

From there we went to Star Tours for a second ride. It worked out to when we got done there (it was a walk on) the Indiana Stunt Show was about to begin.

We kept tabs on the wait times for Runaway Railway but it never did get low enough for us to waist our time in line to ride it. If your thinking maybe if I had Lightnung Lane I could have got on it. Sorry but no. It just wouldn't be worth it to me to even waste a LL on it. Now if it was still The Great Movie Ride then yes.

Of course we had to do some shopping. My DW found a real nice Hawian type shirt for me to buy. I liked it and thought I might get it. $187.00. I didn't.

We were running out of things to do and since we had dinner reservations at Steak House 71 we decided to head over to the Contemporary, but take the scenic route.

We grabbed the Skyliners over to EPCOT. It's kind of an enjoyable relaxing ride. From there we walked, taking our time of course, to the Monorail to the drop off and changed monorails to the Contemporary.

We had never been to this resort and it took us a little while to find the restaurant. We were about 45 minutes early and decided to go to the bar until our table was ready. It was a busy place and by the time we got a drink and finished it our table was ready. Great meal at a good price for a sit down. I highly recommend it. We both had a steak of course we were at a steak house.

From there we went over to MK via the monorail.

We grabbed a second ride on Pirates and a few other rides. Our plan was to hang out and catch the fireworks. We were walking around on Main street and it was starting to get crowded. Just to let every one know we have been coming to WDW for over 25 years and have seen several fireworks shows. Again we decided we didn't want to fight the crowd after it was over and wait in the long bus line and decided to go back to the resort.

It was a great night to grab some Beignets. We did and found an empty table and enjoyed ourselves.

Tomorrow we have reservations to Behind the Seeds at EPCOT.

 

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EPCOT again? Our last full day at WDW.

We rope dropped and got a second ride on Guardians. Guardians has to be the best ride in WDW. Years ago I thought Soarin was the best and then when Flight of Passage came out I thought that was the best. From there over to Test Track. So we got to ride on both of these rides twice without LL.

Then we went to Soarin for our 4th ride. We still had time so we said what the heck and got on Living with the Land. After we still had time to kill and grabbed a snack at the cafe.

Finally it was time to check into our tour. We met our guide and he took us through the back of the ride (I guess that's what you would call it). It was interesting how they did things but I'm not really sure their methods would work in my garden. It may be just not be cost effective.

After we headed to World Show case and ate our lunch at the food booths as we went.

We decided to spend our evening at Disney springs. So we caught a bus back to our resort and got on the boat to DS. The boat ride is probably more enjoyable than just taking the bus even though the bus may take less time.

We walked around for a while and decided we were hungry. Fish and Chips at Cooks of Dublin, (yes I know we had it at EPCOT but we like it. We don't have anything like that were I live). After we just enjoyed the evening until we thought it was time for us to back to our resort and pack.

WHOOPS I suddenly remebered that Starship was playing at EPCOT. I wanted to catch that show. I also forgot about Yeeha Bob at Riverside. I had even written this down but still forgot.

Our flight was at 11 in the morning but I elected to take a 7 AM bus to the airport thinking it was going to be busy.

 

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I was quite surprised when we got to the airport. The place was not busy at all. We checked our bag and got through security pretty quickly. We had a lot of time to kill and there really isn't that much to do unless you like to shop or eat.

We arrived a JFK and had a three hour wait on our connecting flight. Which turned out to be a 4-1/2 hour wait. We got to our home airport and by the time we got our luggage and took a shuttle to our car it was 8 at night. We have a two hour drive home. That's a long day.

Looking back I think this was one of our more enjoyable trips. We kinda took our time and enjoyed ourselves and still got to do the rides that are usually long wait times. When I first booked the trip I was thinking about getting Lighting Lane. I watched all the videos on how to use it and stack so you get to go on the top tier rides. I decided it was just too much bother and wanted to enjoy myself without all that hassle. As it turns out, I don't think I really needed it.

Finally: I called up Disney three days later and took advantage of the bounce back offer. See ya next year.

Please comment on what you think or what you would have done different.