Trip Report The Good, The Bad, and The Ian -- Now, With Bonus February FARTS Trip

My next trip is officially on the calendar!

WHO: The usual trio of me, my mom, and my friend A
WHEN: 9/30-10/7
WHERE: Timeshare TBD

Our flights are booked and it was a surprisingly easy process for us compared to other trips. A found a great deal with Frontier and we jumped on it. We are flying down on 9/30 out of Trenton, NJ at 7:35am and flying back to PHL on 10/7 at 11pm. This will be the first time we are leaving from Trenton so that should be an experience. Trenton is such a tiny airport that we are hoping the check in process is much smoother than PHL. It is just about the same drive time to Trenton as PHL so it isn't inconvenient at all.

Right now, here are our park reservations:

9/30: AK
10/1: Epcot for it's 40th Anniversary!
10/2: HS
10/3: MK
10/4: AK

Since we are not staying in the parks, we are only allowed to book 5 days of park reservations at a time. We have to decide if we want to book a cheap(er) Disney Springs hotel for two nights to get the last three days of park reservations that we need or if we want to risk it and try booking the last days after we tap into the park on the first three days.

We are hoping that there will be some kind of special event or something for Epcot's 40th. I know that it will be super crowded that day since it is a Saturday but if we are going to be there for the 40th we would be foolish not to go to Epcot.

We are also hoping that Fantasmic will be back for our trip. A and I are also hoping to get super lucky and they will have AP previews for Tron while we are there. We were there when they did GOTG previews but weren't able to snag one. Maybe luck will be on our side this time

A promises that this will be a more laid back and relaxing trip. I hope that is the case.

I will update this more as we make ADRs and other plans.

 

[Swissmiss]

Yippee - there is more to come

 

[amjt660]

First leg of the adventure?

Second leg of the adventure??

Looking forward to part 2!

Max

 

[BwlrBry212]

BONUS COVERAGE -- DAY 1 -- FEB 2ND

This trip was fairly spontaneous and was planned only a couple of weeks before we went. The hardest part of the planning was finding time that I could take off from work that other managers hadn't already claimed on the calendar. Once we settled on 2/2-2/5, we started stalking airfare. We found great prices but for some reason we didn't pull the trigger and promptly watched the prices go way up and wondered if the trip would finally happen. Eventually, the prices came back down some and with a combination of my mom and I having two Frontier vouchers from a disastrous return trip from Mexico (if anyone wants the details, let me know) and some creative manipulation of the baggage/seat fees by A we booked at a reasonable rate. We also booked a place outside of the bubble that had two bedrooms which works perfectly for our group.

In no time at all, it was time to meet A at the airport and head back "home." The flight was uneventful and in no time at all we were landing at MCO. After having some trouble in the past with the rental car not being ready, A went to pick up the car while my mom and I waited for our bag. It took for-ev-er for any bags to come out and naturally the car was ready right away.

We arrived in the bubble around 10:30am and made our way to HS. The ramp to HS however was blocked off by multiple police cars and there were cops who looked like they were recreating an accident scene. We would find out later that day that earlier that morning a pick up truck struck a person riding a bike who later died at the hospital.

After our detour, we arrived at HS just before 11am. We were all hungry and one of our favorite places that we haven't been to in a while was getting ready to open so we headed there first. We got to the Brown Derby Lounge before they opened but there was a CM there taking names and in a few minutes we were seated.

We each ordered a margarita flight to start.

This included classic, blood orange, and pomegranate.

My mom and I each ordered the Cobb Salad (no tomato for me) and A ordered the Crab Louie.

I LOVE this salad so much. My favorite part is that everything is so finely chopped that you get all of the good stuff in every bite. The one thing that was different this time is that the lounge used to have its own menu with an appetizer sized version of the salad and other small plates. But the only menu we were offered was the full Brown Derby menu. I was ok with more salad but I think A was a little let down with his choices.

We spent our lunch getting to watch Chip and Dale be the goofy chipmunks that they are. We also got to listen to two couples who started up a cross-table conversation which basically turned into a battle of who has more money and which extravagant trips they could brag about more. Examples included a train trip through Ireland and personal butler service on the island of Curacao.

After eating, it was time for some rides. We started at MMRR with a less than advertised wait time which is always nice. Then, A and I had a short wait for Star Tours. Next up, was a trip to Muppet Labs for a 3D adventure. We jetted off to Batuu after that where A and I bypassed the 65 minute wait for Smuggler's Run in the single rider line where we literally walked right on the ride and ended up in the same ride as well. We had some time to kill before a date with Oga at her cantina so we hung out and people watched for a while. Highlights included watching the Stormtroopers interacting with a little boy who was dressed as a Stormtrooper and an Instagram girl having a photo shoot while scantily clad and wearing and inflatable Tauntaun costume kinda like this one...

After Oga's, the wait times for everything else in the park were all ridiculously high partially because at different times ToT, RnRC, and Rise all went down.

We decided to head out of the park and go check in a the hotel so we didn't have to worry about that at the end of the night when we were all exhausted. We relaxed a bit in the room and snuck in a power nap before heading back to Epcot for the evening.

 

[fractal]

In for the Bonus Round! that Cobb salad looks great

 

[Swissmiss]

This past summer my DD and I did Smuggler’s Run at least 3 times, all using the single rider line. Not only was there never anyone else in line when we did it, but we were also always together on the ride.

 

[cgersic]

Bring on the bonus!!!

 

[BwlrBry212]

BONUS COVERAGE 1 -- FEB 2ND -- CONTINUED

I forgot to mention that when we left HS there were an unusual amount of higher up Disney CMs and cops in the parking lot. As we were pulling out, the cops were taking a guy in cuffs out of the backseat of one of their SUVs and were surrounding him. I wanted A to pull back into the spot so we could watch but he didn't. I can only imagine what kind of shenanigans you have to get into to get arrested in WDW.

After checking into our room and taking a quick power nap, we fought the rush hour traffic on our way back to Epcot.

We started out riding Spaceship Earth. Our touchscreen was having some issues and we couldn't select where we were from in the beginning and then we had issues answering the questions at the end. I eventually just kept tapping it all over and the screen eventually started to respond again. You're welcome Disney! We had questions and a future that I don't remember ever getting before. Also, my picture never showed up but we got two pictures of my mom so apparently human cloning is in her future.

We went over to The Land after this and rode the boat and the glider with minimal waits.

We were getting a little hungry so we wanted to hit some booths before our dinner ADR later that night.

Our first stop was the Moderne booth over by Test Track. I will now share a horribly blurry photo of what I ordered.

This was the Pan-seared Scallops with vanilla-butternut squash purée, brown butter cauliflower purée, and lime foam for $7.50. The quality of the picture sums up my thoughts on the dish. If you are struggling to find the scallops, don't worry, so was I. They are in the east and west corner of the plate. There was a bit of a back up plating the food here so you would think that my scallops would have been at least warm but they were not. The purees on the plate were too sweet to pair with the natural sweetness of the scallops. $7.50 for two small, cold scallops and some dots of puree was not worth it at all.

Our next stop would be the El Artista Hambriento booth in Mexico. The Mexican booths in past festivals have always been solid so I had high hopes.

Carne Asada: Chipotle-marinated beef sirloin, sweet potato purée, and crispy-fried onions -- $10.00

I was sad to say that this was also a disappointment. The steak was cooked perfectly which is usually difficult to find especially at a booth where they are cranking them out in mass quantities. But, it was sliced so thin that I couldn't taste any flavor from the chipotle marinade because there was so little outside surface area in each slice. I don't typically care for sweet potato but this puree was the best thing on the plate. Overall, it was well cooked but surprisingly bland and a tiny portion for $10.

I also got a margarita because....Mexico...

Bombon Margarita “Marshmallow”: Ilegal Mezcal Reposado, marshmallow cordial, lime juice, agave nectar and a hint of coffee and elderflower served with a toasted marshmallow -- $16.50

This little thing was tasty!!! It had a great balance between sweet and smoky. Even the marshmallow garnish on top was perfectly toasted. My only complaint about this was the way too high price tag but such is Disney in 2023.

We went inside the pyramid and searched for Donald before moving on to one last booth before dinner.

We hit up the Pastoral Palate booth in Germany next.

Black Forest Cake: Chocolate Mousse with morello cherries and Chantilly cream -- $4.75

Dessert for dinner is totally a thing on vacation, right? This was the best thing that I ate that night. I love black forest cake and this was a great version of it. It was nice and light because of the mousse. The cherries were the perfect amount of tartness. And the cream on top balanced everything out. I regret not getting a second serving of this during the trip. Highly recommended and a steal at under $5.

We had a late ADR for dinner at Via Napoli with the hopes that the park would empty out by the time we were done our meal. There was a large group of cheerleaders/dancers/hyper teenage girls that were seated right before us and thankfully we were seated all the way in the back of the restaurant in a room I didn't even know existed so we were no were near them. On a side note, how many different cheer/dance/whatever competitions exist? I feel like there is some sort of competition every time that we are down there and that we are constantly dodging troops of teens that are more focused on Tik Tok than where they are walking. Seriously, I think cheer/dance is just a secret Disney plot to grab all of the money from these kids' parents and all of these competitions are just another Disney creation.

Anyway, we ordered our Quattro Formaggi pizza from our authentic Italian waiter and it came out super fast. There goes our plan of dinner lasting a while and waiting out the fireworks crowds. The pizza was predictably delicious and we left no scraps behind. we lingered as long as we could and eventually made our way out into moderate crowds shuffling towards the exit to finally get some blissful sleep after being awake since 3am.

 

[BwlrBry212]

BONUS COVERAGE DAY 2 -- FEB 3RD

Before I continue, I have a question for my fellow Magicians to see just how crazy I am. A was able to secure an AP preview slot for Tron on 3/8. He wants to go down on the first flight out of PHL and back home on the last flight out of MCO for a day trip to ride. Part of me feels insane for even considering it, but the other part of me feels like it would be a great adventure and we would get to ride a brand new ride before the masses and without the stress or $$$ of getting a boarding group or ILL. Right now, my biggest issue is seeing if airfare drops to a more reasonable price, especially for a same day round trip. Thoughts?

Back to the TR...

I set an alarm for 6:45am to make sure I was awake enough to function to secure a boarding group for GOTG. The plan worked and I got us BG 7 which is the lowest number I can remember getting in any virtual queue. Secretly, I was hoping for a higher number so I could go back to sleep for a little longer but from past experience I knew that the boarding group would be called before the park opened to us. I stayed in a bed a bit more playing around on my phone and finally forced myself to get up and tackle the challenge of the awkwardly laid out bathroom.

The bathroom was super tiny. The way it was laid out had the toilet directly across from the sink/vanity area which meant that you were looking yourself in the eye while trying to .

Also, there was a step up into the tub/shower that was at least a foot high and then required a step down onto the uneven floor of the jetted tub. it was a miracle that neither of us killed ourselves getting in/out of that thing.

After surviving, we made it to Epcot shortly after opening and headed straight to GOTG. This was the first time that we got a repeat song but it was September so it was acceptable.

Unlike those that lose their appetite after riding, we all decided we were hungry so we crossed to the other side of the park to the Land. We grabbed food at Sunshine Seasons. I was initially going to get a breakfast sandwich but they were also serving lunch food so I opted for the pepperoni pizza roll. I forgot to take a picture of it but it was so good. Way better than the spring rolls at MK in my opinion. It's not as adventurous as some of the other food in Epcot but very tasty nonetheless.

Since we were there, we did LWTL again. We were going to go on Soarin' also but it was a 45 minute wait and people were pouring into the line because it had started to rain. We knew that there was some rain in the forecast for the day so we all had our rain jackets and we decided to head over to Figment instead of camping out in The Land. This turned out to be a mistake. As soon as we left the building, the rain really picked up and we had to hightail it over to Figment and got pretty wet on the way. The rain jacket did its job but the wet shoes and socks were not avoidable which is the worst feeling. The wait for the ride was still short but it was strange that they were telling everyone to take off their jackets and ponchos before getting on the ride. I understand not wanting the ride cars to get wet but everyone still had to bring their wet jackets and ponchos on the ride with them so things were still going to get wet on the ride.

It was still raining when we were done with the ride so we made the quick run to the Pixar Shorts right next door to try to stay dry-ish. We just missed the previous showing so we had time to kill waiting in the lobby. We grabbed a seat on the wall and my mom took the opportunity to get in line to meet the main mouse himself.

The rain had slowed to a drizzle so we ventured out into WS for a little appetizer before our 4pm seating at Hoop De Doo Revue. It was getting close to the time that we needed to leave the park so we didn't go too far in. I wanted something savory but the lines for the savory options I was interested in in that area were too long for my liking so I opted for dessert at Deco Delights.

Orange Mousse with Lemon Cake and Raspberry Meringues -- $5.00

First of all, this was beautiful. It was also really good. It was a nice and light dessert with great citrus flavor and a variety of textures. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who likes citrus.

I also wanted to get the Neapolitan Beer Flight but they were having problems with one of the taps and that beer was not available. I opted to just get the 81Bay Brewing Co. Vanilla Porter. My only gripe with this was that the CM did not know how to pour a beer that is on nitro. He handed me a cup full of head and said not to worry that it just needs to sit because it is on nitro. Yes, this is true but you need to let it settle first and then finish filling the cup. I really only ended up with about 2/3 of a beer once everything settled...

My mom wanted to stop in Creations Shop to see if she could buy a dry pair of socks. The only adult sized socks that they sell are crew socks and that would not really be a good look with shorts so she passed.

We headed out to the car, cranked up the heat on the floor vents, and made our way over to Fort Wilderness to check in for the show.

 

[riverside]

Before I continue, I have a question for my fellow Magicians to see just how crazy I am. A was able to secure an AP preview slot for Tron on 3/8. He wants to go down on the first flight out of PHL and back home on the last flight out of MCO for a day trip to ride. Part of me feels insane for even considering it, but the other part of me feels like it would be a great adventure and we would get to ride a brand new ride before the masses and without the stress or $$$ of getting a boarding group or ILL. Right now, my biggest issue is seeing if airfare drops to a more reasonable price, especially for a same day round trip. Thoughts?

I’ve never done it but my sister C, & her husband have. On her birthday they took the first flight out of Pittsburgh then the last one back that night! I believe they took an Uber from the airport to The Contemporary then spent the day at MK!

I don’t think it’s crazy at all! A whirlwind, yes, & it would be a lot but I’d do it—& I’m getting too old for that sort of thing!!

E, J & I did a (less than 48 hours) trip for a passholder preview(it was either TSL or Star Wars-I can’t remember which, who knows, maybe it was both. I’d have to look back on my TR’s!!

We’re actually pulling another “48 hours” one in a few weeks. Shh!! Don’t tell J. It’s a birthday surprise!!

I wanted something savory but the lines for the savory options I was interested in in that area were too long for my liking so I opted for dessert at Deco Delights.

I also wanted to get the Neapolitan Beer Flight but they were having problems with one of the taps and that beer was not available. I opted to just get the 81Bay Brewing Co. Vanilla Porter. My only gripe with this was that the CM did not know how to pour a beer that is on nitro. He handed me a cup full of head and said not to worry that it just needs to sit because it is on nitro. Yes, this is true but you need to let it settle first and then finish filling the cup. I really only ended up with about 2/3 of a beer once everything settled...

Sorry about your food/drink issues. I hope Hoop De Doo made up for it!!

 

[heatherhy01]

Before I continue, I have a question for my fellow Magicians to see just how crazy I am. A was able to secure an AP preview slot for Tron on 3/8. He wants to go down on the first flight out of PHL and back home on the last flight out of MCO for a day trip to ride. Part of me feels insane for even considering it, but the other part of me feels like it would be a great adventure and we would get to ride a brand new ride before the masses and without the stress or $$$ of getting a boarding group or ILL. Right now, my biggest issue is seeing if airfare drops to a more reasonable price, especially for a same day round trip. Thoughts?

I say go for it!! If you are able to do so, then why not? That would be an unforgettable trip.

 

[BwlrBry212]

BONUS COVERAGE DAY 2 -- FEB 3RD -- CONTINUED

So I am 90% sure that I am going to do the one day Tron preview trip. We just need to pull the trigger and book our flights at this point. The release of the menus for the Flower and Garden booths helped me make my decision. There are a lot of new things that sound amazing.

This will be a text heavy post because I realized that I never took any pictures for the rest of the day after we left Epcot.

We parked over at Ft. Wilderness and the ride over with the heat blasting worked to dry out our shoes and socks. My mom loved watching the horses while we waited for the internal bus to take us over to Hoop De Doo.

We got over there a little before they were starting to check people in for the show. They were having problems with their Wi-Fi so they were having people line up by last name and checking them in the old fashioned way. We got checked in with no problems but A had to go over to the ticket window to get a refund for the AP discount. I don't know why they can't just apply the discount when checking out online. After getting that sorted out, we went over to grab a drink at the bar while we waited. I got a Moonshine Margarita and my mom and A got some sort of apple moonshine concoction. We sat on the rocking chairs and sipped on our drinks and enjoyed a rare moment of relaxation.

Shortly after, it was time to take our seats. We had a pretty good table on the lower level off to the side. Soon enough, our food and drink started to come out. I had a little bit of salad and some delicious cornbread. The show started and it was fun and cheesy just as expected. There were two ASL interpreters on the side of the stage and I couldn't take my eyes off of them. They were so energetic and clearly loved their job. Next up, was the main meal. The fried chicken was so tasty. I like the taste of the ribs but this batch was very fatty and hard to fully enjoy. The sides were the stand outs to me though. The mac and cheese and mashed potatoes were fantastic. I could have made a meal out of them. The show played on and continued to be very entertaining. The famous dessert, strawberry shortcake, came out next and was a perfect way to end the meal.

We made our way back out to the bus and back to the car to drive over to the TTC to finish our night at MK.

 

[BwlrBry212]

BONUS COVERAGE DAY 2 -- FEB 3RD -- CONTINUED

We arrived at MK a little bit after 6pm so we just missed out on our return voyage on the MPB. It had gotten pretty chilly (for Florida...it was in the teens back home) and we all had shorts and just a light rain jacket on. We went into the Emporium with the hopes of finding a hoodie or maybe even some sweatpants. It was so crowded in there with tons of ECVs and double/triple strollers and everyone was so inconsiderate that after a few minutes we all decided that being chilly was better than spending any more time in the chaos of that store.

We headed over to Adventureland and started our MK night in the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room. After a nice show/nap, we had a choice to make. Jungle Cruise and Pirates both had similar wait times posted. I made the argument for Pirates because in recent trips we have been burned by posted wait times at JC being way longer and Pirates wait times have traditional been inflated. Surprisingly, we made the right decision and we were quickly aboard our boat.

Back on land, A and I wanted to go on the wildest ride in the wilderness. This was another case of inflated wait times and we made short work of the line and even got a seat towards the back of the train as an added bonus.

It was getting close to time for Enchantment so we took advantage of that and pretty much walked right on HM. While we were stopped briefly waiting to be let inside, we checked other wait times and Small World, Peter Pan, and Philharmagic were all down which we thought was odd. While on the ride, they must have all opened up. There was a mad dash to Peter Pan so we went against the grain and literally walked right on Small World. By the time we finished our cruise, the wait for Pan had already jumped up to unreasonable levels so we opted for Philharmagic. Next up, we finally made it on Pooh after several fails in past trips. After a trippy trip with the Heffalumps and Woozles, we were all losing steam so we decided to call it a night.

I tried to mobile order a treat from the Confectionary on the way out but for some reason every time I would select a time window, it would tell me that the Confectionary was closed and to choose another location. I don't know what the problem was because it was still open because we walked through it on our way out. I didn't grab anything though because the lines were crazy.

Thankfully, we had no issues getting on the monorail and back to the car. We had a date with our favorite brunch in DS and then AK the next morning.

 

[BwlrBry212]

BONUS COVERAGE -- DAY 3 -- FEB 4TH

This morning we made our way over to DS for brunch at our favorite spot...Homecomin'! It's probably not healthy that I think about this meal often when not at Disney. It is just that good. I got my go-to Hallelujah Biscuit. No pictures this time because I was too hungry and wanted to dive right in.

I had a crazy fantasy that after we ate that we would be able to get cookies from Gideon's but it was a Saturday morning and there was a line wrapped around the building and it wasn't even 10am yet. Maybe next time...

Our next stop would be Animal Kingdom. We arrived and my mom was downright giddy when she spotted De-Vine greeting guests on the way in. We slowly made our way up the hill checking out the animals along the way. A pit stop was made near Pizzafari so I walked over to see if the otters were out. The people that were there all left because they didn't spot the four otters that were swimming over from the other side of the habitat. I ended up having a private otter show for a little while. One of them climbed up to the top of the rock and was rolling around and making little barking noises. It was ruined shortly after by a pack of cheerleaders that reacted like this to the sight of the otters...

We headed over to everyone's favorite attraction next...Rafiki's Planet Watch. Ok, so maybe not a fan favorite but it is a must-do for my mom. We just missed out on seeing a veterinary procedure. My mom and I went into the petting zoo for a little bit but it was feeding time so most of the animals were busy eating. My mom did ask one CM about our favorite bad boy goat Mushu, who if you remember from a past TR had a fondness of nibbling on shorts and trying to pants people. The CM didn't see him out in the yard but indirectly confirmed that he is still up to his antics. I am pretty sure that I spotted him in the fenced in area in the back where he can't interact with people.

We took the train back and bit the bullet and got in line for the safari with a 70 minute wait posted. Thankfully, there were no giraffe-ic jams and the line kept moving and we only waited about 40 minutes. We had someone in our truck that kept insisting on standing up and the CM driving was getting very annoyed and had to stop the truck multiple times to yell at the rule breaker.

 

[fractal]

In my dozens of times visiting AK I've regrettably never been fortunate enough to encounter DeVine.

LOL @ giraffe-ic jams!

 

[BwlrBry212]

BONUS COVERAGE -- DAY 3 -- FEB 4TH -- CONTINUED

After the safari, we did the Gorilla Falls trail but sadly, the gorillas were not at the window. I love watching them interact with each other.

We then decided to divide and conquer. A and I wanted to ride Everest which my mom does not ride so we went over and got in the fairly long single rider line and she went to the Feathered Friends in Flight show. Our timing worked out pretty well and we were both done at about the same time. Up next, A and I were going to ride Dinosaur and my mom hopped in line for the Finding Nemo show.

We reunited and made our way out of AK for the day and headed over to Epcot to grab some food and drink. But since our plans had us ending the night at HS for Fantasmic, we parked the car at HS and took the boat over to Epcot and entered through the IG.

The France booth was so close it was calling us.

Crème de Brie en Petit Pain: Warm creamy brie in a house-made bread bowl – $9.75 and Frozen French Martini: Grey Goose Vodka, vodka, chambord liqueur, pineapple, orange, and grape juices with lemon-lime foam – $15.00

How can you go wrong with melted cheese in a bread bowl? Spoiler alert: you can't! My only complaint is that I wish it came with more bread for dipping so I don't look like an animal eating straight up melted cheese with a spoon. The drink is my favorite of the festival frozen martinis offered at this booth and is a close second to the beloved orange one available year round.

We backtracked over the bridge towards UK to make our journey around WS. Next booth on our journey was Pop Eats.

Tomato Soup with pimento cheese, bacon, and fried green tomato grilled cheese – $6.50 and Brooklyn Brewery Pulp Art Hazy IPA 12 oz. $9.50

I removed the fried green tomato and gave it to my mom because I don't like it but the rest of the sandwich was really tasty. I am not a huge fan of tomato soup on its own but it was great for dipping the sandwich. The beer was a solid hazy IPA but not mind blowing.

We continued around WS. We popped into Mexico to search for Donald. Lucky for us there was a fiesta that day! Our last booth before making our way back to HS for the night was The Artist's Table. A ordered the duck dish but I opted to just get the beer flight.

The amber ale was my favorite of the three. I am not a huge saison fan because they can be too floral and this one definitely leaned in that direction. The quad was good but I can't drink much more than that size because they are too boozy for my liking.

We exited through the IG and took a Friendship Boat back over to HS.

They added a second show of Fantasmic that night so we were able to squeeze in a few rides before we needed to line up to grab our seats for the long awaited return of my favorite nighttime show. We went to Toy Story Land first and got in line for Toy Story Mania. The wait time was posted at 40 minutes but we never stopped walking until we got to the loading area. Did not have a great score. I blame the gun...

Next we had a decision to make: Slinky Dog or Rise? The wait times for both were low (under hour) for both and we decided to go with Rise. I think we made the right call and we waited for about 30 minutes. I will never get sick of this experience!

We landed safely and headed over to get in line for the show. They did not let people in until very close to showtime which I thought was odd but I guess since it was the second show that they had to get the theater ready after the first showing. We made our way over to far side of the theater to our "secret" seating area. There is a small section of seats on the end in the back of the theater where the benches on the back row have backs. Finding these seats was a game changer and we have been sitting there ever since. Not only is it not crowded, you have something to lean on after a long day in the parks, the views of the show are still pretty good, and it is very easy to get out at the end of the show.

I grabbed a beer and some nachos to snack on while taking in the new and improved Fantasmic. I loved the new scenes and thought they fit the show very well. All of the effects looked great and I am happy to say that it is still my favorite nighttime show.

On the way out there were cast members handing out free boxes of popcorn so of course I snagged one. How often do you get the chance to get free stuff in Disney?

I snacked on my popcorn on the ride back to the room to get some sleep before our last day.

 

[BwlrBry212]

BONUS COVERAGE -- DAY 4 -- FEBRUARY 5TH

The day before we decided to switch our park reservation from MK to Epcot with the hopes of getting in another ride on GOTG. Woke up a little before 7am and prepared for the Fast Finger challenge. We successfully secured boarding group 27 which meant I could go back to sleep for a bit because our group wouldn't be called first thing as the park opened. The sad part was that we needed to pack up our stuff to head home that night.

We took our time getting to the park and by the time we got there we were able to head right over to GOTG for our boarding group. We got Disco Inferno this time. So we have now ridden the ride 5 times over the two trips and have gotten 4 different songs which I think is a pretty good ratio.

After saving the galaxy again, we were hungry so we made our way over to WS for our traditional last day food marathon. My first stop was Refreshment Port just as it opened.

Gnocchi Poutine with red wine-braised beef, cheese curds, basil, and burrata – $10.00. This was pretty tasty. The gnocchi could have been a little lighter but the beef was perfectly tender and you can't go wrong with two different cheeses. My only complaint was that the cheese curds were cold to start out but warmed up once everything got mixed together.

We meandered to the right and browsed through the countries. I grabbed a beer at the stand outside of Rose and Crown and we wandered through the shops in the UK.

I am pretty sure that A stopped at the Encanto booth to get an empanada while I finished my beer.

The next booth that I stopped at was the Goshiki booth in Japan.

Rainbow Katsu Sando: Pork cutlet sandwich with tangy tonkatsu sauce and cabbage in rainbow sweet bread -- $6.50. This one sadly looked better than it tasted. The pork was perfectly fine but with as vibrant as this looked it ended up being pretty bland.

Next up was a booth that typically disappoints...Italy.

Mozzarella Fritta: Flash-fried breaded fresh mozzarella with artist palette condiments -- $8.50. This was really tasty. I liked all of the sauces that came with it but the balsamic was my favorite. I only wish that for that price that you would get two pieces of cheese. Also, I just had to grab an Italian Margarita to go with.

I was full at this point so I was content to just stroll around and take it all in before going back to winter in PA.

Once we were allowed to do so, we park hopped over to MK to ride some of the things that we had missed earlier in the trip. First up, was a grand circle tour on the MPB. It was so nice to be on that train again after so long. As we went through the Tron tunnel, an empty ride vehicle zoomed by and everyone got so excited. We deboarded the train back at Main Street and went over to Tomorrowland to ride Buzz, Peoplemover, and CoP. The Space Mountain line was too long for our liking. We finished up our MK day with a ride under the sea.

We took the monorail back to Epcot and got to check out some of the progress being made on Moana.

The theme for this evenings dishes would be dessert. The first stop was the Figment booth inside the Odyssey building.

My beer flight was not blurry in real life...lol. 81Bay Brewing Co. Green with Envy Blonde Ale, 81Bay Brewing Co. Blue Butterfly Lager, and Urban Artifact The Gadget Raspberry & Blackberry Midwest Fruit Tart. The first two beers were very boring and tasted exactly the same to me. The only interesting thing was the color. The last beer was a decent sour but nothing that blew my mind.

Rainbow Cake with freeze-dried SKITTLES bite sized candies — $4.75. This cake was SO GOOD. It was super moist and had a mild fruity taste. The freeze dried Skittles added a great crunch!

My mom decided to sit out this last lap of WS because her back was bothering her. She went to Connections to get something to eat for dinner while A and I went around the world.

I don't remember if I had anything else savory for the night because I didn't take any pictures of it. The last thing that I know I ate was from the Decontructed Dish.

Deconstructed Key Lime Pie: Flexible Key lime curd, “Key lime” mousse, graham cracker cake, and meringues – $6.25. I have had this before but it was a favorite of mine then and still a favorite now. Key Lime Pie is one of my favorite desserts and this is a wonderful version of it.

Sadly, our time was coming to an end so we went to meet up with my mom. I ended up finishing up her pizza and it was pretty good. Not Via Napoli but also not Pizzerizzo.

We went back to MCO and after some shenanigans trying to check our bag (long line, few staff, broken conveyor belt, etc.) we got in the long security line.

While in the security line, a guy came up behind us and tried pushing past us saying that he was late for his flight and he needed to go ahead. I didn't let him past me and told him that it wasn't my problem and that he should have gotten there earlier. He continued to duck under ropes and cut people off the whole time we were waiting. I couldn't believe that no one punched him in the face or security didn't kick him out. He also had a full size suitcase with him and is not a carry on by any stretch of the imagination. The whole thing rubbed me the wrong way.

Just like October, we were delayed coming home again and ended up leaving about 45 minutes late. Thankfully, we landed back in PHL right around the time we were scheduled to arrive. Our bag was one of the first ones to come out so we were out of there pretty quickly.

Now is the sad time where I have to wait soooo long for my next trip. Just kidding. I will be there in less than 24 hours for my crazy, insane, one day whirlwind trip for the AP Tron preview and a taste of the Flower and Garden Festival.

 

[riverside]

I will be there in less than 24 hours for my crazy, insane, one day whirlwind trip for the AP Tron preview and a taste of the Flower and Garden Festival.

Yay!! I rode TRON on Saturday. It’s a great ride but enjoy it while you can. I couldn’t believe how short the ride was!!
Great TR!!

 

[Swissmiss]

Thanks for entertaining us and enjoy your whirlwind visit

 

[MickeyCB]

Now is the sad time where I have to wait soooo long for my next trip. Just kidding. I will be there in less than 24 hours for my crazy, insane, one day whirlwind trip for the AP Tron preview and a taste of the Flower and Garden Festival.

Have a wonderful time!!

 

[fractal]

Hope you're having a great time! Congrats on having a smooth time in the Philly airport. Very rare. Love the food pics.