Pre-Trip The worlds on fire, let’s go to Disney World trip

I first started stalking this page as my unofficial travel agent in 2010. Over the years I’ve ghosted it whenever a Disney trip felt too far from a reality. But, I’m back for a new trip.

Cast:
Your humble author: 41 year old male (7th trip as an adult + 3 as a kid)
DW: 42 year old female (7th trip as an adult)
DS: 16 years old ( 7th trip)
DD1: 13 years old (7th trip)
DD2: 9 years old (5th trip)

Joining our usual cast of character is my brother- 32 years old. It will be his first trip since he was 5.

Particulars:
- Pop Century (2 rooms)
- 7 days / 6 nights
- No park hopping
- Driving in from Atlanta, the day before, and sleeping off property that night.

Miscellaneous:
-First trip to Disney since 2018. First stay above a couple days since 2016.
- We love Pop, but this will be our 3rd stay there, but first since 2013.
- Only dining ressies are returning favorites for us- Sci-fi and Whispering Canyon and new to us, Wine Bar George.
- New to us- Galaxy’s edge, toy story land, Pandora, Mickey / Minnie railroad (RIP great movie ride), skyliners, and all Covid protocols.

I’ll be leveraging this thread to get info on a wide array of topics, but specifically areas i mentioned in the new to us bullet. I’m the planner of the group, but I’ve lost a fair amount of muscle memory with this last gap in visits, to say nothing of Covid.
Thanks in advance.
 
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Dory71

Dory71

Well-Known Member
Meme Reaction GIF by Robert E Blackmon
 
jharvey

jharvey

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Robbydj13 said:
I am a huge lover of the dining plan. Only for the reason that I know everything is paid for!
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Right?!? And I tell you, my 2012 and 2013 trips came with free dining plans. I’ll never know what it’s like to run a sub 10 second 40, but Usain Bolt has never been able to laugh at a Crystal palace ticket for 9 people. Well, he’s loaded, so he probably could, but you get my drift.
 
jharvey

jharvey

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Darstarr said:
One of the best DS quick service restaurants I have eaten at is the Polite Pig. So delicious on so many levels.

As for rope drop....drive your cars to the park with the luggage in the car. Head back to Pop when you get the room ready text. You can go car free the rest of the vacation but do not over complicate your first day!

Have fun!!!
Happy Fun GIF
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So, my wife always lets me plan these things. She gives me all the credit and thinks I’m awesome. My secret is I use this site, DFB, and a site we are not allowed to reference here, and then take all the credit. Driving to MK, day one, is sounding not too bad. Quick question though- everything I’m seeing on line is that the rope drop is the thing. And we’ve been rope drop warriors from way back. Is early entry not limited to people utilizing Disney transportation?

and polite pig... I couldn’t remember the name of it. I was thinking about that one and the daily poutine as well. Thanks
 
Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
jharvey said:
Yeah, I always remembered liking the buses at Pop. I think I preferred them to POR and CBR. The stops at the moderates were far nicer and better maintained, but those layouts were a bit much, especially since I have a limited sense of direction.

Chicken Guy was one we looked forward to trying while Planet Hollywood was an after thought. I guess I may have myself to blame for that. Any thoughts on the food trucks or any of the other counter services at DS?

I know, from a table service standpoint there is a running joke between my wife and I about coral reef in Epcot. Nearly every trip we book that restaurant, then we swap it and still have never eaten there. Raglan Road is probably a close second. The difference is, we almost always regret dropping raglan as it is rarely dropped due to an upgrade in options, but is instead dropped due to necessity. If I luck into Raglan, anyone able to sing it’s praises, or would I be better off focusing on counter service?
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Polite Pig was good when we ate there a couple of years ago. I know we got ribs and mac n' cheese, and I don't remember what else, but it was all good, and the ribs were fall-off-the-bone tender.
 
jharvey

jharvey

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 1: Magic Kingdom (arrival day)
Park hours: 8am-9pm

Goal is to drop the luggage off at bell service by 6am. That should give me a good 30 minutes to openly weep like a fat kid with a skinned knee as I’ll be back at Pop for the first time in 8 years. We will grab breakfast on the way in.

- bus stop by 6:30am so we can work around any transportation issues. I’m still leaning this way, but am considering driving as some have recommending. I’d say in 70-30 that we will do the bus.
- We are splash mountain folk. But it would appear that splash is not open for rope drop(?). So, we will shoot for 7DMT. I do not do thrill rides. Don’t give me grief about this not being a thrill ride, I nearly blacked out on barnstormer. If I survive that, it is my plan to ensure we hit Peter Pan’s flight, pirates, splash, jungle cruise, and haunted by lunch. We will kinda sorta ignore Tomorrowland that morning.
- Lunch at noon at Whispering Canyon. We love this restaurant. I know it’s not fine dining, but we’ve eaten here 3 times before, which puts it in line with Liberty Tree tavern as our second most visited Disney tables service after Via Napoli.
- we swear by midday breaks. We find a good 2 hour break going back to the resort for a nap/rest is a huge win. For this trip we are only planning to do this here and there. We are thinking about just hanging out at WL for an hour or so after lunch.
- returning to the park around 3pm, on the Saturday before Memorial Day... I’m expecting thunderdome. Looking to hit anytime, low priority attractions. Hello tiki, country bear, liberty belle, hall of presidents, etc. Note, philharmagic is probably my third favorite attraction on property- don’t judge. Would shoot to do that if the times aren’t too challenging.
- Dinner is wide open. We love Columbia harbour but it’s still down. We typically only do that or tables service in magic kingdom. So, suggestions for counter service for dinner would be great. I swore off pecos bill in 2010, but I’ve reconciled with enemies in less time.
- after dark we’d probably hang out in Tomorrowland as it’s the prettiest land at night- fight me.
- get in line to ride splash close to closing, and end the night there.

Next day is our Animal Kingdom day- will be our first exposure to Pandora.
 
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Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
jharvey said:
Day 1: Magic Kingdom (arrival day)
Park hours: 8am-9pm

Goal is to drop the luggage off at bell service by 6am. That should give me a good 30 minutes to openly weep like a fat kid with a skinned knee as I’ll be back at Pop for the first time in 8 years. We will grab breakfast on the way in.

- bus stop by 6:30am so we can work around any transportation issues. I’m still leaning this way, but am considering driving as some have recommending. I’d say in 70-30 that we will do the bus.
- We are splash mountain folk. But it would appear that splash is not open for rope drop(?). So, we will shoot for 7DMT. I do not do thrill rides. Don’t give me grief about this not being a thrill ride, I nearly blacked out on barnstormer. If I survive that, it is my plan to ensure we hit Peter Pan’s flight, pirates, splash, jungle cruise, and haunted by lunch. We will kinda sorta ignore Tomorrowland that morning.
- Lunch at noon at Whispering Canyon. We love this restaurant. I know it’s not fine dining, but we’ve eaten here 3 times before, which puts it in line with Liberty Tree tavern as our second most visited Disney tables service after Via Napoli.
- we swear by midday breaks. We find a good 2 hour break going back to the resort for a nap/rest is a huge win. For this trip we are only planning to do this here and there. We are thinking about just hanging out at WL for an hour or so after lunch.
- returning to the park around 3pm, on the Saturday before Memorial Day... I’m expecting thunderdome. Looking to hit anytime, low priority attractions. Hello tiki, country bear, liberty belle, hall of presidents, etc. Note, philharmagic is probably my third favorite attraction on property- don’t judge. Would shoot to do that if the times aren’t too challenging.
- Dinner is wide open. We love Columbia harbour but it’s still down. We typically only do that our tables service in magic kingdom. So, suggestions for counter service for dinner would be great. I swore off pecos bill in 2010, but I’ve reconciled with enemies in less time.
- after dark we’d probably hang out in Tomorrowland as it’s the prettiest land at night- fight me.
- get in line to ride splash close to closing, and end the night there.

Next day is our Animal Kingdom day- will be our first exposure to Pandora.
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I'm with you on 7DMT...I don't do coasters/thrill rides, but my kids LOVED it and convinced me it wasn't too fast or intense and I needed to try it. I almost cried. I just kept saying "Oh, I don't like this! I really don't like this!!" Never again. If you have not done it, don't be persuaded. If you HAVE done it, I'm so sorry!

You mentioned you have some picky eaters in your crew and they are hotdog people....is Casey's open now? Or maybe Friar's Nook? MK's counter service game has always seemed kind of weak to me, but I have a kid who pretty much will only eat fries or Joffrey's Giant donuts at Disney. We did get him to eat a plain hotdog from Casey's, but really, we search for anywhere that has french fries, and that's where at least he eats. We did like Pecos Bill, but my understanding is that it's not great at the moment, so now might not be the best time to give it a 2nd chance if you are thinking of reconciling. I thought that Tomorrowland Terrace was open with Columbia Harbour House menu, though?

Edit: I see someone else already mentioned the Tomorrowland Terrace thing. Sorry...stupid time differences. I'm always hours behind everyone else... except the other people in Europe, of course.
 
Loco_driver

Loco_driver

Well-Known Member
Not a bad plan for MK. Whispering canyon is a go to for me on MK days for a good break during the day. We got in line for splash right at closing two times on our last trip. The wait was around 30 minutes both times, which is about as short as it got all day. Also makes for a pleasant exit from the park at night. I don’t usually do SDMT, but it’s because those seats are so tiny.
 
jharvey

jharvey

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Songbird76 said:
I'm with you on 7DMT...I don't do coasters/thrill rides, but my kids LOVED it and convinced me it wasn't too fast or intense and I needed to try it. I almost cried. I just kept saying "Oh, I don't like this! I really don't like this!!" Never again. If you have not done it, don't be persuaded. If you HAVE done it, I'm so sorry!

You mentioned you have some picky eaters in your crew and they are hotdog people....is Casey's open now? Or maybe Friar's Nook? MK's counter service game has always seemed kind of weak to me, but I have a kid who pretty much will only eat fries or Joffrey's Giant donuts at Disney. We did get him to eat a plain hotdog from Casey's, but really, we search for anywhere that has french fries, and that's where at least he eats. We did like Pecos Bill, but my understanding is that it's not great at the moment, so now might not be the best time to give it a 2nd chance if you are thinking of reconciling. I thought that Tomorrowland Terrace was open with Columbia Harbour House menu, though?

Edit: I see someone else already mentioned the Tomorrowland Terrace thing. Sorry...stupid time differences. I'm always hours behind everyone else... except the other people in Europe, of course.
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Friars nook!!! I forgot about that. Like I said, previous trips you could set your watch to us eating TS for lunch and CHH for dinner. I’m wanting to expand a little and that does intro some new to us options.

thanks
 
jharvey

jharvey

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Loco_driver said:
Not a bad plan for MK. Whispering canyon is a go to for me on MK days for a good break during the day. We got in line for splash right at closing two times on our last trip. The wait was around 30 minutes both times, which is about as short as it got all day. Also makes for a pleasant exit from the park at night. I don’t usually do SDMT, but it’s because those seats are so tiny.
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You see, my family is setting me up for failure. No one mentioned seat size. I’m 6’6 and 250 pounds. Thanks for the get out of jail free card.
 
littleroo

littleroo

Well-Known Member
Loco_driver said:
Not a bad plan for MK. Whispering canyon is a go to for me on MK days for a good break during the day. We got in line for splash right at closing two times on our last trip. The wait was around 30 minutes both times, which is about as short as it got all day. Also makes for a pleasant exit from the park at night. I don’t usually do SDMT, but it’s because those seats are so tiny.
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Den is the same way! We never do this ride and I have only done it once! It is also so short for an always long wait time.
 
Loco_driver

Loco_driver

Well-Known Member
jharvey said:
You see, my family is setting me up for failure. No one mentioned seat size. I’m 6’6 and 250 pounds. Thanks for the get out of jail free card.
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So you’ll probably fit, but it will be quite uncomfortable for you! The lap bars seem really narrow and there’s very little leg room! Also as @littleroo said, it’s a long wait for not much of a payoff as far as ride time.
 

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