RocketEAR99
rocketear99
Active 3 weeks, 3 days ago Listened to Disneyland - Adventureland - The Tropical Hideaway ~ Daytime Area Loop
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Hiya Pal! I see the levels have been raised again, and you are still maxed out 
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RocketEAR99 started the topic Nov 7 - 14, 2022 - First Trip with 2 Kids Under 3 - Day 4 in the forum Trip Planning & Reports
Thursday morning the Tropical Storm was still rolling through, but Disney kept up with their plans to do a phased re-opening of the theme parks starting at Noon with the Magic Kingdom. The Christmas Party planned for that evening would also go as scheduled. It was nice to get up a little later in the morning and cook at hot breakfast in our villa. We had reservations for Magic Kingdom, but my parents, opting for fewer park days, did not. I think they were okay missing out.
Christy, the kids, and I drove off to Magic Kingdom in some relatively high winds and rain and arrived in the parking lot at about 11:15. Disembarking from there was a challenge (if you're staying a Animal Kingdom - Kidani Village, you get to park your car under the resort and out of the elements, so it was easy getting in the car to go). Now getting out of the car, opening a door, the wind could take it from you if you weren't careful. Donning a poncho was about as easy as bundling a parachute in the wind. Needless to say, you'd have to be crazy to be there. And crazy we are! We boarded the parking lot tram with a tram announcer that may have missed her calling to be on the Jungle Cruise. She was hilarious! So funny in fact, that she's probably better off not on the Jungle Cruise. The tram job is less scripted. She was rapid-firing lines like, "Hold onto your hats or they'll be gone with the wind!" and "Be sure to step out on the left side, not the right side, or you'll be left out. The last person who went right had a less magical day with the Magic Kingdom to his left and a big tram in his way."
Due to the weather we could take the Monorail or a bus since the weather was too rough for ferries. The bus, while less magical, had a much shorter line. We got to the park at 11:45 and remarkably the wind and rain died way down. Disney knows their weather! From there, the whole thing is honestly a blur (I should've written this sooner, but life got in the way). The bottom line is, we did so many rides! We went to Peter Pan first . Ariel did NOT like Peter Pan's Flight. No she did not. She kept on saying, "I want to get down! I want to get down!" Not her thing. We went to Cinderella's Carousel next. Ariel loved riding on that one with Christy! She went twice! We took a break by doing "it's a small world" after that which went pretty easy. Turns out boat rides are good! We gave Haunted Mansion a run. It was good, but not a smashing success for little Ariel and Enoch hated the dark.
We went over and got a quick bite of potstickers and Dole whips in Adventureland (Pineapple/Coconut swirl is tops!). After that Christy and I agreed to do one rider-switch ride: Splash Mountain. I went and then she went. It was a walk-on even as the sun was coming out. You never know which time on a ride will be your last. Glad we took the time to ride that one before it goes away and gets re-imagined. After that we got in line for Pirates of the Caribbean . The crowds were picking up now as Christmas Party guests began to enter the park. Ariel was okay with Pirates after the drop down the falls. Then we got into what became a rather long line for Jingle Cruise. This was also our first ride on the Jungle Cruise since the re-dress of the theme. Overall it was fun and our skipper pulled a few unique jokes too! We also heard the Jingle Cruise Skipper rendition of the 12 days of Christmas. On the twelfth day of Christmas they got 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 tuuuurrrrtle dooooovves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree. You can probably imagine how the song went leading up to that.
By then it was 5:00 and we had to leave to meet my parents for dinner. So we did a grand total of 8 rides (if you count the carousel twice) in 5 hours! Not bad! And we were beginning to get a feel for what rides Ariel was not going to like moving forward. We took the Monorail to the TTC and then got aboard the Tram...with the SAME Tram announcer! The jokes were even better this time: "If you lose your hat, just raise your hand, then I'll raise my hand, and we'll wave goodbye to it together!" "Our parking lot speed is 15 miles per hour, that's not a fast 5-0, but a slow 1-5. Be sure to follow the signs directing you to the EXIT. If you fail to follow the signs, there may be a great big beautiful tomorrow, but you'll still be here!"
We met my parents over at Port Orleans Riverside for dinner at Boatwrights. My parents had been there once before, but we hadn't. We asked our server for suggestions, and he basically had a hard time pointing to anything in particular because people rave about most of what they serve. He did say he found the blackened salmon particularly good. I looked at the "Taste of the Bayou" all you can eat option, but passed. It was chicken and sausage, and some other stuff, but having had a real taste of the Bayou at a Louisiana restaurant with gumbo, jambalaya, and etouffee, I couldn't justify it. Christy got the salmon, and I got the Jambalaya with chicken, shrimp, and sausage. Both dishes were very very delicious. The Jambalaya turned out to be very good with just the right amount of creole heat. For dessert, my parents split a cobbler, while Christy and I got the Cr猫me Brulee. The desserts proved not quite as good as the meal, but we were still glad we got them.
Afterward we saw YeeHaa Bob Jackson setting up in the River Roost. I had heard many a tale of the famed Bob Jackson, but never seen him. Dad and I stayed while my Mom, Christy and the kids went back to the villa. I have to say I was very impressed and we had a great time with Bob's songs and antics! Definitely worth the late night. Upon his intermission time, Dad and left and went to the villa to turn in. It had been another successful Disney day! IMG_20221110_132146284IMG_20221110_184428950IMG_20221110_184432686IMG_20221110_192558416IMG_20221110_192601665
planned for that evening would also go as scheduled. It was nice to get up a little later in the morning and cook at hot breakfast in our villa. We had reservations for Magic Kingdom, but my parents, opting for fewer park days, did not. I think they were okay missing out.
Christy, the kids, and I drove off to Magic Kingdom in some relatively high winds and rain and arrived in the parking lot at about 11:15. Disembarking from there was a challenge (if you're staying a Animal Kingdom - Kidani Village, you get to park your car under the resort and out of the elements, so it was easy getting in the car to go). Now getting out of the car, opening a door, the wind could take it from you if you weren't careful. Donning a poncho was about as easy as bundling a parachute in the wind. Needless to say, you'd have to be crazy to be there. And crazy we are! We boarded the parking lot tram with a tram announcer that may have missed her calling to be on the Jungle Cruise. She was hilarious! So funny in fact, that she's probably better off not on the Jungle Cruise. The tram job is less scripted. She was rapid-firing lines like, "Hold onto your hats or they'll be gone with the wind!" and "Be sure to step out on the left side, not the right side, or you'll be left out. The last person who went right had a less magical day with the Magic Kingdom to his left and a big tram in his way."
Due to the weather we could take the Monorail 
or a bus since the weather was too rough for ferries. The bus, while less magical, had a much shorter line. We got to the park at 11:45 and remarkably the wind and rain died way down. Disney knows their weather! From there, the whole thing is honestly a blur (I should've written this sooner, but life got in the way). The bottom line is, we did so many rides! We went to Peter Pan first 
. Ariel did NOT like Peter Pan's Flight. No she did not. She kept on saying, "I want to get down! I want to get down!" Not her thing. We went to Cinderella's Carousel 
next. Ariel loved riding on that one with Christy! She went twice! We took a break by doing "it's a small world" after that which went pretty easy. Turns out boat rides are good! 
We gave Haunted Mansion 
a run. It was good, but not a smashing success for little Ariel and Enoch hated the dark.
We went over and got a quick bite of potstickers and Dole whips 
in Adventureland (Pineapple/Coconut swirl is tops!). After that Christy and I agreed to do one rider-switch ride: Splash Mountain. I went and then she went. It was a walk-on even as the sun was coming out. You never know which time on a ride will be your last. Glad we took the time to ride that one before it goes away and gets re-imagined. After that we got in line for Pirates of the Caribbean 
. The crowds were picking up now as Christmas Party guests began to enter the park. Ariel was okay with Pirates after the drop down the falls. Then we got into what became a rather long line for Jingle Cruise. This was also our first ride on the Jungle Cruise since the re-dress of the theme. Overall it was fun and our skipper pulled a few unique jokes too! We also heard the Jingle Cruise Skipper rendition of the 12 days of Christmas. On the twelfth day of Christmas they got 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 tuuuurrrrtle dooooovves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree. You can probably imagine how the song went leading up to that.
By then it was 5:00 and we had to leave to meet my parents for dinner. So we did a grand total of 8 rides (if you count the carousel twice) in 5 hours! Not bad! And we were beginning to get a feel for what rides Ariel was not going to like moving forward. We took the Monorail to the TTC and then got aboard the Tram...with the SAME Tram announcer! The jokes were even better this time: "If you lose your hat, just raise your hand, then I'll raise my hand, and we'll wave goodbye to it together!" "Our parking lot speed is 15 miles per hour, that's not a fast 5-0, but a slow 1-5. Be sure to follow the signs directing you to the EXIT. If you fail to follow the signs, there may be a great big beautiful tomorrow, but you'll still be here!"
We met my parents over at Port Orleans Riverside for dinner at Boatwrights. My parents had been there once before, but we hadn't. We asked our server for suggestions, and he basically had a hard time pointing to anything in particular because people rave about most of what they serve. He did say he found the blackened salmon particularly good. I looked at the "Taste of the Bayou" all you can eat option, but passed. It was chicken and sausage, and some other stuff, but having had a real taste of the Bayou at a Louisiana restaurant with gumbo, jambalaya, and etouffee, I couldn't justify it. Christy got the salmon, and I got the Jambalaya with chicken, shrimp, and sausage. Both dishes were very very delicious. The Jambalaya turned out to be very good with just the right amount of creole heat. For dessert, my parents split a cobbler, while Christy and I got the Cr猫me Brulee. The desserts proved not quite as good as the meal, but we were still glad we got them.
Afterward we saw YeeHaa Bob Jackson setting up in the River Roost. I had heard many a tale of the famed Bob Jackson, but never seen him. Dad and I stayed while my Mom, Christy and the kids went back to the villa. I have to say I was very impressed and we had a great time with Bob's songs and antics! Definitely worth the late night. Upon his intermission time, Dad and left and went to the villa to turn in. It had been another successful Disney day! IMG_20221110_132146284IMG_20221110_184428950IMG_20221110_184432686IMG_20221110_192558416IMG_20221110_192601665
RocketEAR99 started the topic Nov 7 - 14, 2022 - First Trip with 2 Kids Under 3 - Day 4 in the forum Trip Planning & Reports
Thursday morning the Tropical Storm was still rolling through, but Disney kept up with their plans to do a phased re-opening of the theme parks starting at Noon with the Magic Kingdom. The Christmas Party planned for that evening would also go as scheduled. It was nice to get up a little later in the morning and cook at hot breakfast in our villa. We had reservations for Magic Kingdom, but my parents, opting for fewer park days, did not. I think they were okay missing out.
Christy, the kids, and I drove off to Magic Kingdom in some relatively high winds and rain and arrived in the parking lot at about 11:15. Disembarking from there was a challenge (if you're staying a Animal Kingdom - Kidani Village, you get to park your car under the resort and out of the elements, so it was easy getting in the car to go). Now getting out of the car, opening a door, the wind could take it from you if you weren't careful. Donning a poncho was about as easy as bundling a parachute in the wind. Needless to say, you'd have to be crazy to be there. And crazy we are! We boarded the parking lot tram with a tram announcer that may have missed her calling to be on the Jungle Cruise. She was hilarious! So funny in fact, that she's probably better off not on the Jungle Cruise. The tram job is less scripted. She was rapid-firing lines like, "Hold onto your hats or they'll be gone with the wind!" and "Be sure to step out on the left side, not the right side, or you'll be left out. The last person who went right had a less magical day with the Magic Kingdom to his left and a big tram in his way."
Due to the weather we could take the Monorail or a bus since the weather was too rough for ferries. The bus, while less magical, had a much shorter line. We got to the park at 11:45 and remarkably the wind and rain died way down. Disney knows their weather! From there, the whole thing is honestly a blur (I should've written this sooner, but life got in the way). The bottom line is, we did so many rides! We went to Peter Pan first . Ariel did NOT like Peter Pan's Flight. No she did not. She kept on saying, "I want to get down! I want to get down!" Not her thing. We went to Cinderella's Carousel next. Ariel loved riding on that one with Christy! She went twice! We took a break by doing "it's a small world" after that which went pretty easy. Turns out boat rides are good! We gave Haunted Mansion a run. It was good, but not a smashing success for little Ariel and Enoch hated the dark.
We went over and got a quick bite of potstickers and Dole whips in Adventureland (Pineapple/Coconut swirl is tops!). After that Christy and I agreed to do one rider-switch ride: Splash Mountain. I went and then she went. It was a walk-on even as the sun was coming out. You never know which time on a ride will be your last. Glad we took the time to ride that one before it goes away and gets re-imagined. After that we got in line for Pirates of the Caribbean . The crowds were picking up now as Christmas Party guests began to enter the park. Ariel was okay with Pirates after the drop down the falls. Then we got into what became a rather long line for Jingle Cruise. This was also our first ride on the Jungle Cruise since the re-dress of the theme. Overall it was fun and our skipper pulled a few unique jokes too! We also heard the Jingle Cruise Skipper rendition of the 12 days of Christmas. On the twelfth day of Christmas they got 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 tuuuurrrrtle dooooovves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree. You can probably imagine how the song went leading up to that.
By then it was 5:00 and we had to leave to meet my parents for dinner. So we did a grand total of 8 rides (if you count the carousel twice) in 5 hours! Not bad! And we were beginning to get a feel for what rides Ariel was not going to like moving forward. We took the Monorail to the TTC and then got aboard the Tram...with the SAME Tram announcer! The jokes were even better this time: "If you lose your hat, just raise your hand, then I'll raise my hand, and we'll wave goodbye to it together!" "Our parking lot speed is 15 miles per hour, that's not a fast 5-0, but a slow 1-5. Be sure to follow the signs directing you to the EXIT. If you fail to follow the signs, there may be a great big beautiful tomorrow, but you'll still be here!"
We met my parents over at Port Orleans Riverside for dinner at Boatwrights. My parents had been there once before, but we hadn't. We asked our server for suggestions, and he basically had a hard time pointing to anything in particular because people rave about most of what they serve. He did say he found the blackened salmon particularly good. I looked at the "Taste of the Bayou" all you can eat option, but passed. It was chicken and sausage, and some other stuff, but having had a real taste of the Bayou at a Louisiana restaurant with gumbo, jambalaya, and etouffee, I couldn't justify it. Christy got the salmon, and I got the Jambalaya with chicken, shrimp, and sausage. Both dishes were very very delicious. The Jambalaya turned out to be very good with just the right amount of creole heat. For dessert, my parents split a cobbler, while Christy and I got the Cr猫me Brulee. The desserts proved not quite as good as the meal, but we were still glad we got them.
Afterward we saw YeeHaa Bob Jackson setting up in the River Roost. I had heard many a tale of the famed Bob Jackson, but never seen him. Dad and I stayed while my Mom, Christy and the kids went back to the villa. I have to say I was very impressed and we had a great time with Bob's songs and antics! Definitely worth the late night. Upon his intermission time, Dad and left and went to the villa to turn in. It had been another successful Disney day! IMG_20221110_132146284IMG_20221110_184428950IMG_20221110_184432686IMG_20221110_192558416IMG_20221110_192601665
planned for that evening would also go as scheduled. It was nice to get up a little later in the morning and cook at hot breakfast in our villa. We had reservations for Magic Kingdom, but my parents, opting for fewer park days, did not. I think they were okay missing out.
Christy, the kids, and I drove off to Magic Kingdom in some relatively high winds and rain and arrived in the parking lot at about 11:15. Disembarking from there was a challenge (if you're staying a Animal Kingdom - Kidani Village, you get to park your car under the resort and out of the elements, so it was easy getting in the car to go). Now getting out of the car, opening a door, the wind could take it from you if you weren't careful. Donning a poncho was about as easy as bundling a parachute in the wind. Needless to say, you'd have to be crazy to be there. And crazy we are! We boarded the parking lot tram with a tram announcer that may have missed her calling to be on the Jungle Cruise. She was hilarious! So funny in fact, that she's probably better off not on the Jungle Cruise. The tram job is less scripted. She was rapid-firing lines like, "Hold onto your hats or they'll be gone with the wind!" and "Be sure to step out on the left side, not the right side, or you'll be left out. The last person who went right had a less magical day with the Magic Kingdom to his left and a big tram in his way."
Due to the weather we could take the Monorail or a bus since the weather was too rough for ferries. The bus, while less magical, had a much shorter line. We got to the park at 11:45 and remarkably the wind and rain died way down. Disney knows their weather! From there, the whole thing is honestly a blur (I should've written this sooner, but life got in the way). The bottom line is, we did so many rides! We went to Peter Pan first . Ariel did NOT like Peter Pan's Flight. No she did not. She kept on saying, "I want to get down! I want to get down!" Not her thing. We went to Cinderella's Carousel next. Ariel loved riding on that one with Christy! She went twice! We took a break by doing "it's a small world" after that which went pretty easy. Turns out boat rides are good! We gave Haunted Mansion a run. It was good, but not a smashing success for little Ariel and Enoch hated the dark.
We went over and got a quick bite of potstickers and Dole whips in Adventureland (Pineapple/Coconut swirl is tops!). After that Christy and I agreed to do one rider-switch ride: Splash Mountain. I went and then she went. It was a walk-on even as the sun was coming out. You never know which time on a ride will be your last. Glad we took the time to ride that one before it goes away and gets re-imagined. After that we got in line for Pirates of the Caribbean . The crowds were picking up now as Christmas Party guests began to enter the park. Ariel was okay with Pirates after the drop down the falls. Then we got into what became a rather long line for Jingle Cruise. This was also our first ride on the Jungle Cruise since the re-dress of the theme. Overall it was fun and our skipper pulled a few unique jokes too! We also heard the Jingle Cruise Skipper rendition of the 12 days of Christmas. On the twelfth day of Christmas they got 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 tuuuurrrrtle dooooovves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree. You can probably imagine how the song went leading up to that.
By then it was 5:00 and we had to leave to meet my parents for dinner. So we did a grand total of 8 rides (if you count the carousel twice) in 5 hours! Not bad! And we were beginning to get a feel for what rides Ariel was not going to like moving forward. We took the Monorail to the TTC and then got aboard the Tram...with the SAME Tram announcer! The jokes were even better this time: "If you lose your hat, just raise your hand, then I'll raise my hand, and we'll wave goodbye to it together!" "Our parking lot speed is 15 miles per hour, that's not a fast 5-0, but a slow 1-5. Be sure to follow the signs directing you to the EXIT. If you fail to follow the signs, there may be a great big beautiful tomorrow, but you'll still be here!"
We met my parents over at Port Orleans Riverside for dinner at Boatwrights. My parents had been there once before, but we hadn't. We asked our server for suggestions, and he basically had a hard time pointing to anything in particular because people rave about most of what they serve. He did say he found the blackened salmon particularly good. I looked at the "Taste of the Bayou" all you can eat option, but passed. It was chicken and sausage, and some other stuff, but having had a real taste of the Bayou at a Louisiana restaurant with gumbo, jambalaya, and etouffee, I couldn't justify it. Christy got the salmon, and I got the Jambalaya with chicken, shrimp, and sausage. Both dishes were very very delicious. The Jambalaya turned out to be very good with just the right amount of creole heat. For dessert, my parents split a cobbler, while Christy and I got the Cr猫me Brulee. The desserts proved not quite as good as the meal, but we were still glad we got them.
Afterward we saw YeeHaa Bob Jackson setting up in the River Roost. I had heard many a tale of the famed Bob Jackson, but never seen him. Dad and I stayed while my Mom, Christy and the kids went back to the villa. I have to say I was very impressed and we had a great time with Bob's songs and antics! Definitely worth the late night. Upon his intermission time, Dad and left and went to the villa to turn in. It had been another successful Disney day! IMG_20221110_132146284IMG_20221110_184428950IMG_20221110_184432686IMG_20221110_192558416IMG_20221110_192601665
RocketEAR99 started the topic Nov 7 - 14, 2022 - First Trip with 2 Kids Under 3 - Day 4 in the forum Trip Planning & Reports
Thursday morning the Tropical Storm was still rolling through, but Disney kept up with their plans to do a phased re-opening of the theme parks starting at Noon with the Magic Kingdom. The Christmas Party planned for that evening would also go as scheduled. It was nice to get up a little later in the morning and cook at hot breakfast in our villa. We had reservations for Magic Kingdom, but my parents, opting for fewer park days, did not. I think they were okay missing out.
Christy, the kids, and I drove off to Magic Kingdom in some relatively high winds and rain and arrived in the parking lot at about 11:15. Disembarking from there was a challenge (if you're staying a Animal Kingdom - Kidani Village, you get to park your car under the resort and out of the elements, so it was easy getting in the car to go). Now getting out of the car, opening a door, the wind could take it from you if you weren't careful. Donning a poncho was about as easy as bundling a parachute in the wind. Needless to say, you'd have to be crazy to be there. And crazy we are! We boarded the parking lot tram with a tram announcer that may have missed her calling to be on the Jungle Cruise. She was hilarious! So funny in fact, that she's probably better off not on the Jungle Cruise. The tram job is less scripted. She was rapid-firing lines like, "Hold onto your hats or they'll be gone with the wind!" and "Be sure to step out on the left side, not the right side, or you'll be left out. The last person who went right had a less magical day with the Magic Kingdom to his left and a big tram in his way."
Due to the weather we could take the Monorail or a bus since the weather was too rough for ferries. The bus, while less magical, had a much shorter line. We got to the park at 11:45 and remarkably the wind and rain died way down. Disney knows their weather! From there, the whole thing is honestly a blur (I should've written this sooner, but life got in the way). The bottom line is, we did so many rides! We went to Peter Pan first . Ariel did NOT like Peter Pan's Flight. No she did not. She kept on saying, "I want to get down! I want to get down!" Not her thing. We went to Cinderella's Carousel next. Ariel loved riding on that one with Christy! She went twice! We took a break by doing "it's a small world" after that which went pretty easy. Turns out boat rides are good! We gave Haunted Mansion a run. It was good, but not a smashing success for little Ariel and Enoch hated the dark.
We went over and got a quick bite of potstickers and Dole whips in Adventureland (Pineapple/Coconut swirl is tops!). After that Christy and I agreed to do one rider-switch ride: Splash Mountain. I went and then she went. It was a walk-on even as the sun was coming out. You never know which time on a ride will be your last. Glad we took the time to ride that one before it goes away and gets re-imagined. After that we got in line for Pirates of the Caribbean . The crowds were picking up now as Christmas Party guests began to enter the park. Ariel was okay with Pirates after the drop down the falls. Then we got into what became a rather long line for Jingle Cruise. This was also our first ride on the Jungle Cruise since the re-dress of the theme. Overall it was fun and our skipper pulled a few unique jokes too! We also heard the Jingle Cruise Skipper rendition of the 12 days of Christmas. On the twelfth day of Christmas they got 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 tuuuurrrrtle dooooovves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree. You can probably imagine how the song went leading up to that.
By then it was 5:00 and we had to leave to meet my parents for dinner. So we did a grand total of 8 rides (if you count the carousel twice) in 5 hours! Not bad! And we were beginning to get a feel for what rides Ariel was not going to like moving forward. We took the Monorail to the TTC and then got aboard the Tram...with the SAME Tram announcer! The jokes were even better this time: "If you lose your hat, just raise your hand, then I'll raise my hand, and we'll wave goodbye to it together!" "Our parking lot speed is 15 miles per hour, that's not a fast 5-0, but a slow 1-5. Be sure to follow the signs directing you to the EXIT. If you fail to follow the signs, there may be a great big beautiful tomorrow, but you'll still be here!"
We met my parents over at Port Orleans Riverside for dinner at Boatwrights. My parents had been there once before, but we hadn't. We asked our server for suggestions, and he basically had a hard time pointing to anything in particular because people rave about most of what they serve. He did say he found the blackened salmon particularly good. I looked at the "Taste of the Bayou" all you can eat option, but passed. It was chicken and sausage, and some other stuff, but having had a real taste of the Bayou at a Louisiana restaurant with gumbo, jambalaya, and etouffee, I couldn't justify it. Christy got the salmon, and I got the Jambalaya with chicken, shrimp, and sausage. Both dishes were very very delicious. The Jambalaya turned out to be very good with just the right amount of creole heat. For dessert, my parents split a cobbler, while Christy and I got the Cr猫me Brulee. The desserts proved not quite as good as the meal, but we were still glad we got them.
Afterward we saw YeeHaa Bob Jackson setting up in the River Roost. I had heard many a tale of the famed Bob Jackson, but never seen him. Dad and I stayed while my Mom, Christy and the kids went back to the villa. I have to say I was very impressed and we had a great time with Bob's songs and antics! Definitely worth the late night. Upon his intermission time, Dad and left and went to the villa to turn in. It had been another successful Disney day! IMG_20221110_132146284IMG_20221110_184428950IMG_20221110_184432686IMG_20221110_192558416IMG_20221110_192601665
planned for that evening would also go as scheduled. It was nice to get up a little later in the morning and cook at hot breakfast in our villa. We had reservations for Magic Kingdom, but my parents, opting for fewer park days, did not. I think they were okay missing out.
Christy, the kids, and I drove off to Magic Kingdom in some relatively high winds and rain and arrived in the parking lot at about 11:15. Disembarking from there was a challenge (if you're staying a Animal Kingdom - Kidani Village, you get to park your car under the resort and out of the elements, so it was easy getting in the car to go). Now getting out of the car, opening a door, the wind could take it from you if you weren't careful. Donning a poncho was about as easy as bundling a parachute in the wind. Needless to say, you'd have to be crazy to be there. And crazy we are! We boarded the parking lot tram with a tram announcer that may have missed her calling to be on the Jungle Cruise. She was hilarious! So funny in fact, that she's probably better off not on the Jungle Cruise. The tram job is less scripted. She was rapid-firing lines like, "Hold onto your hats or they'll be gone with the wind!" and "Be sure to step out on the left side, not the right side, or you'll be left out. The last person who went right had a less magical day with the Magic Kingdom to his left and a big tram in his way."
Due to the weather we could take the Monorail or a bus since the weather was too rough for ferries. The bus, while less magical, had a much shorter line. We got to the park at 11:45 and remarkably the wind and rain died way down. Disney knows their weather! From there, the whole thing is honestly a blur (I should've written this sooner, but life got in the way). The bottom line is, we did so many rides! We went to Peter Pan first . Ariel did NOT like Peter Pan's Flight. No she did not. She kept on saying, "I want to get down! I want to get down!" Not her thing. We went to Cinderella's Carousel next. Ariel loved riding on that one with Christy! She went twice! We took a break by doing "it's a small world" after that which went pretty easy. Turns out boat rides are good! We gave Haunted Mansion a run. It was good, but not a smashing success for little Ariel and Enoch hated the dark.
We went over and got a quick bite of potstickers and Dole whips in Adventureland (Pineapple/Coconut swirl is tops!). After that Christy and I agreed to do one rider-switch ride: Splash Mountain. I went and then she went. It was a walk-on even as the sun was coming out. You never know which time on a ride will be your last. Glad we took the time to ride that one before it goes away and gets re-imagined. After that we got in line for Pirates of the Caribbean . The crowds were picking up now as Christmas Party guests began to enter the park. Ariel was okay with Pirates after the drop down the falls. Then we got into what became a rather long line for Jingle Cruise. This was also our first ride on the Jungle Cruise since the re-dress of the theme. Overall it was fun and our skipper pulled a few unique jokes too! We also heard the Jingle Cruise Skipper rendition of the 12 days of Christmas. On the twelfth day of Christmas they got 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 tuuuurrrrtle dooooovves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree. You can probably imagine how the song went leading up to that.
By then it was 5:00 and we had to leave to meet my parents for dinner. So we did a grand total of 8 rides (if you count the carousel twice) in 5 hours! Not bad! And we were beginning to get a feel for what rides Ariel was not going to like moving forward. We took the Monorail to the TTC and then got aboard the Tram...with the SAME Tram announcer! The jokes were even better this time: "If you lose your hat, just raise your hand, then I'll raise my hand, and we'll wave goodbye to it together!" "Our parking lot speed is 15 miles per hour, that's not a fast 5-0, but a slow 1-5. Be sure to follow the signs directing you to the EXIT. If you fail to follow the signs, there may be a great big beautiful tomorrow, but you'll still be here!"
We met my parents over at Port Orleans Riverside for dinner at Boatwrights. My parents had been there once before, but we hadn't. We asked our server for suggestions, and he basically had a hard time pointing to anything in particular because people rave about most of what they serve. He did say he found the blackened salmon particularly good. I looked at the "Taste of the Bayou" all you can eat option, but passed. It was chicken and sausage, and some other stuff, but having had a real taste of the Bayou at a Louisiana restaurant with gumbo, jambalaya, and etouffee, I couldn't justify it. Christy got the salmon, and I got the Jambalaya with chicken, shrimp, and sausage. Both dishes were very very delicious. The Jambalaya turned out to be very good with just the right amount of creole heat. For dessert, my parents split a cobbler, while Christy and I got the Cr猫me Brulee. The desserts proved not quite as good as the meal, but we were still glad we got them.
Afterward we saw YeeHaa Bob Jackson setting up in the River Roost. I had heard many a tale of the famed Bob Jackson, but never seen him. Dad and I stayed while my Mom, Christy and the kids went back to the villa. I have to say I was very impressed and we had a great time with Bob's songs and antics! Definitely worth the late night. Upon his intermission time, Dad and left and went to the villa to turn in. It had been another successful Disney day! IMG_20221110_132146284IMG_20221110_184428950IMG_20221110_184432686IMG_20221110_192558416IMG_20221110_192601665
RocketEAR99 started the topic Nov 7 - 14, 2022 - First Trip with 2 Kids Under 3 - Day 4 in the forum Trip Planning & Reports
Thursday morning the Tropical Storm was still rolling through, but Disney kept up with their plans to do a phased re-opening of the theme parks starting at Noon with the Magic Kingdom. The Christmas Party planned for that evening would also go as scheduled. It was nice to get up a little later in the morning and cook at hot breakfast in our villa. We had reservations for Magic Kingdom, but my parents, opting for fewer park days, did not. I think they were okay missing out.
Christy, the kids, and I drove off to Magic Kingdom in some relatively high winds and rain and arrived in the parking lot at about 11:15. Disembarking from there was a challenge (if you're staying a Animal Kingdom - Kidani Village, you get to park your car under the resort and out of the elements, so it was easy getting in the car to go). Now getting out of the car, opening a door, the wind could take it from you if you weren't careful. Donning a poncho was about as easy as bundling a parachute in the wind. Needless to say, you'd have to be crazy to be there. And crazy we are! We boarded the parking lot tram with a tram announcer that may have missed her calling to be on the Jungle Cruise. She was hilarious! So funny in fact, that she's probably better off not on the Jungle Cruise. The tram job is less scripted. She was rapid-firing lines like, "Hold onto your hats or they'll be gone with the wind!" and "Be sure to step out on the left side, not the right side, or you'll be left out. The last person who went right had a less magical day with the Magic Kingdom to his left and a big tram in his way."
Due to the weather we could take the Monorail or a bus since the weather was too rough for ferries. The bus, while less magical, had a much shorter line. We got to the park at 11:45 and remarkably the wind and rain died way down. Disney knows their weather! From there, the whole thing is honestly a blur (I should've written this sooner, but life got in the way). The bottom line is, we did so many rides! We went to Peter Pan first . Ariel did NOT like Peter Pan's Flight. No she did not. She kept on saying, "I want to get down! I want to get down!" Not her thing. We went to Cinderella's Carousel next. Ariel loved riding on that one with Christy! She went twice! We took a break by doing "it's a small world" after that which went pretty easy. Turns out boat rides are good! We gave Haunted Mansion a run. It was good, but not a smashing success for little Ariel and Enoch hated the dark.
We went over and got a quick bite of potstickers and Dole whips in Adventureland (Pineapple/Coconut swirl is tops!). After that Christy and I agreed to do one rider-switch ride: Splash Mountain. I went and then she went. It was a walk-on even as the sun was coming out. You never know which time on a ride will be your last. Glad we took the time to ride that one before it goes away and gets re-imagined. After that we got in line for Pirates of the Caribbean . The crowds were picking up now as Christmas Party guests began to enter the park. Ariel was okay with Pirates after the drop down the falls. Then we got into what became a rather long line for Jingle Cruise. This was also our first ride on the Jungle Cruise since the re-dress of the theme. Overall it was fun and our skipper pulled a few unique jokes too! We also heard the Jingle Cruise Skipper rendition of the 12 days of Christmas. On the twelfth day of Christmas they got 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 tuuuurrrrtle dooooovves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree. You can probably imagine how the song went leading up to that.
By then it was 5:00 and we had to leave to meet my parents for dinner. So we did a grand total of 8 rides (if you count the carousel twice) in 5 hours! Not bad! And we were beginning to get a feel for what rides Ariel was not going to like moving forward. We took the Monorail to the TTC and then got aboard the Tram...with the SAME Tram announcer! The jokes were even better this time: "If you lose your hat, just raise your hand, then I'll raise my hand, and we'll wave goodbye to it together!" "Our parking lot speed is 15 miles per hour, that's not a fast 5-0, but a slow 1-5. Be sure to follow the signs directing you to the EXIT. If you fail to follow the signs, there may be a great big beautiful tomorrow, but you'll still be here!"
We met my parents over at Port Orleans Riverside for dinner at Boatwrights. My parents had been there once before, but we hadn't. We asked our server for suggestions, and he basically had a hard time pointing to anything in particular because people rave about most of what they serve. He did say he found the blackened salmon particularly good. I looked at the "Taste of the Bayou" all you can eat option, but passed. It was chicken and sausage, and some other stuff, but having had a real taste of the Bayou at a Louisiana restaurant with gumbo, jambalaya, and etouffee, I couldn't justify it. Christy got the salmon, and I got the Jambalaya with chicken, shrimp, and sausage. Both dishes were very very delicious. The Jambalaya turned out to be very good with just the right amount of creole heat. For dessert, my parents split a cobbler, while Christy and I got the Cr猫me Brulee. The desserts proved not quite as good as the meal, but we were still glad we got them.
Afterward we saw YeeHaa Bob Jackson setting up in the River Roost. I had heard many a tale of the famed Bob Jackson, but never seen him. Dad and I stayed while my Mom, Christy and the kids went back to the villa. I have to say I was very impressed and we had a great time with Bob's songs and antics! Definitely worth the late night. Upon his intermission time, Dad and left and went to the villa to turn in. It had been another successful Disney day! IMG_20221110_132146284IMG_20221110_184428950IMG_20221110_184432686IMG_20221110_192558416IMG_20221110_192601665
planned for that evening would also go as scheduled. It was nice to get up a little later in the morning and cook at hot breakfast in our villa. We had reservations for Magic Kingdom, but my parents, opting for fewer park days, did not. I think they were okay missing out.
Christy, the kids, and I drove off to Magic Kingdom in some relatively high winds and rain and arrived in the parking lot at about 11:15. Disembarking from there was a challenge (if you're staying a Animal Kingdom - Kidani Village, you get to park your car under the resort and out of the elements, so it was easy getting in the car to go). Now getting out of the car, opening a door, the wind could take it from you if you weren't careful. Donning a poncho was about as easy as bundling a parachute in the wind. Needless to say, you'd have to be crazy to be there. And crazy we are! We boarded the parking lot tram with a tram announcer that may have missed her calling to be on the Jungle Cruise. She was hilarious! So funny in fact, that she's probably better off not on the Jungle Cruise. The tram job is less scripted. She was rapid-firing lines like, "Hold onto your hats or they'll be gone with the wind!" and "Be sure to step out on the left side, not the right side, or you'll be left out. The last person who went right had a less magical day with the Magic Kingdom to his left and a big tram in his way."
Due to the weather we could take the Monorail or a bus since the weather was too rough for ferries. The bus, while less magical, had a much shorter line. We got to the park at 11:45 and remarkably the wind and rain died way down. Disney knows their weather! From there, the whole thing is honestly a blur (I should've written this sooner, but life got in the way). The bottom line is, we did so many rides! We went to Peter Pan first . Ariel did NOT like Peter Pan's Flight. No she did not. She kept on saying, "I want to get down! I want to get down!" Not her thing. We went to Cinderella's Carousel next. Ariel loved riding on that one with Christy! She went twice! We took a break by doing "it's a small world" after that which went pretty easy. Turns out boat rides are good! We gave Haunted Mansion a run. It was good, but not a smashing success for little Ariel and Enoch hated the dark.
We went over and got a quick bite of potstickers and Dole whips in Adventureland (Pineapple/Coconut swirl is tops!). After that Christy and I agreed to do one rider-switch ride: Splash Mountain. I went and then she went. It was a walk-on even as the sun was coming out. You never know which time on a ride will be your last. Glad we took the time to ride that one before it goes away and gets re-imagined. After that we got in line for Pirates of the Caribbean . The crowds were picking up now as Christmas Party guests began to enter the park. Ariel was okay with Pirates after the drop down the falls. Then we got into what became a rather long line for Jingle Cruise. This was also our first ride on the Jungle Cruise since the re-dress of the theme. Overall it was fun and our skipper pulled a few unique jokes too! We also heard the Jingle Cruise Skipper rendition of the 12 days of Christmas. On the twelfth day of Christmas they got 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 tuuuurrrrtle dooooovves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree. You can probably imagine how the song went leading up to that.
By then it was 5:00 and we had to leave to meet my parents for dinner. So we did a grand total of 8 rides (if you count the carousel twice) in 5 hours! Not bad! And we were beginning to get a feel for what rides Ariel was not going to like moving forward. We took the Monorail to the TTC and then got aboard the Tram...with the SAME Tram announcer! The jokes were even better this time: "If you lose your hat, just raise your hand, then I'll raise my hand, and we'll wave goodbye to it together!" "Our parking lot speed is 15 miles per hour, that's not a fast 5-0, but a slow 1-5. Be sure to follow the signs directing you to the EXIT. If you fail to follow the signs, there may be a great big beautiful tomorrow, but you'll still be here!"
We met my parents over at Port Orleans Riverside for dinner at Boatwrights. My parents had been there once before, but we hadn't. We asked our server for suggestions, and he basically had a hard time pointing to anything in particular because people rave about most of what they serve. He did say he found the blackened salmon particularly good. I looked at the "Taste of the Bayou" all you can eat option, but passed. It was chicken and sausage, and some other stuff, but having had a real taste of the Bayou at a Louisiana restaurant with gumbo, jambalaya, and etouffee, I couldn't justify it. Christy got the salmon, and I got the Jambalaya with chicken, shrimp, and sausage. Both dishes were very very delicious. The Jambalaya turned out to be very good with just the right amount of creole heat. For dessert, my parents split a cobbler, while Christy and I got the Cr猫me Brulee. The desserts proved not quite as good as the meal, but we were still glad we got them.
Afterward we saw YeeHaa Bob Jackson setting up in the River Roost. I had heard many a tale of the famed Bob Jackson, but never seen him. Dad and I stayed while my Mom, Christy and the kids went back to the villa. I have to say I was very impressed and we had a great time with Bob's songs and antics! Definitely worth the late night. Upon his intermission time, Dad and left and went to the villa to turn in. It had been another successful Disney day! IMG_20221110_132146284IMG_20221110_184428950IMG_20221110_184432686IMG_20221110_192558416IMG_20221110_192601665
RocketEAR99 started the topic Nov 7 - 14, 2022 - First Trip with 2 Kids Under 3 - Day 4 in the forum Trip Planning & Reports
Thursday morning the Tropical Storm was still rolling through, but Disney kept up with their plans to do a phased re-opening of the theme parks starting at Noon with the Magic Kingdom. The Christmas Party planned for that evening would also go as scheduled. It was nice to get up a little later in the morning and cook at hot breakfast in our villa. We had reservations for Magic Kingdom, but my parents, opting for fewer park days, did not. I think they were okay missing out.
Christy, the kids, and I drove off to Magic Kingdom in some relatively high winds and rain and arrived in the parking lot at about 11:15. Disembarking from there was a challenge (if you're staying a Animal Kingdom - Kidani Village, you get to park your car under the resort and out of the elements, so it was easy getting in the car to go). Now getting out of the car, opening a door, the wind could take it from you if you weren't careful. Donning a poncho was about as easy as bundling a parachute in the wind. Needless to say, you'd have to be crazy to be there. And crazy we are! We boarded the parking lot tram with a tram announcer that may have missed her calling to be on the Jungle Cruise. She was hilarious! So funny in fact, that she's probably better off not on the Jungle Cruise. The tram job is less scripted. She was rapid-firing lines like, "Hold onto your hats or they'll be gone with the wind!" and "Be sure to step out on the left side, not the right side, or you'll be left out. The last person who went right had a less magical day with the Magic Kingdom to his left and a big tram in his way."
Due to the weather we could take the Monorail or a bus since the weather was too rough for ferries. The bus, while less magical, had a much shorter line. We got to the park at 11:45 and remarkably the wind and rain died way down. Disney knows their weather! From there, the whole thing is honestly a blur (I should've written this sooner, but life got in the way). The bottom line is, we did so many rides! We went to Peter Pan first . Ariel did NOT like Peter Pan's Flight. No she did not. She kept on saying, "I want to get down! I want to get down!" Not her thing. We went to Cinderella's Carousel next. Ariel loved riding on that one with Christy! She went twice! We took a break by doing "it's a small world" after that which went pretty easy. Turns out boat rides are good! We gave Haunted Mansion a run. It was good, but not a smashing success for little Ariel and Enoch hated the dark.
We went over and got a quick bite of potstickers and Dole whips in Adventureland (Pineapple/Coconut swirl is tops!). After that Christy and I agreed to do one rider-switch ride: Splash Mountain. I went and then she went. It was a walk-on even as the sun was coming out. You never know which time on a ride will be your last. Glad we took the time to ride that one before it goes away and gets re-imagined. After that we got in line for Pirates of the Caribbean . The crowds were picking up now as Christmas Party guests began to enter the park. Ariel was okay with Pirates after the drop down the falls. Then we got into what became a rather long line for Jingle Cruise. This was also our first ride on the Jungle Cruise since the re-dress of the theme. Overall it was fun and our skipper pulled a few unique jokes too! We also heard the Jingle Cruise Skipper rendition of the 12 days of Christmas. On the twelfth day of Christmas they got 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 tuuuurrrrtle dooooovves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree. You can probably imagine how the song went leading up to that.
By then it was 5:00 and we had to leave to meet my parents for dinner. So we did a grand total of 8 rides (if you count the carousel twice) in 5 hours! Not bad! And we were beginning to get a feel for what rides Ariel was not going to like moving forward. We took the Monorail to the TTC and then got aboard the Tram...with the SAME Tram announcer! The jokes were even better this time: "If you lose your hat, just raise your hand, then I'll raise my hand, and we'll wave goodbye to it together!" "Our parking lot speed is 15 miles per hour, that's not a fast 5-0, but a slow 1-5. Be sure to follow the signs directing you to the EXIT. If you fail to follow the signs, there may be a great big beautiful tomorrow, but you'll still be here!"
We met my parents over at Port Orleans Riverside for dinner at Boatwrights. My parents had been there once before, but we hadn't. We asked our server for suggestions, and he basically had a hard time pointing to anything in particular because people rave about most of what they serve. He did say he found the blackened salmon particularly good. I looked at the "Taste of the Bayou" all you can eat option, but passed. It was chicken and sausage, and some other stuff, but having had a real taste of the Bayou at a Louisiana restaurant with gumbo, jambalaya, and etouffee, I couldn't justify it. Christy got the salmon, and I got the Jambalaya with chicken, shrimp, and sausage. Both dishes were very very delicious. The Jambalaya turned out to be very good with just the right amount of creole heat. For dessert, my parents split a cobbler, while Christy and I got the Cr猫me Brulee. The desserts proved not quite as good as the meal, but we were still glad we got them.
Afterward we saw YeeHaa Bob Jackson setting up in the River Roost. I had heard many a tale of the famed Bob Jackson, but never seen him. Dad and I stayed while my Mom, Christy and the kids went back to the villa. I have to say I was very impressed and we had a great time with Bob's songs and antics! Definitely worth the late night. Upon his intermission time, Dad and left and went to the villa to turn in. It had been another successful Disney day! IMG_20221110_132146284IMG_20221110_184428950IMG_20221110_184432686IMG_20221110_192558416IMG_20221110_192601665
planned for that evening would also go as scheduled. It was nice to get up a little later in the morning and cook at hot breakfast in our villa. We had reservations for Magic Kingdom, but my parents, opting for fewer park days, did not. I think they were okay missing out.
Christy, the kids, and I drove off to Magic Kingdom in some relatively high winds and rain and arrived in the parking lot at about 11:15. Disembarking from there was a challenge (if you're staying a Animal Kingdom - Kidani Village, you get to park your car under the resort and out of the elements, so it was easy getting in the car to go). Now getting out of the car, opening a door, the wind could take it from you if you weren't careful. Donning a poncho was about as easy as bundling a parachute in the wind. Needless to say, you'd have to be crazy to be there. And crazy we are! We boarded the parking lot tram with a tram announcer that may have missed her calling to be on the Jungle Cruise. She was hilarious! So funny in fact, that she's probably better off not on the Jungle Cruise. The tram job is less scripted. She was rapid-firing lines like, "Hold onto your hats or they'll be gone with the wind!" and "Be sure to step out on the left side, not the right side, or you'll be left out. The last person who went right had a less magical day with the Magic Kingdom to his left and a big tram in his way."
Due to the weather we could take the Monorail or a bus since the weather was too rough for ferries. The bus, while less magical, had a much shorter line. We got to the park at 11:45 and remarkably the wind and rain died way down. Disney knows their weather! From there, the whole thing is honestly a blur (I should've written this sooner, but life got in the way). The bottom line is, we did so many rides! We went to Peter Pan first . Ariel did NOT like Peter Pan's Flight. No she did not. She kept on saying, "I want to get down! I want to get down!" Not her thing. We went to Cinderella's Carousel next. Ariel loved riding on that one with Christy! She went twice! We took a break by doing "it's a small world" after that which went pretty easy. Turns out boat rides are good! We gave Haunted Mansion a run. It was good, but not a smashing success for little Ariel and Enoch hated the dark.
We went over and got a quick bite of potstickers and Dole whips in Adventureland (Pineapple/Coconut swirl is tops!). After that Christy and I agreed to do one rider-switch ride: Splash Mountain. I went and then she went. It was a walk-on even as the sun was coming out. You never know which time on a ride will be your last. Glad we took the time to ride that one before it goes away and gets re-imagined. After that we got in line for Pirates of the Caribbean . The crowds were picking up now as Christmas Party guests began to enter the park. Ariel was okay with Pirates after the drop down the falls. Then we got into what became a rather long line for Jingle Cruise. This was also our first ride on the Jungle Cruise since the re-dress of the theme. Overall it was fun and our skipper pulled a few unique jokes too! We also heard the Jingle Cruise Skipper rendition of the 12 days of Christmas. On the twelfth day of Christmas they got 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 tuuuurrrrtle dooooovves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, 2 turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree. You can probably imagine how the song went leading up to that.
By then it was 5:00 and we had to leave to meet my parents for dinner. So we did a grand total of 8 rides (if you count the carousel twice) in 5 hours! Not bad! And we were beginning to get a feel for what rides Ariel was not going to like moving forward. We took the Monorail to the TTC and then got aboard the Tram...with the SAME Tram announcer! The jokes were even better this time: "If you lose your hat, just raise your hand, then I'll raise my hand, and we'll wave goodbye to it together!" "Our parking lot speed is 15 miles per hour, that's not a fast 5-0, but a slow 1-5. Be sure to follow the signs directing you to the EXIT. If you fail to follow the signs, there may be a great big beautiful tomorrow, but you'll still be here!"
We met my parents over at Port Orleans Riverside for dinner at Boatwrights. My parents had been there once before, but we hadn't. We asked our server for suggestions, and he basically had a hard time pointing to anything in particular because people rave about most of what they serve. He did say he found the blackened salmon particularly good. I looked at the "Taste of the Bayou" all you can eat option, but passed. It was chicken and sausage, and some other stuff, but having had a real taste of the Bayou at a Louisiana restaurant with gumbo, jambalaya, and etouffee, I couldn't justify it. Christy got the salmon, and I got the Jambalaya with chicken, shrimp, and sausage. Both dishes were very very delicious. The Jambalaya turned out to be very good with just the right amount of creole heat. For dessert, my parents split a cobbler, while Christy and I got the Cr猫me Brulee. The desserts proved not quite as good as the meal, but we were still glad we got them.
Afterward we saw YeeHaa Bob Jackson setting up in the River Roost. I had heard many a tale of the famed Bob Jackson, but never seen him. Dad and I stayed while my Mom, Christy and the kids went back to the villa. I have to say I was very impressed and we had a great time with Bob's songs and antics! Definitely worth the late night. Upon his intermission time, Dad and left and went to the villa to turn in. It had been another successful Disney day! IMG_20221110_132146284IMG_20221110_184428950IMG_20221110_184432686IMG_20221110_192558416IMG_20221110_192601665
RocketEAR99 started the topic Nov 7 - 14, 2022 - First Trip with 2 Kids Under 3 - Day 3 in the forum Trip Planning & Reports
On the morning of our 3rd day we confirmed that Hurricane/Tropical Storm Nicole would be barreling down on us later in the day and Disney had made their first move of closing their water park and mini golf courses the following day. The weather outside was windy and wet. In other words, it was the perfect time to go to a theme park! So after a quick breakfast, we donned our rain gear and took the short bus ride over to Animal Kingdom. We had already planned to NOT have an ADR this day because AK has plenty of good options to offer for walk-up food. Going to the park in the foul weather was the best decision we could have made.
We arrived with 15 minutes left in resort guest early entry time. FoP had a 40 minute wait, but we skipped it. Since the day before at Epcot, we felt like Ariel got gipped on attractions she could do, we decided to make this day mostly about her. We did Na'vi River Journey instead and walked right on! My parents as I found out had never done this ride before either. All family riders had a great time.
From there, we walked up to Africa where we waited about 10 minutes or so before boarding the Kilimanjaro Safari. I've been on this ride first thing in the morning before, but even taking that into account, I've not seen so many animals so active before. Ariel was fascinated by all the animals she got to see and so was I. Afterward we walked through the Gorilla Falls Trail. This was yet another favorite of Ariel's. Got to see the gorillas in particular being rather active. After that we went to Festival of the Lion King which held Ariel's attention quite well too. Then we took the train out to Rafiki's. Ariel spent some time in the petting zoo and we did some walking around inside too. We took the train back and hunted up lunch at Flame Tree BBQ. We all had tastes of the Rib/Chicken combo and the Pulled Pork Mac 'n' Cheese. The flavors were perfection. The chicken was juicy. The ribs were a bit overdone, but still really good.
We then went to Asia and walked the Maharajah Jungle Trek. Ariel loved the Tigers. We ventured on to Dinoland where Christy and I did a rider switch at Dinosaur. Ariel got her picture taken with Chip, Dale, Donald, and later Mickey and Minnie! She didn't know Chip and Dale before that day, but still liked meeting them. She was happier than I've ever seen her when greeting Donald, Mickey, and Minnie (and she's a generally happy child too)!
We wrapped up our day by seeing and abbreviated version of the Feathered Friends in Flight and "It's Tough to Be A Bug", Ariel did okay there until Hopper attacked. We were at the park until 4:00pm. We heard shortly before that Disney had announced a phased early closure of the theme parks beginning with AK at 5:00pm due to the storm. Tomorrow was still up in the air. We could've done more if we wanted to. Kali and Everest posted 10 minute waits for much of the day. But we were satisfied and left to give our kids a nice late nap.
Back at the room we cooked a pasta dinner in our kitchen, put the kids to bed, and watched Guardians of the Galaxy. My parents wanted a refresher since the ride the day before. That night, Disney updated that it would do a phased re-opening of the parks the next day starting with MK at Noon - which is exactly where we had booked our reservation.
So in conclusion. Great day had by all! Was it uncomfortable at times due to the weather? Sure, but not enough to dampen our moods. We saw so much in one day and it made up for what we didn't get to do the day before. The storm had become a blessing in disguise. IMG_20221109_134140580_BURST000_COVER_TOPIMG_20221109_13421674479793024404292902393194572222289602900
We wrapped up our day by seeing and abbreviated version of the Feathered Friends in Flight and "It's Tough to Be A Bug", Ariel did okay there until Hopper attacked. 
We were at the park until 4:00pm. We heard shortly before that Disney had announced a phased early closure of the theme parks beginning with AK at 5:00pm due to the storm. Tomorrow was still up in the air. We could've done more if we wanted to. Kali and Everest posted 10 minute waits for much of the day. But we were satisfied and left to give our kids a nice late nap.
Back at the room we cooked a pasta dinner in our kitchen, put the kids to bed, and watched Guardians of the Galaxy. My parents wanted a refresher since the ride the day before. That night, Disney updated that it would do a phased re-opening of the parks the next day starting with MK at Noon - which is exactly where we had booked our reservation.
So in conclusion. Great day had by all! Was it uncomfortable at times due to the weather? Sure, but not enough to dampen our moods. We saw so much in one day and it made up for what we didn't get to do the day before. The storm had become a blessing in disguise. IMG_20221109_134140580_BURST000_COVER_TOPIMG_20221109_13421674479793024404292902393194572222289602900
RocketEAR99 started the topic Nov 7 - 14, 2022 - First Trip with 2 Kids Under 3 - Day 3 in the forum Trip Planning & Reports
On the morning of our 3rd day we confirmed that Hurricane/Tropical Storm Nicole would be barreling down on us later in the day and Disney had made their first move of closing their water park and mini golf courses the following day. The weather outside was windy and wet. In other words, it was the perfect time to go to a theme park! So after a quick breakfast, we donned our rain gear and took the short bus ride over to Animal Kingdom. We had already planned to NOT have an ADR this day because AK has plenty of good options to offer for walk-up food. Going to the park in the foul weather was the best decision we could have made.
We arrived with 15 minutes left in resort guest early entry time. FoP had a 40 minute wait, but we skipped it. Since the day before at Epcot, we felt like Ariel got gipped on attractions she could do, we decided to make this day mostly about her. We did Na'vi River Journey instead and walked right on! My parents as I found out had never done this ride before either. All family riders had a great time.
From there, we walked up to Africa where we waited about 10 minutes or so before boarding the Kilimanjaro Safari. I've been on this ride first thing in the morning before, but even taking that into account, I've not seen so many animals so active before. Ariel was fascinated by all the animals she got to see and so was I. Afterward we walked through the Gorilla Falls Trail. This was yet another favorite of Ariel's. Got to see the gorillas in particular being rather active. After that we went to Festival of the Lion King which held Ariel's attention quite well too. Then we took the train out to Rafiki's. Ariel spent some time in the petting zoo and we did some walking around inside too. We took the train back and hunted up lunch at Flame Tree BBQ. We all had tastes of the Rib/Chicken combo and the Pulled Pork Mac 'n' Cheese. The flavors were perfection. The chicken was juicy. The ribs were a bit overdone, but still really good.
We then went to Asia and walked the Maharajah Jungle Trek. Ariel loved the Tigers. We ventured on to Dinoland where Christy and I did a rider switch at Dinosaur. Ariel got her picture taken with Chip, Dale, Donald, and later Mickey and Minnie! She didn't know Chip and Dale before that day, but still liked meeting them. She was happier than I've ever seen her when greeting Donald, Mickey, and Minnie (and she's a generally happy child too)!
We wrapped up our day by seeing and abbreviated version of the Feathered Friends in Flight and "It's Tough to Be A Bug", Ariel did okay there until Hopper attacked. We were at the park until 4:00pm. We heard shortly before that Disney had announced a phased early closure of the theme parks beginning with AK at 5:00pm due to the storm. Tomorrow was still up in the air. We could've done more if we wanted to. Kali and Everest posted 10 minute waits for much of the day. But we were satisfied and left to give our kids a nice late nap.
Back at the room we cooked a pasta dinner in our kitchen, put the kids to bed, and watched Guardians of the Galaxy. My parents wanted a refresher since the ride the day before. That night, Disney updated that it would do a phased re-opening of the parks the next day starting with MK at Noon - which is exactly where we had booked our reservation.
So in conclusion. Great day had by all! Was it uncomfortable at times due to the weather? Sure, but not enough to dampen our moods. We saw so much in one day and it made up for what we didn't get to do the day before. The storm had become a blessing in disguise. IMG_20221109_134140580_BURST000_COVER_TOPIMG_20221109_13421674479793024404292902393194572222289602900
We wrapped up our day by seeing and abbreviated version of the Feathered Friends in Flight and "It's Tough to Be A Bug", Ariel did okay there until Hopper attacked. We were at the park until 4:00pm. We heard shortly before that Disney had announced a phased early closure of the theme parks beginning with AK at 5:00pm due to the storm. Tomorrow was still up in the air. We could've done more if we wanted to. Kali and Everest posted 10 minute waits for much of the day. But we were satisfied and left to give our kids a nice late nap.
Back at the room we cooked a pasta dinner in our kitchen, put the kids to bed, and watched Guardians of the Galaxy. My parents wanted a refresher since the ride the day before. That night, Disney updated that it would do a phased re-opening of the parks the next day starting with MK at Noon - which is exactly where we had booked our reservation.
So in conclusion. Great day had by all! Was it uncomfortable at times due to the weather? Sure, but not enough to dampen our moods. We saw so much in one day and it made up for what we didn't get to do the day before. The storm had become a blessing in disguise. IMG_20221109_134140580_BURST000_COVER_TOPIMG_20221109_13421674479793024404292902393194572222289602900
RocketEAR99 started the topic Nov 7 - 14, 2022 - First Trip with 2 Kids Under 3 - Day 3 in the forum Trip Planning & Reports
On the morning of our 3rd day we confirmed that Hurricane/Tropical Storm Nicole would be barreling down on us later in the day and Disney had made their first move of closing their water park and mini golf courses the following day. The weather outside was windy and wet. In other words, it was the perfect time to go to a theme park! So after a quick breakfast, we donned our rain gear and took the short bus ride over to Animal Kingdom. We had already planned to NOT have an ADR this day because AK has plenty of good options to offer for walk-up food. Going to the park in the foul weather was the best decision we could have made.
We arrived with 15 minutes left in resort guest early entry time. FoP had a 40 minute wait, but we skipped it. Since the day before at Epcot, we felt like Ariel got gipped on attractions she could do, we decided to make this day mostly about her. We did Na'vi River Journey instead and walked right on! My parents as I found out had never done this ride before either. All family riders had a great time.
From there, we walked up to Africa where we waited about 10 minutes or so before boarding the Kilimanjaro Safari. I've been on this ride first thing in the morning before, but even taking that into account, I've not seen so many animals so active before. Ariel was fascinated by all the animals she got to see and so was I. Afterward we walked through the Gorilla Falls Trail. This was yet another favorite of Ariel's. Got to see the gorillas in particular being rather active. After that we went to Festival of the Lion King which held Ariel's attention quite well too. Then we took the train out to Rafiki's. Ariel spent some time in the petting zoo and we did some walking around inside too. We took the train back and hunted up lunch at Flame Tree BBQ. We all had tastes of the Rib/Chicken combo and the Pulled Pork Mac 'n' Cheese. The flavors were perfection. The chicken was juicy. The ribs were a bit overdone, but still really good.
We then went to Asia and walked the Maharajah Jungle Trek. Ariel loved the Tigers. We ventured on to Dinoland where Christy and I did a rider switch at Dinosaur. Ariel got her picture taken with Chip, Dale, Donald, and later Mickey and Minnie! She didn't know Chip and Dale before that day, but still liked meeting them. She was happier than I've ever seen her when greeting Donald, Mickey, and Minnie (and she's a generally happy child too)!
We wrapped up our day by seeing and abbreviated version of the Feathered Friends in Flight and "It's Tough to Be A Bug", Ariel did okay there until Hopper attacked. We were at the park until 4:00pm. We heard shortly before that Disney had announced a phased early closure of the theme parks beginning with AK at 5:00pm due to the storm. Tomorrow was still up in the air. We could've done more if we wanted to. Kali and Everest posted 10 minute waits for much of the day. But we were satisfied and left to give our kids a nice late nap.
Back at the room we cooked a pasta dinner in our kitchen, put the kids to bed, and watched Guardians of the Galaxy. My parents wanted a refresher since the ride the day before. That night, Disney updated that it would do a phased re-opening of the parks the next day starting with MK at Noon - which is exactly where we had booked our reservation.
So in conclusion. Great day had by all! Was it uncomfortable at times due to the weather? Sure, but not enough to dampen our moods. We saw so much in one day and it made up for what we didn't get to do the day before. The storm had become a blessing in disguise. IMG_20221109_134140580_BURST000_COVER_TOPIMG_20221109_13421674479793024404292902393194572222289602900
We wrapped up our day by seeing and abbreviated version of the Feathered Friends in Flight and "It's Tough to Be A Bug", Ariel did okay there until Hopper attacked. We were at the park until 4:00pm. We heard shortly before that Disney had announced a phased early closure of the theme parks beginning with AK at 5:00pm due to the storm. Tomorrow was still up in the air. We could've done more if we wanted to. Kali and Everest posted 10 minute waits for much of the day. But we were satisfied and left to give our kids a nice late nap.
Back at the room we cooked a pasta dinner in our kitchen, put the kids to bed, and watched Guardians of the Galaxy. My parents wanted a refresher since the ride the day before. That night, Disney updated that it would do a phased re-opening of the parks the next day starting with MK at Noon - which is exactly where we had booked our reservation.
So in conclusion. Great day had by all! Was it uncomfortable at times due to the weather? Sure, but not enough to dampen our moods. We saw so much in one day and it made up for what we didn't get to do the day before. The storm had become a blessing in disguise. IMG_20221109_134140580_BURST000_COVER_TOPIMG_20221109_13421674479793024404292902393194572222289602900RocketEAR99 started the topic Nov 7 - 14, 2022 - First Trip with 2 Kids Under 3 - Day 3 in the forum Trip Planning & Reports
On the morning of our 3rd day we confirmed that Hurricane/Tropical Storm Nicole would be barreling down on us later in the day and Disney had made their first move of closing their water park and mini golf courses the following day. The weather outside was windy and wet. In other words, it was the perfect time to go to a theme park! So after a quick breakfast, we donned our rain gear and took the short bus ride over to Animal Kingdom. We had already planned to NOT have an ADR this day because AK has plenty of good options to offer for walk-up food. Going to the park in the foul weather was the best decision we could have made.
We arrived with 15 minutes left in resort guest early entry time. FoP had a 40 minute wait, but we skipped it. Since the day before at Epcot, we felt like Ariel got gipped on attractions she could do, we decided to make this day mostly about her. We did Na'vi River Journey instead and walked right on! My parents as I found out had never done this ride before either. All family riders had a great time.
From there, we walked up to Africa where we waited about 10 minutes or so before boarding the Kilimanjaro Safari. I've been on this ride first thing in the morning before, but even taking that into account, I've not seen so many animals so active before. Ariel was fascinated by all the animals she got to see and so was I. Afterward we walked through the Gorilla Falls Trail. This was yet another favorite of Ariel's. Got to see the gorillas in particular being rather active. After that we went to Festival of the Lion King which held Ariel's attention quite well too. Then we took the train out to Rafiki's. Ariel spent some time in the petting zoo and we did some walking around inside too. We took the train back and hunted up lunch at Flame Tree BBQ. We all had tastes of the Rib/Chicken combo and the Pulled Pork Mac 'n' Cheese. The flavors were perfection. The chicken was juicy. The ribs were a bit overdone, but still really good.
We then went to Asia and walked the Maharajah Jungle Trek. Ariel loved the Tigers. We ventured on to Dinoland where Christy and I did a rider switch at Dinosaur. Ariel got her picture taken with Chip, Dale, Donald, and later Mickey and Minnie! She didn't know Chip and Dale before that day, but still liked meeting them. She was happier than I've ever seen her when greeting Donald, Mickey, and Minnie (and she's a generally happy child too)!
We wrapped up our day by seeing and abbreviated version of the Feathered Friends in Flight and "It's Tough to Be A Bug", Ariel did okay there until Hopper attacked. We were at the park until 4:00pm. We heard shortly before that Disney had announced a phased early closure of the theme parks beginning with AK at 5:00pm due to the storm. Tomorrow was still up in the air. We could've done more if we wanted to. Kali and Everest posted 10 minute waits for much of the day. But we were satisfied and left to give our kids a nice late nap.
Back at the room we cooked a pasta dinner in our kitchen, put the kids to bed, and watched Guardians of the Galaxy. My parents wanted a refresher since the ride the day before. That night, Disney updated that it would do a phased re-opening of the parks the next day starting with MK at Noon - which is exactly where we had booked our reservation.
So in conclusion. Great day had by all! Was it uncomfortable at times due to the weather? Sure, but not enough to dampen our moods. We saw so much in one day and it made up for what we didn't get to do the day before. The storm had become a blessing in disguise. IMG_20221109_134140580_BURST000_COVER_TOPIMG_20221109_13421674479793024404292902393194572222289602900
We wrapped up our day by seeing and abbreviated version of the Feathered Friends in Flight and "It's Tough to Be A Bug", Ariel did okay there until Hopper attacked. We were at the park until 4:00pm. We heard shortly before that Disney had announced a phased early closure of the theme parks beginning with AK at 5:00pm due to the storm. Tomorrow was still up in the air. We could've done more if we wanted to. Kali and Everest posted 10 minute waits for much of the day. But we were satisfied and left to give our kids a nice late nap.
Back at the room we cooked a pasta dinner in our kitchen, put the kids to bed, and watched Guardians of the Galaxy. My parents wanted a refresher since the ride the day before. That night, Disney updated that it would do a phased re-opening of the parks the next day starting with MK at Noon - which is exactly where we had booked our reservation.
So in conclusion. Great day had by all! Was it uncomfortable at times due to the weather? Sure, but not enough to dampen our moods. We saw so much in one day and it made up for what we didn't get to do the day before. The storm had become a blessing in disguise. IMG_20221109_134140580_BURST000_COVER_TOPIMG_20221109_13421674479793024404292902393194572222289602900RocketEAR99 started the topic Nov 7 - 14, 2022 - First Trip with 2 Kids Under 3 - Day 2 in the forum Trip Planning & Reports
On our second day, things took a turn for the worse. I have what, I think, is an unpopular opinion about Genie+ and Lightning Lanes. These were things I saw as an inevitability when I looked at the overall failure of the FastPass+ system. Disney was not going to return to the legacy FastPass ticket pull system (which I though was the best way if line skipping was going to be a thing at all). If they went back to it now (and they won't), I would consider it a good move. Personally, I just think they should forego line skipping systems altogether because these things extend stand-by wait times. Anydangway, I think once they worked the kinks out of Genie+, it is superior to FastPass+, but not legacy FastPass. I like the idea that you're limited to day-of acquisition of lightning lanes and the 2-hour rule. These things kind-of throw back to the legacy system. The extra cost is, indeed, an ouch or a gouge depending on your group size, BUT, I think it does keep people from booking Lightning Lanes and not using them like some people did with FP+.
All that said, if there was any day we were going to try this new system on for size it was going to be this day. We agreed going in that we were only going to purchase this cash-hog once, and it would be at Epcot. The rest of our trip was going to be on the mercy of the stand-by waits. We went all-in. Lightning Lanes for GotG Cosmic Rewind and Genie+ with our first LL at Soarin'. We would rope drop Test Track. RRA was booked up before we could select it. We took advantage also of the resort guest early entry. We go to Test Track, and with 2 kids, had to do Rider Switch. The first time would be my parents and I, and the second would be Christy and I. Christy and my parents like thrill rides, but have a low tolerance for back-to-back thrills so I almost always end up being the one to go twice My parents and I got in line and the ride broke down "temporarily" for like 20 minutes and then we gave up, being that when we walked in, the wait was 45 minutes. Leaving Christy alone with 2 kids for that long wasn't going to go well and we had bigger fish to fry.
We moved on the GotGCR. Christy and I went first with our LL. We got right to the point just before entering the pre-show and the ride broke down for about 10 minutes. We didn't give up on this one though. We paid for it. I was not disappointed! What a ride! To me it was like RnR and SpaceMountain had a child and the child learned a few new tricks of its own. Full disclosure, I am a GotG fan, and zooming and pivoting around to the tune of Everybody Want to Rule the World by Tears for Fears was a blast! Christy on the other hand, had too much and just closed her eyes. It really threw off her equilibrium, but she didn't hurl or anything. My parents and I went in next and wouldn't you know it broke down AGAIN! This time it was for 30 minutes. Everyone sat down in the queue. But when we finally did the ride to the tune of Conga by Gloria Estefan though, my parents said it was worth the wait.
Then we encountered our next great challenge, doing a LL at Soarin' and the WALLS!!! Those things are a pain in the butt. Epcot already involves a lot of walking, but these things really double it. We got there and my parents went on first, then Christy and I. This one didn't break down. On a side note, Frozen and RRA broke down multiple times during the day too. With now unhappy children we went to our ADR at La Creperie in France. Here the food was great! The service was sloooooooow. And I'm still missing all the cultural representatives they used to have. The kitchen seemed to be operated by French people, and one server, but the other servers including ours were American. This just diminishes the authenticity of things. We tried the fixed price option here. Christy got the Salad for an appetizer, while I got the cold (intentionally) potato and broccoli soup. The salad was...a salad. The soup, surprisingly tasty! For drinks, Christy got a Cappuccino, while I got a hard cider which was what I expected and hoped. It was a good hard cider, the Brut, but somehow with a French flavor twist. I can't really explain it better than that. It's like how French wines taste so much different to me in comparison to Italian or American counterparts.
For entrees, I got the chicken, mushroom and cheese savory crepe (Poulet) and Christy got the cheese, bacon, onion, and ham (Savoyarde) crepe. I'm not French language inclined, so consider yourself lucky I'm even trying to spell these things Both of these were very very good, but I liked the Poulet a bit better. For dessert, I got the Poire (pear, chocolate ganache, whipped cream) crepe, and Christy got the Melba (peach, red berries sauce, almonds) crepe. My parents got all similar things to us throughout the meal. The Poire was again very good. I'm a sucker for chocolate, but the the Melba was to me, actually better. A bunch of fruit never tasted so good!
Again, the food here was good. The service was slow. Our kids were cranky. So I can't say I thoroughly enjoyed the overall experience, but I did love the food. After this, Ariel needed a good visual stimulation, so we went through the Seas with Nemo & Friends and that made her happy, as did seeing the aquarium. We tried to LL at Spaceship Earth on our way out, but again, ride broke down. We left in the mid-afternoon with no plans to return to the chaos. Christy mentioned she was forming a complaint letter in her mind.
Back at the room, we just relaxed. The kids took long naps, and so did we. When we awoke, we munched on snacks (I bought a Mickey Ice Cream Bar from the gift shop) and at my parents' request, watched the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie which was a nice restful end to an otherwise mostly un-fun day.
In conclusion, we decided Epcot is not worth the Genie+ nor really our time until those walls come down. The problem, as we later found out wasn't Genie+ specifically, but that the attractions at Epcot just keep breaking Why Disney? Why? I miss the good ole days when Disney opened an attraction and it was basically guaranteed to work for a year because it was carefully planned and put together. Now they apparently just half-a** it and when it breaks just do band-aid solutions. Disney, with the prices you're charging, you really can afford to do better. I'm predicting more of the same when Tron opens at MK. Prove me wrong, Disney. Prove me wrong!IMG_20221108_134852120IMG_20221108_134855620IMG_20221108_140816633IMG_20221108_140820393IMG_20221108_144111859IMG_20221108_144114952
My parents and I got in line and the ride broke down "temporarily" for like 20 minutes and then we gave up, being that when we walked in, the wait was 45 minutes. Leaving Christy alone with 2 kids for that long wasn't going to go well and we had bigger fish to fry.
We moved on the GotGCR. Christy and I went first with our LL. We got right to the point just before entering the pre-show and the ride broke down for about 10 minutes. We didn't give up on this one though. We paid for it. I was not disappointed! What a ride! To me it was like RnR and SpaceMountain had a child and the child learned a few new tricks of its own. Full disclosure, I am a GotG fan, and zooming and pivoting around to the tune of Everybody Want to Rule the World by Tears for Fears was a blast! Christy on the other hand, had too much and just closed her eyes. It really threw off her equilibrium, but she didn't hurl or anything. My parents and I went in next and wouldn't you know it broke down AGAIN! 
This time it was for 30 minutes. Everyone sat down in the queue. But when we finally did the ride to the tune of Conga by Gloria Estefan though, my parents said it was worth the wait.
Then we encountered our next great challenge, doing a LL at Soarin' and the WALLS!!! Those things are a pain in the butt. Epcot already involves a lot of walking, but these things really double it. We got there and my parents went on first, then Christy and I. This one didn't break down. On a side note, Frozen and RRA broke down multiple times during the day too. With now unhappy children we went to our ADR at La Creperie in France. Here the food was great! The service was sloooooooow. And I'm still missing all the cultural representatives they used to have. The kitchen seemed to be operated by French people, and one server, but the other servers including ours were American. This just diminishes the authenticity of things. We tried the fixed price option here. Christy got the Salad for an appetizer, while I got the cold (intentionally) potato and broccoli soup. The salad was...a salad. The soup, surprisingly tasty! For drinks, Christy got a Cappuccino, while I got a hard cider which was what I expected and hoped. It was a good hard cider, the Brut, but somehow with a French flavor twist. I can't really explain it better than that. It's like how French wines taste so much different to me in comparison to Italian or American counterparts.
For entrees, I got the chicken, mushroom and cheese savory crepe (Poulet) and Christy got the cheese, bacon, onion, and ham (Savoyarde) crepe. I'm not French language inclined, so consider yourself lucky I'm even trying to spell these things 
Both of these were very very good, but I liked the Poulet a bit better. For dessert, I got the Poire (pear, chocolate ganache, whipped cream) crepe, and Christy got the Melba (peach, red berries sauce, almonds) crepe. My parents got all similar things to us throughout the meal. The Poire was again very good. I'm a sucker for chocolate, but the the Melba was to me, actually better. A bunch of fruit never tasted so good!
Again, the food here was good. The service was slow. Our kids were cranky. So I can't say I thoroughly enjoyed the overall experience, but I did love the food. After this, Ariel needed a good visual stimulation, so we went through the Seas with Nemo & Friends and that made her happy, as did seeing the aquarium. We tried to LL at Spaceship Earth on our way out, but again, ride broke down. We left in the mid-afternoon with no plans to return to the chaos. Christy mentioned she was forming a complaint letter in her mind.
Back at the room, we just relaxed. The kids took long naps, and so did we. When we awoke, we munched on snacks (I bought a Mickey Ice Cream Bar from the gift shop) and at my parents' request, watched the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie which was a nice restful end to an otherwise mostly un-fun day.
In conclusion, we decided Epcot is not worth the Genie+ nor really our time until those walls come down. The problem, as we later found out wasn't Genie+ specifically, but that the attractions at Epcot just keep breaking Why Disney? Why? I miss the good ole days when Disney opened an attraction and it was basically guaranteed to work for a year because it was carefully planned and put together. Now they apparently just half-a** it and when it breaks just do band-aid solutions. Disney, with the prices you're charging, you really can afford to do better. I'm predicting more of the same when Tron opens at MK. Prove me wrong, Disney. Prove me wrong!IMG_20221108_134852120IMG_20221108_134855620IMG_20221108_140816633IMG_20221108_140820393IMG_20221108_144111859IMG_20221108_144114952
RocketEAR99 started the topic Nov 7 - 14, 2022 - First Trip with 2 Kids Under 3 - Day 2 in the forum Trip Planning & Reports
On our second day, things took a turn for the worse. I have what, I think, is an unpopular opinion about Genie+ and Lightning Lanes. These were things I saw as an inevitability when I looked at the overall failure of the FastPass+ system. Disney was not going to return to the legacy FastPass ticket pull system (which I though was the best way if line skipping was going to be a thing at all). If they went back to it now (and they won't), I would consider it a good move. Personally, I just think they should forego line skipping systems altogether because these things extend stand-by wait times. Anydangway, I think once they worked the kinks out of Genie+, it is superior to FastPass+, but not legacy FastPass. I like the idea that you're limited to day-of acquisition of lightning lanes and the 2-hour rule. These things kind-of throw back to the legacy system. The extra cost is, indeed, an ouch or a gouge depending on your group size, BUT, I think it does keep people from booking Lightning Lanes and not using them like some people did with FP+.
All that said, if there was any day we were going to try this new system on for size it was going to be this day. We agreed going in that we were only going to purchase this cash-hog once, and it would be at Epcot. The rest of our trip was going to be on the mercy of the stand-by waits. We went all-in. Lightning Lanes for GotG Cosmic Rewind and Genie+ with our first LL at Soarin'. We would rope drop Test Track. RRA was booked up before we could select it. We took advantage also of the resort guest early entry. We go to Test Track, and with 2 kids, had to do Rider Switch. The first time would be my parents and I, and the second would be Christy and I. Christy and my parents like thrill rides, but have a low tolerance for back-to-back thrills so I almost always end up being the one to go twice My parents and I got in line and the ride broke down "temporarily" for like 20 minutes and then we gave up, being that when we walked in, the wait was 45 minutes. Leaving Christy alone with 2 kids for that long wasn't going to go well and we had bigger fish to fry.
We moved on the GotGCR. Christy and I went first with our LL. We got right to the point just before entering the pre-show and the ride broke down for about 10 minutes. We didn't give up on this one though. We paid for it. I was not disappointed! What a ride! To me it was like RnR and SpaceMountain had a child and the child learned a few new tricks of its own. Full disclosure, I am a GotG fan, and zooming and pivoting around to the tune of Everybody Want to Rule the World by Tears for Fears was a blast! Christy on the other hand, had too much and just closed her eyes. It really threw off her equilibrium, but she didn't hurl or anything. My parents and I went in next and wouldn't you know it broke down AGAIN! This time it was for 30 minutes. Everyone sat down in the queue. But when we finally did the ride to the tune of Conga by Gloria Estefan though, my parents said it was worth the wait.
Then we encountered our next great challenge, doing a LL at Soarin' and the WALLS!!! Those things are a pain in the butt. Epcot already involves a lot of walking, but these things really double it. We got there and my parents went on first, then Christy and I. This one didn't break down. On a side note, Frozen and RRA broke down multiple times during the day too. With now unhappy children we went to our ADR at La Creperie in France. Here the food was great! The service was sloooooooow. And I'm still missing all the cultural representatives they used to have. The kitchen seemed to be operated by French people, and one server, but the other servers including ours were American. This just diminishes the authenticity of things. We tried the fixed price option here. Christy got the Salad for an appetizer, while I got the cold (intentionally) potato and broccoli soup. The salad was...a salad. The soup, surprisingly tasty! For drinks, Christy got a Cappuccino, while I got a hard cider which was what I expected and hoped. It was a good hard cider, the Brut, but somehow with a French flavor twist. I can't really explain it better than that. It's like how French wines taste so much different to me in comparison to Italian or American counterparts.
For entrees, I got the chicken, mushroom and cheese savory crepe (Poulet) and Christy got the cheese, bacon, onion, and ham (Savoyarde) crepe. I'm not French language inclined, so consider yourself lucky I'm even trying to spell these things Both of these were very very good, but I liked the Poulet a bit better. For dessert, I got the Poire (pear, chocolate ganache, whipped cream) crepe, and Christy got the Melba (peach, red berries sauce, almonds) crepe. My parents got all similar things to us throughout the meal. The Poire was again very good. I'm a sucker for chocolate, but the the Melba was to me, actually better. A bunch of fruit never tasted so good!
Again, the food here was good. The service was slow. Our kids were cranky. So I can't say I thoroughly enjoyed the overall experience, but I did love the food. After this, Ariel needed a good visual stimulation, so we went through the Seas with Nemo & Friends and that made her happy, as did seeing the aquarium. We tried to LL at Spaceship Earth on our way out, but again, ride broke down. We left in the mid-afternoon with no plans to return to the chaos. Christy mentioned she was forming a complaint letter in her mind.
Back at the room, we just relaxed. The kids took long naps, and so did we. When we awoke, we munched on snacks (I bought a Mickey Ice Cream Bar from the gift shop) and at my parents' request, watched the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie which was a nice restful end to an otherwise mostly un-fun day.
In conclusion, we decided Epcot is not worth the Genie+ nor really our time until those walls come down. The problem, as we later found out wasn't Genie+ specifically, but that the attractions at Epcot just keep breaking Why Disney? Why? I miss the good ole days when Disney opened an attraction and it was basically guaranteed to work for a year because it was carefully planned and put together. Now they apparently just half-a** it and when it breaks just do band-aid solutions. Disney, with the prices you're charging, you really can afford to do better. I'm predicting more of the same when Tron opens at MK. Prove me wrong, Disney. Prove me wrong!IMG_20221108_134852120IMG_20221108_134855620IMG_20221108_140816633IMG_20221108_140820393IMG_20221108_144111859IMG_20221108_144114952
My parents and I got in line and the ride broke down "temporarily" for like 20 minutes and then we gave up, being that when we walked in, the wait was 45 minutes. Leaving Christy alone with 2 kids for that long wasn't going to go well and we had bigger fish to fry.
We moved on the GotGCR. Christy and I went first with our LL. We got right to the point just before entering the pre-show and the ride broke down for about 10 minutes. We didn't give up on this one though. We paid for it. I was not disappointed! What a ride! To me it was like RnR and SpaceMountain had a child and the child learned a few new tricks of its own. Full disclosure, I am a GotG fan, and zooming and pivoting around to the tune of Everybody Want to Rule the World by Tears for Fears was a blast! Christy on the other hand, had too much and just closed her eyes. It really threw off her equilibrium, but she didn't hurl or anything. My parents and I went in next and wouldn't you know it broke down AGAIN! This time it was for 30 minutes. Everyone sat down in the queue. But when we finally did the ride to the tune of Conga by Gloria Estefan though, my parents said it was worth the wait.
Then we encountered our next great challenge, doing a LL at Soarin' and the WALLS!!! Those things are a pain in the butt. Epcot already involves a lot of walking, but these things really double it. We got there and my parents went on first, then Christy and I. This one didn't break down. On a side note, Frozen and RRA broke down multiple times during the day too. With now unhappy children we went to our ADR at La Creperie in France. Here the food was great! The service was sloooooooow. And I'm still missing all the cultural representatives they used to have. The kitchen seemed to be operated by French people, and one server, but the other servers including ours were American. This just diminishes the authenticity of things. We tried the fixed price option here. Christy got the Salad for an appetizer, while I got the cold (intentionally) potato and broccoli soup. The salad was...a salad. The soup, surprisingly tasty! For drinks, Christy got a Cappuccino, while I got a hard cider which was what I expected and hoped. It was a good hard cider, the Brut, but somehow with a French flavor twist. I can't really explain it better than that. It's like how French wines taste so much different to me in comparison to Italian or American counterparts.
For entrees, I got the chicken, mushroom and cheese savory crepe (Poulet) and Christy got the cheese, bacon, onion, and ham (Savoyarde) crepe. I'm not French language inclined, so consider yourself lucky I'm even trying to spell these things Both of these were very very good, but I liked the Poulet a bit better. For dessert, I got the Poire (pear, chocolate ganache, whipped cream) crepe, and Christy got the Melba (peach, red berries sauce, almonds) crepe. My parents got all similar things to us throughout the meal. The Poire was again very good. I'm a sucker for chocolate, but the the Melba was to me, actually better. A bunch of fruit never tasted so good!
Again, the food here was good. The service was slow. Our kids were cranky. So I can't say I thoroughly enjoyed the overall experience, but I did love the food. After this, Ariel needed a good visual stimulation, so we went through the Seas with Nemo & Friends and that made her happy, as did seeing the aquarium. We tried to LL at Spaceship Earth on our way out, but again, ride broke down. We left in the mid-afternoon with no plans to return to the chaos. Christy mentioned she was forming a complaint letter in her mind.
Back at the room, we just relaxed. The kids took long naps, and so did we. When we awoke, we munched on snacks (I bought a Mickey Ice Cream Bar from the gift shop) and at my parents' request, watched the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie which was a nice restful end to an otherwise mostly un-fun day.
In conclusion, we decided Epcot is not worth the Genie+ nor really our time until those walls come down. The problem, as we later found out wasn't Genie+ specifically, but that the attractions at Epcot just keep breaking Why Disney? Why? I miss the good ole days when Disney opened an attraction and it was basically guaranteed to work for a year because it was carefully planned and put together. Now they apparently just half-a** it and when it breaks just do band-aid solutions. Disney, with the prices you're charging, you really can afford to do better. I'm predicting more of the same when Tron opens at MK. Prove me wrong, Disney. Prove me wrong!IMG_20221108_134852120IMG_20221108_134855620IMG_20221108_140816633IMG_20221108_140820393IMG_20221108_144111859IMG_20221108_144114952
RocketEAR99 started the topic Nov 7 - 14, 2022 - First Trip with 2 Kids Under 3 - Day 2 in the forum Trip Planning & Reports
On our second day, things took a turn for the worse. I have what, I think, is an unpopular opinion about Genie+ and Lightning Lanes. These were things I saw as an inevitability when I looked at the overall failure of the FastPass+ system. Disney was not going to return to the legacy FastPass ticket pull system (which I though was the best way if line skipping was going to be a thing at all). If they went back to it now (and they won't), I would consider it a good move. Personally, I just think they should forego line skipping systems altogether because these things extend stand-by wait times. Anydangway, I think once they worked the kinks out of Genie+, it is superior to FastPass+, but not legacy FastPass. I like the idea that you're limited to day-of acquisition of lightning lanes and the 2-hour rule. These things kind-of throw back to the legacy system. The extra cost is, indeed, an ouch or a gouge depending on your group size, BUT, I think it does keep people from booking Lightning Lanes and not using them like some people did with FP+.
All that said, if there was any day we were going to try this new system on for size it was going to be this day. We agreed going in that we were only going to purchase this cash-hog once, and it would be at Epcot. The rest of our trip was going to be on the mercy of the stand-by waits. We went all-in. Lightning Lanes for GotG Cosmic Rewind and Genie+ with our first LL at Soarin'. We would rope drop Test Track. RRA was booked up before we could select it. We took advantage also of the resort guest early entry. We go to Test Track, and with 2 kids, had to do Rider Switch. The first time would be my parents and I, and the second would be Christy and I. Christy and my parents like thrill rides, but have a low tolerance for back-to-back thrills so I almost always end up being the one to go twice My parents and I got in line and the ride broke down "temporarily" for like 20 minutes and then we gave up, being that when we walked in, the wait was 45 minutes. Leaving Christy alone with 2 kids for that long wasn't going to go well and we had bigger fish to fry.
We moved on the GotGCR. Christy and I went first with our LL. We got right to the point just before entering the pre-show and the ride broke down for about 10 minutes. We didn't give up on this one though. We paid for it. I was not disappointed! What a ride! To me it was like RnR and SpaceMountain had a child and the child learned a few new tricks of its own. Full disclosure, I am a GotG fan, and zooming and pivoting around to the tune of Everybody Want to Rule the World by Tears for Fears was a blast! Christy on the other hand, had too much and just closed her eyes. It really threw off her equilibrium, but she didn't hurl or anything. My parents and I went in next and wouldn't you know it broke down AGAIN! This time it was for 30 minutes. Everyone sat down in the queue. But when we finally did the ride to the tune of Conga by Gloria Estefan though, my parents said it was worth the wait.
Then we encountered our next great challenge, doing a LL at Soarin' and the WALLS!!! Those things are a pain in the butt. Epcot already involves a lot of walking, but these things really double it. We got there and my parents went on first, then Christy and I. This one didn't break down. On a side note, Frozen and RRA broke down multiple times during the day too. With now unhappy children we went to our ADR at La Creperie in France. Here the food was great! The service was sloooooooow. And I'm still missing all the cultural representatives they used to have. The kitchen seemed to be operated by French people, and one server, but the other servers including ours were American. This just diminishes the authenticity of things. We tried the fixed price option here. Christy got the Salad for an appetizer, while I got the cold (intentionally) potato and broccoli soup. The salad was...a salad. The soup, surprisingly tasty! For drinks, Christy got a Cappuccino, while I got a hard cider which was what I expected and hoped. It was a good hard cider, the Brut, but somehow with a French flavor twist. I can't really explain it better than that. It's like how French wines taste so much different to me in comparison to Italian or American counterparts.
For entrees, I got the chicken, mushroom and cheese savory crepe (Poulet) and Christy got the cheese, bacon, onion, and ham (Savoyarde) crepe. I'm not French language inclined, so consider yourself lucky I'm even trying to spell these things Both of these were very very good, but I liked the Poulet a bit better. For dessert, I got the Poire (pear, chocolate ganache, whipped cream) crepe, and Christy got the Melba (peach, red berries sauce, almonds) crepe. My parents got all similar things to us throughout the meal. The Poire was again very good. I'm a sucker for chocolate, but the the Melba was to me, actually better. A bunch of fruit never tasted so good!
Again, the food here was good. The service was slow. Our kids were cranky. So I can't say I thoroughly enjoyed the overall experience, but I did love the food. After this, Ariel needed a good visual stimulation, so we went through the Seas with Nemo & Friends and that made her happy, as did seeing the aquarium. We tried to LL at Spaceship Earth on our way out, but again, ride broke down. We left in the mid-afternoon with no plans to return to the chaos. Christy mentioned she was forming a complaint letter in her mind.
Back at the room, we just relaxed. The kids took long naps, and so did we. When we awoke, we munched on snacks (I bought a Mickey Ice Cream Bar from the gift shop) and at my parents' request, watched the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie which was a nice restful end to an otherwise mostly un-fun day.
In conclusion, we decided Epcot is not worth the Genie+ nor really our time until those walls come down. The problem, as we later found out wasn't Genie+ specifically, but that the attractions at Epcot just keep breaking Why Disney? Why? I miss the good ole days when Disney opened an attraction and it was basically guaranteed to work for a year because it was carefully planned and put together. Now they apparently just half-a** it and when it breaks just do band-aid solutions. Disney, with the prices you're charging, you really can afford to do better. I'm predicting more of the same when Tron opens at MK. Prove me wrong, Disney. Prove me wrong!IMG_20221108_134852120IMG_20221108_134855620IMG_20221108_140816633IMG_20221108_140820393IMG_20221108_144111859IMG_20221108_144114952
My parents and I got in line and the ride broke down "temporarily" for like 20 minutes and then we gave up, being that when we walked in, the wait was 45 minutes. Leaving Christy alone with 2 kids for that long wasn't going to go well and we had bigger fish to fry.
We moved on the GotGCR. Christy and I went first with our LL. We got right to the point just before entering the pre-show and the ride broke down for about 10 minutes. We didn't give up on this one though. We paid for it. I was not disappointed! What a ride! To me it was like RnR and SpaceMountain had a child and the child learned a few new tricks of its own. Full disclosure, I am a GotG fan, and zooming and pivoting around to the tune of Everybody Want to Rule the World by Tears for Fears was a blast! Christy on the other hand, had too much and just closed her eyes. It really threw off her equilibrium, but she didn't hurl or anything. My parents and I went in next and wouldn't you know it broke down AGAIN! This time it was for 30 minutes. Everyone sat down in the queue. But when we finally did the ride to the tune of Conga by Gloria Estefan though, my parents said it was worth the wait.
Then we encountered our next great challenge, doing a LL at Soarin' and the WALLS!!! Those things are a pain in the butt. Epcot already involves a lot of walking, but these things really double it. We got there and my parents went on first, then Christy and I. This one didn't break down. On a side note, Frozen and RRA broke down multiple times during the day too. With now unhappy children we went to our ADR at La Creperie in France. Here the food was great! The service was sloooooooow. And I'm still missing all the cultural representatives they used to have. The kitchen seemed to be operated by French people, and one server, but the other servers including ours were American. This just diminishes the authenticity of things. We tried the fixed price option here. Christy got the Salad for an appetizer, while I got the cold (intentionally) potato and broccoli soup. The salad was...a salad. The soup, surprisingly tasty! For drinks, Christy got a Cappuccino, while I got a hard cider which was what I expected and hoped. It was a good hard cider, the Brut, but somehow with a French flavor twist. I can't really explain it better than that. It's like how French wines taste so much different to me in comparison to Italian or American counterparts.
For entrees, I got the chicken, mushroom and cheese savory crepe (Poulet) and Christy got the cheese, bacon, onion, and ham (Savoyarde) crepe. I'm not French language inclined, so consider yourself lucky I'm even trying to spell these things Both of these were very very good, but I liked the Poulet a bit better. For dessert, I got the Poire (pear, chocolate ganache, whipped cream) crepe, and Christy got the Melba (peach, red berries sauce, almonds) crepe. My parents got all similar things to us throughout the meal. The Poire was again very good. I'm a sucker for chocolate, but the the Melba was to me, actually better. A bunch of fruit never tasted so good!
Again, the food here was good. The service was slow. Our kids were cranky. So I can't say I thoroughly enjoyed the overall experience, but I did love the food. After this, Ariel needed a good visual stimulation, so we went through the Seas with Nemo & Friends and that made her happy, as did seeing the aquarium. We tried to LL at Spaceship Earth on our way out, but again, ride broke down. We left in the mid-afternoon with no plans to return to the chaos. Christy mentioned she was forming a complaint letter in her mind.
Back at the room, we just relaxed. The kids took long naps, and so did we. When we awoke, we munched on snacks (I bought a Mickey Ice Cream Bar from the gift shop) and at my parents' request, watched the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie which was a nice restful end to an otherwise mostly un-fun day.
In conclusion, we decided Epcot is not worth the Genie+ nor really our time until those walls come down. The problem, as we later found out wasn't Genie+ specifically, but that the attractions at Epcot just keep breaking Why Disney? Why? I miss the good ole days when Disney opened an attraction and it was basically guaranteed to work for a year because it was carefully planned and put together. Now they apparently just half-a** it and when it breaks just do band-aid solutions. Disney, with the prices you're charging, you really can afford to do better. I'm predicting more of the same when Tron opens at MK. Prove me wrong, Disney. Prove me wrong!IMG_20221108_134852120IMG_20221108_134855620IMG_20221108_140816633IMG_20221108_140820393IMG_20221108_144111859IMG_20221108_144114952
RocketEAR99 started the topic Nov 7 - 14, 2022 - First Trip with 2 Kids Under 3 - Day 2 in the forum Trip Planning & Reports
On our second day, things took a turn for the worse. I have what, I think, is an unpopular opinion about Genie+ and Lightning Lanes. These were things I saw as an inevitability when I looked at the overall failure of the FastPass+ system. Disney was not going to return to the legacy FastPass ticket pull system (which I though was the best way if line skipping was going to be a thing at all). If they went back to it now (and they won't), I would consider it a good move. Personally, I just think they should forego line skipping systems altogether because these things extend stand-by wait times. Anydangway, I think once they worked the kinks out of Genie+, it is superior to FastPass+, but not legacy FastPass. I like the idea that you're limited to day-of acquisition of lightning lanes and the 2-hour rule. These things kind-of throw back to the legacy system. The extra cost is, indeed, an ouch or a gouge depending on your group size, BUT, I think it does keep people from booking Lightning Lanes and not using them like some people did with FP+.
All that said, if there was any day we were going to try this new system on for size it was going to be this day. We agreed going in that we were only going to purchase this cash-hog once, and it would be at Epcot. The rest of our trip was going to be on the mercy of the stand-by waits. We went all-in. Lightning Lanes for GotG Cosmic Rewind and Genie+ with our first LL at Soarin'. We would rope drop Test Track. RRA was booked up before we could select it. We took advantage also of the resort guest early entry. We go to Test Track, and with 2 kids, had to do Rider Switch. The first time would be my parents and I, and the second would be Christy and I. Christy and my parents like thrill rides, but have a low tolerance for back-to-back thrills so I almost always end up being the one to go twice My parents and I got in line and the ride broke down "temporarily" for like 20 minutes and then we gave up, being that when we walked in, the wait was 45 minutes. Leaving Christy alone with 2 kids for that long wasn't going to go well and we had bigger fish to fry.
We moved on the GotGCR. Christy and I went first with our LL. We got right to the point just before entering the pre-show and the ride broke down for about 10 minutes. We didn't give up on this one though. We paid for it. I was not disappointed! What a ride! To me it was like RnR and SpaceMountain had a child and the child learned a few new tricks of its own. Full disclosure, I am a GotG fan, and zooming and pivoting around to the tune of Everybody Want to Rule the World by Tears for Fears was a blast! Christy on the other hand, had too much and just closed her eyes. It really threw off her equilibrium, but she didn't hurl or anything. My parents and I went in next and wouldn't you know it broke down AGAIN! This time it was for 30 minutes. Everyone sat down in the queue. But when we finally did the ride to the tune of Conga by Gloria Estefan though, my parents said it was worth the wait.
Then we encountered our next great challenge, doing a LL at Soarin' and the WALLS!!! Those things are a pain in the butt. Epcot already involves a lot of walking, but these things really double it. We got there and my parents went on first, then Christy and I. This one didn't break down. On a side note, Frozen and RRA broke down multiple times during the day too. With now unhappy children we went to our ADR at La Creperie in France. Here the food was great! The service was sloooooooow. And I'm still missing all the cultural representatives they used to have. The kitchen seemed to be operated by French people, and one server, but the other servers including ours were American. This just diminishes the authenticity of things. We tried the fixed price option here. Christy got the Salad for an appetizer, while I got the cold (intentionally) potato and broccoli soup. The salad was...a salad. The soup, surprisingly tasty! For drinks, Christy got a Cappuccino, while I got a hard cider which was what I expected and hoped. It was a good hard cider, the Brut, but somehow with a French flavor twist. I can't really explain it better than that. It's like how French wines taste so much different to me in comparison to Italian or American counterparts.
For entrees, I got the chicken, mushroom and cheese savory crepe (Poulet) and Christy got the cheese, bacon, onion, and ham (Savoyarde) crepe. I'm not French language inclined, so consider yourself lucky I'm even trying to spell these things Both of these were very very good, but I liked the Poulet a bit better. For dessert, I got the Poire (pear, chocolate ganache, whipped cream) crepe, and Christy got the Melba (peach, red berries sauce, almonds) crepe. My parents got all similar things to us throughout the meal. The Poire was again very good. I'm a sucker for chocolate, but the the Melba was to me, actually better. A bunch of fruit never tasted so good!
Again, the food here was good. The service was slow. Our kids were cranky. So I can't say I thoroughly enjoyed the overall experience, but I did love the food. After this, Ariel needed a good visual stimulation, so we went through the Seas with Nemo & Friends and that made her happy, as did seeing the aquarium. We tried to LL at Spaceship Earth on our way out, but again, ride broke down. We left in the mid-afternoon with no plans to return to the chaos. Christy mentioned she was forming a complaint letter in her mind.
Back at the room, we just relaxed. The kids took long naps, and so did we. When we awoke, we munched on snacks (I bought a Mickey Ice Cream Bar from the gift shop) and at my parents' request, watched the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie which was a nice restful end to an otherwise mostly un-fun day.
In conclusion, we decided Epcot is not worth the Genie+ nor really our time until those walls come down. The problem, as we later found out wasn't Genie+ specifically, but that the attractions at Epcot just keep breaking Why Disney? Why? I miss the good ole days when Disney opened an attraction and it was basically guaranteed to work for a year because it was carefully planned and put together. Now they apparently just half-a** it and when it breaks just do band-aid solutions. Disney, with the prices you're charging, you really can afford to do better. I'm predicting more of the same when Tron opens at MK. Prove me wrong, Disney. Prove me wrong!IMG_20221108_134852120IMG_20221108_134855620IMG_20221108_140816633IMG_20221108_140820393IMG_20221108_144111859IMG_20221108_144114952
My parents and I got in line and the ride broke down "temporarily" for like 20 minutes and then we gave up, being that when we walked in, the wait was 45 minutes. Leaving Christy alone with 2 kids for that long wasn't going to go well and we had bigger fish to fry.
We moved on the GotGCR. Christy and I went first with our LL. We got right to the point just before entering the pre-show and the ride broke down for about 10 minutes. We didn't give up on this one though. We paid for it. I was not disappointed! What a ride! To me it was like RnR and SpaceMountain had a child and the child learned a few new tricks of its own. Full disclosure, I am a GotG fan, and zooming and pivoting around to the tune of Everybody Want to Rule the World by Tears for Fears was a blast! Christy on the other hand, had too much and just closed her eyes. It really threw off her equilibrium, but she didn't hurl or anything. My parents and I went in next and wouldn't you know it broke down AGAIN! This time it was for 30 minutes. Everyone sat down in the queue. But when we finally did the ride to the tune of Conga by Gloria Estefan though, my parents said it was worth the wait.
Then we encountered our next great challenge, doing a LL at Soarin' and the WALLS!!! Those things are a pain in the butt. Epcot already involves a lot of walking, but these things really double it. We got there and my parents went on first, then Christy and I. This one didn't break down. On a side note, Frozen and RRA broke down multiple times during the day too. With now unhappy children we went to our ADR at La Creperie in France. Here the food was great! The service was sloooooooow. And I'm still missing all the cultural representatives they used to have. The kitchen seemed to be operated by French people, and one server, but the other servers including ours were American. This just diminishes the authenticity of things. We tried the fixed price option here. Christy got the Salad for an appetizer, while I got the cold (intentionally) potato and broccoli soup. The salad was...a salad. The soup, surprisingly tasty! For drinks, Christy got a Cappuccino, while I got a hard cider which was what I expected and hoped. It was a good hard cider, the Brut, but somehow with a French flavor twist. I can't really explain it better than that. It's like how French wines taste so much different to me in comparison to Italian or American counterparts.
For entrees, I got the chicken, mushroom and cheese savory crepe (Poulet) and Christy got the cheese, bacon, onion, and ham (Savoyarde) crepe. I'm not French language inclined, so consider yourself lucky I'm even trying to spell these things Both of these were very very good, but I liked the Poulet a bit better. For dessert, I got the Poire (pear, chocolate ganache, whipped cream) crepe, and Christy got the Melba (peach, red berries sauce, almonds) crepe. My parents got all similar things to us throughout the meal. The Poire was again very good. I'm a sucker for chocolate, but the the Melba was to me, actually better. A bunch of fruit never tasted so good!
Again, the food here was good. The service was slow. Our kids were cranky. So I can't say I thoroughly enjoyed the overall experience, but I did love the food. After this, Ariel needed a good visual stimulation, so we went through the Seas with Nemo & Friends and that made her happy, as did seeing the aquarium. We tried to LL at Spaceship Earth on our way out, but again, ride broke down. We left in the mid-afternoon with no plans to return to the chaos. Christy mentioned she was forming a complaint letter in her mind.
Back at the room, we just relaxed. The kids took long naps, and so did we. When we awoke, we munched on snacks (I bought a Mickey Ice Cream Bar from the gift shop) and at my parents' request, watched the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie which was a nice restful end to an otherwise mostly un-fun day.
In conclusion, we decided Epcot is not worth the Genie+ nor really our time until those walls come down. The problem, as we later found out wasn't Genie+ specifically, but that the attractions at Epcot just keep breaking Why Disney? Why? I miss the good ole days when Disney opened an attraction and it was basically guaranteed to work for a year because it was carefully planned and put together. Now they apparently just half-a** it and when it breaks just do band-aid solutions. Disney, with the prices you're charging, you really can afford to do better. I'm predicting more of the same when Tron opens at MK. Prove me wrong, Disney. Prove me wrong!IMG_20221108_134852120IMG_20221108_134855620IMG_20221108_140816633IMG_20221108_140820393IMG_20221108_144111859IMG_20221108_144114952
RocketEAR99 started the topic Nov 7 - 14, 2022 - First Trip with 2 Kids Under 3 - Day 2 in the forum Trip Planning & Reports
On our second day, things took a turn for the worse. I have what, I think, is an unpopular opinion about Genie+ and Lightning Lanes. These were things I saw as an inevitability when I looked at the overall failure of the FastPass+ system. Disney was not going to return to the legacy FastPass ticket pull system (which I though was the best way if line skipping was going to be a thing at all). If they went back to it now (and they won't), I would consider it a good move. Personally, I just think they should forego line skipping systems altogether because these things extend stand-by wait times. Anydangway, I think once they worked the kinks out of Genie+, it is superior to FastPass+, but not legacy FastPass. I like the idea that you're limited to day-of acquisition of lightning lanes and the 2-hour rule. These things kind-of throw back to the legacy system. The extra cost is, indeed, an ouch or a gouge depending on your group size, BUT, I think it does keep people from booking Lightning Lanes and not using them like some people did with FP+.
All that said, if there was any day we were going to try this new system on for size it was going to be this day. We agreed going in that we were only going to purchase this cash-hog once, and it would be at Epcot. The rest of our trip was going to be on the mercy of the stand-by waits. We went all-in. Lightning Lanes for GotG Cosmic Rewind and Genie+ with our first LL at Soarin'. We would rope drop Test Track. RRA was booked up before we could select it. We took advantage also of the resort guest early entry. We go to Test Track, and with 2 kids, had to do Rider Switch. The first time would be my parents and I, and the second would be Christy and I. Christy and my parents like thrill rides, but have a low tolerance for back-to-back thrills so I almost always end up being the one to go twice My parents and I got in line and the ride broke down "temporarily" for like 20 minutes and then we gave up, being that when we walked in, the wait was 45 minutes. Leaving Christy alone with 2 kids for that long wasn't going to go well and we had bigger fish to fry.
We moved on the GotGCR. Christy and I went first with our LL. We got right to the point just before entering the pre-show and the ride broke down for about 10 minutes. We didn't give up on this one though. We paid for it. I was not disappointed! What a ride! To me it was like RnR and SpaceMountain had a child and the child learned a few new tricks of its own. Full disclosure, I am a GotG fan, and zooming and pivoting around to the tune of Everybody Want to Rule the World by Tears for Fears was a blast! Christy on the other hand, had too much and just closed her eyes. It really threw off her equilibrium, but she didn't hurl or anything. My parents and I went in next and wouldn't you know it broke down AGAIN! This time it was for 30 minutes. Everyone sat down in the queue. But when we finally did the ride to the tune of Conga by Gloria Estefan though, my parents said it was worth the wait.
Then we encountered our next great challenge, doing a LL at Soarin' and the WALLS!!! Those things are a pain in the butt. Epcot already involves a lot of walking, but these things really double it. We got there and my parents went on first, then Christy and I. This one didn't break down. On a side note, Frozen and RRA broke down multiple times during the day too. With now unhappy children we went to our ADR at La Creperie in France. Here the food was great! The service was sloooooooow. And I'm still missing all the cultural representatives they used to have. The kitchen seemed to be operated by French people, and one server, but the other servers including ours were American. This just diminishes the authenticity of things. We tried the fixed price option here. Christy got the Salad for an appetizer, while I got the cold (intentionally) potato and broccoli soup. The salad was...a salad. The soup, surprisingly tasty! For drinks, Christy got a Cappuccino, while I got a hard cider which was what I expected and hoped. It was a good hard cider, the Brut, but somehow with a French flavor twist. I can't really explain it better than that. It's like how French wines taste so much different to me in comparison to Italian or American counterparts.
For entrees, I got the chicken, mushroom and cheese savory crepe (Poulet) and Christy got the cheese, bacon, onion, and ham (Savoyarde) crepe. I'm not French language inclined, so consider yourself lucky I'm even trying to spell these things Both of these were very very good, but I liked the Poulet a bit better. For dessert, I got the Poire (pear, chocolate ganache, whipped cream) crepe, and Christy got the Melba (peach, red berries sauce, almonds) crepe. My parents got all similar things to us throughout the meal. The Poire was again very good. I'm a sucker for chocolate, but the the Melba was to me, actually better. A bunch of fruit never tasted so good!
Again, the food here was good. The service was slow. Our kids were cranky. So I can't say I thoroughly enjoyed the overall experience, but I did love the food. After this, Ariel needed a good visual stimulation, so we went through the Seas with Nemo & Friends and that made her happy, as did seeing the aquarium. We tried to LL at Spaceship Earth on our way out, but again, ride broke down. We left in the mid-afternoon with no plans to return to the chaos. Christy mentioned she was forming a complaint letter in her mind.
Back at the room, we just relaxed. The kids took long naps, and so did we. When we awoke, we munched on snacks (I bought a Mickey Ice Cream Bar from the gift shop) and at my parents' request, watched the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie which was a nice restful end to an otherwise mostly un-fun day.
In conclusion, we decided Epcot is not worth the Genie+ nor really our time until those walls come down. The problem, as we later found out wasn't Genie+ specifically, but that the attractions at Epcot just keep breaking Why Disney? Why? I miss the good ole days when Disney opened an attraction and it was basically guaranteed to work for a year because it was carefully planned and put together. Now they apparently just half-a** it and when it breaks just do band-aid solutions. Disney, with the prices you're charging, you really can afford to do better. I'm predicting more of the same when Tron opens at MK. Prove me wrong, Disney. Prove me wrong!IMG_20221108_134852120IMG_20221108_134855620IMG_20221108_140816633IMG_20221108_140820393IMG_20221108_144111859IMG_20221108_144114952
My parents and I got in line and the ride broke down "temporarily" for like 20 minutes and then we gave up, being that when we walked in, the wait was 45 minutes. Leaving Christy alone with 2 kids for that long wasn't going to go well and we had bigger fish to fry.
We moved on the GotGCR. Christy and I went first with our LL. We got right to the point just before entering the pre-show and the ride broke down for about 10 minutes. We didn't give up on this one though. We paid for it. I was not disappointed! What a ride! To me it was like RnR and SpaceMountain had a child and the child learned a few new tricks of its own. Full disclosure, I am a GotG fan, and zooming and pivoting around to the tune of Everybody Want to Rule the World by Tears for Fears was a blast! Christy on the other hand, had too much and just closed her eyes. It really threw off her equilibrium, but she didn't hurl or anything. My parents and I went in next and wouldn't you know it broke down AGAIN! This time it was for 30 minutes. Everyone sat down in the queue. But when we finally did the ride to the tune of Conga by Gloria Estefan though, my parents said it was worth the wait.
Then we encountered our next great challenge, doing a LL at Soarin' and the WALLS!!! Those things are a pain in the butt. Epcot already involves a lot of walking, but these things really double it. We got there and my parents went on first, then Christy and I. This one didn't break down. On a side note, Frozen and RRA broke down multiple times during the day too. With now unhappy children we went to our ADR at La Creperie in France. Here the food was great! The service was sloooooooow. And I'm still missing all the cultural representatives they used to have. The kitchen seemed to be operated by French people, and one server, but the other servers including ours were American. This just diminishes the authenticity of things. We tried the fixed price option here. Christy got the Salad for an appetizer, while I got the cold (intentionally) potato and broccoli soup. The salad was...a salad. The soup, surprisingly tasty! For drinks, Christy got a Cappuccino, while I got a hard cider which was what I expected and hoped. It was a good hard cider, the Brut, but somehow with a French flavor twist. I can't really explain it better than that. It's like how French wines taste so much different to me in comparison to Italian or American counterparts.
For entrees, I got the chicken, mushroom and cheese savory crepe (Poulet) and Christy got the cheese, bacon, onion, and ham (Savoyarde) crepe. I'm not French language inclined, so consider yourself lucky I'm even trying to spell these things Both of these were very very good, but I liked the Poulet a bit better. For dessert, I got the Poire (pear, chocolate ganache, whipped cream) crepe, and Christy got the Melba (peach, red berries sauce, almonds) crepe. My parents got all similar things to us throughout the meal. The Poire was again very good. I'm a sucker for chocolate, but the the Melba was to me, actually better. A bunch of fruit never tasted so good!
Again, the food here was good. The service was slow. Our kids were cranky. So I can't say I thoroughly enjoyed the overall experience, but I did love the food. After this, Ariel needed a good visual stimulation, so we went through the Seas with Nemo & Friends and that made her happy, as did seeing the aquarium. We tried to LL at Spaceship Earth on our way out, but again, ride broke down. We left in the mid-afternoon with no plans to return to the chaos. Christy mentioned she was forming a complaint letter in her mind.
Back at the room, we just relaxed. The kids took long naps, and so did we. When we awoke, we munched on snacks (I bought a Mickey Ice Cream Bar from the gift shop) and at my parents' request, watched the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie which was a nice restful end to an otherwise mostly un-fun day.
In conclusion, we decided Epcot is not worth the Genie+ nor really our time until those walls come down. The problem, as we later found out wasn't Genie+ specifically, but that the attractions at Epcot just keep breaking Why Disney? Why? I miss the good ole days when Disney opened an attraction and it was basically guaranteed to work for a year because it was carefully planned and put together. Now they apparently just half-a** it and when it breaks just do band-aid solutions. Disney, with the prices you're charging, you really can afford to do better. I'm predicting more of the same when Tron opens at MK. Prove me wrong, Disney. Prove me wrong!IMG_20221108_134852120IMG_20221108_134855620IMG_20221108_140816633IMG_20221108_140820393IMG_20221108_144111859IMG_20221108_144114952
RocketEAR99 started the topic Nov 7 - 14, 2022 - First Trip with 2 Kids Under 3 - Day 2 in the forum Trip Planning & Reports
On our second day, things took a turn for the worse. I have what, I think, is an unpopular opinion about Genie+ and Lightning Lanes. These were things I saw as an inevitability when I looked at the overall failure of the FastPass+ system. Disney was not going to return to the legacy FastPass ticket pull system (which I though was the best way if line skipping was going to be a thing at all). If they went back to it now (and they won't), I would consider it a good move. Personally, I just think they should forego line skipping systems altogether because these things extend stand-by wait times. Anydangway, I think once they worked the kinks out of Genie+, it is superior to FastPass+, but not legacy FastPass. I like the idea that you're limited to day-of acquisition of lightning lanes and the 2-hour rule. These things kind-of throw back to the legacy system. The extra cost is, indeed, an ouch or a gouge depending on your group size, BUT, I think it does keep people from booking Lightning Lanes and not using them like some people did with FP+.
All that said, if there was any day we were going to try this new system on for size it was going to be this day. We agreed going in that we were only going to purchase this cash-hog once, and it would be at Epcot. The rest of our trip was going to be on the mercy of the stand-by waits. We went all-in. Lightning Lanes for GotG Cosmic Rewind and Genie+ with our first LL at Soarin'. We would rope drop Test Track. RRA was booked up before we could select it. We took advantage also of the resort guest early entry. We go to Test Track, and with 2 kids, had to do Rider Switch. The first time would be my parents and I, and the second would be Christy and I. Christy and my parents like thrill rides, but have a low tolerance for back-to-back thrills so I almost always end up being the one to go twice My parents and I got in line and the ride broke down "temporarily" for like 20 minutes and then we gave up, being that when we walked in, the wait was 45 minutes. Leaving Christy alone with 2 kids for that long wasn't going to go well and we had bigger fish to fry.
We moved on the GotGCR. Christy and I went first with our LL. We got right to the point just before entering the pre-show and the ride broke down for about 10 minutes. We didn't give up on this one though. We paid for it. I was not disappointed! What a ride! To me it was like RnR and SpaceMountain had a child and the child learned a few new tricks of its own. Full disclosure, I am a GotG fan, and zooming and pivoting around to the tune of Everybody Want to Rule the World by Tears for Fears was a blast! Christy on the other hand, had too much and just closed her eyes. It really threw off her equilibrium, but she didn't hurl or anything. My parents and I went in next and wouldn't you know it broke down AGAIN! This time it was for 30 minutes. Everyone sat down in the queue. But when we finally did the ride to the tune of Conga by Gloria Estefan though, my parents said it was worth the wait.
Then we encountered our next great challenge, doing a LL at Soarin' and the WALLS!!! Those things are a pain in the butt. Epcot already involves a lot of walking, but these things really double it. We got there and my parents went on first, then Christy and I. This one didn't break down. On a side note, Frozen and RRA broke down multiple times during the day too. With now unhappy children we went to our ADR at La Creperie in France. Here the food was great! The service was sloooooooow. And I'm still missing all the cultural representatives they used to have. The kitchen seemed to be operated by French people, and one server, but the other servers including ours were American. This just diminishes the authenticity of things. We tried the fixed price option here. Christy got the Salad for an appetizer, while I got the cold (intentionally) potato and broccoli soup. The salad was...a salad. The soup, surprisingly tasty! For drinks, Christy got a Cappuccino, while I got a hard cider which was what I expected and hoped. It was a good hard cider, the Brut, but somehow with a French flavor twist. I can't really explain it better than that. It's like how French wines taste so much different to me in comparison to Italian or American counterparts.
For entrees, I got the chicken, mushroom and cheese savory crepe (Poulet) and Christy got the cheese, bacon, onion, and ham (Savoyarde) crepe. I'm not French language inclined, so consider yourself lucky I'm even trying to spell these things Both of these were very very good, but I liked the Poulet a bit better. For dessert, I got the Poire (pear, chocolate ganache, whipped cream) crepe, and Christy got the Melba (peach, red berries sauce, almonds) crepe. My parents got all similar things to us throughout the meal. The Poire was again very good. I'm a sucker for chocolate, but the the Melba was to me, actually better. A bunch of fruit never tasted so good!
Again, the food here was good. The service was slow. Our kids were cranky. So I can't say I thoroughly enjoyed the overall experience, but I did love the food. After this, Ariel needed a good visual stimulation, so we went through the Seas with Nemo & Friends and that made her happy, as did seeing the aquarium. We tried to LL at Spaceship Earth on our way out, but again, ride broke down. We left in the mid-afternoon with no plans to return to the chaos. Christy mentioned she was forming a complaint letter in her mind.
Back at the room, we just relaxed. The kids took long naps, and so did we. When we awoke, we munched on snacks (I bought a Mickey Ice Cream Bar from the gift shop) and at my parents' request, watched the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie which was a nice restful end to an otherwise mostly un-fun day.
In conclusion, we decided Epcot is not worth the Genie+ nor really our time until those walls come down. The problem, as we later found out wasn't Genie+ specifically, but that the attractions at Epcot just keep breaking Why Disney? Why? I miss the good ole days when Disney opened an attraction and it was basically guaranteed to work for a year because it was carefully planned and put together. Now they apparently just half-a** it and when it breaks just do band-aid solutions. Disney, with the prices you're charging, you really can afford to do better. I'm predicting more of the same when Tron opens at MK. Prove me wrong, Disney. Prove me wrong!IMG_20221108_134852120IMG_20221108_134855620IMG_20221108_140816633IMG_20221108_140820393IMG_20221108_144111859IMG_20221108_144114952
My parents and I got in line and the ride broke down "temporarily" for like 20 minutes and then we gave up, being that when we walked in, the wait was 45 minutes. Leaving Christy alone with 2 kids for that long wasn't going to go well and we had bigger fish to fry.
We moved on the GotGCR. Christy and I went first with our LL. We got right to the point just before entering the pre-show and the ride broke down for about 10 minutes. We didn't give up on this one though. We paid for it. I was not disappointed! What a ride! To me it was like RnR and SpaceMountain had a child and the child learned a few new tricks of its own. Full disclosure, I am a GotG fan, and zooming and pivoting around to the tune of Everybody Want to Rule the World by Tears for Fears was a blast! Christy on the other hand, had too much and just closed her eyes. It really threw off her equilibrium, but she didn't hurl or anything. My parents and I went in next and wouldn't you know it broke down AGAIN! This time it was for 30 minutes. Everyone sat down in the queue. But when we finally did the ride to the tune of Conga by Gloria Estefan though, my parents said it was worth the wait.
Then we encountered our next great challenge, doing a LL at Soarin' and the WALLS!!! Those things are a pain in the butt. Epcot already involves a lot of walking, but these things really double it. We got there and my parents went on first, then Christy and I. This one didn't break down. On a side note, Frozen and RRA broke down multiple times during the day too. With now unhappy children we went to our ADR at La Creperie in France. Here the food was great! The service was sloooooooow. And I'm still missing all the cultural representatives they used to have. The kitchen seemed to be operated by French people, and one server, but the other servers including ours were American. This just diminishes the authenticity of things. We tried the fixed price option here. Christy got the Salad for an appetizer, while I got the cold (intentionally) potato and broccoli soup. The salad was...a salad. The soup, surprisingly tasty! For drinks, Christy got a Cappuccino, while I got a hard cider which was what I expected and hoped. It was a good hard cider, the Brut, but somehow with a French flavor twist. I can't really explain it better than that. It's like how French wines taste so much different to me in comparison to Italian or American counterparts.
For entrees, I got the chicken, mushroom and cheese savory crepe (Poulet) and Christy got the cheese, bacon, onion, and ham (Savoyarde) crepe. I'm not French language inclined, so consider yourself lucky I'm even trying to spell these things Both of these were very very good, but I liked the Poulet a bit better. For dessert, I got the Poire (pear, chocolate ganache, whipped cream) crepe, and Christy got the Melba (peach, red berries sauce, almonds) crepe. My parents got all similar things to us throughout the meal. The Poire was again very good. I'm a sucker for chocolate, but the the Melba was to me, actually better. A bunch of fruit never tasted so good!
Again, the food here was good. The service was slow. Our kids were cranky. So I can't say I thoroughly enjoyed the overall experience, but I did love the food. After this, Ariel needed a good visual stimulation, so we went through the Seas with Nemo & Friends and that made her happy, as did seeing the aquarium. We tried to LL at Spaceship Earth on our way out, but again, ride broke down. We left in the mid-afternoon with no plans to return to the chaos. Christy mentioned she was forming a complaint letter in her mind.
Back at the room, we just relaxed. The kids took long naps, and so did we. When we awoke, we munched on snacks (I bought a Mickey Ice Cream Bar from the gift shop) and at my parents' request, watched the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie which was a nice restful end to an otherwise mostly un-fun day.
In conclusion, we decided Epcot is not worth the Genie+ nor really our time until those walls come down. The problem, as we later found out wasn't Genie+ specifically, but that the attractions at Epcot just keep breaking Why Disney? Why? I miss the good ole days when Disney opened an attraction and it was basically guaranteed to work for a year because it was carefully planned and put together. Now they apparently just half-a** it and when it breaks just do band-aid solutions. Disney, with the prices you're charging, you really can afford to do better. I'm predicting more of the same when Tron opens at MK. Prove me wrong, Disney. Prove me wrong!IMG_20221108_134852120IMG_20221108_134855620IMG_20221108_140816633IMG_20221108_140820393IMG_20221108_144111859IMG_20221108_144114952
RocketEAR99 started the topic Nov 7 - 14, 2022 - First Trip with 2 Kids Under 3 - Day 1 in the forum Trip Planning & Reports
Due to time constraints, I'm not going to be super-detailed with this, but I do want to let y'all know how our trip went under this new circumstance and share some thoughts on the WDW of today. This was a new experience for us, not only because our family has changed so much in 1 year, but so has WDW. Christy and I have our daughter, Ariel, who just turned 2 years old, and our son, Enoch, who is 4 months old. This was Ariel's 3rd trip to WDW and Enoch's 1st. Christy's 12th trip, and my 27th. Our most recent trip prior to this one was August 2021.
On Nov 7th, after having a delightful time visiting friends in Sarasota, FL, we traveled north to WDW and checked into our 2-bedroom Villa at Animal Kingdom Lodge- Kidani Village. My parents met us there and were going to stay with us. This was my first ever 7-night on-property visit to WDW. I have to say with our 2 young ones, 7 nights was just right. Our typical 5-night stay would have flown like a brick. My parents agreed to take the kids that night while Christy and I had a date night at the California Grill at the Contemporary Resort that night.
We quite purposefully did not make theme park plans that day. This allowed us to get there when we wanted, settle in, and then go out to dinner. We arrived at the Contemporary about 45 minutes before our reserved time of 7:00pm, so we did some window shopping in the Grand Canyon Concourse. At 6:45p, we checked in and waited a bit. They called us to the elevator at 7:00p sharp. We had never been to California Grill before, but the offerings on the 50th Anniversary fixed price menu were too interesting to pass up. The view at the top is truly stunning if you've never been there. Our table was away from the windows, but still had a nice view of the Magic Kingdom.
We strategically picked our dishes and split everything. For appetizers we got the short rib dumplings and the blue crab bisque. The dumplings were a huge win! Nearly life-changing flavor. The blue crab bisque was good and would probably be better received by people not used to getting blue crab bisque in Maryland. For me, it tasted like it was slightly burned, and the crab quality was underwhelming compared to what I'm used to. For entrees we got the filet of beef and the pork tenderloin. The filet and accompaniments of potatoes and asparagus were delicious! That said, the pork was the better dish. The pork alone would be worth a second trip. For dessert we go the creme brulee and the 5 flavors dessert. Again these were good, but not great. We've had better creme brulee. The 5 flavors were a mixed bag of great to just good. The lemon and chocolate were great. The carrot cake was too sweet. The others were good, but forgettable. Not pictured is the complimentary cucumber water we got which was bursting with cucumber flavor and a welcome treat between courses. Also I got a Sonoma Maple Bourbon Old Fashioned which was excellent!
Naturally we watched Enchantment from the balcony and that was also a good treat. That said, having finally seen it, I prefer Wishes and Happily Ever After to that show. It's good. Not great. After dinner, we did more shopping at the Contemporary and returned to our villa. Far as we were concerned, we were off to a great start! IMG_20221107_194215970IMG_20221107_194220866IMG_20221107_204229098IMG_20221107_204232462IMG_20221107_213122244IMG_20221107_213125057
RocketEAR99 started the topic Nov 7 - 14, 2022 - First Trip with 2 Kids Under 3 - Day 1 in the forum Trip Planning & Reports
Due to time constraints, I'm not going to be super-detailed with this, but I do want to let y'all know how our trip went under this new circumstance and share some thoughts on the WDW of today. This was a new experience for us, not only because our family has changed so much in 1 year, but so has WDW. Christy and I have our daughter, Ariel, who just turned 2 years old, and our son, Enoch, who is 4 months old. This was Ariel's 3rd trip to WDW and Enoch's 1st. Christy's 12th trip, and my 27th. Our most recent trip prior to this one was August 2021.
On Nov 7th, after having a delightful time visiting friends in Sarasota, FL, we traveled north to WDW and checked into our 2-bedroom Villa at Animal Kingdom Lodge- Kidani Village. My parents met us there and were going to stay with us. This was my first ever 7-night on-property visit to WDW. I have to say with our 2 young ones, 7 nights was just right. Our typical 5-night stay would have flown like a brick. My parents agreed to take the kids that night while Christy and I had a date night at the California Grill at the Contemporary Resort that night.
We quite purposefully did not make theme park plans that day. This allowed us to get there when we wanted, settle in, and then go out to dinner. We arrived at the Contemporary about 45 minutes before our reserved time of 7:00pm, so we did some window shopping in the Grand Canyon Concourse. At 6:45p, we checked in and waited a bit. They called us to the elevator at 7:00p sharp. We had never been to California Grill before, but the offerings on the 50th Anniversary fixed price menu were too interesting to pass up. The view at the top is truly stunning if you've never been there. Our table was away from the windows, but still had a nice view of the Magic Kingdom.
We strategically picked our dishes and split everything. For appetizers we got the short rib dumplings and the blue crab bisque. The dumplings were a huge win! Nearly life-changing flavor. The blue crab bisque was good and would probably be better received by people not used to getting blue crab bisque in Maryland. For me, it tasted like it was slightly burned, and the crab quality was underwhelming compared to what I'm used to. For entrees we got the filet of beef and the pork tenderloin. The filet and accompaniments of potatoes and asparagus were delicious! That said, the pork was the better dish. The pork alone would be worth a second trip. For dessert we go the creme brulee and the 5 flavors dessert. Again these were good, but not great. We've had better creme brulee. The 5 flavors were a mixed bag of great to just good. The lemon and chocolate were great. The carrot cake was too sweet. The others were good, but forgettable. Not pictured is the complimentary cucumber water we got which was bursting with cucumber flavor and a welcome treat between courses. Also I got a Sonoma Maple Bourbon Old Fashioned which was excellent!
Naturally we watched Enchantment from the balcony and that was also a good treat. That said, having finally seen it, I prefer Wishes and Happily Ever After to that show. It's good. Not great. After dinner, we did more shopping at the Contemporary and returned to our villa. Far as we were concerned, we were off to a great start! IMG_20221107_194215970IMG_20221107_194220866IMG_20221107_204229098IMG_20221107_204232462IMG_20221107_213122244IMG_20221107_213125057
RocketEAR99 started the topic Nov 7 - 14, 2022 - First Trip with 2 Kids Under 3 - Day 1 in the forum Trip Planning & Reports
Due to time constraints, I'm not going to be super-detailed with this, but I do want to let y'all know how our trip went under this new circumstance and share some thoughts on the WDW of today. This was a new experience for us, not only because our family has changed so much in 1 year, but so has WDW. Christy and I have our daughter, Ariel, who just turned 2 years old, and our son, Enoch, who is 4 months old. This was Ariel's 3rd trip to WDW and Enoch's 1st. Christy's 12th trip, and my 27th. Our most recent trip prior to this one was August 2021.
On Nov 7th, after having a delightful time visiting friends in Sarasota, FL, we traveled north to WDW and checked into our 2-bedroom Villa at Animal Kingdom Lodge- Kidani Village. My parents met us there and were going to stay with us. This was my first ever 7-night on-property visit to WDW. I have to say with our 2 young ones, 7 nights was just right. Our typical 5-night stay would have flown like a brick. My parents agreed to take the kids that night while Christy and I had a date night at the California Grill at the Contemporary Resort that night.
We quite purposefully did not make theme park plans that day. This allowed us to get there when we wanted, settle in, and then go out to dinner. We arrived at the Contemporary about 45 minutes before our reserved time of 7:00pm, so we did some window shopping in the Grand Canyon Concourse. At 6:45p, we checked in and waited a bit. They called us to the elevator at 7:00p sharp. We had never been to California Grill before, but the offerings on the 50th Anniversary fixed price menu were too interesting to pass up. The view at the top is truly stunning if you've never been there. Our table was away from the windows, but still had a nice view of the Magic Kingdom.
We strategically picked our dishes and split everything. For appetizers we got the short rib dumplings and the blue crab bisque. The dumplings were a huge win! Nearly life-changing flavor. The blue crab bisque was good and would probably be better received by people not used to getting blue crab bisque in Maryland. For me, it tasted like it was slightly burned, and the crab quality was underwhelming compared to what I'm used to. For entrees we got the filet of beef and the pork tenderloin. The filet and accompaniments of potatoes and asparagus were delicious! That said, the pork was the better dish. The pork alone would be worth a second trip. For dessert we go the creme brulee and the 5 flavors dessert. Again these were good, but not great. We've had better creme brulee. The 5 flavors were a mixed bag of great to just good. The lemon and chocolate were great. The carrot cake was too sweet. The others were good, but forgettable. Not pictured is the complimentary cucumber water we got which was bursting with cucumber flavor and a welcome treat between courses. Also I got a Sonoma Maple Bourbon Old Fashioned which was excellent!
Naturally we watched Enchantment from the balcony and that was also a good treat. That said, having finally seen it, I prefer Wishes and Happily Ever After to that show. It's good. Not great. After dinner, we did more shopping at the Contemporary and returned to our villa. Far as we were concerned, we were off to a great start! IMG_20221107_194215970IMG_20221107_194220866IMG_20221107_204229098IMG_20221107_204232462IMG_20221107_213122244IMG_20221107_213125057
RocketEAR99 started the topic Nov 7 - 14, 2022 - First Trip with 2 Kids Under 3 - Day 1 in the forum Trip Planning & Reports
Due to time constraints, I'm not going to be super-detailed with this, but I do want to let y'all know how our trip went under this new circumstance and share some thoughts on the WDW of today. This was a new experience for us, not only because our family has changed so much in 1 year, but so has WDW. Christy and I have our daughter, Ariel, who just turned 2 years old, and our son, Enoch, who is 4 months old. This was Ariel's 3rd trip to WDW and Enoch's 1st. Christy's 12th trip, and my 27th. Our most recent trip prior to this one was August 2021.
On Nov 7th, after having a delightful time visiting friends in Sarasota, FL, we traveled north to WDW and checked into our 2-bedroom Villa at Animal Kingdom Lodge- Kidani Village. My parents met us there and were going to stay with us. This was my first ever 7-night on-property visit to WDW. I have to say with our 2 young ones, 7 nights was just right. Our typical 5-night stay would have flown like a brick. My parents agreed to take the kids that night while Christy and I had a date night at the California Grill at the Contemporary Resort that night.
We quite purposefully did not make theme park plans that day. This allowed us to get there when we wanted, settle in, and then go out to dinner. We arrived at the Contemporary about 45 minutes before our reserved time of 7:00pm, so we did some window shopping in the Grand Canyon Concourse. At 6:45p, we checked in and waited a bit. They called us to the elevator at 7:00p sharp. We had never been to California Grill before, but the offerings on the 50th Anniversary fixed price menu were too interesting to pass up. The view at the top is truly stunning if you've never been there. Our table was away from the windows, but still had a nice view of the Magic Kingdom.
We strategically picked our dishes and split everything. For appetizers we got the short rib dumplings and the blue crab bisque. The dumplings were a huge win! Nearly life-changing flavor. The blue crab bisque was good and would probably be better received by people not used to getting blue crab bisque in Maryland. For me, it tasted like it was slightly burned, and the crab quality was underwhelming compared to what I'm used to. For entrees we got the filet of beef and the pork tenderloin. The filet and accompaniments of potatoes and asparagus were delicious! That said, the pork was the better dish. The pork alone would be worth a second trip. For dessert we go the creme brulee and the 5 flavors dessert. Again these were good, but not great. We've had better creme brulee. The 5 flavors were a mixed bag of great to just good. The lemon and chocolate were great. The carrot cake was too sweet. The others were good, but forgettable. Not pictured is the complimentary cucumber water we got which was bursting with cucumber flavor and a welcome treat between courses. Also I got a Sonoma Maple Bourbon Old Fashioned which was excellent!
Naturally we watched Enchantment from the balcony and that was also a good treat. That said, having finally seen it, I prefer Wishes and Happily Ever After to that show. It's good. Not great. After dinner, we did more shopping at the Contemporary and returned to our villa. Far as we were concerned, we were off to a great start! IMG_20221107_194215970IMG_20221107_194220866IMG_20221107_204229098IMG_20221107_204232462IMG_20221107_213122244IMG_20221107_213125057
RocketEAR99 started the topic Nov 7 - 14, 2022 - First Trip with 2 Kids Under 3 - Day 1 in the forum Trip Planning & Reports
Due to time constraints, I'm not going to be super-detailed with this, but I do want to let y'all know how our trip went under this new circumstance and share some thoughts on the WDW of today. This was a new experience for us, not only because our family has changed so much in 1 year, but so has WDW. Christy and I have our daughter, Ariel, who just turned 2 years old, and our son, Enoch, who is 4 months old. This was Ariel's 3rd trip to WDW and Enoch's 1st. Christy's 12th trip, and my 27th. Our most recent trip prior to this one was August 2021.
On Nov 7th, after having a delightful time visiting friends in Sarasota, FL, we traveled north to WDW and checked into our 2-bedroom Villa at Animal Kingdom Lodge- Kidani Village. My parents met us there and were going to stay with us. This was my first ever 7-night on-property visit to WDW. I have to say with our 2 young ones, 7 nights was just right. Our typical 5-night stay would have flown like a brick. My parents agreed to take the kids that night while Christy and I had a date night at the California Grill at the Contemporary Resort that night.
We quite purposefully did not make theme park plans that day. This allowed us to get there when we wanted, settle in, and then go out to dinner. We arrived at the Contemporary about 45 minutes before our reserved time of 7:00pm, so we did some window shopping in the Grand Canyon Concourse. At 6:45p, we checked in and waited a bit. They called us to the elevator at 7:00p sharp. We had never been to California Grill before, but the offerings on the 50th Anniversary fixed price menu were too interesting to pass up. The view at the top is truly stunning if you've never been there. Our table was away from the windows, but still had a nice view of the Magic Kingdom.
We strategically picked our dishes and split everything. For appetizers we got the short rib dumplings and the blue crab bisque. The dumplings were a huge win! Nearly life-changing flavor. The blue crab bisque was good and would probably be better received by people not used to getting blue crab bisque in Maryland. For me, it tasted like it was slightly burned, and the crab quality was underwhelming compared to what I'm used to. For entrees we got the filet of beef and the pork tenderloin. The filet and accompaniments of potatoes and asparagus were delicious! That said, the pork was the better dish. The pork alone would be worth a second trip. For dessert we go the creme brulee and the 5 flavors dessert. Again these were good, but not great. We've had better creme brulee. The 5 flavors were a mixed bag of great to just good. The lemon and chocolate were great. The carrot cake was too sweet. The others were good, but forgettable. Not pictured is the complimentary cucumber water we got which was bursting with cucumber flavor and a welcome treat between courses. Also I got a Sonoma Maple Bourbon Old Fashioned which was excellent!
Naturally we watched Enchantment from the balcony and that was also a good treat. That said, having finally seen it, I prefer Wishes and Happily Ever After to that show. It's good. Not great. After dinner, we did more shopping at the Contemporary and returned to our villa. Far as we were concerned, we were off to a great start! IMG_20221107_194215970IMG_20221107_194220866IMG_20221107_204229098IMG_20221107_204232462IMG_20221107_213122244IMG_20221107_213125057
RocketEAR99 started the topic Nov 7 - 14, 2022 - First Trip with 2 Kids Under 3 - Day 1 in the forum Trip Planning & Reports
Due to time constraints, I'm not going to be super-detailed with this, but I do want to let y'all know how our trip went under this new circumstance and share some thoughts on the WDW of today. This was a new experience for us, not only because our family has changed so much in 1 year, but so has WDW. Christy and I have our daughter, Ariel, who just turned 2 years old, and our son, Enoch, who is 4 months old. This was Ariel's 3rd trip to WDW and Enoch's 1st. Christy's 12th trip, and my 27th. Our most recent trip prior to this one was August 2021.
On Nov 7th, after having a delightful time visiting friends in Sarasota, FL, we traveled north to WDW and checked into our 2-bedroom Villa at Animal Kingdom Lodge- Kidani Village. My parents met us there and were going to stay with us. This was my first ever 7-night on-property visit to WDW. I have to say with our 2 young ones, 7 nights was just right. Our typical 5-night stay would have flown like a brick. My parents agreed to take the kids that night while Christy and I had a date night at the California Grill at the Contemporary Resort that night.
We quite purposefully did not make theme park plans that day. This allowed us to get there when we wanted, settle in, and then go out to dinner. We arrived at the Contemporary about 45 minutes before our reserved time of 7:00pm, so we did some window shopping in the Grand Canyon Concourse. At 6:45p, we checked in and waited a bit. They called us to the elevator at 7:00p sharp. We had never been to California Grill before, but the offerings on the 50th Anniversary fixed price menu were too interesting to pass up. The view at the top is truly stunning if you've never been there. Our table was away from the windows, but still had a nice view of the Magic Kingdom.
We strategically picked our dishes and split everything. For appetizers we got the short rib dumplings and the blue crab bisque. The dumplings were a huge win! Nearly life-changing flavor. The blue crab bisque was good and would probably be better received by people not used to getting blue crab bisque in Maryland. For me, it tasted like it was slightly burned, and the crab quality was underwhelming compared to what I'm used to. For entrees we got the filet of beef and the pork tenderloin. The filet and accompaniments of potatoes and asparagus were delicious! That said, the pork was the better dish. The pork alone would be worth a second trip. For dessert we go the creme brulee and the 5 flavors dessert. Again these were good, but not great. We've had better creme brulee. The 5 flavors were a mixed bag of great to just good. The lemon and chocolate were great. The carrot cake was too sweet. The others were good, but forgettable. Not pictured is the complimentary cucumber water we got which was bursting with cucumber flavor and a welcome treat between courses. Also I got a Sonoma Maple Bourbon Old Fashioned which was excellent!
Naturally we watched Enchantment from the balcony and that was also a good treat. That said, having finally seen it, I prefer Wishes and Happily Ever After to that show. It's good. Not great. After dinner, we did more shopping at the Contemporary and returned to our villa. Far as we were concerned, we were off to a great start! IMG_20221107_194215970IMG_20221107_194220866IMG_20221107_204229098IMG_20221107_204232462IMG_20221107_213122244IMG_20221107_213125057
