The Miller Fams Second Trip to Walt Disney World January 20-30 Pop Century
Travel Method: Car, Plane, Disneys Magical Express, and WDW Resort Buses
Resort: Pop Century
Tickets: 9 Day Park Hoppers
Cast of Characters: The Three Musketeers
The Miller Fam Rusty, Sue, and Me (Roseburg, OR)
Disney Resort Experience Represented in Group:
Me 14 trips to Disneyland & 1 trip to Walt Disney World
Rusty & Sue 18?? trips to Disneyland & 1 trip to Walt Disney World
Pre-trip Planning:
Sue and I created spreadsheet for extra magic hours, regular hours, and crowd calendars. Using this spreadsheet, we decided which parks we were going to each day, and then scheduled our dining reservations accordingly, as well as our fastpass+ reservations. We spent several hours looking at menus on allears.net and reading through trip reports here on mouseplanet. We researched the fastpass+ system as well.
Scheduled closures: Buzz Lightyears Astro Blasters, Soarin
Trip Report
Day 1: Wednesday, January 20th
Plan: drive up to Eugene after work, eat dinner, check into our hotel for the night
What Actually Happened:
Nothing too exciting, we worked as planned and then drove up to Eugene. We enjoyed a tasty dinner at Olive Garden and settled into our hotel and turned in a little early. The alarm was set for 4:00am the next day.
Best Moments of the Day: that moment when vacation has officially begun!
Day 2: Thursday, January 21st
Plan: fly from Eugene to Orlando with a layover in San Francisco, take Disneys Magical Express to Pop Century, go to the Boardwalk, have dinner at Big River Grille, and dessert at Beaches & Cream
What Actually Happened:
We were headed to the airport at 5:00am. We didnt have to wait too long before boarding our first flight. The flight was only two hours but unfortunately I was not able to sleep. We had a short layover in San Francisco with just enough time to find our gate and grab something to eat before boarding the next flight to Orlando. The flight was scheduled to be 6.5 hours long, but we waited on the runway for an hour trying to get an engine to start. As we took off the captain said they would try to shorten our flight to 6 hours. At the end of it all though, we spent 7 hours cooped up on a plane and I was extremely uncomfortable about 4 hours in. I was ecstatic once I de-planed!
We found Disneys Magical Express fairly easily and used our magic bands for the first time of the trip. We didnt have to wait too long for a bus and were soon whisked away. We had one stop at the Art of Animation resort and then it was our turn. I had received two text messages saying two different rooms were ready. One of them didnt make sense, as we had faxed a room request specifying the first floor in a particular building, even giving a couple specific rooms. Bypassing the front desk, we strolled right out to the map and tried to find the room that looked most correct. Thankfully the door opened and the room was unoccupied.
After leaving our carry-on items, we headed back out the door to catch a bus to the Studios. We happened to arrive just as the Symphony in the Stars: A Galactic Spectacular started. We couldnt really hear the music from outside the park, but the fireworks themselves were AMAZING. We werent able to watch all of it as the boat arrived to take us to the Boardwalk. We couldnt quite remember if the boat stopped at both the Swan & Dolphin (or Swolphin as its known by many here on mouseplanet) and the Boardwalk, so we decided to get out at the Swolphin and walk over to the Boardwalk. It was nice and quiet, and was dark by then so all the lights were on. It was actually kind of nice.
We had dinner at the Big River Grille because Steve Russo claims its the best burger on property. It was in fact a very good burger. We sat outside and it was delightful. I experience a little dizziness while sitting at dinner, and I remembered feeling that for a day or two on our last trip. We used our first table service meal on the dining plan here, and we got our dessert to go. Sue and I both got the chocolate cake but Rusty passed.
After dinner, we continued our walk around the Boardwalk and the Yacht & Beach Club resorts. We had planned to eat dessert at Beaches & Cream but were too full. I was thinking about getting a scoop at the walk-up window, but they didnt have the flavor I was wanting. We ended at the Beach Club resort and took a bus to Disney Springs as the parks were closed. While we waited for the bus we ate part of our desserts from Big River Grille. Once at Disney Springs we just got in the Pop Century line and rode the bus back for the night. When we got back to our hotel room, our luggage had been delivered so we settled in and got ready for the next day.
Best Moments of the Day: getting off the airplane, passing under the Walt Disney World sign, and our leisurely walk around the Boardwalk, Yacht, and Beach Club resorts
Day 3: Friday, January 22nd
Plan: EM hours at Animal Kingdom, lunch at Yak & Yeti, Studios, Symphony in the Stars, FP+ for Tower, RocknRollercoaster, and Star Tours
What Actually Happened:
We left our hotel room at 7:45am and waited a little bit for a bus to the Animal Kingdom. As we were getting off the bus it started raining, but it didnt last too long. While we were waiting for the rope to drop inside the park, a flock of parrots flew over us. When the rope dropped we made our way to Expedition Everest. We asked for the front so we had to wait a train or two, but there wasnt really a line otherwise. Rusty and I sat in the very front. As we were going backwards, in the midst of screaming out loud, I was thinking to myself I dont remember it making me feel this way! I thought my stomach was going to come up and my head felt really funny. I was a little concerned because I didnt remember feeling like that last time. Rusty also felt funny, and since he hadnt eaten breakfast, he didnt want to go on it again right away, so Sue and I went a second time just the two of us, sitting up front. It was better the second time, but I didnt think I could go again.
After Everest, we wanted a snack. Along the way we stopped to watch the monkeys for a little bit, and then walked through Asia and into Africa. We stopped to watch some performers in Africa and I took a couple videos. We got snacks (jalapeno pretzel and a fruit/cheese box) and then walked right on to the Kilimanjaro Safari! I couldnt believe we walked on!
Next we walked the Pangani Forest Trail, which we did not do last time. There were several baby gorillas napping with their moms. We made it over just in time to watch Festival of the Lion King, and then hoofed it back to Asia for Flights of Wonder. Unfortunately it started raining too hard so the show was cancelled part of the way through. I think we got to see most of it though. At this point, it really was pouring, and we still had time to kill before our lunch reservation. We stayed at Flights of Wonder for a little bit, walked over towards Yak & Yeti and stopped to huddle under our umbrellas, and finally worked our way into the restaurant for more waiting.
We were called to our seats at our reservation time. Our server was Matt and he was very nice. I had the honey chicken, Sue had the Korean beef, and Rusty had the chicken lo mein. Sue and I both had virgin pina coladas (included on the dining plan) and Rusty had a diet pepsi. I understand why they give you paper straws in the Animal Kingdom, but I really dislike them. For dessert I had the pineapple upside down cake (with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce), Rusty had the chocolate cake, and Sue had the fried wontons.
After lunch we browsed through a few shops on our way out of the park. We rode the bus back to pop for a nap. We only had enough time to take about a 45min nap in order to catch all of our fastpasses that afternoon in the Studios. Rusty opted to take a longer nap and miss the first fastpass. Sue and I made it over just in time before our fastpass window ended for Tower of Terror. Then we met up with Rusty and used our fastpasses on RockNRollercoaster. While this was my favorite ride on our last trip, I was still really nervous for the takeoff this time! But it was, of course, a huge blast! Next we walked across the park to use our fastpasses at Star Tours. I was very excited to see the new scene from the Star Wars Episode VII. I do really enjoy the theming around Star Tours!
We walked around a little bit and decided to have dinner at Rosies All American Caf. We used quickservice meals which allowed us to get the special star wars cupcakes as dessert. I had chicken tenders and Rusty and Sue had cheeseburgers. We got one of each of the cupcakes and shared. The woman taking our order (I forgot her name) was pretty funny and had a great time teasing us. The food was pretty good pretty typical of Disney quickservice, nothing too exciting but not bad. The cupcakes were all very good and surprisingly moist.
About 30 minutes before the fireworks started, we ended up on Hollywood Boulevard very close to the Great Movie Ride. We had an unobstructed view for the fireworks and the sky was clear. Symphony in the Stars: A Galactic Spectacular is hands down the best fireworks show Ive ever seen. The beautiful fireworks are timed perfectly with music from the movies, along with some lines from the movies. Its truly a wonderful experience!
It took a while for the Great Movie Ride to open after the fireworks, but we decided to get in line as we didnt think it would take long. The line didnt seem to move for quite a while and then snaked slowly through the queue. Unfortunately, we were extremely disappointed with this ride. We then looked through a few shops before catching a bus back to Pop. We stopped in Everything Pop for dessert. I had a brownie ice cream sundae and Rusty and Sue shared an ice-cream sandwich on chocolate chips cookies. We filled up our mugs and retired to the room.
Best Moments of the Day: RockNRollercoaster and Symphony in the Stars
Day 4: Saturday, January 23rd
Plan: Epcot all day, fastpass+ for Under the Sea with Nemo and Friends, Spaceship Earth, lunch at the Rose and Crown
What Actually Happened:
This day was our extremely windy and very cold day. The winds were up to 35mph and with the wind chill factor, the temperature was just over 40. Somehow I had it into my head that Epcot opened at 8:00 that morning, when in fact it didnt open until 9:00. We decided to ride the monorail, but it didnt open right at 8:00 either. We got coffee at the Joffreys stand and not too long after that we were able to take the Monorail to the TTC. We got to take pictures and ride in the new Star Wars monorail. At the TTC we transferred to the resort loop monorail, which we rode back to the TTC, and switched back over to the Epcot monorail.
Once the park opened we headed straight to Test Track and didnt have too long of a wait. We had fun designing our own car. This is one ride that is nice for three people! No sitting with strangers and being split up. While Test Track is no Radiator Springs Racers, I did enjoy the updated version compared to the original. I love that 65mph bank turn, but I still think it could go faster longer!
After Test Track we headed over to the Land to see if they had breakfast. The caf didnt have breakfast, and since Soarin was closed, it was pretty dead inside. We went out to Fountain View (Starbucks) for breakfast and then used our fastpasses for Nemo (although Rusty passed on Nemo). Then we went back up towards the front of the park and used our fastpasses at Spaceship Earth. I was pleasantly surprised with this ride as I dont remember liking it much last time. I liked the attention to detail and listening to Dame Judy Dench narrate, and really enjoyed the cartoon character they make for you at the end of the ride. I cant remember what our third fastpass was that we ended up not using.
Next we shopped in Mousegear before crossing over to World Showcase. Our first stop was for a Cronut (Croissant Doughnut) at Refreshment Port before heading in to Canada. Sue and I watched the film (which is great because Martin Short narrates) and it just made me want to go to Canada again! We slowly worked our way around World Showcase, trying to take it slow and not miss things. We walked around the United Kingdom while waiting for our lunch reservation. I found our family crest but decided against getting anything with it. I got my picture taken with Mary Poppins and we saw Alice.
At the Rose and Crown our waitress was Lara from Scotland. Rusty and Sue got fish and chips and I got steak. It was interesting that the fish and chips is actually a single, large fish instead of the smaller strips were used to. The restaurant was a little on the loud side as the tables were all pretty close together. The theming was nice, and our food was good. I probably would have preferred my steak without the whiskey-peppercorn sauce, but I did enjoy the Yorkshire pudding. For dessert Rusty and I had the sticky toffee pudding and Sue had a tart.
After lunch we continued on to Mexico, stopping to shop for a while and ride the Gran Fiesta Tour. For some reason when we chose to get in line, the line formed outside the queue. Naturally, as soon as we exited the ride the line was back down to nothing. We moved on to Norway and stopped inside the Kringla bakery to get a school bread. After waiting for a large group of not 20 anymore women to suddenly crowd the front of the line to catch up with the ONE in their group and buy a couple rounds of shots, it was finally our turn to pay. The school bread was very tasty nice and light but very sweet.
Upon learning that there were no restrooms in Norway and that the next restroom was in Germany, I left Rusty and Sue and booked it past China and into Germany. Rusty and Sue got in line to buy caramel corn so I perused all the shops. I also got a pretzel (did I mention we were snacking our way through World Showcase?) Rusty and Sue looked in the shops and then we advanced to Italy. One of my favorite memories from our last trip was getting hazelnut hot chocolate and chocolate gelato in Italy. We walked around the pavilion and through the shop, and despite the wind and cold, I got regular hot chocolate (no hazelnut option) and a scoop of chocolate gelato. It was still so tasty!
Next up was the American Adventure, but since I still had my hot chocolate I was rudely refused from entering the building. I dont understand why I couldnt take it inside even to just the lobby, and I felt like the cast member was just affirming what people think about Americans in the way she spoke to me, like I was an idiot. It was kind of unfortunate, because they didnt open the doors until the next show, so even after I was done with my hot chocolate we couldnt go in. We ended up not getting another chance to go in, so that was kind of disappointing.
After the disappointment in America, we continued on to Japan, stopping to watch the women playing the drums, and going through the shops. At this point it was getting downright uncomfortable because of the weather, so Rusty found a place to sit while Sue and I made our way through most of Morocco. Then we went into France and watched Impressions de France. We waited for the movie because it was out of the wind. Unfortunately the movie didnt show me much about France that made me want to visit. After the movie we called it an early night and went back to the hotel. I have never been so cold at a Disney resort, and was surprised that it would be Florida and not California.
We had dinner at Pop. Sue and I both had parmesan chicken, but Sue opted to have alfredo sauce instead of marinara. The chicken was surprisingly good, but the pasta was cold. Rusty had pepperoni pizza. For dessert I had a frosted brownie, Rusty had a chocolate chip cookie, and Sue had an Elvis cupcake. After dinner we retired to the room and spent some time looking at the pictures we had taken.
Side note World Showcase was busier than expected and any country selling beer seemed to be excessively loud and crowded. We concluded Saturday afternoon/evening is party time for fraternities, sororities, bachelorette parties, and adults. We didnt see a lot of families around Epcot this day. Overall it actually felt very un-Disney in World Showcase.
Best Moments of the Day: traveling (and snacking) around the world
Day 5: Sunday, January 24th
Plan: early entry at the Studios, lunch at 50s Prime Time Caf, Magic Kingdom, fastpass+ for Seven Dwarves Mine Train, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Space Mountain, Wishes dessert party
What Actually Happened:
Sue and I left the hotel around 7:45 and left Rusty sleeping. We were able to ride Rocknrollercoaster three times sitting in the front without much of wait! We also got a ride in on Tower without much of a wait before stopping at Starring Rolls to have some breakfast. Sue and I shared a cream cheese pastry, a fruit tart, and a chocolate croissant, all very tasty. Sues favorite was the cream cheese pastry and my favorite was the fruit tart. We commented that the morning felt like a Disneyland morning to us. We felt productive and it wasnt crowded at all. The mocha machine was down at Starring Rolls, so after breakfast we went to the Trolley Car Caf (Starbucks) for some coffee. I loved it in there, so cute!
With our caffeine in hand we meandered over to the Star Wars Launch Bay. We watched the short film, which I was thought was fairly interesting. I had just watched all the special features for Star Wars so some of the stuff I knew about. I was a little disappointed with the lack of props/memorabilia in the Launch Bay. I was just expecting more. We waited about an hour total to get our pictures taken with Chewbacca and Darth Vader. Darth Vader was rather intense, and he never spoke. As we were getting ready to leave he came up behind me and flipped my hair (its above my shoulder). Im honestly surprised children didnt leave there crying!
After our encounter with the light and dark sides of the force, we decided it was time for a picture with the mouse! We waited in line (not too long) and got our picture taken with Sorcerer Mickey. Rusty met us after the picture and we walked around the Streets of America and looked in shops. Then we made our way over to 50s Prime Time Caf for our lunch reservation. Rusty and I each had the Moms sampler platter and Sue had the meatloaf. For our beverage we all had milkshakes. Overall this meal was one of my favorites. The sampler platter is pot roast & veggies, fried chicken & mashed potatoes, and meatloaf & green beans. The meatloaf was different than expected but still quite good, the fried chicken was very good, and the pot roast was absolutely delicious. I do believe that is the best pot roast Ive ever had. My notes say that we got peanut butter cake to go, but I honestly dont remember that.
After lunch we waddled out to the bus stops and waited for transport to the Magic Kingdom. There werent too many people in line ahead of us, but they explained they had been waiting for a bus for almost an hour already. One woman was on the phone trying to speak with a person in regards to the issue. We ended up waiting around 25 minutes for a bus, so I felt really bad for the people who had to wait so long.
When we arrived at the Magic Kingdom (finally!) we took some photopass pictures and then stood at the top of the train station to watch the Festival of Fantasy parade. After the parade we rode the train around to the Fantasyland station. It got a little confusing in the different parts of Fantasyland, but we made our way around to the Seven Dwarves Mine Train and used our fastpasses. I was a little perturbed that I would have to sit with a stranger next to me, as I felt that puts families with an odd number of people in an awkward position if they have young children. They dont take single riders here, but they put together the oddities of different families, meaning they purposefully assign seating by pairing up the odd members of parties. The seats are so narrow and close together that its really awkward to sit next to someone you dont know, and as an adult it feels weird to sit next to a strangers child. I just really didnt like the set-up on this one and wished they had done one lap bar and bench seat like Big Thunder, or at least not force people to sit together. All that aside, the ride itself is wonderful. It so much fun and the theming is excellent. We were sad to see that there was no place to scan your magic band for the ride pictures, but were pleasantly surprised when pictures and videos magically appeared on our photopass account. I would also like to mention that the standby wait time for this ride was consistently an hour or more. Only on the less crowded days did the wait go down to 45 minutes.
Next we watched Mickeys Philharmagic with a minimal wait. Sue loves this show so much! Then we used our fastpasses for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. The last few times weve been to Disneyland its been closed, and its one of our favorite rides, so we were very happy to ride for the first time in over four years! I still dislike the way they load this ride at WDW though. After the wildest ride in the wilderness we took a quick ride on the people mover. Then we used our fastpasses for Space Mountain. Space Mountain is my favorite ride at Disneyland, but last time we were at WDW I remember not liking it very much. This time we were towards the back of the car and I had a lot of fun.
For dinner we went to Caseys for corn dog nuggets and fries delicious! After dinner we walked through some shops on Main Street and then used our fastpasses for the Jungle Cruise, even though the standby line was only 10 minutes. As we were exiting the ride, we noticed the standby line had dropped to 5 minutes.
Sue and I had a reservation for the Wishes Dessert Party so we left Rusty to his own agenda. He went to the Golden Oak Outpost and had chicken nuggets and waffle fries for dinner. Then he watched the Main Street Electrical parade and fireworks from a bench. Meanwhile, Sue and I were escorted to our table with an excellent view for the fireworks. We enjoyed sparkling cider, hot chocolate, drinking chocolate, and an array of desserts. My favorite was the tiramisu. After the fireworks we met Rusty at the train station and took the bus back to Pop.
Best Moments of the Day: our Disneyland morning, lunch at 50s Prime Time Caf, and our first time this trip in the Magic Kingdom and riding Seven Dwarves Mine Train
Day 6: Monday, January 25th
Plan: Breakfast at Kona Caf, Epcot all day, dinner at San Angel Inn, Fastpass+ reservations for Spaceship Earth, Test Track, and Mickey & Friends Character Spot
What Actually Happened:
If I remember correctly, our actual plan was to go to a park before a late breakfast around 11:00 at Kona. We instead decided to sleep in a little and skip going to a park. I believe we moved our reservation up to 9:50 so that wed be done earlier. Anyway, we rode the bus to Epcot and then a bus to the Polynesian. We did some shopping and looked around the resort while we waited to be called. I had the pineapple macadamia nut pancakes, Sue had the Tonga Toast, and Rusty had the Big Kahuna.
After breakfast we rode the Monorail to the TTC and rode another monorail to Epcot. We rented a locker since we were going to be there all day, so we could store sweatshirts and purchases. We rode Mission Space (Green) with a 10 minute wait. We rode green because I almost passed out on the orange last time, Sue had a bout of vertigo a little over a year prior and didnt want to risk it, and we didnt want Rusty to ride orange without us. Even on the green side I decided I still didnt really care for this ride.
Next we went on Living with the Land. It was weird to see the Land pavilion so empty since Soarin was closed. We stopped at Starbucks, although I cant read my note to know what we got. Then we used our fastpasses for Spaceship Earth. We strolled over to Innoventions to check out the Sum of All Thrills. Unfortunately only two people can ride together, so Rusty nicely offered to sit this one out. We had a bit of a wait, but it was worth it! We designed our rollercoaster to go upside down twice. I was nervous when we got into the ride simulator as it was very claustrophobic, but knowing the panic button was readily available was comforting. As it turns out, we had a lot of fun. We were laughing and screaming the whole time. When we got back out to Rusty, he let us know that he didnt need to try to find us, he knew it was us because everyone could hear us laughing and screaming!
After that we used our fastpasses for Test Track and Mickey and Friends Character Spot. Then we made our way out to World Showcase. We stopped in China to watch the acrobats and to try the kung pao chicken egg rolls at Joy of Tea. The egg rolls were very tasty.
We made our way on to Mexico for our dinner reservation at the San Angel Inn. Rusty and I both had the Carne Asada with caramel ice cream for dessert, and Sue had shrimp with cheesecake for dessert. This was hands down my favorite meal of the trip. The steak was the best Ive ever had, and everything was so delicious. The caramel ice cream really added a sweet finish. I was so incredibly full, but it was definitely worth it!
After dinner, Sue and I went back to the lockers to get sweatshirts and then met Rusty in France. We went through some of the shops and went into the Boulangerie Patisserie to see what treats they had, even though really I was still too full to eat anything else. We tried a chocolate clair and the nutella beignets. Rusty waited until we got to Japan to get dessert, where he got shave ice. Then we made our way to China and watched the Reflections of China movie.
We then walked around to the entrance to World Showcase to find a spot for Illuminations. We found a good spot on the water, behind the shop, to the left of the fastpass location. We got there pretty early, so I found a Joffreys cart and got some coffee. Before Illuminations, we were able to see the fireworks from the Studios and that was really neat. Illuminations was good, but its my least favorite night time spectacular. After Illuminations we took the bus back to Pop, even though the park was still open (I think).
Best Moments of the Day: dinner at San Angel Inn
Day 7: Tuesday, January 26th
Plan: All day at Magic Kingdom, lunch at Liberty Tree, dinner at the French Quarter resort, and fastpass+ reservations for Seven Dwarves Mine Train, Splash Mountain, and Peter Pan.
What Actually Happened:
We arrived shortly after park opening at 9:00 and went straight to Big Thunder. We were able to ride it twice without much of a wait. We wanted to try the cinnamon rolls at Gastons Tavern, so we made our way over to Fantasyland, stopping at the Tangled restrooms on the way. I was so excited to finally see the Tangled restrooms as Id seen several pictures online. I love that Disney takes theming so seriously! Sue and I shared a cinnamon roll, peppermint hot chocolate, and LeFous brew. We were disappointed in the cinnamon roll but really liked the drinks. We really enjoyed the theming of Gastons he does in fact use antlers in all of his decorating!
After breakfast we decided to wait for Enchanted Tales with Belle. The sign posted said 20 minutes. Rusty and I werent too inclined to wait, however, Sue really wanted to. We ended up waiting for a grand total of 45 minutes. The show was cute, but not worth a 45 minute wait. Then we watched Mickeys Philharmagic again (no Rusty) while waiting for our fastpass+ window for Seven Dwarves Mine Train.
Next we went on Pirates of the Caribbean. The posted wait time was 30 minutes but we only waited about 15 (nice surprise!). While we were moving through the line, there was a man who kept leaving his backpack on posts throughout the queue so he could pick it up as he came back through the switchback. It made a few of us nervous though.
After our buccaneering adventure we headed to our lunch reservation at the Liberty Tree Tavern. I had the pot roast, Rusty had the fish and chips, and Sue had the Freedom pasta. We all had the Ooey Gooey Toffee cake. All was very good, but Sue especially loved her pasta. The theming was nice, but it was a rather loud restaurant.
After lunch Sue and I used our fastpasses for Splash Mountain and then we went on the Haunted Mansion. We used our fastpasses for Peter Pan and then booked additional fastpasses for Space Mountain. We stopped for popcorn near the castle, and then Rusty went back to the hotel. Sue and I used our fastpasses for Space Mountain and then made fastpasses for the Little Mermaid, which we were able to use almost right away.
Then we took the train from Fantasyland up to Main Street and rode a bus to Port Orleans French Quarter. I really liked the French Quarter when we visited last time and wanted to eat dinner there. We just ate at the food quart, Sassougala, but I like the theming. I had a chicken quesadilla and Sue had the meatball poboy sandwich. We both had beignets for dessert. Yes, thats right, we both ordered beignets. We get them at Disneyland and love them, and we cannot get them in our home town.
After dinner we rode a bus to Epcot so we could transfer to a bus to go back to Pop. It was a little early to turn in, so spent time going through receipts and making sure we had tallied up who owns who for what.
Best Moments of the Day: A nice day overall!
Day 8: Wednesday, January 27th
Plan: Animal Kingdom, lunch in Animal Kingdom, Studios, dinner at Mama Melroses, fastpass+ reservations for Tower of Terror, RockNRoller coaster, and Star Tours
What Actually Happened:
Animal Kingdom opened at 9:00, and I think we arrived right after rope drop. We hoofed it back to Expedition Everest and rode it three times; once in the front, once in the back, and once in the middle). We still like the very front the best!
We wanted a little more breakfast, so we looked around and decided to eat at Kusifari. Sue and I shared a colossal cinnamon roll and Rusty had a pastry. Sue and I got iced coffees and Rusty got hot chocolate in a travel mug so I could keep the travel mug. It is so cute, its the Disney characters dressed to go on a safari! It started to rain a little so we found a place to eat out of the rain.
After breakfast we went to get our pictures taken with Pocahontas and Meeko. Then we got our pictures taken with Safari Mickey and Minnie. Apparently we were still a little hungry, so all three of us shared an order of honey chicken from the counter service Yak and Yeti caf.
Next we went on Everest again. Sue and I went three times but Rusty only went twice. We made our way towards the front of the park, skipping Dinoland. We stopped at Flame Tree BBQ and shared the chicken and ribs combo, substituting onion rings in place of dessert, and fries. There were birds eating food off of peoples tables while they werent looking!
We continued making our way out of the park, stopping in the shops at the entrance, and then caught a bus to the Studios. We also looked in shops at the entrance to the Studios before using our first fastpass at Tower of Terror. We went on Tower again as the posted wait time was only 20 minutes.
Since we skipped dessert at Flame Tree, Sue and I got ice cream sundaes at Hollywood Scoops. We both had the cookiesncream brownie sundaes so delicious! Then we used our fastpasses at Rocknroller coaster, and then went again as the posted wait time was only 20 minutes. The first time we sat in the front and the second time we sat in the back.
We looked through more shops, got popcorn, and used our fastpasses for Star Tours. Then we sat on a bench near the Muppet exit and tried to move around some restaurant reservations for the following day I believe. We ended up just adjusting our fastpass+ reservations.
We stayed on the bench until it was time for our dinner reservation at Mama Melroses. I loved the theming and atmosphere of this restaurant. The lighting was a little darker, and it had a homey yet classy feel. I had the chicken parmigiana with tiramisu, Sue had the vodka penne with the dessert sampler, and Rusty had spaghetti and meatballs with chocolate gelato. The food was very good. We had a wonderful waiter named Kevin, who has been working at Mama Melroses for twenty years. He was funny and had excellent customer service. You could tell that he truly loved his job. It was his birthday (or very close to his birthday) and we had such a good time with him that we left him a nice tip with a note.
After dinner we went on Star Tours again as it was only a posted wait time of 10 minutes. It was empty enough that we actually got to pick our seats. Then we watched the Star Wars again. It was pretty cloudy, so the fireworks themselves were harder to see, but it was still absolutely fantastic! Then we took a bus back to Pop.
Best Moments of the Day: Another all-around great day! We got lots of big rides in, took our time to relax a few times, and had yummy food!
Day 9: Thursday, January 28th
Plan: Studios, lunch at Si Fi Dine in Theatre, Magic Kingdom, and Fastpass+ reservations for Tower of Terror, Star Tours, and RockNRoller coaster
What Actually Happened:
The Studios opened at 9:00. We went straight to RockNRoller coaster and the posted wait time was 20 minutes. When we exited the ride the wait time had dropped to 5 minutes. We headed over to Tower and went on it as the posted wait time was 10 minutes. After that we went to Starbucks and then the Star Wars Launch Bay, where we met Darth Vader and Chewbacca. We have a great picture of my daddy locked in a stare down with Darth.
Since we had already gone on Tower that morning, we skipped our fastpass and instead watched the Beauty and the Beast show. Then we used our fastpasses for Star Tours and RockNRoller coaster. Then we headed over to the Little Mermaid show and One Mans Dream. I enjoyed walking through One Mans Dream, but since I had just been to the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco I dont think it was quite as cool.
Next we stopped and looked around at the footprints outside Graumans theatre and took several pictures. Some of my favorites included Alan Alda (who did his notes print as well), Harrison Ford, and Audrey Hepburn. Audreys prints are the only ones in the world. Then we had lunch at the Sci-Fi Drive In Theatre. It was kind of sad because I had to sit behind my parents in the car, so it felt like we werent eating together. We did enjoy the clips of old sci-fi tv shows and movies though. I had a cheeseburger, Rusty had a sampler (onion rings, fried pickles, and wings) and Sue had steak. I had a chocolate milk shake and Sue had the seasonal caramel mocha milkshake. For dessert we had turtle cheesecake, the apple donut sundae, and a hot fudge sundae. My cheeseburger was a little soggy, but everything else was good.
After lunch we walked through some shops on our way to the bus. At this point, it was still raining, there were puddles everywhere, and our feet were wet, so we had hit our max. We went back to Pop and did more shopping there. After a rest, Sue and I went to the Magic Kingdom, arriving around 6:00pm. We went to Pecos Bills so I could try their southwest chicken salad for dinner. For dessert I had the churros, but didnt eat much. The salad was delicious.
Next we went on the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh with a ten minute wait, and then got our pictures taken with Pooh and Tigger. The wait was longer for the pictures, but we had an umbrella so it wasnt too bad. Surprisingly enough, the posted wait time for Seven Dwarves Mine Train was only ten minutes, so Sue and I were able to go twice. The majority of the wait time was spent walking through the queue. We decided we had time for one more ride before the fireworks so we went on the tea cups.
We decided to watch the fireworks again as we were able to get a spot very close to the castle. We waited around the park for a while as it was getting close to closing, in the hopes of seeing the Kiss Goodnight. I even asked a cast member if it would be done tonight and she wasnt sure, so waited for a while longer and then decided we were too tired and went back to Pop, where we did manage to stay up for ice cream.
Best Moments of the Day: the stare down between Darth Vader and Rusty and Sues and my two rides on Mine Train
Day 10: Friday, January 29th
Plan: Extra magic hour at Magic Kingdom, Fastpass+ reservations for Seven Dwarves, Big Thunder, and Splash Mountain. Lunch at Be Our Guest and dinner at Ohana. Studios after dinner.
What Actually Happened:
Rusty stayed at the hotel while Sue and I went to the extra magic hours at Magic Kingdom. The early extra magic hours only include Tomorrowland and Fantasyland. We went straight to Space Mountain and went twice, once in the front and once in the back. We determined that its definitely more fun in the back.
On our way to Fantasyland we stopped and had a few photopass pictures taken. When the rest of the park opened we headed to Big Thunder and went on that twice. Then we waited in line for waffles at Sleep Hollow. We got a nutella waffle, a strawberry waffle, and iced mochas. The food was delicious, but the line was long and it was very congested around the pick-up window.
Meanwhile Rusty strolled in late and went mainstream at Starbucks. We met at Caseys corner to eat our breakfast. Then we used our fastpasses for Seven Dwarves (sat in the back) and then watched Mickeys Philharmagic and the Country Bear Jamboree.
We had our fastpass+ for Big Thunder at 11:45 but the lines were extremely long and we feared missing our lunch reservation at 12:15. Instead of riding Big Thunder we opted to take the train from the Frontierland station, thinking it would get us to Fantasyland with plenty of time. Our train was stopped, however, along the way, and we ended up still having to rush to meet our reservation. While waiting in line to place our food orders at Be Our Guest, we determined that we definitely should have placed our orders online ahead of time, as we waited for quite some time. Rusty had the turkey sandwich, Sue had the roast beef sandwich, and I had the pork roast. We all had cupcakes for dessert. My pork roast was pretty good, but not as good as the other pot roast I had had previously on this trip. We were blown away by the theming of the entire restaurant. We chose to eat in the ballroom, but made sure to look at the other rooms as well.
After lunch, Sue and I used our fastpass+ for Splash Mountain while Rusty skipped out. We sat in the back of the log. Then we all went into the Tiki Room, which made me happy, and then had sundaes on Main Street. We looked through some shops and then took the monorail to the Polynesian. We sat in the lobby for about an hour waiting for our reservation. Sue and I had pina colavas while we waited. We were all looking forward to this meal as it was one of our favorites last time. Unfortunately, I suddenly didnt feel well during dinner and ended up going outside for fresh air. I walked around the beach for a while and found a swing to sit in while Rusty and Sue finished dinner. The sun was starting to go down so it was very pretty outside.
After dinner we took a bus to the studios and looked in a couple shops while waiting for the fireworks. We absolutely had to watch the amazing Symphony in the Stars one last time! After the fireworks, we booked it to Fanstasmic! and realized we didnt need to rush as there werent too many people heading over. Fantasmic! was unfortunately a bit of a disappointment as it just seemed really, really loud. Maybe it was just a letdown after Symphony in the Stars.
After our night time spectaculars, we took a bus back to Pop and packed.
Best Moments of the Day: eating lunch at Be Our Guest and Symphony in the Stars
Day 11: Saturday, January 30th
Plan: breakfast at Whispering Canyon, back to Magic Kindom, and fly home. Fastpass+ reservations for Seven Dwarves Mine Train, Big Thunder, and something?
What Actually Happened:
We got up early and finished packing and then dropped off our luggage. We took a bus to the Magic Kingdom and then a boat to the Wilderness Lodge. For breakfast I had a bagel, oatmeal, and fruit, Rusty had a ham and cheese omelet, and Sue had pancakes. While the food was good, although not outstanding, we had surprisingly poor service. We had to ask for things multiple times, as did the tables around us.
After breakfast we took a boat back to the Magic Kingdom and switched a previous fastpass+ to the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, which we promptly used. Then we went on the Liberty Bell and then walked to Main Street, where we had to get one last ice cream sundae in. Next we used our fastpass+ for Seven Dwarves, and then got popcorn. We stood on the bridge watching people on Splash while we ate our popcorn. Then we finished off our trip using our fastpass+ for Big Thunder. We always like to end our trips on Big Thunder.
After our last wildest ride in the wilderness, we took a bus back to pop, picked up our carry-on luggage, and rode the Magical Express to the airport and flew home.
Side note as the day progressed, I noticed red, itchy bumps appearing on my arms. By the time we were flying home, I was completely miserable with bumps on my face, hands, arms, legs, back, and feet. After doing some research, and remembering that I had found a bug in my bed earlier in the week, we came to the conclusion that I had been eaten alive by bedbugs. We arrived in Oregon very, very late and had to drive around town looking for store that was open for benadryl and cream. A couple days after we got home, Rusty developed several bites as well. We called the hotel and made a formal complaint. A room investigation was done and we were sent compensation checks as the investigation was positive for bedbugs.
Best Moments of the Day: last rides on Seven Dwarves and Big Thunder
Overall we had a great vacation. We enjoyed quality family time in a magical place! :)
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The Miller Fams Second Trip to Walt Disney World January 20-30 Pop Century
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