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Post by DrMinnie on Oct 31, 2024 18:45:54 GMT -5
I have a belated trip report! I traveled by myself to WDW and met my sister for a fantastic much needed adults only trip!
Stats: October 3-5 carefully picked in between the hurricanes.
Me and my sister, DA.
VGF in the new building. We got one of the dormer rooms w/o a balcony. But we were on the top floor and we had a view of the fireworks for a standard view price. (I have no idea if that was upgraded or not…) but the new room having 2 queen beds was perfect, we didn’t have to share.
Thursday: travel plus party
Friday: Epcot & AK
Saturday: HS and travel home.
DA drove up and I flew down. I think I arrived ~1pm. She picked me up from the airport so we could start having fun right away. We went straight to the grand and got a quick lunch @ gasparilla’s and we checked out the shopping.
I’ve been eyeing the new pink Lilly Pulitzer dress but I wasn’t sure it would be flattering. With my high rise bike shorts it was! So I promptly purchased that. I have not gotten the matching hat, but I may get that next time.
At this point it was 3pm, we got the room ready notification, and it started raining! So we got our rain gear out, and shlepped our stuff across the way to the room. We were absolutely worried about going the wrong way around the building, that would be our luck! But we didn’t.
We weren’t in a huge hurry to get to the party, I wasn’t excited about waiting in a long line especially with it raining. Unfortunately, because of the rain /t-storm no one was getting in right at 4, so when we arrived, we were still in the arrival crowd!
We got snaked through and we were faced with what do we do first? DA wanted to ride tron, and it claimed to be a 30 minute wait. I was skeptical, but I think we got through within 45 minutes. We managed a few meet and greets, we rode Tiana (loved it), pirates, ate some party specific food, and managed to watch the special entertainment. It was so hot! I overheated a bit so after the fireworks we ended up staking out a corner to watch the parade and we just waited. It’s just as well, I think we would have missed the headless horseman otherwise. But I would have like to get a few magic shots.
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Post by DrMinnie on Oct 31, 2024 18:47:12 GMT -5
The plan for Friday was to do Epcot and AK. We started at Epcot because i didn’t want to get up too early for rope drop! We decided to uber to BW so we could enter there and ride ratatouille w/o having to run! I think we arrived 30 minutes before early entry. After we got off, the plan was to ride frozen, but it was down. So we went over to soarin and then had a breakfast sandwich. We waited less time for soarin than I usually do with a fastpass, it was amazing. Frozen was still down, and I don’t think it reopened all morning. It turns out DA loves lwtl too, so we rode that and then it was time to ride gotg. We also rode the Mexican boat ride somewhere.
At this point we decided to bounce to AK. We had fastpasses lined up for dinosaur (DA had never ridden it! ), safari, yeti, and avatar. We started with some shopping, watching the lion king, and eating lunch at sautuli’s. Neither of us had seen the show, it’s great! We had to be efficient because I had managed to get a space 220 lounge reservation for 6:10.
The lounge was great. We both picked a salad and a small plate to share. We finished by watching the fireworks and heading back. I know I’m forgetting a few things. We were so busy! I thought for sure we’d wander world showcase and get a drink somewhere, but we didn’t. We didn’t have to stop for extra bathroom breaks, or snacks.
Our final day was Saturday. Our plan was to park hop back to Epcot and wander world showcase a bit before I had to head to the airport. I had a harder time getting up this morning, but we still got moving pretty quickly. I think we just missed the bus. The next one wasn’t arriving for at least 20 minutes! So we Uber’d over to HS again. Hah. I had fastpass for rotr, TSM, Aerosmith, and ToT. We did: slinky, TSM, got a ronto wrap, millennium falcon, the rotr had a 40 minute wait which fit before our first fastpass. So we rode it. We got over to Aerosmith, and that had only a 30 minute wait. That wait ballooned quickly. We needed a break before we rode ToT, which we took. DA had an ice cream, and I had a $2 banana. By the time we rode that, that line ballooned. But I think if we were waiting in line instead of taking a break, it wouldn’t have been that bad. At this point we’re deciding what to do about lunch. We were able to get a late lunch at the drive in, so we scheduled that. We did our fastpasses, and did the frozen singalong too!
I was super surprised at how easily we managed to ride everything we wanted to. It was still super hot, but I was doing better than Thursday. Because we chose to eat here, we gave up the idea of going back to Epcot. There wasn’t time. Choices were made.
DA and I talked about the use of buying the fastpasses, and since it was just us it was worth it. We got to ride things more than once w/o waiting too much. Rotr was working properly (except for the cannons moving which hadn’t happened in forever..) we probably wouldn’t get it if we had all the kids. But for a fast trip where the goal was to ride rides some of the kids won’t do… it worked well. It removed some of the thinking.
We had such a great time. We didn’t do anything food and wine related! We absolutely noticed the lack of strollers this trip. I don’t think a sister trip will be every year yet… but we’ll definitely do it again. I hope our other sisters can join too.
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Post by sherrih on Oct 31, 2024 19:16:37 GMT -5
Thanks for sharing your trip!
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Post by tomandrobin on Nov 1, 2024 9:07:46 GMT -5
Sounds like a blast! Thanks for sharing your trip with us. I always forget that the new Resort Studios has two queen beds and the sleep sofa. I need to check them out one day.
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Post by swat08 on Nov 1, 2024 11:58:33 GMT -5
Sounds fun! We love the resort studios and have stayed there twice now. Easy access to both pools, main building, quick service, boats, bus. I'm on vacation which means I don't cook so a beverage refrigerator works just fine.
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Post by Hi from RI on Nov 1, 2024 21:11:13 GMT -5
Thanks for sharing...
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Post by helenabear on Nov 2, 2024 7:46:18 GMT -5
Sounds like a fabulous trip!
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Post by Eli's Nana on Nov 2, 2024 8:07:26 GMT -5
How fun - thanks for sharing! Girls trips are the best, and sister trips even better.
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Post by DrMinnie on Nov 3, 2024 21:28:31 GMT -5
I’m glad you all enjoyed the report! I got that posted and immediately left for a scout camp in the middle of nowhere… in a quiet zone! I’ve never seen so many stars… Sounds like a blast! Thanks for sharing your trip with us. I always forget that the new Resort Studios has two queen beds and the sleep sofa. I need to check them out one day. On the one hand, yes you should. On the other, it’s not a 1-bedroom and so you’ll be less comfy! But it’s perfect for this situation. |
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Post by DrMinnie on Nov 3, 2024 21:28:45 GMT -5
How fun - thanks for sharing! Girls trips are the best, and sister trips even better. I agree. |
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Post by tomandrobin on Nov 4, 2024 8:13:32 GMT -5
I’m glad you all enjoyed the report! I got that posted and immediately left for a scout camp in the middle of nowhere… in a quiet zone! I’ve never seen so many stars… Sounds like a blast! Thanks for sharing your trip with us. I always forget that the new Resort Studios has two queen beds and the sleep sofa. I need to check them out one day. On the one hand, yes you should. On the other, it’s not a 1-bedroom and so you’ll be less comfy! But it’s perfect for this situation. Well.....not for me per se, Robin and I always share a bed....lol.
When staying there with the extended family, having two beds in a studio will be good for them. Also, we do rent points every year and renters almost always want to maximize space/beds for the cheapest cost.
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Post by PirateLinda on Nov 5, 2024 15:59:01 GMT -5
Thanks for sharing!! So glad you had a great time!
We arrived the same day as you and got soaked at Epcot during that downpour. It took 2 days for my shoes to dry out.
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Post by DrMinnie on Nov 5, 2024 19:45:33 GMT -5
I’m glad you all enjoyed the report! I got that posted and immediately left for a scout camp in the middle of nowhere… in a quiet zone! I’ve never seen so many stars… On the one hand, yes you should. On the other, it’s not a 1-bedroom and so you’ll be less comfy! But it’s perfect for this situation. Well.....not for me per se, Robin and I always share a bed....lol.
When staying there with the extended family, having two beds in a studio will be good for them. Also, we do rent points every year and renters almost always want to maximize space/beds for the cheapest cost.
Did I mention the fireworks views? Can you even see fireworks from the OG VGF? Not that I’ll stay in that building on a regular basis either. We get 1-bedrooms for the separation from the kids! Thanks for sharing!! So glad you had a great time! We arrived the same day as you and got soaked at Epcot during that downpour. It took 2 days for my shoes to dry out. Oh no! Did you have a second pair? Did they dry out in time to get soaked on Sunday? I heard it rained all day Sunday.. |
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Post by PirateLinda on Nov 6, 2024 8:17:26 GMT -5
Thanks for sharing!! So glad you had a great time! We arrived the same day as you and got soaked at Epcot during that downpour. It took 2 days for my shoes to dry out. Oh no! Did you have a second pair? Did they dry out in time to get soaked on Sunday? I heard it rained all day Sunday.. I did bring a second pair. And they did dry out by Sunday. They didn't get soaked on Sunday like they did on Thursday. The sidewalks at Epcot were like rivers on Thursday. that didn't happen on Sunday. On Sunday it sprinkled on and off during the day. Unfortunately, the rain settled in during the Halloween party. It was a steady rain, not a downpour. |
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Post by brp on Nov 6, 2024 9:41:23 GMT -5
Thanks for sharing!! So glad you had a great time! We arrived the same day as you and got soaked at Epcot during that downpour. It took 2 days for my shoes to dry out. I wear Keen's when at Disney. Even if they get wet, they dry quickly. I also bring running shoes, which I wear for running and on the plane trips. It would be a bigger deal if these got wet, but their exposure is less. If something sandal-like works for you, that is a good way to go at Disney.
Cheers.
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