ThemeParkCommando

For Monday, the plan was EPCOT.  9:30am RD time for resort guests.   We woke at 7am and picked up boarding group 93 for Ratatouille, with an estimated 2:35 pm time frame.  I also paid for the ILL to the Frozen,  11:25 am start time.  Then we got our LL for Soarin’ at 12:30pm.  Not too bad for a first day, while trying to figure out exactly how the Genie+ worked. 

One snag we ran into, was that I had linked an account on Genie+ for my husband, that was one I made back in 2014 for FP+ stuff.  It was not his usual MDE account.   So, he had to add his old account on his MDE to use it for Genie+.   He could not book ILL at all, because he had no park reservations or tickets on his MDE account.  It did allow him to book LL for me and the old account though, as long as he did not include his new account. 

The parking lot for EPCOT was open when we got there at 8:15 am.  We went right into the park, and were held in the ally between the guest services building and what is going to be the Guardians ride. The early entry plan was to head for Space 220, and get on the waitlist for the lounge.  The problem hit that the lounge started taking reservations the Wednesday before we got there, so they had ditched the waitlist.  But, the CM for Space 220 didn’t show up until 10:15am to tell the crowd this information, so we all wasted our morning waiting there.

Moving on with just a bit of a sour feel to our day, we wandered slowly to Regal Eagle to get the CP dining plan.  We stopped along the way and got the Linzer cookie from Bavaria, along with the stamp book for the Cookie Stroll.  That was a good cookie!  At Regal Eagle, they opened at 11am, and we easily got our CP reservation for 8:30pm. You have to buy your food immediately to get the CP entry, so an early lunch of American BBQ it is!  I had the pulled pork and Ed had the brisket.  The sauce selection was diverse.  Ed and I both liked the vinegar based sauce.  Probably would never have eaten there otherwise, as we have plenty of good BBQ in Texas.  Still, if you are craving meat, this is a good choice. 

After lunch, we traveled back to Norway for our Frozen LL.   On our first pass by the line around 10:30, the standby line was all the way out into the main walkway area passing Norway.  When we returned, the standby line was only just outside the door to the ride, at about a 25 minute wait.  We walked right on with the ILL.

We walked back to the Port of Entry area, and took pictures of and with the 50^th anniversary statues there.  Got our Photo Pass photos with Spaceship earth, and one with Figment.   The Chase Visa Disney card photos are in the building next to World of Imagination, by the jumping water fountains.  We got our photos  (Virtual characters only), then walked towards the Land Pavilion.  We saw Winnie the Pooh interacting with a Christmas present out in a field.   It was cute, but sad that he had to be so far from the crowd.  At noon, I picked up at 1pm Living with the Land LL.  Standby was 15 minutes, but I figured 15 minutes saved was still worth it.

We're back. Three years of careful planning, delay due to COVID, the death of my 35 year old son who was supposed to be on this trip with us, many attempts to reserve the Candlelight Processional dining package anywhere in EPCOT, and trying get to all the new things to do... this was a trip of many emotions.

I'm glad we went. Overall, we had a good time, with a lot of laughter, a few tears, a few misunderstandings and some interesting Disney magic.

We flew into Orlando on Southwest, landing at 9:00 pm on Dec 5th. At 8:30 pm, I got a text from Port Orleans French Quarter that our room was not ready. That was odd, but since we weren't even there yet, not an issue. The Magical Express took us to the resort, and while we didn't get an automatic check in, we were able to get a room on the top floor, which we had requested.

We slogged over to building one, which was not the furthest building from the lobby at least. And it was really near the riverboat landing. We dropped off our bags, and went back to Sassagoula's. We got a pizza for dinner (actually love the pizza at the resort!) ,and some beignet's. We've been looking forward to trying those, and they were delicious! Picked up our refillable mugs and got to sleep, ready to wake up at 7:00am to get our Genie+ and ILL reservations for EPCOT on Monday.

I hope it's ok to post a trip report here, even though I am not a camper.  We didn't even make it to the Fort, although we wanted to. 
 

Thanks for the update! Can't wait to hear more. 😃

11 hours ago, Disneybishops said:

A certain TA is booking for Christmas 23. That’s 3 years in advance.  How the heck can average folks ever get a site a Christmas again. I love the fort at Christmas but I’m not even going to try anymore.  
 

This one TA seems to have all the inside info and sites. Don’t think Walt would like this much 

You would think that if one TA can book, all the TA's can book?   I'd check with Jason. Use the TA to get the site for you.  You don't have to pay any extra for their help!

Yay!  I'm still here and following along.  How awesome is it to be the first to check in on the 50th!  That is a lovely memory to have. 

Thanks for the trip report!  It was a great read.  

I really miss these.

Very cool!  Trip report, please?!

4 hours ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

Bingo!  This app is a blatant effort by Disney to try to move crowds to where they want them to go and to try to upsell food and lightning lane access and has nothing to do with improving the guest experience. It is ridiculous that the damned thing makes quick service food recommendations along with attraction recommendations with no way for the guest to stop that. Absolutely awful and unhelpful.

TCD

I agree that it is a blatant effort to move crowds, and certainly to upsell food and other options.  But I can't really say that moving crowds based on wait times is a bad thing.  If it can distribute people around the park so that all wait times are somewhat equal, that seems to me to be a good thing.   Having the ability to see the wait times in my hand, instead of having to find a board or walk to the ride to decide, is also a good thing. 

 However, in watching the videos of vloggers "doing what the Genie says to do", they are putting in a LOT of steps, charging back and forth across the park.  Interestingly enough, Genie is not always telling them to go on the 'anytime' rides.  I have seen it direct people to Splash, PoC and SM, based on wait times and their preferences.  

This wouldn't work for me, because the walking puts me in so much pain, I travel from land to land and rarely make it back around the park a 2nd time.  I'll post a trip report when I'm back from my early December trip, and let you know how it went for me.  I've already purchased G+ for us, since we are only 2 people.  After watching how it works, I'm sure I'll love having it for MK and HS, and maybe AK, but I'm sure it'll be a waste at EP.  

14 hours ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

The claims they are making about how this app will help guests are ridiculous. It’s bad enough that they are price gouging again, but what makes it worse is that the damn app will be just as glitchy as all of their other app iterations. The DCL app is a piece of crap. The MDE app crashed at the MK for most of the day on the big 50th anniversary day on October 1.  And they expect us to believe that this new app will somehow plan a perfect day for guests? No way. 

TCD

 

I'm thinking the app will work wonders for those guests who have never been to the parks, and never thought once about planning their day ahead of time.  They will find it so helpful to be able to see posted wait times, and purchase the plus package to 'cut in front'.  Those folks will feel special and find it magical.  For those of us who plan the day and read up on average waits at each ride, understand what RD means and zag when others zig, it won't be nearly as helpful.

Heck, down here in San Antonio, I see people shelling out their money to get the Quick Queue option ( $20 per person/day), when it is not necessary except for maybe 2 of the rides, and even then those rides standby waits are less than 20 minutes most days.  

People are willing to pay for what they perceive as convenience. 

It's always a jolt when you forget when checkout time is.  Good think you remembered the alternate route! 

I am ready to embrace the Genie+, but I'm sure there will be the usual bandwidth frustrations of trying to get on the Disney wi-fi.  I intend to turn wi-fi search off and just use my data, and hope that the coverage is good.  Virtual queue's make me happy, when done right.  Being able to wander around and enjoy other activities when I would have been stuck waiting in a line is great.  And for this trip, I will happily pay for RotR passes, but I am lucky because I only have 3 in my party (hopefully).  I don't see paying for any other premium ride.

I am sad to see the free fast passes going away, but pretty much expected it.  People are odd about buying front of the line passes.  They buy them all the time here at SeaWorld San Antonio, for $35 per person or more, and there are no lines to cut!  I think the longest line I've seen is 15 minutes since the pandemic hit, and that was at the newly opened Texas Stingray. 

For online ordering, I play the 'tech savvy old fart' who is wondering why the app is so limited and why didn't they program in the ability to adjust a food item or make substitutions, and then they will hear from me if they ignore my comment section, which is the only way to make those substitutions. 

What is going to hit me hardest is paying for parking.  I don't like using Disney transport or Uber, I'd rather rent a car. We'll see how this trip goes, I guess.  It may be my last 'on property' stay, if some of the perks don't come back. 

I am so looking forward to eating here.  This restaurant is a must do for my family.  Good hot and sour soup, the spicy honey crispy chicken ( Or honey sesame chicken if you are not into spicy) is so good I found a copycat recipe to make at home.  I still think it is better here, though ( because I don't have to cook it!).  

I am not a fan of any kind of chinese beef dish, so I've never tried them here.   I may get adventurous on my upcoming trip and try the crispy duck fried rice, but I have a hard time not eating my favorite dish that I only get once ever 5 years or so from here!

the-nba-experience-at-disney-springs-will-not-reopen

I am fine with this.   Here's hoping they bring back an Arcade with a real restaurant and bar.  They can theme it to Wreck it Ralph, and we can have DisneyQuest 2.0!

Criminy-ently, Trigger... That's a might pricey!  Oh well, never expected to go to one of those parties anyway.

17 hours ago, Grumpy and Grandma said:

Based on the tax and cost of living differences I think most will accept the move.

I'll bet it's more like 50%.  It's hard to get people to move away from the area they are used to, to say nothing of leaving family, if they are close.

Thanks for writing all the trip report!  I loved following along.  It's nice to hear about folks having a good time at WDW again. 

23 hours ago, mmfancipher said:

  I think Universal should give the wand to the person who gets picked.  It would be a great PR move and would not cost them too much.  All of my kids bought wands, so I don't think it would hurt them.  

 

It would be a nice PR move, but can you imagine the ramp up in tears and other entitled parent complaints?  Kids being told by their parents that the only way they are getting a wand is if they are picked so they can get the 'free' one.  Parents going ballistic when their precious doesn't get picked, so now they have to buy a wand.  Parents trying to bribe the employees or otherwise game the system.   It'd become a nightmare.

Whew!  What an adventure to get there and back again.  Can't wait to hear about the good things! Sorry you had such a hard time getting there and coming back. 

22 hours ago, Robin said:

I thought we missed a bunch. My son's friend kept asking him about all this stuff he had no clue what he was taking about.

 I thought maybe because it down so late in the day that they had to rush to get everyone in before closing? 

Something to look forward to next time and, now we know you can cut thru Toy story. I would of thought that would be blocked off to help keep up the illusion.

It seems a little weird that one min your supposed to be the size of a toy and take a few steps and now your in sorry don't know is there a name for the city your in?

Maybe a little more transition space just a thought.  

Wow, I'm going to have to watch out for that.  I want to experience the entire story of RoR.  I may have to figure out how to gripe if they try rushing us through the beginning when I'm there in December. 

I'm in!  So glad to be reading a trip report!  Way interested in seeing if you get to keep the site.

I've been in early January, not camping, but staying on property.   Temperatures can range from the 40's to the 80's, but the standard is in the 60's and 70's.   Too early in the year for the every afternoon rain shower, spring storms or hurricanes, so unless you just get bad luck, you shouldn't have to worry about too much rain.  Keep your poncho's handy, though.

Cold fronts have been known to push down that far south, so if you have really bad luck, it may get to freezing. 

Crowds are usually pretty low,  the Christmas/NY crowds have gone home, everyone is broke from the holidays, kids are in school and the MLK day crowds aren't there yet.   One of my favorite times to visit, because of that.

Make sure you check for what is expected to be under refurbishment.  January is prime time for rides to be worked on, so some of your favorites may not be available.  At least one water park will be closed for refurb.  They used to switch out TL and BB each year, but I don't know if the pandemic interrupted the schedule.

I went to SeaWorld San Antonio yesterday.  The temp check tent is still up, but all panels are open and no line / temp check before the entrance.  Official policy is on the honor system.  Masks not required at all if you are vaccinated. 

I'll bet it's a pin. They like giving those out.

I'd put it down to a natural ebb and flow, compounded by COVID issues. As things return to normal, and people start camping at the fort again, I bet there will be an uptick.  For those of you going to the Fort, be sure to advertise the site with your snarky signs and magnets. 😃

I'm one of the folks who came here through the great trip reports that show up.  I don't even camp, but I do love hearing about all things Disney.  With a number of the older poster's not as active anymore, we just need an infusion of new-to-the-Fort folks to get the board rocking again. 

That is one of those 'Never hurts to ask." and " The worst that will happen is they say 'no'."  moments. 

Just be kind if the answer is 'no'.

Not the same situation, but similar: Outback took their fried mushrooms off the menu a few years back.  We just kept ordering them, and they kept bringing them to the table.  The answer to the order was 'Let me check if the kitchen can make them today."  

 Now they are back on the menu.