A Night at the Movies with the TCD Gang

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

 

I am glad I ran into KFK too, and I hope she sees this.

Some of y'all probably know how to reach her on the Facebook. Tell her we're talking about her here.

 

I let Kim know she got a shout-out in your TR and that she is missed.  She asked me to let ya'll know that she sends her love and it really was nice having a TCD sighting. :D

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I don't think you're missing much by not going through there but I always like going new places at Disney.

I don't know why but I haven't wanted to do a trip report this time. I guess its partially because of the amount of work it takes to upload pictures, all of the copying code and inserting codes (even with doing it in Word) seemed overwhelming when I had about 1400 pictures to sort through.  Plus the majority of the pictures are of a cute little boy in front of Disney World stuff you've seen before.

 

But for your viewing pleasure I'll hijack your trip report and show you my blurry backstage pictures:

 

On another note I'm going to be headed to one of our favorites places in a week from today and we'll be staying at Grayton Beach State Park so I'll plan on writing a trip report for it.

 

WBI

 

Good job taking those photos!  Back when they first started letting guests through on the other side, they used to flip out if anyone took photos.  Now, they don't seem to care.

 

I haven't seen that fire truck "on stage" in a while.  Good to know it's still back there.

 

The TCD twins took a day trip over to Seaside a few weeks ago.  Have a blast at Grayton Beach!  I hope that you do a trip report.

 

I know you camped at Topsail over the summer, but I can't remember if you've camped at Grayton Beach SP before.  Have fun!

 

I let Kim know she got a shout-out in your TR and that she is missed.  She asked me to let ya'll know that she sends her love and it really was nice having a TCD sighting. :D

 

Thanks for doing that.

 

Tell her everyone here says that she needs to come back.

 

TCD

[WannaBeImagineer 98]

 

The TCD twins took a day trip over to Seaside a few weeks ago.  Have a blast at Grayton Beach!  I hope that you do a trip report.

 

I know you camped at Topsail over the summer, but I can't remember if you've camped at Grayton Beach SP before.  Have fun!

 

 

TCD

 

That's great they took a day trip over there, but that's probably still quite a drive for a day trip from Tallahassee.

 

No we've never camped in Grayton Beach SP before but we have driven through it to take a look.  I know it won't have the shade and amenities like Topsail but it has Seaside within bike distance!

 

My inlaws are actually flying up and will be staying in one of the condos above Modica Market so we should have a great time visiting, relaxing and enjoying Seaside!

 

WBI

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

The Double Decker Bus. Good To See It Too.

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

I Think The Purple Picture Looks Like An 80'S Teen Bop Photo Lol. Regardless It Is Still A Nice Dreamy Picture. lol

[lklasing 16]

Great update.  I had wondered about the MK closing so early last Friday night.  I'm still trying to figure out who you have to know to get invited to one of those private parties.

 

Awesome no-double-chin selfie.  

 

I was guessing that your cousin Yuri was the one who figured out that a refillable mug will hold exactly one beer.  That sounds like something he would know.

 

Glad you got to see KFK and the others.  I had a bunch of fun seeing them.

 

Looking forward to more!

[Family of Bears 98]

KFK and the others.

Sounds so mysterious. Who are the others?

[sherryberry 35]

All caught up! That new queue at Peter Pan is pretty neat - we waited a pretty long time to experience it for ourselves, though!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

That's great they took a day trip over there, but that's probably still quite a drive for a day trip from Tallahassee.

 

No we've never camped in Grayton Beach SP before but we have driven through it to take a look.  I know it won't have the shade and amenities like Topsail but it has Seaside within bike distance!

 

My inlaws are actually flying up and will be staying in one of the condos above Modica Market so we should have a great time visiting, relaxing and enjoying Seaside!

 

WBI

 

That sounds great.  Especially the part about the in-laws renting a condo- sounds like maybe you'll have some babysitters!  Have fun.

 

The Double Decker Bus. Good To See It Too.

 

Agreed.  I haven't seen it in use lately.  Good to know it's still there.

 

I Think The Purple Picture Looks Like An 80'S Teen Bop Photo Lol. Regardless It Is Still A Nice Dreamy Picture. lol

 

Gee thanks.  Maybe you need to get your eyes checked, though.

 

Great update.  I had wondered about the MK closing so early last Friday night.  I'm still trying to figure out who you have to know to get invited to one of those private parties.

 

Awesome no-double-chin selfie.  

 

I was guessing that your cousin Yuri was the one who figured out that a refillable mug will hold exactly one beer.  That sounds like something he would know.

 

Glad you got to see KFK and the others.  I had a bunch of fun seeing them.

 

Looking forward to more!

 

So, those are the ladies you visited at the Fort?  Good to know.

 

KFK and the others.

Sounds so mysterious. Who are the others?

 

I don't know who all was there with KFK.  I didn't know the lady she was with at Epcot.  She mentioned that Nicki was at the Fort.  I assumed that she met Fort Fiend Rebelstand, but I'm not sure.  I never made it to the Fort to see.

 

All caught up! That new queue at Peter Pan is pretty neat - we waited a pretty long time to experience it for ourselves, though!

 

Twin #1 was at the MK this past weekend, and headed to Peter Pan right after Wishes.  She was able to walk right in to the interactive queue.  It's fun to see, but I wouldn't wait a long time to see it.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Let's move along.

 

We left off on Friday night, January 30th.

 

We spend that night at the movies. All Star Movies that is.

 

As per usual, I got up early.

 

I don't want to spend my time at WDW sleeping, so, if I can help it, I don't do much of that when I'm there.

 

The twins didn't want to get up for a rope drop or anything.  They asked that I wake them at 9 so they could get some breakfast and then get ready to hit a park or two.

 

Fine with me.

 

Via an exchange of private messages, I knew that fellow Fiend Aaron (ACinA2) and his family were over at Bay Lake Tower.  I told him I would meet up with him for a drink if I happened to make it over to WDW while he was there.  Well, I made it.   But, this was a quick trip, so that drink ended up having to be a cup of coffee.  We agreed to meet at the Contempo Café in the Contemporary Resort at 7:30 am.

 

Parking at the Contemporary can be a tricky affair, so I allowed extra travel time in case I got rejected by the security guard.  When I arrived there, I had my All Star Movies parking pass, and my Magic Band to confirm I was an on-property guest.  Usually, that's enough.  But, they had one of those signs posted saying only Contemporary Resort guests and guests with dining reservations would be allowed in to the parking lot.  I told the guard that I was there to meet a guest for breakfast, and the guard almost was not going to let me park because I didn't have a reservation.  I promised him that I would not be there long, and he relented and let me in.  But, that could have been bad.

 

Since I was able to park there, I was a just a bit early for my meeting with Aaron.

 

I decided to use that time wisely.

 

I headed in and went straight to the elevators.

 

I got one that went all the way to the 15th floor.  But, the buttons for 12-15 wouldn't work.  You need to be a concierge guest to go that high.  I had to exit at the 11th floor.

 

The view of the Contempo Café and Chef Mickey's from there:

 

 

I headed right down the hall- and out the side door.  This is what I saw from out there:

 

 

That was the view looking west.  Now, I'm turned a bit to the south:

 

 

But, the view to the east is where it's at:

 

 

As I said, I was on the 11th floor.  Conveniently, there are stairs here that I used to head the rest of the way up to the roof.

 

That's what I'm talking about:

 

 

I snapped that photo at 7:11 am.  There's a big boat heading to the Contemporary dock.  I wonder why?

 

There's a regular resort boat approaching from Wilderness Lodge:

 

 

The roof of the Contemporary is one of my favorite places to visit at WDW.  That view!:

 

 

Both boats are about to dock:

 

 

While we are up here, let me ask you something- have you heard of the Orlando Eye?  It's a giant Ferris wheel being build over on International Drive.  They just completed the construction of it, and it's due to open in the spring of this year.  Yesterday's Tampa Bay Times newspaper had a front page article about it, and they printed this photo along with the article:

 

 

That photo was taken from the Orlando Eye, looking toward Disney World.  You can see the Contemporary Resort and Bay Lake Tower, along with Space Mountain and even the castle.

 

So, if they can see all of that from there, then I should be able to see the Orlando Eye from here, right?

 

I zoomed in on one of those photos, and I can see a very faint circle on the horizon to the left-that's the Orlando Eye.  You can also see one of Sea World's coasters and their big observation tower on the right:

 

 

I imagine that the Orlando Eye would be more visible if the sun was up a bit higher, and, of course, at night.  What I don't know is if you will be able to see it from ground level.  I suspect not.

 

I wouldn't have minded staying up here on the roof longer, but I needed to head down to meet Aaron.  So I headed back down the stairs.  Another look toward the Grand Floridian before heading in:

 

 

If you look, you can see the new bungalows they've built at the Polynesian there along the shore of the Seven Seas Lagoon:

 

 

Looking to the south, you can see the big Epcot golf ball in the center.  To the far right of that, the triangular building is the Swan or Dolphin hotel (I don't remember which one has the triangular shape).  To the right of that you can see Tower of Terror:

 

 

One last look at that sunrise:

 

 

From here, I headed back down to the level where the restaurants are.  I was still early, so I sat over by the windows in the Outer Rim lounge.  What a view:

 

 

Right after that, I met Aaron.  We both tried the breakfast sandwich they have on the menu at the Contempo Café.  It's a pressed sandwich with bread resembling French bread, with egg, ham and cheese.  It was really good.  Aaron and I discussed the important issues of the day.  After a while, his wife and kids showed up.  What a great family.  They were trying to get to Epcot for rope drop.  Which isn't an easy thing to do from the Contemporary resort.  There used to be a designated place to drop off guests at Epcot- it was over by the old kennel. But, that apparently is employee parking now.  The CM's just directed me to a handicap parking row, and that's where I dropped off Aaron and family.  It just so happened that the TCD gang also planned to visit Epcot later that day.  I thought maybe we would meet up with the ACinA2 gang there, but we didn't.

 

After the drop-off, I headed back to All Star Movies.  I snapped this photo as I headed back to our room at 9:03 am- it was already a gorgeous day:

 

 

Our room was right over there in the Fantasia 2000 building:

 

 

We were on the first floor right in that corner closest us in this photo:

 

 

We were right next to this little water play area:

 

 

There's a little kiddie pool and splash area here- very nice:

 

 

You can see the door to our room in between the bushes in this photo:

 

 

This is the view from our door- the main resort pool is straight ahead:

 

 

One thing I found interesting is that it's been over a year since a big announcement was made that Disney would be fencing in all of the resort pools at WDW.  Yet, here's a big, open, unfenced pool.  I wonder if they ever will fence it?

 

This is the view looking toward the splash area from our room:

 

 

I got the girls up, and while they got ready, I walked around the resort a bit.  There is a laundry room and the pool restrooms located in a building next to the splash area. They have lockers and showers in the men's room, which is something that we don't have at the Fort:

 

 

Now, let's take a quick look around the rest of the resort.

 

If you ever find yourself missing the Big sorcerer's hat from Hollywood Studios, they a floppy version of it here:

 

 

One of the toy soldiers on our building was missing a leg.  I wondered whether that was intentional- it doesn't look like anything is missing:

 

 

I assume that there must have been toy soldiers in Fantasia 2000.  I don't remember them, and I certainly don't remember a one-legged one.

 

The Love Bug section is the next section you come to past the Fantasia section.  We stayed in this section once and liked it:

 

 

There's a big parking lot straight ahead here.  This resort does not seem as large and as spread out as All Star Movies and All Star Sports, but I think the resorts are actually all similar in size:

 

 

You may have notice the tables and chairs around the splash zone.  That's where the girls ate their Mickey waffles. This was our view:

 

 

That was the morning of January 31st.  Elsewhere in the US, there were folks buried in snow.  We were sitting out here in shorts and t-shirts beneath the palm trees enjoying the beginning of our day.

 

January is summer time to the good people of South America.  They celebrate that by sending huge groups of their teenagers to Disney World.  There was a huge tour group staying at All Star Movies. Consider yourself lucky that I don't have a video for you to hear them chanting as they made their way past us to take over the food court:

 

 

After breakfast, we returned to the room, grabbed our stuff, and stashed it in our cars.  We were checked out.

 

Next, we will ride the bus to Epcot to start our day in the parks.

 

TCD

[dvccamper 32]

I just googled it and the one legged tin soldier is the protagonist in Fantasia 2000.

Beautiful sunrise pictures!

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Great sunrise pictures!

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

The one legged soldier is one of three main characters in a portion of Fantasia.  He falls in love with a beautiful ballerina but is forced to fight the evil jack-in-the box who also has affection for the ballerina. The little soldier is very heroic

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

There's a big parking lot straight ahead here.  This resort does not seem as large and as spread out as All Star Movies and All Star Sports, but I think the resorts are actually all similar in size:

Do you mean All Star Movies does not seem as spread out as All Star Music and All Star Sports? 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I just googled it and the one legged tin soldier is the protagonist in Fantasia 2000.

Beautiful sunrise pictures!

 

Wow.  I know that I saw Fantasia 2000.  I remember I didn't like it.  So, I only saw it once.  I must not have been paying attention during the one legged soldier part.

 

Great sunrise pictures!

 

Thanks.  My favorite time of day.  The sunrise was spectacular from the Contemporary roof.

 

The one legged soldier is one of three main characters in a portion of Fantasia.  He falls in love with a beautiful ballerina but is forced to fight the evil jack-in-the box who also has affection for the ballerina. The little soldier is very heroic

 

Wow again.  I don't remember any of this.  I honestly thought the one legged soldier on the building was a maintenance issue.  But, then on further study, it didn't look like anything was missing, so I wondered why the soldier was missing a leg.

 

More evidence of Disney's attention to detail.

 

Do you mean All Star Movies does not seem as spread out as All Star Music and All Star Sports? 

 

Yes, that's what I meant.  Sorry for the typo.

 

Since I know you have a trip coming up, I really think it's just a matter of perception.  Each All Star resort has ten buildings.  For this trip, we were in the building I circled in orange on the All Star Movies part of the map.  It's nice to be close to the check-in building and food court.  I remember a previous trip where we stayed in the building I have circled in the orange at All Stat Music.  It seemed like such a long walk to and from the room up to the lobby and transportation.  But, looking on the map, it really wasn't as far as it seemed:

 

 

TCD

[Starbuc71 162]

Great report so far Andrew. I never got around to my thanksgiving trip report after taking about 300 pics on that trip due to my job being so hectic the past few months. I don't think I can start now since I cant remember all the little things. We'll see. Anyways, someone commented on the TIW card a few pages back. The restrictions are getting worse by the month in my opinion. We were denied at Chef mickey, France and ohanas so far on normal non holidays. Not sure if we will get it again. The best deal is that they accept it at the pop century food court. I know of no other food court that takes it. That's the real bargin since there is no tipping there so you really get a true 20% discount

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

If you'll note though, the Music buildings, are more "vertical" shall we say from the check-in building, whereas Sports and Movies have a "horizontal" spread from the check-in building. The backside of the "Boot" building is a looooong way from the check-in desk, and yes I've stayed there before.

 

Also, we discovered if you are in Mighty Ducks at All-Star Movies, it is a very short walk to the Music Bus Stop.

[lklasing 16]

Ok, now I'm totally bummed.  On the day you and Aaron met for coffee, I was up early too, and was at the MK for rope drop for the sole purpose of implementing (for the second time this trip) a stellar FP hack.  I totally could have met up with y'all!  Now I know better - that I've got to check out who is in the world for all future trips!  Fiend meet ups are the best and I hate to miss out on any!  :)

 

By the way, I saw that amazing sunrise too!  

[momof3kids-Yvonne 594]

Finally caught back up. I love how much you always seem to get done even on short trips. Best of luck to the Twins on the DL CP opportunity.

Oh and just a quick note to WBI, we would love to see any pictures you have of your adorable little boy by any and all Disney attractions.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Great report so far Andrew. I never got around to my thanksgiving trip report after taking about 300 pics on that trip due to my job being so hectic the past few months. I don't think I can start now since I cant remember all the little things. We'll see. Anyways, someone commented on the TIW card a few pages back. The restrictions are getting worse by the month in my opinion. We were denied at Chef mickey, France and ohanas so far on normal non holidays. Not sure if we will get it again. The best deal is that they accept it at the pop century food court. I know of no other food court that takes it. That's the real bargin since there is no tipping there so you really get a true 20% discount

 

I'm sorry to hear that about the TIW cards.  I've only purchased it once.  Back then it gave me 20% off at Trail's End takeout, which was great.  When they took that away, I never bought another one.  It's sad to compare what you get with a TIW card now to the benefits it provided just a few years ago.

 

I got spoiled over the last six months, as the twins got a standard 20% off meals as CM's.  And, that discount worked at a lot more places than the TIW card does, including Trail's End takeout. 

 

You would be amazed by the discounts offered at Disneyland.  Almost every food service place, including the quick serve locations, offer 20% discounts to Disneyland AP holders.  Disneyland relies more on AP holders as a source of revenue than WDW, so they take better care of their AP holders.

 

If you'll note though, the Music buildings, are more "vertical" shall we say from the check-in building, whereas Sports and Movies have a "horizontal" spread from the check-in building. The backside of the "Boot" building is a looooong way from the check-in desk, and yes I've stayed there before.

 

Also, we discovered if you are in Mighty Ducks at All-Star Movies, it is a very short walk to the Music Bus Stop.

 

That is a very good point. I've also stayed in that "Boot" building, and that walk sure did seem loooooong!

 

I decided to map out the distances from the furthest building at each of the All Stars to the lobby building.  This is what I got:

 

 

 

 

That walk from the "Boot" building to the main lobby at All Star Music is just about double the distance that anyone has to walk at the other All Stars. A round trip to get a drink is nearly 2/3 of a mile.

 

Ok, now I'm totally bummed.  On the day you and Aaron met for coffee, I was up early too, and was at the MK for rope drop for the sole purpose of implementing (for the second time this trip) a stellar FP hack.  I totally could have met up with y'all!  Now I know better - that I've got to check out who is in the world for all future trips!  Fiend meet ups are the best and I hate to miss out on any!   :)

 

By the way, I saw that amazing sunrise too!  

 

Darn!  That could have been fun.  And, I probably could have given you a lift too.  Plus, Aaron loves a good FP+ hack.  And Aarons kids are the best. They were having a blast, and were excited to tell me all about it.

 

I'm glad you got to see that sunrise. It was a good one.

 

Finally caught back up. I love how much you always seem to get done even on short trips. Best of luck to the Twins on the DL CP opportunity.

Oh and just a quick note to WBI, we would love to see any pictures you have of your adorable little boy by any and all Disney attractions.

 

Glad that you're caught up.  We do get a lot done on short trips.  In fact, I think we get more done in the parks on short trips than we do on longer ones.  Short trips make us focus.

 

I hope WBI posts some photos of Prince William.  I got to see him in person back at Thanksgiving, and that is one cute baby.

 

TCD

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

We were denied at Chef mickey, France and ohanas so far on normal non holidays. Not sure if we will get it again. The best deal is that they accept it at the pop century food court. I know of no other food court that takes it. That's the real bargin since there is no tipping there so you really get a true 20% discount

 

Chef Mickey's and Ohana are blocked out the week of Thanksgiving. There are about 5 restaurants that way. And Chef's only take it at lunch. There are a lot of restrictions these days. We're lucky because they blocked out the week before Easter for the ones that get the holiday block, and we're going the week after. I bet next year they do both sides. 

[Starbuc71 162]

Chef Mickey's and Ohana are blocked out the week of Thanksgiving. There are about 5 restaurants that way. And Chef's only take it at lunch. There are a lot of restrictions these days. We're lucky because they blocked out the week before Easter for the ones that get the holiday block, and we're going the week after. I bet next year they do both sides.

I know last year they added the block outs to those places for holidays and popular weeks. But now I hear they are removing dinner for a lot of places. I was so upset a few weeks ago when I dropped $135 bucks at chefs de France and could not use my TIW card. We are learning that most non buffet places in Disney are not worth the money for what you get especially when your 20% TIW card is denied. I foresea this program being phased out or at least not worth it at all in the next few years. As TCD stated. The AP discounts are not as good as they used to be either. I still can not find out how to get an AP discount on a resort

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Chef Mickey's and Ohana are blocked out the week of Thanksgiving. There are about 5 restaurants that way. And Chef's only take it at lunch. There are a lot of restrictions these days. We're lucky because they blocked out the week before Easter for the ones that get the holiday block, and we're going the week after. I bet next year they do both sides. 

 

Since you scored your TIW card for free, it's all gravy for you this year.

 

I know last year they added the block outs to those places for holidays and popular weeks. But now I hear they are removing dinner for a lot of places. I was so upset a few weeks ago when I dropped $135 bucks at chefs de France and could not use my TIW card. We are learning that most non buffet places in Disney are not worth the money for what you get especially when your 20% TIW card is denied. I foresea this program being phased out or at least not worth it at all in the next few years. As TCD stated. The AP discounts are not as good as they used to be either. I still can not find out how to get an AP discount on a resort

 

You're right- its pretty obvious that the WDW beancounters want to keep cutting back on discounts.  It's to the point now that you really need to think about if that initial investment for the TIW card is worth it.  The thing that's crummy on their part is how they take away discounts and add blockout dates after you've already laid out the money.  I'm sure their lawyers have that all covered in the fine print, but it's still crummy.

 

To get the AP discounts on resorts, you need to be logged in on the website, and go to the Passholder page, and click on the discount link they have there.  I got a passholder rate on our one night All Star Movies stay for this trip.  I think it saved me $20 or so.  For this trip, the Florida Resident rate was the same, though, so there was no benefit given for being a Passholder.  It took me a lot of looking before that rate popped up. I just got lucky.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Update time.

 

We left off with us enjoying breakfast outside being serenaded by the obnoxious chanting of a humongous tour group moving their way through the grounds of the hotel.

 

We took our overnight bags out to our cars, and headed to the bus stop.

 

The plan was to hit Epcot first, then hop to Hollywood Studios.  I had made some complex FP+ reservations based on that plan.

 

As we waited at the Epcot bus stop, a Hollywood Studios bus pulled up.  Twin #2 wanted to change the plan and go there first. She said that she had just seen an Instagram post that the new Starbucks in Hollywood Studios was having a soft opening, and that they were giving everything away for free.  That can't be true, I said.  And, with FP+ you are not allowed to be flexible.  So, we stuck with the plan.  Fortunately, Twin #1 backed me on this, and we headed to Epcot.

 

One of the main reasons we wanted to go to Epcot today was to enjoy it when it wasn't crowded with special decorations for Christmas or one of the big festivals they have there.  While we like the extra decorations, it's rare to be able to enjoy Epcot without all the distractions and crowds this extra stuff brings.

 

We made our way in to the park, and this is the first photo I took, at 10:56 am, showing a long stand-by line there on the side of Spaceship Earth.  You can thank FP+ for that.  Also, note how people are dressed.  There's a guy there with a down vest and hat on.  It had been cool first thing in the morning, but it was north of 70 degrees by this time of day:

 

 

I had made FP+ reservations on Thursday night.  At that time, there was good availability for both Test Track and Soarin'.  I made Soarin' reservations because we hadn't ridden that ride in a while, and not since we had been to California to ride the original.  Then Twin #1 and I ended up riding it at EMH the night before.  I tried to change it to Test Track late that night, but there was no more availability.  So, for today, we were locked in to FP+ reservations for Spaceship Earth, Soarin', and the Living Seas.  Our Spaceship Earth FP+'s weren't good until 11:20, so we had some time to kill.

 

The girls decided to look around the big gift shop, MouseGears.  I decided to do some FP+ hack research.  I have shared before that if you have extra MB's that are assigned to people who do not have tickets attached to them, you can take those MB's to one of the in-park kiosks, and use them to make additional FP+ reservations.  This hack has worked from day 1, and still works.  The only problem with it is that you have to be at the park, and the later you go to a kiosk, the less available choices there will be.  Today didn't seem to be a particularly busy day, but this is the line I encountered upon reporting to the Epcot FP+ kiosks located in the breezeway outside of MouseGears:

 

 

It was 11:03 when I snapped that photo, and all of the people you see are in the line ahead of me.

 

There are four kiosks here, and each one was manned by a CM.

 

The line moved slowly.  At 11:06, I hadn't made much progress:

 

 

I took this photo at 11:12, while I was still waiting.  Remember that guy in the down vest and hat?  Check out how everyone in this photo is wearing t-shirts:

 

 

You probably can't read that wait time sign there in the background, but I could see it fine.  Test Track was at 70 minutes, as was Soarin'.  Spaceship Earth was a 30 minute wait:

 

 

After a bit more waiting, it was my turn.  I used three MB's for this experiment.  The CM asked me to pick one of the Tier One attractions other than Soarin'.  There were no more Soarin' FP+'s.  I chose TT.  He then asked me to choose two more.  I chose Spaceship Earth and Imagination.  I asked the CM to give me the earliest possible return time for each of these rides.  After some trying, the CM said this was the best he could do:

 

 

It was 11:16 when I took that photo.  So, that means I had waited for 13 minutes to get these FP+'s.  That might sound good, but we really didn't gain anything with the Imagination FP- the standby time for that ride was 5 minutes.  We would then have to wait a while to even use our Spaceship Earth FP+, and we would then have to stick around until 7:30 pm with no other FP+'s just to ride Test Track.

 

These are the standby times for just after noon on Saturday:

 

 

I probably would have been better off just going and getting in a standby line rather than standing in that FP+ line.

 

If you want to try to use FP+ hacks at Epcot, you need to get there at rope drop.  But, if you're there for rope drop, you probably don't need FP+ hacks.

 

The bottom line, as you probably already know, is that FP+'s are of minimal value at Epcot.

 

Remember-this was a not-so-busy day.  On a busy day, I'm sure there wouldn't have been any Test Track FP+'s offered, and all I would have been able to choose would have been the less popular rides.

 

The end of my experiment coordinated perfectly with us heading back to Spaceship Earth to use the first of our real FP+'s for the day.

 

On the way there, a guy with a trench coat covered in pins passed us going the other way.  I was only able to get this photo of him from the back:

 

 

A closer look:

 

 

Interesting.

 

I thought it would be funny to use one of the twins' Duffy purses for my head.  And, it would have been had I held it higher:

 

 

Fail.

 

We had a bit of time before our Soarin' FP+'s would be good at 12:20, so we poked around Innoventions, and then watched that preachy Save the Earth video in the Land.  I'm sorry, but all I could think about is what a bunch of hypocrites the Walt Disney Company idiots are for the waste generated by all of the MB's they send out to guests.

 

We presented ourselves to Soarin', and rode there.  We had some blue light issues there too, but were still let through the FP+ line.  I thought I started to detect a pattern here, but I wasn't quite sure yet.

 

After Soarin' Twin #2 informed us that there were more reports of free Starbucks at Hollywood Studios, and she really thought we ought to go.

 

Our last FP+ was for Nemo, and we would have to wait another hour to use it, so we all agreed to hop now.

 

We headed back toward the International Gateway.

 

This big open space was to our right as we headed out of Future World and in to the World Showcase.  If things go as normal, they will soon be transforming this space into a big old playground for the Flower and Garden Festival:

 

 

There was a new food booth introduced at last year's Food and Wine Festival for Puerto Rico- it sat in this space, which has since been restored back to an open grassy area:

 

 

 

Here's one last look at the grassy area that will soon be a giant playground:

 

 

When we hit the World Showcase, we turned to the right and headed toward Canada- this area looks (and smells) so much better when it isn't junked-up with food booths:

 

 

It was a bit past 1 as we passed The Mill Stage.  The "Canadian" lumberjacks would be out at 1:30 to perform their show, which now apparently includes log rolling.  We decided to pass:

 

 

We kept walking, and, as expected, the boat to DHS was waiting for us at the dock. 

 

People often ask how long this boat ride takes.  It is kind of long, because the boats make three stops on the way to DHS.  But, we still prefer it to walking.  I decided to take a photo at each stop so I could look at the time stamp and tell you how long this ride took.

 

So, here we are pulling away from the Epcot dock at 1:14 pm:

 

 

The first stop on the way to DHS is Boardwalk.  We pulled up there at 1:18 pm:

 

 

The view on our side of the boat:

 

 

There were some CM's over by the seawall doing something on a pontoon boat:

 

 

They were pulling weeds out of the lake:

 

 

Slimy yet satisfying.

 

The second stop on the way to DHS was at the Yacht and Beach Club, and we arrived there at 1:22 pm:

 

 

We made our third stop at the Swan and Dolphin at 1:26:

 

 

The next stop was DHS.  Our boat CM took advantage of the captive audience and performed what amounted to a very bad stand-up comedy routine.  The guy was load and obnoxious.  I've never seen such a thing:

 

 

The guy was awful. He told us that the birds we saw over on the shore were not Sea Gulls, but Bagels (Bay-Gulls), because we weren't sailing on the sea.  Then he said to remember to never let Elsa hold your balloon, because she would just let it go.  And on it went.  I was really glad when we finally arrived at DHS at 1:34 pm:

 

 

That boat ride took us exactly 20 minutes.  You'd have to walk pretty fast to beat that time.  The ride definitely could take longer.  We didn't have a lot of people getting on and off at the stops.

 

We headed on in, and stood there for a while looking at what's left of the Sorcerer's Hat:

 

 

The twins don't remember from before the hat, and I barely do.  So, it's strange to see it almost gone.

 

Our first stop today was going to be the new Starbucks to get a free drink.  We arrived to find a CM out front saying only guests with vouchers could go in:

 

 

There were lots of people inside getting drinks, but we weren't allowed to join them:

 

 

Twin #2 knew that her former roommate was working at the Sweet Spells store around the corner, so we went to hunt her down to see if she knew how we could get one of the vouchers.

 

I could not not look at the hat:

 

 

The last time we were here, they had that little round sign with the satanic mermaid covered up.  But today, she stared at me mocking me with her evil gaze:

 

 

Oops.

 

That's the 30th photo for this update.

 

I'll have to finish telling the story about our quest for free Starbucks in the next update.

 

TCD

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

If we cut through the International Gateway headed to the Boardwalk for dinner. What would be the better option to fully enjoy the sights of the Boardwalk area, walk or ride the boat?  We will be arriving in the evening and I have heard the Boardwalk is really neat at night.