3 years since our last trip - back to our happy place!

[Missmilphie]

Day -1 - why didn’t we take the day off work?!!

Hi all - I thought I’d have a go at writing a trip report as a bit of a diary to be able to look back on our trip, I’m hoping to write as I go as my memory is terrible!!

Who are we - there’s me the Disney obsessed mum of the family and my lovely husband Tom who I think I’ve just about brainwashed over the nine years we’ve been together! Plus our daughters Mimi (12) and Sophie (6). (Mimi’s dad lives in another country to us so my dh is her “every day dad”).

It’s been 3 long years since we’ve made it to the USA (we’re English) and I can’t wait!!

This is my girls last trip - they’ve grown a bit since then!!

Day -1 we both had to work so my very helpful parents took the girls out for the day. I managed to log off about 4 and after some last minute hectic packing (why didn’t I take the day off?!!) we made it out the door bang on schedule at 6.

It takes us about 3 hours to get down to London to the airport - nice easy trip this time and before we knew it we were checked in at the Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow.

The hotel seems nice enough - beds comfy - but I’m a terrible sleeper the first night anywhere so typing this at 6am waiting to set off on our long travel day to my happy place

 

[Caseheidi]

Safe Journey. Hope you all have a wonderful time.

 

[Isabelle12345]

Following! Have a nice trip!

 

[tigerlilly]

Oh gosh... have a very safe trip across the ocean! Following!

 

[Missmilphie]

Day 0 - A long way home

I’ll start this by apologising if there are lots of spelling mistakes!! I’m completely jetlagged and writing this at 2:45am while (thankfully) the rest of my family are still snoring happily.

Travel day started at a pretty civilised 7am departure from our Heathrow hotel. I have not so fond memories of travelling annually abroad with my parents and the chaos of trying to make flights on time - my dad isn’t a believer in wasting time sitting in airports which led to lots of only-just-made-it flights and thank-god-it’s-delayed flights!! Somehow we never missed one but that was totally luck and not judgement!! This has led me to be ALWAYS early for everything and I like to stay overnight near the airport so there’s no worries on traffic.

We had an 11:05 flight and so should have had tonnes of time but it took 2 hours to make it through to departures after some check in issues with the automatic machines. That left a perfect amount of time for a nice hearty breakfast once through security and straight to boarding.

We left pretty much on time and had a wonderfully uneventful flight. I HATE flying, Tom’s poor hand gets gripped until it’s white on take off and landing, but needs must to get to see the world. The girls did well with the 8 and 1/2 hour flight time (films were watched, activity books completed and their body weight in snacks consumed) and we breezed through border control and found a taxi to take us to our first night hotel … Pop Century.

 

[Missmilphie]

Day 0 continued - We made it!

So originally we planned to travel Saturday to Saturday to give us 2 weeks away with the least vacation days used up and booked our first week at Caribbean Beach based on that. BUT this was before COVID and our 2021 trip was rescheduled to this year.

I moved our hotel stay pretty easily but by then everything had gone up significantly in price so our original flight credits couldn’t buy us replacement flights without costing an extra couple of thousand pounds. A bit of money-saving research later and I realised flying Friday to Friday and in to Orlando but out of Miami was going to save us over £1,200 so we settled on that and ended up booking a random first night at pop century as we figured we might as well try something close but new!

We checked in around 5:30pm - lovely, smooth process and headed to our room to dump our bags. The rooms seem fine and the girls were excited to “sleep in a wardrobe”! We’ve never seen a real pull down bed, only in movies, so they thought that was great fun!



Everyone was tired (it was about 11pm by now back home) but hungry so we headed to the pop century food court to grab something to eat before an early night. Well, I say everyone, somehow Sophie, despite normally being in bed hours before, was excitedly bouncing around like a pinball!

Food was pretty good, definitely better than expected from a QS food court. And a million times better than what we were served by Virgin on our flight - how is airline food sooo bad??!!

We went with basic burger / chicken strips and fries mostly and I had the grilled chicken sandwich which was delicious if a bit wet on the bottom bun. I’ll forgive that for the beautifully moist chicken and yummy herbed mayo.

Tummies full and happy to be home we ran through our first torrential downpour of the trip (it rains A LOT in England but not like this - we love a Florida storm!) and snuggled up in our 50’s block.


The rooms could do with better noise proofing but beds are comfy and pillows soft. I’m happy to be “home”!!

 

[ilovevacation]

Sounds like you are off to a great start. I hope you get some rest this morning. it's definitely difficult with the time change and the excitement of being "home ". Have a magical trip

 

[Dreams&wishes]

Which hotel did you stay at last time you went? How did you find pop in comparison?

 

[tigerlilly]

So excited you made it. We share a deep and abiding love of flying ...lol. I hate it and pretty much only do it for WDW!

Hope you enjoyed POP...and are currently enjoying your first park this Saturday morning

 

[JennJac]

Following along!

 

[Missmilphie]

Which hotel did you stay at last time you went? How did you find pop in comparison?

We were at Coronado springs last time. I’ve also stayed at the yacht club, beach club and POFQ.

It’s hard to judge as we were only there briefly - just somewhere to sleep for an unexpected first night - but I’m not sure it would be for us for a longer stay. For us I think we like more food choices and the kids like a pool with a slide but it was perfectly nice and the skyliner is great - much prefer it to the buses in the mornings.

 

[Missmilphie]

Day 1 - Epcot and learning to lightening lane

I was up bright and early (as you can see from my day 1 post!) and everyone else surfaced around 5:30am. We were ready and at the services desk at 6:30am to get our cases transferred over to Caribbean Beach - this was a great service and really smooth.

We then strolled over to the skyliner and waited for 7am to grab a virtual queue for GofG (boarding group 65) before boarding to travel over to Epcot. We LOVED the skyliner - such a nice way to get around.



We made it over by about 7:20 for an 8:00 EE. There were a few people in front of us at the line at international gateway and we had a slight delay with bag checks but made it into the queue for Remy shortly after. I’m so glad we were early - the line looked pretty long by the time EE officially opened. Unfortunately we had a bit of a breakdown mid ride (they offered a re-ride but we were fine without) which meant our plans to try and get to frozen before main rope drop weren’t viable - so off to Soarin it was.

Tom loves this ride and it was a walk in which made it to even better! Then my favourite - Living with the Land and a quick stop at Sunshine Seasons for breakfast and it was time for our 10am LL for test track.

Sophie thought this was awesome - I was a bit worried it would be too fast for her but nope!

Mission Space LL next which I grabbed when I tapped into TT. This was a different matter - I haven’t done the orange in years as I’ve always waited with a little one - I wish I still hadn’t! I felt so sick after and Sophie hated it too. As I’ve got older I’ve got less tolerant of spinning rides - I should have listened to the warnings!

Our boarding group for GofG was called about 11:15 - all I can say is New favourite ride - and we all agreed. It was absolutely amazing! Sophie said she couldn’t get her face to stop smiling!!

Just time then for a bit of Nemo and fish watching before lunch at Via Napoli - a very successful morning and just a small pizza for lunch …

 

[tigerlilly]

What a fun day so far.

We are planning on IG for entry also on our trip.

Do you recommend being there no later then 7:15-7:20? What time did they cue you up for Remy? This is our plan in late September so hearing your experience is helpful.

From everything I have heard... I am never likely to experience Mission orange

And I am not sure how that pizza could have possibly fed your entire family as it is so small. lol

 

[Missmilphie]

Do you recommend being there no later then 7:15-7:20? What time did they cue you up for Remy? This is our plan in late September so hearing your experience

I don’t think they opened Remy until EE started at 8 but between 7:30 ish and 8 they took the line closer in steps. (Like held on bridge, then outside line, inside etc) which made it feel like not too long standing still. We got on not long after 8 but due to the breakdown we didn’t get out until 8:30.

I think at 8 the line was showing at about 30 mins. I assume it got longer quickly after that.

 

[Missmilphie]

Day 1 - continued…

Lunch at Via Napoli was very good. The pizza said it fed 2/3 so we ordered a salad and an appetiser calamari to go with it. As you can see above, it was huge and we would have been fine with just that…. Not that we didn’t somehow manage the rest

By this point the heat was getting to us so we decided to hop back on the skyliner and check in at CBR.



A pirates life (well week) for us! We originally booked to stay at the dolphin but after that was Covid cancelled we priced up and this looked the best deal.

It’s a very cute room but a bit of a hike from the main buildings and the beds are smaller than normal because of the boat surround. Overall - happy with it but if asked would choose Coronado as a moderate instead.

After a bit of a rest it was back to Epcot to use a LL for frozen, set sail in Mexico, see our future in Spaceship Earth and grab some sausage and colcannon for mimi at the Irish booth (the rest of us still couldn’t contemplate more food!!)

Unfortunately the skyliner wasn’t running at that point as there was some impressive lightning in the area so we hopped on a bus and headed back to some much needed sleep. I think we were all dreaming by 9pm!

Genie + time saved compared to standby boards - 2 hrs 55 (TT, MS and Frozen)

 

[KenyaSierra]

Day 1 - continued…

Lunch at Via Napoli was very good. The pizza said it fed 2/3 so we ordered a salad and an appetiser calamari to go with it. As you can see above, it was huge and we would have been fine with just that…. Not that we didn’t somehow manage the rest

By this point the heat was getting to us so we decided to hop back on the skyliner and check in at CBR.

View attachment 695853

A pirates life (well week) for us! We originally booked to stay at the dolphin but after that was Covid cancelled we priced up and this looked the best deal.

It’s a very cute room but a bit of a hike from the main buildings and the beds are smaller than normal because of the boat surround. Overall - happy with it but if asked would choose Coronado as a moderate instead.

After a bit of a rest it was back to Epcot to use a LL for frozen, set sail in Mexico, see our future in Spaceship Earth and grab some sausage and colcannon for mimi at the Irish booth (the rest of us still couldn’t contemplate more food!!)

Unfortunately the skyliner wasn’t running at that point as there was some impressive lightning in the area so we hopped on a bus and headed back to some much needed sleep. I think we were all dreaming by 9pm!

Genie + time saved compared to standby boards - 2 hrs 55 (TT, MS and Frozen)

Great report so far! I appreciate your Genie time saved info- hope you will continue that!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Following along!

Sounds like a great start to your trip.

Hi all - I thought I’d have a go at writing a trip report as a bit of a diary to be able to look back on our trip, I’m hoping to write as I go as my memory is terrible!!

It is such a great way to relive the trip !

he rooms seem fine and the girls were excited to “sleep in a wardrobe”!

Ha! Sleeping in a wardrobe

By this point the heat was getting to us so we decided to hop back on the skyliner and check in at CBR.

So, cute!

 

[Missmilphie]

Day 2 - Squirrels, geckos and magic kingdom

After our 12.5 miles walked yesterday (ouch my poor feet!) we slept well and woke up at 6 ready for a day at Magic Kingdom.

I grabbed a Peter Pan LL in the room and we were at the Trinidad bus stop at 7:15 for a 8:30 EE at MK. Sophie loved watching the squirrels run up and down the trees and the hundreds of little geckos on the pathways - we don’t get lizards really at home and she thought they were wonderful. I can definitely see that girl becoming a zoologist one day - she’s never found an animal she doesn’t love.

It was a little bit of a wait for a bus - the time expected on the board kept changing - but one finally arrived at 7:40 and we were at MK by about 8. First stop was for a quick bite to eat at the bakery



Yum! And big enough for me and the girls to share while Tom had something egg muffin-y I think. We took our food over to the tables at Casey’s Corner and had the area to ourselves - it was a lovely place to people watch and a relaxing start to the day.

After that we strolled over to fantasyland for 8:30 and rode Pooh and IASW during EE before using our LL for Peter Pan. It was so lovely seeing Sophie’s face amazed at everything today - she doesn’t remember our last trip so it’s like her experiencing it all for the first time.

Next it was a meet with Cinderella and Ariel and a ride on the carousel before stopping for suncream. I can’t state enough how hot it feels to us! My Scottish roots are struggling!!

 

[Missmilphie]

Day 2 continues …

At 10:15 our next LL was ready for Haunted Mansion. I rode with mimi and even she jumped into me at one of the ghosts jumping up in the graveyard bit, sophie declared “never again!!”

We had an 11:30 LL for pirates which was a little way away so decided to stop and grab some nachos and water at Peco Bills. These were tasty but I miss the toppings bars even as I appreciate the hygiene of getting it in little pots on your tray instead.

Pirates was great as always and we got a little luck as our next LL for carpets which I only got as it was close and pretty much instant was converted to an anytime any ride pass when the ride went down.

We watched Tiki Room (“are they real parrots?” ) and headed to use this bonus LL at Big Thunder Mountain.

By this time it was time for our 12:40 reservation at Liberty Tree Tavern. We had mixed feelings about this booking as we’d done it before and been a bit “meh” about it but thought we’d give it another go. So glad we did - it was all absolutely delicious - the salad was well dressed, the meat tender and moist and the stuffing was amazing (I don’t normally like stuffing but I think I ate a small child’s body weight of it!)

We were getting a bit tired (might be the volume of food we just ate!) so used a LL to meet Tiana and Rapunzel and another at Voyage of the Little Mermaid before heading back to the hotel for a rest followed by swimming to end another great day.





Genie + time saved 4 hours - not bad considering we left at 2:30!!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Sounds like a great morning.

We have only eaten at Liberty Tree Tavern once and really enjoyed it. But it is such heavy food for the Florida heat.