Neon Cactus
Old Run Disney Addict
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2016
Thanks to my birthplace and a job that had me covering a Florida territory, I've had the fortune of going to Disneyland and Disney World over 100 times each. I get asked a lot why I keep going, don't I get bored? Never! One thing I love about Disney parks is that I always seem to find something that I haven't done before.
This trip came about thanks to perfect circumstances. I'd bought a $99 package for 3 nights at any Hilton Grand Vacation resort in the Orlando area and had to use the nights by July. After the Marathon this year, I bought an annual pass, intending to do it again, and so I'm on the lookout to use the pass as often as possible. And I was able to find airfare round trip from Dallas for about $100, when it's usually over $300. I had to leave late Sunday night and fly home early Wednesday, but I was fine with that.
So Sunday was a long day. Six Flags over Texas had passholder exclusive ride time on some of their best rides, so I started the day there, came home and tried to distract myself for the rest of the day. My flight was supposed to leave at 10:25 PM and thanks to lousy weather and flight delays, we didn't actually leave until about 11:15. So instead of getting there at 1:40 AM technically Monday morning, we landed at 2:30. I was staying at the Hilton Parc Soleil, which is about 3 miles from Disney Springs.
So Monday morning after 3 1/2 hours of sleep, I had to pay the true cost of the $99 rate - a "two hour, no pressure" timeshare presentation that turned into a 3 1/2 hour, high pressure presentation. I could have done a later presentation, but I went with the 8:15 AM since it was the only one that had some time when the parks weren't open. Hilton finally took no for an answer and I was already ordering a Lyft to Animal Kingdom before I got out of there. So instead of getting to AK at 10:30, it was noon, but now the fun part of the trip began. The first order of business was to get my annual pass and then head inside to a sight that never gets old:
My first Fastpass was Everest at 12:30. I'd checked the wait times on the app the week before and I was a little worried because the waits had been pretty long. But I found a short standby line for Primeval Whirl and went on that and then rode Everest. My next Fastpass was at 1:30 for Festival of the Lion King. I had some time, so I just walked around the park, soaking in the atmosphere. Animal Kingdom is my favorite park overall. I walked through the Maharajah Jungle Trek and saw the tigers sleeping. And then went over to the Lion King and had a pretty nice seat. This is one of my favorite shows at Disney World.
When I got out, I had a little over an hour until my last Fastpass for Navi River Journey expired (since I was staying off-site, I could only get them 30 days out and FoP was long gone). My app said the wait time for the Safaris was 45 minutes, which would have been pushing it, but I was pretty sure it wouldn't be that long and it turned out to only be 25 minutes. I really wanted to see something on the safari anyway - Jabari, the baby giraffe born on Marathon Weekend, was supposed to be out. And, sure enough...
So I got off the safari with about 20 minutes to spare. I hadn't been on Navi River Journey before and I haven't heard good things about it. I didn't really like it. I don't really know how to describe it. It seemed like the E.T. ride at Universal (in a boat instead of flying bikes) except E.T. at least attempted to have a plot. Oh, well, now I've been on it.
At this point, it was about 4 PM and I wanted to also get over to EPCOT that day. I realized I still hadn't eaten since dinner the night before, but figured by that time, I'd just get over to EPCOT and eat at the Flower and Garden Festival booths. So I went out to the bus stop and instead of taking the EPCOT bus, I wanted to see if the gondolas were being tested, so I waited to see if the Beach Club or Boardwalk bus would come first. The Boardwalk came first so I rode there on the bus. The first stop was actually the Swan and I was pretty sure I could walk faster to EPCOT than wait to go to two more bus stops, so I got off and walked around the Boardwalk. The Boardwalk to Go had some pretty decent prices, so I grabbed a snack there before heading into EPCOT. There weren't any gondolas running, so I was ready for park #2
NEXT: EPCOT - Butterflies, milkshakes and Illuminations
This trip came about thanks to perfect circumstances. I'd bought a $99 package for 3 nights at any Hilton Grand Vacation resort in the Orlando area and had to use the nights by July. After the Marathon this year, I bought an annual pass, intending to do it again, and so I'm on the lookout to use the pass as often as possible. And I was able to find airfare round trip from Dallas for about $100, when it's usually over $300. I had to leave late Sunday night and fly home early Wednesday, but I was fine with that.
So Sunday was a long day. Six Flags over Texas had passholder exclusive ride time on some of their best rides, so I started the day there, came home and tried to distract myself for the rest of the day. My flight was supposed to leave at 10:25 PM and thanks to lousy weather and flight delays, we didn't actually leave until about 11:15. So instead of getting there at 1:40 AM technically Monday morning, we landed at 2:30. I was staying at the Hilton Parc Soleil, which is about 3 miles from Disney Springs.
So Monday morning after 3 1/2 hours of sleep, I had to pay the true cost of the $99 rate - a "two hour, no pressure" timeshare presentation that turned into a 3 1/2 hour, high pressure presentation. I could have done a later presentation, but I went with the 8:15 AM since it was the only one that had some time when the parks weren't open. Hilton finally took no for an answer and I was already ordering a Lyft to Animal Kingdom before I got out of there. So instead of getting to AK at 10:30, it was noon, but now the fun part of the trip began. The first order of business was to get my annual pass and then head inside to a sight that never gets old:
My first Fastpass was Everest at 12:30. I'd checked the wait times on the app the week before and I was a little worried because the waits had been pretty long. But I found a short standby line for Primeval Whirl and went on that and then rode Everest. My next Fastpass was at 1:30 for Festival of the Lion King. I had some time, so I just walked around the park, soaking in the atmosphere. Animal Kingdom is my favorite park overall. I walked through the Maharajah Jungle Trek and saw the tigers sleeping. And then went over to the Lion King and had a pretty nice seat. This is one of my favorite shows at Disney World.
When I got out, I had a little over an hour until my last Fastpass for Navi River Journey expired (since I was staying off-site, I could only get them 30 days out and FoP was long gone). My app said the wait time for the Safaris was 45 minutes, which would have been pushing it, but I was pretty sure it wouldn't be that long and it turned out to only be 25 minutes. I really wanted to see something on the safari anyway - Jabari, the baby giraffe born on Marathon Weekend, was supposed to be out. And, sure enough...
So I got off the safari with about 20 minutes to spare. I hadn't been on Navi River Journey before and I haven't heard good things about it. I didn't really like it. I don't really know how to describe it. It seemed like the E.T. ride at Universal (in a boat instead of flying bikes) except E.T. at least attempted to have a plot. Oh, well, now I've been on it.
At this point, it was about 4 PM and I wanted to also get over to EPCOT that day. I realized I still hadn't eaten since dinner the night before, but figured by that time, I'd just get over to EPCOT and eat at the Flower and Garden Festival booths. So I went out to the bus stop and instead of taking the EPCOT bus, I wanted to see if the gondolas were being tested, so I waited to see if the Beach Club or Boardwalk bus would come first. The Boardwalk came first so I rode there on the bus. The first stop was actually the Swan and I was pretty sure I could walk faster to EPCOT than wait to go to two more bus stops, so I got off and walked around the Boardwalk. The Boardwalk to Go had some pretty decent prices, so I grabbed a snack there before heading into EPCOT. There weren't any gondolas running, so I was ready for park #2
NEXT: EPCOT - Butterflies, milkshakes and Illuminations