First family week on property January 20-27

Sara_H

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Joined
Mar 11, 2015
We returned about a week ago from our first week on property as a family. We were there January 20-27. We stayed at the Beach Club which is a beautiful resort. I loved the proximity to EPCOT, The Boardwalk (which we never actually went to but it was nice to look at) and Hollywood Studios.

Day 1

For our 1st day in the parks we headed over to Hollywood Studios. One thing about staying at the Beach Club is that Hollywood is only accessible by boat or walking. As we were waiting for the boat another traveler called and talked to the front desk and found out that the boat doesn’t start running until 30 minutes before the park opens, unlike the buses that run about an hour prior to opening. I’m not a huge fan of that because if you want to get to the park early and get in line, you have to walk and not all people are capable of walking that far. We however are and decided not to wait for the boat. We walked the trail to Hollywood which was a nice walk and took about 15 minutes.

Right when we got into the park we walked over to Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and my son and I rode that…he LOVED it! After that the line for Tower of Terror was short so we decided to hop on that and the theming freaked my daughter out...she hated the ride…and of course we had a fastpass for it a little later. We also rode Star Tours twice, Toy Story Mania and Tower of Terror again. We saw the Indiana Jones show and walked around a bit. Overall we were relatively disappointed in HS. Once it is back to being a full park again I think it will be great but we were happy that we had hopper passes and could leave the park and go somewhere else later in the day.

We left HS around 4:30 and headed to MK for a bit. We ate at Cosmic Ray’s and rode a few rides; Pirate’s, Barnstormer, Astro Orbiter and Small World. Then we hopped the monorail and headed to EPCOT, walked through the park to get to our hotel. Hindsight tells me that the buses would have been quicker but there’s something about riding the monorail.

Day 2

Day 2 we headed to Animal Kingdom. When I was last at AK back in 2001 I hated the park. I think we were there for maybe 3 hours and were done so I did not have high hopes. We got to the park early and were let in around 7:40. We headed to Na’vi River because we had fastpasses for FoP later. We walked right on the ride after being practically trampled by adults trying to get to FoP. The ride was…ok. It was short, not exciting and I would not wait more than 15 minutes for it. Yes the illuminating plants were cool but not worth the lines they normally have. We headed to the Dino area and walked right onto Dinosaur twice. We went on the Triceratop ride twice and Primeval Whirl 3 times with no lines. We headed to Everett for our fastpass and that is now my favorite roller coaster I think. Loved that ride. We actually went on it right after our fastpass because the line was only 20 minutes. We ended up eating at Satu’li and the food was amazing…those desserts…yum! We walked around and did the Safari and all of that (no shows…the kids didn’t want to do any). When it was time for our FoP fastpass we found the line and moved our way up…we waited maybe 15 minutes. OMG that ride is awesome, I could have ridden it all day! I wouldn’t stand in line for 2+ hours but it is amazing. We ended up leaving in the late afternoon so the kids could swim a bit and then headed to Disney Springs and ate at Cooke’s of Dublin on one of the most beautiful nights of the week…seriously the weather was perfect.

Day 3

We went to EPCOT for the day. We walked in the side entrance from our resort and were going to head to Frozen but pretty much the entire free world was headed there so we went to Test Track instead. We had a fastpass for Soarin’ so we did that end then The Land which my husband did not enjoy but I was fully aware of what the ride was prior so I was prepared. We then headed to Mission Space Green which was fun. Later in the day we ended up doing the Orange version and I did not like that one. There is a huge intensity difference between the Green and Orange versions. I needed a simulation break after that one. We really enjoyed walking through all the countries and the kids enjoyed KidCot too. Later in the day we went on Spaceship Earth with no wait which was nice. After the fireworks we got on Frozen which was a nice ride but again, not worth a 90 minutes wait…Frozen IMO belongs in MK and not EPCOT.

Day 4

Day 4r was MK day. As a family we have been to MK several times for day trips so we are well versed in this park…no maps needed. We did all the typical rides. However we were evacuated off of Pirates in the morning. We were very close to the platform for exit so we just had to step over to the front row and then step on the platform and exit a door but I’m not sure how they evacuated the rest of the ride…would have been interesting to be a part of. We had a great day at MK riding Space, Thunder (we witnessed 6 nuns riding Thunder!), Barnstormer, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Seven Dwarfs and Buzz. However, Buzz needs a MAJOR reno! The “ship” my daughter and I were in didn’t spin…sometimes if you’d really crank on it it would spin but then wouldn’t spin back and then half way through the ride our lasers stopped working…we were not happy with what used to be a fun ride.

Day 5

Day 5 we started out with breakfast at Cape May and then we went to EPCOT and rode Soarin’ again and walked around WS and did KidCot again. We then took the boat to HS for our fastpasses. My daughter said she wanted to try ToT again so we got in line with our passes and just as we were about to get on the elevator, she changed her mind. We did Star Tours and Toy Story Mania again. Again we left the park around 4:00 after my husband took my son on Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster again and we headed to DS. We ate at Cooke’s of Dublin again and did some shopping…then my son decided he needed something at EPCOT so we headed there and then back to DS…it was our Disney Dash as we like to call it.

Day 6

Day 6 was MK day for the most part. Had early fastpasses for Thunder, Space and Haunted Mansion. We did those and a few other rides ate at Harbor House and then headed to AK to ride Everest again. Having the hopper was so nice!

And that was the end…we left the next day. The kids are already talking about when we can go back. Even though we did a lot I still feel like we missed a lot of things…Disney offers so much. I do wish they would do more with the line cutters though. It gets really annoying when 4-5 people walk by you because two members of their party are towards the front. I know it is hard to monitor but it is frustrating for those of us who do the right thing and wait in line. If only money was no object…or if Disney was more affordable to do more often. Until next time…
 
Thanks for sharing your experience! It sounds like you were able to do a lot and that huge crowds or long wait times weren't a problem. Glad you had fun!!
 

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