JennyMP03
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2008
- Crowds and EMH: The pendulum swung back and forth as far as crowd levels went. I decided to ignore crowd level predictions and plan carefully otherwise, and to just assume every day would be a crowded day. That said, we had a few times here and there where crowds were considerably lower at a certain park during a certain time of day.
Related: Extra Magic Morning hours are AMAZING. 5/5 was predicted to be quite a busy day and MK opened at 8 (which wasn't technically an EMH, but still very low attendance). We jumped right on BTMRR, Splash, Space, and Buzz in the first hour. It was the perfect morning to start our trip.
We tried an evening EMH at MK when it was open until midnight. Didn't care for it much. Lines didn't diminish the way I'd hoped until after 11:30 or so. Morning EMH is where the value is at-- our morning EMH in AK was wonderful, too.
- Weather in early May: The weather was gorgeous. An overcast day with a little rain last Sunday, and nothing but sunshine and blue skies until today when we left. It wasn't even very humid until Friday. We had a few mornings and nights that were pleasantly cool, and I even saw a few people with hoodies and sweaters for the cooler hours. I wore one myself while sitting by the water on the Trader Sam's deck. Rest assured it was plenty warm for the parks and pool, though. I'd absolutely visit in early May again for the weather. And Epcot was GORGEOUS with Flower and Garden! I loved looking for the character topiaries.
- FP+ and Standby: Standby is a breeze for the first couple of hours of park operation. I often booked fastpasses for the evening park of the day and didn't regret it. Enjoying several attractions from 8-11:30 in MK with short waits and having Flight of Passage FP+ waiting for us at AK that evening was just perfect. (An INCREDIBLE ride, by the way. Must be experienced to be fully appreciated. We were blown away and fortunate enough to get a second ride later in the week.) We were able to get to Navi with a 15 minute wait just before park closing, too.
- Food! Snacks! DRINKS! No dining plan. We've had it twice before but I appreciated the freedom of not feeling I must maximize every credit. We bar hopped on our arrival night by taking the bus from Riverside to Disney Springs and went to Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar, Morimoto Asia, and Homecoming, all for drinks and small plates... and Hummingbird Cake! Nothing disappointed. (Also highly recommended at DS: The VOID Star Wars experience. We were three adults losing our minds with giddiness from start to end.)
Our favorite bar remains La Cava in Epcot. Legit margaritas and the trio of dips with chips is excellent. Nomad Bar in Animal Kingdom was delicious as well, and we loved their bread service.
We had five ADRS: Liberty Tree Tavern, Ohana, Biergarten, Sanaa, and Rose and Crown. To my surprise, Rose and Crown was my favorite by far. We had an 8:00 PM reservation and were sat on the patio for Illuminations. The bubble and squeak (baked mashed potatoes with cabbage) was unexpectedly good, and the Sticky Toffee Pudding was unreal. So decadent. It was the best view of the Illuminations globe we'd ever had, and so pleasant to watch while seated with beers in hand.
Biergarten would be okay, but the communal seating made us uncomfortable. We knew that was an element of it, and our dining companions were as pleasant as you could imagine, but we're pretty introverted and felt uncomfortable. We did our best to socialize politely, but it was a tight fit and little elbow room. We tried, but won't be going again. Too bad because the atmosphere is awesome and I enjoyed the pretzel bread and potato and leek soup.
I'd overall go for a snack before a meal, and I had my clear favorites: dole whip float in MK, Mickey pretzel with cheese at various locations, ice cream cookie sandwich, and carrot cake cookie at HS. I'd live off snacks if my husband didn't encourage me to consume some protein once in awhile.
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