Post-Business Trip WDW Solo Trip Report 9/2 to 9/5 *COMPLETED*

indoshakespeare

Reach out and find your Happily Ever After
Joined
Jun 7, 2011
9/2 - 9/3: POP Century
9/3 - 9/5: Bay Lake Tower
Events: MNSSHP on 9/3 and MK EMM on 9/4
FP+ 9/3 = 11:50 Tower of Terror, 1:40 Rock n Roller Coaster, 2:50 Slinky Dog Dash
FP+ 9/4 = 9:10 Jungle Cruise, 10:20 Space Mountain, 11:20 Enchanted Tales with Belle
ADR: 9/3 Akershus 8:30 AM (PPO) and 9/4 Be Our Guest 12:05.

Background

Wow, where to begin?

Okay, my family grew up with Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland. In my family, going to Disney means going on the rides, see the parade and maybe do a character dining. Both Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland are perfect for this. they have the best rides and best versions of the rides in my opinion.

I've been to WDW twice before this trip, once as a kid and once as a teenager. Both times my parents arranged everything with the same mentality. We would just do the rides, see the parade and go home. Both times I was underwhelmed. With the exception of Splash Mountain, i think Disneyland has the better rides and better versions of the rides. Keep in mind that this was way back before 2001, before 7DMT, EE or FoP. Everytime people compare Disneyland and WDW, I was sure Disneyland is the superior resort. That changed when I started to watch people's blogs and vlogs

Another mentality our family had was Disney food is mostly bad, and the best ones are at most average. I spent my honeymoon in Disneyland Paris. Whenever I read TRs on DLPR, Americans comment that the food there is not as good as WDW's food. I thought thats interesting. Arent Disney food all the same? Why would people compare the food in Disney resorts? Arent they all the same? just burgers, fries, hot dogs etc. People cant be coming to Disney for the food.... so I started to read some blogs.

My first interest in revisiting WDW is when I started watching Dreams Unlimited Travel and DIS Unplugged podcasts. They talk about everything from food and resorts and other experiences. Then I came across vloggers like Jennifer Oakes and Sir Willow who talked about their experiences working there. I realized that there are a lot more WDW vloggers than Disneyland vloggers. So there must be something special about WDW that Disneyland doesn't have. I started seeing people talk about the great food there and the great character experiences, not just from the guests but former cast members as well. What really made me decide to go back to WDW was when I started to watch Tommy des Brisay's videos. The way Cast Members interact with him was amazing. I found out that meeting characters is not just about taking pictures but you can interact and chat with them. At this time, I already had 2 kids and I wasnt keen on taking them on a 24 hours flight. Hong Kong and Tokyo have to do for now.

The opportunity came sooner. My company is buying a rather expensive equipment in North Carolina. As per company policy, we would send a delegation there to meet with the manufacturer. They would send our plant manager and me to go. Looking at the map, I noticed how close NC is to Orlando, I knew this was my opportunity. With the airfare paid (by the machine supplier), all I need to do is pay for the internal flights. I told my wife about this business trip and she said I should have a vacation there since the flight is so long (24 hours each way) and she knew I wanted to visit NYC. So I decided, let's tick off 2 places in my bucket list in this trip (WDW and NYC). I would stay 4 nights in NC, then 4 nights extra (3 nights in WDW, 1 night in NYC). Since my return flight from JFK was at night, I got 36 hours in NYC, which I calculated to be enough to see what I wanted to see there. She also said that she may never want to go to the East Coast of America because of the long flight so I should enjoy myself and don't skimp on the budget. It may be a long time before I can go back there again.

My main goal in this WDW trip is to visit all the princesses and ask them to record a short message for my kids. So I booked myself a PPO Akershus breakfast where I would be the creepy solo guy eating at a Princess dining. I know Moana is only available during parties so I got myself a MNSSHP ticket. I also booked EMM for Sep 4 to maximize my time in the park. My original plan was to spend Sep 2 in Disney Springs, eat Beignets at POFQ then resort hop the monorail resort and watch HEA from the Polynesian. Then spend Sep 3 and Sep 4 park hopping on a 2 days ticket. Sep 3 is Epcot + DHS, then MNSSHP. Sep 4 is MK and AK. However, I would be willing to upgrade my tickets to 3 days if I decided to go to a park on Sep 2 upon arrival.
 
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Day 1: Sunday September 2 2018

I left Indonesia with my colleague on August 28, arriving in Raleigh on August 29. We had our business trip on the 30th and 31st, then spent 1 free day in Raleigh. I flew to MCO on September 2 in the morning. Very short flight from RDU, on time, and we touched down a few minutes before 10. Took my bag from baggage claim and went to DME. Showed my reservation and was sent to the AoA / POP bus. DME is a wonderful way to start a WDW vacation. Bus dropped people at AoA first, then POP.

After receiving my magic band, I went to my room and did some laundry. Probably should've done that in Raleigh. I wanted to try the Mongolian Fish at AoA food court but when I got there, they were still serving breakfast until 12.30. So I went back to the laundry room by the computer pool, wait until the washing cycle is done, put them in the dryer then went back to AoA to have the Mongolian Fish. it was delicious. It immediately dispels the myth that Disney food is bad. After this, I picked up my laundry and went back to my room. At this time I decided to upgrade my ticket to 3 days and go to Animal Kingdom, since it opened until 10 so I got a 6-7 hours there and I will have a more relaxing day on 9/4.

I went to the bus stop and started to check FP+. I managed to get Kilimanjaro Safari 3:45, Expedition Everest 5:20 and Dinosaur 6:20. My main goal in AK was to get Pocahontas to record her message and ride Expedition Everest and maybeeeee if I'm up for it, ride FoP before park closes. Everything else is a bonus. At this time, it's been raining on and off. Lucky I brought my umbrella in my sling bag..right? No! I left it in my hotel even though I had used it earlier when going from POP to AoA. Anyway, the rain wasn't too bad so I walked to Pocahontas and it had a short wait, no more than 10 minutes. It was my first time ever talking to a face character so I was a bit nervous. After a Wingapo, I asked her if she could record a message for my kids. She said yes and managed to say my kids' names perfectly (Rinoa and Akira). 1 down, 14 to go. Weird thing is the photopass photographer didn't take our picture with her camera. Same with the family in front of me. Maybe her battery's dead?

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After that I rode the Safari, then walked to Asia. I planned to ride EE twice, once on the single rider and once with FP. Jungle Trek was closed due to lightning so I went to EE and rode the single rider line. Waited about 10 minutes, and joined a family of 5. After learning that it was my first time on the ride, he offered me the right side where there's no stairs on that side during the lift hill. Then it started raining, right after the ride started. I thought it made it even more fun. But then during the backward section, i felt the negative G-Force. It was a bit too strong for me. Overall, it was more intense than I expected and I'm not a fan of the backward part. I went to the jungle trek, saw a baby Komodo, a creature native to my country. I was a bit disappointed not to see some Asian CRP cast members there. I rode EE again on a Fastpass. I think it's a great ride but that negative G-Force is too much for me. I started to feel unwell after that second ride. I don't think I'll ride it again.

After that I started to feel a bit unwell, maybe due to riding EE in the rain so I decided to skip the Dinosaur FP and eat dinner. I thought I'd try my luck at Jiko, maybe they have a spot in the counter open. If not, I would just eat at The Mara. So I exited the park, took the bus at AK and dropped off at the wrong spot. Went to Kidani instead of Jambo. It was alright though, I could see the Savannah a bit. Took the internal bus to Jambo and walked up to Jiko. They did have a spot on the counter. So I sat down and ordered the Elk Loin, which I already chose long time ago when going over the WDW menus during planning. It was delicious, tastes like Venison. My server was a gentleman from Oman who was fantastic.

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The medium rare game meat must have reinvigorated me as I was ready to go back to Pandora and ride FoP (I was considering going back to the hotel as I had a very full day on 9/3). I waited until 9.45 before I got into the queue and waited 40 minutes for the ride (30 minutes into the briefing room). The ride is gorgeous but I feel Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is slightly better. Definitely better than Soarin'. FoP might have made that ride obsolete. Got back to PoP around 11 and went to bed at 11.30. Great first day!

Summary:

Pocahontas Meet and Greet: My first ever meet and greet with a face character. She was great and accomodate my request to record a short message for my kids.

Kilimanjaro Safari: very fun, the driver tried a few Jungle Cruise style puns. But since I lived 1 hour away from a world class Safari park, this is not a must do for me.

Expedition Everest: good coaster, but negative G-force during backward phase is too much for my 38 year old body :(

Maharajah Jungle Trek: nice to see the Komodo in WDW. Was hoping to see an Indonesian CRP there but fun attraction

Flight of Passage: world class ride, worth the hype

Jiko: fantastic restaurant. Great atmosphere, great Elk Loin.
 
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Day 2: Monday, September 3 2018 Part 1

Woke up around 6:00, Got ready and went down to the lobby with my bags to be transferred to Bay Lake Tower. Originally I was going to stay all 3 nights at POP but made the decision to rent points to stay in Bay Lake Tower because I decided to attend MNSSHP on 9/3 followed by MK EMM on 9/4 so I thought it would be nice to stay either in Contemporary or Bay Lake. Renting DVC points for Bay Lake was cheaper than booking Contemporary ($100 per night cheaper). So 2 nights in Bay Lake it is, which makes the whole trip much pricer but I thought the convenience was worth it and it allowed me to have DDP on the POP reservation which I was going to use for Akershus breakfast.

Went to the bus stop at 6:50 and had to wait until 7:20 for the Epcot bus. Got there around 7:45 and they started to let people with ADR in. The queue was rather long, I got in at 8:00, took a few pictures of the golf ball and walked to Akershus. It definitely felt weird being a solo male eating there. Lots of families and a few couples. My name was called around 8:20 and got Belle to record her message. Unfortunately she was too soft spoken and we could barely heard her in the video but my daughter loves it anyway. I probably should've met Village Belle later to get another video but it's ok. Inside, the breakfast was alright, I got 1 platter of the scrambled eggs and a few things from the buffet.

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Aurora was the first to come to my table. I wonder what the princesses were thinking seeing me by myself. I asked Aurora to record her message and she was very nice, telling me how great of me for doing this for my kids. I couldn't get my photo taken with the princesses in the restaurant (only with Belle) because no photographer. After the procession with the kids, Cinderella and Snow White recorded their messages. My daughter thought Snow White's voice was funny. Ariel was the last just as the time approached 9:00. She kept talking non stop and it was hard to stop her but I eventually managed to get her to record her message. Out of the 5 princesses, Ariel was the only one who mentioned my kids by their names. At 9, I asked for the check, used my DDP and paid the tip by cash. After this, I had to make a choice: do I see Anna and Elsa first, or ride Frozen Ever After first. I decided to see Anna and Elsa first.

Meeting Anna and Elsa were straightforward. I saw Elsa first, talked a bit about Olaf then asked her to record her message. Same with Anna. Anna was the nicer of the two and asked what my kids' names are so she could mention them in the message. After that, I rode FEA, which had a delayed opening. Total queue time was 20 minutes. I still had to meet Mulan at 11:00 and Jasmine 11:45. To pass the time, I rode Test Track on the single rider line, then waited at the rope by China for the rest of World Showcase to open.

At 11:00, the rope dropped and I started walking towards China. I didn't know where exactly the line to Mulan is but I saw Mulan leading a little girl and her family to her meet and greet place and I started to walk behind them...but they skipped over the queue line so I had to backtrack and ended up 4 or 5 families behind. I only waited 15 minutes. The meet and greet was a bit awkward because she started with "Are you joining the Imperial army?" Uh...no, I'm here to ask you to record a message for my kids. I sorted that out though and even though she asked what my kids' names were, she didn't mention them. I asked her if the Huns are still bothering her and she said we haven't seen them for awhile but it's better to be prepared in any case.

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I had some time before Jasmine at 11:45 so I grabbed a pomegranate beer from the Germany food and wine kiosk. I normally don't drink alcohol because I have alcohol intolerance but I love pomegranate and my refillable mug was starting to run out. I was the first at Jasmine and the attendant must have seen me in Anna/Elsa and Mulan meet and greet because Jasmine started with "I heard you're quite the world traveler today". I told her I just met Mulan in China and I asked her to record her message. I also told her my daughter's kindergarten class did a play based on Aladdin and she responded positively.

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Now at this moment I was done with the princesses at Epcot but there was 1 more ride I wanted to see: the Gran Fiesta Tour. So I backtracked and rode that. On the way to the IG exit, I saw Village Belle with a very long line. Storm Gordon started to hit around this time and I decided to forgo my ToT and RnRC FP+ and went to Boardwalk for lunch. (I was never going to ride them. I only had the FPs because I had the SDD FP). The rain and wind were real when I reached Boardwalk (I took the boat). I decided to eat Pizza and refilled my mug at the bakery. Then I started to walk towards DHS when it looked like the weather was getting better. It was then when Gordon hit at maximum strength. I was walking by the lake when I got hit by wind and water and my tiny umbrella did not help at all. By the time I reached DHS, I was half drenched.

At this time I still could use my RnRC FP but I couldn't be bothered. I went to see Kylo Ren where I told him Hux should be supreme leader of the First Order. There was almost no response to that, he just said his usual lines. I went to TSL right after that to wait for my SDD FP. That ride was GREAT. It was the right intensity for me (EE was too intense). I was surprised at how good it was. I thought it would be a kiddie coaster like Barnstormer but the drops are actually more intense than BTMRR. I was going to ride TSM after that if the line wasn't too long but it was 1 hour so I decided to just leave for the Magic Kingdom.

Summary:

Akershus: Great character breakfast especially for PPO as you're in a very good spot for FEA or Anna/Elsa meet n greet. Meet 6 princesses and 1 queen well before 10.

Frozen Ever After: Good ride for Frozen fans. Backward portion is fun, not intense at all.

Test Track: Fun ride and no need for FP with single rider. Faster than I expected.

Gran Fiesta Tour: I think it should be more popular. It was a pretty good ride with Donald Duck but maybe the screens turn people off a bit.

The Princesses meet n greet: I think it was great to meet the princesses in their "native" pavilion. With the time posted, you can plan your schedule around them.

Kylo Ren meet n greet: I wish he would respond more directly to my comment that Hux should be supreme leader but it was a fun meet n greet.

Slinky Dog Dash: GREAT ride! One of the best coasters Disney ever had! Intensity is perfect for me and it felt really smooth.
 
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Day 2: Monday, September 3 2018 Part 2

I have always been a fan of the castle parks in every Disney Resort. The second gates are okay but I would always spend at least twice as much time at the castle park. For this trip, I have the MNSSHP on 9/3 and EMM on 9/4. I had planned to park hop to AK on 9/4 but since I had decided to go to AK on 9/2, I could take my time there or go to Disney Springs instead. I arrived at MK around 3:30 and the wow feeling that had been missing on the other 3 parks was there. Every time I walked alongside Main Street towards the castle had been ....awe-inspiring for the lack of a better word and this time was no different. All the positive feelings in the world go into me every time I visited a castle park anywhere in the world.

First order of business is Merida, as she will not be available to meet during MNSSHP. Line was not long, maybe around 10 minutes. She recorded her message and we chatted a bit about archery. After that I decided to see Mermaid Ariel and also asked her to record a message but I did not send it to my kids because I thought breakfast Ariel recorded a better message. Then I went and got my party band at Adventureland. I had booked a BTMRR FP on my way to the magic kingdom for 4:45 so I just went to Emporium while waiting. I took pictures of interesting looking merchandise and sent them to my wife so I could buy them if she saw something interesting. I rode BTMRR and then waited in line for Moana at 5:15. Line started to move around 5:45 and I met her at 6:15. She was definitely fun to meet. Mentioned my kids' names in the message and gave me a hug. I told her we are going to see her in Hong Kong in December (where she had a stage show and a dedicated meet an greet).

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To round off the princesses meets, I went to see Tiana and Rapunzel next. Tiana is my favorite princess and I showed her a photo-shoot from 2 years ago where my daughter posed in front of a giant frog wearing a Tiana dress. She loved it and even asked her attendant to see the pictures. Rapunzel was fun too. Finally, the last princess to meet was Elena. I didn't know anything about her so I just told her my daughter loves watching her show. Meeting Cinderella after that was awkward. I should've told her that I already met her at breakfast. I kinda felt she was waiting for me to ask her to record a message because she saw Elena do that. I just asked her why she invited Elena to her kingdom and commented on the party. I'm glad I was asking all the princesses to record a message. Otherwise, all my meet n greet would be that awkward. I was going to see Mickey and Tink but their wait times were long so I saved it for the next day

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After that I just rode rides. I rode everything except the 4 rides available for EMM. By everything I meant everything. I even rode Magic Carpet and Astro Orbiter. Here's my thoughts on some of them:

Pirates of the Caribbean: I didn't even notice Gunpowder Pete. Ride is shorter than Disneyland version so I thought it wasn't as good.

Splash Mountain: probably the only ride where the WDW version is better than the DL version. 5 drops total with 2-person rows logs (like Tokyo actually). Better music genre. I didn't notice it had a lap bar and the CM was screaming at me to pull down my lap bar after they already launched my log.

Under the Sea: I love this dark ride. I don't know why this isn't more popular. I actually liked it better than Peter Pan!

Tomorrowland Speedway: ugh, the fumes! I think they should scrap this ride. Hong Kong and Tokyo already took down theirs. Not fun. At least make it fully electrical.

Buzz Lightyear Astroblaster: I don't know if there's something wrong with my blaster but the fire buttons was so heavy to push. I gave up halfway because my thumb hurt trying to press it. I only got 1600 points. Definitely preferred DL's version.

Peoplemover: Great ride! It actually moved faster than I thought It would.

Space Mountain: Wow! When people say WDW's version is bumpy, they weren't kidding. I think the pitch black idea was cool but the bumps were awful. I think I almost had a whiplash on one of the drops. I actually cancelled my Space Mountain fastpass for the next day because I was afraid I would get a whiplash for sure. In every other Disney Resort, Space Mountain is my favorite ride. It has always been since I was 6 so this is a disappointing revelation.

If Space Mountain is not my favorite ride in WDW, what is? The answer would come the next day.
 
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Day 3: September 4 2018

Just to round up the TR on day 2: I had hot dog in Tomorrowland for dinner. I did not meet any other special characters (other than Moana). I did not see Boo to You, Hallowishes or Hocus Pocus. My main goal in attending MNSSHP was ride rides with shorter lines. I stayed until midnight and checked into Bay Lake. It was awkward when the guy said "I appreciate you being a DVC member" because I only rented points from someone else. Luggage delivered by 1 AM and went to sleep.

I woke up at 6.30 and bought coffee and croissant from Contemporary Grounds. at around 7.30, I walked to MK. Security on the walkway was short. Even if you don't stay in Contemporary or Bay Lake, it might worth getting an Uber or Minnie Van to Contemporary and walked to MK. I already changed my FP for the day. I cancelled my Space Mountain and Enchanted Tales with Belle and replaced them with Meet Mickey and Tinkerbell. I kept the Jungle Cruise FP (not available during MNSSHP) and decided to Rope Drop Enchanted Tales. I also made ADR for California Grill for 5:45 PM and decided to watch HEA from there. My legs were already very tired by this time. According to my app, I walked 12.5 miles on 9/2 (around 28000 steps) and 13.8 miles on 9/3 (33000 steps).

I checked in, got my band and went to Fantasyland. I went to Pooh first, it was fine but when you've been on Pooh's Hunny Hunt in Tokyo, it just felt very outdated. Then I rode Seven Dwarfs Mine Train for the first time. It's the sole reason I booked EMM and wow that ride is AMAZING! So smooth and the thrill factor is perfect. It deserved all the hype. This is my favorite ride in the Magic Kingdom and maybe in Walt Disney World. I rode Peter Pan and had breakfast. I know most people waited until 9:45 before having the breakfast but I didn't care to ride 7DMT 10 times. I took a seat by It's a Small World which was a perfect view. I think that picture almost made my wife want to visit as she realized that WDW has unique experiences that other Disney resorts didn't have.

Overall I rode 7DMT 3 times, Pooh 1 time, Peter Pan 1 time and the Carousel 1 time. At 9, I went to ETWB. Normally this is not a good idea because they need 20 people to start the show but I got nothing else to do. I think it was 9:20 before they could start the show. I didn't get picked to play the knights so I just relaxed and enjoyed the show. I think it's a great unique attraction for the kids. After that I rode Jungle Cruise. We had Skipper Kelsey and she was great. The skippers definitely make the ride. Then I'm done with all the rides!

The rest of the day was just finishing shopping and watching Hall of Presidents. Great show although I dozed off a bit in the middle. The animatronics were great and the message is inspirational. I had ADR at BoG for 12:05 and it was a great restaurant. I had the Pork and it was delicious. Honestly I never had a bad meal in WDW. In fact most of them are great, including the Pizza at Boardwalk. After lunch I rode Under the Sea again. I love that ride! Only 5 minutes wait at noon? That's insanely low for a ride that good. Then I used my FP for Mickey and Tink. I told Mickey it was my last day and I would see him in Hong Kong with my family. Tinkerbell recorded a message for the kids and she was amazing. I don't think Tink has a meet n greet in Hong Kong but I told her we would see her in December.

After that I was already very tired so I decided to scrap my Disney Springs plan (since I've done my shopping anyway) and just relax around the monorail loop. I rested in my room a bit, visited Bay Lake pool and then hopped to the monorail to visit Polynesian and Grand Floridian. I stopped at TTC and walked to the Polynesian. I can see why the theming is appealing to most people but not to me. It does remind me of Bali but that's exactly why the Polynesian is not special to me because it's all too familiar. The Grand Floridian is more impressive. It is the same theming as Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel where I've stayed before. Bought some more things from the shops and went back to the Contemporary for California Grill.

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California Grill was probably the best restaurant I've ever been anywhere in the world. I wanted to try the sushi so I ordered something light for the entree: The Seafood Spaghettini. How good can a spaghettini be right? Well, it was the best pasta I've ever had. The octopus is so tender. How can octopus be that tender? The sushi is great too but I only ate 4 pieces and asked the server to wrap the other 4. I had the blackberry sorbet for dessert which was great as well. The whole dining experience was just perfect. At 8:15, I went back to watch HEA. I've watched it on Youtube several times but watching it live surpassed all expectation. Great fireworks show and the vantage point from up there was perfect.

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After dinner, I had the option to go back to Epcot for evening EMH but I wanted to end my vacation with HEA and my flight the next day was 6:20 AM so DME pick up was 3:20 AM. So I SHOULD go to bed right away but I didn't want the night to end so I went to the wave and ordered their specialty cocktail: the Magical Star Cocktail. This was the only drink I could have on this trip because I knew I would have a reaction that took 3-5 days to clear up. But the drink was good and I could only finish half a glass before getting a bit too tipsy. I went back around 11.30 and I only had 3.5 hours of sleep time before heading to the airport.

I set the alarm at 3:05. When it rang, I took a quick shower, ate the remaining sushi from the box and ran down with my luggage. I got to the lobby right as the bus stopped. There were 3 other people there being picked up. Ride was straightforward and the airport experience was straightforward. Flight was on time and that's the end of my WDW vacation!


Summary:

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train: My favorite ride in all of WDW! Great hybrid coaster / dark ride.

Enchanted Tales with Belle: Fun attraction but I probably wouldn't go again without my kids.

Under the Sea: Underrated dark ride.

Hall of Presidents: Love this show even though I'm not American. I do follow American politics and history so that's where the appeal came from.

Tinker Bell meet and greet: Probably my favorite meet and greet. The setting is amazing and the character performer is fantastic.

Contemporary: My favorite among the monorail loop resorts. Walking to MK with that short security line is a bonus. Murals are great.

Polynesian: Not my thing. Theming similar to Bali so it's not foreign or exotic to me.

Grand Floridian: It was grand and beautiful but I probably wouldnt stay there with Contemporary being more convenient.

California Grill: Best restaurant I've ever been to

Happily Ever After: Great firework show, perfect ending to any vacation.

If there are any cons to this vacation, it would be that I didn't go to French Quarter to try the Beignets. And I still haven't been on Toy Story Mania. I've been to Tokyo Disney twice, Disneyland once and now WDW once without riding Toy Story Mania. No complains though. That was a perfect Disney vacation.

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Bonus TR: New York

I only had 36 hours in New York so I had to move fast. Arrived at LGA at 9, took taxi to my Upper West Side hotel. Bought Metro Card, went to 9/11 memorial first. Took photos of the fountains and the new One WTC building, then took subway to South Ferry to ride the Staten Island Ferry. This was my preferred way to see the Statue of Liberty. Then went to Madison Square to visit Museum of Mathematics. Turned out that I wasn't geeky enough to enjoy that ^^. Went to a rooftop bar called the 230 fifth bar but I thought the view was disappointing from there plus I still couldn't drink from the previous night. Walked alongside 5th Ave to Rockefeller Center then took the elevator to Top of the Rock. Great view. Spent some time there before I decided spontaneously to watch a musical. I checked the time and decided on Frozen. Walked to the theater while trying to buy the tickets online. Got a resold ticket 4th row from the front. Waited frantically for the ticket to arrive on my email and got it barely in time. Curtain raised as I reached my row and had to walked in front of a family to get to my seat. Show was okay....not a fan of the new songs, especially the Hygge song which I thought was rather silly. The actress playing Elsa had a great voice but I thought Anna had no chemistry with Hans and Kristoff. Wouldn't watch it again.

The next day I took the EmptyMet tour, which was like EMM on the Met Museum. Woke up at 6 and had time to explore Central Park. Got lost a bit and barely made it in time to the Met. Tour started 8:30 and finished at 10:00 right as the Museum opened for public. I rope dropped George Washington Crossing the Delaware. Great painting. Spent some more time here then went to the National History Museum. Didn't buy a ticket. Just took pictures of the two dinosaurs in the lobby. Had lunch at Sarabeth restaurant. Great tomato soup. My last stop was Times Square and Disney Store. Bought some more toys for the kids then went to the airport. I had forgotten to visit Grand Central Terminal but that's okay. I thought it was enough intro to NYC. Next time I could explore it more in-depth.
 
Sounds like the perfect solo trip! Complete, efficient, and magical! Glad you got to finally experience WDW! Did you like it enough to bring your family over someday?
 


Sounds like the perfect solo trip! Complete, efficient, and magical! Glad you got to finally experience WDW! Did you like it enough to bring your family over someday?

Yes but not until my youngest son is older. At least old enough to remember the experience. Right now they've been to Tokyo Disney and we're planning to go to Hong Kong in December. When we do go to the US, I think I'll take them to Anaheim first. The trip is a bit easier and requires less planning. Most importantly, my wife needs to be convinced that it's worth spending 24 hours in a plane to come here :D

I also put together the princess greetings into one video:


Final thoughts:

I think I heard someone from a DIS podcast said "If you want a vacation, go to Disneyland. If you want an experience, go Walt Disney World". I agree. The amount of planning required to put this together was unprecedented. I had booked a couple of restaurants for Disneyland Paris before but that was nothing compared to planning FP+, ADR, special events like MNSSHP and EMM. The choices of on site resort is mind-boggling and I thought the 7 in DLP are a bit much. But when you plan it right, WDW is an experience like no other. I still think Disneyland has the better version of the same rides (except Splash Mountain) but for non-ride experiences, WDW can't be beat. I don't know if I can change my family's mentality that going to a Disney resort is just rides and take pictures with characters but I'm glad I got to experience it for myself at least once.
 
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If you want a vacation, go to Disneyland. If you want an experience, go Walt Disney World

Disneyland is my "home park," however WDW is the complete package. There are so many experiences to choose from. I enjoyed reading your very thorough trip report. All your trip planning was worth it. The princess video was fun to watch, too.
 
Great trip report! I think it's great that you met all the princesses and recorded videos for your family. What a great idea.

I agree with you on Space Mountain - I love roller coasters but I can't ride that one anymore. I don't want to spend the rest of my vacation with a headache or whiplash! It is very rough.

I hope to someday visit the Disney parks in Asia. I've been to Disneyland Paris and Disneyland in California and they are all so different.

Thanks for your review.
 

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