The 10-20-50 Trip Report - the entire trip

[mitchsfan]

Hello Humans,



Welcome to the full trip report for our anniversary trip. We are Jim and Sarah. I am the planner of the group. I listen and take copious notes on what Tim Tracker, Nate, Kyle, Molly, AJ, and JoJo say. The trip is titled 10-20-50. Its our 10th trip, our 20th anniversary and Disney World’s 50th.





Our trip was from Sunday August 14th through Thursday August 18th. We stayed at Pop Century.



Sunday August 14.

Lets Get this Party Started



We left from Philly to Orlando on the first flight with American Airlines. We arrived around 9:15 and were on Sunshine Express roughly 945-1000. I debated between Mears and Sunshine. Sunshine Express really delivered. Pickup was smooth. Maybe a 10 minute wait. There were 3 stops on our bus including Art of Animation but we were the second stop. I was really happy with Sunshine Flyer and will definitely use them again.



I did online check in but when we arrived the room was not ready. I stopped at the front desk and we were able to get a room. Our room was 3247. Not too far from Classic Hall. But distant enough that we weren’t really on top of anyone. We decided to get something to eat. It was the first of only two meals we ate at Classic Hall. Sarah ordered the Grilled Chicken Sandwich. On a scale of 0-10, it was a -10. It was horrible. We probably threw half of it out.



We got our bathing suits on and went to Petals. They didn’t have any blueberry mix so we couldn’t get the Blueberry Lemonade but we got the Long Island Iced Teas. They were good. We were ready to jump in the pool but a storm was coming and they shut down the pool and the deck.



We left for Disney Springs. We wanted to bar hop. We wanted no big sit down dinners. Relax and just go with the flow.



Our son, who just was at Disney for his Senior Trip, raved about Chicken Guy so we started there. We really liked it and was happy to hear that they are opening one in Atlantic City soon. We walked through the Coca Cola store, and then stopped at Jock Lindseys. Sarah got the Cool Headed Monkey and really enjoyed it. I got the Barnstormer. I wasn’t thrilled with it. Met a real nice man from Wales. He is a writer and his book will be made into a movie soon. Forget the guys name but his book is called Sadaam’s Legacy. But it’s not about the Sadaam we all know. Our next stop was Raglan Road. We just sat at the bar and had a Coors and a Yuengling. We really loved the Irish Dancers. Could have sat there for another 3 hours but the long day was catching up to us. After Raglan, we walked over and got our pictures taken at the Photo Pass place. We got some nice pictures and some with a lot of cool backgrounds.

The highlight of the night came when we went to Chef Art’s Homecoming. Sarah got a Margarita Moonshine and we split the deviled eggs. Sarah absolutely loved the deviled eggs. She raved about them the rest of the night. We had been up since 3:30 and we were winding down so we left soon after.

 

[mitchsfan]

Monday August 15. Food Glorious Food



Today was our Epcot Day. Today was centered around the Food and Wine Festival. We took the Skyliner over. What a game changer the Skyliner is!!! Absolutely loved it. I will 100% stay at a Skyliner resort again.


We didn’t rope drop so we were able to hop right on and had the Skyliner to ourselves. As we walked in, we met Daisy and the Queen. When my oldest was 4, we started collecting autographs on a Disney Monopoly board. Each of the characters remarked how cool it was. We then walked over to Canada. Last year when we came down Sarah loved the Filet from Canada. Even though it was ungodly hot, she had the cheddar and bacon soup and the filet for lunch. It was her second favorite meal during F&W. She absolutely loved it. We went and met Donald and then Anna and Elsa. I wanted to facetime my 8-year daughter when we were meeting Anna and Elsa but alas she wasn’t home when we got to the front of the line.




We walked over to do Soarin. On this day, the popcorn cart did NOT have the different flavors of popcorn. I lugged a popcorn bucket around for no apparent reason. We headed over to the Fry Place to get the Fry Flight. Sarah enjoyed that while I got the corned beef nachos. They were so good. I love nachos. These were awesome. We also got the Brussel Sprouts. Sarah liked them but felt they used too much buffalo sauce. Our nephew, his wife, and brother and sister-in-law flew in and were on the way to Epcot so we met them in the Canadian pavilion in the Appleseed Orchard. The Apple Blossom Sky got raved reviews. 5 of us out of 6 had it. It was incredible from what I heard. I got a beer from Clearwater but it was just alright. Every time, I say Apple Blossom all I hear is Michael Scott saying to Tim Meadows, “Who is in the mood for an Awesome Blossom?”



We bounced over to England and 3 of us did a Welsh Dragon. They were tasty.



We walked over to Remys Adventure. It had a posted wait time of 70 minutes and we were 60 minutes in when it broke down. The cast member stressed that she did not know how long it would take to restart but we had the option to stay or leave. We decided to leave the line. We asked for Lightning Lanes for Remy, if it came back on. They agreed and we were on our way. But first we needed to get slushies from France. Sarah thought she got ripped off with the orange slushie. She hated it.



This is where I moved up to #1 husband of the year. We started to walk by Belgium when I told Sarah that she should try the Beer Braised Beef. OMG it was her favorite meal of the day. 2 others got it and loved it too. All she kept saying was “so good!” I walked over to Italy and got a slice of Via Napoli pepperoni pizza. It was alright. Nothing to write home about. Had worst but absolutely had better in my life. We made it over to Spain to get the paella. Everyone who got that seemed to enjoy it. I walked over to Germany and got the pasta gratin thing. Sarah liked it last year but didn’t think it was that great this year. Too many onions. I really like my small portion of the apple strudel. Why was it small? Since she didn’t like the pasta, she ate my apple strudel. We got the pineapple beer but we weren’t thrilled with it. Sarah and the girls got their Viking coffees from Norway. Viking coffee is always a big hit. Remy was up and running. Total downtime was about an hour. We had a 5 minute wait with our only lightning lane of the trip. It was cute. Didn’t blow me away but at the same time it was cute. We were dogged tired by now. We went over and got more fries and watched Harmonious. We went back to Pop and swam for about 40 minutes.

 

[mitchsfan]

Tuesday August 16

US 2 CRAZY GLUE 0



We woke and had breakfast at the resort. It was alright. Again, this was our 10th trip. So the smells and taste are embedded in our heads and mouths. We know what a Mickey waffle will taste like. We know what the bacon and sausage will taste like.



Sarah’s magic band broke last night so I took it to the main desk. They were able to super glue the piece back on. Later in the day, the front desk gave me a single use crazy glue so that my nephew could fix his sunglasses. We hung by the pool for the morning portion. Around 1:30 or so, we got ready and put on our matching Carl and Ellie shirts and headed to MNSSHP





We left the resort around 2:30 and we were there by no later than 3:05 We were the second group at one of the turnstiles. When the rat race, I mean mouse race started, we headed over to the 50th sign first for pictures, then we received our trick or treat bag, and headed to Main Street USA. We wanted pictures in our matching shirts. But we also had Halloween shirts to wear. So we needed to have a costume change sometime early on. We had our pictures in front of the castle and then at the Sleepy Hollow cutout. We had one last stop before we turned our attention to the Halloween portion of the night. We have had pictures with Mickey every time, but I wanted to make sure we got a picture with Mickey dressed for the 50th. It said an hour but maybe 30 minutes tops. The line kept moving. If the line moves, time doesn’t feel that long. We got our pictures and Mickey wanted one more picture. He motioned for us to kiss and him and Minnie kissed.





We wanted to eat and get changed. We went to Caseys. What a disappointment. OMG it was atrocious. How can you screw up a hot dog? They did.



We put our Halloween shirts on and went up closer to the castle and had more PhotoPass pictures done. The one photographer was a recent graduate of the school our son is starting in a few weeks. She lived like 10 minutes from us. Small World…



Sarah’s favorite character has always been Winnie the Pooh so we waited about a good hour + to meet those 4. While in line, I saw Youtuber, JoJo. He was gracious enough to get a picture with me to send to my 13- year- old daughter. She freaked out with a text of NO WAY! After that hour wait, we headed over to Splash. I love Splash. I’m really sad to see it go. Had to get one last ride in and we got soaked. We then headed to Big Thunder. I might be getting old but I am not really a fan of that ride. It’s too bumpy. Two of us saw Genie and Jasmine and the other 4 went to see Jafar. While in line, someone behind us said, “oh look its JoJo and Kyle.” Kyle Pallo is one of my daughter’s crushes. I chased the guys down and they were so gracious and took a picture with me. Her reaction was NOOOO WAYYY…. I’m on a plane I will be there, tell them don’t move.





We hit the Haunted Mansion and then the wheels started coming off just a little bit. Sarah was hungry so we stopped at Frier’s Nook and got some macaroni and cheese. I wanted to get some more of the Halloween photo passes while Sarah wanted to go see the fireworks. I found a nice spot but you couldn’t see the light show on the castle so we left and rode 7 Dwarfs. We headed back to the castle to see the Sanderson Sisters but it abruptly ended after only 5 minutes. I don’t think the sisters even came out. We found a perfect spot for the second parade. The pathway between Liberty Square and Adventureland was the perfect spot. It was right where Liberty Square started. We saw parts of the midnight Sanderson Sisters show and then off to the buses we went for our last day. It was time to fight the Sith or the Rebels.

 

[mitchsfan]

Wednesday August 17

A perfect Hollywood Day.


We woke up early enough to not rope drop but at the same time early enough to beat some of the crowd. We got the obligatory picture in front of the Chinese Theatre and then in front of the Disney Hollywood Studio sign. We proceeded into Launch Bay and met Chewie, Vadar and BB8. We rode Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railroad. I really like this ride. It’s funny that I like this ride but the Remy ride was okay. Both are very similar.


We had lunch at ABC Commissary. That is becoming a hidden gem for our trips. The buffalo chicken grilled cheese is so good. We headed back to Toy Story Land and rode Toy Story Mania. I love that ride. Remember when that ride was like a 6 hour wait? Don’t miss those days. We stopped off and met Olaf. Our 8-year daughter is a big Frozen fan. We facetimed her and Olaf gave me a warm hug to give to her. We hit Star Tours. I have never been the Rebel Spy but still a cool ride and then ate ice cream and did some shopping.


We saved the best for last – Galaxy’s Edge. We stopped off for 3 PhotoPass photographers. First by the entrance near Toy Story Land, then by the First Order ship, and then by the Falcon. Sarah was like, “another photographer?” We got through three in about 30 minutes or so while it took us about 70-90 minutes to meet Winnie the Pooh the day before. I don’t get her math. Rey was out and about. I facetimed my 8 year son when I met her. She invited him to Batuu to train as a Jedi.


We were the fighters on Smugglers Run and then we rose Rise. Each was about an hour wait. I wanted to ask if I could get our picture by the wall where Han and Leia kissed but they just kept moving you through the line. That would be awesome if they made certain famous Star Wars scenes as backgrounds and you can get your picture there.


We had dinner at Docking Bay 7. I had the Ronto Wrap while Sarah had the Chicken Tip Yip. She enjoyed it. We went to Oga’s. I ordered the Bespin Fizz twice. I really enjoyed that. Last year I ordered the SkyHopper and I hated it. So obviously Sarah said, “I want a SkyHopper.” She hated it. She got a Yub Nub. She really enjoyed that one.




We walked to the front and watched the lightshow and called it a night.



Thursday August 18

Sunshine Flyer picked us up at 650 for our 10 am flight.

Back in our friendly confines by about 2 – 2:30



Final Thoughts:


Wait times are very manageable during this trip. Nothing was more than 60 minutes and honestly most were barely 20.

Food and Wine Festival is really good. Very affordable and manageable. We put $150 on a gift card and may have spent $110 by the end of the day. We ate well.

Pop is okay. It’s a Value resort. It did the trick but the food was awful. That sandwich was just bad. They have a refillable soda station at the bar that is 24 hours but it was out of order during the night. But during the day it worked fine.

If you are going to go to a MNSSHP or a MVMCP, have a plan and follow it. Those 2-3 additional hours they give you are game changers.

If you have any questions, please ask away

I love my wife. I love my life. And I wish you my kind of happiness.

Jim

 

[suse66]

Thanks for sharing your trip! Looks like you had a wonderful time!

 

[kmoehall]

Loved reading your trip report, sounds like you guys had a great time!