I thought I would write a brief trip report for our June 21-25 trip. Cast of characters is me, DD (16), six nieces (all in their 20s), and my one-year-old great niece, so nine of us total. We stayed off site in a three bedroom at Wyndham Bonnet Creek, and had two days in the park – one MK and one Epcot. Planned some ADRs months in advance, but did not get fastpasses until the week before our trip, which is when everyone had finally linked their tickets in MDE. It was a short trip, but I was okay with that because I am going back with DH in a few weeks for a longer trip, just the two of us.
June 21: Travel and Check in Day. DD and I flew to Orlando, made a quick grocery stop, and got to the resort at about 3:45 (check in is at 4). Our room was ready, and the timeshare pitch was mercifully brief. We had three cars, so got three parking passes without a problem. (The woman says she usually charges $10 for each pass after the first one, but she didn’t charge us anything).
The condo and resort are both really nice. The 3BR is a little tight for 8 adults (counting DD as an adult for these purposes) and a baby. But overall it was just fine for what we needed --- it was nice having a kitchen and living area to hang out with and talk, etc. The resort itself is also beautiful and close to everything. And we didn’t have a problem having only two bathrooms --- made it work without any significant issues. The price was definitely right – 300/night (or two rooms at Pop, which I think would have caused us to kill each other).
Shortly after we checked in, everyone else arrived and we just hung out until dinner time. We ate offsite that night, and all tried to get to bed early because we had an early morning the next day (our MK day).
June 22: MK. Got everyone up early and out the door by about 6:45 for our PPO breakfast at BOG. Two of us also needed to stop at Guest Services to activate tickets, which I didn’t learn until that morning. On the way to the MK, one of the cars got lost (veered right after the parking pay booth toward the resorts, rather than left toward the parking lot), so they drove around in circles for awhile. Even with all of that, we managed to get everyone through the front gate just before 8. We all walked to BOG (after a quick picture in front of the castle). I had pre-ordered, so was able to pay quickly and we got seated in the West Wing. Our food came fairly quickly and everyone was happy with what they ordered. Among us, we had Gaston’s Feast, the veggie quiche, the egg whites, the meat and cheese plate (for me, since I’m allergic to eggs), the kids oatmeal, and the kids crepes. We also got a bonus Masters’ Cupcake, which I hadn’t ordered. This was nice for my niece who is a Beauty and the Beast fan --- she was very excited to try the gray stuff.
After we got done at BOG, most of us headed to 7DMT, and we were able to ride once before the park opened. We then went straight to Peter Pan, and ran in to a bit of a roadblock. I think it took us about 40 minutes to get on and off, even though we got there very close to 9. We then headed to Little Mermaid, which was a walk on, and then Small World, which was also a walk on. After Small World, we went to retrieve the stroller so we could head to Haunted Mansion and then our 11:20 Jungle Cruise FP and …. It was gone. It’s a very distinctive stroller, and it was definitely not anywhere in the stroller parking area where we had left it. We found a CM working in that area, and she helped us look for a bit. She then contacted security, who came over and helped to look as well. Finally, they took our number, and gave us a free Disney rental stroller and an anytime fastpass. By the time we got the Disney stroller, we had lost a lot of time, and the wait time for HM had doubled to about 40 minutes. Since it is DD’s favorite ride, we used the anytime FP for it, rather than risk missing it.
Just as we were boarding HM, security called to say they’d found the stroller at Ariel’s Grotto. We said we’d be by to pick it up once we got off the ride. When we got done with HM, two of my nieces took the baby to get the stroller while the rest of us went to do Jungle Cruise. They hiked over to Ariel’s Grotto and … no stroller. After speaking to two different security managers (and getting two more anytime fastpasses for our entire group), security finally found the stroller and returned it to them. By then, the baby was hot and really needed a break, so they headed to the Baby Center.
It was around 12:45 by this point, and everyone was hot and frustrated. I decided on a whim to see if we could get a table at the Plaza restaurant. We went there, and they said they could take our party of 9 within 30 minutes. We waited at the outdoor shaded tables nearby, and in about 15 minutes they called us inside. I was really surprised it was so easy to get in. There were a fair number of empty tables for smaller groups, as well. My niece worked her way back from the Baby Center and we all had a nice lunch in the air conditioning, which made everyone feel better. While we were at lunch, we also learned that Big Thunder was down, so our 1:40 FP reservation was transformed to a FP we could use any time for any FP attraction in MK.
From there we headed to Tomorrowland, where we rode Buzz using one of our additional anytime FPs. We then did Carousel of Progress. We were going to ride the Peoplemover, but it had a line – I don’t think I have ever seen a line for the Peoplemover before. We then headed to Fantasyland to ride Pooh with our last group FP from the stroller fiasco, but Pooh was down also. (Pirates was also down much of the day, so we never got to that either). We decided to go and use our FP for Big Thunder, and, once we’d done that, worked our way back to Fantasyland, where we did Philharmagic. After that, I went to look for the stroller, and found 2 identical ones – one with a balloon, and one with a bag in it. Neither one was ours! But I finally did find ours in a slightly different location from where we had parked it, and we were on our way again to ride Pooh, and then to ride Peter Pan again on a FP.
By the time we got done with that, it was 5:30 and everyone was pretty worn out, so we decided to call it a day and headed back to the condo. I had walked about 7.5 miles that day. We ate dinner that night offsite again, at Sweet Tomatoes, which is one of our favorite places.
June 23. This was our rest/pool/shopping day. We slept in until about 9:30, and then we got Starbucks and some bagels and brought them back for breakfast. About half of us then got ready to go to Disney Springs, with the other half deciding to stay behind and hang out in the lazy river. I went shopping. We spent a few hours at Disney Springs, mostly looking in World of Disney and wandering around a few other stores. We had lunch at Wolfgang Puck’s, which was terrific, and got some dessert at Candy Cauldron, which was just okay. In the afternoon we rested, and ended up getting pizza for dinner.
June 24: Epcot. On this (our last full day) we had an 8 a.m. PPO breakfast at Garden Grill. We left the condo at about 7:20, and got to Epcot and were through security by 7:45. They held everyone at the gate until just before 8, and then let us in. We wandered over to GG, and waited a couple of minutes while they got our table ready. Once we were seated, they took our drink orders and then began bringing the food right away. Cinnamon roll and fruit came first, followed by a skillet with eggs, tater tots, sausage, bacon, and Mickey waffles. There was plenty of food and plenty of variety for everyone. The characters also came by, and were focused on the baby, who was scared of them (they made her cry). We finally had to tell them not to go over near her. Pluto was the best of the characters, and he spent some time with each of us and we got some good pictures.
At about 8:50 we finished eating and headed downstairs for Soarin. While most of us rode that, my niece rode Living with the Land with the baby. She was done before we did, and we all headed out at about 9:15 or so to go to Frozen. We got there and got in line just before 9:30, and were done by about 10 (I’d say it was about a 20-25 minute wait). It was okay, but I didn’t think it was that great. Obviously a matter of opinion, though. After that, our plan was to head to Imagination, and then work our way back through FP for Living with the Land and Soarin, and then do the Nemo ride. Unfortunately the baby was in the front row on Frozen, and got soaked, so my niece took her to the Baby Center to change her. We waited for her, and then all headed to the Imagination ride. After that, we headed back to the Land. We did that and Soarin using our FP, and then headed over to Nemo after a quick snack at Sunshine Seasons (it was about 11:45 by that point). We did the Nemo ride and checked out the Seas pavilion, and by the time we were done we were in to our 12:40 FP window for Spaceship Earth.
Once we did that, we decided to head to Mexico. Some of us were hungry, so we got some food there. We then rode the Mexico ride, and then ended up splitting up to explore World Showcase. It did not seem very crowded to me. Even at about 3:15, I took a photo to send to DH because it looked so empty. We wandered around World Showcase in pairs, each doing our own thing for a couple of hours.
We had a 5:30 ADR for Biergarten. Check in was relatively smooth, and we were seated fairly quickly. One thing to know – your entire party has to be there to be seated. My niece was waiting with the baby to see Snow White around the corner, and they would not seat us until we were all present. We all enjoyed the atmosphere, the food, and the show.
Once we were done with dinner, one group wanted to go back to the pool and swim, and two of my nieces, and the baby, were really tired. DD and I stayed to finish up some shopping, and so that I could ride Soarin one more time. This used to be DD’s favorite ride at Epcot, but she does not like the new version – in fact, she only rode it once and wouldn’t use her FP to ride it a second time. I liked it fine, so I am not sure why she had such a negative reaction to it. In any case, we finished our shopping, I rode Soarin one last time, and we headed out about 8:30. I walked 9.3 miles this day.
June 25: This was our departure morning. Two of my nieces had a 5 a.m. flight (!) so they got an Uber to pick them up and take them to the airport. The rest of us had an ADR for breakfast at Boma, which is one of my favorite breakfasts on property. We were seated right away, and the food was great as always. After breakfast, the rest of my nieces left (they were all driving to various parts of Florida), and DD and I went to the Character Warehouse to do a little more shopping before our flight. We then went to the airport, turned in the car, and boarded our on-time flight home.
Overall, this was a great trip. For a group of this size, the PPO breakfasts were definitely worth it, especially because we were relatively late getting fastpasses. Overall, the crowds seemed pretty low, especially at Epcot; I was shocked that I could get a FP for Soarin that evening; I booked it at about 6:30, and it was for 7:05. I was also really surprised that the line for FEA was still relatively short at 9:30. MK was a little rough – it was fairly crowded, and the stroller fiasco ate up a lot of time. Still, I felt as though the CMs we dealt with did their best to fix the problem, and at least the first part of it wasn’t Disney’s fault – I’m sure someone just took our stroller by mistake. It’s obviously harder to get stuff done with 9 people than it is with 2, so I suspect DH and I will get more rides in later this summer. But I’d do it all again in a heartbeat; it was terrific to spend time together on a girls only trip!
June 21: Travel and Check in Day. DD and I flew to Orlando, made a quick grocery stop, and got to the resort at about 3:45 (check in is at 4). Our room was ready, and the timeshare pitch was mercifully brief. We had three cars, so got three parking passes without a problem. (The woman says she usually charges $10 for each pass after the first one, but she didn’t charge us anything).
The condo and resort are both really nice. The 3BR is a little tight for 8 adults (counting DD as an adult for these purposes) and a baby. But overall it was just fine for what we needed --- it was nice having a kitchen and living area to hang out with and talk, etc. The resort itself is also beautiful and close to everything. And we didn’t have a problem having only two bathrooms --- made it work without any significant issues. The price was definitely right – 300/night (or two rooms at Pop, which I think would have caused us to kill each other).
Shortly after we checked in, everyone else arrived and we just hung out until dinner time. We ate offsite that night, and all tried to get to bed early because we had an early morning the next day (our MK day).
June 22: MK. Got everyone up early and out the door by about 6:45 for our PPO breakfast at BOG. Two of us also needed to stop at Guest Services to activate tickets, which I didn’t learn until that morning. On the way to the MK, one of the cars got lost (veered right after the parking pay booth toward the resorts, rather than left toward the parking lot), so they drove around in circles for awhile. Even with all of that, we managed to get everyone through the front gate just before 8. We all walked to BOG (after a quick picture in front of the castle). I had pre-ordered, so was able to pay quickly and we got seated in the West Wing. Our food came fairly quickly and everyone was happy with what they ordered. Among us, we had Gaston’s Feast, the veggie quiche, the egg whites, the meat and cheese plate (for me, since I’m allergic to eggs), the kids oatmeal, and the kids crepes. We also got a bonus Masters’ Cupcake, which I hadn’t ordered. This was nice for my niece who is a Beauty and the Beast fan --- she was very excited to try the gray stuff.
After we got done at BOG, most of us headed to 7DMT, and we were able to ride once before the park opened. We then went straight to Peter Pan, and ran in to a bit of a roadblock. I think it took us about 40 minutes to get on and off, even though we got there very close to 9. We then headed to Little Mermaid, which was a walk on, and then Small World, which was also a walk on. After Small World, we went to retrieve the stroller so we could head to Haunted Mansion and then our 11:20 Jungle Cruise FP and …. It was gone. It’s a very distinctive stroller, and it was definitely not anywhere in the stroller parking area where we had left it. We found a CM working in that area, and she helped us look for a bit. She then contacted security, who came over and helped to look as well. Finally, they took our number, and gave us a free Disney rental stroller and an anytime fastpass. By the time we got the Disney stroller, we had lost a lot of time, and the wait time for HM had doubled to about 40 minutes. Since it is DD’s favorite ride, we used the anytime FP for it, rather than risk missing it.
Just as we were boarding HM, security called to say they’d found the stroller at Ariel’s Grotto. We said we’d be by to pick it up once we got off the ride. When we got done with HM, two of my nieces took the baby to get the stroller while the rest of us went to do Jungle Cruise. They hiked over to Ariel’s Grotto and … no stroller. After speaking to two different security managers (and getting two more anytime fastpasses for our entire group), security finally found the stroller and returned it to them. By then, the baby was hot and really needed a break, so they headed to the Baby Center.
It was around 12:45 by this point, and everyone was hot and frustrated. I decided on a whim to see if we could get a table at the Plaza restaurant. We went there, and they said they could take our party of 9 within 30 minutes. We waited at the outdoor shaded tables nearby, and in about 15 minutes they called us inside. I was really surprised it was so easy to get in. There were a fair number of empty tables for smaller groups, as well. My niece worked her way back from the Baby Center and we all had a nice lunch in the air conditioning, which made everyone feel better. While we were at lunch, we also learned that Big Thunder was down, so our 1:40 FP reservation was transformed to a FP we could use any time for any FP attraction in MK.
From there we headed to Tomorrowland, where we rode Buzz using one of our additional anytime FPs. We then did Carousel of Progress. We were going to ride the Peoplemover, but it had a line – I don’t think I have ever seen a line for the Peoplemover before. We then headed to Fantasyland to ride Pooh with our last group FP from the stroller fiasco, but Pooh was down also. (Pirates was also down much of the day, so we never got to that either). We decided to go and use our FP for Big Thunder, and, once we’d done that, worked our way back to Fantasyland, where we did Philharmagic. After that, I went to look for the stroller, and found 2 identical ones – one with a balloon, and one with a bag in it. Neither one was ours! But I finally did find ours in a slightly different location from where we had parked it, and we were on our way again to ride Pooh, and then to ride Peter Pan again on a FP.
By the time we got done with that, it was 5:30 and everyone was pretty worn out, so we decided to call it a day and headed back to the condo. I had walked about 7.5 miles that day. We ate dinner that night offsite again, at Sweet Tomatoes, which is one of our favorite places.
June 23. This was our rest/pool/shopping day. We slept in until about 9:30, and then we got Starbucks and some bagels and brought them back for breakfast. About half of us then got ready to go to Disney Springs, with the other half deciding to stay behind and hang out in the lazy river. I went shopping. We spent a few hours at Disney Springs, mostly looking in World of Disney and wandering around a few other stores. We had lunch at Wolfgang Puck’s, which was terrific, and got some dessert at Candy Cauldron, which was just okay. In the afternoon we rested, and ended up getting pizza for dinner.
June 24: Epcot. On this (our last full day) we had an 8 a.m. PPO breakfast at Garden Grill. We left the condo at about 7:20, and got to Epcot and were through security by 7:45. They held everyone at the gate until just before 8, and then let us in. We wandered over to GG, and waited a couple of minutes while they got our table ready. Once we were seated, they took our drink orders and then began bringing the food right away. Cinnamon roll and fruit came first, followed by a skillet with eggs, tater tots, sausage, bacon, and Mickey waffles. There was plenty of food and plenty of variety for everyone. The characters also came by, and were focused on the baby, who was scared of them (they made her cry). We finally had to tell them not to go over near her. Pluto was the best of the characters, and he spent some time with each of us and we got some good pictures.
At about 8:50 we finished eating and headed downstairs for Soarin. While most of us rode that, my niece rode Living with the Land with the baby. She was done before we did, and we all headed out at about 9:15 or so to go to Frozen. We got there and got in line just before 9:30, and were done by about 10 (I’d say it was about a 20-25 minute wait). It was okay, but I didn’t think it was that great. Obviously a matter of opinion, though. After that, our plan was to head to Imagination, and then work our way back through FP for Living with the Land and Soarin, and then do the Nemo ride. Unfortunately the baby was in the front row on Frozen, and got soaked, so my niece took her to the Baby Center to change her. We waited for her, and then all headed to the Imagination ride. After that, we headed back to the Land. We did that and Soarin using our FP, and then headed over to Nemo after a quick snack at Sunshine Seasons (it was about 11:45 by that point). We did the Nemo ride and checked out the Seas pavilion, and by the time we were done we were in to our 12:40 FP window for Spaceship Earth.
Once we did that, we decided to head to Mexico. Some of us were hungry, so we got some food there. We then rode the Mexico ride, and then ended up splitting up to explore World Showcase. It did not seem very crowded to me. Even at about 3:15, I took a photo to send to DH because it looked so empty. We wandered around World Showcase in pairs, each doing our own thing for a couple of hours.
We had a 5:30 ADR for Biergarten. Check in was relatively smooth, and we were seated fairly quickly. One thing to know – your entire party has to be there to be seated. My niece was waiting with the baby to see Snow White around the corner, and they would not seat us until we were all present. We all enjoyed the atmosphere, the food, and the show.
Once we were done with dinner, one group wanted to go back to the pool and swim, and two of my nieces, and the baby, were really tired. DD and I stayed to finish up some shopping, and so that I could ride Soarin one more time. This used to be DD’s favorite ride at Epcot, but she does not like the new version – in fact, she only rode it once and wouldn’t use her FP to ride it a second time. I liked it fine, so I am not sure why she had such a negative reaction to it. In any case, we finished our shopping, I rode Soarin one last time, and we headed out about 8:30. I walked 9.3 miles this day.
June 25: This was our departure morning. Two of my nieces had a 5 a.m. flight (!) so they got an Uber to pick them up and take them to the airport. The rest of us had an ADR for breakfast at Boma, which is one of my favorite breakfasts on property. We were seated right away, and the food was great as always. After breakfast, the rest of my nieces left (they were all driving to various parts of Florida), and DD and I went to the Character Warehouse to do a little more shopping before our flight. We then went to the airport, turned in the car, and boarded our on-time flight home.
Overall, this was a great trip. For a group of this size, the PPO breakfasts were definitely worth it, especially because we were relatively late getting fastpasses. Overall, the crowds seemed pretty low, especially at Epcot; I was shocked that I could get a FP for Soarin that evening; I booked it at about 6:30, and it was for 7:05. I was also really surprised that the line for FEA was still relatively short at 9:30. MK was a little rough – it was fairly crowded, and the stroller fiasco ate up a lot of time. Still, I felt as though the CMs we dealt with did their best to fix the problem, and at least the first part of it wasn’t Disney’s fault – I’m sure someone just took our stroller by mistake. It’s obviously harder to get stuff done with 9 people than it is with 2, so I suspect DH and I will get more rides in later this summer. But I’d do it all again in a heartbeat; it was terrific to spend time together on a girls only trip!
