Happy holidays to all! Hope you are all having a great time with friends and family! It's cold (by California standards) this week, so how about we reminisce about a warmer sunnier time at Disney World!
Day 5 9/24 So much water up the nose on the cannonball one
We really played this day by ear. Originally our rough plan for the day was a morning at Typhoon Lagoon, lunch with John and Josh before they flew home, FPs at EPCOT, and dinner at Monsieur Paul. What ended up happening was an early morning at Hollywood Studios, a morning at Typhoon Lagoon, lunch with John and Josh, an afternoon in the pool, a nap, dinner at Satuli Canteen, and Rivers of Light.
And it ended up being an amazing day! That’s one of my biggest Disney World tips for folks: Be flexible. Obviously make plans and book ADRs for the very popular restaurants and your FPs for the day, but be open to changing your plans as the trip unfolds.
So, the core plan for this day was to check out Typhoon Lagoon and meet John and Josh for lunch before they headed home. At some point pre-trip, I read some amazing reviews of Monsieur Paul’s summer prix fixe menu, and booked us an ADR for this night as we had it open. French isn’t our favorite cuisine and Monsieur Paul wasn’t on our radar, but the price point ($59 for a four course meal?!) and reviews convinced us it was worth trying.
We woke up fully rested a little earlier than we had both expected. I will say that the curtains in our room and the angle at which our room was situated kept it pretty dark in the mornings, which is always a plus in a hotel room in a different time zone. This made it even more baffling that we both woke up decently early. It was 7:30 AM and we were both wide awake. Since Typhoon Lagoon didn’t open until 10 AM, this gave us a small chunk of time to fill. After a little discussion, we decided to pack our water park wear and head over to Hollywood Studios with the intention of riding Tower of Terror and Rock n Roller Coaster. Hollywood Studios was doing EEMH starting at 6 AM during this time, and we joked that we might as well try to make one EEMH during our stay. I went and grabbed us some oatmeal for breakfast as Tory finished getting ready and we hopped on a bus headed for HS!
We were through security at Hollywood Studios by 8:30 AM, giving us half an hour before the park opened to non-hotel guests. We had checked out Galaxy’s Edge in Anaheim a few times over the summer, so it was not on our list for Orlando. We walked directly over to the Hollywood Tower Hotel and saw it had a posted wait time of 15 minutes. The CM at the entrance to the queue said that it would probably be 30 minutes. A little discouraged, but prepared, we hopped in line. I’m not sure where she got her information from as it ended up being right around 15 minutes until we were on our elevator headed to the fourth dimension. Tory and I both love Tower of Terror so much. We miss it dearly out in Anaheim, but are so glad that the superior version has been spared from any cheap Marvel or Pixar overlays! That moment when your elevator starts to move forward into the fourth dimension is so surreal and unnerves me, even though I know its coming. Don’t touch Tower of Terror, Disney! It’s perfect as it is!
We got off laughing with huge grins on our faces! After a quick bathroom break, we entered the queue for RnRC right around 9 AM. There was no mad rush of people making their way over to this end of the park, since everyone was headed over to Batuu! We waited about 10 minutes. Apparently when the waits are short, they don’t run the preshow. It’s just line space, and the show runs constantly. We missed out on saying hi to Steven Tyler, but I guess he was still able to get us some backstage passes. We sat in the back car of our limo and ended up waiting for launch. Our wait time here was a little longer than normal. Long enough that I started to get a little uneasy and nervous. Just as that unnerve started to kick in, Steven Tyler counted us down, and we were off! We laughed at all the LA freeway references, and I tried to make some jokes about getting on the 101 at rush hour all while on a loud rollercoaster in the dark. I’m not sure if Tory heard them or not. (Note: I checked with her and she did not.) When we got off, we both noted that it felt rougher than we remembered on our honeymoon. It left us both a little woozy. It’s by far the most intense ride on property, and I don’t think it will be high on our list on any future trips. And yet again, here we are sounding like we are in our 50s and not our mid-late 20s!
We were back out in front of Hollywood Studios right around 9:30 AM. It turned out to be a great snap decision to come to the park, and made for a great start to the day! We also saw cast member Skyliner testing!
We called a Lyft to take us over to Typhoon Lagoon. Our Lyft driver almost immediately after we sat down started asking us our takes on some recent political events. I tried to answer vaguely and briefly to shut down the topic, but he persisted. He spent the entirety of the 10 minute drive over to Typhoon Lagoon ranting about politics. He also told us that he got a poor rating yesterday from someone who didn’t agree with him politically, but apparently that wasn’t enough to get him to stop. Tory and I got out of his car confused and slightly frustrated. I don’t think he was going to make it as a Lyft driver for long.
However, we very quickly put him and politics out of our mind as we scanned in to Typhoon Lagoon!
Some important background here: I had never been to a waterpark in my life. Just wasn’t something that interested myself or my family as a kid. Tory, on the other hand, went to a small local water park several times as a kid, and also spent a summer in high school working at one! She has plenty of stories about customer service and odd guests from that summer. Plus, she saw how water parks are run and the often disgusting things that kids (and adults) do in them. Suffice to say, I think she would have been content not going to another water park.
It was obviously way too cold for a waterpark on our honeymoon, but once we booked our return trip for September, I got an itch to see Disney water park. I hadn’t heard anything but good things about them, and surely with it being Disney, there would be a higher standard of cleanliness. I wanted to see if I missed out on an important childhood experience. So after much discussion, Tory agreed, and we planned to hit up Typhoon Lagoon.
Like with Flying Fish the night before, I won’t bury the lede. Tory and I were both blown away with Typhoon Lagoon and were shocked at how much we enjoyed ourselves!
We got into the park 15 minutes before opening, so we had enough time to take some selfies with the mascot Lagoona Gator! We found our way into the heart of the park, and were shocked to find so few people there. Blizzard Beach was closed for refurbishment, and it was shaping up to be the hottest day of our trip (91 degrees F), so we were a little nervous that it would be packed with people and unruly kids. When we left at 1 PM, you could tell it was starting to pick up crowd wise, but it was still very quiet. During our time there, we encountered no waits for any slides and had plenty of room to walk around.
I think we had both mentally prepared ourselves for the stereotypical water park with tons of hot cement and giant unthemed staircases. It took a few moments to remember that this is still Disney property. The theming was amazing! The park felt lush and intimate. They did a great job adding plenty of palms and tropical trees to provide tons of shade and really sell the tropical oasis turned upside down by a typhoon thing. Typhoon Tilly is perfectly framed when you first walk in and is a great start to the rich storytelling. As fans all things tropical and tiki, we greatly appreciated the vibe and the soundtrack which was heavy on Jimmy Buffett, Zac Brown Band, and the Beach Boys. How could you go wrong with that?!
We changed into our swimwear and got in the rope drop line, which was just a few people deep. Not knowing exactly what to do first, once the park was opened, we found a bank of chairs near Miss Adventure Falls and the Crush n Gusher that looked quiet and peaceful. We really didn’t know how to go about our day strategy wise, but we realized pretty quickly that the park was our oyster and we could hit up any slide we wanted without waiting. It was really quite empty.
We took some pictures before we put our phones away, and then found the entrance to Miss Adventure Falls. We hopped into our very first raft at the park without a wait and were soon going up the conveyor belt past an animatronic parrot! Leave it to Disney to put animatronics in a water park! By the time we got off and were thoroughly wet, I think Tory was convinced that this wasn’t any generic water park. I was immediately thinking, “That was awesome! Which one is next?!”
It was a very short walk over to the Crush n Gusher, which was definitely our favorite set of slides! The sensation of going up a hill in a water slide being propelled by a ton of water shooting at your back is really unique! We got off and immediately grabbed a raft to head back up again!
We tried two of the three Storm Slides. There was no wait here, either. When we went up the second time, the lifeguard welcomed us back! These were a little painful at first since we felt each seam in the slide where two pieces came together. I will say how amazed I was at how themed even the simple slides were. You would look up and see palms overhead.
Humunga Kowabunga was fun once. It’s a huge rush and then two seconds later, you end up disoriented in a tub of water with tons of water up your nose. Glad to be able to say that we did it, but I think we will skip it next time!
The last couple of slides we tried, Gangplank and Keelhaul Falls, were our least favorite. It seemed to us that they needed more water in them. You were sitting on an inner tube with maybe a half inch of water running beneath you. You really didn’t get wet, you just kind of spun around and hit some concrete walls. It felt really odd compared to the rest of the rides in the park.
Having hit up all the slides in the park, with the park having been open for only an hour, was awesome! Everyone talks about the perks of rope dropping the theme parks, but the advantage at the water parks is even greater!
At this point, Tory and I opted for a change of pace, grabbed some tubes, and hopped in the lazy river. This was so incredible! It felt so lush and relaxing. Parts of it even felt very secluded. We floated, closed our eyes, and soaked up some sun while taking in the music. We drifted apart occasionally, and I had to creatively steer myself towards a wall to then propel off of it to catch up. We laughed and occasionally ran into other floating groups who were all having a great time. This was peak relaxation! I think we stayed in for a lap and a half which was over 20 minutes, just to give you a sense of how large this river is!
We then made it to the wave pool. This was an absolute blast. I’m not a big fan of the open ocean, so to be able to let the waves take you, and ride them out in a much more controlled environment was incredibly fun for me. Tory and I were laughing and smiling so much!
Having seen all the park had to offer in just over an hour and a half was incredible! We wandered back to our chairs to briefly towel off and grab our phones, as we wanted to document more of Typhoon Lagoon. It felt like we had found out about a great secret!
Tory had heard about Typhoon Lagoon having great donuts, so we set out in search of them. We found them at a small kiosk near the entrance. The mini donuts were fresh out of the fryer, warm, and not overly covered in sugar. I think we got a 6-pack, but they were gone in a hurry! I definitely could have eaten a few more!
We ate our donuts as we took a lovely stroll around the grounds, stopping to take some photos along the way. The sky was perfectly blue and the sun was drying us off! We were both so smitten with how cute and detailed the park is!
My biggest issue with the park is that, at times, it is super confusing to navigate. We found ourselves backtracking a couple of times because we had reached a dead end, or we realized that we couldn’t get where we wanted to go because the lazy river was in the way. We eventually realized that the river split the main path in two and that there are only certain places with bridges to cross it. I think we will be much more mentally prepared for next time.
Tory and I could never say that we fully experienced a theme park or water park without having a drink! So we found our way down to Let’s Go Slurpin’ (which has the best name ever) and pulled up some chairs on the side of the bar. The bartender greeted us and said that we looked like we were so happy to be here! (Are most adults not?) We told her we were having a great day so far as we looked at the menu.
Tory got an IPA because she feared the slushy looking drinks would be far too sweet, and I, generally not a frozen margarita fan, was having so much fun that I ordered the Typhoon Tilly because it felt very appropriate.
This was an excellent frozen margarita! You could actually taste the tequila and the blue curacao wasn’t overpowering like it often can be. We took a contented sigh. Good drinks in a Disney-fied tropical oasis! We couldn’t ask for anything more! Tory, who came into this as the bigger skeptic, said that if Blizzard Beach had been open, she would have suggested that we go there tomorrow! If that isn’t a huge statement of support for Disney water parks, I don’t know what is!
If we hadn’t had lunch plans, Tory and I probably would have taken another dip in the lazy river or wave pool. It was quite warm and being in the pool again sounded really tempting!
We toweled off, changed out of our swimsuits, and bid goodbye to Typhoon Lagoon! We will be back one day! You made a great first impression!
We then took a very quick Lyft ride over to Disney Springs. John and Josh had an evening flight back to New York, so we planned to have lunch with them before they headed to the airport. We met them outside of BOATHOUSE about half an hour before our ADR. They were both hungry and so we checked in to see if we could get a table early. They didn’t seem to be too busy and gladly sat us early.
We filled John and Josh in on our morning and gushed about our Typhoon Lagoon experience. They had spent some time in their hotel’s pool before checking out the Boardwalk and Disney Springs.
We wandered upon BOATHOUSE on our first trip and fell in love with the whole vibe. Today we sat in the main dining room with its Northeast, kitschy fish house vibe. Our server brought out some parker house rolls which we had missed out on last time. They were amazing! Warm, buttery, pillowy bread? What’s not to love? At this point, Tory and I were still planning on dinner at Monsieur Paul, and so we opted to split the Gibson Award Winning Burger. This is a hefty burger and is perfectly greasy, fatty, and cheesy! We laughed with John and Josh, while enjoying some good food and some much needed AC!
After another successful BOATHOUSE experience, John and Josh still had an hour or so before they needed to head out.
They mentioned that they wanted one last drink on property, so we wandered around Disney Springs and saw so many different restaurants with signs advertising their Happy Hour offerings. It was nearly a crippling amount of options. I believe Tory finally made the executive decision to opt for Jaleo, as she was allured by the idea of a glass of authentic sangria. We found the restaurant quite dead and grabbed seats at the bar. Tory and I disagreed on the decor of Jaleo. I found it a tad over-the-top and not matching what I know is a pricey meal. Tory thought it worked and felt appropriate for a tapas-style meal, but she understood how, compared to Toledo, the decor falls a bit short.
We will have to come back another time to fully judge Jaleo, as this was Happy Hour and we were just there for some $6 sangria! It was excellent!
Sangria can often be too sweet and syrupy for our tastes, but the one at Jaleo still tasted like wine and had some fruitiness as well. It was also deceptively strong! The bartender was very friendly and explained to us a little about how it is made daily on site. Tory had also heard nothing but good things about the paella, so, even though we had just had lunch, she ordered the Happy Hour paella (which was only $10). We all got to have a couple of bites. The paella of the day was chicken and mushroom which I don’t typically think of as paella. Having heard so much about Jose Andres and his Spanish cuisine, I was also very curious. I think we all ended up a little disappointed. The paella was good, but not great and it certainly did not live up to the hype that surrounds it online. The rice was well cooked and it was richly seasoned, but just didn’t come together for me. It confirmed for us the decision we made to opt for Toledo a few nights previously. Definitely glad we got to try the paella though to judge for ourselves!
At this point, we parted from John and Josh for the last time on the trip. It was great to have them with us for part of the trip. They are amazing friends and combining that with Disney magic made for an outstanding long weekend with them in the parks! We agreed that it’s now our turn to visit them in New York!
Iit was around 3:30 PM. Tory and I agreed that we were going to take it easy until dinner at Monsieur Paul at 8:15 PM. We weren't going to rush to try and use our EPCOT FPs before dinner. That would have been pushing ourselves too much. We walked around Disney Springs and made a purchase at the Raglan gift shop. Tory’s cousin is having his first child and is very proud of his Irish heritage, so some Irish-themed baby socks and bibs seemed like the perfect baby gift!
We then walked by Polite Pig and we remembered hearing about the Gideon’s cookie that they serve. Again, the internet hype was strong enough to get us to go in and ask if they had any. They did and we made a quick purchase.
This was hugely disappointing. FIrst, no one mentions that it is a $9 chocolate chip cookie, which is a little absurd to begin with, but I’m always open to paying for quality. However, quality it was not. Because of the quantity of chocolate chips, it really wasn’t much of a cookie. It was a bunch of chocolate chips bound together by an attempt at a cookie. The cookie seemed incredibly underbaked. It was practically cookie dough in the middle, which also had an odd flavor. We ended up getting through a few bites before we put it back in its bag. We ended up trying it again later that night to see if we were just full and not in a cookie mood, but it still wasn’t good then. Not sure what all the hype is about or if we just got a severely underbaked one. It is large though, so there’s that.
We then hopped on a bus back to Coronado Springs, with over three hours until dinner. It was still really warm, and after a quick blast of AC in our room, the thought of getting back in a pool sounded really good. We applied some more sunscreen and headed over to the Lost City of Cibola pool at our resort. The Mayan temple immediately catches your attention and the water flowing down the temple steps is a really neat touch. It was quite busy at the pool, as it was still very warm! We hopped in for a relaxing dip. The water felt really nice! It was definitely a heated pool. I debated with myself about whether or not I should go down the slide, eventually deciding against awkwardly standing in line with a bunch of kids. Tory and I had a nice time just chatting and relaxing. It was the right call to skip out on using our EPCOT FPs! We eventually got out and headed back to our room. We laid down for a nap to try and be fresh for dinner. However, when our alarm went off, neither of us felt refreshed. Instead the totality of being in the sun all day, plus the last couple days of heavy eating, made us feel really sluggish.
We started sluggishly getting ready for dinner, but soon realized that heavy French Food was definitely not what our bodies needed at that point. So, we cancelled our Monseuir Paul ADR. After resting a little longer, we decided that we still wanted to go out for a bit this evening instead of spending it completely in the hotel room. We brainstormed and ended up with the following plan. It was a little before 7 PM, so we planned to head to Animal Kingdom, where we could get some healthier options from Satuli Canteen, see RIvers of Light, and be back in our bed by 9! To quote Rocket Raccoon, “It’s a foolproof plan!”
And we executed that plan! The bus took a little longer than expected, so we had to take our Satuli Canteen bowl to go. I was able to grab FPs for Rivers of Light, but apparently you have to show up at least 15 minutes before showtime to use them. The CM assured us there was plenty of room in the standby section. We entered the amphitheater and were led towards some open seats near the top of a section in the middle. For a last minute plan, the seats were excellent! As we waited for the show to start, we ate our salad with crispy tofu and charred green onion dressing. It certainly hit the spot! Tory joken that we just needed some veggies!
We went into Rivers of Light with fairly low expectations. It doesn’t have the buzz around it in the fan community that the rest of the nighttime spectaculars do. However, Animal Kingdom is far and away our favorite park and we were a little sad that we didn’t get the chance to see it on our honeymoon, so it worked out that we snuck it in here.
Both Tory and I were impressed by the show. It certainly is more subdued than the rest of the nighttime shows and is the second most thought-provoking (Illuminations still has it beat there). However, it felt perfectly fitting within Animal Kingdom as a great ode to nature. There were times where it felt really disjointed. Scenes didn’t seem to flow together, and there were several instances of beautiful fountain and projection work that were interrupted to force Disney characters into the show. There was a point where I had thought that we had hit the finale of the show, but it went on for another five minutes and ended in a less spectacular way. Odd choices were clearly made. Still though, the floats and lotuses were awesome, and the show felt quite intimate, despite the large amphitheater. I think it could use a little work, but overall Rivers of Light was good. We won’t be rushing back to see it, but if we were in Animal Kingdom until park close, I think we would certainly stay to watch it.
Tory and I discussed all of this while on our short bus ride back to Coronado Springs. We were both still hungry, despite the sluggishness, as we had prepped for a big meal tonight and instead shared a Satuli bowl. So, we got off at the first Coronado stop and headed over to El Mercado which was still open. We grabbed a premade salad and a hummus and veggie pack to take back to the room. Once there, we got in our PJs, ate some healthy snacks, and watched some TV before going to bed relatively early. Certainly, not the evening we had planned, but still very enjoyable. Most importantly, it was just what we needed to be able to keep going for our last two days!
Oops!
