We got back from our couples trip on Sunday. Here's a quick recap for anyone interested!
Tues 9/13: Arrived at MCO around 7:30 am, took an Uber to Pop, and Skyliner to EPCOT. It was our first time on the Skyliner and it was awesome! Felt like another ride. LOL We arrived at EPCOT by 9:00 am. Headed to Future World and rode Soarin', Spaceship Earth, Living with the Land, and Nemo. Took the Friendship Boat across the lagoon for lunch in Japan (QS). Walked to France and stood in long, hot line for martini slush at F&W booth which was delicious (highly recommend). Didn't care for the creme brûlée (mushy and warm). Did some people-watching and then took the Skyliner back to Pop for a break (tired from early flight). Around 3:30 headed back to EPCOT for 4:25 ADR at Space 220 Lounge. We loved the whole experience and felt lucky to have gotten the ADR. Rode Spaceship Earth again then headed to World Showcase to wander around before Harmonious (also rode Gran Fiesta Tour in Mexico). We found a spot for Harmonious in the large space right where FW meets WS in front of the lagoon. It was filling up fairly quickly and we waited 1.5 hours for the show to start. By the time it started they made everyone stand up to fit more people in, so that part wasn’t great but we loved the show. After the show we went to the Skyliner to wait in the horrendously long line to get back to Pop. It kept temporarily stalling which was frustrating but we finally made it back and hit the sack around 12:30. I think we had been up for almost 22 hours because of our early flight!
Wed 9/14: Purchased
Genie+ at 6:45 am and at 7:00 got LL for Haunted Mansion for 9:15 return time (PPF was already too far out). Arrived by bus to MK by 8:30 and hit early entry. Went right to PPF and had a 30 minute wait, but we were OK with this (DH had never seen the full queue anyway). Rode HM and got next LL for Pirates. When we got to Pirates for our LL the standby time was only 10 minutes, so we rode standby and then got right on again with our LL. LOL Got next LL for Splash. Rode standby on magic carpets to kill some time. Actually killed more time than we wanted because standby time was not posted and it ended up being like a 25 minute wait. Rode Splash. Went to lunch at Casey’s and got a table outside from which we were able to see part of the noon parade. Got a LL for BTMR for 1:00. On the way to BTMR did Swiss Family Treehouse and Country Bear Jamboree. Had never done country bears before and won’t do it again. Very outdated and I think we dozed off a bit. LOL Rode BTMR and got LL for Buzz. Rode Buzz, although it malfunctioned while we were on it, lights came on and we lost our scores, but no biggie. People mover unfortunately too crowded to ride. Did Laugh Floor and got some ice cream and headed back to Pop around 3:00 for a break. Turned out to be perfect timing because rain hit during our break. Got LL for Pooh before heading back to MK around 5:30. Pooh was down for technical reasons which was OK because we got an anytime LL. Did Carousel of Progress, Small World, and then used anytime LL for BTMR (love riding this at night). Headed quickly to Contemporary to see fireworks from the California Grill balcony since we had an ADR there for later. It was cool to see the “bigger picture” of the fireworks from this vantage point, but I don’t think I would do it again. Because of the angle, the fireworks actually appear to be to the right of the castle as opposed to behind it as intended. Our table for CG was ready about 9:35 and we had an awesome table right at the window. Very nice dinner but glad I had Disney reward redemption dollars to pay for it ($$$). Uber back to Pop. Moral of today: definitely recommend Genie+ for MK! I actually enjoyed the process of seeing what ride would pop up each time I checked.
Sorry this is so long. That's only 2 of our 5 days, so I will write more later. Unless I should take this to trip reports instead?