As a huge lover of Fantasmic myself, I was so happy that it reopened when it did! It had been far too longFinally, it was time for Fantasmic! We were all really excited that this had reopened before our trip so we could experience it again, and we were looking forward to the new scenes!
I can understand that... as much as I love that ride, it is just so hard to plan ways to ride it without investing a lot of time or just spending the money. I think we might buy ILL, but I'm going to struggle just to get our family moving for early entry anyway without having to factor in the even earlier time to make it there for Rise!After riding, we decided we didn’t need to make that extra effort to get on it another time and we were satisfied with just the one ride.
I've been stressing about our DHS day more than anything, for our trip. We're taking our rest day the day prior to DHS so that we can hopefully be ready to hit it hard. The best part is that after we scheduled everything and booked ADR's, etc, they announced that Woody's Roundup BBQ officially opens the day we're in DHS so now I get to worry about whether that will make things even more difficult.And it meant that we were under a lot less pressure to get on as many attractions on our full DHS day, which was a great relief because it had honestly been stressing me out and I was sure we just wouldn’t be able to do everything we wanted to do.
I'm glad that you enjoyed the new changes to the show. It really is a hard one to make it to with all the time it sucks up.The new additions to the show were really fantastic! Fantasmic has not always been a favorite for me, mostly because it takes SO much time since you have to get in there early if you want a good view, then the show is on the longer side, then the slow shuffle out of the amphitheater. But as long as we go in with a good plan and we aren’t missing out on doing other stuff, I don’t mind putting the time into it. So it has sort of been bumped up the list of nighttime entertainment we like to do, especially because the kids enjoy it so much.
It really is hard to maximize the time without running everyone ragged!DH and I re-evaluated our plan for the next day, because we wanted to rope drop MK in the morning, and Epcot had the deluxe evening hours, so we knew we would need to plan on taking a break away from the parks the next day if we wanted to be able to make it late into the night!
Thanks so much, you are too sweet!Such a great report! Your kids are amazing!
It was a really busy but really fun first day!You really had a great day! Love your pictures- you caught some great shots! Thanks for sharing.
Fantasmic has definitely grown on me over the years. We really enjoyed it this time around, and were glad it had returned before our trip!We Love Fantasmic!
Classic story of good vs evil and good winning.
You really did have a long day. I hope you got a break the next day.
We were really happy it reopened before our trip too. The kids were really looking forward to seeing it!As a huge lover of Fantasmic myself, I was so happy that it reopened when it did! It had been far too long
It was a perfect first day! We had worried so much about not being able to accomplish everything we wanted to do, but we got off to a strong start which made us a little more confident for the rest of the week.Sounds like a near perfect Disney day! Fantasmic is a time commitment but at least you're off you feet for a while. After such a long day, wonder if you made rope drop?
At the time that we spent the money, we were kind of regretting it and wishing we had just waited and done it before rope drop on our DHS day. But that day, it ended up being down for most of the morning, so had we gone with that plan, we probably would have missed riding it altogether, so in hindsight, paying for the LL was the best choice! It's just so hard to part with that much money for one ride.I can understand that... as much as I love that ride, it is just so hard to plan ways to ride it without investing a lot of time or just spending the money. I think we might buy ILL, but I'm going to struggle just to get our family moving for early entry anyway without having to factor in the even earlier time to make it there for Rise!
DHS is STRESSFUL!!! The strategy videos on Touring Plans were very helpful in coming up with our plan. Getting the bonus G was definitely helpful, it's worth it in that park.I've been stressing about our DHS day more than anything, for our trip. We're taking our rest day the day prior to DHS so that we can hopefully be ready to hit it hard. The best part is that after we scheduled everything and booked ADR's, etc, they announced that Woody's Roundup BBQ officially opens the day we're in DHS so now I get to worry about whether that will make things even more difficult.
Facts. We couldn't have kept the pace we did if our kids were younger!It really is hard to maximize the time without running everyone ragged!
No, I did briefly consider trying to get an ADR for it, but we didn't. I was more concerned about the crowd level creeping up that day. Obviously due to the many Disney Influencers. Hopefully they decide to just check out the shiny new restaurant and get the heck out of there.Are you doing Woody's Roundup, or just worried about the impact it will have on crowds since it's the opening day? I can definitely see that being an issue with bringing in a lot of bloggers & vloggers for opening day! Hopefully they will just be there to focus on the restaurant and not clogging up ride lines!
I can relate... DW and I were able to go over New Years weekend for a quick weekend trip. Which was nice to help strategize for our family trip, but it was also the first time we'd been since 2019. It really was an incredible feeling to be back!I had goosebumps as we walked in for the first time in 3 years!
This!!! I think I walked by Oga's Cantina 3 times trying to find it. And then later on I was told by Kylo Renn to get out of his way while I was looking at a map trying to find the restrooms.and Galaxy’s Edge, FORGET IT. I still don’t know my way around in there!
That sounds about right!Next, we went over to do Dumbo. As we were talking about who would ride with who, we decided to let the kids ride together in the elephant behind us so we could get photos of them together. They spent the whole time yelling at each other about why their elephant wouldn’t go up and down! Lol
Can't turn down a 5 minute wait on BTMRR. Gotta be nice that the kids are old enough to be up for that quick cross park walk.By that time, the rest of the park had opened, and we saw on the app that Big Thunder Mountain only had a 5 minute wait. It was one of the kids’ favorites last trip, so we decided it was worth crossing the park to do that one before breakfast.
Back to back rides??? Even better!!!We still had time before breakfast, and the wait was still 5 minutes, so we walked right back on again! This time, the kids wanted to ride together.
Cool! Good thing he had a chance to do that before they started cracking down on phones being out on the rides.If you need a little bit of Big Thunder Mountain in your day right about now, DS posted this ride through on his YouTube channel
For awhile I didn't miss it too much because of all the restrictions & changes, but once things started getting more back to normal, I was ready to be back and it hit me how long it had been since we had been there!I can relate... DW and I were able to go over New Years weekend for a quick weekend trip. Which was nice to help strategize for our family trip, but it was also the first time we'd been since 2019. It really was an incredible feeling to be back!
It's so needlessly confusing back there. I still couldn't tell you where anything is!This!!! I think I walked by Oga's Cantina 3 times trying to find it. And then later on I was told by Kylo Renn to get out of his way while I was looking at a map trying to find the restrooms.
Can't turn down a 5 minute wait on BTMRR. Gotta be nice that the kids are old enough to be up for that quick cross park walk.
Yes! The only thing better than a 5 min wait, is back to back rides with a 5 min wait!Back to back rides??? Even better!!!
He had his GoPro strapped on his wrist to film this one. He is braver than me on rides with his phone out, but I don't think even DH would have attempted to record this one on his phone!Cool! Good thing he had a chance to do that before they started cracking down on phones being out on the rides.
Yes, splitting up kept us all sane! I think DH and I would have gone crazy waiting on everyone else, and they would have gone crazy trying to keep up with us. It was nice to split up and meet up for meals and small pockets of time to ride stuff together.You all look so happy to be back in MK! Smiles all around. Nice you and your family could enjoy the early park touring your way then meet up with the others. I've found park time is hard with a bigger group - splitting up at times is key to a good time! Love the food at CP - croissant club You really made the most of your day and the weather looks perfect. How nice to just walk back to your hotel!
Haha they make up such crazy "clubs"! Croissant Club was definitely a highlight one.Your Pooh & friends breakfast looked delicious and who wouldn't want to be a member of the croissant club?! Love the DCL hat your ds is wearing.
Welcome back!I must have read your trip reports before because your family looks familiar! I am loving this one. The photos are fantastic and I DID need to feel a little Thunder Mountain so thanks for sharing the ride video! I have never had breakfast at Crystal Palace but that french toast looked divine. We did dinner there years ago and loved seeing the characters. My girls are too old for that now (to justify the cost) so I wonder if they have that french toast somewhere else?
So later on in the week, we spent a TON of time at Epcot and walked to Beach Club for a meal. My kids are now asking to stay in the Boardwalk area to be able to walk to Epcot next time!Your room views were perfect, I am glad that worked out for you. We have never stayed within walking distance of MK but we LOVE the Boardwalk for this reason. You just cannot beat that flexibility!
ENJOY! We were listening to a podcast the other day, and they asked the guest "Disney World or Disney cruise?" So I posed the question to my kids, and DS said, "Universal!"We are headed to Universal soon so I need to find your old reports from there!
It's a great name!Finally, we have a dog named Waffles so that made me giggle!
That really was an incredible morning!It was 8:30 am by then, and we had already been able to do 5 rides!
Gotta dunk on your friends once in a while. Not only is he eating croissants, he's eating Disney croissants!My sister made the joke, “Shouldn’t you send your friends in The Croissant Club pictures of your croissants?” And DS said, “That’s a GREAT idea!!”
Heck, you never know how they're going to act with characters sometimes even when they're older than that and have done it before.I know Nanny was disappointed, but you just never know how toddlers are going to do with characters until you try it.
Probably a good call. And a lot of money saved!We also had a quick discussion about the Chef Mickey’s reservation we had for breakfast the next morning. I had made it for the whole group, but from the beginning we were pretty confident that the 4 of us were not going to go. My sister though really wanted to take DN to see all of the Fab 5 there. However, after seeing how he had reacted to the Winnie the Pooh characters, I asked her if she still wanted to pay for another expensive breakfast when he was so upset around the characters. She conceded that it was probably not worth the money, so I went ahead and canceled it right then.
I'm glad that they were able to fix that. We still used magic bands and I like them for the simplicity. I saw a lot of people using their phones to try to scan through multiple tickets at the LL tap in while our whole group could just go to the other side and tap our bands and basically get through quicker.Camilo was able to help us cancel the Pirates LL and get us a time for Small World that was not exactly the same as ours but close enough that we just had to wait for the times to overlap. And now we knew we had to get my dad’s Magic Mobile fixed so it only had his ticket, or they needed to use their hard tickets instead of phones when tapping in to use their LL.
I really liked the updated Philharmagic. It has always been something that I enjoy and I'm really glad they gave it some love and refreshed it rather than replacing it with something different.As expected, he loved the Coco scene, and so did the rest of us! We all love that movie too, and it was so nice to have some new scenes in such a beloved and fun attraction that we have done many many times.
We had LL for Cinderella and Elena last week. We were the 3rd group in line when we walked in to the LL. We waited over 20 minutes there before we got to enter the room with the princesses to wait in the line there. Not sure what it is, but the princess fairytale hall just seemed to be very inefficient!Unfortunately, while their time was pretty productive while we waited for our HM LL to be usable, DD’s and my time was NOT! The wait at Princess Fairytale was absolutely miserable. I don’t know if they had less rooms being used or what, but it was definitely not 25 minutes as posted.
The extra 30 minutes in the morning, even though it didn't sound like a lot when Disney announced the change, actually really helped for the most part. We could get so much done!That really was an incredible morning!
The best kind!!Gotta dunk on your friends once in a while. Not only is he eating croissants, he's eating Disney croissants!
This is so true. DS has always loved them, but DD wasn't a fan when she was this age. Thankfully she warmed up, hopefully DN does too by the next time he goes!Heck, you never know how they're going to act with characters sometimes even when they're older than that and have done it before.
The MagicBands were definitely quicker!! We have tons of the free ones, and one set of upgraded ones we bought on our 2020 trip, but my parents never stayed onsite when they were included. I didn't blame them for not wanting to buy a set, but trying to figure out the Magic Mobile was kind of a headache, especially for them.I'm glad that they were able to fix that. We still used magic bands and I like them for the simplicity. I saw a lot of people using their phones to try to scan through multiple tickets at the LL tap in while our whole group could just go to the other side and tap our bands and basically get through quicker.
I totally agree!! I love this show and all the nostalgia, and I love that they just added to it instead of taking anything away or changing it completely. It's a great 3D show!I really liked the updated Philharmagic. It has always been something that I enjoy and I'm really glad they gave it some love and refreshed it rather than replacing it with something different.
What a pain! I think this experience taught us never to trust the standby time, and to do either a LL or rope drop it. That's kind of crazy how long you still had to wait with a LL!We had LL for Cinderella and Elena last week. We were the 3rd group in line when we walked in to the LL. We waited over 20 minutes there before we got to enter the room with the princesses to wait in the line there. Not sure what it is, but the princess fairytale hall just seemed to be very inefficient!