May 7-13 2023 - The Longest Meal and Fastest Minute

[mgarbowski]

The bullet points to start. Additional notes plus mini-dining reviews will follow:

Sunday
Uneventful easy flight from LGA via Delta.
LL Guardians $14
QS in The Land
Walked the World Showcase Canada ---> Mexico.
Dinner at Biergarten, ADR available that day.

Stay at Old Key West . Compared to other DVC resorts, I did not much like it, despite some admittedly good features. Details to follow.


Monday HS
G+ $22
Did not buy LL for Rise. Down in the morning. Later 285 minute wait. But we have Moonlight Magic option.
Genie+ Slinky 3pm
Get second LL for TT at 10:30 (2 hrs after park open) for 11am-ish
Snacks outside Toy Story land
Lunch Brown Derby
Shopping
LL Smugglers Run about 3pm
Dinner walk to DS. Eat at Splitsville.
I boat back to OKW, DW and D18 spend additional time shopping and bus back
All boat launches closed but one, not noted in app.

Tuesday Epcot
G+ 20
GG LL $15
Remy LL ~9:30
Paid LL Guardians 10:50
Tried for ice cream France but not open yet.
Early lunch Connections Eatery
Walk on Spaceship Earth
Turbo Track LL 12 something (50 minute wait if standby)
Soarin' 20 minute standby but got instant LL for 20 minute total experience
Walk on Figment
Done by 2pm
Dinner Terralina in Disney Springs

Wednesday Magic Kingdom
G+ $18
Tron $20
7DMT $10
LL Space Mountain 20 minute experience
Snack Cheshire Cat
Pooh Store
7DMT
LL Thunder Mountain 10 minute experience
Watch 90 seconds of Parade
Lunch Crystal Palace food slightly better than before?
LL Haunted Mansion
Tron BG 73 called 1:51 Enter 2:20-2:15
Tron LL 2:05-3:20 enter 3:15
LL Pirates (I skipped for reasons)
Easy Dinner in OKW Good’s Food to Go

Thursday Animal Kingdom
G+ $22
Avatar $14
Everest LL but probably a walk on or close to it
Snacks
Dinosaur LL but walk on
Flight of Passage LL
Kilimanjaro Safari LL
Lunch Harambe Market (first time)
Done, back to room

Dinner Victoria and Albert's Dining Room - 7 courses - amazing
Moonlight Magic
Rise of the Resistance 30 minute wait
Mickey Minnie Railway 10
Tower of Terror (just D18) 0
We do not avail ourselves of the free snacks because V&A was more than enough to satisfy.

Friday MK
Genie $22, Tron $20
Jungle Cruise 10:05 LL
Tron 11:10 LL
Carousel of Progress
Lunch Columbia House
BTMRR LL
Somewhat frustrating day due to travel issues from room to park

Dinner Blue Zoo at Dolphin Resort

Saturday
Leave room at almost last possible minute
Brunch City Works at Disney Springs
Flight home slightly delayed for weather between Orlando and NY.

I'm not planning on a bow-by-blow report but as promised above I will supplement parts. Feel free to ask questions about anything for which you want more info.

 

[mgarbowski]

As a bit of background, we are DW, D18, and myself. D23 is on her own and welcome still to join us, but has other priorities for her limited time off in her current job. Depending on how you count, as a family we have had 16-18 trips including this one.


We are DVC members and this is the first time we stayed at Old Key West. We were in arguably the least convenient or desirable location on property.


Far from all amenities. Maximum extra stops when taking any bus off property. Nowhere to get morning coffee in a reasonable fashion. The time is even more of an issue than the distance. 30 minutes to walk round-trip to get coffee every morning would constitute 3-4 hours for a weeklong trip. I made coffee in our room. It was fine, but buying the mug and refilling it every morning is one of those things that mean Disney to me. I missed it.

FWIW, I do think OKW could be a good choice for an intentionally relaxed, non-park stay, where the resort walking was not stacked on top of everything else. Also, certain rooms very close to the hospitality house are bookable as a separate room category (for no additional points) and if you can get them, it would make a big difference. Unfortunately none were available when we booked at the 7-month mark. Absent that, you end up in what is effectively a room location lottery. You can request, but nothing is guaranteed.

The insult is that for being that far away from services, you don't even get the benefit of feeling like you are in a remote, secluded resort, as the traffic noise from East Buena Vista Drive is audible day and night - not enough to keep you awake or make it impossible to watch TV or have a conversation, but it always is there and impossible to ignore. There also was a golf cart path right outside our balcony so the carts were zipping by during pretty much all daylight hours. It was close enough I could hear the golfers conversing from what I think was the tee area for the fourth hole. We also were located directly adjacent to the bus turn-around circle.
Admittedly, the noise overall was probably less than I would experience at BLT or any hotel-hallway style resort, with kids running and families talking as they walk along just outside our door. But I'd like to have either the convenience of location or true secluded quiet. OKW delivered neither, and I'd rather hear kid sounds than traffic or golfers.
You cannot reasonably walk to anywhere outside of OKW. We did walk to Disney Springs. It is possible, but I would not recommend it. The need to navigate around the golf course and some water required a walk of 1.2 miles and about 25 minutes to get to the bare edge of DS, more than twice actual distance from our room. The last segment of the walk is through the full length of Strawberry Parking Lot. We took Disney transportation back, not only because the distance but because it was after dark and the golf path had zero lighting as best as we could tell.
I did enjoy the room size and 1-BR layout, but that was not enough to compensate for the downsides.
Obviously I understand other locations in the resort give a better experience, but we're probably not going back to take our chances again.

This will almost certainly be the most negative post in this report.

 

[MinnieFan4ever]

Thank you for your review and trip report. It did look like you had a real crappy room assignment and I could see why you didn’t like it. We have not yet stayed there yet as I have been worried about some of villa locations.

 

[mgarbowski]

Notes on Epcot

I bought paid individual LLs for D18 and me for Guardians - Cosmic Rewind on both of our Epcot days, including on arrival day when I did it from my home. I understand people having issues with the cost, but honestly Individual LLs are maybe my favorite aspect of the current system. You're all but guaranteed to get it, and if you order reasonably early you can easily pick almost any time you want.

The opening mammoth hunt scene in Spaceship Earth has been extremely dark and hard to see for the last few years, and I was uncertain if it was my older eyes or something with the ride. Well, it was noticeably more visible this trip, and my wife and D18 agreed.

DW and D18 advise me that the shopping selections in the World Showcase are in dire need of a refresh. They believe there are fewer items overall, and the mix between perennials and new material has shifted to the former such that "we've seen all this before."

We did Test Track with a G+ LL but single rider had zero wait. They were sending out cars with empty seats because there were not enough single riders to fill in the spaces. I never saw that before. In fact if you did single rider you probably got off the ride before our ride started, because we had to go through the design room and that process.

Another thing we never saw/noticed before is the Race Against the Sun exhibit in Morocco, about living/surviving and competitive racing in the Sahara. Research tells me it dates to late 2019 so it's been there for a couple of previous visits at least. I also could not tell you what was there previously. Honestly when I saw the door and sign above it it surprised me that there was anything there to go into besides a store or restaurant. It's small, has some interactive elements including a driving video game we did not try. Worth a quick stop at least.

Tangierine Café remains a shadow of what it once was.

The spot in the Remy ride where you are under the burners seemed much less hot than I remember. Could be my memory, could be they lowered the intensity, could be I was simply in a different spot with respect to proximity to the heat. But I have the sense it was briefly but clearly uncomfortable when I rode earlier and not at all this trip.

We ate at Connections Eatery for the first time. Pretty standard QS, just nice to have a new large option in that area of the park.

We have attempted unsuccessfully to get ice cream in the French pavilion numerous times. It is always just too crowded to be worthwhile. We tried to do so again this trip after exiting Remy, but it was too early and it was not open yet. I understand that most of the World Showcase is not open until late morning, but why not sell people ice cream when they want it just past 10am?

Soarin' is one of a handful of rides DW will experience. She also much prefers the old California version. This one has no story, plus the whole curved distortion problem. She complains, mildly, every year about the change. But as long as they never get rid of Patrick Warburton I think she will keep riding.

The construction pit just feels like the new normal now. I'm very much looking forward to those construction walls coming down. Epcot was always IMO the most challenging park to traverse, if largely because of sheer size. These walls add an unwelcome level of disorientation and obstacles.

 

[Sabrina Carter]

Thank you for your update.
I'll be in EPCOT on Monday and was very curious if Gaurdians would be available to us through purchase. I have heard some chatter about not being able to secure a space for that or Tron. I feel more confident after reading your post.

 

[mgarbowski]

Thank you for your update.
I'll be in EPCOT on Monday and was very curious if Gaurdians would be available to us through purchase. I have heard some chatter about not being able to secure a space for that or Tron. I feel more confident after reading your post.

Tron also was very easy for me to buy on 2 days. I could pick pretty much any time I wanted. I think the $20 per person price is a meaningful deterrent. But I can't say how it will be in busier weeks. Second week in May is pretty low level.

 

[erinch]

Looking forward to more.,

 

[mgarbowski]

Let's do some restaurant reviews/reports. First Biergarten, Epcot.
Had an early dinner on our arrival day (Sunday). We were in Epcot and more than a few of the restaurants had same day availability. This was, I think, our third visit to Biergarten and first since Covid. The switch to 4-top tables is probably for the best. We never had anything but polite but minimal interaction with our table mates under the old 8-top, 2-party-per-table system.

I think the food improved? It was better than I remembered, with possibly more choices. Some of the sausages were delicious and I went back for more. I also enjoyed the beer flight. The entertainment is exactly the same as best as I can tell, and very much fun for all ages. Really outstanding show.
4/5 for this visit.

 

[mgarbowski]

Next, the Hollywood Brown Derby, Hollywood Studios.
Went for lunch. This was our third or fourth time at the Derby, and personally I was disappointed when compared to prior visits. The Cobb Salad is no longer available as an appetizer, at least based on the menu. You only can get it as a main curse. It used to be either an app or a main course entree and I always got it as an appetizer. Best salad I ever had. Maybe if you asked they would do something, but the pointless reduction of removing an explicit choice without having to make a special request (which may or may not be honored) is annoying.

Generally, the menu seemed smaller than I remember. I ended up getting the Crab Louie as an app and Seafood Cioppino for an entree. Both were OK, but nothing more. The Cioppino had barely any broth, just a slight amount to cover the bottom of the bowl. The Crab Louie is no Cobb Salad.
This restaurant was once a favorite but it gets a 2/5 for this visit.

 

[mgarbowski]

Splitsville, Disney Springs.
Ate here for dinner on the day when we had lunch at the Brown Derby so we did not want anything big or fancy. It was perfect for that situation. We were able to walk in with no reservation and be seated immediately. We sat outside but indoor tables were available. It was May, and a Monday, so Disney crowds were below normal. The menu was what you would expect for a fancy bowling alley, but with some unexpected options like edamame and sushi. I had a burger and was very happy.

What follows is not part of a normal restaurant experience or review, but I believe worth mentioning. While we were eating a woman passed out just outside the restaurant. Her companion managed to catch her and get her on a bench. It was behind me and I did not notice, but my daughter did and offered her water. But more notably, the staff at Splitsville also noticed and within seconds the manager was out there with the woman and her companion and was on radio calling for help. It was quick, efficient and quiet so minimal disruption. The woman eventually came to but was taken on a stretcher by EMTs. I was a small thing in a way, but I was generally impressed with the Splitsville staff response.

3/5 (ie, Good)

 

[mgarbowski]

Terralina, Disney Springs

Honestly, I don't think I knew it existed until it I was planning meals for this trip and decided to give it a go.
It's a pretty basic, mostly red sauce pasta, sort of rustic with a slight touch of fancy, Italian restaurant. Would probably need to go again to sample more of the menu. I started with the spinach with artichoke bake and then spaghetti and meatballs. The bake was very, very good. The spaghetti and meatballs were solid. Not elevated, but nicely done for a basic dish.
We skipped dessert because we had cake in our room at OKW and honestly after just 3 days the heaviness of eating out on the regular was catching up to us. We just don't do it with any frequency in normal life. If we have 6-7 sit down restaurant meals on a typical Disney vacation that's probably 40% of what we do in a year.
I also tried the Mediterranean Martini and the "Medium and Elegant " wine flight with 3 reds. And yes, I probably do close to 40% of my annual drinking at Disney also. I enjoyed both the cocktail and the wines.

I'm giving it a 3/5, but it's close to a 4.

 

[mgarbowski]

Crystal Palace, Magic Kingdom

Went for lunch. It's a character buffet and we do it once every 2-3 trips because my wife can't get enough of meeting Pooh and friends. Same for D22 but she missed the last 2 trips. You don't come here for the food. But honestly, I think it was considerably better than in the past. Either that or my expectations had been set so low that I was pleasantly surprised. Regardless, you still don't eat here for the food, but this was much more enjoyable, notably some shrimp creole and cajun pasta (separate items but they combined well).
No, you should not go to a pseudo-Victorian atmosphere restaurant with 5 foot fuzzy critters walking around for your Louisiana cuisine fix. But these were passably enjoyable.
Four of five stars for the silly old bear!

 

[mgarbowski]

Victoria and Albert's, Grand Floridian.
From a Pooh-character buffet to Victoria and Albert's. a/k/a/ the "Longest Meal" referenced in the thread title..
Oh, Disney.
Grading on a curve, I'm rating this a 4/5. If you set aside cost and expectations it is a 5, but I cannot ignore those.
I've been to a 3-star Michelin restaurant while I was in my early 20s, but I don't remember much about that (and didn't have to pay ).
Last fall, I went to a 1-star Michelin and experienced their pasta tasting menu, and that was wonderful. We also had an advantage in that my wife's cousin's stepson is a line cook. We visited with the cousin and her husband so they added a couple of courses for us and a had a somewhat more personal service experience. I don't even remember how many plates we had that night. It probably lasted even longer than the V&T experience.
I have no other experiences I can measure this against. I have had many delightful dining experiences but the ones at this level are a level apart. If I have been to other restaurants at this level I honestly don't remember.
For me, this was a slight almost imperceptible notch below the 1-star, and much more expensive. But I think my wife enjoyed this more.

Off the curve, it was amazing. We ate in the dining room, the least exclusive atmosphere of the 3 V&A options, (but still only 15-20 tables probably) and least expensive. We were provided with lovely printed menus, and If anyone cares to see them I can get a scan done.
$295 prix fixe, with $100 optional add-on for 2 more courses including Miazaki Wagyu beef, and optional $150 wine pairing or $100 zero proof pairing. If you went for the 9 courses the drink pairings also bumped up in price. Seven courses were enough for us. I got the wine pairing and D18 chose the zero proof. DW was content with iced tea, which came complete with glass length ice cube made of iced tea, so when it melted it would not dilute the drink.
The consensus favorite at the table was Glacier 51 Toothfish, Charred Mushrooms and Sambal. Personally I slightly preferred the Rocky Mountain Lamb, Sicilian Pistachio and Castelveltrano Olives with the toothfish a close second, but I was outvoted.
There were 3 dessert courses.
The portions are small, but cumulatively it was a lot of food and the nine course option would have been too much. I might have chosen an upcharge for the Wagyu if it was available as a switch instead of as part of two additional items. But that's not a criticism just a bit of context.

Maybe we'll go back, but not soon. As much as we loved it, it's a commitment. Time. Cost. Even the clothing. A set of men's dress clothes with shoes adds several pounds of weight to luggage. So while I'm not saying one and done it's probably one and that's enough for a while. But I'm also so, so glad to have done it.

 

[mgarbowski]

Todd English's bluezoo, Dolphin Resort
We liked this a fair bit. We are not enamored of Paddlefish or Flying Fish and wanted to try a new-to-us seafood option. Plus we have never been inside either the Swan or Dolphin. The closest we ever came previously was disemboating at the S&D pier returning to Boardwalk from Hollywood Studios.
I loved the crab nachos appetizer. D18 enjoyed them. DW not so much. I also had the simply fish (snapper) option, and a zoo berry cocktail. The fish was maybe a little dry for me, but I'm still rating this a 4/5.
We likely will return.

 

[mgarbowski]

City Works, Disney Springs

This was our second visit, and it might be turning into a lunch/brunch tradition for departure day for us.
Last year we travelled midweek to midweek, so we had the lunch menu, but this year it was Sunday to Saturday and we were pleasantly surprised by the weekend-only Brunch menu.
D18 and DW both enjoyed the Clash Smash avocado toast dish, I very much enjoyed the Love me 2 Times variant of a standard US eggs and sausage and bacon breakfast. I also had one of multiple grapefruit tinged beers, but I'm not sure which one. I do know it's not the same as the one in Epcot Germany. I think I find the Germany one more refreshing.

Anyway, 4/5.

Final note: all restaurants graded on a curve based on price, atmosphere, ambition, etc.

 

[MinnieFan4ever]

Great restaurant reviews!

 

[BostonEd]

Terralina, Disney Springs

Honestly, I don't think I knew it existed until it I was planning meals for this trip and decided to give it a go.
It's a pretty basic, mostly red sauce pasta, sort of rustic with a slight touch of fancy, Italian restaurant. Would probably need to go again to sample more of the menu. I started with the spinach with artichoke bake and then spaghetti and meatballs. The bake was very, very good. The spaghetti and meatballs were solid. Not elevated, but nicely done for a basic dish.
We skipped dessert because we had cake in our room at OKW and honestly after just 3 days the heaviness of eating out on the regular was catching up to us. We just don't do it with any frequency in normal life. If we have 6-7 sit down restaurant meals on a typical Disney vacation that's probably 40% of what we do in a year.
I also tried the Mediterranean Martini and the "Medium and Elegant " wine flight with 3 reds. And yes, I probably do close to 40% of my annual drinking at Disney also. I enjoyed both the cocktail and the wines.

I'm giving it a 3/5, but it's close to a 4.

Heh, almost exactly my experience (buried in this post)! Always enjoy your TRs.

 

[mgarbowski]

Notes On Hollywood Studios Notes Including Moonlight Magic

We went on Tuesday and also had access to the DVC Moonlight Magic event Thursday night. This allowed a certain amount of arbitrage, prioritizing what worked best on each day. For example, I never planned to buy a paid LL for Rise because I knew we'd be able to do so in a reasonable manner at the DVC event. It turned out just as well, since the ride was non-functioning for a good part of the morning, leading to a reported wait of 285(!) minutes in early afternoon. I can't imagine waiting nearly 5 hours for any ride. I think the worst we ever had was for the Harry Potter Forbidden Journey ride in Universal,, which was roughly 3 hours, maybe 3.5, and I don't think I could do anything like that again. Even with a paid LL, I'm sure riding would have entailed a highly uncertain and longer than usual wait on that day.

I did go for Slinky on Genie+ at 7am, and managed to get a 3 pm time slot. With that, and an 8:30am park open, we were eligible to get a second LL starting at 10:30am, for which I was able to get Tower of Terror around 11am. Between our arrival probably 9:30-10am (we rarely rope drop any more) and then we did Star Tours (nearly a walk on) and a pass through Galaxy's Edge.

On Thursday, we went straight from our dinner at Victoria and Albert's to Moonlight Magic, with a change of clothes in the rest rooms at the Grand Floridian. We entered HS a little after 9:30 with a 10pm Park close.



We entered the queue for Rise of the Resistance pretty much right at 10pm, and waited 30 minutes. The line moved nicely with no LLs to cut in. We leisurely walked through Galaxy's Edge and Toy Story land, and when we made the front of the park Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway was a walk on.

The only special character we noticed was Bullseye. Ride like the wind!

Tower of Terror also was 10 minutes. Only D18 rode. DW and I were tired and done for the night, though DW never rides ToT anyway. So we had a fairly relaxed time of MM.

We also skipped the food entirely, being fairly stuffed from the V&A experience. I don't know when Disney stopped making unlimited free food available to MM attendees. We were each provided with 3 coupons for one item each. The only other time we did Moonlight Magic in 2017 there was unlimited food available. That was in Magic Kingdom and we went to Cosmic Rays. There were 2 categories of people: those who asked for what they needed, and those who asked for much more. You could tell even though you didn't know how many were in their party, because the order process would go like this: "2 hot dogs and 2 chicken. No. Make it 4 dogs and 3 chicken." And you could then see a lot of food just getting abandoned and wasted. It was less than half the parties who did it but they wasted a lot of food. It was depressing. I support the move away from free and unlimited.

 

[mgarbowski]

Random Post Trip Observation

Depending on how you count, we have had 16-18 family trips to Disney and it's no surprise we do not rush headlong from one attraction to another as much as we used to. We no longer need to cram so much in because we've done so much of it before, and many rides or shows can be done every few visits. But we've also cut down on exploring, because it seems like we've seen and found all there is to see. But we haven't.

Since returning and while looking up things here and there, I stumbled across 2 food options we never knew existed. One is the Quick Service in the Japan Pavilion. I don't know how we missed this so many times. The sign is right there in the main courtyard area, and I know we've walked up those stairs and walked around where the restaurant is, though not often. But I had no idea it was there and neither did anyone in my family. Then today I found out there is a small snack location on Discovery Island in Animal Kingdom that sells a Pulled Pork - Jelly Doughnut Sandwich. I'm happier just knowing such a thing exists in the world, even if I'm not sure I want it, and I'm not sure at all how it fits in with the AK theme. But there you are.

I'm sure there are so many things in the parks left to discover. It might be good to recommit to exploring and keeping eyes open for the unexpected a bit more. I'm pretty sure there are a few more things left to notice, even more than quick service restaurants and menu items.

 

[DVCjj]

Really loved your Trip Report. Thank you.

DD (adult) & I were there in May and we totally agree with so much of what you said (a couple things we didn't experience ie. Biergarten/V&A (though DD was there with an X-husband who turned out to be a real piece of work so the experience deteriorated).

Again, thank you for the report. Can't wait to read more. You have a very easy, interesting readable style.

PS: We have been going since literally Disney World opened.