Getting My Mouster's Degree- Trip Report May 16th to May 19th

[macandcheeseplease]

Hi, y'all!

My name is April and I'm a long-time lurker, recent poster. I wrote my first pre-trip report for my May trip a few weeks ago, which you can find below!

I'm the Master! Pre-Trip Report 5/16-5/19

I'm a central Florida native and have been going to Disney since I was very little; I think my first trip I was a year old! I love all things EPCOT, Donald Duck, old movies, and mac and cheese. I'm eternally on the hunt for the best bowl of mac and cheese, and I got pretty close on this trip!

I traveled with my mom (DM) to celebrate finishing my master's degree a few weeks ago! This was the first few days of not having to wear masks outside. We are both fully vaccinated plus the two-week cushion so this was a welcome announcement to combat against the heat. I'll add to my trip our experiences with the masks and how it affected our overall enjoyment.

We stayed four days/three nights at All-Star Movies in a preferred room. We would have picked a standard room, but we booked within the 60-day mark so it was the only option available. It ended up working out for the best! The room was close to the main hall, bus stop, and relatively quiet.

We had a wonderful trip that I can't wait to share! I went in with a very loose plan for each day and that also ended up working in our favor as it allowed us to know where we were going but leave some room for spontaneous choices.

I'll post every few days or so and break it up for easy reading. I hope you follow along!

 

[LuvEeyore]

Joining in on the fun!! A trip to Disney seems the best way to celebrate getting a “Mousteers Degree”. Wish I’d been able to celebrate mine that way

 

[macandcheeseplease]

Day 1 Part 1
May 16th: Arrival and EPCOT
Hello again! Our first day started out bright and early! We (DM and I) left our house at about 6:15 with the sun and Mobile Ordered breakfast at the hotel. It was smooth sailing across I-4 and we pulled up to ASM at about 7:40. I checked in the night before through the app prioritizing whatever room was available the earliest. Alas, it was not meant to be and our room was not ready when we arrived. The very nice Cast Member at the front desk said that over 1600 rooms were being vacated after some big cheerleading competition that finished the day before so it would be quite a while.

No worries, as we had breakfast to eat! We picked it up around 8 am. I always try to get Mickey Waffles once on vacation as it's probably one of my favorite Disney snacks. We ordered two of the kids' portions with apples, potatoes, and sausage. The waffles were great, as usual, as were the potatoes. The sausage was okay but slightly overcooked and bland. The best part of kids' meals for breakfast is you often get the same portion with sides and a free drink for much less money.

Satisfied with our breakfast, we poked around the resort and put sunscreen on for our day ahead. Seeing others' experiences about the bus stop we lined up 90 minutes before per recommendations. We lined up at 9:35, and that's when the disappointment set in. We noticed that the attendant wasn't a Disney Cast Member and all the buses were generic shuttle busses. We still got on 10 minutes later efficiently, but the whole experience lacked a lot of magic. The bus attendant, who will be unfortunately a recurring character in this report, was not very nice and shouted a lot.

We arrived at EPCOT at 10 and walked to the front gate in the most beautiful weather. We were held at the tap styles till 10:10 to cheering! We rope dropped Guest Relations (so exciting) so I could renew my DAS pass. I've used DAS since January 2020 after going through some health issues and it's been so worthwhile. It is a very simple process to renew it once you have used it before and it only took five minutes or so! This was the first day that masks were not required outside and it was nice! My mom and I have been fully vaccinated (both shots plus two weeks) for about a month now so I felt okay not wearing it outside. It definitely helped with the heat later on in the day and people still kept their distance when possible. I did wear my mask in some choke points as a precaution but I personally felt okay.

We walked halfway to Test Track but didn't hear the cars running, so we backtracked to The Land to ride Soarin. I love The Land so much, even if it may look like a 1980s mall. It was pretty much a walk-on and we were directed to A3, but we had the whole row to ourselves! We hopped over to Living with the Land, which was also a walk-on. I thought about watching Awesome Planet, but it was only 11 am at this point, and thought we could utilize the low crowds better than sitting in a high-capacity theater show.

We then rode the Seas, which was another walk-on. We poked around the exhibits too because it was really empty in there, which never happens. Of course, we said hello to Mr. and Mrs. Eel (shout out to Molly from AllEars) and talked to some of the education cast members. I can't recommend doing this enough. It's so wonderful to learn about these creatures from people who are very passionate about sharing that knowledge!

I took a quick bathroom break and ventured back out into Future World. I spotted a Guest Experience team and the very lovely Cast Member hooked me up with a Test Track return time for about an hour later. We then walked over to Spaceship Earth, my favorite ride in the whole park! We waited about 10 minutes at 11:45. However, our ride was not super smooth. We completely stopped three times and slowed twice, presumably for wheelchair passengers, but the ride was a little creaky and sounded like it needed some oil. The ride also didn't take a picture of my mom and me and the end had the generic people on the final screen. Later, however, the ride was down and managers were going up the queue. I really love the ride but it needs some serious TLC I hope it gets soon.

Next up, we venture into Future World East and have a super tasty snack!

 

[MaleficentMe]

Can't wait to read more!

 

[macandcheeseplease]

Day 1 Part 2
May 16th: EPCOT

It wasn't quite time yet to ride Test Track so we grabbed our first snack of the day at Sunshine Griddle. We purchased the Avocado Toast for DM and the Fried Cinnamon Bites for me around noon. We both really liked our choices! The bites were not too sweet but had plenty of filling and a nice saltiness from the bacon. My mom liked the Avocado Toast because of the goat cheese and the fresh tomatoes.

While enjoying our snacks, we received a room-ready text! I put in a Touring Plans request for a quiet room, preferably in the Toy Story section. Instead, they assigned us Fantasia Building 5, Second Floor, 5832. Luckily, it faced away from the pool. For those unfamiliar with the layout, the buildings are a giant T, and our room was all the way at the end of the T on the right-hand side. It ended up being a perfect mixture of being close to the Bus Stop but far enough away from the action to be quiet.

I then rode Test Track (DM passed due to just eating) with a minimal wait, maybe 10 minutes at most. They were loading every row but the group I shared my car with kept their masks on the whole time and were perfectly polite. There was a short delay unloading as in the car in front of me was a woman having a had time getting out of the car; which, I don't blame her, it's a big step up!

We migrated over to World Showcase as we had done everything we wanted to do for the time being in Future World. I waffled a little bit about doing Mission Space Green but thought it best to save it for later. Spoiler alert, we did not go back to do anything in Future World later in the day. DM talked the entire drive about doing the Spike scavenger hunt because she liked the tumbler cups, so we bought two at Port of Entry and some pixie dust occurred! The Cast Member at the register noticed my celebrating button and said they were on the house to help celebrate! She also let us pick our cups prior to finishing, which I thought was nice but sort of weird. Now there wasn't any incentive to return or finish! Nevertheless, DM picked the Orange Bird cup and I went with the pink Minnie one.

I spotted a short line at the Trowel and Trellis and decided to pick up the one drink I had my eye on. I bought the Energizer Matcha Cranberry and Lime Green Tea with Lime Vodka in the special mason jar. It was fabulous, not too sweet and tart from the lime vodka. It was also quite dangerous because you could hardly taste the vodka. I took a pitstop to finish it up while DM made a bathroom break at the Odyssey restaurant/ EPCOT Experience. I checked the wait times and noticed Frozen Ever After was down, which was going to be our next stop.

We pivoted to riding Gran Fiesta Tour to grab some air conditioning but things began to fall apart. Initially, I thought waiting to get inside the pyramid wasn't going to be too long (it wasn't), but the outdoor portion was excruciating. We waited about 10 minutes outside, but the people behind us kept bumping into us and were being pretty loud. It was okay once we got inside, but unpleasant at the moment. Things went further downhill once we got in line for the ride. If you haven't ridden it recently, the line snakes around and is very narrow due to the barriers in line. It was really tight, hot, moving slowly, and there was a drunk man a few rows back banging on the barriers and yelling. Needless to say, it was incredibly overwhelming. I have Sensory Processing Disorder and all these things made me shut down entirely where I had to close my eyes and cover my ears till we boarded the boat as DM led me through. The ride was fun anyway but I was really drained from having a breakdown and just needed to sit in some A/C and recoup.

We slowly made our way over to Frozen Ever After which came back up while we were on Gran Fiesta Tour. I thought it best to get another return time so I could relax for a few minutes instead of waiting outside in the heat. It was about a 30 minute return time at 1:30 so we took refuge in the Akershus relaxation station. It fit the bill as it was cool, quiet, and comfortable. I had a small snack and drank some water to relax and recoup after being overstimulated for many minutes. I was feeling better so we made our way over to the new Zodiac garden in the China pavilion. They were super cool, it was fun finding our family's birth year and seeing if they match up with their traits. The only one that matched was my dad, who fit the Pig qualities nicely! It was then time to return to ride Frozen and we walked right on.

Unfortunately, we were sat in the last row, so the view wasn't great because of the plexiglass stained with water. Still, it was a fun ride and really cute. Frozen isn't my favorite princess movie but Let It Go is catchy and fun to sing along to! We disembarked a couple of minutes before 2 and we had 90 minutes to shop around till our next destination- Via Napoli for linner!

We slowly made our way around to the next countries and did the scavenger hunt as we went. I kept my eyes peeled for the periwinkle festival shirt but didn't have high hopes as people said on the TP forum it had been sold out for weeks. Lo and behold, as we passed a festival booth, we saw it hanging on the display rack! It was the last one in my size as well, so of course, I had to get it! As well, DM very kindly offered to buy it for me as a grad gift! They also had a pinboard so I traded there too. Before we knew it, it was time to check in to our reservation.

Next up, the last part of our day at EPCOT!

 

[gardenrooms]

Thank you for sharing. I am looking forward to your next installment! What did you get your masters in if you don't mind my asking? Congratulations!

 

[macandcheeseplease]

Thank you for sharing. I am looking forward to your next installment! What did you get your masters in if you don't mind my asking? Congratulations!

Thanks for your nice comments! I got my master's through the Harvard Extension School, their online branch of the Continuing Education program.

 

[macandcheeseplease]

Day 1 Part 3
May 16th: EPCOT
It was finally time for our reservation at Via Napoli! We made our way to the Italy pavilion after taking some pictures and another bathroom stop. The A/C was so welcome and we checked in at 3:20 inside. I know some places have a way to do check-in through the app, but there wasn't a board outside to do that. We got seated pretty much right away inside the main dining room.

We had lower expectations as the reviews online claimed slower service but excellent food. Our server was phenomenal! She was attentive, quick, but let us relax and enjoy the meal. We got the house salad for two and a Margherita individual pizza. The salad was crisp, fresh, and just enough for the two of us. The pizza, no joke, was one of the best pizzas I've ever had. I'm glad we got the individual because neither of us eats a lot and two large slices plus the salad was plenty. Our server then sent over a small Zeppoli (basically a donut hole with sauces) as a celebration token, which was also great! Overall, I really recommend the meal. The restaurant itself was beautiful and comfortable, but this was still when a lot of distancing measures were in place, so I'm not sure how lesser measures would affect the dining experience. I would recommend trying to book an off time if you'd prefer a more laid-back experience, perhaps with better service.

To digest our meal, we wandered over to the Soul exhibit inside the American Adventure pavilion, and it was neat! I love looking at the exhibits and think it's an awesome way to take some time away from the crowds. We then went into Mitsukoshi to pick up some treats for my brother who enjoys cooking. We purchased a spice blend that he enjoys and a blind box with little cat figurines because his cat looks just like one on the box!

We then went over to the France F&G booth to pick up DM's choice for the festival, the caramel beignet. It was a massive fail; she said it was dry and flavorless, and that "she's had a better donut from Dunkin'". I was starting to feel dehydrated a little so we picked up large waters from a booth and looked around the tea gardens in the UK pavilion. DM requested that we see the Canada film and I was content with that decision for some A/C! Apparently, dinner time is the best time to see the films because we were some of the only people in the theater around 5.

We both started fading fast after that and decided to do a few last things and head out. We had been awake since 5 am and starting to feel it. I picked up my last choice of F&G, the dairy-free popsicles from Refreshment Port. They were delicious! I loved the raspberry one the best, but all were fab. We had a discussion if we wanted to ride anything else and decided to quit while we were ahead. We made one last stop in MouseGears and I found something else I never thought I would: the Jarrod Maryuma blanket! It had been sold out online for a while so I gave up the hope I'd see it. I eagerly picked one up and happily took one home.

Unfortunately, we faced bus trouble once again. We got to the stop around 6:40 and then waited till about 7:10 for one to finally pick us up, and it wasn't even a Disney bus! It was a silly charter bus. I felt horrible for the family at the front of the line as they had been waiting over an hour, while we only waited about 30 minutes. Still, it was a quick ride back, and thankfully the last time we had bus trouble.

We made our way to the car to move it closer to the room and brought everything up and unpacked. DM mentioned she was getting a little hungry again so I ordered some quick kids' meals from the food court, mac and cheese (for me) and a turkey club for DM. We were really just batting a thousand because, after our quick meals, I decided to shower, and the water pressure was terrible! It was like getting slowly dripped on by a drainpipe. We called maintenance and someone came right away but said the problem couldn't really be fixed till the morning. Thankfully the water was hot! I then read till bedtime.

Our next day was Hollywood Studios, stayed tune!

 

[macandcheeseplease]

Day 2 Part 1
5/17: Hollywood Studios
DM and I woke up bright and early at 6 am to get ready for the day! We had a light breakfast in the room and kept an eye on the clock till 7 AM to hopefully obtain a boarding group.

I did the 7 am drop once in January but practiced a lot at home the days leading up to the trip. I used in-room Wi-Fi, which proved to be the fastest the night before, and the pull-down method starting at 6:55 am. The practice paid off and we got BG 6, my best record yet! We quickly cleaned up breakfast and sunscreened-up to get our day started. I also made our mobile orders for the day, knowing Woody's Lunch Box filled up quickly. We went to the bus stop at 7:30 or so, and we were definitely not the first ones there! Thankfully a bus showed up at 7:50, unfortunately, a charter bus, but we barely made it on.

Once we arrived, the line was more substantial than the EPCOT line Sunday. We made it into the park at 8:15 and made a quick bathroom pitstop. We then hurried over to Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway to a complete walk-on! This was my family's favorite ride last trip so I definitely wanted to do it as many times as possible. We ended up riding it twice in a row without any wait at all! We rode once in the back, without plexiglass, and then again in the middle with the plexiglass. I didn't notice much of a difference with the plexiglass as most of the things to see are on either side of the vehicle.

I got the alert when we exited the ride that our boarding group was called. We walked slowly to the entrance and went right on! This was the first ride where the social distancing was thrown out the window. My guess was that it was going to be a crowded day and they were trying to get as many people through as possible. We got through the first room with Rey and BB8 and then to the transport loading area. I noticed there was a long delay getting on, and then we never got on. We were led to the exit due to technical issues and given an anytime pass to return once the ride was back up. It didn't seem like an auspicious start to the day since they had only called groups 1 to 14.

We thought about what to do next and DM suggested Smuggler's Run while the line was rather short. We waited 35 minutes at 9:15 but it didn't feel that long because that line moves quickly. We were seated with a party of 3, two kids and a mom and we were the engineers. I didn't mind because DM was a pilot last time and hated it. The ride went much more smoothly than if we were the pilots, the mom and the daughter were excellent!

I then stopped for a quick snack break in the rest area while we checked the wait times. Most things were quite a wait but nothing overly long. We decided to see the Muppets as we missed it last time due to not being vaccinated. It was a long wait, about 20 minutes! We didn't mind because we saw the extended queue. There were so many fun puns and I loved the parody movie posters. I've loved the Muppets since I was little so I definitely missed them last time! They didn't show the pre-show, which is my favorite part, and sent us right to the main show. We sat all the way in the back, but the 3D effects were much better and not as blurry.

Once we got out, RotR was back up and running and we went right on at around 10:45! They were, once again, definitely pushing people through a quickly as possible. We got sat in the front row and the ride was still just as amazing as the other two times! Afterward, our window for lunch was open. We ate at Docking Bay 7 around 11:15. The area was much busier than earlier so the lunch was a nice break. We both ordered the Fried Tip-Yip, me with the mac and cheese and roast veggies, and DM with the slaw and blueberry corn muffins with two cups of water. The food was tasty and hot and it was an enjoyable lunch!

Next up, more rides and fun!

 

[GracieKam]

Great report!

 

[disneyfan551]

Loving the report! Will you share your method for the ROTR boarding pass?