Girls Gone Wild (not really - we are too old for that) - Sept 2024

DisPhanatic · Sep 14, 2024

This is my first trip report and won't have a ton of pictures. My BFF Kristen (53) and I (51) traveled to WDW from 9/7-9/11. She is a mom of two (20 and 18) as am I (18 and 16). It is the first trip ever that we took without kids or hubbies and we were stoked. My oldest just started college in August and I thought I could use the pick me up. It delivered.

Here is the two of us:

The details - we flew American from Philly to Orlando (my flight was $11 with points) and rented a car through Enterprise for just $230. We figured it would work out with avoiding transportation costs to and from MCO and grocery deliveries. This was a great decision for us. We stayed at POP Century which was our first time staying at a value resort and had the quick service free-dining. We loved being able to get a free adult beverage with each meal.

I hadn't been to Disney since 2021 and it had been 8 years for Kristen. We used virtual queues, lightning lane, monorail, skyliner, car, and visited two other resorts during our short stay. Stay tuned for how it went.

DisPhanatic · Sep 14, 2024

Saturday 9/7 - Travel Day and Epcot

We were up bright and early for a 7 am flight and had no trouble getting to the airport and parking which is a major feat in Philadelphia. Our flight was on time and we were off the plane by 9:30 and headed to the car rental. We had a quick stop at Publix for water and breakfast items (we would eat on our way to the parks every morning). We were at POP by 11 am and had done online check in requesting Building 4. Just as we were walking toward the lobby, we got the alert that our room was ready (YAY!) but it was in building 1 (Boo!). No problem - we hopped in line and waited for a CM. He was amazing and got us a room in Building 5 but we would have to wait for it to be ready.

We gladly accepted since we were headed to Epcot anyway. We parked the car, hopped the Skyliner, and were entering the park through the International Gateway by noon.

Since it was a Saturday during Food and Wine, we knew the park would be busy but that was okay with us. We purchased the LLMP and had Remy, Mission Space, and Spaceship Earth booked. We also nabbed a VQ for Guardians at 7 am from the tarmac. I had no trouble at all getting VQ during our stay (wait until you see how Sunday went). Our boarding group was called at 10:01 and we were definitely late but it was just fine. Here is how we did:
VQ for Guardians
LUNCH at Regal Eagle Smokehouse (mobile order)
LL Remy
New LL Soarin
New LL Living with the Land
New LL Figment
LL Spaceship Earth
LL Mission Space
Standby Three Caballeros
Standby Frozen

We were in the park from noon until 6:30 pm
Summary – 9 attractions in 6.5 hours or 1.4 per hour
Longest wait – 55 minutes for Frozen

Lunch at Regal Eagle was delicious. We didn't love the caramel corn in Germany but enjoyed the margaritas in Mexico and the shaved ice in Japan. It was very hot (102 real feel) and crowded so we headed out at 6:30 to get settled at our resort and just did mobile order food at POP for dinner. Then we crashed since we had a long day ahead of us.

Total steps for the day: 23,915

DisPhanatic · Sep 14, 2024

Sunday 9/8 - Magic Kingdom

We intentionally picked to see MK on a Halloween party night when the park closed at 6 pm. We did not purchase a lightning lane pass and were able to do everything we wanted and more! The low crowds are totally worth it if the fireworks are not your priority. We were hoping to park hop back to MK on Monday for the nighttime entertainment but that didn't happen.

We woke up early, having decided to drive to the park so we could go from MK right to AKL. We left the resort at 7:20 for the TTC and were entering the park at 7:50 am. We were held before the castle until early entry at 8:30 when we hustled to SDMT for our first ride. Boy, do I love this view! The parks were so clean and we met the nicest guests and CMs during our stay.

Rope drop Seven Dwarves Mine Train
Space Mountain
SNACK - Cheeseburger eggrolls (Totally worth the hype)
Pirates
Haunted Mansion
VQ Tiana
Country Bear Jamboree
Magic Carpets of Aladdin
LUNCH - Casey's Corner
Small World
Under the Sea
SNACK - LeFou's Brew
Mickey’s Philharmagic
Festival of Fantasy Parade
VQ Tron
Buzz Lightyear
Monsters Inc Laugh Floor
SNACK - Aloha Isle (pineapple upside down cake and coconut cup)
Pirates again
Tiki Room
SNACK to go - make your own popcorn in Confectionery

Park hours – 8:30 am until 5:10 pm
Summary – 16 attractions / shows in 8.7 hours or 1.8 per hour
Longest wait – 25 minutes for Tron with VQ

Again it was super hot (real feel 99) but we didn't let that stop us. We really made out with VQ. We used the hotel WiFi and had no trouble just hitting refresh. Our strategy was Tiana first if we got it (and we did) and then we would hope we rode before 1pm so we could try to grab Tron from the park. If this didn't work, we could always ride Tron standby later in the week since this was the last day for Tron VQ. Our plan worked - we had just gotten off Small World, were connected to the park WiFi, and got on our phones to try for Tron and BOOM, we were in.

This day was so amazing - we didn't feel rushed, did everything we wanted, and even headed out of the park before it closed at 6 pm. The crowds were arriving for the Halloween party and we didn't have anything else we wanted to do so we rolled for AKL.

DisPhanatic · Sep 14, 2024

Sunday 9/8 - Animal Kingdom Lodge and dinner at Boma

After riding the monorail back to the TTC (it was crowded and we had to wait for a second train), we grabbed our rental car and drove to AKL. They did check our ID at the gate before waving us in. We had never been to AKL and were so excited to see it. We walked around outside to see the animals, sat on rockers and soaked in the views then grabbed drinks at Victoria Falls.

Our reservation was for 7:50 and we headed downstairs around 7:30. They didn't call us back until our reservation time and we were so hungry at this point. Our server Bob was just fantastic. He made some great recommendations for drinks and food. Kristen isn't a very experimental diner and I was so surprised she loved the food as much as I did. We left there at 10 pm stuffed and tired. This will be on my list for every future trip. There were drummers right outside the restaurant as we left which really set the mood.

Total steps for the day: 22,052

PAsFab5 · Sep 14, 2024

Enjoying your trip report so far!! Looking forward to reading more! Thanks for writing!

BellaBaby · Sep 14, 2024

I love your TR Title! I am in the same age group with kids around the same age, so definitely enjoying reading along!! :flower1:

2xcited2sleep · Sep 15, 2024

Sounds like a great trip, maybe minus the heat. Looking forward to hearing more! Animal Kingdom Lodge is incredible, isn't it? It's my favorite resort to visit.

rdkeim · Sep 15, 2024

Following! Love the title

wannabee · Sep 15, 2024

love a girls trip

Tina1 · Sep 15, 2024

Following can’t wait to hear more

DisPhanatic · Sep 16, 2024

BellaBaby said:
I love your TR Title! I am in the same age group with kids around the same age, so definitely enjoying reading along!!

Well, we had the intention but the body didn't comply! I am glad you are enjoying it

DisPhanatic · Sep 16, 2024

2xcited2sleep said:
Sounds like a great trip, maybe minus the heat. Looking forward to hearing more! Animal Kingdom Lodge is incredible, isn't it? It's my favorite resort to visit.

It was stunning. We also visited the Riviera resort and that just blew me away. I need to start saving for a return trip and a deluxe stay!

DisPhanatic · Sep 16, 2024

Monday 9/9 Animal Kingdom (with a plan to hop to MK for fireworks)
Animal Kingdom changed their hours leading up to our trip and the early entry opened at 7:30 am. We had such luck so far with getting to the parks early that we went for it. Again we made the choice to drive to the parks. I know this isn't the most popular decision but, if you plan on early mornings, the parking works out so well. Given the shift the weather would take, we were glad we did.

We were out of the room at 6:40 and in the park by 7:15 getting escorted to Pandora. We rope dropped Flight of Passage and hit Na'vi right away as we continued to make our way around the park. Crowds were not bad at all and we did not purchase any lightning lanes.

Our third ride of the day was Kilimanjaro Safari. We had the best animal activity that either of us had ever experienced. We even saw a baby elephant running for its mama. So precious! The lions were roaring and the cheetahs were walking about. I would say we were on the ride right around 8:30.

Rope drop Flight of Passage
Navi River Journey
Kilamanjaro Safari
Expedition Everest x2
Dinosaur
It’s Tough to Be a Bug
LUNCH Satuli Canteen (mobile order)
Finding Nemo
Lion King
Second ride on Flight of Passage
SNACK Dino Bites ice cream cookie sandwiches

The rain started when we were in the Nemo Show and really opened up during Lion King around 2 pm. It was coming down hard and we had our ponchos and rain booties from Amazon on (which totally worked!). After we had our snack and a second ride on Flight of Passage, we decided to leave the park because we had accomplished all we wanted. The walk back to our car was very wet but we were glad we didn't have to wait to get on our way back to POP.

We decided we didn't really want to park hop to MK in the rain and instead relaxing (insert napped) in the hotel for a bit. Our evening plans were somewhat up in the air but we knew we did NOT want to eat at POP again for dinner.

Hours in park – 7:30 am until 4 pm
Summary – 11 attractions / shows in 9 hours or 1.2 per hour
Longest wait – 20 minutes Flight of Passage

DisPhanatic · Sep 16, 2024

Monday 9/9 Part 2 - Surprise trip to Epcot

We were really wiped out and didn't start planning for dinner until 8 pm. Our choices were hopping to MK or Epcot, driving to Disney Springs, or taking the Skyliner to Riviera Resort because we had heard great things about Primo Piatto. We knew Tuesday would be our busiest park day as we were planning on Hollywood Studios from open to close so we decided to just go to Riviera and headed out to the Skyliner station. This was so convenient and I would stay on the Skyliner route in a heartbeat next time around.

On our ride, we were admiring Spaceship Earth and the beautiful lights and enjoying the fireworks over Magic Kingdom. At this point, we decided why not and changed our plans to get to Epcot in time for the new Luminous show. The rain had stopped and our trip was halfway over! We had left the room at 8:25 or so and got off the Skyliner in Epcot at 8:45 and were through security at 8:50. We quickly grabbed a spot on the bridge between England and France and the show started right away.

We had great conversations with the newlyweds to our right and the couple with a toddler boy to our left and really enjoyed the show. We scooted out of the park as soon as the show ended and stopped at Riviera for dinner to go. That resort is stunning and very adult feeling. We mobile ordered from the Skyliner and did not have to wait long at all for our food. We were back in our hotel room just before 10 pm.

Total steps for the day: 24,557

DisPhanatic · Sep 16, 2024

Tuesday 9/10 - All day Hollywood Studios

We were so excited for today. Kristen had never seen any of the Star Wars section and our favorite rides are Rock n Roller and Tower of Terror. Given the number of attractions in this park, we did purchase the LLMP and had Slinky Dog Dash, Toy Story Mania, and Tower of Terror booked. We also grabbed a VQ for Guardians from the hotel room in case we decided to park hop (spoiler alert - we did not).

I debated the merits of rope dropping Rise of the Resistance but figured we would take our chances and cross our fingers. We arrived at the Skyliner station at 7:25 and there was a line wrapped around the walkway and a good distance along the fence past Building 4 but the Skyliner had not started running yet. Once it started up, we didn't wait long and the line moved fast. We were in line outside the park by 7:50. At 8, they opened the gates and we were walking toward Rise. When we arrived, the CMs announced that Rise was down as was Smuggler's Run. Kristen and I felt like we had the other big ticket items covered with LLMP and would just hang tight but I was nervous.

We waited about 10 minutes and, right when early hours were supposed to start at 8:30, we were informed that Rise was up and ready. We were within the first 50 people there and standing right across from the entrance. However, the CMs said they needed everyone to queue around the trees just to the left of the entrance (if you are standing at the ride entrance and facing Smuggler's Run direction). That meant the guests behind us were able to queue quicker than we were and we probably ended up waiting 15 minutes or so to get on. That was still okay with us.

We dodged that bullet and hustled over to Smuggler's Run. So we got through both Star Wars rides within the first hour and headed over to Slinky Dog for our 9:25 LLMP only to experience another roadblock. Slinky was also down and we got an all experience pass for anything but Rise. We decided to wait for Slinky to open and I booked a new LLMP for Rock N Roller Coaster.

LLMP worked so great for us. We literally booked every ride we could (didn't bother with a LL for the shows) and were out of things to book by 3 pm. I had watched some videos about adjusting times for LL and stacked our choices right up. We actually had Tower of Terror and Rock N Roller coaster booked at the same time (10:25 and 10:30). Here is how we made out for the day:

Rope dropped Rise of the Resistance
Millenium Falcon
Stand by Toy Story Mania
LL Toy Story Mania
EARLY LUNCH - Woody's Lunch Box (mobile order)
LL Tower of Terror
New LL Rock n Roller coaster
SNACK - Tower of Terror Cookie from Joffrey's (highly recommend)
Walt Disney Presents
New LL Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
Muppet Vision 3D
New LL Millenium Falcon
DRINK Oga's Cantina (3 pm reservation)
New LL Star Tours
DINNER - Docking Bay / Backlot Express (mobile order). Kristen didn't like the choices at Docking Bay but I needed my Ronto Roaster
New LL Alien Swirling Saucers
All Experience Pass - Rock n Roller Coaster
SNACK - Popcorn
Projection shows on the Chinese Theater

Slinky Dog Dash was down for the entire day and never opened. Around 7 pm, we actually got an alert in our app from the Operations VP for Hollywood Studios apologizing for the difficulty. This would have been icing on the cake if we had ridden but we still had an amazing and successful day at the park. Now that my kids are older and not into Magic Kingdom that much (I have boys and they just don't get it), Hollywood Studios is my favorite park. There is such an amazing variety of shows and experiences that it is well worth an entire day in the park.

Hours in park – 8:30 am until 9 pm
Summary – 16 attractions / shows in 12.5 hours or 1.3 per hour
Longest wait – 20 minutes for Rise of the Resistance (ride #2)

Steps for the day: 20,471