It was was the best of times, It was the worst of times - Trip Report - January 16-21 2024 (Complete)

[Skywatcher1206]

Hi All!

Welcome to my trip report covering 4 resorts, all 4 parks, 1 tour, 1 new to me festival, and more fun. This was my first solo trip, definitely not my last. As the trip report states, it was the best of times and the worst of times.

My name is Christina, and I am a married mother of 2 boys, 14 and 11, who were not too happy to learn I was going to Orlando without them. Don’t feel too sorry for them as we had just taken them last month to see Epcot Festivak of the Holidays and the holiday stuff at MK.

Here is the family meeting Pere Noel in the France pavilion.



Here is my pre-trip report link if you’re interested: https://www.disboards.com/threads/first-solo-trip-plan-january-2024.3933805/

Originally, I was going to have my husband drive me to the airport, but he had a work call that he could not get out of, so I stopped working at Noon, finished packing up and left the house at 1pm for my short drive to RDU airport and took a pic of where I parked for the shuttle drive to the terminal.



I noticed that there was a direct flight to Orlando that had been delayed so asked about getting on that one. The gate agent said that unfortunately they could not put me on that flight as my original flight had a stopover and they would only be able to do it if my original flight was also direct. They were able to put me on standby for an earlier flight that would get me there a hour earlier. I made the standby list for the first flight which was delayed 40 minutes and was on my way to Atlanta to see if I would make the standby list for the flight to Orlando. We landed and I found out that the flight I was on standby for was also delayed. I got some dinner from Paschals and scarfed it down quickly at the gate as they had started to board. I also made the standby list for this flight to Orlando. All flights were delayed due to weather. All in all, it saved me at least a hour as my original flights were also delayed, but it also made for a more stressful trip.

Before the trip, I had decided that I wanted to minimize my use of Uber as I was traveling solo so I made a reservation with Mears Connect. It ended up $17.60 which was a bargain as my last Uber with surge pricing was at least $50. The Mears Connect was efficient and there was no wait to get on bus. Got on bus by 8:45pm and we were on our way by 8:53pm. There was even some Disney Magic on the bus as it was originally a DCL bus. The seats had DCL print on them.

They played an educational video about animals and trivia about the parks, and cartoons. Did you know that a group of flamingoes is called a flamboyance? Also learned that WDW is roughly the size of San Francisco and the weight of the Epcot ball.



We entered Disney property at 9:18pm. The bus went to Riviera first which was kind of ironic as I will be staying there the next 2 nights after staying at the All Star Movies for 1 night. We were at All Star Movies at 9:43pm which was the last stop. I felt bad that I did not have any cash to tip as I did not think to go to the ATM and hardly ever carry cash. I got a kids size Sprite, walked to my room in the Mighty Ducks section, and tried to go to sleep with low success. I never sleep well the first night in a new place. I was also by myself and knew I had a big day tomorrow with my 4 park challenge so had some nerves regarding completing that. I will end this installment with some super cute pics of All Star Movies. I would totally stay here again in the future if need be. It was less than $100 with the AP discount.

 

[erinch]

Can’t wait to read your report!

 

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[Skywatcher1206]

After tossing and turning all evening, I decided to get up around 5:30 am. I got all packed up which was easy to do with only staying one night. I dropped by bell services to have my 2 bags sent to Riviera, stopped by the front desk to ask a question regarding the resort hold (as a tip, Disney will put a $100 hold on whatever card you put on the room), and got breakfast at the resort food court. I ended up getting the kids platter of waffles with potato barrels and eggs. I wanted to try the sausage gravy with the potato barrels thinking the CM would give me a small bowl and maybe it would be like $1. The sausage gravy was $2.99 which was pricy and not really worth it. I then went out to the bus stop and was the 1st person in line for the Hollywood Studios bus.


I had no idea what time the first bus of the day was going to leave so I was out there by 6:45 and it was FREEZING this morning! I ended up setting up my game plan for my 4 park challenge plan at 7am by getting my Slinky Genie + which was for 11am, getting my ILL for Guardians at 2pm, and getting my Tron ILL for 8:45pm and booked them in that order. The bus ended up leaving at 7:25am with an early entry time of 8:30. I was initially about 15 - 20 people back at the turnstiles, but then noticed that they were opening up some additional turnstiles on the left hand side and jumped in that line so I was just 3 people back. I spoke to some people behind me in the turnstile line and they were from one town over from me and she actually worked in my town. It really is a small world. We were let in the park right at 8am. Of course, everyone was going to make a beeline for Rise of the Resistance or Slinky. I was going to Rise. Unfortunately Rise was closed for technical difficulties, but I didn’t want to go too far in case it opened as I did not have time to wait in a hour long line today. I waited around Galaxy’s Edge and took some pics while I waited.



It reopened at 8:23! We were then held in the queue until 8:30, but was then in the very first pre-show of the day. I really do love this ride as it so immersive.
I then went to MMRR in standby which was only at 20 minutes which wasn’t even that, watched the Frozen show as it worked better for my schedule than the BatB show I was going to do today. The show was wonderful as always. I then met Edna and Frozone.





I then went into One Man’s Dream to just take in the history that most of the time when I am with the family I skip on by. The live action Ariel was meeting in here and I had to meet her as I loved the movie. I initially thought it would be really awkward meeting face characters and it kinda was, but I had read the trick of asking the character about something from their story and then how they would like to pose and then just repeated that for every character.



After meeting Ariel, it was time for my SDD Lightning lane which got me on the ride super quick. The standby line was 90 minutes I think, and I got on in less than 10 minutes. Although I know it sucks paying for Genie +, it really helped me out today.

I am going to leave off there for now and will pick up with my first park hop of the day next.

 

[PrincessGidget]

I was also there the 16-22. I am going to look for myself in the background of your pictures

 

[Skywatcher1206]

Can’t wait to read your report!

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[Skywatcher1206]

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I was also there the 16-22. I am going to look for myself in the background of your pictures

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[Skywatcher1206]

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[Skywatcher1206]

I left the Hollywood Studios after SDD and noticed that there was a friendship boat waiting to leave. I ran ( and I mean ran) to make it there. They left at 11:18am only a few minutes after I got on board. Good timing!

I had made a Soarin Lightning lane at 11am for 12pm - 1pm as the lines had been really long for this today (105 minutes for Soarin!). I asked later at a blue umbrella if they knew why and they said it was due to a theater being down. After stops at the Swan & Dolphin, Y & B club, and Boardwalk, I got to Epcot around 11:45am.

I was starving so decided to have some lunch at Katsura grill. I ordered the kids shrimp and chicken. It was really good! I rode Soarin using my LL after that and it was a great ride. I am not sure if it is an unpopular opinion but I definitely prefer Soarin over California over Soarin over the world.

I noticed these and thought they were so pretty. They represent the seasons.



I then rode Test Track single rider. I never stopped moving until I got in a car. If you are by yourself and/or you do not mind splitting your party up, single rider on Test Track is the way to go.

I then rode Guardians with my LL that I purchased this morning, and I fiddle fiddled to get a better time for Remy. I realized that I am a little behind where I wanted to be at this time, but still think I will be able to do everything I set out to do today. I even sat and waited for the Jammitors for 20 minutes while charging my phone as it was one of my must do’s as I always miss them when with the family.




I also hung out with Pluto who ended up taking a super close selfie!


I saw part of Art Defying gravity on my way to Remy and it was a very impressive show.


It was then time to ride Remy using Genie +. I never realized how small their bathrooms are in the new France section. Of course there was a sizable line. Remy was super cute although they were having some technical difficulties with one side going much slower than the other side. I asked to switch sides and they accommodated. They ended up moving everyone over to the other side shortly after that.

I then had to leave Epcot to get to my third park of the day. I will pick up later with that hop.

 

[PrincessGidget]

I am not sure if it is an unpopular opinion but I definitely prefer Soarin over California over Soarin over the world.

 

[Skywatcher1206]

I left Epcot right around 3:25 and briskly walked to the Beach Club bus stop as I was starting to get worried about my pace to get everything done. I had about a 7 minute wait for the bus so used the time to see if my room assignment had come through for the Riviera tower studio room. It had but I was somehow placed in an accessible room which I hear has a drastically different bathroom layout. I called the resort and the room scheduler was able to move me to a non accessible room. I am not sure why if there were non accessible rooms available why they put me in an accessible room to begin with, but it got handled. It was the first of the resort issues on this trip and the meaning for the worst of times in the trip report title.

I was about an hour behind where I wanted to be at the time, but was still confident that I would be able to get it all done. The bus to AK came shortly and I was the only person to get on as at this point in the day, there was only 2 hours left in this park’s operating hours. When I got there, I took the obligatory picture of the Tree of Life, and walked directly to the safaris.

The Safari this afternoon was excellent (a huge shout out to the Rhinos which made us stop to get a good look at both them and the Lions), I am not sure our driver would have stopped if not forced to. The light made the pictures not come out the best for the lions but they were very active and such a beautiful sight.






After the safari, I was just in time for the last FotLK show of the day and enjoyed the show immensely. It is one of my favorites in all of WDW.



At this point, I was in panic mode as I had to do 1 more attraction for the day to count Animal Kingdom park done per my own 4 park challenge rules. I was able to get a last minute Navi River Journey Genie + and walked right onto that one right before park closing.



I had to make some last minute changes (I was originally planning on riding Everest instead of Navi River) but I was pleased with what I was able to get done.

It was now 6pm. It was time for my last park of the day, MK! How much will I get done? Come back and keep reading to find out!

 

[Skywatcher1206]

After Navi River Journey closed, I took a moment to soak up the sights of Pandora and walked out to the bus stop to get the bus to MK. There were quite a few people in this line, but I did get on the first bus that came and did not need to wait very long. I ended up getting to MK at about 6:25pm. My first stop was dinner at Casey’s Corner. I ended up getting the corn dog nuggets basket with a side of cheese sauce and a sprite. Make sure to always check your receipts as they had accidentally charged me for 2 Sprites, not just 1, so I had to get the manager to give me a refund for one of the drinks. I saw someone was just getting up from the indoor seating area so sat down and then offered some other people in the area looking for a table to share mine. It was freezing still so definitely did not want to sit outside.

The park stayed open until midnight for Extended Evening hours, and closed at 10pm for day guests. From 7:15pm after I was finished with dinner, until 11:15pm, when I decided I had enough fun for the day, I was able to get the following done:

Happily Ever After
Space Mountain (Genie +)
Tron (ILL)
Haunted Mansion (Genie +)
It’s a small world (walk on)

The event started:
Winnie the Pooh (about a 15 minute wait)
Peter Pan (walk on)
Under the Sea (walk on and had no one in nearby clamshells
Seven Dwarves (longest wait at about 20 minutes.

I highly recommend taking andvantage of extended evening hours if eligible.

I finally find out where the picture is taken on HM so no more staring off into space - it is taken in front of the last portrait in the hallway scene.


LOL, I have no idea why I always look like I am giving someone the stink eye on this ride. It is my 2nd picture in a row where I am giving this expression.


I love this ride so much. Just pure joy.


The beautiful back of the castle


The beautiful front of the castle with the partner statue. One of my favorites of the entire trip.

 

[disneyAndi14]

What a great 4 park day! Andi and I use to do 4 park days all the time in the past! I loved it!
Enjoying reading along!

 

[Skywatcher1206]

What a great 4 park day! Andi and I use to do 4 park days all the time in the past! I loved it!
Enjoying reading along!

Thanks! It was my first park challenge and I really enjoyed it. I do not think I would want to regularly do all 4 parks in a day though. I would definitely not set it up the same way as I did this day if the family were with me as it would be $228 for all 4 of us for Genie + plus the ILL for Guardians and Tron.