The Disney Recap
This is the 5th time we have been to Walt Disney World with the triplets. It is the first time during Covid. We were initially supposed to go in February but decided to wait until we had our Covid vaccinations.
We drove from South Carolina, about a 6-hour car ride, on a Wednesday night. We don’t stay on property the night we arrive because it doesn’t make any sense to pay Disney rates when all we do is eat dinner and go to sleep.
This & That
This is the first year the kids wanted to ride certain rides with just each other. It was also the first year that all 3 were ready to ride the more adventurous rollercoasters!! JThe biggest negative of the whole trip was the disappearance of FastPasses. Disney took them away to use both lines to socially distance ride goers and get everyone through the rides faster. This was probably great when the parks were at lower capacity, but when we were there, capacity was up, and some of the rides had 70-90-minute waits. This means you miss out on experiencing all the parks have to offer. You have to really choose what you wanted to do. For example, we spend 2 days at the Magic Kingdom. Usually, we have time to do all the rides we want and time to ride the ones we love more than once. This year, we had to take things we wanted to do off the list and didn’t ride any more than once. Rumor has it they might not bring them back. If this is true, we would knock the Magic Kingdom down to 1 day and pay to do the VIP tour. We did the math and would actually save money by doing so.
Day 1- Hollywood Studios
This is the first time we were at Hollywood Studios since Toy Story and Star War Lands opened. Neither disappointed.
Toy Story Land
• Toy Story Mania- always a great time. We love to compete against each other and see which car wins. This ride was around before Toy Story Land opened.
• Slinky Dog Dash- We had a 35-minute wait, and the line moved weekly. It was worth it. It was loved, but young and old.
Star Wars Land
• The original Star Wars ride isn’t in Star Wars Land, Star Tours The Adventure Continues- we have been on it several times, and we all still enjoy it.
• Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Edge – Our wait time wasn’t very long, and there was plenty to look at as you moved through the queue.
• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance- The positive we were lucky enough to get a spot in the afternoon grouping. The negative, our time was 4:15pm, and we were done with the rest of the park by 2:30. We were exhausted but waited around for our time. My parent, who always come with us, opted out and checked us into The Rivera Resort and got settled in. Back to the ride, 100% amazing. It was like being a character in the movie. We all loved it. It isn’t a quick ride, so it makes the waiting even more worthwhile.
Other rides we did:
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster- it was a quick ride, Long wait. John will never go on again. He is not a dark go upside down or backward roller coaster kid.
• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway- new ride, very long wait. Super cute.
We have the tradition of eating at the Brown Derby every time we are at Hollywood Studios. It is sit down and more expensive, but well worth it.
Day 2 & 4 Magic Kingdom
I will run through the rides we did and rides we didn’t get to do because waits were too long. We always do a big snack or a quick service for lunch. I like the Covid protocol of ordering your lunch via the Disney My Experience app vs. waiting in line. I hope they keep this when the park returns back to normal.
Rides We Did
• Dumbo-always our first ride.
• The Barnstormer
• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train-this killed our first day. The ride broke down while we waited in the queue. They were not clear that they would issue a special FastPass if you decided not to wait. Disney needs to be clearer on this option. Big Disney fail because we wound up waiting 70 minutes and missed out on lots of other rides.
• Tomorrowland Speedway- The kids were all tall enough to drive solo
• Astro Orbiter
• Space Mountain- I had not been on this ride in 40 years, lol. It was still a great ride.
• The Haunted Mansion- First time doing. It was okay.
• Splash Mountain
• Big Thunder Mountain- We love this rickety old rollercoaster.
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• The Jungle Cruise
• “it’s a small world”- classic you just have to
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Peter Pan’s Flight
Rides We Missed, but Were On The List
• The Country Bear Jamboree
• The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
• Prince Charming Regal Carrousel
• Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover
• Swiss Family Treehouse
I will note Reagan loves the cupcakes from Be Our Guest, but we couldn’t just go in a grab-and-go like times in the past, BUT we did find they had one flavor at Gaston’s Tavern and the best cinnamon buns ever!!!
Day 3 Animal Kingdom
What we did
• Expedition Everest-Legend of the Forbidden Mountain- It was scary, 2/3 of the kids loved it. I screamed. LOL
• Kali River Rapids- You get wet, but so much fun!!
• Kilimanjaro Safaris- The animals were out and so close.
• Na’vi River Journey
• Avatar Flight of Passage- worth the wait; it was superb from young to old.
We at a lunch quick-service restaurant and did all we wanted, including seeing the Guerrilla twins.
This year we stayed at the new Riviera Resort in a 2 bedroom Villa. We all loved it. It had a full kitchen, washer & dryer, 1 king bedroom, 1 double queen bedroom, 2 full bathrooms with 3 showers, 2 Murphy beds in the living room, and 2 balconies. We have stayed on the Club level at several locations. It beat them all except Club Level in the Main Building of the Floridian (my parents experienced this) and the Yacht Club. We brought snacks, beer, wine & coffee with us. We ordered breakfast to the room and spent time at the pools. For reference, we have stayed at Contemporary, The Polynesian, Beach Club, Yacht Club, and now Riviera.
For dinners: We ordered in the first night, ate at Trattoria al Forno at the beach club. Narcoossee’s at the Grand Floridian and Topolino’s Terrace at the Riviera Resort.
If there is anything you have questions about or want more details on, please let me know.