After a long hiatus, I went back! - Trip 1 - Day 2

[ILoveLegos]

(Me) - Former quasi-Disney expert, just past 50 years old.
(Dad) - Loves travel & adventure still, just past 80 years old. (P.S. Still rides rollercoasters) <= Okay, I admit that part worried me too.

Resort:
Disney's Yacht Club

Dates:
September 5-10th

With the Genie+ purchased as per the recommendations that I have read. This was my 1st day actually trying it out. At 7am I secured Rise of the Resistance and by 7:30 dad and I were at the podium for Breakfast at Ale & Compass. We have loved this restaurant in the past because of its option to have buffet and or entrée. My memory is fuzzy, but I think the buffet offering were more extensive in 2011. However, we kept filling up on too many buffet things and then we could not finish the entrée. Now the size of the buffet is a perfect complement to the entrée. I admit that eating waffles, yogurt, oatmeal, biscuits, and gravy is not our “normal” everyday breakfast at home; but when you are logging 24,000+ steps per day, you need extra “fuel”. This breakfast delivers! I had the bacon pancakes, and they were massively good. Dad had waffles.

We were not in any rush to rope drop Hollywood Studios, so we took the boat. It is such a relaxing ride and it is one of the reasons why we love staying at Epcot resorts so much. Dad and I made an effort to see and do as much as possible! Here are our standout observations:
Mickey & Minnie’s very first ride in Disney World was a whole lot of fun! Yes, upon entering Disney’s Grauman’s Chinese Theater, I felt a little nostalgic for John Wayne, Aliens, and the Munchkins as we walked the queue. Once Goofy “lost” us I was hooked on finding that picnic basket with Pluto. Dad & I were cracking up when Daisy’s waltz went … all conga! The imagineers did a great job on this ride!

Galaxy’s Edge was huge in comparison to what I was expecting. I thought that it would be about the size of the former Streets of America, but it kept going and going with twists and turns and sights and discoveries. We entered by the Rise of the resistance because I figured it would be somewhere near my classic favorite Star Tours. The genie+ worked well and there was no wait. Wow, did we feel submerged in this awesome Star Wars “movie” being played out with us in the action! I am thrilled that I did not research the ride, because everything was a total surprise for us. We gasped when we saw all those storm troopers! The walk to the “brig” our rescue … from the grips of Kylo Ren … fantastic. I was blown away by the light saber coming through the ceiling and flying back to Galaxy’s Edge. Dad said, “Whoa … that was really good!” I agreed! You know how I said that the size of Galaxy’s edge was challenging to me. At this point we had another genie reservation for Millenium Falcon Smuggler’s run. I thought is was right next door. It wasn’t. We started wandering around looking for it. I thought, it is a big ship, why can’t I find it? Finally, I had to start asking citizens for directions. Plus, I did not want to go in a way that would accidentally send dad on his scooter down the stairs. When we finally found the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy, dad & I got to enjoy the bumpy ride as Engineers and fix things. I think our pilots and gunners were just as “new” at their tasks as us because we owed some serious points to pay for the damage to Chewbacca’s ship in the end. Hee-hee!

Toy Story Land was not far from the Falcon. The way the theme changed was cool. Suddenly, I felt so small. Dad & I took a bunch of pictures here and he remarked how he too was having trouble remembering how the park was laid out previously, too! I was glad that it was not just me, lol! We got a kick out of playing in Andy’s Room (that’s what my nieces & nephews used to call Toy Story Mania). We posted pretty good scores (I admit that I have the old Wii version of this game at home – so we are kind of good at it). 😊The part that got me was the entrance to the ride was different from what I remembered. It was great fun being the size of a toy because then you can ride Slinky Dog Dash which became the first of many roller coasters dad & I rode together. When he turns his baseball cap backwards – he’s ready to ride! When we go to the point where it stops and backs up a little, dad turned to me and said with excitement, “It goes backwards?” I said, “I have no idea!” and then wheee … we were off! We had a ball!

We sprinkled in lots of classic attractions in between the new experiences. I rode the faulty elevator alone. Dad decided to people watch instead. One thing that I must note is that my phone was dying like crazy. I saw a tip to buy Fuel Rods on amazon and then swap them in the vending machines once they are spent. They do not charge fast, but it stopped the “bleed” and allowed to keep using Genie+ all day. Oh yeah, and another thing, my phone was older, so about a month after I returned home, I had to replace it because to hold a charge, I had to keep it plugged into a fast charging power pack. This was the 1st sign that my phone was on its last leg, I guess.
We left Hollywood Studios by Bus to make our dinner reservation at the Polynesian. We were the only ones on the bus and the bus driver was super nice! My family absolutely loves the Hawaiian Islands and Polynesia. When we go to Disney World, a meal at Kona Café is a must do. We were thrilled to have the sticky wings as an appetizer. Dad got steak and I went “all veggie” with the quinoa dish. Oh, my word, that was the best quinoa I’ve ever had in my life!!! Dad said that his steak was perfect!

Afterwards we took the monorail to Magic Kingdom to enjoy the Extended Evening Hours. We chose to skip the fireworks and road The Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean instead. The skippers were extra funny to us, and we got more than the usual number of jokes as they were pulling some boats to fuel them, I think. Anyway, we were all laughing - a lot. It was great fun! After confirming that a pirate’s life is for us – we gathered with the cast members at the exit of the gift shop to watch the finale of the fireworks over the building in front of us – a restaurant, I think. It was the perfect little viewing area and neither dad nor I cried. We were making new memories, but deep down inside I knew my mom would have absolutely loved this trip!

At this point we had to scan for the “walk-ons” of every ride that remained open. There was a huge crowd heading toward Big Thunder Railroad by the time we got there, we realized that we would have burned a large chunk of our 2 hours in that line, so we kept it moving. I know I am in the minority, but I don’t like Haunted Mansion. It is a bit too macabre after losing so many of my loved ones. We skipped it. That landed us in Fantasyland, and we rode everything classic except the carousel & even saw Mickey’s Philharmagic! I had a boarding group for Tron, but by the time we got there it had passed, sadly. I never really got the hang of boarding groups in WDW as you will read on my upcoming trip reports.

Okay, dad and I were blown away by the Fantasyland expansion too. Our last time here there was an 8 foot wall blocking the area, so we were thrilled to finally be able to experience it. We loved the way it flows. We rode the Little Mermaid Ride and found Gaston’s Tavern, but it was closed. I never did find Be Our Guest, or maybe we walked by not knowing what it was. I remember being exhilarated when a rollercoaster went swooshing by us. I wondered out loud … what was that? Dad & I stopped to watch it go. It was late & I could not identify it – but that was the way I “discovered” Seven Dwarf’s Mine Train! I tried not to over research things, but at times like this it was quite disorienting to me – but in a good way. We kept walking and landed in what used to be Toon Town, now it looked like a traveling circus – I think. Although I missed Mickey & Minnie’s houses – we thought the area was cool. They also had a nice bathroom and we just sat there for a moment to look at the lights in a less travelled portion of the park. It is a good thing that we did, because when we rounded this corner / hill thingy – voila, there was Tron. All lit up in its glory. I was excited and I looked at my phone - that is when I saw that our boarding pass was past. Dad wanted to ride! I told him that we missed our turn and that we would try again tomorrow.

It was late & only about 30 minutes remained for the night, so we left out on the bypass area that connected Tomorrowland to the outside gate. It was not a long wait for our bus back to YC. We were tired. Before I went to sleep, I bought Genie+ again because we were going to return to the Magic Kingdom tomorrow.

Next: Days 3 – Magic Kingdom & Day 4 - Animal Kingdom

[BriarRose0708]

I am loving the report! I felt very similarly when I went back after a long break and everything felt like it had changed. Sounds like you navigated it all like a champ with your dad!

Ale and Compass is the best breakfast value on property!

[faline]

I enjoyed following you as you discovered the many things that have changed since your last trip!!