So, Christi and I became Disney World annual passholders this year. We did an unplanned trip in September as we were originally planning a cruise that got cancelled, re-booked, re-routed, and cancelled. I really do not recommend Florida in late August/early September. It is miserable. We had some fun and got to try out some new Disney stuff like the Virtual Queue and the Skyliner, but it was a spur of the moment thing. Since we already had a planned trip later in the year, we decided to upgrade to an annual pass as we likely would do another trip next year. Three trips within 12 months makes it financially a good idea to do this.
Originally, we had booked our stay for this trip at the All Star Resort (I think movies) but decide to upgrade to the Caribbean Beach Resort to stay in a pirate themed room. This was a good and bad decision. The good was the location. The Skyliner is the absolute best on-site transportation. It connects several resorts (4 I think, including Caribbean Beach) with 2 of the parks, Epcot and Disney Hollywood Studios. The bad was the pirate themed room.
Cute right? If you look closely at the mattresses, they were super thin foam mattresses. EXTREMELY uncomfortable. I think if you're a 6 year old, they would be fine. Not a middle-aged woman who sleeps on her side (my hips were killing me!).
In no particular order, our experiences:
Disney Very Merriest After Hours: You really should plan for the colder nights in Florida. I was ok, but Christi was freezing. We just went to the park later in the day and poked around for a bit, then got our special wristbands. The good thing was the shorter lines and we FINALLY got on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, which I loved. Did the required Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin and the People Mover. The Jingle Cruise was cute and fun. The snacks weren't very exciting or varied. Special snacks were hot chocolate and snickerdoodles (if you ask, they'll give you a bunch of snickerdoodles) but you also had access to free bottled drinks, Mickey ice cream pops, and popcorn. We didn't think we'd stay for the whole thing, but left about 15 minutes before they shut down.
The castle for the 50th:
Epcot's Festival of the Holidays: It was fun. We didn't get to try most of the snacks and I did not get to do the cookie stroll. Some of the cookies were at REALLY popular food stalls (Bavaria, I'm looking at you) and I really didn't want to wait in the long lines. The frozen hot chocolate martini was ok, but the slow roasted turkey and pumpkin gingerbread cheesecake at the American Holiday Table was awesome! We also visited Hawaii and Chestnuts and Good Cheer.
Ratatouille ride: Fun as well. However, Christi and I had already experienced this ride at Paris Disneyland, so there were no surprises. Still, it was a good revisit.
Rise of the Resistance: Still lives up to its reputation for the best "ride" at Walt Disney World (I prefer to think of it as an immersive experience). Because we had the annual pass and 2 days in Disney Hollywood Studios and Christi's DAS pass (the new way that Disney handles disabled access), we were able to go on it twice. The standby wait was over 100 minutes, but so worth it IMHO. You can also shell out extra $$ for the Genie pass.
Space 220 restaurant: Atmosphere is amazing, the staff is wonderful...the food is just OK.
Very cool atmosphere. There are some interesting cocktails (and they will substitute another vodka for any vodka based drink originally made with Tito's because I asked. Yes, I hate Tito's vodka) and we really enjoyed the appetizers. Christi had the tuna tartare and I had the calamari. My only complaint is that there are no crunchy squid tentacles. My duck was tough and hard to cut into with the knife provided. It tasted good and wasn't dry...just tough (yes, I've had duck before and this was TOUGH). The veggie sides were really good though...but is that good enough for an $80 dinner? The chocolate cheesecake that Christi ordered was just ok. My sticky toffee pudding was a bit less than ok. It was light and a bit dry. Sticky toffee pudding is supposed to be dense and moist.
However, the staff was just amazing (well, it is Disney!). Our server pointed out where to see the best sights out the "windows" and was super cheerful.
She took our photos for us. I got to wear and show off my Tomorrowland dress and sparkly lavender Minnie ears.
We both recommend scoring a reservation at the lounge to try out the atmosphere, cool cocktails and yummy appetizers. Skip the entrees and desert.
Bougie restaurant #2 - Tiffin's in Animal Kingdom: Food is really good, but one of those overpriced places that gives you teeny portions for top prices. At least Space 220 gave you a lot of food for the money. I wish we had thought to take pictures to show you the teeny portions, but we were starving and dug right in. I had the butter chicken. It was actually really good and I cleaned my plate. Christi had the 50th Anniversary Veal (but felt slightly guilty) and enjoyed it as well. Oh, forgot to mention we shared a charred octopus tentacle for an appetizer (yummy) and shared the 50th Anniversary chocolate thingie with a French press full of coffee.
If you enjoy pricey, high-end dining with snooty waiters trying to upsell you the most expensive thing on the menu (although it is likely really delicious), this is the place for you.
I was planning on doing some Christmas shopping at the parks, but found that the stores were really out of or low on stock. The Christmas shops were really empty. Not a snow globe to be found anywhere (which is a usual purchase for me). Supplies are short everywhere it seems. There are also staffing issues at the parks. It's not super noticeable, but you will see it if you really look.
Also recommended is going to visiting the Pandora section of Animal Kingdom after dark. It's really pretty
Animal Kingdom is the one park where you will never see fireworks to preserve the mental wellbeing of the animals there. But, they still have the tree
Currently, fireworks are not in Disney Hollywood Studios, but the displays in Magic Kingdom and Epcot are pretty spectacular. We could see the Epcot fireworks from Banana Cabana, the outdoor bar in our resort.
Where I got this neat color changing drink.
I'll leave it there. I was super happy to sleep in my own bed last night and am looking forward to our next trip in February (to get our $$ worth out of our annual pass). We're looking at staying either in a partner hotel or completely off property next time. We shall see!
