July 16: EPCOT
After our late night, we slept in today and enjoyed a leisurely start to our morning. We didn’t arrive at EPCOT until later in the afternoon. Taking the monorail over from our resort is always a treat, and we couldn’t help but smile as we walked into one of our absolute favorite parks in Disney World. Once inside, we went straight to the DVC Lounge to fill up our water bottles and grab a quick snack to tide us over until our dinner reservation.
Next, we met Teri and Damien over at The Seas with Nemo & Friends for a ride through the aquarium. You may be surprised to learn that Damien rode right alongside Katelyn once again! Afterward, we headed over to The Land pavilion and took a peaceful boat ride on Living with the Land. I really wish Disney realized just how much these simple, classic, educational rides are what make EPCOT so special.
At 4:00 PM, we had reservations at Coral Reef Restaurant, the seafood spot located inside The Seas pavilion. They were offering a 40% Annual Passholder discount, so we managed to snag a great last-minute dinner booking. The restaurant is really neat because the main dining room features floor-to-ceiling views directly into the giant Living Seas aquarium, with schools of fish and sharks swimming right by your table. The seating is cleverly designed on tiered levels so every table gets an unobstructed view of the marine life. However, between the metal tables and the low ceilings, the room gets super echoey and loud, so it wasn't the most relaxing environment. That said, we really enjoyed the food, and the price was fantastic (for Disney standards, anyway!).
Following dinner, we took a journey through human history on Spaceship Earth - again, we just love these classic rides! On this particular trip, our vehicle stopped three separate times along the track. Little did we know at the time that this would actually end up being one of our better runs through the old golf ball... yikes! It's such a wonderful, iconic ride, but it is in desperate need of a full mechanical tune-up.
In honor of America’s 250th anniversary, Disney put together a brand-new third edition of Soarin', this time called Soarin’ Over America. We went over to check it out, and overall, we really enjoyed it! It’s not 100% perfect—it still relies on some noticeable CGI in places—but it feels much closer in spirit to the classic Soarin' Over California, and it was certainly awesome to experience a fresh version featuring brand-new destinations across the country!
Next, we headed to Journey Into Imagination with Figment. This may have been Damien’s very first time on the ride (or at least his first in a really long time), but he was game to try it, and he ended up loving it! He thought Figment was awesome—which, of course, he is! After the ride, Teri and Damien said their goodnights and headed back to their hotel.
The rest of us started our evening stroll around the World Showcase, hanging a right toward Canada, passing the UK, and arriving in France to catch a showing of Impressions de France. You may recall, dear reader, that several of the actual locations we visited during our trip to France last summer were chosen specifically because we discovered
them through Impressions de France. It was so exciting to sit in the theater, watch the film, and revisit the places we were lucky enough to see in person!
We continued our relaxed evening stroll around the lagoon, and since our timing was looking good, we popped into the Mexico pavilion to visit Donald, Panchito, and José on Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros.
We stepped off the boat around 8:40 PM, with about 20 minutes left before park close. Our plan was to jump into line for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind right at the final minute. We hit the restrooms, made a quick stop at Club Cool to sample Coca-Cola products from around the world, and swung by Creations Shop to pick up our complimentary Annual Passholder magnet (this season's design features Woody and Bullseye!).
Then, we rushed over to Guardians and stepped into line at precisely 8:58 PM. The Cast Member at the entrance tried to warn everyone stepping into the queue that it was a two-hour wait, but that didn't deter us. Quite frankly, we were skeptical the the line would actually take two hours... especially since the Lightning Lane queue closes right at 9:00 PM! Sure enough, we were loaded onto our Starjumper ride vehicle by 9:45 PM—our soundtrack track was "Conga" by Gloria Estefan!—and after that 45 minute wait, we were already back on the monorail heading to our resort by 10:00 PM!
Once we got back to our room, we hopped in the car and headed out for a late-night bite at Skyline Chili! The Skyline location at Flamingo Crossings (right by the Disney College Program housing) stays open until 1:00 AM, making it the perfect spot for night owls like us. We enjoyed our chili-topped spaghetti and chili coneys, and Geoffrey officially discovered the deliciousness of a Chilito (chili, cheese, and spaghetti in a tortilla). And yes, they even have Barq's Red Creme Soda on tap!
July 17: Disney's Animal Kingdom
Happy 71st Birthday to Disneyland!
We always seem to end up at Animal Kingdom on July 17th, don't we, Katelyn?
Grant and Geoffrey woke up early today and drove over to Disney Springs for a 10:00 AM showing of The Odyssey! Geoffrey had reserved their movie tickets way in advance, so they had incredible seats—which was a good thing, because the theater was totally packed!
Katelyn and I slept in a bit longer and then walked down to catch a bus over to Animal Kingdom. The bus situation was rough: we waited 55 minutes for a bus to show up, which is really unusual. Disney bus service can be a little inconsistent, but it's usually a 15-to-30-minute wait at most. This was definitely an extreme delay.
Once we finally arrived, we met up with Teri and Damien inside the park. We originally planned to ride Expedition Everest, but it was incredibly windy, the standby line was long, and we were worried an approaching storm would shut down the outdoor track before we made it through. Instead, we went to see the new 3D show inside the Tree of Life theater, Zootopia: Better Zoogether!, which recently replaced It's Tough to be a Bug!. It started to rain while we waited in line, so moving our plans indoors was definitely the right call!
The Zootopia show was super cute, much less terrifying for little ones, and far more family-friendly than its predecessor (though I'll still miss the nostalgia of the old bug show). Change is okay sometimes, though, and it worked well here. My only real critique: if Disney is going to bring Zootopia into the parks, a whole immersive land seems tailor-made for Animal Kingdom, so I don't quite understand why they settled for just a 3D theater show!
Grant and Geoffrey arrived at the park right as our show finished, and we all met up at Satu'li Canteen in Pandora – The World of Avatar for lunch. This is easily one of our favorite quick-service spots on property because the food is so delicious and fresh—definitely not your standard theme park fare. They serve customizable grain and salad bowls topped with proteins like grilled chicken, beef, or tofu, dressed with yummy sauces.
The highlight of Animal Kingdom, of course, is Kilimanjaro Safaris, and that's where we headed after lunch. It was phenomenal, as always! The safaris keep running even in rain and lightning, which many people don't know since they assume because it's outside it is closed.... but unless it's extremely windy, you stay dry because the jeep has a large cover. By the time we boarded our truck, the worst of the storm had passed, but the sky remained cool and cloudy. The animals were out and active everywhere! The rare bongos were grazing right near the jeeps, the hippos were fully out of the water, the painted dogs were running around, the wildebeests and springboks were wandering across the open savanna, and the giraffes (including a cute one-year-old calf) were walking alongside the trees right near the track. Further down the trail, we spotted a mandrill (who is usually hiding!), several elephants (including the adorable two-year-old baby), a pack of cheetahs, and a majestic pride of lions. It was an incredible safari!
Following our trek through Africa, we caught the 3:30 PM performance of Finding Nemo: The Big Blue... and Beyond!. Next up was Expedition Everest—and Damien surprised us all by deciding to brave it! The coaster was a little intense for him, but I was so impressed that he gave it a shot anyway. Afterward, he and Teri visited the gift shop and bought a celebratory stuffed ostrich to commemorate his bravery, while the Benedicts headed back over to the Tree of Life so Grant and Geoffrey could catch the new Zootopia show.
Finally, we wrapped up our day at Animal Kingdom back in Pandora onboard Na'vi River Journey. After our boat ride, Teri and Damien caught an Uber over to Disney Springs (where we planned to meet them later), while we squeezed in a ride on Avatar Flight of Passage—easily one of my favorite attractions!
We left Animal Kingdom and met back up with Teri and Damien at Planet Hollywood in Disney Springs for dinner. The food was good and the restaurant environment was fun (though LOUD AGAIN!!), but the kitchen service was painfully slow. Our server was very attentive, but the food took forever to come out.
By the time we finished eating, we were all pretty exhausted, so we said our goodnights. On our way out, we made a quick stop at Basin to pick up a few of their fun mystery gift bags (I scored a full-sized Body Butter, along with bath salts, bath bombs, and sliced soaps!). Then, we headed back to our resort to crash.
July 18: A Day of Rest (Sure...)
Today was officially designated as a day of rest: a day with zero set plans, a day to chill out, and a day to sleep in.
So that’s exactly what we did.
Sort of.
We slept in, and we really did sleep for a long time. Eventually, though, we had to force ourselves out of bed—otherwise, we would have completely ruined our sleep schedules for the rest of the trip!
Once we got dressed, we wandered down to explore the lobby of the Contemporary, checking out the different gift shops. Then, we hopped on the Resort Monorail and rode it over to the Polynesian to check out the new DVC Tower (Island Tower at Disney's Polynesian Villas & Bungalows). The tower features a fantastic new Hawaiian restaurant on the ground floor, so we decided to sit down for lunch. It was phenomenal! We ended up wildly overordering because everything on the menu sounded amazing: we got the ahi tuna nachos, Hawaiian chicken sliders, tofu noodle salad, a tofu poke bowl, and finished it off with a Dole Whip sundae. It was so delicious, and we definitely plan to eat here again!
After lunch, I hopped back on the monorail while Grant and the kids decided to walk the pedestrian path around Seven Seas Lagoon, heading from the Polynesian past the Grand Floridian and straight toward the Magic Kingdom.
Well, yes... technically it was our day off. And yes, technically we had no specific plans. But we decided to pop into the Magic Kingdom simply because it was RIGHT THERE, and we wanted to hit a few things we missed the other day (since we didn’t have any other Magic Kingdom days on our schedule). The kids and Grant rode the PeopleMover while waiting for me to arrive, and then we all met up at Mickey’s PhilharMagic. After enjoying the show, we caught the Country Bear Musical Jamboree before popping into the Frontierland DVC Lounge for a quick cold drink and snacks.
After that, Grant and I left the Magic Kingdom and walked back to the Contemporary to grab our car for a quick grocery run, while Geoffrey and Katelyn stayed behind at the park to ride a few more attractions. A fun highlight for them was catching a show at The Hall of Presidents, Geoffrey quietly and accuratly recited all the US presidents in chronological order during the roll call at the end!
Once Grant and I finished at the store, we decided to head back into the Magic Kingdom. Really, the main thing we wanted to see was the brand-new nighttime parade. We arrived around 9:30 PM, met the kids over at "it's a small world", and took a cruise through the ride before hopping on The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
Geoffrey went to grab a spot on Main Street, U.S.A. to watch the fireworks, while Grant, Katelyn, and I took two back-to-back spins on the PeopleMover. (Teri and I had discovered earlier in the week that Cast Members will often let you stay on the ride without unloading, and sure enough, they let us stay on again tonight! It was so peaceful watching the fireworks burst over the park from multiple vantage points as we glided along the elevated track.)
When we stepped off, we met Geoffrey over at Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin for another round of target shooting. We exited the ride at 10:55 PM, so we briskly walked over to Frontierland and snagged a prime spot for the 11:00 PM parade. We love when Disney runs two parade performances in a single night! The second parade always draws significantly lighter crowds, meaning you can snag front-row, curb-side views just moments before step-off, especially in Frontierland and Liberty Square.
After the parade passed, we snapped some fun photos on Main Street and took the monorail back home to the Contemporary. We enjoyed a true "hotel dinner" tonight: leftover Skyline Chili, leftovers from the Polynesian, and a couple of frozen pizzas we had grabbed at the grocery store. We turned on Coco, ate our dinner, and had a chill evening! Did I mention we can see Tomorrowland and Main Street from our balcony? We went out every once in a while because they were testing Halloween lights on the caste and main street so that was cool to see!
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July 19: Disney's Hollywood Studios (MGM Forever!)
Today we headed to Hollywood Studios—though it will always be MGM Studios to us! We met up with Teri and Damien, and after a bit of back-and-forth planning, we got started on our first attraction of the day: Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. This ride used to be themed to Aerosmith, but it recently underwent a massive makeover and is now hosted by The Muppets. We have mixed feelings about this. The track layout itself the same, but it features new music, updated visuals, and some fun new animatronics at the end of the ride. We used Rider Switch for this one since Damien didn't want to ride—it goes upside down multiple times and the ride is indoors so he couldn't see the track to judge if ie he would like it or not. Rider swap meant that Geoffrey and Katelyn got to ride twice - once with Grant and me and once with Teri.
Next, we caught the brand-new Disney Villains Stage Show located right behind Rock 'n' Roller Coaster.
The Pros: Blast-of-cold-air AC, comfortable theater seats with real backrests (no hard benches!), impressive digital backdrop screens, and wildly talented live performers!
The Cons: Unfortunately, there were only three live performers on stage, and they were blended heavy-handedly with animated screen projections. The finale felt a little weak. Still, overall, it was a really fun show and a great addition to that corner of the park!
We conquered The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror next, taking turns waiting with Damien at the exit, and then took a trackless runaway train ride on Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. Afterward, we barely made it into the theater for For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration, only missing the very beginning. By then, we were ready for a bite to eat, so we grabbed an early dinner at ABC Commissary.
Grant, Geoffrey, and Katelyn did a quick walk-on ride on Star Tours – The Adventures Continue, and then we all headed over to Galaxy's Edge to check out Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, which recently added brand-new mission destinations! Afterward, we stepped into the queue for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. Boy oh boy... the Disneyland imagineers need to come over and give this facility some TLC, because there were quite a few special effects and animatronics that simply were not working on the Florida version!
Before we knew it, 8:30 PM rolled around and it was time to head over to the amphitheater for Fantasmic! The Disney World version is now hands-down the superior production: it has the incredible original musical arrangements, features a dedicated middle stunt sequence with characters like Moana, Mulan, Elsa, and Aladdin, and, of course, boasts a fully working, fire-breathing dragon! They are currently running the finale on a temporary B-mode setup (no boat. Steamboat Willy), but it was still a spectacular performance.
We headed off-property for dinner at Miller’s Ale House, checking out their brand-new location over in Celebration located inside a lovely new shopping complex.
It was another truly great day with the family!
