🦙Live from Utopia 🦙- Sailing with Daryl 🦙8/2-8/5 🏰with bonus feature of a week at Disney Parks post cruise🏰

[h20skibum]

3 hours ago, BonTexasNY said:

Looks like you have some nice Disney memories. The guy on the left in the picture, not holding his nose, looks like Chevy Chase.  Is that you?

 
Nope, neither one is me.  Just a couple fraternity brothers along for the road trip.  JB and me had long hair back then, when it wasn’t well accepted in the south.  We always sent CB in to deal with any locals, because he had short hair.  

[h20skibum]

2 hours ago, Momof3gurlz said:

 

@h20skibum Mark, you and Susan are going to need a vacation from your vacation 😂! 

I agree, but that probably will not be until January. 

[h20skibum]

41 minutes ago, jmh2006 said:

@h20skibum  Thanks for live report from Utopia Mark!  I just got caught up and so enjoyed Daryl's adventures!  Will he be meeting up with Mickey and Minnie?

Daryl didn’t make this part of the trip.  He decided he would have a better time floating in the pool at the VRBO my daughter is at this week.  I may see some pictures from him there. 
 

 

[harryfat1]

39 minutes ago, h20skibum said:

Glad to have you along for this part of the trip.  As a Disney expert, be sure to point out where I made my mistakes. 

Glad to be tagging along but no longer knowledgeable on WDW as it's been many years since we were there.  Disney changes their rules every few months so all my info is obsolete.

 

Interested to see what EPCOT looks like as they remake the front part of the Future World area and let me know what you think of the new Tiana's Bayou Adventure (FKA Splash Mountain) ride is like.  The initial reviews of the new ride from the hardcore Disney fabs have not been favorable. 

 

 

Edited August 6 by harryfat1

[h20skibum]

28 minutes ago, harryfat1 said:

Disney changes their rules every few months so all my info is obsolete.

That dovetails well into my talking about planning after I booked dining. I was ready to be able to log in each day once we were there to try to book rides. 
 

Then, to alter all my planning, Disney announced that they were changing the genie+ and virtual queue to lightening lane multi-pass and lighting lane single passes. The change was to take effect 11 days before our visit.  Now, my practice of getting up early each day to get a virtual Q ride was out the window.  The new system lets you book popular rides 7 days in advance. 

 

Based on our stay at Wilderness Lodge starting on the 5th, the updated app said we could book our Lightning Lane Single Passes and Multi-passes at 7am on July 29th, which was seven days in advance.  Just like dining, you could book for your entire stay, so we could book through the 11th. 

 

Up at 7:00 am and logged into the app.  So far, so good!

[h20skibum]

Then, the first glitch.  My wife and I were both logged into the app, and we each had a list of the rides we wanted to book.  She took Epcot and Hollywood Studios, and I took Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom.  

 

When I entered all my choices for rides at AK and hit the submit payment button, I get a booking error message.  Ok, try again.  Same booking error message.  Ok, try again.  This time it went through, but now I check and my credit card was hit three times. It was a wait for these duplicates to resolve.  

 

So the second glitch, or maybe it is by design, is the app automatically populates the times for rides, based on the ones you select.  Most were Okay, but all the ones in MK were assigned afternoon times.  The idea behind the multi-passes is that once you complete the first selected ride, you can add another one.  Why buy, if you can’t start early. 

 

One thing I read was that you are able to edit your selections. But they had said to go to edit trip preferences, and this is the wrong place. It just takes you to the current day.  

 

 

Instead, click on the three dots for the ride you want to edit, then modify.  This will give you other available times. 

 

 

Doing this, I was able to change my afternoon times to morning times. 

[harryfat1]

19 minutes ago, h20skibum said:

Then, the first glitch.  My wife and I were both logged into the app, and we each had a list of the rides we wanted to book.  She took Epcot and Hollywood Studios, and I took Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom.  

 

When I entered all my choices for rides at AK and hit the submit payment button, I get a booking error message.  Ok, try again.  Same booking error message.  Ok, try again.  This time it went through, but now I check and my credit card was hit three times. It was a wait for these duplicates to resolve.  

 

So the second glitch, or maybe it is by design, is the app automatically populates the times for rides, based on the ones you select.  Most were Okay, but all the ones in MK were assigned afternoon times.  The idea behind the multi-passes is that once you complete the first selected ride, you can add another one.  Why buy, if you can’t start early. 

 

One thing I read was that you are able to edit your selections. But they had said to go to edit trip preferences, and this is the wrong place. It just takes you to the current day.  

 

 

Instead, click on the three dots for the ride you want to edit, then modify.  This will give you other available times. 

 

 

Doing this, I was able to change my afternoon times to morning times. 

After a certain point, this is more "work" than being at work.

 

When does the "fun" part start?

[perfect match]

We are Disney locals and Annual Passholders. We’re in one park or another on a very regular basis. We already know where everything is and what we like. That said, these latest changes even have us confused 🫤. I wish Disney would quit making changes “to improve our experience” because at this point all they’re doing is making us think about not renewing our passes when they next come due. That makes us sad, and feeling like a lot of the magic has gone out of a visit to Disney.

 

Be sure you ask for the ketchup when you go to Whispering Canyon! 😀 You’ll thank me later! 😇

[KmomChicago]

1 hour ago, harryfat1 said:

After a certain point, this is more "work" than being at work.

 

When does the "fun" part start?

I am so glad my Disney days are probably behind me. 

[MJSailors]

Maybe your grandkids have a good idea. Next time, enjoy a 7 day cruise with them and skip Disneyworld. Certainly more relaxing for all.

Has your California grandson been to Disneyland ?

Not sure if that park is easier to navigate or if the dining and rides reservation system applies to Disneyland also.

With all your effort to plan the Disneyworld visit,I hope  you all enjoy your time there.

Looking forward to your posts and photos of your time at Mickeyland!

MJ🙋🏻‍♀️

[h20skibum]

9 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

After a certain point, this is more "work" than being at work.

 

When does the "fun" part start?

I hope it starts this morning. 

[h20skibum]

9 hours ago, perfect match said:

I wish Disney would quit making changes “to improve our experience” because at this point all they’re doing is making us think about not renewing our passes when they next come due

It seemed like Universal was much easier last year.  I heard that many rides were booked out as soon as they switched over, so people caught in that transition were out of luck with some rides. 

[h20skibum]

7 hours ago, MJSailors said:

Has your California grandson been to Disneyland ?

No, but we unleashed the beast after we took him to Universal last summer.  He had his parents take him to Universal CA twice after that.  Who knows what will happen after this. 

[h20skibum]

We found there were even lines at stores in Disney Springs yesterday. 

 

That is to get into Gideon’s for cookies. 
 

 

[h20skibum]

We had lunch at Roaring Fork at our hotel.  Was glad we had the dining plan, because it was around $70 for the three of us. 
 

 

Most places the plan will let adults substitute an adult beverage.  Thank goodness!!!

[h20skibum]

The first day at Disney was screwed up due to the storms.  Our only plans were to spend some time at Disney Springs, relax at the Lodge, and head to O’Hana’s at the Polynesian Resort. 

 

My plan was to take the water taxi from the lodge to Magic Kingdom, then the monorail.  But we found that half the boats from the lodge were not running. So our option was to take the bus to MK, then the monorail or water taxi from MK to the Polynesian.  

 

They altered the bus route to run from the lodge to their campground, then to MK.  You can’t take a bus from one resort to another.  So we had to take the bus to MK, and then the water taxi to the Polynesian Resort for our dinner at Ohana. I didn’t realize you had to go thru security, just to make these transfers.   So for something we could walk in 15 minutes if they had sidewalks, took an hour.  We just made it to our reservation on time. 

[h20skibum]

A few photos from dinner.  

First, the most important 

 

That is a Lapu Lapu that I substituted for my drink.  Susan had a Pina Colava 

 

 

Some of our dinner items. 

steak

 

 

shrimp

our anniversary treat

desert

 

 

[Sea Dog]

30 minutes ago, h20skibum said:

A few photos from dinner.  

First, the most important 

 

That is a Lapu Lapu that I substituted for my drink.  Susan had a Pina Colava 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That Lapu Lapu looks awesome. I love Plantation original dark rum.

 

[BecciBoo]

On 8/5/2024 at 7:22 AM, Ocean Boy said:

I didn't hear about that. What happened?

 

[BonTexasNY]

20 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

Disney has just become insane...both the complexity and the cost.  I can't imagine a family of 4 now spending a week vacation there.  

 

We were in WDW 35 years ago.  I thought the 1-day entrance fee of $39 p/p was insane!  

 

Wishing you, Susan and your grandson a happy Disney time.

[harryfat1]

4 hours ago, h20skibum said:

No, but we unleashed the beast after we took him to Universal last summer.  He had his parents take him to Universal CA twice after that.  Who knows what will happen after this. 

The primary difference between WDW and Disneyland is that WDW is more about the “experience” of being in the ecosystem of Disneyworld whereas Disneyland is more about rides.

 

The parks are way too far apart at Disneyworld. As you experienced, just going to dinner takes extra planning time. Whereas in Disneyland, the entrances of the two parks are like 600 feet away from each other – shorter than one end to another end of Utopia of the Seas.

 

As such, you can maximize your ride times at Disneyland and CA Adventure parks.  You can pound out both parks in 3 days time and ride some attractions more than once.  The same can’t be said for WDW where it’s more of an immersive experience to eat at various restaurants and see the different theming hotels.

 

We were at WDW for more than a week and it was our 6^th visit and we still didn’t see everything we wanted to see.

 

How many days will you be at WDW?

 

If you guys become Disney fans like us, here's a ranking of all the Disney parks worldwide for you to take your family to:

 

https://www.disneytouristblog.com/best-worst-disney-theme-parks-world/

[harryfat1]

3 hours ago, h20skibum said:

A few photos from dinner.  

First, the most important 

 

That is a Lapu Lapu that I substituted for my drink.  Susan had a Pina Colava 

 

 

Some of our dinner items. 

steak

 

 

shrimp

our anniversary treat

desert

 

 

 

Ohana is very nice.  One of the WDW’s most beloved restaurants.  Very difficult to secure a reservation. Good thing you got the reservation time.

 

All you can eat.  They keep bringing the food to your table until you say “No Mas”

 

 

I timed the reservation for late dinner to coincide with the fireworks at Magic Kingdom as they dim the lights in the restaurant and pipe in the music from the parks so you can experience the fireworks from your table.

 

You see the castle in the background

 

 

[harryfat1]

3 hours ago, h20skibum said:

The first day at Disney was screwed up due to the storms.  Our only plans were to spend some time at Disney Springs, relax at the Lodge, and head to O’Hana’s at the Polynesian Resort. 

 

My plan was to take the water taxi from the lodge to Magic Kingdom, then the monorail.  But we found that half the boats from the lodge were not running. So our option was to take the bus to MK, then the monorail or water taxi from MK to the Polynesian.  

 

They altered the bus route to run from the lodge to their campground, then to MK.  You can’t take a bus from one resort to another.  So we had to take the bus to MK, and then the water taxi to the Polynesian Resort for our dinner at Ohana. I didn’t realize you had to go thru security, just to make these transfers.   So for something we could walk in 15 minutes if they had sidewalks, took an hour.  We just made it to our reservation on time. 

Was the monorail in operation after the storm?

 

That's typically the fastest way to get to Poly from Magic Kingdom. 

 

There should be a hotel's monorail that takes you on a loop through Contemporary Resort (I believe you guys are going to Chef Mickey's for a meal later on at the Contemporary) and then Poly and finally the Grand Floridian.

 

Not sure what's on your schedule, but definitely make it a point to stop at the hotel to check it out.  This is Disney World's top-of-the-line hotel.  

 

Way too expensive for Cheapo Dad to stay in as we are over at the moderate resorts but many photo opts at the Grand Floridian if you decide to go.

 

Also they have a water boat dock at the Grand Floridian where you can catch the nightly fireworks from there (free) so you don't even need to go inside the park to see it

[Nickles_1]

On 8/4/2024 at 3:24 AM, h20skibum said:

One problem with this ship is there is only one flow rider.  The lines were long when we went in the afternoon.  Only my PA grandson and I went on.  My granddaughter was disappointed she couldn’t go.  She is a couple inches too short. 
 

Susan and I met this lovely couple, while we waited for the beach pool to reopen. 

 

 

 

Dumb question here ... but are those paper straws? I have a thing against paper straws and I'm now wondering if I need to bring my own.

[h20skibum]

1 hour ago, harryfat1 said:

How many days will you be at WDW?

We have five park days, with park hopper passes, lightning lane passes with rides booked, and individual lightning lanes for the popular rides.