She's Adding All The Extras, a January 2022 Beach Club and Wilderness Lodge Split Stay Trip Report (Updated 4/24)

[GrandCalifornian]

I love the pre-show and was really happy to see it back again.

Yeah, we had never gotten to see it and love how it ties it all together. The pre shows make it more than just a ride.

I love the fact that Marshall loves WL, too. He is a good barometer.

He is. He has grown into quite the Disney expert, just like Allie did at that age. Although she still knows her stuff and loves WL.

That is the one thing I would worry about - getting the bags to the resort by the time I arrived.

It was a lot like Magical Express luggage service, but we had fewer carry ons because we didn’t want to carry much in the park. It worked out fine this time though.

I love Bay Lake and the fireworks cruise sounds wonderful.

It is our favorite “extra” activity at Disney. We just love going out on a boat from WL at night and those fireworks are great from that perspective.

We haven't seen the new 50th add-on for EWP yet. I would really like to return to the WL in the fall.

It is a cute addition and fits right in. Sounds like it is time to look for a WL deal for the fall.

We love the edamame.
I always buy a Magic Cookie Bar when we go to the WL, even if it is only for lunch at GP.

GP has become a great destination no matter where you’re staying. The Magic Cookie bar is worth the walk to Roaring Fork for dessert though.

I know that feeling of being home well. BLT is our home resort, but I also get that home feeling when we stay at AKL, because that's where we stayed for our first two trips as DVC members (and as a family). We'll have to try WL someday.

Yeah, your home resort and first resort are always special. WL is neat to try too though, sometime.

I was really sad when they closed Great Movie Ride, but I really love Runaway Railway. So far only my husband and I have ridden, and I think our kids are going to love it.

We enjoyed runaway railway more than we thought we would, and the pre show makes it even better.

Your fireworks cruise looks amazing. Those photos… I was so excited to see the new additions to the EWP in November! I don’t even know why, but I have always loved catching the EWP. It just makes me happy.

It is the best extra thing we do at Disney, and we were so glad they started doing them again. Getting to see the enhanced EWP from it made it even better.
Something about the EWP is just classic Disney, much like the Main Street Electrical parade. We love it.

 

[keh422]

Something about the EWP is just classic Disney, much like the Main Street Electrical parade. We love it.

That is an excellent way to put it! I do appreciate that they have updated it without completely changing it.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

That is an excellent way to put it! I do appreciate that they have updated it without completely changing it.

Exactly! They could have completely re-done it and lost all the charm. The additions kept it similar to the original, so it fits in so nice.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

On our first morning at Wilderness Lodge, I woke up before 5 but stayed in bed until 5:30. Then I left the room about 6 and went to take lobby pictures.

On the way I saw the updated lobby elevators:






I walked around the North side cabins until almost 7, when I made my way to Roaring Fork and found that they had opened the doors early.

I caught the first Geyser of the day.


I was snug and warm sleeping in bed. It was a chilly drizzly morning.

I got my mug refill then headed to Geyser Point for sunrise. It was cloudy but the sunrise turned them pink for a minute.






Then I got another refill and went back up to the room at 7:45 when Melissa texted me that Marshall was up.

It was a come get your son so I can snooze text.

We placed a breakfast order from Roaring Fork and Mershall went with me to go get it.


I got the bagel sandwich which was really good with a somewhat spicy sauce.


Allie was slow to get up, but finally got moving. It was nice that we were not trying to make it anywhere before rope drop.

We were up pretty late the night before and after all this is a vacation.

She does like to sleep. We did make it out of the room about 9:15, and got to the bus stop at 9:18.


The screen showed 9:27 for an AK bus, but it arrived early. Most of the people at the bus stop were waiting for that bus. It also started to sprinkle, but they packed the bus full with lots of people standing and left at 9:29.


I was surprised that there were that many people excited to get out and about in the wet.

We arrived at AK at 9:43

We decided to head straight to the safaris and just wait in whatever line was waiting for us.


We stopped for a quick potty stop on the way, and then got in line at 10:00. Then Allie decided she needed a potty too so I took her out of line to go use it. Somebody always has to go, especially when they didn't go on the way in with everybody else...

We are normally very good about making the kids try when we stop but she assured us she was fine… then she wasn’t.

Turns out it was fine because the ride was broken anyway.

As we got back to the line we were told it was closed, but were able to get in by convincing the CM that our group was already inside.

We overheard another on the phone saying that a truck had stalled on the Safari, and they would have to tow it out of the way.

There was only one other group behind us so we barely made it in line.


People kept giving up and leaving the line but we decided to stick it out. Once they cleared the truck out of the way the line really started moving and our total wait was only 35 minutes.


We heard that they didn't re-open the line right away so that we would get on before Lightning Lane people were let in once it oficially reopened.

That was a super interesting tidbit.

I was glad to see the CMs concern for the guests who had waited it out in line over the guests using Lightning Lane.

We had a great safari ride and saw lots of animals.





I feel like we always have good luck when it’s cool and drizzly, even at home when we go to the zoo or safari park cool drizzly days are the best.

Yeah, the animals seem to enjoy the change of weather.

After the ride we decided to walk the Gorilla Falls Trail.

Jon and Brandy headed towards lunch, but we didn't want to skip the trail, and I'm glad we did it. It was pretty normal, until we got to the Gorillas, and we got to see one of them right up against the glass with her baby.


It was so cute watching mom with her baby. Marshall also loved looking at all the skulls on the trail. He wanted to know what each one was and we had to examine them all.

After that we headed to Flame Tree to meet up with Jon and Brandy.


They had gotten a table down by the water, and once we got there we placed our mobile food order.

I was super excited about lunch and even kept on my poncho which I now called my BBQ suit.


You were ready for some serious BBQ sauce slop

That’s what makes it taste good.

It turns out we had entertainment while we waited, as the kite tails show was starting shortly after we arrived.

We had a front row set to Disney’s new hot mess express. We’d heard about the show but it wasn’t really on our radar. It ended up being comical for how crazy it is.


We liked the concept of kites and jet skis, and watched as they attempted to launch one right in front of us. Unfortuately the rider seemed to loose the handle of the kite, and it all fell into the water in front of us.


It was a total failure to launch, and they just collected it up and put it away.

The other kites lauched ok and all of the jetski riders stayed out of the water.


It was not a day where anyone wanted to be getting any wetter than they had to.

The show does seem rather haphazard, and I really don't expect it to last. I picture looking back and talking about that crazy kite show we watched them try that one time...

Yeah that no one else remembers. Kinda like the white rabbit DJ parties at California Adventure…

There you go... It will fade into Disney obscurity sooner than later.

For food, we ordered ribs, pulled pork sandwiches, and the pulled pork mac and cheese, which we pulled the pork off of and gave to Marshall since there wasn't mac and cheese on the kids menu. We enjoyed the extra pork and everyone was happy.

It appears we were so busy eating it that we didn't get any pictures of the food though...

I was glad we made time to eat there.

As we finished, we waved to Mickey, who was out for a pontoon boat ride.


Check out the rest of our damp day in the next update.

 

[Wood Nymph]

I got my mug refill then headed to Geyser Point for sunrise. It was cloudy but the sunrise turned them pink for a minute.

You timed that perfectly! The pink sky is beautiful

It was a come get your son so I can snooze text.

We placed a breakfast order from Roaring Fork and Mershall went with me to go get it.

It looks like Marshall likes going to Roaring Forks with Dad.

The screen showed 9:27 for an AK bus, but it arrived early. Most of the people at the bus stop were waiting for that bus. It also started to sprinkle, but they packed the bus full with lots of people standing and left at 9:29.

That is a big crowd for 9:30 in the morning.

We heard that they didn't re-open the line right away so that we would get on before Lightning Lane people were let in once it officially reopened.

That was really nice of them to take care of the people who stuck it out.

After the ride we decided to walk the Gorilla Falls Trail.

The gorillas have been so cute lately, especially with all the babies.

We had a front row set to Disney’s new hot mess express. We’d heard about the show but it wasn’t really on our radar. It ended up being comical for how crazy it is.

We saw the kite show in February and agree that it was a bit of a mess. The kites did what they wanted them to do but just the way they land in the stands where they are supposed to land is a little distracting. You had a nice, day place to watch the show, which was a plus. I really like that seating area and have used it for a nice place to eat some popcorn.

 

[rdkeim]

Nice you decided to head to the park even though the weather wasn't the best. You were rewarded with a good safari and BBQ for lunch. Hope the sun comes out for you!

 

[DaisyDuck001]

As usual all your pictures are great; and from this batch, these two are my favorites. Did you use a pink filter on the second picture here, or was it really that pink naturally?

 

[GrandCalifornian]

You timed that perfectly! The pink sky is beautiful

Thanks, it was really pretty for a couple of minutes.

It looks like Marshall likes going to Roaring Forks with Dad.

He does. He asked to go out early with me, but he also was so tired he usually slept in.

That is a big crowd for 9:30 in the morning.

Yeah, it was a pretty popular park that morning.

That was really nice of them to take care of the people who stuck it out.

Yes, they kept it nice and fair, and our overall wait wasn't bad at all.

The gorillas have been so cute lately, especially with all the babies.

The babies are adorable, and we could just sit and watch them for a long time. They were pretty popular that day though.

We saw the kite show in February and agree that it was a bit of a mess. The kites did what they wanted them to do but just the way they land in the stands where they are supposed to land is a little distracting. You had a nice, dry place to watch the show, which was a plus. I really like that seating area and have used it for a nice place to eat some popcorn.

We love that seating area too, and it is where we celebrated buying DVC in 2017. The show is interesting, at least, we just don't expect it to last long. Oh well, we did enjoy watching it.

Nice you decided to head to the park even though the weather wasn't the best. You were rewarded with a good safari and BBQ for lunch. Hope the sun comes out for you!

We're always up for giving it a try, and it worked out well this day. Unfortunately the weather was getting wetter as the day went on, but we found fun things to do for the evening anyway, and we stayed totally dry.

As usual all your pictures are great; and from this batch, these two are my favorites. Did you use a pink filter on the second picture here, or was it really that pink naturally?

Thanks so much. We don't use any filters for the photo editing, but do adjust the exposure to bring out what we want the pictures to show. Here are a couple of the original unedited pics from that morning at Geyser Point.


It was a pretty morning and I was fortunate to catch it at the right time.

 

[AliceNDinah]

Ooooooh, love the pink sky and pink water - just stunning

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Ooooooh, love the pink sky and pink water - just stunning

It was crazy how it went from grey to pink, and then back, in a matter of minutes. I was lucky to catch it just right.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

After lunch we decided that we were pretty much done with the park.


We did some shopping on the way out looking for Mickey Crocs but came up empty handed again.

Yeah, we decided that they just didn't exist in the parks anymore, but as a side note we just ordered a pair online thanks to a hot tip from @MickeyMouseLove who read about our shoe ordeal on this report. Thanks for that!

We headed out of the park at 1:35, and it was starting to rain harder but we went for it. We got to the bus stop at 1:43 right as a bus pulled up. It loaded and left at 1:45, with enough seats for everyone on board.

Back at the resort we dried off, put on dry shoes and socks and warmed up.

Then we left Allie in the room doing homework and went to check out the Mercantile. We bought another WL Tervis, and my new favorite hat. Then we went out to the lobby.


Then we had a dessert date plus Marshall at Roarin Fork.

We got a magic cookie bar and tried the Smore Cake to accompany our mug refills.


The magic cookie bar was perfect as usual but the smores cake was something else.

It started beautiful...


And it turned to this...


Actually it was quite awkward with the marshmallow filling, and didn't taste all that great.

This is for sure a skip for us.

You can't win them all.

After dessert we went back up to the room and hung out for a while since it was still raining.



I think I got some work done too, but eventually I got bored.

Jon and Brandy asked what the dinner plan was, and pizza sounded good, but we discovered that it is still not available at WL since they don't have room service. We looked at some outside restaurants that would deliver, and gave them their info, but our family decided instead to go tour the monorail loop.

We left the room at 5:35 (Paul just told me this while he’s sitting next to me on the couch.) and hopped on a Disney Springs bus because those busses stop at the Contemporary first before heading to the Springs. It’s a good hack while the resort boats aren’t running, or, while it’s raining.


It was a decent workaround since the Blue Flag boats still were not running. (SIde note, we REALLY miss these boats and encourage everyone who visits WL to request that they bring them back. This is what we were told by boat drivers was the only way to get them back.)


We went upstairs and did a little shopping, I got a new rain jacket and another Tervis to add to the collection.


Then we placed our mobile order for Contempo Cafe before shopping in the other stores.

Allie bought pencils and lolipops for her school friends, and we got some more coffee for the room.

For dinner Allie got a Tofu rice bowl, Marshall got pizza, and Paul and I got burgers.





The burgers were pretty plain and just ok. I kind of regretted not getting pizza. The dessert saved the meal though, since we got a monorail cookies and cream cupcake that was my favorite of the trip so far.


I think Allie won the dinner game with the Tofu bowl, it was acutally really good.

After eating, we headed upstairs for the monorail and rode it to the brand new Poly station, which from the monorail level looks just like it used to. It was hard to believe it was a hole in the ground during our last trip.


It was nice to check out the Poly and we were excited to get a taste of Hawaii!!


We never made it here last year, so we were making up for lost time, and looking forward to our next trip. Upstairs we just looked around, but downstairs we found a shirt for Marshall, a castle pin, and a Donald art print that we thought was cute for the kids bathroom.

We stopped at Captian Cooks for mug refills and then headed back upstairs to the monorail.


Since Magic Kingdom was closed we had to tell them we were going to the Grand Floridian which was true, it was our next stop.

We got on the monorail at 8:16, and arrived at the Grand Floridian at 8:19. We walked in and went straight to the upstairs shop with all the toys and Marshall found a shield, sword, and cape that he wanted. We talked him down to one item, and he chose the shield. In this store Allie also saw and loved a light up underskirt. She convinced us to buy it since it was so cute that she still got excited by something pretty like that.


It was super cute and we just couldn’t say no.

Once the kids were outfitted as a kinght and princess, we headed downstairs for more shopping. We discovered a shop in the back corner that we hadn't been to before.

It definately had kind of a high end feeling but it was just another Disney gift shop with a super sweet Cast Member. I ended up finding a swim cover up and contemplated a pop socket until we realized it was 50 dollars!

The Cast Member was cute about it and said that most people decide to pass on it after seeing the price. After that store we went across to the candy and gift shop by the Grand Floridian Cafe, and saw the cutest little girl singing "Let It Go".

Aww she was cute, I miss Allie at that age.

We then walked around outside over to Gaspirilla Grill.

It was pretty late and we weren’t really into any more food so we just got some drink refills and contemplated how to get back home in the rain.

Since it was almost 9:00 (when Epcot closed) and we didn't want to switch buses at Disney Springs, we decided to just take a cab. There was a van there waiting, and the fare was only $7.10. It wound up being well worth the cost even with a good tip, since it saved over an hour on crowded buses.

It was quick, easy, dry and warm.

We arrived back at the lodge and went up to get the kids ready for bed. We decided to do some laundry, but took it to the 4th floor DVC laundromat to use the bigger machines and avoid noise in the room.


We had so much laundry to do, it took up two machines.


It meant that we stayed up late, but it gave us time to hang out and write up our trip report notes.

It was the end of another long day but we managed to stay pretty dry and warm and I’m pretty sure that was the last wet day of the trip. Stay tuned as we all find out.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

What does your new favorite hat from WL look like?

 

[Wood Nymph]

We left the room at 5:35 (Paul just told me this while he’s sitting next to me on the couch.) and hopped on a Disney Springs bus because those busses stop at the Contemporary first before heading to the Springs. It’s a good hack while the resort boats aren’t running, or, while it’s raining.
...
It was a decent workaround since the Blue Flag boats still were not running. (SIde note, we REALLY miss these boats and encourage everyone who visits WL to request that they bring them back. This is what we were told by boat drivers was the only way to get them back.)

The Disney Springs bus is a good way to get to the CR. But the boat is better. I thought they would bring it back when Hoop Dee Doo returned, but maybe not. The monorail tour is fun and a nice way to stay out of the weather.

After eating, we headed upstairs for the monorail and rode it to the brand new Poly station, which from the monorail level looks just like it used to. It was hard to believe it was a hole in the ground during our last trip.

I haven't seen the new station yet. Did they make any changes to it at the ground level?

In this store Allie also saw and loved a light up underskirt. She convinced us to buy it since it was so cute that she still got excited by something pretty like that.

That is really cute.

Since it was almost 9:00 (when Epcot closed) and we didn't want to switch buses at Disney Springs, we decided to just take a cab. There was a van there waiting, and the fare was only $7.10. It wound up being well worth the cost even with a good tip, since it saved over an hour on crowded buses.

The cab was a good solution. We tried to get a cab from WL to GR for dinner pre-pandemic and none of the cabs wanted to take the short trip, and short fare. Luckily, a cab that was dropping off at the WL agreed to take us to the GF.

Cold rain is no fun. We had that during our Feb trip.

 

[rdkeim]

You made the best of a rainy day. Glad it was your last wet day. It's nice at Disney there are other fun ways to spend your day besides the parks. We were there a couple weeks ago and stayed in cabins at Ft. Wilderness. Our first night we had dinner reservations at WL. I was surprised when we got to the dock that we had to take a boat to MK then change boats to get back to WL. I really hope they bring back the resort boats. I was surprised and not happy!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

What does your new favorite hat from WL look like?

Here’s my hat:

They had a bunch at the beginning of our stay at WL, but they sold out by the time we left.

The Disney Springs bus is a good way to get to the CR. But the boat is better. I thought they would bring it back when Hoop Dee Doo returned, but maybe not.

We really do fear that Disney is considering eliminating these boats as a cost cutting option, which was supported by talking to the boat drivers. It is no longer a staffing issue, so they need to be urged to bring them back ASAP.

The monorail tour is fun and a nice way to stay out of the weather.
I haven't seen the new station yet. Did they make any changes to it at the ground level?

We love the monorail loop and it is a highlight of the trip whenever we do it. We didn’t go out and see the ground level entrance of the Poly, but the whole area was dug up for construction. Our guess is they were doing underground utility and structural work more than changing the above ground look and feel.

That is really cute.

We will share more pics of her light up dress combo as she really enjoyed wearing them out to dinner.

The cab was a good solution. We tried to get a cab from WL to GR for dinner pre-pandemic and none of the cabs wanted to take the short trip, and short fare. Luckily, a cab that was dropping off at the WL agreed to take us to the GF.

The driver was just waiting and happy to take us, and we tipped him well. We were also glad that he got a fare from WL right away too.

Cold rain is no fun. We had that during our Feb trip.

Yeah, it isn’t the same as the summer rain we are used to. We made the best of it though and stayed dry and it didn’t affect us at all this night.

You made the best of a rainy day. Glad it was your last wet day. It's nice at Disney there are other fun ways to spend your day besides the parks. We were there a couple weeks ago and stayed in cabins at Ft. Wilderness. Our first night we had dinner reservations at WL. I was surprised when we got to the dock that we had to take a boat to MK then change boats to get back to WL. I really hope they bring back the resort boats. I was surprised and not happy!

Yeah, we still had some damp days coming, but nothing that actually got us wet or had any affect on our plans like this day. It’s all good.

We really do miss the boat transportation option to Fort Wilderness and the Contemporary. Since you still can’t walk to Fort Wilderness it makes it a much bigger pain to get to. We still made it over there later in the trip, but we wish it was easier to get to FW like it used to be, and the boats would easily solve that.

 

[figment52]

Would you post pictures of the Tervis cups please?

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Would you post pictures of the Tervis cups please?

Sure! Melissa took a picture of all of them together at home.

My favorite is (no surprise) Wilderness Lodge:

They are a fun and functional souvenir, and Melissa uses one every day.

 

[figment52]

Sure! Melissa took a picture of all of them together at home.

My favorite is (no surprise) Wilderness Lodge:

They are a fun and functional souvenir, and Melissa uses one every day.

very cool, thanks

 

[GrandCalifornian]

So first off I’d like to say that I lied to you, that was not our last wet day.


Well, it was the last time we got rather wet, we did seem to do well avoiding being wet from then on out.

I at least got some use out of my new raincoat and didn’t need my BBQ suit anymore.

That's true. I got up at 5:45 and left the room just after 6AM. I got pictures in the lobby and down by Roaring Fork.





I also did our Genie Plus for MK right at 7AM from outside of Raoring Fork. It took 8 minutes for the page to load, but I wound up getting Big Thunder Mountain for 12:20 as our first Lightning Lane.

I went back to the room and Marshall got up about 8:30, but everyone else was sleeping. Once they got up, we left the room about 10 and walked down to the dock.


We braved the drizzle and headed for a boat. On the dock we watched a family on a fishing excursion. The guide parked the boat right up to the dock and in like two seconds the kid on the boat hooked a really nice bass. It looked like alot of fun and might be something Marshall would be into next trip.


It was Disney perfect, and Marshall said we should do it sometime. While we waited we were discussing how we likely would not renew our APs, which was planned so that we could wait and get two trips out of them in the future. Brandy is not super happy with many of the current Disney management decisions, and taking a bit of a break from spending thousands of dollars a year on passes made sense to us.

Once we were on a boat though, our thoughts returned to focusing on how much fun we were having.

Luckily it was a big boat and we got to sit inside out of the wet. Not that it was very wet at all, just sprinkly

We got on the boat at 10:17, and got to MK at about 10:30.


We got in the park fine, and headed down Main Street. Jon and Brandy stoipped at Starbucks, but we continued on towards tomorrowland and the peoplemover.

On the way to Tomorrowland we found my favorite 50th golden statue!



That one is really cool. We got in line for the people mover, which showed a 5 minute wait but took a little longer.


At 11 AM we got our second lightning lane, since it was 2 hours after park opening, even though we had not used our first one yet. We got Haunted Mansion for 1:25.

The People Mover was perfect as usual.


After we got off we met back up with Jon and Brandy and then we got back in line because the People Mover is the best.

They wanted to ride it, and we were happy to do it again. After the ride we grabbed the cream cheese pretzels that Garrett from the fireworks cruise recommended.


They were good. and different from a regular soft pretzel, and I really enjoyed it.


Oh man the cream cheese pretzels are good. Highly reccomend them.


After our snack, which was devoured really quickly we decided to visit a classic. Allie voted on Carousel of Progress. Marshall didn’t remember it so it was a perfect new, old thing.

And it was a nice inside place to sit since it was still a little moist outside. Afterwards it wasn't raining, and it was time so we headed towards Big Thunder Mountain, stopping for castle pics on the way.



We also saw all the construction going on at Splash Mountain. They had the whole thing drained and scaffolding up. It was an interesting thing to see and we totally didn’t miss being able to ride it this trip.


It stuck with our staying dry theme.

At Big Thunder our Lightning Lane saved us a 50 minute wait, and it felt like it.


Both kids loved the ride.


It was so fun as usual and its nice the kids are both old enough to enjoy this stuff together.

After Big Thunder, we headed for Pirates since it showed a 40 minute wait. We got in line at 1:07, and the entire line was covered, so it was a shorter line than earlier in the trip.

It really didn’t feel like we waited a long time and it was great to check that one off the list again.

We made it on the ride in 37 minutes, and after our voyage we then went towards Haunted Mansion. We did the Lightning Lane at 2:20, and enjoyed that the full pre ride experience was back, including the stretching room.

Marshall wasn’t too sure about the hitchhiking ghosts, it reminded me of when Allie was his age and flat refused to ride it.

They both braved it though, and we all got to ride together. It was the biggest block of rides of the trip for us, and we all had fun.

We then shopped at Momento Mori and then the Christmas shop

After the Christmas shop, we saw the spring roll cart. Despite being on our way to lunch, we had a bit of an appetizer. We tried the pizza ones again, and the new Pastrami ones, which I really enjoyed and I thought were the best of the spring roll varieties.


I’m not the hugest fan of the spring rolls but the pastrami one was at least edible for me with some mustard.

We were on our way to Skipper Canteen, where we checked in early for our 3:05 ADR at 2:50.


Allie and I were REALLY excited to share this restaruant with the boys.

We were seated in under 10 minutes, and like the girls did on their trip I decided on Thai Pasta.


We were disappointed that the Brazilian Cheese bread wasn’t on the menu this year but at least the Pad Thai was. Allie and I also got the noodles too and they were every bit as good as we remembered.


Overall the food was very good, and the server did a nice job bringing drinks, which is always nice during a mid day break in a park.

It really redeamed itself for the group and landed itself on the long list of favorites.


It is a completely different alternative to Liberty Tree for an MK lunch spot, and it is nice to have different options.

Check out the rest of our day in the next update.

 

[Wood Nymph]

I also did our Genie Plus for MK right at 7AM from outside of Roaring Fork. It took 8 minutes for the page to load, but I wound up getting Big Thunder Mountain for 12:20 as our first Lightning Lane.

Disney has too many things that open at 7am. They need to somehow streamline this process so there aren't long loading times. Genie+ makes me long for the old fastpass days.

On the dock we watched a family on a fishing excursion. The guide parked the boat right up to the dock and in like two seconds the kid on the boat hooked a really nice bass. It looked like alot of fun and might be something Marshall would be into next trip.

We've seen fishing excursions that in that spot. It looks very relaxing but I think I would prefer to fish across the lake where there are only woods and water.

While we waited we were discussing how we likely would not renew our APs, which was planned so that we could wait and get two trips out of them in the future.

Do you want to get away from the cold January weather? It has the lowest rates of the year but also the coldest weather.

After we got off we met back up with Jon and Brandy and then we got back in line because the People Mover is the best.

The People Mover is the best and even more fun with the Tron construction view.

After our snack, which was devoured really quickly we decided to visit a classic. Allie voted on Carousel of Progress. Marshall didn’t remember it so it was a perfect new, old thing.

Carousel of Progress is a great place to get warm as well as hide from the rain.

It is a completely different alternative to Liberty Tree for an MK lunch spot, and it is nice to have different options.

I would love to check this restaurant out some day. It looks like a fun place to eat.