She's Packing it All In, a June 2023 5 Night Copper Creek 1BR Trip Report (Completed 8/17)

[DaisyDuck001]

What brought on the laughing fit at Yak and Yeti?

Too bad about the disappointing desserts from Roaring Fork.... Most of the cupcakes I tried at WDW didn't taste nearly as good as they looked. Actually the best one was at Contempo Cafe....

 

[GrandCalifornian]

We have tried to catch the macaw release but have never timed it right. We were told that they release the macaws at a certain time every hour but they didn't do it on the day we waited for it.

We have been really lucky getting to see it. They seem to do it more and let the birds be free longer than when it first started. These birds were in no hurry to go anywhere.

It looks like buying Genie+ worked out well for the day. I would not have wanted to wait for those rides, either, especially in the afternoon heat.

It really saved the day as far as being able to fit what we wanted to do in the time we had, while avoiding getting too hot.

That must have been a little upsetting to see, especially for the kids.

It was sad, but super quick. Definitely not scripted Disney stuff, but it was nature.

That is probably a really good time to go swimming. There are less people there in the evening.

It worked out really well. There were people swimming every night until 11 PM, and it was something both kids really enjoyed.

It must have been a good time to go to Disney if you are planning another trip.

It worked out much better crowd and heat wise than we feared or even expected. We would definitely do it again, likely in June 2024.

The 4th, 5th and 6th floor windows are a great view. I am never shy about opening the shutters to watch the fireworks.

Exactly! Open em up and enjoy the show. I was by myself on the way to Geyser Point but I still opened them and enjoyed it for a bit.

Fun day! Your kids are so lucky to grow up as Disney kids. Seems like a good decision to give in and purchase Genie+. But, I hate that it's almost become a necessity if you want to ride and not spend most of your day in lines Swimming is always a good way to end the day!

Yeah, I don’t like the extra cost and necessity of Genie+, but at least this trip we felt like we got some benefit out of it. Not that it was “worth it” but at least we got some significant time saving benefit from it. It is what it is, and we had a better time doing it than if we hadn’t.
Swimming was fun at night. We thought we’d get some hot tub time, but the Boulder Ridge one was closed and the main ones were pretty full.

What brought on the laughing fit at Yak and Yeti?

None of us remember. It must have been something, but she was just having too good of a time.

Too bad about the disappointing desserts from Roaring Fork.... Most of the cupcakes I tried at WDW didn't taste nearly as good as they looked. Actually the best one was at Contempo Cafe....

Yeah, we have had good ones here in the past, but both of these were duds for us taste-wise. Oh well, there’s always the magic cookie bar. We have had some great cupcakes at CR.

 

[Ellester]

Great report! We love the Lodge as well although both our DVC stays there have been in Copper Creek. The smell in the lobby is probably my favorite Disney smell!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Great report! We love the Lodge as well although both our DVC stays there have been in Copper Creek. The smell in the lobby is probably my favorite Disney smell!

Thanks! We absolutely love the lodge, and Copper Creek is our favorite. We bought DVC there in 2017 the first year it was offered and are super happy we got to do it. We love everything about the lobby, and it was so neat to have a room that opened right into it this time.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

On Sunday, I slept in until just before 6, then realized I could still go get sunrise pictures. I swang by Roaring Fork on my way to Geyser Point, and it was totally empty.

When I got down to Geyser Point, there were a few clouds which made it a little more interesting.

It was so calm that the reflection off the lake was pretty.

I got a few courtyard pics as well on my way back towards the room.

We had plans at Hollywood Studios for today but we didn’t plan on being there for rope drop which was nice so we were able to snooze a little later.

I did make it back to the room and out on the balcony for the 7AM Ligntning Lane selection.

After our success at AK, I went ahead and bought Genie+ for this day as well. I was able to get Slinky Dog for 11:25.

I went back down to Roaring Fork and got breakfast to bring up to the room.

We enjoyed a fairly leisurely breakfast and some time in the room before heading out for the day.

We headed down to the bus stop because we were going to take the bus for the first time of the trip.

We had plans to park hop, and didn't want to be tied to a parking lot with the rental car, so we headed to the bus stop. We got down to the bus stop at 9:46 and soon discovered we had not missed waiting for buses. The HS bus came at 9:54, then loaded an ECV before we left at 9:59, then got to HS at 10:10.

It was also a pretty full bus. It’s ok though we were on our way to start our adventure for the day.

Despite the kids appearance, it wasn't that bad...

When we got to the park, we walked around and shopped until 10:30.

Then we were able to get an additional Lightning Lane for Midway Mania for 10:35 due to the two hour rule, which let us get a second LL before we had done our first one.

We headed there through Batuu.

It was HOT and we were all parched so we splurged on the fancy alien Coke.

It was nice to check out Galaxy's Edge, and the refreshment was nice since it was already hot out.

Then it was time to ride Midway Mania, which we had never done at WDW. They have the ride in CA, but it was fun to get to ride it here and see the different queue.

While we waited I challenged Allie to a little friendly competition. If I beat her on the ride she would pose hapily for 5 pictures, but if she beat me I would buy her a Munchling.

It really got here excited to ride. There is so much to see here in the queue, it’s adorable. Paul even found his favorite crayon.

At the end of the ride the final score was my 120,000 to her 129,000.

That meant we had to go shopping, but first it was almost time for Slinky Dog Dash, so we waited and got in line for it right at 11:25.

I’m so glad we didn’t have to wait in the long line for this one too. As much as I love this land and this ride it really feels like Dinoland as far as surface of the sun temperatures.

It was HOT, but the wait was super short and the ride was fun. We also got to download our ride photo because we did Genie+.

Both kids really enjoy this rollercoaster, I’m glad we made it happen.

We snagged a LL for Tower of Terror but since we had forgotten to pick up a stroller on the way in it was time to do that. Marshall’s poor feet and legs were starting to bother him and using the rental strollers was really working out. We utilized the shops for AC on the way around to Tower of Terror.

I checked out some of the new Vera Bradley bags and ended up buying a new pair of earrings.

Allie was really on the fence about whether to ride Tower of Terror. We could tell she kind of wanted to try it, so we convinced her to do it for her blog.

And then we bribed her with new ears if she did it.

Elevators are kind of our thing though and I kinda wanted the ears too.

Melissa's uncle actually worked on building Tower of Terror in Florida and then in CA, and it is a great ride from an elevator mechanic's perspective. It did wind up scaring both kids, but they survived and we went on to shop.

Marshall got a Lightning McQueen toy car, then we made our way towards lunch.

We were pretty excited about this lunch, we have tried for it the last couple trips but couldn’t get it.

We got to Sci Fi Drive In at 12:55 and checked in, and we were seated immediately.

Being just a party of four, we got a nice normal car with forward facing seats. The kids took the front row, and I got to be in the back seat of a classic car with my wife.

It felt like a mini date. We ordered onion rings as an appetizer because we all wanted fries too. They were great onion rings though and next time I might do double onion rings.

For my burger, I chose the BBQ which was actually excellent.

It was a big improvement over what I remembered here before, and truly was a great burger.

I ordered the Pork on Pork burger, it’s a pork patty and pork belly with slaw.

It was amazing. A really great burger.

They really upped their game here.

Marshall ordered the Mac N Cheese which he enjoyed. It was so funny, Allie ordered the “Feature Film Burger” which is basically the special of the day without asking what it was.

When they brought it she still couldn’t figure out what it was but she enjoyed it. We ended up asking our waitress what was on her burger, turns out it was a surf and turf situation with a crab patty. The waitress was impressed that she had ordered it and had thought Allison had asked someone else what was on the burger.

She wound up really enjoying it as well. We had booked this lunch knowing that it would have a great atmosphere, but the food quality as well made it a great combination. It wound up being my favorite meal of the trip, which is very high praise because we had a lot of excellent meals.

The food was great, the atmosphere was super fun and we’ll definatly try for it again next trip.

It was wonderful, and we had more fun and another park left to go. Check out the rest of our day in the next update.

 

[Wood Nymph]

The sunrise was really pretty that morning. And the view from that huge balcony was nice, too. This has got to be one of the best room locations at WL/CC.

While we waited I challenged Allie to a little friendly competition. If I beat her on the ride she would pose happily for 5 pictures, but if she beat me I would buy her a Munchling.

Allie got a good score.

Melissa's uncle actually worked on building Tower of Terror in Florida and then in CA, and it is a great ride from an elevator mechanic's perspective.

That would be a great ride from an elevator mechanic's perspective. Elevators don't usually travel around like that.

We had booked this lunch knowing that it would have a great atmosphere, but the food quality as well made it a great combination. It wound up being my favorite meal of the trip, which is very high praise because we had a lot of excellent meals.

It's good to hear that you had a great meal. We have an ADR for Sci Fi in September.

 

[Psymonds]

It felt like a mini date. We ordered onion rings as an appetizer because we all wanted fries too. They were great onion rings though and next time I might do double onion rings.

we had a little mini date at Sci Fi with DS14 and DS6 in the back and DD12 in the middle (where she whipped out her book to read). I noticed later that there were tables with all 6 facing each other

 

[rdkeim]

Part 1 of your day sounds super fun! The Florida heat can make it challenging but between shopping, riding and eating you avoided the worst of it. Once again Genie + probably saved the day. I hope one of these days they allow you to make your selections prior to the trip - oh Fast Pass how I miss you We love Sci Fi - so fun. Agree the food is better and we always give in and order a milkshake.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

The sunrise was really pretty that morning. And the view from that huge balcony was nice, too. This has got to be one of the best room locations at WL/CC.

I love the morning lake view from WL (as is probably obvious) and the view from the bear face balcony was great. It was neat to get to sit out and enjoy it a bit.

Allie got a good score.

She only barely beat me, but only because I made up a lot of ground on the last part. It was fun.

That would be a great ride from an elevator mechanic's perspective. Elevators don't usually travel around like that.

If they go down in free fall, they set safeties and stop. It is crazy to think about accelerating downward instead. Fun stuff.

It's good to hear that you had a great meal. We have an ADR for Sci Fi in September.

Great! It had been a fun meal for us in the past, but this time the food was just great. I hope it’s just as great for you guys.

we had a little mini date at Sci Fi with DS14 and DS6 in the back and DD12 in the middle (where she whipped out her book to read). I noticed later that there were tables with all 6 facing each other

Yeah, we had a more conventional table last time with a party of 8 including a high chair. The forward facing seats were neat, and mini dates on vacation are great

Part 1 of your day sounds super fun! The Florida heat can make it challenging but between shopping, riding and eating you avoided the worst of it. Once again Genie + probably saved the day. I hope one of these days they allow you to make your selections prior to the trip - oh Fast Pass how I miss you

Amen to that. We like to plan and it would be great to set up a day like we wound up having. At least we were lucky enough to get to ride everything we wanted with minimal wait times and stayed cool because of it.

We love Sci Fi - so fun. Agree the food is better and we always give in and order a milkshake.

We love it too and had tried for the last three trips to get an ADR here. We didn’t get a shake this time, but would definitely consider it next time.

 

[Psymonds]

I went back up to the room by 6:40 and got everyone up. I had planned on doing the Virtual Queue for Guardians, but we got busy getting ready and I missed it. By the time I checked about 10 minutes late the spots were gone.

I found that I needed to watch the analog mickey watch on my apple watch so I could see the seconds go by and then hit refresh just after 7 (within a few seconds) to get it at 7 am. we did not have any trouble getting virtual queues at 1 pm but we only got one at 7 am (on our last day)

 

[DaisyDuck001]

I found that I needed to watch the analog mickey watch on my apple watch so I could see the seconds go by and then hit refresh just after 7 (within a few seconds) to get it at 7 am. we did not have any trouble getting virtual queues at 1 pm but we only got one at 7 am (on our last day)

I think it's sad that vacationers have to jump through hoops like this during the trip, instead of relaxing while on vacation. The introduction of Genie led me to take a long break from Disney trips, and I'm exploring other destinations for now. But I still enjoy reading about other people's Disney trips, especially the OP's.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

I found that I needed to watch the analog mickey watch on my apple watch so I could see the seconds go by and then hit refresh just after 7 (within a few seconds) to get it at 7 am. we did not have any trouble getting virtual queues at 1 pm but we only got one at 7 am (on our last day)

Yes, when we consciously try for the virtual queue I am refreshing at the exact second, but this time I totally missed it and forgot to try until 10 minutes too late. On a prior trip we missed out even trying right on time, but this trip we did well of I remembered to do it. Oh well.

I think it's sad that vacationers have to jump through hoops like this during the trip, instead of relaxing while on vacation. The introduction of Genie led me to take a long break from Disney trips, and I'm exploring other destinations for now. But I still enjoy reading about other people's Disney trips, especially the OP's.

I completely understand, and we too took longer than usual off between trips, but we are glad that you still follow along and join in as we re-live the fun we had.
This time we just saw Gennie + as a necessary part of squeezing our desired activities in, and for that it worked well this time.

Thanks everyone for hanging around. We just got back from our summer Utah trip, so we have been delayed in doing trip report writing. We will try to get another update finished up this week. Utah was great again, by the way, and we had a good time doing non-Disney stuff. It was short though at just four nights, but we take what we can get.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

When we left off, we had just finished an excellent meal at Sci Fi Drive in. We had made a Lightning Lane reservation for Runaway Railway, so we weren't quite finished with this park yet.

We had some time to kill before we could hop in line and it was HOT. We sought out AC in the Walt Disney museum thingy (not the actual name, just what we call it).

Instead of the normal video at the end they had a preview for the new live action Little Mermaid which was very fun to see.

We still haven’t seen the movie though, I think it’s on my list for the weekend.

We were among the last to see this, since they switched back to the regular video the following week. Once we were done we still had a little time left to kill so we looked for names in the concrete out front of Runaway Railway.

We first visited the dump shop, where the kids sampled RC cars.

We then got in line at 2:55. We got to see the whole pre-show and got on the ride at 3:17.

I really love this ride. It’s so fun and just a great additon to the park.

It is fun, and we all enjoyed it. We got off the ride at 3:22, then meandered our way out of the park. We left at 3:34, then hopped on the skyliner at 3:37.

We got to the CBR station at 3:41, then walked right on the second Skyliner at 3:43 and got to International Gateway at 3:57.

We were headed to Epcot for the evening. I started off sitting backward on the Skyliner and then decided that I could not do that and switched. I don’t have it in me to sit backwards.

We considered walking around the resorts a bit, but instead headed right into the park. We knew we could pick up a stroller with our receipt, but we had somehow mahaged to loose it between HS and here.

We only had this park visit left so the sweet CM just let us have it. It would have been worth another 15 bucks to rent though. I think that was one of the smartest things we did that we hadn’t planned on.

Yes, it worked out so well, and by this time Marshall was pretty much done walking.

We began snacking around Epcot a bit, not out of hunger but because we had things we wanted to try. We started with tres leches and a grapefruit slush.

The tres leches cake was really pretty good. The grapefruit slush tasted like it needed alchohol.

I am not a grapefruit fan, and this did nothing to change my mind. We followed it up with some fruit sushi in Japan, which was fun.

It was fun but not delicious.

It was great for the photo op but we weren’t huge fans.

It was also still super hot out, like boiling, so my preferred destination was Germany for a big Coke with ice. These always seem to hit the spot, even if I was too full to have the usual pretzel to go with it.

I was more in the mood for a bottled coke so I stopped at Karamel Kuche and grabbed a bottle and a bag of Caramel popcorn.

We also booked a Lightning Lane for Spaceship Earth since we hadn't done it yet. It was a neat benefit to be able to use Genie + at multiple parks in a single day.

I’m glad they haven’t redone this ride yet. It followed Marshall’s world history curriculum this year perfectly so I called it a school field trip.

We still had more World Showcase to do first though, and cooled off in the China shop for a bit and looked at dog stuff. They had more Golden Retreiver stuff than we would have expected.

We didn’t buy anything though. After China we headed to Norway. Paul fell in love with a Helly Hansen Jacket. It was really hard to justify the cost of one of those jackets when it’s the surface of the sun outside. Also when it doesn’t snow at our home.

It would have been a good deal with a discount, but I resisted. I did actually consider it though. Melissa found some lotion and perfume that she liked though, so she picked that up.

I found it easy to justify frangrance.

After Norway we headed over to the Orange Blossom building for some AC on the way to Spaceship Earth. We cut through the Creations Shop too just to help stay cool.

We made it to Spaceship Earth just in time for our window, which got us ahead of about four people.

Oh well, it was cool to ride it again.

We let the kids each play the driving game thing after the ride and then headed over to Club Cool to fulfil Allie’s must do.

It was our first time visiting the new location. Marshall still talks about having tried all of the sodas.

I still can't stand Beverly, but gave it a shot.

We ordered a Diet Coke float which was super yummy on a hot day.

I really enjoyed that. We then spent some more time in the Creations shop, and got Allie another Munchling.

It ended up being another Minnie Cupcake and not the Eeyore she was hoping for.

After that we headed over to the Figment Dump shop, I was on a mission.

Melissa had seen a squishy Figment pillow earlier in the trip and had commented that she would buy it if there was an easy way to get it back to the resort. SInce we were winding down our day, now was the time for the squishy Figment to join us. It still sleeps with us every night.

I love him so much. He’s so cuddly

We got the pixie stick sugar sticks for the kids here too since they had been asking for them all trip. Then we went outside to see the jumping water fountains. We sent pictures to my parents since it was one of the things I remembered from our visit when I was six. They then sent me a picture and we decided to re-create it.

It came out super cute. After the fun with the jumping fountains it was time for dinner. We headed over to Canada for our Le Cellier reservation.

But we'll cover that, and the rest of our day in the next update. Spoiler alert, we've still got another park to hit, so check back for that.

 

[Psymonds]

love the flare are light from the sun here! the clouts are playing well with you and you capture what of Canada is not behind walls!

 

[Wood Nymph]

We had some time to kill before we could hop in line and it was HOT. We sought out AC in the Walt Disney museum thingy (not the actual name, just what we call it).

This is a great place to kill time, cool off, or warm up when it is freezing outside.

I really love this ride. It’s so fun and just a great additon to the park.

MMRR has become a must do for us. It is a very fun ride.

We were headed to Epcot for the evening. I started off sitting backward on the Skyliner and then decided that I could not do that and switched. I don’t have it in me to sit backwards.

The Skyliner is a lot of fun and a great way to travel between the parks. I can't sit backwards, either.

It was also still super hot out, like boiling, so my preferred destination was Germany for a big Coke with ice. These always seem to hit the spot, even if I was too full to have the usual pretzel to go with it.

I always learn something new from your trip reports. I never knew that I could get a Coke with ice at Germany!

then headed over to Club Cool to fulfil Allie’s must do.

This is always a must do for us, too. I miss a few of my favorites, including the Vegibeta, or whatever it was called, from Japan.

We sent pictures to my parents since it was one of the things I remembered from our visit when I was six. They then sent me a picture and we decided to re-create it.

This is super cute.

Spoiler alert, we've still got another park to hit, so check back for that.

You are getting tons of stuff done. You almost make want to get Genie+ for our trip in September.


Have you seen the changes they have made to Trail's End. We just might go to dinner there in September. We'll be at POR and we want to have dinner somewhere in the MK resort area one night.

 

[alohamom]

OH MY GOSH, the photo re-creation is amazing!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

love the flare are light from the sun here! the clouts are playing well with you and you capture what of Canada is not behind walls!

It is a beautiful area of the park. I can’t believe we hadn’t seen it for the first many years we came.

This is a great place to kill time, cool off, or warm up when it is freezing outside.

Yes, and the exhibits are always really interesting too. We always enjoy it.

MMRR has become a must do for us. It is a very fun ride.

I know there was a lot of fondness for the great movie ride, but we do ride and enjoy MMRR much more frequently.

The Skyliner is a lot of fun and a great way to travel between the parks. I can't sit backwards, either.

We like the boat too, but the Skyliner is really fun and despite going so far out of the way it felt quicker. I particularly enjoyed not having a line to transfer between skyliners at CBR.

I always learn something new from your trip reports. I never knew that I could get a Coke with ice at Germany!

They always have the big cups at the QS counter by the entrance to Biergarten. We wouldn’t have known about them either except for getting pretzels from there.

This is always a must do for us, too. I miss a few of my favorites, including the Vegibeta, or whatever it was called, from Japan.

We missed it for a few trips but are glad Club Cool survived. The soft serve float may become a must do.

This is super cute.

It was spontaneous, but really turned out neat.

You are getting tons of stuff done. You almost make want to get Genie+ for our trip in September.

Almost… This was before they started charging more if you wanted to park hop with Genie +, and we only barely used it in Epcot, but at least we got something more out of it.

Have you seen the changes they have made to Trail's End. We just might go to dinner there in September. We'll be at POR and we want to have dinner somewhere in the MK resort area one night.

We have seen the Trail’s End changes and would definitely stop by for a dinner. We are there from POR when we stayed there when Allie turned 5. I think we’ll miss the sit down meal, but we will be happy as long as the QS food is good.

OH MY GOSH, the photo re-creation is amazing!

Thanks! We were pretty surprised at how little that area changed in 36 years or so. Wow that makes me feel old!

 

[DaisyDuck001]

OH MY GOSH, the photo re-creation is amazing!

Maybe in around 35 years or so, Marshall will re-create the photo again with his future son!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Catching up! Loved those sunrise pictures!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Maybe in around 35 years or so, Marshall will re-create the photo again with his future son!

That would be cool. We'll have to keep this picture around so they think to do it.

Catching up! Loved those sunrise pictures!

Thanks! They are my favorite. WL is beautiful at sunrise.