We are excited to bring you a trip recap from our October 2023 trip to Walt Disney World Resort. There are a lot of first times and some things we do every time. These trips are part family vacation and part reconnaissance allowing us to bring you real experience when helping you plan your magical vacation. Stick with us and feel free to reach out with any questions.
Day 1
Fly in, Grand Floridian, and EPCOT
Flew into Orlando International Airport and made our way to meet our driver from FL Tours. The first time we flew all carry-on, and it is a gamechanger. We are working on a blog post to give tips and tricks to getting down to carry-on only.
We are staying at the Villas at Grand Floridian for the first time and are beyond excited to see the room and resort. As you know if you arrive in the early afternoon your room may not be ready, so we scurried over to Gasparilla Island Grill to sample the menu. Everything was spot on for a quick-serve restaurant. The three of us shared a burger, some fries, chicken tenders, and mac and cheese.
We loaded up onto the monorail and transferred at the Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC) to head over to EPCOT. EPCOT has become our day one park of choice over our last few trips. It was nice walking around with lighter crowds and our dear daughter was EXTREMELY excited to see Moana’s Journey of Water. We have a whole post coming on that attraction. It really does deserve its own post.
Dinner was at Teppan Edo. This is EPCOT’s hibachi restaurant. The food was very good, but it lacked a little of the flair you normally see at a hibachi restaurant. Matt splurged on the Wagyu steak enhancement, and it was excellent. The wasabi salt pushed a fantastic steak to a higher level.
Our room was beyond expectation in styling and quality of materials. We stayed in a one-bedroom villa, and it was plenty of space for the three of us. Every cast member we encountered was extremely friendly and we felt they genuinely cared how our trip was going.
Day 2
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Breakfast in the room and then off to Disney’s Animal Kingdom for the day. We managed to ride every ride in the park as the crowds were light and we were there early in the day. Our young traveler has dubbed the cheeseburger pods from Satu ’li “The Best Food at Walt Disney World.”
Flight of the Passage is always one of our favorites. We waited in the queue for the first time and the queue did improve the ride experience. You feel like you are on Pandora and pick up the complete story line. Expedition Everest was a first for us this trip and immediately after getting off the ride, we were not even to the gift shop, the little one wanted to go again.
We had a snack at Flame Tree Barbeque and headed to Dino-land USA. Strong rumor mill vibes are saying this area will most likely be reimagined completely in the not too distant future. Dinosaur is a ride that always surprises us with its immersion as well as its intensity. Our day was closed with a visit to Yak and Yeti. The day we were there the sign “Conditioned air” lived up to its name. Even our young traveler was looking for long sleeves and she never gets cold. Everything we ate was fantastic. This restaurant will surely make the cut for future trips.
Day 3
Resort Day and Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP)
This day we relaxed at the resort for the morning. Being from Pennsylvania, we do not get to swim in late October. We took advantage of the Beach Pool and even tried out the water slide a few times. For lunch, we hopped over to Contemporary Resort and has Steakhouse 71. The burger is really one of the best we have ever eaten.
Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party was the plan for the evening, and it was remarkable. This is our second year in a row and already have a trip in planning for during Halloween season next year. We snagged a launch group for TRON:LightCycle Run and it lived up to its hype for Matt and Angel. Yes. It is short, but it is incredible. We have some tips for navigating the virtual queue for this and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind in a future blog post coming up real soon.
Day 4
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
We checked off most of the rides at Disney’s Hollywood Studios this day. We were fortunate to hit Rise of the Resistance, Hollywood Tower of Terror, and Slinky Dog Dash. Angel has a genuine fear of elevators, but she bucked up and rode Tower of Terror twice. It is a completely different ride at night, but any time is a fun time to ride it.
We did the Fantasmic dining package with 50’s Prime Time Café. The food was not bad but all three of us were expecting more. Fantasmic was outstanding. The show was so immersive. You feel like you are in the action. We highly recommend seeing this show at least once. In most of the amphitheater, you will get a bit wet from the mist but none of us had gotten soaked.
Day 5
EPCOT
Angel snagged some virtual queue (boarding group #2) action for us again today for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. This ride is one of the best roller coasters not only on property, but anywhere. We hit another ride that is confirmed to be going for reimagination, Test Track.
Lunch was in the Land Pavilion at Garden Grill. We went into this meal not expecting much but it was outstanding. The characters were great, and the food was delicious. Farmer Mickey is one of Matt’s favorite character meetings. After lunch we did Living with the Land and the temporary “Soarin’ over California.”
World Showcase was next, and we always turn right and start in Canada. I know, I know we are resisting the norm. This trip we had dinner planned at San Angel Inn and the timing worked best but we always go right regardless of dinner plans. San Angel Inn was incredibly tasty food but very dimly lit as well. It was tough to read the menu. Many patrons were using flashlights to read the menu.
Day 6
Magic Kingdom
The last full day was spent at Magic Kingdom. By hitting the big rides during the party, we were able to take a leisurely trek through Magic Kingdom. There was barely a wait for the silhouette artist, so we waited and got one of dear daughter by herself and one with all three of us overlaid. These are some of the best value souvenirs at Walt Disney World.
Back to Grand Floridian for dinner. We used the walking path between Magic Kingdom and the Grand Floridian, and it is a hike. It is flat and paved but mostly in the sun and it takes you to the opposite side of the resort from the villas building. Also make note, along this path is where Disney felt was the best place to send smokers to do their business. Smoke was very evident until you got onto the path about a quarter of the way.
Citricos is amazing. Matt was a little apprehensive about this all week. He was wrong. Everything we had was fantastic. Sweet Corn Bisque, Seasonal Salad, Guava BBQ Short Ribs, Butter Poached Mahi Mahi, even the kid’s pasta… they were all outstanding. The service was perfect. Ambience and theming spot on. One of our favorite restaurants on property.
Closing
Thank you for hanging around for the longer than normal blog post. This was meant as a summary of our latest “research” trip. We are an open book. If you have any questions or need more information email us and we will talk to you about things. We love talking about Disney vacation and a conversation does not cost you a dime.
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