Pack your big suitcase of patience and ponchos! Feb 14 - 18 | President's Day Weekend

[Ohiostatefan606]

February 2024 Trip Report: Feb 14 - 18 | 2 adults + 1 15 yr. old boy
3 days of park tickets with hopper
CBR - Jamaica Bldg 41 (we could see the Skyliner station from our room!)

We arrived at MCO about 5:30 pm on Valentine's Day. We had our luggage on the plane, just had to get down to baggage area to call for an Uber. Somehow , I always end up on the wrong level.

Uber secured and off to CBR. Crazy Google always sends the driver into the Riviera entrance, even though the CBR entrance is just down the road and around the corner. I tried to catch our driver before she turned, but no luck. She was super sweet and we turned around in Riviera and arrived at CBR.

Because we were arriving after check-in time, my only room request was close to Skyliner / transportation. Building 41 was perfect, up 1 flight of stairs and only had to go a short distance to our room. My son loved being close to Joffrey's ---> DONUTS!

We did a quick unpack and walked over towards Old Port Royale, we had dinner reservations at Sebastian's. We had heard great reviews of the restaurant, and it did not disappoint. Even though you can ask for seconds or thirds on any of the items, we quickly discovered, the amount of food they initially provided was more than enough for 3 people, including a non-stop eating 15 year old!

We spent dinner discussing our plan for Thursday - Hollywood Studios with dinner at Epcot, so deciding what time we would hop over.

 

[Ohiostatefan606]

Pics from Sebastian's. My son said there were so many different flavors his taste buds were confused! We thoroughly enjoyed our meal.

 

[Ohiostatefan606]

We wrapped up our evening by taking a ride on the Skyliner over to AoA. Despite his age, my son still likes to go see the cars.

 

[Shellyred8]

Despite his age, my son still likes to go see the cars.

Despite my age, I still like to go see the cars too!

 

[Ohiostatefan606]

Thursday: February 15 starting our day at Hollywood Studios. Early Entry is 8:00 - 8:30 am. The early bird gets to be at the front of the line.
Solid plans for the day:
Lunch at Sci-Fi Dine-In 11:15a
Oga's Cantina 3:10p
Dinner San Angel Inn 7:15 pm

I was up before 6:00 am, bought Genie+ Multipark for the day ($25).
Everyone is getting up, getting ready and we are out the door at 6:45 am, we walk across the street to the Skyliner, the gates aren't even open yet. Neither is Joffrey's. My husband is trying to decide which line he should commit to, Skyliner or coffee. Skyliner wins out. We have 1 couple in front of us.

We patiently wait for them to unlock the gates, secure the gates and remove the center post. We walk in an orderly fashion up to the HS studio line. We do have a plan for 7:00 am. They let us on the Skyliner before 7, so while we are riding, we buy Rise of the Resistance for 2:00ish., buy Guardians for 6:00 pm and secure Smuggler's Run. I want Smugglers for 1:00ish, so I am having to watch and modify to get the time slot I want.

We do have a backpack, I walk through the security gate and it does NOT go off. **First time ever**. We finally have the right combo of phone charger, sun glass cases and extras that don't trigger the metal detector!!

We are lined up at the touch points waiting for the park to open and allow us in. We wait about 20 minutes. I mention this because you had plenty of time to have your card ready or your sleeve pushed up for your magic band. The cast members are gathering, so you know we are getting in very soon. I am in line behind the people that were at the Skyliner gate, my husband and son are in the next tap line. They open, the people in front of me decide NOW is good time to look for their card. I step out of my line and over to the line my husband is in and tap in. I honestly don't know how you couldn't be ready. I wasn't the only one abandoning that line, people around us were very understanding.

 

[Ohiostatefan606]

Beautiful sunrise pics. And my hubby in line with no one behind him. He was joking that he was over there with his family. My son abandoned me and stood with his dad.

 

[footballmouse]

 

[Bama Mom]

Yay! Found you. I was always ready for the scan in but after the first day my eczema flared up and since it's on my hands it messed up my finger I scan in with so it had to be reset every single day after the first one
I felt so bad.

I'm still trying to decide if I want to do a trip report or not.

 

[awrites]

Hopping over from the February 2024 thread and posting to subscribe!

 

[Ohiostatefan606]

Wow, life got in the way of me working on my trip report, but my son did finally send me our ride list, so now I should be good to go!

We successfully tapped in to HS, right around 7:30 am. There was a large crowd that gathered after we had lined up. Our plan was to Rope Drop Slinky.
We have secured Smuggler's Run (Genie+) for 1:15 pm and Rise of the Resistance (ILL) for 2:00.

There was a huge crowd going over towards Rise, a few people heading over to Tower of Terror and the rest of us, heading to Slinky. We were walking fast and I told my hubby to step it up, the people with the stroller were passing us! He had slowed down because he saw Joffrey's. There is no time for coffee!

We got in line for Slinky and we were the 6th group in line. So more waiting. Early entry hasn't actually started yet, we were just allowed to enter the park and line up. While we are waiting, here comes a VIP Tour of about 25 people, so probably 2 tours together. There was definitely some grumbling from the people in line. We all got there early and found it a bit unfair that a tour group would be able to use up our Early Entry time. The good part, they let the tour groups ride before Early Entry, so they were done and off the ride as we were walking into the loading area.

We finished Slinky and walked over to Toy Story Mania, there was no wait. We walked all the way through and were immediately put into a car. We love this ride, so we looped it and rode again. This time we had to wait about 5 minutes before we loaded into a car.

Now the park is officially open, but wait times haven't sky rocketed just yet. Rockin' Roller Coaster is closed for Refurbishment and we don't really love Tower of Terror, so now we just have to knock out a few more rides. We know Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway will get busy, so we head that direction. We waited about 20 minutes. Yes, we passed Joffrey's again, still no coffee.

 

[Ohiostatefan606]

Be sure to stop for a picture as you exit Toy Story Mania. We have a "growth" picture of our son every year since Toy Story Land opened!

 

[Ohiostatefan606]

So my husband has had enough of me delaying his coffee consumption. Truly, his patience has worn out. We exit MMRR and head to Joffrey's that is located behind the ride.

We stop for pictures leading into Toy Story Land and the crowds are arriving. The weather is great, just a bit chilly, but the sun is shinning and it will warm up later in the day. We do have Memory Maker, so I make my hubby and son stop for pictures!

We walk through Toy Story Land and over to Batuu, and stop for a few Star Wars pictures, but my hubby is drinking his coffee, so he is happy. We like to walk through Batuu and enjoy the sights and a bit of chaos. The market area has bathrooms that are never full and a filling station for your water bottle!

We head over to Star Tours and we decide to loop the ride and get 2 different shows! We have time before lunch, so we grab a seat at the 10:30 Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular show. We've never seen the show, so it was a first!

At some point between pictures and walking, the clock struck 10:30 am. I grabbed Test Track at EPCOT. We know we are hopping over there before dinner. I am strategically lining up our rides before dinner.

 

[Ohiostatefan606]

It's been a busy morning, but the crowd has been very manageable. It is busy, but not crazy. It's LUNCH TIME! I can not stress enough how much we love having a lunch reservation. Getting to sit down and have someone bring me food, and a drink, makes our day so much more relaxing. We love Sci-Fi Dine-In. We have a 2 row car, so no extra guests in the 3rd row. I always take a picture of the license plate of our car each year. So far, no repeats.

After lunch, we walk over the Star Wars Launch Bay. We have a Chase Visa and I love to get my character photo. There was NO ONE in the Chase Visa line. Holy cow, it's Darth Vader! We were waiting, and he walked around the corner to greet us. We've seen him before, but still intimidating!

We are ready for our Star Wars afternoon, so we leave Launch Bay and head back to Batuu, but much to my son's horror, Chip and Dale are out and about! He is actually afraid of them. So being the understanding mother that I am, I stop and take pictures. (He's 15, he was fine).

We head over to Smuggler's and get assigned 1 Gunner spot and 2 Engineers. I am all about kids getting to pilot the ride, but they need to be able to reach the controls and actually attempt to fly. The one kid was so small he couldn't reach the lever for hyper-space. Not our best ride on Smuggler's. In the future, I'll have my son request a pilot spot.

Our ILL for Rise was up next, the wait was short! I love this ride, and would ride it more than once, but oh, the line!

We have time to fill before we go to Oga's at 3:10. We walk towards Star Tours, but make a quick beeline to Muppets and get seats just before the doors closed. Time to sit and relax. I have a Genie+ selection to make so even though there is barely a line, I grab Star Tours and because I used it almost immediately, I can grab another one, which I use for Soarin' at EPCOT.

It's our 3rd Star Tours ride of the day and we get 1 repeat segment and 1 new segment, not bad! We head back to Batuu to go to Oga's Cantina. We still haven't been lucky enough to ever get a table. We did get bar space which is nice. You can put one foot on the bar-floor rest and lean a bit more than you can at one of the high top tables. We each get a couple of drinks and we are off to EPCOT!

 

[Ohiostatefan606]

Final list at Hollywood Studios
- Slinky Dog Dash - rope drop
- Toy Story Mania x2
- Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway
- Star Tours x2
- Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular
- Sci-Fi Drive-In - reservation
- Star Wars Launch Bay
- Smugglers Run - Genie+
- Rise of the Resistance - ILL
- Muppets Show
- Star Tours - Genie+
- Oga's Cantina
- Hop to EPCOT

 

[Ohiostatefan606]

 

[Ohiostatefan606]

We've been up since 5:30ish, but the day isn't over! We leave HS after our Oga's reservation, and hop on the Skyliner around 4:15 pm. I've been strategic with my Genie+ selections and ILL.
Our plans for EPCOT
Soarin' 4:25 - 5:25 LL
Guardians - ILL 6:05 - 7:05 pm
Test Track - 6:10 - 7:10 pm LL
Dinner at San Angel Inn - 7:15 pm

Spoiler alert - it all works as planned!

 

[Ohiostatefan606]

I'll be the first to admit, I am not the biggest fan of EPCOT. I want to walk through and explore the countries, but the people that just stand in your way, walk 4 and 5 across make it hard to enjoy.

We knew President's weekend would be busy, we also knew, that Thursday was probably our best option for EPCOT.

We swooped in, rode Soarin', had time to ride Spaceship Earth, took about 20 minutes to get on the ride and then we were off to Guardians! The people just standing at the LL entrance. Either scan in or move on. I do feel like Disney created a bottle neck at the entrance. There just isn't enough room for people to get into the right line, if they came from wrong side of the big display ship. The line is moving okay, not fast. My son still wants to ride Test Track before dinner. Nothing here that we can control.

We get loaded into our car and take off, we get Tears for Fears! Which is the song we really wanted. We absolutely love this ride, and it is this ride that brings me EPCOT. We briskly walk to Test Track, luckily they are close together and tap in for our LL. We have to wait to get into the car design room, but not very long. We finish our ride, it is 7:10 and we need to walk to San Angel Inn. I check in for our 7:15 reservation as we are outside the Mexican Pavilion.

We discovered San Angel years ago when we "thought" we would eat around the world. Until we saw the lines. Luckily I was able to grab a reservation and now we come back every year. We finish dinner and decide to head to our room. MK rope drop is 7:30 am, momma needs some sleep!

People are staking out their spots for the fireworks, we walk past them all and head to the Skyliner.

EPCOT - 4 rides + sit down dinner in 4 hours

 

[Jsharp13]

Be sure to stop for a picture as you exit Toy Story Mania. We have a "growth" picture of our son every year since Toy Story Land opened!

I am going with a nearly 15 year old son too. I love this report and I love this growth photo! So glad he holds the Disney spirit still!

 

[Jsharp13]

Also meant to say, we're headed in May, and staying at CBR for the first time. Planning to request Jamaica, where you were located. It'll be my and my son for two days, and then hubby will join us for the last three. He's not a Disney guy at all. But we're hoping showing him Galaxy's Edge, Epcot countries and Guardians, and then Pandora will be enough to entertain him!

 

[Tasscrapper]

Tagging along.