That place!!!! I had reservations there for April 2020…..obviously they got canceled.

100% agree with this. That place has great food and the nice lake view. Service was exceptional too. Even my picky kids liked the food

There is also rarely a wait. Great spot to grab a snack and a drink.

Anyone here try the new Japanese restaurant (it hasn't re-opened yet).

I tried it once....very expensive....but the food was AMAZING.

If it's open in January, I'm definitely not taking all 4 of us there.

MGM was not fully booked today. I'm looking at the wait time for the rides.

I'm going to have to use the Genie+ in January.

I have 1 day booked for just myself and the park is fully booked. It's day of my 5k. Probably get there by 8am. Must leave by 5pm, this way I can grab my dinner and get to bed.

Then a few days later, with 4 of us there, we can get there at open and stay till close. But I can't have us stand in line the whole day. I'll have to bite the bullet and get Genie+.

8 rides there is not enough to thin out the wait times. Hopefully with the new universal park coming, it'll force Disney to massively expand the parks. The room is there for MGM. Hopefully they can fit another ride in Magic Kingdom. Personally, I wish they would get rid of the kids area. Rides like Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan, Small World, and Pirates are perfect for kids AND adults. They need to get at least 2, if not 3 rides back in that area for the whole family.

Animal Kingdom needs Dino Land to be re-done ASAP. Keep the one ride and add at least another one. Pandora needs one more ride.

Epcot needs a ride or show in Italy and Germany. China should be converted to a sit down theater, if possible. Imagination should be made back to original.

Hollywood needs to add a Pixar Land, with an Incredibles ride (think spider-man at universal). Bring the cars ride from California Park over here. Monsters Inc ride like haunted mansion. Build an Indiana Jones land. Indoor coaster themed to Temple of Doom. Have fire and stuff for it. And have something along the lines of rise of resistance, where we get several animatronics of Indiana Jones. Something like this would pretty much complete the park.

I do too!!!! Remember, this is right after dopey. When I’m the most tired I ever will be during the year.

At least I’ll have a lot to talk about standing in line with them. How you feel on mile 2, is so much different than 6, which is so much different than 8, etc. plus, all the interesting people you meet on the course. When I say interesting, I don’t mean interesting people like at pinball shows. For instance, my first marathon there in 2019, around mile 8 I was talking to a 60 year old woman who is diabetic and has to run with a bag to control her insulin. In 2018, she passed out at mile 24!!! Such heartbreak.

There’s just soooooo much to talk about after the races.

In a long line, they’ll just need to hear my talk. Hahaha.

I’m wondering what their reactions will be when they hear “congrats” over and over and over and over and over.

Only day I skip parks is Saturday after the half. That’s only cause I want to rest up for the marathon. I’ll just go look at hotels there. Something to do without a lot of walking.

After first marathon, I was up at 6am. 2nd one wore me out bad….was up 11am next day….it was 6am, and I said 5 more minutes…..I would’ve never survived the day if I didn’t stay in bed.

Let’s see if they can keep up with me after the dopey. I say they can’t.

For the other race weekends, I pretty much stay till park close. Then hurry back to hotel for a quick sleep before the race.

Not gonna lie, I am worn out after these trips. But it’s soooooo worth it.

One of our favorites, is Boma, at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Its a Buffet, loaded with unique tastes of African food.
Not sure if they are flying in So e of the Vegetables, etc., but plenty to sample and for the kids.

While waiting, or after dinner, some of the animals are available for Hotel and fire pit walk area.

Heres some of the menu they have up now.

Spice road table has always great at Epcot.

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Did Flight of Passage, absolutely loved it. The problem is that 45 inch requirement, our smallest companion can’t get on the 45 inch rides. I didn’t understand why that ride was 45 inches honestly…42 should be more than fine.

Any thoughts on those shoes that add an extra inch? We are going back next year and will really need it.

Yep, worst ride ever. I’m sure it must have its fans, but DAMN!!!

I loved that room. They should never change. I also enjoy the wheel of progress funny enough.

Carousel of progress.

Seriously. How long as Guardians and Tron been in production? 5 years?

How can you guys hate Mission Space? You hit 2.5gs for like a minute. Real astronauts hit 3g, although for 8 min.

It's my favorite at EPCOT. Although one year I did it 3 times which was a mistake.

After Mission Space, I go on Test Track and an bored.

Mission Space is a letdown, because it’s not even the best space ride Disney has.

Space mountain is far superior.

Spaceship earth is far superior….I know it’s technically not a space ride, but it does eventually get there.

Star tours is far superior.

Rise of resistance is far superior.

Millennium falcon is far superior.

Horizons was far superior.

Guardians isn’t open yet, but I’m gonna say it’s far superior.

IMO, I think they would’ve been better off doing something more along the lines of Star Tours. It would get the hourly capacity up and give the riders some more reasons to see it again.

World of motion was better....

The problem is that mission space is so one dimensional. Hop on, get some g-forces and done. Nothing that anyone does has any effect on the outcome. Playing with the switches is more fun than the ride itself.

I thought the original test track was an upgrade over World of motion.

World of motion is better than the current test track.

Guess I'll have a lot of reading to do. Been going to Disney for 2 weeks for many years. I'm not a huge fan but the kids love it. I think reading this thread will give me some ideas for new things to do. Thanks OP!!

PS, did the rat ride open yet? Ratatouille? Anyone ride it?

I’ll meet you at the finish line mate with a beer. No way I’m running that far!! Haha

I thought I just got an email that it is now open. I did the pass holder preview on the ride a month or so ago. It's a lot like the new mickey and minnie ride at hollywood studios. Lots of fun for all ages.

Yes, that ride is now open. It is located in the France pavilion at Epcot. Although you need to get a boarding pass in the morning, very similar to what people used to have to do for Rise of the Resistance. If you know what you are doing in the app, getting a boarding pass shouldn't be terribly difficult.

The line now for Rise of the Resistance is typically three hours…I wish they would go back to the virtual queue…

Passes are fully booked for my family’s return trip in late feb early March next year. I wish they would have another night of Magic Kingdom being open till midnight, that was amazing in September for Halloween.

The wait times posted by Disney are often highly inflated in order to discourage too many people standing in line and not spending money. We paid for the touring plans app this year and it was well worth it. It was spot on 99% of the time. Sometimes there would be a ride posted as 70 minutes and the touring plans app posted it as 15. I wouldn’t get in a line for 70 minutes but 15, sign me up, and sure enough touring plans was spot on. I’ve read a lot of reports that rise of the resistance is especially inflated right now, posted waits of 3 hours turn out to be only an hour. Keep in mind with a new paid skip the line feature rolling out in just a few days, it’s in Disney’s best interest to have as long of lines as possible or at least the appearance of long lines so that everyone says gee I better pay more or I’m going to be stuck in line all day. Granted sometimes Disney does list accurate wait times, but they don’t like to promise 20 minutes and it ends up being 30 so they almost always overestimate.

I’m optimistic about this new skip the line feature. I wonder what the cost point will be?

Next Feb we are doing Epcot on the Sunday, Animal Kingdom on the Monday, Magic Kingdom on the Tuesday, and Hollywood Studios on the Wednesday. Our Disney agent said these were the best days. What are y’all’s opinion?

My son is 42 and half inches bare foot. I need another two and half inches for most of the good rides outside of Magic Kingdom (and for Space Mountain). Which shoes are my best bet? Should I grow his hair long and spike it? (Obviously I’m kidding about the hair, but what other than massive shoes can I possibly do for that two and inches).

It's all pretty hit or miss due to rides going down. Newer rides with newer mechanics tend to go down more often driving up wait times.

All that said, the wait times are usually somewhat inflated. Not to the point that a 2 hour wait is going to be 15 minutes. Where the used to hand out a card every so often to ride patrons and have them hand it in once they got to the front of the line to determine wait times, it is now automated with the magic bands RFID chip. The utilize far field communication (the same tech used to show your name in it's a small world, and in the Everest queue posters) to be able to track your bands as you move through the line and then make predictions based on that.

Mission Space just never felt like EPCOT to me. The best EPCOT attractions always had a hopeful quality to them, like "here's some cool stuff humans could achieve some day if we stop being so shitty". Original EPCOT was inspiring. New EPCOT feels like they didn't know what to do with Future World and decided more IP is the answer. I guess people are just different now.

Lightning Lane Individual Attractions – Varies (Average $7 – $15 Per Guest Per Attraction)
Genie+ – $15 Per Guest Per Day

If the ride attendants suspect your child is wearing lifts, they'll ask to take off their shoes and remeasure at the front of the line once you have already waited. I know it's tough, but it's best to leave the safety measures how they were intended.

I agree that I miss the education and aspirational look to the future aspect of Epcot, but there were a lot of people that hated it and felt like it was too much like a school field trip, and attendance suffered.

You're right. Most of our friends just want to just go on rides that go fast and could care less about anything else. They go on Space Mountain, then waste half an hour walking to Thunder Mountain, then afterwards decide to walk again over to Space Mountain. Then complain about the heat and the walking. They hate shows, parades, fireworks, relaxation. They go to EPCOT food and wine festival to get drunk and post selfies on Facebook.

Me and my wife are "Disney People" to the core and I think we do the parks differently. It seems like we are a dying breed though.

These are the people who will never know the fun of an afternoon spent monorail hotel hopping. My family does seem to get stuck as soon as we hit the Tambu lounge at the Polynesian. So many back scratchers to show for it lol

I’m not sure if the shoe idea will work.

The last time we were there a little girl in front of us was wearing Converse Chuck Taylor platform sneakers while we were entering the line for Space Mountain. She had just made the height limit with the shoes, but the attendant made her take them off to be remeasured and she was too short. She was wearing something like this -

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Country Bears, Carousel of Progress, Small World, Haunted Mansion, People Mover, Hall of Presidents is what Disney is all about.

When I see rides like space mountain with 3 hour waits, I just go to the other rides that represent more of why I’m there.

If I want roller coasters, I can go to my local Six Flags or do a quick Universal Orlando trip.

When I’m there in January, I’m not going to focus on hitting as many rides as possible, but rather the experience of being there. If the daughter wants her pic with Cinderella, then we will wait in line. I’m not going to run them from one side of the park to the other side, then back. Nope. Let’s start here and just work our way around to the other side.

You’ve outgrown these friends. Cut them loose.

All the same, anyone have some ideas for me to consider? What are the best lift shoes? What sort of scalp extenders will look legit?

Have him drink a bunch of milk? Other than that, I would just say try again next year.

The end of the night they inflate the ride times as bad as listing space mountain as 120 minutes and it’s really a walk on. They have to let you ride if you get on before park close regardless of how long the wait time is and they don’t want to be there hours after close. Our Christmas tradition is to ride space mountain right before close, it’s usually posted as a 90-180 minute wait and the longest I have ever waited at the end of the night is 20 minutes, most times 10 or less. They will even hold people at the entrance with a chain to make it look like the line is spilling out into the park so you don’t get in line and then when it’s a minute to close they let you in and you just walk all the way to the front.

Regarding height, we had a really nice cast member last trip when my younger daughter was really close to getting on flight of passage. She coached her and told her to take a big deep breath as she stood under the height marker and wow what a difference that made, I would say she went up a half inch each time she did that and had no trouble getting on the ride.

Hmm, maybe we can practice that some and see if it helps. 45 inches is really necessary to get the most out of the parks other than Magic Kingdom…and you need to be 45 inches for almost all of the good things at Universal. As far as safety, I don’t really see how it’s safer to be a couple inches taller on Space Mountain. You are strapped in the same either way.

Depending on his age he could easily grow another half inch or inch by February, hopefully he’ll hit a growth spurt!

The minimum height is part of the design requirements for the safety restraints of that attraction. While there is always a factor of safety in any engineering design, not meeting the minimum body size requirements means that a failure to abide by them could result in your child could becoming dislodged from the ride vehicle and sustaining an injury. That’s why they say better safe than sorry.

+1

Your kid is only going to grow.

That's the plan for me after the half marathon. Everything will still be decorated for Christmas.

I really want to bring the new girl around to a couple hotels to look at them (specifically the Grand Floridian) and see how they're decorated.

Probably young people. I mean, I have never been able to go on anything that just goes around and around, for example, Mad Tea Party would literally kill me, and that's not exaggerating. I always loved the roller coasters, but now its a no-go for me. The last time I rode Space Mountain a few years ago I came off the ride and laid down on the concrete floor right outside the exit by the Starcade (oh wait, Starcade is gone, I mean the store), and I had to lay there with my eyes closed for about 10 minutes before I could stand up. Legs were shaking for a bit after that too.

Its pretty pathetic, but that's the way it is. That's fine, I'm always good for Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Buzz Lightyear, and all the other stuff.

One time we were there on a fairly hot day and I sat on the bench while everyone took a ride on Thunder Mountain. I was tired from walking and it was hot, so I took a nice snooze on the bench. When the family came off the ride and woke me up, they said a bunch of people were laughing at me because I was snoring and taking pictures. I was like, hey, I am here to entertain, fine by me.

Getting old is not for the weak.

That’s why it’s so important as we age, to eat healthy and exercise.

Still boggles my mind how some of the people are able to walk around all day. I’m convinced they do more walking on their Disney trip than they do the other 360 days of the year combined. I think you know what kind of people I’m hinting at…

I think they probably realized the future was bleak from every angle you could look as society started to de-evolve - and finally said fuck it.

On a positive note, Port Orleans is open today and Yeeha Bob is live!

I can't believe their heart can keep going all day. I mean, they must be a hell of a lot of pain carrying all that weight - waddling down main street eating cotton candy.

I watch the old Disneyworld archive clips and you rarely see overweight people walking around the park.

Look at the way people were dressed back then. Sorry, but some people just dress like slobs walking through the park. On a side note, at church, I see guys wearing gym shorts. Guys shouldn’t wear any shirts at church. I wear nice shoes, nice jeans and a nice shirt. In Disney. Khaki shorts, sneakers, and a Disney shirt.

I rode it last week. It's a lot of fun and the whole area surrounding it is very well themed, with some cool new food options. It's a trackless ride similar to Rise of the Resistance or Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway, but in my opinion both of those are better. Neither of them are at Epcot, though! Like someone mentioned, you've gotta do the 7am boarding group thing to get to ride it.

(And I know this is a Disney parks thread, but for me the highlight of my week was getting to go back to Halloween Horror Nights for its 30th.)