2023 May – Disney World (Pre-Cruise)

You’ve heard alot about Disney World already from our previous trip recaps, so I won’t rehash a play-by-play this time. I’ll focus on some new things at the parks and new-to-us things that we did instead. Yes, as many times as we’ve gone to WDW already, there are still new things to explore. You can never do all of Disney, esp in one trip.

First stop, a visit to EPCOT for dinner! The Flower & Garden Festival, which usually runs from March or April til about early July, was going on so we went straight there to try out a few food items from the festival booths. Yum! We usually share one item from each booth so we can try a bunch of different things.

My favorite part of this festival is the topiaries. Check out the elaborate Encanto display in the pic at the top of this page! Incredible!! There are many other cool topiaries around the park too. Try to find them all.

The next day, we went to the Magic Kingdom and rode the new Tron coaster for the first time! It was really fun! Yes, it was pretty short, like everyone says, but I don’t know if many people can withstand it being much longer. It was very smooth but a lot faster and had a lot more twists n turns than I expected. I didn’t get motion sick or frazzled like I usually do with coasters like Rock n Roller Coaster at Hollywood Studios or Everest at Animal Kingdom, but I think if this was much longer, I might. This was a good length and definitely worth doing. So fun!

Right now, there are only two ways to ride Tron. You can either try to get a free Virtual Queue pass at 7am or 1pm, if you have Magic Kingdom selected for your park reservation of the day, or buy an Individual Lightning Lane for it. Or you can do both and ride twice! But you can’t just walk up n hop in line like other rides yet.

Just know that the Virtual Queue passes go extremely fast so start refreshing 2 minutes before the drop times and click thru the screens really fast once the Virtual Queue button is no longer grayed out. Don’t read, just click the button on each screen. You also can’t guarantee what your return time will be so if you have dining reservations or need to leave by a certain time, you take a gamble that they might conflict. Though, don’t worry right away after you see your group number and estimated return timeframe. Wait til they start going and get closer to your group since the estimates usually change. If you know you’ll definitely not be in the park anymore during your projected return time, then you can cancel your virtual queue pass.

NOTE: As of now (May 2023), they are giving folks a one hour grace period after the end of your virtual queue return window to still scan in the ride. So, for example, if your return window ends up being called for 3-4pm, you can still get in between 4-5pm, but don’t be later than 5pm. They are being strict with that and will turn you away if you’re late. This grace period can also change in the future.

On the other hand, if you buy an Individual Lightning Lane, you can pick your return window, so if you have time constraints, this might be a safer option. You can buy an Individual Lightning Lane for a ride without having to buy the entire Genie+ service for the day. The cost per person will be listed in the My Disney Experience app each day. It will vary.

Also, once you return for your ride, the line inside the ride is usually very much shorter than the return line for Virtual Queue folks. I’ve heard that the return line for them could still be an hour or more once you scan in. It might be worth the money to buy an ILL instead if you have time constraints or folks who won’t tolerate waiting in long lines.

Just make sure to be on time for your return window. I’m not sure if they’re giving the same one hour grace period for Individual Lightning Lans like they’re doing for Virtual Queues. And know that these can’t be modified or cancelled, and are not refundable.

The whole Tron area is really cool though and gorgeous lit up at night. Go check it out even if you’re not riding. Don’t miss the PhotoPass photo ops within the area too.

Anyway, besides Tron, we rode some of the old favorites around the park before heading out for a new-to-us dinner at Narcoosees at the Grand Floridian Resort. It is considered a Disney signature restaurant, so a little swanky but not at all stuffy or anything. Our server was very friendly, and we got a table by the window with a view of the Cinderella Castle! The menu is more seafood based but there were some non-seafood options too. We got the scallop and salmon entrees, along with appetizers and dessert, and everything was delicious!

However, the coolest thing about the night was that they have a deck out back where you can go watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks across the lagoon! They pipe in the music and you get a clear view! Unfortunately, you do miss most of the projections on the castle and along Main Street, so I still recommend seeing the show inside the park if you’ve never seen it before, but if you have, this is an awesome different perspective on it. What a way to cap off a great day of new experiences!

But, wait! We’re not done with new things on this trip yet!

The next day, we went to Hollywood Studios and had lunch at their newest restaurant, Woody’s Roundup Rodeo BBQ! It is themed just like the rest of Toy Story Land. Andy has created a bbq restaurant out of his toys! So cute! Definitely walk around and look at all the cool stuff. There are some fun little things that happen during your visit too, but I won’t spoil them for you.

The food was the typical American BBQ foods served family style AYCE. It was pretty good! If you don’t like a certain meat serving, ask for another because as can happen with meat, it can vary based on the cut you happen to get. Our first brisket slices were a little dry but our second serving was fattier and de-li-cious! We thought about getting thirds to test our odds but we were too full. LoL! We will come back in the future though.

Hollywood Studios was oddly empty that day so we did a bunch of rides with low waits and didn’t even need to buy Genie+! Yay!

Alas, our 2 days, plus that first partial day (just an hour or so in EPCOT), at Disney World has come to an end but we had a great time trying two new restaurants and a new ride! It was a nice chill time getting our Disney fix before heading over for our cruise the next day!