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What happens when you start a trip report about traveling to Disney World nearly half a year late? You forget that it existed and never remember to write the ending. Until now! Seeing how late this trip report installment is and that there’s quite a few days to cover to make it to the end, I’m going to make this post even more photo focused than usual. I’ll still add commentary but there’s only so much to say about a trip 6 months ago. Maybe I should have saved it for autumn next year!

We exited Magic Kingdom to an absolute downpour. This was the type of rain that people tell you about in Florida. Frankly, I was surprised the boats were still running but I’m glad they were, as we shuttled over to the Grand Floridian for dinner. We were undercover almost the whole time but still managed to get pretty wet. As we pulled away from the park, the castle was barely visible against the shower.

Dinner that night was at 1900 Park Fare. We found the restaurant to be charming with a pretty good spread for being a table-service buffet. My full review of the restaurant is here. All in all, we thought 1900 Park Fare is one of the best character dining options in all of Walt Disney World.

After checking out of Saratoga Springs earlier that day, we moved over to Port Orleans – Riverside that night. The rain was still coming down hard so we made a beeline from the Grand Floridian to the monorail to the bus at Magic Kingdom to Port Orleans to our room. I guess that’s less of a beeline and more of a convoluted mess of transportation stops while trying not to get drenched. That’s less catchy though.

A good but short night of sleep led to an early morning at Magic Kingdom where we were successful in getting a virtual queue spot for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. Again, this is outdated. After a quick ride down Main Street on the omnibus (a must do when it’s just sitting in front of you), we used the morning to repeat the new attractions.

By this viewing of Country Bear Musical Jamboree, I was sold on the show. No, I don’t like it nearly as much as what it replaced but the audience engagement was really strong during that viewing. Seeing everybody laughing along with Henry, Big Al and the gang warmed my heart.

On the flip side, another ride on Tiana’s Bayou Adventure confirmed everything I thought about it. It’s a fun ride with some great animatronics but the pacing is terrible and the story is nearly plotless. Thankfully, the Disneyland version gets the pacing right and everyone still enjoys a 50 foot drop regardless! Here’s a few more photos from the morning, including one of the river that I can’t believe they’re replacing.

We exited the park and monorailed over to Magic Kingdom for lunch at Steakhouse 71. The restaurant keeps impressing us and we plan to return for dinner very soon. Lunch is affordable and really good, with one of the best burgers at Disney World. Here’s our full review!

The rest of our day was spent back at Port Orleans – Riverside. We took a bus to Disney Springs and then a beautiful boat ride from there. I watched some football, we spent some time in the pool and then had dinner at the counter-service spot there. It was surprisingly excellent, as we stuck to the specials offered there. Following dinner, we took our time walking around the quiet resort’s paths. The grounds are beautiful and I’m glad we took the time to have a relaxing afternoon and evening there.

After our 2 nights at Port Orleans – Riverside, we checked out, requested a bag transfer to Pop Century and then were off to Hollywood Studios for a morning of terror and Muppets. Now that the Muppets are taking over Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, is a seasonal takeover of Tower of Terror too much to ask? Maybe it is. To be clear, I want Tower of Terror to stay like it is. There is no need for anything like superheroes (just as a random example of course) to retheme the excellent ride.

I get one more visit to Walt Disney World before MuppetVision closes and I plan on soaking it in to the fullest extent. Holding out hope that the company will announce a new home for the film soon, as they’ve talked about preserving it in several different updates. The more time that passes without info on that, the worse I feel about it though.

After exiting the theater, we saw that Star Tours was basically a walk on. Despite it being the weekend, the parks were still very empty. We survived C3PO’s lack of piloting skills, took some photos of Gertie and then got on the Skyliner to go to the Riviera.

We had lunch at Primo Piatto in the Riviera. Just like their delicious breakfast, lunch had some unique options that we really enjoyed. No matter what meal, this ends up being one of the best counter-service spots in all of Walt Disney World. I’ll add a lunch review for Primo Piatto soon, for now here are some photos of the food.

Our leisurely afternoon continued with a Skyliner ride (we were Skylined?) to Epcot. We explored some pavilions for a few hours, including France, Morocco, Japan and the American Adventure. The Food & Wine Lounge in Morocco was a nice reprieve from the heat, as was the American Adventure show. Here are some photos from the afternoon.

The tour continued on, all the way to Norway before we circled back for dinner at Shiki-Sai. I don’t think we went on a single attraction that afternoon but it was fun to walk through the pavilions and see a few things we hadn’t before. Doing that on a hot day is one of the more manageable ways to keep from sweating it out in World Showcase.

Shiki-Sai made some nice changes to what Tokyo Dining is. It’s by no means a perfect restaurant but I thought the food was good and the vibe was solid. It would be a fun restaurant for a group to enjoy! I was also happy to find some Sapporo on draft outside of Japan.

We exited the restaurant to a thunderstorm going on. Standing next to the Germany Pavilion, we soaked it in for the next half hour while managing not to get completely soaked. I tried to get a fun shot of the lightning and ended up with one or two I liked but mainly just left with the memory!

We walked to the front of the park for a few more photos of the beautiful entrance. There are some changes to Epcot over the last few years that I don’t especially like but the entrance is one of the best of any theme parks. Having Spaceship Earth goes a long way!

Walking a tightrope between not wanting to get soaked and taking our time leaving Epcot, we thought it was probably time to get to Pop Century before our luck ran out. Not knowing if the Skyliner was running in the lightning, we caught a bus to the hotel and checked-in. I need to update our Pop Century post, but the resort remains one of our favorites at WDW when factoring in the value. I’m happy to hear that they’re adding a coffee shop to the hotel and like that they keep making enhancements.

We kept the next morning pretty simple before our flight home. Eating a bratwurst before a cross-country flight has become a new, dumb tradition for me. I apologize to anyone who ends up sitting next to me on those flights. We were also lucky enough to get on Cosmic Rewind one more time before we had to leave.

In a fitting end to the trip, it poured for the last few hours at World Showcase. We both grabbed a change of clothes once we were back at the hotel, before going to the airport.

Even with the rain or heat, the trip was wonderful. September is proving to be one of our favorite times to visit Disney World, largely thanks to the lack of crowds everywhere. We’re just a few short weeks from going back to the resort and are looking forward to seeing what has been updated, as well as eating more and more. Thanks for sticking with us through this trip report. A Paris series will be starting soon!

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