137. Walt Disney World Holiday Trip Report

Ready to discover Walt Disney World’s freshest magic? Join Michele for a whirlwind 2-day adventure through all four parks featuring brand-new rides, dazzling shows, and two incredible new dining spots you won’t want to miss. Whether you’re an Annual Passholder or dreaming your next visit, get insider tips, magical moments, and must-see experiences that will inspire your next extraordinary getaway. Tune in and let’s make some memories — because this is Disney like you’ve never seen before!

Resources Mentioned:

• The Beak and Barrel: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/magic-kingdom/beak-barrel/

Connect with Michele on IG: @jetsettingwithmichele or on Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/MMTinsiders

Contact Michele to plan your next vacation: www.makinmemoriestravel.co/contact, michele@makinmemoriestravel.co, or schedule a 15 minute consult: https://tidycal.com/texasmfs/15-minute-meeting

This episode was produced by The Podcast Teacher: www.ThePodcastTeacher.com.

Transcript

Hello jet setters and welcome back to another episode of Jet Setting. With me, it's Michele here with Making Memories Travel, your memory maker and wanderlust instigator. Today I am super pumped. I'm taking you with me on my whirlwind two day adventure at Walt Disney World. All I did was explore brand new attractions and experiences that have either just started or started like a month ago. And we didn't do our normal October trip. So I went to all four parks, Magic Kingdom, the Animal Kingdom, Disney's Hollywood Studios and Epcot. I went to two new restaurants, the Beacon Barrel at the Magic Kingdom and by Pirates of the Caribbean and the Cake Bake Shop.

We'll talk more about restaurants in a minute. I packed a lot into a short visit and actually I want to talk about that a minute. I say I packed a lot into a short visit. So let me tell you that I basically went for five hours Monday and five hours Tuesday, the week of Thanksgiving. So crowded time, definitely in the Magic Kingdom, very crowded time. But basically I did like two or three things each day including a meal. So. And I didn't have lightning lanes.

So just keep that in mind when you're that Disney considers a successful day. If you go from rope drop to park clothes and you're on site and you get that early morning entry, that extra half hour they consider a successful day to be doing between seven to nine attractions and things, meals, etc. And if you add lightning lanes, they consider it successful for you to get between 10 and 12. So keep in mind I was there good five, six hours each day. I didn't count it out, including parking and stuff like that and driving and parking. It was six hours each day and I did everything I wanted to do. But if you were there on vacation, you would think it was not a successful day because it wasn't that much. But I packed a lot into my short visit and I'm going to share all the stuff, all the insider tips and grab your favorite travel mug, put on your favorite Mickey ears and let's get into a fresh dose of Disney magic just in time for the holidays that's sure to inspire all of your next trips there.

So I already mentioned I did not do lightning lanes and I was staying off site. So that extra half hour did not apply to me. And I will say that I need a new pair of tennis shoes. They were ordered on Black Friday because my feet were hurting from the get go. So that does actually come into play here because my feet hurt so bad that I Didn't really want to walk around. I did take a lot of magic shots. So, okay, so day one, Day one was Monday and we had gotten into Orlando late. So by the time we rented a car and got to our condo, it was one in the morning.

So I purposely timed day one to go later because I wanted to be sure that I could stay up to see the brand new parade at the Magic Kingdom. My reservation at Beacon Barrel was timed perfectly for that. So I slept in. I worked a little on that Monday and I left the hotel at 3:30 and I stayed until 9 at the parks. So I drove myself and I started Animal Kingdom and I wanted to go see the brand new 4D show, Zootopia better Zoogether at the Tree of Life Theater. So I walked into Magic Kingdom. I had planned to be there by three because Judy Hopps and what's his name, the Fox come out to meet people every half hour. But their last time to come out is three.

Three or so I did not. And they get a huge line, obviously because it's brand new. So I did not make it in time to see them. So I didn't get a picture with the characters. In fact, this whole trip I got no pictures with any characters. I'm sad to say, but I did get lots of magic shots, as I said. And you will see those all over my Instagram and my stories. And if you're in my Facebook group, you'll see them there as well.

I have to say, I was really excited about this. I love Zootopia. But it was bad. It was bad. The old show, It's a Bug's Life, much better. The sound was bad. You could not understand what some of the characters in the movie, in the film were saying. And there were not captions.

For those of us that I don't think I'm hearing impaired, but still I could not understand. I knew that it was going to have the same effects as like in the theater, like where the bugs run across your tushy. And in this case it was mice that ran across and they didn't change the effect. And so it still felt like ants instead of mice. The bubbles still came out. You still got the 3D special moments, but it was just bad. It felt like they had thrown it together in time to release it. Just in time for the Zootopia 2 movie that came out on Friday.

And it was just bad. Yeah. And it made me sad that it was bad because I really wanted to like it. So following that, I really needed a dose of good I really did. So I went ahead and I drove to the Magic Kingdom, and I took the resort monorail so that I could pop into the Grand Floridian and my old home and see the new lobby. And, oh, my God, it was beautiful, especially the decor for the holidays. The piano was playing, you know, White Christmas, and there's a bar in the lobby. Now, I will say the bar in the lobby is kind of a joke.

And don't ever think that you're going to get a seat there, because you will not. It's like, three five, three six. It's like, got 11 seats to it, but there were people sitting there. I did not go downstairs to check out the bar menu. I just took pictures from the second floor. But it was very beautiful, and they did a great job. I mean, the front desk, which, of course, I know not many people notice the front desk, but since I worked at the front desk at the Grand Flirty, and that was a big deal to me, and it was so beautiful, and I was like, wow, I want to work behind that front desk. Not really, but anyway, so then I got back on the resort monorail.

One good thing about taking the resort monorail is that you go through security at the resort, so the line is a lot less. And that way, when you get off at the Magic Kingdom, which from the Grand Floridian is the very next stop, you can walk right in. You don't have to go through the security line, which can be more crowded at the park than it is at the resort. So I went. I was early for my reservation for the Beacon Barrel, and I really wanted to get my cheeseburger egg roll, but the line was so long. It's like everybody has learned that secret of the cheeseburger or pepperoni egg rolls, especially because they are on the Disney dining plan and they're a snack that eats like a meal. So I was kind of disappointed I didn't do that. But you can check in.

I learned something new. They say 15 minutes in the app, but it's really 20 minutes in person. If you go check in, they will check you minutes early. So I actually got in to my Beacon Barrel reservation early. Another thing that made me really nervous is I was two hours early for the parade when I came into the Magic Kingdom, and I was walking to Adventureland, slash Frontierland to get to the Beacon Barrel, you know, where I take a left at the. At the Hub, I take a left, and there were already people camping out two hours in advance for the parade. It was not even a holiday Fireworks Night. It was simply for the new parade just called Disney Starlight.

Dream the night away. But I figured knowing my hacks, I would be just fine. So as I had planned to watch it in the back near Country Bear Jamboree anyway, which was very close to Beacon Barrel and I figured I didn't need to worry about it. We'll come back to that in a minute. So Beacon Barrel, amazing. It's a pirate themed tavern and it was made really from the queue of Pirates of the Caribbean, a little bit from the shop. They told us that the Pirateeers, who AKA bartenders told us about it. I had the corn cakes.

I was more excited about the food. Of course it's me. And the corn cakes were frickin phenomenal. They were so good. And I. They were vegetarian. I did not get them. You can add protein meat or can add chicken, I think, or salmon.

Maybe I could pull up the menu for you. But I'll just put the link to the menu in the show notes. It was so good. I got this signature mocktail. Gotta say, that was a little iffy. It was really good. Why? There was the whipped cream on top, but once the whipped cream disappeared, it wasn't great. The gentleman to my right, we were at the bar.

So it's shared seating, some standing. It's like ogas in Star Wars Galaxy's Edge. If you've ever been there, where you go in, they'll seat you and you might be with other people or you might be standing. So it's just like that as a solo. I was definitely at the bar. Anyway, what I was saying is the guy to my right, the gentleman to my right, he tried the actual signature cocktail in the signature pirate takeaway souvenir mug and he didn't like his drink very much either, so. And then there's like an UBE margarita that the girls to my left who were having a birthday party loved. So you gotta try some new things, ask the bartenders for their recommendations.

But. So the food was great, the drinks were fun, but the atmosphere is off the charts. The parrot comes out and the bar is actually a perfect place to see him because nobody's in front of you and you can take videos or pictures of the parrot and he talks. And then of course they do the Yoho Yoho Pirate's Life for me every 20 minutes. And they literally like hold the bar so it makes it feel like you're in the ocean with stormy waters ahead. Really, really clever. And the cast members there were great. They are all very excited about this new experience and they just really bought into it.

So super fun. So I left. I had had the corn cakes, but it wasn't like a full meal. I needed a snack. So of course I said goodbye to my plan to watch the parade by Country Bear Jamboree. And I went right, right to the main street popcorn. And there was like what had to be an hour line. And at this point, it's an hour before parade time and I'm only one tush.

So there was still plenty of parade viewing right there. And the parade does start on Main street, so if you do plan to watch it in the back of the park, you do have to allow that it's going to be at least a half hour before it gets to you. So at this point, it's seven o'. Clock. Thank goodness. I got in early for my reservation at Beacon Barrel.

And there's an hour line at the popcorn thing. So there's a new hack. And that is you can actually order the popcorn at the cashier. You can't mobile order it, but you can order it at the cashier and not watch them make it. And they make it in the back. It's really kind of cool to watch the whole system and then they bring it to you. The thing is, it is not fresh pop popcorn. And so it was really dry because I got popcorn pretzels and peanut M and Ms.

It was dry. The popcorn wasn't fresh. It just needed more flavor. So I was very disappointed that my favorite treat in the Magic Kingdom has gone down somewhat. And I really wanted to know, if I had waited in the line and watched them make it, if it would have been fresh popcorn. And I think not, because clearly the people making it in the back are also popping the popcorn to keep refreshing the front where they make it for you. Okay, so then I found a spot to watch the parade and it is stunning. And I was so happy.

This was Monday and I could have gone to Jollywood Nights instead, because I've never done that either. And I am so, so, so, so, so happy that I decided to skip Jollywood Nights and go to the Kingdom for this parade. It was.

So beautiful and so magical and such. It was better than Spectromagic. It was on par with the Electrical Light Parade, the elp. It even had like a throwback to the music a little bit, if you remember the music of the elp, the characters, it was just. And it's updated. There's a lot of diversity in the characters that we see. It was just magical. And I can't wait to see it again.

It was amazing. So I did only wait in my little parade spot for about 40 minutes or so. But I felt good about that. There is a later parade time. It goes during the holidays. It goes twice a night. But me being the early to bed person, I did not want to see a ten o' clock parade. The fireworks are in between right at nine.

I did not stay for those either. Even though it is happily ever after and I haven't seen it since. They brought it back after the 50th anniversary fireworks that nobody liked. I thought they were okay. So they brought back happily ever after and I haven't seen it since. But you know, it's cool. I wanted to beat the traffic out of the park and get back to my car and beat the exit traffic and get back to my hotel because I was not staying on site. So another bonus to staying on site is the transportation can be easier for you to stay and do more.

Okay. Day two. Now, at this point, I had an early morning reservation for breakfast at the brand new cake bake shop on the boardwalk. Worked out because A I hadn't been there and I wanted to try it and B means I got to park at the boardwalk and I could either take the boat or just walk over to Epcot and get in over at the Countries at World Showcase on the International Gateway. Instead of parking at the very front and having to walk all the way back, technically I was going to see test tracks. So it's kind of in the middle, it's equidistant. I probably could have gone in the front and and gotten to test track about the same way. But then I would have had to park at Epcot and that lot drives me crazy.

And the shuttles to the from the parking lot to the entrance are a joke. So. Epcot test track. Now, based off of my experience as Zootopia, I have to say my expectations were somewhat down. And boy did they exceed all expectations. It is amazing. It is such a good ride. I think it is as good as guardians.

And they do have single rider, so I didn't have a lightning lane, remember? So I did single rider. I skipped the entire line. I waited like seven minutes. And therefore as soon as I got off, I was able to go again. So I got to sit in the back of the car, in the front of the car. The front of the car is definitely a little more thrill if you really want that thrill factor. But oh my gosh, it is so good. It does harken back.

It's got throwback to the very first world of transportation. It's got the thrill factor that that the most recent test track had with the 0-62 mph. It is just amazing. It was so much fun. Love, love, loved. Was also really beautiful and really cool to see the future of transportation. And a look back and they did a. And so knowing that they can do a great job with their new attractions.

I really can't wait for all the new things that are on the horizon like Monsters Inc. And the new Roller coaster over at Disney's Hollywood Studios. And the revamp of Rock and Roller Coaster with the Muppets. I just. They really can do great things. Zootopia better. Zoother just wasn't one of them. So my wish.

Disney Imagineers, if you are listening, I really want you to redo Spaceship Earth now. Because seeing what you did with Test Track, I mean, I know great things are in store for the big golf ball. Okay, Now I went back to my car at the boardwalk and I drove over to Hollywood Studios. I did that because Hollywood Studios was going to be my last visit, my last place. And I wanted to then go over to just leave from Hollywood Studios and I went directly to see the Disney villains Unfairly ever after. Also amazing. It's great. At the very end of the show, they tease that the audience votes for the villain that has been most unfairly treated that got the most of a bad rap between Cruella de Vil, Maleficent or Captain Hook.

And the show focuses on those three villains. It's not scary at all. It's totally appropriate for young kids, the Disney animation and the live actors. It's really amazing. I still can't figure out how they did it. Super cool. And at the end, the magic mirror on the wall teases that if you come back, the ending could change. So I immediately went back to do this again too.

Because the ending in mine was Maleficent for my first time. And I was like, oh my God, I gotta see what they do if Cruella is voted. And me being me and having worked in Disney and Attractions, I figured they just changed it based on the Showtime or lunch schedules and break schedules for the actors or day by day. So I went again and it was Maleficent again. So this time on my way out, I asked the cast members, like, how is it done? I asked it this way. I said, if somebody wanted to see a character, a different character, like what time would you recommend them coming back? And I learned from the cast members. So I always tell you to Talk to the cast members and learn fascinating things about Disney and their attractions and the way they work. They literally.

The tech booth measures the decibels of the people in the audience cheering. So if you are cheering for the villain that is most unfairly ever aftered, for lack of a better word, that is the ending. And the actors do not find out until the audience find out when it's announced. So the way to sort of get your favorite villain, like to see that ending would be to sit near the tech booth and scream and yell because they're measuring the decibels and then they announce it. And 90% of the time it is Maleficent because she always gets. Because she's the worst villain. And so she always gets the biggest crowd vibe. Also, she's super cool.

I mean, her makeup is amazing. So anyway, I got to see Maleficent twice and I still really, really want to see Cruella. Knowing what they seeing what they did for her in her solo when they're kind of introducing her to the audience. I really want to see that finale. So very cool show. I recommend doing it once in the morning and once in the evening. That's what the cast members who work there said. So that you have a chance of seeing two different episodes.

I will say the load for that is not great. But again, it is a show. You do not need a lightning lane for it. I had no problem getting in very easily and getting great seats both times you do for this show, I usually say for theater shows, I usually say every seat is a good seat. And I won't say that's not the case. But definitely the center sections in this case are markedly better seats. So you definitely want to try and get in the center section. But no need for lightning lane or to wait.

Finally, I talked about the beacon barrel. Let me talk quickly about cake bake. Let me just say this. I went for breakfast on Tuesday morning and it was frickin phenomenal. I sat in the bar. They changed the decor every season. So right now the winner slash Christmas decor was out. And it was super beautiful.

It's like white and silver and this beautiful luminescent pink and all kinds of animatronics. It was just gorgeous. And I liked it so much that I was like, oh my gosh, we have to come back here for Thanksgiving dinner. I will say the lunch menu and the dinner menu, not as great. It was still, the service was impeccable and the desserts were off the charts amazing. They do have a shop where you can go and get. You can order a piece of cake or merchandise and desserts without actually making a reservation. But I highly recommend it for a breakfast before you go to Epcot.

Amazing. It's really cool. And there's only three of them that exist and two of them are in a different state. So it's a really, really good opportunity to try something that you can't really try anywhere else unless you live in Indiana. So I didn't make it to geo82. I did have a reservation, but it would have meant that I had to stay in the parks like six more hours and that just wasn't going to happen. It was super, super hot. Again, always wear that sunscreen, that Florida sun.

It is hot and it bears down on you and the asphalt in the parks just eats it up and then you're just getting burnt from bottom and top. So thank you so much jet setters for tuning in as I meandered my way through these two days. That wraps it up for this episode. If of course, you want to ride some thrilling rides, see the new parade, try any of these new dining spots. I really hope you're inspired to call me or direct message me so that I can turn these ideas into your extraordinary getaway. And you of course, know where to find me. Speaking of planning, next week I will be back with another quick episode filled with smart tips on how to get the absolute best out and most time of your 2026 PTO. I will pack it full of information to maximize your vacation days so you can jet set even further and more often.

And after that, I'm taking a short two week holiday break. So until next time, make every journey a memory worth savoring.