GregHowley.com

It isn't normally the kind of thing I write about here anymore, but after reading Josh's post about his family's Disneyworld trip, I decided I had to write about mine.

We had originally planned to go to Disneyworld in 2020, but the pandemic of course ruined everything. This school year, we have a foreign exchange student here from Rome. Angelica is great, and we were all very excited to be able to bring her with us to Disneyworld.

We flew out on a Tuesday, and hit the Magic Kingdom on Wednesday morning. Thursday was Hollywood studios, Friday EPCOT, and on Saturday we started at EPCOT and ended back at the Magic Kingdom. Sunday was our Animal Kingdom Day, and Monday was our final day, so we started at Hollywood studios and ended up at EPCOT.

My personal highlights are as follows:

Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind: Not only the best ride of this trip, this is actually the best amusement park ride I've been on in my life. The first time we rode, they were playing Flock of Seagulls I Ran So Far Away during the ride, and the song was stuck in my head for over a week.

Tron: The tron ride was outstanding. Being on a roller coaster while you're sitting in a bike posture is wild.

Remy's Ratatouille Adventure: It's a simple ride, great for kids, but it's so well done. The ride makes use of the same new trackless technology that Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind use. It constantly plants the audience in front of a massive screen and plays video that makes it look like you're moving while rumbling the cart you're sitting in so that it feels like you're moving. We went on three times.

San Angel Inn Restaurant: After eating here during our last trip, this restaurant was on my must-do list. The food is excellent, and you sit in front of a large Mexican pyramid with a projected night sky behind it, complete with a very realistic-looking active volcano.

Tusker House: Another great restaurant, and our only character meal of the trip. We went just before they switched the buffet-style food from breakfast to lunch, so that we could all try both menus. While we were getting food, Goofy came by and found my wife's phone which she'd left on the table, and he took a bunch of selfies. Later, Donald Duck came by, found out what Goofy had done, and Donald demanded to also be allowed to take selfies.

Via Napoli: My personal favorite restaurant of the trip. Angelica, who'd been looking forward to the Italian restaurant, spoke to the wait staff in Italian, and we let her order all the food for us, asking the other Italians which food was best. I had a killer tiramisu for dessert.

Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway: I thought this would be a fun, silly little kiddy ride. I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to go on a second time. We didn't have time, unfortunately.

The Carribean Resort: We've stayed at a different resort each time we've gone, but this was my favorite, largely because we had access to the Skyliner, a Disneyfied gondola, which we could take to EPCOT or to Hollywood studios. It was far quicker and easier than a bus. We also hit the hotel pool a couple times, which was nice.

Rise of the Resistance: Another ride which used the trackless tech. Even the line was part of the entertainment, as you're “captured” during the line wait, and the staff supervising the line becomes Imperial troops.

I'm tired now, or I'd write more.