A Trip to Mordor pt 2

A Trip to Mordor pt 2

October 30, 2024

WAIT UNTIL I GET GOING! WHERE WAS I?

Australia

YES! AUSTRALIA!

No wait, we last left our sojourning heroes slumbering their travel day fatigue off at POP Century resort. (It’s kind of like Australia in that there are creatures trying to kill you around every corner. You know, sparrow size mosquitos and haggard parents of multiple littles who couldn’t get coffee in a timely manner)

On Friday, we got ready and played coffee roulette at the food court. 25 minutes to get two coffee cups that morning. Off to the Skyliner and EPCOT. Did it cool off any? No. Was I at least dry by the time we got off the gondola? Also no. EPCOT is my preferred park though, so even though the humidity was like breathing soup, at least today was French Onion soup. My favorite!

We had an Individual Lightning Lane for Guardians for after lunch, but no other Genie shenanigans for Friday. We also had plans to meet up with a good friend and his son for lunch. In the morning, we hit up Remy’s via the standby line, Frozen also with standby. Both waits were 30 minutes or so, but those were by far the longest lines we waited in all day. We did Moana’s Precipitation Quest and did some shopping and then met up with my friend for lunch.

My friend and his son went to attempt a walk-up table at Space 220 lounge an hour before they opened. They were already full. That seems really bananas to me, but the popularity of EPCOT’s newest eatery is still making it a difficult score. We opted for Connections Eatery instead as my wife and I hadn’t dined there yet. The food was above average for in-park quick service. I had the bistro burger, and she had General Tso’s chicken salad. The company was even better. I always enjoy meeting up with dear friends that I get to see so rarely. After a nice but short visit, Brandi and I went to The Land pavilion and did Soarin’ and Living with the Land. Our Guardians ILL was next, and we got “One Way or Another”. Pretty sure I’ve had them all now! We capped off the afternoon with Spaceship Earth and then exited out the International Gateway and went to Abracadabar for a cocktail or two. The skies opened up, so we sat a while there. 

After the rain had let up a bit, we walked over to the Yacht Club and had dinner at the Crew’s Cup Lounge. It. Was. Awful.

Honestly, it was the worst experience at a Walt Disney World restaurant we have ever had. I had been scoping this place for some time because so many influencers and YouTube personalities had hyped up the prime rib sliders so much. They were okay. Not terrible, but definitely not worth the praise they were getting online. We also got a charcuterie plate to split, and it was meager, overpriced, and underwhelming. We’ve had food we weren’t crazy about before, and this wouldn’t have been enough to torpedo our meal. The service was abysmal though. The apathy and total disinterest our server showed was baffling. I can overlook a server not necessarily demonstrating the “Disney Difference”, but this guy did everything short of rolling his eyes and yawning at the table. He leaned on the bar watching some sporting event on the television for the duration of our meal. Empty water glasses must have been the Chef’s special for the night. After finishing our meal, I had to walk up to the bar to ask him for our bill AND HE HUFFED. Shockingly bad experience.

We shook it off and walked back through EPCOT to catch the monorail to the TTC. I hadn’t taken that monorail trek since 2016, so I wanted to experience it again. Monorail Peach had no urine smell and A\C was cranking, so it was a pleasant ride on the highway in the sky. We switched lines at the TTC and toured the resorts for a while. Whilst the Poly lobby is never a chill relaxing spot, I really enjoy the energy in there. Plus, the gift shop there is one of my favorites. I feel like there is more resort-specific merch for the Poly than anywhere else. We hopped off at Magic Kingdom and took a bus back to POP.

We’re only two days into our trip, but I am already seeing how the punishing humidity could quickly ruin this trip if we didn’t make some slight pivots. The next few days we became A\C bloodhounds in our park touring. But that’s an article for another day.