Orlando Riviera Extravaganza - Nov 2022 - Day 6
It was a Monday, and our last FULL day in the parks. It was also our last day, for a while, of decent weather as we learned over the course of the day that Tropical Storm Nicole was coming with expected landfall at hurricane strength Wednesday into Thursday. This struck a tiny amount of panic. My family was flying in on Tuesday afternoon, but worse, my mother was flying out on Wednesday afternoon, so there was some concern about flights. However, worst case scenario, my family had a VRBO through the next Sunday morning, so if my mom's flight was canceled, she had a place she could be with us while we stayed on in Orlando. Still, I hated the idea of saying goodbye to the safety of Disney and going to a VRBO during a hurricane. November hurricanes are more rare, but they are always a possibility in Florida.
Anyway, we tried our best to not worry about this news and have fun, and fun we had because the weather ahead of the storm was fantastic, and our itinerary could not be beat. For this morning's Lightning Lane strategy, I did something a little different and decided none were needed for the morning. Instead, I grabbed an Individual Lightning Lane at 7 AM for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind for later in the day. and decided my strategy was to watch for a Remy time that would work best later in the day.
Tip About How to Ride Guardians Right Now
There are only two ways to ride Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind right now. Join the virtual queue or purchase an individual lightning lane. There is no standby line offered. For the virtual queue, you must join it at 7 AM or 1 PM. When there are extra magic hours for deluxe resort guests, you can also grab it at 6:30 PM. You don't get to choose your time. In fact, you won't know when you'll be next to ride until the app alerts you, though it does attempt to give you an estimate (which I always found to be inflated). And if the ride goes down, you might not get to ride at all, which is a real risk for the 1 PM and 6:30 PM drops. Further, you must be in the park at 1PM and 6:30 PM to join the virtual queue.
The only way to ride and choose your time is to spring for the Individual Lightning Lane purchase. But you want to do this right at 7 AM as well because these sell out very quickly and the longer you wait, the less choice of time you have.
So, given we wouldn't set foot in EPCOT until that evening and we knew we wanted to ride before our dinner at Space 220, Individual Lightning Lane was the choice for us (and it's worth it for this ride).
Back to our story. Having grabbed an Individual Lightning Lane for Guardians, I kept refreshing to see when Remy would come up. This is a normal Lightning Lane ride and windows are given out sequentially, so I knew I needed a window for later and just had to watch. The right time came available around 8 AM and I grabbed it for the evening. The two most desirable Lightning Lane rides, in my opinion, were mine.
Good morning, Pandora!
Time to enjoy Animal Kingdom! We got there again for early entry, this time a little earlier and more toward the front of the line. Again, the plan was to rope drop Flight of Passage, and this time, the line was much shorter and we practically walked on. So worth a rope drop!
Then, we wanted to spend a bit of low key time just enjoying shows and sights we love about this park. So we walked the Gorilla Falls nature trail and got to see the young gorillas and the dad gathering food. We felt like we were the only people back there, it was so peaceful. Then, we went to the shop in Harambe we had tried to go to the day before. Mom got some chocolate covered almonds and that became breakfast.
Gorilla Falls nature trail
We made our way over to Asia, and got in the queue for Kali River Rapids just so we could take the chicken exit and leave via the exit queue because there's a bridge in this queue where you can spray the rafts coming through below with water. We had a little fun here. Most people loved it. Somebody got VERY OFFENDED when we sprayed them with water which I thought was kind of funny since they were already soaked and I'm not sure what they were expecting from that ride since all the signs say you will get soaked.
We then meandered through Dinoland just so we could say we saw it (It's not our favorite land though it does have some charm), and then got to the Lion King theater around 10:00 for the Festival of the Lion King. This is a show where having an ECV is a distinct advantage because there's an entire section in front of the bleachers in the elephant section just for ECVs in the front row. I got to sit right behind this row. Best view of the show I ever had!! Love those tumble monkeys!
Best view ever of the Tumble Monkeys
We knew we wanted to head to EPCOT for the afternoon right when park hopping began at 2:00 because the plan was to enjoy some Food & Wine booths before dinnertime and evening crowds, so we did head out of Animal Kingdom quite early that morning, by 10:30ish. On the way out, we saw DeVine! I often see her on the last day in Animal Kingdom and I feel (delusionally and selfishly) like seeing her is the park's "kiss goodbye" to me since I love Animal Kingdom so much.
DeVine says "See you next time!"
I get pretty sad when I leave Animal Kingdom for the last time, but I didn't stay sad long because we decided to grab lunch down at Bar Riva at the Riviera and have that awesome vegetable skewer again. I also had a chicken sandwich (removing the bread) which was very good. Definitely a gem of a place here.
Then we headed up to La Petite Cafe and I got a breve with sugar free vanilla syrup which was very yummy. We also checked out the print kiosk in the gift shop. It's a kiosk where you can order canvas prints of the artwork that you see around the resort in a variety of sizes, then they ship it to you. It was very pricey so unfortunately I ended up declining to order anything. It's a great idea though, especially for the wealthier clientele this resort can serve.
The gorgeous pastry selection at La Petite Cafe
We headed back to EPCOT pretty early in the afternoon and began to work our way around World Showcase from the International Gateway going counter-clockwise this time. The crowds on the path around World Showcase were still, unfortunately, heavy, but we had time so we just put our patience hats on and dealt with it. I tried the charcuterie and wine flight at the Spain kiosk (charcuterie was just ok, wine was good). Surprisingly, we weren't as hungry as we'd hoped, and that was fine, so we just popped into other countries to look, especially Morocco, Germany, and China. Then we made our way over to France for a ride on Remy right at sunset.
Sunset in France, by the Remy fountain
Then, it was time for our Individual Lightning Lane on Guardians: Cosmic Rewind. Saw what happened when guests try to sneak on this time (they were pulled aside and asked to leave, of course, very politely, very low key... I just happened to be standing next to a set of security monitors when it happened). Second ride felt wilder and I'm not sure why. We got "Disco Inferno" this time.
Right after this, it was time for our ADR at Space 220 Lounge. When I booked the lounge, it was because I was under the impression the restaurant proper was operating only on a prix fixe menu.. We didn't want to pay all that and eat that much food. I also was under the impression the lounge had a much more limited menu, and I was ok with that since there were food kiosks all over an all I really wanted was a drink. But it ended up being a lovely choice because in the lounge, the server explained we had access to the full menu and could have anything off any menu a la cart. YES!
It gets mixed reviews but we enjoyed the Space 220 Lounge a lot
The space elevator situation might seem gimmicky, but it's well done. From the departure lounge you wait in, to the ticket they issue you to ride the space elevator, it's just smart. And since it was night, we got nighttime scenes in the elevator and out the windows of the space station, which I think is really interesting. Our server, Knut, was fantastic. He had a great sense of humor. I had the deviled eggs and spare rib sliders (removed from the buns), and mom had the curried lobster bisque. I did allow myself a cheat and had the Big Tang because I love everything about astronauts and this drink just feels like an ode to manned space flight, being made with real Tang and topped with a chunk of astronaut ice cream. It was also a legitimate drink! Mom had a drink with pink cotton candy that dissolves into the drink. Everything was really good.
Space 220 entrance
Disney takes the atmosphere to the nth degree in this place. The ambient "music" here is like a hum with relaxing notes. Just like any space station in a video game, where it's this very otherworldly feel and yet relaxing and safe. The bathrooms (always check the bathrooms, seriously) were the best, though, as there was a sign that said "In case of artificial gravity malfunction, suction will activate" or something like that. There was also a repeating announcement, airport style, saying the same thing. I think that's what's great about this place... it's a real experience. Very fun. AND good food.
After this, we did one last go of Soarin' as I had managed to get a Lightning Lane. We had meant to stay later. It was extra evening magic hours for deluxe resort guests, but we were so tired, having been going since about 5:30 AM that morning and then having just had drinks, so we did an honest check in with ourselves and decided it wasn't worth staying for HarmonioUS and fighting crowds, and it also wasn't possible to push ourselves beyond that time until the late closing, so it was time to leave. the line for the skyliner was already growing, but even so, it was only a 10 minute wait to be on our way home. AND it was timed perfectly because just as we boarded, the first of the HarmonioUS fireworks began, so we got to see some of them from the air. We watched the rest of them from our balcony, and then it was to bed with us.
Next time, we enjoy a morning at the Magic Kingdom, and spend the afternoon dodging the first of hurricane Nicole's rain bands. And sadly, we say goodbye to Disney and head into Orlando proper. If you like this trip report, come follow us on our Facebook page where you will see new posts with new blogs each week. Until next time...
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