All trip ratings are on a 1 - 10 scale: 1 the worst, 10 the best, 4 roughly equivalent to watching Jeopardy on t.v. with my mom.
Note: This was a Saperstein Family Vacation and the ratings were compiled by Hannah. Most of the time they are combined ratings from everyone, but at times, they are her opinion specifically.
12/27/25
Su's cat Liv coming home with 15 minutes to spare preventing Su from being stressed about her being locked out of the house the entire trip: 10
First flight on giant plane going off without a hitch: 8
Not getting to sit together on the plane: 2
12/28/25
Getting into Houston at effectively 2AM: 3
Walking to Dunking Donuts in the airport: 5
Dunkin Donuts: 7
Second flight getting delayed for 2 hours at the last minute: 2
Gate agent lying about us being in boarding for an hour: 2
Actual second flight: 7
Rental car counter person: 1.01 (the worst ever -- added .01 because we actually got a card)
The radio blaring at volume 10,000 with no obvious way to disable it for like 10 minutes: 2
H finally realizing how to turn it down: 8
All three garages at Downtown Disney being a complete sell-out: 1
Us illegally parking in the non-crowded Disney Cast Member parking lot: 7
Us walking through the employee entrance to Downtown Disney and getting turned away: 1.5
Us having to walk half a mile back just to get into Downtown Disney: 2
Finally getting into Downtown Disney after an actual hour and multiple mental breakdowns from everyone: 7
Nathan (the host) extended Su and H's lunch reservation at Eet by an hour so that they could still eat there: 9
Food at Eet by Maneet: 8.5
Service at Eet by Maneet: 4.5
A sausage at BB Wolf's: 7.5
Wait for the sausage at BB Wolf's: 3
Mike getting a cool new Disney Parks hat: 8
A being super tired and grumpy while H and Su tried to shop: 2.2
Su hitting every single red light -- and there were a lot of them -- on the ride to Coronado Springs: 2
Our parking spot at the hotel being literally right next to our room: 8.5
Wandering around the new and improved Coronado Springs: 6.5
Su and A mid-day nap: 5
The pool and other general Coronado Springs amenities: 8.7
Mike and H time in the hot tub: 8.3
Monrail into Magic Kingdom: 6.7
First real ride of the trip "Holiday Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor": 6
Christmas Themed Space Mountain: 7.2
Space Mountain only having a 10-minute wait so getting to run on again (Su, H, and A only): 9.3
Getting mis-routed in the Space Mountain queue and wasting 5 minutes: 4
Carousel of Progress (way better than remembered): 7.9
Pirates of Carribean (worse than Disneyland's version): 6
Haunted Mansion (better than Disneyland's version): 8.3
It's a Small World (much different than Disneyland's version but still quite good): 8
Popcorn because nothing else was open for food: 6.4
Wait for Tron roller coaster saying 95 minutes but only actually being 45 minutes: 8.8
Adam being mad about the person next to him in line spoiling the ending of the 49ers game as he was watching it on his phone: 2
(Per Hannah) The concept of watching sports while at Disney instead of being present and interacting with your family: 2.3
Tron Lightcycle Run: 8.5
The ice creamery being closed before we left the park: 2
The candy store employees being very confused and giving Hannah the wrong rice crispy treat: 4
Mike getting kettle corn: 8
Having to take the Ferry back to the parking lot because the monorail was closed: 5.6
The tram somehow still running at 12:28A despite predicted closure at 12:30A: 9.7
The most animated tram driver ever at 1A: 5
Hannah feeling a sore throat coming on: 1.2
McDonalds after 1A: 7.2
12/29/25
Having to get up after only sleeping 5.5 hours: 3.2
Hannah's sore throat being horrible: 1
Getting to park within walking distance at Hollywood Studios: 9
Getting into the park a half hour early since we were resort guests: 9
Immediately running onto Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway: 8.7
Runaway Railway itself: 8.6
13 minute wait on Tower of Terror: 9.3
Tower of Terror: 8.7
Su's first (and only) pickle of the trip: 8
Star Tours: 6.5
All the lines being very long: 3.2
Hannah taking Mike's cold medicine: 8.4
Toy Story Mania: 9.4
Hannah finally beating Adam at Toy Story Mania (albeit by less than 2,000 points): 9.7
Jalepeno Cheese Pretzel and Hot Chocolate: 7.8
Rock n Roller Coaster: 8.6
Unfairly Ever After Villains show: 8.3
Awesome Malicifient entrance music (special villain version of "Once Upon a Dream" from Sleeping Beauty): 9.5
Hannah's new Cinderella ring: 8.9
Mickey Ice Cream bar: 7
Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular (where we sat in the front row): 7.6
Mickey Vacation short film: 6.6
Going for a swim in the awesome Pyramid Pool at CoronadoSprings: 7.4
Coronado water slide: 7
Hot Tub: 7.4
Taking a nap: 8.2
Mike taking a nap in a hammock: 9
Actually getting a spot in the Grapefruit Garage at Downtown Disney: 9
Summer House, the restaurant, being about as far from the Grapefruit Garage as humanly possible: 4.3
Su getting stopped at security on the way into Disney Springs because of her glasses case: 4.3 (don't worry, this will come up again later)
Summer House by the Lake (individual dinner ratings):
- Edemame, Truffle Fries, Salmon Poke Nachos (Su): 7
- Sausage and Pepper pizza with no cheese (Mike): 8
- Brussel Sprouts Salad (Hannah): 7.2
- Cheeseburger w Sweet Potato Fries (Adam): 8
Summer Hours by the Lake Cookie Bar (individual ratings):
- Snickerdoodle (Su): 8
- Vegan Chocolate Chip (Mike): 9.5
- M&M (Hannah): 7.1
Su getting stopped at security on the way into Epcot because of her glasses case AGAIN: 1.9
Living with the Land Glimmering Greenhouses: 7.7
Spaceship Earth; 6.5
Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind: 10
No "Living with the Land" gift shop in existance: 3
Utilizing the extra magic hour (that we didn't really get because we weren't staying at a deluxe resort) to shop and enjoy Epcot: 7.1
12/30/25
The weather being "Feels like 39 degrees": 1.6
Avatar Flight of Passage having a 140 minute wait right away: 1.8
Navi River Ride, the alternative, having a 5 minute wait instead: 5
Navi River Ride: 4.3
Getting on Expedition Everest in less than 10 minutes: 8.9
First ride on Expedition Everest: 9
Getting to ride a second time practically immediately thanks to the single rider line: 9
Second ride on Expedition Everest: 8.5
Breakfast in Animal Kingdom:
- Bowl of scrambled eggs, sausage, cheese, peppers, onions (Su): 7
- Bowl of scrambled eggs, cheese, peppers, onions plus Hot Chocolate (Hannah): 6.5
- English Muffin sandwish with egg and sausage and hash brown bites (Adam): 9
Killimanjaro Safari: 7.5
Train ride to Rafiki's Planet Watch: 6
Animation Workshop (drawing Nic Wilde): 6.8
Zootopia Show: 5.9
Feathered Friends Bird Show where we sat in the front: 9.3
The sun coming out a little bit: 7
Expedition Everest for a third time: 8.5
Being one of the last groups of people to be let into the Lion King show and sitting really close: 9.5
The Lion King show: 8.9
Walking all the way to the Finding Nemo show, then walking all the way back to Pandora and back with nothing to show for it: 2
Finding Nemo Show, again sitting super-close: 7.8
Satu'uli Canteen:
- Garlic Shrimp Bowl w noodles and charred green onion sauce plus fruit punch pineapple drink (Su): 7
- Chili fried tofu bowl w noodles and charred green onion sauce (Hannah): 6
- Chimichurri beef bowl w noodles and charred green onion sauce (Adam): 6.5
Su finding the luckiest parking spot in the world in the Grapefruit Garage at Disney Springs: 9.8
Shopping at Disney Springs even though it was very crowded: 4.9
Going in the hot tub even though it was freezing outside: 8.1
Dinner at Coronado Springs Market (formerly the Pepper Market):
- Hamburger with french fries and garden salad (Su): 7
- Roast Beef sandwich with french fries (Mike): 8
- Vegetarian spanish rice bowl w corn, pico de gallo, lettuce, lime and beans and an elote bowl (Hannah): 4.5
- Chicken spanish rice bowl w corn, pico de gallo, lettuce, lime, beans, and cilantro (Adam): 5.5
Adam accidentally locking himself out of his drink by sipping a Power Ade: 2.3 (it was a do-it-yourself fountain, and it was somehow weight-driven)
Hannah feeling super sick and headache-y: 1.3
Us having to park all the way at the further point from the tram in Magic Kingdom: 2.4
The insane amount of DJs and lights for New Year's Eve-Eve: 7.8
Country Bear Jamboree new version: 8.6
The fans being super hyped for Country Bears: 9
Mickey's Philharmagic: 7.3
Peoplemover: 5.6
Tron Lightcycle Run: 9.2
Mike's experience with the Magic Kingdom New Year's fireworks: 10
Walking down the 'red carpet of Cast Members' as they waved their glow sticks around and cheering (for New Year's): 9.75
Dessert:
- Vanilla Cake with Vanilla Frosting from McKenna's Bakery (Mike): 10
- Mickey Holiday chocolate cookie sandwich with peppermint cream (Hannah): 7.2
- Pluto Sour Candy (Adam): 3
12/31/25
Mike and Adam rallying to get up early: 6.4
The line for every single thing at Epcot being 45-240 minutes immediately in the early morning: 1.4
Frozen Ever After: 5.1
Norwegian School Bread: 4.4
Hannah's Hot Chocolate: 1.3
Tres Caballeros Boat Ride: 5.2
Nacho's from Mexico restaurant: 4.2
Journey into Imagination with Figment: 5.1
Pixar Film Festival: 6.8
Mike's Cinnamon Cashews: 7.5
Canada 360 movie (new version): 5.1
Beauty and the Beast Singalong movie (where everyone actually sang along): 6.3
Germany holiday food:
- Fondue in a breadbowl with roast potatoes and carrots (Su and Hannah): 9.1
- Pork schnitzel with spätzel and pickled cabbage: 9.5
Red Velvet holiday cake pop (Hannah): 7.1
Hot Tub (it was very cold outside again): 8.2
Everyone actually hustling out of the hotel to make it to Hollywood Studios for New Year's Eve: 9
Getting front row seats at Fantasmic: 10
Fantasmic: 9.4
Little Mermaid Show (new version): 7.3
Disney Experience Walk-Through: 6
Disney Experience Shorts Theater: 4.9
Rock n Roller Coaster (sitting in the back, got a tad jostled): 8.5
Star Tours: 5.2
Alien Spinning Saucers (yes, we did this): 6.7
Having to wait outside Woody's Round Up BBQ in the freezing cold: 3.4
Hannah getting to ride a hobby horse to the table: 6
Her being the only one to ride a hobby horse to the table: 4.3
Woody's Round Up BBQ (favorite part of the all-you-can-eat BBQ meal):
- Brisket (Mike): 7
- Cole Slaw (Su): 6
- Tomato Onion Salad (H): 5
- "The Whole Experience" (Adam): 9.89
- "Forky" Cupcake: 8.2
Toy Story Mania (weird experience: A few broken screens and mechanics): 6.7
Hollywood Studios New Year's Fireworks (lamest fireworks in Disney history, let along New Year's): 3.5
Us walking out with hundred of people and going a half-mile the wrong direction: 3.2
1/1/26
Mike absolutely sprinting out of bed when his alarm went off at 6AM (hillarious): 6.8
Mike and Adam having to leave for the day :-(: 3
The bus to Hollywood Studios coming within 5 minutes: 8
The bus ride to Hollywood Studios: 6
Immediately running on Tower of Terror w no pre-show: 9.5
Getting to go on Tower of Terror w no wait immediately after: 9.5
Getting sent on Tower of Terror on a car with legitimately only 6 people: 9.8
Runaway Railway having no line: 9
Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway: 8.5
Doing three major rides before 8:30A: 10
Toy Story Mania (Su got the shing): 8.1
Breakfast in Star Wars land:
- Pita wrap w eggs, sausage, peppercorn sauce and cheese (Su): 6
- Pita wrap w eggs, peppercorn sauce and cheese (Hannah): 4.5
Hannah getting the worst hot chocolate ever (which was almost 100% water): 1.3
Rock n Roller Coaster (ouch): 7.8
Toy Story Mania: 8.6
Beauty and the Beast stage show: 9.4
Unfairly Ever After villains show: 8.1
Rock n Roller Coaster: 8.3
Tower of Terror (best ride sequence we had): 9.1
Taking the Skyliner to Pop Century: 7.6
Actually finding the skyliner ears on the first try at Pop Century: 9.7
Pop Century lunch
- Cup of Cheese (shared): 6.4
- Cookies and Cream milkshake (Su): 10
- Vanilla milkshake (Hannah): 7.8
Taking the skyliner to Epcot: 8.3
The Seas w Nemo and Friends ride: 4
Nemo and Friends acquarium including Manatees, Razorfish, Sea Horses, Sea Turtle, hammerhead Shark and Bowmouth Guitarfish: 8
Awesome Planet movie: 6.1
Living with the Land Glimmering Greenhouses (in the daylight): 8.2
Test Track single rider line being a 35 minute wait instead of the posted 95 minute wait: 9.8
Test Track (version 3 for the first time): 9.1
Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind NOT having a single rider line: 2.7
Mission Space Green Mission: 6.4
Spaceship Earth: 6.7
Waiting in the fastpass line for Soarin' for actually 45 minutes: 1.6
Soarin': 5.9
Running through literally half the park to get to Japan on time for dinner reservation (we were fast): 2.8
Teppen Edo:
- Non alchoholic strawberry Pina Coladas (both): 8.6
- Steak and Shrimp w vegetables, udon noodles, rice and salad (Su): 8
- Mixed vegetables and tofu w udon noodles, rice, miso soup, and salad (Hannah): 7.2
The Epcot monorail not going all the way to Magic Kingdom thus forcing us to take another monorail: 1.9
<The next part of the ratings are from Mike, since he and Adam did something different during this day to this point>
The three-hour drive from Orlando to Miami: 4
Us finally getting to Hard Rock Stadium: 8
The pre-game fan fest at the Orange Bowl: 3
The country band "Parmalee" at the fan fest: 5
The sun coming out and warming things up just as we got to our seats in the stadium: 8
The stadium having a non-buttered bag of plain popcorn: 8
First half of Orange Bowl Game: 8
Orange Bowl halftime with Third Eye Blind: 4 (way worse than the old-days Orange Bowl halftimes)
Second half of Orange Bowl Game with Oregon taking command and winning: 8.5
Getting out of the parking lot and onto the freeway within 5 minutes of leaving the stadium: 9.5 (best out ever from a large-crowd event)
Earl of Sandwich (Adam) on the ride back: 7.5
First two hours of drive back: 7
Last painful hour of drive back: 3
CVS outside of Disney not having anything we wanted: 1.5
Ways routing us to a random non-Disney hotel even though Adam put in Coronado Springs: 1.5
Us finally getting back at Coronado Springs to shower and change: 8
Meeting Su and H outside Magic Kingdom monorail station: 8
<Now back to H's ratings>
The effort of the Jingle Cruise skipper being fantastic: 8.4
Jingle Cruise: 6.8
Disney Starlight Parade (Mike only): 6
Space Mountain regular ride: 9.1
Running back in line at 10:58P (when park closed at 11P) and getting another ride: 9.8
Space Mountain second ride: 9
The line for the Confectionary candy popcorn: 2.3
A lady in the Confectionary line asking H if she left her kids outside (in spite of her being 21 years old at this time): 1.2
Mike's kettle corn: 8
H's popcorn with milk chocolate drizzle, mini XMas M&Ms and Twix pieces: 7.9
Su having the worst bloody nose ever while waiting for Mike and H to get their popcorn: 2
Su making us go to McDonalds even though all of us were super-duper exhausted: 3.4
McDonalds:
- Hot fudge sundae (Su): 8
- Chicken McNuggets (Adam): 8
1/2/26
It being Su's birthday: 10
Getting to sleep until 9:15A: 8.7
Getting to snack on the leftover Confectionary candy popcorn: 7
Epic Universe security and entrance line: 2.1
Everything in the entire park including the kiddie rides being over an 80 minute wait: 1
Snacks:
- Pork Soup Dumplings (Su and Adam): 6.4
- Watermellon bowl with Tajin (Hannah): 6.1
Stardust Racers taking away everyone's phones and then shutting down for half an hour leaving them without: 2.3
Stardust Racers actual ride: 9.7
Monster's Land theming: 7.3
Monster's Unchained single rider line getting us past a 90 minute wait in 20 minutes: 9
Monster's Unchained: 6.9
Us wandering back and forth between Monster's Land and Harry Potter Land: 2
Harry Potter Land theming: 8.2
Snacks:
- Cinnamon-Sugar Pretzel (H): 6.2
- Regular Pretzel with butter and salt (Adam): 7.6
- Mike not being able to get a regular pretzel without butter: 1.25
Harry Potter Wait time saying 180 minutes and actually being 220 minutes -- 3 hours and 40 minutes: 1
Harry Potter ride queue theming: 8.5
Pure hysteria in the Harry Potter line trying to stay motivated at 3+ hours in: 8.4
Harry Power Battle of the Ministry ride: 6.2
Cirque Aracanus show (Mike only): 6.5
Having to wait roughly an hour from the How to Train Your Dragon show only to have it be cancelled (Mike only): 3
Mario/Nintendo-land theming: 9.2
Donkey Kong area of Mario-land theming: 9.3
Confectionary Popcorn slightly melting in the car to snack on while driving back: 7.7
Hot Tub (H couldn't put her poor blistered toe in): 7.1
Being right next to the guy playing the loudest guitar ever at Maya Grill: 7.2
Maya Grill:
- Steak and Chicken combo w street corn and shishito peppers (Su and Adam): 8.5
- Chicken fajitas (Mike): 9
- Quesadilla with refried black beans (Hannah): 7.5
Mike making us go to the boardwalk even though we were all exhausted: 4.2
Boardwalk Creamery:
- Vanilla Caramel sundae (Su): 9
- Vanilla Soy Ice Cream (Mike): 8
Getting to bed semi-early (11:30P): 9.8
1/3/26 - the last day of the trip :-(
Everyone rallying to get to Epcot early: 10
Running in line for Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind and it only having a 40-minute wait: 9.3
Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind: 9.4
Getting through the Test Track single rider line in 10 minutes: 9.8
Test Track: 8.2
The Seas with Nemo and Friends: 6
Seeing the cast members feed the manatees: 7.4
Moana Journey of Water walk-through: 6.9
Taking a family picture with Pluto: 5.4
Spaceship Earth: 6.2
Mission Space Green Mission -- with Mike: 5.3
Not taking the boat to Germany after sitting on it for 5 minutes: 2
Remy's Ratatouille Adventure: 6.3
Via Napoli:
- Raspberry Peach drink with a glow cube (H): 8.9
- Hannah spilling 67% of the drink all over the table: 1.3
- White pizze w artichokes and truffle oil (Su): 10
- Pizza w no cheese plus onions and peppers (Mike): 8
- Cheese tortellini w peas in a truffle cream sauce (H): 9.5
- Chicken parm w spaghetti (Adam): 7
Taking the boat to Canada: 4.9
Totally missing the skyliner out of Epcot until we were too far away from the entrance to consider taking it: 3
Getting turned away by a security guard from just LOOKING at the Riviera Resort: 1.5
Taking the Skyliner from Carribean Beach to Art of Animation: 6
Going in the hot tub: 8.2
It starting to cold rain while we were in the hot tub: 4.2
Hannah's cold making her sound like Mickey Mouse: 7
The cast member helping Mike find the lost Space Mountain fastpass...and having it be for anytime (due to earlier technical difficulties that we didn't even know about): 8.3
Space Mountain: 9.2
Happily Ever After fireworks show: 9.1
Snacks:
- Turkey leg (Su and Adam): 9
- Vegan chocolate mint Mickey Whoopie Pie (Mike): 8
- Mickey Pretzel with Cheese Sauce (Hannah): 5.5
Haunted Mansion: 7.6
It's a Small World: 6.4
Hannah and Mike falling asleep during Small World: 3
It beginning to pour rain: 4.3
The park suddenly filling with mega-puddles that were impossible to avoid: 1.4
Space Mountain: 9
Carousel of Progress: 7
Plaza Parlor:
- Vanilla Shake (Su): 9
- Soy Chocolate Ice Cream (Mike): 6
- Mint-Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich (Hannah): 8.3
Having to leave Disney: 1 :-(
Hannah being sick literally the entire trip: 1
Trip Ratings and associated:
Overall (per H): 8.7
H and Adam fighting the whole time: 2
H and Adam being normal when it mattered most: 9.1
Epic Universe first experience: 2.5
Family Favorite Park: Hollywood Studios
Total Walking for the Trip: Approximate 175,00 Steps (85 miles per person -- 12 miles per day per person)