I also just got back last night and a few things.
I stayed at the Hilton Vacation Club Mystic Dunes in Kissimmee. I effectively had an apartment for a week. Full kitchen, washer/dryer, etc. Shuttles were virtually non-existent. The UO one shows up at 7:25 which is nice, but park pickup is at 8:30 regardless of when the park closes. The restaurant was very nice and had good food for the price. Parking is complimentary, which is a huge plus if you're driving. Staff is nice, and you can get cleaning on request, but it is a timeshare resort so they won't take trash or anything like that. Pretty nice fitness center and a lot of amenities. It's pretty close to WDW and has a walmart 1/2 mile down the road. Overall, really great if you're going to WDW and have a car. It took me 35 minutes to get to UO on a Saturday because I-4 is hell.
As for WDW, Photopass is worth it. I don't know what it costs without an AP (It was $99 addon), but the magic moment photos and the quality of the photos make it worth it. The photographers always make sure to make them look as good as possible. I showed my wife and she was blown away by how good most of them looked.
I know this discussion happened in the Theme Park Stop Discord with a few of you, but Epcot After Hours value is subjective. I used to basically chain ride Cosmic Rewind in an effort to finally get 'I Ran' and mission accomplished. CW was walk on the entire time. You do have to go through the preshow though, but there was never a wait longer than the preshows. Everything else was walk on the entire time. I'm definitely 'over' MK having spent a lot of time there over the last 12 months and at this point, prefer DAK/Epcot, not just because of crowds but overall vibes. I stayed for Luminous and it's a fine show, but nothing special. I think it's on the same level of Harmonious, but that may be a hot take. I prefer Fantasmic over any night time show at WDW.
With UO, Mardi Gras was awesome. Food was pretty good and the parade ruled. I feel like if you're going to get a souvenir cup and have more than two drinks, those food and beverage cards are definitely worth it. I'm trying to get back down for a few days, but I can either get an affordable hotel for a few days, or an affordable flight, but never both. Going to keep looking though, just a Thursday-Sunday trip so I can get a nice full Saturday at UO for once.
Oh, I got an evacuation off Simpsons, which I didn't know was possible. It went up like normal, then you could tell it wasn't moving and it felt like the hydraulic lift was stuck, which was the case. Someone from the support staff had to un-stick it to get us down. Good times.
I'll be down in a few days in August for a live show that is unrelated to theme parks, but I'll still do a normal shift for the tribute store and (hopefully) the EU preview center. Then I'll be down in September for HHN Labor Day week as is tradition. We're also doing a christmas season trip with myself, my wife, and my mom since we didn't get to last year. This is one of the primary reasons I got the photopass and it's honestly the trip I'm most looking forward to.
