“Narwhals are real?!” January 2020 TR Update 12/31!!

[tundra1]

I just stumbled across your report! I am enjoying your writing and seeing the pictures compared to the ones posted currently with social distancing, face coverings, and limited entertainment. I am excited that you decided to go back and can't wait to hear your thoughts on the post covid Disney. We will be there next month, and I am counting down the days!

 

[missangelalexis]

I'm sorry you ended up having to go to the dr but it sounds like it was an easy experience and thankfully you got some medicine and were able to enjoy your day at Epcot!

Sounds like a nice time at AK and some much needed rest at the resort that night!

 

[CruellaNY]

I just found your report today! First of all we overlapped with you this past January So happy we got to go when we did given what happened afterwards. We had April and May trips cancelled and then a July 4th trip rescheduled to the end of July which luckily we got to go on! We also went again about 2 weeks ago and so happy to hear you got to go recently too. We felt super safe and had two great trips; heading down again for Thanksgiving!

Interestingly enough we just watched the new movie in Canada two weeks ago lol.

 

[heaven2dc]

So sorry you got strep throat while on vacation! You are really a trooper visiting the parks while having strep. I've never had it but so glad it's not contagious so you can still enjoy the parks as much as you felt up to it.

 

[Gina Starr]

I just stumbled across your report! I am enjoying your writing and seeing the pictures compared to the ones posted currently with social distancing, face coverings, and limited entertainment. I am excited that you decided to go back and can't wait to hear your thoughts on the post covid Disney. We will be there next month, and I am counting down the days!

Hi! Thanks for joining in! Hope you have/had a wonderful time on your trip!

I'm sorry you ended up having to go to the dr but it sounds like it was an easy experience and thankfully you got some medicine and were able to enjoy your day at Epcot!

Sounds like a nice time at AK and some much needed rest at the resort that night!

Thanks, of course no one wants to get sick on vacation, but everything worked out well. Honestly, resting at the resort is one of my favorite things to do now!

I just found your report today! First of all we overlapped with you this past January So happy we got to go when we did given what happened afterwards. We had April and May trips cancelled and then a July 4th trip rescheduled to the end of July which luckily we got to go on! We also went again about 2 weeks ago and so happy to hear you got to go recently too. We felt super safe and had two great trips; heading down again for Thanksgiving!

Interestingly enough we just watched the new movie in Canada two weeks ago lol.

Hi! Seems like January is a popular time to visit. That stinks you missed a few trips but glad the others worked out for you!

So sorry you got strep throat while on vacation! You are really a trooper visiting the parks while having strep. I've never had it but so glad it's not contagious so you can still enjoy the parks as much as you felt up to it.

I don’t think I have had it since I was a kid but I got in January on this trip and then again in April when I was quarantining at home. Its definitely no fun!

 

[Gina Starr]

Day 7 January 19

It was another early morning with the alarm set for 5:00 am! We were leaving the room at 5:55 and according to my notes we got to HS at 6:16 and had to park four rows farther back than we did the first two days and we even got there a little earlier. It was the Sunday before MLK Day and clearly it was gonna be busy! Our fast fingers still allowed us to get Boarding Group 8!




(this is crazy to see now in covid times!)



We decided to go to Smugglers Run again first thing as we really didn’t want to wait standby. The line took a little longer and they snaked us through more parts of the que than the other day. We were in the Hondo room by 7:45 though so it wasn’t too bad. We got Engineers with a family of 4. I always feel so awkward when it’s a family of 4 and then us. They basically acted like we didn’t exist the whole time, even standing right in the spot the CM told us to stand in. Oh well!



We had received our notice that Rise was boarding while in line and the app still said boarding so we went over there and it was closed! The CM asked if our boarding group was called and I said yes, we are group 8 he acted super impressed. Lol! Donnie wanted a Ronto wrap so we were going to mobile order one but the app said they weren’t taking orders. We just hung around for about 10-15 minutes and I saw the app had changed the boarding groups they were calling so that meant it was open! We got there around 8:30 and we had a lot more stops in the line than the other times, I assume they were backed up. Weirdly I liked it better the third time than the second. Maybe my expectations were lower!



So once we got off Rise, we checked mobile order for Rontos Roasters again and still closed. We got there and the line was so long they had to have a CM with a sign at the end of the line. I timed it and it was only 13 minutes from the time we got in line to the time he got his food. We also both got Tattoine Sunsets to drink. Yummy!



Apparently we didn’t get pictures of our food and drinks so I will share some sunrise pictures of Galaxy‘s Edge!








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[Gina Starr]

I was hungry next and I knew exactly what I wanted. I had been planning on getting the BBQ Brisket sandwich since like 8 am but lunch doesn’t start til 10:30 and between the hours of 8:30 and 10:15 Donnie must have asked me at least ten times what I wanted to eat/where was I gonna eat/when did I want to get something to eat. And every time I would tell him what I want isn’t available until 10:30. I don’t know if I was just super hungry or super sick of him asking me, but we got to Woody’s Lunchbox at 10:15. I decided to ask if they were serving lunch yet since it was only 15 minutes and the breakfast and lunch menus are pretty similar except they add eggs to stuff for breakfast but they were strict with the 10:30 time. So we sat there for about 14 minutes when we got in line they asked everyone if they were going to be okay with only ordering from the lunch menu. So was it worth it? It wasn’t earth shattering but it was a decent quick service gluten free sandwich. And I got tater tots, too! (No food pics again- sorry!)







It was getting more crowded and everything had super long waits so we decided to go see The Little Mermaid show next. There was a show at 11:15 and we got there at 11:10. They had to stop each party and make sure there was enough seats. We were two parties away from getting in that show and the CM said “don’t worry! You will get in to the 11:40 show.” No thanks! I am not standing there for a half hour. So we decided to head into Launch Bay where we saw R2D2 out and about. We saw the CM who was controlling him and he did a pretty good job blending in (although I guess not that good since we spotted him).



Next we had a FP for Indiana Jones for the 12:00 show and the FP started at 11:30. We literally showed up right at 11:30 and 1/3 of the theater was already full. By about 11:45 it was standing room only. Holy cow! It was a good show and still entertaining after all these years. While waiting for the show to start and through the powers of refreshing I got a Slinky FP for 1:50. I was trying to move it up and found Toy Story Mania at 12:10 and the earlier FP won so we took that one and gave up Slinky to some other lucky people. We decided to get a few Mickey Premium Bars and relax. It was our only Mickey bars the entire trip! We headed over to Toy Story Land next to use our FP and of course I lost like I always do. I don’t understand the muscles the people that get 400,000 must have!


(peep my Stormtrooper Alex and Ani bracelet I got at a local second hand clothing store for $10. I got a Mickey one on a separate occasion too!)



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[Gina Starr]

We were kind of over HS and I was able to get a FP for Flight of Passage so we made our way to Animal Kingdom around 1:45. We really wanted to do the Animation Academy and I think the last one was at 4 or 5 so we went there first. From the parking lot back to the Train Station it took like a half hour to walk! Ugh I hate the AK parking lot- they didn’t have the trams so we walked the whole way. (And there was still construction so we were looped a really long way around) Anyways, we got to the building around 2:40 and the next drawing class wasn’t until 3:15 so we didn’t time that very well! We sat and relaxed until around 3:00 when we got in line. We were going to be drawing Hopper and Donnie kept saying he was from Antz. He was of course joking, but he kept saying it in a serious way and I think the people around us thought he was crazy. I say this anytime we do any animation thing but I suck at drawing! And when I suck at something I get frustrated easily so I don’t know why I continue to want to draw but we did another one before the end of the week. I will say I think I did the best I have ever done but this one was on the easier side.





Our FOP FP was for 2:55-3:55 and we were cutting it super close. We got back from Planet Watch right at 4:00 and that meant we had 5 minutes to get to Pandora. Did we make it?! No! But when our Mickeys turned blue and I was ready to beg and plead they just waved us through. Phew! While in line I was able to get a Navi River Journey FP which I was excited about because we cancelled one before in favor of FOP. While refreshing to get an earlier one, I saw FOP three separate times but we left those for other people. We got off FOP around 4:45 and mobile ordered Satuli Canteen and of course we both got the same thing we always get.





After that we went to Festival of the Lion King. We got there about 25 minutes early for the show and it was almost a full theater five minutes after we got our seats. I love this show and the tumble monkeys! (Pleaseeeee come back!) We decided to go to Nomad Lounge next as we were both in the mood for some churros. We found a seat inside at the end of the really long tall table. Their churros are gluten free naturally and delicious! We were selfish and each got our own orders. I got a drink that sounded good on the menu but was super weird. We aren’t big alcohol drinkers and this was non-alcoholic but tasted alcoholic. I think it was the ginger beer. That’s okay, the churros made up for it. Then it was time for our Navi FP and we got a whole row to ourselves! (You can tell I wrote this pre-covid when I got excited about getting a row to ourselve)






(Donnie got the Kiama Mamma- he loves watermelon stuff)
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[Gina Starr]

I love this ride. I would ride it over and over again if I could. It’s so relaxing. Sadly the animatronic wasn’t there and it was a screen. After that we took our time leaving and Donnie took a whole bunch of pictures since he has the iPhone 11 Pro and it takes good night time photos. We also hung around the Tree of Life a little bit and watched the awakenings. After we left AK we stopped and got gas near Boardwalk Resort. We sat in the massage chairs for about 10 minutes and then watched the last few episodes of Schitt’s Creek that were on Netflix. (I’m so sad it ended!) I’m sure we fell asleep pretty quickly after our early morning.

(Photo dump from Pandora at night and Photo pass I missed from earlier in the day)




(hahaha- all of our pics from this cm look like this- I understand it’s hard to avoid other people in the background but every picture has random people fully in them)













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[Gina Starr]

Day 8 January 20

We didn’t have any plans until later today and with how busy it was yesterday we decided to just sleep in and not worry about getting anywhere too early. We woke up around 9:00 and relaxed in the room for a little bit trying to make a game plan. We had FP at MK in the afternoon and we were hungry so we decided to go to Whispering Canyon again! It was just so good the first time. We got a reservation for 11:00 and debated on driving there again but we figured it was frowned upon to just leave our car there all day while we went to MK so we took a Minnie Van. It was COLD today! The Minnie Van driver was a retired CM who came back about 4 months ago and he said this was the first day he has had to wear the jacket with his costume. It was 45 degrees when we left French Quarter and we weren’t super prepared for cold weather. We checked the forecast a whole bunch before leaving home but I think a cold front came in at the last minute because it was not forecasted to be this cold! We got to Wilderness Lodge and I noticed the sign in front of Whispering Canyon said breakfast was until 11:45. So I asked when we checked in and they confirmed they don’t start lunch until 11:45. All my hopes and dreams were broken! I was getting those burnt end nachos one way or another and the breakfast menu didn’t interest me at the time so we waited the 45 minutes in the lobby. I got a little snippy with Donnie because after we got the 11:00 ADR I started making mental plans for the rest of the day and eating 45 minutes later than planned was going to mess that up. Obviously it wasn’t his fault but all the stress of the week was getting to me. I quickly got over it when we were called to our seats at 11:45 and I found out I could get sweet potato fries with my sandwich! I got the same thing I did the first time. We started with the nachos and I got a turkey sandwich. I think Donnie got the skillet. Everything was just as delicious! Our server was a little more into it this time but not as much as other servers we watched. Oh well, we come for the food!





We decided to take the boat to MK and one must have just left because we waited 25 minutes for one! We had to get right to our Seven Dwarfs Mine Train FP and we tapped in at 1:52. Next we wanted to watch the parade and thought it would be crowded because it was MLK day so I got a snack (chocolate gelato from Pinocchiohaus Village, yum!) and we found a spot in Frontierland and waited about 45 minutes for it to start. We stayed seated the whole parade and felt super close to the performers and floats. Donnie said everyone kept waving to him so he must have stood out in the crowd.



After the parade we used our FP for Jungle Cruise and then decided to take an afternoon break at the Poly. We shopped through Emporium first but didn’t buy anything right now. We got a monorail and went right to Pineapple Lanai. I got a pineapple/vanilla swirl and Donnie got plain pineapple. We hung out in the lobby which was quite busy! Before long we were headed back to MK. The security guard at the monorail station at the Poly really made me mad. I don’t know if he thought he was being funny but he questioned everything in our bag. We brought an old refillable mug for water and then our two new ones. We also had a Nalgene water bottle in an insulated pouch. He asked why we had so many cups for just two of us when he just saw the refillable mugs and Donnie replied one was for water. Then he found the Nalgene bottle and was like “why do you need the other one for water if you have this?” Like how about you mind your own business! Donnie said it wasn’t a big deal but I just thought it was rude. How does he know we don’t have more family/friends we are carrying the cups for? Or that one of us doesn’t have a medical condition that requires multiple drinks! And technically we weren’t supposed to be sharing cups since I was sick so a cup for soda and one for water for each of us isn’t crazy. Anyways!

When we got back to MK we got on the Peoplemover (is it EVER going to reopen?!) and had a nice ride around Tomorrowland. After that it was time to check in for the dessert party! We did this for Mickeys Not So Scary Halloween Party and while I wasn’t impressed with my gluten free desserts I really like the reserved viewing area without a million people on top of me. I have said it before- my opinion on fireworks is that they are just meh. But I do love the soundtrack for Happily Ever After and a dessert party is the only way Donnie will get me to actually watch them. So the gluten free plate wasn’t great again. They have a few pieces of Erin McKennas bread which is delicious. Why not just do all Erin McKennas? There was some sort of flan with mango (?) topping that was gross. The flavor was fine but the texture really turned me off. Then there was chocolate dipped strawberries and I’m not a dark chocolate fan. Some random gummy bears that I ate during the fireworks. The winner was the cheesecake dessert! I have no idea what it was but it tasted like cheesecake with either dulce de leche or caramel and some pistachios and other crispy bits. Yummmmm. I want more right now!



We went over to the plaza area around 7:30 for 8:00 HEA. We came prepared with a blanket so we just sat on the ground bundled up and waited. I wish everyone would just stay seated! I originally said I was going to but when someone directly in front of me stood I decided I didn’t just want to look at their butt after spending $80 on this view. I really wish they had a better place for the dessert party viewing because the light poles really block the view. Also the plaza was way more crowded than during MNSSHP. We still had a good time and would consider doing it again! After HEA, we left even though the park was open for another half hour or so. They had the bypass open so we went that way and luckily a bus was there waiting for us! There was a man on the bus wearing a trucker hat that said “I Pee in Pools.” Now I’m not normally one to judge but who thinks MK is an appropriate place to wear that hat? The lady he was with looked nicely dressed and a little prim and proper so I can only imagine how embarrassed she was all day. Unless he only put it on for the bus ride? It was just very odd. We were back in the room at 8:50 and watched some Parks and Rec.​

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like 2 really fun days!

 

[CruellaNY]

Nice couple of days! Gets me excited for our trip next week!

I liked it better the third time than the second. Maybe my expectations were lower!

OK so we've been about 6-7 times since ROTR opened and......haven't ridden. We are not SW fans so the first couple times didn't care to go through hoops to ride. Finally in July of this year we got a BG and then when it kept breaking down, left the park after our BG was called and it went down AGAIN. Then in Sept we weren't able to get a BG. I don't really care but would like to try it and next week our boys will be with us, their first time seeing SWGE. So I am hoping we get one.

I love this show and the tumble monkeys! (Pleaseeeee come back!)

yes please!!!

We checked the forecast a whole bunch before leaving home but I think a cold front came in at the last minute because it was not forecasted to be this cold!

Ugh I remember that day and the day after I think, this was us lol. I had to buy a hat there and we needed to wear layers!

 

[Gina Starr]

Sounds like 2 really fun days!

It was!

OK so we've been about 6-7 times since ROTR opened and......haven't ridden. We are not SW fans so the first couple times didn't care to go through hoops to ride. Finally in July of this year we got a BG and then when it kept breaking down, left the park after our BG was called and it went down AGAIN. Then in Sept we weren't able to get a BG. I don't really care but would like to try it and next week our boys will be with us, their first time seeing SWGE. So I am hoping we get one.

Ahh! I hope you got to ride it and had a great trip! It’s a really great ride even if you aren’t a fan. I would say I’m a casual fan. I’ve seen all the movies at least once but don’t ask me any trivia.

Ugh I remember that day and the day after I think, this was us lol. I had to buy a hat there and we needed to wear layers!

It never fails! We are going again next month and the forecast so far is in the 60s-70s but we are coming prepared this time!

 

[Gina Starr]

Okay I REALLY need to get this done. I have another shorter TR from September to get posted and our next trip is right around the corner!


Day 9 January 21


We woke up at 8:30 today with plans to go back to Festival of the Arts. We got to the bus stop a little after 9:30 and there was no times on the sign. That was a recurring theme this trip. Both the signs and the app rarely showed a bus time and there was never a CM out to keep us informed. It was a little frustrating but oh well. We were at Epcot by 10:00 so I guess it didn’t take too long for a bus to show up. We had a few FP to get out of the way. The first was Spaceship Earth and then after that we walked all the way back to Frozen Ever After.


(it is so weird seeing people without masks!)

We hadn’t been on Gran Fiesta yet so we went there next. I really love the Mexico pavilion. One of these days we will have to eat there. We were getting hungry so decided to start checking out more of the food booths. We started at Pop Eats since it was closed the first day and we both got the chicken. Sorry I don’t have a description but last year it was really good and this year it was.... not. The brie flavor was way too strong and we both learned we don’t like brie.



Next was more bubble tea from Painted Panda! I’m so happy I learned to ask for no boba. We looked up a recipe for milk tea and it’s pretty much milk, tea, and sugar so we could make like 7 gallons for the price of one of these but oh well. We wanted to make it to the first animation academy at 12:30 (they only had two- another at 1:30) and it was about 11:50. Since we were in China we decided to watch Reflections of China for the first time. And quickly decided it was going to push us too close to 12:30 so left after about 10 minutes of waiting. We still had time and Donnie wanted to try the Musical Float from America. It was red, white (yellow) and blue slushy with vanilla ice cream. He said it was good but too much ice cream.



It was 12:15 and during past festivals, the animation academy is super packed. Of course this year it was at the American Gardens Theater so I knew everyone would fit but wow! There was probably only 25 people total drawing. We did Mickey and the very first thing you had to do was draw a circle. Yep, just a circle. I almost got up and quit right then. Haha! I drew my best circle which looked more like a bumpy oval so I turned the paper over and made Donnie draw me one. We have done Mickey before and it’s hard! Mine looks okay but still a little crooked.





Next we went to the 1:00 Voices of Liberty. I have seen on social media they sometimes do modern songs but we haven’t seen that yet. Donnie was hungry so when we walked by Morocco he decided to get one of everything! He said it was all good even though the flatbread was a little dry around the edges but the fried dough was delicious!



We wanted to see the new film in France so we headed that way next. I think we just missed a show so we waited a while. I was excited when I heard it was a Beauty and the Beast sing a long but I wasn’t impressed. It will be good to get out of the heat (or cold!) but won’t be a must do. After that we decided we were both kind of tired and the park was busy so we started to leave. Before we left we had to ride Nemo! Big Blue World is my jam although I always have to close my eyes through the EAC so I don’t get motion sick. It was about 4:00 when we got to the bus stop and we were back in the room 20 minutes later. I wasn’t feeling the greatest so I had Donnie go get us dinner. I think he got fish and veggies and I got a burger. It was fine, nothing awesome but what you’d expect for a QS resort meal. We just relaxed and watched Zootopia and Tangled on Disney+ until we fell asleep.​

 

[Gina Starr]

This is going to be an extremely wordy post because we took like two pictures the whole day. Sorry!

Day 10 January 22


We set our alarm today for 8:30 as this was originally our last park day. The next day was checkout day and our last park is always MK and we had lots more we wanted to accomplish. I had an idea several days ago but I didn’t wanna tell Donnie right away cause I knew he’d say YES! Since we drive and we didn’t have to be back at work for several more days I though about nixing our normal plan of waking up super early on checkout day and drive all the way home. I thought we could stay in Disney til late afternoon/early evening and drive the four hours to the same hotel we stayed at on the way down then drive the other 10+ hours the following day. I decided this morning I wanted to do that so told Donnie and within 30 minutes we had a new hotel reservation.



We decided to take our time getting ready for Magic Kingdom because it felt like 29 out with the windchill so our first FP for SDMT was moved to an anytime FP as it looked like all the outdoor rides weren’t open yet.



Donnie decided to get breakfast from Sassagoula and brought it back to the room. We were at the bus stop around 10:15 and 15 minutes later we were in MK. We had a FP at Big Thunder to get to and all the outdoor rides were finally open. With the cold weather and the fact the holiday weekend was over, we thought it wouldn’t be busy. Boy were we wrong! There was a 105 minute wait at Big Thunder when we showed up! Thankfully the FP line wasn’t too bad and we had a fun (and cold) ride.



To get out of the cold and since the lines were so long everywhere we went to The Tiki Room next. We tried to go to Country Bears Jamboree next but it was still not open for the day. We decided to use our anytime FP for SDMT at this time and was able to modify our next one to Haunted Mansion shortly after.





I reminded Donnie that he hadn’t had a hot dog from Casey’s yet so he decided now was a good time. We mobile ordered and he ate outside and we were treated to a show! A few citizens of Main Street came over and put on a little show with the piano player and we were happy to have caught it! (OMG- so sad reading this back and knowing we won’t experience anything like this anytime soon) We went to see Mickey’s Phillharmagic next out of obligation but the 3D is awful and the effects didn’t work great. We were trying to decide what to do next as it was pretty cold and pretty busy and decided to go to Disney Springs to see a movie. It was before 4 so no buses to DS from MK. We had lots of options but of course chose the wrong thing. We took the monorail to Contemporary and planned to catch a bus to DS from there. So we got on the monorail at 1:20 and when we got to the bus stop the sign said the bus would be there at 2:05. The movie was at 1:50 so that wasn’t going to work. We checked the Lyft app and a Minnie Van was going to get us there after 2 and it was like $50 so we went with a regular Lyft. We had no idea where they dropped off but it’s way down by Cirque du Soleil. We were dropped off at 1:55 but Donnie assured me with previews we would be fine. We bought our tickets and got our snacks. We sat down as soon as the movie started so we made it (barely!) We saw Dolittle and really enjoyed it!



After that we had a little bit (which turned into a lot) of shopping to do. I always buy my family snacks/food as souvenirs and to say thank you for watching Pepper so we headed to Goofy’s Candy Co. Donnie also wanted a Rice Krispie treat and went with a cute Maleficent one. Next we went to TrenD where I talked myself out of the sweater spirit jersey and then the Co-Op where we were reminded we wanted to get a commemorative brick so we ordered that! Then we looked through World of Disney where Donnie talked me into getting the sweater spirit jersey and I think he got a shirt too. It had been the 45 minutes we were told it would take for the brick and we show back up and the CM couldn’t be bothered. He looked at us like we had three heads when we explained we were there to pick up the commemorative brick. He pulled open the top drawer and said “well it ain’t here” and was ready to be done with us. I was ready to head to the other side of DS and I wasn’t leaving without that brick so I was like “okay can you find out when it will be ready?” He reluctantly leaves comes back five minutes later with someone else who opens the same top drawer and was like “it’s right here.”



After that we needed food. I picked up my last round of Erin McKennas then we headed to Blaze. Donnie got the meat lovers and I got a build your own with white cream sauce and bacon. We wanted to take it back to the room and between the many (heavy) bags and two pizza boxes it was quite the struggle. The bus took a while to get there but soon enough we were back in the room eating our yummy pizza. We packed and went to bed, sad that the next day was our last day.​

 

[Gina Starr]

Pardon my manners on my last post! This year was a little funky Christmas-wise so I somehow forgot it was the holidays. Hope everyone had a fantastic holiday and a Happy New Year! On to my final post for this trip.


Day 11 January 23


We set the alarm for 8:00 am so we could pack the car before heading to the park. We got to the park around 9:45 with a few random FP we picked yesterday since this wasn’t a park day originally. They announced Smugglers Run FP this morning which totally crashed the FP system even in the park kiosks so we couldn’t do any modifying. We made a point to get the super zoom Photopass first thing and this family decided they needed to stand directly behind us. Oh well, still cute.





We went through Adventureland to get to our first FP and a Photopass CM standing in front of Skipper Canteen asking people if they wanted a special photo opportunity. No one was biting and we had time so we went up to him. He explained he only does this once a week during the first two hours of the day and we got this cool shot!



Next we headed to Jungle Cruise and our Skipper was awesome! Unfortunately our boat was full of people who totally didn’t get the ride. There was a family that was taking pictures of all the animatronics like they were real animals and people talking over the skipper. We sat on the step and the skipper kept calling out Donnie for his “pity laughs” but he was really laughing because she was hilarious.


It was 10:45 and our next FP was a couple hours away so we got in a 25 minute Haunted Mansion line and thankfully the FP system came back up while in line and the wait was more like 10-15 minutes. Unfortunately, the FP selection wasn’t very good with nothing available til 6-7 at night.



We were running out of time and Donnie still had a snack he needed to try. He got the pepperoni pizza spring rolls and we both got dole whips and ate our snacks near the tiki room exit. Donnie really liked the spring roll and after being disappointed by the cheeseburger ones he was pleasantly surprised. Next we went to Country Bears since we missed them yesterday. We just missed a show so sat and waited til the next one. The lobby was a bit crowded so it took a few minutes to load the show but then we kept waiting and waiting and waiting. It’s like they were waiting to fill the whole theater which I never experienced. We seriously waited over 10 minutes once we were seated, enough time to just get through the show and start a new one!



There was a girl in the row behind us talking about how the Kardashians were in Disney World but I don’t follow any of them so I never knew if they were actually in Magic Kingdom that day. Our last FP was for Pirates of the Caribbean so we went there next and had a great ride!



Our last ride always has to be Peoplemover and it was about time to start leaving so we went over to Tomorrowland. I surprisingly didn’t cry but I was really sad. Our AP was expiring in a few days and at the time we didn‘t have any trips really planned til October 2021 (which obviously changed as we had a trip in September 2020 and also are going back very soon !) Didn’t have much time to be sad because we decided to have our last Disney meal at Whispering Canyon. We slowly walked down Main Street and took our usual sad selfie and left MK for the last time this trip.



We had a 2:00 ADR and they stopped serving lunch at 2:30 so I didn’t want to be super late. It was 1:45 and we decided on a bus and we saw a bus pulling away as we walked up. The Minnie Van stop was right there and it was raining and cold so I didn’t feel like waiting or going to the boat. We called the Minnie Van to drive us literally like half a mile away but we made it to Whispering Canyon on time. Since I love the burnt end nachos so much I ordered them for my meal and I was sad that they weren’t as amazing as the first two times. They were extra greasy and the meat was extra fatty. I actually pulled a chunk of meat out of my throat because it was so fatty I couldn’t swallow it. It must have been an off day and as long as they are still there when we come back, I will still get them again.



There was a family at a table near us and they must have been there quite a bit because our server called them by their names but didn’t act like she knew them personally. She was really nice but still into the fun and games. She talked to us a little bit and she told us we should move to Florida and work for Disney because they were getting 40% off merchandise right now. Donnie already wants to do that so he doesn’t need anymore encouragement. At 2:45 we were getting a Lyft back to POFQ. We got some drinks, went to the bathroom and the gift shop, and used up our game room card on the photo booth and was officially leaving Disney property around 4:00. We hit a lot of traffic and got to our hotel for the night around 9:30. Donnie got Burger King and I ate the super healthy meal of a payday candy bar. We fell asleep pretty quickly with an early alarm set.


Day 12 January 24


We had about ten and a half hours to drive today and didn’t really want to get home late so we woke up at 5:00 am. We were pretty lazy so didn’t get on the road til 6:00 am with an eta of 4:22 pm. We got home at 6:00 pm after a stop at Five Guys to get dinner since we didn’t have any groceries at home. And that’s the end of our trip!​

 

[Gina Starr]

I had plans to write some fancy wrap up post but that didn’t happen and I’m eager to move on to my September 2020 TR! Thanks to everyone who followed along and I’m sorry I was so inconsistent with posts. I’m going to speed post the September trip and then hopefully my January 2021 trip will be posted more consistently. Happy New Year and good riddance, 2020!!​

 

[missangelalexis]

Thanks for sharing! I enjoyed reading and can't wait for the next TR!!

 

[Gina Starr]

Thanks for sharing! I enjoyed reading and can't wait for the next TR!!

Thank you so much for following along!☺

 

[Gina Starr]

I finally started my September 2020 TR! That should go fast since it was only 3 park days and then I will move onto January 2021 which is already written, just need to edit photos for that one. I hope to post more consistently going forward!