A Whole New World of COVID-19: An Annual Passholder Adventure (Updated 10/1 x2: Disney Springs & Epcot)

[lindseyanne]

July 10: Annual Passholder Previews @ Magic Kingdom
Part Five

After getting my fill of the princess cavalcade, it was finally time to venture into one of the Magic Kingdom's lands and do my first attraction since March. The Saturday before WDW shut down, the last attraction I rode was It's A Small World, about five minutes before the park closed. Boyfriend was setting up his tripod by the Tangled Toilets, so I rode alone. It was like this iconic picture, except I am not Julie Andrews:



We headed into Tomorrowland, which looked like this:



Normally, our first stop would be the Peoplemover, but sadly it was not operating (nor was it operating on our last day at the Magic Kingdom in March...and is still not operating....). It would have been wonderful to sit on the Peoplemover and loop Tomorrowland for hours, but we had a just as classic destination in mind:


If anyone has ever seen a shop online selling that Niagara Falls fan, PLEASE TELL ME. I can convince my boyfriend to do Dapper Day if I can just find that fan!

I didn't take any pictures outside Carousel of Progress or inside the theatre (except this quick creepshot of John Progress), so let me give y'all a quick overview of how this went, social distancing-wise. A CM was stationed outside of the turnstiles, asking how many members each party had. Another CM after the turnstiles directed each party to a social distance marker to stand on while waiting for the doors to open. Inside the theatre, entire rows were closed off, and there were chunks of seats also closed off. The CM inside the theatre was ensuring that each party kept a distance of multiple seats away from one another.

The one time that social distancing kind of broke down was when the doors opened to the theatre: a lot of people immediately left their social distancing marker and headed inside, crowding each other. The CM was on it, though, immediately loudly reminding everyone to maintain a six feet distance from each other. This is something to keep in mind if you choose to come to the parks: I don't think it's malicious or on purpose, but sometimes, instinct takes over and people forget to keep a distance from one another.

After a ride through the 20th century, we were refreshed from the AC but both really thirsty, again. We headed to Cosmic Ray's, my normal stop for free ice water, but were stopped by the CM at the door because we did not have a mobile order. She directed us to Auntie Gravity's for water. This was my one complaint about the way food & beverage operations were adjusted: with most F&B locations closed, and the open ones (Cosmic Ray's and Pecos Bill's) only letting people with mobile orders in, staying hydrated was a struggle. My boyfriend and I were both really dehydrated by the end of the day, and we were feeling it all night and into the next day. BUT!!! It looks like this has changed over the weekend, and now guests in search of water are being directed to a different entrance at the big quick service locations. So kudos to WDW for making that change so quickly.

Finally rehydrated, we strolled through Fantasyland, with our next stop being my favorite MK attraction: the Haunted Mansion. On the way, I snapped this picture of Rapunzel's tower, because the clouds looked moody:



But alas....Haunted Mansion was down! Apparently it had been down for awhile. So we continued on through Liberty Square and into Frontierland, hoping to see some of our favorite bears on top of Grizzly Hall. We were not disappointed.


Me feeling that 105F real-feel.



They were having a great time interacting with their fans on the ground. They also had a great time rocking out to the next cavalcade that went by, with the old Move It Shake It music.









One weird thing about the parks being so empty is that you see the same people over and over again. The girls you can see in the picture above were in front of me at Starbucks, and I saw them constantly over the course of the day.

Next: We finally FINALLY ride a ride.
​

 

[Lilias]

Oh! And I forgot to ask--is there an insole you use for your Tom's? D: I have a BUNCH of them, but as soon as I hit 30 I couldn't wear them for extended periods anymore without my knee being out of commission for the next two or more days... ((

 

[lindseyanne]

July 10: Annual Passholder Previews @ Magic Kingdom
Part Six

I had seen on Twitter that Splash Mountain was not using the water canon "splashdown" effect, so Boyfriend and I were both excited to ride it. We both haaaaaaaate getting soaked and walking around in wet clothes at parks (plus, Boyfriend typically has expensive camera gear with him), so we avoid Splash Mountain even though we both love the ride itself. In fact, this was the first time we've ever ridden it together.



The wait time was marked as 20 minutes, but it was in fact a walk-on; we didn't catch a single soul with us in the queue. We did, however, pass a giant but still socially distanced line of people waiting to enter the Splash Mountain store. [eyroll] A party was waiting to board a log, but we asked the CM at Load if we could have our own log and they were more than happy to oblige us.

As an aside...I'm usually very anti-changing-rides (like, I am still upset about Maelstrom), but I'm actually very excited about the eventual retheme of Splash Mountain to a Princess & the Frog ride! My only demand is that they keep the heavy amount of audio-animatronics that Splash has and don't rely too much on screens. And find a way to keep the FSU Gopher! (In case you didn't know, there's a gopher in the psychedelic cavern scene who yells "FSU!", since one of this ride's imagineers was an FSU alum.)


Mr. Bluebird says: keep that mask on the entire ride! (I cropped Boyfriend out of this, but it's fine because the splashdown photo captured him frantically stashing his camera.)

We didn't get hit with even a drop of water, but we did get stuck in a long-ish backup right after the big drop. They came over the PA system to apologize for the delay, which was due to CMs disinfecting logs. I couldn't get my phone out fast enough to get a picture at Unload, but basically, they were cycling each log empty and spraying them with a disinfectant.

After splashing down, we were thirsty again. The heat was intense, and we wanted to sit down for a few minutes in the AC, so we decided to place a mobile order at Pecos Bill's for some Cokes. The CM at the door checked our mobile order and sent us in, reminding us that we were free to take our masks off once we got to our table and were drinking, but to keep them on the rest of the time.



There were maybe four other parties in all of Pecos, since it was between lunch and dinner, so we had no problem finding an empty room. Personally, I am not comfortable dining inside the parks right now, because it means having my mask off inside for a prolonged amount of time around other people. If you do choose to eat inside the parks, I'd recommend either taking your food outside or waiting until an off-peak time when you can eat inside an otherwise empty restaurant.

We finished up our Cokes and planned to visit the Country Bear Jamboree, but a show had just started. Boyfriend and I both had decided earlier that we would wait outside for CBJ, because we weren't comfortable with the enclosed indoor waiting area right now, but since it was sooooooooooo hot, we were not about that at the moment. Instead, we decided to move on to Fantasyland.



On our way, we passed the Haunted Mansion...which had JUST reopened after being down for hours! Naturally, we jumped right in the queue.



The extended queue is open (I imagine to help with social distancing), and I had to remind myself NO TOUCHING.



As most DISers have probably read by now, when you enter the Haunted Mansion, you walk straight through the Stretch Room to Load. I didn't take pictures inside because it was so dark and they wouldn't come out, but stanchions are set up to keep a line formed, so don't worry that a party will rush in front of you.

One thing I will say about this modified procedure: it really makes you appreciate the thought and care that went into designing attractions like the Haunted Mansion! Normally, your eyes start to adjust to the dark in the foyer, then adjust more throughout the Stretch Room experience, and are pretty much completely adjusted to the dark by the time you get to Load. Since we had no one in front of us, we went from being outside to being in our doombuggy in less than a minute, and thus our eyes didn't adjust until the swinging wake.

After that, we blindly staggered around outside for a few minutes as our eyes readjusted to the sun, then moved on to Fantasyland.



Scroll down to continue with a very empty Fantasyland and our second favorite sisters after the Schuyler sisters.

​

 

[lindseyanne]

July 10: Annual Passholder Previews @ Magic Kingdom
Part Seven

Boyfriend wanted to get some pictures of the back of the castle with her new paint job, so we headed past the carousel. The two were out on the castle's balcony:


Anastasiaaaaa! DrizEEEEEEEEEElla! And no Cindy.

I believe in character integrity, so while I won't say that the stepsisters were mic'ed, I will say that the fairy godmother had clearly blessed them with some kind of magical and very loud voice amplifier, which made for some great interactions with the people below.





I wish I had had my phone out recording, because above is the moment that Anastasia noticed my boyfriend snapping pictures of her. She proceeded to propose to him, and he accepted. I am sad to tell you that I am now a single woman again.

Eventually the stepsisters went inside, and Boyfriend Ex-Boyfriend Now Engaged to Anastasia and I wandered around Fantasyland.


The backside of castle!



The absence of people in Fantasyland allowed for some people-free angles you can normally only get if you stick around until an hour or more after park close:






We were ready to take advantage of walk-on E-ticket rides, so we moved on to Tomorrowland.

Coming up: In Space (Mountain), no one can hear you scream. Because no one else is on the ride.​

 

[lindseyanne]

Oh! And I forgot to ask--is there an insole you use for your Tom's? D: I have a BUNCH of them, but as soon as I hit 30 I couldn't wear them for extended periods anymore without my knee being out of commission for the next two or more days... ((

Yup, I always use insoles in my Tom's! I shove Dr. Scholl's gel insoles into them because otherwise my legs hurt way too much and they get sooooo smelly.

 

[PlutosRHM55]

I've been seeing that photo of Julie so much lately and it's funny because I only recently just finished the second of her two memoirs (and now I'm on to Michelle Obama's biography, YIPEE!!) I totally imagine you looking as glam as she did on your last IASW ride.

I actually saw people at one Dapper Day who did a John Progress bound so I think you just have to really dig to find that Niagara Falls fan or bite the bullet and make your own. Making your own is probably cheaper but OMG I support it. Dapper Day is a fun time!

The playing of the old MiSi theme got me good when I heard it on my friend's stories who were at previews. That was what was there when I worked at MK so it unlocked some memories I didn't know I had. Good times.

YES to everything about Splash becoming PatF themed. I really hope we get the Tokyo BatB attraction level animatronics. I'd be so upset if they didn't. It's what Tiana deserves.

I had no idea the stepsisters had some magical voice amplifiers. That's so neat! Also, gosh I'm obsessed with the new castle paint job. I cannot wait for the 50th!!

 

[DLo]

Following along. Thanks for coming out of lurkdom to report !

 

[Raeven]

Following along!

 

[lindseyanne]

I actually saw people at one Dapper Day who did a John Progress bound so I think you just have to really dig to find that Niagara Falls fan or bite the bullet and make your own. Making your own is probably cheaper but OMG I support it. Dapper Day is a fun time!

YES to everything about Splash becoming PatF themed. I really hope we get the Tokyo BatB attraction level animatronics. I'd be so upset if they didn't. It's what Tiana deserves.

I'm going to probably have to bite the bullet and just make my own fan even though I'm the least craft-y person alive, just to force my boyfriend to do Dapper Day. I've lost MNSSHP this year and all those opportunities for dressing up, I will NOT lose Dapper Day as well!

We neeeeeeeeeeed a Tiana animatronic that it as technologically advanced as that Tokyo Belle animatronic. The first time I saw video of that on Twitter, I was so stunned. I was like, what am I looking at? It was truly like the Belle of the movie came to life.

Following along. Thanks for coming out of lurkdom to report !

Thanks for following along!

Following along!

Greetings!

 

[debjk4]

Having so much fun reading your TR!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Following along! I was afraid the parks would lose some magic when they reopened but it certainly seems to be alive and well!

 

[lovethattink]

Really enjoying your TR!! I can't wait to go to MK. But Since we can only have 3 reservations at a time, mine are for the other 3 parks. So maybe in August or Sept if availability is there for AP.

Love the step sisters! Sounds like a great interaction even from such a distance!

I'm excited for the Splash renovation! Being an AP for so long, it's sad saying goodbye to old attractions, but the changes (well most of them) are welcomed.

 

[lindseyanne]

Hi everybody! Please read that in the voice of Dr. Nick from The Simpsons. Oh, and if you haven't seen the episode of The Simpsons where they visit "EFCOT" , please abandon this trip report, turn on Disney+, and watch it immediately. Season 14, Episode 7. Beyond the timeless parodies of Horizons, World of Motion, and the World Showcase, the tagline of EFCOT--"when everything else is booked"--truly predicted the future, because poor Epcot is like the only park that's easy to snag with the current park pass system.

Speaking of park passes, I'm going to knock out the last bit of my AP preview day at the Magic Kingdom and wrap up with some of my impressions and #hotttakes. I have my first "regular" (nothing is regular nowadays) park day booked for this coming Friday, July 24th. Right now, my park pass is for Magic Kingdom, but that may change; now that WDW has shifted some of the park pass availability around and opened up more for APs, Boyfriend and I are debating about trying to switch our park pass for that day to Animal Kingdom, or maaaaaaybe Epcot (that Taste of Epcot food is lookin' good on Instagram and Twitter). So I'll be back in this here neverending TR updating all of you on how that day went.

This has nothing to do with Disney, but I have discovered something amazing/hilarious on YouTube. I'm probably the last person to hear about bardcore, because I am An Old, but today I fell down a rabbit hole of modern medieval covers, and I am now obsessed. I recommend you listen to this instant classic while reading this TR: "Who Let The Dogs Out?"

July 10: Annual Passholder Previews @ Magic Kingdom
Part Eight

After wrapping up in Fantasyland, we took our time walking to Tomorrowland. We passed a quoted wait time of 30 minutes for Seven Dwarves Mine Train, which looked significantly shorter than that even with social distancing in place, but confession time: I don't really care about this ride! I only really enjoy it when it's dark out. During the day, I'm very meh about it.

On our way to Tomorrowland, we got some ice waters from Storybook Treats. We passed by the entrance to Storybook Circus and decided to try out the maskless cool-down area. We were incredibly hot, uncomfortable, and dehydrated by this point. The relaxation station is located in the tent where Daisy, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald usually meet.

The CMs at the door keep track of how many people are inside at a time, because you're allowed to take your mask off inside (so they're ensuring that there is not a large amount of people in there at once). I'll be honest, I had no intention of using the inside maskless zones at the parks, because I'm really not comfortable removing my mask inside for a prolonged period of time. I was pleasantly suprised that the amount of people inside was being so severely limited. Besides Boyfriend and me, there was only one other party in the entire tent; obviously, during a busier time of day (it was around 5 pm), there will be more people.

I took a picture inside so y'all can see what it looks like:



It's no frills, but it IS incredibly cold and out of the sun. There was also no music playing, so it was oddly quiet, but I'm 99% sure that's to discourage people from lingering around. Boyfriend was so creeped out to be in the tent when it was so silent; without doxxing him, before the furlough, he spent a good amount of time in this tent, so it's present state was especially weird to him. We spent a few maskless minutes inside, cooling down and finishing our waters.

(Oh, btw: this relaxation station closed at 6, an hour before park close. I'm not positive, but I think that may be the case for all of them, because if you need to relax sans mask within an hour of park close, you should probably just leave, according to Disney. They're not wrong!)

Once we got to Tomorrowland, we were, as we had been all day, greeted by hardly any people:



When wait times are nonexistant, there's only one place to go: Space Mountain! The sign outside quoted a wait time of twenty minutes, but as we all know, any wait time for SM includes the loooooooooooong walk through the queue. We walked in....and saw no one.

Got to the tunnel with it's beautiful ambient music.....still no one.

Got to the area that used to have interactive games but is now just dark.....still no one.

Finally, we got to the loading area, where the queue splits into the alpha track and the omega track.....and saw people! Cast members, actually. But no other guests.

When we were loaded into our rocket, the CM told us we were actually the only guests in the entire mountain at that time. No one else was in the ride or even the queue! Let me tell you, it's bizarre being the only two people riding Space Mountain. It's weird without screams! And then I felt like I shouldn't scream or let out any yelps, because everyone would hear my solitary screams.


HOW DO ALL OF YOU TAKE CUTE ON-RIDE PICTURES ON THIS RIDE WHILE I LOOK LIKE A POTATO?!?

The CM at Unload asked if we wanted to ride again, because no one else was there, but once around Space Mountain is enough for me. I love it, but it's rickety.

After we left Space Mountain, we were walking by the Tomorrowland stage, and Stitch came out to greet his fans:



Sadly for Stitch, there was only one fan there:


I was trying to smize but I just look like I'm in pain.

By this time, it was almost 6 pm, and the weather was starting to look a little foreboding. Boyfriend wanted to get some evening shots of the castle, so we decided to head back into the Hub. As we were walking, I noticed a gaggle of people dressed in business casual walking and Disney name tags with purpose next to us, and in my head I was like, "......some of these people look familiar."

WELL.

The gaggle passed us, but one of them broke away and stepped aside at the entrance of Buzz Lightyear to chat with the CMs posted there, and I realized who it was.

Ladies and gentlemen....the moment you've been waiting for....



JOSH D'AMARO, EVERYBODY!

As always happens when Josh D'Amaro is in public at one of the parks, he was quickly mobbed by his fans. UGH I'M GOING TO MISS HIM. He's going to make such a good chairman of parks and experiences BUT I wish we had had him for a bit longer here. I've heard great things about Jeff Vahle, the new prez of WDW, though, so I'm sure we're in good hands.

Speaking of Jeff Vahle, he was definitely one of the people I saw, as well as Bob Chapek. Once we got to the hub, we saw that they had roped off one of the hub grass sections and had set up recording equipment. They must have been doing some kind of press stuff. Anyway, it was really cool to see all of these peeps up close and personal!

I peeled away from Boyfriend and headed to the hub grass. While he set up his castle shots, I laid down in the hub grass, listened to the Main Street music loop, and just basked in being in the park again after so long. It was wonderful! I was eventually joined by some friends who were in town for opening weekend, so we caught up while seated 6 fix apart and in masks.

At 7, it was time to leave. Usually, Boyfriend is part of the tripod brigade that hangs around well after park close, but with the park closing at 7 now, there was no point--there are no night shots to be had at 7 pm. We missed the farewell on the train station from Mickey, Minnie, and other characters because I was distracted by these ducks:


They've had the Magic Kingdom to themselves for four months and they would very much like all of the humans to leave again, please!

I was way too exhausted, overheated, and dehydrated to take any more pictures on the way out. The express monorail looked a bit backed up because of the social distance markers, but we waited less than 15 minutes to board.

I thought I'd wrap this AP preview day up with some final thoughts, based both on that day and what I've heard from friends who have now been to the parks on "regular" days/seen and read on social media.

--The ultimate question people have is: "should I go to Walt Disney World right now?" I have multiple answers for you, depending on the situation:
+If you have never been to WDW before, or haven't been for a long time, the answer is an emphatic NO. The experience is nothing like it normally is, and so much is missing. It's not worth your money or your time.
+If you are not close enough to drive and have to fly, I would again say NO. The experience isn't worth making a trip for, and tbh, flying unless you have to right now is not a good idea.
+If you have an AP and/or DVC, and you don't mind the truncated experience, and you don't have to fly, my answer is MAYBE. You'll have to weigh for yourself if the benefits outweigh the inherent risk of being in public with strangers.

--There's the philosophical question: "should anyone go to Walt Disney World right now?" That is way above my pay grade, and to be fair, it's above the pay grade of anyone else who's name is not Ron DeSantis. I'm sure all of you have seen the back and forth in social media about whether the parks should be open, and whether people should go. Both sides have good arguments, and NO ONE is 100% right or 100% wrong. The fact of the matter is this: Walt Disney World is open. Universal and SeaWorld have been open for well over a month. None of these places are going to close again unless they are mandated to by the state of Florida, and without getting into politics, I'll just say that our governor is not going to do that. It's simply not going to happen. As someone who lives with a CM, I would LOVE if Disney would close and pay all of their workers to stay home. Can the company do it? Yes. WILL they? No. So the argument that "WDW should not be open" is moot, because yes, NOTHING should be open right now, and ALL OF US should be paid to stay home--this is how countries who have flattened the curve have done so--but that is not the country we currently live in. The fact is, the economy of Orlando is tied to Walt Disney World being open; it's not just CMs and people in the travel industry being affected, but everyone. That means the question that remain is, should ANYONE go to WDW right now? My personal answer is that if you are in good health and live with people who are all in good health and are not immuno-compromised, and you don't have to travel far to get here, and you feel comfortable being in public right now, then I see no reason why you shouldn't go if you want to.

--That being said: if you do choose to go to the parks right now, you will need to look out for your own health and safety, mitigate your risk and advocate for yourself. We've all seen photos from the parks over the past week with large groups clumped together, and while a lot of these photos are deceiving (those clumps usually disperse in a minute or two), they do happen. You'll need to be aware of people crowding you, and set yourself apart. You'll have to make your own moment by moment decisions about whether or not you feel safe, and when necessary, remove yourself from situations (this happened last weekend to some of my friends, who realized as they were being loaded into Kilimanjaro Safaris that the vehicle was not spaced out enough for them, as people were being told they could remove their masks--as a result, they got off and didn't ride). I'm personally not comfortable eating inside any restaurants right now, so I won't be eating inside a restaurant at WDW, whether sit-down or quick service, any time soon.

--If you do go: bring your own wipes (to wipe down lapbars and handlebars--I didn't do this, but I'm doing to moving forward), bring lots of hand sanitizer, utilize the hand sanitizer at the entrance and exit of every ride and store, bring multiple masks (they get sweaty, so having multiples lets you change them mid-day), and bring a water bottle you can refill. I can't stress this last part enough, hence why I bolded it. It's always gross and hot here in the summer, but wearing a mask all day makes it harder to keep drinking all the time, and with a lot of quick service locations closer, getting free ice water is not as easy as it was. Boyfriend and I were both really dehydrated after our AP preview day because we didn't drink enough water, and we felt it for two days afterwards. Next time, I'm bringing a refillable water bottle so I can grab many free ice water cups and pour them in.

--Finally, this is very cliche because everyone in Florida has said it or tweeted it, but WDW is really the safest public place I've been in since this all began. That's less of a compliment to Disney than it is an indictment of the state of Florida and our leadership. Unlike my local Publix, Starbucks, Wal-Mart, Chipotle, etc., WDW actually is enforcing masking and social distancing. Boyfriend pointed out to me that, when he gets called back from furlough, WDW is a much safer place to work right now than most other places in this state. I know the people of the DIS will listen to CMs and follow their directions, so I won't say "obey the CMs working if you go!"; what I will say is, BACK UP the CMs working if you go, if you need to. If you see someone giving a CM a hard time about having to put their mask on, stand up for them, or if you're not comfortable doing that, at least hang back and thank the CM afterwards.

Okay, I've written waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much now, and more importantly, it's dinner time. If you've read this far, thank you for reading, and I'll be back next week to recap my first "regular" park day using a park pass.
​

 

[lindseyanne]

Having so much fun reading your TR!

Yayyyyyy, thank you for reading!

Following along! I was afraid the parks would lose some magic when they reopened but it certainly seems to be alive and well!

Thanks for following! They certainly have retained a lot of the magic; even with the safety changes, they've put a lot of effort into creating new magic!

Really enjoying your TR!! I can't wait to go to MK. But Since we can only have 3 reservations at a time, mine are for the other 3 parks. So maybe in August or Sept if availability is there for AP.

Love the step sisters! Sounds like a great interaction even from such a distance!

I'm excited for the Splash renovation! Being an AP for so long, it's sad saying goodbye to old attractions, but the changes (well most of them) are welcomed.

Fingers crossed they open more availability up! Having three reservations at a time is so annoying...while I don't want the parks to suffer financially (I don't want layoffs!), I do hope that they shift more availability over to APs. The stepsisters were AWESOME--I love that they're still able to be their sassy selves without being on the ground.

 

[PlutosRHM55]

I agree on 7DMT. Every so often I find it fun, but it's not one I particularly am amped for or make some point for. Not worth it.

As someone who used to work in Fantasyland and once was the last CM inside Pete's Silly Sideshow, it is so insanely creepy when it's quiet in there and it's just you and all the little vignettes for the characters.

Omg I would've lost my mind if I saw Josh. I was so happy when he got promoted even if that meant that less of a chance seeing him around. So mad I never ran into him back in March since a ton of my friends apparently did. He felt so bad about laying off all the CPs. An angel. If only he could take Chapek's spot and we finally get rid of him.

I'm glad you went into detail articulating on whether or not people should visit the parks. I tried to when I ended my TR and unfortunately a related incident definitely made it a bit more loaded than it should've been. I think the important thing to understand is when the parks closed, FL had not really seen any cases. Everything was mostly in NY and CA in terms of the US. Outside of the US, the countries dealing with the worst were Spain and Italy. All of those places have basically gone into full lockdown quarantine mode and are doing ok. Now, FL is the epicenter that Spain and Italy basically were and they are opening a theme park (the exact opposite). They are not opening because things are getting better, they are opening because there has been a lot of pressure to do so, as you said. I've heard similarly that Disney has been putting their best foot forward in ensuring safe visits, but the risks are still there and a lot is your own self-preservation (there are things Disney just can't avoid dealing with still fairly large crowds). Thank you for sharing your thoughts again. Hope you stay safe and healthy on your future visits!

 

[lovethattink]

Fingers crossed they open more availability up! Having three reservations at a time is so annoying...while I don't want the parks to suffer financially (I don't want layoffs!), I do hope that they shift more availability over to APs. The stepsisters were AWESOME--I love that they're still able to be their sassy selves without being on the ground.

I was so happy the other day when they did open up more park days for AP. I cancelled an August reservation and picked up an AK day for this month since we were so impressed with AK during AP preview.

I hope your boyfriend is able to get back to work soon. Both my oldest DS and his wife are back to work. One at Disney Springs and the other at City Walk. In fact, she was having mask issues before work one day. So we met up with her and gave her an extra mask.

What great experiences you had at your preview. Seeing all the bigwigs. Having Space Mountain all to yourself!

Do you know where you all you can get free ice water at MK? We brought a frozen water from home for each of us. And that was enough for our 3 hours at AK.

As for the smize, had to laugh because we had this conversation after our photopass pictures. My ds is an actor. And every 6 months to a year he has to get new headshots. He said the trick is not to pose for the picture. But to think about something else. Like for him it could be eating chocolate, winning a video game, getting a booking. Then your eyes will show what you're feeling about that thought.

 

[erinch]

Following! Where did you get your lovely floral mask?

 

[lindseyanne]

Omg I would've lost my mind if I saw Josh. I was so happy when he got promoted even if that meant that less of a chance seeing him around. So mad I never ran into him back in March since a ton of my friends apparently did. He felt so bad about laying off all the CPs. An angel. If only he could take Chapek's spot and we finally get rid of him.

I'm glad you went into detail articulating on whether or not people should visit the parks. I tried to when I ended my TR and unfortunately a related incident definitely made it a bit more loaded than it should've been. I think the important thing to understand is when the parks closed, FL had not really seen any cases. Everything was mostly in NY and CA in terms of the US. Outside of the US, the countries dealing with the worst were Spain and Italy. All of those places have basically gone into full lockdown quarantine mode and are doing ok. Now, FL is the epicenter that Spain and Italy basically were and they are opening a theme park (the exact opposite). They are not opening because things are getting better, they are opening because there has been a lot of pressure to do so, as you said. I've heard similarly that Disney has been putting their best foot forward in ensuring safe visits, but the risks are still there and a lot is your own self-preservation (there are things Disney just can't avoid dealing with still fairly large crowds). Thank you for sharing your thoughts again. Hope you stay safe and healthy on your future visits!

Nothing would make me happier than D'Amaro replacing Chapek. I like to think that even though I didn't realize I saw Chapek at the time, I still scowled at him. Ugh. I just have such an intense dislike of him.

And a big ole YUP to everything you said about the parks reopening. Beyond the political pressure to reopen, I think the powers that be in charge of WDW had to look at the very real question, "what happens when the federal $600 per week for our furloughed employees goes away at the end of July, and they're left relying on Florida's broken unemployment system and expected to survive on $200 per week?" There's not an easy answer to that. I can only imagine the insider pressure they were under to reopen, because so much of central Florida's 30% unemployment/furlough rate was due to WDW; not just CMs, but the businesses that rely on tourists, like other hotels, attractions, restaurants, etc. I certainly wish that our economy wasn't so reliant on tourism, but right now, it is, and there's no fixing that in the middle of a pandemic. I understand people's passion and strong opinions on all of this, but I do wish that people would be willing to look at things in a more nuanced approach, especially on social media...there's a ton of gray areas, and none of us have the answers.

Do you know where you all you can get free ice water at MK? We brought a frozen water from home for each of us. And that was enough for our 3 hours at AK.

As for the smize, had to laugh because we had this conversation after our photopass pictures. My ds is an actor. And every 6 months to a year he has to get new headshots. He said the trick is not to pose for the picture. But to think about something else. Like for him it could be eating chocolate, winning a video game, getting a booking. Then your eyes will show what you're feeling about that thought.

We ended up finding free water at Storybook Treats and Pecos Bill's; I know they have it at Cosmic Ray's, too, but we didn't stop there. I've heard from friends who went this week that they're getting much better about having free water ready to go at quick service places and sending people through separate doors for just free water, so that's an improvement!

That's a great technique for smizing; I'm going to try it out!

Following! Where did you get your lovely floral mask?

I ordered it from Redbubble: Hooter Pattern Mask by Figmentwdw1982. It's really comfortable!

 

[lindseyanne]

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii. I'm currently writing this update while watching live sports, can you believe it?!? I've got my hometown Rays on TV, FINALLY. I've basically accepted in my mind at this point that college football will probably not happen this season, so I'll take what I can get.

July 24: A Taste of The Taste of Epcot
Part One

As I said in one of my earlier updates, I made my first park pass (aka my first visit to a park under the new normal operations, not a preview) for the Magic Kingdom on July 24. Boyfriend and I weren't sold on the idea of returning to MK so soon, but luckily, WDW shifted park pass availability to open up more dates and parks to APs. Obviously, Hollywood Studios fills up quickly and doesn't open back up, but the other parks seem to be relatively open if you're patient and refresh the park pass reservation page enough times. We decided on Friday morning that we wanted to go to Epcot instead, so I cancelled our Magic Kingdom park pass, then refreshed a few times until an Epcot park pass became availability. (Yes, this is very annoying. I hate this system so much but I also can't think of a better system.)

We knew there was no way we were going to be able to fill an entire day at Epcot in the state it's in now, so we rolled up around 5 pm, breezed through security, and were greeted with this beacon of hope and perfection:


I MISSED YOU, YOU MAGNIFICENT SPHERE.

Ugh, seeing Spaceship Earth after five-ish months made even my dark heart feel feelings. Epcot as it once was, and hopefully will be again after all of the refurbishments & additions are done, has always been my favorite park, and definitely the park I spend more time in than any other.

Our first stop could be none other than my beautiful bb:



As you can see, SSE was a walk-on, with every party getting their own time rover. I am SO RELIEVED that this ride's refurbishment/"reimagining" has been delayed. Listen, the descent is awful and needs serious work. But the first half of this ride is FLAWLESS and needs NOTHING. The concept art they showed during D23 concerns me, tbh. But at least now if they do move forward with the big overhaul, I will still have the many, many opportunities to ride SSE as she is now.

We maneuvered through the maze of walls that is Future World right now and headed for our mutual favorite pavilion, the Land. Living with the Land was temporarily closed so that it could have its every-two-hours cleaning, so we followed the crowd (such as it was) to Soarin', where for the first time in my entire life I went from the entrance to load without stopping.

Since it's tight in those Soarin' load areas, they've put up plexiglass between rows:



And this is where I will remind everyone that photos on the internetzzz can be deceiving. In this photo, it looks like I'm right behind this guy, but there was at least 8 feet between us.

Inside the concourse, each section of the ride had seats with plexiglass barriers on them, so that they kept parties separated. You can see what I mean in this creepshot I took:



After Danglin' Soarin' around the CGI'ed world, Living with the Land was back open. This is unironically the favorite ride of Boyfriend and I, because while the first half of SSE may be perfect, ALL of Living with the Land is perfect.

The people who we shared a boat with did not listen to the CMs loading the, which was fine, because it resulted in us getting the best seat:


I swear on everything holy, if anything ever happens to this ride...

You know what's instant ASMR? LwtL Narrator Guy saying "the hooves of the mighty buffalo."


Can't you just hear the angels singing in this picture?

The Land was as happy to welcome us back as we were to be back:



This next part of Living with the Land always reminds me of the terrifying there's-no-earthly-way-of-knowing-which-direction-we-are-going boat ride scene from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory:


Not a speck of light is showing, so the danger must be growing!

I am very sad to report that the fish area contained no catfish. Every single time we ride this ride, Boyfriend leans over to me as we pass the catfish and says, "....they're deceiving people on the Internet." AND EVERY SINGLE TIME IT SLAYS ME. I challenge you not to laugh visualizing a creature that looks like this chatting people up on Tinder:



Okay, back to Living with the Land. Something I've really liked over the past year or so on this ride is that they've added little decorated nooks that change with the season. Let me tell you, this dining set-up is a complete missed opportunity on WDW's part, because I doubt I am alone is saying that I would pay good money to dine here:


It's like San Angel Inn and Blue Bayou but better, because you can see your food.

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[lindseyanne]

July 24: A Taste of The Taste of Epcot
Part Two

As we continued listening to the living with the land that we all love, a reminder of Halloween slapped me in the face and I had a moment of existential dread and sadness:



It just so happened that the official announcement that Halloween Horror Nights were cancelled had happened earlier in the day, and while I'm not an HHN person (I went once when I was 13 and did one house and cried), I am a giant Halloween person, and it bums me out so much. A lot of my friends are huge HHN fans and were just inconsolable all day. I felt their pain, because it's what I still feel when I remember that MNSSHP is also cancelled. I HATE THIS TIMELINE WE LIVE IN.

Our boats got a bit backed up near the end of Living with the Land, and Boyfriend pointed out to me that the boats in front of us had plastic dividers up:



I was beginning to get peckish, so we tragically skipped saying hi to our BFF Figment and moved on to the World Showcase. I planned on hitting up some Food & Wine Taste of Epcot food stands for my dinner. I had already made my list of everything I wanted to try over the next few weeks:



The first stop was, as it always must be, the Canada booth for that old standby, Canadian cheddar cheese and bacon soup:



The serving size of this dish seems to get laughably smaller every year, and does not at all justify the $5.25 price tag, but this is just such a taste of normalcy in these trying times. It's nice to know that even with the world turned upside down, this soup still exists and still hits the spot. The pretzel roll wasn't even stale!

I recommend you usher any children who may be around you out of the room for this next picture, because it may not be safe for the Disboards:



Ignore my awful cuticles (seriously pls ignore them, there's a pandemic and I have not done my nails in months) and just take a deep breath and look at that glorious cheesy goodness.

The evening sunlight was looking very picturesque in Canada. I feel like Canada doesn't get the love she deserves as a World Showcase pavilion. It's gorgeous!



Our next destination was a place that Boyfriend has never been, as his first and only trip to Epcot before moving to Florida was pre-Millenium Celebration:



I haven't been in this monstrosity since the fall of 2009, which I remember because my mother and I went to the Party for the Senses and on the same night Tim Tebow was knocked out during the UF-Kentucky game and it was all anyone was talking about.

I hate the Millenium Tent or whatever it's called on principle because it's sitting on not one but TWO sites that could be country additions to the World Showcase, but WDW will never get rid of it because it brings so much money in as an event space. I'm glad they're using it for multiple Taste of Epcot stalls, because it's a cavernous indoor space where you can get out of the sun without being right on top of people:



My destination, naturally, was the Mac & Cheese booth.



Food does not photograph great in here, so here's a purple-ish picture of my choice, "gourmet macaroni and cheese with Boursin garlic and fine herbs cheese topped with herbed panko":



For $4.50, this isn't a great portion size (look at my fork for scale), but what else is new? What WAS a good portion size was the big ole scoop of Boursin, which is the star of this and any show. I thought that in true festival fashion, there would be a teensy sprinkling of Bousin on top, but this was a whole cookie scoop. I had enough for each bite of macaroni and cheese plus leftovers to lick off my bowl, which I did because Epcot is a judgement free zone.

Speaking of Boursin: was anyone else GUTTED that Festival of the Arts didn't have the fried cronuts and Boursin this past year? It was my favorite of all festival foods. It came in a set of three cronuts topped with Boursin, some gross fish thing, and some gross chicken thing, but I would always just ask the CMs for three Boursin cronuts. PLEASE BRING THIS BACK DISNEY.

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