Another Trip Report

[huggypack2112]

Here is a Electric Water Pageant pic pics

 

[huggypack2112]

Our next day was a magic kingdom day. As we were walking to the marina, we saw a few turkeys, on sitting on a bike rack. I love the wildlife at the fort



Once we got to the park, we made a beeline for 7 dwarfs, which I have only rode once before in all my trips. Sooooo, of course the ride was down. Oh well. We instead went to space ranger spin and did the ride twice. Then, son and I went and did space mountain twice (almost a straight walk-on both times). You know, when I first starting going to MK, it was quite a bit lighter in the ride, with asteroids and comets that were visible on the dome.

While son and I were doing Space Mountain, the wife did Astro Orbiter for her first time. She liked the views from up there. We then headed towards Haunted Mansion. Another straight walk on, but I do miss the stretch room. This ride never gets old. The family then bought me a Disney Hawaiian short at the store near HM.

We had decided to do some shows this day, so we did country bear jamboree. Since we were right there, we grabbed some lunch at Pecos Bills (I think that is the name). Then it was on to the Tiki room and then PotC (about a 25 minute wait). We then decided to head back to Tomorrow Land. We did Space Ranger Spin and a few more on Space Mountain. Next it was on to some things we hadn’t done yet on this trip, like Little Mermaid and Peter Pan. Next, it was a 40 minute wait for 7 dwarfs, so we decided to do it. It is themed well, but the ride leaves a little to desired, IMHO.

It was then time to leave the park. We ordered food from P&J from the ferry, and picked it up on the way to the RV. The chicken dinner deal they have there is not a bad deal.

Oh yeah, while we were at the park, they were doing dry runs for the riverboat and the ride to Tom Sawyers Island (they re-opened the next day). I asked people at both places if they were doing soft re-opening, but I got nowhere. Also, the people mover was working most of the day, just with no people (which I guess makes it the no-people mover).

All told, it was about 8 miles of walking for the day. We were starting to get used to the walking.

 

[Sjm9911]

7 dwarves was just a rebranded ride. I forget what it was when i was younger. Your memories of space was probably on par, your vision is just worse now! Lol. And i have to get in on the chicken deal one trip!

 

[huggypack2112]

7 dwarves was just a rebranded ride. I forget what it was when i was younger. Your memories of space was probably on par, your vision is just worse now! Lol. And i have to get in on the chicken deal one trip!

LOL about the eyesight.
Also, are you sure about 7 dwarfs? I thought it was 7 dwarfs when it opened 6-7 years ago. But, I could easily be wrong.

 

[Sjm9911]

I think i was wrong, i thought it was something else. But then again, i cant remember a lot from when i was a kid. I may have mixed it up.

 

[Sjm9911]

Most of the stuff i remember from 40 years ago is not there, or not how i remember it.

 

[bama_ed]

Our next day was a magic kingdom day. As we were walking to the marina, we saw a few turkeys, on sitting on a bike rack. I love the wildlife at the fort

View attachment 557551

I'm convinced, huggypack2112, that the Fort truly belongs to the turkeys and the squirrels (and all the rest of the wildlife there) and the rest of us are just visitors at their place.

It was then time to leave the park. We ordered food from P&J from the ferry, and picked it up on the way to the RV. The chicken dinner deal they have there is not a bad deal.

The chicken dinner meal combo at P&J was known for over a decade by its advertised name, the "Giddyup and Go" 10-piece dinner (later reduced to 8-piece) or the GAG as it was affectionately known. The GAG name got dropped a few years ago I think. But it was a deal then and it's still a deal now. It's the same chicken and sides that people love at HDDR and at a family friendly price.

We didn't get it on our most recent trip in October but we likely will next January.

Good job on your report so far.

Bama Ed

PS - People Mover was our go-to when the kids were young. They loved being able to look around at the people and rides. DW used to take DS#2 for repeat rides on PM while she gave him his bottle when me and DS#1 rode Space Mountain. Every time she came into the PM loading area she would stick her finger in the air and swing it around in circles to request a "go around again" while DS#2 was in her arms and the CM's would oblige. Those were the days .....

 

[2goofycampers]

Here is a Electric Water Pageant picView attachment 557283 pics

I miss this. Great TR.

 

[huggypack2112]

Friday (2/5) was our last full day. I got boarding group 78 (got BG’s at 7AM 3 of the four days we tried. Got the 4th at the 1PM opening). We had decided unles we get a very early BG, we were going to sleep in some before heading to the park (DS also had a late reservation at Savi’s workshop to build a light saber). We were just going to take it easy our last day. We got to the park. We headed to RnRC first. After that, I had hoped to do ToT one last time, but of course the ride was down. So, we headed back towards Mickies Runaway RR. Of course, it was down as well. Oh well, lets do lunch. We hit Pizzaria Rizzos (I really wish it was stilled themed as Pizza Planet). I have to say that the pizzas we got were not all that great, but the cannoli’s were pretty good.

After lunch, I decided that because I still had some money on my Disney visa rewards card, I was going to make myself a droid. I got a reservation at the droid factory for later in the day, then went to Toy Story land, where we did TS mania. It was then time to make my droid – meet my little buddy R-60. I just know my dog will be thrilled to meet his new play companion.



Next it was on to RotR. Oh yeah, I should mention that my son had bought a monkey-type creature (like the one that sits next to Jabba and laughs hysterically) that sits on his shoulder. When we got to the interrogation part, one of the CM’s said in character “what do you think we are running here, a zoo?”. My son played along and said “if he goes, so do I”, or something like that. The CM did a face-palm . Even though this was our first ride, I was still picking out new details. I also think there were extra live storm troopers in the landing bay.

We then did our last Smugglers Run. I still cant figure out how to steer that thing. We did another Star Tours, then it was what my son was looking forward to (he had saved his birthday money to build the saber). Since they only let one extra person in to watch, my wife went in with my son. She said he had a grin a mile wide under his mask. My wife recorded it, and the talk the teacher(?) gave was really good. One little glitch - when they put the blade on the saber, part of it was burned out, but one of the workers was there in a second to change it out. It was all I could do the rest of the day to keep my son from getting into light saber battles with others (I don’t want that thing to get broke$$$$$).

My son also wanted to try blue and green milk. The blue was much better than the green, but I think they both needed alcohol. We also bought some of the cokes in “thermal detonators” bottles.

On the way out, it was getting dark and the place looked very different. I really do miss being able to hit some of these lands at night.

 

[huggypack2112]

Well, that was the end of the park reports. The next morning we packed up, loaded the car on the tow dolly, and headed home to North Carolina. I rained quite a bit of the way home, but since it never rained on us at the parks, I can take the road rain. My swiss mountain dog was very happy to be home. However, waking up the next Moring and having to return to work was very hard.

So, I now have to ask myself, was the trip worth it. There were a lot of things I missed at the parks since Covid:

Street Performers
College and cultural program members
Some new rides and restaurants (especially the space restaurant) that had yet to open
no fireworks
most shows shut down
no nighttime hours
No extra magic hours

But there were positives as well:
Low lines/crowds
very good adherence to mask and social distancing policies.
Good weather
We have been home for 2 weeks and didnt get sick

But, the reason I have to really say it was worth it was the fact that my family and I needed a break/change of pace. I work for an engineering firm in a 1-person satellite office, so I have been able to go to work every day, but my wife is retired and my son's hours at his beach club have been cut wayyyy back (he hasn't worked since thanksgiving). To put it mildly, they are driving each other crazy due to boredom from staying at home every day. Part of me still wanted to wait until the pandemic passes somewhat, but the thought of waiting another year for a "non-covid" trip was really depressing. I was also confident that with the RV we could isolate ourselves pretty well, and from everything I had heard, WDW did a really good job with covid policy enforcement. So, when balancing out the risks that we assumed when we went with the fun, joy, and mental healing we received, I do have to say I don't regret the trip at all.

Thanks for following along. It has been fun re-visiting all these experiences.

 

[bama_ed]

Thanks for following along. It has been fun re-visiting all these experiences.

Thanks for taking us through your visit, huggypack2112.

Trip reports are like red meat to those of us stuck at home wishing we could be at the Fort and hitting our favorite parks/rides. In this day and age, they have been few and far between so I personally really appreciate all the effort you put into the posts you made for us.

I hope to return the favor (to pay it foward, so to speak).

Not going back to the Fort myself till January 2022 but I will try to post about it as you have.

Good man! Hope you make it out to DL someday. Thank you!

Ed

 

[Sjm9911]

Yes thanks, especially for the end of the trip. I have the same feelings, disney will not be the same as before but its still better then being stuck at home. Glad it all worked out. And it gives me hope i made the right choice.

 

[2goofycampers]

Thanks for the report, great job.

 

[huggypack2112]

Good man! Hope you make it out to DL someday. Thank you!

Ed

Thanks Bama. I do hope to make it to DL some day.. I actually have the RV trip across the county already mapped out, hitting as many sites as I can along the way. The trip would take about 6 months, I am just going to have to wait until I retire to do it (it will be hard to build up that much vacation time)