At first they didn't want me to come, now they don't want me to leave! April 2021 F&G TR (Updated 9/6!)

[VAtink]

When I see pictures of the new barges at EP, they don't seem to look too bad. But when I get there and see them in person, they are horrible monstrosities!

Yes! They are so huge in person, I was shocked at how big they really are! I can't wait to see what they look like when they are fountains, I hope it helps make it look better.

 

[VAtink]

Day 3, part 2: The Most Productive Morning, Part 2!

We last left off wrapping up with the HM. Finally, it was time to head over to the other side of the park, so I speed walked over to Space. Of course on the way over I decided to stop at a PP Photographer!



By the time I arrived at Space, the posted wait was 25 minutes, but I only ended up waiting 14 minutes. Even though it wasn’t a long wait, it was one of the rougher ones, it was oddly hot and stuffy in the queue, so it felt a lot longer than 14 minutes. Glad it wasn’t the full 25!

Once I got to the loading area, the CM assigning rows was awesome and asked where I wanted to sit, so of course I told him the front, and he happily obliged! Wahoo!

This ride is so much fun! And honestly, the front row is the only row I can easily get in and out of, so I’m glad the CM let me pick where I wanted to sit! The one downside of having long legs! (well that and pants finding pants that are long enough can be a challenge)

I was going to ride Buzz next, however I saw the Peoplemover wait was only posted as 20 minutes so decided to head there first. I have to say, this line had the best social distancing I saw the entire trip, which is pretty funny because the markers on the ground were clearly not set up for this ride at that point as they were upside down, perpendicular to the queue, and just didn’t make sense where they were located. But, everyone was standing on one that looked like it should be accurate. I chatted with the groups around me about how confusing this was, but we all tried very hard to stand in the right place regardless of the confusion!
The wait only ended up being 12 minutes! I love the peoplemover, so happy it opened during my trip!


Did you even ride Peoplemover if you don’t get a picture of your feet?


Tron construction!



Finally it was time for Buzz. It was a 20 minute posted wait and it did take exactly 20 minutes to get on the ride.
I did have an experience with a rather clueless family behind me in this queue. They weren’t following the distancing markers, but they also kept talking about how weird it was that some people in line were standing so far apart. Finally, after about 10 minutes they realize that they were supposed to be following the markers and started doing so! It was pretty funny, and didn’t bother me at all since the queue was outside and while not following the markers, they did stay pretty far back so no squishing up on top of me like the guy the previous day!

Buzz was a blast, although with more than a year without practice my aim is waaaay off and I got a horrible score.



I was off Buzz just after 10:30, and was pretty impressed with my touring! In 3.25 hours I rode 7DMT, Thunder, Splash, Pirates, HM, Space, Peoplemover, and Buzz, and had time for PP pictures! Not bad at all! However I was wiped out, that was a lot of running around trying to beat the crowds!

At that point I decided to go find some more PP photographers to get some shots and get some more pictures of the new castle decorations.







I had just wrapped up with the PP photographer in front of the castle, when I saw CMs coming through and clearing the street, so I knew something would be coming! I found a spot to stand next to the street, and sure enough saw the trolly coming down the street! This time it had the Dapper Dans on it, and when it passed me it was so close I could have reached out and touched them! What an awesome treat!



I got a few more PP pictures after that.



I then decided to stroll around getting pictures of those cute character statues they have in front of the castle. I love these, they are so cute!







After that I was getting super thirsty, so decided to find somewhere to sit and get some water. I made my way into the grassy area in front of the castle, there was one other group in there to the far left, so I settled in on the far right under the tree so I could get some shade and took some time to enjoy my water and the scenery.


The glorious view from my break area.

Oddly, within about 5 minutes of sitting down, about 20 more groups decided to come into the grassy area, and one sat right next to me. I just don’t understand, there was plenty of room for them to be away from me and still be in the shade, I just don’t get why some people actually want to sit as close as possible to strangers! It’s so weird to me! They fortunately moved along pretty quickly, so that was good! Although *side note*, remember in that past TR when that random woman actually sat on me?!?!? HAAAAA. Some people really have different levels of comfort with personal space!

It was really nice to hang out there and just enjoy the atmosphere, and while sitting there I heard the cavalcade music come on so hopped up and got to watch Mickey and gang go by!


MICKEY!!!!

It was so awesome!

I ended up hanging out there for about another 10 minutes, before I decided to head out of the park for the morning. It was just after 11 at this point, and by then the crowds had arrived! Tons of people streaming into the park as I left. I did swing by the Emporium for a quick shopping trip and picked up a really cute oven mitt.



I made my way to the bus stop after my quick shopping trip, and found that once again the YC/BC stop had a decent line. Side note, has anyone else staying at the YC/BC noticed that there is ALWAYS a line for their buses while all the other bus stops are empty? Every time I get to a bus stop there has been a line for YC/BC, but never any lines for any other resorts. What is up with that?

The wait for the bus took about 15 minutes, but it wasn’t bad. The weather was absolutely perfect that week, low humidity and an amazing breeze, so it was very comfortable waiting. Soon enough I was back at the resort and taking a much needed nap!

Up Next: Making Disney Friends! ​

 

[suse66]

By the time I arrived at Space, the posted wait was 25 minutes, but I only ended up waiting 14 minutes. Even though it wasn’t a long wait, it was one of the rougher ones, it was oddly hot and stuffy in the queue, so it felt a lot longer than 14 minutes. Glad it wasn’t the full 25!

Nice that the wait times are shorter than posted!

I was going to ride Buzz next, however I saw the Peoplemover wait was only posted as 20 minutes so decided to head there first. I have to say, this line had the best social distancing I saw the entire trip, which is pretty funny because the markers on the ground were clearly not set up for this ride at that point as they were upside down, perpendicular to the queue, and just didn’t make sense where they were located. But, everyone was standing on one that looked like it should be accurate. I chatted with the groups around me about how confusing this was, but we all tried very hard to stand in the right place regardless of the confusion!
The wait only ended up being 12 minutes! I love the peoplemover, so happy it opened during my trip!

So exciting! The PeopleMover is my favourite!

Did you even ride Peoplemover if you don’t get a picture of your feet?

No, foot shots are a must do!

Finally it was time for Buzz. It was a 20 minute posted wait and it did take exactly 20 minutes to get on the ride.
I did have an experience with a rather clueless family behind me in this queue. They weren’t following the distancing markers, but they also kept talking about how weird it was that some people in line were standing so far apart. Finally, after about 10 minutes they realize that they were supposed to be following the markers and started doing so! It was pretty funny, and didn’t bother me at all since the queue was outside and while not following the markers, they did stay pretty far back so no squishing up on top of me like the guy the previous day!

Some people are special!

I had just wrapped up with the PP photographer in front of the castle, when I saw CMs coming through and clearing the street, so I knew something would be coming! I found a spot to stand next to the street, and sure enough saw the trolly coming down the street! This time it had the Dapper Dans on it, and when it passed me it was so close I could have reached out and touched them! What an awesome treat!

Awesome!!

It was really nice to hang out there and just enjoy the atmosphere, and while sitting there I heard the cavalcade music come on so hopped up and got to watch Mickey and gang go by!

Love this!

I ended up hanging out there for about another 10 minutes, before I decided to head out of the park for the morning. It was just after 11 at this point, and by then the crowds had arrived! Tons of people streaming into the park as I left. I did swing by the Emporium for a quick shopping trip and picked up a really cute oven mitt.

I need that oven mitt....it's adorable!

 

[VAtink]

Nice that the wait times are shorter than posted!

Yeah, especially helpful in that queue! I'm not sure why it was so hot in there, but it wasn't the normal blast of cold air, and it was missed!

So exciting! The PeopleMover is my favourite!

Isn't it great? I love that trip around Tomorrowland!

No, foot shots are a must do!

100%!

Some people are special!

Haha, seriously! At least it was an amusing wait having them behind me trying to figure out the distancing!

Awesome!!

It was so cool, I would love if they kept this up even when things go back to normal. It's such a fun surprise!

Love this!

Yes! I totally cried when they went by, Disney is annoying good at making me cry happy tears!

I need that oven mitt....it's adorable!

The second I saw it I knew I needed it! It is beyond cute!

 

[Araminta18]

Yes! They are so huge in person, I was shocked at how big they really are! I can't wait to see what they look like when they are fountains, I hope it helps make it look better.

Right? I didn't think they looked too bad in pics, but in person, wow. They are.....bad. Super bad. I hope the fountains look better but I'm doubtful.

Did you even ride Peoplemover if you don’t get a picture of your feet?

Truth!

 

[missangelalexis]

The rest of your morning sounded great! You really got so much done!!

 

[VAtink]

Quick RL update!

Well, my flight issues continue. About a month ago I got notice that my flight down to MCO had changed from I believe 8:00am to about 5pm. Jetblue has been emailing me a lot asking me to either confirm I accept the change or if I want to switch flights or cancel. Since the trip is still a few months out I just ignored those emails in hopes that they would add back a morning flight. So today when I got another one of those emails I didn't think much about it, until I noticed BOS listed in the flight details.

Now, my mom is coming from Boston, so I thought that her flight had changed and for some odd reason Jetblue was emailing me with her changes! So I decide to actually read the email, and while the BOS was correct, it wasn't for my mom's flight, it was really for mine! They changed the flight again, but this time it had me leaving DC around 5 and flying up to Boston, before finally flying down to MCO and arriving at like 11:00 at night! Ummmm, that's a firm NOPE!

So I went to their website to see what other flights they have available and was shocked to see that my original flight was back on the schedule! What the actual....

Why would Jetblue move me from a non-stop flight to one that has to fly to Boston first and is so far off my originally booked flight schedule instead of putting back on the original flight I booked? I just can't understand how their system could be this bad!

Of course I actually decide to take action with this email and click the link to change my flight. I got everything filled out and hit submit, and it spun, and spun, and spun.....and finally loads the page saying that there were no eligible flights for me to switch to! Needless to say, I was getting pretty mad at Jetblue, so in the end just went back through the change form but instead selected to just cancel my flights, which I ended up doing. I was trying to avoid that so I wouldn't have to pay more, but I was just so frustrated with Jetblue at that point, and it looked like I wouldn't be able to switch to a more expensive flight regardless, even though it was my original flight.

Anyways, now I'm looking at flying American, which I can fly first class both ways for only about $60 more than my Jetblue flight, which I find absolutely crazy. Remember when Jetblue used to be a discount carrier?

In other news, so excited that F&W info is slowly starting to trickle out! I cannot wait to see the menus for the food booths, and fingers and toes are crossed that they'll bring back some of the special events this year! I really really want a PFTS! ​

 

[VAtink]

Right? I didn't think they looked too bad in pics, but in person, wow. They are.....bad. Super bad. I hope the fountains look better but I'm doubtful.

YES! I feel like the person they had design it secretly hates Epcot...

 

[VAtink]

The rest of your morning sounded great! You really got so much done!!

I was surprised how much I was able to get done, it was awesome! I do with I had stuck around for more cavalcades, but I guess I can (hopefully) see the other ones next trip!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

What a fun morning at MK! You really did get a lot done!! Ugh on the other groups sitting close to you in the shade. That happens to me all the time and drives me crazy. I have always had somewhat of an oversized sense of personal space so, in some ways, the pandemic has been "good" for me. LOVE that oven mitt. That's going on my wish list for next trip for sure. Double UGH on flight issues but for $60, I'd definitely switch to first class and be done with it. Hoping the F&W menus come out soon ... the festival starts in just over 5 weeks!

 

[jump00]

Day 1, Part 6: An Evening in Epcot!

After a nice 1.5 hour nap I was finally feeling more alive again so started to get ready to head back over to Epcot.

I got back to the park around 8:20, and was shocked to see how crowded it was! I mean, I guess it makes sense being open the latest, but I figured on a Sunday evening it would have calmed down a bit.

I decided since I was at a theme park it would make sense to go on a ride or two, so I made my way over to one I was certain would not have a wait, Living with the Land!

I was right, there was no wait, however there were more people than expected and there were groups in every row of the boat. That was a rare sight even before covid!

It was a nice ride to start with, always enjoy that one, although the plastic between rows is awful. It makes it so hard to see. At least I still got the smells though, omg, I don’t know what it is with the water smell on Disney rides, but I love it!






Not a great picture, but this gives an idea of how bad the plastic between the rows is.


Mmmmm, tequila

Once off the ride it was around 9, so I figured being the last hour of the park being open the posted wait times were probably inflated, so I decided to check out Soarin’. Plus it was an easy commute from LwtL.

The posted wait was 45min, but I hoped it would be less, and I thought it would be when I first got in line. But I quickly realized that 45 minutes might be accurate. I’m not sure why I never noticed this before, or maybe this is new, but they have three queues there, two standby and one in the middle for DAS/Childswap/etc. Well, the one line on the far right was packed with people, so I though I had lucked out being sent to the line on the far left, but while a shorter line, it didn’t move nearly as much as the other one.



It took a while to get to the front of the line, and I was getting a bit perturbed as we neared the preshow area when a CM kept coming through the line looking for parties of 4 and having them cut to the front. They did this about half a dozen times, all the while the line in front of me didn’t budge.

So needless to say, I was starting to get a bit grumpy.

Finally they stopped looking for parties of 4 and the line started moving again. We got to the part where the CM assigned people to rows, and I could tell that once again I’d be in section C, row3. Ugh. Stupid crooked Eiffel Tower.

Well, I think the CM caught the look of despair on my face, and when he got to me, he undid the metal chain in the stanchion in front of me and goes “For you, Row 1, Section B.”

I. Was. Floored.

Seriously, made my night, which of course I told the CM. I was so giddy after that!

The ride was awesome, I love being in B1!

Also that ride was the first time that day that I fully relaxed. My HR all day was over 90, which is high for me while not moving, usually I’m around 60, but once I got off Soarin’ it was back down in the 60s and I just felt so much better. It was like my body finally realized that I was on vacation!

So the wait ended up being 40 minutes, which isn’t horrible for Soarin’, but wasn’t the low wait I was hoping for in the last hour of the night.

After Soarin’ the park was getting close to closing so I made my way out, and boy was I ready. I was exhausted at that point and with an early morning planned the following day I was ready for bed!

I did get this shot on the way out, I love how the new addition to France looks, and even like the way the skyliner looks!



Up Next: Did They Forget to Send Our Bus?​

Fantastic trip report - your videos are an excellent addition. So well done! Can’t wait to read more...........
Brenda

 

[igrsod]

Quick RL update!

Well, my flight issues continue. About a month ago I got notice that my flight down to MCO had changed from I believe 8:00am to about 5pm. Jetblue has been emailing me a lot asking me to either confirm I accept the change or if I want to switch flights or cancel. Since the trip is still a few months out I just ignored those emails in hopes that they would add back a morning flight. So today when I got another one of those emails I didn't think much about it, until I noticed BOS listed in the flight details.

Now, my mom is coming from Boston, so I thought that her flight had changed and for some odd reason Jetblue was emailing me with her changes! So I decide to actually read the email, and while the BOS was correct, it wasn't for my mom's flight, it was really for mine! They changed the flight again, but this time it had me leaving DC around 5 and flying up to Boston, before finally flying down to MCO and arriving at like 11:00 at night! Ummmm, that's a firm NOPE!

So I went to their website to see what other flights they have available and was shocked to see that my original flight was back on the schedule! What the actual....

Why would Jetblue move me from a non-stop flight to one that has to fly to Boston first and is so far off my originally booked flight schedule instead of putting back on the original flight I booked? I just can't understand how their system could be this bad!

Of course I actually decide to take action with this email and click the link to change my flight. I got everything filled out and hit submit, and it spun, and spun, and spun.....and finally loads the page saying that there were no eligible flights for me to switch to! Needless to say, I was getting pretty mad at Jetblue, so in the end just went back through the change form but instead selected to just cancel my flights, which I ended up doing. I was trying to avoid that so I wouldn't have to pay more, but I was just so frustrated with Jetblue at that point, and it looked like I wouldn't be able to switch to a more expensive flight regardless, even though it was my original flight.

Anyways, now I'm looking at flying American, which I can fly first class both ways for only about $60 more than my Jetblue flight, which I find absolutely crazy. Remember when Jetblue used to be a discount carrier?

In other news, so excited that F&W info is slowly starting to trickle out! I cannot wait to see the menus for the food booths, and fingers and toes are crossed that they'll bring back some of the special events this year! I really really want a PFTS! ​

That happened to me as well. My morning direct flight from Syracuse to Orlando was cancelled and I was given the options you were. I had a similar set of events to yours... and in the end cancelled the flight. I usually love Jet Blue.... this was not my typical experience with this airline. Anyways, I still haven't rebooked, as no airline has a great option at the moment. I'm hoping that when things open even more here in Canada, that the Canadian airlines will provide better options to Orlando.
Sorry Jet Blue... you missed out.

 

[VAtink]

What a fun morning at MK! You really did get a lot done!!

I was so surprised how much I got done! It was so much fun. I do wish the trip was longer so I could have done a more relaxed MK morning, but now that I know we're planning a slow morning at MK for our September trip.

Ugh on the other groups sitting close to you in the shade. That happens to me all the time and drives me crazy. I have always had somewhat of an oversized sense of personal space so, in some ways, the pandemic has been "good" for me.

Yes! I hate people being too close to me, especially when there is no reason for them to be. This distancing thing has been great for that!

LOVE that oven mitt. That's going on my wish list for next trip for sure.

Isn't it great? I had no intention in buying anything, but the second I saw that I HAD to have it. I love it!

Double UGH on flight issues but for $60, I'd definitely switch to first class and be done with it.

I know! This is getting ridiculous. Have to admit though....I'm kinda considering the jetblue flight down for the sole reason that it just may be the hot pilot again....

Hoping the F&W menus come out soon ... the festival starts in just over 5 weeks!

Seriously, I need to put together my must try list! Also really hope they announce any special events soon...and if they have them they really need to have more people working the phones than they did this morning for Boo Bash! I used to think booking F&W events over the phone was the most frustrating thing ever....little did I know....

 

[VAtink]

Fantastic trip report - your videos are an excellent addition. So well done! Can’t wait to read more...........
Brenda

Thank you! And !

 

[VAtink]

That happened to me as well. My morning direct flight from Syracuse to Orlando was cancelled and I was given the options you were. I had a similar set of events to yours... and in the end cancelled the flight. I usually love Jet Blue.... this was not my typical experience with this airline. Anyways, I still haven't rebooked, as no airline has a great option at the moment. I'm hoping that when things open even more here in Canada, that the Canadian airlines will provide better options to Orlando.
Sorry Jet Blue... you missed out.

Yeah, I usually really like Jetblue, but they are doing some crazy things these days that make it hard to want to fly with them.

Hopefully as things get closer to normal more/better flights are added for you!

 

[VAtink]

Was going to post this yesterday, but after the day I had I needed a break from Disney! (shocking I know)

So like many, I spent way too much time yesterday calling, or at least trying to call, for Disney for Boo Bash tickets. I was so prepared, I had the dates, the reservation number, and my credit card set up next to my computer the night beforehand, and I even woke up a bit before 6 juuuuust in case they opened booking online. I fully expected to be done by 7:30 at the latest. Little did I know.

I even had a "trick" a CM I spoke with on the phone a few weeks ago told me about. She said to start calling 5-10 minutes before 7 to get in the queue. So at 6:55 I call, and it goes through and I work though the menu only to hit a message that the call center wasn't open and then it hung up on me. Ugh, turns out not exactly a great trick! I had noted that it took about a minute to get through the menu, so decided to call right at 6:59 to hopefully get in this time. Only this time all I got was the busy signal!

No big deal right? Well...um....it was kinda a big deal. Roughly 1400 calls kind of a big deal. And no, that is not an extra 0, I actually called about 1400 times yesterday.

On top of this fun, the day prior my boss had last minute scheduled my performance review for yesterday morning! So around 11:00 I had to give up calling for a bit and get ready for my meeting with my boss. It was ok, I got a great review, but I was super distracted because all I wanted to do was get back to hitting redial! (I became a bit obsessed with trying to get through )

Once off the call I got right back into my redialing, and finally within about 15 minutes it went through!

....and then I hung up on them.

Yup, I had gotten so used to the motion of hitting send and then end a moment later I hit end when it went through!

The good news is that it only took a bit longer to get through again, and this time I did not hang up! The wait ended up being just under 2 hours, but at least I was on hold so I could do work while listening to the music.

Finally a CM picked up, although at first I was super confused. I had the volume pretty low, and the HM song just came on, and suddenly I hear this voice, and I for some reason was thinking it was the ghost host. I dunno, my brain was fried by then. HA!

The CM was awesome, and within 5 minutes he had booked us the party! Wahoo!!!! Frustrating morning, but at least it worked out in the end! ​

 

[2xcited2sleep]

No big deal right? Well...um....it was kinda a big deal. Roughly 1400 calls kind of a big deal. And no, that is not an extra 0, I actually called about 1400 times yesterday. ​

Wow. That sounds, um, intense. When you commit, you commit! Glad you were able to get what you wanted. And congrats on a good performance review!

 

[igrsod]

Was going to post this yesterday, but after the day I had I needed a break from Disney! (shocking I know)

So like many, I spent way too much time yesterday calling, or at least trying to call, for Disney for Boo Bash tickets. I was so prepared, I had the dates, the reservation number, and my credit card set up next to my computer the night beforehand, and I even woke up a bit before 6 juuuuust in case they opened booking online. I fully expected to be done by 7:30 at the latest. Little did I know.

I even had a "trick" a CM I spoke with on the phone a few weeks ago told me about. She said to start calling 5-10 minutes before 7 to get in the queue. So at 6:55 I call, and it goes through and I work though the menu only to hit a message that the call center wasn't open and then it hung up on me. Ugh, turns out not exactly a great trick! I had noted that it took about a minute to get through the menu, so decided to call right at 6:59 to hopefully get in this time. Only this time all I got was the busy signal!

No big deal right? Well...um....it was kinda a big deal. Roughly 1400 calls kind of a big deal. And no, that is not an extra 0, I actually called about 1400 times yesterday.

On top of this fun, the day prior my boss had last minute scheduled my performance review for yesterday morning! So around 11:00 I had to give up calling for a bit and get ready for my meeting with my boss. It was ok, I got a great review, but I was super distracted because all I wanted to do was get back to hitting redial! (I became a bit obsessed with trying to get through )

Once off the call I got right back into my redialing, and finally within about 15 minutes it went through!

....and then I hung up on them.

Yup, I had gotten so used to the motion of hitting send and then end a moment later I hit end when it went through!

The good news is that it only took a bit longer to get through again, and this time I did not hang up! The wait ended up being just under 2 hours, but at least I was on hold so I could do work while listening to the music.

Finally a CM picked up, although at first I was super confused. I had the volume pretty low, and the HM song just came on, and suddenly I hear this voice, and I for some reason was thinking it was the ghost host. I dunno, my brain was fried by then. HA!

The CM was awesome, and within 5 minutes he had booked us the party! Wahoo!!!! Frustrating morning, but at least it worked out in the end! ​

What date are you going? I got tickets yesterday for our group for 09/17. I had the best CM... he said it was only his 2nd day on the phones alone, and he rocked it.

 

[VAtink]

Wow. That sounds, um, intense. When you commit, you commit! Glad you were able to get what you wanted. And congrats on a good performance review!

Haha, yup! I kept saying "ok, this is my last call" but then I'd think "well maybe it'll go through if I try one more time...." That went on for a while!

 

[VAtink]

What date are you going? I got tickets yesterday for our group for 09/17. I had the best CM... he said it was only his 2nd day on the phones alone, and he rocked it.

We are also going on the 17th! Also the 14th. Can't wait for this!