Dutch & Matt Take On Disney - Our First Time in Forever Feb 2020 TR - UPDATED 5/27 - COMPLETE

[lvcourtneyy]

Very kind of the CM at check in to work so hard to get you a room you want but I'd be overwhelmed by that too. But glad it worked out well in the end!

Sorry about the boarding group. I hope you got another chance to ride.

A night at MK sounds lovely right now especially.

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Ugh, it makes me so sad when I hear about CPs who were only there for so long. So nice of her to really take that time to get a room you wanted. Four Keys card to her!

I'm sorry to hear your boarding group wasn't called. You definitely had rotten luck there. But what a nice evening at MK it sounded you had. It really is the best park to just walk and take it all in. That hub grass is a godsend on tiring days.

 

[tundra1]

Tough luck with Rise of the Resistance. I hope the same thing does not happen to us in November. But it sounds like you two had an amazing time! As far as selecting a room, if I was in your shoes and trying to pick a room at a resort as big as the Yacht Club, and having not been there before, I would be overwhelmed too! I would love to stay at an Epcot resort one of these times! Especially with the easy access to two parks! Keep up the great work with the TR! You have a knack for writing these! BTW... New York City is one of my most favorite places!

 

[TheTinyTiger]

I'm really enjoying your report! Can't wait to hear more.

We are planning a belated honeymoon in Feb of 2022, so it's nice to read about your adventures at the same time of year.

 

[sandieb]

Oh no! I didn't realize there was more to come. I have enjoyed your trip report - have only read a few over the years. I hope I can find this report to read the finale. I really liked how chill you all were when your Boarding Group didn't get called. Some folks would be like "the sky if falling"!

 

[dwonderz]

We were upgraded to a lake view corner room and it was so nice! I enjoyed my stay there.

That sounds awesome!!

I’m sorry your group didn’t get called for Rise!
MK is always a fun park in the evening and who doesn’t love the Country Bears, a nice substitute for Rise.

A perfect substitute!!

Very kind of the CM at check in to work so hard to get you a room you want but I'd be overwhelmed by that too. But glad it worked out well in the end!

She was so nice - but it was definitely a lot!

A night at MK sounds lovely right now especially.

Definitely

Ugh, it makes me so sad when I hear about CPs who were only there for so long. So nice of her to really take that time to get a room you wanted. Four Keys card to her!

I know! Matt and I were thinking about her - she was doing such an awesome job!

I'm sorry to hear your boarding group wasn't called. You definitely had rotten luck there. But what a nice evening at MK it sounded you had. It really is the best park to just walk and take it all in. That hub grass is a godsend on tiring days.

100% my favorite park to just walk around!

As far as selecting a room, if I was in your shoes and trying to pick a room at a resort as big as the Yacht Club, and having not been there before, I would be overwhelmed too!

Yes! I didn't realize how big the resort was!

I would love to stay at an Epcot resort one of these times! Especially with the easy access to two parks!

We loved it - totally changed the game!

Keep up the great work with the TR! You have a knack for writing these! BTW... New York City is one of my most favorite places!

Thank You! I'm a bit biased - but NYC is one of my fav places too

I'm really enjoying your report! Can't wait to hear more.

We are planning a belated honeymoon in Feb of 2022, so it's nice to read about your adventures at the same time of year.

Yay - so glad you are enjoying! We loved going in February - it was never overwhelmingly hot while we were there!

Oh no! I didn't realize there was more to come. I have enjoyed your trip report - have only read a few over the years. I hope I can find this report to read the finale. I really liked how chill you all were when your Boarding Group didn't get called. Some folks would be like "the sky if falling"!

So glad you are enjoying it!!

 

[dwonderz]

Chapter 11: A Calm Resort Day & AK

After a super restful night at YC - we were more than ready for the second half of the trip! We decided to leave the last 3 days of the trip somewhat open - scheduling in lots of free time - because we knew we would want time at YC! Today we had Minnie's Beach Bash Breakfast and some FP's for AK ... other than that we were open!

Matt decided to spend some time hanging out in the room while I went for a walk around YC/Boardwalk. It was a bit chilly this morning - but not unbearable!

Would love this picture if I could crop out that man

So gorgeous!

Continued to fall in love with the design of YC!

It was much chillier on the BW side in the shade...

I stopped briefly at the Boardwalk Bakery to fill up my mug and then looped back around to YC. A cinnamon roll might have also somehow found its way into my possession while I stopped...

By the time I got back it was close to our ADR time at Beach Club - so we got changed and headed on over.

Side note - I was obsessed with this fold out ironing board. Giving me all the Martha Stewart vibes! Seriously though - Matt made fun of me because this was one of the things I was most excited about

Walking over to Beach Club was a breeze and we were seated almost instantly! The buffet was really cute - a bit smaller than I expected - I always envision buffets being super spread out. They still managed to pack in a lot of variety!

Sadly - I have very few photos of the food - but lots of selfies with fantastic angles (not...)

Our booth was right by the buffet ... very convenient!

Daisy was our QUEEN

I swear ... we really do know how to use our phones...

Our waitress was really nice as well! She asked if we were brothers ... and when we told her we weren't she just kept saying "Oh how wonderful! That is wonderful!" And continued to say it every time she came by our table. I think she was thrown for a moment . Matt and I often play a game called "How Long Until?" and we wait and see how long until someone asks if we're brothers .

After our delicious breakfast we headed back to the room and I was astonished at the Mousekeeping! They hung up my sweater, organized all of our stuff, and did towel animals!

All organized!

You can see the two towel animals (and all the extra products they gave us)!

After hanging out in our room for a bit we decided to head down to the pool - it was still a bit chilly - but in the sun it wasn't too bad!

Being in the pool almost felt warmer than being outside of the pool! After a couple of hours we headed back up to the room (I think Matt went before me and took a nap while I stayed down by the pool and read) - certainly a relaxing morning/afternoon.

Around 2:30, we started to get hungry, and so we decided to pop over to World Showcase for a late lunch. We had this really great idea that it wouldn't be too crowded since we were past the lunch rush and it would be super relaxing ...

HA! Hahahaha! How wrong we were

Epcot was packed and finding someplace to eat without a long line in WS (+lack of mobile order) was a struggle. There might have been a somewhat tense exchange of words between us as we tried to find someplace to eat. Matt was hangry. I was over the crowds. It was a good combination...

We eventually made our way to China and decided to grab lunch at Lotus Blossom. We both got Chicken Fried Rice. I love Chinese food - (one of the perks of working in Chinatown) - but this was just ok. I also wasn't really in the mood for Chicken Fried Rice ... so I think that definitely impacted my opinion.

After lunch - and a requisite 15 minutes of "I'll go explore over here - while you go look at those shops - so we have time to ourselves following our moments of disagreement" - we headed over to Test Track.

I thought this guy was really cute...

Because we hadn't been able to get on RoR the day before - Disney added "anytime" Fast Passes to our account. Score! Test Track was down for the first part of our trip and we weren't able to get FP's for the second half ... so we used our anytime FP on Test Track!

Not looking the right way - of course...

We checked out the cars after ... how cool would it be to buy your car at Disney?

After Test Track we headed back over to WS and walked back to YC. We had some FP's for the evening at AK (including Rivers of Light) and we decided to spend some time relaxing in the room before heading over.

Up Next: An Evening at AK
​

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Ugh, your photos are making me miss the BoardWalk so much. I used to spend so much time there and would have a lot of solo walks around it. Stunning.

I might have to revoke your homosexual card for those selfies. Don't worry, you'll get them back when you earn them.

Lol thinking Epcot was gonna be quiet mid-day during Festival season. How cute hahaha I'm sorry you ran into that mess though and didn't get the food you would've wanted. That is ROUGH, but I'm glad you guys managed to pull up those new FPs to go ride Test Track.

 

[igrsod]

I loved your pictures at YC and BW. I love that area so much. Made me sad yet happy to see them. Can't wait to go back.

 

[AussieDisneyfans]

Love your trip report, thanks for sharing and look forward to reading more.

 

[dwonderz]

Ugh, your photos are making me miss the BoardWalk so much. I used to spend so much time there and would have a lot of solo walks around it. Stunning.

It's soooo pretty over there!

I might have to revoke your homosexual card for those selfies. Don't worry, you'll get them back when you earn them.

Totally revoked

I loved your pictures at YC and BW. I love that area so much. Made me sad yet happy to see them. Can't wait to go back.

It's such a beautiful area! We can't wait to go back either!

Love your trip report, thanks for sharing and look forward to reading more.

Yay! So glad you are enjoying it!

 

[ariane37]

I was obsessed with this fold out ironing board. Giving me all the Martha Stewart vibes!

As an old lady who loves to iron this would totally excite me too

The buffet was really cute - a bit smaller than I expected - I always envision buffets being super spread out. They still managed to pack in a lot of variety!

We did this buffet for the first time last July 4th and really enjoyed it, the food and character interaction. The costumes are so cute! You guys should try the Topolino breakfast; it's pricey though but I think you'd love the interactions there.

Our waitress was really nice as well! She asked if we were brothers ... and when we told her we weren't she just kept saying "Oh how wonderful! That is wonderful!" And continued to say it every time she came by our table. I think she was thrown for a moment . Matt and I often play a game called "How Long Until?" and we wait and see how long until someone asks if we're brothers .

OK I find this hysterical in a cute way (as long as you weren't offended and it doesn't seem like you were!) Was she older? And as an almost 50 year old I mean older than me lol. I'm sure she wasn't as old as my MIL would be but that's totally something she'd ask. Difference is when you said no she'd ask 100 more questions until you had to spell out your relationship and if we were with her we'd be going "mom" "MOM!" the whole time!!!

After our delicious breakfast we headed back to the room and I was astonished at the Mousekeeping! They hung up my sweater, organized all of our stuff, and did towel animals!

I guess she thought geez these brothers need someone to straighten up after them

It does sound like a nice relaxing morning though. Being so close to Epcot is awesome, sorry it was crowded for lunch!

 

[dwonderz]

Chapter 12: Animal Kingdom Evening

After our morning at YC/afternoon at Epcot, we spent some time relaxing in the room, before heading out to Animal Kingdom! We had FP's for Flight of Passage, Expedition, and Rivers of Light.

Our Uber over to AK was super quick - we stopped and took this Photo on the way into the park - it was sooo bright - we could barely keep our eyes open

We ran into Kevin on our way to Expedition Everest...

And caught the back of Dug and Russell ...

Clearly enjoying myself...

Expedition Everest was great - I was a bit sad since this was going to be our last time riding it for this trip

So I stopped and got a Simba Pretzel...

We then made our way over to Pandora for our FOP Fast Pass...

It never gets old...

Flight of Passage was just as good as the first time! In fact it was even better this time since we didn't have to sit through the pre-show multiple times .

We then made our way back over to Africa/Asia to grab some popcorn (I'm convinced those refillable popcorn buckets are the best snack invention at Disney) and watch Rivers of Light. This was definitely one of those visits where we just kept criss-crossing back and forth across AK (at least we got to know the park )

Probably one of my favorite "park icons"

We had great seats for Rivers of Light ....

There was a guy in front of us who first refused to slide over in his row (after being asked multiple times) and then at the beginning of the show was practically standing up/ holding his phone in the air to record . Someone else asked him to sit down but he wasn't happy about it ... thankfully a CM came over and politely demanded. The guy made some comments about paying for an over-priced ticket and how he was going to get the best view. As if we all hadn't paid for tickets.

Me ... shocked by this man's comments

Despite everyone's favorite person in the row in front of us - we did have a great view!

Rivers of Light was a lot of fun - in terms of nighttime entertainment it ranked as our 3rd favorite. I think we might have enjoyed it a little more had it not started to get so cold. I mean it was
f-r-e-e-z-i-n-g.

Despite the drop in temperature - I really wanted to see Pandora lit up at night - so I made Matt trek back across the park (poor Matt...).

On the way over - we stopped in a gift shop (no idea which one) - because it was jus that cold. Matt's from Central NY - which is certainly not balmy - and we both went to college in Western NY (which really isn't balmy) - but there was just something about the drastic shift that made it seem that much colder. I blamed it on the fact that I'm half Australian .

I was really glad we schlepped over to Pandora though - because it was beautiful!

The ground is so cool!

Sadly - this is what the majority of my photos looked like . A blurry shaky mess...

After exploring Pandora for a bit, we made our way back to the Tree of Life, and headed out of the park to catch an Uber back to YC. We wanted to stop and watch the Tree of Life Nighttime Awakenings - but we kept going. It was just too .... you guessed it ... cold! (Did I mention the cold? )

Originally - we had plans to go to Flying Fish for dinner that night - but we ended up opting to stay at YC. We managed to snag a last minute reservation at Beaches & Cream - which was delicious.

I got the Veggie Burger and Matt got the Cheeseburger...

After our late Dinner - we headed back to the room and called it a night!

Up Next: Our Last Full Day + MK Evening​

 

[dwonderz]

As an old lady who loves to iron this would totally excite me too

It was awesome

We did this buffet for the first time last July 4th and really enjoyed it, the food and character interaction. The costumes are so cute! You guys should try the Topolino breakfast; it's pricey though but I think you'd love the interactions there.

Yes! Topolino's was what we had originally reserved - but Cape May ended up fitting into our plans better. It's definitely on the list for next trip!

OK I find this hysterical in a cute way (as long as you weren't offended and it doesn't seem like you were!) Was she older? And as an almost 50 year old I mean older than me lol. I'm sure she wasn't as old as my MIL would be but that's totally something she'd ask. Difference is when you said no she'd ask 100 more questions until you had to spell out your relationship and if we were with her we'd be going "mom" "MOM!" the whole time!!!

It was very cute! We totally weren't offended - she was super sweet! Definitely on the older side . She was really trying!

I guess she thought geez these brothers need someone to straighten up after them

 

[PlutosRHM55]

I never knew they had a Simba pretzel WHAT This is what happens when you literally betray Disney during the later half of your program to spend all your time at Universal lol But also... that tail design. Oh Disney... choices.

I'll be the first person to say I'm not in any way shocked by that man's comments at RoL. The amount of those types I'd deal with on the daily as a guest and cast member. And he honestly isn't even the worst.

As someone who spent months in the Florida cold, I feel you on wanting to leave it asap. I'm pretty sure the reason it is so awful is Florida weather is just naturally so quick to change and brutal. There also is just consistently moisture in the air (hence humidity) so I think it makes it feel colder. I've also dealt with cold FL rains... the absolute worst.

 

[eliseisawkward]

Ok, trying to catch up here…

Sorry your boarding pass situation didn’t work out as well as you had hoped. (Not getting to ride would have been devastating for me) But your plan for the day worked pretty well regardless! I love the convenience of the Skyliner soooooo much. I’ve never actually taken boat transportation at Disney, so it’s on the list for next trip.

I’ve also never stayed at most of the deluxe resorts, but YC looks super nice. I’m thinking there’s a small chance we would book an Epcot area deluxe eventually, so I’ll have to keep YC in mind! It’s hard for us to justify deluxe over there when we love POP and the Skyliner, and if we split with a deluxe it would be MK area (we LOVE CR and I really want to try WL).

Your breakfast with the gang looks like it was wonderful. Too funny about the waitress. I don’t think you guys look enough alike to be brothers, but maybe if I squint hard enough …

Arguing at Disney is always the worst. My sister and I always end up in some sort of a snit at some point. Luckily Disney makes it very easy to get over it quickly!

I still haven’t ever met Kevin! It’s gonna have to be a priority at some point in the future. I LOVE Pandora at night. It looks like they finished the annual ground “refurb” before your visit. Nice and bright!! When we went last February they were half done and working on the other half.

Now that I'm caught up I can't wait to see what happens on your last full day

 

[dwonderz]

I never knew they had a Simba pretzel WHAT This is what happens when you literally betray Disney during the later half of your program to spend all your time at Universal lol But also... that tail design. Oh Disney... choices.

I'll be the first person to say I'm not in any way shocked by that man's comments at RoL. The amount of those types I'd deal with on the daily as a guest and cast member. And he honestly isn't even the worst.

I can't even imagine!!

As someone who spent months in the Florida cold, I feel you on wanting to leave it asap. I'm pretty sure the reason it is so awful is Florida weather is just naturally so quick to change and brutal. There also is just consistently moisture in the air (hence humidity) so I think it makes it feel colder. I've also dealt with cold FL rains... the absolute worst.

Yes! One minute it's soooo nice and the next it's a tundra!

Ok, trying to catch up here…

Sorry your boarding pass situation didn’t work out as well as you had hoped. (Not getting to ride would have been devastating for me) But your plan for the day worked pretty well regardless! I love the convenience of the Skyliner soooooo much. I’ve never actually taken boat transportation at Disney, so it’s on the list for next trip.

Love the Skyliner!! Boat transportation is definitely a must

I’ve also never stayed at most of the deluxe resorts, but YC looks super nice. I’m thinking there’s a small chance we would book an Epcot area deluxe eventually, so I’ll have to keep YC in mind! It’s hard for us to justify deluxe over there when we love POP and the Skyliner, and if we split with a deluxe it would be MK area (we LOVE CR and I really want to try WL).

I've always wanted to stay at CR!! It's on our list for sure

Your breakfast with the gang looks like it was wonderful. Too funny about the waitress. I don’t think you guys look enough alike to be brothers, but maybe if I squint hard enough …

Neither do we

I still haven’t ever met Kevin! It’s gonna have to be a priority at some point in the future. I LOVE Pandora at night. It looks like they finished the annual ground “refurb” before your visit. Nice and bright!! When we went last February they were half done and working on the other half.

It was awesome!!

 

[dtl62]

There was a guy in front of us who first refused to slide over in his row (after being asked multiple times) and then at the beginning of the show was practically standing up/ holding his phone in the air to record . Someone else asked him to sit down but he wasn't happy about it ... thankfully a CM came over and politely demanded. The guy made some comments about paying for an over-priced ticket and how he was going to get the best view. As if we all hadn't paid for tickets.

You mean you all didn't get the word that "that guy" the world revolves around was going to be in attendance that evening?

Expedition Everest was great - I was a bit sad since this was going to be our last time riding it for this trip

I always get this feeling too throughout the day on the last visit to each park.

Up Next: Our Last Full Day + MK Evening

Even this quote gave me that sinking feeling for a brief moment, and it's not even my trip! Must be a trigger.

Looking forward to your last day.

 

[MikeWsGirl]

There was a sitcom called “Dharma and Greg” about a hippie and her conservative husband. The character once made a joke about telling people they were brother and sister then making out In public until someone puked.

This is what your brother anecdote made me think of. It’s better that you aren’t brothers. It would be criminal for only one sibling to get those eyelashes.

 

[JasmineLove]

Joining in! Loving your trip report so far. Seems like yall had a great time. I always take notes and pictures on my trips with the intention of writing a trip report but never actually do it. YC looks like it was so nice and peaceful. Hope yall are doing okay in NYC with all this craziness.