Escape to Our Home Away from Home After Three Years - A July 2021 Trip Report (**Updated 6/26**)

[cstorm65]

Lmao the scary face photos! Those are perfect

He is the best!!! So much personality!!

 

[jgl130]

I’ve lurked on several of your other reports, glad you’re back!

 

[Paulaparm]

Glad to see you're back! Your boys have really grown
Looking forward to the rest of your trip.

 

[cstorm65]

I’ve lurked on several of your other reports, glad you’re back!

Glad to see you're back! Your boys have really grown
Looking forward to the rest of your trip.

Thanks you all! So much fun to re-live these trips!

 

[cstorm65]

Day 1 Part 3 - That’s a Lot of Water!

After finishing Tower of Terror we were checking the app and Star Tours had only a 10 minute wait posted, so we decided to go ahead and head that way. We wanted to pop into Galaxy’s Edge for the first time today and not have to worry about any of the rides, but just be able to look around for a little bit and enjoy the ambiance. I will have to apologize right here. I don’t have hardly any pictures for tonight. You can probably tell why from the title of this update and I will explain more as we go, but sorry for the lack of pictures.

We rode Star Tours with about a 10 minute wait. The boys love this ride and would do it over and over, as would I. It is a one and done for April though, she has to be careful with motion simulator rides.

After Star Tours it was about 4:20 and we were going to walk through Galaxy’s Edge and just spend some time looking around. As we were gathering the stroller and starting to walk we felt some sprinkles, but hey, it’s Florida in the summer that happens! So, we walked a little further and as we approached the tunnel to get into Galaxy’s Edge the skies opened and it started pouring. Luckily we were able to grab a spot under one of the overhangs in what was left of the old Streets of New York area near Muppets. The street was a river. We were still getting wet a little because the overhang wasn’t huge, so I didn’t even get a picture of it, but it rained as hard as I’ve ever seen it at Disney.

Normally we would just throw our ponchos on and once the rain lightened a little be on our way. What we failed to think about was that this was our arrival day. We hadn’t gotten into our suitcases yet and packed our park bag, so…no ponchos. This caused us to wait a little longer, baby about 4:45 the rain moved off and we continued on.

We were amazed with Galaxy’s Edge! Unfortunately it was still sprinkling and so we didn’t get our phones out and take pics, but plenty of those to come on other days. The area was so cool and we spent about 30 minute walking around, looking in the shops, and learning where everything was.

At about 5:15 we looked at our phone and Toy Story was showing only a 15 minute wait and Braxton had been asking if we could do it. So, we figured 15 minutes was pretty good, let’s do it.

Well, while we were in line the side of the ride that has two tracks went down and they had to send everyone to the newer single track side. Our 15 minute wait turned into 40. Of course after 30 minutes we were like do we want to stick it out? But you’re invested at that point so we waited and the boys ended up having a good ride!!

I also forgot to mention, while we were standing under that awning watching it rain we got our room ready text at 4:30 PM. A little late and we were a little incapacitated at the time!

We decided to go ahead and grab dinner at the park and we were easily able to get into Docking Bay 7. I did get a picture of our meals all on one tray. Hey, give me a break, we were all soaking wet and hungry, at least I got a picture!

I had the Chicken Tip Yip: Crispy Chicken with choice of Vegetable Mashed Potatoes with Herb Gravy and Roasted Vegetables. I kind of thought the chicken and mashed potatoes were just ok, but I did enjoy the green sauce that came with them. It kind of reminded me of a verde salsa, it definitely was the best part of the dish. April had the Kids Chicken Youngling Meal: Crispy Chicken, Macaroni and Cheese, Seasonal Vegetables. She agreed with me that the chicken was just ok.

Braxton and Brooks both had the Kids Pasta, which I don’t have a description for because I think they’ve taken it off the menu now. Brooks loved it and ate every bite, Braxton did not like the style of the sauce for some reason, but I think he ate most of April’s Mac ‘n Cheese, so he was happy. Overall it was an ok meal, nothing too great, but it was dry and we were hungry, so no one was complaining!

It was about 6:40 when we finished and it was still sprinkling, so we got a little more wet as we headed back to get into our room at Pop.

I guess there was still lightning in the area because my notes said we had to go to the bus stop and it took about 15 minutes for a bus to come and get us back to Pop. While we were on the bus it started pouring rain again. Can you believe the bus drive made us get out anyway!

We got wet getting into the lobby and stepped out the back side to head to our room and were astonished. This is when April said, “That’s a lot of water!” We were excited at dinner when we looked up our room location and noticed it was literally the closest room possible to the main building at Pop. I’m not kidding, I was able to get to the drink refill station by the pool bar in 10 seconds, it was that close. The only problem at this time was that the sidewalk in the back of the main building was a river, a literal river! I mean the water was a foot high and flowing downhill towards the pool bar. I don’t know where all that water was going to go!

We did what any experienced Disney World family would do…take off all of our shoes and socks and make a mad dash for the room. We would have been on America’s Funniest Home Videos if there was a video of the four of us trying to get through that “river” with our stroller. But, we made it to the room and started the drying out process. Nothing like your shoes being soaked on the first day!

We called bell services once the rain let up and they had our suitcases and groceries brought over in about 15 minutes, sowe were able to get the room all set up before putting the boys to bed. After all of the excitement we had the boys in bed by about 8:45 and they needed it! I ran to Everything Pop to fill our mugs and got this shot of the pool right after it had reopened at about 9:00.

I went to fill mugs, but somehow I came back with one of these for April and I to share:

Yes, it’s round now, but I had been waiting three years for this and it was so good! Now I’m ready for tomorrow!

Up Next: Mom’s Favorite Meal at Disney​

 

[rdkeim]

What a start! Love those Florida downpours! But all in all it sounds like you had a good first day. Hope day #2 is a dry one.

 

[cstorm65]

What a start! Love those Florida downpours! But all in all it sounds like you had a good first day. Hope day #2 is a dry one.

Great day! Rain happens in Florida. We have learned over the years to not worry about it. Sometimes you get wet, don't let it ruin your day at Disney!

 

[Counting Stars]

Great report- looking forward to more... Now I need to go back and read some of your previous reports Following!

 

[cstorm65]

Great report- looking forward to more... Now I need to go back and read some of your previous reports Following!

Thanks for reading!!!

 

[cstorm65]

Day 2 Part 1 - Mom’s Favorite Meal at Disney

We got up at about 7:00 after a good night of sleep and surviving the rain storm from the night before. We were ready for our first full day at Disney! We did have a bit of an early morning, but for good reason. We were starting things off on this trip with Mom’s favorite meal at Disney World and were headed here:

We took a Lyft over from Pop Century this morning and it took about 10 minutes, much better than a bus and a boat. April is a huge fan of Whispering Canyon Cafe at the Wilderness Lodge. I can’t say that I disagree with her at all. The breakfast skillets here are fantastic. Everything is delicious and the price for the skillets is very reasonable. Our reservation was for 8:00 and we checked in about five minutes before that while the boys checked out the lobby.

We were seating by 8:00 and ready to enjoy the breakfast!

I got the Carnivore Skillet as I recall and April and the boys all just shared the regular skillet. Of course you can pick and choose from both if you want to while the meal is going.

This is always a great breakfast and the star for April is the biscuits and gravy. She is a huge biscuits and gravy fan in general and she says these are perfection!

Braxton is a meat and eggs guy, a man after my own heart! He loved the sausage and eggs today. He is a huge egg fan at home, so he was in heaven with bottomless eggs!

Brooks on the other hand is a bacon guy and also enjoyed the Mickey waffles today. Brooks has always been a huge bacon eater. If we cook a pound for a meal at home he would eat it all if we let him!

I enjoyed pretty much everything. The only thing I didn’t really care for was the brisket. It was a little dry. There were still some covid restrictions in place during this trip and during that time the servers here weren’t having as much “fun” as they used to, which we missed, but foreshadowing to our 2022 trip the antics will come back! The server was very nice though and I guess we had our anniversary noted on our reservation and so they brought April and I one of these.

Overall the meal was great as always and the meal worked out well before and 11 AM opening at Epcot. The 11 AM thing was another COVID modification that would soon end after this trip. Braxton enjoyed coloring a bit during this meal and then once we left the restaurant the boys wanted to pose under the sign with their drawings.

Braxton made sure to get his picture in the big chair before we headed to Epcot.

After looking around Wilderness Lodge a little bit we got to the bus stop at about 9:30 to head to Epcot, but a bus didn’t come until 9:53. We were still in line at the gate by 10:10.

We thought we were fine on our arrival time for park opening, but I’ll let you know all of our thoughts on the 11 AM opening in the next update.

Up Next: This 11:00 Opening Time is For the Birds​

 

[Paulaparm]

We love breakfast (or any meal) at Whispering Canyon
Wilderness Lodge is such a beautiful resort!

 

[rdkeim]

Looks like a great breakfast! Something for everyone. WL is my favorite resort - even if we don't stay there I look for an excuse for a visit. Looking forward to reading about your Epcot day!

 

[cstorm65]

We love breakfast (or any meal) at Whispering Canyon
Wilderness Lodge is such a beautiful resort!

Yes, we love dinner too, but breakfast is our favorite!!

Looks like a great breakfast! Something for everyone. WL is my favorite resort - even if we don't stay there I look for an excuse for a visit. Looking forward to reading about your Epcot day!

For sure! Wilderness Lodge is so awesome. We own at Copper Creek now and couldn't be happier with what resort we own at!!

 

[cstorm65]

Day 2 Part 2 - This 11:00 Opening Time is For the Birds

The gates at Epcot opened at 10:20 and we were let into the park. As I mentioned this was while some COVID protocols were still in place and Epcot wasn’t opening until 11:00 AM. Let’s just say I’m thankful this was only the policy for this one trip because it made rope drop insane! At 10:20 we were let in and allowed to walk up to the left hand side of Spaceship Earth. For the next 20 minutes they let the crowd move up a couple hundred feet every 3-4 minutes.

I mean if you ever wanted to feel like animals in corrals waiting to be released, this would have been an awesome experience. But, for those of us who don’t really like that feeling it was miserable. Not only were you all herded together they had a lot of construction and so each side of the walkway was just wooden construction walls. Thank goodness we stayed to the left hand side of the path because that area was in the shade and it was hot already this morning. Before long we saw Test Track and the end of this experience was in sight!

They opened the Test Track queue for people at 10:43. It was hard to tell at what time exactly they started operating the ride with people, but they at least let us walk through the queue at this time.

It took us 34 minutes total to get on the ride, but that was from 10:43. Of course, the car design studio is Braxton’s favorite part of this ride.

We got on the ride at about 11:15 and had a fund ride. Braxton likes the design studio, but Brooks is the one who likes going fast!

After Test Track we decided to go ahead and walk back to Norway to try to get on Frozen Ever After. Well, the line stretch all the way to China.

We did go ahead and jump in line. The wait was posted at 60 minutes, but we didn’t think it would take that long. Well, we waited about 45 minutes, which is not something we ever do. While waiting, April and I discussed how awful this 11:00 AM opening was. We love early openings because we all get out of bed pretty easily and we beat people to the parks. That allows us to do things with a shorter wait time. But, with an 11:00 AM opening a lot more people are able to get to the parks by rope drop and those early wait times are much greater than when a park has a 9:00 AM opening. So, like I said earlier, we are so happy these late rope drops are not around anymore!

We made it through the wait ok and took a few pictures of the scenery in Norway while waiting to get inside the ride building.

We were off of the ride at around 12:30 and let Brooks do some shopping in the gift shop. This kids loves his Frozen movies!

I don’t really have anything to say about my picture of the Harmonious barges, except to say I actually like this show. I mean it wasn’t as good as IllumiNations or Happily Ever After, but it was so much better than Enchantment!

We headed into the Mexico Pavilion at about 12:50 and decided to hop on Gran Fiesta Tour. Even this ride took us about 15 minutes to get on, so it was definitely a crowded day here at Epcot.

Up Next: “Dad, I Feel Like We Are Rich”​

 

[cstorm65]

Day 2 Part 3 - “Dad, I Feel Like We Are Rich”

We finished up in the Mexico pavilion and when we came out it was about 1:10 and raining again. These first two days of this trip had been wet! Now, the perks of being on the long trips that we like to take is we can slow down and don’t have to just run, run, run. So, the boys had been begging to just spend some time in the Test Track post ride area playing the games and designing more cars. So, we thought that was a great thing to do while it was raining.

We put our ponchos on and were there in about 5 minutes. Braxton really loves designing these cars, and he especially likes it in this area because there is no timer. I really think he would stay there designing cars all day. We spent about 45 minutes inside of the building and the boys had a great time!

It was about 2:00 and we were a little hungry, but weren’t planning on eating a full meal after the big Whispering Canyon breakfast. It had stopped raining and we had been wanting to try some of the snacks at the Sunshine Griddle stand right by Test TRaack.

We ended up trying the Fried Cinnamon Roll Bites and the Fruit Loops Shake.

The boys liked the cinnamon roll bites the most. I actually think we got two orders of those. I think I just added on the Fruit Loops shake because it sounded interesting, but it was pretty good too. As I recall Braxton really liked it. Brooks is not much of a milkshake fan, but he is definitely a cinnamon roll fan!

After the snack we headed across to ride a classic, Figment! Always have to get a picture of the scientists!

We had a fun ride. It’s amazing how much you miss the little silly attractions like this, but it was fun after three years away!

It was about 2:40 when we got off and we decided to check out the DVC Lounge for the first time. We were able to go up immediately, which we found was not the case on our most recent trip.

There is nothing fancy or special about the lounge, but it’s still a great perk and being able to just slow down, cool off, and get a drink is very nice on a hot summer day. The boys were enjoying their drinks and I was trying to explain to Braxton why we got to come up here. I don’t think he comprehended the whole DVC thing, but he said, “Dad, I just feel like we are rich.” I told him we most certainly were not rich in monetary terms, but he decided he was going to drink like he was rich, with his pinky up!

We stayed for about 30 minutes and at 3:15 headed over to ride Nemo.

Nemo was a walk-on and then we had to let the boys run around the aquarium a bit, although I guess we didn’t get any pictures while looking around. I guess I was still getting back in trip reporting mode after three years!

It was sprinkling on and off so I didn’t take any pictures for a bit, but we walked over and rode Living with the Land, which was also a walk on.

We were also thinking about jumping in the Soarin line, which was posted just 40 minutes and usually those are overestimates, but the standby line was coming all the way out of the front of the attraction. So, we definitely felt the 40 minutes was an underestimate. We were on a long trip, so we’d have plenty of chances!

It was about 4:00 at this point and we decided we just wanted to head out and let the boys do some swimming back at Pop, so we headed towards the Skyliner. We looked around some and took our time walking through Canada and Great Britain, arriving at the Skyliner at around 4:40.

We also stopped and got photopass pictures at some point this day, but I’m not sure when these happened during our day, so I’m just popping them in right here. I think I ruined the magic shot with Figment. April and the boys all nailed the face that the lady told us to make, me on the other hand, not so much!

Up Next: What Have You Done with My Son?​

 

[cstorm65]

Day 2 Part 4 - What Have You Done with My Son?

We were back at Pop Century at around 5:00 and didn’t have any specific plans for this evening. Did I mention that I wasn’t a fan of the 11 AM opening that Epcot was doing in 2021? I wasn’t! One of the reasons is it makes it really hard to take a break during the day when you can’t even start until 11. So, for the most part we just planned our Epcot days to go from 11 to mid-afternoon and then just chill for the evening. Again, we had that luxury since we were on a longer trip.

So, we were just going to relax tonight here:

I don’t have many pictures of tonight. The boys wanted to swim before dinner and we spent about an hour and a half doing that. After dinner we just headed inside to Everything Pop. I failed at taking any pictures of dinner. As we ordered I had to ask Braxton, “What have you done with my son?” He once again chose to order the chicken breast and green beans kids meal and he ate every bit of it!

April had pizza and said it was ok, not bad, but nothing great either. I had a turkey sandwich and I wrote down that it was pretty good. Brooks had chicken strips…well, he had ranch dressing with some chicken!

We went back to the room about 7:15 and the boys had fallen asleep by 7:45. They were Disney tired! April and I were talking and we wanted something sweet before bed and we suggested I ride the Skyliner over and get some from Les Halles, I mean it’s only 15-20 minutes away on the Skyliner. So, by 8:10 I was here:

I actually walked around the area just a bit and before grabbing dessert I went to try the Sugar Crusted Shrimp Skewer from La Isla Fresca. It was pretty good, although I remember thinking I don’t taste much sweetness from the sugar. But it was cooked perfectly.

I took a few shots around the World Showcase as I was walking back to the Skyliner with our desserts from Les Halles.

I once again failed to get any food pictures of the desserts. I know I got a Napoleon and I didn’t even write down what April got, but maybe creme brulee. I did write down that they were both delicious as stuff from Les Halles always is! I was back at Pop around 9:15 I think.

April and I were asleep not too long after finishing our treats. We were up for an early rope drop tomorrow!

Up Next: This Just Turned In To a Photoshoot​

 

[cstorm65]

Day 3 Part 1 - This Just Turned In To a Photoshoot

We were up bright and early on Thursday morning. This was a day we had been looking forward to for three years, the day we would finally get to ride Rise of the Resistance. I was up before 7 AM and went out and sat at a table by the pool to try and secure a Rise of the Resistance boarding group. It was a beautiful morning!

I tested cell service and wifi at a few places yesterday and found these tables by the pool had a pretty good cell signal and wifi signal. My plan was to take both my phone and April’s phone out and have one on wifi and one on cellular. Of course our accounts are linked so we couldn’t get two boarding groups, but the one on wifi actually got the boarding group before the one on cellular. So, mission accomplished for the day as a boarding group was secured!

We got to the Skyliner at 7:34, Hollywood Studios had early entry starting at 8:30.

Braxton had really gotten into Star Wars before this trip and this morning he even decided to practice using the force on his mom!

We got to the Skyliner hub at 7:44 and were on a Skyliner to Hollywood about eight minutes later, making it to the security area right at 8:00. They did not have the security area open yet and were holding people out by the boat launch and skyliner station. They started letting people through security at 8:03 and the gates to scan into the park were immediately open for us. We were in! They held us at the theatre for about five minutes before letting us head to our selected ride and get in line to wait for the park to officially open.

With a Rise boarding group secured, our first order of business was to ride another new attraction for us:

Slinky Dog opened about a week after our last trip ended three years ago, so we missed the grand opening and then COVID happened, so we were really excited. This was our first trip where Toy Story Land was open. Such cool theming back here! Although the only negative is the entire thing is pretty much all in the sun...not always the greatest in Florida, especially in the summer.

The boys were ready for this ride and we were waiting in line outside the attraction by 8:10. Speaking of rope drop differences at the park. I LOVE how Hollywood Studios opens the park and lets you get in line for a ride instead of holding you at a rope. It makes things so much smoother. I’m talking to you Magic Kingdom! Anyway these two were ready for a new coaster!

We waited about 30 minutes once the ride opened at 8:30, but we all loved the ride! Brooks especially had a great time and loved the entire thing. He just screamed for joy the whole time!

After we finished our inaugural ride on Slinky Dog we headed next door for our first time on Alien Swirling Saucers. If you’ve read about us before you know April does not do spinning rides, so it was just the boys on this one and we all enjoyed it. I mean there’s not a lot to it, but it makes you laugh and giggle, so it’s all good!

After the short wait for that one we headed across the path to Toy Story Mania which was posted as a 30 minute wait. It took us 18 minutes total. Brooks got a shot with Mr. Potato Head while we waited.

With Toy Story Land checked off the list it was time to head back over to Galaxy’s Edge. We did go somewhere first and grab our popcorn bucket for this trip. Honestly, as much as Brooks loves the popcorn at Disney I’m not sure how we got out of Epcot yesterday without getting one, but popcorn bucket in hand we moved on to Star Wars.

We actually decided to not go into Galaxy’s Edge yet as the Smugglers Run wait was a little long. We split up for a bit as April and Brooks wanted to go to the Frozen Sing-A-Long…Braxton did not! So, Braxton and I headed over to Star Tours and the posted wait was 30, but Braxton and I did this and waited only 20 minutes.

Brooks loved the Frozen Sing-A-Long, not surprising since he is a huge Frozen fan! After our ride on Star Tours Braxton wanted to buy a new lightsaber with some of his souvenir money. We have taken to just giving our kids a Disney gift card on trips with souvenir money loaded onto it. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. This strategy has worked wonders in cutting back on our gift shop meltdowns when you tell them, “No, you can’t have your 19th souvenir of the trip!”

New lightsaber in hand Braxton had me take this picture.

April and Brooks so we headed towards Galaxy’s Edge and they would meet us there in a bit. Braxton stopped me and told me to take a picture here:

And another picture here:

And another:

So, he just turned that new lightsaber into a photoshoot opportunity! Love that kiddo!

I got a text from April that she and Brooks were headed our way. We were going to swing over to have a quick lunch at Woody's Lunch Box before our Rise boarding group.

Up Next: We’re Sorry the Ride is Down…Nooooooo!​

 

[rdkeim]

Enjoyed the updates! We were there during the 11:00 opening for Epcot. It was kind of nice to have a more relaxed morning but did mess with the day. How nice you could pop back over to Epcot just to score a treat. I do like the Skyliner. Getting an early start to HS seems to have paid off - love the lightsaber pictures!

 

[cstorm65]

Enjoyed the updates! We were there during the 11:00 opening for Epcot. It was kind of nice to have a more relaxed morning but did mess with the day. How nice you could pop back over to Epcot just to score a treat. I do like the Skyliner. Getting an early start to HS seems to have paid off - love the lightsaber pictures!

I do agree with you on that! Normally you have to do a 7 AM breakfast to make it to rope drop and those are super early mornings! At least this way we got to do an 8:30 breakfast or so and it was much more do-able and we still made rope drop!

 

[cstorm65]

Day 3 Part 2 - We’re Sorry the Ride is Down…Nooooooo!

We finished our impromptu photo session with Braxton’s new lightsaber and headed up into Toy Story Land to meet April and Brooks. It looks a little more crowded now at about 11:00 than it did earlier!

We were heading to have a quick lunch at Woody’s Lunchbox before our Rise Boarding Group at noon. It was kind of a crazy and hectic process to eat here. In all of the craziness and trying to eat while it was so hot outside I didn’t get many pictures, but I did get one of my meal, the Totchos.

This meal was definitely the highlight. It’s not anything super special, but it is filling, everything was nice and hot, so it was a good meal. April got the Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup. She really liked the grilled cheese, but said the soup wasn’t all that good. She said it was like a can of campbells tomato soup with no seasoning or anything added. Braxton had a turkey sandwich from the kids menu and Brooks ordered a grilled cheese kids meal. Braxton liked his, but Brooks was not a fan of the grilled cheese. I guess it was too fancy for him!

We also got a couple of ice cream floats and they were pretty disappointing. First off, the top 25% of thecup was just foam, so that was kind of a rip off. Then, I was eating mine and kept trying to figure out where the ice cream was. We figured out it was melted and we started drinking as soon as we got to the table, so not sure what the deal was.

Finally, the outdoor seating area here was a madhouse. They weren’t letting you inside the area until you have a mobile order screen, which is great, but you still have the people grabbing tables while their other person is in line and it was taking at least 10-15 minutes in line before you could pick up your mobile order. Over half of the tables we saw were people with no food and there was nowhere to sit for about five minutes after we found our food. So, the food was ok, but hopefully the seating area is a little better in the future.

At 11:50 our boarding group was ready, so we headed towards Rise of the Resistance with an abundance of excitement. Well, imagine our disappointment when we got to the entrance and a cast member was coming out right then and saying, “we’re sorry, the ride is having a technical delay.” So, no one was able to get in line. We were wanting to leave for a break after the ride, so I just verified we could use it anytime the rest of the day now that it was down, which they confirmed for me, so we headed out for an afternoon break.

We got to the Skyliner at about 12:20 and were back at Pop by 12:40 or so. Braxton was back looking at the water just like he did this morning!

This afternoon was a strange one for us because we all took a nap, yes, even me. I am not a napper at all, but I did today. I napped for about and hour and then went down to refill our drink mugs and check out the store while the rest of the family finished their naps.

I can back at about 3:15, after another hour and found them still snoozing.

We let them sleep until 4:00 or so. No bad attitudes were going to ruin our first ride on ROTR! We then headed back to the Skyliner at about 4:20 and were at Hollywood Studios by 4:45.

All I could think was that this ride better be back running for us! It’s almost time to find out!

Up Next: A Ride Three Years in the Making​