Get out of the pool!! - Nine Nights, Three Resorts, and a Surprise Upgrade, July 2019 TR - Final Update 1/22

[Jfsag123]

Day 8: July 26, Part 1 – Magic Kingdom

It was an EMH rope drop day at the Magic Kingdom. We have a routine for these mornings and we always start with Peter Pan. Everyone else runs to 7DMT and we end up getting a ton done. Sadly, that was not to be on this morning. We booked it over to PP once they let us through and were like 4th in line when we got there. So far so good. But then we waited. And waited. And waited. And the CM’s manning the entrance told us nothing. They were still holding everyone outside the building. We kept going back and forth about whether we should get out of the line or wait it out. We really love seeing the queue for PP and, of course, you bypass it with FP, so we always try to RD it once to see it. About 20 minutes in, just as we decided to ditch, they opened up the line and let us into the queue. We walked through enjoying the Darling house, got to the front of the line…and were stopped again. We were in too deep to leave by that point. We finally rode, but it ended up taking about 45 minutes, so pretty much all of EMH. There were many frustrated people in that line, mostly with the lack of communication. But we brushed it off and pushed on.

Next up was Winnie the Pooh. Here is a picture of something that will surely be different in this age of COVID.

I shuddered when my kids touched this thing before, but no way in hell it’s happening now.

We decided to skip our planned meet with Ariel in her grotto due to the lost time and went straight to the Little Mermaid ride, which was still pretty much a walk on. Next up was Barnstormer which, unfortunately, was no longer a walk-on. However, the line was still pretty short and it allowed me to get a nice view of the Tron construction.

We rode 7DMT with a FP+, then hit up a couple of character meets. First, my favorite:

He and Cora got into an argument about how many eggs 5 dozen is. Needless to say, Gaston’s math was off. He was fed up with Cora’s arguing by picture time.

I was thrilled to see this Gaston again, as he created a magic moment for my kids on our trip way back in 2016. They were dressed as Belle and Beast and we were in route from Enchanted Tales with Belle to dinner at Be Our Guest. Alex had gotten to play Beast and Belle had actually asked her handler to have Cora and Alex hang back after the show. She spent some one on one time with them, which they loved as they knew that isn’t typically done at ETwB. They walked out of there over the moon and were spotted by Gaston, who happened to be making his way backstage from his last meet of the day. He stopped to talk to them, shooed other people away, then took them back into the ETwB queue area with his photopass photographer to take some pictures. This is an experience they still talk about regularly, as they felt so special.

You may not be able to tell, but there is lipstick on Alex’s cheek courtesy of Belle. Anyway, back to 2019. After Gaston we met a character we had never met before. How are there any of those left???

She was great and we were glad to check this one off our lists. We came out through the hub on our way to Frontierland, as the Liberty Square path was still being worked on at this time. Of course, I had to take a castle selfie.

Hello Florida summer frizz! We cooled off here for a bit.

If you don’t know, that’s Country Bears, which we love. Our next FP was for Splash, because might as well throw some Florida water on top of that frizz!

I think Alex had planned on a pose, but then got scared during the drop resulting in this masterpiece. Next up, my favorite treat:

Of course, we ate these while watching (and singing along to) the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room, because it doesn’t get much more magical than that. From tiki room we headed to our final pre-booked FP+ at the Jungle Cruise. We selected this one to coincide with another first for us, the dining reservation we had booked for immediately after our ride.

Cora is all about the corniness of the Jungle Cruise and dreams of being a skipper one day, so this was high on her list of places to try.

We had this bread as an appetizer and it was delicious.

Cora and I each had tastes like chicken, Cora’s with sauce on the side

DH had this. I think it was the pork, but I can’t say for sure

Alex, of course, had mac and cheese and broccoli, his two favorite things in the world

I thought my meal was just okay, but everyone else seemed to love theirs, so I’d be willing to try it again. We didn’t get desserts because we had just had Dole Whips. Did things a little backward…

We decided to head out for our midday break at this time, as it looked like it would start raining at any minute (spoiler: it did). On the way I snapped this picture of Judy and Nick’s backsides as they met in Town Square. We wanted to meet them, but weren’t down for that line. This pic had to suffice.

 

[Jfsag123]

Day 8: July 26, Part 2 – More Magic Kingdom

So it did indeed rain, but just for a little bit. This was the view out the window of the elevator lobby at BLT when we emerged from our room a short time later.

Here was the day’s trivia at Fantasia Market

Since DH so often takes the kids to the pool and lets me relax in the room alone I decided to repay the favor (but only this once, because I’m not that nice!) and take the kids to the arcade by myself. They had a grand time. Cora got super excited when she hit a big target in Skee-ball.

After some more chill time we headed back into MK in the early evening. We stopped on our way in to look at the window displays in the Emporium on Main Street, a favorite activity of Alex’s.

I had booked us a FP+ for Buzz during our break so we rode that, then headed over to Haunted Mansion, which I booked after Buzz. We stopped at Philharmagic on the way.

And now I present to you…drumroll please…the worst and most pointless ride photos ever!

So Cora looks like she is asleep or has already joined the 999 happy haunts on the other side…

…and DH was caught mid-yawn.

I was able to get this picture while on the ride, which made me happy. And don’t worry, I did NOT use flash on the Haunted Mansion!

And we got a shot with a ghost outside.

After HM DH took the kids over to ride the Little Mermaid ride one more time (Alex’s request) while I headed over to get in line for the main event for us for the evening – the Terrace version of the fireworks dessert party. We have done the dessert party every single trip (and I remember that it was about $26/person the first time I booked it, which makes me want to cry when I book it now) and we love it. We tried the garden version in 2018 and, while the view was better, we decided we preferred the seats of the terrace version.

I was the 3rd or 4th person in line. They didn’t have tables assigned, but the CM tried to lead me to a table way over on the side. No sir, I did not line up extra early to have one of the worst views there. I told him which table I wanted and pointed to it. He tried to lead me to a slightly less bad one instead, but I stood firm and he relented and let me have the table I wanted. He (almost begrudgingly) told me to enjoy the show and said “you’re going to have a great view.” I know, man, that’s why I insisted on this table. Here was my hard-fought view.

Yes, there are trees blocking part of the castle, but it’s about the best you can do at the Terrace party. Here was my first plate I got as I waited for the rest of the family.

You can see how many tables are still open at this point, so why was he trying to force me off to the far side? Can you tell it still kind of irks me? At least I got my little reserved placard to put down while I got myself some food.

The rest of the family showed up and made their first plates.

DH literally got a plate just of the cheeseburger egg rolls. He is obsessed with these things. Back when I thought we were actually going to have a normal trip this summer I talked about not booking the dessert party this year and he refused to let it go simply for these stupid egg rolls.

He later got yet another plate of just egg rolls. He also ate some desserts as well. I don’t know how he didn’t pass out.

Alex decided to do the same thing, but with cookies, followed by watermelon.

Whatever, it’s Disney.

They had a photopass photographer there to take pictures and we also snapped a family selfie.

After the fireworks we let the crowds dissipate for a bit while we headed into Tomorrowland. We rode Buzz followed by the Peoplemover, which I love even more at night, before walking back to BLT.

I’ll leave you with the shot of the castle all lit up from the Peoplemover.

 

[Jfsag123]

Day 9: July 27, Part 1 – Hollywood Studios

Our final full Disney day – wah! Initially, this was supposed to be our departure day, but we ended up being able to move our flight to the following day for no additional cost so I jumped at the chance to add one more Disney day. Because our stay at BLT was via rented DVC points, we weren’t able to just add on another night at the last minute, so I booked us a one night stay at a different resort. But first, we were headed to a park. We packed up our bags, sent them on, and then went about saying goodbye to BLT. We love this place so much!

And one more trivia stop on the way to refill our mugs.

We caught the bus to our destination, Hollywood Studios, and I snapped a selfie with Alex on the way.

We started out in Toy Story Land with fastpasses for Toy Story Mania and Slinky Dog Dash. After we left TSL, we realized there was a significant WDW tradition in which we had not yet engaged. This was our last full park day, so we immediately sought to correct this egregious error.

It was Mickey Bar time! Alex does not like me taking his picture when his face is a mess, but get over it, kid.

Next we headed over to the former Pixar Place, at this time the Incredibles area.

For a lot of the time we were over there, there was one cast member who kind of followed Alex around. He would be hiding behind a post looking at him, or peering at him through a window. Alex thought this was absolutely hilarious and did not want to leave. Yet another example of the cast members being such a huge part of the magic and part of why the thousands of layoffs this year have been so devastating. I hope Disney realizes what it has in its people and brings as many back as possible.

Anyway, we met Edna Mode for the first time and it was a fun meet. She seemed to like Alex’s hat.

Cora was in Daddy’s girl land for the posed picture and had no idea what was happening.

We headed down Sunset Boulevard toward our final fastpasses, but Alex got sidetracked by all the Toy Story merch in this store, so we stopped for a bit and picked up some Toy Story schwag.

We split up for our last fastpasses. DH took his Tower of Terror buddy one way and I took my Rockin’ Rollercoaster buddy the other way.

We split up because Cora absolutely refuses to ride ToT because of the drops. I’m not a huge fan of the drops myself, but am typically willing to ride. However, I don’t mind giving it up for an extra ride on RnRC, as I LOVE that one.

At this point we decided to head out for the afternoon and spend some time at our resort since we’d just be there for the one night. We hopped on a friendship boat and headed to Beach Club!

 

[Jfsag123]

Day 9: July 27, Part 2 – Beach Club

We love the Beach Club so much. It’s Cora’s absolute favorite resort by a mile. I’m not completely sure it’s my #1 favorite, but it does feel like home, though we’d only previously stayed in the villas. We hadn’t received a room ready text, so we decided to start out visiting the beach, as there was no one down there. The kids went down and sat on the swinging bench and enjoyed dragging their toes in the sand. As they sat there, a couple of surprise visitors came up behind them.

This was such a cute surprise! We loved seeing Donald and Daisy in their beachy attire and there was no one else around (as you can see from the pic), so no competing for attention or pictures. Great start to our Beach Club time.

We were hungry so we decided to grab a quick lunch from the Marketplace. As I was trying to snap a photo of the trivia questions there, this lovely gentleman decided to photobomb, fabulous hat and all.

I snapped this pic of the kids waiting while DH got our food, still bubbling over with joy from being at BC and the Donald/Daisy encounter.

We had packed the kids’ swimsuits in our park bag so they could change and spend some time in Stormalong Bay while we waited for our room to be ready. The plan was that DH would swim with the kids and I would wait in the resort (out of the heat) for the text, go up to the room, have the bags brought, then come get the rest of the family.

I posted up on the benches outside Cape May, as it was closed at that time and there was no one else around and just enjoyed the peace for a bit. I decided to look in the MDE app to see if a room had been assigned in there and I just hadn’t gotten a text and I did a double blink. The assignment was there and it was club level.

We have had some good luck with upgrades during our Disney trips. In fact, each time we’ve stayed in a resort cash pay, we’ve received some sort of small upgrade. Nothing crazy like a presidential suite, but always better than we booked. This is not a ton of times, as we have typically stayed on rented DVC points, but it’s still been nice. When we stayed at POR we were upgraded from standard to river view. At Coronado Springs we were moved from standard to preferred. At Boardwalk on this trip we were given garden view when we’d reserved standard. And this time we had been upgraded from a standard view regular room to a garden view club level room at Beach Club.

And this is where the title of my TR comes from. I threw the plan out the window and raced back out to Stormalong Bay. “Get out of the pool!” I hissed at my family through clenched teeth after I had found them. They looked at me confused and kind of annoyed, but complied. I whispered that we had been upgraded to club level and they got it and got their hustle on – we wanted to enjoy every second of this!

The room was bigger than it looks in this picture and really really nice. This was our view from our balcony.

We checked out the lounge and grabbed some popsicles to let the kids eat sitting out on the balcony. I fell in love with the Stormalong Bay breeze drink and DH decided to double fist the booze.

After having a few snacks, DH took the kids back down to the pool for a bit, as we knew this would be their only chance to enjoy it and it had been our main reason for picking Beach Club for our one night. I enjoyed just spending time in the room alone.

Once they came back, we headed back to the lounge for more eating. I don’t remember what we had and I didn’t take pics, but I do remember enjoying it. As we were eating, Cora actually lost a tooth. I went to one of the concierge cast members and told her what happened and asked if they had a baggie or something I could put it in. She told me to hold on for just a moment, left briefly, and came back with this stack of stuff.

Autograph book, coloring book, Enchanted Tales with Belle bookmark, WDW pen, and a little wooden tooth that opened and had a compartment for storing the lost tooth. I was floored. And, of course, Cora was thrilled to get all this loot and felt very special. And I think Alex is now conspiring to lose a tooth at WDW on a future trip.

We debated just spending the evening at the resort, as we were loving it and it was a rare opportunity. But ultimately we knew we needed to head back out, as we had another special first planned for this evening.

 

[Jfsag123]

Great update! DH and I ate at Via Napoli on our adults only trip a few years ago and, while we didn’t love it, we didn’t hate it either. We keep saying we should go back and give it another try. We’ll see.

We love SE, too. I can’t believe we won’t ride it again in its future state, at least we don’t think so. At this point, I guess everything is up in the air.

I really hope you can go on your trip this summer. Like you, we are still holding out hope for our trip, my big 4-0 birthday trip. I did make some modifications and instead of a YC/Poly split for 11-nights, we are at the BC the whole trip for 10-nights. We actually arrive on August 3rd.

I am really struggling with this trip. If the modifications I’m reading about actual happen, I can see us postponing. The only problem with that is we can’t travel again until next summer, but I already planned a trip to Yellowstone/Grand Tetons and Arches for June, 2021. If we postpone Disney until 2021, our out west trip will be postponed until 2022, and that makes me sad, too, because we are really excited for that trip. I really don’t know what to do. All I know is I have to go somewhere this summer, even if it’s just the beach for a few days. The unknown is so hard.

Stay well!

What did you end up doing? Happy (extremely belated) birthday!

Kelley--somehow I got to thinking about your trip report and had to come find it. I'm wondering if you all were able to go on your summer trip? We just made reservations and have tentative plans to go May 31-June 7 next year. Who knows what the parks will look like then, but I'm excited nonetheless. We haven't been to WDW since June 2018. I hope that you guys have something in the pipeline. I'm so glad we got to go to DL these past 2 Novembers (and I bet you are as well), I'm just so sad about them not being even close to opening up yet. Well, I just wanted to check in. I hope you and your family are doing well.

Thanks so much for checking in. We didn't end up going, as I noted above. Yes, having gotten to go to DL in November helped soften the blow some, but it's still been sad. How is your trip planning coming? Because of our impending arrival in April 2021, we won't be going back until early 2022. The idea of going almost 3 years without setting foot in a Disney park is horrifying, though I know this is an incredibly first world problem. I hope y'all are able to get back next year!

 

[Isabelle12345]

I am so happy you got back To your trip report!
I was in need of a little Disney Magic and you provided the perfect WDW happiness to my day!!

Congrats on the new baby to come! I hope your pregnancy is going well!

 

[Jfsag123]

I am so happy you got back To your trip report!
I was in need of a little Disney Magic and you provided the perfect WDW happiness to my day!!

Congrats on the new baby to come! I hope your pregnancy is going well!

Thank you! Glad I could help.

And thank you on the pregnancy congratulations as well! It's definitely a different experience this time around being a decade older, but it hasn't been bad. More than halfway there!

 

[buzzrelly]

Congratulations, again! Your next trips are sure going to look a lot different, but there's nothing like having a new baby

And now I present to you…drumroll please…the worst and most pointless ride photos ever!

I thought your DH was making a fake scream which would be fitting!

We have done the dessert party every single trip (and I remember that it was about $26/person the first time I booked it, which makes me want to cry when I book it now) and we love it. We tried the garden version in 2018 and, while the view was better, we decided we preferred the seats of the terrace version.

Us too, it's one of the things I miss the most. That, and early morning magic. Hoping to see those come back someday

the CM tried to lead me to a table way over on the side. No sir, I did not line up extra early to have one of the worst views there. I told him which table I wanted and pointed to it. He tried to lead me to a slightly less bad one instead, but I stood firm and he relented and let me have the table I wanted. He (almost begrudgingly) told me to enjoy the show and said “you’re going to have a great view.” I know, man, that’s why I insisted on this table. Here was my hard-fought view.

That would irritate me too. Good for you for standing your ground…what a view!

We love this place so much!

Me too! I can't wait to get back there in April

And this time we had been upgraded from a standard view regular room to a garden view club level room at Beach Club.

Nice! I've never once been upgraded, even with cash stays. I've never even see club level, but maybe someday I'll spring for it just to check it out.

 

[disny_luvr]

I am so happy you came back to finish your trip report. I checked a few times over the months and was worried you’d never come back.

I’m kind of hot and cold with the DIS with everything going on right now. We did cancel our summer trip and I had to stay away from the DIS for awhile because I was so sad about not going to Disney. The good news is, we are now booked for August 1st-14th over my 41st birthday, so I will get to celebrate my birthday in Disney after all! The even better news is, the Beach Club will be open next summer, so we are booked there. We will make it a split stay but we can’t decide between staying at the Wilderness Lodge and the Poly.

Congratulations on your pregnancy! That is so exciting! I’m sure a baby will make your Disney trips different, but different in a good way!

 

[Jfsag123]

Congratulations, again! Your next trips are sure going to look a lot different, but there's nothing like having a new baby

We shall see! Alex was 2, almost 3, on our first family trip, so this will definitely be new! I'm sure part of it will depend on baby's temperament, which, of course, we don't know yet.

I thought your DH was making a fake scream which would be fitting!

That would have been better!

Us too, it's one of the things I miss the most. That, and early morning magic. Hoping to see those come back someday

Yes!! Really hoping the fireworks and dessert parties are back by the time we take our next trip. I would hate to lose that tradition. We didn't end up ever doing an EMM, but strongly considered it and probably would have at some point in the future. We enjoy our extras...

That would irritate me too. Good for you for standing your ground…what a view!

Thank you! I don't normally make waves, especially with cast members, but I wanted my dang table.

Me too! I can't wait to get back there in April

I'm so jealous!

Nice! I've never once been upgraded, even with cash stays. I've never even see club level, but maybe someday I'll spring for it just to check it out.

We really have been fortunate with them. Of course, we're a soft touch, so it just ends up making us want to pay for the pricier view the next time lol

I am so happy you came back to finish your trip report. I checked a few times over the months and was worried you’d never come back.

Thank you! I've thought about it several times, actually had those first two updates I just posted written way back in June, but just couldn't bring myself to come back here. With so much uncertainty it just felt like a big downer.

I’m kind of hot and cold with the DIS with everything going on right now. We did cancel our summer trip and I had to stay away from the DIS for awhile because I was so sad about not going to Disney. The good news is, we are now booked for August 1st-14th over my 41st birthday, so I will get to celebrate my birthday in Disney after all! The even better news is, the Beach Club will be open next summer, so we are booked there. We will make it a split stay but we can’t decide between staying at the Wilderness Lodge and the Poly.

I'm so sorry you had to cancel your trip for this year, but it's so exciting that you'll get to go for your next birthday! And I'm thrilled about BC opening back up too! You know I love my split stays, but I'm worried about being able to do one in the near future. Right now it looks like Disney is only letting you book tickets that match the length of the attached resort stay. We typically put our full tickets (usually 9 or 10 days) on the first stay, then book stay 2 (or 3) as room only or DVC. With a split stay that first booking for us is usually 3-5 nights, meaning right now it will only let us book 4-6 day tickets with it. I'm hoping that changes soon!

Congratulations on your pregnancy! That is so exciting! I’m sure a baby will make your Disney trips different, but different in a good way!

Thank you! It will definitely be different. I've been telling the kids that this will likely mean much slower-paced trips for a little bit. But they're excited that their little sibling will give them an excuse to do some of the little kid things at WDW without fear of looking like the kid that's too big to be there.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

We had the trip of our dreams planned this past summer and ended up having to cancel it. We went back and forth on going, but ultimately decided that it was not worth the risk.

I don't know how we would have handled that. I was so grateful that we had finished off our annual passes and last trip on that literally right before all of this started. And everyone is allowed there oppinion but it is the same for us, it just isn't worth the risk to go to Disney right now. It will be there after all of this.

So our future trips will look a little different. I’m thinking of doing a PTR for our next trip, as it will have some significant differences from our trips of the past.

Def do a PTR! A trip with a baby will def be different!

How are you all doing??? When are you planning to go back?

We are booked to go back next Thanksgiving! And I can NOT wait!!!! I am switching it up and convinced DH to have us fly out Wednesday before Thanksgiving. And spend Thanksgiving at Disney!

And the CM’s manning the entrance told us nothing.

Ugh. I hate when you get a CM like that. Just say something... even if it is just that they don't know what the problem is.

We finally rode, but it ended up taking about 45 minutes, so pretty much all of EMH. There were many frustrated people in that line, mostly with the lack of communication. But we brushed it off and pushed on.

We like to do this as well. Bummer that it ended up taking so long. That really sucks to start off that way. But glad to hear you brushed it off.

I was thrilled to see this Gaston again, as he created a magic moment for my kids on our trip way back in 2016. They were dressed as Belle and Beast and we were in route from Enchanted Tales with Belle to dinner at Be Our Guest. Alex had gotten to play Beast and Belle had actually asked her handler to have Cora and Alex hang back after the show. She spent some one on one time with them, which they loved as they knew that isn’t typically done at ETwB. They walked out of there over the moon and were spotted by Gaston, who happened to be making his way backstage from his last meet of the day. He stopped to talk to them, shooed other people away, then took them back into the ETwB queue area with his photopass photographer to take some pictures. This is an experience they still talk about regularly, as they felt so special.

This whole encounter sounds amazing! And SOOO special!

Of course, we ate these while watching (and singing along to) the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room, because it doesn’t get much more magical than that.

The best way to enjoy those!

Hilarious! I mean how many people end up with this as there ride photo. There is no way to tell it is there unless you have ridden before, And even then it's hard to tell where it is.

SH could be screaming in this pic...

I was the 3rd or 4th person in line. They didn’t have tables assigned, but the CM tried to lead me to a table way over on the side. No sir, I did not line up extra early to have one of the worst views there. I told him which table I wanted and pointed to it. He tried to lead me to a slightly less bad one instead, but I stood firm and he relented and let me have the table I wanted. He (almost begrudgingly) told me to enjoy the show and said “you’re going to have a great view.” I know, man, that’s why I insisted on this table. Here was my hard-fought view.

What? Why? Why would they do that. Sometimes I just don't understand the thinking...

Yes, there are trees blocking part of the castle, but it’s about the best you can do at the Terrace party.

This is the problem with MK. Was the view ok for the show overall?

DH literally got a plate just of the cheeseburger egg rolls. He is obsessed with these things.

SH loves these as well!

so I booked us a one night stay at a different resort.

Ohhh... cliff hanger.

t was Mickey Bar time!

Can you believe we have only had these once!

We split up because Cora absolutely refuses to ride ToT because of the drops

Oh Cora and Morgan are meant to be friends for sure!!! We do the same thing at this point, only I go with Gwen on ToT. As a short person, RRC gives me a headache with my head banging on the shoulder holds.

We hopped on a friendship boat and headed to Beach Club!

Cora's Favorite!

As they sat there, a couple of surprise visitors came up behind them.

Amazing!!! The roaming characters was such a nice touch. I hope it comes back at some point.

this lovely gentleman decided to photobomb, fabulous hat and all.

Amazing

The assignment was there and it was club level.

That is AMAZING!!!! I think the short stays make it easier to bump you up!

And this is where the title of my TR comes from. I threw the plan out the window and raced back out to Stormalong Bay. “Get out of the pool!” I hissed at my family through clenched teeth after I had found them. They looked at me confused and kind of annoyed, but complied. I whispered that we had been upgraded to club level and they got it and got their hustle on – we wanted to enjoy every second of this!

I love this whole interaction! When we got upgraded at Yacht Club Gwen LOVED every second of it. It is extra magical when you didn't pay for it!

I would love to see how you like the Yacht Club rooms verses the Beach Club rooms.

She told me to hold on for just a moment, left briefly, and came back with this stack of stuff.

Amazing!

and a little wooden tooth

That wooden tooth is amazing!

And I think Alex is now conspiring to lose a tooth at WDW on a future trip.

Ha!

We debated just spending the evening at the resort, as we were loving it and it was a rare opportunity. But ultimately we knew we needed to head back out, as we had another special first planned for this evening.

Can't wait to hear what you had in store for your last night!

 

[soniam]

Sounds like your trip was going well.

Congratulations on the new baby!!!!

We did go to WDW in July and Thanksgiving. We had rented non-refundable DVC points at Boardwalk and Bay Lake. We have been working and schooling from home the whole time and don't come in contact to many people. July was amazing. Thanksgiving not as much. We have been during Thanksgiving before though, but with covid crowds it was little more stressful.

 

[will5mom]

Day 4: July 22, Part 3 – Hollywood Studios

We put the fabulous location of the Boardwalk to good use again to walk back to Hollywood Studios after our break. I decided that I actually like the location of the Boardwalk better than Beach Club. Beach Club is great for Epcot access, but DHS is a bit of a hike. From the Boardwalk it’s a nice easy walk and Epcot is still right there. But I still like the Beach Club more as an overall resort. Sigh. Disney problems.

We started in Toy Story Land with a FP for Slinky Dog Dash. Really not my best look on the ride photo…

Ok, this may be a little gross, but as we were standing in line I noticed that Cora had neglected to shave her armpits for a bit. She is now at the age where she needs to do that regularly, but still at the age where she doesn’t remember regularly. Her unshaven pits were wonderfully displayed in the sleeveless top she was in (note that she self-consciously kept her arms down in the ride photo above), so we decided to get her a t-shirt to put over it. She hadn’t gotten many souvenirs on the trip and is always down for a new Star Wars t-shirt, so we headed over to the Star Tours gift shop to let her pick something out. She ended up getting a “The Force is Strong in My Family” shirt and it’s become one of her favorites. Fortunately, the store was not far from where we were headed next anyway. Where was that, you ask? A dining establishment we had not yet experienced.

I don’t know if that picture is ruined or improved by the random girl in the corner biting her nails, but I’m just gonna go with it.

So as I said, we’d never eaten here before, but had considered it several times. We loved the atmosphere.

The food? …eh, not so much. It wasn’t bad, but it definitely wasn’t my favorite. We paid out of pocket for this one, as it didn’t seem like a great use of a dining plan credit. I could only really get pictures of my food and Cora’s food, as we were in one of the cars, the boys sat in the row ahead of us, and it was pretty dark. But

I got myself another pina colava. Yum!

Cora got a cherry coke with plenty of cherries in it, which made her very happy.

And she ordered a meal with lots of meat, the Sci-Fi Barbecue Platter, which made her even happier.

I got the chicken pasta.

The portion size was big, but the food was pretty bland. I only finished about half of it. I tried to get a to-go box, but it took our server so long to bring one that I ended up just leaving it there, as we had a fastpass to make. It didn’t feel like a big loss. I don’t remember what the boys got, but I’m all but certain Alex’s was mac and cheese (of course). There was definitely more added to the musical here, so he must have gotten it.

I don’t want to come across as too negative on Sci-Fi. Both kids loved everything about this place, and our server was really nice, just got kind of slow at the end. But both of us adults agreed that it was low on our list of food, which is a shame because the concept is awesome. I’d be willing to give it another shot, though.

The fastpass we were almost late for was for my favorite thrill ride in WDW, so no way I was missing that.

Ok, I know it looks like I’m the only one who’s having a good time, but I swear we all love Rockin’ Rollercoaster. The rest of my family does look hilariously tortured here, though.

After RnRC we headed across the way to use our final FP+ at Fantasmic(!). This show gets a lot of hate around these parts, but we all love it, even after seeing the Disneyland version, which is typically touted as being far superior. The DL version was amazing, but we still love ours too. And our seating arrangement beats DL’s by a mile.

Sadly, shortly after we sat down it started to rain. They started making announcements that the show may be delayed or cancelled. A few people left pretty quickly. We put on our ponchos and awaited further information. The waves through the crowd started up shortly after, of course. DH hates the wave and I love threatening to start waves in public places to irritate him. I got really into the wave here for his benefit. He was not amused.

It continued to rain. They continued to play the same announcement. People continued to leave. We talked about leaving, but decided to soldier on.

We figured we’d be rewarded for our persistence with a mostly unobstructed view or be punished by a long, late, wet, walk back to the resort with no Fantasmic! to show for it. They kept making that same announcement right up until about 5 minutes before the show was scheduled to start. So were we rewarded or punished?

Woot! And it actually started on time! The walk back to the Boardwalk was easy, and made even more awesome by seeing a young guy (looked early 20s) all by himself walking back to the parking lot pumping his fist and exuberantly singing the Fantasmic! music. And it wasn’t even raining anymore.

We go to Sci Fi almost every trip. I also was not a fan of the food until I ordered the burger (best in wdw).

 

[Jfsag123]

I don't know how we would have handled that. I was so grateful that we had finished off our annual passes and last trip on that literally right before all of this started. And everyone is allowed there oppinion but it is the same for us, it just isn't worth the risk to go to Disney right now. It will be there after all of this.

Agreed! And also, I don't know if I'd want to go with it in its current state even if I were not concerned about the virus. With all the shows closed, no fireworks, and many CMs still sidelined I just don't know that it would feel like Disney. The CMs are a huge part of the magic for us and it makes me sad to think about how many of them are struggling right now.

Def do a PTR! A trip with a baby will def be different!

I think I will finish this one up and then do that. Now that it's 2021 and I can officially start saying "we go back to Disney next year!" I'm getting more excited.

We are booked to go back next Thanksgiving! And I can NOT wait!!!! I am switching it up and convinced DH to have us fly out Wednesday before Thanksgiving. And spend Thanksgiving at Disney!

Oh that will be so fun! Any thoughts on where you might have Thanksgiving dinner there? If we do end up going to WDW for the holidays in the future, it will likely be over a Thanksgiving week.

SH could be screaming in this pic...

That's going to be the story for it from now on.

This is the problem with MK. Was the view ok for the show overall?

The view was great overall. Having seen it both ways, the garden view is definitely better, but not to the point where the difference is enough to make me go back to it. The convenience of the seats is just too good to give up for a slightly better view.

Can you believe we have only had these once!

Oh, you've gotta fix that

Oh Cora and Morgan are meant to be friends for sure!!! We do the same thing at this point, only I go with Gwen on ToT. As a short person, RRC gives me a headache with my head banging on the shoulder holds.

Ha! The similarities I've noticed between them can be striking. I'm 6'0", so no worries there for me. Though I do still press my head back into the headrest during the ride because I've been a bit jostled on it before.

That is AMAZING!!!! I think the short stays make it easier to bump you up!

Absolutely!

I would love to see how you like the Yacht Club rooms verses the Beach Club rooms.

Alex is so desperate to try the Yacht Club. It's just so hard to convince Cora, as she talks about how hard it would be to be staying right next to her favorite resort and to not actually be staying there. We will have to do it one day, though.

 

[Jfsag123]

Sounds like your trip was going well.

Congratulations on the new baby!!!!

We did go to WDW in July and Thanksgiving. We had rented non-refundable DVC points at Boardwalk and Bay Lake. We have been working and schooling from home the whole time and don't come in contact to many people. July was amazing. Thanksgiving not as much. We have been during Thanksgiving before though, but with covid crowds it was little more stressful.

Thank you!

Yes, the pictures from July did look amazing and had me sad that we cancelled our trip. However, since I work in a healthcare system vacation time was really iffy and I worried about exposure, so cancelling felt like the right choice. Thanksgiving pictures looked pretty crowded from what I saw. And with no FP, not sure how well I'd handle that.

We go to Sci Fi almost every trip. I also was not a fan of the food until I ordered the burger (best in wdw).

I've heard good things about the burger! Sadly, I don't eat burgers, but it's one of Alex's favorite things to eat. The rest of the family loved everything about the experience so I already know I will be overruled and we will go back lol

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

The view was great overall. Having seen it both ways, the garden view is definitely better, but not to the point where the difference is enough to make me go back to it. The convenience of the seats is just too good to give up for a slightly better view.

I might have to try that next time. I do like the idea of sitting and watching. I just am over trying to fight for a good spot.

Oh that will be so fun! Any thoughts on where you might have Thanksgiving dinner there? If we do end up going to WDW for the holidays in the future, it will likely be over a Thanksgiving week.

I have so many ideas!!! Ha! The top options right now are either spend the entire day at Stormalong Bay, possibly even rent a cabana for half the day? And then dinner at Yachtsman Steakhouse. It wouldn't be turkey but it would be fancy. And make the day super low key. We would also avoid all of the crowds.

The other would be to do Liberty Tree Tavern, so we could have something Thanksgiving like. But I don't know if I want to be in Magic Kingdom on Thanksgiving. But then again, maybe we will be itching to be there as it will have been so long?!

So, the December trip I am doing now, it was busy Black Friday and Saturday, by Sunday it wasn't that bad. It worked out well! It would be a good time to go!

I think I will finish this one up and then do that. Now that it's 2021 and I can officially start saying "we go back to Disney next year!" I'm getting more excited

I am going to do one for us as well. But I am going to wait for a bit as well. There just isn't as much to plan at this point. For better or worse.

 

[Jfsag123]

I have so many ideas!!! Ha! The top options right now are either spend the entire day at Stormalong Bay, possibly even rent a cabana for half the day? And then dinner at Yachtsman Steakhouse. It wouldn't be turkey but it would be fancy. And make the day super low key. We would also avoid all of the crowds.

The other would be to do Liberty Tree Tavern, so we could have something Thanksgiving like. But I don't know if I want to be in Magic Kingdom on Thanksgiving. But then again, maybe we will be itching to be there as it will have been so long?!

Those all sound like great options! And the Stormalong Bay/Yachtsman option means you could pop into Epcot for a bit if you were really jonesing for some park time. Epcot seems to handle crowds pretty well.

 

[Jfsag123]

Day 9: July 27, Part 3 – Disney’s Hollywood Studios

We were scheduled to go back to DHS that evening. Originally I’d been planning to snag whatever fastpasses I could find on our break and get back into the park early enough to ride something else. That went out the window with our surprise club level upgrade and we milked every moment out of it that we could. But we had an event scheduled, so we had to get out of there eventually.

There was no way we were walking all the way back to DHS at that point (it would have been more like waddling anyway), so we hopped a friendship boat. And here’s what we were headed back for.

More food and drinks! My thinking when I booked this was that this would kind of serve as our meal for the evening, as I knew they would have savory as well as sweet options. There was even one point before the trip where I jokingly said to DH “what if we got upgraded to Club Level for this one night and then had to decide how to handle so much food.” Then we both laughed, as it seemed incredibly far-fetched. Shows how much I know! But, I mean, it was a good problem to have.

I know I have mentioned that we have done the Magic Kingdom fireworks dessert party on every single trip, but this was our first experience with this one. Cora had been begging to try it as a giant Star Wars fan, so we had decided it would be a great experience for our final night.

We mostly focused on the sweet, since we’d had plenty of savory in the club lounge. And drinks, of course. Always drinks.

The kids loved the Stormtroopers coming around and it made for some fun interactions.

We were also happy with the character meets. We walked right in!

The Kylo Ren meet always makes for the most awkward photos.

We were among the first folks in the pack when the cast members walked us out to the viewing area for the fireworks/projections, so we had our choice of where to sit. We chose a spot just a little ways back and dead center (of course). I was so worried that people were going to stand up when the show actually started, but everyone remained seated, which made for a wonderful viewing experience.

It started with the animation projection show. We’d never seen this and ended up loving it.

And then the main attraction. I took almost no pictures, as I really just wanted to watch it.

This show was great and the kids were in awe, especially with this view. I’m glad we tried this dessert party and I think it was worth it for the seated, stress-free fireworks experience. However, I have to say I still prefer the Magic Kingdom party. I would do this one again, but it doesn’t feel like a must-do every trip. On the other hand, I think I’m going to struggle if the dessert party hasn’t returned to Magic Kingdom by the time we go back, as it feels like an integral part of our trips. Of course, I’ll get over it and deal if need be, but I hope to not have to.

We made a quick break for the boat line as soon as the show ended and lucked out that a boat was arriving just as we got there and we were the last family boarded before they cut the line to wait for the next boat. It was a great final full Disney day.

 

[Jfsag123]

Day 10: July 28 – Epcot/Departure

WAH! Departure day. Always a sad day, but made a little easier by the fact that we always schedule a little park time before we officially say goodbye. Here’s Cora not wanting to leave our room at Beach Club.

I mentioned earlier in the report that the kids got really into the transportation trading cards on this trip. They had decided they wanted to make their own “walking” card, since that’s also a primary mode of transportation at WDW, so they insisted we pose for a “walking picture.” This was the (sad) result.

This was embarrassing to take, as several people walked by as we were getting “posed,” but whatever, it was Disney and it was our last day.

We walked into Epcot and started with an early lunch at the Mexico quick serve before knocking out our fastpasses. We had them booked for Figment (for Alex), Test Track (for Cora), and Spaceship Earth (for all of us). I knew that Spaceship Earth was supposed to be closing before we would be back, so I wanted to really take in the whole experience this time. I was able to do this for most of the ride, but lost it at the end and spent the whole time laughing so hard I barely heard anything. Why, you ask?

What. The. Hell. Need a closer look?

I could not believe DH’s face! Had he never taken a picture before? Had we not been on this ride a bajillion times and know when our picture is being taken?? I could not keep it together. Watching that face go through each of the scenarios as we made our future, there were tears streaming down my face by the end. The kids were asking me what was wrong when we got off the ride, so I directed their attention to the big map as our pictures swooped in.

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And then kids lost it too. This has now become a thing in our family. So I’m glad that it looks like we may have one more shot at riding old school SSE with the suspension of some of the Epcot updates.

After we finished our fastpasses, we just enjoyed walking around World Showcase, looking in shops, and taking pictures.

Finally it was time to go for real to retrieve our carry-ons and be ready for the Magical Express. Cora was not happy about it AT ALL.

And then we were on the Magical Express headed away.

Getting through the airport was easy. We ate some McDonald’s as we waited and had an uneventful flight home. The End.

As I reflect on our last Disney trip, most of my questions revolve around how much of this WDW will we ever see again. Because we only go once a year, each trip there are things that we know we’re doing for the last time (e.g. SSE this time) and things we have no idea that we are doing for the last time (e.g. Great Movie Ride), so we try to really engage with and enjoy all the things that are meaningful to us in case it ends up being the last time. However, many of the changes that have come since our summer 2019 trip could never have been predicted. No more magical express? No more extra magic hours? Fastpasses? Will we see the Nemo show again? Hoop-dee-doo? Plus a bunch of other things. Our new addition to the family will, of course, be raised as a Disney kid, but how much of this Disney will he ever see? I hope we get many of the things we grew to love back, but I can’t help but fear that some of them are gone for good. I’m glad we have our memories, photos, and these trips reports to look back on and look forward to creating new Disney memories in the future, whatever they may look like.

Thanks for reading!

 

[cstorm65]

Enjoyed reading about your trip! Thanks for sharing with us. I have been wondering the same things about our next trip. Will we enjoy it as much as we always have...I'm sure it will be great, but it's definitely going to be different.