Hello-It'sSmee! A July 2020 "It's Good to Be Bad AND Back" TR *Link to new TR 2/21*

[Wood Nymph]

Things are going great and he's loving being there!

That must make you feel better about him being at college.

Have a great trip and happy birthday - one day early - to Steve.

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

OMG I would LOVE that! They need to bring that back!
They really do! It was such a fun thing to see!
In case I don't get on the boards from Disney I hope you have a wonderful birthday Moira xoxo! We will all have a drink for you on the 23rd

Thank you! If I can’t actually be there in person having you guys raise a glass is the ne t best thing!hic hic

 

[vamassey1]

Today we got to see my Ricky!!!

So happy for you!

I knew Rabbit was making the rounds as others had posted pictures and I was thrilled as he is rare!
I have other, better shots of them going down Main St. but - look! - there I am waving at Rabbit

Congrats on the Rare character. I hope we catch site of him

I'm running out of ideas for the on ride photos! Need to think of some before Tuesday!

Love this photo. We might have to try this. Have you tried chocking each other?

So a little fun that occurred here.

Drama, drama, drama. At least you lunch was interesting.

I do agree that we should follow the rules so we all don't suffer again.

Have a good trip!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Finally caught up!

Have a great trip!

 

[KathyM2]

So nice you got to see your boy. I won't get to see mine until December and it's killing me already.

Have a great trip!!

 

[missjackiemcg]

Ugh I wanted to do Epcot so bad but as weird as it sounds I knew by early afternoon we'd be bored! I like SE and 3 Cabelleros; can really take or leave the other rides and Steve hates Soarin'. So we'd do those 2 and possibly look around the Seas; eat at some booths and if ti worked we may have caught Mariachi Cobra and that's it! Starting at 11 that would have brought us to......2? And dinner at 7:30. Didn't want DS again and it was too hot to mini-golf; it there was hopping it would have been the perfect time to do it!

Completely agree. I cannot wait for park hopping to return!!! It was VERY weird for us in July only being able to visit one park a day. I hated having to commit to that when we were planning!

I have other, better shots of them going down Main St. but - look! - there I am waving at Rabbit

This is absolutely adorable!!! I may have skipped a little when I saw Rabbit on the trolley, too! It was so exciting to see him!

I'd seen this one closer to the castle on our first day here but honestly, seeing these "parades" made my heart so happy I stopped for each one whether I'd seen it before or not!

We felt the same way! My Mom actually chased down the gazebo in front of the Princess Cavalcade float because it had gone by as we were leaving Pecos Bill's. Tiana was on it, and she had to show Tiana that she was wearing her shirt and ears LOL It was so much fun being surprised by these and characters in places we didn't expect to see them. I would love it if they kept some of this even when M&G's come back.

HAVE AN AMAZING TIME on your trip!!!!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Have a wonderful trip!
I want those nachos you had, they sound yummy!
Glad you got to spend time with Ricky this past weekend!

 

[pkondz]

Today we got to see my Ricky!!!

Yay!

We were able to park right by his building after lunch to unload the 90 lbs of food we needed to bring him

Holy smokes. Don't they feed the poor boy?

we were able to meet one of his roommates and two girls he's friends with

Purely platonic, I'm sure.

We walked on to Main St. at JUST the right time as some friends of Pooh were emerging from over by the fire station:

Yes, there's a bathroom right there. So.. many, many friends of Pooh, I'm sure.

look! - there I am waving at Rabbit

Love that shot! Look! It's you!

the line looked long as they all do with physical distancing but we were on in about 12 minutes.

Not bad!

We covered a few more attractions including Pirates, Magic Carpets (I don't know why I like this but I do! I think the views when you're up high are pretty), then over to the Barnstormer believe it or not and Dumbo which we also don't do but once every few years. With no waits why not?

I mean... no wait, so...

I'm running out of ideas for the on ride photos! Need to think of some before Tuesday!

Time to do some barnstorming.

Um... think hard. Not the ride. But you can do that too.

placed an order at Pecos Bill because, nachos.

As I said it was tough finding a table with half of them having signs telling you the table wasn't "in use" due to physical distancing. So the minute after we dig in to our food this woman sits at a table she shouldn't, right next to us She looked at the sign and turned it over. We were like "ok.....let's see what she'll do". A few minutes later her husband came over and sat down with their food; she showed him the "don't sit here" sign and he was like "eh". We did determine English was not their first language but still it wasn't cool they were sitting 3 feet away. We were just deciding what to do when a CM told them to move

Wow. Glad they were told to move though.

I wasn't as upset that they were closer than 6 feet as I was that they blatantly ignored the protocol. This would/will/better not be why Disney and other places are shut down again

Yeah, totally get that.

about 5 minutes after they moved a woman with 7 kids storms in and goes right to that same table but pushes ANOTHER out of commission table up to it and tells her kids to sit there.

She was loud and rude and none of them had their masks on although they weren't sitting yet. A manager heard/saw and explained they couldn't sit there and he was happy to find them seating elsewhere but she was having none of it and told her kids not to move! She said they'd had a h*ll of a day and were not going to look around for a table and there was no reason they shouldn't sit there and she didn't care about the physical distancing. The manager asked her nicely not to sit and she screamed at her kids "SIT DOWN!!!"

Looks to me like someone needs to be escorted out of the park. This is not the time to take a stand.

Her husband was also not nice to the CM but finally they just dropped their food and left. The husband said he was going to the truck because he wasn't taking this poop anymore It was quite interesting especially since really other than the park hopping and fact that we would have liked a few more food options, we thought all things were handled well and didn't see lots of room for folks to be upset. But to each his own!

I said it before and I'll say it again I prefer the way you see characters now to the traditional meets! You don't know where you'll see them and while I know the goal is to get M&G's back I hope some of these cavalcades or pop ups stay around as well.

I'd like it better that way too, I think. Spontaneity over standing in line or FP.

 

[eagillinois]

I saw you several times in Epcot today but didnt want to bother you! Hope you are having a great trip. I am curious what you thought of overall crowds for us it seems much busier than it did in early August.

 

[CruellaNY]

Hey All! Currently sitting at MCO waiting for our flight home But of course we have our next trip(s) set so it’s all O~K! I’ll be answering the last few comments and updating ASAP and then finishing up this report so we can move on to our latest trip!

 

[pkondz]

Hey All! Currently sitting at MCO waiting for our flight home

Nooooo! Stay there! That's where the magic is!!

But of course we have our next trip(s) set so it’s all O~K!

Phew!

I’ll be answering the last few comments and updating ASAP and then finishing up this report so we can move on to our latest trip!

 

[CruellaNY]

Yay, I'm finally caught up, again, right in time for your next trip

Yay glad you're here again! We're back as of tonight But luckily we'll be back again in about 2 months!

The little guy always wants to be with Mom Mom, which I love, but it does make getting other things done a little tough. I'm trying to soak up all the time I can with him, though, as they're moving an hour an a half away, which isn't terrible, but no more frequent quick visits.

Aw, it is the BEST feeling Hayden is always around me when they're here and prefers me to Steve and her Uncle Ricky lol much to their chagrin! I would be so upset if they moved away but at least it's not too far...............

So now, @CruellaNY it looks like we're missing each other by a few weeks two trips in a row. Some day I'll get to meet you guys in person!

Ugh that happens to me with a few folks I'd like to meet! When are you going again?

You, Steve, @Jenny Sanders & Joe seem like such a hoot to do Disney with! We're down to 24 days, and I think you've inspired me to do a trip report under my new and more creative DIS name!

LOL I suppose we can be fun And yes you should definitely write one!

That must make you feel better about him being at college.

Have a great trip and happy birthday - one day early - to Steve.

It did for sure! Now we look forward to an Oct visit! This is a holiday weekend and in the Quinnipiace Parents FB group I'm in, lots of parents were saying their kids wanted to come home for the "long" weekend and the parents were trying to discourage it. As much as on the one hand I would feel wanted and missed if Ricky asked to come home I felt much better that he did NOT want to and rather be with his new friends.

Thank you! If I can’t actually be there in person having you guys raise a glass is the ne t best thing!hic hic

I hope you had an awesome birthday!!

Love this photo. We might have to try this. Have you tried chocking each other?

Ha ha we did one with Steve pretending to bite my neck a'la a vampire but I'm afraid a choking one would get flagged and not get through! I guess no harm in trying! I wasn't thrilled with what we did this trip so I need to really brainstorm for the next one

Drama, drama, drama. At least you lunch was interesting.

I do agree that we should follow the rules so we all don't suffer again.

Yes it was an interesting lunch! Nothing like that this time but still a few who thought rules don't apply to them

Have a good trip!

Thank you, sad it went so quick but loved spending time with our friends!

Finally caught up!

Have a great trip!

Hope you and baby are doing well!

 

[CruellaNY]

So nice you got to see your boy. I won't get to see mine until December and it's killing me already.

Oh I feel for you! I hope he's doing well though

Have a great trip!!

Thank you! Back already but we had fun! I'll be doing another TR as soon as I finish this one up

Completely agree. I cannot wait for park hopping to return!!! It was VERY weird for us in July only being able to visit one park a day. I hated having to commit to that when we were planning!

We missed it more this trip especially on one day in particular. Sadly I just don't see hopping returning soon.............and on this I hope I end up being wrong!

We felt the same way! My Mom actually chased down the gazebo in front of the Princess Cavalcade float because it had gone by as we were leaving Pecos Bill's. Tiana was on it, and she had to show Tiana that she was wearing her shirt and ears LOL It was so much fun being surprised by these and characters in places we didn't expect to see them. I would love it if they kept some of this even when M&G's come back.

OMG this is adorable; your mom is so adorable I love the way they're doing characters even more after this trip!

Have a wonderful trip!

It was another good one! Back so soon lol!

I want those nachos you had, they sound yummy!

I tried getting them again this trip but ended up with something else. Not a bad choice but I'll go back to those nachos next time!

Holy smokes. Don't they feed the poor boy?

Nope we didn't pay for the food plan we told him to fend for himself.

Yes, there's a bathroom right there. So.. many, many friends of Pooh, I'm sure.

Not sure what they're doing now that the Halloween characters are riding the trolleys through Pooh town............

I'd like it better that way too, I think. Spontaneity over standing in line or FP.

I appreciate all this even more after our latest trip. And remember why I wasn't a fan of FP+ when it was introduced. I don't care if they don't bring it back for a long while!

I saw you several times in Epcot today but didnt want to bother you! Hope you are having a great trip. I am curious what you thought of overall crowds for us it seems much busier than it did in early August.

Ah I wish you said something! I know it's weird But I would have enjoyed saying hello!
I do hope I wasn't doing anything inappropriate when you saw me though
So my take on the crowds: we didn't do Epcot in July so I had nothing to base that particular day on but we felt Epcot was NOT crowded Wednesday! However now that the trip is over, we absolutely felt the crowds have increased since July. We had days like at Epcot and at AK Saturday and actually at MK today where it did not seem "too"" crowded and wait times were really good; then days like Thursday at HS that were just uncontrollably ridiculous. We went to DS 3x and it was always way more crowded than it was the 3x we went in July but only only last night (Saturday) did we feel it was crazy. Honestly though I prefer it to "normal" times still! I hope your trip was good also!

Nooooo! Stay there! That's where the magic is!!

OK, heading back now!

 

[PumpkinSpice]

We're heading down in 18 days, October 16th-24th. First night at Poly, no park. We were supposed to land at 8:30am, but stupid Southwest changed us to a connecting flight, so now not landing until around 11:30. Then we switch to BWV 1BR, the next morning. Originally we had Boulder Ridge booked, but with reports of the buses being a nightmare in the morning with more people going to WDW, we decided to stay somewhere where we could walk to two parks, specifically for HS, since that's supposed to have the worse bus situation in the mornings. We're going again in January, the 13-20th. How about you?

 

[pkondz]

Nope we didn't pay for the food plan we told him to fend for himself.

Sink or swim!

Not sure what they're doing now that the Halloween characters are riding the trolleys through Pooh town............

Holding it.

And remember why I wasn't a fan of FP+ when it was introduced. I don't care if they don't bring it back for a long while!

Really!! Huh!

 

[CruellaNY]

We're heading down in 18 days, October 16th-24th. First night at Poly, no park. We were supposed to land at 8:30am, but stupid Southwest changed us to a connecting flight, so now not landing until around 11:30. Then we switch to BWV 1BR, the next morning. Originally we had Boulder Ridge booked, but with reports of the buses being a nightmare in the morning with more people going to WDW, we decided to stay somewhere where we could walk to two parks, specifically for HS, since that's supposed to have the worse bus situation in the mornings. We're going again in January, the 13-20th. How about you?

We're going in November and February lol so missing you then too! But I hope you enjoy next month!

Really!! Huh!

 

[PumpkinSpice]

We're going in November and February lol so missing you then too! But I hope you enjoy next month!

Geeze, are we ever going to coincide? If you ever do a girls' trip again, I just might have to show up!

 

[CruellaNY]

Well here I m, back from our September trip and not yet done with this July TR! Some things change, like everything in the world in 2020, but yet some things stay the same and under no circumstances can I finish a report in a timely manner. So let me just say we had another fabulous trip celebrating Steve's 60th birthday



with our wonderful friends Jenny and Joe @Jenny Sanders and the always marvelous Mr. & Mrs. @pepperandchips
I will for sure be doing a new TR as well as returning to my dining reports for that one and will post links here when those are started! But first we need to wrap up the summer with our last full day in Disney!
​

Day 5 Part 3: I Could've Been a Baller

I left off with us leaving the MK, our last park of the trip. We were going back to the resort to freshen up before dinner but I wanted to make one stop along the way to see if I could find any good souvenirs to bring back to the boys.
If you've read any of my older "not so cruel" (ella) reports you know my boys are big into basketball and you definitely know the NBA was at the GF back in July. The DVC side was open though and I thought there was a good chance their gift shops would have some neat NBA stuff!

We took the boat over. The GF is my 2nd favorite resort ever since, ya know, that time we were upgraded to the "Roy" suite in '18 BTW I will never stop referencing that in future TR's any time I can! Anyway we walked in upstairs and looked over the railing onto this:



I left that big so you could more easily play "Where's Waldo?" and find THE person sitting there. How eerie is that? There were like 2 CM's at the desk, that lobby person, like 1 CM in the open stores (not Basin which was closed ) - and us. SO sad and weird. I'm happy to report it was a tad bit better last week although not your usual GF lobby feel and with the orchestra being let go.......well, let's keep this a happy update.

We went to the larger general store upstairs and right away saw the basketball display in the window:



So cute! I actually considered buying that Loungefly but did not. Unfortunately there was no NBA specific stuff so nothing really for the boys but I did get this cute little bball Mickey for Ricky:



We then went downstairs just to see what was open down there and I noticed that out back we could see the NBA barbershop they'd recently put up. Hey, you can't make those buckets with bangs in your eyes!





As a mom of NBA fans and a somewhat on and off NBA fan myself I thought it was neat to see and neat that they were so close.

We boated and bussed back to our resort where I tried having Steve take a few pics for me to use for my upcoming 4 year "work" anniversary



This is not one of the better ones lol but I did take pretty good ones in front of the castle, Tree of Life and TOT. After a refresh and doing a little packing for the next morning we moved on to our evening which was ANOTHER change from our original plan!

ORIGINAL DAY:
EPCOT-FESTIVAL BOOTHS FOR LUNCH-BREAK LATER IN DAY-RETURN FOR DINNER AT SAN ANGEL

WHAT WE DID:
DS FOR DINNER!

Notice that WHOLE day was changed other than the break and this is what we like to do; have the ability to change things up!




And where did we end up in DS? A tried and true favorite, Jock Lindsey's! It was so so good to be back after them not reopening yet when we were down at Uni in June!

Now I go between 2 drinks here; one is a big sweeter and was my original go-to before I branched out. To acknowledge how happy I was to be back I went with that original fave, the Cool-Headed Monkey:
Cool-headed Monkey
Starr African Rum, Van Der Hum Tangerine Liqueur, Lime Juice, Watermelon, and Pineapple Juice| Served in a souvenir vessel 30.00

and in true Steve fashion he got
Air Pirate's Mule
Knob Creek Disney Select Single Barrel Reserve Bourbon and fresh Lime Juice topped with Fever-Tree Ginger Beer




My drink is on the sweet side but not crazy-so; goes down real easy and quick lol.
For eats I also went with an old favorite that is 2nd only to it's somewhat twin at the yet-to-reopen Crew's Cup Lounge:

Air Pirate's Pretzel
A Jumbo Everything Pretzel with Spicy German Mustard and Beer-Cheese Fondue



Not much to describe here except is always crispy enough on the outside but nice and soft on the inside with lots of "everything"!

MORE IN THE NEXT POST!

 

[CruellaNY]

Continuing with Jock's, we must not have been in any kind of adventurous mood as Steve also got something he knew he'd love:

Snakebite Sliders
Gourmet Beef Sliders with Tomato-Bacon Jam, House-made Pickles, Shredded Lettuce, and Cheese



I've had these before as well and they never disappoint!

Once done we debated walking around a bit and decided it would be determined by the crowds once we got our butts out of our seats. We left Jock's to this:



which was a much lighter crowd than previous evening in DS so we did indeed explore a bit! It was our first stop into World of Disney:




Followed by a quick stop in Goofy's. As we waltzed by Ghirardelli's it does what it often does and used its siren song to call us in:



Oh so good! It started drizzling so we took cover under an awning that had tables set up physically distanced and ate our ice cream perfection.

Oh again, the Amphicars were (and are) running! We watched from our table at Jock's:



We have been saying for years we'll do this and still haven't; love that there are things that are still on our Disney "bucket list"!

On our way out we walked by these lovely ladies, reminding all visitors how the new DS works:



We saw these cute "yellow shirts" quite often around the parks and DS in July; less so last week but they were still there and we did experience them doing what they're supposed to do and enforcing guidelines when guests "forgot"

Once back in our room we finished packing up as much as we could since we were leaving around noon. Here's what I bought at WOD with a gift card a super sweet client had sent me!



I've never had a pop socket on my phone before so believe me, I feel super cool and hip now

We did have another TS breakfast in the morning before we left so I have one more updated to do before I start on September; enjoy your day guys!

 

[Wood Nymph]

I'm looking forward to your upcoming trip report. The July trip most likely was less crowded than September was and I am curious about how things went for you.

he GF is my 2nd favorite resort ever since, ya know, that time we were upgraded to the "Roy" suite in '18

I can't believe that it has been two years already since you had that wonderful upgrade. It is a very fun memory to talk about.

Now I go between 2 drinks here; one is a big sweeter and was my original go-to before I branched out. To acknowledge how happy I was to be back I went with that original fave, the Cool-Headed Monkey:

That drink looks really good. I am always looking for drinks that are fruity and not too boozy.

For eats I also went with an old favorite that is 2nd only to it's somewhat twin at the yet-to-reopen Crew's Cup Lounge:

This is high praise indeed considering how good the Crews Cup burger is.