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

[kittylady1972]

Capt Jack’s was great too and the bar that ran alongside the marina was a favourite spot of ours as well.

OMG I remember Capt Jack's also. We ate there once and really enjoyed it. I miss it.

 

[kittylady1972]

Oh boy moms and dads, this first kid going away to college is NOT easy.

On a note that doesn't make me sad we are just 33 days from our Sept. Disney trip! I'll write more about our plans when it gets a bit closer but we'll be returning to Boulder Ridge Villas! Hey it still gets me close to my Magic Bars

Day 3 Part 1: Railroad Resistance the Hollywood Way

When you first get there it's cute but I will say with no shame that we were not impressed in the least unfortunately. Considering what it took the place of? Nope. This is just another boring ride to us that doesn't really differentiate itself like GMR did. Speaking of here's us after our last ride on GMR, the day before it closed for good,

Ah the rides I miss! I'm glad we rode it; whenever the boys are with us again we'll ride so they can experience it but otherwise I'm fine if we never ride again. On to the 2nd new to us attraction we wanted to ride-

I grabbed boarding group 23 yay! Our approx wait time was 2.5 hours so around 12:30 we would hopefully be called. With that done we felt a little more relaxed and went right to my favorite:

It was not around 11 and we noticed ROTR was down, moving our ride time out as it was still currently at 2 hours. It also seemed hotter today but we still stopped for a few to watch another little character cavalcade!

Now let me set the scene for what happened next: It's HOT. TOT is still down, we have at least 2 hours until we get called for ROTR. There wasn't really anything else we wanted to do plus we had a 4:00 reservation at HBD - almost 5 hours away.

​

Many of you know we like to switch things up last minute- keeps us fresh Steve thought my idea was fabulous as he does all my ideas so we went directly to the restaurant, explained what time our ADR was for and what we wanted now, and in about 7 minutes we had these in front of us:

It felt so good that day to finally get in a/c! And to not leave the park before our boarding group was called.

So sorry about your sadness about Ricky but I'm sure you will see him as much as possible.

YAY for upcoming trips!

Sorry you didn't like MMRRR. I had read nothing about it going into it and as much as I do miss GMR I thought MMRRR was cute...and fun. I enjoyed it and wouldn't mind riding it again for sure. I think it will be a hit with little kids also.

So jealous of your boarding group...after we got group 89 I was hopeful about us riding yesterday and thankfully we did so we also experience two new to us rides during our current trip.

So glad you got into your ADR early. We were tempted to try to eat at HBD to stay in the park yesterday but we ended up back at the WL pool and eating at Geyser Point instead...which we really enjoy

 

[CruellaNY]

Can I send you my mailing address? Wait... do you put coconut in all your baking???? Nevermind!

Sure! And I'll send you this:

Good man.

Listen you guys get it right sometimes!
Sometimes.

My lovely home resort! I hope you love it!

I bet we will! We've walked through the lobby before and Ricky has used the gym which is over there; we haven't used the DVC pool yet but I like where it is and the look of it so I think we'll try that as well!

I like the cavalcades too although I enjoy a M&G as well. Did you ever get to ride ToT?

We did! We had some more time in the park after lunch but I didn't get to ride it over and over as I like to

Yay! Great decision! What did you get for lunch?

I will post that next! We enjoyed it and have plans to return next month

I hope you write a trip report for your stay at Boulder Ridge. I haven't read any trip reports from people who stayed there and I'd like to know what it is like. The BRV lobby is gorgeous.

I plan on it And I agree it's beautiful in there! And I also agree; I don't think I've read an TR's from folks who have stayed there. Weird!

It would have been nice if they could have kept the ride and updated the movies in the ride instead of completely removing it.

For awhile before MMRR was announced I had hoped this is what they'd do and I think there were/are enough of us who enjoyed GMR that it would still be popular if they did that.

I know I said this before but super cool that HBD accommodated you and took you early.

Yes! I honestly didn't think they would with the way things are but they also took a few walk-ups while we were standing there.

 

[CruellaNY]

My son moved out this morning and even though he wouldn't be home from work yet the house just feels weirdly empty so I totally get it. I told him he's to facetime tonight to tell me how his day went and he just laughed and said "ok I'll humour you today"Works for me lol

Aw I'm sorry! But yes that empty feeling is one I'm dreading come Saturday I hope he facetimed you!

Moira's birthday you mean

OH RIGHT! Yes yes excuse me

Such strange times to have your kid go off to college!! At least you are close enough to visit and bring baked goods!!

Very true! I will say that having heard what lots of other colleges are/aren't doing as far as protocol related to the virus I am very happy and impressed with what Ricky's is doing and feel very comfortable with him going. Now I just hope he has some fun and enjoys his freshman year!

OMG I remember Capt Jack's also. We ate there once and really enjoyed it. I miss it.

Right? I believe Steve and I ate there in 2000? Now I need to look up when it closed!

So jealous of your boarding group...after we got group 89 I was hopeful about us riding yesterday and thankfully we did so we also experience two new to us rides during our current trip.

That's the thing that stinks is having to wait around for your boarding group - even if you get a good # believe me So glad you got to ride both rides!

So glad you got into your ADR early. We were tempted to try to eat at HBD to stay in the park yesterday but we ended up back at the WL pool and eating at Geyser Point instead...which we really enjoy

It was a big plus to the day but to tell the truth I'd pick GP over HBD pretty much any day so you made the right choice

 

[vamassey1]

Oh boy moms and dads, this first kid going away to college is NOT easy.

No it's not, but like everyone else has said it does get easier.

This time the waffle was dry, the cheesy hashbrowns dry and burnt and the bacon, limp Not the adjective you want to have to use for your bacon!

So not good.

I grabbed boarding group 23 yay!

This is my favorite too!

To find that it was down. UGH!

Many of you know we like to switch things up last minute- keeps us fresh Steve thought my idea was fabulous as he does all my ideas so we went directly to the restaurant, explained what time our ADR was for and what we wanted now, and in about 7 minutes we had these in front of us:

Good call!

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Aw I'm sorry! But yes that empty feeling is one I'm dreading come Saturday I hope he facetimed you!

He sent photos of him hugging my wee grandson and then told me by text they were having takeaway to celebrate his moving in and starting work so not quite FaceTime but good enough. He also messaged this morning to say he was woken at 7.05an by his nephew shouting “Connor where are you” and then “found you” as he jumped on top of him

OH RIGHT! Yes yes excuse me

It’s ok I’ll forgive you this time

 

[buzzrelly]

After they all said good-bye to Ricky he got sad; then I got sad.

Aw, it sucks. Hang in there, mama

the cheesy hashbrowns dry and burnt

Ew. You can actually see they're burnt in the picture

I grabbed boarding group 23 yay!

in about 7 minutes we had these in front of us:

Yum. If we ever make it there, we'll have to get this for Mike

 

[annie170]

You're going to be the most popular mom in the dorm with that pan of deliciousness!

That's too bad your breakfast was disappointing. Depending on my mood, I may have gone back and asked for some fresher food.

Yay for getting a boarding pass! I still don't like this procedure, but I guess it's here to stay.

Smart idea moving your dinner to lunch and getting out of the heat. A HBD cob salad sounds so good right now.

 

[pkondz]

Sure! And I'll send you this:

Lemme guess.... coconut.

Listen you guys get it right sometimes!
Sometimes.

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day... unless it indicates AM/PM then it's once... unless it's digital, then it's just... off.

That too describes men.

 

[fractal]

It's been a busy few days here since I updated! We found out we move Ricky in on Wednesday but luckily he comes back home with us! It's freshman orientation with a shorter orientation for parents, and then we move the bulk of his belongings in to his room - between 6 and 10 pm. Due to all the new COVID restrictions only one parent can attend the orientation and that same parent can help with the move in, and while it would really be better for Steve to be there to help move stuff in, I need to be the one doing orientation if I want to know anything! Ricky will then go for good between the 21st and 23rd and we should have that date later this week.

And now for something that made me cry happy tears and not sad, we'll jump in to our first post-COVID park day

Day 2 Part 1: Why Sir, Is That A Travel Size Bottle Of Hand Sanitizer In Your Pocket, Or Are You Just Happy To Be BACK IN THE MAGIC KINGDOM??!!!

I was looking forward to no rushing this trip; really no need (at most parks) to arrive early, no rushing for FP's. But even though I didn't go to sleep until almost 2 the night before I was up early because today I'd be stepping back in to a Disney park for the first time since January!

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You may be saying "ah that's only 6 months....." but in 2019 the longest I went between my 8 trips was 3 months. Even more so in the midst of the pandemic I, as I'm sure many of you did, wondered when we'd get to return and if indeed it would be in 2021. Shake your heads if you want but when the parks closed back in March it hit me how serious the whole virus situation was and really was the first time I felt uneasy and nervous about what was ahead. With good reason we know now! So getting up early today and being able to walk down Main St. was something I needed!

Unfortunately this was also the morning I learned some rough information: NO DISNEY DANISH. What's that you say? It's true friends, at least it was 2 weeks ago. Steve is always up early so he was out and about walking the Boardwalk; I texted asking him to bring me a danish-preferably cheese but I'll take apple too thank you - and was disappointed when he returned with this:

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That is the best he could do for my 2nd favorite Disney pastry, the crumb cake Because there was NO DANISH AT ALL at the BW Bakery or BC Marketplace and the pastries are/were pre-packaged. Understood......I guess, also why I took 2 bites and gave up. There were better breakfasts to come at least!

MK opened at 9 and we left the room around 8:50, wanting to be there early but not concerned about being there for opening. We were taking a Disney bus for the 1st time and I was interested to experience what they were doing although I'd seen pictures from co-workers and talked to @missjackiemcg who was lucky enough to have already visited so I had an idea what the deal was. I will say we had great bus service during this stay. We did use Lyft often as we always do but even buses to DS were good.

Safety check in! You can either consider this the boring part of the update or the good-to-know part depending on you. Either way it's cool!
By the elevators in the Villas were these wipe stands. Two days they were empty but otherwise they were full. While we did go to a couple other resorts I didn't notice them anywhere else but I may not have paid enough attention

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At the bus stop there were 3 other groups waiting and we all got on the bus when it came about 30 seconds after we walked up. No worries about crowding as the buses are divided into 6 sections with numbered seats and a partition in between the sections. The driver told us all where to sit based on how many were in our party and this meant some seats were left empty. For instance we were often in area 3 which was always 3 seats so the other one stayed empty.

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Let me tell you how wonderful it was to step off the bus at the park Neither the signage telling guests about physical distancing and temp checks, the hand sanitizer stations by the tapstiles nor the signs only letting you go in one entrance of the Emporium and out the other could take away from my feelings when I saw this:

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Being trained the way we are we headed right to 7DMT which at about 9:30 was showing a 35 minute wait. The line was almost to the entrance of New Fantasyland but you need to remember that all parties have 6 feet between them so all lines look longer. We were on in 22 minutes and with one exception that the longest we waited the whole trip!

Plexiglass up in the inside queue on 7D if you haven't seen it:


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We were going to go to BTMRR but as it still had 5 minute wait we went across to WtP first, PP, then hit Haunted Mansion. Funny you still need to wear your mask when hanging with 999 Happy Haunts but I guess nobody is safe from the virus: ( It's a joke friends!)

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And that's where we met up with Birthday Girl Jen and her DH Joe! It was so good to see who we now consider our "old" friends , really seems as though we've known each other for years! We headed for some adventure together, weaving our way through the crowds:


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Big Thunder was close to a walk on with a 10 minute posted wait. We debated doing Splash right then and I wish we did because the wait was like 25 but Jenny and Joe had lunch to get to and while we still had about 30 minutes I didn't want to be sitting soaking wet in an a/c restaurant. We split up for the time being and as we walked back through Frontierland we saw our first Post-COVID character from a distance!

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YAY! It was so cute and exciting and tons of the very few guests present were waving to him and yelling. If you're curious he did have an attendant with him up there as well who was wearing a mask As we were waiving I heard some tinkling; assuring myself it was not me (or my husband) doing the tinkling I instead put some thought into it and then realized we had another friend coming I only took a video and it's more bad than good so I'm not posting it but it was Tink on her Festival of Fanstasy Float. She came from the same place in Frontierland where the parade starts and had attendants with her and they played all sorts of songs from PP. I think she went all the way down to Main Street! She isn't usually a favorite of mine but this trip any character I saw was my favorite and she waved and waved to all who waved to her.

I'm at my picture limit and I need to do some work so I'll save the rest of our MK day for next time! Have a Happy Monday all!

Following along. Beach Club is our favorite resort.

Can certainly relate as we were there the same time. Our first day in MK was a bit surreal. Love the story telling!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Tomorrow is move in day for Ricky, wow! I will be thinking about you, stay strong, don’t ugly cry , lol!
Andi is coming home in a few hours and I am so excited
I like your change in plans at HS, good idea to sit and relax at HBD at the earlier hour. The BM (for a nurse this is hard to write, it is not a drink I picture, haha ) looks refreshing and yummy!
I am worried I will feel the same way about MMRR when we finally experience it. We.loved. GMR. Such a classic and favorite, Ready CB!
Enjoying your report as always!

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Good luck for Ricky’s big move tomorrow! I’ll be thinking of you ☘

 

[kclark9830]

Loving the TR so far! I have TRIED AND TRIED to get Micheal to agree to a WDW trip this year, but no luck . So I'm happy living vicariously through the boards. Lol

Good luck with college, Ricky!

 

[CruellaNY]

No it's not, but like everyone else has said it does get easier.

I know I'll start feeling better Sunday as long as he's not miserable! He spent time today with friends so I'm glad we get to take him out to lunch after we drop his stuff off tomorrow.

He also messaged this morning to say he was woken at 7.05an by his nephew shouting “Connor where are you” and then “found you” as he jumped on top of him

That is ADORABLE!

Yum. If we ever make it there, we'll have to get this for Mike

You WILL make it, be positive. Look at the article I just posted on FB! I know your job is a barrier but we'll just keep hoping they change things enough for you

You're going to be the most popular mom in the dorm with that pan of deliciousness!

That's my goal! If the roommates want me around he'll have no choice!
ALthough we can't actually go on campus as of now with COVID protocol so what I should say is if the roommates want me to drive up to the drop off point and bring baked goods he'll have no choice

That's too bad your breakfast was disappointing. Depending on my mood, I may have gone back and asked for some fresher food.

If we had been down AT the Marketplace I would have but being in our room I just didn't feel like it. It was disappointing though!

Yay for getting a boarding pass! I still don't like this procedure, but I guess it's here to stay.

I don't necessarily like it either but ugh I don't know what would be better....they first few days of reopening in July it was a regular standby line and it was CRAZY! But the worst part now is waiting around for said boarding group.

 

[CruellaNY]

Lemme guess.... coconut.

Quarantine magic bars baby!

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day... unless it indicates AM/PM then it's once... unless it's digital, then it's just... off.

That too describes men.

Do you write for Webster's Dictionary? Because I think you JUST rewrote the the definition of M.A.N!

Following along. Beach Club is our favorite resort.

Hey @fractal glad we "found" each other's reports! We enjoy BC as well, you really can't beat the location.

Tomorrow is move in day for Ricky, wow! I will be thinking about you, stay strong, don’t ugly cry , lol!

Ugh thank you! I will cry ugly pretty silently and loudly lol

Andi is coming home in a few hours and I am so excited

YAY for you! You're as happy as I'll be on November 25th lol

The BM (for a nurse this is hard to write, it is not a drink I picture, haha ) looks refreshing and yummy!

Enjoying your report as always!

Aw thank you Caroline ❤

Good luck for Ricky’s big move tomorrow! I’ll be thinking of you ☘

Moira I appreciate that. I'll be back posting with a fury after he's gone as I will be bored and lonely and will still not feel like cleaning my house as usual lol

Loving the TR so far! I have TRIED AND TRIED to get Micheal to agree to a WDW trip this year, but no luck . So I'm happy living vicariously through the boards. Lol

Hey Katie glad you're enjoying it! Sorry about Disney this year lol it's a hard sell sometimes. But your travel next year will be AWESOME 🛳

Good luck with college, Ricky!

 

[pkondz]

Quarantine magic bars baby!

O

M


G

Do you write for Webster's Dictionary? Because I think you JUST rewrote the the definition of M.A.N!

No. Webster and I had a falling out, now I write for his cousin Fred. But he's not as well known.

 

[tundra1]

Have a fun day Saturday. Enjoy each moment! Just think of the awesome experiences and memories Ricky will be making, as well as gaining some life long friends! He will be fine! He's off to a new adventure!

...And you will be fine too! eventually... it will be okay....keep your chin up... bring Kleenex for the car ride home!

 

[CruellaNY]

Have a fun day Saturday. Enjoy each moment! Just think of the awesome experiences and memories Ricky will be making, as well as gaining some life long friends! He will be fine! He's off to a new adventure!

...And you will be fine too! eventually... it will be okay....keep your chin up... bring Kleenex for the car ride home!

Thank you It went well other than my bawling when we left him and then Chris needing to calm me down so I could drive home lol. I will admit I still have a pit in my stomach today; he sent me a really sweet text late last night and I know he's ok but am waiting to hear from him today. I think my daily mood will depend on how he's doing!

 

[pkondz]

It went well other than my bawling when we left him and then Chris needing to calm me down so I could drive home lol.

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Hope you’re doing ok today.