Hindsight is 2020 - A VERY late trip report (NYE and Feb/March cruise) - Updated 8/27-Off the cruise and a VIP Tour!

[Lesley Wake]

Man, I remember those crowds when you were there.


Awesome pic!

Those crowds were INSANE! Definitely some of the worst I've experienced. Thankfully I had a nice room to go back to!

Sounds like a great day at AK!

It was fun! Lots of people but I planned it out well enough!

Holy crowded MK! I would not want to deal with those crowds. I think you made the right touring decisions though, good fast passes and enjoy the little things and not stress.

AK also looks wildly crowded. But again, you’re a pro with the touring plan. Tiffins always looks so good. I don’t now if I’ll ever end up going, but it’s on my list of possibilities!

It was definitely insane! Never again in the first week of January for me!

Tiffins is sooo good! I am such a picky eater I was worried I wouldn't like it, but now it's one of my favorite places. Even when the food sounds "exotic" it really doesn't taste crazy! And of course the inside is just gorgeous.

And I'm here too!

Welcome! And I totally get reading and not replying (guilty here), but I welcome any comments or whatever, lol!

 

[Lesley Wake]

Day 8 – January 4, 2020

Breakfast of champions this morning, a cupcake (oreo maybe? Or just chocolate?) and cinnamon roll from Boardwalk Bakery! No regrets here!

My FPs were for later in the day at Epcot, but I was able to pick up a same-day ADR for lunch. This was actually my first time experiencing “Diet Epcot” as I’ve always been during festivals and the previous Epcot day was NYE, which doesn’t count! (FYI, I’m not a fan… I greatly prefer the festivals!)

A bit of an overcast and rainy day! (Though obviously not too chilly since I was in a sleeveless shirt under my raincoat and shorts)

I had time, so I stopped to see the Voices of Liberty. (Sorry, Zach, I didn’t do the Red Circle club, instead preferring to sit further back and lean against one of the columns)

Felt like the herons were invading!

And time for lunch(?); it was around 2:30pm… Via Napoli. One of my favorites at Epcot!

To eat, the 4-cheese pizza. I thought I got dessert, but no photos, so I’m guessing I skipped! Food was delicious as always, but unfortunately service was a bit delayed. (I think I remember a big table sitting nearby who were so disorganized and needed a lot of attention-lots of different family groups who all had different variations of the dining plan so had to organize their check appropriately-which was annoying. Also when they left three CMs had to come and clean up under the table due to the kids causing a mess…)

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[Lesley Wake]

I had time before my fastpasses, so I stopped to check out the Shanghai Disneyland exhibit in the China Pavilion. Oh…my heart! I was so surprised by how much I loved this park and can’t wait to go back! Especially because the new fireworks show looks great, but I'll probably wait until the Zootopia land is open.

First fastpass – Frozen! 75 minute standby.

I decided to check out Mousegear as it was closing the next day. I don’t think I had really paid attention to the upper decorations and they were so cute! I hope they maintain some of that for the renovation and don’t make it a nondescript store. (Though since writing that, Disney just released more concept art and it doesn't exactly look the most exciting...)

I did buy this shirt though! Very cute!

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[Lesley Wake]

Second fastpass, Journey into Imagination with Figment. (Yeah, that was a weird FP choice, but I’m a weird person, lol!) Though it looks like the standby line went out the front door – first time there was actually a line when I visited!

I made sure to take a closer photo of Figment as Pinkie and Blue Boy for my mom. (Please tell me if you know what that reference was about; I recently went to the Huntington Library with my boss for a work project. I chatted with our escort about Blue Boy and my boss just nodded along until we left and he whispered, "what's Blue Boy?" lol!)

Last fastpass, Living with the Land. I had wanted to see it after dark, but unfortunately they had started to remove the Christmas lights, so it wasn’t that impressive…

Monorail night shot…

And I was done for the evening. Didn’t feel like park hopping and all the standby lines were too long. I had seen Epcot Forever 2x on NYE and didn’t need to repeat it.

In the hotel, they left just a few toiletries…

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[Lesley Wake]

So, dinner… what to do? I didn’t have an ADR, but I had been still thinking about my yummy meal at Topolino, so… why not there!

I walked over and hopped onto the Skyliner to the Riveria. I timed it so I ended up seeing part of Happily Ever After from the air, which was sooo cool! It will be cool eventually to see HarmonioUS from the skyliner.

Over to the Riveria… I do like the little details they added, like the wrought-iron work on windows.

I got a spot at the bar; originally I found an empty chair at one of the shared high-top tables, but I realized I was basically the 6th person at a table with a family of 5, and since no one came over to get my order, I eventually moved over to the bar when a spot opened up.

I considered changing up my order, and getting the Ricotta appetizer and the Filet Mignon, but in the end, I got the same thing as the previous week! Gnocchi with duck confit, Chicken rigatoni. And a whole basket of Epi Bread to myself! (Can't wait to go back here 3 weeks from tonight!)

I did get dessert though, the chocolate lava cake, yum!

Coming up - A final visit to Magic Kingdom this trip​

 

[alpal22]

Looks like you had a great day at Epcot! I actually haven't seen much of Dinner at Topolino's because more people are focusing on Breakfast à l'Art for some reason. Dinner looks sooooo good though!

Sad for the first trip to end, but more excited for the second one! (you can probably tell that I'm a big fan of DCL)

 

[Lesley Wake]

Looks like you had a great day at Epcot! I actually haven't seen much of Dinner at Topolino's because more people are focusing on Breakfast à l'Art for some reason. Dinner looks sooooo good though!

Sad for the first trip to end, but more excited for the second one! (you can probably tell that I'm a big fan of DCL)

I love Topolinos for dinner and breakfast! All of the food is great! And haha, yeah I saw your signature that you went on a couple cruises!

 

[Lesley Wake]

First, some exciting Disneyland news - I was able to get a ticket for opening day on April 30! I didn't have luck on my queues (despite being in 7 different browsers/devices) but a friend was able to share their code with me before it expired! I also grabbed a reservation for DCA for June 4 (opening day of Avengers Campus). Both I'm just doing 1-day, 1-park tickets. (Oh and 3 days after going to Disneyland, I'll be heading back to WDW!)

Day 9 – January 5, 2020

Today was supposed to be my final day, and was the end of my rented DVC booking. But when I was getting airfare it was significantly cheaper to wait a day, so I used my own DVC points for a final night (originally at AKL and then was able to move to Boardwalk so I didn’t have to move rooms). So this was the first time I was staying on my own DVC points!

Plans for today – back to Magic Kingdom!

First fastpass, 7DMT. 135 min standby.

Gotta get a ride on the Peoplemover!

And I messed around with fastpasses and grabbed one for Monsters Inc Laugh Floor. Weird to use it there, but it enabled me to skip a fairly long standby line!

Over to the other side of the park and I grabbed a snack I had been wanting to try – the Dole Whip upside down pineapple cake. It was good, though I think the orange cream whip is my favorite.

Still crazy in Frontierland, even with a Big Thunder Fastpass!

I have a great deal of fondness for Magic Carpets, so I grabbed a FP for that one! Better than the 45 minute standby wait!

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[Lesley Wake]

I had time, so I decided to give the Pirate Adventure scavenger hunt a try. I always wanted to play around with this one!

It was pretty fun, lots of different effects. Though one of them over by the Swiss Family Treehouse moat did not work for me or anyone else with magicbands! It did work for people who had physical tickets to scan, so I got to see a treasure chest come out of the water, but annoying I couldn’t do it myself!

I know it takes a couple of completed missions to get a free Pirates Fastpass, but there was a pretty long line for the Pirate Adventure, so I never went back.

Instead I used an actual fastpass for Pirates, 40 min standby.

After this, I headed back to the Boardwalk. I accomplished most of what I wanted and the crowds were just insane.

Had to stop in at the art gallery. If I ever win the lottery, I would buy so many of these things!

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[Lesley Wake]

After some hotel chill time, I left for dinner. This was another same-day ADR I picked up. And I didn’t have to go far, just downstairs at Trattoria al Forno.

Of course the fire engineer in me had to notice the sprinkler head covers that matched the metal ceiling! (If you see these little circles on ceilings, those actually hide fire sprinklers and if a fire gets big enough to activate the sprinklers, the cover actually falls off; the covers just make it look prettier.)

I got the Caprese salad for an appetizer, which was delicious! Great cheese and fresh tomatoes with the perfect amount of salt.

For dinner I got the Spaghetti Carbonara. This was not really my favorite. The sauce was probably more authentic, but really it was too soupy for me. Plus the egg on top which you mixed into the sauce, just made it weird and runny…

Anyways… back upstairs to pack and get ready to leave the next day!​

 

[alpal22]

(Oh and 3 days after going to Disneyland, I'll be heading back to WDW!)

Exciting times we are living in! Any chance we get a short report on day 1 back at DL?

Sounds like you had a great day at MK. Awesome luck with the Fastpasses and the crowds.

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a great day at Epcot and another awesome meal at Topolino's!

I'm glad you were able to get tickets for Disneyland!

Another crowded day at MK! Good thing for FP!

 

[Shellyred8]

Day 1, December 28, 2019

So, lets start by rewinding 15 months… not that anything important happened in that time…

Anyways, I actually spent the night before at Dina’s house since she lives really close to the airport and our flight was god-awful early! Still weird seeing this photos with people crowded together and no masks!

On the flight we each watched various things on Disney+. And I loved the SWGE coverings on the faux-o-rail!

Willis had driven down to Florida, so he picked us up at the airport and drove us over to the Boardwalk. Gotta get those arch shots!

As we drove into the Boardwalk we finally got the room assignment! I had a garden/pool view and ended up with the area I requested, with a partial Boardwalk view! It was also right near the elevators, without being noisy, and also close to boat transport. I really did love this room location! And the room itself was still a lovely Boardwalk Villa Studio.

While Dina got things settled, including getting our bags/groceries/owners locker brought up from bell services, Willis and I ran downstairs to the general store. I had made the mistake of wearing a long sleeve spirit jersey, which while Christmasy, was too warm for the current Florida weather, so I picked up a Boardwalk tank top, which was much more comfortable!​

We got room 2061 once (just two doors down, and one floor down, from your room) and LOVED the location (except for the noise created anytime a cart rolled over the cobblestone pathway below our balcony )!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Really loved the Magical Menagerie decorations! Day and night. I hope they do it again this year!

I really loved all the decorations as well. They are really well done!

My typical routine at AK continued – up to Africa with the crowds

Ugh the crowds..

On my way to Asia I stopped for a refreshing drink, The Asante Slush (shaved ice with mango and watermelon syrup; I don’t think I got the alcoholic option). It was pretty yummy!

Gwen would probably like that.

YuM!

Second fastpass, Journey into Imagination with Figment. (Yeah, that was a weird FP choice, but I’m a weird person, lol!)

I mean there aren't a ton of options for the 2nd two fast passes...

In the hotel, they left just a few toiletries…

You know, if you feel ike saving those... I know someone who would use those...

I also grabbed a reservation for DCA for June 4 (opening day of Avengers Campus). Both I'm just doing 1-day, 1-park tickets. (Oh and 3 days after going to Disneyland, I'll be heading back to WDW!)

I am so happy for you and also soooooo jealous!

the Dole Whip upside down pineapple cake. It was good, though I think the orange cream whip is my favorite.

Morgan loves the upside down cake.

I had time, so I decided to give the Pirate Adventure scavenger hunt a try. I always wanted to play around with this one!

This is a great thing to do when the park is busy! But I think it's gone now... Probably because some of the features weren't working.

Though one of them over by the Swiss Family Treehouse moat did not work for me or anyone else with magicbands!

This happened to us as well. But not one around us could get it to work.

Great cheese and fresh tomatoes with the perfect amount of salt.

This look really yummy!

 

[Lesley Wake]

Exciting times we are living in! Any chance we get a short report on day 1 back at DL?

Sounds like you had a great day at MK. Awesome luck with the Fastpasses and the crowds.

Hopefully I can include the Disneyland visit to the front of my next WDW trip report! I try to post some on instagram, but sometimes I forget (sassydasheng is my username).

I used to have my tricks with fastpasses (and being a solo traveler helps), but none of those work anymore!

Sounds like a great day at Epcot and another awesome meal at Topolino's!

I'm glad you were able to get tickets for Disneyland!

Another crowded day at MK! Good thing for FP!

Yeah I love Topolino's! It was the first reservation I made for May!

I am very excited to go back to Disneyland!

We got room 2061 once (just two doors down, and one floor down, from your room) and LOVED the location (except for the noise created anytime a cart rolled over the cobblestone pathway below our balcony )!

It really was a great location! I don't think we had much cart noise, but we also were a bit higher up!

I really loved all the decorations as well. They are really well done!

It felt very Animal Kingdom-authentic!

Gwen would probably like that.

Just make sure she doesn't mix it up with the adult version of the slush!

I mean there aren't a ton of options for the 2nd two fast passes...

Very true. I'm curious to see how much time I spend in Epcot this upcoming trip. Definitely for Flower & Garden, but I'm not sure about the rides...

You know, if you feel ike saving those... I know someone who would use those...

Lol! I'll have to try and save them in the future!

I am so happy for you and also soooooo jealous!

I know! I'll take lots of photos/videos (when I'm not crying of course)

This is a great thing to do when the park is busy! But I think it's gone now... Probably because some of the features weren't working.

So many special Disney things which just weren't money makers so they stopped them. Like Sorcerer's...

This look really yummy!

It was! Very fresh and creamy.

 

[Lesley Wake]

Day 10 – January 6, 2020
Goodbye to WDW...for about 1.5 months!

Here it was, my final day! I stuffed everything in my suitcase and went down to check it. Unfortunately I was a little bit over, so I ended up pulling out all the mini toiletries (I would have stored them in my Owners Locker until my next trip but that was already secured and with bell services). I gave them to the bellmen but they probably just threw them out unfortunately.

They had started putting up the signs for Marathon weekend, which was coming up in a few days. I suppose if you were doing that you should walk around the crescent lake area to spy out characters!

Decided to get another ride on the skyliner, so I walked over there and had a lovely journey over to DHS.

And over to a busy DHS. I hadn’t tried going for Boarding Groups after January 1st, and that was probably a good decision, as that was the start of the immediately full BGs!

I headed to something I hadn’t done before at DHS… Muppetvision3D! (Don’t worry – I did it plenty of times when it was at DCA.) Always a fun show. And I love the fountain outside!

Into Batuu where I got a couple photopass pictures. Though it looks like I’m just telling some paparazzi “no pictures please” rather than an appropriate force push!

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[Lesley Wake]

Time for a fastpass on Slinky Dog Dash (Standby wait time 130 min). That is a fun coaster (I still wish it was longer like the original plan, but I think it’s one of the best Toy Story Land attractions worldwide; that and Toy Story Mania).

And over to Star Tours. I don’t have notes on which missions I got, but I think they had stopped doing the automatic Rise of Skywalker finale by then.

And final fastpass, Tower of Terror. I don’t ride this that often, not because I don’t like it, it just can take a while with the preshow and queue and everything!

https://imgur.com/INRH9Xc

And again, all the standby lines were out of control! So I just did some wandering down Hollywood Blvd, ducking into a couple shops. I spied the Aristocats dress I had seen on social media; while I love aristocats and the bottom looked cute, I could tell the top was going to fit weird, so I skipped it. I did get the loungefly purse though!

Time for lunch. I had thought it would be a good day to finally try Mamma Melrose, but unfortunately there were no ADRs available. I was able to pick up a Beaches & Cream reservation though!

I ended up sitting at the counter area. A nice thing about that is you can watch all the ice cream sundaes being constructed, including several kitchen sinks. But a bad thing is that your back is to the rest of the restaurant so I didn’t feel included in lots of the fun!

To eat I got the French Dip sandwich with watermelon instead of fries. Pretty yummy!

And of course had to get dessert; a build your own sundae with cookies and cream ice cream and chocolate sauce (possibly caramel as well but I don’t see it in the photo, so maybe not). It actually took them three tries to get this simple dessert right! They kept bringing out the wrong combo of ice cream and sauce!

Beaches and Cream is fun enough, but really more as a group getting big sundaes. I do sort of wish I had just gone across the lake to Ample Hills, especially because it closed not too long after that!

I do like the renovations here. Sure, it no longer has the full soda shop vibe, but that space really wasn’t large enough to cover the demand. This is still nice and airy and has lovely paintings.

Back over to the Boardwalk. Not sure if I just chilled in the lobby or on a patio, but I waited there until it was time for the Tragical Express.

Back at MCO I got to check out the droid props, which I had missed when we arrived.

And then an uneventful plane ride back to LA. Of course my typical photo of SoFi stadium under construction… I need to put all of these together now that it’s complete!

Back home and collapse into bed after a long trip!​

 

[Lesley Wake]

A quick wrap-up:

-I really did enjoy New Years Eve at WDW. It had the great mix of wonderful fireworks, fun celebrations, and great atmosphere. Sure it’s not cheap at all, but I think it’s worth it and I’d be game for a repeat once the world is somewhat back to normal! Also, the crowds were nothing that we couldn’t handle; my friends and I planned out all our ADRs, dessert parties, FPs well in advance and we were basically able to do everything we wanted!

-The days after NYE though weren’t so great. It felt like all the crowds really showed up these days. Maybe it was partly that my days weren’t as planned out (waking up early for Rise, mid-day rest, stay up late for fireworks). But I think in the future I would leave January 2nd (let myself rest on Jan 1).

-I had some great meals on this trip. I think Topolino Terrace is now one of my favorite places on property. I know people have a lot of interesting opinions on the Riveria, but I would love to stay there one day (although it takes so many DVC points I don’t know when that will happen).

-Boardwalk Villas was lovely as always. A great resort location and good sized room for two adults. We also were lucky with a great room location!

-And finally, I’m so so so happy I did this in 2019/2020 and didn’t hold off a year. Obviously we would not have been able to do it in 2020/2021. And considering I rented DVC points, I probably would have coordinated and paid for that in February before the shutdown, which would have meant I was SOL. (Unfortunately my friend Cloe followed my advice from this trip to try and plan a NYE 2020/2021 trip which was still fun but nearly as great as the fireworks filled one I had)


So, end of this trip… but wait. There’s more! Next I will start on my next WDW trip that took place in February/March and involved 2.5 weeks, including a cruise! Also, extremely lucky timing on my part as I returned from Florida on March 9 and the parks closed down 1 week later!

So, stay tuned as I will start posting that very shortly!​

 

[DLo]

Thanks for taking the time to write this TR . I am staying at BWV next month and can’t wait. Looking forward to reading the next TR .

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a great last day between DHS and your meal at Beaches & Cream! Looking forward to reading about the next trip (so lucky you got that in before the shutdown!)