July 2024 Trip Report

[Where'sPiglet?]

Hello!

I just got back a few days ago from a dual trip to Wisconsin and Disney World. I have DVC and have been to Disney World many times, but this trip was unique in that I was bringing a friend along who was a Disney World first timer! She’s been to Disneyland, but this was her first time to WDW, and she was especially looking forward to Epcot and the other elements that don’t exist at Disneyland. Well, there was one element she could have done without - the relentless humidity.

We live in a particularly dry area of Washington State, and we get heat, but very rarely humidity, and when we do, it’s not as intense as Florida. I did miss a major heat wave while I was in Wisconsin; I think it got up to 116 or something ridiculous like that. At least Wisconsin got me somewhat acclimated to the humidity at least.

I flew to Minneapolis early on July 7th, then drove over to Wisconsin, since Delta discontinued the connecting flight to La Crosse. The following week, I’d be back at MSP to meet up with my friend during her layover and we’d continue on to Orlando together.



I tried to watch Ghostbusters, but fell asleep. I dozed on and off the entire flight, but fortunately I did not miss snack time. I have to have my Delta Biscoff!



My travel to Wisconsin was uneventful, until I had to deal with Budget Rental Car at MSP. I’d booked through Costco, which I usually do, but I’ve always gotten the best rates with Alamo and have the Skip-the-Counter thing all set up with them. With Budget, I had to visit the counter. The line was short, but the process is very slow. I then was told to go find the Hyundai Elantra in space B44 on level 5. Well the trek to the parking lot is weird, somehow going down and up and on an underground train. I found the correct level in the parking garage, but I could not find space B44. The lot was labeled with spaces starting with the letter G and I think it went to U. I am a school librarian - I assure you I know my alphabet.

I finally found an employee, who looked at my space number, looked around, then asked if I wanted an SUV and switched my car to a Nissan Rogue that was parked in the spot next to where we were standing.

I then had a bit of a drive to get to Wisconsin, but all went well. I stopped at a Culver’s and I stopped at a rest area in Minnesota and took a little walk. I was pretty tired from the very early wake-up and the poor sleep on the plane.





Then, I stopped at another rest area just inside Wisconsin. I saw a rather grumpy looking turtle and some pretty high water levels.






I made it to my destination in La Crosse, where I spent a week with family before heading back to Minnesota and then on to Disney World.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

I was happy to see that my two dogs, a yellow lab and a black-and-tan dachshund, were having a good time at their kennel. The “dog camp” posts daily pictures of all the dogs, and it looked like they were enjoying themselves. It was really nice to know that they were having a good time on their vacation too.




One fun thing I did in Wisconsin was go to a little street market. One stall had art made by a lady who makes floral art out of really thin wood.



Another fun activity is visiting Little Free Libraries; they are plentiful in Wisconsin. I believe it is where they started. I found a book that has a 1902 copyright and appears to have at one point belonged to the Chippewa Falls Library. There are stamps with 1922 due dates!





One night, just my brother and I went out and we visited a local independent bookstore, had dinner, and then went down to the riverfront. We lucked out and we happened across a local community jazz band giving a free concert in the park. They were quite good!

The bookstore is old, with creaky hardwood floors, rolling ladders, and several comfy chairs.



Dinner in Wisconsin would not be complete without cheese curds! These were delicious.



The city of La Crosse has an informational plaque about the game lacrosse, as well as a statue.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

I’m having issues with uploading pictures. I used to be able to use the link from SmugMug, but I’m having to insert these directly and I keep hitting the limit of 10 images. I think with the links, the limit was/is 25. Sigh.

River levels were still high, but receding.



This picture does not show the smell or the amount of bugs. (You’re welcome.)





You can see the unique band shell in the back of this picture of the butterfly and bumblebee.



When we got back to my brother’s house, I thought I was losing my mind. I kept seeing little flashes of light. Then I realized they were fireflies! I didn’t realize they had them in the area. They are elusive little buggers, and I was unable to get a decent photo, so I just enjoyed them. Well, until the mosquitos drove me inside.



My brother insisted that I have another order of cheese curds since the ones we’d had were the cube form and not the traditional shaped ones. So, I did. No point in arguing that!

He was unable to join me for this, so I had the appetizer as my entire meal. They’re quite filling. He wanted a report on which of the two were better. These have the more traditional mouth feel, but I liked the flavor of the ones at the other restaurant better. (I’d had an entree there too - a burger that was delicious!) Here’s a picture of the burger from the other restaurant, as well as a picture of the exterior of the place I got these cheese curds, because hello cow!







The next morning, it was time to head out. My parents were starting their drive back to Washington the same day I was flying out to Orlando, but we didn’t plan this particularly well. There are two routes they can take - I90 or 94 - and they’d already mapped out and booked their travel along the one that did not go past MSP. Oops.

However, we were able to have breakfast together. We went to Caribou Coffee, and my brother was able to join us before he needed to head in to work.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

On the way back to MSP, I stopped in Zumbrota, Minnesota. They have a covered bridge in a park that is just a few blocks off the highway.





I tried to get to MSP and through security before my friend deplaned, but I didn’t quite meet that goal. I was early enough that we were able to get a quick meal before our hike out to the very end of the G gates…G22. I think the flight to Orlando has been at this gate the last several times I’ve flown to Disney. I think they figure that if you’re going to Orlando, you’ll be walking a lot in the theme parks, so the long slog to the end of G concourse is good practice. It is a hike.

My friend and I were supposed to have seats together, but somehow I ended up two rows ahead.

I tried to watch the parts of Ghostbusters that I missed while dozing on and off during the last flight. (Spoiler: I dozed off again!)



I did manage to get my Delta Biscoff!


This flight was not as uneventful as my flight into MSP the week before. We flew on July 16th, so we were a few days prior to the global IT issue, but we were impacted by storms in the air as well as multiple MCO ground stops/disruptions. The first ground stop impacted us while we were en route over the Carolinas; we had to add time because they needed us to arrive later.

The second ground stop impacted us while we were closer. We needed to circle off the east coast of Florida. The pilot made an announcement that we could circle for a bit, but then we would need to land at some point because of fuel. There were storms in central Florida and we had to go around those and come in to MCO from the west.









At one point he said something to the effect of “We’ve had the tour of Florida, but we haven’t seen South Florida…” and I was convinced that we were getting diverted. Fortunately, no! We landed at MCO.



This is where we were impacted by a third ground stop. A full hour passed between wheels down and the door opening at a gate. I was just glad we were on the ground in Orlando at that point!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

I believe there was yet another ground stop while we were at the baggage claim. A set of bags came out and then there was a pretty substantial delay before any additional bags from our plane came to the carousel.

Here’s the flight map for our flight:


We ended up going back upstairs and eating at the MCO food court before ordering a Lyft to take us to our resort. We were scheduled to land at 5:11 and we got to our gate at 6:32 and to our resort room right around 9.



Here’s a clue for where we stayed:


Resort room photos and Day 1 in Disney World are coming up next!
(But not tonight)

 

[rdkeim]

Following - good start!

 

[cassidy57]

looks like my favorite Resort the Riviera!! I am enjoying your trip repot, and can't wait to read more!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

looks like my favorite Resort the Riviera!! I am enjoying your trip repot, and can't wait to read more!

It is the Riviera! It was my first time staying there and I grew to love it!

Thanks!

Following - good start!

Thanks!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Looking back at the time stamps, we arrived at Riviera at 8:50. The resort is gorgeous.







This resort has a front desk, but the cast members have iPads and roam around the lobby to assist. They have multiple sets of couches and chairs, and we were able to sit on a couch while we got all checked in and situated. For some reason, the online check in wasn’t working for me.
We each assigned a credit card to our Magic Band so we would have charging privileges that would allocate to our own cards. The cast member worked with bell services to have them deliver our luggage to the room. This was a good call - our room was nearly at the end of the west wing.

When we got to the room (8415; 4th floor), we were thrilled to see the Epcot fireworks!




We were clearly very excited; some of my pictures came out looking like the one below in my Arrival Zoomies:



I took photos of the room before we got our luggage delivered and before we gave it the proper Lived In Look.





The room is really nicely appointed. I hadn’t stayed at Riviera yet because I usually travel in the summer, and I was concerned about the reliability of the Skyliner with the afternoon summer storms. However, this resort was the perfect choice for this particular trip.

Things I/we wanted in a resort:

• A room that had a Murphy bed instead of a fold out couch. They are more comfortable.
• A third sleep surface because there was a chance another friend would be coming.
• A second shower because it makes getting ready at the same time much easier.
• A self-contained resort with interior hallways, again because of summer weather.
• A central location; Epcot was going to be our priority but we also wanted to spend time at DHS and AK, parks that do not exist on the west coast.

This resort offered all of those things. It also was one of the DVC options left when we booked in February, which is pretty late in the DVC window for booking. For DVC, we can book home resorts at 11 months out and any resort at the 7 month mark. I booked at about 5 months out.

Additionally, it was a resort I hadn’t stayed at yet, and I’m trying to stay at them all! I still have Grand Floridian, Old Key West, Fort Wilderness, and Art of Animation left on my list.

There was a not-so-hidden-Mickey towel animal left on the bed.
(It’s marginally more challenging for you to identify since it’s sideways )

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Here are some more room photos. I really liked that the kitchenette came with real dishes and silverware! I also liked the little container the silverware came in. The cabinet above the microwave was useless for us; we were too short to use it! I did love the backsplash; the pattern and color are both gorgeous.



The two showers and the bathroom configuration:







I liked the little shelf above the sink for storing toiletries. Oddly, this sink was quite high and I struggled to fully lean over the sink even on tip toes. (I’m 5’5”)

There were three locking pocket doors to divide up this space. It worked really well for us throughout the trip. We did find that if we didn’t lock the doors, they would sometimes start to slide open.



We did not vacuum on vacation, although we could have!

This little shelf by the door was quite handy, along with the hooks by the door. I appreciated both of them.





We ended up not using the small, under-TV Murphy bed, but I just loved the art:



Also, I liked the headboard with the Mickey:



We took another look at the fireworks before heading out on an exploration of the resort and to get our bearings.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Here’s another picture of the room that shows the entry and the bathroom configuration. You can also see the cool light by the door. I like how it throws the light onto the ceiling. This might have been where my fascination with lights around Disney World began for this trip, or maybe it was the cool light in the arrival area in front of the resort. It’s hard to say, but I hope you like lights too. I have several photos.



We were at the end of the resort that had a view of the Skyliner station. I enjoyed watching the Skyliner throughout our trip. The smoke in the distance may be from Fantasmic, but I’m not sure.



Once our luggage arrived from bell services, we went on our exploration adventure of the resort. It really is gorgeous at night. We also needed to stop at the gift shop/market for a few grocery items. We found they had Mickey bars, so we started the trip off properly!





These mosaics are really incredible. I learned that they used about a million tiles to make them.





When we got back to the room, we unpacked for the week and showered before going to bed. It ended up being really late before we got to bed - I think it was some time between 1 and 2, which made the next morning rather challenging!

We were trying to take advantage of the on-site early entry half hours. We were….moderately successful at this goal throughout the trip.

Here’s a clue for the park we went to first:

 

[AliceNDinah]

Great start! Alot of your La Crosse pictures are familiar: I live in the Twin City area and remember those statues at the park in La Crosse, and the bridge, etc. Also, G22 is a heck of a looonggggg walk, in the MSP airport; I feel like I've flown out of that gate before!

 

[Wayland10]

This is a fun report so far! Following!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Great start! Alot of your La Crosse pictures are familiar: I live in the Twin City area and remember those statues at the park in La Crosse, and the bridge, etc. Also, G22 is a heck of a looonggggg walk, in the MSP airport; I feel like I've flown out of that gate before!

Thanks!
G22 is ridiculous.

This is a fun report so far! Following!

Thanks!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

We had one of the Hey, Disney! Alexa devices with the mouse ears in our room. I used it for setting alarm clocks for the morning.

“Alexa! Set an alarm for 6:00am!”
“Alexa! Snooze!”

….

“Alexa, snooze!”

….

“Alexa, snooze!”

Ugh. Getting up was hard, but we were trying to get to the Magic Kingdom for the 8:30 early entry time for resort guests. We also had the 7:00 Virtual Queues and Genie+ selections to deal with while getting ready for the day.

My friend has been to Disneyland but not Disney World, so she was most looking forward to the other three parks, but I felt it was important to be a traditionalist and start with the Magic Kingdom. There are many similarities between MK and DL, but a lot of differences, even in the things that have the same name. The main goal was to do things that were different from the west coast parks.

We were successful in getting a Tron boarding group, but not a Tiana boarding group.
I think we could only have one at a time, because we tried at the 1:00 drop for Tiana while still holding the Tron group, and we got a message that indicated we were ineligible.



We also got a 1:20 Genie+ for Jungle Cruise. It seems like a weird first selection, and maybe it is, but those seem to go quickly because the ride is so slow-loading and has a small throughput of people compared to the roller coasters and omnimovers.

Fortunately, we had breakfast food and ate breakfast in the room while getting ready. DVC rooms have a toaster in addition to the microwave and mini-fridge.

We’d unpacked last night, but we had not assembled our park bags. This proved challenging, because it was our first morning and we were struggling to remember what we like to put in them for theme park touring. We got it figured out, but got a slightly later start than we’d hoped. We were aiming to be out the door no later than 7:30; I have a photo of our room number from 7:37.

I have another photo showing a bus pulling in at 8:02, so we didn’t wait long at the bus stop. My picture from the train station is from 8:28, so we made it in time to early entry, we just didn’t get there early.





I think our original plan for rope drop was Space Mountain, but when we got to Tomorrowland, the line was outside the building and snaking around the land. I think it may have had a delayed opening; the line appeared to later get absorbed into the building.

So, we decided to ride it later. It was the night for the two extra evening hours for deluxe guests and we also had Genie+ for the day.
The very first ride we did ended up being Astro Orbiters! I love this ride and it’s very slow loading, so rope drop is actually a great time to ride.



I think Space Mountain was still dealing with a long line, and Buzz was already also surprisingly long, so we went on the Peoplemover! These choices may be odd for rope drop, but I enjoyed both immensely.



By now it was 9:00 and Carousel of Progress was open!



I noticed a fun detail in the last room. On the white board, Grandma and Grandpa’s flight number is 1964, which is most certainly a nod to the 1964 World’s Fair where this ride debuted.



After this, we got a pastry from Joffrey’s and had a morning snack. It hit the spot.

We headed to the hub to go to the other side of the park, and we heard the Dapper Dans! They were riding the horse-drawn trolley up Main Street, so of course we stopped to listen and enjoy. We followed them for a bit, to see if they’d stop and perform, but they just kept riding the trolley around.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

At this point it was right around 10am and we had dining reservations for 11:35 so we needed to be mindful of the length of lines and attractions we were choosing.



We split from the Dapper Dans and went into the castle instead of following them back down Main Street. The mosaics are so pretty.











We decided to do Small World! This part of the park was much less of a bottleneck than it usually is because Peter Pan’s Flight was closed for refurbishment.



We went to the Tangled bathrooms and saw this sign about looking for Pascal. We found…one.
In our defense, we didn’t spend much time looking.



He does NOT look pleased to be spotted. He looked so excited for this game on the sign!



We headed toward lunch in Liberty Square and saw that the next showing at the Hall of Presidents was in just a few minutes, so we popped in there to watch. I hadn’t seen this in quite some time, so it was interesting to see.

That’s one thing about going with someone who hasn’t been before - I did several things I had not done in a long time!



This picture was taken at 11:10. I know in that hour we had also done some store browsing and pin trading. We still had just a little bit of time before lunch.

 

[DLo]

Following along. Looking forward to reading more

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Following along. Looking forward to reading more

Thanks!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

When we left the Hall of Presidents, we could hear the Main Street Philharmonic band, so we headed over to the hub to watch and listen. I really enjoy the live music that Disney has around their parks.



It was right around 11:25 when they finished, so perfect timing to head to Liberty Tree Tavern for our 11:35 ADR. This has become one of my Usuals for dining. In recent years, I have found it to be consistently good. It’s All You Care To Eat served family style. It includes bread and salad for appetizers. Then, the entree comes with three kinds of meat (turkey, pot roast, and pork), green beans, mashed potatoes, macaroni & cheese, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and gravy. You have to save room for the Oooey Gooey Toffee Cake for dessert that comes with vanilla ice cream. The fixed price ($42) includes fountain drinks as well.







You can see my portable charger in the above picture. One of my Disney Rules is to always charge my phone at meals. I got that charger at Costco and it’s fantastic. It has a USB C and a Lightning charger built into the device with onboard storage for them. It also has a wall plug built in that folds into the device, so it makes it super easy to plug it in to recharge at night. It also has a USB A (and C?) port to use for charging things that have external cables.



One thing that was weird was how uncrowded this restaurant was. I don’t recall seeing some many empty tables. When we left, they had this sign out front, which is something else I have not seen in recent years.



We of course had to take a few photos as we were walking around.





I tried to be artistic, with marginal success. I couldn’t quite get the angles to work for what I was envisioning.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

We were heading over to Tron, because our boarding group had been called. I believe it had been called while we were eating, which I think happened every time we had a boarding group during this trip.







The Tron queue is where the clue for today’s park visit came from:



This was my second time riding this. I enjoy it, but I wish it was just a little bit longer. I think that is a common complaint.

I had been working on stacking some Lightning Lanes throughout the day, and it was finally time to start using them.



I like to try to take a picture of the train through the wall by the Tron bathrooms.



The holes in that wall are tiny.



We caught more live music on our way across the park to Jungle Cruise!





We made it over to Jungle Cruise. One interesting thing is that they weren’t completely filling the boats despite the line. I think the water level may have been a bit lower than normal.