*FINISHED 1/26* Welcome to Disney, Where Wait Times are Made Up and the Crowds Don't Matter! - July 2021

[Paulaparm]

I agree that all of your food and drinks look wonderful!

 

[Newsies]

Glad to see an update! So many great looking drinks and treats. Next trip I will have to try that kakigori - looks so refreshing. We've never been to Teppan Edo but I see nothing but great reviews. Our family trip is in 6 weeks. It will definitely be different traveling with 7 people 3 of which are first timers. I am lowering my expectations and will just go with the flow. Hope your last day in the parks was great!

The Kakigori was great, I definitely recommend it! Teppan Edo as well-- one of our new favorites So excited to hear about the trip up on your horizon-- it sounds like we'll be at the parks around the same time!!

I agree that all of your food and drinks look wonderful!

Everything was great!!

 

[Newsies]

Magic Kingdom: July 16
This is a Game Called, "Going Out With a Bang!"
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Last day, best day!

We woke up a little bit later than normal today with a 10:00 AM ADR at Topolino's Terrace-- we were so excited to do character dining again, and we had heard so many great things about Topolino's! We drove over to Riviera and did some shopping while we waited for our ADR time.

I picked up one of these little cuties!

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We went upstairs to Topolino's and checked in.

We were called back to the hostess stand quickly, but when our hostess went to bring us to our table, we saw that they had somehow accidentally assigned the four of us to a two-top. No problem! She asked us to wait at the bar while they found a better table for us, where we ordered some breakfast cocktails. We got our cocktails and then made our way over to a larger table for breakfast.

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I truly could not tell you what this was-- maybe the Midi Spritz? I wasn't crazy for it.

We had an amazing waiter, so kind and hospitable and from NJ! He brought us the cute little pastry basket.

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I enjoyed a croissant, which was delicious!

For breakfast, I knew I couldn't pass up the sour cream waffles.

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These. Were. PHENOMENAL. I loved them so much! Everyone loved their meal-- we can't wait to go back in the future.

And, of course, we were happy to see all of our old friends.

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My first picture with Mickey in two years!

It was a great meal, then we headed back to the resort to pack up and spend an afternoon at Magic Kingdom.

When we got to Magic Kingdom, we went to the Emporium first. Everyone got a stainless steel water bottle! I got this one:

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We went from the Emporium to Tomorrowland and then went on the Peoplemover and Carousel of Progress. When we got out of Carousel of Progress, Jess texted me that she was getting into Magic Kingdom. Mom, dad & Grace walked back to the hotel while I went back to Main Street USA to meet Jess.

I grabbed a few buttons from Town Hall and decorated them to commemorate what we were celebrating that day:

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(long story short, our favorite boy band announced that week that they were coming out of hiatus)

When Jess arrived, the first thing we did was take pictures on Main Street of course!

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This is a pretty big deal... Jess doesn't do matching outfits with ANYONE

After photos, we got Starbucks. I got a trusty ol' caramel iced latte.

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We went from Starbucks to Buzz Lightyear's Space Command (I won), then did the Peoplemover-- I had no complaints about doing Peoplemover a second time that day!

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This is where it gets kind of blurry and I'm not quite sure what I'm remembering from this specific day versus what I remember from Jess and I's Magic Kingdom day in September. When we got off of Peoplemover, I believe we went to 7DMT and then to Enchanted Tiki Room. After Tiki, we went on Pirates, and then after Pirates we mobile ordered Pecos Bill. I ordered a cheeseburger that was dry.

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After the cheeseburger, we went to Country Bear Jamboree, and look who we saw outside the show!

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Once we got out of Jamboree, we met up with Jess' roommate and did Thunder Mountain and Jungle Cruise together!

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After Jungle Cruise, we went to the Plaza Ice Cream Shop for some ice cream. I got the Plaza Ice Cream Sundae and it was absolutely incredible, truly one of the best ice cream sundaes I've ever had in my life. From there, Jess and her roommate and I said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. I went to meet up with my family, who was getting ready for fireworks, and after Happily Ever After we made our way back to the Poly for a good night of rest before leaving for NJ the next morning.

It was a jam-packed last day at Magic Kingdom! Drive home/conclusion will be up soon

 

[the2ndstar2theright]

Sounds like such a fun last park day with so much yummy food!!

 

[Newsies]

Sounds like such a fun last park day with so much yummy food!!

We had a blast!!

 

[Newsies]

Drive Home/Conclusion​

I won't dwell on our departure/drive home for long-- we left the Poly closer to 8:00 AM after a quick stop for some last minute gifts and pre-packaged snacks at Boutiki and Moana Mercantile. We had one major problem: dad's air conditioning wasn't working

We tried to push through it with the windows down and arrived at the Daytona Beach Buc-ees closer to 10:00, where we got a late breakfast/early lunch. I had the most amazing brisket sandwich, iced tea, dill pickle potato chips, and a rice krispie treat for later. Once we were back on the road again, we made it about another 45 minutes before we eventually pulled over to a mechanic garage to see if we could get dad's air conditioning fixed. 30 minutes and a jug of coolant later, we were back on the road.

It was a pretty boring rest of the trip-- we tried to stop somewhere for dinner late into the evening, but by that time, a lot of places on the road had closed, so we just trekked on. Sometimes we stop overnight in North Carolina, sometimes we drive on through the night until we reach Jersey-- this time, we drove until we got home and didn't stop overnight. It was a boring, no-nonsense drive, and we all got home safe and happy with another Disney trip under our belt!

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FINAL THOUGHTS...
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I will give this vacation a 6/10. Cons: it was hotter than a normal summer in Disney World is (and that's saying A LOT), AND it was much more crowded than summers past have been. Pros: wait times were still down compared to past trips, we ate a lot of great food, and we enjoyed ourselves! Above all: we drank great drinks and waved to Mickey Mouse and enjoyed family time together, which makes it a win in my book!

Next time, we will...
- Revisit Topolino's Terrace! Probably the best meal of the trip. Mom is begging to go back for breakfast and we can't wait to book our next ADR here!
- Spend more time at DAK! I always feel bad when we dip out of DAK too soon! Some of our greatest park days in history have been spent here, but other days are just...
- Enjoy more booth offerings! This was something we said we were going to do this year and failed to do! I did eventually get to eat a few more dishes on my September solo trip, but the family all agrees that we need to do more research on the festival menus and try more dishes when we're in Epcot next time.

Next time, we won't...
- Accidentally eat an entire jalapeno at the Boathouse! It's the fastest way to ruin your night.

But in all seriousness... we are pleasantly surprised at how smooth this trip went, only a few minor hiccups here and there, and we are excited for our next trip!

Speaking of next trips...

As you may have been able to guess by the 3-in-a-row updates this month, there is another trip rapidly approaching the horizon for me. Nothing inspires me to finish a TR more than knowing I have another one to write soon! 2022 is going to be the biggest year yet for our family with three trips lined up as of right now!

We are headed back to Walt Disney World in 39 short days for our Spring Break vacation! We'll be at Caribbean Beach Resort from the 6-12 and have a lot of new experiences (and familiar experiences!) lined up already.

We tentatively have another Walt Disney World Resort trip planned for August 7-13 at the Contemporary Resort. The room itself is booked, but this trip is still up in the air and we're not 100% sure it's happening.

And last but most certainly not least... I am finally going to Disneyland Resort! Yes, for real this time I am celebrating my 25th birthday at Disneyland from May 20-24! I'll be going with dad, who has always wanted to visit DLR. I got to surprise him on Christmas day with this trip and it was such a fun moment! We'll be flying into LAX for our father/daughter trip and we'll be staying at Disneyland Hotel for the long weekend.


There's a LOT of fun in store for 2022 and I can't wait to share it with you soon! But for now... thank you for following along on our July 2021 TR! That's a wrap!

 

[GDubDIS]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us! Fun travels ahead - I'll also be heading to Disneyland for the first time, in March, and am excited! Especially looking forward to your trip report from that trip, nothing like going somewhere for the first time, especially when it's been on your bucket list for a while.

 

[Newsies]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us! Fun travels ahead - I'll also be heading to Disneyland for the first time, in March, and am excited! Especially looking forward to your trip report from that trip, nothing like going somewhere for the first time, especially when it's been on your bucket list for a while.

Thank you so much for reading and following along! I'm so excited to hear that you're going to DLR for the first time too!! Please send any tips and tricks you have my way once you come home, I can't wait to hear about how you liked it

 

[rdkeim]

Another trip in the books for you! Thanks for sharing - I always learn something new. Wow - 3 trips. That's awesome! I've been to DLR twice and I really love it. Can't wait to hear what you think. Our family trip is March 2-6 - I'm excited and nervous to be the group leader for our tribe of 7. I reluctantly plan to buy Genie +. There will definitely be a learning curve.....

 

[Newsies]

Another trip in the books for you! Thanks for sharing - I always learn something new. Wow - 3 trips. That's awesome! I've been to DLR twice and I really love it. Can't wait to hear what you think. Our family trip is March 2-6 - I'm excited and nervous to be the group leader for our tribe of 7. I reluctantly plan to buy Genie +. There will definitely be a learning curve.....

Thanks for following along with me!! I have full faith in your ability to lead your tribe You are going to have an amazing trip and Genie+ will be a breeze!

 

[ZeeWP]

Thank you for sharing your experience! I love all the feedback from your trip

 

[Newsies]

Thank you for sharing your experience! I love all the feedback from your trip

You are most welcome, and thank you for following along!

 

[the2ndstar2theright]

A fabulous trip report, as always!!! Your 2022 is shaping up to be so so exciting, and I can't wait to hear all about your magical adventures!!

 

[PAsFab5]

Loves your trip report! Thanks for sharing! Your family is absolutely adorable!