Newsies' Itsy-Bitsy, Teeny-Weeny, Minnie-Polka-Dot March Trippie: March 6-13 2021 *JULY PTR UPDATE 7/4*

[rdkeim]

Our March 2-6 trip was mostly good and I'm glad we went. We also stayed at Pop. In a nutshell, our first park was HS and it felt pretty crowded. It seemed to be near full capacity. The next day was MK and it was much less crowded as were Epcot and AK. Some ride waits were pretty long and I'm anxious for FP to return! I can't come up with a good reason why they haven't brought that back? Skyliner was very busy in the am with long waits but very pleasant coming back to the resort at night. Twice we ended up Uber-ing to our park. We made the mistake of going to DS on a Sat. and boy was it packed! I felt uncomfortable so did what I had to do and we left. This sounds negative but we did have a great time. I think I will wait for FP to return before we book another trip.

 

[missangelalexis]

Joining in! I'm glad you and your family are doing well. Congrats on the job and car!

 

[MrsSLF]

As someone that lives in the immediate DC region (go Maryland) and constantly gets stuck in seemingly nonsensical traffic in Virginia, I felt your pain and frustration about the trip down in my soul.

 

[footballmouse]

Oh lord, I remember the days of driving down from Ohio, now I only go down on a plane! . My kids are older and now realize it's much better getting there in 2 hours vs 18 hours.

 

[anmay27]

Following along. Congrats on all the positive things that happened for you and your fam during this pandemic.

 

[EvilVillainess]

We love Homecoming also..So.sorry that the drive down wasn't as great as it normally is but Disney prevails!!!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Joining in, it is nice to see you back with a new TR!
We have canceled 4 trips since our last one in January 2020
Congratulations on your job and new car!

 

[Paulaparm]

Sorry you had a crappy trip down...but at least you're finally there

 

[Newsies]

Glad your trip was just what you needed. Living through a pandemic is utterly exhausting and overwhelming. It's no wonder you hadn't been feeling yourself. I can't wait for the day that I am able to return to my beloved bubble.

It doesn't come off as negative, rather as realistic. Life has not been easy for any of us. You certainly started the trip off perfectly with Homecomin'! I love it there. And Pop is such a cute resort!
[/QUOTE]

Very much appreciate the validation here, friend-- you are so right. It has not been easy for any of us! I can feel the light at the end of the tunnel coming and I know that you are going to safely make it back to your bubble real soon

I’ve done the drive from NJ a few times and DC traffic can be brutal. I understand your frustration. Glad you guys made it safe and sound and get to start your vacation. 12:30 isn’t too bad of an arrival time either!

SO true. And with I-95, it's always a wildcard-- we either have a trip where we don't run into even 5 minutes of traffic, OR a trip where we hit accident after accident shutting down every lane! This time, it was unfortunately the latter for us, but we've been pretty lucky in most other years past, so I guess I can't complain! And yes-- 12:30 was pretty good, all things considered!

Our March 2-6 trip was mostly good and I'm glad we went. We also stayed at Pop. In a nutshell, our first park was HS and it felt pretty crowded. It seemed to be near full capacity. The next day was MK and it was much less crowded as were Epcot and AK. Some ride waits were pretty long and I'm anxious for FP to return! I can't come up with a good reason why they haven't brought that back? Skyliner was very busy in the am with long waits but very pleasant coming back to the resort at night. Twice we ended up Uber-ing to our park. We made the mistake of going to DS on a Sat. and boy was it packed! I felt uncomfortable so did what I had to do and we left. This sounds negative but we did have a great time. I think I will wait for FP to return before we book another trip.

Other than transportation, how did Pop work out for you guys this trip? We had a few issues with Pop last week, particularly the food court, which I'll talk more about in the thread, but I did like our room. Skyliner, as you mentioned, very busy in the AM, but I was pleased with how quickly it moved. Bus system had me pleasantly surprised.

We had similar crowds in the parks and Disney Springs. MK crowds were gorgeous for us the entire trip-- never too crowded. DHS and AK were madhouses. We also left DS early both nights we went because the crowds were starting to pick up. Not negative at all-- this is a very weird time to be visiting the Parks!

As for FP+, part of me can't help but wonder if things are somehow more efficient without it? As a past attractions CM, I know how quickly a ride's standby wait time can ramp up if we get backed up with FP+. I don't know how to describe it, but even though we waited in longer lines, it almost feels like we were able to get more done every day. It was a strange trip without FP+, but ultimately, I was VERY surprised with how many rides we got done.

Joining in! I'm glad you and your family are doing well. Congrats on the job and car!

Hi Alexis!! So happy to see you here-- welcome aboard and thank you so much!!

As someone that lives in the immediate DC region (go Maryland) and constantly gets stuck in seemingly nonsensical traffic in Virginia, I felt your pain and frustration about the trip down in my soul.

YES! Virginia is ALWAYS the nonsense state. A car could tap another car's bumper as gently as possible and it would shut all three lanes down! So glad you understand!!!

Oh lord, I remember the days of driving down from Ohio, now I only go down on a plane! . My kids are older and now realize it's much better getting there in 2 hours vs 18 hours.

I do love a good plane ride down to WDW!! My mother has a terrible fear of flying, so it will unfortunately never happen as a family unit, but next time I plan a solo trip, I'm excited to be back in the air. Just a little curious to see if Disney has plans to replace DME!

Following along. Congrats on all the positive things that happened for you and your fam during this pandemic.

Thank you so very much!! Thanks for checking in-- happy to have you here!

We love Homecoming also..So.sorry that the drive down wasn't as great as it normally is but Disney prevails!!!

No worries! The rest of the trip made up for it, so all's well that ends well

Joining in, it is nice to see you back with a new TR!
We have canceled 4 trips since our last one in January 2020
Congratulations on your job and new car!

So nice to see you here! Thank you so much for checking in and following along!
So sorry to hear about the cancelled trips-- I know that you guys will be back home soon! I can feel the light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel dawning!
Thank you so very, very much!

Sorry you had a crappy trip down...but at least you're finally there

No worries! We've had relatively good luck with our previous trips, so 1 or 2/8 trips is a pretty good record! And being back in the bubble makes it all worth it

 

[Newsies]

3/6: Check-In/Disney Springs​

We pulled into the Pop-C parking lot around 12:30 and our first order of business was to get lunch. We ate our last real meal around 7:00 the night before and pretty much snacked on peanut butter crackers for the remainder of the drive, so a hot meal was overdue! Dad parked the truck and we headed to Everything Pop.

Our first trip to Everything Pop couldn’t have gone better. Mom opts to use cash for our vacations, she doesn’t like to put anything on her card, so we do not mobile order food when we eat as a family. Pop-C has a sole cashier on hand for things like cash orders and those traveling with special dietary needs.

This would be the only time this trip-- maybe even in history-- that we would feel like the only guests at Everything Pop. Our food came out hot and quick, we sat down at a table and enjoyed everything. Dad had a shrimp salad, which he loved. Mom & Grace both had a turkey sandwich, which THEY loved. I had the chicken tender meal-- I did like the tenders, but I felt like the portion size was a little bit smaller than I was expecting. Or maybe I was just too hungry from several hours of nothing but peanut butter crackers. Either way, I washed everything down with my beloved Joffrey’s Shakin’ Jamaican Cold Brew and all was right with the world.

Despite Disney’s encouragement to complete online check-in before you arrive to streamline the process, we do not do online check-in for several reasons-- the main reason being that you have to put a credit/debit card down for room charges to complete online check-in (mom does not like to have a card on file for charging, like I mentioned earlier, she prefers to pay for everything in cash on our vacations). So dad went out to bring the truck around while mom, Grace and I went to check-in. From there, we were given… a CHOICE! Yes, a choice. We could either:

A: Wait a few more hours to have our room request honored for a building in the 60s section on the ground level, or

B: Take a room that was ready now, which was in the 80s section and on the third floor.

We opted to take the room that was ready for us at the time of check-in and forgo our request. I believe our exact room was 9342.

​

We liked our room. It was fine for four adults, even with a longer trip like ours was. Grace and I slept on the pull-down bed, mom and dad slept on the actual bed. We felt like we had enough room for storage for the week. We called for our luggage, had our luggage brought up, got changed quickly, and then headed down to the bus stop to head to Disney Springs. We wanted to give ourselves ample time for buses and temperature check lines, because we knew that waiting for buses and waiting in temperature check lines for Disney Springs, particularly on a Saturday night, could get hairy.

We waited maybe 3 minutes for a bus, were seated on the first bus that came along, and made our way to Disney Springs. The resort bus guest temperature check line was extremely short and we were shocked at how quickly we got in!

As soon as we were back in Disney Springs, I could feel the stress melting away. How could I not? It was 70 degrees and sunny and we were back in our happy place

We decided to head to Guest Services first to get our Annual Passes sorted out. When mom called to get our passes "extended" over the phone, it was unclear if this "extension" was technically considered a renewal or not, so we opted to head to Springs GS first just to make sure they would be active and good to go for Magic Kingdom the next morning. There was about a 45 minute wait for Guest Services, which was absolutely no problem for us. Mom and Grace sat down on the little porch on the side of the building while dad and I decided to head over to Homecomin' to get drinks from the walk-up bar. Mom got a simple vodka & cranberry, dad got some boozy iced tea of sorts, and I got one of my favorite drinks: the Moonshine Mash. It's a pretty simple, pink cocktail with watermelon moonshine, fresh watermelon, lime juice, and simple syrup-- the perfect way to start your vacation.

GS was uneventful. When we were finally called into the building, we had a friendly associate let us know that we were all clear to visit the parks tomorrow. Very quick!

We went to World of Disney from there. The line to get into DS looked very, very, long, and wrapped around almost to where Basin starts -- in reality, we basically just walked through the entire length of the queue. The line never stopped moving and soon enough, we were inside WoD! I bought two tie-dye bucket hats (one for me, one for my friend) and a light purple magicband.

​

We walked around for a little while longer, saw a few more stores, and then eventually, went to our Homecomin' reservation.

We were seated pretty quickly from the time we checked in for the reservation. Our waiter was very friendly and from our home state of NJ! I got a sweet tea to drink, which was just okay. We ordered hush puppies for the table:

​

Homecomin' has been a mandatory ADR for our past four trips. It's very rare for me to find something on this menu that I don't like, but these were a one-and-done for me. I'm not a huge fan of peppers, and to my chagrin, the hush puppies had chopped red bell pepper in them. I wasn't a fan, but I know many people who are hush puppy cultists for Homecomin', so don't let me deter you!

I ordered the fried chicken and donuts, our food runner brought a regular fried chicken dinner to me instead. I didn't say anything because I frankly didn't care that much (really the only difference is that this came with a cheddar drop biscuit instead of the two donuts), but once our waiter came back, he asked, "Didn't you order the fried chicken and donuts?"

I said, "yes, but this is okay!"

He said, "are you sure? I can bring out some donuts for you."

NORMALLY I would say no, but I decided to say yes because I really wanted the syrup that comes with the donuts-- it is really good on the chicken! He also offered to dust powdered sugar on my chicken to match the presentation on my mom's plate, which I thanked him for but ultimately turned down. Anyway! Here's my dinner:

​

Everything on this plate is very very good, always. This time, it was just a little lukewarm, but it was otherwise absolutely delicious. The chicken is juicy with crunchy, well-seasoned coating. Those mashed potatoes, my god!!! My favorite side dish in Disney World-- so creamy and delicious! And I also really, really, love those cheddar drop biscuits. My donuts were not pictured, but they were also great. Like I said, that syrup is terrific when you pour it alongside the chicken.

We are likely finished with Homecomin' for the forseeable future. Our first visit in 2018 was amazing, and it has slowly gone downhill from there. The food is good, but not as good as it was way back in 2018, and the portion sizes are very big with VERY heavy food-- it's a lot, especially in Florida where the weather can reach extreme temperatures in the summer.

We decided to turn down dessert at Homecomin', paid our bill, and by this point, we were near the point of collapse from 20 hours on the road PLUS all the time we had spent on our feet since arriving at Pop-C

We made one last stop at Candy Cauldron to buy a candy apple then made our way back to the Pop-C bus stop. It was close to 7:00 at night on a Saturday and we were the only people in line. A bus came quickly, maybe 5 minute after we arrived, and we were soon whisked back to our resort.

Our building was right behind the bus stop, so after a quick walk back to the resort, I took a shower and we soon all fell asleep!

​

 

[Paulaparm]

The chicken and donuts sounds yummy

 

[footballmouse]

My son would order that chicken meal with those mashed potatoes, his favorite!

 

[tundra1]

Hey Kaitlyn, Glad to see you are back and doing so well! Congratulations on the new job and the new car! I am happy your family was able to get away. We made it WDW in November, and had an amazing time! I can't wait to hear more about your spring break adventure!

 

[suse66]

We liked our room. It was fine for four adults, even with a longer trip like ours was. Grace and I slept on the pull-down bed, mom and dad slept on the actual bed. We felt like we had enough room for storage for the week. We called for our luggage, had our luggage brought up, got changed quickly, and then headed down to the bus stop to head to Disney Springs. We wanted to give ourselves ample time for buses and temperature check lines, because we knew that waiting for buses and waiting in temperature check lines for Disney Springs, particularly on a Saturday night, could get hairy.

I love Pop, it is so cute!

We decided to head to Guest Services first to get our Annual Passes sorted out. When mom called to get our passes "extended" over the phone, it was unclear if this "extension" was technically considered a renewal or not, so we opted to head to Springs GS first just to make sure they would be active and good to go for Magic Kingdom the next morning. There was about a 45 minute wait for Guest Services, which was absolutely no problem for us. Mom and Grace sat down on the little porch on the side of the building while dad and I decided to head over to Homecomin' to get drinks from the walk-up bar. Mom got a simple vodka & cranberry, dad got some boozy iced tea of sorts, and I got one of my favorite drinks: the Moonshine Mash. It's a pretty simple, pink cocktail with watermelon moonshine, fresh watermelon, lime juice, and simple syrup-- the perfect way to start your vacation.

Glad to hear they were so helpful with the annual pass. That moonshine mash sounds yummy!

I ordered the fried chicken and donuts, our food runner brought a regular fried chicken dinner to me instead. I didn't say anything because I frankly didn't care that much (really the only difference is that this came with a cheddar drop biscuit instead of the two donuts), but once our waiter came back, he asked, "Didn't you order the fried chicken and donuts?"

I said, "yes, but this is okay!"

He said, "are you sure? I can bring out some donuts for you."

NORMALLY I would say no, but I decided to say yes because I really wanted the syrup that comes with the donuts-- it is really good on the chicken! He also offered to dust powdered sugar on my chicken to match the presentation on my mom's plate, which I thanked him for but ultimately turned down. Anyway! Here's my dinner:

I find the servings at Homecomin to be so big! You could totally split that between two people and it would be plenty.

 

[DaisyNY]

Following along...

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a great first day! I'm sure you all were exhausted!!!

 

[anmay27]

Oh my! What a filled first day at Disney! Your food looks so good. Can't wait to read about your MK day.

 

[TinkandCrew]

Delaware girl here and we just planned an unexpected trip in late July. It’s going to be hot but I’ll just be thankful to be there. My only concern is a tan/sunburn line from the mask

 

[Jeepdisney]

Oh my goodness welcome back! So glad to be reading your trip report and hearing about all the good in your life right now!

 

[lindseyanne]

Following along! I've lurked on your trip reports; I'm glad you're back!