Road Trip! (Into the Unknown…) - Mar. 2020 ~ Updated 4/2/21: Complete, One Year Later, Video Epilogue

[soniam]

Mandatory number of animals rears in safari photo. Check We always call it the animal bottom safari. Dug looks hilarious in his EE photo. Looks like a great day.

 

[olafgypsy]

Dug was super excited to meet Rey while wearing a Rey shirt:

Wow, I cannot believe how much this friend of Rey resembles Daisy Ridley. Good job, central casting!

So, let’s stop there for a moment. This was right before what we all now know as the Year of March 2020. We didn’t know then what we know now, but we knew enough to have some concerns about buying APs. It was the plan we’d made back when we booked our trip, and I had bought all those discounted (10% off) Disney gift cards at Lowe’s to pay for this transaction (I bought $2K in gift cards…hence why I felt weird and bought Lysol wipes too…) But we really debated if it was smart to do this.

Ultimately, we decided that Disney would likely pause/extend the passes if they did close down for pandemic reasons…and that would work for us because then our passes would extend through Spring Break 2021 and we could do this again! Because, OF COURSE, Covid would be a distant memory by then. Well, you know that I’m sitting here at home writing right now and Izzy’s on Spring Break again. And we don’t have APs anymore. But, to be fair, the Cast Member we verified with was right – Disney did extend them for the closure period, though it turned out to be much longer than the “2 weeks” we chatted about. But it also turned out to be much more iffy to travel within a year of the reopening, as I followed along with the news and re-opening. Too many health risks in our family and we cannot wait to get vaccinated!

All that to say, we successfully upgraded to APs that night. We got all the perks, discounts, parking, Photopass, and park admittance all trip. But we ultimately cancelled our precious APs on Disney’s refund deadline in August 2020. It was kind-of a mess because Disney could not actually tell you what amount they would refund until after you committed to cancelling. We took our chances and it worked out in our favor. We had only used 6 days of our passes and they essentially refunded us for the other 359 days (roughly, the math didn’t actually come out right). This was especially amazing because we had 1.) bought the 6-day PH at a discount on Park Savers, which saved us money upgrading and 2.) paid for the upgrade with discounted gift cards. All to say, we basically had free tickets this trip. Paid for with fret, worry, following the AP cancellation thread, and crossing our fingers we wouldn’t lose thousands on this. But, at this moment of the trip, we were excited to have APs and think about future trips within the year.

Ahh, the days when we thought we were going to shut down for two weeks......little did we know.

The state where I live has been moving through priority groups really quickly, so I got vaccinated last week! I have never felt so joyful to be feeling sort of crappy. Fingers crossed you get to experience that joyful crappy post-vaccine feeling sometime soon!

 

[Dugette]

Perfect Picnic

We were up and in the car before dawn again to go to DHS:



And that crowd probably horrifies you as much as it does me. But the moon is nice:



Once again, we were actually more spread out than you’d think (and I was enjoying my “Morning Dew”):





When we got in about 45 minutes before opening, we headed right here to get in line:



Dug and Izzy were having fun with the Play Disney Parks app trivia while we waited:



Sunrise:



We caught a glimpse of the 165 minute wait time 4 minutes before park opening at 8am:



Our line started moving along over this:



We were following this couple:



As we were actively walking through the indoor switchbacks of the queue, we had to do our Boarding Group obtaining again. Used the same method where we each try, one on wifi and one on cellular. This time, I was the lucky one:



Woohoo, we’d get to ride again! Yay! And, we were just about to ride a brand new ride!! Super exciting to see something new, especially since we had not seen much in the way of spoilers. And, in retrospect, thank goodness we got to ride this because it opened a few days before our trip and then it closed right back up after our trip until July! There was such a limited window and we hit it (twice). We enjoyed the posters on the way in:





And about 10 minutes after park opening, we made it into the screening room for Perfect Picnic:





We were enjoying the cute little film…until this happened:



And then we walked through the screen so that we could wait a little bit more:





And we were soon loaded up on the train, ready to go:



Some photos of our ride:











Photos really don’t do it justice at all…it was super fun! They did a good job of combining different effects and technology in this and it was a hit with the whole family. We were glad we had Fast Passes to ride it once more in a couple days!

Then it was apparently time to head over to ride Toy Story Mania standby. But, first, Forky wanted a photo:



I like how he’s covering his face there – maybe he doesn’t want Giant Woody to spot him.

It was about a 30 minute wait again:







Our scores:



And Dug wins again:



After that, we played with the Toy Story items in the shop a bit. Forky met Forky:



I wore alien ears:



Izzy wore a Slinky Dog headband:



And Dug actually got this cute shirt:



Up Next: Oga’s Cantina

 

[Dugette]

Oga’s Cantina

After our Toy Story merchandise fun, it was time to make another attempt at Woody’s Lunch Box for some breakfast:



Luckily, we were successful this time! I got the Breakfast Bowl (hearty portions of potato barrels smothered in smoked brisket country gravy, scrambled eggs and a sprinkling of green onions):



Dug got the Banana Split Yogurt Parfait (pineapple, strawberries and banana between layers of vanilla yogurt and honey topped with granola and dark chocolate chips):



And Izzy got the Kids’ S’more French Toast Sandwich Meal (sandwich half with marshmallow and chocolate ganache stuffed in grilled custard soaked brioche encrusted with graham cracker crumbs served with a Cuties mandarin and potato barrels with your choice of beverage):



I think we even had a table to sit at while enjoying our breakfast, so it was a win. Surprisingly, I think Izzy decided she didn’t like hers (what?!), so I think we got to sample it as well.

Then, time to get over to Galaxy’s Edge:



Random photos of us:



Oh, nice, Forky stopped covering his eyes.



And it was time to board Rise of the Resistance:







Look how happy Izzy is now vs. the first time we rode:







We had another fun ride!

However, the time our boarding group came up threw our Fast Passes into disarray. We originally had Star Tours 10-11am and the Frozen Sing-Along at 11am. I think what we ended up doing was going to Star Tours and seeing if we could still ride, even though Rise pushed us past our window and grace period – and they let us. And I believe we also switched Frozen to Tower of Terror for that evening, temporarily, until we could change it to another ride on Star Tours, as Dug was enjoying the new sequences they’d added. (It just took us a lot of work to figure out what we had done with our Fast Passes a year ago today, but I think that was it!)

After our Star Tours voyage, it was time to relax a bit. We went to sit down in a theater and watch the Mickey shorts. Followed by taking pictures with the scenes outside the theater:









And, naturally, it was then time to return to Galaxy’s Edge again:





This time because we had a reservation for Oga’s Cantina! We looked at the menu while waiting outside:





And we were soon ushered in:



Don’t we look cozy in our booth:



Except that we had to share it with two other groups of strangers in VERY close quarters. Even though we still felt relatively pre-virus, it was uncomfortable. I mean, it would have been uncomfortable even without a pending pandemic, but still. I could see this being really fun for a large group, though. We did our best to chat and be friendly with the others and they kinda sorta did the same.

Here’s our server bringing out some fun concoctions for the table:



Dug had a Dagobah Slug Slinger (Herradura Reposado Tequila, Bols Blue Curaçao, Citrus Juices, Ginger, Herbs, and Bitters):



I think Izzy ordered a Carbon Freeze (POWERADE® Lemon Lime, Wild Strawberry, Blueberry, and Green Apple Popping Pearls), which had a fun presentation – see video:

Carbon Freeze

And I had the Fuzzy Tauntaun (Cîroc Peach Vodka, Bols Peach Schnapps, Simply® Orange with Tangerine, Pure Cane Sugar, and "Buzz Button Tingling" Foam):



Since this was our lunch, we also got a Happabore Sampler (Cured and Roasted Meats, Cheese, Pork Cracklings) to share:



This was tasty and we all enjoyed our drinks, except maybe Izzy who saw tablemates ordering the Oga’s Obsession (Lemonade, Cotton Candy Flavor, Blueberry Popping Pearls, with a Bursting Dried Fruit Mixture) and she wanted in on that:



Here’s a moment of Oga’s ambiance – it looks like one of the groups at our table may have left, I don’t see their heads:

Oga's Ambiance

I think Dug wandered around quick before we left to take photos like this:



And Izzy and I were happy to finally have the booth to ourselves, as everyone else had cleared out:



Goodbye, Oga’s Cantina:





A few other random Galaxy’s Edge pictures:







Up Next: Meet BR8KR

 

[Dugette]

Meet BR8KR

But first, more random photos:





You would not believe how many SWGE photos we have – I pared it down to a small percentage, haha. On our way out of DHS, we spotted some ducklings, but this kid sure had a fun look to share with the camera, lol:



And we spotted Chip and Dale as well – we always love them:



But we had somewhere to get…our house! It was mandatory relaxation and pool time, since it was our only full day staying in the villa. Izzy tried out some skeeball while I relaxed:



And then she found some furry friends that she wanted a photo of:



And then we stopped taking pictures and got in the pool for a long swim. I cannot tell you how nice it was to have our own private pool to enjoy whenever we wanted to. Can’t compare with a crowded hotel pool – we got so spoiled!

But, soon enough, it was time to head back for our Slinky Dog Fast Pass:





We ended up with separate ride photos this time:





It’s hard to walk around Toy Story Land and not take scenery pictures:



And then Forky yelled, “Trash, trash!!” and almost escaped!



Dug did more Datapad stuff:



And then it was time for Dug’s slightly belated birthday surprise from me – a chance to customize a droid! Checking out all the stuff in the shop:







Time to pick out some parts:





And then assembly:



Photo session with the newly-created BR8KR:



The Cast Member was pretty excited:



Activation time:



And into the carrying case:





Afterwards, it was time to try out the droid play area:



Fun experience!

But we had to get to our Star Tours Fast Pass, so BR8KR got to ride with us!

Then it was time for one last ride. It was close to closing, but Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster was a must-do for thrill-rider Izzy – she was now tall enough for it. However, we didn’t trust BR8KR’s safety on this, as I once had an umbrella vanish into thin air never to be found again on RnRC. So, Izzy and I went in first and Dug waited with the droid. I think we must have done standby, but with a short wait. Izzy got an introduction to Aerosmith and Mommy was reminded of her teen years:



One thing I really distinctly remember in this queue was trying to keep a little distance from people with CMs yelling to “squeeze in there, take all available space” – at the beginning of Covid-times. I also remember having the caution to hold Izzy back in that Aerosmith room so that everyone else had to go first and squish and we could stay at the end and spread out. Anyway, we soon made it to the ride area:



Oh, and I did ask for front row because I always get horrible headaches on this ride, except for in the first row. So, we got front row for Izzy’s first time and she loved it:



After we got out, Izzy and I literally ran (her faster) out to waiting Dug because the park was about to close and Dug needed to get into the queue ASAP. We all made it just in a knick of time and Dug got in right before they closed it. Whew! Izzy and I celebrated with BR8KR:



And Dug had a nice ride:



Victory:





Great way to end the night. I think we maybe paused to watch some Star Wars projections on the way out? (One year later and my memory of this day is spotty!)



We hadn’t managed to find time for dinner, so we stopped at a Wendy’s drive-through on the way back to the house:





Not fancy, but it was a nice quick meal for 10pm so that we could get some sleep. Or at least Izzy could. Dug and I stayed up a little bit later to try out the hot tub. It was nice, but the chit-chat soon turned to virus worries – lots of concerning things were popping up in Dug’s Twitter feed and you could just feel the world changing during this trip. Dug’s parents had gotten a call from Dug the night we were in Epcot – just to advise them to stock up on food and supplies they’d need for a while – Dug was on top of things. By this night, I was starting to feel it too. Not as easy to brush off this potential threat that was becoming less and less potential and more and more threatening. I was uneasy going to sleep that night. I woke up in the middle of the night and just paced around the house, feeling uneasy and paranoid if I was starting to feel the tiniest bit ill. No fever, though. Finally got back to sleep.

Up Next: Goodbye Villa, Hello Disney Springs

 

[Dugette]

Holy cow! We were talking about this too - how long until we see a crowd like this at Disney again?


I love queues with lots of stuff to look at! Also, the watch on the Fastpass sign


Dang. If it's not a glitch, what a way to immerse you in the story. I'd have been upset too!


Love a good Disney nap!


So great! What a fun memory to be able to catch up with them on the trip - and to have this photographic evidence.


Several years ago, before meeting my husband, I went on one date with a guy who bragged about getting hit in the face by a bird at this bird show. I should have taken it as a sign


Yay! So glad that Dug was able to join y'all this time. Congrats to him on the weight loss!



That house is beautiful! They really did a great job putting together the decor.


We had this booked on our wedding trip, but naturally things were absolutely crazy and we missed it. I'm sure we'll get there someday!

Haha, that's funny about being hit by a bird...quite the sign! Izzy and I once attended the similar bird show at the MN Zoo and the star bird flew away right at the beginning and they cancelled. They apparently found the bird, but that was sure something.

I hope you do get to La Hacienda someday!

Mandatory number of animals rears in safari photo. Check We always call it the animal bottom safari. Dug looks hilarious in his EE photo. Looks like a great day.

I almost made a comment about the animal backsides while I was writing, haha.

Wow, I cannot believe how much this friend of Rey resembles Daisy Ridley. Good job, central casting!



Ahh, the days when we thought we were going to shut down for two weeks......little did we know.

The state where I live has been moving through priority groups really quickly, so I got vaccinated last week! I have never felt so joyful to be feeling sort of crappy. Fingers crossed you get to experience that joyful crappy post-vaccine feeling sometime soon!

Dug thought she way an awesome Rey too.

So strange to revisit the thoughts of a year ago knowing what we know now. 2 weeks seemed reasonable at the time. Who knew?

Congrats on getting your vaccination! We are excited because MN just announced yesterday that we are ahead of schedule and they opened up more groups including one that Dug qualifies for, so we're driving 2 hours for a vaccine tomorrow. I don't know when I'll qualify myself, but having the more at-risk person in the house vaccinated will be fantastic and I can wait a bit. It was totally like trying to get a FP booked getting that appt, though!

 

[Bama Mom]

I don't ride ride RnRC because it gives me a headache also. Maybe I should try again in the front seat and see if that works for me.

 

[Jeepdisney]

Loving your trip report! The house looks so fun!, do you know was it on vrbo?

 

[Dugette]

I don't ride ride RnRC because it gives me a headache also. Maybe I should try again in the front seat and see if that works for me.

Yes, give it a try! You might have to wait a couple minutes extra, but it's worth it if so! I don't know why it works for me, but I'm sticking with it.

Loving your trip report! The house looks so fun!, do you know was it on vrbo?

Thanks! Yes, the house was amazing. I'm not certain if she has it on vrbo, but I know it's on airbnb (and she books direct as well if you contact her through her website or FB page). Just look for Positive Latitude Villa near Disney.

 

[Dugette]

Goodbye Villa, Hello Disney Springs

We got up the next morning and had to bid a fond farewell to this gorgeous place:









Sad to head out :



Especially because this was going to be a massive downgrade of accommodations! We were going from a spacious private home to, uh, this:



Honestly, I’m not super picky about hotels because we typically don’t spend much time in them, but this ended up being an awful experience. This WAS the Best Western Lake Buena Vista. We had our last three nights booked here because, like the first hotel, we had FP and EMH benefits as if we were staying onsite…but we were able to use Chase Ultimate Rewards points to book at a good rate (can’t do that with Disney hotels). It had average reviews and most annoyances involved transportation, which wasn’t an issue for us because we had my car and the parking there was a good rate too. Anyway, this hotel doesn’t actually exist anymore, one year later. In fact, it closed down shortly after we left and never reopened. Best I can tell, it’s scheduled to reopen “soon” as a Drury Plaza Hotel. We stopped in that morning to see if our room was ready, but it wasn’t yet. I’m not sure why, but we were in there an awfully long time anyway and there were people over at table across from the front desk that were beckoning guests over as if it was mandatory, but then trying to sell timeshares, I think? This is all a fuzzy memory now, but I remember being super annoyed at whatever it was. I think I’ve blocked this out of my memory. It was just a so-so hotel, under construction, with staff that did not make you feel like a valued customer, plus random problems (more to come). Oh, I just remembered one more problem - parking to bring in/out luggage! There was no good place to do it, thanks to the construction, and you had to dodge the buses if you parked in front of the hotel. They did apparently have a Galaxy’s Edge display, though (and I think Izzy did some coloring while we were waiting):





Then we finally managed to leave there and drive over to Disney Springs for lunch. It had been several days since we’d had BBQ , so it was the Polite Pig for lunch:



More mac and cheese for Izzy:



Looks more like fries with a side of mac and cheese. Maybe that’s what she did – just get two sides? It looks like I got the Burnt Ends BBQ Meatballs (House Brisket, Cheddar Grits and Layla’s Sweet BBQ Sauce):



Looks like Dug got the USDA Prime Brisket (Coffee Rub USDA Prime Brisket served with Jalapeño Cornbread, Signature Polite Slaw and choice of one Market Side) with a side of BBQ Cauliflower (Paprika Sour Cream and Candied Pepitas):



I think we all enjoyed our food, then we were off to the Lego Store:







I had read about a little activity that would be perfect for our Lego-loving kiddo – designing your own minifigure:









Izzy enjoyed this experience and it was fairly cheap, I believe.

Lego Friends:



Deeper into Disney Springs we go:





Really pretty day!

If I recall, we were hoping our room would be ready while we were in DS so that we could pop back over and unpack, etc. But I don’t believe it was ready until much later in the day and we had to get to Animal Kingdom in the meantime. Because we had, uh, six Fast Passes to use…

If you recall, I mentioned that the Disney Springs hotels were offering early FP bookings at this time, just like the Disney-owned resorts. It worked fine for our first hotel (The Doubletree our first two nights), but the linking of the reservation for this Best Western hotel was just not working. I looked on the DIS and found out this was not uncommon and that we would have to call Disney to book Fast Passes (we’d already called the hotel and worked through it with them twice, but it still didn’t fix the problem). So, we gave the phone CM our FP requests for our last few days and she did a really good job getting what we wanted. Yay! But when we asked if we’d be able to use the app to modify them, if needed, the answer was no. However, she indicated we may be able to go in and book new FP in the non-onsite window. Interesting… Well, turns out, it let us book 3 more FP during the regular booking window. So, 6 each day, why not? (could even do the 2nd set at another park!)

This day was all AK:

1:30pm – meet Mickey and Minnie

2:40pm – Dinosaur

3:45pm – Na’vi River Journey

4:45pm – Everest

5:45pm – Flight of Passage

7:00pm – Safari

Anyway, we made the drive from Disney Springs over to Animal Kingdom and got some Photo Pass pictures on the way in:





We are very scary, lol. (Oh, in case you’re wondering, the villa had a washer and dryer, so we did laundry while we were there and then Izzy wanted to wear the same dress again to Animal Kingdom as she did the first day we were here, so it was clean...we are not that scary, haha.)

We headed in and got more Photo Pass by the Tree of Life:



We also saw Up's Dug go by:



Then we hopped into the FP queue to see M&M:





Izzy still loves them, just like when she was a toddler:







We got in for a shot too:



After we were out of there, we had another Up sighting (Kevin in foreground and Dug and Russell in background):



And then it was time to ride Dinosaur:



For some reason I don’t see a Fast Pass picture from that, though. Oh, well.

Up Next: Fast Pass Frenzy

 

[Dugette]

Fast Pass Frenzy

After Dinosaur, Izzy asked to play in the Boneyard for a bit, so I took her there while Dug wandered the area, I guess.







And here’s the part of the day filled with random pictures. I can’t remember, but I’m thinking maybe Na’vi River went down and we were able to use our FP on it later? Because I don’t see a single picture of it now, but there is one after FoP that I think is from it? Anyway, here’s the random photos:









Also, it may have been during this time that we had a hilariously awful Photo Pass session because Izzy was too hot to do anything that was asked of her:









It was about time we got that melting child into some air conditioning – luckily, we had dinner planned at Yak and Yeti. I believe we used the Landry’s Club card to get priority seating:





I believe I also had a $25 birthday reward on the Landry’s Card that we used too, so that was a good reason to go here. We were seated at a table near the front:





You can see I wasted no time ordering a tall, cold drink. I believe it was the Big Bamboo (Don Q Coconut Rum, Don Q Cristal Rum, Banana Liqueur & Tropical Fruit Juices).

Izzy switched up the side to her mac and cheese by getting some rice and yogurt, lol:



And I had the potstickers:



And Dug enjoyed the lettuce cups:



But, of course, the most important thing to eat here is the Fried Wontons (Skewers of fresh pineapple and cream cheese wontons, vanilla ice cream, honey-vanilla drizzle):



Izzy also found a dessert that her heart desired. For some reason, she was set on getting chocolate pudding here:



After lunch, it was time for our Everest Fast Pass:



Another nice ride photo:



Then it was time to make our way over to our Pandora FPs:











It was time to use our Flight of Passage FP – 2nd ride of the trip! This time, I took a picture to remind me of what happened the first time we’d gone on it, a couple days earlier:



So, there’s this part of the queue/pre-show where you’re locked into this chamber pictured with a small group of people, prepping for your journey. Well, the other time we rode it, someone sneezed big. And I thought to myself, “Well, at least they’re on the other end of the room.” Then, the “decontamination” portion of the preshow happened…where they blow the air in the room all around on everyone. Wow, what an efficient way to spread a virus! The whole trip, I felt like if I was going to get sick from something, that would have been it. So happy to leave that room!

Anyway, we had another good flight. Then back into Pandora:







So, this is why I think we used our Na’vi River FP now:



It’s a nice little ride. But back to the outdoors again:



We had one more Fast Pass to get to – time for a sunset safari!

Up Next: Pandora at Night

 

[Dugette]

Pandora at Night

Around this time, my stomach started to get really upset. I ended up staying in a restroom quite a while before I felt better (enough) to join Dug and Izzy, who had wandered towards our FP destination and found a place to sit and relax. In hindsight, maybe my stomach was just bothered by something I ate at dinner and riding Everest right after maybe didn’t help? I don’t know. But, at that time, there were some news stories starting to show up that indicated an upset tummy might actually be a Covid symptom, so that freaked me out a bit. But, this was Disney after all, where there are a million other things that can make you ill too. To be clear, though, we were taking a lot of extra precautions all trip – washing hands a ton, using hand sanitizer in and out of all rides (the ones we brought, they didn’t have many yet, but most guests were carrying and using and even sharing their own), using disinfecting wipes on our tables at meals, trying to keep extra distance from others, etc.

Anyway, once I left that restroom, I met up with Dug and Izzy for a safari. Our pictures turned out looking kind-of weird, so just a small handful:











Then was one of the most memorable parts of the day: we went back to Pandora to see it all lit up at night. And it was super cool:

























Bioluminescence is pretty cool and fun! But, also, it can make your child terrifying :



We really enjoyed just strolling all around and taking it in. After that, we caught a projection show on the Tree of Life:



So, overall a pretty nice day. But then we had to go back to our adequate hotel and sleep. Luckily, we were able to sleep all night this time (spoiler for the next night).

A note on this day, though. It was one year ago to the day that I am writing this. And I have seen a bunch of news stories today about “1 year ago everything closed”. For instance, the WHO declared Covid a pandemic, the NBA suspended the season, travel from Europe was temporarily banned, and even Tom Hanks announced he had Covid. Some time during our visit, Disney installed hand sanitizing stations and hand washing stations throughout the parks (not a lot of them or at rides, just by the park entrances and at random in open areas). Things were really getting serious. But we were gearing up for another fun day with two parks and a character meal. Which I believe was the last meal we had inside a restaurant. In the last year. Luckily, Dug’s quite the good cook, so we’ve had plenty of good meals anyway.

Up Next: Epcot Morning

 

[soniam]

"Decontamination" room I hated riding FOP in our July and November trips. In July, the CM asked a large group of people to walk by us in the queue right where they put you into the room. I was crammed up against the wall and holding my breath. On a later ride, they sat someone on the bike next to me I thought it was a mistake, and that they should scoot over and leave a gap. However, there was exactly the same number of bikes as people. In November, they tried to have people scoot by us again, but we were at the front of the line and just moved to the empty queue next to us to let them pass. They did cram someone next to my husband on that trip. It seems they are slowly removing distancing in indoor attractions now, and I really hate that. Can't wait to get vaccinated.

 

[Dugette]

"Decontamination" room I hated riding FOP in our July and November trips. In July, the CM asked a large group of people to walk by us in the queue right where they put you into the room. I was crammed up against the wall and holding my breath. On a later ride, they sat someone on the bike next to me I thought it was a mistake, and that they should scoot over and leave a gap. However, there was exactly the same number of bikes as people. In November, they tried to have people scoot by us again, but we were at the front of the line and just moved to the empty queue next to us to let them pass. They did cram someone next to my husband on that trip. It seems they are slowly removing distancing in indoor attractions now, and I really hate that. Can't wait to get vaccinated.

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Yikes, that would not sit well with me. As you said, it's one thing if most people are vaccinated but this all seems too soon! I can't wait for my vaccine too! Dug just got the first dose yesterday (I don't qualify yet) and we're all excited about it. So glad to have some level of immunity forming in this house, after a year of basically laying low. (This day I'm about to post about was the last day that we've been around big crowds.) Izzy and I have a tentative late August WDW visit planned and it's feeling more and more possible we'll do it with the vaccine rollout picking up.

 

[Dugette]

Epcot Morning

Wow, I can’t believe I’ve managed to keep up the pace on the 1-year-ago-today thing! This is by faaaaaar the fastest I’ve ever written a trip report, lol. But, honestly, this has been one heck of a year and it’s really interesting having that year-ago-today point of reference as I write. And this is another big and busy day for us, back in 2020. But, after this day, you’ll find a couple much more brief updates to wrap up…

So, we woke up in our so-so hotel this morning and got ready to head over to Epcot in an official pandemic. But, keep in mind, at this point there were still only about 1000 cases identified in the whole country. Back home in MN, there were now about a couple dozen cases. When we started our trip, there were zero and the first was identified the day after we left. But there was still a strong narrative that this virus was not airborne and masks were not needed (I did see two families wearing masks during our trip, but only two). So, given this new pandemic and me still feeling ever-so-slightly off, we took everyone’s temperatures before leaving the hotel parking lot. At that time, fever was one of the main symptoms talked about. We all passed the test with normal temperatures, so off to Epcot we drove. It was Extra Magic Hours at 8am and we were in the park on the early end of that hour, taking family selfies:





We made our way to Soarin’ and were on within 15 minutes:



Always a nice way to start a morning! Then it was time to jump in a clamshell:





And in a shark’s mouth:



One note here about how quickly kids grow up: Izzy did this picture back on one of our earlier trips, but it took so much effort because she needed accompaniment to get over to the right spot, jump in for a turn without the other kids running her over, climb up to the mouth, then hang on and not fall off…whew, exhausting. This time, she could just run up on her own, no big deal. It really doesn’t seem like much time has gone by between those two experiences.

Anyway, we had time to squeeze in one more EMH ride before the park opened, so we hit Spaceship Earth:



Then there’s like an hour between pictures. I have no idea what we did. Maybe stopped to eat a little breakfast? We had a late brunch planned, but maybe needed something in the meantime. Who knows. But here’s our Epcot FP line-up for the day:

9:00-10:00am - Living with the Land
10:00-11:00am - Journey Into Imagination
3:00-4:00pm - Frozen Ever After

I say it’s our Epcot line-up because we also had a DHS line-up for the evening. Thanks, double Fast Passes.

Anyway, we hit Living with the Land close to the end of the FP window:







The Sturgeon looks like he’s smiling and waving :



Aw, the hidden Mickey has a baby :



And there’s Minnie:







A Mickey-shaped pumpkin in the pile:



We always enjoy that ride. As we headed to our next FP, we had to stop for a topiary picture:



And then jumped right on here:





Then it was time to hightail it to a brand-new-to-us ride: The Skyliner! We had a brunch to get to and that was the perfect way! We made our way through Epcot to the International Gateway, taking a few pics along the route:











And we arrived:



It wasn’t crowded, so we asked to have a non-wrapped car, as we had heard the visibility was better (and it was). So excited to ride:



Wearing her Eiffel Tower dress in front of the Eiffel Tower:



I spy some construction down there. It was before they halted the work:





And, of course, a FedEx truck rolled by to score us some transportation points, lol :



Our destination was coming into view:



Once we were off the Skyliner, we spotted a Mickey in the fence:



First time checking out the Riviera Resort:







Up Next: Topolino’s Brunch

 

[Dugette]

Topolino’s Brunch

Before we made it to our meal, we had to get a few pictures as we walked through the pretty resort – these were mosaics:

















We walked in and checked out the pretty food:



And peeked into the dining area:



We were quickly seated in the middle of the action and checking out our menus:



But who could focus on food when there were adorably dressed characters dancing around nearby?





Poet/Writer Minnie wasted no time finding her biggest fan:





She let me take a close-up of her dress:



Family photo:



And then the pastry assortment arrived:



The characters came by to show off. First, Ballerina Daisy:



Then Painter Mickey:



And Sculptor Donald:



Izzy was inspired to work on some art of her own on her kids menu:



But she was interrupted by Mickey Waffle Dippers:



Dug ordered the Wood-fired Butchers Steak:



And I had the Quiche Gruyere:



Oh, and I'm pretty sure we had a little POG juice to sip on. Yum!

And then Donald came by for a hug:



Followed shortly by Daisy, who Izzy joined for some pirouettes:







Then Izzy showed Daisy that she had drawn her on the menu:



A bit later, Mickey snuck up behind me:





I can’t tell if Mickey and Minnie are kissing hello as they pass by here :



Towards the end of our meal, we spotted the characters hanging out on the deck:



Up Next: An Amazing Patio

 

[Dugette]

An Amazing Patio

Izzy and I hurried outside to see if we could get any extra time with the characters. They were just heading back inside, but Daisy stayed out with us for a brief visit, which was really special:









So sweet of Daisy! Izzy was thrilled:



And Izzy just kept on dancing on her own, once Daisy went inside (we were the only ones out there now):



Gorgeous view here on a lovely day :















Dug had come outside too and we all enjoyed having that patio to ourselves for a bit. Almost didn’t want to leave, it was so nice!

But, we had to use the restrooms and headed back in. We could see Epcot from a window:



And there was artwork about art :



And a familiar view:



This is cute:



Pretty flowers!



Walking outside and enjoying the resort:





This was when we stumbled across a resort activity that Izzy couldn’t resist: build and race a Duplo car! She had to get involved:







And then it was time to race! I literally have dozens of slow-mo videos because Izzy was obsessed with watching the replay of all of her races. I narrowed it down to two she won to post (and they apparently are showing in regular speed instead of slow-mo on here – oh, well):

Racing 1

Racing 2

Then, once we pried Izzy away from the races, it was back to the beautiful mosaics again:



And back to the Skyliner for another lovely flight:











We arrived back at Epcot and entered via the International Gateway. Perfect to spend a little time in World Showcase and to use our Frozen Ever After FP!

Up Next: Soaking Up Every Last Bit of Fun

 

[Dugette]

Soaking Up Every Last Bit of Fun

Back in Epcot, Izzy found herself in a phone booth for the second time on this trip :



And then we were here:





I think we saw the movie in Canada too. But then the time had arrived to use our FP here:



We were in the back row of our boat:



I believe Dug was feeling a bit out of it at this point and wanted to stop for some water and a snack. So, we stopped into the Kringla Bakery and I think Dug took a seat while Izzy and I went to get some water and a I believe a little veggie tray for Dug. But Izzy insisted on this too:



Feeling somewhat refreshed, we started on our way to our next destination:



We went to see the movie in China:



It was standing-only and Dug remembers feeling a little off in there during the movie. Great, so both of us are a tad off. Hopefully just Disney fatigue. After the movie, we took a few pictures on our way to the next snack stop:







We made it over to Germany because Karamell Kuche was on my list. I love the look on Izzy’s face here, haha:



Turns out that these chocolate covered caramels get pretty messy when it’s hot. Luckily, we had a bunch of wet wipes. And the treats also make you very thirsty. So, I ran in here to get us some more ice water:



I think this was the view from Germany:



As we moved along World Showcase, we got some more pretty Flower & Garden pictures:





We did notice that there were a couple of hand-washing stations that had been set up off the path in World Showcase. They were like what you’d find outside a port-a-potty where you pump with your foot and soap/wash, then dry with a paper towel. We tried them out – nice to have available.

Once we arrived at France, there was another Photo Pass opportunity. You can really see how sweltering hot we were by this point in the day:





And then it was back onto the Skyliner again:



I have to say, given how hot we were, it was impressive that the non-air-conditioned Skyliner actually did feeling cooling. We were so much more comfortable in there with a nice air flow.

This time, we rode to Hollywood Studios to use our bonus set of Fast Passes:

5:05-6:05pm - Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster
6:15-7:15pm - Toy Story Mania
7:30-8:30pm - Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway

We headed to RnRC first:



Izzy and I in the front seat again (Dug was in front seat of next train):



Our Photo Pass pics:





Then on to our TSMM FP:



Izzy and I:



Dug cleaned up once again:



Somehow we have no pictures at all of this, but I’m pretty sure we then had dinner at Woody’s Lunch Box. I believe I had the Grilled Three-Cheese Sandwich (Melted Provolone, Cheddar, and American on Grilled Sourdough Bread) and I think Izzy followed suit with the Kids Grilled Cheese. If I had to guess, assuming the current menu was in effect one year ago, I would say Dug likely had the BBQ Brisket Melt.

But, clearly, we were failing at trip report photos at this point. Not surprising, I guess, what with a pandemic and both of us feeling slightly off our game. In fact, Dug still doesn’t know this (I didn’t want to cause any additional Covid-anxiety at the time), but I was feeling worse throughout the day and took my temperature when I ducked into a DHS restroom this evening – it was around 100 degrees. I took it twice to be sure and I think it was just over and just under that mark. I was really worried at this point. Also feeling like my breathing wasn’t as good as it should be. But, having asthma (we both do), that’s not uncommon when fighting off a cold. And I might just be warm because we’d been walking in the roasting sun all day. But we forged on. We had to use our last Fast Pass – it was for Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway!

On the way in:





We got to ride right behind Goofy this time:



This kind-of sums up our park time…



But, we still had to get back to our car. Which meant yet another Skyliner ride, this time back to Epcot, since we were parked there.

As we walked through Flower and Garden one last time, we had to get this picture to send to Dug’s flower-loving mom:



And we bid farewell to good ol’ Spaceship Earth:



She likes this saying, as she wants to be an Imagineer:



We drove back to our hotel and were greeted by a sheet of paper that had been slipped under the door. I thought it might be a receipt, but it was a little early for that. Nope, it was a letter informing us that the power would be out in our room for several hours overnight. For some sort of testing requirements, not an emergency. Just what you want to see when you get back from a long park day, feel a little sick, and have someone in the room that uses a CPAP. Ugh. Dug went back down to the lobby and was able to obtain a battery operated power supply for the CPAP, but it would only work for a limited time, not all night. So, it would require Dug to wake up in the middle of the night to swap it out between power sources.

But that wasn’t all we were dealing with. This was also when I looked at my phone and saw the announcement that Disney was closing down:



It wasn’t for a few more days, so it didn’t impact our trip, but wow! Given how we were feeling, we were both already considering leaving early. And the thought of another night in this hotel was not exactly appealing. We were all really wiped out. And worried that, on the chance we had Covid, we could spread it in the parks, despite our precautions. We ultimately decided that we would wake up in the morning and see how we felt and decide from there what to do. We did talk about the possibility of leaving early with Izzy that night before she went to bed and she was surprisingly okay with it, even though it meant missing our only Magic Kingdom day for the trip. (But we also thought we’d be back with our Annual Passes after this virus was stomped out over the next few weeks…) Anyway, she was clearly pretty exhausted too:



With that, we went to sleep, not knowing what the next day would hold for us.

Up Next: What Will We Do?

 

[soniam]

Don't feel bad about feeling bad. We ended up driving home instead of flying on our last day at Universal on Thanksgiving. The afternoon and night before I had chills and a fever of 100. It was still below what they would allow in the park (100.4), but I never run a fever unless I'm sick. We decided to see what it was and how I felt in the morning. Woke up early, and it was still 100. Decided to sleep in a little and drive home instead of flying. Right before we got into the car to leave, I took it again, and it was 98.4. I hadn't taken any tylenol or anything. I figured it was coming and going, but I never had a fever for weeks after that, nor any covid symptoms We were self-quaranting for 2 weeks when we got back anyway. The drive home was scary, because I had to use the bathroom (FL->TX). People would stand right next to me in line for the bathroom, no distancing. I had my mask, but I was thinking that anyone could have it, and you wouldn't know.

 

[krrrristen]

First of all - that power outage! I can't even. At least turn it off during the day while most people aren't in their rooms... at night almost EVERYONE is in their room!

Sounds like y'all were making the best out of things and trying to take precautions when possible. It was - and still is - so hard to make decisions about what's "safe" and what's not. All we can do is what we determine is best for us For us that's been staying home as much as possible... and yet I still get anxious whenever I get overheated and my temp is slightly elevated.