Trip Report We have kids...we just didn’t bring them! A Labor Day weekend Trip Report - COMPLETE

Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to our special Covid Labor Day weekend…
I used to post quite a bit on these boards but haven’t posted a trip report in at least 7 or so years so I think an introduction is most definitely in order…

I’m Jess

A few stats:
Favorite Park – Epcot
Favorite Disney character – Ursula
Favorite Attraction – Spaceship Earth
Least favorite Disney things: Animal Kingdom, Country Bear Jamboree and Piglet.

Traveling with me is my forever adventure buddy – my husband, Bill.

Huzz stats:
Favorite Park – Magic Kingdom
Favorite Disney character – Pooh
Favorite attraction – Haunted Mansion
Least favorite Disney things: The heat.

A little backstory: So we’ve been together 12 years…married for 7 and have pretty much traveled only to WDW or Disneyland (and a Disney cruise) for most of the vacations over the last 12 years.

Then in 2018 – we moved to Tampa for my husband’s surgical fellowship. We lived there for a year and went to Disney at least once a week. Well, I went at least once a week – Bill was obviously very busy but luckily I had my Disney bestie to keep me company

My daughter Cameron…who if you couldn’t tell by the title...did not join us on this trip. Too much going on plus she’s 3 and will not wear a mask and will not not touch ALL the things.

We had many fun Disney adventures over the year in Tampa. We moved back to Pittsburgh post fellowship (both of our families are here) and we’ve gone back to Disney a few times since…our last trip being in January 2020….

Baby Yoda…I mean baby William was born in March - about 4 days before the parks closed…he was not happy about it.

He also did not make the trip because its hot. And he’s a baby. And we’re in a global pandemic. And Mama needed a break. I was craving the magic!

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Ok Jess, I'm here for this!! Even though I basically talked to you already about it and lived vicariously through you on IG! haha.

Between you and @fractal I am SO EXCITED to (hopefully) ride Rise!! EEEEEEKKKK!!

Also just booked The Wave. Can't turn down bottomless mimosas

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

You got me at the mimosas! I love champagne, especially with OJ! Sounds like a great way to start the day! AND, I love Cameron's popcorn bucket pictures, adorable. REally enjoying your TR, and glad you will try my hints at being the rebel spy. You have to be REALLY quick to buckle up and sit absolutely still. Good luck

 

[plaz10]

Your kids are ADORABLE!!

Aw thank you! I’m glad you say that because it won’t be the last you see of them on a trip report they didn’t attend!

Oh those popcorn pics!! Sooooo cute!

She was obsessed. It was always a first stop! Made waiting in lines a little more tolerable with a toddler.

"Alright so obviously we loved it. Even my hard to impress husband said “that’s not a ride that’s an experience.” Lived up to the hype 100%. Must do."


Exactly how I felt!

Ugh I wish the whole boarding group stuff was less anxiety inducing but it’s so worth it!

Ok Jess, I'm here for this!! Even though I basically talked to you already about it and lived vicariously through you on IG! haha.

Between you and @fractal I am SO EXCITED to (hopefully) ride Rise!! EEEEEEKKKK!!

Also just booked The Wave. Can't turn down bottomless mimosas

Honestly probably more content on the IG story haha.
And we’ve already talked about the mimosas but I can’t recommend it enough. Great location, food and bottomless mimosas! It checks all the boxes!

You got me at the mimosas! I love champagne, especially with OJ! Sounds like a great way to start the day! AND, I love Cameron's popcorn bucket pictures, adorable. REally enjoying your TR, and glad you will try my hints at being the rebel spy. You have to be REALLY quick to buckle up and sit absolutely still. Good luck

I honestly thought “refillable mimosa” would mean 1 refill. Which at a $12 mimosa is still a deal and I asked “is it 1 refill?” He said “or 2 or 3 or 4. Whatever you want.” Which was the right answer. Haha!

 

[plaz10]

Now it’s not just time to fly – it’s time to SOAR!

We really adore this attraction but it made us both miss the kids. When Cameron was in my belly and we didn’t know the gender yet – we went to both Disney World and Disneyland in about a 2 months span…and lovingly nicknamed the baby “Jumbo Jr.”

We joked the shirt was for the baby who had gone Coast to Coast before she was even born! It was actually from both Star Wars races (Kessel Run) earlier that year.

Cameron’s nursery is all done in Dumbo theme too.

Alright moving on! Bill had a request…for an attraction that I’m not a fan of and he always asks to do and I tell him no because it’s stupid. I stand by that but since it was a walk on…I said OK

I’d also like to point out that A – It’s still stupid B – the most exciting part is seeing some Tron construction and C – the HOTTEST experience of the entire trip was the 20 seconds sitting in the blazing hot sun waiting to park our car at the end. We needed AC and fast…

 

[plaz10]

Magic Kingdom continued:

And since we’re RIGHT HERE…

Now remember when I told you how good I was at Toy Story Mania? For as good as I am at TSMM…I’m that terrible at Buzz. And I know where all the big targets are. AND I HAVE NEVER BEEN A GALACTIC HERO. And I’m not even bitter because it’s in my control and I’m just super terrible at this game. I did beat Bill but anything less than 999,999 is failure. Therefore, I’ve always failed.

This is my galactic hero!

Let’s just finish up our space travels
Another photo did not show up. And I think I was looking at the right camera this time. Oh well.

Bill requested another snack and some AC. So we decided to do something I never do and that’s eat at Cosmic Rays. I really do not like this place for the reason it’s always so crowded and the food is never great. Well at least 1 of the problems will definitely not be there. So we mobile ordered and headed on it.

We split the hotdog and fries with a (Mary Blair!) coke.

It was fine. Bill ate a little more of the hotdog than I did and I ate more fries than he did.
Sorry Sonny…still not that great. But thanks for the AC break my dude!

Time to go see my fav girl…

Not her.





There she is.

 

[plaz10]

Magic Kingdom continued:

Back to (old?) Fantasyland to see another favorite.

This is a little nostalgia bomb for me – As it’s my mom’s favorite attraction. She went to the Worlds Fair and rode it and it reminds her of her mom (who’s not longer with us) so she gets very sentimental about it. It’s also Cameron’s favorite ride.

We rode it a TON in Florida AND we watch a ridethrough on YouTube on the daily. (Another YouTube video we watch every day is “Jungle the Boat” and the particular video she always picks has the WORST skipper ever. The video is shot very well but the skipper and audience are DUDS. And I’ve tried showing other ride throughs of Jungle Cruise but she tells me that’s the wrong one.)

It was a little after 5 and the park closed at 7 to time to hit a few more must do’s…

And even though we had ADRs at 7…we just couldn’t pass them up.

Pineapple and Raspberry respectively.
Bill recently had a “Fruit Whip” Pineapple beer from a local brewery and it tastes pretty spot on!

 

[plaz10]

Magic Kingdom continued

A few nearly empty hub pictures - so weird to see the hub like this while the park was still very much open

We’re smiling...probably.

A stop at the Tangled toilets.

Haunted Mansion was a walk on and then it was off to Neverland.

(Again no photo.)

 

[plaz10]

Magic Kingdom continued:

By now the park was closed. Time to eat!

Our dinner tonight was…

I purposefully picked a 7pm ADR with a 7pm closing so we could see some Main Street lights on our way out. I personally wanted Liberty Tree but I know Bill thinks Liberty Tree is just OK and prefers a more eclectic menu and being the great wife that I am…obliged. (I like Skipper Canteen too just LTT more.)
Seated in the Sea room – I’ve only ever been sat in the mess hall all my previous visits so I was excited.

We got the run down from the Skipper and he mentioned the Brazilian cheese bread as an appetizer…and I knew from @ajrwdwgirl TR that it was good and apparently not always there so I ordered that (without consulting Bill) and the Tastes like Chicken. Bill had the noodle bowl (half chicken half tofu). Now I failed to take pictures of our food because we were so hungry when it arrived. Why were we so hungry? Because he forgot our cheese bread.

A runner brought our entrees and when he came to check on us I inquired about the bread. He looked very confused and then apologized profusely and went to put in the order. He came back to apologize again and said with his mask and the face shield that he didn’t hear me order the bread but no worries it was in and he wouldn’t charge us.

My chicken was just OK. As it was just OK the last time I got it. But I knew I liked it even if I didn’t LOVE it so I didn’t try anything new. I only ate half. Which ended up being a great thing…

BECAUSE THIS CHEESE BREAD IS AMAZING. We ate it all. Whatever the dip is is fantastic. And then when Skipper who’s name I clearly don’t remember came to collect plates he said “I’ll be back with dessert” and we were ready to decline when he brought us 2 actual desserts that he said were also on the house as an apology.
Kungaloosh and the Coconut Bar

Both good – Kungaloosh definitely better. I had never ordered dessert here because none of them really spoke to me and the Kungaloosh was supposed to have a “coffee dust” on it and I don’t like coffee. Well I tasted no coffee and declared that the winner!

Now stuffed beyond belief we headed out to grab a few MK dusk photos before headed out of a closed Magic Kingdom.

(Alexa play “I Will Remember You” by Sarah McLaughlin)

Back to the hotel and off to bed. We would finally accomplish Bill’s dream morning at Disney…sleeping in and not rushing!

Up Next: This, my BAEship Earth.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Magic Kingdom continued:

By now the park was closed. Time to eat!

Our dinner tonight was…
View attachment 499228
I purposefully picked a 7pm ADR with a 7pm closing so we could see some Main Street lights on our way out. I personally wanted Liberty Tree but I know Bill thinks Liberty Tree is just OK and prefers a more eclectic menu and being the great wife that I am…obliged. (I like Skipper Canteen too just LTT more.)
Seated in the Sea room – I’ve only ever been sat in the mess hall all my previous visits so I was excited.
View attachment 499229
We got the run down from the Skipper and he mentioned the Brazilian cheese bread as an appetizer…and I knew from @ajrwdwgirl TR that it was good and apparently not always there so I ordered that (without consulting Bill) and the Tastes like Chicken. Bill had the noodle bowl (half chicken half tofu). Now I failed to take pictures of our food because we were so hungry when it arrived. Why were we so hungry? Because he forgot our cheese bread.

A runner brought our entrees and when he came to check on us I inquired about the bread. He looked very confused and then apologized profusely and went to put in the order. He came back to apologize again and said with his mask and the face shield that he didn’t hear me order the bread but no worries it was in and he wouldn’t charge us.

My chicken was just OK. As it was just OK the last time I got it. But I knew I liked it even if I didn’t LOVE it so I didn’t try anything new. I only ate half. Which ended up being a great thing…
View attachment 499230
BECAUSE THIS CHEESE BREAD IS AMAZING. We ate it all. Whatever the dip is is fantastic. And then when Skipper who’s name I clearly don’t remember came to collect plates he said “I’ll be back with dessert” and we were ready to decline when he brought us 2 actual desserts that he said were also on the house as an apology.
Kungaloosh and the Coconut Bar
View attachment 499234
View attachment 499235
Both good – Kungaloosh definitely better. I had never ordered dessert here because none of them really spoke to me and the Kungaloosh was supposed to have a “coffee dust” on it and I don’t like coffee. Well I tasted no coffee and declared that the winner!
View attachment 499240
Now stuffed beyond belief we headed out to grab a few MK dusk photos before headed out of a closed Magic Kingdom.
View attachment 499241
View attachment 499242

(Alexa play “I Will Remember You” by Sarah McLaughlin)
View attachment 499243

View attachment 499244
Back to the hotel and off to bed. We would finally accomplish Bill’s dream morning at Disney…sleeping in and not rushing!

Up Next: This, my BAEship Earth.

I'm glad that the cheese bread is back at Skipper Canteen, we were told it wasn't when we went in early August and even better that you liked it!

 

[angieandtrevor]

YAY!!! A Jess Report

 

[BigDis]

Just "stumbled" upon your TR and I am thoroughly enjoying it. We have been going to Disney World for many years. My first trip was in 1973. Reading your comment about things getting back to normal and being able to make many memories at Disney World with your children reminded me of our family. We took our older two children for the first time in 1995 and we instantly became a "Disney family." Avatar is a picture of us in January of this year before the pandemic and social distancing and masks! As you can see our children are grown now...we added another son 6 years after our first trip in 1995 and most recently a son-in-law. We joked that he wasn't allowed into the family until he proclaimed that he loved Disney too. He actually proposed to our daughter in front of the castle. This year's trip was his second trip with us as a family and he and our daughter have gone twice without us. I say all this because we have enjoyed many trips to Disney World over the years and now as adults, our children continue the family tradition of Disney trips together with us. We have so many great memories.

 

[plaz10]

I'm glad that the cheese bread is back at Skipper Canteen, we were told it wasn't when we went in early August and even better that you liked it!

It was SO good. If I had a guarantee it would be there next trip...I would go just for that. Maybe order just appetizers as my meal!

YAY!!! A Jess Report

My insta story probably had more content than this TR will haha.

Just "stumbled" upon your TR and I am thoroughly enjoying it. We have been going to Disney World for many years. My first trip was in 1973. Reading your comment about things getting back to normal and being able to make many memories at Disney World with your children reminded me of our family. We took our older two children for the first time in 1995 and we instantly became a "Disney family." Avatar is a picture of us in January of this year before the pandemic and social distancing and masks! As you can see our children are grown now...we added another son 6 years after our first trip in 1995 and most recently a son-in-law. We joked that he wasn't allowed into the family until he proclaimed that he loved Disney too. He actually proposed to our daughter in front of the castle. This year's trip was his second trip with us as a family and he and our daughter have gone twice without us. I say all this because we have enjoyed many trips to Disney World over the years and now as adults, our children continue the family tradition of Disney trips together with us. We have so many great memories.

I absolutely cherish all my memories with my first born at Disney so far. It broke my heart to not take my son as I took Cameron when she was six months. All in good time it will be time for my kids to go back to Disney. For now the safest thing for them is at home (or at Grandmas) but I can’t wait to take them back!

 

[Dave B]

Magic Kingdom continued:

View attachment 498471
View attachment 498472
View attachment 498473

Our ride photo never showed up!
I will miss this attraction very much. I love Tiana and am not surprised an attraction is getting an update with a more current and popular movie ala The Living Seas, Maelstrom and El Rio de Tiempo to name a few. My biggest hope is that this attraction is done WELL. Splash is so detailed with so many animatronics – I hope the same detail is paid to the new attraction. So Disney if you’re taking Splash, please put in the time and work and money into making it another amazing attraction. I don’t want you to rush it with screens and such just to get it done. [Hops off soap box]

The sign had said a 45-minute wait but we only waited 25. When we got off it was up to 60. Big Thunder had about a 35-minute wait and we weren’t feeling the outdoor queue for that long so we bailed out of Frontierland. (Don’t come at me with pitchforks but we never did hit Big Thunder this trip and neither of us really minded…it’s really my least favorite mountain)


We went to see some grin grinning ghosts instead! They were using the extended queue but it was constantly moving.
View attachment 498474
View attachment 498475
View attachment 498476
Gotta shout out my haunted mansion shoes while “waiting” for the attraction. And I’m now realizing I never took a picture of my star wars shoes with a star wars physical distance marker. Well…here’s a pic of the shoes I wore to Studios.
View attachment 498477
Back to regularly scheduled haunting
View attachment 498478
I took a video of the walkthrough of the stretching room. It was actually nice to walk into a very empty queue instead of the clusterf*ck that usually happens when the door opens

On to Fantasyland! Small World and Peter Pan both had lines outsides. We’ll be back.
Only a 20 min wait for the silly ol’ bear. (Only took about 10)
View attachment 498479
There was a large (in numbers) family in front of us. The mom was facetiming in queue. Her (I’m guessing) 2 year old...with no shoes on...kept just running away into the queue. And no one noticed. The crowd was all “ok honey go back to your mom” and also thinking “don’t touch me” and “COME GET YOUR KID” And put on some shoes. Once they can and are walking - ya need shoes.
View attachment 498480

Where did you find the Haunted Mansion shoes, they are amazing and my wife will fall over in her tracks if I can find her a pair

 

[fractal]

Great idea on the late reservation to see the Main Street lights!

 

[flowergirl45]

That cheese bread and dip looks delish!

 

[plaz10]

Where did you find the Haunted Mansion shoes, they are amazing and my wife will fall over in her tracks if I can find her a pair

They were a runDisney shoe released by New Balance during one of the race weekends a few years ago. You can find some on eBay or Mercari perhaps! I know a few years ago some were released to New Balance outlets so you could try there although I’d consider that a long shot. Good luck!

Great idea on the late reservation to see the Main Street lights!

I’ve seen on Instagram that you could still make 7 pm ADRs even with the new 6pm closing. Park is EMPTY.

That cheese bread and dip looks delish!

It was the highlight of the meal! I hope it becomes a staple on the menu because I’d go back just for that!

 

[plaz10]

Another delay…another apology…another thread of pictures of my kids from the past week to make up for it…

 

[plaz10]

OK on with the show!

Last Disney day!
EPCOT – BEST COT…or something like that.

EPCOT is my #1. Even with all the construction walls – its my fav. But originally when this trip was only 2 park days…it was MK and DHS no contest. EPCOT was our most visited when living in Florida due to easy parking, lower crowds and the 2nd most rides Cameron can ride.
BUT they didn’t open until 11. Which meant actual sleeping in! Bill was very excited. We were both up by 8 anyway and down to the hotel pool at 9.

We saw cabanas and day beds open and looking very inviting. We inquired about them and he said (or we thought he said) if they’re open…they’re open. I’m not sure what he actually said but it wasn’t that. So we set up shop here.

Laid and read a bit. I started a new book “The Guest List” and devoured it on the plane home. Highly recommend. We went swimming for a little and when we returned to our day bed we learned from the hotel pool boy they had to be rented and all the day beds were already rented for the day. There was no one there to claim the bed but we felt super embarrassed and left. Oh well…it was almost 11 anyway and we wanted to head to be at EPCOT by 12:30.

This photo taken at 12:02pm

Ah. Even with all the construction walls…Spaceship Earth is my #1 park icon & attraction*

*Side story – My parents first took me to Disney World when I was in 3rd grade and I….wait for it…HATED it. Our first park ever was EPCOT and the first ride we ever rode was…Honey I Shrunk the Audience. Well that ruined me. Almost every ride (including Horizons…I barely remember any of it. For shame.) I closed my eyes and ears and wanted nothing to do with it. That includes Peter Pan’s flight. Yep that’s how scared I was of everything. Only 2 attractions did I love – Small World and Spaceship Earth. I thought since SSE was such a large structure that it was a big kid ride and I rode it and wasn’t scared. I thought it was the coolest. I still do. It wasn’t until a trip in high school that I really started liking Disney World and by the next trip I was in love.

 

[plaz10]

Epcot continued:
We had barely eaten anything all morning…just some snacks we had in the room so food was first on the agenda. And we started with an old favorite.

Pulled pork slider from Hawaii. Not pictured is Bill’s SPAM hash – a favorite of his. He was in line for these treats while I was in the Starbucks line. Color us shocked that I beat him!

Standing in a long line for hot food in Florida had us searching for AC. We found it at World Showplace.

Twix cake pop. 9/10

Buffalo chicken mac and cheese 5/10 and Lobster Mac and cheese 6/10
Both were good but neither WOWed us.


Now on my first trip to Disney postpartum with Cameron…(she was 2 months old –we left her with Grandma. Bill was interviewing for the fellowship he eventually got in Tampa) I got a ring carved with her name on it in Mexico. So I couldn’t wait to add a William ring to the same finger. We went to the carver – and after picking my ring and details he instructed us to go inside the pavilion and pay at any register (since the outside Mexico merch booth is closed). This wouldn’t be a problem except the line to get INTO the pavilion was back where Fiesta Donald usually meets. But he escorted us through the people and through the handicap entrance on the side and said to pay and bring the receipt out to him. We did that (and bought a Miguel plush for my nephew) and figured…we are already in here…

We joked that it was a $30 fastpass. Donald Ducks boat (as Cameron calls it) had only a 5 minute wait… but we estimated 15-20 to get into the pavilion itself.

Time to visit another one of Cameron’s favorite
– another Youtube ride through we watch on the daily

And now for some non Cameron favorites

Well first thing we did was Soarin and I swore I had pictures because we got B1 without asking and I was excited.
Oh well.

 

[plaz10]

Cameron finds this ride very boring. I usually have to give her a snack so she doesn’t act out. But it’s a fav of ours!
As we entered the greenhouse – we heard it POURING outside. So I pulled out my phone and mobile ordered us a snack because we weren’t leaving this pavilion anytime soon.

This is the slice of pizza and pasta salad. Not pictured is a bottled Coke. It tasted as good as it looks. It wasn’t inedible by any means and still better than PizzaRizzo but definitely not something I’m looking forward to eating again. But the pasta salad was tasty! The rain seemed to have died down and it was past the time we were able to pick up my ring so Viva Mexico!

There was a sign on the carver kiosk that said “be back at 5. Pick up ring inside” Again I’m not waiting in that line just to pick up my ring. I asked a CM and she escorted us in. And you guys know what happened next…

Hidden Mickey in the bongos!

We mainly rode again because I was filming on my Instagram story the animatronics at the end when Bill began tapping me on the shoulder very quickly – and it felt like the tap you give someone when they’re doing something wrong and a police offer is right behind you. He scared the crap out of me. But it was all to point out a hidden Mickey neither of us had ever seen. So I wanted to ride again to get a picture of it.

“I said Goodbye! Goodbye goodbye goodbye!”