Trip Report A Friend Like Her *COMPLETED*

“Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”
~ Forrest Gump

Ah, February. The month of heart-shaped boxes of chocolate. The month of romance and love. The month of someone’s Valentine birthday.

The month of the crappiest weather in 95 percent of the country. Including Florida.

The month in which another mother/daughter jaunt to WDW brought unexpected surprises.....some great, some not-so-great....much like biting into a piece of boxed chocolate.

Much like life itself.

I’d LOVE to have you follow along on our long-weekend adventure.

Who: Tuvalu and Em (with special appearances by a dear friend)
When: January 31 - February 4, 2020
Where: Disney’s Pop Century Resort

 

[MissViv]

I have always LOVED the Carousel of Progress. I was amazed by it the first time I saw it in 1973. Hope it never leaves!

 

[Ears to Disney]

I am here and the excitement is real!!!

WTH??!!

NOOOO!!! That is no fun at all!

Getting breakfast to go was the way to go!

They are EVERYWHERE!

Actually it was neither of them. It was ME!!!!! I was about to experience my first evacuation from BTMRR! (It wasn’t my first ride evac though.....that honor goes to Test Track.)

What a dream! We had been "Frozen on Frozen" before...but a BTMRR evac is a dream!

Look how high the grey stuff towers atop my Master’s cupcake!

That looks delicious!!! Now I want a Masters Cupcake real bad! (Searches MDE for an ADR for our March visit!)

 

[amjt660]

But our constant chick chatter made the time pass quickly.

OR

Max

 

[Sulley_1313]

Oh my, those leggings are so cute! I'm in!

 

[LeighM]

Enjoying your trip report!

 

[SMJS]

Free

There was a noticeable increase in park crowd size when we left Haunted Mansion and returned to Fantasyland. Kel had never been Unda the Sea. The wait was posted 30 minutes but it couldn’t possibly be that long, right?

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Wrong. Though there weren’t a lot of people in the standby queue, there WERE a lot of people with Fastpasses. But our constant chick chatter made the time pass quickly.

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Em must have told Kelly about waving to Ariel and Eric at the end. Both of them did, but I wasn’t fast enough to document it with a picture.

Speaking of fast, Em and I were constantly left in the dust by Kel as we moved from attraction to attraction. Both Em and I keep a brisk pace when park touring but we had intentionally slowed down today for our friend. Kel had a hip replacement a few years ago (and is due to have the other hip replaced) and we didn’t know if she could keep up with us.
Well the joke was on us! Several times we turned around expecting to find Kelly behind us, only to see that she was actually many feet ahead. She was quite proficient in darting through crowds. We started calling her the Energizer Bunny. (There’s hope for you, @JenniferS! )

Kel made it to Space Mountain before Em and I did. She had a FP which she offered to Em. Em went off with Kelly’s band while we waited for her in the gift store at the exit.

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Then we went for a spin on the Peoplemover.

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Kelly remembered the Carousel of Progress but could not recall the last time she was inside. The doors for the next show had just opened and our Energizer Bunny raced up the ramp and secured us seats in the first row.

I had seen a recent photo of the girl turning laundry who had lost her hand. Apparently she wasn’t maimed for long.

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Here is a cat I never noticed until today! Proves that there’s always something new for veterans to discover.

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I love love love Carousel of Progress.

 

[Tuvalu]

I have always LOVED the Carousel of Progress. I was amazed by it the first time I saw it in 1973. Hope it never leaves!

I love love love Carousel of Progress.

Agree! CoP is a fave!

Oh my, those leggings are so cute! I'm in!

Enjoying your trip report!

Glad to have you both along for the ride.

 

[Tuvalu]

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OR

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Max

Was gonna say #2, but actually they both apply!

 

[KellBelle]

Along for the ride! Can't go wrong with a friend named Kelly or Kelli or Kellie

 

[93boomer]

I thought I had the perfect suggestion for what to do next.

It was raining....we were wearing raincoats....why not Splash Mountain?

I’ll tell you why, Tuvalu. Splash Mountain’s closed for refurb!

Ok. Plan B.

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Plan B required traversing Frontierland....in a downpour.....through giant puddles. Socks and shoes? Soaked. Our feet remained squishy wet until we returned to Pop in the late afternoon, when we were able to towel off and put on fresh socks and footwear.

In the meantime, all we could do was laugh.

I told Kel to pose for the ride photo. (“There’s a ride photo?”)

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I want it noted that I NAILED IT! Take that, little miss Em-I-know-where-the-camera-is!

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Kelly was familiar with It’s a Small World. Modifications were being made to the queue so everyone had to use the FP entrance.

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But we standby guests had to queue outside in the rain.

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Though it wasn’t even close to lunchtime, we began discussing dining locations while waiting in line. Kel mentioned that she had never been to Be Our Guest, a place she and her daughter had wanted to see during a prior visit but couldn’t get reservations. On a lark I pulled out my phone and found an ADR! (Never give up!)

Happy gals ready for the Happiest Cruise That Ever Sailed.

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“Look, Kel, there’s your name!”

“OMG, how do they know I’m here?!”

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Magic, my friend. Disney magic.

You certainly did nail it girl!!!

 

[93boomer]

Why swap a Fastpass even though we’ve already seen this attraction today?

Cause we can never have too much Haunted Mansion!

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Ooooh, misty fog!

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I did not it this time.

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Our Doombuggies briefly stopped in front of the Hitchhiking Ghost mirrors.

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There was a Photopass CM at the exit. We put her to work.

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Why did she pose us hitchhiking left when the ghost is hitchhiking right?

And I just bragged how you had nailed it!

 

[93boomer]

And I am late— but caught up!! And I filled up your “like” box!

 

[Tuvalu]

Saturday, con’t

I forgot to mention in my previous post that there was no music during the first Carousel of Progress vignette. Poor John was singing a cappella....it was eerily odd.

I checked the app and saw that BTMRR was open so we headed that way. The Frontierland puddles weren’t as deep since the rain had stopped .

Attempt #2

Locked and loaded....

....Success!

During one of our earlier chick convos, Kelly confirmed she would be able to join us tomorrow at Epcot. Kel is a HUGE Star Wars lover, and I asked if she had visited Galaxy’s Edge. She thought the land was very well done and had ridden the Falcon a couple times as a single rider. But she had not experienced Rise of the Resistance and was clueless about the Boarding Group process.

“Are you interested in riding Rise?” I inquired.
She couldn’t get the word YES out fast enough.
“Even if it means getting up insanely early?”
“ABSOLUTELY!!!”

So after exiting BTMRR we went to the Passholder Guest Relations office in Liberty Square. We wanted to properly link our MDE accounts together in preparation for Boarding Group Madness the next day.

Then we got trapped by the Festival of Fantasy parade (another thing Kel had never seen) and watched from Sleepy Hollow.

(Yes Em, it’s MERIDA!)

(Hi Minnie! She’s waving at me!)

Kelly was very impressed by the FOF parade and promptly texted her daughter, “We HAVE to see this next time!”

 

[Loco_driver]

I forgot to mention in my previous post that there was no music during the first Carousel of Progress vignette. Poor John was singing a cappella....it was eerily odd.

This was the case for us last week as well. I really hope they put some work into COP soon. It’s sad seeing it fall apart.

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

The month in which another mother/daughter jaunt to WDW brought unexpected surprises.....some great, some not-so-great....much like biting into a piece of boxed chocolate.

Those are the best kind of mother/daughter adventures!! I'm gleefully preparing for one next week (though, not to the world).

She was all smiles as we waited to board our flight.

I would be, too!

What was surprising was the actual turbulence! It was so intense that I was shocked the flight attendants were able to serve us passengers at all. Props to them!

That's impressive that the Flight Attendants can get the water out so quickly!!

We stepped up to the desk and scanned our bands. DME had no record of our reservation. Either my TA forgot or I forgot, so it took a few minutes to put us in the system. I was glad no one was behind us, as I would have felt awful being “that person” who held up the line.

At least you got into the system, but I can imagine how frustrating that is, as I've been in similar situations myself.

Shouts of glee and big hugs all around when we reunited at City Hall. There’s mutual adoration between Em and Kel too.
None of us would allow a little rain to spoil our Disney parade

My mom has a friend like this who I absolutely adore! GREAT JOB on getting a BOG ADR!

Magic, my friend. Disney magic.

THE BEST KIND OF MAGIC IS DISNEY MAGIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Actually it was neither of them. It was ME!!!!! I was about to experience my first evacuation from BTMRR! (It wasn’t my first ride evac though.....that honor goes to Test Track.)
A CM made an announcement apologizing for the interruption and asked us to remain seated (as if standing up while constricted by a lap bar was an option) until help arrived.

EXCITING, although time-consuming, I imagine! At least you were stuck in the cave, and DRY!!!

When Kelly lifted her sleeve, the CM noticed Kel was wearing two bands and scanned them both “so your other family member can join you.” Yay for Pixie Dust!

PIXIE DUST IS EVERYWHERE, YOU just have to look!

Look how high the grey stuff towers atop my Master’s cupcake!

Grey stuff that towers high is another variation of PIXIE DUST!!!

Why did she pose us hitchhiking left when the ghost is hitchhiking right?

THOSE LEGGINGS ARE AMAZING!! , @Tuvalu

Here is a cat I never noticed until today! Proves that there’s always something new for veterans to discover

That's why we keep going back. It's a fun, happy place, but always something new to discover!!!

 

[Darstarr]

This was the case for us last week as well. I really hope they put some work into COP soon. It’s sad seeing it fall apart.

Me too!

 

[Tuvalu]

This was the case for us last week as well. I really hope they put some work into COP soon. It’s sad seeing it fall apart.

Me too!

 

[Tuvalu]

Those are the best kind of mother/daughter adventures!! I'm gleefully preparing for one next week (though, not to the world).

That's why we keep going back. It's a fun, happy place, but always something new to discover!!!

I liked all your comments but these two were my favorites.

 

[fractal]

Very late but very happy to check in on another @Tuvalu Trip Report!

Who knew there were posters of naked men at the airport?

 

[Tuvalu]

Saturday, con’t

Once the decision was finalized to arrive at DHS the next morning at zero-dark-thirty, Kelly said it was best to conclude her day with us now. Em and I were ready to leave as well as the park had reached Nutz status. I asked Em to take a remembrance photo of me and Kel with the Castle as the backdrop.

And then we found a Photopass CM so that Em could be in Castle pics with us.

On our way out, Kelly offered to drive us back to Pop Century. She said it would be a “practice run” for tomorrow, when she would pick us up on her way to DHS. So instead of making the long walk to the Pop bus gate, Em and I were able to jump on the express monorail with her. We didn’t need to board a tram at the TTC since Kel had snagged a close parking spot.

We were back in our room a little past 4 pm and found a treat that would please Forrest Gump.

The card was a “Welcome Back” from the Resort Manager. Em made sure the chocolates didn’t go to waste.