Trip Report A New Hope, A New Day *COMPLETED*

That’s not a Star Wars reference.

Longtime readers of my trip reports know Star Wars isn’t my thing (although I immensely enjoy Rise of the Resistance.)

Fireworks are my thing. Like a moth to a flame, I am instinctively drawn to bursts of brilliant sparkles and colors in the sky. Just ask my family how quickly I’ve stopped whatever I’m doing to find the source of nighttime booms! I have serious fireworks FOMO.

Disney fireworks....especially Magic Kingdom fireworks....always flood me with nostalgia, happy memories and hope. After a long pandemic year, I know I am not alone in my yearning for hope of better days ahead.

Every step we take
Brings a new hope
A new day

The return of Disney fireworks, for me, is a sign that things are improving. Hooray!!

But there won’t be any pyro on my upcoming trip. And that’s ok. This vacation was booked with the assumption there would be no nighttime entertainment. (However when rumors began to suggest fireworks in July…..well let’s just say there might be another reservation in MDE for us.)

Who’s us?

Mother/daughter travel buddies, Tuvalu and Em. We last visited together in early April. We were there the day the mask mandate was dropped for stationary pictures.

Today the mask mandate for all those vaccinated has been suspended and we couldn’t be happier! We won’t have to be shrouded in a daft disguise again this summer!

I am not planning to do a full live report but may post a daily update. I’ll fill in the details when our vacation is over.

T-minus 3 days.
June 19 - 26, 2021
Disney’s Wilderness Lodge

Will any other Magicians make an appearance? Stay tuned.

 

[RememberWhen]

I love your failed PP pictures.

 

[susan lees]

So I'm late. Like super late. Between vacation last week, and attempting to pack to move and catch up on work, I've been MIA. But I'll catch up!

Me too!

 

[susan lees]

Day Two, con’t

The weather was lovely as we continued our walk around the lagoon. There was actually a cool breeze blowing. The promenade wasn’t crowded and soon we arrived.

View attachment 570541
(@amjt660 feel free to insert a comment regarding the CM manning the door.)

We have a fine selection of BBQ joints at home and didn’t expect Regal Eagle to WOW us. The food was tasty and worked to satisfy Em’s hankering for BBQ, but it won’t be a priority on future vacations.

I had the Kansas City smoked chicken and Em had the North Carolina pulled pork butt. There were variety of sauce options to add to the proteins.

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One’s hands can get sticky while eating BBQ. Fun Fact: Regal Eagle has a convenient hand-washing station near the side door.

The Berry Punch ~ white grape juice with strawberry, peach and blackberry ~ sounded refreshing.

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Except I didn’t care for it. Em offered to swap drinks with me. She’s a good daughter.

While not the main reason for choosing Regal Eagle, we were looking forward to dessert. And by we I mean me.

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The S’mores Brownie. A marshmallow dessert that is actually edible and makes you want s’more, especially if you’re sharing it….which we were.

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And it’s glitter-free.

So after a long hiatus I was so glad to see this trip report and start following along again. During last year I worked through pandemic and sadly lost my lovely wee mum (not covid related). We also had to cancel this year's trip to Grand Floridian which was for our daughters 30th birthday (UK so still can't come over). We've now re-booked for Coronado Springs next September and I need my Disney mojo back lol. I am loving this report so far.

 

[amjt660]

So after a long hiatus I was so glad to see this trip report and start following along again. During last year I worked through pandemic and sadly lost my lovely wee mum (not covid related). We also had to cancel this year's trip to Grand Floridian which was for our daughters 30th birthday (UK so still can't come over). We've now re-booked for Coronado Springs next September and I need my Disney mojo back lol. I am loving this report so far.

Welcome back - sorry to hear about your mum

Max

 

[Songbird76]

We continued our stroll around the lagoon and I attempted a couple pictures without the hideous barges….in remembrance of how the views used to be.

View attachment 570563

View attachment 570564

The wait for Frozen Ever After was 40 minutes. Pass.

We decided we’d save the Three Caballeros boat ride for later in the week. Mistake.

Two overgrown topiary displays.

#1
View attachment 570565

#2
View attachment 570566

Stopped for PP pics. Mistake?

This one’s okay.

View attachment 570567

But what in the heck is this?!!

View attachment 570568

The word, Olé! immediately springs to mind. At the time I thought we were posing for a Magic Shot.
There’s nothing magic about that shot.

Maybe it just didn't work? When we were at Epcot in 2019, we were at the China Pavilion and asked the PP guy to take pictures of us and he sat my son on a bench and told him to look next to him and down a bit like there was something on a bench and said he had a special picture just for him, but nothing ever showed up on the bench. It's just A staring randomly at the bench with a lot of empty space.

 

[amjt660]

When Tuvalu (aka the Queen of the TR's) says jump, the only response is "How high??"

Options are

1) I could really use a nap - American Adventure here I come!!!
2) Its true what they say - you do catch more flys with your mouth open!
3) OMG!!! - Tuvalu is coming toward me RIGHT NOW!! - I don't think I can handle this !!!

(looking for input from others on this one)

But what in the heck is this?!!

I'd like to by a vowel........




Max

 

[Ears to Disney]

The Regal Eagle looks so good and so does that brownie!! Definitely going to have to try during our next visit...if we don't over indulge in the F&W booths!

 

[cgersic]

So I'm guessing the 2nd S'more marshmallow layer was better than the 1st dessert? I just love seeing your smiling faces to start my day!

 

[susan lees]

Welcome back - sorry to hear about your mum

Max

Thank you. Tough times for everyone and seeing a glimmer of light at end of the tunnel now.

 

[Tuvalu]

So after a long hiatus I was so glad to see this trip report and start following along again. During last year I worked through pandemic and sadly lost my lovely wee mum (not covid related). We also had to cancel this year's trip to Grand Floridian which was for our daughters 30th birthday (UK so still can't come over). We've now re-booked for Coronado Springs next September and I need my Disney mojo back lol. I am loving this report so far.

So glad to see you again, Susan. I’m so sorry you lost your mum.
I hope your Sept. 2022 trip is the most magical vacation you’ve ever had.

Maybe it just didn't work? When we were at Epcot in 2019, we were at the China Pavilion and asked the PP guy to take pictures of us and he sat my son on a bench and told him to look next to him and down a bit like there was something on a bench and said he had a special picture just for him, but nothing ever showed up on the bench. It's just A staring randomly at the bench with a lot of empty space. View attachment 570751

That’s a Magic Shot fail for sure!

So I'm guessing the 2nd S'more marshmallow layer was better than the 1st dessert? I just love seeing your smiling faces to start my day!

Those s’mores desserts aren’t even in the same category.

 

[Tuvalu]

I'd like to by a vowel........
Max

The Regal Eagle looks so good and so does that brownie!! Definitely going to have to try during our next visit...if we don't over indulge in the F&W booths!

 

[Tuvalu]

Day Two, con’t

I asked Em if she wanted to ride Spaceship Earth. She said to add it to our “save list” for later in the week. (Spoiler alert: it’s still on the list.)

She offered to do Nemo with me instead. This would be a sacrifice for her. While I like the attraction, Em would rather avoid the Big Blue World.

I hesitated.

“You know you want to ride it,” she coaxed.

We headed towards the entrance and immediately regretted our decision. We were cut off by a large Latino family with two abuelas on ECVs.

The line behind us doubled in size as the grandmas s l o w l y navigated their ECVs through the twisty boardwalk at the beginning of the queue.

The snail’s pace continued in the dark, underwater room with multiple switchbacks.

Suddenly we heard a loud BANG!!

“One of them has hit a wall,” whispered Em.

What happened next was almost comical. The rest of this extended family continued walking on ahead, not bothering to check on the grandma who had gotten the ECV stuck against the wall. But perhaps they knew they didn’t need to….since the abuela literally leapt off the scooter and ran to catch up with them….leaving an adult male to figure out how to correctly maneuver the ECV. It was now blocking the path of everyone behind it.

He finally freed the scooter and managed to get it to where ECVs are parked before guests board the ride. Meanwhile the family had reached the moving sidewalk and was loudly chatting away in Spanish, ignoring CM’s repeated requests to board the clamshells. Not only was their behavior unsafe, they were essentially holding the rest of us hostage.

What should have been a walk-on attraction took 20 minutes.

It probably was the last time Em will ever suggest riding Nemo.

 

[pkkurz]

We continued our stroll around the lagoon and I attempted a couple pictures without the hideous barges….in remembrance of how the views used to be.

View attachment 570563

View attachment 570564

The wait for Frozen Ever After was 40 minutes. Pass.

We decided we’d save the Three Caballeros boat ride for later in the week. Mistake.

Two overgrown topiary displays.

#1
View attachment 570565

#2
View attachment 570566

Stopped for PP pics. Mistake?

This one’s okay.

View attachment 570567

But what in the heck is this?!!

View attachment 570568

The word, Olé! immediately springs to mind. At the time I thought we were posing for a Magic Shot.
There’s nothing magic about that shot.

Gives new meaning to, “Talk to the hand”

 

[Tuvalu]

Needless to say we left the park following the Nemo fiasco, though we were still laughing about it while waiting for the bus.

Our laughter continued once we boarded.

I suffered a mask malfunction.

A strap broke and I had to hold the mask against my nose all the way to WL.

There were just two others on the bus besides us. But I have mentioned before that I am a rule follower and I did not want to get in trouble.

Then this greeted us upon our return.

Ahh, the infamous Out of Order Wilderness Lodge elevator! And this time there were no “elevator cookies” on the table to placate frustrated guests. (I bet you remember that story, @MinnieM123!)

Not to worry, though. Em and I had a back-up cookie which we shared once we were in our room.

A sweet ending to our day!

 

[MinnieM123]

Ahh, the infamous Out of Order Wilderness Lodge elevator! And this time there were no “elevator cookies” on the table to placate frustrated guests. (I bet you remember that story, @MinnieM123!)

No placating elevator cookies either?!! I hope you called your attorney.

It's interesting about how many renovations and updates have gone on at WL for quite some time now. Apparently, someone forgot to include a refurb of that particular elevator, in the renovation plans!

 

[Tuvalu]

It's interesting about how many renovations and updates have gone on at WL for quite some time now. Apparently, someone forgot to include a refurb of that particular elevator, in the renovation plans!

Then both of those elevators went down for nearly two days….

 

[Tuvalu]

Day Three

We were at the bus stop early. We wanted to make rope drop.

We were headed towards the tapstiles a half hour before official opening time.

We passed “the sign.”

The one I had previously posted in our daily recap with the question, Did this sign make us happy or sad?

And prompted this response from @amjt660:

Max

To which I now reply:

There was no soup. There was no boarding group.

After hitting join, we got the dreaded spin as the app self populates the travel party. Disney should just display this on the app instead…..



….since every fraction of a second counts.

Well we could try again for a BG at 1pm, right?

Not today. We had late afternoon/evening plans and didn’t want to take away someone else’s opportunity to score a BG (that we wouldn’t be able to use.)

 

[Tuvalu]

Regular shot

Magic shot

At least we didn’t have to do a silly pose!

 

[Tuvalu]

We went to get in line for Slinky Dog. CMs were telling guests that Slinky would have a delayed opening, so we turned around and got in line here ~

Made it inside in less than 20 minutes. It was odd to see everyone close together again, since all physical distancing markers were gone. Em and I had only experienced MMRR under pandemic protocols.

We were excited to see the preshow in person for the very first time. We’d watched it on YouTube but you only get the full special effects in person.

Since I can never get the Spoiler feature to work correctly, skim quickly past the following two pictures if you want to be “surprised” on your next visit.

The plexiglass dividers were gone from the ride vehicles and we had a front row seat….

….enabling me to take a fave shot in Daisy’s dance studio.

 

[Tuvalu]

Em and I returned to Toy Story Land.

Slinky had not opened yet so we went for a saucy spin.

Happy to report no flying purse!

The standby wait for Midway Mania was 45 minutes. “If we have to wait in line for 45 minutes, I’d rather stand in line for Slinky in case it opens soon,” Em said.

Despite multiple warnings from multiple CMs (“We don’t know when Slinky will open. Wait at your own risk”) we joined the line.

The humidity was unbearable but our gamble paid off. Less than 30 minutes later we were on board!