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.

 

[Gurt]

Great report.

 

[Tuvalu]

Day Seven, con’t

No rope drop = no Arty Pooh.

However a 20 minute wait (which was actually less than that) at 2:30 pm is almost as good.

All the interactive elements in the queue were available again. They had been covered or roped off since last July.

Even grownups like playing with the bees….

….and the dripping honey.

Pooh must have spilt some honey in the Hundred Acre Woods. We were stopped twice on our journey.

#1

#2

 

[Tuvalu]

Our next destination can be seen through the trees.

But first PP pics.

A creative attempt to show Em waving to Ariel and Eric at the ride’s end.

I promise you she did!

 

[Tuvalu]

The humidity was awful when we exited Little Mermaid. Both of us were thirsty and we went in search of a cool drink. Friar’s Nook offered strawberry lemonade slushies.

The drink mix was definitely more lemonade than strawberry. (Maybe it should have been called “pink lemonade” instead.) I am one of the few people on the planet whose thirst is NOT quenched by lemonade. Lemonade actually makes me thirsty. Thus my slushy was very unsatisfying and after a few sips went right in the trash.

But we were entertained by Cinderella’s stepsisters as Em finished her drink.

We chose Mickey’s Donald’s Philharmagic mostly for the a/c.

Lots of other guests had the same idea. The theater was pre-pandemic full. And contrary to those who stop in the middle in order to have “the best view”, there is not a bad seat in the house.

Note: This is not a poor selfie. Em took this picture. Perhaps her slushy wasn’t non-alcoholic….

There was a guy near me who sported a funny t-shirt.

Hakuna Nodolla
It means no money
For the rest of your stay

(Admit it…..you just sang that in your head, didn’t you?)

 

[Tuvalu]

The skies were growing dark (see humidity above) so I suggested taking refuge next door in Peter Pan, since the queue was all under cover. The butterflies and bell shadows were back in the children’s nursery.

It was raining when we exited so we dashed across to It’s a Small World, which (to our surprise) was a walk-on.

Do enough people despise the song that the ride is not worth taking shelter in during a rainstorm?

Oh well. Quicker wait for us.

 

[Tuvalu]

Our last HM visit of the trip.

Would the third time be the charm for my ride photo?

Yep, not posting the unedited version AGAIN.

 

[Tuvalu]

We came upon the Rainy Day Cavalcade and my new favorite rain song (sorry, Pooh).

Trickle Trickle
Splash Splash
Tell me how long will this rain last?

(Spoiler alert: pretty much the rest of the night.)

 

[Billy6]

The humidity was awful when we exited Little Mermaid. Both of us were thirsty and we went in search of a cool drink. Friar’s Nook offered strawberry lemonade slushies.

View attachment 574041

The drink mix was definitely more lemonade than strawberry. (Maybe it should have been called “pink lemonade” instead.) I am one of the few people on the planet whose thirst is NOT quenched by lemonade. Lemonade actually makes me thirsty. Thus my slushy was very unsatisfying and after a few sips went right in the trash.

But we were entertained by Cinderella’s stepsisters as Em finished her drink.

View attachment 574042

We chose Mickey’s Donald’s Philharmagic mostly for the a/c.

View attachment 574043

Lots of other guests had the same idea. The theater was pre-pandemic full. And contrary to those who stop in the middle in order to have “the best view”, there is not a bad seat in the house.

View attachment 574044
Note: This is not a poor selfie. Em took this picture. Perhaps her slushy wasn’t non-alcoholic….

There was a guy near me who sported a funny t-shirt.

Hakuna Nodolla
It means no money
For the rest of your stay

(Admit it…..you just sang that in your head, didn’t you?)

Same on the Lemonade front...

 

[cgersic]

The drink mix was definitely more lemonade than strawberry. (Maybe it should have been called “pink lemonade” instead.) I am one of the few people on the planet whose thirst is NOT quenched by lemonade. Lemonade actually makes me thirsty. Thus my slushy was very unsatisfying and after a few sips went right in the trash.

But we were entertained by Cinderella’s stepsisters as Em finished her drink.

View attachment 574042

There was a guy near me who sported a funny t-shirt.

Hakuna Nodolla
It means no money
For the rest of your stay

(Admit it…..you just sang that in your head, didn’t you?)

I am 100% with you on lemonade. Soooo not a fan and makes me thirstier too. I am a groupie for the stepsisters. I'll follow them around just to hear their banter. Makes me miss the Citizens of Hollywood! And I'm wearing my tank top today that says Hakuna Matata on it and I sing it all day when I wear it, so I definitely sang along to the new version and love it!

 

[amjt660]

Yep, not posting the unedited version AGAIN.

Max

 

[Songbird76]

I am 100% with you on lemonade. Soooo not a fan and makes me thirstier too. I am a groupie for the stepsisters. I'll follow them around just to hear their banter. Makes me miss the Citizens of Hollywood! And I'm wearing my tank top today that says Hakuna Matata on it and I sing it all day when I wear it, so I definitely sang along to the new version and love it!

Have you ever had dinner at 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian? We LOVE that one because of the Step Sisters and Step Mother. The steps are just brilliant with their banter. We made our own autograph books for our 2019 trip with pictures from our previous trips. Drisella looked at a picture from the last time and says "Oh, look how adorable I look! But WHY is the Prince in my picture? He's ruining it!" And she shouts across the whole restaurant to the prince and shoves the autograph book in his face and demands to know why he ruined the beautiful picture of herself. It was hilarious. And my daughter wore one of those shirts that has the cut outs on the shoulders, and Anastasia told her it looked like the mice got to it and chewed it, and she should blame Cinderella, because she's always feeding them. If you haven't been there, I recommend it for the interaction with the sisters.

 

[lindawdw]

It took me two days to get to this point in your TR and I thoroughly enjoyed reading along!!! Even with all the rain that you both experienced on this trip, it didn't hinder you from all the fun activities you did throughout your days and nights! I can't get over how bad the elevator service was at WL this trip! I'm glad to see so much of the plexiglass coming down and things feeling more normal at WDW! You'll be back in the bubble before you know it with an August trip planned!!!

 

[Tuvalu]

Day Seven, con’t

Em and I followed the cavalcade across the Liberty Square bridge.

It rained on our parade.

By the time we reached Tomorrowland the drops had slowed to a light sprinkle.

How many times did we ride the Peoplemover today?

How many times this vacation?

Took this for Woody. It’s his favorite part of the ride.

More views.

One last castle pic as we made our way to dinner.

 

[Tuvalu]

This was another last minute ADR.

Our dinner at Tony’s last summer was meh. We knew we were taking a risk by booking an ADR here. But we were tired of eating QS food.

The bread was stale. Our meal was not starting off very well.

Service was better than last summer, although that is not saying much. The CM who assigns tables was having a rough time. They were clearly new at their job.

On the upside, my steak medallions and roasted potatoes were quite tasty. I am not a fan of broccolini (which seems to be the veggie of choice at most WDW restaurants now) and wished I had asked our server to hold it. It was a ridiculously hefty portion.

Em had spaghetti and meatballs. The meatballs were too spicy for her liking.

Ice cream is refreshing after consuming spicy food. Tony’s had gelato….

….or in this case cheap store-brand ice cream. It did not have the rich chocolate taste of true gelato. Certainly not worth $7 a scoop!

We’re gonna pass on Tony’s for awhile.

 

[cgersic]

Have you ever had dinner at 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian? We LOVE that one because of the Step Sisters and Step Mother. The steps are just brilliant with their banter. We made our own autograph books for our 2019 trip with pictures from our previous trips. Drisella looked at a picture from the last time and says "Oh, look how adorable I look! But WHY is the Prince in my picture? He's ruining it!" And she shouts across the whole restaurant to the prince and shoves the autograph book in his face and demands to know why he ruined the beautiful picture of herself. It was hilarious. And my daughter wore one of those shirts that has the cut outs on the shoulders, and Anastasia told her it looked like the mice got to it and chewed it, and she should blame Cinderella, because she's always feeding them. If you haven't been there, I recommend it for the interaction with the sisters.

No, I haven't! That sounds like a wonderful time though! I'll have to look into it for the next trip if they are still doing it? Thanks for the tip!

 

[Tuvalu]

Before leaving Tony’s we checked wait times on the app.

If that wasn’t a sign that it was time to leave the park, I don’t know what was.

Oh yeah, rain.

And a rolling thunder and lightning show across Seven Seas Lagoon as we headed to the bus.

Sometimes it’s easier to leave when the decision is made for you. Em and I had had a great week. It was time to go home.

After one final sleep at the Lodge, we did just that.

 

[MinnieM123]

Love your photo (above) of the WL lobby. Had a bit of deja vu -- brought me back to the first time I stayed there, which was about 5 weeks after they first opened up the hotel -- in 1994. Still, to this day, I think WL has the most magnificent lobby. The views from above on higher floors, or on the ground level -- all are stunning.

 

[lindawdw]

Sorry your meal was just OK at Tony's. In all the years that I've been going to WDW which began in 1975, I have never eaten at Tony's because it just never had a great reputation food wise. There is no lobby at WDW that can rival the feeling you get when you walk into The Wilderness Lodge!!! I truly love following along on your TR's.

 

[amjt660]

@MinnieM123
I agree the WL lobby is stunning - I have only visted for a meal - never stayed - but it reminds me of the Grand Californian at DLR.

Max

 

[susan lees]

The skies were growing dark (see humidity above) so I suggested taking refuge next door in Peter Pan, since the queue was all under cover. The butterflies and bell shadows were back in the children’s nursery.

View attachment 574048

It was raining when we exited so we dashed across to It’s a Small World, which (to our surprise) was a walk-on.

View attachment 574049

Do enough people despise the song that the ride is not worth taking shelter in during a rainstorm?

Oh well. Quicker wait for us.

View attachment 574050

S0 firstly you got us singing Hakuna nodolla and now I've got it's a small world stuck in my head