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.

 

[Tuvalu]

Friday, July 23 ~ Day One

I had toyed with the idea of flying vs. driving for this vacation, since I’d already made the 16-hour round trip journey four times this year. But I’ve read so many stories of cancelled flights, long delays and crowded airports….not to mention my now-expired travel vouchers….that driving still seemed the better choice.

With the “savings” of not purchasing airfare, it made “cents” for us to add a bonus night at the start of our trip, granting us the full day of fun that we would have had if we’d flown.

I can always rationalize more days at Disney.

Woody was his typical supportive self. I knew Em would be all in. She happily took the wheel at 6 am and drove until our usual breakfast stop at Chick-Fil-A. The dining room that we’d eaten in just last month was now cut in half.

The former booth space had become a staging area for mobile orders. But there was a table next to the windows available for us. Our food was packaged “to go” which is currently how all CFA’s operate. We each ordered a chicken, egg and cheese biscuit. In our bag were the sandwiches, napkins, and two condiment packets.

Strawberry preserves on a chicken biscuit? That’s not our jam!!!

(We get chicken, egg and cheese biscuits all the time. This was a first!)

Em and I shared driving duty and she was in the driver’s seat on the last leg, which was an hour of stop-and-go turnpike traffic.

“I always get the traffic jams,” Em grumbled.

“I always get the rain,” I shot back.

We laughed. Driving is as susceptible to delays as air travel. At least we were in the comfort of our own vehicle, mask-free.

What a welcome sight!

A few minutes later we arrived at our first resort.

It was the best value for our “savings”.

 

[Sillysidewalker]

In for the bonus report! all the heart eyes for those fireworks pics!!

 

[ferbtones]

Thank you @Tuvalu for the link to the @TrolleyFollower91 report. Loved reading it.

And yay for bonus trip report.

 

[MinnieM123]

Strawberry preserves on a chicken biscuit? That’s not our jam!!!

(We get chicken, egg and cheese biscuits all the time. This was a first!)

No Shirley Status points for that place!

 

[amjt660]

Count me in for the bonus round

Max

 

[Tuvalu]

I had checked in online and received the Your room is not quite ready response shortly before we arrived at Pop Century. Of course we would have preferred to go straight to our room and unload the car. However we weren’t upset as “official” check in time wasn’t for another hour. We decided to hang out in the lobby for a bit and wait for the room text notification.

We had just walked through the door when I heard someone call my name. I turned around to see the sweet lady we’d missed out on seeing last month.

Hello, @Nunu!

Did we know our trips overlapped? Yes. Was this a planned meet? No! In fact @Nunu did not even know about our Pop reservation. (We had tentative plans to meet two days later when our park passes aligned.)

@Nunu and Em got acquainted and we had a delightful conversation. It ended only because @Nunu was on her way to meet other Magicians. Em and I changed our minds about hanging out in the lobby and headed for the Skyliner.

I was not in the mood to sing a rain song. Go away, clouds!

We behaved ourselves in the cabin and kept our masks on. At the transfer station we had to share a gondola. Can you guess where we went?

@riverside knows where we went. I sent her this picture and said we wished she were here with us!

(Confidential to @slipperalwaysfits ~ Great minds! )

 

[cgersic]

Wasn't expecting a bonus today!!! I'm so in!

 

[Disney Loving Swede]

I'm in!

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

YAY a new @Tuvalu tr!

 

[Loco_driver]

Great start to your bonus TR. Anytime you get to visit with @Nunu is a good time!

 

[Darstarr]

* @Darstarr ~ Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

With the “savings” of not purchasing airfare, it made “cents”

Strawberry preserves on a chicken biscuit? That’s not our jam!!!

However, you can not be forgiven for the above terrible puns.
You:

And yay for @Nunu ! How ya been????

 

[Tuvalu]

Day One, con’t

Em had grabbed a Food & Wine Passport booklet at the International Gateway and noted a few things she wanted to try. Unfortunately some of the items would not be available until October(!) so she concentrated on what we could sample.

First up was the homeland of some of my favorite Magicians.

Yay! The Northwest Mercantile had FINALLY reopened.

We browsed but did not buy. When Deliver to my Resort returns, our wallets may get a work out.

As much as I hate to see an attraction replaced by F&W offerings, I was excited to experience a Tuvalu first. I had never been inside the O Canada theater. I cannot tolerate 360 degree movies. As a child, attempting America the Beautiful in the Circle-Vision Theater (where Laugh Floor is now) did me in. But today I could enter the theater without the risk of getting sick. (Unless I over imbibed on the ciders, of course. )

The theater was lovely and festively decorated. Images on the screens were stationary.

We shared the cider flight.

All were tasty but none compared to my (hard-to-find) fave McKenzie’s Black Cherry. If only I lived in @Tiggerish
territory…..

Last pic for a Canadian friend.

 

[Tuvalu]

While on our way to our next destination, a sign caught Em’s eye.

She has a good friend whose name is Noodle. It’s not her given name but it’s the one she goes by. Perhaps feeling silly from be cooped up in car for 8 hours (or the ciders, hard to say which…) we did a mini photo shoot for Noodle.

 

[Nunu]

I had checked in online and received the Your room is not quite ready response shortly before we arrived at Pop Century. Of course we would have preferred to go straight to our room and unload the car. However we weren’t upset as “official” check in time wasn’t for another hour. We decided to hang out in the lobby for a bit and wait for the room text notification.

We had just walked through the door when I heard someone call my name. I turned around to see the sweet lady we’d missed out on seeing last month.

Hello, @Nunu!

View attachment 577686
Did we know our trips overlapped? Yes. Was this a planned meet? No! In fact @Nunu did not even know about our Pop reservation. (We had tentative plans to meet two days later when our park passes aligned.)

@Nunu and Em got acquainted and we had a delightful conversation. It ended only because @Nunu was on her way to meet other Magicians. Em and I changed our minds about hanging out in the lobby and headed for the Skyliner.

View attachment 577687

I was not in the mood to sing a rain song. Go away, clouds!

View attachment 577688

We behaved ourselves in the cabin and kept our masks on. At the transfer station we had to share a gondola. Can you guess where we went?

View attachment 577689

@riverside knows where we went. I sent her this picture and said we wished she were here with us!

View attachment 577690
(Confidential to @slipperalwaysfits ~ Great minds! )

I couldn't believe my eyes (and good luck!) when I saw you and Em walk through that door! Never mind that I was on my way to MK, running into you, and finally meeting sweet Em in person, was the most magical way for me, to start a WDW day.

 

[Tiggerish]

Say the word and I will ship, my friend!!

 

[Tuvalu]

A silly selfie.

Why is this silly, you ask? I thought I saw the Epcot monorail and wanted pictorial evidence. (Yes, friends, a few sips of cider is all it takes….)

I even made Em pose again hoping to catch a monorail. (Hey, the Epcot line had just opened 5 days earlier and I. WAS. EXCITED.)

Time for another libation.

A POG Mimosa, y’all. A chilled POG Mimosa!! This drink was fantastic and went down way too easily.

We pondered getting another one but decided against it since we hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast.

 

[Tuvalu]

Next we popped into Port of Entry to check out the Festival merchandise.

The store was also a prize redemption location for Remy’s scavenger hunt. We’ve done a couple scavenger hunts in the past and they are fun. What captured my attention was the increased cost for participation ~ $9.99 (plus tax) instead of the $6.99 we paid previously.

“It better be a heckuva prize!” I remember thinking.

WHERE IS THE REST OF THIS SHIRT??!!??

@riverside I think we have a new winner for “Stupid WDW apparel.” Far fewer people look good in a crop top than the amount of inventory in this store.

And while Lumière is adorable, neither Em nor I could figure out what this is supposed to be used for.

Em did make a purchase at my urging. You’ll see it later. While she was waiting in line to pay, I noticed four different snack-size bowls behind the register. Made of melamine, each sported bright colors and a Disney character or two. It occurred to me that these bowls were the prizes for the scavenger hunt.

“Oh I wish those bowls were for sale,” I motioned to Em. “Look how cute they are!”

The CM at the register overheard my comment. “If you want one, I can validate a card without you having to actually complete the scavenger hunt.”

SOLD.

But I couldn’t get just one. There are two Tuva-Tinys who eat snacks at my house.

So for $15.98 plus tax (after AP discount) I enjoyed watching Tuvalette and Tuvaleen squeal with joy over their new snack cups when they visited me the other day.

Worth every penny.

(Was tempted to use “cent” but I didn’t want @Darstarr to mock me again. )

 

[Tuvalu]

We had alcohol in our bellies. The next logical step would be to add chocolate, am I right?

Moist, sweet (though not overly so) with flavors that blended well together. We got this bread pudding delicacy from here ~

Em and I had a snack and a show. This Disney duck (@DisneyGigi) entertained us before settling down from its waddling.

You may recall we missed some Epcot attractions last month due to weather issues. My goal today was to hit them all. Since we were already in the neighborhood, this was up first.

Welcome to the Mexico pavilion labyrinth!

The signage indoors wasn’t any better.

This was the end of the line (or beginning of the queue) for the Three Caballeros boat ride.

 

[Tuvalu]

The convoluted arrangement required CMs to act as crossing guards.

The procedure was reminiscent of allowing guests to cross the street during a parade. Believe it or not, it was well executed.

SO. MANY. PEOPLE.

We hadn’t reached the actual ride entrance yet!

I thought this was an interesting angle for a picture.

Wonderful….the plexiglass that made the already-tight switchbacks even tighter had not been removed.

Wanna guess how long it took from outside into a boat?

Fifteen minutes. I wouldn’t have believed it if not for the time stamps on my photos. The labyrinth system worked.

Not only did we get front row seats, but our audio-animatronic friends were back (no more cardboard cutouts!)

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

This was the end of the line (or beginning of the queue) for the Three Caballeros boat ride.

The procedure was reminiscent of allowing guests to cross the street during a parade. Believe it or not, it was well executed.

SO. MANY. PEOPLE.

YES! I mentioned this same issue in my TR! We were really surprised at how quickly it took from entering the line to entering the boat...only about 15-20 minutes and it was well-executed. The CM's do a great job in here but it's still surprising that the ride has gotten so popular. MUST. ADD. MORE. KID. RIDES. ASAP.