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]

Day One, con’t

When Em and I left Les Halles we were a little surprised to discover there had been no rain, though skies were still cloudy. Thunder had ceased as well.

We were ready to return to Pop as we were tired from our day of travel. Our goal had been to complete World Showcase….which we did….and save Future World for another time.

One of the reasons we had chosen Pop was for the Skyliner convenience when visiting Epcot. You can imagine our frustration as we approached the International Gateway and saw this:

UGGHHHH!!!

This is just wrong. I understand it is not safe to operate the Skyliner under certain conditions, but requiring guests to walk to the FRONT of the park (to the furthest bus gates, I might add) for transportation is NOT magical. At all. There should be a bus depot adjacent to the Skyliner station. (Oh wait, there was….in the 1990s! )

Annoyed, we started the trek through Future World. It began to sprinkle. I popped open my umbrella. When we passed the Seas pavilion I turned to Em and said, “I don’t want to find Nemo!”

“Me either,” she grinned.

Our moods improved when we saw a luxury motor coach waiting for us at the gate.

We boarded and I was immediately perplexed by an object on the back of the seats.

Opening it did not solve the mystery.

It was not a USB port. If it weren’t for a woman across the aisle, we never would have figured it out. She had placed a soft drink bottle in it.

It was a (working) cup holder.

The ones in front of us were broken cup holders.

The More You Know.

We made our way to Building 9 in the 80s section when the bus dropped us off at Pop.

The pool we would not be using. I believe we swam here on our first visit in 2004.

Woody owned this exact Sony Walkman. Albeit a much smaller one!

View from our room. We were in a quiet location.

Redundant room pics for @Nunu. I’m sure her room looked the same!

I’ve said before that I like the practical features of this room and the beds are very comfortable. It wasn’t long before Em and I were in them, watching the Opening Ceremony for the Tokyo Olympics.

 

[Gurt]

And I am back in

 

[Tuvalu]

Saturday, July 24 ~ Day Two

We awoke early and hungry. I pulled up the menu for the food court. Em and I aren’t big breakfast eaters on vacation and are satisfied with a pastry or muffin. We’d brought some breakfast items from home, but when we saw that double chocolate chip muffins were featured on mobile order we caved.

I offered to do pick up while Em made herself coffee in the room.

Everything Pop was a hybrid food court, rather than mobile order & pick up only. One of the five food stations was open for counter ordering.

The other stations were closed off to guests and used for mobile orders, the way resort quick service places have operated since last summer.

It was interesting to see lines at the cashiers again.

I grabbed our sealed to-go bag and returned to the room. I expected to find house-made double chocolate chip muffins inside, in the protective plastic containers used for muffins and cupcakes.

Apparently my expectations were unrealistic. Inside the bag were two of these ~

Prepackaged regular chocolate chip muffins??!!?

Another food disappointment. At least they weren’t stale.

About an hour later Em and I ventured back to the food court, this time for a happy reason.

We had an extended chick chat session with @Nunu!

Oh what a grand time we had! It came to an end only because Em and I had to pack up and vacate our room before eviction.

Until next time, my friend! Bring Frank along, will ya?

 

[Nunu]

Day One, con’t

When Em and I left Les Halles we were a little surprised to discover there had been no rain, though skies were still cloudy. Thunder had ceased as well.

We were ready to return to Pop as we were tired from our day of travel. Our goal had been to complete World Showcase….which we did….and save Future World for another time.

One of the reasons we had chosen Pop was for the Skyliner convenience when visiting Epcot. You can imagine our frustration as we approached the International Gateway and saw this:

View attachment 578762

UGGHHHH!!!

This is just wrong. I understand it is not safe to operate the Skyliner under certain conditions, but requiring guests to walk to the FRONT of the park (to the furthest bus gates, I might add) for transportation is NOT magical. At all. There should be a bus depot adjacent to the Skyliner station. (Oh wait, there was….in the 1990s! )

Annoyed, we started the trek through Future World. It began to sprinkle. I popped open my umbrella. When we passed the Seas pavilion I turned to Em and said, “I don’t want to find Nemo!”

“Me either,” she grinned.

View attachment 578761

Our moods improved when we saw a luxury motor coach waiting for us at the gate.

We boarded and I was immediately perplexed by an object on the back of the seats.

View attachment 578760

Opening it did not solve the mystery.

View attachment 578759

It was not a USB port. If it weren’t for a woman across the aisle, we never would have figured it out. She had placed a soft drink bottle in it.

It was a (working) cup holder.

The ones in front of us were broken cup holders.

The More You Know.

We made our way to Building 9 in the 80s section when the bus dropped us off at Pop.

View attachment 578755

The pool we would not be using. I believe we swam here on our first visit in 2004.

View attachment 578753

Woody owned this exact Sony Walkman. Albeit a much smaller one!

View attachment 578754

View from our room. We were in a quiet location.

View attachment 578756

Redundant room pics for @Nunu. I’m sure her room looked the same!

View attachment 578758

View attachment 578757

I’ve said before that I like the practical features of this room and the beds are very comfortable. It wasn’t long before Em and I were in them, watching the Opening Ceremony for the Tokyo Olympics.

Room pics are always appreciated!

Yes, my room looked the same, but we were a 'decade' away from each other!

 

[Nunu]

Saturday, July 24 ~ Day Two

We awoke early and hungry. I pulled up the menu for the food court. Em and I aren’t big breakfast eaters on vacation and are satisfied with a pastry or muffin. We’d brought some breakfast items from home, but when we saw that double chocolate chip muffins were featured on mobile order we caved.

I offered to do pick up while Em made herself coffee in the room.

Everything Pop was a hybrid food court, rather than mobile order & pick up only. One of the five food stations was open for counter ordering.

View attachment 578816

The other stations were closed off to guests and used for mobile orders, the way resort quick service places have operated since last summer.

View attachment 578817

It was interesting to see lines at the cashiers again.

View attachment 578815

I grabbed our sealed to-go bag and returned to the room. I expected to find house-made double chocolate chip muffins inside, in the protective plastic containers used for muffins and cupcakes.

Apparently my expectations were unrealistic. Inside the bag were two of these ~

View attachment 578819

View attachment 578818

Prepackaged regular chocolate chip muffins??!!?

Another food disappointment. At least they weren’t stale.

About an hour later Em and I ventured back to the food court, this time for a happy reason.

We had an extended chick chat session with @Nunu!

View attachment 578820

Oh what a grand time we had! It came to an end only because Em and I had to pack up and vacate our room before eviction.

Until next time, my friend! Bring Frank along, will ya?

View attachment 578821

I know you know, that I'm NOT a morning person, haha!, but leave it to you to have me smiling that "early" in the morning, and before coffee, nonetheless!

I had a wonderful time chatting and laughing with you and Em. Frank and I look forward to our next get-together, hopefully, soon!

 

[Swissmiss]

and before coffee, nonetheless!

That’s impressive! I am a morning person, but I need my coffee (which is also my quiet time) before I can be nice to other people

 

[TheMouseFan]

I knew exactly where you were going when you said you ordered the double chocolate chip muffins from Pop! Lily was not so gracious in her response to them!! She did, however, eat the entire thing without complaint once she started!

 

[Tuvalu]

I knew exactly where you were going when you said you ordered the double chocolate chip muffins from Pop! Lily was not so gracious in her response to them!! She did, however, eat the entire thing without complaint once she started!

 

[lindawdw]

Ugh, I can imagine the disappointment when approaching the Skyliner!

That package muffin didn't exactly look like the one you described in the mobile order menu!

So great that you got to meet up with Nunu!!! I love the beds at Pop Century!!!

 

[Tuvalu]

Day Two, con’t

I received our room number text while en route to resort #2. Boo ya!!

To recap, I booked us a five night stay when rumors began to swirl that fireworks would be returning in July. Em and I were ecstatic when Happily Ever After returned on July 1!

Then two days before our departure we were crushed to learn that HEA will be permanently retired on September 29.

SAY IT ISN’T SO!!!!!!

I could write a long vent about this decision but instead I will just say that Em and I were incredibly thankful to have this opportunity to say farewell to our favorite fireworks show.

As we turned onto the resort grounds I did not “take the picture that I always take” but that was only because I was driving!

When I made the reservation, my only option at the Wilderness Lodge was a standard view king room. There was no availability for any other room type and there was no discount. But WL is where we like to stay so we prepared ourselves for sharing a bed and a not-so-good view.

And after our first night Em declared, “I would always book a king room from now on!”

With only one bed, the room felt much more spacious than the room we had with two queens.

Our room had a desk which we found useful. Em liked the mirror placement over the desk rather than over the table (its location in the queen room.)

There was a chair with an ottoman. Unfortunately we found this chair too deep/elongated for our comfort.

There was the same stacked table but with only one chair. (The queen room had two.) This chair was also too deep for our liking, promoting Em to say, “The refurbed rooms are great, but it’s a swing and a miss on the chairs.”

(Confidential to @Captain Barbossa ~ No Country Bears print in this room either, but it did have Paul Bunyan!)

Plenty of space for two luggage racks between the dresser and kitchenette. Had this been a connecting room, a door would have been here.

I made sure to look in the closet and you were right, @Loco_driver. It was a clothes steamer, not an iron!

No clock, but no worries @MinnieM123. I brought my own!

The vanity area was exactly the same. We set the geode to the dimmest setting!

Our favorite feature was the stall shower. No tub with doors!

Happily, we had no issues with the a/c. It remained at the set temperature and never kicked off during the night!

How was the view?

Not too shabby!

A drawback to this room was its proximity to the loading dock. This is true for all standard view rooms on the lodge (non-DVC) side. Light sleepers may be awakened by after-hours deliveries. Be forewarned.

 

[MinnieM123]

Day Two, con’t

I received our room number text while en route to resort #2. Boo ya!!

To recap, I booked us a five night stay when rumors began to swirl that fireworks would be returning in July. Em and I were ecstatic when Happily Ever After returned on July 1!

Then two days before our departure we were crushed to learn that HEA will be permanently retired on September 29.

SAY IT ISN’T SO!!!!!!

I could write a long vent about this decision but instead I will just say that Em and I were incredibly thankful to have this opportunity to say farewell to our favorite fireworks show.

As we turned onto the resort grounds I did not “take the picture that I always take” but that was only because I was driving!

When I made the reservation, my only option at the Wilderness Lodge was a standard view king room. There was no availability for any other room type and there was no discount. But WL is where we like to stay so we prepared ourselves for sharing a bed and a not-so-good view.

And after our first night Em declared, “I would always book a king room from now on!”

With only one bed, the room felt much more spacious than the room we had with two queens.

View attachment 579280

Our room had a desk which we found useful. Em liked the mirror placement over the desk rather than over the table (its location in the queen room.)

View attachment 579281

There was a chair with an ottoman. Unfortunately we found this chair too deep/elongated for our comfort.

View attachment 579282

There was the same stacked table but with only one chair. (The queen room had two.) This chair was also too deep for our liking, promoting Em to say, “The refurbed rooms are great, but it’s a swing and a miss on the chairs.”

View attachment 579283
(Confidential to @Captain Barbossa ~ No Country Bears print in this room either, but it did have Paul Bunyan!)

Plenty of space for two luggage racks between the dresser and kitchenette. Had this been a connecting room, a door would have been here.

View attachment 579284

I made sure to look in the closet and you were right, @Loco_driver. It was a clothes steamer, not an iron!

View attachment 579289

No clock, but no worries @MinnieM123. I brought my own!

View attachment 579288

The vanity area was exactly the same. We set the geode to the dimmest setting!

View attachment 579286

Our favorite feature was the stall shower. No tub with doors!

View attachment 579285

How was the view?

Not too shabby!

View attachment 579287

A drawback to this room was its proximity to the loading dock. This is true for all standard view rooms on the lodge (non-DVC) side. Light sleepers may be awakened by after-hours deliveries. Be forewarned.

One of the times I stayed at WL, I had also booked a standard view room. Was about 2 floors above the loading dock. Didn't have any issues with night deliveries (unless I just slept through them all), but I did notice that they'd have some very early morning deliveries -- like around 5 or 6 AM. One morning it woke me up, but not any of the other 3 mornings. (Still, I didn't book a standard view after that.)

P.S.: That's a snazzy alarm clock you brought -- colorful LED display. (I have a similar clock at home with a light green display.)

 

[93boomer]

Day Two, con’t

I received our room number text while en route to resort #2. Boo ya!!

To recap, I booked us a five night stay when rumors began to swirl that fireworks would be returning in July. Em and I were ecstatic when Happily Ever After returned on July 1!

Then two days before our departure we were crushed to learn that HEA will be permanently retired on September 29.

SAY IT ISN’T SO!!!!!!

I could write a long vent about this decision but instead I will just say that Em and I were incredibly thankful to have this opportunity to say farewell to our favorite fireworks show.

As we turned onto the resort grounds I did not “take the picture that I always take” but that was only because I was driving!

When I made the reservation, my only option at the Wilderness Lodge was a standard view king room. There was no availability for any other room type and there was no discount. But WL is where we like to stay so we prepared ourselves for sharing a bed and a not-so-good view.

And after our first night Em declared, “I would always book a king room from now on!”

With only one bed, the room felt much more spacious than the room we had with two queens.

View attachment 579280

Our room had a desk which we found useful. Em liked the mirror placement over the desk rather than over the table (its location in the queen room.)

View attachment 579281

There was a chair with an ottoman. Unfortunately we found this chair too deep/elongated for our comfort.

View attachment 579282

There was the same stacked table but with only one chair. (The queen room had two.) This chair was also too deep for our liking, promoting Em to say, “The refurbed rooms are great, but it’s a swing and a miss on the chairs.”

View attachment 579283
(Confidential to @Captain Barbossa ~ No Country Bears print in this room either, but it did have Paul Bunyan!)

Plenty of space for two luggage racks between the dresser and kitchenette. Had this been a connecting room, a door would have been here.

View attachment 579284

I made sure to look in the closet and you were right, @Loco_driver. It was a clothes steamer, not an iron!

View attachment 579289

No clock, but no worries @MinnieM123. I brought my own!

View attachment 579288

The vanity area was exactly the same. We set the geode to the dimmest setting!

View attachment 579286

Our favorite feature was the stall shower. No tub with doors!

View attachment 579285

Happily, we had no issues with the a/c. It remained at the set temperature and never kicked off during the night!

How was the view?

Not too shabby!

View attachment 579287

A drawback to this room was its proximity to the loading dock. This is true for all standard view rooms on the lodge (non-DVC) side. Light sleepers may be awakened by after-hours deliveries. Be forewarned.

Love those showers! So much better to get in and out of. I always get the king rooms.

 

[Tuvalu]

Em and I had two goals for this vacation.

1. Watch HEA as many nights as possible
2. Lots of pool time (hopefully with sunshine!)

Today’s forecast had only a slight chance of precipitation. The pool was calling us.

Saturday, 11 am. I’m sure the parks were crowded, but the pool sure wasn’t!

Em had a new book. I knew someone might be curious, so I snapped a picture of it.

 

[Captain Barbossa]

(Confidential to @Captain Barbossa ~ No Country Bears print in this room either, but it did have Paul Bunyan!)

Had to do a double take. Thought that was some weird looking Eeyore behind him lol.

 

[Tuvalu]

There was a mix of sun and clouds for the first hour ~ even a very brief (less than a minute) rain shower.

But we had no complaints. We were relaxing and it was glorious!

I placed a mobile order for lunch at Geyser Point. When I walked over to get it I had a wildlife encounter.

Not of the holiday kind.

Ewwww. These things move FAST.

Lunch was a disappointment. I had specifically requested no sauce on my turkey sammie.

With no one to complain to I had to make do. Sweet Em offered to swap with me (can’t recall what she had) but I declined. At least one of us should eat something we wanted!

The sun came out warm and strong. Life was good again.

 

[Loco_driver]

I made sure to look in the closet and you were right, @Loco_driver. It was a clothes steamer, not an iron!

Light sleepers may be awakened by after-hours deliveries. Be forewarned.

I vividly remember being awakened at 6 AM every morning by the food delivery truck and the smell of the smoker throughout the day from our last stay on that side.

Ewwww. These things move FAST.

Oh man I really can’t stand those things. We have them everywhere at our place. They will absolutely destroy your lawn too! Fun fact, they will jump straight up
in the air when they are startled!

 

[Nunu]

Fun fact, they will jump straight up
in the air when they are startled!

 

[Tuvalu]

By late afternoon we were on a boat to MK.

We entered Town Square just as the flag retreat ceremony was beginning. The inclusion of a veteran to honor in this solemn event has been reinstated after having been paused due to the pandemic.

The Dapper Dans emceed and led the crowd in song. As always it was a moving experience and brought tears to our eyes.

 

[KMP]

I was at MK that day! It was my last chance to see HEA and there were definitely some tears. I've grown attached for the short period of time we've had it.

 

[Captain Barbossa]

When I walked over to get it I had a wildlife encounter.

Aww, isn’t leprosy cute though?

I assume that you had better sense and did not attempt to pet it, like I saw some woman do at EPCOT