Trip Report COMPLETE -- Long Time Lurker, First Time Reporter...March 2021 Trip

After reading many, many trip reports on here over the years, I have finally decided to come out of the shadows and make my debut as a bona fide trip reporter.

My name is Bryan. I am 36 and from outside of Philadelphia. I have had an AP for several years now but I came to Disney later in life. My first trip to Disney was not until 1999 when I was 14 as a present for graduating middle school. I believe we went in August and the biggest thing that stood out to me was how hot it was. Our family would not go to Disney again until 2003 as a high school graduation present. After that there were a few trips with friends during cooler months when my love for Disney really started to grow. It wasn't until 6-7 years ago that I went on a trip during the F&W Festival that I really became hooked. The following year I decided to purchase my first AP and have had one ever since.

Now that my brief introduction is done, here are the details for this trip:

When: March 4th-9th
Who: Me (Bryan), my mom (D), and my friend (A)
Where: Doubletree Suites by Disney Springs



This is a picture of the three of us from a few years ago. I am on the right and A is on the left. A is actually the person who is responsible for my Disney addiction. He was the one who got me into the joys of Disney as an adult and encouraged my AP purchase. After hearing stories from our trips, my mom decided to tag along and eventually purchased an AP of her own.

That brings me to the why of this trip (Not that there needs to be one...). My mom and my APs are scheduled to expire in the beginning of April after the COVID extension. My mom is on the fence about renewing her pass for various reasons but wanted to get one more trip in before our expiration date. Thankfully, we were lucky enough to not have any cancelled trips in the disaster that was 2020. My mom and I were in WDW the week before the world shut down and our planned October trip with A still happened.

Now that all of that is out of the way, I invite you to follow along...

 

[BwlrBry212]

DAY 5 -- MARCH 8TH

Sorry for the delay in posting. I had to work overnight Monday and Tuesday and have spent most of my time sleeping when I wasn't working. The only time I left the house since 6am yesterday was to get my second vaccine last night!

We woke up and got ready to head out to AK. AK is my mom's favorite park because she is a huge animal lover. For the past several years, my mom has been volunteering at our local zoo, the Elmwood Park Zoo for any PA people following along, in the diet prep kitchen making the food for the animals to eat. I know that she loves it because she willingly gets up early every Saturday morning all year long to volunteer. She has passed on her love of animals to me and for Christmas this year she got me an otter training and feeding experience at the zoo. I hope no one minds but here is a brief detour from this TR for some otter cuteness.

If I remember correctly, my mom is feeding the young female otter, Arya, and I am feeding the older male, Rocky. As cute as they are, we were instructed to make sure to never stick our fingers through the fence. They know that whatever comes through the fence is food and they will not hesitate to bite off a finger. They have also been know to rip the beaks off any wild turkey vultures foolish enough to venture into their enclosure and get too close. I don't have any pictures of it but if you see the little black box in the bottom right of the picture where I am feeding Rocky. This is a little door that Rocky is trained to stick his paw through into your hand so they can check his paw and they use it to draw blood as well. So, yes, I have shook hands with an otter.

Anyway, back to the TR. We arrived at the gate to the parking lot a little after park opening and we were met with our first line of the day. It took us about 15 minutes to get through the line of cars and into the parking lot. We were caught a little off guard because it was Monday and since crowds were light all weekend long that the trend would continue. This was not the case. Wait times were high for every attraction once we tapped into the park. We slowly made our way up the hill stopping to check out some of the animals including the baby babirusa that was featured on the Disney+ show.

The line for the safari already wrapped around Tusker House and down towards the Lion King theater so we decided to pass on that for now. We were all a little hungry/in need of caffeine so we made a pit stop at Joffrey's. A got some sort of coffee drink and my mom and I got sodas and a cinnamon roll to split. We took our breakfast over to the seating area for the Yak and Yeti QS. As we were sitting down, I noticed that my soda was a little short and it had been opened already. I went back over to Joffrey's and the CM quickly (almost too quickly) assured me that no one drank out of it and that they use the soda sometimes for alcoholic drinks. She gave me a fresh bottle and told me I could keep the used bottle if I wanted which I politely declined. I went back over to our table and dug into the cinnamon roll. It was pretty good but could have used some more icing but that is just my preference. While we were eating we were joined by some friends.

DISNEY DUCKS!

We finished up our food and our feathered friends quickly ditched us for the next table. Since we were in the area and wait times were still high, we went over to the Maharaja Jungle Trek. It was still early in the day and cool out so I was hoping that the tigers would be active. Thankfully, I was right and one of the tigers was pacing around. Please enjoy my artistic picture of the fence on the bridge that was photobombed by a tiger.

Clearly, I need to enroll in the @fractal School for Trip Reporting Photography.

My mom and I went into the aviary to make some more feathered friends. A bypassed this section. I think he was still traumatized from his poo at Pooh experience the day before. I snapped a few more pictures here that actually turned out pretty good.

I love how the big guy was just chilling on the bench like he owned it.

We finished the trail and decided to stay in Asia and check out the line for EE. The wait time was posted at 40 minutes which was lower than pretty much every other attraction so we ventured out to find the end of the line. Eventually, A and I found the end of the line back by the entrance to Dinoland. The line went into the Rivers of Light seating area, across into the queue for Finding Nemo, and then back across the bridge into Asia. The line moved surprisingly quick and we were on and off the ride in maybe 20 minutes. No ride photo showed up this time either. We joined back up with my mom who was waiting in the Rivers of Light seating area. I really hope they find some way to utilize that area in the future with another show or something.

NEXT: Another train ride, a surprise guest, and some AP goodies

 

[Adventure]

DAY 5 -- MARCH 8TH

Sorry for the delay in posting. I had to work overnight Monday and Tuesday and have spent most of my time sleeping when I wasn't working. The only time I left the house since 6am yesterday was to get my second vaccine last night!

We woke up and got ready to head out to AK. AK is my mom's favorite park because she is a huge animal lover. For the past several years, my mom has been volunteering at our local zoo, the Elmwood Park Zoo for any PA people following along, in the diet prep kitchen making the food for the animals to eat. I know that she loves it because she willingly gets up early every Saturday morning all year long to volunteer. She has passed on her love of animals to me and for Christmas this year she got me an otter training and feeding experience at the zoo. I hope no one minds but here is a brief detour from this TR for some otter cuteness.

View attachment 544296

View attachment 544297

If I remember correctly, my mom is feeding the young female otter, Arya, and I am feeding the older male, Rocky. As cute as they are, we were instructed to make sure to never stick our fingers through the fence. They know that whatever comes through the fence is food and they will not hesitate to bite off a finger. They have also been know to rip the beaks off any wild turkey vultures foolish enough to venture into their enclosure and get too close. I don't have any pictures of it but if you see the little black box in the bottom right of the picture where I am feeding Rocky. This is a little door that Rocky is trained to stick his paw through into your hand so they can check his paw and they use it to draw blood as well. So, yes, I have shook hands with an otter.

Anyway, back to the TR. We arrived at the gate to the parking lot a little after park opening and we were met with our first line of the day. It took us about 15 minutes to get through the line of cars and into the parking lot. We were caught a little off guard because it was Monday and since crowds were light all weekend long that the trend would continue. This was not the case. Wait times were high for every attraction once we tapped into the park. We slowly made our way up the hill stopping to check out some of the animals including the baby babirusa that was featured on the Disney+ show.

The line for the safari already wrapped around Tusker House and down towards the Lion King theater so we decided to pass on that for now. We were all a little hungry/in need of caffeine so we made a pit stop at Joffrey's. A got some sort of coffee drink and my mom and I got sodas and a cinnamon roll to split. We took our breakfast over to the seating area for the Yak and Yeti QS. As we were sitting down, I noticed that my soda was a little short and it had been opened already. I went back over to Joffrey's and the CM quickly (almost too quickly) assured me that no one drank out of it and that they use the soda sometimes for alcoholic drinks. She gave me a fresh bottle and told me I could keep the used bottle if I wanted which I politely declined. I went back over to our table and dug into the cinnamon roll. It was pretty good but could have used some more icing but that is just my preference. While we were eating we were joined by some friends.

View attachment 544304

DISNEY DUCKS!

We finished up our food and our feathered friends quickly ditched us for the next table. Since we were in the area and wait times were still high, we went over to the Maharaja Jungle Trek. It was still early in the day and cool out so I was hoping that the tigers would be active. Thankfully, I was right and one of the tigers was pacing around. Please enjoy my artistic picture of the fence on the bridge that was photobombed by a tiger.

View attachment 544308

Clearly, I need to enroll in the @fractal School for Trip Reporting Photography.

My mom and I went into the aviary to make some more feathered friends. A bypassed this section. I think he was still traumatized from his poo at Pooh experience the day before. I snapped a few more pictures here that actually turned out pretty good.

View attachment 544309

View attachment 544310

I love how the big guy was just chilling on the bench like he owned it.

We finished the trail and decided to stay in Asia and check out the line for EE. The wait time was posted at 40 minutes which was lower than pretty much every other attraction so we ventured out to find the end of the line. Eventually, A and I found the end of the line back by the entrance to Dinoland. The line went into the Rivers of Light seating area, across into the queue for Finding Nemo, and then back across the bridge into Asia. The line moved surprisingly quick and we were on and off the ride in maybe 20 minutes. No ride photo showed up this time either. We joined back up with my mom who was waiting in the Rivers of Light seating area. I really hope they find some way to utilize that area in the future with another show or something.

NEXT: Another train ride, a surprise guest, and some AP goodies

You can detour from the TR anytime with cute otter pics. That looks like a neat experience! That's great that your Mom volunteers!

 

[fractal]

DAY 5 -- MARCH 8TH

Sorry for the delay in posting. I had to work overnight Monday and Tuesday and have spent most of my time sleeping when I wasn't working. The only time I left the house since 6am yesterday was to get my second vaccine last night!

We woke up and got ready to head out to AK. AK is my mom's favorite park because she is a huge animal lover. For the past several years, my mom has been volunteering at our local zoo, the Elmwood Park Zoo for any PA people following along, in the diet prep kitchen making the food for the animals to eat. I know that she loves it because she willingly gets up early every Saturday morning all year long to volunteer. She has passed on her love of animals to me and for Christmas this year she got me an otter training and feeding experience at the zoo. I hope no one minds but here is a brief detour from this TR for some otter cuteness.

View attachment 544296

View attachment 544297

If I remember correctly, my mom is feeding the young female otter, Arya, and I am feeding the older male, Rocky. As cute as they are, we were instructed to make sure to never stick our fingers through the fence. They know that whatever comes through the fence is food and they will not hesitate to bite off a finger. They have also been know to rip the beaks off any wild turkey vultures foolish enough to venture into their enclosure and get too close. I don't have any pictures of it but if you see the little black box in the bottom right of the picture where I am feeding Rocky. This is a little door that Rocky is trained to stick his paw through into your hand so they can check his paw and they use it to draw blood as well. So, yes, I have shook hands with an otter.

Anyway, back to the TR. We arrived at the gate to the parking lot a little after park opening and we were met with our first line of the day. It took us about 15 minutes to get through the line of cars and into the parking lot. We were caught a little off guard because it was Monday and since crowds were light all weekend long that the trend would continue. This was not the case. Wait times were high for every attraction once we tapped into the park. We slowly made our way up the hill stopping to check out some of the animals including the baby babirusa that was featured on the Disney+ show.

The line for the safari already wrapped around Tusker House and down towards the Lion King theater so we decided to pass on that for now. We were all a little hungry/in need of caffeine so we made a pit stop at Joffrey's. A got some sort of coffee drink and my mom and I got sodas and a cinnamon roll to split. We took our breakfast over to the seating area for the Yak and Yeti QS. As we were sitting down, I noticed that my soda was a little short and it had been opened already. I went back over to Joffrey's and the CM quickly (almost too quickly) assured me that no one drank out of it and that they use the soda sometimes for alcoholic drinks. She gave me a fresh bottle and told me I could keep the used bottle if I wanted which I politely declined. I went back over to our table and dug into the cinnamon roll. It was pretty good but could have used some more icing but that is just my preference. While we were eating we were joined by some friends.

View attachment 544304

DISNEY DUCKS!

We finished up our food and our feathered friends quickly ditched us for the next table. Since we were in the area and wait times were still high, we went over to the Maharaja Jungle Trek. It was still early in the day and cool out so I was hoping that the tigers would be active. Thankfully, I was right and one of the tigers was pacing around. Please enjoy my artistic picture of the fence on the bridge that was photobombed by a tiger.

View attachment 544308

Clearly, I need to enroll in the @fractal School for Trip Reporting Photography.

My mom and I went into the aviary to make some more feathered friends. A bypassed this section. I think he was still traumatized from his poo at Pooh experience the day before. I snapped a few more pictures here that actually turned out pretty good.

View attachment 544309

View attachment 544310

I love how the big guy was just chilling on the bench like he owned it.

We finished the trail and decided to stay in Asia and check out the line for EE. The wait time was posted at 40 minutes which was lower than pretty much every other attraction so we ventured out to find the end of the line. Eventually, A and I found the end of the line back by the entrance to Dinoland. The line went into the Rivers of Light seating area, across into the queue for Finding Nemo, and then back across the bridge into Asia. The line moved surprisingly quick and we were on and off the ride in maybe 20 minutes. No ride photo showed up this time either. We joined back up with my mom who was waiting in the Rivers of Light seating area. I really hope they find some way to utilize that area in the future with another show or something.

NEXT: Another train ride, a surprise guest, and some AP goodies

Don't be too hard on yourself. Shooting through a net or fence is not easy and can be very frustrating. The auto focus on your camera will almost always want to focus on the fence. I typically will switch to manual focusing and dial in on the subject. Another option if you want to stay in AF is to get as close as you can to the fence in hopes of fooling your camera that it's not there. Of course you could always try to position your camera in the opening but that could limit your ability to move the camera (and may cost you a finger).

I recently dealt with the same issue during our trip to Clearwater when we visited a nature reserve. Took me a few minutes to remember to go to manual focus.

Enjoying the report!

 

[BwlrBry212]

DAY 5 CONTINUED -- MARCH 8TH

Wait times for everything were still pretty high so we decided to go somewhere that almost never has a wait ever, Rafiki's Planet Watch. We were shocked to see line for the train stretched almost all the way back to the Harambe Market food area. This is one of my mom's favorite parts of the park so we hopped in line. The wait was really not that bad and I think we got on the third train that pulled into the station. I like the little glimpse of the backstage areas along the way. Luckily I had my phone in hand because we got a surprise visitor on our train ride.

We spotted Ranger, the recently born white rhino, with what I assume are his parents or his mom at the very least. We had looked for him on the safari with no luck so this was a nice surprise.

We disembarked the train and made our way back to Planet Watch. I am glad that this area has remained open even in its limited capacity. None of us are artists in the least so we haven't tried the art class that they have put back there. A really only tolerates this area for my mom and I so he usually speeds through and finds a bench to wait. My mom pointed out that in the section where they have the different animal foods set up that our small zoo at home uses the same stuff just on a much smaller scale. A few years ago they were offering some tours of this area for AP members. I think they were trying to gauge interest in adding those tours to this area of the park. The tours were free (a Disney miracle!) so we got to go behind the scenes here into areas like the kitchen and the animal hospital. The one thing that stuck out here was that in the kitchen there were several containers of glitter on the shelf with other foods. The tour guide pointed them out and informed us that they will use this food safe glitter in a specific animal's diet if they need to identify their poop to do testing on it. So, in Disney, even the poop has pixie dust!

We finished up looking at the bugs and reptiles and whatnot inside and my mom went to her favorite part of Planet Watch, the petting zoo. Usually I will accompany her but I wasn't feeling it today so A and I waited for her. After she finished up, we walked back down the path and caught the first train back to AK proper.

Once we got back, we went over to Dinoland to get our AP magnets and more importantly we went back to Restaurantosaurus Longue to check out the AP exclusive drink specials. We had the same bartender as the other day which was great because he poured a stiff drink! Unfortunately for me, neither of the AP drinks appealed to me. One of them had gin which is a no go for me and the other one had coconut rum which is another no go. I ended up getting a bourbon based drink that had berry flavors which I did enjoy. A got the gin based drink and my mom got the coconut rum. We grabbed a table to relax and sip on our drinks. Only the relaxation was short lived. We were joined by a large group of guests that were moving around tables and chairs by dragging the very light and easy to pick up metal chairs across the floor for what seemed like forever.

As we were drinking and getting annoyed, we noticed that the wait time for the safari had dropped a lot since earlier in the day so we made a plan to head there. We also went back and forth checking menus for something to eat. I wanted to go to Flame Tree and my mom and A were both more interested in Satuli Canteen. The menu there wasn't really speaking to me but I would go there if they really wanted to. We never really made a decision about food but we had finished our drinks and it was time to move on. We got up, moved our chairs without making noise, and headed over to Africa.

The line wrapped around Dawa Bar so we contemplated grabbing a drink from there to enjoy in line but there was a fairly sizable line there as well. The safari line moved quickly and we were boarding our safari vehicle in less than 30 minutes. There was a larger party in front of us that included an ECV. One of the women in the group started to pitch a fit when they were directed to the loading area for wheelchairs and ECVs which still had a bit of a wait instead of the regular loading area where we walked right on to the waiting ride vehicle. This safari was fairly uneventful and there were way less animals out and about than the other day. It was late afternoon which is not a great time for animal sighting but even a "bad" safari is still entertaining.

Since none of us could make a decision about where to eat, we just decided to call it a day for AK and head over to Epcot to hit more F&G booths instead.

 

[BwlrBry212]

DAY 5 CONTINUED -- MARCH 8TH

We arrived at Epcot and we all had food on our minds so we made a beeline for WS and ended up at the Honey Bee-stro booth (pun intended). A and I both ordered the Tupelo Honey and Sweet Corn Spoon Bread with Jalapeños, Bacon, and House-made Whipped Honey Butter.

This one looked better than it tasted. It was kinda grainy in a slightly unpleasant way and there was no heat from the jalapenos at all. The best part was the honey butter. I also ordered the First Magnitude Brewing Co. Honey Bee Citrus Blonde Ale. This didn't really wow me either. There was a little bit of citrus flavor but I didn't get much honey at all. My mom ordered the flatbread here but was disappointed because it was loaded with peppers that overpowered everything else.

After an underwhelming first booth of the day, we moved on to World Showplace to hit up the offerings from the trio of booths set up in there. I decided to go with a proven winner and order from the Festival Favorites booth.

The Beef Brisket Burnt Ends and Smoked Pork Belly Slider with Garlic Sausage, Chorizo, Cheddar Fondue, and House-made Pickle has been one of my favorites in the past and did not disappoint again this year. This thing is so darn tasty. If it wouldn't cost me a fortune I could easily grab like three or four of these and be good for the rest of the night. I paired this with a 3 Daughters Brewing Maple Bacon Stout. This was one of my favorite beers of the festival. It was smoky and sweet without being overly heavy like some stouts can be.

My mom was a big fan of the Fried Green Tomatoes with Blue Crab-Fennel Salad, Remoulade, and Smoked Paprika Oil. It was a pretty big sized portion for the price and she really liked it.

With our bellies full for now, we started another lap around WS. A stopped to get something from the booth in Japan. While he was eating, I checked out the store. A few trips ago I saw some fun Nintendo socks in there that I didn't buy at the time but have been looking for them ever since and of course they have not had them. Again, I struck out. I know I could probably just find them on Amazon but there is something different about buying them directly from "Japan."

We moved on to America. Unfortunately, it was still too early for the first concert of the night. We did go in and check out the new jazz exhibit in the lobby of the American Adventure before going upstairs to catch the show. Honestly, I don't know if I have ever made it though this show from beginning to end without falling asleep. I always see the beginning and almost always catch the ending but the middle is spotty at best. This trip was no different. I enjoy the parts of the show that I see each time and my sleeping is not a knock on the show whatsoever.

We kept on moving around after the show/nap and made it all the way back around to Trowel and Trellis booth. I liked the Grilled Street Corn on the Cob with Savory Garlic Spread last March so I ordered that again. I forgot to snap a picture before I dug in. It tasted good again this year but I got the smallest ear of corn that I have ever had in my life. A also ordered this and his was at least twice as big as mine. I felt a little cheated for the money. I ordered a Parish Brewing Co. Bloom Hazy IPA to go with it. I really enjoyed this beer. It had a nice balanced hoppiness to it with a hint of floral taste that wasn't overpowering.

We had enough time left to make on more loop around the lagoon. A stopped for something at the La Isla Fresca booth (I don't remember what) and I got another beer. The Ivanhoe Park Brewing Co. Hibiscus Guavacation Sour Beer was a nice refreshing sip that wasn't too sour and would be a great beer in the hot months of the summer.

The rest of the lap was pretty uneventful. I remember slowing to crawl going past the band in America but not really stopping to enjoy them. I know my mom went up ahead to make a stop at the restrooms in Norway so A and I took advantage of that and got another order of the yummy crab and cheese wontons at the China booth.

Since the park was closing at 8 we knew we had some more time ahead of us so we decided to leave and go over to DS for some shopping and maybe some more food. My mom decided to sit this one out because her back was starting to hurt and she was nursing a pretty big blister on her foot so we dropped her off at the hotel before making our way to DS.

 

[BwlrBry212]

DAY 5 CONTINUED -- MARCH 8TH

After dropping my mom off at the hotel, A and I made our way over to DS. The Lime Garage was open and closer to where we wanted to go so it was a win win. A wanted to go to World of Disney so we went in that direction. There was a decent sized line to get and since there wasn't anything in particular that I wanted there so I proposed that we split up so I could knock out the few things I wanted to do while he waited for WOD.

My first stop was the pin store to get something for one of my co-workers. She is a huge WDW fan but doesn't get to go very often. A couple years ago we were both in the World at the same time and met up one day for a drink and to send a picture to our boss at the time to make everyone jealous. Usually when I go she will find something she wants on shopDisney and I will pick it up for her. This time she wanted a Forky pin which was easy to find and I was in and out of there in no time.

The other place that I wanted to go was the Stance sock store. My cousin got me a pair of Stance socks for Christmas a few years ago and I really love them and I was excited last year when I found out that they had a store in DS. Now I try to make it a point to stop in there and treat myself to some new socks. In October, I was pleasantly surprised that they had several styles of Philadelphia Phillies socks so I grabbed an awesome pair of Phillie Phanatic socks. I was hoping that they might have some NHL socks and that I would be able to snag a pair of Gritty socks. For those of you who don't know, this is Gritty...

The NHL debuted mascots for all of the teams not too long ago and Philly hit the jackpot with Gritty who is by far the best mascot in the NHL. Sadly, Stance did not have any NHL socks and they did not have any Phillies socks at all either. I was surprised that they did not have more Philadelphia socks since there is a very large Philly presence in Florida. So much so, that Wawa opened up in Florida because of them. Thankfully, Stance has plenty of other fun socks so I grabbed a pair of Spiderman socks and a pair of The Child socks. They also offer an AP discount which helps offset the pricey socks.

I was in the mood for something sweet so that was my next quest on the way back to World of Disney to meet back up with A. In a moment of delusion, I walked past Gideon's thinking that by some miracle they would be open to walk ups...hahaha! I went past Sprinkles only to be met with a sign saying that they had sold out for the day. Amorette's had a pretty big line so I passed on that. The gluten free bakery had a line around the corner and even the churro stand had a sizable line. Clearly, sweets were not meant to be.

I got back over to the World of Disney area only to get a text from A saying that he was over near The Boathouse (which I had just passed not too long ago). I told him to wait there and I retraced my steps. He came up empty in World of Disney but he was also in the mood to eat something like I was. We decided on B.B. Wolf's Sausage Co. I had never eaten there before. Usually, our go to quick meal at DS is D-Luxe Burger but I wanted to try something new to me. I ordered the special Mardi Gras Smoked Crawdog which was Smoked Andouille Sausage topped with Crawfish, Lemon Caper Aioli, and Creole Pepper Sauce.

It was too dark to take a picture so enjoy this stolen picture from DFB. This was very tasty, however, I was under the impression that the Creole Pepper Sauce was going to be something along the lines of a hot sauce or sriracha type sauce. No, it was literally a mound of peppers and onions which you can't even really see in the picture. Once I picked those off I was happy with my meal. I just don't like huge pieces of peppers and onions. If I remember correctly, A got the chili cheese dog. He said it was good but he couldn't really taste the dog with all of the toppings.

With full bellies and empty wallets, we headed back to the hotel to get some sleep before our last day...

 

[BwlrBry212]

DAY 6 -- MARCH 9TH

Today was our last day which I always have mixed feelings about. On one hand, I never want the trip to end. But on the other hand, a trip to Disney is never a relaxing trip and I miss my bed.

We packed up all of our stuff and loaded it into the car and headed over to the TTC shortly after park opening. Like the day before we were met with a long line of cars waiting to park. Eventually we made it through and found a spot. Like the other day at MK the bus was the shortest line and the quickest option to make it across to the park.

We made our way down a much more crowded Main Street than the last day we were there and over to Tomorrowland. The line for Buzz was pretty short so that is where we started our day. Somehow we lost A on our way there but he joined us in line in a couple minutes. Not to brag (but totally to brag) I was a Galactic Hero for the second time this trip!

Since I was already maxed out I decided to take a nap for the ride photo!

COP was right there when we got off so we took a spin around with our favorite family while getting "There's A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" stuck in our heads for the next few hours.

We were in need of some food and caffeine, like most mornings, so we stopped at Joffrey's My mom and I split a comically large donut while being stalked by some birds. We checked out wait times while we ate and everything was high. If I remember correctly, we wandered over to Philharmagic next. The line was outside of the building and stretched towards the backside of the castle. I think we waited for 2, maybe 3, shows to finish before we went into the theater.

After Mickey's hat was back where it belongs, we went over to HM and on a search for the end of the line. It stretched back all the way past Country Bears. Thankfully, the trend with HM held true and the line moved pretty much non stop. The ride did stop a few times once we were on and I actually thought for a little bit during the longest stoppage that we might get evacuated from the ride. That didn't happen and we made it out with our lives. I think I nailed the ride photo.

Wait times all over the park continued to be high so we went over to Country Bear Jamboree. We got stopped at the door just missing out on the first show. The CM hooked us up with a spot on the bench when he started loading guests into the lobby before the next show. While on the bench, we were able to catch a glimpse of the princesses going by on their cavalcade. In a few short minutes, we grabbed our seats for an un-bear-ably entertaining show.

It was getting close to the time for us to park hop over to Epcot for some last minute food booth action before catching our flight that evening. We decided that we had time for one more ride at MK and since we were in the area, we got in line for Pirates. The wait time was posted at 45 minutes. But there was no way that this line would move as painfully slow as it did the other night, right? Wrong. The line was crawling along and it took us at least 30 minutes to get to the very beginning of the inside part of the queue. We stalled there for another 10 minutes or so before they made the announcement that the ride was down. We discussed our options briefly about whether we wanted to stick it out and see when the ride would come back online or if we should bail and park hop. We decided that if we didn't leave now that it wouldn't be worth going to Epcot at all so we left the line and made our way to the front of the park.

The shortest line of the day was for the monorail back to the car and we practically had the entire train to ourselves.

NEXT: More food, some final laps, and an airport like we've never seen before

 

[BigDis]

Late but finally present and accounted for. Great TR!

 

[BwlrBry212]

Late but finally present and accounted for. Great TR!

Welcome! And thanks!

 

[BwlrBry212]

DAY 6 CONTINUED -- MARCH 9TH

We entered Epcot for the last time this trip so I tried to take in more of the entrance area sans walls.

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We had a couple hours left before needed to head to the airport and being the food fans that we are we wanted to make the most of it by hitting more festival booths.

Our first stop was the Sunshine Griddle booth over near Test Track. A ordered the Corned Beef Brisket Hash with House-made Potato Barrels, Onions, Peppers, Cheese Curds, and a Soft-poached Egg with Tabasco Hollandaise and Froot Loops Shake. He practically inhaled the hash so I am assuming that it was good. The shake looked cool but he didn't really comment on the taste so I can only assume it looked better than it tasted.

My mom and I both LOVE avocado so we each ordered the Avocado Toast with Marinated Toybox Tomatoes and Fresh Goat Cheese on Toasted Ciabatta.

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I was hungry so I forgot to take my own picture before digging in. I removed the tomatoes from mine and gave them to my mom. I thought this dish was one of the best of the festival. The bread was nice and crispy. The avocado was perfectly ripe and creamy and the goat cheese added some richness and tanginess.

I also got myself an order of the Fried Cinnamon Roll Bites with Cream Cheese Frosting and Candied Bacon.

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Mine did not look as photogenic as my stolen photo from DFB but man are these things delicious! If there was not enough cinnamon sugar on the outside, these babies are filled with a cinnamon cream filling that really made this a standout! This was by far the best dessert of the festival and the Sunshine Griddle booth was my favorite booth as well.

We took the bridge past Odyssey over to the Mexico booth. I mentioned earlier that I wanted to hit this booth during the day because I am picky about some parts of Mexican food and wanted to be able to see what I was eating. My mom was full from her avocado toast so she snagged us a table while A and I got in line. We both ordered the Taco Vampiro: Braised Beef on a Corn Tortilla with Crispy Grilled Monterey Jack Cheese and Salsa Ranchera. I also grabbed the Passion Fruit Margarita: Corazón de Agave Blanco Tequila, Passion Fruit Purée, Lime Juice, Nixta Corn Liqueur, and a hint of smoke with a Hibiscus Flower Salt Rim.

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I was so intrigued and excited by the idea of cheese griddled on the outside of a tortilla but the taco itself was a bit of a let down. The cheese on the outside was great but the meat inside was pretty bland and the sauce looked like it would add some much needed spice but it did not. In fact, the spiciest thing on the plate was the corn. I should have put some of that in the taco.

The margarita was very good though. It was sweet and a little smoky. I wish I would have had time to get more than one of these.

At this point, my mom was still suffering though a blister combined with back pain so she decided to sit out our last WS lap. She grabbed a drink, made one request, and took up residence in the Epcot Experience while A and I made our final trek around the world.

We headed to the left this time. I resisted the temptation to get a third order of crab and cheese wontons on this trip but it took a lot of will power.

A wanted to stop at the Italy booth and went with the arancini. He was not very impressed by them and they didn't look that great either. I still can't figure out why the menus at the Italy booth each festival seem to fall flat with as many awesome Italian food there are in the world.

We continued to stroll leisurely around WS but at this point both of us were pretty full so we just took in the sights. When we got to France, it was time to see if I could get my mom's request. She asked me to grab her a Jambon Beurre from Les Halles if it was not too crowded. I was more than happy to fulfill this request because this sandwich may be my favorite food item in all of Epcot and maybe all of WDW. The bread is perfectly baked and there is just enough ham and cheese inside to accompany the baguette. I am drooling just thinking about it. I was worried when we got to France and started to head to the back of the pavilion and saw a line stretching past the side of Chefs de France. Thankfully this line was for ice cream and not the bakery. The line inside was surprisingly short and in no time at all I had a Jambon Beurre boxed and ready to deliver. I did check with my mom to see if she wanted to split one or if she wanted a full one. I was slightly disappointed when she said she would split one because it meant I didn't get a full one to myself but c'est la vie.

It was getting to be time to leave but A needed to make a "pit stop" and prefers the very spacious and quiet bathrooms at World Showplace so I grabbed a spot on a bench and did some people watching. Once A rejoined me, I texted my mom and told her to start heading towards the exit and we would meet her there. We reunited and made the sad trek back to our own personal Tragical Express aka the car.

My mom and I split our Jambon Beurre on the ride to the airport but other than that it was a pretty uneventful ride. In an effort to save money and maximize time in the park, we booked our flight down and flight home on two different airlines and for the first time ever, two different airports. We were able to find a flight home from Frontier that (before adding seats and whatnot) was $16 but we had to fly into Trenton airport which none of us had ever been to. I actually didn't even know that Trenton had an airport before this. A's mom was picking us up and it was only about an extra 15-20 minutes of drive time to Trenton vs. Philly and she was fine with that so we jumped on the super cheap airfare.

We made it back home with no threats of landing early due to mask non-compliance. However, this is where things got interesting. After we touched down, they announced that for those that were not familiar with Trenton airport that they deboarded the plane on the tarmac and that if we had a jacket that it would be a good time to put it on. This was a first for us. We waited forever to get off the plane because for some reason no one gets the concept of just being patient and waiting for the row in front of you to go and instead everyone pushes forward in a big rush to get off the plane which actually ends up slowing things down. Once we were on the ground, we were directed to a trailer, for lack of a better word, for baggage claim. Despite it being a super small airport, people still insist on having their entire family spread out right in front of the belt blocking everyone else from being able to get to their bags. I had to maneuver around some small kids, who we all know were not going to be able to get the bags anyway, to get our suitcase. Bags in hand, we walked up a ramp and we were in the parking lot already. To this day, I am not entirely sure that we even landed at an actual airport. I am pretty sure that the pilot just saw an empty field and put the plane down there.

A's mom was right on time and we loaded up the car for home. Unfortunately, this was not a smooth process either. We crossed over into PA and the exit that we needed to take was blocked by an accident. This resulted in us taking a slightly scary detour back through downtown Trenton which is not the best area in an effort to find a way around the accident. It must have been a very recent accident because even Waze didn't have it reported and kept trying to send us back the way we couldn't pass. Eventually we found another way back into PA again, and thankfully, we made it home with no further incidents.

So that concludes another Disney trip. I am going to make one last post to sum up my overall thoughts on the trip and my thoughts on Disney during Covid.

 

[BwlrBry212]

FINAL THOUGHTS

I wanted to close out this TR with some general thoughts about the current state of Disney and my overall impressions of the trip.

Honestly, I do feel a bit guilty travelling to WDW during this pandemic. I felt a little less guilty this trip as opposed to my first trip in October. I had done all of the research on the precautions that Disney was taking and read TR here from people who went before me. Working in retail at Home Depot, I have been in close proximity with the general public since the very beginning of the pandemic. I reasoned that if I can be in close proximity to people during the course of my day at work that being at Disney with stricter policies than Home Depot that were actually being enforced wouldn't be too much of a change. I was worried that my work was going to make me quarantine when I got home but they did not seem to care so that made me feel a little more at ease too.

Just a few days before this trip started, the governor of PA lifted the travel restriction that required either a negative Covid test within 72 hours of coming back into PA or quarantining until a negative result. My mom and I originally were going to make an appointment for a rapid test the day after we came back so we could go back to work on Thursday. Once that was lifted, I was able to get a vaccine appointment for that day instead which was great. My mom already had an appointment the following week. So we feel more comfortable doing more now and planning our trip for October.

But, back to this trip, I felt like there was a noticeable decline in people wearing their masks properly, stopping while eating/drinking, keeping their masks on for photos (which now is not an issue), and following social distancing markers. I also noticed a lack of CM telling people to abide by those rules. All of these were much more strictly followed in October 2020 vs. March 2021. I fear that it will only get worse as more and more people get vaccinated. I have noticed an increase in people refusing to wear a mask at work citing the vaccine as the reason. Just because you are vaccinated doesn't mean you still don't need to follow the rules.

There are a few things that I like about the post-Covid WDW. One of them being the cavalcades and spontaneous character appearances. I think it brings back some magic and takes away the stress of lining up way in advance to get a good spot for a parade. The other thing that I like that I didn't think I would is the lack of FastPasses. I know this may be controversial but not having to worry about booking FPs in advance, basically knowing you weren't going to get to ride certain rides because you couldn't get a FP, and then getting stopped while in the regular queue to watch 50 FP groups go for every 10 standby groups. Part of what contributed to the long wait times at popular attractions was waiting for all the FPs to go while the standby line stalled out. I would be ok if FPs did not come back when things go back to normal, or whatever normal will look like.

Overall, even a Covid restricted trip to WDW is better than a week at work and I did really have a good time. I am looking forward to what October brings and I will make a better effort to take more pictures for my sophomore TR.

Thanks for following along and I will live vicariously though all of your trips until then! Who knows? Maybe I'll see some of you guys in the World sometime too!

 

[LisaBelle]

Thanks for sharing your trip! Glad you had a great visit!

 

[Penny’s Dad]

I enjoyed your trip report, we are going the first week of May. We changed one of our dining reservations to the Crystal Palace, it really looked good. We have never eaten there before.

 

[MickeyCB]

Thank you for sharing it was fun to follow along, and I really enjoyed your food critiques!

 

[BigDis]

Great trip report! Thanks for sharing.

 

[KellBelle]

Great report! Thank you for taking us along!! Looking forward to the next one!

 

[Loco_driver]

Thanks for the enjoyable TR!

 

[BwlrBry212]

Thanks for sharing your trip! Glad you had a great visit!

I enjoyed your trip report, we are going the first week of May. We changed one of our dining reservations to the Crystal Palace, it really looked good. We have never eaten there before.

Thank you for sharing it was fun to follow along, and I really enjoyed your food critiques!

Great trip report! Thanks for sharing.

Great report! Thank you for taking us along!! Looking forward to the next one!

Thanks for the enjoyable TR!
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[Katiekitten]

I'm late to finishing your trip report but thank you for sharing with us!

 

[ShookieJones]

Just got caught up! Great job and thank you for sharing!