Trip Report Completed: March 5-14, 2020: Our Return to WDW and the "Hips and Elbows People, Hips and Elbows!" edition

Hello everyone! It has been one month since we made our return to Walt Disney World, it was 593 days since we had been there. We hadn't been without Disney trips, we were annual passholders of Disneyland during that time. More info in my pre-trip report. Needless to say we were were excited to return. I was a little apprehensive for a few reasons: 1. what if I didn't like WDW as much any more after being away so long and maybe I had fallen too much in love with Disneyland. 2. I was slightly worried about this corona virus thing (maybe I should have been more worried), but I was hopeful we would get through the trip without having to think about it.

In case you don't want to go back to my pre-trip report let me give you a few more details:

Who: Amy and Brad (my husband)
Resort: Pop Century



Let's begin:

March 5, 2020

We had an early morning flight, it is a pain getting up at 3 am but we do like getting to our destination early and being able to spend a lot of our day at our vacation destination. Plus we were early birds so it wasn't too bad. Luckily there wasn't a snow storm and our flight out of Minneapolis was on schedule!

Not much was open so early but Caribou coffee!

Coming up more of our journey and lots of fun, food and beer!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Monday March 9, 2020

The displays had some interesting information and art work.

I took a picture of this monitoring device, planning on showing it to my students when we talked about conservation during 4th quarter. Well with a different style of teaching and a slower pace we didn't get that far this year. Maybe next school year.

This little guy was getting fed by a cast member showing him off. I thought it was cute.

Back to the train and the rest of the park.

We wandered the shops for a little bit and finally found the Aunt of one of Brad's friends (earlier in this report we had dinner at Raglan Road with a couple that are pastor friends of Brad's. And her aunt works at Animal Kingdom. His friend told us that if we saw her we should tell her hello). So we found her and I think creeped her out a little at first when we said hi Aunt Susie (not real name), but once B explained the connection she was very friendly (not like Gray backpack guy).

So we headed out of the park for our late afternoon nap. Even though we headed to the Pop Century bus stop I had it in my head that it was just a quick bus ride back, I think I though we were at All Stars for a moment! B looked at me strange when I claimed it was a short ride. Maybe I was just too tired at the time.

Coming up: an evening at Animal Kingdom and dinner at Boma

 

[Swissmiss]

Looks like the last gorilla in your pictures understands the value of a good afternoon nap

 

[Loco_driver]

Anyone remember the little red story line?

I remember the little red story line! I also remember the bridge that would tilt and shake, but I haven’t seen that working in a long time.

That’s an excellent shirt!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I remember the little red story line! I also remember the bridge that would tilt and shake, but I haven’t seen that working in a long time.



That’s an excellent shirt!

I liked when the bridge tilted too, it was kind of corny with the story but a fun little bit. I got him the shirt from tee-public for Christmas. I was actually looking for something related to Sequoia and this popped up it was perfect for him.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Looks like the last gorilla in your pictures understands the value of a good afternoon nap

Afternoon naps are glorious. There might be one in my future today.

 

[Songbird76]

Monday March 9

More safari pictures. Overall it was a really good safari experience. The driver was interesting and we got to see some of the animal babies!
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At one point we had to stop for an giraffe that was in the road (we couldn't see it). But I looked down at the ground and saw the animal hoofprints in the dirt and I thought it looked cool with the tire tracks.
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Baby zebra!
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baby elephant
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Anyone remember the little red story line?
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We also got some good views of the cheetahs! I don't think we have ever seen them on the safari this well.
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I guess that guy was just an introvert? That's a bit different...an introverted sports coach. In my experience, most of them are pretty outgoing and sometimes pretty boisterous.

What's the little red story line?

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I guess that guy was just an introvert? That's a bit different...an introverted sports coach. In my experience, most of them are pretty outgoing and sometimes pretty boisterous.

What's the little red story line?

Or maybe he hadn't had his morning coffee yet!

The red story line was that there were poachers were around and captured Little Red (elephant) and you help save the baby elephant.

I got this off of wikipedia, apparently there was a darker story during cast previews (I copied and pasted this from Wikipedia) and I'm glad I didn't see this version.

During Cast Previews of Disney's Animal Kingdom, there was a "Dark Ending" in which the safari vehicle encountered the slaughtered corpse of Big Red. She was seen bloody and on the ground with her tusks sawed off, symbolizing the poachers got to her and the tour group was too late to save the mother elephant. Even though it was only an animatronic, this scene proved too shocking for families and children. Many complaints were filed, so before the official grand opening of the ride, Disney removed the dead corpse, thus changing the attraction that of a happier ending.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Monday March 9, 2020

After our late afternoon nap we took a Lyft to Animal Kingdom Lodge to have dinner at Boma. This was a decision we made earlier in the day. We haven't eaten dinner there in since maybe 2017 and we planned to head back to Animal Kingdom for the evening so it seemed like a good plan. Luckily there were reservations open and now thinking back on it this might be the last buffet we eat at like this for a long time.

We started with drinks at Victoria Falls lounge. I got the Victoria Falls Mist (green drink) which is no longer on the menu but they still made it for me with club soda instead of 7-Up. And I guess I didn't write down what Brad had so it will remain a mystery unless one of you recognizes it. My drink was okay but even with the club soda it was still sweeter than I would have liked. B enjoyed his drink.

Our food from Boma. We were hoping there would be ribs because I had read that they were really good but no ribs. The food was fine and I'm glad we ate there but it just wasn't as outstanding as I had remembered. The carved meats and the Boma mustard sauce was worth it though. I just don't think it will go back into the rotation for awhile, except maybe for breakfast. I remember breakfast was good.

Looking inside Boma

Desserts. They were just okay, I'm not a fan of the zebra domes. The white chocolate and the alcohol in it just turn me off, but I hadn't had it in awhile so I thought I'd try them again. The bread pudding in the upper right was good and the little tart next to was good too. The rest were just average.

In the lodge lobby.

Cool light feature

The lobby is very impressive and I like to look at the art work.

Time to head over to Animal Kingdom and we have a sweet ride!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Monday March 9, 2020

Once at Animal Kingdom we realized we hadn't seen It's Tough to be a Bug yet so we wandered down and had some nice views of the carvings.

After the show as everyone went right out of the theater we went left. I like this waterfall feature and wanted to take a look.

We thought about a safari but the wait time was longer than we were willing to wait so we wandered onward.

And we had to make a stop at the drums so someone could play a little.

Then into Asia.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Monday March 9, 2020

This was on a kid's tee shirt for sale at a kiosk, I thought it was cute. Too bad it wasn't big enough for adults.

I had gotten us a fast pass for Rivers of Light and I sweet talked a cast member into letting us sit in the front of section by the water. It was an excellent view of the show. I really like Rivers of Light but we hadn't seen it since they added some of the Disney music and scenes in. We still enjoyed the show it was a nice enhancement but not really necessary for us to enjoy it. We did miss the people in that came through the audience and the people on the boat.

A look back at Expedition Everest.

Time for the show.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Monday March 9, 2020

More of Rivers of Light

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Monday March 9, 2020

More Rivers of Light. The little boys (maybe between 8-10yrs old) next to us were enthralled with the show, we heard lots of "cool!" and "oooo's and ahh's", they had talked to us before the show started and I was glad that they seemed to enjoy it.

We spent some time after Rivers of Light enjoying the Tree of Life and the projections on there.

 

[riverside]

Luckily there were reservations open and now thinking back on it this might be the last buffet we eat at like this for a long time.

I've been wondering what is going to happen with all the buffets now.

I'm so happy that you have resumed your TR!!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Monday March 9, 2020

The projections on the Tree of Life are in my opinion super gorgeous. It was fun to watch the show. I just wish there were some good benches to watch it from! Ha ha!

After watching the projections for awhile we headed to the bus stop. We clearly hadn't watched the projections long enough because the bus line was still long. We finally got on the 3rd bus that came by and we had to stand just barely making it on the bus for that. Overall it was pretty great day. Animal Kingdom is a park that is really growing on me (no pun intended). I think it still needs a few attractions, I think an Australia section would be cool. I always thought that Camp Minnie-Mickey could have been developed more and featured more North American animals.

Coming up: A day of festival fun at Epcot!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I've been wondering what is going to happen with all the buffets now.

I'm so happy that you have resumed your TR!!

I'm thinking there might still be buffets but maybe there will be a worker that scoops up the food. Which I will hate because it will make me feel like a pig, but I guess that is the point of buffets. My other thought is that the restaurant will limit choices and maybe go family style.

Sorry about the delay in the TR, but I figured I should probably get this done before the park reopens! Ha!

 

[riverside]

I'm thinking there might still be buffets but maybe there will be a worker that scoops up the food. Which I will hate because it will make me feel like a pig, but I guess that is the point of buffets. My other thought is that the restaurant will limit choices and maybe go family style.

Sorry about the delay in the TR, but I figured I should probably get this done before the park reopens! Ha!

Both seem like viable options.

Hopefully soon!!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Tuesday March 10, 2020

A day of Epcot Flower and Garden fun, but first we had our kid's Mickey waffle meals at the food court. Whenever we've had breakfast in the food court I noticed that Brad was being really picky about where he sat which isn't like him, but I figured it out this morning. He was positioning himself so he had a view of the tv with the Mickey Mouse cartoons playing! Ha ha! What a goof!

After breakfast we headed to the Skyliner and there was a bit of a line but it moved fast.

I hate that the coffee cups are so generic now. I liked the Walt quotes on the old ones.

I put this picture on FB and my dad posted back right away "Your mom would have loved those" referring to the Skyliner. She used to make him ride in the Skyway at the MK all the time. It made me a little teary at the thought, even though she has been gone 8 years now she was the one that made me a Disney fan. Our last picture together at Disney is at Epcot in front of the Imagination pavilion which is fitting because we always had imagine time together. I'd post the picture but I hate how I look in it, I was probably about 70 pounds heavier than I am currently. Sorry for the tangent.

So as we waited I entertained myself with taking pictures. The sign for Ratatouille had been put up recently and later (I think that day) they hung an opening Summer 2020 banner under it. I didn't get a picture of that but now I wish I had.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Tuesday March 10, 2020

Many people were rushing by to get to the rope I guess. But we moseyed along and enjoyed some "empty" park time. It was nice to look at these topiaries in the daylight.

I sent the pictures of the Muppet topiaries to my friend from college because she loves the Muppets. She wondered where the Fozzie Bear one (her favorite) was. Good question, wouldn't a Fozzie topiary be awesome!

A little Canada through the trees waiting for the rope to drop.

And off we went to the Land for our flight on Soarin'. It was strange with all those construction walls up and of course I wished they weren't there but I didn't find it impeding us too much.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Tuesday March 10, 2020

After Soarin' we used our fast pass (not needed) for Living with the Land (aka the farm ride). I love this ride. I love plants and gardens. I have no time or patience for gardening, although I am trying this year. I always say if I won the lottery the first thing I'd do is hire a full time gardener to build and maintain a lovely walk through garden and conservatory for me. I especially love this ride in when I got to WDW in when there is still snow and dormant plants at home, just moving into the bright greenhouse is an instant mood lifter for me.

Ugh, I tried to get a good shot.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Tuesday March 10, 2020

More of Living with the Land.

We watched the new Awesome Planet show and it was pretty good. It’s worth another watch or two.

Then we went to the butterfly garden.