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]

Thursday March 12, 2020

A few more of the Chinese zodiac displays.

The dog one is really cute.

From the Zodiac to the Trolls of Norway!

Time for some more beer. This is a picture of the Playalinda Brewing Company Tropical Wonderland Wheat Ale, Titusville, FL from Trowel and Trellis. It was very tasty.

B had gone over to the La Isla Fresca to get another Tropical Freeze and brought me back a mango beer. So I found myself with two drinks!

Minnie came by as we enjoyed our drinks.

I was lucky enough to get another good shot of the flower quilt with the monorail.
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We were making our way back to the Skyliner to got back to the resort for our afternoon nap but we wandered around the UK first.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Thursday March 12, 2020

We caught a glimpse of Peter Pan and I thought it was fun that the Tinkerbell topiary was nearby too.

We made it to the Skyliner and I got a few pictures of the Ratatouille area construction. Not great pictures but it works. I am looking forward to the Ratatouille ride coming to Epcot, we rode it quite a few times when we went to DLP and enjoyed it a lot, some of the ride was in English and French so I'm wondering if it will be the same at Epcot. I suspect it will only be in English, which is a shame.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Thursday March 12, 2020

We took about an hour long nap and then decided to head back to Epcot. We both wanted to see the construction from the monorail, because we are nerds so we thought about taking a bus to the MK and then monorail to Epcot. When we got to the bus stop the Epcot bus was there and we thought a better idea would be to go to Epcot and do a grand circle tour on the monorail. So that's what we did and we had Shirley Status on the Epcot bus, I immediately thought of @Tuvalu .

And we got on the monorail on the first leg of our journey from Epcot to the TTC. I don't want to start any debate but I highly doubt this dog was a service dog on the monorail. It was very excitable and the harness she is wearing is the same Minnie Disney harness I have for my dog. She eventually calmed down though. And by the way, it was a cute dog but my dog is WAY cuter in her Minnie harness.

Some of the construction in front of Spaceship Earth on our return to Epcot.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Thursday March 12, 2020
And some more construction pictures via the monorail and some of the flowers that were in front of Spaceship Earth this year.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Thursday March 12, 2020

I guess I forgot an important event that happened before we even took our monorail trip. When we woke up from our nap we found out that Disneyland had announced that they would be closing due to Covid-19. That was astounding news to us, maybe we were living in a bit of a bubble but a closure of an American park was big! We talked a bit about it and we both agreed that WDW wouldn't be closing, it was just too big and too much of a money maker for the Disney Co, it wouldn't close. Oh what little did we know right?! But it was a thought that kept popping up in my head and I kept thinking about what would happen if closure was announced for when we were still there.

Anyway back to our Epcot evening.

I had been able to snag us a Spaceship Earth fast pass and both of us thought that this would be the last time we would ride this version of SSE. Well, maybe not.

I love how they are gathered around the tv with the tv off!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Thursday March 12, 2020

We decided to to take the Friendship boat over to Morocco as a scenic "short cut" to the Regal Eagle Smokehouse.

As we were waiting for the boat I looked around and saw a sad sight. Two beers all by themselves without an owner. They must have been so scared! A couple minutes later a guest came over to claim them while tugging a child by the hand. The kid must of ran off or something.

It was a relaxing ride on the Friendship and we made it to the Smokehouse. B is really into BBQ so he was super excited to try the food here. While he ordered I got sauces and a table. Spoiler we liked the vinegar and mustard sauce the best.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Thursday March 12, 2020

We shared the brisket, ribs, chicken, pulled pork, onion rings, and mac & cheese. It was all really good. Our favorites were the pulled pork, ribs, chicken and mac & cheese. We will be eating here again.

When we left the Smokehouse the Guess Who were playing their concert outside and we decided to get a spot between America and Italy for watching Epcot Forever. We listened to the band and played on our phones while waiting. That's when we saw the first reports of Walt Disney World closing! We were a surprised it was actually happening, again I don't think we understood the severity of Covid yet but we soon did. While reading some of the rumors then confirmed stories we were relieved we would be leaving the day before closing but also disappointed for people that were in the middle, just starting, or looking forward to traveling to WDW. I know there were worse things going on with Covid during that time and since March but at the time it seemed so unreal and that it wouldn't be for long as it has ended up being.

Back to Epcot Forever. It was highly enjoyable again for me (and Brad). Watching in the Italy area was very nice and we had a great view.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Thursday March 12, 2020

After Epcot Forever we wandered out of the park and decided to head to the Boardwalk since the Skyliner line was super long.

We got some ice cream at Ample Hills. I got the Nona's Oatmeal Lace Cookie and Dark Chocolate. Yum Yum Yum!!

Brad got PB Wins the Cup and some brickle thing.

YAY for Ample Hills!

Coming up soon: Magic Kingdom fun and more closure news!

 

[Songbird76]

Thursday March 12, 2020

I took some time to admire the paintings again. And I spent a little more time examining my favorite which is the one of the immigrants.
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Brad had been able to secure a bench for us and it was nice to sit, relax, and enjoy the Voices of Liberty.
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This is probably my 3rd favorite in painting in the American Adventure.
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After the Voices we continued our journey around World Showcase.
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I love love love the Voices of Liberty!

I thought of you this morning when I woke up because I dreamed about the Dapper Dans! They were singing in an Ice Cream Parlor.

 

[MinnieM123]

While waiting for the Voices of Liberty I checked out the display of Native Americans. The display is really well done and gives a nice glimpse into the culture of some of the tribes.

Is this something new? I don't recall seeing this before (it's been 2 years since I've been to WDW). Anyway, it looks like a beautiful display.

Also, I'm glad you took some pictures of the paintings. There's so much detail that I had not noticed before. That's the thing about many of the pavilions -- you may think you're taking it all in when you visit, but realize after the fact that you still missed quite a bit.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I love love love the Voices of Liberty!

I thought of you this morning when I woke up because I dreamed about the Dapper Dans! They were singing in an Ice Cream Parlor.

What a fun dream! Dans and ice cream, a great combination.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Is this something new? I don't recall seeing this before (it's been 2 years since I've been to WDW). Anyway, it looks like a beautiful display.

Also, I'm glad you took some pictures of the paintings. There's so much detail that I had not noticed before. That's the thing about many of the pavilions -- you may think you're taking it all in when you visit, but realize after the fact that you still missed quite a bit.

The gallery has always been there but there have been different displays. It is located on the right hand side of the lobby area. The last time we were there Disney was getting ready to present this display, I think it opened a month or so later. I had been a little bummed because I think Native American culture and history is fascinating so I was happy to see it.

There are so many details in the World Showcase pavilions which is fantastic because there is always something new to discover. I took the Destinations tour of World Showcase a few years ago and it was great. Our guide pointed out a lot of things I didn't know about it. I highly recommend it.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Friday March 13, 2020

Today was a Magic Kingdom day! It was one of those mornings that I love at the Magic Kingdom. We arrived when it was still a little dark and we had the sunrise. I'm totally a morning person so I was a happy girl.

Waiting at the tunnel to get onto Main Street.

And we were released! And the painting of the castle had started. I heard a few people complain about the cranes and while not ideal I was kind of fascinated watching the painting progress and probably took more pictures than necessary of the castle being painted. Maybe I'm such a Dis-nerd that it was fun to get different shots of the castle.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Friday March 13, 2020

In the picture you can see some of the Rose Gold being painted. I was a little unsure of how the castle would look with the new paint job but I think I might like it.

B just being a goof.

It was EMH so we had to head to the bridge by Cosmic Rays/Cheshire Cat Cafe for our entry into Fantasyland. A lot of the herd was headed for 7 Dwarfs, we were heading to Peter Pan. I didn't mind waiting there for a little bit since I was digging the golden sunlight on the castle.

Peter was our first attraction of the day!

A look towards the Tangled toilets.

Then we took a cruise on it's a small world.

 

[Doc Disney]

Still relaxing with my coffee and saw this nice light feature and thought that @Doc Disney would like it. There is another one in this post she might like too.

Sorry for all the likes I was catching up! I love that light!! I love Brad's poses with the lightsaber - I will take notes for my IG I also loved your "lightsaber"

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Friday 13, 2020

Small world wasn't very busy so I was hoping we would get our own boat. One thing I like to do at Disneyland is to ride early so I can have my own boat. We weren't not given our own boat a couple with their baby/toddler sat directly behind us. As we got going the mom started to sing the song to her kid. I tried not to be annoyed, at least she had a decent voice, but I did hope she wouldn't sing during the whole ride and she didn't. She stopped shortly after and then one said to the other parent (don't remember if it was mom or dad) how it had been their first attraction ever at Disney and now it was their kid's first attraction. I thought that was really sweet. Towards the end of the ride I turned around (trying not to be creepy) and said I had heard it was their child's first attraction and I offered to take a picture of them. They were a little surprised but happy about the offer. I thought they would offer their phone but no it was a fancy camera, I hope I took a decent picture for them but I thought it would be fun for them to have a 1st attraction picture actually on the attraction.

So just some small world scenes.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Sorry for all the likes I was catching up! I love that light!! I love Brad's poses with the lightsaber - I will take notes for my IG I also loved your "lightsaber"

No problem about the likes! Let's just say there was a lot of practice at home to "perfect" his poses!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Friday March 13, 2020

After small world we headed over to Storybook Circus for Dumbo. It wasn't super crowded in Fantasyland yet and it was a perfect MK morning.

The wait was short for Dumbo, I think we just waited for one cycle before we loaded up.

The views were great and we thought about taking another spin but we just moved on.

As we walked past 7D I loved that the moon was still visible and thought it made an interesting picture.

I took a couple spins on the teacups. I decided to see if the purple tea cup was a good spinner. It was okay, it was better than the Disneyland cups but not as good as my green tea cups.

After he took a picture of me in my cup, Brad exited and enjoyed sitting and playing on his phone!

Then it was time for Big Thunder!

 

[cgersic]

This trip report is such a saving grace! I'm still holding my reservation starting 7/15! I love getting to MK early with no crowds, by myself, and just wandering around for hours trying to find new things to look at. I completely agree that your photos are really fabulous and truly reach out to you via your eye! Looking forward to more!

 

[MEyeSeeKayEY]

Great report! Great pics! But now I am so hungry...