Trip Report COMPLETED The More the Merrier - November/December 2020

k8einwdw · Feb 24, 2021

Sunday, November 29th - Check-In Day - Continued

One of our holiday trip traditions is going around to the different Deluxe resorts to check out their holiday decorations. It's especially fun if you can make a day of it, so we decided to set our entire first day aside for resort hopping. Our first stop? Wilderness Lodge! After we decorated our golf cart, we hopped in and drove up to the main bus stop. Since they aren't currently running boats between Ft. Wilderness and Wilderness Lodge, we had to take a bus. I can't remember which bus route it is, but if you find yourself in this predicament, just ask one of the bus drivers, and they can tell you which bus to take. The internal bus system at Ft. Wilderness can be a little confusing, but the bus drivers are always willing to help out if you get confused.

We had to wait probably 15 minutes for a bus to arrive, but it's a quick ride from Ft. Wilderness over to Wilderness Lodge. It's always nice to walk into a lobby and be greeted by this...

We were actually meeting one of my friends and her boyfriend while we were there, so we pulled up a couple rocking chairs, and relaxed by the fireplace for a few minutes.

After we chatted for 20-30 minutes, they had to head out, and we had places to be as well! But first, we popped into the gift shop - this is one of our favorites on property! We actually have a throw blanket that we bought from the Wilderness Lodge gift shop when we stayed there for one night in 2015 that we keep in our living room, and I use it almost every night.

After we perused the gift shop, we headed out to the boat launch to continue on our journey. We debated between taking a bus or a boat, but we decided on taking the boat, since it's such a relaxing, scenic form of transportation. While we were on the boat, I snapped this picture of Jason taking a picture. I thought it was cool.

Once we arrived at Magic Kingdom, we headed out to the bus stops. We would make our way around the monorail loop to enjoy those decorations, but we wanted to hit up the Epcot resorts first. Boardwalk was the first bus stop we came to, so we headed there first. It was definitely not the same without the gingerbread Boardwalk Bakery, but we still enjoyed admiring the decorations.

Up next: More resort hopping!

sheriffwoody · Feb 26, 2021

k8einwdw said:
Yikes! How did you get to MK?

Just used the internal bus system. Wasn't too bad, just not as convenient as driving over there! That little internal bus stop was SUPER close/

k8einwdw · Feb 26, 2021

Sunday, November 29th - Check-In Day - Continued

After admiring the holiday decorations at the Boardwalk, we started making the trek over to Beach Club and Yacht Club. Have I mentioned how much I love this area at night?

As we were walking, we came across this sad sight. :cry:

We used to love coming over to the Boardwalk to enjoy a cone from Ample Hills and watch some of the live performers on our Hollywood Studios days.

And a picture from the other side of the lake.

We headed into Beach Club first, and it was a sad sight without the carousel they normally put out for the holidays. The tree they had out was decorated beautifully, but the place just felt empty without the carousel.

After Beach Club, we walked over to Yacht Club. Their tree was a little larger than the one at Beach Club, and we loved the nautical theme.

They also had a tiny replica of the carousel displayed. We thought it was strange that they displayed it at Yacht Club rather than Beach Club.

After taking a few pics, we headed out of Yacht Club and caught a bus to the Magic Kingdom.

Up next: Monorail Resort Decorations!

HouCuseChickie · Feb 26, 2021

k8einwdw said:
hey also had a tiny replica of the carousel displayed. We thought it was strange that they displayed it at Yacht Club rather than Beach Club.

OK, maybe I've gotten too used to Disney pricing, but that's a steal for that little gingerbread carousel! I would have had to have one...or three. One for me...because we know I'll be weak and snack on it, one for everyone else...same reason, and a third one to keep for display.

k8einwdw · Mar 1, 2021

HouCuseChickie said:
OK, maybe I've gotten too used to Disney pricing, but that's a steal for that little gingerbread carousel! I would have had to have one...or three. One for me...because we know I'll be weak and snack on it, one for everyone else...same reason, and a third one to keep for display.

I don't think I could bring myself to eat it if I bought one! The level of detailing is incredible!

k8einwdw · Mar 1, 2021

Sunday, November 29th - Check-In Day - Continued

When I last left off, we had hopped around to the Epcot area resorts to check out their holiday decorations, and we were on a bus to the Magic Kingdom. Once we arrived at MK, we hopped on a monorail over to the Contemporary. While they didn't have the normal gingerbread display up, we adore their Christmas tree, especially at night, so we had to go pay it a visit. I feel like you never hear anyone talking about the tree at the Contemporary, probably because you have to go outside to see it. If I remember correctly, the huge lights on the tree are actually painted bulbs from old traffic lights!

After we admired the tree, we headed back inside to get back on the monorail Unsurprisingly, my bag set off the metal detector. The security CMs started offering suggestions on what could be setting it off. I told them it happens every. single. time. I enter the parks, regardless of what I take out of my bag. They gave some suggestions on what I could do to keep it from going off in the future. Spoiler alert: none of their suggestions worked.

Anyway, we hopped on the monorail and headed to our next destination - the Poly. Except, they had closed the monorail platform at the Poly, so we had to get off at the TTC and walk over.

Now, here's where those pregnancy hOrMoNeS kick in. I have always been a pretty direct person - I say what I mean, and I mean what I say. However, I typically avoid confrontation, unless I feel that it's an issue of human rights. Pregnant Katie, on the other hand, is a little extra *feisty*. When we were getting off the monorail at the TTC, Jason and I stepped off to the side to allow people to pass, so that we weren't right on top of everyone. I've found that physical distancing goes out the window when people are getting on/off transportation and attractions. You don't have to be in a rush. Take your time and keep your distance. Anyway, we were standing off to the side and this woman and her kids almost run over us, and I hear the woman tell her kids "Keep moving, you can't just stand in the way like these people." Well, I wasn't letting that go. I may or may not have yelled after her "I guess social distancing doesn't exist when you're in a hurry, huh?" I don't know if she heard me, but I hope she did.

ANYWAY, once it was safe to do so, we started the walk over to the Poly. It's not a terribly long walk, maybe 5-10 minutes. The Poly is the only resort on the monorail loop that doesn't have one of the giant trees, but what they lack in size, they make up for in theming. We love the detailing in this tree.

When we got to the Poly, we mobile-ordered dinner from Captain Cook's. After we had taken pictures of the tree, it was still not ready, so we checked out the gift shops, where I bought a new notebook to take notes for my TR, since I left mine at home like a rookie. Soon enough, our dinner was ready for us. What did we get?

This should be no surprise to anyone that read my September trip report. I was so bummed that they had taken the Pulled Pork Nachos off the menu, so when we saw that they had returned, we had to get them! They were a little different than what we remembered - I remember them using a couple different kinds of chips in the past, rather than just the potato chips that they used this night. Regardless, we scarfed them down! I also had to get a picture of @Tuvalu 's sign, of course.

After dinner, we were both exhausted from the long day. We decided to skip over Grand Floridian, since we would be there later in the trip, and head back to the cabin. However, since we had to take a bus to get to Wilderness Lodge, our golf cart was parked at the front of the resort, rather than the back of the resort, where the boat launch to MK is located. That meant we had to take a bus back to Ft. Wilderness. We decided to head out to the Poly bus stop to grab a bus to Disney Springs, since all of the parks were closed at this point. Once we were at DS, we grabbed a bus back to Ft. Wilderness, and we were back at the cabin around 10:00 pm. When we got back to Ft. Wilderness, we took the opportunity to try out the battery-powered lights on the golf cart for the first time. They ended up looking awesome!

When we made it back to the cabin, I hopped in the shower to wash my hair, while Jason turned on a Christmas movie on ABC Family (I know that's not the name anymore, but that's what I'll call it for the rest of my life). After my shower, we finished the movie before heading to bed. It had been a long, fun first day in the World!

Up next: Animal Kingdom Day!

HouCuseChickie · Mar 1, 2021

k8einwdw said:
Anyway, we hopped on the monorail and headed to our next destination - the Poly. Except, they had closed the monorail platform at the Poly, so we had to get off at the TTC and walk over.

Now, here's where those pregnancy hOrMoNeS kick in. I have always been a pretty direct person - I say what I mean, and I mean what I say. However, I typically avoid confrontation, unless I feel that it's an issue of human rights. Pregnant Katie, on the other hand, is a little extra *feisty*. When we were getting off the monorail at the TTC, Jason and I stepped off to the side to allow people to pass, so that we weren't right on top of everyone. I've found that physical distancing goes out the window when people are getting on/off transportation and attractions. You don't have to be in a rush. Take your time and keep your distance. Anyway, we were standing off to the side and this woman and her kids almost run over us, and I hear the woman tell her kids "Keep moving, you can't just stand in the way like these people." Well, I wasn't letting that go. I may or may not have yelled after her "I guess social distancing doesn't exist when you're in a hurry, huh?" I don't know if she heard me, but I hope she did.

Thank you for posting that. I swore to my husband that they'd closed the Poly monorail platform. We were originally going to stay in a studio, but I wasn't paying Poly prices without a functioning monorail station. My husband found it hard to believe that they'd still leave the DVC rooms open and no monorail.

You aren't kidding about the distancing and transportation. We encounter the worst of our trip on our last night. Glad you got feisty!

Back!Elbow!Shoulders! · Mar 1, 2021

This was all arrival day? And you took zero naps?!?

Darstarr · Mar 2, 2021

HouCuseChickie said:
My husband found it hard to believe that they'd still leave the DVC rooms open and no monorail.

It’s not a HUGE deal as the DVC rooms are a very short walk to the TTC. In some cases the TTC is closer than the lobby monorail station. (Or it seems that way to me because I walk in circles on the beautiful Poly pathways

)

HouCuseChickie · Mar 2, 2021

Darstarr said:
It’s not a HUGE deal as the DVC rooms are a very short walk to the TTC. In some cases the TTC is closer than the lobby monorail station. (Or it seems that way to me because I walk in circles on the beautiful Poly pathways)

That makes sense. We stayed in a standard room in Rarotonga the last time we stayed at the Poly, so I think we kept thinking back to that location even though the DVC rooms are in a different area.

k8einwdw · Mar 2, 2021

HouCuseChickie said:
You aren't kidding about the distancing and transportation. We encounter the worst of our trip on our last night. Glad you got feisty!

I get that people are in a hurry, but you’re not saving yourself much time by crowding the people in front of you!!

Back!Elbow!Shoulders! said:
This was all arrival day? And you took zero naps?!?

OMG I can’t believe I forgot to tell this story...when we were driving down, I fell asleep at some point between breakfast and stopping for gas. I have a pretty extensive playlist of Disney music on my phone that we play in the car on the way to/from WDW. While I was asleep, Jason kept the music on to keep him from doing the same. Well, I was in a deep sleep, dead to the world, when all of a sudden, I was jolted awake by the Fantasmic exit music.

Maybe it’s one of those “You had to be there” things, but we both thought it was hilarious!

k8einwdw · Mar 4, 2021

Monday, November 30th - Animal Kingdom Day

After the loooong travel and resort-hopping day on Sunday, we were both more than happy to sleep in on Monday. The forecast called for rain all morning, so we weren't in a rush to get to Animal Kingdom. We started getting ready around 10:30, and headed out to the bus stop around 11:30. Thankfully, we didn't have to wait long at all for an Animal Kingdom bus, and we were walking into the park just after Noon.

Doing Animal Kingdom while pregnant is a totally different experience. Almost every attraction, including Kilimanjaro Safaris, is off-limits, so this gave us the opportunity to take our time wandering around the different trails throughout the park. We started off in the Discovery Island trails, where we visited my favorite black swans, saw some wallabies, and the male babirusa pig from the "Magic of Animal Kingdom" show on Disney Plus.

We also visited the otters that reside near the Tree of Life.

We were getting hungry by this point, so we decided to mobile-order our go-to at Animal Kingdom - Satu'li Canteen. The crowd waiting for their orders outside of Satu'li Canteen always looks a little intimidating, but we only had to wait about 5 minutes, and we were able to find a table inside. I got my usual chicken bowl, and Jason got the combination chicken and steak bowl. We skipped over the blueberry mousse this time around.

After lunch, we headed over to the first of two attractions for the day - Na'Vi River Journey. The posted wait time was 35 minutes, and we waited around 30. The family behind us in line kept standing approximately six centimeters behind us the entire time we were waiting. I whipped my head around and gave them the "back off" glare several times, but they wouldn't back off, so I had to get Jason to stand between me and them so that I didn't yell at some strangers in a theme park. Also while we were in line, we witnessed a mother-daughter duo try to cut the line, twice. We were in the outdoor portion of the queue, and they tried to sneak in front of us. I asked if they were meeting someone that was up ahead, and they said no, so I pointed out the end of the line behind us. They stood there for a few minutes debating on the wait time, and decided that they were going to go ask a cast member if they could get a FastPass. When that didn't work, they tried cutting the line again, in the same spot. The person they tried to get in front of very loudly pointed out that there was a line of people standing there, and they weren't standing there for the fun of it.

They skulked off after that interaction. Soon enough, we made it onto the ride. I tried to enjoy it a little more this time, since it was one of two attractions I could do in the park.

Up next: Pandora pics

k8einwdw · Mar 5, 2021

Monday, December 30th - Animal Kingdom Day - Continued

After getting off Na'Vi River Journey, we hung out in Pandora for a little longer to take some pics.

We didn't stick around for too long though, because we had a train to catch! One of the things I could do at Animal Kingdom was ride the Wildlife Express Train out to Rafiki's Planet Watch. We were trying to make it into the next Animation Experience class, so we booked it across the bridge to Africa and made a beeline for the train station. We made it on the first train that came, but the class was full by the time we made it into the building.

We didn't want to hang around for another hour to catch the next class, so we decided to head out to the petting zoo area to see if we could spot some of the chickens we had seen on "The Magic of Disney's Animal Kingdom." We didn't see them, but I was ready for a break after hustling from Pandora to Africa and then hustling from the train station up to the building, so we decided to sit down for a few minutes in front of the stage area. After a couple minutes, some animal handlers came out with Willie the aardvark! If you watched the show on Disney Plus, you may remember that they were trying to get him to breed with a female aardvark, and the cast members told us that their little baby aardvark had just recently been born! We sat and watched for a few minutes while they talked about aardvarks and showed us some of his tricks. It was no animation class, but it was definitely fun to see!

Side note - I know most of us 90s kids grew up with "Arthur"..wasn't he supposed to be an aardvark? Because Mr. Ratburn looks more like an actual aardvark to me.

After Willie left, we headed back out to the train station to catch the train back to Africa. The train is one of the attractions that is supposedly safe for pregnancy, but looking back, I don't think I would chance it again. It was a lot bumpier than I remembered. I found myself tensing up every time we hit a big bump.

Up next: more animals!

k8einwdw · Mar 7, 2021

It’s been a long, busy weekend...

Anyone care to venture a guess at the nursery theme?

LisaBelle · Mar 7, 2021

I’m late but oh so happy to follow along! Congratulations! The nursery is beautiful!

donaldtoo · Mar 7, 2021

k8einwdw said:
It’s been a long, busy weekend...

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Anyone care to venture a guess at the nursery theme?

Nice...!!!!!!!

Just as long as y’all aren’t piping the laSW music into the room 24/7...!!!!! :hilarious:

riverside · Mar 7, 2021

k8einwdw said:
It’s been a long, busy weekend...

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Anyone care to venture a guess at the nursery theme?

I can’t “love” this post enough!! What an awesome nursery theme!!

Darstarr · Mar 8, 2021

k8einwdw said:
It’s been a long, busy weekend...

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Anyone care to venture a guess at the nursery theme?

fizzieee · Mar 8, 2021

Omg I LOVE your nursery theme - those colors are gorgeous!!!

mpaulam · Mar 8, 2021

Impressive painting skills!!

Trip Report *COMPLETED* The More the Merrier - November/December 2020

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Omnia mutantur, nihil interit

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Trip Report COMPLETED The More the Merrier - November/December 2020