Trip Report First Return Since the VID, What Happened Here?!?!

Who: Me (39), Wife (35)
Where: Drury (Disney Springs)
How Long: 3 Park Days
Occupation: Teachers from New England
Occasion: School Break / Conference
Key Notes: Children left at home, two boys (4 and 2).

As I sit in MCO, dreadfully early (as always), I’m pondering my initial post Disney thoughts on what is our first return to the parks since 2019.

My wife and I are big fans of the mouse, obviously since I’m on a Disney forum. We were engaged here, honeymooned here, had AP’s at one point, many many visits always staying on property.

We saw a window to come back down with an education conference in the area and double dipped with Disney. Mentally a very challenging trip for us as we left the kids at home and were constantly seeing those magical moments. A pending June 2025 trip is happening with the grandparents insisting a final trip for them as they’re getting up there in age.

We consume a lot of Disney media across YouTube and socials so we have been inundated with the negative perspective regarding crowds and cost. Fresh off a trip, Disney is different. Edit: a great deal of what I wrote got deleted and I’ll try my best to summarize.

We are planners and are not opposed to a good spread sheet but Disney has gotten to the point where spontaneous things are almost non existent. Sitting on a phone all day isn’t fun.

Most of this thread will be photographs as I’m a photographer by trade. Here’s a picture of my tripod all set up and me desperately trying to not stick out like a sore thumb! It isn’t easy. I did have an awesome chat with security once I was set up, he was also a photographer and it was nice to have an engaging chat and not have it be an inquiry into what I was doing.

 

[ddbowdoin]

A few more words...

The last day: and then the sadness comes in. We originally had planned an all epcot day but we didn't get a 7AM VQ for cosmic so decided to once again, park at DHS... head in and do Rise / TSM etc and then walk back over to Epcot. Today was a weird one and I knew going into the day that a sea of emotions were coming. One, after a 5 year layoff, I knew the trip was ending and thats simply never fun. Two, we were meeting some dear friends of ours who we met in Boston but ultimately moved back to FL to be closer to family after they had a child. They were in our wedding, we chat almost daily on socials with them, but obviously nothing replaces seeing people in the flesh. They met us around noon and within 10 minutes it was like we had no time apart. We had last seen them during our last visit to WDW, 2019, to mark the end of our childless days. Our friend was pregnant, we had just lost another pregnancy back to back, so a lot of emotions both at that trip and again in this one as it reminded us of our days. We also missed home as they brought their daughter. However, it was great to be there with a 5 year old to give us a sneak peak into disney life with small kids. Again, this was kind of a research trip (but not really).

My wife landed a 1PM cosmic VQ and paid for a LL on Cosmic as well. I think her goal was ride that attraction as many times as possible, ended up 3 times across 3 days. Once was enough for me as I noted my motion sickness issues earlier.

Our friend is an influencer, to some degree... has a decent IG presence but not one of the top dawgs but is obviously super passionate about WDW. Originally we planned to avoid any sit down dining just to save time and dinner. As they were off riding CW, and I was making pictures somewhere in the park, they found a Space 220 reservation for 8PM. I had seen videos and read reviews and knew one thing, it isn't cheap. Oh well, we had saved so much money over the last 2 days that it was ok to have a change in plans.

I enjoyed my meal... starter: calamari. main: the bone in ribeye (20 dollar upcharge), desert: carrot cake. Calamari was very good, huge portion and a nice spread of rings and bodies. Main: very good piece of meat, perhaps the best steak I've had at WDW and I have been very critical of dining at WDW. Desert: bad... just bad. The ultra bad: with tip... the meal cost us 240. 100% not worth it in my opinion as its priced at the premium steakhouse market price but isn't anywhere near the Smith Wollensky / Ruth Chris / STK experience.


Can I just say how amazing the Epcot light shows are...honestly, I found any excuse to just sit around and watch those as much as possible. I want to go back and bring back some different camera gear to change my approach to the work.

 

[ddbowdoin]

 

[cgersic]

So sorry about the meal at Space 220. Kind of crazy to charge that amount?! The last photo is fabulous - love the little rainbows!

 

[ddbowdoin]

The descent back into the real world kind of stinks. I fondly remember being on the Magical Express heading back to MCO and the troop would sing the sad version of M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E. The past week has been filled of listening to the audio loops from Epcot in the background as I work. I teach at the high school level and there's always jokes floating out there about Disney adults but only recently have I let the guard down and I'm flying my colors high!

 

[ddbowdoin]

now starts the process of designing and printing a book from this years trip!

 

[ddbowdoin]

Almost there!

 

[sheriffwoody]

Loved this! Your photos have such a nostalgic quality to them, they give me the warm fuzzies

We have gone a few times without our daughter and it's getting tougher as she gets older. I'm still ok with a couple nights, but more than that feels like too long. And now, she loves it so much I just feel bad not taking her! It's such a different experience.