Trip Report Happy Haunts Materialize and Begin to Sanitize - October 2020 TR

Hi, y'all! I'm here with my first trip report and have stalked this forum long enough to know what the people really want...PHOTOS OF CATS. But, first:

WHO: I'm Jessica, and my Disney buddy is my mom, JoJo.

This is a photo of our only massless selfie of the trip. It was right before we attempted to get a ROTR Boarding Group for the FIRST TIME EVER. Spoiler alert: we didn't look like that about 5 minutes later.

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WHEN: October 23-November 1, 2020.

WHERE: Saratoga Springs

WHY: It's 2020...there is no reason at this point.

*BONUS* WHO WE LEFT BEHIND:

Sulley! He is the captain of the struggle boat and owner of my heart. I had no previous attachment to the character "Sulley," but what else do you name a cat with lots of fur and large paws?

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Cookie! He's a curmudgeon and JoJo's cat.

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Lady Lee! She likes to take naps and eat potato chips. I also just described myself.

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Friday, October 23, 2020 - A Text Heavy Arrival Day

Background: Our original plan was to drive 12 hours to Orlando. We took a "practice" trip to Disney World Labor Day weekend. That was the first time we drove to Disney in a decade and was likely the last time we will drive (for at least another decade). I'm almost positive my mom booked our flight for this trip at a gas station outside of Tallahassee on the way home.

So, we had a 7:30 a.m. flight outside of our regional airport in northeast Mississippi. Delta has a small commuter flight to ATL out of this airport. We both live about 20 minutes away and arrived around 6:30 a.m., which is plenty of time to check-in and go through security. All went smoothly, and we were in ATL before 9:30 a.m. We had about a four-hour layover, so we grabbed an early lunch (Avocado BLTs at Gordon Biersch) and then bounced around all over the airport to kill time. Our flight departed around 1:30 p.m., and we both watched The Office until we touched down at MCO around 3:30 p.m.

We had no wait for our bags and made our way down to Magical Express. The Cast Member said it would be about 45 minutes before we could board, but we walked straight onto a bus. It was an uneventful ride. I must say the new video is a drag. More importantly, what animator decided to make Goofy look like he needs to be quarantined with his sickly-looking self? Is it just me? I digress.

UP NEXT: ROOM PHOTOS (COFFEE POT INCLUDED) AND DINNER!
 
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Sulley_1313

Sulley_1313

Active Member
Original Poster
October 23, 2020, continued…

Before we left for dinner, my mom and I walked to The Artist’s Palette. Why?

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We needed to purchase coffee and coffee filters for the week, and we have ALWAYS been able to do so at [insert Disney resort here] in the past. She went to the quick service to make the purchase, and I went to the gift *closet* to purchase the largest mug I could find. I also purchased some mystery pins to try my hand at pin trading for the first time. I had success (see below). She did not.

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A sweet Cast Member went over to help my mom and seemed surprised there was not any on the shelf. She even went to the back to check but came up empty-handed. We thanked her for her help, shrugged our shoulders, and went on our way.

After a pit stop to drop off my mug and pins, we had a lovely stroll to Disney Springs. My picture was too big to upload, but this (blurry, Internet-stolen) photo is pretty darn close to the view/walk outside of our room. From there, we boarded a bus to the Boardwalk (not our final destination), so we could enjoy a nice walk around Crescent Lake.

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I don’t know what the #$%@ happened between Disney Springs and the Boardwalk, but we departed the bus in an absolute downpour, and we were not prepared. We dipped into the Screen Door General Store to buy a couple of umbrellas and…coffee. Result: no coffee and another confused Cast Member. We thanked her for her help, shrugged our shoulders, and went on our way.

We did not have a nice walk around Crescent Lake. The umbrellas were no use with the wind (reenactment below), and we rolled up to the Beach Club like the defeated drowned rats we were. The hostess at Beaches and Cream checked our temperature, and we had a short wait until our table was ready.

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Beaches and Cream had been a Disney vacation tradition for us over the years and was a particular favorite of my dad. He passed away a couple of years ago, and we hadn’t been back to Beaches and Cream since he passed. This dinner was the first time, and we didn’t realize how much we missed it.

This was the first time to see the renovation. I liked it. This was my view from our table. I thought the photos were cute.

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I don’t remember the name of our waitress, but she was solid. I would also be remiss to say that I was hopeful that my favorite Cast Member, Larry (Orlando, FL), would be there. He was at Cape May Café before Disney closed and moved to Beaches and Cream when Disney reopened. I think he may be at Rose and Crown now, but I’m not 100% sure. I adore Larry.

Anyway, I had the Angus Beef Burger, and my mom had the Beaches and Cream Grilled Cheese. Both were excellent, but I had to critique; the burger needed a heartier bread.

But, we know you don’t go to Beaches and Cream for the food.

My mom got a Classic Banana Split (my dad’s favorite), and I got an Old Fashioned Sundae (two scoops cause I am a wimp). Delicious!

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After dinner, we waddled to the Market at Ale and Compass at the Yacht Club for…coffee. Result: no coffee and no interaction with a Cast Member. We shrugged our shoulders and went on our way to the Beach Club Marketplace for…coffee. Result: no coffee and two confused Cast Members. We thanked the Cast Members, bought coffee filters for the coffee we did not have and went on our way.

I don’t know what was up with the coffee. All the Cast Members seemed utterly confused too. I don’t know what the correlation is, but my best guess is that it has something to do with the closure? For reference, it was the Minnie? Mickey? (one of the two) brand of coffee.

We were beat by this point. We took a Lyft to Congress Park and went to bed. Of course, we did have coffee for the morning (from what housekeeping provided), but it looked bleak after that.

Up Next: The Search Continues and Magic Kingdom (YAAASSS)!
 
Sulley_1313

Sulley_1313

Active Member
Original Poster
slipperalwaysfits said:
This is how I feel about my resale DVC purchase this year!! 😍 😍 😍 😍 😍 Here's to many more years of DVC happiness!

I see the logic here...I do love Murphy beds, though I'd probably take a sofa to stay at WL!

Coffee is such a must for Disney trips!!

So glad you were happy with your selection! I'm eager to follow along!
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Yay! Cheers to DVC happiness!

I know, WL is still on my bucket list!

Thanks for following!
 
riverside

riverside

Well-Known Member
Love your room pics!! When we stayed there in August we didn't get a refurbed room so it is nice to see what they look like!!
 
Sulley_1313

Sulley_1313

Active Member
Original Poster
October 24, 2020

And, I am back...with a cheesy Photopass photo. The blue and bubblegum pink behind the trees means that it's Magic Kingdom day!

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Both my mom and I are early risers, in general, and we make no exceptions on a Disney vacation. Plus, we are in the bucket of people who like to hit the park early and leave early (especially without nighttime entertainment).

We had really great luck with bus transportation this week (exact opposite of our experience at the Contemporary in September), and we were on Main Street USA about ten minutes before Magic Kingdom opened at 9:00 a.m..

We encountered these characters as soon as we were on Main Street USA. We waved and moved on. Also, I never know what to say to face characters. 🤷‍♀️

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I will go on and say it now. I have a long list of pros and cons for Disney World in a pandemic. PRO - I will take a calvacade or characters on the train station over a parade (let me clarify - DAYTIME parade) any day of the year. I like to see characters but not enough to wait upwards of an hour+ on hot cement.

This will forever be my favorite holiday decoration, and I need shopdisney.com to listen up. I need a version of this in my house.

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Our last trip was Labor Day weekend, which included pit stops in EPCOT, the Magic Kingdom, and Animal Kingdom. Essentially, our goal for Magic Kingdom this trip was to ride and see all that we did not do in September, which turned out to be a lot.

We took a left at the hub and headed toward the Jungle Cruise, which did not have a wait. I can’t remember our Skipper’s name, but she was good. I laughed.

Next, Pirates of the Caribbean was also a walk on. This is my favorite scene in the ride, but I only have this picture because we were stuck here for a hot minute, and I was bored.

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Here is our unnecessary ride photo. You can tell who was prepared and who was not.

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We headed toward Frontierland next, where we debated to ride Splash Mountain or BTMR. We opted for Splash Mountain, as we road BTMR in September. It had a 45-minute wait, but we only waited 25 minutes. I tried to track wait times this trip, and I say about 90 percent of our waits were highly inflated.

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We left the ride drenched in water from head to toe. I honestly do not think I have ever gotten so wet on a ride. Then, for some reason, I thought that was the perfect time for a Photopass session. Also, I never expect to have a Sears Photo Studio session with these photographers, but man, this particular photographer got us from pretty bad angles. I did some major cropping to this one.

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Up next...more MK, of course!
 

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