Trip Report ***COMPLETED*** Happy Howdyween - September 2019

Hello friends, and welcome to another J and K trip report! Since we’re all stuck at home with no word on when the Disney parks will reopen, I thought I would bring you all along to relive the magic of our last WDW trip. After all, this is WDW Magic, and you all have only seen J and I go to Disneyland together.

Who: Myself (Katie) and my husband and Disney travel partner, Jason. We are WDW Annual Passholders (technically only I am at the moment), and Georgia peaches. We have been to WDW together 11 times since our initial trip for our first wedding anniversary in 2014.

When: September 7th-11th, 2019

Where: Fort Wilderness! Hence the title, Happy HOWDYween!

Why: MNSSHP, Food and Wine, and seeing Galaxy’s Edge for the first time

Since it’s been 8 months since this trip, I don’t remember everything, so I’ll have to use my photos and Instagram stories from this trip to try to fill in the gaps in my memory. I hope that reliving this trip will help tide me over until we can be back in The World, and that I can help some of you who are also going through Disney withdrawals!

 

[Loco_driver]

September? What days in September? Inquiring minds would like to know.

 

[k8einwdw]

I like the idea of roses and thorns instead of good and bad news! haha No worries spreading out the trip report posts as it makes them last longer. I certainly enjoy your writing style and pictures so keep up the great work!

Thank you for reading, hopefully I won’t drag it out too long

So glad you decided to book a beach/resort vacation while waiting for your September trip! We actually just bought beach badges for a beach (about an hour's drive) near to us for the summer since we didn't get the chance to take our WDW May trip. We're hoping to take some weekdays off this summer to just lay on the beach and let the COVID19 stress disappear for a while. Hope your job doesn't keep you so busy that you can't finish this TR!

We both agreed that we needed to go somewhere or we would go crazy!

September? What days in September? Inquiring minds would like to know.

9th-13th!

 

[k8einwdw]

September 8th - Continued

When I last left you, I left off on a bit of a cliffhanger...

Up next - Jason ruins my entire vacation, and why I’m the best wife in the world

And then I got so busy at work that I didn’t have time to post any new updates. So now, you finally get to hear the full story. After we came back to Ft. Wilderness after lunch and shopping at Disney Springs, we were both beat. The early wake up and intense heat had taken a toll on us, and Jason’s neck had been bothering him all morning. We’d be in the middle of walking somewhere, and he’d just stop dead in his tracks and wince with pain. Part of me thinks he may have been overdramatizing it because he’s a man and that’s what they do, but I felt bad for him regardless, so I made sure to set him up on the bed with a pillow under his neck so he could hopefully get some relief. I also gave him some Aleve, of which he later informed me that he took T H R E E in one dose. You’re not supposed to do that! While he slept, I rested on the living room couch, watched some tv, and ate some of our cabin snacks.

I woke Jason up around 3:00 so that we could get ready to head back to Animal Kingdom for the evening. After all, we had a 5:30-6:30 pm FP for my favorite attraction in all of WDW, Flight of Passage. We had some time to kill before we needed to be at the bus stop, so we hopped in the golf cart and headed up to the settlement to check out the main gift shop. We loved that they had a ton of resort-exclusive merchandise, and we especially admired the Fort Wilderness camping chairs. After perusing the gift shop, we hopped back in the golf cart to head over to the bus stop, and that’s when Jason broke my heart...

“I just don’t think I can do Flight of Passage right now with my neck hurting. Can we just stay here?”



Now, if I were a selfish person, I would have just taken his magic band and gone to AK by myself and ridden FOP twice. But, since I’m the best wife ever, I decided to be nice and stay at Fort Wilderness with J. At this point, it was around 4:00, and we had reservations for the last showing of Hoop Dee Doo at 8:30. We didn’t want to wait another 4.5 hours, so we headed up to the front desk to see if we could move our reservation to one of the earlier shows. They said that since it was the day of, we‘d have to go to the ticket booth at Pioneer Hall to see if they could swap us. So, we headed alllll the way back to where we had just come from, and by the time we got there, they had already seated everyone for the first show. So, we went to the ticket booth, and thankfully they were able to get us in for the second showing. The only hiccup was that we were Tier One on our original reservation, and the only spots they had left were Tier Three. We decided we’d rather take that than sit around in the cabin trying to entertain ourselves for another four hours.

After securing our tickets, we rode around in the golf cart, admiring some of the campsites and checking out the other gift shop until it was time to head back to Pioneer Hall for Hoop Dee Doo. We checked in, and waited with the masses to be let in and seated. We were pleased to get a great view - we were right against the railing on the second floor, just above the piano. We both thought that these seats were perfect, and we’d definitely request them next time!

Pretty soon, our food started to arrive - first up, cornbread! Low quality picture, high quality cornbread. I could eat my weight in this stuff!

Then, salad. This was pretty good, nothing to write home about.

Then, it was time for the show! Lets raise the roof inside the Hoop Dee Doo, and we’ll have a good time tonight!

And then...”More chicken, more chicken, more chicken...let’s eat!”

Chicken, ribs, and mashed potatoes, oh my! This was way too much food for two people, but we gave it our best effort! Everything was really tasty! We enjoyed the rest of the show, I think our favorite part was “Oh My Darling, Valentine...Porcupine...
Frankenstein...Clementine”

Soon enough, it was time for the famous strawberry shortcake!

Yum yum! We both loved this stuff. Of course, it wouldn’t be Hoop Dee Doo without....

Overall, we really enjoyed Hoop Dee Doo. The show is absolutely hysterical, the food is great, and it’s just an all around fantastic way to spend an evening. We already have plans to be back later this year!

After Hoop Dee Doo, we headed over to the campfire to see if we could catch any of the sing-along. Unfortunately, it was tough to find in the dark, and we made a couple wrong turns. By the time we finally made it there, the sing-along was over, Chip and Dale were nowhere to be seen, and they were about to start the movie. We decided to head back to the cabin, watch a little tv, and turn in early for the night.

Up next: Food and Wine!

 

[Swissmiss]

It‘s dinner time here so all your yummy Hoop-Dee-Doo pictures made me even hungrier

 

[lindawdw]

You're a very good wife to give up your FOP FP as we know how coveted those are! Glad you got such great seats for Hoop De Doo Revue!

 

[Loco_driver]

Haha, you’re a much nicer person than me. I would’ve been off to AK all by myself! Love me some HDDR too!

 

[myhappyplace]

Glad to see Hoop de Doo is still as fun as it was in 2011, and I definitely want to do it again sometime!

And yes I would have been heading to AK by myself, too...probably on DH's insistence so he could rest.

 

[MickeyCB]

I'm with @Loco_driver and @myhappyplace!!
You're much nicer than me, I would have given my honey another advil, another pillow and asked if he wanted anything brought back from Pandora!

 

[k8einwdw]

It‘s dinner time here so all your yummy Hoop-Dee-Doo pictures made me even hungrier

Haha, sorry about that! I could definitely go for some of that chicken and cornbread right about now!

You're a very good wife to give up your FOP FP as we know how coveted those are! Glad you got such great seats for Hoop De Doo Revue!

Believe me, I won’t let him live it down anytime soon!

Haha, you’re a much nicer person than me. I would’ve been off to AK all by myself! Love me some HDDR too!

Don’t think I didn’t consider it!

Glad to see Hoop de Doo is still as fun as it was in 2011, and I definitely want to do it again sometime!

And yes I would have been heading to AK by myself, too...probably on DH's insistence so he could rest.

Jason is an only child, so he’s used to being fawned over when he’s sick/feels bad. As much as I would have loved to go to AK by myself, I don’t think I ever would have heard the end of it!

I'm with @Loco_driver and @myhappyplace!!
You're much nicer than me, I would have given my honey another advil, another pillow and asked if he wanted anything brought back from Pandora!

Haha, I don’t blame you!

 

[k8einwdw]

September 9th - Epcot Day

When I last left you, Jason and I had enjoyed an evening at Hoop Dee Doo Revue, and turned in early that night. The next morning, we were headed to Epcot! Thankfully, Epcot was the one park that was not participating in the crazy early Extra Magic Hours, so we left the cabin at 8:00 for a 9:00 am park opening.

Waiting for the park to open...

I have no photo evidence, but we are creatures of habit, so I can tell you that we rope-dropped Soarin’ and then rode Living With the Land immediately after. We used to FP Soarin and LWTL, and rope drop Test Track, but we’ve found that the park opening lines at Soarin’ are much shorter since they added the third theater. While on LWTL, we enjoyed pointing out the different signs for Food and Wine menu items, and deciding whether we wanted to try those things. After LWTL, we considered heading into The Seas, but we had a 9:10-10:10 FP for Spaceship Earth, and we didn’t want to cut it too close.

We enjoyed our journey back in time...

Apparently Jason will not have eyes in the future. After thanking the Phoenicians, we had some time to kill before our next FP, so we headed into Mouse Gear. This has always been our favorite theme park shop, so I’m a little apprehensive about the remodel. If they give it the World of Disney treatment and make it look like a warehouse, I think I may cry. After perusing the shop, it was time for our next FP - Test Track! This is Jason’s favorite attraction in Epcot. Mine is Soarin’ over Calif...oh yeah...the World. I know Soarin’ over the World makes more sense for Epcot, but the California version was so. much. better!!! Anyway, tangent over. Here’s our sweet ride...

And here’s our Test Track photo! I always say I’m going to bring a hair tie to pull my hair back for this ride, and I never ever remember.

After Test Track, we stopped in the Chevrolet Experience area to take some fun pics at the photo stations. The picture quality of these is always so awful, but they’re so much fun!

Also yes, I was now wearing tennis shoes with a dress. I had worn “walking flats” the day before at Animal Kingdom, and they killed my feet. I wasn’t putting myself through that again, so Nike’s it was. Lesson learned - just because a pair of shoes is comfortable for work or running errands, doesn’t mean they’ll be comfortable walking around the parks all day.

After our photoshoot, it was time for Food and Wine!

To be continued...

 

[lindawdw]

I agree with you on that Soarin Over California was so much better than "The World"! I wish they would either do it over or bring back the old one!

 

[k8einwdw]

Hi, remember me? It’s been three weeks since I updated this trip report. Work has been absolutely bonkers, and then J and I took a much-needed vacation in Florida. We stayed in Palm Coast, FL for four nights, and it was so nice to get away from the craziness of life.

We spent a day in St. Augustine, enjoying some of the history there...

We went kayaking, and a huge manatee swam right up to us! I, of course, cried like a baby, because how often to you get to say that? Of course there’s no photo evidence of the manatee, because it happened so quickly that I didn’t have time to get my phone out, but it was truly a moving experience.

And, since we were just an hour and a half up the road, we had to pay a visit to our h°o°me away from home!

 

[k8einwdw]

Some stores still have not re-opened, including my beloved Disney Days of Christmas.

We did some damage in here...

Never thought I’d miss a Lego dragon, but I was so happy to see this friendly face.

Not pictured: our lunch at Earl of Sandwich. I had the Original 1762, and Jason had the Holiday Turkey. I used to be a die-hard holiday turkey fan, but we have a Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop near us that does a holiday turkey sandwich that is very similar, and dare I say...better...than Earl’s, so I’ve moved on to the Original 1762 when we go to Earl’s now.

I will say...WDW will not be anything like what we’re used to in the near future. The mask was MISERABLE. So hot. So hard to breathe. I don’t foresee masks working out long-term. The only respite from the heat was sitting down to eat lunch, but even that was a hassle. Some of the quick-service restaurants were mobile-order only, which doesn’t work out for people like J and I who pay for our dining using gift cards. They’ve obviously decreased seating capacity inside the restaurants, so if you want a seat inside, you had better get there right when they open, or be ready to wait a while for a table. Since sitting down to eat is the only time you get to take and keep your mask off, people tended to dawdle at their tables longer than necessary. If Disney is a once-every-few-years event for you, I would wait until 2021. If you have a trip planned this year and you intend to go, I would say pack your patience. The “new normal” is going to take some getting used to.

 

[k8einwdw]

On a more positive note, after we left Springs, we spent some time driving around property. It was so eery to see zero busses and not many cars on the roads. We drove past some of the resorts, and we got a long-distance peek at HS, Epcot, and MK. We could only see Space Mountain at MK, no castle view.

It was nice to get a taste of home. Even though things will be different for a while, I can’t wait to be back in the World soon!

 

[lindawdw]

So glad that you were able to get away for a change in scenery! St. Augustine is so pretty. WDW does look so strange with no cars or people around. The masks are going to be extremely challenging walking around Disney. Thanks for sharing your getaway.

 

[k8einwdw]

I agree with you on that Soarin Over California was so much better than "The World"! I wish they would either do it over or bring back the old one!

I really wish they would redo Soarin Over the World - it makes more sense for that one to be in Epcot, I just feel like we were cheated with all the CGI!

So glad that you were able to get away for a change in scenery! St. Augustine is so pretty. WDW does look so strange with no cars or people around. The masks are going to be extremely challenging walking around Disney. Thanks for sharing your getaway.

It was definitely a challenge walking around in the summer heat with masks. I will be interested to see how the whole mask thing plays out.

 

[k8einwdw]

September 9th - EPCOT Day - Continued

When I last left off, J and I had enjoyed a morning in Future World. Now, it’s time to move on to Food and Wine! I have to admit, Food and Wine ranks below Flower and Garden and Festival of the Holidays for me, because 1) there are just too many food booths, and no way you could try them all unless you’re a local or there for 2 weeks, and 2) there are fewer non-food/drink related things to do and see. HOWEVER, we do absolutely love Food and Wine, and get so excited when the food booth menus drop every year. I’ll be interested to see how Food and Wine plays out this year, with social distancing.

Anyway, let’s get started with some food! Our first stop was the Islands of the Caribbean booth for the Ropa Vieja Empanada with Tomato Aïoli ($5.50). This was not one of the more popular Food and Wine items, but we really enjoyed it!

Our next stop was Mexico, for the Taco de Puerco - Shredded Pork Belly on a Corn Tortilla with Salsa Verde ($6.50). This was teeny tiny for the price, but really flavorful, and you can’t go wrong with pork belly!

While we were there, we caught Mariachi Cobre’s “Coco” show, which was really cute! We always stop to watch Mariachi Cobre when we have the chance.

After the show, it was H O T so we took a break in the AC, browsing the shops inside the Mexico pavilion, and visiting the Three Caballeros. It’s only a matter of time before this ride gets re-themed to “Coco.” I totally understand the desire to re-theme this attraction, since “The Three Caballeros” takes place in several different Latin American countries and very few people have ever seen that movie. “Coco,” meanwhile, is very popular and takes place solely in Mexico...well, that and the spirit world. Jason is totally opposed to changing the theme. We’ll see who gets their way.

After Mexico, we moved on to Norway. We were still super hot, and the posted wait time for Frozen Ever After was at 40 minutes, so we decided to go for it. “Even if it’s longer than 40 minutes, at least we’ll be in the AC,” she said. Over an hour later, we were finally boarding our boat. We don’t like to wait very long for anything, but we rarely ever get to ride this one, so I guess I can’t be mad about an hour wait. See if you notice anything missing from our ride photo...

After our ride, we checked out the Norway gift shop for about 30 seconds before moving on to China. There is never anything in there that interests us. We skipped the Alps booth, as hot cheese just did not sound that great in 150° heat. In China, we browsed their gift shops for a while, but also skipped their food booth, as nothing jumped out at us. Same story with Africa - none of the menu items really caught our eye. In India, I got the Mango Lassi ($5.00), which I didn’t get a picture of. Honestly, this one didn’t really wow me. I’m normally a fan of anything Mango, but this just didn’t do it for me. I think I wanted it to be colder/frostier (if that even makes sense).

Next, we moved on to Germany. We always end up buying at least one thing from the Germany booth. This time, we bought two - the (not pictured) Roast Bratwurst in a pretzel roll ($5.75), and the Schinkennudeln - Pasta Gratin with Ham, Onions and Cheese ($4.25). The brat was pretty good, but the real star was the pasta that I’m not going to attempt to spell again. It was basically a baked Mac and cheese with ham and onions, and it was super tasty. I know I just said that hot cheese didn’t sound appetizing, but I made an exception for this one! If they had the Schofferhofer Pomegranate Hefeweizen (they usually do during Food and Wine), I'm sure I got that as well. I always enjoy the pomegranate version, and I've just recently discovered that they sell it at our local Total Wine!

Next up was Italy - we weren’t wowed by anything on their booth menu, and we don’t love their shops, so our stay there was pretty short. On our way over to the American Adventure, however, we saw something that definitely caught our eye - character training! In all our times going to WDW, we’ve never caught this, so we were so excited!

This was a really nice surprise, and we had some fun meeting a few of the characters. At this point, we’re about halfway through the World Showcase, with lots more food and fun to come!

To Be Continued!

 

[lindawdw]

I also prefer Flower and Garden Festival over the Food and Wine because you get the beautiful gardens and topiaries along with some incredibly food booths! Cute pictures with the characters.

 

[k8einwdw]

I also prefer Flower and Garden Festival over the Food and Wine because you get the beautiful gardens and topiaries along with some incredibly food booths! Cute pictures with the characters.

I just adore the Flower and Garden topiaries! I am so heartbroken that that Festival was pretty much cancelled this year.

 

[k8einwdw]

September 9th - Epcot Day- Continued

When I last left you, Jason and I had made it halfway around the World Showcase, and were pleasantly surprised by a character training.

Our next stop for Food and Wine was the Hops and Barley booth, where we split the Freshly Baked Carrot Cake and Cream Cheese Icing ($4.25). I know carrot cake is one of those love-it-or-hate-it things, and we both LOVE it! This cake was warm and delicious, but very sweet, so I’m glad we just got one!

After enjoying our cake, we headed into the American Adventure pavilion to watch Voices of Liberty, and catch the next showing of the American Adventure show. We make a point to see Voices of Liberty every time we are in Epcot - they are one of my very favorite things in the park! We also like the American Adventure show, but man if that show doesn’t put me to sleep almost instantly. I think it’s a combination of the cushy seats and the air conditioning- after a few long hours walking around in the heat, a power nap is basically unavoidable.

After my nap, it was time to move on to Japan. We love this pavilion because of the massive shop, and we almost always end up with something from their festival booth. This time is was the Teriyaki Chicken Bun - Steamed Bun filled with Chicken, Vegetables and a Sweet Teriyaki Sauce ($5.75). This was seriously so good, we both agreed we could have eaten two each! The bun was pillowy soft, and the chicken inside was very flavorful. Definitely one of our favorites of the festival! Jason also got the Spicy Roll - Tuna and Salmon Sushi topped with Volcano Sauce ($5.75). I don’t do sushi (or seafood in general), so he had that one to himself. He did say that he enjoyed it, but he preferred the Sushi Donut from Festival of the Arts.

After demolishing our bun, we meandered around the shop in Japan, and if memory serves me correctly, I don’t believe either of us bought anything. After Japan, we headed to Morocco. I had enjoyed the Spicy Hummus Fries at Food and Wine in 2018, but they’re super filling and Jason wasn’t into them, so we skipped them this year. We spent some time walking around the pavilion, taking in the sights. The Morocco pavilion is the most photogenic pavilion, in my opinion! We didn’t take any pictures this day, but here is one from our May 2019 trip.

After Morocco, we headed to the Brazil booth, for the cheesy bread of course! The proper name is Pão de Queijo: Brazilian Cheese Bread ($4.50). This item is a favorite every year, for a good reason! Cheesy and gooey on the inside, warm and toasty on the outside - it’s truly divine. We knew enough to each get an order this time!

Next up was France. I always enjoy their festival booths, and this one was no exception. We got the Creme Brûlée - Crème Brûlèe with House-made Chocolate Hazelnut Cream ($4.75), and the La Passion Martini Slushy- Vodka, Grey Goose Le Citron, Cranberry and Passion Fruit Juice ($11.00) . The Creme Brûlée was absolutely heavenly - I love a good Creme brûlée, and the fact that it had Nutella in it just seals the deal. I always love the alcoholic slushes that France does during the festivals, so I already knew that I would love this one! They’re pricey, but I always have to get one!

We usually see “Impressions de France” after enjoying our France booth eats, but our timing was off this day, and we were going to have to wait 20+ minutes for the next show. We settled for browsing the gift shop for a few minutes, before moving on to the UK pavilion. We were both stuffed at this point, so we skipped the Ireland booth, but we’ve gotten both the Warm Chocolate Pudding with Irish Cream Liqueur Custard and the Guinness Bailey’s Shake before, and love both! We browsed the shops in the UK for a while before moving on to Canada and doing the same. Neither of us was interested in anything from the Appleseed Orchard booth, but I do believe Jason got a Moosehead Draft from the popcorn cart in Canada, as he usually does. He probably also got a beer in Germany. I never take picture of his drinks, as his mother is very anti-alcohol, and I don’t want him to get trouble.

Annnyway, after our trek around the World Showcase, we had some time to kill before we needed to find a spot for IllumiNations, so we headed back to Future World to kill some time. And that is where I’ll leave you for now!

To be continued...