Trip Report "Oh boy...It's good to be home*..."

Hey all...

One of the shining lights of the reopening is the chance to read all of the trip reports again and share our stories. There was a huge lull during the late spring early summer and it's great to see all of the new ones loaded up!

Soooo...I wanted to get in on the fun! It was good to be home...note the asterisk in the title, I am sure you all know why... Not going to complain about the changes, although throughout the report, I may advocate for a few to remain in place...as did my wife!!

On with the show... Me(Billy), Heather(no age, she'd kill me), Liam(6) and Kaiden(22mths)

Our annual September DVC visit with my family and the extended parents and sisters' families as well. Original plans were for my team to stay at Copper Creek, our home resort whilst waiting for my parent's window to pick there but they were limited to Kidani Village as their resort. Pre-shutdown, we had moved our reservation to Jambo House because we've stayed at KV a lot and wanted a different experience, but was closer to the rest of the family... Then after all the shutdowns and closures of Boma and Mara at Jambo and limited to DVC stays, we made the decision to move to Kidani with everyone else. I applauded that choice as we checked in as I prefer the size of the room and the bathroom set up is more desirable. We had a 1 BR all along so we enjoyed the week there, close to the Bus stop and only 1 section away from the elevators. Most know how crazy the walk to rooms can be there...

Saturday 9/26....ORD to MCO

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Shrouded.....

Very uneventful flight to MCO, got in about 20 minutes early. After the customary bathroom breaks, we headed to baggage and DME.

Liam was excited to sit in front of the APM...Our bags are just coming out on the carrousel when we came down the escalator, so collecting them took less than a minute. Heather had just come out of the elevator with the stroller and went no more than 2 feet and turned right around as she saw us coming with the bags, Score! A short walk to the buses and got right in line for AKL. Pretty much walked right up to the CM as she was letting guests out to the stop. Gave us our seat numbers and we were on our way. The wait to leave was very short as they capped the bus. Heather mentioned it was the shortest amount of time we spent in MCO between deplaning and pulling away from the airport, double score!

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Our stops would be Pop Century, Yacht Club and then Kidani...
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Took a quick shot of the Skyliner..last year we had left 2 days before opening and about 7 days before the mishap...We were excited to try it out!
 

Billy6

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I'm late but here!!! Your boys are adorable.:) Your arrival day sounds like it went off without a hitch! I'm so glad that you were able to get an early boarding group for Rise and were also able to step back in line for MMRR!!! I'm excited to read about your day at MK!
Thank you! always good to have a good travel day with the youngins'... I had BG stomach all morning before I got to DHS. I guess it's a new thing now, right Dr. @Darstarr ?
 

Billy6

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
It looks like everyone is having a great time at the MK! I miss the WDW Railroad too and it sounds like it's going to be down a lot longer than originally planned. :oops:
Sorry, should have linked this one to the other post...It's monday...

Yes, I love the relaxation and the nostalgia of the WDW RR.... I miss it. The Disneyland RR is great as well.
 

Billy6

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Just was we got to the pretzel cart, a character cavalcade came down the street from Liberty Square..
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We had enough time to hit Peter Pan before our Tony's lunch...Liam and I got in line while Heather went to change Pooper Pan(Kaiden)...

After we returned from Neverland, we headed towards Tony's as I grabbed a few shots... Belle, Aurora and Cinderella were walking around near the castle...;)
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Billy6

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
It had been a few years since we've eaten at Tony's, but we were ready to come back...

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Our server, Darth Vader...err I mean, Michael was excellent and took great care of us. Just so darn hard to hear under the faceshields..moving on...

Both Heather and I ordered the Alfredo, I had shrimp and she had chicken..Pizza and grapes for the boys!
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Super good but I noticed that Heather got more than I did...:( She wasn't able to finish hers, so I made like Tramp and cleaned the plate...LOL

I rather enjoy having an afternoon meal to sit and relax and have good food versus the rush of QS places...Breaks up the day and let's you recharge....or I could have just had a nap on the table like Kaiden....

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We were ready to hit the rest of the park after a great lunch, headed back up MSUSA...


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Thank you for the cinnamon rolls, Gaston!! Glad your tavern is open again!

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Then we saw a rare character, The Bowler Hat Guy from Meet the Robinsons... This was the first time I had ever seen him...

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After the parade, we headed into Adventureland to hit Pirates...My mom and dad were sat down having a dole whip and we chatted with them a bit. Then my sister and nephew came down the path and were going to walk though the tree house, Liam wanted to go as well so him and I went with them...

Once we were done, we noticed the sky getting dark and then heard a crack of thunder...It was about to start raining...We quickly found the end of the queue to Pirates while it started drizzling. We had made it to the main entrance before it started pouring. Kaiden was asleep so Heather got out and went into the shop to cover up and Liam and I went in... Another weird distanced line config had us going through the main switchback under the portico, then into a doorway that is in the "right side" of the regular queue used for FP, back out of the right side to more switchbacks under the portico, then pack into the left side and normal standby from there....

Maybe Jack Sparrow made that line up after a few bottles of rum....
 
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Billy6

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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Liam showing his lightsaber in the darkness of the Castillo....

Another great ride...we got wet a bit on the drop and the cannon scene plops that hit near us...

Heather texted where she was and it was still pouring rain, a complete Florida deluge...It was getting close to park closing time and we made an executive decision to leave after it started slowing down...Ponchos and umbrellas ready, we made the trudge back to the exit. There was still more to see but it would have been a wet hour or so and so we left...Met up with my sister and her family on the way out, they had the same idea and we headed back to the resort.

Only regret the whole trip was not spending more time at the Magic Kingdom...


Pool day tomorrow...!!!
 

Billy6

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Glad you liked Tony's - we only ate there once way back in 2009.

Love Meet the Robinsons! Good to see them still represented.

Standing in line for Pirates holding a lightsaber at that age is what WDW is all about!
Tony's is very good. Tuvalu frequents it if I recall...Not my mother's cooking(She's Sicilian) but it was good!

Yes, I have never seen Bowler Hat guy before. Not even at the Halloween parties. It was great to see him...

I needed to get one too....but then I'd have to carry it home and suffer any ridicule from the elite class or Younglings.... 😆
 

Billy6

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Tuesday 9/29...Pool day...

While the rest of the family was headed to DHS, we opted for the pool...

Grabbed some breakfast from Sanaa. Their QS was very good and convenient. You order at the bar/lounge with a CM and some assorted items were put out a long with drinks and coffee.. all of the orders were made "to-go" but you can eat in the restaurant at open tables or take back to the room...We opted to stay and had full view of the animals roaming around outside...

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There was also some animals inside as Kaiden devoured this plate of eggs and some of Heather's breakfast. We had the breakfast platter, which was excellent. Eggs, Bacon, sausage, potatoes and coconut biscuits. Liam of course had the Mickey waffles...

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After breakfast, we headed to the pool for some fun...I didn't take any photos but I have some from Heather...

Kaiden having fun in the wading area...

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We had lunch by the pool and The Maji bar was open as well.....🍻🥃🍸🍹

Liam played some pool games with other kids and rode the slide as much as he could... We all had a great time just hanging out and enjoying the sun!

We didn't have much planned during the rest of the day but did have reservations at Boat House for dinner that evening...
 

Billy6

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Headed down around 4 for our 5pm dinner at Boathouse...

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Finally saw the McQueen bus! The boys were happy...


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Waiting selfie!

Made it to Disney Springs and headed to Boat House...it was ready to rain but we made it inside before it poured...


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Liam got tons of compliments about his Mohawk...Heather owns a salon so it was right on point!!

Appetizers!! Could have eaten all the shrimp in the house...

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Heather had a filet and the kids shared popcorn shirmp....I had the lobster roll...it was excellent. The truffle fries were great too...

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After dinner we headed to World of Disney and dropped a car payment on some souvenirs and things...Hit a few more shops and then grabbed some ice cream!!

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Note to self....Order only 1 scoop of ice cream from Ghiardelli's if you are not sharing...the scoops were the size of a softball and I could barely finish one!! Liam had a shake and Heather a sundae...

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We would be seeing Chewie the next day at DHS, but we grabbed a picture at the Lego store...Liam got his lego toy as it was his next pick for things to buy with his money...

The rain had stopped but it was getting close to closing time so we headed for the bus stop....

A great day relaxing and having great food!!

Tomorrow would be round 2 at DHS!!!
 

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