Trip Report Our (slightly) Unexpected Disney World Trip

You can never start a trip report too soon, so I’m starting this one as I’m waiting to check out of our hotel, sadly going home today.

The reason this trip is slightly unexpected is that six months ago we had no intention of going to Walt Disney World any time soon. Personally, I wanted to wait until things got a little more normal. But then my daughter threw a wrench in the works and got accepted to the Disney College Program. Since she’ll be working here for 6 months, we realized we HAD to come and visit her at her job launching boats in Mexico.

It was basically what I’d call a small trip (although my wife thinks we jammed so, so, so much into our five full days here.

Cast of characters: Myself (Steven), my wife (Jennifer), and youngest daughter, (Mik). Our cast member daughter (Samantha) was able to get a couple of days off so we were able to spend some time together.

One thing I have to say is my family has an aversion to having their pictures taken too much, so they’re missing from a lot of photos, but trust me, they were there.

Due to budgetary reasons, we stayed at the cheapest on-property room available: The All-Star Sports. I have to say I was not excited. I generally find the over-the-top theming obnoxious. No decent restaurant. The bus stops don’t have covering. I don’t even like sports. That said, we had a phenomenal time here. The grounds were immaculate. EVERY cast member seemed to go out of their way to be helpful. I had to speak to the manager a couple of times just to tell him how awesome everything was. I made several cast member compliments on the app. While I still have resorts I’d rather stay at, I’d stay here again without regrets.

I took a few thousand photos so I need time to download and sort, so there will be more to follow!

See you real soon!

 

[MickeyCB]

Our cast member daughter had just told us how matching couple and/or family shirts is often one of the things they look out for when sizing up guests.

Sizing them up for what?!

 

[Sbk1234]

Sizing them up for what?!

I guess to see if they’re likely to be a problem? Not an exact science to say the least.

 

[Darstarr]

Sizing them up for what?!

As someone who wore a “fire Bob Chapek” shirt to MK I was asking myself the same question….
(You should see the shirt I wore to DS)

 

[Sbk1234]

I guess I'm old, because some of my favorite experiences at Disney parks are the quiet, slow attractions where your body doesn't get tortured in the name of fun. I guess I've always been old, since this is how I've felt ever since I was a kid. So one of my favorite attractions is the riverboat. I even managed to sneak a photo of Mik and Jennifer. Shhh. Don't tell them.

To me, this is one of the most immersive attractions in any Disney park. There is so much to see and discover. I can't believe that some people ride this and only talk to each other the whole trip, never really looking at what they're passing by.

 

[Sbk1234]

We continued the day in a pretty standard Magic Kingdom way. So here's just a bunch more photos of our day. I'll talk again when I have something interesting to add.

This is the place we got breakfast at earlier that day. We never pre-ordered any mobile pick-up food the whole trip, and never had any problems getting food. At worst, the wait for food was no worse than it was before.

With Disneyland as my "home park", it was a special treat to see the Swiss Family Treehouse, since California hasn't had ours since 1999. To make matters worse, when I was here in WDW in 2016, it was closed for maintenance, so this was extra special for me.

 

[Sbk1234]

Another big deal for Disneyland regulars is the People Mover. It was a horrific tragedy when we lost ours in California, so riding it in WDW was another HUGE treat.

I’m told that the only Hidden Mickey on this attraction is on this lady’s belt buckle.

Even though our Tiki Room show is nearly identical to the WDW version, it’s worth watching it here for the little preshow, which California doesn’t have.

And wouldn’t you know it, but after the sun went down it got dark. The park was open until 11, so we had more time than we originally thought. Then, the fireworks started so we leaped into action and went straight to Seven Dwarves Mine Train. It had over hour long waits all day, but now the wait was down to around 20 minutes.

As soon as the fireworks ended it was like a sea of people all rushing to this ride. We were so glad we hit it when we did. In a matter of seconds the wait was back up to over an hour.

 

[Sbk1234]

As we all know, nighttime is the best time to ride the Haunted Mansion, so it was time for our encore ride.

I was real serious about riding this, apparently.

By this time it was closing time, so I walked as slowly as possible toward the exit, getting some good nighttime photos as I went.

Of course, the bus back to the hotel is the saddest ride of all.

Not bad for another day of walking.

 

[Sbk1234]

Just in case there's anybody anywhere who may actually be following this, I'm not done yet. When we left Disney we were just smacked in the face by Reality Land. Around the time of my last entry my wife's brother - one of my best friends - had a heart attack and we've been trying to be available for him and his "wife." He seems to be doing alright, but we were shocked when we learned that he had come way too close to leaving us. Work continues to be a pain in the butt, but that's something everyone has to deal with.

Anyway, in case there may be someone out there who is still interested, I'll continue with this hopefully by this weekend.

 

[Wilsonfamily4]

Sbk1234 I decided to finally register and get an account on here (usually just read people’s reports) so I can say I’m out here awaiting and so sorry for your brother in law. Glad he’s going ok.

 

[Wicked Sisters]

So sorry to hear about your brother in law’s heart attack. What a relief he is recovering now. Definitely still looking forward to the rest of this report.

 

[cgersic]

We are here and patiently waiting! Best wishes for a speedy recovery for you brother in law.

 

[Sbk1234]

So sorry to hear about your brother in law’s heart attack. What a relief he is recovering now. Definitely still looking forward to the rest of this report.

We are here and patiently waiting! Best wishes for a speedy recovery for you brother in law.

Thanks for the kind words about my brother-in-law. He's a good guy, and a lot more like my brother than my biological brother. I know from experience that now he has to go through a huge adjustment. Healthy food and exercise now dominate his future plans.

 

[MickeyCB]

Still following and wish your family well.

 

[Sbk1234]

To continue:

Magic Kingdom was a good, long day! But that brought us to our last full park day.

Since we live in California with Disneyland about an hour away, we decided our final day, and the only park we did twice would be Epcot. It’s always been a favorite of ours, anyway so it wasn’t too hard to come to this conclusion.

After four days of rope drop in a row, Jennifer was ready to sleep in. So Mik and I headed in for early entry.

We decided to start with what we didn’t get to do the first day. Number one on our agenda was to try to find a miracle and get into Space 220, so we headed right there and we’re told that there would be someone there to take names in a couple of hours. So while we waited we went to Mission Space. I did the non-lethal version for wimps like me. Mik took the full spinny, wild version.

I can never ride this without some degree of sadness, since in my opinion, Horizons was without exaggeration the all-time greatest theme park attraction ever created, bar none! So I remember fondly the whole experience, from the smell of oranges as you approach the building to choosing your own ending to the ride, and everything in between.
But I digress.
After we were all spacey, we went to Journey Into Your Imagination with Figment, since it was down last time.
I’m another one of those who greatly misses the original masterpiece. But any Figment is better than none.

And Mik even let me take her photo!!

Then we rerode Living With The Land, before heading up to France for breakfast.

By this time we figured we better head back to see if we’d have any luck in Space 220, so we hopped a Friendship toward the middle of the park.

We stopped on the way just long enough to enjoy a topiary or two.

 

[Sbk1234]

So, when we got to Space 220, the very nice cast member there told us there was absolutely NO WAY we could get a table without a reservation. I have to admit I wasn’t surprised. But what about just being in the lounge? No dice!
Buuuuuuuuuut……..
We were told we could wait in line for about an hour till they actually opened to sit at the bar, if there were any openings. We would be in spots 2, and 3 in line, so it looked pretty good.

It actually was a pleasant wait. The other guests waiting near me were all pretty nice, and that cast member really was a doll! She chatted up with us and said she loved how nice we were all being to her since many guests are often not nice.

And before we knew it, we got our boarding passes and went to the elevator.

A quick ride up and a walk past the hydroponic garden, and we were greeted by this magnificent sight!

The atmosphere didn’t disappoint. The cast members were very nice and invited us to wander around and gawk at everything.

We ordered our non-alcoholic drinks. Mik had the Moon Rocks, which was coconut, blue cotton Candy syrup, lemonade, (and a few other ingredients) topped off with Pop Rocks.

I had the Lightyear Lemonade, which was lemonade, butterfly pea tea, and mint. It was good, but Mik made the better choice. Now I know for next time.

Then it was back into the elevator and back down to Earth. Funny how you can’t see the elevator from the park!

 

[Sbk1234]

About the time we landed back on Earth Jennifer had arrived and we met up in Canada. We were taking things slower this day, so we just explored the pavilion for a while.

I really like this pavilion.

We were excited because this was the day we were finally going to see Samantha in her costume, being a cast member.
But alas, drama struck. Sam wasn’t feeling well, having symptoms of a cold.
They gave her a Covid test and decided to send her home.
To take the suspense out of this, she’s fine. Never developed serious symptoms. But we didn’t get to see her launch boats.
We did get to see her for about one minute and snapped a couple of pictures.

We spent the rest of the day exploring pavilions and shopping.

 

[Sbk1234]

Not enough praise can be given to the cast members. This gentleman was carving and painting very elaborate walking canes in the African outpost area in World Showcase. He was so friendly and animated, chatting it up with the guests.
He also reminded us of how necessary the international cast members are to World Showcase. These days, most every cast member in World Showcase is wearing the uniform my daughter has, since they aren’t from those countries. However, there are some cast members from those countries who are either legal residents or American citizens, and they are allowed to wear the traditional costumes of the countries. It adds so much life to the park and I’m so glad the international cast members will be coming back soon.

I think Japan is another of the prettiest pavilions here.
Morocco felt kind of lifeless, since most of it was closed down. But the emptiness made it easy to take some photos of the details.
I got a lot of looks when people heard me singing the words to “Road to Morocco.”

It isn’t hard to find things to photograph in this park.

 

[Sbk1234]

Yes, we did Journey into Your Imagination again, since Jennifer hadn’t ridden it yet. While it is no comparison to the original masterpiece, I’m still mildly entertained by it, so why not?

And yes, this moon IS disturbing.

I had some water in my ear that I finally got out.
Actually, this is one of those photos that I have to take every time, ever since my first trip in 1988.

I have to confess it was funny when a guy got it right in the face when he was looking into the fountain. He laughed so I guess it’s ok that I laughed.

Before we knew it, it was sadly closing time and the end of our final full day. Leaving is always sad. But at least I left with more dignity than I did when we left in 2016.

 

[Sbk1234]

For some reason, the page wouldn’t let me add one more photo to the last post, so here’s my steps for the day.

The last day gave us time to kill before our flight, but not enough time to enter any parks. So we went to the Polynesian for lunch. I savored every site that I went past, trying to burn everything into my memory.

We ate lunch at Captain Cook’s, did a little shopping, wandered around until it was time to pick up our bags and hop our Mears shuttle to the airport.

Some final thoughts. First, five full days in the parks isn't NEARLY enough! I'm looking forward to my retirement trip in about 7 years, when I'll stay two full weeks. But I have a feeling I'll leave that trip saying 14 days isn't enough.

I had many apprehensions about all the changes Disney has undergone in the past few years. The idea of Genie Plus and reservations for the parks and pre-planning everything months in advance was intimidating and I was really concerned that much of the fun and spontaneity would be taken away. While I have to admit that I don't like all of the changes, I gladly admit that Walt Disney World is STILL Walt Disney World. The feelings are the same. The escape, the fantasy, it's all still there.

People talked about "nightmare crowds," but I have to say, pre-pandemic, I'd seen it much more crowded on multiple occasions. It wasn't so bad. We also used the Disney app at a minimum. We also got by pretty well without mobile ordering food at all. The wait for food didn't seem any different than past trips.

The cast members were almost universally magnificent! They nearly all seemed to be going the extra mile. Disney service is alive and well.

Although there's a lot going on in our lives, Jennifer is already talking about how we're going to do our next Disney trip, so that's a good sign.

This turned out to be one of the best Walt Disney World trips I've ever taken.
And Mik is now talking about applying for the Disney College Program after high school, so there may be another trip for us sooner than expected.

 

[erstwo]

Thanks for sharing! I have such vague memories of Horizons. I'm going to have to look for a youtube video of the ride after reading your thoughts.
Crossing my fingers that one day one of my kids will do the college program. Again, great report!