Trip Report Shrouded In A Daft Disguise *COMPLETED*

Two weeks ago today, I returned home from the most surreal Disney vacation I have ever experienced.

During my last visit in February, I couldn’t have imagined having to wear a face mask and have my temperature taken before being allowed into a park. “Social distancing” wasn’t part of my vocabulary. Hand sanitizer was something I carried in a little bottle in my purse, not something in giant containers at the entrance/exit of every attraction.

No park hopping? No Fastpasses? No FIREWORKS :jawdrop: ?!! Not even on my radar screen.

Like a bolt out of the blue, the pandemic struck and life was dramatically altered. For everyone. And there is no Magic Mirror to tell us when it will be over. For me the pandemic has been a reminder to take nothing for granted ~ and that there can still be joy in the darkest days.

My name is Tuvalu and I have been a WDW annual passholder for nearly 25 years. I was raised on Disney and so were my children. The parks have always been my “escape” from real life. Could they still be an “escape” in the midst of a pandemic? After months of quarantine, I was ready to find out.

My daughter Em was my travel buddy. My husband Woody had reservations, but not for our safety. He was concerned we’d struggle with the restrictions and disappointment with all the changes. He wanted us to come back happy and wasn’t sure we would. Truthfully, I wasn’t sure we would either. After much research and due diligence, Em and I felt prepared to embark on a vacation with few expectations.

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Full disclosure ~ I‘ve wrestled with writing a report of our trip. The pandemic and subsequent events have caused much division on this Disney fan forum. I’ve always considered the trip reports section to be a “safe space” and hope it stays that way. My goal is to provide entertainment to the reader, nothing more.

With that in mind.....

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riverside

Well-Known Member
We are now officially in a club with @ajrwdwgirl with the wandering selfie eyes. I propose a meet-up where we can see just how many incorrect places we can focus our eyes 😆

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Not only do I never look the right way but I can never get the phone in the right position to take it!! E gets frustrated with me with that & always ends up grabbing my phone & doing it herself!!
 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
“I think we should ride the Millennium Falcon!” declared Em.

I looked at her strangely. Even though our limited Star Wars knowledge includes the MF, Han Solo and Chewy, we did not have a great desire to try the attraction, for what I thought were good reasons.
1. I have extreme motion sensitivity. I must keep my eyes closed in any ride simulator.
2. Em fears judgment by strangers. She would not want to ruin another’s experience by her lack of skill.

“Every party gets their own starship,” Em continued. “We can mess up the mission without worry!”

Reason #2 was now off the table. Reason #1 was still valid, though I was curious about the inside of the attraction. I figured I could just close my eyes to ward off any impending queasiness.

“Okay,” I agreed. We headed in the direction we thought would lead us to the Falcon.

Em found the spire in the Black Spire Outpost!
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(Of course it was easy to spot, the marketplace being empty.)

As we rounded the corner we stumbled upon some familiar masked faces....but not those from a galaxy far, far way.

@coachwnh and his family!

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(And yes, we asked two perfect strangers to capture the moment for us!)

What a treat it was to have another opportunity to chat with this fine family. Same time next year, Coach? 🤞🏻

Continuing on towards the Falcon I saw a lonely PP photographer. We put him to work. He took a lot of pictures, but I will spare you most of them.

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Forgive me but I have no idea what kind of creature (bird?) this is, its name, or which movie features it. But it is kinda cute. :inlove:

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This is the Galaxy’s Edge version of the “Where’s Waldo” Magic Shot. The video begins as a wide panorama and Em & I are mere dots in the background. After the zoom in, here we are!

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Too bad this site won’t let me impress you with the video. But to be honest, without a thousand people crowded around the Falcon like in pre-COVID days, the video is more “meh” than impressive.

The attraction itself was a walk-on.

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We weren’t able to get a chess table picture (which bummed me out because I wanted to send one to my sons.) A CM in the load area immediately called us over to explain our mission. She asked which role we wanted to play and we both answered “Pilot.” (I mean if this is our only chance we’re gonna go big or go home, right?)

Em sat on the left and I on the right. (Doesn’t that make me the co-pilot? Just please don’t call me Shirley. 😉)

I’m not sure why Em is telling me I’m #1.

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We began to move. It started off slowly and I was able to keep my eyes focused forward. My goal was to at least watch our jump into hyperspace, while my hand was clutched to the joystick, pulling back as hard as I could.

I didn’t make it.

Lest I leave little remnants of Mama’s Mac and cheese all over the cockpit, I shut my eyes.

This is what I missed.

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Meanwhile Em was in complete hysterics. Not laughing at me, but at her own ineptitude at safely piloting the Falcon while being yelled at by some commander while also trying to avoid getting hit by ammo from enemies trying to bring us down. Her laughter made me laugh and we successfully crashed and totally sucked at retrieving whatever it was we were supposed to get.

But ~ we hadn’t spoiled the mission for anyone else!

We were still laughing through the exit queue.

DHS was open for another half hour and we wondered if we could take another train ride through Runnamuck Park.

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We did! We enjoyed it even more the second time. I had to take a picture of Daisy Duck for Tuvalette....she’s Daisy’s biggest fan.

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The park was officially closed so we headed out. No private bus ride back to WL, but the bus was waiting for us. Em and I had such a fabulous day and we were excited to see what Day 4 would bring.
 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
Somehow, I forgot adults can order kids meals! Yay, but sorry yours was not so delightful!
Oh but it was! I think you misread my post. I was very happy with my smoked turkey, Tillamook cheddar and quinoa. :hungry:
And you may want to consider adding Mama Melrose to your next trip!

We are now officially in a club with @ajrwdwgirl with the wandering selfie eyes. I propose a meet-up where we can see just how many incorrect places we can focus our eyes 😆
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slipperalwaysfits

Well-Known Member
Not only do I never look the right way but I can never get the phone in the right position to take it!! E gets frustrated with me with that & always ends up grabbing my phone & doing it herself!!

This is my problem, too---hubby takes our selfies, I make him because he has longer arms and it's not as stressful for me to look at the camera that way!

Forgive me but I have no idea what kind of creature (bird?) this is, its name, or which movie features it. But it is kinda cute.

I'm not a big Star Wars fan, but as one who has Disney plushes that mean something to our family, the Porgs are on the list. :jawdrop: :geek:

I had to take a picture of Daisy Duck for Tuvalette....she’s Daisy’s biggest fan

Aaaaaaaawwwwwwwwww, going to be so special when Tuvalette actually gets to meet her! Daisy has so many cool outfits and she's soooo sweet!
 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
Wednesday, July 22

I decided to surprise Em with chocolate chip muffins for breakfast. I crept quietly out of our villa and made sure to hold onto the door as it closed, keeping noise to a minimum.

At each elevator there was this sign.

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We never shared an elevator with anyone the whole week. Not purposely. There just weren’t other guests around whenever we boarded.

I found it quicker to get to Roaring Fork by cutting through the courtyard rather than the lobby. It was cloudy to the east but the sun was trying to break through.

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Blue sky in the west.

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I was stunned to find a paltry amount of items in the bakery case. It was 7:15 am and there were only 3 chocolate chip muffins. I wanted 4 (two for today, two more for tomorrow) but only took 2 from the case, so there would be one left for someone else.

As I was paying I noticed a CM run out from behind the counter and replace the two chocolate chip muffins I had taken, so that there were 3 in the case again.

“So you do have more chocolate chip muffins?” I asked the cashier.

“Yeah. How many do you want?”

“I’d like two more.”

The cashier yelled to the muffin runner, “I need two muffins!” In a few seconds, I was handed a bag with two additional muffins. Not exactly the most efficient system.

I came to the conclusion they were trying to limit handling of food items by guests. In hindsight I was surprised I wasn’t forced to mobile order. (I would be forced to mobile order lunch a couple days later.)

For anyone wondering how refillable mugs are handled, you show your mug to a CM and tell them what beverage you want. The CM fills a paper cup and hands it to you. You can then transfer the liquid from paper cup to refillable mug.

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Em was stirring when I returned and was happy to see the muffin surprise. Ten seconds in the microwave made for a warm, gooey, healthy breakfast treat.

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We were the first ones at the pool this morning.

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The sky was much cloudier than the forecast had indicated. Em and I went into the water for a bit, but when it became apparent that the sun wasn’t going to come out we returned to our villa to shower and change.
 

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