Trip Report Some People are Worth Melting For: Round 2! (PLUS, a little Christmas, right this very minute!)

We’re back!

Timeline: June 2024
Location: Boulder Ridge Villas at Wilderness Lodge
Cast: Me (A), Dad (R), my sister SB, brother-in-law Iz, and niece B!
Why? It is little B’s first trip! I feel so thankful to be here experiencing the magic with her for the first time.

This is all of us pre-B during our last trip all together in 2021. I’m excited for SB and Iz to finally experience WDW since the pandemic. Things were quite different back in Summer 2021! They also of course haven’t ridden Ratatouille, Guardians, or Tron yet, so I’m looking forward to that for them too.

 

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Life has gotten busy, but more updates from July will be coming shortly! Sorry for the delay.

 

[Scott10]

It has been a while since I've been on the boards, but was shocked to find this report way down here. Hoping all is ok and thinking I can't be the only one still waiting on the updates to continue on this trip!
Always enjoy your writing style and photos!

 

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Ah, where was I........?

Back in July, on Day 1 of our trip! After Tiana's, I was starving. I had been putting off lunch all day because of my worries about missing my window at Tiana's. I have no photos, but I went to Columbia Harbor House and had some chicken tenders and fries. Afterwards, it was getting close to parade time and I caught these guys marching by!

I hoofed it across the park to Tomorrowland through the parade crowd. I required some dessert after my lunch (cream cheese pretzel dessert, that is!).

I sat and enjoyed at a Lunching Pad table and then decided to join the *crowd* that was at CoP. I guess everyone was trying to escape the heat.

It wouldn't have been a Tomorrowland visit without a spin on the PeopleMover.

I decided to head over to Epcot and made my way out of MK. On the way, I stopped to listen to the piano man at Casey's and then was serenaded by the Dapper Dans. I think it is the live entertainment that makes Disney so magical, for me.

I hopped on the monorail and it started to rain, but thankfully by the time I reached Epcot it was over. I also made an impulse purchase and got an ILL for Guardians that was already opened up, so away I went.

Still no Conga!

 

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This was my first time seeing the new "hub" at Epcot, so I wandered around and checked out La Calle.

I know they want them to be easy to move around, but I felt like the buckets holding the umbrellas could have been a bit more fashionable.

It was SO hot, so I took the boat over to Morocco in search of a cool beverage.

I went to America first, but nothing was appealing. I ended up in France and got the Grey Goose Vodka Slushie. It was satisfactory and much stronger than I would have thought for a slushie.

Hot and tired, my last Epcot activity was SE.

Bye for now!

 

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I got back to ASMu quickly and grabbed some more chicken tenders for dinner.

I took it back to the room to eat. I didn't want the room to smell like dinner (LOL) so I wandered around our section of the resort looking for a trash can, and then called it an early night. The trash can was shockingly difficult to find. S was flying in tonight on a red-eye, and she was due to arrive around 2:00 am.

S arrived a bit earlier than expected, I woke up, we talked a bit, and then both went to sleep again to rest up for Day 2!

 

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Day 2: July 11

Today, the goal was to conquer MK. S doesn't get down to Florida as often (in fact, she hadn't visited since 2019!) so we wanted to do as much as we could! I started off scoring us a BG for Tiana's. I was proud of 34. I also purchased Genie+ and a ILL for Tron.

On the way there, the sky opened up. Not the way we wanted the day to begin, but a rainy day in Disney is better than a rainy day at home! We were walking in around 8:15 for an 8:30 Early Entry.

After the obligatory Main Street photos, we joined the masses and got in line for SDMT. The line was already outside the queue. This was REALLY when the rain rain rain came DOWN DOWN DOWN. We were totally soaked.

Not wanting to continue just standing outside in the downpour, we abandoned mission and headed indoor to IASW. (YES. We for real rope dropped IASW )

 

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The rain had lightened up a bit, and as we walked by SDMT, we knew we made the right choice as it was having a delayed opening. We headed over to another classic...

The whole time we were riding, all I could think about was how much my niece loved the mouse in the teacup, and how much she will love it even more when we come back in February with her!

Our first LL for Space opened up, so we headed over but on the way there it went down so that turned into a ME. I was able to book a new LL for Space that would open shortly, so I did that and we planned to use the ME for something else. We did Buzz in the standby queue (no photos, neither of us was proud!). Afterwards, we took a spin on the PeopleMover because it was almost time for our Tron ILL and we didn't want to leave the area.

Tron was called and we did that very quickly. I of course don't love spending more money, but with S not getting to ride it before, I felt like it was totally worth it.

 

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Space was still down, so my second LL had also turned to a ME. I booked a third one for Space, so we could use the ME elsewhere! We walked over to PoC and used one of our ME.

PoC Lounge... I'm ready for you!

We used our second ME on BTMRR. Thankfully the rain had finally stopped.

Although, we were about to get wet again on our Bayou Adventure! They called our BG and we took the plunge!

Second time riding, and I felt like it was still SO good. S also loved it. It is just such a happy ride. On our way out, we had a restroom break and I ran into somebody I work with at home. In all of WDW and its massive size, it is wild to me how often you accidentally run into people you know!

We had a LL for Mansion next, and wanted to squeeze it in before lunch. We had a productive morning! So far, IASW, Teacups, Buzz, PeopleMover, Tron, Pirates, BTMRR, Tiana's, and now Mansion. Not bad.

 

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Lunch was Skipper Canteen. I loved this so much in June and knew S would also be a fan. I had the steak and she had the noodle dish. Both were fantastic and our server was wonderful! My only critique would be that in June, we were sat in one of the smaller rooms at the back and this time we were in the main dining room. I very much prefer the smaller setting.

We wanted to take a break from rides and catch some shows. Fist up was the Tiki Room, so naturally we had to get a dole whip for dessert since we were so close by.

I am still bitter about them removing the raspberry dole whip from the menu. Mine is a strawberry and S got the classic. The raspberry and pineapple swirl will ALWAYS be elite.

We sang with the birds after we finished our treats.

 

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We caught a viewing of the Hall of Presidents next, looking for a break from the heat. The rainy morning did not in fact cool it down at all, but rather made it very sticky.

After we walked out of HoP, we accidentally found ourselves in a great spot for FoF. We stood and watched a few floats go by and then took advantage of the low wait time due to the parade and did Mansion again.

Ariel (and the crazy low wait time in the app) inspired us, so we went under the sea next. TBH, I am not even 100% sure what the actual name of this ride is, but I know it is an unusually long name.

Continuing on our show kick, we did Philharmagic next. S hadn't seen this since the Coco scene was added. I do love that part!

 

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We had another LL to use on Pooh.

It was a rather slow ride with many stops. I took a photo everytime our travel was halted.

That was SIX times, if you're counting.

I had been fairly successful with booking LL's that didn't require us to crisscross the park, but this time we had to cross over to Jungle Cruise.

It was much foggier than normal.

 

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Tired from our journey across the park, we went even more across the park (LOL) to hop on the train in Frontierland.

We took a full circle tour and then got back off again in Frontierland for dinner. We had full-on Shirley Status () upstairs at Columbia Harbor House.

A super kind custodian CM saw S's celebration button, and showed up with a surprise lemonade slushie for her. It was very sweet.

With that, we made our way to the front and decided to head out for the day. We had spent roughly 12 hours in MK, and accomplished 21 attractions, a sit-down lunch, and a quick-service dinner. 18,000 steps later, we were ready for an early bedtime!

Up Next... Day 3, Epcot!

 

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Day 3: July 12

With our early bedtime the night before, we were ready to go very early in time to make Early Entry. This was what we had lined up for the morning: a double ride on Guardians! S got a coffee from the food court at ASMu and then we headed to the bus.

We were pulling up to Epcot shortly after 8:00 and took our fill of Spaceship Earth pictures.

Since we had LL’s lined up, our first destination was to Soarin’. I love an empty Epcot!

We waited about 10 minutes, but only because they hadn’t opened up the queue yet when we arrived. Afterwards, we walked on to LwtL. We were the only people on our entire boat and early enough in the morning that there were many CM’s maintaining the foliage. It was fun to watch as we floated by.

 

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We wanted to do either Nemo or Figment next, but Figment was down and Nemo already had a 25 minute wait posted. Pass. Instead, we wandered around and had a drink in the “cafeteria” while we waited for our Guardians queue. I cannot stress enough how HOT it was today. The warmest I have ever been in Disney.

I was SO excited for S to try Guardians. I had been hyping it up since she arrived, so I was hoping it would meet expectations. We did our virtual queue first, and then walked around and right back on with our ILL. She LOVED it. (and so did I, of course.) I STILL have never gotten Conga.

Figment was back up so we did that after Guardians.

Our Ratatouille LL was opening up so we headed that direction, and right at 11:00 two hours after park opening, I hopped on and snagged a new LL for FEA. I was proud of my work, because literally 1 minute after that, FEA was listed as unavailable.

See that crowd? Unfortunately, we made it over to Ratatouille only to find it DOWN and a ME on the app. I was irritated because we had trekked over through the extreme heat and I wasn’t feeling the best, so we hopped on the boat to take us back to the front of WS.

Seeking a respite from the heat, we went back into The Land and I got my favorite mousse. We also got more beverages.

 

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Feeling a bit better, we went to Nemo with a LL and spent some time in the aquarium. They have since replaced one of the manatees with a new one that I saw in October, and now the dolphins are gone to Clearwater (I think)!

With the heat, it felt like the perfect time to show S the Moana section. We took our time wandering through the areas because it was delightfully uncrowded.

Our lunch reservation at Via Napoli was quickly approaching, so back we went through the park to Italy. We took the boat again so we were halfway, and then quickly walked the rest of the way. We got the bread appetizer, and both of us got pasta. It was delicious as always. We were seated in a GIANT booth near the back of the restaurant, where we literally could have both laid down flat. (We considered it.)

 

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(I just found our Guardians photos mixed in )

 

[cgersic]

Wow!! I can't believe the amount you got done at MK - that 12 hours went fast! It looks like you both are having such a great time and I'm loving the photos!

 

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️I interrupt this July TR to share with you a different trip, because I feel like the content is more time sensitive! ️

When: 11/18-12/1

Where: All Star Music

Who: Just me! I had my first solo trip!

Why: Two reasons. First, I have never been to the Festival of the Holidays or Candlelight Processional and when they announced the narrators and it was Josh Gad, I had to come. Second, I am graduating in December with my Masters Degree, have officially submitted all assignments, and wanted to celebrate!

 

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Day 1: Thursday, 11/28

Happy Thanksgiving! I celebrated with my family for lunch, and then hit the road for the airport. I didn’t know what to expect traffic wise, but it was a smooth drive the whole way. The airport was eerily empty. It felt like something out of a movie. I was ridiculously early because I quite literally walked right up and through security. I was starving but nothing seemed appetizing so I settled for a Thanksgiving Dinner chocolate bar.

Soon, we boarded and were off, serenaded by Top Gun.

It was a smooth flight and we landed a little early. Ahhhhh…. The carpet. And, the first Christmas tree of the trip!

I made the hike to the (not) magical express -Mears- and once again was met with a wide array of emotion. At first, I was thrilled because the bus was there and waiting for me. Then, I was skeptical. After I boarded, nothing was happening. Just sitting. And sitting. Finally, I was irritated. We sat there for 35 minutes before finally pulling out.

A few minutes after 10:00, I finally saw this sight.

 

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I originally only booked 2 nights for this trip, but then ended up flying a day earlier than I thought so I added an extra night. I went to the front desk to see if I could stay in the same room for both reservations. Turns out, they already had that done so that was nice! I got to the room in the Rock Inn section and quickly went to bed.

Next up: Epcot Festival of the Holidays!