Trip Report The "This is a relaxing and resorting trip, not a running trip!" Trip

We're back!

Basic info:
Cast: Bee (me-32), M (my wife-32), Jay (my brother-26), MIL (M's mom), FIL (M's dad)
Dates: August 16-25
Resorts: Contemporary and Swan split stay (M and me), offsite (Jay, MIL, FIL)
Tickets: 4-day, no hopper, plus DAH Boo Bash
Park plans: 8/17 Boo Bash, 8/19 MK, 8/20 Epcot, 8/22 DHS, 8/24 Epcot

PTR here.

This was a rather different trip that what we're used to, for various reasons which will be explained throughout the TR. Lots of things went really well, and a few things didn't go so well. Keep reading for food, drinks, surprises, and DRAMMA!

 

[cgersic]

Cheddar has such a cool face! Congrats on your new family member!

 

[bee]

Day 2, cont.

We got dressed in our costumes and walked over to MK around 6:30. When we arrived we verified we asked a CM where to go for the Boo Bash and found the correct line.

It may look somewhat crowded in the above photo, but I remember seeing the crowds waiting to get in for MNNSHP in the past and this was NOTHING compared to those.

As we waited we had a little nails/accessories photoshoot.

This cloud looked a little ominous...

Right at 7:00 the line started moving. It was a quick process to scan tickets/bands but there was a slight backup getting wristbands once inside the park.

I'm sooo glad the scrim came down before we arrived!

At 7:05 we were IN the park!

We had to ask CMs where to find the trick-or-treat bags and event maps but we found a station in Tomorrowland.

We did get a map but lost it at some point during the night, which made M upset because she really wanted a souvenir map.

At some point we looked down to see a lovely piece of Dryer Lint! @dryerlintfan @Tuvalu

Up next: "I went to the Boo Bash and all I got was this salad"

 

[Katiekitten]

Congratulations on the new family member!

 

[bee]

Day 2, cont.

At some point I realized I had hardly had any fruits or vegetables this day. We are used to eating a good amount of both every day and my body was telling me, "GIVE ME VEGETABLES!" So I checked various QS mobile order menus and the best/fastest/closest choice was Cosmic Ray's, of all places. I placed an order for the Greek salad and we went to CR's to pick it up. This was our first time doing in-park mobile order so we weren't sure how it worked; a CM at the door asked if we had ordered and let us right in. We found a table easily and soon the order was ready.

The salad was decent and satisfied the veggie craving. If I had one complaint it was that it was quite salty, between the olives, peppers, feta, and dressing.

As we ate we joked that we paid for the Boo Bash and all we did was get a salad from Cosmic Ray's. But of course, that was NOT all we did! The Peoplemover posted wait was 15 minutes so we got on line.

Did I mention the mask straps we bought? At first I didn't like the idea of wearing my mask like a necklace, but it was super convenient to be able to just pull on the front of the mask to take it off without worrying about dropping it. And when we entered a queue or building, or otherwise wanted to put on our masks in a crowded situation, it was super easy to just pull it back on.

The wait was pretty close to 15 minutes as posted and the line moved pretty quickly.

The Sleepy Forest Girls needed a nap on the Peoplemover!

Tron looking nice!

Tron looking not-so-nice

What was this photo about? In the one above this one the sky is a beautiful combo of pink and blue, Aurora's dress colors. So we tried to get a photo with the sky and M's nails and it just...didn't quite work. Oh well!

The moon!

Up next: "Who needs alcohol when...?"

 

[bee]

Day 2, cont.

The Mad Tea Party has long been one of our favorite rides. The app said it was a 5 minute wait, but in reality it was a walk-on.

We both love spinning as fast as we can and usually the spinning doesn't bother us, but something was different this time. I don't know if it's just because of:

or what, but I got suuuper dizzy part way through the ride. I was fine and didn't get sick or anything, but I did exclaim, "Who needs alcohol when you've got a tea party?!"

After we got off the ride we overheard ANOTHER adult say, "Who needs alcohol when you can ride this??" I guess I'm not that original!

We knew we had a few photos we HAD to take, one being me with Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.

We also wanted a nice photo of us in our sleeping masks, WITHOUT our COVID masks, as if we were sleeping. Can I tell you how challenging it is to take a selfie when you CAN'T SEE?? None of them turned out that great but we got a few that were okay.

Now is a good time to talk about costumes! Throughout the night we got SOOOO many compliments on our Disneybounds from both guests and CMs alike. This is one of the best parts about Disneybounding to me: getting to connect with others who have an enthusiasm for Disney and dressing up.

We also saw a TON of really great costumes on other guests! Some were quite authentic to the character, some were really creative ways to look like a character without wearing a literal recreation of their clothing, and some were simple Disneybounds that still conveyed the character. And we saw quite a few groups of several people all coordinating which was really cute! I took note of some of the best group costumes we saw:

• Inside Out (all five emotions plus Bing Bong)
• Snow White and Dwarfs (seven adults had colored shirts with the Dwarf name printed on them, and the toddler with them was in Snow White dress
• Snow White and Evil Queen
• Three guys as the Hocus Pocus sisters
• Winnie the Pooh and friends
• Nightmare Before Christmas (Jack and Sally)
• Beauty and the Beast (we saw at least two groups with BatB costumes)
• Emperor's New Groove (Kronk and Ysma)
• Hercules, Megara, and Hades
• Toy Story (various from at least the first two movies)
• Wreck-it-Ralph and Vanellope

Up next: Scumbag Scuttle

 

[bee]

Day 2, cont.

Mermaid said it had a 10 minute wait but really the only waiting was walking through the length of the queue.

M and I call Scuttle "Scumbag Scuttle." It's based on the 10-year-old meme Scumbag Steve and the fact that Scuttle is...well, a scumbag. He tells Ariel a bunch of lies (deliberately or not, who knows?) that embarrass her and get her into trouble. We got stopped several times during our ride, including right here:

I know plenty of others are annoyed by Scuttle in this ride, and we were a captive audience for entirely too long.

The worst offense? At one point he SNEEZED! IN THE MIDDLE OF A PANDEMIC!!!

The following is potentially insensitive regarding a certain tragic incident that occurred at the Grand Floridian a few years ago, so I am putting it behind a spoiler so you can opt out if it may upset you:

Spoiler: Insensitive content (?)

Remember how Disney got rid of a bunch of alligators and references to alligators in the weeks and months after the child was killed by an alligator at the GF? Maybe it's time for them to get rid of coughing and sneezing!

Anyway, we otherwise had a nice time on our journey.

And yes, we waved to Ariel and Eric at the end, though I didn't get a photo of it.

Up next: Good timing!

 

[bee]

Day 2, cont.

When we exited Little Mermaid the park was still officially open to day guests, but things were already getting spooky!

At this moment we heard the beginning of Happily Ever After, and realized we were about to have Unintentional Nighttime Show Viewing Number 3!

We ended up in a cool spot between the castle and the area where the big fireworks are launched from. It was like being right in the middle of the show! And though we knew we would be IN the park during fireworks time, we didn't specifically plan to see HEA, so it was a pleasant surprise!

I also took a short video:




Since we were in Fantasyland we decided to do as many rides nearby as possible before moving on to the next land. On the way to our next ride we passed this:

Ah, yes, my favorite attraction: hilha Magic

Up next: La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la

 

[Darstarr]

Cheddar has no microchip and it has been ten days with no responses to our social media posts, flyers, calls to the Humane Society to see if anyone is looking for her, etc., so we are officially adopting her!

View attachment 586686View attachment 586687View attachment 586688

And now, back to the TR!

Cheddar!!!!

My neighbors (newish) have this type of dog. She got out one day and made a beeline for my dog who was on a long lead tied to the front porch. My dog is three times as big as the “Cheddar dog” but my brave boy ran behind me and hid. The neighbors dog came up on the porch and took my Kobe’s favorite bone to the horror of her owner.

Welcome to the family Cheddar

 

[lindawdw]

It sounds like you're having a great time at the Boo Bash Party!

 

[Laurenciaa]

Day 2, cont.

Ah, yes, my favorite attraction: hilha Magic

Up next: La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la

Ah yes, the better level of sarcasm.. ! Enjoying the report so far and Welcome Cheddar to the group!

 

[PrincessJasmyn]

I'm late to the party, but glad to be here! I just got all caught up on your PTR and TR!!

So happy you got to keep the beautiful Cheddar!! Looks so similar to my little girl, Cupcake! (food names are the best, am i right!)

Can't wait to keep reading about your "relaxing" trip - its going to be a long time until we are able to get back (we are in Australia, and our international borders are locked!) so i'm following along to fill my void.

 

[bee]

Cheddar!!!!

My neighbors (newish) have this type of dog. She got out one day and made a beeline for my dog who was on a long lead tied to the front porch. My dog is three times as big as the “Cheddar dog” but my brave boy ran behind me and hid. The neighbors dog came up on the porch and took my Kobe’s favorite bone to the horror of her owner.

Welcome to the family Cheddar

Ah yes, the better level of sarcasm.. ! Enjoying the report so far and Welcome Cheddar to the group!

Thank you!

I'm late to the party, but glad to be here! I just got all caught up on your PTR and TR!!

So happy you got to keep the beautiful Cheddar!! Looks so similar to my little girl, Cupcake! (food names are the best, am i right!)

Can't wait to keep reading about your "relaxing" trip - its going to be a long time until we are able to get back (we are in Australia, and our international borders are locked!) so i'm following along to fill my void.

I hope you get to go sooner rather than later!

It sounds like you're having a great time at the Boo Bash Party!

We did!

 

[bee]

Cheddar has such a cool face! Congrats on your new family member!

Doesn't she?? Thank you!

Congratulations on the new family member!

Thank you!

 

[bee]

Day 2, cont.

Since we were in the area we rode Small World, which was listed at 10 but was really a walk on. And since it was after 9:00 we had to show our wristbands to ride.

Here's a blurry photo of our nearly-empty boat:

Anyone play Untitled Goose Game? Any time I see white geese I think of that game.

Am I on Soarin'??

Masked and distanced! Good job, girls!

My MIL loves giraffes so I always gotta take giraffe pics for her!

And then we were involved in the worst and bumpiest boat back-up we've ever experienced!

Yes! More kids following COVID protocols!

Not these guys...

STILL backed up

HONK!

Up next: A world record, and CANDY!

 

[bee]

Day 2, cont.

One of our absolute must-dos was Peter Pan since we almost never get to ride it. In fact I don't remember in the slightest when the last time was we rode it in WDW, but we did ride it in Disneyland a few years ago. It was listed at 15 minutes but we made it on in only six, which was the fastest we have EVER gotten on PP!

MK officially closed at 9:00, but the Boo Bash started at 9:30; therefore we could ride rides during that half hour, but none of the popcorn/ice cream/candy stations were open. After we rode Peter Pan it was after the start time so we were able to partake in some treats. As we approached the ToT station in Pinocchio's Village Haus a CM shouted, "Whoooooo waaaants CAAAAAAAAAANDYYYYYY?????" We, and plenty of other guests, cheered in response. We got our treats and one of the candy CMs said she loved our costumes!

The next logical step was Haunted Mansion, not only because we were nearby, but because it would be our first "official" Boo Bash ride!

Uhhh...it's a ghost. Let's go with that.

Both M's favorite and my favorite portrait in the stretching room

We had a great time, of course! As we exited we saw that the Butler was out doing his show:

Next we got in a long (but moving) line for ice cream (and water!).

We each had a Mickey bar and they were, of course, SOOO GOOD! They were better than we remembered!

As we enjoyed our ice cream we saw either Carlotta or Renata, presumably walking to join the Butler show.

Please excuse this extremely blurry photo. My phone camera isn't the BEST at night photos, plus I was rushing to get it before she was out of sight, and also holding ice cream lol.

We headed toward Frontierland, where we stopped for popcorn!

Why is Disney popcorn SO good??

Up next: The Emptiest Ride in the Wilderness

 

[bee]

Day 2, cont.

One of our favorite rides in all of WDW is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. When we saw that it was a 5 minute wait we hopped in the queue! In actuality the only waiting time was the time it took to walk THROUGH the queue.

(Both sides were not open)

There were so few people that the CMs didn't even fill up the trains before sending them off! Our train had maybe one third of the rows filled.

After the ride I asked M, "Wanna ride again!" And she replied, "Sure!" So that's what we did!

After our second ride we kept moving counterclockwise through the park and happened upon a cavalcade:

Pirates was a must-do so that's what we did, in a half-full boat.

Another must-do was to see the Cadaver Dans. But we could NOT figure out from the map, or from the app, or from the Disney website, when their shows were! You know where I finally found them? Right here on @wdwmagic! So thanks! It just so happened that there was a show in two minutes.

Chip and Dale were waving at guests from a different balcony, and when the Dans sang they danced!

He caught me taking a photo!

I have enjoyed the Dapper Dans numerous times but I've never gotten to see the Cadaver Dans. The show was funny (and punny) and of course the singing was flawless.

Bye, Dans!

As they were leaving we noticed paramedics bringing a stretcher under the bridge. This was the second time we saw a stretcher in two days.

As we headed toward our next destination we saw an ibis enjoying some discarded popcorn.

Up next: The longest wait of the night (but still not that long)

 

[bee]

Day 2, cont.

Did you guess what the longest wait of the night was?

Here's a hint:

I took this one to serve as a record of how empty the park was:

Do you know yet?

If you guess Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, you are correct!

The posted wait was 20, and we waited 18. Not bad at all! After we rode we tried very hard to get a photo of me as Snow White outside the cottage. But due to the lighting most of the photos turned out like this:

Up next: Tomorrowland

 

[lindawdw]

It looks like you were just zipping through all the lines at the party!!!

 

[MinnieM123]

I especially enjoyed your photos at Small World. (I know that's borderline lame, but I have always loved that attraction -- it's so uplifting!)

 

[fractal]

Seems like you were attracting a lot of big groups and their kids!

Boo Bash looks like fun and thanks for the pics of Tron Coaster.