Trip Report Trip Report IV: A New Hope ***Completed***

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

Trip Report IV: A New Hope

It is a period of domestic unrest. After years of wearing him down BES has won her first victory in getting DH to join her at WDW.

After her last adventure to WDW BES managed to uncover DH’s not so secret plans to see Disney’s ultimate weapon: STAR WARS STUFF.

Pursuant to DH’s hint of interest, BES raced to plan an awesome trip to win her spouse over to the Disney side of THE FORCE and restore freedom to the galaxy...

When: January 31st to February 6th
Where: Port Orleans- Riverside
Who: Just DH and myself (BES)

Here’s the pre-trip report.

I’ll start with something I finished in between trips. I’m not kidding when I say we are a pro-SW household:

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Count me among the immune suppressed.

I live in the U.K. and the government has mailed letters to people like me telling us how high risk we are, and that we need to shield at home for 12 weeks. There were 1.8 million people on the list.

Just entering my third week not being able to go anywhere, and not being able to hug my husband or my 16 year old DS or 12 year old DD. Hubby is a food delivery driver so is still working through our countrywide lockdown. Kids have been off school for three weeks now, although they are getting work online.

I am classed as a key worker, pension benefits, so it is hard for me not to be able to help my colleagues, but I do feel privileged that my government is trying to protect people like me.

It's a terrible time, but through it all I enjoy popping on here and reading these wonderful trip reports from the awesome @Darstarr , @Tuvalu , @ajrwdwgirl , @riverside , @bee , @Doc Disney , @Figment Forever and so many more so please keep them coming. I have 10 more weeks I need to fill.

And please all of you and your families stay safe. You are in my thoughts. ❤

Sending good vibes your way. So glad my rambling can bring you (and others) some amusement/comfort.

Also glad your government is taking your protection seriously.

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Day 6 February 5th continued

We made it to the EMH checkpoint before 9am. We walked right through Fantasyland and to the point where people were being held until full open for Frontierland.

Splash was down for a refurb so we joined the crowd and all did a slow shuffle to BTMR. We entered the normal beginning of the line at 912am and were on in 10 min.

from DH.

As much as I had hoped for knocking out multiples rides during EMH my real goal for MK today was for DH to complete more MK must-dos. A BTMR ride was certainly a must do so being able to do it with a short wait was great. Overall for our RD attempt I think we:

Because it was on our way and had a (deceptively) short wait time we next saw Philharmagic. The projection was blurry. “Just like the Avatar one....” DH noted. Tsk tsk Disney.

Since he liked the Tiki Room I figured DH would also appreciate CoP and I was right. I’m so glad DH likes the classics.

We finished our MK rides with a spin on another of my favs- TTA.

(Obligatory TRON coaster construction pic)

Before we left MK we had one final mission so we went off to Adventureland.

I had an impartial judge that needed to make a ruling on an important Disney dispute...

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Day 6 February 5th continued

DH was a little amused and also a little confused about why he was eating a pre lunch dessert for the sake of the internet.

Our first spot was to acquire the Citrus Swirl. DH liked it.

I immediately then placed a mobile order for Aloha Isle and we walked right over.

We waited quite a bit for our mobile order which was of course the infamous Dole Whip. (Or maybe it was the swirl. I thought I did the swirl but the pic doesn’t really look like it)

So what did DH prefer?

Dole Whip. By “a lot”. He didn’t dislike the citrus swirl though. Just thought the Dole Whip was better.

@Darstarr and @Loco_driver


On our way out of MK I convinced DH to take some selfies with me with the castle in the background. I can’t figure out how to emoji cover our faces on my phone so you’ll just have to trust me that the pics are adorable. This was our backdrop:

As we exited MK for the final time this trip I lamented, “Bye Magic Kingdom. I’ll miss you!”

DH responded with an earnest “Awwww!”

 

[Darstarr]

So what DH prefer?

Dole Whip. By “a lot”.

 

[Loco_driver]

So what did DH prefer?

Dole Whip. By “a lot”. He didn’t dislike the citrus swirl though. Just thought the Dole Whip was better.

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Real life update:

Sorry again for the TR delay. For everyone bored in lockdown- please send some monotony my way.

Last week my parents called to say that my little (college aged) brother was being admitted to the hospital.

He luckily didn’t have COVID- just regular ol’ pneumonia but bad enough to be in the hospital for a few days.

He’s home and feeling much better now. The current situation made it all way more stressful. My poor mom had to drop him off at the ER and didn’t see him again until she picked him up at discharge 3 days later. (Thank goodness for phones and FaceTime).

Then a new reason not to sleep emerged. My health system started furloughing people and eliminating positions. So far my department at my site is ok.

The one good thing this week:

I ordered 3 types of beer in my grocery pickup order in the hopes that one of them would be available. I was pleasantly surprised that I got them all.

Thank you to whatever Magician told me about the Soft Parade Shandy. So glad I finally found it. I’m looking forward to trying it when it gets a bit warmer out. (We had snow yesterday. )

 

[Swissmiss]

Glad your brother is out of the hospital and doing better!

And I hope that your department at work doesn’t get touched

 

[riverside]

He’s home and feeling much better now. The current situation made it all way more stressful. My poor mom had to drop him off at the ER and didn’t see him again until she picked him up at discharge 3 days later. (Thank goodness for phones and FaceTime).

I'm glad he's doing much better. I'm sure it's scary for everyone concerned not to be able to see your loved one in the hospital.

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

I'm glad he's doing much better. I'm sure it's scary for everyone concerned not to be able to see your loved one in the hospital.

It’s tough for sure. We were so lucky that he was able to communicate with us the entire time.

I straight up cried at work today reading a note about how a nurse held a phone up to a sedated/vented patient so their spouse could talk to them.

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Day 6 February 5th continued

Our original plan after leaving MK was to bus to CBR so DH could ride the Skyliner. As we headed to the CBR bus line I saw a better plan.

The bus stop for Riviera was closer. It also had a mostly empty bus already at the stop.

As we approached Riviera our imposter syndrome bubbled up. Would they realized that we were mere riff-raff?

Nope. The CMs in the lobby were friendly and unconcerned by us. DH spotted the coffee shop in the lobby and got just a regular ol’ coffee.

I was excited to explore a bit but DH immediately insisted we went outside. He declared that the lobby was “too smelly”. I don’t recall what the fragrance was but he didn’t like it one bit.

We hopped on the Skyliner but got on the wrong one and went to CBR.

We the hopped back on and went by Riviera again on our way to Epcot.

First ever BES and DH selfie:

DH was glad I warned him about how fast the Skyliner cars come into each station. He liked the Skyliner “ok.” (Methinks he doesn’t like heights more than he lets on..)

 

[Loco_driver]

As we approached Riviera our imposter syndrome bubbled up. Would they realized that we were mere riff-raff?

Haha this used to happen to me at the grand Floridian! In fact A actually refused to even go in the lobby of GF for years because of this! Now it’s one of her favorite resorts! Glad that your brother is ok. It’s such a tough time to have any kind of illness at all right now.

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Day 6 February 5th continued

Entering Epcot via IG we made a beeline for some particular festival foods that we had previously missed.

For DH (and DH only) the Deconstructed Reuben:

This lemon tart to share:

And a beer flight just for me:

I prefer dark beers but to my surprise I liked the blonde one the best here.

Nemo had a 15 min wait but it was really a walk on. We had a ton of stops and slowdowns on the ride. Next we explored what will always be Seabase Alpha.

 

[Swissmiss]

That lemon tart looks good - hope it was!

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

That lemon tart looks good - hope it was!

I’m pretty sure it was. I wasn’t a fan of lemon stuff for years but lately I’ve really been enjoying it.

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Day 6 February 5th continued

Next stop was the temporary New Mouse Gear for my AP magnet. My final one.

All week I had been eyeing the spirit jerseys but wasn’t sure what size to get. Here DH encouraged me to ask if I could try them on. The CM said of course.

We didn’t see any mirrors so we had to improvise. DH took pics and then I reviewed.

I ended up not getting one because this wasn’t the design I wanted but at least I figured out the size.

This is probably TMI but at this point I really had to pee. (Thank you beer flight) With all of the construction business finding a bathroom took a while. Finally found one in the Odyssey.

Since we were already there we did the Epcot Experience. DH thought it was neat. I perused the new Epcot merch. I was hoping they had the new logo shirts in any color than white but no luck.

Onto our final loop of World Showcase. Started off with the Grand Fiesta Tour. I took a pic of the wheelchair accessible boat in front of ours but it turned out so poorly I won’t post it.

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Day 6 February 5th continued

We continued around WS on the hunt for more snacks. DH was tempted to get more of the beef thing he really liked from the China booth but I think I put the kibosh on it.

Instead DH stopped to get a vegan bratwurst. I’m not a big hotdog/bratwurst person so I just tried a bite. He liked it.

Moving on we split a sushi donut and taiyaki in Japan. And by split I mean I got a bite from each and DH ate the rest.

Continuing on I mentioned that we should get something from the Morocco booth. DH said he was full and we didn’t need to.

I reminded him that my lunch so far had consisted of beer and his leftovers so yes I was stopping.

(There might have been a touch of hangry going on at this point. )

Ended up with this flatbread thing. It was pretty good. And even though he was “full” DH had some too.

In France we stopped by to see the French film exhibit. DH had delusions that it would be filled with Truffaut etc. I wasn’t surprised to see it was mostly about films that related to Disney films (BatB etc) but it was still cool.

Took this to remind myself to look into it later:

That was our final activity for this park. À bientôt Epcot!

 

[Swissmiss]

I saw your Giselle picture and it was setting off some bells - I sit on a neighborhood committee that organizes a discovery walk every year. The committee is headed up by a former history professor and lifetime neighborhood resident. One of the things we learned during our walk last fall was about the life of Carlotta Grisi, the first Giselle. She settled in my neighborhood when she retired from dancing (some 150+ years ago).

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Current life interlude:

Got a chance to wear my new shirt this week:

Wore it on a walk up to our local ma and pa ice cream shop. (We had to eat ice cream to support local business. )

Their Dole soft serve flavor of the week was pineapple. I didn’t have any but it made for a real Disneyish outing.

 

[Loco_driver]

Current life interlude:

Got a chance to wear my new shirt this week:

View attachment 469530

Wore it on a walk up to our local ma and pa ice cream shop. (We had to eat ice cream to support local business. )

Their Dole soft serve flavor of the week was pineapple. I didn’t have any but it made for a real Disneyish outing.

Great shirt! Also we keep getting tacos for the same reason! We’re just trying to do out part to support local businesses! . @Darstarr may be a little disappointed you didn’t get the pineapple soft serve!

 

[Darstarr]

Great shirt! Also we keep getting tacos for the same reason! We’re just trying to do out part to support local businesses! . @Darstarr may be a little disappointed you didn’t get the pineapple soft serve!

Thats ok, I had enough dole whip for everyone today! Rum too! (And vodka if I am being honest-and a few big waves, but I held strong at only one slice of pizza)