Trip Report Tu in ‘25

Ever just the same
Ever a surprise
Ever as before
Ever just as sure
As the sun will rise
Tu in ‘25

These lyrics came to mind when I thought about my trip reporting. (I also thought, Here we go AGAIN but the above sounds much more poignant.) It’s now that time of year when my Disney trips are frequent. And this Disney Senior loves sharing her visits with y’all because your engagement makes it fun!

Yes, there will be stuff that’s the same. Yes, there will be surprises (too soon for the reveals). And yes, there will be sun rises!

Spring break countdown is at 4 days.

Since this intro needs a picture, here are Tu.

 

[Tuvalu]

Sunday, con’t

A benefit to our split stay was the flexibility to use a free water park pass either yesterday (ASM arrival day) or today (PORQ arrival day). Typhoon Lagoon was the only water park open so the choice was easy. Being October, this morning was cooler than we would have been comfortable with at a water park, so we let the sun warm the air for a few hours before venturing over.

There were much heartier souls than us who drove in at opening, as the parking lot was almost full at 12:30 pm and we had to park in the overflow area.

There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the humidity was very low - a polar opposite of the thunderstorm that had trapped Woody and me at TL only two months earlier.

I hadn’t noticed the “Safe Harbor” for lost children on my last visit. What a smart idea!

Em commented that I was “walking like I knew where I was going” as we looked for a home base to drop off our stuff. Being a creature of habit, I remembered how to get to the spot Woody and I had claimed so I purposely headed in that direction. We got chairs in the same area.

I told Em that she was in charge of picking what to do, being this was her first visit back in 16 years. Without hesitation she requested Miss Adventure Falls “for the animatronics.”

We passed a shark cage (wouldn’t a more accurate term be people cage?) on the way.

We were paired with a couple in their thirties and the guy was absolutely terrified. It made for a very fun(ny) ride and made up for Em’s disappointment with the underwhelming parrot AA: “There’s just one?!!” (I didn’t warn her.)

(For the record, the scared guy had a good time on the slide. But he did not want to ride again!)

 

[Tuvalu]

Next up was Crush ‘n Gusher. Prior to leaving home, I had gone back through my 2009 trip journal to discover which of the three slides (Banana Blaster, Coconut Crusher, Pineapple Plunger) was Em’s favorite. Pineapple Plunger was #1, and also the slide that Woody and I hadn’t done in August. Choosing that slide was a no-brainer.

The wait was posted at 15 minutes, but we waited far longer than that. We were about six tubes from our turn when the green “go” light remained permanently red. A grandma and grandson had climbed into the double tube and waited….and waited….and waited while the life guard attempted to figure out the problem. He called for help and another lifeguard arrived, just as perplexed. There was much time on the phone. Then we all noticed that the water in the slide had slowed to a trickle, and eventually stopped altogether.

Internet pic for reference

More phone conversations. Another lifeguard arrived to check. Em and I were frustrated that our limited park time was being wasted but we did not want to turn around and carry a giant tube (past everyone else in line with giant tubes) down all those stairs!

Finally it was determined that a safety switch (for stuck items) had flipped which shut the water off. Once the slide received the all-clear, water resumed flowing and Em and I were traveling down the Plunger a few minutes later.

But this time I’m sure my face reflected pain, not joy. Pineapple Plunger is marked extreme (which I did not notice until later) and the whiplash I received was no fun at all.

We opted to relax in the lazy river. And with half the amount of people and tubes than in summer, it was truly relaxing! We did the entire 2,000-foot-long, 20-minute-circuit. The pics are mine.

 

[Tuvalu]

Refreshed, I told Em I felt well enough to attempt another slide. She chose Keelhaul Falls, a scenic ride down Mount Mayday featuring mild rapids and small waterfalls. It was the perfect amount of thrills for both of us.

And neither of us wiped out at the end!

We considered the nearby Gangplank Falls (another family raft ride) until we saw the wait was 45 minutes AND you have to CARRY the 4-person raft up the mountain!

The yellow part of Mickey is said raft.

Something else that didn’t happen? Surfing in the wave pool. Em had no interest.

Instead we found a spot to lounge in the water at the Crush ‘n Gusher beach.

We could have stayed there until park close, but our gal pal was meeting us soon and we had to clean up!

 

[Tuvalu]

Sunday, con’t

Y’all remember my chick chat friend Kelly? The one who deserted us in Atlanta to move to Florida?

She last appeared in this trip report in April. For a local, she doesn’t stay local very often. She is a jet-setter. As a matter of fact, she had just arrived home last night and was flying out again early Tuesday morning. We had a very short window in which to see her.

Where had she just flown home from? Atlanta! She and her husband had flown up for a couple days to see his sister. They fly standby and were unable to get on a flight home on Friday. On Saturday morning she texted me from the Atlanta airport hoping to catch an early flight. I replied that had we known they were stuck at the airport, Em and I could have picked them up on our way to Florida (but alas, we were in South Georgia by then!)

One of the first things Kel said upon seeing us was, “I wish you guys had picked us up! We would have gotten home so much earlier!!” (Oh the perils of flying standby!)

This was Kel’s first visit to POFQ and she wanted a tour. We happily obliged.

She declared the resort beautiful and loved the vibe. When I said we could take a boat ride to Disney Springs and have dinner she was all in!

She shared pictures from her daughter’s summer wedding in Italy as we waited for the ferry.

It was a lovely evening to dine al fresco.

East coast Earl’s!

I introduced Kel to the Holiday Turkey sandwich. It was her first and won’t be her last.

Em had the club.

We lingered until sunset.

On our cruise back to POFQ we were joined by a stowaway who made himself right at home.

A guy in the rear of the ferry hustled towards the bird. At the time I thought he was going to take a picture. (Kel took the bird pictures above.) The captain told him sternly to return to his seat and to remain seated.

It wasn’t until we had docked that I learned what had actually occurred. The numnut had attempted to feed the bird by throwing French fries at it - and the young female captain publicly shamed him with, “Sir in the back, come pick up your French fries before I allow anyone to get off the boat.”

We chick chatted for a few more minutes before saying our goodbyes.

Back in our room, Em announced we’d accomplished a remarkable feat today.

“Mom, this year we have visited all 8 of the domestic Disney parks - plus Downtown Disney and Disney Springs!”

And we weren’t even trying.

 

[Tuvalu]

Monday, October 13

Em drove us to Epcot this morning. We thought it would be faster and more convenient than taking the bus. Faster, yes but convenient? We were instructed to park 7 spaces from the end of a very looong row. It was a lot of walking to get to the entrance (and felt twice as long when we were ready to leave!)

But we made it through security and the tapstiles a few minutes prior to early entry.

We decided to go old school this morning and hit Soarin’ first. CMs did not allow guests to enter the pavilion until 8:30 am on the dot. We joined the line which had formed outside.

We made the first flight of the day….

….and had first class seats!

 

[Tuvalu]

We were looking forward to seeing special Food and Wine displays in the Farm Ride.

What we saw did not impress us. Displays and information was not as creative as in past years and paled in comparison to the special touches present during Flower and Garden.

Odd placement for a kite.

The best? Jack ‘o Lantern with the shrimp.

And a colorful autumn stash of pumpkins.

 

[Tuvalu]

The park was now open to everyone. We decided to power walk to Frozen Ever After as Em hadn’t done it in awhile.

Lame display for Food and Wine. Where has the creativity gone?

Before leaving home, I had joked that after all those years of Wallcot, Epcot was likely to be the only park without walls this trip. (MK has walls around the RoA, AK has walls around Dinoland, and DHS has walls around Animation Courtyard.)

I was proven wrong.

Yep the line was pretty long when we joined it.

I miss the waterfall.

We lucked out that there weren’t many LL guests this early in the day and we were onboard for our adventure in only 30 minutes.

You are not the first to pass this way….nor shall you be the last.

Was Em trying to emulate our worst-ever FEA ride photo? Cuz I sure wasn’t.

(Props to Disney for improving the “wow factor” of the ride photo in the last 9 years!)

 

[Zipadeelady]

I miss the waterfall.

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View attachment 890263

I also miss the waterfall. I stopped there an told Em about it. She sadly doesn't remember it.

And that poor baby!

 

[Tuvalu]

Monday, con’t

From trolls to ducks.

Then we popped into the Odyssey to see Muppet Labs. I should have known it would be as disappointing as the other exhibits for Food and Wine.

Silly me thought there would be more of Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker than a couple of vinyl clings on the windows.

 

[Tuvalu]

It was then time for Em’s maiden voyage on Test Track 3.0.

Single Rider, of course.

We’d gotten to be pros at Single Rider for Radiator Springs Racers at Disneyland and figured this would serve us just as well.

We were in the load zone in under 10 minutes.

My poor attempt to catch Em in her car. I was happy to sit in the front this time, as I was in the back on my inaugural ride with Woody.

Em really liked the ride refresh, especially the room before racing outside!

 

[Tuvalu]

Ready to help the Guardians save the Galaxy.

LLSP, of course.

However Em had a lengthy wait to ride despite her single pass. I sat in the sun for awhile waiting for her (it was another gorgeous day) but then got too hot and had to escape into the a/c. I opened the app to check wait times and was glad we had already done the headliners!

And now the reveal of something none of us (including Em) thought we would ever see.

A decent ride photo of her - her eyes fixed forward, not off to the side!

I’ll let her share the secret if she wants to. Perhaps it was due to the fact she was in a Disco Inferno.

Meanwhile I will grumble again about water marks on the ride photo when you have paid for LLSP!!

 

[Tuvalu]

Monday, con’t

Em had tried several times to book lunch at Via Napoli without success. It was the one restaurant where she really wanted to eat and I suggested we try just walking up. If the answer was no, our back-up plan would be Regal Eagle.

So we headed back to the World Showcase promenade in the same direction we’d gone earlier. We got a lot of steps in today!

At the podium I asked if there was availability and was met with, “Of course!” (I think that the reason ADRs at Via Napoli can be hard to get is they hold space for walk-ups.) Our wait to be seated was less than ten minutes.

We were led to the back room and our server was an authentic American, without a hint of Italian heritage. This was fine by us as we have always had better service at Via Napoli with a non-native. He was friendly, attentive and prompt, the qualities we appreciate in a server.

Our frozen strawberry limoncellos were .

As was the pizza.

After lunch we completed the circuit around the lagoon. We noticed some character pumpkins (hidden in plain sight) that were part of “Pluto’s Pumpkin Pursuit” scavenger hunt. For $11.99 you get a map with stickers, and a prize for completion - the tiniest cornhole game we’d ever seen.

Once we had made it back to Future World we laughed at the SSE “camouflage” before making the looong trek through the parking lot to the car.