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.

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ajrwdwgirl

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Tuvalu said:
Thursday, con’t

We followed Sydney towards Tomorrowland, passing the closed for refurbishment Matterhorn. I read it was supposed to reopen on July 24 - @ajrwdwgirl can you confirm?

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Sydney did a great job of finding shady spots for us to stand, often sacrificing her own comfort. But even in the shade we were quite warm and many comments were made about how unusual it was to be so hot in SoCal.

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Behind Sydney is Autopia. She told us that Tomorrowland was designed for “the future of 1986.” She also shared that the original Autopia course was 1 mile long and 2 spaces wide. The cars - modeled after European sports cars - could travel 11 mph (now 6 mph) on a trackless course, resulting in (no surprise) lots of crashes! Sammy Davis Jr. was a famous crash victim. Guardrails were added in 1965 for safety.

Our group then moved on to the Tomorrowland Train Station.

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Sydney shared the history of Walt’s love of trains and the DL railroad. Our group had a reserved car in which to ride the train, but the “wrong” train arrived when we were standing there, causing an unexpected (and long) delay in our tour.

Sydney kept us entertained by asking us trivia questions from our tour thus far, “to see if you were paying attention.”

When there was a slight pause after she asked, “what was the name of the cartoon dinosaur?” I piped up with, “Gertie!” I believe Em and I were the only ones who knew. #advantageWDWvets!

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The Matterhorn did open on the 24th. I rode it while I was there and survived. 😆
 
Minnie1986

Minnie1986

Well-Known Member
Tuvalu said:
Thursday, con’t

We followed Sydney towards Tomorrowland, passing the closed for refurbishment Matterhorn. I read it was supposed to reopen on July 24 - @ajrwdwgirl can you confirm?

View attachment 874800

Sydney did a great job of finding shady spots for us to stand, often sacrificing her own comfort. But even in the shade we were quite warm and many comments were made about how unusual it was to be so hot in SoCal.

View attachment 874801

Behind Sydney is Autopia. She told us that Tomorrowland was designed for “the future of 1986.” She also shared that the original Autopia course was 1 mile long and 2 spaces wide. The cars - modeled after European sports cars - could travel 11 mph (now 6 mph) on a trackless course, resulting in (no surprise) lots of crashes! Sammy Davis Jr. was a famous crash victim. Guardrails were added in 1965 for safety.

Our group then moved on to the Tomorrowland Train Station.

View attachment 874802

Sydney shared the history of Walt’s love of trains and the DL railroad. Our group had a reserved car in which to ride the train, but the “wrong” train arrived when we were standing there, causing an unexpected (and long) delay in our tour.

Sydney kept us entertained by asking us trivia questions from our tour thus far, “to see if you were paying attention.”

When there was a slight pause after she asked, “what was the name of the cartoon dinosaur?” I piped up with, “Gertie!” I believe Em and I were the only ones who knew. #advantageWDWvets!

View attachment 874803
Click to expand...
Matterhorn is indeed open, as of late July!
 
jmunzert

jmunzert

Active Member
Tuvalu said:
Thursday, con’t

After lunch we perused a few of the shops on Main Street. We were gathering ideas for souvenirs and made just a single purchase.

Here.
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The interior of this confectionery is very old-timey and well-themed. We wandered around for a bit, soaking in the atmosphere and the a/c (I told you it was hot!)

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How neat is this?!! I watched a little girl have fun making Pinocchio dance as her mom smiled. A core memory made for the low price of a quarter!

Then we checked out the yummy display cases. I remembered @ajrwdwgirl (and @Loco_driver)’s high praise of a certain candy treat that I thought my chocolate-and-peanut butter lovin’ daughter might enjoy. When I thought I'd found it, I zoomed in to take a picture and waited for @ajrwdwgirl's confirmation.

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She quickly replied, "That's the one!" I settled on a dark chocolate coconut cream treat for myself. We saved them for later and because of their size savored them in two sittings.

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Good call, I enjoyed the PeanutButter one SO MUCH first time having it I ate it in one sitting and immediately regretted it 😆 they are crazy good
 
Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
Thursday, con’t

At last we were in our private car on the MPB!

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The DL Railroad is famous for its dioramas between the Tomorrowland and Main Street stations. First up is the Grand Canyon.

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Followed by Primeval World - Land of the Dinosaurs….

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….or as we called it - The Universe of Energy! 🤣
 
Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
We stayed aboard at the Main Street Station while other guests got on.

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We did not do the MPB Grand Circle Tour, however. Sydney said we’d be disembarking in New Orleans Square which was the next stop. There was another attraction we needed to experience.

Thank goodness it was not Davy Crockett’s Explorer Canoes!

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These 35-foot-long free floating canoes are powered entirely by paddles. Don’t these guests look like they’re having fun paddling in the hot sun? I had the (mis)fortune of riding in a WDW canoe way back in 1979, with my BFF, in the summer. It was a miserable ride around Tom Sawyer Island and we only got through it by laughing at the ridiculous situation we’d chosen to put ourselves in. Never again!

Rather, we were going to ride on the Mark Twain Riverboat. Huzzah! Em and I were getting our summer Riverboat ride on the ROA after all!

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Do you see who rode with us? ^^^

The Princess of New Orleans!

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Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
The four rivers represented in the Rivers of America are the Mississippi, the Columbia, the Potomac and the Rio Grande. Different areas along the river are themed to evoke the different landscapes and characteristics of these waterways.

Em and I took a bunch of pictures, beginning with the stage area of Tom Sawyer Island used for Fantasmic! performances.

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Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
After everyone in our group was off the Riverboat, Sydney announced it was time for a comfort break. We had 10 minutes to use the restroom, get a drink or snack from a cart or hang out on a shady bench. Em and I chose shady bench!

Once the group reunited, Sydney led the way to Fantasyland. We passed a secret door (though not the entrance) for Bibbibi Bobbidi Boutique.

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She gave us a brief history of Fantasyland, including the Tony Baxter story of the “re-imagined” Fantasyland expansion in 1983.

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Then Sydney walked us to the last attraction dedicated by Walt Disney himself.

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She shared some IASW history before leading us weary (from the heat!) travelers to our final destination.

The tour ended at the Fantasyland Theater, where we were each presented with an exclusive 70th Anniversary Tour pin and learned a free LL for Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway had been loaded into the app for us. We were also instructed to hang on to our lanyards and name badges, which we would need tonight to receive an additional tour perk.

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rshell68

rshell68

Well-Known Member
Tuvalu said:
After everyone in our group was off the Riverboat, Sydney announced it was time for a comfort break. We had 10 minutes to use the restroom, get a drink or snack from a cart or hang out on a shady bench. Em and I chose shady bench!

Once the group reunited, Sydney led the way to Fantasyland. We passed a secret door (though not the entrance) for Bibbibi Bobbidi Boutique.

View attachment 874938

She gave us a brief history of Fantasyland, including the Tony Baxter story of the “re-imagined” Fantasyland expansion in 1983.

View attachment 874933

Then Sydney walked us to the last attraction dedicated by Walt Disney himself.

View attachment 874934

View attachment 874935

She shared some IASW history before leading us weary (from the heat!) travelers to our final destination.

The tour ended at the Fantasyland Theater, where we were each presented with an exclusive 70th Anniversary Tour pin and learned a free LL for Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway had been loaded into the app for us. We were also instructed to hang on to our lanyards and name badges, which we would need tonight to receive an additional tour perk.

View attachment 874936

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