Friday:
Our flight was delayed but we still made it on Disney’s Magical Express with half an hour to spare. Today we are relaxing at our hotel before the Halloween party tonight. Turns out my favorite kind of pool has a 50s theme! I love all the songs on the playlist. Right now they are playing “Charlie Brown” and I can’t help but bop my head and sing along as I type.
We totally got our money’s worth out of Boo Bash! Short wait times for everything from Jungle Cruise to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (which we road twice) to the Tomorrowland Speedway (where we got to see the progress on the Tron coaster). Space Mountain did go down for a little while while we were in line but it was still probably half the wait time as what it would have been during the day. We also took advantage of trick or treating, party included sodas, popcorn, and ice cream (fruit bar for me), even caught "Maleficent's Fiery Prowl" and snuck a peak at the fireworks show as we rode the People Mover. It was fun to introduce our friends to things they had never experienced before such as The Carousel of Progress. I'm pretty sure after hours parties are the best way to visit the Magic Kingdom! The five hours we had in the park went by fast -- we didn't even make it to Fantasyland -- but we felt like we had enough fun to last an entire day at the park.
Saturday:
After staying at the Boo Bash until midnight we were grateful EPCOT opened later in the morning. We took the Skyliner (oh my goodness, it is the best way to travel around Disney World!) and rode Figment and Soarin’ (twice) and ate a fantastic lunch at Kate’s all time favorite restaurant, Garden Grill. Although the characters were socially distanced the slowly revolving aspect, our waiter, food, and the interaction we did have left us full and happy. We were also pleased that we were able to make it in the virtual queue for the newly opened Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure at the 1pm opportunity because it was already full before 7:00:20 am when I tried the first time. Living with the Land was a perfect after meal voyage, unlike Mission Space later. Shelly and I actually just let the girls ride that one on their own but they loved it. We really lucked out that our two hottest days were our pool day and our day at EPCOT because so much fun stuff is indoors there. After the Land and Seas we tried international sodas at Club Cool, traveled though time inside the Geosphere, got dinner, and finished out the night with the new and wonderfully well done Illuminations show before easily returning to the resort via the Skyliner.
Sunday:
Originally I had our pool day planned for Sunday in an attempt to acknowledge the Sabbath but due to only being able to get the Garden Grill for Saturday, the cast member over the phone helped me switch days all around and the entire trip went better because of it. I did feel that Animal Kingdom was the best place to remember our Creator. I love how well the animals seem cared for. We even got to see the baby white rhino when we chose to take Rafiki’s Planet Watch train when we realized we didn’t have time for the safari next to it. But I’m getting ahead of myself. For Animal Kingdom we made the plan to move counterclockwise through the park in one big loop beginning with Dinosaur. It was great! Dinosaur is a great ride and the girls rode it twice (and I would have too except I forgot to take my Dramamine with breakfast). Kite Tales was cute and a good way to sit down for a while but was fully in the sun so I wouldn’t recommend on a hot afternoon. Mount Everest did not disappoint and will always be one of my favorites. I have to recommend the special Dole Whips at Tamu Tamu. I highly enjoyed my Simba Sunset and Kate really liked her Scar’s Liar. I warned her you really have to like sour apple and I guess she does! (Thank you, Michael Kay, for your vlog about those!) We had a little time before our late lunch at Yak & Yeti and ducked into the Feathered Friends in Flight. I was doubtful because we have a bird show at the Denver Zoo but it was in the shade and magnificent. If I hadn’t seen and heard it with my own eyes and ears I would never believe a parrot could sing Old McDonald Had a Farm. The best part was that the zoo keeper said it comes out different every time. Lol. Lunch at Yak & Yeti was delicious and I’m so glad one of the vlogs I watched recommended the Thai shrimp appetizer since I usually don’t purchase those. (Thanks, “Gluten Free and Dairy Free at WDW” for the Y&Y video.) The atmosphere was kind of lost on the teenagers and the service was super slow but it did taste great and have lots of options. Kali River Rapids was not as great as I remembered it. I was wondering if they lowered the water level for fall? Us moms were wearing ponchos and didn’t get wet at all and the girls, even without ponchos, barely got wet. Oh, well! We once again realized we might miss out on part of Pandora if we went on the safari so we headed to the gift shop to make the Avatar figure Kate wanted to make so badly back in 2018 but couldn’t because we were heading to the airport that same day. This time we figured we could have it sent to our hotel since we still had a full day left after Animal Kingdom but turns out you can’t use the fancy imaging software without taking your mask off. Covid strikes again! Kate handled it well, though, because that meant we could go ride the Na’vi River Journey for the first time and then get in line for Flight of Passage. The river ride is a great introduction to the world of Avatar but Flight of Passage is the grand finale to a park day. It is so fun to see people’s reactions the first time they ride that ride! I overheard one child say that they would be willing to wait in line all day to ride that ride again. Well done, Disney Imagineers. Well done.
Monday:
We knew our last day would also be our longest lines of the trip so we had to be game on. With how well going in a loop helped at Animal Kingdom and the help of the “Beyond the Kingdoms” DHS Back to Basics video, I opted to take the opposite of everyone’s advice. Most people try to rope drop straight to Rise of the Resistance and save Tower of Terror and Rockin’ Roller Coaster for last and doing Sunset Blvd. first worked like a dream. We were able to walk on to both of those fantastic favorites and still get in a shorter than normal line for Slinky Dog and Midway Mania. This actually worked so well that we finished everything on our wish list two hours before the park closed. Rise of the Resistance is another neat ride to watch people experience for the first time and to me it was worth the two hour wait because I didn’t see any way around it. Smuggler’s Run, the Milk Stand, Muppets are all must dos at least once in my eyes. By the time we got around to Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railroad, the girls were done waiting in lines (I blame it on Rise’s wait time) and ready for churros and cotton candy. They enjoyed those while Shelly and I got in line. Turns out if you only have two people to ride that ride they will send you a different direction and shave about ten minutes off you standing in line. Thanks, girls! We took the marvelous Skyliner back to our resort, ate dinner and I had plenty of time to souvenir shop right there at the hotel and pack for our flight the next morning. I was so sad to be leaving Disney World and our wonderful location at Pop Century. Be sure to request the 1960s when you book your hotel. You’ll be about half way between the main building where you find food, shopping, and buses and in the other direction you have the Skyliner. With our 5 night stay it was also totally worth buying the girls the refillable resort cups. Shelly said she figured it was only $2 per refil vs. the $4 you would pay for a bottle of water or soda and you got the souvenir cup for free (or you could think of it as a $10 souvenir cup and $1 per refill). Either way it’s totally worth it when you are used to great drinking water and can’t stand the Florida stuff.
Tuesday:
We packed everything up, ate breakfast, and boarded Disney’s Magical Express for the last time (since the service will be discontinued on January 1st). We had plenty of time to shop and eat lunch at the airport before heading home on our delayed flight. Shelly drove us home and before we knew it we were back to real life and hugging our loved ones. I feel truly grateful we were able to make this trip and am convinced we had some good luck helping us create magical memories. I’m already taking notes for my next trip to Disney World!
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