Newsies' Itsy-Bitsy, Teeny-Weeny, Minnie-Polka-Dot March Trippie: March 6-13 2021 *JULY PTR UPDATE 7/4*

[Newsies]

July PTR - Update I
​

We interrupt our regularly scheduled Trip Report to bring you ... a JULY PTR UPDATE!

​

... I think that PTRs are mostly a thing of the past for me, except for potentially very special trips. Disney's removal of FP+ planning, free MagicBands, and modification of the ADR process AND park touring in general has made the old way of planning obsolete, at least for now. Thus, PTRing would feel like a lot of "life update" posts in this new world and I just don't think I would be able to handle that kind of commitment. I digress. Let's talk about this upcoming trip!

The family will be back in our happy place from July 11-17, back at our DVC home resort, Disney's Polynesian Villas & Bungalows. We are very excited to be returning to our Studio life at the Poly! Here's our exciting itinerary so far:

July 11: Arrival Day/Epcot - This is Grace's birthday! She'll be 20, which is insane to me. One more year until we can start drinking around the world with her!

Anyway, on our arrival day, we're dropping our bags off at the Poly, getting breakfast somewhere (likely Kona Cafe or Captain Cooks, but really looking to book 'Ohana early morning if 'Ohana opens up soon, fingers crossed), and then heading over to Epcot for an afternoon of fun and frolicking throughout the park. Epcot does open at 11 this day, so I'm optimistic we'd be able to arrive by 9 or 10 to get on some of our favorite rides before the bulk of the crowds.

We don't have any dinner reservations this day-- Grace wants to eat at a restaurant in Orlando called "Ford's Garage" for dinner. We have heard VERY good things about this place, so we are all very excited to try it out.

July 12: Magic Kingdom - Our Magic Kingdom day is made complete with a 2:50 PM late lunch reservation at The Plaza. We have not been to the Plaza since 2010, and I mostly booked this to fill the ice-cream shaped hole in my heart that won't truly be filled until the Ice Cream Parlor re-opens. We will probably get dinner off property, if not at Captain Cook's.

July 13: Hollywood Studios - We have Droid Depot reservations at 1:30! We tried to get two different dining reservations for this day-- Oga's Cantina for lunch, Beaches & Cream for dinner, but they were sadly both booked up by the time my ADR date came around this week. I signed up for ADR alerts through ***********, so hopefully something will pull through for us!

July 14: Animal Kingdom - We have dinner at the boathouse booked for this night and we CANNOT forget to call at least two weeks in advance to get the Baked Alaska reserved. Please do not let me forget this.

July 15: Epcot - We have Teppan Edo reservations at 6:00 PM, but this is a big day for us... this is the opening day of the Food & Wine Festival 2021! We are thrilled! This is everyone else in the family's first time at the festival, and my first time since 2016. We are impatiently waiting for more information on booths and hopeful that the Eat to the Beat series will return!

July 16: Magic Kingdom - This is where we have the only reservation we're truly, madly, deeply in love with: breakfast at Topolino's Terrace at 10:15 AM. I was FLOORED that I was able to book this. Genuinely cried real tears, which I've never done about booking any other dining reservations in my life I think. I've been dying to see the pals in their little Topolino outfits for almost two years now. This is the perfect note to end the trip on!

July 17: Drive home!


^That's our July trip, and I don't think anything is going to change. ADRs are now pretty solidly booked throughout the resort for that week, so there isn't much room for change. If I need to update a second time, I'll let you know, but for now... back to your regularly scheduled TR!

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like such a fun day at DHS!

Your plans for July sound great - so exciting!

 

[Newsies]

Sounds like such a fun day at DHS!

Your plans for July sound great - so exciting!

We had SO much fun at Hollywood that day!

Thank you-- it was exciting to plan!!

 

[Newsies]

3/10: Disney Springs/Magic Kingdom
​

We didn't have any morning plans on Wednesday, but I was planning to meet up with Bree, my roommate from my second DCP, that afternoon at Springs! We originally had Boathouse plans, but even those got scrapped that week as we decided to save it for our July trip.

I woke up late that morning and got dressed, then checked in with my coworkers back in NJ real quick. Then I headed to Springs on a 10:30 or 11:00 AM bus. I did a little bit of window shopping in some of the stores in Town Center, but it was already getting warm that morning, so I grabbed a drink at the Coca Cola Rooftop Bar and waited for Bree there. I ordered the Inca Cola and Lime-- a mocktail made with Inca Cola, simple syrup, and fresh lemons and limes!

​

This low-res pic does NOT do this drink justice! It was gorgeous and I can taste it all over again just looking at this pic

Inca Cola, if you weren't lucky enough to try a little bit of it at Epcot's Club Cool, is a fun soda from Peru that tastes and smells like bubblegum. Paired with the lemon and limes here, it ends up being the perfect combination of sweet and tart. A perfect mocktail for a hot day at Disney Springs.

When Bree arrived, we went right to lunch at Chicken Guy. I am 99% sure I got the Bourbon Brown Sugar BBQ sandwich without the pepper jack cheese and I was blown away! I had very low expectations for Chicken Guy and it ended up being really great. The slaw and pickles were crunchy, both sauces were tasty and generously applied, and the chicken itself had a nice crunchy breading while being perfectly tender and juicy on the inside. Really great things happening here.

We unfortunately didn't have all day to spend at Disney Springs, so we went and did the one thing we promised we'd do this day: we headed over to Gideon's Bakehouse and got in the standby line! It was a good hour-long wait, even at 1 or 2 o'clock in the afternoon on a Wednesday, so we had a good amount of time to catch up and chat about life and the college program.

Gideon's Bakehouse... wow, wow, wow. WOW.

​

Not only is Gideon's the the coolest place on earth, the CMs are some of the nicest and most fun people I've ever encountered. Truly a delightful experience from start to finish.

I was tasked with bringing cookies home to my family-- I ended up getting two chocolate chip, a peanut butter crunch, two cookies & cream, and a triple chocolate chip for us to share, AND I got a Peanut Butter Iced Coffee because the CM behind the counter recommended it.

The Peanut Butter Iced Coffee was to die for. Smooth, creamy, slightly salty and sweet. I! Am! Dreaming! About! This! If you're like me and iced coffee is a personality trait for you, you MUST try this. It tastes exactly like peanut butter... so good.

I didn't get to try the cookies until later, but the cookies quickly became my new favorite sweet on property. They are huge, they are soft, they are deliciously sweet with a hint of salt on top. There's no way to describe them. You have to try them yourself. The classic chocolate chip was my favorite.

Once we were done with Gideon's, Bree was nice enough to give me a ride back to the resort before we said our goodbyes. The family was still at Magic Kingdom, so I had the room to myself for about an hour and a half which was nice, I enjoyed the air conditioning and played some ACNH.

My family eventually made their way back to the room and we headed back out to Disney Springs together. We were able to snag a last minute reservation at CityWorks-- it was in our budget and we had never visited, so we wanted to give them a try.

We headed there as soon as we got to Disney Springs and once we walked inside. We had to walk around for a little while to find a hostess or even a server, but eventually a manager spotted us and asked if we were checking in and brought us to our table. We had a very nice waitress and quickly ordered our drinks and food.

I ordered the Peach Cooler at our waitress' recommendation and it was just okay. Very sweet. My dad ordered some type of beer with "blueberry hops" and it was delicious-- I'm not a beer drinker, but I ended up wishing I had ordered his beer!

I ordered an appetizer called the Kung Pao Cauliflower for my entree and it was bad. I don't call a lot of dishes in Disney world "bad" but this was bad. The cauliflower (and other vegetables in the mix) were all soggy, the sauce was all heat with no real flavor to it. Dad got the grilled cheese sandwich from the kids menu (he was a month post-op at this point, so small portions were necessary) and ended up getting sick from it. Mom and Grace thought their entrees were just "ok." We will not return to City Works.

After dinner, we went to the M&M store to pick up a custom M&M mix. Mom & Grace wanted to stop by DisneyStyle, where I picked up a cute name plate for my desk! It's a nod to Rock'N'Roller Coaster:

​

After that, it was starting to get pretty crowded at Disney Springs, so we made our way back to the hotel. We had about an hour and a half left until Magic Kingdom park close, so mom and I went back to Magic Kingdom, where we basically went on Splash Mountain before the Park closed.

I was able to get some pics on Main Street!

​

Afterwards, we went back to the resort and crashed after another fun day at our happy place.

 

[disneyAndi14]

I’m catching up. I love the Star Wars plush you bought for yourself.
I’m excited to try Oga’s again after your review.
We had the same experience at City Works, our meal was just meh! The server was very nice.
I haven’t tried Gideons yet, I need to make it a priority on our next trip
Yay to trip in July, I do love the Poly, with Disney’s exorbitant prices, I doubt we will be able to ever stay there again, boo!

 

[Newsies]

I’m catching up. I love the Star Wars plush you bought for yourself.
I’m excited to try Oga’s again after your review.
We had the same experience at City Works, our meal was just meh! The server was very nice.
I haven’t tried Gideons yet, I need to make it a priority on our next trip
Yay to trip in July, I do love the Poly, with Disney’s exorbitant prices, I doubt we will be able to ever stay there again, boo!

The Lothcat and Oga's were both A-1. You are going to LOVE Oga's... so much fun!!!

Yeah, sadly, I think that's the standard City Works experience Very friendly staff, very bland food. I should have read some reviews that morning before we booked it!

Gideon's is fabulous!

Yeah, the prices have skyrocketed for resort packages in the past few years. The monorail resorts have become completely unreasonable-- if we weren't DVC, we wouldn't be able to stay there either. It's insane!

 

[missangelalexis]

That drink sounds awesome! I always loved having some Inca Cola at Club Cool.

That stinks that CityWorks was so bad

 

[Newsies]

That drink sounds awesome! I always loved having some Inca Cola at Club Cool.

That stinks that CityWorks was so bad

It was really good! Inca Cola was the Club Cool favorite of mine, so I knew I had to try it out when I read the menu!

It was a pretty rough night, but at least we had some other great meals this trip!

 

[the2ndstar2theright]

WELL HELLO LITTLE MISS COLLEGE GRADUATE!!! I am SO proud of you for completing degree #1 and cannot WAIT to see how far you go in grad school! Thank you for your well wishes and for checking in here-- we need to catch up soon!!!

Ahhh you're the sweetest--thank you so much!! I'm so excited for this next phase!

It sounds like yall had a great first couple of days! Your pics on Main Street are so cute!

 

[Newsies]

Ahhh you're the sweetest--thank you so much!! I'm so excited for this next phase!

It sounds like yall had a great first couple of days! Your pics on Main Street are so cute!

you are the greatest!!!

 

[Newsies]

3/11: Animal Kingdom
​

I rope-dropped DAK while the family slept in... what else is new?

The buses were very quiet to DAK this morning, which is always appreciated. I ended up at DAK about 40-ish minutes before the park opened, but about 20 minutes after the rides started operating. I rope-dropped Flight of Passage and didn't wait more than 15 minutes, PLUS I got to skip that absolutely atrocious pre-show... what a win!

From there, I went to my favorite ride in DAK and one of my favorites in WDW, Expedition Everest. EE is always dead in the morning, so I have become the queen of riding EE multiple times in a row on my recent trips. I did it 3 or 4 times in a row this morning before moving on to my next objective. By this point, I was ready for breakfast. I couldn't ignore the siren call of Royal Anandapur (the most underrated Joffrey's in all of Disney, IMO), so I grabbed an iced coffee and headed back towards Africa to get some breakfast.

Now my PLAN this day was to get an Elephant Ear pastry at Kusafiri Coffee Shop, which has become my absolute favorite snack in recent trips. I got all the way to Kusafiri for me to learn that it was closed. Heart = broken. With Tusker House reopening this month, I am SLIGHTLY hopeful that Kusafiri will reopen soon. The Roule Lard et Fromage finally came back to Les Halles last week, so we can dream.

In the wake of my failed Elephant Ear mission, I hopped across the street to try this beauty for the first time:

​

This snack ... *chefs kiss.*

As I navigated a strange, unfamiliar, and unsettling post-COVID Disney World this past March, I found one (1) moment of genuine bliss, peace, and tranquility, which was eating this cinnamon roll in the corner of an otherwise empty seating area attached to Tamu Tamu Refreshments. Was it too much for me to handle on my own? Oh yes, absolutely. I ended up guiltily tossing away 40% of this treat. But to the 60% of this treat that I enjoyed for breakfast this morning ... I will never forget you.

Anyway, I went on Dinosaur afterwards and then got the text from Grace that the family was getting on the bus to DAK. It was starting to get warm, so I grabbed a frozen coke from Isle of Java (which was great) and met up at the front of the park with them.

Mom was starving and requested to get lunch Satu'li Canteen, so we headed there first. The three of them shared two kids' Cheeseburger Pods meals (I stole everyone's purple chips because let's face it, those are the best chips in that mix!)

While we were enjoying lunch, a Cast Member from Satu'li walked up to our table and pixie dusted us with two cupcakes. It was a really, really sweet moment. For obvious reasons, I felt like I had been "missing" connections with Cast Members on this past trip, so it melted my heart to see pixie dust in action. To any CM who has found the energy to make pixie dust throughout this insane time: I love you & I wish you nothing but happiness for your entire life!!!

After lunch, mom insisted in getting in the line for Flight of Passage, which was posted at 50 minutes. With Social Distancing enforced, the line stretched all the way back to Africa. This is where we encountered our first part of social distance ignorers. We were unfortunately stuck in front of a large family, composed of mostly children, that kept bumping into us and hovering an inch behind us.

Ultimately, it's fine-- the payoff for this is getting to watch Dad experience Flight of Passage for the first time, which he absolutely adored. The last time we went to DAK, he was pre-weight loss surgery, so he was sadly unable to ride FOP. This time, he fit, and he absolutely loved it! He had kind of a rocky start to this year, so we were all very happy to see him mark his weight loss milestone by getting to go on FOP.

We went to Kilimanjaro Safaris afterwards, which is probably my second favorite ride in DAK after EE. Once again, we run into parties not obeying the social distance markers, children running amuck in the queue, etc. all things that are understandable under normal conditions, but were slightly unsettling given COVID-19.

Anyway, after Kilimanjaro Safaris, we decided to head to Nomad Lounge for some drinks. We were unimpressed with service, food, and drinks, and will probably not go back. I will say this though: the drinks were strong, and with my cinnamon roll wearing off, I felt loopy Poor Grace got very anxious here. Some woman had brought her very small daughter into the bar, and this very small daughter had a VERY loud, persistent cough-- Grace did not feel safe being in the same space as someone with such a sick sounding cough to her and let us know she wanted to leave. I chugged my drink and got some popcorn with her while we waited for our parents to finish up the tab.

Once they were done with the tab, we went back to the resort for a nap. After a quick nap, we decided to check out another Orlando area restaurant! We heard great things about the Juicy Crab on I-95 and gave it a chance. It was good. I don't think we'll run back, but it was good. I was feeling pretty run-down this evening, so we stopped at Twistee Treat for another small ice cream treat and headed back to the hotel room, where I promptly crashed.

​

 

[Newsies]

3/12: Epcot/Magic Kingdom
​

Our last park day! We woke up early, got some more Mickey Waffles at Everything POP:

​

Then got ready for the day. Grace had another class this morning, so mom, dad & I were left to our own devices in Epcot for the morning. The park opened at 11, and as usual, we started the day in France. We looked around Les Halles, but didn't find anything interesting for a mid-morning snack, so we started making our way around the WS.

Mom stopped at a F&G booth to buy a shirt and a pin, then we made our way to Japan, where we stopped to get some Frushi-- our favorite dish at Flower & Garden!

We stopped again in Germany to grab some snacks from Karamell Kuche and a tiny beer from their F&G booth! We got a bag of caramel corn from Karamell Kuche and I believe the beer we snagged from Bauernmarkt was the Bitburger Premium Pils (6 oz). The caramel corn was good as ever and the beer was pretty good, too!

We ended up heading to Norway after that to ride Frozen Ever After, which was about a 30 minute wait.

​

Once we got done with FEA, Grace said she was headed to Epcot, so we looped our way around to the United Kingdom through Mexico and Canada to meet her in front of Yorkshire County Fish Shop. Her and mom went to grab some fish & chips for lunch while I went to Rose & Crown to grab a drink I had heard about.

It was my first time at Rose & Crown and the bartender was very lovely-- a nice & conversational gentleman who poured this beautiful concoction for me, the Welsh Dragon:

​

Now THIS is a drink! Creme de Menthe, Peach Schnapps, and Melon Liquor come together on this fruity, colorful drink that should be at the top of your list for a hot day in Epcot. The minty creme de menthe is the perfect boozy cooldown. Paired with the fish & chips, it was one of the best quick service lunches I've ever had in Epcot. I will DEFINITELY be returning to the Welsh Dragon next month!

When lunch was done, mom and grace went to do some rides in Future World while dad and I decided to head back to the resort. It was warm out, so I was ready to cool off in a pool for the first time since August 2019.

The pool was odd-- it was the only place in all of Disney that felt "normal" -- no masks. The pool was admittedly pretty crowded, so Dad and I distanced ourselves from the other parties and spent about half an hour there. It was fine. I missed spending a Disney afternoon by the pool!!

I went back up to the room and took a quick shower. I was fixin' to take a nap, BUT, mom came into the room with Grace and announced she was going back to Magic Kingdom with dad, so I said yolo and grabbed a pair of ears.

Grace had a sorority E-Board meeting that night, so she would not be joining our final hurrah at the parks, but the 'rents and I caught the bus to Magic Kingdom and entered the park just as our favorite cavalcade drove by.

​

Mom & Dad were feeling hungry and really wanted to try the egg rolls at the Adventureland cart. They got an order of the philly cheesesteak rolls and an order of the cheeseburger rolls, while I opted for a classic ice cream treat:

​

From there, we did a few more classic attractions together: Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, and Peter Pan's Flight. PotC and HM were fine, but PPF presented some challenges. First of all, we hated the modified Peter Pan's Flight queue (as it now goes all the way through Columbia Harbor House) and will probably not ride PPF until that gets sorted out. Other than that, we had a rather large party in front of us who were once again not adhering to social distancing. There were a few teenage boys in this group roughhousing, at one point somebody slams one of the younger teens onto the ground. The entire queue went SILENT until the boy on the ground started laughing and got back up. A lot of insanity happening here.

Dad decided to sit the next attraction out, but mom & I really wanted to go on 7DMT. We made it all the way through the external queue with a child, probably 9 or 10 years old and completely mask-less, behind us climbing on the wall next to me, bumping in to us at least once every two minutes. Mom tried to politely ask him if he knew what the social distance markers met, but seeing as that he was a child, it wasn't sticking. When we got up to the cast member at the "entrance" to the attraction, I politely asked if we could wait for a few parties behind us to go in front of us, and explained that we just feel more comfortable if we were separated from the party behind us. She actually allowed us to go up the FP+ line, which was very appreciated.

We went on 7DMT and dad was sitting, waiting for us at one of the castle wall turrets by the carousel. We grabbed some popcorn from Maurice's Popping Machine and decided to head out for the night.

We took a bus back to the resort and decided we would grab dinner from Denny's that night. We hopped into dad's truck and drove to a Denny's on I-95 that I shared many post-shift laughs with my coworkers at during my first program. We had a nice waitress and quick service, and I enjoyed a grilled cheese sandwich and fries for what would be my last meal in Orlando for the trip.

When we got back to the resort around 10 PM, Grace was still at her meeting, so we started packing up as quietly as possible. Once her call ended, we finished up packing most of our belongings and fell asleep for a well-deserved night of rest before our departure morning.

 

[Newsies]

3/13-14: Drive Home & Conclusion
​

Please forgive three rapid fire updates in a row... I just want to get this wrapped up as quickly as possible so I can focus on my upcoming trip!

As usual, dad had us up at 7:00 AM for check-out. We got dressed and while dad called for Bell Services, I went to get coffee for him, mom, and I. I got my last Joffrey's Shakin' Jamaican of the trip and headed back to the room, then a very nice Bell Service CM assisted us in bringing our luggage out to dad's truck. He loaded it up and brought us back around to the front of the resort, where mom, Grace and I went to check out at the front desk and shop at Everything Pop for the last time. We got a few snacks for the drive home, Grace and I both got a few small souvenirs for our friends back at home, and I decided to pull the trigger on a souvenir I had been eyeing up all week:

​

It was do-or-die time for this mug of Mr. Potato Head as a Midway Mania carnival barker. I am in "Disney Mug Jail" which means I have banned myself from buying mugs on my Disney vacation (I'm also in Disney Stuffed Animal Jail and Disney Pin Jail), but I broke out of jail to buy this one. It's just the perfect amount of kitsch for my office desk.

After our last run to Everything Pop, it was time for us to say a fond farewell to WDW and start the drive home. We stopped at a Safeway on property for gas, then started the drive up North.

We stopped at a Perkin's for breakfast just outside of Orlando.

Something fun about our drive home! My parents gave into my relentless begging to stop at Buc-Ee's in Daytona Beach and it was a beacon of happiness and joy for us. The newly opened gas station/convenience store quickly became my dad's favorite place in the entire world. We didn't stay for long because it was crowded, but we got soft drinks, coffee, and Beaver Nuggets, which were fabulous. And yes, the restrooms are as clean as everyone says they are. 10/10 worth the hype! We can't wait to go back.

Anyway, there was some serious traffic in Florida and Georgia, but we did stop to get dinner at a Burger King in South Carolina.

We actually drove all the way through to NJ without stopping this time, which is something we've never done before. We've driven all the way down without stopping before, but driving back up without stopping was new to us and frankly, I liked this more. The drive back home always feels like pulling teeth, so I was glad to get it over with as quickly as possible. Before we new it, we were home in NJ close to 9 AM on 3/14.

And that is a wrap on our March 2021 trip!

Whew! Let's get some final thoughts pulled together to wrap up this TR. It's hard to pull together final thoughts for a trip that happened three months ago that you didn't take any notes or photographs for, but we're gonna try!

• We will probably not go back to Pop Century unless we are really in a pinch. It just didn't work out for us this time. The crowds were bad, the transportation was just okay, and the food situation is absolutely atrocious with COVID-19 protocols in place. I realize this situation has likely changed now that more is opening up at WDW, but back in March, it was bad enough for us to say "never again."​
• We LOVE Teppan Edo! It is one of our new favorite restaurants and we cannot wait to go back this summer. We thought that this was a pretty good value for some fresh, delicious food in the World Showcase, and we had a lot of fun.​
• Flower & Garden was just okay. I want the traditional festival entertainment back so badly. F&G misses something without the Garden Rocks series (which, by the way: I am still BITTER that Simple Plan had to be cancelled less than a day before their first set at the 2020 F&GF). We are more excited for Food & Wine-- it has always been my favorite festival, and I have a feeling there will be more offerings for us this year, even if there's still no "real" Eat to the Beat series. Anyway, the menus were just average this year, but we liked 9/10 of the dishes we had.​
• The crowds are NOT as scary as they look! Without FP+, wait times were a minimum. We ended up doing a LOT this trip and getting on most rides at the park. We did everything we wanted to do.​
• Dining off property > Dining on property for convenience's sake. If you have your car, it's worth it to drive off property for some meals. There are sit down restaurants that cost what a quick service meal would for a party of four with much better food. This is something we are planning to do a lot more this trip and in trips to come. Save your money, explore Orlando! Get Twistee Treat! Get a Mountain Melt from Miller's Ale House!​

And most of all...

• The magic is still here waiting for you. There are certain things that still prevail at Walt Disney World, even in the craziest and most uncertain time of our lives. My heart still melted at the sight of the castle, and I still looked back at Main Street USA for one final, misty-eyed look at my home as I said goodbye to the parks. I still woke up bright-eyed and busy-tailed at 5 AM for a full day of fun and crashed in exhaustion that night, ready to do it all again the next day. Come rain or shine, Mickey Mouse is still here to welcome you to Magic Kingdom, albeit from a safe distance at the top of the train station. Cast Members are still making pixie dust for guests, so be patient and kind with them and remember to thank them every chance you get. There are still many smiles to be had and memories to be made! I cannot wait to see what's different when we go back in July, but for now: I know now that Walt Disney World is still the most magical place on earth, even in the middle of COVID-19.

... By the way, none of us tested positive for COVID-19 when we got home


So that is it for this TR! I wasn't sure I was going to finish it, but here we are several months later with some FABULOUS NEWS! July 2021 is shaping up to be an AMAZING trip AND... I have the all new iPhone 12, which means I have a working phone camera again, which means I can take MORE PICTURES AGAIN!! TR July 2021 is going to be amazing, and it's coming up right after the break!

With that... this TR has officially concluded! Thank you for following along!

​

 

[rdkeim]

Thank you for finishing out your TR! It was fun to compare your experiences with our trip in March. July - woohoo! Right around the corner. Will watch for your new TR!

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Thanks for sharing. Your next trip is coming right up.

 

[the2ndstar2theright]

Thank you so much for sharing your little slice of magic--it sounds like this trip was just what you all hoped it would be! Also--major kudos to Grace for still logging on for classes and things while in WDW. That takes major dedication!

July is so so soon! Can't wait to read about your summer adventures!

 

[Chief Powhatan]

The Magic is definitely still there waiting... I am glad you had another great trip!

 

[missangelalexis]

The rest of your trip sounded great, I'm glad it was a good trip for you and your family! And so exciting that you will be back next month!

 

[Newsies]

Thank you for finishing out your TR! It was fun to compare your experiences with our trip in March. July - woohoo! Right around the corner. Will watch for your new TR!

Thank you for reading along!! So thankful to have you here... I cannot wait for July!!

Thanks for sharing. Your next trip is coming right up.

Thank YOU for reading!!

Thank you so much for sharing your little slice of magic--it sounds like this trip was just what you all hoped it would be! Also--major kudos to Grace for still logging on for classes and things while in WDW. That takes major dedication!

July is so so soon! Can't wait to read about your summer adventures!

It was absolutely everything I hoped for and more! I will pass along your kudos to Grace! It was definitely a weird week for her, but she is very excited to kick back, relax, and play next month!!

We can't wait for our next trip!!

The Magic is definitely still there waiting... I am glad you had another great trip!

Thank you so much for being here!!

The rest of your trip sounded great, I'm glad it was a good trip for you and your family! And so exciting that you will be back next month!

We are so excited!! Thank you for following along as always!!!

 

[Newsies]

July PTR - Update II
​

I didn't think I would give our July trip a second PTR update (I didn't even do our traditional Single Digit Dance post!), but it's July 4th. And yes, I'm watching 1776. Anyone who knows me knows that I will never pass up the opportunity to update my PTR as I watch 1776 on the 4th of July.

​

For context: the first PTR I ever wrote for the DISboards was for our 2014 trip. We left for that trip in the late hours of July 4th that year, so I wrote my conclusion for my PTR while I was watching 1776 on TCM. Watching 1776 is one of my only real holiday traditions, and it has now become synonymous with our family's summer Disney trips. So since 2014, I have always updated my PTR while watching one of my favorite musical movies of all time. Even though I don't have a PTR for this trip, I felt like it would have been bad luck to let this moment pass without posting for the first time in seven years.

Obviously, in this new post-COVID age, I have very little to update about. No FP+. Not even a photo of any shiny new Magicbands to squeal about. ADRs and Park Reservations get settled 60 and 180 days out and that's pretty much that for that. Only a few things actually have changed since I made my one other PTR update back in May, so I'll list them in bullet point form:

• We sniped Oga's Cantina! Last week, I got a text from TP letting me know a table had opened up for our Hollywood Studios. I ran to my computer and was DELIGHTED to see many, many times had opened up throughout July and August! We were able to book a table for 12:15 PM on our Hollywood Studios day-- this is perfect! We will have just the right amount of time to sit, share some Batuu Bits, and enjoy some alcoholic provisions before we head off to our Droid Depot reservation. Once we get done with Droid Depot, we actually may need to head back to the resort, as we now have a 4:30 dinner reservation at...​
• 'Ohana dinner!!! This was the biggest surprise and thrill of our planning process so far. I was personally certain that 'Ohana wouldn't be back until September at the earliest, so when the July 9th reopening date was announced, I knew I couldn't drop the ball on a reservation for this trip. It has been TOO. LONG. since I sat down for some noodles and bread pudding! The day 'Ohana ADRs dropped was a little bit of a bloodbath, but I came out victorious was a 4:30 ADR for our Hollywood Studios day, rounding out a week of reservations for our trip.​
• Even more entertainment/restaurants return! Happily Ever After returned last week, as well as Epcot Forever. I'm actually looking forward to watching Happily Ever After, which is something I never said before COVID-19. I was always #TeamWishes and never really much of a fireworks person to begin with (it's just SUCH a good time to go on Splash Mountain). But the last time I saw Happily Ever After in person, I was watching it from the Magic Kingdom cast member parking lot, wiping away my tears as I had clocked out of my last shift and wondering why our Program had to be cut short. So now I need to cleanse that experience by watching it from the front of the castle and crying happy tears instead of sad ones. We've also got Casey's Corner back with Plaza Ice Cream Parlor trailing not too far behind it, AND we think that the barber shop may not be too far away, so I may even be able to get pixie dusted next week.​

All that's left to look out for is menus/merchandise for the Food & Wine Festival. If anyone is left to read this TR: am I crazy, or is it kind of late in the game for us to have no menus or merchandise photos released for the festival? I feel like these things are normally announced/teased out weeks before the festival starts. I felt like we got Flower & Garden menus/merchandise a month before it started this year. Am I wrong?

In any case... I'm not sure I'll update again, but I am excited to finish packing, excited to start the TR, and most importantly: excited to be back in Walt Disney World!!!