Trip Report: Lunch & Princesses (Day 2, Part 3 | November 2020)

If you missed the last post, you can read it here.

Now, it’s time for lunch. We decided to leave the park for lunch. We were hoping to see the new barns at Tri-Circle D Ranch. So, we took a boat to Fort Wilderness. The transportation CMs at the dock were so nice and friendly. It was a little bit of a wait-maybe 20 minutes. It’s important to remember to build buffer-time especially during Covid with all the social distancing.

For lunch we mobile ordered at P&J’s Take-Out. I got a kid’s cheeseburger meal. I can’t remember what my dad got, but I believe he finally tried a kid’s meal. And he is a convert. Seriously, they are the best deal.

Then, we headed to the horse barn. Unfortunately, it closes at 3 and it was like 3:02. We should’ve gone first or at least researched first. Well, you live and learn..

Since we couldn’t see horses, we checked out the gift shop. Then, we got back on the boat to get back to Magic Kingdom. 

We went to Haunted Mansion. You just walk through the first room for now. I do miss it, but I also completely understand the change. It’ll be back some day.

Then, we decided to go to Adventureland. On our way we ran into a character cavalcade. This was a princess one. Merida was on her head. There was also Belle, Tiana, Rapunzel, Ariel, Snow White, etc. They were in their winter outfits which are adorable.

After we said “hi” to some princesses, we continued our journey to Adventureland. First we did the Magic Carpets of Aladdin. This is another ride I’ve never done, but since the lines weren’t bad we figured it would be and goes pretty fast.

Then, we were going to do Pirates of the Caribbean, but the line was a little long for us. So, we called an audible and switched to Country Bears Jamboree. I thought I saw Molly from All Ears. We followed for a little bit and dad said it wasn’t her so we went to Country Bears. While waiting for the next show to start, I went on Instagram and saw a post of Molly in the same outfit. We should’ve just said her name. Oh, well.

Country Bears was fun like it always is. I’m always scared Disney is going to get rid of it, so it's a must do for me. We stayed in Frontierland and went for another spin on the wildest ride of the wilderness.

Up Next: Homecomin’ Dinner

Trip Report: Tomorrowland Fun (Day 2, Part 2 | November 2020)

If you missed the last update, you can read it here.

Then, we were off to Tomorrowland. We did the Speedway because the line was short. I always want to try it, but am not willing to wait a long time. We rode separately and if I did it again I would go together. It definitely felt harder than I expected.

Next, we got in line for Space Mountain-completing the three Magic Kingdom mountains. This was another line that looked very long-outside the regular queue-but it moved consistently. It was a little sad without all of the normal screaming. I did get a compliment on my Childless Millennial shirt from the CM. I kind of think it was the same CM that complimented me on the last trip which was also to Space Mountain.

We stayed in Tomorrowland and got in line for Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. I won...by a lot.

Up Next: Lunch & Princesses

Trip Report: Magic Kingdom! (Day 2, Part 1 | November 2020)

 If you missed the last post, you can read it here.

Almost 12 hours of sleep later, I woke up. I just got up, ate my bagel, and got ready for the day.

We left the room around 9:30. Today we were off to Magic Kingdom. I always feel like a visit to Magic Kingdom is when the vacation really begins. A bus showed up shortly after we got to the bus stop and we were able to get right on. Our plan going into this trip was to avoid rope drop. A huge part of this was that we were hoping this would prevent issues with catching the bus. So far it was working.

At the park, we went through security which was easy just like Animal Kingdom. The turnstile said “Welcome Home” when I scanned my Magic Band. It also lights up purple if you’re a DVC member. I’m only a member-in-name-only. They’re my parents’ contracts, but this way I get teh perks. And they’ll be mine someday!

The park was already decorated for Christmas.It’s my favorite time of year so I love seeing the Disney Christmas decorations. 

This was also our first in-person look at the new Castle colors. I didn’t love it in pictures, but do like it in person. Do I prefer the original blue Castle? Yes. Am I angry about this one? No.

We didn’t have much of a plan for the day so we looked at lines/wait times. Typically we check both the official Disney app and the Lines app from Touring Plans. 

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad ended up being our first stop. It’s definitely one of my favorites so definitely a great way to start the day. It was a complete walk on. Then, when we got off, the line was very long. Maybe they were doing a cleaning cycle now.

Then, we hopped in line for Splash Mountain. It was a longer line-out near that main walkway in Frontierland-but it moved pretty quickly. We decided to ride it since we were in the area. Dad and I are both a little scared of Splash, but this could be our only time to say good-bey before it changes. I didn’t keep my eyes open during the drop, but wasn’t as scared as I’ve been in the past. 

 I stopped in the gift shop because I really wanted a Brer Rabbit plush. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any. I’m still hopeful I'll find one before it closes.

Up Next: Tomorrowland Fun

Trip Report: An Early Night (Day 1, Part 4| November 2020)

 Since we were in Asia, we decided to do Kali River Rapids. It isn’t my favorite and is a bit on the short side. But if it was a walk-on I figured it would be worth it.

I’m a baby so I didn’t bring my phone with me. Instead we put our bags in the lockers they have near the attraction. I wish I had braved it because the queue is really pretty and interesting.

We were in a raft with one other person. While we did get a little wet, we didn’t get drenched which was nice. I switched out my disposable mask in case I ended up getting too wet, but it wasn’t bad. 

Then, it was time for Dinoland. We decided to do Triceratop Spin since we’ve never done it before. It was fun. I wouldn’t wait 30 minutes for it, but I enjoyed myself.

Then, we headed out. I think we were both kind of tired.

We got dinner at Artist’s Palette which is the quick service at the resort. I got the kid’s chicken nugget meal. I’m a huge fan of kid’s meals. The shop is next to the restaurant and it was kind of disappointing and very small.

Back in the room we unpacked, I showered, and went to bed early-maybe around 8:30. 

Recap:

What made today the best day ever: Getting to Disney World

Steps walked: 16,292

Trip Report: Lunch with Santa (Day 1, Part 3| November 2020)

 After our safari ride, we were both ready to eat lunch so we did mobile order at Flame Tree BBQ. We both got the pulled pork mac-n-cheese. I also got a side of onion rights which was probably a mistake. My eyes were bigger than my stomach.

Dad got us a good table on the water while I picked up my food. We did get to see some of the characters go by on their boats-including Santa!

After lunch, we did the Maharajah Jungle Trek. We did get to see one tiger hanging out. There were some bats, too. That made me happy because the last few times there’s been no bats. Who doesn’t want to see the puppies of the sky?

Up Next: An Early Night

Trip Report: Arriving at Saratoga Springs (Day 1, Part 2| November 2020)

 The Magical Express stopped at Old Key West first. Dad made a joke about us getting our room text as we pulled into Saratoga, but it was so early it felt like there was no chance. But the Disney gods blessed us and my dad got the text practically as the bus brakes. We were in Congress Park room 1732.

A very nice man from Bell Services drove us to our room. He told us a lot about the hotel and our room.

After a quick check of the room, we were off to Animal Kingdom. You could see the busstop from our room which was nice. There wasn’t much of a wait and the bus driver told us where to sit.

The health screening and security process was very easy. I liked that there’s no longer a finger-scanner because I can never remember which finger I used. 

Once we were in the park, we checked out the Lines app to see what we wanted to do. We decided on Kilimanjaro Safaris as our first attraction. The line ended up going out into Harambe, but wasn’t bad. It was a quick moving line.

We were seated in the front row of our truck. It was nice to have a whole row to ourselves. It was a good ride, but the animals weren’t particularly active.

Up Next: Lunch with Santa

Trip Report: Traveling During Covid (Day 1, Part 1| November 2020)

 Today we begin the 2020 trip report. This has been planned since we did our 2019 father-daughter trip (if not earlier). It was supposed to be my dad, stepmom, and I. 

Then, Covid happened. 

I could talk forever about Covid and Disney, but I don't want to. The important thing in relation to this trip is that my stepmom ended up not being able to go. So, this turned into another father-daughter trip. I finally got a reservation for a Little Mermaid room at Art of Animation. But it didn’t make sense to have two rooms anymore so I cancelled and tagged along with my dad at Saratoga Springs.

Onto the actual trip.

I had all these plans to get tons of sleep the week before we left. I wanted to be well-rested for Disney. But I ended up super stressed and didn’t sleep well.

I spent the night before our trip at my dad’s because we were flying out of Buffalo and he lives a little closer. I had to wake up at 4:15 and probably only got four hours of sleep.

We were out the door around 4:45. We took my car so I ended up driving. I also almost hit a deer! That would’ve been a horrible start to a trip.

Check-in and security was very quick. We both have TSA pre-check, but there were only like 3 other people there. And the parking lot was so empty.

Our flight ended up having 34 people on it. Southwest was boarding 10 people at a time-we were one of the first ones on the plane.

The flight attendant was funny. During her safety spiel she said it was a no smoking and no complaining flight. 🤣

I was hoping to sleep a little on the plane, but, as is usually the case for me, I couldn’t. Instead I did Soduko puzzles and watched YouTube videos I had downloaded before the trip. It felt very safe to fly-everyone masked up and we sat distant from everyone. 

We landed early-a bit after 10 am. That was nice and happens a lot. We got to baggage claim easily. The airport felt dead which was weird. But we had a lot of issues finding Magical Express. The wait for our bus was maybe 20 minutes. We were seated around 11:20 which was perfect because the new Holo Taco collection was releasing then. I did get my order in if you were concerned.

Up Next: Arriving at Saratoga Springs