Hello-It'sSmee! A July 2020 "It's Good to Be Bad AND Back" TR *Link to new TR 2/21*

[vamassey1]

Some good news this week from Disney! Fall discounts, CRT and Hollywood and Vine reopening, and the best for me Gaston's opens in 2 days!

Love all the Good news that was released this week. It gives me hope for the future.

I know neither of those restaurants may be your favorites-they aren't really mine-but what's important is that things OPEN rather than CLOSE. Because at the same time that Disney won't open things if they don't have guests coming, people won't come as they should until more things ARE open.

We're hoping to get an ADR for CRT. My youngest was a seater there when the parks closed. She would really like to see some of her old co-workers. I agree with you that this news has to mean things are getting better.

Saw these beautiful birdies as we approached the Tree of Life, I've never stopped to watch before:

I would love to see this. With the lower crowds might even get an up close view.

After they finished their show I was able to get a picture with nobody around:

Cute and Sassy photo.

As we walked towards our destination now just over and hour after opening it was obvious the crowds were not going our way:

This is unbelievable. In the past this has always been the most bottle-necked area in the park.

One of my favorite parts of the day happened next. We were in a fairly empty park, had already ridden 2 headliners, it was hot but not nasty and we were heading for good food when we heard that "tinkly" music and then realized we had a boat approaching:

What a special treat. I would love to catch this.

 

[kittylady1972]

What a great day so far. That drinks sounds delicious. So sorry we had to skip AK for our trip but it's definitely on the agenda for next time.

Very exciting about things opening back up though like you I wish it was Flying Fish. Still having more options in the parks sounds great!

 

[buzzrelly]

what's important is that things OPEN rather than CLOSE.

Truth be told I prefer it to FOP

Crazy talk

And we met up to ride FOP. No wait! We basically walked right on and we could have ridden again right away

That is insane and I would totally have gone on a couple times!

we heard that "tinkly" music and then realized we had a boat approaching:

So adorable, I hope they keep these going

 

[Wood Nymph]

Yak Attack::

Mango Daiquiri, Don Q Cristal Rum and Wildberry Flavors

I love this drink. That and the potstickers are my two favorites at Yak and Yeti. We sat at the bar one time and I saw that the Yak Attack drink came out of a great big machine, the kind that makes frozen drinks like a Slurpee. I was surprised that this was how it was made since the drink has layers of colors and I would have thought that the machine would mx the colors. I don't know how that works, but it does.

 

[igrsod]

After lunch we were almost ready to go but since this was our only MK day, I couldn't leave without riding a few more things. We started with Pirates and found neat new Jungle Cruise merch in the Pirates gift shop:

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I can take or leave JC but this is some cute stuff! On to BTMRR again because once is never enough; and then before our exit I HAD to:

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I know it's not leaving before we go again but I want to "soak" up as much Splash as I can while I can. FYI physically distancing on the ride, skipping seats:

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We didn't get soaked as they don't have the water turned up that high - safely and all, you know? But I love this ride anyway. Oh and the gift shop was closed all day, probably due to people buying 100 plush at a time. Wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't reopen at all.......

We did a bit of shopping on our way out and as we were about to check out of Uptown Jewelers I heard that TINKLE again! This time it was the tinkle I had really been hoping to see; the Princess cavalcade with Merida riding Angus!

Ahem. I took a video for facebook rather than photos; wish I had both. I will figure out how to post videos at some point but for now please enjoy this not good picture of Angus and the side of Merida:

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This is so cute and a real treat! As someone who loves characters but isn't that into meets I prefer this way. I also as I said, enjoy not knowing when I'll see who. For instance, after these ladies went by, Joe and I, we'd met up again out there waiting for Steve and Jenny- turned around and saw these guys!

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And then these guys!

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It was a full blown character explosion all around! A great way to leave the MK after our first post-virus visit!

We hopped a bus back to our resort and had about a 15 minute wait. There were 2 groups of guests waiting for the bus when we got there and 1 group came behind us so we all fit in our numbered sections. I noticed this sign up in the BC lobby, today being July 25th and all:


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There were games at the pool every day but being holiday themed today was neat! We didn't stop out there, we had some time to relax and clean up before we needed to meet the birthday girl for her dinner!

I'm surprised you didn't do anything in Tomorrowland, given it was the only MK day. Enjoying your trip report... wish I was there.

 

[CruellaNY]

I must confess I’m not really a huge Star Wars fan!!!

We are everywhere lol!

I always make a beeline for the Safari....Love it

Yes! I love riding first thing in the morning as we always find the animals very active. Then in late afternoon, around feeding time, they are active as well. We've ridden a few times during heavy rain since it stays open and the animals seem to be out and about when it rains too!

Yay! Love me some Gaston's cinnamon roll.

If we don't eat something quick in the room before heading out it's our go-to breakfast in MK. I like the Fruit and Nutella Waffle (minues Nutella) at Sleep Hollow as well but much prefer the cinnamon roll. We felt it's absence last month!

've actually never been to Hollywood and Vine.

You aren't missing anything IMO. We ate lunch there YEARS ago; Chris was still in a stroller - the characters were such that I can't even remember a couple plus Handy Manny. They were cute but the food was nothing at all to speak of. It gets a few positives but mostly negatives now as far as food although I admit the costumes the characters are in are adorable. I like the idea of character meals with the characters NOT coming up to the table and I have wanted to see their Halloween costumes there, but not sure I want to take a chance on a subpar meal......

Ah. Of course. Restaurantosaurus.

Obviously! And you know it would have been Pizzafari if it weren't a Relaxation Station. Fancy-Smanshy.

Never thought of doing that, actually! Then again, I'm usually at the parks and not at the resort.

Well the main reason he does it is because he's up at like 6am every day and I am not. Unless I need to be to get to a park and then I'm rushing getting ready and he's always ready already. So basically he has time in the morning before we start our day.

Actually... no I haven't. Had no idea. Thanks for the info.

Ah ok! Here you go:

That's something I'd like to do too. I think last time I was down, I tried, but it was already sold out by the time I thought of it.

Most likely; it was selling out right at 180 days. We got lucky back in May when we did it and then I lucked out again as I had it booked for July 4th this year for myself, Steve, and the boys - we all know how that worked out
I really hope they bring it back. It's only about 10 people per tour? Easy enough to space out although we filled up all seats on the van out to the Rhino enclosure so they would either have to cut it down to maybe 6 guests or use 2 vans, and then comes the question is it worth it to them financially to run 2 vans with 2 drivers or use those CM's for less guests per tour.
I say just do it!!

"No wait"...

Leave it to you.............

"Landry's Select Club® ("Club") membership is open to all individuals 16 years of age or older legally residing in the United States and countries that legally permit participation."

@luvpoohandcompany said she got it and she's not in the US so hopefully Canada legally permits participation It's worth it!

AK isn’t our favourite park either though youngest son and I like it more than hubby and elder son. Probably because they are wimps who won’t ride Everest

LOL! Chris rode for the first time last July and loved it so I think now it's his 2nd favorite park and Ricky's favorite ride is FOP. So when we had our July 4th trip planned with everyone we had 2 days there. If it were up to Steve we'd skip it on short trips.

Someone mentioned getting Landrys card while living overseas - we signed up for one at DS and got issued temporary card that allowed us to skip the queue right away which was very handy

Awesome! Yes I don't worry about eating in AK because I know I can always go there! We do love Tiffin's but if we don't have an ADR there no big deal.

 

[CruellaNY]

Ahh I do love AK, my favorite park! The bird show is beautiful!

I'm so glad we stopped to watch!

Sounds like a perfect day so far!

I was, and it was followed by a perfect night

CRT is Jimmy's most favorite restaurant (still!) because he gets to see his main squeeze, 'ella!

That's right, I knew that

nd Rob's favorite restaurant in all of WDW is Hollywood and Vine...I have no idea why, but he always asks me to book there.

Um.....ok lmao! Hey whatever makes them happy! I do kind of want to see the characters in their Halloween costumes just not sure on the food......

I'm really excited that things are opening up, and hope the people start heading back down there, too, so more things can open and return to "normal."

I FINALLY got a Landry's card, and was super excited to use it in July...but my Mom looked at the menu and decided she wouldn't like anything there! Can you believe it?

Oh no!! Well Chris hates it there lol and whenever we're planning a trip with him he says "I don't care where we eat but NO Yak & Yeti and NO 50's Prime Time". So we only use it when he isn't there. Would mom eat the Kobe burger? It's delicious!

I am beyond excited for this and praying it would be open by our trip!!! Yay!

Me too! We'll do a few rides when we first get to MK and then stop for one!

Sounds like a great AK day. I love that you can be spontaneous like that and not be bound by FP times. It's hard to imagine how this will go eventually once crowds return..

It's really great and reminds me of pre FP+. I've never been a fan of FP+ so it works for me but yes, it's going to be interesting to see when the crowd level hits that point that lines get back to the 2 hour mark again.

 

[CruellaNY]

Love all the Good news that was released this week. It gives me hope for the future.

Yes! I keep saying it has to keep getting better............

We're hoping to get an ADR for CRT. My youngest was a seater there when the parks closed. She would really like to see some of her old co-worker

Oh I hope you do! Fingers crossed. Seven days until ADR's open!

Cute and Sassy photo.

What a special treat. I would love to catch this.

I'm sure you'll catch some! They have similar in all parks and I don't think they'll go anywhere until regular meets return. I prefer it this way!

Very exciting about things opening back up though like you I wish it was Flying Fish. Still having more options in the parks sounds great!

Exactly. Even if they aren't our faves or what we're hoping for at least they're moving in the right direction.

Crazy talk

That is insane and I would totally have gone on a couple times!

I believe Joe felt the same way and even looked at me like I was crazy when I said no lol

So adorable, I hope they keep these going

Me too and I think they will for awhile

We sat at the bar one time and I saw that the Yak Attack drink came out of a great big machine, the kind that makes frozen drinks like a Slurpee. I was surprised that this was how it was made since the drink has layers of colors and I would have thought that the machine would mx the colors. I don't know how that works, but it does.

Huh interesting! I guess I can see it.....although yes not sure how they get the colors like that!

'm surprised you didn't do anything in Tomorrowland, given it was the only MK day.

Hi there and

Well, if the PeopleMover had been open we definitely would have ridden! Same with COP but they were sadly both closed. Otherwise I can't ride Space anymore, it just messes up my neck too much sadly. We do ride Astro Orbiter sometimes but did it in January so didn't feel the need lol. And that leaves Buzz and again, we ride sometimes but not a favorite. We do like Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor but sadly that was closed too!

Enjoying your trip report.

Glad you're here!

 

[pkondz]

I like the Fruit and Nutella Waffle (minues Nutella)

Stop! Stooooop!
You don't like Nutella?

You aren't missing anything IMO. We ate lunch there YEARS ago; Chris was still in a stroller - the characters were such that I can't even remember a couple plus Handy Manny. They were cute but the food was nothing at all to speak of. It gets a few positives but mostly negatives now as far as food although I admit the costumes the characters are in are adorable.

I haven't looked in years, but I do recall how it was always getting abysmal dining reviews. I had hoped it had improved since then, but...
I don't care enough about characters to go eat somewhere that has sub-par/mediocre food.

I like the idea of character meals with the characters NOT coming up to the table and I have wanted to see their Halloween costumes there, but not sure I want to take a chance on a subpar meal......

Totally get that. All of that, actually.

Obviously! And you know it would have been Pizzafari if it weren't a Relaxation Station. Fancy-Smanshy.

My second choice!

Well the main reason he does it is because he's up at like 6am every day and I am not. Unless I need to be to get to a park and then I'm rushing getting ready and he's always ready already. So basically he has time in the morning before we start our day.

Ah. Early riser. I can see that. When I'm there and rise early (which is usually, at Disney), it usually means I'm rope dropping.

Ah ok! Here you go:

Thanks!
Is it a bad thing that I hope those stay up permanently?

Most likely; it was selling out right at 180 days.

Found that out the hard way.

We got lucky back in May when we did it and then I lucked out again as I had it booked for July 4th this year for myself, Steve, and the boys - we all know how that worked out

Perfectly?

I really hope they bring it back. It's only about 10 people per tour? Easy enough to space out although we filled up all seats on the van out to the Rhino enclosure so they would either have to cut it down to maybe 6 guests or use 2 vans, and then comes the question is it worth it to them financially to run 2 vans with 2 drivers or use those CM's for less guests per tour.
I say just do it!!

I say just do it too!

@luvpoohandcompany said she got it and she's not in the US so hopefully Canada legally permits participation It's worth it!

I don't see why not. I won't look into it now, since there's no rush, but in the future... (hopefully)

 

[missjackiemcg]

I do kind of want to see the characters in their Halloween costumes just not sure on the food......

The characters are really my favorite part of the deal. I mostly fill up on tator tots

Would mom eat the Kobe burger? It's delicious!

I'm sure she would! It was just hot and gross, and she was being DIFFICULT!!!!!

 

[vamassey1]

Oh I hope you do! Fingers crossed. Seven days until ADR's open!

I'm hoping with all 3 of us trying someone will get it.

I'm sure you'll catch some! They have similar in all parks and I don't think they'll go anywhere until regular meets return. I prefer it this way!

I have a feeling I'm going to like it too. Kind of like spotting a "Movie Star". You like to see, point & take pictures but scared to approach.

 

[suse66]

Some good news this week from Disney! Fall discounts, CRT and Hollywood and Vine reopening, and the best for me Gaston's opens in 2 days! That means a gigantor cinnamon roll for me in a few weeks I know neither of those restaurants may be your favorites-they aren't really mine-but what's important is that things OPEN rather than CLOSE. Because at the same time that Disney won't open things if they don't have guests coming, people won't come as they should until more things ARE open. So while I rather have heard that Flying Fish or Narcoossee's was opening I'm happy with these announcements for now!

So exciting that more things are opening up! I can't wait until I can be there again!

After they finished their show I was able to get a picture with nobody around:

Love this shot! Adorable Sparkle skirt too!

I left that one big because it's so cute! These are seriously the best, this was by the bridge near the LK show and we saw them again later over in Asia. I've seen pictures of Meeko and Pocahontas on a boat in AK and I SO hope we see them in a few weeks!

Oh my gosh...too cute!

Ugh the lightning in there was so low and all the food pics are bad but at least my pretty orange drink kinda shines here. Steve had a Safari Amber Ale and I had a Yak Attack::

I love those Yak Attacks......so delicious!

 

[igrsod]

Hi there and

Well, if the PeopleMover had been open we definitely would have ridden! Same with COP but they were sadly both closed. Otherwise I can't ride Space anymore, it just messes up my neck too much sadly. We do ride Astro Orbiter sometimes but did it in January so didn't feel the need lol. And that leaves Buzz and again, we ride sometimes but not a favorite. We do like Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor but sadly that was closed too!

That makes complete sense... and wow that's a lot of things down at one time in Tomorrowland. We love the COP, PeopleMover and Monster's Inc. We usually do 2 MK days on our trips and we do Tomorrowland both morning one day, and evening the other.

Thank you for the welcome!!!

 

[CruellaNY]

Love this shot! Adorable Sparkle skirt too!

Thank you! They are so comfortable with fun prints!

So exciting that more things are opening up! I can't wait until I can be there again!

I can't wait until you can go again either

That makes complete sense... and wow that's a lot of things down at one time in Tomorrowland. We love the COP, PeopleMover and Monster's Inc. We usually do 2 MK days on our trips and we do Tomorrowland both morning one day, and evening the other.

Thank you for the welcome!!!

You're welcome!
In "normal" times we are always in the MK more than once depending on the length of our trip, definitely at least 2 days if the boys are with us. Our adults only trips are shorter in general with 3-5 park days and that's where hopping comes in! But without it, and being our first visit post-opening and with just 4 park days we wanted to visit each park. We definitely felt the absence of hopping and sadly I don't think that will return for awhile I do hope PeopleMover opens soon but I believe it's down for awhile. When we go in a couple weeks I think we'll at least walk through and try to see Buzz hanging around

 

[cheryllarsen]

Great read. Thanks for posting!

 

[cheryllarsen]

I love it that the trip reports are flowing back in! I can't wait for my next trip!

 

[kirs10paige]

Your AK day sounds wonderful. Fun and relaxing. We are hoping crowds will still be low come January 2021.

 

[CruellaNY]

Happy Holiday Weekend!
Hope some of you are doing fun things. We're having a little BBQ tomorrow with the family and Monday Chris has asked to go shopping so we're going to a mall about 45 minutes away. He's back to school on Thursday if you call sitting in his room on the computer like usual being in school.......

Speaking of family I babysat my granddaughter the other day:



I know that seems like no big deal but this was the first time- FIRST TIME- she has NOT been with her parents! I know some of you are saying "so?" and others are like "WHAT! She's TWO!" That's right, they have not wanted to leave her yet. This was kind of an emergency, a dental emergency for my DDIL and they had no choice. The cool thing is that between myself, her mom, her sister and my stepsons mom they asked ME first

That's because I'm the best Grams or "Mams" as I am affectionately called. Spending more time with her makes Ricky not being here a little easier!
​

Day 4 Part 2: Birds of a Feather-Ride EE Together!

While cooling off at Y&Y I was texting with @Jenny Sanders about what to do next. They were on line for either FOP or Na'Vi and we were wanting to catch a 1:30 show so we decided to meet up again after.
Show you say? What shows are happening now?



Yup! But no UP!
Now before you say anything about masks read on.......

We used to do this often with the boys as they both really enjoyed it. However since they added the UP! characters it gets bad reviews so we haven't gone out of our way to see it.
But now with no characters we decided to give it a try and I'm glad we did, it's as cute as it used to be! The CM's started by saying how happy they were to be back and then explained that because they would stay 6 feet from each other during the whole show they were not wearing masks. And stay apart they did! Here's what the seating area looks like:



I don't love this shot because towards the back it looks like the people are too close together but in reality they weren't. Every other row used and see the stickers on the seats? That was to ensure nobody sat directly behind anyone and nobody did, at least that soon after opening. The show was fairly the same as it used to be with a little less story; the cool thing is they still do audience participation:



See that kid up there! And as you notice the CM bird trainer did put a mask on when coming off stage to work with the guest.

This guy is so ugly he's cute! Maybe?



After it was over we met back up with Jenny and Joe to ride EE. Jenny is a of the female variety so she waited outside while the 3 of us rode.

I don't know where my hair went but Joe looks cool, calm, and collected:




Afterwards Joe was like a kid in a candy store and wanted to ride again since it was a walk on; Steve was gung-ho and I waited with Jenny.
He's a little bit happier to be riding with his BFF and I spy a nose



We had one more ride we wanted to do and that was our 2nd safari and the first of the day for J&J. I can't remember the wait but it wasn't long, maybe 20 and probably less. We had another good ride and Jenny was sure to be safe on our way out:



Sing the alphabet twice, Jenny!

We were pretty much ready to go but decided one more ride for the day. It was between Na'Vi and Dinosaur; we 'd ridden neither and J&J had done both so we opted for Na'Vi. Here's the crowds as we left Pandora:



I honestly do not remember the rain lol but between the ground and the stroller covering it must have done so!

I started out saying I thought today was our best park day even though AK isn't particularly my favorite and definitely isn't Steve's. As you see the crowds were nowhere to be found and despite being hot we were able to get out of the heat when needed. We really did everything we wanted and while I missed FOTLK it was absolutely worth going and I'm looking forward to our day there this month!

Since I have room for one more picture how about something fun? Let's see them!

 

[CruellaNY]

Great read. Thanks for posting!

You're welcome, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the rest!

I love it that the trip reports are flowing back in! I can't wait for my next trip!

It was a tad depressing when the Jan/Feb reports dried up and there were no new ones so I agree, it's so nice to have first hand reports and questions being asked that can be answered again

Your AK day sounds wonderful. Fun and relaxing. We are hoping crowds will still be low come January 2021.

Hi there! It was one of the best days we've had in AK.
I know lots of people going in January hoping the same thing lol and while I hope enough people are booked for more things to open I do think you'll be good with no large crowds

 

[Jenny Sanders]

That's because I'm the best Grams or "Mams" as I am affectionately called. Spending more time with her makes Ricky not being here a little easier!

This is so awesome! I love how Hayden calls you Mams.

After it was over we met back up with Jenny and Joe to ride EE. Jenny is a of the female variety so she waited outside while the 3 of us rode.

I absolutely loathe EE.

Afterwards Joe was like a kid in a candy store and wanted to ride again since it was a walk on; Steve was gung-ho and I waited with Jenny.
He's a little bit happier to be riding with his BFF and I spy a nose

I love how Joe and Steve got to ride this together! The only thing missing was their matching shirts. LOL!

I'm looking forward to our day there this month!

I am too!!!