Wednesday, October 20, 2021
Magic Kingdom Extended Evening Hour

    The new lobby is adorned with huge murals of Disney Horses. They included; Frou-Frou from “The Aristocats,” Philippe from “Beauty and the Beast,” Merida’s horse Angus from “Brave,” baby Pegasus from “Hercules,” Maximus from “Tangled,” and Destiny from “Enchanted.”  If you don’t remember “Enchanted,” it’s a live action/animated self-parody film starring Amy Adams and Idina Menzel. Animated characters end up as real people in NY. Instead of bluebirds and deer helping with Cinderella’s chores, Giselle has New York rats and pigeons help.

    We walked to Disney Springs and saw a Limpkin on the way. 

    On the way out I noticed this one table that sat inside a boat.

    On the way back we stopped at Disney’s Days of Christmas store. On our walk back we spotted a Pied-billed Grebe.

    We left for the Magic Kingdom at 6:45 to make it to the new nighttime fireworks and projection show. We were on Main Street 35 minutes latter taking some photos. I guessed that the best place to see both the fireworks and the new projections along main street was about 2/3 the way up, just past the last “side street.” It was the perfect spot!  Enchanted started at 8PM and we both loved the new show. I can see that it can get mixed reviews if you don’t also see the new Main Street projections.

    It was a great first day. We found an excellent restaurant and enjoyed an empty Magic Kingdom and did eight rides in less than 2 hours.

Thursday, October 21
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and Harmonious

    I woke up just before 7 am to set up Genie plus and set up a Lightning Lane pass (LL pass) for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance for early afternoon and Toy Story Mania! in the morning. Kelli woke up later as we were not trying to make Disney’s Hollywood Studios Early Entry at 8:30 since we had a very long day yesterday. We enjoyed breakfast on the balcony, one of our favorite things to do as DVC members. We then had our best bird sighting of the trip. A few Roseate Spoonbills few by our balcony!

    Kelli and I caught an 8:45 bus to Hollywood Studios. At 9:15 there was a long line to get in, since the park opened at 9 AM for everyone. With the lightning lane pass we were able to walk on Toy Story Mania! Our scores were Ok, 147,300 and 116,800.

    I then had issues with Genie Plus on my phone, unable to connect and get another pass. We stopped at Woody’s Lunchbox for a Hazelnut Tart and a Raspberry Tart. We loved the raspberry one back in July, but the hazelnut tart was just OK. Playing with the phones, I was able to use Kelli’s phone to get a LL pass for Alien Swirling Saucers. This is a good point to know, if one phone has issues, you may be able to use another one’s phone in your group to set up LL passes. We stopped at a guest relations kiosk to get help with Genie plus. They suggested upgrading my phone software to the latest version. I did and that took a long time but did seem to help the app to work better.

    I missed Muppet Vision 3D in July, so we enjoyed that. The preshow had a section on Muppets Haunted Mansion TV show which we had just watched a week earlier.

    We made our way back to Toy Story Land. With the LL pass Alien Swirling Saucers was a walk-on. This is always a fun ride.

    We then posed for some Star Wars photo pass photos. We relaxed near the entrance to Star Wars: Galaxy Edge. Both Rey and Chewie were out at the Speeder Repair Garage and we refreshed ourselves with some blue and green milk. We passed by the storm troopers guarding the First Order TIE echelon ship (TIE Fighter.) We also saw a resistance fighter sneak up on top of the building to spy on the First Order. Keep your eyes open around here. You never know what you might see.

    Using our LL pass we were able to walk right on Star Wars: Rise of Resistance. This ride is awesome. The walk through and the escape shuttle ride was so immersive. The cast members are in character and are amazing. I’m so glad Kelli braved her fears as she also enjoyed it as well. She does not like rides that have a drop - but after going on a Disney Facebook page and searching Rise of the Resistance - found that it was a short drop and decided she could handle it.

    The heat of the day was starting to build so we headed to the front of the park and caught the Toy Story Cavalcade.

    We caught a bus back to Saratoga Springs a little pass 1 and grabbed lunch at the Artist Pallet but walked back to the villa to eat. Kelli had the Pulled Pork Sandwich and I the Saratoga Salad with chicken. The chicken was bland, but the salad part was great as well as the pulled pork.

    We again relaxed at the villa, avoiding the heat of the day (temps were in the low nineties, above average for this time of year). This gave us plenty of energy to enjoy EPCOT later on.

    We arrived in EPCOT at 5:30pm. We took a cool 360 degree photopass photo in front of Spaceship Earth.

On our way to the Imagination Pavilion we saw the 50th Anniversary Monorail and enjoyed the Disney and Pixar Short 3D Film Festival.

    For dinner we stopped at various Food and Wine kiosks. In Ireland we had the Guinness Baileys Shake, Fisherman’s Seafood Pie, and the Warm Chocolate Pudding Cake with Irish cream liqueur custard. The cake was one of Kelli’s favorites.

    At the Tangierine Café: Flavors of the Medina we noshed on Grilled Kebabs with couscous, tomato-onion salad, and garlic aïoli, a Pistachio Cake with cinnamon pastry cream and candied walnuts, and a very tasty Fig Cocktail with white-cranberry juice and fig vodka.

    Along the way we spotted a few Hide and Squeak Remys and perused the Mitsukoshi Department Store in Japan. Spaceship Earth could be seen through the Japan Torii Gate changing colors with the new light display.

    At Hops and Barley, we had the Hot Beef Sandwich with horseradish cream and pickled vegetables, and I tried the Beer flight: 81 Bay Brewing Co Strawberry and Lime, SweetWater Brewing Company Hazy IPA and a Lord Hobo Brewing Boom Sauce DIPA. The IPA and the DIPA were way too hoppy for me, the strawberry beer was sweet, interesting and refreshing.

    We found a spot to sit and relaxed in Italy. We started to see distant fireworks coming from the Magic Kingdom. We noticed a huge White ibis roost as we passed over the bridge between Germany and China. Their white bodies dotted the trees along the water.

    We finished our meal in India with Warm Indian Bread with pickled garlic, mango salsa, and coriander pesto dips. This reminded both of us of the bread service at Sanaa, Animal Kingdom Lodge restaurant.

    In the old Odyssey building we enjoyed some of the Epcot Experience and videoed some of it.

    We decided to head out but ran into the Donut Box kiosk and had to get two of their daily specials, an Apple Crumble Donut and a Lemon Blueberry Donut. We then saw the new store Creations and spent quite some time shopping. 

    It was now late so we decided to backtrack back to the World Showcase and see the new nighttime show, Harmonious - a nighttime fireworks, moving fountains and light show. We found a good spot between Showcase Plaza and Mexico, in front of the Odyssey Pavilion. The show was colorful, the music was OK, and the fireworks minimal. We decided it is not a must do every time we are down here. Instead of characters singing familiar songs, they had regular singers singing, which made it feel a bit Karaoke-ish. The Stargate was colorful, but you need the right vantage point to see it best, so the show may be disappointing from the sides.

    It was another long and tiring day. We plan to sleep in a little and since we did knock out a lot of must do’s the first two days, we will try and have more downtime for the rest of our vacation.

Friday, October 22
The Animation Experience at Conservation Station

    We slept in due to the late night and took it easy today. An Animal Kingdom bus picked us up at 9:33 and we arrived at the park by 10. I had made a LL pass for the 10:30 Lion King show but it was really not needed. It was nice to get in a little earlier and sit while they filled up the theater with stand-by lane guests. The show did not have the tumble monkeys or the flying girl/bird, but it was still worth seeing the performance.

    We took the Wildlife Express Train to Conservation Station. Along the way we got to see a baby rhinoceros! I had also made a LL pass for The Animation Experience for 11:30, but again it was not needed. They didn’t even fill every seat. What you get to draw changes with every class. Kelli and I got to draw Flotsam and Jetsam from the Little Mermaid. You start out with sheets of papers with some guide lines which helped make it a bit easier. Both of ours came out ok after the 30-minute class. I saw that the next class drew a snake.

    We viewed many of the bugs in the center, then watched the vets work on a Malayan Flying Fox (Fruit Bat) with some damage to his wing.

    We took the train back and ate at Harambe Market using the mobile order app and split the Ribs & Chicken Bowl for $15.22. It is big enough to share

    Next was Feathered Friends in Flight! at the Anandapur Theater for a behind-the-scenes look at the free-flying birds of the park. We always enjoy the different versions of this show and many people skip it. If you are there, don’t miss it.

    We shopped our way out and relaxed back at the villa till it was time to drive over to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for our dinner at Sanaa.

    I tried the Kande Coconut Cooler - African rum, coconut, vanilla ice cream and orange juice. We enjoyed only appetizers including the Indian-style Bread Service: Five Breads with all Nine Accompaniments - Traditional Naan, Garlic-Ginger Naan, Spiced Naan, Onion Kulcha, and Paneer Paratha. Accompaniments - Cucumber Raita, Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, Mango Chutney, Tomato-Date Jam, Tamarind Chutney, Coriander Chutney, Garlic Pickle, Red Chile Sambal, or Spicy Jalapeño-Lime Pickle. I also enjoyed the Potato and Pea Samosas with tamarind and mango chutney, and Kelli tried the Seasonal tomato and cheese soup.

    After dinner we went outside to view the animals. They were very active. Two male Common Elands (Taurotragus oryx) locked horns and duked it out. Reticulated Giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata) strolled around and a Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum) danced by.

    Upstairs we shopped the Kadani lodge gift shop then drove over to Jumbo House for their larger gift shop.

    It was an easier relaxing day. In contrast to yesterday, where the Lightning Lane was needed at Hollywood Studios and was well worth it, it was a waste of money and not needed today at this park. 

Saturday, October 23
Visiting Friends in Melbourne 

    This will be a non- Disney day.

    We woke up at 7 AM and set out an hour and fifteen minutes later. We will be doing some birding before heading out to visit friends in Melbourne.

    Our first stop was Brison Park on the north side of Lake Tohopekaliga. Here we found a number of Common Gallinules and one or two Purple Gallinules. I had a very distant Snail Kite way out in the marsh. We also had Tri-colored Heron and Glossy Ibis, but the highlight was a flock of eight Black-bellied Whistling Ducks that flew by.

    We drove over to nearby Brownie Wise Park on the east side of Lake Tohopekaliga. We both like this park and look forward to visiting it again in the future. Our first sighting was a Bald Eagle nest with both parents present. A pair of photographers were nearby, but at a respectable distance from the nest. As we got out of the car eight Cattle Egrets strolled by and a small flock of five Palm Warblers flitted around. An American Kestrel hunted from atop some small trees nearby. We also added a Common Ground Dove. We met a birder who mentioned both Indigo and Painted Buntings on the entrance road, but we only found a Common Yellowthroat and I heard a distant Northern Bobwhite.

    It was about an hour drive to Melbourne to visit Margaret and Kurt, and Patrick, their cockatiel. It was great to be visiting friends again. We lunched at Grills Riverside Seafood Deck and Tiki Bar alongside the Indian River. The sun was hot, the food was good, and we saw some Brown Pelicans fly by. In the afternoon we visited and walked around Gleason Park. The pond was teaming with fish and turtles. I was happy to find some Eurasian-Collared Doves.

    Dinner was at Shells of Melbourne. We said our goodbyes, hoping it wont be as long till we see them again.

Sunday, October 24
Birthday Balloons for Kelli 

    We woke up early to catch the early entry to the Magic Kingdom for resort guests from 8:30-9 :00 am. There was a long line to get on Peter Pan, but it was moving. The queue went through the regular line and took about 15 minutes to get on. I took some video of the interactive queue where you play with your own shadow. 

    Next up was Winnie the Pooh with a short wait. It was now 9 AM, but the regular crowd had not reached us. Liberty square looked empty. We walked over to the Briar Patch but it was closed. 

    We shopped in the Pirates Bazaar and made our way to the front of the castle and found some of the 50th anniversary gold statues, including Pooh, Tinker Bell, Dumbo, Pluto and Goofy.

    We saw the new Halloween pumpkin decorations but prefer the old Mickey Pumpkin vs this new Cinderella carriage pumpkin.

    Next was a relaxing ride on the TTA. The Tron ride progress looked the same as it did back in July.

    We enjoyed the Laugh Floor and found the Stitch gold statue above the purple wall. 

    At the foot of Main Street, we shopped in the Confectionery Shop and grabbed a 50th anniversary cupcake. In the store they had odd facts about well-known candy bars along with what the wrappers looked like when they first came out. Snickers’ was named after the Mars family’s favorite horse.

    On the way back to the resort there was a large, but well behaved service dog aboard the bus.

    After dropping off our things in the room, we decided to walk over to The Carriage House for lunch. But as we left the room a cast member passed by with some balloons. I asked if that was for our room and she said yes. They were the birthday balloons, cupcakes and gift I had ordered for my wife's birthday tomorrow, but I wanted them delivered today. We walked back to the room and let her in. 

    Kelli was delighted by the surprise. The packaged included six cupcakes, two chocolate bars and a Happy Birthday glass tray.

    Lunch at the Artist Pallet included Braised Meatballs with Polenta and the Cheese Steak Sandwich.

    After lunch we enjoyed the quiet pool at Congress park for the afternoon. It started to rain and it was refreshingly cold, but stayed at the pool till it stopped.

    After freshening up we took a unique way to get to the World Showcase that saved hundreds of steps!

    We took the bus to Hollywood Studios then hopped on the Skyway to back entrance of Epcot. We hit some heavy rain on the skyway but it stopped as we got off.

    I had a hard time going through security. Never found out what in my backpack set it off. Kelli took some pictures of me with security. A guard came by and said: “Princess, you can’t do that and please delete the photos.”

    Dinner was a variety of Epcot Food and Wine fare.

    In Belgium I had the Beer flight: St. Bernardus Witbier – great; Belgian Abby Ale – good; Delirium Red Fruit Beer – sweet.

    At Brazil we tried the Moqueca: Brazilian Seafood Stew featuring scallops, shrimp, and white fish with coconut-lime sauce and steamed rice; Crispy Pork Belly with black beans, tomato and onions; Pão de Queijo: Brazilian cheese bread.

    The 50th anniversary gold statues of Olaf and Rocket and Groot were found between the port of Entry and Disney Traders stores.

    Kelli and I shared the Pineapple wine in Hawaii and I really liked the Mango Lassi with Somrus chai cream liqueur in India.

    In Kenya we shared the Kenyan Coffee Barbecue Beef Tenderloin with sweet potato & corn mealie pap and kachumbari slaw and the Piri Piri Skewered Shrimp with citrus-scented couscous

    We finished our Food and Wine dinner with the Apple Strudel with Vanilla Sauce in Germany,

    As we headed to the front of the park, we found the new Coca Cola Club Cool. We had to wait in line. Each group gets to go to one station at a time where you can sample eight different Coke products from around the world. They still have Beverly from Italy.

    We stopped at the exit to view the new lights on Spaceship Earth before calling it a night.

Monday, October 25
Kelli’s Birthday

    We headed to Epcot at noon, but to save a lot of walking we took a bus to Hollywood Studios then hopped aboard the Disney Skyliner to the back entrance of Epcot. We again hit some heavy rain while on the skyliner. It rained lightly on and off the rest of the afternoon. 

    We only had a short wait to ride Remy's Ratatouille Adventure. It is like Mickey & Minnie's - Runaway Railway but much more hectic and livelier. We enjoyed it.

    For lunch we did Food and Wine with Kelli leading the way since it was her birthday. The first must do was going back to Ireland for another Warm Chocolate Pudding Cake with Irish cream liqueur custard. I also tried the Roasted Irish Sausage with colcannon potatoes and onion gravy.

    In Canada we shared the Canadian Cheddar and Bacon Soup served with a pretzel roll and the “Le Cellier” Wild Mushroom Beef Filet Mignon with truffle-butter sauce. I also had the Château des Charmes Cabernet-Merlot.

    In Belgium we tried a delicious Chilled coffee with Godiva Chocolate Liqueur.

    Kelli went to pick up our Remy Hide and Squeak bowls, but they were out! Instead we got a cool Minnie’s Kitchen Sink ice-cream bowl and a Mickey ears pop up snack bowl.

    We found another Red-shouldered Hawk in the park.

    We headed back to Saratoga Springs to relax in the pool a bit before dinner but opted to just relax in the villa till dinner time.

    I drove us over to the Yacht Club resort to the Yachtsman Steakhouse for Kelli’s Birthday. Our waiter was great and suggested the carpaccio as an appetizer. The Beef Carpaccio with truffle aioli, parmesan, fried capers, grilled artichoke and smoked sea salt was the highlight of the meal. The bread service included roasted garlic. I had the watermelon margarita.

    After dinner we explored the resort, shopping in the Ale and Compass gift shop and we found the hidden mickey on the globe near the sea serpent in the main lobby.

    Back at the resort we each used one of the bath bombs to relax and soaked in the big tub.

Tuesday, October 26
Riding the Millennium Falcon three times in a row 

    Kelli slept in as I headed to Hollywood Studios for our last full day. I did get up and pay for a Lightning Lane for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance just after noon. Later, Kelli walked the resort grounds. She was rewarded with views of a Black-throated Blue Warbler, American Redstart, and Hermit Thrushes.

    The bus to Hollywood Studios was crowded. I was able to squeeze on as the last person at the Congress bus stop. It then skipped the people waiting at the last stop at the Carriage House before heading to the park.

    On my way over to Galaxy’s Edge, I ran across the 50th Anniversary gold R2D2and BB8 statues.

    The Resistance standby line was too long and not moving. So, I jumped off that and took pictures of the empty Galaxy’s Edge area. It was nice not to have people in front of the ships.

    Slinky Dog Dash posted a 35-minute standby line but got on anyway. I was on and off in twenty minutes and got a good video of Wheezy singing at the end of the ride. I took a quick selfie in front of the Pixar ball.

    Toy Story Midway Mania only had a 10 minute wait and I scored 153,100 riding alone.

    I decided to try the single rider line for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, what a find! You go right in before the Millennium Falcon, filling in spots for the 6 member crew. I rode three times in only 35 minutes. I was a gunner once and an engineer the other two. I really saw and heard on how different this ride is each time, depending on how well the pilots and crew do. It was fun since I had some awful first-time pilots and at times was hilarious and entertaining.

I still had plenty of time before my Lightning Lane pass, so I rode both Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith and The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. 

As I headed back across the park, I overheard that the Resistance ride was down. I was very tired from all the walking this week and wanted to join Kelli for the afternoon. After confirming that the ride was down, and it would be a while before it was back up and running. I ate my LL pass and headed back to the resort.

    I met Kelli on our balcony enjoying some coffee and cupcakes. We went to Disney Springs for lunch at the Earl of Sandwich. We had the Chipotle Chicken Avocado and Turkey and Cheddar wraps. In hindsight we probably could have split one wrap between us.

    We still had room for dessert at Ghirardelli. We split a Magical Sundae with vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream, sprinkles and dipped waffle ears.

    Later we relaxed in the villa, did some wash, and checked in for our flight home tomorrow using the JetBlue app. Then took a walk and we re-found the American Redstart along with Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.

    For dinner we walked to the Carriage House and ate at the Artist Palate for dinner. I had the Caesar Salad with chicken and Kelli the Roast Chicken. Since I had yet to have a Mickey premium ice cream bar; I took one back for dessert later. We also brought a cinnamon bun and chocolate croissant for snacks on the plane tomorrow.

    We ate dinner on balcony watching the sunset.

Wednesday, October 27
Homeward Bound

    No parks today as we had a mid morning flight back. After a long week we now try and leave early and relax back at home before we get back to the usual. There was a beautiful sunrise while driving to the airport.

    When I checked out our plane’s name, it was the same one as we flew down, “Blue Raise me up”, and we were in the same seats.
Our friend Mark picked us up.

Post Trip

    We noticed that there were fewer characters out and about. In July we saw them on fenced in grassy areas and balconies. This time we only saw them in the cavalcades.

    It was nice to sought of get back to normal doing the things we love. We did have to wear masks on all transit and indoors, but we are fine with that and getting used to it. The Food and Wine lost a bit of an edge since they do not have the overseas cast members and the demonstrations, but it was still worth it. We tried over fifty different items between the July and October trips and there were still items I wanted to try. We did add some relaxing vacation time in but could have used more. We did a lot the first two days and hit all the new stuff early. But that along with temperatures above normal wiped us out a bit. A near parkless trip could be in our future. Especially since Annual Passes are so expensive. I can see us doing a three day ticket over a week vacation.

Thanks for reading.

Michael and Kelli