So, once we were all vaccinated and conditions seemed to be improving (jury still out at this point, but it's definitely a different environment now), we decided to rebook and reattempt our trip, this time scheduled over winter break, almost two years later. Yes, yes, that's me cowing to the INTERNATIONAL COMMUNIST WAR ON CHRISTMAS, but that's the lingo the district uses, so we end up calling it winter break. Maybe I should call it The Former Pagan Holiday We Inaccurately Consider to be Jesus Christ's Birthday Break. But yeah, we were scheduled wheels up on Boxing Day right after Christmas.
Now, because Peter was profoundly disappointed at the cancellation last time, and because we were still at the whim of either flight cancellations or one of us getting sick (and us having to cancel), we didn't tell the kids. Until the night before (Christmas evening). Gretchen, who loves her alone time, was slightly disappointed at the prospect of last minute changing of plans. Peter was a bit more ecstatic...this is him, after opening a present "we just found" that night containing our Magic Bands (the bracelet things you use at the parks), saying "JOKE?! JOKE?! PROVE IT YOU HAVE TO PROVE IT TO ME!" (We showed him our luggage, already secretly packed)
So next day, off to the airport (too early of course) and Debra happened to spot some old friends (her former boss at the church she worked at / we attended) while walking up to the bus stop in economy parking and she did this weird crazy run towards them once she saw them (which looked to me like she was having some kind of seizure or medical event, me not realizing she had recognized them). Waiting for the bus under the electric heaters...
Security was a bit crazy, partly because we are so out of practice with it. A mildly disturbing scene erupted when the TSA person pulled my safety razor out of our spitkit, and we apologized (I didn't even think about that) and they discarded the blade, which was of course fine by me. Debra was already slightly annoyed at me for having committed that faux pas when they called me back over and pulled a great whopping 5" hunting knife out of my laptop bag...my beloved Finnish puukko, Aino...constant hunting companion to me, has administered the coup de gras to fallen adversaries (err, deer and turkey I should be clear) on multiple occasions. Lots of sentiment with that thing. At this point Debra was...extra annoyed with me. I had been missing that knife for a couple months, and TSA found it for me. Peter kind of cowered back and asked Debra, seriously, "is he going to jail". But the TSA person was nice, and escorted me to the door so I could return it to our car instead of them destroying it. We had plenty of time. I was a bit discombobulated and left without my jacket, but I hopped on the bus to head back to the lot. This was an unpleasant experience, and the following picture is my view as a gentleman sitting to my left decided to LEAVE HIS BACKPACK ON and deposit it in my lap.
Another highlight of that bus trip back, the bus driver gave us a tip to get a free day of parking by going to flykcicoupon dot com. An older gentleman immediately took it upon himself to ask for it to be repeated ad infinitum. FLY??? FLY KCI?????? COUPON??? FLY KCI COUPON???? FLY KCI COUPON DOT COM???? It went on and on...when he got off at the first stop, he walked up to the front and asked the bus driver his name, so he could thank his supervisor apparently for this great tip. The bus driver's name was "C Stevens"..."C, like the letter". STEVE? No, C...C Stevens. STEVE??? Trust me it went on, and on. Then he went for the humor kill shot with a reprise of FLY KCI COUPON??? and the rest of the anxious, impatient bus I think could hardly stand it. Capped with a beautiful "THANK YOU STEVE!" At that point I was 9 stops away and rather than spend more quality time cradling this stranger's backpack in my lap, I opted to jog. I was hoping to get to the stop in time to actually catch the same bus back...just had to jog there, drop off the knife real quick and hop back on. Ran the distance while still wearing my N95 mask, not realizing it, which is silly (rolls eyes at the whiny morons who complained about not being able to breathe with one of those paper or cloth masks). But I couldn't find the car immediately...so I caught the next bus. Thankfully I had saved my favorite knife. (And yes, the car needs a serious vaccumming.)
Got back and was able to enjoy the experience of security for a second time, this time harboring no bladed weaponry thankfully. We had some expensive off the shelf sandwiches as our flight got delayed. There was a large Disney-bound group on our flight that had a young woman who looked very feverish with a cough, using one of those laughable paper masks, but hey...nothing we can do about that. So we boarded, and tried to pick seats that wouldn't be too close.
It was a full flight, and nothing much else to do, I noted we took quite a detour around the FL border. Wondered if it was some kind of military airspace issue given the proximity of NAS Pensacola.
We landed in Orlando, hopped the terminal tram.
Once we got our luggage we headed to the other side to try and find the "Magical Express" bus to Disney.
Getting on the Express was a bit tricky and there was much standing in line. It was dark by the time we got there...pretty resort, Coronado Springs...themed around Spain, Mexico, and Latin America generally with its decor and cuisine.
I love how they had dedicated lights to illuminate these signs.
The resort has a main tower and a huge central lake with three main "villages" surrounding it...lots of walking that week. Oh, and I'm going to semi-apologize for the constant blurry and badly lit photos in this post...they are what they are.
We grabbed some dinner at an actual sit-down restaurant (first time in ages) that was open air, on an island at the center of the lake.
Debra even got to catch the end of the Chiefs game...
Neither Debra or I slept very well that night...but regardless, up early to get into the park (Hollywood Studios) at ropedrop. Rise of the Resistance is the big fancy new ride, and we were going to try to purchase what amounts to a "FastPass" to help ensure we were able to get on it, when those were released at 7am precisely.
It was kinda complicated but I got them purchased (yes, I was throwing stupid money at the problem) while in line to get in. Even minutes after they were released, the earliest available was 6PM!
If we weren't able to buy the "Lightning Lane" passes, we were just going to go straight there and get in line, but since we did, our plans changed. Walking through the main thoroughfare...
Then in a rather long line for Slinky Dog Dash, one of a few coasters we were forcing the kids to do.
It was fun, and in Disney fashion, fairly mild.
Then over to Star Wars Land. I know its called something else, but I refuse to kowtow to their failure to use its proper name.
The Falcon was pretty cool!
In line for "Smugglers Run".
It was a fun ride, and reminded me of a cross between Star Tours and the interactive components of Mission: Space, where each person has a role and controls that marginally affect the ride.
I don't want to try to remember how much we paid for these little Cokes designed like thermal detonators.
The shops were fairly immersive and cool...they put a lot of work and money into the atmosphere. Wish I'd gotten better views of the shoulder mount "taxidermy" here...I think there was at least a taun-taun and maybe a wampa?
We grabbed a quick breakfast at Ronto Roasters...in this case it was a flatbread with egg, cheese, and a long thin sausage. Kind of weird but arguably one of the least weird things you can get in Star Wars Land.
Then I insisted on the Muppets 3D ride, or show actually. Cause, well, it's the Muppets. Muppets are great. And of course, had to patronize the well themed facilities next door.
Then off to wait in a substantial line for the other major ride (there's not many rides in this park), Tower of Terror. The kids were not excited. I mean, terror is in the name.
It was fun, although nobody was clamoring to get back in line for a second go of it. We got a few things at the Backlot Express place, a Cuban sandwich, chicken strips, a salad, which we all shared, and decided to head back to our hotel.
Our intent was to rest, hit the pool, and then eventually head back for our evening "Rise of the Resistance" time.
I think we promised the kids something sweet for their (not actually optional) participation on the coasters and Tower of Terror. This was some kind of Smore cake I think.
Plenty of gulls around which feels weird given how inland Orlando is, but the place is basically half land half water anyway, with all the lakes.
Heading back...we were a tiny bit early and the line for this ride was short so we hopped on Star Tours to pass the time.
AT-AT looming overhead in line.
A bit of shopping when back in Star Wars Land.
None of my pictures turned out very well but the place was pretty at night! Very immersive.
It's neat in the daytime too, but the lighting really works well.
OK, one or two photos did actually turn out. This was really cool!
Forced perspective of the mountains makes them look much bigger.
Then onto the Ride of the Resistance as we started calling it.
It's one of the best rides in Disney World I'd say, being multi-staged and kind of "theatrical". Really well done/designed.
Then, back to the resort (having achieved our goal of getting Peter on that ride), to eat some costly flatbread pizzas from the cafeteria by the pool.
Next day, we were headed to EPCOT. The park opened at 8:30 and we took a bit of a hike to ensure we were at the first stop of the bus route (so we would get a seat on the bus)...unfortunately trudging through some very wet grass, but we spotted this little crane fellow on the way.
Into the park with the weird golf ball thing. The first thing we did was Soaring. Or is it Soarin'? I dunno, the big IMAX thing that makes you feel like you are flying.
Then we did a couple rounds of Mission: Space, first on "green" intensity with all four of us, then on "orange" intensity where Debra demurred.
Gretchen got mildly sick after the "orange" round. So we headed to the World Showcase area to look for something to eat. First stop Norway...
While they used to have a nice little salad plate with gjetost and charcuterie, the only thing on the menu now were sweets. We got a couple things, but Gretchen, accurately depicted here as not feeling her best, wasn't interested.
So we hunted for a place that was open, that would also serve something savory.
Finally got a plate of fish and chips to share in merry old England.
Spent a bit more time here than last time. This is also possibly where Debra lost her Magic Band, alas.
Ah yes, the Welsh Corgi. Naughtiest of dog breeds.
Took a brief walk through France...tried to explore the shops, but I mean, it was mostly perfume and clothes and wine.
The Morocco showcase has some lovely architecture.
Places like this were surprisingly calm and quiet.
We skip the American showcase as always (who's got two thumbs and is a walking talking American Showcase...THIS GUY) and stopped in Japan.
We were going to get food there too, but we were really just too early for everything, nothing was really open yet.
A very brief stroll through Italy...
Noted a cloth face mask being dragged under this model train. Not sure if it is a metaphor?
Got a pretzel in Germany to share. This is what we do in EPCOT, basically just get a tiny bit of food everywhere, constantly.
Then we got potstickers, egg rolls, and boba tea in China. Gretchen was really into the idea of boba tea so we wanted to find it for her. Then headed out to make a short day of it in the park. We boarded the monorail...
...bound for the place I remember loving the most from our last trip...the Polynesian.
In fairness, the last time we were here, it was in the throes of my initial love for Hawai'i and Hawaiian music, and I had not been to the real place myself yet, either. But it was a little underwhelming this time. The place was a bit busier and more frenetic, the music was mostly inaudible (the last time we arrived by boat and heard none other than Barney Isaacs playing Blue Hawaii as we did so...this time, the music wasn't even playing outside), and it felt a bit more like it was...a branded hotel experience, not the little magical slice of aloha I recalled. That's OK though! It just isn't worth the Magical price tag it commands, I think, to actually stay here.
Kids got a Dole whip, naturally.
The grounds are beautiful, for sure.
Then the complicated process of getting back to our place...we hopped a ferry to get to the Magical Kingdom (fake Disneyland).
Seeing the Polynesian from the ferry, again...I mean, the overwater bungalows work, for sure, if you are in Bora Bora, but being over the water in a shallow Florida lake...that's less of a good thing.
We then took the bus from Magicland or whatever it is called back to the Coronado, had dinner, and after sorting out how to stream from Debra's phone, started watching the latest season of The Great British Baking Show, which quickly became a bit of an obsessive interest to Peter. Here Peter is modelling his new stuffed Porg which includes a little magnetic thing you insert under your shirt, so the Porg can perch securely on your shoulder.
Next morning we headed to Magicland for real this time, to actually get in versus as a hub on our complicated transportation adventures.
Got in just before rope drop at 8.
We headed for Tomorrowland to try and get on Space Mountain. The kids were not excited as it is a bit of a coaster, but the rule is, we can't make you ride rides at Worlds of Fun, but we absolutely will at Disney.
Thence across Fantasy Land to do Haunted Mansion.
Once of our main reasons to do this was to see the Nightmare Before Christmas holiday rebranding of the ride, that we saw like a decade ago or more. The line seemed very much...not rebranded, and a quick Google search confirmed, that is just a Disneyland thing. So it was the normal version, which is fine.
Trotting down to Frontierland...
Next up was Pirates, a non-negotiable for me since Pete and I have been playing the pirate game Sea of Thieves.
Debra rewarded the kids with ice cream sandwiches (if I recall for braving the coaster?) and we got in a long, long line for Splash Mountain.
We got thoroughly soaked and our KN95 masks were soaked...not comfortable to wear for sure. We finally found the churro cart and got a snack for the kids.
And that's it for the morning, we headed straight out. The afternoon is the worst time to be in the parks...just a fierce glut of people and sun and heat.
We had a late lunch of kid and adult Lunchables (the latter being some kind of charcuterie pack) and swam at the pool, and then headed back to the Magic Kingdom in the evening. We had an exceptionally aggressive bus driver who was passing all the other Magic Kingdom busses, maybe they get rewarded for passenger throughput.
This is the face Debra makes when she realizes there is a marching band.
It was a VERY large band, such that given how long it was, the sound changed as it passes since you are hearing mostly the instruments near you.
We really didn't do much...no rides, but we got some very good flatbread pizzas at the Pinocchio place in Fantasy Land. Peter beat everyone in how much he ate so we heaped praise upon him for his mastery of pizza gluttony.
We didn't stay for actual fireworks (although we saw one bit...misfire maybe?) but they had the place lit up nicely.
The next day we were off to Animal Kingdom, basically their version of a zoo. It opened at 7 so we were up early to catch the bus in time. I bought "Lightning Lane" tickets for the Avatar Flight of Passage ride (that we didn't get to do last time) while being funneled through the admission line.
It was foggy so we opted to go check out the Avatar land with its cool suspended landforms, first.
Then we crossed back over the main island towards Asia...the goal being to get on Expedition Everest before lines grew long.
Going up, up, up...
Gretchen none too happy. But she did it!
Heard a fair amount of Indian, or Indian-adjacent, music. Debra hates when I use "adjacent" as an adjective modifier. So I'm leaving that in to playfully annoy her. But I noted that a shehnai, a multi-reed wind instrument with the most piercing tone, has a sound not unlike bagpipes, and I wondered if a shehnai bagpipe fusion album of Scottish-Indian music might somehow claim the title of most annoying possible music ever recorded. Anyway, we made our way towards Africa and got in the safari ride line. Gretchen was feeling a bit sick from the ride so Debra grabbed a croissant for them to share.
On the ride eventually Gretchen was highly insistent that I take pictures of everything, so I have plenty more pictures of even worse quality or content than these.
We got stuck behind a traffic jam of giraffes and cattle.
I think these were wild dogs.
In fairness, African cattle might actually need these horns. Yikes!
Definitely lots of giraffes there.
More giraffage...
Flamingos...yes, I'm out of commentary give me a break you guys.
Rhinoceri...
Ze big kitty.
Not sure if blogger will allow me to upload this clip, but kitty making some noise:
Ostriches close enough the Debra almost pulled us back into the car further...
Once back we did a little walk on the Gorilla section trail. While I had terrible blurry pictures of the okapi from the safari ride, we were a bit closer to one here.
A distant silverback pontificating in "plumber pose".
We got a couple guava and cheese pastries and then hopped the train to the "affection section" or glorified petting zoo.
The similarity of this tree to 'ohi'a lehua from Hawaii struck me. Very pretty.
So we got to the petting zoo and Debra and I were super distracted by our recent discussion / realization that a snowstorm was bound to hit Kansas City on New Years Day...right when our flight was scheduled. We formed a brilliant plan to change our flight to an available one the night before...New Years Eve...thus getting home slightly earlier (which we were ready for) and avoiding the storm! Plus, who flies on New Years Eve? We were bound to have a less crowded flight, surely! We congratulated ourselves on our cleverness (foreshadowing).
While completely distracted I still got a few pics.
Back on the train and headed back.
Then we headed back to Avatar Land for our scheduled ride that we bought the passes for.
Zipped right to the front. You get what you pay for, alas, and in Disney World, you sure do pay for it.
The ride was great, a 3D, slightly more immersive version of Soaring. Unsurprisingly, Gretchen and Debra feeling a bit motion sick, so we got some food. Unfortunately in Avatar Land they do kind of the same thing they do in Star Wars Land...make the food "funky" and weird looking. Also weird tasting. So we bought noodles that on their own would be like a basic level Chinese restaurant lo mein, that had meat added, and then an additional sauce that was utterly weird and unnecessary, as well as (!!) sweet, fruit flavor boba balls that completely ruined the taste if you got one of those...just not good. Sure they looked weird and alien, but not pleasant. Pete enjoyed his "cheeseburger bao".
Then onto the raft ride, Kali River Rapids. We got very wet.
From there we did the trails in...uhh...Asia Land? Whatever that section is called. Komodo dragon.
I just made the realization that Gretchen absolutely could, and would love to, take pictures herself via her phone (its a wifi only phone, no plan, but she uses it like a pocket computer).
Inside the aviary section.
Then, back to the hotel. We then worked on figuring out how to adjust our Magical Express reservation given our new best-laid plans (remember the poet Burns...they oft gang agley!), then went to the fancy pool with the Mayan pyramid (was a bit more of a party scene there), and had dinner by the pool with fish tacos, chicken strips, and nachos.
Next morning, back up for our final day, this one back at Hollywood Studios (it was our backup day if we weren't able to do the Star Wars stuff the first day).
We went straight to Star Wars Land to do the Ride of the Resistance ride again...but getting there, it was shut down for some reason. So we hopped onto the Smugglers Run ride instead.
View of the Falcon from inside in the line...
Pete and I opted to take the flight controls this time, having been gunners previously.
It sets you inside the cockpit with minimal controls that seem to have (very limited) effects on the ride. Pretty fun though!
Because the main ride was down, the whole area seemed less crowded.
Most of the shops weren't open yet. We did get another one of those "ronto wraps" things.
We ambled over to the Ride of the Resistance to see if it would open up soon...we had time to kill, this was basically an extra day, we had accomplished what we wanted and were excited to fly back that very evening! Took a pic with the A-wing.
Also an X-wing there.
And then, there you go...it opened! We basically walked straight through onto the ride since a really large queue had not yet formed. This one sees lines of up to 3 hours long.
Really well done, multi-staged ride.
On the magnetic cart portion of the ride...
Simulated space battles outside. (Why would you say "simulated" Neufeld, was there someone who was going to need that point clarified?)
Then off at the end, feeling proud of ourselves for having ridden it again with minimal time in line (nor paying extra like the first time).
Ice cream sandwiches in a quiet alley off the beaten path.
And then we headed out. But on a whim, while heading to the bus, we spotted the Skyliner station and opted to take a ride...
We headed over to the Caribbean resort which is on the Skyliner route, just to check it out.
It's another mid-priced resort. Which still means, super expensive, mind you, but priced in the middle tier for Disney.
Kids clambered a bit on a playground area with a climbing section.
Then back to the resort where we got lunch (some nachos I think, lakeside), and proceeded to pack. We were scheduled to catch the bus at 3pm.
We are literally sitting at the bus stop waiting to be picked up when my phone buzzes. Our flight has been cancelled. Rescheduled for the next day again...but not our original direct flight...this time one connecting through New Orleans. We hastily tried to figure out if the hotel would let us back in our rooms (since we basically were checking out early), but we did get that straightened out. I was disappointed to say the least, most notably because I had zero confidence that flight would not also get cancelled due to the weather. Ah well, had to make the best of it.
This was the main pool area, with the pyramid.
We swam again, and had one more dinner here, by the lake.
Then back to the still accessible room, and up early for our hopefully-not-cancelled flight.
A bit shockingly for what we expected...there were a ton of folks waiting at 4am on New Years Day for a ride to the airport. I mean, we would do something like that, but you expect other people to not necessarily want a super early flight on New Years Day. Lots of lung-cookie-expellers waiting there with us, so masks went on shortly.
Still no word on our flights getting cancelled. Checking luggage was an ordeal, but we got it done. Finally onto the plane. I passed the time listening to Conan O'Briens podcasts, with him interviewing Will Ferrell, Martin Short, John Cleese, and Eric Idle.
We got to New Orleans...our first visit, if a stopover in the airport counts. Got beignets and cafe au lait. The powdered sugar content of that carpet must be massive, I'd expect it to be able to just start fermenting spontaneously.
VOOTSTAHPS VOOTSTAHPS! Vollowing in his grandvater's VOOHSTAHPS!
Physically Distant, Socially Close. How does an introvert politely decline that offer...
This was the leg we were most worried about getting cancelled.
But no such bad luck! We took off and headed into the storm, and after a rough landing, were back in KC.
We picked up our luggage (nothing lost!) (man I was a pessimist that day!), and got our car de-iced. I saved some bucks thanks to the nice older gentleman who had burned FLY??? KCI??? COUPON???? into my brain days ago, and we drove very slowly in the snow and ice back home. It was a great trip! Nothing witty here at the end, you have to pay extra for that service.