Welcome summer! My last trip to Disney was somewhat of a spur of the moment idea to celebrate the end of the school year and the start of summer. Normally, Disney being a spur of the moment vacation is laughable at best. COVID though has made that a possibility right now after causing a very disrupted travel cycle. As far as Disney is concerned though, we are quickly losing our spur of the moment ability as the parks are rapidly shifting back closer to ‘normal’ (or new normal) and guests are coming back in droves. Availability in the resorts is still decent for July and August, but September starts the real possibility that if you don’t already have lodging set, you won’t be traveling to Disney this fall. Even 2022 has pockets of very low resort availability! Book with me, by yourself (WHY?!?!), or with another agent that specializes in Disney travel, but get that room reserved!

So Disney, early June. The kid and I hopped on a plane the day after school got out for the year and headed south. Smooth flight, a luggage delay in Orlando due to lightning, then we were off. After quickly boarding Magical Express, we found ourselves on the Disney resort world tour like never before. Typical Magical Express drop offs and pick ups involve going to multiple resorts, but those resorts are usually close to each other. This particular drop off route had us at Saratoga Springs, Fort Wilderness, the Polynesian, Grand Floridian, and finally to the Contemporary, where we were staying. The kid and I were literally the last two people on the bus when we got to our resort. I have no idea how Saratoga Springs and the Fort worked their way into our bus route, but SURPRISE! You never really know where you will go before you end up at your resort… that’s why I always say you need to allow plenty of time between when your flight is scheduled to land before you need to be somewhere. Nothing like being in a rush, or missing, a dining reservation on your first night!

The Contemporary is a fun resort, under major renovation right now that is scheduled to wrap this fall. All of the rooms in the A-frame tower, the main building at the resort, are being re-imagined into rooms with an Incredibles theme. There is a huge debate online about renovating these rooms but, to be honest, they were ready for a refresh. Disney fans are often fans of things staying exactly the same, no change. Hard crowd. Just like the Polynesian resort having its rooms renovated with a Moana theme (opening in late July), it is nice to see some changes at these deluxe level resorts. The themes being added aren’t over the top, just a nice overlay that provides some interest for the kids (and adults!) but not going overboard. We stayed in the garden wing this time, a set of three-story buildings that are located to the back right of the main tower. It was our first time in the garden wing and I have to say, I was really happy there. I’m sure there are rooms that would be a much longer walk that ours was to get to, but ours was in a perfect spot. Easy access to the tower, short walk around the building to the bus stop, right at the pool, great patio outside where I could watch the monorails go by for hours. The rooms here are in the style that the tower’s rooms were, and these are to be renovated after the tower is done. They need a refresh too, mainly to get rid of the carpet, but the room was very comfortable and incredibly spacious. Check out that desk! For someone who works a lot while on vacation (hello 6am dining and 12am Savi’s reservations!), having this kind of workspace is so helpful. I’ll be back in the tower in October for my next trip and I’m hoping that there is still a big desk for me to take care of business while on the road!

With FastPass service still being unavailable, we had the unique opportunity to ride some of our favorite attractions without those ridiculously long lines. We have ridden Flight of Passage in Animal Kingdom tons of times but have never once gone through the regular (non-FastPass) queue. It was a treat to be able to see the queue, take pictures, and really enjoy part of what makes this ride so cool. Our wait was posted at 75 minutes, but we were through the queue, ride, and in the gift shop within an hour. Totally worth it to see all of the extra theming!

Speaking of no FastPasses, another thing we did was hang out in the parks until closing or very close to. In the ‘before times’ we would do that too but haven’t done that as much in the last several trips. The kid and I spent a ton of time in Galaxy’s Edge in Hollywood Studios and found ourselves there on our first night basically alone. There were hardly any guests in that section after about 7pm (8pm closing time for the park) and we were able to take tons of pictures with no guests in them. We decided closer to 8pm to go ahead and start walking out, so we headed through Toy Story Land to get back to the front of the park. Realizing it was very close to 8pm but not 8pm yet, we hopped in the line for Slinky Dog Dash right as the clock hit 8pm and the park officially closed. Tip, as long as you’re in the line by the time the park closes, you still get to ride. We might have waited 15 minutes or so before we were on our way, riding on Slinky across the tracks above Toy Story Land. Epic!

I love a good festival and Epcot has one going on just about all year round now! We were able to sneak in one last visit during the Flower and Garden Festival before the Food and Wine Festival starts up on July 15th. That is super early for Food and Wine which normally doesn’t start until right around Labor Day. More time for everyone to enjoy! Epcot is undergoing such a huge transformation right now with the addition of new rides and attractions, layout changes, and so much more. I can’t wait to see the park when it is finished, but I’m also loving seeing it as it morphs from one trip to the next!

As with all changes, we haven’t had a scheduled parade in the parks since the COVID reopening last year. Gone is the 3:00pm daily parade in Magic Kingdom. A source of complaints for sure, but not from me! In the place of that scheduled parade are a number of character cavalcades that go through the parks. Magic Kingdom has three sets of characters that go by throughout the day, Epcot has Mickey and friends and then a princess cavalcade, Animal Kingdom has boats that travel through the waterways, and Hollywood Studios has Disney Junior and Pixar offerings. You can basically be steps from these cavalcades, essentially face to face with your favorite characters. No staking out a spot an hour in advance in the sun, sitting on the hot pavement, people hanging over you trying to take videos while you are trying to enjoy yourself. The music starts, you know a parade is coming, guests form a very rough edge and the cavalcade comes through. I was having a Coke and a Mickey pretzel in front of the Castle when this princess cavalcade came through, see the (not zoomed in) picture below. I didn’t even have to move a muscle to see the floats go by. As you can see from the other guests though, I could have easily gotten right up there and snapped as many pics as I wanted. There was all kinds of room to stand, without feeling sandwiched in. My daughter even walked away from where I was and took some pictures up closer as the floats went around the hub in front of the Castle. So few people I saw her at all times, she got some great shots, and I enjoyed my pretzel. So much better than before! The princesses are able to actually make eye contact with you, maybe comment on your outfit, say ‘happy birthday’ to someone wearing a button, etc. Fantastic!

Speaking of Cinderella Castle, it continues to transform for the 50th birthday celebration for Magic Kingdom that kicks off on October 1st. Check out the spire decorations, so pretty! If you were wondering why the fall is so busy, Magic Kingdom’s 50th has a lot to do with it. So do the numerous cancelations of trips from the fall of 2020, fall always being a very popular time to travel, the Food & Wine Festival at Epcot, the new Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure ride in Epcot opening on October 1st, and travel demand! After being cooped up for months, everyone is ready to get out of the house and back to some kind of normal. For so many of us, Disney is that normal we are so longing for. I am incredibly fortunate to be able to visit several times a year (on my own dime, no free trips here) even though the drive is about 12.5 hours for me. Thankfully I can fly in about two hours, after a two hour drive to the airport. Ah, the things we do for Disney love!

Until next time!

xoxo, Amber