So where have I been for the last 2+ years? Well I’ve been busy being a happy grandma (and part-time caregiver) to my first grandchild, born less than 2 weeks after I returned from this Fall 2021 trip. But I’m now looking forward to returning to Disney World in Spring of 2024 so I’m thinking of resurrecting this Disney trip blog. It will definitely take some time for me to learn how to navigate in WordPress again but I’m going to give it a try. I will start by attempting to write this trip report from notes that I wrote and photos that I took more than 2 years ago. So please forgive me if my reviews are somewhat vague (much like my memory of this trip). Haha.
Here is a list of what I will attempt to review in this trip report:
TABLE SERVICE RESTAURANTS
- Cinderella’s Royal Table Breakfast (Magic Kingdom) – COMPLETE
- Be Our Guest Dinner(Magic Kingdom) – COMPLETE
- Tusker House Breakfast served family-style (Animal Kingdom) – COMPLETE
- Steakhouse 71 Dinner (Contemporary Resort) – COMPLETE
- Kona Cafe Breakfast (Polynesian Village Resort) – COMPLETE
- California Grill Dinner (Contemporary Resort) – COMPLETE
- Chef Mickey’s Breakfast served family-style (Contemporary Resort) – COMPLETE
- Space 220 Dinner (Epcot) – COMPLETE
- Topolino’s Terrace Breakfast (Riviera Resort) – COMPLETE
- La Creperie de Paris Lunch (Epcot) – COMPLETE
- La Hacienda de San Angel (Epcot) – COMPLETE
- Beaches & Cream Dinner (Beach Club Resort) – COMPLETE
- Hollywood Brown Derby Dinner (Hollywood Studios) – COMPLETE
- Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’ Brunch (Disney Springs) – COMPLETE
- Rose & Crown Fireworks Dining Package Dinner (Epcot) – COMPLETE
- Cape May Cafe Breakfast (Beach Club Resort) – COMPLETE
QUICK SERVICE RESTAURANTS, KIOSKS, & LOUNGES
- Capt. Cook’s Lunch (Polynesian Village Resort) – COMPLETE
- Steakhouse 71 Lounge (Contemporary Resort) – COMPLETE
- Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto (Polynesian Village Resort) – COMPLETE
- Contemporary Grounds (Contemporary Resort) – COMPLETE
- Contempo Cafe (Contemporary Resort) – COMPLETE
- D-Luxe Burger (Disney Springs) – COMPLETE
- Les Halles Boulangerie Patisserie (Epcot) – COMPLETE
- Epcot Food & Wine Festival Booths – PART 1, 2 & 3 (of 3) COMPLETE
- New Club Cool (Epcot) – COMPLETE (See Thurs, Oct. 28)
- Nomad Lounge (Animal Kingdom) – COMPLETE
- Trolley Car Cafe (Hollywood Studios) – COMPLETE
- BaseLine Tap House (Hollywood Studios) – COMPLETE
- Boardwalk Ice Cream (Boardwalk) – COMPLETE
- Boardwalk Bakery (Boardwalk) – COMPLETE
OTHER NON-FOOD STUFF
- Refurbished Contemporary Resort & Main Tower Theme Park View Room #4544 – COMPLETE
- Beach Club Standard View Room #3662 – COMPLETE
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23 – OUR ARRIVAL DAY (Contemporary Resort)
We (my son, Andrew, and I) had an early flight out of Chicago that morning, leaving at 5:30 a.m. and about an hour later we got to watch the sunrise from the window of our plane…
Another hour later and we were almost there…
By 9:30 we had landed at the Orlando International airport, retrieved our luggage, and made our way to catch our last FREE ride to a Disney resort on a Magical Express bus…
NOTE: As of Jan. 1, 2022 Disney World discontinued this free service. The service is still available (from Mears Connect) but you now have to pay for it. Current cost is $16 per person each way (to/from airport).
By 10:21 we took this photo from the balcony of our room at the Contemporary Resort…
Review of the newly refurbished Contemporary Resort and Main Tower Theme Park View Room #4544
We hadn’t eaten anything since having dinner the night before, so decided it was time to seek out some food. Rather than going to the quick service location right there at the Contemporary, we decided to venture out to a quick service restaurant at another nearby resort (via the monorail). So we had our first meal of the trip at the Polynesian Resort’s…
Before leaving the Polynesian we checked on the opening time for Trader Sam’s…
Since it was only about noon and because of our early flight this morning, we decided to head back to our room to take a nap. Though we had planned to get back to Trader Sam’s at 3:00 (when they opened), it ended up being about 3:20 before they got there. Unfortunately there was already a long wait list (which we added our name and cell number to) and we were given an estimated return time of 2 hours. Yikes!
So anyway, we decided we were a little hungry since we had eaten an early lunch and we didn’t want to wait 2 hours to eat at Trader Sam’s. I gave Andrew some food options at the 3 monorail resorts and he chose to return to a lounge at our own resort, the Contemporary.
We spent close to an hour eating and drinking at the Steakhouse 71 Lounge and then returned to our room to wait for the text from Trader Sam’s. We were only there about 10 minutes before I got it at 5:45 (2 hrs., 25 min. since we had put on name on the wait list). So we again hopped on the monorail for the short ride to the Polynesian to check in at…
Our Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto review
After Trader Sam’s we made our way back to the Contemporary (via the monorail). At the Contemporary we made a stop a the Contempo Cafe before heading to our room. I wanted to pick up something sweet to share while we watched the Magic Kingdom fireworks from our balcony.
Here are some of the desserts they had on display at the Contempo Cafe…
Here is what we chose…
This was basically the Contempo’s Peanut Butter Pie with a few modifications for the 50th anniversary celebration.
The original peanut butter pie did not have banana sauce. However, to be honest, I didn’t taste banana at all in the new anniversary version. Also, the texture of the peanut butter mousse filling was more like cheesecake. I think the original pie had cream cheese in the filling too. So in other words, the anniversary pie tasted pretty much the same as the original, just with the addition of chocolate glaze and a chocolate 50th anniversary medallion. It was very good though, rating of 4.
As planned, we shared our 50th Anniversary dessert while watching Enchantment, the 50th Anniversary Magic Kingdom Fireworks show, from the balcony of our Theme Park View room on the 9th floor of the Contemporary’s Main Tower. We had our own private Fireworks Dessert Party!
Enchantment had recently debuted (on Sept. 30, 2021), but this was our first time seeing it in person. Here’s a few photos…
While I enjoyed Enchantment, it wasn’t my favorite of the Magic Kingdom fireworks show. If I had to choose one, I would probably say Happily Ever After followed by the classic, Wishes, as a very close second. Then there are the holiday shows like Hallowishes and Holiday Wishes, both of which were great. But I am very happy to see that Happily Ever After is back and I’ll get to see it again on my upcoming trip.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24 – MAGIC KINGDOM
I woke up very early and couldn’t get back to sleep. Finally gave up trying and got up and ready for the day. At about 6:30 I went down to the Contempo Cafe but it wasn’t yet open (didn’t open until 7:00).
Here are a few of the breakfast pastry options at the Contempo when they are open…
So anyway I then went down to the lobby and found that Contemporary Grounds was open.
Our Contemporary Grounds Review
Our early morning breakfast was enjoyed from the balcony of our room…
AHHH, What a lovely view!!!
At 7:45 we began our walk to Magic Kingdom via the walkway from the Contemporary…
Park opening that day was 9:00, with Early Entry at 8:30 for Disney resort guests. So at 8:28 I took this photo of the crowd behind us as we waited to be allowed to enter Fantasyland…
At 8:30 when they opened the flood gate we (along with most of this crowd) headed to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. By 8:54 we were on the ride and had this Photopass photo taken…
We then returned to the hub in front of the castle in time to see the Let the Magic Welcome show…
With a 9:35 breakfast reservation we knew we didn’t have time to stand in a long line for another ride so we chose one in Fantasyland that was still a walk on, It’s a Small World…
Then it was back to the castle to check in (about 10 min early) for our breakfast at…
Cinderella’s Royal Table Breakfast Review
After leaving the restaurant we had to take a moment to look at the five mosaic murals that line the wall along the corridor that passes through the castle. I’m sure many people rush through this hallway, in a hurry to get their ride of choice in Fantasyland. My advice is take a moment some time to stop and take a closer look at this beautiful artwork which depicts scenes from Cinderella.
We took a few photos…
Genie+ had just launched at Disney World a few days before our trip (on October 19, 2021) so we decided to give it a try. The cost was $15 per day (regardless of the park and date), which I thought was reasonable and worth it for our day at Magic Kingdom. I think we purchased it again on our day at Hollywood Studios.
So the first ride we had booked a Lightening Lane for was the Jungle Cruise…
The animals seemed quite active during our late-morning cruise (wink, wink, haha!)
And it’s always fun to see the backside of WAAA…
…an elephant’s butt. LOL!
We scheduled our next Lightening Lane (through the app on our phone) for Pirates of the Caribbean but had a little time to kill before our time slot. So we visited the nearby Enchanted Tiki Room for the first time in several years…
Then it was on to Pirates of the Caribbean…
I think our next Lightening Lane was for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, although I have no photographic evidence to prove it. We tried to take a time efficient approach in choosing our LL rides starting with Adventureland, then Frontierland, Liberty Square, Tomorrowland, and last Fantasyland where we were having dinner) instead of zigzagging around the park to ride our most favorite attraction first, etc.,etc.
So next up was Haunted Mansion, however we again had a little time to kill so took in a show at the nearby Hall of Presidents…
Then Haunted Mansion was next…
Then while we were in Tomorrowland waiting for our next Lightening Lane we went to the Carousel of Progress…
Is there a more uplifting song than, “There’s A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow”? I can’t think of one offhand, lol.
Then yet again Andrew beat me on Buzz Lightyear…
We then again had some time before the new parade (cavalcade) that we wanted to see so decided to start a contest as to which of us could spot first and photograph the most 50th Anniversary statues. On this first day of the contest I think we found 13 of the 20 that were located at Magic Kingdom. So just 7 more to find, in this park anyway, lol.
The Mad Hatter and Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland…
And of course, the Fab 5 of Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, and Donald plus Daisy…
I also took a photo of the castle decorated with its 50th anniversary medallion…
Then it was time for the 2:15 parade (I think this was the 3rd time of the 5 times that it ran daily then). This was actually the Mickey’s Celebration Cavalcade, as the Festival of Fantasy Parade did not return after Covid until March 9, 2022. It was a very short parade (probably only lasted a couple of minutes) which featured assorted performers, along with a float with Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Daisy, Donald and Chip and Dale (all in their “EARidescent” 50th Anniversary celebration attire). It had just debuted on October 1, 2021 and ran until the 50th celebration ended on March 31, 2023.
We then headed to Fantasyland for our next Lightening Lane at Peter Pan and then rode the Journey of the Mermaid since it had a very short standby line.
We did one more ride before our early dinner (4:05 was the only dinner time I could get) at Be our Guest, the Beauty & Beast themed restaurant in Magic Kingdom’s other castle…
After dinner we had one more Genie+ pass to use at The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh…
Then shortly after 6:00 we started slowly making our way out of the park but made several stops along the way. It had rained earlier while we were in the restaurant and there were still a few dark gray clouds hanging over the castle, which I thought made for an interesting photo…
Besides taking more 50th Anniversary statue photos near the castle hub (which I displayed earlier), I also took a few photos of the Halloween decorations in that area…
It would be hard for me to say which is more beautiful, the Halloween or Christmas decorations at Magic Kingdom. There were a few years when my annual fall trip would overlap the two and I would get to see both. As soon as the last Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party was held, overnight Magic Kingdom would be transformed and beautifully decorated for Christmas in preparation for the first Very Merry Christmas Party. But speaking of the Halloween party, in 2020 the holiday parties were all cancelled due to Covid restrictions but in 2021 they temporarily replaced it with a scaled down version of the MNSSHP called After Hours Boo Bash. This happened to be one of the nights when this special ticketed event was being held. The tickets for this event ran anywhere between $129 (for those early parties held in August) to as high as $199 for night of Halloween. On this night (Oct. 24) they were $169. Having attended MNSSHP in the past my favorite things about it were the Boo to You Parade and Hallowishes (the Halloween-themed fireworks show). Since the Boo Bash did not have the full parade (only some calvacades) and no fireworks I didn’t feel it was worth spending $169 x 2 for tickets.
So anyway the party guests were allowed to enter the park at 7:00 that night. The regular fireworks show (at that time it was Enchantment) was scheduled for 8:00. I believe the park guests without party tickets were then shown the exit at 8:30 and the party officially began at 9:00. We were still hanging around Main Street at 6:30, trying to decide whether or not to stay for the fireworks at 8:00.
We went inside the Main Street Confectionary to kill some time. I was surprised to find the Kernel Kitchen popcorn station set up in the back of the store. I later learned that this was added when the MSC reopened after Covid in September 2021.
Here you can choose your flavor of popcorn (or flavor combination) and add syrup and candy if you’d like…
We were still too full from our dinner so no popcorn for us. We left the Confectionary just after 7:00 and we found a sea of people on Main Street. This was nearly an hour before the fireworks were to begin…
We stuck it out on Main Street until about 7:30 but the crowds had continued to build…
So we decided make a quick exit, stopping only to take a few photos outside the park entrance…
We made it back (on foot) to our room at the Contemporary just in time to watch the fireworks from our balcony. Since this was the second night that we had done this, I didn’t take any photos this time. I wanted to just sit back and enjoy the show. Oh, and we decided to return to Magic Kingdom the next night (a non-Boo Bash party night) to see Enchantment from (a hopefully less crowded) Main Street.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 25 – ANIMAL KINGDOM, CONTEMPORARY RESORT, MAGIC KINGDOM, EPCOT
The official opening time for Animal Kingdom was 8:00, or 7:30 for WDW resort guests. We wanted to be at the entrance gate to the park by 7:00. Per the app, we saw that the first bus to Animal Kingdom that morning was to arrive at the Contemporary at 6:29. We tried to make it to the bus stop by then but failed. So the next bus was to come at 6:48…
We made it on this bus and it arrived at Animal Kingdom at about 7:05. We made it through security and were waiting in line when they started letting people into the park at 7:12. We continued on the left path to toward the Tree of Life. Further down this path there were castmembers checking bands, phone app, room keys, etc. for proof that you were currently a Disney resort guest. Then we were allowed to proceed (along with a majority of the crowd) to Pandora to get in the stand by line for Avatar Flight of Passage.
We made it to the line for FOP by 7:25 (5 min before the official park opening time for WDW guests) and the posted wait time was 30 minutes. However we were in the pre-show area (which was active again) and matched to our avatar by 7:48.
The last time we were on this ride (April 2021) we were directed to just walk right through this area because of Covid restrictions so it was nice to again have the full experience for this, my favorite Disney World ride.
By 8:00 (the park opening time for guests not staying at WDW resort) we were done with Avatar and moved on to Nav’i River Journey, which was a walk on.
So by 8:15 we were done in Pandora. Next we headed to Asia to ride Expedition Everest, which was also a walk on.
Then it was on to Africa for a safari ride but stopped along the way when we spotted this 50th Anniversary statue…
When we reached Kilimanjaro Safaris the line was short so by 8:50 we had boarded a safari truck for our guided tour of the Harambe Wildlife Reserve…
Here are some of the animals we saw on our safari…
The ride lasted for about 20 – 25 minutes so we were done just in time to check in to for our 9:25 breakfast at the nearby Tusker House.
Review of Our Breakfast (served family-style) at Tusker House
We left Tusker House about 10 minutes before the 10:30 performance (the first of the day) of Celebration of the Festival of the Lion King Show. Luckily the theater is close by and we made it in time.
When the Festival of the Lion King show returned in May of 2021 after the Covid shutdown it was modified from the original version. For example, the Tumbling Monkeys were removed. This shorter version of the show was called “Celebration of the Festival of the Lion King”. That is the show that we saw on Oct. 25, 2021.
NOTE: The full version of the Festival of the Lion King show returned in July of 2022. I look forward to seeing it again in “all its glory”. Can’t wait to see those monkeys! Lol
So anyway the show lasted less than 1/2 hour so we thought we could catch the 11:15 KiteTails show. Unfortunately when we got to the outdoor theater we found that the 11:15 show had been cancelled because it was too windy. It seems that the show was often cancelled, even if there was the slightest bit of wind.
NOTE: KiteTails was a daytime lagoon show at that began performances at the Discovery River Theater on October 1, 2021 as part of the Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary celebration. Its final performance was on September 27, 2022, so it didn’t quite last for a full year. The show included three dimensional kite versions of characters from the Lion King or Jungle Book which were flown over the Discovery River Lagoon. It was held in the same location that the nighttime Rivers of Light show was held. Rivers of Light ended when the parks closed in March 2020 due to the pandemic and the show never reopened.
So anyway, long story short, we never got to see KiteTails despite two attempts at doing so. [We returned to Animal Kingdom later in the week but again the shows were cancelled.]
Since we were already in the DinoLand area we decided to ride Dinosaur, which was another walk on…
So by 11:30 we had ridden Flight of Passage, Nav’i River, Expedition Everest, Kilimanjaro Safari, and Dinosaur. We had also seen the Celebration of the Festival of the Lion King show and had breakfast at Tusker House. We had accomplished all of this in just a little more than 4 hours and we had done it without purchasing Genie+. So although I thought it was worth purchasing for our day at Magic Kingdom (especially at its introductory price of $15), it was not needed for our morning at Animal Kingdom. However, we were able to do everything we wanted to do in just 4 hours (other than KiteTails, which was beyond our control), mostly due to the fact that we got a very early start that morning. I looked at the app to check on Animal Kingdom stand by wait times at 1:00 when we were back at our hotel resting. Flight of Passage had a wait time of one hour and Nav’i River was at 50 minutes. That’s nearly 2 hours of standing in line for just these two rides. So my recommendation is to get to Animal Kingdom early (before rope drop) or be prepared to either stand in long lines or purchase Genie+ and/or an Individual Lightening Lane for Flight of Passage.
So having been up since 6:00 a.m. we were tired and ready to call it a day at Animal Kingdom. By noon we were back at the Contemporary via the bus. After a nap we decided we were a little hungry so I went down to the Contempo Cafe (the quick service restaurant at the Contemporary Resort) to pick something for us to share.
The rest of the afternoon was spent in our room, with Andrew doing some remote work and me catching up on my trip notes. I spent a lot of this time out on our balcony enjoying the view…
And before you know it it was time to make our way downstairs for our dinner reservation at…
We finished our dinner and left the restaurant at about 7:15. We had park hopper tickets which made it possible for us to spend the morning at Animal Kingdom and now head to Magic Kingdom (by monorail) to see Enchantment for this first time from inside of the park. Enchantment is the fireworks and projection show that had just debuted at the Magic Kingdom on September 30, 2021, as part of Disney World’s 50th anniversary celebration. It ran until April 2, 2023, at which time they brought back its predecessor, Happily Ever After.
Note: Enchantment was brought back recently, on January 11, 2024, but is only being shown during the Magic Kingdom After Hours Events. This is a special ticket event that is being held on select nights through June 27 (unless they decide to extend it further). There aren’t any scheduled at Magic Kingdom during the week of our upcoming trip so I guess this might be the one and only time to have seen Enchantment from inside the park.
So anyway, we arrived at Magic Kingdom at 7:40, just 20 minutes before the show was to start. Like the night before there was a sea of people on Main Street but this time we were determined to stick it out.
The castle was looking quite beautiful in its 50th Anniversary attire…
The show started promptly at 8:00. Here are photos that took…
The show lasted about 15 minutes and then we quickly made our exit to beat the crowds to board the Express Monorail to the Transportation & Ticket Center and from there we caught the Epcot Monorail to visit our 3rd park of the day. Because tonight was Extended Hours at Epcot for Deluxe & DVC Resort guests!
By 8:54 we were in Epcot and I was taking this photo…
We thought about trying to make it back to World Showcase Lagoon in time to see Harmonious, the nighttime show held there at 9:00 each night during the 50th Anniversary Celebration but decided to stay put when we saw the Beacons of Magic show starting.
As soon as it was over we headed to the Land pavilion to ride Soarin’, my favorite Epcot ride. (Note that I haven’t yet had the opportunity to ride Guardians of the Galaxy so my favorite could change soon.) So anyway, once we had finished riding Soarin’ and had left The Land, much of the crowd had exited the park after Harmonious. I don’t recall what rides came after that but I do know that by 10:34 we were Letting it Go on Frozen Ever After…
And then we were on our final ride of the night when this PhotoPass shot was taken at 11:01 p.m….
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26 – POLYNESIAN, DISNEY SPRINGS, CONTEMPORARY
With this being a day that we weren’t going to a park, we slept in a bit compared to our “rope dropping” park days.
We did though have a 8:40 breakfast reservation at the Polynesian’s Kona Cafe…
After leaving Kona Cafe I stopped next door at Kona Island to take a few pics of their display case…
Then a few pics of the Polynesian’s lobby…
I love the lights here…
Then at about 10:00 a.m. we hopped an empty Resort Monorail to make our way back to our resort, the Contemporary…
But before the monorail reaches the Contemporary it first stops at the Grand Floridian…
Anyway, the next stop on the Resort monorail was Magic Kingdom…
I was in search of this souvenir 50th anniversary mug that I had recently seen on the Disney Food Blog..
After looking around the store and not seeing the mug I asked a Cast member. Unfortunately they were sold of this mug and had no scheduled deliveries coming in until later that week. At that time we would be staying at another resort though. I left my name and cell phone number and the Cast member said she would call me if the shipment included this mug but I never heard anything.
I did see this puzzle set and considered buying it as a substitute 50th anniversary souvenir but didn’t…
I see that both the puzzle set and the mug are currently available for purchase on eBay for around $30 plus tax and shipping. Hmmm
Anyway I was surprised to see a display case full of treats at Bayview Gifts…
Then it was back to our room for a couple of hours. I updated my dining notes while Andrew did some remote work. Then we hopped on a bus to Disney Springs…
After a bit of shopping we decided we were hungry and chose to have lunch at..
Before leaving Disney Springs that afternoon there was one more new place (opened in January of 2021) that I wanted to check out…
So I purchased two donuts here. One that I thought we would really enjoy eating but was not particularly photogenic…
I believe this was $5.50 but per their current (Feb. 2024) menu is now $5.95. Anyway, I love the similar donut that I’ve had several times from Voodoo Doughnut so I was curious as to how this one would compare. The good news is that I found it to be equally delicious. The combination of the sweet donut and maple icing and the savory, sweet candied bacon is a winner in my book. We both rated this a 4.
For our other donut to try I chose something that would be very cute in photos but probably not as enjoyable to eat…
As I had suspected this doughnut was just too much! One bite and I was done. Once I scraped all of the toppings off it was a decent plain glazed doughnut though. It would not be fair to give this a rating because I knew what I was getting when I bought it…a sugar overload! But it was soooo Instagramable that I couldn’t resist, lol.
After a fun afternoon of shopping and eating at Disney Springs, we took the bus back to the Contemporary to get ready for our dinner at…
California Grill Dinner Review
Following our 2 hour+ dinner at California Grill (which included watching the Enchantment fireworks show from the restaurant’s balcony) we returned to our room to do some packing in preparation for our transfer to a different Disney resort the next day. But since it was our last night at the Contemporary and we had not yet seen the Electrical Water Pageant, we made it a priority to get down to the dock before 10:00 p.m. to see it.
In case you are not familiar with it, the Electrical Water Pageant is a nightly water parade that makes its circuit around Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake for the Magic Kingdom area resorts.
The pageant concludes with an inspirational salute to America with flags and stars, set to a patriotic musical medley of God Bless America, Yankee Doodle, and You’re a Grand Old Flag.
Though we’ve seen this several times, we still enjoyed it. It’s a free show that’s fun and worth the 10 minutes of your time IMO. After all, it is a classic that has been around for more than 50 years!
NOTE: I just read that the pageant was originally presented for the dedication of the Polynesian Luau on October 26, 1971. We saw this on October 26, 2021 so we had the privilege of seeing it on its 50th anniversary…totally by accident!
In case you are interested, the most recent information I’ve found online lists the schedule for the EWP as: Passing by the Polynesian at 8:45pm, Grand Floridian at 9:00pm, Wilderness Lodge at 9:30pm, Fort Wilderness at 9:45, and the Contemporary at 10:00pm. However, if seeing this is a priority for you, be sure to confirm the times during your visit.
After the parade we made our way back up the dock, but I stopped to take a couple of photos along the way…
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 27 – CONTEMPORARY, EPCOT, BEACH CLUB RESORT, HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS, & EPCOT AGAIN
We were up early to finish our packing and get ready for our busy day which included transferring to another resort and visiting two parks.
But first we had an 8:05 breakfast reservation downstairs at…
Breakfast (served family-style) at Chef Mickey’s
We finished up with breakfast shortly after 9:00 and returned to our room to gather our bags. At 9:42 we were picked up by Lyft for the 6.19 mile ride to the Beach Club, where we would be staying for the remaining 5 nights of our trip. For those that are curious, this took 13 minutes and cost about $13 (in 2021). So we arrived at 9:55 at the Beach Club and left our bags with Bell Services before taking off on foot to Epcot’s International Gateway entrance because Boarding Group had been called for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. Note: This was during the time that you had to join a virtual queue for Remy’s (at 7:00 a.m.) and Andrew had managed to get us an early boarding group. As of Jan. 10, 2022 this ride switched to a regular standby queue and is now available as a Lightning Lane with the purchase of Genie+.
So anyway, by 10:15 (just 20 minutes after arriving at the Beach Club) we were entering the Virtual Queue line at…
We boarded about 5 minutes later and by 10:24 I was taking this photo of the last scene of the ride…
Remy had just opened earlier this month (on Oct. 1, 2021) so this was our first time riding it. We both thought it was a cute.
To our surprise (since we had had breakfast at Chef Mickey’s just a few hours ago) we were both feeling a bit hungry after riding Remy. I guess neither of us had eaten much at Chef Mickey’s because the food wasn’t all that great. But anyway, since it was only about 10:30 and the Food & Wine booths weren’t yet open, we decided to stay right there in France to get a snack from…
Review of our Late Morning Snacks at Les Halles Boulangerie Patisserie
As we were eating outside in front of the bakery’s entrance this bold little squirrel got very close…
We finished up our snacks from the bakery in time to see the Beauty & the Beast Sing-Along film at the nearby cinema in the France pavilion. While we were waiting to enter the theater we saw something that “tickled my funny bone” (although it might have been even more appropriate “attire” for Animal Kingdom than at Epcot, haha)…
On our way through the United Kingdom area we saw Mary Poppins waving to those passing by (there were still no Meet ‘n’ Greets at this time).
By noon we were ready for a few Food & Wine Festival snacks so we started at the Ireland booth…
Our Reviews from the 2021 Epcot Food & Wine Festival Booths – Part 1
We then continued our hunt for the 50th Anniversary Golden Statues. I think there were 6 at Epcot and we found all but one on this day. These were all located by the World Showcase entrance…
Olaf from Frozen
Pua and Hei Hei from Moana
Next I got a photo of Winnie the Pooh trying to catch butterflies close to the Imagination pavilion..
Our room was ready so we left Epcot and headed by foot to our new home for the next 5 nights, the Beach Club Resort…
Our review of Standard View Room #3662 at the Beach Club Resort
We then headed to Hollywood Studios because we had purchased (for $15 each) an Individual Lightning Lane (to use between 4:00 – 5:00) for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance…
After Rise, we noticed that the Stand-by line for the Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run was only about 30 minutes so we got in line for it.
Andrew was assigned to be a Gunner and I was an Engineer. Not as fun as being a Pilot but still fun.
We then left Hollywood Studios to park hop back to Epcot for our 7:15 dinner at…
Space 220 Restaurant Dinner Review
After our 2 hour excursion in space we had returned to Earth (and more specifically, Epcot) in time to see the new fireworks show, Harmonious. It had officially started its 18 month run on October 1, 2021. This was our first time seeing it. We watched it among the crowd of people at World Showcase Plaza.
The show started promptly at 9:45 that evening and lasted about 15 minutes…
Following the show we made our way towards the International Gateway Entrance and from there made walked to our room at the Beach Club. Oh I love being able to walk to and from my favorite Disney World park!
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28 – RIVIERA RESORT, EPCOT, BEACH CLUB RESORT, & EPCOT AGAIN
On this morning we were headed to the Riviera Resort for a 9:05 breakfast reservation at Toplino’s Terrace. To get there we walked from our resort, the Beach Club, to the Epcot Skyliner station , arriving there at 8:24 (per the time stamp on this photo)…
According to the posted sign, the skyliner from the Epcot station was not scheduled to begin operating that morning until 8:30. However we had boarded and were leaving Epcot by 8:28…
And just 5 minutes later I took this photo as we were approaching the Riviera Resort…
By 8:37 we were off the skyliner and on the walkway to the resort…
The first mural depicts a scene from Peter Pan, with London at night on the right…
Which continues on the tunnel’s ceiling with Peter Pan, Wendy, Michael and John flying off to Never Land. Never Land and the Jolly Roger ship are then shown on the left side…
The other mural depicts a scene from Tangled…
With Rapunzel’s floating lanterns and castle on one side…
And her tower on the other…
Then one pic of the Riviera’s lobby…
Then we boarded an elevator to take us up to the top floor for…
Our Topolino’s Terrace Character Breakfast a la Art with Mickey & Friends
We were on the Skyliner on our way back to the Epcot station when we were notified that our group had been called for the Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure ride at Epcot. So when we reached the station we immediately went into Epcot through the International Gateway Entrance. From there we right over the bridge to the France pavilion for our Remy ride…
Andrew needed to go back to our room to do some remote work but I decided to first stop in at the Beach Club Marketplace to check out the desserts in their display case.
Fall Mickey Vanilla Cupcake – $5.99
Tiramisu Grave – $5.49
This treat consisted of classic tiramisù with coffee flavor, a white chocolate pretzel skeleton, and a marshmallow skull. Oh and the tombstone at the top was a ladyfinger.
Mummy (Chocolate) Cupcake with pumpkin mousse filling – $5.29
Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake – $5.49
This was vanilla cheesecake with caramel sauce topped with chocolate stripes, whipped cream and a chocolate Mickey face.
50th Celebration Tart – $5.49
I think this was a vanilla tart shell filled with milk chocolate mousse and then decorated with buttercream frosting and a white chocolate bow dusted with gold powder.
Oreo Trifle – $5.00
I was tempted but we were planning to return to Epcot in a couple of hours to have lunch so I refrained from buying any of these desserts.
Andrew finished his work around 1:15 so we headed back to Epcot. Our lunch Plan A was to try to get in to the new crepe restaurant in France, which had just opened on October 1st and wasn’t yet taking reservations (aka “walk up” only). Our back up Plan B (in case we couldn’t get in to La Creperie was to get crepes from their quick service window, Crepes A Emporter.
Much to my surprise, when we got to France at about 1:30 there was a very long line for the quick service window but we were able to immediately be seated inside at the table service restaurant…
Our Lunch at La Creperie de Paris
We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying various things around the park. By about 7:00 we found ourselves in the vicinity of Club Cool, which had recently reopened (on September 15th) at its new location next to the Creations Shop.
So we of course went inside…
Wow, the new Club Cool was soooo different from the old one. With the old one there was usually chaos, with the drink stations located in a circle and in cramped quarters of the room. With the new CC you stood in line and when it was your turn your group was assigned to a drink station by a Cast member. It was so organized! I’m hoping this system of sampling the drinks is permanent one and not just Covid related. I guess we will find out on our upcoming trip.
Oh, and another nice change was that the floor was not sticky like it always was at the old Club Cool. In fact the new floor was actually pretty. I read that they had incorporated tiny pieces of recycled Coca-Cola glass bottles into the flooring, which made it sparkle in the light…
Now in case you’ve never visited Club Cool, either the old or new version, it is a place where you can sample International Coca-Cola products for free.
Our favorite this time was the Viva Raspberry from Moldova. It was described as a delicious sparkling beverage that has a slightly tart, yet sweet raspberry flavor that is complemented by a hint of raspberry juice. I assume that the sodas have probably been switched out (except for the very popular Beverly, wink wink) in the more than two years since we’ve been to Club Cool but I hope that when we are there next month we find a soda that is as good as this one from Moldova. Viva la raspberry!
After Club Cool we went next door to the new store (which had also recently opened), the Creations Shop. This store was quite big and had tons of merchandise. I loved its colorful murals…
Then we made our way to the Mexico pavilion in World Showcase…
But we still had some time to kill before our 8:30 dinner reservation so we went inside to ride the Gran Fiesta tour…
Then we spent about 10 minutes looking around the market, Plaza de los Amigos, which is always fun.
It was then time to check in for our dinner at…
Our Dinner at La Hacienda de San Angel
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29 – EPCOT, ANIMAL KINGDOM, BEACH CLUB
Andrew again had remote work to do this morning so we didn’t go anywhere until about 10:30 (when Epcot opened for Disney Resort guests). We really had only three goals at Epcot today. The first of these was to find Epcot’s last 50th Anniversary golden statue. During a visit to Epcot earlier in the week we had found all but Figment.
With our first goal accomplished we moved on to the second. For this we needed to visit more of the Food & Wine Festival booths.
Our 2021 Epcot Food & Wine Festival Booth Reviews – Part 1 & 2
Though we didn’t quite achieve our second goal, which was to complete the Emile’s Fromage Montage, our third goal was accomplished when we caught a performance of the Voices of Liberty…
At this time (in 2021) they were performing outside in the American Gardens Theatre. While I enjoyed seeing them again, it just wasn’t quite the same as seeing their performances in the American Pavilion’s rotunda. Early in 2022 they returned to the rotunda so I’m looking forward to seeing them perform there during our upcoming trip.
We then left Epcot and returned to our room at the Beach Club for Andrew to finish up his work. At about 5:00 we headed to the resort’s bus stop to catch a bus to Animal Kingdom.
Once there we again had three goals for this visit, our last one to Animal Kingdom for this trip. The first of these was to find the rest of Animal Kingdom’s 50th Anniversary Golden statues. Early in the trip when we visited Animal Kingdom we found only the Nemo & Dory statue.
So this time we found Bambi & Thumper…
As well as Simba…
And his pals, Pumba & Timon…
With our first goal completed, we moved on to the second. This was to visit the Nomad Lounge…
At about 7:15, on our way out of the park, we stopped by the Tree of Life for the 5 minute Awakenings light show…
Then we quickly exited the park and made our way to the Bus Stop to catch a bus back to the Beach Club for our 8:00 reservation at Beaches & Cream. Unfortunately we waited at the bus stop (along with many other guests) for 40 minutes. We watched as other resorts had 3 (or some even 4) busses arrive at Animal Kingdom, load guests, and depart. Actually a few of these busses didn’t have anyone there waiting to board so they left empty. After awhile someone made a phone call and was told that a Yacht & Beach Club bus was due to arrive in 7 minutes. That 7 minutes came and went and still no bus. Another call was made and this time they said they would send a “floater” bus to our rescue. So anyway, this resulted in us being 30 minutes late for our Beaches & Cream reservation, which meant we lost our place. We were placed on their Walk up list and had to wait 40 minutes for a table at…
A Late Dinner at Beaches & Cream
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30 – HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS, BOARDWALK, HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS AGAIN
Official opening time of Hollywood Studios today was 9:00 a.m. (8:30 a.m. for Disney resort guests). However, they actually started letting resort guests in the park early that day, as evidenced by the fact that I took this photo while on the Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance ride at 8:30…
And at 8:33…
And by 8:48 we were done…
After some more rides, including Tower of Terror at 9:55 a.m….
After Tower of Terror it was time for a Starbucks break…
Then we checked out some of the 50th Anniversary Golden Statues at Hollywood Studios, starting with two from The Incredibles. Frozone and Edna Mode…
Then two Star Wars characters, R2D2 and BB8…
Then we decided to have an early lunch before heading out of the park for a couple of hours.
Instead of walking straight back to our resort (the Beach Club) from Hollywood Studios, we instead stopped along the Boardwalk to check out its new ice cream shop…
Dessert from BoardWalk Ice Cream
After our ice cream, Andrew wanted a Powerade so we went next door to the…
Our final visit to the Boardwalk “Bakery”
Then it was back to our room at the Beach Club before returning to Hollywood Studios to ride one of my favorite Disney World rides…
But anyway, after our ride we had a little time to kill before our dinner reservation. So checked out some more 50th Anniversary Gold Statues…
Then it was time to check in for our dinner at…
Our Dinner at the Hollywood Brown Derby
After our dinner we headed to Toy Story Land to ride Slinky Dog Dash…
As pretty as Toy Story Land as the sun was setting, the Star Wars area of the park was even more beautiful. Especially the Millennium Falcon…
If you have never visited these two areas of Hollywood Studios at night, I highly recommend doing so.
We then ended our evening on the Millennium Falcon…
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 31 – DISNEY SPRINGS, MAGIC KINGDOM, EPCOT
This was our last full day of this trip and we started it with a bang by going to Disney Springs for brunch at…
Our Brunch at Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’
This was our final park day of this trip and we still had not found all of the 50th Anniversary Golden statues, a challenge that we had started a week ago on our first park day. All of the statues that were missing were all at Magic Kingdom. So after our brunch we left Disney Springs and went to Magic Kingdom.
Where we divided and conquered to locate the remaining
Also in Adventureland was Orange Bird…
And last but not least was…
With the task complete we said our goodbyes to Cinderella’s Castle…
And Magic Kingdom and headed to Epcot (via the Express and Epcot monorails) to complete another task.
Our 2021 Epcot Food & Wine Festival Booth Reviews – Rounds 1, 2 & 3
After spending our last afternoon and early evening at Epcot we checked in at the Rose & Crown desk for the…
Rose & Crown Fireworks Dining Package Dinner Review
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1 (DEPARTURE DAY) – BEACH CLUB
I had scheduled an early breakfast at our hotel that morning before we had to catch the Magical Express bus for our last free trip to the airport. I believe Andrew was feeling a bit hung over that morning though so he opted to sleep a little longer rather than joining me for breakfast.
So at 7:30 in the morning on November 1, I made my way down to the lobby at the Beach Club…
Then it was on to my breakfast at the Beach Club’s…
Review of my Breakfast at Cape May Cafe
So in conclusion, during this trip we dined at 16 Table Service Restaurants.
Our Top 3 Favorites: Topolino’s Terrace Breakfast, Steakhouse 71 Dinner, & Homecomin’ Brunch
Our Bottom 3 Least Favorites: Chef Mickey’s Breakfast, Be our Guest Dinner, and La Hacienda de San Angel Dinner
And with that I’ll end this 2021 trip report. But I’m happy to say that I’ll be returning to Disney World very soon and I’m bringing most of my family with me. So I should have lots of Disney food to share with you.
Thanks for reading!
Taste of Disney 