Hello everyone and welcome back! I hope you didn’t miss the blog too much on our week off. Abby and I had the best week in the land of the mouse and it has been a crazy week of reflecting on our trip. There are so many things to tell you about the amazing week we had down in Orlando. The past week we were able to escape into the magic from right there at the Walt Disney World Resort and hope to bring you into that magic in so many posts that are coming in the future. From how to plan with friends, to how to plan as a couple, to reviews, and bonus features, the magic will be entered for all. It was such a great trip and we had so much fun. I was thinking of what should be my first post back, and it was hard because there is so much I could talk about and so many pictures I could share, but I think the best way to start us off is to give everyone my top five moments we had from the trip. Well, these were five memorable moments that I had and there were so many more than just these five, but I did not want to ramble on too much, so I kept it to five. We will be talking in detail about some of our days and experiences in the future, but in this post a short snippet of five things we absolutely loved from the past week at Walt Disney World. Some of these were things we were looking forward to, some were things that just happened, and some caught us by surprise, but all of the next five moments helped make this Disney Vacation even more magical. Without further ado, let’s get into the five moments that had us laughing, crying, and enjoying our Disney Vacation!
5. Health and Safety Measures
The first thing that really stood out to us and has us talking is that Disney did a TREMENDOUS job at making sure everyone was safe during the pandemic we are living in. They had very noticeable markings on the ground in lines to help guide you to stay six feet apart from the party in front of you. The cast members, if they noticed you were not following that, made sure to kindly remind you to follow the social distancing. Disney also did not load all of the ride vehicles to the full capacity by seating less people in the rows/ride vehicles. Some rides were filled completely, but they put up barriers in between rows. Another detail that was super noticeable was the hand sanitizing stations. They were very plentiful and it had the best sanitizer. It didn’t dry out hands that much and was very accessible for guests. Now, in my opinion, I never felt unsafe and thought the Disney Cast Members did a wonderful job of reminding guests to social distance, wear their masks properly, and use hand sanitizer. They even had some announcements in the park over the speakers to remind all guests. Overall, it was awesome to see the measures they were taking and it stood out to us.
4. Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
Next on our list is a ride that I had been highly anticipating. Hollywood Studios redid the ride in the Chinese Theater from The Great Movie Ride to Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway. The ride had opened just before Covid-19 shut everything down. The ride is the first to feature Mickey and Minnie in it and I was very excited to enter into this ride. I did not know what to expect as I did not watch any videos on it. The ride from start to finish had Abby and I laughing out loud and smiling. It was so much fun to enter into a Mickey Cartoon and get into the laughing fun that the cartoon world brings. You see all of your favorite characters and enter into this whimsical cartoon on a trackless ride vehicle that turns and twists and swirls around as the runaway train goes on. This was a fun ride that I recommend for the whole family. The theming is so fun and the ride was so much more than I expected.
3. Meeting our favorite vlogger
This was one that we hoped would happen and it did! We have been watching Paging Mr. Morrow on YouTube for some time to escape into the magic of Disney by seeing it through someone else’s eyes and camera. The videos he does always bring a smile to our faces. We watch every new video like clockwork and we were really hoping we would bump into him. We were at Hollywood Studios and figured on May 4th, aka Star Wars Day, we would have a good chance to meet him. Well, that was the truth. We were walking and all of a sudden we spotted him. We approached him and asked him for a selfie and he was so nice. It was so awesome to meet him and chat with him for a bit. This was just one of the moments that really was amazing on our trip that just happened and added some extra magic.
2. Gran Destino Tower At Coronado Springs
Number two I will keep short and sweet as we will have a full review of the hotel in a later post. But another memorable moment is our hotel. Gran Destino Tower at Coronado Springs was absolutely stunning. The staff there was super friendly and upgraded us to a king bedroom. They also combined the two hotel stays we had booked so we would not have to change rooms. The resort room was amazing. They had a welcome screen on the TV and also one that congratulated us as we celebrated our anniversary. The resort had some nice amenities that we were able to enjoy as well. We keep thinking about the smell of the lobby and how homey it felt as well. The hotel really was one that we will stay at again. Look out for a review of the hotel as we deep dive into the resort.
1. Festival of The Lion King
Coming in at number one was the icing on the cake for our week of anniversary/ honeymoon/ vacation with great friends. We were at Animal Kingdom on our last full day when news dropped that the Festival of The Lion King would have a soft opening on that day. The show was canceled when Disney shut down and has not returned since they reopened. Before our trip they announced that they would be bringing the show back and it would open in mid May. The modified show would be called A Celebration of The Festival of The Lion King. We were bummed that it seemed we would just miss out on it. Well, while we were at Animal Kingdom there was news that a soft opening would happen when we were there. We waited in line and the news was true. They did tell us they were officially opening on May 15th but that they would be performing a limited number of shows prior to that date in preparation and that news was super exciting. Abby and I were so excited and we both were a little emotional as the show went on. It was amazing and everything we wanted to end our trip with. The show did not disappoint and was not that much different than the full show. This was the highlight of the trip as it is one of our very favorite Disney shows.
Well guys, that does it. That is the top five moments that really stood out for Abby and I. Now it is not fair because there were so many top moments. One that I will mention as an honorable mention is..experiencing Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge with our friends. It was our friends’ first time in the land and it was so much fun to see their reactions and smiles and tears as we walked through Star Wars. We will talk so much more about that later on, but that was for sure another highlight of the trip. I did not want to make this one too long, so we will talk more about the trip later on. The memories and the moments you make alone and with friends are the best. That is the magic and beauty of Disney if you ask me. Buckle up readers and followers, because the next few weeks or months we will continue to recap our latest trip to Disney World. There is so much more to say, review, share, and add as we continue to escape into the magic, no matter how far!
Muting & The Mouse 