From the Boardwalk to the Edge of the Galaxy - A July 2020 Trip Report

[andy_dangg]

Loving this report! Thanks for writing it Boardwalk is one of my favorites!

Thanks for following along! Boardwalk is really lovely.

 

[andy_dangg]

The walk back to Boardwalk was HOT. It's not a far walk, but that unshaded path between Epcot and the Boardwalk feels soooo long when you're about to overheat.

We popped back up to the room for a bit to cool off for a bit and to change into bathing suits. I'm not a huuuuge fan of napping on vacations unless absolutely necessary, it feels like wasted time and always leaves me feeling groggy after. My brother and dad, on the other hand, had no qualms and napped while my sister, mom and I went to the pool.

The pool was a little less busy than the previous night. The pools really seem to pick up as the day goes on due to the early park close and short lines making it unnecessary to stay the full day.

We found a nice, just sanitized table:

And then we hit the slide! I think this is one of the best themed slides at the resorts.



Looks so refreshing...



We swam for a little less than an hour and went back up to the room around 4:30. We changed back into park clothes and were back in Epcot by 5! Oh how I love the International Gateway...

I'm pretty sure this sign was not posted when we arrived at Epcot in the morning...



Our first attraction on the agenda for the evening was Canada Far and Wide. While hardly an E-ticket, we really enjoyed the O'Canada show, so we thought it would be fun to see the new show.

The Canada pavilion was VERY empty:



Much to my surprise, there was a decent number of guests also wanting to see the show. They had a system of dots on the floor and assigned benches to distance parties in the waiting area. In the theater itself, every other row was blocked off and there were certain areas you couldn't stand.

The show itself was great! It did a great job of showing off the majesty and people of Canada. It was less humorous than the old show with Martin Short, but it wasn't dry. It really makes you want to go to Canada! I'd definitely return for an escape from the heat and to enjoy a beautifully shot Circle-Vision 360 film.

Next, we decided we wanted dinner...however, we could not agree on where we wanted to eat. My mom and I were intrigued by Tangerine Cafe but no one else really wanted to get that, so we decided that we would split up.
The other half of my family decided that they wanted Mexican food, so they went to Cantina de San Angel. From what I heard, they were not very impressed.

However, we LOVED Tangerine Cafe!

The outdoor seating area was lovely, shaded, and quiet.



The food is a little more expensive than most quick service restaurants, but I think the quality was definitely there. My mom got the lamb shawarma plate, and I got the chicken version:



They were both great! The hummus was surprisingly great, and I LOVED the tabbouleh. I'm not a big couscous fan, but my mom really liked the couscous salad. I would recommend either of the meats. This was such a great meal for a hot day, the (oddly sweet) tzatziki sauce with the sides was really cooling.

When I was walking back to our table after throwing away my trash, the hat and sunglasses on the empty table was kind of a vibe.

 

[lindseyanne]

Following along! Your Tangierine Cafe food is making me sooooo hungry; that place is so good!

 

[andy_dangg]

Following along! Your Tangierine Cafe food is making me sooooo hungry; that place is so good!

Thanks for reading!! It was really yummy, a new favorite at Epcot for sure!!!

 

[Mamiamjo]

Thanks for sharing your TR, it seems i made it in one of your pics how cool

 

[andy_dangg]

Thanks for sharing your TR, it seems i made it in one of your pics how cool

No way! That's pretty crazy, I hope you don't feel uncomfy about that lol!

 

[Mamiamjo]

No, not at all. I’m the guy in your DHS photo. Lower left with the coral color Tommy Bahama T-Shirt and blue shorts. I was on a mission to get to MMRR.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Great updates. Please forgive the random order of my comments, I should start taking notes. One of my favorite things about Disney vacations is how easy it is for a family or group to split up, do their own thing, and then come back together later. Big fan of Tangierine Cafe as well (& Spice Road Table). Totally agree how brutal the walk "home" to the resort can be when overheated. I've done a few walks giving myself a pep talk the whole way. Love all the Orange Bird stuff! I visited EPCOT just for the day last week and encountered some Italian cast members. Overall World Showcase definitely has a different "vibe" between the lack of crowds and cultural representatives. Thanks for sharing your report. I'm enjoying following along!

 

[andy_dangg]

Great updates. Please forgive the random order of my comments, I should start taking notes. One of my favorite things about Disney vacations is how easy it is for a family or group to split up, do their own thing, and then come back together later. Big fan of Tangierine Cafe as well (& Spice Road Table). Totally agree how brutal the walk "home" to the resort can be when overheated. I've done a few walks giving myself a pep talk the whole way. Love all the Orange Bird stuff! I visited EPCOT just for the day last week and encountered some Italian cast members. Overall World Showcase definitely has a different "vibe" between the lack of crowds and cultural representatives. Thanks for sharing your report. I'm enjoying following along!

I agree! It is pretty nice to be able to split up, it’s not like when you’re in a big city.

I’ve never been to Spice Road! The outdoor seating area looked really lovely, had we been in the mood for a table service meal I would have for sure tried it out.

We didn’t really explore Italy this trip, so we didn’t know about international CMs. And I definitely agree, the vibe for World Showcase is definitely different. Some pavilions felt pretty normal, but the closed restaurants and shops felt weird.

 

[andy_dangg]

Hey y'all! Sorry for the lack of updates these past few days--been busy with school, family, and my boyfriend! If you're reading this before I get the next update up, I'm typing it as you read this--it'll be up in a few!

 

[andy_dangg]

My sister really wanted a small sword (!!!) from Japan and I wanted to look for a gift for my boyfriend (I was too tired earlier, haha), so we went back to the store in Japan.

Spotted this cute shirt...kinda apropos for these current times!

My boyfriend mentioned liking the paper lamps he saw last time he was at Epcot. However, they apparently stopped carrying them. I ended up getting both him and I a tiny green owl that signifies good luck in academics. With an intense fall semester planned, we'll take any luck we can get! I figured I could also find him something small at Hollywood Studios the next day so he would have a few gifts to look forward to.

And yes, my sister did end up buying that sword. It came shipped to our house just one day after we got back from our trip...smaller and more subtle than I was expecting. At first, I personally thought it was kinda of a ridiculous purchase...but when I thought about it, buying a beautiful Japanese sword for $80 makes more sense than buying a $200 lightsaber. I digress...

My mom and I wanted to finish up the rides we didn't get to in Future World, but the rest of my family was tired. So they just decided to go back to the resort while we headed towards the front of the park.

I feel like entering through the International Gateway coupled with all the construction going on kind of obscured the view of Spaceship Earth from around the park, so this was really my first time seeing it dead on.

The first pavilion we went to was the Land. We skipped Living with the Land earlier in the day, so we wanted to ride it in the evening. However, they just closed the ride for a 15-20 minute cleaning when we arrived, so we decided to ride Soarin to blow some time before Living with the Land reopened. I wanted to ride it again anyways, so I was happy to do so.

The line was posted 10 minutes...let's see how long it actually was...

And before we knew it, we were the first ones at the concourse. We asked the cast member if we could ride in the middle section of the theater, and he said that if no other guests came, we could. He actually ended up signaling to the CM directing guests to the concourse to not send anyone down to our concourse, so we ended up being literally the ONLY people on our "flight".

No joke.

I'm pretty sure this will never happen to me again, but it was a very strange but very special experience. The cast member who seated us walked us to the very center of the front/top row of the ride. This honestly made the ride more blissful than ever before, you could almost believe it was really just the two of us flying through the sky. It was VERY weird though when we went to exit and there was no one else in the theater.

I think this was likely a fluke...I saw larger groups of guests exiting the other theaters, so I think this was just a consequence of a little bit of luck and a friendly cast member.

While I still have not ridden on the warped sides of the theater, this second ride really cemented my love for Soarin Around the World. I get the criticisms, but the pure cinematic joy of flying over those waterfalls as the score soars (no pun intended) is one of my favorite Disney attraction moments. It would be cool if they could make one theater the California version, though.

To facilitate social distancing, the Land had a one way setup where you couldn't walk from Soarin to Living with the Land without walking upstairs again. A little annoying, but by the time we got to Living with the Land, it was open!

Living with the Land is one of my favorite rides at Epcot because it is SO Epcot-ey. I'm a biology major and love the plants, and the first half of the ride is fun too. My mom was especially excited to ride it because she did the Behind the Seeds tour in February as part of a work "field trip".

The ride was especially beautiful at sunset, the way the light was softly coming in through the greenhouse was just really pleasing.

Also. I saw this tweet a few days after my trip, and it is so right. Hearing this music after a nice relaxing boat ride is truly zen.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1286069430884143106

 

[andy_dangg]

The other two attractions we wanted to ride before we finished up were Spaceship Earth and the Seas with Nemo and Friends. Spaceship Earth is clearly the bigger priority here, so we made our way over.

This ride was a walk on as well. In fact, once we were on the ride, there was only one other party in sight. It was a little eerie, but it's Spaceship Earth, so how can you not love it. It was still just as great and breathtaking as ever.

I do think it's kind of a shame this ride isn't getting the renovations. It's probably my favorite ride at Epcot, but I'm not extremely tied to Judi Dench's narration. I think it can go a few more years without being renovated, but I worry that if it goes any longer than that, it won't be good. Besides, I'm kind of over the little interactive thing on the trip down. It's fun the first few times, but I feel like they could do something better.

Speaking of the trip down, I absolutely love the matrix of blue dots. It's just so hard to get a good picture of them, it's just such a cool feeling.

The couple a few cars in front of us was able to rereide without getting off, which was pretty cool. We got off so we could go to The Seas.

Unsurprisingly, the interactive Project Tomorrow area was closed off. I had some great times playing there on one of our first Disney trips, so it was a little sad to see all dark.

After a quick walk to the Seas, we were making the long and dark walk through the empty queue. Soon enough we were on a Clammobile, with not another guest in sight.

The ride was fine, but probably the worst Omimover ride at Disney. I was also feeling a little bummed about the lack of other guests. I don't mind low crowds, but being the only people in sight on an Omnimover was weird.

However, that feeling pretty much went away once we started exploring the aquarium portion of the Seas. We had never really explored this pavilion, and were impressed with the aquarium displays they had.

There were a few other guests there, but what really made the experience were the cast members. The CM in the manatee area was really friendly, but when we went upstairs to the viewing area for the big tank, we found a few cast members who were cleaning the windows. They were just so friendly and talked with us for a while about what types of fish were in the tank, their favorite ones, the history of their dolphins, and some of the programs they do with their animals. With so few guests around, it was amazing to be able to talk to these passionate cast members one on one. We probably talked with them for 10-15 minutes. It was just so fun to talk to them while looking at the beautiful fish.

One of the dolphins swam close to the window but it was so hard to get a good photo.

From a distance:

After talking with the cast members upstairs for a little while, we went back downstairs to check out some of the other displays:

This weird looking fish happened to be the favorite of one of the cast members we were talking to:

We spent the last 40 minutes of the park was open in the Seas, which was time very well spent.

Bye Epcot:

We were back near the Boardwalk at 9:15p. It was looking especially beautiful tonight:

We were back in the room (exhausted) before 9:30.

Our little collection of Orange Birds:

I also drank the canned milk tea my brother bought from Japan. He took a sip and wasn't a fan. I love milk tea, especially with boba! Just actually had some in Tampa today.

After a nice shower to get all that theme park grime off, it was time for bed.

Epcot was different than usual, but we still had a great time. Highlights were our evening in the Seas and just walking around World Showcase. I think on my next trip with my boyfriend, we'll try to get everything done somewhat quickly because I think it's the park with the least atmosphere right now. But it was still a great day, and I went to sleep happy.

Up next: our Hollywood Studios day, with boarding groups, Toy Story, and more!

 

[erinch]

Loving your report!

 

[andy_dangg]

Loving your report!

Glad you're enjoying!

 

[andy_dangg]

July 20, 2020: DAY 3 - HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS

I woke up to a beautiful view of the sun peeking through the trees:

Just like the previous morning, we made some coffee and went down to the Boardwalk. But this morning, I got some hot cocoa and the Butter Butter sandwich from the Boardwalk Bakery.

We wanted to leave the room around 8:45a, so we didn't have as much time for a morning walk as we did before Epcot.

So, our original plan was to walk to Hollywood Studios. However, most of my family wasn't really feeling like walking...they wanted to "save" their steps for the park. I enjoyed riding the Skyliner a lot, so I figured it would be fun just to ride the Skyliner to the park. I called guest services on the phone in the room and they said it started running at 9a, so we figured leaving at 8:45a was a good idea. Plus, I could see through the trees that gondolas were in fact moving.

When we walked up to the Skyliner station at the International Gateway, we were faced with a small line outside the entrance to the station. Guess those gondolas I saw moving were just testing...

Interestingly, I could tell the gondolas were moving noticeably slower than usual.

9:00a came and went and I was getting a little concerned. I made a mental note that if it wasn't open by 9:15, we'd run back to the hotel and drive. Luckily, it opened at 9:08.

After a two minute wait, we were airborne. I spotted Everest in the distance:

Just as I observed, the Skyliner was definitely running slow. We didn't arrive at the Caribbean Beach station until 9:26a, which is a 16 minute ride. I think it usually takes 10-11 minutes, so the slower speed along with a brief stop in between Riviera and Caribbean Beach added some time to the ride.

There was a somewhat long line to get on the Hollywood Studios line, I'm assuming this is from the guests riding the Epcot line and Pop Century line combining.

The ride to Hollywood Studios was at the usual speed, but we stopped for a few minutes over the parking lot. It all worked out in the end though, because we were at the entrance plaza by 9:36a. I wouldn't really advise riding the Skyliner if you want to be there at 10a to get a boarding group. It will PROBABLY be fine, but I was kind of stressed the whole ride. But if you're not in a rush, it's definitely an easy way to save some steps and get to Studios, especially if you are staying on the Inn side or at Beach Club.

After a quick temperature check and a decently fast bag check, we were about to enter the park at 9:41.

And we were in! This photo looks crowded, but it really wasn't as busy as it looks here. Loved the cast members waving to us as we walked in.

I have to say, walking down Hollywood Boulevard made me realize how much I love a Main Street style entrance to a theme park. I loved the convenience of the International Gateway, but it's relatively unceremonious. It was also fun because this was only my second time ever at Hollywood Studios, so it almost felt like a new park.

We decided to skip Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway first thing, instead heading to Toy Story Land. Since we weren't in the park super early, a decent line was already formed.

Toy Story is one of my favorite Disney-Pixar movies and it's super nostalgic to me, so I was thrilled to finally be visiting Toy Story Land.

Our first priority was Slinky Dog Dash. We didn't expect the ride to be open yet, but when we arrived at 9:48a, it was operating with a 10 minute wait. We decided to hold off on riding so we could get a boarding group for Rise of the Resistance. We waited on the left side of the bridge that leads to the ride under a little umbrella.

The ten minutes before we started refreshing felt like an eternity. But at 9:59a, I closed out and reopened the app and started refreshing the virtual queue page. After a few stressful seconds, I was greeted with this screen:

Yay!!! I was so surprised to get such a low boarding group. We had my whole family trying to get a group and I was the one who was successful, I wonder if it's because I practiced from home the most. Beyond thrilled with our boarding group assignment, we hopped in line for Slinky Dog, which was now posted as 15 minutes. You could hear some guests joyfully yelling that they got a boarding group in the line!

I'm surprised I don't see more people talking about how cute this queue is. It would be nice if there was AC, but it was adorable.

After a ten minute wait, my sister and I were sat in the front row:

We loved the ride! I'm a roller coaster fanatic (convinced my family to go to Ohio so we could go to Cedar Point), and this was not very intense of a ride. But it was an extremely enjoyable and smooth ride. There were even some decent forces that I'm sure would have been more intense if we were in the back row. Roller coasters are the rides were I find myself forgetting about the stress of the world the most, so putting my hands up on an extremely adorable coaster felt so great.

What felt almost was great was our boarding group being called once we got off Slinky...

Up next: Rise of the Resistance!!!

 

[andy_dangg]

Note: this post will be full of spoilers and photos of Rise of the Resistance, so if you haven't ridden it yet and don't want to see photos, close your eyes and scroll to the end of this post! This post will be my only post with spoilers of Rise, so you're safe to read the rest of the report.

So just for some context, I'm a recent Star Wars fan. I've seen bits and pieces of the movies throughout the years, but I never sat down to watch the movies until they were released on Disney+. I've seen movies 4-9, I haven't gotten around to the prequels yet, sorry! My brother on the other hand is absolutely obsessed--he now has two Lightsabers and has watched the movies more time than I can count. My dad likes the original trilogy but isn't really into the newer movies, and my mom and sister are really indifferent. They know enough to understand the context of the movies but are by no means fans.

After riding Slinky Dog, we made a quick bathroom break before heading over to Galaxy's Edge. It was weird how the transition from Toy Story Land to Galaxy's Edge kind of worked? You really felt like you were somewhere else when you were in Galaxy's Edge.

Signing (in English at least) is really lacking in Batuu, but luckily there were signs pointing to the entrance of Rise, marked with the symbol of the Resistance.

We found the entrance pretty easily, they were calling boarding groups 1-9 at the time.

The first part of the queue lowkey reminded me of the queue for Flight of Passage, a winding walk through lush green area:

Once you entered the indoors part of the queue, you were transported to a Resistance base:

We were in the first preshow room at 10:40a, so it took us about 15 minutes to get through the queue.

Rey's hologram was pretty amazing:

Now it was time to board the transport! Here is where it felt like the story was kicking in, the cast members rushing us to our socially distant spots and to get on the transport really made it feel like we were escaping:

Once we were on the transport ship, the doors shut and we took off. It did a great job at simulating movement, especially for a "ride" where everyone is standing.

Captured!!!

I must say, I did feel a little rushed through the hangar, not sure if this is how it usually is or if it's due to distancing.

We were then ushered into the hallway before the interrogation area.

This is where our experience came to a pause. The ride went down when we were in that hallway, it didn't start up again for 40 minutes. We were lucky, I've seen some longer closures. I think Disney saw the concerns about guests sitting down (violating distancing) during downtime in this hallway, because soon after the ride went down, they cleared the left side of the hallway. I don't know where they went, but we sat well distanced until the ride was back up and running.

Sadly, I think this downtime took away from the ride experience slightly. Being able to go on our phones impatiently waiting for the ride to reopen took away the immersion created. Nonetheless, when they filled the left side of the hallway again, I was thrilled that the ride was open again.

Are these guys Audio-Animatronics or actors?

About to be interrogated! This photo doesn't look distanced for some reason, but we were definitely spaced out from other parties.

The Resistance breaking us out was really exciting! Everyone was kind of confused where to go to board the ride vehicle, but soon enough we were buckled up and on our way!

The ride was pretty amazing! It was my first time on a ride with a trackless ride system and it was really cool. I love how quickly it moved around the show scenes and the way it interacts with the other elements in the ride. My favorite parts of the ride was in the massive room with the AT-AT's, the scale was amazing! Videos and photos online don't do it justice. I also loved the escape pod finale. The drop was enough to thrill but not enough to scare my mom who hates drops. Another really cool effect was when the walls of the Star Destroyer were blown out behind Kylo Ren--I was not expecting the wind effect and that was very cool!

When you return to Batuu, it really does felt like you've been somewhere. I loved how the ride ended outdoors, you caught your breath and realized you were back where you started and it is just a really great example of immersion. We all agreed that the downtime kind of killed the pacing of the story, which was kind of a shame, but regardless, we still found the ride to be amazing!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Great updates! I have been stuck in that hallway in Rise of the Resistance too (pre-COVID) and it's not fun. I am having flashbacks. I think we were in there over an hour and to add insult to injury the ride never started again so we were just escorted out. But overall an amazing attraction. You mentioned practicing to get a boarding group ... any tips?

I'm a big fan of the International Gateway entrance but never thought about it in terms of a lack of "wow" factor. You're right - it's not particularly impressive. But being steps from your room is pretty cool!

I adore Living with the Land but am not sure I've ever ridden at sunset. Will try to time that correctly on a future trip. In the last few years they started added some lights at holiday time and it made it a whole new experience at night.

 

[andy_dangg]

Great updates! I have been stuck in that hallway in Rise of the Resistance too (pre-COVID) and it's not fun. I am having flashbacks. I think we were in there over an hour and to add insult to injury the ride never started again so we were just escorted out. But overall an amazing attraction. You mentioned practicing to get a boarding group ... any tips?

I'm a big fan of the International Gateway entrance but never thought about it in terms of a lack of "wow" factor. You're right - it's not particularly impressive. But being steps from your room is pretty cool!

I adore Living with the Land but am not sure I've ever ridden at sunset. Will try to time that correctly on a future trip. In the last few years they started added some lights at holiday time and it made it a whole new experience at night.

I really think that hallway is the worst place to get stuck in the queue. It’s not particularly interesting and it somewhat ruins the storytelling. Getting stuck in the queue before the first preshow would be fine because the storytelling hasn’t really started yet, and being stuck anywhere else would be fun (especially the hangar).

As far as practicing went, I just logged into the app at a minute before the groups open and started refreshing. Once it opened up I practiced adding my party (hit select all them deselected my bf who wasnt on this trip with us). Then if you get an error message asking if everyone is in the park, I’m pretty sure that means you would have gotten a boarding group if you were in the park. This is supported bc when my sister and I practiced together, only one of us could get this message, while the other would get a less specific error message.

And yes, what the gateway lacks in wow factor, it makes up for with convenience. I feel like you’re never really in future world at the end of the day so it’s nice having the gateway so close.

I don’t think a sunset ride on Living with the Land is a must do (although a night ride on Jungle Cruise and Big Thunder are!). But it was a nice change and it was just really pretty. Lines should be pretty much nonexistent then too. I’d love to see a holiday overlay!

 

[Verstehen]

Loving your report! (I skipped the Rise post as I haven't ridden it yet lol) I lived in Tampa for a few years when I first moved to Florida, and my dad is actually a dentist so I know you're working hard! Glad you got to take a much-deserved break. Thank you for making this report. I haven't returned to the parks yet but this eases my anxieties.

 

[andy_dangg]

Loving your report! (I skipped the Rise post as I haven't ridden it yet lol) I lived in Tampa for a few years when I first moved to Florida, and my dad is actually a dentist so I know you're working hard! Glad you got to take a much-deserved break. Thank you for making this report. I haven't returned to the parks yet but this eases my anxieties.

Wow! So cool re: your dad being a dentist. It's definitely a stressful academic path but I have a feeling it'll be worth it in the end and I'm glad I could help! The parks are definitely different now, but I felt pretty comfortable (with the exception of eating outside). I was just at Busch Gardens Saturday and while they have a mask requirement, more people were not following the rules, so it didn't feel as comfortable there as Disney.