Welcome, friends! I appreciate you taking time from your day to head my way and hear about another magical day at WDW. Let's jump right in!
Day 8 - Wednesday, November 17, 2021
Our day began at Hollywood Studios. We rope dropped the park and made a beeline to Galaxy's Edge to ride the new Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. Once again cast members told everyone that the ride was down. Yet this, our third attempt to ride, would be our final opportunity this trip so we lingered on a bench nearby. Before long it was up and running so we happily hopped in line to experience this for the first time.
Interesting views in the queue . . .
This ride is unlike anything I've ever experienced. I must admit I actually cried (happy tears) while riding it, because I was so amazed and thought it showed us such promise for future Disney rides too! It was a fun first for sure!
Off to adore more the holiday decor!
The girls scored more backstage passes on Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, but all I wanted to do was swoon my way around Echo Lake with my man at my side!
Good ol' Gertie with a 50th ornament and donning a dino sized Santa hat
I'm a fan of fun window displays and the ones made to look like Disney's new Skyliner made my heart smile. The Skyliner is officially my favorite form of Disney transportation! I find it to be so relaxing and an enjoyable ride itself!
This fanciful window decked out in celebration of this and previous anniversaries was pretty sweet too!
Another new-this-trip ride and a look around at the pavement prints outside . . .
Ok, time to step inside and onboard a train at Runnamuck Park.
Following our fun here Jason took our youngest to build a lightsaber. I took our oldest to Scoops where a cast member built her a sweet treat. :)
Yellow, her all-time favorite color, wasn't previously available. She'd always wanted to build one and when she saw that yellow was now an option she asked to make one. Her dad happily spent some dad/daughter time with her, treating her to her memorable souvenir request. She calls this the lemonsaber!
Next we dropped by Tower of Terror.
During our last visit to Epcot my youngest purchased a super cute tee at Mitsukoshi. Sadly, once back at the hotel we noticed it had a stain. I told her on our next visit to that park we'd try to exchange it for a fresh new one. It had been slim pickings in that particular print, so her thoughts kept returning to hoping they'd still have it when we made it back to that shop. On this morning I thought, you know what, Hollywood Studios is our least favorite park to dine in and it's easy to pop between there and Epcot via the Skyliner. I suggested when we finish at HS we ride over to Epcot, exchange the tee, and grab a bite to eat where the options are more plentiful and our palates are always pleased. However, I hadn't taken into account some rule changes since our last visit. When we exited Tinseltown we were about to make the mistake of the day!
When we "booped" our magicbands at the International Gateway entrance of Epcot we were greeted with an odd sound. Next the cast member asked, "Are you trying to park hop?" Yes, indeed we were. But then it dawned on us. The new 2:00 rule would prevent it. This was the first trip after their park hopping rules had changed. You can no longer spontaneously decide to hop over to another park around noon. Nowadays, in a more complicated Disney World, guests cannot park hop until 2pm and after they have gone to the park where they hold a park reservation for that day. What to do? We talked about it momentarily and decided we'd get right back on the skyliner and visit a resort that we'd never been to along the skyliner route, explore, and eat lunch there. We'd turn my bad idea into a good opportunity to enjoy a bit of time in a new-to-us place!
Our first visit to Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort . . .
That's Disney's new Rivera resort just across the water.
Jason got a hot Cuban sandwich with a side of mac and cheese. I thought a side of mac sounded pretty good myself, so I had him mobile order one for me as well. A large pizza to share finished off our order. We enjoyed every bit and bite of this simple meal looking out over this beautiful resort!
After finishing our lunch we popped into their shop and took a peek around their lobby decked out for the holidays.
We really liked the feel of this resort and that it's on the skyliner route too. This brief visit led to us choosing to spend five nights here during the trip we just returned home from last month. I look forward to sharing more about that soon!
I guess I'm not the only one in our fam who waves at her own reflection in photos. Loved seeing my firstborn sweetie's pic among the snapshots of the day!
When we returned back to Animal Kingdom Lodge for an afternoon break I decided to linger in the lobby, taking in all the decorative details of this grand tree!
During a trip The Mara to fill our rapid refill mugs we stopped to visit the fabulous flamingos.
We had dining reservations for Boma, a buffet style restaurant at Animal Kingdom Lodge. If you've read previous trip reports this may look familiar. It's been a long time favorite of Jason's and anytime we can work a meal into our trip we typically do. He wasn't really feeling it on this particular night. While the menu is missing a few old favorites now, I don't think too much was different. Perhaps after many visits we may just need to pass on it for a couple trips, then revisit again someday.
It's always fun to have the opportunity to get POG juice made up of a pineapple, orange, and guava juice blend. You can find it a few different places, sometimes going by the name "Jungle Juice". Whatever it's called and wherever it's served it's always delicious! Years ago I posted a copycat recipe. You can find that here.
Around 7:30 we headed to Magic Kingdom to take in fireworks and enjoy some lower wait times on rides during extra magic hours.
The addition of projections onto the buildings of Main Street adds some fun and whimsy to the show!
First Magic Kingdom ride of the night was Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid.
The wildest ride in the wilderness feels even wilder after dark!
Next, a family fave, Pirates!
Off to ride the magic carpets of Aladdin.
They were dying to have us at Haunted Mansion, so we made our way to and through it next.
The only restrooms I continually take photos of. Ha!
My youngest love and I decided to go for a spin on Price Charming Regal Carrousel.
I am always captivated by pretty reflections.
Oh, how I love wide open spaces at Disney!
Lastly, we buzzed over here for some space ranger spinning.
When it's late and your tired toes want nothing more than a break, even boarding a standing room only bus right away is a welcomed sight. However, on this particular evening we were in for a treat! Not only was a bus ready for us, it was nearly empty and a much fancier coach than the typical Disney bus! It was oh so nice at the end of the night!
It means so much that you cared to spend a bit of your day with me today! I'd love to welcome you back tomorrow when I'll be recapping yet another day's worth of memories!