She's A Disney Adult and Feeling Artsy, a February 2020 Trip Report (Updated 6/15)

GrandCalifornian

Can't Wait To Go Back
Joined
Mar 16, 2012
Welcome! We are excited to share our latest trip report, from our first ever winter visit to WDW. We were there from February 6-15 2020 and had an amazing time. Based on the number of incredible days, this might just be our best trip yet. Join in and follow along with us as we share our 10 days of fun!

Starting our trip report is really the best way we know how to conquer the post Disney blues, that along with planning another trip.

Yeah, and while we don't yet have another trip booked, we definitely have that ball rolling. We have been going through pictures and our notes since we got home, and we can't wait to share the fun we had.

First a little about us

I'm Melissa, Mom to our two hooligans. I work for my family's Elevator Company doing all sorts of officey things. I love Stitch and Mickey of course. I have a thing for cute bags and have quite the collection of Disney Dooneys at this point. My favorite ride is Living with the Land.


I'm Paul, a just turned 40 year old Dad, Mechanical Engineer, and car guy who loves Disney. Wilderness Lodge is my favorite place in the world, and I particularly enjoy taking pictures there first thing in the morning. My favorite ride is Test Track, and my favorite park is Epcot, so I'm really interested in all the rebuilding that's going on.



This is Allison, she is the "She" in all of our trip report titles which started with our first one "She's Free Before She's Three". I can't believe she's 10 now and officially a Disney adult! She's in 4th grade and takes ballet, tap, jazz, and swimming lessons. All these activities keep us super busy.


This is Marshall, the now four year old little brother and clown of the family who is a ball of energy. He keeps us laughing all the time, and basically has two speeds: full throttle and asleep. He loves cars and racing, and particularly Lightning McQueen. He also enjoys rides and roller coasters, and will ride anything he's tall enough for.


Jon and Brandy joined us again on this trip. They're our favorite fellow Disney fanatics and longtime friends. We enjoy traveling with them and they appreciate our touring style.


The "where" for this trip is once again Copper Creek Villas at Wilderness Lodge, our home DVC resort since 2017.

We again shared a two bedroom with Jon and Brandy, but to mix things up a bit we decided to book a lockoff with a tub in an attempt to get an "alternate studio lockoff" that overlooked the main pool with a balcony that faces Bay Lake.

Due to September scheduling conflicts we decided to move our 2020 trip to February. We flew out on a red eye flight from LAX on the 5th and came home on the 15th.

This was after we were just at Copper Creek in September, so we only had 5 months between trips this time, which was great for us.

With the holidays in between the two trips it really went fast.

It was also a chance to finally be in Florida with some cooler weather, which we were looking forward to.

As usual we dined at some amazing places, got to experience some cool new things, and had a great time. Come along with us as we relive our vacation!


Like our other reports (and this one so far) we will collaborate on the report with me sharing my thoughts in blue, and Melissa sharing hers in orange. This allows us to share our text conversations as we "talk" about the trip.
 
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Table of Contents:
Introduction

Waking up early at MCO
Exploring Epcot Under Construction
Doing Our Patriotic Duty
Steak and the Skyliner
Rise Ropedrop Roulette
Passing Time with the Skyliner and Cars
Riding Rise and Homecomin Dinner
Magic Kingdom Morning
Relaxing Afternoon then Dining with the Queen
Fireworks Cruise
Starting the Day at AK
Life at Home Update: The Disney Wall
Foggy Morning Fun and Following the Herd
A Wild Afternoon and Moonlight Magic
Touring Soarin'
Teppan Edo Filet then a Relaxing Resort Evening
Lazy Morning Winding Up at MK
Life at Home Update: Bathroom Remodel
An Afternoon and Evening in the Wilderness
Early Valentines Morning at MK, then off to HS
Lunch in Italy and Going all Around The World (Showcase)
Our Night on the Riviera (with Dinner at Topolino's)
Checking Out, and Checking out Old Key West
Wrapping Up and Flying Home


Prior Reports:
She's free before she's three, touring the world with a toddler: September 2012 Trip Report
She turned 3, but the DDP's Free, a WL Bounceback PTR: September 2013
She's a Princess, a Superhero, and a Rockstar -a September 2013 Trip Report
She's Turning Five at Disney World - a September 2014 PTR
She's Five at Riverside - September 2014 Trip Report
She's Going to Show Him The World - September 2016 PTR
She's a Big Sister and an Expedition Leader: A September 2016 TR
She's Sleeping on the Top Bunk: An August 2017 WL TR with a Party of 10
She's Staying DVC, a September 2018 PTR
She's On Top of The World, a September 2018 TR at Copper Creek Villas and Cabins
She's Going Back to Back, a September 2019 and February 2020 PTR
 
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Who hoo! Can't wait to read about your latest adventures!

May I ask a HUGE favor! Can you all make the orange print BOLD type? My vision is not the greatest and I have a bit of a hard time reading it. :blush:
 
Hopping aboard . I am staying at WL in Sept and saw your pics on the WL thread - so pretty - can’t wait to be there. Looking forward to reading more about your adventures
 
Based on the number of incredible days, this might just be our best trip yet.
I can't wait to hear about this trip. You have had a lot of great ones so the bar is already set pretty high. :)
Due to September scheduling conflicts we decided to move our 2020 trip to February. We flew out on a red eye flight from LAX on the 5th and came home on the 15th.
I am very curious to hear how the red eye flight worked out. :)
 
Subscribed! Always enjoy reading your reports!
Welcome, and congratulations on being first! Thanks for joining in.
Welcome back, and thanks for joining in.
I just finished reading one of your prior trip reports after reading your back-to-back pre-trip report, so I am excited to follow along this time!!
That's great, we hope you enjoy it. It takes us a little time to get it written and get the pictures together, but we try to keep up a reasonable pace. We're glad to have you here.
Following! Love your trip reports! Sounds like you had an amazing time’
Aww, thanks, we love our trips, and writing about them too. There were lots of times on the trip where we mentioned that we were looking forward to writing about it. We did have a great time, and can't wait to share it.
Joining in!
Great, thanks!
Who hoo! Can't wait to read about your latest adventures!

May I ask a HUGE favor! Can you all make the orange print BOLD type? My vision is not the greatest and I have a bit of a hard time reading it. :blush:
We're glad that you're excited. No problem, I manually bolded the Orange text in the intro, and will try adding that to our script for the updates. If that doesn't work we might try a different color, but we'll do something to make it better for this one.
Hopping aboard . I am staying at WL in Sept and saw your pics on the WL thread - so pretty - can’t wait to be there. Looking forward to reading more about your adventures
Great, we're glad that you are here. WL is my absolute favorite place on earth, and we love sharing it.
I can't wait to hear about this trip. You have had a lot of great ones so the bar is already set pretty high. :)

I am very curious to hear how the red eye flight worked out. :)
Welcome back to one of our original followers! We missed getting to see you guys this time, but yes, we had an awesome time. I think we are getting better at optimizing the daily schedules, or perhaps we just got really lucky this time, or most likely a little of both.

The red eye worked better than we expected. The first day felt like it was 2 or 3 days long, but everyone dealt with it very well. As you'll see in the next couple of updates, it let us get a lot done before we would even have arrived normally.
 
Our travel day started with getting up and going to work. Normally we fly early in the morning, but this time we had a red eye flight leaving LAX at 11PM the day before we arrive. I had hoped to at least work from home this day, but I had to go in for a big meeting so I got up and went in like any other day, but I knew it would get a lot better by the end of it.

I also went to work with both kiddos and our three dogs in tow. I dropped the dogs off in boarding but they wouldn't take the kids so they had to come with us.
I wore the most appropriate shirt though.



I wore my favorite Wilderness Lodge Polo, as I had worn my Disney Polo shirts to work for the prior 20 plus work days leading up to the trip. I kind of have a bit of a collection going, and am fortunate to work where I can wear Disney shirts.

We got to the airport extra early but we like the extra time to get situated and through security.


This time though we ALL had TSA precheck so security was a breeze. Allison takes a liquid medication that comes in a big bottle so they had to test that bottle but other than that it was super quick and easy.


We decided to do TSA Pre after our trip home from Disney last time, and it was great to have this time. The whole airport process was super easy, starting with dropping our checked bag, which was made very easy at the Delta counter. We noticed a definite difference from our last trip on American.

Marshall crashed before we even got on the plane and slept the entire flight which was magical.


With the 11 PM departure we had some time to kill sitting around the airport, but we sat and excitedly talked about the trip to come.


We noticed that the terminal area was filling with groups of cheerleaders, apparently all headed to a competition at Disney World. This was just a preview of what was to come.


It took FOREVER to load the plane. The girls were so scattered and obviously weren't seasoned travelers. They were swapping seats and had trouble lifting their carryons into the overhead bins.

Delta took care of us though and every seat had a blanket on it as we boarded.


Since it was a full flight, they were asking for people to volunteer to check bags. We had thought ahead and packed carefully, bringing extra MDE tags for the carry ons that we didn't need to take with us. We checked two bags at the gate, with the Yellow tags on, and still didn't have to worry about going to bag claim when we got to Orlando.
The flight went well, and we were all able to sleep for at least a little while.


I think Marshall did the best out of all of us though. That kid can sleep anywhere.


Our flight was smooth and made up some time taking a direct route over the gulf.


We landed about 6:30 AM, and were soon headed down to catch an MDE bus.



We were first in line for Wilderness Lodge and there was only 8 of us on the bus total and our party made up 6.


Wilderness Lodge was the first stop and it wasn't long before we were back in the lobby.


This time we had the grand entrance that we loved instead of the floors blocked off being refurbished like last trip.


It is always stunning to walk into that lobby at the beginning of the trip and to know that we get to stay there. We took our bags to drop them with Bell Services and then Marshall asked if we could eat at the restaurant right there (WCC). It sounded good to us, since we didn't get to eat there on our departure day in September. There was only one occupied table in the restaurant, so we figured we could get in.

We walked up to the counter and the hostess asked if we had a reservation and we said no. So she told us to take a seat and she'd call us when our table was ready.
We all found this super comical because literally every table in the restaurant was open.


Marshall enjoyed the opportunity to play with the Lincoln Logs, which he took with him to the table when we were seated.


It was really nice and relaxing to have a good breakfast.


Brandy and I had omelets, and Allie chose a giant cinnamon roll. It was all great and we enjoyed relaxing in the dining room. Our waitress was great, and gave Jon a hard time for his fancy rings, which she said she sure couldn't afford working for Disney. She hoped he would leave her one as a tip, and offered to be his girlfriend.


Allie's cinnamon roll was the size of her head and there was plenty left over when she had eaten her fill. I had the egg breakfast which was basically eggs and sausage with potatoes and a biscuit. It was a great yummy breakfast with fun service.


After breakfast, we made our way down to the boat dock to head to Magic Kingdom. We had time to kill, and had made some Fastpasses, so we headed out.

We got on a big boat at 8:58, and made it to MK about 12 minutes later.


Before we even made it in the park Marshall's magic band went missing (turns out it was my error when I was shuffling airplane carryon stuff when we left it with Bell Services) so we had to make our annual stop at the MK Guest services window to pick up a physical AP card for him so we could continue our day.


It's never an official trip without a visit to Guest Services, but this time we got it out of the way early while the lines were short. Once we were in the park we headed straight for Jungle Cruise and waited in the standby line. We had a nice ride, although each of us almost fell asleep.


We got done just in time for our Pirates Fastpass at 10:05.


We napped on Pirates...


and then we headed over to Big Thunder Mountain to check on the wait.


The sign said 45 minutes, but we didn't have a Fastpass for it this trip so we went ahead and decided to wait. We got in line at 10:30, and got on the train car at 11:07. Both kids enjoyed the ride.


There were some interactive things to do in the line to keep them busy while we waited.

After Big Thunder we decided we might want some lunchish food so we hit up the spring roll cart for Pizza and Cheeseburger spring rolls.


I liked them both, but probably slightly preferred the cheeseburger one, which is no big surprise.

I didn't care for either but probably slightly preferred the pizza one.

Then we walked down Main Street and went to get some pictures with our host, Mickey.



I really miss when Mickey would talk, that was such a fun treat for the kids. I'll never forget when he sang Happy Birthday to Allie and how magical that was.

After Mickey we did some shopping on Main Street. There was a Bulova watch I saw last trip and had been stalking ever since, and now they had it at Uptown Jewelers on Main Street. We walked in and saw it there, and Melissa decided I needed it. I wanted to take it with me, so we had it that day. The day let us know that the store in Disney Springs could resize it for us, and we knew we would be there at some point so I was excited.


It's kind of a funny story, so we looked at this watch on our last day of our last trip and Paul asked the CM who let us see it how much it was. He heard 1200 and thought it was too expensive so we walked away. I had heard 425 which is how much it was. Anyway he has been wanting it ever since and I promised him that we would get it on this trip.
So I bought it for him and told him Happy Valentines Day.



After that we were getting tired and wanted to go see about our room. We headed out of the park about 1:00, hoping for early room availability.

Check back for more from this marathon day in our next update.
 
Marshall crashed before we even got on the plane and slept the entire flight which was magical.
That worked out really well. He must wear himself out, running around all day. :)
Were the kids extra excited during the day long wait?
We noticed that the terminal area was filling with groups of cheerleaders, apparently all headed to a competition at Disney World.
I can imagine how crazy that flight must have been. We had a high school band on one of our flights and they were running around trying to find overhead bin space for their instruments.
Since it was a full flight, they were asking for people to volunteer to check bags. We had thought ahead and packed carefully, bringing extra MDE tags for the carry ons that we didn't need to take with us. We checked two bags at the gate, with the Yellow tags on, and still didn't have to worry about going to bag claim when we got to Orlando.
Did that save you some money on baggage fees? This was a very good idea.
We walked up to the counter and the hostess asked if we had a reservation and we said no. So she told us to take a seat and she'd call us when our table was ready.
We all found this super comical because literally every table in the restaurant was open.
I never could understand why they couldn't seat you immediately.
That was a good idea to have a nice breakfast after your long flight. I would have been looking for some coffee. :)
It's never an official trip without a visit to Guest Services, but this time we got it out of the way early while the lines were short.
I hate the long lines at MK guest services. We were stuck once for 45 minutes.
Then we walked down Main Street and went to get some pictures with our host, Mickey.
You all look wide awake. That is a cute picture. :)
 
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Joining in for this trip report! We are taking the tub room gamble for an alternate studio next CCV trip, so I will be interested to hear what you think of the ground floor.
 
Thank you sooo much for bolding the orange!!! It really helps me see it!

So, yes, I giggled when the kennel would not keep the kids...as I may have tried that a time or two, lol.

I need to go to WCC for breakfast one day. Heck I need to make a non park ride trip and just go eat all the things at Disney.

I can't wait to read more...thanks for sharing!
 
I'm in. Seems like you survived the red eye flight ok. I have tried it twice and want to avoid at all costs. Glad the Pre-check helped. I got it after a bad MCO experience too and it really does help at LAX too! I really like the Delta LAX-MCO flight, but I am flying United in a couple weeks as they finally had the best price overall.
 
That worked out really well. He must wear himself out, running around all day. :)
Were the kids extra excited during the day long wait?
The kids were excited, but I don’t think they really realized we were going that night rather than in the morning like we usually do. They were both really looking forward to the trip though.

I can imagine how crazy that flight must have been. We had a high school band on one of our flights and they were running around trying to find overhead bin space for their instruments.
Yeah, it was a little crazy. They were all polite and excited to be going, but there was a lot of confusion over where people were sitting.

Did that save you some money on baggage fees? This was a very good idea.
It did, we only had to pay for one checked bag, and checked two carry on size rollers for free. The best part was not having to pick the up at MCO. They arrived with our other bag in the room.

I never could understand why they couldn't seat you immediately.
That was a good idea to have a nice breakfast after your long flight. I would have been looking for some coffee. :)
I was thinking of going to Roaring Fork for my mug, but we got seated soon enough I didn’t have to.

I hate the long lines at MK guest services. We were stuck once for 45 minutes.
We have had some long lines there before, but this wasn’t bad at all. We were out in just a few minutes.

You all look wide awake. That is a cute picture. :)
Thanks, we were pretty excited to be starting our trip.

Joining in for this trip report! We are taking the tub room gamble for an alternate studio next CCV trip, so I will be interested to hear what you think of the ground floor.
It is not a bad room, and the location was very centrally located, since you can go out either side of the hallway at the end by the elevators. With that lockoff the One bedroom portion is handicapped accessible, which caused more changes to the floor plan than we expected. Melissa actually enjoyed the first floor, and it was kind of cool to see people walking outside and to not worry about the kids falling when they were outside.

Thank you sooo much for bolding the orange!!! It really helps me see it!

So, yes, I giggled when the kennel would not keep the kids...as I may have tried that a time or two, lol.

I need to go to WCC for breakfast one day. Heck I need to make a non park ride trip and just go eat all the things at Disney.

I can't wait to read more...thanks for sharing!
Great, we are glad that helps. We looked at using other colors, but this seemed clearer.
We like WCC breakfast, and it tends to be pretty cheap. We often do it on our departure day.
We are all for going to Disney for the food, that is one of the very best parts.

Yay I’m excited to follow along on another one of your trip reports!!!
Yay! Thanks for posting and we are glad that you are here.

I'm in. Seems like you survived the red eye flight ok. I have tried it twice and want to avoid at all costs. Glad the Pre-check helped. I got it after a bad MCO experience too and it really does help at LAX too! I really like the Delta LAX-MCO flight, but I am flying United in a couple weeks as they finally had the best price overall.
Welcome! We did feel the red eye worked out nice, and so far we would do it again. We still have a long way to go with our long arrival day though...

Following along :wave2: I always enjoy reading your trip reports.

I love the watch!
Great, we’re glad that you enjoy reading them and took the time to post.
I am super excited about the watch, and I am glad we got it. I just knew they were going to sell out before we made it back, but it worked out.
 

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