This!
Do you think it would look better with the pink if the roofs were the lighter blue?
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Perhaps.
I don’t particularly like the pink, but the blue is not Cinderella.
It’s too bold and bright. It makes me think of the Genie - loud and in your face
Cinderella is a gentle, soft, quiet person. And that’s why her blue is that way too. If this is her castle, it should match her.
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Yeah I can see that. Maybe if they had updated the stone work, added gold highlights, improved the quality of the roof tiles (but same color), and done a slightly less bold pink color, it would have been more pleasing to a wider swath of fans. Hopefully we’ll warm up to it with time.
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I admit, when I saw pictures online, I really wasn’t a fan of the pink. Even seeing it initially this morning, I wasn’t sure of the pink. By the end of the day, I loved it. It is amazing how the colors appear to change throughout the day, depending on the amount of sun/clouds. I’m a convert now!
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Yes! So far both airports (my departure airport and MCO) have been the worst part. It really shows how thoughtful and well thought out Disney’s plans are.
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Yes we are! We arrived yesterday and leave tomorrow then fly back down on the 16th. Next weeks trip is a reschedule of a reschedule of a reschedule :). I really do wish we could just stay and avoid the airports those additional times.
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We didn’t see any issues with people touching handles that didn’t belong to the silverware they were retrieving. There are little pieces that prevent more than one being dispensed. Condiments were “communal” but single serve packets vs the pump and put in a cup type. At least at D-Luxe Burger.
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On with the rest of the report. After Dole Whips, we rode PoC then decided to head to Splash Mountain. The wait was maybe 20 min and that included stopping once to clean the ride vehicles.
I was live streaming the ride so DH has all of the photos of the ride itself but they are still downloading so i may add them tomorrow along with any others i didn’t get. As we exited the ride we saw the queque for the gift shop (you don’t exit through the gift shop any longer). You can tap your magic band for the ride photo, just FYI. We didn’t really want any merch but decided to put our name in for the virtual queue just to see. You check in with a CM to give your name and cell phone number (this is not tied to MDE). You get a text immediately saying you were put in the queue. Once it is time to return, you get another text and have up to 45 min to return. But, they weren’t really enforcing that. There were people that hadn’t come back after 2 hours from getting the text and the CM said they would let them in. I’ll skip ahead here to say that we got our return text pretty quickly. It was 12:30 when we put our name in and 1:04 when we got the return text.
Once you get the text, you go back to the original CM and let them know you arrived. Then you go to another queue to actually get into the shop.
This moved pretty quickly for us but is dependent on how long people in the store take.
Once we got in the store there wasn’t a ton of selection but what they had, they had decent quantities of.
Only 2 types of shirts
A Splash Mountain ornament (which I bought) and two pins (which I also bought). They also had plush characters, all of them I believe.
Again, really impressed with the safety precautions. Check out had two registers with CMs behind plexiglass. After each customer the plexiglass was wiped down. At all of the shops we went to, you slide your own credit card and don’t have to sign the TouchPad.
Ok, after we rode splash (and before we went to the splash gift shop), we decided to ride over to Tom Sawyer Island. I think its been at least 40 years since I’ve been there!
There weren’t a ton of people waiting, maybe a dozen. Each raft holds 3 groups so it can take awhile depending on how many groups are in front of you. We got on the first raft so that was nice because by this time, the rain had stopped and the sun was out. And it was hot (real feel was 100). But this really was so enjoyable! Im glad we did it.
The timing was perfect because as soon as we returned from TSI, we got the text for the Briar Patch so at least we were still in the area. I think on a “normal” trip, we would never go to TSI due to how much time it takes overall but man am I glad we did it today!
By this point we were starving so decided to head back to Main St. DH is a VERY picky eater and actually likes Tony’s (I know. I know). MK isn’t DH’s favorite park so going someplace he enjoys was the least I could do!
More castle pictures (I took sooo many today!)
As with any TS restaurant, you view the menu using a QR code but you still order from the waiter/waitress.
It was so so nice to be in the AC and take our masks off. Again, not crowded at all and tables not filled for socially distance purpose.
Initially I was hesitant to eat in an indoor restaurant (still haven’t done that at home yet) but honestly, here, I wouldn’t give it a second thought. I know as the parks open to the public there may be more tables filled but today, i felt 100% comfortable.
They even had signs in the restrooms reminding about hand washing.
As we exited, we caught another of the characters at the train station
Now that we were hydrated and refueled, we headed to Tomorrowland. After stops at ALL of the photopass photographers all around the castle. Starbucks at 3:00 - no line. Amazing.
They did have the castle zoom shot so I cant wait to compare pre-covid and today!
See how in this shot, the castle colors look more muted? It really does have a life of its own depending on time of day.
Pretty empty and a great opportunity to get some good shots of the partner statue.
I really love the sharp colors of the turrets
Disney ducks - I think they missed us!!
Maybe I missed it but to us, these rocks look like they got a paint job. We didnt remember them looking like this during our last trip in February but they look good
Next up was Astro Orbiter. Only one group per elevator and the ride itself kept one ride vehicle open between groups. This is another one that I havent ridden in I dont know how long. I got so dizzy I had to close my eyes the whole time. I took a video so ill have to watch it to see what I missed!
Elevator selfie. Broke out a new mask midway through the day.
Did manage to get a picture of the progress of Tron.
We headed to Star Traders - if you are looking for Disney masks, check here. They had tons behind the counter but most of the Large were out of stock. But they had the rainbow mickey mask so I had to buy a few
Next we headed to CoP (aka DH needed a nap)
Here they have social distancing numbers that you stand on prior to entering the theater
Once in the theater, every other row is blocked off. In the open rows, every couple of seats have signs to leave open for social distancing. If you are a larger party, you may have to sit in two sections, not consecutively (i think seats are in groups of 4 but don’t hold me to that)
This gives you an idea of a “full” theater
Unfortunately (or fortunately for some) we got evacuated from the ride. After hearing the first scene three times. The song never played to transition to the next scene, they announced we would have to exit but the scene played for the third time and everyone started singing “There’s a great big beautiful tomorrow” it was actually kind of cool!
We headed to the speedway next. It was fine, nice to see more of the Tron progress.
Next we headed over to Little Mermaid. All of these rides (other than Splash and Mine Train) were walk on. Think After Hours type crowds.
Gastons Tavern was closed, as were the shops and this whole area was deserted.
We decided to head to Storybook treats to see what they had.
Pretty limited selections here, at least today. Sundae, or soft serve, or a float (soft serve with your choice of soft drink, no Peter Pan float
)
Mine train was only 20 min posted so we rode for our second time. Actual wait time was maybe 10 min and that included down time for cleaning of ride vehicles!
The Step Sisters at the castle!
Because I had switched to my HM mask, we headed back for ride 2 on HM. Stretching room
Headed to the Relaxation Station at the Golden Outpost for a drink and a breather from our masks. And met this guy
Right outside of this area there is one of the hand washing stations. It felt so good to wash our hands with real water! I love all of the hand sanitation dispensers but after awhile my hands feel gross and sticky
By now, it was close to 6 so we headed back to Main St for more pictures, a last look and some shopping. We walked back through Liberty Square and it was so nice and quiet
We sat outside Casey’s (closed) and saw GMA getting ready to film
We headed to the Emporium and on our way we saw a marriage proposal and Josh D’Amaro!!!
He was so great, doing distanced selfies with people. Including me!! (He is dreamy while I’m a hot mess. Oh well)
We headed out. I was sad. I didn’t want to leave. This was a day I will never forget.
I’ll be back tomorrow to post my closing thoughts but honestly, disney knocked it out of the park.
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Unrelated I assume? 
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Ha ha. Yes.
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These pictures are so great! I cannot believe how empty MK is…I would kind of like these crowd levels to stay long after Covid is a distant memory.
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It’s kind of eerie how quiet it is, it’s creeping me out a bit. But at the same time it’s making me wish I was there!
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@Wahoohokie and @missoverexcited it was incredible how light the crowds were. There was definitely a more subdued vibe without all the people but it was so nice not to be wall to wall with people, no waiting for a parade, very few ECVs and strollers. There are a lot of things I hope they maintain if we ever get out of this covid stage.
Interested to see what crowds look like after they are open fof a week or two.
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Definitely!
Thank you for the report. Hoping the normal opening is similar and Disney takes crowd expansion slow and deliberate. People’s convidencr will rise with these types of reports… But if they see it escalate quickly the unknowns will start to create doubt for some. As one who is still planning to leave in a week,this gives me great hope. I like what I am seeing and the pace. While it will be different, I think it will be magically different.
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Josh D’Amaro swoon
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Thank you for this trip report. It has made me feel so much better about our upcoming trip this month.
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dumb question but do you have to have a specific APP on your phone to have it scan the QR codes? Or is it just the MDE app. Sorry I’m technology lagging… so I really don’t know how that works (have an Iphone btw)
@Jsanta26 I have a Samsung phone and just use my camera like I’m taking a picture of the QR code, when it focuses, a message pops up to take you to the site, press that and the menu opens on your phone. You dont have to use MDE at all. I believe the process is the same for iPhone users too