I have a friend in upper Bucks County. The ride to his house from PHL is LONG
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It was even LONGER this time cause I had just moved…CLOSER to philly of all things, but yet it still took so much longer getting home. It’s awful. I should just move to Disney, make it easy 
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Pretty much what he said:
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I get that, I HATE the drive to PHL from BurlCo NJ. So much so that I just hire a service now. It’s worth it to me to not have the aggravation and the parking fees and all that.
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Glad you made it home safe. Sorry that the trip ended with the long drive home.
But home you are.
Looking forward to the next adventure!!
Again, thanks for taking us along. It was a hoot.
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Good to hear you got home safely. I think no matter where you live or how you’re getting there, the trip home is always just awful and long because it’s the end of a trip Home.
Bummer you weren’t able to snag what you were after before leaving because of the bus snafu at Poly. You should go back. You mentioned October, but what if it’s out of stock by then. I wouldn’t wait. To be safe, you should head back just ASAP. And stay a while. And post about it. 
Hope re-entry treats you kindly.
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I guess it really is over now. Glad you made it safely and for letting us tag along this week. I appreciate your photography and copious food reviews. See you in October!
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I don’t know if anyone on here does a better live trip report. I have been to WDW twice and tried to post live or at least daily and it is not exactly easy. He is pretty committed to the trip report and does a great job responding to people and keeping the conversation going. I write my trip reports so that I remember the details of my trip but he seems to do it to show all the little details and make all of us want to book a trip right now.
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Ok, wrap up time. Sorry this one was late but the last hours on this trip were nutso.
Like always, thank YOU(yes you, I’d say your name publicly, but I’m not supposed to let you in on the fact that I am tracking you as you move through the forum 
), for reading, commenting, hearting, and rolling your eyes until you nearly pass out at the screen. I find trip reports to be super boring without a running commentary, so having something to always check on while in line or waiting for food makes waits far more tolerable.
And speaking of waits (and crowds)… these low numbers are ponderous. They’re “low” but they’re not “low”. It’s like the versions of a “10 at June and a 10 at December” they’re drastically different. I got a crap load more done in September with the same crowd numbers. The lines do move, but 20-30 minutes is still 20-30 minutes, and then with the lines being so physically long where the lines spill out into the actual park(where it’s kinda boring just slowly meandering toward the ride), all the queue features are whizzed past because you’re constantly on the move and only in the actual queue that last 5-10 minutes.
So the lines aren’t TERRIBLY long, but they are more boring than they were before, if that makes sense? And almost none of them are in a lot of shade so you’re meandering toward the ride in bright sun (which is why I only rode things in the morning or the evenings).
And speaking of the mornings and the evening…WOOOO NIGHT HOURS ARE BACK!!!..mostly! They’re not nearly long enough, and places are still shutting down far too early (summerhouse). Parks closing at 7PM is irritating. And 5PM is straight up insulting. Disney…you have an amazing setup in AK for night, especially in Pandora… USE IT!!! All parks should close only starting at 8PM or 9PM. And also the hours all ending at different times is super dumb.
Especially during festivals…like Festival of the Arts. It’s official, this is my favorite festival by far. There’s more interaction for guests, more to look at (annnd buy), better food offerings and feels more flexible as there isn’t a rigid schedule of things (like meeting artists are full windows of hours of time not “Be here at 7:10PM or you miss it!” I am sad that by the time Igot to the festival though, all the merch was sold out. They had absolutely nothing left. But I was able to snag one of those “custom” hoodies on the last night, which ended up being 40% off cause they were trying to get rid of their stock (score!)
Park hopping being back was super welcome, but it needs to be before 2PM. I get why they’re doing this, I do, but 2PM is far too late when you’re starting to close parks at 5PM. I think 12PM would be far better(or even better once all parks are “open”). You don’t even need to provide the bus transportation at the start! Let guests get there on their own(Lyft, skyliner, car, …walk :P). And at 2PM, start the busses. I’d be more than fine with that. But do please get that Monorail to Epcot up and running! Seriously, it’s such a chore to get to Epcot right now. In fact, if you kill the busses to Epcot (except for maybe AK) and instead only do skyliner and monorail? I’d be cool with that as well. I mean… that’s the way it’s supposed to work anyway, right?
Lessee, what else…oh Cinderella’s Royal Table! First time eating there and honestly a long-awaited disney goal finally achieved. When we went to Disney World when I was a kid, it was too expensive or closed(i forget what the excuse was), and since going as an adult, character meals I mostly avoid. So being able to go without that was fantastic.
And the reviews are accurate: it’s not the greatest food but it doesn’t detract from the experience at all. If anything, the food quality is only noticeable cause the rest of the experience is so next level.
To that, I was actually surprised this isn’t MORE theming to it. The fact that the experience seemed limited to the room’s walls and the final dessert was surprising that it “stopped” there. I would even say Be Our Guest is a bit more themed all around because even their drink areas are themed. I feel this should be on the level of Galaxy’s Edge or the Royal room at Port Orleans, really. Where you’re stepping into the story. So custom plates, glasses, themed food(not just dessert), themed table decor are all there. Buuut then again, this was the only meal I was at where it seemed everyone kept dropping their dishes. It was odd.
Don’t get me wrong, none of this was actually disappointing, though, I just think it can be brought to the next level. (Not that I’m sure the kids would care.) But I would also love to see a non-character meal offered as well. Oh, also, can we do something about the table/booth height? I hate it when a table feels like it’s up to my throat.
If there was one disappointment for the trip, though, it was that horrible Annual Pass cookie. Hahahaha that was hilariously bad. I mean, I didn’t spit out or throw it away (lets not get stupid, it’s still a cookie) but good grief. If that is a “reward,” Disney must hate their AP holders.
But Gideon’s was bringing up the slack! However, I am seeing that these cookies do NOT keep at all. I put my spare one in a ziplock bag and isn’t anywhere near as fresh tasting as I was hoping this morning (what?). Sooo don’t wait on devouring those.
Favorite new feature: the “Welcome Home” message in the tapstyles. Why wasn’t this there before?! Love it.
Alrighty, I think that about wraps it up. Was it a great time? No. But it was definitely up there. Better than september? Yes. Absolutely, even though I rode far less things. The weather being as perfect as it was, the night hours returning, the park hopping (as dumb as they are)…mmmm good stuff.
Final Step count yesterday was a paltry 21,187 steps for a meager 10.6 miles.
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Even when you’re not on Batuu?
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Nice try, but i didn’t have ‘suns’ 
But hey, good on you for 1) using the GE’s actual name (and spelling it right) and 2) remembering its greeting! 
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You need a FoodSaver that vacuum seals it.
The one my friend sent me here was probably at least a week “old” by the time it arrived. But it was vacuum sealed and fresh as anything.
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Yeah I’m not lugging that down 
I think I’ll just eat it.
Besides…the calories don’t count THERE…here though …oof that’s like 4 days worth of meals. 
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The handheld ones are tiny! Worth it to vacuum seal things (pretzels? Cookies? Ice cream? Okay that probably won’t work) to bring home. I snagged one for June so we can have a few here once we get home.
Good point about the calories.
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I was wondering about the tapstyle greetings. I wanted to ask if just AP turns pink when going through. It is a nice touch. Thanks for solving that mystery. Also after walking through MK and being annoyed that both the railroad and EC monorail are still not running… I started thinking if it’s due to Tron construction?
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Oh yeah, i forgot to discuss the “toys”!
So for this trip, the iPhone 12 Pro, without a smart case, was taking all the photographs. Whatever apple is doing behind the scenes for the photography is kicking ass. The night photo noise is being cleaned up (i can see it happening if I’m tapping to see the image before it’s done being “processed”) and the HDRs look great.
I was missing the smart case though(can’t believe I’m saying that). While iOS 13 added the “double tap to activate a feature”, it’s kinda slow cause it wants to sorta “show off” that it just performed a function for you. You’ll double tap, the camera app will load and ready to take a photo, and then a second later the screen will blur as a drop down appears saying “Camera” and a check box appearing. This is wholly unneeded and just eats time.
I also was using up the battery a lot. Not to a point where it was ridiculous, but the little extra charge from a smart case would’ve helped out so much.
So… in the end, it was bulky, it was heavy, it was annoying, but I miss the Smart Battery case and the 12 not having one for an option is the only downside to the iPhone 12 that I’ve seen thus far.
one thing the IPhone really needs to add is a level in the camera app. There’s one for shooting straight down, but not forward, So much of my stuff comes out crooked cause I don’t take the time to check if I’m actually level (and some of the photos also have things tilted cause of the lens)
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I also went without a magic band this time around. But before you gasp, I still had the puck…attached to my Apple Watch. This worked out extremely well. I love the Magic Bands, but having a bunch of crap on my wrists was kinda annoying so I opted for this lil’ holster thingy for the puck.
Only downside is no awesome MB art. 
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That’s about it as far as new toys for this trip.
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The railroad being down is definitely due to Tron, but the monorail is not. I think the Epcot monorail is down more likely due to lack of demand to go to Epcot and that you’ll be able to see ALLLLLLL the destruction it’s currently undergoing.
AP holders now get pink rings? Before it was just the standard green. That’s nice, but it should be orange or something… c’mon disney, these are wholly customizable, make it different!
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I kinda goofed on my seating placement for the flight home, so while I wanted to see Disney World from the air at night (which would’ve been possible), instead I was “stuck” on the side with the moon.
Forgive the poor quality, the plane Windows mess it up soooo bad.
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That’s a bright moon!
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