Jungle Cruise

Over at Magic Kingdom, Disney spent the summer replacing several scenes in the Jungle Cruise with those deemed more culturally appropriate. They also added stuff to the queue to tie together the ride with the Skipper Canteen restaurant. 

Several sunken jungle cruise boats were added along the route, and the scene where the safari is stuck up a tree was changed to a boat crew. They also switched out the attacking natives with a boat overrun by chimps, and changed some of the idols in the temple. 

Finally, they replaced the Trader Sam figure at the end with an elephant.

 

At the Studios, we got another chance to experience Rise of the Resistance. We still had to wear masks, but it was a little better than the first time due to easing of the social distancing rules.

Food & Wine and more

We continued to visit the parks in late August and September as Disney World prepared for its 50th anniversary. In Epcot, we checked out the Food and Wine booths. As it had last year, the festival had less stuff than before the pandemic. Several booths won’t be open until later in the fall.

We also got to do a few more previews of Ratatouille. While waiting for our slot, we tried some crepes from the new Creperie restaurant. They were pretty good. 

Work continued in the middle of Future World, as well as on the new Guardians of the Galaxy roller coaster. Last week I took a ride on the Epcot monorail to check the progress.

Yesterday Creations Shop, the replacement for MouseGear, opened up in Epcot. Bryan picked up an overnight shift to move the merchandise from the temporary shop into the new one. 

Calgary

Last week Jennifer flew up to Calgary, in Alberta, Canada, to visit a friend. They checked out downtown and took pictures from a bridge over the Bow River.

They also drove west into the mountains to visit Banff National Park.

Finally, they spent time at an indoor water park.She flew home today. 

Ratatouille

Yesterday we attended a special preview of Ratatouille, a new dark ride at the France pavilion in Epcot. It's fun, although exactly the same as the one we rode in Paris back in 2014.

Last night we got to stay for free at the new Destino tower at the Coronado Springs Resort. It was benefit Disney gave to Susan for working during the pandemic. 

We had great views from our room high up in the tower, but unfortunately we weren't able to watch the fireworks that night because they were delayed due to a lightning storm.

August update

In the Magic Kingdom, Halloween decorations went up in August. Disney announced there would be no Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Parties again this year, but instead they would hold Halloween themed After Hours parties.

This weekend I went into the Magic Kingdom again and while there checked out the Tron site from the Peoplemover.

Meanwhile Bryan and Jenn flew to Seattle for their friends’ wedding. Jennifer was a bridesmaid.

July update

Susan and I didn’t get to the parks in July, but Jennifer did. Two weeks ago some friends came for a visit, so she took several days off work to go to the parks with them.

This Sunday, to celebrate her birthday, she and Bryan went to Universal with some UP friends who had recently moved to Florida.

She then invited a couple of friends to stay with her on her free cast staycation at the Grand Floridian. They visited MK Monday and Epcot on Wednesday. On a bad note, a couple days ago Disney announced the resumption of the mask mandate, beginning today. None of us are looking forward to asking guests to keep their masks on again. 

Happily Ever After

 

Two weeks ago, Susan and I spent an afternoon in the Magic Kingdom. We went in after a rain storm, did a few things, looked in some stores, and had a snack. Then we headed out.

Disney has been working on widening Floridian Way between World Drive and Seven Seas Lagoon, which will allow northbound traffic to go over those exiting the Magic Kingdom parking lot.

Tuesday afternoon we spent a few hours in Epcot, enjoying the Flower and Garden festival.

That night we attended a cast preview of Happily Ever After, the fireworks show at Magic Kingdom, before it returned for guests after being suspended for the pandemic.