More 50th

Also for the 50th, Disney put out a set of collectible coins. Susan wanted to get them all, so in early October I stopped by several locations after work to purchase them. When I grabbed the ones in Animal Kingdom I also took photos of the 50th statues there. 

Last week, Jennifer got to do a behind the scenes tour of the Haunted Mansion.

Also as part of the 50th anniversary celebration, Disney premiered a new fireworks shows in Epcot, Harmonius. Jenn went to the park last night to watch it. Disney also added programmable lights all over Spaceship Earth.

Disney World's 50th

On October 1st, WDW began celebrating its 50th anniversary. In September, they added 50 golden statues of characters in the parks. Last Tuesday we went to Epcot to check out the 50th decorations and have dinner at Garden Grill.

 

Wednesday evening Susan and I went into the Magic Kingdom to see the Happily Ever After fireworks before it went away for a new show, Enchantment, premiering for the 50th. This weekend we met friends for dinner at Cape May Cafe.

Last night, Jennifer was asked to attend a special "Harry Potter" event at Universal's Islands of Adventure. It celebrated the 20th anniversary of the first movie. Jenn often posts photos on Instagram in Harry Potter outfits at Universal and someone in their marketing department must have noticed.

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.

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.

 

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.

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.

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.