Harmonious & Fort Sumter

I didn't get into the parks in late October or early November. Disney reopened the Sassagoula boats at Disney Springs, and a lot of cast members from the Friendship Boats were reassigned there, meaning those left behind worked a lot of hours. Last week, however, Susan and I were able to attend a special showing of Harmonious for Epcot cast members. We got to view the fireworks from a front and center spot, and even got some free snacks.

 

Susan and I made another quick trip to Charleston this week. While we were there, I took the ferry from downtown out to Fort Sumter to look around. Fort Sumter is where the Civil War started in 1861, with South Carolina troops taking the fort from Union soldiers.  

It takes a couple of hours to ferry back and forth across the harbor and walk around the fort, but it's definitely worth it for someone interested in history. While I went to Fort Sumter, Susan took two of our friends kids to the aquarium next door to the visitor center.

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. They also replaced the old Fast Pass system with a new upcharge system called Genie+.

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 at the Beach Club.

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.

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.