Thursday November 5th:
6am alarm but out of bed by 5:45am because I had the typical first night away restless sleep. Had dry cereal in the room and coffee. Out the door at 7am with Scott and Kathy. Scott stopped to fill his mug. Then we were all in line for the MK bus at 7:15am. Buses start at 8:05am for a 9am opening. We were on the 2nd bus and there was a huge line behind us due to social distancing. The driver got out of the bus to ask how many people in your party and then they told you which numbered section to sit on the bus. It made the loading go so fast and there weren’t many people on a bus. After getting dropped off at MK, we had a quick temperature check done at the tents then went to security. They now have the contactless security checkpoints! You just take out anything medal (phones, umbrellas, battery chargers, etc) out of your bags and hold them in front of you and keep your bag on your back. They only check your bag if you beep while walking through. This made the process incredibly fast and efficient! We were through the turnstiles quickly, no fingerprint check used right now. We were on Main Street at 8:35am and I cried. So many emotions from this year. We went straight to Mine Train and were off my 9am! Then Space with a near walk on. Then Buzz with a near walk on. Pooh with a near walk on. Then Tea Cups with a near walk on. We were getting hungry so we grabbed a snack of a Nutella waffle with fruit at Sleepy Hollow. Scott found us a picnic table to eat at behind the Christmas shop. It was so quiet back there that we could hear clearly the music and sounds of the park. It was surreal. After our snack we went to Haunted Mansion with a 10-15 minute wait. You don’t get to enjoy the story of the elevator. You simply walk through the room to then go board the doom buggies. It was neat to be able to see and take pics of the stretching pictures. Next stop was Pirates with a 20-25 minute wait. We checked the Splash shop for any merchandise but they had none. Over to Peter Pan with a 20 min wait. It had been a long time since any of us had done the standby line! It was fun to see it again. We mobile ordered Pecos Bills tacos for pickup in a bit. Ariel with a 10-15 minute wait. Got our mobile order from Pecos. We learned that we should hit “I’m here” before walking that way. It was probably a 5 minute wait or so before getting the notification that we could pick up our order. They had CM’s at the entrances to check that you received your notification before allowing you to enter. We all enjoyed our much needed lunch and mask break. Over to Mickey’s Philharmagic with about a 20 minute wait. While in line I was able to use MDE to chat with a CM to see if we could request extra blankets for our room. We are used to having a weighted blanket. They were able to get that request made, plus extra cups and soap. That was super convenient instead of having to wait to call from our room later! We mobile ordered Dole Whips while S&K stopped in Momento Mori. Ryan and I found a quiet nook near the entrance to the Tiki Room to enjoy our Dole Whips. We then got in line for Jingle Cruise and let S&K know we were getting in line with a posted 30 min wait. It ended up being 60 min. One of the few times the wait was much longer than the posted time. Ryan and I then went to Space and it was virtually a walk on at 5:30pm. I think MK closed at 6pm. We stopped for some pics on Main Street. Then met up with S&K and walked out with them to the buses. Ryan and I decided to head to DS to grab dinner and S&K went back to Pop for dinner and to meet Stephen there! Ryan and I caught the bus to Saratoga Springs since they weren’t offering direct bus service to DS. There was a bus waiting and we got on immediately and didn’t wait long before we pulled out. I watched on the app to wait for the bus stop closest to DS so we could walk from the closest one. We went straight to Pizza Ponte. So yum, as usual! We walked around for a bit and stopped in just a few shops. Most places had lines to get in due to limits. We were super tired so we walked to the bus stop. We waited for a bit and then 4 buses showed up back to back so everyone was loaded quickly. Back to Pop by 8:15pm. Stephen was still there so we got to visit with him for a bit before he headed home. It was so great to give him a hug and chat in person again! He left around 10pm. Lights out around 10:30pm.
Miles logged 12
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