I'm writing this blog on Tuesday July 27th, and I'm going to start with the punchline, because that's the only reason you'd be reading this. Last year, (link), I confidently wrote, "In a time where airports and gyms are terrifying and grocery stores are risky, I can't believe how well Disney World pulled it off. You could certainly get sick there, but it wouldn't be their fault."
Here we were one year later, this time with 9 vaccinated adults and 2 unvaccinated children in an endless sea of maskless strangers. The virus was everywhere. The obvious takeaway is that Disney World cares more about money than their good name. Yesterday, it was announced that Orange County is getting 1K new cases per day. This is enough of a crisis that two hours ago at the time of this writing, it was announced that Mayor Demings plans to change the county's restrictions and guidelines. Disney World hugely increased its capacity without disclosing the numbers, and we received no indication of this during our planning. They've done away with attractions and characters totally at random; there is no logic or consistency to it other than staffing shortages, but that's a guess. For the first time, it was painstakingly clear that Disney World can't handle what's going on. They are not on top of this. So in contrast to last year, I would say: you could certainly get sick there, and it would be everybody's fault. Mine. Yours. Disney's. Especially the man who bullied my sister for wearing a mask. Disney welcomes those asshats with open arms. It's like an asshat convention now. Asshats became mainstream this past year, and Disney caters to them now.
I'll just wrap up my writing for the first day quickly; my sister and her husband Bill surprised my parents by showing up an hour after we arrived at our fancy Grand Floridian suite. We played in the pool, and on our way out, Milli pulled Bill's swim trunks down right in front of a perfectly respectable family. Dinner was at the Grand Floridian Cafe, which specializes in a perfect corn flake crusted buttermilk fried chicken, and the evening ended with a distant viewing of Happily Ever After, the Magic Kingdom fireworks. Our hearts wouldn't be broken until the next day.
At the gate before 5:00 am; our flight was delayed and didn't take off until 7:30.
Together Again
Such Devoted Sisters
Cô Tins & Uncle Bill!
Waiting For Our Table
Probably Making Fun of Each Other
We Made It
Nhỏ Con Rồng & Bà
Chocolate Mousse
Immaculate Grounds
Happy Ever After
Wednesday, 21 Jul 21: Animal Kingdom
We took a bus to Epcot for a three course dinner with wine at Chefs de France, and the table favorites were charcuterie, escargots, boeuf bourguignon, and crème brûlée. Dad ordered a boring cold chicken salad. Although we had another two hours to play in the parks, we hopped on the monorail to get back to the resort for my parents' second surprise: Thal, Julie, and Kevin had arrived! All eleven of us walked outside to end the evening with Happily Ever After.
Outside Kali River Rapids
This looks cooler in person, but I kept the picture in this blog anyway.
Little Stitch Celebrating Bà's Retirement
Two Rhinos
Three Hippos
A Pair of Crocs
Baby in the Background
Flamingos
New Warden's Station
Photographing Birds
Sunshine Makes her Hair Redder
Milli & Fish
Drakeson & Fish
Hippo!
Mom Removes her Mask for Pictures
Tree of Life
Feathered Friends In Flight!
Photographing Macaws
Macaws in Winged Encounters
TriceraTop Spin
Petting Zoo
The Virginians with Some Cow
Da & Dad
Pretending the Train is Moving. Such a dumb joke!!
Uncle Bill's Shoulders
My Mama
BLT
Cô Tins
Bà Snuggles
Surprises
Thursday, 22 Jul 21: Hollywood Studios
We couldn't start this day together because Hollywood Studios day passes were booked by the time our surprise guests were on the mind. The original six did Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy, For the First Time In Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration, Alien Swirling Saucers, and Slinky Dog Dash. George managed to book us passes to the highly sought after Rise of the Resistance. Tins, Bill, Kevin, Thal, and Julie park-hopped over to us from a miserable morning at the Magic Kingdom. We rode Toy Story Mania!, and then Kevin joined the original six for Muppet Vision 3D while Tins, Bill, Thal, and Julie tried to ride Rockin' Rollercoaster. Sick of waiting, Tins, Thal, and Julie ditched the ride to return to their resort, and Bill met up with us for Star Tours, Walt Disney Presents, and Star Wars. I gave my Rise of the Resistance pass to Bill while Kevin and I went on the Millennium Falcon.The original six and the Collins brothers walked over to Epcot, where we had one of my favorite evenings of the trip. Dinner was at the Garden Grill, a comforting all you can eat family style dinner with Mickey, Pluto, Chip, and Dale, housed on a rotating platform overlooking Living With The Land, which we rode while our table was being prepared. It was a big day, and Mom and Dad headed home. Meanwhile, Drakeson and Milli couldn't get enough of Kevin, and the three of them couldn't get enough of the aquarium at The Seas with Nemo & Friends. The Collins brothers stuck around for the beautiful fireworks show, Epcot Forever, and Kevin told us where every song in the track came from. The amount of Disney trivia he knows is astounding.
Rockin' Rollercoaster
Baby Dragon Eyes
Milli Yêu Bà
Slinky Dog Dash
Long Line
Ba's Ready for a Nap
Milli Too
Ông Can Take It
Bright Beautiful Toys
Muted Dirty Star Wars
Alice Cartoons
(I really love Alice)
Kevin & Me on Millennium Falcon
Skyliner
The Collins Brothers
Garden Grill
If you divide this photo into thirds both ways (9 rectangles) and look at
the bottom right corner of the top left rectangle, you will land on an emerald tile.
The enormous left and right murals at The Land are mirror images with this exception!
Aquarium Lovers
Bruce Eating Drakeson, Milli, & Kevin
Epcot Forever
Goodnight, Epcot
Thursday, 23 Jul 21: Old Key West
Thursday was our day off, so we headed over to Old Key West to hang out at the luxury condo. We had to take our sweet time getting there, because as I already mentioned, Disney World doesn't know what they're doing. They allow adults to bring alcohol from one resort to another, they don't allow outside alcohol to enter the parks, and their transportation requires passing the park entrances. They really can't handle the combination of these facts. George was stopped twice, told the wrong information, and officially escorted to the bus because we wanted to sip on some Deep Eddy peach vodka iced tea in the afternoon at our family reunion.When we finally got there, Thal had made us some breakfast sandwiches! We hung out for a little while and played in the pool, and then Bill rented a surrey to take the kids out on a ride. He filmed Tins and me doing some Kratzke Sisters stuff, and the whole afternoon came crashing to a close as the Kratzke Sisters got simultaneously yelled at by golfers, and I had to run out the door to make our dinner reservation at the Whispering Canyon Café. There, we had endless skillets of meat and bottomless milkshakes, of which George downed two. With our vodka in tow, we were reluctantly escorted on our walk back to the Grand Floridian by a man named Alex who was cheerfully trying to convince us to take the boat. You're gonna walk this one, Alex. Your rules, your problem. Tins, Kevin, and Julie rode the busses to meet us at our resort to see Happily Ever After. We ended the evening with Cô Tins scaring the pants off my children with the introduction to the horrible story, The Monkey's Paw. Introduction is a generous word; we thankfully didn't make it too far.
Matching Double Layer Pleated Masks
Code Names
Shoes Rule (Milli is Wearing Julie's)
Serious Bell Ringing
Don't You Hurry with the Surrey with a Fringe on the Top!
Time for Work
Time for Dinner
Wilderness Lodge
Uncle Bill
Babies & Bà
Ready for Skillets of Meat
G
Alex
Old Key West
Thursday, 24 Jul 21: Epcot
It was our Epcot day, and we were all together! We rode Soarin', Frozen Ever After, Spaceship Earth, and Mission Space. Tins and I got our own cabin in Mission Space: Orange when our two other team members got nervous and left, so predictably, we cackled our way through it. We ended the morning with a very long line at Test Track, and Milli's smiles were the only reason it was worth it. As Tins puts it, "It was driving, and that's something I do every day." George believes someone passed out from the heat, which lengthened our line, but we'll never know. The single riders caught the staged version of JAMMitors, and then we all split up for a few hours.Thal and Julie stayed at Epcot and explored the Food and Wine festival with a pig ear salad among other orders. Tins, Bill, and Mom rode the skyliner to Hollywood Studios while the rest of us walked. George pushed the stroller fast enough to beat the skyliners by a few minutes (we joked about Paul Bunyan vs. the machine). Kevin and Drakeson went on Rockin' Rollercoaster while everyone else rode The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, and then we split up again for either Millennium Falcon or Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway and its weird related short, Vacation Fun. It was already time to head back to Epcot to meet up with Thal and Julie for the family favorite, Biergarten. As usual, the food and performances were everything we had hoped. Exhausted and full, we rode the Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros, Journey Into Imagination With Figment, and The Seas with Nemo & Friends before our second viewing of Epcot Forever.
❤️Troll ❤️
Waiting for Test Track
Donald at Hollywood
Tins' Favorite
Milli, Do You Fit in the Wall?
Because Who Doesn't Love Betty White?
Runaway Railway
Walking Back to Epcot
Aunt Julie
Chess Puzzles
Beirgarten Time!
Gone in One Minute
Dinner at the Small Table
Watching the Bells
Nap Time
Such a Big Day
Maybe Too Big
Only One Brushed Teeth
Biergarten
Thursday, 25 Jul 21: Magic Kingdom
Our last day in the parks was another split one. Thal and Julie headed to the Animal Kingdom, Tins, Bill, and Kevin went to Hollywood Studios for Rise of the Resistance, and the original six headed to the Magic Kingdom. We wasted no time getting into all the big rides: Space Mountain, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Under the Sea (we were right there), Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain, and Peter Pan's Flight. Then we took it easy with the Tiki Room, a break for dole whip floats, a viewing of the Magic Kingdom Cavalcade, the Country Bear Jamboree, the Prince Charming Regal Carrousel, Mickey's PhilharMagic, and the embarrassing Carousel of Progress. Tins, Bill, and Kevin park-hopped over and met us at the carrousel in the middle of our lazy afternoon. With the sun and the crowds starting to die down, the eight of us caught Tomorrowland Speedway and The Haunted Mansion before the original six headed to our princess dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table. BLT headed home, and Kevin stayed in the parks. He's such a trooper.Our meal was fantastic! The princess dinner used to serve mediocre food accompanied by a parade of princesses, but now we have a distanced Cinderella with fine dining. I'll take the upgrade. If you know me, you know I can't be down after a sparkling wine flight, charcuterie and beef barley soup, a large plate of scallops, and a giant portion of chocolate mousse. We had just enough time to catch It's a Small World, and then it was time to find a spot to see Happily Ever After up close and personal at last. Some of the bigger effects make more sense from the viewing at the Grand Floridian, but the fireworks that come from the castle, as well as the castle projections and Tink's flight were much more powerful right in front of our faces. The park was a free for all in the last half hour, so we started with The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and met up with Kevin for The Barnstormer and Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. George bought a bunch of junk from the Main Street Confectionery because he's a giant child. But then he stayed up until 2:30 in the morning doing laundry when the Grand Floridian couldn't get their act together and fix their broken machines because he's also the man of the hour.
BLT in Hollywood
Rope Dropping the MK
Milli's First Time on Space Mountain
French Braids
Pretty Cute Kids
Seven Dwarfs
3 Generations of Kratzke Ladies
Splash Mountain
Mama & Bà
Ông: "Uh oh! Those people must have gotten lost. That's not where we're going."
The End of the Cavalcade
Much Needed Dole Whips
Scroll down to the third picture here.
Uncle Bill
Elsa at Cinderella's
In the Castle
My Babies
Small World
Happily
Ever
After
The Gang
Lollipops & Grandparents
Thursday, 26 Jul 21: Blizzard Beach
I didn't really take pictures at Blizzard Beach because I was running around the park the whole time, but as usual, it was the best day. If you're willing to climb 137 stairs, you can get to three of the main rides with very little wait time. There's a lazy river, a wave pool, an obstacle course on a regular pool, some tube rides, and some toboggan rides. Surprisingly we didn't get rained out, so everybody had time to do everything they wanted to. Milli was too short for three of the rides, but she just wanted to swim in the lazy river and the wave pool anyway. She and Drakeson both handled the obstacle course like champions. Dinner was at one of my favorite restaurants - Narcoossee's - and we pulled out all the stops. Mixed drinks, fancy beers, lobster bisque, fried calamari, crab cakes, scallops galore, filet mignon, swordfish, pork chops, surf & turf, cheesecake, banana cream tart, and carrot cake adorned our setting for eleven. We walked out a little poorer and a little happier than when we went in, and watched Happily Ever After on Narcoossee's deck for the last time. It doesn't get old.
Relaxing in the Lazy River - Something Drakeson and Milli Can't Do
Teamboat Springs I
Teamboat Springs II
Thursday, 27 Jul 21: Disney Springs
It was our final half day, and I walked BLT out to their Magical Express at 4:30 am. I might have gotten misty eyed as their bus pulled away. We said goodbye to Thal and Julie right before our 12:00 lunch reservation at the Boathouse, and headed back to catch our own Magical Express just a couple hours later.
Honestly, I don't know if the Disney tradition will last. Mom and Dad will be living with us, and as Dad pointed out, meeting up is half of the fun. Liên, Bill, Thal, and Julie were pointedly unimpressed, and I can't blame them. Disney was irresponsible and inconsistent this time around, and they have no trouble taking a pretty penny. Mom says she won't come back without fastpasses, and Dad says that if fastpasses make us wait less, they make other people wait more. That makes me proud, because it means that Mom has been spoiled by my excellent planning.
Of course, seeing the family and going to the water park was the best part of the trip. I'm not even going to pretend like Kevin isn't the kids' favorite uncle, in part because that's painfully clear to everybody, but I will emphasize the fact that the little ones really do have special relationships with each of their aunts and uncles.
Splash Pad
Little Loves
Playin' with Mama
Bà
Bus to Ourselves
Ông: "I held her. She's made of skin and bones and freckles and curls."
Bye Bye, Thal & Julie!
Maleficent
LEGO Store
Enormous Turtle Ice Cream Pie
Mama Loves this Orange Bird
Drakeson Loves this Dino
Strolling Through the Polynesian
Heading Back Home (This is the picture where Drakeson wasn't crying.)
I'll conclude with few notable discoveries and verifications:
All the Kratzkes are a thousand times happier at a water park. Of course they are.
Tom, Trân, Lan, Liên, Thal, Drakeson, and Milli love my bitter lemon lime strawberry candy.
The spouses hate it.
Garden Grill is a new favorite. I would put it in our top tier:
Jiko, Sanaa, Tusker House, Narcoossee's, Biergarten, & Garden Grill.
Mom & Liên don't care for the Frozen singalong.
Lan & Liên actually hate the Jungle Cruise.
The only park ride Milli couldn't ride this year (our only rider switch) was Rockin' Rollercoaster.
Drakeson wants a prince costume if we ever go back to Cinderella's Royal Table.
(This is fine with me because their entrée included no fewer than 5 scallops.)
Drakeson can't wait for us to make King Stefan's beef barley soup at home.
You're not allowed to park-hop until 14:00, but the cut-off is actually 13:47.
The Skyliner doesn't usually save time, but it's fun.
You can score more points in Toy Story Mania if you work as a team and find the Easter eggs.
Rise of the Resistance is overrated even to Star Wars lovers Bill and Kevin.
The Boathouse is the only place that couldn't take our gift cards even though they thought they could.
Kevin's DVC cards provided a discount that paid for his meals, and he's so much fun to be around.
Always invite him to dinner if you can.
The Animation Station is terrific, and different classes feature different characters.
Dad wants to see more of the shows if we go next year, especially around the World Showcase.
That might work out well, because the kids are getting too heavy for the stroller.
On that note, we walked roughly 60 miles this trip and climbed about 60 flights of stairs.
Starting on July 30th, 3 days after we were there, Disney World will mandate masks again.
Liên loves Quito, who starred in Feathered Friends in Flight.
Disney World 2021
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