WDW 50th Anniversary Vacation 2022

It has taken me far to long to put together a blog post about our big vacation this year, but here we go!

me & Mark at Magic Kingdom

Since our first trip to WDW together, back in 2007, when Grandma and Pop-pop took the whole family to celebrate their 50th anniversary, Mark and I have planned to be at WDW for its 50th anniversary in 2021 (that's based on the Magic Kingdom opening in 1971). Well, with COVID upending everyone's plans for the last few years, and the parks themselves having been closed for part of 2020, the 50th anniversary celebration began on October 1, 2021 and continues until March 2023. (Naturally, they wanted a good long window to entice people to visit ;-). So, although we weren't able to make it in 2021, we were there during the celebration, for a nice, long trip at the end of April and beginning of May 2022. These dates were made possible by my Faculty Improvement Leave this spring semester--no teaching, no meetings--so we had the flexibility to take our trip a bit earlier than we could have in a normal semester.

And we had a wonderful time! It was our first big vacation since before COVID (we had, happily, visited WDW in January 2020, with no idea just how glad we'd be that we'd taken the trip when we did!). So between that and the anniversary stuff, we were feeling pretty splurgy. We went to fancy restaurants, including old favorites and the newest, nearly-impossible-to-get reservation. We treated ourselves to a dessert party with reserved fireworks viewing at the Magic Kingdom (both this fireworks/projection show and the one at Epcot were new since our last trip). We bought more souvenirs than usual, many with 50th themes. We got the WDW photo pass, with the ride photos and magic shots that we always see in our account, but never before paid to keep. We also celebrated our upcoming wedding anniversary (18 years!) and the actual anniversary of closing on our house (April 30). 

Rather than a play-by-play of the week, here are a whole bunch of pictures (roughly categorized, perhaps somewhat chronological, but otherwise not in any particular order :-). 

Let's start in the Magic Kingdom!

Mark & me in front of the Magic Kingdom
(this is one of those magic shots--you do
what the photographer tells you,
then see later what they've added)

me & Mark in our matching WDW
shirts, on Main Street, with the
castle in the background. Mark's 
holding magic shot 50th balloons

me & Mark on main street, laughing

ride photo from Splash Mountain
(one of our favorites rides, which
had been closed during
our last two January trips)

Haunted Mansion ride photo

Mark w/Mickey & Minnie golden statues 

Mark & me with the castle

me & Mark (with a magic Tinkerbell), and the
castle, Walt & Mickey statue in the background

this is one of my favorites: me & Mark with the
50th Mickey & Minnie topiaries and train station

ride photo from Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

me & Mark after riding Big
Thunder Mountain Railroad
(one of my favorite rides)

Mark & me in front of Haunted Mansion 
(the photographer told us to look scared :-)

ride photo from Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin

another day, another view of the castle

Ana & Elsa in the
Festival of Fantasy Parade

Rapunzel blowing a kiss 
(perhaps to her real-life boyfriend--
there was a guy next to us who
seemed like he might actually know her)

the Little Mermaid

Tinkerbell

the dragon--breathing fire!

in line for Space Mountain

an interesting view of the construction for the new
Tron ride (from the People Mover)

watching the new fireworks & projection
show from Main Street

the castle at night

poster from Carousel of Progress
(one of Mark's favorite attractions)

inside the Carousel of Progress

for the 50th, there are golden statues
in each park. Here's Dumbo.

and Pluto with Goofy

the mice from Cinderella

close up of the castle's 50 sign

Mark about to walk through the castle

Daisy & Donald golden statues

Chip & Dale golden statues

Mickey & Minnie golden statues

50th merchandise display in the 
big shop on Main Street

one of the floats from the 50th cavalcade 
(which appears a few times each day)

in line for It's a Small World (we always talk
about Pop-Pop when we ride this one)

caught my name displayed at the end!

selfie before fireworks (from our
dessert party reserved area)

great view of the castle!

and the fireworks/projections!

a late ride on the People Mover,
with Space Mountain in the background

closer view of the castle at night

the new castle stage show

the Walt & Mickey statue
in front of the castle

more Festival of Fantasy--Mickey & Minnie

Mickey waving our way

the sign from the dessert party check-in

inside the Hall of Presidents

Splash Mountain

Mark brandishing a sword in the
Pirates of the Caribbean gift shop

a cast member painted Mickey with water

Cogsworth & Lumiere golden statue

an unexpected look at Space Mountain
with the lights on, during a ride on the
People Mover

the Space Mountain track!

very tired (on the People Mover :-)

And here's Epcot. 

me & Mark, smiling at each other, with the 
beautiful 50th & Flower & Garden landscaping

me & Mark in the Japan pavilion

Mark & me with Spaceship Earth
(and a flower border magic shot)

with Spaceship Earth at night
(the LED lights are new--and awesome!)

with Spaceship Earth and the new fountain
(look for the clear/glass pillars over my shoulder)

a really silly magic shot with a
character from Encanto

Mark & me making a heart with
our hands (the photographers 
prompt you to do all sorts of poses!)

me & Mark looking at each other,
him holding out our anniversary button

us again, with the button--here, you can
see we're in the Morocco pavilion

Lumiere and Cogsworth topiaries in France

new Remy topiary (from Ratatouille)

in line for the new Ratatouille ride

flowers in Living with the Land greenhouse

hydroponic lettuce (Mickey design
in the front; 50 in the back)

inside Bambi's butterfly house

close up of one of many butterflies

selfie in the butterfly house

me with the Figment topiary

Woody & Bo Peep topiary

I thought this bathtub planter was too cute!

a view of the entrance for the new Guardians of
the Galaxy ride (which opened a few weeks after
our trip--one downside to our early trips!)

Buzz Lightyear topiary

dinosaur cutout in a garden display

another dino from the same garden

Figment golden statue

Mark with Miguel & Diego golden statues

dragon topiary in Japan 

miniature garden

Amy singing along with the 3 caballeros topiary

Mark with the Sorcerer Mickey topiary

Mickey & Minnie garden topiary 

Hewey, Dewey, & Louie topiaries with Daisy

Rocket & Baby Groot golden statue

topiary with monorail line and Spaceship Earth

Olaf golden statue

Pua & Heihei golden statue

Captain Hook & Peter Pan topiary

me with the crocodile topiary (from Peter Pan)

Tigger, Piglet, & Eeyore topiary

Winnie the Pooh topiary

Rabbit topiary

Pluto, Chip, & Dale topiary

flower border and Spaceship Earth at dusk

our first viewing of the new Harmonious show

by chance, we were at Epcot on 
"Dapper Day," when people come 
very dressed up, like this lady!

Lion King topiary

me & Mark with Goofy's 50th cake topiary

a gnome (or troll?) topiary

me posing with Elsa & Ana topiary

a colorful Bambi topiary

another view of the Harmonious show

and fireworks!

me with the Beauty & the Beast topiary

Lady & the Tramp topiary

view of Spaceship Earth from Italy pavilion

Miss Piggy & Kermit topiary

Snow White topiary

some of the 7 dwarves

panda topiary

a monorail train, with the 50th wrap

me with Tinkerbell's fairy garden

a serene garden in Japan

Next up: Hollywood Studios.

me with Mark, laughing, in front
of the Chinse theater

Mark & me looking terrified 
in front of Tower of Terror

Mark keeping me grounded,
while I hold 50th balloons, in
front of Rock'n'Roller Coaster

we happened to be in Hollywood Studios on May the 4th.
This is my small tribute from Galaxy's Edge.

it's hard to see, but in the background is an 
unofficial parade of guests with light sabers

as we left on May the 4th, the Star Wars fans
had gathered with their light sabers outside

me & Mark with the Millennium Falcon

Tower of Terror at night

watching an army man parachute

me posing with a Star Wars merchandise display

one of the two new projection shows

Mark & me in Toy Story Land

me & Mark at night in front of
Tower of Terror

me & Mark hugging, in front of the Chinese theater

posing with the Hollywood Studios sign

another one with the sign

ride photo from Rock'nRoller Coaster 
(can anyone keep their eyes open on that launch!?)

ride photo from Tower of Terror

an early morning selfie with Slinky Dog coaster

another pic of one of the projection shows

we enjoyed these shows--more than we expected to

me with Dino Gertie

Beauty & the Beast stage show (first number)

Beauty & the Beast stage show (ending)

BB8 & R2D2 golden statues

Bo Peep & Woody golden statue

Flounder & Sebastian golden statue

Soul golden statue

And the Animal Kingdom.

me "riding" a motorbike

the beautiful macaws that fly in

here they are overhead

50th merchandise display (dinosaur!)

another dinosaur statue

Mark & I waiting to board the safari

a giraffe having a snack

mama & baby hippo

me with a 50th banner
(each park had its own color & design)

safari Mickey & Minnie on the river

drummers playing on a boat in the river

the start of one of the animal trails

selfie with Mark in Pandora

Mark & me with the tree of life
(from the back of the park, taken by other guests!)

me in a funny little vehicle 
(I can't resist these :-)

fallen petals from the trees shaped into a Mickey

back on safari--the new goats

lots of rhinos!

about to watch the new Kite Tails
show--which I loved!
(low expectations = pleasant surprise)

the Simba balloon, pulled by a jet ski

Mark & me at the end of Expedition Everest

ride photo from Expedition Everest

me with Mark and
the Tree of Life, roaring?

traditional pose with the Tree of Life

Mark & me, looking at each other

magic shot with Bambi & friends

Mark & me with the Animal Kingdom entrance sign

us in a photo box at the entrance--with Up characters

us in Pandora at dusk

me & Mark hugging, with Everest in the background

another Expedition Everest ride photo

us looking cold, with magic shot snow

You saw this coming: Food!

And lots of it...since we were there for so long. (Even so, there are meals I didn't include here :-). 

a long-time favorite: chicken & waffles from
Sleepy Hollow in Magic Kingdom (we ate this
same meal our first and last day of the trip)

big brownie sundae

bounty breakfast platter (we often
split this for breakfast at the hotel)

three appetizers for lunch at Nine Dragons in Epcot

ice cream cookie sandwiches in Animal Kingdom
(one we ordered, the other was a freebie!)

dinner in Pandora

two fancy hot dogs in Hollywood Studios

sushi in Japan

we had a great table by the windows!

Mark's eel entrée

my tempura

a 50th monte cristo in the Magic Kingdom

Mark's burger, my Cuban sandwich,
and a Wookie cookie to split at Hollywood Studios

theme park pizza! (and salad)

queso fundido, an appetizer for our meal in the
Mexico pavilion at Epcot

a 50th mini-bundt cake

hotel breakfast--an omelet
with potatoes and a cinnamon roll

lunch at the Riviera resort 
(which had a Coke freestyle machine!)

our favorite restaurant, Narcoossee's, at the
Grand Floridian Resort

a selfie while we waited for our table

complimentary bread & butter 
(we love that pink salt!)

Mark is ready to dig in!

scallops w/gnocchi 

the biggest side of mashed potatoes
I've ever seen (they were delicious!)

me with our favorite dessert

the almond crusted cheesecake
(not what we'd usually go for,
but we love it so much!)

at Hollywood Studios,
we split this big salad...

...and this deluxe cookies & cream funnel cake!

some items from the Flower & Garden Festival
food booths (the shrimp & grits is another favorite)

my plates of goodies at the Magic Kingdom
fireworks dessert party...the crepes were the best!

classic chili dog & corn dog nuggets
from Casey's Corner in Magic Kingdom

a spur of the moment treat at Animal
Kingdom--watermelon shaved ice
with sweetened condensed milk

pot stickers at Yak & Yeti

...and our chicken entrée 

another Wookie cookie
(and a freebie cupcake)

breakfast sandwich from the hotel 
(eaten on the go!)

super yummy caramel donut from a food booth

Mark got us a lunch reservation at Space 220--
the most popular new restaurant now!
We often split meals, but here, we had to order
the prix fixe menu, an app and entrée each

our view of space from the table

me with Earth in the background

calamari

salad with burrata mozzarella

my smoked salmon (very good!)

Mark's burger (disappointing)

a complimentary anniversary cupcake

Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater

us in our dine-in car

onion rings and a burger (to share)

apple donut with ice cream--
this was really good!

breakfast to go, again--Mark had a
bagel sandwich, I had overnight oats
(really different from what I make at 
home, but also very good!)

Mark with another ice cream cookie 
sandwich (we split :-)

giant cinnamon roll from Gaston's Tavern

Mr. Toad's peanut butter mousse cake

one last ice cream sundae before we left!

Pop Century & Miscellaneous  

We've stayed at Pop Century for our last few trips, and it's just such a great deal, with excellent transportation. We enjoyed the Skyliner even more than we remembered from 2020 (when it was newly available). And we ended up with a room upgrade, so the building we stayed in was very centrally located--super convenient (plus it saved us a bit of walking). 

the larger-than-life play-doh in front
of our building at the hotel

a selfie on the Skyliner--such a quick and fun way
to get around (plus, it was often just us in the cabin!)

a bad picture looking out the Skyliner windows

a Skyliner cabin with the 50th wrap

Peter Pan mosaic at the Rivera resort

Tangled mosaic at the Rivera resort

the special 50th float in the Electrical
Water Pageant (viewed from the Grand
Floridian after our dinner there)

on the monorail (see the guy over my
shoulder in the BGSU t-shirt?! :-)

We really had a great time, and we were totally worn out by the time we came home. But, wow, what a way to start the summer! I don't want the last pic in the post to be the silly one above, so here's just one more:

me & Mark hugging in the Magic
Kingdom, near the castle, with
magic shot "EARidescent shimmer"