Travels of the Rennhack family
🎢 Park 4/9/2021 – 4/12/2021
Disney's Pop Century Resort, Epcot, & Seaworld
The family flew from Detroit to Walt Disney World by way of Charlotte, masks on the whole way. At the airport, Disney's Magical Express bus picked us up for the resort, screens overhead running park previews for the ride over.
We checked into Disney's Pop Century Resort after dark, its giant record and jukebox decorations lit up outside our building. We found the food court before heading up to the room, tired but finally there.
The day took in Walt Disney World and SeaWorld Orlando. We stayed at Disney's Pop Century Resort, and started the morning walking the resort grounds in matching blue shirts, past the giant 101 Dalmatians statue and the oversized decorations of the 50's and 60's sections.
We spent the day at SeaWorld Orlando, with All-Day Dining and Quick Queue. Thomas cleared the height check board with room to spare, and we posed for a family photo against the SeaWorld backdrop before heading in. We watched pelicans along the walkways, walked through the shark and ray tunnel, and stopped by the empty Sea Lion stadium between shows.
Manatees and a pair of sea turtles drifted past the underwater viewing windows, and lionfish and clownfish filled the reef tanks further along. Lisa sat for a caricature artist late in the afternoon, and the day ended back near the resort with a tall costumed character leaning in for a photo.
We started the morning at the resort, past the Lady and Tramp statues and the giant Mickey checkers, then rode the Skyliner gondola toward Epcot, stopping through Disney's Art of Animation Resort on the way, its Finding Nemo statues towering over the walkway.
The day was spent at Epcot, walking the World Showcase during the Flower and Garden Festival, past character topiaries trimmed into shape, a red British telephone booth in the UK, and carved totem masks in Canada. We ducked into the rain in ponchos for a photo under Spaceship Earth, then spent time at The Seas with Nemo and Friends watching manatees glide past the viewing windows.
China's pavilion had an ornate painted ceiling and a life-size terra cotta warrior, and Italy's bell tower rose over the lagoon as evening came on. We closed out the night back by the water for a family photo, arms out, masks on, before heading back to the resort.
The Leave a Legacy tiles had moved since our last visit: they came down from in front of Spaceship Earth in 2019, and came back just outside the park gates on walls stained in rainbow colors. We found the tile Kathy and I made in January 2003, and Lisa and Thomas made a heart over it again, in rain ponchos.
We checked out of Disney's Pop Century Resort in the morning, one last photo under the giant POP sign. On the way out we swung through the Cars section of Disney's Art of Animation Resort, posing with Mater, Luigi and Lightning McQueen before heading for the airport.
The family flew from Orlando to Dallas/Fort Worth, then on to Detroit, watching the coastline and later the inland farmland pass by the window, water and snacks handed out along the way. We were home in Coloma by night.
