Trip Report Double Double Dip Trip June 2017 (Completed!)

MinnieM123 · Aug 8, 2017

ajrwdwgirl said:
I've been wondering how the spas were on property. Maybe I'll check them out sometime. The thing is I don't want to be even gently offered products. If I want to buy something I will ask for it. But it is good to know that the Mandara spa has a soft sales approach.

Unfortunately, it's a "resort" sort of thing, and I doubt you'd ever find any spa in any hotel/resort that didn't also sell products. They have a huge markup on all that stuff, and there's usually incentives or commissions for the employees to sell those. (Think of even a regular, small town beauty salon--they all carry products for sale.).

The only places I think you could avoid a product push, might be in a more medical-type setting. For example, some medical facilities with physical therapy units, offer outpatient services such as therapeutic muscle massage. They'd be far less likely to push high-end (or any) products there, and would probably suggest a skin cream at CVS for you to buy, if they noticed your skin was on the dry side.

ajrwdwgirl · Aug 8, 2017

gdisneyfans said:
I had that same dessert on our cruise and didn't like it either I felt like it was really dry and the flavors just didn't mesh well together or something? Maybe it's time to update to something better!

Loving your report!! The perfect way to spend birthdays and an anniversary.

I agree they should probably take it off the menu, but I'm sure someone likes it. And what is more pirate themed than rum!
I'm glad you are enjoying my report!

ajrwdwgirl · Aug 8, 2017

susan lees said:
I haven't had magic shell in years. Definitely going to buy some now. Yum

I have some in my cupboards, I thought about breaking it out today but we are going to music in the park tonight so perhaps I'll be going to the Dairy Queen instead. :hungry:

ajrwdwgirl · Aug 8, 2017

MinnieM123 said:
Unfortunately, it's a "resort" sort of thing, and I doubt you'd ever find any spa in any hotel/resort that didn't also sell products. They have a huge markup on all that stuff, and there's usually incentives or commissions for the employees to sell those. (Think of even a regular, small town beauty salon--they all carry products for sale.).

The only places I think you could avoid a product push, might be in a more medical-type setting. For example, some medical facilities with physical therapy units, offer outpatient services such as therapeutic muscle massage. They'd be far less likely to push high-end (or any) products there, and would probably suggest a skin cream at CVS for you to buy, if they noticed your skin was on the dry side.

You are probably right @MinnieM123 . The place I go at home is more medical, I'm even allowed to use my HSA money for it because it is billed as a medical massage. They place where I go doesn't even allow tips. It is perfect for me, no pressure just relaxation! So maybe I'll just skip the massage on vacation.

Songbird76 · Aug 9, 2017

ajrwdwgirl said:
Brad found his shirt when we went to the Disney outlet store a day before we set sail. It was under $10 and he was so happy because he had wanted to bring his pirate dreads wig from his Halloween costume but he claims I wouldn't let him. All I did was point out that they were kind of heavy and would take up weight and space in his luggage. So anyway, he was happy to get a pirate shirt and in his size too. The cruise shirt I'm wearing in the picture I got at the outlet too for $8. As for us buying shirts to commemorate the trip, I guess we usually get one sometimes more. It depends on what we see.

The Disney Dream has two upcharge restaurants Remy and Palo. So when we did the brunch at Palo there was an extra fee for that. There is also Vanelope's Sweet Shop that is an upcahrge too based on what you order, think of it like the Confectionary & Ice Cream Parlor at the Magic Kingdom. The other table service as well as the buffet and counter service options are all included in the price of your passage. And at dinner you can order as much as you want, hence the ordering of multiple dishes and desserts. There is even a soft serve ice cream station that is included in the cruise fare, so all you can eat ice cream. The coffee shop's pastries are included too but specialty coffee is not. There are also beverage stations on the main pool deck with soda and coffee that is included in your fare as well.

There is one bar 687 that offers appetizers at an upcharge as well. But all of the upcharge stuff is clearly known to passengers before they order. There is plenty to eat of the included food. Really you could be eating all day with what is included in your fare.

I might have to look up a recipe for satay. It was really good.

We just melt peanut butter in a pan with water, stir in some garlic powder, chili paste (Sambal), and soy sauce. I've seen it also made with coconut milk if people like a sweeter taste. Really easy.

ajrwdwgirl · Aug 9, 2017

Songbird76 said:
We just melt peanut butter in a pan with water, stir in some garlic powder, chili paste (Sambal), and soy sauce. I've seen it also made with coconut milk if people like a sweeter taste. Really easy.

That sounds good and very simple. I'm going to have to write that down. I went through my cupboard trying to figure out what to make for dinner and look at what I found. I think I bought this dinner kit at the start of June. I totally forgot about it. I might make it this weekend.

MouseDreaming · Aug 10, 2017

ajrwdwgirl said:
No hammock for me today, but it makes a lovely picture.
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It was close to 4 pm and it was time to head back to the ship.
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Since the regular tram doesn't drop off directly at the gangway, we had some walking to do, but that let us do a few photo opps.
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The post office on the island. I know it is open from time to time but I've never seen it open. We noticed it does have "sea mail" and air mail delivery.
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What a very cool way to spend your birthday. Happy Belated!

Cesar R M · Aug 11, 2017

MinnieM123 said:
Unfortunately, it's a "resort" sort of thing, and I doubt you'd ever find any spa in any hotel/resort that didn't also sell products. They have a huge markup on all that stuff, and there's usually incentives or commissions for the employees to sell those. (Think of even a regular, small town beauty salon--they all carry products for sale.).

The only places I think you could avoid a product push, might be in a more medical-type setting. For example, some medical facilities with physical therapy units, offer outpatient services such as therapeutic muscle massage. They'd be far less likely to push high-end (or any) products there, and would probably suggest a skin cream at CVS for you to buy, if they noticed your skin was on the dry side.

Since most SPAS are concessionaires.. so agree with the push to sell you products.
Specially since most of them get a very basic income (like 500 USD or 800 USD a month) and everything else is based on what they sell.

ajrwdwgirl · Aug 13, 2017

So remember the title of the report is double double dip, so we had our first double dip on the cruise with two stops at Castaway Cay and now we are back to WDW and our second double dip and it makes it a true double dip because we are staying at the Pop again.

It's always a thrill to pass under the gates.

We checked into the Pop before returning the car. Of course at about 8:30 in the morning our room wasn't ready but we decided to check and see if any room was ready before storing our bags with bell services. And since we were going to be there for one night, we really didn't care if it was close to the bus area or anything, we just wanted a room. And we were lucky there was a room ready, it was in the 70's section and a short walk to the bus stop. The cast member that helped us could have been a bit more friendly, she seemed a little disgusted with us trying to get a room early. And really we would have been okay with them saying we had to wait, we just wanted to try so it wasn't like we were being snotty with her or anything.

Anyway, so Brad and I went back to the car to drive over to the 70's building to put our bags in the room. I thought it would be a short drive because we could drive over to the next parking lot, the next turn, it was so close! By the way it is important to note, we often stay in the 70's section in the very building we are now currently assigned, our first stay we were in the 90's section and cut through the parking lot every day, the parking lot we should be headed to . Brad should know this, we have walked past this parking lot SO many times.

So Brad drives out and I tell him it is the next right turn, and he tells me no it isn't because the sign says 80's and 90's not 70's. I say it is where we need to go. I even have the map in my hand and try to show him. But he is a little snippy and sure he is correct and tells me I'm wrong. So he continues to drive to the sign that says 70's-80's parking and he drives up to the the side of the 80's building (the one in which the computer pool is in front of). We are far from our room. I point this out to him (he is in a mood for some reason, so I'm using a nice calm voice) and he snatches the map from my hand and sees that the parking lot we should use was the one I had pointed out. So he grumbles and gets turned around in this parking lot and blocked for a minute or two as a construction semi and truck block the way for a moment. We finally get over to where we pull up right in front of our building to unload our suitcases. As we turned in he makes a comment about them not having 70's on the sign so it wasn't his fault. I knew it wasn't the time to be like "I told you, you should have listened to me" so I just rolled my eyes so he couldn't see, but we did have that "I told you so conversation" when he wasn't in his little mood, because he apologized for being a baby and not listening to me. He did admit that he should have remembered where to go and once he passed the correct turn he realized I had been right but didn't want to admit it right away.

So anyway, bags were now stored in the room and we had to go return the car. We had to stop for gas before returning it, and there was a nice view as I waited.

This time he listened to my directions and it was an easy drive and return of the car to the Wyndham Lake Buena Vista. Now our next problem was how to get to Hollywood Studios. We could Uber (that was voted down quick by Brad), walk to Saratoga Springs and take their bus, but I inquired when the next shuttle from the Wyndham was leave and it was scheduled to be there in one minute. So we took their shuttle. It was fine, but it made me thankful for the Disney buses. It looks like their shuttle shares with a couple hotels, we stopped at another one (I think it was the Hilton) and people had been on the bus when we got on so there was probably at least one other hotel. Plus this shuttle was going to both Hollywood Studios and the Magic Kingdom, two parks worth of people wanting a spot on the bus. It got a little crowded. The shuttle did play the Disney Must Do's on tv screens, but it was the must do's from a couple years ago, so really the shuttle was a time machine.

Like I said the shuttle was going to 2 parks but I thought that was okay because we would be passing Hollywood Studios first so that's where we would stop first right?! Nope, we went to the Magic Kingdom, actually the TTC first, waited about 5 minutes there and then to Hollywood Studios. :grumpy:

Oh well, we had fastpasses lined up, and we were just there for some bonus time, but still..... Anyway, seeing that shuttles are shared between hotels, and the drop off points, I was pretty sure off property wasn't for us unless we had our own transport. Oh plus, the line at the TTC for security was like :jawdrop:

, plus then having to ferry or monorail over. Nope, I'll stick to my Magic Kingdom bus stop via Disney buses. I will say though that the Wyndham did look very nice inside the lobby and the staff was friendly.

Bye-bye car!

A cool Pandora promotion on the floor at the Wyndham.

ajrwdwgirl · Aug 13, 2017

So we finally arrived at Hollywood Studios and our first fast pass was ready to go for us. But we stopped at a lonely photopass photographer.

She was fun to chat with and decided to be in our photo's too, and did a selfie with us on Brad's phone. I must say we, especially me, look like total dorks in the picture.

Then onto one of my favorites!

I wanted to get a nice picture of the sign out front because for once there was no one in front of it. Well, just as I walked up a guy decided to lie down on the edge in front of the sign and him friend sat next to him. :cautious:

So side shot it was then.

After an exhilarating ride through the 5th dimension we continued on. Now remember we had just been on the cruise ship with basically unlimited food for 5 days and this morning all we had was a croissant (me) and a doughnut (hubs). Maybe that is why he was in a mood... Anyway, we decided we needed some food and went over to try PizzaRizzo. I know it isn't the best pizza ever, but we were so hungry it was delicious. Actually, looking back on it even without being so hungry it was decent enough pizza. We liked the theme of the restaurant too and it was super hot so the AC was nice.

We passed through the Muppets Courtyard and something looked different. No, it wasn't the plants in the fountain , we'd seen that before. Oh! The sign! and the scar from the old sign. Hmmmm....

Dancing cheese! Even in Wisconsin we don't have dancing cheese!

The cups were cool, I totally would have bought one if it had been for sale. Even hubs who doesn't drink coffee wanted a mug.

ajrwdwgirl · Aug 13, 2017

Here's a look at the pizza.

A look at the dining room, I wanted to go up to the banquet room upstairs, but I was out voted by Brad and Hungry Brad who just wanted to eat his pizza.

I did get a kick out of the garbage cans. There weren't many people there but one guy gave me a couple odd looks when I was taking pictures of garbage cans. That's fine, he's just not as cool as me!

And look at some Star Wars construction.

ajrwdwgirl · Aug 13, 2017

ajrwdwgirl said:
That sounds good and very simple. I'm going to have to write that down. I went through my cupboard trying to figure out what to make for dinner and look at what I found. I think I bought this dinner kit at the start of June. I totally forgot about it. I might make it this weekend.
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I had to quote myself. I made this for lunch today and it was super tasty. So if you like peanut sauce types of food and see it in the store I would recommend it. I bought it at Wal-Mart and I don't know if it is sold anywhere else. But it was nice to have all the ingredients (besides the chicken, rice and veggies) all in one spot and ready to put in the pan. Oh and hubby liked it a lot too.

ajrwdwgirl · Aug 13, 2017

After lunch we watched Muppets and then moved on to our next fast pass at Toy Story.

This reminds me of a great parenting moment we saw on our way over to PizzaRizzo. So here's the story: we were walking past the Chinese Theater by the bathrooms and in the direction of Star Tours/Muppets, when the music starts to play for the March of the First Order (or the parade of the Storm troopers as I call it). Anyway, this dad and his little girl (probably about 5-6 years old) are walking in the opposite direction. The music starts and the guy grabs the little girl's hand and starts to run saying "hurry up we gotta see them" (the storm troopers weren't even visible or even close to that area yet only the music is playing). Then the little girl stumbles but the dad doesn't slow down, and is dragging this girl on the ground for about probably a good 15-20 feet and finally her cries reach his ears and he realized she was dragging on the ground. By now her knees are bleeding and she is rightfully sobbing, all so this grown man could watch Storm troopers. It made me so angry. I know he didn't do it on purpose, but geez buddy the world wasn't going to end if you didn't get a first row look at the Storm troopers that weren't even close to that area yet. Hubs and I just watched in horror, it was like it was slow motion. I felt so bad for that little girl, now her day was ruined and would be in pain for days because of her dad. I wanted to go tell the guy how stupid he was to run for something like that and that she deserved at least a nice ice cream treat, but he did look very concerned about his daughter and was doing a nice job of comforting her. I just hope he realizes how stupid he was.

Then we rode Toy Story. I won again, someone was a little upset and was "yelling" at me to tell him my secrets. Not really yelling but forcefully asking.

I saw this cute little scene near the little shop area.

And looked at this area and thought about how it would be a lot different next year at this time.

We went into One Man's Dream to enjoy the AC, kill some time before our next fast pass, and for me enjoy the old Disney artifacts.

I found a picture of Flynn to admire. Brad caught me in the act. :inlove:

#cartoonboyfriend

We still had some more time to kill and the line for Starlord and Baby Groot was about 20 minutes so that was the perfect amount of time. I really didn't care about meeting Starlord, well unless it would have really been Chris Pratt then that would have been different :inlove:

., but I loved Baby Groot in Guardians Vol. 2. I love that he is so cute, and I just love it when Baby Groot dances! We have similar moves. I would have been just fine with just us and Baby Groot in the picture, but it seemed rude to ask Star Lord to step out of the way. So I let him be in the picture too.

Talking to Baby Groot

And Baby Groot! I AM GROOT! I am Groot? I am Groot.

Figgy1 · Aug 13, 2017

ajrwdwgirl said:
After lunch we watched Muppets and then moved on to our next fast pass at Toy Story.

This reminds me of a great parenting moment we saw on our way over to PizzaRizzo. So here's the story: we were walking past the Chinese Theater by the bathrooms and in the direction of Star Tours/Muppets, when the music starts to play for the March of the First Order (or the parade of the Storm troopers as I call it). Anyway, this dad and his little girl (probably about 5-6 years old) are walking in the opposite direction. The music starts and the guy grabs the little girl's hand and starts to run saying "hurry up we gotta see them" (the storm troopers weren't even visible or even close to that area yet only the music is playing). Then the little girl stumbles but the dad doesn't slow down, and is dragging this girl on the ground for about probably a good 15-20 feet and finally her cries reach his ears and he realized she was dragging on the ground. By now her knees are bleeding and she is rightfully sobbing, all so this grown man could watch Storm troopers. It made me so angry. I know he didn't do it on purpose, but geez buddy the world wasn't going to end if you didn't get a first row look at the Storm troopers that weren't even close to that area yet. Hubs and I just watched in horror, it was like it was slow motion. I felt so bad for that little girl, now her day was ruined and would be in pain for days because of her dad. I wanted to go tell the guy how stupid he was to run for something like that and that she deserved at least a nice ice cream treat, but he did look very concerned about his daughter and was doing a nice job of comforting her. I just hope he realizes how stupid he was.

Then we rode Toy Story. I won again, someone was a little upset and was "yelling" at me to tell him my secrets. Not really yelling but forcefully asking.
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I saw this cute little scene near the little shop area.
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And looked at this area and thought about how it would be a lot different next year at this time.
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We went into One Man's Dream to enjoy the AC, kill some time before our next fast pass, and for me enjoy the old Disney artifacts.
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I found a picture of Flynn to admire. Brad caught me in the act. #cartoonboyfriend
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We still had some more time to kill and the line for Starlord and Baby Groot was about 20 minutes so that was the perfect amount of time. I really didn't care about meeting Starlord, well unless it would have really been Chris Pratt then that would have been different ., but I loved Baby Groot in Guardians Vol. 2. I love that he is so cute, and I just love it when Baby Groot dances! We have similar moves. I would have been just fine with just us and Baby Groot in the picture, but it seemed rude to ask Star Lord to step out of the way. So I let him be in the picture too.
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Talking to Baby Groot
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And Baby Groot! I AM GROOT! I am Groot? I am Groot.
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Maybe it's a good thing I didn't wind up in your suitcase

the Rapunzel and Fylnn pic would have come home with me

ajrwdwgirl · Aug 13, 2017

We headed to Star Tours and the fast pass return was long but that was fine we were able to watch a little of the Jedi show. The lady in the scooter behind us was pretty livid about the length of the line. She kept talking about how she shouldn't have to wait in this line because she had a scooter and that was supposed to mean you didn't wait in line at all. She was older and probably really did need the scooter, but I just rolled my eyes at her thinking she had a front of the line pass because of the scooter.

Some Star Tours pictures.

After that we headed out of the park and over to Epcot to finish up some of World Showcase. Luckily as we walked out of Hollywood Studios we saw the boat pull up. Good timing!

Someone got in a little nap.

I was a little tempted to jump off at the Boardwalk and go here, but I controlled myself. I kind of regret that now.

Getting ready for gondolas. Gondolas, good or bad? I haven't decided yet but I'll probably love riding them once they are up and running.

ajrwdwgirl · Aug 13, 2017

Bye boat!

We didn't stop at Ample Hills because we did have another snack in mind. We wanted to try the battered Banger that was offered at the pub at the Rose and Crown. And I can't go into a pub without something to drink. A black and tan for me.

We were lucky to find a stand up table at the pub and eventually we were able to move to one of the tables with seating in the pub area.

We shared the banger (mistake). It was very tasty and the dipping sauce on the right was really nice. The other was regular ketchup. It was small though, next time we won't share with each other.

I wanted to go see the France film. Brad thought I just wanted to walk through the pavilion, and seemed surprised I wanted to see the film. But he agreed especially since while we waited we were able to sit on a bench in the AC. We both fell asleep for a little bit towards the end of the film. We both enjoy it but with the AC and the lovely music, it is just like a lullaby.

We both wanted to explore through more of the countries but it was just so dang hot and it was crowded. Being on the ship with the cool sea breezes had spoiled us. So we headed out of Epcot and back to the Pop for a mid-day break after a stop at Mouse Gear.

ajrwdwgirl · Aug 13, 2017

figmentfan423 said:
Maybe it's a good thing I didn't wind up in your suitcase

the Rapunzel and Fylnn pic would have come home with me

Ha!

Isn't Flynn Rider/Eugene the best?! :inlove:

Tuvalu · Aug 13, 2017

I liked your "dork" selfie on Sunset Blvd. :happy:

Too bad you couldn't convince Brad to sit in PizzeRizzo's banquet hall. The disco music would have perked him up!

ajrwdwgirl · Aug 13, 2017

Back to the Pop bus stop.

At the Pop, hubs was looking for a luggage strap for his bag, he was having luggage issues. I didn't remember what he was looking for at the time, perhaps he didn't tell me or I didn't listen and I wandered off. He didn't find one but bought some medical tape to tape up his bag. That's when he found me looking at the trivia board. He told me he was unable to find a luggage strap, and had bought tape. I was like what do you mean you couldn't find a luggage strap, they are right here. I walked about two feet away and showed him the straps. He admitted he hadn't looked over there and I told him to return the tape and buy the strap. He did buy the strap but kept the tape, he thought it would be good to have in his bag. I was a little peeved because I had a roll of the same tape in my bag. Whatever, it was his money he was wasting.

The trivia board...I got all the questions correct

So we walked back to the room for a quick nap.

We felt a couple drips as we headed back and once we were in the room it started to storm when we woke up it was still storming.
After our nap and back to the bus stop, thank goodness for the overhangs! The lightning was crazy too!

Off we went we were headed back to Epcot to make a connection to a resort. Why Epcot? I think we were hoping to ride the monorail. Needless to say the monorail was down and we had to take a bus to the TTC.

ajrwdwgirl · Aug 13, 2017

Tuvalu said:
I liked your "dork" selfie on Sunset Blvd.

Too bad you couldn't convince Brad to sit in PizzeRizzo's banquet hall. The disco music would have perked him up!

Maybe next time. I just didn't want to poke the bear he was getting a little hangry. I think it was the lack of food that morning that made him that way, after lunch he was back to normal self.

Trip Report Double Double Dip Trip June 2017 (Completed!)

MinnieM123

ajrwdwgirl

ajrwdwgirl

ajrwdwgirl

Songbird76

Well-Known Member

ajrwdwgirl

MouseDreaming

Well-Known Member

Cesar R M

Well-Known Member

ajrwdwgirl

ajrwdwgirl

ajrwdwgirl

ajrwdwgirl

ajrwdwgirl

Figgy1

ajrwdwgirl

ajrwdwgirl

ajrwdwgirl

Tuvalu

ajrwdwgirl

ajrwdwgirl