Pre-Trip 2 broke guys and the 40% off trip (deluxe!)

Yes, yes, I know we just got back. We went in the middle of December, then again for Christmas, then again in the middle of January, and now - our third month in a row…

When: Feb 2-4
Where: All-Star Music, and All-Star Music (you’ll see.)
Who:

Tony

And Brian

Wait, wait - that’s not right. Pretty close, but not right. Let’s try again.

Tony

And Brian

OK but those were reject “blooper” pics from our last TR. Here’s one where we’re overdressed:

That’ll do.

And…Mickey.

 

[luvinthemajik]

More amazing may be the next trip in July. (I don’t think we’ve ever gone in July.) Poking around last night, I kept seeing pretty low rates (for 2025, anyway.) CBR was $200 (usually over $300 now, although not too long ago we used to pay $120 or so, and routinely.

What caught my eye was one of our bucket list resorts that’s often in the $600 range: the Contemporary. It was discounted for AP holders by a full 40% - $349 per night. (With the disclaimer: there is construction going on. Who cares? I think? )

So I booked it! There wasn’t a huge special occasion between now and August, but I did book 7/14-7/16 (two nights.) 7/15/2008 is the date we flew to California to have our marriage legalized (even though our real wedding will always be 9/8/2007.) Anyway, that’s occasion enough, right? It’s definitely a splurge - but I think it’s a good deal on a bucket list experience. (Thoughts?) Hope to have the Chase Visa points by then to cover day two!

No one knows how long we will be on this earth or healthy enough to enjoy these things - gotta be “irresponsible” when it’s worth it!

Couldn't have said it better, no guarantees, and if you have " bucket list" " occasion" and " good deal" in the same sentence, it's not irresponsible, imo, it's a no brainer ,must do why not sort of deal.
Have fun !

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Couldn't have said it better, no guarantees, and if you have " bucket list" " occasion" and " good deal" in the same sentence, it's not irresponsible, imo, it's a no brainer ,must do why not sort of deal.
Have fun !

I like the way you think!

However, the way I think, I forgot my bathing suit. (I remembered this morning before I left the house but then forgot again before I grabbed it.)

So there was a moment I could have tried to sweat some of this belly off by the pool, but the window of opportunity closed fairly quickly. I stopped at the gift shop to find this as my only option:

For $44.99.

No, for both reasons!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

I sat in the lobby area to plan my next move. Seems we had some company.

Chip and Dale were mobbed and busy, but Daisy made a beeline to me like a straight up ho.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Someone was playing hide and seek.

You all know by now I approach everything like a puzzle and explore every possibility before making a move. I was trying to balance “I gotta eat soon” with what a couple of groups of friends were up to, with certain restaurants being 40% off for AP’s, with the dismal availability of those restaurants.

I was on the verge of booking Hollywood & Vine in 20 minutes (which would be hard to make from ASM) at 40% off. I’d never been, and my belly does not need a buffet right now, but the deal-seeker in me looooves that discount.

Another available ADR on the list that caught my eye was Tony’s. (I mean, how does your own name not catch your eye, right? ) No discount there, but the last few times I’ve been here, they wouldn’t take a reservation for a single person. The magic Kingdom bus was sitting right in front of me and hadn’t moved for a few minutes. So I hopped on! (And booked Tony’s.)

There was a little drizzle, and I heard an announcement that the parade was delayed. It may or may not have rained while I dined.

…and wined. This was a red blend described by my server as, “like a Pinot noir” which is exactly what I was looking for.

Along with my wine, I had their chicken parm again - but this time I remembered to ask for extra sauce. They didn’t put much extra, but it helped. I didn’t eat most of the spaghetti, because I wasn’t sure when or where or with whom I’d be dining next. That’s a good “problem” to have.

 

[Minnie1986]

Record show was huge.
View attachment 841846

Had I eaten, and been in the mood (and had my own car) I could have done some damage.

I left around 3 for another expensive Lyft of 43 minutes. I think we’ve spent $150 on Lyft already. Gotta factor that into the pros and cons of Brightline vs car. It will be better when they build a station closer to WDW.

As I was arriving, B mentioned his sugar had gone very low (we hadn’t had a chance to eat.) I told him where to find some Kind granola clusters in one of my bags. I stopped in the food area and grabbed & go’d a Coke, a cookie, and a turkey sandwich. That was about a thousand dollars. I could not bring myself to get a cup of grapes for freaking $5.69(!!)

I did see tall beer cans for $13, which made me feel better about my $20 Jack Daniels from last time.

This is SO cool; I love vinyl, and have been collecting since I was a kid.

 

[Minnie1986]

There was no line at the front desk, and as soon as I told a CM what was up, he called a manager over. She clarified that she could look up what had been logged in at the Contemporary, but not everywhere, but she made a call.

It was not at the TTC.

Undaunted, she checked with MK. I was skeptical.

After waiting about 10 minutes outside with her, having a nice chat, it was delivered!

View attachment 842098View attachment 842100

That could not have gone better - except if Brian hadn’t looked at it in the Lyft and put it back down other than where I had left it. Not that I’m blaming him.

It was totally my fault, I’m not used to carrying it around yet, and I very much appreciate the CM’s prioritizing it and going out of their way to get it back to me in less than an hour.

Now we didn’t have to take the monorail to the TTC. What to do?

After all that, I needed a massage.

View attachment 842099

Thank goodness you got it back!

 

[Swissmiss]

…and wined. This was a red blend described by my server as, “like a Pinot noir” which is exactly what I was looking for.

Please assure me that the pour was more generous than it looks in the photo!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Please assure me that the pour was more generous than it looks in the photo!

I may have taken a sip!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

After Tony’s, honestly, I didn’t feel like walking all the way to the attractions and all the way back.

But I did stop in here - I never do that when Brian’s here!

Even though I didn’t get anything, it was fun to look around.

I hopped on the train, er, MPB - as if I hadn’t been on a train for 3 hours just before this.

I thought about getting off the train in Frontierland, but I kept falling asleep, so I knew I should just move along.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

By this time, I had firm plans to meet some friends for dinner at the Grand Flo, but had some time to kill. I decided to monorail to the Contemporary (my new home come July ) and maybe get a sweet treat after my nice lunch. As I poked around there, I saw this sign:

What the heck? A chocolate chip cookie inside a warm croissant? A croissookie? I like my name better than theirs. Intrigued, I placed my order. As I stood there waiting for it, I thought I recognized the back of someone’s head…

It was @Tuvalu ! And @TrolleyFollower91 was with her! (Well, duh.) What a coincidence - they were the people with whom I was going to dinner. Knowing that, we didn’t linger. They were taking their own sweet treats back to their room - but not before taking pot shots at my lovely Frankendessert!

I still had high hopes! We said goodbye for now, and I sat down to enjoy this scrumptious treat. (I’ll show them!)

Unfortunately, this wasn’t scrumptious, and was barely a treat. It was more monster than clever mash-up.

First bite: man, that’s dry. But I didn’t really get much cookie, because it was in the center. I tried again. Bigger bite. Well…the balance was off. Too much dry, flavorless croissant, not enough cookie.

Once you got to the center, it was too much cookie (crazy full of chocolate chips - like 5x a normal cookie) vs. croissant.

By the time I was 3/4 finished, I realized the perfect ratio of croissant to cookie - which would leave a good amount of croissant leftover. Dessert isn’t usually this complicated!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

A little wandering…

If that’s the only bathing suit pattern they sell, what must the pools look like? A water ballet? Synchronized swimming? Oh, I guess most folks bring a bathing suit from home. Now you know if you see anyone wearing these, they forgot to pack their bathing suit!

It was time to sit in my massage chair in the arcade. My $5 was so well spent, I ran it a second time. Then I looked at the time. Oops! I had killed too much time, and was now running slightly late. To the monorail!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

My monorail arrived at the G-Flo right at the moment of our ADR, and I arrived at the G-Flo Cafe 2 minutes after. (Oops.)

I think you can guess who was behind the camera.

Em and I ordered drinks. She, a glass of wine. I, a Citrus Old Fashioned, which I did not know was about to become a whole thing.

Our server brought our drinks and walked away.

Then she came back, and without a word, pulled out a tiny spritzer, and spritzed my cocktail two or three times and continued walking on.

I think this photo was pre-spritz?

The jokes flowed fast and furiously:

That was pretty bold of her to poison me in front of everyone.

Did she notice a spot on the glass and spray it with her tiny windex bottle?

Free Binaca?

Really bad aim?

 

[Tony the Tigger]

As always, we had a good chat, and I talked too much.

I took what I thought was a risk, and ordered the vegetable curry with chicken.

This was delicious! The curry was…not curry tasting at all. There was a sweetness to it, and it was served over bamboo rice, which I discovered is somewhat rare, harvested from the bamboo plant, and very nutritious! (I had never heard of it.) Highly recommend, especially if you enjoy something like a Thai massaman curry.

After dinner, the ladies would retire to their quarters, and I to my Poly. It was just the right time to sit at the Wailulu outdoor bar and nurse a banana old fashioned while waiting for the fireworks. I mentioned the monorail, and the more knowledgeable @Tuvalu and @TrolleyFollower91 said, “Or you could just walk,” and literally pointed me in the right direction. (Thank you!)

 

[Tony the Tigger]

The walk from the Grand Floridian to the Poly bar was shorter than the walk from the front of ASM to the country section!

I waited about 10 minutes for a bar stool. One banana old fashioned, please!

Ta-da!

It was about an hour before the fireworks began. I did some work in the meantime.

My bar stool view was meh.

 

[RememberWhen]

I’d take that barstool view!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

I’d take that barstool view!

I paid my tab and got a closer look!

(Warning: lots of pics of fireworks ahead.)

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Might as well do the last few.

 

[Tiggerish]

There's a nana bread in my freezer.,,just sayin

LMK when to send it!!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

That was a great night all around!

I made my way toward the main building to call my Lyft. While I waited for it, I stopped into a shop and found…a different bathing suit! And it’s a normal color.

And it’s a hundred frickin’ dollars.

Back at ASM, I stopped into the QS place and grabbed a salad with chicken breast - just in case I woke up hungry and a protein bar wouldn’t do! I also had an airplane bottle of Buffalo Trace in case of emergency. (Brightline security either didn’t mind or notice.)

Brian called just as I walked into the room, he was on his way home from work. I relayed the @Tuvalu chronicles (spritz!) and went right to sleep.

 

[Tuvalu]

Tommy Bahama. Know your brands.