Trip Report Part III - as in Caballeros (plus 2)

My first trip report - we'll see how this goes...

We are driving up from Fort Lauderdale, about 3 to 3 1/2 hours, right...NOW.

We were supposed to leave tomorrow morning, but decided a few days ago to get a jump on things today. Only problem was our doggy-sitter (booked for Monday) had other plans and could not come today, so we wanted to wait until late enough that it would be OK to leave our precious pup overnight. I hate leaving this fuzzy face!!

That's about 58 pounds of Shep/Chow mix we call Kylie. I love this dog too much and miss her every day of these trips! (Kylie will be 6 next month.)

Almost my turn to drive - not gonna take a pic of us now looking a little frumpy - so here's a shot of us at a random local bar. You probably should get used to bar pics.

That's Brian on the left and me on the right. We're heading up for our 8 year wedding anniversary on Tuesday the 8th. Yes, we were married on 9/8/7 - very easy to remember!

Hoping to arrive just in time to get our TiW card at DTD and hit Raglan Road. (Never been.) Staying off property tonight as it will be all about getting right to sleep and hoping for that early check-in text so we can avoid the separate check-in bldg at CBR! Fingers crossed.

Well, we moved from I-95 to the FL Turnpike a few minutes back, and that was my cue to take the wheel, so I'd better do that or risk a dirty look LOL.

I miss my puppy!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

OK the first pic needs no explanation - just an extra shot before we went into the CoP. I like Walt sightings.

Going back to EPCOT for a moment, random story from yesterday afternoon - as we were passing Mexico-ish, I hear someone shout "We got the beats!" and my first slow-reaction (buzzed) thought was, "Hey, I named my store after that song." And then I realized someone was calling me. He was a customer of mine with a legit handlebar mustache. That was pretty cool - never just "bumped into" anyone at WDW before, even though we live in FL.

That pic is not him. I didn't take a pic. (Missed pic op.) But he kinda looked like that. OK, he didn't really look like that. But it was the best pic on the first page of google image search results for "handlebar mustache." And yes, I totally stole that method of storytelling from the great playwright @BuddyThomas

Come on, you knew those trees were nowhere near Mexico-ish.

Which reminds me, I am still hunting for the Nightmare Before Christmas records. They were nowhere to be found in EPCOT or MK. Last trip, I found them at the Contemporary, so that may need to be a stop today - if we stay long enough - maybe I will call the store first. After they open. Because I'm up before the crack of anyone else normal in the world.

So MK last night - classic nighttime MK - tie up the tourists & kiddies with endless parades & fireworks, and go on oodles of rides with virtually no wait. Right? Almost.

On the way over, it only let me add 2 FP. (Hadn't used any that day, but I guess because it was late.) So I picked Peter Pan and Tomorrowland Speedway (yet another ride I had never done before in all these years, and probably wouldn't wait more than 4 minutes to do.) Then I remembered about the POTC refurb, and would have been p... er, upset if I missed it. Should have just checked the wait times on the app but - Food. Wine. (Really, beer. And banana-ginger paradise.) So I panicked and changed the Peter Pan FP to POTC to be safe. I knew I only had a few minutes to change it because the FP window had almost arrived.

Big mistake. Huge. POTC had only a 15 minute wait time. (Can you believe?) Peter Pan stayed 50 minutes most of the night. So, no go guy Pan.

On the way to POTC, we were intercepted by giant lit mushrooms. Took longer to get there, but was kinda trippy.

btw loved POTC! It seemed brighter (much better lit) and just generally refreshed and enhanced from beginning to end. Really, really cool. Except...as we entered the boat, we noticed the floor was wet and everyone assumed the same thing - that will happen. I had read about people getting wet on POTC but since 1999, it had never happened to me.

All I can say is I'm glad I was not in the front row. Those girls got WET. You could call it a wench drench. rolleyes:.) OK, Trump would call it that.

We did get sprayed, not too badly - but to be honest, since you can't pick your row in the boat, I'd be less likely to do that ride as often. Don't want to ruin another phone or have wet socks LOL. But really, loved what they did to the ride, and those threads complaining about some animatronics being more realistic than others and what not - just really annoy the outta me.

So, to "honor" and enrage that set, I took a picture of the POTC "Out of order" sign on the POTC engraved tag machine in the POTC gift shop. Can you believe how Disney has let itself go these days?!?! I'm never going back.

Yes, I've found the little face thingies and I'm wearing them out.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

btw - Tomorrowland Speedway = big gay panic ride! We squeeze 6'3" Brian into this little yellow car, and he says, "You drive." The CM young lady who was running the show mumbled something at me about how to do that, but all I heard was, "Don't bump." My steering wheel was on the right-hand side, and I realized there was only one pedal, in the middle. Left foot. Go!

Did we win?

I found it so difficult to stay on the track! LOL. Kept overcorrecting by turning the wheel too much and grinding on the track. I must have looked like a drunk...wait...

No, seriously, I couldn't have done that fully sober and full of energy in the daytime.

Now - when, between September and now did WDW start going rope-crazy?! And they are not velvet - just Home Depot white ropes suddenly appear everywhere and you are corralled like pigs - and then they change the configuration and everybody walks where they are forced to walk - wth?! So in the middle of our usual escape route during Wishes, we were penned in somewhere between Pirates and new Fantasyland (I think?) and there was no escape. Next thing we know, we're in the middle of a crowd of barely inching forward strollers, scooters, and the occasional biped, in the middle of Main Street - thinking, how they heck are we going to get Kylie before BFPC closes?!

We cut through the stores, which was only slightly quicker but much less claustrophobic. It was THAT crowded and everybody left at once. When we got out, we asked a CM - "EPCOT?" because that's where we were parked, and back in September, they stopped the monorail to EPCOT very early. She said take the ferry to the TTC because that will be faster than the monorail. So we started walking over to the ferry, and I realized - better hit the can before getting caught in that crowd again waiting for the 2nd or 3rd ferry. By the time we got back out of the bathroom, and headed back towards the ferry - ROPES. Everywhere. We realized we were on the wrong side of the rope to get to the ferry. And we are not rope-jumpers. So we walked back (wrong direction when you want to leave!) and tried to go around, but there was no way in to the ferry line. It was roped off and guarded by a CM. He told us - take the monorail to the TTC and then to EPCOT.

Walk back towards the monorail - but there's a line - a long, snaking line defined by ROPES everywhere! I could not believe how long this line was. I was absolutely exhausted, unbuzzed, borderline grumpy, and inching forward toe by toe.

Fortunately, it was not as bad as it seemed. The monorails came fast, and the line moved. From the 20-minute sign, it only took 10 minutes. Off to TTC. Now this was weird, both doors on the monorail opened. I don't recall ever seeing that before. There's usually one side that opens and you get off. Both sides opened. Which side do we get off? LOL. For that reason only, when we got off, we asked the CM, "Monorail to EPCOT?" She said just go down the ramp, walk over that way, and back up the ramp. We walk down the ramp (the very last two people walking down the ramp) and see the sign for the EPCOT monorail - and the chain across the entrance. arrgh. Bus!

Got the bus back to EPCOT, easily found the car among the handful left, and just made it to BFPC before they closed at midnight, rescuing Kylie yet again LOL.

It was at that point, in my exhaustion, I began to talk myself out of staying today.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

OK get out your tiny violin fingers - Brian and I both work a lot of hours, especially in season. He is a food & bev manager at both a football stadium and a theater - very long days, sometimes two week stretches with no days off. I own my own business. My only scheduled days "off" between now and Christmas are yesterday, today, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and possibly if we come up for Brian's bday in early December. Even on my days off, I work a little. I work the least here at WDW. That's one of the reasons I want to come here. I will allow myself to ignore biz emails for a moment longer than when I am at home. I will turn my ringer off. It's nearly complete escape.

And I'm a bad sleeper. Was up past 1AM again last night and up before 6AM again this morning. Drat. Brian will keep sleeping until something wakes him up, and then go back to sleep. I wish I could do that.

So I started thinking - since this can be so exhausting - maybe just "sleep in," check out, drive home, I can do essential work in the car while Brian drives, and don't tell anyone we're coming back early, and just relax and watch TV or something. We were coming home later tonight, anyway. But it would be relaxing. I already gave myself permission to relax without thinking, "I should be doing xyz..."

The half-park days always have an element of, "if we leave now, we can get home by..."

And there is no hotel to go back to, and then a long-ish drive home.

But - we realized last night after taking off Kylie's harness that she was not wearing her collar. (BFPC took it off and apparently it is still there.) And I really do want to see if the additional records I need are at the Contemporary.

So if we have to stop at BFPC anyway, we might as well leave Kylie there for less than 6 hours (which costs less) and either drive to the Polynesian and take the monorail to Contemp and have a nice lunch at either one, and/or MK - although we really did everything we wanted to do yesterday. It was almost 2 days in one. We skipped our usual afternoon siesta and stayed right through, getting a lot more accomplished.

So maybe there's the compromise - sleep in, nice lunch & light shopping, get essential work done on the afternoon drive home, and relax when we get home. And I might hit the Disney outlet and get gas while B sleeps in.

But I don't overthink things LOL.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Side note: guest services gave me a new Chase Visa Rewards Redemption card that never expires.

 

[cgersic]

To fill in a few gaps…

As soon as I took the wheel, Brian fell asleep. He deserved it, he just worked a billion hours at dolphin Stadium this week. I proceeded to look for a radio station that would hold my attention and pass the time… And came across a station that was actually rebroadcasting things from 1945. One was an episode of Ozzie and Harriet - I knew who they were but had never heard a radio show of them. So I actually sat there and listened to all of this.

Another gap: as soon as we finally checked into the hotel and threw some gel in our hair, we did a pre-downtown Disney shot of Jack Daniels.

Side note: if you ask Siri for directions to downtown Disney, she gives you directions to California. It wasn't until we passed a sign reading "Disney springs" that I realized my mistake LOL.

And finally – though grateful we were able to squeeze everything in tonight at DTD, Raglan Road was only offering an abbreviated "late night" menu. So no shepherds pie for me LOL. We both got a grilled chicken sandwich that was actually much better than anticipated that had a really nice dressing on it. And of course the flight of beer.

We got out of there at midnight on the dot, so everything else was closed and we headed back to the hotel.

As we passed the theater, I noticed a movie poster for "Walt Before Mickey." I had never heard of it, but it looks kind of interesting – it's about the time in Walt Disney's life from age 17 until just before creating Mickey Mouse. Will have to catch that at some point.

And now I have to try to force myself to sleep LOL. Waiting for that text in the morning.

I Just read the book Walt Before Mickey. A must read for any Disney fan!

 

[catmom46]

Yay, you took my suggestion for new TR title! I feel special.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

I Just read the book Walt Before Mickey. A must read for any Disney fan!

I want to see the movie.

 

[BuddyThomas]

Don't pout - you are more than welcome to join me! I've got a studio, so the sleeper sofa is all yours. I'm a DVC member, so I borrowed points from next year and used frequent flyer miles for the flight. All I need to cover are the park tickets and food.

Sleeper sofa???!?!! You know that this is where I generally prefer to sleep.

I am not through with that thread yet. But it will take the laptop at the hotel, not my phone.

Did you notice that sometime last night, that entire tipping thread mysteriously disappeared just like Jimmy Hoffa? With some of the moronic things being said on there, I call it a Halloween miracle.

 

[MinnieM123]

My head is spinning with all the interesting details about your activities. For some odd reason, the one comment that stood out in my mind was about how soaked the girls got in the front seat of the POTC ride. That's a big turnoff to me, and I can't figure out why they don't fix that. It certainly doesn't add anything to the ride. I can't imagine too many people who would enjoy getting drenched. (It's not like Splash Mountain for example, where a big part of the fun is the giant drop at the end and you splash down in the pool, expecting to get wet.) It sounds like the rest of POTC is fun and working well. Glad you got to ride it!

 

[catmom46]

Sleeper sofa???!?!! You know that this is where I generally prefer to sleep.

Did you notice that sometime last night, that entire tipping thread mysteriously disappeared just like Jimmy Hoffa? With some of the moronic things being said on there, I call it a Halloween miracle.

See? It was meant to be - you are destined for that sleeper sofa! Seriously, though, it's yours if you can swing it.

Thank goodness that thread was deleted. It was definitely a painful read, as someone posted. And I didn't even read all of it.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

I did not forget you guys - always seem to crash hard when we get home and then spend a day playing catch-up with work!! Will wrap up the trip report asap, the last half-day worked out nicely.

Looking into our first DVC rental for one or both of the next two trips. Was just researching that a bit.

 

[lostpro9het]

Looking into our first DVC rental for one or both of the next two trips. Was just researching that a bit.

Got a resort in mind?

 

[catmom46]

Got a resort in mind?

I could make another snarky remark about your DVC addiction, but I won't.

 

[lostpro9het]

I could make another snarky remark about your DVC addiction, but I won't.

Fire away! I'm probably deserving some times. I'm just excited for folks to try the kool-aid! It tastes soooooogoooood

 

[catmom46]

Fire away! I'm probably deserving some times. I'm just excited for folks to try the kool-aid! It tastes soooooogoooood

How funny - when I first tried to like your post I got this huge error message and I thought "uh-oh, 'they' saw the kool-aid comment and wanted to quash any potential followers!"

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Got a resort in mind?

Just started researching on what I assume to be the two big sites. Eventually I would like to try them all but it seems it may be tricky to get them for our typical two or three night stays. Both sites have minimum point requirements although one said they would attempt a shorter stay for us.

And since we often go sort of last-minute compared to most people, I'm willing to take whatever we can get! But I'd like to keep this in mind for our special ten year anniversary trip in 2017.

I'm thinking either Key West, animal kingdom, boardwalk area, Polynesian ...Well that narrows it down LOL. Speaking of the Polynesian, time to wrap up this long overdue trip report.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

So the last day went pretty much like this:

It drizzled pretty much the entire time, which is fine – but was one more push towards leaving early and not going to the parks. I was back-and-forth on going to the parks and then just kind of let things go the way they were going to go…

I let Brian sleep until around oh 10, I called and was able to confirm the store inside the contemporary had the records I was looking for. Then we dropped Kylie off at Best Friends Pet Care Disney for a half day (if you leave her for less than six hours, it's considerably less expensive.) I may have said that already LOL.

Here's a topiary you may not all usually see because it's in the back of BFPC:

 

[Tony the Tigger]

At that point we have a few options – with the ultimate destination being the contemporary to go record shopping, but with no great dining options there. We had just eaten at the wave on our last trip. It was fine, but not worthy of a repeat, especially so soon.

We could park at Epcot, stop for another banana ginger drink, then mono rail to the contemporary…

We could park at TTC and monorail to the contemporary, which would be really boring.

We could park at the Polynesian, possibly eat there, and monorail to the contemporary – not a bad idea.

Then Brian suggested why don't we just park at the contemporary? I at first said I didn't think we could? Is there even parking at the contemporary or does everybody mono rail there LOL… So he decides to drive to the contemporary. 20 minutes later and calling Siri all kinds of names, we finally pull up. The guard asked why we were there. I said to go shopping and possibly for lunch. They asked if we had a reservation. I honestly said no. They said we couldn't park there. They said we should go to the Polynesian. I asked, "so they don't have that same rule there?" He seemed annoyed, but it was a logical question. I didn't want to drive to the Polynesian and then find out we couldn't park there either.

More than 20 minutes later, with Siri not working at all for some reason and me going old-school with Google map turn by turn directions, and both of us almost giving up , we get to the Polynesian. On the way there, I made a reservation at Kona Café just in case they asked.

This was a great move. It was easily one of our better and more reasonably priced lunches. Really nice ahi tuna sandwich, really nice turkey sandwich (not cold cuts) – each with a nice slaw/relish. Brian went for the Kona coffee with two extra shots of espresso for driving home. I went for a spicy banana-tini.

It was no South Korean ginger concoction, but it was yummy - kind of tasted like egg nog.

This is an octopus display - the "suction cups" are each slices of a tree branch of some sort:

 

[Tony the Tigger]

And just to drive the perfectionists nuts:

Out of order!!! LOL.

In a much better mood, monorailed to contemp, got the records, got the puppy, and hit the road. Worked most of the way home and conked out!

Planning the next trip or two.

 

[catmom46]

And just to drive the perfectionists nuts:

View attachment 118041

Out of order!!! LOL.

In a much better mood, monorailed to contemp, got the records, got the puppy, and hit the road. Worked most of the way home and conked out!

Planning the next trip or two.

View attachment 118042

My goodness - how many records did you buy??