Trip Report *COMPLETED* A Swolphin Sandwich (Thanksgiving Week 2017)

My DW M and I have returned from a wonderful week of Disney, family, and more Disney! I can make no guarantees for fast or frequent updates, but I'll do my best!

Introduction

Here's the PTR: ProcrastiNations: Deflections of Work. There you can read all about the cast and plans. We decided to take it easy on this trip as we've just gotten through an extremely stressful few months relating to our living situation. I've posted bits and pieces about it in various TRs/PTRs recently, but to make a long story short our building was purchased and our lease wasn't renewed, but we couldn't move into our new place until eleven days after we moved out and didn't find out until the day before we were supposed to move in. We had to put all our stuff in storage and stay in temporary housing during that time. Luckily the new landlord has done their best to make up for the financial strain of paying for last-minute temporary housing (they delayed our official lease date to December 1 so we didn't have to pay anything for the 2/3 of November we lived here). That said, this was a pretty horrible chapter of our lives and we lost a lot of sleep and got behind in work and...cried a lot!*

The biggest change to the trip was the decision not to do any early mornings at parks in an effort to catch up on sleep. This meant changing and canceling some ADRs, and only visiting two of the parks. We spent more time in the room than we typically do and chose rest time over busy park time when presented with the decision.

So, if you're ready for a million photos (mostly of food...and beverages...;) ) keep reading!

*Lest you worry about us, we are VERY happy in our new place now that the garbage of November is behind us. It is the biggest and nicest place we have ever lived in. We have a beautiful kitchen with a dishwasher AND we have our own washer and dryer in-unit, which is almost unheard of in this area! We are still waiting on two chairs to arrive but once they do and we have everything set up I'll post photos here.

Up next: The flight to Orlando!
 

Figgy1

Premium Member
Break a leg!!
I hope the old saying about not leaving your best notes in the green room is accurate. Our sound check tonight was awful. Our headsets didn't work and we spent our entire rehearsal time trying to figure it out and only got to rehearse ONE of our songs. Then the pieces we did with the band sounded terrible. Then they added one piece to our set that I've never done before. Guess who gets to cram tomorrow morning?? Hope yours goes better than ours. What music are you doing?

PS Happy birthday!
{{HUGS}}
 

bee

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Wishing the merriest of Christmas' to you and M ps Happy birthday and enjoy your first legal drink on me
Thank you! Legal?? How old do you think I am?? :hilarious:

Break a leg!!
I hope the old saying about not leaving your best notes in the green room is accurate. Our sound check tonight was awful. Our headsets didn't work and we spent our entire rehearsal time trying to figure it out and only got to rehearse ONE of our songs. Then the pieces we did with the band sounded terrible. Then they added one piece to our set that I've never done before. Guess who gets to cram tomorrow morning?? Hope yours goes better than ours. What music are you doing?

PS Happy birthday!
Thank you! It’s so true, bad rehearsal, good show! I was in a concert Sunday and our dress rehearsal was kind of awful, but everything came together at the concert.

My biggest upcoming project is Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio and I’m singing the role of Konstanze. I just sang the soprano solos in Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols. I am also doing some smaller stuff for church by composers like Vivaldi, Fauré, and Poulenc.

Love the cake! Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas!
Thank you!
 

MinnieM123

Premium Member
bDayLateCake.jpg
 

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Thank you! Legal?? How old do you think I am?? :hilarious:


Thank you! It’s so true, bad rehearsal, good show! I was in a concert Sunday and our dress rehearsal was kind of awful, but everything came together at the concert.

My biggest upcoming project is Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio and I’m singing the role of Konstanze. I just sang the soprano solos in Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols. I am also doing some smaller stuff for church by composers like Vivaldi, Fauré, and Poulenc.


Thank you!
Oh, I've done Ceremony of Carols...some difficult bits in that. The timing on Deo Gratias about killed me....counting is not my strong suit.
 

coachwnh

Well-Known Member
I don’t have any TR updates, sorry! I’ve been getting home from rehearsal almost every night at midnight which does not leave much time to do anything but go to bed!

BUT today is my birthday and M made me a Mickey Mouse cake from scratch! This was one of the layers before she frosted and put it all together.

View attachment 251676

I have two more days of rehearsals/gigs, then we are visiting M’s extended family for Christmas. So maybe there will be an update by New Year’s??
Happy Birthday, Good Luck, and Merry Christmas and Happy New year. Looking foward to more updates (I'll wait I guess). :);)
 

Bullseye1967

Is that who I am?
Premium Member
I don’t have any TR updates, sorry! I’ve been getting home from rehearsal almost every night at midnight which does not leave much time to do anything but go to bed!

BUT today is my birthday and M made me a Mickey Mouse cake from scratch! This was one of the layers before she frosted and put it all together.

View attachment 251676

I have two more days of rehearsals/gigs, then we are visiting M’s extended family for Christmas. So maybe there will be an update by New Year’s??


Awesome! Belated Happy Birthday
 

PirateTink

New Member
Day 1, cont.

After a few minutes of recharging (ourselves and our phones) we started toward Epcot!

On our way we noticed that the hallway thermostat is out where just anyone can adjust it! :eek: :eek: :eek:

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On the way...

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We went through bag check and entered via the AP entrance at the IG. Then it was time for FOOD!

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Cheese Fondue in a bread bowl with Fresh Steamed Baby Vegetables and Marble Potatoes featuring Melissa’s Produce – $8.25
Cider Flight – $9.00
Included: Possmann Pure Hard Apple Cider, Frankfurt, Germany, Possmann Pure Hard Black Currant Apple Cider, Frankfurt, Germany, and Schöfferhofer Pink Grapefruit Hefeweizen (not a cider but I guess that's the closest thing they had to fill the third cup)

The cheese fondue was one of the food highlights of our trip even though we ate at plenty of table service restaurants, both old favorites and new places. None of the drinks really stood out to me but they were all good. I usually don't care for the grapefruit beer but I didn't hate it today, and M always likes it.

We got to experience an incredible sunset in the park, starting while we were in Germany!

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Then, more drinky time!

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Shipyard Eggnog White Porter, Clearwater, FL – $8.00

I remember I liked this but didn't necessary need to have it again.

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From the Mexico booth:
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Frozen Kahlúa® Coffee Margarita – $10.75
Horchata Margarita on the Rocks – $11.50

We shared these and it was hard choosing a favorite. I think in the end the Horchata won just slightly because I prefer rocks over frozen.

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Moon!

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Up next: "Is this a roller coaster?"
Stunning pictures!!!
 

bee

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Happy Bee-day Bee!
Thank you!

Happy birthday!!! And Merry Christmas :D
Thank you!

Happy Birthday! Awesome cake!
Thank you! And it tasted AMAZING. I never thought I'd say this, but I liked it better than Publix bakery cakes :eek:

You're now 21:joyfull:
Yes I am! ;)

Thank you! You're right, it's never too late!

Oh, I've done Ceremony of Carols...some difficult bits in that. The timing on Deo Gratias about killed me....counting is not my strong suit.
"In Freezing Winter Night" (the movement in 5/4) was so stressful. I could never get into a groove of feeling the downbeat and instead had to focus on one quarter note at a time! We barely made it through that one in the concert!

Happy Birthday, Good Luck, and Merry Christmas and Happy New year. Looking foward to more updates (I'll wait I guess). :);)
Thank you! You don't have to wait too much longer!

Happy Birthday & Merry Christmas!!
Thank you!

Happy Bday and Merry Christmas to you and M.

Max
Thank you!

Awesome! Belated Happy Birthday
Thank you!

Stunning pictures!!!
Thank you!
 

bee

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 3, cont., 4, and 5

We continued our drive northward and were soon arriving in...

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We made a quick stop at Publix for a few Thanksgiving items, including wine of course. New Jersey doesn't allow any alcohol sales in grocery stores and New York only allows beer, so I always forget that you can buy wine in Publix!

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Fun fact: At Napa Rose in DLR I had a glass of the Federalist Zinfandel, which had a portrait of Alexander Hamilton on it. I couldn't find it at Publix but I did find the Ben Franklin Cab!

Soon we arrived at the in-laws' house and spent some time with FRISKY!!!

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"sticks m legy out real far"

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I don't have any photos from Thanksgiving but we had a wonderful day of food and family time! We watched the parade of course and had our traditional late lunch around 3:00.

The next day was Black Friday; while we typically avoid any kind of shopping we wanted to check out the new Ikea that had just opened earlier that month. So M, BIL, and I headed that way and passed this monstrosity:

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It was crowded since it was Black Friday at a newly opened store but we were able to find a parking spot and didn't really have to fight crowds.

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We did have to stop for a free cappuccino in the restaurant courtesy of Ikea Family :p

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Up next: Day 6! Back to Disney!!!
 

bee

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 6: Saturday, November 25

M and I got up around 8:00 and left shortly thereafter to get to the second half of our Swolphin Sandwich. We had to return the car by noon, and the in-laws decided to leave a bit later and meet us in the afternoon.

We were glad not to be sitting in traffic going the other way!

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I can't believe this thing is still there!

I got room-ready notifications while we were still on the road. I was afraid this would take awhile so it was a welcome surprise. What was not so welcome was seeing the two room numbers...

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I had called to request adjacent or at least nearby rooms, and these were three floors apart. Confession time: I was really nervous about this part of the trip and anxious to impress M's parents with our hotel stay. They have been going to WDW together since the early 80s (they went on their honeymoon!) so they've developed their own style of vacationing and it differs quite a bit from the way M and I take on the parks. They are content to stay at the All Stars or offsite so the price tag for the Dolphin (even if it was a GREAT deal) was a little shocking to them. I definitely felt the pressure to plan a perfect trip and make sure they were enjoying themselves!

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Getting closer!

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What a sight!!!

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We returned the rental car quickly and soon we were waiting to check in.

Up next: Will we get rooms near each other?
 

bee

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 6, cont.

A lovely young CM named Sarah assisted us at the front desk and managed to find two rooms on the same floor, same wing, and even same side of the hallway for us. We also needed to add parking for only one room and she took care of it all. Soon we were on our way to the ninth floor to check out the rooms.

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Bad picture, but I wanted to remember the rooms had tubs!

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The view from the parents' room. It's hard to tell from the photo but we could see Space Mountain and the Contemporary!

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The view in another direction

I turned on the AC in their room as it was quite warm at this point in the afternoon.

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This poor ladybug was trapped in our room. :(

M and I were hungry and knew her parents were having lunch on the way so we found a reservation at a new restaurant.

On our way...

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Yes, that's a wine glass just hanging out in the grass by the Dolphin.

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Up next: Lunchtime!
 

bee

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 6, cont.

My first thought as we approached Ale and Compass at the Yacht Club was, "Are we dressed up enough for this?" The decor was modern upscale and we were in theme park clothes!

We were almost immediately lead to a table in a somewhat closed off room in the restaurant, and we were the only guests seated there. Our server, Markell, greeted us soon.

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M and I started with iced tea and water, respectively.

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This iPhone ALMOST takes nice photos with the portrait mode.

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And it's not a vacation if you don't have a cocktail with lunch, right??

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At one point another family was seated at a nearby table, but the dad kept grumbling about it until the hostess offered to reseat them. Bye, then!

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On to the food! M had the vegan "cheeseburger:"

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And I had the protein bowl:

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Both were very good. I don't usually like fake sausage (and I never liked real sausage back when I ate meat) but I gave this one a try and I liked it. As strange at it may sound, my favorite part of this dish was the broccoli. I have to say vegan cheeses have come a looooong way since we tried being vegans in college!

I'll be curious to see if A&C changes their menu at any point in the near future and what new veggie options they may offer. I'll also be curious to see how well this decor ages. My guess: not well!

After lunch we headed back to the Dolphin to wait for M's parents.

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Up next: the in-laws' arrival! Will they like the Dolphin???
 

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