Trip Report A Total Eclipse of the Park *COMPLETED*

Not quite.

And apologies to Bonnie Tyler for parodying her hit song title from 1983 (although that was a very good year .)

So if you want to turn around and not read further I’ll understand. After 17 trip reports in less than four years you are probably sick of me. Heck, I am sick of me! But after a few requests from you kind people for another report I decided to forge ahead.

Unlike my last epistle, this will not take me four months to complete. First, this trip was shorter. Second, there is no live section which needs to be expanded later. Third, I’m heading back to the World in 2.5 weeks and then into the holiday season ~ so I’m giving myself a “Do or Die” deadline.

Let’s get started.

Who? Tuvalu and Woody
What? End of summer getaway
Where? Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort
When? August 19-22, 2017
Why? There has to be a why?

It certainly wasn’t to witness the eclipse. In fact when I booked I didn’t even realize our dates coincided with the eclipse. We live within two hours of the path of totality and missed a viewing party with friends who delighted in watching the total phenomenon. Instead Woody and I got to experience.....

Well, you’ll have to wait to find out.

Here we are on arrival day. Can you tell the photographer was earning his ears?

I’m proudly wearing the dress that was instrumental in our free Pirate Cruise. (For context please see my July TR.)

Stay tuned for this trip’s shenanigans.

 

[Tuvalu]

Completely agree. The eclipse was like a non-event. We went back to our room to watch it too("watch it"...), and we're greatly disappointed. I actually napped through it ("napped"), but Tammy and Steph stayed up and said they couldn't tell when it supposedly started or finished.

Gosh no need for the “quotations” since your daughter was around ~ I believe you!

We drove to the zone of totality in Idaho. It was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever experienced. I would definitely recommend going if any of you ever get the chance to see one in the future.

My friends who were in totality said the same thing. I would have been with them had I planned better!

The eclipse was not a total eclipse in Central Florida. You were only in the penumbra, meaning a partial shadow. The maximum coverage in that area was closer to 80%. Totality, even in the umbra, maxed out at just 2:30 seconds, and that was in westerm TN. The total eclipse made a very narrow path from Oregon to South Carolina. The umbra for a total solar eclipse is always very narrow. (sorry, thats the Earth Science teacher in me coming out).

I learned a new word today. Thanks Coach!

 

[fractal]

It appears the Eclipse amplified your "Shirley powers".

 

[Courtney6682]

We were at Epcot for the eclipse and the sky looked the same as in the pics you posted. I later saw on Instagram that someone on property was posting pics of total darkness...all we saw were some clouds

 

[Tuvalu]

Pet Peeve of my adult kids. One a Parks and Rec major and a Disney Internship Alumni. My DD beyond her career at a University still part time manages a Water Park by Summer and an Aquatics Center by winter part time. Just this weekend one of her lifeguards had to pluck a 3 year old attending a birthday party from the deep slide end of the pool and no she didn't go down the slides she was too short. My DD had to go between 4 pools looking for the parent of the 3 year old after she was plucked. Mother annoyed being told she must be within arms length of preschooler that was a NON SWIMMER!!! Angry as it is the lifeguards job to watch children and rescue children if need be! If of course the kid wound up at the bottom of the pool it would have been all over the news the facility failed to guard not the Mom that was found in the bleachers chatting it up with others. My DD is at her 11th Anniversary of aquatics and had zero interest in Parks and Rec as a career unlike my DS. She is so over stupid parents. She doesn't blame little ones, it is the parents who could careless.

Some parents' attitudes about water safety really makes my head explode. People don't *look* like they're drowning, when in fact they are. They make extra-long, sturdy fences that go between your house and your pool for a reason - USE THEM. At water parks or anywhere else there are lifeguards, I see people constantly that are either face-first into their phone while their non-swimming kids are in the water or the parents are even reading a book. I'm NEVER more than 3 feet from my 6-year-old at the pond we go to every summer, and he knows how to hold his breath under water. Before that, I was always within a foot and a half. At places like Great Wolf Lodge, he wears a life jacket and we stick to the kiddie areas. (I was pleasantly surprised on our last trip to Great Wolf in Oct. - I didn't see any kids without parents close by...but it wasn't packed, so there's that. I will also say that the lifeguards there are ON THE BALL. They pace around the water non-stop, making a visual grid with their eyes, and they change places with each other often.)

One of the reasons we love our own pool is that there is a chain link fence around it and it's padlocked - away from the house. It's impossible for any kid to just randomly get in there unless they climb the fence, and it's up on a hill that's higher than the first floor windows, so unless you know the pool is up there, you would have no idea it even exists.

How stupid can you be?? My kids both have their A and B swimming diplomas and they are 11 and almost 10 and we STILL don't let them go swimming by themselves. We're not always within arms distance, but it made me super nervous at DLP last month to let DS swim without being right next to him. Who lets a non-swimming toddler swim by themselves???

Thanks for sharing, ladies. I wish there were more parents with your wisdom.

 

[Tuvalu]

We were at Epcot for the eclipse and the sky looked the same as in the pics you posted. I later saw on Instagram that someone on property was posting pics of total darkness...all we saw were some clouds

Can you say photoshop?

 

[Courtney6682]

Can you say photoshop?

I called them out lol....I commented on the post and was like..'' Oh wow, I'm at Epcot and it certainly didn't look like that here, where on prop did u take this?'' lol...jerks...

 

[Tuvalu]

Our splendid meal began with wine. Both of us ordered “interesting whites” (menu term, not mine).

Ryan is very generous with his pours.

The etched star on the glass is the guideline to “stop” the pour.

Gimme the lavender focaccia. All of it. I could eat only this at the CG and still be a happy camper. I’m also fortunate that neither Woody nor Em care for it. (Both say the other rolls in the basket are very good.)

Woody, like Em, is also partial to the BLT flatbread and insisted (in the gentle way that he does) we order his favorite appetizer. When it arrived with yellow tomatoes, I immediately decided it was going to be a lesser flatbread. Yellow tomatoes?

Never judge a BLT flatbread by the color of its tomatoes. At least not until you try it.
My lesson for the evening.
Because....
OMG.
These yellow tomatoes blew every other CG BLT flatbread away!
I expected to eat one slice and then be done with it. Instead we shared 60/40 (this time Woody got more.)
Crossing my fingers (toes, legs, arms, eyes) that yellow tomatoes are on the flatbread next month.

 

[Tuvalu]

Name two things wrong with this picture.

I’ll help:
1. If you are seated next to a large window overlooking Seven Seas Lagoon and the MK, binoculars are not necessary to enjoy the view. I’ll give grace to the girl, but not to the four adults at the table who were “surveying” before the girl got her turn.

2. Double strollers do not belong in the dining area. And they definitely should not be parked next to a window blocking the view. If the large party expected at the adjoining table had arrived on time (more on that in a moment) the guests seated nearest the window would have had no personal space thanks to the double-wide.

 

[Courtney6682]

I’ll help:
1. If you are seated next to a large window overlooking Seven Seas Lagoon and the MK, binoculars are not necessary to enjoy the view. I’ll give grace to the girl, but not to the four adults at the table who were “surveying” before the girl got her turn.

2. Double strollers do not belong in the dining area. And they definitely should not be parked next to a window blocking the view. If the large party expected at the adjoining table had arrived on time (more on that in a moment) the guests seated nearest the window would have had no personal space thanks to the double-wide.

I thought she moved the kids behind her so she wouldn't have to deal them and then hit the flask lol....

 

[Tuvalu]

OMG! Only Shirley could receive such VIP service!!

CG private server for 2 hours, this is beyond Shirley status now, I think you were treated to the VIP time that Ryan had been requested for.

It appears the Eclipse amplified your "Shirley powers".

Time to come clean. I was not the VIP Ryan had been expecting. But @Gurt was correct in that Shirley did indeed receive VIP service!

When Ryan came over to welcome us, my first question was “Why aren’t you serving in the Monterey Room?”
He began to explain that a very wealthy regular (not local but from Chicago) had reserved that large table for 10 near the window.

This one:

Note the champagne bucket at the end of the table. The regular adores champagne (the expensive kind, not the kind you toast the New Year with!) and just the champagne tab for her typical CG dinner is over $2K! The meals when she entertains at CG are at minimum 4 hours in duration and often she closes the place down.

She is also always chronically late.

Her tardiness was our gain. By the time we’d finished our flatbread, Woody and I had over an hour of Ryan’s uninterrrupted attention. He regaled us with stories of this vivacious woman (they are friends BTW) as well as his own stories. Woody and I should have asked him to sit down with us, as it was like having dinner with a fascinating host.....a host that met every one of our needs!

We weren’t in a hurry and truly enjoyed the conversation. Ryan asked when he should place our entree order which allowed us to fully digest our apps before devouring the filets to come.

However, I do have to agree with others who considered August’s tomato risotto “meh.” Usually I find the risotto outstanding but this.....not so much. At first I thought it was because the flatbread had been sooooo good, but after reading other trip reports complaining about it I have come to the conclusion that it was a lesser risotto.

We ate slowly, anticipating “Real Shirley’s” arrival. Ryan popped by every now and then to refill our glasses and comment that his friend was even later than she normally is and shared a few other snippets.

Surely she’d arrive before dessert, right?
Nope.

Although we weren’t celebrating anything, I politely asked Ryan if I could have the complimentary celebratory dessert (which I was willing to pay for) ~ the Boston Cream cupcake.

He made it happen.

The cream under the ganache is chocolate. Yum!

Woody chose the blueberry cheesecake since he liked it so much on his last visit.

It was as delicious as he remembered.

Ryan brought the bill and we lingered. We just HAD to see this woman!

There was no mistaking her arrival (Ryan had warned us!) Thankfully binoculars/double-wide party was gone. The woman knows how to make an entrance. It was both flamboyant and genuinely warm. Woody and I would have loved to watch her interactions with her tablemates, Ryan and the other staff but it would have been rude to continue to occupy a table when we were clearly finished.

We said goodbye to Ryan and thanked him for a wonderful evening.

 

[fractal]

Time to come clean. I was not the VIP Ryan had been expecting. But @Gurt was correct in that Shirley did indeed receive VIP service!

When Ryan came over to welcome us, my first question was “Why aren’t you serving in the Monterey Room?”
He began to explain that a very wealthy regular (not local but from Chicago) had reserved that large table for 10 near the window.

This one:
View attachment 245722
Note the champagne bucket at the end of the table. The regular adores champagne (the expensive kind, not the kind you toast the New Year with!) and just the champagne tab for her typical CG dinner is over $2K! The meals when she entertains at CG are at minimum 4 hours in duration and often she closes the place down.

She is also always chronically late.

Her tardiness was our gain. By the time we’d finished our flatbread, Woody and I had over an hour of Ryan’s uninterrrupted attention. He regaled us with stories of this vivacious woman (they are friends BTW) as well as his own stories. Woody and I should have asked him to sit down with us, as it was like having dinner with a fascinating host.....a host that met every one of our needs!

We weren’t in a hurry and truly enjoyed the conversation. Ryan asked when he should place our entree order which allowed us to fully digest our apps before devouring the filets to come.

View attachment 245738

However, I do have to agree with others who considered August’s tomato risotto “meh.” Usually I find the risotto outstanding but this.....not so much. At first I thought it was because the flatbread had been sooooo good, but after reading other trip reports complaining about it I have come to the conclusion that it was a lesser risotto.

We ate slowly, anticipating “Real Shirley’s” arrival. Ryan popped by every now and then to refill our glasses and comment that his friend was even later than she normally is and shared a few other snippets.

Surely she’d arrive before dessert, right?
Nope.

Although we weren’t celebrating anything, I politely asked Ryan if I could have the complimentary celebratory dessert (which I was willing to pay for) ~ the Boston Cream cupcake.

He made it happen.
View attachment 245740

The cream under the ganache is chocolate. Yum!
View attachment 245741

Woody chose the blueberry cheesecake since he liked it so much on his last visit.
View attachment 245739
It was as delicious as he remembered.

Ryan brought the bill and we lingered. We just HAD to see this woman!

There was no mistaking her arrival (Ryan had warned us!) Thankfully binoculars/double-wide party was gone. The woman knows how to make an entrance. It was both flamboyant and genuinely warm. Woody and I would have loved to watch her interactions with her tablemates, Ryan and the other staff but it would have been rude to continue to occupy a table when we were clearly finished.

We said goodbye to Ryan and thanked him for a wonderful evening.

Great story!

 

[Tuvalu]

Great story!

Thanks!

 

[Zipadeelady]

Ryan brought the bill and we lingered. We just HAD to see this woman!

There was no mistaking her arrival (Ryan had warned us!) Thankfully binoculars/double-wide party was gone. The woman knows how to make an entrance. It was both flamboyant and genuinely warm. Woody and I would have loved to watch her interactions with her tablemates, Ryan and the other staff but it would have been rude to continue to occupy a table when we were clearly finished.

We said goodbye to Ryan and thanked him for a wonderful evening.

No Pictures!! Now I have to see this woman!! I can't believe you didn't get a picture!!

 

[DryerLintFan]

No Pictures!! Now I have to see this woman!! I can't believe you didn't get a picture!!

I'm imagining Miranda from The Devil Wears Prada,... but with a more cheerful disposition

 

[Tuvalu]

I'm imagining Miranda from The Devil Wears Prada,... but with a more cheerful disposition

Spot on!

 

[Zipadeelady]

I'm imagining Miranda from The Devil Wears Prada,... but with a more cheerful disposition

Ohhhh That's good!

 

[Tiggerish]

I'm wondering if "from Chicago" was a hint...

 

[LadyBelle]

I'm wondering if "from Chicago" was a hint...

Like a former Queen of Daytime TV? Although I don't think she lives there any longer.... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Tuvalu]

I'm wondering if "from Chicago" was a hint...

Like a former Queen of Daytime TV? Although I don't think she lives there any longer.... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

“You get champagne! And you get champagne! And you get champagne!”
Sorry.....it wasn’t O.

 

[Tuvalu]

Though we could have returned to California Grill to watch HEA, we thought why?

We got our own private show outside Sago Cay.

And then it was just a few steps to our room to retire for the night.