Trip Report Already? 2 broke guys for 2 more days of Music & Mickey!

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.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Record show was huge.

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.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

So I think I will be a vendor at the next show in June. (Chalk up another visit, Tu!) Then they do another in November. Hmm…

In the meantime, I tried two wrong doors before finding my room (Calypso 1433.) If you’re in 0433 or 1443 and heard weird noises, it was me. Poor Brian was flat on the bed waiting for his Coke. He was too disoriented to find the granola. We’re going to have to remember to snack on the train.

Between the two of us, there was just half a sandwich left, and it was time to call the Lyft for dinner!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

I hope this isn’t boring - I don’t think it’s a rut.

(Something made me want to continue that as a rhyming poem or song. )

Pics before leaving the room.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Where did we end up?

Hint #1

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Hint #2

 

[Tuvalu]

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Anyone except Hermione want to guess?

That in itself is hint #3.

Hint number 4.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Yes, again, we went to California Grill. In the Lyft on the way back from the record show (the driver was sick, coughing and snorting for 45 minutes, and I haven’t rated or tipped him yet because if I get sick, we will have beef!) I searched and found a 5pm ADR.

I texted Brian before booking and he agreed. In retrospect, he was in a sugar low, so who knows what he might have agreed to?

We took another Lyft, and arrived at exactly 5pm.

As you can see from prior pics, I started with a maple old-fashioned (easy on the syrup) and he with a blueberry lemon drop martini. We each got our own plate of those crave-worthy dumplings.

I thought we might split a filet mignon entree, which we regretted not doing last time, but Brian looked at the menu on his phone and suggested something else:

The seared lamb tenderloin.

Notice anything odd about the description?

We joked about that with Ray (our usual bartender) and put in the order. Again, yes, if you sit at the bar, you can order whatever the heck you want, however you want it (ignoring the prix fixe requirements) plus adding in the bar bite menu options - at least for now. I think a certain forum friend might appreciate that flexibility!

Here’s the lamb, but before our entree arrived, a little smidge of drama…

 

[Tony the Tigger]

The drama: I realized I had left something in the Lyft - something expensive and important, which I’d have to pay to replace because it was on loan.

The backstory: for the last few days, I’ve been wearing a heart monitor. There’s a little plastic thing attached to my chest, and something that looks like a Samsung phone that I have to carry around everywhere for two weeks that pairs with it. Doc didn’t want to wait until after the WDW trip, she wanted to see me as I live lol.

Why? I’ve passed out a couple of times since the second surgery in October. Stood up, got dizzy, figured it would pass, woke up on the floor. When you lose consciousness before you fall down, you don’t brace yourself. (It’s like falling down drunk without all the fun.) The first time, I just got a scratch. The second time, really hurt my tailbone and hit my head on the tile floor (while recovering from back & neck surgeries. ) An EKG showed no change from my pre-surgery clearance (that’s good.) A full echo is scheduled I think Thursday.

I’m fine.

I opened the Lyft app, and was not surprised to find an area to report something missing. Within seconds, the driver replied that he had found the item. Great! Lyft will charge me $20 once it is returned. Fine, I have no choice. But, the driver didn’t have the phone anymore. What? This was an hour after we had gotten out of his car.

He gave it to a Disney bus driver?! Seriously? Within an hour?

His offer to go get it was half-hearted. And at 11pm. We went back and forth a bit. Looked like we’d have to dine and dash, lucky we were already on the monorail loop and could get to the TTC (assuming it was there, and the driver could not have gotten into MK.)

Damn.

Brian suggested asking Ray what to do. It was then that the lamb arrived. It was delicious! Glad we ordered it.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Ray suggested after eating, we go down to the front desk. He said the lost and found program is pretty meticulous. Everything gets logged in, and we might be able to find it. That made me feel a little better. We enjoyed our lamb, and I left Brian to pay the bill (with my points) while I got a head start on getting down to the front desk.

 

[rshell68]

Ray suggested after eating, we go down to the front desk. He said the lost and found program is pretty meticulous. Everything gets logged in, and we might be able to find it. That made me feel a little better. We enjoyed our lamb, and I left Brian to pay the bill (with my points) while I got a head start on getting down to the front desk.

Hoping it was painless!!!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

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!

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.

 

[cgersic]

WOW!!! That's enough to make you NEED a heart monitor! So fun to see you both again and I'm looking forward to all of the shenanigans!

 

[Go.Nijntje]

I'm glad you got the monitor back and even more so that you are fine. You stayed pretty cool after losing the monitor, I don't think I could have eaten my meal.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

You stayed pretty cool after losing the monitor, I don't think I could have eaten my meal.

Honestly, Ray gets the credit for explaining what to do, and Brian gets the credit for suggesting to ask Ray! And I will be doing a cast compliment for the manager.

Otherwise we would have been on the monorail to TTC, then MK, and it would have taken up the whole night.

Instead, after our massages, we walked around a bit. Random detail pics:

The night was still young. Where to next? Let’s hop on that monorail!

 

[Tuvalu]

 

[Tony the Tigger]

It’s Poly time! I swear it’s not a rut if it’s still new and fun.

We knew where we were going - right back to Wailulu!

I told Brian I think the fireworks start around 9. We got to Wailulu and wanted to just sit at the outdoor bar. There is no walk up list for that; you just stand in line for the bar and hope there’s a place to sit or stand.

We were in line just before 8pm. The bartender was pretty slow! As we waited, I noticed we had just come from here:

Then I noticed the castle.

And then this happened:

 

[Tony the Tigger]

I told Brian I had planned it that way. He looked at me like someone he’s known for 20 years was trying to BS him.

Next thing I know, he’s waving at me from the other side of the bar - but I was next in line! He had been watching two people leaving and grabbed their seats. We were now at the closest bar seats to the big open windows.

Here’s my banana old fashioned.

Here we are with the fireworks behind us.

And here’s the rest of the show.

What a great unexpected treat!

But we’re not done yet!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Since we had only split an entree at 6pm, we decided to split some more. The people with whom we drank last time raved about the burger. I rarely get a burger. Brian requested the burger. I ordered the burger cut in half. Our bartender said the kitchen wouldn’t cut it, but she’d get us a knife. (She also sang during the fireworks.)

That onion jam was the jam (somewhat like what came with the wontons at Cali Grill.)

“Volcano sauce” was just another version of Whopper sauce/thousand island. I’m a ketchup guy. It was good, but if I were eating more than half, I’d need ketchup.

But wait…more music? What’s outside the window?