Trip Report Another Jolly Holiday ~ JOY From the World ! *COMPLETED*

At the conclusion of my last trip report
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/a-jingle-bam-birthday-completed.922901/
I ended with To be continued....

Well, here's the continuation. :) Though to be fair, the trips were totally different and not connected in any way except they both included Me (yep, a humble one I am!) And for the second time in a year, I left WDW only to return a week later. I am very grateful that I can visit my favorite place as often as I do and am honored that y'all follow along.

I booked this trip on a bounce back offer while vacationing last year:
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/its-a-jolly-holiday-completed.909445/

And this year I may have booked a bounce back offer for December 2017. Okay, I did book. But my love/hate relationship with traveling in December and a few unknowns for the fall may cause me to cancel. Time will tell.

Ready to read about our latest adventures? There's DRAMA :jawdrop:. And ELEVATOR COOKIES :confused:. And maybe even a RED CARD ;).

Dates: December 10-15, 2016
Resort: Disney's Wilderness Lodge (duh....it's Christmas!)
Cast: Tuvalu and Woody

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Who's in?
 
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S

Scoppin

Well-Known Member
Tuvalu said:
Here comes our jeep!

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Are you sick of our selfies yet? I think I am.........:joyfull:
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The Safari is my favorite ride at AK. I've had some good ones and some not-so-good ones. (And one bad no-animals-at-all sunset safari with @TrolleyFollower91 last summer.) While many animals were visible today, my faves ~ giraffes, zebras and elephants ~ were absent.

A jaw-dropping croc photo!
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Horn*y animals
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We saw and heard the lion roar!
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By the time our jeep turned the corner, the lion had lain down with the ladies.
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A rare (at least for me) sighting of the warthogs.
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Think it would have been an experience to hear the lion roar. We only had a sleeping one.
 
S

Scoppin

Well-Known Member
Tuvalu said:
We'd worked up quite an appetite on our 2 week (ok, 20 minute) safari. And despite my 1.2 million visits to the world, we were about to try a new experience for breakfast.

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We had not dined at Tusker House since it ceased to be a counter-service restaurant a dozen or so years ago. My brother T has raved about Tusker House breakfast for several years now so Woody and I decided to give it a try.

There are several large dining areas.
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I was a bit crestfallen when we were led to a tiny room off to the side. I knew it would be a challenge when the characters stopped by.

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Our hostess commented how "nice" it was that we had our own room. But it wasn't our own room for long....the few tables filled up quickly and the narrow aisle made it difficult to make trips to the buffet.

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I wasn't as thrilled with the offerings here as I am with the buffets at 1900 Park Fare, Crystal Palace and Captain's Grille.
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But there is Jungle Juice. :hungry: When our server asked Woody if he wanted Jungle Juice and he replied, "Yes" this was me:
:jawdrop:

Jungle Juice is POG (pineapple, orange, guava) juice. Woody has been exposed to POG juice lots of times at the Poly and 1900 Park Fare. He always declines it. He knows I love it and will give me his glass if one is poured for him.

"You know that's POG juice," I said.
"It's not too bad," he replied. "I like it." :banghead:
(I plan to remind him of this on our next stay at the Poly!)
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I think we were in that same small room as well. It does make things tight when the characters come by to say hi and take pictures.
 
Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
Thursday (con't)

Soon we were back at the lodge. This is one of Woody's favorite views, so we gazed for awhile.
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Those of you who read my October TR know that I commented about the large floral arrangements in each building at the GF. Well, WL has them too. :)

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I spied another wreath. Love how it fits the theme of the lodge.
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Woody and I went to Roaring Fork to pick up a couple of cold beverages. Then we retrieved our carry-ons from Bell Services. But it wasn't time for our DME pick-up........yet.
 
Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
Woody had to lead a teleconference before we left for the airport. He has never minded conducting business at WL, because there are two quiet private areas where he likes to work. He has never encountered anyone else in all the times he has used them ~ so not only is he not disturbed, he does not disturb anyone else.

The areas are accessed by two staircases. I was standing at the top of the second one when I took this picture.
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Here is one room:
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And here is the other:
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Woody and I sat in different areas. He had some prep work to do before his call.

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I took in the view from my loft....
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....before settling down to read.
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Now for the funny (or not-so-funny) story I promised @LisaBelle earlier in my report.

Woody's wifi signal kept fading in and out as he sat at the work desk. Frustrated, he decided to move to my area to see if the signal was stronger. It was. He plopped himself into a chair and readied himself for the call.

Just as he dialed in, two loud-talking women entered the loft and proceeded to shout over the railing to a friend in the lobby. One of them said, "Oh, she can't hear us." Yet this did not prevent them from carrying on at high volume for several minutes, oblivious to the fact that Woody was on the phone. Woody dared not move for fear of losing his signal, and I did not feel comfortable approaching the women to ask them to quiet down ~ after all, we were in a public space.

Thankfully the Chatty Cathys decided they should go find their friend and left.

But the worst was yet to come.

During our entire stay, Woody and I were not bothered by any noise due to the DVC construction. We'd heard nothing. So Woody was confident he would not have to contend with construction noise during his call.

And he didn't ~ from the DVC side of the lodge.

Suddenly there was hammering, orbital sanding and the annoying sound of vacuuming sawdust coming from the non-DVC side....only a few feet from where we were.
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I have no idea what these workers were repairing, but the cacophony lasted for the duration of Woody's call. It was almost comical ~ poor Woody ~ he'd only needed 30 noise-free minutes! :banghead:

We gathered our things and headed down to the lobby.
 
Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
DME arrived right on time and whisked us to the airport. We grabbed subs from Jersey Mike's before boarding our plane. Thankfully we got seats next to each other this flight! :)

The requisite DME pouty faces.
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As you know, those frowns won't last long. Woody and I will return in May for our annual Flower and Garden visit. @TrolleyFollower91 and I have a spring break trip in April (Woody is not sure if he can join us) when we hope to meet up with @Doc Disney and her mom. :p

Thanks for reading........and See Ya Real Soon!!
 
LisaBelle

LisaBelle

Well-Known Member
Tuvalu said:
Woody had to lead a teleconference before we left for the airport. He has never minded conducting business at WL, because there are two quiet private areas where he likes to work. He has never encountered anyone else in all the times he has used them ~ so not only is he not disturbed, he does not disturb anyone else.

The areas are accessed by two staircases. I was standing at the top of the second one when I took this picture.
View attachment 189504

Here is one room:
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And here is the other:
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Woody and I sat in different areas. He had some prep work to do before his call.

View attachment 189506

I took in the view from my loft....
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....before settling down to read.
View attachment 189510

Now for the funny (or not-so-funny) story I promised @LisaBelle earlier in my report.

Woody's wifi signal kept fading in and out as he sat at the work desk. Frustrated, he decided to move to my area to see if the signal was stronger. It was. He plopped himself into a chair and readied himself for the call.

Just as he dialed in, two loud-talking women entered the loft and proceeded to shout over the railing to a friend in the lobby. One of them said, "Oh, she can't hear us." Yet this did not prevent them from carrying on at high volume for several minutes, oblivious to the fact that Woody was on the phone. Woody dared not move for fear of losing his signal, and I did not feel comfortable approaching the women to ask them to quiet down ~ after all, we were in a public space.

Thankfully the Chatty Cathys decided they should go find their friend and left.

But the worst was yet to come.

During our entire stay, Woody and I were not bothered by any noise due to the DVC construction. We'd heard nothing. So Woody was confident he would not have to contend with construction noise during his call.

And he didn't ~ from the DVC side of the lodge.

Suddenly there was hammering, orbital sanding and the annoying sound of vacuuming sawdust coming from the non-DVC side....only a few feet from where we were.
View attachment 189511

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I have no idea what these workers were repairing, but the cacophony lasted for the duration of Woody's call. It was almost comical ~ poor Woody ~ he'd only needed 30 noise-free minutes! :banghead:

We gathered our things and headed down to the lobby.
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Thanks for another great trip report. Keep 'em coming! I still have at least a year before I'll be back :(.
Poor Woody! It figures that the only construction noise you heard was at a time when you needed quiet. Especially since you had a rather out of the way spot.
LOVED the themed wreaths. I love WL. Hope I get to stay there some Christmas season. Thinking about WL makes me want a Magic Cookie Bar from Roaring Fork :hungry:!
Looking forward to reading about the April mother daughter meet up with you, @TrolleyFollower91 and @Doc Disney and her mom.
 
MinnieM123

MinnieM123

Premium Member
Another Tuvalu TR winner!! :D

By the way, I loved the floral display at WL. I've stayed there a few times over the years and I don't recall seeing a floral display, but perhaps it was a seasonal thing, I also loved the wreath.

I'm familiar with the little alcoves that Woody enjoyed. Overall, I think that for theme and design, WL is my favorite hotel on WDW property. (And it's even nicer when all the elevators are working! :p But then again, when they are, you don't get cookies. ;) )
 
Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
blgauger said:
Happy birthday @Tuvalu!! :) Whatever will we do without a TR for a few months!? I think this might be the longest we've had to wait in suspense for quite some time. ;) Looking forward to the next couple of TR's. Can't wait until our move so I'm able to experience Flower & Garden again.. It's been too many years! :inlove:
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Thanks! And a happy ❤ day to you and Dylan!
 

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