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 . And ELEVATOR COOKIES . And maybe even a RED CARD .

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

Who's in?

 

[amjt660]

Sat 3 Febr and Sun 4 Febr. Not as long as the usual trips in this forum but just enough to enjoy some low crowds/good food and a good night sleep . Maybe will post some photos of our stay at the Disneyland Hotel and the other usual TR pictures.

Please do a trip report (either in this forum or the Paris one)
The pics (as a minimum ) would be acceptable but we are a demanding group here you know (lol)

Max

 

[amjt660]

With 2 sets of elevators out of commission, that meant only the ones near Roaring Fork could be used by guests. How many elevators are near Roaring Fork? There are two. Now imagine how you would feel upon reaching those elevators and seeing this ~

View attachment 186126

WTH?!! Has WL suddenly become the Tower of Terror? Six floors of guests are supposed to use only ONE elevator???!!! I immediately wished we'd been assigned a room on the first floor....but no, our room was on the fifth. Were endless waits for an elevator in our future? You'll have to wait and see. I will say our first wait was over 7 minutes.

First off I agree that one working elevator in a deluxe is sad.

Secondly I assume the H in WTH stands for Heck
I commend you Tuvalu
I would have gone straight to **W*T*F** !!!
(extra stars required to not have the acronym blocked)

Max

 

[amjt660]

I really liked the "woods view" room we had last year.....with the trees demolished for DVC cabin construction, we had a great view of the castle and MK fireworks. Unfortunately that room category was not available this year and we were in a "courtyard view" room. The view was just okay ~ we have had other courtyard views which were better.


View attachment 186170

Tuvalu
We have visted the lodge but have not stayed at it.
It seems very similar to the Grand Californian at DLR

Enjoying the report !

Max

 

[Laurenciaa]

Please do a trip report (either in this forum or the Paris one)
The pics (as a minimum ) would be acceptable but we are a demanding group here you know (lol)

Max

Getting the camera gear ready then! Don't expect too much from it please BUT I will take some snapshots of the Parisian Happy place we call Disneyland Paris ! Sorry to spam on you TR @Tuvalu !

 

[93boomer]

I am here but late as usual!

 

[Tuvalu]

I assume the H in WTH stands for Heck

Indeed it does.

We have visted the lodge but have not stayed at it. It seems very similar to the Grand Californian at DLR

We had stayed at WL a couple times before staying at the Grand Californian in 2005, and my family felt we had entered a more "upscale" WL ~ kind of a cross between WL and the GF.

Getting the camera gear ready then! Don't expect too much from it please BUT I will take some snapshots of the Parisian Happy place we call Disneyland Paris ! Sorry to spam on you TR @Tuvalu !

No spam. Looking forward to your report!

I am here but late as usual!

Welcome!

 

[Tuvalu]

Saturday (con't)

The elevator freefall had made us thirsty so we bought a bottle of water, found a bench(!) and people-watched for a little while. As the time for our next FP approached, we got off our duffs and began walking.

Pretty garland on the back of the pergola.

I darted into the restroom while Woody took this shot.

Woody said he cannot remember the last time he was inside the Hyperion theater. He never saw the American Idol Experience and cannot recall Doug Live! (though Doug was a favorite of our oldest son and we did see that show; maybe Woody wasn't with us.) He does remember Superstar Television (which closed in 1998) ~ so let's just say it it is likely Woody had not been inside the Hyperion in 20 years.

That would change today.

We have had FPs for the Frozen Sing-a-long on several previous trips....and either we skipped the show or Woody had to return to our room to work while Em and I stayed to watch.

But no work on Saturday. Time for Woody to let it go.

Luckily, he did not get "snoaped" on too badly.

His verdict? He found the historians very amusing and the experience entertaining. A thumbs up!

 

[LadyBelle]

I totally failed on where you were going - I had you pegged for MK.

I loved the historians in Frozen Sing-a-long. They were very entertaining.

And it was nice of you to leave your pins for the next guests. But you could've sent them to me. J/K!!

 

[Tuvalu]

We walked towards the Muppet courtyard and glanced over the wall at the sad remains of New York Street.
(Must not think about Osborne Lights. Must not think about Osborne Lights. Must not think about Osborne Lights.)
I can't stop thinking about Osborne Lights!!!

Then we saw this.

WHY? WHY? WHY?

A waterless fountain?? WTH?? (That's heck again, @amjt660)

To cheer us up, I decided Woody needed to see inside PizzeRizzo.

He thoroughly enjoyed checking it out. (And no, @Courtney6682, I still don't know if there is Rizzo merchandise for sale. )

 

[LeighM]

Yet again, I'm late to another trip report but finally caught up. A place close to my former work had a sandwich that I always called Thanksgiving Sandwich (I never did know the real name LOL). It was sooooo good - turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, and a little bit of herbed mayo. Loved it! And when did they do away with the water in the Miss Piggy fountain?!!!

 

[Tuvalu]

I'll make our next attraction easier for you to guess @LadyBelle.

Now that you've figured out where, you can figure out who:

The winner also accomplished this:

 

[Tuvalu]

And when did they do away with the water in the Miss Piggy fountain?!!!

I'm not sure. I can't imagine Em and I wouldn't have noticed it the week before. Em was shocked when I texted her that picture. But if we did miss it, I know for a fact the fountain had water during my October visit.

 

[Tiggerish]

Oh, Osborne Lights, forever to be missed.

I am shocked to see that plant life has sprouted in the Muppets fountain. Didn't we just recently overcome this problem at MK?

Looking forward to the rest of the report!

 

[DisneyJeff]

I'm not sure. I can't imagine Em and I wouldn't have noticed it the week before. Em was shocked when I texted her that picture. But if we did miss it, I know for a fact the fountain had water during my October visit.

It did not have water when I was there at the end of Oct / beginning of Nov. I don't like it one bit! Fountains should have water!!!

 

[Tuvalu]

We had some time to kill before our dinner ADR. I wanted to see Jingle Bell Jingle BAM! again, but didn't feel like standing around for an hour. The Great Movie Ride standby was 20 minutes, so we got in line figuring we'd be through the attraction in time for the start of JBJB.

Just a mere week earlier Em and I had been the ones the line dwellers were staring at. Now I was a line dweller...

We got inside the pre-show room and the line didn't move. For a very long time.

Yep, this was me trapped in Oz as the clocked ticked closer to the start of JBJB.

When it was over, I couldn't give the requested thunderous applause to our tour guide. JBJB had begun and I was . I thought our party of 2 could maneuver towards the center of the Chinese theater. There was no maneuvering. This is as far as we got:

Worst of all, we couldn't see the fireworks . Just the smoke remnants.

(Must not think about Osborne Lights........)

 

[LadyBelle]

I'll make our next attraction easier for you to guess @LadyBelle.

View attachment 186342

Now that you've figured out where, you can figure out who:
View attachment 186343

The winner also accomplished this:
View attachment 186344

What is Toy Story Midway Mania, Alex?

 

[Tuvalu]

It did not have water when I was there at the end of Oct / beginning of Nov. I don't like it one bit! Fountains should have water!!!

Thanks for clarifying @DisneyJeff. Em and I must have been so excited about exploring PizzeRizzo that we never saw Piggy's plants.

 

[Tuvalu]

My JBJB disappointment was quickly forgotten once we reached our dinner destination.

It had been years since Woody and I ate at Sci Fi and we were ready for a walk down memory lane. (Yes, we are both old enough to have been to drive-in movies. But the "memory" I was referencing were our visits to Sci Fi when the kids were little. Back when diners were given free popcorn to munch on while watching the film clips. Back when the servers used to loudly yell "Watch Out!" when the Amazing Colossal Man got stabbed with the giant hypodermic needle.)

We were immediately escorted to our car.

For ambiance, this place is really cool!

We laughed at the cheesy clips.

Our server was very personable and quick to refill drinks and bring us a missing item. Our meal consisted of the grilled chicken BLT sandwich (me) and the seasonal specialty angus burger topped with fried Boursin cheese (Woody). Both came with fat fries. I wish we'd had Em's camera to photograph the food, as my pics are awful.

There were several tempting items on the dessert menu. We opted to be frugal (saving $ and calories) and split one dessert. And boy, did we pick the right one!

The House-made Sci Fi Candy Bar ~ White and Dark Chocolate Mousse layered in Sponge Cake and covered in Chocolate Ganache and Crispy Pearls. The strawberries and cream garnish was a yummy surprise!

This creation ranks just behind LTT's Ooey Gooey Cake in my list of favorite Disney desserts.

We both smiled when the bill came. We'd forgotten it was a speeding ticket.

 

[Tuvalu]

The park was closing as we made our way towards the exit.

Rockette Minnies for Em (and you too, @MinnieM123!)

The WL bus was just pulling in as we reached the bus stop. We even got seats!

 

[Tuvalu]

I will never ever tire of walking at night from the bus stop into the lodge at Christmas.

Even Whispering Canyon is over-the-top decked out. I think the restaurant is using the lighted garland that normally decorates the south wing of the lodge.

The wait for the elevator wasn't too long ~ we had beaten the closing time crowds for MK and Epcot. In fact, we could hear 9:30 pm Illuminations and 10 pm Wishes from inside our room. (I won't mention my frustration at not being able to see either of them.) (Whoops....guess I just did! )

Coming up tomorrow.....DRAMA!