Trip Report "BOAT!" "Boat?" "BOAT!" A November Trip Report

Hello, my fellow Disney nuts. Welcome to another Bee trip report. If you're here for a pixie-goggled traipse through the Happiest Place on Earth...this ain't that. While there were a lot of things we really enjoyed on this trip, there were also plenty of annoying and disappointing things, and I want to get that out there so that if you only read trip reports where everyone is smiling all the time and nothing goes wrong, you can take the chicken exit right now and there will be no hard feelings. But if you're here for the whole package ranging from DRAMMA to delight to disappointment...stick around!

Who: Me, M, and my brother Jay
Where: WDW Dolphin
When: November 22-27 in Disney, November 27-30 visiting M's family in north Florida

A little background: This trip was supposed to be November 23-29, with four nights at Disney and two nights with M's parents. But Southwest has ceased all operations to Newark Airport, and we had already booked all our holiday travel to/from Newark, so we had to change ALL of our flights to different airports. This was suuuuuuper annoying, but we made the best of it by extending our vacation an extra day on each end.

We also originally (after we changed our flights) planned to spend the first night at a Disney value resort since we would be arriving so late and to take advantage of DME, but I had a lot of Marriott points so we ended up saving $400+ to just stay all five nights at the Dolphin using points for some of the nights.

 

[Loco_driver]

I know lots of people looooooove Pandora but it's just never lived up to the hype for me.

I 100% agree with this statement!

 

[bee]

View attachment 431884

I 100% agree with this statement!

Welcome to the club!

I totally hate the Boardwalk and IG area is getting crowded. It was perfection, because it was an empty spot to hang out.

On kids that young- Most people, think I was so young. 21 when I had my oldest. B and had been together really young, 16 and 18, married at 19 & 21. I became a grandmother at 43. Here I am staring 47 in the face... In one way, I was not prepared to be here but on the other, I will only be 61 when my grandson graduates high school. I do kinda like that part of it. 16, though- I was nowhere near ready, I think I still had a bedroom with all my Barbies on the shelves. lol

So cool that you were ready to start your family young and now get to enjoy being young with your grandson! My grandmother was 40 when she had my mom (youngest of 6) and, while of course I would never want to change anything, there were definitely times growing up I wished I had a younger grandmother.

 

[bee]

Day 2, cont.

The next few posts will be mostly Safari photos. Apologies in advance for the blurry ones!

We were stopped for a few minutes while a group of giraffes crossed the road.

One of them got quite close to us!

Up next: More safari!

 

[bee]

Let's get this thing moving, shall we? The last two weeks have been CAH-RAZY. I know I always say that, but it's especially true this time. It's opera audition season, it's almost Christmas so I have extra church gigs, I'm prepping my students for their own auditions and holiday performances (not to mention attending said performances!)...it's a lot. Today I FINALLY have a day off and I intend to make some progress on this TR!

Day 2, cont.

More safari pics!

Trunk up @Darstarr

Pay no attention...

Veeeeeery blurry cheetah

Up next: More safari! Including something I never thought I'd see!

 

[bee]

Day 2, cont.

It's almost LION TIME!

Wait, what is she--

I guess even big cats gotta get clean!

And that wrapped up a really great safari ride!

Up next: Something we'd never done before

 

[bee]

Day 2, cont.

Leading up to this trip I had though about riding the AK train because it's something I've never done. Jay has always been obsessed with trains and luckily M agreed to go along for the ride (literally). It was about 4:25 when we got off the safari and the last train was at 4:30 so we quickly headed that way.

When we reached Rafiki's we collectively agreed that we were too tired to actually get off and do anything. So we stayed on for the ride back to the main station. From there we exited the park, but not before stopping for some shopping.

As we approached the bus stops we saw that a Swolphin bus was just arriving.

We saw this car from the bus. It seemed way more exciting at the time.

Up next: Back to the Dolphin

 

[bee]

Day 2, cont.

The bus stopped at the Swan first and we decided to just get off there and walk to the Dolphin.

New tile floor (that you can barely see) that was under construction when M and I stayed there in October

Cove construction

✈

As we walked toward the Dolphin the outside speakers were playing this horrible song that just kept saying, "Christmas vacation" over and over and over. Jay and I started singing along and we all had it in our heads all night.

And now the reason for the title of the TR: as I mentioned previously we had a great view of the Swan and the boat dock from our room. By the end of the trip, every time one of us saw a boat we would yell "BOAT!" The other person or people would ask, "Boat?" and the first person would confirm, "BOAT!" We joked about making a drinking game of watching the boats, but with the frequency of boat trips back and forth I'm pretty sure we would have died.

We were all hungry by this point in the evening and couldn't find a reservation for three for anything that sounded good, so we checked out various lounge menus online. The Phins food menu looked promising and seemed to have at least four different veggie options, plus it was right downstairs. When we arrived, however, there were only two veg items and neither of them sounded that great, so we left to try the Ale and Compass lounge instead.

🕷

A toad that Jay almost stepped on!

Up next: Trying the Ale and Compass lounge

 

[Wngo905]

Hello, my fellow Disney nuts. Welcome to another Bee trip report.
When: November 22-27 in Disney, November 27-30 visiting M's family in north Florida

Sorry, Late to the party. After finding and following your trip reports since the trip report of Japan, this one certainly has my interest..... we were in WDW the same time (Nov 23-30) so I will enjoy a nice game of seeing if I can find myself (or my family members) in the background of your photos. LOL!!!

So far, nope

 

[MinnieM123]

You'll think I'm crazy, but the one photo that I gravitated to was the swans (indoor lobby) fountain, with the holiday ribbon ties around the swans' necks!!!

 

[Darstarr]

Trunk up @Darstarr

Thank you! Great photo!!!

s we walked toward the Dolphin the outside speakers were playing this horrible song that just kept saying, "Christmas vacation" over and over and over. Jay and I started singing along and we all had it in our heads all night.

Uh oh, I recently watched National Lampoons Christmas Vacation at the urging of @wdisney9000 and @Captain Barbossa Could the song you speak of be the theme song from that??
(Boys- I get points for this right?)

Sorry, Late to the party. After finding and following your trip reports since the trip report of Japan, this one certainly has my interest..... we were in WDW the same time (Nov 23-30) so I will enjoy a nice game of seeing if I can find myself (or my family members) in the background of your photos. LOL!!!

So far, nope

Me too!

 

[Tuvalu]

I think @Darstarr hit the nail on the head!

 

[Rista1313]

We were all hungry by this point in the evening and couldn't find a reservation for three for anything that sounded good

I noticed I had a hard time sometimes with a reservation for 2.... then tried 3, Nothing... then tried 4 and suddenly reservations popped up. Try 4 next time... oops our friend couldn't make it!

 

[bee]

Sorry, Late to the party. After finding and following your trip reports since the trip report of Japan, this one certainly has my interest..... we were in WDW the same time (Nov 23-30) so I will enjoy a nice game of seeing if I can find myself (or my family members) in the background of your photos. LOL!!!

So far, nope

Welcome!

You'll think I'm crazy, but the one photo that I gravitated to was the swans (indoor lobby) fountain, with the holiday ribbon ties around the swans' necks!!!

Love it!

Thank you! Great photo!!!

Uh oh, I recently watched National Lampoons Christmas Vacation at the urging of @wdisney9000 and @Captain Barbossa Could the song you speak of be the theme song from that??
(Boys- I get points for this right?)

Me too!

I think @Darstarr hit the nail on the head!

Maybe it was a cover of that song, because the incessant "Christmas vacation" section seemed to last waaaay longer than that.

I noticed I had a hard time sometimes with a reservation for 2.... then tried 3, Nothing... then tried 4 and suddenly reservations popped up. Try 4 next time... oops our friend couldn't make it!

Great tip!

 

[bee]

Day 2, cont.

We arrived at the Yacht Club and checked out the train display.

We checked in at the A&C lounge and were seated almost immediately and greeted by Emily.

I had the Spicy Pomegranate Margarita, and M and Jay both had the Maple Old Fashioned.

I don't remember my margarita being particularly spicy, or tasting like pomegranate for that matter. It was still good, just...not exactly what was advertised. Both M and Jay liked their drinks.

Clockwise from top right: Parker House Rolls and Spreads (but bacon jam replaced with an extra pub cheese); Baked Goat Cheese with Grape Leaf; and Buffalo Cauliflower

All the food was quite good. The cauliflower actually had a good amount of spice to it. The baked goat cheese was creamy and nicely seasoned. And while the citrus butter that came with the rolls was a liiiiiittle strange, the pub cheese was freaking delicious.

We decided to have a second round of drinks and try some different things.

I had the Royal Manhattan, Jay had the Ultimate Long Island, and M had the Hudson Mule (I guess we were all missing New York! )

I always love a good Manhattan!

After we finished and paid we all walked back to the Dolphin because Jay had left something in our room. Then he left to go back to his hotel and M and I got ready for bed.

While we are both at Disney, Jay and I use an app called Life360 to track where the other is so we can make plans to meet up. As M and I were getting in bed I checked the app to see if Jay had made it back to his hotel, and I noticed it said he was at the Boardwalk. I texted him to see if he was okay (he's somewhat new to drinking...I hoped he wasn't passed out on a bench somewhere...) and he was just still hanging around the Boardwalk for fun.

And that wraps up Day 2 (finally)!

Up next: Day 3! We see Epcot Forever for the first (and last?) time!

 

[Tuvalu]

M and I got ready for bed.

So. Many. Questions.

 

[bee]

Day 3: Sunday, November 24

M and I slept in and got ready just in time to make the end of Picabu breakfast (which, for your reference, ends at 12 noon on weekends). After ordering and paying we sat down in the Picabu dining area and waited for a CM to bring us our food.

We asked for all of the toppings except for meat in the omelet and it was delicious! It was plenty to share. We also shared a coffee (not pictured) which included free refills at the beverage station.

While we were eating I was texting back and forth with my brother. Originally he was planning to meet up with local friends in the morning/afternoon and leave in the early afternoon to drive home, but his local friends cancelled so he decided to hang out with M and me instead. We couldn't add him to our exact FPs so we tried to get similar times so we could at least have a bit of an overlap.

After breakfast M and I went out to the bus stop and almost immediately got on a Magic Kingdom bus. Security wasn't toooo terrible and soon we were here:

Nice sign!

Up next: Tomorrowland Time

 

[MinnieM123]

Hmm. That freestyle beverage station is new at Picabu.

 

[bee]

View attachment 434464

So. Many. Questions.

Well you know...sometimes the two beds provided in the room just aren't enough...

Hmm. That freestyle beverage station is new at Picabu.

Yes, I thought it looked a little out of place!

 

[bee]

Day 3, cont.

We met up with Jay in Tomorrowland. M I had Buzz FPs but he couldn't get one, so he got on line for the TTA while we rode Buzz. No pics from Buzz but I did look up some of the good targets and got the best score I've ever gotten...though of course I was nowhere near a Galactic Hero. Also, it seemed the Buzz line was COMPLETELY FILLED with sick, coughing children. GROSS!

We still had some time until our first together FP so M and I hopped on the TTA line, just as Jay was getting off. We continued the game of trying to photograph the other while they weren't looking and I think he followed the track as much as possible to try to get me. But I got him too!

M loves to say, "Robots taking our jobs" at any opportunity. This was a good one.

Up next: Mad Tea Party: A Cautionary Tale

 

[bee]

Day 3, cont.

We had a bit of time to kill before our next FP and the Mad Tea Party had a short wait so we got on line. As we waited we observed that other parties managed to fit three adults in a single cup, so why couldn't we?

As soon as we got into a cup, it became clear that we had made a...



None of us are small people. M and I are average height and my brother is over six feet tall and we are all *ahem* full-bodied. I do *NOT* recommend three full-sized adults trying to share one teacup.

After our spin we were all able to use our next FP: Pooh (but NOT Arty Poo, @Tuvalu). And on the way we saw the man (bear) himself!

And Tigger, Too!

You can't tell but there are BEES in this picture!

lol

A marginally better photo of the bees

Up next: Arendelle Aqua