Trip Report *COMPLETED* Merriest Birthday in the World, November 2021 at the Dolphin

I swear I thought of a clever trip report title during my trip, but it has fallen out of my brain so you get this generic, boring title.

But anyway.

Who: Me and my husband, R
Why: My birthday!
When: November 7-1211 (more on that later)
Where: Dolphin

Here's a cute pic of us for the first post

 

[Darstarr]

pear French 75

Yum. Last Christmas I was experimenting with signature drinks (which I have every year) and I made a French 75 with pear vodka instead of gin. I don’t remember what I called it but boy oh boy was it gooooood
Happy belated birthday. And that picture would be frame worthy if only……

 

[sheriffwoody]

I had not slept well the whole trip so far, but I finally slept pretty well before our Hollywood Studios day!

I don't remember what time I woke up or anything, but the time stamp on my first photo is 8:32.




We got in the line for resort guests and waited a bit to get in. When we got to the lady, she scanned my pass, but needed to see proof on my phone. It wasn't showing in MDE for some reason (it did before!) so I went to the Sheraton app and finally got it pulled up for her. I stepped to the side to do this and I think the people in line thought I was trying to cut when I went back to show her Oops, sorry y'all.

We got in and headed to Slinky





I love all the vintage Christmas touches in this park! So glad I got to see them in person this year.



If you need a visual representation of our Hollywood Studios day, here you go:



My rationale was that we'd do Slinky and then wait for the Rise line to die down after the initial morning rush. Problem was, no lines died down after the morning rush. They all just got higher and higher all day. So...we did a lot of standing this day.



We waited about an hour for Slinky.



Unlike some people, I just did a quick selfie with Woody and didn't stop the whole line It kills me when people stop the whole line for a photo shoot...like just go back later? Not that it matters that much...it's not like it's going to make the wait longer. But then you get everyone behind you irritated...just not worth it.



Dog, you better be worth it!



Of course he's worth it. I love that ride! I wish it was longer, but it's so fun.



Weeeeee!

The timing was perfect for us to walk right over to our Oga's Cantina reservation! We were called within a few minutes and stood at the bar.





We started with a Fuzzy Tauntaun and Jedi Mind Trick (the blue drink). The fuzza tauntaun has the foam on top that numbs your mouth. It didn't do anything to me! When the bartender asked about it and I said I didn't feel anything he put a TON more on there, and then I definitely felt it It was a super odd sensation! But the drink itself was very good. I wasn't crazy about the Jedi Mind Trick.



I didn't want to pass out (having not eaten all day) so I insisted we get food. We went with the Batuu Bits. It didn't sound like much, but it was good! The dip was very yummy and it was a variety of chip types. EVERYTHING here is overpriced, but I was happy to have a little something to eat.




Next we got the Bespin Fizz and Jet Juice. The bartender had a whole spiel for the jet juice that was fun. They really did a great job playing up the whole experience, and they were FAST. We were in and out under the 45 minute limit even with all this stuff we ordered. It was very fast paced.

So in order of enjoyment, I pick Bespin Fizz, Fuzzy Tauntaun, Jet Juice and then Jedi Mind Trick.



I'm so glad we did this! We had it booked a while back (our first trip after GE opened) and canceled for timing reasons, so I had really been wanted to go. It was kind of early in the day, but it's all I could get.

Up next: More waiting

 

[miasmom]

I couldn't even walk around the house and nurse with no top on, I for sure couldn't have done it out and about Maybe if I'd nursed longer and she was more in control of her own head (I had to stop at 4 months)

I always try to bring this up when I can to send the message that it's perfectly acceptable to nurse in public. It is hard to get past that fear of people judging you (for me anyway) so the more people who vocalize their acceptance, the better!

I love your point about bringing up public breast feeding as often as possible in order to normalize it. That never occurred to me, but it’s genius!

I love your trip report. And I’m floored by your photos. You are clearly talented and your clients are very lucky to have you.

I’m glad you enjoyed your birthday. Mine is a couple of days from yours, so I’m going to pretend that this was also my birthday trip

 

[amjt660]

Loving the report - belated Happy Birthday

Interesting that you had a one hour wait yet the two seats in front of you are empty

COVID spacing? or just inefficient loading of the train???


Max

 

[sheriffwoody]

I love your point about bringing up public breast feeding as often as possible in order to normalize it. That never occurred to me, but it’s genius!

I love your trip report. And I’m floored by your photos. You are clearly talented and your clients are very lucky to have you.

I’m glad you enjoyed your birthday. Mine is a couple of days from yours, so I’m going to pretend that this was also my birthday trip

That's so sweet of you! And yes, it's a combined birthday celebration for sure

 

[sheriffwoody]

We decided on Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway next. It was a 55 min wait, but Touring Plans predicted less....and they let us down again.





As you can see in this photo, the wait was bumped up to 70 minutes



About 45 minutes in, we were inside.





We ended up waiting the 70 minutes. I HATE THIS. I miss the old days. Before this trip, I don't think I EVER waited longer than an hour for anything, and here I've waited over an hour for multiple rides. I know I can buy Genie+ and avoid this, but ugh, I wanted to resist it. That feeling of being "nickel & dimed" is almost more irritating than hour long waits. I'm sorry I'm complaining so much



Smiling anyway...



Got our cookie num num (not sure that's what it is actually called...) and headed back into Toy Story Land. Midway Mania was supposed to be 20 minutes...I'll let you guess whether that was accurate or not.



I timed the wait, but I can't remember what it was at this point, but it was close to an hour.



That's me on the left!! I think this is the first time I've ever beat R

We had a lunch reservation at 1pm, so we headed to a place I'd been wanting to try for a while: Hollywood Brown Derby! We were seated pretty quickly, which was nice because it was starting to rain.



Took this just to show a little of the interior. I like the style.



I *think* this is a pomegranate whisky sour. I found a photo of a menu online to try to remember what I got, but I could be wrong. Whatever it was, I remember liking it! R had a La Fin Du Monde, which we both like a lot!



I got the famous cobb salad! I didn't add any meat...it's already $20 without that It doesn't look great from the photo, but it was great! It was a little heavy on the bleu cheese, but not enough to make me dislike it.



R had the seasonal fish, which was some kind of trout. He said it was good!

It was a nice meal, honestly. So far our two reservations kind of saved the day.

 

[sheriffwoody]

It was sprinkling when we left, but not bad enough that we couldn't walk around, so I checked out the Christmas decor, much to R's chagrin...he doesn't care at all








I was GIDDY about seeing Gertie in her hat.


WHERE ARE MY FEET







Basking in her merry glow



I'm not even posting all the photos I swear I'm sane. We headed out at this point. I would have liked to ride Rise, but the wait was like 2+ hours all day. I think it even got up to 4 at one point. Also, speaking of that, one of my student workers went during Thanksgiving break and they waited SEVEN HOURS. It was posted 3, I think, and even that is a big heck no from me




Our reflection in an ornament.

It was doing that kind of misty rain as we were leaving. Not bad enough that we were too bothered, so we didn't get a boat. We're dumb. Don't be like we.




Walking in the rain! It just got progressively harder as we went.



Almost there. Basically swimming at this point.



Up next: Vacation creep in the wrong direction

 

[sheriffwoody]

This is going to be text heavy at the beginning, so bear with me.

When we got back to the room, we FaceTimed with LP because she was with my mother-in-law that day. She was with my mom before this and my mom doesn't know how to FaceTime. Anyway, we chatted with her for a few and then decided to just chill and watch a movie. I didn't know what we were going to do that evening...if it ever stopped raining.

We watched The Irishman for a while, and boy was it boring. I read the book and it dragged too, so I should have known. Interesting story, but EDIT PEOPLE EDIT. I can't deal with these books where the author thinks every little detail is bookworthy...same for these 3+ hour movies based on the books. /rant

At some point, I casually mentioned I kind of just wanted to go home (Hollywood Studios did a number on me plus I missed LP so much!) and R said he did too. I looked and flights for the next day were available...hmmm. After a little back and forth, I just did it. Moved our flights up a day. We'd still got to AK the next day, but then we'd just head home and see our baby that night. It was only about $50 to switch because I had quite a bit in travel funds to use (I think it would have been closer to $200 without that).

For some reason, this RUSH of relief came over me and I was just crying for a while I am not emotional AT ALL. Like I cry a few times a year. So this was weird, it took me a bit to get it together.

With that settled, I decided we couldn't stay in the room on our last night, even with the rain. So we headed back out. Now I had brought my rain jacket. R did not. He remembered about halfway to the airport, oops. So we had to buy an overpriced poncho at the Swan giftshop (Dolphin didn't have any) and we headed into Epcot.



Forgot my dang camera again. We ate some yummies, but I have no photos!



More Christmas! And a gross, soggy lady.

As you can tell, we had gone toward France and walked around WS that way. After we got to the Port of Entry, we headed toward the front of the park.




We popped into Creations shop and guess what I found?! That poster calendar! Since I didn't buy it my birthday night, I was pumped to see it there. We were planning to go to the Contemporary to get it anyway, but I was pretty sure we wouldn't make it before they closed. So this worked out. There was a passholder Food & Wine hoodie that R really liked, but they didn't have his size I didn't have any luck finding it online either.



As we left there was a dude singing on a stage in front of Spaceship Earth. I had no idea who he was, but now I know it was Brett Eldredge (country singer). One of the CMs said she thought it was someone from Nsync... As a 34 year old, I WOULD KNOW THAT. She was wrong, obvi.

Up next: last night

 

[sheriffwoody]

We rode the monorail to the TTC and hopped on the resort monorail. We got off to do something I'd been looking forward to all trip, see the gingerbread house in the Grand Floridian!




We didn't go downstairs quite yet, we made another stop for my absolute favorite drink everrrrrr



Enchanted Rose was hoppin, but we found an open seat in this green room. It is gorgeous, but kind of loud in there.

Lavender Fog​

Nolet’s Silver Dry Gin, Rothman Crème de Violette, English Breakfast Tea, Vanilla, and Cream

It was a tad sweeter than I remembered, but still very good! I also got truffle fries, even though I wasn't the slightest bit hungry. I just remembered them being really good!



After our drinks and fries, we headed downstairs to see the baked beauty up close.




STUNNING! Definitely worth the trip over here to see it.









Tried to cover every angle

It was about 10pm, so not many people around at this point. A family came in with their toddler and the kid just walked right up to the house and I swear I thought she was about to start climbing on it. I stood there in horror while her parents just called to her to come back...like a toddler is going to listen! Finally the dad went under the ropes and grabbed her. Whew...crisis averted.



So the weather was a bit cooler, but not cool enough for that fuzzy sweatshirt. I was sweating like crazy all night, but no stores open to buy a tshirt. I could have gotten one at Creation shop, but I decided to tough it out. I was regretting it by this point. At least I'd been able to take the poncho off halfway through Epcot.



And with that we headed out! We got a Lyft back since Epcot was closed and I wasn't sure what the bus situation would be that late from MK or the TTC. It was about $20 with tip. I miss the good ole days of $7 rides!

Up next: AK...or maybe not

 

[sheriffwoody]

Woke up the next morning and enjoyed my last coffee on the balcony




Still can't get over Tower of Terror being RIGHT THERE!

We got our bags and headed down to store them and check out. The early checkout fee was $250, so we didn't get much at all knocked off our total hotel bill Oh well.

Our plan was Animal Kingdom. We took our chances with the busses at the Dolphin I can't remember exactly how long it took, but worse than our wait, there was either one huge family or two largeish families with two motorized scooters waiting for either AK or MK. A bus finally came and the ramp was broken. The rest of us loaded and got to listen to one of the dads tell (it was a stern tone, but not quite yelling...he was def mad, and I don't blame him) the bus driver they'd been waiting over and hour and he wanted him to call a supervisor right then to send a bus. He stood there in the door until the driver did it. I hope they got on a bus soon, cause over an hour is unacceptable!

After our long wait, we didn't make early magic. Also the bus dropped us off in the regular parking lot...after driving alllll the way around. It was an interesting route.




I adore the tree at Animal Kingdom!




We joined the masses right as the park was officially opening.





We were headed to Everest. It supposedly had a 20 minute wait.




'twas busy



Too busy This was us walking right back out of the park. All the lines were long. When we got to Everest, the line was out to the bridge. It MIGHT have actually been 20 minutes, but our luck, it would have been an hour, and we were just done.

We did walk over to Pandora to get a couple pictures in my Sivako shirt, and I popped in a couple of shops.





I like these decorations!

 

[sheriffwoody]

Our plan was to hop on a resort bus and then transfer to a Disney Springs bus. A cast member nearby the busses advised us to get on the AKL bus since that would be a short ride. It ended up working out well! We didn't wait long for either bus. And I booked us an early lunch at City Works.

I was excited to see the trees at Disney Springs! They'd just gone up a couple days before.






Disney+ tree





Coco tree. Still can't listen to Remember Me without sobbing



Frozen tree





Moana tree




I thought this was a magic band tree, but it's Toy Story



There was definitely a dude just sleepin in front of this tree. Cropped him out.




Raya tree

So even though I'd been wanting to try Gideon's Cookies, we didn't even make our way over that direction to see if we could get in the virtual queue. Since we would need to get back to the resort and get to the airport, I didn't want to mess with it.

 

[sheriffwoody]

We checked in for our lunch right when they opened.



It was very empty, but slowly filled up while we were there.



I just had a burger and fries. WHY ARE ALL THE BURGER BUNS AT DISNEY STALE?! I didn't have a single good bun this trip...even this one that was like $20. We also ordered beers. They have an extensive menu (most if not all on tap!), but unfortunately our first like 3 or 4 choices were out I can't recall what we had, but they were all good.



R had these tacos. He said they were ok. I was a little bummed the food was just mediocre...I'd actually heard REALLY good things.

We sat there longer than I wanted because our server was....not on top of it. I hesitate to mention this because I am always afraid people will randomly stumble on these things and know I'm talking about them But when we told her where we were from, she mentioned she'd visited Nashville recently and loved it so much because it had a day drinking vibe. Which basically says to me "I'm the type of person that has made Nashville unbearable to visit!" So...thanks for that, girlfriend! Seriously the bachelorette party vibe is out of control there and I hate it.

Ok done with my petty rant.



Black Panther tree




Back at the big tree! I wanted to go to World of Disney to check for something a friend of mine was looking for. It's still nearly impossible to shop in so I didn't get anything I get so overwhelmed shopping crowds. I can't look at anything when there are so many people around (maybe a touch of anxiety at play there)



Sorry this is kinda blurry. Beauty and the Beast tree





Park icons tree. It was a bit crowded around this one, so I didn't get the castle side. I liked this one, it was cool!





Loved this little orange bird photo opp!



I guess this was a Skyliner tree?

We had plenty of time and headed out to play it safe. Even though I'd have liked to go somewhere for a treat! It was getting crowded, so we probably would have waited a bit anywhere we went.

We weren't taking any chances with the Dolphin bus, so we got on a Boardwalk bus that was ready for us.






One last photo while we waited for our Lyft. Our ride to the airport was about $41 with the tip. Not too bad! This is a much more appealing method to me than the shuttle busses for just the two of us. With LP in tow, I guess we'll do the bus or hire a car like last time (which was more like $100 )

Everything at the airport was normal. We had plenty of time for me to stand in the starbucks line and get us overpriced sugary and delicious drinks. The gates around us were all pretty full, so we had to sit on the floor. We passed the time reading and getting up to walking around.

We were sooooo happy to get home and see LP! We got to do her bath and bedtime routine with her when we got home. I had started to feel sick throughout the day, and I'm pretty sure I had a fever overnight that night. I just remember our baggage claim taking FOREVERRRR and I thought I was going to die in there waiting for that stupid bag

So the next day, I felt waaaaay worse, like REALLY awful. I keep those at-home covid tests around and that was negative, but my O2 levels were fluctuating to as low as 89, so I went to convenient care. Negative for flu, strep and covid (phew!) but a chest xray showed pneumonia. No idea how I got it, but it sucked. I have mild asthma triggered by allergies and exercise and this felt like I needed my inhaler constantly. Thankfully it cleared up after about a week!

So that's it! Thanks for following along if you made it this far. You know I'm never one to sugarcoat, so hopefully I didn't bum anyone out too bad.

 

[sheriffwoody]

A couple of takeaways from this trip:

1. We probably won't do a trip this long again without LP, at least until she's older. I think 2-3 days is a sweet spot.
2. While I liked aspects of the Dolphin, I don't think it's the place for us. The bus situation was bad enough that I don't think we'll stay there again.
3. I think I'm going to have to just plan on getting Genie+ next time as much as it irritates me. The hour long waits are not good for my mental health
4. We are planning to let our passes expire after this year. I'll take LP next month (hopefully? I'm a bit worried right now with the covid situation TBH) and then we'll do a family trip in May. After that, I'm planning some non-Disney vacations (Helen, GA is the current plan for our anniversary!)

 

[Swissmiss]

Really loved all your Christmas tree pictures - it has put me in the mood as I relax a bit before heading to my last day at the office this year.

Thanks for sharing - especially your opinion. I find it helpful to hear other people’s « real » trips with good and bad.

 

[LeighM]

Enjoyed reading about your trip! We had plans to try CityWorks this trip but never got around to it. I'm sorry you got sick though. I wear my face mask often while at Disney, even outside during crowded areas and we limited our indoor dining. But I still feel like I caught something although more than likely it's bad leaf mold allergies. My asthma has been acting up and I've been having to use my inhaler more often bc of issues breathing. So far no fever but I'm keeping an eye on it in case I need to get tested. I'm vaxxed with Moderna and just received my booster 2 weeks prior to the trip so I should be good. But paranoia you know Where do you buy your at home covid tests? I was thinking about buying a couple of have on hand but there are so many options now!

 

[fractal]

Those wait times are ridiculous!

I agree with you on The Irishman.

Beautiful photos; as always!

Thanks for NOT sugar-coating things and thanks for a sprinkling of some Disney Christmas cheer!

 

[Loco_driver]

Thanks for sharing. Sorry you guys had such bad luck with crowds! Also I got bored with the Irishman in about an hour and turned it off.

 

[sheriffwoody]

Really loved all your Christmas tree pictures - it has put me in the mood as I relax a bit before heading to my last day at the office this year.

Thanks for sharing - especially your opinion. I find it helpful to hear other people’s « real » trips with good and bad.

It's my last day in the office too!! I'm using my last 5 hours of personal time and leaving early. And the minutes feel like hours Thanks so much for following along with my trip!

Enjoyed reading about your trip! We had plans to try CityWorks this trip but never got around to it. I'm sorry you got sick though. I wear my face mask often while at Disney, even outside during crowded areas and we limited our indoor dining. But I still feel like I caught something although more than likely it's bad leaf mold allergies. My asthma has been acting up and I've been having to use my inhaler more often bc of issues breathing. So far no fever but I'm keeping an eye on it in case I need to get tested. I'm vaxxed with Moderna and just received my booster 2 weeks prior to the trip so I should be good. But paranoia you know Where do you buy your at home covid tests? I was thinking about buying a couple of have on hand but there are so many options now!

I would say about every other trip I end up sick! It's frustrating, because I'm pretty cautious and avoid touching things. I mask outside too when it's crowded, but didn't really think about dining outside vs. inside. I did get my booster and my flu shot before this trip, so I at least didn't get either one of those viruses. Oh for the tests, I get the Binax ones from Walmart, I'm pretty sure they also carry them at other drugstores, they seem to be the best value and most widely available. I prefer a PCR test if I can, but the at-home ones are nice if you're paranoid like us

Those wait times are ridiculous!

I agree with you on The Irishman.

Beautiful photos; as always!

Thanks for NOT sugar-coating things and thanks for a sprinkling of some Disney Christmas cheer!

Thanks for following along!! Looking at getting a 50mm before the end of the year so might have a new toy for the next trip!

Thanks for sharing. Sorry you guys had such bad luck with crowds! Also I got bored with the Irishman in about an hour and turned it off.

I'm glad I'm not the only one bored with the Irishman. I know it was just Oscar bait, but gosh they could have made it AT LEAST an hour shorter.

 

[fractal]

It's my last day in the office too!! I'm using my last 5 hours of personal time and leaving early. And the minutes feel like hours Thanks so much for following along with my trip!



I would say about every other trip I end up sick! It's frustrating, because I'm pretty cautious and avoid touching things. I mask outside too when it's crowded, but didn't really think about dining outside vs. inside. I did get my booster and my flu shot before this trip, so I at least didn't get either one of those viruses. Oh for the tests, I get the Binax ones from Walmart, I'm pretty sure they also carry them at other drugstores, they seem to be the best value and most widely available. I prefer a PCR test if I can, but the at-home ones are nice if you're paranoid like us



Thanks for following along!! Looking at getting a 50mm before the end of the year so might have a new toy for the next trip!



I'm glad I'm not the only one bored with the Irishman. I know it was just Oscar bait, but gosh they could have made it AT LEAST an hour shorter.

The Sony Zeiss 55mm 1.8 is a great lens and compact. You usually can pick one up used at a decent price.

 

[cgersic]

Thanks for the report and sharing of all things, good and bad. I can't wait for the trip with LP and your new camera lens! Merry Christmas to you and your little family!