Trip Report Completed: SUCCESS!! I did NOT get locked out of our room naked again! Boardwalk Villas June 2015

Hey all!

Well, I am back. Sigh.

Yep, I'm playing a good game of "last week at this time".

Last week at this time, I was on the veranda of the California Grill watching Wishes. (It is 10:11 as I type this)

Tonight, I am sitting in my sweltering 90+ degree apartment in NYC procrastinating putting my air conditioner in the window. Does anyone have a time machine I can borrow? I prefer last week instead.

We had a really absolutely amazing trip, and there is not too much drama in it, so I hope I can make this interesting somehow.

Before I start, let me address the elephant in the room about getting locked out of the room naked.

Yes, that happened. In 2013. Luckily, no photographic evidence exists, but what happened is that it was a day with a lot of cocktails. We saved and sprung for concierge, and the wine up there was flowing like the River Jordan.

We went back to the room and I hurled all my clothes off and threw myself into the bed.

Cut to several hours later.

I woke up. The room was pitch black. I had no idea where I was, or, to clarify, my mind was not yet awake at 100% functionality. I stumbled through the darkness toward the bathroom, following a pattern that matched my own NYC apartment. Unfortunately, there is a different pattern at Disney hotels, and I quickly opened a door and said "woaaahhh - noooo!!!!" - and as soon as I said that, the door behind me slammed shut, and I was locked out of the room, naked.

It was such a ridiculous, surreal situation. There was nothing to be done, so I just huddled there by the door like Gollum and eventually Phil came back to the room.Let's just say that I was in the doghouse for the rest of the trip.

But that is soooo 2013. There is no getting locked out naked in 2015. So, onward!

June 4, 2015:

Our plane was on time! No issues.

Phil had to go buy some reading materials, which left me some time to take a non-selfie-stick-selfie

Soon we were in the sky. I made Phil do a selfie with me against his will.

Yeah, well, no one looks that good when you do a selfie. Anyway, we flew the friendly skies to Orlando and when we got there, Quicksilvertours was freaking incredible. They picked us up, gave us a 30 minute grocery stop, and then deposited us at the Boardwalk Villas.

We had done pre-check in. We had a standard view one-bedroom Boardwalk villa. I did not expect anything but that, but when we got there, a check in hostess grabbed us and spent 20 minutes on a phone and then told us "Good news! You have been upgraded to a renovated room!!"

Hurray!!

And so here is the video of the renovated room. I am sorry that my phone ran out of gas toward the end, so this ends unexpectedly:




I cannot believe the room we got. I never wanted to leave. But we had to. So we went and explored the pool:

Here is Phil, looking very happy:

and here I am:
What the heck was I thinking wearing an orange tee-shirt - -- ----this theme will come up again and again:

Well, it was time to go to a few fast passes in EPCOT before going to our $300 dinner at the California Grill.

Let me back up briefly.

We are NOT rich at all. The results of the Boardwalk stay is the result of saving for about a year, and as for California Grill, I figured out that we were not getting out of there for under $300, so we put $20 a week in an envelope until it reached $300 and then we had it! That might seem a bit tragic to some, but it made the California Grill amazing for us rather than a situation where we were trying to figure out how to pay.

So anyway, prior to the trip, I went shopping for some new Disney clothes, and anyone who knows me knows that i am fashion incompetent. But I specifically was looking for a California Grill outfit.

Everyone here always complains about badly dressed people so I wanted to do what I could to make sure i was dressed for a fireworks dinner in the clouds.

The day before the trip, I went shopping, and I somehow thought this shirt was good.

wow, this looked great on the mannequin but on me, it looks like Carrie White exploded!!

Here is the tasteful outfit

that Phil decided to wear:


So on we go. We rode a few rides in the future section of EPCOT and then it was time for our $300 dinner at California Grill:

Cali was just great. Here is Phil standing in front of 10,000,000 bottles of wine as you

walk in:

Well, it just said I'm not allowed to upload anymore files to this message (limit of 10) so I'll get back to this soon.

Coming soon - dancing in an empty Boardwalk dance-hall, a pretty underwhelming Trader Sams, a Rebel Hangar that had no rebels in it, an Ohana that was awesome, and a drink around the world that was as awesome as always.

 

[catmom46]

Well, they better have! I reported it the second it hit!

Now let's grab a Canadian beer!

Good thinking (on both reporting it and the beer)!

 

[FlaggNL]

Thanks for the share! Loved reading it!!

 

[Figgy1]

Hey, I just noticed they removed the troll's post - woohoo! Thank goodness. I would hate for Buddy's perfect TR to be marred by such ugliness.

Well, they better have! I reported it the second it hit!

Now let's grab a Canadian beer!

Happy dance, happy dance!

 

[BuddyThomas]

So now Phil has read this and he says he is "posting a rebuttal."

LOL - I think I was very fair in the report but if he has something to say, fine. Phil, post away?

 

[PinnySmart]

Great TR from fellow redshirts!

 

[unkadug]

So now Phil has read this and he says he is "posting a rebuttal."

LOL - I think I was very fair in the report but if he has something to say, fine. Phil, post away?

Does he have his own account? I think his rebuttal would be fun to read after reading your report.

 

[BuddyThomas]

Does he have his own account? I think his rebuttal would be fun to read after reading your report.

He doesn't have an account ----- was going to join, but it never happened. He's not big on social media. He doesn't even have a mobile phone. I think he is under the impression it is still 1985, as evidenced in his dance routines at Atlantic Dance Hall.

 

[NonnaT]

PART 3 - Friday June 5 - Hollywood Studios

First of all, thanks to everyone for your nice comments and likes, especially about my insane Carrie White bloodbath shirt which I have not yet burned, but which is probably taking a trip to the Goodwill very soon.

So onward.

What happens when you stay awake until 2AM at Disney? Free answer - you do not want to wake up the next day!

We are not rope drop people, and the way we feel about it is that if we are spending a good gazillion dollars for a room, then the room is just as important to experience as the park. Why drop more than $200 a night for a room just to run out of the room as fast as possible at every moment? That is just us, and I know others feel differently, and all opinions are legitimate.

So, we rolled out of bed at around 9:30. Or should I say Phil did that. I was still comatose.
To make a long story short, Phil made an amazing breakfast of a tomato, spinach, and cheese omelette, yogurt with berries, and mimosas. He's the best. Sorry but I was a bit hungover, so I did not think to take pictures of this.

But soon it was on to Disney Hollywood Studios!!!

Okay. This was the first time that I got a little concerned.

We arrived around noon, and the park was MOBBED. I had never seen so many people there before. I wish I took pictures, but when I am hot, and in a mob situation, I shut down a bit. Little did I know that tomorrow at the Magic Kingdom, it was going to make this crowd look like nothing at all.

We had fast pass ressies for Tower of Terror and as we approached, it was like a 2 hour stand by line. I have never seen the line that long before. What is going on in this place?!?

The fast pass line moved fast enough and we were on and off pretty quickly. The drop sequence was pretty long and terrifying, and very fun.

Then, it was time for our lunch reservation at Brown Derby.

I objected to this reservation and wanted Prime Time instead, but Phil insisted. He does not like the shtick of the waiters screaming at you. So Brown Derby it was. Here I am trying on a brown derby, even though it is a light fixture:

View attachment 97315


We both ordered Cobb salads, and wine tastings. Here is the wine tasting that came to Phil:

View attachment 97316

And I'm not so innocent either!
View attachment 97317

Phil decided that he was a hidden mickey:

View attachment 97318

Those are the spoons to toss the cob salad in case you are wondering.

And then, of course, as I have already mentioned, Phil and i are always the last ones in a restaurant, and this was no exception. I guess the lunch service had petered out, and so please to experience- the last one at lunch in the Brown Derby on June 5, 2015!!!

View attachment 97319

errr.... there "might" be one person directly behind me, but believe me, this place was empty.

Anyway, we meant to have the grapefruit cake for dessert, but the salads were so filling, and we had a reservation for Rebel Hangar at 4:30, so we paid, left, and went to a fast pass at Toy Story.

It was about a 20 minute wait, even with fast pass, and then we were on to the Rebel Hangar.

Okay.

I'm sorry you guys, But I think this place was a complete cynical cash grab. There was barely any theming at all. They just put "dolls" on each table. I thought "rebels" were supposed to be seen walking around, if not interacting with tables - nothing. Not one single character was seen. It started off totally empty, even though it was said to be sold out:
View attachment 97320
But then, the skies opened up and Phil and I got trapped in the Hangar for about an hour. And the place filled up with people who were caught in the rain. Here is a very badly filmed video. I held the camera the wrong way too. But hey. I'm not Spielberg, and this is not Jurassic World, so please to enjoy this very brief video:



We had another round while we waited for the rain to stop:

View attachment 97321

And then we headed out. It looked like the skies were going to open up again, so we headed back to the Boardwalk.

That night, we went to EPCOT for Biergarten and extra magic hours, and that will be in the next post.

Duh, I didn't realize I had to post to follow! Sooooo, following! Lol. Love your TR

 

[NonnaT]

PART 3.5 - Friday night - Biergarten and extra magic hours at EPCOT

So I'm not going to lie. I wanted to go to the Beach Ball/Riptide event at Typhoon Lagoon tonight, but Phil refused. He thinks we are too old, and he vetoed the entire thing, despite many protests from me. In case you do not know what I am talking about, here is a brief video of this event:



We got into a minor fight about it, and I told him he should just put his grandma apron on and go cook some more omelettes in the resort. Of course, I apologized afterwards, and all was fine. We never stay mad at each other for more than a few minutes.

So what actually ended up happening is that we went to Biergarten, where, as previously promised, I drank enough beers to make BuzzKillington's head roll into the lake:

View attachment 97322

Phil did not do so bad himself:

View attachment 97323

PS - I forgot that while we were waiting for our table buzzer to go off, we had yet another wine tasting:

View attachment 97324

So, as you can see, we were having quite a time.

After dinner, we did Soarin', and Living with the Land, for some reason. we were the only ones on the Living with the Land boat and it was totally surreal.

Walking back to the resort through an empty EPCOT was also very wild.

We did go back to Atlantic Dance and had a few nightcaps, and then it was time for bed, in anticipation of Magic Kingdom, June 6, 2015.

Coming up:

A cancelled Chef Mickey's breakfast, a hectic and practically insane Be Our Guest lunch, and a total evacuation from Tom Sawyer's Island. Seriously.

I want to go to that Riptide party!

 

[BuddyThomas]

I want to go to that Riptide party!

That Riptide party is really a lot of fun. It gets a little cold (if you can believe that Central Florida would be cold at all in June), but there is dancing, drinks, no lines on any of the slides, and i think it goes until 2AM. Phil vetoed the whole thing this year but next year I might put my foot down when we are even older and just insist that we have to go.

 

[Figgy1]

That Riptide party is really a lot of fun. It gets a little cold (if you can believe that Central Florida would be cold at all in June), but there is dancing, drinks, no lines on any of the slides, and i think it goes until 2AM. Phil vetoed the whole thing this year but next year I might put my foot down when we are even older and just insist that we have to go.

Slam the foot down and go! You deserve it after the excellent TR!

 

[LAKid53]

He doesn't have an account ----- was going to join, but it never happened. He's not big on social media. He doesn't even have a mobile phone. I think he is under the impression it is still 1985, as evidenced in his dance routines at Atlantic Dance Hall.

What???? I can understand maybe not having a smart phone, but no mobile phone whatsoever? Boy, and I thought I was a luddite with my "I don't do social media [except could this forum be considered social media?]" stance.....

So I guess that means it's up to you to check the app for wait times, your scheduled FP+ & ADRs, etc.

Phil must lead a life of simplicity and tranquility. And no annoying cell phone alarms at 6:30 AM on Friday, July 4th, because BOTH your daughter and her fiancé forgot to cancel their alarm for that day. Nothing like being roused from a deep sleep at 6:30 AM on a holiday morning by two different and conflicting sounds coming from somewhere in a strange, dark room. And even at that hour - and being still half fuzzy asleep - I was able to make my Navy sailor dad proud with the first words uttered...

 

[NonnaT]

Hey, I just noticed they removed the troll's post - woohoo! Thank goodness. I would hate for Buddy's perfect TR to be marred by such ugliness.

Darn it, I missed the Troll's post. I could've riden on my high horse!!! No ugliness here!

 

[NonnaT]

PART - THE END

So this is pretty much it, you guys.

We got back from Blizzard Beach, had a quick dip in the pool, and then headed back to EPCOT.

Here is Phil and guess what he felt he was entitled to right after drink around the world day:

View attachment 98326

Uh. huh. Again, I am not innocent either. I had the same in my non picture taking hand.

Now I need your help.

What is this???

View attachment 98325

They had this all gated off and all of a sudden while we were waiting for our Via Napoli reservation, they herded like 100 or more people into this pen and they all attacked this dessert thing like they were vultures. I am guessing this was some sort of Illuminations dessert party but I have not read anything about that so just asking.

Moving on - We finally got our buzzer called for Via Napoli.

I have to tell you something about this before we go there. Phil and I are really ridiculous pizza snobs- but that is only because we have discovered what we feel is the most amazing pizza in the world, and that is Salvatores in Port Washington, NY (Long Island). This pizza is absolutely, unbelievably, insanely incredible, and Phil and I can be found there pretty much every Saturday night. So if anyone wants to assassinate us for this trip report (BuzzKillington????) that is where you will find us. Hopefully you will let us live, though, and continue to ingest pizza as long as our arteries will tolerate it.

So okay, here we are in Via Napoli:

View attachment 98327 View attachment 98328


And so we ordered a large pie with mushrooms and diced tomatoes (the menu's description, not ours):

Here is the pizza that arrived:

View attachment 98329

So, the diced tomatoes, listed on the menu, were really just cherry tomatoes that were cut into halves. There was very little sauce on the pie, and when our very nice waiter followed up and asked if everything was okay, we asked for some extra sauce on the side, and he basically looked at us like we had three heads, went away, and never came back until the check was presented. Grrrrr.

However, complaints aside, this is very good pizza. It might not be exactly what you are used to or what you expect, but it is quality pizza and I am glad we went there.

So then, we headed back to the Boardwalk Villas for the last time. Here is our grainy shot of the Dance Hall as we approached:

View attachment 98335

And on our way back to the room, Phil decided to have a conversation with a chair:

View attachment 98337

And, that's pretty much it, folks. If you want, here is the depressing morning picture while we waited for our car service to arrive the next day:

View attachment 98338

But I am not complaining about anything. This was a truly amazing trip that came together only because of a number of unexpected things, including an unexpected bonus at work, and a couple of other things too boring to discuss. There was great weather, we got upgraded to the most amazing suite ever, and it did NOT have an energy efficient air conditioner --------and although the parks were was a little more crowded than I was expecting, it was still incredibly fun. I cannot possibly imagine when we would ever be able to get back and do Disney the way we did it here, but one never knows, and so I have hopes to be back before too long.

As an epilogue, I might just add that this little guy was not too happy that we left him alone for five days - He had a cat sitter, but he did not appreciate it at all, and when I went to pet him, he slashed me right across the arm - clearly, he did not appreciate being left alone with a cat sitter while we were riding Space Mountain:


View attachment 98342


As you can see, he's a drunk too!




In the meantime, thank you to each and every one of you who has read this crazy report. As a playwright who has not written a play in quite a few years, your likes here have actually inspired me more than I was expecting, and maybe I will finally get to work on a new play. Again, I really appreciate all the great comments.

Have a great rest of 2015 everyone, and I am sure I will see you on other threads until the next trip.

You need to write a play about 2 really, really cute gay guys who go to WDW and par-tay their butts(can I post that word?) off throughout all the parks. I'd spend good money on Broadway to see it! So, I say, "have at it! . Sparkle on, friends!
BTW. . . Love, love, love your kitty cat! Too adorable, much cuter than me when I'm that close to a bottle!

 

[BuddyThomas]

You need to write a play about 2 really, really cute gay guys who go to WDW and par-tay their butts(can I post that word?) off throughout all the parks. I'd spend good money on Broadway to see it! So, I say, "have at it! . Sparkle on, friends!
BTW. . . Love, love, love your kitty cat! Too adorable, much cuter than me when I'm that close to a bottle!

Awwww, thanks so much. You are too sweet. Thanks for reading, and for your nice comments.

 

[Momof3petes]

It's hotter than the fires of you-know-where here in VIrginia today so I decided to read trip reports (because who wants to go outside in that if you don't have to!?!). Had a fun time reading yours ( by a fan with a cold drink) and when I got to your love of Williamsburg, VA I knew I had picked the right report! I spend a lot of my free time in Colonial Williamsburg after the summer months. So Well done. Well done.

 

[BuddyThomas]

It's hotter than the fires of you-know-where here in VIrginia today so I decided to read trip reports (because who wants to go outside in that if you don't have to!?!). Had a fun time reading yours ( by a fan with a cold drink) and when I got to your love of Williamsburg, VA I knew I had picked the right report! I spend a lot of my free time in Colonial Williamsburg after the summer months. So Well done. Well done.

Awww, thanks so much, Momof3petes. Sorry for the delay in replying. And speaking of the fires of you know where, it reached close to 100 in NYC today, and that was not fun for anyone. I wish I could have stayed home reading trip reports during that.

 

[Mary<3sWDW]

Just finally had a chance to read your TR and I loved every post! I was actually laughing out loud. I'm glad I waited until you were done posting so I could binge read it all at once!

 

[cgersic]

PART - THE END

So this is pretty much it, you guys.

We got back from Blizzard Beach, had a quick dip in the pool, and then headed back to EPCOT.

Here is Phil and guess what he felt he was entitled to right after drink around the world day:

View attachment 98326

Uh. huh. Again, I am not innocent either. I had the same in my non picture taking hand.

Now I need your help.

What is this???

View attachment 98325

They had this all gated off and all of a sudden while we were waiting for our Via Napoli reservation, they herded like 100 or more people into this pen and they all attacked this dessert thing like they were vultures. I am guessing this was some sort of Illuminations dessert party but I have not read anything about that so just asking.

Moving on - We finally got our buzzer called for Via Napoli.

I have to tell you something about this before we go there. Phil and I are really ridiculous pizza snobs- but that is only because we have discovered what we feel is the most amazing pizza in the world, and that is Salvatores in Port Washington, NY (Long Island). This pizza is absolutely, unbelievably, insanely incredible, and Phil and I can be found there pretty much every Saturday night. So if anyone wants to assassinate us for this trip report (BuzzKillington????) that is where you will find us. Hopefully you will let us live, though, and continue to ingest pizza as long as our arteries will tolerate it.

So okay, here we are in Via Napoli:

View attachment 98327 View attachment 98328


And so we ordered a large pie with mushrooms and diced tomatoes (the menu's description, not ours):

Here is the pizza that arrived:

View attachment 98329

So, the diced tomatoes, listed on the menu, were really just cherry tomatoes that were cut into halves. There was very little sauce on the pie, and when our very nice waiter followed up and asked if everything was okay, we asked for some extra sauce on the side, and he basically looked at us like we had three heads, went away, and never came back until the check was presented. Grrrrr.

However, complaints aside, this is very good pizza. It might not be exactly what you are used to or what you expect, but it is quality pizza and I am glad we went there.

So then, we headed back to the Boardwalk Villas for the last time. Here is our grainy shot of the Dance Hall as we approached:

View attachment 98335

And on our way back to the room, Phil decided to have a conversation with a chair:

View attachment 98337

And, that's pretty much it, folks. If you want, here is the depressing morning picture while we waited for our car service to arrive the next day:

View attachment 98338

But I am not complaining about anything. This was a truly amazing trip that came together only because of a number of unexpected things, including an unexpected bonus at work, and a couple of other things too boring to discuss. There was great weather, we got upgraded to the most amazing suite ever, and it did NOT have an energy efficient air conditioner --------and although the parks were was a little more crowded than I was expecting, it was still incredibly fun. I cannot possibly imagine when we would ever be able to get back and do Disney the way we did it here, but one never knows, and so I have hopes to be back before too long.

As an epilogue, I might just add that this little guy was not too happy that we left him alone for five days - He had a cat sitter, but he did not appreciate it at all, and when I went to pet him, he slashed me right across the arm - clearly, he did not appreciate being left alone with a cat sitter while we were riding Space Mountain:


View attachment 98342


As you can see, he's a drunk too!




In the meantime, thank you to each and every one of you who has read this crazy report. As a playwright who has not written a play in quite a few years, your likes here have actually inspired me more than I was expecting, and maybe I will finally get to work on a new play. Again, I really appreciate all the great comments.

Have a great rest of 2015 everyone, and I am sure I will see you on other threads until the next trip.

The cat definitely looks upset. Thank you so much for your stories and superb trip report. You made my day!

 

[WDW74]

Might be the best TR ever ! I'm half way thru and gotta tear myself away to do some "work", can't wait to resume. I suspect I'll be re-reading this a coupla times to semi-satisfy my feening before our return to the bubble in just over 2 months. Great work !