Trip Report **COMPLETED** The Tail of Slinky Dog

Hey everyone!
We have been back for a week now so I suppose it is time to start our TR!

Who
Just my Mom and I (Mary and Megan)
This is a picture from our last trip!

When?
July 9-July 16 2018

Why?
To celebrate my 30th Birthday

Where?
The Grand Floridian - thanks to a pretty good bounce back or AP deal (I can't actually remember which one )

The title?
We are obsessed with Slinky Dog Dash - plain and simple

Day 1 July 9, 2018
I had to work most of my usual day before we headed to the airport. Why is this day of work always the LONGEST day of work?
My Dad was actually out of town for work so he couldn't drive us to the airport, but my brother in law Nick kindly offered to drive us (thankfully)
I was super stressed about leaving on time (I thought our flight was earlier than it was ) hence my flushed cheeks

Oh hey Nick

Of course we made it to the airport, checked our bags and made it through security in little to no time
We decided to eat dinner at our usual airport dinner place - Anchor Bar

We shared the appetizer sampler and some fries. Wings, boneless wings, mozzarella sticks I realize now this isn't the best of pictures to actually show the food

After our delicious dinner we headed to the gate to wait to leave.
Petey was ready to go

Soon enough we were on the plane!

Next up: finishing Day 1 (quick day!)

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Thank you! And oh no!!! I was trying to remember who else was there at the same time and I forgot it was you guys



Thank you

No worries, I couldn't remember who all was down there during that time either. Maybe another trip!

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 2 July 10, 2018
I would like to say we slept in after our late night but we did not I woke up at like 7:15 and my Mom was already ready
We headed to Gasparilla Grill for breakfast. When we went up to the register to pay my Mom's MB said she had reached her credit limit despite not spending any money yet?! My grey MB (aka the one that got "fixed" the previous night) did not even read. Nor did my pink one I also had on.
I was LIVID. Mostly because this was so embarrassing because we literally had no money on us Well...that and never mind the fact that I already tried to fix this. Anyway they wrote down our room number for the charge but I don't think they even ended up charging us.
Anyway, shocker of shocker I had tater tots and my Mom had Mickey waffles

Anyway after eating we headed back the front desk to get some help. I quite literally marched into the lobby trying to not be super angry. The CM who helped us was named Denny and immediately his super pleasant demeanor and apologetic attitude calmed me down. I explained the situation and he took a look. He thought he found the problem and confirmed it with a fellow CM. Turns out there is literally an "activate all Magic Bands" button on the check in window (for that specific reservation) that no one seemed to care enough to press the night before. He apologized and even called IT to make sure all was well and it was! (well....no more MB issues just a charging issue we would discover at the end of the trip). So thank you Denny!
Anyway we headed out of the lobby to the bus stop and the AK bus was right there waiting for us...hooray!
We got there quickly and encountered a HUGE security line. Oddly that was the most crowded we saw AK all day - inside it was dead I think everyone just happened to enter at the same time.

After going through security we got in 2 different lines to get our new AP cards - because the one CM wasn't listening to me and told me to "go buy them at the ticket counter" even though I told him multiple times we already did I just needed a new card. Honestly what the heck was with Disney CMs this first few hours?! Ok I promise I think I'm done complaining
Finally we made it into the park!

We headed over towards Everest!

Next up: Everest

 

[Doc Disney]

Congrats on the house! It looks so cute! Is your house close to your family?
Definitely excited for this movie! My daughter and I are going to see it opening weekend as well!

Thank you! And yes it is! Its two streets over from my sister, a few streets over from my parents and on the same street as my aunt and cousin

 

[Doc Disney]

No worries, I couldn't remember who all was down there during that time either. Maybe another trip!

I'm not sure we go enough

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 2 continued
Everest still had a short wait so we decided to do it once stand by and the second time with our FP

We look like we are asleep on both rides

Anyway, after our ride we sat on a bench because we were already hot

Actually in truth we had some very hot days right before our trip so that did help us!
Since we knew we would not be able to spend much time in the park due to the heat we walked over to Kilimanjaro Safaris well before our FP window and it only had a 5 minute wait so we hopped in line!

I was hoping that we wouldn't be put in a row with other people since the line was practically empty - but they still put us with another party. Oh well! I was on the right side of the truck and most of the animals seem to be on the left so it actually stopped me from taking a million pictures (just took a half a million ).

I thought this picture was kind of cool

Next up: more Safari probably

 

[AKemily]

Congratulations on the new house! (And happy belated birthday!) I’m looking forward to reading another one of your reports! I love your flamingo shirt, by the way

 

[LeighM]

hahaha if I could afford furniture maybe I would have room

Funny you should mention furniture. I was telling my husband that pretty much all of our furniture belonged to either my grandma or mom that I inherited when they died. It's not my style but it's free furniture and really good quality. Our living room furniture he bought really cheap from my cousin when she was tired of it and wanted a change. The recliners he got for free from a former coworker when the man's wife wanted them out of the house. I can't figure out why because they're really comfortable LOL. The only thing we've purchased is a mattress, bar stools, bookcases, a dvd tower, and tv stand LOL. The one thing we still need to buy is a dining room table. Because we were too slow to buy my cousin's before she sold it

 

[LadyBelle]

Ps. quick life update
I bought a house!
View attachment 297973
So please bear with me since it will probably take me forever to write this TR

Congratulations!! Welcome to the home ownership club! Be sure to sweet talk your dad into helping with maintenance like I did. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have mine next door...

Happy 30th! It just keeps getting better from here.

 

[Rista1313]

I'm late, but I'm here! Congrats on the house! Does that mean less Disney trips?

 

[Doc Disney]

Congratulations on the new house! (And happy belated birthday!) I’m looking forward to reading another one of your reports! I love your flamingo shirt, by the way

Thank you so much! Funny you say flamingo - I must have stared at that shirt for like 20 minutes trying to figure out what kind of bird that was.

Funny you should mention furniture. I was telling my husband that pretty much all of our furniture belonged to either my grandma or mom that I inherited when they died. It's not my style but it's free furniture and really good quality. Our living room furniture he bought really cheap from my cousin when she was tired of it and wanted a change. The recliners he got for free from a former coworker when the man's wife wanted them out of the house. I can't figure out why because they're really comfortable LOL. The only thing we've purchased is a mattress, bar stools, bookcases, a dvd tower, and tv stand LOL. The one thing we still need to buy is a dining room table. Because we were too slow to buy my cousin's before she sold it

haha I hear you. all of the apartments I lived in were furnished off other people's stuff. Now I just want new stuff though because I am Type A and want everything to match

 

[Doc Disney]

Congratulations!! Welcome to the home ownership club! Be sure to sweet talk your dad into helping with maintenance like I did. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have mine next door...

Happy 30th! It just keeps getting better from here.

Thank you! I am lucky that most of my family is pretty handy not just my Dad I did many trips to New Orleans to help rebuild after Katrina and learned a ton of skills myself too which is nice

I'm late, but I'm here! Congrats on the house! Does that mean less Disney trips?

.....no.....just less furniture in my house

 

[Jedi Stitch]

Congrats on the House. I am concerned about the level of experience some of the CM's have. Your story is like many other trip reports I have read. It also is showing a problem the MB has created, when it comes to AP types like you. Their system is designed for the Guest who won't remember or bring a MB from last time or are first time MB user, so Disney has to send new ones. Then this right here is what happens. You have literally dozens of MB. The system can't track them all, as stated in other reports. Then like here you had not one but multiple CM's who did not know what to do, until you have to yet go again, and you find the one CM who knows to push the button. Not only that they do go above and beyond to make sure it is fixed. The level of knowledge each CM has, I spent a few times in an unnecessary que, when I had what I needed, but was directed to get something from one CM, which I already had, and then had to get in the actual line once you have it. It is not KT level, but my professional work ethics scream, when I see a system Dented, not broke but dented, and any savvy professional could easily see the issues and go hey lets fix this. Sorry I rant on your Trip Report, bad me ,bad bad. ooh hey my morning coffee how about I drink it.

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 2 continued
Last safari picture

Something in me decided to walk through the Gorilla Falls Trail in the heat ...

Since last summer my Mom and I have been wanting to get henna...we can't ever resit getting a new Disney "check" (aka we did something new). So, we decided to do it at AK since there was no line. We were in a bit of a hurry so barely glanced at the options before both choosing Mickey.

Next up: more randomness

 

[Doc Disney]

Congrats on the House. I am concerned about the level of experience some of the CM's have. Your story is like many other trip reports I have read. It also is showing a problem the MB has created, when it comes to AP types like you. Their system is designed for the Guest who won't remember or bring a MB from last time or are first time MB user, so Disney has to send new ones. Then this right here is what happens. You have literally dozens of MB. The system can't track them all, as stated in other reports. Then like here you had not one but multiple CM's who did not know what to do, until you have to yet go again, and you find the one CM who knows to push the button. Not only that they do go above and beyond to make sure it is fixed. The level of knowledge each CM has, I spent a few times in an unnecessary que, when I had what I needed, but was directed to get something from one CM, which I already had, and then had to get in the actual line once you have it. It is not KT level, but my professional work ethics scream, when I see a system Dented, not broke but dented, and any savvy professional could easily see the issues and go hey lets fix this. Sorry I rant on your Trip Report, bad me ,bad bad. ooh hey my morning coffee how about I drink it.

Yea but you are right. I'm not sure why one CM knew to press one single button and no one else did? It is concerning. Not to mention I deactivated all but 4 Magic Bands so honestly I feel like 4 should not be that hard to track!

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 2 continued

They said it would take about 15 minutes - took about 2

These pictures are showing the henna before the top layer peeled off.
Cost?: $30 total; Worthwhile?: nope Within a few hours you could barely even see my Moms and mine lasted only a few days! Oh well - at least we got a Disney check!

Our next FP was for Navi River Journey so we headed to Pandora

A light fixture AND a hidden Mickey ?!

We always say we enjoy the NRJ but would never actually wait in line for it

Next up: more AK

 

[DisneyJeff]

Wait a minute.. I thought it was only the two of you going for a week!?! 4 bags???

Congrats on the house!!! (I guess you have more room for suitcases now!!)

 

[mlegerto]

I'm in for the ride. WOW, Congrats on the house, such a big deal!! That's amazing.

 

[LeighM]

Thank you so much! Funny you say flamingo - I must have stared at that shirt for like 20 minutes trying to figure out what kind of bird that was.

haha I hear you. all of the apartments I lived in were furnished off other people's stuff. Now I just want new stuff though because I am Type A and want everything to match

I lucked out - my family always got dark wood furniture so everything matches LOL. The problem? I like white furniture

 

[DisneyGigi]

So totally know what you mean about the magic bands. Ours would not let us charge or use dining credits and we were starving at DHS... had to go all the way back to the resort to fix it because they couldn’t in the park or on the phone. I was so ticked off!

 

[Swissmiss]

I know I've mentioned before that your mom looks like a younger version of mine, but I just showed one of your TR pictures to my niece and she asked if it was a picture of her grandmother when she was younger! Congrats on your birthday and your house. Can't wait to read about more of your Disney adventures