Trip Report I Vowed Never Again ~ Yet Here We Are! *COMPLETED*

Wait, what?

WDW-obsessed Tuvalu actually vowed never again ?!?!

Must. Read. More.


Clickbait!

But there is truth in my statement. I did vow not to visit the world whenever our spring break...always the first week in April....aligns with Easter. The first week of April typically brings heavy crowds since most southern school systems are out. I can handle heavy. But add in additional volume from schools that coordinate their break with Easter and “heavy” becomes INSANE. (Not quite the insanity of Christmas week....I am smart enough to avoid that, thanks to a one-day trip in 1994.)

But I’ve BEEN THERE ~
In 2009 (during the recession) when it took 40 minutes just to get through the Epcot parking booth....and the line for the boat ride in Mexico was out the front door of the pavilion....and Magic Kingdom was closed due to capacity.

In 2010 when the mid-morning standby wait for Test Track was 240 minutes (that’s 4 hours, people!) and the wait time for Nemo (Nemo!) was 150 minutes.

In 2015 when we watched the 6:45 am MK Welcome show in the dark because we wanted to ride a few attractions before the hordes descended.

Long lines to use the restrooms (always filthy because attendants couldn’t keep up); no available tables in quick-service locations, forcing guests to sit on the ground outside the restaurants; and a general atmosphere of cranky/angry guests who didn’t like dealing with the multitude any more than I did.

So I declared, DONE THAT!

Or so I thought.....

My darling daughter Em lives for spring break. As a student she vacationed (Disney or beach) every year but one ~ and there was nearly a mutiny! Now that she’s a teacher, going away for spring break has reached an even higher level of importance. With this year’s Easter/spring break overlap, we began researching other warm-weather destinations.

Guess what we discovered. Transportation, resort and dining costs were cheaper if we went to WDW! And having APs means our entertainment would be free. Em’s teacher budget would not be strained. The practical side of me could not argue....and the mom side of me could not disappoint my daughter.

We leave on Monday. We’re prepared. And we’re gonna be LIVE!

A few Magic meet-ups are in the works. Hope to keep them a surprise (as long as @Zipitidoda doesn’t spill the beans! )

Despite declining MagicBands for our upcoming stay, these arrived in yesterday’s mail ~

Yeah, like we’re gonna wear the UGLY gray ones.....

See Ya Real Soon!

 

[TrolleyFollower91]

Terrific pics in Pirates @TrolleyFollower91 ! and food pics! Looks like a new lens?

Thanks! Sigma 30/1.4. Relatively new but I definitely used it more this trip!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

I’d say you made great time getting to CG only 5 minutes late!

Kraft mac & cheese, hmm...kinda matches up with something in my upcoming dining review...

Menu/chef changes can be so hit or miss.

 

[smile]

part 'tu'... luv it

great stuff, @Tuvalu - thanks for sharing!

 

[Tiggerish]

"Strawberry Textures"???

Menu writing has reached the point where it needs to be reeled in. IMO, of course.

 

[Tuvalu]

Congratulations Tuvalu! I am partial to leen names since I am a Jolene myself. She will be extra sweet and special.

What a pretty name you have, Jolene.

@Tuvalu ,of course I remember that episode

Knew you'd come through for me, Max! Thanks for the grins.

Thanks for the tip about photopass. I have spent WAYYYY too much time on the phone trying to retrieve pics in the past. Sorry to hear about your California Grill experience. I was thinking of maybe going to the bar on my next trip but you have me thinking I should pass...

Online PhotoPass picture retrieval is super easy.
And I just read @Nala06 's very positive review of CG so I feel hopeful again.....

Oh, didn't you know? Flatbreads are so "yesterday" . . .

I had a similar conversation with a CM at POFQ explaining that "dispenser" wall toiletries are now "in". My reaction was the same.

I’ve wanted to have the experience of eating at California Grill, but when I looked at the menu, I wasn’t sure if it was worth it.

You could just go for apps and/or dessert.

Kraft mac & cheese, hmm...kinda matches up with something in my upcoming dining review...

Looking forward to hearing all about it!

part 'tu'... luv it. great stuff, @Tuvalu - thanks for sharing!

Thanks for reading, @smile.

"Strawberry Textures"??? Menu writing has reached the point where it needs to be reeled in. IMO, of course.

Whose job is it to construct menu terminology cra.....I mean, "fluff"?

 

[Longers]

@Longers and I have a friendly contest going to see who can ride Big Thunder Mountain the most times in 2018. She started us off last month with 7. There was no way I could come close during Easter week.

But I had to start with #1!

View attachment 278500


(We were thisclose to getting the red card!)

But I’d gladly sacrifice a red card for the last car!
View attachment 278501

I don’t think I’ve got a chance of winnng this challenge bearing in mind it’s normally just an annual trip for me (but my bonus trip certainly helped)

I’m just hoping you have no trips booked after mine in November so I can at least give it a good go at trying to come over that finish line in the lead!

 

[Tuvalu]

Tuesday, April 3

The morning the leaf blowers were roaring outside our building at 6:25 am!

You may recall that my (non-gray) MagicBand did not open our room door and made Mickey’s Head turn blue when I tried to enter MK yesterday. The CM at the tapstile fixed my band for admission but it did not work to open our room door when we returned last night.

I had brought 5 MagicBands with me on our trip and only one ~ the gray one ~ worked to open the door. I decided to stop at the front desk before picking up breakfast and find out what was wrong.

I stood waiting for over five minutes before either of these CMs acknowledged me.

The woman eventually looked over and said, “I can help you in a minute.”

But before she wrapped up whatever she was doing (which was obviously much more important than assisting a waiting guest), Myrtle arrived.

Now her name wasn’t really Myrtle. But if any of you watch Superstore, you may recognize Myrtle as the elderly and painfully slow and inept employee. Myrtle has a good heart but she just doesn’t know what she is doing.

My Myrtle arrived in a wheelchair. She was so tiny and frail she could barely see over the counter. She smiled at me and said, “May I help you?”

I walked over and explained that my MagicBands did not work to open the door. She asked for my info and then slowly and intently tapped the keyboard to retrieve my information.

“You have a lot of MagicBands!” she commented when my account opened.

“I’m a frequent visitor,” I smiled back.

“But only one of your bands is active. A gray one.”

“Are you sure?” I asked. (I have six bands from the last 18 months that I use interchangeably; all my older bands I deactivated.)

“Yes,” said Myrtle. “All your other bands are marked inactive.”

Weird.

“Would you like me to fix these?” Myrtle asked as she held up the bands I had placed on the counter.

“Yes, please.”

“I don’t know how to do that.” (Of course you don’t....you’re MYRTLE!)

She summoned the other woman at the desk. The woman told Myrtle she just needed to match the ID numbers on the back of the bands to the ones in the computer and press the activate button. Myrtle nodded and the CM walked away to assist another guest.

Myrtle picked up the first band and squinted. “These numbers are awful tiny.”

“Would you like me to read them to you?” I offered, hoping to speed the process along.

“No, I can do it.” Then she opened a drawer and pulled out a MAGNIFYING GLASS!! She held it over the band and mouthed each number as she searched the computer screen.

The whole situation was comical. I felt like I was watching an episode of Superstore in slow-mo. It took forever for her to match two bands. “Those are all I need for now!” I chirped. I grabbed the bands, thanked her, and went to get breakfast.

And once I was back in our room, I went into my MDE account and reactivated my remaining mysteriously deactivated bands....which then worked fine for our entire stay.

 

[Zipadeelady]

Tuesday, April 3

The morning the leaf blowers were roaring outside our building at 6:25 am!

You may recall that my (non-gray) MagicBand did not open our room door and made Mickey’s Head turn blue when I tried to enter MK yesterday. The CM at the tapstile fixed my band for admission but it did not work to open our room door when we returned last night.

I had brought 5 MagicBands with me on our trip and only one ~ the gray one ~ worked to open the door. I decided to stop at the front desk before picking up breakfast and find out what was wrong.

I stood waiting for over five minutes before either of these CMs acknowledged me.
View attachment 278958
The woman eventually looked over and said, “I can help you in a minute.”

But before she wrapped up whatever she was doing (which was obviously much more important than assisting a waiting guest), Myrtle arrived.

Now her name wasn’t really Myrtle. But if any of you watch Superstore, you may recognize Myrtle as the elderly and painfully slow and inept employee. Myrtle has a good heart but she just doesn’t know what she is doing.

View attachment 278955

My Myrtle arrived in a wheelchair. She was so tiny and frail she could barely see over the counter. She smiled at me and said, “May I help you?”

I walked over and explained that my MagicBands did not work to open the door. She asked for my info and then slowly and intently tapped the keyboard to retrieve my information.

“You have a lot of MagicBands!” she commented when my account opened.

“I’m a frequent visitor,” I smiled back.

“But only one of your bands is active. A gray one.”

“Are you sure?” I asked. (I have six bands from the last 18 months that I use interchangeably; all my older bands I deactivated.)

“Yes,” said Myrtle. “All your other bands are marked inactive.”

Weird.

“Would you like me to fix these?” Myrtle asked as she held up the bands I had placed on the counter.

“Yes, please.”

“I don’t know how to do that.” (Of course you don’t....you’re MYRTLE!)

She summoned the other woman at the desk. The woman told Myrtle she just needed to match the ID numbers on the back of the bands to the ones in the computer and press the activate button. Myrtle nodded and the CM walked away to assist another guest.

Myrtle picked up the first band and squinted. “These numbers are awful tiny.”

“Would you like me to read them to you?” I offered, hoping to speed the process along.

“No, I can do it.” Then she opened a drawer and pulled out a MAGNIFYING GLASS!! She held it over the band and mouthed each number as she searched the computer screen.

The whole situation was comical. I felt like I was watching an episode of Superstore in slow-mo. It took forever for her to match two bands. “Those are all I need for now!” I chirped. I grabbed the bands, thanked her, and went to get breakfast.

And once I was back in our room, I went into my MDE account and reactivated my remaining mysteriously deactivated bands....which then worked fine for our entire stay.

I love Myrtle already. As much as she would drive you crazy, how in the world could anyone get mad at her.

I'm in love with your Mickey necklace. What a great friend to give it to you.

 

[SMJS]

Tuesday, April 3

The morning the leaf blowers were roaring outside our building at 6:25 am!

You may recall that my (non-gray) MagicBand did not open our room door and made Mickey’s Head turn blue when I tried to enter MK yesterday. The CM at the tapstile fixed my band for admission but it did not work to open our room door when we returned last night.

I had brought 5 MagicBands with me on our trip and only one ~ the gray one ~ worked to open the door. I decided to stop at the front desk before picking up breakfast and find out what was wrong.

I stood waiting for over five minutes before either of these CMs acknowledged me.
View attachment 278958
The woman eventually looked over and said, “I can help you in a minute.”

But before she wrapped up whatever she was doing (which was obviously much more important than assisting a waiting guest), Myrtle arrived.

Now her name wasn’t really Myrtle. But if any of you watch Superstore, you may recognize Myrtle as the elderly and painfully slow and inept employee. Myrtle has a good heart but she just doesn’t know what she is doing.

View attachment 278955

My Myrtle arrived in a wheelchair. She was so tiny and frail she could barely see over the counter. She smiled at me and said, “May I help you?”

I walked over and explained that my MagicBands did not work to open the door. She asked for my info and then slowly and intently tapped the keyboard to retrieve my information.

“You have a lot of MagicBands!” she commented when my account opened.

“I’m a frequent visitor,” I smiled back.

“But only one of your bands is active. A gray one.”

“Are you sure?” I asked. (I have six bands from the last 18 months that I use interchangeably; all my older bands I deactivated.)

“Yes,” said Myrtle. “All your other bands are marked inactive.”

Weird.

“Would you like me to fix these?” Myrtle asked as she held up the bands I had placed on the counter.

“Yes, please.”

“I don’t know how to do that.” (Of course you don’t....you’re MYRTLE!)

She summoned the other woman at the desk. The woman told Myrtle she just needed to match the ID numbers on the back of the bands to the ones in the computer and press the activate button. Myrtle nodded and the CM walked away to assist another guest.

Myrtle picked up the first band and squinted. “These numbers are awful tiny.”

“Would you like me to read them to you?” I offered, hoping to speed the process along.

“No, I can do it.” Then she opened a drawer and pulled out a MAGNIFYING GLASS!! She held it over the band and mouthed each number as she searched the computer screen.

The whole situation was comical. I felt like I was watching an episode of Superstore in slow-mo. It took forever for her to match two bands. “Those are all I need for now!” I chirped. I grabbed the bands, thanked her, and went to get breakfast.

And once I was back in our room, I went into my MDE account and reactivated my remaining mysteriously deactivated bands....which then worked fine for our entire stay.

hahaha this is hilarious

 

[AKemily]

Tuesday, April 3

The morning the leaf blowers were roaring outside our building at 6:25 am!

You may recall that my (non-gray) MagicBand did not open our room door and made Mickey’s Head turn blue when I tried to enter MK yesterday. The CM at the tapstile fixed my band for admission but it did not work to open our room door when we returned last night.

I had brought 5 MagicBands with me on our trip and only one ~ the gray one ~ worked to open the door. I decided to stop at the front desk before picking up breakfast and find out what was wrong.

I stood waiting for over five minutes before either of these CMs acknowledged me.
View attachment 278958
The woman eventually looked over and said, “I can help you in a minute.”

But before she wrapped up whatever she was doing (which was obviously much more important than assisting a waiting guest), Myrtle arrived.

Now her name wasn’t really Myrtle. But if any of you watch Superstore, you may recognize Myrtle as the elderly and painfully slow and inept employee. Myrtle has a good heart but she just doesn’t know what she is doing.

View attachment 278955

My Myrtle arrived in a wheelchair. She was so tiny and frail she could barely see over the counter. She smiled at me and said, “May I help you?”

I walked over and explained that my MagicBands did not work to open the door. She asked for my info and then slowly and intently tapped the keyboard to retrieve my information.

“You have a lot of MagicBands!” she commented when my account opened.

“I’m a frequent visitor,” I smiled back.

“But only one of your bands is active. A gray one.”

“Are you sure?” I asked. (I have six bands from the last 18 months that I use interchangeably; all my older bands I deactivated.)

“Yes,” said Myrtle. “All your other bands are marked inactive.”

Weird.

“Would you like me to fix these?” Myrtle asked as she held up the bands I had placed on the counter.

“Yes, please.”

“I don’t know how to do that.” (Of course you don’t....you’re MYRTLE!)

She summoned the other woman at the desk. The woman told Myrtle she just needed to match the ID numbers on the back of the bands to the ones in the computer and press the activate button. Myrtle nodded and the CM walked away to assist another guest.

Myrtle picked up the first band and squinted. “These numbers are awful tiny.”

“Would you like me to read them to you?” I offered, hoping to speed the process along.

“No, I can do it.” Then she opened a drawer and pulled out a MAGNIFYING GLASS!! She held it over the band and mouthed each number as she searched the computer screen.

The whole situation was comical. I felt like I was watching an episode of Superstore in slow-mo. It took forever for her to match two bands. “Those are all I need for now!” I chirped. I grabbed the bands, thanked her, and went to get breakfast.

And once I was back in our room, I went into my MDE account and reactivated my remaining mysteriously deactivated bands....which then worked fine for our entire stay.

Reminds me of something...

I like to think of us readers as Nick in this situation

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Myrtle was my waitress at lunch today!

 

[amjt660]

Reminds me of something...

I like to think of us readers as Nick in this situation

This is the scene I was thinking about too as Tuvalu explained it!!

Great minds ....
And fools seldom differ

Max

 

[Tuvalu]

I’m just hoping you have no trips booked after mine in November so I can at least give it a good go at trying to come over that finish line in the lead!

Uh-oh.....

I love Myrtle already. As much as she would drive you crazy, how in the world could anyone get mad at her. .

Exactly! She was the sweetest thing.

Myrtle was my waitress at lunch today!

My condolences.

 

[Tuvalu]

“Tu’s” Day, con’t

I shared the Myrtle story with Em as we ate the muffins I’d brought back from the food court. Not wanting to waste time lingering in our room during Easter week, we soon made our way to the bus stop and were the first ones on the next MK bus.

Going through security wasn’t awful and I did not have to walk through a scanner. Em wasn’t as fortunate.

Our plan was to do Haunted Mansion first. I made a quick stop at Sleepy Hollow (no, not for the Nutella waffle...though they are fantastic...but after a chocolate chip muffin, the waffle would have been overkill). A poster had recently inquired about the size/covered seating area and I wanted to help.

Em and I were able to walk the HM queue without stopping and were in a doom buggy in no time. A friend followed us home and we decided to get a picture with him.

 

[Tuvalu]

I needed to make a pit-stop before our next attraction. Em did not so she took pictures.

Crowds were light in Fantasyland, but it was still early.

Forgive me for not remembering who posted the picture of the frying pans in the men’s restrooms ~ but I decided to return the favor for him.

Here are the sinks in the ladies room ~ pan-free.

Our next attraction, however was not Pan-free.

 

[Tuvalu]

“Please can we ride Pooh? The sign says 30 minutes but typically the sign is wrong,” I begged.

Sweet Em agreed.

The sign was wrong, just as I said.
The wait was almost 45 minutes.

Em did not complain.

We saw these adorable baby loveys in the Pooh store.

Tuvaleen’s arrival was still a couple weeks away (or so we thought!) so I was not tempted.

 

[Tuvalu]

In a short span of time large crowds had quickly materialized. Yeah....these were the Easter week masses we remembered.

The end of the FP line for Buzz was near the entrance to Laugh Floor, rendering our “fast” pass into a “medium” pass.

Because of her patience at Pooh, I happily obliged Em’s request to ride alone.

We had a few minutes before our FP for Space Mountain and we thought we’d pass the time on the PeopleMover....until we saw the humongous line for it. We needed to make a dash for our lunch ADR after riding Space and there would be no way we would have time for both.

Then Em saw the length of the FP line for Space and she suggested we just get in it....which was a good suggestion since by the time we actually reached the tapstile, Mickey’s head turned green.

We opted not to do “The Tuvalu” today....

....although I’m not sure this pose is any better!

 

[Songbird76]

I had to find this post for an update. She still working bag check! The other guards were minimum doing 10-1 bag check to her. One large group of mid 20s had people in various lines. They started teasing those stuck in our line. Then the guys starting in on the security lady and she could not see where in our line the comments kept coming from. Ultimately it became ugly on her part. A man had a larger bag, it was 58 degrees when we left for the park and windy so he had lots of stuff for his kids. Guard asked his name. TJ. Then proceeded to mock him loudly, meant to be heard by all and he was not part of group that had verbally lost patience. She is shouting into the sea of guests that it is all TJ fault holding and waiving his stuff and she continued on now she isn’t even progressing just trying to humiliate the guest. Now this dude lost patience as she finally got back to her 'professional' security job while still abusing him verbally to all loudly. He then defends himself saying she can't even remember what she has checked. This is her 3rd time going through the same zipper compartment. Then another security guard stepped up to the table to inspect a different bag along side her and viewed 4 bags while this guys stuff was dump'd on the table. He had her when done move to the table to the right and got through the rest of us promptly as the masses were getting ugly. Sadly line #3 moaned when she came over half walking out of her line and into ours and the one to the left, cause the end of the line would be better overall.

When we finally got through and walked past the ticket booths and before the tap to enter was the man she worked over. He must have requested a manager cause he was giving that lady manager an ear full. I've seen some seemingly unnecessary things at Airport Security and pushing the envelope of what travelers have no choice but to endure however WDW is a business. Their Security checkpoints are On Stage positions. They need to go through Traditions training, my son calls Smile School. Disney does send employees back to Traditions Training when they slip too often. She needs to be retrained or reassigned. While standing in H*ll we were pondering where she worked prior to Disney. She isn't young by any means so this can't be her first gig in security or law enforcement.

Still I blame Disney. This hand checking every bag and stroller is so beyond obsolete.

Oh my goodness, that is unacceptable!! I hope they retrain her!! That poor man! I would have been so upset!!

 

[ScarletBegonias]

Obligatory "I"M REALLY LATE" But loved what i've read so far!!! Congrats on the new grandbaby!!! and the story about Myrtle is killing me.

 

[Songbird76]

In another of my “What was I thinking?” moments, I had planned for us to take the train to Main Street after our ride on BTMRR. Sure, Tuvalu, you can disembark the wildest ride in the wilderness at 6:35 pm, jump on the train, stay aboard while it stops at the Fantasyland station, ride to Main Street, exit the park, board the resort monorail for the Contemporary and arrive ON TIME at the check in desk for California Grill at 7:05 pm.

IN A LAND WHERE TIME STANDS STILL!

Instead we had to walk as briskly as possible through wall-to-wall people to the park exit, and continue on a near-breathless pace....in the recent rainshower....to check in 5 minutes late.

Oh well. At least we made it.
View attachment 278507

Here’s a pic Em took while we waited in the lounge.
View attachment 278506

If you remember, there was a mix-up with our table assignment which required us to wait in the lounge for awhile. This ended up being a positive as I discovered a new yummy drink ~

The Tropical Lifesaver
View attachment 278504
Don’t you adore the Contemporary swizzle stick?

Em said her Malbec was a good choice.
View attachment 278505

We had almost finished our drinks when the hostess arrived to tell us our table was ready. It was at this moment I recognized @Big Hair standing at the bar. In my excitement, I leapt up from our table to meet him.....leaving Em to settle our drink bill with the lounge server who had also just arrived with our check. (Sorry, Em!)

(It would not be the first time I would leap for @Big Hair .)

***And we never did get a chance to ride the MPB this trip!***

Ok, who are you and what have you done with Shirley?? No Jungle Cruise OR MPB? I feel like we should have some sort of security questions to prove identities!

Edit: Ok, I see that you have now amended your statement about Jungle Cruise. I'm still not convinced, and your lack of the Tuvalu pose on Space is not helping. If I see any dryer lint photos, I'm calling the FBI to report your abduction.