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 :inlove:

 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
number one win GIF by V5MT
 

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Ok so let's dive right in! We normally head down to WDW in October to celebrate our anniversary, but this year Food & Wine Fest was going well past my birthday and I requested a birthday trip (if I remember correctly, it usually ends right around my bday and I never want to be there on the last weekend)

I originally thought our flight down on Nov 7 would be in the late afternoon and our flight back on Nov 12 would be early, based on flights Southwest had released through like November 3. It ended up being opposite, which gave us two extra park days, but also two extra days away from our daughter. I think you can see where this is going, but I won't spoil it. I was apprehensive about being away this long, but I left it alone.

I was BUSY in the days leading up to the trip, so I was stressed the heck out and still working on my laptop during our travel day. Our flight was at 7:05am, so we got up at 3:30 and left the house around 4. For the first time maybe EVER, the Memphis airport was kind of busy, but we still got through bag check and security with time to spare.

Sat next to a manspreader on the flight down :cautious: but other than that it was smooth and we ordered a Lyft to the Dolphin. I ended up spending about $55 because I tipped a lot.

We got to The Dolphin at about 11 and it was MOBBED. I was completely overwhelmed, we were hangry and arguing. We finally decided we had to just get in line to store our bags and get the heck out. Once we finished arguing and decided on that, the bell services line was slightly more manageable. Once we got our bags put away, we headed to the bus stop.



Don't we look happy? I think we waited 15 minutes for a bus, and we had it to ourselves.



I think I shared both of those on my IG story and my cousin commented on how thrilled R looked :hilarious:

I knew the busses from the Swan and Dolphin dropped off at the TTC, but that didn't make it any less jarring...



Thankfully our plans involved a pit stop before actually going into MK.

We took the walking path to one of our favorite places!



Remember we were HANGRY, so we headed to Capt Cooks. I forgot about mobile order everywhere, so we found a spot to chill and placed an order. It took foreeeeeeeever. Maybe 20-30 minutes? I'm so impatient



Lights for @Doc Disney



Got my pulled pork nachos!! These are one of my favorite quick service options on property and one of my only requests for my birthday trip!! I've been wanting them so much lately.



I thought the 50th cups were cute.

R got the pulled pork sandwich and said it was just ok. Once we had our meal and chilled there for a bit, we felt much better and were ready to head to the park!




Up next: It's Christmas in MK!
 

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We headed into MK and saw the magnificent Christmas tree!



We've been during Christmas once before, but it was like 2014, so I don't remember it much. This tree is amazing!





Magic Kingdom is seriously stunning during the holidays. I will admit, I do not feel Christmasy until after Thanksgiving, but I'm still thrilled we got to see all the decor.



It was pretty crowded during our whole trip, so I did my drive-by style of photography where I just stick my camera up in the air and snap a photo :hilarious: I fix my composition as much as possible in post. My predecessor at work used to do this ALL THE TIME and we called it "hail mary" shooting. ha. It's definitely easier now with cameras that have live view.





I decided to renew my Touring Plans Lines subscription before this trip because the estimated wait times had been accurate in the past, and I find that helpful. I'll just go ahead and tell you now that the estimated wait times were almost never accurate this trip...Disney's wait times were actually accurate. Unfortunately.

When I looked the wait wasn't terrible for Pirates, so we headed that way. It's R's fav!



Passed by Jingle Cruise on the way. I knew I wanted to do that during this trip! Not only have I never done the holiday overlay, but I have a friend who is now a skipper! I didn't want to bug her and ask when she was working, but I was hoping to see her. Spoiler alert, I didn't.



In our Pirates boat! The wait time was pretty accurate for this one.

Did we get our ride photo? Nope. Not that we wanted it, but if Disney is going to make APs pay separately for photopass now, they need to figure this ish out.

We walked over to Big Thunder to get a picture with my shirt (from my small shop) and ears.



Our time in MK was short-lived. I had some plans, and I think our room was ready by this point. On the way back up to the front of the park, we saw Tink.





Another castle beauty shot



And a selfie



Up Next: A little more MK and a pit stop
 

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster






I know I took too many photos...





I took pictures with the 50th banners. I actually like them! The slight shimmer is pretty.




We took a Boardwalk bus and from the Boardwalk, we crossed the 4-lane highway to the Speedway :hilarious: I was hoping it would be a bit bigger than it was. They didn't have any packs of water, but we got a couple of large water bottles and four normal sized ones as well as a couple of sodas and toted them back to our resort. It was maybe a 20-30 minute walk from there back to our resort. I would NOT do this with a kid, but for just us it was fine (hardly any traffic) and saved me money on not having to get a Lyft to and from a store. I normally do instacart for waters and a few other things, but wasn't sure what the Dolphin's policy was for deliveries.




Flowers in some not-so-fresh water at the Boardwalk



Took a few shots of the Dolphin walking up to it. It's a lot more glamorous looking than the Swan!






Up next: A few room photos
 

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