Trip Report No Grit, No Pearl: a 30th Anniversary Trip

Ahoy Mateys! Or anniversary trip has come and gone. Before I report on this trip, please take a trip down memory lane with me.
We were wed on August 6, 1994 and we arrived on our Honeymoon trip on August 7. We stayed at the Polynesian and I wish I could remember the building we stayed in! I know we were on the first floor, and we were not super close to the pool. I recall visiting Discovery Island on our first day.

I remember E being paranoid that a bird was going to on him because there were birds everywhere!
At the time Animal Kingdom did not yet exist, but I do have some photos of the other 3 parks.
Here are some from MGM Studios:

The fountain that is still there.

Also still there.

Long gone.

From a parade. These camels are now at Magic Carpets of Aladdin.

Mickey and Mr. Miyagi!

 

[Swissmiss]

Everyone on our elevator insisted that we go in the room in the order that we entered the elevator.

Reading this made me happy; I have witnessed lots of rude behavior these past couple of days so it is nice to read something positive.

 

[PineapplePrincess]

Reading this made me happy; I have witnessed lots of rude behavior these past couple of days so it is nice to read something positive.

Thankfully we didn't witness any extremely rude behavior, but this really stood out as extra polite.

 

[PineapplePrincess]

Monday, August 5
The plan was AK today, and we stuck to the plan even though it was torrentially raining. Thankfully, I had purchased a Frog Tog poncho prior to our trip on the recommendation of a Disney TikTok-er. It worked out really well and I was so happy to have it! We did not purchase Multi-pass LL for today. However, we did purchase a Single Pass for FoP because we wanted to ride it twice. The only photos I have are from the safari, but here is a summary of what we did before that.
Rope dropping FoP is a must, so that's what we did. The rain kept the crowds at bay somewhat, so after that Navi River Journey only had a 10 minute wait. It did go down for a short period of time whilst we were in line, but it wasn't long.
Satuli Canteen was opening at 10, so I placed a mobile order. There was just enough time to enjoy our "breakfast" of cheeseburger pods before our 10:45 LL for FoP. After that, we headed to the Safari.

Our safari driver was interesting. She had a very "Kindergarten teacher" voice and she repeated some facts a couple of times. Like about how Lions don't like water and that's why they weren't out. She may have been flustered because the people in our vehicle would NOT stop talking, and she had to keep telling a child in row 3 to sit down.
We rode Dinosaur for probably the last time. It was a walk on.

We then joined the walk up list for Nomad Lounge. They were using a small part of Tiffin's for Nomad because they couldn't seat people outside. That's where we were being led, but since there were two seats open at the bar, we asked to sit there instead. We enjoyed a couple drinks and the chicken satay before we headed back to the Poly. The rain and the taking off and putting on on rain gear wore us out.
We dried off and changed and then headed out to Disney Springs. The plan was to drink, eat and watch the drone show. We are not cheap by any means, but if we can drink for less, you can be sure that's what we're gonna do! STK has a really good happy hour, so that's where we started. I'm in my Expresso Martini Era. This was a good one!

The plan was just to have a couple here and move on. Mother Nature had other ideas. It started sideways raining again, so we decided to wait it out. They also had food on the Happy Hour menu, so E had some sliders and I had steak and frites. Both were tasty. Back in January, we really enjoyed the chicken fried rice at Splitsville, so once the rain slowed down, we headed there. It was NOT as good as we remembered! An alert had been sent that the droid show was cancelled for that night, so we finished our evening with some shopping and headed back for the night.

 

[Bullseye1967]

Everyone on our elevator insisted that we go in the room in the order that we entered the elevator. I thought that was so classy and kind!

Once in a while there is hope for humanity. As I was reading "everyone else got on" I was sure this would go the opposite way. Glad it didn't and Happy Anniversary!! Loved the throwback Pics!

 

[cgersic]

The PPP on Pirates of E gave me the Skipper from Gilligan's Island vibe, fitting with all the rain!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

Tuesday, August 6 Our Anniversary The most perfect day of the trip!
Today was our HS day and our plans kept changing. Our Oga's reservation was at 12:50. Dinner was a Topolino's Terrace at 5:25, and all of our Lightning Lanes were in the afternoon with the first one at 1:30. We are such creatures of habit that our original plan was to rope drop Rise and then try to get on MMRR. Then we would go back to the room and change before Oga's and take the skyliner to dinner. It wasn't sitting well with me as it seemed like a lot of back and forth, but I knew E would be upset if we didn't rope drop Rise. So, I gently suggested that we buy a LL for Rise for after dinner and after we scanned into our first LL, we could make one for MMRR in the evening. That way we could sleep in and leisurely make our way to HS. He reluctantly agreed, and I'm sure even he will admit that it was an amazing day!

The rain was gone and this was definitely the most comfortable day temperature wise. We arrived at HS at around 10:45. Since we both would need to change our shoes, and E's shirt before dinner, we procured a locker for the day. E really liked not having to lug around his backpack, but a locker is just a luxury that we don't have time for when we rope drop. We were planning to have lunch at ABC Commissary as is our usual habit. However, since it was almost 11:00, I suggested we try the HBD lounge. We joined the walk up list, and got the text that our table was ready right away.

We luxuriated with our drinks, whilst people and chipmunk watching. E had the Margarita flight and I tried the Grapefruit Cake Martini. It was good, but I'm not sure if I'll have it again. It was quite sweet.

The Cobb Salad is always my choice, and E bravely tried the day's special which was Pork Belly Sliders. He loved them!
After our lovely, just right lunch, we had time to visit the Muppets.

Then we casually made our way into (onto?) Batuu.

At Oga's, we were assigned a spot at the bar, which is where we like to be especially when we are well rested. Our bartender was Bruce and he was great!

We had our usual YubNubs which admittedly are very sweet, but we are addicted!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

August 6, continued.
Our first LL was for TSMM, so we moseyed on over to Toy Story Land.

Side note, E loves to wear his Gilligan shirt when we go to Disney. He was pretty disappointed that he only got a few comments on it this trip.

We scanned into TSMM and I was able to snag a LL for MMRR for 8:20!

E usually scores much higher than this, but he wasn't even upset. I guess he's maturing, finally! Either that or the YubNubs mellowed him out. Our LL for Slinky Dog was up next.

Happy to be in the back!

After Slinky Dog, I was able to grab a LL for Star Tours that started immediately. E always has to pull the rope!

It was time to check in to my favorite hotel!

I like to watch Twilight Zones marathons whenever they are on. I spied Talky Tina on the way out!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

August 6, still continued.
After ToT, we went to the locker to freshen up for dinner before heading over to the Riviera.

We got there right when they opened at 5:00 and enjoyed some drinks before dinner.

In hindsight, I wish I hadn't made a reservation so we could just stay at the bar. We were seated at a very small table and our server seemed very disappointed that we didn't want to hear his recommendations. You'd think that he'd be relieved that he could save his spiel. Our meals were fantastic as usual, but would have been better at the bar!
We decided to have "dessert" back at HS.

It was very enjoyable to sit and people watch whilst waiting for our Rise LL!

Rise was amazing! All effects were in full effect. We then made our way to MMRR.

Everything looks so lovely at night. We are not used to being in the parks after dark!

I Chuuby!
It was park closing time. We didn't have plans to see Fantasmic this trip, so we emptied out our locker and headed to the bus stop.
Aside from our table at Topolino's, this really was a perfect day and a reminder of why we keep going back!

 

[fractal]

Catching up.

Happy Anniversary! Love the throwback photos and the Gilligan shirt.

Thanks for the tip of sitting at the bar at Topolino's.

 

[PineapplePrincess]

Wednesday, August 7 "Rest Day"
I didn't want to make the same mistake as last trip, so I wanted to plan a rest day. That being said, we were pretty well rested from our sleep in the day before. We had a 10:50 Kona Cafe ADR. Since we were so close to MK, we headed over for early entry. Neither one of us love Mine Train, but we were right by the Cheshire Cat Cafe, so we decided to give it a try.

Sorry in advance, this next part might be wordy. As we were waiting, I was eavesdropping as I tend to do. A couple of families had wormed their way through to meet up with a woman who was standing near us. It appeared that it was their first time meeting and the woman was giving them the lowdown on how things were going to go. It almost seemed like she and her husband (who was parking the families' strollers) were serving as tour guides. The families were a little upset because they caught a lot of flack for cutting through the crowd, but it seems that the woman had told them to do just that. It got me wondering if the woman was being paid for her "expertise"? We ended up near them in line for Mine Train, (which we never did ride because it wasn't operating) and she told all 8 people to go ahead and ride something else while she held their place in line!
We had gotten a pretty early BG for Tron, so we rope dropped the People Mover instead.

Tron did not disappoint!

I had been able to secure a Tiana's LL for 4:15 and I moved PoTC to 5:15, but we had a HM to use this morning.

Thought I nailed this one too!
Fall decorations were plentiful and I couldn't remember if they had been up on Sunday. It had been raining, so I wasn't enjoying the scenery that day.

E spotted a popcorn bucket that he had to have, so we grabbed it on our way to Kona. He is a cutie for sure!

I had been indicating on our dining check ins that we were celebrating our anniversary, but Kona was the only location that acknowledged it.

After our breakfast, we spent a few hours at the "quiet" pool before going back to MK for the evening.

 

[PineapplePrincess]

Catching up.

Happy Anniversary! Love the throwback photos and the Gilligan shirt.

Thanks for the tip of sitting at the bar at Topolino's.

Thanks for the anniversary wishes and I'll be sure to pass on your love for the Gilligan shirt to E!
We have had amazing tables and service in the past at Topolino's, so I'm not sure what happened this time. In our experience, the bartenders are always great though!

 

[Tuvalu]

If a “tour group leader” is not wearing Disney plaid they are illegitimate and could get banned. I have no doubt that’s what you witnessed.

 

[k8einwdw]

If a “tour group leader” is not wearing Disney plaid they are illegitimate and could get banned. I have no doubt that’s what you witnessed.

I was thinking the same thing. Disney has been cracking down on unofficial tour guides lately. I can’t believe people are still doing it.

 

[PineapplePrincess]

If a “tour group leader” is not wearing Disney plaid they are illegitimate and could get banned. I have no doubt that’s what you witnessed.

I was thinking the same thing. Disney has been cracking down on unofficial tour guides lately. I can’t believe people are still doing it.

I guess I should have told someone, but I wasn't sure who to tell. Hopefully Karma will do it's thing!

 

[meggo819]

I guess I should have told someone, but I wasn't sure who to tell. Hopefully Karma will do it's thing!

I was wondering this too. I’d want to report it, but how would you go about that?

 

[Minnie1986]

Ahoy Mateys! Or anniversary trip has come and gone. Before I report on this trip, please take a trip down memory lane with me.
We were wed on August 6, 1994 and we arrived on our Honeymoon trip on August 7. We stayed at the Polynesian and I wish I could remember the building we stayed in! I know we were on the first floor, and we were not super close to the pool. I recall visiting Discovery Island on our first day.
View attachment 809607View attachment 809608View attachment 809609
I remember E being paranoid that a bird was going to on him because there were birds everywhere!
At the time Animal Kingdom did not yet exist, but I do have some photos of the other 3 parks.
Here are some from MGM Studios:
View attachment 809611
The fountain that is still there.
View attachment 809612
Also still there.
View attachment 809613View attachment 809614
Long gone.
View attachment 809615
From a parade. These camels are now at Magic Carpets of Aladdin.
View attachment 809616
Mickey and Mr. Miyagi!

I love seeing throwback photos of the parks. Excited to read your TR!

 

[Minnie1986]

O2H!

I see what you did there! Happy Anniversary

 

[winstongator]

Tuesday, August 6 Our Anniversary The most perfect day of the trip!
Today was our HS day and our plans kept changing. Our Oga's reservation was at 12:50. Dinner was a Topolino's Terrace at 5:25, and all of our Lightning Lanes were in the afternoon with the first one at 1:30. We are such creatures of habit that our original plan was to rope drop Rise and then try to get on MMRR. Then we would go back to the room and change before Oga's and take the skyliner to dinner. It wasn't sitting well with me as it seemed like a lot of back and forth, but I knew E would be upset if we didn't rope drop Rise. So, I gently suggested that we buy a LL for Rise for after dinner and after we scanned into our first LL, we could make one for MMRR in the evening. That way we could sleep in and leisurely make our way to HS. He reluctantly agreed, and I'm sure even he will admit that it was an amazing day!
View attachment 810458
The rain was gone and this was definitely the most comfortable day temperature wise. We arrived at HS at around 10:45. Since we both would need to change our shoes, and E's shirt before dinner, we procured a locker for the day. E really liked not having to lug around his backpack, but a locker is just a luxury that we don't have time for when we rope drop. We were planning to have lunch at ABC Commissary as is our usual habit. However, since it was almost 11:00, I suggested we try the HBD lounge. We joined the walk up list, and got the text that our table was ready right away.
View attachment 810459View attachment 810460
We luxuriated with our drinks, whilst people and chipmunk watching. E had the Margarita flight and I tried the Grapefruit Cake Martini. It was good, but I'm not sure if I'll have it again. It was quite sweet.
View attachment 810461View attachment 810462
The Cobb Salad is always my choice, and E bravely tried the day's special which was Pork Belly Sliders. He loved them!
After our lovely, just right lunch, we had time to visit the Muppets.
View attachment 810463View attachment 810465
Then we casually made our way into (onto?) Batuu.
View attachment 810466
At Oga's, we were assigned a spot at the bar, which is where we like to be especially when we are well rested. Our bartender was Bruce and he was great!
View attachment 810467
We had our usual YubNubs which admittedly are very sweet, but we are addicted!
View attachment 810468

HBD lounge walk-up lunch is one of my go-tos as well. I love the Cobb, but those sliders look great too!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

I was wondering this too. I’d want to report it, but how would you go about that?

Right?! If I had tried to make my way up to a CM, the crowd wouldn't have been happy.

I love seeing throwback photos of the parks. Excited to read your TR!

Thanks!

I see what you did there! Happy Anniversary

DD is a chemical engineer, and we love a chemistry joke "periodically".

HBD lounge walk-up lunch is one of my go-tos as well. I love the Cobb, but those sliders look great too!

The only thing missing at the lounge is the delightful rolls! E doesn't like too much fat, so he was really hesitant to try them. Luckily, it ended up being a win!

 

[Minnie1986]

Tuesday, August 6 Our Anniversary The most perfect day of the trip!
Today was our HS day and our plans kept changing. Our Oga's reservation was at 12:50. Dinner was a Topolino's Terrace at 5:25, and all of our Lightning Lanes were in the afternoon with the first one at 1:30. We are such creatures of habit that our original plan was to rope drop Rise and then try to get on MMRR. Then we would go back to the room and change before Oga's and take the skyliner to dinner. It wasn't sitting well with me as it seemed like a lot of back and forth, but I knew E would be upset if we didn't rope drop Rise. So, I gently suggested that we buy a LL for Rise for after dinner and after we scanned into our first LL, we could make one for MMRR in the evening. That way we could sleep in and leisurely make our way to HS. He reluctantly agreed, and I'm sure even he will admit that it was an amazing day!
View attachment 810458
The rain was gone and this was definitely the most comfortable day temperature wise. We arrived at HS at around 10:45. Since we both would need to change our shoes, and E's shirt before dinner, we procured a locker for the day. E really liked not having to lug around his backpack, but a locker is just a luxury that we don't have time for when we rope drop. We were planning to have lunch at ABC Commissary as is our usual habit. However, since it was almost 11:00, I suggested we try the HBD lounge. We joined the walk up list, and got the text that our table was ready right away.
View attachment 810459View attachment 810460
We luxuriated with our drinks, whilst people and chipmunk watching. E had the Margarita flight and I tried the Grapefruit Cake Martini. It was good, but I'm not sure if I'll have it again. It was quite sweet.
View attachment 810461View attachment 810462
The Cobb Salad is always my choice, and E bravely tried the day's special which was Pork Belly Sliders. He loved them!
After our lovely, just right lunch, we had time to visit the Muppets.
View attachment 810463View attachment 810465
Then we casually made our way into (onto?) Batuu.
View attachment 810466
At Oga's, we were assigned a spot at the bar, which is where we like to be especially when we are well rested. Our bartender was Bruce and he was great!
View attachment 810467
We had our usual YubNubs which admittedly are very sweet, but we are addicted!
View attachment 810468

the Margarita flight

I had no idea that this was a thing; thank you so much! Those sliders also look amazing.