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!

 

[Minnie1986]

August 6, continued.
Our first LL was for TSMM, so we moseyed on over to Toy Story Land.
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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.
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We scanned into TSMM and I was able to snag a LL for MMRR for 8:20!
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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.
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Happy to be in the back!
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After Slinky Dog, I was able to grab a LL for Star Tours that started immediately. E always has to pull the rope!
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It was time to check in to my favorite hotel!
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I like to watch Twilight Zones marathons whenever they are on. I spied Talky Tina on the way out!
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Those may be the coolest SDD photos I've ever seen

 

[Minnie1986]

August 6, still continued.
After ToT, we went to the locker to freshen up for dinner before heading over to the Riviera.
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We got there right when they opened at 5:00 and enjoyed some drinks before dinner.
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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.
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It was very enjoyable to sit and people watch whilst waiting for our Rise LL!
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Rise was amazing! All effects were in full effect. We then made our way to MMRR.
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Everything looks so lovely at night. We are not used to being in the parks after dark!
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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!

Sounds like you all had a great day. Happy Anniversary; 30 years is quite the accomplishment!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

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

They also have a martini flight and champagne flight!

Those may be the coolest SDD photos I've ever seen

Sounds like you all had a great day. Happy Anniversary; 30 years is quite the accomplishment!

Thank you so much!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

Wed. 8/7 continued
We spent a couple of relaxing hours by the pool before heading back to MK. It was extra evening hours and E mentioned that he'd like to watch the fireworks from Main Street which we haven't done since 2021. Since our LL for Tiana's started at 4:15 and Enchanted Rose opened at 3:30, we made a slight detour on our way to MK.

We would have loved to stay longer, but we had things to do!

I tried to take my time going through the queue. I took a few photos, but was just trying to take it all in. I had avoided spoilers and I found that I really enjoyed the new ride. It is very visually appealing!
Our PoTC LL was right after Tiana's.

Dinner at Pecos Bill's was next. I grabbed a couple more LLs. One for the Teacups and one for Buzz. Before Buzz, we enjoyed another trip around Tommorowland on the People Mover and went to visit John and his family.

Loved the new seats!

Due to technical difficulties, we were treated to this scene twice!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

8/7 continued
I managed to get the 6:00 VQ for Tron for extra magic hours. We got BG 199. We really focused on our attempt to defeat Zurg! E caught a little sun today!

I grabbed one more LL for the day for JC.

I love being in the middle back of the boat so I can pivot and get pics on both sides.

We made our way to Main Street to see about finding a spot for HEA. It was 8:20 and there were already a lot of people holding their spots. I wish I had taken a photo where we were because it ended up being really good. I'll try to describe it as best as I can. It was right next to the area where there is wheelchair access for the dessert party guests. There is a pillar there that we could lean against. Just before the start, they asked people to move up, so instead of next to the pillar, we ended up in front of it. Then instead of leaning on the side of it, I could lean back against it.
I thoroughly enjoyed the crowd reactions and was of course teary eyed the whole time. Even though I love watching them from Cali Grill, or Top of the World Lounge, I didn't realize how much I missed the atmosphere in the park.
We patiently waited for the crowd to subside before heading over to Tron as it was really close to our BG being called. It seemed that everyone staying for extra hours also got a BG because the line was down the ramp past where the Tron sign is! We decided that we didn't want to wait, and we had ridden everything that we wanted, so we shopped a little and then went back to rest up for Epcot the next day.

 

[Ghostdog]

Happy 30th Anniversary! I’m enjoying your TR and the throwback photos.

We honeymooned at BC 30 years ago and are leaving in 5 weeks for our 30th anniversary trip to WDW too.

 

[PineapplePrincess]

Happy 30th Anniversary! I’m enjoying your TR and the throwback photos.

We honeymooned at BC 30 years ago and are leaving in 5 weeks for our 30th anniversary trip to WDW too.

Thank you!
Happy 30th Anniversary to you as well
Best wishes for an amazing trip! Maybe we'll get a trip report from you?!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

8/8 Epcot
One of my favorite things about staying at the Poly is it's proximity to TTC. Being able to walk over and hop on the monorail to Epcot is a big plus in the morning. Our LLs for the day were for SSE, LWTL and Remy's. It seems like a waste to get it for Epcot, but unless you enter at the International Gateway, rope dropping Remy or Frozen is a waste.

Waiting to rope drop Soarin'. We were able to ride it twice without much of a wait.

Then we headed to Les Halles for breakfast. The line wasn't too long yet and we both had the Croissant Jambon Fromage. They were perfect as usual.
Our LL for Remy wasn't until later, so we backtracked to the Land Pavilion for the Farm Ride. It was also getting close to our BG for GoTG.

Clearly we should have asked the people in front where the camera was! Our song was "One way or another". The only one we haven't gotten yet is "Conga".

It was time for our Rat LL and it was enjoyable as usual.
We then embarked on a mini drinking around the world tour. First up:

I had heard that the Violet Sake in Japan was amazing, so that was next on my list to try. It was sooo good, but very sweet!

We enjoyed the drummers from this vantage point because it was in the shade.

Then we made our way to Italy for our 1:30 ADR at Via Napoli.

 

[riverside]

Enchanted Rose opened at 3:30

Have they changed their hours? Why am I thinking it was 5:00?

The only one we haven't gotten yet is "Conga".

Consider yourself lucky!!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

Have they changed their hours? Why am I thinking it was 5:00?

Consider yourself lucky!!

Maybe their hours vary seasonally?
This 80s girls loooves Conga!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

8/8 continued
We decided a late lunch at Via Napoli would be perfect. I adjusted our LL for SSE to coincide with our exit from the park. Today was the first day this trip that we were really feeling the heat.
One quick photo of the drummers from the front and we were off to Italy.

This was the view from our table. We had never been seated in this room before.

Our Strawberry Limoncellos. I'm noticing that I photographed all of our drinks, but not our food. Priorities!

We had the Arancini which we didn't love and an individual Pepperoni Pizza. The pizza was good, but we discovered a place in our town that does it much better.
Unintentionally we were travelling World Showcase "backward" and we ended our tour in Mexico.
We took a ride with some ducks. Have you even been on Gran Fiesta Tour if you don't take this photo?!

Surprisingly there were tables available at La Cava, so we sat and enjoyed a couple of drinks and were a little sad that we were full and couldn't have the queso.

We said "hey" to Foxy on our way out! The camera was not working, so only cartoon characters in our future.

Waiting for our chariot to make the loop around.

 

[PineapplePrincess]

Finishing 8/8
Surprisingly, even though we were staying at the Poly, we had yet to enjoy noodles and pot stickers so that was the plan for dinner. We also hadn't shopped at Boutiki or Moana Mercantile. There were seats open at the bar at Tambu Lounge when we arrived and we took our time savoring our dinner and drinks. After dinner, we putzed around the shops. Some merch that I thought was cute, but didn't purchase.

We headed back to the room to start packing as tomorrow would be our last day. HEA was watched from our balcony.

 

[erstwo]

That room view is pretty spectacular!

 

[Ghostdog]

Great fireworks view.

 

[rshell68]

The only one we haven't gotten yet is "Conga".

That is the only song we've ever gotten while riding. I'm seriously ready for something else!!

 

[mpaulam]

Awesome view!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

That room view is pretty spectacular!

Great fireworks view.

That is the only song we've ever gotten while riding. I'm seriously ready for something else!!

The song really does enhance or detract from the ride. September is my favorite!

Awesome view!

We were sooo happy with our view!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

8/9 And so our journey comes to an end.
The Mears shuttle was due to pick us up at 2:30. One last visit to MK was in order.

We ended up in the crowd right around the same place by the Cheshire Cat Cafe to wait for rope drop. They were already announcing that Seven Dwarves Mine Train was not running. Disney, do better!
So we rope dropped Pooh.

We inadvertently double rope dropped since there really wasn't anything else in Fantasyland that we wanted to experience. We waited for the 9:00 rope drop to scoot on over to JC.

I took a few photos in the queue, but sat back and enjoyed the ride. We had LLs for HM, PoTc and Tiana's. I did manage to get them pretty early in the day since it was the last day of the trip. I will spare you the PP ride pics from today. They are NOT good! I had never noticed this little area by pirates.

We enjoyed a Dole Whip Float.

Then we snacked on some corn dog nuggets and listened to some music.

And took a ride on the Moving Park Bench.

Before we knew it, it was time to head out. We drowned our sorrows at Tambu Lounge before collecting our luggage and waiting for the shuttle.

Our flight ended up being delayed because of storms in the area, but we ultimately made it home safely with no travel woes. We plan to renew our APs and have 2 trips tentatively planned for 2025.
Thanks for following along!

 

[Tuvalu]

Thanks for sharing your milestone anniversary with us. A fun read!

 

[Ghostdog]

Did I miss the No Pearl part of your trip?