Trip Report Oi! 25 years will give you such a crick in the neck! *Completed*

Alternate title: Good thing I'm flexible since I did so many splits this stay!
Trip dates: June 14-26, 2019
Greetings, my fellow WDWMagic-ers! To those of you who continue reading, I thank you. It's how I get my validation!
This trip was just myself and DH (MSUJafar). For this report, I'll call him E. Pretty sure that's what I called him in my last report too!
Our 25th wedding anniversary is in August, but because of E's Naval Post Graduate schedule, this was the only time we could squeeze in a trip. I felt kind of fraudulent celebrating so early, but I'm pretty sure we'll still be together in August!
We Disneymooned at the Poly back in 1994. Here is some photographic evidence:

I'll leave you for today chuckling at our sweet outfits!

 

[Rista1313]

Oh you totally should have said Hi to DCLfan! Luckily I am pretty extroverted, so if I see you... (anyone from wdwmagic) you'll bet I'll come up and

It wasn't me!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

Tuesday, June 25th

Today was our last full day and we were spending most of it at MK. We rope dropped Mickey and Minnie.

After having some coffee, we used our first FP of the day.

I was really trying to slow down and take in more details. Looking down by the Tangled restrooms, we noticed something that we had never seen before. Apple cores and a horse shoe print from Maximus. Too cute!

Also, this flower happened to land on the rock just right for a photo.

In the queue for PoTC, I thought this was an interesting perspective. Too bad it came out blurry!

We had skipped breakfast because we knew we wanted the chicken nachos at Pecos Bill's again. We also knew not to make the same mistake and eat at prime lunchtime, so we got there around 11:30 for lunch. So hard to not start digging in while E was at the toppings bar!

We also had a FP for Splash and Buzz today, but I don't seem to have the photos. I tend to really slack on the picture taking the later it is in the trip.
I snagged a 4th FP for HM and we got stuck here:

I just love watching the faces they make when they're not singing!

I can't remember what time we headed out, but we really wanted to stop at the Poly to try the Lime Dole Whip Margarita from the pool bar.

It did not disappoint! As you can see, we also got the pool bar's version of a Spiky Pineapple. As you can also see, they were melting quickly, so we took them inside the Great Ceremonial House to enjoy them in the AC.

As we were savoring our drinks, we chatted with the DVC rep. It was nice that he wanted to chat with us even though we are already owners. We were reminiscing hard about our Poly honeymoon! I wish I could remember more details of our honeymoon. At the time we had no idea how big a role WDW would play in our lives.

As we were wandering out, E nudged me and whispered, "Is that Auntie Kaui?" I had heard she retired, so I didn't think it would be, but sure enough, it was! She was making fresh flower leis. I have a backstory about her, so please bear with me.
As a teen, I danced at Miss Sandy's Dance School in Dearborn Heights Michigan. Miss Sandy prided herself on only doing authentic Hawaiian dances. Somehow she knew and was friends with Auntie Kaui. Kaui would come to Michigan every summer for a week and teach us our dances for that year.

I'm upset that I didn't have E take a picture of us, but I did go over to talk to her. Of course she didn't remember me, but I explained where I knew her from and she informed me that Miss Sandy had recently passed away. When she saw my anniversary button, she gave me one of the leis...such a sweet gesture. Actually, she told E that he had to "lei me", right there in public! It was really funny to see that Auntie Kaui still has a naughty sense of humor at her age!
Waiting for the monorail with my lei.

Coming soon: dinner at California Grill

 

[Rista1313]

I'm upset that I didn't have E take a picture of us, but I did go over to talk to her. Of course she didn't remember me, but I explained where I knew her from and she informed me that Miss Sandy had recently passed away. When she saw my anniversary button, she gave me one of the leis...such a sweet gesture. Actually, she told E that he had to "lei me", right there in public! It was really funny to see that Auntie Kaui still has a naughty sense of humor at her age!
Waiting for the monorail with my lei.

That's such a sweet story and a pretty Lei! I'm happy your husband noticed her!

 

[riverside]

I just love watching the faces they make when they're not singing!

Me too!! I love when I get stopped there!!

I'm upset that I didn't have E take a picture of us, but I did go over to talk to her. Of course she didn't remember me, but I explained where I knew her from and she informed me that Miss Sandy had recently passed away. When she saw my anniversary button, she gave me one of the leis...such a sweet gesture. Actually, she told E that he had to "lei me", right there in public! It was really funny to see that Auntie Kaui still has a naughty sense of humor at her age!

Such a nice story!!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

June 25th continued

We had a 6:25 ADR for California Grill. I don't worry about timing our reservations for the fireworks anymore since we prefer to watch them from Top of the World Lounge.
We've decided that we prefer sitting in the lounge to sitting at a table. I can't really say why. Maybe it's more relaxed? At any rate, we both enjoyed the filet for our dinner. It was good, but IMO not "out of this world delicious"!
I only had my phone with me, not my camera so I was pretty lazy about taking pictures. Nothing on the dessert menu stood out, so we decided to tackle the 7 layer cake at ToTWL later. They did bring us this marshmallow assortment as an anniversary treat though.

Please don't laugh at me too hard when you read this, but I just discovered that if you click on the photo, you can resize it! My mind is blown right now and I apologize for all the huge pictures you have had to endure in this report!* I really need some remedial technology classes!
So after our kind of gross marshmallow treats, we made our way back to BLT to finish our evening. This would be our last viewing of HEA for this trip and we were sad of course.
I'll leave you with one more (reasonably sized) selfie for today.

Up next: our last day and we spent it at MK!

*I'm going back to resize all of my pictures now!

 

[Tuvalu]

June 25th continued

We had a 6:25 ADR for California Grill. I don't worry about timing our reservations for the fireworks anymore since we prefer to watch them from Top of the World Lounge.
We've decided that we prefer sitting in the lounge to sitting at a table. I can't really say why. Maybe it's more relaxed? At any rate, we both enjoyed the filet for our dinner. It was good, but IMO not "out of this world delicious"!
I only had my phone with me, not my camera so I was pretty lazy about taking pictures. Nothing on the dessert menu stood out, so we decided to tackle the 7 layer cake at ToTWL later. They did bring us this marshmallow assortment as an anniversary treat though.
View attachment 395580

Please don't laugh at me too hard when you read this, but I just discovered that if you click on the photo, you can resize it! My mind is blown right now and I apologize for all the huge pictures you have had to endure in this report!* I really need some remedial technology classes!
So after our kind of gross marshmallow treats, we made our way back to BLT to finish our evening. This would be our last viewing of HEA for this trip and we were sad of course.
I'll leave you with one more (reasonably sized) selfie for today.

View attachment 395582

Up next: our last day and we spent it at MK!

*I'm going back to resize all of my pictures now!

One argument against tiny pictures? Details are difficult to see/distinguish when you are reading a TR on a phone or anything with a smaller screen than a PC, laptop or tablet.

 

[PineapplePrincess]

One argument against tiny pictures? Details are difficult to see/distinguish when you are reading a TR on a phone or anything with a smaller screen than a PC, laptop or tablet.

Good point! I hadn't thought about that since I always read TRs on my desktop with a huge screen. I've already resized them, but I'll reconsider next time. Thanks @Tuvalu for always being the voice of reason!

 

[Tuvalu]

Good point! I hadn't thought about that since I always read TRs on my desktop with a huge screen. I've already resized them, but I'll reconsider next time. Thanks @Tuvalu for always being the voice of reason!

More the voice of selfishness....I do a lot of TR reading on my phone!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

Wednesday, June 26th

Today was our last day. I believe our Tragical Express pickup was around 4:00, so we had a good amount of time to spend at MK!
We had never departed from BLT, so it was interesting that to check our bags and get our boarding passes we had to go to the Contemporary. We felt so pitiful and sorry for ourselves wheeling our bags by the bus stop, where in our minds everyone else's trips had just begun!

After dropping off our suitcases at airline check-in, we left the rest of our bags with bell services at BLT and took the walkway to MK.
We waited for rope drop by the Adventureland Bridge and amused ourselves by observing the wildlife.

I snapped a pic of my future job. Fairy Godmother, I'm lookin' at you!

Our first FP was for BTMRR though I'm sure we must have ridden something before it. Too early for Splash, so maybe Magic Carpets?

My sunglasses fell out of my pocket on Big Thunder, so we had to wait for that particular train to come around again and they were there! Those sunglasses have nine lives. I've lost and found them more times than I can remember!

FP #2 was for PoTC. I have a photo of E in this spot on our honeymoon. If I can find it, I'll post it later. E got a lot of comments on his t-shirt from both CMs and park visitors. There's a bar in Siesta Key called Gilligan's and that's where he got it. He was thrilled with all the attention!

FP #3 HM. I held this pose for awhile because I still wasn't sure where the camera was!

After HM, we grabbed FPs for IASW and Dumbo for sure. It's possible that we also rode Buzz.

There was one more treat I NEEDED to try.

It was very refreshing, but I'm still a Dole Whip float girl at heart! We missed Red's Revenge by about a week I think. I hope they still have it on our next trip!

We sadly started making our way out of MK, but stopped at Casey's for a bite to eat first.

I ❤ Corn Dog Nuggets!

We sat at Outer Rim for a little bit before heading back to BLT to catch the Tragical Express.

Another fabulous trip in the books! I'm grateful for each and every moment we get to spend at WDW, and for some reason I was extra grumpy about leaving this time. Not to worry though, we have 2 back to back trips planned for the spring!

Our flight home was uneventful. We arrived home happy to see that DD had taken good care of the house, pool and doggo!

Up next: some final thoughts and stuff that I may have forgotten!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

I'm still gathering my final thoughts. I found the Fuente de la Fortuna honeymoon photo of E and found myself strolling down memory lane. So I thought I'd do a little Throwback Thursday only on a Monday.
Obviously this used to be an actual working fountain!

We caught a parade at MGM Studios featuring Pat Morita a.k.a Mr. Miyagi. Fun fact...I also drove a Sunbird at that time although mine was Teal and it wasn't a convertible.

Our very first character meal. It was breakfast at Coral Reef. I remember they had a bubble machine going and played music from The Little Mermaid. Mickey was in the tank dressed in his scuba gear.

 

[Darstarr]

Lime Dole Whip Margarita from the pool bar.

Is this even legal???

the 7 layer cake at ToTWL

This is so good and just barely legal.

Please don't laugh at me too hard when you read this, but I just discovered that if you click on the photo, you can resize it!

What???
Usually I rely on @bee for my IT needs. Thanks. Now, I need to play!

 

[krisri18]

I'm still gathering my final thoughts. I found the Fuente de la Fortuna honeymoon photo of E and found myself strolling down memory lane. So I thought I'd do a little Throwback Thursday only on a Monday.
Obviously this used to be an actual working fountain!

View attachment 396059

We caught a parade at MGM Studios featuring Pat Morita a.k.a Mr. Miyagi. Fun fact...I also drove a Sunbird at that time although mine was Teal and it wasn't a convertible.

View attachment 396060

Our very first character meal. It was breakfast at Coral Reef. I remember they had a bubble machine going and played music from The Little Mermaid. Mickey was in the tank dressed in his scuba gear.

View attachment 396061

Oh my! Is that a Structure tee???? I forgot that place existed, lol

 

[PineapplePrincess]

Final Thoughts, finally!

As I mentioned earlier, we usually start our trip at BLT and end at the Boardwalk and this time we did the opposite. Turns out we really liked ending at BLT!
Well, we actually started the trip at Saratoga Springs, but I tend to not count that part since we didn't visit any parks during that time. SSR was a kind of last minute decision, but it was one we did not regret. We weren't there long enough for me to get a real feel for the resort, but what we did experience, we liked. Probably not enough to stay there again unless we have no other choice, but it was a pleasant experience.
The balcony was a decent size. I also noted that the bathroom is quite a bit bigger than the one at Boardwalk which was nice.

The view from our balcony:

And looking down:

An early steamy morning photo of the bridge:

We had purchased Gold APs back in April, but ended up upgrading due to the fact that our schedules only allow us to go at my Spring Break next year. We activated our passes 2 days before the price increase. We felt pretty lucky although I'm not sure if it would have affected us since we technically bought them in April. That luck prompted us to consider an additional trip though to "get our money's worth" out of our APs. More on that in the closing.

We had the best luck with timing as far as transportation on this trip. I don't ever remember a trip where we didn't have transportation issues.

I was surprised how much we missed Mizner's Lounge! Visiting the GF just wasn't the same and I'm not sure how I feel about the new version. I prefer my lounges without a bunch of kids!

We didn't do a lot of ADRs this trip, preferring to take advantage of being able to sit at lounges. It worked for us!

Our next two trips will be quite different, but I'm no less excited for them. Future trip number one (a.k.a. the bonus trip to "get our money's worth out of our AP") will be in March and will include this little lady once again!

Sorry....not sorry, I'm loving the old photos these days! This was from her very first trip. March is Spring Break of her Senior year in college! We'll be staying at Shades of Green and it will be a short trip. Just 5 days, but we'll make the most of it!

Future trip number two will be the first week of April. E and I will be staying at our home resort, Old Key West since we're a little low on points. E has only stayed there once for a weekend trip and it wasn't the best experience, so he's a little apprehensive. My mom, DD and I stayed there in March of 2018 for a girls' trip and I really liked it. I think E will like it especially now that the rooms are refurbed.

Until March, I look forward to living vicariously through other people's trip reports!

TTFN!

 

[Swissmiss]

You’ve definitely got to get a photo with the same pose if the Goofy statue is still there

 

[PineapplePrincess]

You’ve definitely got to get a photo with the same pose if the Goofy statue is still there

I was thinking the same thing as I posted it...great minds think alike! I just hope she's game for recreating lots of old poses!

 

[Tuvalu]

You’ve definitely got to get a photo with the same pose if the Goofy statue is still there

I was thinking the same thing as I posted it...great minds think alike! I just hope she's game for recreating lots of old poses!

Goofy has been gone for awhile.

April — week after Easter (5th) or before?

 

[KellBelle]

Fun report! Looking forward to March!

 

[riverside]

Thanks for sharing!! I can't believe we weren't even remotely near to crossing paths!! Maybe next time!!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

Goofy has been gone for awhile.

April — week after Easter (5th) or before?

That's sad about Goofy!
We'll be there April 3-12. I'm pretty sure Easter is on the 12th.

Fun report! Looking forward to March!

Thanks...me too!

Thanks for sharing!! I can't believe we weren't even remotely near to crossing paths!! Maybe next time!!