Trip Report One enormous BirthdayversaryPalooza! aka 2 Broke Guys & a dog & Irma COMPLETED

We've been using the "2 Broke Guys" moniker for so long now, we've outlasted the TV show "2 Broke Girls" on which it was based. (Canceled!)

The idea was a year+ of saving Disney Chase Visa points to see if we could go to Victoria & Albert's for our 10 year wedding anniversary completely on their dime - and keeping a running total including additions and withdrawals (for little WDW trips along the way) much like they did at the end of every episode of that TV show - like this:

$1,678.91

And that figure is actually what we have left to spend on our trip - about double what we would need for our V&A dinner! Not to mention: points paid for our 2 AP's, some of our lodging for this trip, and many mini-trips along the way. All that meandering, planning, brainstorming and trip reporting is on this thread:

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...table-of-contents.909657/page-43#post-7874545

But that can take awhile. I'll give a little background in another post. Shout out to @dizfan917 for accidentally naming this thread in a post on that one, and to @Tuvalu for inspiring the "mother thread" with links to other thread(s) format.

Also to all those who have been following all this time! As those folks know, I go back and forth between posting with my phone and my laptop, and I'm more comfortable on the laptop. I'm using the phone now, whilst not asleep in Orlando, and anxious to get this first post out of the way before I do something to accidentally make it go poof! I will tag the others in a separate post.

Can't believe we're finally here!!

 

[bee]

Thank you so much, @bee , that means a lot. Would love to get together at some point and talk music over veggie dishes (and hear you sing!) but when I go to Jersey, it's typically Union County. Sincerely, much luck with the new apartment.

I would love that! I feel like with the frequency we both go to Disney we have a better chance of meeting there than in Jersey!

 

[*Flynnderella*]

Loved this report!! Thank you for sharing that special time with us all We're planning our next trip for 2019 so I was also wondering is it too soon for a PTR ...surely it's never too soon!!

 

[prfctlyximprct]

Yes, that's the place! Haven't seen the new incarnation yet. Have to keep that in mind for a little getaway.



Thank you for all of that! Save up those Chase points! Btw I am originally from Union County, and my love of the Jersey Shore is what made me move to Florida - two weeks a year did not cut it for me!

It's not the same down here - yes, the ocean is warmer and the water is cleaner - but in Fort Lauderdale, there's no atmosphere, just hotels and restaurants across the street (that require shoes! ) No Boardwalk.

But, no snow.

NO SNOW is sooooo tempting. I think I could
Give up fried Oreos for that

 

[Tony the Tigger]

A truly wonderful & extremely entertaining trip report!! I really enjoy your writing style!! This is positively one that I could(& I'm sure I will) read over & over again!!
Sorry everything didn't go exactly as planned but you & Brian sure seem to still have fun & make the best of it!! I'm glad Kylie is better also!! Happy Anniversary & I wish you both many, many more years of happiness!!

Thank you so much, @riverside ! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

I've just finished readingthe rest of your trip report and really enjoyed it - brilliantly written and from the heart♡. So glad you and Brian made some more wonderful memories and I loved the photo album & keepsake box. It's something you can treasure forever. I hope you both (& Kylie) have many more happy years together & that you manage to save up enough for the cruise.

Oh, we will save enough for the cruise - just a matter of when!

I would love that! I feel like with the frequency we both go to Disney we have a better chance of meeting there than in Jersey!

You're probably right!

Loved this report!! Thank you for sharing that special time with us all We're planning our next trip for 2019 so I was also wondering is it too soon for a PTR ...surely it's never too soon!!

Never too soon as long as you are making plans and progress to report!

Folks were so helpful with suggestions in the pre-TR that really helped shape the trip.

NO SNOW is sooooo tempting. I think I could
Give up fried Oreos for that

Fried Oreos are everywhere!

 

[MerMom1981]

All these comments full of love! It's like a big ole' group hug around here!

I too am glad to hear that your home was not damaged, and that while weathering the storm, you found a way to laugh hysterically!

Thank you for sharing the entire process with us, and for letting us come along for the ride!

Thank you for the vicarious V&A experience! Your TR is likely the closest I will ever come, as I am married to the pickiest eater imaginable. Good thing he's cute!

Points for trying octopus AND sweet beads in a single trip.

There are so many other comments I wanted to share but now I can't remember! I'll have to start a list when your next report rolls around

Congrats on 10 years, and another 10, and another!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

All these comments full of love! It's like a big ole' group hug around here!

I too am glad to hear that your home was not damaged, and that while weathering the storm, you found a way to laugh hysterically!

Thank you for sharing the entire process with us, and for letting us come along for the ride!

Thank you for the vicarious V&A experience! Your TR is likely the closest I will ever come, as I am married to the pickiest eater imaginable. Good thing he's cute!

Points for trying octopus AND sweet beads in a single trip.

There are so many other comments I wanted to share but now I can't remember! I'll have to start a list when your next report rolls around

Congrats on 10 years, and another 10, and another!

Thanks, Mermom! (The octopus was better!)

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Self-serving post-script and photo dump. Some friends and I went to visit Brian at his new job at the Margaritaville Resort down here.

Not a bad view from work!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Christmas ornaments!

Yes, the boat is inside one of the restaurants and you can sit in it.

The airplane propellers are always spinning - nice detail.

The wave pool! We sat right there at the outdoor bar, it was fun to watch.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Then we moved to one of the restaurants (but sat at the bar.) (duh.)

Oh, yeah, baby!

"Blah blah blah..."

"Blah blah blah..."

"Are you taking pictures of me?"

 

[Tony the Tigger]

And the best part:

Banana chocolate bread pudding with vanilla ice cream, fresh sliced banana, chocolate dipping sauce, and huge pile of whipped cream!



Done!

 

[Dizdutch]

Sorry, I'm not really organizing my thoughts well.

At the very beginning of the tour, at the start of Main Street, it did actually start to rain. We just moved under the awnings (and in the way of many annoyed people LOL.) This would happen a couple of times, but it was never bad. A few people put ponchos on. Our tour guide was excellent and never let it bother him.

We also rode HM, cutting the line (actually going in a CM entrance that still had a ton of detail, even in the hallway.) Our tour guide did not narrate this ride.

We heard the story of the Liberty tree, Roy D., etc. After lunch was more backstage, utilidors, etc. We spent a good amount of time down there. It felt very Willy Wonka. "I want an oompa loompa nooooow!" We both thoroughly enjoyed this tour. It was well worth the modest price tag.

Do you feel it spoiled any of the magic for you?

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Do you feel it spoiled any of the magic for you?

Zero.

You just get a glimpse. Telling you that the flag poles on the buildings on Main Street are all lightning rods disguised as flag poles is just interesting, not ruining anything.

I don't think kids would want to go downstairs and possibly see a character without their head, or a princess with her hair and face done, wearing jeans.

But a lot of it down there is analogous to most of our own employee break rooms.

It's not really a magician telling you how to do the tricks, but showing you his stuff backstage.

 

[dizfan917]

It's been just over one year since we tried to meet for a cocktail at Abracadabar and I've been following along ever since. It was an interesting and exciting journey! You guys certainly made the most of an unfortunate bunch of weather related circumstances and through it all it's been so much fun watching your adventure!

What the heck am I gonna do now with you and TOOVALOO and bee all at home?!

We'll be arriving for our own adventure on November 13th (the last day of F&W!) - even though it feels like I've been there three or four times this year already... If you'd like me to pick up an ornament for you, I'd be happy to.

Once again, CONGRATULATIONS on ten years! You guys are an inspiration. I'm happy to have been able to share in your special anniversary trip. We're celebrating six years together (no wedding bells so far...) on October 1st. I'm slowly learning to just enjoy my time in the World... the less rushing to FastPasses and worrying about getting to do EVERYTHING while we're there seems to make for a nice, relaxed and thoroughly enjoyable trip. I've got lots of new ideas about where to eat AND DRINK! And I appreciate everyone sharing their tips and tricks.

I'm ready to follow you on that cruise! Hurry!!

Here's to MANY more Happy Anniversaries to you and Brian!! and Kylie, of course!!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

It's been just over one year since we tried to meet for a cocktail at Abracadabar and I've been following along ever since. It was an interesting and exciting journey! You guys certainly made the most of an unfortunate bunch of weather related circumstances and through it all it's been so much fun watching your adventure!

What the heck am I gonna do now with you and TOOVALOO and bee all at home?!

We'll be arriving for our own adventure on November 13th (the last day of F&W!) - even though it feels like I've been there three or four times this year already... If you'd like me to pick up an ornament for you, I'd be happy to.

Once again, CONGRATULATIONS on ten years! You guys are an inspiration. I'm happy to have been able to share in your special anniversary trip. We're celebrating six years together (no wedding bells so far...) on October 1st. I'm slowly learning to just enjoy my time in the World... the less rushing to FastPasses and worrying about getting to do EVERYTHING while we're there seems to make for a nice, relaxed and thoroughly enjoyable trip. I've got lots of new ideas about where to eat AND DRINK! And I appreciate everyone sharing their tips and tricks.

I'm ready to follow you on that cruise! Hurry!!

Here's to MANY more Happy Anniversaries to you and Brian!! and Kylie, of course!!

Thanks, Diz! Ah, that near miss at Abracadabar.

The more often you go, the easier it is to relax and enjoy the trip. If you've done Haunted Mansion a dozen times before, it's less crucial if you miss it next time. (Maybe that's a bad example, I love HM lol.) But I can easily take a trip up and skip a whole bunch of attractions, or just go on whatever is a short wait, or whatever we luck into for a last minute FP.

The exceptions are obviously the high-demand things. That's why for our 4-5 day trip, I think we booked all of 4 fast passes (and used two of them) but went on more rides than that.

I still felt a little rushed just because we tried to squeeze in some special things (mainly food events.) The time it takes to get from your room to Mexico...

Most of our trips now are just "roll with it," but this one, for obvious reasons, we wanted to do Pandora and some dining events. As always, it's a learning experience that will inform our future trips. Example: mental note: fewer food & wine booths, more food & wine dining events. Money much better spent IMO. I'm not going to remember what bite of whatever I had in a country 5 years from now. I'll never forget that lunch in Mexico. It's already had an effect on my life afterwards (in seeking out better tequilas, and making me realize there's more to tequila than shots.)

Notable exception: the alcoholic banana shake from Korea a couple of years ago. I miss that one.

I'm going to take a little TR break, they can't miss you if you never leave LOL. Gotta focus on the store from now through Christmas, and then there's just a short lull before we start gearing up for Record Store Day in April. So I'll either start the pre-TR around Christmas, or maybe in the summer. (OK, probably it will be around Christmas LOL.) I do have a LOT of research to do. Maybe that will help other newbies. I'm even considering using a travel agent. Maybe because I enjoy their ancillary services (podcasts, chat sites, etc.) and would like to throw them some business - especially in this case where I am no longer an experienced veteran, but a wide-eyed first timer.

(I'm also quietly looking into becoming a Disney TA myself, and specializing in the LGBT market.) Why not? I've been in customer service my whole life. Still in the very, very early "just checking around for info" stage.

Six years is nothing to sneeze at!! So many marriages don't last that long. Maybe somebody should be shopping for some rings! (Brian and I kind of got the idea at the same time, so there was a bit of a race to pop the question LOL. So silly.)

(I won.)

Make sure you discuss EVERYTHING before you decide to get married. Watching other couples, I find that's the biggest thing that breaks people up other than cheating - they didn't discuss xyz first, and they just made assumptions like, "I always figured you didn't want kids!"

The best relationships aren't ones that have no conflicts - they are the ones that know how to resolve them.

Little unsolicited bits of advice from the Old Married Couple LOL.

Looking forward to your TR in November! Are you doing a Christmas Party?

btw that was very sweet about the ornaments. I'll get 'em from the site when they go on sale, it's easy. But thank you.

 

[dizfan917]

Thanks for the tips, Old Married Guy!

I just might have to do an inaugural TR on my upcoming 21st (or something like that) trip to WDW.

We ARE doing a MVMCP! We've done two in the past and being theatre nerds and big Xmas fans, we absolutely LOVE the Holiday Show and the Parade (we know how you feel about parades...), so I sprung for tickets again this trip. Thank god they don't hand out those MOUNTAINS of candy we got at the one MNSSHP we did. I'm way too fat already... I'll take the two cookies and some hot cocoa and a bunch of bags of purse apples instead.

Enjoy your TR break! and how cool would it be to provide WDW Travel Assistance to the LGBTQ+ crowd?!! Do it!!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Thanks for the tips, Old Married Guy!

I just might have to do an inaugural TR on my upcoming 21st (or something like that) trip to WDW.

We ARE doing a MVMCP! We've done two in the past and being theatre nerds and big Xmas fans, we absolutely LOVE the Holiday Show and the Parade (we know how you feel about parades...), so I sprung for tickets again this trip. Thank god they don't hand out those MOUNTAINS of candy we got at the one MNSSHP we did. I'm way too fat already... I'll take the two cookies and some hot cocoa and a bunch of bags of purse apples instead.

Enjoy your TR break! and how cool would it be to provide WDW Travel Assistance to the LGBTQ+ crowd?!! Do it!!

OK I'm definitely going to be paying attention to your TR about the MVMCP. That is on my agenda!

 

[krisri18]

Thank you so much for your sharing your story. It's kind of like when you read a great book and you don't want it to end! Therefore, we shall need the sequel asap! Congratulations on your 10 years together! How are you going to top this trip for the 20 year anniversary?

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Thank you so much for your sharing your story. It's kind of like when you read a great book and you don't want it to end! Therefore, we shall need the sequel asap! Congratulations on your 10 years together! How are you going to top this trip for the 20 year anniversary?

God only knows! LOL. Stay in the castle?

There are still things we haven't done and want to do, I assume some will happen before then, but we'd love to stay at a boardwalk resort so we can just walk to parks; we'd love to stay at the Poly.

So maybe for the 20th, that would translate to a Poly bungalow? Or longer time at the GF?

While we loved the club level, I have to do the math re: how much extra we paid for the room vs. what we got out of that service. As we all know, Disney deals don't always make sense for everyone (dining plan, Epcot food and wine food/drink tickets, etc.)

Also, depending on how it turns out, maybe that new (will be old by then with a broken Chewbacca) Star Wars hotel experience thingy.

Hmmm...now you've got me thinking. I guess things will be a lot different by then.

 

[newhorizons1]

Your dinner at Jiko - Wait! I want someone to get my opinion on a bottle of wine! Also, hibiscus-candied apples sound interesting…

Kylie looks like such a sweet pup! Leaving my dog child behind is always the hardest part of vacation.

So glad that everything worked out in dealing with Irma, especially being able to have Kylie with you!

A KTTK tour is definitely on my ‘things that maybe once I feel like I’ve spent enough time at WDW I’ll take the time to do’ list.

That soup from Victoria & Albert’s looked so good! I’m really surprised there was no bread service with that course because I’m like you. Soup and bread are always a good combo. And yes, my last bite on a plate has to be the best too!

Glad to hear Brian’s new job was cool with him taking his time getting home. Hope the new job is going well too!

Greatly enjoyed your report!