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!!

 

[Tuvalu]

Holy cow! Our room is ready at 7:30am!

Congrats! It just means no one occupied the room last night.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Until a couple months ago I would have absolutely recommended the IllumiNations Sparkling Dessert Party. If you called in advance (or maybe if you don't?) they had a supply of sugar free desserts available. Not sure how good they were, but I at least saw some cake/pudding options and not just berries and whipped cream. And yes, there were bottomless drinks (two types of sparkling wine and usually one cocktail choice), and one of the best, uncrowded views of IllumiNations anywhere. For $49/person, it was a great deal.

BUT.

It has been replaced by the new Frozen dessert party. It's essentially the same menu but now everything is Frozen-themed and the party admission includes a ride on Frozen Ever After. And apparently the Frozen overlay is worth an extra $30/person because now it's $79!!!

If you were going to be there for a Saturday morning/afternoon (I don't remember when you're leaving?) I might recommend the Parisian Breakfast for Food and Wine. There is a buffet of cheeses, meats, breads, and pastries. The only issue is that the unlimited drink is mimosas and I'm not sure if Brian can drink that much orange juice. It's $42/person I believe.

Thanks - sounds like the one I would have liked is kaput. I *love* Illuminations, and I'm afraid of what's going to happen to it. Generally, when I hear "dessert party" (or Halloween party) I assume we have to pass. Maybe I'll research some of the others.

Congrats! It just means no one occupied the room last night.

From the map, it's Zebra trail facing the pool. Maybe this is where it's worth putting those extra bucks. We are on our way to drop Kylie off, and then I think we'll go to the front desk for old school check-in (presuming no long line) and ask what it would cost to upgrade to savanna/concierge.

 

[Tuvalu]

Thanks - sounds like the one I would have liked is kaput. I *love* Illuminations, and I'm afraid of what's going to happen to it. Generally, when I hear "dessert party" (or Halloween party) I assume we have to pass. Maybe I'll research some of the others.



From the map, it's Zebra trail facing the pool. Maybe this is where it's worth putting those extra bucks. We are on our way to drop Kylie off, and then I think we'll go to the front desk for old school check-in (presuming no long line) and ask what it would cost to upgrade to savanna/concierge.

Savanna is worth the upgrade with/without club level.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

 

[Princess Leia]

...you go to pick up your dog and you take a picture of this giant bone outside of Best Friends Pet Care because you think it looks vulgar from a certain angle:

View attachment 226049

And the next picture on your phone is this. No clue.

View attachment 226050

Back to the hotel, and off to bed!

So, I'm happy to report – the food was quite good!

I enjoy eating at Rose and Crown, so I was happy to see the Bangers and cabbage, and also mashed potatoes – which of course I turned into bangers-and-cabbage-and-mash LOL. And I remembered the obvious UK connection to Pooh.

The Jambolaya was good, but actually a little spicy for me, I had to cut it with some mash also LOL.

Basically I ate mashed potatoes.

They were awesome!

The honey glazed carrots were nice, the fish was nice, the cold salads were delightful.

If I'm going to point out anything slightly off about the food, it was the dessert. There was a little pastry called a banana cream pie (I almost squealed when I saw the sign) but it and the other mini pastries were meh. The ice cream was way too sweet, and I'm just not used to that anymore, and that station was surrounded by children with germs LOL touching handles and what not. I wanted hand sanitizer so badly.

I gave a few other dessert things a try, but none were worth cheating on my diet. To include, but hopefully not to sound ungrateful for, my third and final birthday cupcake. Meh.

Speaking of not sounding ungrateful, I've debated whether to say this or not, but I keep thinking it: it is not lost on me the juxtaposition of us having this wonderful splurging moment while so many people are seeing their lives washed away before them. It feels a little weird to be doing this right this moment.

Back to the fantasy world: I was surprised how much we enjoyed the character interactions. At first, I thought I really just wanted to see Tigger and kind of let the other ones pass. But they were so much fun, they really were in character, they were funny, they were adorable. There was a moment when Tigger and I were waiting for Brian to snap the picture and Tigger started slowly leaning forward like, "come on, take the picture already!" Then he went over to Brian and was pretending to slowly punch him in the jaw LOL.

Piglet snuck up behind me. I had no idea what Brian was laughing at. I turned around and there is piglet pulling his ears over his eyes and I just started cracking up.

I don't know why Eeyore isn't in any pictures, unless they are on Brian's phone. He was the first one to our table, and rubbed his nose on my head, which I found amusing. I watched him doing that to children around the room and it was very charming. We enjoyed watching them interact with other tables as much as with our own.

Bonus: we were stuffed!

And to finish, my birthday card:

View attachment 226183 View attachment 226184

Now to pick up our real animal, which was much more of an adventure than we expected…

You're not the only one who had a double take at the dog bone Whoops...

Did Tigger get a new signature? I'd need to find my autograph books from when I was a kid, but it looks a bit different than what I remember him signing in the 90s.

Happy (belated) birthday and happy anniversary!!! Stay safe!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

So what happened was: although we got the text, we went to the front desk. I asked about upgrading to a savannah room or concierge level. It would have been over $200 for the former and around $350 for the latter. I decided to just keep what we had.

At that point, the CM suggested she may be able to get me a "partial view" room. She found one (still early in the morning) and I asked how much it would be. She said no extra. (It's still considered a standard room.)

If this is a partial view, it works for me! We were thrilled. (The camera phone makes them look farther away than the naked eye does.)

And the room itself was beautiful and clean.

We sat on our balcony and kicked off our anniversary celebration with a little hard soda toast.

But we have yet to spot some wild a..

 

[Tony the Tigger]

At this point, we had to hustle to make the tail end of our FP window for the Na'vi River ride. We made it to AK in good time, but next thing you know, we were accidentally exiting the lot.

We went back around through the same booth, and the guy told us to make our first left...which took us outside the lot again.

Spinning, twirling, third go: finally we went the right way and parked after losing a good ten minutes. (Not blaming anyone, but Brian was driving.)

I know there is a little leeway, but we were a good 15 minutes late. With our sad eyes and anniversary buttons, the CM graciously let us on the ride with a bit of a warning. Speaking of warnings, B's sugar was going low.

The ride was enjoyable, not mind-blowing, but a nice intro to Pandora. But we needed sugar for Brian. Tiffins was nearby so we made our first stop into the Nomad lounge. He started with a Coke, and then we had small plates and drinks, and a wonderful time.

This has been on the menu for three days, and was the best. It's a wagyu beef poutine with in-house made fresh mozzarella. This was my first taste of the wagyu, and it was tender and very good. Great dish.

Second best was the lionfish taco with charred pineapple.

So-so was the wagyu beef slider. The bartender even said they used to be good when they came with a certain pineapple bread, but now they were on plain thick rolls, too much bread to meat ratio. They were fine, just not great.

No surprise, we enjoyed our drinks (one each!) and wandered AK a bit before going back to explore our resort.

 

[sheriffwoody]

So glad you got some Disney magic on your room location! Also, that poutine sounds amazing...definitely putting it on my list to try.

 

[bee]

At this point, we had to hustle to make the tail end of our FP window for the Na'vi River ride. We made it to AK in good time, but next thing you know, we were accidentally exiting the lot.

We went back around through the same booth, and the guy told us to make our first left...which took us outside the lot again.

Spinning, twirling, third go: finally we went the right way and parked after losing a good ten minutes. (Not blaming anyone, but Brian was driving.)

I know there is a little leeway, but we were a good 15 minutes late. With our sad eyes and anniversary buttons, the CM graciously let us on the ride with a bit of a warning. Speaking of warnings, B's sugar was going low.

The ride was enjoyable, not mind-blowing, but a nice intro to Pandora. But we needed sugar for Brian. Tiffins was nearby so we made our first stop into the Nomad lounge. He started with a Coke, and then we had small plates and drinks, and a wonderful time.

View attachment 226800

This has been on the menu for three days, and was the best. It's a wagyu beef poutine with in-house made fresh mozzarella. This was my first taste of the wagyu, and it was tender and very good. Great dish.

Second best was the lionfish taco with charred pineapple.

So-so was the wagyu beef slider. The bartender even said they used to be good when they came with a certain pineapple bread, but now they were on plain thick rolls, too much bread to meat ratio. They were fine, just not great.

No surprise, we enjoyed our drinks (one each!) and wandered AK a bit before going back to explore our resort.

We were just at Nomad Lounge on Saturday! Great drinks.

Hope you're having (and continue to have!) an amazing time!!

 

[BuddyThomas]

View attachment 226753 View attachment 226754

Looking at these this morning in between slaving away at the office in a fluorescent corporate nightmare was all sorts of fun. Jealousy level on a scale of 1 - 10 is hovering around 276. .

Kidding. Hope you're having an amazing time.

 

[krisri18]

Love Nomad Lounge! Excellent choice!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Looking at these this morning in between slaving away at the office in a fluorescent corporate nightmare was all sorts of fun. Jealousy level on a scale of 1 - 10 is hovering around 276. .

Kidding. Hope you're having an amazing time.

All except for the Irma nonsense lol.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

One of the things I loved most about Nomad lounge was the menu was practically a storybook. Almost every drink had a reason. It was all tied to Tiffins and the conceptualizing of Animal Kingdom.

Some pics from our wandering around AK. This is a shark catfish, which is not a shark at all, just a catfish that looks like one:

...and kangaroos! (Love!)

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Back at the room...

More and more friends gathered.

We loved this. But it made us miss our own animal. So we went to visit her around 7pm, took her out back to play for the better part of an hour, gave her extra hugs and treats, got her good and tired out and she seemed fine. We'll be back in the morning, Kylie!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Up next: adding a new huge winner to our list of favorite restaurants!!

 

[dizfan917]

Groovy view from your balcony! We stayed in a Savannah View room a few summers ago and really enjoyed it. We don't tend to spend much time in the room, so I wasn't sure if we would book one again... I wonder what the non-Savannah View rooms look at? Prolly a parking lot? We really love the Lodge. Have you had drinks at Victoria Falls yet? and Jiko?! OMG.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Groovy view from your balcony! We stayed in a Savannah View room a few summers ago and really enjoyed it. We don't tend to spend much time in the room, so I wasn't sure if we would book one again... I wonder what the non-Savannah View rooms look at? Prolly a parking lot? We really love the Lodge. Have you had drinks at Victoria Falls yet? and Jiko?! OMG.

(Yes! And yes!!!)

 

[Songbird76]

Not sleeping! Surprise.



Still trying to figure this out. Or something equally special.

@bee were you saying something about bottomless drinks and buffets at dessert parties? My concern is there would be nothing sugar free and they would bring Brian some berries and whipped cream while I go to town.

Other suggestions welcome for a special dining event up to $300 total.





Always prepared. Left home later than expected because we put up the hurricane shutters, put all patio furniture/ projectiles in the shed, mowed the lawn, filled gas tanks, got more water jugs, etc.

The one thing we've never gotten is a generator. Turns out much of the supply has gone to Texas and it's going to be tough getting one in time. Even up here, they're already gone. (This is what I've been researching while not sleeping - generators and dining events lol. B also wants to do something to learn about wines in prep for his new job.)



Thanks to all of you for the good vibes. It helps!

We also packed 12 ponchos and extra sneakers!



Not only no penalty, but the manager at ASM really did me a solid. After her staff twice incorrectly transferred me to the main WDW number, each time being on hold over 30 minutes (I mowed the front lawn while on hold) she made sure I didn't lose anything. I had paid for the room with $50 in Chase points and the rest cc. She credited back the card, but you can't credit back the points. She could have left it at that, but instead transferred a $50 credit to our AKL stay.





Because Tigger!!



Me, too!

What an amazing manager!! I hope you contacted Disney and left feedback about how great she was! That is above and beyond!

 

[Tuvalu]

Groovy view from your balcony!

Channeling your inner Greg Brady?

 

[David copperfield]

I'm booking more stuff!

Actually switching stuff (so far.) Those of you who kept up with the pre-TR know I had booked afternoon tea at the G.Flo one day. Brian didn't sound too crazy about it, so I googled to show him how nice it was - but I found more recent reviews with pictures - neither of which were too impressive, and now I wasn't so crazy about it, either.

We've never done anything "extra" at Food & Wine, so I started exploring those options - and nixed the tea in favor of a special F&W Mexican 4 course lunch with Tequila pairings!

I'm considering a similar Italian lunch the day before, but it runs from noon to 2:30pm, and our FoP FP is 2:30-3:30PM. That could be rushy-rushy.

I'm open for F&W suggestions! None of our fave celebrity chefs seem to be there on our days, but other things look interesting.

Anyway, we got home Friday around 11am with damp socks, and both went to work.

We also are very concerned about Kylie. So we took her to the vet and they prescribed an anti-anxiety medication since this will be the longest we have ever left her, and she gets upset when we leave her for 2 days. We did a test dose today and I think this will help a lot.

And today is Sunday, which means tomorrow we head back!!!

Until a couple months ago I would have absolutely recommended the IllumiNations Sparkling Dessert Party. If you called in advance (or maybe if you don't?) they had a supply of sugar free desserts available. Not sure how good they were, but I at least saw some cake/pudding options and not just berries and whipped cream. And yes, there were bottomless drinks (two types of sparkling wine and usually one cocktail choice), and one of the best, uncrowded views of IllumiNations anywhere. For $49/person, it was a great deal.

BUT.

It has been replaced by the new Frozen dessert party. It's essentially the same menu but now everything is Frozen-themed and the party admission includes a ride on Frozen Ever After. And apparently the Frozen overlay is worth an extra $30/person because now it's $79!!!

If you were going to be there for a Saturday morning/afternoon (I don't remember when you're leaving?) I might recommend the Parisian Breakfast for Food and Wine. There is a buffet of cheeses, meats, breads, and pastries. The only issue is that the unlimited drink is mimosas and I'm not sure if Brian can drink that much orange juice. It's $42/person I believe.

I am trying to book the frozen dessert party for next week thru my disney experience app but the dates are greyed out...dw is busy due to storm so can't ask a cast member. Can anyone tell me if dessert party still going on for sept 19th and if so how do i book it?