Trip Report Relaxin' on the Rue D'Baga *COMPLETED*

Another school year is winding down and students are being tested on what they have learned. Have they mastered what was taught? A good teacher will ensure that most will pass with flying colors. Experience in itself can be a good teacher. We learn what works and what doesn't. We learn patience. We learn to adjust our expectations. And hopefully, we learn from our mistakes.

Those of you who read my last trip report ~
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/go-with-the-flow-its-spring-break-you-know-completed.912354/
know that I am a planner who doesn't always adapt well when my plans go awry. But I am learning to be more flexible (though will always be a work in progress!) And what better environment to learn in than Walt Disney World?!

So on with the show!
Cast: Tuvalu and Woody

(Wait, no Em? She's one of the teachers doing the testing! )

Dates: May 3-8, 2016
Location: C'mon, the title gives it away!

Join us as we spend extended time at the Flower and Garden Festival (the main reason for this trip) and find pleasure in slowing down to stop and smell the roses (literally and figuratively .)

 

[Tuvalu]

Well color me curious but I was reading the Mosquito thread. Did you or @MinnieM123 also notice problems with mosquitoes on property during your trips?

I did not notice any skeeters. And it was just the start of the love bug season...we only saw a few of them.

 

[Tuvalu]

I really love Riverside. We couldn't use a CM discount there a few years ago so we stayed at the French Quarter. We opened both of those resorts back in the early 90s. We are fond of both. What I did notice in both 2014 and 2012 was the FQ was not receiving as much upkeep as it had. The sidewalks around the square of the pool outside the fence had large cracks and some holes. The bushes there and around the lobby were not individual but had grown into large masses. The rattan chairs outside the lounge had seat cushions placed on top cause the wicker had broken through on all of them. Things like that. Hoping it has improved over the last couple of years. Oddly I didn't find the same things out of order last year at Riverside.

The upkeep at FQ must have gotten better because I didn't notice any broken furniture, unkempt landscaping or pavement cracks/holes. All common areas were clean and the only issue we noticed was the ice machines at the beverage station in Sassagoula Floatworks had difficulty producing ice.

Oh, and I did not care for the "perfumey" smell that is pumped into the lobby.

 

[Gabe1]

I've only had a brief chance to scan the beginning of that thread, but gotta tell you, I didn't notice ANY mosquitoes from Sunday through Wednesday! I even brought those little towelettes with DEET, anticipating mosquitoes, but none were there (so I never even opened any of the packets).

At morning and night, I'd be out on my balcony at the SWAN, and thought to myself that they must have sprayed the heck out of the area. So, I'm not sure why others noticed them, but perhaps the bugs were located in certain areas only? By the way, when I came home, i didn't have any bites, and usually I end up with a few when I return back from Florida. (I just figured they were spraying more this year down there due to the threat of the Zika virus.)

I did not notice any skeeters. And it was just the start of the love bug season...we only saw a few of them.

Well that is good to hear. We only had one year that we had issues with mosquitoes and that was near the main pool at POR which isn't so far from the River.

The upkeep at FQ must have gotten better because I didn't notice any broken furniture, unkempt landscaping or pavement cracks/holes. All common areas were clean and the only issue we noticed was the ice machines at the beverage station in Sassagoula Floatworks had difficulty producing ice.

Oh, and I did not care for the "perfumey" smell that is pumped into the lobby.

I'm happy to hear they put some more love into the FQ. It was clean and our room was fine, clean but in 2014 they were taking down the buildings one by one and painting them inside and out and replacing roofs. So maybe when they finished that the rest got some TLC. And I agree about the lobby. The first time I encountered that new trademark resort smell was when they opened the new lobby. Not a fan either.

Swear any ice machine I encounter at Disney has it in for me, either ice is flying everywhere with the CM giving me the stink eye or I feel like I'm on candid camera.

 

[MinnieM123]

@Tuvalu , (or others here), any of you ever try the various Spas at WDW? My one luxury I cave to each trip is a massage. Usually, I go to the Mandara (Balinese) Spa at the Dolphin. It's so peaceful in there and themed beautifully. (I went one afternoon last week.) Years ago, I used to go to the spa over at the GF, but haven't been there since the rehab to Senses. One time, I also tried the spa over at Saratoga, and that was very nice, too, but really out of the way in location, compared to the other two.

Having no connection whatsoever with the above, I thought I'd share a lovely picture of rhinos in AK. (I imagine they look at each other and think they're gorgeous. )

 

[Tuvalu]

@Tuvalu , (or others here), any of you ever try the various Spas at WDW? My one luxury I cave to each trip is a massage. Usually, I go to the Mandara (Balinese) Spa at the Dolphin. It's so peaceful in there and themed beautifully. (I went one afternoon last week.) Years ago, I used to go to the spa over at the GF, but haven't been there since the rehab to Senses. One time, I also tried the spa over at Saratoga, and that was very nice, too, but really out of the way in location, compared to the other two.

Having no connection whatsoever with the above, I thought I'd share a lovely picture of rhinos in AK. (I imagine they look at each other and think they're gorgeous. )

View attachment 143471

I haven't been to any of the spas. But I did enjoy your rhino pic!

 

[acp9293]

Ah I love the new Disney Springs. So beautiful.

 

[Tuvalu]

Saturday, May 7
We were so happy to awaken to another day of sunshine! We were MK bound, and as much as I wanted to be there for the Welcome Show, it didn't happen...missed it by a couple minutes .

As we were walking through the train tunnel, we were blocked by a few people (not in the same party) who for reasons unknown were just standing still. This prompted Woody to comment: "Why do people who are walking stop in the tunnel? You wouldn't stop in a tunnel if you are driving a car!"

People who suddenly stop walking and are clueless that there are guests BEHIND them are on our list of pet peeves, right behind people pushing strollers that contain children over the age of 5 who are able-bodied walkers. (And all the more annoying are the double-wides!) So I was very impressed (and proud) to see a boy of about 10, who had only one leg, maneuvering himself on crutches down Main Street.

The best sight on a glorious morning!

We may have missed the Trolley Singers at opening, but we were able to catch their "spring" song and dance.

Look at the coloration of this horse!

We had yet to ride Space Mountain so we headed there first. Super happy there was no wait, we never stopped walking until we boarded our rocket. And I got to sit in front!

Though I claimed I would never have to ride Buzz Lightyear again after obtaining Galactic Hero status last month, we decided to give it a go anyway since the standby wait was a mere 10 minutes. I was pleased with my 685,000 especially since I bested Woody's respectable 425,000.

We scored a first car on TTA Peoplemover too.

Daytime TTA selfie!

Heading towards Space Mountain...

...and coming out!

 

[Tuvalu]

After our ride on the highway in the sky, we exited Tomorrowland into the hub.

@MinnieM123, this one's for you!

Moving on to...

The emptiness we had in Tomorrowland was countered by the busyness in Adventureland. In fact, crowds continued to build and we were glad we had fastpasses! We used our first on Jungle Cruise. If you have read any of my prior trip reports, you know I love to repeat funny Skipper jokes ~

The snake in the tree: "It's a python, not a boa....it doesn't have feathers."
"Hippos wiggle their ears to keep warm and prevent hippo-thermia."


One of Woody's classic favorites is the Enchanted Tiki Room. In fact, he was not very happy when "Under New Management" was announced. So I had to take this picture of Woody and Em in August of 1997 before the refurbished show opened in the spring of '98.

When the fire occurred (hmmmm, was it really an accident?) and the "old" show was reinstated, Woody was delighted. We both wish they had brought back the dancing fountain segment, but oh well...

"All the birds sing words and the flowers croon"

 

[LadyBelle]

Love your report!!

I'm super glad to see that you wear glasses (me too!) My biggest fear during my last trip was that I'd lose my glasses on one of the rides (SM, BTMRR, Splash Mtn). I guess it was more of a mental thing. I will "see" the rides in September!!

 

[Tuvalu]

Our next FP was for Big Thunder Mountain. As we approached it from a distance we could tell it was down, so I did a quick email check and sure enough our suspicions were confirmed. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing though, as we adore Big Thunder at night and now we had a FP for it .

I suggested Small World, one of my favorite classics, since we had not visited it on this vacay. The standby line was crazy long...45 minutes!...so we opted for Haunted Mansion instead. We had a new interactive ending with a hitchhiking ghost ~ Woody got birthday cake smashed in his face!

It was time for our lunch ADR at Liberty Tree Tavern. Of course I had booked this lunch months ago, before our less-than-stellar experience last month. We do like the food there, especially Ooey Gooey Cake, so we decided to keep the reservation and give LTT another try. Thankfully, we only had a brief wait before being escorted to our table.

Even though I knew what I wanted, I read the menu and made a mental note of the prices. Who wants to guess my order?

100 points if you guessed this:

An additional 10 bonus points if you guessed extra potatoes, no stuffing. (And these mashed potatoes are far superior than what I had at Cali Grill!)

Woody can be a wild card...he's not always predictable with his entree choices. Today he selected the Freedom Pasta with chicken.

Neither of us finished our entrees so we would have room to share the yummy Ooey Gooey.

The menu still had the price of the Ooey Gooey Cake at $7.50, the same price it was listed at last month when we were charged $8 for it. Wondering if the extra fifty cents was a "spring break surcharge", I awaited our bill. I gave Woody a head's up ~ if our Ooey Gooey was $8, I was going to ask to speak with the manager.

The bill came. Dessert was indeed $8. I kindly asked our server for the manager.

Woody would have been perfectly happy to pay the extra fifty cents and not make a big deal out of it. But to me it was the principle of the thing ~ this was now the second time at LTT that our bill did not match the menu price. And since it had been a month between our visits, how many others had been affected?

The manager apologized for the discrepancy and seemed genuinely surprised by it. She changed our bill to credit us the 50 cents. She also gave us a paper FP with no restrictions.

Has LTT finally changed the menu to reflect this price increase? We'll find out on June 9 when we have our next reservation .

 

[Tuvalu]

Love your report!!

I'm super glad to see that you wear glasses (me too!) My biggest fear during my last trip was that I'd lose my glasses on one of the rides (SM, BTMRR, Splash Mtn). I guess it was more of a mental thing. I will "see" the rides in September!!

I've worn glasses on all the rides without incident for many years. And those 3D glasses (Muppets, Philharmagic, etc) fit just fine over my regular glasses.

 

[MinnieM123]

People who suddenly stop walking and are clueless that there are guests BEHIND them are on our list of pet peeves,

Makes me insane when a crowd is walking along and all of a sudden, a person (or people) just STOP dead in their tracks. It throws off the rhythm of everyone behind them, and people start to crash into each other, like dominoes. If someone wants to stop, they should just step over to the side and let the crowd pass.

So I was very impressed (and proud) to see a boy of about 10, who had only one leg, maneuvering himself on crutches down Main Street.

That is very impressive. Good for him.

We had yet to ride Space Mountain so we headed there first. Super happy there was no wait, we never stopped walking until we boarded our rocket. And I got to sit in front!

Only once in all the times I've ridden Space, did I actually get the very front seat. OMG--it was terrifying!!

100 points if you guessed this:

View attachment 143637
An additional 10 bonus points if you guessed extra potatoes, no stuffing. (And these mashed potatoes are far superior than what I had at Cali Grill!)

Looks like you had a Thanksgiving style dinner with turkey and veggies, and cranberry dressing.

Oh, almost forgot--that was an exquisite photo you took of Minnie!!!

 

[Tuvalu]

Makes me insane when a crowd is walking along and all of a sudden, a person (or people) just STOP dead in their tracks. It throws off the rhythm of everyone behind them, and people start to crash into each other, like dominoes. If someone wants to stop, they should just step over to the side and let the crowd pass.

I want to like this comment multiple times!

Only once in all the times I've ridden Space, did I actually get the very front seat. OMG--it was terrifying!!

The front seat of Space Mountain is my absolute fave!

Looks like you had a Thanksgiving style dinner with turkey and veggies, and cranberry dressing.

Otherwise known as the Pilgrim's Feast

Oh, almost forgot--that was an exquisite photo you took of Minnie!!!

I thought you might like it!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Wednesday, May 4
I'm thinking the Tiki gods were angry with us because we weren't staying at the Polynesian ~ it was thunderstorming when I awakened at 6:30 a.m. Seriously! Thunder, lightning and torrential downpour at that early morning hour! We were going to spend our first day at the Flower & Garden Festival wet. It was too late to change our park plan for the day since we had a lunch ADR, and I refuse to pay $20 for a meal we don't eat.

We took our time getting ready and when the rain let up a bit I went to pick up breakfast. Woody requested an egg croissant sandwich, but Sassagoula Floatworks has its own variation ~ bacon, egg and cheese on French toast. Woody said it tasted like a McGriddle (and he's not a big fan of McGriddles.) It came with a hashbrown patty, but it certainly wasn't worth $9...especially in comparison to my kid's meal of scrambled eggs, hashbrown patty, Mickey waffle, apple slices, peaches and small bottle of orange juice for $5.

View attachment 142163

I also picked up the brochures about the limited time "Early Morning Magic" and "Disney After Hours" to see the official corporate spin on these up charge events. The three Fantasyland attractions open in the morning are favorites, but I'd rather have a pre-park opening breakfast at Crystal Palace or BOG and then ride 7DMT, Pan and Pooh once (don't need to ride multiple times) before it gets crowded...for half the price!!

View attachment 142165

I will admit to *briefly* considering attending the After Hours event, only because as AP-ers we could go for half price. It would be fun to be in a nearly-empty MK at night, but it was the same night as our eagerly-awaited California Grill dinner. After drinks and a large meal, it was doubtful we would even be awake when the event started! (Note that the brochure mentions "A delightful ice cream treat and beverage", not "unlimited" Mickey bars and sodas that were referenced in unofficial posts.)

View attachment 142164

Ahh, I was unaware of half price for AP - I might like that. The things you learn from Tuvalu!

 

[Tuvalu]

We had a little time to kill before our next FP, so we decided to ride a full loop on the MPB. The Frontierland station was closest to LTT and we headed that way. The timing worked out perfectly for us to witness the stupidest stroller incident we have ever seen. I did not get my camera out quickly enough to capture the terror on the little boy's face as he hung down facing the bottom of the stairs. But you can imagine it as you look at the picture.

Two men lifting a double stroller up the steps to the train station with a little boy and a baby inside!!! Congrats, gentlemen, you are today's winner of the "Poorest Parenting Choice" award. Did you guys not see the ramp beside the stairs where you could have safely pushed the stroller up to the platform??!!!

Sadly, that was not the only dumb stroller incident on our train ride. After we pulled into the Fantasyland station, we watched a woman fold her jogging stroller and put it on the little platform in-between the train cars. Then she climbed aboard onto a seat with the rest of her family.

Woody and I knew that a stroller would not be allowed to be stowed outside the train car. Sure enough, as soon as it was spotted by a cast member, the stroller was removed from the little platform. That, in turn, caused stroller mama to become absolutely IRATE with the cast member. She let a few choice words fly and continued to loudly complain as she tried to figure out where to put the stroller. There was no room on the bench where her family sat. So guess who got to be the lucky recipient of a jogging stroller and angry mama?

Can I add that the child who used this stroller was 7 or 8 years old?!

Wow, my blood pressure spiked just relaying both of those stories. Time to focus on a relaxing picture.

We disembarked the MPB back at the Frontierland station and used our Splash Mountain FP. We sat in the last row and didn't get too wet.

We were hoping to get splashed in the FQ pool once we returned to the resort. We only had a short window of time for our afternoon park break. As we rounded the corner to our room, there it was ~ the dreaded housekeeping cart! We quickly switched gears from swimming to drinking and went to the pool bar.

 

[Tiggerish]

(for some things, there are no words!)

 

[bee]

Reminds me of one time we were waiting for the Voices of Liberty to perform inside AA. The CM host announced that the VoL would be facing a certain direction and that all those seated on the benches behind would not see their faces during the performance. So a guest PICKS UP the bench she was sitting on and moves it over to the other side. When the CM told her she couldn't do that she just moved to another bench and LEFT THE POOR CM TO MOVE IT HIMSELF!!! And this guy was at least in his sixties! Use your brains, people!

 

[Tuvalu]

Reminds me of one time we were waiting for the Voices of Liberty to perform inside AA. The CM host announced that the VoL would be facing a certain direction and that all those seated on the benches behind would not see their faces during the performance. So a guest PICKS UP the bench she was sitting on and moves it over to the other side. When the CM told her she couldn't do that she just moved to another bench and LEFT THE POOR CM TO MOVE IT HIMSELF!!! And this guy was at least in his sixties! Use your brains, people!

Oh gosh we have also witnessed a guest picking up and moving a bench for better viewing in the AA rotunda!
You can't fix brain dead.

 

[Tuvalu]

Saturday (con't)
After our beverages we returned to our freshly-cleaned room to shower. We were back at the bus stop at 5:50 pm, in plenty of time (or so we thought) to make our 7:10 ADR at The Plaza.

However, we were doomed again with the "final-night-of-vacation transportation blues."

The overhead monitor said the next MK bus was due at 6:35 ~ 45 minutes from now!! To make matters worse, the arrival time kept getting later by one minute increments. (Where oh where are the bus interns at night??!!) We counted 5 Disney Springs, 3 AK, 3 Epcot and 3 DHS buses come and go before the MK bus finally pulled up at 6:47 pm... that's right folks, nearly an hour wait! Let's just say that English was not the primary language of the older male bus driver, and I didn't think it was worth the attempt to ask why he was so delayed.

He carefully drove us from FQ to MK. We ended up power-walking to The Plaza. Woody and I were surprised to see the double-decker bus and fire engine giving guests rides up Main Street ~ when was the last time these vehicles were out in the evening?

The Plaza had saved a nice window table for us:

We had a new (well, new to us) server who was bubbling with enthusiasm and helped us forget our frustrating commute. There was also a sweet little princess at the next table who kept us entertained.

I ordered the cheesesteak and chips

A very hearty portion! I could not finish it.

Woody chose the club sandwich. We both had the house made chips as our side (tasty, but we miss the fat steak fries!)

We shared a chocolate shake for dessert. I told our server I like thick shakes and she asked, "Extra chocolatety too?"
"Sure," I replied.

And she brought us this!

No charge for the extra syrup!

It was almost dark when we left the restaurant and I requested a ride on the Peoplemover.

Nighttime TTA selfie!

Now it was time to use the unrestricted FP we received at lunch. We have never ridden 7DMT at night, and it was great not having to wait in the standby line!

Our last ride was my favorite for the day ~ Big Thunder Mountain! So glad we had a valid FP from when the coaster was down earlier today. We got to see the explosion at the end, which is much easier to see in the dark!

 

[Tuvalu]

The MSEP was making its way through Frontierland and we were trapped.

But we knew (after years of experience) that we would be able to cross over to Adventureland once Big Ben passed by.

The CMs opened the ropes and we were on our way. It was a bit of an obstacle course once we reached the hub, as people were staked out waiting for "Celebrate the Magic". The show started when we were mid-way down Main Street. Woody suggested watching Wishes from atop the train station.

A sparse crowd!

When Jiminy began speaking, Wanda began weeping. What a way to end a perfect MK day!

If you haven't figured it out by now, Wishes is my favorite nighttime show. And I cannot wait to wear this shirt Em gave me for Mother's Day on our next trip!

She bought one for herself too! Now the Weeping Wandas can match.

After the finale we made our way to the bus. We have to be up early to catch our 6 am Tragical Express!