Trip Report Rise of the Popcorn Bucket

Hello everyone & a warm welcome to you!! As always, lots of fun was had on this trip with the star of the show(besides J, of course) being none other than E's nemesis, the popcorn bucket!! I'm super excited to share our adventures with you!!

WHO: I think you know us but.....myself-Patti, R(I think I've converted him to a full blown Disney fan even though he claims he likes coming for the restaurants), my sister E & my super fun, partner in crime(in more ways than one on this trip) J!!

WHEN: Friday, January 17th - Monday, January 20th(gotta go around those darn school schedules when you have family in the education field)

WHERE(I hope you're sitting down for this one!): Art of Animation

There was no room at the inn at Riverside so we decided to stay here b/c we thought J would really like the Cars suite. In the end we created a monster b/c he has now decided that AoA is his favorite!!

PREAMBLE
We last left off with JSR smuggling the popcorn buckets out of his house for me. BTW--J was in on this too & I was very proud of him for keeping it a secret for so long!!

They were heading to WDW with me!! Also, you may be wondering why there are two. You see, E's hatred for the popcorn bucket didn't just start on our trip in November. A few years ago she, JSR & J were on a Disney cruise & JSR bought the Santa Mickey bucket that you see there. She couldn't stand it back then on the cruise & her feelings really haven't changed. If anything, they've gotten worse!!

We had a 3:50 flight b/c someone(the guy in education) had a half day of school & didn't want to miss work. We met at E's at 12:30 & JSR drove us to the airport. I had went to work that morning & before I left I bought a case of water & put 12 in my suitcase. My boss was busy making fun of me for not buying it in Disney. I told him I had the space in my suitcase & these bottles were for the room. Why spend $3.50 per bottle when I could spend $4.99 for a case of Aquafina?? BTW--it was well worth it. We only had 2 bottles left at the end of the trip!!

Check out J's cute suitcase!!

He's ready to go!! J said that he wanted me to sit next to him in the car. On the way to the airport he told me that he wanted to sit next to me on the plane & the ME. I asked E why he wanted to be my BFF. She said she didn't know but earlier that day out of the blue he told her, "I really like Aunt Patti". I think he saw jelly beans in his future!!

We checked our bags in at curbside & the Southwest agent started humming The March of the First Order when he saw J's suitcase. It was cute. He also profoundly thanked us for the tips b/c he said that it had been a slow day.

J was excited to get on the "monorail". Even though R was still in his work clothes he was somewhat in Disney mode with the Star Wars tie he was wearing!!

We went to TGI Friday's for lunch. We got some kind of combo platter & shared everything. The potstickers & breadsticks were especially good!! That wine wasn't bad either!!

Meanwhile, J was enjoying the cheese sticks!!

 

[riverside]

SUNDAY, JANUARY 19TH

We bid farewell to S, met back up with E & headed further into the park. We stopped for some PP pics first. E said after the fact the you think R could have put his pop bottle down I had to agree with her.

I asked J to stop so I could a nice picture of him with the castle in the background. This is what I got.

He's at that age where he thinks it's funny to act like a clown for pictures so you don't end up with a nice one.

Guess what was open!! For some reason he became a bit somber at this point...

Look at Mr. Tough Guy now!!

After he conquered "the hill" he enjoyed the rest of the ride. He mentioned that he knew there were pigs coming up in one of the scenes.

As we got off the ride he told us, "that wasn't so bad." I just wonder if he'll ride next time?

J & I had a little battle in the gift shop after. He had the hook & I had a sword.

 

[riverside]

SUNDAY, JANUARY 19TH

R really enjoys LTT so during the planning he asked if we wanted to eat dinner there. After Pirates we headed there for our reservation.

We got there a bit early & J kept telling his mom he wanted some of the "gems" that you could get in the gift shop at Pirates so she went back while we waited. We were called 10 minutes before our reservation time.

This was our view during dinner.

J played with the gems while we waited.

Better pic of our view.

We all agreed that the salad was a huge disappointment. My notes say that the dressing was a honey shallot. It had absolutely no taste. It tasted like their was no dressing on it at all.

Before E had a roll I told her I needed to get a picture!

Cabernet for me!

Our food came out pretty quickly & it was excellent!!

 

[Swissmiss]

I bet J would remember who high-fived him.

 

[riverside]

SUNDAY, JANUARY 19TH

Everything was so good. I'm pretty sure we ended up asking for seconds on the mac & cheese.

Whatever sickness R had was getting worse. He decided a hot tea was in order.

As you can see we didn't leave much behind!!

Time for dessert. I did have a few bites but still can't say that I'm a fan--sorry @Tuvalu

J was though!!

TIW for the win again!!

E was trying to get a nice pic of the three of us. Remember what I said earlier about J clowning around?

 

[riverside]

I bet J would remember who high-fived him.

You're probably right!! I'll have to ask him next time I see him!

 

[riverside]

SUNDAY, JANUARY 19TH

When we got done with dinner it was 6:00. E was ready to head back to AoA. There was some football playoff game on that R wanted to see & he wanted to go to Muddy Rivers to watch it. Perfect--who am I to say no to a trip to POR!!

Hey--we were just sitting there!!

Never thought that would be one of my last castle pics for awhile.

I love all the lights on Main Street at night!

We stopped in The Confectionery but I don't recall buying anything.

I'm pretty sure I didn't b/c this looks like the look of defeat. I'm sure I was vetoed!!

And with that we said our goodbyes to MK.

 

[Tuvalu]

That’s the “new” version of Ooey Gooey. I’m not a huge fan of it myself.

Do you think R possibly had the virus?

 

[riverside]

SUNDAY, JANUARY 19TH

We parted ways at the bus stop. E said that a bus came right away for AoA.

We weren't so lucky. We waited 20 minutes for a POR bus.

I got this notification while we were waiting in line. Please don't remind me!!

Finally a Riverside bus arrived!!

Lousy photo I know but I took it so I remembered for my notes that we got off at the West Depot.

We strolled the lovely grounds of POR.

We got to Muddy Rivers at 7:25(I say this b/c it will be important in my next post). I got the Blueberry Lemonade. I believe R got the frozen Jack & Coke. He's a big fan of them there.

Cheers!!

 

[riverside]

That’s the “new” version of Ooey Gooey. I’m not a huge fan of it myself.

Do you think R possibly had the virus?

It's funny you say that b/c he thinks he may have & I think he might be right. He took an awful turn for the worse that night. His breathing/snoring kept me up for quite awhile. We didn't have a thermometer but while we were at Muddy Rivers he all of a sudden started burning up. As you'll see our time there was short-lived. What really makes him think he had it is for a few weeks after that he was having a hard time breathing. He would walk up a flight of steps & by the time he got to the top he was light headed & totally out of breath. He kept telling me that he must really be out of shape b/c he was so out of breath. That part I didn't buy b/c overall he's in pretty good shape & not really overweight. I guess we'll never know for sure but I wouldn't be surprised in the least if he did.

 

[MickeyCB]

TIW for the win again!!

I have a question, do you have an opinion of the savings of the TIW vs AP discount vs using the dining plan?
We have several table service meals scheduled for October, probably 6 in a 4 night stay. I was thinking of getting the new DP with the 2 table service credits.
I haven't taken the time yet to try and calculate the meal costs with AP/DVC discount. We would probably only be going once in a years time.

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

I love all the "clowning" pictures of J. He is so cute. At that age, you won't get a good picture of him for another 10 years, sigh......……..
Hope you husband got better. Either my husband or I always, Always, get sick right before we come home from Disney. I call it the "Disney crud" and it's usually my husband. Last time it was me and I had a bad fever and sore throat and cough. I got antibiotics when I got home and all was well. But it happens every time we go to Florida. I wonder if others get this when they travel to Disney? Oh well, loving your trip report and can't wait for this virus to be over and done with!!!!

 

[riverside]

SUNDAY, JANUARY 19TH

One of us definitely looks happier than the other. But remember, he was the one who wanted to go to Muddy Rivers. Remember that 7:25 arrival time? We were leaving by 8. R started running a fever & said he needed to lay down. Truthfully, he looked like crap. He felt bad b/c we had just got there but I wouldn't have fun knowing he was miserable & let's face it, the only reason I was there is b/c it was POR. I could care less about the football game. He wanted to be there for the atmosphere b/c he really likes it there also but it was not to be. At least I got a little time in there!!

Until next time Muddy Rivers!!

We headed to the main building.

❤❤❤

I debated between a Lyft & a Minnie van. The Minnie van was going to be $20 more than the Lyft. Since J wasn't with us I didn't have to worry about a car seat so I chose the cheaper route!!

Farewell POR

Hello AoA--we were back there by 8:30.

That night E & I both booked a bounceback offer for May. We were both pretty excited with the rate we got & we were going to be going home to POR. As we know now it's not going to happen.

I felt bad for R that night. He was up quite a bit, had a fever going on, & was coughing a ton. It was a long night.

 

[Tuvalu]

I have a question, do you have an opinion of the savings of the TIW vs AP discount vs using the dining plan?
We have several table service meals scheduled for October, probably 6 in a 4 night stay. I was thinking of getting the new DP with the 2 table service credits.
I haven't taken the time yet to try and calculate the meal costs with AP/DVC discount. We would probably only be going once in a years time.

@riverside if you don’t mind my butting in.....

The AP discount on table service meals is limited to only a few restaurants (mostly for lunch) and is just 10%. Alcohol is excluded. Since you only plan on one trip in a year you may want to forgo an AP anyway.

TiW is offered at the majority of Disney restaurants and is 20% off. Includes alcohol. Can use the discounts at bars without ordering any food. BUT in order to recoup the $150 yearly cost you must spend $750 on food and alcohol before the savings kicks in.

You’ll need to do your own dining plan math, LOL, as I am not a proponent of the DDP.

 

[riverside]

I have a question, do you have an opinion of the savings of the TIW vs AP discount vs using the dining plan?
We have several table service meals scheduled for October, probably 6 in a 4 night stay. I was thinking of getting the new DP with the 2 table service credits.
I haven't taken the time yet to try and calculate the meal costs with AP/DVC discount. We would probably only be going once in a years time.

@riverside if you don’t mind my butting in.....

The AP discount on table service meals is limited to only a few restaurants (mostly for lunch) and is just 10%. Alcohol is excluded. Since you only plan on one trip in a year you may want to forgo an AP anyway.

TiW is offered at the majority of Disney restaurants and is 20% off. Includes alcohol. Can use the discounts at bars without ordering any food. BUT in order to recoup the $150 yearly cost you must spend $750 on food and alcohol before the savings kicks in.

You’ll need to do your own dining plan math, LOL, as I am not a proponent of the DDP.

@Tuvalu not at all!! I appreciate you chiming in!!

Since we purchased it in November I knew I was keeping track of the savings in my last TR. I went back to it & found this excerpt:

Since this is my last receipt for the trip I figured I'd fill you in on what our TIW savings vs AP savings were. So, if we would have used our AP discount we would have saved $117.33 on qualifying purchases. With TIW we saved $307.75. Throw in the $150.00 fee & that brings our savings to $157.75. To me it was a winner!! And we still have it for another year!! We will more than get our monies worth out of it!! We should have got this a long time ago!!

For this trip we used it at 50's, The River Roost & Liberty Tree Tavern. We saved 67.22 with TiW. With the AP we would have saved 24.81 on qualifying purchases(can't use the AP discount on alcohol or at The River Roost). I think TiW is worth it. The DDP is a tough one for me. I used to get it all the time years ago. I liked the feeling of everything being paid for ahead of time. But I'm one of those ones, "I'm not going to waste a snack credit on a bottle of water." The next thing you know the trip is ending & I have a ton of credits left. Then I would end up wasting them on junk to bring home b/c I had already "paid for it." Although, R became a fan when they added alcohol to it. But for me that was a problem. Even if I didn't feel like having a drink I would get one b/c I knew that I had already "paid for it." Now that I'm thinking of it I believe I did a comparison in one of my older TR's between paying out of pocket & being on the DDP. I think it was my 2nd one. If I remember right I would have come out ahead not using it. Let me dig around a little & see if I can find it.

 

[riverside]

I love all the "clowning" pictures of J. He is so cute. At that age, you won't get a good picture of him for another 10 years, sigh......……..
Hope you husband got better. Either my husband or I always, Always, get sick right before we come home from Disney. I call it the "Disney crud" and it's usually my husband. Last time it was me and I had a bad fever and sore throat and cough. I got antibiotics when I got home and all was well. But it happens every time we go to Florida. I wonder if others get this when they travel to Disney? Oh well, loving your trip report and can't wait for this virus to be over and done with!!!!

Thanks so much!! I'm glad you're enjoying it!! He's funny--he acts cool but then you see him clinging onto me for dear life on Pirates!!

He did get better but it took a good month or so. At one point a few weeks in he did call his doctor & he prescribed him antibiotics & cough medicine & that helped him somewhat. Being that he's been in education for 20 years or so I'm used to him getting colds a lot during the winter months. This one was definitely different though. The breathing was what was concerning to him & that was something that he never had with his other colds. He did start getting sick before Disney so I won't blame it on that but I can see how someone could get sick there--lot's of germs roaming around there!!

 

[BrerWayne]

SUNDAY, JANUARY 19TH

@tonystark our first FP was for HM!!
View attachment 463620

I really like this pic. I just wish I wouldn't have got the awning/canopy thing in it.
View attachment 463621

I was hoping for a PP to be out & about but that was a negative. I really wanted a pic in front since I was wearing a HM shirt. I ended up attempting to take one on my own....."attempting" being the operative word.
View attachment 463622

Also, it was super sunny. Mr. Bird Feeder was the only one wise enough to have his sunglasses on.
View attachment 463623

J wanted to ride with me again!! Thank goodness...you'll see why in the next picture. I'm actually kind of embarrassed to post it....
View attachment 463627

No commentary needed. I think it speaks for itself
View attachment 463628
I guess I probably should have just said that their ride photo didn't show up but it's part of the trip so.....sorry if this is TMI.

We browsed Memento Mori but came out empty handed. Sorry, I just don't get this.
View attachment 463624

I thought this mug was cute.
View attachment 463625

This is just plain adorable!! I didn't look at the price but my guess is Precious Moments + Disney = $$$$$$$
View attachment 463626

Wow! He really did turn that thing into a Doom buggy!!!

 

[riverside]

@MickeyCB here you go. DDP(1 sit down per night) -vs- paying OOP(with the AP discount). I did this comparison in 2018 but I would think it would hold true today.

WRAPPING THIS UP

I just thought I'd throw this out there b/c this is something E & I have always said we were going to do but never did & I finally did it(not 100% perfect though). This is the "is the dining plan worth it?" saga.
We've done trips where we got the dining plan & ones where we didn't. E did not have the plan this trip but H & I did. I always figured you really didn't save money with the dining plan but I will say I like the convenience of knowing that pretty much everything is already paid for. With that being said though I usually find myself scrambling at the end of a trip to cash in those credits so I don't lose them. I've used those credits to pay for random strangers meals & I've also brought 20 bags of candy home. Getting the "free" mug on the plan is not important to me b/c I don't drink pop. The reason I got the dining plan on this trip is b/c I was bringing H. This is the third time I've taken her to Disney & I know that she won't ask for much & also feels bad about how much things cost. I feel like by having the dining plan she doesn't feel funny about picking a more expensive item or ordering a dessert etc. She kept saying she was saving the snack credits for the Halloween party. Had I been paying OOP she never would have asked for all those treats. So, as you will see below it didn't pay to have the dining plan but IMO it was worth it b/c she felt comfortable getting what she wanted.

I was pretty good about saving all the receipts except for the ones from the Halloween party so I just went off the price on the menus. I also think the savings could really have been a bit more b/c for most meals I normally wouldn't order a dessert & there are times(esp. for lunch)that I wouldn't order an alcoholic beverage. I guess I get that mindset though that I've paid for it so I might as well order it.

I also looked on MDE this morning and it is showing me 8 FP's for our upcoming trip & I know I booked 12. Guess I better straighten this out soon.


Well, that about wraps up this TR. I really want to thank you for reading, commenting & liking my posts!! I really appreciate it!! As with my first one I had a ton of fun doing this!! My countdown is at 5 days so I'll "See Ya Real Soon"!

 

[riverside]

Wow! He really did turn that thing into a Doom buggy!!!

That's great!! I'll have to show him your comment!! That was a good one!!

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

R is getting quite nervous about his job. All schools in the state are closed for the rest of this school year. He's a principal in a private, Catholic school. Most of them struggle a bit to begin with to keep things going & they rely heavily on fundraisers. Not only can they not have fundraisers but with so many losing their jobs his concern is that a lot of kids won't come back next school year b/c they won't be able to afford the tuition. I heard something on the radio the other day that they expect that a lot of the Catholic schools won't be able to withstand this & unfortunately I think they're probably correct.

Please give my prayers to R for his job and school. What an awful situation to be in! I'm glad R recovered but what an awful bug to have, it sounds like it could have been the virus.

I am looking forward to seeing J on your next trip and how brave he is with the hill on Pirates!

 

[MickeyCB]

@riverside if you don’t mind my butting in.....

The AP discount on table service meals is limited to only a few restaurants (mostly for lunch) and is just 10%. Alcohol is excluded. Since you only plan on one trip in a year you may want to forgo an AP anyway.

TiW is offered at the majority of Disney restaurants and is 20% off. Includes alcohol. Can use the discounts at bars without ordering any food. BUT in order to recoup the $150 yearly cost you must spend $750 on food and alcohol before the savings kicks in.

You’ll need to do your own dining plan math, LOL, as I am not a proponent of the DDP.

Thanks @Tuvalu, I didn't know about the AP restrictions/limitations with discounts. We had already purchased the AP's as usually we get 2-3 trips in on one. This year with the whole Corona thing we won't be taking as many trips. We have some family scheduling conflicts that also entered into this. But, this did get me started thinking we might be better off just purchasing tickets and not initiate the AP's I bought and hang on to them for future (hopefully) better use.

I'll have to do a rough calculation on our planned dining to see roughly what we might be spending.

On one of our trips last year, I was very careful to keep track of the cost of the meals and the DP that we had purchased, and it came out pretty much a wash.

@MickeyCB here you go. DDP(1 sit down per night) -vs- paying OOP(with the AP discount). I did this comparison in 2018 but I would think it would hold true today.

WRAPPING THIS UP

I just thought I'd throw this out there b/c this is something E & I have always said we were going to do but never did & I finally did it(not 100% perfect though). This is the "is the dining plan worth it?" saga.
We've done trips where we got the dining plan & ones where we didn't. E did not have the plan this trip but H & I did. I always figured you really didn't save money with the dining plan but I will say I like the convenience of knowing that pretty much everything is already paid for. With that being said though I usually find myself scrambling at the end of a trip to cash in those credits so I don't lose them. I've used those credits to pay for random strangers meals & I've also brought 20 bags of candy home. Getting the "free" mug on the plan is not important to me b/c I don't drink pop. The reason I got the dining plan on this trip is b/c I was bringing H. This is the third time I've taken her to Disney & I know that she won't ask for much & also feels bad about how much things cost. I feel like by having the dining plan she doesn't feel funny about picking a more expensive item or ordering a dessert etc. She kept saying she was saving the snack credits for the Halloween party. Had I been paying OOP she never would have asked for all those treats. So, as you will see below it didn't pay to have the dining plan but IMO it was worth it b/c she felt comfortable getting what she wanted.

I was pretty good about saving all the receipts except for the ones from the Halloween party so I just went off the price on the menus. I also think the savings could really have been a bit more b/c for most meals I normally wouldn't order a dessert & there are times(esp. for lunch)that I wouldn't order an alcoholic beverage. I guess I get that mindset though that I've paid for it so I might as well order it.

I also looked on MDE this morning and it is showing me 8 FP's for our upcoming trip & I know I booked 12. Guess I better straighten this out soon.


Well, that about wraps up this TR. I really want to thank you for reading, commenting & liking my posts!! I really appreciate it!! As with my first one I had a ton of fun doing this!! My countdown is at 5 days so I'll "See Ya Real Soon"!

Thank you for the information. I have had times where we have brought home snack credit (snacks). I have also had times where they were used up. They are great for food and wine at Epcot I've learned. I think I will take pen to paper and try to get a rough idea on what we might be ordering, etc. to try to get an apples to apples (or Mickey waffle to Mickey waffle) comparison!

And thanks so much for the great trip report, it was so much fun to follow along!