Trip Report Shortest Retirement in History?

Justin Bieber lasted 2 weeks.

Tom Brady lasted 40 days.

I, Tuvalu, outlasted them both. Not by much, mind you. Yet if not for the encouragement of some forum friends - along with some unusual circumstances - you wouldn’t be reading this.

Unusual circumstances, you say?

Around Thanksgiving my beloved Woody learned his presence was required at a work conference. In Orlando. At Universal.
Just down the road from Walt Disney World.

Woody said I could accompany him if he drove (rather than flew) to Florida. And that we could leave a couple days early and have some Disney time together.

Well you don’t have to ask me twice!

I’d be on my own during the conference. Since the majority of Universal’s attractions don’t appeal to me, it didn’t make sense for me to buy Uni tickets when I could visit WDW for free with my AP. Being solo, I thought it might be fun to do a live trip report so y’all could be my virtual companions!

Turns out I won’t be alone while Woody is occupied after all. Some friends that you have seen in my previous TRs (and one you haven’t) have offered to play with me. I can’t wait!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Rather I began to obsess about making it to WDW in time for a 2:30 pm ADR. The added pressure would make for a very stressful drive if something unexpected occurred - likely holiday weekend traffic.

I began to ponder driving halfway to FL on Black Friday. But much of the area we drive through is rural, with few options for hotels and restaurants. Woody priced out a few hotels which were 2/3 the cost of a Disney room.

Disney logic - for 1/3 dollars more and a few more hours of driving, we could arrive on Friday and be fully rested for Saturday’s late lunch and date with Josh Gad.

Stop. Copying. Me.

Same kind of cray-cray!

P.S. I will find a way to drive at least most of the way up on Christmas Eve Eve no matter what time B gets out of work!

 

[lindawdw]

I love the AK shops also. They seem to have more unique items that the same old generic you find in most Disney stores these days.

 

[Swissmiss]

And if international shipping didn’t cost a gazillion dollars, the TuvaTwins would be sporting these on Christmas.

I wish I had known - I saw something similar at DLP (if not the same) and shipping from France is usually affordable (shipping from Switzerland is usually 2 gazillion)

 

[Tuvalu]

Stop. Copying. Me.

Same kind of cray-cray!

 

[amjt660]

Really enjoying the recap and extra details

I have a water view at home too

Max

 

[Tuvalu]

Friday, con’t

An announcement was made that the park was now closed. As Em and I left the store we were in, a second announcement was made that in five minutes the Tree of Life would be “awakened.”

Such a confusing message, Disney. Park is closed but after closing there’s a show? Should we stay or should we go?

We chose to stay. And we were rewarded with a fun (and beautiful!) five minute show.

I can’t remember if there was another “Get Out!” announcement but we began walking to the front of the park to exit with the rest of humanity.

When I posted the following picture in the LIVE part and commented that Em and I had stayed until closing, I received several accolades.

Please don’t be impressed. While we did stay until closing, we’d only been in the park two hours. (Time stamp on my photo is 6:15 pm.)

Which is about our average amount of time spent in AK.

 

[RememberWhen]

Still counts!!

 

[lindawdw]

The closing show on the TOL is one of my favorite things to see at AK during the holiday season!

 

[Tuvalu]

Friday, con’t

While on the bus back to CSR, we got our eviction notice.

Seriously? We’d arrived less than 3 hours prior and had spent a whopping 10 minutes in the room.

Thanks for the hospitality, Coronado Springs!

We didn’t let the notification quench our exploration of El Centro. We wanted to see the holiday decorations, which did not disappoint.

We liked the red and green accent lighting in the main lobby on the second floor.

The tree was tall and lovely.

Even the interior hallway which connects the lobby with the gift store and restaurants was very festive.

Em and I perused the shop and bought a little something sweet to share from the food court. Then we took a brisk walk to back to Cabana 8B, surprised at how quickly the temperature had dropped!

 

[93boomer]

Friday, con’t

Next we ventured into the mystical world of Pandora.

View attachment 830214

Em was feelin’ the vibes!

The bioluminescence has waxed and waned over the years and IMO has never matched its 2017 peak when Pandora opened. Of course bioluminescence is most impressive after dark, which we would experience soon.

In a world of avatars, Santa is a robot.

View attachment 830215

Em chose our dinner location and I had no objection! I thought she picked it for me but she said, “No. I want to eat there.”

There being Satu’li Canteen.

View attachment 830212

Beef bowl for her, chicken for me. Both with noodles. (Sorry @Zipadeelady, we just can’t do the hash!)

Plastic cups were still in use.

View attachment 830213

We decided that it is better to eat at Satu’li earlier in the day than later. Nearing closing time, the food tasted more leftover than fresh.

And the servings are lot less.

 

[lindawdw]

Friday, con’t

While on the bus back to CSR, we got our eviction notice.

View attachment 830553

Seriously? We’d arrived less than 3 hours prior and had spent a whopping 10 minutes in the room.

Thanks for the hospitality, Coronado Springs!

We didn’t let the notification quench our exploration of El Centro. We wanted to see the holiday decorations, which did not disappoint.

View attachment 830554

We liked the red and green accent lighting in the main lobby on the second floor.

View attachment 830558

The tree was tall and lovely.

View attachment 830557

View attachment 830556

Even the interior hallway which connects the lobby with the gift store and restaurants was very festive.

View attachment 830555

Em and I perused the shop and bought a little something sweet to share from the food court. Then we took a brisk walk to back to Cabana 8B, surprised at how quickly the temperature had dropped!

Now I wish I had visited CS lobby just to see their decorations! We usually only visit the deluxe resorts to see them but next December, I'll be sure to drive over to see their beautiful lobby! Yup, the cold weather was arriving just in time to greet us on Saturday.

 

[Tuvalu]

Saturday, November 30

It was so nice to wake up IN Disney, rather than at home with an 8-hour drive ahead of us. Now we could have a full day at Epcot - and a full day we did!

Em’s fast finger secured this at 7 am.

In time we packed and loaded the car, saying goodbye to Coronado Springs and hello to French Quarter!

We immediately noticed the character caravan under the portico. Goofy, Donald and Pluto were greeting guests just outside the lobby.

No time to stop though. Em was in a hurry to have breakfast at Sassagoula Float Works.

Due to our next meal being mid-afternoon, Em wanted a substantial breakfast to tide us over. Bacon, egg and cheese bagels - with tater tots - fit the bill.

We did not partake of FQ’s famous beignets this visit. The inevitable powdered sugar mess wasn’t worth it for us.

 

[coachwnh]

We did not partake of FQ’s famous beignets this visit. The inevitable powdered sugar mess wasn’t worth it for us.

Crystal and I enjoyed them as we walked back to Riverside our last night. Both of us had powdered sugar everywhere

 

[Tuvalu]

Saturday, con’t

POFQ is in the process of a lengthy room refurbishment. Buildings 1-4 have been completed; Buildings 5 and 7 await; Building 6 is under construction.

I requested a refurbished room after the leaky toilet debacle Woody and I had in January.

When I opened the door to our room, Woody greeted me with, “There’s a leak in the bathroom.”

“Where?”

“There was a puddle of water next to the tub, so I put a towel down. There seems to be a new shower curtain liner, so maybe the shower had leaked and housekeeping replaced a faulty liner,” he offered.

I went into the bathroom and removed the towel, which had absorbed the water. Then I flushed the toilet and watched.

I am no stranger to leaky Disney toilets.

Sure enough, water dripped out of the hose near the floor. Scales on the tile indicated the water had been leaking for awhile.

Time to call maintenance.

Look carefully at the room phone. Notice anything?

View attachment 765108

There is no Maintenance button. There is no Housekeeping button. There is no Front Desk button.

Resort Services was the only option. Pushing that button put me into the hold queue for TRIP PLANNING. After five minutes on hold, I hung up.

I pushed “O” for help and received a busy signal.

Woody saw the frustration on my face and said, “I’ll walk down to the Front Desk.”

My hero. After a mentally exhausting work conference, he was willing to face the aggravation of dealing with the Front Desk.

After several minutes he texted - Checking on another room.

Text five minutes later - Still checking. Having to talk on the phone and go behind the wall.

Ah, the typical CM disappearing act! I’m very familiar with that, too.

Next text ten minutes later - Still checking for room. Also checking how soon engineering could look at it.

What Woody didn’t know was that about a minute before I received text #3, there was a knock on the door. When I opened it, a man in an orange vest said, “You called?” Though I hadn’t called, I told him about the toilet leak and he came in to look at it.

Maintenance guy is here I texted back.

Woody’s reply - They say that’s housekeeping in the room.

I sent him this.

View attachment 765109

The worker thought it was a bad gasket and then left to get the part. Meanwhile the Front Desk CM finally returned to tell Woody there was ONE available room, first floor in Building 1. The opposite end of the property from our current room.

I really didn’t want to make another move but also didn’t want to stay in a room with a broken commode.

Can they hold the room for us in case the toilet can’t be fixed right away? I texted.

They can’t guarantee it, was the reply.

Another knock and the worker was back with a new hose and gasket. Woody returned. Another knock on the door. A housekeeper.

I let her in and she went to talk to maintenance guy. She took the wet towel and left.

Maintenance guy replaced the gasket and hose and wasn’t satisfied. “It needs a new tank.” He called engineering to request a tank.

The worker assured us that yes, the toilet could be repaired before we returned from dinner. So we took him at his word and left to drive to dinner.

We were assigned a third floor standard view room in Building 3.

I mentioned that moderate resort views aren’t worth the extra money for me. This was actually a nice standard view.

Better than the view was the location. We were very close to the main building and bus stop.

For comparison sake, here is the former room.

Here is the refurbished room.

More photos to come in next post as I’ve reached the 10 photo limit.

 

[LadyBelle]

Drawers!! Something Alligator Bayou sorely lacks.

 

[Tuvalu]

We liked what we saw. Gone was a the dark wood in favor of the more modern blue-gray. Wood headboard replaced with padded headboard for comfort. Reading lights embedded in the headboards. Lots of outlets for multiple devices. A coffee station. Barn door rather than privacy curtain in bath area. And a new ceiling fan!

The small table and chairs have been replaced by a padded bench. It is not a sleeper and not very comfortable. We would have preferred chairs. (Side note - refurbished corner rooms have the table and chairs; no bench.)

The coat rack has been moved close to the door.

New privacy sign.

Bathroom area is much improved with more storage - and a pull out step stool!

Stall shower rather than tub/shower combo. Sadly the water pressure was AWFUL.

The “beverage cooler” is contained in the dresser unit.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

We did not partake of FQ’s famous beignets this visit. The inevitable powdered sugar mess wasn’t worth it for us.

Reported.

 

[meggo819]

The “beverage cooler” is contained in the dresser unit.

Ooh, I like that they’re disclosing the 41 degrees and above. We were trusting that our mini fridge (with solid black door) at AoA Lion King suite was cold enough to keep our milk good and it seemed to.

 

[Tuvalu]

Saturday, con’t

Shortly before our trip I’d read a recent review of bus service at POFQ. The author praised it’s efficiency and timeliness, due to “half the resort being closed during the remodel.” They wrote the buses were never crowded.

As we approached the bus stop just as our Epcot bus was arriving, I was hopeful we’d have similar luck during our stay.

Spoiler alert - we didn’t. After that first ride we always had long waits for a bus. One morning was 40 minutes, another 30. Buses were full most rides. It was reminiscent of our April experience at POR (made worse due to the resort’s multiple stops.)

“Half the resort closed” was erroneous. Building 6 was the only building sans guests. I witnessed guests coming and going from non-remodeled Buildings 5 & 7.

Enough grumbling. Let’s move on to the fun stuff!

First on the docket -

 

[Tuvalu]

A week earlier I’d succumbed to FOMO again.

First it was the additional night. Now it was LLMP purchases.

Not knowing how crowded Epcot would be on the first weekend of Festival of the Holidays - and specifically how long the line would be for LWTL after dark (there’s a statement I’d never thought I’d make ) - I convinced myself that money spent for Lightning Lanes would be “worth it.”

It certainly was worth it the moment I secured exactly what I wanted.

I’d also booked LLs for Soarin’ and SSE. We headed into The Land intending to use our Soarin’ LL.

But an empty queue for LWTL (!) was too tempting not to check out the holiday overlay first.

Love the nod to the pavilion’s original logo.

The fruit garland was appropriate for the first greenhouse….

….as was the giant fruit wreath!

The (not so hidden) Mickey hose was illuminated in colors. (Wonder what’s in those presents?)

The ride was definitely more plussed since our last visit to the Glimmering Greenhouses in 2021. (I don’t think the overlay even had a name back then.)

Em and I were impressed by our daytime cruise. We had no idea what awaited us tonight!