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!

 

[Swissmiss]

Ok I was jelly before with the triple meet up, but now I am SERIOUSLY jelly (especially knowing I am missing you by just a couple of days in May)

 

[MerMom1981]

I was so excited to see your name! Welcome back! I feel a View attachment 764927 is due!

Agreed!

 

[Minnie1986]

There was one FARTS item that I wanted to sample.

It was in The Odyssey, which worked out well for staying out of the rain a bit longer. The Odyssey was all plussed out with rainbows and Figment.

You couldn’t miss the theme.

View attachment 764754

While I ordered the cider flight, Patti ordered the beer flight. Our flights were ready at the same time and the CM advised us to put our flights together for a surprise.

View attachment 764752

Why look, a !

Tony had also ordered the beer flight, so I showed him the “magic” when I arrived at the table.

View attachment 764753

I’ll let them comment on the beer. I enjoyed the blood orange and black cherry ciders, but the passion fruit was not for me.

The cider flight sounds amazing!

 

[Minnie1986]

Friday, con’t

I arrived about ten minutes late to a very important appointment.

View attachment 764900

The “regulars” were already there. You can always count on Liv to grab the big table.

View attachment 764901

I knew my tardiness would not matter to these folks. I was concerned that Kelly might feel awkward if she arrived before me.

(Whom am I kidding? Kelly? Feel awkward? )

She arrived a few minutes later, all smiles as usual, ready to hang out with her new friends.

I was excited to finally meet another Magician, a sweet gal who has followed my reports since I don’t remember when.

It’s @RememberWhen!

View attachment 764902
She was with her father and her sister and didn’t have much time to visit with us. Thanks @RememberWhen for taking the time to stop by and introduce yourself!

I am not a beer drinker so my beverage of choice at Baseline Tap House is either water or nothing. However someone discovered there was a hard cider offering - and knowing I like cider - kindly bought this yummy blood orange cider for moi.

View attachment 764903

The purchaser revealed that the bartender handed over the cider with a warning. “It has a 6.9% alcohol content. Don’t drink it fast.”

Did I mention that I am a lightweight?

Love finding other blood orange enthusiasts. Looks SO good!

 

[Tuvalu]

Agreed!

If you'd like to ketchup with my past year and enjoy novels -

Trip Report - The Story Comes ALIVE! *COMPLETED*

Hello again, my friends. For nearly a decade it has been such a joy for me to write about 50 (yes, 50!) different trips that I have taken to WDW - including one that was virtual. ;) The reason? You, the reader. I don’t do trip reports for my own documentation. I have journals for that. I...

forums.wdwmagic.com

 

[Tuvalu]

Ok I was jelly before with the triple meet up, but now I am SERIOUSLY jelly (especially knowing I am missing you by just a couple of days in May)

Love finding other blood orange enthusiasts. Looks SO good!

Funny thing - I'm not normally a blood orange fan, but both ciders were delicious!!

 

[rshell68]

Friday, con’t

I arrived about ten minutes late to a very important appointment.

View attachment 764900

The “regulars” were already there. You can always count on Liv to grab the big table.

View attachment 764901

I knew my tardiness would not matter to these folks. I was concerned that Kelly might feel awkward if she arrived before me.

(Whom am I kidding? Kelly? Feel awkward? )

She arrived a few minutes later, all smiles as usual, ready to hang out with her new friends.

I was excited to finally meet another Magician, a sweet gal who has followed my reports since I don’t remember when.

It’s @RememberWhen!

View attachment 764902
She was with her father and her sister and didn’t have much time to visit with us. Thanks @RememberWhen for taking the time to stop by and introduce yourself!

I am not a beer drinker so my beverage of choice at Baseline Tap House is either water or nothing. However someone discovered there was a hard cider offering - and knowing I like cider - kindly bought this yummy blood orange cider for moi.

View attachment 764903

The purchaser revealed that the bartender handed over the cider with a warning. “It has a 6.9% alcohol content. Don’t drink it fast.”

Did I mention that I am a lightweight?

Depending on when this all went down we were next door having lunch at the Drive In....

 

[Tuvalu]

Friday, con't

Plan B was to go to an attraction with an indoor queue. Since we were making our way down Commissary Lane as close to the building as possible to avoid the rain, MMRR was nearby and that was Kelly's choice.

Standby was posted at 50 minutes but we didn't care.

Kel had only ridden MMRR once - back in August 2020 with me and Darlene.

The posted wait time was accurate but the chick chatters had no complaints.

Nothing can stop us now!

While onboard the lokey motive I got a text from Woody. He had arrived at POFQ and was in the room. Turns out it wasn't the relaxed atmosphere I hoped it would be. I told Kelly I should probably be going. We hugged and I headed out while she went to ride "The Falcon."

(No I wasn't walking backward. I was amazed at how many people were entering the already-overcrowded park in late afternoon!)

Shirley had a private ride to POFQ.

 

[Tuvalu]

Depending on when this all went down we were next door having lunch at the Drive In....

 

[MinnieM123]

@Tuvalu , I'm so glad your retirement was short! I'm having fun reading this latest TR, and I can live vicariously through all the daily events, attractions, food, and your meet-ups with fellow forum members!

 

[MickeyCB]

Darlene (@Darstarr a former member here) knew that Patti, Cindy and I were going to be in the World at the same time. Though she had a February trip planned, she rearranged her dates to be part of the Baseline meet.

I’ll let Cindy share the details of the reveal. It’s priceless.

Identities (L to R)

The reveal was insane. I was sitting where I am in this pic, with @Tuvalu immediately to my left at the time. I looked up at the open doorway and saw a man that looked so much like @Darstarr's husband that I turned the sound off on my phone and snuck a photo getting ready to send it to @Darstarr to say, there's a guy here who looks just like your husband!

I poked @Tuvalu and said, doesn't that look just like Ant?!
And immediately @Darstarr sticks her head out from behind and I just lost it! We've txtd and talked on the phone for quite a while but never met in person. I made a bit of a spectacle of myself jumping up and we were hugging like long lost friends! How about that woman surprised us all, (except @riverside), who was able to keep mum about the whole plan! She came all the way from NY!
I've been quite emotional lately and I found both the evening before with @Tuvalu and crew, and this meet up, to be very therapeutic. At one point during our Baseline meet up, I was sitting there watching everyone chat and thought, I feel as comfortable (or more) with this group of relative strangers than I have in the past with people I've known for quite awhile.

 

[Tuvalu]

@Tuvalu , I'm so glad your retirement was short! I'm having fun reading this latest TR, and I can live vicariously through all the daily events, attractions, food, and your meet-ups with fellow forum members!

Thank you, Minnie. I’m glad reading about the events is as entertaining as they were for me in real life!

The reveal was insane. I was sitting where I am in this pic, with @Tuvalu immediately to my left at the time. I looked up at the open doorway and saw a man that looked so much like @Darstarr's husband that I turned the sound off on my phone and snuck a photo getting ready to send it to @Darstarr to say, there's a guy here who looks just like your husband!

I poked @Tuvalu and said, doesn't that look just like Ant?!
And immediately @Darstarr sticks her head out from behind and I just lost it! We've txtd and talked on the phone for quite a while but never met in person. I made a bit of a spectacle of myself jumping up and we were hugging like long lost friends! How about that woman surprised us all, (except @riverside), who was able to keep mum about the whole plan! She came all the way from NY!
I've been quite emotional lately and I found both the evening before with @Tuvalu and crew, and this meet up, to be very therapeutic. At one point during our Baseline meet up, I was sitting there watching everyone chat and thought, I feel as comfortable (or more) with this group of relative strangers than I have in the past with people I've known for quite awhile.

Cindy, your joy that day was heartwarming and far from being a spectacle. You are in a hard season and Tony & Brian are now in a hard season and it is amazing what a little love - from Disney friends - can do to temporarily ease the pain.

I appreciate your sharing the reveal with us.

 

[Tiggertoo56]

What a couple of days and amazing meet ups. So glad you managed (between you all) to get together and we all now have seen some me wonderful photos of the 'magicians'. It looks like you all had a fun time.

 

[Tuvalu]

What a couple of days and amazing meet ups. So glad you managed (between you all) to get together and we all now have seen some me wonderful photos of the 'magicians'. It looks like you all had a fun time.

 

[Tuvalu]

Friday, con’t

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?

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.

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.

Sidebar - While on my private bus ride, I’d made a dinner ADR for a fave place of Woody’s, thinking a nice dinner would help him unwind from the work stress of the last four days. That ADR time was now less than 45 minutes away.

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.

Sidebar #2 - The Baseline gang (minus Kelly) was planning to meet again tonight. I sadly had to send our regrets, due to current circumstances.

 

[93boomer]

Friday, con’t

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.

Sidebar - While on my private bus ride, I’d made a dinner ADR for a fave place of Woody’s, thinking a nice dinner would help him unwind from the work stress of the last four days. That ADR time was now less than 45 minutes away.

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.

Sidebar #2 - The Baseline gang (minus Kelly) was planning to meet again tonight. I sadly had to send our regrets, due to current circumstances.

 

[Tuvalu]

You can’t make this stuff up.

 

[Tuvalu]

Friday, con’t

Woody really enjoys the relaxing atmosphere of Old Key West. I’m happy to have discovered the hidden gem which is Olivia’s a couple years ago.

Tonight we were seated in the main dining room. I can’t remember our server’s name but she was friendly and fast!

The coconut-pineapple bread was warm and yummy as usual. Woody doesn’t care for coconut nor pineapple, so the fact that he likes this bread must be Disney magic!

Our server ran through the specials. Woody is always tempted by the (non-seafood) specials, but he always goes with the buttermilk fried chicken. (“It’s just so good.”)

One food pic. Like hubby, like wife.

The country gravy arrived on the side tonight. Typically it covers the chicken and potatoes, unless you request otherwise.

It was a marvelous meal, exactly what we both needed. And there was a fully-functional, non-leaky toilet in our bathroom when we got back.

 

[Tuvalu]

Saturday, January 20

It was our last day.

Woody had one request for the day.

“I want Mickey waffles.”

He didn’t care about anything else. Just Mickey waffles.

Gotta love a low-maintenance human! He would have been satisfied with waffles to-go and eating quickly in our room. But the waffles would have been cold and he would have felt rushed, knowing that I like to rope drop the parks.

My gift to him was a non-hurried morning, and dining in the food court.

It was COLD again. And windy. I think it ended up being the coldest day of our trip. Thankfully there were patches of sunshine throughout the day, otherwise we never could have spent 10 straight hours in a theme park!

But I am getting ahead of myself.

A leisurely walk through the resort grounds reminded me of why I love POFQ. (And made me a little sad to think I won’t be spending spring break here this year.)

The frog fountain makes me smile.

POFQ is famous for beignets, though I’d rather have waffles. Powdered sugar in lieu of syrup on a waffle? YUM. After receiving my waffles, I moseyed over to the beignet station where a CM was more than happy to dust my waffles with powdered sugar!

Woody with his one request!

Chef’s kiss for the bacon! It was extra crispy and hardwood smoked, just as we both prefer. Waffles were A+!

 

[Tuvalu]

There were no planned meets today. Tony and Brian were blacked out from the parks and we other Passholders (Patti, Cindy, Darlene & families) had reserved different parks for today.

Yep, APs still have to make park reservations even though those with regular tickets do not. Doesn’t matter that we aren’t local and have to buy the most expensive pass because it is our only option. Doesn’t matter that we are staying in Disney resort rooms or own DVC.

Can you tell I’m a little miffed about this?

Deep breath. Back to Saturday. Which we spent in my happy place.

Tuvalu and Woody taking on the Kingdom today!