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!

 

[Tuvalu]

Monday, con’t

Reading @riverside ’s trip report while at the pool inspired me to book The Hollywood Brown Derby for dinner.

We were seated in the top level of the restaurant, overlooking the commoners below.

I had read alarming posts that WDW restaurants no longer offer complimentary bread service, but that was not true at Brown Derby. When the warm rolls and sea-salted butter (which have been there forever) arrived at our table, I was practically giddy.

Em’s quick partaking of the bread basket assured me that I wasn’t the only happy one.

The filet mignon with mushroom risotto and roasted asparagus was spectacular.

However it does not photograph well.

Brown slop, anyone?

I am not a mushroom fan but as you can tell by the picture it was easy to avoid the big pieces.

We were originally booked at Mama Melrose but after seeing the menu changes (and charging for bread!) Em happily sacrificed her fave margarita for a nice glass of wine with her filet.

She also felt this meal redeemed her horrid spring break meal from Rosie’s. (I reminded her that we did eat at Sci-Fi after Rosie's and she'd enjoyed it. Glad I'm not the only one who forgets things!)

Her sweet tooth had a hankering so we picked up a Jack’s Num Num cookie.

We were hoping that some of the wait times would drop as guests headed to Fantasmic but they remained too high for our liking. Spitting rain also began which we took as a signal it was time to leave.

Wise choice - it was raining hard when we arrived back at WL. We hadn't been in the Mercantile yet so we went in to browse.

I took this menswear picture to remind me of the groups of younger men (no women) dining in Brown Derby, gathering on Hollywood Blvd., and entering DHS as we were exiting.

All of them were attired in light blue striped shirts and khaki pants.

It had to be a corporate function of some kind - but where were the women? Was it a fraternity reunion? Em overheard another woman say, "See, there's even more of them!" as she pointed towards an arriving cluster.

We will never know.

I thought this beach towel was adorable. But beach towels are hard to pack and we don't get much use out of beach towels at home.

We sat outside for a bit to conclude our day. The storm had closed the pool.

 

[the_rich]

Monday, con’t

Reading @riverside ’s trip report while at the pool inspired me to book The Hollywood Brown Derby for dinner.

We were seated in the top level of the restaurant, overlooking the commoners below.

View attachment 794349

I had read alarming posts that WDW restaurants no longer offer complimentary bread service, but that was not true at Brown Derby. When the warm rolls and sea-salted butter (which have been there forever) arrived at our table, I was practically giddy.

View attachment 794350

Em’s quick partaking of the bread basket assured me that I wasn’t the only happy one.

The filet mignon with mushroom risotto and roasted asparagus was spectacular.

However it does not photograph well.

View attachment 794351
Brown slop, anyone?

I am not a mushroom fan but as you can tell by the picture it was easy to avoid the big pieces.

We were originally booked at Mama Melrose but after seeing the menu changes (and charging for bread!) Em happily sacrificed her fave margarita for a nice glass of wine with her filet.

She also felt this meal redeemed her horrid spring break meal from Rosie’s. (I reminded her that we did eat at Sci-Fi after Rosie's and she'd enjoyed it. Glad I'm not the only one who forgets things!)

Her sweet tooth had a hankering so we picked up a Jack’s Num Num cookie.

View attachment 794352

We were hoping that some of the wait times would drop as guests headed to Fantasmic but they remained too high for our liking. Spitting rain also began which we took as a signal it was time to leave.

Wise choice - it was raining hard when we arrived back at WL. We hadn't been in the Mercantile yet so we went in to browse.

I took this menswear picture to remind me of the groups of younger men (no women) dining in Brown Derby, gathering on Hollywood Blvd., and entering DHS as we were exiting.

All of them were attired in light blue striped shirts and khaki pants.

View attachment 794353

It had to be a corporate function of some kind - but where were the women? Was it a fraternity reunion? Em overheard another woman say, "See, there's even more of them!" as she pointed towards an arriving cluster.

We will never know.

I thought this beach towel was adorable. But beach towels are hard to pack and we don't get much use out of beach towels at home.

View attachment 794354

We sat outside for a bit to conclude our day. The storm had closed the pool.

View attachment 794355

I really like that towel. Hopefully I can pick one up in august.

 

[jmunzert]

It had to be a corporate function of some kind - but where were the women? Was it a fraternity reunion? Em overheard another woman say, "See, there's even more of them!" as she pointed towards an arriving cluster.

We will never know.
--okay I was here for this and it was driving me crazy trying to figure it out, I kept thinking , male golfers? alas we WILL never know

 

[LeighM]

Oh I can't stand it when someone has no understanding of personal space!

 

[Tuvalu]

--okay I was here for this and it was driving me crazy trying to figure it out, I kept thinking , male golfers? alas we WILL never know

Sorry we didn't see each other, @jmunzert. Maybe together we could have solved the mystery!

 

[Tuvalu]

BAZINGA!

 

[Tuvalu]

Tuesday, June 11

Based on the forecast, we’d expected to wake up to rain. I was very pleased to have my breakfast on the balcony.

Meanwhile Em was busy inside securing this.

It was a beautiful morning for a boat ride.

We arrived in time to take advantage of early entry.

 

[Tuvalu]

Arty Pooh.

We took a chance on the second star to the right which was posted at 45 minutes.

We completed our flight in 20.

While in line we noticed a woman wearing earrings that were miniature CM name tags. The name imprinted was Melissa. Not sure if these (cute) earrings are official Disney items or something from Etsy. I was not a creeper so no pic.

Our TRON VQ was called but we thought we had enough time to do a nearby favorite first.

Ride stoppage at the ballroom!

Me? ! Em? !

We exited Haunted Mansion into a cloud-covered sky. The sun was gone. As we made our way to TRON we were hoping not to get wet on the outdoor portion of the ride. Woody and I got pelted by rain once while riding and it was NOT FUN.

We (ok, me) had made the wrong choice by not going to TRON immediately when our group was called. Though we avoided getting wet, multiple groups after ours had been called and we ended up with a 50 minute wait in the queue. UGH.

Misery was quickly forgotten at the launch though!

 

[lindawdw]

Your meal at HBD looks delicious! We always enjoy our meal there, but the service can be spotty on some trips. It's hard to know what the wait times on TRON will look like unless you have a super early morning Virtual Boarding! Love your TRON pic!

 

[Tuvalu]

Your meal at HBD looks delicious! We always enjoy our meal there, but the service can be spotty on some trips.

I left out the part about our mediocre service. She was friendly but slow, and never came back to check if Em wanted a second glass of wine - which Em would have purchased had it been offered!

 

[Tuvalu]

Tuesday, con’t

We learned something this morning.

Most MK quick service eateries open for lunch at 10:30 am. Imagine our surprise when we arrived at Columbia Harbor House at 10:50 and the doors were locked!

It did not deter us from eating there. We waited with a small group of others and I am not ashamed to brag that I was the first guest to place an order with a cashier today.

Em had left me to go claim her favorite spot. After all, she’s a member of the Upstairs Crew!

We watched the storm arrive from our vantage point.

Even poor Wendy had to take cover!

We lingered in the restaurant for quite a while. The rain impacted a lot of attractions!

 

[rshell68]

I thought of @TrolleyFollower91 when we got our Guardians photo. See, she shouldn't feel too bad at her pics! This is me every time we've ridden. Except the 1 time I remembered a hair tie LOL

 

[Tuvalu]

Tuesday, con’t

We decided we couldn't stay at Columbia Harbor House forever and made our exit plan. Our destination wasn't far and our umbrellas would keep us mostly dry.

As we hurried outside in the pouring rain, Em saw a little girl pointing at the Tangled restroom and overheard the following -
Little girl: "What's that?"
Exasperated mother: "I don't know what that is. We'll just go get in line."

(Something told us that little girl was going to be very disappointed.)

Because so many attractions were closed, Mickey's Philharmagic played to a full house.

It took awhile for the show to begin since we had to wait for the nimwits to get back up and move allllll the way down so everyone would have a seat. (This is not rocket science folks!)

We caught a break in the weather and decided to head to Tomorrowland. There is no such thing as too many rides on the Peoplemover, amiright @ToInfinity?

Then a visit with John's intergenerational family.

 

[pkkurz]

I thought of @TrolleyFollower91 when we got our Guardians photo. See, she shouldn't feel too bad at her pics! This is me every time we've ridden. Except the 1 time I remembered a hair tie LOL
View attachment 794716

This was my daughter’s GoG picture this morning. Would that be considered Shirley status?

 

[lindawdw]

Our favorite spot too! I wonder why it took so long to open CHH? There are never too many times to ride The Peoplemover or COP!

 

[Tuvalu]

This was my daughter’s GoG picture this morning. Would that be considered Shirley status?View attachment 794798

#ShirleyStatus would apply if she were solo in the vehicle.
This is a picture of ghostriders!

Our favorite spot too! I wonder why it took so long to open CHH?

The hours posted outside the door said 11 am. This has to be a new change.

 

[Tuvalu]

Tuesday, con’t

The rain was back with a vengeance. Em and I stood for a moment under cover at CoP as I opened the app to check our options.

No surprise all the outdoor stuff was closed! Due to its proximity, we hoofed it through the monsoon to an attraction we've not visited in some time.

It was another full house! And we enjoyed the show more than we expected thanks to great audience participation.

A peek at the radar on the weather app indicated that the storm would remain stationary for a bit longer. We decided to seek shelter at the Tomorrowland Terrace.

Our time there was short as CMs began kicking out guests so that they could prepare for the fireworks dessert party - which wouldn't start for another 4.5 hours!

We'd had enough of the rain. Time to bite the bullet and join the others leaving the park.

 

[Tuvalu]

The rain remained steady throughout the afternoon. Em and I decided our evening would be spent in the comfort of our resort.

We got dinner to-go from Geyser Point and dined al fresco.

The steak sandwich can’t be beat!

The pool reopened when lightning sightings had ceased. The rain however had not.

We do not enjoy pool time in the rain. Which did not bode well for tomorrow - another planned pool day.

 

[Minnie1986]

Monday, June 10

I began the day with some peaceful balcony time, watching the sun rise over the lodge and seeing guests scurrying to make the first boat to MK. The first boat does not depart until 7:30 am but I saw guests on their way to the dock before 7.

View attachment 794023

View attachment 794025

I spent most mornings here. The wildlife kept me entertained. One determined squirrel made sure to get the remnants of some spilled dry cereal….

View attachment 794027

….then chilled out in satiated bliss.

View attachment 794026

Em and I were fortunate that this planned pool day had perfect weather - not too humid, a nice mix of sunshine and clouds.

We claimed our spot shortly after 9 am.

View attachment 794019

BYOL

View attachment 794020

After the disappointment of a menu change at Geyser Point, Em and I decided to pack a lunch. We did use the refill station for our beverages.

View attachment 794022

Some people don’t get the concept of personal space. Without asking, this guy took a chair (from a table behind us) and positioned it mere inches from me, in order to utilize the shade from our umbrella. (Note the space before and after from the pics above and below.)

View attachment 794021

Not only was this awkward and rude, it was a challenge for me to get up and go into the pool.

Around 4 pm Em and I had our fill and packed up. As we were leaving Em said, “I think I just saw Patti outside the gate.”

Sure enough - @riverside and R were hanging out before their Artist Point ADR. We had a nice chat and then escorted them inside the lodge.

Em and I had our own meal to get ready for.

I don't know that I would've been able to hold my tongue!

 

[Minnie1986]

I would throw some.

You and me both!!