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]

If I were you, I'd be headed to Steakhouse 71 for lunch!

Tuesday, con’t

While we were promptly seated, service was a bit slow. After we placed our order, our food did not arrive for thirty minutes. Woody had asked for pasta salad as his side and received fries. Our server seemed surprised but eventually brought him pasta salad, which Woody really liked.

I had the grilled chicken sandwich with avocado and bacon on a brioche roll. I’ve had it here before and it’s delicious.

However due to its height, it is impossible for me to eat as it comes. So I knife and fork it!

Woody had the turkey club which is always a solid choice.

When we were finished, I opened the app to check wait times. Took a screenshot and sent this to Em:

 

[Tuvalu]

To avoid being out in the elements we bought a treat in the Contempo Café and perused the gift stores. The windows of BVG were very cute, despite being out of season for August 20th.

We jumped on the monorail and got off at the Poly for a VIP.

Very Important Picture.

Is this too cute or what?! His cap also has the Tiki Man on it, though you can’t tell from the angle.

It was still raining when the monorail dropped us at the MK station. We transferred to the WL bus and then hung out on our balcony, watching the gentle - yet steady - rain.

 

[LadyBelle]

Woody had the turkey club which is always a solid choice.

Thinking about going there for lunch one day. It wouldn’t be a QS credit though, but I might risk it.

 

[lindawdw]

Tuesday, con’t

View attachment 815409

While we were promptly seated, service was a bit slow. After we placed our order, our food did not arrive for thirty minutes. Woody had asked for pasta salad as his side and received fries. Our server seemed surprised but eventually brought him pasta salad, which Woody really liked.

I had the grilled chicken sandwich with avocado and bacon on a brioche roll. I’ve had it here before and it’s delicious.

View attachment 815411

However due to its height, it is impossible for me to eat as it comes. So I knife and fork it!

View attachment 815412

Woody had the turkey club which is always a solid choice.

View attachment 815410

When we were finished, I opened the app to check wait times. Took a screenshot and sent this to Em:

View attachment 815414

We definitely think alike dear friend. The service isn't always great during lunch there, but the food is always worth the wait IMHO. Sounds like you made the most of your rainy afternoon! One of my favorite things to do at WDW is visit the resort lobbies and gift shops!

 

[Tuvalu]

Thinking about going there for lunch one day. It wouldn’t be a QS credit though, but I might risk it.

With entreés in the +/- $20 range, lunch would be a good meal to pay for out of pocket.

It’s also a nice break from MK crowds.

 

[Songbird76]

Oh I know.

Confirming @meggo819 's reply - Only one LL ride per attraction, with the exception of the ability to use a "multiple experience" LL from an attraction that went down during your ride window.

Ok, thank you. Definitely not worth the price for us then. We'll stick with the rope drop strategie to hit the more popular ones. They need to take a page out of Universal's playbook and have both an unlimited version and a one ride per attraction version.

 

[Tuvalu]

Ok, thank you. Definitely not worth the price for us then. We'll stick with the rope drop strategie to hit the more popular ones. They need to take a page out of Universal's playbook and have both an unlimited version and a one ride per attraction version.

You may find this thread of interest.

Rumor - WDW is considering a Universal-like Express Pass

https://blogmickey.com/2024/09/rumor-walt-disney-world-lightning-lane-premier-pass-universal-express-style-skip-the-line-offering/

forums.wdwmagic.com

 

[Tuvalu]

Tuesday, con’t

The rain was over when we headed back out. The DHS bus promptly arrived (yay!) but we had to go to the Contemporary next since the bus is shared.

There were lots of issues at the Contemporary (boo!)

The bus entrance gate would not lift. This is a real problem at the CR since the bus gate is nowhere near the guard shack, where a guard could assist. The bus cannot back up so we were stuck for several minutes. By the time we reached the stop, there were a ton of people waiting to board. Including two on ECVs.

The first guy on an ECV zoomed onto the bus, nearly running over my sandaled feet. It took him awhile to adjust into the space (equivalent of three seats) and then he had the audacity not to remain on the ECV. (Did I mention there were a lot of people that needed to board?!) The second ECV loaded more easily and its occupant kindly remained seated upon it.

The bus filled quickly and it was standing room only. Last to board were two fathers each holding a double stroller. Apparently they were part of a larger party who were “on their way” to the bus.

“Can you wait?” one dad asked the driver.

Fully confident the driver would say no (after all we were late to the stop because of the malfunctioning gate and then we were at the stop longer than usual for the double ECV load), my head nearly exploded when the driver mumbled “okay”.

The five additional family members had to squeeze past the dads with the double strollers (there was no room to maneuver the strollers to the back) and then were surprised that there were no seats!

DHS was crazy crowded when we got there. With both MK and AK closing at 6 pm, there must have been a lot of park hoppers. At first I wasn’t too concerned since we had these little beauties and a dinner ADR to fall back on.

Or did we?

 

[lindawdw]

My head felt like it was exploding just reading that post!!

 

[93boomer]

Tuesday, con’t

The rain was over when we headed back out. The DHS bus promptly arrived (yay!) but we had to go to the Contemporary next since the bus is shared.

There were lots of issues at the Contemporary (boo!)

The bus entrance gate would not lift. This is a real problem at the CR since the bus gate is nowhere near the guard shack, where a guard could assist. The bus cannot back up so we were stuck for several minutes. By the time we reached the stop, there were a ton of people waiting to board. Including two on ECVs.

The first guy on an ECV zoomed onto the bus, nearly running over my sandaled feet. It took him awhile to adjust into the space (equivalent of three seats) and then he had the audacity not to remain on the ECV. (Did I mention there were a lot of people that needed to board?!) The second ECV loaded more easily and its occupant kindly remained seated upon it.

The bus filled quickly and it was standing room only. Last to board were two fathers each holding a double stroller. Apparently they were part of a larger party who were “on their way” to the bus.

“Can you wait?” one dad asked the driver.

Fully confident the driver would say no (after all we were late to the stop because of the malfunctioning gate and then we were at the stop longer than usual for the double ECV load), my head nearly exploded when the driver mumbled “okay”.

The five additional family members had to squeeze past the dads with the double strollers (there was no room to maneuver the strollers to the back) and then were surprised that there were no seats!

DHS was crazy crowded when we got there. With both MK and AK closing at 6 pm, there must have been a lot of park hoppers. At first I wasn’t too concerned since we had these little beauties and a dinner ADR to fall back on.

View attachment 815778
View attachment 815779

Or did we?

Oh that’s awful!!

 

[Tuvalu]

Tuesday, con’t

When we got to Rock ‘n Rollercoaster the standby wait was 125 minutes!

Woody was on point with his t-shirt.

We tapped in for our LL. I’m guessing that the ride must have been down earlier since we waited 20 minutes to get to the load area. During that time I received a notification that MMRR was down and that our LL had become a multi experience pass. I hoped that MMRR would be operational again after we were finished with dinner.

I snuck out the chicken exit once Woody was assigned to his row. His ride photo never showed up which didn’t surprise me. When I walked past the giant speakers under the concert video, no ride photos were being displayed on them.

 

[Tuvalu]

Em and I had a wonderful meal at The Brown Derby in June. The Cobb Salad has always been Woody’s favorite. So we were both looking forward to dinner tonight. Our ADR wasn’t for another half hour but since we wouldn’t be riding MMRR after RnR as originally planned, I suggested stopping by the restaurant to inquire if we could check in early.

Four cast members were standing outside the doors with iPads. I approached one and said we had an ADR, could we check in now?

“What time is your reservation?” she asked.

“6:55,” I replied.

Without asking for our name she said, “The restaurant is temporarily closed due to fluctuating power issues. It’s been going on for most of the day. You can wait if you want but we can’t guarantee when it will reopen.”

To say I was stunned is an understatement. With Disney’s ability to send push notifications, why weren’t those of us with Brown Derby ADRs notified of the restaurant’s closure?

We had no intention of sticking around on the off chance the restaurant reopened. “I don’t want to be charged the no-show fee,” I told the CM.

“I’m happy to cancel the reservation for you,” she said. “One of our blue team members can book you a substitute dinner reservation at another location here in the park.”

Woody had been standing at a distance and was not privy to my conversation with the CM. I motioned for him to join me as I spoke with a blue team member. As she looked for availability, Woody whispered that any DHS restaurant would likely be overbooked/slow due to others in our same situation. Besides, we’d wanted Brown Derby for specific reasons.

The blue team member found two options which we politely declined. She then made an offer which she probably thought would make us happy.

“I can give you free Fantasmic dining package seating for the 10:30 pm show.”

We passed, of course.

As we walked away, Woody shared that he’d overheard a guy “wanting his money back” because he was unable to eat at Brown Derby. (Code for, “I want a free meal. You owe me!”) Woody said the CM very nicely responded with, “I’m sorry I can’t do that” and the guy left in a huff.

Meanwhile MMRR was still down, the park was packed and I saw no value in hanging around for our 8-9 pm LL for Saucers. We headed for the exit.

 

[93boomer]

Em and I had a wonderful meal at The Brown Derby in June. The Cobb Salad has always been Woody’s favorite. So we were both looking forward to dinner tonight. Our ADR wasn’t for another half hour but since we wouldn’t be riding MMRR after RnR as originally planned, I suggested stopping by the restaurant to inquire if we could check in early.

View attachment 815912

Four cast members were standing outside the doors with iPads. I approached one and said we had an ADR, could we check in now?

“What time is your reservation?” she asked.

“6:55,” I replied.

Without asking for our name she said, “The restaurant is temporarily closed due to fluctuating power issues. It’s been going on for most of the day. You can wait if you want but we can’t guarantee when it will reopen.”

To say I was stunned is an understatement. With Disney’s ability to send push notifications, why weren’t those of us with Brown Derby ADRs notified of the restaurant’s closure?

We had no intention of sticking around on the off chance the restaurant reopened. “I don’t want to be charged the no-show fee,” I told the CM.

“I’m happy to cancel the reservation for you,” she said. “One of our blue team members can book you a substitute dinner reservation at another location here in the park.”

Woody had been standing at a distance and was not privy to my conversation with the CM. I motioned for him to join me as I spoke with a blue team member. As she looked for availability, Woody whispered that any DHS restaurant would likely be overbooked/slow due to others in our same situation. Besides, we’d wanted Brown Derby for specific reasons.

The blue team member found two options which we politely declined. She then made an offer which she probably thought would make us happy.

“I can give you free Fantasmic dining package seating for the 10:30 pm show.”

We passed, of course.

As we walked away, Woody shared that he’d overheard a guy “wanting his money back” because he was unable to eat at Brown Derby. (Code for, “I want a free meal. You owe me!”) Woody said the CM very nicely responded with, “I’m sorry I can’t do that” and the guy left in a huff.

Meanwhile MMRR was still down, the park was packed and I saw no value in hanging around for our 8-9 pm LL for Saucers. We headed for the exit.

Ok I totally can’t understand why they didn’t let you know they were having issues. Especially all day!

 

[Tuvalu]

Ok I totally can’t understand why they didn’t let you know they were having issues. Especially all day!

Yes I would have been even more annoyed if we had gone to DHS just to have dinner at HBD…..

 

[Tuvalu]

Tuesday, con’t

Before we’d gotten to the WL bus gate, I’d booked dinner and we were right on time.

A quick scan of the dining room and I did not see Sweet ‘n Sour (aka Akira) our server friend. I didn’t ask; I simply assumed she was not working.

Instead we had Gambler Joe - who promptly sneezed napkins all over our table.

Woody and I both ordered burnt ends nachos for dinner. They’re yummy and an affordable way to dine at WCC, since the all-u-can-eat skillets have become ridiculously expensive (and are more food than we can eat.)

Before our food arrived I saw Akira enter the main dining room from the smaller dining area in the back. She immediately recognized us and came by to scold us for not requesting her.

I promised that would never happen again.

 

[93boomer]

Yes I would have been even more annoyed if we had gone to DHS just to have dinner at HBD…..

 

[Tuvalu]

Tuesday, con’t

Later we hit the Old Faithful Club for dessert.

Vanilla cupcakes and strawberry peach cobbler (which was fantastic!)

While our evening at DHS did not work out the way I had hoped, our day at MK was very fun and the food at Steakhouse 71 and Whispering Canyon was great. I was pleased with obtaining 8 LLMP in two parks, even though our final 2 went unused.

Our next experience with LLMP would not be until Saturday. Would we fare as well?

 

[riverside]

As she looked for availability, Woody whispered that any DHS restaurant would likely be overbooked/slow due to others in our same situation.

Woody is very wise. Many years ago we had a reservation at Mama Melrose's. We got there & they were closed but didn't say why. They booked a reservation for us at HBD. Overbooked & slow was an understatement!!

 

[wdisney9000]

The pirate with the kitties is my favorite scene

Do you know what the pirate says after "here kitty kitty"? It sounds like "have a little old time rum", which I'm sure is not accurate.

 

[Tuvalu]

Do you know what the pirate says after "here kitty kitty"? It sounds like "have a little old time rum", which I'm sure is not accurate.76

I don’t - but I agree hearing “rum” in his mumbling.