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!

 

[Minnie1986]

Rather than walk to Little Mermaid, we decided to travel via the MPB. We boarded at the Frontierland Station.

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Along the way Woody noticed the Liberty Belle at its backstage location. It could only be seen if guests onboard the train turned around to look (and grab a quick pic!)

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Instead of disembarking in Fantasyland, we stayed on for a grand circle tour. There was a breeze blowing which made the ride pleasant (and so much better than my miserably humid ride with Em last month.) As our train clacked along the tracks I booked a lunch ADR. I decided to cancel our Haunted Mansion LL since we had already done the attraction twice. Doing so enabled me to grab this for later.

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Upon arriving at the Fantasyland Station for the second time, we got off and went to Little Mermaid. We hadn’t used the LL (former FP+) entrance since pre-pandemic. Got to see the backside of water!

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Upon tapping in, I was able to add another LL for DHS.

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Naturally our journey unda the sea concluded with the Woody wave.

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He has a ghost hand!

That is an excellent stack of LLs for Hollywood Studios!

 

[Minnie1986]

Y’all know that Woody has no interest in riding Tiana’s Bayou Adventure (he hates water rides). However he did want to check out the new store.

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The “license plate gumbo” in the center of the shop is a real eye-catcher.

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Some of the spices for sale.

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Close-up of plaque for @MinnieM123.

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The “Let’s Get to the Party!” slogan can be found on hats, tees and Spirit Jerseys.

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There are many stuffie friends from the attraction.

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I showed Woody the toy logs with “the mistake” - a rabbit graces the front of the log. (Brer Rabbit was removed from the attraction logs during the retheme.)

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His take? “Maybe leaving him there is an intentional nod to Splash Mountain.”

The world may never know.

After our browsing, Woody stopped to check out the finished exterior of Tiana’s. And I got a plunge pic!

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Woody was impressed by what he saw.

I picked up the Leah Chase meat seasoning, and I have to say, it's pretty good. My youngest niece recently saw "The Princess and the Frog" for the first time, and is now obsessed with Louis; I'll have to make sure to leave room in my suitcase to bring one home.

 

[Tuvalu]

My youngest niece recently saw "The Princess and the Frog" for the first time, and is now obsessed with Louis; I'll have to make sure to leave room in my suitcase to bring one home.

I love sleeping plush Louis! If Em still had her own classroom, he would have come home with me!

 

[lindawdw]

You really are making the most of your LLMP at MK and you've got the whole stacking process down for sure!

 

[Tuvalu]

 

[Tuvalu]

Tuesday, con’t

We needed a pit stop before using our Pooh LL.

Who knew we’d run into Tigger and Pooh?!!?

#ShirleyStatus has its privileges.

Unfortunately we were not privileged to bypass the ridiculously long Lightning Lane.

But since we were tapped in, I was able to secure one more LL for DHS while we were waiting.

Bad ride selfies.

 

[Tuvalu]

We’d had a successful morning in the Magic Kingdom and now needed to head out of the park for lunch. The Dapper Dans, garbed in their fall attire, were performing on Main Street. We couldn’t stay long, but we enjoyed what we heard, especially this little ditty:

“I call my girl Hinges because she’s someone to adore!”

Photo courtesy of Blog Mickey.

As we climbed the ramp to the monorail, the western sky didn’t look too good.

Any guesses as to where we would be eating lunch?

 

[Swissmiss]

I love sleeping plush Louis! If Em still had her own classroom, he would have come home with me!

I saw him in DLP and he almost came home with me last weekend

 

[Minnie1986]

You really are making the most of your LLMP at MK and you've got the whole stacking process down for sure!

Seriously! That was impressive.

 

[dizfan917]

We really liked the CBJamboree whatever the new name is as well! I wished it was even 5 minutes longer... We saw it twice! I love the guys on the wall. :0)

 

[littleroo]

My guess GF Cafe? I am terrible at this game. Lol

 

[lindawdw]

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

 

[mpaulam]

Looking forward to seeing the new version of CBJ in January! Glad to see you have it 2 paws!

 

[RememberWhen]

Was 100% planning to skip CBJ in December, but if it has the @Tuvalu stamp of approval we may give it a go!

 

[Tuvalu]

We really liked the CBJamboree whatever the new name is as well! I wished it was even 5 minutes longer... We saw it twice! I love the guys on the wall. :0)

Country Bears Musical Jamboree.
Like you, I wished it were a tad longer. But we’re in a demographic with longer attention spans.
I’m so glad Melvin, Buff and Max are still an interactive part of the show!

Looking forward to seeing the new version of CBJ in January! Glad to see you have it 2 paws!

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Was 100% planning to skip CBJ in December, but if it has the @Tuvalu stamp of approval we may give it a go!

It’s fun, I think your kids will really like it.

 

[luvinthemajik]

We’d had a successful morning in the Magic Kingdom and now needed to head out of the park for lunch. The Dapper Dans, garbed in their fall attire, were performing on Main Street. We couldn’t stay long, but we enjoyed what we heard, especially this little ditty:

“I call my girl Hinges because she’s someone to adore!”

Photo courtesy of Blog Mickey.
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As we climbed the ramp to the monorail, the western sky didn’t look too good.

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Any guesses as to where we would be eating lunch?

Beaches and cream?

 

[Tuvalu]

My guess GF Cafe? I am terrible at this game. Lol

Beaches and cream?

 

[dizfan917]

We know it's NOT Narcoossee's!!

 

[Tuvalu]

We know it's NOT Narcoossee's!!

(I love the fact he has a heart on his sweater, because I your reply!!!)

 

[Tiggerish]

But we’re in a demographic with longer attention spans.