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]

Since my quoted items got eaten…

Re: Golden Minnies. I wonder if they painted the original ones? But I’d rather have the originals back.

Re: Re: Atlanta Snow. I’m a bit sad because 90% of the time when Atlanta gets snow, I get snow. And I’m very sad that I got zilch. Zero nada.

But I can still comment!

The thought that the golden Minnies are painted-over originals did cross my mind. If that’s true, a repainting is due! (Although I agree that might be difficult, @meggo819.)

Sorry you didn’t get snow. The snowfall was beautiful and I had to go outside and “listen” - everything was quiet except for the falling flakes. The snow changed to sleet mid morning so surfaces quickly iced.

Roads in our neighborhood are clear today (not plowed, just melted) but icy snow still covers roofs and yards, though the recent sun is quickly melting it all away!

 

[Captain Barbossa]

The snowfall was beautiful and I had to go outside and “listen” - everything was quiet except for the falling flakes. The snow changed to sleet mid morning so surfaces quickly iced.

Roads in our neighborhood are clear today (not plowed, just melted) but icy snow still covers roofs and yards, though the recent sun is quickly melting it all away!

Heading down to Hotlanta, or in this case Coldlanta, tomorrow for a few days and will be interested to see what, if any, trace amounts are left. Sounds like roads are all good and won’t be an issue.

 

[Tuvalu]

Heading down to Hotlanta, or in this case Coldlanta, tomorrow for a few days and will be interested to see what, if any, trace amounts are left. Sounds like roads are all good and won’t be an issue.

Have a great trip!

 

[lindawdw]

I agree with you on quite of few points you made in your last few updates! I too wish they'd bring back the holiday Minnie Rockettes in the DHS window! I was wondering why the bushes near HBD weren't lit up but now we know why! The Backlot Express was always our go to restaurant when in DHS when my daughters were growing up, but the finding of seats just got to be so annoying that we stopped going years ago. We were so thrilled to have the chance to do TSM with you both on this morning and the best part was gabbing away until we got on the ride! Kudos for your commando day of 23,000 steps! It was quite chilly most days on this trip, so we did a lot of walking since our pool days were extremely limited!

 

[Tuvalu]

Monday, con’t

Where Birthday Girl wanted lunch should come as no surprise.

In hindsight, she probably would have chosen elsewhere to avoid the embarrassment caused by her mother.

No, I did not make a scene. No, I was not demanding. I merely made a request, which set a whole chain of command in motion that resulted in my happiness but in Em’s disappointment.

You may recall my bemoaning that my beloved veggie pizza was no longer on the PizzeRizzo menu. However the same veggie mix was offered on a plant-based sub. This visit I intended to ask if said veggie mix could be put on my pizza. I knew it would have to be a special order and if the restaurant was truly slammed I wouldn’t even try.

There was a sole register open with two people in it. If there ever was a perfect time to inquire, it was now.

The CM at the register was very kind and offered to check. This resulted in his radioing a manager and explaining what I wanted. Which resulted in the manager coming to the register for clarification. Which resulted in my explaining (again) what I wanted.

I’m sure Em was wishing she was anywhere but here, especially since there were guests behind us waiting to order.

“You’ll have to wait longer for your pizza since it’s a special order,” the manager said.

“That’s okay!” I smiled at him.

The manager said this was an exception since the kitchen wasn’t too busy. He told the CM to take our order and then turned away. Em watched him radio the kitchen, explaining my special request.

I paid and we stepped up to the counter to wait. We stayed off to the side as to not block others from getting their food.

Our wait wasn’t very long. Em grabbed our drinks and headed upstairs.

#ShirleyStatus

I carried the tray with both pizzas. I couldn’t wait to take that first bite of mine.

It was a thing of beauty which tasted as good as I remembered.

My dining companion wasn’t as happy as I was. She had ordered a pepperoni pizza. The second pizza on the tray? Plain cheese.

I offered to take the pizza (with receipt) downstairs and get her a pepperoni pie.

“I don’t want you to go through another ordeal,” Em said (despite my protests.) “The cheese one is fine.”

The purse carrots, however, were not. Both bags went into the trash.

 

[Tuvalu]

Confirmation that Monsters Inc. Land was taking over Grand Avenue (and not Animation Courtyard as so many of us hoped) had been made public just before this trip. A visit with our Muppet friends was a must, as it wasn’t made clear which visit might be our last.

The attraction had received a little holiday love.

(I waited so long for Gramps to get out of the way in this shot and finally gave up!)

Kermit, Piggy and Gonzo were all decked out for the season!

I hope this tribute portrait of Jim Henson is saved and moved to a new place of honor.

It was a great show as always!

 

[lindawdw]

Your pizza looks delicious, and it sounds like Em was a trooper after not getting her pepperoni order. I am disappointed that they decided to go with The Muppets courtyard for the future Monster Inc. Land too. I don't ride RNRC anymore but I'm glad they are going to be added to that area at least.

 

[Tuvalu]

Monday, con’t

Rise of the Resistance was finally open. We decided to try our luck as single riders, since it had worked well for us in October.

We stood outside in the single rider line for 20 minutes without moving . When the door opened, we were led directly into the Stormtrooper room, bypassing both preshows.

This didn’t bother us in the least, as we are all about the ride portion of the attraction. However newcomers might want to skip the single rider option because the preshows do set the stage for the entire attraction. (While Em and I had the “full experience” as single riders in October, I’ve since read that single riders skip the preshows.)

We were held in this spot by a mean First Order CM for several minutes. She wasn’t “First Order mean” as much as “Disney CM mean” in that we single riders should expect to wait like everyone else. She had a ‘tude.

When she announced, “Time to move!” we were instructed to keep walking and not stop for pictures in the Stormtrooper room.

Fine. We kept moving but I still got a (blurry) picture.

We had a long wait before being assigned a group to join for interrogation. Not sure if this is the “new normal” or a result from today’s delayed opening. And Em and I were separated this time - she went straight, I went right. I told her to take a selfie for this report.

She takes much better selfies than I do.

As for the ride, a few special effects weren’t working (the probe droid being one of them) and Kylo was in B-mode. Not our best ride experience, but at least we didn’t wait 90 minutes for it!

 

[lindawdw]

I love that they offer single rider on that ride now!

 

[LadyBelle]

Sorry you didn’t get snow. The snowfall was beautiful and I had to go outside and “listen” - everything was quiet except for the falling flakes. The snow changed to sleet mid morning so surfaces quickly iced.

Roads in our neighborhood are clear today (not plowed, just melted) but icy snow still covers roofs and yards, though the recent sun is quickly melting it all away!

The pure quiet when it snows is my favorite “sound.”

 

[Tuvalu]

Monday, con’t

After Rise, we wandered through the shops we didn’t get to visit last night. We were glad to see that Gertie’s was actually open, since it’s usually closed when we walk by. It has limited hours, typically 12-5 pm. We knew we’d be having ice cream later so we didn’t stop.

We did a final stroll around the area, taking in the Christmas decor, as we wouldn’t be back to DHS.

When I asked Em what she wanted to do next, she quickly replied, “I do enjoy our transportation days.”

A ride on the Skyliner was first. But where were we going?

 

[lindawdw]

We love our Skyliner rides too!

 

[Loco_driver]

In addition to RnRc being down, so was RotR. At 11 am, Rise had yet to open for the day

So a typical day at WDW’s worst park. I’m sure closing Muppet*Vision will make things better.

 

[Tuvalu]

Monday, con’t

Did you guess Epcot?

Of course you did. You already know we went to three parks today. Not gonna get to AK or MK via Skyliner.

Although technically we could have taken a bus to AK or MK from one of the Skyliner resorts. That would have counted as part of our "transportation day."

But we rode the Skyliner from DHS to CBR then transferred to the Epcot line. Entered via the IG.

Stopped in the U.K.

Stopped in World Celebration.

Stopped to ride LWTL for the third time!

Spent about 90 minutes in the park before continuing with our transportation fun.

 

[Tuvalu]

We’d taken a bus to DHS. Skyliner to Epcot.

Monorail time.

When we disembarked at the TTC, Em announced “I want to take the ferry to the Magic Kindom.”

Done.

Land, sky and sea. We did all three.

Ending the birthday in park #3.

 

[lindawdw]

It's so fun to experience all the different transportation options at Disney during the day when it's not super crowded! What a great birthday for Em so far!

 

[amjt660]

The other remaining attraction in Toy Story Land - Alien Swirling Saucers - had a 50 minute wait. It wouldn’t be a hot wait today, but the short and sweet ride wasn’t worth that time investment.

Shame that you couldn’t ride A$$ - man!!!

Max

 

[Tuvalu]

Monday, con’t

Upon arrival, we had a dinner ADR and three booked Lightning Lanes. I’d mentioned my disdain for paid LLMP earlier, but its flexibility paid off for us today. Mondays are high crowd days at MK and it was great knowing we could visit three attractions with minimal wait.

We had a little time to kill before dinner, so we headed to a favorite with a short wait.

While onboard, Em saw on MDE that all of Frontierland was closed.

Well that could pose a problem for us. Dinner was in Frontierland.

She searched social media for details and learned there had been some flooding and that the land had been closed for hours.

After our Peoplemover ride we headed across the castle hub to the Liberty Square entrance, not knowing what we’d find.

From the porch of Liberty Tree Tavern we could see lots of CMs in the distance.

I approached the CM outside the door of LTT and told her we had a reservation at The Diamond Horseshoe.

“Oh you can go on down,” she said. “Just stay on the porch.”

There was another CM at the door of DH. I told her I was checking in. She checked us in but said the wait might be several minutes.

No worries! Em and I were quite curious about the situation unfolding before us. Seems “the flooding” was caused by a back up in the sewer system.

We felt sorry to the CMs wearing the high waders who were the ones to trudge through the sludge. Their work was just about finished - during the 15 minutes we watched, the area received approval to reopen, met with cheers from all surrounding CMs who had been blocking guests from entering Frontierland.

 

[Tuvalu]

Once upon a time Disney used to decorate all WDW restaurants for the Christmas season.

Restaurants had garland, wreaths and trees themed to their location. White lights and colored lights. The atmosphere was festive and full of good cheer.

Then the Grinch came and took it away.

“We’ll save money and the guests won’t notice.”

WRONG. Guests noticed. Cast members noticed. Another nicety gone the way of the Lights of Winter, Osborne Lights, Cinderella Castle Lights and the giant illuminated Mickey wreath that used to hang on the side of the Contemporary.

A week before our trip I read that one WDW restaurant was decorated for the holidays. I hurriedly snagged a reservation.

What a beautiful location in which to celebrate a December birthday.

Yep, there’s the birthday girl seated at our table for 6. It had a wonderful view of the entire room. There was lots of room on the table for the family feast. And our good-spirited server was funny and very attentive.

The food was fantastic, especially because Em and I had missed out on eating Thanksgiving leftovers.

We devoured the one Ooey Gooey. Our server offered to bring us another - which we could have easily eaten, it was that good. But we declined, knowing we would regret it later!

 

[Tuvalu]

It was dark when we left the Diamond Horseshoe. It wasn’t quite time for those 3 LLs in our pocket but there was a nearby attraction with a manageable wait.