Trip Report Shrouded In A Daft Disguise *COMPLETED*

Two weeks ago today, I returned home from the most surreal Disney vacation I have ever experienced.

During my last visit in February, I couldn’t have imagined having to wear a face mask and have my temperature taken before being allowed into a park. “Social distancing” wasn’t part of my vocabulary. Hand sanitizer was something I carried in a little bottle in my purse, not something in giant containers at the entrance/exit of every attraction.

No park hopping? No Fastpasses? No FIREWORKS ?!! Not even on my radar screen.

Like a bolt out of the blue, the pandemic struck and life was dramatically altered. For everyone. And there is no Magic Mirror to tell us when it will be over. For me the pandemic has been a reminder to take nothing for granted ~ and that there can still be joy in the darkest days.

My name is Tuvalu and I have been a WDW annual passholder for nearly 25 years. I was raised on Disney and so were my children. The parks have always been my “escape” from real life. Could they still be an “escape” in the midst of a pandemic? After months of quarantine, I was ready to find out.

My daughter Em was my travel buddy. My husband Woody had reservations, but not for our safety. He was concerned we’d struggle with the restrictions and disappointment with all the changes. He wanted us to come back happy and wasn’t sure we would. Truthfully, I wasn’t sure we would either. After much research and due diligence, Em and I felt prepared to embark on a vacation with few expectations.

Full disclosure ~ I‘ve wrestled with writing a report of our trip. The pandemic and subsequent events have caused much division on this Disney fan forum. I’ve always considered the trip reports section to be a “safe space” and hope it stays that way. My goal is to provide entertainment to the reader, nothing more.

With that in mind.....

 

[Tuvalu]

Tuesday, August 25

For the second day in a row we were treated to a rare FL summer rain-free day....perfect, since it was a planned resort day.

Which meant plenty of POOL TIME!!

I left the room early to surprise Woody with breakfast. I did not see another soul on the route there/back. I wore my mask properly the whole time. I did not want to be a mask scofflaw.

Good morning, Oasis pool. We’ll see you after lunch.

Good morning, Lava pool. See ya real soon!

Mobile order?

Woody was awake when I returned. He enjoyed the egg scramble burrito and coffee in his new Goofy mug.
(The muffin was mine. But I’m sure you already knew that!)

 

[Tuvalu]

The first thing we did at the pool was claim our usual loungers.

I am not ashamed to have a little Sheldon Cooper in me.

Though there was a nice summer breeze blowing the sun was hot. The water beckoned me.

This is how empty the pool was for most of the morning. It was heavenly. Woody eventually joined me.

I placed another order at Cook’s for lunch. Today I opted for the Aloha Pork sandwich. Woody tried the Pan Asian Noodles with Chicken. He said it was very good.

We sat at a table about ten feet from the restrooms. When I finished eating, I popped out of my chair and went to wash my hands....forgetting to put on my mask.

I was a mask scofflaw after all!

I did not realize it until I glanced up at the mirror. Of course at that exact moment a custodian entered the otherwise-empty restroom. I went into full-blown apology mode. She sweetly replied, “It’s okay, don’t worry about it!”

Still embarrassed, I left as quickly as I could ~ only to see Woody’s look of shame as I walked towards him.

“You forgot your mask,” he teasingly chided.

We returned to our loungers. But not for long. When the LOUD rap(!) music began to play....at 12:30 (again, pool games did not start until 2:30) we packed up and moved to the quiet pool.

We shared the pool with only one other couple. It was heavenly....again.

 

[Darstarr]

I was a mask scofflaw after all!

 

[cgersic]

I just had to look up what scofflaw means!

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

We shared the pool with only one other couple. It was heavenly....again.

AAAAaaaaaawwwwwwwwww, glad you got some quiet pool time and thank goodness for the "quiet pool!"

 

[Tuvalu]

Late afternoon was not conducive for balcony time. Our room faced west and it was too hot to enjoy sitting in the direct sun.

Instead, we enjoyed a couple glasses of Pinot Grigio while sitting inside.

We thought we had allowed enough time to get to dinner but we did not count on several delays while onboard the monorail. The next three pictures were taken during "monorail stoppage."

Finally!

Can you guess where we're dining?

 

[Spash007]

Late afternoon was not conducive for balcony time. Our room faced west and it was too hot to enjoy sitting in the direct sun.

Instead, we enjoyed a couple glasses of Pinot Grigio while sitting inside.

We thought we had allowed enough time to get to dinner but we did not count on several delays while onboard the monorail. The next three pictures were taken during "monorail stoppage."

View attachment 507226

View attachment 507227

View attachment 507228

Finally!

View attachment 507229

Can you guess where we're dining?

Just to think, right before this post is where I could've gotten a Tuvalu card. Sigh

One day!

 

[Nunu]

Late afternoon was not conducive for balcony time. Our room faced west and it was too hot to enjoy sitting in the direct sun.

Instead, we enjoyed a couple glasses of Pinot Grigio while sitting inside.

We thought we had allowed enough time to get to dinner but we did not count on several delays while onboard the monorail. The next three pictures were taken during "monorail stoppage."

View attachment 507226

View attachment 507227

View attachment 507228

Finally!

View attachment 507229

Can you guess where we're dining?

The Wave?

 

[Tuvalu]

Tuesday, con't

Given that we like both The Wave and California Grill, you had a 50/50 shot.


And it’s @Nunu for the win!

Resort restaurants had a protocol change since my visit with Em. Our temperature was taken before we were allowed to enter the restaurant.

Or in this case, the tunnel.....

You may remember my high praise for The Wave. My experiences in November and July included delicious, high-quality food at reasonable prices; a pleasant, comfortable atmosphere; and top-notch service. I was excited for a repeat!

Sadly, things did not start off well. The host led us to a tiny, two-top table pushed against a support beam. To make matters worse, there were two heavy drapery panels on the beam. Instead of being comfortable, it was claustrophobic.

Note the "table unavailable" sign on a table similar to ours across the room. Wish ours had been marked that way.

Our server did not pop by for quite awhile. This was the start of her inattentiveness to us. Woody and I decided she was either very busy or very inefficient.

Seeing as we only saw her serving one other table, we went with inefficient.

The S L O W pace of our meal endangered our transportation home. (More on that in a minute.)

Would the food be the saving grace of this meal?

The multigrain bread was warm with the delicious contrast of chewy crust and soft crumb. (You do know that the inside of a loaf of bread is called the crumb, don't you?) Woody had two slices. So did I. (No frozen creamy drink to fill me up tonight .) So far so good!

Woody ordered the grilled beef tenderloin with potato gratin. The filet was cooked perfectly. He said the potatoes were rich and cheesy, and paired nicely with the asparagus.

Y'all know I had the herb-crusted chicken. And that I subbed smoked cheddar grits for the “potato confit” (aka boiled potatoes).

For the third time, this dish blew me away!

So we didn’t have the extraordinary service I’d grown accustomed to at The Wave. And our table was dreadful. But the food redeemed it all!

We left the restaurant at 7:50 pm. The monorail stopped running at 8 pm.

I grabbed two quick pics of the Halloween (in August!) windows at BVG.

The security guards waved us over, screened us, then sent us up the elevator (rather than the escalator) to the monorail platform. Woody and I were the last ones to board.

It was a close call.

 

[Tuvalu]

Why the resort monorail ceases to run exactly an hour after MK closes is beyond me. Especially when MK closes so early! Woody and I would have driven our car to the Contemporary had we thought we could be stranded there after our dinner.

We literally had no time for dessert at The Wave so we picked up a couple cookies from Cooks (3rd mobile order of the day!) and watched the sun go down.

Not a bad resort day!

 

[Nunu]

And it’s @Nunu for the win!

Yey!

Why the resort monorail ceases to run exactly an hour after MK closes is beyond me. Especially when MK closes so early!

Totally agree.

I had planned to visit both Poly and GF on one of my MK's days, only had time for Poly because of the reduced resort monorail hours. Good news is, I finally had the opportunity to try the Island Sunset at Tambu Lounge you recommended in a previous TR.

 

[93boomer]

Why the resort monorail ceases to run exactly an hour after MK closes is beyond me. Especially when MK closes so early! Woody and I would have driven our car to the Contemporary had we thought we could be stranded there after our dinner.

We literally had no time for dessert at The Wave so we picked up a couple cookies from Cooks (3rd mobile order of the day!) and watched the sun go down.

View attachment 507389

View attachment 507390

Not a bad resort day!

I agree! Transportation after park closing needs to be later. We had those problems too if you recall.

 

[Dory71]

Sorry you missed out on dessert.

 

[senor_jorge]

Tuesday, con't

Given that we like both The Wave and California Grill, you had a 50/50 shot.


And it’s @Nunu for the win!

View attachment 507264

Resort restaurants had a protocol change since my visit with Em. Our temperature was taken before we were allowed to enter the restaurant.

Or in this case, the tunnel.....

View attachment 507265

You may remember my high praise for The Wave. My experiences in November and July included delicious, high-quality food at reasonable prices; a pleasant, comfortable atmosphere; and top-notch service. I was excited for a repeat!

Sadly, things did not start off well. The host led us to a tiny, two-top table pushed against a support beam. To make matters worse, there were two heavy drapery panels on the beam. Instead of being comfortable, it was claustrophobic.

View attachment 507267

Note the "table unavailable" sign on a table similar to ours across the room. Wish ours had been marked that way.

View attachment 507266

Our server did not pop by for quite awhile. This was the start of her inattentiveness to us. Woody and I decided she was either very busy or very inefficient.

Seeing as we only saw her serving one other table, we went with inefficient.

The S L O W pace of our meal endangered our transportation home. (More on that in a minute.)

Would the food be the saving grace of this meal?

The multigrain bread was warm with the delicious contrast of chewy crust and soft crumb. (You do know that the inside of a loaf of bread is called the crumb, don't you?) Woody had two slices. So did I. (No frozen creamy drink to fill me up tonight .) So far so good!

View attachment 507268

Woody ordered the grilled beef tenderloin with potato gratin. The filet was cooked perfectly. He said the potatoes were rich and cheesy, and paired nicely with the asparagus.

View attachment 507269

Y'all know I had the herb-crusted chicken. And that I subbed smoked cheddar grits for the “potato confit” (aka boiled potatoes).

View attachment 507270
For the third time, this dish blew me away!

So we didn’t have the extraordinary service I’d grown accustomed to at The Wave. And our table was dreadful. But the food redeemed it all!

We left the restaurant at 7:50 pm. The monorail stopped running at 8 pm.

I grabbed two quick pics of the Halloween (in August!) windows at BVG.

View attachment 507271

View attachment 507272

The security guards waved us over, screened us, then sent us up the elevator (rather than the escalator) to the monorail platform. Woody and I were the last ones to board.

It was a close call.

The Contemporary is our resort of choice. Our Wave experiences are generally good, but a bit of a mixed bag. My wife and I have had a pillar table. We've had service that was less than outstanding. We've had food that just didn't quite hit the mark. More often than not it's only been one of those areas that's fallen short per meal. I'm on the fence about whether the restaurant being under utilized is a positive or negative. It's probably our favorite breakfast buffet (when available). The price is modest in Disney terms and Chef Mickey upstairs draws the attention. The quality is quite good, and it's relatively quiet. Mimosas to go are a plus

The lack of atmosphere is the weakest link. Our first evening meal there reminded me of the conference banquet rooms I've had to have so many meals in. The food is better, but the atmosphere is the same.

With some menu tweaks, consistent service, and improved atmosphere (themed or not) it could easily become a signature restaurant. I'm not sure I want to see that happen. More often than not, as it exists, it's probably one of the better values in our opinion.

 

[Tuvalu]

Just to think, right before this post is where I could've gotten a Tuvalu card. Sigh

One day!

I purposely left out the part about walking over to the GCH to meet your family because I didn't want to rub salt in the wound.
Hopefully our paths will cross again!

I had planned to visit both Poly and GF on one of my MK's days, only had time for Poly because of the reduced resort monorail hours. Good news is, I finally had the opportunity to try the Island Sunset at Tambu Lounge you recommended in a previous TR.

I agree! Transportation after park closing needs to be later. We had those problems too if you recall.

Amen, sisters!
@Nunu, did you like the Island Sunset?

 

[Nunu]

I purposely left out the part about walking over to the GCH to meet your family because I didn't want to rub salt in the wound.
Hopefully our paths will cross again!




Amen, sisters!
@Nunu, did you like the Island Sunset?

Loved it!
A must-have from now on.

Thank you for recommending it.

 

[Tuvalu]

View attachment 507476Sorry you missed out on dessert.

We missed THAT??!!!!

With some menu tweaks, consistent service, and improved atmosphere (themed or not) it could easily become a signature restaurant. I'm not sure I want to see that happen. More often than not, as it exists, it's probably one of the better values in our opinion.

 

[Tuvalu]

Loved it!
A must-have from now on.
View attachment 507671
Thank you for recommending it.

The flower is a nice touch! (makes up for the fact it's not in a real glass.)

 

[Nunu]

The flower is a nice touch! (makes up for the fact it's not in a real glass.)

I know!
I ordered it to-go, wanted to enjoy it sitting on a bench facing the lake, at twighlight. Only thing missing was my honey.

 

[lindawdw]

I can't get over what a beautiful view you have from your balcony Tuvalu!!! It's always so fun to meet newlywed couples at WDW who are starting out their lives together with hopefully many Disney adventures ahead of them! Glad to hear that the barriers on JC haven't spoiled the boat ride. It is maddening when you see a parent not being a role model for their child in all circumstances but wear the darn mask and show your kiddo that rule following is being respectful of others!