Trip Report The “I’ve Got a Golden Ticket…or Two….or Three” Christmas Experience.**Completed**

So here we are again for another fun filled journey that is sure to include some poor spelling, beer, poor grammar, great food, beer, plenty of animals, a fourth wheel, park visits, beer, and judgement for said poor spelling and grammar. For those ignorant to the primer for this journey you may read all the funivities HERE. The Cliff’s Notes version is we’ve got five nights in the bubble at one of the most beautiful resorts on property and are accompanied by two teens that can watch each other so lets get this ball rolling!!!


Sunday December 17th


So yesterday after a viewing of The Last Jedi we made our way to the half way point, Tifton, for a night’s stay. Not being a complete barbarian, insensitive to his three female traveling companions, I offered to get up this morning at 04:45 to get breakfast for the tres muchachas while they get ready because, you know, ladies be taking forever to get ready in the AM. Hats off to the trio as they were downstairs by 05:30 and we were on our way to the bubble. A very uneventful three and a half hours and we hit the Super Target on 192 to pick up some cold staples before making our way home!
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After dropping our gear off with bell services I needed to head to the front desk to make sure the 4th wheel’s band and charging privileges would work, OH BOY, what an ordeal!!! What should have been simple ended up taking an hour with an overly confident CM, Jeff. At one point he had lost the 5-day hopper pass associated to her band and had to call IT to get it back! He instructed me that he had set 4thWheel’s limit at $400, corrected her band, and that all our bands were ready to use. A bonus of it taking so long was our room became available while we waited and it wasn’t even 11:00!!! During my interaction with Jeff I specifically asked that he verify that all bands would work. I even made mention that “I guarantee at least one of these bands will not open our door”. He thought all the issues he was having with charging and losing the ticket had me worried, I assured him it was experience that had me worried. So, with Jeff’s assurance we made for room 5130! Guess what? 3 of the 4 bands WOULD NOT open our door! So I told the ladies to head inside, call bell services, and I would take care of the bands. I made my way back down to see Jeff who was probably tired of seeing me by now and politely let him know. Jeff said one thing that really bothered me and that was “You have too many magic bands and that is why you can’t get into your room”. He followed that up with “You do know you can decline the bands, you don’t have to get one each time”. He then proceeded to count all the bands I had on my MDE account. I didn’t care for being blamed for Disney’s lack of foresight or design so I asked Jeff if Disney had a rule on the number of bands a guest may have associated with an MDE account to which he answered “no”. So then I pointed out that I was playing by the rules and the number of bands should have no bearing. So another 10 minutes and he assured me the bands where set and then asked where we were headed this evening. I told him HS and he gave us our first golden ticket of the day to ride RnR.
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So back up I went and thankfully the bands worked! Bell services had arrived and the teens were itching to get to MK so the DW and I said go! That’s when the 4th wheel informed us that her ticket was no longer showing up on her MDE account!!! Back to see Jeff! Another 15 minutes with Jeff and the ticket was back with further reassurances that it would work. This lead to our second golden ticket of the hour! Jeff gave the girls a golden ticket for 7DMT and they made their way to MK but not before being forced into taking one of the only picture we would get of them this trip
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Still to come: Room 5130, Sanaa, our third Golden Ticket, and I promise a lot fewer issues going forward.
 

Tuvalu

Well-Known Member
We're super stoked to try something new. We might even try out Paradise Pier for a night leading just for some R&R before hitting the parks hard. So much planning!
Pretty sure our room at Paradise Pier had bed bugs (discovered after check out) but our view was awesome!
 

Kiwiduck

Well-Known Member
We're super stoked to try something new. We might even try out Paradise Pier for a night leading in just for some R&R before hitting the parks hard. So much planning!
Paradise Pier the hotel or the land in DCA? If it's the land you are out of luck but instead you will be able to check out the thematic monstrosity of Pixar Pier (and I'm saying this as a major Pixar lover).
 

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Paradise Pier the hotel or the land in DCA? If it's the land you are out of luck but instead you will be able to check out the thematic monstrosity of Pixar Pier (and I'm saying this as a major Pixar lover).
Apparently the bedbug ridden Hotel.

During the whirlwind of planning we were pricing out all forms of accommodation and were down to Paradise Pier and the Fairfield Marriott when we struck some DVC gold. Id still like to try the hotel for the experience, I mean, come on, bedbugs. :D
 

Zipadeelady

Well-Known Member
Wow! You would think I would be full of jealousy and envy :cautious: but I'm actually very excited for you guys. I can't wait to hear about it and bummed that I have to wait 10 months.

Until then I'm trying to be patient to hear about your last trip. With two girls I understand the "kid moments", I'm having one right now. :grumpy:
 

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Until then I'm trying to be patient to hear about your last trip. With two girls I understand the "kid moments", I'm having one right now. :grumpy:
I know you have no trouble relating.

You will love the grand

Planning for DLR is no where near that which is required for WDW
That's good to know! I am excited to get back to the old school paper FP.

You're enjoying your day, everything's going your way, then along comes Debbie Downer
:D:hilarious:

I wholeheartedly agree with Max about the amount of planning needed for DLR. It is a different pace on the West Coast for the parks. Are you guys going to check out things other than the parks?
This is solely dedicated to the Disneyland bubble! 4 days in the parks and some half days at DTD are all that we are shooting for.
 

prfctlyximprct

Well-Known Member
So jealous of your golden tickets! It’s better than any chocolate factory tour! ;)

I’m at work salivating for a golden monkey! And I just get to baseline!! And Sanaa! Gosh my list just keeps growing that’s why I shy away from your reports :p jk jk!

I didn’t get to go to downtown Disney this past trip, it’ll always be downtown Disney and mgm to me! And now I’m super regretting it! There’s never enough time in the world!

Thanks for helping my Disney depression. Trying to convince Joe I need another trip or a therapy dog to deal with this! LOL
 

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So jealous of your golden tickets! It’s better than any chocolate factory tour! ;)

I’m at work salivating for a golden monkey! And I just get to baseline!! And Sanaa! Gosh my list just keeps growing that’s why I shy away from your reports :p jk jk!

I didn’t get to go to downtown Disney this past trip, it’ll always be downtown Disney and mgm to me! And now I’m super regretting it! There’s never enough time in the world!

Thanks for helping my Disney depression. Trying to convince Joe I need another trip or a therapy dog to deal with this! LOL
The new food offerings, alone, at DTD make it worth a visit. I'm not big on shops but the food has been a big win for us! I'm looking forward to trying The Boathouse and Homecomin' in April.
 

mcstensrud

Well-Known Member
Oh how exciting for you!
We went in September 2013 and had to stay the First night in the Grand Hotel and then moved to a Villa for 4 nights (no bed bugs). DLR is pure Awesomeness! We Rented a car on site for one day trip to Laguna Beach but was very cold! Any Questions just ask:cool:
 

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Oh how exciting for you!
We went in September 2013 and had to stay the First night in the Grand Hotel and then moved to a Villa for 4 nights (no bed bugs). DLR is pure Awesomeness! We Rented a car on site for one day trip to Laguna Beach but was very cold! Any Questions just ask:cool:
Excellent! Where did you all fly into? While we wait for JetBlue and Southwest to release their November flights we are still weighing the pros and cons of which airport to fly into.
 

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Tuesday December 19th cont:

Remember me? Yeah, lets try to wrap this up. We last left off heading towards a sig first for us. The sun was setting and we were on a mission for Tiffins.
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The dining room was smaller than I was expecting and the décor was…different
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We were seated in a small table for two near another small table for two towards the back corner. I’ll give it to them, the menus were cool to look at.
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DW went with a glass of red blend. Having been to Nomad Lounge more than a few times I had long since exhausted the entire beer menu shared by NL and Tiffins and none we worth getting tonight so it was water for me. While we were deciding on dinner they brought the bread. This is without a doubt my least favorite bread combo inside the bubble. We actually had it once before at NL and didn’t like it then either.
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For our mains I played it safe and went with the pork belly ramen. The DW, on the other hand, did not play it safe and went with the whole fish
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I thought the ramen was ok. I might have enjoyed it more if I hadn’t had ramen 4 days prior at a fast food ramen shop that blew this ramen out of the water. (could I have typed ramen any more?) As for the fish…well it looked disgusting to me but the DW championed though it and didn’t complain…until later that night but Ill let her talk to that.

Now, I’ve been hinting at meeting our Disney doppelgangers and here it happened. While we were being served our food a couple sat at the two seater table adjacent to ours. They immediately went with a wine flight and decided on tapas. I was jealous because that is how I usually roll and the small plates they got were better looking than our mains but that was only the beginning to the likeness. While we were finishing up they asked us how we liked our food. We were honest and we struck up a conversation about Disney dining, sharing our favorites with each other. This conversation lead us to learn they were also from Georgia and liked kid free trips, like us. They also purchased into DVC and AKL was their first resort like us. Then we got on the topic of cruising and we learned our cruising patterns were similar AND we both added a second DVC contract on board for the Poly! Our similarities were eerie to say the least. We shared stories of Disney, cruising, and, DVC for a while and it really was the highlight of Tiffins for us. We exchanged names, said our goodbyes, and made for some ride action.

Will we be back to Tiffins? I wouldn't wager on it, especially if we're this close to Jiko.

Up next: Closing out AK, beer lunch, and more less than magical Disney charging.
 

Zipadeelady

Well-Known Member
Wait..... I couldn't get past the part where you ordered water. What did you say after tha

I'm a little disappointed that you didn't like Tiffins. I can understand though if your Ramen wasn't as good as fast food ramen. You would expect expensive ramen to be much better than other ramen. :happy: And that fish. That is what my nightmares look like. Kudos to @imahistorygeek for even ordering it. I guess it was worth the trip to meet your doppelgangers, it's good to have Disney friends because no one else understands
 

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Wait..... I couldn't get past the part where you ordered water. What did you say after tha
I know, how could they not even serve GM?

I'm a little disappointed that you didn't like Tiffins.
They cant all be winners. Just makes me appreciate the good ones more.

And that fish. That is what my nightmares look like.
Yeah, I poked it with my fork one time and that is all I wanted to do with that thing.
 

imahistorygeek

Well-Known Member
My take on Tiffins:

I've never been overly excited about eating here. It had a lot to live up to considering we both very much enjoy Sanaa and Jiko. I've never had a bad meal at either restaurant. We've eaten at pretty much every park restaurant and Tiffins was one we had wanted to try at some point or another.

We were seated in a tiny corner, which was fine. The table had a bit of separation on one side, but the other side...lets just say you'll have to be comfortable hearing each other's conversations.

The bread service was just not that good. I didn't like the flavor at all. I love bread. I'm pretty sure my body is 50% bread. I could barely finish this stuff.

I like fish, pretty much any kind. I had always wanted to try the whole fish. It looked intriguing and something I had never had prepared as a whole. I was impressed when it was brought to the table. That was the highlight of the dish. Wait...I take that back. There was a black rice risotto (I think). It was the highlight of the dish. I did have some initial misgivings before actually trying the fish. I wanted to say it was red snapper. I've previously had an allergic reaction to red snapper. I was ok allergy-wise. Surprisingly, the fish was pretty bland. It wasn't bad, just bland. I don't add salt to most of my meals, but I felt it needed the whole salt shaker. The rice sorta saved it. I most definitely would not order it again.

We did not order dessert, but we rarely ever do unless we see something we'd really like on the menu.

I don't remember what we did after we left, but later that evening while watching The First 48 ( I always watch while at Disney), my stomach started to feel queasy. I mean I was seconds away from losing it. I felt terrible. I think it was the deep fried aspect of the fish. We don't eat a lot of deep fried food (I know that's hard to believe, especially being from the South) and I think this was just too much.

Overall, I was really disappointed in this experience. Sand in the clams I had at Citricos was better than our entire meal at Tiffins. Maybe one day we will try it again, but not anytime soon.
 

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