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!
IMG_1168.JPG

IMG_1169.JPG



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.
IMG_1207_edit.jpg



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
IMG_1173.JPG



Still to come: Room 5130, Sanaa, our third Golden Ticket, and I promise a lot fewer issues going forward.
 

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Maybe it’s time for some vacation creep! 😁
I wish, but this is one trip where creep cannot occur. My vaca time will be tapped out as we have two other WDW visits scheduled during the 18/19 school year.

I'm going to beat a dead horse and agree with everyone saying SNA airport. It was soooo convenient and small. Our luggage came out faster than any other airport I've ever been to (maybe just a coincidence)! We took a cab to DL and it was like $45 with tip..and mainly because we got stuck in a bit of traffic
In this case, beat that dead horse! We appreciate the advice! We're looking to make the most of this trip so thanks!
 

lostpro9het

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



Ok, ok, ok…I’ve heard the whip crack. I got distracted by our California adventure plans and since we’re less than 50 days out of our next Orlando adventure we better tidy this up. We did purchase our DL tix today before the price hike took effect!

Anyhow, we left off with a subpar visit to Tiffins that included us meeting our Disney doppelgangers. After Dinner we made for DinoRama.
IMG_1437.JPG


IMG_1438.JPG


IMG_1439.JPG


Now, we have a tradition of getting a pic of the kid at the car cutout but since she was with her friend we decided to improvise, this was not the first time we had done this but still hilarious nevertheless.
IMG_1440.JPG


After some whirl we decided to head back home. We got some tree pictures in too before making our way out.
PhotoPass_Visiting_AK_407295413883.JPG


We closed out our evening with a with some night time animal viewing from the Jambo viewing area.
IMG_1441.JPG



Up next: That’s not a stroller that’s a food cart, tapas at BDL, and the best sig on property.
 

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Wednesday December 20th:

So along came Wednesday. We treated ourselves to the usual breakfast of champions and opted to drive to HS this morning. We made it in plenty of time and queued up in the AP line, hooray short line, only to find out that the two scooters in front of us were the grandparents to about 20 kids off to the side that were not queued up….:mad:. What compounded the frustration was grandpa scooter held all the passes for the kiddos and didn’t hand them out until they got to the turnstiles! UGH!
IMG_1443.JPG


IMG_1447.JPG


IMG_1449.JPG


IMG_1452.JPG


IMG_1453.JPG


IMG_1455.JPG




Anyhow, it was still early and this was just the “phased” rope drop so we were queued up yet again with a few hundred friends at the corner of Hollywood and Sunset. It was here where we saw a true mark of genius. This cat next to us had a proper food truck concealed in his stroller. This family would be eating well today!
IMG_1457.JPG




We made for a walk on ToT. Amazingly enough, no terror in the DW’s face! (well maybe a little)
IMG_1458.JPG


PhotoPass_Visiting_STUDIO_8146123556.jpeg




Up next: TSMM redemption, in your face Pluto, and probably the best mac and cheese you will ever have!
 
Last edited:

ELeigh

Well-Known Member
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.
I have been to Anaheim 3x now and have had the best luck with flying from John Wayne (SNA)-tried LAX which was ok but car rentals were cheapest from SNA.
 
Last edited:

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Wednesday December 20th cont:

After some ToT fun we strolled over to TSMM so I could redeem myself. When we arrived some new recruits were getting trained for duty.
IMG_1459.JPG


Standby was short for TSMM, 30ish minutes, so we queued up. This was the first time we’ve done standby for this ride in a while and it was fun picking up some of the small details we miss during the FP line.
IMG_1460.JPG


We were excited when we reached the turnstile and were told to head to Andy’s room! The theming of this queue is so much fun.
IMG_1461.JPG


IMG_1462.JPG


IMG_1463.JPG


While my score wasn’t great it was enough to best the only person I needed too ;-)
IMG_1465.JPG


When we exited it looked like those new recruits made the cut and they were trying to enlist a few others!
IMG_1469.JPG


It was about 15 minutes till the Star Wars stage show so we made for the hub to get a good spot in the shade. The weather was still fantastic but sitting in direct sunlight was pretty brutal. It was 10:20 and you can see, folks were still pouring on to Hollywood Boulevard.
IMG_1470.JPG


Up next: Far far away, beer for here...no to go, and more magic band charging woes.
 
Last edited:

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Wednesday December 20th cont:

So the music struck up and the show began. This might have been our first time actually watching this show from start till end. It’s a fun show but not sure we will need to make an effort to see it again.
IMG_1471.JPG


IMG_1472.JPG


IMG_1473.JPG


IMG_1477.JPG


IMG_1481.JPG


The show did put us in the mood for Star Tours and standby was less than 30 so it was a win-win. If you can put aside the continuity issues the new scenes from TLJ are really good.
IMG_1483.JPG


IMG_1485.JPG


IMG_1488.JPG


Up next: Tapas for lunch, pool time, and I lift my Terrapin embargo to try green beer.
 

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Is the embargo due to them selling to MillerCoors? Thats why I no longer support them, nor does the wife and MIL. I have trained them well.
YES!

I hate that they sold out so soon! Their distribution was doing just fine, IMO. Its the same reason why I've had to walk away from Wicked Weed too.
 

wdisney9000

Truindenashendubapreser
Premium Member
YES!

I hate that they sold out so soon! Their distribution was doing just fine, IMO. Its the same reason why I've had to walk away from Wicked Weed too.
Elysian Blue Point are on my embargo list as well. I saw Lagunitas sold 50% of their stock as well but I don drink their stuff as often anymore. On one hand I cant blame them because if I started a brewery and was approached to sell it for tens of millions of dollars and I could just retire, it would be nice. But on the other hand, many of these companies pitch their product as "non-corporate" beer which is why they have become popular and then they sell out.
 

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Elysian Blue Point are on my embargo list as well. I saw Lagunitas sold 50% of their stock as well but I don drink their stuff as often anymore. On one hand I cant blame them because if I started a brewery and was approached to sell it for tens of millions of dollars and I could just retire, it would be nice. But on the other hand, many of these companies pitch their product as "non-corporate" beer which is why they have become popular and then they sell out.
Plus, you have a ton of local options. You are sitting in a super position for Georgia beer. You could probably throw a rock and hit Burnt Hickory, Red Hare, Southern Sky, Reformation, and Dry County all of which are awesome on their own. I have to drive at least 40 minutes to hit my closest brewery.
 

wdisney9000

Truindenashendubapreser
Premium Member
Plus, you have a ton of local options. You are sitting in a super position for Georgia beer. You could probably throw a rock and hit Burnt Hickory, Red Hare, Southern Sky, Reformation, and Dry County all of which are awesome on their own. I have to drive at least 40 minutes to hit my closest brewery.
Ya, and I have yet to visit any of them, lol. Mostly because of work. My day usually ends around 7 or 8 pm and Im working dogs most of the day time so even tho im close, it is difficult to carve out a few hours. I pretty much only take Sundays off bu even then I still work a bit. I need to make some time tho.
 

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Wednesday December 20th cont:

It was approaching lunchtime but we weren’t quite hungry yet. We really wanted BDL for lunch but they would not be open for a little bit so we made for Baseline to “hydrate” until BDL opened up. No need to get a flight this time. We picked the top two brews from our flight the other night and went with a couple of 22oz pours. The first is the 329 Lager and the second is the Golden Road Hefeweizen. The bartender asked if it was for here or to go, we said for here and got two fancy glasses.
IMG_1492.JPG


IMG_1489.JPG


IMG_1490.JPG


While sipping our beer we noticed some of the theming and I was drawn to this piece. I really liked this guy and couldn’t tell you why. At this time us going to DL wasn’t even a consideration. Looking back now its kinda ironic that I focused in on this fella!
IMG_1493.JPG


We were soaking in our surroundings and enjoying some people watching when the need for lunch really started calling. We decided to make for BDL and I asked the bartender for some “to-go” cups so we could take our beer on the road. He obliged us and we made our way across the park. We bumped into Chip 'n' Dale along the way
IMG_1495.JPG


We arrived at BDL just as they opened. At first I felt bad about bringing in outside beer until I looked at their bar and noticed they were now conforming to a very generic beer offering, very disappointing! BDL was one of my favorite spots to pick up a La Fin and enjoy some people watching but now the offering was limited to Sam Adams, Blue Moon, and the like. The menu had also changed a bit since last time but the offerings were still good.
IMG_1496.JPG


We decided to share the Braised Beef Arepas and the Cochinita Pibil Steamed Buns. Both dishes were very good and something we would repeat. We also enjoyed some people watching and a second showing of Star Wars. Another benefit of BDL is they take TiW so our 20% discount kicked in here too!
IMG_1500.JPG


IMG_1499.JPG


IT was nearing 1:00, the park was hopping, and the heat was rising, this meant one thing. Pool time! We made for the busses but not before stopping for some magic shots…oh how magical.
PhotoPass_Visiting_STUDIO_407312085214.JPG


PhotoPass_Visiting_STUDIO_407312085217.JPG


Up next: Pool funtivities, hamming it up for dinosaur, and Pluto gets in your face.
 

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Wednesday December 20th cont:

So a quick ride back home, a wardrobe change, and we were back chillaxing at the pool. The weather was still fantastic.
IMG_1502.JPG


The relaxation lasted about 30 minutes when I got a call from the girls saying they couldn’t charge to their bands….again. W…T…F!!! So I tossed on my shirt and made for the lobby. Thankfully I had no wait and quickly rehashed all the issues we’ve been having with the bands with the new CM. He clicked away for a few minutes then called IT. A few uh huhs and mm hmms later and I was informed that the system “didn’t like” that there was a $400 limit set on the band and it decided to cut her off after $200.
What-Meme-13.jpg


He informed me that the only “Solution” was to increase her charging limit $1000. I said fine, whatever, just do it, which he did. I shot a text to the ladies to tell them they could charge again and didn’t hear back so all was well and I figured I earned another Golden Monkey so I rewarded myself. We had some quality pool time but AK was calling our names so we grabbed a shower, some proper clothes, and made for the park. We decided to drive over because, why not its only 2 minutes. Soon we were taking in some little cuties.
IMG_1505.JPG


IMG_1506.JPG


IMG_1508.JPG


IMG_1509.JPG


It was around this time that I decided I wanted to try something new but was torn. I knew Terrapin had their green Pandora beer since before the land opened but I also had this self-imposed Terrapin ban since they sold their soul to MCB. I don’t know why it bothers me so much but for some reason I really like supporting the little guys and they were no longer the little guys. God I hope Victory never sells out. Anyway, I went against my better judgement and went for it:
IMG_1511.JPG


My Untappd notes from this experience:
Hawkes' Grog Ale: 2.75/5 Like Pandora itself, forgettable. I broke my Terrapin boycott to try it and slightly regret it.

Feeling bad that I broke my ban for a sub par experience decided to seek out some self-reflection with the Disco Yeti.

Up next: Finishing up AK, the best Sig on property, and some magical turkeys and I aint talking about legs.
 
Last edited:

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Wednesday December 20th cont:

We took the long way around for my EE counseling session and had to stop and get the token “Fichwa Foto”.
IMG_1512.JPG


I tried my hand at a few artsy iPhone photos along the way as well before we allowed a “professional” to make some magic for us.
IMG_1514.JPG


IMG_1515.JPG


PhotoPass_Visiting_AK_407322028977.JPG


We decide one counseling session with Disco wasn’t enough so after our EE FP we did a single rider run as well. I was already forgetting that green nightmare thanks to the faux Himalayan trek.
PhotoPass_Visiting_AK_8146462814.jpeg


PhotoPass_Visiting_AK_8146455612.jpeg


Up next: My pal Pluto, the mac and cheese you would sell your first born for, and foreigners really like Pan’s queue.
 

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Wednesday December 20th cont:

After my EE counseling session we decided to head towards Dino-Rama since we still had some time to kill before our ADR. We started with a visit to Clair Huxtable.
IMG_1516.JPG


IMG_1520.JPG


We, of course, exited through the gift shop where there was no shortage of theming.
IMG_1517.JPG


It probably goes without saying but there is a most convenient pit stop adjacent to the Chester & Hester's Dinosaur Treasures and we took advantage. While waiting on the DW, ya know because there is always a line for the ladies, Pluto and Goofy were heading for their coffee break. While I was attempting to take a pic Pluto pounced and grabbed me while taking the picture, this was unexpected but fun.

IMG_1518.JPG

IMG_1519.JPG



Up next: JIko, Marry Poppins, and hide your Cheetos.
 
Last edited:

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom