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.
 

mcstensrud

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.
We Flew JetBlue From BOS to LAX then took a Plain White Disney Provided Bus. It stopped at 3 Resorts I think? Grand Californian was the Last stop but everything is so close together. It's super easy to get around.
 

MegRuss626

Well-Known Member
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.View attachment 260815

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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.

We need a warning on that fish photo....I was enjoying myself some cheez-its aaaaaaand then I saw the fish! 🤢🤢🤢🤢 (doesn’t help that I’m a super picky eater either.....😂)
 

krause

Well-Known Member
We were disappointed at Tiffins too. I was expecting fabulous bread a la Sanaa but :depressed:. And Wagyu beef was one of the most disappointing things I’ve ever eaten. I did like my dessert which was a grapefruit tapioca thing that I don’t think anyone else on here has ever liked 🤷🏻‍♀️ And my husband did enjoy the octopus app.

I saw that you said @imahistorygeek ordered the whole fish and skimmed quickly past the picture :hilarious:
 

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We Flew JetBlue From BOS to LAX then took a Plain White Disney Provided Bus. It stopped at 3 Resorts I think? Grand Californian was the Last stop but everything is so close together. It's super easy to get around.
Do you remember the fee for the Disney bus? I'm sure its changed since then. How long was the bus trip?

Second. Wouldn’t be able to touch something that looked back at me....
I didnt look up much while I was eating my soup.

And Wagyu beef was one of the most disappointing things I’ve ever eaten.
You are not the first person I've heard that from which is why I opted against it. Well, that and I was looking forward to the ribeye from CG but that too is another story :confused:
 

imahistorygeek

Well-Known Member
We Flew JetBlue From BOS to LAX then took a Plain White Disney Provided Bus. It stopped at 3 Resorts I think? Grand Californian was the Last stop but everything is so close together. It's super easy to get around.

I've read posts that advise avoiding LAX at all costs, but ATL/LAX seem to have the cheapest fares. We only fly out of ATL, so we have experience with large airports. Would you recommend flying into LAX over SNA or Long Beach?
 

LindsayLoves

Well-Known Member
I've read posts that advise avoiding LAX at all costs, but ATL/LAX seem to have the cheapest fares. We only fly out of ATL, so we have experience with large airports. Would you recommend flying into LAX over SNA or Long Beach?

My 2 cents. If flying into LAX means a cheap/nonstop flight go for that. Especially if you are comfortable with big airports and traffic.

SNA is fantastic if the cost/time is worth it for you. It is a very manageable airport and much closer to Disney.
 

Balki228

Active Member
I've read posts that advise avoiding LAX at all costs, but ATL/LAX seem to have the cheapest fares. We only fly out of ATL, so we have experience with large airports. Would you recommend flying into LAX over SNA or Long Beach?

I would second the recommendation of flying into SNA. It will be higher cost than LAX but not having to deal with as much traffic as LAX makes the opportunity cost worth it to me. Only about 15 miles from Disneyland. I believe the cost for the Disneyland Express is $35.00 round trip or $20 one way per person.
 

mcstensrud

Well-Known Member
I've read posts that advise avoiding LAX at all costs, but ATL/LAX seem to have the cheapest fares. We only fly out of ATL, so we have experience with large airports. Would you recommend flying into LAX over SNA or Long Beach?
The only direct flights we could get from Bos was to LAX. Not willing to risk layovers/stops change planes,missing luggage.6 hrs on a plane is about my breaking point.
 

PacNWTigger

Well-Known Member
LAX is fine as far as airports go. It has been under construction for YEARS. It takes longer to get to Disney from LAX than SNA, but it's not awful if you're not coming in during rush hour traffic. We generally do SuperShuttle from either airport instead of the Disney bus because we generally don't stay at DLR hotels when we go. We used the Disney bus when we stayed at GCA, and it was fine. The pitfall was waiting for luggage when you get off the bus with the rest of the horde that don't always have the best of manners.
 

amjt660

Well-Known Member
I've read posts that advise avoiding LAX at all costs, but ATL/LAX seem to have the cheapest fares. We only fly out of ATL, so we have experience with large airports. Would you recommend flying into LAX over SNA or Long Beach?
We have flown into SNA the last 2 trips and we find the minor cost increase and/or extra time from the non direct flight is worth it over LAX
The 405 is a b$#tch to drive on unless you are arriving at an ungodly hour of the day.

The quick / less painful drive from SNA to DLR is worth it.

Just my 2 cents (Canadian pennys) worth

Max
 

kaitertot5249

Well-Known Member
We continued to Mexico for the briefest of moments to see that they ruin…I mean enhanced the area with coco artifacts. This reeks of a Frozenesque takeover. Sigh…
I haven't seen coco or the subtle changes made in the Mexico pavilion yet so I might be a little off the mark, but I think that this potential takeover might be a little more acceptable due to the culture in Coco representing a REAL culture as opposed to Frozen's fake country taking over the Norway pavilion. I might need to watch the movie before making a comment on the cultural representation though...

Also, yay for a Disneyland trip! I loved the CA parks and I can't wait to go back!!! Looking forward to hearing about your trip!
 

youngdeb

Active Member
I've only flown into LAX once and SNA once, and would pick SNA over LAX any day. It's quite a bit closer to the Disneyland area and the airport itself is so much smaller and easier to navigate. Of course, if there's a significant price difference then that would change things. We took the Disneyland Express (Jan 2017) and it was $35 pp round trip.
 

mcstensrud

Well-Known Member
Hmmmm just noticed a Moonlight Magic Event at DL in November!
I believe the ride was around 45 minutes. At that time we got a Voucher for the transfer maybe 35$ each. Probably a lot more now. We had no issues with LAX at all,walked out the door and the bus was right there.we ate at Steakhouse 55 and Naples which is a sister to Via Napoli.Also did The World of Color Dinner and Show.
 
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