Trip Report The Never-Ending Summer Of Disney *COMPLETED*

Seriously?!!

Can you believe it??

This is jaw-dropping news!!

If only.

Two things in life give me the blues ~ the end of summer and the end of a Disney vacation. A never-ending summer of Disney would be a dream come true! But I am certainly happy to “settle” for a WDW vacay in June....in July....and in August. And rather than write three separate trip reports (and annoy @amjt660 when my *COMPLETED* report really isn’t ) I decided to take @Rista1313 ’s suggestion and post an ongoing travelogue, à la @blgauger style.

So let’s get started!

Vacation #1
June 16-24, 2018
Tuvalu, Woody and Em get pampered at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge

Was there rain? Any snarky Cast Members? Ridiculous guest behavior? A Magic meet-up? How many times did we watch Happily Ever After?

You’ll have to follow along to find out.

 

[LisaBelle]

Em and I would have loved meeting you too. I believe this is now two trips where we have been thisclose to meeting each other. If your daughter does the DCP and you get an AP, you bet we will MAKE IT HAPPEN!

You’re right, we were both there for the Princess 5k in 2016 but our paths never crossed. Thinking positive thoughts for a future meet up!

 

[Tuvalu]

Sunday, July 22

Em spent the night at our house and Uber driver Woody got us to the airport in plenty of time (or so we thought) for our 11am Southwest flight. Despite checking in exactly 24 hours in advance we had boarding positions B 60 and C 1. I suspected we had a full flight (it was) and warned Em of the possibility we might not get seats together.

At security we ended up in two different lines. Once through the scanner I watched my satchel leave the main belt for the one that required extra screening.

“Is this your bag?” the agent asked me.
“Yes,” I replied.

After a quick look inside she pulled out my iPad. “Anything larger than a cellphone needs to be out of a bag. Wait here while I send it through again.”

I was a little perplexed as I have never had to remove my iPad before. In fact I have been yelled at by agents for taking my iPad out of my bag. This agent however was very polite and my satchel was quickly rescreened.

I began to walk over to where Em was standing just as she was being berated by an agent for not removing her iPad from her backpack. This agent made Em pull out the iPad and place it in the bin along with her backpack, before she sent it through for rescreening. Somewhere along the way part of Em’s backpack covered the iPad and her bin got flagged for screening AGAIN.

Nasty agent then said something along the lines of “The iPad can’t be covered!” and sent Em’s belongings through the scanner for the THIRD time.

Mind you, there were no signs anywhere indicating removal of iPads or other tablets. It was unnecessary for the agent to treat Em like an idiot....or a criminal...for trying to “sneak” her iPad through.

We stopped at Atlanta Bread Company to get sandwiches to take on the plane. The place was busy and when it was our turn to pay I handed $20 to the cashier.

“Oh...” she replied as if she had never seen an Andrew Jackson. “Wait a minute.”

She disappeared behind the counter. I could hear her calling for a manager. Meanwhile the line behind us was growing longer.

The cashier appeared with a manager carrying a key ring with so many keys he could have been an apartment super. He was trying to figure out which key to put into the lock on a door to the right.

“We need the cash box,” the cashier said. Oh for goodness sake! I thought as pulled out my Visa. “Here, I can use my card.”

The look of relief on the cashier’s face was priceless. I think the manager was still struggling to find the right key which opened the magical door with the cash box. Again there was no signage to indicate that cash was not accepted. (I know there are establishments that no longer accept cash for transactions. Don’t even get me started on that!) The wait to receive our food was so long that when we reached our gate passengers in group A were boarding.

Things got better once we were on the plane.

Seated together!

Our flight departed on time and we found ourselves with a little #ShirleyStatus at the fonorail station.

Our good luck continued at our check-in for DME.....we were sent straight onto a bus.

The bus driver said he would be making four stops: Caribbean Beach, Boardwalk, Beach Club, Yacht Club. While on our way to WDW the bus slowed for a stoplight near the Caribe Royale resort.

“Look there’s our hotel!” an excited passenger behind me exclaimed. “Caribbean Beach!”

 

[93boomer]

Sunday, July 22

Em spent the night at our house and Uber driver Woody got us to the airport in plenty of time (or so we thought) for our 11am Southwest flight. Despite checking in exactly 24 hours in advance we had boarding positions B 60 and C 1. I suspected we had a full flight (it was) and warned Em of the possibility we might not get seats together.

At security we ended up in two different lines. Once through the scanner I watched my satchel leave the main belt for the one that required extra screening.

“Is this your bag?” the agent asked me.
“Yes,” I replied.

After a quick look inside she pulled out my iPad. “Anything larger than a cellphone needs to be out of a bag. Wait here while I send it through again.”

I was a little perplexed as I have never had to remove my iPad before. In fact I have been yelled at by agents for taking my iPad out of my bag. This agent however was very polite and my satchel was quickly rescreened.

I began to walk over to where Em was standing just as she was being berated by an agent for not removing her iPad from her backpack. This agent made Em pull out the iPad and place it in the bin along with her backpack, before she sent it through for rescreening. Somewhere along the way part of Em’s backpack covered the iPad and her bin got flagged for screening AGAIN.

View attachment 299396

Nasty agent then said something along the lines of “The iPad can’t be covered!” and sent Em’s belongings through the scanner for the THIRD time.

Mind you, there were no signs anywhere indicating removal of iPads or other tablets. It was unnecessary for the agent to treat Em like an idiot....or a criminal...for trying to “sneak” her iPad through.

We stopped at Atlanta Bread Company to get sandwiches to take on the plane. The place was busy and when it was our turn to pay I handed $20 to the cashier.

“Oh...” she replied as if she had never seen an Andrew Jackson. “Wait a minute.”

She disappeared behind the counter. I could hear her calling for a manager. Meanwhile the line behind us was growing longer.

The cashier appeared with a manager carrying a key ring with so many keys he could have been an apartment super. He was trying to figure out which key to put into the lock on a door to the right.

“We need the cash box,” the cashier said. Oh for goodness sake! I thought as pulled out my Visa. “Here, I can use my card.”

The look of relief on the cashier’s face was priceless. I think the manager was still struggling to find the right key which opened the magical door with the cash box. Again there was no signage to indicate that cash was not accepted. (I know there are establishments that no longer accept cash for transactions. Don’t even get me started on that!) The wait to receive our food was so long that when we reached our gate passengers in group A were boarding.

Things got better once we were on the plane.
View attachment 299397
Seated together!

Our flight departed on time and we found ourselves with a little #ShirleyStatus at the fonorail station.
View attachment 299398

View attachment 299399

Our good luck continued at our check-in for DME.....we were sent straight onto a bus.

View attachment 299400

The bus driver said he would be making four stops: Caribbean Beach, Boardwalk, Beach Club, Yacht Club. While on our way to WDW the bus slowed for a stoplight near the Caribe Royale resort.

“Look there’s our hotel!” an excited passenger behind me exclaimed. “Caribbean Beach!”

Note to self: Do not use cash for anything. I will remember that! lol

 

[Tuvalu]

It was close to 2 pm when we arrived at Beach Club. I had done online check-in but had not received any notification (text, email or in the MDE app) on the status of our room. We’d need to stop at the front desk.

(Fun fact ~ I eventually received a text and an email on the status of our room at 8 pm! Both messages said, Please see the front desk for your room assignment. Way to go, Disney IT! )

I believe Beach Club and Grand Floridian are the only two resorts with antique cars out front.

The wait for a CM at the front desk wasn’t long; however she had difficulty linking our MagicBands to our reservation. It even required a trip through the magical backstage door.

After several minutes the CM returned and said, “These should work now.”

Both Em and I had two additional bands we planned to use during our stay. “Do you want to check the other bands we have with us?” I asked.

“No need. They should all work,” she chirped. (Famous last words.)

We were happy to learn our room was ready and that we’d received my “upper floor” request. We made our way to the elevators.

Beach Club’s main elevators are located just off the lobby. Two pair of elevators across from each other that look exactly the same, for a total of 4.

But looks can be deceiving. Three of the elevators are marked like this ~

The 1 indicates first floor.

But the elevator on the right in the above pic does not have a floor number plate.

FAKE ELEVATOR!!!

What’s in place of the elevator shaft? I knew inquiring minds would want to know!

This alcove used to have pay phones. (And you thought the car out front was an antique!)

 

[Tuvalu]

You may recall that a resort’s pool is of utmost importance to Em and me, especially on our summer trips. After discussing which (discounted) resort to book Em said, “I want to experience the relaxation grotto at Stormalong Bay.”

(For any Frasier fans, the relaxation grotto will be pictured in another post.)

Em had previously stayed at Beach Club three times. Our family’s first visit was in July 2000.

(She’s in her swim team suit. Ahhh, the memories of neighborhood swim meets.....)

We’d forgotten how LONG the Beach Club hallways can be. This one was particularly depressing....dark gray, no windows and only a couple doors on the right hand side.

We made two 90 degree turns at the end of this hallway and then passed through a seating area.

“Mid-Century Modern” according to Em.

(I lived through the mid-century. Hated the furniture then and hate it now.)

Yet another hallway! At least this one was brighter with the white beadboard. And our room was in it (though most of the way down.)

Let’s just say it didn’t take long for this walk to get old!

 

[93boomer]

You may recall that a resort’s pool is of utmost importance to Em and me, especially on our summer trips. After discussing which (discounted) resort to book Em said, “I want to experience the relaxation grotto at Stormalong Bay.”

(For any Frasier fans, the relaxation grotto will be pictured in another post.)

Em had previously stayed at Beach Club three times. Our family’s first visit was in July 2000.
View attachment 299436
(She’s in her swim team suit. Ahhh, the memories of neighborhood swim meets.....)

We’d forgotten how LONG the Beach Club hallways can be. This one was particularly depressing....dark gray, no windows and only a couple doors on the right hand side.
View attachment 299433
We made two 90 degree turns at the end of this hallway and then passed through a seating area.

View attachment 299434
“Mid-Century Modern” according to Em.

(I lived through the mid-century. Hated the furniture then and hate it now.)

Yet another hallway! At least this one was brighter with the white beadboard. And our room was in it (though most of the way down.)
View attachment 299435

Let’s just say it didn’t take long for this walk to get old!

Ohh how I remember those hallways!! We started to hate them too especially after a long day in the parks!

 

[Tuvalu]

Em’s last stay at the Beach Club was in 2007. Mine was in 2014. Woody and I had gone down for a long weekend that was supposed to be “resort focused” with minimal time in the parks. We had immediately eliminated all the MK resorts, as the lure of Cinderella Castle (and Wishes) would be too much for me to bear. The Epcot resort area, with numerous dining and entertainment options, was perfect!

Woody and I were assigned an oddly-shaped king room on the 4th floor. Though the rooms had undergone a recent “refreshment” the same white furniture that was there on our first visit in 2000 remained. I didn’t mind it though because white furniture fits well with a “beachy” theme.

One change was the headboard....no longer white wrought iron.

My favorite accessory in the room was the Mickey lamp.

The bathroom? Whoa, lots of pattern going on here!

I much prefer the streamlined look of the current bathroom.

But the room itself? I found it generic and understated. It was very nice but it could have been a room in a Hilton or Hyatt. No unique Disney “Beach Club” touches. Couldn’t they have at least left the Mickey lifeguard lamp?

 

[Tuvalu]

To save some money we booked a standard view room.

Did we get a standard view?

Drum roll please.......

TA-DA!!!

Why we had a sub-standard view, thank you very much!

Okay, to be fair that wasn’t the view from inside our room. This was (zoomed in):

But the workmen were in the general vicinity of our balcony every day. It was a little creepy to be on the third floor (overlooking a flat roof) with painters walking by.

Also to be fair, I did receive my second request for a “large balcony”. Many of the rooms just have a Juliet balcony (standing-room-only for one person.)

But even this balcony paled in length to the one I’d had in 2014.

(Woody and I joked we could have thrown a party on it. It was at least 20’ long.)

Here is a picture of the front of the resort with the approximate location of my and Em’s room. Third floor is just below the row of Juliet balconies.

Before we headed out, we got our pigs situated.
Pigs, you say?

Em always travels with Pig. He’s been to WDW countless times. He’s even been cross country and overseas. This is Pig in his better days:

Pig no longer has his pinkish hue. He now sports a well-loved pale gray hue.

A couple weeks ago I found a pig of my own. He’s more of a piglet in size and he made me smile the first time I saw him. I bought him under the pretext that I would give him to Tuvalette.....but he’s just so stinkin’ cute that he’ll probably remain at Grandma’s house.

 

[dizfan917]

I couldn't believe the size of OUR Beach Club balcony. It was HUGE! It easily could have held our whole party and then some! (check out those tiny little sad balconies next to us...)

 

[MinnieM123]

That lamp is so cute, and that's the extent of what I like in that guest room. Is it just me, or is that rug design hideous? And then the rug, along with the wallpaper near the bathroom (not a fan of that either) it all just mega clashes!! I've never stayed at the Beach Club, but always assumed it was a nicer design inside. Oh, and that's quite the view for "standard" . . . (yup, sub-standard)

 

[disneyworlddad]

Love your trip reports. I'm giving you a shout outs in mine but I don't know how to tag you. It is titled A one day trip.

 

[Tuvalu]

View attachment 299500View attachment 299501

I couldn't believe the size of OUR Beach Club balcony. It was HUGE! It easily could have held our whole party and then some! (check out those tiny little sad balconies next to us...)

Impressive! Way to go @dizfan917!

That lamp is so cute, and that's the extent of what I like in that guest room. Is it just me, or is that rug design hideous? And then the rug, along with the wallpaper near the bathroom (not a fan of that either) it all just mega clashes!! I've never stayed at the Beach Club, but always assumed it was a nicer design inside. Oh, and that's quite the view for "standard" . . . (yup, sub-standard)

Agree that the rug and wallpaper in the 2014 room was hideous. But I miss the white furniture and the Mickey lamp.

Love your trip reports. I'm giving you a shout outs in mine but I don't know how to tag you. It is titled A one day trip.

To tag a member simply add @ before their name ~ @Tuvalu @disneyworlddad

 

[dizfan917]

p.s. I LOOOOOOOOOVE that pig of yours! (well, the one you've stolen from the grandchildren...) it's adorbs.

 

[Tuvalu]

As we left the resort to walk to Epcot, Em said, “Oops, I forgot my umbrella.”

I asked if she wanted to retrieve it (I had mine) but she declined. (She was probably remembering that LONG walk to our room.)

“Are you sure?” I repeated. The sky was a bit overcast.

“Yes. I can dash undercover if I need to.”

I took a quick pic of the quiet pool on our way to the International Gateway.

It’s no bigger than a backyard pool.

We had Fastpasses in Future World so we hooked a left after entering the IG.

What? The Cider House is closed? No McKenzie’s Black Cherry?!

This “temporary” booth....used for Festival food & beverages....has become “permanent”, like several other booths around the World Showcase Lagoon. If they are not going to remove the booths during non-Festival periods, they should at least utilize them. After all, with Food & Wine, Holidays around the World, Festival of the Arts (or FARTS @sheriffwoody) and Flower & Garden, Epcot is almost a year-round Festival anyway.

We took a selfie to send to Woody.

Then we stopped for some Photopass pics.

Not sure why we had to “stick out your arms!” for this Magic Shot?

 

[Tuvalu]

p.s. I LOOOOOOOOOVE that pig of yours! (well, the one you've stolen from the grandchildren...) it's adorbs.

Here is his spot at home.

Doing laundry is definitely more fun now!

 

[Tuvalu]

We were pretty toasty when we reached our first FP attraction and looked forward to sitting in the a/c for awhile.

Unfortunately, Disney had cut way back on the a/c and it was very warm inside, so we barely cooled off. Our video at the end made us laugh though. We picked random answers so we could see something new.

Was Em really sleeping? You be the judge. (Woody said yes.)

Since we were still hot after exiting SSE, we decided to see if the Land pavilion was any cooler. Thankfully it was. We went to Sunshine Seasons for some water and cold Cokes.

We rehydrated and people-watched. Em noticed the standby wait for Soarin’ was posted at 35 minutes.
“Let’s do it!”

We joined the line and only waited 25.

Concourse C, glider A, top row.

Our flight was delayed when a lady (already buckled in) on our glider suddenly chickened out.
(At least she didn’t throw a tantrum like the pre-teen from a previous visit. )

 

[Rista1313]

How can you chicken out on Soarin'? I guess if you have motion sickness issues... it's my favorite ride in Epcot!

 

[Swissmiss]

I just came back from a weekend at DLP and thought of you @Tuvalu when i saw our bathroom in the hotel:

(Yes, this is a live rose).

We also had pretty much Shirley status left and right with ridiculously low wait times for a weekend in the middle of summer, not to mention two days of very pleasant weather sandwiched between heatwaves - I was actually glad I had thrown in a pair of Lularoe leggings at the last minute because the mornings were almost chilly.

 

[MinnieM123]

I took a quick pic of the quiet pool on our way to the International Gateway.

It’s no bigger than a backyard pool.

At first I thought it might have been the camera angle of the shot, but that pool looked awfully small at first glance. Guess I was right--it was small !! I dunno, I'm not thrilled with what I've seen of the Beach Club so far. (Just curious--is the Beach Club mostly DVC? I can't recall if they have both regular rentals, or if this resort was all DVC.)

 

[MinnieM123]

Doing laundry is definitely more fun now!

This picture cracked me up!