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.

 

[Tuvalu]

It was too hot and humid to consider trekking through Epcot to get the bus back to WL.

Uber to the rescue!

Twenty minutes later Em was mocking this bear in the club lounge.

(I really think she just wanted to show off her millennial pink MagicBand again.)

Thirsty, we decided to grab some water before going to our room.
BOTTLED WATER.
NOT the “Spa Water of the Day”.

(“That looks like something I would scrape out of a pool!” ~ Woody)

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

I'd try cucumber mint water....I just like flavored water, it livens things up! Hmmmm, where did you spend your magical evening?

 

[Tuvalu]

And speaking of a pool ~

We changed into our swimsuits and spent two blissful hours in the Boulder Ridge pool.

 

[MinnieM123]

And speaking of a pool ~

View attachment 293712

View attachment 293713

We changed into our swimsuits and spent two blissful hours in the Boulder Ridge pool.

Is this the main pool now? (Since I haven't been there in years, and with the new cabins, restaurant, etc., I can't tell if this is the main pool, or if it is the pool over near the (original) DVC building, next to the main WL.)

 

[Tuvalu]

A few years ago, I recall watching a family of 4 in one of those surrey bikes (over in the Boardwalk area), and they were all laughing and having a blast. The difference between your photo and the people I saw, was that they were riding on it at night--when it was much cooler after the sun went down.

I can just see you, Em, and Woody driving around in one of those things -- creating havoc on the Boardwalk!

Many years ago (when Em’s legs were too short to reach the pedals) our family rented a surrey bike. Early evening. In January.

The four of us (not counting Em) worked up a sweat on those hills around Crescent Lake ~ it’s not as easy as it looks! Sure it was fun ~ once.

I'd try cucumber mint water....I just like flavored water, it livens things up! Hmmmm, where did you spend your magical evening?

Ohhh, cucumber mint ~ we didn’t know what the leaves were. (Not that it really mattered, none of us would have touched it anyway.)
Evening escapades coming up.

Is this the main pool now? (Since I haven't been there in years, and with the new cabins, restaurant, etc., I can't tell if this is the main pool, or if it is the pool over near the (original) DVC building, next to the main WL.)

It is the new (completed last summer) “quiet” pool near the original DVC villa building. It is easily twice the size of the main pool in the WL courtyard. The main pool has the slide, lifeguards, a kiddie splash area and the dreaded (if you don’t have kids) afternoon pool games.

I’ll have more pool pics later in the report.

 

[Tuvalu]

Woody didn’t stay as long at the pool as Em and I did. He had showered and was doing some work when Em and I got back to our room. She showered before me and decided to relax on our balcony. She was barely outside when the wind whipped up out of nowhere and brought a monsoon! Due to the pitch of the roof, she couldn’t remain on the balcony without getting wet.

Em was laughing when she slid open the door. “So much for that plan!”

Fortunately the rain didn’t last long.

Around 5:30 pm we ventured to the lounge.

“App vultures” had already descended upon the lounge and two cast members were scrambling to replenish the offerings. We enjoyed some wine as we waited.

The soup of the day was black bean. Woody said it was very tasty. The chicken and vegetable salad (in the small mason jar) was delicious!

See the long breadstick? That would be “Grisinni”, aka “Shirley.” (Woody’s term)
@slipperalwaysfits, I prefer my cucumbers not to be swimming in water.

Our plan was to return to Epcot for dinner. We had an 8 pm ADR at Spice Road Table, a new restaurant for us, and we hoped to get a table where we could watch Illuminations. I was excited to try the hummus fries.

We were at the bus stop at 6:45 pm. We sat there for 30 minutes, watching the bus arrival time turn later and later. The earlier storm had not cooled things off....in fact it was just the opposite....the humidity was brutal and we were sweating.

Em and I were also zapped of energy from our time at the pool. (Why is pool lounging so exhausting? It is one of life’s great mysteries!) All of us were frustrated by the no-show bus. And we would now have to power-walk all the way through Epcot in order to make our ADR.

“I think we should ‘float’ Spice Road Table,” I announced.
(For those of you unfamiliar with The Middle, the Heck family was famous for ‘floating’ major holidays, birthdays and anniversaries.....in other words, postponing the event until a more convenient time.....which often meant ‘never’.)

“Agree,” nodded Woody and Em.

With that, I modified our ADR to tomorrow night. But now we had a dilemma ~ where to eat?

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

“I think we should ‘float’ Spice Road Table,” I announced.
(For those of you unfamiliar with The Middle, the Heck family was famous for ‘floating’ major holidays, birthdays and anniversaries.....in other words, postponing the event until a more convenient time.....which often meant ‘never’.)

One of my most favorite television shows! Too bad the bus was delayed and you had to "float" it. But at least you'll be back in WDW soon and can try again! I'm jealous Em could stand on the balcony and not get wet!!!

Cucumbers are good however they're eaten

 

[LisaBelle]

LOVE the Middle! So sad to see it end!

 

[TrolleyFollower91]

Twenty minutes later Em was mocking this bear in the club lounge.

I was mimicking Humphrey’s cuteness.

 

[TrolleyFollower91]

LOVE the Middle! So sad to see it end!

These Weepy Wandas were a hot mess during the finale.

And then @Tuvalu made me watch it again

 

[MinnieM123]

Many years ago (when Em’s legs were too short to reach the pedals) our family rented a surrey bike. Early evening. In January.

The four of us (not counting Em) worked up a sweat on those hills around Crescent Lake ~ it’s not as easy as it looks! Sure it was fun ~ once.

Ha ha ha . . . this reminds me of the paddle swan boats over at Swolfin. I went on those once, and after a few minutes, I kept wishing the stupid thing had a motor on the back of it! So now we know two "fun" things we'll never do again -- surrey bikes and swan boats!

 

[Rista1313]

Cute little Mickey hand purse holder... which got me to thinking... what does Tuvalu carry with her into Disney?

 

[Songbird76]

Just being able to walk from your room, down the hall to the lounge for breakfast, was my main reason for staying on that level (some years ago when I stayed at WL). With the refurb years later, I'm not sure if they offer the same amount of seating all around the open top floor (looks like they've cut the space down somewhat). Anyway, not having to go someplace and wait in line for breakfast was such a treat!



I actually feel bad for newer guests to the parks, because they really may not know just how much "extra" time is needed, just to get in there for a breakfast reservation. They may have thought they had given it enough time, when they left their hotel room. The rest of us all know the ropes, but maybe not all guests.

But who goes on a vacation, especially at Disney prices, and does no research beforehand? Like....you may not know the bus schedules, but wouldn't you look up which route you would take to get from, say the airport to your hotel if there was no shuttle? Wouldn't you look at how that works? Maybe check out a few restaurants that look like they would meet your needs? I'm amazed that people just show up to Disney and expect everything to run like clockwork. I couldn't do that. I don't have to have everything planned out, but I want to at least know how much time I should allow to get to a reservation. I want to have a strategy for getting there on time.

 

[Swissmiss]

Geez - the end of the school activities for my DD and some other things to keep me busy over the past few days and I come back to 8 pages of a @Tuvalu TR? But I'm glad I saw it because this will get me excited for my DLP weekend coming up with my DD and my favorite niece

 

[DisneyJeff]

Woody didn’t stay as long at the pool as Em and I did. He had showered and was doing some work when Em and I got back to our room. She showered before me and decided to relax on our balcony. She was barely outside when the wind whipped up out of nowhere and brought a monsoon! Due to the pitch of the roof, she couldn’t remain on the balcony without getting wet.

Em was laughing when she slid open the door. “So much for that plan!”

Fortunately the rain didn’t last long.
View attachment 293744

Around 5:30 pm we ventured to the lounge.

View attachment 293742

“App vultures” had already descended upon the lounge and two cast members were scrambling to replenish the offerings. We enjoyed some wine as we waited.

The soup of the day was black bean. Woody said it was very tasty. The chicken and vegetable salad (in the small mason jar) was delicious!

View attachment 293743
See the long breadstick? That would be “Grisinni”, aka “Shirley.” (Woody’s term)
@slipperalwaysfits, I prefer my cucumbers not to be swimming in water.

Our plan was to return to Epcot for dinner. We had an 8 pm ADR at Spice Road Table, a new restaurant for us, and we hoped to get a table where we could watch Illuminations. I was excited to try the hummus fries.

We were at the bus stop at 6:45 pm. We sat there for 30 minutes, watching the bus arrival time turn later and later. The earlier storm had not cooled things off....in fact it was just the opposite....the humidity was brutal and we were sweating.

Em and I were also zapped of energy from our time at the pool. (Why is pool lounging so exhausting? It is one of life’s great mysteries!) All of us were frustrated by the no-show bus. And we would now have to power-walk all the way through Epcot in order to make our ADR.

“I think we should ‘float’ Spice Road Table,” I announced.
(For those of you unfamiliar with The Middle, the Heck family was famous for ‘floating’ major holidays, birthdays and anniversaries.....in other words, postponing the event until a more convenient time.....which often meant ‘never’.)

“Agree,” nodded Woody and Em.

With that, I modified our ADR to tomorrow night. But now we had a dilemma ~ where to eat?

That was your chance to bypass Epcot security by playing your "I have a dining reservation" card!!

 

[Tuvalu]

LOVE the Middle! So sad to see it end!

So was I!!!! Thank goodness for Hallmark Channel reruns.

Geez - the end of the school activities for my DD and some other things to keep me busy over the past few days and I come back to 8 pages of a @Tuvalu TR? But I'm glad I saw it because this will get me excited for my DLP weekend coming up with my DD and my favorite niece

Yeah I am trying to get this one done ASAP in order to attempt July Live. Have a fab time at DLP!!

That was your chance to bypass Epcot security by playing your "I have a dining reservation" card!!

Cute little Mickey hand purse holder... which got me to thinking... what does Tuvalu carry with her into Disney?

Good eye on the purse holder! As for the purse contents....only the security guards know for sure.

But who goes on a vacation, especially at Disney prices, and does no research beforehand? Like....you may not know the bus schedules, but wouldn't you look up which route you would take to get from, say the airport to your hotel if there was no shuttle? Wouldn't you look at how that works? Maybe check out a few restaurants that look like they would meet your needs? I'm amazed that people just show up to Disney and expect everything to run like clockwork. I couldn't do that. I don't have to have everything planned out, but I want to at least know how much time I should allow to get to a reservation. I want to have a strategy for getting there on time.

Absolutely agree with you, @Songbird76.

 

[Tuvalu]

Sunday, con’t

“Should we see if we can get into Whispering Canyon?” I asked. I figured it would be a way to check if the “shenanigans” were still going on or if they’d been squashed as reports had said.

“That’s a lot of food,” Em replied. She was right ~ the all-you-can-eat skillet meal is a lot of heavy food. (We’d planned on sharing some lighter fare at Spice Road Table.) The skillet meal has a per person charge, meaning it would be an expensive meal when we weren’t all that hungry.

“We could drive somewhere,” was my next suggestion. But one look at Woody’s face spoke volumes. He hates to drive when we’re at Disney. And it was still Father’s Day, after all.

“I’d be fine eating at Roaring Fork,” said Em. I glanced at Woody. “Works for me!” he agreed.

Roaring Fork it was!

Woody had the Fennel Sausage, Pepperoni, Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Flatbread. He liked how nicely the flavors blended together.

Em selected the Western-Style Chicken Nuggets, “tossed in barbecue sauce.” Her entree arrived like this:

I guess she was supposed to do the “tossing.”

I ordered my second chicken sandwich of the day. It was no sacrifice, trust me. I had shared this with Woody in December and loved it!
Grilled Chicken, Roasted Peppers, Fresh Mozzarella and Oven-Dried Tomato Pesto on Ciabatta

I am drooling now!!

We had a wonderful (and cheap) meal. The seating area was quiet and the a/c was cold. We didn’t have to expend much energy to get there.

And dessert in the club lounge was just an elevator ride away!

 

[Tuvalu]

So we didn’t get to see Illuminations.

But we were on our balcony at 9:15 pm....with the HEA soundtrack queued on YouTube.

“Feel your heart beat....faster”

We’d found our Happily Ever After.

No projections, but no crowds either. Just the three of us privately watching our favorite nighttime show.
“Not a bad end to Father’s Day!” proclaimed Woody.
Not a bad way to end any day!

 

[myhappyplace]

I wondered if you'd play California Girls at B&C!

 

[MinnieM123]

But who goes on a vacation, especially at Disney prices, and does no research beforehand? Like....you may not know the bus schedules, but wouldn't you look up which route you would take to get from, say the airport to your hotel if there was no shuttle? Wouldn't you look at how that works? Maybe check out a few restaurants that look like they would meet your needs? I'm amazed that people just show up to Disney and expect everything to run like clockwork. I couldn't do that. I don't have to have everything planned out, but I want to at least know how much time I should allow to get to a reservation. I want to have a strategy for getting there on time.

I was referring more to the length of time in the mornings, to get into the parks. Even if (new guests) try to read up on tips before they go, there still may be certain things that they could underestimate. A newbie might think that a long wait is 30 minutes--when, on some mornings, it could be much longer than that. (Those of us who have been there enough times, just know to always anticipate the worst in crowd sizes.)