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.

 

[FlaggNL]

Wow... that took me quite some time to catch up Thanks again and as always a great TR! Love read it and look at the pics!

 

[Gurt]

As if, b o o b s and still in a stroller!

 

[MeeskaMooska0714]

And speaking of strollers ~ If you have b o o bs, you are too old to be riding in a Disney stroller.
‘Nuff said.

I'm dying over here!!

 

[LMSB]

Love your sundress & Em's shorts!

 

[LMSB]

Since we were in the vicinity we wanted to ride the PeopleMover.

So did everyone else.
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Typically the line moves faster than the line would indicate, but not today. The attraction kept stopping and starting and we waited almost a half hour.

There were funny moments during that time though. For example, this family in matching shirts (there were about 6 other adults with them, not pictured) who were confused as to where they were.

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Disneyland Florida

The ride did not break down for us. Still waiting on a PeopleMover evac!
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@fractal the day’s Shirley Status was clearly over!
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The Disneyland Florida shirts

 

[mlegerto]

And speaking of strollers ~ If you have b o o bs, you are too old to be riding in a Disney stroller.
‘Nuff said.

HAHA! Really?

 

[Tuvalu]

Love your sundress & Em's shorts!

Thank you. My dress is a Disney dress with hidden Mickeys; Em's shorts are from Lilly Pulitzer.

HAHA! Really?

I kid you not.

 

[93boomer]

It was sprinkling when we exited Mermaid. We decided it was time to return to Beach Club for a break and then come back to MK in the evening to use our FPs (when hopefully it wouldn’t be raining.)

We thought we’d ride another 1\4 loop on the MPB. First Em posed by the circus train so we could send pictures to my DIL to show Tuvalette.

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Two MPB rides in one day!
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When we disembarked at the Main Street station (our choice this time!) the rain was falling at a steady pace.

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And reminiscent of last night, we had a VERY long wait for a bus.

Hey buddy ~ just because the bus isn’t full doesn’t grant you the right to block the aisle with your stroller.
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And speaking of strollers ~ If you have b o o bs, you are too old to be riding in a Disney stroller.
‘Nuff said.

 

[Tuvalu]

Tuesday, con’t

We returned to a clean room ~ as we should have, since it was after 3 o’clock! Em immediately settled down to close her eyes to relieve a headache. I read.

It stopped raining and I remained optimistic that we would have a dry evening at the MK.

Just as we headed out (around 6 pm) a thunderstorm began.

 

[Tuvalu]

It’s easy to forget just how big the WDW resort area is.....and how localized summer storms can be. Less than a half hour later we were at the MK and there was no rain! Even better ~ there was no more rain for the rest of the night!!

Em took a few artsy shots on Main Street.....

.....and a Photopass CM took some of us.

This one should be captioned: The Amazing Colossal Mickey Bar!

 

[Tuvalu]

We set off to ride Splash Mountain first.

We took the cut-through next to Country Bears and encountered an old fashioned Hoedown!

The participants looked like they were having such fun and Em commented that those unexpected moments really set Disney apart from other theme parks. Character surprises are always a treat!

I foolishly thought we’d be able to ride Splash Mountain without any issues.....after all, we had fastpasses.

But so did 10,000 other folks who had been unable to use their Splash FP earlier in the day. We joined the HUGE line and waited over 5 minutes just to tap Mickey’s head. We made it into the first enclosure (that little round room) before the line came to a screeching halt.

We waited. And waited. And never moved.

It was very humid and stifling in that small area. There was some announcement made but we couldn’t hear it. After 20 minutes of no movement we bailed.

We had a dinner ADR to keep.

 

[susan lees]

Tuesday, con’t

We returned to a clean room ~ as we should have, since it was after 3 o’clock! Em immediately settled down to close her eyes to relieve a headache. I read.

It stopped raining and I remained optimistic that we would have a dry evening at the MK.

Just as we headed out (around 6 pm) a thunderstorm began.
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Aww

 

[Tuvalu]

Dinner was a late-afternoon decision for someplace we’d never eaten.

This space originally opened in 1971 as The Diamond Horseshoe Review and featured a stage show similar in style to Hoop Dee Doo. Guests needed to be at the Diamond Horseshoe first thing in the morning to receive complimentary tickets to one of the performances later that day. In all my years of going to MK as a child my family never scored tickets. By the time Woody and I began bringing our kids the space went unused. It opened briefly a couple times over the years, for special events and “Woody’s Hoedown” ~ so Em and I had been inside, but never to eat.

I’d forgotten just how small the interior is.

We waited over 10 minutes to be seated even though there were empty tables.

Details inside are ornate and casually elegant, reminiscent of the Crystal Palace or the Plaza Restaurant.

There were a few two-top tables but for whatever reason Em and I were seated at a table for five.

 

[Swissmiss]

There is a similar restaurant at DLP - I thought they were trying to be like Hoop Dee Doo but now I see that it is the Diamond Horseshoe. We wandered into it during our Easter visit. You order and pay at the podium, then they seat you and bring your food and drinks to the table.

 

[Tuvalu]

The feature piece is the “World Famous” Player Piano.

One would think the piano would play continually (as background music.) It does not. It plays only one song every 15 minutes.

The Diamond Horseshoe is “all you can eat” (or in Disney-speak “all you care to enjoy”)served family style.

Service was as SLOW as molasses. Our server was pleasant but we sat there quite awhile before she came over and acknowledged us and took our drink order.

What had she been doing? Draping the guests at a nearby table with tablecloths.

(To be fair, it was a bit chilly in the restaurant.)

She brought our drinks and several minutes later set down cornbread which she described as “the best you’ll ever eat!” Em and I are not huge cornbread eaters, but we shared a piece and agreed that for cornbread, it was pretty darn tasty.

With the cornbread came potato salad, a mixed greens salad and a watermelon salad. As we nibbled on the salads, our server came by to “scold” us for not eating more of the cornbread. (This is not Whispering Canyon or 50s Prime Time, so keep the snark to yourself lady!)

Em and I then sat there awkwardly for awhile waiting for the main dishes to arrive.
When our server finally returned, she set down the “sides” ~ macaroni and cheese, cole slaw and baked beans. But no meats. We sampled a little of each (each dish was very good) but did not fill up our plates as we wanted to eat the sides with the meats.

Thirty minutes later our server arrived with the mains ~ brisket, grilled chicken and BBQ pulled pork. And two pitiful pieces of corn on the cob.

It may have been “all you can eat”.....but our server was clearly controlling WHEN we could eat! It was ridiculous because all the food given to us was in warmers on the bar behind our table (much like a buffet.) She was only taking care of two other tables in addition to ours (there were plenty of other servers.)

She never brought the beverage refills she promised. She passed by Em a couple times and said, “I’m watching your Coke”....but clearly she wasn’t. I finally had to flag her down (after watching her drape another table of guests with tablecloths!)

The grilled chicken and pulled pork were delicious. The brisket was dry and the only item we didn’t care for (besides the cob corn.)

When we finished eating, we made it obvious that we were DONE so as not to endure a long wait for dessert.
It didn’t work.
After passing by us a few times and conversing with us (we said we were done), our server chose to occupy herself by cleaning dishes from EMPTY tables while dirty dishes remained on ours.

Now you have to understand ~ the restaurant was not seating anymore. It was 8:30 pm and the hot bar had already closed up.

And we were still waiting on dessert!

In hindsight we should have asked for the check and skipped dessert. The desserts ~ blueberry cobbler, peach cheesecake and chocolate pound cake ~ were clearly thawed-from-frozen.

Of course we did not escape the incredulous “You didn’t eat your desserts!” comment from our server.
“We’re full,” I smiled. “Check, please.”

When it was all over, dinner had taken 90 minutes. No non-signature meal for two (without a show or character interaction) should take 90 minutes!

Diamond Horseshoe is a one-and-done for us. Whenever we’re in the mood for similar fare we’ll go to Trail’s End ~ better service and cheaper!!

 

[Tuvalu]

Em and I quickly walked over to Big Thunder Mountain to use our FP before the start of HEA.

Just like at Splash earlier, the FP line was HUGE.
But unlike Splash, the line moved very quickly and we were on-and-off in 10 minutes.

Lucky 13!

We made it to our viewing spot with a couple minutes to spare. I’ll “spare” you all 21 Photopass pics, but will share my favorites.

 

[Tuvalu]

Not riding Splash Mountain before dinner ended up being a blessing in disguise. Turns out Em prefers to ride Splash at night in the dark.

She asked if we could do Splash before leaving.

And now I wholeheartedly agree with Em ~ Splash Mountain is better at night!

We did our best “Aunt Edna” pose.

How did we do?

(But in this pic Edna’s missing her purse!)

We exited the park as the “Once Upon a Time” castle projection was showing. Our goal was to beat the masses to the buses.

We did.

But we had another LONG wait for a bus.

Would we see sun tomorrow? Stay tuned.

 

[krause]

I don’t think I’ve ever read a trip report with anyone eating at Diamond Horseshoe! And now I know why! Sucks that you had bad service, but it was fun reading about a “new” place!

 

[DisneyGigi]

Not riding Splash Mountain before dinner ended up being a blessing in disguise. Turns out Em prefers to ride Splash at night in the dark.

She asked if we could do Splash before leaving.

And now I wholeheartedly agree with Em ~ Splash Mountain is better at night!

We did our best “Aunt Edna” pose.
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How did we do?

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(But in this pic Edna’s missing her purse!)

We exited the park as the “Once Upon a Time” castle projection was showing. Our goal was to beat the masses to the buses.

We did.

But we had another LONG wait for a bus.

Would we see sun tomorrow? Stay tuned.

PERFECT Aunt Edna pose! It should go viral. I love that your family does the whole vacation movie thing. I thought it was just us for a long time. My crazy sister and Brother in Law, actually came to Christmas Eve to our house- she completely decked out in leopard coat, crazy hat, with a green jello cat food mold, telling me she brought dessert... and he in a white sweater, black mock turtle neck, slicked back hair, and the most horrid white loafers. It was a hoot! Best Christmas ever. That we put up at least a kazillion lights made it even funnier.
You have a ton of great posts in your reports but I think this my absolute favorite thus far!

 

[Megbutnotmegan]

Diamond Horseshoe is the worst meal I’ve ever had in Disney. I was hoping your review would encourage me to give it another chance but I guess it stays on my NOPE list!