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

Seriously?!!

Can you believe it??

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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.
 
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Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
Longers said:
Yes of course I would without a doubt - but you really need that back row - actually maybe only the back row should count for this challenge. :D
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We had a 20 minute wait even with our FP. The CMs were all grumpy due to the crowds (the ride had been closed a good bit of the day) and I didn’t want to exacerbate the situation....nor embarrass Em! We were in the last car (just not the last seat) if that makes a difference. 😉

(But if you want to change the challenge rules.....then I will attempt last row from here on out! :joyfull:)
 
Longers

Longers

Well-Known Member
Tuvalu said:
We had a 20 minute wait even with our FP. The CMs were all grumpy due to the crowds (the ride had been closed a good bit of the day) and I didn’t want to exacerbate the situation....nor embarrass Em! We were in the last car (just not the last seat) if that makes a difference. 😉

(But if you want to change the challenge rules.....then I will attempt last row from here on out! :joyfull:)
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Not changing the rules don’t worry as you know it’s only a playful challenge. I think we always knew it would be you who won anyway but I’ll give it a good go when I get back home. :)
 
disneyworlddad

disneyworlddad

Well-Known Member
Tuvalu said:
In fairness there are fans in the Saucers queue, but they don’t help much on a humid day.
Definitely give Spice Road Table a try ~ I think it is an under appreciated restaurant. Many folks might be wary of the cuisine but there are a few dishes geared to the American palate (Em’s steak for example.)
We had a FP for Haunted Mansion later which is why we went to Pirates first.


I have never (and will never) ride Tea Cups because they will make me sick. Saucers is different from Tea Cups because your individual vehicle is not spinning. When I watched a ride video of Saucers I was sure I wouldn’t be able to ride it. It wasn’t until I saw the ride in person (and watched it cycle through several rides) that I could tell it wasn’t a true “spinner” but more of a “whip”.

I recommend watching the ride for a short time before making your decision. 😊
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Just a little top on people who might want to ride the teacups . . . you don't actually have to spin. I have done it several times with my young son. The trick is you have to hold the wheel in the center. If you can hold it still you wont spin and you get more of a "whip ride" You can also make them spin faster by really turning that wheel in the middle.
 
Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
disneyworlddad said:
Just a little top on people who might want to ride the teacups . . . you don't actually have to spin. I have done it several times with my young son. The trick is you have to hold the wheel in the center. If you can hold it still you wont spin and you get more of a "whip ride" You can also make them spin faster by really turning that wheel in the middle.
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Too much effort for me to avoid :hungover:

:joyfull: :joyfull:
 
MinnieM123

MinnieM123

Premium Member
Tuvalu said:
Our stay at Beach Club had debunked the “Buses every 20 minutes” mantra again and again, and tonight would be no exception.
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In my experience, the bus service overall isn't too bad. However, as for the 20-minute thing . . . nope! :banghead:

But what I really can't figure out is why, sometimes, you'll be waiting for let's say, AK. Three MK buses will pull up within 40 minutes, but nothing for AK. (This can happen with any of the park buses, not just AK.) Tends to be the luck of the draw if your bus pulls up in a timely fashion.

Over at the SWAN last May, they also had that same display screen with all the bus times--but I felt it was more of a "pretend" effort to make it look like everything was under control. Or, to put it more bluntly, I overheard a gentleman there say, "That thing is USELESS!" :p

Hence, I can understand Em's suggestion to use a $$ Minnie Van, when you were running short of time, and had a dinner reservation.
 
M

Megbutnotmegan

Well-Known Member
Tuvalu said:
Thursday, con’t

Our stay at Beach Club had debunked the “Buses every 20 minutes” mantra again and again, and tonight would be no exception.

Proof:
View attachment 304870

Em and I were walking towards the bus stop as the MK bus was pulling away. We’d allowed ourselves an hour to get to our dinner ADR. I know Disney’s advice is to allow “up to 90 minutes” but we had a straight shot to the MK.

20 minute wait for bus + 20 minute load/travel time + 15 minute security/enter park = 5 minute leeway to check in for ADR. That would be the “worst case” scenario.

Or so I thought. The next bus did not arrive in 20 minutes. In fact, we kept watching as the arrival time got later and later. (See above.)

“Why didn’t she check the app before they left their room?” you may be thinking. Oh I did.....and had gotten the ever-so-helpful “Every 20 Minutes” message. 🙄

As I continued to fret about being late for our ADR, Em had been quietly setting up a Lyft account and had ordered us a Minnie Van.

What a wonderful daughter!
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The Beach Club valet opened the door for us.
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Yes, Minnie Van rides are pricey (a flat $25 fee) but they can drop off/pick up at the MK bus depot, while Uber and non-Minnie Lyft cannot. This can save precious time!

Minnie Van Drivers are Disney Cast Members with a minimum of 3-4 years experience at the parks. They must have extensive knowledge of the parks, resorts and grounds. Competition to be a Minnie Van Driver is fierce, so you are getting the best-of-the-best. Each driver is trained to let the guest guide the interaction ~ if a guest is chatty or asks a lot of questions, the driver happily engages. If the guest is quiet or requests quiet, the driver responds in kind.

The vans are equipped with car seats (helpful for families with little ones) and music loops from the resorts and parks. When we entered the van our driver was playing the Beach Club background music and said she would switch to MK background music once we got closer to the park.

“But I’ll be happy to play any music you want,” she said.

Well in that case.......😉

Tuvalu enjoyed the Polynesian background music all the way to MK! :joyfull:

We arrived at our destination 10 minutes prior to our ADR.
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But we had a 15 minute post-ADR wait for a table.
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We tried the Minnie Vans for the first time last week and quickly became obsesssed! The CMs who drive are amazing! My favorite thing to do is ask about their previous work experience for Disney. I heard so many entertaining stories. Also I loved that while discussing different attractions one driver changed the music to match the attraction! 😍
 
Rista1313

Rista1313

Well-Known Member
In the last 1.5 years we finally got 3 chick-fil-a's. One is on the way to work, and I use to stop far to often for breakfast on the way. I've had to limit myself to Chick-fil-a Friday's. SO good.
 
Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
Thursday, con’t

After exiting BTMRR, Em and I proceeded quickly to our fave spot to watch HEA. We made it with five minutes to spare.

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She caught me!
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There wasn’t a Photopass photographer nearby tonight. Em got some nice pics though.

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“Reach out and find your.......Happily Ever After!!”

HEA ended at 9:35 pm and the park closed at 10, meaning the majority of guests were headed for the exit at the same time. We were hoping to take the alternate trek behind Main Street near Casey’s, but it wasn’t open. :bored: We were shoulder-to-shoulder with thousands of our closest (and by that I mean proximity!) friends which made for a very slow and very claustrophobic walk out.

The worst area was in Town Square prior to the train tunnel merge.

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At one point Em commented to me, “Usually it is never easy to leave MK on our last night, but I can’t wait to get out of here!”

Out on the other side of the train tunnel we breathed sighs of relief.

However, we had yet another long wait for a bus. 😡 (At closing time that’s inexcusable!) It was after 11 pm before we got back to our room and began the sad task of packing up.

We had an early appointment with the Tragical.
 

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