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.

 

[krisri18]

I've read all 56 pages of this thread in about two days! (Well, mostly Tuvalu's main entries). Really enjoyed it all - what a lot of work, and great writing!

I'm not nearly as much of a veteran as you can see from my SIG. So I'm learning a lot, and here's one question:

What does MPB stand for? As in Woody's shirt and the railroad? Can't figure that one out.

Moving Park Bench!

 

[Tuvalu]

Never say never is a recurring theme in trip reports.
After moving to Florida and becoming passholders, one of the changes in how we visited was not needing to fit everything in. If we miss it one trip, we'll be back. It removes a lot of stress from trips.

True words, @winstongator. Thanks for following along!

What a great day at the Poly!

I think that was a good call by Woody to skip Slinky.

Never say never.

Woody is the logical realist in our relationship.

I've read all 56 pages of this thread in about two days! (Well, mostly Tuvalu's main entries). Really enjoyed it all - what a lot of work, and great writing!
I'm not nearly as much of a veteran as you can see from my SIG. So I'm learning a lot, and here's one question:
What does MPB stand for? As in Woody's shirt and the railroad? Can't figure that one out.

Appreciate your dedication (and kind words) in reading through this lengthy trip report! Years ago Woody coined the term “Moving Park Bench” for the WDW Railroad. I mentioned this in one of my early trip reports and have called the train the MPB ever since. Em had the shirt made for Woody for Father’s Day 2017.

Thanks to @krisri18 for answering your MPB query first!

 

[jkl2000]

Moving Park Bench!

Thanks! I love the railroad. I could just ride it around and around for hours. Well, one hour.

 

[Tuvalu]

Tuesday, con’t

It was mostly sunny for the next couple hours. Then out of nowhere was a loud BOOM of thunder. It took me by complete surprise as there were no dark clouds over the pool. I looked at Woody and asked, “Was that thunder?”

I noticed the look of confusion on the faces of others at the pool. Another BOOM. Parents began to call their kids out of the water. Still, the only dark cloud I could see was far away on the horizon. I got out just as the lifeguards arrived to close the pool. There was no rustling wind nor a raindrop in sight.

I shrugged. “Guess our pool time has come to an end,” I said to Woody.

I really had no right to complain. We’d been at the pool since 9 am and it was well past 2 pm.

However I had every right to grumble when we opened our door to an UNSERVICED room! Are you kidding me? We were supposedly scheduled to have our room cleaned BY NOON. I sent a text to the Duty Manager who profusely apologized again and offered to send someone over immediately.

Now this may come as a shock, but I replied “thanks but no thanks.” Woody and I needed showers and time to get ready for MNSSHP and I didn’t want to be interrupted by housekeeping. We were checking out in the morning and had enough towels to get us through.

Woody went to shower while I went to sit on the balcony. Never got tired of our view. (Or the smell from ‘Ohana. Note the smoke coming out of the chimney.)

I heard talking and glanced down. It’s not every day you see a man in a kilt!

Then I looked up and saw what I can only assume was his bride!

I heard several rumblings of thunder and noticed the wind had become intense. Just a few minutes later the sky looked like this:

“And the rain rain rain
Came down down down.....”

 

[Tuvalu]

It stormed for a LONG time. It was raining so hard that I had to leave the balcony and go inside. The thunder was frequent and so nearby that I did not feel it was safe to shower.

When it was still coming down in buckets at 6:15 pm......and weather radar indicated storms until almost 10 pm.....I knew I should never have broken my vow.

To all MNSSHP guests who attended the party on 8/28/18 ~ I’m sorry.

@winstongator and @fractal ~ I said never. Never means never. There would be no MNSSHP in August for Woody and me. I had no desire to relive another MNSSHP in the rain.

Since the great MNSSHP washout of 2015, I’d read reports of folks exchanging MNSSHP tickets due to inclement weather. It made me wonder if I could exchange our tickets ~ not for another Halloween party but for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. It was worth a shot!

Meanwhile Woody and I needed to figure out what we wanted to do for dinner. We did not feel like venturing off the monorail line, so we pulled up menus and decided we would go to the Contempo Cafe. But first we’d go to the lobby concierge and inquire about a ticket exchange.

Woody is not one to wear Hawaiian shirts, but he received a Poly-themed one a couple years ago. I made him pack it for our trip.

I was going to have him pose in front of the lobby Tiki next. There was a family already there and the dad asked Woody if he would take their picture. Then he offered to take ours.

It’s hard to tell but I am wearing a vintage Polynesian Minnie tee. (And by vintage I mean old....I’ve had the shirt for years!)

The lobby concierge made a phone call to ask about exchanging our party tickets. Good news ~ they could be exchanged! Bad news ~ we would have to go to Guest Relations at the MK to do so.

Our original plan for our last day was to go to Epcot, with lunch at the Garden Grill. But since we did not get to ride the attractions at MK that we had saved for the party, we decided we’d forgo Epcot and visit MK instead. That meant we could easily visit Guest Relations in the morning.

But I was anxious to get the issue resolved. And the monorail would be stopping at the MK while en route to the Contemporary....

“Do you mind if we go to Guest Relations before dinner?” I asked Woody.

Of course he didn’t.

But he might have had he known what was in store for us there.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

So you were to blame for the rain! It was definitely a wet one. Glad you were able to exchange your tickets.

 

[amjt660]

“Do you mind if we go to Guest Relations before dinner?” I asked Woody.

Of course he didn’t.

But he might have had he known what was in store for us there.

Max

 

[MinnieM123]

It’s hard to tell but I am wearing a vintage Polynesian Minnie tee. (And by vintage I mean old....I’ve had the shirt for years!)

Vintage Minnie shirt . . .

 

[GoofyDadKB]

It stormed for a LONG time. It was raining so hard that I had to leave the balcony and go inside. The thunder was frequent and so nearby that I did not feel it was safe to shower.

When it was still coming down in buckets at 6:15 pm......and weather radar indicated storms until almost 10 pm.....I knew I should never have broken my vow.

To all MNSSHP guests who attended the party on 8/28/18 ~ I’m sorry.

@winstongator and @fractal ~ I said never. Never means never. There would be no MNSSHP in August for Woody and me. I had no desire to relive another MNSSHP in the rain.

Since the great MNSSHP washout of 2015, I’d read reports of folks exchanging MNSSHP tickets due to inclement weather. It made me wonder if I could exchange our tickets ~ not for another Halloween party but for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. It was worth a shot!

Meanwhile Woody and I needed to figure out what we wanted to do for dinner. We did not feel like venturing off the monorail line, so we pulled up menus and decided we would go to the Contempo Cafe. But first we’d go to the lobby concierge and inquire about a ticket exchange.

Woody is not one to wear Hawaiian shirts, but he received a Poly-themed one a couple years ago. I made him pack it for our trip.
View attachment 317074

I was going to have him pose in front of the lobby Tiki next. There was a family already there and the dad asked Woody if he would take their picture. Then he offered to take ours.

View attachment 317073
It’s hard to tell but I am wearing a vintage Polynesian Minnie tee. (And by vintage I mean old....I’ve had the shirt for years!)

The lobby concierge made a phone call to ask about exchanging our party tickets. Good news ~ they could be exchanged! Bad news ~ we would have to go to Guest Relations at the MK to do so.

Our original plan for our last day was to go to Epcot, with lunch at the Garden Grill. But since we did not get to ride the attractions at MK that we had saved for the party, we decided we’d forgo Epcot and visit MK instead. That meant we could easily visit Guest Relations in the morning.

But I was anxious to get the issue resolved. And the monorail would be stopping at the MK while en route to the Contemporary....

“Do you mind if we go to Guest Relations before dinner?” I asked Woody.

Of course he didn’t.

But he might have had he known what was in store for us there.

So it was your fault. The rain did finally clear out and it was a nice night. I lost count of how many times we got to ride Thunder Mountain.

 

[DisneyGigi]

It stormed for a LONG time. It was raining so hard that I had to leave the balcony and go inside. The thunder was frequent and so nearby that I did not feel it was safe to shower.

When it was still coming down in buckets at 6:15 pm......and weather radar indicated storms until almost 10 pm.....I knew I should never have broken my vow.

To all MNSSHP guests who attended the party on 8/28/18 ~ I’m sorry.

@winstongator and @fractal ~ I said never. Never means never. There would be no MNSSHP in August for Woody and me. I had no desire to relive another MNSSHP in the rain.

Since the great MNSSHP washout of 2015, I’d read reports of folks exchanging MNSSHP tickets due to inclement weather. It made me wonder if I could exchange our tickets ~ not for another Halloween party but for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. It was worth a shot!

Meanwhile Woody and I needed to figure out what we wanted to do for dinner. We did not feel like venturing off the monorail line, so we pulled up menus and decided we would go to the Contempo Cafe. But first we’d go to the lobby concierge and inquire about a ticket exchange.

Woody is not one to wear Hawaiian shirts, but he received a Poly-themed one a couple years ago. I made him pack it for our trip.
View attachment 317074

I was going to have him pose in front of the lobby Tiki next. There was a family already there and the dad asked Woody if he would take their picture. Then he offered to take ours.

View attachment 317073
It’s hard to tell but I am wearing a vintage Polynesian Minnie tee. (And by vintage I mean old....I’ve had the shirt for years!)

The lobby concierge made a phone call to ask about exchanging our party tickets. Good news ~ they could be exchanged! Bad news ~ we would have to go to Guest Relations at the MK to do so.

Our original plan for our last day was to go to Epcot, with lunch at the Garden Grill. But since we did not get to ride the attractions at MK that we had saved for the party, we decided we’d forgo Epcot and visit MK instead. That meant we could easily visit Guest Relations in the morning.

But I was anxious to get the issue resolved. And the monorail would be stopping at the MK while en route to the Contemporary....

“Do you mind if we go to Guest Relations before dinner?” I asked Woody.

Of course he didn’t.

But he might have had he known what was in store for us there.

That is weird that they told you to go to MK guest relations. After our great wash out last year, we were switching fastpasses at Old Key West the next morning and B brought up that everything got canceled. They credited the full price of the 5 tickets to our room, right there on the spot. He didn’t call anyone or anything. Hate you got washed out. I know that all to well.

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

Bummer!! You didn't get to go to MNSSHP this trip!
Your experiences at the California Grill make me nervous for our upcoming ADR in November...
I agree, going to HS just to ride Slinky Dog, especially with the risk of Rain, isn't really worth it. I'm glad you got special Prince/Princess time at the Poly....
I'm going to have to try watching the MK fireworks from the beach one day, sounds very romantic!!

I'VE GOTTA KNOW: WHAT HAPPENED AT GUEST RELATIONS???????!!!!!!

 

[Tuvalu]

So you were to blame for the rain! It was definitely a wet one. Glad you were able to exchange your tickets.

So it was your fault. The rain did finally clear out and it was a nice night. I lost count of how many times we got to ride Thunder Mountain.

Sounds like you both had an okay time in spite of the rain. And yay for multiple BTMRR rides!

 

[Tuvalu]

View attachment 317137

Max

I'VE GOTTA KNOW: WHAT HAPPENED AT GUEST RELATIONS???????!!!!!!

Patience, friends. Hopefully I'll have time tomorrow for the reveal.

 

[Tuvalu]

That is weird that they told you to go to MK guest relations. After our great wash out last year, we were switching fastpasses at Old Key West the next morning and B brought up that everything got canceled. They credited the full price of the 5 tickets to our room, right there on the spot. He didn’t call anyone or anything. Hate you got washed out. I know that all to well.

I think we had to go to MK GR because I wanted to exchange MNSSHP tics for MVMCP tics. Perhaps if I'd wanted a refund of my MNSSHP tics the Poly concierge might have been able to do it?

Your experiences at the California Grill make me nervous for our upcoming ADR in November...

The menu changes all the time. Check the menu on Disney's site the day before your ADR, it's usually accurate. (This will give you time to cancel your ADR without penalty if there is nothing on the menu that appeals to you.) And I've never had a bad server at CG.

 

[DisneyGigi]

I think we had to go to MK GR because I wanted to exchange MNSSHP tics for MVMCP tics. Perhaps if I'd wanted a refund of my MNSSHP tics the Poly concierge might have been able to do it?


The menu changes all the time. Check the menu on Disney's site the day before your ADR, it's usually accurate. (This will give you time to cancel your ADR without penalty if there is nothing on the menu that appeals to you.) And I've never had a bad server at CG.

I hope it worked out okay! We didn’t ask for a refund, credit or anything. We had been there with costumes on, before we left, and the next morning when we switched fastpasses, they asked how it was. We told them it was a washout, and they offered the refund. We would have never asked for one, and didn’t even complain. If they hadn’t asked at Concierge, we would not have even mentioned it. I knew going into it, if it rained we were out the tickets and money, time in costumes. I just don’t want anyone to think we asked for a refund, we didn’t. I was blown away that they offered it, and just wanted to make it clear, we did not ask for one. We sure did not not say no, once offered though.
*thread high jack over*

 

[Tuvalu]

I hope it worked out okay! We didn’t ask for a refund, credit or anything. We had been there with costumes on, before we left, and the next morning when we switched fastpasses, they asked how it was. We told them it was a washout, and they offered the refund. We would have never asked for one, and didn’t even complain. If they hadn’t asked at Concierge, we would not have even mentioned it. I knew going into it, if it rained we were out the tickets and money, time in costumes. I just don’t want anyone to think we asked for a refund, we didn’t. I was blown away that they offered it, and just wanted to make it clear, we did not ask for one. We sure did not not say no, once offered though.
*thread high jack over*

Yeah I understood from your first post that you guys had received some Disney magic.

 

[LadyBelle]

I looked at Woody and asked, “Was that thunder?”

Living close to a military base, it’s a question asked often.

 

[danyoung56]

Gary, an older gentleman, was our waiter.

I've enjoyed Gary's service a few times over the years. He was my waiter during my longest dinner ever - 2 1/2 hours! And I didn't feel for one minute that I was getting slow or bad service. Gary just kept things moving without pressuring me. It was a terrific meal!

 

[PacNWTigger]

Tuesday, con’t

It was mostly sunny for the next couple hours. Then out of nowhere was a loud BOOM of thunder. It took me by complete surprise as there were no dark clouds over the pool. I looked at Woody and asked, “Was that thunder?”

I noticed the look of confusion on the faces of others at the pool. Another BOOM. Parents began to call their kids out of the water. Still, the only dark cloud I could see was far away on the horizon. I got out just as the lifeguards arrived to close the pool. There was no rustling wind nor a raindrop in sight.

I shrugged. “Guess our pool time has come to an end,” I said to Woody.

I really had no right to complain. We’d been at the pool since 9 am and it was well past 2 pm.

However I had every right to grumble when we opened our door to an UNSERVICED room! Are you kidding me? We were supposedly scheduled to have our room cleaned BY NOON. I sent a text to the Duty Manager who profusely apologized again and offered to send someone over immediately.

Now this may come as a shock, but I replied “thanks but no thanks.” Woody and I needed showers and time to get ready for MNSSHP and I didn’t want to be interrupted by housekeeping. We were checking out in the morning and had enough towels to get us through.

Woody went to shower while I went to sit on the balcony. Never got tired of our view. (Or the smell from ‘Ohana. Note the smoke coming out of the chimney.)
View attachment 317056

I heard talking and glanced down. It’s not every day you see a man in a kilt!
View attachment 317057

Then I looked up and saw what I can only assume was his bride!
View attachment 317058

I heard several rumblings of thunder and noticed the wind had become intense. Just a few minutes later the sky looked like this:
View attachment 317059

“And the rain rain rain
Came down down down.....”

 

[Tuvalu]

Living close to a military base, it’s a question asked often.

My folks live by a quarry where there is frequent blasting....similar sound.

I've enjoyed Gary's service a few times over the years. He was my waiter during my longest dinner ever - 2 1/2 hours! And I didn't feel for one minute that I was getting slow or bad service. Gary just kept things moving without pressuring me. It was a terrific meal!

I agree that Gary knows how to properly pace a meal!

“Drip drip drop little April showers....”