Trip Report THE ONE WITHOUT a BUDDY

(For those of you just joining us, please go read “THE ONE FOR DINNER” before continuing.)

Hello my fellow Magicians!!!
I have been called the rain goddess, the harbinger of doom and plain ✈️ bad luck.

What kind of drama did I get myself into this time? Well as the name implies, this was a solo trip. Not this guy…
Star Wars Salute GIF

I narrowly missed some buddies, met some new buddies and reunited with some old buddies. But I know what you are all thinking….how was my flight(s)?

I have eluded to this story in @Tuvalu ’s TR but here it is. We will call it the EPILOGUE and I will try to be brief.

Two weeks after our Dinner trip, Tone and I were set to fly to PBI. We had an 8:50pm flight on Friday night because our youngest had a lacrosse game at 4:00. This would allow is to go to his game then head to the airport. His game of course got pushed back to 5:30. It was pouring and we had to drive to JFK and park so we saw about 5 minutes of the little guys game.
No traffic. 👍
Found parking immediately👍
One person in line in front of us at TSA precheck👍
Flight on time👍
“Let’s sit and have dinner.”
We see an acquaintance in the restaurant. He is on a major morning news show and is good friends with the people I work for therefore, I will not throw him under the bus. But, as we were heading to the gate we stopped by his table to say hi.
“Is your flight delayed?” He asks.
I felt like I had been sucker punched. I deflated. He had just jinxed me. Five minutes later we get the notification we will be delayed 30 minutes.
Thirty minutes is no biggie. We were waiting on our plane. Our plane arrived but then we were told our crew was on an inbound flight that would not be in until 11:45 pm. For those of you struggling with the math that is almost a three hour delay.
200.gif


I am afraid our flight attendants will time out. They don’t and we push back about midnight. Then go right back to the gate.
big brother pop GIF by Big Brother After Dark


A woman has decided she is too sick to fly. As the woman sitting next to Tone so eloquently put it, “we have had a three effin hour delay. And NOW your sick?”
And we wait for a new manifest.

We land in West Palm about 3:45am. The rental cars are offsite and do not open until 5am. I look for an Uber to take us to our hotel. $58!
We hem
We haw
We decide we will Uber, use our son’s truck for the day and have him drive us to the airport tonight (because our flight back is tonight-Saturday)
I go back on Uber, $98.
“No way!!!”
We find a bench outside and get comfy.
I call the hotel. The charge has already been put through but I convince the young man to reverse the charge.
At 4:30 the shuttle comes for the car rental place. At 5:00am they open.
We have plans to meet Tone’s brother, wife and two of their kids for breakfast at 8:45. We decide we will drive to my son’s house and crash on their couch (like 14feet long!) for a few hours. We pull into his driveway at 6:00am but are afraid to go inside and wake them. Their game is at noon so we want them to sleep. Instead, we sleep in the car in the driveway until 7:30. Then I sneak inside to use the restroom (my son is in the master BR so has his own) while my son snores on.
We then go to BIL’s hotel to use their shower and eat breakfast.
At breakfast for @MickeyCB
C571A1BD-61C3-47AF-944E-A4EB1A2F59A6.jpeg

By 10:30 we are headed to the game.
For @wdisney9000
F70F959A-80ED-4333-A53D-600C9A53E51D.jpeg

Tailgated:
A3D649C1-6A27-4EE9-AD0A-36CB7A9D1811.jpeg

Took a few pix. The first is from high school. They now play together in college so I had to recreate it:
1228A5C4-4F45-4541-8E64-25C02F805B01.jpeg

3B682FB2-E6C8-4103-B013-AED3BF13F5BE.jpeg

Our flight home was delayed, of course. We landed about 1:00am Sunday morning. By 2:00am I was fast asleep.


So how would this flight be???
Stay tuned….
 

lindawdw

Well-Known Member
Oh my gosh, I just found your new TR and I didn't think things could get any worse for you from the previous couple trips but this one is pretty rough too!!! 🥴 I NEED that shirt you had made!!! There are many Disney fans feeling similar to you lately. The Genie+ really sucks and I'm pretty disgusted on how the rides constantly are breaking down and then temporarily closed. I sure hope your afternoon got better. 🥰
 

Darstarr

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In the Parks
No
We are on the Gulf side we might be safe. Tampa puts you an hour away from us....that might be skirting it LOL
I learned today that Tampa is the lightning capital of the world. I saw none. I did see a dolphin and a manatee. Sorta like being in Epcot except the beer was cheaper😂
You go girl with that shirt!!!!!😄👍
I have another one. Wait for it.
that shirt is NEXT LEVEL!! So proud and that was divine intervention that they were doing the commercial
Things do not usually work out for me but this did. People seemed to really react positively to that shirt. More than once after a group passed I could hear them laughing and asking each other “did you see her shirt?”

Also of note, I made one for @wdisney9000 but it wasn’t a v-neck so he didnt wear it👎
 

Darstarr

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In the Parks
No
Oh my gosh, I just found your new TR and I didn't think things could get any worse for you from the previous couple trips but this one is pretty rough too!!! 🥴 I NEED that shirt you had made!!! There are many Disney fans feeling similar to you lately. The Genie+ really sucks and I'm pretty disgusted on how the rides constantly are breaking down and then temporarily closed. I sure hope your afternoon got better. 🥰
Thanks. I got your DM but the conversation was locked so I couldn’t reply.
Keep on keeping on!!!
 

donaldtoo

Well-Known Member
Thursday April 7, 2022

Should we just go ahead and call it thirsty Thursday?

I woke early to shower and grab some breakfast from my riff raff hotel off property. I wanted to be on my phone at 7 to get a LL.
I am not loving the entire Genie+ thing. From their mascot to the $ to the way it works but, since I was alone I thought I would try it. Then I could pass proper judgement.
(I hate it!)
I chose Big Thunder. However, I must have hesitated because I thought I was choosing 9:30 but I got 11:50.
STRIKE ONE
The return time can change between the time you chose your LL and the second or two later when you finish booking it.
That meant, I could not book until 11:00.
STRIKE TWO
Because MK opened at 9:00 I had to wait two hours OR after I tapped into ride my first LL. In other words, I had to now wait 4 hours to book another experience.
Tip: book the earliest LL available to allow another booking in a timely fashion.

Anyhow, I ate and then drove here:
View attachment 633292
Those clouds 😟
View attachment 633291

I parked very close then walked to the TTC.

It looks like Disney puts this moss in their trees. I mean, how else does it get there? Was this once all covered by water and when it receded the moss got stuck in the branches???
View attachment 633293

I spy…
View attachment 633294

First on:
View attachment 633295

I may have warned you about my phone. It went flying in my son’s truck a couple weeks ago and broke exactly by the camera on the selfie side. I tried not to take selfies because they turn out hazy, like this.
View attachment 633296

I entered The Magic Kingdom and took a deep breath. Nothing.
I rounded the bend at the end of Main Street and saw the castle. Nothing.
I tried and tried to get the feels. I hadn't been here in about a year and I thought I would be so happy. Nothing.
I had the exact opposite reaction of @Longers

The Disney company, as a whole has been annoying me lately. I dont like some of the choices they are making, I dont like the way the parks are being run and even their movies stink! Encanto? Really? 🤢
But even with all that I thought the Magic Kingdom would make me all happy and warm. Nothing. Wait, I did have to use the ladies room….

7DMT was already 85 minutes, at 8:33am. Instead I headed to the little mermaid.

Palm tree I love you!
View attachment 633297

Got stuck here for a bit.
View attachment 633298

Why is the ride stopping. It just opened. This annoyed me too. Park upkeep is the worst!

Regarding the moss…it’s the same thing they do with the cobwebs in HM and ToT…!!!!! :D:hilarious:

First on:
D9CCEA0B-E72E-4DF0-B8D3-5B5AFA6FB391.jpeg

Are you sure ‘bout that…???!!! :D;)

Encanto was a total bust for me too.
And yes, you are not alone…Disney has been annoying me more than usual lately, as well. The whole company (or, at least the leadership) seems to be suffering from what I refer to as HUBS (Head Up Butt Syndrome).
 

donaldtoo

Well-Known Member
Thursday April 7 cont

I headed to Small World. It was not quite 9:00am yet and I wanted something nostalgic to get me out of my funk. I got on line and it shut down, and remains down for a long long time. Now Pan is packed so I line up with a bunch of others and wait to get into the left side of the park. Wait times are cray cray. I head into the line for Haunted Mansion. I only wait about 10 minutes and I pass the time talking to the people around me. Several tell me they love my shirt (pix to follow) and ask if they can snap a photo. One woman is a Disney travel agent and we discuss the failures of the present disney administration and the horror that is genie+ and my 4 hour rookie mistake.

Hi Buddies:
View attachment 633318

Then I think I will ride Pirates. Silly Darstarr.
It’s down. And it has friends.

View attachment 633317

STRIKE THREE SORT OF
Rides are down, forcing people into the remaining queues which are terribly slow because of LL. Although some would argue this is not Disney’s fault I ask, “is it the guests fault the rides are down?” No, my friends. I take away the “sort of”. This is STRIKE THREE.

I settle for the Pirates restroom. When I exit I ask someone to take a pix of my shirt (since I can not do selfies) to send to the girl who made it for me.
View attachment 633319

The shirt was a huge hit! I was buying a popcorn bucket and the CM laughed hysterically then called over her two buddies to show them. When I left she told me to “keep on keeping on”. I guess that was good?

I could have used a hug.
View attachment 633320

I went to ride the People Mover before it too broke down.
View attachment 633321
View attachment 633322
View attachment 633324
View attachment 633325
View attachment 633326

Then came Buzz. I had the highest score in my vehicle😂
View attachment 633323
That says 30 minutes. It was a little less.

Interesting to note, if you put your preferences in Genie (the free one) it tells you when is a good time to ride what is on your wish list. Or show times if that is what you choose. I had Space Mountain as one of my top choices of things to do. Genie told me to go to SM at 10:20 because it will be a short wait time. Hahaha. Genie must have told EVERYBODY that because it was about 10:20 when I was done with Buzz and the wait was over an hour!

That t-shirt is priceless…wonder how much of a “tip” it would take to get a Disney “influencer” to wear that shirt during one of their vlogs or 5+ hour live streams…!!!!!!! :joyfull:🤣:hilarious:
 

Darstarr

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In the Parks
No
Man, I hope you aren't a plane jinx! So sorry you got another sick person on the flight!
I concur with everyone, I love your shirt! 🤩
Bummer so many rides were down! At least you got to get on MPB 2.0! Did you see our friend Orange Cone?
I did not see Orange cone. But yesterday I may have moved one or two official looking green cones so we could park closer to the post game tailate. 🤫
Such a rebel….
 

Darstarr

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In the Parks
No
That t-shirt is priceless…wonder how much of a “tip” it would take to get a Disney “influencer” to wear that shirt during one of their vlogs or 5+ hour live streams…!!!!!!! :joyfull:🤣:hilarious:
Some asked me where I got the shirt. I told them I designed it and my friend who is much better with a computer made it happen for me.
I am sure they will be on Etsy in 3, 2, 1………
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom