Trip Report The Tuvalu Chronicles ~ Chapter 25 *COMPLETED*

Welcome, welcome, welcome to my 25th trip report.

Over the past five years, I have loved chronicling my WDW adventures with fellow forum readers who share my Disney passion. Writing keeps the magic alive for me. Discussions that result from your comments are icing on the cake! I appreciate everyone who takes the time to read my posts. (And for those of you who have been following from the beginning ~ THANK YOU!!)

All my reports have been live, live-ish, or shortly-afterwards.....except one. In 2016 I wrote a retro TR detailing my first visit to the park that forever captivated my heart. You can read about it here. Or you can merely mock the photo below which is proof positive I cannot pull off wearing a hat.

7E346929-4002-4A40-B82D-5A96EF7476D0.png


Similar in style to last summer’s novel, this report will incorporate my June, July and August vacations. The ship has already sailed for a live report for June, but I may attempt some live updates in July/August. Or not. :hilarious:

Trip #1
Who: Tuvalu and Em
When: June 8-13, 2019
Where: Disney’s Wilderness Lodge

118537E3-D4CC-4761-9D22-4CF84E735DEB.jpeg


Did we meet the Wicked Queen? Who got shoved in the Haunted Mansion? Did the rain rain rain come down down down? Was there an attraction evac? Did one of us really cause a ride to shut down?

Answers to come!

(Special thanks to @krisri18 for another trip report title! 💕)
 

Nunu

Wanderluster
Premium Member
So true!
Frank and I took JC to WDW for the first time when he was 8 years old. I remember he insisted in wanting to ride between us at every single attraction!

Last time the 3 of us went to WDW together, he remembered that and jokingly squeezed between us at HM and at Arty Poo! One small detail: he is over 6' now! 😄
 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
Though it was still early, it was very warm and muggy. I decided it would be prudent to stop for a bottle of water. I went to the Liberty Square outdoor Market and was overcome by the smell of the stuff used to clean up barf. (Teachers, can you relate?) Wanting to get in and out as quickly as possible, I grabbed a bottle out of the ice cooler and presented it to the cashier....who promptly handed it back to me saying, “It’s on Mickey, have a magical day!”

Free water bottle number 5! 🤣

B1F9AC40-9DE1-4342-8D1C-8336F1636C84.jpeg


Em had wandered off before I entered the market and when she returned she wondered why I was taking a picture of a water bottle! Yes, your mom is loco!

We rehydrated and Em reminded me we had not done Pirates yet. I’d forgotten we’d missed out on it the night of the Villains Party. We began the trek to Adventureland, noticing in Frontierland that both BTMRR and Splash were down. We had a FP for BTMRR later and I crossed my fingers it would begin operating soon.

The standby wait for Pirates was short and we had our ride photo in no time. Clearly we were not having as much fun as the people in the first two rows!

5DDF953B-5572-4881-899E-1DAFCC2FF499.jpeg
 

DisneyGigi

Well-Known Member
We mutually decided where to go next.

View attachment 398011

Walking behind us through the queue (which is very, very, lengthy amiright?) was a mom and a boy of about six. The boy kept protesting that he did not want to ride because it was going to be scary. The mom reassured him the ride would not be scary....it would be fun! Ariel and Sebastian would be there! We can sing!

The kid wasn’t buying it. To his credit he was not throwing a tantrum or crying. He was just matter-of-fact that the ride was going to be scary. He boarded the clamshell willingly, but he wasn’t taking any chances.

He rode the entire attraction with his hands over his eyes!

It was adorable. I smiled sweetly at the mom who gave me an eye roll and mouthed, I tried.

I wanted to tell her I understood. Once upon a time I too had a stubborn six year old son.....and as hard as it was, I’d go back in time and live through it again.....cause kids grow up way too fast.

That is why being Grandmas, is the most wonderful thing ever. We get to do it all over again, but with a few breaks this go around. ;)
 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
Saturday, con’t

We managed to criss-cross the park a few times today which was unfortunate since it was so HOT. Em and I longingly pined for more pool time but knew we’d have to settle for air conditioning instead. We’d gotten cooled off on Pirates and now had to get back to Fantasyland for our next FP.

We chose the route via the castle hub and the path alongside the castle. There was a PP photographer at the wishing well and we stopped for what would be a very awkward photo shoot.


It started off fine....

685D3F6A-9816-4091-A1BC-27DBB16F4F1A.jpeg


291EB8E0-F490-4895-86FA-08FED332B788.jpeg


....but then got weird. “Gaze into each other’s eyes.”
Ok, we are mother/daughter but whatever.

2C6477C6-9DAF-4DDB-9200-5C1431EE3453.jpeg


She took 4 pictures of us looking at each other. Honestly that was 4 too many!

Then she told us to look into the fountain and act surprised. She clicked and clicked away. There are 5 pictures in my MDE account of us doing this.....

F9A23CCF-8F78-4EF4-88AE-5D238B5D17E9.jpeg


“Look! An empty wishing well! What a surprise!” :facepalm:

I seriously hope this was supposed to be some sort of magic shot....otherwise it ranks right up there with #stupidestphotoever.
 
Saturday, con’t

We managed to criss-cross the park a few times today which was unfortunate since it was so HOT. Em and I longingly pined for more pool time but knew we’d have to settle for air conditioning instead. We’d gotten cooled off on Pirates and now had to get back to Fantasyland for our next FP.

We chose the route via the castle hub and the path alongside the castle. There was a PP photographer at the wishing well and we stopped for what would be a very awkward photo shoot.


It started off fine....

View attachment 398285

View attachment 398286

....but then got weird. “Gaze into each other’s eyes.”
Ok, we are mother/daughter but whatever.

View attachment 398287

She took 4 pictures of us looking at each other. Honestly that was 4 too many!

Then she told us to look into the fountain and act surprised. She clicked and clicked away. There are 5 pictures in my MDE account of us doing this.....

View attachment 398289

“Look! An empty wishing well! What a surprise!” :facepalm:

I seriously hope this was supposed to be some sort of magic shot....otherwise it ranks right up there with #stupidestphotoever.
Lol!! You’re sooo right about the pictures above!! Btw- I can totally relate to the smell you were referring to of the “stuff” that they use to supposedly clean up barf!! :hungover::hungover: There’s been more than one occasion where I’ve had to remove my entire class out into a neighboring teacher’s room until that smell subsided. Yuck!!
Also, not to highjack your trip report, but I’ve been dying to ask....what time do you usually wait for the bus so that you make it into the parks before rope drop?? You are ALWAYS so good at making it on time and I never can seem to time it just right myself!! Lol 🤷‍♀️
 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
Em and I hurried away from the wishing well (should we have warned the other unsuspecting guests awaiting their turn?) and went to visit the 7 Dwarfs.

7B89D083-D77B-4D54-9282-C040809AB525.jpeg


EE7D332E-2B0A-4761-9E9C-F5865812FBDB.jpeg


501F2774-F678-4336-9468-CED3801F7499.jpeg


Fun times!

Desperate for some a/c, we headed for the nearest attraction without a long wait.

8BAF1311-5C9C-4D63-B0DB-4B2ACE1714A1.jpeg


74E2FBEB-7C36-487F-B018-6E7C60359A03.jpeg


We grabbed our opera glasses and only waited a couple minutes until the doors opened. I had to nudge Em and remind her to Look left! Look right!
 

Longers

Well-Known Member
Em and I hurried away from the wishing well (should we have warned the other unsuspecting guests awaiting their turn?) and went to visit the 7 Dwarfs.

View attachment 398290

View attachment 398291

View attachment 398292

Fun times!

Desperate for some a/c, we headed for the nearest attraction without a long wait.

View attachment 398293

View attachment 398294

We grabbed our opera glasses and only waited a couple minutes until the doors opened. I had to nudge Em and remind her to Look left! Look right!

Come on Em you shouldn’t need prompting!
 

epcotisbest

Well-Known Member
@Tuvalu I had Sonny's bbq yesterday. Thought of you. There is not one where we live but I had to go out of town and noticed the Sonny's along the way had been remodeled and I thought what a good time to try it out.
It happened that yesterday was Sonny Tillman's 90th birthday and the special of the day was the rib dinner for $9. So I had ribs, tater tots (extra crispy and tasty), coleslaw and garlic bread with the ribs, and, ignoring sugar and carb counting, had some of the sweet sauce on the ribs...good stuff.
The kind lady there said next Wednesday's special is all you can eat (and I can eat a lot) chicken dinner for $6.99, so I might just have to go back that way if my sugar numbers have come back down by then.
 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
@Tuvalu I had Sonny's bbq yesterday. Thought of you. There is not one where we live but I had to go out of town and noticed the Sonny's along the way had been remodeled and I thought what a good time to try it out.
It happened that yesterday was Sonny Tillman's 90th birthday and the special of the day was the rib dinner for $9. So I had ribs, tater tots (extra crispy and tasty), coleslaw and garlic bread with the ribs, and, ignoring sugar and carb counting, had some of the sweet sauce on the ribs...good stuff.
The kind lady there said next Wednesday's special is all you can eat (and I can eat a lot) chicken dinner for $6.99, so I might just have to go back that way if my sugar numbers have come back down by then.
Mmmmmm, Sonny's. Just might have to stop there next week!

I love Philharmagic!! That magic shot (or anti-magic shot) was weird! Why would anyone peer into an empty well?
Anti-magic shot!! Love it!! :joyfull:
 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
Saturday, con’t

Time to cross-cross the park yet again! After leaving Philharmagic we walked back to Frontierland for lunch at Pecos Bills. It was still on the early side (before 11:30 am) so the restaurant was not crazy crowded. (Which was good because y’all know how well mobile ordering works for me.....🙄)

Em went with chicken nachos and I had a chicken rice bowl. We were members of @Darstarr ’s camp this meal as we did not order guacamole.

AD46B438-D60C-429E-8819-35899A78A508.jpeg


We were pleased that we had done 7 attractions in just a couple hours. Crowds were increasing as there was an influx of South American teen tour groups. We remember the “Tia Iaras” from our July vacations of years past, before the SA economy went in the tank. Apparently things have picked up!

I had scheduled BTMRR as our last FP (to end our trip on a high note) and our “window” opened while we were in Pecos Bills. I fully expected to receive a notification that BTMRR was still down and that our FP had become a Multiple Experience pass.

But I was wrong!

According to the app there was a 90 minute standby wait. I expected the FP line to be lengthy too.

Once again I was wrong!

40FA8725-A767-4F4D-9F04-649569D371CB.jpeg


When we got inside we learned there was only one side operating. That explained why the wait was so long for an attraction that had only opened recently!

B3504087-5DD6-41DF-81BF-228A94E9CA20.jpeg


Turns out BTMRR was not our final attraction. I played around on the app for a couple minutes and managed to snag FPs for another favorite. :happy:
 

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

Back
Top Bottom