Trip Report Two broke guys & a dog (for the last time.) (completed)

No, I’m not mad at Disney. We’ll be back (in fact, it can’t be soon enough.) But this turned out to be our last trip together as a family.

Who: Brian (R) Tony (L) and Kylie.

When: May, 2023.

Can’t tease this, so I’ll just come out with it.

We’ve posted TRs over the years under the “Two broke guys & a dog” banner (and other titles.) Our May trip was short, and we had already booked August for my birthday (complete with a planned meet up with @Tuvalu) so I thought I’d make one double TR after August.

I ended up with Covid mid-month and we had to postpone to December for Brian’s birthday.

In the meantime, Kylie, our 14 year old German Shepherd/Chow Chow was diagnosed with heart failure. That “heads up” turned out to be a gift and a blessing that allowed us to spend so much extra quality time with her.

Kylie’s 14th bday on Halloween:

She stayed with us through the holidays, rubbing on the Christmas tree when she walked past it, per usual (like a cat lol) and was really doing well - eating, going for walks, snuggling. I expected more of a slow, gradual decline…but she passed yesterday. Now my heart is failing.

I don’t know how far I’ll get with this today. It might actually be too soon. But I thought it could be therapeutic, and a nice tribute.

For some reason, since my 30s, if I cry even a little, my eyelids swell up and it’s hard to undo. Ice helps only temporarily. I fear typing all this out will continue the waterworks (it already has) and prolong that condition. OTOH, they’re already swollen, so WTH? I’ll play it by ear, if that’s ok.

This is my love letter to my pup.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Why go back to the Flying Fish? Why did we “break up” in the first place?

FF was literally our first (to us) “fancy dinner.” It was our 4 year wedding anniversary in 2011. Kylie was at home. A friend gifted us the wine pairings to go with our celebratory meal (unbeknownst to us until we were seated) and the bartender was the husband of that good friend’s niece. We all keep in touch to this day.

That bartender (Craig) taught us the proper way to drink wine with a meal (you mean you don’t chug it?!) He went off-script with the pairings and carefully explained each one. It was a mind-blowing experience I’ll never forget, and rarely has a meal come close since.

I had their signature potato-wrapped snapper for the first of a few times over the years, and fell in love with it. (A veal glaze, leek fondue, what’s not to love?)

When the chef moved on and the place was refurbed, the menu changed. We gave it a couple of tries but didn’t love anything, and then even Craig moved on (to V&A, where someone of his caliber belongs!) So no hard feelings, but it was over between us. (Jiko became our new side piece.)

What happened? They brought back the potato-wrapped snapper dish! So we made an ADR.

Kylie was comfortable enough in the Cabin that we knew we could leave her for 2-3 hours, just like we would do at home (even though that’s against the rules.)

So we got to the Boardwalk a little early, and went through the IG to Epcot for a quick visit to the Flower & Garden show.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

We caught a bit of a rain shower on our way around the world, so we ducked into Spice Road Table to ride it out.

Naturally, we passed the time with a couple of drinks and some appetizers. (We wouldn’t want to be rude, right?)

A woman and her brother were sitting at the table next to us. She was wearing an “It’s My Birthday” sash (yes, sash, not just pin - like Miss America) and she was clearly having fun, but also did not have a whole lot of people with her to celebrate. She obviously appreciated her brother’s company, but also had to take care of him a bit, or at least look out for him, relating to his health.

We got to chit chatting about the rain, and WDW, and which apps were good. I bought her a drink and we toasted to her bday. She seemed to be really tickled.

We had to make our way back to FF, and the rain had stopped, but first Brian had to unwittingly impersonate the Morton salt girl.

Winnie The Pooh didn’t look as gay.

(The above happened after stopping for a quick schoolbread to go.)

And I just thought I should take a pic of these Mickey cinnabuns even though we didn’t get one.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

So Flying Fish, how was the dish?

Well, we’ve always appreciated the decor since the refurb.

I upgraded with a lobster tail this time. They slapped it right on top of the dish.

It was…fine. Not quite how I remembered - but memories can be faulty, right? I think the potatoes were thinner and overcooked, which made them taste more like potato chips. Something else was different, but I can’t remember now.

Anyway, this is when you remember why you “broke up” in the first place, and why you never “sleep with your ex!”

Cut to my birthday in August. We have had a Disney recipe book (with the snapper recipe) on our shelf at home for over a decade. It’s one heck of an intimidating task. Lots of ingredients, lots of prep.

Brian not just surprised, but shocked me with his attempt - he had from about 1pm when I went to work until about 7 when I got home. He had to shop, prep, and execute - and it took all day. I couldn’t believe it when I came home. He made the leek fondue, the veal glaze, the whole bit. He couldn’t get the potato wrapped around the snapper, but it didn’t matter. The flavors were there. It was better than FF in May. And there were leftovers!

Kylie didn’t care. She was chilling in the yard. (This is just an excuse for a Kylie pic.)

 

[riverside]

That bartender (Craig) taught us the proper way to drink wine with a meal (you mean you don’t chug it?!

That’s news to me!!

but first Brian had to unwittingly impersonate the Morton salt girl.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

But why would you slap a lobster tail on top of a completely unrelated dish? I mean, rather than put it on a separate plate? Am I alone in my bewilderment? Just sayin.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

With dinner under our belts (literally) we made our way back to the Cabin to make sure Kylie was ok. We’d never left her alone there that long, even though it was only about 3+ hours. Our biggest fear wasn’t that she would do anything…messy, but that Disney would do one of their random inspections and accidentally let her out (or kick us out.)

Of course, when we arrived back, our good girl was sleeping. After a little while, I took her for a walk. She loves sniffing all around the grounds

The next morning was a park day, but first we had our Best Friends Pet Care (BFPC) ritual.

We had it down to a science. First of all, after all these years, when we turn onto the street where BFPC is located, Kylie knows where we are and gets excited in the car. She always made us feel better about leaving her “alone” there.

Then, I always walk her in and go through the lobby to the dog park in the back, where we walk/run/play while Brian handles checking-in and gives them her Mickey to put with her in her indoor/outdoor combo room.

I didn’t take a lot of pics because we have so many of her there. She and I walked around and then, per usual, when Brian is done at the front counter, he meets us out back. We all chill together for a few, and then bring her back in. I rarely look down the hall when they take her away because if she looks back at us, I feel bad. I just want her to think we’re still out back or something.

Cue waterworks.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

With Kylie safe and sound, Brian and I headed over to Hollywood Studios to see our friend Julie behind the bar at the Tune-In Lounge. I’m sure we did more than sit at the bar all day - Runaway Railway, Galaxy’s Edge…

Nope. We sat at the bar until the end of Julie’s shift. Correction: we didn’t sit at the bar, we stood at the bar. The stools were removed during Covid and never came back!

We had fun catching up, cracking up, drinking up - and chatting with fellow Loungers. Sometimes if we have a good chat with another couple, I’ll buy a round of shots. (Once, the other couple reciprocated too many times!) On this day, my offer was turned down because they had to leave. But they bought us a round in thanks and asked if we were D3 members. Huh?

Is that the expensive fan club? No, it’s the Disney Day Drinkers (D3) group which has grown very quickly out of a FB page. It’s a lot of fun and right up our alley. I forgot about it for awhile, but it popped up on my FB feed after we got home (you know our phones hear everything!) and I signed up.

Also different since Covid: can’t order 50’s Prime Time food at the bar. So for the first time, we sat down in the restaurant. Our waitress knew enough to go easy on the schtick. I appreciated that.

Ah, comfort food.

My husband is a fairly big guy, and it’s hard to tell when he’s drunk.

This time it was easy.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Well, I told you this was a short trip. We ate and sobered up a bit (well, I did) and found the car. Brian was singing the whole way, but I don’t remember what song.

We picked up the pup, enjoyed our last night in the cabin (although I never sleep well there. I slept on the couch, and Kylie split the night - half near me on the couch, half near the bed with Brian. Doing her duty and checking on both of us.

As mentioned earlier, despite having her booked at BFPC for August, I got covid in August, and she got sick soon after. We didn’t realize this would be her last trip. We’re so glad she was able to come with us so often, especially once pets were allowed. That might seem like a small thing or even an annoyance to some, but it was so important then, and even more so now.

Even though we are caught up on the May TR and Kylie is gone, we’re still at WDW right now, and her memory has been very prominent this whole time. This current trip has been healing, sad, celebratory - and you’ll learn how people from this message board helped so much in real time. Kylie will still factor into the next part of this TR.

Of course, we moved her Mickey from ASM to CBR with us.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

I had to read back from the beginning to see what I’d already mentioned about the current trip (not much!)

Technically this is a triple trip report - my May solo, our May family, and our longest visit in a long time - which we’re still on right now.

I really needed to get out of that house.

If you were paying attention, you caught that I started out Tuesday morning saying we would stay offsite the first night, but Wednesday afternoon I booked - once again - All Star Music instead. Offsite wouldn’t have been much savings, and we’d have to pay for it in real money.

And, true to the moniker, everything you’ve read about up to now was paid for with Chase Disney Visa points.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Wednesday afternoon, I booked ASM for that night. I thought the latest we’d leave the house would be 10pm, but hoped for 8-9. The main thing is to avoid traffic, but not arrive too late that it disrupts the next day.

Brian had gotten off work at 7:30am, but then had a chiropractor appointment. He had not gotten home by the time an employee contacted me to let me know he blew a tire on his way to work, and I had to run out to open one of my stores. (There goes my packing time!) I worked until 3:30, needed to eat & chill when I got home. Then had to pack for several nights with varying weather and so forth.

We got on the road at 10:30pm. I was choked up. It felt like we were leaving Kylie for good. I know, it makes no sense but it brought a few tears then, and again now as I type it out.

Note: always take the express!! I usually do, but I was on the phone with WDW asking why the system didn’t let me check in online for ASM all day. I was trying to avoid having to go to the front desk. They couldn’t help, and I wasn’t paying attention to the express lane entrance. Sure enough, fairly early on, we hit about 20 minutes of stop-and-go traffic while the folks in the express lane whizzed past us. That drives me nuts.

I made up the time by speeding like the NJ driver I am, and we arrived at the originally estimated time. We were hungry but didn’t happen to pass anyplace between the highway and the hotel. 7-11? Wawa? We did pass the Disney Mickey Dees, but it looked closed, and I don’t typically eat that stuff anymore, anyway.

I went to the front desk to check in. Thought it would be easy, no line, etc. Well, there was no line, but it wasn’t easy, either…

 

[Tony the Tigger]

I told the very nice CM my name and showed her my ID. She said, “But you’re at CBR tomorrow.” I politely pointed out I had just booked her hotel several hours ago. Then my heart sank as I thought: did I mess up and book the wrong day?

I found my confirmation email and showed her the confirmation number. It didn’t come up in her system. What?!

She asked to look at my phone. She opened MDE and saw the reservation. It was the correct date and everything. I wondered if this was why I couldn’t check in earlier (and also why the discounted rate never carried over from the search results page to the checkout page - I paid $30 more than what it showed.)

An older woman came in from outdoors, and my CM reviewed everything with her. This is going on 20 minutes now with Brian waiting in the running car. The CM had to build a new reservation, take my cc for a temporary payment that would get zeroed out in the morning, and “upgraded” my room. How do you upgrade a room at an All-Star? I guess because it was closer to the main stuff. I appreciated the offer. I got back in the car and we went to that frickin’ McDonald’s lol. Probably got to sleep around 2:30am. But we were there.

That’s when I surprised/shocked Brian by pulling Kylie’s Mickey out of my bag and placing him on the counter. Mickey always came to WDW with us for Kylie, he was her favorite. She gnawed the heck out of that poor little guy for years. I meant to wash him before we left, but forgot. He’ll get cleaned and likely have a permanent spot in the bedroom when we get home.

I also kept one of her metal food bowls to throw my loose change in. Little things. Her leash is still hanging in the kitchen. A lot of other stuff we got rid of right away. Couldn’t bear the sight. Gave food and treats to a friend’s dog. I had just bought a new bag of kibble because she had just started eating it again after not touching it for weeks. I thought that was great, because it was more concentrated nutrition than the canned food, which was all she would eat for awhile, other than home cooked chicken, brown rice and chicken livers. That was good to get her to eat more volume, but it wasn’t complete nutrition.

I usually had to fork-feed her from the can, and sneak her meds in that way. She would often start off timidly, and then get ravenous after awhile lol. There’s a video of that somewhere.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

There are a lot of pics and videos from the last few months. There were extra walks in the middle of the night, extra snacks if she’d have them. And so much extra work, worth every minute.

We woke up on Thursday morning missing her, but it didn’t feel as out of place at WDW. She couldn’t have been with us at ASM, anyway, so it just felt like we were away, less like she was gone, even though we knew she was.

Good Lord, I can get in my own head.

We hoped we’d get the room ready text from CBR before checkout, but it didn’t happen, so we made our way over to Epcot. Woo hoo!

Instead of the room ready text, we got a message from another member on this board who might be able to meet up with us. Not wanting to steal any thunder, I’ll let that poster make the reveal before discussing my take on the visit!

And that’s how this trip went - moments of reflection, moments of joy. Back and forth.

It’s exactly what we needed.

 

[imahistorygeek]

We got on the road at 10:30pm. I was choked up. It felt like we were leaving Kylie for good. I know, it makes no sense but it brought a few tears then, and again now as I type it out.

I'm really sorry about Kylie. We know what it's like to lose a member of your family. It's really hard. Our buddy Oreo has been gone for two years and while it does get easier, I still tear up over him and miss him terribly. When I think of him now, I smile more because I remember all the good times we had with him.

You keep Kylie's memory alive in your trip reports and one day you'll be able to look back at these memories and remember so many happy memories you both had with her.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

I'm really sorry about Kylie. We know what it's like to lose a member of your family. It's really hard. Our buddy Oreo has been gone for two years and while it does get easier, I still tear up over him and miss him terribly. When I think of him now, I smile more because I remember all the good times we had with him.

You keep Kylie's memory alive in your trip reports and one day you'll be able to look back at these memories and remember so many happy memories you both had with her.

That’s kind of why I’m doing this - it’s like journaling. And it’s all fresh and being documented as I go through it. To wit:

 

[Tony the Tigger]

That last slightly blurry pic of Kylie in the car was from this past New Year’s Eve.

Warning: this post may get deep. I know it’s not for everyone, and I appreciate those who have stuck with me so far. I’m trying to balance the good memories and the gratefulness for what we had with the reality of my raw feelings.

When she was first diagnosed in late September/early October, I wish they had called it something other than “heart failure.” That made it sound to me like she had days or weeks left. I in effect went through the grieving process over the first two weeks, thinking she’d be gone at any moment.

When certain tests came back in October, I had a crying talk with her and said, “If you need to go, it’s OK. You’ve been the best pup.” Then I said, “…but it’s almost your birthday” and completely lost it.

As you know, I posted a pic from that birthday (Halloween.)

Thanks to a suggestion from my Aunt (not either of the two vets!) we put her on a diuretic and a second heart medication, and she stabilized. She started eating more, gaining weight back, going for walks. She always demonstrated her will, which I thought was a great sign - like when I decided a walk was over and started up our lawn to the house, she’d dig in and let me know she wasn’t done walking!

I dared ask she make it through some or all of the holidays. On Thanksgiving, she was in great shape and we took her to my cousin’s for turkey. My cousin is a huge animal lover and recently lost her 2 girls. Kylie was doted on and ate well, walked a few times. The picture of the 3 of us at the top of this TR is from that day. Grateful for sure.

I started to think she’d make it to Christmas, but was ready to decorate early just in case. I always checked myself to make sure I was doing everything for her, and not for us. I never wanted a zombie dog who was suffering and being dragged along. She was in good shape and improving!

I love this pic from Christmas. It’s the screensaver on my phone.

At this point, I started to think we had months ahead of us.

Next post: the NYE project.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

When she was younger, Kylie was never bothered by loud noises. For the last several years, she became afraid of both thunder and fireworks. The fireworks are bad where we live. It’s like a war zone without a moment’s break. So every 7/4 and 12/31 we take her to a hotel where it’s quieter and she sleeps peacefully, and we order in and make an event of it.

Given the uncertainty of her diuretics, I couldn’t in good conscience book a room for NYE. Brian was working overnight at the hospital, it was just me and Kylie. I couldn’t let her stay at home and be terrified - especially with her heart condition.

So I decided to take her to my store. It’s in a quieter, more commercial area, and not carpeted. I packed up like we were going to Disney, brought Mickey of course, and off we went.

I also knew my good friends at the kava bar a few doors down would be celebrating, and would love to meet her (or in some cases see her again) and we wouldn’t be alone at midnight.

We walked so much that night - exploring a whole new area. She ate well. She got lots of attention and petting from my friends. No accidents, and she and I slept on the floor together. She slept peacefully. What fireworks?

So thankful we had that adventure!

I think I’m extra sappy this morning because although I have a few more fun days of this TR (I promise, they’re fun!) in real time, we’re checking out and going home today. And I know what we’re going home to. And I know how I’m going to be. I’m hiding tears at Animal Kingdom club level breakfast right this minute just thinking about it.

It’s better than it was a week ago. This trip did help. But this afternoon will be a hiccup in the healing. And then “we go on.”

 

[Tuvalu]

 

[Figgy1]

 

[Zipadeelady]

@Tony the Tigger after I lost my Clyde a few years ago I would start crying out of nowhere. I thought I was fine then wham, tears. I believe it happens to most of us and I'm so sorry you are going through it now.

 

[Swissmiss]

Kylie was clearly loved and it shows that she gave this love back to you. And as was said above, one day, but not now, her memories will make you happy rather than sad.