Trip Report Two broke guys & a dog (for the last time.) (Once more, with feelings. 1/13/25.)

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]

I know when I write these things up, I forget some little anecdote, or vignette, or commentary because there’s no picture to go with it. Maybe I should take notes next time.

Waking up Christmas morning was fairly uneventful at first. I didn’t sleep great. The Potter marathon was still repeating. I think (after hours of being awake) I slept from 5am to 10am - and then remembered where I was! We groggily said Merry Christmas to each other (the trip was the gift) and exchanged cards.

Still hadn’t touched that oatmeal.

We had an ADR for breakfast at Topolino’s (woo hoo!) at 12:15. Should we take the bus, now that we knew where the bus stop was? Driving seemed out of the question. Lyft it is.

We both started with the Old Fashioned.

And here comes Mickey!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

They start you off with a “paint bucket” of assorted muffins & croissants, and 3 “paints” - strawberry, butter, and chocolate (may have been Nutella? Not sure.)

Like most character dining, it’s pricey, and the characters make stops at each table - in this case: Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Daisy in what I would call French artist attire.

This was *perfect* for a non-park day, and I’d imagine folks waiting in line at sold-out MK on Christmas Day to meet even one of them had a tougher time.

Unlike most character dining, this is a very good restaurant. There’s no, “Oh, do it for the ambience and the character meets because the food is mediocre.” Granted, it’s breakfast, and some of the more basic entrees feel exceptionally light for $55, but what you order is well done.

I think we chose wisely. Brian had some version of smoked salmon on avocado toast,

and I took our server’s advice and ordered the steak & eggs (the steak being 3 filet medallions.)

At some point while ordering, Brian said something about waffles. Unprompted, Aziz brought him one.

Of course, you know who ate most of it. I’ll never fit into that sky blue tracksuit now. The whipped cream was excellent, I believe it had some hint of flavoring that I loved. Quality all around.

Little touches like when I ordered herbal (decaf) hot tea, he brought me two kinds that he liked to brew together. I enjoyed that.

The muffins were refillable, but we were both nicely stuffed. Oh, yes, our new friends:

Brian & Donald got along well. B asked D to “shake a tail feather,” and he obliged, to the delight of nearby tables. B also spoke to D in mimicked Donald Duck language. This was fun!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

 

[Tony the Tigger]

The Minnie pics must be on B’s phone!

There was no rush (except for our next appointment) and we liked Aziz, and bonded a bit. If you ask me enough questions (ok, any questions) you’re going to get a snippet of the Kylie story. That brought on his story about his Dad’s (pretty remarkable) battle with cancer, and we all had tears in our eyes. We ordered a second drink.

We also know someone who works there, and texted her from our table. She was able to switch with someone to get Christmas off, and we met that person as well. Everyone was very nice.

Now, I like to take pics of our drinks, with or without our D3 coins, to post on the D3 (Disney Day Drinkers) FB page.

I actually drank mine before taking the pic, so I thought I’d make a funny post about that.

I don’t know how this happened, but this pic is unaltered.

Blow it up a little. Quoting Professor Quirrell(sp?) when about to die at the end of Potter movie #1: “Wot is this magic?!”

I showed it to our new staff friends and they were just as amazed.

There is no design on that glass. That’s the ice cube inside the glass.

The ice cube mold does put an “RR” (Riviera Resort) on the top of the ice cube. This photo was of the side of the ice cube.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

What do you see in the glass?

 

[Swissmiss]

What do you see in the glass?

A dog’s face (which is proof that Kylie is still with you, even if she isn’t )

 

[93boomer]

What do you see in the glass?

Awww it is a doggie!!

 

[Tiggerish]

A dog’s face (which is proof that Kylie is still with you, even if she isn’t )

That's what I see, too.

 

[Tiggertoo56]

That's what I see, too.

Yep, definitely a doggie in that glass!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

What do you see in the glass?

A dog’s face (which is proof that Kylie is still with you, even if she isn’t )

Awww it is a doggie!!

That's what I see, too.

Yep, definitely a doggie in that glass!

OK, my first thought was The Lion King!

Of course, Mufasa/TLK was plastered everywhere, and I had been planning to watch the live action CGI remake before seeing the new one.

Once I blew the pic up, I thought, “or a dog.” And then I almost felt bad for thinking it was a lion lol. I said almost - because it really does look like a lion.

Of course, Brian reminded me, he used to say Kylie looked like a lion! This is true.

Either way, the image is pretty remarkable, and I couldn’t have intentionally created/recreated it if I tried.

 

[pkkurz]

Oh my, that is a fantastic likeness of Kylie. Gave me chills.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

At some point during the meal, they give you this “signed” card.

We went outside on the terrace, as has become customary.

Made fun of tourists in the pool during winter temps.

And I had an idea on the spot. I was trying to jam as much Disney fun into this resort-only Christmas trip. We could take a Lyft from the Riviera to our next destination…or we could…

Fly!

At first Brian was nonplussed.

Then he leaned into it.

And although I thought we had already been having fun all along,

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Our “flight” hadn’t gotten us any closer to the Winter Summerland miniature golf course, but I enjoyed it! We took the Lyft from wherever we landed.

I didn’t take many pictures, because when we arrived, I gave Brian my phone to put in his jacket pocket. Otherwise, it pulls my pants down a smidge in my pants pocket lol.

This was a lot of fun, and a good time killer on a resort day. It was your basic miniature golf course, but themed to winter and Santa, at least on the side we chose. You can also choose the summer side.

The score went back-and-forth. We each had some surprise holes in one, and some frustrating spots, but in the end Brian was victorious. It was a good time…despite no drinks.

The scorecard:

Including the backstory.

I just realized I filled out the wrong side of the card.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Where to now? Back to the room to rest up before dinner - and I had another solid idea.

According to the website, the OKW resort had a gym and sauna. We had enjoyed the sauna at AKL earlier in the year, so why not?

Because there was no sauna, that’s why not. We found the gym, but the sauna part was now a supply closet. It had an “CM only” sign on the door, so naturally I opened it and saw the supplies.

Back to the room, and our cute little balcony for the ceremonial shot of Crown Royal Vanilla.

And I was ready to go.

Look, it’s old Harry Potter.

Let me tell you…bishes ’d that Tigger tie. I heard it all night. I was practically catcalled.

This was the height of surge pricing time.

So my cheap azz, having already overspent on Lyft, decided to drive to the TTC and take the Monorail - another “Disney experience” successfully crammed in.

We had another lucky ADR for Citricos, but I wanted to “bar crawl,” so we went early, and once again easily got in, and got a bar seat at the Enchanted Rose.

…at the kid’s table.

Oscar was behind the bar, but we were not seated in his section. We had a nice chat with the service bartender, though.

Cheers, and Merry Christmas (back when it was on time to say that!)

 

[Tony the Tigger]

We had about 30 minutes to spend at ER, enough to enjoy one drink at a leisurely pace, and take the short, convenient walk to Citricos.

On the way over, I said, “Is that Aziz?”

He turned around. It was Aziz, our server from Topolino’s that morning. He was hanging out with his mom at the Grand Flo. He asked to take a picture with us and send it to our mutual friend. I have never seen this picture, so for all I know, it looks like this:

On to Citricos.

There are those reindeer again.

You know I like Old Fashioneds. You know I like banana.

Anything pop out at you there?

Well, here it is:

Gorgeous, right? Not so banana-y, but very nice. The giant ball of ice tends to rest in the lower portion of the glass…until you are halfway finished with your drink. Then, it is plastered to your lip as you sip.

But, the chairs have handles.

I now believe all chairs should have handles.

I don’t care whether they’re meant for purse hooks or whatever; they’re very convenient for pulling out your chair!

The last time we dined here, we were seated in a back room that was smaller, more intimate, felt nicer. This time, we were in what I would presume to call the main dining area, across from the bar. It’s hard not to make a giant open space full of tables feel like a cafeteria, even with fancy chairs. It was still nice, don’t get me wrong. I did prefer the smaller room.

I guess that drink knocked me on my , because I have no pics of the appetizers. They were the same as last time: pork belly, and a ceviche style Hamachi. Delish.

Our mains were excellent, even though mine came with grits. Maybe it was because that drink was actually my second drink, counting the bar prior, or third, counting the shot on the balcony, but I didn’t think to ask for a sub. They were fine. Basically, polenta!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

A few pics on our way…

to our favorite chairs. That’s right, we hopped. I said this was a bar crawl!

I was very annoyed with two biddies, sitting there on two of the three chairs - not using them, mind you, just sitting on them, knowing Brian and I each wanted to use one. (I may mumble things after a few drinks.) also knowing the arcade was closing very shortly, and we had limited time to make use of these wonderful massage tools.

After about two minutes, I could tell by the eventual time differential on our two chairs, they finally got up – not because they realized they were taking up space, but because their ride was coming.

I feel like a lot of little anecdotes or things I notice get lost in the time between the experience and the writing of the trip reports. I remembered that one, though! I also remembered (OK I saw a picture that I didn’t want to post) that the little plastic thingies in the urinals at one of these two resorts had the word “AIM” on them. I thought that was funny in the moment.

Final bar hop: a repeat of last week, a chocolate martini in a plastic cup at the outer rim.

And back to the TTC, back to the room.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

We decided to use what I thought was the least likely feature we’d ever use, and sign in to our D+ account in the room. We put on the “live action” Lion King in preparation for the new film, and did a little organizing/pre-packing in preparation for tomorrow’s departure. I knew it would be tight because B sleeps late, there was one bathroom to share, and there was one more thing I wanted to do in the morning.

Couldn’t take the tree down, yet, though. It was still Christmas night, after all.

I took a pic of the bounce back thingy because I always forget. Thought I might call on the drive home - although I think I already got the same discount as an AP on our January trip(?) If not, it was pretty close.

Spoiler alert: I forgot…but they give you 7 days now, so it could still happen, right? Don’t get your hopes up. The call we did make on our way home proved much more valuable!

In the meantime, just after Mufasa was swept away, I fell asleep.

 

[Tuvalu]

Where was the arcade?

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Where was the arcade?

We hopped over to the contemporary. The arcade is right next to where some people go through security, same floor as Outer Rim. I discovered the chairs there when I was by myself earlier in the year. Brian and I used them last week and did the same on Christmas night. Pretty much standard airport massage chairs, but with “extra magic.“

 

[Tony the Tigger]

I don’t remember what time I woke up on 12/26, but it wasn’t too late. Had to wake B up by 9 because we had a 10am ADR at Olivia’s. I always want to either stop for a meal or go to the parks on our last day, and it never seems to happen. This time, the set up was perfect: we were staying at a resort with a good brunch restaurant.

The thing is, we had to be out by 11. There’s no late checkout with DVC rentals. In my fantasy, we were a short walk from Olivia’s. In reality, it was a drive to an often overcrowded little parking lot.

I had the tree mostly down by the time B got up. Didn’t throw away as much as I thought I would. Brought most of the bags to the car except our bathroom stuff and a couple of things.

The parking lot, while full, would not be a problem today. We got lucky with the one open spot, and arrived on time. Still had to wait a few minutes, which gave me a minute to visit the gift shop and double check for an OKW Christmas ornament. I really didn’t like them.

Looking again now, I probably should’ve gotten the one on the left. I tend to avoid Mickey & Minnie stuff. But why not one? It’s cute. We had bought enough ornaments on these trips, but none specific to OKW. I may go back and grab one if time allows in January. We’ll see.

The one on the right is for people who can afford to buy DVC, with 9 foot trees that can hold 20 pound weights.

On to Olivia’s.

Banana bread French toast it is!

I mean, it wasn’t @Tiggerish ’s banana bread, but it’ll do. I could’ve used a sliced banana on top.

When our server greeted us, I mentioned that we were just trying to squeeze in a quick breakfast before checkout, and she seemed to get that memo. Our meals came out quickly, and although we were seated about 15 minutes late, we were out the door in another 15.

Back to the room for the last time.

I will say, we continued to enjoy unseasonably high temperatures and beautiful weather. We had escaped some rain back home on both trips!

I left the candy canes that had been on the tree in a pattern on the dresser where the TV is, framing the tip for Mousekeeping.

We made it out just in time, and started the journey home in my new favorite car with my new favorite amplifier and my new, er, same ol’ favorite husband - because of whom we had to stop back at the Fort Pierce hotel where he had left his extra pillow from home on the way up.

The phone call - it took an hour, and required both of us to be on the line: I had been meaning to call Verizon and ask why we should keep their service when every other carrier was throwing free phones at us, with lower monthly bills.

Long story short: before noon, our bill was $325 per month (our two lines, his watch, and one employee line.) After noon, our bill was $175 per month, and two free iPhone 16 Pros were waiting for us at our local Verizon store.

Ta-daaaaa! Forgot all about that bounce back offer.