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.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

I enjoyed Boma in the past, but it's been a while.

The menu from 2013 suggests a downgrade since. I always loved the watermelon salad in particular.

Seafood stew, seafood gumbo, salmon, pork shoulder, crab soup...the current menu appears lacking in comparison.

 

[pkkurz]

We have always loved breakfast at Boma, dinner not so much.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Oh that’s disappointing. We’ve never tried it either. Kinda glad we haven’t.

We were not sure whether to try Boma next time but will definitely not bother now.

I recommend reading other (recent) reviews before deciding on my say-so, as I can be quirky.

That said, I can’t honestly recommend Boma.

Seafood stew, seafood gumbo, salmon, pork shoulder, crab soup...the current menu appears lacking in comparison.

That sounds better! I almost went for a soup, just seemed like time to go.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

While Boma left a sour taste, we did not leave in a sour mood. Years ago, we might have stopped at the bar, but we weren’t in the mood to drink (more.) We took our old bodies back to the warm room, didn’t see anything out the back window, watched a few of the in-room videos (when you select non-TV, they have little fun videos about the animals and what not) and went to sleep.

I had some possible ideas for the morning: the gym? Sauna? Graze upstairs? Proper breakfast? It all depended on how early I woke up.

That wasn’t so early. Didn’t see animals outside, but I knew I’d see activity on the other side of the hallway. Since I was the only one awake, I went up to the 6th floor for grazing. I had some eggs with goat cheese, a little fruit, a croissant, etc., and my last little PB&J. There was a hot oatmeal station, but I skipped it.

I brought something back to Brian and we started packing up. To my surprise, I got a text from Darlene - they were heading over to our resort! I wasn’t sure if they were checking in or ?

They arrived just before 11, as I was bringing some of our stuff to the car. They waited in the lobby near the fireplace as I got the rest of our stuff and my husband, and they grabbed a drink for each of us.

We had a nice little visit, but their time was limited as they had breakfast reservations…at Boma

Bonus meet up!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Of course, I had to mention our experience at Boma the night before. Dar started talking about the breakfast - including the goat cheese eggs (!) So I acted all stuck up and said, "But I just had those upstairs in "tha looounge" for free." LOL.

I had noticed a few other similarities between Boma's dinner and things that had been in the lounge. Clearly Boma feeds the club lounge. I bet if we hadn't missed the dessert serving last night, I would have found more zebra domes up there! I'd never have had to go to Boma at all lol.

Which brings me to a question I asked at the beginning: was club level worth it?

It depends. The way we did it, compared to dollars and cents for a room vs. a room with club level, probably not. The merlot alone brought it close. We had 8 of those between the two of us, and if we had ordered them at a Disney bar, #1 they would have been $13-15 each plus tip, and #2 they likely would have been cocktails instead of wine and cost even more. At a roughly $200-$300 upcharge for the room (depending on Savannah view or not) the wine alone was at least $120+ and then we grazed. Was the value of what we grazed $80 to $180 or more? No. But - the value of what we would have spent otherwise possibly may have been.

Keeping in mind we didn't go to parks. Most people will, so they'll have less time to get more value out of it. We also missed breakfast and dessert on the first day.

Also, many people will have more people in the room, and therefore get more value out of club level.

Btw, yes, we did tip in the lounge. We did not notice most people doing so, but I didn't exactly stare down each table. I think it goes without saying we should tip in the lounge when drinks are involved. (Go ahead and start a TR brawl LOL.)

If I knew then what I know now, I would have booked differently. I would have gotten the AKL club level room for Saturday, and then a regular (possibly not even with a view, to save money) room for Sunday. I originally wanted to do 2 nights at AKL, but it was a choice of 2 nights with no view for $800 vs. 1 night with a view at club level for $700. Under the circumstances of the booking, I wanted to do something special for us, especially since we didn't have park tickets (although, it's worth noting, park tickets would have cost the same as the upgrade to club level.) Now that I know booking club level gets you access to the lounge for basically two full days, then...if I had only booked it for Saturday, and stayed in a standard room on Sunday, it would have been a bargain for 2 days of drinking and grazing.

Did everyone get that?

And yes, every single thing we did was paid for by Chase Disney Visa points, except to get gas for the ride home!

I have no regrets about booking club level, but again, I would have done it for Saturday had I known better, and I'd probably do it again at a different resort and/or research recent club level offerings at that resort first. It's definitely not a frugal move. But it can be fun and now we know how to make it work. (I'll probably forget by the next time!!)

AKL rooms in general were higher priced than I'd ever seen for this time of year. We often go in mid-January. The thing is it was a last minute booking, so that probably factored in as well.

And now I feel like I'm doing what we were doing that morning...stretching it out because we didn't want the trip to end. We didn't want to go home at all.

I had a 3:20 annual check up waiting for me at home, and Brian had to leave for work at 6pm. But after our drink with Darlene and Anthony, we stopped in the AKL shop. It wasn't that late yet, right?

 

[93boomer]

Of course, I had to mention our experience at Boma the night before. Dar started talking about the breakfast - including the goat cheese eggs (!) So I acted all stuck up and said, "But I just had those upstairs in "tha looounge" for free." LOL.

I had noticed a few other similarities between Boma's dinner and things that had been in the lounge. Clearly Boma feeds the club lounge. I bet if we hadn't missed the dessert serving last night, I would have found more zebra domes up there! I'd never have had to go to Boma at all lol.

Which brings me to a question I asked at the beginning: was club level worth it?

It depends. The way we did it, compared to dollars and cents for a room vs. a room with club level, probably not. The merlot alone brought it close. We had 8 of those between the two of us, and if we had ordered them at a Disney bar, #1 they would have been $13-15 each plus tip, and #2 they likely would have been cocktails instead of wine and cost even more. At a roughly $200-$300 upcharge for the room (depending on Savannah view or not) the wine alone was at least $120+ and then we grazed. Was the value of what we grazed $80 to $180 or more? No. But - the value of what we would have spent otherwise possibly may have been.

Keeping in mind we didn't go to parks. Most people will, so they'll have less time to get more value out of it. We also missed breakfast and dessert on the first day.

Also, many people will have more people in the room, and therefore get more value out of club level.

Btw, yes, we did tip in the lounge. We did not notice most people doing so, but I didn't exactly stare down each table. I think it goes without saying we should tip in the lounge when drinks are involved. (Go ahead and start a TR brawl LOL.)

If I knew then what I know now, I would have booked differently. I would have gotten the AKL club level room for Saturday, and then a regular (possibly not even with a view, to save money) room for Sunday. I originally wanted to do 2 nights at AKL, but it was a choice of 2 nights with no view for $800 vs. 1 night with a view at club level for $700. Under the circumstances of the booking, I wanted to do something special for us, especially since we didn't have park tickets (although, it's worth noting, park tickets would have cost the same as the upgrade to club level.) Now that I know booking club level gets you access to the lounge for basically two full days, then...if I had only booked it for Saturday, and stayed in a standard room on Sunday, it would have been a bargain for 2 days of drinking and grazing.

Did everyone get that?

And yes, every single thing we did was paid for by Chase Disney Visa points, except to get gas for the ride home!

I have no regrets about booking club level, but again, I would have done it for Saturday had I known better, and I'd probably do it again at a different resort and/or research recent club level offerings at that resort first. It's definitely not a frugal move. But it can be fun and now we know how to make it work. (I'll probably forget by the next time!!)

AKL rooms in general were higher priced than I'd ever seen for this time of year. We often go in mid-January. The thing is it was a last minute booking, so that probably factored in as well.

And now I feel like I'm doing what we were doing that morning...stretching it out because we didn't want the trip to end. We didn't want to go home at all.

I had a 3:20 annual check up waiting for me at home, and Brian had to leave for work at 6pm. But after our drink with Darlene and Anthony, we stopped in the AKL shop. It wasn't that late yet, right?

A good trip when you don't want to leave.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

When I shop at WDW, I try to pick things that mean something, especially to commemorate the occasion for or details of the trip. This usually involves a Christmas ornament. What I usually regret not getting is a Christmas ornament (like the Mickey Pride one I found in May, then found discounted on ShopDisney, but never pulled the trigger because I couldn’t find enough to qualify for free shipping. )

CBR actually had a CBR ornament this time.

I mean. I didn’t hate it, and CBR holds a special place in our hearts, but…if it hadn’t been in the CBR gift shop, I wouldn’t have known it was CBR. I passed.

Side note: I was glad to see “my era Mickey” featured prominently on several items.

And while I was grabbing these shots, I realized I left out some shots of “the back side of fireworks.” These were from outside CBR while waiting for our table at Sebastian’s.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

You’ll recall we also visited the Poly gift shop. There was no reason to get a Poly ornament. I did like these mini Chip & Dale plush (keychains. Keychains can make good ornaments!)

Didn’t get them, though. I also wondered how weird it would be to get something referencing a dog, and/or how relevant a random dog would be. (Our pup was a mutt, you’re not likely to find a mass produced item that looked exactly like her.)

This wasn’t; but I noticed it.

In fact, I was noticing dogs everywhere, including more service dogs than I’d ever seen at WDW before. I had dog on the brain.

I joked about booking this in the cold.

So far, no purchases. How would the AKL gift shop do? Better.

I saw Chip & Dale again.

I had the idea of getting Pluto to go with Chip & Dale, and that would represent the three of us without needing to look similar.

Could not find a Pluto.

Didn’t have time to shop elsewhere.

As a consolation prize, I found these Disney 100 ornaments at 50% off!

I got the Mickey Mouse Club one (very retro, and we both watched it as kids) and the Silly Symphony because it was music-related. I texted Darlene about this deal as I knew they were still at Boma!

I also grabbed these “shot glasses” first seen at CBR.

Not sure they’re meant to be shot glasses, but they are now.

At the counter, I asked on the off chance they had a Pluto. They didn’t; and I found myself telling the cashier about my dog, and realizing I had to go. “Back to life, back to reality…”

 

[Tony the Tigger]

A couple of parting shots from AKL.

Stalling, stalling…

Next thing you know, we’re in the car. GPS put our return time at 3:20. Uh oh. That was the time of my Dr. appt. Hmm…

We talked about our trip. We realized there had been no real standout meals, but we really hadn’t done our usual signature dining. (Is BoG signature?) I said I could understand a little better when people go and just eat anywhere, they may come away finding Disney Dining unimpressive these days. The pricing makes it seem worse, then.

Nothing was terrible, it was mostly…fine. Boma was between meh and bad. The rest were fine. Often we are more impressed, but again, we skipped our usual nicer places. It’s just the way it worked out this time.

The experiences at BoG and Rose & Crown and staying in the parks late were memorable, and I’d shoot for something like that again sometime.

We talked about going directly to my Dr. instead of home.

We talked about B’s job situation and nursing test situation.

Darlene texted and said she had purchased the rest of the MMC ornaments.

We talked about coming back soon, and how bittersweet it was that we could do that now.

We talked about what we were walking into - an empty house for the first time since we owned it. No one was coming home with us to reclaim her backyard and walk the perimeter.

No one was waiting home for us to greet us with enthusiasm and then shun us for the rest of the day for leaving her home, no matter how much she loved her sitter, Trysch.

The time crunch worked to our advantage. We did rush directly to my doc. Then we rushed home so Brian could get ready for work on time.

Then it was just me. That wouldn’t do. I went out.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

The trip did what it needed to do. It distracted us. It put us in a setting where we had been without Kylie before, so it didn’t constantly feel like something was wrong. It put distance (time) between us and the day she died. It gave us a chance to reconnect and comfort each other.

That takes us through Tuesday morning. I did laundry from the trip, and finally washed her Mickey. On Wednesday, I had a meeting with a vendor. He brought me this bag.

Are you kidding me?

I was just saying she was a mutt and it would be hard to find something to represent her that wasn’t custom. Most German Shepherd items wouldn’t cut it. For some reason, this one seems to have a more wrinkly looking (like a Chow) brow, and her “eyeliner.” It of course has the traditional dark back, which she didn’t, but it was close enough to be very touching and meaningful.

The next day, as previously mentioned, I got the call (early in the morning) that her ashes would be ready to pick up after 5pm. That got me going all over again. I meant this TR to be a love letter to our girl. It was. It is.

I found some more pictures of her along the way, some I’d never seen before or not in awhile. Some have been in TRs already, or on the Chit-Chat thread. I’ll put some in the next (probably last) post.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

^ At a La Quinta the night before WDW.

She and I both did not love these glamour shots and accessories.

^ I never let Brian hear the end of this. He had her shaved down to her undercoat because “it was too hot.” Took a long time to grow back!

^ no idea where this was!

Good with babies!

^ being silly in a local hotel on fireworks night (but not hearing fireworks!)

^Yacht Club(?)

Kylie’s Mickey.

La Quinta triple selfie.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

There are two things that lingered and kept me feeling connected to her:

This trip report, now ending.

The Christmas tree. I started taking some decorations off yesterday morning and got sad. Brian finished when I went to work. (No, we never leave the tree up this late.)

Her Mickey and the plush dog are on the bed.

In the package I picked up from the vet (which was really so nice) there were things I was reading to Brian. (It’s easier, he’s blind in one eye and the other isn’t fabulous. Diabetes.) One was from, of all things, Winnie The Pooh. (Disney connection.) It broke me up.

“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”

Broke me up again.

Thank you for reading.

 

[Tuvalu]

That made me cry. Beautiful, my dear friend. Beautiful.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

That made me cry. Beautiful, my dear friend. Beautiful.

You and me both. Swollen eyelids at work today.

 

[93boomer]

You and me both. Swollen eyelids at work today.

Tu is right!! Now we all have swollen eyes.
I’ve been thinking of my cat Chloe while reading your TR. We have so many memories of her. This June will be 7 years. They bring so much love into a home.
Thank you so much for sharing your memories and TR with us.

 

[Tiggertoo56]

What a lovely cuddly to be given and keeping it with Kylies Mickey - that got me too! Especially with the wording.
As Tu says- beautiful!

 

[cgersic]

The stuffed dog truly has her "look", and that was really sweet. Continued hugs as you wander down the healing path and I can't thank you enough for sharing all of this - the good and the bad (looking at you Boma).

 

[littleroo]

This was truly wonderful Trip Report, more like real life report!! Great big hugs to you and Brian both every morning and night!!

 

[Swissmiss]

I only knew Kylie through your various TR, but as I read your last post I wasn’t ready yet to say goodbye; it must be terrible for you and Brian

I wish for you that one day soon her memory makes you happy rather than sad.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

I also grabbed these “shot glasses” first seen at CBR.

Not sure they’re meant to be shot glasses, but they are now.

Last time I bought one they rang up as "toothpick holders". Disney doesn't sell "shot glasses".

Don't know if that's still the case.