The ABC's of a BSN Celebration! Trip Wrap up; Final Thoughts (7/11)

[Steppesister]

We stopped by the Enchanted Rose and there was a long line to get into the lounge. I peeked in just to see the decor, but I didn't see the library.

The Tambu Lounge must be pretty empty with 'Ohana being closed.

We walked to/from GF/Poly on Sunday while we waited for our ME pickup time. The views are great.

The Library is a separate room off from the other 2 main rooms. I also noticed some outdoor lounge space and on a warmer night would ADORE sitting there.

I think the Tambu is pretty quiet these days for several reasons- Trader Sams is also closed, the mono is non-functional AND 'Ohana is dead in the water. So sad.

Those views!!! So lovely! Sigh... I miss is already!

 

[caxxy]

Following along, what a fun start to your trip! Congratulations on your BSN and RV purchase!!

 

[Steppesister]

Following along, what a fun start to your trip! Congratulations on your BSN and RV purchase!!

Thanks, Caxxy and It's so fun to have new readers and have more to join in the chatter. It's a great community here and I sure hope we see you often!

 

[Steppesister]

Friends, I have a bit of editing to do on that last chapter(s). Sorry for the typos!!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Hi Liesa! I'm here!

(For those of you who have been around a while, skip this.)

Ok. See ya later!

But I did, and can now proudly say I can add BSN behind my name. I

Congratulations! I'm blown away by how much of a workload you've had over the last year. Proud of you for your perseverance.

I’m tired. I need a vacation. Badly.

So say we all!

I can be impetuous. It’s a fault I have, and it sometimes works out. Sometimes it’s disastrous, but this time I think it did the trick of locking me into a trip I really need. Within hours of making the snap decision to go on a basically last-minute trip, I had booked a package, a flight, and found a roomie.

I wish I had the freedom to be that impulsive! Kinda jealous, actually.

I had to laugh at this guy while we were out. If you’ve seen Soul, you know exactly why that is funny.

I imagine these poor guys have to do whatever is necessary to stay sane.

She got burned coming home from Vegas one time and spent over $80 to go 10 miles.

Literal highway robbery.

Ok, I skipped the PTR stuff since the vacation already happened. Moving on...

We sailed off the plane, grabbed our checked bag from the A side (did I mention how annoying this is?) (Did I also mention that Mikki put some of her stuff into the bag too?), trekked all the way back to the B side for ME, and were on a bus within 45 minutes of landing.

Well, none of this will matter when DME goes away altogether.

So, when a fairly large 5th wheel became advertised by a couple who bought a home nearby for a VERY affordable price that I could pay in cash, I snatched it up.

Oh! So that's what was going on. I didn't quite understand it when I saw it on FB.

The very nice and capable CMs at the Cali Grill broke the bad news that there was no room, and a first-come-first-serve table would very likely not be available for at least 75 minutes.

Remember that little bit when I set my stuff down by Mikki? Remember when we sat on the couches upstairs? Yeah… this is where MushBrain enters the story. My phone….. what the…?!?! You know that panicked feeling when your phone is gone? I had that. Multiplied by 1000%.

Oh no! Not again!

The sweet ladies at the podium had already begun the process of having it sent to my resort. How, you might ask? I have a wallet phone and they’d found my ID and looked up my resort reservation using that. And that, my friends, is one of the reasons I keep going back to Disney.

Thank goodness. Glad to see the CM's are still going strong.

Preferably we’d end the night still standing. To keep the suspense at a minimum, we did.

Boo. Boring!

I mean, uh, good for you!

The food was probably the worst I have EVER had on Disney property.

Ew. Well, that sucks to hear.

By now, in case you are wondering, we were a bit on the other side of tipsy. Giggly and goofy were more accurate.

Is that really all that different from normal days?

 

[vamassey1]

Nice traveling digs! Congrats on your purchase.

While Mikki waited off to the side near the podium, I set my stuff down near her on the floor and asked again.

I see foreshadowing here. This sounds like something I have done too many times.

Remember that little bit when I set my stuff down by Mikki?

Yes I do.

You know that panicked feeling when your phone is gone? I had that.

Too many times to count.

The sweet ladies at the podium had already begun the process of having it sent to my resort. How, you might ask? I have a wallet phone and they’d found my ID and looked up my resort reservation using that. And that, my friends, is one of the reasons I keep going back to Disney.

They are the best!

​

Lovely!

The crab cakes came out quickly as well and were absolutely delicious.

​

I do love crab cakes.

(Tiki Butts make me giggle.)

Me too!

The food on the other hand was quite another story. The food was probably the worst I have EVER had on Disney property.

So sorry, at least the drinds were good.

The path to the GF is always lovely and we enjoyed every minute.

Yes it is. Michelle was married on the beach between the Poly and GF. We walked over to the Wedding pavilion. Beautiful but hot in April.

We were headed for the Enchanted Rose!

It' a lovely place. Danielle and I looked in but didn't stay for a drink, I wish we had.

We were both still hungry and we agreed on an order of the crab mac and cheese. Absolute loveliness of creamy perfection. The breadcrumbs on top added a nice crunch of buttery goodness.

Yum, more crab.

bout halfway through my drink I decided to take a little walk and take some photos. As I said, the decor is worth seeing all on its own. Our server noticed my enthusiasm and asked if I’d seen “the Library”. Obviously I hadn’t, but when he offered to show me the way, I was drawn in like an addict to the ER. I was rewarded with a glimpse of this gorgeous space and was let free to photograph to my heart’s delight. Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, and Lumiere were all there to say hello!

What a great treat. Makes me wish even more that we had stopped for a drink and spent more time here.

I do know it was by way of Lyft because we JUST missed the Skyliner’s closing. Which really sucked because that was the entire point of ending our evening here.

Oh nooo. The shorter hours are a pain.

Overall you had a great night.

 

[missjackiemcg]

Oh, my gosh, congratulations on your RV!! Exciting adventures to come!

Loving all the pictures and story of your monorail crawl. Everything sounds so lovely, in particular the Lapu Lapu and visit to the Enchanted Rose! I keep forgetting I want to go there!!! I really have to stop keeping a mental list and start writing these things down.

 

[carejo]

Loving your report so far. Oh to be at the Enchanted Rose now! And so excited Mary Ellen is in on this trip. I used to love her trip reports!

 

[disneyAndi14]

I had a feeling you left something when you mentioned putting your things down! I said oh no!
The monorail crawl and stop at the Riviera sound really nice.
Can you believe I have never had a Lapu Lapu, it’s on my list
What a bummer about the food at Tambu, you are not the only one with dismal reviews on that place and Kona cafe!
We have dined at The Wave a few times and really enjoyed it.

 

[suse66]

Many you know me on FB as well and may have read that I went wild and crazy and did a fairly large “thing” on a whim. Well, not truly a whim because it’s something I’ve been wanting to do for quite some time, but when this opportunity presented itself my heart was telling me the time was now. Last year about this time I visited my very good friends down in Tucson at a very active and vibrant RV community and absolutely fell in love with the area and park. I grew up in the desert, went to university in Arizona, adore the landscape, weather and lifestyle and long to spend more time there. So, when a fairly large 5th wheel became advertised by a couple who bought a home nearby for a VERY affordable price that I could pay in cash, I snatched it up. Yep, I’m the proud new owner of a 36-ft. Carri Lite that will be moved to “dry storage” until I quit my job here and re-settle.

I know I already commented on FB but wanted to say congrats again!

Remember that little bit when I set my stuff down by Mikki? Remember when we sat on the couches upstairs? Yeah… this is where MushBrain enters the story. My phone….. what the…?!?! You know that panicked feeling when your phone is gone? I had that. Multiplied by 1000%. Remember those wonderful planning cards I made? All my notes, plans, ADR numbers, games? Gone. But I didn’t know that until later that night. Sigh…. good thing Mikki had the ones I made her, and for the remainder of the trip, that’s what I used to jot down my trip notes. Wanna know something even funnier? All that was done before I had one drop of alcohol. So, I’ll just preemptively make note of that as protection against the snark-loaded comments I absolutely might deserve. Most importantly, I did run (yes, I did run) upstairs to ask about my phone. The sweet ladies at the podium had already begun the process of having it sent to my resort. How, you might ask? I have a wallet phone and they’d found my ID and looked up my resort reservation using that. And that, my friends, is one of the reasons I keep going back to Disney.

Oh no! Thank goodness you got your phone back. So sad about your beautiful, ultra organized planning cards!

We made our way up to the Tambu Lounge and were quickly led to a lounge table. It was so strange to be in a nearly empty Poly lobby/lounge/’Ohana. I confess, I missed the happy hubbub. It was a foregone conclusion that my drink choice would be a Lapu Lapu- a Mai Tai made tripley expensive by being served in a $1 pineapple. I didn’t care. This is what vacation dreams are made of. It was delicious and went down far too easily, as Lapus always do.

Lapu lapus always do go down as smooth as silk...... Too bad about the food though!

About halfway through my drink I decided to take a little walk and take some photos. As I said, the decor is worth seeing all on its own. Our server noticed my enthusiasm and asked if I’d seen “the Library”. Obviously I hadn’t, but when he offered to show me the way, I was drawn in like an addict to the ER. I was rewarded with a glimpse of this gorgeous space and was let free to photograph to my heart’s delight. Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, and Lumiere were all there to say hello!

Sounds like Enchanted Rose hit it out of the park! What a lovely experience you had.

 

[Steppesister]

Hi Liesa! I'm here!

YAY!! I was wondering if my mundane material could entice you back.

Ok. See ya later!

I knew it was mundane, but....

Congratulations! I'm blown away by how much of a workload you've had over the last year. Proud of you for your perseverance.

Thanks, Mark. It's been a long haul and I don't see it letting up until at least Sept. Might as well make hay while the sun shines and opportunity waxes.

I wish I had the freedom to be that impulsive! Kinda jealous, actually.

It's a very different season of life and one I"m embracing to the hilt. I LOVE being spontaneous and doing some things I've put off for far too long. I"m still living within my means (something I value in general) and am trying set myself for success in the mid and long range timeframe.

I imagine these poor guys have to do whatever is necessary to stay sane.

No doubt!!! I admire anyone who does what it takes to be self-sufficient and stay busy. It did tickle my funny bone with the parallel to Soul.

Literal highway robbery.

Ok, I skipped the PTR stuff since the vacation already happened. Moving on...

It is. And yet, it does say on the site what the charge will be. It's just that you don't have another way to get to where you're going if you can't pay the price.

Well, none of this will matter when DME goes away altogether.

Hmm, yes, true, BUT, I am very confident that Mears or some other company will amply fill the gap....for a price.

Oh! So that's what was going on. I didn't quite understand it when I saw it on FB.

I wasn't very clear but yes, my own little SheShack ready to be transformed into something UH-MAZING!!!

Thank goodness. Glad to see the CM's are still going strong.

They really are. It was refreshing to see that Covid hasn't affected that!

Boo. Boring!

I mean, uh, good for you!

Sorry to disappoint. I can try harder next time.

Is that really all that different from normal days?

Oh dear, you've ratted me out. Short answer: No.

 

[Steppesister]

Nice traveling digs! Congrats on your purchase.

Thanks! I'm ridiculously excited to turn it into a living space that is "me". I have been binge watching tons and tons of DIY makeovers for RVs and have some fantastic ideas.

I see foreshadowing here. This sounds like something I have done too many times.

Sigh.... yeah. I don't know if I'm just brainless or scatterbrained or....

Too many times to count.

Hey, it's like we're Soulmates!

I do love crab cakes.

They are soooo good!

So sorry, at least the drinds were good.

OH they so much were!! And make the horrific food something I wasn't so needing to complain about.

Yes it is. Michelle was married on the beach between the Poly and GF. We walked over to the Wedding pavilion. Beautiful but hot in April.

Oh I can imagine it was! Both beautiful and hot!

It' a lovely place. Danielle and I looked in but didn't stay for a drink, I wish we had.

Next time, right ?

What a great treat. Makes me wish even more that we had stopped for a drink and spent more time here.

You won't be sorry you did!

Oh nooo. The shorter hours are a pain.

We found this out the hard way more than once.

 

[Steppesister]

Oh, my gosh, congratulations on your RV!! Exciting adventures to come!

Loving all the pictures and story of your monorail crawl. Everything sounds so lovely, in particular the Lapu Lapu and visit to the Enchanted Rose! I keep forgetting I want to go there!!! I really have to stop keeping a mental list and start writing these things down.

Thanks! It's so, so, SO exciting to have something I can turn into a really fun living space and be able to take it on the road if the fancy strikes me.

It was a fun evening for sure, one I'd repeat again in a heartbeat. I loved the lounges we were in especially the ER. Such a nice place!

 

[Steppesister]

Loving your report so far. Oh to be at the Enchanted Rose now! And so excited Mary Ellen is in on this trip. I used to love her trip reports!

So lovely to see you here, carejo! I think of all the lounges we hit up, that was the most special and lovely.

Mary Ellen is a fun, smart, wonderful person all around. She was a joy to travel with and I would again in a heartbeat! Her TRs were so fun to read- sad to not see her here anymore.

 

[Steppesister]

I had a feeling you left something when you mentioned putting your things down! I said oh no!

Sigh..... I guess I let the excitement of the moment take the driver's seat at times.

The monorail crawl and stop at the Riviera sound really nice.

We had so much fun!! Irresposible spending of loads of cash and more booze than we needed, but it was fun!!

Can you believe I have never had a Lapu Lapu, it’s on my list

It's such a fun drink. Just holding the receptacle makes it even more so! And who can resist a paper umbrella?

What a bummer about the food at Tambu, you are not the only one with dismal reviews on that place and Kona cafe!

So sad. You'd think with fewer guests, they be going the extra mile to make everything really amazing.

We have dined at The Wave a few times and really enjoyed it.

It's a really nice place for a more muted, quiet time out.

 

[Steppesister]

I know I already commented on FB but wanted to say congrats again!

Aww, thanks!! I have sunny Arizona dreams taking shape. And tons of plans on how I want to rennovate this into a glorious SheShack!!

Oh no! Thank goodness you got your phone back. So sad about your beautiful, ultra organized planning cards!

I suppose if I had to lose one or the other it'd be the cards, but I was definitely bummed out!

Lapu lapus always do go down as smooth as silk...... Too bad about the food though!

They do!! The food on the other hand was a colossal disappointment.

Sounds like Enchanted Rose hit it out of the park! What a lovely experience you had.

They named it perfectly.... ENCHANTED Rose.

 

[Steppesister]

H is for: Hanging Around in Hollywoodland!

​

The day dawned. Hmmm, actually, nope, it hadn’t dawned at all yet. But it was a new day and we had BIG plans! Let’s give a big Hooray for Hollywoodland and get moving. But! Not before getting a boarding pass. Might I just roll up my sleeves and put on my big fat bragging pants? Up at 6:00, showered, dressed, and otherwise readied, our fingers were twitchy and poised over the "Join" buttons at precisely 6:58 where we proceeded to push hard refreshes for a solid 2 minutes. Our prowess paid off and we scored 2 tidy Boarding Passes in Group 4. Mik was the faster of us and within literally 3 seconds, they were gone. All of them. So, traveler beware, this is going to be a stressful 2 minutes if getting on Rise is on your Must-do list. However, THIS chapter is not about visiting Batuu or the Black Spire. Instead, this intrepid duo is headed right into Andy’s backyard for some rootin’ tootin’ fun with all the toys and games.

As I said, we were up and out VERY early. Very. I already knew we’d be taking a Lyft, as we’d been warned that by the time the ‘Liner was up and running the lines and crowds would be very long and it would not open in time to get us there ahead of the bus crowds. Here’s where we got quite possibly the #1 tip of the trip, and it came from none other than our Lyft driver. The parking lot doesn’t open until 30 minutes before park opening and the Ride Share drop off isn’t available until park opening. That was NOT going to do it for our eager little hearts. Instead he suggested, we get dropped off at the Beach Club Resort and make the quick walk from there. That way we’d beat ALL the crowds. Little did we know how overly accurate this would be. Tipping generously for the tip, we set out in the frigid air, hot packs and mittens deployed, hoping to warm up with a brisk walk. Dawn’s first light was still blue as we arrived at the holding area where we had a nice LONG chat with an older security gent. All by ourselves for about 30 minutes we shivered and wondered why there was no sign of opening at 7:30 like so many on the interwebs had been saying. Around 7:40 others with the same intel and strats started to line up and the Skyliner started gliding overhead and ran for quite sometime before passengers started disembarking. I passed the time by admiring a lovely Florida sunrise.

​

By then, around 8:00, we were finally led to the temp screening tents to wait some more, but still no sign of any park opening. WTH?! At least we were first in line. So, we stood around, freezing to death. But that wasn’t the worst part.

“Mom, WHY are we here so early?” “The people you got your information from don’t know what they’re talking about!” “I could have been sleeping!”. “I thought you said the parks opened at least half an hour before they said.” You get the idea…. Anyone who has or had a kid knows this routine. I stood my ground and reassured her the wait, even a cold one, would be well worth it. At 8:25 (25 minutes past official posted opening time!) they let us in. Our plan of attack was to go with what Touring Plans laid out and they said, provided you have a boarding group, bypass SW:GE where everyone else is headed and swing right to Toy Story Land. So we did.

(Blurry photo but love the hat tip to Emeryville, CA where Pixar is located!)










(Always makes me giggle)​

Slinky was the obvious destination, and we rode that bad boy within 10 minutes of park opening. We could have done it twice with a 30-minute wait (yep, those folks who rode the ‘Liner or drove ended up two steps behind us, the Early Risers!) but instead we hopped across to TSMM and took the first car of the day. The CMs were so happy that they finally had some riders. One reminisced that TSMM used to be the top spot but has drifted off into the "used toys section" and I could detect a hint of melancholy. It was here, however, that I gave my daughter a sound spanking by winning by tens of thousands over her. It was a glorious victory and I wasted no opportunity to revel in my triumph by making sure to rub it in a few more times. Don’t worry, she found her own glorious payback a few days later. I was just happy that I leveled up from all my previous tries.

​

The Plan said to hit up The Falcon and RoTR (which we did, sort of) next, but I’m going to skip on past that for the time being, leaving all things SW:GE for another time. Let’s instead hop on over to the new, the exciting, the zany Runaway Railway!! It was new to us both and I was pretty eager to see what the Imagineers presented, especially having met Charita Carter, one of the lead Imagineers on the project. Once upon a time there was a thing called the Pacific Northwest MouseMeet held annually in Linwood, Washington for about 20 years. I attended a couple of them with Karilynn ( @pkondz were you at that one too?) and Charita gave a nice long talk about her professional journey with Disney and gave us some cool previews of MMRR and her part in Imagineering it. So, there was an added anticipation to see the final product moreso than any other attraction I can remember. What did I think?

(Side note: If you have a chance, Google Charita Carter and read a bit of her life story. It's unequivocally inspiring!)

********************************** SPOILER ALERT!!! ****************************************










(The light fixture geek rearing its amused (Mickey) head.)


​

Well, I thought the line was long. Mik and I waited almost an hour in a queue that wove back and forth in the outside plaza for miles. Once we got inside there were some cute posters and remnants of the classic Chinese Theater but I have to be honest, the queue in general is boring as hell. Moreover, the transition from elegant Chinese Theater to zany, animated everything was extremely jarring.

​

Finally, we go onto our train and took our crazy spin through Cartoon World which I will admit was really, really fun and well done. Each scene was unique and the trackless ride system is always a blast. I won’t give much more verbose commentary but simply leave you with a few images I snapped along the way. Goofy is a fantastic conductor and I’d gladly take another ride with him any day!

​

By then we’d built up a hefty appetite and needed some hearty food to fuel us for more fun. I’d had my heart set on Woody’s as I’d still not tried that one, so we pulled up Mobile Ordering on the app and placed our order. Unfortunately, the soonest pickup time was 10:30 and it was only 10:00. I super didn’t want to just stand around for 30 minutes waiting on some Tochos!! It wasn’t enough time to ride anything but seemed too long to just loiter. Fortunately, the kind CM overheard our dilemma and asked for my order number. He was able to “force” our order and in about 5 minutes we were allowed into the eating area, had picked up our order of Tots, and were happily munching away on the best QS breakfast at ANY park. Yes, I realize these are on the lunch menu and most wouldn’t want this at 10:00 AM, but this is how we roll, and we raved about them all day. So much in fact that we got them again later in the trip.

​

Totchos- Potato Barrels coated with Beef and Bean Chili, Shredded Cheese and signature Queso with Tomatoes and Corn Chips finished with Sour Cream and a sprinkle of Green Onions $8.99

​

As a side note, there were several QS places in the parks that did not allow anyone in the area unless you had an order. So, if you were just looking for a place to sit and relax, your choices are a lot more limited. Tummies amply satiated, it was time to hit up “the other side” of the park which I will also wait on for another day. Suffice to say, this was an incredibly efficient, fun, perfect start to our very full day. And with that, I’ll wrap it up until I see you again.

​

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Congrats on the RV!

Your night of drinking sounded great. And a great way to relax after a very stressful weeks leading up to the trip!

Getting RoR boarding group is so stressful! We have been lucky enough to get one most of the time. But man it is stressful! I would rather be stressed getting fast passes before the trip than stressed in the morning on vacation.

 

[Steppesister]

Congrats on the RV!

Thanks! I'm really excited about it! I just got my reservation at the park I wanna live in for 2022 and now need to find a travel nursing job for Jan- March.

Your night of drinking sounded great. And a great way to relax after a very stressful weeks leading up to the trip!

We laughed and laughed and had such a silly fun time.

Getting RoR boarding group is so stressful! We have been lucky enough to get one most of the time. But man it is stressful! I would rather be stressed getting fast passes before the trip than stressed in the morning on vacation.

I know! Why does it have to be this way?! I mean, I get it, I understand the thinking behind it in terms of crowd control, etc.. but it does cut into the vacation mojo for sure. Not a fan.

 

[pkondz]

If you’ve followed me on other reports in the past, you know that a chronological style isn’t how I write.

Afterall, this would be a Monorail Crawl of epic proportions.

Ah! I've heard of people doing Monorail Crawls. I thought about doing it, but don't think it's for me.

Lightning and Mater honked as we drove in and showed us to our garage.

Nice.

we were doing the zoomy-zoom towards the CR.

Did you use your feet or the monorail to zoomy-zoom? I presume the former?

over the course of the trip, there were signs of progress just about everywhere around Disney

Actually... good time to do those. I mean... if the place is fairly deserted right now...

The very nice and capable CMs at the Cali Grill broke the bad news that there was no room, and a first-come-first-serve table would very likely not be available for at least 75 minutes.

Yikes! But... while I'm surprised a bit (Covid after all), I'm not that surprised. It is the Cali grill after all.

They recommended we head to The Wave. So we did.

And we’re so glad we did.

I've heard good things about the Wave.

But! Remember that little bit when I set my stuff down by Mikki?

You didn't...

You know that panicked feeling when your phone is gone? I had that. Multiplied by 1000%. Remember those wonderful planning cards I made? All my notes, plans, ADR numbers, games? Gone. But I didn’t know that until later that night.

You didn't know until later? How? I mean... hang on... I'll come back to this.

Wanna know something even funnier? All that was done before I had one drop of alcohol.

It's a wonder you didn't lose everything by the end of the night!

The sweet ladies at the podium had already begun the process of having it sent to my resort. How, you might ask? I have a wallet phone and they’d found my ID and looked up my resort reservation using that. And that, my friends, is one of the reasons I keep going back to Disney.

Ah! Lucky for that. But... what happened to the rest of your belongings? I mean... you got your phone back, but they kept your cards???

Our goal was to make a complete circuit of all the Mono Resorts and have a drink and food at each one.

Yep. Heard of people doing that.

But let me fill in the gaps, since that’s why you’re here reading, right?

Right?

Right!

Do I get a prize?

I can tell, even with the mask, that she's beaming from ear to ear.

we were told that there was no “service” at the tables and that we’d have to go up to the bar ourselves to place our orders... which I did.

A minor inconvenience.

Within minutes, another server noticed us and came to the table to take or order. I let him know we’d already placed the order but he assured us that from then on our needs would be more than taken care of.

Um... so... that whole "no service" was just a prank? How very odd.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am not a huge bread fan in general, but this was truly GOOD bread.

Well, I am a bread fan, so I'll have to keep this in mind.

It probably also did what it was supposed to and kept us from getting too loaded too quickly.

The crab cakes came out quickly as well and were absolutely delicious.

They look really good, too.

we decided to order a drink to share which I considered a vacation kick-start must:

So... if that video is still supposed to be viewable... it's not. It's labeled as private.

Sadly, the Mono platform isn’t. It’s completely gone

Really! Completely gone????

(Tiki Butts make me giggle.)

It was so strange to be in a nearly empty Poly lobby/lounge/’Ohana. I confess, I missed the happy hubbub.

Huh. Even with Covid... I can see how that would be... disconcerting.

It was a foregone conclusion that my drink choice would be a Lapu Lapu- a Mai Tai made tripley expensive by being served in a $1 pineapple. I didn’t care. This is what vacation dreams are made of.

I'm glad you spent the money. While I don't care for Lapu Lapus, it is a vacation. Have fun!

It was delicious and went down far too easily, as Lapus always do.

Uh, oh!!!
You sure you lost your phone earlier?
And... those two photos make it look like you were racing each other to see who could finish first!

The food was probably the worst I have EVER had on Disney property. Totally gross.

Ew. Really? I would've expected better from a resort of that caliber.

So much so that we literally tossed it in the trash.

You didn't ask for a refund or exchange??

The sushi was, no lie, made with canned cat food tuna (what my mom not-so-affectionately calls chunk light),

Ew. No thanks.

I had briefly contemplated buying the Surfer Tiki Cup but in the end decided to save my money and room for other souvenirs. They were kinda cute though!

Do you regret not doing so?

The path to the GF is always lovely and we enjoyed every minute. Here are some random shots along the way:

Lovely shots all...

But I really like this one.

And in this next one... Love the artsy looking nonchalantly over the shoulder look.

We were headed for the Enchanted Rose! To be honest, I’d only read a very small handful of reviews, but what I was seeing was absolutely glowing.

I've only seen one review of it. And it was indeed glowing.

we ended up with a Lavendar Fog for me and an Island Rose for Mik.

The lavender fog sounds good. Not a Kahlua fan.

Sadly, the tableside drink service was not available. Stupid Covid.

Too bad. That would've been fun. And pricey, I'm sure!

we agreed on an order of the crab mac and cheese. Absolute loveliness of creamy perfection. The breadcrumbs on top added a nice crunch of buttery goodness.

mmmmmm.... sounds so good!

Our server noticed my enthusiasm and asked if I’d seen “the Library”. Obviously I hadn’t, but when he offered to show me the way, I was drawn in like an addict to the ER.

No way!
Do you know what the room is used for? Is it like Skippers, and just another room they can use, or did it look like more of a private function kind of place?

By now, in case you are wondering, we were a bit on the other side of tipsy. Giggly and goofy were more accurate.

We ordered a Lyft and got our happy hineys going.

We had a pre-arranged meeting with Tammie

Oh! Nice! I'd love to meet Tammie some time. "known" her for a long time, too.

Mik and I each ordered a… drink.

Not taking getting a little difficult when you see double??

I do know that we ordered a Tiramisu and magically 2 of them showed up.

Nice.

I do know it was by way of Lyft because we JUST missed the Skyliner’s closing. Which really sucked because that was the entire point of ending our evening here.

Well, shoot. But I'm sure you got a chance to ride later on in the trip.

Uhhh, no.

Thought so.

I can't wait to go there and see it in person and start measuring drawers and stuff. I know that sounds weird to buy something without seeing it, but I did research online quite a bit and trust the go-between to steer me right.

In these covid times, I think more and more people are buying... everything, sight unseen. So it doesn't overly surprise me, no.

It is pretty big but not overly so. Plenty big for all of us to live together and still have plenty of privacy.

That sounds good. You want to have your own space.

Oh no. I am committed to my job and my roomie until at least September. Still mulling over logistics and timelines, but right now... shooting for Sept.

Ah! Okay, then you have time to plan.

It's got SOOOOOo much potential and I'm excited to start the process of making a space my own.

Happy planning!