Meet me at the Snuggly Duckling! A June 2018 TR. UPDATED 3/8

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I enjoyed the DisneyStyle store too but find the prices so high with our low dollar.

Oh yes, I tried to ignore the awful exchange rate as much as I could as it just depressed me but it always lurked there at the back of mind.

I did a tour as well in August. I'd love to buy DVC one day but will wait until our dollar is a little stronger. I'd probably start with a resale contact though.

Yeah, the price difference when he showed the price in Canadian dollars vs American was stomach turning. Like you said, maybe when the dollar is stronger.

Disney Springs has so many shops now that it makes perfect sense to go there on a "down day." That cookie you got looked delicious!

Sorry you were still feeling kind of off, but fortunately you had the day to rest and continue to recuperate.

Yes, I was pretty lucky that I had this day off from the parks to try and get back my equilibrium. I probably would have died if I tried to do another park day.

Wow the lego statues look awful. You'd think when they were adding new shops and redoing world of disney they'd have redone them as well

I agree, I am surprised the LEGO statues haven't been refreshed with the update to the area.

Sounds like a nice time at Disney Springs!!

It was a nice day to walk around the shops.

That's disappointing. I've used that service a lot and never had any issues. I hope you got it sorted out in the end.

It was disappointing. It was lucky that it happened in the middle of the trip and not on my last day.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Looks like a great rest day! I always feel the need to build one of these into a long trip. Otherwise I get too burnt out!

I agree about the Lego statues. Its almost embarassing that Disney hasn't freshened these up or painted them or replaced them altogether!

I agree, a rest day is necessary on a long trip. Even on a short trip I try and at least build in a relaxing morning where we don't have to rush to rope drop.

Oh, its too late now, but the Ganachery has complimentary ice packs for the chocolates! Mine survived walking around Disney Springs and a whole evening at Magic Kingdom when it was pretty warm. And if you buy enough they even have a little mini fabric cooler you can get (I think it comes with any purchase over $50).

Awww, wish I had known that!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

June 16 - Day Off - DVC Tour and Dinner at Jiko!

After lunch at Earl of Sandwich we made our way back to the DVC booth where we were led "backstage" to the van that was going to drive us over to Saratoga Springs for our DVC tour.

It was a pleasant and comfortable drive over and we got to see a part of Disney property we have never been through before. One thing to say about Saratoga, it is huge!!! The grounds are beautiful but seems like you would do a lot of walking if you stayed there if you wanted to go to the main building.

We got dropped off at the DVC Centre where we got checked in and then we were taken to a lounge where there were various snacks and drinks that you could enjoy while waiting. They even had POG juice which I was delighted over. They also had beautiful stained glass windows of all the Disney castles.



We did not need to wait too long before the DVC salesman came to collect us. He began the pitch by asking us why we were interested in DVC and what kind of vacationers we were - how long do we vacation for, what type of resort do we prefer etc. We told him that ideally we would like enough points to be able to rent a 2-bedroom villa for ten days every two years. This was based on the idea that we would need to accommodate at least 6 people (me, mom, Alek and his girlfriend, Erich and his girlfriend). We wanted to know the maximum amount it would cost us.

He priced us out for Copper Creek Villas and the math made sense when we looked at it in American currency. He showed us what it would be in Canadian and it was $10000 more. The price he showed us was also if we paid the whole amount rather than financing. We told him that we would have to discuss it as a family as it would be a family investment and that Mom and I were just doing the research that day. He said he would not pressure us to make a decision that day but then he started to try and throw incentives at us to buy that day or within the next few days. I just kept putting him off saying it was something we would need to discuss and a purchase would not be made that day. He was nice enough and I realize he was doing his job to try and sell it to us so I did not let it bother me.

He then took us on a tour of the model rooms and I was really impressed.

First he showed us Aulani, and those rooms are beautiful!! I would love to go to Aulani or just Hawaii in general someday.









He then took us across the hall to see a two-bedroom Copper Creek Villa. This was beautiful as well! It would suit our needs perfectly travelling as a party of six. Although I do wonder how comfortably the pullout sofa bed really is. Any input from you guys as to the comfort level of the DVC pull-out beds? One of the reasons I wanted to do the DVC tour other than the incentives was to check out the rooms because even though we were not going to buy at that moment (the Canadian dollar makes it unrealistic) I am contemplating staying in a DVC room on our 2021 trip. I wanted to see if the rooms would be a good option for us as a larger party.

I took a video of the room to show Alek and Erich.

Our salesman kept saying he was sure we were going to buy because I took so many photos etc and because he had Mom all teary eyed talking about how WDW is her happy place and where she loves spending time with her family. He was mainly targeting Mom with his sales pitch, little did he know it should have been me he was targeting as I would be the one writing the cheque.





Maybe one day when our Canadian dollar is performing better I will make the investment in DVC but for right now it is not going to happen no matter how nice the rooms are.


After the tour he dropped us off at the ice cream parlour where we had a yummy treat before catching our ride back. He also stopped at the desk to have our $100 gift card and fastpasses activated. We were told the gift card would be emailed to us and we should receive it within thirty minutes and that the fastpasses would show up in our MDE account.

Our ride would have taken us anywhere on property that we wanted to go but we weren't done with our Disney Springs shopping so that is where we asked to be dropped off. It was a shame though as it would have been much nicer to ride in that van back to AKL than on the bus.

Our main stop once back at Disney Springs was Basin where we loaded up on bath bombs and soaps. Basin is my favourite and I love that they have online shopping but the shipping to Canada is horrendous so I always have to plan my online purchase to coincide with visits to my family in the States. I will always prefer shopping in person though so you can test out the scents etc.

We had another stop to make before leaving Disney Springs. Over the past few days I had seen a few people carrying around Rose Gold Minnie Mouse backpacks and they were just too cute. I found out that they had just been released in WDW a few days ago and that they were being sold at Ever After in Downtown Disney and at the accessory store on Main St. I wanted to go to Ever After to check them out and see how much they cost.

As we walked through Disney Springs the skies started to get dark and it was looking ominous.







In Ever After they had a ton of the rose gold bags and they were not priced too badly. Since there were so many I did not feel the pressure to buy right then and there. I am surprised I didn't though as I am a terrible impulse shopper. I did post a picture of them on Facebook asking if I should buy one and the overwhelming response was yes! The only people who said no were my brother and my mom.



Mom and I decided we had had enough shopping for the day and made our way to the bus stop and the skies opened up and it started to pour. Unfortunately the AKL bus stop is one of the furthest at Disney Springs so we got nice and soaked before we could make it to the shelter of our bus stop.

Mom and I made it out of Disney Springs having not done too much damage. In total I bought the two shirts for my brothers at DisneyStyle, some lip balms at Savanna Bee and a bunch of stuff at Basin but considering my usual spending habits I showed great restraint that day!

Back at AKL I stopped in at the gift shop to see if they had sorted out my misplaced package and thankfully they had found it.

Back up in the room we saw that mousekeeping had not been by yet which was unusual as our room had always been done fairly early in the trip and we had seen them out in the halls near our room that morning when we left. I figured maybe they were just behind schedule so didn't worry about it at that point.



Mom and I changed into swimsuits and loaded up some shopping bags with our laundry. The plan for the rest of the afternoon was to do laundry and enjoy some pool time. Well, the big laundry room by the pool was out of service and the pool was also closed down at the moment due to storms in the area.

We went back up to the room to figure out what we were going to do. I called the "front desk" to inquire about the laundry room issue and after a few minutes of being placed on hold we were told to stop by the front desk and they would give us a key to access the DVC laundry room. I was satisfied with that offer even though it would not be as convenient as the poolside laundry.

We also hadn't received our $100 gift card yet for the DVC tour so when we went to the lobby to get the key for the laundry room I also stopped by the DVC desk where it turns out the problem was that they had mistyped my email address so they corrected it and resent the gift card which successfully arrived that time.

Mom and I then made our way up to the DVC floor where we threw in our load of laundry.





We then went to the pool overlook to see if it was open yet and it was not. So much for our afternoon plans. Oh well. We decided to go relax in some lounge chairs anyways and read our books while we waited on our laundry as it was not actually raining.

After flipping our laundry to the dryer Mom told me to go back to the room as we had some clothes that had to be hung up to air dry and she would read her book while waiting for the laundry in the dryer to finish up. The nice thing about getting to use the DVC laundry room was that we did not have to pay for our laundry so I guess that made up for the inconvenience.

Back in the room mousekeeping still had not come around and it was around 6:00 by that time. When Mom showed back up we talked about it and she told me to not worry about it and while she was correct that we did not NEED mousekeeping when you are paying the amount you do to stay at a Disney Resort you expect to receive certain services such as daily mousekeeping. One of the things I greatly enjoy when on vacation is coming back to a nice clean and tidy room. I also felt that they needed to know they missed our room. I am sure it was an accident but I do want what I pay for so I called the "front desk" once again and explained that our room had not been serviced. I told them that we would be out of the room for dinner and requested that somebody come by in that time frame to freshen up the room.

After the call was placed we got ready for our dinner at Jiko.

I had to take a giraffe selfie on the balcony. Unfortunately the lighting made my highlights look like grey hair! I swear my hair is not that grey!



I was really looking forward to dinner. I had heard so many good things about Jiko and I knew exactly what I was going to order before stepping into the restaurant.

Mom and I were a bit early so had to wait a few minutes to be seated but it was not a terribly long wait. We were eating at prime dinner hour after all. Our ADR was for 7:30 and I have us sitting down at our table at 7:45. We were offered refreshing warm towels for our hands, a lovely touch.











The meal was started off with a refreshing tea and a scrumptious complimentary bread service. Oh my gosh! That bread and the butter, so yummy!!! I wish I was a better food blogger and could tell you what kind of bread and butter it was but I simply do not remember. It was delicious whatever it was!





For our entrees I had to get the Oak-grilled Filet and mac and cheese that I had heard so much about over the years. I also ordered a glass of the red wine that was suggested as a good pairing with the steak. Mom opted for the seafood dish which I believe based on the menu on all ears was the
Bo Kaap Malay Seafood Curry.







The wine was amazing. I usually prefer white wine over red but this was a winner in my books. I'm glad I had ordered it as I had heard great reviews of the South African wines that are available here.

The filet was cooked perfectly and was very tasty. The mac and cheese was also good but I was a little disappointed as it did not blow my mind. Perhaps my expectations were too high based on the rave reviews that I have read but I was expecting divine mac and cheese and this one just tasted ordinary.

I don't have anything to say about Mom's dish other than she enjoyed it.

I opted to order dessert and selected the Kilimanjaro - Tanzanian chocolate mousse, pistachio financier, pink peppercorn meringue, cacao nib crunch, ras el hanout pineapples.



Yum Yum Yum!

At the end of the meal we were presented with two butter cookies as well.

We decided to pay for our meal with the $100 gift card that we had received for going on the DVC tour. Our waiter was a bit baffled by the electronic gift card so he took my phone with the gift card on it over to the manager and they figured out how to use it. It covered most of our meal so we only had to pay a few dollars in cash to pay off the bill and tip.



Overall we enjoyed our meal but it was a bit spendy for us and to be honest I enjoyed the steak at the Be Our Guest dinner just as much as the filet at Jiko and that meal cost much less. I do not claim to be a fine diner or have a refined palate so I apologize if that seems like sacrilege to some of you. It was nice to experience a signature restaurant though and see what the fuss is about. Not sure it will be a regular thing for us though.

With that our day was at an end. Tomorrow would be another early day as we were headed back to the Magic Kingdom!

 

[disneyAndi14]

The DVC models they show you look really nice. Andi has slept on the pull out couch at 4 DVC places and she said there are okay, not great but okay. Keep in mind she is 16-18 so for her to say that I would think for some one a little older it might be less comfortable. We have stayed a Studios renting points 4x and really liked it. Our favorite was BLT!

That was nice to pay for your expensive dinner with your gift card, food looks good!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

The DVC models they show you look really nice. Andi has slept on the pull out couch at 4 DVC places and she said there are okay, not great but okay. Keep in mind she is 16-18 so for her to say that I would think for some one a little older it might be less comfortable. We have stayed a Studios renting points 4x and really liked it. Our favorite was BLT!

That was nice to pay for your expensive dinner with your gift card, food looks good!

Hmmm, it is something to consider these pull-out beds. I had it in my mind that we should get a 2-bedroom DVC suite but maybe getting separate regular rooms will be the way to go. It will also depend on what the girlfriends think. Who know, it is a ways away and any discounts that are out at the time will also be a factor. Maybe we will go the complete opposite way and stay at a Value even though I REALLY want to stay at Beach Club.

 

[disneyAndi14]

Hmmm, it is something to consider these pull-out beds. I had it in my mind that we should get a 2-bedroom DVC suite but maybe getting separate regular rooms will be the way to go. It will also depend on what the girlfriends think. Who know, it is a ways away and any discounts that are out at the time will also be a factor. Maybe we will go the complete opposite way and stay at a Value even though I REALLY want to stay at Beach Club.

I’m sure you know about DVC rental store, I always watch there specials, they often have reservations that have been canceled and you can buy the reservation for a nice price. I have seen several 2 bedrooms for good deals. The problem is it has to be a week you want and you have to stalk it quite frequently. I know your trip isn’t for awhile but just thought I would let you know!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I’m sure you know about DVC rental store, I always watch there specials, they often have reservations that have been canceled and you can buy the reservation for a nice price. I have seen several 2 bedrooms for good deals. The problem is it has to be a week you want and you have to stalk it quite frequently. I know your trip isn’t for awhile but just thought I would let you know!

Thanks for the tip, this is the first time we have considered going the DVC rental route so it is all Greek to me.

 

[amazingact21]

It's a relief to hear that the DVC salesman wasn't too pushy. I worry about feeling pressured during those sorts of tours.

The two-bedroom model of Copper Creek looked gorgeous! Hopefully, you'll be able to rent points and give the rooms a try.

I love the rose gold Minnie backpack!

 

[missangelalexis]

The perks of doing the DVC tour sound pretty nice. It was good that you could get some info for the future in case you do decide to buy!

That stinks that the pool was closed but still sounds like a nice, leisurely afternoon!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

The two-bedroom model of Copper Creek looked gorgeous! Hopefully, you'll be able to rent points and give the rooms a try.

Yes, I need to look into renting points more, in the past it has not been something i have considered but now that I want a suite it may be the route to go, especially if I want to get the best price.

That stinks that the pool was closed but still sounds like a nice, leisurely afternoon!

It did stink but probably for the best since the pool laundry room was out of commission.

 

[Steppesister]

Our next trip we plan to go in October for those exact reasons although we will be risking the tail end of hurricane season.

I think a very small risk for the benefits.

She was one of my favourites. I love where I work but it is hard as many of our patients stay with us for years before they pass and it is impossible to not become attached no matter what they teach you in nursing school. She was one of those patients and we were all very sad when she passed. I have great memories though.

I worked long term care for a couple of years during school and yes, it is very difficult to not become attached and love the patients. They are like family in many ways.

First he showed us Aulani, and those rooms are beautiful!! I would love to go to Aulani or just Hawaii in general someday.

Me too!!! Lovely!

After the tour he dropped us off at the ice cream parlour where we had a yummy treat before catching our ride back. He also stopped at the desk to have our $100 gift card and fastpasses activated. We were told the gift card would be emailed to us and we should receive it within thirty minutes and that the fastpasses would show up in our MDE account.

Worth it right there!!!

Mom and I decided we had had enough shopping for the day and made our way to the bus stop and the skies opened up and it started to pour. Unfortunately the AKL bus stop is one of the furthest at Disney Springs so we got nice and soaked before we could make it to the shelter of our bus stop.

EEK!!

Back at AKL I stopped in at the gift shop to see if they had sorted out my misplaced package and thankfully they had found it.

Phew!!

We also hadn't received our $100 gift card yet for the DVC tour so when we went to the lobby to get the key for the laundry room I also stopped by the DVC desk where it turns out the problem was that they had mistyped my email address so they corrected it and resent the gift card which successfully arrived that time.

Well there ya go!! Glad they got that fixed!

We decided to pay for our meal with the $100 gift card that we had received for going on the DVC tour. Our waiter was a bit baffled by the electronic gift card so he took my phone with the gift card on it over to the manager and they figured out how to use it. It covered most of our meal so we only had to pay a few dollars in cash to pay off the bill and tip.

YAY! Enough for a signature dinner. Sorry it wasn't as amazing as you hoped, but I am glad you tried it to say you had.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I worked long term care for a couple of years during school and yes, it is very difficult to not become attached and love the patients. They are like family in many ways.

I 100% agree.

YAY! Enough for a signature dinner. Sorry it wasn't as amazing as you hoped, but I am glad you tried it to say you had.

Oh yes, it was nice our meal was pretty much covered by the gift card. The meal was good but I wasn't wowed like I thought that I would be based on reviews and the "signature' name tag and price. But like I said, I'm not a fine diner so perhaps it was all lost on me.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

June 17 - Magic Kingdom

Another fun-filled Disney day was upon us. Mom and I woke up bright and early so another day at the Magic Kingdom.

This morning we had a couple zebras keeping us company as we got ready for the day.



Our original plan for the day was to attend Early Morning Magic in the Magic Kingdom but we decided to cancel that reservation before the trip as it did not seem like a good use of money based on what was on offer. It probably would have been great if we had been unable to ride Mine Train or Peter Pan on our own the other day or if we had a Peter Pan loving kid that would want to ride over and over.

Even though we were not going to EMM we still wanted to get to the park early to be in a prime spot for rope drop so we were at the bus stop around 7:30 with the hopes of being at Magic Kingdom shortly after 8am.

When we arrived at the bus stop there was already a big group of people waiting for the Magic Kingdom bus. People were already restless as some of them had been waiting since 0700 and had 0800 breakfast and Boutique reservations. The time of arrival on the screen kept changing. Tons of busses for other parks came but no Magic Kingdom bus. Even a Disney Springs bus showed up!! One family got on the phone and another approached one of the other park busses asking if they could radio for help and finally a bus showed up at 0750. I felt really badly for the people who had reservations and were not going to make it and I was really glad that we had cancelled our EMM reservations as we would have pretty much missed most of it as it had already started before we were even on the bus.

I have us arriving at the park around 0820 after a packed bus ride with a bunch of annoyed people. When we were loaded onto the bus one mother shoved her family to the front of the line to get on the bus loudly exclaiming that they had been there first and so they deserved to get on before everybody else. I was hoping this madness was not a sign of the day to come.

Once we were off the bus the mood lightened again and we were off to a good start for the day.









Our plan for the day was to focus on the left side of the park since we had pretty much covered Fantasyland and Tomorrowland on our previous day. We were going to head straight to Big Thunder at rope drop so we had to decide if we should position ourselves at Liberty Square or Adventureland. We decided on Adventureland. There were not many people waiting on the bridge yet so I decided to grab some photos.















Cast Members from Pirates and Jungle Cruise walked us into Adventureland once the rope was dropped.



We veered to the right when we got to the passageway that connects with Frontierland where there was another rope. The cast members there waited until the Liberty Square rope droppers arrived at our location before they walked us over to Big Thunder. Everybody was headed there as Splash Mountain was down. So it turns out it doesn't really matter what bridge you start at (Liberty Square or Adventureland) as they herd you all together anyways.

Mom and I were toward the front of the pack so we pretty much walked onto Big Thunder.











Our plan had been to go to Splash Mountain after Big Thunder but it was still down.






We will be back Splash!

Since Splash was out for the moment we went down into Adventureland where Pirates was a walk on. In fact, the wait was nonexistent so we went on it twice!















The morning was off to a great start despite the hiccups of the bus situation and Splash being down.

 

[Steppesister]

Hard to make heads or tails of this one.

When we were loaded onto the bus one mother shoved her family to the front of the line to get on the bus loudly exclaiming that they had been there first and so they deserved to get on before everybody else. I was hoping this madness was not a sign of the day to come.

Ugh!! but, I do see this as a problem sometimes. I wish the bus stations had better ways of signaling who was first. I know POP does. But, none the Mods or Deluxes. I can see how things could get testy if there's a big crowd and others move in to the front as it's only a blob.

Love the sky in this one!

LOLOL!!! Exact same photos on my TR!!!

 

[disneyAndi14]

The bus waiting can be stressful, I never know if we should stay standing or risk sitting and lose our place in the line, lol!

BTMRR is one of my favorites!

 

[missangelalexis]

That stinks about the bus situation! But I'm glad things got better once you were in the park! Love all the early morning photos you took

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Hard to make heads or tails of this one.

Ugh!! but, I do see this as a problem sometimes. I wish the bus stations had better ways of signaling who was first. I know POP does. But, none the Mods or Deluxes. I can see how things could get testy if there's a big crowd and others move in to the front as it's only a blob.

This was the first time we had enough people waiting for the bus for it to be a huge problem but it does happen and there should be some sort of queue to guide people to help avoid mob like behaviour.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

The bus waiting can be stressful, I never know if we should stay standing or risk sitting and lose our place in the line, lol!

BTMRR is one of my favorites!

I know, it can be a tough call sometimes. Most of the time I will grab a seat but if I see the crowd for the bus growing I will get up.

That stinks about the bus situation! But I'm glad things got better once you were in the park! Love all the early morning photos you took

Thanks! I love taking in all the details in the parks.

 

[amazingact21]

I do have to give the value resorts credit for creating queues for the buses. People can get quite angry when they think someone has "cut" them in line. I'm not sure if they expected less people to be riding the buses at the deluxes, but with how short tempered people are nowadays, it might be smart of Disney to put up some kind of line, even if only during the morning when there's a build up.

Love the shots of the statues.
And it looks like you were front row on Thunder. A lovely way to start a MK day.

 

[Terra Nova guy]

I have us arriving at the park around 0820 after a packed bus ride with a bunch of annoyed people. When we were loaded onto the bus one mother shoved her family to the front of the line to get on the bus loudly exclaiming that they had been there first and so they deserved to get on before everybody else. I was hoping this madness was not a sign of the day to come.

The whole bus situation can be frustrating. It's why I tried renting a car on my last trip. Overall, I liked having our own car because there was no waiting on buses. But, it's such an expense, especially now with the parking fees at the resorts.
I was relieved that this past trip was my first without any craziness from any other guest. Nobody pushing in line, making rude comments, or anything like that. It certainly puts a damper on the "magic".