The Road Trip from Hell and then Sunk by the Nautilus (November 27 - December 8, 2021)

[Hubie]

The Road Trip from Hell and then Sunk by the Nautilus
(November 27 - December 8, 2021)
​

Let me introduce myself and my DW. We are high school sweethearts and met each other in 1962. We've now been married for 56 years. I'm 75, she's 74 and we both have been retired since 2001. I worked as a hydrogeologist for the Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources in Madison, WI and eventually ran the Statewide Solid Waste Program. I also enjoyed rock climbing and mountaineering for 35 years throughout much of the Western US, including ascending mountains in Alaska; the European Alps; in the Andes of Bolivia and Ecuador and on the volcanoes in Mexico. My DW worked as a bookkeeper for Cooperative Education Service Agency 5 in our hometown of Portage, WI where we both have lived all of our lives.

This is the first time out of 11 trips to WDW that we've gone without our DD and DSIL. Also, on nine of those former trips we were joined by two or all three of our DGK'S. We have taken a total of seven DCL cruises, and I've completed DCL trip reports on the Baltic Cruise aboard the Magic that departed from Copenhagen twice, simply because we went on it two years in a row, 2018 and 2019. Why might you ask would we do that? Well, there's just too much to see and do in the Northern European Ports the Magic visits and so little time before the ship departs for the next port or a sea day.



This is my draft itinerary for this visit to WDW:

Disney World (2021)​

Sat. 11/27 - Drive to Holiday Inn Express, Murfreesboro, TN

Sun. 11/28 - Drive to SSR and Check-in Preferred Studio
- Boat to DS for Ragland Road 6:30 PM ADR
- Boat to SSR

Mon. 11/29 - Breakfast in Room
- Bus to HS
- Quick Service Lunch at Docking Bay 7?
- Mama Melrose's 4:55 PM ADR
- Bus to SSR

Tues. 11/30 - Breakfast in Room
- Bus to MK
- Quick Service Lunch at Columbia Harbor House
- Monorail to PR and make Reservation for Trader Sam's.
- Kona Cafe 5:00 PM ADR
- Monorail Back to MK and Eventually Bus to SSR

Wed. 12/01 - Check Out and Transfer to Preferred 1 Bedroom Villa at SSR
- Bus to HS and Sky Liner to Epcot
- Ale & Compass 10:15 AM ADR
- Walk or Boat to EC?
- Eventually Bus to SSR
- Boat to DS for Quick Service Dinner?

Thurs. 12/02 - Bus to AK then Bus to AKL
- Boma 9:55 AM ADR
- Bus to AK and Eventually Bus to SSR

Fri, 12/03 - Breakfast in Room
- Bus to MK
- Bus to DS for Boathouse 4:15 ADR
- Boat to SSR

Sat. 12/04 - Bus to MK and Boat to Trail's End 10:10 AM ADR
- Boat to CT then Monorail to MK
- Bus to Gran Destino Tower
- Bus to DS for Quick Service Dinner
- Boat to SSR

Sun. 12/05 - Bus to MK and Monorail to GF
- GF Cafe 9:45 AM ADR
- Bus to SSR (Pool Time?)
- Boat to DS for Quick Service Dinner at Jock Lindsey's Hanger

Mon. 12/06 - Bus to HS and Boat to Boardwalk
- Trattoria El Forno 10:10 AM ADR
- Walk to EC
- Via Napoli 4:10 PM ADR
- Dessert at Norway, France or Beaches & Cream?
- Bus to SSR
- Check Out and Pack

Tues. 12/07 - Breakfast in Room
- Drive to Holiday Inn Express in Symra, TN

Wed. 12/08 - Drive Home

First Travel Day, Saturday, November 27, 2021

Things immediately started off on the wrong foot Saturday morning when our alarm clock went off at 2 AM instead of 3:00. I blamed DW for setting it wrong and tried to go back to sleep. Couldn't sleep so I got up at 2:30 and we left the house at 4:15 as planned.

The traffic on I-90 and then on 1-39 was not a problem, but then around Effingham, IL on I-57 it started to get heavier and heavier and only continued to get thicker as expected as we approached Nashville on I-24.

While traversing the Music City on I-24 we barely avoided losing a wheel or having a blowout. Huge holes exist across entire lanes on I-24! We finally arrived at the Holiday Inn Express in Murfreesboro, TN around 5:30 PM.

After checking in I fetched a cart to unload our bags and decided to ride it down the hotel's sloping parking lot to where DW was waiting next to our car. When it began to quickly roll, I jumped aboard, and it suddenly tipped straight up in the air. I went down on my rear end. DW and a man on his phone saw the whole performance. After the three of us stopped laughing I eventually unloaded everything from our trunk. DW and I then walked just across the street from the hotel to the Cracker Barrel for a quick dinner.

Second Travel Day, Sunday, November 28, 2021

Sunday morning started out okay. We both grabbed the usual poor cup of hotel coffee, skipped waiting for the IHG breakfast and were on the road by 4:45 AM. There was hardly any traffic on I-75 given the time but at first light it began to get heavy again. It was particularly horrible (stop and go) from Valdosta, GA, where we had stopped to gas up, all the way to the Orlando Turnpike. We lost over 2 hours driving time, and of course another hour from entering the Eastern Time Zone. My car indicated that we only averaged 44 mph from Valdosta.

We finally arrived at SSR at 5:50 PM. The only plus, the smart phone lady routed us off of the toll road with only having to pay 75 cents. But by the time we arrived at our Studio Room (Number 3305) in the Springs Villas my eyeballs and back were trashed.



Driving 12 hours straight for two days will do that to you when you're 75 years old. My back, fortunately, didn't feel too bad because I had worn an 8-hour Thermo-Care waist belt while driving both days. But I swear I will never choose to drive to Orlando again. I don't care what a flight cost. One of my DBIL's suggested that I should sell my car in Orlando and fly home.

We decided since we weren't put in the Congress Park Complex as I had requested, we needed to catch the boat to DS because we had a 6:30 ADR at Raglan Road. After dumping our bags in our room, we rushed out to find the boat. A boat, fortunately, arrived at the main SSR dock just as we did, but the captain announced that he needed to stop at the Tree House Dock before heading to DS. And wouldn't you know it a couple boarded there and wanted to be dropped off back at main SSR Dock.

We finally headed to DS and arrived there at 6:38 PM. DS was the usual madhouse on a Sunday night as we made our way to Raglan Road from memory. After checking in we waited 20 minutes to be seated. We were then placed at the smallest table in the restaurant.

Are you beginning to get the picture here? It was becoming the day and night from hell. The Irish music with the dancers was so loud we had to shout to hear each other and our waiter. I should have known better. It was a bad move on my part to have reserved the always very noisy restaurant for our first night after having to drive for a total of 24 hrs. over the last two days. Also having to wear a mask didn't help with communication. Our Fish and Chips of course was great as usual (sorry no food pictures until the next day) and my beer flight of the following Raglan Road Signature Beers (Paddys Blue Berry Wheat Ale, King of Shoals NE Style IPA, Smithwick's Irish Ale, and Tri Wishes Grand Irish Red Ale) helped me relax somewhat. The Blue Berry Wheat Ale was awesome! I wished I had just ordered a full pint of that.

Our evening then went downhill from there! DW got a phone call and thinking it was from SSR she asked me to go outside and answer it. There was no way you could hear anything on the phone at our table. While walking out of the restaurant I removed my mask and my glasses caught on its straps and went flying. I didn't even notice and continued out the door. A guy who witnessed the whole thing picked them up and caught up to me outside and handed them back to me. I was shocked that I didn't even notice they were gone and thanked him profusely. It was an absolute miracle that nobody had stepped on them. What a disaster that would have been.

After finishing our meal both DW and I were convinced our Studio Room's Number was 5505 (our minds were definitely fried after being up since 3 AM). When we embarked from the boat back at SSR we spent at least an hour looking for a villa complex that didn't exist! We finally gave up the search and walked to the main office only to learn that our room was 3305.

I'm typing this at 8:44 PM. Finally, we hit the sack at 11 PM. We had been up for 20 hours! Needless to say, our schedule for the next day to arrive at HS around 7 AM was definitely out the window.

To be continued on the next post.

 

[Hubie]

Monday, November 29, 2021, at Hollywood Studios

Monday morning, we awoke without a wakeup call around 8 AM. Both DW and I had fresh, cold- brewed coffee from home in the Styrofoam cups that state on their side not to use them in the microwave. But we're both still alive. We also fixed oatmeal in the microwave for breakfast then added blueberries, walnuts, hempseeds and cinnamon to it.



Still pretty tired we could have used the entire day to just relax and recuperate. But because we had a park reservation for HS, we took the bus there and arrived right at noon. The two of us and one other guy were the only passengers on the bus. The park was much more crowded than in past trips we've taken to WDW the week after Thanksgiving.



We assumed, like us, people wanted to come to the parks after being deprived of travel in 2020 because of the pandemic and to celebrate Disney's 50th Anniversary.

We initially decided to just mosey around and check out the merchandise in the stores located along Hollywood Boulevard. It was disappointing to not be able to find any 50th Anniversary clothing we wanted in size medium. T-shirts and some sweatshirts were especially limited or pretty picked over. Some of them were available in only XS and S, or just XL plus sizes.

We eventually checked out the queue for M&MRR and it was 65 minutes. We didn't want to wait that long and continued on to the Market to get some free ice waters and a Num-Num Cookie to split for a snack.

Having checked-in on-line for our room at SSR, we forgot to get codes for our Magic Bands. The CM who waited on DW sprinkled us with pixie dust and told her the cookie was on him. Some things still remain great in the Disney bubble. In fact, we didn't experience any uninformed CM or poor behavior within the park that day that's been discussed in posts on DIS Boards. The huge cookie was oh-so delicious and also so filling that we both agreed to skip having lunch at Docking Bay 7.

After getting our codes at the guest services umbrella stand located nearby, we walked to Toy Story Land and found the standby queue for SD was 85 minutes.



We proceeded onto Battu and found the line for MFSR to also be very long.





We then checked out Dok-Ondar's Den of Antiquities and I almost bought a Red Crystal but decided not to.









From there we walked to the Market. I purchased a Millennium Falcon Hat at Black Spire Outfitters and, a little later, a T-shirt and Rise of the Resistance Keychain at the Resistance Supply Stand.



(See next post for continuation of this day)

 

[Hubie]

Monday, November 29, 2021, at Hollywood Studios, Continued

After leaving Battu we decided to ride Star Tours because it was pretty much a walk on.







We then made our way over to Mama Melrose's where we were told by the CM guard at the door that we could check in from anywhere in the park 20 minutes, not 21 minutes, ahead of our 4:55 reservation.

We continued on our walk around and made our way over to Echo Lake, which was decorated for the Holidays.



I then took a few pictures of the Holiday Decorations nearby and of some of the beautiful wreaths on the Hollywood and Vine and 50s Prime Time Cafe Buildings.







We eventually ended up back on Hollywood Boulevard just as Pluto and his friends, including Santa Claus were parading by.





From there we walked up Sunset Boulevard and DW bought a sparkly red and gray Minnie T-shirt she liked in Once Upon a Time.



Both TOT and RRC had wait times of well over an hour and it was close to our ADR check in time. But when 4:35 came DW's phone refused to let us check in for the ADR at Mama Melrose's. We walked back to Mama's and the CM at the door checked us in. And, then when we were called, we were once again placed at a very small table. We requested paper menus, and I ordered the Chicken Parmesan and DW had the Shrimp Pasta.

Continued on the next post.

 

[Hubie]

After finishing our meals, we decided to "bite the bullet" and join the long standby queue for M&MRR. It was still posted at 65 minutes, but we were on the ride in 44. We and others we talked to in the queue believe Disney is showing extended wait times for the standby lines to encourage guests to use Genie Plus and to pay for the Lightning Lanes. Both of us and the other people we talked to feel having to pay for a ride after paying the increased ticket price to get into the parks is a rip-off. We all agreed that we are not going to pay for a ride. But lots of people did, even when the wait times at some of the rides were very low or even a walk on. I will say that M&MRR was quite enjoyable but it's also a little short.

After sunset and being in T-shirts and shorts we needed a warm drink. The high for the day had been 72, but it was a little cool after sunset even for us winter-hardened Badgers. We decided to go to the Trolley Car Cafe (Starbucks) and get Creme Brulle Latte's.

Then I wanted to take a picture of the THTH before we left to catch a bus back to SSR.



To be continued on the next post (Magic Kingdom)

 

[Hubie]

Tuesday, November 30, 2021, at Magic Kingdom

On Tuesday we had a wonderful late morning at the Magic Kingdom. We arrived on a standing room only bus around 9:30 and upon entering onto Main Street, U.S.A. I took the required picture of the beautiful Christmas Tree.



We then immediately walked into the Emporium to avoid the crowd on the street and to look for some 50th Anniversary clothing. The store, however, was as packed as the street. The only sweatshirts available in size medium were a grey sweatshirt with Mickey dressed in a tux and some plain, navy-blue ones that only had a small, gold circle patch outlining the 50th Anniversary/Castle on them. Neither one appealed to either of us. There is a grey, two-button, short-sleeved T-shirt I liked but again none were size medium. And DW really wanted the two-tone, blue T-shirt with Mickey & Minnie on it with the new look of Cinderella's Castle with the 50th on it behind them, but they were only available in kid's sizes. A CM told us a lot of the 50th Merchandize was still sitting off of the Californian Coast on a ship. I did find and buy a couple of the new 50th Anniversary Pins -- the one with Micky & Minnie with the Castle and one of Goofy and Pluto. I later saw the one featuring Donald and Daisy but forgot to get it.

After watching the Barber Shop singers' parade by on Main Street, U.S.A., we decided to head to Frontier Land and try to ride Jungle Cruise.





When we arrived at the back of the standby line the wait was only 40-minutes. But then I had to use the restroom by Pirates first, and not wanting to be a line cutter by having DW wait in the line and then come back and join her, she also decided to go with me to use the facilities. When we returned, the wait had increased to 60 minutes. Then as we hesitated just for a minute it suddenly increased to 85!

We took a pass on waiting in the sun and walked to the mountains instead where we found the wait for BTMRR was only 35 minutes. While waiting in the queue we had a great conversation with a couple standing behind us from Minnesota. The actual wait was really only about 20 minutes.

After riding my favorite coaster (DW loves it too, but her favorite is the much higher mountain with the Yeti at AK), we contemplated riding it again. But then decided not to. Our favorite time to ride BTMRR is of course at night, especially when the fireworks are going off. I did, however, take a picture of it, SM, birds hanging out in a tree above TSI and the lovely LBRB before we headed up to the HM.









The standby line for HM was extremely long and extended all the way down past the LTT. We decided instead of waiting to ride it to have lunch at the CHH. It was our first time eating there and we were pleasantly surprised that their quick service food was so good. I had their Chicken Strips & Fries and DW ordered their Barbecued Shrimp on a Stick, with Rice and Green Beans.





We also shared a Haunted Milkshake, which is dark purple in color and Huckleberry-favored. It also comes with a chocolate donut with purple frosting and chocolate sprinkles on top of it. It was very tasty!



To be continued on the next Post

 

[Hubie]

Magic Kingdom Day Continued:

After finishing our lunch/desert we decided to ride from London to and through Neverland on a magical ship. But the standby line for our favorite ride in Fantasy Land (PP) was extremely long with a wait of 120 minutes. We decided instead to fire lasers at Zurg on the BLY ride in Tomorrow Land. It only had a 40-minute wait.

On our way there we couldn't believe it when we had passed by the PM that there was actually quite a large queue waiting to board it. We love the relaxing and smooth, touring ride but I wouldn't spend much time waiting to get on it.





After riding BLY, we bumped into this miniature Golden Doodle service dog and its trainer. It was so cute I asked her if I could take its picture.



Then I also got a picture of the real Buzz posing for the kiddies on the stage over by the Joffrey's Revive.



It was nearing noon by then and I had a very important appointment at the PR. We left the park to take the Monorail over to our favorite, themed resort, and on our way out I took a wrong turn and ended up walking towards the Tomorrowland Terrace Restaurant. But in doing so we discovered the Anniversary Golden Stich.



After taking its picture we made a U-turn and quickly walked back over to the Main Street Plaza. While there I asked a fellow vacationer if he would mind taking a picture of us in front of the Cinderella's Castle.



Yep, I should've asked him to take a vertical, but I was in a hurry to snag a reservation for Trader Sam's Grog Grotto. In the past 10 visits to WDW we've never stayed at the PR, and I didn't even know Trader Sam's existed!

We got a wave from Mickey and Minnie from the upper level of the Railroad Station as we were leaving the park.



When we finally got to PR, we looked around its beautifully themed, main lobby and spent a little time looking over some of the merchandize in the stores.



Then I asked directions from another man on where the unique bar is located and got in line around 1:00. They weren't taking reservations until 2:30 and there were only seven other parties in line ahead of me.



The line, however, soon wound around the corner of the hallway where we stood waiting. DW and I got in the bar right when it opened at 3:00. It is indeed one of the most interesting bars we've been in. I think it even tops Oga's in Battu at HS. The special effects, like the simulated thunderstorm, and their timing were a pleasant surprise to us. And the bartender is definitely just a little crazy. Both DW and I had an absolute blast with a great couple from New York (Ranbir and Shelvy), who shared our table. Having been there before and being a former bartender, Shelby advised DW to order the Polynesian Pearl (Rum Chata, Cream Liqueur, Grand Mariner, and Cinnamon with Tropical Juices and the Pearl is yours to keep) and she did. DW rarely drinks alcohol, but she really liked the drink. And when I inquired about the Nautilus drink (Barban court Pango Rum, Appleton Reserve Estate Rum, Cambier Creme de Peche de Vigne Liqueur, Tropical Fruit Juices, and Falernum) the waitress told me that it was for two people. Like a dummy, I ordered it and Shelby warned me that it would sink me. I'm a beer drinker from Wisconsin what was I thinking?



Well, I can now proudly claim that I was almost sunk by the Nautilus at Trader Sam's. On taking the very first sip through one of the big red and white, paper straws I knew I was in trouble. The huge drink was way too powerful a concoction to have on a somewhat, empty stomach. But I did polish off the whole thing and under its influence I decided I had to have the expensive, souvenir Nautilus drink container too. DW wasn't happy that I bought the thing. She kept asking me where I was going to put it.

When we left to head upstairs to the Kona Cafe for our 5:00 ADR DW wasn't feeling any pain either. Our waiter knew we were a little sloshed and suggested we get a French Press Pot of the 100% Kona Coffee with our meal. We ended up having two! I had the Short Rib Dinner and DW ordered the Chicken Airline. Both meals were excellent from what I remember, and naturally I forgot to take any pictures of our meals. When we returned downstairs, I knew I just had to buy a Trader's Sam's T-Shirt in the Bou-Tiki shop.

Next post - Move day from Preferred Studio to Preferred One-Bed Villa at SSR and then EPCOT.

 

[Hubie]

Wednesday, December 1, 2021, Short Visit to Epcot

I woke up Wednesday morning with my first hangover since the surprise party my DD organized for our 25th Wedding Anniversary back in 1990. We, fortunately, only had to spend about a half hour shuttling everything to our one-bedroom villa for the next six nights, because it was located right down the hall from our studio room. And this time I remembered to take some pictures of it before we were entirely moved in.


Picture in the entryway where a small closet with two metal shelves and the safe are located.


Full kitchen with dining table and chandler.


Living room with a handy cabinet/table that opens up for extra storage. You can also utilize it as a worktable or to eat on while watching the big screen TV mounted on the opposite wall.




You have two of these, one in the living room as mentioned above, and one in the master bedroom above a large dresser.


Extra bed.


Master bedroom. A patio with two chairs is located behind the draw curtain.


Sink and shower.


Main bath with a much larger counter.


And the toilet located off of the shower room.

Soon after we got settled, we caught a bus for HS and jumped onto the Sky Liner to EC. We had a 10:15 ADR for breakfast at the Ale & Compass and were going to be a little late. I forgot the restaurant is tucked away in the YC quite far from where the ECSL drops you. We hoofed it as fast as we could to the restaurant and ended up arriving about 15 minutes late, but we only had to wait about 10 minutes for our table.

We had a very nice waitress that likes to chat with her customers when she has the time. She complained that it was so busy earlier that she didn't have any time to get to know anything about those she served. She noticed my Trader Sam's T-Shirt and asked if we were staying at the PR. I explained how I came by the shirt and that we were staying at SSR. She then told us that she worked at PR for many years and used to open Trader Sam's. She probably knew we both were dying for some caffeine, and quickly brought us water and our own pot of coffee. She also brought us paper menus and I made it a point to thank her.

I then ordered the Blueberry Pancakes with Bacon and DW ordered a Veggie Omelet with Breakfast Potatoes and Gluten- Free Toast. We both really enjoyed our meals and, of course, the coffee. After we drained the entire pot; I began to feel normal once again.

To be continued on the next post.

 

[Hubie]

Short Visit to Epcot Continued:





After breakfast I took a partial picture of the Gingerbread Display in the YC. It was too large to capture with a normal lens. On past November or December trips to WDW we always spent one evening visiting each resort to see their gingerbread display.



I also took a couple of pictures of the Christmas decorations and the tree in the YC before we decided to take the boat from pier located outside the YC over to the International Gateway to save having to take some additional steps.








At the gateway I breezed through the security, but DW got pulled aside because she had my sunglass case in her purse, and it has some metal on it. It happened more than once while entering different parks or DS. She finally made me carry it when we had to go through any of the metal detectors. She also got caught once because she had a lens wipe package in her purse, which have a metallic lining.

While at EC we checked out the merchandize in the World Traveler then joined the huge crowd and slowly made our way to the Creations Shop. On our way there I took a picture of the tea pot and cups located across from the Tea Caddy.



We also encountered the golden statues of Rocket and Olaf. I had to pose for a picture with my favorite character from "The Heros of the Galaxy" movies and had DW pose with her favorite character from the "Frozen" movies.





As usual with the full sun out it was quite hot at EC. And with getting such a late start -- it was already afternoon -- the standby waits for all of the rides were quite long. The Creations Shop had some 50th Anniversary clothing, but nothing we wanted. DW did buy a nice, light-blue sweatshirt with Mickey on it that had matching sweatpants, but there were no medium sized pants left in the blue color. The outfit also is available in grey and peach and the pants in those two colors were plentiful everywhere we looked. She eventually did find one medium sized pair of the blue ones at the store in PR when we went there later in the week to get Dole Whip.

When we departed Creations, we decided to re-explore the history of mankind's innovations and rode SE. We only had to wait for the ride 10 minutes. It's our favorite ride when we're exhausted from being in the park all day and it was also a good option that day when we were feeling a little under the weather. I just closed my eyes for most of the soothing ride. Afterwards, still not feeling so great and because it was so hot and crowded in the park, we just decided to take a bus back to SSR to relax for the rest of the day.

It was our shortest visit to a park ever. On all ten of our past trips to WDW, we almost always try to make rope drop every day we visited a park and stay for most of an entire day. Our DGKs even got picked a couple of times to open a park. This trip without other members of our family with us we just decided to take it easy. Our earliest time to a park this time was Tuesday morning at MK when we arrived at 9:30. In fact, I'm not sure when we come back that we will even want to visit the parks at all. If we do, I'd probably only buy tickets to visit each of the four parks just one day. There is just so much for adults to do and enjoy seeing at all of the resorts and at DS without having to stand in line most of a day just to get on a few rides. Also, we found SSR to be a much more relaxing place to stay versus some of the other resorts, like the Riveria. It's by far the best resort for just taking a nice walk or for quick access to all of the shopping, restaurants, and entertainment available at DS.

We ended up taking the boat to DS around 3:00 that afternoon and just shopped before and after eating personal-sized pizzas at Pizza Ponte instead of going to Blaze Pizza. We found Pizza Ponte's pizzas to be very good and just the right size when you're not too hungry. We did bring back to our room a large piece of layered, vanilla cake with tri-colored vanilla frosting and a huge, salted-caramel brownie from Erin McKenna's Bakery NYC for another day. We've always enjoyed the gluten-free pastries and donuts from there on previous trips. But I must say we were disappointed with both of these desserts.



After visiting the bakery, we walked to the large UNIQLO department store. I wanted to look at the graphic, Museum of Fine Arts Boston T-shirts that they carry. I bought one on our last trip in 1/2020 and really like it. This time I couldn't find a design that I liked. We ended up spending quite a bit of time trying on other clothes there that we thought we might buy later. We left the store around 9:00 and decided to call it a night.

Next post will include our breakfast at Bomo and our day at Animal Kingdom.

 

[disneyAndi14]

I’m enjoying reading along. We were at Disney from 12/3-12/7. We found it quite busy.
Trader Sam’s is on my wish list, we still haven’t made it in there yet.
The Nautilus does look like a very big drink, lol!
The refurbished rooms at SSR look very nice.

 

[Hubie]

I’m enjoying reading along. We were at Disney from 12/3-12/7. We found it quite busy.
Trader Sam’s is on my wish list, we still haven’t made it in there yet.
The Nautilus does look like a very big drink, lol!
The refurbished rooms at SSR look very nice.

Glad to hear from you and that you're enjoying reading my report as I create it. I do want to read your report too. I haven't put the Nautilus souvenir on display yet it's still in its box. I have nowhere to put it right now with DW prioritizing putting out all of our Holiday decorations that she didn't get out before we left for Florida. You will surely enjoy Trader Sam's when you finally get there on a future trip. It's definitely worth the wait for a reservation and a fun experience. And yes, the made over rooms at SSR are really nice and are also pretty comparable to those at RR.

 

[footballmouse]

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Really enjoying this trip report

 

[Hubie]

Jen,

Couldn't find your countdown but I hope you get to go soon. I'll be adding more to my report soon, but DW currently has me doing some outside work. It's 62 degrees here in WI today! Thanks for reading what I've completed so far.

 

[Hubie]

Really enjoying this trip report

Hey Broadway, we can commiserate with you for having had to cancel your 2020 cruise. We too had to cancel our planned 5/6/2020 DCL Trans-Atlantic cruise. We, fortunately, got back all of our money -- including for our scheduled two-flights. Glad you're following along and enjoying my report.

 

[rdkeim]

Following!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Hey Broadway, we can commiserate with you for having had to cancel your 2020 cruise. We too had to cancel our planned 5/6/2020 DCL Trans-Atlantic cruise. We, fortunately, got back all of our money -- including for our scheduled two-flights. Glad you're following along and enjoying my report.

It was the worst, but I’d rather be safe more than anything! Same with us-all the money we got back-the flights we were just able to change to when we eventually did our split stay UOR/WDW this past September!

 

[Hubie]

Following!

Gald to have you aboard. I'll try to get another post done tonight.

 

[Hubie]

It was the worst, but I’d rather be safe more than anything! Same with us-all the money we got back-the flights we were just able to change to when we eventually did our split stay UOR/WDW this past September!

We're with you, better safe than sorry. Our DD and DSIL are scheduled for a DCL 7-day Caribbean Cruise this January and are getting worried with the new variant out there.

 

[Hubie]

Thursday, December 2, 2021, at Animal Kingdom

We had to get up early on Thursday Morning, December 2, 2021. We got a Mickey wake up call for 6:30 and wanted to make it to the first bus at the Springs bus stop to AK. At the park we then waited for another bus going to AKL, because we had a 9:55 ADR at Boma for their breakfast buffet. The restaurant has been and still is my favorite one at WDW. I was very happy to learn it had reopened and was still offering its African market-like buffets for breakfast and dinner. We've dined there on a number of past trips to WDW and have never been disappointed with its buffet offerings and the quality of the food. Nor have we ever left the restaurant not being absolutely stuffed. That's always the downside of any buffet for us. But it doesn't matter that much when you know you're going to get around 20,000 steps/day while at WDW.

We also were looking forward to going back to our favorite park (AK) after our meal where both my and DW's favorite ride in all of Florida (FOP) resides in PTWOA. Our second favorite ride in all of Florida is now Hagrid's Motorcycle Ride at Universal, but DW also loves Everest in AK. Even as a former mountain climbing enthusiast, I'm not a big fan of the coaster.

Our bus came right on time, and we soon arrived at AK. We then quickly caught the next bus going to AKL with time to spare. Initially we looked over the merchandize offered in the store located just off of the lodge's main lobby. I became interested in a bluish-grey, Grumpy T-shirt, that has his face on it and the saying below it in large letters "Nope Not Today." But then I didn't want to carry it around all day and figured I could find it later somewhere else. I wasn't sure if the stores still provide free transfer of merchandize you purchase to your resort when staying on property or not.

At 9:45 we took the stairs adjacent to the large, fire circle and chairs in the corner of the lodge's lobby down to the restaurant and were promptly seated at 9:55 at a table for two right up by the buffet line.

After our waitress introduced herself to us, she promptly delivered a pot of coffee, water and a glass of the delicious, watermelon/lemonade for each of us. We then went up to the buffet line and I made a beeline to the carved ham station, where the chef cut off two, thick slices of it for me. I skipped by the scrambled eggs and decided to take a small, Ham & Swiss Omelet instead. Then I added some breakfast potatoes to my plate. Next, I filled a small bowl with coconut favored, steel-cut oats and added a little honey and some walnuts to them.

Plain oatmeal was also made available adjacent to the steel cut oats. DW took the regular oatmeal after she got her baked ham, bacon, scrambled eggs and breakfast potatoes. I found the steel-cut oats to be really delicious and returned for another bowl. I also got another slice of the baked ham. Finally for dessert I grabbed a composed, strawberry yogurt, parfait with berries and a small sticky bun. I poured some of the provided vanilla-flavored topping over the sticky bun and added pecans that were swimming in a small dish full of maple syrup on top of it too. Not sure what DW had for dessert but neither one of us left hungry. As usual everything was just excellent (Sorry, but I forgot to take any food pictures this time).

After we went back up the stairs, I took a couple pictures of the awesome Christmas tree in the main lobby. It's just beautiful and as large as the decorated trees in the huge lobbies of its sister lodges, GF and WL.





We then had our first and really only long bus delay while waiting for a bus to come to take us from the AKL back to AK. We waited about 45 minutes while several other buses (two or three for the same park or for DS) came and left. Kind of ironic that it was so difficult to catch a ride from AKL to AK, don't you think? A large crowd was waiting with us, and no way would everyone fit on one bus. We overheard two different families complaining that they were going to miss their LL reservation for one of rides at the park. Just another reason not to pay extra to avoid waiting in the standby lines in our opinion.

Once we finally made it back to AK, I took a picture of the Christmas Tree at the park's entrance, several of some birds while the lighting was still good, and a few of the animals depicted on the trunk of the Tree of Life before we made our way to the Gorilla walk.














The Gorilla walk in the Africa Section of AK is my favorite walk at the park. On the way there we saw several of the DRCC, including the motorboat with Santa, and a huge line waiting to ride the KS. We've ridden the rough ride many times and prefer to ride it in the early evening anyway when the animals are more active. Except the Lions which more often than not are dozing anyway.





To be continued on the next post.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

We're with you, better safe than sorry. Our DD and DSIL are scheduled for a DCL 7-day Caribbean Cruise this January and are getting worried with the new variant out there.

I don’t blame them. Good news is the vaccine requirement is changing and being more strict.