DAY 4 – Sunday 6/20/21
Who: Sue (62), DVC Member
Plan: Pool, Splitsville lunch
Actual: Last night after posting the report I moved out to the balcony to read, and it was lovely out there. Then around 8:30 I started feeling raindrops blowing over. Earlier I’d heard thunder, so it made sense. I moved inside a little before 9
and finished the rest of the Gideon’s cookie (yum). That was so good – and after all, I’m on vacation <g>. But, now I really need the virtual queue if I want to have some cookie to eat tomorrow night (and beyond).
I watched HGTV for a while before turning in, loving how nice & quiet this studio is. It was another quiet, comfortable night’s sleep (no fireworks again) and I got up at 5 to do my walking. The temp was already 80 but the “feels like” was almost
90. It also looks like cloud clover all day again. I did my laps of the hallways, taking pictures of the various paintings along the way. They’re all either castles or Disney movie characters, and it’s well done. Each floor has the same art
pieces in the same places, and a few pieces repeat on the same floor.
When I got back to the studio I made my cappuccino, then took it back to bed to do online stuff while watching the morning news – and watching the skyliner getting started. Once again I managed to get the bed put back up into the wall, and breakfast
was the last egg, bacon & the rest of the banana bread. After cleaning up everything I headed down to the quiet pool, arriving about 8am.
Today my magic band worked, which was a pleasant surprise at this point <g>. The pool was fabulous – not many people, nice breeze, and it was actually comfortable almost the entire time. There was one problematic party – a woman came down with her
2 young daughters. The girls went in the pool while mom sat at a table. I’d guess the older girl might have been around 10 and the other a few years younger. The younger one was a total monster – obnoxious, demanding, manipulative, etc. The older
girl kept wanting to please the young one, pleading with her to tell her what she did wrong & promising not to do it again (she used the wrong step in the pool). When it was time to go, older girl got right out and dried off and telled to her sister it
was time to go. Little brat defiantly says “no” each time. I don’t know what mom’s problem was, as I never would have allowed such horrendous rude behavior from my kid. Eventually the girl decided to get out, after a good 5-10 minutes, and
they left. I imagine the odds are good she’ll have a rap sheet by the time she’s an adult – yikes!
Other than that drama, the morning was pleasant and mostly peaceful. I’d figured out the helicopter rides start at 10am, and sure enough at 10:04 it was flying over us for the first of many times. I stayed out there until about 11:30 and then headed
up to the studio. Splitsville sent me a text reminding me of my 3:30 reservation. I tried again to move the time up, but nothing was available – I’ll just ask in person.
One thing I’ve liked is housekeeping gets my room early in the day. Each day my trash had been emptied while I was at the pool, and today the trash & towel has already been done. I packed up a few things I wouldn’t be needing so I could leave it in
the car at some point today, then took my shower.
I drove over to Disney Springs and parked in the Orange garage again. Since I’m coming here multiple days it could be hard to remember where I parked each day, so I always took a picture of the nearest pole that showed me the level and row where I’d
find my car. When I’d leave I delete the photo. Today it seemed like parking was less plentiful, but I got a spot on deck 3.
My first stop was Gideon’s, where I ‘d hoped the virtual queue would be an hour or slightly more. It was just under 4 hours – 3 hours & 55 minutes!!! I almost didn’t join, but then figured I had nothing to lose. If I leave before then I can
cancel my spot in the queue.
I walked over to the West Side and went to Splitsville. I went inside and told them I had a reservation for 3:30 but would be fine sitting at the bar now. They canceled my reservation and told me the bar was self-seating. I checked out both ends, with
the far end being quite a bit warmer, and then went back and took a seat at the closer end. They have seats outside, and the garage door-type window was up, so the warm air was blowing into the far end of the bar. Quite a few people were there, but it
was not full. At my end there were 2 seats next to the service bar area, so that’s what I chose. Around the corner was a solo woman and we struck up a conversation.
She’s a local, and said today was twice as busy at Disney Springs as yesterday. I’d avoided Saturday thinking that would be awful, but I guess I didn’t take into consideration the impact of Father’s Day. She ordered a massive burger with a
mound of onion rings – it looked great but it was an obscene amount of food. She explained this would be 3 meals for her, but it was delicious and reheated very well. Ok, that makes sense – she wasn’t much bigger than me! After she left a couple
took the seat next to me and the one she’d been in, so the 2 of them at the corner. They were also very nice.
I ordered the house sauvignon blanc (what a treat to find a “house” sauvignon blanc, and priced at $9 that’s a good deal being at Disney) and the cheeseburger sliders appetizer. The sliders were excellent, but 3 is too many for just me. I ate 2
and took the third “to go”. This would be a great spot for Holli & I to visit when we’re at Saratoga Springs over Labor Day weekend. We also hope to hit Jock Lindsay’s Hangar Bar to give that a try.
While I was sitting there, reading my kindle, chatting with neighbors, it dawned on me that Riviera is so close I don’t have to suffer through staying at Disney Springs or cancel my virtual queue. I can go home and return later! That’s exactly what
I did, initially exiting the garage headed in the wrong direction but able to find a legal u-turn to get headed back to Riviera. I was able to relax in the air conditioning, update the report, and just chill out until closer to my queue time. If the
queue was accurate, it would be 4:45 before it was my time,
At 4 I got the text that it was my time for Gideon’s, so I jumped in the car and drove back over to Disney Springs. As I was walking over to Gideon’s I got another text asking me to text 2 if I was on my way or 3 if I was not coming. I texted a 2.
The virtual queue was not very long. I got the triple chocolate cookie, returned to the garage and was back at the resort by just after 4:45. I wasn’t hungry at all, so I put the cookie aside and worked on moving today’s photos into the album on
Snapfish.
There’s nowhere I need or want to go tonight so this final evening will be spent in my studio. Once the balcony gets shady I’ll head out there for little while. I have a show I watch at 8, so by then I’ll be in bed until lights out at 10.
Tomorrow morning I’ll head out early to have time to relax at home before heading into work a little later.
Today was another lovely day – I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this trip and hate to see it come to an end. It’s especially bittersweet knowing it’s nearly impossible to get a studio here at 7 months, never mind a tower studio! I love the resort but I
m not looking to add any more dvc points – my dues are outrageous as it is. I would happily book a tower studio again for a solo trip. I was able to work around the few negatives, and the great location more than made up for those. One key is to
keep the studio neat – everything in it’s place, with no crap strewn around to make it look like a disaster. That’s kind of true for all rooms, but with this one being so much smaller, anything out of place would be really obvious. I do wish the
bed was lighter, or had some type of hydraulic to help lift it back into the wall!
I did not miss the parks at all – not one little bit. I had my fill of Flower & Garden Festival earlier this year, and wouldn’t have enjoyed it in the June heat & humidity. The other parks had even less appeal for this trip. It’s somewhat
surprising to me that I spent time in Disney Springs 3 out of 4 days. When Pleasure Island closed I wrote the place off, and it was a very long time before I started going back (over a decade). Riviera is so convenient to Disney Springs, and I love how
they did the garages there. It’s easy to pop over for a quick lunch, and sitting at the bar generally means I wouldn’t even have needed a reservation.
The only transportation I used was the skyliner, and that was pretty hot since I had to wear a mask until we got going. Once moving it was fine. Thank goodness we had so much cloudy weather, or it would have been awful to be outside of my studio! I
actually spent more time at the pool and walking around other areas than I would have if it had been sunny.
The photos (same ones I posted on facebook) are at Snapfish at
https://www.snapfish.com/share?via=link&token=ucjdG1Px2x6Yk2qTFz5WcQ/SFO/27952048228060/SNAPFISH
My next trip is in early September, over Labor Day weekend. Originally I had Jambo House club level booked, but once again that is not happening. By Memorial Day I realized/accepted there was zero chance for club level, and rather than being stuck in
separate studios without a gathering area for us I switched to the only 2-bedroom villa available – at Saratoga Springs. Fortunately that resort is beautiful now, and the proximity to Disney Springs (hello Gideon’s) works.
Sue/WDW1972
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