The Trip Where Nothing Really Bad Happened - The End 6/1, Bonus Features: Disney 100 Celebration, Mickey Minnie Runaway Railway queue 2/8

[franandaj]

Or you'd find out which ones are brave!

But... yeah. For sure.

There's only one whi doesn't run when I get out the saxophone, so I assume they would run from that.

Not surprised. Most people travel from major airport to major airport.

I think Great Falls, MT and Kona were the only other ones without jetways.

Huh! I hadn't thought of that!

That was their whole premise (although they would never admit that). If they made it so convenient to get there without renting a car, you would naturally eat all your meals on property, do all your shopping, etc. Now that people can get anywhere using all the services available, it doesn't make sense for them to fork over the money to get people there anymore.

Thanks for that. I'm still undecided on how we'll get there/back, but have time to figure it out.

Any plans?

Didn't know it was becoming a fave. It doesn't seem to get much love... and I was never quite sure why. Lack of theming, I presume.

I love how big the living room is!

I do believe I ordered wine... that I also didn't like!
But I try to do that when I have good friends who can help me out in situations like that.

You might be surprised the next time you go...

Are you talking about the $5 delivery fee? I'm not sure that applies to the Villas. I had quite a few things delivered and had no fees.

 

[franandaj]

I think it is mostly sod, and a lot of irrigation (when allowed).

Huh. That must be a pain to put in a new lawn every year.

We never left the 30s today, and I am still getting used to the climate and how different it is from east coast.

I didn't realize that it was that cold down there! No wonder things don't grow so well!

We had some leaves wait to change until December and early January, and different trees have had new leaf growth starting for several weeks

Our leaves don't change until December, but by February all the flowering trees are starting to bloom.

 

[pkondz]

There's only one whi doesn't run when I get out the saxophone, so I assume they would run from that.

Maybe that's a reflection on your playing!

I think Great Falls, MT and Kona were the only other ones without jetways.

GTF doesn't surprise me, but Kona does a bit.

That was their whole premise (although they would never admit that). If they made it so convenient to get there without renting a car, you would naturally eat all your meals on property, do all your shopping, etc. Now that people can get anywhere using all the services available, it doesn't make sense for them to fork over the money to get people there anymore.

Yeah, I get that. But I didn't think of that until you mentioned it.

Any plans?

Elle (oldest DD) and I are heading down in August. It's a delayed (due to Covid) graduation trip for her. Has to be in the summer now that she's a full time teacher.

Are you talking about the $5 delivery fee? I'm not sure that applies to the Villas. I had quite a few things delivered and had no fees.

I don't know, Alison. I never have anything delivered, so...

 

[franandaj]

So excited to read your report!

I got a sneak peek on instagram from one of your meet ups! I may have fan-girled a little bit seeing people I love to read about together!

I'm sure you're talking about Su-Lynn! She's really good about making all those videos and stories. I don't know how she does it so quickly! It takes me forever to just put up a simple post!

 

[franandaj]

OK since both @pkondz and @Captain_Oblivious thought of this, what is it? Obviously from a movie, but I most likely haven't seen it.

Hi Alison! I'm finally here. Haven't had a ton of time for the boards lately so I'll probably be slow.

Here's hoping nothing has changed!

It's been over a week since we got back and neither of us seem to have any symptoms so I think we came out unscathed.

Well, things are looking up already.

Truth.

Nothing wrong with that. Sounds like you needed some rest more than anything

I think so. It was so nice to be away from kitty responsibilities, and having to cook all the meals. And being able to take a guilt free bath was nice!

Come on! There's secret stuff! How can you not want to see that?

We should ride together at least once on your trip.

How can you not love Walt's castle?

(It's so tiny.)

Is anyone, really?

That's a fair comparison.

Uh huh. Sure you were.

No when I was a teenager swimming 10,000 yards a day. I'd sleep in my swimsuit, and the alarm went off at 4:30, and I would jump out of bed and do a three minute sit up routine where there were six different ab workouts of 30 seconds each. Then my mom would drive me to swim workouts and I'd happily dive into the pool at 5:30 and swim all the way until 7AM when I'd go get ready for school. And then come back in the afternoon and do it for another 2 1/2 hours. Eat dinner, sleep, repeat.

I've heard some people say they really like Long Beach as opposed to LAX.

It is much quicker getting in and out.

Gotcha. A little low-tech. But honestly, everything looks well-appointed after flying into Gustavus, Alaska.

Yeah, I bet.

For the former: probably. For the latter: definitely.

You mean the rest of the country doesn't have weekly gardening service?

Don't get me started on the Disney bean counters!

Just getting you ready for It's a Small World. It's the exact same experience.

I dodged that one this trip.

That sounds like an improvement.

It really is!

So even the Poly is inflating the wait times!

Evidently!

Pretty sweet view!

 

[pkondz]

OK since both @pkondz and @Captain_Oblivious thought of this, what is it? Obviously from a movie, but I most likely haven't seen it.

You haven't seen National Lampoon Christmas Vacation?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

 

[franandaj]

Maybe that's a reflection on your playing!

I prefer not to make that assumption.

GTF doesn't surprise me, but Kona does a bit.

Well, it was in 1986 that I flew there. Perhaps the airport has been upgraded since.

Yeah, I get that. But I didn't think of that until you mentioned it.

I knew that as soon as they launched the program. I remember going there when they were "testing" the idea.

Elle (oldest DD) and I are heading down in August. It's a delayed (due to Covid) graduation trip for her. Has to be in the summer now that she's a full time teacher.

Nice. What does she teach?

I don't know, Alison. I never have anything delivered, so...

I think they are aiming the fees at all the new delivery services like Amazon, Instacart. The long time partners I think are OK.

You haven't seen National Lampoon Christmas Vacation?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Nope. I saw the first one and wasn't a fan. It brought up those same feelings of unease like "I Love Lucy" did. There were too many discomforting situations that it made me uncomfortable. I may or may not have seen European Vacation, but I know by the time Christmas Vacation came out I wasn't even remotely interested.

 

[franandaj]

Rainy days and Tuesdays

I didn't wake up until after 9AM, and already the clouds were looking ominous. I'd seen the forecast about a week before our trip and it said that today was going to be the coldest day of the trip and it was going to rain essentially all day. Something like an 87% chance of rain, and a high of 55 degrees.



Our park reservation was at the MK, and even before the trip, we decided that we would not enjoy walking around MK. If we were at home, this would have been a day that we stayed home from the park. So when I woke up, I finished hanging up and putting away our clothes. I got everything organized, made coffee, and decided that I'd like to check out the shops at the Contemporary this afternoon.

One thing that has changed since the pandemic hit is policies at Disney resorts regarding grocery delivery. If you have alcohol contained in your order, you must be present to sign for it. Previously if the company (WeGoShop) had your information on file that your ID had been verified, (I did that ages ago) they would let them drop off orders at Bell Services. However, thanks to Instacart, Amazon, and Walmart, which all started delivering in the past two years, orders for booze were being dropped off willy nilly and there was underage drinking going on. So now all of us have to suffer and meet our delivery folks in person. So I had arranged to meet my shopper at 4PM that day. Originally I thought we would be in the MK in the morning, but this was before the weather forecast was released. So the night before we had picked up a half gallon of milk at the market at the Poly so that we could eat the cereal we brought and have milk for the coffee.

Eventually I woke Fran up somewhere around noon and we ate our breakfast.



By this time the rain had come in and it was still chilly out. I watched the drops falling on the Tennis court to see how heavy the rain was.



Since this is pretty boring chapter I thought that I would insert some exploding helicopters to liven things up a bit.





Finally we went over to the Contemporary to check out the gift shops and see if there was any 50th Anniversary merchandise that appealed to us. We didn't really find anything we couldn't live without, although there were a couple necklaces that caught my eye. As we were wrapping up the browsing, I got a call from our grocery shopper. She had found everything but the V8 we ordered. No Publix in Central Florida expected to have any for the next 10 days to two weeks.

She decided to stop at Wynn-Dixie and see if she had better luck and lo and behold they had two six packs, so she nabbed them and was on her way. I got a bellman to help me bring the bags upstairs and I put away all the groceries. Now we were truly set.

It was time to head out for dinner. I had arranged to meet two of our friends, Scott and Vinny, at Terralina for dinner. The trip there on the bus was uneventful, but of course we were running late. Fran had taken a nap when we got back from browsing the stores and she was proving difficult to wake up. We had said that we wanted to leave the room at 5:45 and she was still in the "I'm awake, I'm awake" phase—which means she is still half asleep but trying to get me to stop nagging her.

We didn’t get out the door until about 6:30 so at 7:15 we were just pulling into the bus depot. When we got to the table they had already brought the Artisan Bread.



I forgot to take a picture of the menu, but we decided to split two appetizers. The Arancini (meat filled rice balls, breaded and deep fried).





The Calamari disappeared rather quickly!



Fran and I split the Parmesan Duo, Chicken Parmesan and Eggplant Parmesan with spaghetti. She has really wanted Eggplant Parmesan, but the one time I tried to eat it, my body itched from the inside out, so I’ve been afraid of it since. This way I was able to try it, and it didn’t bother me, but I didn’t like it either.



Dinner and company were lovely and we made plans to meet up in December when they were going to be in California.

It was raining on the way out, but luckily we both had umbrellas. We didn’t have to wait long for the bus and we made it home safe in time to join in on a zoom band rehearsal back at home. Since the Covid numbers in LA County aren’t lower than 5% transmission rate, we still couldn’t go back to in-person rehearsals. For those of you who are musicians, this was our first rehearsal back after the Christmas break (we also canceled rehearsals in January due to Omicron), and all we were doing was listening to the new music and following along on our parts. The conductor gave us some of his thoughts on why he chose the music, so it was easy enough to join in. And since Fran and I are the librarians it was probably a good idea for us to participate.

By the time rehearsal was over, it was probably midnight, but I still wanted to take advantage of a bath in state that is not rationing water!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I remember that day. It was COLD. Sounds like you made the best of it. I love the shops at the Contemporary! Terralina looks and sounds delicious. I haven't been in a few years for no particular reason other than there are just a lot of good options in Disney Springs. They haven't done it in a while due to the pandemic but they used to offer some cooking classes that were really fun.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Rainy days and Tuesdays

I didn't wake up until after 9AM, and already the clouds were looking ominous. I'd seen the forecast about a week before our trip and it said that today was going to be the coldest day of the trip and it was going to rain essentially all day. Something like an 87% chance of rain, and a high of 55 degrees.



Our park reservation was at the MK, and even before the trip, we decided that we would not enjoy walking around MK. If we were at home, this would have been a day that we stayed home from the park. So when I woke up, I finished hanging up and putting away our clothes. I got everything organized, made coffee, and decided that I'd like to check out the shops at the Contemporary this afternoon.

One thing that has changed since the pandemic hit is policies at Disney resorts regarding grocery delivery. If you have alcohol contained in your order, you must be present to sign for it. Previously if the company (WeGoShop) had your information on file that your ID had been verified, (I did that ages ago) they would let them drop off orders at Bell Services. However, thanks to Instacart, Amazon, and Walmart, which all started delivering in the past two years, orders for booze were being dropped off willy nilly and there was underage drinking going on. So now all of us have to suffer and meet our delivery folks in person. So I had arranged to meet my shopper at 4PM that day. Originally I thought we would be in the MK in the morning, but this was before the weather forecast was released. So the night before we had picked up a half gallon of milk at the market at the Poly so that we could eat the cereal we brought and have milk for the coffee.

Eventually I woke Fran up somewhere around noon and we ate our breakfast.



By this time the rain had come in and it was still chilly out. I watched the drops falling on the Tennis court to see how heavy the rain was.



Since this is pretty boring chapter I thought that I would insert some exploding helicopters to liven things up a bit.





Finally we went over to the Contemporary to check out the gift shops and see if there was any 50th Anniversary merchandise that appealed to us. We didn't really find anything we couldn't live without, although there were a couple necklaces that caught my eye. As we were wrapping up the browsing, I got a call from our grocery shopper. She had found everything but the V8 we ordered. No Publix in Central Florida expected to have any for the next 10 days to two weeks.

She decided to stop at Wynn-Dixie and see if she had better luck and lo and behold they had two six packs, so she nabbed them and was on her way. I got a bellman to help me bring the bags upstairs and I put away all the groceries. Now we were truly set.

It was time to head out for dinner. I had arranged to meet two of our friends, Scott and Vinny, at Terralina for dinner. The trip there on the bus was uneventful, but of course we were running late. Fran had taken a nap when we got back from browsing the stores and she was proving difficult to wake up. We had said that we wanted to leave the room at 5:45 and she was still in the "I'm awake, I'm awake" phase—which means she is still half asleep but trying to get me to stop nagging her.

We didn’t get out the door until about 6:30 so at 7:15 we were just pulling into the bus depot. When we got to the table they had already brought the Artisan Bread.



I forgot to take a picture of the menu, but we decided to split two appetizers. The Arancini (meat filled rice balls, breaded and deep fried).





The Calamari disappeared rather quickly!



Fran and I split the Parmesan Duo, Chicken Parmesan and Eggplant Parmesan with spaghetti. She has really wanted Eggplant Parmesan, but the one time I tried to eat it, my body itched from the inside out, so I’ve been afraid of it since. This way I was able to try it, and it didn’t bother me, but I didn’t like it either.



Dinner and company were lovely and we made plans to meet up in December when they were going to be in California.

It was raining on the way out, but luckily we both had umbrellas. We didn’t have to wait long for the bus and we made it home safe in time to join in on a zoom band rehearsal back at home. Since the Covid numbers in LA County aren’t lower than 5% transmission rate, we still couldn’t go back to in-person rehearsals. For those of you who are musicians, this was our first rehearsal back after the Christmas break (we also canceled rehearsals in January due to Omicron), and all we were doing was listening to the new music and following along on our parts. The conductor gave us some of his thoughts on why he chose the music, so it was easy enough to join in. And since Fran and I are the librarians it was probably a good idea for us to participate.

By the time rehearsal was over, it was probably midnight, but I still wanted to take advantage of a bath in state that is not rationing water!

I have now rewritten rainy days and mondays to rainy days and Tuesdays thanks to this chapter title hahah (I kid I kid)

So happy to hear Terralina is going strong. Remember when it was portabellos all those years ago?

 

[Mom2m&k]

I'm sure you're talking about Su-Lynn! She's really good about making all those videos and stories. I don't know how she does it so quickly! It takes me forever to just put up a simple post!

Yes! I love watching her stories when she goes!

 

[jedijill]

I feel like I just saw you. So happy your travel day was uneventful! Long Beach is the greatest airport ever. I love the outdoor ramps. I miss Trader Sams! Can't wait to visit the OG version next month. Rain is no fun at WDW! Your dinner with the boys looked so delicious!

Jill in CO

 

[pkondz]

I prefer not to make that assumption.

I knew that as soon as they launched the program. I remember going there when they were "testing" the idea.

Ah. Still... not something that would have occurred to me.

Nice. What does she teach?

She teaches Gr2 right now in French Immersion. But she's moving to a new school next year (September her choice) so not sure what age group it will be

I think they are aiming the fees at all the new delivery services like Amazon, Instacart. The long time partners I think are OK.

I don't remember what it was, but a DISdad got a $5 fee added to his bill. It was something I recognized (so probably a long time partner), but I don't remember which.

Nope. I saw the first one and wasn't a fan. It brought up those same feelings of unease like "I Love Lucy" did. There were too many discomforting situations that it made me uncomfortable. I may or may not have seen European Vacation, but I know by the time Christmas Vacation came out I wasn't even remotely interested.

I'd suggest giving it a try. It's very different from the other "regular" Lampoon movies.

it said that today was going to be the coldest day of the trip and it was going to rain essentially all day

Ugh...

Something like an 87% chance of rain, and a high of 55 degrees.

Um... I'd kill for that right about now!

I wonder how frequently the basketball and tennis court get used?

However, thanks to Instacart, Amazon, and Walmart, which all started delivering in the past two years, orders for booze were being dropped off willy nilly and there was underage drinking going on.

Huh!
Well... convenient for the under-age crowd!

we ate our breakfast.

Cheerios? Or something else? And that C-bun looks good!

Since this is pretty boring chapter I thought that I would insert some exploding helicopters to liven things up a bit.

As we were wrapping up the browsing, I got a call from our grocery shopper. She had found everything but the V8 we ordered. No Publix in Central Florida expected to have any for the next 10 days to two weeks.

She decided to stop at Wynn-Dixie and see if she had better luck and lo and behold they had two six packs, so she nabbed them and was on her way.

Nice of her to go the extra mile.

she was still in the "I'm awake, I'm awake" phase—which means she is still half asleep but trying to get me to stop nagging her.

I'm not sure whether to , or

they had already brought the Artisan Bread.

mmm... bread...

The Arancini (meat filled rice balls, breaded and deep fried).

I know what it is, and have seen it both on menus and at the grocery store... but have never had it.

The Calamari disappeared rather quickly!

That's a good sign.

She has really wanted Eggplant Parmesan, but the one time I tried to eat it, my body itched from the inside out, so I’ve been afraid of it since.

I'm shocked you tried it again!

Dinner and company were lovely and we made plans to meet up in December when they were going to be in California.

Wonderful when you click with certain people.

I still wanted to take advantage of a bath in state that is not rationing water!

This is such a foreign concept to me. I've never seen that.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

omething like an 87% chance of rain, and a high of 55 degrees.

Good thing you left that cruddy Southern California weather behind!

However, thanks to Instacart, Amazon, and Walmart, which all started delivering in the past two years, orders for booze were being dropped off willy nilly and there was underage drinking going on. So now all of us have to suffer and meet our delivery folks in person.

It usually only takes one jerk to ruin things for everybody else.

Those cinnamon rolls look terrific.

Since this is pretty boring chapter I thought that I would insert some exploding helicopters to liven things up a bit.

Always appreciated!

We had said that we wanted to leave the room at 5:45 and she was still in the "I'm awake, I'm awake" phase—which means she is still half asleep but trying to get me to stop nagging her.

That must be a universal feeling.

I forgot to take a picture of the menu, but we decided to split two appetizers. The Arancini (meat filled rice balls, breaded and deep fried).

Deep fried? Yes, please!

Fran and I split the Parmesan Duo, Chicken Parmesan and Eggplant Parmesan with spaghetti. She has really wanted Eggplant Parmesan, but the one time I tried to eat it, my body itched from the inside out, so I’ve been afraid of it since. This way I was able to try it, and it didn’t bother me, but I didn’t like it either.

Chicken parm is better anyway.

By the time rehearsal was over, it was probably midnight, but I still wanted to take advantage of a bath in state that is not rationing water!

Can't blame you there!

 

[pkondz]

It usually only takes one jerk to ruin things for everybody else.

I wasn't even there! Sheesh!

 

[traceyg]

Three of the suitcases were loaded that night and one left in the house for last minute additions. And then I went to bed.

Evidently I am not a nice person when I'm awakened at 5AM.

Oh the blasphemy!! lol So our routine goes like this- I pack everybodys' things and leave the bags open in case I need to reorganize for space, last minute things like toothbrushes or if something has been forgotten. Along comes my husband, who thinks he's being helpful, and zips all the suitcases up and takes them to the car. About 10 minutes after we were scheduled to leave (because I'm running late) I frantically look for the suitcases and then have him bring them back in. "Yes, all of them Dear!" This is because, God love him, he wouldn't be able to figure out which one is which and truthfully in my frantic moment I don't remember if I have the red, blue or black one this trip. Sigh! lol You'd think that after all this time that he'd leave them be, but it seems that he does this "helpful" routine every. single. time. lol

We watched some teens last week so their parents could go on a cruise. One of the boys realized really quickly how I like my coffee and had it waiting on me every morning, One the way to school I realized that my own child REALLY gets me because he is usually pretty quite in the car for me. The other two kids didn't get the memo and talked the entire way to school. My coffee, ie caffeine, hadn't reached it's intended space (my brain) and I realized that I am a grouch that early in the morning. Who knew?!? (well evidentally my own poor kid!) So, you are getting absolutely NO judgement from me! I understand all too well.

Both our flights were uneventful. We changed planes in Houston. Now I have a question for my readers in Texas, or anywhere else that can explain this phenomenon. As we landed I noticed all these houses (I’m guessing they were somewhat rural) with HUGE yards, but yet none of them had any landscaping that I could make out from the plane. Maybe one out of hundreds had some sort of pool, but most just had giant yards, many with cars parked on them, but not one seemed to have any type of grass, flower beds and such…Is this just a California thing that we all have nicely manicured yards and gardeners to take care of them?

So I THINK there are a few reasons for this-
We are still recuperating from the snowpocolis from last winter and everyone's yards were decimated. It's been super cold lately so everything that grew back is probably hibernating for the winter right now too.
We tend to have access to larger pieces of land, like 1/4 acre in the city possibly and multiple acres in the country. The area around the street side of my house is/was beautifully landscaped but the back is pretty much neglected. I don't have the time, money, or aspiration to landscape anything further than what you can see street side. Now if we ever get a pool or if we decide on a gazebo or something in the back I will make sure it's done up. We have a small farm and anything that I could do out in the back 40 would get eaten, trambled or neglected so I concentrate on the front.
In the city there are smaller lots and more landscaping though.

 

[rndmr2]

I'm here, following along. Stinks you had rain but dinner looked yummy.

 

[franandaj]

I remember that day. It was COLD. Sounds like you made the best of it.

We tried! We don't do well in cold and wet weather!

I love the shops at the Contemporary!

There are much better shops there than some of the other resorts. Although all the monorail hotels have nice shops.

Terralina looks and sounds delicious. I haven't been in a few years for no particular reason other than there are just a lot of good options in Disney Springs. They haven't done it in a while due to the pandemic but they used to offer some cooking classes that were really fun.

That sounds really fun!

 

[franandaj]

I have now rewritten rainy days and mondays to rainy days and Tuesdays thanks to this chapter title hahah (I kid I kid)

Then I accomplished my goal!

So happy to hear Terralina is going strong. Remember when it was portabellos all those years ago?

I never dined at Portabellos, but I heard it was good.

 

[franandaj]

Yes! I love watching her stories when she goes!

She got me to join Instagram on this trip. I'm still learning how it works.