fladogfan aka Gretchen

Is this just a shameless attempt at getting more likes?
if it is, I will donate all the likes I get on this thread to your cause. 

I am planning a trip to assess the damage Irma did to the 3000 loop.  Beer lines are already scheduled for replacement, so mainly I will be focusing on the massage parlor.  I can't hook up the Outback, however, until I hit at least 650 likes.  So it's all up to you! 

When Sandy hit in 2012, we were without power for 7 days along with 3 of our neighbors.  Everybody else in the neighborhood was served by a different transformer and had power within an hour of it going out.  Every time I called the freaking power company, some bubble headed idiot would cheerfully say "I have great news for you!  Your power is on!"  I finally told her that was a pantload of crap since I was sitting in the dark talking to her.  I told her I was going to get my ladder and climb the pole and throw the switch to the fuse myself if she didn't get somebody out to turn on the power.  She kept telling me it wasn't safe and I said I didn't care and my widow would hold her personally responsible for my death.  Power on within an hour.

I can only imagine the hardship WDW being opened is causing many of their cms. All area schools are closed so even childcare could be an issue for many,  much less the face they may be facing damages and no power at home. I guess I sound mean,  but purple do not need to be clogging the roadways and using gas when people are trying to return home. Many big businesses are trying to help,  even the 7 eleven were giving out free water before the storm.  What has Disney done to help? Maybe I missed something? 

Checking in and glad to report we are all OK.  Because we live in a mobile home we weathered Irma at the Wyndham hotel.
Lots of debris in yards, one screen room lost by a neighbor and roof damage top another.
 
Thanks for all the prayers and thoughts about everyone in the path of these big scary storms.

I finally heard from my older sister.  She made it out of Port St. Lucie and up to some family we have in NYC.  And now the great news. Friday her doctor called her and told her that she doesn't have breast cancer as they first thought.  Tests were negative. 
Thank you God!

Uh, you are his target voter (if you lived here)
He hasn't done squat.
The gas stations all around me are out of gas.
There isn't a bottle of water to be had in any of the stores.
Where are these supplies?
Where are there shelters?
He's a liar (just like his idol in Washington)
But mostly he's an idiot.
TCD

Want to relate something I saw yesterday at a Wal-Mart that was either hilarious or very sad.
Store was being stripped of most "survival" items.  There was no water, Gatorade was filling carts.
I was leaving  and in the front of the store by the checkouts was a line of 30 or more people.
All they had in their carts were empty 1 and 5 gallon bottles.  They were in line to fill up from one of those pay for water machines.
Now I'll admit that Tampa's water isn't the greatest, but I would never stand in a line for probably 45 minutes to an hour to fill up water jugs, when I have running water at my home.
People are getting sucked up into the media frenzy and not using common sense.
The newest thing is filling up gallon baggies with water.  Why not use pots, go thru your cupboards looking for empty containers, or hit up a Dollar Tree or thrift store for some plastic containers.
I saw that a brewery in Orlando is telling people to come by and fill up containers from the filtered water vats they use in their brewing process.

I agree I have helped and watch some large rigs wiggle into a site. Now it's my turn. I plan on going to a large parking lot and setting up some cones to practice with the new 5th wheel. 

Boy do I agree with this, it's annoying to not be able to use the hub just because Bill is retired.

Gabe just received his 13th D1 offer.  The latest were from Stetson and IUPUI (Indiana-Purdue).  His coaches are encouraging him to hold off on making a decision.  They expect ACC offers to come in the fall.

Being able to see the MK fireworks on the 3rd is a treat.

I think having the stand-by lines pass through the restrooms would be a nifty improvement....we could just meet our parties on the far side and everyone would be more comfortable.

We are on Jason's list for Halloween :)
 

I still think a profitable way, and we all know Disney is into profit,  for Disney to handle this is to create an improved group campsite area. If they set it up well they could handle anything from several smaller groups up to a single/multiple large ones. For times when there isn't a group scheduled they could use the sites on a first come first served basis for short term guests.  

With all the Fiends that stay at the Fort and have a lot of overlapping reservations, the cart lovers should chip in and purchase a couple of carts that move from site to site as Fiends come and go.
Kelly loves planning and spreadsheets, she could make up a schedule and figure out who has them and when.  They could be like a co-op that you buy into.  Everyone interested chips in and splits the purchase price, then maybe kick in a small monthly fee for maintenance or a minimal rental fee when you are there using it to cover maintenance fees.
A bunch of us used to do that with an old bike we bought out in OK when we were in training.  It had a chain and combo lock, and when you went out there you could use it and leave it for the next guy.
They could be painted purple!

I've found, it's how you express frustration that (sometimes) yields the best results.  Simply walking up to the front desk or calling the 800# is (simply put) lazy and typically results in small results.  However, if you/we actually take the time to put pen to paper and send a letter (registered or priority mail) to the corporate office, this sets your comments apart. Also, when I write, I remind them of my goal:  not to complain, but to keep Disney the magical experience we all love.  Their job is NOT an easy one.  Look what they have to work with.  So many people anymore, show no respect for others or private property.  The air of disregard and entitlement through out Disney, is both obvious and pungent. Complaining to the front desk, might get you a free night, but no real changes.  Taking the time to express both your passion/appreciation for Walt and his dream, as well as pass along your frustrations, in the form of a written letter might produce actual changes and true results.  No guarantees, but for those of us who have been in an upper managment position ask yourself... if you were sitting in that office and you were the one who had the ability to made some actual changes, what would make the greatest impact on you?  Hearing from your staff that guests are complaining (I mean, are they really complaining?  Are the complaints justified or is it just another adult with the "world owes me" attitude wanting a free night).  As I said, I think theirs is a hard job.  It's an uphill battle that requires both discipline and encouragement.  They have to babysit their staff and the public, more than ever before... I imagine it's exhausting.
I don't know... just how I see it 

LOL! That's too funny with your kids, I love that type of humor, it's too bad they even had any awareness at all of Disney's "Snowflake" Policies....
"I used to be a people person until people ruined it for me."      We need to get this on a bumper sticker with a Snarky on it   LOL
We have a saying at work (Police Dept):   "Cop's aren't racist, sexist, or homophobic, we hate everyone equally!"  
Or when the excrement is hitting the rotating blades we just use the short version: "People Suck!"  
 

Reclining stadium style seating with cup holders at the campfire area in the 3000 loop.

This is what we do, the only difference is we don't have any kids. 
 
When we took my nephew we only went to MK but we did a split day, he was 9 and probably could have gone all day but the adults needed naps and it was hot. 

Whoah, this thread is getting a bit ridiculous. Yes the website says, popups, van campers, and tents. I don't think any of us are advocating that folks with large buses or TTs purposely book those sites. What we are saying is that smaller campers that don't have/need sewer connections are probably within the spirit of their rules.
Seriously, do ya'll think that 8 - 20 foot small campers that just don't happen to have tent ends are not appropriate for those loops. The website is crap. The CMs, managers, know the website is crap, and use their own judgment regarding what is in the loops. Get a grip. I've stayed in that loop with my T@B many, many times. I didn't hide my unit from CMs when checking in, and they didn't blink an eye.
Let's gripe about the dangerous stuff, the disruptive stuff, the loss of customer service, and don't let the little stuff worry us.

Jessica did a real good job with the cat.  Not everyone can make a cat look like a cat.

Once again this comes down to people taking something too far and ruining it for everyone else.
Sent from my handheld doohickie

Just wanted to update. Joan got a name change to Addie a few days after being here. It's short for Adilee, a German name that means "powerful." Our son really loved the meaning of it as he feels like he has lost most power over his life. Addie will be giving some of that back to him. We tried it out to see if she would respond to it, as we didn't want to traumatize her. She seemed to know immediately that it was her. So she is now "Addie."

She has been in training since a week after we got her. She is so smart and amazing. She picked up all her commands within a few minutes and has perfected all of them. She walks on a lead so beautifully now. She stays a few inches from our side with her front legs just behind ours. She sits when we stop, automatically. As much fun as this is to see, I do resist stopped 10 times in 20' just to watch our sweet, smart girl and marvel in her goodness.
We love her so very much, that I cannot imagine life without her. She has been a huge blessing. Not long after we got Addie, our oldest, a Newfoundland/Shepherd mix, had a stroke and had to be euthanized. She was almost 15 years old. It was a very hard time for all of us. She had been born in our home, to a mother to young to have her. We had the pregnant mama from a neighbor who kept her on a chain outside. We didn't even know she was pregnant, she was only about 10 months old and fairly thin.

We had an appointment to get her fixed and get her shots. So, imagine our shock, when she ran across the living room just a few days prior the appointment and a puppy fell out of her! That puppy was followed by 10 more. The mama didn't want anything to do with the pups. Poor thing was just a baby herself. We tried  holding her down to let the babies nurse, but wasn't working. I went to Tractor Supply and got puppy milk and bottles and began bottle feeding them. Eight of the pups went to heaven in short order. I took the remaining to the vet and found out they were terribly premature. Only two survived the next week, girls - Faith and Hope.

We found a good home for one puppy, and they chose Hope. We kept Faith, who we always called Faithie. She grew to be a strong, 140 lb alpha dog of our family for many, many years. Her and I had a special bond, as I was the one that bottle nursed her 24/7 in the beginning of her life. She slept with me until she was too old to get on the bed. For her last years, she was on pain medicine and had difficulty with steps. On her worst days, my husband or son would carry her up and down to do her business. I knew she was way past her life expectancy, but honestly couldn't part with her as long as we could keep her from being in pain most of the time.

So, anyway, this post was supposed to be about Addie ... When Faithie had a stroke and had to go to heaven, Addie filled that spot in my broken heart. I didn't realize "I" needed her, but I certainly did. Faithie can never be replaced, as no person or dog can, but Addie has brought me so much love and happiness that the grieving process was lessened. Addie and her training fill us all with the beauty of fresh, new life. She is yet a baby, although a big one. Although she will eventually be a service dog for our son, she is so incredibly loved by every member of our family. I would take a bullet for her, or our other dogs, and I know they would for me as well.

Something that I never told Andy, as I didn't want to make the separation worse on him or his mom - for the first few days Addie was here, while she was still Joan, she would ask me to get her travel bag down for her to sniff and then lay her head on it. I always kept it up, but in her sight as I know she really wanted it her first night. When she would go to it, and want it down, I would sit with her, rub her, and tell her how loved she was. I would assure her that she was loved and that's why she was here. Just like an adopted child. After three days, she kept asking to have her travel bag. That's when we took the chance on changing her name. I left the travel bag out for another two weeks, but she never asked for it again, so I finally put it up.

We are packing up to leave for the Fort for 5 nights on Sunday. I did cut it down by one day, as we were originally scheduled for six nights. Our younger son (23) will be staying home with the dogs and will not be working for the week. He will be here full time with the dogs. Even so, I am stressed about going away for that long without the dogs. I came very close to canceling our trip. Depending on things go with us humans, we may end up cutting it short. We were away from Blaze, our other dog, for the first time in December and everything went fine. I was just as stressed leaving him for the first time. I'll be talking to Levi several times a day to check on them both. 

We are frequent campers, but our dogs go where we go. Can't do this in Disney. Once Addie goes through her service dog training, which she will easily ace, she will be able to go on cruises with us as well. That is about the only other vacation we take. 

Well, I know I've been babbling. Just wanted to update everyone how this story is going. I believe with all of my heart that Addie was meant to be with our family since birth, just none of us knew that. She will giving our son back his power and she filled what would have been an empty spot in all of our lives. 

Amen to that!