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fladogfan aka Gretchen

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  1. Upvote
    fladogfan aka Gretchen reacted to BradyBzLyn...Mo in Cancel or not to Cancel   
    We're in NH and right now are booked for a few weeks in November. Really hoping things are a lot more "normal" by then.  As much as we love hanging out at the Fort, it's too far for us to go and too much for us to spend if so many things in the parks are still weird/closed.

    We had hoped to be there for the 50th, and it's our 25th anniversary to boot, but if things aren't more open by then we may shorten our time at WDW and maybe head to the coast or Keys for the rest.
  2. Upvote
    fladogfan aka Gretchen reacted to Duane in The Nomadic Fanatic was back at the Fort   
    I think you guys are "baiting me" to click on the link to watch and listen to this guy's hot air, all just to make my blood pressure increase!  And I am about the most laid back person around... but I just can't abide by outright lies and mis-truth!
  3. Upvote
    fladogfan aka Gretchen reacted to Grumpy and Grandma in Cancel or not to Cancel   
    We haven't been to the MK lately, but the other Parks were fine and not overly crowded. Our biggest complaint at MK was the stroller parking. Since the ques are much longer, all the strollers are parked in the middle just about every where you go.
    The new mask rule is being emphasized, because as usual, it was being abused by people using the restaurants and seating areas for "MASK BREAKS", not eat or drinking just sitting. Thanks to a few IDIOTS the majority suffer.. 
    It always did say "only while actively eating or drinking" so they are really just reinforcing it.
     
  4. Upvote
    fladogfan aka Gretchen reacted to ThemeParkCommando in New MagicBand Label Warns Guests Against Implanting MagicBand Chips Under Skin After Someone Actually Did It   
    I saw this coming when Magic Bands first came out.  With the ability to microchip your dog, it was only a matter of time before people started trying this on themselves. 
    I think Disney would be better served, if they instead posted a rule on their website that 'subdermal microchips will not be a valid method of entry, payment or line passing.',  because someone is going to get an implant that is NOT from a Magic Band, but can be programmed to act like one. 
  5. Like
    fladogfan aka Gretchen reacted to BradyBzLyn...Mo in Thank you for 10 great years!   
    As usual these days, I'm late to the party. Huge thanks to Jen and Chris for putting this fabulous little community together ... how is it 10 years already?!?! I'm so grateful for all the FrIENDS I've made here over the last decade and I hate to admit it, but, Lou too.  😎
    We're gearing up for a Nor'easter here today, which makes it the perfect time to start dreaming about camping and Fiend gatherings.
    Here's to the next 10 years!!
  6. Upvote
    fladogfan aka Gretchen reacted to ThemeParkCommando in Thank you for 10 great years!   
    Thank you for this website and all that you do!  I proudly have my snarky at home 2020 on my little kia soul.  
    I have camping on my list this year, now to just find the tent!
    Hey, maybe you can do a mens meet called:  MMM the Maniacal Men's Muster!
     
  7. Like
    fladogfan aka Gretchen reacted to AuburnJen in Thank you for 10 great years!   
    I know that camping gatherings are on hold until all this junk is behind us, but I still wanted to thank each and every one of you for sticking around and keeping the "dream" alive of one day getting together again.  On this day, 10 years ago, a couple of minutes after midnight, this forum began.  (I then, 10 minutes later, was unceremoniously banned from Voldemort, lol)
    We recently had our Wild Womenz Weekend 2021, with COVID restrictions of course, and it was one of the best evah!  Some of our regulars couldn't make it at the last minute, but we knew they were there in spirit.  
    COVID has been especially hard on teachers and being one, I have never, ever, been so swamped in my life.  We all know that life gets in the way for all of us and for anyone who is still really hurting from COVID, you are in my prayers.  
    As I enter the twilight years of my education career, I am stepping up our focus on social media for FortFiends and beyond.  We will be moving forward with an Instagram and Ticktok page for FortFiends and this year renewing our trademark and applying for a logo mark (I think that is how you say it?  TCD?  help me out here) for Snarky, our mascot.   You may see in the coming weeks a tiny change to the bottom of the website.  Chris and I are merging the three businesses into one LLC.  FortFiends will be a DBA of Snarky Enterprises, along with the other two companies.  Nothing that you are used to will change, except names.  This will make things much easier come each tax season.  I will be updating the store to include our logo for the year and take out old and dated things and freshen up the look, with SuperGeek's help of course.  
    Chris and I appreciate each of you and treasure the people who help behind the scenes.  They help in ways most of you will never know, but count on to keep things moving along.   Over the years, we have had many ups and downs, but all in all, I would say that my most treasured friends are fiends.  Fiends are the type of friends that just pick up where they left off, now matter how long of a time apart.  I look forward so much to WWW each year that if I dare say I am too busy to go, Chris will physically push me out of the door.  Even the girls know I am a squirrel and get distracted and call to make sure I am on the road.  You just can't find people like that in the normal universe.  They are friends you hold dear to your heart.
    I challenge each of you, myself included, to make yourself get out of the house and go camping this year if you have been in hiatus. If you haven't, I challenge you to go more.   I also challenge you to invite people to this forum to discuss and share the love of camping.  We have regulars, yes.  We always need more regulars!  I plan on going camping more to just get out of the house.  We keep going virtual school then in person, then virtual and so on.  It is nice for a change and I know if I need it, so do you.  
    If and when the world gets back to some kind of normal, we will be planning a 10th anniversary grand gathering.  I have no clue where or when because...COVID.  I do however seem to think it needs to be somewhere a little more affordable than the current rates at Disney.  Some of the WWW womenz have suggested a couple of new RV parks that will be opening soon around the area.  I will be checking them out for upcoming events.  I do know that WWW is expanding (hopefully) to a twice a year event.  Honestly, that makes me giddy!  Maybe the men can start to have a weekend without the women????
    Please give a shout out to Monique, who is our trusted and love logo makers of all things Snarky, who designed our anniversary logo again.  We could not survive without her.
    Until we meet again in person
    Jen (and Chris, aka SuperGeek)

  8. Upvote
    fladogfan aka Gretchen reacted to BradyBzLyn...Mo in Supporting Furloughed Cast Members   
    If you're local, you might want to check this out.  


  9. Upvote
    fladogfan aka Gretchen reacted to BradyBzLyn...Mo in Planning a Disney vacation may soon get easier, and for that you can thank the pandemic and the influencers — really   
    We are Team Wing It all the way.  We kind of plan park days around what's open latest and isn't likely to be the most crowded, and mostly wander around.  If something we want to ride has too long a wait, we skip it and come back another time.

    But that said, we're usually there for a few weeks at a whack and try not to go during super busy times, so it's not usually a problem getting out "must do" list knocked out.
    We will also snag FPs on the fly through the app.  Again, got to be flexible, but if we're headed in a particular direction I'll check and it pans out more often than you might think.
    One exception... TSMM.  I will snag all the FPs I can for that. I once lucked out near park close and managed to ride it 3 times in a row with a FP, a 15 minute wait, and the last time was essentially a walk on. My arm was jello by the time we left the park.
  10. Upvote
    fladogfan aka Gretchen reacted to Travisma in The Nomadic Fanatic was back at the Fort   
    Or just take a little laundry detergent with you, smear it on all your clothes and hop in a shower at a comfort station
  11. Upvote
    fladogfan aka Gretchen reacted to BradyBzLyn...Mo in The Nomadic Fanatic was back at the Fort   
    Roger that!  LOL
    Hah!  Quite possibly.  Ok plan B - just wear clothes in the pool.  All that chlorine ought to do the trick!
  12. Upvote
    fladogfan aka Gretchen reacted to lightbikes in The Nomadic Fanatic was back at the Fort   
    Watch out for the 'gators?
     
  13. Upvote
    fladogfan aka Gretchen reacted to BradyBzLyn...Mo in The Nomadic Fanatic was back at the Fort   
    I once packed for 8 nights at Disney in a carry-on.  I'm pretty sure I can pull it off.  
    What are the rules on washing out your clothes in the canals?  
  14. Upvote
    fladogfan aka Gretchen reacted to bhall in Planning a Disney vacation may soon get easier, and for that you can thank the pandemic and the influencers — really   
    Am I the only one that likes to wing it?  who knows what I'll be in the mood for to eat or what ride I want to try 3 months or more ahead of time let alone that very morning.
  15. Upvote
    fladogfan aka Gretchen reacted to BradyBzLyn...Mo in The Nomadic Fanatic was back at the Fort   
    Yikes... that is off-the-charts wrong. By that logic, if I pull up with my tent gear strapped to the back of a motorcycle I should be able to get a Premium Meadows site for next to nothing! 
    A good argument for not taking the word of a self-proclaimed "expert" on YouTube as gospel.
  16. Upvote
    fladogfan aka Gretchen reacted to dblr....Rennie in Planning a Disney vacation may soon get easier, and for that you can thank the pandemic and the influencers — really   
    As much as we like Disney we were getting a bit annoyed on having to book almost everything well before we got there as by the time we got there things or just what we wanted to do could change We would prefer the old paper fast passes even if we had to hustle early to try to get what we wanted then add on as we could. I am even at the point where selling our DVC would not bother me at all.
  17. Upvote
    fladogfan aka Gretchen reacted to Duane in The Nomadic Fanatic was back at the Fort   
    Never watched this guy before... But he seems to be really "fast and loose" on some of his comments...
  18. Upvote
    fladogfan aka Gretchen reacted to Grumpy and Grandma in GIVE KIDS THE WORLD REOPENS   
    The Magic Returns to the Village
    We are thrilled to announce that nearly 10 months from the day that we said goodbye to our last wish family in March, we will be getting back to our mission of spreading joy and creating the happiness that inspires hope for critically ill children and their families by reopening our beloved Village beginning on January 17, 2021.
    https://www.gktw.org/covid19/
  19. Upvote
  20. Upvote
    fladogfan aka Gretchen reacted to Grumpy and Grandma in Osborne LIghts at GKTW pictures   
    As I mentioned Linda and I got tickets for the Night of a Million Lights and here are some of the pics...










  21. Upvote
    fladogfan aka Gretchen reacted to Travisma in Fort reservations   
    I liked the real old way. 
    When you drove into World Drive just before the parking ticket booth, there was a sign on the right that would say that the Fort had campsites available for that night.
  22. Like
    fladogfan aka Gretchen reacted to Travisma in Orlando's Billy Flanigan, a 39-year veteran of Disney's stages, spent his furlough pedaling across the country delivering musical ‘Flanigrams’   
    A feel good story...
     
    With nearly 20,000 Walt Disney World employees laid off this year, we've heard heartbreaking stories about cast members desperately seeking food and shelter, while Mickey's stock price (and executive compensation) soars. But despite the dire situation, there are still die-hard Disney employees spreading joy and inspiration on their own time, just like Walt would have wanted.
    Chief among them is entertainer Billy Flanigan, a 39-year veteran of WDW's stages, who spent his furlough pedaling around Central Florida and across the country, delivering musical "Flanigrams" to over 524 friends and family. His 6,000-mile-plus journey is the subject of Billy Flanigan: The Happiest Man on Earth (instagram.com/thmoedoc), an upcoming feature-length documentary from local producer Andrea Canny and director Cullen Douglas, which will benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
    How did you originally come to Orlando?
    I was a senior at the Boston Conservatory of Music. I went to my Shakespeare class and I was the only one in there, and the teacher said, "I think it's odd that you're not at the Disney audition." I didn't even know there was one.
    I went there, signed up, and I was one of three or four people that were left at the end of the night. Myself and one other girl from the school both got hired at the same time, so we came down together, and that was in 1982. We came down two weeks before our graduation ceremony, and then both flew back to graduate, and then came back to finish our rehearsals.
    We did all of the grand openings at Epcot, which was awesome and amazing and incredible. I was there opening day, performing right in front of Spaceship Earth, with all the publicity and the balloons and the birds and just the thousands of people that were clamoring to get in.
    From there I went from show to show to show to show, and ended up being at one point what they call the "park swing," where I knew all the shows at Epcot and the Magic Kingdom.
    What was your most memorable performance?
    When I was at the Hoop-De-Doo Revue [dinner show], Princess Di and Harry and Prince William came to the show. And I kind of broke all the rules that they told us not to do: Stay away from their table, don't go near them ... Those two boys wanted to just be like everybody else, and everybody was walking around them and kind of ignoring them, so I went over and talked to them because I just thought it was the right thing to do. ... [Diana] stopped me and she said, "Thank you so much for treating us like normal people," and that just meant the world to me.
    Your least favorite performance?
    Stitch's Supersonic Celebration. It opened in Tomorrowland, and it maybe lasted six weeks before it closed. It was a really fun, well-written show [and] it was a really fun show to do. But the thing was, we rehearsed everything at night. ... Then when we opened it, it was in the day and ... people were sweating and trying to sit underneath the PeopleMover to get in the shade, so it was not well-planned.
    How did you become Disney's longest-running consecutively contracted performer?
    I have been available! In the beginning, in 1986, I had six days off the entire year, because I was always available; if they called, at the drop of a hat I would do it.
    What's the future of live entertainment at WDW?
    I have no doubt that they are looking to bring all of the entertainment back.
    They know they need entertainment for crowd control, because as you're walking through the parks you see these thousand people that would be in Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, that are now just roaming in the park. So they need it. It's not that they're ever going to get rid of it. I 100% believe that all of these shows will be back up and running, and they are really working hard to do that.
    Where did your "Flanigrams" greetings come from?
    I would bike every day on the trail [during Disney's closure] but everything was like a ghost town. I had not seen people in a couple weeks, so I said, "I'm just going to knock on some doors of people who live off of the trail."
    I knocked on a door and I backed up (because social distancing), said a little hello, and she just broke down in tears. ... I took a picture of us, and then she posted on her Instagram and Facebook that I had stopped by to do a "socially distant hello," and how much it meant to her. It was such a small thing, but it really meant the world to her. Another girl responded to her and said, "I want one of those," so I saw her response and went to their house the next day. And then it just started.
    How did Flanigrams go nationwide?
    I drove [from Florida to California], and along the way I stopped in Texas, in Phoenix, Arizona, and then obviously Los Angeles. I used to work at Disneyland for two years, so I was able to Flanigram a lot of my cast from the old Golden Horseshoe show. ... I flew back from California, and then I drove up to Massachusetts to visit my mom and Flanigramed all my family and friends from high school. I just love doing what I do, and I do it just to make people happy; I don't do it for fame or glory or anything like that.
  23. Upvote
    fladogfan aka Gretchen reacted to Travisma in Disney has a new way to buy merch in the parks, but it has some passholders worried UPDATED 12/21   
    I think they are going to have checkers at the exits like SAMS/COSTCO.
  24. Upvote
    fladogfan aka Gretchen reacted to Grumpy and Grandma in OSBORNE LIGHTS WENT TO GKTW   
    I haven't seen this mentioned.  The OSBORNE LIGHTS went to GKTW and they have been doing a Fund Raiser. It has not been advertised on TV or anywhere else that we have seen, but we just got tickets for the last day. Just found out from one of the volunteers who live in our park. They are limiting attendance and masks are required.  Hope to post pics after we tour.
    The Holidays Like Never Before
    November 13 - January 3
    Celebrate the splendor of the season with us at our newest, sparkliest event: Night of a Million Lights!https://www.gktw.org/lights/
  25. Upvote
    fladogfan aka Gretchen reacted to CCIntrigue...aka Gwen in We're on Site 706 Until 12/15   
    Yvonne, this is a difficult question to answer quickly.  I think I'm gonna do a mini trip report because I have a lot of pros and cons resulting from this trip that I'd like to share.  
    Unfortunately our annual passes expired at the end of our 2019 trip, and since we thought we wouldn't be back for nearly a year we didn't renew.  So we were stuck paying nearly half what the AP would have cost for just a 7-day ticket.
    But what a wonderful time you will have not camping!  Such a special time in your lives!
     
    ROFL!
    Gretchen, we had an accumulation of freezing rain at home on Wednesday morning, but thankfully by the time we made it home in the afternoon the temperature had risen enough that everything had melted enough for us to safely make it home.
     
    We're still getting Dolly unpacked and situated for the winter.  (Thankfully we had her winterized right before we left the Fort).  Unhappily settling back into home.  Those of you who know me well understand that Mother Nature and I aren't happy with each other right now.
    Anyway, I'm getting my photos off my laptop and onto my desktop ... starting to go through and edit them.  Didn't take nearly as many this trip.  As soon as I can get a handle on them i plan to start a mini trip report.  This was a trip like no other, both good and bad.  Both disappointments and pleasant surprises along the way.  We would absolutely go back and do it all over again.  But at the same time this trip has forever changed our perception of future trips.  Will explain more later.
     
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