Memphis

So we went over to the Fort last weekend and was issued Magic bands and then was told the Magic bands will not open the gate, will not open the comfort stations or laundry rooms.  We could use the to charge but we never got the chance to try.  Oh and because the DW and I already had MB previously they could not make the new MBs the other people in our party were given to work in the parks so they could not use FP+.  WTFort. We went to GR at AK and they could not help either in fact they told us we should not link AP to MBs.  WTF again.  They did give us some FPs that we could use but my daughter and her boyfriend had just bought APs and were very bummed they could not get their MBs linked and use FP+.  Mine and my DW's MB still worked and I was able to get some FP+ but later in the day when we decided we wanted to change either some return times or to a different attraction I kept getting error msg to try again later. We finally decided to leave and I was trying to cancel the remaining FP+ that we were not going to use and still got the error msg.  So needless to say the bugs are not worked out of the system and the poor CMs at guest relations are pulling their hair out.  They are in the dark for the most part as well.  So I hope you have a magical time when you get your MB.   I still think they will be a good thing but it may take a year or two for them to get them to work. Apparently Disney hired the same IT folks that Obama care hired.

As I was on my way to deliver a camper to FW today I get a call from the front desk. They said do you have a truck that can move a 5th wheel. I said yes and I'll be in about 1. So I drop my trailer off and go meet Denny from the front. He walks me out to a camper and days please take it to 911. As I'm hooking up a red truck pulls up and the bulb comes on it's Ed and Monma. I told Denny I know this guy and he voted for Obama and I decline to move it now. Kidding lol. So anyway I take it in and the rest is history. Hope you got it taken care of.

We went back over to WDW last weekend and used the MB and FP+ system again with great success.  One of our FP+ was for BTMRR Sunday afternoon and a thunderstorm came through and closed the ride during our FP time and wI got an Email telling me that my selection was temporarily unavailable so we were giving a list of about 8 rides including BTMRR, that we could substitute and the time was extended until the park closed.  This was great because it gave us a walk-on FP for any of the major rides.
 
I was able to make FP+ selections Monday (Labor Day) morning at the MK was able to get any of the selections I wanted and at the time I wanted. We even changed one selection for BTMRR to Buzz light-year.  We had gone over to BTMRR a little early and the wait time was only 10 mins so I didn't want to waste a FP when the line was so short. MK was note crowed at all Monday by the way which really surprised me. I don't know if MK staying open until 3 AM the day before was a factor or not but it was very nice to have short lines for most of the day.  
 
Only had one thing we could not do. We still had 3 FP+ left and with the lines so short anyway I wanted to cancel the rest of the FP+ at MK and book EE at AK for later that evening but I keep getting an error msg about data retrieval.  I am not sure what the error really was for.  I know you can only book at one park but I thought if I canceled everything left maybe we could book that number of FP+ at another park.
 
Anyway I am still loving the MBs and as long as the system does not bog down when everyone is onboard it going to be a great thing. I do wish the Android phone app was faster and more user friendly.  The app on my iPad is great but I don't want to bring it into the parks.

Yes the MB have our APs on them and we use them all the time now to enter the parks and make FP+. (Which really worked great for us this trip) They even came in handy as a backup to our room keys. We stayed at WL (I think its official we are not deluxe resort guest) I had set up charging privileges on our room keys but I somehow entered the wrong pin #  twice when we set them up so they didn't work. We stopped at the front desk after eating to have the pin# reset, something I thought would be quick and simple. 
 
WRONG 
 
The young lady "trying " to help us after 10 min of working on the problem excused herself and went in the back office. 10 min later when she hadn't reappeared we told another CM if she ever shows back up to tell her never mind we were only staying 1 night and had already eaten dinner. Foolish me I thought I would just have to show ID and she would push a button or 2 after scanning our card and I would punch my pin # and we would be off.  But apparently congress is involved somehow.   
 
And it gets better.
 
About 20 mins later we get a call on the room phone from an annoyed front desk CM telling me we had left before they could finish rebooking our reservation(Apparently that's what it take to fix the pin # a whole new reservation) and that we needed to come back to the front desk to get new cards. I told him that was ok we didn't need new cards we were leaving in the morning anyway. Then he said  well you will not be able to get in your room.  I sat on my bed in my room thinking about this and I asked  If I can't get back in my room why did you call me on my room phone?  He thought about it for a few seconds and it hit him.  How did you get in your room. I used my MB and I also checked and my regular AP card also opened my door. I had not even tried the cards WL had given us. He said well you wont have charging privileges anymore and I said that's fine I never had them anyway. That's only about half my WL story but you have been through enough for what should have been a simple one word answer.
 
So Yes we use our MB on day trips. Aren't sorry you ask.   

We were at the MK yesterday 9/2/13 and they have the Halloween decorations up.  Don't have a good pic but here is a screen cap of a video.
 
 
 
 
 

Our first camper was a VW bus that looked something like that one only green. In fact here is a picture of my dad by the old VW.  The thing only had a 69HP engine and would only do 65mph downhill.  We were a family of six so we had to get along very well. OK there was a lot of screaming. But we took it to Florida 3 or 4 times and to Pickwick Dam every weekend from May until August for a few years.   

I read the title and opened with one eye closed and much trepidation.

Yuck my screen is dusty... well not in that spot I just licked....but the rest of it is.

Yuck my screen is dusty... well not in that spot I just licked....but the rest of it is.

They will come in handy for Halloween. Just cut a big hole i the bottom of your pumpkin and you will have a built in light and a way to keep the Jack-o-lantern on top.

Well I was sitting on my deck drinking out of my favorite Mickey mug I had picked up at the World several years back, I was thinking about all the things I had done to prepare for this next 700 mile trek to the Fort. I then thought of all I still have to do. I noticed I really need to mow the yard! As my thoughts came back to me I focused on the mug and thought I really ought to do a pre-trip report leading up to pulling out on Friday. So it begins with a picture of my peaceful morning cup.

I'll post more daily as my family and I prep to leave. I hope this doesn't bore anyone and I hope it helps others to get to know me a little.
YC

You were right until 1996. The MK originally had two riverboats: The Admiral Joe Fowler and the Richard F Irvine. The AJF was accidentally destroyed during a refurbishment, and the RFI was renamed the Liberty Belle in 1996 after its own refurbishment.
Interestingly, and as pointed out in another FF.net TR recently, two of the three ferries that cross Seven Seas Lagoon are now named the Admiral Joe Fowler and the Richard F. Irvine. So while the riverboat naming has changed, both men still have watercraft named after them.
And even MORE interesting, Richard F Irvine Irvine is the late father-in-law to Walt Disney Imagineer / Disneyland Art Director, Kim Irvine, whose mother is the late Leota Toombs of Haunted Mansion and other fame. The Disney organization sure was a family back in those days, both literally and figuratively.