Specularius

Does the port Pilot control the docking maneuver or does the ships pilot? I wonder if strong winds caused the impact?

And How dare they scratch up my boat like that! 

Ray, what happened to the Sooners? 

Congrats Kelly. Your Dawgs are looking like they can take Bama, if Auburn doesn't take care of them first. 

Are the Hurricanes good, or do they just have a week schedule?

Can Clemson continue without their QB?

My condolences to the Gata's. 

I wish Ole Miss had an offensive line to match our QB and a Defense that could tackle. Almost 350 yards passing against Auburn and still got trashed. These kids were done before the season started. There is no desire in any of them. They are just going through the motions. If we don't get a great coach hired, then we will be back to the punching bag of the SEC west.

Did the fire really happen or is that the cover story they used to cover the fact that they removed Lago due to Gottfried Tweeting very tasteless jokes about the Japanese Tsunami. 

Or did his Tweets cause a CM to destroy Lago?

As TCD stated....Way to Go GA...Glad to see Hail State taken down a notch or two.

Maybe them Gata's has a plan. Get to the second half of the season with their top players in top shape to make a run for the SEC Championship. You never know. They sure do have a magical rabbits foot tucked away somewhere.

4 minutes ago, CJHokie said:

I quit reading when I realized it's really an SEC thread, not a college football thread. 

It is not....There just are not many fans from the other divisions that discuss their teams here. Ray is getting excited about OU though. So voice your opinion and see where the discussion leads. The SEC has had a great run, but It is obvious that the other divisions have closed the gap some.

Do you think that once the Toy Story land is finished, that the crews from that project will speed up the finishing of the Star Wars land?

I saw a picture of a Grand Design Imagine set up this morning in their site. Nothing looked out of the ordinary in the picture.

Congrats to TCD's Gators. Play of the week for sure.

MS State may just be the team to take Alabama out. OLE Miss vs Ms State has been rated the most hated rivalry in College Football. There is a lot of bad blood there between the fans. I just thought they looked like clowns chasing the ball. No one was doing what their training dictated.

Ole Miss showed how one dimensional they are tonight. 3 injuries and they are doomed. Lost the center and that really messed up the offense. And how do you lose a kicker on an extra point? Really? Our season is over. We might pull out one more win....maybe.

Keep your eyes on Vanderbilt. They will continue to hurt feelings.

I see reports that I-75 is expected to be shut down due the flooding of the Santa Fe River. 

http://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2017/09/13/flooding-from-irma-could-close-i-75-stranding-thousands/

Attended another win for team Chaos. It was not a good game defensively. We can not stop a run to save our lives. This season is likely over from here on out. Maybe one more win against ULL. There must have been a magnifying glass over the stadium because Shardi and I both got one of the worst sunburns we have had in decades.

Congrats to GA. Way to represent the SEC!

Congrats to Oklahoma.... can they keep it up?

Did anyone check out the clowns at Mississippi State taking  on LA Tech? They gave a demo of how to get a 3rd and 93 to goal. All I could here in my mind was the tune Thunder and Blazes while this play was going on.

Well, that was a start. Team Chaos aka Ole Miss showed some glimmers of hope but it does not look good. Our defense may be worse than last year if that is possible. Our running game is non-existent. And who cares, since we will not see post season play this year nor likely next year. The party in The Grove seamed somber, but was way more crowded than the stadium. Ole Miss fans will not miss an opportunity to party (or drown their sorrows).

Watch out for them Gata's. They be sneaky critters. 

TN...what a comeback. But I am afraid that the best TN team is from a bit west. The Commodores are going to hurt a lot of feelings this year.

Mississippi State is looking good. May have to take up ringing a Cow Bell.......Nope, Can't do it, but they are looking good. 

LSWho may pack a few surprises too. 

So the trick is to make a dummy reservation for 10 days prior to my intended arrival date to cover my actual dates? Not 30 days?

yep that's it. I'm not proud of it but I've used that trick once or twice.  

FastPasses are almost impossible to get. I was only able to get FP's for the day we check out and that was trying to get them at the 60 day mark first thing in the morning. By 9 am there were none available. What is the trick to getting them? Make a dummy reservation for 30 days at a value resort, make the FP's and then dump the value resort reservation 30 days out?

Our last visit for Halloween, our son was 9. He started out trick-or-treating through 3 loops. He quickly saw that he was traveling with the same group of kids, moving in one blob. He decided he would rather go back to the camp site and give out candy, so that he could see many more kids in their costumes. He had way more fun passing out candy than he did while trick-or treating. So much so that he emptied his treat bag into the bowl to pass out to trick-or-treaters. Keep that in mind.

Be sure and stick to one piece of candy per child. Do not just hold out a bowl and let the kids grab. My wife loves to keep doggy treats to pass out for the four legged fiends and also a small plush baby toy for the wee ones. Those two things have been major hits. 

Mainly just relax and have fun. Hopefully we will see you then. We will be somewhere at the Fort for the whole week.

Strong is one of the names being thrown around for the head position at Ole Miss.

I did not look to far into Skip's past, but I know That LA Tech has been playing fantastic ball under him. Last year losing to Arkansas by 1 point and lost to Kansas State in the 3rd overtime the year before. 

On 7/21/2017 at 4:23 PM, GaDawgFan.....Kelly said:

Uh oh at Ole Miss! Ha ha.... where there's smoke.... Well, unless you're Alabama.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well.....That sure came out of left field and caught most everyone off guard. Now I hope that Ole Miss will stay away from "The Mad Hatter" Les Miles. I would love to see them go after Skip Holtz currently coaching at Louisiana Tech. Apparently, there is something worse than a woman scorned, A former SEC coach scorned!

I was looking at Lake Magic and for the winter season, their website states that reservations have to be no less than 30 days. Do they do reservations for a week to ten days during the Christmas holidays?

that is the first time I have seen the CM's decorate and ride in a golf cart parade. They looked like they were having fun.

On 6/1/2015 at 9:23 AM, Tri-Circle-D said:

Go Gata!

 

TCD

Congrats to TCD's Gators on Sticking it to LSWho. And another national title for the SEC.

4 hours ago, TN22.....Brady said:

Great trip report! Especially the cruise portion, that is something we want to do. Thanks for sharing.

 

BTW: I see you are a fellow Grand Design owner.

Thanks for reading. Yes, We have had our Grand Design Momentum 355TH since November of 2014. It has been great. 

43 minutes ago, Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie said:

Thanks for sharing your TR. I wish more folks would take the time to write one. Bummer on the knee and rain but still sounds like a great trip. Has your wife recovered?

She is slowly getting better. From what she said, by stepping down hard, it hyper extended her knee, and is a common injury. She believes she will be fine in a couple of more weeks. Thanks for asking about her.

I see that we both have the same opinion of the lighting effects. To be TCD is great. You should sell guided trips to Disney. You could make a living for sure.

I forgot to add a picture of our little zoo of towel animals. I also forgot that Shardi, while trying to find Abi in the theater, thought that a set of steps was a ramp in the dark. She took the step that wasn’t there and popped her knee. It began to swell. Once back in the Stateroom, we talked to our Concierge host about it. Within a few minutes he returned with instant ice packs and an ace bandage. Over the next several days, Shardi was hobbled though.

We also received a very nice gift from the Concierge Team. A lovely Disney print.

Wednesday morning we awoke just as the ship was docking at Port Canaveral. We had breakfast and then off the ship, or so was the schedule. While eating breakfast at Enchanted Garden, there was an announcement that the gangway was broke and everyone would need to exit on the first level. And it was a disaster. People piled up waiting to get off the ship. When we finally made it off the ship, we were escorted through the luggage sorting/screening area of Customs. It was a small behind the scenes look. With agents every few feet warning “NO Photography Please”. We grabbed our luggage, worked our way through the line to clear Customs and were then on our way back to the Fort.
Upon arrival at the Fort, we checked in and got a funny look from the CM when she saw it was a campsite but we had no camper. I explained it was in the overflow lot. We drove on the assigned site, 1713, to check it out. There was a tree and a truck blocking my access so back to the front with a list of empty sites that looked easier. I was quickly assigned 1715. So over to the overflow lot to hitch back up and the rain starts. Solid rain. Not soaking hard but just a steady rain. 
I get hitched up, unload the golf cart, and go get parked in our site. I felt like a complete newbie getting into the site. It must have looked like I had never backed up a camper in my life. I was embarrassed by how long it took me to get it parked just right. I blame it on the side mirrors being totally useless in the rain. I could not see anything unless I got out and walked around…in the rain. But here we are. 

Our goal for returning to Disney World before heading home was simply to try and get in to ride the two new rides at Animal Kingdom. We had fastpasses for the Na’vi River ride on Thursday afternoon, but were still seeing wait times of 5+ hours for Flight of Passage. Hopes were not too high. 
Thursday morning we loafed around waiting to head to Animal Kingdom for our fastpass for Na’vi River. It was overcast and looked like rain was possible. I loaded up my backpack with bottled water and poncho’s for everyone and we made our way to the Animal Kingdom. With Shardi limping along with her bad knee. It was lunch time so we headed back to Africa to grab a bite. That is when the rain hit. Hard rain. Soak you through rain. And it did not let up. While eating lunch, we received an email that Na’vi River was down and our fastpasses had been extended to all day. Since there were extra magic hours from 11PM to 1AM, everyone voted to return to the camper and dry out. 
After drying out and getting a little more rest, we made our way over to the Poly for supper at the Kona Grill. We finished supper and took a bus from the Poly to Animal Kingdom to try our luck again. We entered the gate at 10PM. There was a steady stream of people leaving the park. We got through the crowd leaving an in to the Valley of Mo’ara to get our first view of everything lit up at night. It is a good effect, but relies too much on UV lights and special paint for the effect. I am not sure that it will age gracefully. It was at that point that we checked and found out that both rides were down. Bummer. We still wanted to wander around to see the lighting effects. Just as we got to the entrance for the river ride, the fastpass line opened up so, since we had fastpasses, we jumped on in the line. Within a few short minutes we were floating down the river. It was a lot like Pirates of the Caribbean and Small World. It is worth a 30 minute wait, but I wouldn’t waste anything more than that for it. 
As we came out of the exit for the river ride, a CM….no, let me correct myself…an Alpha Centauri Expeditions (ACE) guide opened the gate for the Flight of Passage standby line. I overheard them tell the people in front of us it was about a 40 minute wait. So…into the standby line we go. They checked our bands to ensure we were staying on property. It is now 10:50 PM. We go a little way into the que and stop. After 10 minutes, about 11PM, the line starts moving. We start walking, slowly but steady. The Disney app was still showing the ride as down, but the line kept moving. About this time, Shardi’s knee is really aching. She is starting to get grouchy. We keep drudging along, slowly. 
That has to be one the longest que’s we have ever walked down. 
We finally made it the ride. What a ride that is. It is Soarin’ on steroids. It was well worth the wait. It was fantastic. It is a must do ride. The effects are spectacular. It will give you butterflies and an adrenaline rush. I loved it. A quick side note, I cannot ride Mission Space. I get green and almost puke riding it. Flight of Passage never induced any nausea. It was just great! We had done it. I checked my watch as we came out the exit, which seemed like forever, especially for Shardi hobbling along with a bum knee, and it was 12:05AM. We had made it through the standby line, and off the ride in an hour and 15 minutes. 
We took a bus back to the Fort, but our golf cart was at the settlement. There was a bus at the outpost bus stop that did not say what color route it was. The driver just asked everyone what loop. I stated “Settlement” and he looked at me funny, and said “Nothing is open down there” to which I replied “I know, but my golf cart is parked down there.” I was the last person off the bus after the driver looped his way around zig zagging to get everyone to their loop. I finally made it to bed shortly after 1 AM. 
Friday morning and it was time to break down camp and head for Louisiana. 835 miles to home. We had spent 5 nights at the Fort and 5 nights on the Dream. It was a fantastic vacation, but now everyone just wanted to be home. We were able to make it 617 miles to the Stennis Rest area at the Mississippi and Louisiana state line where we stopped for the night. 
Saturday morning we were home. 
It had been a wonderful although wet at times trip. We do feel that we did not get enough Fort time. Every time we would try to enjoy the Fort, it was raining. I predicted in April that the drought/Fire ban would be over when I got there, and looks like I was correct. 
I have several thoughts about our cruise and Concierge level staterooms. On the Dream, the Concierge lounge is fantastic. Our stateroom was just a few feet from the door to the lounge and we went there often. They had the most tasty hors d’oeurves , soft drinks, deserts and a Café Machine. There was also a bar tender there making drinks upon request. All covered under the room cost. I tried hard to cover some of that expense every time I went into the lounge. Another benefit is that if you would like room service, request it through Concierge. They call the Galley and place the order, with a push for speed. We were not aware of this and one night Ian wanted pizza and it was too late for Luigi’s on deck 11. We called room service direct and took 30 minutes. Later in the cruise, we got room service through Concierge and it was there in less than 10 minutes. Our Concierge team of Ashley, Danny, and Tracey were fantastic and really took the cruise to a whole new level. Once you cruise Concierge, you will never “WANT” to cruise any other way. 
 

Something that I noticed with the Cabanas. We were in #19, but there were flags inside, which I should have grabbed a picture, that showed it was #23. Some of the literature I saw stated 25 cabanas, but there were only two more cabanas past us. I am not sure what happened to the first 4 cabanas because I could see the flags in the last cabana and it was #25, but the sign in front of it was #21, the family cabana, which was twice the size of the other cabanas. I also noticed that several of the cabanas were hosting 2 families, with one even hosting 3 families.

1 hour ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

Wow!

A cabana on Castaway Cay!

It doesn't get any better than that.

I was going to ask you how in the world Shardi managed to snag a cabana reservation since you are still only silver Castaway Club members, but then I remembered. Y'all were concierge guests, and you got first crack at the cabana reservations.  Great move!

I'm glad you got to enjoy both of your days on Castaway Cay.  That makes up for the fail on your last cruise.

TCD

Yep, Concierge gets first crack at renting the Cabanas. In one way it did make up for missing it last time, but at the same time, it cements what we missed, which is a little depressing.