ependydad...Doug

Not the new pony, but a friend took some cute pics of one of them the other day:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKAcB08htmp/

On 1/7/2021 at 6:48 PM, CCIntrigue...aka Gwen said:

We didn't find one server anywhere who was working at their pre-COVID restaurant.  As I said earlier, Joy from TE is working at Olivia's.  Our server at The Wave said she is a new hire because of none of their previous servers would come back there.    We found out Ken from TE is now working at Le Cellier in Canada.  

Wow, I'm surprised (and not surprised) that  they've been shuffled around so much. I surely hope he's there when we go back... it'll be the last thing we really love there gone.

On 12/30/2020 at 7:21 PM, CCIntrigue...aka Gwen said:

Would you believe I had to see the nurse and have my temperature taken before they would allow me to use the bathroom?

So if I had a temp what would they had done?  would they have allowed me to wet the floor rather than go in?  We'll never know.

You had me curious.

We were at the Contemporary the other night for dinner and I did ask what happened if I failed the temperature check to go into the bathroom. The woman informed me that she'd send me to another that didn't require screening.

On 1/6/2021 at 5:04 PM, CCIntrigue...aka Gwen said:

The place doesn't look great.  I was looking forward to the cute decor I'd seen in photos.  Well, it's white cafeteria-style tables now.  It's nothing special now.  A couple of the waffle cone tables have been moved out onto the sidewalk.  But that didn't detract from the food!  Oh my!  Roll me out in a wheelbarrow!

That 100% fits what we feel like they did to Beaches & Cream. They took a cute shop/experience and ruined it. But, we love the food and ice cream and have a favorite server there. We've had him over the years and he remembers us each time we come in. At least I hope he's still there...

We had Olivia's for Thanksgiving a few years back. The food was great and we really liked the atmosphere. Glad you had a good meal there!

Tourists are definitely back! Grocery stores are back to their crazy madhouse-ness.

Sorry to hear about the pain and wish you had had warmer weather. But glad you got to spend some Disney time and I'm super thankful that you're sharing this report.

I'm all for sub-90° weather but this highs in the 50s isn't my idea of fun! Even highs in the 60s is cold to me. I'm happiest between 75-80°.

Welcome to the Fort! I'm nearby if you need anything.

On 11/22/2020 at 11:33 AM, djsamuel said:

Jim Shutt is another option.  941-479-0742

I know this issue has been resolved, but for future reference if someone comes looking for mobile techs..

 

I've heard good things about him.

I've also used Pat Monahan (352-536-0385) in the past while staying down the road at Thousand Trails Orlando.

On 11/22/2020 at 11:34 AM, djsamuel said:

At least the Camping Connection store is now closed.  Don't know if their mobile service continues.

They do not. I called last year and spoke to one of the managers there. Apparently he owned the phone number. He gave me the number to a mobile tech but said he wasn't doing any work.

Is anyone from or near Tucson, AZ? NaCole is having camper issues and needs some help with axles and springs work.

You are an oddity??? 

I’m a shining example of normalcy!

Thinking about it- we are a bit of the oddity with only 2 kids. 3-4 is much more common. 5+ isn’t super unusual. You see more of that than families with just 1 kid.

We are a family of 4 whole live in one for the past (almost) 3 years. One of our best friends are 2 parents, 6 daughters, and 1 dog that live in their RV for the past two years now.

 

What would you like to know? Ask me anything. [emoji4]

 

Oh my gosh..... I'm SO glad we didn't make it over to your house. LOL  I have NO doubt, that Jason would have hooked Tom on the lights... I already had to tell him that he couldn't search out the FB page and the "crack" guys :lol:

It was really cool! Jason just had a few things in the dining room but what we saw really wowed us.

It reminded us of that Christmas Light Fight show!

We still don’t know where in Florida we’ll be for Christmas, but we sure want to see Jason and Kelly’s setup!

A couple more pics from Kelly’s house where she and Jason served up some amazing wood fired pizza out of the Big Green Egg.


My daughter getting a behind-the-scenes demo of the lights project:




The kids playing on the tippy/rolly/trampoline-slash-see saw:




My daughter’s favorite family member:




Pizzas 2 and 3 of 4:




Pizza 3 going onto the egg:

Yeah... Tom is not thrilled with the possibility of this one.   It's on the bottom of the to-do list as it's a bit out of the way (I originally thought it was between Bryce and the Grand Canyon).

BUT! It’s postcard beautiful.

But Doug's in short sleves.....

AND shivering!

I immediately went inside and got a jacket! Maybe even sneakers.

Horseshoe Bend was beautiful but terrifying. There. are. no. railings.

Just me, kids, and a million foot drop.

Definitely pay for a slot canyon tour. Something made me choose the Lower Antelope Canyon tour. If you’re morning people, the earlier the better as they get backed up by mid-day. We waited about an hour from when we left the building to when we got down into the slot canyon. BUT- totally worth it.

It was expensive, but the pictures were stunning.

We would have turned into people popsicles if we went out on the lake!

But there have been crazies out there all week!

All I have to do now is obsess on which loop to request

We don’t often put in requests- we like trying the different loops out! :)

With our Thousand Trails membership + Trails Collection add-on, we did winter very cheaply this year.

Dec 17-31, Royal Coachman in Nokomis, FL

Dec 31-Jan 15, Breezy Hill in Pompano Beach, FL (we split our stay between free and paid nights to be near friends- wouldn’t recommend this park)

Jan 15-20, Pioneer Village in North Fort Myers, FL

Jan 20-Feb 3, Lake Magic, Clermont, FL (super easy to get onto Disney property)

Feb 3-17, Thousand Trails Orlando, Clermont, FL (just 3-4 miles up 27 from 192 & still convenient to Disney)

Feb 17-20, Winter Garden RV Resort

Feb 20-27, Bill Frederick Park at Turkey Lake, Orlando, FL (not incredibly convenient to Disney but fantastic for Universal)

Feb 27-Mar 13, Tropical Palms in Kissimmee, FL (convenient to Disney)

Mar 13-20, Thousand Trails Orlando, Clermont, FL

Mar 20-Apr 3, Lake Magic , Clermont, FL

Total cost: right about $1,000 but that was only because we paid to be near friends in southeast Florida ($850) and wanted to try Bill Frederick Park ($150). We could have filled those parks in with others.

And now, TT did change the rules on the Trails Collection parks that I won’t get away with going from one TC park to another like I did before. But, it’s definitely manageable.

If you aren’t adverse to moving and want to explore a little, this is great. I was NOT enthusiastic about some of the
That said, I have friends who have a TT membership and a deed at Fawn Ridge and move every 2 weeks between the 2. They spend about $1,000/year on maintenance/annual fees but winter from Nov-Mar on it.


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I agree having a AP makes it easier you don't feel like you need to be there from rope drop till closing.

 

I definitely feel like it’s a game changer. But we have the luxury of being here in Orlando for a couple of months in the winter.

 

We hadn’t been into the parks for a couple of weeks but went in twice this week (Tuesday all day and Wednesday night). Both days, the crowds were batcrap crazy with Wednesday being worse).

 

We were not trying to “do it all” so it actually made for a fun day. But we also know we can just go in for a couple of hours and roll.

 

In fact, that’s exactly what we did Wednesday- had dinner at Narcossee’s and went into MK after the fireworks. Did a little shopping, some people watching, and rode the people mover and that was it before heading out to the truck. It was date night with Momma and heavenly. [emoji4]

 

 

Thanks for posting! I’m really excited to meet some of you all.