CCIntrigue...aka Gwen

Arrived at the Fort on September 25.  Got evacuated on the 27th to POR  We were finally allowed to return to the Fort yesterday.

I think there are a few other Fiends who will be at the Fort while we're here.  Would love to see you.  Please stop by and say hello!

Happy birthday to Olivia!

Monday morning the weather wasn't great, but by lunchtime it had improved.  We went to the Magic kingdom for the last time this trip ... always a sad visit.  Neither of us was in the mood to stand in a long line, so we went to the Country Bear Jamboree just because a show was getting ready to start just as we went by.

Then we saw Goofy's cavalcade again.  That seemed to be the one that came by way more often than any of the others.

A little while later another cavalcade came by. 

Does this float look familiar?

Next we went to the Hall of Presidents.

At the end of the presentation, the audience cheered!

We wandered around awhile.

And then it was time for lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern.  Only we didn't get seated at the tavern.  Due to COVID, the tavern doesn't seat very many people right now.  So they have opened up the Diamond Horseshoe right now to use for tavern seating.  

This brought back great memories of having lunch at the Diamond Horseshoe Revue and enjoying the saloon-style show when the kids were little.  With the exception of the mediocre tossed salad and the tough roast pork, our meal was delicious.  The roast turkey and dressing was the best I've ever had.  And that Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake!  We both ate way too much.

After the meal we just wandered around MK for awhile longer.

The Dapper Dans serenaded us as we left.

One last glimpse of the castle:

Up next:  pros and cons of visiting WDW during the COVID pandemic.

Saturday morning weather wasn't the greatest.  It was cool with a misty rain.  After breakfast we drove over to DHS ro ride the skyliner over to the new Riviera Resort.  It was the only way we could figure out to see the resort because Disney was being very strict about letting us on properties other than the Fort. I had hoped to get some good photos from the air, but between the rain and the black film on our skyliner car they didn't turn out very well;

Anyway, we weren't very impressed with the resort.

Then we went over to EPCOT.  By the time we arrived the rain had stopped.

Because of COVID, the Festival of the Holidays wasn't like it normally is.  The food booths were open and there were some decorations in World Showcase, but that's it.  We checked out the food, but nothing really interested us.  Seemed to be mostly desserts.

We walked around World Showcase and saw Santa's cavalcade.

And then had an early dinner at Chefs de France.  I started with the charcuterie plate.  It looks small, but it was very filling and really good.

David had the French onion soup.

He thought it was really good.  I thought it was just so-so.  I think it was plant-based.  Tasted like it had no beef stock in it.  I.e., very weak flavor.  And then (gulp, I can't believe I'm saying this) it had way too much cheese in it.  

Then we both had Boeuf Bourguignon, which was delicious,

followed by Creme Brulee, which neither of us cared for.  It was pretty tasteless.  I think whoever made it forgot to add the vanilla to that batch.

We've eaten at Chefs de France several times in the past, but always with the French servers, chefs, and management. I have to say it wasn't quite as good with the American staff.  I'm surprising myself by admitting that, but i do believe the French staff paid better attention to detail and therefore gave us a much better dining experience.  

EPCOT's tree is beautiful at night:

Sunday was our next-to-the-last day at the Fort.  Normally it would have been our EPCOT day, and we would have spent our last morning at the Magic Kingdom.  Then in the next afternoon we would have come back to the Fort to clean up the motorhome and get ready to pull out the next morning.  And if we had time that evening we'd go back to MK for a last goodbye.

So this year with not having annual passes and being constricted with that dang 7-day park pass, we decided to forego a park on Sunday and do all our cleaning up and packing away on Sunday.  Our plan was to get everything but last-minute things done that day so we could play all day on Monday.

 And we were planning to leave on Tuesday and arrive home on Wednesday.  But we found out we were expecting bad weather at home.  Really bad.  Maybe ice and snow.  Like we may not even be able to make it home.  And we had to get winterized before we even tried to make it because the forecast temps were in the 20s.  

So Sunday morning we again had breakfast at Chef Mickey.  We came back to the Fort and spent all afternoon cleaning up Dolly and getting everything all packed away.  We got DeeDee, the golf cart, loaded on the Mighty Hauler.  The rugs and chairs packed away.  Inside the floors and the bathroom were scrubbed.  All the countertops were Gel-Glossed.  Literally everything but last-minute items were done.  Dolly looked forlorn.

I felt like she looked.  This had been a strange vacation, and it was almost over.

Next up:  our last day there and going home.

1 hour ago, dblr....Rennie said:

Gwen glad to hear your healing nicely, will you be at the Fort? I arrive in Florida Monday for a 2 month stay but outside of Disney but do plan some visits there as the wife who just retired yesterday ( WHOO HOO!!!! ) received some Disney gift cards as presents.

Congratulations! Yes, if we get to make the trip we will be in a cabin at the Fort.  Driving down Monday, February 8, and driving back home on Saturday the 13th.  Wish we were staying for 2 months!  What campground will you be at?

Hey, y'all!  I'm back!  And my little finger is working better now, as you can tell. I have about 4" of incisions on my elbow,   I had a severe case of ulnar nerve entrapment in my elbow that was corrected.  Basically I had the same thing as carpal tunnel syndrome, only it was in my elbow. I ignored it too long, and it was to the point that it was either surgery or lose the use of my hand.  

I'm 10 days post surgery, and you wouldn't believe how well I'm healing.  I was unbelievably blessed with a wonderful surgeon, no pain, not even having to take pain pills after surgery, just everything went so well.  

Anyway, in 10 more days, if everything goes as planned, we're scheduled to make another quick trip to WDW, thanks to a wonderful friend you all know, but there are some circumstances that make this next trip iffy.  Anyway, I want to get this TR wrapped up before the next trip starts. 

So over the weekend I'm gonna try to make a huge dent in finishing it.  

7 hours ago, ThemeParkCommando said:

I hope your surgery went well, and that you are at home and recovering now.  Today and tomorrow will be the worst in 'immediate pain' category.  I hope your doctors gave you good pain meds!  

Thank you, thnk you1  yes, surgery went well.  cAn't type to gret yet but am getting there.  sorry i didn't get tR finished before surgery but life got in the way.  Hd lots of ernds to run to get ready for surgery.  by the way my little finger that types the A is the one most involved in my problem.  I hve  to stop  nd use  nother finger to type an A. becuse I think it's working when it isn't.

22 hours ago, keith_h said:

Been there, done that. I tell the person doing the carding, in good humor, that there is a certain age where being carded isn't a compliment.

David tried to make a funny remark, but apparently this person was humorless.

22 hours ago, ependydad...Doug said:

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.

Isn't that the only restroom on the 4th floor?  I'd  hate to be a parent with a young child who suddenly thinks they can't wait.

22 hours ago, ependydad...Doug said:

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.

Right now I'm just hoping that Trail's End will be back again.  This just didn't feel right ...

3 hours ago, ThemeParkCommando said:

What is the significance of the box lanterns on each of the trees in the Christmas Tree Stroll?  The one for HM looks fine, but on Star Wars and Lion King, they look out of place.  Are they for a hunt or something?

I have no idea.  I went back and looked carefully at my photos of each of the 12 trees.  It appears that the only 2 trees missing lanterns are the main Disney Springs tree and the one inspired by Pluto.  The Pluto tree may have had a lantern on the opposite side ... I'm just not sure.  The one for HM looks fine to me too, but the rest of them are just plain odd.  

Friday was our second MK day.  And it was finally in the low 70s, beautul, sunny, not a cloud in the sky.

We rode Peter Pan's Flight and Haunted Mansion, walked around awhile, had some popcorn in the shadow of the castle, and left.

It was time for us to visit the horse barn.  Wow!

This horse's name is Owen. He was being groomed for an event at Golden Oak that evening.  The groomer said he's young and a little hard-headed.  He listened to her pretty well.  She would say 'Owen, put your head down,' and other things like that, and he would do it.  But then he would also show his impatience and a little temper once in awhile.  We watched the process for a good while.

Later we went back over to the MK for dinner at the Plaza Restaurant.  As we were walking in, Goofy's Cavalcade came down Main Street.

The Plaza, like all other Disney restaurants, has really cut back on their menu.  Other than the plant-based option, they only have two sandwiches, a burger, and meat loaf to choose from.  The burger was pretty good, but David didn't like the meat loaf too much.  The only good thing about eating there is you can order items from the Plaza Ice Cream Shop even though it's closed. I blew my diet again and got this beauty:

That's a hot fudge sundae made with raspberry sorbet.  Yum!

I don't like the projections on the castle any more than I like the new paint scheme.  Nevertheless, I did take several pictures.  I'll share a few.

The view from the balcony:

A closer look at the Christmas tree:

As we were leaving:

Thursday was another non-park day for us, so we went to Disney Springs.  We arrived around 11;00 and made our way to the second floor of the parking garage to get in the long line for our temperature check and then the security check.  It took a good while to get cleared.  

There was a long line waiting to get in World of Disney, so we skipped it for the meantime. We had lunch at the Polite Pig and did the Christmas Tree Stroll.  I took pictures of all the trees, I won't post all of them here unless someone requests them.  Here are three of the most unusual ones.

The Lion King:

Star Wars:

And this one needs no explanation!

Later that afternoon David had his own "I Need to Do WHAT" moment when he got carded at the trading post for buying a bottle of wine.

On Wednesday morning we had breakfast again at Whispering Canyon Cafe.  i'm sure you all know that the shenanigans there have been discontinued because of COVID.  Instead our server decided to provide his own entertainment.  As we came out of the Cafe, we had greeters:

Then we drove over to EPCOT.  It was another really cold day. We got in line to enter the temporary MouseGears.

The store is small.  This picture shows about 25% of it:

It's pretty much just a warehouse experience right now.  Not the fun stop it used to be.  But it was warm in there!

This was the only location in the entire park to get a decent shot of Spaceship Earth:

The tree at the American pavilion;

Voices of Liberty was performing in the America Gardens Theatre.

A little while later we heard some music and were surprised to see this famous couple motoring down the way:

It was a pleasant surprise.  I had no idea cavalcades were happening in EPCOT too.  Notice how they had a barrier between the driver and the characters?  And Mickey and Minnie sure were practicing their social distancing!

We went the rest of the way around World Showcase and then walked the detour around Future World.  The line was short for Spaceship Earth, so we hopped on it before we left. 

We  bundled up and rode the golf cart for just a few minutes that night, but it was really too cold to enjoy it. 

The next day was Tuesday, December 8.  It was cold, cold, cold.  Even David was cold.  It was our Animal Kingdom day.  When it's hot, AK is really hot.  We found out when it's  cold, AK is REALLY cold.  And with all the shows closed, there's no way to stay warm without going from one restaurant to the next.  We rode the safari, walked both trails, and ate at Flame Tree in the small sliver of sunshine we could find.  Here's a few photos:

DID I SAY IT WAS COLD?

I thought Runaway Railway was great too, but David not as much.  I think the long wait really got to him.  It was so much easier for me since I was sitting in my scooter.

The next day was another no-park day.  David develops what to me is a weird affliction while at the Fort.  He has an allergic reaction to the Disney bubble.  The longer he's in contact with it, the worse his reaction becomes until he just has to escape for awhile.  But to me, once inside the bubble, it's almost heresy to even suggest I extend even one toe outside that bubble.  And we'd already ventured out three times -- once to the Disney outlet, another time to a Camping World a couple of hours away to get some special fluid we desperately needed for our HydroHot (and they were the only place we could find it), and a trip to Publix.  But noooooooooooo, that didn't cure him.  So we got in the car and he started driving with no destination in mind.  He just wanted to see a part of Florida he'd never seen before.

We ended up in Frostproof.  We saw a lot of this:

We eventually found a pretty lake in the center of 'town."

We stopped for a snack at what has to be the oldest McDonald's still in existence in America.  Wish I had taken a picture of it.  It hadn't been remodeled.  It looked just like the ones that were built back in the sixties.  No computerized ordering there!  And the employees were so friendly!

On the way back to the Fort we stopped at the Florida's Natural Visitor's Center in Lake Wales.  https://floridasnatural.com/about/visitors-center  It's a great place to stop and stretch your legs for a few minutes.  And it relieved my boredom.

Finally we got back to the Fort.  I COULD HAVE KISSED THE GROUND!  Home again, home again!  I got on my scooter and went up to the Meadow Trading Post to immerse myself in Disney.  I was in desperate need of a Mickey fix.  And there he was!

One of the things we really wanted to do was visit the new horse barn, so we headed up there, only to find out that it closes to the public at 3 pm. That includes pony rides. 

We went back to the motorhome and pulled dinner from the freezer.  Ate early and stayed in.  As usual, once the sun set it was too cold outside to ride the golf cart. 

Well, guys, I found out this afternoon that I will have surgery on my elbow a week from tomorrow, 1/19.  My surgeon won't know how extensive the work will be until he actually gets into it.  I'm praying for the short version rather than the long version and the much more complicated recuperation it entails.

Anyway, I'm going to try and get as much of this TR finished as i can before Tuesdsay!

The next day was reserved for Hollywood Studios.  The one attraction I really wanted to experience since it had opened since our last visit was:

We waited about 50 minutes in line, which in itself was an engineering marvel!  Once we were inside the building, the line was separated by plexiglass panels:

Shorttly we boarded the train and were on our way.

On the way to their picnic Mickey and Mickey apparently go to a carnival

and get caught up in a twister:

which causes them to go on some crazy adventures.  First they go underwater:

And then we stopped.

We waited.

And we waited.

And then the recordings started.  They ones that tell you to remain seated and the ride will resume shortly.

Only it didn't.

Finally after about 20 minutes Cast Members brought out stairs for us to climb out of the ride vehicles.  And wheelchairs for those of us who couldn't walk all the way back to our ECVs.  And by that point it was a long, long way.

We got the standard spiel about no photos or videos.  I was in a wheelchair being pushed by a very nice cast member, but I couldn't resist just one stealth photo.

I know, it kinda demystifies the ride.  But even more, the CM knew exactly which ECV was mine.  She took me directly to it without asking.  A little too much big brother-ish for me.  Then we were given fastpasses for any ride except for the new one in the Star Wars area.

So we walked the rest of the way around DHS, enjoyed TSMM, and by the time we got back to M&MRR it was operating again.    So we whipped out those fastpasses and rode it again.  We saw the rest of M&M's adventures including Daisy's dance studio:

And all too soon our adventures were over and we were thrust out into the real world again.

Next up was our meal at Hollywood Brown Derby.  Something we always look forward to.  Our first course consisted of splitting the cobb salad entree.

The next course we ordered was filet mignon.  David would have the potatoes, and I would eat the haricot verts.  It arrived.

I asked our server for steak knives.  His response in a not-so-nice voice was, "I already gave them to you."

My response was, "If you had, I wouldn't be asking for them."

The meal went downhill from there.  It was tasteless.  The steak wasn't tender, and it wasn't seasoned at all.  Even David, who rarely exhibits any taste buds, felt the same way.    We were so disappointed with the meal that we didn't order order our planned dessert.  

Bottom line:  bad food,worse service.  

Strolling around before we left:

On 1/10/2021 at 4:28 PM, Grumpy and Grandma said:

Because of the limited seating as well as the fact that there are no FAST PASS lines. We have also heard that the times listed are not accurate, lines are moving faster. 

The only long line we waited in was for Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway.  It was posted at 60 minutes and took us around 50.

7 hours ago, BradyBzLyn...Mo said:

Oof - seeing the river empty is pretty jarring.

LOVE the Eeyore photo!!

Yeah, that empty river is quite a jolt.  It looks like they are repairing the riverboat track.  Huge chunks of it are missing.

5 hours ago, Okieatheart said:

Gwen, those pictures are gorgeous!  They make me feel as if I'm right there with you.  Good job!!

If all goes well, we will be together there soon!

Our First Park Day!

Finally Saturday arrived.  We had survived 6 days without going to a park.  Would I want to do it again?  A definite no!  

We had reservations for Magic Kingdom.  Oh happy day!  We had heard horror stories about it taking 1 - 1.5 hours waiting in line to get onto the boat at the marina, so we drove to the TTC and took the ferry over to the MK.  Big mistake.  It took us forever.  After getting our temperature checked and going through security, we finally got into the park at 10:30.

But finally we were there.  I was home.  i could breathe.  And the crowd looked really light.  We spent about 20 minutes making our way down Main Street.  

Suddenly we heard music and i knew to watch for a cavalcade.  Cast Members started telling people to move onto the sidewalk.  

Just a few minutes later, more music ...

The reindeer were followed by Santa.

And just a couple of minutes later, even more music.

So within 15-20 minutes, we had already seen 3 of the cavalcades.  It was a little bit much.

See how bright sunlight washes out the colors on the castle?  We got behind the castle and suddenly the crowd was terrible.  I checked the lines -- the carousel was almost 60 minutes.  IASW was almost 60 minutes.  The more popular rides were 75 - 90+ minutes.  And the park was supposed to be no more than 35% full.  Didn't make sense.

Characters do pop unexpectedly throughout the park.

I knew the Rivers of America had been drained but was still shocked at how it looked;

I thought the new paint on the castle looked garish, like a comic book version of the real thing.

On our way out one of my favorite characters was waving from the railroad station.

Finally Friday arrived.  We started the day with breakfast at Whispering Canyon.  This meal was $23 per adult, not including beverages.  David selected the Heritage Skillet (biscuits and gravy not pictured):

and I ordered the Carnivore Skillet:

The food was good, but it didn't compare to our breakfast at Chef Mickey's.

After we ate we went to Publix in Celebration and then went back to the motorhome to clean it up because we were having some very special guests that afternoon!

 Grumpy and Grandma came to visit! 

It was great spending time with them.  The afternoon passed all too quickly! 

20 hours ago, twiceblessed....nacole said:

Oh... and the castle.... I’m not a fan either 😕

2 hours ago, BradyBzLyn...Mo said:

Put me in the "don't love the pink on the castle" group too.  Fresh coat of paint, maybe a little extra silvery/gold bits would have been enough in my book.

Wow!  If I went out on FB and said I didn't love the new castle colors I'd be crucified!  But then of course some of those nuts think it's heresy to criticize Disney about any little thing at all ...

1 hour ago, ependydad...Doug said:

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 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.  

20 hours ago, Grumpy and Grandma said:

One of our favorites and you won't regret it, but it is a little noisy if crowded since the acoustics aren't the best.

One of the few good changes due to COVID is that many of those once-noisy restaurants are much quieter now that seating is spaced so far apart now.  I'll bring that up again later in my TR. 

17 hours ago, LONE-STAR said:

On Castle color we agree, I don't know how anyone really likes it. The dark grey looks nice, and the blue roof is really pretty, but that pink is just awful. My wife and daughter felt the same way and they like pink. Just not on the castle.

Great!  I'm not alone!  

16 hours ago, Ivy said:

Yep!

Words can't express what I'm feeling for our country right now ...

Under our original reservations we would have been at WDW on my birthday.  But since we deleted the first two weeks I decided to celebrate my birthday two weeks late on December 3.  Our tradition is that I pick a Disney restaurant we've never been too before.  I wear my Disney ears that I've worn every year for the past 15 years or so on my birthday (even to work!)

And this year I totally ignored my low carb diet and ate things I haven't had since 2002.  And loved every single bite without feeling one sliver of guilt!  No signature or fancy restaurant for us this year!  Where did we go?

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!  We each had:

The tomato soup was very good, but the grilled cheese sandwich was the best I've ever had!  And then we split a No Way Jose.

It was appropriately named.  It was huge.  There was no way we could eat all of this sundae, even splitting it.  But it was the best thing I had to eat the entire trip!

NaCole, David and I have had such long discussions about this ... we are convinced this has evolved into not a political or societal issue but rather a spiritual one.  When we finally get to see each other again, I'll explain!

Mo, welcome!  That ornament takes the award for the most original one we saw.

The next day we stayed around the Fort until dinnertime.  Then we went over to the Contemporary.

David had the beef medallions (which was filet), 

abd I had the pork dish:

Then we split this dessert:

It was good, but frankly we thought the meal at Olivia's was better.  The cost was approximately the same.

So let's get this TR rolling again.

That evening we went over to Olivia's for dinner.  Dining reservations, even with lower crowds overall, were much harder for me to come by. And then the restaurants have limited menus.  Each restaurant always has a vegetarian option. And then a fish option (not a seafood option but fish, like mahi mahi or  tuna or "catch of the day").  Which only leaves 3-4 options for people like me who don't like vegetarian or fish options, and lots of times one of the remaining options is pasta, which I don't eat since I'm a low carber.  Bottom line:  we didn't have too many options to choose from.  And that was one of the reasons we chose to go Olivia's that night.  We each had a great Caesar salad, and then we split this 14 ounce serving of deliciousness:

We followed it up by splitting this little jewel:

A key lime tart.  With no artificial taste or color.  The real deal.  It was so good!

And guess who we found there!  Remember Joy from the evening service at Trail's End?  She was our server!  She said she can't wait for Trail's End to reopen so she can get back there.

Here's a pic of the Christmas tree at Old Key West:

And one of the ornamens: