CCIntrigue...aka Gwen

Ivy, I hope you're right about the paint!

Gretchen, I don't know.  This was at around 11 a.m. on Tuesday, 12/1.

IOHO.  That's In Our Humble Opinion.  Mine and David's.

Orlando has to be suffering.

Our hearts hurt for the city.  What we saw on the way to the outlet hurt us.  Orlando as we knew it is no more. 

We drove down I-4.  I't's 3-4 lanes each way.  For miles we were the only car on the road.  Usually it's packed.

Miles of hotels and restaurants were shuttered.

We drove past the entrance to Universal.  Only 3-4 cars were around us.

That part of Orlando was literally a ghost town.  We couldn't comprehend what we were seeing.

Is our country like this from the Atlantic to the Pacific?  Are we a shell of what we once were?

The next morning we we were entering day 3 of 6 days of having to fill our time of not being able to go to the parks.  We decided to go the Disney outlet on I-Drive since it's usually not as busy as the one at Vineland.

We got there mid-morning and tried to get in line to enter the line to get into the store.

Disney CM:  No, no, no!  Do you have reservations?

Me:  Reservations for what?

Disney CM:  Do you have reservations to get in line to enter the store?

Me:  W h u t?

Disney CM:  If you'd like to visit our store, you need to make a reservation to get in the line.

Me;  Uh. okay, I guess, put us on the list.

At that point I'm in a state of shock.  After about 20 minutes I received a text that it was our turn to enter the line.  Once we arrived back at the store they checked our names and our phones to make sure that we did have a texted permission.  These people meant business!  We got lucky and entered the store in about ten more minutes.  Not too bad.  Yes, we got a few bargains.  Worth the wait, the hassle,  and the drive?  A definite no.   

And while we were waiting to go in, we saw a couple leaving pushing two carts loaded down with at least 50-60 huge stuffed Disney bags.  eBayers for sure.  

Yesterday I had electromyography and nerve conduction studies performed on my left arm.  They were no fun (understatement) but not as bad as I had imagined.  Thankfully the doctor who performed them discussed the results with me so I don't have to wait until my January 11 appointment with the surgeon to find out anything with my surgeon.   It turns out my entire problem is in my elbow, not my hand.  My ulnar nerve is being compressed in my elbow.  So at least I only need to have surgery in one location!

So I left off with us eating at Chef Mickey.  When we finished we decided to go resort hopping.  Since the monorail stop at the Poly is closed for now, the only other monorail stop is the GF.  While there are lots of fans of the GF gingerbread house (including me), I have to say it was nice to see their tree without the distraction of it.

At that point I was suffering mightily from castle withdrawal.  I mean, really, we'd been in WDW well over 24 hours and I hadn't seen Cinderella Castle.  I'd broken some sort of record.  I don't care where I go in the World.  If I don't see the castle, I don't truly feel like I'm there.  So we got  back on the monorail and caught glimpses of it as we sped back to the Contemporary.  Then I raced out to the fourth floor viewing deck and breathed a sigh of relief.  I had my zoom lens with me, and there she was!

I thought I was prepared.  I'd seen plenty of pictures online.  BUT NO!  That is not Cinderella Castle!  That. is. not!  That. is. an. imposter!  

I'm going to have haters.  I know it.  Many of you will love this paint scheme.  Go ahead.  I'm happy for you.  But to me this is as bad as the 25th birthday when the castle looked like Candyland doughnuts had been dropped on it.  (photo from https://allears.net/2019/07/15/__trashed/, but the photo below makes it look many times better than it was in real life.  I know.  I was there for that one too.)

http://allears.net/wp-content/uploads/archive/tp/mk/images/1997-02-cakestle-425x625.jpg

When you have perfection, you just don't mess with it. IMHO only an infant doesn't understand this.  This opinion will surface again in this trip report (again contrary to popular opinion).

On 12/30/2020 at 7:41 PM, momof3kids-Yvonne said:

Thankful you didn’t have to find out the answer to that question. 

I don't think Disney would have been too happy with me if that had happened!  😂

So this is a good time to explain the title of my trip report!

Before we went into breakfast I wanted to go to the restroom on the 4th floor of the Contemporary to wash my hands.

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.

Normally the first thing we do after getting our site set up is catch the boat to the MK and walk down Main Street.  Then we spend our first full day in the Magic Kingdom.  That wasn't going to happen since we couldn't buy APs.  So the first day we just went looping (with our masks on, of course) and got dinner at P&Js.

On Monday morning we drove over to the Contemporary for breakfast at Chef Mickey.  It was all you can eat but served family style.  Thankfully they gave us the option of declining any dish we didn't want brought to the table.  So we declined the pastries, the salmon, the salami and cheese (only because it was genoa instead of hard salami), pancakes, and the kielbasa and breakfast sausages.  Maybe a few more things.  We did ask for extra bacon.  This is what we received our first round:

You can't really tell it in the picture, but that was at least 1.5 pounds of bacon!  And we ate all of it!  This meal, by Disney standards, was a good value.  It was $25 per adult including coffee and juice.

Here's the Contemporary tree:

1 hour ago, djsamuel said:

Walked by your site at 706 but you were not at the site.  Nice location.  That loop seemed really nice all December.

Sorry we missed you!  The loop was very popular with locals.  Most of our neighbors only stayed 1-2 days.  There was constant turnover.  We couldn't believe how much they decorated just for a night or two.

1 hour ago, momof3kids-Yvonne said:

I’m in. I am sorry to hear about the problems with your hand. I will keep you in my prayers. 

Thanks, Yvonne!

Thank you Rennie, Themepark, and Ivy, for going along with me for as long as my hand will hold out for this trIp!

I don't often take selfies, but this one sums up our trip pretty well:

Anyway, we had reservations to arrive on November 15 and leave on December 15.  But because we couldn't buy an annual pass and also because of the restaurant situation, we decided to move our arrival date up to November 29.  We arrived early that morning and after a bit of wrangling got assigned to 706, which is our new favorite site.  We spent that day and the next six wandering around the Fort, resort hopping, going out to eat, etc.  

it was sunny and cold.  Really cold.  All but our first and last days.  I wore a long sleeved shirt, a turtleneck sweater, and a sherpa-lined heavy hooded sweatshirt over all that.  And I was still freezing.

Yes, we were crazy enough to go to WDW in the middle of this pandemic.  There are multiple reasons why this report will be briefer than normal:

• Our trip was shorter, and I took a lot less pictures.
• Photoshop recently upgraded to their 2020 edition, which won't work in Windows 7, and because I really, really dislike Windows 10 I've refused to upgrade my desktop.  So I can't edit my photos.  You will see them in all their crooked, unedited glory.
• And, on a more serious note, I am suffering from what is commonly called Cyclist's Palsy in my left hand and have a lot of difficulty typing.  Will have tests run on Thursday to find out whether I need an operation on my elbow, hand, or both.  I neglected the condition for a long time, and the surgeon said my recuperation will be 2 years, and even then I will never regain full use of my hand.  Getting old is no fun.

Thank you Themepark, for telling me how to insert my pictures!

On 12/14/2020 at 11:35 AM, momof3kids-Yvonne said:

So Gwen I saw on one of the Facebook groups you had mentioned more Fort time and less park time this trip. I know that is a huge change for you. Before you had mentioned going to the parks every day for a little bit. Positives and negatives you observed for this trip in light of your typical Disney travel? 

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.  

On 12/15/2020 at 4:51 PM, mouseketab.....Carol said:

Hope you enjoy your stay! Do you still have an Annual Pass? Or did you have to buy regular tickets? Is that why you have the fewer park days?

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.

On 12/11/2020 at 1:26 PM, keith_h said:

Wish we could go to the Fort but it doesn't look like we will be going for quite some time due to family changes. I have become the daytime caretaker of DD2's 3 month old while she is at work and she doesn't have oodles of vacation time so Rene and I can take off. We did suggest we could take granddaughter with us but I can't repeat the response here. So until some future point our camping trips will be limited to places we can get to within and hour or two on a Friday evening.

But what a wonderful time you will have not camping!  Such a special time in your lives!

On 12/11/2020 at 2:21 PM, Duane said:

Gwen they didn't card him because of his age, they probably wanted to do a credit check so you could complete the mortgage papers on what that wine was gonna cost!

ROFL!

On 12/16/2020 at 10:36 AM, fladogfan aka Gretchen said:

Gwen, just noticed you were scheduled to be here til Dec. 15.  Hope your trip home is/was uneventful and that storm leaves you alone.

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.

On 12/9/2020 at 5:19 PM, fladogfan aka Gretchen said:

Wow the weather sure doesn't like you folks who have come down here for sun and warmth. 

The weather must really hate me!  I've been miserably cold the entire time we've been here.  Wishing I'd brought my heavy coat.  Yesterday I wore thermals, a turtleneck sweater, a sherpa-lined hooded sweatshirt, and still froze.  I just hope you're enjoying this, Gretchen!

5 hours ago, Duane said:

I have a friend that lives in Lakeland, and our running joke is that Floridians burn their furniture to stay warm when the temps get into the 40's...

So I guess the furniture stores will see an uptick in sales while the temps are cool...

My aunt and uncle lived in Lakeland before they passed away.  They never admitted to having cold weather down here.  They just called us whenever we had snow and laughed and told us how warm their weather was!

If you all need a good laugh, my 72 year old husband just got carded at the trading post when he tried to buy a bottle of wine!

We are currently in the 700 loop and are having terrible service.  It will be great for a few hours and then suddenly goes down for hours.  Very frustrating.

On 12/2/2020 at 10:21 AM, twiceblessed....nacole said:

Site 706... enjoy!  Seems like our time with you in the 700 loop, was a lifetime ago.  I hope your trip is fantastic.    Happy to hear that folks are not wearing masks.  Masks inside do not work at containing virus particles so that's irritating enough, but masks outside make absolutely NO sense.   Either way, I know you both love it there so... ENJOY.  Miss you ❤️  

Oh, NaCole, we so wish you and your family could be here with us again!  

54 minutes ago, ependydad...Doug said:

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

Thanks, ,Doug!

7 hours ago, dblr....Rennie said:

Enjoy your time at the Fort!!!!

Thanks, Rennie!

1 hour ago, fladogfan aka Gretchen said:

Did you bring the nice weather?  Thanks Gwen.

 

What nice weather, Gretchen?  I had to wear a sweatshirt even today.  It's much too cold here for me, and next week is gonna be just awful.  If i wanted to be cold, I could have stayed home!  But at least I'm at Disney.

Rode around the Fort this afternoon.  Lots of people left today, more leaving tomorrow.  Around 2/3 of the people I saw were NOT wearing masks, and no one was enforcing it..  Hand sanitizer is indeed everywhere.  

Exhausted.  Goodnight, all.

16 hours ago, Ivy said:

Hope you all have a wonderful visit !

 

13 hours ago, BradyBzLyn...Mo said:

Safe travels, Gwen.  Hope you have a wonderful time!

Thank you!  We are safely here in 706.

Sitting in our "site" at the St. Augustine Flying J eagerly awaiting tomorrow morning when we can make the short hop on down the road to the Fort!

This morning in SC we met a new motorhome owner who is an avid Disney fan who just completed her first trip to the Fort.  I told her all about our group and also about our site app, which she promptly downloaded.  Her name is Michelle, and she and her family drive 1600 miles from Maine to the Fort.  Hopefully you will see her here soon!

On 6/23/2020 at 3:24 PM, twiceblessed....nacole said:

I'm so sorry.  I'm sure that news was very tough for him     Our cruise is scheduled for the first week in December, it's an anniversary trip for my parents and with my mother's health, she is concerned that if we don't go now, she will be unable to.   All that to say, I understand the disappointment and am so sorry for your (not so little) man.  I pray his birthday is blessed ❤️

NaCole, AM I READING CORRECTLY?  ARE YOU GOING ON A CRUISE? And, yes, I meant to shout because I am totally shocked.

We wish we could be there.  Have fun!

22 hours ago, BradyBzLyn...Mo said:

For steak our go to has been Yachtsmen but we haven't been in a few years now and haven't tried Shula's.

We've only been to Yachtsman once and will never go back.  That was honestly the worst steak I've ever had anywhere.  Golden Corral would have been better.  We were so disappointed.

We had dinner at California Grill on October 25, and the sides to the filets were definitely not hashbrowns and tomatoes.  David had a big crock of mac and cheese (which he said was very good) and another small side of sauteed spinach and onions (he thought this was pretty good, but I thought it was delicious).  I don't eat mac and cheese, so I asked for green beans.  Both our meals were excellent.

On 11/7/2019 at 12:12 PM, mouseketab.....Carol said:

We also had an issue at the ADA station, but it wasn't due to the system itself. We were departing Studios to just ride ... 

You HAVE to exit between unload and load, even in the disabled area. 

Same here.  We were told at DHS that we could ride round trip without disembarking at CBR.   But we had to get off, go around the corner, wait five minutes, and get back on the car we had just left.  

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

Now..if only they could complete it in the next week.  LOL

Word is it's going to take two months.  You know how Disney time is!