BradyBzLyn...Mo

Thanks for sharing that Mo as we will be down there for a couple of months so might check it out.

Or just take a little laundry detergent with you, smear it on all your clothes and hop in a shower at a comfort station

We are Team Wing It all the way.  We kind of plan park days around what's open latest and isn't likely to be the most crowded, and mostly wander around.  If something we want to ride has too long a wait, we skip it and come back another time.

But that said, we're usually there for a few weeks at a whack and try not to go during super busy times, so it's not usually a problem getting out "must do" list knocked out.
We will also snag FPs on the fly through the app.  Again, got to be flexible, but if we're headed in a particular direction I'll check and it pans out more often than you might think.
One exception... TSMM.  I will snag all the FPs I can for that. I once lucked out near park close and managed to ride it 3 times in a row with a FP, a 15 minute wait, and the last time was essentially a walk on. My arm was jello by the time we left the park.

Roger that!  LOL
Hah!  Quite possibly.  Ok plan B - just wear clothes in the pool.  All that chlorine ought to do the trick!

Watch out for the 'gators?
 

Keep it up without the A's and maybe you can be famous....
 
Written in 1939, Ernest Vincent Wright's Gadsby is a 50,000 word novel—and there’s not an "E" in sight (at least not once you get past the author's name or the introduction, in which Wright mentions how people often told him that such a feat was impossible). But Gadsby sticks to its own rules admirably. If there are abbreviations used, they are only ones that still would not contain the letter "E" if written out in full. In order to make sure he didn't accidentally cheat, Wright reportedly tied down the letter "E" on his typewriter.

I once packed for 8 nights at Disney in a carry-on.  I'm pretty sure I can pull it off.  
What are the rules on washing out your clothes in the canals?  

I need to start working on my backpack camping skills. 

Yikes... that is off-the-charts wrong. By that logic, if I pull up with my tent gear strapped to the back of a motorcycle I should be able to get a Premium Meadows site for next to nothing! 
A good argument for not taking the word of a self-proclaimed "expert" on YouTube as gospel.

Yikes... that is off-the-charts wrong. By that logic, if I pull up with my tent gear strapped to the back of a motorcycle I should be able to get a Premium Meadows site for next to nothing! 
A good argument for not taking the word of a self-proclaimed "expert" on YouTube as gospel.

Yikes... that is off-the-charts wrong. By that logic, if I pull up with my tent gear strapped to the back of a motorcycle I should be able to get a Premium Meadows site for next to nothing! 
A good argument for not taking the word of a self-proclaimed "expert" on YouTube as gospel.

Long article worth reading, but I'm just posting some snips
 
https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2021/01/19/planning-a-disney-vacation-may-soon-get-easier-and-for-that-you-can-thank-the-pandemic-and-the-influencers-really
 
Disney has been rumored to be looking at a reservation-style system for years. In late 2015, Orlando Weekly’s Seth Kubersky noted that the (new at that time) security checkpoints found at the entrance of Orlando-based theme parks was just the start of a multi-step process to better handle safety and crowd levels. Those comments have proven prophetic, as Disney introduced a very similar system when the Orlando theme parks reopened in July. The system is currently in use due to social distancing required decreases in-park capacity. Similar approaches have been used at other attractions, such as the Louvre, for years as a way to better predict crowd levels.

The move to eliminate annual passes, at least in their previous form, may help address the self-entitlement that cast members have complained about for years. It may also help limit abuses to the system. Disney has played a game of cat and mouse with passholders abusing the system for years.
 
 
As with all admission tickets, the terms and conditions of annual passes strictly prohibit commercial uses, but that hasn’t slowed a steady stream of content creators and resellers from making covering the parks their sole source of income. Entire websites and YouTube channels are now dedicated to tracking the drama between Disney influencers. Even as some influencers are now questioning their symbiotic relationship with the massive corporation, there seems to be an endless supply of new fans willing to replace them.
 
Early in the pandemic, many content creators were panicking. On his website, Pirates and Princesses, Thom Pratt, who notes that covering Disney is just a “part-time income” for his family, acknowledges the days of full-time influencers filling Disney parks every hour that they’re open may be coming to an end.

“I do think the influencer bubble might burst because many people simply will have to find another career path as covering Disney parks as a full-time job simply isn’t viable right now,” Pratt says. He adds he’s thankful for his other sources of income: “As someone who used to literally cover Disney for a living, I am incredibly thankful I don’t rely on that as my primary income right now.”
 
 
In the August Q3 earnings call, Disney CEO Bob Chapek made it clear that the company was looking to go after higher-spending vacationers over 'less valuable' annual passholders when he said, "Different guests, depending on where they're coming from, have different relative values in terms of their contribution as a guest to the park. And typically, someone who travels and stays for five to seven days is marginally more valuable to the business than someone who comes in on an annual pass and stays a day or two and consumes less, you know, merchandise and food and beverage."
 
 
The park reservation system also seems to have limited the number of influencers in the parks as witnessed with the debut of new additions, like the recently opened bathrooms in the France pavilion, where crowds were seen but nowhere near the levels that such an event would've caused prior to the pandemic. The same can’t be true for Disney Springs, where no ticket or reservation is required. When local cookie bakery Gideon’s Bakehouse recently held its grand opening, influencers flocked to the event, causing an 11-hour long wait at the cookie bakery.
D'Amaro spoke to Roger Dow, the president of the U.S. Travel Association, in August indicating the current Disney World style reservation system is likely here to stay, stating that the system leads to a better experience for casts and guests alike.
 
 
Disney World’s digital FastPass system required weeks of planning before visiting, with the most popular attractions often filling up nearly two months early. At Disneyland, MaxPass seemed to merge the paperless FastPass system's benefits while keeping what made the original day-of FastPass system work. It allows guests to skip the lines but doesn’t require months of planning to get on rides. Once FastPass returns to Disney World, the system may resemble MaxPass more than the previous FastPass+ system.

Disney World may also look to its older sister in California for another big move. Prior to closing, Disneyland allowed for dining reservations just 60 days in advance, while Walt Disney World had pushed out the reservations to a full six months. For Disney World visitors, having to decide when and where they were going to eat half a year before visiting, followed by having to book their ride reservations two months before visiting, proved confusing and stressful.

When Walt Disney World reopened in July, the dining reservation window had shrunk to the same 60-day format used in California. There’s no indication that this will change post-pandemic. Instead, Disney looks to be using this once-in-a-lifetime slowdown to address out-of-control reservation and annual pass systems that made parks on both coasts far less enjoyable than they once were.
 

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.
 

We went over to look today, but they closed at 3pm, so we will have to go another day this weekend.  We did see the older pony running around in the outside pen.  The mom of the new pony was in her stall eating.
 
 

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 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. 

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.

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.

Local Florida Union Says Some Workers Were Recalled
It’s nice to deliver some good news on Christmas Weekend.
And we’re pleased to post that a local union says things are looking just a little better in Orlando.
 
https://mickeyblog.com/2020/12/26/report-some-wdw-cast-members-recalled-to-work/

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

Just announced, 12/20 is the return date

Didn't see this listed on any blogs/posts, but the delicious ice cream sandwich was back at Dino-Bite Snacks in AK.
It's big enough for two to share and a bargain at $6.99.
We were too busy eating them to take pictures!