mouseketab.....Carol

On 3/29/2019 at 11:44 AM, Grumpy and Grandma said:

X-2 Southwest has transported our GO-GO Scooters. Sealed glass mat batteries are no issue. Lithium and wet batteries are the concerns.  You get them pre tagged the the ticket counter then ride them to the gate. They are tagged again & loaded there just wheel chairs

We bring Rick's scooter on planes all the time. We drive it to the gate, they take it to the cargo area, then deliver it back to us at the gate. Having said that, we have never done a "plane change" with it, always direct flights.

Wow, we just took that road on Thursday night, trying it as an alternative to the mess that is Birmingham.

Happy April Fools Day!!

1 hour ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

I wonder if that means there will only be one bus on the yellow route since two buses would be overkill with the shortened route? 

TCD

Which would probably be fine, as over the years, I've found the yellow route to have the least internal use.

Pretty cool! I know in the early years, they did not want the Disney characters in Epcot, so I guess the World Showcase characters were their attempt to give Epcot it's own identity.

We were at the Fort yesterday morning for breakfast also. While I didn't physically go over toward the construction area, I can also note that Purple/Orange is now combined. The bus goes through the cabins, then by 2000, then down to the group camping area, then U-Turns at the turnaround, and then goes back to the 4-way and down the center road. (Reverses the process from Settlement to Outpost). I also did see Wilderness Lodge buses at the Outpost stop. Have no idea if it turns into Yellow, or if it's a standalone bus.

3 hours ago, h2odivers...Ray said:

Y’all missed out on the beauty of having a stroller. 

DD was 2 1/2 years old on her first trip. And we loved having a stroller.    It held her snacks, drinks, extra clothes. She took her afternoon nap in it. 

The stroller allowed us to enjoy the park for longer each day.  There’s no way a 2 1/2 year old could walk around all day nor my back could have handled carrying her for extended periods of time.  

Sometimes I wish we still had the stroller. I’m tired of lugging around a back pack all day. 😂 

My boys were 10 & 11 our first trip, so no strollers for us, but a few years ago we brought a friend and her 3 yo grandson in a stroller. HATED it. The kid was fine in the stroller, but you had to go park the stroller, and deal with squirmy, possibly escape artist kid in the lines. Then after the ride, you had to go find the stroller again. If and when I bring grandkids  to the parks, they will be in the 7 and up age range.

4 hours ago, DaveInTN said:

That smoking change is huge news.  

They've been prepping for this for years. When the designated smoking areas first started, they were plentiful and in beautiful little hideaway areas where you could sit and relax, and enjoy a quiet corner of the park. Then they slowly started moving them around, eliminating some, and moving them to less than desirable areas to spend time in. For the last 3 years or so, there have only been 2 areas in each park. (Epcot was the exception, I think 3 in World Showcase and 2 in Future World).

1 hour ago, Travisma said:

Thanks Jason.

Wonder how far away from the entrances to the parks will the smoking area be located.  I'd hate to see the plazas just before security or ticketing become covered in a haze of smoke.

That is odd about loose ice.

I know at Magic Kingdom, there is a designated smoking area on the pathway to nowhere (the one that starts to go to Grand Floridian, but stops at the canal). You have to go through the resort boat dock entrance, and to reenter, you have to go through security.  I'm guessing that one will stay there. I have no idea at Epcot, AK, or Studios.

I just booked site 60 🙂

Welcome!! The campground is so popular, that many people reserve 499 days out regardless of special events. The packages are not out yet, but you can reserve a campsite only by calling 499 days before your checkout date.

You can book for Feb/March 2020 now if you just call or have a travel agent call. 

[email protected] is a great travel agent that knows Fort Wilderness and can take care of your needs 🙂

Absolutely!!!

We've also cut our trips way back, but for us it was just the massive amount of hours I work, and when I finish a project, I could take a few days off without using leave. I was at my old job for almost 20 years, so was earning 4 weeks a year, and with the massive amount of hours worked, even when I had planned time off, I had to use very little leave due to deferred holidays, and part of the time having spare hours. For example, for one 17 day trip we took, we started the trip on a Wednesday, and I didn't need to use leave for the 3 days, because I was already over 80 hours for the pay period, then I had 5 deferred holidays for the next week, then I did use 5 days for the third week. 

Oh, and we took SuperShuttle from LAX to Anaheim, then rented the car for just a couple of days from a Hertz place just a block from the hotel. We stayed at the hotel Indigo around the corner on Katella. We were using rewards points so the cost was $0, so having just a little further walk was worth it.

We're super small and I still park the truck in overflow. I like having plenty of space for the cart, guests, etc.

Just enough time for mom and dad to have dinner at on of the nice restaurants there around the lake. Not too bad.

I believe they still should be good. They didn't start selling the date specific hoppers until last fall.

Yep, just did a search. They didn't start selling the date specific tickets until late October.

9 hours ago, Beckers said:

Our plan (pending vacation approval) Is for about 10 days out in California over Easter next year. I want to spend 4 days at Disneyland because we want to see everything (rides, shows, street entertainment, fireworks etc). Realistically we will probably never go back to DL so I want to see it all. 

What else would you suggest to see/do out there? I want to see the Golden Gate Bridge  and the full house house. And we want to see the pretty side of California redwoods, the coast, etc. 

4 days at Disneyland is still 4 busy days. We were out there for 8 nights, spent 6 in the parks, and still didn't see it all. We spent 1 day driving on the PCH. Even rented a convertible. A Mustang convertible is the most uncomfortable car ever!! But we were stylin with the top down 🙂 We weren't able to get far enough North to see the pretty stuff. Lot's of city streets. We should have headed South. We also spent a full day for the Price is Right. Ordered the tickets ahead of time. Fun once, but a VERY long day. Don't think it's an option with kids though. My layover on the flight out was in San Francisco, so I got to see the Golden Gate bridge from the plane.

Also, I was out there in August back in 2008. I still needed a fleece for those early morning rope drops, and after the sun went down. The temps are not NEAR as hot in the summer out there as it is in the Southeast

On 2/28/2019 at 11:12 AM, Grumpy and Grandma said:

And remember he does more than DISNEY.

Yep, even does run of the mill hotels at other locations 🙂

On 3/8/2019 at 6:18 AM, Starbuc71 said:

I agree with you guys. I have always been a camper and there is no better vacation. I understand there are other places to camp than just the fort, and yes, all are getting pricey.  Our other issue was time. There was a time we could get 6-7 camping trips in a year.  The past few, we were lucky to get one.  Not only was the fort pricing is out, but it was a waste to have the RV at storage 51 weeks a year 

There are also the empty nester days to come! We didn't get our T@B until both of the boys were gone. When they were at home, we were Scout camping, and running to baseball games year round. I was the camping mom. For our rare vacations that were not baseball trips, it was hotels. Once the boys left, I still wanted to camp, but Rick was having nothing of the tent camping, so we got the T@B. While I go solo more than not, at least Rick will join me at the Fort with the T@B, and will go on an occasional state park trip locally so he can fish. Even as expensive as the Fort is, its still less expensive than even the values most of the time. It also provides us the environment to relax and enjoy the parks in smaller doses. The Value resorts don't provide that atmosphere.

The buildings on Clementine's beach look smaller than the "villas" over on Cypress Point. I'm guessing cabanas or play areas.

One thing I see, it looks like the resort gets it's own dock. But are they gonna get new boats?

The boats are stretched thin as it is. Especially when one goes in for refurbishment.

The "Slow Boats" won't cut it.

2 hours ago, Travisma said:

Don't forget to give her the PIN # so she can have charging privileges on your credit card linked to you MBs!! 

😄

11 minutes ago, twiceblessed....nacole said:

Too many Fiends there to miss.  We can't do the Fort... but I did reserve a local spot and reserved a cart (with Disney) for the 31st.  We hope to be there the entire week, so some of you Fiends, better let us in 

Nacole, if you'd like, since it's just the two of us, I'd be happy to link up with ya'll on MDE, and add you to our reservation. Then any existing Magic Bands that you have will work on the gate (and maybe you can book some FP a little earlier if you have park plans and tickets). We are booked the 18th -  3rd, but will probably check out on the 2nd.

3 minutes ago, mouseketab.....Carol said:

Jason, is that just an AP discount, or general?

Looking on the Disney Website, I'm seeing a "Sun n Fun Offer", with availability, but the rates are the same as standard rates. Weird