djsamuel

8 hours ago, LONE-STAR said:

Thanks 

I should clarify, the fencing was removed from the beginning of the trail at the Wilderness Lodge end.  A lot of the fencing that was around the new horse barn and the trail are gone too.

9 hours ago, LONE-STAR said:

I just hope they open the trail back to the Lodge.

I noticed a couple of weeks ago that while there are still signs saying the trail is closed, they've removed a good bit of the fencing.  Hopefully that is a good sign.

1 hour ago, Theed31u said:

I heard rumors that Reflections was canceled and they were pulling out construction stuff and planting grass over the area.  Anyone heading down there that could check it out?

The equipment is gone and an overgrown field remains along with some debris.  The fences remain.  Looks like a minimum of a five year delay if not cancellation.

On 8/2/2020 at 2:57 AM, Ivy said:

I will have to add STK to our list of places to try, when we make it back to Florida.  At this point, I don't know when that is going to be. lol

We were very pleased with the restaurant.  We told our server (named Paul, he was excellent) how good the food was and he said that the restaurant could get $20 for that burger. I told him that the $9.99 price was what got us in there to try the restaurant. Now we would consider coming back for dinner there, which is not as cheap of course.  Really a great move that hopefully will pay off for them in the long run as most people coming in were trying the burger.  They have a sign out front advertising the price. 

3 hours ago, Ivy said:

The burger looks good! But the cake looks amazing..😀

Your assessment is very accurate! 😀

My wife and I stopped at STK Orlando in Disney Springs today to take advantage of the $9.99 hamburger and fries lunch special (Mon  - Fri).  It was excellent.  The burger was outstanding and we had the chocolate cake for dessert which was amazing.  Dessert was $12 but it was big enough for two people.  Well worth the money and a help to the people working there.

2 hours ago, mmfancipher said:

Didn't they finish the new beach east of the dock?

 

Yes.

We were just over there today.  The internal buses are slower than normal, but not bad.  I would say they have one bus on each route.  The longest we waited was about 5 minutes, but we were just going between the Settlement and the Outpost so it didn't matter which bus we got on.  They were very empty though.

Wow!  I'm speechless on that one!

8 hours ago, ImDownWithDisney said:

Our AP's are up on 7/14. I'm really close to not renewing. We have reservations for the week of Thanksgiving, but I am not sure I want to fight this reservation system and pay for passes without all of the benefits. I do miss camping at FW, but so far this year we have went to the FL Gulfcoast twice, Wekiwa Springs, the Keys, and Savannah. With trips to Defeated Creek, possibly Hilton Head, and the Smokies planned the appeal of Disney is waning badly. Not to mention these other trips are a fraction of the cost of Disney. Decisions, decisions.

For your trip to the Smoky Mountains check out the Little Arrow Resort in Townsend, TN.  Really nice place just at the entrance to the National Park; closest to Cades Cove.  

Little Arrow Outdoor Resort

17 hours ago, BradyBzLyn...Mo said:

Gotcha.  So... do restaurants with bars keep their bar areas open?

Yes.  The reasoning is that in restaurants diners have a drink at their table.  In the Orlando area at least, the bars became crowded with people standing and not wearing masks.  We need to rename this virus the bonehead virus because that is why it is spreading.  People refuse to act responsibly.  I feel bad for the bar owners who tried to do this the right way.

43 minutes ago, Grumpy and Grandma said:

But they may not have felt ill until they went for the test.......How many people have/had it an never feel ill?

That is very true. Somehow though the restaurant knew they were sick for two weeks. Maybe they are assuming it took two weeks for the test to show positive.

1 hour ago, BradyBzLyn...Mo said:

I really hope the contact was limited and no one else gets sick. 

Temp checks for sure fall short but if someone is actively sick for 2 weeks, someone they work with should have noticed. Then there's the whole thing of anyone who knows they're sick reporting to work anywhere right now, never mind in a restaurant...  (argh)

That last bit is exactly why I'm not eager to go anywhere right now.  As it is DH has had to work throughout this and just this week they have someone who is out sick awaiting the results of a COVID test.  As it happens, she lives with 4 other people that work there, all of whom are not sick at the moment and so have been coming to work this whole time.

You nailed it.  Ultimately PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY has to kick in.  This person should have taken themselves out of service as soon as they started feeling ill.  In addition, all of those knuckleheads who crowded the beaches on Memorial Day, packed into bars and protested with thousands without wearing masks are now wondering what happened.  The spikes are matching the two week waiting period for all three events.

A neighbor of ours works there and she hasn't been working anywhere near her normal hours because business is so slow.  So while that employee may have been back on the books for two weeks, it is very possible they weren't there too many days (hopefully).  This is where the temperature checks fall short since only about 60% of those infected have a fever.

Just now, Katman1356...Jason said:

I had posted they were all being cancelled. Originally the wording on the TA site said through Sept 26, 2021 but they have changed that now to read through at least the end of 2020.

 

Yes, I remember that.  Each day we didn't receive an email had us hoping they were holding off.  No big deal, it wasn't really saving us anything.  We'll just create our own meal plan.

4 hours ago, BradyBzLyn...Mo said:

That's interesting. I know they took back free dining for people who'd booked it and replaced it with a room discount.  So... is the dining plan going away at least temporarily?

 

Yes, we received an email several weeks ago saying all dining plans, free or purchased, were being cancelled.  We were hoping that would not be in December, but unfortunately we were wrong.  We had the quick service dining plan and we were paying for that.

We have Disney Hotel reservations for this Christmas and just received an email cancelling our dining plan.  The reservation itself remains; just no dining plan.

Progressive is a good company.  They should help you.  I have the Progressive internal 30 amp system and its been really good.

1 hour ago, BradyBzLyn...Mo said:

I just hope they don't leave it as an unfinished, construction eyesore for 10 years....

Absolutely.  Someone on Facebook wondered if they would consider more camping loops.  My first thought was no, but with the large increase in camper sales, I have to wonder if they would consider that given the relatively low level of investment. 

I heard it is on hold for at least 5 years, and that is probably what they will do; let it sit and wait.

At least 5 years.

22 hours ago, h2odivers...Ray said:

test runs?

Yes.  Then they were just parked out on the line rather than just in the storage area.  We saw the loop along Buena Vista Drive (from Epcot to the Riviera Resort and on to Caribbean Beach).  I don't know if any were out on the line to Studios yet.

We were at Disney Springs yesterday and the Skyliner is back out on the route.

I don't know if Scott Joseph likes much of anything at the start.  He looks for the negative and then has to be convinced otherwise.  Of course maybe that is what makes a good food critic.

19 hours ago, kadancer said:

i love Disney as much as the next person, but if I lived in Florida and stuff was just starting to reopen, I would be supporting the locally owned small businesses before heading to DS.

That is what we did.  Ate somewhere else than headed over to walk around.

On 5/22/2020 at 10:35 AM, BradyBzLyn...Mo said:

Yes, this! I don't know what makes anyone think that this is a good idea when there are a ton of other possible options.

I will give you a dollar for a picture of that! 

 

We did go on Friday.  It was very nice and not crowded.  Everybody was adhering to the rules and were polite; both the workers and guests.  The entry was a breeze; quick and easy.  

I made sure to walk to the scene of the BBQ crime. 😀  All of the tables at that spot were gone.  All of Raglan Road is still closed so they removed all of the tables around there.  Guess that won't be happening there again. 

Several restaurants were open and the lines weren't bad/non existent.  The only lines were at Earl of Sandwich and Blaze Pizza; and they were more caused by the 6' rule than by crowds.  Overall it was very nice getting back, although a little strange driving the empty roads of Disney World.