ImDownWithDisney

Great video. Lazy Fort days are the best.

1 hour ago, PghBob said:

Thanks Jason.  In frustration, I ended up calling Disney Reservations to get some info.  The young lady on the phone confirmed your info. with one exception.  She told me that 600 thru 1000, plus 1400 were premium Meadow.  If she was correct, that means 700 is now premium Meadow now as well.  Appreciate you taking time to respond, especially while on vacation.

I don't see how they can say 700 is Premium Meadow. 400 and 500 loops are just as close. I bet she was mistaken.

Pre-made small drinks for $17?!?!?! That's a hard pass for me. The more I see of GE the more I am "meh" about it. Smuggler's Run looks boring. I hope RotR is worth it. At least with Pandora we got a sit down restaurant and a game changing "ride". It also doesn't help matters that the last Star Wars movie was absolutely awful.

I agree. My collection of rtic and yeti coolers plus all of the cups and tumblers has gotten out of hand. 

My first memory from RC was a legit near drowning where the slides dump into the lake. My parents were not of the helicopter type. 

I participated in many gun battles there back in the day. 

I wouldn't care if it stayed down. I never really understood that ride. It is small and appeals to kids, but yet has a 48" height requirement. By the time my kids were 48" they had no interest in it.

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

Fusion is a whole different ballgame.  I understand PT not working in the past (that was Tom's argument), but it is something that I would encourage you/her to reconsider.  If not a formal PT visit,  yoga/stretching at home daily for a good 15-30 minutes (with doctor approval...recovery time after the surgery is needed, obviously  ).  It's important that she loosens things up/keeps them loose.  Walking hurts Tom is it's up hills, not too bad if it's flat or super long.  Standing still kills him.

Foolish of that surgeon to tell her that she'll be "better than before".  I'm hoping he did not present that as a guarantee.  That should never be the case with any surgery, but especially when cutting into the back/spine.  I pushed Tom's surgeon on this and he finally gave the following answer (which I think is more accurate):  "there is a 40% chance that you'll see little to no improvement, a 40% chance that you'll see good to great improvement and a 20% that you'll be worse".

Praying that she falls under the 40% chance of good to great improvement.  Tom was 39 when he went through his fusion, overall strong and healthy (except for the back of course), never smoked and drinks maybe 1-2 beers per month (so not a heavy drinker); he was primed for a great result and while we do feel that he falls in that positive 40%, he most definitely knows that he not only had a back problem... but that he (still) has a back problem.

Sorry to hear he still has pain. I hope she does fall into the little to no pain category. We've talked to several people who have had the procedure and have had good results. I work with 2 guys that have fusions. Both have no pain or complications. I know it is possible, I just hope the surgeon has no problems. He supposedly one of the best anywhere. He only does spine procedures and joint replacements.

My butt would have been on the boat back to FW.

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

He wasn’t a candidate for the front, either.

Lifelong pain.  He will always have his back to contend with; some days are better than others, of course.  Most days his pain level is at a 3.  I do 95% the work around our home (inside and out) because if he does work, that pain level will increase to a 6-8 for several days.

 If I could say one thing, it would be this:  encourage your wife to sign up for PT.  Therapy (IF you get a good therapist) is critical.  Once PT is over:  daily yoga/stretching.  Tom has never been flexible, so he would not listen to me.  He now understands that had he done the stretches daily, that his current condition probably would be improved.

She tried therapy after the first surgery. It didn't help. Looking at the mri her vertebrae are really shifted. The Dr said in 4-6 months she will never know she had a back problem. I sure hope he is right. Her pain level stays high....especially after a bit of walking.

Just now, twiceblessed....nacole said:

That was Tom’s path, EXACTLY.  

How is he doing now?

We've been going to Andrews Sports Medicine in BHM. They do a lot of famous athletes and such. The dr is considering going in from the side to fix L4/L5 and through the back for the other. She wasn't a candidate for an ALIF from the front.

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

  

Did I know that your wife was having back surgery?  I'm sorry to hear that.  Tom's had three procedures on his back, the last one was a major fusion in the lower back.  

She had part of a disc removed last year, but it has gotten progressively worse. The pain blocks don't work anymore. She's having a L4/L5 and L5/S1 fusion.

6 hours ago, LONE-STAR said:

Nice report, sorry that your wife is having to go through that. The only thing I see you forgot to do is eat at the Donut Hole. That place is great.

Thanks...she should be better than new in 4 months or so.

We've been before. It is good.

2 hours ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

Great report. We were up that way for a week in June. I couldn't get over the traffic and crowds. The local business owners told us that the whole area is so much busier because of the storm damage to Panama City and east from last year. We had long waits at all the restaurants we visited- even on week nights.  Never encountered that before.

Sorry to hear you won't be camping for a while. Hopefully that surgery will go well and here's to a fast recovery. 

TCD

It was definitely very crowded. Seaside was absolutely gridlocked. The area is definitely popular judging by all of the out of state tags from far off states. 

Hopefully we will back at the Fort for spring break. She will have to build some vacation time back up. In the meantime we will be taking short trips once she feels better. 

We left Thursday morning for a quick kidless trip to the gulf coast. Since we didn't plan this too far in advance I had to settle for whatever CG that had an opening. We ended up in Live Oak Landing in Freeport. This was a pretty nice little campground. The rate was $71 plus taxes and fees. All together 3 nights cost us $230. The sites there are extremely nice with concrete pads and patio area. It is also a very calm and quiet CG. There were a lot of families with their fishing boats since there is a boat ramp on site. The pool is a little small, but it was never crowded.

Friday morning we drove 7 miles to Grayton Beach SP for some beach time. I like going to the state parks because it is generally not too crowded, and they will stop letting people in when the lot fills up. It was a nice day in the mid 80's and a constant breeze. I am not a beach guy, but my wife loves it. So I just sat under the canopy and relaxed. We left there after about 5 hours and headed into Destin to eat at The Back Porch. It did not disappoint. The blackened mahi there is always good. Traffic through Destin was terrible. I think everybody in the south made a last summer trip that weekend.

On Sat we got on the road at 9am and made our way to Ponce de Leon SP. This is a nice little park with an awesome fresh water spring. They have plenty of picnic tables and shade if you get there early. We arrived about 930 and the lot was about half full. When we left at noon cars were lined up waiting for a car to leave. There were a ton of families (probably mainly locals) cooking, kids playing, and swimming. This place had a very laid back friendly vibe. We really enjoyed it, and we will go back.

We left the springs, stopped by the camper to refill our cooler, and then headed back to Grayton that afternoon. I was afraid Grayton would be full at 2pm on a Sat and it was. We decided to drive on down 30A through Seaside to Deer Lake SP. Deer Lake doesn't have facilities so it doesn't seem to get as crowded. We got set up there and stayed on the beach for another 4 hrs or so. The sand there seemed even softer than Grayton. We stayed until our stomachs started to protest.

While on the beach I scanned google maps looking for a place to eat and noticed that the Old Florida Fish House was close by. We stopped in there and had some drinks and food at the tables on the porch bar. It was very very good. The $15 mahi tacos were the best I have had in a long time. They also have a nice outdoor area with tables, games, and seating. This is another place that we will definitely visit again.

We were spent after a long day. On Sunday we packed up and made the 5 hr drive back home. I backed the camper into the shop and plugged it up to keep the fridge cold. We are headed to Townsend TN on Friday. This will be our last trip for a while. My wife is having a back fusion soon. So our camping will be put on hold.

Here are the links if anyone is interested

https://liveoaklandingrvresort.com/

https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/ponce-de-leon-springs-state-park

http://oldfloridafishhouse.com/

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

Frame issues was the major repair...tank issues also, plus some wiring issues. 

Dang, must have been pretty bad.

What's wrong with the old one

Good vlog! That's my favorite show at WDW. 

Michael, she's growing up fast.  Blink and she'll be a teenager. My 13 yr old told me last week that her first car needed to be a Raptor lol. 

Just now, djsamuel said:

We're going in September.  We usually stay at Big Meadows but am trying Little Arrow this time.  Please let us know how you like Little Arrow.  Big Meadows cancellation policy was changed to no refund of your deposit, so I booked Little Arrow.  Figured I'd try it.  The KOA there looks nice too.

Will do.

We rode through the KOA some years ago. I thought the sites were way too close together for the most part. I hate sites where your table is 3' from your neighbor's stinky slinky. Greenbrier in Gatlinburg is nice, but it is hard to get a reservation.

32 minutes ago, dblr....Rennie said:

We are traveling around Mi. this summer, which by the way has been a fantastic trip, and have been scouting out campgrounds for a return trip and a lot of the very nice ones in the higher tourist area have been anywhere from $75-&110 for their level of premium full hook up sites. Even looking at Cedar Point for the trip home and they are close to $125 a night for our time frame.

We need to do that one year. It is beyond hot here in the south.

Also comparing these prices of other campgrounds is starting to make the Fort prices look not so crazy.

7 hours ago, Cheftjpeck said:

Florida campgrounds in general are getting very pricey . Forget about if you want to camp during snow bird season .. most wont even allow guests to stay for less than a month between feb 1.  - May 1 

my dad comes down every year to the same place but has to pre pay for his whole trip w min stay of 45 days 

that’s why we don’t plan on camping during those months anymore .. the Fort is $200 and if your lucky to find one that will take in a vacationer it’s over 150 per night 

The Fort doesn't sound like a bad deal compared to some other place for $150.

Florida has some awesome state parks that are affordable. I guess you have to make plans a year out though.

7 hours ago, mouseketab.....Carol said:

If you are up to a bit of a road trip, see if you can find a Blue Beacon Truck Wash

https://bluebeacon.com/our-services/rv-motorcoach/

Just make sure they turn the acid brightener off. It will destroy gel coat.  And no brushes either.  Changing Lanes YouTube channel scratched their entire rig up at blue beacon

41 minutes ago, LONE-STAR said:

Go rent a cabin on motel on a river then you will see high. But I agree  $100.00 a night is to much for a camp site. When we stayed  a Camp Gulf 3 years ago that was crazy high. Although now I think it's about what the Fort cost.

Just searched camp gulf. 2 nights in the sites close to the beach showed $371. 

booked fast despite the most expensive rates ever....get ready for $225 per night soon.