A Shining New Era is Tiptoeing Nearer for the TCD Gang

[BigTom 76]

That's right I'm moving along.  I have to.  I still have more to report about this new era that we have been tiptoeing toward.  There's a big step about to happen that I haven't even mentioned yet.  And then the new era will have officially begun.

 

Key West does have some nice architecture, but, overall, it's not all that pretty.  It's very crowded, and there are a lot of parts that have seen better days.

 

Savannah.  That's someplace Mrs. TCD wants to visit.  I need to look in to that.

 

I highly recommend early morning looping wherever you can do it.  The Fort is the best place, of course, but it's fun anywhere.

 

 

That was an above-average sloppy joe.  As I think about it though, are there other restaurants that serve them?  I think my sloppy joe experience has been limited to school cafeterias and Manwich.  So, with that background, I have to say that the Sloppy Joe sloppy joes are perfectly acceptable.  I don't think the bun was supposed to be flattened.  The basket my sloppy joe came in was apparently at the bottom of the pile.  Very sanitary.

 

 

It was just a bump in the road.

 

 

Yes, it's the same concept.  From what I've heard, the graveyard used to be in another location long ago.  Then a storm came, and there were bodies everywhere.  This apparently is the highest point on Key West.  Some of the graves are in the ground. In New Orleans, I think they're all above ground.

 

 

Glad to be back.

 

 

You don't need to go all the way to Key West for clear water.  There are nicer places to snorkel and dive along the Overseas Highway.  The captain of the boat with the clear kayaks told us of one of the spots, which I intend to check on some time.

 

I am not familiar with that song.  I was going to Google it, but I'm afraid of what I might find.

 

 

I really do want to go.  I wish we had been able to go this time.  I am very intrigued about the opportunity to camp on the island, and was hoping to scope that out for a future trip.  This is one reason that I will return to Key West some time.

 

I am fascinated by the fact that this island chain apparently sits 70 miles off of Key West, and the US built a fort there. What an accomplishment that is. I like forts.  I want to see it.  The ferry they use to take guests out there was docked only a couple of blocks from the house we rented

We stayed on our boat when there, but there were some in tents on island. Beautiful place, but not much there except swimming and fishing. You can tour the fort, but that is it. You have to take ever thing with you, nothing is available there. 3 rangers live out there and all supplies come in once a week for them.

[BigTom 76]

You also need to remember it is a long way back if something happens, The rangers will help you if they can, but a doctor is a long time away 

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Too primitive for me, but I'd love to read about it/see pictures if one of you camps there.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

We stayed on our boat when there, but there were some in tents on island. Beautiful place, but not much there except swimming and fishing. You can tour the fort, but that is it. You have to take ever thing with you, nothing is available there. 3 rangers live out there and all supplies come in once a week for them.

 

I saw that they had some slips for private boats.  I would want to be in a big boat traveling that far off shore.   It would be nice to have a boat as opposed to a tent to sleep in.  I also saw some mention on the ferry's web site about them transporting kayaks.  That would be fun.

 

You also need to remember it is a long way back if something happens, The rangers will help you if they can, but a doctor is a long time away 

 

Yeah, that would be bad.

 

Too primitive for me, but I'd love to read about it/see pictures if one of you camps there.

 

It does look primitive, but to me that's the attraction.  I'm going to do it one of these days.  It's not easy to get there, though.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Let's move on.

 

We came back from Key West on Monday June16.

 

On Thursday, June 19, Twin #1 and I headed over to Orlando early in the morning to fetch Twin #2.

 

We took her to Universal Studios, where we checked in and picked up our tickets for the Tonight Show taping that would be taking place that night.  Jimmy Fallon announced that he would be coming to Orlando for this back in May.  We just found out about it the day that they were going to make the taping tickets available, for free, on-line.  This is where my vast experience with this type of thing came in handy.  The tickets completely vanished within minutes of the announcement, but I was able to snag some for us.  Not on the day we would have most liked, but I was lucky to get them.

 

We weren't sure how things would work, or whether our taping tickets gave us admission to the parks, so we headed over not knowing what to expect.

 

Everything was very well organized.  We were given tickets and wristbands and told to come back at a certain time for the taping.  That was later in the afternoon.  We didn't get admission to the park, so we had to find something to do.

 

Initially, the plan was to eat lunch in City Walk, and then maybe go and tour the new resort that just opened.

 

We headed to our favorite place- Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville:

 

 

We had just been to the Key West one the week before.

 

Here was something interesting- the restaurant was closing for a private party at 2:30 pm:

 

 

Hmmm.

 

Jimmy Buffett himself had just been here on Tuesday and appeared on the Tonight Show taping for that night.

 

Could he still be in town?

 

We grilled our server, and found out that everyone had speculated that JB would pop in after his taping on Tuesday, but he didn't.  He was going to be performing in Texas (I think), and had to head out right away.  One of the girls looked on Google, and it seemed unlikely that this early closing today would be for a JB performance.  More than likely it was a private party relating to the Tonight Show taping, but we never found out the deal.

 

By the way, this restaurant is huge compared to the one in Key West:

 

 

Ew, look what they have in City Walk:

 

 

It was a hot day.

 

And we had a few hours to kill.

 

We all agreed to skip the resort tour.

 

The twins instead wanted to go shopping at the Castmember store at WDW.  I was down.  So we went.

 

I didn't take any photos in there- I am not sure if it's allowed.  It's a lot dumpier than you might think.  Like a warehouse.  And not a nice warehouse.  But, wow, what a place.  We found a few of the t-shirts from this year's 24 hour party at the MK that went for $30 in the parks on sale for $5.  There was all kinds of spring break themed stuff for sale too- more really nice t-shirts for $5.  My favorite part is the section in the back where they sell old furniture and fixtures from the resorts and parks- they had a few really nice armoires, which were going for between $50 and $100, and some really nice sturdy looking chairs that I think came out of the Grand Floridian for $10 each.  Amazing.  We are talking quality stuff in not very bad condition.

 

There's another section of the CM store that only CM's can go in- they have really, really cheap stuff in there.  I think it's damaged merchandise that they have determined can't be sold in the stores.  But, a lot of the damages are barely noticeable.  Twin #2 came out of there with an Olaf t-shirt that is still for sale in the parks that she paid just a couple of bucks for.  It had what looked like some hot glue stuck on it on one of the sleeves.  It peeled off, and didn't even leave a mark.

 

So that was fun.

 

Before we knew it, it was time for us to go back.

 

And here we are, about to go in:

 

 

One of our official tickets:

 

 

I have no photos of the taping.  They made it quite clear that no photography of any type was allowed.  And, they had people watching.  And extra people to fill seats in case someone got booted.  So, we kept our electronics in our pockets.

 

The taping was great.  The band, The Roots, were great.  Jimmy Fallon is a pro.  There were no re-takes at all.  The taping took less than an hour.

 

After the taping, we were free to go into the Universal Studios side of the park, and were told that we could come back for the taping of the musical act right before 9 pm.  But, we didn't have to.  The musical guest was Pit Bull.  I wish we had been there for Jimmy Buffett.  But, then again, that gave us more time in the park.

 

None of us had been on the relatively new ride, Transformers, yet, so we went there first:

 

 

That is an OK ride.  But to me, it's the same thing as their Spiderman ride, but with robots instead. 

 

Ew:

 

 

In case you've been hiding under a rock, the big deal this summer was the opening of a new section at Universal based on the Harry Potter franchise.

 

Jimmy Fallon and his crew had gotten to tour the new area and ride the new rides.  We thought maybe we would luck into a soft opening, but we didn't.

 

We did get to see the outside of the new stuff, though:

 

 

Twin #1 says this looks like a real train station in London.  Never heard of it.  I guess this would be a good time for me to disclose that I have never seen any Harry Potter movie.  Not one.

 

But, this stuff is all new:

 

 

Us riff-raff had to stay on our side of the plastic fence:

 

 

You see that phone booth closest to us?  That one was just make out of cardboard.  It looks pretty real in the photo, though.

 

As you can see, there were VIP's who were on the other side of the fence who were getting to actually go in the new section and see the dragon and stuff.  Just as I was thinking about how easy it would be to hop the plastic fence, this super-fit security guard spotted me:

 

 

So that was a no-go.

 

There was some kind of taping going on in front of that fake back-drop over there:

 

 

Those are probably celebrities of some type, but I am not good at keeping up with such things, so I don't know.

 

Hey- did you notice that fire hydrant in that last photo.  I guess people are saying that Universal kicked Disney' butt with this new stuff, but I don't think Disney would have missed this detail:

 

 

So much for that immersive London feeling.

 

You know how Disney freaks dress up like princesses and Disney Bound and that kind of whacky stuff?  Well, I guess you would call this Wizard-Bounding:

 

 

I saw where I could get a shot of those pseudo wizards looking through the fence, and moved in for that money shot:

 

 

As you can see, the Ginger Wizard spotted me.  I had to get out of there quick, lest she cast a spell on me.

 

Just kidding.  I didn't run.  I am fairly certain that the Ginger Wizard had no magic powers.  Otherwise, why would she be on that side of the fence?

 

I think this thing is some kind of big deal.  Whatever it is, it's pretty cool.  I'd like to convert it into an RV:

 

 

I guess the Harry Potter geeks reading along will recognize this. I don't:

 

 

This shot shows how they had a stage set up next to the triple decker bus- I guess they must have been taping promos from there:

 

 

The wizard kids apparently were bugging the Universal CM's to death.  Sad:

 

 

We then headed over to ride the Mummy rollercoaster.  Which is a pretty good one.  Along the way, we spotted the Hog's Breath Train, or whatever it's called:

 

 

Wow, a real working train inside a theme park.  What a novel idea.

 

We paused outside or the Mummy to look at where we planned to finish our evening. That's the Rip, Roar, something or other coaster you see over there above the buildings:

 

 

You can see the car on the track here:

 

 

And the big drop here:

 

 

After the Mummy, that's where we went.  It was supposed to be a 20 minute wait, but ended up taking us over 45.  When we got to the loading platform, we saw why. They were letting NBC crew members ride over and over again.  Rude.

 

The big deal on that coaster is you get to pick the music you want to listen to, and there are speakers all around you on the car.  Sounds neat.  In practice, though, I could barely hear the music.  Dumb.  But, the coaster is pretty intense.

 

And, that was it.

 

We probably could have ridden again.

 

And we definitely could have stayed for the concert.

 

But, we decided to beat the mad rush at closing time, and we left.

 

So that was June 19.

 

On June 20, we headed to Auburn to see our oldest daughter.

 

We hadn't been there for a while.

 

Not too many photos from there.

 

In fact, I think I just have a couple:

 

 

 

And that, brings us to the end of June.

 

Then came the 4th of July, and a good old fashioned Fort Wilderness camping trip.  I need a separate trip report for that.  In fact, I think I'll get that one started.

 

Then, I'll be back here in a bit to introduce the next step in the new era.

 

TCD

[dvccamper 32]

Great trip report. Wow, it seemed to go on forever! Really enjoyed the Key West portion, I agree that it seems like a great port to explore if you were cruising.

I haven't seen any Harry Potter movies either. Nor did I read the books.

[WannaBeImagineer 98]

Wow great trip report TCD it just keeps going and going.

You should watch the Harry Potter movies I never expected to like them but they really are good and very entertaining.

I've only been to Universal once amd did everything we wanted to at both parks before noon. I really want to check it out again but I can never bring myself to leave Disney.

By the way did you ever check out Silver airline? It might come in handy for all your travels.

WBI

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

More great updates.

The thing with the Dry Tortugas camping is this:

The fort, camping rules, possible fellow campers, and no concrete transportation schedule could turn that trip into "Lord of the Flies."

Unless I cam bring all my guns, crossbow, and some claymores......I'll pass.

Bring on the next step!

[BigTom 76]

More great updates.

The thing with the Dry Tortugas camping is this:

The fort, camping rules, possible fellow campers, and no concrete transportation schedule could turn that trip into "Lord of the Flies."

Unless I cam bring all my guns, crossbow, and some claymores......I'll pass.

Bring on the next step!

You will need the guns, crossbow, and claymores just for the mosquitoes

[BigTom 76]

I saw that they had some slips for private boats.  I would want to be in a big boat traveling that far off shore.   It would be nice to have a boat as opposed to a tent to sleep in.  I also saw some mention on the ferry's web site about them transporting kayaks.  That would be fun.

 

 

Yeah, that would be bad.

 

 

It does look primitive, but to me that's the attraction.  I'm going to do it one of these days.  It's not easy to get there, though.

 

TCD

You don't need a large boat, we went in a 20' Thunderbird cuddy cabin. There were 3 of us, biggest problem was carrying enough gas. had 12 5 gal cans sitting in boat. Came back with 20 gallons left in boat.

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

Wait, you scored free passes to see the taping, and that got you free into the park?

 

Double score!!

[LONE-STAR 370]

Wait, you scored free passes to see the taping, and that got you free into the park?

 

Double score!!

That's pretty cool

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Great trip report. Wow, it seemed to go on forever! Really enjoyed the Key West portion, I agree that it seems like a great port to explore if you were cruising.

I haven't seen any Harry Potter movies either. Nor did I read the books.

 

There's a bit more that I'll be adding to the report within the next few weeks.  There's some stuff pertinent to the report that hasn't happened yet.

 

I did read the first HP book, because my oldest wanted to read it, and there was some type of outcry that the books were satanic or something, so I read it just to be sure.  I thought it was a good story, but I'm not into the whole wizard/vampire/werewolf thing.  I intend to see the HP stuff at Universal some time.  I'm not in a hurry.

 

Wow great trip report TCD it just keeps going and going.

You should watch the Harry Potter movies I never expected to like them but they really are good and very entertaining.

I've only been to Universal once amd did everything we wanted to at both parks before noon. I really want to check it out again but I can never bring myself to leave Disney.

By the way did you ever check out Silver airline? It might come in handy for all your travels.

WBI

 

I'm the same way.  We have Disney AP's.  I don't want to pay to go to Uni.

 

I think I commented about Silver Airlines above.  Everyone who went to Key West except for Grandma and my immediate family flew on Spirit. They all had negative experiences.  It may have just been a bad time with weather and the Key West airport, but none of them were happy with Silver.

 

More great updates.

The thing with the Dry Tortugas camping is this:

The fort, camping rules, possible fellow campers, and no concrete transportation schedule could turn that trip into "Lord of the Flies."

Unless I cam bring all my guns, crossbow, and some claymores......I'll pass.

Bring on the next step!

 

I'm pretty sure they won't let you bring that many weapons with you.  Too bad.  You'd be the king of the island.

 

You will need the guns, crossbow, and claymores just for the mosquitoes

 

LOL.  Sounds like paradise.

 

You don't need a large boat, we went in a 20' Thunderbird cuddy cabin. There were 3 of us, biggest problem was carrying enough gas. had 12 5 gal cans sitting in boat. Came back with 20 gallons left in boat.

 

20 feet?  I can't even imagine.  I used to have an 18' boat we used just to waterski and such.  I never liked to be out of sight of land on that little thing. No way would I go 70 miles offshore in a 20' boat.

 

Wait, you scored free passes to see the taping, and that got you free into the park?

 

Double score!!

 

Yes.  Now, we only got about 3 hours in the park.  But, it wasn't crowded, and we got to ride all the big rides that we wanted to.  And you can't beat free.  I did have to pay for parking though.

 

That's pretty cool

 

Yes it was.  I hate to say it, but it's good to be TCD.

 

TCD

[lklasing 16]

Very cool about going to the taping and getting park admission too.

 

I didn't realize that there was such a height difference in the two twins.  Not that that's totally surprising given that they clearly don't look exactly alike, but one of the pics from the taping showed more of a difference than I had picked up on.

 

Looking forward to the rest of the story on the new era!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Very cool about going to the taping and getting park admission too.

 

I didn't realize that there was such a height difference in the two twins.  Not that that's totally surprising given that they clearly don't look exactly alike, but one of the pics from the taping showed more of a difference than I had picked up on.

 

Looking forward to the rest of the story on the new era!

 

Yeah- as they say now- Twin #2 is Mouse height, and Twin #1 is Chipmunk height.

 

TCD

[WannaBeImagineer 98]

 

I think I commented about Silver Airlines above.  Everyone who went to Key West except for Grandma and my immediate family flew on Spirit. They all had negative experiences.  It may have just been a bad time with weather and the Key West airport, but none of them were happy with Silver.

 

 

TCD

 

 

You mentioned they flew Spirit Airlines to Key West and how bad it was. 

 

But now I'm confused, you said both Spirit and Silver above?  So which one did they have problems with Silver or Spirit? 

 

Ok I just checked Spirit's website and it looks like Spirit doesn't fly to Key West, so I'm guessing that the cousins flew Silver Airlines. 

 

If I'm right, that's good to know that it wasn't a good experience.

 

WBI

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

You mentioned they flew Spirit Airlines to Key West and how bad it was.

But now I'm confused, you said both Spirit and Silver above? So which one did they have problems with Silver or Spirit?

Ok I just checked Spirit's website and it looks like Spirit doesn't fly to Key West, so I'm guessing that the cousins flew Silver Airlines.

If I'm right, that's good to know that it wasn't a good experience.

WBI

Trust me. If it was Spirit,there would have been problems too.

[WannaBeImagineer 98]

Trust me. If it was Spirit,there would have been problems too.

Good point my one time on Spirit they lost my bag so I didn't have a good impression of them.

WBI

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

Good point my one time on Spirit they lost my bag so I didn't have a good impression of them.

WBI

I have flown Spirit three times and always had delays.....never again I say. That was when the fares were cheap and the bags flew free, so I could deal with a certain amount of hassle.

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Hmmmm.... How long until Twin #1 starts the CP? I'm betting that happens. 

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Hmmmm.... How long until Twin #1 starts the CP? I'm betting that happens. 

 

That would be awesome!  Then TCD would get 140% discount at Aulani.  

[okgirlie...Brandy 6]

So glad to see you back and that I had so much to catch up on.

We are officially booked for our trip next summer. :) It includes a trip to Universal because I am one of those wizard nerds. Can't wait to see all the Harry Potter stuff!

Anyway, as usual I enjoyed your report. :)

[fowlandfishmommy 10]

We have now added Dry Tortugas to our big 2 week camping trip through Florida.  We never knew it existed!  We aren't scared.  It will be a trip of a lifetime.  In all the pictures I saw there were planes docked all around it.  I'm betting if something really bad happened someone could get you out of there.  There are many places in the US that are super isolated, many on our camping must do list when the boys are older.  

[Heidi-meetsTCD@TSM 5]

TCD,

 

I loved reading about your extended family trip to Key West! I have never visited there before, interesting place for sure!

 

Also so neat that you got to go to a taping of Jimmy Fallon's show at Universal!

 

Heidi

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

You mentioned they flew Spirit Airlines to Key West and how bad it was. 

 

But now I'm confused, you said both Spirit and Silver above?  So which one did they have problems with Silver or Spirit? 

 

Ok I just checked Spirit's website and it looks like Spirit doesn't fly to Key West, so I'm guessing that the cousins flew Silver Airlines. 

 

If I'm right, that's good to know that it wasn't a good experience.

 

WBI

 

Sorry- I got Spirit and Silver mixed up.  They flew Silver- and hated it.  Read the reviews on Yelp and Trip Advisor.  This company has a lot of problems.

 

Trust me. If it was Spirit,there would have been problems too.

 

 

Good point my one time on Spirit they lost my bag so I didn't have a good impression of them.

WBI

 

The whole airline industry has gone down the tubes as far as I'm concerned.

 

Hmmmm.... How long until Twin #1 starts the CP? I'm betting that happens. 

 

That's a very good guess.

 

That would be awesome!  Then TCD would get 140% discount at Aulani.  

 

Really?  So would I get paid 40% of the rack rate to stay there?

 

That sounds too good to be true, but you're the accountant.

 

So glad to see you back and that I had so much to catch up on. We are officially booked for our trip next summer. :) It includes a trip to Universal because I am one of those wizard nerds. Can't wait to see all the Harry Potter stuff! Anyway, as usual I enjoyed your report. :)

 

Glad to hear you're booked!  If we don't get a trip report on here with the wizard stuff before then, then that's going to be your job.

 

We have now added Dry Tortugas to our big 2 week camping trip through Florida.  We never knew it existed!  We aren't scared.  It will be a trip of a lifetime.  In all the pictures I saw there were planes docked all around it.  I'm betting if something really bad happened someone could get you out of there.  There are many places in the US that are super isolated, many on our camping must do list when the boys are older.  

 

Are you taking your boys camping there, too?  Make your reservations well in advance- we couldn't go the day we wanted to because we waited too late.

 

And I think you're right- if something happens, there will be help around.  This is a National Park, after all.

 

TCD,

 

I loved reading about your extended family trip to Key West! I have never visited there before, interesting place for sure!

 

Also so neat that you got to go to a taping of Jimmy Fallon's show at Universal!

 

Heidi

 

Good to see a post from you, Heidi.

 

I hope all is well with you and your family.

 

TCD