An Alphabetical, (Flower and) Garden Variety TR- V is for: Vida la Tucson! TR COMPLETE! (3/14)

[Steppesister]

O is for: Open Air Adventures On Well Worn Paths
​

CAW! CAW!, ROAR, ROAR!!


Wakey, wakey, grab your gear,
Adventure’s out there, Mouseketeer!



Crappy photo warning here,
Phones don't make for pictures clear.


Eggs and sausage, eat them up,
Hit the road and grab your cup.





Flowers and trees, birds and bees,
Wander, explore as you please.









Harambe wilds, board your jeep,
This safari ain’t so cheap!



High stakes meeting, beaks and bills,
"Charge more money, cut the frills!"



Stretch up high, splotches and spots,
Graceful creatures, take your shot.





Ivory tusks, long, long nose,
Don’t forget your trunks and underclothes!



Horny beasts lounge in the sun,
Here’s a mommy with her son.



King of the Beasts with his pride,
Animatronic? You decide.

 

[Steppesister]

Saved for a reply because Smugmug was stupid tonight​

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

And catching up here, too! Better late than never.

DHS, a former shadow on a once great park. Oh sure, Galaxy's Edge is well-themed, and I do enjoy it, and Toy Story Land is a good addition for young families, and I do love SDD, but GMR and the old Back Lot Tour are sorely missed. I miss the quickly disappearing focus of Hollywood in its heyday and classic movies and filmmaking.

I think I'm more positive on the newer stuff there. Backlot tour was ok, but probably took too much time for what it offered. And I was not a GMR fan. The story of that ride never made any sense to me. It was air-conditioned, though.

I do miss the way it leaned into old Hollywood, though. The streetmosphere characters were always great. It also did need more rides that the family could do together, so the new stuff helps in that regard. And they got rid of the sorcerer's hat, thank goodness.

I hit up my Joffrey’s stand across from Tower and waited a fraction of the time that Marcia did for $ixbucks.

Good call.

God put gluten in food to make it taste good.

Darn right!

A long-standing favorite of mine has been the Hollywood Brown Derby and there's rarely a trip that I don't make a reservation.

That's one place I've never dined at. Not sure why. Maybe I thought it was too expensive for 6 people.

The table was nothing short of amazing along the wall in a cozy booth. I imagined booths like this were once used as discreet dens of gossip sharing or for concocting shady business deals and ways to outsmart the IRS. There's nothing new under the sun.

I do love the theming in there. Neat place.

The rolls here are nothing short of amazing- perfectly crunchy and golden on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside (much like your authoress). The salted butter (also not unlike yours truly) is a nice touch and we made short work of them with the Caprese Salad we shared.

Mmmm....butter...

Horny beasts lounge in the sun,

King of the Beasts with his pride,
Animatronic? You decide.

Of course it's animatronic. Duh.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Eggs and sausage, eat them up,
Hit the road and grab your cup.

The sausage looks like it was extremely overcooked.

 

[pkondz]

CAW! CAW!, ROAR, ROAR!!

This is actually part of a fairly well known quote from Brandon Lee's The Crow.
Can't put it here as there's a bad word in it.
Family board, ya know.

Wakey, wakey, grab your gear,
Adventure’s out there, Mouseketeer!

Here! Here!

That's pretty cool. Never seen that before. Presume that's at the poly.

Crappy photo warning here,
Phones don't make for pictures clear.

Oh dear!

Eggs and sausage, eat them up,
Hit the road and grab your cup.

Small hot dog... more of a pup.

Flowers and trees, birds and bees,
Wander, explore as you please.

Shied away when on my knees,
my kids did ask 'bout those birds and bees.

DUCK!!!!

I never had a pet ostrich,
but I did have a pet rabbit.
People would ask to see it
and I'd show them and say...


"That's mbuni."

Harambe wilds, board your jeep,
This safari ain’t so cheap!

That's not such a logic leap.

High stakes meeting, beaks and bills,
"Charge more money, cut the frills!"

The way that happens, gives me chills.

Stretch up high, splotches and spots,
Graceful creatures, take your shot.

Not if it's hot. I mean, lots.

Really like this shot behind the tree.

Ivory tusks, long, long nose,
Don’t forget your trunks and underclothes!

We all know of your commando woes!

Horny beasts lounge in the sun,

Hey! I just said this was a family board!

Here’s a mommy with her son.

Thought you meant the other kind... not as fun.

King of the Beasts with his pride,
Animatronic? You decide.

Over already? You're just hitting your stride!

Good shot!

 

[vamassey1]

I was way behind but enjoyed the 3 updates. Love the old Hollywood feel of DHS and really miss the spotlight it use to have. I'm a big fan of the Victory Garden. Loved your memories with your Grandmother. I remember watching Westerns and Lawrence Welk with mine. Someday I'm going to make it to HBD. We had reservations 10/2020 but cancelled them for Sanaa.

I know you've been busy recovering from the tornados. So thankful you and your parents were spared but I know the community was hit real hard.

 

[Steppesister]

And catching up here, too! Better late than never.

At the rate I'm going, it can't be that tough.

And I was not a GMR fan. The story of that ride never made any sense to me.

Vignettes. They're a wonderful thing.

The streetmosphere characters were always great.

Agreed!! They really gave the park a character (no pun intended) that set it apart from the others. I could watch them for a long time and be entertained. Wish they'd bring that back, along with the Boardwalk stuff.

And they got rid of the sorcerer's hat, thank goodness.

Man I hated that thing. Good riddance!

That's one place I've never dined at. Not sure why. Maybe I thought it was too expensive for 6 people.

Okay, I'm gonna have to agree with you on this one. For a family, it'd be a tough pill to swallow as the food isn't really any better than say Docking Bay or Prime Time, you just get a more, I dunno, refined sort of setting with a different spin on Hollywood than the others in the park. Also, I can get away with the Cobb Salad and be full and happy, and I think it'd take something more substantial to feed your gang.

 

[Steppesister]

The sausage looks like it was extremely overcooked.

It was NOT a very good breakfast. At all. I was very disappointed at the QS at this resort, but whatcha gonna do? Had I known about the coffee and pastries at the Barcelona Lounge before I did, I'd have hit that up in the mornings.

 

[Steppesister]

This is actually part of a fairly well known quote from Brandon Lee's The Crow.
Can't put it here as there's a bad word in it.
Family board, ya know.

Did not know that! Is Disney allowed to plagarize like that?

That's pretty cool. Never seen that before. Presume that's at the poly.

No, at the Coronado. I adore the Modernism Art pieces Disney uses there. I"m not generally a fan of Surrealism with paints/canvas, but the way the resort uses mixed media with the architecture and hardscaping.... love it!

Small hot dog... more of a pup.

OH boy... here we go.

Shied away when on my knees,
my kids did ask 'bout those birds and bees.

I never had a pet ostrich,
but I did have a pet rabbit.
People would ask to see it
and I'd show them and say...


"That's mbuni."

Okay, that one took me a while. Is this where I insert the eyeroll?

The way that happens, gives me chills.

Chapek loves this, ya know.

Really like this shot behind the tree.

I thought it was a fun peek-a-boo shot.

We all know of your commando woes!

I have stories.... PM me if you want a TMI version. Not that up to now hasn't been.

Thought you meant the other kind... not as fun.

Tee hee.

Over already? You're just hitting your stride!

I had fun with that. Makes writing a TR more fun at times.

Good shot!

For a phone, not bad!

 

[Steppesister]

I was way behind but enjoyed the 3 updates. Love the old Hollywood feel of DHS and really miss the spotlight it use to have. I'm a big fan of the Victory Garden. Loved your memories with your Grandmother. I remember watching Westerns and Lawrence Welk with mine. Someday I'm going to make it to HBD. We had reservations 10/2020 but cancelled them for Sanaa.

I know you've been busy recovering from the tornados. So thankful you and your parents were spared but I know the community was hit real hard.

OH you and me both, Girl!! I'm SO far behind since the storms. And with my knee surgery and call shift it's been limited DIS time.

I miss the Old DHS, heck I miss the old MGM!!! Lawrence Welk, you say? Yep, did that but with every relative every week wherever I happened to be. LOL!!

If I had to choose one, Sanaa or HBD, I'd go with Sanaa, but if you don't want to leave the park, I'd do HBD.

I drive through one of the worse neighborhoods every day for work. It's so awesome how so much is already cleaned in terms of trees, but they (as of tonight) were still stringing power lines. All the houses are either condemned or still vacated. It'll take months for them to rebuild. But I am so proud of how everyone found something to do to help out. I am LOVING where I live!

 

[pkondz]

Did not know that! Is Disney allowed to plagarize like that?

Disney does whatever Disney wants...

OH boy... here we go.

Who, me?

Okay, that one took me a while. Is this where I insert the eyeroll?

I think you mean this one:

Chapek loves this, ya know.

Ya don't say...

I have stories.... PM me if you want a TMI version. Not that up to now hasn't been.

I will!

I had fun with that. Makes writing a TR more fun at times.

I had fun reading it.

 

[Steppesister]

Disney does whatever Disney wants...

I hope it doesn't come back to bite them. Somehow doubt that.

Who, me?

<yes>

I think you mean this one:

If I must.

I had fun reading it.

YAY!

 

[Steppesister]

P is for: Playtime in Pandora​

Time to make tracks on this TR as I’m now not one, but pretty soon two, Disney trips behind. So, without the drivel that very few read anymore anyway, here are the few photos I took while getting some solo time in Pandora. Marcia took the morning off and slept in while I took off for a little Sivako. While I took shockingly few photos, it appears I spent time enjoying the chimps having a bit of their own playtime. Sorry for the brevity, but, Christmas. Moving on…..

​

Enjoyed the entire ride to myself!

Lunch time!!






​

It appears Marcia had joined me by now...

​

I realized when editing this batch of photos that I completely missed the afternoon I spent at CSR. I'll try and get those up tonight as well.

 

[Paulaparm]

So happy you were able to post an update. Glad things are going well
Pandora looks so pretty. Really looking forward to visiting for the first time soon!

 

[Steppesister]

So happy you were able to post an update. Glad things are going well
Pandora looks so pretty. Really looking forward to visiting for the first time soon!

I'm so excited for you!!! When will you be there? I am heading there Jan 5-14th I think. Pretty sure anyway. I'd love to meet up with you.

 

[Steppesister]

@disneyAndi14 I realized I accidently skipped our poolside noshing. Working on that now.....

<excuse me while I make a Schnapps Cocoa for some hunkering down>

 

[Paulaparm]

When will you be there? I am heading there Jan 5-14th I think. Pretty sure anyway. I'd love to meet up with you

We will be there January 31-February 13

 

[Steppesister]

We will be there January 31-February 13

Well shoot. We'll miss each other by only a couple of weeks.

 

[Steppesister]

Q is for: Quite the Charcuterie! ​

Forgive me! I inadvertently missed the evening of the day before which was actually a highlight of the trip for me. After our morning and early afternoon at DHS, we’d both pooped out from heat and at least one of us was pretty sore and not feeling spunky. I kept Marcia off of any rides at all, so the unspunky one wasn’t her. Know what? In hindsight another thing I came to realize and appreciate was how exhausting simply having to USE a scooter was. I was frustrated at how much extra time everything took and it was exhausting having to constantly think about where you are and how you need to get from Point A to Point B. But that’s not really what this chapter is about. All that’s to say that I needed an afternoon off of scootering anywhere. So naturally I scootered to the Pool and got myself completely cornered in a remote corner looking for a quiet nook with empty lounge chairs to hang out in.

Along the way, I enjoyed the views of this simply gorgeous resort. I love the desert SW (obviously, since I'm moving there next week for the winter Jan-May-ish ) and adore this resort for it's architecture, landscaping and art.

​

The room we had in the Casitas section was just lovely.

​

I am not joking that I was literally terrified that I was going to ride myself right into the shallow end as the pool area was PACKED and extremely difficult to navigate in. The only way to get across the deck was between the chairs and the pool itself. OY! There was not a single available deck chair or table, which was super disappointing as we had planned for Caroline and possibly Ariane and Jenny to meet us there for a little hangout.

With a few dozen K-turns I was able to finagle my way out of that super embarrassing situation and gave up, retreating to the pool bar area. Pool bar areas are always a good bet for licking one’s wounded pride and in the end, it worked out really well. The bathroom was close by (ALWAYS a bonus for those of us who can’t seem to go without for more than 5 minutes), we got a table, and had some topnotch pool bar ‘entertainment’. I had brought a couple of single serving Coconut Rums and ordered a Coke. Voila, a $5 cocktail. After I read a few pages of my book, that I’m still trying to read 8 months later, (A Gentleman in Moscow, in case you’re curious) Marcia showed up. I have never in my life met someone who loses stuff more often than I do. I am not joking one little bit when I say that every single time we were ready to head out or go anywhere she had to look for something that she’d misplaced. She’d have to hunt through every single ditty bag (there were multiple) every pocket of every suitcase (multiple), and there was more than one occasion she’d have to stay behind and meet me wherever I was going later. Medications, masks, shoes, you name it. One time she’d put her backpack on the back of Roll-E and at the end of the day took her backpack off and then couldn’t find her shoes for 3 days. I can only laugh at this because I can be the Queen of Misplaced Things and feel like half the time I have early onset Alzheimers.

Anyway, before the other two arrived, I was treated to the very 'family-friendly' scene of one extraordinarily drunk 20-something who wore a string between her buttcheeks and not much else and was protesting loudly about getting escorted offstage. Please folks, I respect everyone’s choices in clothing, or lack thereof, but choose your venue wisely. I don’t want to see your bare hiney, let alone any of my grandkids that might be there. Perhaps I’m a prude. #prudeproud

Happy that Nakey-Lady didn’t throw up before they got her out of the bar area, Caroline had been texting her whereabouts and was able join us after we’d been there about an hour. I love Caroline ( @disneyAndi14 ), but not enough to hold off on opening our most exquisite Charcuterie by link --> Journey Across the Board. Made by a furloughed CM (his story is in that link) every charcuterie is custom made and unique. It was as beautiful as it was generous and delicious. I’d brought some fancy crackers to add some crunch, but of course, forgot to bring them to the pool for the occasion I’d packed them for. So just like 80% of the clothes I never end up wearing, I hauled them to and from Florida for no reason whatsoever. I was disappointed that Ariane and Jenny couldn't make it, maybe another time.

​

We three had a very nice time just girl-talking, getting to know each other better, and people watching. Time passes so quickly when one is amongst good friends, doesn’t it? As dusk began to set in, Caroline had to move on to meet Andi for dinner somewhere and I didn’t need dinner as the cheeses and meats and fruits were more than ample for a meal. We headed back to the room to sleep and that was the end of day 6.

​

 

[suse66]

Time to make tracks on this TR as I’m now not one, but pretty soon two, Disney trips behind. So, without the drivel that very few read anymore anyway, here are the few photos I took while getting some solo time in Pandora. Marcia took the morning off and slept in while I took off for a little Sivako. While I took shockingly few photos, it appears I spent time enjoying the chimps having a bit of their own playtime. Sorry for the brevity, but, Christmas. Moving on…..

​

The pictures are stunning! I see you ordered my beloved chili spiked tofu.

Along the way, I enjoyed the views of this simply gorgeous resort. I love the desert SW (obviously, since I'm moving there next week for the winter Jan-May-ish ) and adore this resort for it's architecture, landscaping and art.

I adore CSR as well. So exciting that you will be in Arizona as of next week. I hope this adventure brings you everything you wish.

The room we had in the Casitas section was just lovely.

​

We were in Casitas as well and loved it.

I had brought a couple of single serving Coconut Rums and ordered a Coke. Voila, a $5 cocktail. After I read a few pages of my book, that I’m still trying to read 8 months later, (A Gentleman in Moscow, in case you’re curious)

Perfect hack! A Gentleman in Moscow is on my reading list too.

I can only laugh at this because I can be the Queen of Misplaced Things and feel like half the time I have early onset Alzheimers.

Yup! Although then I worry as my Mom does have Alzheimers and i think about what may lay ahead for me.

Anyway, before the other two arrived, I was treated to the very 'family-friendly' scene of one extraordinarily drunk 20-something who wore a string between her buttcheeks and not much else and was protesting loudly about getting escorted offstage. Please folks, I respect everyone’s choices in clothing, or lack thereof, but choose your venue wisely. I don’t want to see your bare hiney, let alone any of my grandkids that might be there. Perhaps I’m a prude. #prudeproud

There is a time and a place for everything and Disney is not it. Nothing wrong with a little modesty.

I love Caroline ( @disneyAndi14 ), but not enough to hold off on opening our most exquisite Charcuterie by link --> Journey Across the Board. Made by a furloughed CM (his story is in that link) every charcuterie is custom made and unique. It was as beautiful as it was generous and delicious. I’d brought some fancy crackers to add some crunch, but of course, forgot to bring them to the pool for the occasion I’d packed them for. So just like 80% of the clothes I never end up wearing, I hauled them to and from Florida for no reason whatsoever. I was disappointed that Ariane and Jenny couldn't make it, maybe another time.

Yum! That looks delicious! Will have to think about ordering for our March trip.

We three had a very nice time just girl-talking, getting to know each other better, and people watching. Time passes so quickly when one is amongst good friends, doesn’t it? As dusk began to set in, Caroline had to move on to meet Andi for dinner somewhere and I didn’t need dinner as the cheeses and meats and fruits were more than ample for a meal. We headed back to the room to sleep and that was the end of day 6.

So nice to have that time together.