The $6,688.00 Disney World Trip - It's a wrap 6/30, Has it really been a year? 3/2 Link to new TR 4/18

[DnA2010]

How I would love to go "out" to dinner right now. I mean my life is not that much different. I still made dinner every night, but the fact that we can't go out makes me want to even more!

Ya, I would too, I found out that our favourite restaurant is doing curb side pick up, so pondering that, but we live a good 20 min away, so I wonder if it would still be good by the time we got it home

I know! I wanted to try it cause it was so pretty, but pretty food doesn't always taste so good.

So disappointing!

They called it a Popt Art, I think....It was pretty much a $5 pop tart. That reminds me, I think I have some Pop Tarts in the pantry. No need to bake!

We got the chocolate ones when they were on sale as teenagers

So after riding Nemo, Michael and I headed over to Spaceship Earth.

I still remember going to Epcot and being like "wow there is a ride in there!"

Here’s the new menu as well.

So much delicious comfort food!

Mmm I love rainbow sherbet, so I think I'd love that Frozen sunshine

I have yet to have a fancy, crazy shake, I don't think anywhere around here does them, someday

Fran really didn't want to eat, but decided that the S'mores milkshake would be fine for her dinner.

S'mores is back!
We actually tried to do s'mores last night over one of those propane fire pits..managed to do the marshmallows ok, however the graham crackers were old and stale so ended up tossing those.

I got the Strawberry Shortcake and it was absolutely delicious! Fran finished half of it for me and she really loved it. Said the shortbread was just like her mother's that we lost the recipe.

Short bread base, or cake.

I'd be interested in the recipe if you ever find it

The driver took one look at Fran and I and left. What The…...? Then the bus driver behind him with an Epcot sign changed his sign to Skyliner Resort and took us on his bus.

That would be a bit errr, confusing

To my horror I had eleven tickets scanned into my app and some were duplicates.

Good thing you checked and sorted it!

 

[franandaj]

And... hand washing is more effective than hand sanitizer, so..

My hands are getting chaffed from so much washing.

Because there I'll have Montreal Smoked Meat sandwich instead.

That looks great but I'm not sure I could eat that. It would be more than four meals for me!

I get that.

and yet...
I kinda wish I wasn't finished mine.
I'd like to keep posting to keep giving people things to read.

Thanks for posting, Alison.

I bet you could write a very entertaining update of life in quarantine at the pkondz home.

Doing my best.

Hang in there! Oddly enough, our lives have not changed all that much! I'm waiting for the abject boredom to kick in. I'm still busy every day just trying to keep up with our normal daily routine. Although I do have to say that I am keeping up very well on the dishes. The one big difference is that since we aren't running around, we don't have as many supplemental fast food meals, so more dishes to do.

I'm sorry... what?

When you say "what?" Are you referring to the tenant not knowing how to use the heater or asking "what is radiant ceiling heat?"

Yes it is!

Honest story.
I was reading this update and when I saw photos of SE, I quickly scrolled down to see if you'd gotten a shot of my dad.
As soon as I saw it, I said "Dad!"

And then I glanced up and saw your question.

I took that picture just for you!

You and I are the only ones!

I actually noticed him before anyone else. And that woman is not at all realistic. No woman computer programmer would ever dress that hip. Trust me, my parents were them in that era.

You've seen them on the globe before, haven't you?

Either we don't get out there fast enough, or the pictures aren't good enough to show up on the globe.

Skyliner's fault... ahem...

Gotta shift the blame somehow....

I love sitting at the counter. I like watching them make the food.

The kitchen is in the back now. We couldn't see much. Maybe they were stopping the sundaes over near us.

Much bigger... and much, much, much less charming.

That was my take too.

They still have grilled cheese and tomato soup and the No Way Jose... So that's good

I almost got the tomato soup and grilled cheese, but I remembered how big it was when Fran and I got it last time.

Fran is smart.

How were they?

All was very good, but I had to pick out the carrots. I don't like them cooked.

Ah. Still... you must've been worried, there.

More annoyed than worried.

 

[pkondz]

My hands are getting chaffed from so much washing.

I hear that!

That looks great but I'm not sure I could eat that. It would be more than four meals for me!

It is quite a bit.

I bet you could write a very entertaining update of life in quarantine at the pkondz home.

You think? I dunno. I'm not actually quarantined anyway. I'm essential services so I still go to work.

Hang in there! Oddly enough, our lives have not changed all that much! I'm waiting for the abject boredom to kick in. I'm still busy every day just trying to keep up with our normal daily routine.

My life doesn't feel overly different right now either. Well... at work, it does. But not so much at home.

Although I do have to say that I am keeping up very well on the dishes.

Oh, no! The humanity!

The one big difference is that since we aren't running around, we don't have as many supplemental fast food meals, so more dishes to do.

Not ordering delivery?

When you say "what?" Are you referring to the tenant not knowing how to use the heater or asking "what is radiant ceiling heat?"

The latter.

I took that picture just for you!

I thought you had!

I actually noticed him before anyone else.

I'd mentioned him on... either my own or someone else's TR a few months ago.

And that woman is not at all realistic. No woman computer programmer would ever dress that hip. Trust me, my parents were them in that era.

Either we don't get out there fast enough, or the pictures aren't good enough to show up on the globe.

Huh. So it was a first! In all ways!

Gotta shift the blame somehow....

The kitchen is in the back now. We couldn't see much. Maybe they were stopping the sundaes over near us.

That's a shame.

All was very good, but I had to pick out the carrots. I don't like them cooked.

Good to hear.

 

[franandaj]

We have a trip planned for August, and I'm really hoping things are someone back to normal by then. I've already got a case of cabin fever. Hopefully, in a few weeks it will warm up and more time can be spent outside. Right now its cold and rainy.

I dont think we are ever going back to normal. We will see a return to something of what we remember, but I think we have a period in history where BC takes on a new meaning. Just like we have "Pre 9-11".

The first time we went on with the scooter they took us right back and showed us the entrance. The second time we went right to the entrance, but apparently since it was a longer wait out front we were supposed to get a return time. I'm still a little confused on what the rules are. Though I guess it won't matter for quite awhile.

Yeah, consistency is not necessarily their strong point.

It's good the heating problem was easily solved.

Well....there is more to come.

And there is my mom to the left of the column with the blondish gray hair. She's actually even looking toward the camera! I'm hidden behind someone.

Wow! That's so funny that I happened to catch her in my random photo!

 

[jedijill]

Caught back up again. I needed a dose of Disney with the news about the parks being closed until further notice and waiting for DCL to cancel my cruise.

Jill in CO

 

[franandaj]

Miss Spaceship Earth, that's the only thing I wish we would have had a chance to ride during our last trip!

The one I missed was Misson Space. I can't wait for things to ease up and Disney can safely open. I don't think we'll ever go "back". As I said to someone else, this is a pivotal event, everything before will be "pre-Corona".

We are safe and good. New normal is not affecting me a ton but it is the kids.

We are safe. Lots of sleeping involved.

It has been a long time! Wow, I can’t believe you remember me ! I did go through a messy divorce and have since remarried and moved on.

I remembered the divorce part but wasn't sure, so I didn't want to say anything. We used to chit chat a bit when I lived at the old house.

One of the hardest things I did was have to sell my contracts at AKV but we do what we have to when necessary. Fast forward 4 years and I’ve since remarried a man who I believe to be my soul mate and we just bought 250 points at Riviera! Life is good!

I bet that was tough! But I'm glad that you are happy now!

I have been catching up on your last TRs, they always made me smile and chuckle too! How is the new house and life in general? I hope you guys are ok with this Coronavirus and staying well.

We are generally good. Right now our big focus is to get rid of our stuff on eBay. Our house is full of boxes from storage all with precious items that we are trying to unload.

 

[franandaj]

No one does, I think

It's so weird, all the uncertainty. The only thing I can plan is what's for dinner.

GREAT! I will block off that date and if tickets go on sale, let me know.

And its canceled.

It is, and yet, it's the perfect time to do so. What else we gonna do?

Well I have a ton of things I'm doing, still I find it hard to get online other than from my phone in the mornings.

I will.... might have loads of time to do that, and it might be from my new home the car, but I'll check in.

And hopefully that's not the case for now....

OY, landlord issues never go away even on vacay.

Nope, and that's not the end of it.

I'm so glad they have stools for folks who can't use the high ones to sit at!! Glad they could get you in and accomodate.

It worked out perfectly!

Good move!! You're thinking ahead and that's gonna pay off!

Thinking ahead! That's my superpower!

YIKES!! An hour? Not what you wanna be doing on vacation, but glad you did so you didn't have issues in the morning when they'd have been disastrous

Turns out the subtle differences from East and West coast it wouldn't have made a ton of difference, but I'll get to that in my next update.

 

[franandaj]

This is such a weird time. Read the news, and it's the apocalypse. Walk outside, and it seems perfectly normal. I think everyone is starting to go a bit stir-crazy.

I realize that most people aren't used to spending a lot of time at home but for me this is not so different than normal life. Sure there's a lot of restrictions and such but generally Fran and I don't leave the house very much or for long periods of time except on vacations. .

There's another dude in there?

I never realized that no one else noticed him until Liesa posted it on her TR!

You posted his photo! You rebel.

I figured his face was obscured enough and small enough, no one would recognize him!

Nice that they were trying to be flexible for you

It was nice of them.

Did they make it bigger? Looks like they can fit more people in there.

It's like 5 times bigger if not more.

Now we're talking

Everyone seems to like that choice for dinner.

Um...that's not cool.

No, I had no idea what the problem was.....

So how does that happen?

Well, I've been visiting every year since 2013 when they started the MBs. Since then my trips have involved meeting up with other DISers or friends and family. Imagine that you added your whole family (mom & dad, brother's family, etc) to make FPs and reservations on the last trip, then the next year you went and your trip overlapped with Pkondz on a solo trip, as well as 3 or 4 other DIS Dads, so you add them to your group. Then Doc meets you out there and he and his wife become part of your F&F. It was a combination of six years of joint planning and I just ended up with a ton of friends on there, some of which I may travel with again, some I may not. Those are the ones that were gone.

 

[franandaj]

Starting???

And then some of us have already been crazy for forever....

 

[franandaj]

Ya, I would too, I found out that our favourite restaurant is doing curb side pick up, so pondering that, but we live a good 20 min away, so I wonder if it would still be good by the time we got it home

You would probably have to pick up something that could be reheated. We're going to try ordering a fried chicken dinner from one of our favorite places tomorrow night so we'll pick it up and come right home to eat it so it's good and hot.

So disappointing!

Food doesn't have to be pretty to taste good and not all food that is pretty tastes good.

We got the chocolate ones when they were on sale as teenagers

Chocolate is good, but cinnamon is my favorite!

I still remember going to Epcot and being like "wow there is a ride in there!"

I remember thinking that "how can they have that and there isn't a ride in there?"

So much delicious comfort food!

Yes very simple stuff.

Mmm I love rainbow sherbet, so I think I'd love that Frozen sunshine

I'm more of a float person but I can only have one ice cream thing per meal cause it makes me need to go to sleep.

I have yet to have a fancy, crazy shake, I don't think anywhere around here does them, someday

I've had two as far as I know and both were at the same place....

S'mores is back!
We actually tried to do s'mores last night over one of those propane fire pits..managed to do the marshmallows ok, however the graham crackers were old and stale so ended up tossing those.

That's too bad, S'mores are so good! I need to think of a way to make s'mores here without having to go outside.

Short bread base, or cake.

I'd be interested in the recipe if you ever find it

I looked. I couldn't find it.

That would be a bit errr, confusing

It was not so fun.

Good thing you checked and sorted it!

Yes, I'm glad I did, but it didn't matter as much as I thought it would.

 

[rndmr2]

That's too bad, S'mores are so good! I need to think of a way to make s'mores here without having to go outside.

The microwave, it isn't quite the same but does the job if you have a craving.

 

[pkondz]

And then some of us have already been crazy for forever....

 

[Steppesister]

It's so weird, all the uncertainty. The only thing I can plan is what's for dinner.

That's about right. I am keeping busy enough, but am having to adjust my sleep hours and things are all wonky there. Hopefully, that's behind me now, but that also means not enough hours now too.

And its canceled.

Well I have a ton of things I'm doing, still I find it hard to get online other than from my phone in the mornings.

I think these days it's good to be busy and find things to do. A bored society is a terrible situation!

Nope, and that's not the end of it.

Oh dear.... standing by.

Turns out the subtle differences from East and West coast it wouldn't have made a ton of difference, but I'll get to that in my next update.

Looking forward to it!

 

[franandaj]

You think? I dunno. I'm not actually quarantined anyway. I'm essential services so I still go to work

Well I saw what you posted on what I think was Liesa's thead, about how you are divided Into teams and sterilize each others work areas. Crazy!

My life doesn't feel overly different right now either. Well... at work, it does. But not so much at home.

I guess that is good.

Not ordering delivery?

Too expensive. Whenever we order it ends up being $30-50. Most of my meals are less than $10.

The latter.

OK, well you know the Carousel of Progress? Do you know who sponsored it?

I'll save you having to go Google it, General Electric was the sponsor. Really it was one giant ad for a concept that they were launching, The Gold Medallion Home. I found this on Google:

To earn a gold medallion--a decal affixed to a home's entryway and considered the apex of modern, all-electric living--a home had to have an electric clothes washer and dryer, waste disposal, refrigerator and all-electric heating.

You got one of these outside the front door. All the apartments at De Soto have these:



So here is a diagram of the radiant ceiling heat concept, there are coils in the ceiling that heat up. While it makes no sense, because heat rises, it works pretty well. So well that you only really have to turn on the coils for about 20-30 minutes, as soon as you feel the heat, it's best to turn it off because the coils radiate for quite a long time. If you leave it on all night, you've just turned that room into a sauna.



Of our 11 units, 2 have forced air heating/cooling (central heat/air), one has forced air heating (no cooling), four have wall heaters, and the other four have this radiant ceiling heat.

I'd mentioned him on... either my own or someone else's TR a few months ago.

I know he was mentioned on Liesa's TR...

Huh. So it was a first! In all ways!

Pretty much!

 

[franandaj]

Caught back up again. I needed a dose of Disney with the news about the parks being closed until further notice and waiting for DCL to cancel my cruise.

Well, I'll try and give you another dose, soon.

The microwave, it isn't quite the same but does the job if you have a craving.

I've done them in the oven as well.....

That's about right. I am keeping busy enough, but am having to adjust my sleep hours and things are all wonky there. Hopefully, that's behind me now, but that also means not enough hours now too.

I'm sorry that your sleep was all wonky. I hope you get your work situation somewhat stabilized.

I think these days it's good to be busy and find things to do. A bored society is a terrible situation!

I'm not sure about your area, but they reported the other day that crime was down in the LA area. Even the criminals are social distancing!

Oh dear.... standing by.

Well....it kind of drags out, it's a few updates worth of slight drama.

Looking forward to it!

Almost there!

 

[Steppesister]

I'm sorry that your sleep was all wonky. I hope you get your work situation somewhat stabilized.

Taking a nap right now.... Sadly, "stabilized" means no work for a time.

I'm not sure about your area, but they reported the other day that crime was down in the LA area. Even the criminals are social distancing!

LOL!!! I wondered about that.

Well....it kind of drags out, it's a few updates worth of slight drama.

OH boy!! Some drama!!

 

[franandaj]

So it’s become even more crazy since the last time I updated. However, as others have pointed out, there isn’t all that much to do, so why not keep updating? I’d like to say something about things “going back to normal.” But I don’t think that is ever going to happen. Sure, stores and restaurants will reopen, we will be allowed to go back to the beaches, go to concerts, gather together in groups, but I don’t think it will ever be “the same”.

Just like after 9-11, we can’t take beverages through security checkpoints anymore. You have to take your shoes off, unless you have been deemed worthy by some official government agency, and all that other stuff that changed. I think this is going to make some kind of profound change, although I don’t know what that will be, but it will be different. I think you’re going to hear phrases like, “Yeah that was Pre-Covid.” or “Don’t you wish we could still (insert banned behavior here)?”

Hopefully this won’t last too long and we all come out of it OK. I’ve already had one DIS friend hospitalized due to this thing, and I hope she fights with everything that she’s got! So everyone stay safe, and if you haven’t already seen it, Google “Randy Rainbow I will Social Distance” for a good laugh. Don’t watch it with your kids, there are a few naughty words in there….

Day 5

I woke up several times during the night, anxious for our early morning. But Fran promptly woke me at 5:25AM. That day was here, the one I'd been training for. When RotR opened in DL on January 17, there was a ton of hype. From the second day I started to "play along at home". You see to get a Boarding Group, you must be scanned into a park. However, you used to be able to open the app and click on the buttons to a certain point in the process until you got an error message which says something to the effect of "Wait! Is everyone in your party in the park?"

I had done this every day for almost a week after the ride opened and felt like I had a decent handle on how the process worked.

I had prepped my coffee in advance the night before and this was my breakfast.



When we were about to leave Fran noticed that I had plugged her scooter charger into the wall, but had neglected to plug the cord into her scooter. My battery had a full charge, so we swapped out batteries, and we were out the door just after 6AM. Our driver was right on time and he loaded Fran into the car and we were on our way.



He dropped us near the front of the park, and we breezed through security. Thousands of our friends were there with us as we waited in line.



They started to let us through the tapstiles at 6:54. I got Fran a bagel and hot chocolate at Starbucks before the line became super crazy. We each used the restroom and then we found a comfortable place to sit at a bench on Sunset Blvd and we waited for 8:00AM to come around. I was a little concerned because everything I read said to get away from people. By about 7:45 the lines for ToT and RnRC had stretched all the way out to the end of the street. I did another speed test and it still said I had a fast connection so I just stayed put.

When Fran's phone died a painful death last May, Verizon was having a BOGO on phones, so I got a new Galaxy S10+, and she got a Galaxy S10. Since there was nothing wrong with my S8, we were able to keep that, just with a new Sim card and a different phone number. We call that "the book phone" and use it to listen to our audio books in the car. Because of the trauma of getting a Boarding Group, I brought both phones on the trip and had them ready to go this morning.



We did the phone restart at 7:53, and started the app at 7:58. I counted down at 7:59, and as soon as the phone hit 8:00 I clicked on the button on each phone. Both had the magical red button, but my S10+ was in my right hand (which is the dominant one and thus faster). The process was a little different than what I've read about on the DL boards. At DL everyone in your party is automatically selected and you have to de-select those who aren't with you. On WDW's app you have to select your party much like the process of making FP.

I don't remember exactly the rest but I hit whatever affirmative buttons I saw like "confirm" or "continue", and boom! Group 10! Woohoo we would be riding very soon and have the rest of the day to do whatever! Or so we thought….

We headed over to GE with everyone else in the park. Except for those riding RnRC, ToT, and SDD. We found a place for me to sit, I didn't bring my scooter since a taxi for two scooters would have been a real PITA. The Boarding Groups started with 2, and somewhere around 8:30 the Back Up Groups sold out. We noticed them boarding shortly thereafter and around 8:45 they called our boarding group. We wound our way through the queue, and about 8:59 we were stopped in line. They let us into the preshow room and when we left there, it was different than when we rode it at DL. We followed the rest of our group and pretty soon we found out that a CM would be scanning our MB to give us a FP to come back anytime the ride was up and running. They had stopped at BG 14. We were back out of the ride at 9:10AM. We walked through the marketplace. I looked for mobile order opportunities, but none of the breakfast options sounded good to me. Fran checked out the shops, naturally. When she had finally visited all of them, we exited to TS Land. At Woody's Lunchbox we ordered a Smoked Turkey Breakfast sandwich without the eggs and an order of potato barrels.



It was good. And we waited…..



The ride had been down for over an hour now, and we decided to go get a pink donut. I got in line at 10:35 and she went back to the Guest Experience kiosk to get some maps to see if there was another place for a donut with a shorter line. I checked the app again for the hundred thousandths time, and they were on boarding group 15! The ride had opened back up!

We bailed on the donuts and made our way to the other side of the park. The only place farther away in the park we could have been was ToT or RnRC. But we made it! Since we had "recovery passes" and not a regular boarding group a different CM had to scan our MBs, and again we were on our way to join the resistance. By 11:30 we had finished our mission and decided to head back to the room. We exited Batuu toward the Muppets attraction and past the ABC Commissary. As we were going out and up a slight hill to the front of the Chinese Theater her scooter started to act up. The reason we didn't bring her scooter on the last trip was because of this problem. We even took it to the scooter store but we hadn't listened to the beeps when it experienced the problems (troubleshooting) and couldn't replicate the problem at the shop. This time I counted. It was two beeps followed by three beeps.

I was able to get the scooter up the hill while Fran walked. Once we were on level ground, Fran rode the scooter to the Skyliner. I drove it up the hill and into the cars. We changed lines at CBR and when we got off at Riviera she got back on the scooter. Just as we got back into the hotel, it stopped again. She gave up and told me to ride it, and walked through the hallways back to the room. It barely made it, but we did get back to the room.
I switched the batteries back, hers now had a full charge, and then I downloaded the scooter manual to check the troubleshooting guide.

It turns out that two beeps means battery charge is too low and three beeps means the Travel Scooter’s battery voltage is too high to operate the scooter, or the charger is still connected to the off board charger port. The second one made no sense to me, but whatever.

I do know this much, over time a battery loses it's overall ability to hold a charge. Her scooter is bigger than mine, and she is heavier than me. Perhaps the combination of the larger scooter and extra weight caused the battery charge to go down more rapidly.

With her battery back in place, I took her scooter on a little spin around the resort. It was all zippy again, so perhaps my scooter's batteries need to be changed before our next big trip that I will need it. And now who knows when that is going to be. Luckily I didn't have any problems through the rest of the trip.

While I was out on the test run, I had brought the "Book phone" as my real phone was down to maybe 28%. I came back to the room to find a text from the tenant with the heater problem saying she left the heat on for a long time and there was still no heat. So we texted the contractor her name and phone number and asked him if he would set up an appointment with her to take a look at the electrical.

Fran crawled in bed while I was out on the test run. Since we didn’t get our donut, I brought back some of these brownie bites and she ate one, she had finished off the pop tart that was left while I was gone.



They also had these pastries, but I liked the idea of brownie bites the best.



I played my Mahjong game for a few minutes and eventually also succumbed to the nap. However I was rudely awakened by a phone call from one of those health care consultants who wanted to "take a few moments to discuss my health". I told them I was on vacation and didn't want to talk right now. Then I added them to my contact list so I wouldn't answer the phone from them again.

By this time, I was ready to go to Trader Sam's. Today was the day to which I rescheduled our visit, but Fran fell right back asleep. So instead I got up, dressed and started catching up on everyone's TRs.

Just before 5PM we left the room. We arrived at the bus stop at 5:03PM and the posted time for an MK bus was 5:09 which promptly switched to 5:10, and then 5:11. It was maybe 5:14 when they had us all loaded up and ready to go.

Now we were looking at the Skyliner from another perspective….



We unloaded at MK, made it through security and they actually got us on the monorail that was loading. We disembarked at the Poly and were checking in to Trader Sam's by 6:15. However they were quoting an hour to 75 minute wait to get in. We put our name on the list and decided to figure out what we wanted to do. The day before I was texting with our new tenant about her heater and she wasn't able to get it to work, so I offered her space heaters and she said "yes". I called Naked Jim and asked if he would pick them up when he fed the cats that night and bring them by and he said sure. We were hungry so we ordered a pepperoni flatbread and side of mac and cheese from Captain Cooks.



As soon as we finished our food, a text came in that we were the next guests at TS. When we put in our names, I knew that it wouldn't be a full hour. I saw the hostess scroll through the guests on the list, and there were parties of 9 and 7 in there and people like that don't want to wait that long. It makes the wait for small parties like us much less.

We snagged "our table" since we seem to have sat there the last couple times and figured out our order. I got the Dark & Tropical Stormy Category 5, while she ordered a pearl.



We also got an order of the Chicken Lettuce Cups as we were still a little hungry.



We then ordered another round. I got the same while she was able to order their special Christmas drink that came with a souvenir mug. Her drink tasted a little funny. Neither of us could peg what it was, but wasn't bad enough to keep her from finishing it.



We went upstairs to the Tambu Lounge which was my main reason for coming here. I really wanted the 'Ohana Bread Pudding. I had made a reservation at 'Ohana just to have it, but it turns out that DVC was having a Moonlight Magic event the same night I got the 'Ohana reservation.



I said that I would cancel it as long as I could have the bread pudding, so now I could cancel it. Even better, we found out that you can now get the noodles, potstickers and chicken wings from 'Ohana at the bar. So now we have a "thing". If there is a wait for Trader Sam's, we will come up to the Tambu Lounge, get some drinks and some appetizers, go to Sam's, have more drinks and appetizers, and come back for dessert. We'll call it the "Polynesian dinner!"

So after my Lapu Lapu, her Rum Swizzle, and our shared Bread pudding, we were ready to call it a night.



We caught the monorail to the MK and when we got to the bus stop there was already one wheelchair there as well as a bus. That wheelchair rider got on as did all the rest of the passengers. So we waited probably a good 20 minutes for the next bus before we boarded. BTW, we were the only people who had to wait for the next bus. We were on our way home by 9:46PM and I had gotten my coveted 'Ohana Bread Pudding so I was happy. Even Fran agreed that it was really good. I would sleep well tonight!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Just like after 9-11, we can’t take beverages through security checkpoints anymore. You have to take your shoes off, unless you have been deemed worthy by some official government agency, and all that other stuff that changed. I think this is going to make some kind of profound change, although I don’t know what that will be, but it will be different. I think you’re going to hear phrases like, “Yeah that was Pre-Covid.” or “Don’t you wish we could still (insert banned behavior here)?”

I suspect you're right about that. Still, human beings are built for relationships, and we're going to be longing to get out of the house and see other people!

From the second day I started to "play along at home". You see to get a Boarding Group, you must be scanned into a park. However, you used to be able to open the app and click on the buttons to a certain point in the process until you got an error message which says something to the effect of "Wait! Is everyone in your party in the park?"

This just seems like such an insane procedure to me. But I don't have any better ideas.

When we were about to leave Fran noticed that I had plugged her scooter charger into the wall, but had neglected to plug the cord into her scooter.

Uh oh.

He dropped us near the front of the park, and we breezed through security. Thousands of our friends were there with us as we waited in line.

I don't remember exactly the rest but I hit whatever affirmative buttons I saw like "confirm" or "continue", and boom! Group 10! Woohoo we would be riding very soon and have the rest of the day to do whatever!

YES!

Or so we thought….

D'oh.

We followed the rest of our group and pretty soon we found out that a CM would be scanning our MB to give us a FP to come back anytime the ride was up and running. They had stopped at BG 14. We were back out of the ride at 9:10AM.

I have heard that it breaks down frequently. The curse of new technology, I guess.

Since we had "recovery passes" and not a regular boarding group a different CM had to scan our MBs, and again we were on our way to join the resistance. By 11:30 we had finished our mission and decided to head back to the room.

Nice! Glad you got to ride. Is it the greatest ride ever like they say?

I do know this much, over time a battery loses it's overall ability to hold a charge. Her scooter is bigger than mine, and she is heavier than me. Perhaps the combination of the larger scooter and extra weight caused the battery charge to go down more rapidly.

Seems as good a theory as any.

We then ordered another round. I got the same while she was able to order their special Christmas drink that came with a souvenir mug. Her drink tasted a little funny. Neither of us could peg what it was, but wasn't bad enough to keep her from finishing it.

Probably extra egg nog.

Even better, we found out that you can now get the noodles, potstickers and chicken wings from 'Ohana at the bar. So now we have a "thing". If there is a wait for Trader Sam's, we will come up to the Tambu Lounge, get some drinks and some appetizers, go to Sam's, have more drinks and appetizers, and come back for dessert. We'll call it the "Polynesian dinner!"

Cool, that's good to know! That would make for a quality dinner on its own.

We were on our way home by 9:46PM and I had gotten my coveted 'Ohana Bread Pudding so I was happy. Even Fran agreed that it was really good. I would sleep well tonight!

Glad it was such a good day!

 

[NancyLuvsMickey]

We love 'Ohana Bread Pudding! And since we discovered it at Tambu Lounge, we've never been back to 'Ohana for supper... Our family motto is Life is short, eat dessert first!!!

 

[pkondz]

Well I saw what you posted on what I think was Liesa's thead, about how you are divided Into teams and sterilize each others work areas. Crazy!

It's definitely different. We also have a designated table for eating, a designated computer for surfing on a break, and a dedicated lazy boy recliner.

I guess that is good.

Unless I try to go shopping. That's completely different too, now.

Too expensive. Whenever we order it ends up being $30-50. Most of my meals are less than $10.

I get that. But... if you were to go out... but can't... you'd order, no?

OK, well you know the Carousel of Progress? Do you know who sponsored it?

I'll save you having to go Google it, General Electric was the sponsor. Really it was one giant ad for a concept that they were launching, The Gold Medallion Home. I found this on Google:

To earn a gold medallion--a decal affixed to a home's entryway and considered the apex of modern, all-electric living--a home had to have an electric clothes washer and dryer, waste disposal, refrigerator and all-electric heating.

You got one of these outside the front door. All the apartments at De Soto have these:



So here is a diagram of the radiant ceiling heat concept, there are coils in the ceiling that heat up. While it makes no sense, because heat rises, it works pretty well. So well that you only really have to turn on the coils for about 20-30 minutes, as soon as you feel the heat, it's best to turn it off because the coils radiate for quite a long time. If you leave it on all night, you've just turned that room into a sauna.



Of our 11 units, 2 have forced air heating/cooling (central heat/air), one has forced air heating (no cooling), four have wall heaters, and the other four have this radiant ceiling heat.

Interesting. So it's basically like in-floor radiant heating but mounted in the ceiling. I presume the ceiling has to be plaster or stucco?
And some of your units don't have cooling? I would've thought that'd be a must for California.
What do the tenants with radiant heat think of it?

I know he was mentioned on Liesa's TR...

Probably by me.
I know that until I mentioned it, it's like no one had heard of him.