to the TR!Joining in! Can't wait to read more!
Well, hi there!Following along. Looking forward to reading more about your semi-epic ness
Oh!
So you're the one person
that eats oatmeal without
brown sugar... and likes it.
to the TR!
Hmmm... I thought it was fuel
prices.
And of course now that they're
back up (thanks carbon tax)
maybe they'll increase the fees! Yay!
Sure!
I do them fairly often.
I'm spoiled.
In that case, have them all
at the same time.
It'll save time, later on.
I kept glancing at my watch.
Over and over.
The rest of the time I was
staring at the line,
willing it to move faster.
The time on the watch went
faster and the line went slower.
I think I got it backwards.
And he didn't wake you???
I remember that about your dad.
Fuel prices...You mean the only sane person!
Well yes, it was the fuel prices. Driven by high oil prices. Don't give them any ideas, they could be watching you.
They are very cute!
I usually get the exit row seat so I usually am good for leg room which is the biggest thing for me.
6 kids at once, I am ambitious but not that ambitious.
Hey, you made it. That is the most important thing.
He said we have seen a ton of signs, no need for one more.
It allowed me to see a lot of very cool places.
She doesn't go lie down
again if you tell her to?
I got the impression they were bringing
items back that they couldn't get there,
or were cheaper here?
And... bonus! On this trip
you get two buffoons for
the price of one!
About six or so months ago,
Elle came up to me with
a proposal:
"Dad. Elsa and I want to go
to Disneyworld. Can you come
too and show us around?"
I laughed in her face
and told her to sink or swim!
Disney is prime life lesson
proving grounds.
Do your research!
Plan your ADRS, your FPs,
your touring plans, your...
No. Wait.
Oh! Right...
I want to go!
I quite happily agreed.
Dang it! I keep getting
this wrong.
That didn't happen either.
I quite happily agreed once again.
To avoid insurance penalties,
she decides to pay the cost
as opposed to putting in
an insurance claim.
Then it was:
"Dad. I don't think I can
afford to go. Too many expenses."
"How about I pay for your
airline ticket (I had enough points
to cover us both), and you
room with me, so that won't
cost you anything and you
just pay for your park ticket
and food?"
It was a dark and stormy night.
The seas were angry, see?
Si!
April 29th.
It snowed this morning.
"I'm sorry, sir. But since
she's traveling on her own,
separate ticket, she'll have
to pay. There's nothing we
can do."
Yeah, yeah.
I paid the fee... grumbling all along.
The alarm woke me
at a very pleasant 1:30
in the morning.
Kay (my youngest DD)
was going to drive us to the
airport, but she was out
with some friends, trying to
stay awake.
She'd said she'd be home
by 2am.
Elle, it turned out, hadn't
gotten home until just after
midnight.
Don't have kids, folks.
You heard it here first.
I debated telling her that if
WestJet expected me to
"distribute the weight" then
they better not charge me
for Elle's bag.
I wisely kept my mouth shut.
"Yes sir! We'll refund that $30.
And now if you'll just pay the
$100 over-weight penalty?
Have a nice flight!"
After 15 minutes, the line
opened and...
No bringing your pot
with you, folks!
As I was saying, it's good to
know all the ins and outs
and dos and don'ts at
your local airport.
"Yes it is." I replied.
And before he could ask;
"Feel free to do whatever
you need to it."
So he dropped it on the
floor and stomped it
with his booted feet.
No. Wait.
What he did was open it
up and remove a teensy
tiny pair of cuticle scissors.
"I just have to show this
to the X-Ray person." He said.
We were the first to board.
She looks happy about
her extra space, don't you think?
Or whatever. I have no idea.
All I know is I was not on a
plane piloted by Frank and Beans,
or Frank and Stein.
De-icing! On April 30th!
Se explained that she thought it
would be a "good idea" to just not
go to bed since we had to leave
at 2:30am.
She'd gotten up for work at
5:30am the day before.
By now, she'd been up for
almost 24 hours.
"We're seventeen minutes ahead
of schedule. So next time we're
late, we'll call it even."
Minutes were ticking by.
I knew we still had to go
through customs and our flight
was boarding in 50 minutes.
That might seem like a long time,
but...
Every minute was torture.
I looked for the button that said
"You already searched my bag"
but there wasn't one.
I just clicked on "No".
9:07
A group of six or so join someone
that's ahead of us. A small part
of me dies.
"Traveling with more than
$10,000 dollars?"
Once.
Just once.
I want to answer "Yes" to
that question.
But I am not an oil baron
(or a drug dealer. I saw the sign.)
so the answer is always "No".
And frankly... we have FPs
that just can't be missed.
So... do we look more happy
that we made it? Or relieved?
I watched Passengers (with Jennifer
Lawrence and Chris Pratt.)
Seen it before and liked it.
We arrived early, once again.
I'm really liking this whole
"early" thing.
Who else loves taking this
when they arrive in Florida?
A word about my camera bag.
It's heavy.
It has a DSLR camera with
add on dual battery pack,
and five lenses of various sizes.
I stowed it in a compartment
above my head.
In hindsight, I wish I'd put it
over someone else's head.
Because about 5-10 minutes
after we got going, it fell out
of the overhead bin and landed
on my head before falling into
the aisle.
There was a collective
"oooohhhhh!!!" from the
seats behind me.
I suppose it's a good thing
it hit my head on the way down.
Probably saved me some repairs.
I can always replace the plate
in my head, but a good camera
isn't easy to find in Disney.
I need to give a big
shout-out and an even
bigger "THANK YOU!"
to @docsoliday1.
When he heard Elle and I
were heading down,
he offered to rent his
DVC points to us.
So for what amounted to
about the same price as
a Value resort, we got to
stay at OKW instead.
She grabbed a map and
explained it thusly:
"We're here (circles Hospitality House)
and to get to your room, you just hop
on a resort shuttle and take it along
this road, past the pool, around the
bend, past Typhoon Lagoon, get on I-4,
follow that past Celebration, keep going
until you reach Tampa, get on a boat,
take the boat to a bigger boat, cruise
past St. Petersburg, transfer to an
even bigger ship, cruise out into
the Gulf of Mexico, past Havana,
cruise down past Central America,
go through the Panama Canal,
dock at Panama City, take a cab
out into the rainforest, get on a
burro and ride it into the mountains.
Stop there."
"That's where our room is?" I asked.
"No." She answered. "That's just the
resting point. The long part of the trip
is for the next day."
Okay...
Maybe I'm exaggerating just a touch.
"How's this?" She asked.
It was less than a 2-minute walk away.
We popped over to Olivia's which was
pretty much empty at that time of day.
Like the sound it makes
when a heavy camera bag
falls and hits you on the head.
Did you see it?
You mean the only sane person!
Whoops! Sorry!Well yes, it was the fuel prices. Driven by high oil prices. Don't give them any ideas, they could be watching you.
That's what we did forI usually get the exit row seat so I usually am good for leg room which is the biggest thing for me.
6 kids at once, I am ambitious but not that ambitious.
A sigh of relief may haveHey, you made it. That is the most important thing.
He said we have seen a ton of signs, no need for one more.
It allowed me to see a lot of very cool places.
to the TR!Semi-ready to read some more!
Nice!That was quite the travel day, now I'm glad I splurged on direct flights this year My dad is not a patient traveler!
Yep. You're a weirdo.Seeing all this talk about oatmeal
1) Made me hungry.
2) Made me realize I'm firmly in the weirdo camp...I will eat it plain, although not typical
I prefer it with brown sugar it maple syrup and normally eat with a little milk also. Instant, normal, steel cut...like em all, but steel cut is the best.
This.Fuel prices...
It's like any other business...if they can figure out how to raise the prices and not lose customers, guaranteed they will. Look at Disney...I have a love hate relationship with them. They keep driving the prices up and up and as long as they can keep the parks packed (notice they admit more people now and sometimes hard to move?), They will. MNSSHP and MVMCP used to be low crowd levels and worth the additional money...now they're packing em in like sardines, so not nearly the good experience it was. Does Disney care? NOPE! They're making money hand over fist.
Caroline! Hi! to the TR!Joining in, Andi and I are planning to stay at OKW in January. I am excited to hear what you thought!
I was on the Epic trip, didn’t get a chance to say hi then so
Yep.I travel with my daughter all the time, she is 19 and a vegetarian, can be challenging at times!
I don’t know how the girls can sleep on the plane, I wish I could. My daughter is lights out soon as we get situated and if not sleeping she has her massive headphones on canceling out everything her mom has to say
Kids don’t have them, haha!!
Of course not. If you ignore her she just drapes herself over your head in an attempt to suffocate you awake. Maybe she's got some cat in there somewhere?
That does make sense. We hosted some work colleagues of Jim's who were here from Hungary. They wanted to visit Walmart to buy stuff that was much cheaper over here.
I never see it even when I'm looking, so imagine my surprise when I actually noticed you have your own airline apparentlyAnd...
Did you see it?
Dang it!!!I'm here! You thought you could hide from me, but I'm just going to have to disappoint you on that front. Again.
Yay?
Dang it! Should've thought of that.Sure! My fee is $50/hour.
Uh, huh.What a pushover! So easy.
It happens.Well, look at that. A mature, adult decision. I'm proud of her.
You're not the first to say that.Oh, my gosh. Now I'm wondering if it was all a setup.
Or Get Smart.I thought this was a Marvin the Martian TR, not Snoopy.
You noticed that did you?Airlines suck.
And recently, too!Ugh. I wish I didn't know that feeling, but...yeah.
Nothing! Absolutely... oh... crap...What could possibly go wrong?
What could possibly go wrong?
Whoops! Sorry. I should've put somethingGreat. Now you tell me.
Airlines suck.
Wait, you could have gone to Flin Flon?? This feels like a missed opportunity.
Oh, no. You'll note it says youSo much for living in paradise.
Only the absolute best of mediocrity.Crackerjack operation you're running here.
Ha. Joke's on them.Well, that'll learn ya.
It's been done.You never know. You could snip someone to death.
She wasn't the middle seatI'd say so. As long as she's not forced to sit next to some loser.
Man. What a missed opportunity!
Well, we know where she gets her brains from.
Not surprised.I think Southwest uses that line, too.
Wasn't happy.I can imagine. Especially for someone who likes to be early.
You'd think.Ugh. There has to be a better way. Has to.
Worse, actually.It's as bad as Disney World!
No, but once I sell all this cannabis I have in my bag, I will!
Well... yeah.There it is. That's the priority.
I'm going with happy.
Pretty good.Haven't seen that one yet.
That's when you know vacation is starting for real!
I got nuttin'Yikes! That must have been painful. Thank goodness it hit you where it could do the least damage.
And the part in my hairBut now you pee your pants and forget your name for a half hour every time Ruby fires up the microwave.
But it gets you there eventually.Man, Disney transportation has really taken a step back the last few years.
Really? I didn't get that at all.
Even if it's the janitor's closet, we'll take it!
We liked it. I'd eat there again.Never eaten there, but I've always heard good things about it.
Surprised you got there in one piece, trusting such a shabby outfit.
You mean you don't?I never see it even when I'm looking, so imagine my surprise when I actually noticed you have your own airline apparently
So glad you started this semi-Epic TR!! I get the feeling it was completely Epic.
We did. It was the bestI'm sure you and your daughter made lots of wonderful memories together.
I have traveled to WDW with just my Mom, but traveling with my Dad would be a totally different experience! I'm excited to read more!
Which is why I put brown sugar
on oatmeal.
Elle is graduating this spring
with her first degree.
"Dad. Elsa and I want to go
to Disneyworld. Can you come
too and show us around?"
"Dad. I don't think I can
afford to go. Too many expenses."
"How about I pay for your
airline ticket (I had enough points
to cover us both), and you
room with me, so that won't
cost you anything and you
just pay for your park ticket
and food?"
April 30th
The alarm woke me
at a very pleasant 1:30
in the morning.
For a second, I couldn't
get my bearings.
She'd said she'd be home
by 2am.
(She was. Still didn't stop
me from imagining
(i.e. worrying) that she'd
fallen asleep and wouldn't
show up.)
Don't have kids, folks.
You heard it here first.
Which really just means we could've
come a little later.
We were waved forward and
Elle placed her bag on the scale.
33lbs. Well under the 50lb limit.
I put mine on next... fairly sure
that it was going to be over.
Yep.
55lbs.
Have you ever seen
a more empty airport
security area???
Or whatever. I have no idea.
All I know is I was not on a
plane piloted by Frank and Beans,
or Frank and Stein.
Bitter, bitter disappointment.
She'd gotten up for work at
5:30am the day before.
By now, she'd been up for
almost 24 hours.
Yep. She'd passed out.
Fast asleep.
I smiled and sat back.
We made it to our gate at 9:23.
They had started boarding...
but were still in the process.
Phew!
So... do we look more happy
that we made it? Or relieved?
Who else loves taking this
when they arrive in Florida?
I suppose it's a good thing
it hit my head on the way down.
Probably saved me some repairs.
I can always replace the plate
in my head, but a good camera
isn't easy to find in Disney.
I need to give a big
shout-out and an even
bigger "THANK YOU!"
to @docsoliday1.
When he heard Elle and I
were heading down,
he offered to rent his
DVC points to us.
So for what amounted to
about the same price as
a Value resort, we got to
stay at OKW instead.
About a week ago, I had used
Touringplans website to send
a room request to OKW.
I asked for a ground floor
and close to Hospitality House.
I had my eye on the resort's restaurant
and had shared the menu with Elle.
She agreed that it sounded good.
Elle is pescatarian (she doesn't eat meat
but does eat fish) so making sure
the menu is okay with her is important.
We split an order of
the crabcake,
conch fritters,
And...
Did you see it?
Fuel prices...
It's like any other business...if they can figure out how to raise the prices and not lose customers, guaranteed they will. Look at Disney...I have a love hate relationship with them. They keep driving the prices up and up and as long as they can keep the parks packed (notice they admit more people now and sometimes hard to move?), They will. MNSSHP and MVMCP used to be low crowd levels and worth the additional money...now they're packing em in like sardines, so not nearly the good experience it was. Does Disney care? NOPE! They're making money hand over fist.