Celebrating 20 years at WDW - Bonus features, A few posts from May, Updated 9/11

[cruisehopeful]

What a sweet walk down memory lane. I loved the pictures. I could never remember so many details over the years, but maybe having lots of pictures helps with that. It seems like we never know what tomorrow will bring. I'm so glad you've been able to do so many trips these last few years and I hope you can continue to do so (after you finish up your home chores).

 

[alohamom]

Fantastic intro! Your wedding picture brought out a little tear in the corner of my eye, good for you two for acknowledging life is too short. I love that your relationship is so deeply layered, this feels like starting a good book and the pirate photo is amazing!

 

[Mom2m&k]

So mostly I lurk on your reports... But I had to post to say I was at the Flamingo Hilton on New Years Eve 1999! We were out on the strip at midnight watching the flying Elvis on the Eiffel Tower with 3 million other people! I just love your trip reports and hope you get to packing so we get more trips after this one! Safe travels!

 

[pkondz]

Coming over here just to wish you guys a Bon Voyage! Have a great trip!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I'm in!

I'm going with that title because it was either that or "Our last trip to WDW". Both titles can hold true. You see at this point, this is our last trip we are going to take to WDW. I have no future plans of returning to WDW with exception of two nights after a Fantasy cruise next Winter. And I'm not allowed to plan anything further than that trip. Seems rather harsh for a DVC member. But we are in a harsh situation.

Whoa. That seems a little painful. Sorry to hear that.

So this means I need to make the most out of this trip since who knows when we will actually be back!

Welcome to my world!

Back in our younger days, both of us were healthy enough to march in parades. Boy how times have changed!

Getting old sucks.

Over the Christmas holidays, we would go home to my parent’s house and entertain (mostly ourselves) playing Christmas carols.

You seem very versatile in terms of the number of instruments you play!

One property was in San Antonio and the River Walk has always been a favorite place for us, so we made the sacrifice to go there and check out the property.

I love the River Walk! I'm hoping to get there over spring break.

However, while on a business trip in Texas, Fran was whisked away via ambulance on the morning that we were supposed to fly home. As she lay in the ER on a respirator, I decided that life was too short to wait, and plans for our wedding were going to commence as soon as we were safely home. Here we are on our wedding day.

Yikes. I can't blame you at all. Life is truly short--I'm sure you don't have any regrets about moving forward with the wedding. You both look very happy.

Joe Rohde was one of those folks we got to meet.

Cool! I bet he has great stories.

 

[pepperandchips]

Great introduction! I, too, got choked up at the ambulance-turned-wedding portion of the story. What a beautiful stroll down memory lane! Hope your trip is amazing, and I can't wait to read all about it!

 

[skier_pete]

Joining in, though I suppose I know what's going on first! Looking forward to the other exciting stuff from your trip.

 

[dgbg100106]

I am here! Finally made it.

Love looking at the memory lane photos, I agree life its just too short! Live it to the fullest!

 

[franandaj]

Love looking at your old pictures.
Ant wait to read about your fun this trip.

So far we're off to a good start!

Wow! One of the first!! Nice start to the TR, I really enjoyed your trip down memory lane. Your wedding dress was beautiful!

Thanks! Chinese special!

Can't wait to read all about your trip!

I feel you on no plans for more trips, we don't have anything planned at the moment either and I hate it. Hopefully we will be able to do something next year.

If the start is any indication, it should be a lot of fun. We need to get cracking on the old place when we get home so we can come back!

I am here. I really enjoyed the trip down memory lane.

Corinna

Thanks! It was fun putting all those photos together!

Heck of a start!! Really enjoyed the trip down memory lane! What are your March dates that you will be in WDW? Can't wait for more!

Thank you, we are there March 3rd and 4th, leave on the 5th in the afternoon. It's mostly for our cruise on the Fantasy.

I'm here! Thanks for the bat signal.

Loooooooooove the nostalgia. So many great photos. The first band photo of you two is fabulous. So young and fancy free.

I know we were almost babies back then!

 

[100acrewoodfan]

Loved your trip down memory lane, great photos!! I really enjoy your trip reports.

 

[Malia78]

Thanks for sharing that great photo intro.

Looking forward to reading about your October experiences--between steppesister and skier_pete and yours, it will be fun to see the different trips and compare them with my experience.

--Karilynn

 

[franandaj]

Thanks for all the history! I guess I didn't really need to ask about the band in your other thread! It's all here!

This actually gives you a better idea of what we do on Tuesday nights. Most of the other pictures in this opening update were all swing band!

I'm here, I'm here! Loved the trip down memory lane. You guys are too cute and I loved your wedding dress!

Thanks! I really liked that dress too!

Thanks for the link on Facebook! What a great trip down Memory Lane. I didn't realize you guys met because you both played musical instruments! How cool! What type of flute are you playing at your parents house? An alto flute?

We met in the Gay Swing Band, but actually technically met in the gay concert band first.

That's a regular C flute. I just had a custom head joint made for it. I was in an accident in college and changed my major from flute to saxophone because I couldn't reach a regular flute with my left shoulder. Even with the curved headjoint, I still have pain when I play. After I graduated, I made some connections in the music instrument manufacturing business and one guy at UMI (Artley, Armstrong, Conn...) said he could make me a "student style" head joint with professional materials (ie solid silver headjoint with gold lip plate). He sold me a flute that he was demo-ing at a little MEA trade show that we were both at and then shipped the headjoint later after it was manufactured. You see they make those out of nickel for you kids who are too small to reach that far when they are beginning.

Beautiful wedding dress and bouquet!

Thank you!

Great pirate face Alison!

The photographer said to say, "Argh!"

Have a safe trip. Wish you could do scratch and sniff pictures!

Boo!!!! I will have to catch up after the trip, but will sub in.

I hope you enjoy the next part of your trip just as much!

Following along as well. Very nice photos from past years.

Thank you!

Guess what, I am here as well. Still need to read - just looked at all the photos and still need to catch up on a gazillion TRs I am reading but I am here and trying to stay on top of this.

I'm glad you're here, you have a while to catch up! I seem to be going a lot slower on my TRs than before!

What a wonderful trip down memory lane!! I absolutely adore your Titanic outfits!! What an amazing picture of the two of you!

Have a fabulous trip so that the memories can hold for a long time (and hopefully you are able to finish the moving process quicker than you fear!).

Thank you! We tried to come up with something as close to turn of the century as possible. It helps that I don't choose to keep up with current fashion. I think I just donated that dress recently as it is now too small.

 

[franandaj]

I am here thanks for the heads up!

How wonderful! Thanks for the Facebook posting.

Kate

Enjoyed the history great reading it! 20 years congrats! We adored that Hilton Star Trek experience also.

You have to come back to WDW in 2021! 50 years!

Hopefully we will be done moving from the other place by 2020 when I can make reservations for the 50th Anniversary!

Here!

Won't comment on every photo, but...

You guys look amazing here! Wish I'd known you then, I'm betting it was on heck of a wedding and celebration.

It actually was quite a bash! It was all the wine you could drink and way more food that anyone needed. The DJ was a blast and people stayed well into the wee hours of the night, long after Fran and I went home.

And this shot is just the best. OMG. Your expressions! Priceless!

Well the photographer said, "Say Argh!"

 

[franandaj]

So mostly I lurk on your reports... But I had to post to say I was at the Flamingo Hilton on New Years Eve 1999! We were out on the strip at midnight watching the flying Elvis on the Eiffel Tower with 3 million other people! I just love your trip reports and hope you get to packing so we get more trips after this one! Safe travels!

Isn't it a small world that we were both in Vegas at the same time!

I'm in!

Whoa. That seems a little painful. Sorry to hear that.

How many trips have I gone on since I told you guys I wanted to have the place cleaned out? If we don't put our feet down, nothing will happen.

Welcome to my world!

Yeah, I'm sorry for you....

Getting old sucks.

But it does beat the alternative!

You seem very versatile in terms of the number of instruments you play!

Thanks! I started on piano in 3rd grade, learned flute in 5th and the HS band director got me to learn saxophone. Good thing he did because I wouldn't have had anything to fall back on when I got in my car accident.

I love the River Walk! I'm hoping to get there over spring break.

Is that a getaway for you and Julie or are you taking the whole crew?

Yikes. I can't blame you at all. Life is truly short--I'm sure you don't have any regrets about moving forward with the wedding. You both look very happy.

Nope, no regrets. I look really happy, she is about to puke, but not because of the wedding. She still hadn't recovered from the second bout of pneumonia which had her on a ventilator and feeding tube for two weeks.

Cool! I bet he has great stories.

He sure did at the panels where I've heard him speak.

I am here! Finally made it.

Love looking at the memory lane photos, I agree life its just too short! Live it to the fullest!

I'm glad you made it here!

 

[franandaj]

Loved your trip down memory lane, great photos!! I really enjoy your trip reports.

I'm glad you came out of lurkdom! Please comment, the banter is what it's all about!

Thanks for sharing that great photo intro.

Looking forward to reading about your October experiences--between steppesister and skier_pete and yours, it will be fun to see the different trips and compare them with my experience.

--Karilynn

Between all the folks who have been here this month, there should be comprehensive coverage!

 

[franandaj]

Day 0


I woke up today in a crappy mood.





It was raining.


It never rains in Southern California.


OK, so it wasn’t actually raining. But the ground was wet and I could see drops coming from the sky into the swimming pool.


I don’t know why I was in such a bad mood. I was leaving for Disney World the next day.

I turned on the app on my phone for the Jacuzzi and started heating it up.


And I learned something.




When it’s raining out, the pilot light on your gas heater won’t start. So much for a warm wake up.

Why WAS I in such a state? Perhaps it was the fact that I had never played a concert as poorly as I had the day before. Maybe it was because we went home after the concert without going out to dinner. Fran didn’t read my mind, and evidently the part about “I never want to cook dinner on the night after a concert.” Had not permeated her brain. Whatever it was, I wasn’t feeling it. I stayed in bed way longer than I probably should have and got a pretty late start to the day.

We had five ebay items to ship before leaving, and a few errands to run before I could even get to the packing part. PayPal wasn’t cooperating and I was starting to want to slam the computer into a wall.

“Can I try and help you?” Fran asked. Normally this isn’t an option. She is so reluctant to learn the part of our eBay sales that are “my duties” that I’m not sure she has ever created a shipping label in her life. You see, she takes pictures of items, she writes up the descriptions, sets prices, etc. That’s her job. Once the thing sells, it’s in my court. I have to find the boxes pack it up, print the label and take it to the shipper. So when she asked if she could help, I was stunned.

Even though my computer kept giving me error messages for each item I tried to ship, her computer had no problem whatsoever! She created all five labels with ease, I just gave her pertinent information such as weight, dimensions, etc and voila! We had those puppies ready to ship and everything. Through our teamwork, she had already brightened my mood, somewhat.

She really didn’t need to go with me on all the errands, but she knows that I prefer not to drive and would rather be chauffeured around. As we accomplished our tasks, we listened to our audio book and even stopped for lunch, ice cream! Yum! By the time we got home, I was actually feeling pretty good about things again.

So I did something unusual. I asked her to help me fold our clothes that were hanging in the guest room closet and pack the suitcases together. We had everything pretty much in the suitcases and ready to go by 5:30PM. She still wanted to add last minute items so I left the suitcases unsealed and then we started filling out our absentee ballots. Normally we vote on the last day before the election and I’m running into the polling place to drop off our ballots. This time she wanted them to be counted before election day so we were diligent and filled them out well in advance.

We heated up leftovers for our dinner and then I sealed and locked our suitcases and took them to the car. I loaded my scooter inside the car, and by this time it was 9:45PM. My Mom got home from her birding class and we chatted on the phone for a while. I had the forethought to heat up the Jacuzzi (now that the rain was gone) and enjoyed a nice soak before going to bed.



Who the heck am I and how did I get to this situation of preparedness?


Day 1


It seems that the new “normal” for me is to wake up in the 4AM hour with a semi urgent need for a bio break. I say “urgent” because I can’t just roll over and ignore it, and “semi” because I’m not running to the bathroom. My little Tesla loves this time of day. When he sees me get up and walk past his cat tree at the foot of the bed, he says, “mrow!”, vaults from the cat tree and runs ahead of me. First he detours into the Master bath where we have five cat food bowls, boasting three flavors of cat food. He’s hoping that I’ll put fresh crunchies into his favorite bowl. When he realizes that I’m not stopping there, he runs ahead of me down to the hall to “my” bathroom aka the “potty cat bathroom”.

Tesla is the #1 potty cat, and he likes it when he is the only one. He will stay there as long as I remain seated and petting him. The moment I stand up, or another cat interferes on his territory, he’s out of there. We enjoyed our middle of the morning snuggles, especially since I knew it was the last one for about 10 days.

Normally I would go back to sleep for the next 4-5 hours, but I had things to do and places to be! I got dressed, contemplated feeding the cats, but since I had fed them only 6 hours ago and Naked Jim had offered to come over in the morning and feed them, I decided to let them wait. Besides on the way back from the potty cat bathroom, I did stop and fill the bowls of crunchies in the Master Bath. Tesla REALLY likes Rachel Ray’s Nutrish, and he was happy to have a full bowl of it!

Once we were both dressed, we did the normal last minute packing stuff and though we planned to leave at 6:30AM, the clock said 6:19AM and we were both ready to walk out the door? How did we get here?????? This is not the travel life that I know!

Then this is where we hit the snag. Many of you might know that normally our favorite normal flight leaves at 8AM, arrives at 4PM and that’s why we have such a tumultuous departure. This one left at 9:50AM (10:00AM actually). So guess what happened once we got on the freeway.



Some of you might have seen this on FB.

Leaving at 6:30AM puts us right in rush hour traffic for all the folks who need to be at work by 8 or 9AM. I was one of those poor souls (once upon a time) who left Long Beach at 6:30AM for my 55 mile commute to work. It’s a good thing that in our 20 years Fran and I both know that we run horribly late and always build in extra time. We arrived at the airport right around 7:45 and checked our bags with a porter curbside, or maybe she did it inside. I don’t know because as soon as he said I could go, I took the car and headed off to park it in Lot C.

Now I know that there has been a lot of potty chatter so far on this day, but I think this story is worth telling. I’m not sure that I visited the litter box after that 4AM occasion, but by the time I dropped Fran off at the terminal, I had drank an iced coffee and during the night I have a 44 oz water bottle on my nightstand. I was pretty water logged and once I parked the car, I made a beeline for the bus terminal where I could use the restroom. It was a two holer and I noticed that the non-disabled stall seemed to have someone in a walker inside.

“I’m almost done” she called out.

I walked into the accessible restroom and noticed that there was toilet paper floating in there, so I thought, “well maybe they just didn’t flush it!” and I pressed the lever. I couldn’t run out of that bathroom fast enough. I have never seen a toilet overflow that quickly! It gushed over the edge and proceeded to soak the entire floor of the restroom! Luckily I was already on my way out the door to the bus that was waiting.

Just as I walked up to the bus, the doors slammed shut! Knocking furiously, the busdriver took mercy on me and let me board.

From then on it was pretty smooth sailing. We signed up for TSA Pre-chek in July so that wasn’t a problem. We bought our overpriced beverages once we passed security and boarded the plane without a problem.



Fran went to sleep on the plane while I played spider solitaire on my phone until we were clear to take out computers and such. It was then that I discovered my computer does not have Spider Solitaire, but only the old fashioned traditional game. So after losing multiple hands, I decided to get started on the TR.

They brought us some trays of warmed nuts.



They brought lunch which consisted of a filet, lobster mac and cheese, caprese salad, and romaine salad with goat cheese.



The worst part of the meal was the filet, but the rest was good and there was even hot rolls and butter. Then they brought us ice cream for dessert. We had our choice of strawberries, fudge, whipped cream and nuts. Fran and I both went for fudge and whipped cream.



She had some Recees pieces from the overpriced convenience store which she put on top of hers.



After lunch, I showed Fran the pictures and read her the trip report. She wanted me to add that it’s not just myself that has been given restrictions. She has been restraining from buying Theatre Tickets. Several years ago, we were practically attending a show every month. Now we are only going to really special ones, once or twice a year. She went back to sleep after this.

And then I just kicked back and wrote this report sipping on some wine. White first, but evidently there were lots of folks who liked white wine because they ran out and then I had some red. Who cares? I’m on vacation!


I’ll leave you with that because by the time that I’ve posted this, I’m at the resort and have WiFi and won’t have a lot of time for live updates. In fact I’ll be lucky if I’ve responded to all your comments and joining in posts, but something tells me that this post will go up before I get home.

ETA: Disclaimer, I stole the chapter title from @pkondz

 

[dolphingirl47]

OK, so it wasn’t actually raining. But the ground was wet and I could see drops coming from the sky into the swimming pool.

Raining here is if there is a curtain of water that it so dense that you cannot see your outstretched arm. Everything else is liquid sunshine.

When it’s raining out, the pilot light on your gas heater won’t start. So much for a warm wake up.

Now that is interesting. What a shame that this did not work out.

I stayed in bed way longer than I probably should have and got a pretty late start to the day.

Sometimes this is precisely what is needed.

Even though my computer kept giving me error messages for each item I tried to ship, her computer had no problem whatsoever!

Don't you just love computers?

We had everything pretty much in the suitcases and ready to go by 5:30PM.

Wow, that is an achievement.

I loaded my scooter inside the car, and by this time it was 9:45PM.

Double wow.

I had the forethought to heat up the Jacuzzi (now that the rain was gone) and enjoyed a nice soak before going to bed.

What a nice finish to the day.

Once we were both dressed, we did the normal last minute packing stuff and though we planned to leave at 6:30AM, the clock said 6:19AM and we were both ready to walk out the door?

That is pretty impressive.

So guess what happened once we got on the freeway.

I am very familiar with that view, but then again our flights are usually around 10:00 or 11:00.

I walked into the accessible restroom and noticed that there was toilet paper floating in there, so I thought, “well maybe they just didn’t flush it!” and I pressed the lever. I couldn’t run out of that bathroom fast enough. I have never seen a toilet overflow that quickly! It gushed over the edge and proceeded to soak the entire floor of the restroom! Luckily I was already on my way out the door to the bus that was waiting.

That is not how you want your trip to start. Well done for escaping the flood unscathed.

They brought lunch which consisted of a filet, lobster mac and cheese, caprese salad, and romaine salad with goat cheese.

That looks very nice.

I hope you are having a truly magical trip.

Corinna

 

[rentayenta]

Love your blue nails! Toes?

Hahaha on Fran wanting you to list her restrictions!

The meal looks wonderful especially for plane food. We basically get thrown a bag of nuts/pretzels.

 

[rndmr2]

Great update! I'm glad you started to feel better the day before you left. That was nice that Fran was able to help you get your things shipped

Awesome that you were up and ready to go early, even better because you ended up in the traffic.

I LOVE Spider solitaire! I'm still a beginner and can only do it with one suit but it's fun. Have you ever played Pyramid solitaire? That's another fun one. I can't play the regular solitaire, I ALWAYS lose.

Your meal looks good, not a huge fan of red meat but the salad and lobster mac looked good. Yummy sundae too!

 

[franandaj]

Raining here is if there is a curtain of water that it so dense that you cannot see your outstretched arm. Everything else is liquid sunshine.

I can't even imagine rain like that..we used to get real rain in Northern California when I was growing up, but it's been years since I've seen good hard rain.

Now that is interesting. What a shame that this did not work out.

Yeah, I think we need to have a shelter built for the heater because I want to take a tub in the rain!

Sometimes this is precisely what is needed.

Not today. I was just feeling sorry for myself.

Don't you just love computers?

I have no idea why my computer gave an error while hers was happy to process it.

Wow, that is an achievement.

Especially for us, huh?

Double wow.

I know! We're on a roll!

What a nice finish to the day.

This is how it's supposed to go before a trip!

That is pretty impressive.

I hope we can repeat this once we get to travel again!

I am very familiar with that view, but then again our flights are usually around 10:00 or 11:00.

We normally swe it on the way to band. It takes us 90-150 minutes to get to band, depending on time of year, but only 35 minutes to get home at 10PM.

That is not how you want your trip to start. Well done for escaping the flood unscathed.

I must have been slightly asleep to pull such a stupid move like that, at least I moved quickly to get out of the way!

That looks very nice.

I hope you are having a truly magical trip.

It's been interesting but nothing too bad!

Love your blue nails! Toes?

I do toes once a month fingernails twice a month. This time they didn't sync up. A couple weeks ago I went all red, but I got the purse your kids gave you for Christmas to take on this trip so Wednesday I got the fingers done to match the purse.

When you come, I need to treat you to the pedicure I get from my gal, she is awesome. And believe me I shopped around!

Hahaha on Fran wanting you to list her restrictions!

Isn't she cute? Doesn't want anyone to think she is a slave driver!

The meal looks wonderful especially for plane food. We basically get thrown a bag of nuts/pretzels.

It was actually one of the better ones I've had. Although when we flew SW last March we enjoyed all the snacks they threw at us. So mucheck so that we gave Naked Jim the Subway sandwich we bought at the airport.

Great update! I'm glad you started to feel better the day before you left. That was nice that Fran was able to help you get your things shipped

Teamwork always helps to lift the spirits!

Awesome that you were up and ready to go early, even better because you ended up in the traffic.

I was amazed that we were both so ready to go. Maybe our swimming workouts are paying off!

I LOVE Spider solitaire! I'm still a beginner and can only do it with one suit but it's fun. Have you ever played Pyramid solitaire? That's another fun one. I can't play the regular solitaire, I ALWAYS lose.

I don't even know how long I've been playing it! I need to download a version before our flight home. I like two suit!

Your meal looks good, not a huge fan of red meat but the salad and lobster mac looked good. Yummy sundae too!

I like fatty red meat and not filets, especially hockey puck filets. But everything else was perfect and enough food that I was full!