Family cruise - From summer 2020, to New Years 2021, now to New Years 2022.

makewifehappy

Disney husband who pleases her..
Joined
Jun 8, 2007
So, we are in a pandemic. These will be the days we will tell our children, or grandchildren, or.... well.... someone, about. Sporting events cancelled, protests and rioting in portions of the world, schools all remote, stores closing...

...OK, I could go on easily. But for those reading this, I'm sure the biggest disappointment happening in our lives is this... WALT DISNEY WORLD CLOSED.... DISNEY CRUISES CANCELLED... NO MAGIC HAPPENING!!!!

That's what happened to my family. My two week sabbatical that would have included a week at the Beach Club at WDW and an eastern Caribbean Disney Cruise got cancelled for the month of June. This was something our family have been planning on for around 18 months. It was going to be a celebration of life for my parents-in-law, who lost their lives at the end of 2018. It was going to be a celebration of fresh starts in our family, as my son is now in college and my daughter is approaching the second half of her high school years. I've come to the realization that while we will continue to have family vacations for many years, the amount of big vacations will probably decrease as time goes on. Take advantage of every one you can.

So, as it is June 27th while I'm writing this, I'm sitting in a hotel room in Daphne, AL, while my son is enjoying some time with his special someone that's in his life right now, and my daughter is at a pageant with Mom back in Atlanta, which is where we place our heads at night, instead of continuing to be angry and frustrated over the world, I'd start this trip report.

But WAIT!!! we never actually went on a cruise, right?

Well, with Disney Cruise Line offering 125% on future cruises, the wife and I realized we had some flexibility when determining a return date. My sabbatical became flexible with regards to the pandemic, so determining a good time would be easy for our family.

If you're like us, you've most likely sick and tired of what has been happening in the year 2020. And, it's only the end of June. We have six more months in this year, and with the attempts to return to normal, everything still in flux, and a presidential election on its way, anything is on the table.

Therefore, as my wife and I discussed options, we realized that one of the best times to head on a Disney cruise would be as far out as possible. We did discuss rescheduling for the end of July, but realized that cruising might not happen at that time. (which it didn't).

We can't do Thanksgiving week, as my son is in the marching band for the college he attends, so that's not going to work, as they've got a game the Saturday before Thanksgiving break. The good news about that is that we still have a week at WDW set for that week, currently staying at Bay Lake Towers with a wait list for Grand Floridian. (and yes, I should have mentioned, we are DVC members)

So, thinking about the whole world, and weeks that we still have available, and the status of the world, we figured one of the safest places in the whole world might be in the middle of the ocean (or Caribbean). LET'S DO A NEW YEARS CRUISE THIS YEAR!!!!

My wife changed our reservation over to Category 4E, I believe, with no room assignment at this moment. We will owe a little bit, and hopefully that money will be transferred into our checking account from a stock sale this week, and I can have the wife make that payment. (FYI, wife is a travel agent)

Therefore, if we make it another 180 days, it'll be Christmas Day, and we'll be driving for one night at AKL Kidani, then the next day, drive the one hour to the port. I'm actually digging this for many reasons:
- Celebrate the start of 2021 on a cruise.
- Cruise Terminal 8, AKA the Disney cruise terminal, will be reopened by the time of our cruise.
- Sabbatical, with vacation time, gets extended an extra week, so I'll get over three weeks time off from work.

So, while the world goes nuts, and limited reports pop up, my plan is to update this weekly if I can, so that you can see what we are doing to prepare and just see how our lives change over time.

Happy future cruising everyone!!!
 
Time for another installment of.... will our cruise, or will our cruise NOT... happen this year?

First note, I realized I didn't plan the first post correctly. You'll notice the post time was 6:26 on 6/25. If only I had done the post at 6:26 at 6/26 I could have called this "THE GREAT EXPERIMENT!!!"

Are you still watching the events in the world today? Just stop, because it'll drive you crazy. Do like me, and watch all the YouTube videos from various 'YouTubers' that push the fun of both WDW and Disney Cruise Line. From the Mills sisters, Gruff and Alyssa, The TimTracker, and others, it'll keep me satisfied for now on the Disney front. Take the time to look into the fun things in life; things that can make you laugh. Good for the soul.

WDW opens soon, and my wife should be in Orlando on July 11. I told her to sneak into Magic Kingdom if she could, just because she could say she was there when it reopened. My daughter will be there, as well, but most likely won't be able to join her, so she's not thrilled.

On the cruise front, we officially paid off (for a second time) our cruise yesterday - YAHOO!!! I've been doing some stock trading over the years to help pay for minor expenses from time to time (spending money for other trips, airline tickets, etc.) and had a real good run on a particular stock over three years that I cashed out. Kind of wish I had held off for a little bit, as I could have made more, but at least the cruise is paid off. For those interested, our original June 13th cruise came out to around $10,600, and the New Years sailing added on an additional $4,500. With the 125%, we still ended up needing an additional $2478 for our portion. No issues, it's handled now.

Our next wait is to figure out our cabin number, as we are a GTY for Cat 5E, not 4E, as I originally stated. Hey, maybe we will get a good update, you never know. As of today, it's 175 days away. (tick... tock... tick... tock...) And our booking window opens on Sept. 27, 2020, so that'll be another big day for us.

Outside of that, it's staying busy with work and improving myself with regards to my career, making sure the kids get what they need, etc., and making sure my wife has what she needs. Pretty easy for us, as we are mostly home until July 30, when my son heads back to school, if that happens. As of right now, it looks like his school is in good shape and might (I say might) be open business as usual. I'm sure over time, we will start looking at fish extenders and new clothes for the cruise, and I know I'll need an upgraded tux as mine is too small right now, but I'll wait until December to handle that.

I want to milk this thread as much as possible, so I'll introduce DS20 first. Our son is currently a student at Jacksonville State University over in Jacksonville, AL, majoring in computer science with a minor in music. He's the one who's going stir-crazy the most, because when he is on campus, he's got plenty to do, but with the whole 'rona shutting things down, his job prospects are low. He's done some work on the side, and took two classes earlier this summer, but I think he's ready to get back. He's in the Marching Southerners band, as well, which is why he is going back to school so early, but again, we shall see what happens over time. The school itself has been really proactive on preparing for testing and such, so I think it'll work out for him. This will be the start of year three for him.

The school itself is a little over two hours away, meaning he can be away from us without being away from us. We do sometimes forget that he's in Central Time while we are in Eastern, but that's the only hangup we really experience.

Oh, I should add that our main residence is north of Atlanta, I don't think I mentioned that before. I mention this in case folks reading this are wondering about our travel plans. Depending on when we leave our house, and I say that because of Atlanta traffic, we've gotten to WDW or back home in as quick as seven hours, but sometimes it has taken as long as ten hours. I'm hoping that by leaving on Christmas morning to get to WDW that we should be near the seven hour mark. Coming home after the cruise... all bets are off, as so many people will be heading home after the holidays. We might even consider going up I-95 to Savannah, and then I-16 and I-75 to get home, if Waze or Google state that's the quicker way. It's an increase of 37 miles, but you never know.

OK, weekly update is done. One week from tomorrow, I have a work-related test to handle, so you might not get an update until 8 days from now... (I know, the horror, right?)

As I mentioned, keep smiling and laughing over the little things. Stay sane, everyone.
 
Today's episode is called 'Project 167'.

Interesting name, yes. But the number 167 is how many days the Disney Cruise app stays we are away from our cruise. Maybe I'll figure out how to do a post with hours before our cruise.

Today is the first day of full Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom operations since the pandemic started. DW and DD16 are actually in Orlando right now; more specifically, the Rosen Centre Hotel, next to the Orange County Convention Center. They have both been there for a pageant that my daughter participated in this week, arriving onsite one week ago today. Yep, in the middle of a pandemic, or tail end depending on who you ask. I personally am never sure; it seems like they change the rules all the time.

Anyway, two weekends ago, my daughter won a national pageant here in Atlanta, and I'm so proud of her for all the hard work she's put in. This week was an international pageant, although there weren't any foreign contestants at it. She didn't win, but she placed in the top 16 contestants, and that was what she was aiming for. I'll get the whole story this week. My wife thought they'd be able to drive home tonight, but it looks like they are going to stay the extra night and leave early in the morning. We'll have a steak dinner tomorrow night, along with discussions and cards.

As far as DS20 and myself, we've been at the house. After a week off of work, it was time for me to start doing some stuff, and I've been studying for a test for work; specifically a Microsoft Azure test, or cloud computing. That test was earlier today, and unfortunately, I didn't pass it. I'll reschedule for next week. (For you nerds out there, it was AZ-301)

That brings me to my introduction. I'm an IT consultant based out of Atlanta for Microsoft partner that services mostly the SE and NE portion of the county. We've done other projects in other parts of the county, and internationally, as well. Things have been slow for most people, but projects and opportunities are now picking up. For me, I've been busy for a while, but just started slowing down. My free time is spent at the gym, playing cards with the family... I guess most of those fatherly-type of tasks.

It was DW that really got me hooked onto Disney. Yes, we spent our honeymoon at WDW, and was at Animal Kingdom for their opening day back in 1998. But after that trip, we held off going back for about 6 years for an adults only trip to WDW and a Disney Cruise. I figure it was the fact we were both trying to get our kids

We did start going more often, and had a Disney Cruise in 2006 and had another one scheduled for Thanksgiving of 2010. We were actually at WDW in June of 2009, and the wife suggested we visit the DVC preview for Bay Lake Towers. After sitting through everything and then a discussion between both of us, we decided that, even with the recession starting, that my wife (school teacher) and myself (IT dude) had pretty recession proof jobs, so we took the plunge and signed onto DVC with 200 points at Bay Lake Towers. Of course, I wanted the cruise, but I think it's a nice trade-off:
- Buy into DVC at an extremely cheap price
- Put off another cruise for ten years.
- Have that cruise canceled and get the credit we did, so we can now do a New Years cruise.

Needless to say, she's able to talk me into a lot of interesting things and good decisions. I usually end of doing it kicking and screaming, and then afterwards, it actually makes sense. I try not to always let her know it was a good decision, just because I don't want her to take all the credit. However, I must bow down to her wisdom; she makes good decisions.

I've got nothing else today, folks. The son and I will be eating cheeseburgers with chips tonight for dinner, and I'll take it easy before going to the gym tomorrow morning. Thankfully, all the weekly grocery shopping is done, and I just have to make one quick stop on my way home from the gym tomorrow; then the rest of the day is mine to do with as I need to, or at least until DW and DD16 get home.

Keep smiling and keep laughing, folks. I may not be able to cure COVID-19, but I can share the medicine of laughter to help keep everyone sane.
 
Today's weather forecast in North Georgia is mostly melting, with a chance of skin cooking.

Let me rephrase that... it's HOT!! Like 95 degrees, but it feels like 109 degrees. Ran out this morning to the gym for a workout, showered and cleaned up afterwards. Stepped outside, and started sweating immediately. Pandemic or not, this is a horrible time of year for heat and humidity. It's always hit and miss with regards to this type of weather in June, but July and August is normally the worst months. On top of that, the first few weeks of September are the same way.

While I'd rather be at WDW right now, I'll skip this type of heat and humidity. One of the reasons we enjoy going during Thanksgiving; you can have the heat, but not as much humidity.

Today is T-minus 159 before sail date. However, I'm feeling the pressure of another possible cancellation again. CDC pushed their no-sail mandate to Sept 30, which surprised me a little bit, unless they are just being cautious. If you've stayed on top of things, the original no-sail order was set to expire on July 24th, but most cruise lines (including Disney) did a self imposed no-said to Sept 15th. When I saw what most cruise lines did, I figured they were the ones playing it safe. Either the CDC did this because they wanted to set the date, or they are just being cautious, I'm not sure. The good news is that it looks like some European cruise lines are starting to do some sailings, which should be a good barometer for what happens here in the states.

Also, looks like Meyer Weft is shutting down operations for approximately 6 weeks, which will push back the completion of other boats, including the Disney Wish. I was hoping to set a deposit while on the boat for a sailing on the Wish; again, time will tell. With all the hate and depression in the world, thinking about cruising, vacations to WDW, college football possibility starting up, etc., is keeping me entertained. Still watching cruise videos from others, and at this moment I have the live stream from Port Canaveral running. I don't see any ships in port right now, but that doesn't mean anything.

For our next family introduction, she's been my wife for 22 years, 3 months, and 2 days, and is the mother of our two kids. DW is a school educator in one of the Northern Atlanta suburban school systems. She's spent approximately 20 years teaching within two school systems, while the majority of her time is in the county we live in. I refer to her as an educator because in my mind, a teacher is someone that just teaches for a year, but she's got so many students that rely on her years later that she's become a full life educator. I applaud her for how much work and time she's put into her career; the school system will lose a good one when she retires...

Things are up in the air right now with regards to whether kids will be back in the classroom or not. Our county has presented three separate opportunities for students, but for middle schools (that's where my wife teaches), they have until the end of the month of July to decide which one they will do. I think they can do it, honestly, but as of right now there is no requirement to have students use face masks; thankfully, there's a petition to sign for that, which I've done.

Everything changes on such a daily basis, it'll be interesting to see what happens. Personally, I have a feeling that when we get past the presidential election, everything will suddenly return to normal. Not trying to be that guy who believes in conspiracy theories, so I'll just say just a hunch. Of course, this will work for me, since it'll open up our Thanksgiving trip, and we'll hopefully be able to sail without to much issue to ring in the new year.

As part of your weekly reminder, don't forget to laugh and enjoy life in these crazy times. I've figured out recently that staying away from the news and just watching mindless funny videos on YouTube keeps me grounded. I've been watching a lot of old Johnny Carson videos, along with all the Disney stuff that I normally watch.

I've done enough work and stuff for now, and it's Sunday, so I'm thinking a nap is in store for me. Until next time, folks...
 


Another week gone by, another post for everyone to read. I'm coming to the conclusion that doing a post every week might be difficult, mainly because of the fact I'm thinking I'll start running out of things to talk about.

Currently looking at the Port Canaveral webcam, and it's just showing the SpaceX dock. Nothing to see here, but I was hoping to find at least one cruise ship in port, even if it wasn't the Fantasy or the Dream. I'm curious as to the status of the upgrades on the Disney Cruise building; I saw one a few weeks ago, and it definitely looks like they are going to town on it.

Down to 152 days away. Still hopeful that we will cruise, but I'm watching a video titled '6 Reasons USA Authorities Dislike Cruising So Much'. While I understand it's there to report information, it's nothing but negative, negative, and negative, even if for obvious reasons. When I see the magic happening again at WDW, it makes me hopeful, although I figure it might get switched over to a double-dip at Castaway Cay at this rate if it does happen. Personally, I won't mind that too much because I enjoy Castaway Cay. DW isn't a major fan of spending a lot of time at the beach; one day for her, even a half day, and she's done. She grew up in Everglades City, FL, so she's been around sand/water/warm and hot weather for the majority of her life, but she'll tell you having sand around all the time got old. (actually, got into everything from clothes and shoes to cars and such)

Today's final introduction is our youngest. DD16 today, but will be DD17 at the time of cruising. She attends the academy school here in our area, which is a specialty school that allows students to focus on a particular skill set throughout their time there. She's focusing on technology, mainly graphic design, but is also doing some cyber-security stuff, too. While she dances at the main dance studio in town, she also does pageants and volunteers a ton of her time to various causes. Tomorrow, she's going to do a local meals-for-wheels in the morning, and I'm sure she'll do other things in the future. She won a national pageant back in June, her first 'really big' win, so she's focusing on another pageant that's considered 'International' for July of 2021. She'll be my biggest concern on the cruise since she'll be the one with the most freedom in Vibe. If DS20 was able to hang there, I would be OK with it and wouldn't worry. I'll trust that the counselors will do their job appropriately.

I retook the MSFT test I mentioned from a previous post. Didn't pass it. I hate the way the questions are listed and the way the test is administered sometimes. I got higher than normal anxiety as I was taking it because the of the way the questions were presented to me. When at a testing center, they do a better job of detailing the type of question you are on and whether or not you can go back to it later; that didn't happen very well on this test. Anyway, it made me nervous and I didn't concentrate that well. Rescheduled for two weeks from yesterday..... again. :-(

DW heads back to work this week from her summertime hiatus from school, although she's been home since March. Our district is going a choice options for students, either virtual until 2021, or on-premise. She doesn't even know what the numbers at her school will look like yet. Good thing is she's actually certified to teach remotely, but I believe she'll be required to be onsite no matter what. As for DS20, marching band is 'cancelled', which means they will perform from the stands at any home football games, but not march. Tons of social distancing in the stadium, too. His move in date got moved from July 30.... to August 6.... and now it is August 13. I figure I'll take off the 13th and the 14th and make it a long four day weekend.

All right, folks. As always, I'll leave it here with this: continue to take the time to laugh during these days, but also do this... While it is 100% doom and gloom with the world right now, take a moment to look at where we've been and where we've gotten to since Jan 1. While it could be a lot better, it could also be a lot worse. Focus on the good things in the world. Until next time...
 
If only things could get easier...

As of this past week, the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) decided to self-impose suspension of all cruises until October 31. As a result, not only did Disney Cruise Line cancel all cruises up to that point, they also bled into the month of November for a few weeks, as well.

Our cruise is, again, in jeopardy.

But I'm still hopeful. At this point, a bunch of European cruise lines have been sailing, so the kinks are getting worked out over time. That, at least, could spell success for us in the future, and with more time for a vaccine/treatment/etc. to be worked out, we could still sail. We were talking earlier this evening about how we want nothing more than on Christmas Day to be traveling down I-75 to WDW for our one night at Animal Kingdom Lodge the night before the cruise. If true, it'll be 138 days from today that we'd be driving down.

Last weekend, I ended up in the emergency room with an infected colon. Not fun, don't know how it happened. DW is back to work; her class scheduled is almost all virtual teaching, which is good. She's not thrilled about schools going back in the classroom, but having limited exposure to other students is at least a plus.

DS30 is getting ready to go back to school. He leaves on Thursday; I'm heading over there, too, to help him transport everything. I need a couple days off of work, anyway, so I'm looking forward to a three-day work week next week. DD16 is also getting ready to start school on Thursday; we are going to attempt to keep her off the bus, as we believe that outside of that, things should be OK for her.

I took another Azure test today. Failed it by one question. Wanted to puke, but will take it again in the future. Glad I'm doing this; with the way this world is, I need as much training and certifications as possible, to keep me marketable. I did just start a long term client for that should last between now and Thanksgiving, which will keep me busy. :-)

OK, so with all that said, here's the current Disney news for us... Some time ago, early April, I ordered some jerseys for our family. Every time we've gone to WDW, we've always had some sort of matching shirt. Sometimes, it is same color with a notation of our vacation, but we've also done Disney shirts. One year, we did the March Madness Disney shirts, and wore those the morning we were the family of the day at Magic Kingdom. (Yes, we got to stand on the train tracks, and yes, it is as cool as it sounds.)

516778

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I don't know about you folks, but these are some of the coolest jerseysI have ever purchased. They are solid shirts, which means they will be better for cooler days, but we always hit up WDW at Thanksgiving time, and with the cruise for NYE, it'll work.

Tonight was our families first night dining in at a restaurant since this whole mess started. It was nice to actually have someone serve you and not clean up. The little things in life...

That's it folks, I'm done for the night. Heading to the gym in the morning. Again, stay safe and laugh every now and then. Every moment is your once in a lifetime...
 
Welcome to today's "Three Weeks Later" update. Sounds like a movie title. Not sure if I'd watch it if I knew it was a movie from the year 2020. Can we officially start making movies of our lives in 2020 and reference them as horror movies?

There has to be a silver lining somewhere, right?

Anyway, three weeks since my last post. Time to discuss the happenings of our house as we continue to move forward. Currently standing at 117 days from departure if it goes through, and if you've been monitoring the news and the what some of the European cruise lines have been doing, I'm starting to grow a high sense of optimism over our sailing. Sounds like MSC did a good job with containing their ship sailing in Europe, and the CDC is updating their numbers which is starting to make it look like the Covid-19 isn't as bad as originally thought. I know from my standpoint, my company is seeing an uptick in business, which usually means that things are improving for us (knock on wood). Again, still keeping positive vibes.

Of course, if you were to ask folks in Port Canaveral how things are today, I'm not sure what they would say. Just looked at the webcam at the cruise port, and it looks like a monsoon has hit the area. You can't even see any of the docs; you see one palm tree, a small dock next to the water, and that's it.

Booking window opens on Sept 27 for activities on the cruise. I'm curios to see what we'll be able to book. Sounds like St. Thomas is trying to set up a DCL bubble, which I would like. DW doesn't love a lot of beach days (sand in the clothes), but I'm hopeful. I'd have no problems if we could just lay around the pool all day. Hopefully, masks won't be necessary by this time, but I'm probably living a false hope on that one.

DW and DD16 have a WDW trip planned in less than 30 days. Poly DVC is where they are staying. I didn't realize until recently that Poly is only open for DVC folks. You learn something new every day. Our family is still on for Thanksgiving staying at Bay Lake Tower, as our wait-list for Grand Floridian hasn't come through yet.

Last family update was on August 8, so here are some additional updates...

DW has started teaching again. Majority of her students are virtual, which is fine since she's actually certified in handling those types of students. She wasn't thrilled about a lot of face-to-face kids, and the school was fine with that. Heck, most of her co-workers wanted face-to-face as it was. Therefore, she has one class three times a week, and a small group of homeroom students. I figure she's in one of the safest Covid-limited classrooms in the school.

DD16 has also his school back. I'm taking her and another kid in the neighborhood to the school in the mornings, and the other mother returns the favor in the afternoons. So far, it sounds like our county is doing well so far, with only a few situations. DW's school had a few students exposed, but I don't believe DD16's school has yet.

DS20 is back on campus at Jacksonville State. The majority of his classes have temporarily shifted to virtual/online classes, which means I believe he has one class that is face-to-face for a few weeks, then labs for the rest of the term, and then the marching band gets together, as well. The OVC has postponed most of football to the winter/spring, but will be playing three games in October. Our family has season tickets, but haven't heard back from the school yet. I figure I would contact them in the future, but DW and I spoke about just letting the school keep the money to help out the athletic program. Smaller schools needs as much money as they can get.

Biggest issue from DS20 is that the majority of students are remote, which means wi-fi/network is overloaded. Other issue that DW and I have is that he's not getting the full college experience, so why are we paying for boarding and meals when he can do most of this from home. I know we aren't the only family that has this frustration, but I am happy he gets to see friends again and interact with people. His girlfriend is there, too, which helps as well.

As for me, full time client work that should last me until Thanksgiving. Sounds like they are happy with what I've done so far. Working out in the mornings are still happening, but the gym is now back to regular hours on weekdays (5a-10p) which means I can start working out once a week at night when DD16 is at dance. I've also cut about 95% of the soda I was drinking out of my diet two weeks ago, which should start some weight loss. I'll probably start studying again for my MSFT test; still hopeful I can pass it.

That's all I got, folks. Another update probably in about 2-3 weeks at this rate. Do like me, find times to put yourself in news and social media timeout; it's better to live your life not facing all the craziness in this world today. Between Covid/Elections/protesting/etc, it just not worth it for you internal health. Thinking about WDW and DCL help make the time goes faster, along with the daily life happenings.

Peace out!
 


Well, almost been a full month, so I figured I'd snap out a response as far as what our family has been doing to prepare and such.

Yeah, that's a weak opening considering everything going on in the world, but I've got start somewhere.

It is nine days until the current CDC no sail order expires. DCL has canceled cruises up until the December 6-12 timeframe, and now we are in danger of another cancellation. Trying to send good vibes that this cruise will happen is like trying to send good vibes that the Democrats and Republicans in the US Congress can actually work together; just difficult to do. However, I am still attempting to have good vibes every day that this will happen. For me, I can reschedule my sabbatical again, should it come to that, but I'm actually liking the possibility of 3 weeks without having to deal with a job. Another night of sending good vibes out will happen later.

I've ended up following a couple of really good YouTube channel due to this. La Lido Loca Cruise News and Vlogs is a good one; I enjoy the dry sense of humor he displays. I also like The ShipLife vlogs, as well. Also dry humor every now and then; he put on a 'Karen' wig recently, I fell out of my chair over that. But most important, they are upfront with information, humorous when it needs to show, and also as frustrated with everything happening as I am.

The weather has switched over to official "fall" weather. Cooler temperatures are back to North Georgia. Averaging mid-70s for highs and upper-50s for lows, but the big advantage is that the humidity has dropped significantly. I get to switch over from shorts and flip-flops to pants and flip-flops. I'm that guy who will always try to wear flip-flops just so I don't always have to put on shoes. I once shoveled snow in flip-flops, even thought it was only an inch or two.

DD16 is now officially DD17. How'd that happen, anyway? Well, right now, DD17 and DW are down at WDW, staying at the Polynesian DVC section for three nights; they arrived this morning. I get frustrated sometimes that I don't always get the opportunity to go down there as much as I'd like to, but that's just the way it is. DD17 took her best friend down with them, and I don't believe she remembers ever being to WDW before. I think she's been there only once. From what I know, they plan on going to MK and HS for this trip. It's fall break week for our school system which is what gave them the open window to go down.

DS20 is at school. With this whole pandemic going on, I think he's fine there, even though many of his classes are virtual. Marching Southerners are still practicing; they have one game to perform at on Oct 10, I believe. We see him do a lot of videos on social media, and I think everyone in his dorm is finding ways to past the time with hijinks and humor. Thankfully, the case count on campus is low, 21 as of late last week.

As for me, I took the day off today. DW and DD17 were up in Helen, GA, for the majority of the weekend. They came home last night late, with a bunch of other folks who stayed the night here last night. This morning, they got up at 5:30a to leave at 6:00a. DW and DD17 left to go to WDW, while everyone else headed to the airport for an early morning flight. I was on chef duty last night, and I knew they would get home late, which meant I'd be cooking late. Needless to say, it was way past my bedtime, so I knew i would be trash today with work, so I took a mulligan. An afternoon nap helped me. Tacos for dinner tonight for me, and I start back up tomorrow with work. With everyone being away and a quiet house, I've been studying for a MSFT test on Friday night.

Being up late last night does make me realize that for our Thanksgiving WDW trip, as well as the cruise (if it happens), I'm going to have to re-train my body for late nights. It may not be that bad for Thanksgiving, seeing as how most nighttime entertainment is cancelled, but if I don't figure out a better sleep schedule to keep going for the cruise, I'll be in horrible shape, or maybe just fine from the adrenalin of just being there. Time will tell.

That's it for now. Good vibes. Keep smiling. Wear flip-flops...
 
Well, things have happened, so an update is necessary.

First off, on a personal level, the MSFT I mentioned before, I retook it on Friday night, and I PASSED THE FREAKING TEST!!!! Thank goodness, this things was getting under my skin. For the specifics for others to review, I am now a Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert. So, what does that mean at this moment? It means I can pass a test; now I just need to start receiving some work associated with it so that I can prove myself. To say it was nice to have a weekend where I didn't have this hanging over my head is an understatement, but I'm good now. Onto the next challenge in IT, which is continuing work at one of my customers.

DW and DD17 got back into town on Thursday night after a week at WDW. Their stay was at the Poly, and I believe they definitely enjoyed the view. No pixie dust, but no matter, they took the newbie who hasn't been to WDW and actually spent time there. Sounds like she really got into Star Wars Land, which doesn't surprise me much. DW learned a lot about how new policies take affect with regards to payment of things, so it's been good learning for our Thanksgiving tripe. It sounds like the one thing to learn for everyone is this - wear a mask. If they say wear a mask, wear a mask. If you take the mask off, they will tell you to put it back on. Yeah, I'm not thrilled either, but it's their rule, so follow it folks. Of course, with the Florida Governor updating policies late last week, they might relax things so you don't have to wear a mask anymore, but we shall soon see. DW said if that happens, we will OD on hand sanitizer, which is a fine tradeoff from masks in my eyes.

I will state, on another news update from this past week, I'm sad to hear that the Disney Society Orchestra, which used to be the Grand Floridian Society Orchestra, is having their contracts end for good next weekend. It's sad to hear because this is part of the class that comes with the Grand Floridian. But, I understand that the Enchanted Rose took over their performing spot at the GF, so they didn't have a place to go. 32 years of performing, and thanks to changes and a virus, they are gone. You'd think WDW could have found a place for them.

CDC no sail order expires in three days. No word about extending it. Starting to see other cruise lines starting to prepare for return to service, as rumors of letters to staff are going out about making sure their paperwork is order. (medical, passports, etc.) DCL has been quiet for the most part, but we shall see.

As part of practice, DW took care of registering our excursions for our trip, even though I'm pretty sure that Tortola might get canceled and we'll stop somewhere else. Snorkeling in Tortola, and the Sky Lift in St. Thomas. We shall see where this takes us.

Again, just a quick update, no more than this. Keep smiling and find ways to laugh at life; it's going to be a crazy ~35 days before this US election starts to wrap up, and the amount of hate in this world is not worth it.
 
The quick update that I did not want to make.

Originally a summer 2020 cruise that was part a land/sea setup by our family, got changed to a New Years cruise at the end of 2020 as a way to celebrate getting out of this whole pandemic and COVID/VooDoo situation that we've had.

At least, that was the plan. Funny how life has different plans for you.

So on Election Day 2020, of all days, due to the CDC's massive restrictions on cruising, all cruise lines that are a part of CLIA, have voluntarily extended their suspension to December 31, 2020, which has, in turn, cancelled our cruise.

I have changed the title to this cruise from "get out of 2020" to a separate set of updates, focusing on just getting to 2022 at this rate. I've tried to write the rest of this paragraph without getting political, but can't do it. Therefore, I'll leave it as this.

I should be thankful; we still have Thanksgiving at WDW in less than 20 days. Eight nights next to the Magic Kingdom at BLT, a vacation that I am looking forward to. Those on the west coast can't even go to Disneyland at this moment, so I'll take what I can get out here.

DW is handling pushing everything out a year. Both DW and DD17 are home today as part of getting the day off for elections, so she's on top of that. DW was concerned for a moment, as she was on the phone with Disney Cruise; we had moved our credit from June to this December, but used gift cards to pay the remaining balance. I had to find all the cards. Originally found 4/5, then looked again and realized the fifth card was stuck to the envelope that they were in. Moving forward figuring all that out.

I still plan on posting more here, and I'll probably throw in a post about our experiences at WDW at the end of the month, but will be pretty much quiet over the next few months with updates here. Maybe a monthly update will be required for the next 6-9 months, just to keep things active.

Over 2020. Over COVID. Over politics. But for now, keep smiling. Over and out.
 
Looking over the Disney Cruise app, we are currently holding at 391 days out before we get on the boat (hopefully) to ring in the new year. You know, I'm wondering if we should start putting asterisk in all updates and/or social media posts we put about things in the future, considering the uncertainty in the world today.

So, as of Friday Nov 27, the Disney Wonder made it back to Port Canaveral after a summer of hanging out in Europe. Saw some pictures of the boats, and it looks like the one good thing about this whole pandemic is that all the ships have gotten fresh coats of paint and a nice clean job on the haul. Of course, I'm looking at only the Wonder with this assumption, but I would believe that all ships have had a lot of work done to them. It's somewhat hopeful that things got replaced inside the ships as well, but only time will tell. Who knows what surprises we could be in store once cruising starts again. I believe the Disney Fantasy (our boat) is also heading back. Hopefully, this is a good sign for some movement on future cruising.

But even with all the uncertainty in the world, one thing did happen. Our family just got home last night from a full eight nights at Walt Disney World. While I know that this is a Disney Cruise pre-trip report, I figured why not keep everyone entertained for now since we don't have cruising. This should be especially helpful to give folks a sense of where Disney is with everything.

We left the Friday afternoon of November 20, just around 3:30p. DS20 and myself were at home in the morning, picked up DD17 at the school, then ran down to where DW teaches. She was able to sneak out a little early, and I thought with that we'd be able to get ahead of the pack of both Atlanta traffic and others heading down to Florida. The Friday evening and Saturday before Thanksgiving have always been difficult travel days, seeing as what seems like half of Atlanta always goes south.

Well, we got ahead of one out of two. Atlanta traffic is horrible, and sure enough, we got stuck in some in downtown. Once we got around the I-20 interchange, things freed up. One of the best purchases I have ever made was for a Peach Pass, Georgia's toll road sticker that you put in the car. We drove past a bunch of traffic south of the airport in order to get farther south as quickly as possible using toll lanes. Rest of the drive was fine traffic-wise, but with it getting dark early, it meant about 5 hours driving in darkness, which isn't fun. Didn't get to Bay Lake Towers until 11:30p. Quickly took everything upstairs, put things away, and by 12:15a it was lights out.

Side note: I need to remember this for Thanksgiving 2021 - We have to do a Walmart pickup order. We had too much stuff in our car, and seeing as how the New Independence Rd Walmart is easily accessible via backroads to BLT, might as well next time.

Parks were enjoyable from Saturday to Tuesday. Easy to walk around, even with masks, although I had some breathing problems from time to time. You see, I work from home; the only time I wear a mask is when I go to the store. I don't wear one at the gym, either. Therefore, because I'm not completely used to it, it wasn't fun. I can't get too upset, minus the first two days on site, we had fantastic weather.

No dining plan means we actually did save money this time, but we did have 2.5 meals. Beaches and Cream, which wasn't very expensive, Minnie's holiday lunch at Hollywood and Vine, and then the Boathouse on Thanksgiving night.
  • Beaches and Cream, pretty much what you could imagine. Good food, good desserts.
  • Minnie's holiday lunch. DW wanted to see how character dining was at this moment, so this was more of a test if she gets asked as part of her being a travel agent. Per DW and the rest of the family - skip character dining for now, not worth the money.
  • The Boathouse for dinner. I'll definitely want to do this place again the future. Absolutely fantastic food.
We did counter service the rest of the time. This is my one complaint with WDW at this moment. No problems finding food at AK or HS, but MK is limited; they really need either Harbor House or Casey's open in some fashion to provide more choices. I guess beggars can't be picky.

Now, I didn't make any notation of the parks from Wednesday to Friday. This was when the majority of the holiday crowds showed up, and with WDW's 35% capacity rate, well, honestly, it seemed like more than 35% was let into the parks. We did MK on Wed, HS on Thurs, and EPCOT on Fri. We knew EPCOT would be busy, but MK and HS definitely were busier.

We spent more time at Bay Lake than we normally do. I swam twice, which I always try to swim once since I'm paying for the right to do so via the vacation club. Very relaxing this year. Early evenings in the room meant we had more time to just hang out as a family, and while we basically surfed the web, it was good family time. We also slept in most mornings, which meant we were more alert and refreshed each day.

One of our competitive moments was on Saturday before dinner at Beaches and Cream - putt-putt at Winter Summerland. I won, while DW and DS20 came in second. However, it happened during a brief rainstorm, which made things interesting.

I think the one sad moment was on the Friday night before we left. We had just gotten back from EPCOT, and I knew I would need to eat something else, so I ordered from the Comtempo Cafe a quick bite and ate it there. While the peace and quiet in the main concourse of the Contemporary was great, it was definitely missing from the regular hustle and bustle you normally have there. That's where the missing Disney 'magic' concerns me, as to whether or not they will be able to get it back to where it was.

We packed the car up on Saturday morning and left the property at around 10:40a. Normally a 7.5 hour drive was extended to 9 due to traffic (thank you Peach Pass for getting us home quicker) and a scheduled stop at this place called Buc-ee's. Essentially this is a super-super-sized gas station. Think a gift shop like you see at Cracker Barrel, but super-super-size it. Think a gas station convenience area, but super-super-size it. Wall to wall people, too. DS20's girlfriend took him to one this past summer as a 'date'. I was expecting something smaller, but now I understand.

We got home at 7:40p on Saturday evening, unpacked over 90% of our stuff, and went to bed. Today was another reminder of the return to adulting, as I had to go do grocery shopping and stuff, but I've been home since that was completed.

As far as the temperatures go, we left 85 degrees on Saturday. It is 53 outside as of the writing of this, and will get much colder come Monday and Tuesday. Fall and late summer are officially over, and we are heading straight into winter because of it. Yuk!

That's it for today. Another update probably at the 365 mark of our cruise. Keep smiling, folks, if anything else, just to make others wonder what your smiling about.
 
During this entire pandemic/shutdown/crap show, I've continued working out at the gym as much as possible, as safely as possible. Do I necessarily need to go to the gym? No, I'd find other things to do. But with work being busy as a result of everything, I take the time for my sanity more than anything else.

Today was the same, except with a few reminders. Got up a little bit later today, got my workout done, showered and everything. But today, after my workout, I went to the dentist. Oh, I hate going to the dentist, more than anything is the scrapping sound that gets under my skin. But this was supposed to be a pleasant dentist visit, as it was also supposed to be the first day of my sabbatical. I would have gone back home and started the packing for our cruise that was supposed to leave this Saturday.

...supposed to leave this Saturday.

....this Saturday.

Screw you, COVID. Another 369 days away.

Welp, we are at least planning additional WDW trips for the 2021 year. Should be a go on all of them, some will be the whole family, some will be just the ladies. DVC reservations were placed the other day for Bay Lake Towers for Thanksgiving week. Continues to be one of the best traditions of our family. We will probably look to move this to another resort to save on points, I'm hoping for AKL. As someone who drives down, it's always better to park underneath the building to protect from that Florida heat.

Another two days, and then I can take a week off from full office work. Already turning out to be a busy 2021 start for my job. (not complaining)

Anyway, that was just a quick vent to this day. Back to your regularly scheduled programming.
 
Just another quick update - I'm not sure if I'll be updating much over the next month or two after this because work starts back up for me on Monday of next week, and I've already got a busy schedule to start the new year off. I think that's a good thing, but I'll probably be pretty exhausted from it by March.

You can call this another vent post. I've got a reason for it, too.

I should be in Tortola today.

Tortola, British Virgin Islands....

....today

.....but I'm not.

It's currently 84 degrees in Tortola right now.

Granted, it's at least 60 degrees where I live today, but still, I'd rather be on the boat, or in the port, enjoying some fun times, great memories, and good food. Instead, I'll enjoy good food and good times at home with my family to ring in the new year this week in Georgia. If there has been one thing good about this whole pandemic and spending time at home is that I can spend time with the family playing cards and making memories.

Here's hope to the cast members on both coasts that have been displaced in some way due to these lockouts. In the path of good news, it sounds like more and more of the displaced in Orlando are continuing to get called back to work. I wish a better understanding of all the numbers gets pushed out, as I think it'll help not only their stock price but also give positive vibes to those that watch what is happening. Just hope that it happens quicker on the west coast than it seems like it will be.

Later folks. I'm done with 2020. Onto 2021 in three days. God bless all of you.
 
Been almost a month since my last post, I figured I'd throw out some updates:

Last post talked about how it was about 60 degrees in Georgia. We've been colder than usual, or maybe it's just the fact that I'm still stuck at home most days with work. Still going to the gym, but that just gets me out of the house for a little bit of time. Work continues to increase for me, which is both a blessing and a curse. I guess, better to be busy than slow.

DD17 got her drivers license recently. Now I have a higher car insurance, which means I'm starting to plan for three things: tax time, annual pass renewals for WDW, and saving for our trips in Nov/Dec this year. DW and myself are already seeing the advantages of this; not having to drive her places (she's driven herself ~5 times alone already) means we have more time to do things on our own. The mention of a future empty-nest house is both scary and exciting.

DW and DD17 were in Salt Lake City one week ago. They flew out for a pageant show that they support. Layovers in Chicago out and Denver back. I was concerned about the weather, but no issues. Masks all around and no issues experienced as a result of the trip. Good practice for future trips; I think they are going to take another trip that requires to fly in the next three months; that just means another bachelor weekend for me.

DS20 is back to school. Our original plan was to kidnap him for a quick trip to WDW after he turns 21 so he can drink around the world if he wanted to. That got canceled because the school canceled they winter break in February to make up for some lost time. Not surprised, but a bummer anyway. We banked our points for our DVC room (was Saratoga Springs), and I wasn't aware that DVC extended their policy that allows cancellations within 30 days to be place into the regular point bank versus the holding bank for the year. I figure DW and DD17 will figure out how to make a trip down to WDW during September (another bachelor weekend) during their fall break. Also, we'll have enough points to make a stay at WDW the night before our cruise, although I did reserve a room at the County Inn and Suites outside the port the other day.

I'm staying positive this time. When our June 2020 cruise canceled, I was ticked off. But it prepared me to know that December 2020 was probably going to get canceled, too. This time, I'm staying positive - WE ARE GOING THIS TIME!!! Of course, that could all change this week. New administration in the White House, new CDC director coming on board this week. Lots of wondering is another CDC no sail order is going to get implemented or not. Still staying positive; 11 months our tomorrow.

Going to build some music playlists and continue looking for stuff to take on the cruise. Found a gimbal for our GoPro; figure this will help at both WDW and the cruise. Also shopping for a new cell phone this year, so I'll make sure I can find one that takes good video/pictures.

Until the next update....
 
210 days. I've gone 210 days without updating this thread. You see, that whole 'life gets in the way' got in my way. But after hearing my wife talk to someone on the phone about looking at various Disney sites for research, she mentioned the DISBoards, and all of the sudden, I had this sudden realization that it's been some time since I've updated this thread. You probably thought we've totally dropped for NYE 2022, didn't you?

Well, at least not yet. I'm still all for this cruise. I'm still hopeful that even with this delta variant that things will continue to improve to the point that cruising will be safer than going to the store.

So first, my thoughts on the whole cruising situation. DeSantias did his job and forced the hand of the government from the standpoint that they didn't have the right to restrict cruising in/out of the USA. Didn't make sense; I get it, they are trying to be safe, but WDW, Universal, airports, sports arenas, etc. are opening up, albeit slowly. You can't necessarily restrict one industry while all other industries are closed. I feel for the folks in Alaska; this is part of their bread-and-butter.

However, with good is bad, and DeSantias needs to get out of the way of this whole 'vaccine passport' program, even though I see where he is coming from. At this point, private businesses should be able to place restrictions to protect the health of their employees and those around them. I'm sure there will be sometime in the future where this won't be needed, so hopefully things like this will taper off.

Family got fully vaccinated between March and April. DW was first because of her job, and DS21 got his done at school shortly after that. DD17 and myself got ours on the same days, and I think our second shots was around May 3. No issues for any of us on the first shots, while the second did a great job slowing us all down. I think shortly after that I dropped the mask for most settings, which has been great.

Family made a quick trip to North Dakota to visit family and handle business. First time I have ever been there, and I must say that I never thought I would enjoy it as much as I did. Lots of land; not a lot else. Great for people who want to just get away from..... everything.

Everyone made it through the school year; good grades from both kids, and DW made it through another year of teaching. Everyone started back earlier this month, with DS21 back at school with marching band, and DW and DD17 back at school, too. Local schools here are all back in the buildings, limited masks so far. I worry about DW's teaching scenario due to class sizes. DD17 seems to be handling it without too much of an issue.

The local school system is doing a COVID campaign to encourage wearing of masks. I'm sure some students/teachers will wear masks more, but as far as I'm concerned, it's like putting up gauge in front of a mac truck. At least they aren't ignoring it and at least addressing it. DS21 started off mask free, but they changed it to masks indoors.

DD17 received her first vehicle this summer as part of her birthday present. I must admit, while I don't want to pay the payment every month, it's nice to not have to worry about picking her up/taking her places.

So, I'm still staying positive about this cruise, but DW is concerned and for good reasons. No, it's not a COVID thing, but it's a cost thing. For the amount we are paying for a NYE cruise, we don't want to have so many restrictions that it causes an issue with our overall enjoyment. Seeing what others have said so far about some of these Disney Dream cruises has kept my spirits up, but yeah, I get it. We could easily use this money for a Summer 2022 cruise. Thankfully, the final payment changes implemented by DCL allows us to wait until October to make our final decision. That means that it gives us more time to (a) see what happens with DeSantias and the whole vaccine program thingy, (b) see what happens with future Disney Fantasy cruises, and (c) gives us more time to see what other ports are open at that time.

I did get a new cell phone. Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. Been trying to figure it out the cameras on it. Lots of storage, so I can take video on future trips/vacations/cruises/OBGYN appointments. (OK, maybe not the last one...)

Sorry for the lost of updates. Busy with work, busy with family.... it's nice to be busy. Until we type again...
 
And...... it happened.

Well, sort of.

They say when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. I'm thinking if we could add a little vodka into it, it'll make it taste better. Thankfully, we did just that, and boy are we coming out on top!!!

So, the seven day cruise aboard the Disney Fantasy has been canceled. It's too bad, because we really wanted to do seven days and end up on Castaway Cay on New Years Day. The week away from everyone at the end of this year was supposed to be a celebration of so much in our lives. But the uncertainty with regards to the status of seven day cruises that would stop at multiple Caribbean ports concerns us. Yes, I'd be just as happy as staying on the cruise ship the entire time, but with mask policies still in affect, the thoughts of skipping Tortola and St Thomas doesn't excite me considering how much money we are paying. The wife has been trying to work me over for some time now, and I've already been weighing the options over time.

That being said, this is where I make lemonade. So, here's what we did:
  • Canceled seven day cruise on Disney Fantasy at end of the year.
  • Rebooked a three day cruise on the Disney Dream, leaving on NYE and coming back on January 3.
  • Took the remaining credit, which includes additional money from the other two canceled cruises, and booked a seven day cruise on the Disney Fantasy during May/June 2022, with both Tortola and St Thomas. (with a little additional owed to Disney for the difference)
Best way to handle uncertainty was to do this; I think we are doing the right thing. Plus, we'll be able to have Christmas Dinner with my parents, and I'll still take my three week sabbatical where I won't have to return to work until the second week of 2022.

As for the May/June 2022 cruise, it'll be a celebration of a lot of things. First off, DD18 (originally DD17 in previous posts, but now is 18) will graduate from high school a week before we board the cruise. Second, DS21 may be also graduating from College in May 2022. Regardless, he'll almost be done with school, and we have no idea what other surprises for DW and myself are in store. With the world changing in all the different ways it is, only time will tell.

As far as life, DS21 got into another accident in his less-than-one-year-old car, so we are working on getting him a replacement. Not his fault, but with the rise in costs, we'll have to pay more money for his car. DD18 is enjoying her new car and school is going well for her. DW is handling the teaching issues of navigating the world of COVID in a state without mask mandates and the ever popular TikTok challenges that kids these days are doing. And me? Well, too much work, way to many open positions at the company, but a lot of opportunity for my career to continue to grow as long as I can put in the time.

I've got some front flower beds that would like me to spend more time cleaning them up. Still hot here in Georgia, but time is opening up in the evenings for that.

That being said, I'll be able to continue this blog and probably extend it out with an additional trip. Now it's time to figure out two nights in Cocoa Beach and figure out what to do for those nights before the cruise.

Until next time folks...
 
It's Sunday. For me, that means a trip to the gym for a lower body workout and a trip to the grocery store for purchasing weekly food items. With the extra hour of sleep after a long trip to/back from my son's school for the last home football game of the season, I was thankful for the gym time. DW and DD18 are south of the city at a pageant, so it's just me in the area.

Small grocery list (thankfully) this week, even if groceries are more expensive than normal. A wedding coming up next weekend, so we'll be out of town for that. Once we get home, another short week as we prepare to make our annual trip down to WDW for Thanksgiving.

And then, 53 days later, we'll be boarding the Disney Dream for three nights, to help wet our appetite for a seven day cruise that's only 201 days away from the writing of this entry. I'm hoping (as do the rest of society) that by the time we get to 201 days from now, masks are a thing of the past. As much as I hope, I also will just say only time will tell.

For WDW, it should be masks in only certain indoor areas, as will be the case on the Disney Dream. I could complain about wearing a mask, but as they say..... a masked day at Disney is better than an unmasked day just about everywhere else. My biggest concern today? The weather. One day before our arrival, it'll be a high of 74 degrees (sunny), and because of some of the fronts moving through the area where we live, it's gotten colder than it normally would. I always like to have at least one afternoon where I can swim in the pool at BLT (our home resort). Got to take advantage of it. The day before we leave our home, it's only supposed to get to 57 degrees.

I get it for those in the north - you'd do anything for 57 degrees in late November. I grew up in Ohio (don't know if I said that) and I must admit my blood has gotten thinner over the years. It's easy to understand, considering the situation when my family moved. Mom and Dad loaded up the cars with the rest of our stuff from the house the Thursday before MLK day, and we left SE Ohio where it was about 40 degrees outside with about 4 inches of snow on the ground. 72 hours later I was in 76 degree sunny skies, wearing shorts and a t-shirt riding a ten-speed around the new neighborhood we just moved to.

Total saved money for our WDW trip has approached $1300; we have no dining plan yet, so everything out of pocket. I'm seeing a small amount to be charge back to our credit card this trip, and a larger amount for the cruise. It is what it is; anything for my family.

Work for me has been brutal. We can't find qualified candidates these days for our company. Two main clients, plus other side work. 8am to 5pm (if I'm lucky) makes me tired. The week at WDW will include some work, too. I guess I could complain about being so busy, but better to be busy than not.

DW is hammering through her days at the school, educating the kids of the community. She tells me a lot of bad stories of things that are happening, but lately I've also heard some good stories about her students. I'm hoping things keep going up for her. With COVID and everything in social media, I could never be a teenager in today's society.

DD21 is keeping his classes up; looks like all A's at this moment. Last football game yesterday; he'll be back to finish his degree next fall, which means one more football season of marching. I wish I could post pictures of his on-campus apartment; it's a throwback to the 70s with wood paneling in the main living room/kitchen area. As far as the accident, he got his replacement car, and we are just finalizing everything for the medical items that have to be taken care of.

DW18 is interning at a company nearby for graphic design. She keeps moving up in the world with regards to how much effort she puts into things. A pageant this weekend, but her next big pageant comes in July of 2022. We are going to work on some costume things over the next few months for her.

Another entry, most likely after our WDW trip.
 
Well, after a week at WDW, I'm back at it, and I decided to take the day off. OK, so I took that day off beforehand, but it makes things 'somewhat' easier after the week we had.

So, here's the highlights and notes:
  • DS21 and myself left Atlanta at around 10:30a to drive down to hopefully spend some time at Disney Springs. However, accidents and traffic in both Gainesville and Ocala caused delays for that, but the biggest issue for us was, for some reason, the Florida Turnpike. Took us forever to get to FL 429. We made a stop at a Publix to pick up some items, then drove down to the Home2 Suites in Flamingo Crossing. By this time, it was 7:30p, so we did a quick run over to Disney Springs for dinner at Blaze Pizza. We did make a stop at Buc'ees on the way down for lunch, always a good place to stop.
  • DW and DD18 left Atlanta around 3:00p, got there around 10:45pm.
  • Highly recommend he Home2 Suites in Flamingo Crossing. Yes, busy with lots of younger kids running around, but the rooms were huge. Nice place for a one night stay.
  • Saturday morning, onto Bay Lake Towers. I found a parking space in the first row, third spot in. The SUV which was carrying the majority of our items didn't move after that. To our surprise, our room was ready for us at 9:30a. We spend about 30 minutes unloading the car and putting things away.
  • Our room was on the 14th floor and overlooked Bay Lake. Every morning, I woke up and had breakfast on the patio. Nothing better than enjoying the view/warmer weather/early morning sounds.
  • Off to EPCOT we went via monorail. Limited driving for the week, as we ended up using either monorail/bus/our legs to get to parks. I had to run offsite once to go to an ATM machine and a quick stop at a Walgreens. It was always fun to
  • Steakhouse 71 in the Contemporary - Highly recommend; I was never a huge fan of The Wave, but what they've done is outstanding. Service was good, food was great. Highly recommend their chocolate cake. Already discussions in the family to go there again next year.
  • Via Napoli on our last day; never disappoints. Service was great.
  • We did O'hana to see how much it has changed. At this moment, until after the pandemic and menus go back to 'normal', I don't think we will go back. Very stale atmosphere and the food wasn't as good. Again, I truly believe it'll get better again over time, just not for us today.
  • Got stuck on Rise of the Resistance, just after your go past all of the stormtroopers. They took us out via a side entrance, where we passed... employee break rooms. Destroys some of the magic, but also quick interesting how closely they are to the actual ride/show scenes.
  • DS21 and I left around 10am on 11/27, didn't get home until 7:40pm. This included a couple of stops, one of them at Buc'ees in Warner Robbins. That place was a complete ZOO! Everyone traveling north stopped there. I see a new QT is being built one exit north to provide competition. Be interesting to see what happens. I am happy I have our Peach Pass, it is allowed us to bypass a ton of traffic.
Now for my main gripe, and I'm trying to keep my gripes low because of the whole 'pandemic' notation with regards to this post. I'm 6' 7". My son is about 6' 1". While I'm fit, I'm still somewhat heavier, simply because I work out a lot. If Disney is monitoring these posts, here is my request:

PLEASE CARRY 3X-4X MERCHANDISE.

Look folks, I can't do much about the height. 2X clothing isn't long enough. My son has issues with 2X clothing as well. There's only so much we can do to lose weight, but because I work out a lot, I'm broader along the shoulders now. Just too tight.

And like I said, I get the whole 'pandemic' and supply issues, but this was happening before the pandemic, too. If someone at Disney is reading this, please make it so (just call me Captain Picard).

One thing that can't be controlled is the weather. Comfortable temperatures minus Tuesday, when a cold front moved in. We also had more rain this trip than I think we ever had. But for the most part, that warm Florida sunshine helped make every day go as smoothly as possible.

Only 30 days until we head back to Florida, and 32 days before we board the Dream for our three day cruise.

And.... only 180 days before we board the Fantasy for a seven night cruise.

Until next time...
 

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