Summer TR at BCV, the theme was RAIN! - Complete 1/23/16

[Pinkocto]

Hi everybody I have finally signed up with Comcast and should have internet again at home within a few days. I had tried Direct TV a couple weeks ago and it would have been too much to have new wires placed, moving furniture ect... But with Comcast it's a wireless box and there are already wires I can use. I think. I got the box in the mail last night but still need to set it up. I want to get this TR finished, I had meant to have it finished before the October trips.

I hope everyone is doing well

Life with the new boys is fun. Rambo has since eaten my TV remote, he hadn't paid any attention to it for two weeks so I thought it was safe. I'm learning. Gucci is nothing but wonderful. They both are.

 

[dolphingirl47]

But they're going to do an 'out of warranty repair' which is giving me a new one.

That is great customer service from them.

I could buy the next model up but since this was a totally unexpected expense I'm just going to stay with the model I had which was the original mini.

I have the original iPad mini and love it.

I have finally signed up with Comcast and should have internet again at home within a few days.

Yay.

Rambo has since eaten my TV remote, he hadn't paid any attention to it for two weeks so I thought it was safe.

He does seem to like to chew on the weirdest things.

Corinna

 

[Leshaface]

Hi everybody

Some more news to share. On Tuesday I picked Gucci's son Rambo up from the shelter. They were abandonded together and I felt they needed to be together. It has been a total joy but a big transition. They are so happy to be together and two big love bugs! Needless to say they've been taking up all my free time.

Oh my goodness you are such an awesome human being!!! That's great that they got reunited and are just living the life now. Amazing! We're hoping to bring happiness to homeless animals after the baby is born. We could have adopted dogs a long time ago but our backyard was just not ideal living conditions for a dog. Absolutely no shade and our Summers are 110+ so just not good. Now that we got our patio built i'm super excited at the possibilities!

Hi everybody I have finally signed up with Comcast and should have internet again at home within a few days. I had tried Direct TV a couple weeks ago and it would have been too much to have new wires placed, moving furniture ect... But with Comcast it's a wireless box and there are already wires I can use. I think. I got the box in the mail last night but still need to set it up. I want to get this TR finished, I had meant to have it finished before the October trips.

I hope everyone is doing well

Life with the new boys is fun. Rambo has since eaten my TV remote, he hadn't paid any attention to it for two weeks so I thought it was safe. I'm learning. Gucci is nothing but wonderful. They both are.

Ugh what a pain with the internet situation. Who did you have before? And i'm assuming the Directv internet you were looking at was with AT&T U-Verse Internet?

 

[Pinkocto]

That is great customer service from them.

I was really impressed. But now I've got it and can't do anything since I need Internet to upload the backup... Hopefully on Friday.

I have the original iPad mini and love it.

I do too. I wouldn't have needed a new one for many years I'm sure.

Yay.

And I spoke too soon. I ordered the 'install yourself kit' since there are cables I thought would work, but unfortunately not. The service people are coming out Friday.

He does seem to like to chew on the weirdest things.

Corinna

He has since destroyed a cardboard box and one of my books... I'm learning he can't be unattended.

 

[Pinkocto]

Oh my goodness you are such an awesome human being!!! That's great that they got reunited and are just living the life now. Amazing! We're hoping to bring happiness to homeless animals after the baby is born. We could have adopted dogs a long time ago but our backyard was just not ideal living conditions for a dog. Absolutely no shade and our Summers are 110+ so just not good. Now that we got our patio built i'm super excited at the possibilities!

Thank you so much these guys are a huge blessing. Both are such love bugs, two of the sweetest dogs I've ever met. I got very lucky. But I've also heard that rescue dogs are very loving in general, they are grateful for that second chance.

Very exciting about your patio! I had no idea your summer's got that hot.

How is cute little Percy doing?

Ugh what a pain with the internet situation. Who did you have before? And i'm assuming the Directv internet you were looking at was with AT&T U-Verse Internet?

Oh my, you know more than I do. I had Clear before, and now Sprint took over Clear and offered no equal substitute. I think the Direct TV would have been through another company, not directly through Direct TV, but I didn't think that made much sense. There would have been two service people to come out, and since the TV part would not work I never got the chance to actually talk to the Internet side.

Hopefully on Friday I'll be back up and running. I'm glad I haven't been going crazy without it, but I would like to finish this TR... There's only so much you can do on the phone.

 

[Pinkocto]

Hi everybody, sorry it’s been about two months since I’ve updated on here. I’m now up and running with new internet. YAY! Thankfully I didn’t need to get new wires, but a technician did have to come out last week because everything I was doing, according to the self install instructions, wasn’t working. Turns out the wires were disconnected in the box across the street. I had to work over the holiday and had to cover my boss because she took off the whole week. Needless to say last week was stressful. I’ve been enjoying the last two days off with my new boys, they are a true joy.



In 9 days I head down to WDW with mom, an unexpected treat, for a 5 day weekend. The WDW part has been planned for many months, I’ll be meeting a coworker and her husband there. The unexpected part is mom joining us. At first she wasn’t able to go because of work and not wanting to leave her DBF, but now work is not a problem and her DBF will be in Georgia. So this will continue our pre-Christmas tradition of going down to WDW to see the decorations, this will be our 5th year in a row.

 

[Pinkocto]

Now back to the August trip.





Day 4:



Mom woke up about 8am and read her book while I snoozed until 9:30. I woke up to rain and mom said it had been raining all morning. Not heavy rain but rain nonetheless. We had plans to go to HS that evening because we had reservations at Sci-Fi at 8:00, but the morning was empty. We decided to go to DTD and see Inside Out. We had plenty of time before the showing we wanted to catch so I caught up in my journal and mom read. It was a perfect morning. I wasn’t expecting trash and towel service but a CM came and did that and asked if there was anything else we needed. Actually yes, we need a DVD remote, we have tried asking for one for several days with no luck. She got on the phone to check in that she had done her job and told them we needed a remote. Excellent! Within half an hour one was delivered. Perfect.



We headed to DTD at noon, the night before, since we didn’t stop for a movie, we found a much quicker way to our room from the bus stop. Instead of doing a huge U through the resort and through the pool the bus stop is straight across from the back of the resort. Why couldn’t we have discovered this sooner…











At DTD we were frustrated to find that due to changing over to Disney Springs there was no longer a stop at West Side, everybody had to get off at the Marketplace. Disney Springs, you’re not getting my vote yet.







We stopped at Ghirardeli on the way to the theater. I waited for our goodies while mom went to get some free chocolates next door. She discovered they only give out mini samples now instead of the big square ones they used to.



Mom got a chocolate chip cookie. She was sad to find they no longer sell the toffee cookies.







and I got a strawberry milkshake.







I had wanted to stop at Basin and had a total brain fart that Basin is maybe two shops over from Ghirardelli. Instead, we went back down to the Rainforest Café and over the very nice new bridge. Ok, I was getting impressed. I saw Basin from the bridge and realized my mistake… We didn’t go back at that point, we trucked our way to the movie theater.



















We got to the theater and bought our tickets and it was only 1:10. We still had an hour until our show time. Neither of us thought we would get there that fast so we backtracked and went to Basin.







I would like to try this new gelato shop at some point







Our destination







I like the shampoo bars they sell there. Granted I could get them shipped to me, but why do that if the shop is right there. These bars last for ages and are fabulous. Not to mention much easier to travel with. Mission accomplished we headed back to the movie theater. We got plenty of exercise that day going back and forth at DTD. Am I supposed to call it Disney Springs? I’m so confused. I forgot to mention that when we got there the rain had stopped and it was gorgeous day.



We got back to the theater 15-20 minutes before show time but we were glad we did because the place ended up being packed! It was an excellent movie, I highly recommend it if you haven’t seen it. We both said we could see it again right away. And the cute little pre-movie called Lava was beautiful.

After the movie our destination was HS. I really really really wanted to see the Olaf stage show at HS and we still had time to catch the last show of the day.



We took the boat to SSR. Some other guests saw our DCL backpacks and asked us about DCL and was it worth it. We can’t praise DCL enough and we shared why we love it so much. Hopefully those people give it a chance. You can see one of the little boat cars that Boatwrights has. You pay a fee and they take you out.







Walked past the pool







And caught the bus at The Springs stop







This resort is growing on me. I find it very nice but I don’t like how far apart everything is.







But it is beautiful







The bus arrived at 4:39







And we were walking up to HS at 4:57







I was excited about







I’m disappointed I didn’t center this one correctly…












We had 30 minutes before Olaf’s show and I wanted to show mom Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post with the build your own snowman area, but the shop was gone. That was unnecessary walking.







So we walked back to the stage and waited for Olaf.

 

[Pinkocto]

The stage was set up nicely







We didn’t know what to expect but first a host came out





and he convinced Olaf to come out and meet the crowd













And then Olaf proceeds to sing my favorite song of the movie!!! I was on cloud 9!!!!!! Yes, I sang along.











































It was beyond fantastic and I’m so glad we made a point of going. I’m not a fan of Frozen taking over but I am a HUGE fan of Olaf and more Olaf is ok by me.



We were in Frozen mood at that point and headed over to see Frozen Fever which they were showing at the old Sound Stage theater. I wish they would spruce this place up, so many broken seats and just plan dingy looking. Of course we admired the palms on the way.















We were definitely missing something, we had no idea where the mini snowmen were coming from and were enlightened after seeing the movie. We both thoroughly enjoyed it, very cute.



Then it was off to ToT which we had a FP for.































We were excited!!!







This is one of our favorite rides and it never disappoints. Loved it as always.

 

[Pinkocto]

Then we headed over to TSMM which we also had a FP for. Another one of our favorites.



















I think I won this time. Mom is very competitive or I wouldn’t care if I won or lost. But she gets in the spirit!











This was cool to see since we just saw the movie







We just had time to do a Muppet Show before dinner







Every time I see a new funny prop







That was perfect timing before dinner







We waited 10-15 minutes before we were taken back







I thought it was cute they had the speakers next to the car like in actual drive ins















We shared the spinach and artichoke dip







Fries







Fried pickles







And the cheesecake for dessert







Dinner was great, but I think we’re ok to skip this one for a bit. We were both glad they had changed the movie clips since the last time.



Then we went and found a spot for the fireworks. Part of the Frozen Summer Fun was Frozen themed fireworks. The dance party was still going on when we got there and there were tons of spots you could get at last minute.







Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf came out and Elsa joined them later to do the fireworks. People, these were the most beautiful fireworks I had ever seen. They were so close and absolutely breathtaking. Almost too close though because debris flew on me several times. Mom voiced the exact thing to me later, that she felt they were the most beautiful fireworks she had ever seen as well.



I’m terrible at fireworks photos but here are a few. I really hope they bring these back in the future.















At that point we called it a night. We were going to walk back to the resort but the line for the boat didn’t look too long. It took about 17 minutes to get to the BC and I don’t think we could have walked faster.





I couldn't remember seeing the carved lady on the ship before.




We stopped by the Marketplace to get mom a Bucket o’ Aliens she had spied earlier in the trip. These guys have since joined mom on several trips to Georgia, went with me on my two October trips, and are planning on coming on future trips as well. Two or three specially selected aliens are chosen and photos are taken of their adventures as well as our own. It is quite amusing.







And we also picked up the original Muppet Movie to watch. We didn’t manage to watch it that night. I wrote in the journal and mom read and then we were both to sleepy to watch a movie. It had been another excellent day of vacation.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Great update Pam!

Yeah on internet and comcast. The boys Gucci and Rambo are adorable!

Fab news on Mom coming on your pre Christmas WDW trip. I am delighted that worked out for you two lovely ladies.

Day 4 was a real treasure. Just like your good self! The movie Inside Out is charming isn't it. Like you say well worth seeing.

I laughed at the remote still being absent. Little did you know on August that soon a new dog would enjoy chewing one back home. You are to have remote issues for a while!

That's great you found a nice little new route to the bus stop.

Oh the Ghirardeli. I could get 'drunk' on the smell! But what is this no toffee cookies? What! Oh my. What are they thinking. Yum strawberry shake.

Those basin shampoo bars are the best. At first I rolled my eyes at the claim that they did 75 plus washes looking at this little bar of soap. But I counted and it has!

Nice trip to HS! That Olaf show looks so much fun. How cute! TSMM always a winner. We are alike my friend I don't care if I am a beaver or a cat.

Sci-Fi dinner looks nice but def not for every year. I agree.

Those buckets of aliens are beyond cool! Loving it!

Thanks for the lovely photos. Really enjoyed. Xx

 

[dolphingirl47]

So this will continue our pre-Christmas tradition of going down to WDW to see the decorations, this will be our 5th year in a row.

I am glad that you are able to go together.

I like the shampoo bars they sell there. Granted I could get them shipped to me, but why do that if the shop is right there. These bars last for ages and are fabulous.

Have you tried the Lush shampoo bars? They are really nice, too.

We decided to go to DTD and see Inside Out.

I tried to watch this on the way to Los Angeles and did not get this movie at all. I gave up after a short time.

We had 30 minutes before Olaf’s show and I wanted to show mom Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post with the build your own snowman area, but the shop was gone. That was unnecessary walking.

This sounds really fun. What a shame that this was no longer there.

It was beyond fantastic and I’m so glad we made a point of going. I’m not a fan of Frozen taking over but I am a HUGE fan of Olaf and more Olaf is ok by me.

I am with you on this. I love Olaf.

We stopped by the Marketplace to get mom a Bucket o’ Aliens she had spied earlier in the trip. These guys have since joined mom on several trips to Georgia, went with me on my two October trips, and are planning on coming on future trips as well.

I have met at least one of those aliens.

Corinna

 

[Pinkocto]

Great update Pam!

Thank you

Yeah on internet and comcast. The boys Gucci and Rambo are adorable!

It's a relief to have internet back! And you know how much I adore these boys

Fab news on Mom coming on your pre Christmas WDW trip. I am delighted that worked out for you two lovely ladies.

Us too, thank you!!!

Day 4 was a real treasure. Just like your good self! The movie Inside Out is charming isn't it. Like you say well worth seeing.

I agree, I need to buy it so I can watch it again.

I laughed at the remote still being absent. Little did you know on August that soon a new dog would enjoy chewing one back home. You are to have remote issues for a while!

The remote story is not done...

That's great you found a nice little new route to the bus stop.

I just wish I had found it sooner. It really saved a lot of time.

Oh the Ghirardeli. I could get 'drunk' on the smell! But what is this no toffee cookies? What! Oh my. What are they thinking. Yum strawberry shake.

She LOVED those toffee cookies

Those basin shampoo bars are the best. At first I rolled my eyes at the claim that they did 75 plus washes looking at this little bar of soap. But I counted and it has!

Mine last less than 20 washes, but I have much longer hair. I'm very pleased with them.

Nice trip to HS! That Olaf show looks so much fun. How cute! TSMM always a winner. We are alike my friend I don't care if I am a beaver or a cat.

I really enjoyed that Olaf show, it was super fun and cute.

Sci-Fi dinner looks nice but def not for every year. I agree.

But it's always fun to do something different. I would like to get to the Brown Derby at some point.

Those buckets of aliens are beyond cool! Loving it!

She took some down with her to Georgia.

Thanks for the lovely photos. Really enjoyed. Xx

I'm glad you enjoyed it, thank you for reading

 

[Pinkocto]

I am glad that you are able to go together.

Me too, it was very unexpected and all the better that it works out

Have you tried the Lush shampoo bars? They are really nice, too.

I had no idea Lush had them as well. I'll check them out when we are in Florida. Thank you for the heads up!

I tried to watch this on the way to Los Angeles and did not get this movie at all. I gave up after a short time.

It felt a little slow to start and the story took a bit to really get going. But once it did it was really nice.

This sounds really fun. What a shame that this was no longer there.

I hope they bring it back next year, it was a lot of fun.

I am with you on this. I love Olaf.

He's just so happy all the time, I love it!

I have met at least one of those aliens.

Corinna

Yes you did

 

[Pinkocto]

Hi everybody

Sorry this is moving so slowly, life has been a bit, shall we say, consumed, by the new boys. They are still the sweetest boys ever and I now can't imagine life without them, but they have some bad habits that need fixing. Mom and I did go on our December trip and had a magnificent time but I missed them very much while away. And that was only a 5 day trip. I'm a bit apprehensive about the 12 day VGF and Fantasy trip coming up on January but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Back to the August 2015 trip.

 

[Pinkocto]

Day 5:



Today was the day we were originally leaving, but pretty much last minute we were able to add an extra night. It also happened to be one of the special DVC member events at Typhoon Lagoon. This meant that we would be able to go to the party! I was very excited about it because I had wanted to go when they sent an email that they were doing several of these events last summer but was disappointed that we would be missing it by the hair of our teeth. The bad news is that since we added the extra night last minute we had to change resorts. There were literally two rooms left in all the DVC inventory and they were both 1 bedrooms at SSR. The good news is that I snagged one up before it was gone and we were staying an extra night on points and going to the DVC special event at Typhoon Lagoon!



So, we spent the morning packing up to move. You wouldn’t believe it, remember the remote we were so happy to get the day before because we were in need of it the whole trip? It didn’t work with the DVD player we had… We just let the Muppet Movie play while we packed up. This was the original Muppet Movie and neither of us had ever seen it before. Needless to say I ordered it shortly afterwards, I loved it.



We had bell services pick up our bags and move them for us, because we were going to spend the afternoon at Stormalong Bay.



Goodbye room picture at 11:05







We were quite happy with room







We had to stop and look at the cute alligator before leaving











Goodbye villa pool, until next time. Although we have no idea when that will be.







We dropped the movie off at the Marketplace and then headed to SAB.



Hello beautiful SAB







On the hunt for some loungers















We sat and read for several hours, the weather was perfect. The TL party didn’t begin until 8pm so we had plenty of time.



We got some fries







We alternated between reading and going in the lazy river, it was a fabulous afternoon. We had talked about going back to Beaches and Cream but never made it there. It got a little overcast and did start raining, so officially we had rain every day so far.











These next three were taken over an hour, it would get bright and then dark again.















Mom loves to point out the lizards everywhere







We stayed until about 5pm and then caught the boat to HS. I had gotten the room was ready text and we wanted to settle in the room before going to the party.

 

[Pinkocto]

We were quickly at HS







Very cool Frozen topiaries







And there was a bus to SSR waiting! Bus Magic at its finest.







In the bus at 5:43 and to SSR at 5:46.







We quickly checked in







Then collected our bags from bell services and rolled our bags the very short distance to room 4125 in The Springs. A perfect location for a one night stay. Our room was gorgeous, we couldn’t get over the size of it.













































































After admiring the room we wanted to throw in a load of laundry but there was no detergent. I’m used to at least one box of detergent in the 1 bedrooms… so we went in search of some and a movie for later that night. Mom also wanted to get some creamer for her coffee in the morning. So we did a loop up to the QS restaurant Artist Pallet, then down to the Community Hall for a movie, we ended up with The Village, and then next door to the laundry room for some detergent. I’m glad I took my whole wallet because the machine only took credit cards. Creamer, movie, and laundry detergent in hand we headed back to the room.



To be continued...

 

[rentayenta]

I am sorry I am so behind. Catching up now. Hope life is treating you well.

 

[franandaj]

I read this a couple days ago but didn't want to comment in case you were adding more updates. We play the lizard game too. Last trip we only saw 13 and 11 were on the last day on the way to check in our bags for the airport. The previous trip we saw like 123 of them!

We loved our 1 bedroom at SSR. For us it's just the right amount of space. Bummer they didn't give you detergent. I was so thrilled that they have switched to scent free detergent for the washers. Sounds like a relaxing day.

 

[rentayenta]

Hi lady. I am finally caught up.

Love your villa at SSR. I can't wait to stay there one day. We have stayed at the THV but not SSR proper. I also love the grounds.

Your grub at Sci Fi looks yum. I really like fried pickles but in ranch.

How are the boys doing?

 

[Pinkocto]

I am sorry I am so behind. Catching up now. Hope life is treating you well.

No worries, I've been super slow at updating. Life is good. I need to start applying for jobs. Never heard from Alaska...

Hi lady. I am finally caught up.

I thought with this trip not being very long that I would be able to do a TR super fast, but three more trips have come and gone in the mean time...

Love your villa at SSR. I can't wait to stay there one day. We have stayed at the THV but not SSR proper. I also love the grounds.

SSR is very nice, I just don't like how spread out it is. I don't like multiple bus stops in a single resort. But the proximity to DTD can't be beat!

Your grub at Sci Fi looks yum. I really like fried pickles but in ranch.

It's a fun restaurant. We won't go back for a few years, but it stays in the rotation. I'm sure I asked for ranch with the pickles, I'm the same way.

How are the boys doing?

The boys are little angels on earth! Learning the ground rules now that they're getting comfortable in their new place, but doing really well overall. Every day I can't wait to get home to be with them