Antics of the Orange Banded Monkeys: Heartbreaking News June 2017

[natebenma]

I can't wait to see how the trip turned out... and I was there.

~NM

Chim Chim!

The great thing about creative writing is that I can make the trip better than it was!

Although you can't make up some of the incidents that happened.

Thanks for the laughs!

Thank you Dee.

You are welcome, my friend!

Signing on. (But like always, I'm way behind on your other trip reports!)

Glenn!

So glad to have you here.

No worries about being behind on my other reports. I am too!

This is going to be the Best One Yet!!!

Thanks for joining in.

There are definitely some classic pictures and stories to be shared!

Yay! Can't wait to hear every gory detail of your antics!

Nothing will be censored! Well, maybe some things. Disney nixed our photos on Spaceship Earth and there is a photo I will need to get moderator permission to see if I can post it. And that's not even the one from Morocco!

 

[natebenma]

Yay, the trip report begins! Can't wait to read along.

A very nice beginning and tribute to Bob.

As you know, you get your own special shout-out in this report.

What Teena wrote was beautiful. I am so glad I had the pictures to share from some of Bob's happy moments with his cherished family.

Thanks. We'll be here waiting.
Katesdad

aboard!

We can't wait to share our trip.

Dee - wonderful tribute to Bob.

Teena - can't wait to finally meet you in November but you will continue to be in our thoughts and prayers.

To the Orange Banded Monkeys - I fastened my seat belt...let's go!!!

Thank you so much! Teena's family is our family.

Smart move- buckle up indeed!

Made it
Teena's beautiful tribute to Bob made me tear up (again).
Excited to read about the escapades of you monkeys. I'm sure there will be much fun, laughter and more than a few years along the way

friend!

We will definitely be recounting tales of laughter, tears, terror and downright disbelief.

And hopefully we will find the answer to the question- "Who is crazier? NinjaMom or the 3 monkeys who agreed to travel with her?"

Signing up. Let's get this report finished before the next meet

I'll do my best to keep this moving along.

I can't wait to read about all the parts that I missed - which is most of it.

It was really great to meet you and your DH.

You should probably be thankful for what you missed. Had you come over to the YC sooner, I'm sure we could have scrounged up a bathing cap or two for you and your DH! Our SAB Synchronized Pool Tube Team is co-ed.

Can't wait to hear more about the trip!! Love it so far, sounds like a fantastic time!

Thank you!

This trip will cover a full range of emotions. We are glad you are here to join us.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Had you come over to the YC sooner, I'm sure we could have scrounged up a bathing cap or two for you and your DH! Our SAB Synchronized Pool Tube Team is co-ed.

Then I really planned this trip right.

 

[pas130]

Fashionably late, but I am here Teena and her girls remain in my thoughts. She is a special lady and I was so sad to hear about Bob. Wonderful tribute. You and the other DISers on the BC/YC thread are wonderful, and I am looking forward to the antics! Again, very sorry we missed each other.

 

[annie170]

I'm in and can't wait to read all about it!

That was such a nice tribute to Bob. Teena and her family are in my thoughts and prayers.

 

[tarak]

Awesome beginning! A lovely tribute to Bob. It made me tear up again.

Can't wait to read all about your trip!

 

[rteetz]

Great tribute to Bob!

Can't wait to hear about the adventures of the Orange banded monkeys!

 

[natebenma]

Fashionably late, but I am here Teena and her girls remain in my thoughts. She is a special lady and I was so sad to hear about Bob. Wonderful tribute. You and the other DISers on the BC/YC thread are wonderful, and I am looking forward to the antics! Again, very sorry we missed each other.

Not late at all! We are just getting started.

Thanks for the kind words. We all think the world of Teena and our hearts have been breaking for her and her family.

I am so hoping we are able to run into each other on a future trip!

I'm in and can't wait to read all about it!

That was such a nice tribute to Bob. Teena and her family are in my thoughts and prayers.

Thank you for being here and for your kind words!

Awesome beginning! A lovely tribute to Bob. It made me tear up again.

Can't wait to read all about your trip!

I am still in disbelief about Bob. So sad.

We missed you this year! (And not just the Kisses.)

I know you would have proudly participated in some of our antics.

Great tribute to Bob!

Can't wait to hear about the adventures of the Orange banded monkeys!

Thank you!

Can't wait to share our antics with you !

 

[Ninja Mom]

Chim Chim!

The great thing about creative writing is that I can make the trip better than it was!

Although you can't make up some of the incidents that happened.

Thanks for the laughs!


Snip!

Nothing will be censored! Well, maybe some things. Disney nixed our photos on Spaceship Earth and there is a photo I will need to get moderator permission to see if I can post it. And that's not even the one from Morocco!

I reserve the right to embellish your embellishments with this trip report AND I think that THE "Psycho" photo will be just fine with no problem from the Moderators.

The one that I can't wait to see is the chair one over by the Yacht club elevators. Like Ricky said to Lucy: "You've got a lot of 'splaining to do!"

~NM

 

[teekathepony]

Very happy to be here at the beginning of this one Dee! What a lovely tribute to Bob, you've got me teary-eyed at work. Sounds like a much-loved man.

 

[natebenma]

I reserve the right to embellish your embellishments with this trip report AND I think that THE "Psycho" photo will be just fine with no problem from the Moderators.

The one that I can't wait to see is the chair one over by the Yacht club elevators. Like Ricky said to Lucy: "You've got a lot of 'splaining to do!"

~NM

Good to have some extra writers and creative juices!

I finally went through all of my photos from the trip. I'll send you the YC "manager in training" ones. It will be a couple more updates before we get there.

Very happy to be here at the beginning of this one Dee! What a lovely tribute to Bob, you've got me teary-eyed at work. Sounds like a much-loved man.

Great to have you here!

Bob's passing is a huge loss to his family, and to our extended Beach & Yacht Club family as well.

 

[natebenma]

Who is this "Erika" threatening to crash our party?


As our trip was approaching the monkeys were monitoring the news from the tropics. Well, most of the monkeys. Chim Chim was blissfully unaware that a potential hurricane/tropical storm was threatening to crash our party.


There was much discussion on the Beach and Yacht Club FAQ board about the impending storm Erika and the ways that different people deal with wet weather at Disney.

At the time of these discussions, I was already in Orlando, over at the Darkside, getting my weather news from the FAQ thread.


Bubbles:

Hmmm... poncho or umbrella??? I don't really do ponchos... so I'm thinking umbrella which will be useless in a hurricane! Maybe i should just pack a shot glass and call it a day. Back to packing...

~N

Rafiki:

Going poncho. Also packing an umbrella...

Abu:

We got some $5 ponchos at the sporting goods store that must not be named. "Richards"

Chim Chim:

All this talk of rain has me thinking that you all are leaving out the best strategy for dealing with it.

I too am not a fan of dealing with soggy ponchos or umbrellas. Jackets are too hot for the heat of summer so when it rains I just ditch everything and go nekked. The advantages are that you dry off a LOT quicker and everybody gets out of your way everywhere you go, even in line. The downside is that you have to be fast enough to outrun security, which at my age, can be a major challenge.

~NM

To ~NM... no words.

~N

No words! I don't think the 4 of us are going to shut up the whole time we are together!

~NM

Yea... I don't think there will be any sleep... Especially IF Erica decides to crash our party!! Good thing we know a good bar!!

~N

Which Erica is crashing our vacation (And more importantly, will she run nekked in the rain with us??) And why do you need to pick up luggage if we are doing this trip "Au Naturale"?

Sorry I'm not keeping up with these developments, I've been busy packing the luggage I am not taking.

~NM

ALL CHECKED IN!!! SW A23 WOOHOOO!!! Monkeys are coming Monkeys are coming!!! Can't wait... time to iron and pack! Should arrive by 12:30-1... Question is should I pick up my own luggage like Rebecca OR should I use that amazing yellow tag Ninja sent me?!?!?! What to do what to do!!

~N

SEE! This is just another reason to use Ninja Mom's GO NEKKED method of dealing with the rain. I'm going to be foot loose, pants loose and shirt loose for my next trip. I ain't worried 'bout no stinkin hurricane! That storm should be worried about ME!

~NM

Maybe I should have Fed Exd some Nola Hurricane mix, addressed to The Nekked Ladies of The Solarium ......

Now on to the next dilemma... to bring the camera stuff or not... NM care to weigh in on this one??!?!!?

~N

I'm bringing my camera but it's a waterproof one. We have to take the Synchronized Pool Tube Team picture for the Olympic yearbook.

Who is this Erica chick that might be there the same time as us? Is It Erika Murphy ( hopeful look!) ???

When Chim Chim posted this message, we assumed she was kidding around and was fully aware of the possibility of Erika, the storm.


She wasn’t.

One could hope it's Erika... Anyway I've decided that after the last 11 months that i've had.. I'm nixing the camera for this trip. I have a water proof cover for it, but I just want to do not a lot of anything that requires me to think...I'll use my phone if I want pics or I'll just take yours I have to bring my comp for work.... as much as I don't want to do that. But just incase someone needs something...

~N

And now, time for some good news!

Watching Weather Channel just now, and they said it's "Very interesting how this thing (Erika) is just breaking apart." They showed a map with winds of only 40-45 miles per hour early Monday and Tuesday over central Florida.

If the weather channel just read this thread they would understand things. Erika is very much afraid of what will be happening when NinjaMom and her monkey friends arrive at the BC, so Erika is running away!

More good news...from National Hurricane Center:

Special Message from NHC Issued 29 Aug 2015 12:54 UTC

Erika has dissipated as a tropical cyclone. NHC will issue a Special Advisory shortly. Tropical storm watches/warnings being discontinued.

Do you really think "Erica" would mess with Dee and Ninja Mom and the gang of crazy women????? Really????? She is running away as fast as possible!

Darn tooting that wimp of a storm is scared of us! I huffed and I puffed and I blew that storm AWAY! The only problem is that we are back to our regularly scheduled Florida thunderstorms. It's a good thing my Disney poncho is opaque so my drip dry nekked butt is tough to see.

I don't think it was until Chim Chim and Rafiki actually met face to face that Chim Chim understood that the Erika we were discussing was the hurricane, not a person. But for continuity sake, Rafiki responded on the board.

Erika is/was a tropical storm heading towards Florida.....the storm is named Erika. I think her last name is Storm...

Ohhh.... I get it..... FINALLY!

There may have been a couple of good-natured incidences where we made fun of Chim Chim's cluelessness.

That's the way we monkeys roll!


Next Up: Antics Before Abu

 

[natebenma]

Antics Before Abu


Saturday August 29:

This part of the trip is reported by Chim Chim, in her blog-worthy post on the FAQ board. I was still over at the Theme Park Which Must Not Be Named, waiting to ditch- ahem- bid farewell to my family later that afternoon.


Rafiki and I met at the magical express area at the airport. Using my special skills I imitated a Chimpanzee call to alert her to my presence. We hopped on the bus and made our way to the resort.

Welcome Home Selfie


Check in was a breeze with a very helpful CM who worked hard to make sure our requests were matched as close to what was available room wise.

Our room was not ready but that was fine with us because we stashed our carry-ons at bell services and hit the marketplace for some goodies. Then we UBER-ED it to Walmart so we could stock up on wine, pool noodles and room snacks.

Bad Monkey!
"Rebecca won't buy me a toy because she said I was bad!"


Next we Uber-ed it back to the BC. We found that using Uber cut our trip cost in half! Bye bye Mears taxi as we are now Uber converts!

We stashed our booze with bell services and we were off to change for the pool!

After getting changed, we floated around the lazy river occasionally screaming out the names of the missing members of our group to see if they had finally arrived. This is how we found Nannette!


Now we were off to Hurricane Hannah's to drown our sorrows in Sunken Treasures and Pork sliders with a side of flies, or was that fries? It was hard to tell because this is when Buzzy the fly did a drive by to say hi.

"Dee, Get your monkey butt over here!"

"We found some friends at the bar."


Nannette, Hockey Mom and I finally got the text that our room was ready. Off we went to get settled in but we were still missing Dee who was ditching her family over on the dark side (Universal).


Next Up: Abu Arrives- "Guess the Room Number!"

 

[Wood Nymph]

I love the way you recapped the discussions about Erika. I was worried about the weather, too, but nothing was going to stop us from coming down to Florida for this weekend.

 

[natebenma]

Abu Arrives: "Guess the Room Number!"

Saturday August 29, 4 pm


Meanwhile, over at the Dark Side- Abu and my family were waiting for our ride (Ed Korgan Travel). Ed would be dropping me off at the Beach Club and then continuing on with Mark, Nate and Ben to the airport for their 7:30 flight.

We hung out in the Hard Rock lounge, and like we had done on a rainy night on our February trip, we ordered some snacks and drinks from the lounge bar.

Potstickers

Fried Alligator Tail

From Ninja:

Nannette, Hockey Mom and I finally got the text that our room was ready. Off we went to get settled in but we were still missing Dee who was ditching her family over on the dark side (Universal). We were being mean to her and making her puzzle out the room number from the clues we were texting her. Never fear because Dee is one of the sharper knives in the drawer and she soon figured out where we were!


Our ride arrived and I received a series of unhelpful texts from my “friends”

Rafiki: “If you can guess the room number Dee, we will let you in”

Abu: “3582. What do I win? Hopefully a daybed as a prize”

R: “Think again. There is no daybed in the room for you.”

A: “3606? Is it third floor? (Wishful thinking on the room number)

Bubbles: “Try 2nd floor”

B: “Also since you are last to arrive you get Rebecca’s air bed” (for the record, there was a daybed, and my monkeys were kind enough to give me one of the queens to myself. Spoiler Alert: All the better for a fashion show)

B: “I can’t really help you with the room number since I don’t know it myself”

A: “2541? Higher or Lower? Or should I just start shouting your names in the hallways when I get there?”

B: That’s what Ninja did while I was roaming around SAB looking for them!!! Just start shouting names!” (True story about SAB)

R: “Higher”

A: “Odd or Even? 2666?”

B: “Are you even in the building yet? Actually you have a Magic Band and the room is on the 2nd floor. Just try them all until one opens”

A: “I don’t have my band. Rebecca has it.”

B: “Uh-Oh!”

B: “Also it’s not 2592 or 96 so it must be in between”


OK, granted, this should have been the clue that I needed, but at that point I was frustrated with the game. And I was in the car with my family and they were tense about their ride to the airport.

And I was looking for this:

And this:

When I arrived, I was greeted by BC CM E “Welcome Home! Are you checking in?”


I told her yes, but my friends have already checked in and they are teasing me and won’t give me my room number!


CM E: “What? They don’t know their room number?”

A: “No, they are in the room. They won’t tell me where it is. They told me to try my Magic Band and use it on all of the rooms on the 2nd floor but I don’t have my band”


We went thought an Abbott and Costello routine for a little bit and although E thought my story was a little sketchy, when I gave her the reservation name and info, she (somewhat reluctantly) gave me the room number.


4:41 pm

A: “Here! Coming up to room 2594”

They thought I successfully deciphered their clues, but I admitted to cheating and using a sympathetic cast member.


Together at last, the monkeys got ready for dinner.

Next Up: Orange Banded Monkeys go to the Zoo. BlueZoo.

 

[Wood Nymph]

That room is close to the room we had in March of 2014 - room 2582. It was really convenient to the lobby - just up the stairs, through the maze of hallways, and there you are. We really liked the location.

 

[natebenma]

I love the way you recapped the discussions about Erika. I was worried about the weather, too, but nothing was going to stop us from coming down to Florida for this weekend.

We got a lot of mileage out of the fact that Ninja did not know who "Erika" was!

There was a lot more discussion about whether and suggestions about where to purchase ponchos on the thread.

I'm so glad that the weather turned out the way it did. Much ado about nothing!

But it did get you to move over to the YC, so that was good.

That room is close to the room we had in March of 2014 - room 2582. It was really convenient to the lobby - just up the stairs, through the maze of hallways, and there you are. We really liked the location.

We really liked the room and the location. We had a full balcony and a daybed. Easy to get to the lobby and to the secret entrance/exit.

I have to admit that the hallways did confuse me. I am directionally challenged and if I didn't pay attention to the signs listing the rooms numbers, I got lost. There was one time I made a full loop without finding the room. Stone-cold sober too. But that is just me.

 

[Pinkgirl]

So pleased you were able to catch up with the noodles.

Uber does sound like it works really well.

Plenty of Sunken Treasures

 

[pas130]

Loving it so far, and I am sure the CM in the lobby was like...waitttt...WHAT????? I love the Walmart pics

 

[rteetz]

I'm glad Erika dissipated and didn't disturb your trip at all.

Uber seems to be the way to go these days.

I can't wait to experience BC in January.