Cheers to Character Cavalcades, Cocktails and Celebrations! 2/1 3 HUGE ANNOUNCEMENTS!!!

[Tracy161]

It's something we were planning on doing once we moved to Florida (in just a few more years, finger's crossed). But, one day we just decided to start it early to see if anyone would be interested...We had originally planned on just a Disney channel with a little St Pete thrown in but it has developed into so much more and at times, pushed us out of our comfort level, lol!

I'm so glad you started early! And just think--once you do move to Florida, you'll have had a jump start and already acquired a big following

 

[Terra Nova guy]

Joe and some girly drink with a glow cube in it, lol!

Although I prefer rum and coke, I will admit that I can enjoy a girly drink now and then.

 

[Jenny Sanders]

Hey! I know I told you the boys thought MMRR was ok but don't think I told you that I liked it a little bit better the 2nd time lol. Still not better than GMR but it grew on me a bit!

It is cute!!!

I'm so glad you started early! And just think--once you do move to Florida, you'll have had a jump start and already acquired a big following

That's kind of how we were looking at it. LOL!

Although I prefer rum and coke, I will admit that I can enjoy a girly drink now and then.

LOL! Joe's usually a whiskey guy, so this drink choice surprised me.

 

[Jenny Sanders]

Good evening! I feel like I’ve badly neglected this report and I’m so sorry. Writing has always been my first love, and it’s horrible that I’m still working on getting this out to you all 3 months later. Anyway, I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, although I know it was very different for a lot of us. We chose to ignore the immediate family only rule and had my mom over. There was just no way I could have her be alone the first holiday after my dad’s passing just 6 weeks ago...We did our best to social distance and used lots of hand sanitizer. I’m very happy with the decision we made. Life is short and family is precious. And quite frankly, I wanted my mom to be surrounded by the people who love her most. So if this is seen as a poor choice, then oh well. I won’t apologize for that.

On with Disney. This night was one of the best nights of the trip. We met up with @CruellaNY And Steve along with the very special @pepperandchips snd her hubby R. We started at Jock Lindseys. We sat out back and enjoyed a few drinks and apps. Ariane and I were unsure how we would feel about the next spot on the agenda in terms of food, so we felt we needed a few bar treats. After a great start to the night, we had reservations to get to at Jaleo. This was a new to me, Joe, Steve and Ariane restaurant and it turned out to be a huge success. We all had the special tasting menu. The girls split an amazing pitcher of sangria and I’m not sure what the men folk had, lol. Everything was fabulous. My favorite was the lettuce leaves with goat cheese, oranges and almonds.
We were sad when the evening came to an end. I think we closed down the back, outside patio. But don’t worry, we’d be seeing all these amazing friends again

 

[suse66]

Good evening! I feel like I’ve badly neglected this report and I’m so sorry. Writing has always been my first love, and it’s horrible that I’m still working on getting this out to you all 3 months later. Anyway, I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, although I know it was very different for a lot of us. We chose to ignore the immediate family only rule and had my mom over. There was just no way I could have her be alone the first holiday after my dad’s passing just 6 weeks ago...We did our best to social distance and used lots of hand sanitizer. I’m very happy with the decision we made. Life is short and family is precious. And quite frankly, I wanted my mom to be surrounded by the people who love her most. So if this is seen as a poor choice, then oh well. I won’t apologize for that.

You absolutely did the right thing! There is no way you could have left your sweet mom by herself! We are under the same restrictions here and are going to have Bill's sister over for Christmas anyways. Our premier (like your governor) has said that people living on their own can bubble with one other family. Governments have to think of peoples mental health. We may even have Jamie's girlfriend as they haven't seen each other in months but we'll have to see how that plays out.

In the meantime, don't worry about how often you can update. Life is busy and family comes first. You know all your Dis friends are here whenever you are. Hope you are doing well and staying safe.

 

[Tracy161]

There was just no way I could have her be alone the first holiday after my dad’s passing just 6 weeks ago...

There was no way you could have left your mom alone on that first holiday. I'm all about ensuring health and safety, but that would have been too awful for her to endure without you all and I'm glad you were able to make it happen

What a lovely evening with friends! And, no, I'm not surprised that you closed the place down

 

[missjackiemcg]

I would've done the same about having your Mom over for Thanksgiving! How awful if she would have had to be alone. You absolutely did the right thing.

An evening like this sounds amazing right about now!! Love all those happy faces

 

[Jenny Sanders]

You absolutely did the right thing! There is no way you could have left your sweet mom by herself! We are under the same restrictions here and are going to have Bill's sister over for Christmas anyways. Our premier (like your governor) has said that people living on their own can bubble with one other family. Governments have to think of peoples mental health. We may even have Jamie's girlfriend as they haven't seen each other in months but we'll have to see how that plays out.

In the meantime, don't worry about how often you can update. Life is busy and family comes first. You know all your Dis friends are here whenever you are. Hope you are doing well and staying safe.

I agree 100% Suse. These public officials aren't getting the full picture. The other thing that gets me is the governors and mayors here aren't following their own rules. Then they get caught out to dinner with no masks in a large group and offer half a** apologies...

There was no way you could have left your mom alone on that first holiday. I'm all about ensuring health and safety, but that would have been too awful for her to endure without you all and I'm glad you were able to make it happen

What a lovely evening with friends! And, no, I'm not surprised that you closed the place down

Hee! Hee! I think we all could have used a second pitcher of that sangria. It was so good.

I would've done the same about having your Mom over for Thanksgiving! How awful if she would have had to be alone. You absolutely did the right thing.

An evening like this sounds amazing right about now!! Love all those happy faces

Those friends are so awesome and I miss them horribly.

 

[Jenny Sanders]

Hi everyone! I totally forgot that before we left Hollywood Studios, Joe was lucky enough to build his own lightsaber at Savi's Workshop. This was an extremely cool experience and made even better because the capacity inside had been limited. I will insert our vlog below for anyone who may be interested in watching this amazing process. And yes, it was totally worth the price, lol!

 

[Jenny Sanders]

We Decorated for Christmas!!!

We did have to modify things a bit this year because of the cats, but I think it turned out pretty good...

 

[Tracy161]

I remember thinking when I watched your Christmas video on YouTube a couple days ago that I can so relate with my cat... As she chews on my tree (or anything else), I say "this is why we can't have nice things" But your house looks absolutely beautiful, even with the modifications!

I really enjoyed seeing Savi's Workshop! It's so nice to be able to preview these types of things to see if I want to do them myself someday (and the answer is nearly always yes )

 

[kittylady1972]

Ok first of all, love your Disney tree...it looks a lot like mine..but I don't have that cool Tinkerbell topper that now I feel like I NEED!

Second...I see the 'gate' you have up to keep the cats out...and that actually works? Because my cats...would just jump right over that! 2 of my 4 cats are free range with full run of the house, and I will say we do a real tree in the family room that they usually leave alone for the most part. The fake one in our "formal" living room...yeah pretty sure one of the cats randomly chews on that one and vomits up pieces of plastic. We will see how it goes this year. Heck the lights I put up in my bedroom window last night, where the other 2 cats are kept...my one cat kept trying to chew on the power cords for those. I finally decided I was tired of yelling...go ahead and chew...eventually that's going to be it's own punishment.

Even with the minimalist decor, the house looks lovely and I love that snowman globe/lamp at the end. Too cute!

 

[Jenny Sanders]

"this is why we can't have nice things"

My kids say this ALL the time, lol!

Second...I see the 'gate' you have up to keep the cats out...and that actually works?

Yes, it really works. We've had it there for a couple of years now. We had to put it up because old cat (Indy, who we had to put down) and Jack kept peeing in there. So I had the carpet cleaned and the gate went up. I'm sure I could probably take it down...

 

[suse66]

Hi everyone! I totally forgot that before we left Hollywood Studios, Joe was lucky enough to build his own lightsaber at Savi's Workshop. This was an extremely cool experience and made even better because the capacity inside had been limited. I will insert our vlog below for anyone who may be interested in watching this amazing process. And yes, it was totally worth the price, lol!

This is Jack's must do for our trip next summer so I was thrilled to see what it was like. Such a fun experience!

We did have to modify things a bit this year because of the cats, but I think it turned out pretty good...

It looks awesome!! Love the Tink tree topper and the Disney tree. Now that we have finished our basement I want to put a second tree down there and make it all Disney. We do a real tree in the living room and the cats leave it alone for the most part. They are not mischievous kittens though, more middle aged at 9 and 12. If I finally get my puppy it will be whole other story!

I also collect snowmen and think you should definitely do the garland and snowmen on the hutch.

 

[KathyM2]

Life is short and family is precious. And quite frankly, I wanted my mom to be surrounded by the people who love her most. So if this is seen as a poor choice, then oh well. I won’t apologize for that.

Totally agree with you here because you were being so careful. We are all having to make tough choices right now. Here they say that if you live alone you can choose to be with one other household. Since I'm the only adult in my house I do visit my parents and since we are all being careful all the time, we are hoping that will be ok. We will be having dinner with them for xmas but at two separate tables far apart from each other in their home. Hoping that will be ok. It's tough that we have to weigh the risks to be with loved ones and I'm not sure which is worse, taking a risk or the mental health risk of not seeing them for so long. Ugh. I hope this is all over soon.

Re: Jaleo, I've always wanted to go there too. I'm always with un adventurous eaters though who won't go near the place. I think I will have to take a solo trip if I ever want to try it!!

 

[CruellaNY]

his night was one of the best nights of the trip. We met up with @CruellaNY And Steve along with the very special @pepperandchips snd her hubby R.

Yes it was! I probably would still think it was one of the best nights of the trip if we didn't end up liking Jaleo but the fact that we did was a huge bonus. And that sangria was fantastic! Remembering it makes me want February to get here faster!

 

[Wood Nymph]

We only had our "virus pod" for Thanksgiving. Our pod includes our daughter and her family and my two sisters who we see frequently. They are very careful to stay safe. None of the out of town guests came this year, which was a relief that they made the decision to stay home. It would have been very awkward to tell someone that we didn't want them to come this year. It has been 10 days since we met for Thanksgiving and everyone is still healthy.

It must be hard to wait until February for your next trip.

 

[Jenny Sanders]

This is Jack's must do for our trip next summer so I was thrilled to see what it was like. Such a fun experience!

Yes! Definitely book it. It was a great experience.

Re: Jaleo, I've always wanted to go there too. I'm always with un adventurous eaters though who won't go near the place. I think I will have to take a solo trip if I ever want to try it!!

Ariane and I were pleasantly surprised. We really liked it.

Yes it was! I probably would still think it was one of the best nights of the trip if we didn't end up liking Jaleo but the fact that we did was a huge bonus. And that sangria was fantastic! Remembering it makes me want February to get here faster!

Joe and I have no problem if you want to eat there again in Feb.

It must be hard to wait until February for your next trip.

It is VERY hard!!!!

 

[Jenny Sanders]

We Go Back to the Grand Floridian Cafe!

GFC has become a place we visit every trip. We went through a bit of a rough spell a little over a year ago and I was pretty convinced we wouldn't go back. I'm so happy we gave it another shot earlier this year. The food and service have been amazing. We also have plans to go back next year. But, that's news I will share at another time...

We were seated at the same spot we sat at in July which was pretty cool. We sat by a window with a lovely view of the courtyard. We placed our drink orders and our server brought us those delicious biscuits with the citrus butter that I am currently wishing I had right now to put on my croissant...I had tea and Joe had a coffee and I believe a glass of OJ. I think I had apple juice too.
For our entrees, I had a Mickey waffle with bacon and Joe had the avocado toast. Both were so good and the perfect way to start the day. Oh, we also had the same server as July. She was so sweet and I'm so sorry I can't remember her name. I do remember that she has been working for Disney for a very long time, and It was obvious by how well she did her job.

We walked around a little bit after our meal, took a drive to the outlet mall on Vineland, and then ended up at one of our favorite spots in all of WDW...

 

[Jenny Sanders]

Grand Floridian Cafe!