DIS Dads DDC XXXIV: The Original Home Of The DISDads!!!

[that's nice]

Thanks CJ.

Mike, there is no cancellation charge with dvc. If outside 31 days, points return to UY. If within 30 days, then they become "holding points" and you can't book until 2 months out before check in date (or bank/borrow/transfer). If cancel within 1 day, then I think you lose points.

But, Vero Beach Resort is now closed, along with Hilton Head and Ft. Wilderness. We cancelled the trip. DVC said there is no charge and the points would be returned to regular status within a 24-72 hours. They are currently in holding status on website. Hopefully, that will change or I'll call back to argue with them. I can't imagine Disney would try to tow a hard line on this one when the actual resort is closed.

If they stay in holding, then I'll just stay wherever available this summer. Usually, SSR has openings. And, since it is summer, the dds are out of school and schedule is flexible.

It sounds like a big storm. Prayers for CJ, Oscar, John, Chad, Jeff, Trevor, Adam, the other Florida disdads I missed, and all those impacted by this storm.

Norm, from everything I've read, DVC will be changing these points back to 'normal' points. They are doing the best they can under the circumstances. I'd just keep records of everything, including who you spoke to and times, in case there is an issue with your points. Sorry you had to cancel the trip but it's safer for you not to be there.

Glad you were able to cancel and I am sure the points will be taken out of holding and put into your account.

We are mostly prepared. Left a couple of the shutters open to let in some ambient light and will close them tomorrow. Some stuff still in the yard that the kid will put away when she gets home. As of now, we will be getting tropical storm winds (49-74 MPH) Broward and the rest of the coast will be getting hurricane force winds. Our lot has a ton of trees on it and if they stay up, we should make it through OK. Probably will lose power at some point. Been through more than a few of these. School is cancelled for Thursday and Friday and the Pirate Princess's campus is closed. She will be weathering the storm with friends near the campus so she can "study" with them while school is closed. Imagine they will have a hurricane party.

I feel for the people north of us that will get hit a lot worse.

Stay safe there buddy. Keep us updated on your situation.

 

[cj9200]

Up involuntarily at 4:00. Nothing to do but wait and I am totally bored. Kind of hope it stays that way.

Oh, if you are in Melbourne Beach, you are screwed. Jim Cantore showed up there.

 

[scott2997]

Up involuntarily at 4:00. Nothing to do but wait and I am totally bored. Kind of hope it stays that way.

Oh, if you are in Melbourne Beach, you are screwed. Jim Cantore showed up there.

Stay safe CJ - and any other Dads in Florida or the affected areas!

Sorry to hear about the trip cancellation Norm. I'm sure DVC will take care of you on your points.

Happy Friday Eve gentlemen!

 

[budamacdvcr]

Top O the Mornin Dads! Again, to any of the Dads and their family and friends in the line of this storm stay safe.

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

Oh, if you are in Melbourne Beach, you are screwed. Jim Cantore showed up there.

Bless their hearts...


No, Really....
That's some bad mojo, there.

 

[declansdad]

Morning Gents.

Hoping all of you in the path of the storm are safe.

 

[londontime]

Up involuntarily at 4:00. Nothing to do but wait and I am totally bored. Kind of hope it stays that way.

Let's hope so mate. Good luck over there.

 

[afwdwfan]

Up involuntarily at 4:00. Nothing to do but wait and I am totally bored. Kind of hope it stays that way.

Oh, if you are in Melbourne Beach, you are screwed. Jim Cantore showed up there.

I hope you're still bored.

As for Jim Cantore, he always makes it look like he's in the middle of the $#!t storm, but somehow he's never blown away or drowned. So I'd say you're safe in his presence.

 

[Terra Nova guy]

Up involuntarily at 4:00. Nothing to do but wait and I am totally bored. Kind of hope it stays that way.

To you CJ and all other Florida DisDads, good luck and stay safe.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Up involuntarily at 4:00. Nothing to do but wait and I am totally bored. Kind of hope it stays that way.

Oh, if you are in Melbourne Beach, you are screwed. Jim Cantore showed up there.

To echo everyone else, keep your head down! Leave Cantore to fend for himself.

 

[londontime]

Kind of hope it stays that way

Agreed. But on a positive note, it could flatten Tony's Town Square....

 

[cj9200]

Quick update. So far so good, a few bands with wind and rain. This sucker is so big that it will be late tonight before we are all clear. We might have stronger gusts and more rain as it approaches West Palm in a few hours. If you are in the way of this thing, be careful.

Agreed. But on a positive note, it could flatten Tony's Town Square....

Now that would be worth it.

 

[AirGoofy]

Norm, from everything I've read, DVC will be changing these points back to 'normal' points. They are doing the best they can under the circumstances. I'd just keep records of everything, including who you spoke to and times, in case there is an issue with your points. Sorry you had to cancel the trip but it's safer for you not to be there.
.

Sorry to hear about the trip cancellation Norm. I'm sure DVC will take care of you on your points.

!

Thanks guys. I'm sure DVC will make it right. They have more important things to do right now.

Agreed. But on a positive note, it could flatten Tony's Town Square....

We went to Tony's on our honeymoon 16 years ago. Sucked then. I've thought about taking dds to try it, but it always gets bad reviews.

 

[pkondz]

Quick update. So far so good, a few bands with wind and rain. This sucker is so big that it will be late tonight before we are all clear. We might have stronger gusts and more rain as it approaches West Palm in a few hours. If you are in the way of this thing, be careful.

Stay safe, dude.


I've been to Tony's a couple of times. Stick to the spaghetti. It's not great, but it's okay. And the ambiance is fun.

 

[cj9200]

Hope I am not jinxing it but it looks like we dodged a bullet. The bands are originating in West Palm and by the time they come here, they are mostly spent. It stayed further east so Ft. Lauderdale and even W. Palm did not get hit as much as was expected. Really feel for the people of Haiti and the Bahamas. Could be us.

Guys in its path, take every precaution. We were lucky because this is one bad boy, close to Andrew in strength but Andrew just cut across Florida. If they tell you to get out, get out. Good luck and stay safe.

 

[declansdad]

Hope I am not jinxing it but it looks like we dodged a bullet. The bands are originating in West Palm and by the time they come here, they are mostly spent. It stayed further east so Ft. Lauderdale and even W. Palm did not get hit as much as was expected. Really feel for the people of Haiti and the Bahamas. Could be us.

Guys in its path, take every precaution. We were lucky because this is one bad boy, close to Andrew in strength but Andrew just cut across Florida. If they tell you to get out, get out. Good luck and stay safe.

Glad to hear things seem to be good Cj. Hope that everyone else stays safe as well.

 

[londontime]

As for Jim Cantore, he always makes it look like he's in the middle of the $#!t storm

I always thought he was like the Grim Reaper in a poncho

 

[declansdad]

Happy Friday All.


I heard that the Hurricane was downgraded to category 3 this morning. Hope all of you in the path are still safe and sound.

 

[Terra Nova guy]

Morning all. So, earlier in this week I was flying home from my job overseas. (I actually work in southeast Asia on a month-on-month-off rotation. Yes, it's a bit crazy, but I get 6 months of the year off, so that's the up side.) I usually end up flying some different routes and sometimes have long layovers. This time I had 9 hours to kill in Singapore, so if anyone is interested and as a little diversion for you, may I present:

A Singapore Gardens by the Bay Mini-Trip Report - October 3, 2016

I have been to Singpore a few times before, but not in a couple years. I did most of the main tourist attractions before, but one thing I hadn't done was something called Gardens by the Bay. So I decided that would be a good way to spend a few hours. I hopped on the MRT (train) from Changi airport and about half an hour later I got off at Bayfront station and walked to the gardens.



The first thing you see are these "trees". They call it "Supertree Grove" and for a fee you could go up to the suspended walkway. But I thought I might do that later. Since the temperature was about 33C/90F and very humid, I didn't want to stay outside too much. I did stop long enough to take a bad selfie, just to prove I was there.




Here's a better picture of where I was headed.



On the left is the Singapore Flyer. It seems every big city needs a ferris wheel these days. You can see a little of the city in the background. These gardens are across the bay from downtown Singapore, but you can't see too much of the city skyline from there. On the right are the greenhouses, called the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest, where the temperature inside is much more pleasant, which sounded great to me.




Inside the Cloud Forest greenhouse entrance were some refreshing waterfalls. Behind these was a network of walkways that brought you behind and above the falls.




There were a few Asian inspired carvings/statues along the way. I believe this is a Chinese dragon.




These carvings seemed a bit more Polynesian in style. I'm not sure what to say about the guy on the right. Let's just say that I may have had statue envy, and move along...




Along the walkways there were plenty of flowers and plants. Unfortunately, I am not a gardener, so I could not fully appreciate them, but they were pretty.




Moving into the Flower Dome, immediately recognized the baobabs. Of course then I wished I could be on safari at Animal Kingdom.




They had an African theme to the flowers along with some artwork.




After spending about 90 minutes walking through the greenhouses, I went back out to Supertree Grove. I considered paying to go up in the walkway, but I figured it would be the same view, just a bit higher up, so I just walked back towards the train station. I did consider going into the Marina Bay Sands casino, which is behind the trees above. But I have never spent much time in a casino and didn't feel like starting now. So I just headed back to the airport and waited for my flight. All in all, not a bad way to spend a few hours.

 

[declansdad]

Morning all. So, earlier in this week I was flying home from my job overseas. (I actually work in southeast Asia on a month-on-month-off rotation. Yes, it's a bit crazy, but I get 6 months of the year off, so that's the up side.) I usually end up flying some different routes and sometimes have long layovers. This time I had 9 hours to kill in Singapore, so if anyone is interested and as a little diversion for you, may I present:

A Singapore Gardens by the Bay Mini-Trip Report - October 3, 2016

I have been to Singpore a few times before, but not in a couple years. I did most of the main tourist attractions before, but one thing I hadn't done was something called Gardens by the Bay. So I decided that would be a good way to spend a few hours. I hopped on the MRT (train) from Changi airport and about half an hour later I got off at Bayfront station and walked to the gardens.

View attachment 199487

The first thing you see are these "trees". They call it "Supertree Grove" and for a fee you could go up to the suspended walkway. But I thought I might do that later. Since the temperature was about 33C/90F and very humid, I didn't want to stay outside too much. I did stop long enough to take a bad selfie, just to prove I was there.

View attachment 199488


Here's a better picture of where I was headed.

View attachment 199491

On the left is the Singapore Flyer. It seems every big city needs a ferris wheel these days. You can see a little of the city in the background. These gardens are across the bay from downtown Singapore, but you can't see too much of the city skyline from there. On the right are the greenhouses, called the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest, where the temperature inside is much more pleasant, which sounded great to me.


View attachment 199492

Inside the Cloud Forest greenhouse entrance were some refreshing waterfalls. Behind these was a network of walkways that brought you behind and above the falls.


View attachment 199493

There were a few Asian inspired carvings/statues along the way. I believe this is a Chinese dragon.


View attachment 199494

These carvings seemed a bit more Polynesian in style. I'm not sure what to say about the guy on the right. Let's just say that I may have had statue envy, and move along...


View attachment 199496

Along the walkways there were plenty of flowers and plants. Unfortunately, I am not a gardener, so I could not fully appreciate them, but they were pretty.


View attachment 199499

Moving into the Flower Dome, immediately recognized the baobabs. Of course then I wished I could be on safari at Animal Kingdom.


View attachment 199502

They had an African theme to the flowers along with some artwork.


View attachment 199503

After spending about 90 minutes walking through the greenhouses, I went back out to Supertree Grove. I considered paying to go up in the walkway, but I figured it would be the same view, just a bit higher up, so I just walked back towards the train station. I did consider going into the Marina Bay Sands casino, which is behind the trees above. But I have never spent much time in a casino and didn't feel like starting now. So I just headed back to the airport and waited for my flight. All in all, not a bad way to spend a few hours.

Very cool!

What is it that you do that takes you to places like this?