"For 2,000+ Mile Round-Trip Drivers Only!" (Part V)

[dvczerfs]

Can’t wait to hear about your trip!
Have a great time

We left this morning around 3am, arrived at the Grand at 5:25 and was in our room by 6:15. DD drove today, I didn’t have to at all. Lol
Its beautiful down here! Even wearing a mask, it not bad at all.
The parks were more crowed than I expected. There is no way that’s 35 percent but who am I. Had dinner at Teppen Edo tonight.
Got on spaceship earth. I was never so happy to ride spaceship earth.lol
Its just great being here again!
oh, the building they have been building for 30 years on i4....... never looked so beautiful.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

We left this morning around 3am, arrived at the Grand at 5:25 and was in our room by 6:15. DD drove today, I didn’t have to at all. Lol
Its beautiful down here! Even wearing a mask, it not bad at all.
The parks were more crowed than I expected. There is no way that’s 35 percent but who am I. Had dinner at Teppen Edo tonight.
Got on spaceship earth. I was never so happy to ride spaceship earth.lol
Its just great being here again!
oh, the building they have been building for 30 years on i4....... never looked so beautiful.

That’s exactly how I felt.... 35%???
It was beautiful last week. We did have a couple of rainy days but who cares when it’s 75 degrees!!!
my DH said we are never driving down in February again. We hit terrible weather both down and would have been back but we left the next day instead. Some bad accidents too but no traffic.

 

[bluezy]

That’s exactly how I felt.... 35%???
It was beautiful last week. We did have a couple of rainy days but who cares when it’s 75 degrees!!!
my DH said we are never driving down in February again. We hit terrible weather both down and would have been back but we left the next day instead. Some bad accidents too but no traffic.

I've read a few blogs/articles about this -- people saying the parks feel crowded even though they are at a reduced capacity. The 2 common bits of information in all of the articles were:

1. There are fewer attractions, shows, restaurants open so even though there are fewer people in the parks, there are fewer places for them to be so the the things that are operational *are* crowded. You also have lines for attractions and restaurants that are far more spread out than they used to be and that keeps the lines of people out in the open and more obvious.

2. Since Disney doesn't release specific daily attendance numbers, we don't have anything to truly compare the "reduced capacity" to. It's been estimated by some bloggers/writers who go to the parks weekly that it's very likely that during slower times of the year (I know those days are few and far between now) that a normal crowd is less than 35% of capacity. Many people read that capacity is limited to 35% and think "35% of the normal attendance" and that's not accurate. The reality is that other than a few specific holidays throughout the year, the parks are always at far less than 100% capacity. So being at 35% capacity now could still be close what "normal" capacity is for this time of year.

 

[dvczerfs]

I've read a few blogs/articles about this -- people saying the parks feel crowded even though they are at a reduced capacity. The 2 common bits of information in all of the articles were:

1. There are fewer attractions, shows, restaurants open so even though there are fewer people in the parks, there are fewer places for them to be so the the things that are operational *are* crowded. You also have lines for attractions and restaurants that are far more spread out than they used to be and that keeps the lines of people out in the open and more obvious.

2. Since Disney doesn't release specific daily attendance numbers, we don't have anything to truly compare the "reduced capacity" to. It's been estimated by some bloggers/writers who go to the parks weekly that it's very likely that during slower times of the year (I know those days are few and far between now) that a normal crowd is less than 35% of capacity. Many people read that capacity is limited to 35% and think "35% of the normal attendance" and that's not accurate. The reality is that other than a few specific holidays throughout the year, the parks are always at far less than 100% capacity. So being at 35% capacity now could still be close what "normal" capacity is for this time of year.

Driving around today on property, even for a Saturday where a lot of locals are coming to the parks, there is very little traffic on the roads. You have to look for Disney buses. Before, they were all over.
We were at the Poly tonight and it was so weird, empty. Usually tons of people and you could hear crickets.
The Magic Kingdom looked like a lot of people, they say a lot of locals on the weekend but the parking lot didn’t have that many cars compared to before.
lines to everything look long but people are all spread out.
Ive been to the Magic Kingdom when it hit capacity and you are literally shoulder to shoulder. I think for me, I had this vision of the place being empty,.lol
Im just glad it’s open, also some Cms that we have got to know over the years are back to work. Maybe not where they were and under the ideal conditions, but just glad to see them back and working.

 

[bluezy]

Driving around today on property, even for a Saturday where a lot of locals are coming to the parks, there is very little traffic on the roads. You have to look for Disney buses. Before, they were all over.
We were at the Poly tonight and it was so weird, empty. Usually tons of people and you could hear crickets.
The Magic Kingdom looked like a lot of people, they say a lot of locals on the weekend but the parking lot didn’t have that many cars compared to before.
lines to everything look long but people are all spread out.
Ive been to the Magic Kingdom when it hit capacity and you are literally shoulder to shoulder. I think for me, I had this vision of the place being empty,.lol
Im just glad it’s open, also some Cms that we have got to know over the years are back to work. Maybe not where they were and under the ideal conditions, but just glad to see them back and working.

One of the bloggers literally said that the only people who are going to feel like the parks are somewhat empty are the people who normally go over holidays and spring break when parks are much closer to capacity than any other day of the year.

We have a trip on the books for June but it's looking more and more like we're going to have to push that trip to June 2022 (for a whole host of reasons). I'm disappointed (we had to cancel 3 trips in 2020) but I'm looking forward to being there during the 50th anniversary celebration.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[dvczerfs]

One of the bloggers literally said that the only people who are going to feel like the parks are somewhat empty are the people who normally go over holidays and spring break when parks are much closer to capacity than any other day of the year.

We have a trip on the books for June but it's looking more and more like we're going to have to push that trip to June 2022 (for a whole host of reasons). I'm disappointed (we had to cancel 3 trips in 2020) but I'm looking forward to being there during the 50th anniversary celebration.

Enjoy your trip!

We were at the MK today and It is really odd. If you look around you see a lot of people. The line for the Haunted Mansion was all the way past the river boat. You wind around but you never stop moving. Your on the ride in 20 minutes.
Peter Pan, Pirates same thing. Arial was the same way. We left the park around 2pm and Main Street for the most part was a ghost town.
We had dinner at Il Mulino tonight and the Crescent lake area is like a ghost town. There were a hand full of people on the Boardwalk but gift shops were all but empty. We are going to studios tomorrow and being a Monday I’m curious what it is going to look like.
Just an FYI, tonight at 8:30, it was 79 degrees outside. It is beautiful here.

 

[dvczerfs]

i
It has looked like this all week.
Can’t wait to get home , finish packing up the house and coming down in a few weeks to find a apartment.
Honestly, I don’t care if I even went back. I’ll start all over again. Lol

 

[Sunelis]

View attachment 560496i
It has looked like this all week.
Can’t wait to get home , finish packing up the house and coming down in a few weeks to find a apartment.
Honestly, I don’t care if I even went back. I’ll start all over again. Lol

I miss that view. I'm stuck in cold Montreal, Canada. And with all that's going on in the world I can't even make the drive to visit my happy place.

 

[dvczerfs]

That’s it!!! We are back north. (Can’t really call it home anymore) lol
Got on the road a bit late this morning, 3:45-4am, I don’t remember.
We always stop for gas and a coffee before we leave property, which is why we were late. All the stations on property were closed at that hour. With covid and late of guest etc.... they are no longer open 24 hours. We checked all three.lol
Got gas right outside hotel plaza Blvd.
smooth ride home, very little traffic. One construction slow down but only for a few minutes. North Carolina and Virginia State troopers everywhere, watch your speed.
I’ll be heading back down in a few weeks, I’ll check in again.

 

[dvczerfs]

Ok, I lied. Lol. I will be leaving in 19 days for four nights at All Star Movies!!!!
It is just me, myself and I making the drive down and back. ASM will be my home base for apartment hunting. I got the van turned around and ready to go!
Ill be taking some box’s down to put in the storage unit. Im going to make appointments at several apartment complexes to visit while I’m there and make a decision
Im guessing being I’m staying on property this trip counts. Hahahahahaha.
We are looking forward to getting back and staying back!!!
Ill keep you posted on my solo trip!

 

[BC1836]

Ok, I lied. Lol. I will be leaving in 19 days for four nights at All Star Movies!!!!
It is just me, myself and I making the drive down and back. ASM will be my home base for apartment hunting. I got the van turned around and ready to go!
Ill be taking some box’s down to put in the storage unit. Im going to make appointments at several apartment complexes to visit while I’m there and make a decision
Im guessing being I’m staying on property this trip counts. Hahahahahaha.
We are looking forward to getting back and staying back!!!
Ill keep you posted on my solo trip!

Once this upcoming drive is completed, your trip total will be cha

Ok, I lied. Lol. I will be leaving in 19 days for four nights at All Star Movies!!!!
It is just me, myself and I making the drive down and back. ASM will be my home base for apartment hunting. I got the van turned around and ready to go!
Ill be taking some box’s down to put in the storage unit. Im going to make appointments at several apartment complexes to visit while I’m there and make a decision
Im guessing being I’m staying on property this trip counts. Hahahahahaha.
We are looking forward to getting back and staying back!!!
Ill keep you posted on my solo trip!

Once this next drive is completed, your all-time record total on p. 1 will change to 72.

All the best!

 

[amcnj]

Ok, I lied. Lol. I will be leaving in 19 days for four nights at All Star Movies!!!!
It is just me, myself and I making the drive down and back. ASM will be my home base for apartment hunting. I got the van turned around and ready to go!
Ill be taking some box’s down to put in the storage unit. Im going to make appointments at several apartment complexes to visit while I’m there and make a decision
Im guessing being I’m staying on property this trip counts. Hahahahahaha.
We are looking forward to getting back and staying back!!!
Ill keep you posted on my solo trip!

Safe travels and good luck apartment hunting. Are you looking in certain towns or areas for the apartment?

 

[dvczerfs]

Safe travels and good luck apartment hunting. Are you looking in certain towns or areas for the apartment?

Yes, I have to stay in the Orlando area. Our house hunting will be in the Davenport, Haines City, four corners,Kissimmee area. DD and I will be looking for work in that area so like to get a apartment pretty close to our house hunting area. Trying not to have a long commute everyday and don’t want to have to change jobs again.

 

[amcnj]

Yes, I have to stay in the Orlando area. Our house hunting will be in the Davenport, Haines City, four corners,Kissimmee area. DD and I will be looking for work in that area so like to get a apartment pretty close to our house hunting area. Trying not to have a long commute everyday and don’t want to have to change jobs again.

I understand completely. I commuted 1.5 hours (67 miles) each way. 3 hours out of every day coming from and going to work (and provided nothing went wrong!).

Hope all goes smoothly and the transition is an easy one for you and your family.

 

[dvczerfs]

I understand completely. I commuted 1.5 hours (67 miles) each way. 3 hours out of every day coming from and going to work (and provided nothing went wrong!).

Hope all goes smoothly and the transition is an easy one for you and your family.

Thank you. We have a pretty good thought out plan and we are not rushed in any part of it. Plenty of room for snags along the way with no panicking.
I will be driving back and forth a few times which I’m actually looking forward to.
I enjoy being on the road, I’ve been in sales for 35 years so I’ve spent a lot of time on the road. The majority of our stuff is being moved by a mover but there is stuff we just don’t want to toss into a back of a tractor trailer.lol
My wife won’t drive that distance, she just doesn’t feel safe so between myself and DD we’ll get it done.

 

[dvczerfs]

Just checking in. Refueled and washed the van today in the nice weather we had. Also had to reconfigure the cockpit. Always had a copilot and being I’m flying solo, I moved things so I could reach them from the drivers seat.
Managed to link my phone to the van for hands free. I don’t drive and talk on the phone but with someone else in the van, they can answer the phone.
Just never got around to linking it. But, with DW wanting to check in I figured it will be easier. We also have life 360 on our phones, she can follow me and know where I’m at the entire trip.
I have five apartment complexes I’ll be looking at. A few in the Clermont, Winter spring and Kissimmee area. A few were recommend by a few cm friends.
I officially resigned from my 29 year job yesterday. I work for a family owned business and I told them my plan back in July but that didn’t make it any easier.
But, they were unwilling to move there business to central Florida so sometimes you have to make changes to follow your dreams.
16 more days !!!!! I’ll keep you posted.

 

[dvczerfs]

12 days till 2300 mile round trip, SOLO !
6 1/2 more days of work left.
Secured a storage unit today. Conditioned unit, don’t want mold.
Its all ready to go and ready to be moved into.
Got my van loaded, left enough room in the back to sprawl out and take a nap if I need.
Got my hotels reservations for too and from.
Got some snacks in case I get hungry.
Mover will be coming over to load some of our box’s in two weeks. He’s making a trip down and is taking some of our stuff with him.
Got all the addresses loaded into my GPS that I have to go, one less thing to stress over. Lol
Showing the house Sunday to a good friend, we’ll see. Not to worried about selling the house.
Getting my first dose of COVID vaccine tomorrow. April 14th will be dose number 2. To quote the Russian from Rocky, “ if I die I die.” lol
Painting the living room Thursday, kitchen Friday.
I need another vacation!!!!
Stay safe everyone, see ya soon!

 

[dvczerfs]

I leave in 6 days for the sunshine state!!!
Anyone goin?
oh, 4!!!
4 more days of work!!!
okay, I talk big but this week I’m making my final rounds. Said good bye to a few long time costumers of over 29 years today. I watched some of there kids being born, graduate from high school and college, go on to get married and have kids of there own. It’s not as easy as I always thought it would be.
BUT, life marches on!!!

 

[pwdebbie]

I leave in 6 days for the sunshine state!!!
Anyone goin?
oh, 4!!!
4 more days of work!!!
okay, I talk big but this week I’m making my final rounds. Said good bye to a few long time costumers of over 29 years today. I watched some of there kids being born, graduate from high school and college, go on to get married and have kids of there own. It’s not as easy as I always thought it would be.
BUT, life marches on!!!

Now that you will no longer be employed, can you reveal what product it was that you represented? There's a part of me that has wondered if you were someone that came in to the business I used to work for in Waynesboro, PA, a modular home builder.

 

[dvczerfs]

Now that you will no longer be employed, can you reveal what product it was that you represented? There's a part of me that has wondered if you were someone that came in to the business I used to work for in Waynesboro, PA, a modular home builder.

Oh sure. I work for a HVAC, plumbing supply co. I am in outside sales. I design and sell HVAC systems for residential and commercial properties. Sold anything from residential boilers, air conditioning systems to systems in churches, schools, firehouses to big roof top units you see at malls, schools etc.
I had a set customer base to service so I worked with the same 35 company’s all the time. I’ve done a few pro athletes private homes including one actor who you would know if you are into Disney movies.
I never got involved with a modular home company.
I did tour one years ago, i would say a good 30 years ago and don’t recall the name. The only thing I recall was there was a Wise chip plant real close to the factory.