Hello-It'sSmee! A July 2020 "It's Good to Be Bad AND Back" TR *Link to new TR 2/21*

[CruellaNY]

I felt like my Grandma because I actually stashed some of the pastries in my purse for later LOL

That's what all my old Italian aunts used to do; they called it "making a plate" like there was someone at home who would need to eat later but you KNOW it was all for them! I may or may not utter the same words at times when leaving restaurants.............like when we leave Texas Roadhouse and ask for a fresh basket of their rolls right before we leave...............

I am super surprised you picked MK over Epcot, but completely understand your thinking!! And cracked up at #WWJD.

Ugh I wanted to do Epcot so bad but as weird as it sounds I knew by early afternoon we'd be bored! I like SE and 3 Cabelleros; can really take or leave the other rides and Steve hates Soarin'. So we'd do those 2 and possibly look around the Seas; eat at some booths and if ti worked we may have caught Mariachi Cobra and that's it! Starting at 11 that would have brought us to......2? And dinner at 7:30. Didn't want DS again and it was too hot to mini-golf; it there was hopping it would have been the perfect time to do it!

We did the Princess Breakfast here in 2017. Loved it!

I hear such good things! We had it booked for this month in the "before" times when we were supposed to take DGD next week but now who knows when I'll get to do it with the characters. But that food is delish!

This would be my choice. It's my favorite park and I can never get enough time here.

It's almost always my pick for a last day or half day park and with no hopping/the way things are and were in HS and having just been to AK it was the best choice and glad we did it.

Also I think Sunday gravy is actually tomato based? Not sure since I avoid anything called gravy (vegetarian).

Yes! It's just another name for sauce; as in spaghetti sauce, marinara sauce; Italian sauce. Some Italians call it gravy but this kind you can eat if it's made without meat! Although if I asked any of my old Italian aunts to make a meatless sauce 35 years ago they would have smacked me Times change!

Nice! That's someplace I've wanted to go for a while now.

Oh you need to go! Great food and in normal times really pretty view of MK fireworks on the deck

Um... I, uh... um... have never had one.

Um......you.............WHAT??????
Do they know that over on the DIS Dad's forum?
And if they do - you're still allowed????

Huh! Really! Doesn't speak well for the food, then, does it?

Well......we ate there about 10 years ago and it was fine but nothing special. I think she said it's independently owned or a franchise so it had to do with rent? It definitely had to do with the owners/company not being able to afford being there. It's rare to read a review of it here; I think people mostly find it by accident and don't expect much. Shame because it had/has a prime location.

This was my favorite thing to do at HS and I was so sad when they shut it down. I am so excited to read about it being at AK now! It is on my list for sure!

Love your Eeyore! Yes that shutting down was a huge disappointment to me out of all the things that have closed over the years. Something different to do with the whole family and I enjoyed interacting with the animators. I hope it stays around at Rafiki's!

And now that you mentioned Narcoossees I added it to our trip also as a possibility. We haven't eaten there in YEARS!

Yay! We have never had a bad meal there and I think since 2014 we've eaten there about 10 or 11x

I am with you on also seeing more calvacades. We really didn't see a lot or when we did we were too far away.

We were lucky to see a lot but saw the same ones a few times. From what I hear, this week the Halloween ones seem to be at least every 30 minutes so that should help!

What

Sorry! Yeah I will eat pasta 5x a week but with sauce not mac n cheese. I like "fancy" mac like this one and that wonderful truffle mac n cheese at Yachtsman but otherwise it's not something I order. But this one was fantastic!

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

What in the world is Sunday Gravy? It must be an American thing.

I was going to ask the same thing!

Ha it's Italian Basically what some Italians call "sauce" - gravy - and Sunday because Italians tend(ed) to get together as a family on Sundays. So that explains why Steve absolutely loves Sunday gravy! But he's used to it on pasta and not eggs

Ok that makes a lot more sense than the brown gravy I was imagining

if I asked any of my old Italian aunts to make a meatless sauce 35 years ago they would have smacked me Times change!

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Delighted some more places are opening up for your trip. Can't wait to hear all

 

[pkondz]

Oh you need to go! Great food and in normal times really pretty view of MK fireworks on the deck

Sounds wonderful. <sigh>

Um......you.............WHAT??????
Do they know that over on the DIS Dad's forum?
And if they do - you're still allowed????

They don't know... Don't tell them! I'm hanging on by a thread as it is!

I think she said it's independently owned or a franchise so it had to do with rent?

That I can see. I can also see Disney cranking up the rent and then moving in with a concept after the tenants have vacated.

It's rare to read a review of it here; I think people mostly find it by accident and don't expect much. Shame because it had/has a prime location.

I think I saw... two reviews? That's about it.

 

[Wood Nymph]

I discovered that the food booth at France will be serving

• La Vie en Rose Frozen Slushy: Vodka, Grey Goose L’Orange, St. Germain Liqueur, White and Red Cranberry Juice

They usually serve this drink only at Flower and Garden so I am very excited that they are bringing my favorite drink back for Food and Wine.

 

[buzzrelly]

I loved this and kept having it on my list for DHS but never got to do it there. I finally got my chance in July 2019 when I was at DCA in CA and they had it. I had to do it alone because no one wanted to it with me but that's ok!! Here's mine!

Love this!

This was literally one of our favorite things to do at DHS before they changed it to the Launch Bay. I'm happy to hear it was alive and well in DCA and hope it comes back when they open since this is something we will definitely be doing if we go next summer. We did the drawing at AK last December and it wasn't the same.

One change to the itinerary I JUST posted Monday is that for Steve's birthday we are now going to Narcoossee's, so happy!

We made an ADR there too for October

Also heard through the grapevine that Dawa Bar in AK is set to reopen soon and if it opens for our trip that means not only a Bloody Mary from Refreshment Port in Epcot, but this!!!

Yay. I can't tell you how sad Mike is that he missed the Bloody Mary Bar at CG in March (they had actually just removed it before our trip was cancelled). I'll have to tell him there are viable alternatives

Let me tell you something. These were the buttermilkiest, fluffiest, most delicious pancakes I have had, ever. EVER. Even without said Rapunzel star:

They look yummy!

What we both really wanted was a final park day where we had THINGS TO DO and unfortunately Epcot wasn't fitting the bill right then.

Totally makes sense. From what I can see, EPCOT is a bit of a hot mess at the moment.

 

[kastoney]

Ugh sorry I haven't updated guys, work got busy the last 2 days! Always happens when a personal trip is looming. It's not a bad thing, business is always good to have! Just means less DIS time as I balance work and "getting ready to go to Disney" time

I've been in the exact same boat sans the trip of course Work has been difficult at best since we got back from vacation but we were able to escape to WV for the weekend which is a nice change of pace and scenery. Except it was 34 when I got up this morning!!!

One change to the itinerary I JUST posted Monday is that for Steve's birthday we are now going to Narcoossee's, so happy! Jenny and Joe will still be with us.

Awesome! I had no idea they had opened back up

We were so happy with our choice to come here for breakfast! Our waitress was great as well and told us how happy she was to be back to work, a theme that ran throughout all CM's we talked to.

Glad to hear Trattoria was good. We've never eaten there but its only radar for our trip since they appear to have outdoor dining.

We can take or leave all the rides and our time is often spent eating, drinking. watching entertainment or partaking in other festival offerings.

And the problem is what???? This is the exact reason to go to Epcot

 

[fractal]

I'm enviously wishing you a great time on your trip next week!

 

[CruellaNY]

Today we got to see my Ricky!!!

Technically we aren't allowed around campus but we were able to take him out to eat locally and that we did. Chris came with us and so did my mom; it's only been a month but it felt like so much longer. He's doing great and now I can get through another month (maybe......) We were able to park right by his building after lunch to unload the 90 lbs of food we needed to bring him and so we were able to meet one of his roommates and two girls he's friends with I know it's only been a month but for this mom it's been rough and while he calls often and says he's good and having fun I needed to see it myself. And as much as it was hard leaving today I feel so much better now! Sorry to those of you I'm friends with on FB but you gotta look at these again:



with my mom




All last week I was looking forward to seeing my boy and now I'm looking forward to Tuesday afternoon when we leave for the airport! Not sure I'll get this done before then but gonna give it my best shot..............

Day 5 Part 2: Flying Carpets, Flying Elephants, and Jammin' Bears

We were at the MK, our last park day of our trip. We walked on to Main St. at JUST the right time as some friends of Pooh were emerging from over by the fire station:



I knew Rabbit was making the rounds as others had posted pictures and I was thrilled as he is rare!
I have other, better shots of them going down Main St. but - look! - there I am waving at Rabbit



We were going right back to Frontierland to get on BTMRR, and happened to catch another cavalcade coming towards us:



I'd seen this one closer to the castle on our first day here but honestly, seeing these "parades" made my heart so happy I stopped for each one whether I'd seen it before or not! Eventually we got to Big Thunder, the line looked long as they all do with physical distancing but we were on in about 12 minutes. Caught a bit more cleaning going on of areas I've never seen cleaned before:



We covered a few more attractions including Pirates, Magic Carpets (I don't know why I like this but I do! I think the views when you're up high are pretty), then over to the Barnstormer believe it or not and Dumbo which we also don't do but once every few years. With no waits why not?
Finally one more ride on HM:



I'm running out of ideas for the on ride photos! Need to think of some before Tuesday!

After this it was time for some lunch. We'd seen a HUGE scary "nope" line of those who mobile-ordered at Pinocchio's and didn't want to go there anyway but were a little concerned about how it would work as we had yet to mobile order this trip. We sucked it up and placed an order at Pecos Bill because, nachos.

It ended up being easy! We'd mobile ordered at QS on pre-COVID trips so that was the same; when you get to your restaurant and show you have a mobile order they let you in and tell you where to stand. We had our food in about 7 minutes but did have a bit of a challenge finding a table with half of them out of commission. We found one though! Here's what we got:

Pork Carnitas Nachos
Tortilla Chips topped with Queso, Pork Carnitas, Lettuce, Tomato, Sour Cream, and Salsa

Southwest Salad with Chicken
Mixed Greens topped with Seasoned Chicken, Roasted Corn and Bean Salsa, Tomatoes and Tortilla Crisps





The lettuce, tomato, sour cream and side of qauc I got for my nachos all comes on the side and as you see there is queso on both our dishes. These nachos were SO good with the pork carnitas! I've only had them with beef but these will be all my future Pecos nachos. Steve thoroughly enjoyed his salad which should make @buzzrelly happy!

So a little fun that occurred here. As I said it was tough finding a table with half of them having signs telling you the table wasn't "in use" due to physical distancing. So the minute after we dig in to our food this woman sits at a table she shouldn't, right next to us She looked at the sign and turned it over. We were like "ok.....let's see what she'll do". A few minutes later her husband came over and sat down with their food; she showed him the "don't sit here" sign and he was like "eh". We did determine English was not their first language but still it wasn't cool they were sitting 3 feet away. We were just deciding what to do when a CM told them to move

I wasn't as upset that they were closer than 6 feet as I was that they blatantly ignored the protocol. This would/will/better not be why Disney and other places are shut down again; if we don't follow the new "rules" whether we like them or not. I don't like wearing masks but if I want to go shopping at Kohl's (and I do OH! I do!) I wear the mask. I don't always have those 6 ft markers on the brain in the grocery store but if I noticed I've crept up on the person in front of me, I step back. Because I don't need to be yelled at and I also don't need the grocery store capacity to go down again or for them to close or for our area to get high #'s again so you do what is asked/required or don't go. So just DO what you're supposed to at Disney, it's really not so scary to wear a mask when it's hot or go over to the side to eat your snack or drink your drink and you can wait a few minutes on line if they are doing a ride cleaning.

ANYHOO about 5 minutes after they moved a woman with 7 kids storms in and goes right to that same table but pushes ANOTHER out of commission table up to it and tells her kids to sit there. She was loud and rude and none of them had their masks on although they weren't sitting yet. A manager heard/saw and explained they couldn't sit there and he was happy to find them seating elsewhere but she was having none of it and told her kids not to move! She said they'd had a h*ll of a day and were not going to look around for a table and there was no reason they shouldn't sit there and she didn't care about the physical distancing. The manager asked her nicely not to sit and she screamed at her kids "SIT DOWN!!!"
Her husband was also not nice to the CM but finally they just dropped their food and left. The husband said he was going to the truck because he wasn't taking this poop anymore It was quite interesting especially since really other than the park hopping and fact that we would have liked a few more food options, we thought all things were handled well and didn't see lots of room for folks to be upset. But to each his own!

We saw a few more characters like Tink spreading her pixie dust atop her FOF parade float and then not one but TWO Country Bears today:




I said it before and I'll say it again I prefer the way you see characters now to the traditional meets! You don't know where you'll see them and while I know the goal is to get M&G's back I hope some of these cavalcades or pop ups stay around as well.

Before we left we did 7DMT again as it was down to a 25 minute posted wait which ended up being 16 minutes. We had somewhere I wanted to stop before going back to our room to change for dinner!

 

[CruellaNY]

Ok that makes a lot more sense than the brown gravy I was imagining

LOL! Yes a red sauce would taste good it's just a little heavy for the a.m.

Delighted some more places are opening up for your trip. Can't wait to hear all

Me too! Hopefully it keeps on moving i the right direction!

They don't know... Don't tell them! I'm hanging on by a thread as it is!

Haha, thread!
Do they know how funny you are?

That I can see. I can also see Disney cranking up the rent and then moving in with a concept after the tenants have vacated.

Man I think you know your Disney pretty well.

I discovered that the food booth at France will be serving

• La Vie en Rose Frozen Slushy: Vodka, Grey Goose L’Orange, St. Germain Liqueur, White and Red Cranberry Juice

They usually serve this drink only at Flower and Garden so I am very excited that they are bringing my favorite drink back for Food and Wine.

Yes it's on my list too!!
My friend @pepperandchips had it last month!

This was literally one of our favorite things to do at DHS before they changed it to the Launch Bay. I'm happy to hear it was alive and well in DCA and hope it comes back when they open since this is something we will definitely be doing if we go next summer. We did the drawing at AK last December and it wasn't the same.

I agree the AK one isn't nearly as "magical" as HS was; that was truly the best. Even the one they do at the Festival of the Arts is cool but not the same. Just another reason I want to get to DL!

We made an ADR there too for October

Awesome! Have you been before?

ay. I can't tell you how sad Mike is that he missed the Bloody Mary Bar at CG in March (they had actually just removed it before our trip was cancelled). I'll have to tell him there are viable alternatives

Well FYI the one I had at HBD was super good too if you get over there! Pretty sure he can get it at the Lounge as well so you don't need to eat there

 

[Christi0909]

I’m so jealous you leave on Tuesday! My sister and I will be there the 25th-30th, so we don’t leave until Friday Have a great trip!

 

[tundra1]

Today we got to see my Ricky!!!

Technically we aren't allowed around campus but we were able to take him out to eat locally and that we did. Chris came with us and so did my mom; it's only been a month but it felt like so much longer. He's doing great and now I can get through another month (maybe......) We were able to park right by his building after lunch to unload the 90 lbs of food we needed to bring him and so we were able to meet one of his roommates and two girls he's friends with I know it's only been a month but for this mom it's been rough and while he calls often and says he's good and having fun I needed to see it myself. And as much as it was hard leaving today I feel so much better now! Sorry to those of you I'm friends with on FB but you gotta look at these again:

View attachment 527232

with my mom

View attachment 527233


All last week I was looking forward to seeing my boy and now I'm looking forward to Tuesday afternoon when we leave for the airport! Not sure I'll get this done before then but gonna give it my best shot..............

Day 5 Part 2: Flying Carpets, Flying Elephants, and Jammin' Bears

We were at the MK, our last park day of our trip. We walked on to Main St. at JUST the right time as some friends of Pooh were emerging from over by the fire station:

View attachment 527051

I knew Rabbit was making the rounds as others had posted pictures and I was thrilled as he is rare!
I have other, better shots of them going down Main St. but - look! - there I am waving at Rabbit

View attachment 527085

We were going right back to Frontierland to get on BTMRR, and happened to catch another cavalcade coming towards us:

View attachment 527086

I'd seen this one closer to the castle on our first day here but honestly, seeing these "parades" made my heart so happy I stopped for each one whether I'd seen it before or not! Eventually we got to Big Thunder, the line looked long as they all do with physical distancing but we were on in about 12 minutes. Caught a bit more cleaning going on of areas I've never seen cleaned before:

View attachment 527087

We covered a few more attractions including Pirates, Magic Carpets (I don't know why I like this but I do! I think the views when you're up high are pretty), then over to the Barnstormer believe it or not and Dumbo which we also don't do but once every few years. With no waits why not?
Finally one more ride on HM:

View attachment 527088

I'm running out of ideas for the on ride photos! Need to think of some before Tuesday!

After this it was time for some lunch. We'd seen a HUGE scary "nope" line of those who mobile-ordered at Pinocchio's and didn't want to go there anyway but were a little concerned about how it would work as we had yet to mobile order this trip. We sucked it up and placed an order at Pecos Bill because, nachos.

It ended up being easy! We'd mobile ordered at QS on pre-COVID trips so that was the same; when you get to your restaurant and show you have a mobile order they let you in and tell you where to stand. We had our food in about 7 minutes but did have a bit of a challenge finding a table with half of them out of commission. We found one though! Here's what we got:

Pork Carnitas Nachos
Tortilla Chips topped with Queso, Pork Carnitas, Lettuce, Tomato, Sour Cream, and Salsa

Southwest Salad with Chicken
Mixed Greens topped with Seasoned Chicken, Roasted Corn and Bean Salsa, Tomatoes and Tortilla Crisps

View attachment 527089

View attachment 527090

The lettuce, tomato, sour cream and side of qauc I got for my nachos all comes on the side and as you see there is queso on both our dishes. These nachos were SO good with the pork carnitas! I've only had them with beef but these will be all my future Pecos nachos. Steve thoroughly enjoyed his salad which should make @buzzrelly happy!

So a little fun that occurred here. As I said it was tough finding a table with half of them having signs telling you the table wasn't "in use" due to physical distancing. So the minute after we dig in to our food this woman sits at a table she shouldn't, right next to us She looked at the sign and turned it over. We were like "ok.....let's see what she'll do". A few minutes later her husband came over and sat down with their food; she showed him the "don't sit here" sign and he was like "eh". We did determine English was not their first language but still it wasn't cool they were sitting 3 feet away. We were just deciding what to do when a CM told them to move

I wasn't as upset that they were closer than 6 feet as I was that they blatantly ignored the protocol. This would/will/better not be why Disney and other places are shut down again; if we don't follow the new "rules" whether we like them or not. I don't like wearing masks but if I want to go shopping at Kohl's (and I do OH! I do!) I wear the mask. I don't always have those 6 ft markers on the brain in the grocery store but if I noticed I've crept up on the person in front of me, I step back. Because I don't need to be yelled at and I also don't need the grocery store capacity to go down again or for them to close or for our area to get high #'s again so you do what is asked/required or don't go. So just DO what you're supposed to at Disney, it's really not so scary to wear a mask when it's hot or go over to the side to eat your snack or drink your drink and you can wait a few minutes on line if they are doing a ride cleaning.

ANYHOO about 5 minutes after they moved a woman with 7 kids storms in and goes right to that same table but pushes ANOTHER out of commission table up to it and tells her kids to sit there. She was loud and rude and none of them had their masks on although they weren't sitting yet. A manager heard/saw and explained they couldn't sit there and he was happy to find them seating elsewhere but she was having none of it and told her kids not to move! She said they'd had a h*ll of a day and were not going to look around for a table and there was no reason they shouldn't sit there and she didn't care about the physical distancing. The manager asked her nicely not to sit and she screamed at her kids "SIT DOWN!!!"
Her husband was also not nice to the CM but finally they just dropped their food and left. The husband said he was going to the truck because he wasn't taking this poop anymore It was quite interesting especially since really other than the park hopping and fact that we would have liked a few more food options, we thought all things were handled well and didn't see lots of room for folks to be upset. But to each his own!

We saw a few more characters like Tink spreading her pixie dust atop her FOF parade float and then not one but TWO Country Bears today:


View attachment 527239

I said it before and I'll say it again I prefer the way you see characters now to the traditional meets! You don't know where you'll see them and while I know the goal is to get M&G's back I hope some of these cavalcades or pop ups stay around as well.

Before we left we did 7DMT again as it was down to a 25 minute posted wait which ended up being 16 minutes. We had somewhere I wanted to stop before going back to our room to change for dinner!

I can't believe some people... they just go around in live believing that the rules don't apply to them. I guess it made for some good trip reporting, if nothing else!

I agree with you on the character cavalcades and random character sightings throughout the parks. I am happy just calling out Tigger's name and getting him to turn towards me and wave!

 

[buzzrelly]

I know it's only been a month but for this mom it's been rough and while he calls often and says he's good and having fun I needed to see it myself.

So happy you got to spend the day with him

Nicholas graduates basic training this Thursday and he said there's a rumor he might get his phone on either Wednesday or Thursday so I'm praying it happens and we can FaceTime. I haven't laid eyes on him since July 13th

I have other, better shots of them going down Main St. but - look! - there I am waving at Rabbit

So cute, but how did you get that? Steve?

Steve thoroughly enjoyed his salad which should make @buzzrelly happy!

It looks just as amazing as ever!

We were just deciding what to do when a CM told them to move

Good. I'm glad to see they are still enforcing the rules.

ANYHOO about 5 minutes after they moved a woman with 7 kids storms in and goes right to that same table but pushes ANOTHER out of commission table up to it and tells her kids to sit there.

Omg, what the heck is wrong with some people?? If you don't want to follow rules, just stay home. Nice example they're setting for their kids who are sure to also grow up to be a**h****s

 

[CruellaNY]

Work has been difficult at best since we got back from vacation but we were able to escape to WV for the weekend which is a nice change of pace and scenery. Except it was 34 when I got up this morning!!!

Oh glad you got away again! Glad everyone was still willing to leave the house! Not to go a bit farther.............

Awesome! I had no idea they had opened back up

Yup! Today actually is their first night back open. Hope we have another good experience on Wednesday! So happy another signature is back.

We've never eaten there but its only radar for our trip since they appear to have outdoor dining.

Yup they have tables set up outside! We did see folks eating breakfast out there, I assume you can do the same for dinner although we weren't around at night to see.

And the problem is what???? This is the exact reason to go to Epcot

LOL no problem at all! That's why we DO go and spend time there but other than a few food booths (but still enough drinks offered thank goodness) the others weren't happening. It's our first park this week though!

I'm enviously wishing you a great time on your trip next week!

Thank you! I'm always envious when others go even when I just come back

 

[Wood Nymph]

Today we got to see my Ricky!!!

Ricky looks great, and so does your mom.

How are things going for him? Has the college restricted all social gatherings?

The husband said he was going to the truck because he wasn't taking this poop anymore

It sounds like the limited dining options and seating is a big problem. I bet the husband wishes that they never came to WDW. The whole dining safely situation is the one worry I have about going to Disney next month. We went on a mini trip to a resort area in Wisconsin last week and the only time it felt a little unsafe was when we were having dinner outdoors and people were talking really loud at the table near us. Otherwise, it was good.

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Love the photos of your visit with Ricky. You all look so happy and it’s good to put your mind at rest too.
i think the character cavalades are brilliant. I remember years ago we saw Smee waterskiing as we headed to MK on the boat. My daughter still talks about that morning and how excited we all were
People are self-centred idiots when it comes to following rules. Makes me crazy

 

[CruellaNY]

I’m so jealous you leave on Tuesday! My sister and I will be there the 25th-30th, so we don’t leave until Friday Have a great trip!

But at least it's soon! And I'll be sad on the 25th because I'll be leaving soon lol. You have a great trip as well!

I can't believe some people... they just go around in live believing that the rules don't apply to them. I guess it made for some good trip reporting, if nothing else!

I know! I mean yeah it gave me something to write lol but it ruined the mood for us and I'm sure for lots of other guests sitting there and for no reason. I hope by now since the parks have been open a few months people are more used to what had to be adjusted.

I agree with you on the character cavalcades and random character sightings throughout the parks. I am happy just calling out Tigger's name and getting him to turn towards me and wave!

I hope you see him in November! Maybe with a nice winter sweater!

Nicholas graduates basic training this Thursday and he said there's a rumor he might get his phone on either Wednesday or Thursday so I'm praying it happens and we can FaceTime. I haven't laid eyes on him since July 13th

So awesome for him, I can imagine how proud you are Honestly whenever I get to really missing Ricky I think of you and wonder how you're doing with it all ❤ My fingers are crossed he gets his phone and please let me know!
Oh and yes Steve took that picture lol and I didn't know he was.

Omg, what the heck is wrong with some people?? If you don't want to follow rules, just stay home.

Exactly. Either behave or don't go but don't put everyone else's enjoyment at risk

 

[CruellaNY]

Ricky looks great, and so does your mom.

Oh thank you! I do hope I look as good as she does in another 24 years

How are things going for him? Has the college restricted all social gatherings?

Things are going great and he's loving being there! They definitely are having fewer social activities than usual. they do lots of virtual things like scavenger hunts - he won a fairly expensive speaker lol - and they do socially distanced BINGO on the quad. No parents weekend or freshman specific activities and instead of 14 fall intramurals they only have 3 - volleyball, softball and mini golf. Classes are hybrid so on the days he isn't there he's online watching and listening while the other half of his class is there.

But he has 5 roommates and he's getting along great with them, he and 3 of them watch lots of sports! They go to the BINGO together and also have gone hiking and cliff jumping at the state park. The entrance to the park is on the campus grounds.
I told him things will only get better because if they get worse he'll be home! The school has done just under 10,000 tests so far on students with only 1 positive and that was a commuter. Contract tracers went to work and no other cases tied to that one

The whole dining safely situation is the one worry I have about going to Disney next month. We went on a mini trip to a resort area in Wisconsin last week and the only time it felt a little unsafe was when we were having dinner outdoors and people were talking really loud at the table near us. Otherwise, it was good

Yesterday when we took Ricky to lunch was the first time my mom has eaten inside a restaurant since early March. She's eaten outside at a few here comfortably with friends and was nervous but ended up feeling comfortable! She did leaver her mask on a little longer than she needed to but I was glad she enjoyed being out. We haven't found anywhere here, CT or in Florida where they weren't socially distancing well although I am sure those restaurants exist.

 

[CruellaNY]

think the character cavalades are brilliant. I remember years ago we saw Smee waterskiing as we headed to MK on the boat. My daughter still talks about that morning and how excited we all were

OMG I would LOVE that! They need to bring that back!

In case I don't get on the boards from Disney I hope you have a wonderful birthday Moira xoxo! We will all have a drink for you on the 23rd

 

[PumpkinSpice]

Yay, I'm finally caught up, again, right in time for your next trip! It's been crazy here with my daughter, son-in-law, and almost 2 year old living with us until their new house is ready to move in to! The little guy always wants to be with Mom Mom, which I love, but it does make getting other things done a little tough. I'm trying to soak up all the time I can with him, though, as they're moving an hour an a half away, which isn't terrible, but no more frequent quick visits. So now, @CruellaNY it looks like we're missing each other by a few weeks two trips in a row. Some day I'll get to meet you guys in person! Here are the last few pics of my most recent Disney trip back in July, breakfast at The Wave before we take off for home. My sister and I both had the Avocado Toast- Avocado, Toasted Multigrain Bread, Caramelized Onion Jam, Watercress Salad, and I had a side of an egg over medium and chicken sausage. I wish the breakfast buffet was still available, but who knows when Disney buffets will be back. Can't wait to read all about your new adventures! You, Steve, @Jenny Sanders & Joe seem like such a hoot to do Disney with! We're down to 24 days, and I think you've inspired me to do a trip report under my new and more creative DIS name!