Hot Diggety - Dog (chili that is) Part II

[Deb & Bill]

We arrived at SSR Saturday afternoon around 4PM after driving from Biloxi Sat morning (we left Louisiana Friday right after work). Good thing we left Friday, otherwise, we would have spent the entire day driving in the rain instead of just about four hours. Luckily, traffic wasn't bad, not even on I-75 or the FL Turnpike.

Our villa in the Springs was ready so we moved on in (we're just here for one night before we head down to Marco Beach for most of next week and returning to BCV for night nights later in the week). We've stayed twice in Congress Park, so it was nice getting a villa in a different section. We are in the Springs, right across the road from the High Rock Springs pool and on the first floor. Very convenient. Room was beautiful and was a lockoff one bedroom. Checked that connecting door right away because of what Sue Holland had written earlier.

We hopped on the first bus we saw (as we walked out the first floor door and it was an Epcot bus. We also wanted to see the Fifth Dimension(and I had looked them up on the internet and found out Florence Larue was the only remaining original member. I was a big Marilyn McCoo and Billie Davis fan and was sad they are no longer with the group. I saw the Fifth Dimension way back when I was in college (the first time) and was hoping they would at least be similar to what I remembered.

We arrived at Epcot about 5PM so we hustled over to the American Theater to see them. We got there just as they started the show. They sang one of my favorites right away - Wedding Bell Blues (I'm married to Bill and used to sing this to him before we got married). They sang a bunch of non-Fifth Dim songs and finished up with Aquarius (their harmony was off a bit, so it was hard to hear the melody). I was glad I got to hear the one show, because we said one was enough this time (last year or the year before, we saw Peter Noone - from Herman's Hermits - and he was excellent). Our 15 year old son told me that this concert was worse than death to him. He also told me that if I got up and danced, he was not going to put me in a nursing home when I got older (I don't know where he was going to put me) and would bury me under the shed in the backyard. Nice kid, no??

Got $40 worth of food for the three of us at the American Adventure dining area - one barbequed pork sandwich, one chili cheese dog and two orders of chicken nuggets (adult size), plus one Diet Coke, one frozen Coke and one frozen Cherry. $40!!

We had planned to go to MK for EMH tonight, so we headed for the monorail, but stopped off at Club Cool for a little Kinley Lemon and Krest Ginger Ale and then Mousegears. Then we did Spaceship Earth and headed to the monorail. It started to rain and by the time we got to the monorail ramp, it was coming down pretty good. We had wondered if they shut the monorail down for lightning and figured out they didn't because it was lightning and thundering hard. We switched to the Express Monorail at the TTC and had to walk out in the pouring rain to get the Express. When we arrived at the MK, the terminal was pretty crowded with all the people not leaving because of the downpour. We had ponchos so we headed out in the rain. When we got to the end of the ramp before you head to Security for Bag check, the walkway was pretty flooded. It was over the tops of our shoes - maybe ankle deep or higher - and little kids were losing their shoes in the water.

So we were pretty wet by now (with dry clothes under the poncho) and headed to Buzz Lightyear (it's inside, we'll keep dry, shouldn't be too busy !!! - yeah, right). We did get to do Buzz twice and then decided to do the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor. Got right in there and within a few minutes, we were seated in about the fourth row, near the end. Will, our son, was shown on the big screen saying "Needs a hug" so I hugged him and it was on the screen, too, with "Nice Job!". Then during the show, I got selected for the second person to say where they were from where the joined brothers do their jokes - Volcanic island with the Eiffel Tower. When the duo do their joke, usually the first person agrees that they are absolutely correct about the description of their home town. This girl said they were wrong. But I got lots of screen time by agreeing with them all the way. It was fun.

When we got out, the rain was pretty much stopped, so we headed over to the Haunted Mansion. Did that and then decided to head back to SSR and skip EMH. Caught a bus right away to SSR and I even got a seat. Lucky me. Since we were in the Springs, we got the full tour before we got off.

Having the washer and dryer is a blessing because I could wash and dry all our soaked clothing. Too bad I couldn't dry the shoes, though. Even with just clothes in the dryer, that has to be the noisiest dryer I have ever heard. I finally found a use for the hairdryer in the villa (I always bring my own because they don't dry too good) and dried our cash since I had it in my bag which got a bit wet from the rain.

Bill and Will headed to the pool for about an hour or so and were surprised at the number of people at the pool and in the hot tub around midnight. What appeared to be lots of unsupervised kids, too.

Today, we'll have a late breakfast at Crystal Palace (maybe get a bit of the lunch offerings if we are lucky) and then head to the beach. Hoping to come back with a little color and I don't mean rust from all the rain. We've had a lot of rain lately in Louisiana and I was hoping for little sunshine.

This day was just a little extra because we had planned to leave home Sat morning and drive straight to the beach Sun from near Tallahassee. But a few weeks ago, we decided to leave on Friday night instead and got this villa for one night. Um, Sat night points in a one bedroom for one night - I guess we are not the most frugal points users. Oh, heck, might as well use them and have fun. For ten nights in a one bedroom villa, this trip will have two Fridays and two Saturdays. At least it isn't June 10th yet when points go up.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Great report Deb.

Sorry that you are having to deal with the rain. Put on the ponchos and have a good time. Make sure to take care of your health. Its easy to get sick with all of the rain.

We are about ready to grow fins here in Alabama.

 

[Figment2]

Friends are there now and they were giving me updates as the evening wore on. She mentioned too about they never stopped the monorail and I was surprised. She also mentioned about the water (of course, she has been talking about the water all week).

Too, she couldn't put their shoes in the dryer so was using the hair dryer! She said the same thing, too noisy plus the shoes kept popping the dryer door open.

This is the first May in 10 years that I haven't travelled to WDW. I'm kind of glad I stayed home (only because I'm doing the 40th anniversary HM event at DL in Sept.). We've had gorgeous weather here in Chicago this past week.

Hope it clears up for you!

Cyn

 

[Muushka]

Thanks for the report, a fun read!

I am disappointed about the 5th Dimension .
I also loved that group. How sad that they are basically no longer and don't even sing all their old hits! What in the world are they thinking?

 

[BEASLYBOO]

Enjoyed hearing about the beginning of your vacation. Florida has been so dry that though we needed the rain I would much prefer for it to be more like the old days, downpour at 3pm, sunshine before & after, It's rained here for the last 3 days straight! But as long as there is no lightning, we brave it as well.

The beauty of DVC is using your points just as you see fit, and I think it was a super idea to make a pit stop as you proceed to your intended destination! We'll be there June 7th, can't wait.

Enjoy the rest of your trip.

 

[Deb & Bill]

On Sunday, Bill got up early and ran a few miles. I finished the laundry and got our stuff packed up. We're heading to Marco Island today, so this was a very short stay. After Bill got back and showered he asked if I wanted to go for a walk around SSR before we headed to the MK (we had breakfast ADR for Crystal Palace this morning). So we walked around the pond/lagoon just outside our window (with the fountain in it) and then over by the Carousel and Paddock. Both areas were beautiful. I never understand the people who say SSR is not themed. We thought it was themed beautifully.

We loaded up the car and got the bus immediately to MK. We have been extremely lucky with buses on these two days. We got to the MK right after they had opened the gates. We walked around a bit, thought about doing something that wouldn't have much of a line (like Small World), but decided we would just shop around. We did stop at Sleepy Hollow to check on the caramel corn situation and found it was true. No more caramel corn at Sleepy Hollow. The CM there suggested we let City Hall know about our disappointment, so we headed there. The CM we talked to there suggested that we write to Guest Services and got us the card with the e-mail address and snail mail address. We'll be doing that soon.

Then it was about time to head to CP. We checked in and were called in a little bit later. We had a wonderful breakfast - Bill got one of the cooked to order omlets; I got two eggs over medium; Will got a plate load of bacon - He loves bacon. The strawberries were beautiful, ripe and tasty. I got a piece of the puffy french toast from the kid's table. Also very tasty.

After breakfast, we got to the bus stop with a bus waiting for us - again. How could we be this lucky with buses? I hope later in the week we have as good luck. We got off the bus at the Grandstand so we could walk to the car (it was still parked at the Springs) and we wanted to see this area. As we walked from the bus stop towards the pool area, there was a mockingbird going crazy. When we looked more carefully, we saw a large black snake lying on top of the bushes and the bird was attacking it. I hate snakes. I just hate snakes. We got a photo of it and I'll try to post it later.

As we walked a bit further, we saw two lizards on a tree and these weren't the little cute green ones (anoles) that you usually see. These were more like horney toads or those lizards in the hole with Shia LeBeouf in Holes, only without the wings. Took their photo as well.

A few minutes later we were back at the car and headed to Marco Island. Both Bill and I wished that we had our next stay later on in the week at SSR instead of the BCV (we like the BCV, but really love SSR).

Enjoyed hearing about the beginning of your vacation. Florida has been so dry that though we needed the rain I would much prefer for it to be more like the old days, downpour at 3pm, sunshine before & after, It's rained here for the last 3 days straight! But as long as there is no lightning, we brave it as well.

That's exactly what I told Bill. FL really needed this and it wasn't that big an inconvenience for us - no one got struck by lightning. We got rained on big time on the drive down to Marco Island. But since we've been here, we've only had a few tiny drops of rain. They really need it in Collier County, too. They are rationing water for watering lawns and car washing.