January 2018..... who will be there?

[Teamubr]

A lovely rainy day at the Fort is still better than any day here.

Thanks for the pics. The first one towards the lake made me really miss the Fort. Definitely going to make a day trip over during our Feb/Mar stay at ASSp.

j

 

[Cotillard]

The ugly: we got back from Publix, bert unlocked the door, I had some grocery bags in hand, he went to get the rest from the car. I opened the RV door and yeti slid head first out the door and on the ground. Scared the crap out of me. Thankfully he opened his eyes. He did not move but opened his eyes. Not dead but now I am not sure if he is hurt. Thankfully we were able to get him up and he walked around. He was quite happy to eat dinner. Hopefully it shook mommy up more than him. We will also be blocking the door and putting the close out over the step when we leave. It is day 2 of the trip and I am doing my second load of dog laundry.

Hope your pup is ok this morning

 

[garneska]

Hope your pup is ok this morning

thanks. he is sleeping again but he was able to move around and definitely wants food. Am sure the weather is not helping him much with the cold and rain. Hoping he can have a good vacation but my hubby deadlifts him into the RV and i have no idea how he will do that after his first marathon.

 

[dgarnes03]

thanks. he is sleeping again but he was able to move around and definitely wants food. Am sure the weather is not helping him much with the cold and rain. Hoping he can have a good vacation but my hubby deadlifts him into the RV and i have no idea how he will do that after his first marathon.

You need to find 3-4 strong women at FtW who aren't running the marathon to be on alert for a Yeti lift!

 

[garneska]

You need to find 3-4 strong women at FtW who aren't running the marathon to be on alert for a Yeti lift!

Yeah some how i am going to have to help bert lift yeti, that or bert and yeti can sleep outside. Atleast sunday night it will be a little warmer.

 

[bama_ed]

Busy day today.

Rainy and cold plus windy heading over this morning to the Premium Outlet Center across I4 to the Character Warehouse. Picked up a WDW/Micky shirt for $6. Then over to Disney Springs for WoD, Christmas, Coop, and Art stores.

Back to the Fort for lunch (grilled cheese) and then over to the Art of Animation for the 2pm Character Drawing lesson. This was a repeat of the activity my dad and I did during our Halloween stay. That time we did Chip & Dale - this time we did Pluto.

I'm not Monet but at least it looks like who it's supposed to:



Forgot to say about 1pm today the clouds and rain cleared out and blue skies returned today. It got up into the low 50s then briefly before cooling off. But that was my time to do the rest of my set-up (signs, EZ up, lights). So here is our site 101:





In my little corner of the Fort it was pretty. Not a lot of folks out and about but the sites are full:





Now that I am set up with all my lights, the site looks nice at night.



Tomorrow is MK day. Hours are 8am-12mid and we should be there for all of them.

Bundle up, ya'll.

Bama Ed

PS - tomorrow is the first run of Marathon weekend with the 5k over at Epcot early in the morning.

 

[4077]

Hey Ed....

How does the heat do in the Aliner....is it tough to get right without being too hot or too cold? Or does it do pretty good?

 

[bama_ed]

Hey Ed....

How does the heat do in the Aliner....is it tough to get right without being too hot or too cold? Or does it do pretty good?

4077,

I bought the trailer which had a heat pump as the heating and cooling unit rather than getting a separate AC unit and propane furnace. It's got a thermostat that's adjustable and does well. The thing is, being a heat pump, it only works down to 35-40F or so before there is not enough heat to pull out of the air. So I brought along a ceramic heater from home to carry the load. Gonna turn it on soon since we are just now at 39F (953pm now listening to Electric Water Parade so it will get colder tonight still).

The walls are pretty well insulated because they are styrofoam laminated inside and out with the aluminum frames. They sure do hold the heat better than my old canvas slideout bunk popup (which was a great camper but not a winter unit).

Headed down to about 30F tonight and the following two nights. Gonna be tough on those runners standing around in the dark for the next three mornings before those runs for this Marathon weekend. Ya know, the runs aren't so bad at Marathon but the 3am wakeup and standing around in the dark outside in temps like these before the start for 2-3 hours is.

Bama Ed

 

[garneska]

Wednesday, I was hoping the rain would wait a little so I could run a few miles before work. As Ed said it started raining around 3 am, so nope not running in the rain. Got started with work early, before 7. We wanted to go to the expo after work so the hope was to quit around 4.

I got lucky and my meeting ended early so I went for 3 easy mile run at 3 pm. It had stopped raining, sun was coming out, it was windy and cold but I dressed fine for it. Next walk the dogs then out to the expo.

I heard all kinds of crazy line stories. We drove made it in 20 minuets. We did not have issues with bib pick up, but the line to get in for the official merchandise was long, not as long as it had been but we decided not to wait.

Next we had dinner at Ravello at the four seasons. It’s Italian, the homemade pasta is awesome. Came home and got ready for bed.

Plan was to get up at 4:30 today but bert had a rough night. Not sure what it is but all kinds of extreme bad stomach issues. I hope it clears up, he will need to rehydrate the water. We were up at 4. Then we went back to sleep. Bert is still sleeping, so I think everything is out of his system.

Yeti survived the fall pretty well. He seems fine from it. Granted they both slept most of the day.





The 5k this morning temp was 32 with a real feel of 26. It will be the same for me tomorrow morning.

 

[FtW Mike]

Well it looks like Bert is very happy and comfortable mimicking Mallory! Correct me if I am wrong but didn't he have a gastro issue your last trip? Hope he feels well enough to ride in the front seat soon.

 

[Cotillard]

Your site - and the campground - look just gorgeous, Bama Ed. Thank you for the photos.

Such beautiful, big fur balls, Garneska. So glad Yeti is ok. Hope your dh recovers in time for his race.

 

[garneska]

Well it looks like Bert is very happy and comfortable mimicking Mallory! Correct me if I am wrong but didn't he have a gastro issue your last trip? Hope he feels well enough to ride in the front seat soon.

it was probably Yeti who had gastro issues. My travel is blurring together. I hope Bert gets better quick. The good thing about Noro is it usually moves through FAST.

 

[garneska]

Bert is down and out. He slept all day. By some miracle I was able to get Mallory out by myself. I peed her and walked her and managed to get her back in. Poor yeti has not been out.



Think I am sleeping on that empty couch tonight.

I am even cooking chicken on the grill. Oh I hope Bert feels better tomorrow.

 

[dgarnes03]

Bert is down and out. He slept all day. By some miracle I was able to get Mallory out by myself. I peed her and walked her and managed to get her back in. Poor yeti has not been out.

View attachment 292295

Think I am sleeping on that empty couch tonight.

I am even cooking chicken on the grill. Oh I hope Bert feels better tomorrow.

I also hope Bert feels better tomorrow!

 

[bama_ed]

 

[Teamubr]

Oh no. Sorry to hear Bert is sick. I hope it passes quick.

I did notice one difference between you and Bert and Donna and I. You said you may be sleeping on the couch. If I'm sick, I'm on the couch. If Donna is sick, I'm on the couch...

j

 

[friendofeeyore]

Thank all of you for the great pictures & info. Kris, hope Bert is feeling great! Mallory & Yeti doing better. Our Susie's joints are stiff from this cold & damp weather. I am ready for Sunshine & warmer weather. Have fun at the Potluck lunch tomorrow!

 

[bama_ed]

Me too Bert, get well big guy.

Time for a brief update re: the MK yesterday. It was cool yesterday morning as we hit the dock at 7am. There was a thin film of frost on the wooden boards due to moisture in the air blowing past from the lake. It was a slippery surface for sure (note the right side of the photo).



Here comes our boat (we took the first available) which was one to the Contemporary.



Our boat captain had a 5 gallon bucket of sand which he spread around the loading area of the dock (both sides) to help with the traction on the frost.

When we got to the Contemporary dock, it was frosted over too. It was cold, frosty, slick. This sign provided a dash of morning humor. But the long deck was sanded already.



After crossing the street and going through security, the walkway to MK is under the monorail beams and as you walk you hear the gentle wooshing of the Mark 6 vehicles running above your head and the hum of the radial tires on the concrete beams.... I said you can hear the wooshing.... wait, there's no monorails running this morning. There's no wooshing. What's up with that?

Ah. Look up there where the beam from the roundhouse joins the MK loop. A man under the beam inspecting something.



And just a few steps further on the other side, more men working on something.



They got it working around midday after the temps warmed up.

We took advantage of the earlier opening time (not EMH but 8am for everyone) and got so much accomplished in the first two hours. By then it was a sea of people and strollers. We walked on Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion, Jingle Cruise, Pirates, and Splash Mountain in the first HOUR. Yes, we did Splash in 38F temps - no wait but had a log all to ourselves and we sat in the last row to minimize the splash zone. I called home to share the experience live as we went down the big finale hill.



Not going to blow by blow through the MK but I will share a few things.

First, we will be back here in Orlando in 10 days or so to move my daughter in as she begins working for the Mouse in the Spring semester for the Disney College Program. I had a thread on that news here about 2-3 months ago. Anyway, there is a door on Main Street that reminded me of that in that she has been "cast" in her role. She will be working Custodial and should find out her exact location assignment this coming Monday (about a week before check-in).



Second, we had good meals at LTT and Canteen. I have read so much about the dessert at LTT called Oooey Gooey Toffee Cake that I tried it and it is worthy of the praise it's received. Any other fans of it out there? Also the longest standy wait time we saw was 215 minutes at Space Mountain but in checking this week 7DMT had 330 minutes on NYE IIRC. The two longest lines we stood in (both about 20 minutes) were the FP lines for Space and Buzz.

Third, the castle looked great with the lights at night. I posted a full picture earlier but it's impressive up close too (the back of the castle facing the Carousel is not draped in lights).



Lastly, I'm always looking for something new to do or experience each trip and want to share what that was this trip in the next post.

Bama Ed

PS - our FitBit says we walked 11 miles in the MK yesterday

 

[bama_ed]

Anyone who has read my trip reports in the past knows when I go to the MK that I have a special fondness for the Dapper Dans each time they sing on Main Street. It's live voices harmonizing a capella (except for those hand held vibe things they use occasionally) - it's like flying on the trapeze without a net. These guys are professionals. Naturally, yesterday I took in a morning performance in front of the Main Street Cinema.





What was new this time was that I got to sing a song with the Dapper Dans after their street performance was over. We moved just inside the Cinema and since I sing bass, the DD bass (the gent in the blue suit) stepped out and I sang "My Wild Irish Rose" with the other three guys. I am now an Honorary Member of the Main Street Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society (its historical name is the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America or SPEBSQSA).

I don't like to post my own face in trip reports but this experience makes it worth it.





This morning is the DIS Meet for lunch. The chili is in the crock pot and I hope it warms up a little bit more today. There are clear blue skies this morning.



Bama Ed

 

[Cotillard]

What a fun time that must've been, Bama Ed. Congrats

Love your artsy campsite pic. Enjoy the Dis meet.
Stay warm!