"Live" from OKW.

[MiaSRN62]

Miles of interstate 95 near Daytona are closed this morning as visibility is at zero in places because of the smoke.

Wow....my aunt lives off of one of the exits near here. Exit 284 at the Flagler Beach exit. I hope FL gets some well deserved rain soon. We drive down I 95 every year and plan on doing this again in August. Wonder where/how they are detouring people ?

Have fun in the MK Doc

 

[dianeschlicht]

I heard New Smyrna Beach was pretty well inundated with the fires. Hope you have a great time in spite of the smoke.

 

[Morganpics]

Thanks, Doc, for the reports. I can close my eyes and it all comes into focus. We could see Wishes from our balcony last November. It was really great. Wish we were there-waiting for September!

 

[RobDoc]

Back from the MK.

We left the room at 8:20am and arrived at the gate for rope drop. I headed to the Barber Shop and the chairs were already both full. I had only a short wait (the guy in the first chair was a CM and had started before the park opened) and again had Michal cut my hair. Michal has a theater background, is from Chicago and has been cutting hair at the MK for 10 years now. The cost is now $17 and I declined the "Mickey Mousse" (it comes in a wide variety of colors) and "pixie dust". The young man in the other chair (who was about 4) opted for both and left sporting a red mousse "Mickey" silhouette on the back of his head and a bountiful supply of "dust" on top. You could easily track where he went after leaving the barber shop by following the trail of irredescant Mickey's on the sidewalks! If you have little ones (boys/girls/men/women are all welcome), be sure to get the "My First Haircut" certificate from the barber. They do a wonderful job with children - it's really fun to watch them interact (and distract) them during the process. GO EARLY, as the wait often exceeds 90 minutes later in the day.

I was done about 9:20 and everything else was a walk-on until late morning. We rode Buzz 3 times in succession with no wait, rode CoP, TTA, Splash and HM all by 11:30am when we had a bite at Columbia Harbour House before heading back to OKW.

The fog has burned off, the sun is bright, the humidity a little higher and the temperature again over 90. No sign of any brush fires in this area at this time. We will probably spend the rest of the day at OKW. I hope to meet a couple of DISers this afternoon.

Having a GREAT time, wish you were here!

 

[pickles]

Maybe folks who have been to OKW can share their pics here for those of us still dreaming. My trip is several months away and I would LOVE to see pics of the resort and views etc... I have already worn allears out

 

[dairyou]

Here's a few for you

Enjoy,
Deb

 

[blossomz]

Thanks for the report! We cannot wait until we are there!! Your report helps us to feel a little closer to home!

 

[RobDoc]

Maybe folks who have been to OKW can share their pics here for those of us still dreaming. My trip is several months away and I would LOVE to see pics of the resort and views etc... I have already worn allears out

Here are a few photos of OKW.

On tonite's news, in Orlando they have just closed I-4 at Central FL Pkwy due to a 10 acre brush fire. This is about 1/2 mile from The Timeshare Store and near the entrance to Sea World - we drove past this location on our way to TTS yesterday. I don't think it is too close to TTS and there have been no evacuations for this area at this time. It is about a 10 minute drive from OKW.

It has been a hot day today and there is a high risk for fires. Tomorrow's forecast is for possible Thunderstorms in the afternoon. Temps in the low 90's again.

More later!

 

[thelionqueen]

Thanks for the great report! We will be checking in in only 20 days @ OKW and I just cannot wait.

Sounds like the temperatures are very hot for this time of year doesn't it?? Is there any smoke visible from the resort? I hope it cools down...I know I'm dreamin!

 

[RobDoc]

No sign of smoke from OKW at this time.

We have been here in the past and have witnessed active fires near GF from the monorail. These brush fires are a concern for WDW and apparently could start up onsite at any time.

Until the fire on Central Florida Parkway today, the other closures have all been near New Smyrna (near Daytona). I-4 at Central FL Pkwy is closed until tomorrow morning at this time. The fires continues to rage without control at this time.

Stay tuned!

 

[iluvdisney]

Hi Doc! I really enjoy reading your posts from "Home" - I will be there soon - can't wait. You got a really nice set up with bldg 23 and so close to HH.

Sure hope the fires die down soon - my brother is one of Orlando's best trying to keep them under control.

Enjoy the rest of your trip and say hi to your DW for me!

 

[rinkwide]

Doc's at Walt Disney World and, once again, there's a natural disaster.

I think I may've asked you this already but could you please let me know before you head out here to Disneyland?

 

[jmatias]

Doc,

Always enjoy reading your reports. Please keep us posted on the fire. Until your posts, I didn't realize how close it was to WDW and the nearby area.

ALoha,
Jen

 

[MiaSRN62]

I'm watching The Today Show with Katie Couric and Matt Lauer and they showed a fire burning right outside of Sea World. I really hope they all get some rain down there soon.

 

[RobDoc]

Well, it rained this morning. We got about 1/2 inch here and some areas got as much as an inch. The clouds have just started to clear and the air quality is much nicer right now. More thunderstorms are possible this afternoon.

The fire near Sea World is now under control. It burned about 30 acres.

We're heading back to Epcot in awhile- we have lunch reservations at Coral Reef and will probably ride Soarin again before catching VoL and the first performance of "The Association" at the Flower Power concert this afternoon.

More later.

 

[dvc_john]

Hey Doc - thanks for your mini-review of Paul Revere and the Raiders. Wasn't planning on seeing them til I read your post, then decided to go last nite. I hope I have as much energy when I'm 69 years old. Going to see The Association tonite also, and Davy Jones on Friday.

ps for anyone interested:
checked in on Sunday at 3:45. No wait at check-in, and room was ready with all requests (top floor, non-smoking). Room was clean, and all items in working order. After 4 bus trips, longest wait has been approx 5 minutes.

 

[RobDoc]

Just back from Epcot. We enjoyed travelling around WS and checking out the displays. There are some great backyard pond/fountain displays as well as the usual F/G displays. The crowds have been much larger than the past several years.

We did go to see The Association concert at American Gardens Pavillion. We were a bit disappointed in their performance. For a group with a number of memorable songs from the 60's (Cherish, Never My Love, Windy and several others) , they chose to throw in songs from other groups (New Christie Minstrels, Mommas and the Papas) instead of doing their own stuff. They were off-key and even the keyboardist blew some of his backgrounds. It looked like two (of the six onstage) were from the original group and the others have joined much more recently. One of the original singers was in the New Christie Minstrels prior to starting The Association- and that was his reason for including "Green, Green"- but i still thought it was inappropriate for this 30 minute performance when they omitted some of their own songs. BYW- Kenny Rogers also started out in the New Christie Minstrels before leaving to forge out on his own.

I hope dvc_john enjoyed it more than we did!

Another great day in paradise!

 

[dianeschlicht]

We were talking about the Association concert and wishing we could be there, but I guess we didn't miss much anyway.!

 

[kellyf2626]

Sounds like you are having a great time! We will be going home the first week of June to BWV. Nice that the area got some rain today...hopefully that will help the threat of brush fires in the area of Disney.

 

[KathyRN137]

Thanks for the report on the fires, Doc. Glad to hear they are getting under control---scary!