Okay, I finally, finally have a moment to get on here and reply to my peeps! I was busy with work yesterday and couldn't find the time.
Yep just got internet back 2 days ago the weather made it difficult for the repair guy to get out to us. The day the internet went back up though snow falling off our roof took out our other satellite dish for the tv and our phone line so thank goodness I had my internet back or what would I do besides shovel snow LOL
Thanks for including my TR that must be why I have new subs and it wasn't totally buried when I got back a few days ago I expected to have to hunt for it LOL. Plus the fact that you picked me as one of the few is a real compliment since your TR is my favorite.
Sherri - Glad to hear everything is up and running again. I can remember I held out for the longest time before going online. I was way behind everyone else in getting e-mail. But the way things go in our society, you are almost forced to get online and do everything on the Internet now. So we get forced into doing a bunch of stuff on the Internet, then we get accustomed to it and rely on it, and then something like weather will come along and mess it all up. That's one thing I hate, too. When something goes wrong around the house due to weather (like, say, a leaky roof or outage of some kind), you have to wait for the weather to clear up for anyone to be able to come out and do anything about it. So annoying!
Right now, I have my Internet and cable TV on the same bill, through the same company. Over the last couple of years, I've had them both go out simultaneously and also individually. I would never want to suddenly get my landline service through that same company, because I can't risk having 3 major services down all at one time!! I'd rather keep my phone separate.
Thank you for the compliment on my TR! I'm so glad to have you as a loyal reader!
I was trying to add links to holiday TR's in the Christmas Superthread that I remembered off the top of my head, or ones that I had been following - either silently or openly - so yours was a natural choice! I know there are others (older TR's) I could probably dig up if I decided to comb through the archives, but I just wanted a good handful of 20 or 30 of them to showcase in the holiday/Christmas thread (and in the Halloween thread) so people could have a good range of experiences to read about - solo trips, family trips, one-day trips, multi-day trips, onsite stays, off-property stays, rainy days, sunny days, cold days, lots of rides vs. no rides at all, etc.
So of course I was going to add in your TR! And when you do a Halloween TR, I will add that to the Halloween Superthread too!
Oh no. That's funny in so many ways.
When I tried to do the Snapfish calendar it didn't work for me. Drives me nuts. I gave up.
I have trouble with Facebook on my cell phone sometimes, and I just don't like using it for that. Although I have a much fancier phone now it just isn't the same to me.
Michele - I get the feeling that the problem I am having with being timed out/logged out of Facebook is a browser or software issue on my phone. I never used to have that problem until recently. I could always close the browser and still be logged into Facebook the next time I went on. I also have to constantly sign into my Yahoo e-mail from the phone, too, whereas just a couple of months ago it would keep me logged in even if I closed the phone's browser.
Another odd thing is that, in the last 9 months or so, when I check my e-mail from my phone, I can no longer see the subject headings on each e-mail - UNLESS I open them up one by one. In the past, I was brought to the Yahoo mail page and I could scan down the list of new e-mails and see what the subjects were and if anything I was expecting was there. Not now. All of a sudden, last year, something happened to where I can no longer read any headings without opening them up. So that, too, has got to be either a software/browser issue on the phone, or it's Yahoo-specific.
I bet you anything that if I got a brand new phone I wouldn't have that problem. I almost think these cell phone carriers rig the phones to purposely start acting up after a certain time frame so you will be forced to buy a new ne!
Your snapfish calendar sounds super cute!!! I just got the code today, but I haven't started working on it yet. Yup, it expires 2/28/11. The big PITA is that I have to upload a bunch of photos to snapfish, I don't use that photo-sharing site.
Tania - I don't blame you. I never used Snapfish, either, until this free calendar offer came out. As much as I love photos and working with photos, it is a total pain to upload them when things run
so slowly. I have enough trouble with Photobucket and loading to that site (even on my one paid Photobucket account I have trouble, so you can imagine the trouble on the free account!). While I did notice that loading to Snapfish seems to be a wee bit faster than Photobucket, seeing that I have so many photos on Photobucket already, it annoyed me that I had to upload a bunch of them to a different site to get the calendars. Why can't stupid Photobucket offer up some free calendars?
And then, once I got a good selection of photos on Snapfish I had to sit there, trying to decide which ones to use. So tedious. I'm pleased with the finished product, but you're right - definitely a huge PITA!
If I recall, you and I both discovered how to load photos from our cell phones to Photobucket around the same time (I think we were talking about that in the Halloween thread). I've noticed that it is actually faster to load photos from my phone to both Facebook and Photobucket than it is to do it on on the computer!!
The problem is, most of my upload-worthy photos are not on my cell phone (some are, but not the best ones). So annoying!
WAYYYYYyyyy late to the party but enjoying the heck out of another fine trip report! On post #1292. You have me excited about a possible stay at the PPH. We can't stay at the GCH now on our DVC points unless we stay in a villa (which are scarce during the holidays)
We may be going to DL the week AFTER new years...When do the decorations come down?
Thanks for sharing!
TK
TK - Again, I'm so glad you joined us over here! Better late than never! Your Halloween TR was one that I followed all the way through when you did it and somehow never remembered to actually comment on. Somehow I never commented on it even though I was particularly interested in seeing how that trip went, given that we had discussed you making the Halloween trip way before it happened!!
I'm glad that you made the choice to do the Halloween trip instead of your alternate idea to spend more time around San Diego. Even though - and we all agree - Halloween Time is not up to the level of Christmas time at DLR in terms of being as immersive, thorough and detailed just yet, I definitely, definitely think that Halloween Time at DLR is worth experiencing at least once, at least for one day if not longer.
You asked about when the holiday decorations come down. This year is kind of tricky with the way the dates fall in the months. Normally, the last official day of the DLR holiday season every year is the Sunday
after New Year's Day. However, New Year's Day 2012 is going to actually fall
on a Sunday. I'm guessing a lot of people will have work off on Monday, January 2nd, because that will be their paid holiday.
So I am wondering if that will mean that the last official day of the season in 2012 will be January 1st...or will they extend it until January 8th? DLR always seems to end its seasons (Summer, Halloween, Holidays) on
Sundays. I can't imagine that they would do something like end it on Tuesday, January 3rd, or something mid-week.
What my hunch is - and I could be way, way off base on this - is that the holiday season may begin a bit later in November this year
because Halloween Time may end later than it normally does. Rather than start on November 11th, I'm thinking they may go with a November 18th date for the holidays. Again, I could be very wrong, but we'll see.
If Halloween Time ends on, say, Sunday, November 6th (because Halloween itself is on a Monday, and they never end seasons on weekdays), then the holiday/Christmas season most certainly would have to have a later official start date than it had the last 2 years, and then this would likely mean that the holiday season would end a bit
later in January 2012 than it has been ending....so that may very well mean that the holidays will last until
January 8th after all. So if you go the week after New Year's, would you be there at least on January 8th?
There is also a good chance that IASW Holiday will still be running into mid-January, as that seems to be the pattern DLR has been following for the last couple of years. So you should be able to see that, if nothing else.
I think that as soon as we find out the actual start date of Halloween Time (which will have to be either September 16 or September 23, because September 30 seems too late to start it), that will tell us a LOT about when the holidays may begin. We will probably be able to figure out the exact holiday season start date as soon as we learn about Halloween Time.
Liza/funatdisney has also mentioned how hard it is to get into the GCH villas for the holidays. You literally have to book like now - or last month. And most of them are probably taken by now.
If you stay at the PPH, it won't be the same type of experience as staying in one of the GCV's, but I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. The PPH gets a bad rap for so many reasons (location, size, lack of grounds, etc.), but I think it's a really cute hotel. I really like it! I don't find anything wrong with it. Yes, I wish it were bigger and had more fun things fitting in with the ocean/sun theme (like water features and aquariums and things like that), but if you want to stay onsite and get the perks of staying onsite, and you either can't get into the Villa/room you want, and maybe you don't want to shell out crazy money to stay at the GCH for regular price, I think the PPH is a great alternative. I still feel like I am "in the magic," but for a cheaper price. Frankly, I like the beds at the PPH much, much better than the standard GCH rooms, although I have not seen the GCV beds so I don't know if those are better!
Wanted to take a moment to say WOW to Sherry I am currently reading the Halloweentime superthread #1 and am on page 152 there would be no Halloween Superthread without you! You worked really hard when it first started up to keep it going. So as I begin planning our first Halloween trip may I just say Thank you for all you do
Sherri - You're welcome!
Thank you again for the nice comments about the Halloween thread. As I mentioned to you in the Halloween Superthread, Part 2 a couple of days ago, that thread had an interesting trajectory in that it was really sluggin' along for a while, and it was way behind the Christmas thread in terms of views, and had only had a handful of regular followers. And then, all of a sudden, it took off like a rocket and left the Christmas thread in its dust!
Those holiday threads are labors of love for me!
Up to page 90~ Can't wait to see the pics from your first solo day at DL. LOVE your view from the hotel room. Hope your leg feels better. Wish I could go without sleep so I could finish this trip report. As always, most excellent!
TK - Yes, I got really lucky with the view in the PPH room. Showing up extra early worked in my favor. If I had shown up even an hour or two later, I probably would have had a much different room with a view of a parking lot or something. I've never been upgraded before, so that was a nice bonus.
My leg pain is an ongoing ordeal - but it has not hurt as badly as it did at DLR since then. I can walk to the store, to the bank and anywhere else I need to go and I have some pain all the time. But something about being at DLR just made the pain more intense.
As you saw, when I have time to myself, I go crazy with the camera and take endless photos. I just can't do that when I'm with other people. My next challenge will be to somehow find uncharted territory (for me) on the next trip and capture that. I really wanted to spend more time in DCA to get photos of whatever holiday stuff was there (even though it's less than what's in DL), but there just wasn't enough time. I will have to make sure to carve out more days for myself where I am alone.
Oh that sounds awesome! Thanks for the info. I can't wait to see pics of yours. Was the 2nd calendar free as well, or did you pay full price for that one?
deej - Are you going to order the Snapfish calendar? I posted the photos of the first one already, and it looks like my calendar #2 is due to arrive on Valentine's Day - Monday (good timing!). You take such wonderful photos - your photos would look great in the calendar, especially if you just used one or two pictures per page to showcase them. You actually don't even have to use the Disney Parks layout to get the free offer (although...why not use it?).
In a way, I think I might like my calendar #2 less than I like #1, because I crammed so many more photos onto the pages in the second one and it will require more effort on my part to look at each photo and appreciate it (because they will be smaller).
You can see the photos so much better in the first one, which I don't think will be the case in the second one.
Either way, I think it's a really good bargain for such a good quality, large calendar.
It is nice to hear from you again Sherry. We all can't wait until we get closer to the Halloween season at DL.
That sign quest that you asked me to do last month was crazy. Spending most of my time walking around the resort and find any sign that was good. Hope you kept track of my TR from last month. I'm also doing another trip during President's Day next week with my DB.
If you haven't seen my thread lately, I have done a very sign quest letter name game which you must guess which letters belongs to what and where at the Resort. I already have did one for Kaoden39 (Michele) & skiingfast (Matt). I have done one for you and lets see if you know what letters belong to these signs.
I also have to give a little details on each letter.
Hi, Bret! Yes, I was most definitely following along on your TR - and I got to the part where you did the letter name game for Michele. That's where I left off. I have to pick up from that point and continue on.
Actually, I've been reading along with your TR, as well as the latest installments of Jazz's TR (what a great idea she had to photograph all the windows and then include the names and info for each person for us!
), deejdigsdis' latest TR, Sherri's TR, Michele's TR, Marie's TR, Molly's TR (waaaaaaaaay over on the WDW side of town!
) and a couple of others here. I found that I was able to keep up with reading better if I didn't stop to reply to every thing I thoguht to reply to. If I reply to everything, then I get way behind on the reading. But I do have to pop in and at least say something from time to time!!
So, let me just say - you have done a fabulous job on the Sign Quest! The pictures you've taken are wonderful! And I think you are drawing attention to a lot of things that many people overlook. As I told you, that quest was something I had wanted to do for ages (along with many other quests I have considered, like bathroom signs and weather vanes and such), but there has just not been enough time to tackle it yet in my short trips. I probably would have done Sign Quest in stages to avod boredom or exhaustion - like do all the restaurant signs in one trip, then the shop/store signs in another trip, then the attraction/ride signs in another trip, etc. But you are a real trooper tackling as many as you did!
Let's see, as for the letter name game for
my name...for some reason, I am abolutely terrible at guessing these whenever I see someone post a game like this. You would assume, as detailed as I am, that I would notice all of these signs more closely. I think I simply do not go to the parks often enough! And when I do, I am not paying close enough attention to the signs!
So, I think I will fail miserably at guessing most of these:
S - This sign is right next to Rancho del Zocalo -
??
H - The store right inside SB Castle
(Hmmm - this can't be the Heraldry Shoppe, can it? The 'H' looks different.)
E - The old ride in Toontown which is just for display
(ToonTown Trolley)
R - The banner outside the gates
(World of Color?)
R - Mexican Restaurant at DL
(Rancho Del Zocalo)
Y - This is an easy sign to guess
(Toy Story Midway Mania!! My favorite!!)
E - Ride Entrance sign by Princess Fantasy Faire -
(Why am I blanking out on this?)
Anyway, great job, Bret - on the Sign Quest and on the letter name games for everyone!!
Hope it's all starting to clear up!
In the meantime, I am finished with day 12 on my TR, so feel free to come look at pictures instead of focusing on your friends' soap opera.
I even have a picture of a bathroom floor, and some Seuss-y holiday decorations...
Hi, Molly!
The soap opera/big mess is, I THINK, starting to clear up on my end. Keep in mind, even though it is
mainly my friend's problem, I got dragged in as sort of the 'star witness,' let's call it (except without the courtroom and the trial!), simply because of my association with this person and my knowledge of certain things. That was a 'hot seat' I didn't not want to be put in, and I was in a delicate situation of not knowing what I could reveal and what I had to keep quiet...because my friend lied about 1000 things in the situation to a few different people. Plus, there are a couple of other unstable people thrown in the mix, from what I hear, and I had to finally block them on Facebook so they wouldn't come to me for anymore answers. So I am hoping that I put an end to it all by blocking, and that I won't be sought out for any further information.
Michele and Marie know about the mess, and I think they will both agree...it's a MESS. Nothing illegal or anything like that, in case that's what anyone is thinking. Far from it. It's just a big, interpersonal mess.
As I was mentioning to Bret above, I actually have popped over and read your TR several times when I haven't said anything! In fact, you posted photos a while back on my behalf and mentioned my name about something, and I never commented on that! I need to get back over there and actually say something!
I'm behind on commenting on Marie's TR, too - she even asked me in her TR the other day to explain to another DIS'er how to resize photos on Photobucket, and I read it but just haven't commented yet!
That came out really nice. Can't wait to see the 2nd one! Dont feel silly about needing 2 calendars LOL I have one in our room one in the office one in the kitchen and one in coltons room plus one in the car so that makes 5 so I must be more obsessive than you LOL
Sherri - Thank you! I definitely need 2 calendars. I have my work space, so a calendar is required here. And then I usually put on up in the bedroom or hallway or something. I used to have 10-12 calendars every year - I loved all the Teddy Bear calendars, the Anne Geddes baby calendars and other fun stuff. But 2 is enough for me!
There always seem to be free calendars around this area, maybe in a pharmacy or a bank or something - but I just had not picked one up for 2011 yet. I went all of January without a calendar and realized how much I relied on having one. Plus, it's so much nicer to have photo calendars with photos you really love than just a regular old calendar of wildflowers or something. And yes, 98% of the photos I used were holiday photos - so I am basically celebrating the holiday season all year long - but if I can manage to get a good number of Halloween photos on my next trip, I will make an all-Halloween calendar!! Also, I wanted to do 2 calendars that had no people in them. Eventually, I will get around to doing another calendar with pictures of people (like I did last year).
Thank you, Michele!
Great calendar! Those pictures will make you happy for AGES.
Thanks, Molly! Yes, I think we all get a little happy when we look at the photos we love and kind of see them on a daily basis. Or maybe if you are having a bad day and you just happen to walk past a month that has a great photo, that will bring a smile to your face. I have so many photos stored away in albums or on CD (never printed) or memory cards or wherever. It's nice to just make a project every now and then where I can actually
see some of my stuff out in the open!
Very nice job, Sherry. I have been reading about the snapfish calendar for a long time and it is nice to see the finished product. Now I can't wait to see the second calendar.
Thanks, Liza!! The second one will be a-comin' on Monday, Valentine's Day. Of course, the silly UPS person will not buzz me to see if I am home to accept my package. He will instead buzz my landlords and leave my package with them. Last time it was just left outside of their door and the landlords didn't know it was there. Meanwhile, I was home and could have taken it!
So this means on Monday, I will have to stalk my landlords' apartment and loom ominously around dark corners in the building to see if UPS has put my box outside their door yet, so I can quickly grab it before any other tenants grab it (you wouldn't believe how grabby and nosey the tenants in this building are).
The calendar looks great Sherry! They are really nice BIG calendars. I was surprised when I got mine. The image quality was great too. I get a smile every time I look at mine. I am sure you will when you look at yours too.
So..... when do we get to see the Photopass pics?
Hope the drama has died down some and left you to think on happier thoughts.... like maybe trip planning. In one way fall seems so very far away but it will be here before you know it.
I actually got around to discussing travel dates with my DH yesterday and it looks like our next trip will be September 18-Oct 1. Do you realize that's only a little over 7 months! (
See! It says so on my new ticker!) Anyway, since you are hoping to go for the Halloween party this year it looks like I will probably miss running into you.
Guess we'll just have to try again for the next year!
Hi, Marie! As I said to Molly earlier, I have to get back over to your TR and answer your question about how to explain resizing the Photobucket photos! I'm so behind on the actual commenting on TR's, but at least I have been reading!
As you know, the drama/mess/soap opera has died down for now. Blocking on Facebook puts a big ol' roadblock up so certain people cannot get to me. Let's
hope that solution sticks and my part of it is over. I don't think it's over for someone else, though.
You're the only other person I know of who actually got the Snapfish calendar, so you know first-hand what a good deal it is due to the size and quality of it. I hope other people order it too, before the offer expires on 2/28. The free Shutterfly calendar I got last year was not nearly as good as this Snapfish one - not by a longshot.
As I've mentioned, I'm kind of bored with my PhotoPass pictures - they are just kind of blah to me, or just more of the same old same old. I guess I'll post them just to post them, but I was just so uninspired by them this year!
Well, you will definitely be at DLR smack dab in the middle of Halloween Time. Even though this is a negative for me about Halloween Time, what will be good for you (since you are not a big Halloween lover) is that it is not anything like the holidays in terms of all-over decor. You can walk for ages and ages in DL - and especially in DCA - and not see one trace of Halloween Time. That's one complaint many people have - there is just not 'enough' Halloween around the parks. I wish they would do so much more. But for people who don't really care about Halloween one way or the other, that will be a good thing because you won't be reminded of Halloween everywhere you go (like in all the restaurants and shops). Only
some of the places you go!! It's just not as 'in your face' as the holiday season is. Of course, I love that all-encompassing decor, but it is what it is.
You know, depending on when the Halloween party begins this year, I may be there when you're there. See, the thing is, the Halloween party will either begin on Friday, September 30th or Friday, October 7th, this year. October 7th seems too late in my opinion. But I don't know of any time when it's begun in September - even on the last day of September. They start it based on Friday dates, not on the actual date (so it won't be on October 1st every year, on other words). The party generally begins one or two weeks after Halloween Time officially begins, but we do not yet have a Halloween time start date.
So if the party starts on September 30th and I manage a way to get there and go on opening night (which I would love to do), then I could very well be there when you are still there, Marie. If it starts on October 7th or later, then I will miss you guys yet again.
I mentioned earlier that I don't think I need to stay more than one night for Halloween Time unless I have extra money - which is unlikely. So it all boils down to whether or not I can get there for a Halloween day trip or if I have to do a one-night stay somewhere. I want to save my free PPH night and my $99 room rate for the holidays.
LOVED your trip report. I was glad I wasn't sipping anything when you were talking about your Storyteller's Cafe 'run-in' with the child and the back of your chair! I was too busy drooling over the thought of the spaghetti!
I couldn't find a gingerbread cookie to save myself at WDW this December.
Christian Bale was wonderful in 'The Fighter'. Did you see him on the Golden Globes? I had no idea he had such a wonderful accent!
When is your next trip??
Thanks, TK! I can't believe you made it all the way through already!
Yes, that chair episode at Storytellers was funny (not for the little girl). Just the way the grandmotherly type glared at me, as if I was a menace to society, sitting in my evil chair, was hilarious.
Mmmm....I am craving that spaghetti now too! Yum! And if it's a 'good garlic bread day,' even better!!
I can't believe you didn't see any gingerbread cookies with ears at WDW! Do they not sell them there? I would have assumed that those cookies were sold at both DLR and WDW. Where could they have been, I wonder? Well, even though they have shrunk a wee bit in size, they are still delicious!
I saw Christian Bale at the Golden Globes...and I was digging the long hair!!!
However, by the time he showed up at the SAG Awards 2 weeks later, the hair had been cut a bit. I don't particularly think he is a nice person (did we all hear that on-set tirade from him a couple of years ago?), and he seems to have a bad temper, but I find him attractive. He's an excellent actor.
My next DLR trip will most likely be for Halloween Time - probably just a day trip or a one-night stay. I just don't know if it will be in September or October (probably October). I have to go before the AP expires in November.
I was so bummed to have missed Halloween Tiime last year, so I need to make up for it this year. Pictures pictures pictures galore!!
Although...to be honest, I am extra excited about the Little Mermaid ride that's opening in May. I know the lines for that will be a hideous mess all year long, but I would still love to go on it sooner than later.
In the meantime, I am glad to see that DLR is starting to do a little more for Valentine's Day
