Pre-Trip: Where has the fall gone???

[jbrostek]

Well we are now T-minus 23 days to departure and 2 weeks to Christmas!!! The excitement for me has been building for some time as we made ADRs for certain hard to get reservations, but after securing one for Be Our Guest and the Yahtsman for the group of families (3 families/sites on a grand gathering reservation.) My excitement ramped up as soon as this years Magic Bands arrived on Wednesday!!! I have been keeping busy trying to balence the holidays (including thanksgiving,) RV warenty repairs, and preparing for the trip.

Something new for me this year is my lovely girlfriend will be joining me and flying in on Friday after I arrive and riding back. We have been working together to make both the Christmas holiday magical as well as the trip. The Sunday after she arrives will be 6 months together. I have planned dinner at Aritist's Point and then head over to Magic Kingdom afterwards to enjoy the fireworks and magic hours. She is just as much of a Disney fan as I am, but we did not know it until long after we met. The trip is bittersweet for her, its her first time going in many years on an adult only trip, but at the same time she feels some guilt going without her children. They will be well cared for as they are with their father for the week anyway. I only hope I can help her enjoy the trip without them.

My goal is to be fully loaded up by New Years Day so that the only things I need to do on Friday Jan 2nd is pack up the remaining few items before hitting the road Saturday morning. While I would like to run down there as quickly as possible, it is vacation and no need to exhaust myself getting there. Plus the 3 families travel as a group/caravan down I95 to our final destination, we have traveled together every winter for years now and everyone is on the same page. Will will take our normal 2 days travel time to get to Disney with an overnight stop usually in SC at Point South or New Green Acres and arrive at the campground just after check-in time official opens.

It's funny that this year I had my earliest start on the trip preparations that I can think of. Before the RV went to the dealer the entire inside was cleaned, vacuumed, dusted and wiped down. I expect some minor cleaning when I get it back, but the big end of camping season cleaning is done. Yet, somehow there is just as much to do this close to departure as there was last year.

 

[bama_ed]

Yep it's getting close. I think I will be there part of the same time. I hope to stop by and say hi.

I'm going to start packing and prepping after Christmas. I like puttering around the camper.

Bama Ed

 

[ilovedisneymm]

We are 30 + days out and already making lists and our evening discussions are becoming more and more "disney this and that topics".

As soon as Christmas is over I will begin a heavy deep cleaning to the house and then new tires for the van, oil changed, detailed and start light packing. Lists of this and that are in full swing and I am constantly going over our scheduled but unscheduled vacation. I keep doubting my fp itinerary and it is making me crazy! Trying to plan and not plan at the same time is tough! I keep checking acuweather and love seeing weather updates roll out for mid January and on

Our magic bands should be arriving next week!!!

Exciting times for all!!!!

 

[jbrostek]

T-minus 22 days - While I mentioned I had no projects going, I was thinking for the RV or the site. I do have one major project and spent last evening at the shop working on the replacement for our long lost "mickey" cart (we built it for disney, the only Mickey on it was the one on the front, but loved it just the same.) It was stollen from us 2 summers ago, it was a sharp looking cart and we missed it a lot.

All the parts of version 2.0 of the "Mickey" cart have been arriving over the past few weeks. The delay for building a replacement was first finding a factory 4 seater EZ-Go, they are harder then you would imagine to find on the used market that are not horrifically over priced. We found one and have taken it down to the frame like the last one and started to fix and up all the previous owners "modifications". A close friend and build carts, not as a business model, but because we enjoy building them and we usually always have a nice cart or two around for use.

I usually don't start my vacation preparing so early, but we wrote up the shopping list last month and have just been shopping the sales for non perishable items and stuff that we would freeze to bring down anyway. I am glad I got the early start because between everything else going on with work, the RV not being home until the 20th (which means I won't touch it till after Christmas to do the real packing,) managing not only seeing my family, but my girlfriends family and kids I am not going to have much time once its all said and done. And since our departure date is January 3rd, it really means I have to start before the holiday since I can only do stuff after work and on the weekends.

So the plan for tonight is to make more progress on the cart rebuild. And over the weekend is the normal chores and errands, pick up the few gift cards I plan to give as gifts to my now teenage nieces, and try to make progress on the golf cart.

Ed - Definitely we have to meet up and make sure I pass on my site number to you, but we did request the 300 loop and expect us to be there. It would be nice to meet up with others, and I am looking forward to the other families we have gotten to know and see year after year during this time in the loop.

Melissa - We are true Disney addicts, we start discussing the next years vacation while we are there. But usually after we decide on the time we are going to visit and the reservations are made, it turns into a random conversation until about August/September. Then it is at least a weekly discussion about something (starting with ADRs for hard to get reservations.)

 

[ilovedisneymm]

Sorry about someone taken your cart. That is pathetic to say the least...
Hope you had it covered.

Your new 2.0 Mickey looks very sleek! You are doing a fantastic job building the new cart! We purchased a cart just for the mouse (cough). We try not tell non disney people that as they tend to look at us funny when we do. The golf cart prices around our area are high, new or used. We ended up driving across state lines to get the used one we wanted. Really nothing fancy but we wanted the cream colored Club Car precedent in a newer version with four seats. That was not easy to come by around here without a new price tag. The small business owner we purchased was doing business left and right. Quit his former job to upgrade and sale used carts from his garage. Good for him! Hubby installed the lighting kit headlights, taillights, break lights and turn signal. With a couple kids bouncing around on the back I worry about safety for them. The ones that frighten me the most is the ones just getting in and typically staying in a cabin, I assume that cause they are not pulling anything. They drive like idiots and most likely sleep deprived. I think looping at the Fort is one of our favorite things to do while down there.

I love your metal mickey! I remember seeing a cart similar to yours last year. We stayed Jan 20 - Feb 3 last year (dates maybe off a day or two). Where you there last year turning that time frame? Maybe it was the year prior...

If you don't mind me asking, where did you get that mickey decal for your cart?

We are headed down January 14 - Jan 31 (30 plus days)!

I would love to be able to come back in early Fall after the public kids are back in school but that is full swing harvest ready time. No go for us

Accuweather just released a few more of our vaca dates and so far each night is staying above 50s (for the lows)! Thank God, cause we are bringing tents!

 

[jbrostek]

That picture was the one of version 1.0 of the Mickey cart. The new one is still just a full operational frame but we chose to keep the body the same color, this time it has a little more metalic flake in the paint. Not blingy, but shines a little better then the last version.

The emblem is actually something we picked up at WDW that trip. I think we actually bought it in the exit area of Test Track, but I have seen it on the shelves in several of the stores. Usually over by the antenna toppers.

Carts around here are wildly overpriced for used with people thinking they can get 20% under 2015 new prices for a 2001 with 2007 batteries. But we keep an eye out all the time and find them for a better price. Some are just in need of a full refurb and we take in the cost of that, others are higher purchase but need less work to turn around. Really we are trying to grow his shop into having more then just automotive repair work, but continue to keep the overhead managable, so that is one reason why carts turned out to be included.

We will be there until the 17th, but that morning is when we head north and back to reality.

 

[2goofycampers]

That stinks about the stolen cart. We carry a bike lock and lock the steering wheel to the seat frame. Thieves are lazy, make it look like work and they'll move on to the next cart.

 

[jbrostek]

Well it was taken while it was at the race track. We had left it there before locked to the RV (I spend 20-25 weekends a year at this track as a race official, so they allow us to keep our RV and carts there during the week.) It was the one time we forgot to lock it up to the RV that it got taken. Insurance would not cover it because the serial number was not listed with them. So we had to take some time to absorb the loss.

T-minus 21 days - More work on the golf cart done last night, just final pressure washing and preparing to repin the body back on. Heading back today to get the body pinned on and remember to take some pictures along the way. The cart will be just as sharp as the last one I think.

But first I need to make a stop or two at the stores to get some holiday shopping done. It is on the way to the shop, so I might as well do it now so I don't have to do it later.

 

[jmrothermel]

Well it was taken while it was at the race track. We had left it there before locked to the RV (I spend 20-25 weekends a year at this track as a race official, so they allow us to keep our RV and carts there during the week.) It was the one time we forgot to lock it up to the RV that it got taken. Insurance would not cover it because the serial number was not listed with them. So we had to take some time to absorb the loss. T-minus 21 days - More work on the golf cart done last night, just final pressure washing and preparing to repin the body back on. Heading back today to get the body pinned on and remember to take some pictures along the way. The cart will be just as sharp as the last one I think. But first I need to make a stop or two at the stores to get some holiday shopping done. It is on the way to the shop, so I might as well do it now so I don't have to do it later.

TOTALLY OT - but what type of racing? We are a huge racing family, so I always love meeting fellow die hard racers!

 

[jbrostek]

When I do race, its with SCCA Club racing. But I also instruct for several organizations including SCCA and a few local organizers. I also work as an Emergency Services (ES or EV depending on the locals) for multiple race sanctioning organizations ie. SCCA, NASA, PCA, Firarri Club, VRG (Vintage Racing Group) which keeps our schedule busy at our home track to the tune of 20-25 weekends a year. Our home track is Summit Point Raceway in WV.

T-Minus 19 days - Progress was made on the golf cart, but not as much as I had wished. I really thought I would get the body pinned (at least the rear half) yesterday. But I had some other work to finish first. I did go over all of the frame and take care of the rust spots and repaint the areas in chassis black. So the chassis is looking great, the cart came with a radio which they had already modified the dash, so there was debate on finding a new dash or making a custom piece of diamond plate aluminum to cover the hole. The radio plan one so a few hours was spent cleaning up the speaker cutouts the previous owner made to both fit the speakers better and look better. The new wiring harness to power the radio, power a USB outlet we plan to install, and provide a proper ground for it all was also run and the new rims and tires where installed. Though one of the tires is mounted backwards (kind of funny to see directional golf cart tires, but hey it was a heck of a deal.)

So there was some progress but not as much as needed. Since we build these carts as more then a hobby, some of the weekend time went to finishing up a customer build. I cannot post those pictures publicly yet since its a suprise for his wife and we don't want it to accidentally leak out.

But here are some pictures of Mickey Cart 2.0 after all the weekends work was done.

If I have some time I will get some more work done on it tonight, but likely it will have to wait until Wednesday for the next round. Tonight I have some errands to run and some work late tonight.

PS: Excuse the shop, we usually don't have so much random debris running around. But with a contract to install 50 plows and sanders, the automotive shop side of the house has been busy cranking those out as well as customer repair work. To say the least the porter is not going to be too pleased when he showed up this morning to find about 30 empty boxes from the install kits stacked up around the bays that need to be broken down and taken to the dumpster.

 

[tiggerdad]

Yeah...I'd say you stripped it down alright...

Here in MS the golf cart prices aren't too terrible. I remember we picked our cart up with new batteries and no modifications for around $1900. While it was a good deal to say the least, not really too far off from average prices around here. I guess it's kinda like gas prices, depends on where you are at.

I hate your old one got stolen, it looked really nice. Hate even more that your insurance company found a way to get out of paying for it (they are experts at it).

 

[jbrostek]

tiggerdad - it depends on the cart, some get a frame up restoration. The rivet kits are cheap enough and we prefer to paint the bodies off the cart. Easier to deal with in the booth next door at the body shop we have a relationship with. Plus with the body off we can check the condition, what you dont see easily in the picture is the battery tray has been replaced. The original steel one was pretty bad, so we installed an aluminum tray kit. As for cart prices, I can usually score a deal on multiple carts a couple of years old fresh off the golf course for a decent enough price to turn a meager margin after some cleaning and maintinence or build them up. The factory shuttle 4 seaters are harder to come by, most are used and abused and with the right negotiation get them from 1k or less, but usually need a lot more work. This Shuttle 4 actually did not run when we got it, it had major electrical issues and we where lucky the controller was not fried. But it is a factory EZGO txt 2+2.

T-Minus 18 days - No golf cart time spent last night. But I did finish up my Christmas shopping and have an eye on a sweet gift for my lovely Girlfriend as we celebrate our time and first trip to Disney together. No ring if anyone was wondering, but I am stuck between a lovely pendant and building a Pandora (its not that brand, but from Kay jewelers) bracelet that marks some points in our 9 months together by January 11th. Thankfully, I have some time to contemplate that before I leave for FL on the 3rd.

So after picking up the last few items and gift cards I set out to wrap as much as I could last night. I still have some stuff delivering today through UPS and will get to wrapping that on Thursday night. Tonight's plans are dinner with my lovely lady and tomorrow evening at the shop making more progress on the cart. My biggest worry this week is the chance for the S word on Saturday when I am supposed to go pick up the 5th wheel from the dealer in PA and bring her home. I can deal with weather including rain and falling snow. What I don't want to do is have to tow home on roads covered in .5-1" of wet slush and deal with drivers in that. So my fingers are crossed that the storm is a bust or arrives in the late afternoon when I am already back in VA and not start early Saturday where I have to battle both the weather and drivers at the same time.

 

[bama_ed]

jbrostek,

My MagicBands arrived yesterday too. It's kinda anti-climatic, though, because they don't work on everything at the Fort and we aren't doing any park days. I'm going to run the Half and hang at the Fort for a few days.

Guess I'll still bring them along but whatever. Main thing now is watching the weather forecast for Orlando for our dates. The forecasters have trouble guessing the weather beyond tomorrow and so I know 3-4 weeks out is simply for entertainment purposes.

But I am hoping for lots of sunshine.

Bama Ed

 

[Teamubr]

The forecasters have trouble guessing the weather beyond tomorrow and so I know 3-4 weeks out is simply for entertainment purposes.

A few trips ago I started tracking the long term weather predictions on 2 of the major web weather sites when we were about 4 weeks out. As we got closer, I added in one of the local TV channels (WESH I think). The "guesses" we worse than 50/50 until they got to the 2-3 day window. Literally a coin toss would have been more accurate. Inside of 10 days, the forecast changed from nice to bad and back to nice for the middle days of our trip. It turned out to be a good trip, but I gave up even looking at the weather until we arrived.

j

 

[PaHunter]

Best of luck coming in to PA this weekend. Looks like rain south, maybe some snow for the Northeast, but still nothing solid in the forecasts. My trailer is under a layer of snow currently, won't be long an will be prepping for our March 1 trip.

tiggerdad - it depends on the cart, some get a frame up restoration. The rivet kits are cheap enough and we prefer to paint the bodies off the cart. Easier to deal with in the booth next door at the body shop we have a relationship with. Plus with the body off we can check the condition, what you dont see easily in the picture is the battery tray has been replaced. The original steel one was pretty bad, so we installed an aluminum tray kit. As for cart prices, I can usually score a deal on multiple carts a couple of years old fresh off the golf course for a decent enough price to turn a meager margin after some cleaning and maintinence or build them up. The factory shuttle 4 seaters are harder to come by, most are used and abused and with the right negotiation get them from 1k or less, but usually need a lot more work. This Shuttle 4 actually did not run when we got it, it had major electrical issues and we where lucky the controller was not fried. But it is a factory EZGO txt 2+2.

T-Minus 18 days - No golf cart time spent last night. But I did finish up my Christmas shopping and have an eye on a sweet gift for my lovely Girlfriend as we celebrate our time and first trip to Disney together. No ring if anyone was wondering, but I am stuck between a lovely pendant and building a Pandora (its not that brand, but from Kay jewelers) bracelet that marks some points in our 9 months together by January 11th. Thankfully, I have some time to contemplate that before I leave for FL on the 3rd.

So after picking up the last few items and gift cards I set out to wrap as much as I could last night. I still have some stuff delivering today through UPS and will get to wrapping that on Thursday night. Tonight's plans are dinner with my lovely lady and tomorrow evening at the shop making more progress on the cart. My biggest worry this week is the chance for the S word on Saturday when I am supposed to go pick up the 5th wheel from the dealer in PA and bring her home. I can deal with weather including rain and falling snow. What I don't want to do is have to tow home on roads covered in .5-1" of wet slush and deal with drivers in that. So my fingers are crossed that the storm is a bust or arrives in the late afternoon when I am already back in VA and not start early Saturday where I have to battle both the weather and drivers at the same time.

 

[jbrostek]

Ed - The forecasters can barely get 24 hours out at times. What I know about January in FW. It can be 40, it can be 8. Pack for 3 seasons and you wont have any issues. My hope is its seasonal or warmer, seasonal is 60-70 day, not much lower then 50 at night. A couple of years ago we lucked out with the heat wave and it was 70-80 day, and 55-65 at night....spoiled us for sure. I use Wunderground for the weather long term, they compare to previous years trends and give you a decent idea. But thats about as far as I go weather planning.

I thought the Magic Bands got you in and out of the resort gate now too. But I could be wrong, and since I dont use the comfort stations other then for laundry I dont even carry the KTTW card they give me, it stays in the RV.

Chris - West Chester, PA so looks like rain and now calling for afternoon. Early reports this week was the potential for it to start in the AM. To avoid I95 and I66 hell, I actually take US30 to US15 south and then US50 east to the shop. Takes 45 minutes longer but so much nicer of a drive and no tolls. I tried US30 to I83 to I70, it didnt save time and means I have to pass two major shopping districts the weekend before Christmas. I think I am good if the forecast stays.

T-minus 17 Days - Dinner last night was wonderful and we are both getting excited and helping each other prepare for everything in between now and Disney. I have my family Holiday plans on Sunday and she has hers on Christmas day. Since most of my family will be out of town for Christmas and kids
(custody thing) and parents wont show up till afternoon we are looking forward to a lazy Christmas morning together.

Tonight it is back to the shop to work on the carts some more. Update I got this morning was that the cart we have to deliver on Monday is 80% complete, the Mickey cart has seen no love since my last work. Both will see some work tonight as we move forward on getting both completed.

 

[jbrostek]

T-Minus 16 days, 7 days till Christmas, 3 days till Christmas with my family, 48 hours from returning home with the RV fully finished with warentee work. With all those countdowns in my head I can tell you I been a near basket case as I try to make sure X is ready by date Y. Having all the shoping completed for my family to visit and do our Christmas together early has take a definitely stress off me. Though I do need to go food shopping tonight in order ot serve dinner while they are with me. We ended up deciding on my house since my brother is heading to FL to visit his wife's family and I have time to clean up after the invasion.

Last night was productive, while I did not get he body pinned on the mickey cart 2.0, we did get the body and trim kits rivited onto the customers cart as well as the light kit and got all the seat hardware primed for a round or two of painting today. If all goes well that cart will be ready for delivery, or delivered by end of the weekend. We did however finish installing the radio pieces on the mickey cart, though I need to finish connecting and making neat all the wiring. Pictures to come since the ones I took last night cannot go public.

So tonight is just that after work I will go home, take care of the pups, and then off to food shop. I will get to finish my evening wrapping the last of the gifts that arrived on Tuesday and packing my bag for the overnight trip to PA. Tomorrow I head to a friends home for an overnight visit, they live about 20 minutes from the dealership which is nice. Then saturday I will have a walk through the RV to go over all the repairs on the invoice, settle up on the few items I asked them to do above and beyond warentee, and hit the road for home.

Given its about a 4.5 hour tow, I should be back and stored before dark and may even have enough time to work on the golf cart a little more. I would love to be done with the radio and ready to pin/rivet on the Mickey Carts body by Monday. That would put us on schedule to be done in time for the trip.

 

[jbrostek]

T-Minus 15 days to departure - The holiday shopping is done and wrapped!! Last night did all the food shopping to host my family and do our Christmas together on Sunday as we planned for this year. Tonight I head to PA to stay with some friends for the night and go get the RV from the dealer tomorrow. I am more then happy with Stoltzfus RV, even though they could not originally replicate and issue I saw, I explained how I came about the issue of the noise from my 12v converter. Well they did exactly as I would (minus turning on my furnace) and replicated the issue this week. The service manager even called me directly to apologize that they did not follow my information the first time.

I don't expect any repair facility to be perfect, but when you are willing to man up and apologize when you are found wrong an take care of the issue. Then it helps shed the frustration of getting them to take a second look at it.

Glad to see the weather forecast no longer calls for any snow, which removes on item if worry out of my trip this weekend. So once I get back and parked I hope to spend a few hours at the shop on golf carts and then home to prepare for the family invasion. I don't expect much pre trip stuff to be done over the weekend, but looking forward to the time with my family.

 

[jbrostek]

T-Minus 12 days to departure. It was a whirlwind weekend, but I survived. Friday after work I made it out the door and up to PA in about the time I figured I would. All in told took me 4 hours to get there via US15 and US30 to a friends place in Downingtown, PA. The next morning I went up to the dealer and my trailer was ready to roll. Did my walkthrough to check the repairs, finished my paperwork, hitched up and hit the road. 4 Hours later I was back in the home area.

Spent part of Saturday evening after my return finishing up items for the cart we have to deliver before Wednesday and got home by around 8pm. Took care of a few items to make Sunday morning enjoyable.

Sunday my Mother, Brother and his family came over to do our Christmas together. It was an enjoyable, though exhausting day. But thankfully everyone helped get things mostly cleaned up so after they left it was another 30 minutes before I felt it was clean enough and I was ready to sit down and relax. Of course that led to dozing off on the couch with the dogs watching Polar Express. I woke up just before midnight and put my tired bones to bed.

Tonight I will start working on the first major round of packing. I have lots of stuff cleaned and waiting to head back to the RV, plus all the dry goods I have already bought. Tonight I will start bringing a load of stuff every time I head over to the shop and start loading up the RV and putting things away. This way by next week only personal items and perishable foods will be all I have to worry about.

Tonight the plan is to do some work on the golf carts. Get the one to be delivered finished and gone and work some more on the Mickey 2.0 cart. Over the weekend I plan to install a dimmer switch and outlet for my awning lights. My old RV I had one mounted in a cabinet, but since I got this RV I have had to use an extention cord. It is well past the time I need to make the modification. I plan to use the battery bay area sinc the door is small and does not lock as the location for the dimmer and figure out if I am going to mount the receptical on the frame near the front or cut a hole in the side near the awning arm. I am not a fan of cutting the side, but we have done it before and its turned out well.

The excitement is building and feeling much less stressed now that I have the family Christmas behind me.

 

[jbrostek]

T-Minues 11 days to departure, 2 days till Christmas - Funny how as you get closer to the holiday and your vacation that it hits you. There is never enough time to get ready!!! Thankfully the gift shopping is done, and last night I took care of the dog shopping as well. My normally spoiled pups have a new round of toys comming to them on Christmas day and I stocked up on food for the house and a bag of food to take down with me. It was ironic because normally I buy an 18# bag to take to FL to save space. Well I am standing there at Petsmart and the 35# bag is 31.99 after discount, the 18# bag is 32.99 no sale price. The inner saver in me said, no way I am going to spend the same amount of nearly half the food so I will be taking a larger then expected bag of food with me. I could put it in a smaller bucket or bags, but in reality I don't think it will make much of a difference.

I did take the first load of stuff to the RV to be packed, I wish I could park it at my home. But the driveway is 30' long and the RV is 40' long, plus there is no room to swing it into this rental property. If and when I buy property it will be where I have the space and laws that allow me to keep it at home. But I brought all the clean linnens to the RV, about half of the bottled drinks. Nothing is put away, but they are in the door of the RV. After Chirstmas I will start getting that stuff packed away for travel.

We did make some progress on the custom cart and Mickey Cart, though nothing picture worthy. Both had wooden seat bottoms that where in poor condition, so we had to template, cut and route new wood in order to wrap them in new covers for the seats and the backs. Thankfully the foam is in great condition, but the standard wood rot has set in. This turns out less expensive and usually a better product then buying the seats pre covered. The customers cart should be 100% done tonight for delivery tomorrow, and Mickey Cart can then get our full attention.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and I still have to work like most of the world. But I am looking forward to the evening after I get home and load up the gifts and pups to head to my lovely girlfriends home to spend Christmas with her and her children. It has always been a holiday tradition for me to watch 'A Christmast Story' either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day and amazingly she has not seen it yet. So it will be fun to share it with her.

Friday starts the real day of packing, though I do have to get some hours in even if my client has been given the day off. If corporate forces me to take the day off, then I should be able to get a lot of stuff done. We shall see how that works out.