PTR-Cheating on Mickey w/Harry!...OMG! Only a month to go!

I'm VERY much looking forward to reading about your Spring trip with Arline. Mostly because of the fantastic restaurants you'll be reviewing, and I know I can always count on you for some amazing food porn! :yay:

I know I so can't wait! We are going to DL first and it will be almost like going there again for the first time so I'm looking forward to that, but since we've postponed sooooooo many trips over the years, I can't wait to go in May. I'm just waiting for Arline to get on the DIS to post the TR for that trip!

Yes, my "little souvenir"! :rotfl2:

Oh yes, he is stubborn! It's funny...DH is also a Taurus, and he refers to himself as a "stubborn Taurus". He also refers to DS4 as the same thing! But...sometimes stubbornness works to your advantage. When we closed on our house (over 7 years ago now!), DH did work in the house from 6am to midnight every day he wasn't working...and on the days he was working, he went straight to the house to do work until midnight! He hardly slept but we moved in within a month! ;) He's the same with any little "projects" he likes to do around the house. Once he makes up his mind, he is determined and he just does it!

You've gotta love us Tauri!
 
OK, so for those of you who know about our habits, our band plays out at Disney every year (at least for the last 10 years, this may be the last time). And we always organize a trip to Club 33 the night before for interested parties. So Fran has not been able to go to rehearsal for the last two weeks (obviously) and tonight was the first time she planned to go. However due to the compression bandage on her leg she couldn't bend her leg to get into the car.

This will pose a big problem for the rehearsal, dinner and concert this weekend. She plans to cut off the bandage in order to make the rehearsal, dinner and concert. I need to buy her some new pants tomorrow because she can't fit into the ones that go with her tux. There are a ton of "ifs" associated with this whole weekend trip. If she can get in the car, if she can put on clothes to go to Club 33, If she can spend the night at the hotel! :eek: AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! She won't give up on the idea. She is so committed to the band that she is hell bent on doing this gig! We're going to have to figure this out if we can get her into the car. Thursday she is supposed to cut off the bandage in the morning to take a shower and the nurse will put it back on that night. I'm thinking that once we cut it off and she takes the shower, we do a test run of trying to get in the car to make sure she can do it when we cut off the bandage Saturday.

Wish me luck, she is one persistant Dyke!

Woohoo! Love the new DIS they let me post that word!
 
Wow! You weren't kidding about this post being a doozer!

That's a ton of 'ifs' in there. And its great that Fran is so dedicated to the band....but do you think she's up for it? I'd hate for her leg to regress because of one night.

I wish you all the best and for each of those 'ifs' to become reality. But most of all....I wish Fran well. And this is for you! :hug:

And my thanks to Dick van Dyke!......and go Tauri!


princess::upsidedow
 
Aw, what?! What do you mean the last time??:sad2:

It's nice to hear that she's making EVERY effort to be there for the band. What a trooper! :cool1:
 

OK, so for those of you who know about our habits, our band plays out at Disney every year (at least for the last 10 years, this may be the last time). And we always organize a trip to Club 33 the night before for interested parties. So Fran has not been able to go to rehearsal for the last two weeks (obviously) and tonight was the first time she planned to go. However due to the compression bandage on her leg she couldn't bend her leg to get into the car.

This will pose a big problem for the rehearsal, dinner and concert this weekend. She plans to cut off the bandage in order to make the rehearsal, dinner and concert. I need to buy her some new pants tomorrow because she can't fit into the ones that go with her tux. There are a ton of "ifs" associated with this whole weekend trip. If she can get in the car, if she can put on clothes to go to Club 33, If she can spend the night at the hotel! :eek: AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! She won't give up on the idea. She is so committed to the band that she is hell bent on doing this gig! We're going to have to figure this out if we can get her into the car. Thursday she is supposed to cut off the bandage in the morning to take a shower and the nurse will put it back on that night. I'm thinking that once we cut it off and she takes the shower, we do a test run of trying to get in the car to make sure she can do it when we cut off the bandage Saturday.

Wish me luck, she is one persistant Dyke!

Woohoo! Love the new DIS they let me post that word!

love you reason for editing....:hug:
 
You've gotta love us Tauri!

Oh I do...I really do!!! :goodvibes

Even with potty training when he was 3, my little guy was so stubborn. He wasn't interested so we didn't press the issue. One day that summer, he decided he didn't want to wear a diaper anymore and that was it during the day. 2 days later, he insisted that he would not wear a diaper to bed anymore, and just "big boy undies". He hasn't had an accident ever since (and that was a year ago this past August)...usually it takes a while longer for them to be trained at night, but my little one was so stubborn, that he was determined to do it all at once! :rotfl2:
 
Wow! You weren't kidding about this post being a doozer!

That's a ton of 'ifs' in there. And its great that Fran is so dedicated to the band....but do you think she's up for it? I'd hate for her leg to regress because of one night.

I wish you all the best and for each of those 'ifs' to become reality. But most of all....I wish Fran well. And this is for you! :hug:

And my thanks to Dick van Dyke!......and go Tauri!


princess::upsidedow

Well I don't think her leg will regress, the biggest thing is that I decided to let her drive. She has been on morphine before and driven, and usually she is a very safe driver. Since I've let her sleep at every available moment. I hope she'll be OK. I also hope it isn't raining, I should look outside and check.

Well the ground is wet, but it seems to have stopped raining. We should be OK for dinner tonight and the concert tomorrow, but she will crash hard when we get home and probably Monday as well.

Aw, what?! What do you mean the last time??:sad2:

It's nice to hear that she's making EVERY effort to be there for the band. What a trooper! :cool1:

She is a trooper, she and I brought the band back from extinction, with a lot of cash and hard work. I know she wants to do everything she can.

And as far as the last time, yeah, our community band doesn't fit into Disney's model where everyone arrives on a school bus, and gets dropped off at the front of the park. Then when it's time to play we all go from the park to backstage, put on our uniforms, get our instruments, play and then change back and go back out into the park and our bus picks us up at the end of the day.

For ten years we have all driven our own vehicles, parked in the cast lot, walked backstage, warmed up, played our concert, changed into civvies and then received our tickets and reparked at Mickey and Friends, and enjoyed the rest of the day in the park. Evidently they are making an exception for us this year, but they told us not to expect it next year. So not logistically possible. Yet the other reason why I bought points here shot down. However, we have found other uses for our points at the VGC so that's Okay! :thumbsup2

love you reason for editing....:hug:

Thanks to PIO for pointing out that this restriction has been removed because there really is no other way to describe Fran. And she likes being called a Dyke, I, on the other hand am a total femme. At our wedding in my flowing dress received numerous comments from all the other women in pants, "Alison, you're such a femme" and when I post the link to the Kidani/BLT TR you'll see, the only good picture of our friend Arline that I have is from our wedding, but yeah, I'm a girlie girl all the way. No flannels and men's clothes for me! :rotfl2:

Oh I do...I really do!!! :goodvibes

Even with potty training when he was 3, my little guy was so stubborn. He wasn't interested so we didn't press the issue. One day that summer, he decided he didn't want to wear a diaper anymore and that was it during the day. 2 days later, he insisted that he would not wear a diaper to bed anymore, and just "big boy undies". He hasn't had an accident ever since (and that was a year ago this past August)...usually it takes a while longer for them to be trained at night, but my little one was so stubborn, that he was determined to do it all at once! :rotfl2:

That is so funny, but you know what? I'm glad it's you and not me! :eek: The main reason I could never have kids is that I couldn't deal with potty issues. Even now Fran does the cat boxes and while she was down for the count we paid our house boy to come in daily and do the litter boxes. :lmao: When she started taking the morphine, one of the side effects is that is makes you puke. Until the Dr. gave her meds to make her not puke, I was running out of the room almost puking from her puking! :rotfl2: There is no way that I could have gone through motherhood! So Yay Bonnie! Thanks for taking two for the team of humanity!
 
So, we had rehearsal this morning from 10-1. Everything went really well. We arrived well on time and everyone else took over my duties that I normally have so the only thing I had to worry about was Fran. She did fine and we finished up rehearsal by noon. Normally we take a break at noon and do a run through at 12:30 but evidently things went quicker then normal so after rehearsal we all ate the pizza that we thought we would enjoy on the break.

After that we went home to put Fran's leg up for about an hour and then we got on the way to the VGC. They will valet park your car with a handicapped plaque if the spots are full, but there was actually one open so I parked the car while Fran started the check in. We are in a really crappy view studio and the nightstand is on the wrong side which means the limited access is on Fran's side. After seeing this studio she decreed that we will not stay in studios ANY MORE!!! :cool1: :cool1: :cool1: :cool1:

So it may mean booking at months or whatever, but yay!

So here is the room and the view.

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I've got to wake her back up and get her ready for dinner. I'm dressed but our reservation is for 8:45 and I know she wants to go through the Disneyana store on the way so we need to get going! I'll give you the food porn once we get home tomorrow!
 
Wow you've been running like a crazy woman while I've been away. I hope your weekend plans go well and it's good to see Fran is doing better today.

We loved Discovery Cove, the dolphin swim was pretty short (about 30 minutes), but the place is very well organized and has so much to do. The girls had us going through the lazy river many times, we snorkeled in the the Grand Reef and they enjoyed the fresh water pool too. All your food, drinks, towels, sunscreen, snorkeling equipment are all provided.
 
Glad that you both made it there and sorry you got a crappy view, but also glad that Fran has said no more Studios..... I love the one bedrooms, they are just so much nicer.
 
Looks like you have the view of the children's playground area at DCA and Grizzly Bear in the background.

I hope that the gig went well and that Fran and you had a good night.
 
Wow you've been running like a crazy woman while I've been away. I hope your weekend plans go well and it's good to see Fran is doing better today.

We loved Discovery Cove, the dolphin swim was pretty short (about 30 minutes), but the place is very well organized and has so much to do. The girls had us going through the lazy river many times, we snorkeled in the the Grand Reef and they enjoyed the fresh water pool too. All your food, drinks, towels, sunscreen, snorkeling equipment are all provided.

So how was the weather in late October? I'm glad we had postponed this visit to the May trip because, I'm not sure what their refund policy would have been. How do you think two people with balance difficulty will do? Arline doesn't use a cane, but she can sometimes be unsteady no her feet. Fran is definitely unsteady! I really like the lazy river, and I know Fran and I will want to snorkel in the Grand Reef.

We're planning on doing this the day we switch resorts since everything is included. One stop shopping for breakfast, lunch, entertainment and showers! We plan to check in on our way to DC so that we can just get a text during the day when our new Villa is ready and come back and crash!

Glad that you both made it there and sorry you got a crappy view, but also glad that Fran has said no more Studios..... I love the one bedrooms, they are just so much nicer.

It wasn't so much the view but the orientation of the bed. I knew we would be out of the room for World of Color, so I didn't bother requesting a view. it was the tiny space between the bed and the wall that was the drag.

Looks like you have the view of the children's playground area at DCA and Grizzly Bear in the background.

I hope that the gig went well and that Fran and you had a good night.

Yeah, this stay has changed my standard request for the VGC not "park view" since this technically qualified. "Paradise Pier View" is what I ask for now. I have a bunch of reservations to call in tomorrow morning! :banana:
 
So how was the weather in late October? I'm glad we had postponed this visit to the May trip because, I'm not sure what their refund policy would have been. How do you think two people with balance difficulty will do? Arline doesn't use a cane, but she can sometimes be unsteady no her feet. Fran is definitely unsteady! I really like the lazy river, and I know Fran and I will want to snorkel in the Grand Reef.

We're planning on doing this the day we switch resorts since everything is included. One stop shopping for breakfast, lunch, entertainment and showers! We plan to check in on our way to DC so that we can just get a text during the day when our new Villa is ready and come back and crash!

This year the weather was on the cooler side than previous trips, we had a couple of light showers that were over quickly. I think Discovery Cove will let you change your dates once after purchasing. I doubt they would sell out in October so you might be able to wait until closer to your travel dates to purchase your tickets.

Getting around from one area to another had concrete walking paths so those will be OK. The Dolphin swim will be the most difficult as you have to cross the sandy beach and walking into the dolphin swimming area is slippery and uneven on the bottom. I was barefoot so maybe water shoes would give you more traction. The Grand Reef also had a sandy beach, but getting into it was pretty easy, I think some areas were like the zero entry pools.

The lazy river and fresh water pool was very warm, the dolphin swim was 72 degrees and the Grand Reef was slightly warmer.

I haven't finished unpacking yet, but if I find the map and info I'll copy it and mail it to you. I put a few pics up on Facebook, but they're mostly of the girls and underwater pics as DC doesn't let you take a camera into the Dolphin swim.
 
So after a time, I roused Fran up and out of bed. She proclaimed that she was not changing out of her jeans into her black slacks, but knew she couldn't go up there in her T-shirt, so we put on her dress shirt. I had brought one of my "fancy dresses" and when I showed her which one I was wearing she scowled. She feels that she has to dress to my "level", so when I wear a fancy dress, she should wear her tux or at least a jacket. :lmao:

The rain had cleared up by now, but the ground was still a little wet. I decided not to bring my scooter on the trip because our car was being used as an instrument case storage vehicle on Sunday and we didn't need extra stuff in the car since it would already be tight.

We left at around 7:45PM and made it easily to the bag check and through the gates. They have started putting up the Christmas decorations. Well since it officially starts tomorrow I guess so!

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We always like to stop in the Disneyana store on Main Street. Sometimes it can be an expensive stop, but evidently it's not as much fun to spend money when you are in pain. :rotfl: Neither of us saw anything we couldn't live without so we moved on so I could take a picture of the Castle. I sure hope that they put the icicles on it again this year. I hope it's not done yet.

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And then there is Carnation Plaza Gardens, where the concert takes place.

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POTC and Blue Bayou are still under rennovations, so there is this funny wall here.

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Walt and Lilly picked almost all of the furnishings for the club, and I believe when he couldn't buy the elevator from the gentleman where he saw it, he had one specially made for the Club.

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When we first sat down, they took our drink orders. I started off with a Belvedere Gibson Up. I forgot to take pictures of the drinks. Wait here’s one from the last trip, just imagine that the Margarita is sitting next to it! :lmao:

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Your charger and place setting.

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Now this was a surprise, we were only supposed to get four courses (maybe they had a lot left, so they pawned it off on us) :laughing: This was our Amuse Bouche. In the cup was a warm tomato soup, and in the spoon was a piece of beef short rib.

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It was so tender and the fat was rendered perfectly. I took a picture after my first bite so that you can see how it was just “melt in your mouth” good!

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So here’s some of the other friends we dined with.

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We had the good fortune to again meet up with Hawleys, her wife and a friend of theirs.

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Fran and I with Marcia closing her eyes! :lmao:

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So here’s why I was very confused with the Amuse Bouche, for our first course, we had ordered the Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho, Feta Cream Cheese Fraiche. I was having a glass of Chardonnay by this point.

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When we were served the warm tomato soup, I was like :confused3 Both were great, but this soup was packed with flavor, super intense a little spice, but not overpowering. The Feta Cream Cheese Fraiche cut the spicyness and that little biscuit was so, so, so good! I think everyone at the table cleared their plates!

So the room that we were seated in is called the Trophy Room. Originally Walt intended to have the stuffed critters (given to him as a gift) mounted on the walls and comment on the guests conversations. Little microphones were installed in the chandeliers and while this never came to be, the microphones are still there. It doesn’t appear that I took a picture of the microphone last night. Look at the second picture below and you will see the light fixture. At the very bottom where the “rounded” part is, the bottom is the microphone.

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[Continued in Next Post]
 
[Continued from Previous Post]

Next up was the Appetizer Course, Atlantic Coast Crab Cake, Citrus Mousseline, Vegetable Salad. I have no idea what the green sauce on top was, but it was very creamy and tasty. The crab cake wasn’t at all fishy, it was just yummy! :goodvibes:

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For the main course they let us choose from two different options, but since they need to offer a vegetarian option, Hawleys decided to go with that one. Market Vegetable Strudel, Warm Goat Cheese, Rhubarb Jus. She said that she really liked it.

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Another option was Wild King Salmon, Cilantro Pesto Risotto, Pineapple Chutney. Everyone who had this seemed to like it too.

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I went with the Filet of Chatuaubriand, Truffle Potato Puree, Cabernet Demi. You can’t go wrong with this. Mine was a little more cooked than I like, but it was fine, I ate a little more than half of it and took the rest home, because I knew what was coming later. I switched to a glass of Rodney Strong Cabernet Sauvignon at this point.

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Our Dessert! Peach Blueberry Croustade, Candied Pecan Ice Cream. Paired with an EOS Late Harvest Reisling. Oh MAN! Was this good! It tasted like it had just come out of the oven. The pastry was warm and tender, the fruits were sweet and velvety, cooked but hadn’t lost their texture. The ice cream wasn’t overly sweet, but had a totally unique flavor. I tried to make sure that I got a little of each component in every bite and then follow it up with a sip of that golden nectar. Sooooooo Gooood!

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At the end of the meal they usually bring you a plate with one of these for everyone, but they brought about three plates each with about a dozen mints on them! I only had one, it was about all I could fit in at this point!

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We chatted some more and finally Fran and I were the last to leave. Normally she let’s me put my purse on the floorboards of her scooter because a) it’s really heavy and b) then I don’t have to worry about carrying it. Well my phone was in there, and I bet I know where it fell out. When I pulled out my camera to snap this baby! Walt’s apartment with a Christmas Tree in the window.

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When we got back to the room, I reached into my purse to get the phone and charge it. No phone! :scared: I get Fran’s phone and started calling. It was well after midnight and I had already undressed. I should have put my clothes back on and went around calling my phone until I found it, but the park was already closed at this point. :sad2: I called the phone company and reported the phone missing so people can’t buy a ton of apps or call foreign countries.

The next morning our wake call came at 6AM, but we didn’t get out of bed until quarter to seven. I didn’t see the rush, but all of a sudden she is freaking out about how late we are. :confused3 It’s still two hours until we drive through the security check, but I hustle my butt we get dressed and send the bags down with the bellman. We kept our instruments and the video camera and put those in the car.

I felt kind of queasy, and she wanted to do fast food drive through. The only thing I could think of that wouldn’t make me puke was a fruit and yogurt parfait from Mickey D’s. So I ate that. We went through security check and were backstage by 8:15 a full hour before we needed to be there. :headache:

She slept while I lurked on the DIS. There was a problem with one of the musicians and he had lost his wallet the night before. Without ID they couldn’t let the poor kid backstage, so they had to give him his comp ticket, bring his trumpet with someone in the band, and he had to meet us on stage at Carnation Plaza!

It was hectic getting things together, but Disney allows us to designate 1 person for every 10 performers to be a "chaperone". One lady (whose husband ended up being sick, but she still came, bless her heart) was Fran's "handler". She helped her carry things, get to her seat on stage, get back to her scooter. She was such a doll!

After a whole lot of hurry up and wait, we finally got on stage. Hawleys and her crew showed up right before we started with perfect timing. In the past they assigned a photo pass photographer to the group and we all got photopasses. I must have been the only one who bought the CDs because they didn’t do that this year. Our group photo taken backstage was only available at the photo store on Main Street, and since I didn’t go into the park, I didn’t get it.

I did video the concert and it went GREAT! What a swansong! Our director doesn’t like Disney and he’s using the whole thing about the logistical problems as a way to get out of doing this in the future.

So we got back into our vehicle and drove out from backstage while our Stage Manager walked the rest of the band back to their entry point. We went back to the hotel, and were going to park in the Crip spots, but just as we got to the lot, someone took the last one. We explained to the Valets, that we just needed to go to Lost & Found and then we would come back to get our bags from the Bellman. They just let us leave the car (along with the keys) and they kept moving it up. We did make a stop at La Brea Bakery and Marceline’s confections :rolleyes1 after we came up a bust at Lost and Found.

Then we just loaded up the car. I’m amazed at how many of the Valets out there know us. I guess one become notorious with two scooters and a lift on the back of your car. Hopefully it’s the tips they remember too!

We made it home, changed out of our clothes and Fran laid down on the chair, was instantly covered in cats and I haven’t heard a peep of her for over 2 hours! Our next overnight Disney adventure is NYE, but December 4th, we have Candlelight. Still, they have not announced who will be the Emcee!

Anways, that’s it for now folks!
 
Ah my two favorites...crab cakes and a filet of chatuaubriand, heaven! Sorry to hear you lost your phone, that really stinks.

I've spent my day daydreaming of a New England/Canada cruise for Oct 2013 with a side trip to Niagra Falls.

Upon our return from our Dream cruise my sister announced we might be cancelling the March Mexico cruise that has over 14 of us booked. Evidently she hasn't told that to anyone else going, so we'll see what happens.:upsidedow
 
Thanks for the pics.:thumbsup2 Sorry you lost the phone. If I ever go back to club 33 I would order what you had. YUMMY!
 
You look so pretty in that purple color!

Sigh, that blueberry-peach dessert. Looks. Amazing! Ugh, that stinks about your phone. Good thing you turned the service off of it right away :thumbsup2
 
Glad you had a good time, hopefully you will get phone back.

The food looks amazing!
 
Sorry for the late response. I did read it when you posted but I must have forgotten to post a response.

Love the food porn and I can practically taste that chateaubriand! And I really should stop looking at sweet type porn....the fat just slaps itself on my thighs every time I see a dessert picture. Need to go back to Boo to ME!
 














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