Ready, Set, Let the Games Begin! - Link to new PTR/TR!

[TwoFeathers]

Sounds like a great day! I've always wanted to go check out Theme Park Connections but just never made time.

BTW, did you see that California Grill is re-opening on 9/9. ADR's are available for booking on 8/26.

http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2013/...-9th-reservations-available-monday-august-26/

Jill in CO

They are the world's largest reseller of Disney items, authorized and supplied by Disney (they want to make money on everything now days, even the bedspreads!). They brought quite a lot of items to this year's Expo, putting out new stuff every day, and even had some huge ones like a life-size Sulley figure from the Monsters Inc/University promotion campaigns.

Be careful, you might have to ship some goodies back home if you go to a seller like that!

I love tator tots

They have a wonderful shipping department and even combine all your purchases into one package to save on costs!



Fran

 

[PrincessInOz]

I'm not funding terrorism, nor planning on building a meth lab, so it's all good!

That would be the swankiest meth lab ever

Are we Breaking Bad??

If so, I get first dibs as the Industrial Chemist.

Day 3 – No Real Plans at All

I imagine by the time we get to this day, Fran will have voiced an opinion as to what she wants to do, or perhaps not. Already she has said that she would like to visit a seller on eBay and someone she met in 3D at the D23 convention, Theme Park Connection. To imply that it is one person would be misleading. This is a store that gets a lot of the old Disney display items and other merchandise and sells it on the resale market. It sounds like fun to me, I just want to get an early start on our day there. I have an ulterior motive. I would like to come back and visit Epcot and the F&W kiosks for the second part of the day.

I would like to check out this place as they had lots of neat stuff at D23, but I don’t want to be leaving for there at noon, I’d like to get there when they open, check the stuff out and be back by afternoon time to nosh at F&W. To do this we would need a rental car, so we need to work out this whole situation. As Fran does not enjoy planning out every moment the way I do, I have to just sit back and try to not get agitated about this situation.

She is feeling much better than she did two years ago, and last trip, she really had some clear plans of what she wanted to do. I’ve purposely left this day open so that we can enjoy ourselves on our own. But that little planner in me is having a hard time not scheduling this day!

Starting the next day we are meeting up at the BWV with the other DISers from the Gamers DISmeet. Once that starts we have daily activities with other folks, so I wanted to be sure we had some time just for us.

I’ve thrown out the plan to make Sloppy Joes and some Tater Tots along with cole slaw. However, we do need to leave us time in the room to get our bags packed up and ready for the change to the BCV the next day.

So glad to read this! That's great news.

 

[lisaviolet]

That would be the swankiest meth lab ever

OMG, well worth the catching up on this TR.

That is would be. Protect my windows please.

 

[Luvchefmic]

Well how about that part of the conversation I CAN contribute about as this is in FL Theme Park Connection I have been there once and was there for HOURS ! Only once because it can be a real budget buster for me I will be back, communicate all the time with them and got some great stuff recently through eBay

Honestly I could have stayed more than the hours I was there if I didn't force myself out of the initial area when you first go in Sort of like a reception area

There were pins on corkboard on one part of a wall and I was scanning the area for Pluto I promised myself next time to bring a list or pictures of what I do have I was getting thoroughly confused

Here is the biggest caution I have to give you though, I know thank God that you ( Fran ) have had great physical improvements, but I don't know how long you can be on your feet The place is NOT scooter or wheelchair friendly Impossible to get one in

The aisles are extremely tight, two people can't even walk side by side in there Its not llke a warehouse setting like BJs or Costco or Sams Club In fact when friends & I went we thought we were going to be disappointed from the outside look, very deceiving size of building when you first pull up We were like this is it ??!!

We learned though the old saying " Don't judge a book by its cover " The amount of stuff they managed to shove in there is mind blowing, not messy in a free for all as if " I have to pick through crap to get to the good stuff"? not at all ! Very clean, & organized Prices are not set in stone either, we learned that they are pretty willing to make deals I got a Mickey Mouse TV works MINT and looks it to for $15.00 !! I've seen them rarely on eBay and they go for $100s !

If you can manage to go I would, you may have to take time back at car to rest a bit but you will not be disappointed I'd love to meet you there !

 

[ACDSNY]

I can't wait to see what treasures you'll find at Theme Park Connection.

 

[Leshaface]

A day with no plans?! Doesn't sound like the Alison I know...

 

[dgbg100106]

Me too!

Some thing else we have in common....

 

[scottny]

Glad you were able to get some of the special events you wanted.
I have always wondered about TPC. Maybe we will go there in December just to look.

 

[glaserjm]

Day 3 – No Real Plans at All

I imagine by the time we get to this day, Fran will have voiced an opinion as to what she wants to do, or perhaps not. Already she has said that she would like to visit a seller on eBay and someone she met in 3D at the D23 convention, Theme Park Connection. To imply that it is one person would be misleading. This is a store that gets a lot of the old Disney display items and other merchandise and sells it on the resale market. It sounds like fun to me, I just want to get an early start on our day there. I have an ulterior motive. I would like to come back and visit Epcot and the F&W kiosks for the second part of the day.

I would like to check out this place as they had lots of neat stuff at D23, but I don’t want to be leaving for there at noon, I’d like to get there when they open, check the stuff out and be back by afternoon time to nosh at F&W. To do this we would need a rental car, so we need to work out this whole situation. As Fran does not enjoy planning out every moment the way I do, I have to just sit back and try to not get agitated about this situation.

She is feeling much better than she did two years ago, and last trip, she really had some clear plans of what she wanted to do. I’ve purposely left this day open so that we can enjoy ourselves on our own. But that little planner in me is having a hard time not scheduling this day!

Starting the next day we are meeting up at the BWV with the other DISers from the Gamers DISmeet. Once that starts we have daily activities with other folks, so I wanted to be sure we had some time just for us.

I’ve thrown out the plan to make Sloppy Joes and some Tater Tots along with cole slaw. However, we do need to leave us time in the room to get our bags packed up and ready for the change to the BCV the next day.

It's so hard not to plan...especially when it's planning something as fun as a Disney trip! I have trouble not planning and replanning, just so I have an excuse to talk/think/read Disney!

I hear ya on the time at F&W...I will try and convince Joe to head there whenever we have downtime, but we already have at least 5 trips planned there throughout our week, so I guess I have to devote SOME time to other things!

 

[franandaj]

Sounds like a great day! I've always wanted to go check out Theme Park Connections but just never made time.

BTW, did you see that California Grill is re-opening on 9/9. ADR's are available for booking on 8/26.

http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2013/...-9th-reservations-available-monday-august-26/

Jill in CO

Thanks for letting me know about this, several other people mentioned it and I should have an update soon.

Be careful, you might have to ship some goodies back home if you go to a seller like that!

I love tator tots

Oh, I'm SURE we will be shipping stuff home.

Sounds like a cool day. I always want to leave a day open to possibilities and end up booking it to the brink anyway. My commando style always breaks through even though Crap resists me.

Well as you can tell, I keep trying to plan.

I can absolutely understand where you are coming from. It is driving me crazy that so much about our December trip is still up in the air and will probably remain like this for another 6 weeks. I am lucky though. Graham does not really get my obsession with planning, but then he is quite glad that so much is all planned ahead. His mantra is "Just tell me where I need to be and at what time."

I hope that you get a early start and can enjoy the shopping and the offerings at the Food and Wine Festival.

Corinna

I think we will have to end up doing that for dinner.

They are the world's largest reseller of Disney items, authorized and supplied by Disney (they want to make money on everything now days, even the bedspreads!). They brought quite a lot of items to this year's Expo, putting out new stuff every day, and even had some huge ones like a life-size Sulley figure from the Monsters Inc/University promotion campaigns.

They have a wonderful shipping department and even combine all your purchases into one package to save on costs!

Fran

I have a feeling they will be combining up our purchases and shipping them home for us!

Are we Breaking Bad??

If so, I get first dibs as the Industrial Chemist.

So glad to read this! That's great news.

Since I don't watch the show, I'm not sure what that means.

OMG, well worth the catching up on this TR.

That is would be. Protect my windows please.

Well how about that part of the conversation I CAN contribute about as this is in FL Theme Park Connection I have been there once and was there for HOURS ! Only once because it can be a real budget buster for me I will be back, communicate all the time with them and got some great stuff recently through eBay

Honestly I could have stayed more than the hours I was there if I didn't force myself out of the initial area when you first go in Sort of like a reception area

There were pins on corkboard on one part of a wall and I was scanning the area for Pluto I promised myself next time to bring a list or pictures of what I do have I was getting thoroughly confused

Here is the biggest caution I have to give you though, I know thank God that you ( Fran ) have had great physical improvements, but I don't know how long you can be on your feet The place is NOT scooter or wheelchair friendly Impossible to get one in

The aisles are extremely tight, two people can't even walk side by side in there Its not llke a warehouse setting like BJs or Costco or Sams Club In fact when friends & I went we thought we were going to be disappointed from the outside look, very deceiving size of building when you first pull up We were like this is it ??!!

We learned though the old saying " Don't judge a book by its cover " The amount of stuff they managed to shove in there is mind blowing, not messy in a free for all as if " I have to pick through crap to get to the good stuff"? not at all ! Very clean, & organized Prices are not set in stone either, we learned that they are pretty willing to make deals I got a Mickey Mouse TV works MINT and looks it to for $15.00 !! I've seen them rarely on eBay and they go for $100s !

If you can manage to go I would, you may have to take time back at car to rest a bit but you will not be disappointed I'd love to meet you there !

Thank you for that information! I would definitely like to meet you over there. We could use the help carrying stuff!

I can't wait to see what treasures you'll find at Theme Park Connection.

Me too!

A day with no plans?! Doesn't sound like the Alison I know...

Some thing else we have in common....

Glad you were able to get some of the special events you wanted.
I have always wondered about TPC. Maybe we will go there in December just to look.

I will take pictures!

It's so hard not to plan...especially when it's planning something as fun as a Disney trip! I have trouble not planning and replanning, just so I have an excuse to talk/think/read Disney!

I hear ya on the time at F&W...I will try and convince Joe to head there whenever we have downtime, but we already have at least 5 trips planned there throughout our week, so I guess I have to devote SOME time to other things!

With all the special events that we added, those will take away from our kiosk time and ability to eat, so I thought I needed to add this day for more kiosk time. After Ruthie's description of the TPC place, we might be there from open to close! So we'll plan for dinner at the kiosks!

 

[franandaj]

So I have two small updates, but hey, at least it's something! So first off you know that yesterday booking fo CA Grill opened up. Thanks to PIO, we are now dining at CA Grill at 5:30 PM before our wishes cruise instead of at the Wave. Anyone who remembers from way back, I had really wanted to dine at the CA Grill our second night of the trip, but since there was no word about the opening date I went with V&A's instead. Now I get to eat at both!

The other exciting thing is that my luggage tags for DME arrived yesterday! Love Mickey Mail!

 

[dolphingirl47]

I am glad that you managed to get an ADR for California Grill.

Corinna

 

[jedijill]

So I have two small updates, but hey, at least it's something! So first off you know that yesterday booking fo CA Grill opened up. Thanks to PIO, we are now dining at CA Grill at 5:30 PM before our wishes cruise instead of at the Wave. Anyone who remembers from way back, I had really wanted to dine at the CA Grill our second night of the trip, but since there was no word about the opening date I went with V&A's instead. Now I get to eat at both!

The other exciting thing is that my luggage tags for DME arrived yesterday! Love Mickey Mail!

I just booked my birthday dinner at CG yesterday too. Can't wait! We get to see Hallowishes and then eat at my favorite place outside V&A and Remy!


for Mickey Mail!

Jill in CO

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Oh I am a planaholic! I even plan when to plan lol ( should get that made into a tee shirt ) . I make a booklet for each trip in microsoft publisher for our holiday with all our plans, travel references, important information. Although Jo isn't a planner she loves that booklet and once on vacation lives by it! Where are we today ...she loves being able to switch off on vacation and look in booklet. Jo takes the publisher file to work to print nicely in colour for me of course it has pictures of SSR...AKV...she even puts clear plastic covers on the front and using the binding machine lol. How sad am I. Jo says I am our TA.


I was wondering Alison I see you mention you play in a band. What do you play and what kind of music if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Leshaface]

Wait! F&W and Cali Grill and DIS meet dinner AND V&A's!?! What an amazing trip!

 

[rentayenta]

So I have two small updates, but hey, at least it's something! So first off you know that yesterday booking fo CA Grill opened up. Thanks to PIO, we are now dining at CA Grill at 5:30 PM before our wishes cruise instead of at the Wave. Anyone who remembers from way back, I had really wanted to dine at the CA Grill our second night of the trip, but since there was no word about the opening date I went with V&A's instead. Now I get to eat at both!

The other exciting thing is that my luggage tags for DME arrived yesterday! Love Mickey Mail!

Woot woot! Love CG. We had the best service there in 2007. We really need to go back.


Your plans are coming along beautifully.

 

[Pinkocto]

Ooohhhh, CG! I'm glad they're back open for your trip can't wait to see the renovations they did.

 

[franandaj]

I am glad that you managed to get an ADR for California Grill.

Corinna

I'm just glad PIO was so up for it, our party was really split, but I think her plea of not getting to the US often put everyone over the top. We're also not going to be back to the world for a while, so I'm glad we are getting here because our next trip will not be about signatures, we are coming with some folks that we love, but will not be on a multiple signature budget.

I just booked my birthday dinner at CG yesterday too. Can't wait! We get to see Hallowishes and then eat at my favorite place outside V&A and Remy!


for Mickey Mail!

Jill in CO

Yay for you! I'm so glad you're going too!

Oh I am a planaholic! I even plan when to plan lol ( should get that made into a tee shirt ) . I make a booklet for each trip in microsoft publisher for our holiday with all our plans, travel references, important information. Although Jo isn't a planner she loves that booklet and once on vacation lives by it! Where are we today ...she loves being able to switch off on vacation and look in booklet. Jo takes the publisher file to work to print nicely in colour for me of course it has pictures of SSR...AKV...she even puts clear plastic covers on the front and using the binding machine lol. How sad am I. Jo says I am our TA.


I was wondering Alison I see you mention you play in a band. What do you play and what kind of music if you don't mind me asking?

I can't wait to see your booklets when we meet up! I don't make a booklet, but I have a spreadsheet and a note book where I put all our printouts into plastic sleeves.

Fran and I play in the Gay Freedom Band of LA. It used to be called the Great American Yankee Freedom Band in 1978, but a couple years ago the board decided to drop the "reat merican ankee" part and just go with "GAY". People really had a problem with the whole "yankee" thing. For a while we called ourselves the Hollywood Wind Ensemble to avoid the word Yankee and Gay. Now we are "out" everywhere except Disney. We are afraid that if we change our name from the History of being the Hollywood Wind Ensemble they will not accept us, especially with the "Gay Freedom Band" name, so we keep that with them. Here are some clips to our past performances.

Night on Bald Mtn Fran is playing the clarinet solos at the very end....

A Salute to Spike Jones

And a little bit of what you would expect.

La Cage au Folles

ETA: OK, this is one is awesome, Festive Dance from Faust

Here is a shameless plug for the concert in case any of you are around!



Now I do have to warn you that we have different conductor from all these videos. These were all with the conductor that we had from about 2004 through 2012. Our new conductor is younger and may not have quite the finesse as the older one, but what he may lack in finesse, he makes up in exuberance and excitement in the group, so I think you will not be disappointed. If I can get some clips of his performances posted to YouTube I will certainly post them!

Wait! F&W and Cali Grill and DIS meet dinner AND V&A's!?! What an amazing trip!

I'm hoping it will be, but the best part will be meeting up with all the folks from the DIS, that is the most fun part of everything!

Woot woot! Love CG. We had the best service there in 2007. We really need to go back.

Your plans are coming along beautifully.

Now I just need to stay sane enough to get there!

Ooohhhh, CG! I'm glad they're back open for your trip can't wait to see the renovations they did.

I just can't wait to eat the food again. I hope that the new sushi chef lives up to Yoshi's reputation!

 

[franandaj]

So this is one of those posts where I will be whining and all the rest of you will laugh and say, "yeah, I wish I had your problems!" Regardless I feel the need to whine about this.

I'm kind of freaking out silently here. Having this whole house thing hanging over my head is daunting enough, because not only are there all the issues related to getting the mortgage approved, and actually closing on the house, then there are all the physical and emotional aspects of moving itself.

When you add in my last week and plans for the upcoming weeks there's a lot going on! I was at Disneyland three times last week. That's more times than I've been in any one month this year much less in one week! We had a very tasty Monte Cristo test, lots of shopping and some very fun DISmeets.



We started off with the Pomme Frites. We were starving and were pretty much in the last seating of the night.



We got both the cheese Monte Cristo and the regular.





Personally I really preferred the Ham/Turkey version over the cheese. There was a sort of 'funny' flavor in the cheese one as if perhaps they had left the rind on one of the cheeses. I ate half of a cheese chunk and a whole regular one and was stuffed! We took the rest home and Fran had a chunk of each for her second dinner last Tuesday and ate some more later in the week, she clearly liked both.

Wednesday we went out to the park for a DISmeet with Podsnel and Jenny was there too.



Jenny didn't stick around for drinks and apps, but after we had a little relaxing time Fran went shopping and out did herself. So much so that we actually had to be helped out of the park and back to our car!







And this was "only at one store" as Fran put it!
Then on Sunday we went back to meet up with Podsnel and anewmac





Forward to this week, I have a fairly open schedule, except for the fact that Friday night Fran and I have to host a board meeting. In most cases this is no big problem, however since the group that the board manages is a community-based group board meetings are similar to dinner parties. I have no problems hosting a dinner party, but when the dining table is covered with three feet of "precious items" and there is a radius of a foot and a half of "precious items" surrounding the table, that's when it gets scary. Many of these items in the table are precious Disney items we bought last week.

So not only do I have to dig out the table, and cook dinner for half a dozen people Friday night. I have to turn around and do it again Saturday night, except that's a picnic at the Hollywood Bowl. I gave up on a main dish for this and we're just going to pick up a bucket of KFC. I'll make the sides and desserts.

The following week all I have to do is my daily chores and packing for the move, with the exception of Wednesday when I go out to the parks to hang out with Pam! Then there is the weekend. Saturday at 1PM we meet other band members in Hollywood with a rental truck to load up all the percussion instruments that we need for the concert. Hopefully we can relax after that.

The next day is the concert and those are always crazy days for me. Everyone in the band asks me whenever there is a question. This could be anything from "Where do we put our cases?" to phone calls during the sound check, "what time should we be there?" By the end of the day I am usually a frazzled mess and can't wait to get to dinner and have a drink!

If I make it through here with half my sanity in tact, I should be home free. Until then I'm just going to bite my nails and let my stomach churn as I worry about the house all the while.

 

[missmdr]

Hang in there Allison! One day at a time - isn't that all any of us can handle! Looks like you are up late there on the West Coast. You could probably use some more sleep!

Love the pictures. How fun to meet up with fellow Dis'ers!

Maybe it's time to book a cruise!