Snow to 80 in 8 days–A spoonful of Holiday Cheer (2/5 update Ch 36 - Final Thoughts)

[All7OfUs]

Yes it's Liessa and I cuz we are such sports and never make excuses for wrong answers

That's right, Rosie. When we're wrong we're wrong. No amount of whining is going to go over with this dictator anyway.

What sucks is I also had a table made up with everyone's answers to the first round of the contest, and had the scores so I could post them right after the update. (well, except for that last second guess by Liesa). I had the flash drive in my bag and then put it back in the computer to check something. Well, at least I can go ahead and upload the picture I needed to photobucket.....

Excel works very well for these contests. Ask me how i know. (Hmmm.. I hope I can find that one I made for Master Predictor very soon! Probably on a flash stick I misplaced in the move. There, Rosie another line you can use.)

Makes me wonder if I should go back and find the statistical norms for everyone's answers and revise some of mine.

 

[marvali]

I have to remember some of your lines !!!Left it at work indeed !!

 

[marvali]

Makes me wonder if I should go back and find the statistical norms for everyone's answers and revise some of mine.

The one thing I can say is that out of 21 contestants so far, there was at least one correct answer to every one of the questions (within my accepted range at least).

 

[KatMark]

The one thing I can say is that out of 21 contestants so far, there was at least one correct answer to every one of the questions (within my accepted range at least).

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....was everyone given a chance to change answers or just the Glam Star?

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

The one thing I can say is that out of 21 contestants so far, there was at least one correct answer to every one of the questions (within my accepted range at least).

so it looks like i may have a shot.

 

[marvali]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....was everyone given a chance to change answers or just the Glam Star?

Everyone was. And since I can't now post the update with the answers until tomorrow morning, there are a few more hours of reprieve for anyone who would still like to make changes. Just make sure I know what you changed so I don't grade you incorrectly......

 

[marvali]

so it looks like i may have a shot.

I didn't say everyone had a correct response, only that every one of the ten questions was correctly answered at least once by SOMEONE.

 

[KatMark]

No; I'll just leave as is. I'll probably be in bed in less than hour to prepare for the next two brutal days we are having weather wise.

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

I didn't say everyone had a correct response, only that every one of the ten questions was correctly answered at least once by SOMEONE.

nuts

 

[Poolrat]

nuts

 

[marvali]

No; I'll just leave as is. I'll probably be in bed in less than hour to prepare for the next two brutal days we are having weather wise.

Yeah, all that sleeping in will be very draining........

 

[marvali]

nuts

If it makes you feel any better, I don't remember anyone scoring a zero!

 

[All7OfUs]

Kathy, you all be warm and safe over there! You have food and batteries and lots of cookies, right??

 

[marvali]

Kathy, you all be warm and safe over there! You have food and batteries and lots of cookies, right??

I bet the wrestlers ate all those cookies, right Kathy.......or did you make an extra batch for Mark while you were at it???

 

[englishrose47]

That's right, Rosie. When we're wrong we're wrong. No amount of whining is going to go over with this dictator anyway.




Excel works very well for these contests. Ask me how i know. (Hmmm.. I hope I can find that one I made for Master Predictor very soon! Probably on a flash stick I misplaced in the move. There, Rosie another line you can use.)

Makes me wonder if I should go back and find the statistical norms for everyone's answers and revise some of mine.

I wouldn't know what it looked like to loose !!!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Yay! I am sliding in here because you have a technical delay!!!

Hoping to get the Family Christmas part of this TR finished up and get the actual Disney portion started by this weekend. Wanted to go ahead and post the first installment of Marv's Magical and Mystical Mentalist Contest to see who can best foresee the coming revelations as I recount the family's New Year's Disney Adventure.

For those of you who have been following along since my PTR, you might find some gimmes in the contest early on. For those who haven't, you still have a chance to look info up that might help. Happy hunting!




On our Disney travel day, I wanted to make it easily to Orlando before the discount ticket office we like closed at 6:00pm, so we could get Matthew's Disney ticket. I had ordered AP vouchers for the rest of us that we would pick up at Guest Relations when we arrived at our first park! To make sure we had plenty of time for food/gas/potty breaks along the way my goal was to leave my Dad's house by 9:00am.


Did we leave early, late or right on time?

I'm going to say right on time.

How long did it take Marv to pass DS21 with his GPS and take the lead for the rest of the drive to Orlando? I will give you 13 minutes

Did we make it to our favorite Disney Discount ticket office before they closed at 6:00pm, or did we have to spend the extra bucks and buy DS21's ticket at the gate?

I'm going to say you made it!

Our first night we stayed off-property. Which mode of Disney transportation did we take to finally arrive at the MK that night?

You took the boat over from TTC

What was the very first ride Marv and DW rode after arriving at the MK?

Jungle Cruise

How many pictures did Marv take of Tinkerbelle's flight during Wishes?

3

What drink did Marv and DW have at MK? (we each had the same thing)


Dole Whip Float
Where did we meet DSs when it was time to leave to head back to the hotel?

AT Main Street Fire Station

What color was the first monorail we rode the first night at MK?

Purple Monorail

What section of the parking lot did we park in? (by character name)

Timon!!!

Good Luck!!!

 

[KatMark]

Kathy, you all be warm and safe over there! You have food and batteries and lots of cookies, right??

Batteries. Check! Milk. Check! Scotch. Check! Chips Ahoy Cookies. Check.

I bet the wrestlers ate all those cookies, right Kathy.......or did you make an extra batch for Mark while you were at it???

No, the wrestlers ate them all. And I have to make more for Saturday for regionals so maybe I'll do that while I'm bored out of my mind stuck in the house.

 

[YukiPhnx]

Ohhh! Whoever said the parking lot tram, um..Dan? That was a good one. It's too much work for me to find my post to update it anyways....Good one!

Oh no! The biscuits! And your morning was going so well, too! I hate it when food falls off the seat of my car and out of its wrapper.

You actually went and BOUGHT a new power cord??? Don't those things cost a pretty penny??? I had to buy a new one for my old laptop, but then it died.....the laptop, not the battery. I can't get myself to throwing the barely used cord out, but it serves me no purpose now.

 

[marvali]

After parking the car, and collecting the wayward biscuit from the floor, I headed inside Hardee’s to collect the two missing biscuits and purchase a replacement. I arrived at the counter and explained my situation and the lady behind the counter quickly helped me out, even though the line at the counter was still very long. Not only did she give me the two missing biscuits, but she replaced the other one. When I asked her how much, she just told me not to worry about it and got back to the other customers! I think I’ll be back to give them future business……like any time I visit Dad!!! Things were starting to improve, so the prospects looked great for the rest of the day!

I got back home and everyone wasn’t quite ready yet. We ate our biscuits and worked to get everything packed up and in the cars. By the time we got all of that done, and said our goodbyes to my Dad, we were about 45 minutes "late" leaving. Behind schedule already, but I had hopes we would still be okay, and could make up some of the time on the drive down. We had some of the 7-layer bars to take with us, and my Niece-in-Law had made some brownies that she wanted us to have. We also had some bread, luncheon meat and cheese, and chips we had brought along for the trip, so I knew we could eliminate some of the time stopping to eat by having DW make everyone sandwiches in the car before one of our stops for gas.

I told DS21 to lead the way with his GPS, and his initial ETA per the GPS was in plenty of time to make it before the Ticket Store closed, as long as we didn’t have too many lengthy stops on the way. The trip planners I use on the internet gave me a couple of different options, and I wasn’t sure which sounded the best, so I was interested to see the direction the GPS took us on. The route we took was a four lane road for the first hour and we made really good time. Our only issue was the frequent chunks of snow flying off the tops of trucks we were having to dodge. I have travelled this road many times in my life, and it actually goes through the city where DS21 attends college. This is one of those areas where I knew the traffic would be heavy and slow us down, which is why I originally considered the alternate routes.

We made our way through town without any major issues, and finally were on the other side back to making decent time. But a few miles out of town this four lane highway gets into more rural areas that also pass through some wetland areas since we are near the coast. At this point, the road has stretches of two-lane road, and areas where they alternate a third lane for passing, for a while on our side of the road, and then for the cars travelling the opposite direction. DS21 is doing a pretty good job of leading us, but when we reach this area I know the importance of passing as many slower vehicles as possible because the chances are limited, and he isn't quite as attentive to doing this. So about an hour and 45 minutes from the time we left, Dad decides it is time to take control so we can reach the Interstate as quickly as possible, where we don’t have to worry as much about being held up by slower traffic. Not being sure where the GPS would take us out to the Interstate, DW kept texting the boys to get an update so we would take the eventual recommended path. Finally we were closing in on the Interstate and I knew this would be a good time to stop for a potty break. It also seemed the perfect time for DW to make sandwiches for the boys so they could eat them when they got hungry. After giving them their food, some drinks and snacks, we were back on the road, and finally on the Interstate heading south. No need to worry about the GPS from here on as it was I-95 until we hit I-4 and the final stretch of our trip to Orlando.

After one more stop to fill up with gas before hitting the higher Florida prices, we are making pretty good time and closing in on Orlando. We got separated a little coming through Jacksonville traffic so the boys were a couple of miles behind us. I’m looking at the clock and the mileage we have remaining and it looks like we will get through Orlando just before five o’clock traffic. And then the inevitable delay occurs in the form of a phone call from the boy’s car saying they needed a bathroom break. I was weighing the idea of going on and letting the boys catch up since they had the GPS to point the way, but when DW said a stop would be good for her too, I looked for a likely exit for us both to get off and let the boys know where to meet us.

Okay, maybe if it is a NASCAR quality pit stop we still might make it without getting caught in heavy traffic, but now it was going to be close. As it turned out, this stop was going to take a little longer than hoped. I didn’t need to stop and after DW got back to the car and the stop grew longer I suggested that DW and I head on and the boys just meet us at the hotel since it wasn’t necessary we all go by the ticket office, and they already had the hotel address programmed into the GPS. I wish I had thought about this to start with as DW could have just rode the last little bit of the trip with the boys and I could have headed on immediately.

DW and I got back on the road with just a few miles left to Orlando. We were making good time and heading through the downtown Orlando area when the one thing I didn’t want to see appeared right in front of me……brake lights! Traffic had come to a slow crawl. We hadn’t made it before rush hour after all!!! While we were stuck in traffic, DW got on the phone with the boys to let them know what was ahead, but the GPS had already rerouted them to a toll road instead. I kept trying to pick the lane that kept moving the fastest, but sometimes that worked and sometimes it didn’t. I realized that things looked bleak for us making the ticket office before it closed, but what about the boys? Could they possibly make it in time to get Matthew a ticket?

We got the boys to change their focus and we continued to try and get out of the traffic. Shortly after that we came upon a wreck, and immediately after passing it there was clear sailing ahead. I picked up speed quickly and soon made it to the exit I needed to head towards the ticket office. The prospects of us making it on time were looking good again. The boys had the phone number for the ticket office and had called ahead to make sure they were still open and told them our predicament. They were told that if we could make it by 6:10 they would stay there for us.

Now that I was no longer on the Interstate and instead on one of the other major roads near the Disney area, we were indeed caught up in rush hour traffic and traffic lights. Narrowly avoiding becoming the next wreck to delay traffic, we were at the light for the road where the ticket office was, about a mile and a half away, and it was about ten minutes until 6:00. DW was on the phone with the ticket office and let the guy know where we were and he said don’t worry about it, that we were close and would not have a problem making it on time.

We passed the ticket office since it was on the other side of the road, made the necessary U-turn to get back to it, and pulled in the parking lot at 5:57; three minutes before they were supposed to close. After breathing a sigh of relief, I quickly headed inside, got Matthew’s ticket and returned to the car. As I was waiting to pull out of the parking lot and into traffic so we could head to the hotel one car slowed up to turn in and I finally realized that Matthew was driving the car and waving me to pull out ahead of him.

Continued in Next Post

 

[marvali]

The temperature was already dropping and I knew we were going to have a cold first night at the Magic Kingdom. DW was already worried that she wasn't adequately prepared for what was ahead and mentioned looking for a hoodie to help keep her head warm. We made it to the hotel and while I was standing in line to check in I could see into the gift shop and they had some Disney themed sweatshirts and hoodies. I told Andrew to go check the price while I waited. He came back and they were only about $25. About that time DW decided to walk in and I mentioned them to her. She looked at what they had and decided on a light blue zip up hoodie with Minnie Mouse on it. After checking in we hurried to unload the cars so we could head out to get something to eat and let the Disney fun begin. After biscuits for breakfast, and sandwiches in the car for lunch, we wanted something a little more substantial for dinner. This took way longer than hoped, but finally we were on our way to visit the MK!!!

When we arrived at the entrance to the park we were able to park free because of our DVC membership. Nobody was out that late directing traffic like they are early in the day and the signs they had up were a little bit confusing. I found myself heading along the end of the parking lot where everyone typically comes out when they leave, and the car behind me was blindly following right along. I finally picked a row and headed to the other end against the direction of parking. After finally turning the correct direction at the other end and heading closer to the TTC, I noticed all of the rows had a pylon blocking their entrance from earlier that day when they were full. A lot of people had left by now, so I spotted an empty space right at the end of the row, pulled pass the pylon and parked. A tram was just pulling away nearby, and we headed there to catch the next tram which was already headed towards us. I looked around just long enough to announce to everyone that we were parked at the end of Pluto 12. Not thinking about exactly where we were (we were actually only a short walk to the TTC) with our haste to make the next tram, we jumped on board to take a tour of the whole rest of the parking lot, with all the stops in between.

We finally made it to the TTC and as we walk towards our transportation to take us on our final journey to the MK entrance, we are greeted with a sign and a CM informing everyone that the Monorail is currently not running and we would need to head to the Ferry Boats to reach the Magic Kingdom! We get to the dock and our wait is short as a ferry was just unloading its passengers. While I waited for our turn to get onboard, I had my first glimpse of Cinderella Castle in the distance, in all of its lighted glory!!! This much anticipated sight called for my first picture of the night.

As we crossed the Seven Seas Lagoon, we met the other Ferry

We stopped at Guest Relations to pick up our Annual Passes and finally headed into the MK. They immediately directed us to the right and backstage since the early Main Street Electrical Parade was in progress. We eventually came out in Tomorrowland where I was able to get a picture of this.

So what do we do first? This is a busy night at the MK (I think it actually had EEMH), so I knew rides would be limited, but that was okay because I was really anxious to just soak up the Holiday atmosphere and take a lot of pictures of the Christmas decorations! I was in no mood to be rushed this night after our long and eventful drive, and DW was in full agreement with this. The boys had already headed off to fight the crowds and see how many rides they might be able to fit in before we were planning to leave. I mentioned the People Mover to DW, something we had never done and she was all for it. It was pretty much a walk-on at this time, and it only took a few seconds until we were standing in line waiting to board.

For a walk-on ride, we were about to meet our first wait. We were third in line and as the first group got in their car, the ride came to a stop. The CM who was helping load people walked away, telling us to wait there until she returned. After a couple of minutes an announcement came over the PA for everyone to remain seated, the ride would be starting up again momentarily; then another announcement that the ride would be starting immediately. Now I know I was tired, but I was pretty sure immediately means “right about NOW” but the ride continued to remain stationary. After a few more announcements, the People "Detainer" once again became the People Mover.

The CM returned and the couple in front of us was directed to their car, followed closely by DW and I. We loaded into the car and went about 10 feet when the ride once again came to a stop. Again the announcements came over the PA that the ride would start immediately, and once again it didn’t. After another short wait we were finally on our way, touring all the highlights of Tomorrowland. For the first time I get to hear the well known call trying to locate Mr. Tom Morrow!!!

As we come back into the station, a stage between the People Mover and Space Mountain came to life with a Christmas show. There were lots of Christmas songs, and some characters like Buzz Lightyear and these two guys.

I knew my good friend Kathy would like that second picture since Stitch is one of her favorite characters….
As the show neared its end, we experienced our first piece of Disney magic when it began to snow!!!

Continued in Next Post!