I won't bore you with who's who. I've been on the DIS since 2001 but that doesn't mean I know it all. Take everything with a grain of salt...
Thursday:
Flew into MCO around noon. I observed a few families going to the world; even though temps were on the cold side. The boss went to get the rental, and picked us up shortly. We took 528 straight to the new convention center. No change; so as the organizer I had it ready and $1.50 later, we pulled in so the boss could pay $11 to park. I asked him to pop the trunk so I could lug my luggage in. I rolled on in, and found the room to check it. In to the convention I went for the next 3 hours or so. Came out and retrieved the bag; walked on to my hotel about 15-20 minutes away. My best friend had driven up from the Tampa area, and his car was outside. He was sitting in the breakfast area, and we sat down to talk for a few minutes before I checked in. I got a room on the 3rd floor. After showering and changing, we drove to Orlando Premium outlet, had dinner at the food court, then into Character Premier. They had a pretty large selection; Id say most of it was marked down about ½ price. There were some items that were full price, though. Then we drove on over to downtown Disney for my WDW fix. We found parking at marketplace OK, but it can be hit or miss. They had the 09 stuff out. I went on over to Disneys days of xmas the CMs there told me that theyve had a few folks ask about the GOH badge. One lady said that if enough people write in the higher ups might bring em back. Later on, at another store, a lady asked me who I worked for. I told her I was a guest of honor and she asked me who I was; if we were on camera. I told her it was all good...it's been at least 2 years since I saw these on main street last. It was fairly cold out with some wind and I had my jacket, gloves and hat on. Went back to the hotel and that was that.
Friday:
Into the convention center a little before 10am. I observed lots of people wearing manhattan black and trying to look important. Finished walking the floor a little before 1pm; had a lunch meeting with a former client. There is some construction going on and the project should be done in 2 years. I take some pride in my work and this project was a challenge. Id say 99% of the stuff I do is cookie cutter and every now and then something comes along I talked with one of the other guys about cycling and then he was back into a meeting. I made the walk back to my hotel; there is building going on in Orlando. But by my hotel was 2 restaurants and 1 hotel: out of business. One was a Bennigans and the lights were on at night go figure.
My friend came back from shopping and we drove over to downtown Disney to catch a bus to the AKL. The busses were all running, but it took 20-25 minutes for ours to come. We got there in plenty of time for our dinner reservation at Jiko. It was fairly early, and I observed a large table of 11 with wine and the bill had to be at least 1 large. Boma was going strong. We ordered an appetizer, and the pumpkin butter with the flaxseed bread hit the spot. The menu did not show the allspice cake, so we ordered something else.
We spent some time walking around the lodge; it had gotten dark and cold, and all we could see was the flamingos. We went into Mara, and purchased coffee/hot chocolate. I went into the gift shop and found a few shirts on sale with the old style. I figured out it was worth my time to look. The shirts were about ½ off. We saw lots of buses coming from MK and Epcot. Ours finally came 15-20 min later.
Saturday:
Went to downtown Disney around 9am; waited at planet Hollywood for the bus to Yacht Club/beach club. It drove by Swan/dolphin 1st. I can confirm that the monorail wont be going through either building. Went into the yacht club wow saw Ted Knight with the blue blazer & captains hat on. Well, maybe it wasnt Ted but there was a guy: he fit right in; I didnt. Ive never been to any of these resorts and figured it would be cool to check em out. We walked on over to boardwalk and the gulls let me get a close camera shot. The wind was blowing pretty well but it was sunny. We went into the gift shop and I found a Grumpy cap for my best friend at ½ off theyre discontinuing that style. Lots of people at the bakery. We took the walkway over to Disneys Hollywood studios we could hear the cheerleaders and we saw them too. They even had their own special Disney bus. At the bus stop I can confirm I saw a direct bus going to Epcot and the TTC. We took the bus on over to the Wilderness lodge. We went on in, and checked out the prices for the 3 food outlets yeah, 14 clams for a chicken sandwich. OK.
Took the boat over to the contemporary and the DVC tower is up and theyre putting in the finishing touches. We decided to have lunch at the new remodeled eatery next to Chef Mickeys, which was closed for lunch. We used the touch screen to order, then had to pay. We were handed a pager, and after 10 minutes, our food was ready. Then we took the monorail over to the Poly. Id never gone in and it reminded me of our trip to Hawaii. Walked down the volcano pool and that cemented it: if we take a trip of a lifetime this will be where we stay. Took the boat over to the MK and the gulls had done their thing on the buildings where the boats dock. We took the ferry boat back to the TTC, and folks had thrown their coins onto the dock piling. Lots of people waiting to go on over to the MK. Took the monorail over to Epcot. After the hurricane came through a few years back, I observed then many trees bent over. Disney has decided to let nature take its course and those trees remain. Did the loop around Epcot and walked on over to the bus stop. There were 2 older people stopped at the beginning of the que; I dont make the rules; nor do I enforce them. Several people went around them and lined up correctly. I followed, keeping my big fat mouth shut. We took the bus over to French quarter, and decided to walk over to Riverside. On the way over, I searched for the room we stayed at for 1 night in 07. There were some people sitting outside, so I didnt bother them. Id seen enough of the other doors to figure it out: they havent repainted the doors and they are really showing it. You cant see from the boats or buses; you have to get close up and its really bad. The door opposite ours had a half peeled off Mickey sticker; just for grins I wanted to see if it was still there. If Disney doesnt have the money for the paint, maintenance isnt going to paint. I thought about housekeeping scrubbing each door, but they dont have time. My friend who works in hotels tells me they do contract out some work and if you can get a housekeeper do to 16 rooms a shift, why not 20?
We walked on over to Magnolia. The doors were a litte better, but again, they could use some paint. We walked to our room we stayed at in 07, and there was someone staying there how could they! We then walked on over to ole man island and the pool is indeed closed for refurbishment. The fishing hole had closed at 2pm. We saw lots of pine needles on the ground I guess they are gone by late spring. We went into the food court and got the cookies with little Mickeys on em. We only found these at French quarter, as well. I checked out the food prices there, and at Boatwrights as well. Oh boy.
We went into the gift shop and I had to do some patient looking. They were closing out the old style POR items, but I could NOT find any new styles. Im not going to guess if this is a foresight for the future. While drinking hot cocoa we saw a long line for the boats, but it went away and we got on in no time. On our way to downtown Disney, the boat captain told us the tale of the old international student quarters, which have been completely torn down, and the new ones are up in place: think of old Disney institute. These are supposed to be part of Saratoga Springs, which I finally got a semi-close look at from bus ride. I had no idea this resort was so big and then we got off. We decided to have lunch at the McDonalds at downtown Disney. This restaurant has sentimental meaning to me I took my son there as a single dad for the first time right before he turned 3. My best friend spent a week with us really, think about any single men whod want to spend a week with a three year old. But he did and its 11 years later and we are indeed fortunate hes been a part of our lives. Hes watched my son grow into the young man he is today and hes been game to tag along on our family vacations each year as weve visited WDW and other places. My best friend has lymphoma and I dont take him for granted. My wifes best friend passed away a week ago and he was 45yo. I saw this as an opportunity to spend some time with my friend while my wife held the fort and Im back in the office today.
You might be thinking is this guy a skeptic a ghost who writes for a non-Disney site? No, I just called it as I saw it; I do love Disney. Walt was a visionary; his brother Roy told him if they could afford to build it. I personally dont know if the days of Eisner and his golden parachute are in the future so Ill leave that for other folks to speculate. Even if the short time I was there I got a sense of saturation and maybe it is just me. My family has indeed been very fortunate to not only to go visit WDW and DL a number of times, but other parts of the good ole USA as well. I never wanted to have any regrets in terms of showing our son whats out there and I dont think Ive done ½ bad. I did see lots of cheerleaders and a lot of them had matching clothes and many texting somebody while eating. I think my son would have enjoyed it hes at that age now and it had to happen sooner than later. Oh, its going to be fun
Sunday:
Theyve remodeled the outlet mall at the north end of I-drive. The shops dont open until 10am, so we waited. We window shopped at the Disney outlet there; they had less of a selection than at Character Premier but plenty of 08 merchandise discounted down. We stopped at sweet tomatoes for lunch. Theyre doing a breakfast menu on Sundays until noon; Id found a coupon for 15% off. I observed not too many tourists but more older people for lunch. As Ive come to find; Ive always so look forward to our trips with my best friend, and the time had come for that to end. Time always goes by too fast and that is the part that I hate. I get depressed and a sinking feeling in me and it takes its time going away. We took the long way around to the airport and then it was goodbye until June. I got a non-stop back home and they were 30 minutes early. I got back on the bike when I got home and that was good but really gusty winds. We finally got some rain overnight and early today as were down about 14 inches from last year.
Thursday:
Flew into MCO around noon. I observed a few families going to the world; even though temps were on the cold side. The boss went to get the rental, and picked us up shortly. We took 528 straight to the new convention center. No change; so as the organizer I had it ready and $1.50 later, we pulled in so the boss could pay $11 to park. I asked him to pop the trunk so I could lug my luggage in. I rolled on in, and found the room to check it. In to the convention I went for the next 3 hours or so. Came out and retrieved the bag; walked on to my hotel about 15-20 minutes away. My best friend had driven up from the Tampa area, and his car was outside. He was sitting in the breakfast area, and we sat down to talk for a few minutes before I checked in. I got a room on the 3rd floor. After showering and changing, we drove to Orlando Premium outlet, had dinner at the food court, then into Character Premier. They had a pretty large selection; Id say most of it was marked down about ½ price. There were some items that were full price, though. Then we drove on over to downtown Disney for my WDW fix. We found parking at marketplace OK, but it can be hit or miss. They had the 09 stuff out. I went on over to Disneys days of xmas the CMs there told me that theyve had a few folks ask about the GOH badge. One lady said that if enough people write in the higher ups might bring em back. Later on, at another store, a lady asked me who I worked for. I told her I was a guest of honor and she asked me who I was; if we were on camera. I told her it was all good...it's been at least 2 years since I saw these on main street last. It was fairly cold out with some wind and I had my jacket, gloves and hat on. Went back to the hotel and that was that.
Friday:
Into the convention center a little before 10am. I observed lots of people wearing manhattan black and trying to look important. Finished walking the floor a little before 1pm; had a lunch meeting with a former client. There is some construction going on and the project should be done in 2 years. I take some pride in my work and this project was a challenge. Id say 99% of the stuff I do is cookie cutter and every now and then something comes along I talked with one of the other guys about cycling and then he was back into a meeting. I made the walk back to my hotel; there is building going on in Orlando. But by my hotel was 2 restaurants and 1 hotel: out of business. One was a Bennigans and the lights were on at night go figure.
My friend came back from shopping and we drove over to downtown Disney to catch a bus to the AKL. The busses were all running, but it took 20-25 minutes for ours to come. We got there in plenty of time for our dinner reservation at Jiko. It was fairly early, and I observed a large table of 11 with wine and the bill had to be at least 1 large. Boma was going strong. We ordered an appetizer, and the pumpkin butter with the flaxseed bread hit the spot. The menu did not show the allspice cake, so we ordered something else.
We spent some time walking around the lodge; it had gotten dark and cold, and all we could see was the flamingos. We went into Mara, and purchased coffee/hot chocolate. I went into the gift shop and found a few shirts on sale with the old style. I figured out it was worth my time to look. The shirts were about ½ off. We saw lots of buses coming from MK and Epcot. Ours finally came 15-20 min later.
Saturday:
Went to downtown Disney around 9am; waited at planet Hollywood for the bus to Yacht Club/beach club. It drove by Swan/dolphin 1st. I can confirm that the monorail wont be going through either building. Went into the yacht club wow saw Ted Knight with the blue blazer & captains hat on. Well, maybe it wasnt Ted but there was a guy: he fit right in; I didnt. Ive never been to any of these resorts and figured it would be cool to check em out. We walked on over to boardwalk and the gulls let me get a close camera shot. The wind was blowing pretty well but it was sunny. We went into the gift shop and I found a Grumpy cap for my best friend at ½ off theyre discontinuing that style. Lots of people at the bakery. We took the walkway over to Disneys Hollywood studios we could hear the cheerleaders and we saw them too. They even had their own special Disney bus. At the bus stop I can confirm I saw a direct bus going to Epcot and the TTC. We took the bus on over to the Wilderness lodge. We went on in, and checked out the prices for the 3 food outlets yeah, 14 clams for a chicken sandwich. OK.
Took the boat over to the contemporary and the DVC tower is up and theyre putting in the finishing touches. We decided to have lunch at the new remodeled eatery next to Chef Mickeys, which was closed for lunch. We used the touch screen to order, then had to pay. We were handed a pager, and after 10 minutes, our food was ready. Then we took the monorail over to the Poly. Id never gone in and it reminded me of our trip to Hawaii. Walked down the volcano pool and that cemented it: if we take a trip of a lifetime this will be where we stay. Took the boat over to the MK and the gulls had done their thing on the buildings where the boats dock. We took the ferry boat back to the TTC, and folks had thrown their coins onto the dock piling. Lots of people waiting to go on over to the MK. Took the monorail over to Epcot. After the hurricane came through a few years back, I observed then many trees bent over. Disney has decided to let nature take its course and those trees remain. Did the loop around Epcot and walked on over to the bus stop. There were 2 older people stopped at the beginning of the que; I dont make the rules; nor do I enforce them. Several people went around them and lined up correctly. I followed, keeping my big fat mouth shut. We took the bus over to French quarter, and decided to walk over to Riverside. On the way over, I searched for the room we stayed at for 1 night in 07. There were some people sitting outside, so I didnt bother them. Id seen enough of the other doors to figure it out: they havent repainted the doors and they are really showing it. You cant see from the boats or buses; you have to get close up and its really bad. The door opposite ours had a half peeled off Mickey sticker; just for grins I wanted to see if it was still there. If Disney doesnt have the money for the paint, maintenance isnt going to paint. I thought about housekeeping scrubbing each door, but they dont have time. My friend who works in hotels tells me they do contract out some work and if you can get a housekeeper do to 16 rooms a shift, why not 20?
We walked on over to Magnolia. The doors were a litte better, but again, they could use some paint. We walked to our room we stayed at in 07, and there was someone staying there how could they! We then walked on over to ole man island and the pool is indeed closed for refurbishment. The fishing hole had closed at 2pm. We saw lots of pine needles on the ground I guess they are gone by late spring. We went into the food court and got the cookies with little Mickeys on em. We only found these at French quarter, as well. I checked out the food prices there, and at Boatwrights as well. Oh boy.
We went into the gift shop and I had to do some patient looking. They were closing out the old style POR items, but I could NOT find any new styles. Im not going to guess if this is a foresight for the future. While drinking hot cocoa we saw a long line for the boats, but it went away and we got on in no time. On our way to downtown Disney, the boat captain told us the tale of the old international student quarters, which have been completely torn down, and the new ones are up in place: think of old Disney institute. These are supposed to be part of Saratoga Springs, which I finally got a semi-close look at from bus ride. I had no idea this resort was so big and then we got off. We decided to have lunch at the McDonalds at downtown Disney. This restaurant has sentimental meaning to me I took my son there as a single dad for the first time right before he turned 3. My best friend spent a week with us really, think about any single men whod want to spend a week with a three year old. But he did and its 11 years later and we are indeed fortunate hes been a part of our lives. Hes watched my son grow into the young man he is today and hes been game to tag along on our family vacations each year as weve visited WDW and other places. My best friend has lymphoma and I dont take him for granted. My wifes best friend passed away a week ago and he was 45yo. I saw this as an opportunity to spend some time with my friend while my wife held the fort and Im back in the office today.
You might be thinking is this guy a skeptic a ghost who writes for a non-Disney site? No, I just called it as I saw it; I do love Disney. Walt was a visionary; his brother Roy told him if they could afford to build it. I personally dont know if the days of Eisner and his golden parachute are in the future so Ill leave that for other folks to speculate. Even if the short time I was there I got a sense of saturation and maybe it is just me. My family has indeed been very fortunate to not only to go visit WDW and DL a number of times, but other parts of the good ole USA as well. I never wanted to have any regrets in terms of showing our son whats out there and I dont think Ive done ½ bad. I did see lots of cheerleaders and a lot of them had matching clothes and many texting somebody while eating. I think my son would have enjoyed it hes at that age now and it had to happen sooner than later. Oh, its going to be fun
Sunday:
Theyve remodeled the outlet mall at the north end of I-drive. The shops dont open until 10am, so we waited. We window shopped at the Disney outlet there; they had less of a selection than at Character Premier but plenty of 08 merchandise discounted down. We stopped at sweet tomatoes for lunch. Theyre doing a breakfast menu on Sundays until noon; Id found a coupon for 15% off. I observed not too many tourists but more older people for lunch. As Ive come to find; Ive always so look forward to our trips with my best friend, and the time had come for that to end. Time always goes by too fast and that is the part that I hate. I get depressed and a sinking feeling in me and it takes its time going away. We took the long way around to the airport and then it was goodbye until June. I got a non-stop back home and they were 30 minutes early. I got back on the bike when I got home and that was good but really gusty winds. We finally got some rain overnight and early today as were down about 14 inches from last year.
