The 75% All New Trip! - All done! Bonus Material finished, Link to new TR!

[rentayenta]

We text at 39 hours so you must be near 24 now......packed yet?

 

[franandaj]

Plenty of time! Have fun storming the Mississippi!

Thanks! I would say three more sleeps, but I don't think that the third one is going to materialize, so at least we will again have an easy transition into Eastern time. I'm a little too old for these all nighters before a trip.

Breakfast of champions!

That's exactly what I was thinking!

Will wonders never cease?!

I know I guess I was really motivated, or organized. Nah. We were on a mission from God.

They really needed something like that. It was so hard to walk around that are

Says the civil Engineer.

Those both look and sound amazing.

They really were. Normally I don't like bread that much but I was eating these like crazy. We polished off two baskets.

I don't know what that means.

They were going for the old school pharmacy type of thing, like chocolate is medicine.

This time it will work!

I sure hope so. Not before this trip, but I hope that we make a big dent before the WDW trip with Naked Jim.

So you had that going for you, which is nice.

+1

Yeah, it seemed fairly busy to us too. I think Disney has gotten very good over the years at drawing people in no matter what time of year it is.

Yup, I'm pretty sure that they have.

I agree. I'm glad I saw the Christmas stuff once, but I would definitely choose low crowds over special decorations.

Obviously me too, for the reasons given above.

I'm just laughing because for our NY weekend we basically packed one backpack and re-used some clothes on the 2nd day!

Even if pictures were't going to be involved, I still can't wear clothes more than once if I wore them for longer than 8-10 hours. It's not only a vanity thing, but maybe it has to do with getting older. I used to be able to do it, but now I either spill something or no one wants me in those clothes a second day!

Looking forward to it!

Me too!

Of course, I get back here just as you are wrapping up the TR. I apologize for that. It's been a rough couple of weeks.

Sorry that you've had a rough couple of weeks. Don't worry, I have plenty of adventures so it's not over yet.

Beautiful shots as always. I would still love to go during Christmastime...just once.

I would say that everyone should experience it at least once!

It doesn't look like they have the lobster eggs Benedict anymore?? I've noticed them missing from a few recent TRs. So sad.

No I definitely didn't see that. But they have it on the brunch menu now at Narcoosee's so maybe they are trying to make it exclusive to there.

It's like the whole thing goes in slow motion and you get a sick feeling in your stomach. Those stupid lens aren't cheap either! I'm glad you got a new one without too much hassle.

You're right, in fact this one was pretty expensive.

totally agree!!

But I doubt they will get anything more. Very sad.

So very true. I would totally ride it with you, if I was there!

We shall have to see how things work out for October. I haven't hardly given I t any thoughts other than going to V&A's for Jill'd b'day.

Haha, no joke, this is the type of conversation DH and I have. And I pretty much give him the same answer you gave Fran.

Good to hear we are not that much out of the ordinary!

hope you have a fabulous time on the riverboat! I can't wait to hear how it went.

Thanks! This time tomorrow we will be halfway there.

Oh my about Fran trying to hide that Diet Dew bottle...

I know. I hope she learned her lesson!

I'm really impressed how early you were finished packing. I'm never out of the room before 11.

Usually we are calling the bellman at 11AM!

We just missed the Ganachery opening I think. I'll have to get there next tri

It's definitely worth a trip.

Bring on Mississippi, you're going to have so much fun!

Thanks. At this point I just want to get there. Today is going to be a PITA trying to get Fran packed.

 

[ACDSNY]

Happy packing!

 

[dhorner233]

Hope you get packed and off safely to your Mississippi trip! Where do you fly to? St. Louis? Then it's a week going down the river? I'm looking forward to your trip report!

 

[rentayenta]

Have fuuuuuuuuun!

 

[Flossbolna]

Have a fantastic trip!!

 

[dolphingirl47]

Have a magical trip.

Corinna

 

[Leshaface]

Have lots of fun! Can't wait to read all about it

 

[franandaj]

That has come around quickly. Of course it my case, I would probably say "We are leaving in 6 hours and I have not started packing yet".

I don't know how you can deal with that kind of stress. I hate waiting until the last moment.

I will be here whenever you get this started. I am really looking forward to this.

It's mostly a matter of getting through all the replies. I've already written a good chunk of the 1st update.

I think you may have just described my perfect breakfast here.

The funny thing is that I will often eat that same breakfast at home.

That sounds like a result.

I'm not sure we have ever checked out of a DVC room so early!

I admire her restraint. I think I may have had a word or two or ten to say to them at that stage.

I'm surprised that she was so restrained.

This is really cute.

Lunch looked lovely.

It was delicious!

This will be a serious temptation for me on future trips.

I definitely want to go back there in April/May.

Wow, that is an impressive line. The chocolate must be good.

It was very unique. Creamy and milky. It wasn't for folks who like a high cacao percentage.

As long as they get their priorities right. I can't believe that they never returned your calls and then turned up early to collect the scooter.

Yeah, not going to use them again if we need to rent.

I am glad that this worked out for you.

Usually I arrange for us to catch the bus an hour earlier in advance. It just gives me peace of mind for the trip home.

Considering the line of work I am in, this made me shake my head.

I don't know what she was thinking.

That is one way of putting it.

Yeah, fascinating was not what I would have called it.

I thought they had become better at managing this.

I think it depends on the flight staff. I couldn't believe how much luggage a kid brought on the plane yesterday. I think he even had three carry ons.

This actually looks really nice.

Other than the fact that the filet was cooked to the consistency of shoe leather, it was pretty good.

Whenever we have been during this time frame, they were and definitely lower than in October.

Must have been the Osborne Lights.

I think I go with Boathouse for April/ May and Morimoto Asian and Beaches and Cream for October.

Thanks for sharing. I have really enjoyed reading along.

You're pretty close. We had a bit of news that changed things again.

Thanks for another excellent trip report. I will be here waiting for the River Cruise details. Have a wonderful time!

Thanks, we can start transferring to the ship in 6 hours, but we have to check in at the lobby. That opened 7 minutes ago, so we're waiting in the room for the crowds to die down a little.

So excited for your riverboat cruise!

Nice seeing you this weekend if only for a minute.

It was great to see you as well, even if it wasn't the best of circumstances. Hours now until we're on the ship!

Oh dear! I didn't know that. I'll have to do some research on what it's supposed to open again and see if that's enough time to look out for reviews.

Well hopefully it will open with a chef just as good or better!

Load by load, you'll get there. My long-standing motto has been, "Any progress is GREAT progress!"

That's what I keep telling myself!

Keep at it! Enjoy your vacation, and you can always come back to it when you get back.

Thanks I can't wait to get it started!

 

[franandaj]

I don't want it to be over! What's your next TR?

No worries. Just stay put right here and the next one will start up as soon as I am able to get to it. That maybe sooner than later as there seems to be a lot of sitting around and waiting involved with this trip.

Curious, how many cats do you have? I'm a crazy cat lady.

Enough that I don't like to mention it on a public forum.

At work so can't write a huge reply (well not that I ever do, one of these days I am going to figure out the multi quote thing as I'm sure it's super simple) but I really enjoyed the last few updates, fantastic food pics as always, and I am seriously excited for reading about your upcoming trip- it sounds like such a fun experience!

Multi quite is super simple. Just highlight the text you want to quote and then a little "quote" link will appear, and just click on it. I can't wait for it to get started either. Right now we're just waiting in a huge line to check in and get our port departure time.

I'm also looking forward to the Naked Jim trip- let the meat journeying continue! (I'm assuming there will be travelling meat in your suitcases)

Actually now that you mention it, no meat will be traveling with us this trip. We won't be cooking dinner until our first night in the Poly Bungalow.

Not sure if you've left on the river cruise yet, but hope you have/are having a great time.

Well technically I've left as we're in Memphis, but not on the cruise until this afternoon.

A few comments of course: I agree with your comment about Christmastime.We went in 2009 mid-December and I thought the crowds were, while not terrible, much higher than any other time we go. Now, I admit mid-October has grown significantly in popularity as well, but I still don't think as much as early-December. What we have found is we like to go in mid-November. You still get all the Christmas decorations, and you would still get Osborne Lights and the Castle lights, but miss out on the Epcot stuff. Still, it's enough. I have no real desire for an early December trip.

Yeah, for me it's enough to see my quaint little castle bathed in lights. I'll take F&W and who know maybe even F&G. We'll see after next month's trip.

As far as packing - yes it's for sure men and women tend to pack differently. I know my wife does plan out her outfits based on our ADRs, whereas I just go "do I have a decent shirt or two"? Really though how I pack depends on what I'm doing. When we came out to Cailfornia last month, we knew we were doing lots of dragging our own bags around, so I purposely packed very light. Going down to WDW with ME and SWA allowing two bags per person, I usually pack a ton of shirts such that I often wear two outfits a day, especially with how much perspiring goes on in Florida!

I never seem to take this into account and always have a ton of bags to schlep.

 

[macraven]

your trippie Wows me !!

 

[IowaTater]

We shall have to see how things work out for October. I haven't hardly given I t any thoughts other than going to V&A's for Jill'd b'day.

Oooohh, nice! That will be fun. No worries. If we get a chance to meet, that's awesome but I promise I won't be all stalker-ish about it. I have to re-do all of my park plans now that the hours have been released so I'm not even sure what our schedules are anymore.

Hope you guys are having a fantastic voyage on the Mighty Mississippi!

 

[dolphingirl47]

I hate waiting until the last moment.

I am the other way round. Once the suitcase is packed, I want to leave.

Creamy and milky. It wasn't for folks who like a high cacao percentage.

That sounds right up my street. I like my chocolate creamy and milky.

Other than the fact that the filet was cooked to the consistency of shoe leather

Now that fills me with horror.

Corinna

 

[orangecats2]

No worries. Just stay put right here and the next one will start up as soon as I am able to get to it. That maybe sooner than later as there seems to be a lot of sitting around and waiting involved with this trip.

Great! I really like your TR's now that I've found you.

Enough that I don't like to mention it on a public forum.

Hey, me too!!! We could compare numbers privately.

 

[franandaj]

You did it!

And it was no small feat! The hardest part was keeping up with the shout outs!

You?!? Not packing yet?????

I know, but that will be covered in the first update.

Posting from a phone is the worst.
I'll do it occasionally, but only if I have very, very little to post.
And trying to quote? What a pain!

I know! With being "homeless" today I tried to quote from the phone. I did get all the replies in this update selected and saved in the cache of the DIS memory, but now we're waiting in the hotel lobby and I'm using their WiFi on my computer. Much easier!

Back to bed, young lady

I probably should have done the same this morning as well.

You were dreaming of us! What were we doing?

I don't even rememeber who it was or what they were doing. It was odd and surreal though!

Polite way of saying "Stay out of my way"?

Well it was her words. But yeah. The other way we say it is, "I love you very much, but....."

Really? Just for that particular airline? I always thought it was 50.

Well that's for Coach. It's 70 for us.

Wow. Fran shows great restraint.

Sometimes, you have no idea.

"OMG. They're gonna sue. I just know it. They're gonna sue!"

I'm pretty sure that's what he was thinking from the nervous tone in his voice.

Good to know.
It's been a loooooong time since I was there last.
Um.... I think briefly 7 years ago. Just to see (Ruby's request) the Princess Di dress collection.

Huh, that was on display at the Queen Mary in Long Beach for quite a while.

Outrageous prices? In Disney? How odd!

No, I'm talking more than Disney outrageous. I was looking at a knit cap thinking that I need one for the Alaska Cruise, and they were asking like $35.

How were they?

They were really good. In previous incarnations of my phones, I've kept a list of which oysters I like and this one prompted me to finally begin the oyster list on this phone.

Whoa! You weren't kidding when you said it was a lot!

Yeah, I'm glad we asked the server how much it was. We almost ordered two sandwiches (another different one to also share) and this was plenty for both of us.

Wow. It's been a long time since I've heard of someone having an Irish Coffee. For a while there, they were all the rage.

Normally it isn't something that I would order, but I'd had a glass of wine already, I didn't want to fall asleep, so I figured if I got something with caffeine and booze that would even the playing field.

Hello! You had me at Ganache...ry.

Really yummy stuff!

Oh! Thanks for letting me know the picture was blurry.
I thought it was from all the drool on the screen.

Oh.... no...

oy. That'll learn her.... or at least, that's what I thought before reading...

I'm not so sure. I think they have some kind of lie detector contraption, she knew the drink was in there so they took her aside. On the flight here, she had a box cutter in her carry on, but didn't know about it. They didn't catch it.

Wow! Quite the threat.

It wasn't so much a threat but a compromise on my part. I don't like to eat pizza, hot dogs, and simple stuff all the time at home. I would rather spend the time to make something tasty and possibly somewhat healthy too. She was objecting to the prep time that I put in when we could have spent that extra hour or two working on boxing stuff up and getting rid of it. Come to think of it, this might be exactly why I was gaining all that weight after the trip. Normally I cook only whole foods from scratch, but I've been using frozen meals and some prepackaged dinners to cut down on dinner prep time. I better get that place cleaned up just for my own weight control!

Just discussed this on my TR.

Yeah, and I saw it again yesterday. They were even asking people in boarding group #4 to just check their bags even before the plane started boarding.

Uh, huh. How was it?

The steak was like shoe leather. Inedible. However the Mac N Cheese and salad were pretty good.

Your choices of entertainment are applause worthy.

I've always enjoyed those intellectual choices that are thought provoking.

What about when the two new ones show up?

I don't know. I haven't actually read the articles on them, but Fran mentioned that they are going to be even bigger than the others. I had hoped they would have been in between the two sizes of ships. Our friend who is going to be an imagineer has been telling us some cool things about them, so I'm sure I will have to try them out.

That's not a bad thing at all!

Relaxing is good!

Same up here. Well... for snowmen.

OMGosh glad i'm not the only one who has dreamed of DIS peeps before!

Back when we lived in the old house Fran told me I was having some kind of a nightmare where I kept screaming out the screename of one of the gals on the Community Board!

Ooh i'll take those!

I'm looking forward to having them again!

Good grief this looks amazing!

It's not something I would have pu on my radar but it was amazing!3

Dan has recently started loving these types of drinks! I'll need to give them a try again when i'm able to.

Normally I'm a Bailey's and coffee kind of girl, but for some reason this sounded good.

I hope you guys will submit a review to TripAdvisor or Yelp and let others know about your experience. I heavily rely on reviews from TripAdvisor and i'm sure others do as well!

I should do that. I have the Yelp app on my phone and rely on it a lot.

All nonchalant about it I'm surprised the other woman got some grief about the juice boxes, unless she didn't have a kid with her. One of the best things about having a kid is getting to pack extra snacks for me-errr-him!

No she had a kid. They still didn't cut her any slack. You're too funny with the snacks.

Ugh these movies, I just can't!

Caddyshack is one of my favorite movies ever. So many great lines! Austin Powers, let's just say it's not what I remembered.

Well now you know for next time!

And now we're not running down the battery light all the time.

Totally!

After a long day of travel it's so relaxing.

Agreed. I've found that with this trip and in 2013 it made it so much more convenient to get to Disney Springs than when we stayed at the VGF in 2015. I wouldn't mind starting off every trip at a Disney Springs Resort just so we can make a day/night out of it!

I just wouldn't want to have to move that often. You seem OK with it!

Our January trip in 2010 was probably the best for crowds, next being December 2012. These past few January's have been way busier, but i'm wondering if it's due to the implementation of the FP+ system?? October wasn't terrible, but it was kind of warm.

Jan 2010 was great, as was 2007. We haven't been back in Jan sonce, but Feb 2013 was great too!

I find it's so much harder to pack for cruises than WDW because of the lack of washers/dryers. I guess I could do laundry on the ship, but I just love the convenience of having all that in my room!

I've found laundry on the ship is really easy and inexpensive comparatively.

Well now you know about the light switch, that's too funny. I hope you're packed by now.

When you posted this. No. Not even close!

 

[franandaj]

We text at 39 hours so you must be near 24 now......packed yet?

Ha! When you typed this I was at 20 hours and no where's near ready!

Happy packing!

Not.

Hope you get packed and off safely to your Mississippi trip! Where do you fly to? St. Louis? Then it's a week going down the river? I'm looking forward to your trip report!

No its not that long of a trip. Besides its too cold to go that far north. We flew into Memphis where the ship boarded.

Have fuuuuuuuuun!

Thanks!

Have a fantastic trip!!

Thank you!

Have a magical trip.

Corinna

Thank you very much!

Have lots of fun! Can't wait to read all about it

It may be a while before I get the first update. Even though it's written Internet is spotty on the river.

your trippie Wows me !!

Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying it.

Oooohh, nice! That will be fun. No worries. If we get a chance to meet, that's awesome but I promise I won't be all stalker-ish about it. I have to re-do all of my park plans now that the hours have been released so I'm not even sure what our schedules are anymore.

I haven't even thought about that trip. I've just barely got the Alaska one figured out!

Hope you guys are having a fantastic voyage on the Mighty Mississippi!

We are! Im sitting and watching them prepare the ship for disembarking at our first stop.

I am the other way round. Once the suitcase is packed, I want to leave.

I am a basket case until the suitcases are packed. I could sit and relax for a week with them sitting there packed. That way I know I'm all ready for the time when the trip comes along.

That sounds right up my street. I like my chocolate creamy and milky.

Me too.

Now that fills me with horror.

It was pretty nasty.

Great! I really like your TR's now that I've found you.

Depending how the shipboard Internet goes (and our free time) that update could be coming sooner or maybe later.

Hey, me too!!! We could compare numbers privately.

 

[Flossbolna]

I don't like to eat pizza, hot dogs, and simple stuff all the time at home. I would rather spend the time to make something tasty and possibly somewhat healthy too. She was objecting to the prep time that I put in when we could have spent that extra hour or two working on boxing stuff up and getting rid of it.

Oh, I can relate to this debate... But with Michael and me it is not that he wants me to work on boxing stuff up instead, but that he does not want to see me working so hard for it... Which is nice, but I still prefer to eat the stuff I made myself over some crappy fast food!!

Come to think of it, this might be exactly why I was gaining all that weight after the trip. Normally I cook only whole foods from scratch, but I've been using frozen meals and some prepackaged dinners to cut down on dinner prep time. I better get that place cleaned up just for my own weight control!

That sounds like a very likely explanation. And it is double frustrating when you realize that the weight you put on is not because you overindulged in some really delicious stuff, but because you ended up eating crap because you are stressed out. I hope things will get better soon!

Back when we lived in the old house Fran told me I was having some kind of a nightmare where I kept screaming out the screename of one of the gals on the Community Board!

That is funny!!

 

[pkondz]

I know, but that will be covered in the first update.

It will be a BIG update.

I know! With being "homeless" today I tried to quote from the phone. I did get all the replies in this update selected and saved in the cache of the DIS memory, but now we're waiting in the hotel lobby and I'm using their WiFi on my computer. Much easier!

Even selecting is hit or miss.
Good job that you managed it.

Well it was her words. But yeah. The other way we say it is, "I love you very much, but....."

Well that's for Coach. It's 70 for us.

It costs more? You're already paying more... shouldn't they be less... or free?

No, I'm talking more than Disney outrageous. I was looking at a knit cap thinking that I need one for the Alaska Cruise, and they were asking like $35.

Yikes. Maybe wait until you're at the airport. It'll be ridiculously over priced... and cheaper than that.

They were really good. In previous incarnations of my phones, I've kept a list of which oysters I like and this one prompted me to finally begin the oyster list on this phone.

Huh. Never eat enough oysters to be able to make a comparison.
They're okay. But just okay.
Although... over 25 years ago... I had Oysters Rockefeller and I remember those as being amazing.

On the flight here, she had a box cutter in her carry on, but didn't know about it. They didn't catch it.

That's disturbing on many levels.

They were even asking people in boarding group #4 to just check their bags even before the plane started boarding.

Wow.

The steak was like shoe leather. Inedible.

Thought it might be, but gave them the benefit of the doubt.

I've always enjoyed those intellectual choices that are thought provoking.

 

[franandaj]

Oh, I can relate to this debate... But with Michael and me it is not that he wants me to work on boxing stuff up instead, but that he does not want to see me working so hard for it... Which is nice, but I still prefer to eat the stuff I made myself over some crappy fast food!!

It took a long time before Fran realized that I enjoy preparing something nice and I don't mind putting in the time as long as the result is good.

That sounds like a very likely explanation. And it is double frustrating when you realize that the weight you put on is not because you overindulged in some really delicious stuff, but because you ended up eating crap because you are stressed out. I hope things will get better soon!

And I didn't even think about it until I was replying here. And yes, it would be one thing if I was eating Fettucine Alfredo, huge delicious steaks, Tiramisu, and chocolate souffle, but I was eating crappy food.

That is funny!!

It was Kimmar whose name I was calling. I think I was telling her to stop doing something.

It will be a BIG update.

Well kind of like yours. Not many pictures.

Even selecting is hit or miss.
Good job that you managed it.

Thank you.

It costs more? You're already paying more... shouldn't they be less... or free?

No, no, no. I must have said something to mislead you. We do not pay for airfare. We travel on miles, so technically we are only paying the $10 airport fee. We get three bags for free, and they must weigh under 70 lbs each.

Yikes. Maybe wait until you're at the airport. It'll be ridiculously over priced... and cheaper than that.

I'll just go to the hat store at home. Although that is in a tourist trap as well. Can't win. Maybe K-Mart. Oh Winter is over, they will only have summer hats.

Huh. Never eat enough oysters to be able to make a comparison.
They're okay. But just okay.
Although... over 25 years ago... I had Oysters Rockefeller and I remember those as being amazing.

I usually only have half a dozen at most. But if they are big and fat and require too much chewing, blech! I plan to try Oysters Rockefeller at the place that invented them in about a week!

That's disturbing on many levels.

When she handed it to me, the thought that went through my mind was, "This is the weapon they used on 9/11"

 

[franandaj]

And now we move into the 100% All New Trip! Not only was every single experience on this trip something brand new, I also got to add three new states to the visited list! So that makes 30 of the 50 United States that I can say I have set foot on Terra firma. At this point we've only just begun our journey, so I can't tell you how it's going to end up, but I can get things started. As usual, I like to give you, the readers a glimpse into how the trip started and this one is no different, except for the crazy idea that we decided to take a 5AM flight. In hindsight we both agree never to do it this way again, and here's why....

So it was Saturday morning T-18 hours until departure time. I knew this day was not going to be fun so I decided to start it off with something pleasant. I wanted to take a shower and since I wasn't going to be impacting California's water supply for the next 11 nights, I decided to get it all in on this particular morning and took a bath. I've become adept at using my walk in tub as a shower since it has a hand held shower head. I figure if I'm going to use that much water, I better make sure I don't need a shower for a few days and wash my hair and everything. So that way I get double the bang for my water bucks.

Fran was still asleep after I fed the cats, but in the middle of the night she had arranged to purchase a Mater alarm clock from someone off Craigslist this morning. Plus we had four things on eBay that sold so we had to take care of those as well before actually packing. One thing I did before waking her was unpack a brand new garment bag that she had purchased a couple months ago. It was still in the box, and she had wanted to use it so that her suit jacket and dress shirts didn't wrinkle as much.

With all our errands it was probably 3PM before we got home and started to do anything that got clothes packed in the suitcase. I was quickly becoming a basket case. I knew my dream of going to bed at 8PM for six hours of sleep was going up in smoke.

Around 4:30 she began ironing her dress shirts. This ship doesn't have a handy dandy pressing service to magically make all your clothes unwrinkled like Disney, so she had to do it herself. By this time all my clothes were in the suitcase and I was wanting to load up the car so I could rest. Finally she finished the ironing and checked her bathroom bag for shampoo and conditioner and I could put all the suitcases into the car. It was just about this time that our delivery order for Thai food arrived so we ate and then I loaded up the car. I think it was around 7:00 or 7:30. After dinner I loaded the car and put her scooter on the lift.

Around 10PM I couldn't stay awake any longer so I changed into my clothes for traveling and laid down. I don't remember anything after that. Fran tells me that before we left the house we searched for her glasses to no avail, that I tried putting my computer into her carry on, also to no avail. I'm glad I had my business in order before I fell asleep because my memories start again while I was parking the car. I found a space in Lot C right off (@Leshaface doesnt have that kind of luck and I don't get lost like her DH!) and it was really close to the bus loading depot. I sent myself an email to remind me where I parked since it wasn't in my normal location.

Back at the airport my memories are still fuzzy but I know we both got TSA PRECHECK on our boarding passes so it was like we had a FP for security! We got beverages after that, water for me and diet dew for Fran, and headed for our gate. We were first to board and soon after take off I started Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I really couldn't stay awake and kept falling in and out of consciousness. They brought us breakfast and it was surprisingly delicious! At least mine was! It was some kind of cinnamon roll French Toast (no raisins) and we were also given a buttermilk biscuit where that empty plate was located.



Fran had some sort of omelet, she didn't say much about it.



The movie continued and I slept on and off. I woke in time for the Grand Finale of the movie. I hope no one out there hasn't seen it yet, but you know, the part with Han Solo and then the big explosions. I think I slept through the credits which were rolling just in time for landing at DFW. Boy this airport has improved over the years. The sky train has made this huge airport so much more manageable.

As usual we were the last to leave the plane and still had to wait for her scooter to be brought up from the belly of the beast. A quick trip on the sky train and we were at our next gate. For whatever reason we were issued new boarding passes and they had me sitting one row behind Fran in the seat that would have been next to her. Luckily they were able to fix that. This time we were on a puddle jumper.



In our section there were two seats on the left side of the plane and one on the right. I didn't notice what the seat configuration in the back it the plane was like.

Fran slept for most of the trip, I played spider solitaire and kakuro on my phone and wrote a bit on my phone about our penultimate day. The hour and a half passed quickly and soon we had landed in Memphis. Another long wait for the scooter to come up and we were on our way to baggage claim. The nice thing about having to wait for the scooter means you don't have to fight anyone at baggage claim. In fact your bags are left rotating on a lonely belt all by themselves. I was sad to see that the brand new garment bag that I took out of its box yesterday had burst the zipper on the exterior of the bag. At least her jacket hadn't fallen out of the pocket.



Due to the large amount of baggage we had, the Steamboat company had suggested we hire a private cab rather than take their suggested van transportation. As we exited the terminal we saw folks boarding the van, and there is no way we would have fit with six other passengers and their luggage. We had no problem finding a van, and easily fit our luggage and the scooter, although I don't think the cab driver would have agreed with me. At home when packing the car Fran always tells me, "seeing out through the rear view mirror is optional," and usually impossible.

The cabbie told us it would be $35 to downtown and an extra $10 for excessive luggage. Fine. We were there well before I expected. Right around 3PM. The Bell guys were like Ninjas with the baggage and had it out of there and the scooter assembled in no time. Here we hit what I hope was the worst part of our trip. We checked into the hotel, and they mentioned that the room was not ready. Here is where Disney goes above and beyond. Even if your room isn't ready, you still get your room key and then once it's ready you get a text with the number and boom! You go directly to your room. No, not here, they were going to call me when it was ready and then when it was ready, I could go back and wait in line to get my keys and find out the room number.


I’m going to stop here because it takes like 5 minutes (maybe 10) per picture to upload we are so far out in the boonies and the WiFi is so weak. We’ll have to get closer to civilization for me to be able to post updates with photos. (and believe me, I got a lot of em!)