HI, my name is Roehl and with the encouragement of my boys and family, I am going to share the "live" storytelling that I have been doing over the last couple of days. They have enjoyed my tales and think others on DIS will get a kick out of a fellow Disney lover's adventures.
So if you choose to join me on this tale of wonder I promise to add a "proper" PTR within a couple of days, but for now I am only going to give the skeleton of details on how this now 50 year old male was sent on this journey.
Setting: Cold day in December 2012, like -15 Celsius cold; Calgary, AB; several families discussing vacation plans; hey, Roehl's 50th is on Mother's Day let's take mom and make it a big party at WDW; vacation is planned with 12 of us going; a knee operation, lay off of one sister, denial of vacation time due to "operational" requirements for another, both sons getting summer intern jobs = Roehl being the only one who can go; and so this old dog decided to go to WDW from May 11 - 18, 2013.
How do I get to share my birthday trip with my family? Hey, we'll teach dad how to actually use his tablet (Playbook, yes, I am that old school and have not succumbed to the Apple dynasty). This blog (can I call this thread a blog?) is being written through the miracle of Bluetooth using a Logitech keyboard and a Microsoft wedge mouse (sorry for the "product placement" ads, but I believe in giving credit where credit is due).
How do we make sure dad survives traveling on his own? Unfortunately, I am detail challenged. Let us just say that my DS20 who is studying to be a forensic scientist and DS18 going to business school (but eventually wants to be a chef, yes this tidbit does relate to the sotry) were so worried, they came up with several lists (more than several because there is one for each day, LOL) and even a grocery shopping list (staying off site with a full kitchen and grills) and some recipes (for my birthday breakfast).
The title of this story should really be "How the Old Dog Learned New Tricks" but I thought "The Color of Rain Filled Air" is catchier and does have special meaning to me and had a big part of making the decision to go solo. (I promise to include that in the "PTR"). In addition, I just realized that there are several back stories that will need to be in that PTR, so
So before I bore you any further, let me start with Day 2 of our story (which means I will also have to add Day 1 after the PTR, LOL, sorry about that).
My 50th birthday started off being rudely awakened at 03:48 by a strange sound. I will change that to I was frightened by a strange sound. With my heart racing I got out of bed (did not turn the light on because, well lets just say I wasn't exactly fully awake). Inched my way to the door, but there was no other sounds. Went back to bed and about half an hour or so, the same sound happened again. This time I tracked the sound to the kitchen. Ok, I wasn't really sleeping because I was still spooked. (For me, I am learning that traveling solo has really changed my "safe" zone). It took me five minutes or so before I figured out what it must have been. The best description I can give of the sound is of several small objects being dropped from a small height and landing on some plastic. Can you figure it out? Yes, I had turned the ice maker on before I went to bed. Yup, I was scared by the ice maker. Happy birthday, old dog. LOL.
[Side note: I don't have a proper spell check so my apologies for any spelling mistakes.]
Since I was up, I started the prep work for my birthday breakfast, foodie son couldn't be there to cook for me, so he had the menu and recipe prepared for me. Here is what it what he had planned for me. [Side note: In the PTR that isn't written yet is when I used to tell bedroom stories to my boys I used a lot of quotes, and often misquotes. When they got older they had a great time trying to figure out from what "source" and what was the correct line. Hope you enjoy the game too.]. Sorry bud, but when I went to Publix (remember I do product placements too) I left the grocery list in the car and as you know "no battle plan survives contact with your dad" so this is an alert that your menu or I should say your recipe wasn't followed to the letter/ingredients.
Back to the menu: Sumatra dark roast blend (brought from home) for coffee; Tropicana orange juice, more pulp since I finally got to choose my own rather than settle for no pulp because everyone is different; havarti (sp?) herb cheese; sundried tomato, black olive and back bacon omelette; and sour dough toast. I was able to follow almost all of the menu. However, for the omelette I had to substitute several ingredients. Ok, all of the ingredients except for the eggs. And even there I cheated and added some cream to the mix (foodie son is of the school that does not add milk/cream to make "fluffy" eggs). What did I actually use? Fresh diced tomatoes, sliced mushrooms and ham. I did use the ground basil and pinch of garlic powder mix though. LOL. Anyway, enjoyed this breakfast on the balcony with the love of my boys (as promised I called my boys even though it was only 0500 or so in Calgary).
I now go into the Frenetic Zone of my morning. Please feel free to laugh at and with, commiserate and question my sanity, be amazed or bewildered, or decide this guy's writing style is just too weird. [Side note: I will try to learn how to get pictures posted here, because really, some of my tale is too "good" to be true.]
According to the plan, I had to be at Hollywood Studios by 0815 so as to be there at "rope drop". What is the Frenetic Zone? Welcome to mine: got on the road at 0800 or so [Side note: I don't wear a watch, much to the consternation of my scientist boy, so all times provided are approximate but written with a "preciseness" that is intended to poke at him with love.]; only about five minutes away so no problem with at least making this first time point, but encounter first problem, which is can't find my AP for the free parking plus I need it to get in so pay the $14 but turn around after a tour of the parking lot because I did not find an earlier exit; get back to condo and grab the AP, and bonus had forgotten sun screen so got that too; get back to HS parking lot without any further problems, but the birthday gods decide to punish me for not following the plan since it is about 0845 and I got pooped on, yes, bird poop, not a bird in the sky either, so I can't figure it out, but since it was my birthday so the poop landed on my book bag and not on me, but hey I'm in WDW on my birthday so I am still the happiest guy on earth.
Going to leave the Frenetic Zone and summarize that I left my ride plan and customized map. The end result of being "late" and not knowing what or where I was going I only managed Toy Story, the Tower and Aerosmith (hey, its my party and I'll call them what I want to LOL) plus Star Tours for rides and no shows. No real stories to tell here, I didn't experience any of the "embarassment" I was worried I would have going solo on rides, so that angst will be gone for the rest of the week. Oh wait, pet peeve alert. What is it with teens who have to pretend to be scared on these rides? I have a bad feeling that I am going to hear "We're all going to die!" and ear piercing shrieks quite a few times this week. Oh well.
Anyway, I had a tee time booked for noon at Oak Trail so left at 1100, lucked out with the tram and got to Shades of Green in plenty of time. Made a poor decision not to take the Tee it Up for 18 deal and kept the walking course time. Why? Even if I only played 9 holes at LBV I would have a cart. All for $40. Even though OT was free I got a blister on my foot by the second hole and let us just say that even though I didn't have a Curt Schilling bloody sock, I had to change from my golf shoes to my walking sandals. Kind of lame wearing socks with sandals, but hey, no one would know right? LOL.
We now go to the "You should know better." "Or things your mother told you that you never listened to until now." Zone for my birthday round. And on that note, "Happy Mother's Day" to all moms, yayas, babas, mommies, and other cute names you are called.
Hole 1:"Wear new shoes several times before you actually need to use them." Punished on that one.
Hole 3: "Don't tee off with your mouth full." A couple waved at me to play through. I was chewing on beef jerky at the time. After my duffed tee shot they must have wondered if they had made a poor choice. And when they watched me limp up and past them, and even when I explained about my blister they must have known they had made a bad choice. LOL. They still let me go through though.
Hole 5 and 6:. "Grip it and rip it. Not!" Hey, it was my birthday. I had to use my driver didn't I? Three lost balls. Oh well. At least it was my birthday. LOL.
Hole 5 and 6: "What sound does a falling tree make when no one is around to hear it? I was going to look for my first lost ball, but as I approached the edge of the bushes and trees I heard what I could swear were slithering sounds. Snakes? Does Florida have snakes? I know there are small lizards (ghekos?) and gators, but snakes? Let us just say, that I did not search for any balls today.
Hole 7: "Just because your paranoid, it doesn't mean someone's not out to get you." So I am walking to the green. I hit a 7 iron 145 yards to the green and am about 10 yards from the pin (there you go BIL, that is my one and only golf geek report, now on with my story). I hear branches or twigs (but could they be that loud?) breaking behind me. I turn around and about 100 yards behind me I see a doe come out of the trees. Really? I thought she was a snake? Anyway, tried to get a picture and hope it turned out because I have a feeling I will need it as proof. After all, I am a story teller. LOL.
Hole 9: "If you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin'." Really wanted a par on this hole because it would have been a perfect way to end this birthday round. Alas, it wasn't meant to be because I had to use a foot wedge to get out of a bad lie and no pun intended, but a lie no matter how little is still cheating, so no par for me.
Wow, this is taking longer than I thought to write, so I will end this initial post here. I don't know who is going to join me on this thread, but here are some teasers about the rest of my birthday stories: The Boardwalk Resort is not the same as The Yacht Club; Chocolate liqueur shots with liqueur infused strawberries for dessert; and Birthday and Mother's Day Illuminations Cruise, with triple chocolate cake.
Cheers!
Roehl
So if you choose to join me on this tale of wonder I promise to add a "proper" PTR within a couple of days, but for now I am only going to give the skeleton of details on how this now 50 year old male was sent on this journey.
Setting: Cold day in December 2012, like -15 Celsius cold; Calgary, AB; several families discussing vacation plans; hey, Roehl's 50th is on Mother's Day let's take mom and make it a big party at WDW; vacation is planned with 12 of us going; a knee operation, lay off of one sister, denial of vacation time due to "operational" requirements for another, both sons getting summer intern jobs = Roehl being the only one who can go; and so this old dog decided to go to WDW from May 11 - 18, 2013.
How do I get to share my birthday trip with my family? Hey, we'll teach dad how to actually use his tablet (Playbook, yes, I am that old school and have not succumbed to the Apple dynasty). This blog (can I call this thread a blog?) is being written through the miracle of Bluetooth using a Logitech keyboard and a Microsoft wedge mouse (sorry for the "product placement" ads, but I believe in giving credit where credit is due).
How do we make sure dad survives traveling on his own? Unfortunately, I am detail challenged. Let us just say that my DS20 who is studying to be a forensic scientist and DS18 going to business school (but eventually wants to be a chef, yes this tidbit does relate to the sotry) were so worried, they came up with several lists (more than several because there is one for each day, LOL) and even a grocery shopping list (staying off site with a full kitchen and grills) and some recipes (for my birthday breakfast).
The title of this story should really be "How the Old Dog Learned New Tricks" but I thought "The Color of Rain Filled Air" is catchier and does have special meaning to me and had a big part of making the decision to go solo. (I promise to include that in the "PTR"). In addition, I just realized that there are several back stories that will need to be in that PTR, so
So before I bore you any further, let me start with Day 2 of our story (which means I will also have to add Day 1 after the PTR, LOL, sorry about that).
My 50th birthday started off being rudely awakened at 03:48 by a strange sound. I will change that to I was frightened by a strange sound. With my heart racing I got out of bed (did not turn the light on because, well lets just say I wasn't exactly fully awake). Inched my way to the door, but there was no other sounds. Went back to bed and about half an hour or so, the same sound happened again. This time I tracked the sound to the kitchen. Ok, I wasn't really sleeping because I was still spooked. (For me, I am learning that traveling solo has really changed my "safe" zone). It took me five minutes or so before I figured out what it must have been. The best description I can give of the sound is of several small objects being dropped from a small height and landing on some plastic. Can you figure it out? Yes, I had turned the ice maker on before I went to bed. Yup, I was scared by the ice maker. Happy birthday, old dog. LOL.
[Side note: I don't have a proper spell check so my apologies for any spelling mistakes.]
Since I was up, I started the prep work for my birthday breakfast, foodie son couldn't be there to cook for me, so he had the menu and recipe prepared for me. Here is what it what he had planned for me. [Side note: In the PTR that isn't written yet is when I used to tell bedroom stories to my boys I used a lot of quotes, and often misquotes. When they got older they had a great time trying to figure out from what "source" and what was the correct line. Hope you enjoy the game too.]. Sorry bud, but when I went to Publix (remember I do product placements too) I left the grocery list in the car and as you know "no battle plan survives contact with your dad" so this is an alert that your menu or I should say your recipe wasn't followed to the letter/ingredients.
Back to the menu: Sumatra dark roast blend (brought from home) for coffee; Tropicana orange juice, more pulp since I finally got to choose my own rather than settle for no pulp because everyone is different; havarti (sp?) herb cheese; sundried tomato, black olive and back bacon omelette; and sour dough toast. I was able to follow almost all of the menu. However, for the omelette I had to substitute several ingredients. Ok, all of the ingredients except for the eggs. And even there I cheated and added some cream to the mix (foodie son is of the school that does not add milk/cream to make "fluffy" eggs). What did I actually use? Fresh diced tomatoes, sliced mushrooms and ham. I did use the ground basil and pinch of garlic powder mix though. LOL. Anyway, enjoyed this breakfast on the balcony with the love of my boys (as promised I called my boys even though it was only 0500 or so in Calgary).
I now go into the Frenetic Zone of my morning. Please feel free to laugh at and with, commiserate and question my sanity, be amazed or bewildered, or decide this guy's writing style is just too weird. [Side note: I will try to learn how to get pictures posted here, because really, some of my tale is too "good" to be true.]
According to the plan, I had to be at Hollywood Studios by 0815 so as to be there at "rope drop". What is the Frenetic Zone? Welcome to mine: got on the road at 0800 or so [Side note: I don't wear a watch, much to the consternation of my scientist boy, so all times provided are approximate but written with a "preciseness" that is intended to poke at him with love.]; only about five minutes away so no problem with at least making this first time point, but encounter first problem, which is can't find my AP for the free parking plus I need it to get in so pay the $14 but turn around after a tour of the parking lot because I did not find an earlier exit; get back to condo and grab the AP, and bonus had forgotten sun screen so got that too; get back to HS parking lot without any further problems, but the birthday gods decide to punish me for not following the plan since it is about 0845 and I got pooped on, yes, bird poop, not a bird in the sky either, so I can't figure it out, but since it was my birthday so the poop landed on my book bag and not on me, but hey I'm in WDW on my birthday so I am still the happiest guy on earth.
Going to leave the Frenetic Zone and summarize that I left my ride plan and customized map. The end result of being "late" and not knowing what or where I was going I only managed Toy Story, the Tower and Aerosmith (hey, its my party and I'll call them what I want to LOL) plus Star Tours for rides and no shows. No real stories to tell here, I didn't experience any of the "embarassment" I was worried I would have going solo on rides, so that angst will be gone for the rest of the week. Oh wait, pet peeve alert. What is it with teens who have to pretend to be scared on these rides? I have a bad feeling that I am going to hear "We're all going to die!" and ear piercing shrieks quite a few times this week. Oh well.
Anyway, I had a tee time booked for noon at Oak Trail so left at 1100, lucked out with the tram and got to Shades of Green in plenty of time. Made a poor decision not to take the Tee it Up for 18 deal and kept the walking course time. Why? Even if I only played 9 holes at LBV I would have a cart. All for $40. Even though OT was free I got a blister on my foot by the second hole and let us just say that even though I didn't have a Curt Schilling bloody sock, I had to change from my golf shoes to my walking sandals. Kind of lame wearing socks with sandals, but hey, no one would know right? LOL.
We now go to the "You should know better." "Or things your mother told you that you never listened to until now." Zone for my birthday round. And on that note, "Happy Mother's Day" to all moms, yayas, babas, mommies, and other cute names you are called.
Hole 1:"Wear new shoes several times before you actually need to use them." Punished on that one.
Hole 3: "Don't tee off with your mouth full." A couple waved at me to play through. I was chewing on beef jerky at the time. After my duffed tee shot they must have wondered if they had made a poor choice. And when they watched me limp up and past them, and even when I explained about my blister they must have known they had made a bad choice. LOL. They still let me go through though.
Hole 5 and 6:. "Grip it and rip it. Not!" Hey, it was my birthday. I had to use my driver didn't I? Three lost balls. Oh well. At least it was my birthday. LOL.
Hole 5 and 6: "What sound does a falling tree make when no one is around to hear it? I was going to look for my first lost ball, but as I approached the edge of the bushes and trees I heard what I could swear were slithering sounds. Snakes? Does Florida have snakes? I know there are small lizards (ghekos?) and gators, but snakes? Let us just say, that I did not search for any balls today.
Hole 7: "Just because your paranoid, it doesn't mean someone's not out to get you." So I am walking to the green. I hit a 7 iron 145 yards to the green and am about 10 yards from the pin (there you go BIL, that is my one and only golf geek report, now on with my story). I hear branches or twigs (but could they be that loud?) breaking behind me. I turn around and about 100 yards behind me I see a doe come out of the trees. Really? I thought she was a snake? Anyway, tried to get a picture and hope it turned out because I have a feeling I will need it as proof. After all, I am a story teller. LOL.
Hole 9: "If you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin'." Really wanted a par on this hole because it would have been a perfect way to end this birthday round. Alas, it wasn't meant to be because I had to use a foot wedge to get out of a bad lie and no pun intended, but a lie no matter how little is still cheating, so no par for me.
Wow, this is taking longer than I thought to write, so I will end this initial post here. I don't know who is going to join me on this thread, but here are some teasers about the rest of my birthday stories: The Boardwalk Resort is not the same as The Yacht Club; Chocolate liqueur shots with liqueur infused strawberries for dessert; and Birthday and Mother's Day Illuminations Cruise, with triple chocolate cake.
Cheers!
Roehl
and "we" decided to use the calendar and plans on 
. We decided to "test" WDW's wifi and my limited tech skills. The tools for this mission are my Blackberry Playbook and phone synched with Bluetooth keyboard and MS wedge mouse. I am going to have to say that the theme music for Mission Impossible should be playing right now. (And on a side note, a couple of days into this adventure, I decided to use the DIS board to have my family get some more details other than emails and text, which at the same time will also my way of saying thanks for all of the help from DIS and paying it forward to others planning WDW trips because I think some of my experiences will help them as well.
