Well, Blow Me Down--There Be Squalls Ahead, Lubbers! Hi From Yacht Club!

[The Great Baboo]

Woo hoo!

My buddy Sam the GM just left a voice mail message that the Galley is open for dinner tonight, and the lobby lounges will be open!

Starting to get a bit of cabin fever, so not a minute too soon!

I think the worst is over. Good luck to all of those still in the path.

I understand Frances will pick up steam over the Gulf of Mexico before it makes landfall again in the Florida panhandle.

 

[MrsM]

Great! Hope you're all still sane and through the worst of it.

 

[poohj80]

According to our latest news report, WDW has received 24" of rain since midnight.

 

[go to mco]

You have an exceptional attitude. Even in a hurricane stuck in your room, cheating your kids at Disney Monopoly-you approach all this with a funny, optomistic, and casual way I envy and admire you! no way your family won't have fun this trip. And now you get to tell the "I lived through Frances stories". Bravo! And tell your wife to keep on shopping. It's keeping her spirits up, the brave soldier.


Smiling and thinking warm , dry thoughts for all of you.

Joanne

 

[ceejay13]

Thanks for keeping us updated. It's great to get that immediate report.

 

[Muushka]

We have enjoyed reading all of your posts. Very upbeat and optomistic. Thank you for sharing this part of your life with all of us. By the way, where does your name come from (I'm thinking "Peanuts")? Hang in there!

 

[MJTinNH]

Glad you make it through safe & sound. (Except for the wallet! LOL)

Hope you are able to enjoy the rest of your trip!

 

[mbw12]

Thanks for your updates, Baboo....please know that we are all thinking of you. wishing EVERYONE in Florida (vacationers, transplants, and natives) a safe night.

Bobbi

 

[dvc_bwv]

Please let us know any damages once you get out and about Baboo. Thanks for all your posts to keep us updated through all this.

 

[erikthewise]

Thanks for the personalized on-the-spot updates. Apparently it's not as bad as we all feared.

BTW "Sweet Baboo" is from Peanuts -- Sally's pet name for Linus. I guess the Great Baboo isn't telling....

 

[emememem]

Thanks for the updates...been watching the weather channel all day. Hope the parks open tomorrow.

 

[The Great Baboo]

OK, first things first. The name is, in fact, a derivation of the "Sweet Baboo" moniker for Linus from "Peanuts." My wife started using it very early on when we met. Quickly, however, she would switch to "The Great Baboo" when she wanted to poke a little sarcastic fun at me. Gradually, my full title became "The All-Knowing, All-Powerful Master of the Universe-----The Great Baboo." My friends just call me "Baboo" for short.

Oddly enough, the wind and rain at present (10:30 PM) is worse than at any point over the past 24 hours.

The lobby tonight was a beehive of activity! Live band-----"Andy Mation," the balloon dude-----"Pirates of the Caribbean" on a wide-screen projector TV, and tons of cast members making sure nobody got bored.

The Galley was open with a great buffet featuring sliced steak, roast chicken, & ribs, along with the usual kid stuff. After dinner, we retired to the "Crew's Cup" for a game of Disney Theme Park Monopoly.

Sam the GM was still hovering around like a mother hen, putting down towels near the doors for leaks and adjusting sandbags. If you ever see a guy like that at work in a position of authority, you know that any of his subordinates would be ashamed of being a slacker!

At dinner, we learned that MK, Epcot , and Typhoon Lagoon (of all things!) would be open at 10 AM on Monday. We wondered why MGM was not opening, and feared that some of the big palm trees didn't make it. I thought it might have something to do with allocation of available cast members, but then Linda (Mrs. Baboo) pointed out that it must take many more people to staff Epcot than MGM. Quien sabe?

Orlando MCO is to be open at noon Monday, and our flight is at 4 PM, so we may get out of Dodge by tomorrow. We are hoping we can sneak in a quick trip to the Magic Kingdom before we head to the airport.

No matter what, it was a grand adventure that we will always remember. Situations like this can present a tremendous opportunity to teach some of the the most important lessons your children must learn, like dealing with adversity, helping others in need, and the inestimable value of showing courage when things get tough. Unfortunately, they leave that stuff out of the "Parent Manual" nowadays.

Anyways........we're getting the hell out of here before Hurricane Ivan arrives. But we will leave behind all the fresh fruit we accumulated for the newbies. Other than that, you're on your own!

Thanks for all the good wishes!

Jim, Linda, Shannon & Christian

 

[dvc_bwv]

Thanks, Baboo, for all your updates. Have a safe trip home and I'm glad you and yours faired well during the storm. DH and I are heading down to BWV on 9/16 and I sure hope Ivan decides to go elsewhere!!!

 

[SRUAlmn]

At dinner, we learned that MK, Epcot , and Typhoon Lagoon (of all things!) would be open at 10 AM on Monday. We wondered why MGM was not opening, and feared that some of the big palm trees didn't make it. I thought it might have something to do with allocation of available cast members, but then Linda (Mrs. Baboo) pointed out that it must take many more people to staff Epcot than MGM. Quien sabe?

Just got this from the Disney site:

'Walt Disney World® Resort
Updated Information for September 5, 2004, 6:00pm
Walt Disney World Resort safely withstood Hurricane Frances
and maintained power throughout the storm. After a visual
inspection of the entire property, we discovered only minor
roof damage to a single backstage structure and minimal
horticultural damage.

We will open the following theme parks and other locations
on Monday, September 6:

Magic Kingdom: 9 a.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Epcot: 9 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Typhoon Lagoon: 10 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Downtown Disney: 10 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex: Open for Events
Disney's Animal Kingdom: 9 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Disney-MGM Studios: 9 a.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Blizzard Beach: 10 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Pleasure Island: Closed

Walt Disney World Resort will return to normal operations
in all areas Tuesday, September 7. '

Looks like MGM and AK will open too as well as a few others. Glad everything and everyone is ok

 

[hkp]

Thanks for all the nice updates from me too. Your family was fortunate to have someone with such a positive outlook at a difficult time.

We have a family gettogether (4 adults and 3 kids from California and Denmark) scheduled at BWV for September 12-19. I was planning to become a DVC member if this trip is anywhere near as incredibly successful as the one we had (also at BWV) this past Easter. Hopefully, Ivan won't blow away all the magic.

Originally posted by dvc_bwv
Thanks, Baboo, for all your updates. Have a safe trip home and I'm glad you and yours faired well during the storm. DH and I are heading down to BWV on 9/16 and I sure hope Ivan decides to go elsewhere!!!

 

[WithDisneySpirit]

Hi there, Baboo and fam! Thanks ever so much for being our on-site eyes and ears throughout the storm! I loved the humor to boot. Hope your MK trip is fun and the trip home is safe and easy

Lisa

 

[kathleena]

Thanks for all the updates, it's been good to read them.

We call our Whitney, our black Kitty, "Baby Baboo". And I usually sing to her with the "cruella de vil" music.

"Baby Baboo, Baby Baboo, she's my little baby, no other one will do. My baby, my baby, Baboo!"

(OK, so, people with cats get weird.)

But, I must admit, Baboo actually started as being short for "Babushka".

And she's named Whitney because she cries so loud and the Whitney Houston song "I-yai-I will allll-way-ays luh-ove you-ooo" was out when we got her................

 

[The Great Baboo]

Safe and sound at home, folks!

As I reported earlier, the wind and rain seemed worse Sunday night than at any other time. Sure enough, when I looked out over the balcony Monday morning, there were hundreds of pieces of shingles that had been torn off the roof littering the lawns and walkway. There were also pieces of wood that looked like broken moulding on the ground. The trees and other foliage really took a beating, and the lifeguards were combing Stormalong Bay to clear it from extensive debris. There had been so much rain that the pools were practically overflowing.

No other damage to the buildings per se, except to note that in several places water seemed to be working its way into the air conditioning ducts, since water was pooling below areas where some of the ceiling vents were located.

No trip to MK-----too much rain and wind in the morning. The park (and Epcot) was supposedly open, although I did not see the Epcot boats running. I guess if you were brave enough to walk over, your reward would be to walk right on Test Track and Mission: Space.

Right as we were getting to leave for the airport, the lobby TV was giving reports of a tornado watch in and around WDW and the airport. A young cast member who appeared to be a supervisor was not-so-gently insisting that the channel be changed to show "cartoons for the kids"----with nary a kid in sight of the TV or in the lobby. She asked the adults if they were guests at the resort, and told them they could watch the news in their rooms. We told her to buzz off, since we had already checked out, and it might be good to know if the airport was going to be closed, or if our vehicle was going to be scooped up by a tornado and hurled into Shamu's tank at SeaWorld on the way. Another more sensible cast member came along and suggested that guests outside the building should be advised to come inside in light of the reports, instead of trying to keep the information quiet.

We waited as long as we could, then piled into a van. As you could imagine, the airport was packed with people trying to get on flights who had been scheduled to leave as far back as Friday, so it was pretty crazy.

Our airline, Delta Song, was placing people on a stand-by list in order of when the checked in at the gates with their old tickets. We had changed our tickets as or Wednesday, so we already had assigned seats on the plane. Our flight was scheduled for 4 PM, and people who had checked in at 11:00 AM were still waiting to get on a flight! The packed flight took off about 25 minutes late, and it was a very bumpy ride all the way up, but we actually touched down right on time at JFK.

Now we are gearing up for our December trip, right after Christmas!

Good luck to all going down now!

 

[poohj80]

Glad you are home safe and sound Baboo! Thanks again for your on the spot reports!

PJ

 

[Muushka]

We are glad that you are home and safe!

Baboo, I officially nominate as our

DVC-ON-THE-SPOT-REPORTER

Does anyone second that motion????