Left overs

Our last dinner in Florida was a Buffett necessitated by the need to clean out the refrigerator.

A huge concern is with buying too much food that then gets thrown away when leaving. But this year we did pretty good! Our buffet includes: Pancakes, hotdogs, a bag of French fries, french bread pizza, salad, a pot of chicken flavored rice, fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, ice cream sandwiches, and toast.


Aside from some bologna, that takes care of the groceries we bought that can't be take home with us.

Even though this is our last night in Florida, I still have many more untold stories. And also, we have our December trip to plan. So... Stay tuned!

Downtown Disney: Paradiso 37

The dream of living at Disney includes eating at Downtown Disney all the time. So we decided to give it a try at Paradiso 37.


The restaurant is huge with two level seating and outdoor seating that overlooks the lake. We were sat next to the open kitchen, which I always find to be bad form. They were assembling orders two foot from my face and I was continually smelling food I was not eating. I don't find the trials and tribulations of the wait staff nor their banter entertaining. On top of that we spent most of our meal fighting a fly for our food.


The restaurant has an entertainer who walks around outside speaking Spanish and occasionally singing a song. I couldn't see him, so, I can't really speak to how entertaining he was. What I was listening to was annoying.


We ordered margaritas. Sometimes margaritas have an excellent flavor depending upon the quality of taquilla that is used. We weren't offered a top shelf taquilla and the drinks were... Average.


First were the Nachos. We ordered without pico, peppers, or lettuce ad it arrived rather bare with queso drizzled over baked chips. We dug in deep and found the Chili near the bottom.


I ordered the steak burrito which came with BBQ beans and rice. The beans were soupy but had a good smoked BBQ taste. We were expecting refried beans and the BBQ flavor didn't really match the rest of the plate but I enjoyed it. Linda didn't like it and didnt eat them.


The rice was stiff, a little undercooked, and not full of flavor. Linda was unimpressed with the rice and didn't eat it.

The burrito came with a red sauce that tasted like squash. Which is good if you like cooked squash. Linda said that if she had ordered the burrito she wouldn't have been able to eat it. The burrito has sautéed vegetables and was on the salty side but otherwise good.

Linda had the Enchilada with red sauce. It was good. The corn tortea didn't have much corn flavor, and was difficult to cut without using a knife, but was overall good.


We found the portions sized to have been appropriate for lunch, not dinner. Even with the nachos, we left hungry and decided to find desert elsewhere. Our meal (with tip) was over $80. I didn't see the value. Scale from 1 to 10? I'll give it a 6. Linda gave it a 5.

Colorado House Of Beef

To get a feel for what it might be like to live at Disney, we like to eat at local restaurants. One such place we decided to try was the Colorado House of Beef.

This place sits just outside Disney property on Rt 192. In fact, the parking lot backs to the casting offices.


Their sign advertises a fajita bar, steaks, ribs, etc However, when we arrived and sat down and tried to order a hamburger.. A simple hamburger that a house of beef should have - they couldn't make one. So, we left. Their loss.

Love On The Road

Love is a wonderful thing. Starring into each other's eyes. Flirting. Telling each other wild stories. The intense attraction. Trying to impress the other. While I am all for love and everything, I just don't think it should happen at 70mph. Between two people. In different cars. 

To understand what living at Disney is like means understanding Floridian drivers. We were returning from Melbourne Florida when we were passed by two cars that were playing tag. One was a small red car with two girls. The other was a pickup hauling two skidoo on a trailer with no trailer lights. 

At incredibly fast speeds, they would get their cars along side each other and have terrific romantic conversations. They had to keep slamming on the beaks to stay aligned, but amazingly (unlike Romeo and Juliet) they were successful at not killing each other. 

At one point, the red car pulled ahead, the passenger rolled down her window, and she climbed out, sitting on the window edge topless. Which was completely unattractive because at 70mph her hair was blowing everywhere. How she didn't fall out of the car is a complete mystery, but if she had fallen out, the romance would have ended as the pickup would have drove over her. And you imagine the accident scene investigators: "Where do you suppose her shirt is?" "Maybe it fell off when she hit the pavement." And can you imagine the discussion with her parents? "Apparently, ma'am, she was a hanging out the car window without the benefit of clothing." Her parents would spend the rest of their lives wondering "would she have survived the fall if she had been wearing a shirt?" 

As the car and pickup played tag on the road, they would use the median of the left turn lanes, doing daredevil moves, but always returning to each other's side so they could talk or share more nude views of themselves without needing to hang out the window. 

This dance of love continued for several miles until a tractor trailer came up. They were so into each other that they didn't see the semi approaching very quickly. And the semi didn't know the pickup truck's trailer lights were disconnected, thus, no brake lights. 

The pickup was tailgating the car in the passing lane. The girls decided to take one of the left turn lanes that cut through the median with the hope the boys would follow. However, at that speed it is difficult to make a sudden change in course. And with the girls occupying the turn lane, there was no place for the guys to go without colliding into the girls. Their rapid deceleration wasn't appreciated by the tractor trailer. He locked his breaks and laid on the horn. A collision was inevitable. This romance was about to end in a foolish ball of flame. 

The guys had to make a quick decision: collide with the girls an har some tragic love ending of their lives, or get creamed by the Semi that was sliding into them. Their decision was miraculous. They pulled left into the median just past the girls, just barely missing their car. The pickup came to a bumpy rest in the grassy median. By doing so, that allowed the tractor trailer to slide by, inches away from demolishing their pickup truck. 

Ah, young love. At 70mph. It is almost Shakespearean in a way. Some twisted disturbing horrifying way. I am all for love, but lets keep it off the highway, OK?

Too Much Of A Good Thing

Is it possible to have too much of a good thing? People have often asked: if you lived at Disney, wouldn't you eventually get bored with it? Gasp! I can't imagine such blasphemy! But if it were possible to get bored with Disney, wouldn't that be an incredible life achievement? To go so many times that you have seen it all and done it all and have no interest in returning. I suppose if that were to happen, I would turn my attention to Universal, Seaworld, Legoland, Jesus Land, Gator land, or any of the hundred other options available throughout Florida! And wouldn't that be an incredible life achievement? To be bored with all the things that Florida has to offer? Sigh... If I could only live so long...

I suppose it could be possible to get bored with some aspects, if not the entire thing. For example, we have spent probably fifteen hours at Disney Quest this month. Disney Quest is a large five story arcade that sits in DownTown Disney. For the admission price you can play all the video games you want at no additional cost! And while there are a couple of things that, after 15 hours, still interest me at Disney Quest, I am kinda... over it. If we didn't set foot back into Disney Quest until our next trip at Christmas, I would be OK with that.

Buckets of hand sanitizer

Ground Zero will be Disney World. I am not talking about Ground Zero of a terrorist attack. I am talking about the Zombie Apocalypse. Or some major pandemic epidemic's ground zero will be the giant petri dish we lovingly call Disney World. 

People come from all around the world to Disney World and they cough and they sneeze and they puke and they do vial things in the restrooms.

I saw one well dressed middle aged woman pick her nose, look at it, then wipe it on the back of a chair. One gentleman passed by us as we were eating at a table and sneezed on our table. We have seen so many people puke at Disney that we have learned to avoid wet spots on the sidewalk - especially if the wet spot includes corn. One year we saw a lady, while giving a child a piggy back ride, bend down mid-stride, puke on the sidewalk, and keep going without missing a step. 

We have often found puke floating in the resort pools. One year, we were crammed in a line waiting for Fantasia and a teenager bent over and puked on everyone's shoes. We sanitize the bottoms of our shoes everyday when we get home. Most people aren't as careful as we and they just trample through the puke. It is on the bottom of their shoe and you can see the puke track: step, step, step. Spreading it through the park.

I had one guest walk up and ask me a question and he smelled like a combination of crap and beer. I had to fight my gag reflex, hold back my watering eyes, and politely try to answer his question.

I saw a cast member sneeze into his hands and then say "I shouldn't have done that, I don't have and hand sanitizer" to which the coworker said "You are supposed to sneeze into your elbow." Immediately the cast member sneezed again, attempting to use his elbow, but completely missed. And why is sneezing in you elbow better? How many of us sanitize our elbows, or, go wash our elbows at the restroom sink? 

Think about all the things we touch at the parks: railings, door handles, elevator buttons, video games, and more! And we spend days in the park, shoulder to shoulder and crammed together with sick people from around the world! 

We use buckets of hand sanitizer. We Lysol everything we take to the park. We change our clothes as soon as we return. Germaphobic? Perhaps. But when everyone else gets the zombie plague, we plan to be among the survivors.

Embarrassment

Have you ever been in the lobby of a very expensive resort hotel and seen someone picking their nose? If yes, you might have seen me today. 

The Port Orleans Riverside is one of our favorite resorts. Even though we are staying off property, we have returned to Orleans three times this month for the food, entertainment, boat rides, and horse drawn carriages. 

Port Orleans is not an inexpensive resort. Nevertheless it is rated as a medium level resort on the Disney property. The resort's lobby is refined and decorated to give the impression that you could be checking into an expensive New Orleans hotel. 

This wouldn't be Disney if there weren't a line. And at Port Orleans there are two lines: checking-in and Concierge. 

I was in line for the concierge to ask a question. I noticed a tiny insect flying around my face, so, I swatted at it. And in doing so, the insect flew up into my nose! 

Now what was I supposed to do? This bug was buzzing around in my nostril! I want to drive a finger into my nose and get him out, but I was standing in the middle if the lobby surrounded by dozens of families and their kids. Clearly, picking my nose was not acceptable. There is no way to discretely pick one's nose. And if I left the line I would have lost the position I had been holding for fifteen minutes. 

The insect was causing my eyes to water so I rubbed my nose hoping to put the creature out of its misery.

My nose, now we irritated, started to run. I had no tissue. Not even a Disney Food Court napkin. What would be worse in this fine lobby? To pick my nose? Or wipe my runny nose on the back of my hand? And if I picked my nose, what would become of the result? I had to make a decision soon before my nose decided to drip! 

To save my credibility, protect my reputation, and avoid possible embarrassment, I can not tell how this story ended. I will just say that I was placed into this unfortunate circumstance due to a situation beyond my control. I am not pleased nor proud of what I was forced by circumstance to do next.

Davenport Tour

Today we nearly died in a cloud of dust. One moment we were living life on a happy trail, and the next thing we knew we were inches away from meeting Jesus. 

When we stay in Florida we like to visit the area towns because we would like to move to Florida someday. It is difficult to really know much about an area by reading real estate ads. So, we find houses in towns we would be interested in and could afford and we drive through the neighborhoods. We also attend whatever open houses we can find. 

Today's trip was to Davenport which borders the West Gate area. We programmed our GPS and headed out. At first the GPS headed us down a four lane road. As we took more and more turns, the roads became increasingly narrow. We snaked around curves and the road became darker and overgrown. Eventually the road ended and turned into a dirt road named Happy Trail. And then the dirt road narrowed. 

Where was this GPS taking us? We knew Davenport was more rural but this was ridiculous - we were deep in woods on a narrow dirt road. Our impression of Davenport was deteriorating quickly. 

And then it happened. A white pickup truck came speeding around the bend in front of us and on our side of the road! I yanked the van as far to the right as possible. The pickup's driver saw us and yanked the steering wheel to his right. This caused the truck to slide sideways in the sandy dirt of the road, kicking up a huge cloud of dirt. I closed my eyes expecting the truck to nail us square in the front. Instead, he fishtailed past, spraying the van with sand and stone. 

That was our "Welcome to Davenport". 

After our near miss we allowed our heart rates to return to normal and then continued on our way. Eventually the dirt road turned back into solid pavement and we knew we had returned to civilization when we found a Publix grocery store.

We discovered Davenport was basically three things: golf courses, trailer parks, and condos in various stages of construction. There is a mall, some stores, and various neighborhoods, but those three things dominate what we saw. The houses are very similar to the villas in the West Gate area of Kissimmee, except they tend to be 20% cheaper. Is it worth adding 20 minutes to the Disney world commute to save 20%? We drove through neighborhoods around Rt27 for several hours. The area isn't terrible, but we didn't see anything to fall in live with. Grateful that our introduction to the white pickup truck ended well, we turned back to our villa in West Gate.

Beef O Brady's

One thing we like to do is dine off property. It is the most fun to avoid chains and try something local get a better understanding what living at Disney might be like.


Today we ate at Beef O'Brady's in Davenport on rt 27, just 20 minutes from Disney World. We simply take Rt 192 West until it ends, then head south on Rt 27.

O'Brady's is a sports bar restaurant so the place is ringed with TVs. There was no sound from the TVs and no closed caption, so lip reading was essential. The restaurant has a bar, which was always full. Wood finished booths and tables fill the rest of the restaurant. And other than an occasional crying kid, the restaurant was quite. There is also a room with several video games. 


A good rule is to always check the restroom before ordering in a restaurant because you can usually tell everything you need to know from how the bathrooms are maintained. The bathrooms were what you would expect to find in a bar - in terms of layout, function, decor, maintenance, and cleanliness. It wasn't horrible, but did suffer from lack of a really good cleaning. 

We chose our own seat. The bench I sat at still had crumbs from a past customer, so, I used a napkin and brushed them off. The menus awaited us at the table. The pages of my menu were sticky and had some kind of past food product on it. I had to hand sanitize after ordering. 


We ordered Nachoes with chili. They arrived in a basket and I was very concerned about the quality of nachos in such a relaxed serving. But they were awesome. The tomatoes were fresh, chips crispy, and the salsa was the best - a brown salsa with nice flavor and just a little bite. 


I ordered the chicken fajitas. The chicken had a very fresh unseasoned taste to it, which tells me it wasn't cooked with the peppers and onions. It was served with that incredible salsa, which was impractical because the salsa just ran out of the fajita and down my arm. 


Linda ordered the O'Brady Burger, which came provolone cheese and mayonnaise. Linda said it was good but she was full after only half the sand which. She ordered it medium well and it arrived perfectly cooked. 

Napkins are from a dispenser on the table, which is convenient. But the napkins were cheap and we had to use a mound of them. 

The service was good, the food was good, and if ever passing through Davenport again, I would stop back in to Beef O'Brady's.

Summer Concert Series

What happens when you can never see U2 in concert? Go see the 2U tribute band as part of the Summer Concert Series at Epcot! 


They play three shows everyday this week. We caught their first show. Then lightening canceled the second show, so we stayed for the 8:00 show and got a front row seat. Each show is perhaps 30 minutes long. That means you can enjoy the show and then have enough time to head across the walkway to the nearby American Pavilion for dinner, then catch the next show. 


2U is awesome! We schedule an extra trip to Epcot to see them play. I love music from U2 and have only been able to see U2 in concert once fifteen years ago. 2U is a great substitute. 

The following video is 2U from Sunday night: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx969TOSCv0

Nine Dragons

It must be incredible to run a restaurant at Disney World. The restaurant is always packed with a line out the door all year long - what a dream! Or, perhaps, this impression isn't true? 

We were in Epcot last week passing through China near park closing the food smelled incredible. So, we decided to try for an ADR for our next trip to Epcot in a week. 

We got an ADR for Nine Dragons for the exact time we wanted with no problem at all. 

When we arrived at Epcot it started to rain. We arrived an hour early for our ADR to see if we could get in... And they sat us immediately! We looked around the restaurant and it wasn't very full. 


During today's Dis Unplugged Podast it was mentioned that when people dine at Disney they expect the meal to be the greatest meal they have every had or else they are disappointed. There is truth to that. Our Chinese restaurant back home is much better and a third the price. 
 

It is all about setting expectations and appreciating the opportunity to dine at Disney. It has to be good but it doesn't have to be the best you have ever had. Nine Dragons was a nice change of pace and a great experience. Because Nine Dragons has Chinese food you can get anywhere else for a third the price, we probably won't eat at Nine Dragons ever again. But it was a nice experience.

Annual Pass with Water Parks

When we renewed out annual pass this year, we decided to pay the extra to get unlimited watermarks and Disney Quest. The break even point? If you are going to use these features more than two or three times, it is probably worth it. For this trip so far we have used Disney Quest three times and water parks twice, so, we are taking advantage of the pass! 

Disney Quest is great if you have just a few hours after work and want to go do something. The place is at Downtown Disney and closes at 10pm. 

We debated whether or not to visit a beach this year. Florida beaches are incredible and last year we visited Clear Water Beach and have great memories. We decided to go to the Disney Water parks instead. 

Blizzard Beach is only ten minutes from our house. At the beach you have to worry about stinging Jelly Fish and whatever other aquatic life might be swimming around your legs in the murky water. You need to worry about rip tides that could pull you out to sea. The beaches are often dirty and filled with biting insects. Restrooms are usually a mile away and are disgusting. Salt water an cause problems if you accidentally drink it or get it in your eyes. And sea water isn't like pool water that had chlorine to kill off bacteria. 


Even though we love the beach, given these negatives in addition to having the option of the year pass, we decided not to dedicate a beach day this year.

Love Is An Open Door

In March, Sam and Nia of Texas recorded themselves while driving and singing to Frozen's Love is an Open Door. The video went viral and 4 months later, it has had more that 15 million views. In addition, it has kicked off a new trend of singing the song while driving. A search through YouTube will find dozens of similar videos. Some lip synced, some sang. Couples, parents, siblings, friends, and some hilariously funny ones. 


We wanted to add to the craze so we recorded a video while driving from New York to Disney World. Our perfect lip sync was a little distorted when uploaded. Nevertheless, we had a lot of fun making the video and I hope you enjoy it! 

http://youtu.be/qC25il8i1KY

Park Exhaustion

The parks beat us today. Disney won. Defeated. Dejected. Lost. The best planning, preparing, training, and strategy and we got out but kicked. Yesterday we were at Magic Kingdom for ten hours with temperatures in the 90's and humidity that made it feel over 100. we arrived home after 1am. With under six hours sleep, we got up and headed to Ohana for breakfast today, then over to Epcot. 


We were tired. My oldest fell asleep on the monorail ride, but we tried to push on. It was hot, 95 degrees and felt over 100 with the humidity. The sun was relentless and burned with a sting. It was difficult to stay hydrated and with that Ohana breakfast, we felt like slugs. We couldn't stop sweating and were drenched. 

I think our bodies were digesting the giant meal we just ate and this added to our misery. I went through five water bottles by continually refilling it, and all that water had little effect to improve my hydration. 


I was tired. Every time I sat down I didn't want to get back up. It felt like my shoes were covered in cement as each step was painful. The boys had no interest in being active and just wanted to go sit somewhere in air conditioning, or ride the monorail for an hour. 

After four hours at Epcot and only a few things finished, we surrendered and headed home. Defeated. The park beat us. We couldn't keep up. 


We went back to the house and enjoyed the air conditioning and everyone napped for hours.

Ptting Up With Poor Service

I Waited 20 minutes for a hamburger. It was nothing special, just a standard 1/3 pound hamburger, plain, no fries, at Pecos Bills. $7.75 and a twenty minute wait in line. If I went off property, I could have went to the Texas Road House for a 1/2 pound burger with fries for $8.50. The last time we went we had it in 15 minutes, table service. Peco Bills is quick counter service. And it wasn't like we arrived during a dinner rush, it was 8:30pm.

McDonalds has set the standard for quick service. I place my order at the drive thru and by the time I drive around the building, my hot and ready meal is handed to me out the window. And the hamburger doesn't cost nearly $8.

Providing poor service at Disney seems acceptable because attendance doesn't suffer. Disney feels it is acceptable to make people wait through unreasonable delays. For example, when we left the Magic Kingdom it took 45 minutes to get to our car. Some of it was the delays in walking through the crowds, but most of it was due to waiting in line at an transportation system that is under capacity. The transportation system was designed when crowds were half their current levels and there have only been minor improvements since then.

So, rather than make investments in the necessary improvements, it is acceptable for it to take 45 minutes to get to your car. We arrived early at Ohana for our reservation and sat waiting until 45 minutes past our reservation before we were seated. Disney is crowded and overloaded and rather than deal with it appropriately, Disney takes the huge profits at the expense of the customer experience.

Why do we put up with it? Why would Disney change? The line is out the door and with increased park attendance, isn't getting any shorter. Raise the prices, cut the staff, make more money, and the customer suffers!

All right... I need to confess something. When I read Disney blogs and Disboards, it is mostly ponies and rainbows. Everyone is so in love with Disney that is clouds rational judgement. I set out to be different - to write about some good things but mostly write glass-half-full encounters so that my articles stand out from the rest.

While the waiting annoys me and shouldn't be, it honestly isn't so bad as to ruin the Disney experience. For example, we waited 45 minutes for Ohana, but then had one of the greatest Disney experiences ever with a fantastic meal, stellar waiter, and outstanding characters. The great encounter helped us to forget about the wait.


I hope that reading my posts does not discourage anyone from their Disney Dreams but instead, perhaps, open your eyes a little and allow you to see this magical place from a unique perspective.

Does living at Disney mean nonstop castles and princesses?

The assumption is that if you are going to live at Disney, it is going to be nonstop castles and princesses. Our exploration of living at Disney has had several discoveries today.

First, another encounter with swarming ants. This time they are coming through a crack in a window. There are thousands of ants covering the window. We put out an ant trap, but it was ignored. So, another call to the exterminator. Keeping bugs out of the house is a continual battle.


Second, I have been having problems with the house's Internet connection. It randomly restarts all throughout the day. I complained to the management company who promised to have the cable company fix it. Then, in the middle of a meeting the Internet stopped completely! I called the cable company and spent an hour troubleshooting. Then, a knock on the door, and there was the manager with a new Internet modem. Apparently he went across town to pick up a modem at which point the cable company immediately yanked our modem offline. So, real life problems continue even though you live at Disney.

Next, I left a couple of days with nothing to do. And with so many options of how to spend today, we couldn't find anything that interested us! 500 TV channels and nothing is on? 500 Disney options and nothing to do. We settled on dinner at Port Orleans, boat ride to downtown Disney, and then tour downtown Disney.

Next, living at Disney means getting used to people who work at a slower pace. There is a saying in the south: it will get done eventually. Whether checking out at the grocery store or going to the drive thru, everything takes five times longer. We were in a drive thru for twenty minutes to get an order of French fries.

Finally, living at Disney means getting used to crowds. There are crowds at the store, at the restaurants, in the parks, and downtown Disney. I don't just mean a lot of people. I am talking about elbow to elbow, running into each other, no way through, why are you touching me, stop blocking the way, crowds. Downtown Disney is under major construction and it is causing problems with the flow of people.


Castles and princesses aren't the reality of living at Disney.

Celebration Florida

Today we crossed a bridge into the Twilight Zone.

Someday we want to move to Florida. We like to visit area towns to understand what it might be like to live there. I have a coworker that lives in a new housing development in Celebration so after work we decided to check out the town.

In upstate New York you can find houses twice as large for half the price (or even cheaper). Nevertheless it is fun to see all the oddly shaped and squished houses.

We finished our tour and headed into town for dinner. Unfortunately, I took a wrong turn. We crossed over a bridge and through a haze of fog that was too thick to see through. When we emerged, we were in a different universe. The scene was straight out if the early fifties. Houses from the turn of the century. People riding old style bicycles, and neighbors doing yardwork stopped to wave hello, people walking dogs, and couples taking evening strolls. The houses were perfectly maintained and not a blade of grass was out of place. It was a scene straight out of The Truman Show.

We continued down the road, mesmerized by what we were seeing. It was a strong contrast to the new housing development just over the bridge. The scenery was amazing, but I was hungry. "How do we get to the diner?" I asked my navigator.

She pulled out her GPS and studied it for a moment. Then asked "Where are you going?"

To which I replied, "You are the navigator, don't you know?"

"I think we are in trouble, you need to slow down because I can't figure out what is going on." This sounded bad. It was then I noticed that street after street I was passing was one way streets. The one way streets headed off in every possible direction making an incredible maze. "I can't find a way out of here." Linda admitted.

"Can't we just turn back for the bridge?" I asked.

"I can't find the bridge on the map. It is like it doesn't exist anymore."

I slowed the car to a crawl so Linda could figure out where we were in relation to where we needed to go. We crept past perfectly manicured house after house. The one way streets were a necessity because the developer wanted to maximize the valuable land so he built narrow roads that dodged around everywhere. Occasionally we would find a wide two-way road that would unexpectedly shrink to a one-way road.

I was tempted to pull over and ask one of the peculiar smiling and waving neighbors for help, but I noticed they seemed a little too happy. And acted a little too consistent. Did we stumble upon pod people? If I pulled over, would mindless children poor out of the houses and start climbing on our cars in attempt to eat our brains? "We need to find a way out of here!" This was crazy, I mean, how can the fire department respond to anything? The house would be burnt to the ground by the time the fire department made it through the maze.

"I think I found it," Linda said. "There is only one way out of here. You need to take a right at this next intersection." I complied and turned right. Linda became very excited. "Wait! What just happened? You needed to take a left, not a right!" She had read the map wrong.

This was bad news because I had just turned deeper into the maze. And the road shrunk in on us forming a one way path with no way back! I was concerned the evening was slipping away and soon it would be dark. Fifteen minutes later, navigating the one way streets and nonstop stop signs, we made it back to the bridge and found our escape! We almost become permanent residents of celebration, doomed to a hell of driving through never ending one way streets.


We did make it downtown for dinner. And concluded Celebration just wasn't our kind of town.

Summer Rain in Florida

I am beginning to understand what Noah felt like. For Noah it rained for 40 days. For me, it has rained 15 of the past 16 days that I have been in Florida. Twenty-five more days of rain and we can write another chapter for the bible.

I live in Upstate New York where the weather is crappy 8 months out of the year causing us to hibernate indoors like some burring animals. We cover our windows and bundle up under heavy blankets and sleep a lot. While in hibernation we dream of going to a Florida and the sunshine. Laying in the sun, eating oranges, and drinking margaritas. It is the life that the great sage Jimmy Buffet promised.

Most of the Florida day has warm blue skies. But as the humidity rises in the afternoon the clouds and storms move in. The rain is usually patient and waits for us to head to the parks, and then greets us with a down pour. Our park visits have been mostly dark skies, thunder, and soaking rains.

Our ponchos are so well used that we've had to replace one already. The ponchos are not made for someone my size and looks more like I am wearing a ridiculously long shirt than a poncho. It doesn't little to protect the bottom half of my body.


We have become expert at slipping our ponchos on when we step outside. And slipping them off when we step inside, shake them dry, and quickly fold. Others are not as expert as we. We were eating at a quick service when a lady remove her poncho and shook is dry, and by doing so drenched us and our meals with shower of water. "Hay! Hay! Hay!" was answered with "Oh, sorry". We purposefully attempted to stay dry and ended wet anyways.

When it rains it pours and the water puddles up. People don't care - they charge right through the deep puddles thus kicking water on everyone else. One mother's little angle was jumping in every puddle sending a spray of dirty mud into the crowd. Our shoes fill with water. Attractions shutdown when it thunders. Water parks close. Most of animal kingdom becomes useless. Rides like Test Track are unavailable. And monorails stop working. Yesterday, a lightening strike hit the monorail system causing hundreds of passengers to be stranded twenty feet in the air in a baking oven until the fire department could rescue them.


We get thunderstorms in New York. Just not every single day!

We arrived at Epcot and headed to our first fast pass: test tack. The building was in sight just steps away when a bolt of lightening dropped from the sky and destroyed our plans. Test track closed. As we stood there is disbelief with the cast member blocking our path forward, they sky opened and an ocean of rain fell on our misery.

God has a funny sense of humor. Perhaps we was paying us back for missing the water park yesterday by turning Epcot into his own water park. By the time we grabbed for the ponchos we were already soaked - what was the point?

As ridiculous as I looked, I put mine on and we continued with our Epcot adventure - dodging rain drops by jumping into as many little shops and bakeries as we could.

I could smell the delicious goodness of the Germany bakery from far away and let my nose guide me to it. They were taking the caramel and cream candy known as Werthers and melting it overtop popcorn, brownies, apples, and every imaginable sweet. The temptation was too great so I bought a bag of Werthers. It was Werthers for the weather. As I ate one, the world suddenly became a brighter place. The clouds parted. The sun came out. And through the Magic of Disney, a perfect double rainbow appeared over my head!


Maybe all this rain isn't so bad after all.

Alien Abduction

We were abducted by aliens today. I know that doesn't sound rational. It doesn't sound plausible. I am not sure I believe it myself. My only guess is that little grey aliens are entertained by my family circus and decided it worthy of further investigation. I only hope the aliens share their findings with me because half the time I don't understand what is going on either. For example, while waiting for the tram at Hollywood studios last night, a gentleman said to me "Excuse me sir, does this tram go to The Film parking lot?" To which I replied "No sir, this is the villains tram." (Anyone who isn't a die hard Disney fan is now saying "Hugh?" While the rest if the readers are laughing at my blunder.)

Most of the time, I don't even know what day of the week it is. I call this phenomenon the Disney Zone (instead of the twilight zone) because Disney magic has a way of making one forget about the real world: is today Wednesday? Did I make my car payment? Do I care? Where are the turkey legs stands?

It is with this surrounding that I conclude a celestial encounter with the Martian. I am not sure how he snatched me from my vacation villa but I conclude it must have happened due to the missing time. Four hours of missing time to be exact that none of us can account for.

Let me recount the day so you can see the evidence. I slept in, posted to The Disboards, and ate breakfast. At 10:30 the temperature was 97 and felt like 102 so I decided it was perfect weather for a 3.5 mile run. It was so hot and muggy that at one point toward the end I had to stop running or else I would have vomited in someone's front yard. Which would have been OK. But I didn't have any doggy clean up bags.

When it comes to getting ready for the parks, I have instilled military-like discipline into my family. I don't know which military - some comical, backwood military that rides horses backward and shoots themselves I the foot. Because when I returned home I found the biggest group of lazy individuals lounging about playing video games, with nothing done at all. I understand this entire vacation thing and wanting a lazy Sunday, but we had places to go and things to do!

I threw together lunch and made sure the bags were packed while Linda left to get ready. And that is where we encounter the missing time. Four hours pass by. I got the boys ready and covered in sun tan lotion, Linda went through several of her swim suits to figure out which she wanted to wear and then left to finish getting ready, and then...

When I regained rememberable consciousness, it was near 4pm, we were loading into the van and heading to Blizzard beach. I refuse to believe it took Linda four hours to get ready for Blizzard Beach. Yet I can't explain the missing time if it wasn't alien abduction. As bizarre as it sounds? An alien ship must have flown right over the villa and sucked us into its ship with a laser. Only regressive hyperthermic hypnosis will tell the truth. Regardless if what actually happened, it was 4 PM by the time we left the house for Blizzard Beach,

We rarely have success with a disney water parks in the summer. We always arrive late and it always rains in the afternoon causing the park to close. This year, we arrived and stepped out of the van and then saw a huge lightening bolt drop from the sky and hit somewhere nearby. The ground shook from the rumble. Our luck is improving! Usually the lightening strike happens after we entered the park and rent a locker.

We contemplated our next move. Go do something else? Or wait it out? We decided to wait it out and at 4:30 we finally entered our destination for the day.

Most people, not plagued by aliens, were leaving and giving us freakish stares. "Who are these special people arriving after the park closed?" We knew the secret: the park reopens 30 minutes after the last lightening strike.

With the park mostly empty we did three laps on the lazy river. Then we headed to the tidal pool. Two steps into the tidal pool and another lightening strike lit up the sky and thunder rumbled. "Everyone out" the life guard called, but we were already ashore.

Our trip to Disney today involved an hour in the lazy river. Not out most productive day. And yet I can't account for the four hours of lost time.

Snow in Florida

Today was a Hollywood Studios day, our second favorite park. We arrived at 2pm and stayed until close, which was a long hot day. The frozen Summer fireworks start at 10pm but most of the park is shut down by 830, leaving a huge gap with little to do. But I wanted to see the fireworks show again so we stayed.

For today's trip I placed water bottles in the freezer the night before and then distributed them to the backpacks so we could have cold on our back, and later have a cold drink. Last year I tried frozen grapes and that didn't work because the grapes just turned mushy.

We did the walking backlot tour, otherwise known as Lights Motor Action. It is a walking tour because the grand stand is so far away. They warned that the show only happens weather permitting. And after we finally made it to the grand stand, we could see lightening off in the distance. But we were able to watch the show before the storm hit. I was surprised this show was still playing because I had heard it was being replaced by Cars Land. I don't really like the show because I have been on a real movie set and it goes nothing like this show portrays.

We often joke: Have you heard about the new Disney ride? It so called The Line. You get to go and stand in line. Sometimes you have to stand in line so you can then stand in line. Although this year hasn't been as bad as most years. The Fast Pass Plus system, for all its quirks and inconveniences, is pretty good. The stand-by lines for the average attraction hasn't been bad. And in the very rare cases where the standby is long we have a guest assistance card. But usually we don't need it.

We went through many of our favorite rides. I even road the vomit commit, known as Star Wars Star Tours. I used to always get sick from that ride but since the refurbishment several years ago, I just get a little queasy.

Lunch/Dinner was at Pizza Planet while it rained outside. That is where we split a Frozen Snowman cupcake - carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. It was so good that we got a second one.


Disney is making a killing on these cupcakes. Everywhere I turned in the park I saw someone with a cupcake. At Pizza Planet they were selling half a dozen cupcakes at a time! These cupcakes probably cost Disney $.25 to produce. But let's say that with storage, transportation, and spoilage they cost Disney $1 each. Disney sells the cupcakes for $5.60! The margin must be huge. And people are buying tons of them. I can't believe I spent $5.60 for a single cupcake... Twice. I can get twenty cupcakes at Costco for $19, and there I am paying $11 for two cupcakes.

The reason people pay $5.60 for a cupcake is because it is a human nature flaw to compare the cost of something relative to something else. If you pay $3.50 for a tiny box of popcorn, $10 for a small personal pizza, or $2.50 for a bottle of water (that you can get at a store for under $.20), $3 for a tiny cup of french fries, then this is what you accidentally start using to determine value. And suddenly you are willing to pay $5.60 for a cupcake. And Disney is very happy to take your money.

Speaking of frozen cupcakes, we went to the frozen cupcake eat-a-thon. No, not the pre-fireworks desert party (which must be crazy!) We went to the Frozen Funland where there is ice skating and snowman building. The snack bar had trouble keeping up with the cupcake demand!


We stayed for the fireworks because the Frozen Fireworks are incredible. Most of the rides shut at 8:30pm which makes people gravitate to the Dance Party where a DJ mixes the Frozen songs. That is followed by a band. Then there is fifteen minutes... Of nothing? People standing shoulder to shoulder in the hot streets, kids crying, legs aching, and we wait. Just when I thought fifteen minutes had passed I looked at my watch and it had only been five minutes. "Just another minute" I heard a Mom tell her crying and exhausted daughter. Disney needs to fill these fifteen minutes with something. I suggest something animated on the video screens - even if advertisements for future Disney movies. We need something because that fifteen minutes in painful.


The fireworks and the snow storm that follows (yep, Elsa creates a snow storm in Florida) ended a wonderful frozen and cupcake filled day at Hollywood Studios.

Magic Kingdom in the Summer Heat

I worked half a day and then headed to the Magic Kingdom. We were there from 2pm-11pm, which was a very long day. It was hot (felt like 95 degrees) and we melted. Hydration was difficult as the four of us went through an amazing 14 water bottles that we brought in addition to getting cups of ice water.


To help with the heat we have towels made out of a special material that when wet feel cool. We place them around the back of our necks and we look like dorks. It was so hot that it was difficult to keep the towels wet. We went to Gaston's to get out of the heat and sit in air conditioning. It provided us an excuse to share a giant cinnamon roll. These cinnamon rolls and the size of a half loaf of bread! I am not ashamed to admit that I licked the plate clean when we were done.


I am a father of three and I can remember times when the kids were young thinking it would be nice to be able to put my kid of a leash and walk them like a dog. Ok. I never really thought that. But imagine if someone did. Not just think it, but actually do it! Walk their kid on a leash and Disney World. Sadly, this actually happens and I have seen it several times. To make it look humane, the child wears a monkey back pack and the leash is attached to the backpack. I suppose the next thing I will see is a parent tie the leash to a tree. And maybe let their children crap in the lawn.

There are times I think I would prefer if kids crapped in the lawn. We went to Bells's Castle and through the entire encounter we were entertained by the foul smell of a poopy diaper. How can the parents not smell that? Seriously?

The day was hot which meant we needed extra suntan lotion. The lotion is kept in my oldest son's backpack. Unfortunately he must have sat on it causing the suntan lotion to explode. We have been down this path before and learned terrible lessons. Luckily everything in our backpacks are placed into individual plastic bags. That is the only thing that saved us from having suntan lotion cover everything in the backpack!

We decided to go from the Hall of Presidents to the Buzz Lightyear rise by passing behind the castle. As we did, some random fireworks shot off related to a show in the front of the castle. A fog of smoke and firework debre settled on us - someone didn't plan that very well!

I scored 850,000 points on buzz lightyear. I got tired of always getting low scores so I googled for some ideas and learned which targets are worth more. The trick is to do this and then don't tell your kids so they just think you are awesome.

We ate dinner at Cosmic Ray's because the attendant at the Dumbo Ride said a storm was arriving and we wanted to get a good seat to watch everyone get soaked. I am on a salad kick and was disappointed that the only option was a Greek salad with more peppers than lettuce. So, I went with pulled pork and fries - if going bad? Go all the way. Cosmic Ray's has a toppings bar, so, I made my own salad. It was a toppings bar salad!

No storm came. I was really looking forward to seeing people get drenched, but it didn't happen. Other than a light rain in the early morning, I think this was our first rain free day! It only took 12 days living in Florida to get a rain free day.

We didn't watch the parades or fireworks but instead took advantage of the low crowd levels to ride some rides. My youngest loves the speedway which the rest of us are... Well .. Over it. Linda let him keep riding it over and over. There is a funny thing when you get to your third child. First child would never be out of our sight at that age - never! Second child, maybe. Third child? We sat in the stands and just let him run around and keep getting back in line. Occasionally Linda would day "Do you see him? Oh, there he is."

At the end of the day we took the ferry back to the ticket and transportation hub so we could catch a parking lot tram. When the tram arrived it stopped three feet too far ahead so that the tram doors didn't align to the queue. What a chaos this caused! Instead of people shifting to accommodate for the mistake, many headed straight ahead toward someone else's door. A little girl was about to take our door and Linda scolded her and pushed her aside (Linda said she did no such thing, but that it what it looked like from my perspective). Chaos erupted all up and down the side of the tram and it looked like the fight scene from Blazing Saddles. People yelling and shoving, folded strollers in the air, it was crazy. Luckily no one was too injured and we were able to move along.

I think the Magic Kingdom would be great if not for all the people. Pushing double wide strollers down paths made for single wide. Stop walking in the middle of a flow of people. Gather a large group to stand in the middle of a walk way. Texting while walking. Sneezing without covering. Or sneezing on their hand, looking at it, then wiping it somewhere. The giant puddle of puke at future land that everyone walked through. We carry hand sanitizer and there are times I feel like taking a bath in hand sanitizer.

Nevertheless, it was a good day and we had a lot of fun.

Disney Quest

There are some great snack options at the park, and many of them are reasonably priced. But buying too many snacks is a quick way to blow the vacation budget. So, we take a snack pack with us. It includes graham crackers, walnuts, raisins, goldfish, granola bar, pretzels, assortment of cookies, candy, and flavor packs that can be added to water to take away that horrible Disney water taste. We try to pack a large enough variety to anticipate whatever anyone might want.


The neighborhood we are staying in is filled with vacation villas. When you rent your house out, you never know what you might get. I saw twenty-five people come out of one six bedroom house. They all loaded into an extended van, sitting atop each other. The back of this van was so low that is almost touched the ground! When considering the cost of a villa divided by twenty-five people, it is under $4 per person per day, a great deal. However, you would really need to like all the people you are living with!

Florida in July means rain. The humidity starts building in the morning. The blue skies start building clouds. Once the humidity reaches its peak, the skies open and it pours, often accompanied with lightening. It might rain in the early afternoon or late evening, but regardless of the time, it has rained every day we have been here! And it always seems to start raining when we are ready to head out the door.

When we renewed our Disney yearly passes we bought the expanded pass that allows for water parks and Disney Quest. Our new passes go into effect today so after work we headed to Disney Quest at Downtown Disney. Disney Quest is a giant unlimited use arcade with some 3D adventures, simulators, bumper cars, and other things mixed in.


It is surprising how physically and mentally exhausting video games can be.

Yard Work

I set my home office in the front bedroom to give me a great view of the palm tree in the front yard and the surrounding neighborhood. One of our goals is to see what life might be like to live at Disney.

As I work I can't help but notice the home owner, in his thirties, across the street. Every day for several hours he works in his yard. While most houses use a lawn service, he does the work himself and then meticulously cleans his equipment. He adjusts the sprinklers to make sure they are perfect and always finds weeds to pull. As I watch it is obvious to me that he loves doing this. While this isn't uncommon (many people find joy in yard work) it is a reflection of life at Disney. It isn't all fairy princesses and castles. Life as you know it will continue even if you are transplanted to the most magical place on earth.

Two days ago we were invaded by ants! And the outside of the house was swarmed by hundreds gnats. The bug exterminator arrived today. He explained the ants were releasing some queens and all the gnats were flying ants. He also explained that the 175 ants we killed inside the house wouldn't have lasted very long because he had recently sprayed the house and the ants would have died. Regardless, he sprayed the house again, assuring us the poison was bad for bugs but safe for humans. I'll let you know if I start growing a third arm.


We went to Hollywood studios after work to knock a few more things off our list. Our first fast pass was for The Great Movie Ride. We were arriving a little late for our fast pass so we needed to hurry. Linda was the front of our family train, charging through the crowd, while the rest of us followed. At one point she cut through the crowd so fast that it caused two strollers to turn to avoid hitting her and they collided causing an accident. She cut through the middle of families, and left others to stop mid-stride. The wreck and destruction left in our wake was unfortunate. We finally made it and was able to see the show before our fast pass expired.

We went through the Little Mermaid show and saw the worse lip sync performance in all the years we have seen. At one point the mermaid was combing her hair with a fork and the fork got caught in her hair! Eric was about 40 years old. And when the little mermaid transformed and got her legs? We could see her legs before the fin disappeared. Yep, the B Team was playing tonight. Junior Varsity. But it made the show interesting! It was a little creepy to see a middle aged guy pick up, swing around, and plant a kiss on a 90-pound mermaid that was easily half his age. But hay, to each his own. Good for Eric. I guess even a middle-aged prince deserves a trophy wife. I just did not imagine it that way when I watched the cartoon.

My wife and youngest went on Star Tours, or as I call it, the vomit commit. My oldest and I decided to wait in a nearby food area. The food area was dark and it was late and it was abandoned except for a lady who was breastfeeding. I'm all for natural... whatever. I just do need my fifteen year old boy starring at a breastfeeding lady. So I picked a table and chair arrangement so our backs were to her.

We went to Sci Fi Drive-In with plans to only order desert (so we could enjoy the restaurant without paying for a full meal). The guy at the check-in desk told us his deserts weren't very good. We would be happier going to the writer's nook for a carrot cake cookie, or go to Fifties for real ice cream. Our goal was to just see the drive-in, so, we did neither of the suggestions. Instead, we went to an ice cream place off property called Twisty on Rt 192 and got a gallon more ice cream for half the price than we would have paid in Disney.

We have five more things crossed off our "Must Do" list while having a great time.

Life as a Local

I am really getting the feeling of what it must be like to be local. When I get done with work everyday I am exhausted and would be happy to stay home and relax at the incredible pool house. But... We are in Disney and we need to make sure we see it all. The dream would be to move to Disney and spend as many evenings as possible enjoying the attractions. But the reality is that often you just want to stay home!

There is no maid service. While I am at work, Linda is cleaning, doing laundry, and taking care of the boys. There is downtime for her, however, if she were working too, all the things she is doing would take away evenings and some of the weekend. And this is summer break, which means we aren't spending hours helping the boys with homework right now.

The reality, I suspect, is that living at Disney would not be anything like a vacation and would not mean daily trips into Disney.

After work we went to Disney's Winterland to play miniature golf. With our annual pass we received a 50 percent discount.


After golf we grabbed some ice cream off property and called it a night.

A Trip to Animal Kingdom

We have been in Florida for a week and it feels as comfortable as if we have been here for years. I have built enough ankle strength to be able to jog around the neighborhood every day. I am doing a daily 5K and taking it slow (13mm) so I don't injure the ankle. Also, it is very difficult to breath while running in the heat and humidity. The sun is so intense that it makes me feel like an ant under a magnify glass. But this was the dream and I am living it.

The villa we stayed at last year had cockroaches. We complained and the property management company said "This is Florida. You need to get used to bugs." This year, we made the villa produce evidence that they regularly pay for professional extermination. And we thought all was good. Until today when we were invaded by ants all over the house! In ten minutes we killed 70 ants and they kept coming! I called the management company and complained but by the end of the day we have had no response.

On Mondays and Fridays I work half days with the understanding that when I get out if work we will go to a park. My family hasn't completely caught onto this idea. Today, I got out of work at noon (keep in mind that work is in a home office) and the family wasn't ready to leave until after 3!

We headed to Animal Kingdom and arrived in just minutes. The Animal Kingdom is the hottest of all the parks because the dense trees block any breeze. Each year the trees get more and more dense and the park gets hotter and hotter.

I remember when the park opened we could see the waterfalls outside Rainforest Cafe - not today! It is overgrown with trees. I have a memory of Animal Kingdom having a boat ride around the river. It was like a serious version of the jungle cruise. No one believes me, but I remember it.


We only have a handful of favorite rides and we were able to do them all in about four hours. We even got to see the new Lion King Theater (which looks a lot like the old theater except in a new locations).


A great aspect of a long stay (including living at Disney)is the freedom to go to Disney for a few hours in the evening. There isn't any need to do full day marathon trips to the park. A few comfortable hours is perfect. Animal Kingdom closes early so we left and ate dinner off property.

What Would It Be Like To Live At Disney?

Today's theme is all about "What would it be like to live at Disney" because we woke up determined to go to Hollywood Studios. And then... Life happened.

I woke this morning to find one of the GFI electrical circuits in the house wasn't working. After unsuccessfully playing with the GFI reset button, I headed to the garage looking for the electric box. Sure enough, the breaker was thrown. I wanted to know more about living in Florida and this is about as real as it gets! Or... Does it get even better?

An overloaded shelf in the refrigerator broke sending a wine bottle crashing to the floor. The bottle exploded and sprayed the house with wine and glass. We found glass in parts of the house that we can't explain how it got there! It took us an hour to clean up this gigantic mess.

We finally have our prescription script so we needed to go to the pharmacy. Between all the morning problems and the pharmacy it was going to be late afternoon by the time we headed to the parks so we decided to trade Hollywood Studios and go to Animal Kingdom (our least favorite park). When we went to Animal Kingdom in 2011 and 2013 we couldn't ride anything due to massive thunderstorms that hit both years. What is the chance that would happen in 2014 too?

The storm came before we even left the house. At 2pm a large thunderstorm dumped rain for 90 minutes, temporarily flooding the neighborhood roads.


When the storm let up we ventured out to get the prescription filled. We have been waiting since July 2 to get this medicine. The first pharmacy didn't have the medication so we had to go a pharmacy out in Celebration. Forty minutes later the we finally had the prized medication!

On the way back to the house we stopped at a grocery store named The Marketplace near the Outback restaurant on rt 192. Be warned: things in this grocery store are twice the normal price! We should have went a mile further up the road to the Publix. It was scary how expensive this store was.

We returned home in time for dinner and since we had done nothing all day we decided to grab dinner off property. When we got ready to leave the restaurant I noticed a giant five inch spider! My kids freaked out and started yelling. This caused everyone on that side of the restaurant to scream and start running. Now, big spiders are a fact of life if you want to live at Disney. I walked over, took a picture, and ten stomped it into the carpet. That's the end of the spider story.


We left the restaurant near 8pm and didn't know what to do. Would it even be worth it to go to a park? And which one? We decided to go to MGM (aka Hollywood Studios) to knock a couple rides off our "must do" list.

We parked our car near a couple with five small children. I didn't see it but my family said the husband punched the wife in the face. Of course Linda is thinking "Do you really want to move someplace where that happens at Disney?" I didn't see it and by the time my family explained it to me, the guy had left for the tram with several of his kids and the lady was calling for him, following, "Do you want to wait for the rest of your family?"

I don't know anything about this family and I don't know much about domestic violence but I believe that if this guy hit his wife once he has hit her many times. We hurried to the tram. When we got there, the guy was leaving the tram area with several of the kids and heading back to the truck. About twenty feet behind him the lady was following with the rest of the children and yelling at her husband. I was concerned so I reported it to the tram operator who radioed security.

When we arrived at Hollywood Studios, we knew they were doing something related to the frozen movie but we were completely unprepared for what Disney treated us for. The entire Main Street of the park (from the hat to the gate) was stuffed with people listening to a DJ remix the Frozen songs. Large screen TV's appeared along the road and a huge screen on stage. When the DJ ended, a band came out and the entire place was hopping. After that came... Well... I am not going to ruin the surprise. I will just say that it involved Frozen princesses, fireworks, and snow. Real snow! In July! This was the second night of the Frozen Summer Party and it was incredible. It made the entire day worth it.


And, oh yea. We saw Fantasia too.

That describes our day, filed under the topic: what would it be like to live at Disney?

First trip to Magic Kingdom in 2014

We arrived home from Fourth of July fireworks to a broken air conditioner and a house that was 85 degrees. It was very difficult to sleep, and the next morning when the house temperature climbed, we could not stop sweating! We called the property manager and he responded immediately and had a repair guy at the house within an hour. When renting a villa it is important to be patient - this is a house, not a hotel, and it will have normal house maintenance needs. It is all part of the experience of learning what it would be like to live here.

We have had a calamity getting medicine prescriptions filled . As a result we needed prescriptions (written on federally approved prescription pads, and signed by a federally approved doctor)to be shipped to us overnight. The doctor's office couldn't do overnight but did priority mail during a holiday. To make matters worse, our villa has no mail box, and we didn't know if the owner had all the mail forwarded. But luckily the prescriptions that were needed on July 3 arrived on July 5 and on July 6 we can get them filled. This entire mess has been an unnecessary head-ache!

We start each trip with the Magic Kingdom, and since this was our first full day in a park, that is where we went. It was also our first chance to try the new Fast Pass Plus system and the new Guest Assistance policies.

For Guest Assistance (the line merge card) you are given a paper card with your picture printed on it. When you see a ride you want, you give the card to a cast member and they write on the card a return time that is equal to the time you would have spent in line. You then go about your day and return anytime after the time they placed on the card and you can go in.

We are fortunate where short lines (15-20 minutes) don't bother the boys and we only need the card for rides that have really long waits yet are on our "must do" list.

The fast pass plus system worked perfectly. We went on our three rides. Inbetween we rode rides with short (15 minute) lines. After the first three passes are done you can more... But not with the cell phone ap. It must be done at a kiosk. Each kiosk has a dedicated caste member who unnecessarily presses all the buttons for you. The fast pass system worked so well that we never used the guest assistance card!

A note about the kiosks. The cast members we encountered really looked worn out. One guy appeared to be suffering PTSD. It is worse than a help desk operator job because these cast members are dealing with hot angry computer illiterate guests all day.

In the Magic Kingdom we road Small World. People throw coins into the water all the time. I knew the Lobby for the ride had coins in the water but I didn't realize (until this trip) all the coins all thought the entire ride. The entire bottom is littered with thousands of coins!

We road the Carousel of Progress. On the third stage of the ride the animatronics that plays the lead character didn't work the eyes, which made him look like he was oddly staring off to the right.

This year the Pirates of the Caribbean has new ride vehicles. The vehicles are heavier on the front to cause a bigger splash when going over the falls. We got wet, but nothing too bad.

It came time for fireworks. Disney is performing construction at the hub so they can cram more people into the fireworks viewing area. As a result of the construction the available viewing areas are limited. Before the Electric Parade started we walked down the crowded Main Street looking for a place but it was packed. We were concerned we would keep walking down main street all the way out the train station and end up exiting to the transpiration areas. Instead, the entry hub was fairly empty. And we got an awesome spot looking down Main Street at the castle.


Our first day at the Magic Kingdom was good. Hollywood studios tomorrow!