Thank you Termites...The NEXT Trip is on!

6 more days, and counting...

 

About 24 wee little hours to go, before I'm wrapping up the last of my work and lining up for a planned noon departure! ; Florida is keeping the heat on for me, and the steam turned all the way high for that lovely Florida humidity...chance of rain is about 50% a day as usual. ; It's love bug season too, though fortunately the reports haven't been too bad so far this September, so maybe I'll get lucky and not have the entire front of my car turn black with bug corpses. ; Maybe Florida can throw me some of that rain for the drive up, and have it stop about 10 miles from the Disney border...just enough to keep the lovebugs grounded for my drive. ;

Still don't know what I'm going to do the first day...I'm playing it loose. ; My buddy Dave and his wife are supposed to be getting there around 2pm, so they'll probably be off at a park before I arrive...I'll have to give them a ring when I get there and see if I feel like meeting them wherever they are!

 

awesome! have a great time!

 

Have a great time! ; Can't wait to see the photo's and hear all about the trip!

 

I'm back! ; Work's kicking my butt now, so I haven't had much chance to get on here and update - spent last night trying to crop and process my photos from the trip...I've finally done a bunch of them for the first batch (I sometimes go back later to some I didn't bother to process or upload because they weren't that good, and see what I can get out of them with a little more time and effort).

It was hot, very humid, hot, not crowded at all, hot, moist but not rainy, hot...oh, and it was hot. ; Parks were quite thin - wait times maxed out for Toy Story Mania at 30 minutes, while some other usually-long waits had standby lines with 5 minutes or less wait times, like Everest, Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Kilimanjaro Safari, and Kali River Rapids. ; Test Track and Soarin were 15 minutes or so.

The love bugs were floating around here and there, but not many at all. ; Though that's mostly because they are all currently sitting just south of Disney. ; I had to drive through huge blankets of them from Yeehaw Junction to Ft. Pierce, and my car was essentially solid black with carcasses across all front surfaces.

Despite 40-50% chances of rain every day and night, we had not so much as a single drop of moisture fall from the sky in the whole 5 days. ; Not only did it never rain at the parks, but I stopped by the car wash on 192 when I first came up Thursday (to knock the lovebugs off), and when I left on Monday, the car's finish had not one watermark on it, and was mostly just coated in a light dust. ; Even the briefest overnight sprinkle would have left a watermark.

Thursday was somewhat fun - we decided to hit marketplace in the afternoon upon arrival, and then thought we'd head over to Port Orleans French Quarter for some biegnets...we took a not-too-crowded boat over, but found the dock positively overflowing with people waiting to get on the next boat out of FQ. ; You'd have thought the place was being evacuated! ; Arriving at the main building, the bus lines were flowing nearly into the building. ; This was just at POFQ! ; Having just arrived, I was thinking I'd never seen Septembers that crowded and if it was a sign of things to come, I might not be going to any parks. ; By the time we wanted to head back, we realized the busses hadn't come for a good few hours, and people were scattering and giving up, getting taxis, or just yelling at the front desk staff to vent. ; We were using boats to get back to Saratoga, but had to stand in line while two boats arriving at POFQ from Riverside were already fully occupied. ; We could see the trend, and with dozens of people waiting at POFQ, it was unlikely we'd ever get on a boat towards Downtown Disney. ; So we changed tack, and jumped aboard a boat just arrived from Downtown Disney and headed towards Riverside, then stayed aboard as it headed back to POFQ. ; We were full-up and none could board from POFQ, so we sailed on, and I saw the same people in line that were there behind me still waiting in vain.

Ends up there was a 'suspicious package' found under a bus at the depot near AK, and all busses were pulled from service for an inspection. ; It took some time to figure out the device, since it was large enough for explosives, and seemed to have some form of radio transmitting capability or receiver capability. ; Very humorous to hear later it was something Disney had installed years ago as a test to transmit bus information electronically - it didn't work well and wasn't used - but apparently was never taken off the test bus. ; Years of maintenance folks never noticed or cared about it, until a newer employee found it and didn't know what it was. ; Personally, I'm fine with the extra caution...but some folks felt differently and were complaining. ; I guess I'd expect something if I missed hard-to-get reservations or a show because of the stoppage...but otherwise, it seemed about as well handled IMHO as can be.

I hope to post some pics again starting tonight, when I get the chance!

 

My post-trip, post-ER update from my pal in TX!

Well this trip was the one that I was happy to discover my great friend and ex-college roommate was able to join me on with his wife, they having not been to Disney in over a decade. ; The trip ended up resulting in a few less photos than I normally would have taken solo, but tons of fun as I got to guide newbies around parks and resorts they've never seen and introduce them to the fine dining and luxury style that is MY DISNEY TRIP.

We spent much time talking, catching up as we hadn't seen eachother for about 2 years. ; One thing he was planning was a small weekend trip when he returned home after Disney - he and two friends were motorcycling from Ft. Worth around San Antonio, around to Houston, then up through Austin and back to Dallas for a 3 day ride. ; Sounded fun - I was ribbing him on his silly half-helmet which wasn't the right style for his bike (not a Harley...he rides a Japanese tourer)...and lets too many bugs between the teeth.

They got back Monday evening, a few days at work catching up, then on Friday they were off. ; He happened to be passing a cycle shop and saw a good high-protection full helmet with visor, and decided to grab it to replace his skull cap. ; Two fun days and they found themselves in Austin...where the guys decided to try a test-ride on a funky 3-wheeled bike called a Can Am Spyder. ; The dealer had a training obstacle course out back to get used to the bike, then you could take it for a spin on the street. ; That's about where my buddy's memory ends, so I'll fill in the rest from the recreated story he gleaned from his friends.

They finished the course, and hit the road, whereupon a large Boxer (the dog) ran across the street directly in front of Dave. ; He apparently slammed the brakes but couldn't avoid the dog, and upon hitting it, jammed one of the two front wheels sideways and jolted him up over the handlebars. ; The trike stayed on all three and skidded to a stop on the sidewalk, while Dave continued down the road for a bit before gravity took over and introduced him to the asphalt. ; It wasn't a good meeting.

He awoke to consciousness hours later in the ER, not remembering anything other than pulling into the Can Am dealership, then waking up in the ER. ; He concussed pretty hard - though was understandably pleased with his last purchase when he saw the helmet, split down the middle with chunks missing from it, the inner shell still protecting his skull. ; The rest of his body wasn't helmeted, so myriad bruises, black and blues, road rashes...and a broken rib and compound left ankle fracture were the butcher's bill.

I hadn't heard any of this until I called him today to tell him I was sending a CD of the photos from the trip, and wondering why he hadn't called to let me know if they had booked on our annual cruise in November. ; He gets a pass for not calling...that was one of the better excuses I've heard, and rather unassailable.

Good news is that he seems like he'll come out of it in the end, maybe with a little time to heal that ankle, and a little early arthritis down there. ; He was released from the hospital on the 2nd day, the wife picked him up in Austin, and a friend drove his motorcycle home.

Crazy world out there! ; You never know what little surprises lay around the corner. ; Glad to know he'll pull through, a little worse for wear but ultimately OK. ; Unfortunately the dog didn't make it - by all accounts it was very quick and painless, and quite instant.

Just thought I'd share a little post Disney story with a scare, but a happy ending!

 

Buddy Dave out of the danger zone...

Just to update, my buddy Dave went back to the hospital to check up - they like to make sure with severe accidents such as his that there are no sneaky internal bleeds or blod clots traveling around. ; They cleared him and said he's doing well. ; His ribs are going to be sore - not much you can do when you break those...bruises and sores healing fine on their own time, and the ankle...well he'll be hobbled for quite some time with that compound break. ; Good thing for him is that he mostly is able to work from home (computer industry, with Oracle) so he'll be 'back to work' on Monday after taking the last few days off on a deep drug vacation.

Here's Dave and his wife at Disney the week before the accident...having fun on their first trip back for 10 years or so:



Just wanted to throw another update out there for anyone who followed!

 

glad to hear he will be alright. ; makes me wonder why so many kids under the "helmet-law" age insist on not wearing them and why the parents refuse to enforce that law upon their kids. ; they work. ; dave is proof why.

 

I'm glad he's ok!

I have never learned how to ride a motorcycle. When I was a kid, I borrowed a friends, popped the clutch, the bike flew ahead, and I got thrown behind.
I've never been on one since!

 

Got that right! ; I've always worn one myself, from the very first little Honda Passport C70 moped I had right through my touring bike. ; Learned it that way, and didn't feel right without it. ; I hope anyone not wearing a helmet never needs one. ; I'm quite sure Dave will be wearing a helmet anytime he ever steps on a bike again...if he ever even considered riding without one, he likely won't any more.

I think everyone has pulled that one before! ; I can remember doing that the first time I tried a dirt bike when I was 12. ; A friend of mine did it to my bike when I tried to show them how to let out the clutch. ; It's like a biker ritual!

Thanks Paul. ; Me either! ; I had a bike accident myself many years ago, and was very happy I had learned to ride with a helmet from the beginning - judging by the gauges taken out of the side of mine, I might not have been around anymore without it!