CCIntrigue...aka Gwen

21 minutes ago, articfox676 said:

Is the new second line for TSM open? 

It was open last month when we were there.

1 hour ago, twiceblessed....nacole said:

We'll miss you next year     We're coming around the 7th of October (booked right now for 7th - 14th, but the kids and I may come a few days early).  So sad to miss you

Our rates were $96 - $116.

Oh no!  We will miss you too!

In 2018 we plan to go 10/5 - 11/5 so we can get two months on one AP.  

I just booked 11/5 - 12/5/17, and my deposit was $108.  Nights without tax were from $96 to $120 (Thanksgiving week).  Ouch.

David and I have been passholders off and on since the late '80s.  We've only received one magnet in 30 years.  Maybe we'll get one of these new ones when we get our new APs next fall.

52 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

It's going to be another Merry Christmas.

TCD

Another Merry Christmas for Disney stockholders!

A projection show can never take the place of a parade!

3 hours ago, lightbikes said:

Holy **** - I hope none of my grandkids decides this is a great idea!

At least if it's one of my grandchildren I'm not the one who has to pay for it!!

13 minutes ago, djsamuel said:

They had salami and cheese at the cold bar, along with salads, cous cous salad, cheeses, etc.

Thanks for the info!

Did they still have a good selection of fruit?

I won't miss the lunch menu, but I will miss the salami and cheese at breakfast!

We were told by the CM at the Bike Barn that fishing is only allowed in three spots at the Fort now.  One is Bob's dock.  Can't remember the location of the other two.

1 hour ago, DaveInTN said:

I don't think anyone in the Carolinas would answer yes to that question.  

That's what I was thinking.

10 hours ago, Ivy said:

Gwen, your night photos are beautiful! Night photography is my favorite. Thank you for sharing them.

Thank you, Ivy!

When one of your daughters gets married in the MK, I'd love to see the video!

After MSEP, David was tired and went back to the Fort.  And, as always, he didn't want me roaming the park by myself at night.  Especially since i was on an ECV.  But I was determined to get some nighttime shots.  It turned out they weren't so great either because of the rain.  I could pop my camera out from under my rain parka briefly and then stick it right back under.  I'd taken my tripod and remote control, expecting to get some great shots, but it just didn't work out.

When the parade ended, a huge crowd blocked me in.  And then they didn't move.  I've never experienced that before.  After a thousand "excuse me, pleases" and inching forward, I finally broke free and headed to Tomorrowland.

Then I made my way through New Fantasyland.

Then I got caught behind the carousel for Wishes.

With a tree right behind me.  This was the worst possible spot for fireworks pictures.

Eventually I could move past the tree and managed to get a few decent fireworks shots, but no way near the "professional" grade shots I was hoping for had it not been raining.

After Wishes, I moved on through Fantasyland.

I continued down through Liberty Square and Frontierland.

And then I got to the smoking area near BTMRR.  And my scooter stopped working.  It would go three feet and stop.  Go three feet and stop.  On and on.  There I was stuck in the far corner of MK.  I started to panic and thought maybe I should have listened to David.  I was alone and a long way from the Fort!

Almost immediately some guests came over to help me.  I jiggled some things, and suddenly it started working again.  So I thought I'd better skip Adventureland and get back to the Fort ASAP.  

So I made it back to Main Street.

I turned around to say goodnight to the castle.

Before getting on the boat I stopped at the restroom near the railroad station.  And my scooter stopped again.  And more guests came to my assistance.  Once it limped me onto the boat, I was very relieved!

I was home!

I had ridden that scooter hard all over EPCOT that morning and didn't charge it in the afternoon.  I learned my lesson.

Check into the Fort and enjoy your extra days!

My pictures of MSEP are here:  

Jen, I'd have been able to help if I'd known about this earlier.

15 minutes ago, Duane said:

And people think this is only a place to talk about Disney related stuff...  Folks pay good money for marriage counseling these days... They just need to come here.  Jen just needs to find a way to collect a co-pay for all those who come here for advice!

19 hours ago, Duane said:

As it reads in the Husband's Handbook in Chapter 1, Page 1 in BOLD print...  "Happy Wife, Happy Life".  David will take care of you!

2 hours ago, jayco1 said:

Line 2 : Keep your mouth shut and do what you're told.

1 hour ago, Duane said:

And don't forget this handy little phrase....  "I have no opinion!"

Since I'd never heard the phrase "happy wife, happy life" until I read it on Fort Fiends, I had to ask David about it.  He said it's the same as the redneck saying "if mama ain't happy, nobody's happy,"

I've spent all morning editing my Main Street Electrical Parade photos.  Now Photobucket won't let me upload them.  I guess nobody's happy, at least in our house.

8 minutes ago, Duane said:

Well then girl, tell David the Butler to pour you a glass of iced tea and giddy up on those pictures!!

 He's been very patient and attentive all morning getting me out to breakfast, a doctor's appointment, an hour-long wait at the pharmacy, etc.  And now he's going out to mow my mother's yard.  I think i'd better be nice to him!

5 hours ago, Momof6....aka Marty said:

You were so close!  I'm glad you didn't stop, with your foot and the need to get home.  But I still wish i could have stood by the highway and waved as you went past.

I'm hoping you will be posting more pictures now that yo are home!

Marty, I wish we could have seen you too!  But I'm glad we got home when we did.  My doctor was able to see me about my foot two hours after we got home and then got me into the orthopedist the next morning.

Yes, I am working on more pictures.  Don't know when I will start posting them, though.  Since I can't do much besides sit here in front of the computer all day, I don't have an excuse to not post more.

We spent the night about an hour outside of Atlanta and left Braselton about 7am.  My foot was really swollen, an I could barely walk.  We made it into SC before 8am.

We heard again that 95 is gridlocked and 26 is closed, so we were sure we made the right decision on the route coming home.

We stopped  at a CB before we made it to Greenville, SC, and made it into NC around 10:30am.

After a fuel stop and a couple of pit stops, we made it home around 1pm.

Next up, final thoughts.

Wednesday, 10/5, and Thursday 10/6:

We woke up too early Wednesday morning, still wondering about our route home.  I was in constant contact with Beckers, whose husband was driving up 95. Brian said there was a five-mile delay on 95 getting onto 26.  That sealed the deal for us.  We were going 75 through Atlanta.

So we took the back way out of the Fort.

So far, so good.

We made it off the Florida turnpike and onto I-75 about 12:30.  Smooth going so far.

We made it to Georgia easily.

Still so far, so good.

Then we hit Atlanta.  Okay, not so bad here.  It was about 7pm.

We were wrong.  This is about the time the refrigerator door fell on my foot.

Tuesday, 10/4:

Finally Photobucket is behaving nicely since we're home.  Go figure.

This was a beautiful morning.  After a quick breakfast in Dolly, we headed to MK.

We had one last ride on PPF and then went to 7DMT.  We finally got the first car, so I had a great shot of the witch:

The crane was finally down:

The rain sat in, so we went to Gasparilla Island Grill at GF for lunch.  Then David went to Alamo to turn the car in while I went back to MK.

He joined me for one last attraction:

Then at dusk we said our goodbyes and headed back to the Fort to finish getting Dolly ready to travel in the morning.  I was so sad.  A month had flown by so quickly.  I still had too many things on my to do list.  When is it ever enough time?

We debated and dreaded our drive home.  Hurricane Matthew was coming in, and the Fort would be closing the next day.  What to do, what to do?  We had two options -- take our normal route home (95 to 26 to 77 to 40) or head up 75 to Atlanta, which would be safer and 100 miles longer,  I barely got any sleep that night.

14 minutes ago, fladogfan aka Gretchen said:

Good for David.  At least he's not letting it sit till your foot heals. 

Yes.  He's had a hard time unpacking.  He's been great about it, though.  There are things in the moho we can't do without until my foot heals ... like all my underwear!