TRIED over and over and over

Well, here it comes....my review of Disney PART 1.

Now we spent so much time here that there is NO way on Earth that I can do it all in one blog.

First off is the resort...Coronado Springs

I had read mixed reviews of the hotel and was a tad worried...but I had done my homework. I knew that they had just finished remodeling the Casitas buildings and I requested a room in these buildings. The new rooms featured QUEEN beds instead of Full....a totally redone decor (which is great because the former featured alot of yellow and I hate yellow just a tad more than white). And the decor was VERY dated. The new decor was a MODERN twist on the Spanish influence. There were Aztec type symbols and hidden mickeys in the room as well. The colors featured were a very soothing turquoise blue, with dark mahogoney wood. It was very classy...and way better than the off white with yellow that was previously featured. The story seemed to be you are in the west, near the gulf resting (siestas). Surrounded by palm trees, white sands, and hammocks. The pool was heavily Mayan influenced and featured the standard pyramid. This main pool was called the Dig Site. And it does feature the longest water slide on any WDW property. This whole area was very well done. Not enough shade for us vampires, but the sunbathers I am sure where thrilled as there were plenty of seats/chairs.

The main building contained a lovely market type restaurant where a family could choose from many different types of foods. We did not get to eat here because there was NO time. I did however, peruse the gift store. WONDERFUL selection. As great as a Disney Store, and I know Disney Stores, so trust me on this one. I did see a monorail shirt that I failed to buy..stupid. Please stand clear of the doors, por favor (I can say the rest but can't spell it). Dummy, why did you not get it?


I was entirely please with the hotel, the staff, and the design. I give this resort an A...outstanding!!!!


Part 2 is coming...it's about the staff...
The lobby was a tad plain after such a great show, of course you really are only here twice so maybe that was the plan.

My first encounters were just fine, not complaints or anything. The first real one that we conversed with was Drew. He worked at Guest Relations where I was trying to obtain my (Guest Assistance Card). I was explaining what I needed and he said, that I did not need to do that just tell me what the doctor wanted my guest card to do. He did it! Wonderful guy…kudos to you.

The second member that caught my eye was the second day. It was blazing hot and I know that usually there are running the EPCOT monorail platform. Today there was one guy. I mentioned to him, where is your co worker. He explained that while “you people” are still coming here in has decided to lay off a bunch of “folks and make me do the job of 3 people even though you people are still coming”. Michelle say “what”? Shocked I was, but he did not stop there. His Disney bashing continued inside the cockpit of the train where Hannah and I were waiting for the pilot to start this tour. I could not believe the things that these 2 guys were saying about the company in front of 2 guests. He had no clue that I was a former CM…I was just a regular guest who was bitten by the Disney Magic. He must have missed his brain washing training sessions.

Next on the list came later that day…Joe! I made the same comment to Joe about the heat and he being alone. He must have passed his training…”I may be a little hot, but I am getting all kinds of exercise and get to talk to nice folks like you.” Joe, you are great!! And the sweat was pouring down from his face and neck. He was wiping it with a towel.

Weston was the next pilot of the day! Can we say “amazing”? He welcomed us to the cockpit. Told us monorail history, about the workings of the trains, a little about the resorts, about the history of the trains, and how they brought new trains to the tracks. He was amazing. He also let us ride on the monorail through 2 loops on the resort line without making us leave the cockpit. We did allow 2 other girls to join us for a while, but we stayed on. In all my years of riding in the front, he is without a doubt the best one ever. I thought he was a tiny kid that was new to this because he looked so young, was very short too, and was so forthcoming with knowledge. He told me he had been here for 10 years!!! WOW!!! WESTON!!!

The next great cast members---can I call them that? Was the group British Invasion!

I am not sure if I had seen them before or not. I sure thought I had UNTIL they took the stage. I was totally blown away. They did not look like the Beatles, but the sound, and the were all John, Paul, and George (I could never see Ringo as he was far behind and it was a tiny stage). I saw them every day that we went to Epcot, 5 times! Every time I asked to have my picture made with them...no problem. And I told them how much I enjoyed the show. Finally at the last show, I asked again for a photo opp..."john" played by Sean, said, you have been here every day, you are our groupie. And Paul asked me to tell Guest Relations how much I love them. NO PROB there! Please if you go to Epcot and are a fan of the Beatles....check them out. Don't expect to buy a girls Beatles shirt though. Even though they have 4 on display. They have NONE of those shirts in stock. Only a Beatles jacket and a yellow submarine shirt. They did have a cute yellow submarine ice cube tray, and cookie cutter, but they were very high. As with any Disney trip, there were both folks that were above and beyond and the hum hum ones. I must say only ONE person did not understand me, and of course this was at Peco's Bill. He had a thick accent, I have a country one, and it was hopeless. I did not get what I ordered, and he did not understand my complaints either. That was a tough one! The food was good...oh that is my next blog. FOOD!!!

KARK

John has worked in tv for a long long time. Today's story has to do with a big station that he worked at in a big town. A station that was (at the time) first place in the 4 stations that was located in Little Rock Arkansas. This station offered many perks/add ons to it's employees, but there was one in particular that I liked to take advantage of.....the FREE stuff. Yes, for someone like me, FREE stuff is the bomb. FREE STUFF...just the sound of it makes me smile. I sure wish other places in life gave things for free....like Michael's, or the car wash, or maybe even the Carson Center.

Back to the story...They gave away free stuff for everything for their employees that is. Pins (which I collect), Disney World passes, Tickets to the state fair, tickets to the SEC tourney, UALR or U of A tickets, tickets to shows at alltel (or the crack house), clothing (at one time probably 90% of John's out of work wardobe consisted of KARK tees, polos, sweaters, or ties-we used to give some to my dad for Christmas he had so much), tickets to Bill Clintons re election party, chances to hang with the Governor of AR, tours to the children's museums, ways to meet all types of politicans and even a place to watch the 4th of July fireworks from the top of their building. All of these were great! Just great! But one stands far far far above the rest. The time I told him I was going to see Def Leppard. He was fine with that. Let me order the tickets down at the ampitheater and everything. He just said that I had to take my dad becuase he did NOT trust me! Me! So my dad and I got our tickets. I was very happy!

Then one night he came home from work with something in his hand. BACKSTAGE passes to the festival that DL was playing in. OH MY...talk about excited.

All in all, we saw the band, my dad was exposed to a new group of people, learned some new dl tunes, and saw the band members. It was a great show-a wonderful perk- and I am hoping that someone reads this and gives me passes for Aug 10!!!! I need to meet Rick SAvage. I have never met him in my life and would like to tell him that he is almost as good as Paul McCartney on the bass and way better looking. Plus, he plays hamers and I like them. If I knew him better I would tell him how my mom had bell's palsy too, and he should have tried her cure because you can't tell it anymore, and his poor face is paralyed on one side. And then I would tell him the "P" tatoo is BORING! And then I would say, "now let me meet PHil" PHil is amazing on the guitar. Maybe he could show me a chord or two. Maybe!

All in all, Tammy and I will have a marvelous time...she does not know what she is getting into with me and Def Lep. They are the 2nd greatest band of ALL time! Tammy, I am going to sing, buy tshirts, yell and probably embarass myself with my general goofiness. I apoligize in advance to you dear because I love you.

Have a great day everybody. Hug your kids!

A toilet bowl story

Today I was sitting on the couch doing my disney plans...finalizing the confirmations...and just generally being busy...and my husband comes into the living room. "Come here right now" he states in a very firm voice. Who knows what he wanted, so I ignored him. He said "come here NOW!" I get up and follow him..The bathroom door is closed. "open the door" he says. I open the door and say "what". I was thinking probably the pipes were stopped up or something. I told him that I did not see anything. He angled my head to look at the back of the toilet...on the toilet brush was a MOUSE! A mouse with very large eyes and a tail at least 5 inches long....BLAH!!! I ran to grab the camera, and he ran to grab the cat. I told him the cat could not do anything she had no claws. His reasoning was that she bites every single person, why would she not bite this thing. Well, I get the camera ready and the cat starts looking at the mouse. Interested she is...she goes up to the mouse and the mouse jumps from the brush to the plumbing pipe. They just look at each other. John threw a cup at the mouse and it started running....so did I!!! I got out of the bathroom as fast as I could. I heard all types of noise coming out of there. I opened the door at one point and saw all types of stuff all over the place. I just got tired of waiting and needed to scrapbook anyway, so I left for good. About 20 minutes later, john came out of the bathroom carrying a toilet wipe box. I asked him where the mouse was and he handed me the box. I reached for it and it moved! The stinking mouse was in that box. I grabbed the duct tape and taped it shut!!! TIGHT!!! And he placed it in the trash can. In just about 5 minutes, Emily came over and I was telling the story. Emily said, "where is the mouse?" "In the trash can" I told her. Golly gee, if that kid did not go to the trash and remove it and bring it back into my house. GET OUT OF HERE!!!! She begged her mom to take it home and her mom said no, but she did take her to a field to release it in the wild. The cat? The cat keeps going back to the bathroom, she is in mourning of her long gone friend...and if he comes back I will KILL him.

blackworking at the fair

I have been entering county or state fairs for about 17 years (this is the 17th). I have won many, many great prizes and had at least 2 articles published about my stuff. Even won top prize in a state fair. When I moved to McCracken county, I begged folks in charge to add categories that can expand folks talents and keep "lost arts" going. Finally, after 8 years of letters, calls, and verbal conversation...McCracken County has added "new" categories. I am very excited about this, however; I am still waiting for the blackwork.

But I believe I am one of the only ones in this area, folks look at me like I am stupid when I ask about patterns or charts. I design my own now, so if you do blackwork and want to buy one look me up...I will even try a custom one for you. I do know that no one will call, NO ONE does blackwork...did I just ramble? OH YEAH...

Kudos to the folks in charge at the fair. I will be there signing in my stuff like every year and I encourage you to do the same. Showing off your God given talents is wonderful. You might inspire someone to take up your craft or teach someone a new technique or maybe make a new friend. You can even earn a little extra spending cash that you can put back into your craft.

Don't forget to visit the fair too! It is a great community event and a whole lot of fun. Look at the craft building. Praise the children for their 4-H work...and expand your knowledge of handicrafts.

If you are reading this and do blackwork...please contact me! This is a needlecraft that I am thrilled to do and love to see others work. I am very proud to say that my stuff is completely reversable. I have worked hard to accomplish that...and I really want to see the blackwork of others and maybe gain a source of purchasing patterns.

For those others, support your local county fair. www.mccrackencountyfair.com

This photo is NOT my work, but a pattern that I am going to buy. I think she is so beautiful.

Getting it ready

I am a person who totally falls apart if I do not have things done when they need to be done. I do NOT like to put things off. Now there are times when I forget to do stuff, but trust me that is NOT done intentionally. Here is the deal...a tad over 2 weeks until vacation and I have completed the packing list, finished the tours plans, decided where we are going on which days, and begun the packing. I am feeling pretty good about all of it. Today I am going to clear up the memory cards (planning on taking about 1500 pictures). And logging some of photos into picasa so that I can "fix" them.

Also today, I plan on finalizing the dinner plans. So far I have booked the Crystal Palace, Garden Grill, and 1900 Park Fare. I had reservations at Sci fi but cancelled them...and still trying for Chef Mickey's (kids really want to eat there). Thought about the Tusker House too. Problem is it is soooo close that I am just taking what is left. Now here is where the problem is. I made reservations 90 days ago! And my husband was NOT finished researching on his part, so I have had to change them....when he read reviews. Now he is almost finished with his Disney guide and we will see if I have to change them again. The pickings are getting slim. I could not even get into Mickey's bbq or to the Hoop dee do show at this point. Actually I was not too keen on spending that much money at a dinner with the picky family that I have anyway...I just really wanted to go.

The Disney stuff came in the mail. We have our luggage tags, our free 5x7 photo, free golf, free arcade time, and hotel certificates. We are almost there...wow, I am soo excited! This is amazing. Disney for a week, a GMC Acadia, and STAR WARS weekends. We found out that Jango Fett will be there. Trevor loves Jango! We have to get his autograph. Don't know if we will get any of the Star Wars limited edition toys, but we aim to get the auto.

Enough of this....I have much to do.

New look

Thought it was time for a new look...a face lift you might say. Something that is easier for YOU, and more importantly ME!!! I don't know if you are aware of this but I like to use my blogging as a basis for my journaling on my scrapbook pages. My thoughts tend to be more honest and seem to have the facts straight too.

Well, I decided that it was time to find an easier blog space. I had been looking for a bit and came up with this through my pal, Lew! Sorry Lew, stole your idea.

I love that I can edit the text, the FONT, and the colors...oh, and I can insert more pictures. I LOVE it!!!

Well, for those FEW that read my thoughts, please use this one because the other will soon go bye bye.