And I am here for the Food...A Disney SOMETIME (AUG '20 mini trip) Report (9/10 update)

Hang in there everyone! Just imagine how excited we will all be when we finally get to go again! I think we will appreciate our new found freedom and all things disney just that little bit more and maybe there will be less of the poor etiquette featured in Jenny’s videos (or do you think I’m pushing it too far😂😱).
it sure does stink in the meantime though doesn’t it 😣
 
So I finally caved and contacted DVC MS last night. I was concerned about trying to use my 138 2019 Use Year points this year with only a 30 day advanced window. I requested all points be returned to my 2020 Use Year and that was completed very quickly no question. Whew! So if we can't make a trip happen this try ear that is okay we have until 2021 now.

Still no word on our Italy cruise being cancelled. I just read that Carnival is planning to resume North America sailings at the end of June. I'm just not sure that will happen. It may be that I end up with that RC cruise credit after all. As it is I have no passports for my kids to travel. I renewed all of theirs in February and early March but have no idea what kind of timeline to expect for them to be processed now.

Well I'll be returning to work on a limited 3 day basis next week. That's going to be tough. Our county now has a mANDATORY requirement that anyone entering a currently open business must wear a face covering of some kind. I guess I need to try to make some masks now with my very limited sewing skills.

Plus I'm dealing with a sick cat that I'm trying to get healthy again after spending a fortune at the emergency vet over the weekend. He went in Friday night and we sprung him out on Easter day. He is slowly making improvements I think but I worry. We have no known cause for his issue.

Well should probably consider getting out of bed soon and starting my day since working at 6:30am next week is gonna be tough with my current lazy schedule.
 
I'm glad you got your points returned to ease that worry. Hope your cat continues to recover and regain full health. I saw online some people making masks using elastic bands and bandannas so you might be able to get some ideas online. I can't sew either-I can knit but I'm rubbish at sewing-and may have been known to use wonderweb or sticky tape to hem trousers and even staples once! I really am that bad at sewing! :rotfl:
 
Your poor kitty! I took our almost 16 year old Jackie to the vet today. He was limping terribly but luckily just a paw sprain.

Cuomo announced today we have to wear masks in public beginning Friday and I'm not thrilled which I know isn't a popular opinion but it's how I feel. Check local moms or county FB groups! Usually lots of people and small businesses advertising making them and we can all use small business support right now!

Be safe at work! Steve is working from home for Starbucks but goes to the restaurant 3 nights a week which is actually saving his sanity lol. I try to stay sane by coming to the DIS and working on a PTR for a change of pace. Hopeful for all of us things look brighter soon!
 


Your poor kitty! I took our almost 16 year old Jackie to the vet today. He was limping terribly but luckily just a paw sprain.

Cuomo announced today we have to wear masks in public beginning Friday and I'm not thrilled which I know isn't a popular opinion but it's how I feel. Check local moms or county FB groups! Usually lots of people and small businesses advertising making them and we can all use small business support right now!

Be safe at work! Steve is working from home for Starbucks but goes to the restaurant 3 nights a week which is actually saving his sanity lol. I try to stay sane by coming to the DIS and working on a PTR for a change of pace. Hopeful for all of us things look brighter soon!
.

Awww...it sucks when the fur kids get sick for sure. I'm not one to run to the vet...my cats rarely go unless they get sick. they are indoor cats so the risk to them is pretty low...I take them to the local animal control for their $5 Rabies Shots when due...that's it. So when I spend...what I don't want to think about...on just one cat it's crazy.

So it wasn't pretty but I managed to create two simple face masks for myself, with the limited fabric I had at home. It's so hard to get fabric anywhere right now. This fabric was used when I created a Fish Extender for my Disney cruise...but it worked:

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Hope Steve stays safe at work as well. We will have very limited staff there and of course also required to wear masks when within 6 feet of anybody else. I have to say I wore this yesterday just to go to the grocery store quickly...and hated it. Ugh.
 
I did my first day of mask wearing grocery shopping today too and was not a fan either. We don't need to wear them when we can maintain adequate distance but in close quarters, it's a must.

Hurray on getting your 2019 points dealt with so easily! Were they banked already? I have 74 2019 points that are banked and I am hoping to use them in Dec (along with 50 of my 2020 points). I guess if worse came to worse I could always trade them to RCI. All I want right now is to be able to go to Disney again. Seems silly in a time like this but is definitely true.
 


o it wasn't pretty but I managed to create two simple face masks for myself, with the limited fabric I had at home. It's so hard to get fabric anywhere right now. This fabric was used when I created a Fish Extender for my Disney cruise...but it worked:
Looks cute! Yeah I tried one on that Steve got last night. Just wore it in the house for a few minutes and I do not like it either. But we do only need to wear when we can't maintain social distance so for now that's basically just the grocery store for me!
I'm not one to run to the vet...my cats rarely go unless they get sick.
I rarely take them either lol except for rabies shots. But given his age, and the fact that Steve, a complete non animal person, and Ricky were both like "He can't walk!!! Call the vet!!" we went.
 
That looks great!!! I love it!! I know what you mean though, I hate the feeling of a mask. Really makes you feel for the health care workers that have to wear them all the time now. Ugh.

Yeah I definitely feel for all the people required to wear masks all day long. Those health care works are simply amazing.

Looks cute! Yeah I tried one on that Steve got last night. Just wore it in the house for a few minutes and I do not like it either. But we do only need to wear when we can't maintain social distance so for now that's basically just the grocery store for me!

I rarely take them either lol except for rabies shots. But given his age, and the fact that Steve, a complete non animal person, and Ricky were both like "He can't walk!!! Call the vet!!" we went.

We have to wear masks in all retail establishments and Noelle said at the McDonald's drive thru earlier this week they wouldn't serve people who were in their cars without masks. I have to wear them at work as well but at least there it's only when we can't maintain the 6 foot rule.

Yeah not walking would surely be reason to take pets to the vet! I have a few more days of drugging my cat twice a day and I'm getting a little bit better each time even though he fights me more now that he's feeling better.
 
Well day whatever of staying at home, though I did put a few days in at the office this week. Our staff is very limited though and we have to wear masks in halls in case we can't stay 6 feet away. It's odd not seeing so many of my employees but I did talk to many of them this week as do call weekly to check in with them.

I'm currently working on a little montage of my kids through the years meeting characters. Since the kids have been going since 2001 there are a lot of videos to comb through so it's going to be a while. However I do have this directory I started a while ago of Chef Mickey photos through the years. Let's see how many I can show here...

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There you have me pregnant in the first one, and this was my in-laws very first trip to Walt Disney World (though as a side note they got married and live in California for a while, and in fact honeymooned at Disneyland and took many trips there...with and without their kids). They were blown away by Walt Disney World...and of course returned with us most of our other trips.

So next up were these...I seem to be missing the photo from our Dec 2009 and June 2011 trip but I'm sure I just didn't scan them. Trust me they are around somewhere.

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Now we move to November 2012:

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There are some trips in Jan 2013 and Sept 2014 with no Chef Mickey. I am guessing with January we it was a short trip and we had just done November there so no traditional meal. I'm not sure why we skipped it in Sept. 2014. However no fear we would return in November 2014:

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That was when we had extra people...my sister in law and nephew.

We would return in July 2015, and while my FIL and MIL joined us...and brought their grandson/our nephew with them, we spent very little time with them on this trip. This was a shame as it would be my MIL's last trip there and she really wanted to spend it with us...but my FIL offerred to take their grandson with them...and she wasn't happy about that. She was in the middle of her cancer battle that she would lose almost exactly 2 years later. This was our first July 4th trip and I enjoyed it...but DH ended up suffering from a terrible allergic reaction almost the entire trip so he was also miserable. He visited 3 or 4 different medical facilities during our time and we spent a lot of time without him. It was a shame because we stayed at the DVD Villas at the Polynesian for the first time and it was fantastic there.

The trip wasn't a total loss as we did do the safari at AK which was outstanding. One of my favorite tours ever. Kids ready to go:

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In November 2016 we returned, this time joined by my family...mom, dad and my brother and SIL and 2 nephews...their very first trip. I gave them some character meal options...and they selected Tusker House. I found that to be a great choice...and it was a fun meal. My parents didn't join us because my mom, also towards the final months of her battle with cancer at the time, wasn't feeling well. She and my dad managed to join us for ONE day at the Magic Kingdom only. It is a photo I'll treasure forever because I know it took all my mom had to make it through most of that day.

So Tusker House and our MK shot instead:

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Soon after my mom passed away, I had my own cancer battle...but we kept this May 2017 trip despite the fact that I was recovering from surgery. Of course we had to return to our favorite Chef:

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In October 2017 we planned a HUGE group trip with friends...and several character meals were included even though all of the kids were close in age to my own, with the oldest being mine at 17. Yet they enjoyed it. This was part of our group...there were actually more of us. Some of them did join us at Tusker House on another day.

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And that brings me to my photo limit here...and not too many more Chef photos since that time but I'll see what I can find next....
 
I swear I had another post after this...probably forgot to actually POST it.

Anyway I am still working on a few home videos. I recently put this up on my FB page (see link below):

Main Street USA



And this one is my kids meeting characters at Chef Mickey in May of 2009. It took my youngest son, who was almost 5 at the time, a while to really warm up to them:

Chef Mickey May 2009

HOPEFULLY the links above work for anybody wanting to view them.
 
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Planning for 2020 or 2021???

So as much as I miss WDW, everything I am reading about the potential phased openings of the parks is starting to concern me. Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to return...but to return to a "World" where things might be so very different just doesn't sound as appealing. I had every thought about planning a spur of the moment trip the week the parks opened...but now I think it might be best to take a wait and see approach to see how things go once they do reopen. It sounds like June is a real possibility, with the 50% capacity rules in place as well as other stuff. I'd still LOVE to go down in July...but if there are no fireworks it would make me a bit sad. I have also read (but haven't confirmed myself) that they have changed the rules on borrowing DVC points and are limiting the amount you can borrow to 50% of your points. This would still get me a few nights stay, but I'd almost rather save the points right now and then plan something big later. My daughter really wants to do a trip next May/June for her HS graduation...and if I could put a group of kids up in a villa maybe that would be extra fun. We'll see. I would be on the early end of booking for June in a non-home resort (rule is 7 months in advance) when I can use those points in December of this year. It would be cool to maybe book Beach Club or something fun.

Anyway it is really looking like 2020 will not be our year to return to Disney, but you never know. I also still have our BG Orlando tickets that I'd love to use this year...again once we see what opening that park back up really looks like as that one might be easier for me to deal with as it doesn't hold as much nostalgia and I wouldn't really miss things there.

Such strange times for sure.
 
Loved your videos. Your kids smiles say it all! I feel like you about waiting until things have opened a while before booking a trip. Think it will be interesting to see how the parks open up and what restrictions are in place. Nice to reminisce about previous trips and your Main Street video brought me right back so thank you!😊
 
Loved your videos. Your kids smiles say it all! I feel like you about waiting until things have opened a while before booking a trip. Think it will be interesting to see how the parks open up and what restrictions are in place. Nice to reminisce about previous trips and your Main Street video brought me right back so thank you!😊

Thanks so much! Glad you were able to see them. Yes the Main Street one takes me back too...all the feels there!
 
Plus I'm dealing with a sick cat that I'm trying to get healthy again after spending a fortune at the emergency vet over the weekend. He went in Friday night and we sprung him out on Easter day. He is slowly making improvements I think but I worry. We have no known cause for his issue.
What's wrong with kitty?
We were in the ER vet back in September with our kitten. She has IBS. Yep, you read that right. Who knew???💩💩💩
 
What's wrong with kitty?
We were in the ER vet back in September with our kitten. She has IBS. Yep, you read that right. Who knew???💩💩💩

So the Friday before Easter we took our 9 year old kitty to the emergency vet because he had vomited that day and wasn't really moving, was breathing heavy, was clearly in distress. Normally cat vomit is no big deal...but the other stuff was concerning because this happened to him about 4 years ago and he ended up in the kitty hospital for a few days while they treated him for some mystery illness causing his liver values to be elevated. This situation seemed similar...and it was the same...his liver values were about 3600...normal for a cat I think is somewhere between 150 and 250? Just like before, we have no idea what caused it. Sometimes they said poison (but he's an indoor cat and very strictly confined to a bedroom now so no access to anything I can think would be poison) can cause this and also pancreatitis or maybe an infection can then attack other organs? Either way he was clearly ill, so he got to spend Friday and Saturday night this time at the vet while they treated him with pain meds and fluids and antibiotics and a liver protectant...thankfully the liver does bounce back very easily. The liver gets worse as the cats don't eat, so it took them about 2 days to get him to start eating food again. Scans of his liver didn't really show anything conclusive...so this was yet another mystery, an expensive one of course for 2 nights at the emergency vet and one that could happen again...we would have no way to predict it. I really struggle with the amount spent on a cat, but he is still a very young and sweet cat and I feel he deserves a chance if we can manage it. So he came home Easter, and we doted on him for days and I made sure to pretty much get him eating every few hours to get him back to normal, and we had pills and liquids to give him as well (such fun) but he's now back to his old cat self. Crazy. The not so funny thing about this is that this cat has had other illness issues in the past and is prone to bladder stones so he's on a very strict prescription diet and he has had surgery to basically remove any remaining "boy" cat parts for him...which now makes him get bladder infections more easily even though the stones we can control so far with diet now. Yeah...my husband calls him the 5 million dollar cat and while that seems funny...we have spent several thousand on him over his short life span. But we love him and he's such a great cat.
 
So after reading @Jenny Sanders report about your upcoming trips and her great flight prices, I thought I'd look into some summer flights myself. Honestly the SWA flights are still a bit high for my liking unless I want to go at the end of August...and the latest I'm looking at might be early or mid August.

Of course I also have Spirit credit that I need to BOOK by September. We will see how that works out.

So just for fun I did check out some dates in August last night. I priced out Caribbean Beach and Shades of Green and since Shades would cost me about half as much I think we'd go with that...since we would be visiting other parks anyway such as SeaWorld and BG Tampa with our 2 day tickets that we have...so I guess I need to wait and see what happens with those parks first.

I guess my biggest concern is that for now, if I travel outside of the state, I would need to self quarantine for some time so that makes travel a little more difficult.

Nothing else exciting to report around here. I did break down this morning and trimmed my own hair. It was just getting too long in the back and I decided I had had enough. I actually thing it turned out pretty well...but I only took a few inches off the ends and nothing else. It does feel much better.

So for now I'm going to hope that MAYBE an early to mid August trip will be possible. If not, it will probably be 2021.
 

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