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Having just come back from Disney, there were numerous things we figured out AFTER we were at the park. I thought I’d share them with you:

• Bring frozen PB&J with you. The PB&J Disney sells is the same ones you can buy in the grocery store, only they’re not $3 each. Save some money
• Parking can be overwhelming. As you walk to the end of your parking isle, it’s labeled. If you have a digital camera, take a picture of it so you can look it up later. Or, send yourself a text message with the lot name and row number. If you’re geocaching in the park, mark the location of your car before you leave it
• 2 bottles of water with 1 frozen bottle in-between wrapped in towel stays cold all day long.
• Ask for a few cubes of ice in your coffee. 3 creams, 2 sugar. It’s not the same Disney coffee as before.
• We went in a group of 10, and didn’t get much done when we were all together. Everyone has different interests. Break up into smaller groups.
• I think I mentioned this before, but when Epcot opens, go see the characters - no line
• Skip the Velcro show. It was lame.

This entry was posted by Eric on Wednesday, February 27th, 2008 at 7:59 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

We’re now back from Disney… back to the cold, back in time for a winter storm, back to Buffalo politics. I’ve posted the photos today after geotagging them & adding captions to most.

We left on Thursday after the kids got home from school - scheduled to leave at 4:00 and we pulled out at 4:01. Laura’s Aunt Patty, Uncle Dave and cousin Kristine left shortly after us (Laura’s mom & dad were already on their way). Our plan was to drive straight through, only napping if necessary. Once we entered South Carolina, I had to stop and sleep. I think that was about 3:30 in the morning - the kids were fast asleep, and Laura had been asleep for a while as well. So I slept until about 4:45, then back in the car for a short trip to McDonald’s (potty, coffee and a bite to eat). As I was sitting in the car, I noticed Laura’s uncle inside! Imagine that - a 1200 mile trip and we stop at the same McDonald’s! After that, we kept in touch with each other. At lunch, Patty suggested we go to Blue Spring State Park and see the manatees that are there. It was along the way, but Laura called anyway to see if the manatees were actually there - well they were! For a $5 entry fee, we were able to see 85 manatees in the wild! I’ve never seen a manatee in the wild before, so that was really cool.

We arrived at Orange Lake, checked in, enjoyed a cup of coffee, then went to bed. After being awake for 39 hours, with a 1:15 nap in there, I was really tired. We were staying in our week 7 unit in the tennis villas. It was really nice and I’m happy with the purchase.

The next day (Saturday), we had the usual sales presentation at the resort. I was OK going to it, as I had questions for them about some things. However, I’d only buy timeshares on ebay if I ever buy another. They’re about 1/3 the price than if bought from the resort. But, we showed up 2 minutes late and they didn’t have anyone to entertain us, so we left and checked out the new River Island water park. This opened 2 months after our last time there, so it was all new to us. 2 pools, connected by a lazy river, with cabanas around it, a sand beach with hammocks, hot tub and a water slide. Really nice.

Afterwards, we went to Downtown Disney so the girls could get makeovers at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique (their birthday present from Aunt Patty & Uncle Dave). They got their nails done, makeup on, hair pulled back and extensions put in. With their princess dresses, they looked even more beautiful than usual. Everyone was smiling at them as we walked from store to store.

After the makeovers, we did some quick shopping & had dinner as we waited for Mom & Dad Bishop to arrive at Orange Lake. When we got back to the condo, the Shimos moved into our other unit (Saturday to Saturday - this is important, as you’ll see later) and the Bishops arrived later that night.

Sunday we went to Animal Kingdom for our first day in the parks. Nothing special there, really, except Laura went on the Expedition Everest roller coaster. Again, it was something not there last time we were there. It was nice & hot on Sunday - up to 85!

On Monday we were up very early to get the girls all done up again and off to have breakfast with the princesses at the Magic Kingdom. This was our Christmas gift to the Bishops & Shimos and if you go to Disney, something you should really consider. First, you get into the park early, so you can get some nice photos without tons of people in the background. Second, the breakfast is very, very good (especially the sausage!). You get to meet Cinderella, then other princesses (Snow White, Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), Belle and Jasmine) come around to each table as you eat. This year the photos with Cinderella are included with the breakfast. We spent much of the day at the Magic Kingdom, but a late rain sent us home near dusk. We took the monorail from Magic Kingdom to the Ticket & Transportation Center and Laura and the kids got to ride up front with the driver!

Tuesday was MGM Studios, now Hollywood Studios. This is one I plan on skipping next time (yes, already planning next time). I took the girls back to the condo in the afternoon and we played in the pool for a bit before heading back. Laura and Jason stayed until after Fantasmic at MGM and got home late.

Wednesday we went to Epcot. Becca and I split off from the others, as we both avoid rides and breaking up a large group allows everyone to get more done. Right after the park opened, cast members were practically begging people to get in line to see Mickey & others, so we took care of that right away. Then we went to the new Nemo ride, which was amazing. Spaceship Earth was also redone since our last visit, which had some good improvements and some lame ones.

Thursday was supposed to be our last day on vacation, so we went back to Magic Kingdom. Again Becca and I split off and did our thing (shows & slow rides). This time, we stayed for the SpectroMagic parade and fireworks at night!

Now I say Thursday was supposed to be our last day on vacation as we were supposed to check out on Friday. But a band of heavy storms with tornadoes kept us there for another day (oh, what a shame!). So we moved to our other unit with the Bishops & Shimos, spent the day at River Island and Laura and I went back to Downtown Disney that night.

At 6AM on Saturday we were on the road and shortly before 6AM on Sunday we were home again - and boy, is it cold here!

We plan on going back in 2010, but may take 2 weeks then. Laura wants to go to the Harry Potter park at Universal and I’d like to spend some time actually relaxing on vacation, rather than being constantly on the run. For now, it’s back to the real world: work and school. No more traveling ’til Boston in August!

This entry was posted by Eric on Monday, February 25th, 2008 at 8:10 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Less than a month to go before the dreaded drive down to Florida. At least I have something to look forward to once we get there.

Florida weather for today: Partly cloudy with a slight chance of showers. Highs in the mid 70s.

Buffalo weather for today: Lake effect Snow and Blowing Snow Advisory in effect from 3 PM this afternoon to 9 PM EST this evening… Cloudy and becoming windy. Light snow developing later this morning…with some heavier snow showers possible later this afternoon. Accumulation 1 to 3 inches. Highs in the lower 30s. South winds 10 to 15 mph…becoming southwest and increasing to 15 to 25 mph. Chance of snow 90 percent.

This entry was posted by Eric on Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008 at 8:48 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

We’re back from vacation in Williamsburg, where we stayed at the Wyndham Kingsgate. We exchanged our week in Orange Lake in January to go here; through RCI, we’ve stayed in CT, New Orleans, and Hershey. Now that we own 2 weeks, we’re sure to go elsewhere.

However, our time at Kingsgate was depressing for an RCI-affiliated resort. I took the time to write a review for RCI, and thought I’d post it here, too

We just got home from our trip to Williamsburg, and let’s just say we’re glad to be home. The Williamsburg area itself is beautiful, and there’s something for everyone – historic Williamsburg, Busch Gardens, shopping, Jamestown, and plenty of family-friendly restaurants. But the time we spent at this resort was by far the downside to our vacation.

At check-in, was not notified of phones not working (they didn’t work all week). While this prevented the sales guys from calling us all week, it also prevented us from calling maintenance (and we had to a few times). Luckily, we had our cell phones with us.

The $5 / day activities fee was hard to justify; we played golf, went to the arcade, and did a craft with the kids, but wasn’t worth $35. At golf, kids were running all over the course, unsupervised, even though signs stated if you were 14 or under, you were to be accompanied by an adult. It was mayhem, and we were glad when our round of mini-golf was over.

The golf area, pool, and activities center was crammed into the center of the resort complex. The pool is a salt-water pool, which I hear is a new fad, but the kids weren’t fond of getting a mouthful of salt water while swimming. A couple of times we were at the pool during scorching hot days, but the poolside bar was closed both times. I never saw it open at all.

We were arriving late, so we called ahead. Woman on phone was friendly; we requested a first floor room, since there are no elevators and we have 3 small children. Requested one again at check-in, but none were available. We should’ve requested a top-floor room.

The master bath above us leaked through the fan above our tub, so we didn’t get to use our master bath. While maintenance informed the occupants above us of this problem, that didn’t stop them from using theirs.

In addition, you could hear every movement made by the occupants above us; it wasn’t so bad, until Friday night when a new family was moving in for the week, and kept us awake until midnight.

When we arrived, as usual, we took a quick look around to make sure everything was in order, before settling in. Immediately we noticed the sliding glass door heading out to the balcony wouldn’t close; it was when we tried to call maintenance that we realized the phones were out of order. Using our cell phones, we got though and, to their credit, maintenance arrived and fixed the problem within 20 minutes or so. I’d say that was the highlight of our stay at the resort. The two times we called them (sliding door & leaking tub), they arrived quickly and were extremely pleasant to work with.

With the kids, we like cooking and eating at our unit (it’s just easier for us). Cooking utensils were scarce (not a single baking sheet) and we had to improvise to get through dinners.

The bed (complete with rust-stains on the bed sheets) was nothing spectacular. I don’t know if it was the bed, or the trampling above us and the constant drip-drip-drip of the upstairs bath leaking into ours that made for an uncomfortable night’s sleep.

The RCI description mentions “tanning bed, … and on-site masseuse”, which I didn’t see at all while there. The resort itself is easy to get to, and close to all of the area attractions. I believe our exchange sheet said there was a $4 / day activities charge, which we paid $5 / day. Not a big deal, but it’s time to update the description.

In closing, while I’d recommend the Williamsburg area for a nice, slow-paced family vacation, I would not recommend staying at this particular resort.

Looking forward to Disney in ‘08!

This entry was posted by Eric on Monday, August 27th, 2007 at 11:23 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

I can’t stand auction sniping. Never liked it. My theory is that if someone comes in with 10 seconds left and places a bid, the auction should be extended. Not by 5 minutes, but maybe 15 or so. Base it on the bid history and the auction amount. If it’s the only bid, then there’s no need to extend it. But if there’s 5 bidders, maybe extend the auction an hour.

A few months ago, I lost an auction by $30 due to sniping. It was a week at Orange Lake: week 2 of the year. Since we own week 1, I thought it’d be nice to have week 2, too, so (later in life) Laura and I could get away for 2 weeks in a row.

After I lost that auction, I started looking for week 7. Our school district gives one week off for Easter “Spring Recess” and one week for President’s Day, which happens to always fall on week 7 of the year.

Recently, a timeshare for week 7 at Orange Lake came up, so I placed a bid. I was outbid, and decided I really wanted this. Since an auction I wanted earlier was sniped from my grasp, I decided it was time to get dirty and win this auction. I turned to AuctionStealer and within 2 minutes, my account was created and my bid placed.

I was working last night, but watching the clock. At 8:59, I turned to eBay and refreshed the Orange Lake auction and found I had won! AuctionStealer placed a bid with 20 seconds left and snagged the auction for me!

Now, 20 seconds was close, but not close enough for me. I thought it’d be 10 seconds… next time, I may upgrade to their paid service to ensure I win the auction.

This entry was posted by Eric on Monday, August 13th, 2007 at 8:05 am and is filed under Family, Technology, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

It’s been a long week, even longer for Laura, but I’m coming home today! Paul and I are going to sit down & get some work done, and then I leave for the airport in a couple of hours. I can’t wait to be home… if it’s not raining, I hope to be relaxing in my hot tub tonight.

It’s been a good time, and next I have to talk to Laura about going to London in the fall. It’s hard with the kids, though… to bring them or not? I don’t think both Laura and I could go without them for this period of time - it’s OK knowing Laura is with them while I’m gone, but if we’re both gone, it’d be harder. Well, first things first: get the passports in line.

Make sure you keep up with the photos - I uploaded some more last night, including some video from our Everglades tour.

I’ll post a recap over the weekend…. or maybe while I’m stuck in Phillie later today.

This entry was posted by Eric on Thursday, July 12th, 2007 at 9:20 am and is filed under Photos, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.