Well...Trip 3 of 3 in the books

iphone shots from Cali Grill

BTW Cali Grill- was OK. I was saavy enough not to buy into the hype this time, so I wasn't too let down. Not too different from the old CG. One of the better places to have a fancy meal in the World. In NY, Chicago, or LA, this place cuts its prices in 1/2 or doesn't survive. It's just another restaurant. But the location and view are pretty. If you have some cash to burn, by all means indulge.

I can't wait to see this. Sounds adorable. They should do more holiday overlays on the rides.

A Tale of Two Toes

Here is a story
Sad but true
About two toes
One turned blue
Ugliest toes you've ever seen
Maybe a slight case of gangrene

If you have a weak stomach, don't look at the picture at the end.

A brief story of podiatric distress; background- I have never had any type of foot problems. I am well known for being a good soldier and marching endlessly without complaint. Anyway, I cut my big toenail a little too short. It gave me a slight pain in my big toe. This was a few days before my F&W trip. Against all common sense, I went to the podiatrist two days before my trip. The diagnosis was a hangnail, which he quickly snipped away and I walked out of his office without pain. The next day, no pain again, all is well. On the day of my trip, I wake up and the toe is red and angry. Well, nothing to be done about it, I'll play through the pain.

I arrive in Disney with my throbbing toe and I decide that I need to have this toe out and unencumbered. So after checking in at the Boardwalk, I hobbled down to the general store and bought a nice loose pair of Crocs. OK- after this brief pit-stop I'm back in the race.

The plan for day-one was to walk over to Epcot because it was the soft opening day of F&W. Anyway, by the time I got to Epcot, the big toe on my other foot had been skinned. The new Crocs had really done a number on my good foot. The skin on the top of my big toe was gone. Now that toe was in worse shape than the original hangnail toe. I was really in bad shape now with two red, raw, throbbing big toes.

So, off to Mouse Gear; they were nice enough to let me trade in the new crocs for another pair of Classic Crocs. Then off to the first aid station for heavy duty bandages and Bacitracin. It wound up that bandaging these toes heavily and wearing sneakers was the best solution for comfort. So that was what I had to do for the balance of the trip.

When I got home I returned to the podiatrist and naturally I had an in-grown toenail and a nice infection. This time he had to do a little surgery on the toe and put me on antibiotics for a week. The other toe slowly got well without any help except for band aids.

Rookie mistakes almost ruined my trip. But I hung in there and everything turned out toe-rrific.

Gross..I know

The Foot and Whine festival.

Disney World, I am in you again

I will probe gently this evening and make deep penetration tomorrow.

Me love Disney beaucoup long time

We just renewed our wedding vows in the Rose Garden in MK- awesome.

I told you I would make deep penetration

Thanks everyone - Mrs Colonel was floored.

IPhone shots

I'm back from the World. A full report is forthcoming. Included topics:

Child abuse can be useful

Duffy is a bigot

Le Cellier's penalty box

Pixies go Ninja

Stay tuned...

Now why would you think I would print anything dirty?

This was the third work in my trilogy of 2013 trips to WDW. It was added to my itinerary when I realized a few months ago that I had a few points left in my account, an annual pass and a hankering to see the Christmas decorations in Disney World. I haven't been to the World for the holidays since 2006/2007 when I arrived the day after Christmas and left a couple of days after New Year's Day, so it's been a while.

I had to waitlist the Beach Club Villas, which came through pretty quickly. BCV is, by far, my favorite resort. The Boardwalk is a distant second. I own DVC at both of those. Since I was scrounging points, (I had to buy six to make this work) we stayed in a studio. We got a very nice one, on the ground floor, close to the Breezeway; convenient with quick access/exit.

There was a slight issue with the magic bands before we started. I had a PAP. My wife had a certificate to exchange for a PAP. DVC members will know what I am talking about. Anyway, since my wife didn't have her admission media yet, she could not access FP+. So we couldn't make FP selections till we got down there and by that time, most of the good time spots were gone.

I was so flustered that I couldn't make fast pass selections, that I bought my wife an annual pass. In a moment of early onset senility, I forgot about the voucher I had to exchange for a Premium Annual Pass that I had already paid for and that expires 12/31/2013. Duh! Disney was good enough to reverse the transaction, even though it said it was a final transaction.

Another pre-trip snafu. When I went to add all my reservations to My Disney Experience, I realized that somehow they put my Candle Light Processional Dinner Package on the wrong day. Luckily I was able to get it changed to the right day. However, I lost Via Napoli and had to eat at Rose & Crown. But disaster was averted as one of my main reasons for this trip was the CP and I wanted good seats.

I got accustomed to using the Magic Bands and My Disney Experience but I have reservations about the direction all this is heading. I don't mind a bit of pre-trip planning, but it's starting to get a bit much now; reservations 11 months in advance, ADRs 6 months out, now FP selections before I even get there? It's taking all spontaneity out of the trip in exchange for adding anxiety about showing up at all these scheduled events and keeping a time table. FP for parades and fireworks? ADRs for Beaches and Cream? This is an OCD's dream come true. Where will this end? This is a vacation after all!

It was a little difficult to pack for this time of year. Will it be cold, hot or both? I was hoping for hot. It wound up pretty cold.

I left work early and took a Thursday 3pm flight and arrived at the World at about 5:30 pm. The flight was fine. We were greeted by name after we arrived on DME- that was a first and a good sign. By the time we checked in and freshened up, it was about 7:30. We planned to head to DTD, do some shopping and eat. Maybe Jelly Rolls later if we were up to it.

I was pretty hungry so I suggested trying Wolfgang Puck Express. It looked so good on one of the posts here that I wanted to try it. Mrs. Colonel was reluctant to give up EoS, but surprised me by agreeing to it. I like the system at WPE; you order and then sit and they bring you the food. Much easier than EoS. The food wasn't bad. I had pizza and it was alright. It looked better than it tasted. The Mrs. had chicken tenders. Maybe the pastas are good? Anyway, it was OK. The waiter was very attentive and he acted like I was the first person who ever tipped him. Odd.

Off to shop. My daughter is getting married in June so it seems like it is non-stop shopping for the shower and her new apartment and Christmas. We bought a bunch of stuff in the Christmas store and some more in WoD.

We stopped at Ghiradelli's. They have a terrible system there. It's just a huge mass of people. There is a line to order, then stand around and wait, shoulder to shoulder. People didn't even know where the line was because the place was so crowded with people who already ordered. There has to be a better way.

We strolled around with our lattes for a while and then we were getting a bit tired. After anticipating this trip for so long, DTD on a Thursday night was a bit anti-climactic. But at least we got some shopping
done. Woo-hoo! It was a long day, so we called it a night and headed back home.

We got off the bus at the Swan with the plan of strolling back via the Boardwalk. And that damn light house was still not lit. It hasn't been lit since the end of August. That is driving me a little nuts at this point. It is very indicative of the failure to pay attention to detail that used to be one of the hallmarks of Disney. And it looks crappy.

We need sleep. Tomorrow will be a full day. I have a little surprise planned for Mrs. The Colonel in the morning (not that!) and MVMCP in the evening.