We had been talking about a family trip for a while now, without being able to pull one off. A Disney World trip for the end of the month eventually became possible, so we will be spending four days together at a Disney Resort. With Anne's mobility problems, she and I don't plan to do much, except for the occasional ride or dinner. Joe Jr is doing all the planning, so as I type this I have only a vague idea what would happen.
Ellie decided to spend a few extra days in the area, so her family flew down to Orlando yesterday (Friday 3/22). It had been a while since we visited the Fort Myers area, so we decided to fly down here and then drive to the Orlando area. Joe Jr's family will come down only for the Disney activities.
Saturday 3/23. For a few days the weather forecast for NJ had been calling for heavy rains starting Friday night, perhaps up to 5 inches (which would be a lot). United also sent out a notice allowing free itinerary changes due to the impending weather. I had booked a 4:10 pm flight (probably because it was cheaper), and made a change to an earlier flight, so if things indeed got delayed it would still not be very late when we get in. For the original flight both Anne and I were next on the upgrade list, but only I ended up getting upgraded on UA2033. The 757 is configured with lie-flat seats, so Anne really enjoyed the 2:50 hour plane ride. The plane is over 29 years old, but the interior is still in excellent condition.
We departed the gate on time, but as we were close to the runway the pilot announced there was a stop to all departures (evidently planes could still land). This was a first for me. After about 30 minutes or so we finally took off, about one hour late. We landed about 30 minutes behind schedule. Our original flight? It was on schedule, so it landed about 50 minutes after ours did.
Car rental at Dollar was quite straightforward. I reserved a compact, and there were two cars left in that section. The "other" car was quickly claimed, so there were none left. The car I have is a KIA Forte which is not small. When we drove by Avis we saw this long line of people waiting, so rental car availability is still an issue.
It was still daylight when we drove to the hotel in North Fort Myers, and it seemed like a lot has changed. Indeed the hotel I am at may have been built since our last visit to the area. We decided to eat first (at Chick-fil-A) before checking in.
This 757 has 16 lie-flat seats. I was upgraded, Anne was so close.
Thai meatballs and cheesecake in first class. I ate the muffin I bought from CIBO Express.
Few rental cars in the Compact category were available at RSW. I drove away the last one.
Accommodations: Fairfield Inn Cape Coral/North Fort Myers (3 nights).
Sunday 3/24. Our intention for this side trip is to visit some of our "old haunts" and perhaps visit some friends in the area.
For today we first drove to Marina South in Cape Coral and walked around the area. It has gotten a lot busier since we last visited, which is good. Next was lunch at the Fish and Chips place we "discovered" seven years ago in North Fort Myers. I was somewhat disappointed as the food seems to have gotten "Americanized" quite a bit. That was followed by Manatee Park where we sighted one (or perhaps two) manatee swimming leisurely about. It didn't seem to have the scars often seen on the backs of manatees indicating hits by boat propellers. A good sign, if indeed boaters have gotten more conscientious. Reviewing the blog entry from seven years ago, those were exactly the same areas we visited. Nostalgia, anyone?
We drove to Peter's house in Port Charlotte and spend a few hours with him and Sarah. Sarah prepared dinner for us.
Last time we visited the Marina South area only a couple of these "Funky Fish Houses" were built. Now all the lots have houses on them - some are incomplete, some are being sold. There are also some townhouses thrown in the mix.
We really enjoyed this place when we visited 7 years ago (per Google Maps). Still good, but not as much today.
Compared to our first visit, the food had a more "American" feel to it.
Manatee Park.
The "structure" in the middle of the photo is a manatee. Probably young, given its size. I didn't see any scars on its back, so that's a good thing.
With Sarah and Peter at their house in Port Charlotte.
On the way back we drove by Fisherman's Wharf in Punta Gorda. The place seemed to have gone upscale quite a bit since we last visited.
Monday 3/25. Hurricane Ian of September 2022 caused substantial damage in this part of Florida. Part of the causeway connecting Sanibel Island to the mainland collapsed and the island was isolated for a while. Traffic per Google Maps into and out of the island is usually bad. But much of the island is open, and visitors are welcome, so we decided to give it a go.
Traffic was indeed a problem. We left our hotel at around 11:30 am, the drive to the Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge takes 50 minutes without traffic; it took us about 90 minutes. The trip from the Refuge to Naples should take just over an hour, this afternoon it took 2 1/2 hours: in addition to the huge traffic jam to leave Sanibel, the traffic in the Naples area was also very bad; the latter can be attributed to the snow birds.
One has to be amazed at how fast the area has recovered in the less than two years since the hurricane hit. At the place we have lunch (Sanibel Deli) there are posters of news articles about how the owner and his son kayaked from the mainland about 2 weeks after Ian. There are photos of the damage caused, and the restaurant is running again. It is difficult not to compare them with some areas that are still struggling years after a hurricane hit.
We saw more birds than we expected. The booth agent told us a short walk from the entrance were some nesting birds. We saw anhingas, green herons, and ospreys at that location. Along the drive we saw some groups of roseate spoonbills.
York has lived in Florida for about nine years already. We see him every now and then either in NJ or here. We had dinner at Food and Thought. It was good to catch up.
We have rented Kayaks and taken boat rides from this location before. Kayaks are still available, but the boats all broken apart when Hurricane Ian hit a couple of years ago.
The female anhinga has this white neck and head.
A green heron?
The heron's nest.
Quite a few ospreys are around.
We saw a couple of groups of roseate spoonbills. Wonder what the pelican and the heron are doing there.
While we were stuck in traffic on the island, this osprey decided to stop in front of us.
With York at Food and Thought in Naples.
We last visited the museum in January 2009. I recall the building as being a bit dumpy. The museum moved to its present premises in 2011. There is some explanation of what surrealism is, and how it started as a reaction to the first world war. One thing about Dali that I didn't realize was that he admired the impressionists greatly. A more careful examination of the displays probably would teach a lot about Dali, which we didn't do.
A ship hit the Sunshine Sky Bridge in 1980, and the bridge collapsed. This opened in 1987. Tampa Bay is crisscrossed by several long bridges.
Dali was an admirer of impressionist paintings. He was 18 when he said what's quoted above.
The Dali Museum collection started with this purchase of "Daddy Longleg of the Evening - Hope!" by the Morses in 1943.
This was painted when Dali was about 18.
Retrospective Bust of a Woman. If one looks up this term one sees a reference to a collection at the Met. Not sure what to make of it.
But the meaning of the bust is clear (!?).
This painting is titled "Galacidalacidesoxiribunucleicacid" which is meant as a "Homage to Crick and Watson." DNA molecules on the left, the flood in the middle references a deadly flood in Barcelona in 1963, and the cubes are soldiers with guns. The figures denote God saving his son. Dali tries to connect modern art to the weighty themes of traditional life, so I read.
Joe posed on this bench back in 2009.
This dome contains an exhibit on Dali's life. We didn't visit.
Inside the museum.
When we got to Saratoga Springs Resort, it was about 6 pm. Joe Jr had already checked us into the room, which was quite straightforward to find. Along the way we bought a few food items from a nearby Publix, and had burgers at the Fat Burger shop nearby.
Ellie's family has a one bedroom apartment, and Joe Jr and we are sharing a 2-bedroom. Joe's family landed at around 8 pm, so they didn't get in until 9 pm.
The living/dining area of our room in Saratoga Springs Resort.
This bedroom has a king sized bed. The other bed room has two queen sized beds. And in the living area one finds three additional sleeping spaces - for a total of 9.
Accommodations: Disney Saratoga Springs Resort (5 nights).
Wednesday 3/27. For the next few days we will be in Walt Disney World. Joe Jr - the travel agent - has been making the arrangements for the entire trip, including when and what we will be visiting. While he takes Anne's limited mobility in account, the days would still involve considerable amount of walking. Having a handicapped placard helps as we have been able to save a considerable number of steps.
For today we are visiting Animal Kingdom. Strategic purchases of Lightning Lanes make waiting in line not much of an issue. The first ride we got on, "Flight of Passage," had a standby wait time of 155 minutes. We could basically just walk on and ride this simulator. After another couple of rides we had lunch at Tusker House, a buffet restaurant with Disney characters coming to do a song and dance, and take picture with the kids (of all ages). We got back to the hotel mid-afternoon and the kids went swimming. Joe Jr got some burgers for dinner.
Yes, she finished the whole bar, except form a small piece that fell off.
We walk across this to get to Ellie's apartment.
Thursday 3/28. Today the ten of "them" went on a VIP tour, a rather expensive undertaking that allows the participants to bypass waiting lines at various attractions. Anne and I just drove around to visit our "old haunts." It was about 40 years ago that we brought our kids to WDW for the first time (Joe Jr was maybe 3 or 4), and we have visited a few times the last few years because of the grandchildren. In any case, we drove around Kissimmee and International Drive. Last time we did Kissimmee we were surprised at how run down some of the sections were, today things looked quite different. International Drive used to be a nightmare to drive on because of traffic, today things were okay - no parking on the street, the parking has been moved to the back.
Breakfast was at Waffle House, and we were surprised that (i) it wasn't as inexpensive as we remembered; and (ii) it wasn't as "redneck" as it reputation would suggest - lots of families, and a good racial mix.
Dinner for Anne and me was at Longhorn Steakhouse. The ribeye steak was a bit of a disappointment.
Disney offers these After Hours event for selected parks from 10 pm to 1 am. For tonight it was EPCOT, and the price was $159. One could start the "party" as early as 7 pm, although the park would still be quite crowded as it doesn't close until 9. The Disney buses were running sporadically (bad traffic) so Joe Jr and I took a Lyft to the park. We did Spaceship Earth at 9:20 pm, and finished with Remy at about 12:15 pm. In that 3 hour time slot we basically walked from attraction t attraction, with none to minimal wait times (some of them still took a while because of pre-shows), packing away nine of them (the others were: Test Track 2x, Space green, Moana Walk, The Seas with Nemo and Friends, Soaring, Figment; Joe skipped Space). After our first "Test Track" run the operator just offered us a second time around without our needing to get off. Those two back-to-back rides, however, caused a nauseousness feeling that I couldn't completely shake for the rest of the evening. Also, the Figment ride was a lot less exciting without the Dream Catcher. The Skyliners weren't running, and most eateries were closed; but soft drinks, ice cream, and pop corn were free. I had an ice cream sandwich. It was around 1 am that we got back to the hotel.
Breakfast at Waffle House cost $23.
Reminded me of these artificial plants in Singapore.
Test Track allows a rider to design his own car. This is what I made. Turned out not be be very good per their evaluation. The actual ride was on a track with multiple twists and turns, with indicated speed of close to 65 mph. After riding it consecutively, I was this close to being nauseous.
Space offers "easy" and "difficult" training.
I was the only one in the "easy" training. There were more people in the difficult section. The gentle ride didn't help with my being nauseous, though. I circled the earth once.
Flower show at EPCOT.
There is a Moana "walkthrough." We are supposed to be surprised by something.
Friday 3/29. We started our day at Hollywood Studios a bit late. Jess didn't go, so there were 11 of us. We started with Smugglers' Run, followed by Rise of Resistance. The latter had a simple story line: some resistance fighters (tourists) were captured and interrogated, but were broken out and saved by their colleagues. The twist is some live actors were used in the ride. For lunch Anne and I shared a hot dog. The park visit concluded with Alien Saucers, a shooting game (forget its fancy name, and CC wasn't happy that I beat her), and a Frozen show. Anne and I went back to the hotel with CC, but took a detour on a Cable Car ride along the way.
Grandma loves moments like this.
Not concerned they are held captive.
We escaped in one of these capsules.
The Frozen sing-along.
Taking a cable car ride to/from Caribbean Beach.
The two couples went to have dinner, an expensive one at the Grand Floridian. As I type this, Anne is babysitting the Cheung kids, and I am babysitting the Garsson kids.
Saturday 3/30. After breakfast at Steakhouse 71 in the Contemporary Resort, we visited Magic Kingdom. We got on several rides, including Peter Pan, Dumbo, Under the Sea, and Beauty and the Beast. Of course we shouldn't forget It's a Small World, we still joked about Emmie's being afraid of the hippopotamus - her eyelashes, it turned out.
Lunch was at Crystal Palace. Different characters came by to greet the dining guests.
Anne and I tried to clear the frig by eating as much leftovers as possible. We also went to Disney Springs via boat; to our surprise there is an extensive network of launches for various locations in WDW.
The Contemporary Resort must be over 50 years old. It still has a modern feel to it. Here waiting for the monorail to Magic Kingdom.
Getting ready for the Under the Sea ride.
Waiting in line for Dumbo the Elephant.
I didn't get on this one.
Waiting for our table at Crystal Palace.
They called for me to join them, but I didn't hear.
Everyone (except Reid?) in the act.
Waiting for the launch to take us to Disney Springs.
Disney Springs was very busy when we visited.
Sunday 3/31. Time to go home. United sent a message saying our flight would be delayed 30 minutes, so we took our time leaving the hotel. A subsequent message said the delay was only 20 minutes. The car return and security processes at Orlando Airport were quite straightforward, so we had no problems with getting to the gate on time. CLEAR, again, wasn't a time-saver. The Garsson family was already at the gate.
On this flight Ellie, Everly, and Anne got upgraded seats. The rest of us sat in coach, which was not an issue.
This was an expensive trip for the twelve of us. As the commercial says, the chance for all of us to be together for a few days? Priceless.
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