Trip Report One enormous BirthdayversaryPalooza! aka 2 Broke Guys & a dog & Irma COMPLETED

We've been using the "2 Broke Guys" moniker for so long now, we've outlasted the TV show "2 Broke Girls" on which it was based. (Canceled!)

The idea was a year+ of saving Disney Chase Visa points to see if we could go to Victoria & Albert's for our 10 year wedding anniversary completely on their dime - and keeping a running total including additions and withdrawals (for little WDW trips along the way) much like they did at the end of every episode of that TV show - like this:

$1,678.91

And that figure is actually what we have left to spend on our trip - about double what we would need for our V&A dinner! Not to mention: points paid for our 2 AP's, some of our lodging for this trip, and many mini-trips along the way. All that meandering, planning, brainstorming and trip reporting is on this thread:

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...table-of-contents.909657/page-43#post-7874545

But that can take awhile. I'll give a little background in another post. Shout out to @dizfan917 for accidentally naming this thread in a post on that one, and to @Tuvalu for inspiring the "mother thread" with links to other thread(s) format.

Also to all those who have been following all this time! As those folks know, I go back and forth between posting with my phone and my laptop, and I'm more comfortable on the laptop. I'm using the phone now, whilst not asleep in Orlando, and anxious to get this first post out of the way before I do something to accidentally make it go poof! I will tag the others in a separate post.

Can't believe we're finally here!!
 

Tony the Tigger

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Picking up where we left off (which feels more and more insane under present conditions) it started to lightly rain, so we went to the Odyssey. Once inside, it started pouring.

We got another flight of beer, something that was basically a pretzel cone filled with mac & cheese & ground beef - ok - and the scotch egg wrapped in sausage. The rain didn't last long. On the way to the restroom:

IMG_2524.JPG


Can we not think of something creative to do here?

This ride was a walk-on:

IMG_2527.JPG
 

Tony the Tigger

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The tees were a hit. They seemed to invite people to chat us up. Several mostly younger people while walking by at various times yelled out, "love the shirts!"

There were also a few puzzled looks. I don't think anyone was outright hostile LOL.

There was a big family from Arkansas in line in front of us for the Chase pictures. They congratulated us and we had a nice chat.
 

SSH

Well-Known Member
You both look so relaxed and happy in those character pics - great smiles. The shirts are awesome! I can't remember - were they a surprise for Brian or did he know about them before you left? Just wondering what his reaction was.
 

Tony the Tigger

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
You met the Duggars?! :jawdrop: :hilarious:

Ha!

You both look so relaxed and happy in those character pics - great smiles. The shirts are awesome! I can't remember - were they a surprise for Brian or did he know about them before you left? Just wondering what his reaction was.

They were a surprise that was given the day we drove up. (When I have surprises, I hate waiting lol.) He was into it!

Adorable shirts! Looks like you guys are having a good time!

It was a great time - thanks!

I'm going to step out of the TR for just a moment to update our Irma status, and the TR will fill in how it all came about. (I posted some on the Irma thread already.)

We are safe. We are still in Orlando (Kissimmee) at a big hotel near Arabian Nights. Brian's Dad and two brothers and their families came here from Melbourne, WPB, and Ft Lauderdale and we are all on the same floor with kitchens, etc. Kylie is with us because the hotel waived their pet policy. She is fine (but I wish she would poop soon! I keep walking her lol. Pretty soon that will not be fun.)

Nothing has hit here yet. Curfew is from 7pm tonight until 6pm Monday. We are hoping to leave on Tuesday to go home. We think our home will fare much better than we thought a few days ago, and are monitoring via neighbors and friends on Facebook, text, Zello, etc.

And yes, we have wine, beer, and Crown Royal apple. :)

So far, so good.
 

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
The tees were a hit. They seemed to invite people to chat us up. Several mostly younger people while walking by at various times yelled out, "love the shirts!"

There were also a few puzzled looks. I don't think anyone was outright hostile LOL.

There was a big family from Arkansas in line in front of us for the Chase pictures. They congratulated us and we had a nice chat.
I'm glad no one has been hostile. My brother has been attacked before, but he's such a HUGE guy, it's amazing that anyone would even TRY to start something with him. I would hope Disney would be a pretty safe place, though. I'm glad you seem to be received pretty well!
 

Tony the Tigger

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Just another quick "real time" update: we are all fine.

This place - Vacation Village - on 192 in Kissimmee was great. Nice, clean, full amenities, kitchen, separate bedroom/living room, and they let us bring the pup, so we were all together. Supposedly the worst was last night, so after having family dinner and playing board games in his brother's room with the lights flickering here and there, we cranked up the a/c and cooked a couple of frozen things, anticipating we would lose power overnight. The hotel has no generator to run the rooms, just the emergency lights.

Woke up freezing and apparently never lost power, never heard anything loud or disturbing (other than the party crew in the next room lol.)

We are still under curfew until 6pm, but the winds are getting less and less all morning and should be normal by this afternoon.

The question is when to go home, and it's looking like Tuesday because Brian is going to be expected at his new job asap and does not want to make a bad first impression. Power is out at home, and we are a little concerned it may be out for weeks like it was after Wilma.

Other than that, a friend went by the house this morning and it's basically fine. We thought our fence went down, but it was actually the neighbor's fence (that is right up against our fence) that went down. Our fence has minor issues.

I found an email about my upcoming stay at Port Orleans resort (?!?!?) and that was just "on hold" but without a deposit, so it fell off by itself and we were not charged.

I found another email from Best Friends Pet Care on Thursday telling me Kylie was having "as much fun as we are" and including this pic:

Kylie_Cicalese_20170906.JPG


Awwwwwww!

Promise I'll get back to the TR asap. Definitely fun stuff to report. And it may not be over yet. (Hey, I'm in Kissimmee...it reopens tomorrow...how much can I push this??)
 

SSH

Well-Known Member
Glad to hear all went well up there and that your place is okay. Wonderful that you never lost power at your hotel.

We all dodged a huge bullet down here. We - and a lot of other people- prepared like crazy - wrapping everything that wouldn't move in plastic, packing emergency evac kits for us and the kitties, racing to stores dozens of times 'cause we kept forgetting stuff and thinking about how to squeeze our mattress into a closet or tub if the roof caved in. We're exhausted, but so grateful. (Thank god for red wine and carbs.)

I grew up in Fla and been through many hurricanes. Never was this worried. Never seen Floridians prepare or evacuate like this before.

Truly heartbroken at what the keys endured - dreading all those pics to come. :cry:
 

BuddyThomas

Well-Known Member
Just another quick "real time" update: we are all fine.

This place - Vacation Village - on 192 in Kissimmee was great. Nice, clean, full amenities, kitchen, separate bedroom/living room, and they let us bring the pup, so we were all together. Supposedly the worst was last night, so after having family dinner and playing board games in his brother's room with the lights flickering here and there, we cranked up the a/c and cooked a couple of frozen things, anticipating we would lose power overnight. The hotel has no generator to run the rooms, just the emergency lights.

Woke up freezing and apparently never lost power, never heard anything loud or disturbing (other than the party crew in the next room lol.)

We are still under curfew until 6pm, but the winds are getting less and less all morning and should be normal by this afternoon.

The question is when to go home, and it's looking like Tuesday because Brian is going to be expected at his new job asap and does not want to make a bad first impression. Power is out at home, and we are a little concerned it may be out for weeks like it was after Wilma.

Other than that, a friend went by the house this morning and it's basically fine. We thought our fence went down, but it was actually the neighbor's fence (that is right up against our fence) that went down. Our fence has minor issues.

I found an email about my upcoming stay at Port Orleans resort (?!?!?) and that was just "on hold" but without a deposit, so it fell off by itself and we were not charged.

I found another email from Best Friends Pet Care on Thursday telling me Kylie was having "as much fun as we are" and including this pic:

View attachment 228424

Awwwwwww!

Promise I'll get back to the TR asap. Definitely fun stuff to report. And it may not be over yet. (Hey, I'm in Kissimmee...it reopens tomorrow...how much can I push this??)
I LOVE THIS POST.jpg
 

SSH

Well-Known Member
Just checking back in - been worried about my fellow SFla-based posters! Did you make it back home okay - and in time for Brian's first day on the job? How's store and home faring post-storm? Not too much damage, I hope?
 

Tony the Tigger

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Just checking back in - been worried about my fellow SFla-based posters! Did you make it back home okay - and in time for Brian's first day on the job? How's store and home faring post-storm? Not too much damage, I hope?

Thanks. We are home, all is well. I'm going to have to read back to see where I left off and get back into this TR!!
 

Tony the Tigger

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
OK, at this point, we're talking about last Wednesday, and I'm not 100 sure I'm remembering everything perfectly! (This is why I prefer closer to real-time reporting!)

To the best of my recollection (and I'm checking phone pics and all the receipts I saved to be as certain as possible) I think we left Epcot at that point to make sure we would escape before it really rained. (I reserve the right to correct myself later LOL.) We got lucky and escaped once without using ponchos, and didn't want to press our luck. Plus, nap.

But wait - we had a FP for Flight of Passage at AK!! No time for a nap. Had to get over there. Woo hoo!
 

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