The Chit Chat Chit Chat Thread

[Goofyernmost]

Sorry but we've never been. When going down 95 we either do DC/Baltimore area or we keep going to Florida with reservations waiting for us. By the time we go home we're ready to go home or at least our wallets are

I decided one year to skip Disney and go to Virginia beach. I never made that mistake again. First, since we didn't normally live on the ocean we were unaware of what a hurricane can do to a beach. It was interesting to watch them pump sand from the ocean bottom and rebuild the beach, but, that gets old quick. We went to Colonial Williamsburg and then to Busch Gardens. Colonial Williamsburg was more fake then anything that Disney has ever done. All the buildings are copies of what "might" have been there in colonial times. It cost money to enter the area that was wide open from new Williamsburg and you could enter in free. No fences or anything. Many of the buildings were privately owned and no access was allowed and many of the others weren't covered by our entrance fee and had to pay extra to go into the copies. Although, Busch Gardens was OK, it wasn't my type of place. The kids liked some of it, but, I don't think we spent over 3 hours in the park. I vowed to never go there again and so far I have kept my word. Others mileage may vary.

 

[Songbird76]

Unfortunately they are doing maintenance in the front, so you can't see much but scaffolding;






Here's another DD took from the deck:

 

[SteveBrickNJ]

Of course no one would do both on the same trip. You would have to make a decision to try Busch Gardens one year and do that instead of Disney. Does such a family exist on this forum???

You know what, Busch Gardens is great but it is a one day experience. Disney World is a multi day experience. You don't have to give up a week in Disney. If life circumstances allow, and a family can drive rather than fly, it's nice to do both. A week of Disney in July and a visit to Busch Gardens in August....just for example.@Goofyernmost are you aware of Busch Garden's new attraction? "Battle for Eire" 360 degrees virtual reality adventure. I posted a video on my lonely neglected thread

 

[Songbird76]

Again, no pictures allowed inside, but there is a balcony as you exit where you can step out and take pictures:



If you look closely, you can see the Marienbridge almost dead center in the picture. You can follow the trail down the side all the way around to get to this bridge...I won't go anywhere near that. But those pictures from the last post with DD are from that path, which is a separate one from the one that takes you from the village up the mountain.


Here it is zoomed in. No thank you!




This is from the top of the hill with the observation deck, looking the other way:


You can see what drew him to this location, and my understanding is that the unbuilt castle....Falkenstein, was to be built on one of the mountain tops you could see from Neuschwanstein:


Here's a replica of the original plans for that castle: (Not my pictures, obviously)
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/lenox-castle-falkenstein-sculpture-533956119

 

[MinnieM123]

I love all the old buildings there....we basically just walked into the city, had a drink on a terrace there, then walked in a bit further. They had a Five Guys, and DD and I were going to eat there, but she's never been to one and she felt more comfortable with Burger king, and of course DS will only eat at Mc Donalds, so DH took him there. We met back up and went to Primark to see if they had any Disney or Harry Potter stuff we didn't already have. DD got a Ravenclaw Pin set, and I got a decorative sign/ direction sign that has like...Honeydukes, zonkos, shrieking shack, etc.
As we were walking around, there was a very fake-looking Mickey Mouse with a cheeseburger...it was kind of creepy. We just walked past. We also saw an ambulance pull up and there was a woman passed out on the street. We were going to do a bus tour or a boat tour, but they were like 60 bucks for the whole family. No thank you. So we just walked back the way we came and there was a church I had seen that I wanted to explore.

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You can see the woman there in front of the doors...she was asking everyone who went in or out for money. A woman stopped, gave her a coin, and the woman had the audacity to tell this woman that it wasn't enough, she needed to give more. Really? She got nothing from me. I DID, however, put a few Euros into the offering for the poor inside the church.
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After this, we decided to go search for food. We didn't want to have to walk all the way back into the center of town, and there was a nice-looking place right around the corner. They had steaks and pasta and stuff....we sat down, looked at the menu, and then realized it was Halal. Not a problem, per se....we don't have anything against Halal food, but they had Halal versions of sodas that were really not good, and DD ordered ribs, but of course they were beef, not pork, and you couldn't even cut through them or find anything but fat. So she didn't eat them. My pasta was pretty much nothing but garlic...it was so strong. We had thought we might luck into another great meal like we had the night before, but nope. I'm sure it's a great place for Muslim's because they know they don't have to worry about it, and to be fair, I think we just ordered the wrong things. DH had some sort of schnitzel thing and he said it was good. If we'd have ordered steak, it probably would have been great.
We headed back to the hotel for the evening so DH could get to the van, and finish the mission he had started that morning while we stayed in and took advantage of FINALLY having internet.

The next stop for the van was a couple of days later, in Munich...would we go there? What would we do tomorrow?? We had ZERO plans.

Love the photos of the church, outside and inside. Gorgeous.

 

[MinnieM123]

Those are a heck of a lot of games in just 2 and a half months. I got youngest dd's cheer competition schedule 2 weeks ago and there are only 7 from December through May. Much more manageable and only 2 practices a week.

Oh, I meant to tell you last week that the new season of the (reality show) Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, Making the Squad, began. I think it was last Saturday. You had asked about the show a few months ago, as you thought your daughter might like it. It's on CMT, and I copied the web site for the show, if she wants to see it. (Although they are really more of a dance squad than a typical school cheer squad.) Interesting show --

http://www.cmt.com/shows/dallas-cowboys-cheerleaders-making-the-team/tv-schedule

 

[MinnieM123]

Another cloud shot.
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Yup, that's a cloud, boy howdy! (Quick--run for cover! )

 

[MinnieM123]

@Songbird76 , why don't you create a separate TR thread--I'm sure others on the forum would really enjoy your pictures from overseas as well.

 

[Songbird76]

Again, our tour guide was very straight forward about the facts without giving much color. We were wondering why the guy at the restaurant the night before had said Ludwig II was a nutter. The guides had both mentioned the younger brother being insane, but the only thing they said about Ludwig was that he was probably gay. He had been engaged, but called it off with no explanation. And of course the tourguide told us how Ludwig II was suddenly deposed and carted off in the night with the claim that he was insane and his death was quite mysterious because he went for a walk with a psychiatrist and never came back and they found both bodies hours later in a lake. But the autopsy showed no water in the lungs, even though they attributed his death to drowning, and there were witnesses who said they heard gunshots. Apparently an Uncle had him declared insane without even examining him, so it's believed that they paid the doctor off, then ended up murdering them both so they couldn't be exposed and could take the throne.

I bought a book about Ludwig II and his castles and there was much more color to the stories....things like he built a platform in a tree....not quite a tree house, and sometimes he insisted on taking meals there. Or, he preferred to dine alone, but insisted the table be set for 3 or 4, and he would dress in French Royal costume and pretend to have dinner with Louis XIV, Madame du Pompedour, etc....he ate breakfast at 5 pm, lunch at Midnight, and dinner in the early morning....he would take walks or rides in the middle of the night in the dead of winter. He was certainly very eccentric, but a lot of it sounds to me like he was just lonely. He lost his power almost before he ruled, and he really had nothing to do but design beautiful castles. His brother was locked in a mental hospital, his parents were gone, he had no partner and no children, and no power. A king in name only.

Anyway, I'm fascinated by him, and in any case, he had a wonderful imagination. Walt Disney apparently visited in....I think she told me 1934 or 1938 and was so inspired by the castle that he designed Sleeping Beauty's castle in Disneyland based on it. We decided to take the carriage back down the mountain because DS was dragging. It's only 3 euros to go back down and the line isn't as long.


We saw a bunch of these...parachuters? I'm not sure what they are, but they weren't falling, so I'm sure it's not a regular parachute, but it doesn't look like a hangglider either.



And this is pretty much what you see on the path up and down the mountain:


We headed back into Füssen for dinner at Il Pescatore. I took a few pictures of the town as we walked through:




We were greeted with this sight:


It was closed on Wedesdays!!! We were so glad we got to eat there the night before!! But...this meant we had to find something else to eat. Sure, we could do McDonalds, but when you have your heart set on delicious Italian food, McDonalds isn't going to taste very good.

What would we do? Find something in Füssen? Go on to Neu Ulm and look for something? Settle for McJunkfood?

 

[Goofyernmost]

You know what, Busch Gardens is great but it is a one day experience. Disney World is a multi day experience. You don't have to give up a week in Disney. If life circumstances allow, and a family can drive rather than fly, it's nice to do both. A week of Disney in July and a visit to Busch Gardens in August....just for example.@Goofyernmost are you aware of Busch Garden's new attraction? "Battle for Eire" 360 degrees virtual reality adventure. I posted a video on my lonely neglected thread

I was expressing how I felt about it. I went there when my kids were in High School, they are in their 40's now. The only thing I said about the park is that it wasn't my thing. It was Colonial Williamsburg that was really catching my wrath, but, I am closer to Williamsburg then Florida, but, I still could drive to both. Florida takes a little while longer. First impressions are lasting ones and I am trying to keep enough money to last me until it fall off this mortal coil, so I only go where I know I enjoy it. As I said, and I'll say again... Mileage may vary for others.

 

[Songbird76]

@Songbird76 , why don't you create a separate TR thread--I'm sure others on the forum would really enjoy your pictures from overseas as well.

Oh! I'm so sorry....I should have asked if people minded me posting here. I thought the TR thread was only for Disney trips, so I just put it here, but I can certainly do spoiler tags if people prefer that, so they can just scroll past. It IS kind of spammy.

 

[CoreNovawarAMM]

@Songbird76 great TR so far! I’m enjoying looking at all the gorgeous photos and reading about your adventures!

 

[MinnieM123]

Oh! I'm so sorry....I should have asked if people minded me posting here. I thought the TR thread was only for Disney trips, so I just put it here, but I can certainly do spoiler tags if people prefer that, so they can just scroll past. It IS kind of spammy.

That wasn't what I was saying. I was suggesting that you may want to start a new thread about your trip, as many other people (who don't participate in the chit chat thread) would not see it inside here--but would see it in it's own thread, that's all. (The photos in particular, would be a big crowd pleaser.)

 

[SteveBrickNJ]

I was expressing how I felt about it. I went there when my kids were in High School, they are in their 40's now. The only thing I said about the park is that it wasn't my thing. It was Colonial Williamsburg that was really catching my wrath, but, I am closer to Williamsburg then Florida, but, I still could drive to both. Florida takes a little while longer. First impressions are lasting ones and I am trying to keep enough money to last me until it fall off this mortal coil, so I only go where I know I enjoy it. As I said, and I'll say again... Mileage may vary for others.

Yup. I know. Just wondering if you saw the video.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Yup. I know. Just wondering if you saw the video.

Sorry, no I haven't.

 

[SteveBrickNJ]

Sorry, no I haven't.

OK. All is well

 

[CoreNovawarAMM]

Something I forgot to mention in my mini TR of the other night at MK:
You know how there’s always that one person in Space Mountain, the one who has to yell at the top of their lungs because they’re so hyped to be on the ride?
Well, we had just gotten our lap bars down and were at the seat belt check, when one such person decided to let out the most unearthly sounding yell I’ve ever heard. It actually made my hair stand on end–it sounded like a death yell. I think the guy was on the wrong ride for that...he needed to go over to Haunted Mansion.

 

[Songbird76]

That wasn't what I was saying. I was suggesting that you may want to start a new thread about your trip, as many other people (who don't participate in the chit chat thread) would not see it inside here--but would see it in it's own thread, that's all. (The photos in particular, would be a big crowd pleaser.)

I don't know....Do you think people would like non-disney TR's though? Where would I put it? Just in the Chit Chat section? I don't know what's appropriate/allowed.

 

[MinnieM123]

I don't know....Do you think people would like non-disney TR's though? Where would I put it? Just in the Chit Chat section? I don't know what's appropriate/allowed.

You can put it where you like. In the TR section now, there is a whole thread about a guy's trips to multiple theme parks (primarily for the roller coasters) -- and no mention of WDW at all. It's one of my favorite threads by the way. Some others have posted non-WDW trips in the General Chat and non-WDW Discusssion section (which is the umbrella section for chit chat threads, etc.).

But please, do what you want--I'm not aware of any "rules" about posting a trip. Continue to do it here, if you're most comfortable doing that, too. People seem to enjoy what you've shared to date.

 

[SteveBrickNJ]

I don't know....Do you think people would like non-disney TR's though? Where would I put it? Just in the Chit Chat section? I don't know what's appropriate/allowed.

I agree with @MinnieM123. The Chit Chat thread is very flexible.....but only post it if you want to.