But all I want to do is write.
And watch space.
Except space is making me motion sick so that's not the best plan at the moment (They're doing space walks today. Pretty, but not something I'd be cut out for.)
I've just learned that the elevator in my building is out, so I won't be able to go outside in the three hundred degree heat to do laundry today.
Drat ;)
But that doesn't mean there aren't a bazillion other things I need to do.
And yet... all I want to do is write.
I've been working on a story for about a week or two and I keep wanting to return to it. Which is good as a diversion, but not good when there's other things to do.
Plus I'm nauseas and have a headache (- from "space.")
Got some good pictures though. :)
Please indulge me with the whole "space" thing for about a week. After that I'll probably be over it and stop posting about it. If not, I'll move those posts to a separate blog because this is not a space blog. ... but it might be "space week" here for a bit ;)
Showing posts with label Disney. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Disney. Show all posts
The things I learn...
I did some online research today for a story I'm writing. I was curious about Aeroponics vs Hydroponics and which is most effective etc. So I did a little Googling. And I've learned something. And maybe some of you already knew this - Maybe everybody in the world knows this! - but I didn't.
Do you know who discusses the various pros, cons, yields, quality, set up, cost effectiveness, and even the flavor of the crops from these two different methods, in intricate detail? Because I didn't, and this is fascinating to me.
Cannabis growers. That's right. And you know what? It makes sense! But I didn't know that they were at the forefront of using/discussing/researching and improving this technology. The only working Aero/Hydroponic systems I've ever seen were at Epcot Center! But these guys? The Pot growers? They know EVERYTHING. They have forums, videos, comparative photos... They build their own setups and know about all the various nutrient additives, contamination controls, drainage systems, spray pressures, misting intervals...
If you ever need information on Aeroponics vs Hydroponics (not to mention soil, with or without worm poop!) and you want to get the inside scoop, don't bother with government agencies and agricultural research facilities. Just go find a local dealer and they'll set you up with everything you need.
Do you know who discusses the various pros, cons, yields, quality, set up, cost effectiveness, and even the flavor of the crops from these two different methods, in intricate detail? Because I didn't, and this is fascinating to me.
Cannabis growers. That's right. And you know what? It makes sense! But I didn't know that they were at the forefront of using/discussing/researching and improving this technology. The only working Aero/Hydroponic systems I've ever seen were at Epcot Center! But these guys? The Pot growers? They know EVERYTHING. They have forums, videos, comparative photos... They build their own setups and know about all the various nutrient additives, contamination controls, drainage systems, spray pressures, misting intervals...
If you ever need information on Aeroponics vs Hydroponics (not to mention soil, with or without worm poop!) and you want to get the inside scoop, don't bother with government agencies and agricultural research facilities. Just go find a local dealer and they'll set you up with everything you need.
Thanksgiving - Italian Style
What is it with people choosing Italian places for large gatherings? And why are they always so freaking expensive? I mean seriously... what is Italian Food? Bread, pasta, tomato sauce, and variations on that theme. Last time I checked, none of those ingredients cost a whole heck of a lot. They've got to be among the cheapest ingredients you can find!
Nevertheless... it seems our reservations for tonight are for "Italian" and the cost is going to be close to $40 a head! Honestly, if they'd given me all that money, I'd have been happy to cook dinner for everybody -In their room of course. Mine doesn't have a kitchen. Mine doesn't even have a COFFEE MAKER. -Seriously. Remember? VALUE room...
Nevertheless... it seems our reservations for tonight are for "Italian" and the cost is going to be close to $40 a head! Honestly, if they'd given me all that money, I'd have been happy to cook dinner for everybody -In their room of course. Mine doesn't have a kitchen. Mine doesn't even have a COFFEE MAKER. -Seriously. Remember? VALUE room...
The More the Merrier
Another cousin arrives today. -More people to go park hopping with :) Unless I'm so run down when they arrive, that I take a day to myself and hide in my room! Sometimes ya gotta do that!
The Resorts
I'd like to spend more time checking out the resorts this trip - Especially since I have relatives staying at the "real" resorts - and I'd also like to check out some of the trail walks if I can. I wonder if they're relaxing and pretty or just a bunch of boring paved walkways?
Re: "The real resorts" -did you think I was staying at one of those? No. I'm staying at one of Disney's VALUE resorts. Which is kind of like Disney's answer to a tacky motel. This isn't to say that they don't have their charm. Plus, they're still on property so they have all the perks that the other resorts do, but don't cost nearly as much. Great for sleeping and park hopping, but for "hanging out" I'll be making use of all the extras at the relatives' hotels. I heard one of them has a water slide...
Re: "The real resorts" -did you think I was staying at one of those? No. I'm staying at one of Disney's VALUE resorts. Which is kind of like Disney's answer to a tacky motel. This isn't to say that they don't have their charm. Plus, they're still on property so they have all the perks that the other resorts do, but don't cost nearly as much. Great for sleeping and park hopping, but for "hanging out" I'll be making use of all the extras at the relatives' hotels. I heard one of them has a water slide...
Epcot: Club Cool
This was possibly one of the "coolest" new things in the park for me. New to me anyway. I think it's actually been there for a while.
It's a Coca Cola gift shop, and in it are lots of little self-serve soda machines with samples of Coca Cola from different countries. And even better -it's free! You can drink as many little sample cups as you'd like!
Some weren't bad. Some were pretty good (I liked China). And one was... well... let's just say Italy's is made for a different kind of palette. They were out of Mozambique's Ginger Soda that day. I would have liked to try that.
It's a Coca Cola gift shop, and in it are lots of little self-serve soda machines with samples of Coca Cola from different countries. And even better -it's free! You can drink as many little sample cups as you'd like!
Some weren't bad. Some were pretty good (I liked China). And one was... well... let's just say Italy's is made for a different kind of palette. They were out of Mozambique's Ginger Soda that day. I would have liked to try that.
Epcot: Mission Space: DON'T go in the ORANGE line!
Never having been on "Mission Space" and not having had time to sufficiently research this ride before leaving on my last minute vacation, I was unaware that there was a spinning and a non-spinning version of this ride. I thought it was "spin or get out of line."
Now, I know I get motion sickness, but since I'd just come from the "Test Track" ride, and ignored all its scary precautionary warnings and done just fine, I thought I'd ignore Mission Space's warnings too. But that's because I didn't realize that I could still go on the ride and NOT SPIN if I went in the GREEN line.
I won't go into all the details, but, I've now learned an apparently little known fact about Disney World. A fact that the RIDE EMPLOYEES don't even know about and insisted was not so. Many of the gift shops, in all the parks, have a special plastic bin that they keep under the counter, out of view, that contains Advil, Pepto Bismol and DRAMAMINE. Nobody on the "vomiting rides" seems to know this!!! But all the little gift stands do! Most also have some kind of dry crackers or pretzels available for the "easily-queasy."
I sat with another woman, a complete stranger who I bonded with as she generously shared her peanut butter crackers and sips of water with me, as we sat together, side by side, after the ride, both of us afraid to move -for fear of hurling- for over an hour, as employee after employee told us that no place sold any kind of anti nausea meds or crackers nearby because that would compete with the food stands in the park. But about an hour and a half later (yes, an hour and a half!) when we both, unsteadily, decided to try to venture outside, she decided to say something to the ride's gift shop about how they should carry stuff like this, and that's when the man behind the counter gleefully produced his "drug bin" and informed us that most of the gift shops had them. -This guy was one room away from where we'd been sitting for over an hour! The gift shop was part of the attraction, yet nobody working on the ride seemed to know that pretzels, Pepto, and Dramamine were available only a few feet away.
Grrrrrrrr!
On two additional occasions during this trip, I needed to avail myself of drug boxes, and I had no trouble finding them -Now that I knew they existed! One was at the gift shop attached to Expedition Everest in the Animal Kingdom (which also had pretzels for about a buck or two) and the other was a shop at the end of the Winnie the Pooh ride in the Magic Kingdom.
To Clarify...
Expedition Everest:
Fine except for one part in the pitch darkness which must have done some kind of spin because, while I couldn't see it, I suddenly wasn't feeling so hot.
Winnie the Pooh:
NOT a problem. ;) But, after having had the unexpected problem with Expedition Everest, I bought Dramamine in anticipation of going on Space Mountain an hour later, (but the ride malfunctioned and I never got on!)
Mission Space:
Orange line = Unsteady on my feet and unable to move my head without feeling like I was going to vomit, for over an hour after the ride. Then generally queasy for the entire rest of the day (and this happened at 8:30 am, so that was a very LONG "rest of the day!")
Green line = Probably a much more pleasant ride. Unfortunately I wouldn't know!
Now, I know I get motion sickness, but since I'd just come from the "Test Track" ride, and ignored all its scary precautionary warnings and done just fine, I thought I'd ignore Mission Space's warnings too. But that's because I didn't realize that I could still go on the ride and NOT SPIN if I went in the GREEN line.
I won't go into all the details, but, I've now learned an apparently little known fact about Disney World. A fact that the RIDE EMPLOYEES don't even know about and insisted was not so. Many of the gift shops, in all the parks, have a special plastic bin that they keep under the counter, out of view, that contains Advil, Pepto Bismol and DRAMAMINE. Nobody on the "vomiting rides" seems to know this!!! But all the little gift stands do! Most also have some kind of dry crackers or pretzels available for the "easily-queasy."
I sat with another woman, a complete stranger who I bonded with as she generously shared her peanut butter crackers and sips of water with me, as we sat together, side by side, after the ride, both of us afraid to move -for fear of hurling- for over an hour, as employee after employee told us that no place sold any kind of anti nausea meds or crackers nearby because that would compete with the food stands in the park. But about an hour and a half later (yes, an hour and a half!) when we both, unsteadily, decided to try to venture outside, she decided to say something to the ride's gift shop about how they should carry stuff like this, and that's when the man behind the counter gleefully produced his "drug bin" and informed us that most of the gift shops had them. -This guy was one room away from where we'd been sitting for over an hour! The gift shop was part of the attraction, yet nobody working on the ride seemed to know that pretzels, Pepto, and Dramamine were available only a few feet away.
Grrrrrrrr!
On two additional occasions during this trip, I needed to avail myself of drug boxes, and I had no trouble finding them -Now that I knew they existed! One was at the gift shop attached to Expedition Everest in the Animal Kingdom (which also had pretzels for about a buck or two) and the other was a shop at the end of the Winnie the Pooh ride in the Magic Kingdom.
To Clarify...
Expedition Everest:
Fine except for one part in the pitch darkness which must have done some kind of spin because, while I couldn't see it, I suddenly wasn't feeling so hot.
Winnie the Pooh:
NOT a problem. ;) But, after having had the unexpected problem with Expedition Everest, I bought Dramamine in anticipation of going on Space Mountain an hour later, (but the ride malfunctioned and I never got on!)
Mission Space:
Orange line = Unsteady on my feet and unable to move my head without feeling like I was going to vomit, for over an hour after the ride. Then generally queasy for the entire rest of the day (and this happened at 8:30 am, so that was a very LONG "rest of the day!")
Green line = Probably a much more pleasant ride. Unfortunately I wouldn't know!
The Plan
My general plan for the next few days is to visit the parks early and late in the day, when it's cooler outside, and to either nap or hang out at the resorts in the afternoon. Heat + me = Not a good match!
Disney Day 1: Icicles on the Castle
I was at the Magic Kingdom from 6:30pm to about 12:30am. The castle is decked out in icicle lights for Christmas. It's amazing. And the lights change colors over time. Mostly blue and purple but I also saw it pink, green, orange, and white.
It turned out that 6:30pm and onwards was the perfect time to get on every ride at the Magic Kingdom with no lines. So much so that, as I walked through long empty winding corridors, that usually hold lines of people, I sometimes wondered if I was going to get mugged!
The reason it's a great time to get on the rides is because people line up an hour or more in advance to see the 2 parades and the fireworks, so if they're THERE, that leaves very few people on the rides! The first night I missed the fireworks but I caught a few from the top of a Splash Mountain. That was cool! I, and several cars of strangers, cheered each time fireworks burst over our heads as we we zipped up and down the tracks.
Speaking of parades, I finally caught one. I'd never seen a Disney parade before, but I decided to watch the 11pm Spectro Magic parade. It's AWESOME! I am now in love with the bizarre, and kind of creepy, clowns at the beginning of the parade. Particularly the ones spinning around on what look like giant lit up Christmas Ornament balls. SO cool!
It turned out that 6:30pm and onwards was the perfect time to get on every ride at the Magic Kingdom with no lines. So much so that, as I walked through long empty winding corridors, that usually hold lines of people, I sometimes wondered if I was going to get mugged!
The reason it's a great time to get on the rides is because people line up an hour or more in advance to see the 2 parades and the fireworks, so if they're THERE, that leaves very few people on the rides! The first night I missed the fireworks but I caught a few from the top of a Splash Mountain. That was cool! I, and several cars of strangers, cheered each time fireworks burst over our heads as we we zipped up and down the tracks.
Speaking of parades, I finally caught one. I'd never seen a Disney parade before, but I decided to watch the 11pm Spectro Magic parade. It's AWESOME! I am now in love with the bizarre, and kind of creepy, clowns at the beginning of the parade. Particularly the ones spinning around on what look like giant lit up Christmas Ornament balls. SO cool!
Leaving on a Jet Plane
I'm off!
Hopefully I won't miss my bus, plane, other bus, or other buses. Hoo boy this is going to be a long day!
The plan is to either meet people for dinner once I arrive, or collapse in my hotel room and pretend I'm not there yet. I think the Magic Kingdom is open until 3am tonight/tomorrow, so there's no real rush.
Yes, that's right. 3AM.
How great would it be if, whenever someone had insomnia, they could think "hmmm... not sleeping.... may as well go ride Dumbo."
Hopefully I won't miss my bus, plane, other bus, or other buses. Hoo boy this is going to be a long day!
The plan is to either meet people for dinner once I arrive, or collapse in my hotel room and pretend I'm not there yet. I think the Magic Kingdom is open until 3am tonight/tomorrow, so there's no real rush.
Yes, that's right. 3AM.
How great would it be if, whenever someone had insomnia, they could think "hmmm... not sleeping.... may as well go ride Dumbo."
Luggage Tag
If you stay at one of Disney World's on site hotels, they now have a FREE shuttle service that will take you from the airport to your hotel. You don't even have to claim your luggage when you arrive. They'll do that for you and bring it to your room a few hours later.
I'm impressed these arrived so quickly. I only made reservations a few days ago.
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