BroganMc's 2023 Spring (Tron, Cirque, Family)

So photo bucket is being a pain in the butt. It says I ran out of space so I tried to upgrade and it won't activate the upgrade until April 15th! I'm afraid I can't share any photos until after my Disney adventures are done. If you would like to follow along, I did create a photo album on Google photos. I'll try to send some links for the really fun ones.

photos.app.goo.gl/EcVvDSD6LGRuJ6zx8

This was my brother and nephew's shot on our Tron Adventure they would take selfies of us and only include the top of my head or me in the background. Boys will be boys and my brother is 8 years old.

Don't worry I'm plotting ways to get back at him next week. I'm listing my sister and my cousin as accomplices.

Seriously though, he's a good brother. He always helps me when I need it. Never complains. But he loves to tease me like every big brother in the universe does. Payback is a bitch.

You sure packed a lot into such a quick trip. Sounds like you had a great time. Hope you have fun on your next trip.

Don’t worry, we will be following along.  

Sorry to hear about your fall, such a scary thing to happen. Glad you checked out ok and are able to make the trip.  

Have a wonderful time!

Well I'm on the train now with my cousins and my uncle. So far it's a smooth ride. We're just leaving Virginia and heading into North Carolina. Dinner is coming up. Been a long nap on the train. We arrive in Sanford at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow. I wish I could say it was going to be nice warm and sunny but the forecast is a chilly 59° with rain. Feels as bad as Maryland.
Oh well. All we have to do is drive to Saratoga Springs and get settled in for the night.

That is spring in Florida. It goes from boiling hot to freezing cold and back again. I had to pack a varied wardrobe from shorts to fleece pants. And then repack when the weather changed again.

Day one arrival
Hey everyone, so after a smooth train ride to Sanford we arrived on time at 9:30 a.m. . Had our car within an hour. Got to Disney within an hour with minimal traffic. Weather was chilly so we were still in our Maryland close which meant fleece for me. My cousin drove making me a navigator and able to take pictures for the first time in years of our journey here. Can't believe I've been driving to Disney for over 10 years now. Funny how this becomes a home from away from home.

My room was ready. I have the big two bedroom which I'm sharing with all my family who arrive later this week. But my uncle and cousin's room It's not just clean. So we took a lunch break. Left the car in the check-in parking lot at the carriage House only to find out an hour later that the battery had died. Have no idea why. It wasn't causing any problems before. Called AAA, fortunately I had warranty service on that battery which was only a year old, and replaced it. AAA guy said most batteries in Florida don't last long because of the heat. Ironic being that it's so cold here.

I was just getting settled in my room when my brother arrived having driven down from Maryland along the way stopping to visit his kids. That's when I went to take a nap and realized they put in these new feather top mattresses at Saratoga. 4-in pillow tops make it very difficult for someone with limited mobility to get in! So I called for help. I also had a shower chair with one missing foot.

Few minutes later a housekeeper showed up at my door saying he had a call that I had a bed frame with 3 ft? Yeah interesting how messages get garbled isn't it?

Well we fixed the shower chair but nothing could be done about the bed. So my brother and I went off to Disney Springs to have a drink at the hanger bar. If you've never been there it's supposed to be based on Indiana Jones. And indeed it just looked like a hole in the wall you would experience if you were a 1930s archaeologist explorer. Meanwhile My cousin chance taking the van out again to go grocery shopping for all of us.

Now I love hanging out with my brother. He's my big brother and he loves to tease the hell out of me. But we've always been close. And I wanted to really make an impression that I could hang out with a big boys. So while he ordered the annual passholder cocktail which was a nice fruity raspberry vodka concoction, I ordered the whiskey flight. Took one sip and coughed my brains out. Yep I'm a late wait. My brother smiled and said oh I get a free whiskey flight!

We traded drinks but he was good about it. He gave me a full lesson in whiskey and tasting of each of the three. I now know the difference between Orkney, Islay and all the variations of peat and oak age tradition of whiskey. And yes it burned every time I took a sip. But I did enjoy the fruity raspberry vodka. Well at least half of it. I am a lightweight these days. I'm only weighing about a hundred pounds so you know I can't hold my liquor.

Still it was an adventurous night, so I decided to order some port wine. I've never had that before and it said it was sweet. It was. Manuel says it's tawny port but it looked more Ruby red to us. We reminisced about my grandfather who was told by his doctors after he had a heart attack to go home and drink only Cristal Ruby red port wine. It was sweet and it was a good blood thinner for him. Remember this was the 1960s. Doctors had a much freer understanding of alcohol drugs and health. It was good reminiscing about my grandfather. And that put us in the mood to reminisce about all of our family. Which meant we were obviously going to talk about all the kids who weren't here yet and how they were doing in their lives.

I was sensible enough to order a little bit of food so that we weren't completely snockered. We split a couple of sliders which were good. And then decided it was time to go home. Even my brother felt a little tipsy as he held onto my chair and we walked back.

The air was cool and it was drizzling! But we are staying in the grandstand section which means we're on the first bus stop and a short walk to Westside Disney Springs. My favorite place at Saratoga.

Now came the issue about my two soft bed. Well let me give you a little tip. When you're slightly tipsy or a little drunk, don't try to come up with solutions to problems. I promise you every time it will be wrong. We had the bright idea that if we just flip the mattress and I slept on the underside then it wouldn't be so soft. I'm waking up this morning on a hard trampoline with parts of my body hurting I didn't even know existed.

Only thing good I can say is that I did wake up in time to try to get in the virtual queue for Guardians of the Galaxy. Unfortunately for the second morning in the row, the app froze on me and wouldn't let me get in. I hate Disney IT! Which of course forces me to buy an individual lightning lane for the three members of our party that will actually go in the ride. Will try again to get in the virtual queue at 1 and 6:00 today. But I'm leaving that up to my brother cuz he's got the faster lightning fingers.

I am showered and clean. Which is another good thing. And I think I had at least about 7 hours sleep last night? Can't say it was all restful but at least I was horizontal. I'll do something about the bed today. Even if I have to flip it back and have somebody help me get in. I can get out. I think the issue is my left hip is still flaring so the leg is weak. It's hard to lift your legs into a bed when you've got problems like that. But I'm not alone. My brother is here. And I always have my phone with me just in case I need to call.

Oh and by the way Sherry (SheWill) has also arrived And he's staying at her favorite room in the Beach club Resort. We're all meeting up today at Epcot. 11:00 a.m. I guest relations. My autistic cousin is going to try to ask for a DAS pass. And it's a good place for a all to meet.

As for the weather? Well I can see the sun trying to peek out of a cloud but it looks awful cloudy to me. Forecast says high of 67 but at least there's no rain. I guess I'll be wearing Maryland clothes again today.

Day two, first park day and a lot of firsts

So after a rough night on a bad mattress, I got up bright and early at 6:30 a.m. loaded up our virtual cue for Guardians of the Galaxy and at 6:58 a.m. prepared to hit that refresh button over and over. Unfortunately just like my test yesterday, the app froze at 6:59 a.m. and I couldn't get in. Damn!

I really wanted to go on it so it forced me to buy an individual lightning lane for the four people I knew who would do it. Myself, my cousin J, my brother And my new helper friend B. This is hell Disney is making their money. And I hate it but I love that ride. Yes I know I could have just left it up to a chance with a 1:00 p.m. q in the park but we had a lot of ground to cover today. And I had a brand new Disney newbie in my cousin K to show it to.

Since I was already awake and the bed was miserable, I just stayed up. Got dressed and had breakfast. Called the hotel to do something about the mattress. Woke up my uncle and my cousins around 8:00 a.m. just to get them moving. Plan was for everyone to meet at Epcot guest relations 11:00 a.m.

So at 10:00 a.m., cousin K shows up at my door with his scooter ready to go. He's even got his first visit button on. Now I should tell you cousin K is on the spectrum and he's never been to a theme park before. Hell he's never been to Florida before. He has a lot of phobias including big crowds, getting lost and fireworks. So this was going to be a big day for him. I gave him credit he was willing to try.

First we had to find my car in the lot. It was over in regular parking instead of handicap. Then had to switch it to my controls. And I had to do that never-ending fight to get the seat adjusted just the way I like it. Don't you hate loaning your car to somebody else and the seat adjustment is all out of whack?

Anyway as we drove out, Uncle and cousin J were at the bus stop. Brother was back in the room doing some morning work. He would meet us after lunch for our ILL scheduled Guardians ride.

Got into the park and boy was it crowded. The line through security was insane. I got separated from cousin K, which worried me at first but he was fine. Then we got through the line getting into the park and that was perfect. Cast member came to help me since I bypass the fingerprint and just go by my ID. And also helped cousin K with his very first entry into Disney World.

Then we made a beeline for guest relations where Sherry and my new friend B was waiting. Again another line but we got through it and about 15 minutes. Had a wonderful cast member Sydney who helped us straighten out everything. We had to set up K's DAS, pull him and his uncle out of my managed account and into his brothers, get B hooked up to me and schedule our first return times. We chose Soarin'.

Then we went over to pick out a magic band for K. His first gift of Disney. He chose the Orange Bird. Nice and colorful. Met up with Uncle and cousin J. We all decided to go on spaceship Earth which has a separate boarding queue for wheelchair users. It's in the exit inside. You wait there which is nice when it's cold or extremely hot. Today it was cold.

When the cast member asked me how big is her party, I said 6 but then my brother yells out "No 7!" He snuck out early and joined us. Cool.

For those with mobility issues you can't handle moving walkways, do check out this rear entry into spaceship Earth. They will stop the platform so that you can get on without issue. It might take an extra few minutes for them to clear the queue for you, but it's a good option.

K really loved the animatronics and the trip through history. I think my favorite is seeing the turn of the century ladies operating the telephone switchboard. That's a job my grandmother had when she was fresh out of school until she got married.

After that it was time for all of us to go on Soarin. Sit down we went. Be helped me out with the damn crotch seat belt they make me wear on that. Only thing I hate about it is that it means I can't get on and off it by myself. I always need somebody to help me. This used to be a ride I did independently. Now I don't like it so much.

By the time those two rides were done, our guardians window is open. We split up into two groups. One for the thrills and one for the sites. Sherry took Uncle and K on living with the land. The greenhouse tour was thrilling for them. My brother, cousin J, B and I bolted for Guardians.

This made my eighth trip on that roller coaster. And I love it. This time we got September. It is a bit hard for me to get on. B struggled to lift me backwards and a slide transfer. It's just a bit too big and the bucket a little too deep. But I would do almost anything to get on this ride. And even my aches and pains weren't going to stop me.

After that we hopped on test track, which isn't even harder lift. Had a bit of comedy when my brother went to lift me from behind and I said on the count of three He's lifting on one. Found myself dangling in the air sooner than I expected. Teased him like crazy that he doesn't know the count of three!

The nice thing about test track is that since it's hard for me to get on, they often let me just stay around for round two. My family likes to get to go around twice. Cuz they're also means I almost never automatically get my ride photos. I load out of sync with the queue.

After our thrills we met up with the guys. A group of us went off to eat lunch at the Rose and Crown. Sherry and B went off exploring on their own. Sherry around the country's and be on the skyliner to the pop century.

We tried to meet up again for Ratatouille but the ride was shut down. It was a bad day for the rat. It was off and on all day long.

Since that was closed we headed over to the American Adventure for the animatronic show. Blue oyster was playing outside. My brother had to go catch them a few times and send film back to my sister.

K loved the story. Even B loved it. B tells me her family usually never stops for the shows. They only go on right after ride. So this was a fun day for her. She got a mix of everything.

When the show ended Ratatouille was back up. So we walked back to France and tending to go on it only to find the lightning lane line, remember we were returning on a return time, was stretched all the way back up the promenade. We took one look at it and thought this is going to take forever. Maybe we should just wait for another day. Besides we wanted to make sure we got a good spot for fireworks.

So instead we went to go see Impressions de France. Now for those of you who might have been reading the blogs I can clarify that they are not getting rid of the show. Instead they are expanding the hours they were showing it. Now it will be aired early in the morning from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 and in the evening from 6:30 p.m. until closing. More time for adults to get to see it while the kids can enjoy the afternoon Beauty and the Beast cartoon.

The soundtrack and the visuals of this movie are really the best of all the countries. I know you can see it online and I highly recommend you do. But definitely see it in person because the stereo in that room is amazing! You have full-blown organs running all around.

It was getting a little bit late and Blue oyster were on their last set of the night. Brother made a beeline for America while I led the rest of us around the front to a good spot for fireworks.

Oh I should mention we did get in the 1:00 p.m. Virtual cue for Guardians. My brother has the fastest fingers of the West. That meant two rides for us today.

We got a spot right along the river next to the ferry dock by Canada. Settled in and bundled up because it was getting really chilly. Down to the high 50s. Time to put on your fleece coats and sweaters. Had some snacks and waited the half hour until 9:00 p.m. are boarding group for Guardians was called but we figured we go after fireworks. After all you can go even when your boarding group has been called long before right? More on that later.

I was a little worried about K and fireworks. Last time he saw them in person was in his neighborhood for 4th of July years ago. The noise was so loud it overwhelmed him and he ran away never going to see them again except on TV. We tried to sit as far away from the speakers as possible so the noise wouldn't be so bad. And he did have ear muffs just in case.

But the show was absolutely wonderful. I don't care when anyone else says but harmonious is the best fireworks display Disney has ever done. Those platforms might be hideous in the day but they are amazing at night. The way the arms move and the water projections spray out those images, the fireworks that just come from everywhere. I think my favorite part is the finale with the rocket launchers around the lake. Seems like everybody gets involved by the end. I will be very very very sad to see this show go.

And to my delight K absolutely loved it. It wasn't too loud. It wasn't overwhelming. He never wanted to bolt. He enjoyed every single moment of it. Now that man has properly seen fireworks!

What was a little after 9:00, almost 9:30 and the crowd was clearing out. The park was open until 11:00 for us deluxe Resort guests. I figured that was a perfect time for us to go off and get on Guardians one last time before we head home. Parked uncle and K inside a closing connections Cafe and went off to Ride Guardians. That's when we found out the hitch with the 1:00 p.m. q and late night hours. Technically the 1:00 p.m. q closes loading at 9:00 p.m. no excuses. Uh-oh I'm in trouble.


Fortunately the cast member let us in when she learned we were all staying at Saratoga. It was a little bit of an exception since now they were only letting in the 6:00 p.m. q, but it was very nice of her. We had to wait a little extra longer for the wheelchair car since they had a few passengers ahead of me. There is a ruling Disney that they only load one severely disabled guest per ride just in case it shuts down and the fire department has to rescue them. You don't want them to have to rescue two people.

The pre-show of Guardians was shut down in the evening. Seems like that's the part that gives them the most problems. But we'd already seen it earlier in the day so we didn't mind going right to the ride.

We got September again! And at the beginning of the ride I got a sharp back spasm to start. I don't know what it is about the seats and the harness but somehow I keep hitting a nerve. Fortunately it eases up before the ride begins. Or the ride has so much motion I just don't care anymore. Like I said I would do almost anything to get on this ride. I could be bleeding with a 2x4 sticking out of my forehead and I would still want to go on it.

We closed up the park. Found our uncle and cousin K were being held hostage by The cast members at connections Cafe. Well not exactly. They closed up and they were all standing at the door waiting for us to come clean our family. But they kept them nice and warm inside. And like I said it was chilly. 52° and windy. Brrrr.. whatever happened to Florida Sun?

And it was time for everybody to leave. B got a ride home from her family. She lives in Kissimmee. And she's a great little park helper especially if you have little kids and you're all on your own. You might want to look her up. Wish upon a nanny she calls her service. Pretty enterprising for a teenager.

My brother drove home. Uncle and cousin J rode the bus. K and I found our car and made it home. Then we all settled in for the night.

I did a little more unpacking before my brother wanted me to try getting in bed again. Now I had called the hotel to get them to fix what I had screwed up the night before. See it's a low mattress with a 4-inch pillow top. That means it's very hard for me to finagle my legs in. I have to push really hard. And I don't want somebody to help me in and out of bed all the time. We thought that we had the bright idea to flip it over but that only has me sleeping on hard strings. The hotel at least put it back so I had a soft mattress. But then I had to spend 30 minutes trying to figure out how to get in it.

I jury wigged away with my wheelchair and a cane and a lot of cursing. But I made myself comfortable. Now let's hope I can get out without hurting myself.

And that was our very first day in Disney.

I'm waking up on day three. Just before dawn. I have to get up and get ready. My chair is still charging so I'm kind of hanging out waiting for that to finish. The weather supposed to be warmer today. Actually reach into the '80s. I'm still planning for cold because we're going to stay to see Fantasmic tonight.

Brother has more work to do and a meeting which means it probably won't see him till late afternoon. But you never know with him. He loves to sneak out and go to Disney. He's just like our dad.

Talk more later!