Randoms - March 2015

Once the weather report is over on the 10pm news we normally flip channels for a bit, or if it was Monday Dave would torture Holly with "Love It or List It" (they never list it). Now, we've settled in on a post-news favorite: Cops or Cops Reloaded (the remastered edition). The show's concept remains highly entertaining even after 25 years since its inception. The overlooked aspects of the show are the level of compassion often displayed by the officers in warranted situations and how difficult their jobs truly are. Check out Cops on Spike TV or Country Music TV for Cops Reloaded.

One night we discovered the show Food Fortunes. It was good, but won't replace Cops in the same time slot. Food Fortunes is a knock-off of Shark Tank on Food Network. Aspiring moguls present their food items or kitchen gadgets to a panel of four financiers and a studio audience. The audience samples the product and votes whether they would buy the item or not if available in stores. Then the panel decides if they want to consider making an investment. At the end of the show they go through the investment rounds. The episode we watched featured spaghetti sauce, plastic plates, a ravioli maker, and cricket crackers (exactly what it sounds like).

We recorded the recent round of TMC's Treasures from the Disney Vault but have only watched two items: I Captured the King of the Leprechauns (a Disneyland tv show episode where Walt gives away most of the plot to Darby O'Gill and the Little People) and the short Babes in the Woods. Babes is worth the watch because it's one of the first cartoons in color, has a scary-fun storyline, and a lot going on from an animation standpoint:

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We are almost 60 days out from our May Memorial Day Weekend trip to Walt Disney World. It's not our favorite weekend to hit The World but we are keeping vacation days to a minimum for use later in the year. On the plus side we are hitting a Star Wars Weekend and we will be there during the Magic Kingdom 24 hour event (5% chance we'll attend the event).

Sixty days out means we can book Fastpasses through My Magic+. Unfortunately Disney has not released the Star Wars event schedule, which includes Fastpass eligible presentations, so we will be booking blind and end up grossly disappointed when we have to shift things around.

We have a split stay this trip: A few night at The Boardwalk (convenient for Star Wars access at The Studios) and a couple nights at The Polynesian. Disney is opening their Vacation Club (DVC timeshare) rooms at this resort and we lucked into getting a few nights here. We imagine we won't get this lucky again. We've always wanted to stay here, but we weren't willing to pay the high price. The flexibility of DVC is making this a reality. We are looking forward to seeing the renovations, the over-the-water bungalows, and the new Trader Sam's bar.

One event that was open to book, but we were closed out of, was the Star Wars Galactic Dine-in Breakfast at the Sci-Fi Dine-In.  At this event you get a photo opp with Boba Fett and Darth Vader together, a fixed breakfast menu with several entree options, and other walk-around characters to visit with while you watch a special Star Wars film package. If you are very vigilant you may catch a canceled reservation when checking the website, or you can farm out the work. Holly found the Disney Dining Buddy, a service that checks specific Disney Dining Reservations for you. She entered our request into an online form and paid them a few bucks. A day later she got a text notice that a reservation was available. She then went on Disney's site and secured our breakfast.  Very handy!