Cafeen, DxDDP, CSR, and... A Sept 2010 PTR

[Cafeen]

Just a quick nerd-based reply for now...

Unless something else changes, I will now be saving about 9.95 per day while remaining on the internet at Disney . I figured out tethering through my phone (Motorola Droid) and coupled with my unlimited data plan, I should be good to go to be online for nothing (well, effectively nothing).

In fact, it's even faster than my network at work, and I can DIS without them knowing .

Of course, right now I can't connect to the internal sites, and considering that's what I'm testing, it may be an issue .

At anyrate, that's about it for now. More stuff to come tomorrow most likley.

 

[Cafeen]

Ok, I'm still slacking on this thing. Nothing with the trip has really changed and I forgot where I left off (I'll go back and check after this post ). However, that's not to say I haven't been busy.

Besides work (which has been 12hr days + Saturday again... ), I've started getting a bit heavier into my website design. I took this weekend to do some real work on it, and really got a nice layout going. I'm proud of this thing

I have what I've completed so far up on my web hosting. But it's rather limited, most of the work I did has been on layout and design rather than functionality and content.

Background
(Hmm, forgot that this just came out of the blue )
This idea came about when I was planning for the last trip. I was trying to copy and paste all the menus for the locations we were eating at to send up to Beth. This drove me batty though as there was simply nothing nicely formatted or really up to date (note: both AllEars and WDWInfo have been better lately). So that's when I started V1. I did a lot of work on it, but eventually it got left to the side. I recently picked it back up to create the v2 with a lot of the stuff I've learned doing this type of work for.. um, work.

The intention is a bit more than just a menu display (AllEars and WDWinfo cover that quite well, although it's certainly part of it), but rather provide the information in a timely and well formatted manner. By creating a database for all the menu items available, it will also be able to provide various statistics on the restaurants and the items served in them. It will also enable quicker updating due to the way that the stuff is stored.

I also really enjoy this type of thing (I was up until 4am last night doing it) and it's a good method to keep my skillset growing.

At any rate, here's some images:

While the content of this page is pretty weak , I'm really liking the layout I designed. It's clean and simple, but still has a unique look to it. Note that in later versions, there will only be 1 "Account" section in that navigation bar. Both are showing as they will change based on the user's logged-in status.

I'm not entirely sold on this blue for this table. It just seems to be a bit too much blue on that page. There's really not many sets of colors to use though, so I'm rather limited. In other tables I use orange, purple, and green, so I don't really want to go for a 5th color-set...

I'm also really happy with how this turned out. The red heading boarders behind the image frame look really good in my opinion. (And ignore that blue thing on the r in there. I guess I had highlighted some text when I took the screenshot and didn't notice....)

As a side bonus, I got the site working in IE as well as my trusted Firefox . (IE does some real funky things with layout stuff. At one time whenever I shrunk the window, it would move pieces around on the page...)

If you've read this far, then you must be as bored as I tend to get. If you're that bored, you can see this for yourself at the DisneyBase.Net v2 site. Let me know if you have any suggestions or areas where I can improve. (Especially with those tables... like I mentioned, I'm not entirely happy with the color schemes they are now.)

And yes, my little dragon avatar makes his appearance. I've grown attached to that little guy ever since I copied a piece of Clip-Art and changed the colors .

 

[Cafeen]

I debated on doing this now... since it's the last day of the trip. Oh well...

So, day 9 will dawn bright and early at sometime between 6 and 10 am. (Pfft, think I actually know what time the sun comes up?)

The plan for this day is to hit MK up one last time before it's time to leave. Depending on transportation, I intend to at least spend half a day here, if not more.

So, I'll get into the MK walk up Main St. and head on over to whatever I feel like doing. After that is done, I'll head on over to something else that I feel like doing. (Man, planning this way is easy! )

After all of that doing whatever I feel like doing, it'll likely be time for lunch. Taking a cue from Kathy, I've made reservations at The Plaza as my goodbye to Disney World lunch. (See, I remembered that from my Feb plans that never happened!)

Now, as for the rest of the day, we're going to go ahead and assume that I'm back to normal in the license department...

Should this not be the case, I'll likely be flying into Mobile later in the evening (leaving around 4:30-5.. which puts me on ME at about 1:30ish).

The plan is to then leave MK in the mid-afternoon or later evening (I'll manage to avoid the Orlando rush hour) and drive up to Beverly Hills, FL where my mom lives. I probably won't do much else other than visit them on Friday.

Day 10
On Saturday, I plan to head over to visit my Granpa at his place (he's moved into assisted living since my Grammy passed). And, speaking of that, I just realized that they are up north in RI (or MA, not sure) this weekend for my Grammy's memorial service up there. .

At anyrate, I'll spend some time visiting there, and then head back to Mom's for a bit. I plan to leave there in the late-afternoon to early evening and begin the ride up to Mobile. I'll likely spend the night at a little hotel along the way and finish it all up on Sunday...

And that's the end of the plans. Hm. Packing list is "done"... it consists of "Clothes, Camera, Laptop, Book", so it's not like it's tough.

Guess the rest of this PTR will be about me getting ready .

 

[KatMark]

IAfter all of that doing whatever I feel like doing, it'll likely be time for lunch. Taking a cue from Kathy, I've made reservations at The Plaza as my goodbye to Disney World lunch. (See, I remembered that from my Feb plans that never happened!)
YEAH!!!! You remembered. I really think you are going to love The Plaza. I'll be interested to know which dessert you end up with.


Day 10
On Saturday, I plan to head over to visit my Granpa at his place (he's moved into assisted living since my Grammy passed). And, speaking of that, I just realized that they are up north in RI (or MA, not sure) this weekend for my Grammy's memorial service up there. .

I'm sure they all know that you are there in your heart.

 

[mickeystoontown]

You're good! I can barely pull up something on my computer much less do something as extraordinary as you've done. I like the colors, the layout, the pictures, everything. Fantastic job all the way around!

We ate dinner at The Plaza during our last trip and the meal was great. I had forgotten how good the food was there. It's simple but tasty.

 

[Cafeen]

Ok ok, it's been almost a month. Man how quickly time goes when working 50-60hrs a week.

I'm sure they all know that you are there in your heart.

They all had as good a time as they could, given the circumstances. From what my mom was saying, my grandfather (he'll be 91 in.. August I think?) did great with the travel. The house they rented was nice and everyone enjoyed seeing everyone.

And yup, I certainly remembered. I had planned the same thing for that Feb trip that never happened, I knew I had to do the same this time!

You're good! I can barely pull up something on my computer much less do something as extraordinary as you've done. I like the colors, the layout, the pictures, everything. Fantastic job all the way around!

We ate dinner at The Plaza during our last trip and the meal was great. I had forgotten how good the food was there. It's simple but tasty.

Thanks. It just takes a lot of practice and a ton of Google, same as any other creative process. The fact that I work in the industry for a living helps too, talking programming with other developers who actually get paid to do that is a great thing (even if we use different languages, a lot of bits are very similar). I've made quite a bit of headway recently on it too, though it's still very far from being releasable (it'll never be "done").

I'm looking forward to the Plaza a ton. After 8 days of DxDDP overeating, it'll be nice to have something lighter.

-----------
In other news, I should be paying off almost half of my remaining balance by the end of this month (need to make sure that I have enough to carry me into next month of course), with the remaining balance to follow over the next two paychecks! Then, it'll really be official!

My other stuff hasn't been going so well, but let's not dwell on that.

And lastly, some updated images of what I do for fun. Yup, I'm a nerd. Good thing I like me that way!

I'm liking the new color scheme for this table here, and you can also see a bit of moment of some other elements.

Detailed view of the "tooltip" (this displays when you hover the mouse cursor over the information icons on the page, it's a nice trick to push more visible data in a smaller space)

I've created the basic portion of the Ratings and Reviews page (though, I still have to hook it up and create the reviews portion). I'm not entirely sold on this layout just yet, but I think that's going to be the final (maybe realign the other sites' ratings a bit...)

And, lastly, I've created the image gallery display.

I really like how the individual image display turned out.

Now, I didn't do this all on my own (per se), but I picked up some guy's code and used that to do the tooltips, rating stars, and the image gallery. I also use a library (that is a collection of code, basically) to do some other stuff on the site. (Remind me to pay the licensing fees for those first 3 things though, once this site is out of development )

There is still a ton of work to be done, but I'm really liking what I have so far. It runs smooth and quick and the design is likely the strongest that I've done so far.

Ok, done nerding it up for now.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Doesn't it make you feel good when you know that the trip is close to being paid off? I'm still lovin' all of the designs for your website. Very very cool.

 

[trickiwoo]

In other news, I should be paying off almost half of my remaining balance by the end of this month (need to make sure that I have enough to carry me into next month of course), with the remaining balance to follow over the next two paychecks! Then, it'll really be official!

I hope you're able to pay off your trip soon! And that you're not too too broke after you do so! I know my bank account was pretty empty between the time I paid off my trip and when I got my next paycheck!

 

[MEK]

Cafeen -

I just stumbled on your PTR while checking Katmark's. I am so excited that you have a trip coming up in September. I am so sorry that you lost contact with Beth and Emily. I could always tell how much you loved them both. I hope you trip planning is going well and that you are getting some breaks from your heavy work schedule. Really looking forward to reading your TR.

 

[Cafeen]

Phew, it's been just over a month since I posted on this thing. Not a whole lot has changed as far as the trip is concerned. It's now 31 days away (exactly a month) and it's all paid off. Still going to need to book a flight home, but that's fine.

Work has been hectic to say the least. Still going on OT and don't see an end for awhile. Been running myself ragged for the past 3 months so far . At least it's only another month until I can get away.

Hm, not a whole lot else going on. I did make reservations for Via Napoli when they opened up, so instead of my Sunday being Le Cellier and Tutto, it's now Le Cellier and Via Napoli . I'm also hoping that Hacienda will open on time and be available for my trip. I've been keeping busy here by keeping up with the new restaurant information and it looks like Hacienda will likely open around 16 Sept, with reservations starting for 15 Oct, so it'll have to be walk up for me.

Well, that's about it. Until next time

 

[mickeystoontown]

It's good to see you posting again. From the way it sounds, you'll be more than ready for your Disney vacation! Overtime is good in some ways (able to make more Disney dollars) and bad in others (extreme exhaustion by the time you get home every evening).

I can't wait to read your dining reviews. I've been pondering whether or not to book the new Mexico and Italy restaurants.

 

[KatMark]

Phew, it's been just over a month since I posted on this thing. Not a whole lot has changed as far as the trip is concerned. It's now 31 days away (exactly a month) and it's all paid off. Still going to need to book a flight home, but that's fine.

Work has been hectic to say the least. Still going on OT and don't see an end for awhile. Been running myself ragged for the past 3 months so far . At least it's only another month until I can get away.

Hm, not a whole lot else going on. I did make reservations for Via Napoli when they opened up, so instead of my Sunday being Le Cellier and Tutto, it's now Le Cellier and Via Napoli . I'm also hoping that Hacienda will open on time and be available for my trip. I've been keeping busy here by keeping up with the new restaurant information and it looks like Hacienda will likely open around 16 Sept, with reservations starting for 15 Oct, so it'll have to be walk up for me.

Well, that's about it. Until next time

Good to hear from you...I've missed youa round here. Good for you --I'll be curious as to what you think of Via Napoli. Good for you on the OT money wise; but bad for how exhausted you must be. Pretty soon...and you'll be at the Happy Place.

 

[Cafeen]

It's good to see you posting again. From the way it sounds, you'll be more than ready for your Disney vacation! Overtime is good in some ways (able to make more Disney dollars) and bad in others (extreme exhaustion by the time you get home every evening).

I can't wait to read your dining reviews. I've been pondering whether or not to book the new Mexico and Italy restaurants.

I've kept up posting, just didn't have much time outside of the dining boards. Funny how quickly you can become an "expert" at things when you hang around them enough and are good at computers and logic heh. If only they knew that this "expert" has been to Disney once in the past 18 years .

The OT is still running, up to about 120hrs of pure OT since 1 Jun. This has been the absolute worst summer we've had since I've worked for this company. I love doing what I do, but this summer has made me question it quite a bit. I am so ready for 23 Sept to roll around at this point. In fact, I figured it out, and I worked 28 of 31 days in August...

Good to hear from you...I've missed youa round here. Good for you --I'll be curious as to what you think of Via Napoli. Good for you on the OT money wise; but bad for how exhausted you must be. Pretty soon...and you'll be at the Happy Place.

Yup, surely exhausted and definitely burnt out. Doing this type of work takes a lot out of you and I know my focus is completely shot. (And in reality, work around the whole QA department is suffering right now, as we're all overloaded).

-----

I'm really looking forward to both Via Napoli and Hacienda. Hacienda will be opening up on 16 Sept for walkups, so I'm keeping my Marrakesh reservation for now and will cancel when the time comes.

I also finally decided (after a sizable paycheck ) to go ahead and get a ticket for the MNSSHP on 28 Sept. Of course, going as a solo 31 year old guy may seem strange to outsiders, but pfft, there are no outsiders here! Should be a good time to roam around and get pictures and do all that sort of thing.

On the work front, my boss has decided to "send" me to a training the 2nd week of Sept. So, I get to learn the ins and outs of a new reporting framework/utility we'll be using. I know, I know, you all (erm, both?) can't hold back the excitement for this and the envy, but you'll have to deal with it! . At any rate, it should be informative and maybe entertaining. I do like this sort of thing, and it'll look good come review time. "Send" is in quotes as well, as I'll be sent 1 door down and across the hall to our Engineering Conference Room, so it's not like I really get to go anywhere. I'm also fast becoming the Spanish "expert" in QA (mainly because I'm the only one who can read it!). I can't speak it worth a damn, but I can at least read and understand it. Since we're starting to do some translations of our apps over to Spanish, it will surely come in handy.

Um, not a whole lot else going on. 23 (22 by Lisa's count! and maybe even 21 since I'll likely be leaving the 22nd since I have a 6am flight from Pensacola).

 

[KatMark]

Good to hear from you. We're down to 17 days because I am NOT counting today. Mark and I are doing MNSSHP as well and I don't care if people find it weird that two 50+ people are going or not.

 

[Cafeen]

10 days! - I've been counting down since... well, since before I booked it, but it seems like just yesterday I was hitting the "double digits", now I'm about to hit singles!

In recapping, I've made quite a few dining changes:
Thu 23 Sept - Scratch San Angel Inn, Add Maya Grill @ 7:45. Mom got a 4 day non-hopper ticket and to upgrade to 5 days would be 50 or so extra dollars (it's one of those special FL Resident tickets). So Dinner moved to the resort. I really liked Maya Grill both times we went last year, so it works.

Thu 30 Sept - Scratch Rose & Crown, add San Angel Inn @ 11:30am. Ok, I really wanted San Angel this trip . R&C was mostly a place-holder for Via Napoli or Hacienda (this was before I knew Hacienda was Dinner only). I will try for Hacienda that night as well. Yes, that means two mexican places in a day, but that doesn't bother me (I ate at Sabor-a-Mexico (the little Mexican place right down the street from me) on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and will probably go there today for lunch too. I'm weird like that .

As mentioned, MNSSHP ticket is in hand for Tue 28 Sept. After reading a bunch of information about it, I'm much more "calm" (not that I was ever anxious, but it's as good a word as I can think of today) about doing it. My 5:35pm Citrico's reservation should work out as well, especially if I can tell the server to rush it a little bit. (Hmm, faster table turnover, I don't think they'd really mind )

My PTR never really made it to my blog-thingy. Just didn't have the time to redo the whole thing. I will be "live" reporting from there though (gives me something to do). With the aforementioned ability to get internet on my laptop through my phone, I won't even have to pay the 10$/24hr fee! Yay. Picture uploads will be slow, but at least I can get a few. (Warning though, some language to be seen on that blog when it concerned my former World of Warcraft guild-site being hacked...)

On the "pre-trip goals" front. I did half of them. No license (way too busy at work this summer...) and still a smoker, but my front teeth are fixed and am working with the dentist on the rest of the issues (note to those with young kids, Mt. Dew is bad, especially if they don't go to the dentist for 20 years...). I also randomly received a check for 400$ or so for my 2004 tax return. Guess I never got it in the first place, not a bad little discovery. I do still need a haircut (next weekend) and to find a ride from Mobile to Pensacola on Wednesday (going to nab a cheap hotel room in Pensacola Wed, as my flight out is at 6am...)

Also sent out my plans to my mom last week, after having them written, and re-written, and edited and tweaked for the past couple of months.

So, the finalized plans are:

• Wed 22 Sept - Head out to Pensacola in some manner. I'm sure paying a co-worker $50 or so should do it. It's only about 45minutes or so away. Since I don't have a flight until the next day, it also can be at any time, which makes things easy.
• Thu 23 Sept
  • 6am flight from PNS for 10:30am arrival @ MCO then ME to CSR (guessing I'll arrive around noon)
  • Epcot for lunch and some early touring (Lunch likely @ Cantina de San Angel)
  • Mom to arrive @ CSR around 5-5:30pm, I'll head back around that time or so
  • Dinner @ Maya Grill @ 7:45 (though, it's likely we can walk in a little early)
• Fri 24 Sept - MK for the day. Lunch @ LTT @ 12:15pm. Dinner @ Artist Point @ 7pm. I may hit up Epcot EMH after dinner, I may not.
• Sat 25 Sept - AK for the day. Breakfast @ Tusker House @ 8:30am. Dinner @ Boma @ 5:35pm.
• Sun 26 Sept - Epcot day. Lunch @ Le Cellier @ 11:30am, Dinner @ Via Napoli @ 7pm. Illuminations after
• Mon 27 Sept - HS day. Lunch @ Sci-Fi @ 11:40am. Mom likely to leave around 6pm. Dinner @ Yachtsman @ 6:35pm.
• Tue 28 Sept - "Late Start" day @ MK. Breakfast @ Maya Grill @ 8:35am. Head to MK sometime in the mid-late morning. Dinner @ Citrico's @ 5:35pm. MNSSHP @ night (no, I'm not dressing up, sorry )
• Wed 29 Sept - AK day. Dinner @ Jiko @ 5:35pm. May hit up something else after, may not
• Thu 30 Sept - Epcot day 2 1/2. Lunch @ San Angel Inn @ 11:30am. Dinner @ either Hacienda or Marrakesh (@ 6:30pm)
• Fri 1 Oct - MK in the morning, Lunch @ The Plaza @ 11:45am (erm, I think). Leave MK by 3 for 4:30 (guessing) ME pickup. Fly home @ 7:30pm and then... well, that's it (start planning the next one perhaps? hehe)

 

[aprilisis]

Yay! 10 Days will be over before you know it. Your itinerary sounds great!!! I can't wait to read your TR- I am actually going to WDW 3 days after you get home. Have a great trip & safe flights.

 

[KatMark]

Allan, your plans sound absolutely great. The only bad thing I can see in the whole plan is that we are missing you by one stinking day. I will look forward to your TR.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Just 10 days to go? Hip Hooray!

I was happy to read that you scrapped the plans to eat at Rose & Crown. We didn't care for it at all but I figured it was because we were from Louisiana and like our things spicy. The food at R&C definitely had no spice or other umph to it.

Maybe you could stop smoking at the Happiest Place on Earth. At least you could keep your mind on other things besides smoking.

Wow! Good to hear that you got an extra $400 that you weren't expecting.

 

[KatMark]

Allan, hope you have a GREAT time on your trip and another magical stay at the CSR.

 

[Cafeen]

Yay! 10 Days will be over before you know it. Your itinerary sounds great!!! I can't wait to read your TR- I am actually going to WDW 3 days after you get home. Have a great trip & safe flights.

And the 10 days are over . It's almost like I threaded a needle between you and Kathy and meant to miss both of you , I swear I didn't! Honestly hehe.

Allan, your plans sound absolutely great. The only bad thing I can see in the whole plan is that we are missing you by one stinking day. I will look forward to your TR.

I'm really liking them the more I look them over.

Just 10 days to go? Hip Hooray!

I was happy to read that you scrapped the plans to eat at Rose & Crown. We didn't care for it at all but I figured it was because we were from Louisiana and like our things spicy. The food at R&C definitely had no spice or other umph to it.

Maybe you could stop smoking at the Happiest Place on Earth. At least you could keep your mind on other things besides smoking.

Wow! Good to hear that you got an extra $400 that you weren't expecting.

I was actually looking forward to R&C a little bit, but not as much as the other places. The $400 check is still sitting in my laptop bag though, but that $400 can go to better things than Disney (well, more important may be a better term.) (My bank is located in NJ/PA and I'm really bad at remembering to mail things... that's why bills are all online ).

Allan, hope you have a GREAT time on your trip and another magical stay at the CSR.

Thanks Kathy . I'll have internet while I'm there (<3 my Driod) so if there's any pictures or whatnot you need for the CSR thread, just let me know.

-----
As far the impending TR, I'm sure I'll be doing on once I come back (what better way to extend the trip huh). I'll also be attempting (if I remember and stuff) to do it "live" on my blog thingy below. Of course, this all hinges on a) if I remember, and b) if I actually feel like it.

I picked up 5 books to bring with me, the 4 Imagineering Field Guides for the 4 parks and a Hidden Mickeys book as well. We'll see how they work at keeping me occupied during lines/waits/meals/etc. I'm also planning to do a bit of work on my other website that I've been creating off and on for awhile (hey, I enjoy doing it so it doesn't count at "work", plus I'm not getting paid for it, so even less counting as "work" right?).

In all, I'll be heading down to Pensacola at about 4pm today (2 1/2 hours! wee) and am very ready for it. (Heck, I was "ready" for this trip 6 months ago).

And lastly, a co-worker of mine has decided to take her mom and her 2 sons to Disney... except they are going mid April. The week before Easter. I've already made sure that she knows about the dining reservations thing and how important they are, I have yet to educate her on exactly how busy it will be (though I've already mentioned that it'll likely be pretty packed, but that was before I knew exactly when Easter was..).

Um, now I'm just rambling and procrastinating. But really, who gets any work done on the day they leave? (Or the days before they leave... or the weeks leading up to those days...)