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Sue Holland -- December 2001 -- Walt Disney World (OKWR)Note: As Sue
spent a great deal of time at Pleasure Island and in other adult venues, Who/When/Where:
INTRODUCTION: Ok, I ended my last trip 21 days ago by saying I would not be back until December 29th (now that trip will begin December 28th <g>). However, I had to add an extra weekend trip in order to take care of some computer problems. Confused? Well, one of my Comedy Warehouse friends (Leesa) happens to be a computer expert and when I decided to replace my desktop computer she ordered me a new CPU and then installed my old hard drive (as a 2nd hard drive), a rewritable cd drive, and bunches of software & other stuff. It meant I *had to* make a trip up there to get it from her, and when the modem and sound card died a couple of weeks ago, it meant I would need to bring it back to her for repair/part replacement. It is not the most convenient way to repair a computer, but the fringe benefit of having more time at the Comedy Warehouse might be worth the trouble! Leesa was out of town when the computer malfunction happened, so we agreed upon this weekend. I will go to work on Friday but leave early - hopefully early enough for her to assess the damage and possible get the modem/sound card working or replaced before we head to WDW for a night at the Comedy Warehouse. Since she doesn't drive, I'll take her back home and spend the night on her couch rather than finding time to check into OKWR when I wouldn't get back until possibly 2am or later. Saturday and Sunday I plan to relax during the day and spend the nights at Comedy Warehouse. I am not sure what I will do about the computer if the repair is not quick enough to be completed on Friday - possibly I will just leave it at Leesa's and pick it up on my next trip, since that trip is almost here! Hopefully I can finalize my plans with Nancy & Leesa for that next trip, and I look forward to seeing Kathy this Sunday. Other than that, since the weather is expected to be so warm and the parks will undoubtedly be more crowded than I care for since it is the weekend - I may just hang around Blizzard Beach for a good portion of the days. On my next trip I will be with several friends who are much more "park commando" types than I am, so I have no doubt I will have more than my fill of park time then ;-) This weekend I want to just relax and enjoy myself. I seriously considered skipping the trip report entirely - figuring nobody would even know, since the trips are so close together <g>, but I know of some Comedy Warehouse fans who I fear would drive to my town and cause me bodily harm if I did not at least write a report of my nights there. Since that might be the majority of the report, I figure I might as well fill in the rest of the time, but I expect (hope) it will be briefer than usual. I am not planning any real meals, no special shows, no time planned for any of the holiday stuff - just nice boring days and funny nights :-) Monday morning I will wake up in my beautiful OKWR studio and :::gasp::: commute to work. It might seem wasteful to spend the night at OKWR when I will be leaving by sunup, but for me it is worth it for the extra night at Comedy Warehouse. The plans so far... Fri 12/14: Work, Drive to Leesa's, Comedy Warehouse Sat 12/15: Check in OKWR, Blizzard Beach or park, Comedy Warehouse Sun 12/16: See Kathy, Blizzard Beach or parks, Comedy Warehouse Mon 12/17: Leave OKWR, drive to work DAY 1 - FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2001: Plan: Work, Drive to Leesa's, Comedy Warehouse Actual: Work passed quickly. I had a 9am meeting that I did not want to miss - it ended by 10:30 and after returning some calls and signing a few things I was on the road by 11 and arrived at Leesa's just before 2pm. We got the computer set up inside, and turned it on.....the damn thing worked perfectly! I brought Leesa some cookies I'd made, and her Christmas gift. She wanted to wait to open it on Christmas - and I said ok....damn! LOL - I'll have to wait for her reaction...the gift is something particular to Leesa (no hints, she might be reading). At home it would not detect a sound card or a modem, but here it was making noises and connected with aol right off the bat! We had no idea why that would be, unless something had come loose and now that we had re-hooked it up that problem no longer exists. We played on the computers for a while, rebooted a couple of times, and hung around for a while before leaving for PI around 5. We were loaded down with gifts for people at the Comedy Warehouse, and looked like Santa and her helper, lol! Leesa had just returned from a trip to Seattle and brought back stuff she knows certain people liked or asked for, and I had a tin of my cookies. The cast is going to be on a major sugar high tonight <g>. After a stop at a bookstore in Kissimmee to drop something off with a friend of Leesa's, we arrived PI shortly after 6 (traffic up here is AWFUL). First stop was the bushes near Planet Hollywood, where we saw 3 hummingbirds. Leesa tried taking several pictures, and one came out really well. From there we continued to the West Side and went to Wolf Gang Puck Express for dinner. We were a little rushed for time, but the guy working there said the pizzas would only take 5 minutes, so we ordered a margarita pizza to share. He was right about the time, and the pizza was delicious. We got the last table out on the porch and ate quickly since we did not have much time. We entered Pleasure Island before 7, and talked to cm Joe outside the Comedy Warehouse. We were going to get in the regular line once there were enough people ahead of us, but Joe sent us down to the backdoor - and we did not argue, lol! Once inside Leesa gave Darby the bag with the candy and other gifts, for everyone to go through. Dee greeted us and went to get my Bye Bye Blues after asking for the recipe again. Tonight the bartender is a relatively new girl who had never heard of it - but she commented that it sounded good. We chatted with Darby, Dee and Deb until guests started being seated. Jim Roberts was the keyboard player tonight. The 7:10 show featured Todd, Greg, Mary, Jen K & Phillip. I had high hopes for a great show, as those cast members are excellent, but it started out kind of slow (Todd opened up with the phone thing, but the person who answered replied "no" to most of the questions - Todd should have just bailed out early but he kept on asking every single question hoping for some decent answers - it was frustrating) and never really took off. The early shows can be tough - if the audience is kind of a dud or the suggestions are difficult to come by, it is really hard for the actors to turn it around and overcome that....although many times they have done so. There was one really funny/shocking moment towards the end of the first song, about the lady who answered the phone. She was married for 53 years year and never worked - and called herself a "kept woman". Phillip came out with a big dictionary and rhymed something about her being "kept" was cute, but Webster's would say that makes her a prostitute! We just about died, lol! Somehow Phillip can get away with that, although he brought the dictionary out to look intelligent rather than insulting <g>. They also did Up Your Alley, with Jen K as the host Bucky - wearing those funny teeth she uses quite often. The final number was a blues song about a dog named Nina that poops in someone's yard - it was pretty funny. I had emailed with Mary earlier in the week, so she knew we would be there for this show. She came right out afterwards and came over to our seats (long row). We talked to her for a while about different things, and I gave her the tin of cookies for the cast. She later brought them backstage where the actors would have them. Greg stopped by to say hi, and then Todd did also - he is a really nice guy, and I enjoy talking to him. He had heard I met his parents last trip. Leesa told Greg I write some funny reports on Fortress (she likes that version) and he told me he would like the link. I hesitated - not sure I am ready to show *that* version to the cast, lol! He was shocked to hear that aol had pulled a day my November report, and when he asked why I told him there was a comment he made, and Jen K (she was standing there) & Phillip - they laughed that something said on a Disney stage could be considered inappropriate, but whatever. We decided to head outside to get ready for the next show, but stopped to talk to Jim Roberts on the way out. He is performing in a jazz concert on Sunday and gave us each a flier with the information. Any Orlando-area people who are interested - it is Sunday 12/16 2-5 at the Central FL Jazz Society Concert at the American Legion Club on 2101 Lee Rd (next to Ben White Raceway). His wife will also be performing in the Jim Roberts Jazz Saxtet (she is the sax player in Frankie & the West Side Boys). We headed closer to the door, knowing it was about time for guests to be let in, and met up with John (another regular, son of Sharon). Darby told us to just go back to our seats, so John joined us in long row. Another regular - Virginia & her husband were seated next to John, so we all chatted until show time. The 8:15 show consisted of Jen K, Phillip, Mary, Todd & Krista. Tonight each show we saw got better than the one before, and except for some slow parts in the first one they were all good. This show they did a funny musical set in a morgue, starring Todd as a character named Shorty. Jen K was a gangster and Mary was the doctor who took some legs some guy lost in a train accident and attached them to Todd so he was no longer short and could infiltrate the gangsters as an undercover agent to get them arrested. On the way out Mary was talking to some guests but as we passed she asked if we would be back - lol, silly question....of course we were not finished after 2 shows! John left, so Leesa & I waited at the back door for the next show. Once again we sat in long row and chatted with Dee until the other guests were let in. She told me about her Christmas gift from Adie & Lisa - a couple of up & coming Comedy Warehouse regulars, lol! As we were coming in some of the actors were crossing the stage and I heard someone call "Sue" - it was Todd complimenting the cookies. They were definitely a hit tonight, as Greg stopped by later to say the same thing. The 9:20 show featured Todd, Josh, Greg, Mary & Phillip. They did styles, which got pretty wild (risqué at times) but was very funny. Josh was almost going to have to kiss Greg on the lips, and was very glad when the scene changed and he was able to avoid that! (no offense to Greg, lol) The telephone thing was concerning at the beginning, because the person who answered it kept trying to turn the tables and ask personal questions of Todd. Phillip became the voice of the "producer" over the microphone saying that Todd is too boring to talk about - we want to hear about the person on the phone, lol! They also did Schmeopardy, with Mary as the host. After the show we talked to Mary for a while, teasing her about a word she said in the show that is definitely NOT approved by Disney! LOL - it was a guest suggestion and she repeated it without realizing what she was saying, and immediately was horrified. Since this report goes to aol I cannot print it here, but for the curious readers, it is a slang word for a female body part and can also be another word for a cat. Enough said <g>. Mary promised to let us know where she would be working so we could go see her, lol. She was done for the night, so she left and we returned to the back door until it was time to come back in again (about 10-15 minutes). The 10:40 show had Greg, Phillip, Josh, Krista, & Jen K. They did conducted story, including the deaths! It seemed to me that after 9/11 they stopped doing the deaths (I never actually asked any of them, so this is strictly my own observation & assumptions). As a result, Conducted Story went from being a very funny game to just being so-so at best. The deaths were the funniest part, and without them the game had the potential to be somewhat tedious. Tonight the story was titled Rings Around Uranus. Greg was the last survivor, and wrapped up the story in the style of poetry, with Josh doing sign-language interpretation that was just hysterical! Jen K's death was also very good - she died a disco death by Florida orange! After this show we decided to leave - I knew I had work to do on the report and did not really want to be getting to bed at 3 or 4am. Leesa is a night owl but I need to be up in the morning! We left PI and stopped at Virgin Megastore to pick up a tape Leesa had ordered. On the way back we saw the fireworks from the PI New Year's Eve celebration. We went to the car and drove back to her house, where we checked my computer again (everything fine) and she showed me how to create a cd using the cd-rw. I finished up the report to get it ready for posting, while she got something to eat and did some reading before going to bed. I downloaded my pictures onto the desktop while the laptop was posting the report and downloading messages....this trip-taking is high-tech stuff, lol! It was 2am before I ever got online or started the pictures, so I am scrambling to finish early enough to take a nap before getting up in the morning! The day went according to plan, with the bonus of getting here early and finding out the computer is not broken. We had a great time at the Comedy Warehouse! On my Thanksgiving trip most of the regulars were off so I did not get to see many of them, and do not recall talking to any of them, except I think for Todd. In any event, it was a great day, and a terrific start to the weekend :-) DAY 2 - SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2001: Plan: Check in OKWR, Blizzard Beach or park, Comedy Warehouse Actual: After a very brief nap, I was up around 7:15. What the heck though, I can always try to snooze at Blizzard Beach today in the warm sun. I am just hoping I will get into a studio right away at OKWR so I do not have to leave all the computer stuff in the car all day. After taking a quick shower I made some cappuccino and IM'd with my stalker Maria and then Adie & Lisa IM'd to apologize for the nasty names they were calling me last night when there was no "plan" posted for the trip. I think maybe they thought I had decided to skip the report after all, lol - but I would never do that to them when the trip included Comedy Warehouse time (and I seriously doubt anyone would believe I would take a trip without time at the Warehouse, lol). They also gave me the number for OKWR so I could call to check on my studio, since I had left my reservation paper on the stack of them back in Ft Myers. Good news from OKWR - there are a number of empty studios, so it will be no problem getting me into one right away! Woohoo - no worrying about the computers, digital camera, etc. I am glad I will not be getting housekeeping services - can you imagine the housekeeper coming in to find a desktop and a laptop set up in the room?? LOL I left Leesa's around 8:45 for OKWR. Leesa - Thank You, Thank You, Thank You for your hospitality and the great chocolate from Seattle :-) Arriving at Old Key West, the security cm said Welcome Home when he saw my DVC card :-) It felt so good to be back in the old neighborhood, lol - I truly love this resort and feel so comfortable here. After a brief stop to chat and drop a tin of cookies off with Angelo for him and the other guys at bell services I went inside and got through the check-in process quickly. My exact studio was ready, in building 31. I have stayed in 30 before, but never 31, so this was kind of nice. I asked the lady which floor I was on, and she said first. I always request top floor, but this time left that request off since I thought I might have the desktop with me. First floor works out perfectly, since it means no lugging the computer up to the 2nd or 3rd floor! I swung by Hank's to pick up some pool towels to take with me (for the water park - but I will return them to OKWR) and then drove to my studio. I brought my stuff inside, and noticed they had turned the washcloth in the bathroom into an angel (I will put a picture in the photopoint album I set up for the trip at the end of the month). It was really cute, and the first time I had seen anything like that here. After eating a piece of a chocolate bar (the breakfast of DVC champions, lol) I drove over to Blizzard Beach and entered the park about 5-10 minutes before the 10am opening. They held people back at the bridges for a few minutes, which was no big deal. I got the same chairs as we had on Thanksgiving - on that piece of land that juts out into the wave bobbing pool. Nobody else came here until about 11:30, and it never filled up more than halfway. My first hour I spent riding the chairlift up the mountain and then walking down (slides are not my thing), then floating around Cross Country Creek (the lazy river). From 11 until almost 2 I stayed on my lounge chair, alternating between catnapping and reading. At one point I smelled the foul odor of cigarette smoke, but when I nicely told the guy this was a no smoking area he put it right out (in the sand...yuck). I offered him my map to find the closest smoking area, but he did not want to move. About 2pm I left and since I was most of the way there anyway, drove over to Animal Kingdom Lodge. This time they were not restricting access, and I was permitted to enter the hallowed premises <g>. Actually, we will be staying here on the concierge level next month - can't wait! It will be a short trip, just to enjoy the resort (it is so far removed from the rest of the World it makes sense to spend most of the time here - and checking on Gus at Animal Kingdom, of course. Leesa beeped me as I pulled into the parking lot, so once inside I found the payphones and called her. They have the DVC booth over by the pay phones - out of the way of traffic, which seemed kind of strange. After talking with Leesa I headed downstairs and out to Mara. After hearing Kathy rave about the soups there, today I was finally going to try one. There was a large party (10-12) people ordering when I arrived - although it is a food court, a cm standing on your side of the counter takes your order and then turns it in to the cm's making the food while you go pay and find a seat. They then bring the food to you. I decided to just order the soup without seeing it or tasting it, figuring I trust Kathy's taste since she has a very good idea what I would or would not like. I ordered the chicken pepper pot - which for some reason I expected to be a creamy soup, whitish in color. What came was this yucky-looking brownish clear broth with pieces of chicken, red pepper, green pepper & onion (and 2 pieces of mushroom that I removed). Had I seen it before ordering, I would have ordered the tomato bisque - but for $2.64 (with tax) I figured if I did not like it I would just dump it in the trash. I took a taste - hesitantly.......and was shocked to find that I really liked it, lol! It was not salty at all and had a really nice flavor....I was glad I ordered it and will likely order it again. I ate it outside under an umbrella, then drove back to OKWR to take another shower and get cleaned up. In the studio I talked to Kathy for a while, and finally got myself out the door around 4:45 to walk to the Hospitality House. The boat arrived just before I did, and I enjoyed the Trumbo Ferry ride to the Marketplace as the sole passenger. Once there I checked the Christmas store briefly, picked up my free sample at Ghiradelli, then bought a bunch of stuff at World of Disney. I got a couple of things for Chris' stocking, plus some stuff for the people who work in one of my departments. I just missed the return ferry, so I browsed a bit more until the next one arrived. It was the same driver who brought me over, so we chatted a bit on the way back. By the time I walked back to the studio it was just after 6. I turned on the news to check the weather (it felt cooler than last night), ate some chocolate, updated the report, and left at 6:20 to drive to PI. Parking at Downtown Disney was a disaster tonight! It turns out there were 2 large private party groups who booked 8 Trax and the Adventurer's Club until 9pm, so a large section of the parking lot was set aside for them. Eventually I found a spot, and walked into PI around 6:45 or so. I walked around, sat on a bench for a while, then went and stood talking with Darby until there were enough people to get in line. I asked him why the upside Christmas tree was missing this year, and he said that Disney had not done any decorating this year - the only decorations the Warehouse has is stuff the cast went and got (some garland, a wreath, and a few small things). I had gotten an email this afternoon from DVC members Shari & Rick - they had seen me at the Warehouse last night and would look for me tonight. They were not too far ahead of me in line, and Rick came back to say hi before the line started moving. They live in Minnesota and come down for 2 weeks at a time - really nice people. We ended up with barely 70 people in line, and they held everyone outside for 5 extra minutes before opening the door to seat us. I was happy to be in the center of long row. Jim Roberts was on the keys again. These are not his normal nights, so perhaps Carol is on vacation this week. The 7:10 show featured Todd, Krista, Greg, Jen K and Christine. A 12 year old boy answered the phone (ran past 3 seats to grab it), but he did a good job and the cast created a funny song about the family. They did Up Your Alley about tie dye shirts (Shari & Rick were wearing tie dye shirts Shari had made). Greg hosted it, as his character Ricky Flake. Krista did her Saffron character - a spacey, drugged out hippie flower child. Jen K was kind of pushing the limits as an obnoxious 6 yr old named Jessie who was off his Ritalin because his mother had no money to buy it because she was just out of rehab and he liked to spend his time taking his father's ties and putting them tightly around the necks of small animals and then swinging them around until they die. It was kind of gross, but also funny. Not exactly something you would want your impressionable kids to see/hear, perhaps! Overall the show was very good, particularly for the first show of the night. I left immediately so I could get right back into line, and ended up directly behind Shari, Rick and their party. They introduced me to their friends and we spent some time chatting while waiting for the line to move. The friends are not DVC members, but get my trip reports from Shari/Rick, so I guess I was not a total stranger <g>. My seat for this show would have been about halfway back, but they had a single seat in the row behind long row :-) Going solo has a great advantage! The 8:15 show featured Christine, Todd, Krista, Greg & Josh. Christine opened, and got a major jerk on the phone - worse than I had seen in a while. The jackass would not answer the questions except to make stuff up and kept trying to upstage Christine and *be funny*. She asked nicely and then not so nicely told him he needed to either answer the questions honestly or she would have to find someone else. The jerk kept it up, so she hung up on him and dialed a new person (Shari/Rick's friends) - I was so glad to see her do that and get rid of the jerk! When the other actors did their verse in the song, Josh just ripped the original jerk guy to shreds, lol - it was great! Josh has gotten really good, and can be really crude and nasty when he wants to be - unlike Todd, who is just too nice to be insulting to anyone <g>. They did a musical in this show, but it was rather dark & depressing. Josh was Marilyn Manson and Chris was drunken Liza Minnelli, and together they were going to steal Christmas. Eventually they were brought to rehab and Liza's mother Judy Garland (Krista) even put in an appearance. The show was ok....I think if the musical had been a little more pleasant of a story I would have considered the show to have been much better! I left immediately again, and was #164 in line (no, I did not count the people myself, lol) but figured I would take my chance on a single seat. While in line I noticed a woman sort of looking at me, and later she introduced herself. I apologize for not writing down the screen name - but it was Judy from the message boards. We chatted briefly - being on vacation herself she had no idea I was here, and knew I had a trip coming up at the end of the month. I guess I wasn't supposed to be here yet, lol - but thank goodness I live close enough to do these sudden short trips once in a while! Once inside, I would have been in the very top row, but Darby had a single seat right across from long row - this was terrific! The 9:20 show had Greg, Mary, Jen K, Josh & Krista. They did styles (different styles of music, theater, music, etc) with Krista and Jen K - I forget the subject, but it was great. They also did Schmeopardy, hosted by Jen K as Virginia Ham. Greg was Uri Nal, a restroom attendant. Josh was Stan Ulation, a meeting planner on Viagra - they commented he was "a little stiff", lol. Mary was Sister Mother Mary from Mercy Mercy Mercy Monastery, and she was a mercenary. When asked how she could be "Sister Mother" she replied she was from the south <g>. This game was very funny - one of the better ones I have seen. Overall the show was excellent. On the way out I touched base with Mary for a few seconds before rushing back to get in line for one more show. I did not check the count this time, but thought I was in a pretty good position. Once we got inside though, I realized either the line was tightly packed before I got there, or a lot of people were brought in through the back door. I was seated in a single seat, but it was 2 rows behind tech row (slightly more than halfway back to the top). At this point I was growing tired of the drunks and knew I would not be sticking around for the final show. While in the line outside I was getting tired of the people smoking and groping each other - I felt like I was intruding in someone's bedroom or something. Saturday night gets real busy, with lots of young locals on dates, and they like to drink until they are drunk and then their date becomes *very* attractive to them, lol. The 10:40 show featured Mary, Todd, Jen K, Chris & Josh. They did Conducted Story, with Josh doing the conducting. The audience pretty much settled down after getting yelled at a few times in the beginning by some of the actors. They should not have to do that, in my opinion, but if they don't, then the show can be ruined for all the people who are not drunk and stupid-acting. As is typical, the later shows tend to get more adult in nature, as the suggestions get more obscene. There was a family with 3 young children (under age 5) seated in the back of the row ahead of me, and on the way off the Island I heard the woman telling the man that they should have come without the kids....duh <g>. The story had an innocent title - "I want to sell this old jalopy." One death featured pot smoking 3rd graders and drug-related humor. When it was done Josh stood up and said if any kids are in the audience, they need to forget they ever saw that....it never happened, lol! Another death involved adultery inside a closed up sleep sofa, and then the cheating hubby came out and his son went into the couch with the woman for his turn...which resulted in his death (Todd) when she (Jen) laid on top of him. When it was down to just Mary & Jen left standing, Josh asked for a style of film....and this guy behind me said 8 millimeter...ROFL! He got teased for that answer, and they asked for any intelligent people to name a style of film - and the suggestion was porn. Jen had to continue the story as porn, while Mary had to continue in pantomime. They did great, and Mary ended up winning. Jen joked that if she had continued the story where she was headed with it, she would be working at Sea World real soon! I left PI after this show, and walked to the West Side to see if Wolfgang Puck Express had any caprese salad left. I was not hungry, but I figured I could put it in the refrigerator for tomorrow - however, they were already closed. I thought they were open until midnight, but I guess not. I returned to the car and drove back to OKWR to finish the report and get online to get it posted. It was a wonderful day - I cannot believe I have only been here since this morning, lol! It really feels like I have been here a long time. :-) DAY 3 - SUNDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2001: Plan: See Kathy, Blizzard Beach or park, Comedy Warehouse Actual: I slept soundly, not waking until the radio/alarm came on at 7:30. After getting cleaned up and into my swimsuit I made breakfast of cappuccino and frosted cheerios. I thought about sitting out on the porch *a la Darla*, but I guess it is more enticing if you live in Ohio <g> and have escaped cold or dreary weather to be here. I left for the Grand Floridian just before 9, and this time parked at the convention center rather than in the self parking lot across the street from the resort! Kathy & her co-worker were busy with a guest, so I wandered around and then sat in the lobby to wait for her to be free. The Character Caravan was there - I had forgotten what a mess this makes of the lobby (noise, lots of people, etc). I remember seeing Minnie, Pluto, Captain Hook, and know there were others. I guess it is a good way for resort guests to get the character pictures without having to buy a meal or waste park time. The people here seemed to be enjoying it, but in my opinion it is not as nice of a perk as the early entry. Kathy and I visited for about an hour, catching up on things from the past week and she opened her Christmas present. Eventually she needed to get to work since it would soon be getting busy for her, and I headed to Blizzard Beach. It was pretty easy entering about 10:45. The security cm was making a guest remove his sandwiches from the soft-sided cooler he wanted to bring into the park - and told him he had to leave the cooler in the car. The guest asked why it was not allowed, and the cm said "they told us for health & safety reasons" but I did not stick around to hear if they discussed it further. I walked back to my usual spot and got my usual chairs set up in the usual way (creature of habit, I guess <g>). The park was less than 1/2 full and remained that way the entire time I was here, which was really nice. It was also pretty cloudy - alternating periods of complete cloud cover and then bright sunshine, but probably more cloudiness than sunshine today. There was a cool breeze as well, and a couple of times it actually felt too cool until the cloud blew past the sun. Today I spent the entire time on the chairs - never setting foot (or any other part) in the water at all. I sat and watched people, listened to the waves, ate a granola bar, did some reading, and might have catnapped a bit as well. My beeper went off shortly after I got there, with a message from Chris to call his dad. I had left my calling card in the car, and figured (correctly) that it was not anything important so I decided to just wait and call later. If he had beeped a 2nd time then I would have left the park to get the damn card! I stayed until about 2:15, then returned to OKWR to shower and get ready for the rest of the day. First I called Chris' dad (Tim) - they had been out Christmas shopping and needed to know if there were any lipstick shades I wanted other than the one I had written down. LOL - see??? If I had trudged out of the park to the car and back in to make the call at the time of the beep, I would have been a bit irritated <g>. Oh well, I talked to each of them for a little while, then took my shower and got online while I finished getting ready. At one point Chris asked where I was, and I could hear Tim in the background saying "waiting for the line at the Comedy Warehouse" <g>. Ok, smart guy! I left the studio about 4, deciding to get some soup at AKL again and then play tourist briefly by actually setting foot in a theme park, lol! I got into AKL with no problem again, and went directly to Mara. Today I decided to try the tomato bisque, and I was not disappointed. For $2.64 including tax I had a bowl of delicious but spicy thick tomato soup (definitely not Campbell's). I have no idea what spices are in there, but it has a definite bite to it, and I would definitely order this again. The soup was a perfect choice for sitting outside on this cool afternoon! Once I had finished the soup I left immediately and parked at the BW. I was thinking of getting a chocolate/vanilla pretzel on my way out, but later decided not to bother. I entered Epcot just after 5 and walked around World Showcase to see what the Candlelight Processional looked like, since it was just beginning. It was packed - standing room only outside the theater, and the line was already formed for the next performance. The choirs looked nice with their candles and the whole stage was beautiful. They were doing a song that I had heard on Kathy's rehearsal tape - Kathy, it really does sound a lot better with all of the parts in there <g>. The speaker came out, but I could not see her at all; it was Alfre Woodard. I left at this point - I know this show is wildly popular, but I do not care for it. I do like Christmas carols, but am not interested in hearing the rest of it (too much like church for my taste). I continued around through the rest of the countries, glad I had worn a light jacket but wishing I had packed long pants! In Future World I headed over to Test Track, where now all 3 queues go through the original entrance. The Fastpass machines were still dispensing Fastpasses, but I did not look to see what the return time was. Test Track was fun, although it is always strange to come out those doors and have it not be daylight! After the ride I wandered through Mouse Gears and then waited for the tree lighting ceremony - which was the main reason for this park visit. I have always loved the Lights of Winter (the 9 arches), and also like Cast in Bronze, so this was the only tree lighting I was interested in stopping to see. This way I will not need to do it on my next trip, and can just head to the Comedy Warehouse at night. I took a few pictures, then walked back to the Boardwalk and drove back to OKWR. I had noticed the ring I meant to wear was not on my finger, so I wanted to find out if I had lost it or just forgot to put it on (it was in the studio when I returned), plus it was too chilly to hang around outside until the 8pm show! I updated the report (saves a little time later) and ate more of the chocolate (oink oink). Around 7:30 I drove over to Downtown Disney and decided to park at DisneyQuest, thinking I would stop by Wolfgang Puck Express on my way out and pick up a salad for lunch tomorrow. I walked down, entered Pleasure Island, and waited until more people arrived before getting in line at the Comedy Warehouse. I would have gotten long row, but there was a single seat left at the end of the row below - which I did not mind. The 8:00 show featured Joy, Phillip, Todd, Josh & Jake. Todd & Joy did the Fill in the Blank game with 2 audience volunteers, which was pretty good. They did Forgotten Songs, which I usually love, but tonight they were barely ok. The Up Your Alley was much better - Todd was host Jeremy Timberlake, and the subject was Mickey Mouse stuffed toys. Jake was a Disney marketing executive, Josh was a 4 year old kid, and Phillip was really funny as Rip Off - owner of a company using child labor in a sweatshop in Romania to produce cheap Ricky Louse stuffed toys. He might not have been very politically correct, but he was pure Phillip, lol! I left immediately after the show and saw there were only 20 people in line for the next show! I waited a while, then joined the line and was seated in the center of long row. The show started, and the first actor on the stage was..........Mark Lainer!!! I was thrilled to see him here again! Mark worked here for years, but left last February (Layden, Matt & Mark were the 3 that left or were cut at pretty much the same time, which really hurt the show quality for a long time) to join the cast at the Indy show at MGM, then was one of the casualties when Disney made the cutbacks this Sep/Oct to have shows less frequently so they did not need more than 1 cast. I would love to see him return here full time when Josh leaves this February, but I have heard his plan all along was to head to Los Angeles after the first of the year sometime. Mark was joined by Jake, Josh, Todd & Phillip. They started with a poem rather than the phone, and did a great job with "An Elephant Came Down the Chimney". Phillip and Jake then did a scene using 3 different styles of music, and their Yiddish song about putting on rubber gloves was absolutely hysterical! Picture Fiddler on the Roof-type music, complete with the dancing and dialect as these 2 dishwashers sang about putting on rubber gloves to protect Phillip's skin from peeling away from his allergy to the soap - it was really funny! They also did Cliché, with Mark leading the torture of Josh. Josh did really well guessing "I listen to the voices in my head and they don't like you". Overall it was an excellent show - possibly the best one this trip :-) I would have stopped to talk to Mark, but he did not come out from backstage - he would recognize me but I do not think he really *knows* me, but it would have been nice to welcome him back & wish him well. I chatted with Dee for a while before leaving, and then headed out of the club. Outside the line for the 10:30 show had only a few people. If I did not have to leave for work in the morning I would have stayed for another show :( After walking to the West Side I found Wolfgang Puck Express closed again! They must have closed at 10pm tonight....grrr! So much for the caprese salad - it obviously was not meant to be, lol! I drove back to OKWR and finished up the report before getting online for a short while. In the morning I will get up and get ready for work, then hit the road for the 3 hour drive. I figure by leaving around 7 I will be there about 10, which is fairly respectable. SUMMARY: This trip was incredibly short, but I have no regrets, lol! The computer situation was baffling, and I hope this is the end of it, but I am glad I added this extra weekend. The Comedy Warehouse time was the main purpose for turning this into a 3-night trip, and it did not disappoint. I cannot imagine ever getting tired of going there, and hope that never happens! I said from the start that time in theme parks is not a priority, and I did not miss them at all (particularly with it being the weekend). The weather was great - not too hot, but nice and warm - perfect for lounging in the sun and not having to bother with heavy jackets at night. Besides spending time with Leesa and Kathy, I was fortunate enough to see some other people I had met before as well as meeting a few new faces :-) For such a short trip, I am not going to bother looking for magical moments - it was pretty much the usual stuff you can read on my previous reports (friends, Com Warehouse, etc) and there really were no disappointments that I can think of. Now my next trip *really will* start on 12/28....thankfully just 11 days from the end of this one :-) It will be 9 busy but fun nights split between the Swan, OKWR & Coronado Springs, with the main events being spending time with several different friends, seeing Hoop Dee Doo Revue again, spending many nights at the Comedy Warehouse, attending Nancy's holiday party, and working as a volunteer at the marathon. Oh yes, we also will finally get that ice cream volcano thing at Rainforest Cafe <g>! Until next time, Happy Holidays to everyone and thanks for reading :-) Sue Sue Holland WDW1972@aol.com Mail a Comment to Sue Holland |
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