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Sue Holland -- October 2001 -- Walt Disney World (OKWR)Background info: Leesa (PI regular, lives in Orlando, computer goddess) ordered me a new computer to replace my desktop, and the plan was for me to bring up the old one on my 10/26 trip so she could transfer the old hard drive into the new pc as a 2nd hard drive. This week my friend Larry from Scotland and his family made a sudden weeklong trip to WDW on the advice of our President (Larry's a Brit, but wanted to show his support for his American friends... what a sacrifice, spending a week in WDW). When Leesa told me my computer had arrived, we decided I'd come up Friday - I'd take her to PI that night, we'd meet with Larry & Jill (and also friends Tom & Leeanne who also know Larry & decided to go down for Thurs-Sat), and then do the computer stuff Saturday. Later in the week Mark from Boston (Maria - you remember him...he's the one I went down to talk to when you were blocking me from John, lol) arrived at WDW, and saw Leesa at the Warehouse. He & another regular were thinking of going to see Layden at Hoop and asked if I wanted to go...Leesa contacted me, and I figured I could stay over & we could do it Saturday night, except Layden doesn't work that night. None of us were interested in seeing Hoop for the show, lol - not that it's not a good show, but that's just not why we would be going. Anyway - I left work at 2, arrived at Leesa's at 5, brought in the computer and my overnight bag, and we left around 5:30 or so for Downtown Disney. I got a pretty close space at PI, which was nice. We had about 45 minutes before we were meeting the others, so we headed to Wolfgang Puck Express. I got my Caprese Salad (it sucks compared to the same thing at Olivia's or at Vero, but is still pretty good), and Leesa got some fruit and a PB & fluff sandwich. As we went out to find a table I saw a blonde that looked kind of like Krista from the Warehouse, and when I saw she was sitting with Jeanette and when she saw us and waved or said hi, I realized it was Krista. Evidently Phillip and Todd were inside waiting for their pizza, and they said hi as they came by. Todd does seem like a very nice person....it's a shame he sometimes struggles in the shows. They left before we did, and stopped by to say they'd see us later...no surprise where we were headed, lol. We met the others at 6:45 at the entrance to PI...Tom & Larry were there, and the wives were off shopping. Larry was manly & dashing in his beard - new since our last meeting; Tom I'd just spent the week with in Tallahassee the previous week - but it was good to see him again. Soon Jill & Leeanne arrived - it was great to see them both, and while Larry took his sons to DisneyQuest the rest of us entered PI and took the elevator up to Comedy Warehouse. Normally we'd have just used the stairs, but Leesa has a medical condition that makes stairs difficult or impossible at times, and tonight was looking like it was going to be one of those times, so the elevator was used to preserve her strength as much as possible. She has a special assistance pass to be back doored at the Warehouse, but only uses it when she has to...not wanting to take advantage of it, which in my opinion is the right thing to do. Neither one of us can stand when people take advantage of something when it's not necessary! Larry joined us, and we were fortunate to be seated in long row (1st row of barstools with the ledge in front). We filled out the row, with Leesa seated next to some guy who was also a regular - but we didn't know him. I heard him comment after the show that when Krista sings it gives him goosebumps....and he's so right - her voice is gorgeous! The actors in this show (7:10) were Todd, Greg, JenB, Phillip and Krista. It was hilarious! It was the first time for Tom & Leeanne, and I was glad to see they were laughing and seemed to enjoy it. Larry & Jill I wasn't worried about - they're as much regulars as you can be when you live in Scotland, lol! After the show we headed back outside, and the line was very long. I knew we'd get crappy seats, so we decided to skip the 8:15 show. The others had not eaten, so we went to Missing Link where they got food while Leesa & I held a table for them. When they came out to eat, she & I went down to Jazz to see Nancy. The club was closed for a private banquet, but a cm went and found her. She came from around the back of the building, gloating over having just ordered (thru Leesa) a computer with a bigger hard drive than mine for only $4 more than I paid. I thought of the names Adie & Lisa used to describe me last month when they thought I was at the Warehouse and they were nnot (hag, skank, bitch, and so on), but bit my tongue <g>! Actually, I fully expect any computer I order to be obsolete within 48 hours or so, lol, so it's no big deal. If I run out of room, I'll email my files to Nancy to store on her big-ass computer.... I brought Nancy up to meet the others as they were finishing their dinner. I was so glad she got to meet them, and they got to meet her - they've all read about each other in the reports, so it's nice to meet in person. Call me weird, but I think having friends from Scotland, Gainesville and WDW all hanging out together & meeting in person but sort of *knowing* each other already is so cool! Eventually Nancy had to return to work, then Leeanne said she & Tom were going back to their resort. Larry, Jill, Leesa & I went to Adventurer's Club for a little bit. Leesa was seriously starting to drag now, and the walk up the hill did not help. We used the elevator to get downstairs, and sat in the main salon. I left them there and went out to the car to bring in 2 bags of Chris' clothes for Larry & Jill's sons. They had taken the bus from All Stars and I knew they'd be leaving before Leesa & I would. Coming back in, security checked the bags - but didn't take anything out or really do much of a search. By the time I got back in the line at the Warehouse was getting busy, so I grabbed the others in the Adventurer's Club and we headed to get in line. We got in line at Comedy Warehouse, and had about a 20-30 minute wait. Leesa sat down on the ground to conserve strength. Her condition results in her becoming paralyzed - sometimes without warning, but usually with some warning. This time we were seated in the row behind the technician's booth, which is pretty far back, but at least we were able to see who was going to be working (by zooming in on the microphone labels and then looking at it on the lcd screen of the camera...we're obsessed, lol). On the way in we saw Mark from Boston, and he came down to talk to us after he was seated. We talked about Hoop - and told him Layden was off this weekend. He suggested trying for Monday or Tuesday, but I said I couldn't. I introduced him to Larry & Jill - he's never heard of them, but they've read his name once or twice. When it was time for the show to begin he went back to his seat and I got to thinking that maybe I *could* come up for Monday or Tuesday....leaving after work I could make it for late show (the only show we were interested in seeing), then spend the night in a resort and leave before dawn & get to work only an hour or so late. I mulled it over in my mind, lol. This time (9:20) the cast was Mary, Phillip, Jen B, Jeanette, & Todd. It wasn't as good as the first show, but it was still pretty great. Afterwards Larry & Jill left to go meet their boys in DisneyQuest for a game of air hockey before heading back to the resort. Larry mentioned it was just 68 days until his next WDW trip - lol, not bad considering how far he has to travel! We decided to use the back door for the last 2 shows - there was no way Leesa was going to make it up the stairs. We let a cm know what we'd be doing, and then I sat Leesa on a bench at the door and got her situated with some food before running upstairs to find Mark in line. I talked to him about possibly coming out on Monday or Tuesday, depending on how the plans shape up. We'd been unable to get in touch with the other CW regular (Kim), so we were not sure which night would be better, etc. This show (10:40) featured Greg, Phillip, Krista, Mary & Jeanette - a great cast (except for Jeanette....sometimes she's great but generally I can live without her) and they did a super job! I really enjoy Phillip and his over the top craziness....he kind of reminds me of Robin Williams on stage. Mary was exhausted from rehearsing another show all day, but you wouldn't know it from her performance. We sat in long row, with even that single step up a chore for Leesa - but she's such a devoted CW fan she'd have crawled up on her belly in order to get to that row (and I think I would in her position also, lol)! After the show Mark stopped by and gave me his phone/room information to get in touch with him later this weekend, and ran thru his plans for the next day or so but it was hard to hear it all since I was up on long row and he was down on the floor. We left the club and thankfully the bench was empty, so we sat down for the 35 minutes until the last show. We saw a few of the fireworks - Leesa suggested I could go upstairs and watch the NYEve show, but I laughed and said NO thank you! Gawd - that thing is not particularly good and seeing it once is almost one time too many, lol! We took our same seats for the final (12:05) show, and this time the cast was Krista, Greg, Todd, Mary & Phillip. Surprisingly, the show was not as good as I expected, considering 4 great actors. The audience suggestions were not that good, and some of the structures just didn't go anywhere. They did Up Your Alley twice tonight - I think show 1 & show 5. It was outstanding...better than usual in show 1, and kind of died in show 5...go figure. After the show while we were waiting to get out the cast were leaving. Carol (keyboard) said goodnight on her way by - I'd run into her outside earlier and she recognized me. Greg made it a point of stopping and waving also - just about everyone there is so friendly - it's nice to be there. We left, and Leesa was feeling a little better...moving, but pretty slowly. Sitting for the past 2 hours had definitely helped though. I offered to bring the car up, but she said she could make it, and she did. As we were driving off a couple of guys flagged us down and said my tire was going flat. Ugh - I pulled over into the next parking lot, to a spot without cars around, and got out to take a look. Sure enough, the right front tire was very low.....too low to consider driving any distance on - soon the rim would be resting on the ground! Ok, so here it's after 1am, I've got a friend who can't move much, and don't know the first thing about changing tires....or even if my donut spare thingy is inflated (never used it, and the car is 4.5 years old now). I left Leesa in the car and walked to look for security. I walked & walked...damn those PI security men for hiding from me....and ended up at the resorts bus stop. The cm there said I'd need to call AAA and offered to dial it for me. Ok, but the AAA car was in my wallet, in the car, 1/4 mile away <g>! She said she'd dispatch security to stop by, and I walked back to the car to call AAA on the cell phone. Calling AAA was a real trip! The bimbo on the phone kept getting my information wrong...thank goodness she repeated it all back so I could keep correcting it, or I'd still be there now! Then, she needed the street address where I was....and of course WDW doesn't bother to label that street out there. The bimbo was trying different things (it amazes me that anyone here would have no clue about WDW) and asked if I was in MK, AK or MGM Studios. DUH - I repeated for the 15th time that I was in Downtown Disney, inside WDW, exit 26 off I-4, between Pleasure Island and the West Side, in front of the AMC Theaters. She still wanted a street name, and I walked all the way out to the street, to the light, and there are no signs anywhere. She finally said someone would be there within an hour, or call back if they didn't arrive. As I returned to the car, I saw security had arrived - it was a female security person who knows how to change a tire and wanted to do it, but had to wait for permission to do so because if she did and then I had an accident on the way home there was concern I could sue Disney. Geesh! I suggested she talk me through it, then, lol! That began the adventure of trying to access my spare. I truly have no clue about this car stuff... that's what mechanics are for. I finally realized the tire was under a velcro-fastened thing in the trunk, then some big screw thing had to be unscrewed at 2 levels to get the tire out. Then the jack was screwed in to the side of the well also. We got it all out, and as the security cm (a 2nd one had arrived by now) was unscrewing the bolt things on the wheel cover the tow truck sent by AAA arrived. He motioned for us to be quiet and stood back watching the security cm's working, lol! They were doing fine getting the tire off, so the tow guy took the spare and put air in it, then put it on the car to let the security cm's deal with a couple who said their car was missing. He was really nice, and didn't even want to see my AAA card. We got back to Leesa's around 2:30, and I was in bed about 3 - a mere 22.5 hours after getting up the previous morning <g>. I was tired, but still functioning. I set the alarm for 7:30 so we could get to TireKingdom fairly early. By 8am Leesa wasn't up, so I knocked on her door - she was not able to get out of bed, her body needing more rest. She'd wanted to go with me so we could stop at Publix, but that wasn't going to happen. She had everything she needed, so I went to Tire Kingdom and while waiting for the car walked over to Publix to pick up the milk she needed, and some bear claws (then saw later each one has 600 calories and just about died). It took over an hour for my car to get brought in, but not too long after that to patch & balance the tire - no charge since I have the extended protection plan with them. I met a nice couple there - he's a server at Sci Fi in the Studios. He'd commented on my "Go2 WDW" license place, the PI mug I was drinking my cappuccino from, and my Mickey shirt & earrings <g>. Leesa had just gotten up when I got back to her place, I guess around 10 or 11. We spent until 3pm or so working on the computer - she was getting exhausted by then, and I was tired of computer stuff <g>. I left around 3:30, getting home around 6:30. Kim had emailed, saying she cannot do Hoop on Monday or Tuesday, but suggested Mark & I still go - and if she got out of school early (she teaches at community college and is also working on a master's degree in something) she'd come by & join us. At this point I'm thinking I'll suggest to Mark that next time he's in town we do the late show on one of Layden's nights, and just book it in advance. Driving 6 hours, spending a night in a resort when I'll only be there for 5 hours....all sleeping, is a bit much - and although it's probably worth the expense/hassle to see Layden with some of his other fans, it's something that's more fun with a group of us. Of course, he went alone the other time he went, so he may choose to do so again, but when he calls I'll mention my idea - he's here at least 4 times a year, and if I know in advance I can book a cash room at one of the resorts for a Fri/Sat night stay (do Hoop Friday, then Comedy Warehouse on Saturday...despite the crowd). So, at this point it looks like my next trip won't be until 10/26....12 days away, rather than 10/15...1 day away <g>. Sue Holland WDW1972@aol.com Mail a Comment to Sue Holland |
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