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Sue Holland -- September 2001 -- Disney's Vero Beach Resort, Walt Disney World (CSR, BWR)Who/When/Where: Who:
Dates: August 31 - Sept 6, 2001 Travel Method: Personal car Resort: Coronado Springs (1nt), Disney's Vero Beach Resort - ocean view inn room (2nts), Boardwalk Villas - studio (3nts) Experience: Nancy & Clinta are both WDW cast members, but this is their first trip to Vero. Chris & I have been to Vero about 5 times previously; Sheila & Colin have 2 previous visits. We are all frequent WDW visitors, except for Mario. It'll be his first trip to Vero and possibly his first time in a Disney resort. INTRODUCTION: Knowing that I would be taking a WDW vacation with Chris in July and then planning to return solo for a couple of weeks during the Food & Wine Festival, I had decided to schedule an extra trip in between those two - since I cannot stand going a long time between vacations. Labor Day week was the obvious choice, since the holiday meant I would miss one less day of work. I booked the trip as 2 nights at Vero followed by 4 nights at OKWR. The problem was, if I brought Chris to Vero, how would I get him back to Ft Myers for school on Tuesday?? He is in high school this year, but for the past several years I have not let him miss school for Disney trips - I cannot justify it when he goes during at least 2-3 school vacations each year. We had brought our friends Sheila & Colin with us to Vero in the past, and they enjoyed it, so I offered to book them a room if they would take Chris back to Ft Myers when they left - and they accepted! One really nice benefit of owning DVC is having the ability to bring family or friends on vacation without money getting in the way. My friend Nancy (works at PI) and I had really enjoyed lounging around Stormalong Bay and I figured she would probably enjoy Vero. I had hoped to be able to book a room at VWL for her & her boyfriend for her birthday last December, but the points reservations were not allowed until January, so I suggested they come to Vero in September. Clinta (boyfriend) also works at PI (he's a bartender at Rock & Roll Beach Club - look for his nametag and be sure to say hi) and since their days off are Sunday/Monday, I booked them a room for those nights. We'll have a day to spend all together, and then they will have a day for themselves, since I will be heading to WDW on Monday. Next my friend Kathy mentioned she was going to be at AKL the Friday & Saturday of this weekend, before moving to OKWR for a bit longer. She suggested I come up and spend the evening enjoying the resort & hanging out together. I always enjoy seeing her, and figured what the heck - going to Vero from WDW is no worse than going from Ft Myers, so I ended up adding a night at Coronado Springs for that Friday. Since we will not arrive until late afternoon and will only be sleeping in the room before leaving early the next morning, I was not interested in using DVC points for the expensive weekend nights. Besides, CS is pretty close to AKL, so it will be convenient. At the last minute I invited Chris' friend Mario to come along with us. Mario's family had taken Chris with them on a weekend trip earlier this year, so now I can reciprocate (and his parents get to go for a romantic weekend at the beach alone <g>). Mario is a great kid - he is younger than Chris (12) but acts & looks older. He is in the gifted program, and perhaps his intelligence makes him seem more mature than most kids his age. In any event, they get along well together. So, that is the very long story on how this trip came to be - almost! I had gone on the waitlist for BWV at 7 months, for a standard view studio, and it came through about 4-5 months ago. I definitely prefer OKWR, but by switching I will have stayed in every DVC resort during 2001 (ok, stupid reason to switch resorts, but so what <g>). A few weeks ago I dropped the last night off the reservation in order to miss less time at work, especially given that there are so many more trips coming up before the end of the year. With all the moves I fear the trip will feel all chopped up, and I will not be in any one place long enough to really get settled, but even a short choppy trip is better than no trip. The main focus of this trip is definitely spending time with friends. Where I am and what we are doing is really secondary, although being in nice places certainly enhances the good time! I've only talked to Clinta a few times, so it'll be nice to get to know him better (we know "of" each other, thru Nancy, so at least we're not strangers). I had planned to be at the Comedy Warehouse each of my 3 BWV nights, with Kathy the first night and meeting up with others on the 2nd & 3rd nights. But, Kathy called me Thursday night and said let's go to Comedy Warehouse tomorrow (Friday), and it did not take much arm twisting to get me to agree, lol - so that gives me 4 nights to hopefully see some good shows! As it turns out, both Greg and Philip are scheduled on Friday, but not on Kathy's other night, so I am glad we will have that extra night. On Thursday I plan to meet friends (Ronda - WDWdotcom & Diana - dhester917 & also known as the aol board monitor "ears") at Typhoon Lagoon. Hopefully with the first 4 days being a holiday weekend, there will not be any *work* stuff interrupting the trip - at least the time in Vero is safe. In between all of the resort hopping and Comedy Warehouse nights I will have to find time to buy some banana nut bread at the MK, eat some Caprese Salads at Wolfgang Puck Express, and of course watch Kathy & Gus talk to each other at AK ;-) The plans so far... Fri 8/31: Drive to WDW, c/in Coronado Springs, AKL & Comedy Warehouse w/Kathy Sat 9/1: Breakfast at CS, drive to Vero, dinner out Sun 9/2: Friends arrive at Vero, enjoy pool, dinner out Mon 9/3: Relax around pool, drive to BWV, meet Kathy, Comedy Warehouse Tue 9/4: Any park (probably AK) w/Kathy, maybe Epcot, Comedy Warehouse Wed 9/5: MK or Epcot, Blizzard Beach?, Comedy Warehouse Thu 9/6: Typhoon Lagoon, drive home DAY 1 - FRIDAY, AUGUST 31, 2001: Plan: Drive to WDW, c/in Coronado Springs, AKL & Comedy Warehouse w/Kathy Actual: Mario's stepfather dropped him off at my office around 11:00. We stopped at the Cafe at work to pick up lunch for the boys, then drove to pick up Chris early from his school, getting on the road by 12:15. With one stop to get gas for the car & to call Kathy, we arrived at CS around 3pm. On the ride up the boys were great - they ate lunch, listened to their cd's (on walkmen) and then completely surprised me by spending time reviewing Chris' biology vocabulary words and Chris showing Mario how to do high school algebra! Normally Chris is not one to open a textbook unless he is being forced, so I am not sure where this came from, lol! At CS there was a short line at check in, but it moved very slowly. Ugh - not sure if this is typical of a moderate resort, but standing in a slow-moving line does nothing for me. Eventually it was my turn, and the room was ready (3:15). We are in Ranchos section #7207, which is a corner room overlooking a really pretty courtyard area with a stream, rocks, cactus, and a very nice atmosphere. Mario had never been to a Disney resort and he was very impressed with the main building and the rest of the resort. After dropping our stuff off in the room, we walked through the interior of the Ranchos section back to the car (of course we parked at one end and our room was at the other end <g>). The boys posed for pictures along the way. Neither boy has park admission, and I was due to meet Kathy inside AK to see Gus before he went in for the night. Rather than leave the boys at CS to swim and then have to use Disney transportation to get to AKL (transferring at a park), I decided to drop them off at Blizzard Beach to play mini-golf while I was at AK. When they were done they took the AKL bus to the resort and beeped me to let me know they had arrived. We drove to Blizzard Beach and I parked near what I thought was the entrance to the mini golf area....but it was not. So, we walked quite a ways in the broiling heat (with me cursing under my breath) and found the ticket office. I inquired about any discount for AP holders, and was told it was 50% off. Great - I flashed my pass and paid for the 2 adult golf fees ($10.35 with tax). The boys decided to do the summer side since it was supposed to be more difficult. The winter side is easier, and has Christmas music & theming. The summer side has Beach Boys music. I left them to play golf and drove over to Animal Kingdom Lodge. It was so damn HOT!! Ugh - it was miserable...much worse than last month. After waiting what felt like hours but was really only 15 minutes, the bus to AK arrived and I was glad to get into an air conditioned bus! As I entered AK the cm at the turnstile noticed it was my first park entry of the day and mentioned the park was closing in 45 minutes. I assured him I was aware of that, and hurried back to Africa - fighting against the exiting crowds. The cm on the Pangani Forest Trail let me use the exit to meet Kathy so I did not have to walk the entire trail to get to her, and as I rounded a corner I could smell Gus, so I knew Kathy was nearby. She had been here for hours, trying to stay somewhat cool in the shade, but the heat was still pretty rough on her (and me). I met a couple of her human gorilla friends and we hung around talking and watching Gus and the other guys until almost 5pm. I had brought a couple of pictures I had taken of Gus last month and gave them to her to add to her collection. It started to thunder, which upset Gus, and when we heard lightning was sighted nearby we knew it was time to go. It is not worth the risk for Kathy's wheelchair & equipment to get rained on or hit by lightning! We rushed out of the park and got under the bus stop shelter before the rain got really heavy. The AKL bus arrived just as we got there. Unfortunately, the wheelchair waiting area is NOT under the shelter, and it was raining quite hard. I was not sure the driver had seen us arrive, since he was loading people from the front (they are supposed to load wheelchairs first), so he told the guests to only sit in the front half of the bus and came back to help us. I think he was new and did not have much experience with wheelchairs. It took quite a while to get her Kathy situated (not her fault - it was the inexperienced driver, who was being coached by another cm). I went to enter the bus at the front door and a lady was blocking the way. She had a little girl on the steps, a little boy on her hip, and she was trying to get the girl to go up the steps by pushing her...but the girl for some reason was not moving. In the mean time, we are standing out in the damn rain! I asked if I could help her - offering to take the girl up the stairs and onto the bus. She said she was fine with the kids, but she needed to get her bag on the bus. I looked down and there was a huge merchandise bag on the ground. No way could she manage 2 toddlers AND a big heavy bag of stuff to get on a bus! I grabbed her bag and dragged it up the stairs and gave it to her after we got on the bus - what a pain, lol! With 1 kid everything was so much easier <g>! I got back to where Kathy was and waited for the driver to finish securing her, then we made the short trip to AKL. The boys beeped to say they had arrived and were in the lobby. When we got there, Kathy saw them before I did, so we waved them over, introduced Mario, and headed up the elevator to the concierge lounge. Mario was even more impressed with this resort! They had seen zebras and some other animals while waiting for us. The lounge was pretty busy, and the guests were all very friendly. We left the boys in the lounge and went so I could see Kathy's rooms - pretty small, very dark, but I still liked them. She had a handicapped accessible room for herself and a "regular" room for her daughters. The only real differences were in the bathroom, and the beds in Kathy's room were lower. Both had a view of one of the Savannahs, and on a later trip to the room we saw several giraffe eating. Chris absolutely loves this resort, and now after sampling the concierge lifestyle has decided this is how we need to vacation in the future <g>! In both rooms were gifts sent by the resort, which was a complete surprise. They sent Kathy a nice engraved wooden pen with the name of the resort, in a wooden case, plus a large carved wooden giraffe from the African Art Collection (there was another giraffe in the other room), AND a really nice picture frame with the characters. It all came with a personalized note welcoming her back to the resort - a very nice touch, and completely unexpected. We have no reason to believe this is standard practice, so hopefully people reading this report will not be demanding gifts on future stays <g>. Back in the lounge, the boys were sitting on a couch chatting with other guests while eating salmon, beef tenderloin, chili beef wraps, peanut butter & jelly, chicken fingers, and drinking that smoothie thing has (mango, papaya, yogurt & other juices). I did not care for the smoothie much, but many people absolutely love it. I tried some beef tenderloin on sugar cane, and it was very tender and tasty. Kathy & I both got some of a South African Chardonnay - normally I do not really care for chardonnay, but this was excellent. I went back to write the name down so I can order a glass when I eat at Boma on future trips (Cape Indoba Chardonnay). We poured Kathy's wine into a squeeze bottle, and sat at a table off to the side. She hooked up her big syringe and I poured the wine from the squeeze bottle, and fed the wine directly into her (since she cannot swallow). It may sound weird, but people who are fed via tube feeding can taste it somewhat, and I think it's great Kathy does not let that stop her from enjoying things that she likes - she just "drinks" it differently than she used to. We had a wonderful evening in the lounge, enjoying each other's company and talking with the boys from time to time. They went to the rooms to change into their swimsuits and went to the pool for a while, and saw more animals, but returned in time for the desserts. Although we had made plans for Comedy Warehouse, neither of us really wanted to leave our comfortable spots to go stand in line and be in a crowd - despite the fact that we both love the Warehouse. It was just too nice right where we were. When the boys came back up (they had a key) Kathy told them to use the robes in her room (provided by the resort), so they went and put them on, feeling like something special when they came back. They posed for more goofy pictures, having a great time. They got some cappuccino and waited for the desserts to arrive. At one point Kathy went up for more wine or something, and one of her tubes disconnected - causing her "food" to spray on the carpet. I went up - she was fine, so I wiped up the carpet with my napkin and made it back to our table without further incident until she kept knocking over the little man behind her (about 3 times). By the third time we were pretty much in hysterics - the little man was an african statue dude, not a live person <g>. Finally I moved him to a different location where he was safe from Kathy, lol! One other scary moment came early in the evening. Kathy headed up to get some food and I saw this little boy (about 2-3 years old) CRAWLING on the floor chasing her wheelchair, right up within inches of the back of the chair, following her every move. There was no way she could see that little child, and his parents were not paying any attention to where he was or what he was doing. I knew after she got what she was after she would need to back up, and that kid was not budging from behind her, so I called over to Chris to let Kathy know she had a kid behind her (Chris was walking from the drink area and could see now also), and the kids' mother heard me and ran over to scoop up her kid! She apologized, but we were just glad to not see the little boy get accidentally run over and seriously hurt! The desserts were good, but nothing really spectacular. No zebra domes, no chocolate mousse crunch :( They had some brownies that did not look like much but were delicious. Also there were some tarts, chocolate cake things, chocolate caramel rum candies, and cookies. A wide variety of liqueurs and cordials was brought out also. I poured some Bailey's Irish Cream over ice, and then did a foolish thing. Chris was sitting across from me and I told him he could try a sip from my glass, forgetting that I was in a public place and he is a minor. The concierge cm heard me, and came right over and took the drink away! I apologized and told her I would not do that again, then went and got myself another glass. Later the cm came over and apologized, saying that another party had people who were underage who were trying to drink, so she had to act with the same vengeance in our case. She apologized repeatedly, and asked if there was anything she could bring me. (the other people had left) I assured her that I was the one who was wrong, I should not have suggested my son try the drink in a public place, and she was absolutely right in what she did - and no compensation was needed! Yikes - I can see Disney offering stuff to a guest when they are at fault, but not in this case. So, we did not accept anything. Besides, we had everything we needed or wanted already :-) The boys finished their desserts and decided to go back to Coronado Springs to swim. They thanked Kathy for having them over, then took a bus to Epcot and transferred to CS. They stayed at the Dig Site until about 11pm or so. Kathy's daughters arrived from college, and the 4 of us sat around the lounge for a while longer. I had met Jenn before, but this was my first time with Amanda - they are both great women....fun people and very nice. About 10pm everyone was getting tired, so we parted for the night. They are doing the sunrise safari at 6:20 in the morning, and I am planning to be out of here pretty early also to head to Vero. I drove back to CS and worked on the trip report. The boys came back but went for a walk for a while longer, then came back and watched tv from bed until midnight. I got online to post the report and download messages, but will wait for another day to read most of them! It was a wonderful day, even though the plan was not followed. Who would believe I could be happy to skip Comedy Warehouse???? LOL - we decided we will do Comedy Warehouse for sure on Monday night, since we will be *slumming* it at OKWR & Boardwalk <g>! The boys have been great so far, and spending time with Kathy is one of my favorite things to do - no matter what we're doing or where we are. We did decide though, that we needed to start doing some AKL concierge weekends after we get our cheapie All Star weekends out of the way in the next couple of months ;-) DAY 2 - SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2001: Plan: Sat 9/1: Breakfast at CS, drive to Vero, dinner out Actual: I had set the alarm for 6am - awfully early, but I wanted to maximize our time at Vero, AND arrive there when we had a chance to get chairs by the pool <g>! The room at CS was great - quiet & comfortable, although those double beds do seem small. At 6:45 I told the boys to get up, and Mario got right up! I am not used to that anymore, and it took a few more threats to get Chris out of bed <g>. The express checkout was on the door knob and we left the room just after 7 to walk over to Pepper Market. I think Ranchos is my new favorite section of this resort. We were very close to a bus stop, but did not bother with the bus (the boys did last night). It is the prettiest section, in my opinion, and the walk to the main building is very pleasant. It is a bit far to run over to refill your soda mug every hour, but since that is not an issue for me I will certainly request Ranchos next time I stay here. We were seated promptly at the Pepper Market and our server was there immediately to greet us and get our drinks. Both boys got chocolate milk, and I stuck with water since I had some cappuccino in the room. Mario got just scrambled eggs, and Chris got the scrambled egg platter. I ate some of Chris' food plus the carrot nut muffin that came with his breakfast, yet we still did not finish it all. The DDE is not accepted here, so the total was $12.51. The boys went & checked out the convention center, and were looking at all the boat-related stuff on display from Evinrude. We walked back to get the stuff out of the room, put ice in the cooler (my yogurt for the rest of the breakfasts) and loaded up the car to drive to Vero. The drive was just under 2 hours, and we had no traffic or problems at all. We checked in about 10 and of course the room was not ready. The cm checking us in was not particularly pleasant. I have read other people's reports of an unfriendly front desk person here, and she must be the one, lol! My past experiences have all been great, and this chick was someone I had never seen before. We parked the car under the Inn and headed to the pool. As expected, the chairs around the pool were mostly taken, but I spotted 3 near where I wanted to be so we just dragged them over. I put on sunscreen and laid on my chair, while Chris showed Mario around. It was HOT today! Last month did not feel this bad, so I ended up spending much more time in the pool than I normally do. The boys played lots of foosball in Community Hall, because they were planning on entering the 4pm tournament and wanted to practice <g>. They also used the fitness center, did the slide a few times, and played with the games in Community Hall. At noon they were hungry, so we went to Bleachers and got food to eat at our chairs. We had brought Chris' refillable mug from last time - it said Summer 2001 and the mugs out now said Fall 2001 but they honored his without any question or comment. Perhaps it is good for all of 2001 - but I know when I bought it I asked if it would be good on this trip and was told yes. The boys each wanted the cheeseburger & fries meal, plus Chris wanted chili cheese fries (did he get this from you, Darla??) as well. They swore they could eat it all, so I ordered it (about $17). I just ate part of Chris' burger and Mario's pickle spear, along with some of the regular fries they left behind. I was happy that they ate their burgers and all of the chili cheese fries, and did not care about the regular fries (which were nothing special). After lunch they went back for more foosball while I took a walk on the beach, heading north for a change. Eventually I came to some houses, but they are nothing like the houses along the beach at Hilton Head! On HH the houses are big & beautiful - dream homes. Here they are rather rinky-dink houses, although I imagine their land is worth a lot of money, being oceanfront! Much further north I came across a section with newer buildings - very nice looking homes or condos. When I got back to the chairs I realized despite the sunscreen I was getting too much sun in a few areas. I went to put on more sunscreen, and the lotion shot out of the bottle and flew across and landed on my bag, lol! I cleaned it up as best I could, and decided to just head for the shade. The boys had come out and were now in the pool, planning to spend the afternoon there. I called the front desk, and I was glad to hear the room was ready (if not I would have parked myself in a rocking chair on the porch and read a book), so I let the boys know the room # and told them they could stay out while I brought the stuff to the room. I had requested the same thing I always request - non smoking, top floor - and had booked an oceanview room. My requests were met, and the room was perfect. It seemed a bit longer than most, with lots of space (over 6ft) on either side of the beds, and a porch that was double the depth of most. It had the slatted railing, too, so the view was not obstructed. The water was a gorgeous color today, and the view was beautiful. Someday there will be a palm tree blocking the view, but for right now it is blocking the 3rd floor room. After bringing our stuff up from the car I updated the report and then went to go sit outside on the shady porch with a cup of cappuccino to read my book (Tom Clancy's Net Force Point of Impact - a guy at work thought I might like it...seems to be a thriller) and watch for dorsal fins in the ocean <g>. There were many people in the water - not too far out, but further than you would find me! LOL, I will get my waves from Typhoon Lagoon, even when the shark situation is long past. One minor irritation - I cannot find the recharger thing for the cell phone from work. I know I brought it home, but it does not seem to be with me here, lol, and the battery is half dead or more. I did find the car cigarette lighter attachment thing that says it recharges the battery, so I will at least try to remember to charge it during the drive back to WDW on Monday. Hopefully that will get me through if I only have the phone on during business hours Tuesday thru Thursday. After showering & getting dressed I went back to the porch to do some more reading. With the shade and the breeze, it was almost chilly (but I doubt anyone would agree). The sound of the waves was very relaxing, but I wished my friends were already here to enjoy it with me. About 6 I decided to go look for the boys and found them in the pool playing volleyball with 2 teen girls. LOL, I thought this would be the rare trip that Chris does not meet some girl to hang out with, since Mario was with us, but instead he found a pair <g>. They stayed in the pool until the girls had to leave for dinner, and made plans to meet them again at 9pm. I wandered around a bit before returning to the room, and the boys arrived about 6:30. They had won the foosball tournament, each winning a free round of mini golf. They had watched the limbo contest as well, and were going to play volleyball across the street but it was too hot. Instead, they will play volleyball with the girls at 9 if the mosquitos do not force them back over here <g>! Without the girls as a distraction, they were hungry, so we walked over to Beachside Pizza and ordered dinner. We got a large soda for each boy and a large pepperoni pizza ($14.30), and sat on the boardwalk at the beach to wait for the pizza. The sky was dark & stormy to the west of us, but the rain never reached the resort. This is the first time I can remember not getting rained on while waiting for my Vero room to be ready, lol! After getting the pizza we walked back to the resort and had dinner in the room before they headed back out to the pool with instructions to be home by 11. Chris really likes their pizza, but I am not crazy about it. Something about the crust just disappoints me. I would have much rather been eating and drinking stuff from the AKL concierge lounge again! Boy, that wine was great...doubt I can find it here though ;-) I decided to try, and headed to the Green Cabin Room (the resort's lounge). For once, not a single person was smoking in there - it was such a nice treat! I saw clean ashtrays on the bar, so I assume smoking is still allowed. Even the people outside were not polluting the air with their cigarettes, which was really nice. I asked the bartender what wines they had, and of course there was nothing close. I got a glass of white zinfandel ($5.09 plus tip) to take back to the room, and looked over their snack menu. This would be a good alternative to dinner somewhere else, provided nobody was smoking again. Back in the room I went out to the porch. It is a full moon (or very close to full), and it was gorgeous. There were some wispy clouds passing by, and the moon was reflecting on the ocean, making it very pretty. I sat out there for a while with my wine, then came back inside to finish the report and get online for a while. The day followed the plan. It was a very pleasant surprise to have the room ready a little early, and the location & room itself are perfect. Not having any rain today is a real unexpected bonus! I did get a little too much sun today, but hopefully it will not keep me from doing whatever I want to do the rest of my time here. DAY 3 - SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2001: Plan: Friends arrive at Vero, enjoy pool, dinner out Actual: As usual, the room was absolutely silent last night - perfect for sleeping. The room connects to the room next door, and if they have any children they are well behaved, quiet children ;-) I did not set the alarm, hoping I would wake up no later than 7:30. Well, I woke up just before 5am, lol, and pretty much stayed half awake until I finally got up at 7:30. After showering & getting ready I went down to the pool and staked out a spot for everyone. Figuring the kids would be off doing stuff, I set up 4 lounge chairs (for the adults) and grabbed the table behind them. We used the table quite a bit - for lunch, for respite from the sun, and as a place for the boys when the adults were in the other chairs. I then returned to the room to wake the boys up - once again Mario was up & ready to go, while Chris took a bit longer. We went to the beach cottage, which Mario liked a lot, but when he saw the rate sheet he said his parents would have to win the lottery first, lol! We went upstairs and the boys each got a cup of tea and some of the mini muffins, then we sat & watched tv a short while and talked to other people. About 9:10 we headed back to the pool. The boys started playing ping pong and I realized they had better use sunscreen today, so I went over to squirt some on their shoulders, arms, back & face. They had already gotten a little sweaty, so Mario especially had a hard time getting it to absorb - it was sliding all over the place & he was laughing and saying it was never going away...Chris & I were laughing, too! I had brought the breakfast stuff to the pool, but the boys were not hungry after all of their tea & muffins, and I had made cappuccino in the room so I was not *real* hungry either. They finished their game and disappeared - most likely into Community Hall for more foosball. I laid on my lounge chair with a magazine. It was very hot again today, and I spotted the first love bugs of the season (September and May is when we get them), but there were not too many of them. Since it was so hot, I headed to the pool to cool off, then decided to eat the yogurt I had brought for my breakfast. Colin arrived then, and told me Sheila was checking in. They took care of that and then Sheila sat on her lounge chair while Colin joined the boys (who were in the pool at this point with the girls from yesterday and another teen boy they had met last night). Sheila & I spent the rest of the morning alternating between cooling off in the pool and talking or reading on our lounge chairs. About noon Colin came to announce he was hungry, so Sheila went with him to Bleachers to get a couple of chicken finger meals (adult for him, kids for her, lol). I was not really hungry, but I ate a small chicken finger piece and helped her with her chocolate chip cookie (anything to help a friend, lol). There was no sign of Chris and Mario, who Colin claimed were in Community Hall being badly beaten in foosball <g>. At noon the DJ started playing music from under the gazebo (weekends and holidays) until 3pm. Eventually Chris & Mario came out, saying they were hungry. The line at Bleachers was long, so I decided to just give them the money and let them stand in the line, since it was their lunch. Chris started with some obnoxious attitude, so I pulled him off to the side and privately *adjusted* his attitude for him, and that was the end of that crap. Thankfully, it does not happen very often, but even once is one time too many as far as I'm concerned! They got their food eventually (both got a chicken finger meal and a chocolate chip cookie), then took it into Community Hall to eat in the air conditioning. When I went in to check on them, I did not notice anything funny, but later Chris admitted when he saw me coming he hid the chocolate chip cookie!! ROFL - he feared I was going to take a bite of his cookie....but he was probably right <g>! I left them there and returned to the pool with Sheila before going back to my chair for more reading. About 1pm a cast member was approaching each guest to do a "resort check" - basically she wanted to see a valid resort id. I have never seen this happen here, but since the public beach is right next door, it is possible someone could sneak in to use the pool. When she checked our id I told her I was glad to see this being done, and I noticed everyone seemed quite happy to show their resort id. The pool certainly gets crowded enough without unauthorized people freeloading off of us members! Clinta & Nancy arrived, and spotted Chris in the pool. The boys pretty much spent all afternoon in the pool playing with a group of people - mostly pool volleyball without a net. Chris showed Nancy where we were, and after introducing Clinta & Sheila, we all sat around chatting for the rest of the afternoon. Just as Nancy & Clinta were about to go in the pool, the lifeguard picked up the bullhorn and started yelling for everyone to get out of the pool. The boys were across the street playing volleyball by now, so they missed the excitement. Turns out some idiot parent had a young child or baby in the pool without one of those swim diapers they are supposed to use, and the kid pooped in the pool. Someone else saw it and reported it - so they had to clear the pool and clean it, which meant nobody could go in for about 30-45 minutes! We were talking amongst our selves - and agreed that Disney really should be more proactive and simply ban young kids who are not wearing the swim diaper things. It is just not fair that one family's carelessness should disrupt the day of another 100 people! The cm's had a hard time getting people out of the pool, and then away from the pool. At first people just went to the side of the pool (inside), so they had to repeat - get OUT of the pool. Then the guests sat on the steps...again, get OUT of the pool. Finally they got the idea that OUT meant NOT IN....and the adults went to their chairs (or left), but the hordes of kids were crowded around the outside edge of the pool, blocking access to the cm's who had work to do there. I do not remember how many times they were told to back up - and of course not a single parent ever came up and got their kid(s) out of the way. Clinta went for a swim in the ocean, and got back just after they reopened the pool, so he & Nancy went in for a while. The boys came back from volleyball and joined them in the pool. Sheila & I were happy on our chairs, which by now were fully in the shade. When Clinta & Nancy returned we talked about where to go for dinner, and eventually decided the boys would be given money to go get a pizza, and the adults would eat at Shutters at the resort. We left the pool about 6pm, planning to meet in the lobby at 7. Colin picked up a couple of videos, and we all headed upstairs together. Sheila & Colin are on the 3rd floor, but Nancy & Clinta are on the 4th floor with us. They'd left their stuff in my room when they arrived, and used the room to change into their swimsuits, so we got their stuff and I went with them to see what their room looked like. They're in #2419, which is ocean view, off the hallway surrounding the lobby below. Their room is kind of L-shaped, and because it was a corner has more room in it. They have a king bed at one end, and a sofa & chair at the other end (sofa is a sleeper). I had never heard of a room in the Inn with this layout, but the room was shaped such that the 2 queens really would not work as well. They loved it, though - and it looked more like a suite than the other Inn rooms. They decided we should just meet at their room, so when I got back to my room I left a message for Sheila. Chris & Mario were watching tv, so I gave them money for pizza and jumped in the shower. Around 6:30 they left to meet Colin to go get the pizza, and I assume they ate in his room since there was no pizza box here when I got home later. I finished getting ready, then met the others in Clinta & Nancy's room at 7. We sat around there for a while, then Clinta & I went out on their porch while Nancy & Sheila stayed inside talking. They've met 2-3 times briefly before, and once for lunch last January, so this is the longest they've spent around each other. Clinta is a really nice guy - and I enjoyed getting to know him better since we've only seen each other a couple of times, always at PI. The tide was somewhat low, so from their room (& mine) we had a view of the waves breaking. Down in Sheila's room on the 3rd floor she could see ocean, but she was too low to see the waves. We were all pretty hungry, so we decided to go eat. At Shutters the cm asked if we had made a priority seating - and kind of grimaced when we said no. It honestly never occurred to me that it would be necessary. She asked if we were members, and Nancy told her I was - not sure if that helped, but they were able to seat us without a wait. Once inside, I was surprised how small the restaurant is - guess that is why priority seating is a good idea when the resort is full. We were seated right by the window, which except for being very chilly was a perfect location. The restaurant is very attractive - comfortable but *nice*. Our server was wonderful - very attentive but not pushy at all. We started with drinks - Killean's beer for Clinta, a raspberry pina colada for Nancy, a Shipwrecked (Godiva chocolate liqueur, cappuccino & ice cream) for Sheila, and a Walking the Plank (Bailey's Irish Cream, Kahlua, banana & ice cream) for me. The frozen drinks were wonderful - but the ones with ice cream kind of like dessert - very filling! Clinta had the black bean soup as an appetizer, which he liked but Nancy was not crazy about. For his entree one of the server's recommendations was the herb crusted grouper, which happens to be his favorite fish. It was a large portion, and he said it was excellent. Nancy started with a small version of the spinach & bacon salad, followed by the prime rib with garlic roasted smashed potatoes. She also said everything was wonderful, and forced herself to eat every bite! They plan to eat here again tomorrow night, and she will repeat the salad, and try one of the other entrees that looked good to her. Sheila got the regular sized spinach/bacon salad with shrimp added, and loved it so much she ate every bite. I knew what I wanted before we ever came - the beefsteak tomato with mozzarella in balsami vinegar (think Caprese Salad at WGPuck Express, lol) - so I ordred that as my meal. When it came out, the presentation was really nice - the 3 tomato slices were sitting atop some greens, and criss crossed on top of each was a single yellow pepper slice and a red pepper slice. I pushed the extra stuff aside and just ate the tomato & mozzarella - it was delicious! Before the meal we had fresh hot rolls, with Mickey Mouse butter - also very good. The women were too full for dessert, but Clinta got the peanut butter pie - which was presented as a round piece, topped with whipped cream and chocolate sauce drizzled over the pie and around the large plate, with peanuts sprinkled on the pie & plate. It really looked nice - much nicer than the peanut butter pie we used to do when I worked for Marriott Hotels. We all tried a bite - it was good, but not something I would order. They had a brownie thing with chocolate mousse and chocolate ganache, and that sounded really good to me, but I was just too full. Some day I will get it though, even if it means I just stop by and get it in a carry out container at the beginning of a trip! Overall the meal was perfect - great food, good company, and we are in a beautiful place! Hopefully we will eat here again next July with Larry from Scotland & his family. I may never leave the resort for dinner again, lol! After dinner we walked around the resort for a while, and went to the end of the boardwalk to watch the ocean. The moon was full tonight, and was beautiful reflecting on the water. As we were standing there talking a woman came over and called me by my full name, which surprised me because I had not expected anyone I know to be here. It was Patti (pebbie) from the DVC boards, and her husband Ray! She's been a regular over there as long or longer than me, and it was great to meet her finally. It's so funny to know someone online for years, and then out of the blue find that person standing in front of you in person! I introduced her to the others, and we talked for a while before she & Ray left for a drink in the Green Cabin Room. The rest of us hung out enjoying the evening a while longer, then decided to head back to our rooms. The boys were still out, but Mario came in around 10:30 to see what time they had to be in. They were swimming at that time, then from 11 until midnight walked around. I wrote the trip report for the day (it is a lot of work when I do it all at once - I cannot even imagine writing a whole trip after the fact) and then got online to check mail & download messages to read some other time. Since I did not get online at all today, even after deleting the junk mail without opening it, that still left 143 emails - so if you wrote to me today it may be a couple of days before I catch up enough to respond, but I will get through as many as I can tonight. Today was another great day - no rain, very relaxing, and having Sheila & Nancy/Clinta here was really nice. Our dinner was terrific, and I am glad I finally tried Shutters after all these years! The boys are having fun, and are no trouble at all (except to throw money at them for food a few times a day). Tomorrow I will split my day between here and WDW - since I cannot figure out how to be in both places at the same time, and have people/things to look forward to in each place :-) DAY 4 - MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2001: Plan: Relax around pool, drive to BWV, meet Kathy, Comedy Warehouse Actual: The boys were asleep almost immediately last night, but I stayed up until about 1am online. I was up around 7:30 to get ready for one last morning by the pool, and called Sheila just after 8 & met her down at the pool to set up our area. When we returned to my room, the boys were actually up & getting ready - what a surprise! We loaded all of their stuff in her car, and put some of mine in my car. After a shopping trip to the gift shop they headed to the pool and I made one last trip to my room. I ran into Nancy & Clinta heading down for breakfast, so I moved my suitcase into their room, then walked downstairs with them. I forgot to mention last night - my favorite drink at WDW (the Stormalong) was created by Clinta back before the Yacht Club opened! He's worked for Disney for 24 years, and created a bunch of the drinks they serve over there since he was the one who worked getting the bars set up at Yacht (while a co-worker handled Beach Club). He was also on the team of people who got the bars opened & running on the Magic years ago, and Castaway Cay. Lucky Nancy got to go along for the ride, as the Magic sailed from Italy to Port Canaveral. Back at the pool there was no sign of the boys or Sheila, but I could see they had eaten breakfast (cereal & milk). It was extremely hot, with no breeze at all - not comfortable one little bit! Also, there were more love bugs than yesterday - not an infestation, but enough that I noticed them and realized that despite the lower points in September I think Labor Day week I am better off at WDW in the future. Sheila came back and we sat on our chairs and talked for a while, then she went to the Beach Cottage for some coffee and I ate my yogurt. Nancy & Clinta arrived, saying breakfast (Shutters - eggs benedict for him, an omelet for her) was excellent, and their waitress was a big Comedy Warehouse fan (Nancy's cm id still says Comedy Warehouse because that is where she was working when it was made). We laid around the pool talking, then Chris & Mario showed up and went to play miniature golf. Soon Sheila & Colin arrived, and we spent the rest of the morning alternating between the pool and our chairs. Yesterday I had commented to Sheila that I had only seen one man in a speedo (usually not a pretty sight - except in this case), and she perked right up and knew who I was talking about. For a change, the only speedo guy had a perfect body, nice tan, and was good looking besides! Anyway, we spotted him again while we were in the pool - he was walking with his young son, and looked great again! Luckily Clinta was not bothered by our openly lusting after this stranger, lol! By 11am Colin was hungry, so Sheila got him a chicken finger meal and sat in the shade with him. The rest of us read and/or dozed off, sweating to death in the process! Soon we all ended up crowded under the umbrella in the shade, lol! About noon Chris & Mario were hungry, so today I got them both chicken fingers plus the chili cheese fried - which they ate (except for a little bit I snagged off the tray before they disappeared to the air conditioned Community Hall). Colin decided he was still hungry, so Sheila got him an order of chili cheese fries also. After lunch the boys were back in the pool, playing games run by the DJ. At 1pm Sheila & the boys got dried off and left, and Clinta took me up to his & Nancy's room so I could shower & get ready for the trip to WDW. When I was done, I put my suitcase in the car and went out to the pool to say goodbye to them. I was surprised to see the pool empty, and thought - not another poop accident! However, the pool was closed because lightning had been spotted 5 miles away, and I could see very dark stormy clouds inland. They made everyone leave the pool, so we walked back to the lobby together, said goodbye, then Nancy & Clinta went up to their room and I headed down to the garage. I ran into some rain in a few places, but nothing significant. The drive to WDW took just over 1.5 hours, and I arrived at Boardwalk just after 3:30. I decided to self park - valet parking here is free to DVC members, but I hate having to wait for my car to be brought up. Luckily I was able to manage everything in one trip, without too much trouble despite having to climb up the hill and go such a distance. I was concerned when I saw several people hanging around the lobby, but I had no wait to check in, and my studio was ready! My requests were met - non smoking, top floor. I booked standard view, since I do not use the balconies here (too small, no privacy) so do not care about the view. I am not sure if I could see the high Illuminations fireworks or not - since I will not be in the room at that time, it does not matter to me. The studio itself looked great! Everything looked fresh & clean, from the carpet to the paint on the walls. I do like the larger kitchenette here, and having the sofa is a nice option (as I sit here on the bed typing, not even using the sofa, lol). It is a beautiful resort - but more like a hotel than a home, which is why I prefer OKWR. However, for only 3 nights it is a nice change of scenery for me. Once I got in the room I called Kathy. She was with Gus (what a surprise, lol), so we talked for a bit and made plans to meet at her OKWR room at 6:30 to give her plenty of time for Disney transportation to get her there from AK! I quickly unpacked my stuff for the first time this trip, then headed down to the Boardwalk Bakery to buy a chocolate/vanilla pretzel for later. As I was walking down there, I was thinking of Kathy and realized I did not write down her room number...and realized I would either need to call her later or go knocking on doors at her building <g>. I am not normally an airhead, but sometimes I do not pay enough attention to certain details - like where I parked my car, what my room number is, and evidently what her room number is, lol! After putting the pretzel away, I drove over to the West Side and went to Wolfgang Puck Express to buy a Caprese Salad for later, then returned & put that in the refrigerator. Finally settled in for now, I updated the trip report and cooled off in the studio watching the local news. Around 5:30 my neighbors must have come home - I heard a child shrieking over there. How obnoxious! Speaking of rude neighbors, Kathy has some also. Her idiots arrived home very late last night and let their kids make loud nonsense noises repeatedly, and let them bang on the connecting door! She said they were also up bright & early doing more of the same. Sometimes a stun gun would come in handy - or tranquilizer darts <g>! I ate part of the Caprese Salad - very good, but not as good as at Shutters - and some of the pretzel. After getting ready to go out I called Kathy again to confirm her room number. Tonight we are headed to Comedy Warehouse! I found out the shows we missed Friday night were fantastic - it figures! We can only hope for the best tonight, though - I know Jake and one of the Jennifers will be there, and probably Mary, and then I assume Josh, Todd, Joy & one other person (we'll see how accurate I am, lol). Kathy had just gotten back to her room, and saw she had a message & asked if it was from me. I told her no, and said it was probably an invitation to the member update breakfast thing in the morning. That is what it was, and we both chuckled over the irony of offering a *free* continental breakfast to someone who does not eat or drink, and knowing how crammed together the chairs are in that room, it would be nearly impossible. I left the studio after talking to Kathy, and drove "home" to OKWR to meet her. She was in building 16, in a studio. It felt strange to not be staying here! We tried using her cell phone recharger, but it did not fit my phone. I had charged mine on the drive up from Vero, so hopefully that will be enough provided I do not use it except when necessary. We sat around talking for a while, then realized we had better get going if we were going to make it to the 8pm show. She had run into our DVC friends Hugh & Arlene earlier today, and they were going to meet us at the Comedy Warehouse tonight. We waited for the bus at the Hospitality House, along with a man and his young children. The bus came, but did the internal route before coming back to pick us up. The driver was very proficient at loading Kathy's wheelchair and getting it secured. The man's kids came and stood back near us to watch the process, which I thought was a little strange that the guy did not make his kids come back up to where he was and sit down rather than stand back there staring. The guy came back and told the bus driver his wife was in the bathroom, and the driver told him she had a couple of minutes yet (the time it would take him to secure the wheelchair), but that was it. When the driver was almost done, the guy left his kids on the bus & ran up to the restroom by Olivia's. As the driver was about to go back to his seat the older boy (maybe 8 yrs old) approached him to ask him to wait for his parents to arrive, and the driver said he had to keep on his schedule, there was a bus waiting behind us that we were already blocking, and if his family was not all on the bus then they had better get off the bus to wait for them! This was not said meanly or rudely, and we were kind of amazed that the father would leave 2 young kids on a bus that was ready to drive off!! It certainly is not fair to all the other guests on the bus or waiting for the bus further down the line - but the parents came running onto the bus at the last minute, as if nothing was wrong. We got off at the Pleasure Island stop and waited in line (they only had 1 turnstile open) to enter, then rode the elevator up to the Comedy Warehouse. Darby was working the line, so I went over to him while Hugh approached Kathy. Darby wrote me a special assistance pass for our party of 4, and I asked him what the policy was on the # of shows it was good for. He said the current manager said up to 2 shows per night was allowed. Darby knows I stand in line for more shows than that per night, and said he did not know if it they could make an exception because of the wheelchair, so I told him we would probably see the first 2 shows and then come back and see what happens from there. We headed down the ramp to the back door, and met up with Arlene to wait for the show. Pretty soon another regular (Dave) showed up, so I sat down and talked to him for a little while. He lives so close to WDW property that he can see the fireworks better from his yard than he can in the park, lol! I asked about how the shows had been lately, and he said they were pretty good. He comes often enough that he should know! When they let us in we asked if there were any electrical outlets to plug Kathy's ventilator into, since she had trouble with her battery yesterday. Once it dies, she has about an hour to get back to wherever the spare is (OKWR), and although the reading looked ok, we did not want to take any chances. The outlets by the keyboard were all in use, but the server (Dee?) found a few behind the front row of barstools behind the 2 rows of chairs on the floor. She moved a couple of stools away to make room, and Kathy was able to back in to that spot without extending too far into the walkway, and I plugged in the ventilator. Our server knew what I wanted, but could not remember the name, but when I started to say Bye Bye.....she finished with Blues, lol! Hugh got a margarita, which to me seems funny in a plastic drink cup, but I guess it tastes the same whether it is in a fancy glass or not! Carol Stein was the keyboard player, and the cast for this show was Josh, Jake, Jeannette, Jen B & Mary. The show was pretty good - not great, but not bad. Sometimes the first show is a little slow. The did cliche, where they torture an actor who has to guess some obscure saying. Tonight Jeannette was the victim, and the saying made no sense at all - Jake picked some little kid who raised his hand, and the kid said "Seize the puppy" then because it was so short he asked for another and picked another kid (ugh) who said "bang her with a bat". So, the saying became Seize the puppy; bang her with a bat. Not very Disney-like, lol, and Jeannette had a tough time because she is too young to *get* some of the clues. When it was over we headed outside on the way let the server know we would be seeing the next show, so she did not reset the missing barstools. I had a chance to talk to Leigh briefly during the show - she used to be the manager here but since having a baby girl last March is only working part-time and usually not at this club anymore. She is thrilled to be a mom, and that is her main career right now. When it was time to go in again, we headed back to our same spots. This time Kathy decided to order a beer. Just because a person has a feeding tube does not mean they have to stop being a lush, lol! She ordered the beer split into 2 cups, so it would be easier to pour without spilling. From where we were seated, with the low lighting, helped her set up the beer syringe (more functional than a beer mug <g>) and she was able to pour it into her stomach without anyone noticing. Ice cold beer poured directly into the stomach arrives there a lot colder than beer passing through the mouth - which could be a good thing on a hot day! The cast this time was almost the same as last show - Josh, Jake, Jeannette, Joy & Jen B (notice that having a name that starts with a "J" greatly increases your odds of being hired here, lol). This show was better, and they did the conducted story, which Jen B won. We decided to call it a night after this show, and were outside talking when our server came outside to find me to see if we were going to come in for the next show.....I guess since she knows me and knows I am not an abuser of the back door she was going to ignore the 2 show guideline, but we told her thanks but we were done for the night. We stood around talking with Hugh & Arlene for a while longer, then caught the bus back to OKWR. Kathy & I went to her room and sat around talking until we realized it was almost midnight - so much for an early evening, lol! We said goodbye - she is going to see Gus briefly before heading home tomorrow, and I will probably head to Magic Kingdom to get some banana nut bread since has been so long since I had any from there. We have our next trip together later this month though, so we have that to look forward to :-) It felt funny to be leaving OKWR - actually it felt like I was leaving "home" to head back to my very nice hotel to be on vacation, if that makes any sense. As I walked up to the entrance, I could hear music coming from MGM - they must have been rehearsing one of the new 100 Year shows. Back in the studio I ate some of the pretzel and finished up the trip report. It was after 1am when I finished, and decided not to bother getting online until after I get up from sleeping. It was another great day, everything on the plan was done, we had no rain, and seeing Hugh & Arlene was an unexpected bonus! DAY 5 - TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2001: Plan: Any park , maybe Epcot, Comedy Warehouse Actual: Knowing I was headed to MK, it made sense to get up early, so I set the alarm for 7 but got up around 6:45. After posting the report from yesterday I showered, dressed, and got cappuccino & yogurt for breakfast. The room had been completely quiet last night - one benefit to staying out until midnight, I guess <g>. I left the room about 8:30, continuing down the hall to the stairwell rather than backtracking to go through the lobby. I ate my yogurt as I walked, and had to make a stop at the car to get my sunglasses because it was so bright outside! (Kathy - maybe it was your *aura*, still present surrounding me after I spent time with you last night, lol - yesterday when she was alone she was approached by several different religious freaks who wanted to know know what her medical diagnosis is and told her she was sent to them by god....pretty creepy. One lady even gave her a pamphlet, which of course found it's way into the trash. No offense meant to normal people who happen to believe in some religion and can refrain from asking personal questions of strangers in public places! Oh well, it made for some fun conversation last night, lol!) My plan to save time with the stairs did not exactly work out as planned, since I went to the end of the hall, down 5 flights, then had to back track to find a door to get outside. I think the door I intended to use is on the 2nd floor, since the resort is built on a hill, lol! If I take a bus somewhere again, I will try a different route. The bus on demand cm was at the bus stop, so I told him I was headed to the MK. We ended up with 2 Animal Kingdom buses at the stop at the same time - guess that schedule got thrown off somewhere already! The next bus was for MK, and we arrived at the park by 9am. It was amazingly uncrowded, and when I got to Tomorrowland I could count the number of guests there on one hand! It was wonderful, especially compared to my most recent trips. I was at Space Mountain by 9:15 and picked up a fast pass for 9:45-10:45. I figured there must be some people inside waiting in line, and did not want to risk having a 10 minute wait, so I headed to Fantasyland and walked right onto the Pool ride. Pooh and Eeyore were each riding in a vehicle, taking any kids that came along. They were in the 2 cars ahead of me, and when we returned they were staying on for new guests so the lady & daughter in my car went to see if they could ride since there was really no line still. I went next to Peter Pan, and walked right on that one also. It's a Small World is closed for rehab. After Peter Pan I walked on the Snow White ride, and it was only 9:30 by the time I finished all 3 of these attractions. I did pick up a guidemap and there was no mention of Adventureland having a delayed opening (as mentioned on RADP, but I have not been following that thread). The map did mention the delayed opening of Toontown Fair. I headed back to Tomorrowland and had to wait almost a whole minute to get on Buzz Lightyear. That is about how long of a wait this ride is worth to me, lol, but I did surprisingly well (by my standards) and scored 117,600. I seldom make it to 6 figures. Next I made a phone call, and then it was time for Space Mountain. I think I had the shortest wait ever, and I got the front seat for a change! I took a ride on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, and was off the ride by 10am - Tomorrowland was still uncrowded. If it was not so awfully HOT, this would be the perfect week to visit. My last attraction was the Haunted Mansion, where once again I pretty much walked right in, and had a crowd about 1/4 the size of normal. At 10:30 I was heading back towards Main Street, to the Bakery. There were a lot of people coming into the park, but still not as bad as usual for this time of day. It was bad enough that I was glad to be leaving, though. The rehabbed Bakery had a line, but not too long. I did not see *my* banana nut bread, but they had these little tiny muffin loaf things with a banana bread sign. I asked the cm if they still had the old kind, and he said no - but that these were the exact same recipe, only smaller. I was not too confident he was telling the truth, so I only ordered one (thank goodness). It looked lousy compared to the old banana nut bread. When I paid for it, I found not only had they cut the size way down, they jacked the price up 50% - from $1.99 to $2.95! I was *really* glad at this point that I had only taken 1....no way could this little thing be worth that price. I picked off part of it to taste it, and it was absolute crap compared to the old version. It tastes nothing like it should - it's just boring bland (& somewhat dry) banana bread with some nuts thrown on top. This will definitely be my last piece of what they call banana nut bread - if offered it for free I would honestly say "no thank you". Yuck - what a disappointment. Oh well, looking on the bright side - no more waiting in line at the MK bakery for me, and there are plenty of other things I like & I have room now to find some other favorite thing. If anyone finds the old banana nut bread there, though, please let me know :-) I browsed through the Emporium looking for a cd a friend had asked for, but saw nothing that fit the description, so I left the park. I was not sure where I was headed - if it was cooler I would have rented a bike or gone somewhere to do some walking, but it was too hot for either activity! Instead, I took the resort monorail to the Poly and then Grand Floridian to take pictures of their new pools. Geesh - I hope Disney got a discount on the 2nd one, since they are basically the same darn pool! They are much smaller than I expected, too - not as impressive as I thought they would be. Back on the monorail, I rode to the TTC and transferred to the Epcot monorail that was waiting. Epcot was deserted, even though it was early entry day there. I decided to ride Spaceship Earth because there was no wait at all - very strange for noon! Afterwards I walked through MouseGear looking for that cd without luck, then tried the 2 shops at the entrance to World Showcase, also without finding anything except the Illuminations cd. I decided to walk around the countries despite the heat, and headed in the direction of Mexico. It was pretty hot, so I stopped in Norway to cool off on the Maelstrom. The standby time was posted at 10 minutes, but I walked right onto a waiting boat with only 4 people ahead of me. The rest of the walk was pretty hot - I stayed in the shade where possible, but it still got rather uncomfortable. I ate some of the banana bread along the way - it did not get any better with hunger, lol! At the International Gateway I stopped in the store and found the cd with music from the parks and bought that for my friend, then exited and walked back to the Boardwalk. Kathy had told me to try one of the frozen drinks at the pool bar, saying it was very good, so I went there first to see if I could spot the one she had talked about. It was the top one on the list - the Roller Coaster Meltdown, which is basically a pina colada but maybe with a more expensive rum. She had said they float rum on top, but the cm did not do that today. If he had, I only would have stirred it in (since I do not like the taste of alcohol), so I did not ask about it. The drink is expensive - $6.75, so with a tip it's almost $8....more than lunch might have been, lol! It is also large, though. It was delicious - not too sweet, and very refreshing but also very filling. So much for lunch, lol - this will be it for me. I brought it back to the studio and enjoyed it while I downloaded more pictures and worked on the report before getting online to upload the pictures. The album is at www.photopoint.com. From there enter my entire email address (WDW1972@aol.com) and I forget what I called the album, but I'm sure it has 9/2001 in the title. The pictures are mostly of the boys, some Vero, some of the BW studio, and the Poly & GF pools. I spent time online, and Leesa arrived about 4pm and we headed to Animal Kingdom Lodge a little before 5. We saw some zebra and other animals off in the distance, and I knew that soon they would be closer. Leesa had never been here before, so we wandered around the resort a bit, then went into Mara so she could get something to eat and I could check on that wind I enjoyed in the concierge lounge. In that particular brand they had the merlot, cabernet sauvignon, and a blush - but no chardonnay. They had another brand of chardonnay, but since I do not ordinarily like chardonnay I was not willing to risk $24-39 on a bottle of unknown wine! I asked the cm if they carried the Cape Indaba chardonnay they serve up on concierge, and she directed me to a cooler across the way, but they do not sell it there either. Next time I am in the concierge lounge I may ask them up there - communication was much easier there without a language barrier! Leesa got some fruit and a cheese & crackers plate, so we sat in Mara for quite a while, talking as she ate her dinner. I kept half an eye on the sky, which was darkening, and as we finally got outside to the pool area they closed the pool and made everyone leave the pool deck area due to "electrical activity" (lightning, lol). We went back inside and upstairs then downstairs to go out to one of the savannahs, but a cm at the door informed us they had just closed them all due to lightning. She directed us up to the viewing area upstairs, so we went up there and saw the same zebras (closer now), some giraffe, and some others. At one point there was an especially explosive crack of thunder! It did not seem to disturb the animals at all, but it made the humans a little edgy <g>! It was 6:45 by now, so we decided to get over to Downtown Disney. Leesa wanted to get some dessert at Wolfgang Puck Express, and we also wanted to see Nancy - all before the 8pm Warehouse show. As soon as we got in the car it started to rain slightly. At Downtown Disney we used our umbrellas and once we got inside Wolfgang Puck Express it was like the sky just opened up and there was a torrential downpour. There was lots of lightning and thunder, and the wind caused the rain to blow sideways. I have never seen the street clear so quickly - people scattered! I bought the strawberries & whipped cream for us to share, and she also got a cream cheese brownie and a container of toffee. The cm raved about how the brownie is wonderful and it is their best selling item. When we tried it though, neither of us liked it. We had just cut a couple of small pieces off, so we decided to bring the rest to Nancy - if she hated it too, she could pass it off to someone else, lol! The strawberries & cream were pretty good. Eventually the rain let up enough for us to walk to Pleasure Island, but no cm's were at the turnstile (it was 7:15), most likely due to the storm. We walked to the turnstiles near the Jazz Club and got a cm there to give us our wrist bands, then went into the Jazz Club. We talked Leigh, who was managing over here tonight, and she said she had opened the club early to let people in out of the rain. Nancy came out to talk to us - she & Clinta just got back from Vero this afternoon, and she was not in the mood to be working, lol! They had a very relaxing time, and enjoyed the resort. She mentioned an apple & brie omelet she had this morning that sounds weird to me but she said it was excellent (in Shutters). At 7:50 we left Jazz and went up to the Comedy Warehouse, and saw a pitiful number of people in line. We counted so we would end up where we wanted to be seated, but it did not look like they would get enough people to have the show. About 5 minutes after seating was due to start, cm Joe announced the show had been canceled. I was somewhat in a snit - having blocked out so many hours to hang out leading up to seeing shows here, and not only did the rain interfere with AKL time and the PI time, now there is another hour to waste! Had there been a way to know this would have happened, we could have gone somewhere and done something fun, then just showed up around 9 instead of getting here at 7! Ugh - I hate when this happens. We went into the Adventurer's Club, where as usual the air conditioning was set at about 47 degrees. The actor playing the colonel's voice was really very raunchy for so early in the evening, but it was funny. I was pretty cold, and tired of standing still, so we walked around on the street for a while, then got in line at the Warehouse at 8:45. Leesa talked to Joe briefly, and he gave me a punch on the arm to say hello - the line filled in quickly so he could not really stay. Several of my favorite cm's were working tonight - Lisa, Joe, Jaime, Darby - I felt bad they lost what money they would have made if the 1st show had not been canceled. Lisa took the time to run to a store to buy a pair of dry socks, then lined her wet shoes with saran wrap to keep her feet dry, which I thought was pretty clever. We were seated in long row (favorite row - the 1st one with the shelf to lean on). The cast was Jen B, Todd, Greg, Mary & Joy. I was glad to see Greg back - he had a serious accident (was hit by a truck while riding his bicycle) back in March or April, and had just returned to work a couple of weeks ago. Now maybe when Krista comes back from maternity leave in late September things will start to get back to normal more. This show was kind of tough for the actors, and kind of weird. First, Jen opened with the phone thing, but the lady who answered did not want to give her any information about who she worked for, or anything else. Jen got her name and that one place she works is Microsoft. She asked to talk to the person she was with, but that person (her cousin) did not speak any English! Not sure what he was going to get out of the shows, unless he can understand it but not speak it.... Anyway, Jen spoke to him in Spanish briefly, and they did a song that was basically all Microsoft puns since they had nothing else to work with. Then they called 2 audience volunteers to help with Fill In The Blank, and one of the guys came up with his camcorder. He is sitting on the stage trying to tape the show, lol! It was so ridiculous - he was way too close to tape anything, but he kept trying. Next they did Up Your Alley, and Mary forgot the name of her character and the others were losing it over her attempts to remember who she was. It was very strange to have so many things go wrong, but it was not a bad show. After the show Dave (another regular) stopped to talk to us, then on the way out Jim Roberts (keyboard player) stopped me. We have not talked to each other for a while - lately on his nights I either ended up leaving before he stopped playing the exit music or I was talking to someone else. He's a really nice guy, and a good keyboard player even though his style is different from Carol's. We had a 1/2 hour to kill, so we went back to the Adventurer's Club but this time sat downstairs where it seemed to be warmer (due to all the bodies in there). A different actor was doing the Colonel's voice now, but he was just as raunchy as before - but the crowd was enjoying it. At 10:15 we headed back to the Warehouse and joined the fairly long line. They let us all in about 5 minutes or so early because it was starting to rain again. We were seated back in the 4th (of 7) row, but we did not care. This show featured Mary, Christine, Todd, Joy, and Jake. For the opening they created a poem titled Let's Put Mickey in the Blender, lol! It did not live up to the funny title, unfortunately. From there the show went downhill quickly, and despite some valiant efforts particularly by Mary, nothing saved it. Christine commented on the audience - they were not helping matters at all, and in fact some people got up and left during the show. They did Forgotten Songs, where the audience makes up 3 song titles and an actor or 2 creates & performs each one. Usually I love this, and some of the funniest scenes I have seen have been Forgotten Songs, but tonight all 3 of them just fell flat. They did Schmeopardy, and that sort of died also - it was pretty sad. The actors knew it, too, and made a couple of jokes about it, but I think everyone was glad when the show finally ended. None of the actors came out from backstage, and we were among the last guests to leave since we were pretty far back. Leesa was staying for the final show since her ride home was with Nancy after Nancy gets off work at 1am. I was not about to risk another show like the last one, besides being tired and wanting to get the trip report finished, so I left. On the way out a survey taker asked if I would answer some questions about PI, but that did not take very long. The drive back to Boardwalk really is not much worse than the drive to OKWR, but once I got there I found the adventure was just beginning <g>. I decided to use the side entrance door and take a *shortcut* to my studio rather than going through the lobby and back down the hall. I counted the floors from outside, and saw a 4-story building. From inside, the back of the door said level 1, and I quickly climbed up all the way to the 5th floor - only to find that door locked and words that indicated this was the roof! I climbed back down to the door that said level 4, thinking it was the top floor (which would be 5th floor), but when I came out into the hall it was the 4th floor. Ok, where is the 5th floor - where my room is??? I figured the safest thing was to follow the sign that said to lobby & elevators, so I walked all the way down the long hall, rode the elevator upstairs and then walked back to my studio. This resort is too confusing for me - I need to stick with OKWR where I can park at my door and not need a map or a guide to help me find my way! Back in the studio I finished the report, ate a couple of bites of the Caprese Salad (mainly seeing that it was still good - it was), then went to bed (without getting online) around 1:30. The day followed the plan, but had more than it's share of irritations. The parks were wonderfully uncrowded, but the banana nut bread, evening storm, and Comedy Warehouse experience was disappointing. Hopefully it will get better tomorrow. I'm still happy to be here, despite the day being not as great as I have gotten used to experiencing on my trips. Miles walked: 8.1 DAY 6 - WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2001: Plan: MK or Epcot, Blizzard Beach?, Comedy Warehouse Actual: Since it was so late when I went to bed, I did not bother setting the alarm. I got up around 8am, and decided to skip the theme parks in favor of Blizzard Beach since that did not open until 10 and it would give me time to get the trip report posted. I finished the awful banana bread with my cappuccino and yogurt, and about 9:45 left to drive to Blizzard Beach. Parking was easy, but there was a huge mob waiting to enter the park. It took about 10 minutes or so to get through the turnstiles, but once inside the park it was not too bad at all. I set up a lounge chair and beach chair over at the edge of the wave pool, then went in the water to cool off. It's amazing how much smaller this wave pool is compared to Typhoon Lagoon. Even though I do not ride the huge waves there, I still like that wave pool better than this one. After cooling off, I want to Cross Country Creek and rode it around for 2 laps. It was nice at first, but pretty crowded by the time I got off. I do not care about the slides, so I have no idea how the waits for those were. I did hear people saying that the waits were getting long now, about 11:30 or so - and although the park was busy, it was less crowded than it was in July. After riding around the park I went back to the wave pool to cool off the top half of my body, then laid on my chair and read. It was extremely hot, and eventually the feeling of sweat running off my back got to be annoying! I got up and walked around the park, cooling off in the shade. I was starting to get hungry but did not want water park food, so I dried off as I walked around and then left the park at 12:30 to drive back to Boardwalk. This time I managed to use the side doors and stairways without getting lost, lol! I found my way to the quiet pool to return my used pool towels, then got more for tomorrow and found the door at the main pool that took me up near my room. I showered and dressed, then left the resort at 1:45 to walk to Canada for lunch. I checked the pedometer - it is 1/4 mile from the resort to the International Gateway entrance. At LeCellier I was seated immediately (without having made any ps), and saw that the restaurant was almost empty. It got busier while I was there, but it never got more than 1/4 to 1/3 full. I ordered my usual glass of wine, glass of water, and cheddar cheese soup. The service was a bit slow, and the server apologized, explaining she was new and had trouble finding the wine. I did not care - I had nowhere I had to be, and was enjoying myself there (besides, the food & wine are worth the wait). She had asked if she could bring me a bowl of the soup since that is all I was ordering, but I told her the smaller cup would be plenty. Once I had a server bring me a bowl (at no extra charge) and it was really a little more soup than I needed. Everything was perfect - I love this meal and hope they never change it! I ate the multi grain breadstick with my meal, and took the pretzel one with me when I left. Settling the bill took a little longer than normal because the server had never seen a DDE card and needed to ask someone how to do it. The total after the 20% was $8.44, so I left her $11 and chatted briefly before leaving. I thought about walking around World Showcase, but as I got to the United Kingdom it started to rain - one of those isolated storms where it probably was not raining at all in Future World (and was not raining at the BW), so I decided to just go home and watch my soap before heading out later. During General Hospital I updated the report and read some of the downloaded messages from the boards. Around 3:45 a big storm rolled in - lots of thunder & lightning, and heavy rain - so I stayed in the room until it let up some. Around 4:30 it looked safe to head out, so I drove over to Premium Outlets. I looked around, but did not find anything to buy myself or anyone else - not even in Character Premiere. It continued to rain, so I headed back to the Boardwalk, arriving around 6. Just as I got online, the beeper went off, but it did not appear to be an emergency so I stayed online briefly IM'ing with a couple of friends and trying to read a few of the emails. Once offline, I made a phone call to Chris' dad. Chris turns 15 on the 19th and his Dad is going to take him to a required drug/alcohol class that he must take before he can get his learner's permit, and then will take him to get that permit on his birthday. Yikes - the kid will be driving! If I survive this, I figure I can survive just about anything <g>. We goofed around on the phone with Chris in the background chiming in. At 7 I got ready to go out - and drove to Downtown Disney. The rain had stopped, at least for the time being! After parking at PI I wandered through part of the Marketplace briefly - getting the free chocolate sample at Ghiradelli and then browsing at World of Disney. I entered PI at the Jazz Club entrance, and headed up the hill to the Warehouse. Dave (Warehouse regular) was sitting on the wall before the top of the hill and waved, so I stopped to talk to him. He invited me to join him at the back door. I knew it was possible Ronda (WDWdotcom) or Gretchen from radp would be there looking for me, so I checked for any sign of them, and then decided to join Dave. He pretty much comes out every night, saying it beats watching reruns on tv, lol! He's a really nice man, and has been a regular ever since the club opened - he & his wife used to come all the time (she died a few years ago) and he used to watch Layden for about 5 years before that (1984-1989) when Layden was working at Busch Gardens in a show called Kaleidoscope. Layden had told me about his previous radio & theater work, but never mentioned Busch Gardens, so I learned something new tonight. Dave said he was very good, though. When the back door opened, we took our seats at the end of long row - I left the one at the very end for Dave, since it was his pass that got us in. He's not able to stand still for long periods, due to an old back injury. Jim Roberts came out from the locker room, saw me & said hi, and went to the keyboard. Lisa was our server, and knew I wanted a Bye Bye Blues. When I tasted it, it was way too sour. It should not be sour at all - it is more sweet than anything else, so I told her it was not a Bye Bye Blues. She took it back and had the barback make another one. The second one was not much better than the first, and I suggested that maybe he did not know what the ingredients were, but Lisa rattled them all off correctly. I told her I would keep it - she was going to have it remade again, but if they used those ingredients then the drink IS a Bye Bye Blues, so I did not want them to throw away a 2nd one. The cast was Jake, Philip, Christine, Jeanette & Todd. During the show Lisa suddenly came back and took my drink away without a word. LOL, I felt like I was at the AKL concierge lounge!! Dave asked me what was going on, but I had no idea. She came back shortly with another drink and asked me to try this one - and this time it tasted like a Bye Bye Blues (but a bit strong, lol)! She said the barback messed up and used sour mix instead of pineapple juice. Yikes, no wonder it tasted so nasty! The show was very good, especially for the first show. The did Cliche, and Todd was tortured. He was kind of clueless at times, and with Jeanette leading it some parts were a little rough. Overall though, the show was much better than the ones last night. When they did the embarrasing story to close the show, I saw the person sitting next to the guest giving the story was another regular I know - except I had her name wrong. I thought it was Sharon, but it's really Kim. Duh, last trip if I mentioned a Sharon, it was really Kim. After the show Dave was leaving, since he was heading out of town in the morning, but he gave me his phone number in case I wanted to spend time in any of the parks together on future trips. He's got 2-person passes just about everywhere in the area, but probably does not realize I cannot leave the hallowed property of WDW, lol! We left the club, and I got right into line for the next show. When the door opened, I spotted Kim and let her under the chain to join me (she was further back in line). We became a party of 2, so I did not get as good a seat as I would have as a solo, but I enjoy her company so it was worth it <g>. She teaches at the University, and is working on her PhD, and is a major Comedy Warehouse fan, and might join DVC someday, so it's nice to talk to someone smart who shares some of my main interests. We were seated about half way back, and were next to the phone, but they will not ring the phone near someone the actors know, so I was certain the technicians would recognize at least one (if not both) of us and not ring. The seats by the phone are not very good, especially towards the back. If the actors are standing near the back of the stage, their heads are obstructed by shelves on the wall. This show featured Todd, Christine, Mary, Jake, and Jeanette. It was also very good. They did the Conducted Story, with Christine as the conductor. Todd actually *won*, but we both think Jake's death was more of a suicide in the interest of time than a real mistake. After the show the actors came out from backstage and Mary waved & started talking to me. When she worked last night I did not see her after the shows. I mentioned a recent radp thread where someone thought she had worked in the Hunchback show, but she said she has never worked in that show. She was interested that she had been mentioned though. She gave me her email address and husband's website to check out, we talked a while longer & then she went to get ready for the next show. Kim finished chatting with Christine, and then we both left the club. Outside, a cm was about to enter the backstage area at the Warehouse exit, and stopped to say I looked really familiar to him. I saw his nametag, and asked where exactly he worked, and he told us he is the voice of PI - the voice we hear whenever there is talking on the Island (like a DJ). He thought maybe he had seen me on the cruise ships - he had worked on both the Magic and Wonder, and last year I cruised on both, so maybe we ran into each other then. He was very nice, and very handsome (Leesa - definitely your type)...and young, lol. We talked for a little while (he loves the Comedy Warehouse also), then he went back to what he was doing and I headed for the next show. Kim did not stay for the next show, but walked me upstairs and left from there. I got right in line for the 10:30 show. This time I got long row again, and took several pictures. The cast was Christine, Greg, Mary, Philip & Todd. This show was hysterical - the kind of show where your face hurts from laughing. The audience was a good crowd, but many of the suggestions really pushed the limits of what the actors are allowed to do onstage. For example, during a scene with Greg & Philip, one of them was supposed to give the other something - and the suggestion was "french kiss". Mary was leading the game, and declined that suggestion and went to someone else - but during the scene Philip commented that he would never kiss him....what kind of person would even suggest such a thing unless it was someone with unresolved feelings/issues, lol! The next game was Forgotten Songs, and one of them was titled "My First Kiss". I just about died when Philip & Greg came out to do a duet to that song - Greg was almost 40 and never been kissed, needing to be shown the way by a more experienced man. Philip said he would show him the way, and he was not even gay, and Greg raised his eyebrows and said "yeah, right", lol! The song ended with them kissing on stage, the audience hysterical laughing and cheering, and I got the picture of it! Poor Christine had the next song, and came out saying "How can I possibly follow THAT???"! It was definitely a Disney moment, lol! After the show Greg came out and as I came by started to say "thanks for coming" and then recognition came across his face as he remembered me (we have only talked a few times). We talked for a while, about a bunch of different things. I am so glad to see him back, and told him so. He was concerned being out so long that he would come back and people would not remember him - how silly! He still sometimes has pain in his shoulder and has to skip a show now and then, but for the most part he is back (and doing very well). He said he will be working on the 28th, so if Kathy & I make it over that night we will get to see him. I left at that point, deciding to finish the trip report rather than seeing the final show at 12:05. I have a feeling it would have been great, but getting out of there at 1am with stuff I still needed to get done was just too late. I drove back to the Boardwalk, and climbed the 5 flights of stairs for the 4th (and last) time. Tomorrow a couple of internet friends are meeting at Typhoon Lagoon, so I plan to head over there to see if I find them. If not, I can enjoy the park for a couple of hours before leaving WDW. Today was a terrific day, and an even better evening! Sleeping in until 8, lounging around a water park, having a leisurely lunch at one of my favorite places, seeing fantastic shows at the Comedy Warehouse with new and old friends - it does not get much better than that! Miles walked: 3.5 DAY 7 - THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2001: Plan: Typhoon Lagoon, drive home Actual: I was up until after 2am, and was IM'd by Leesa around 2 - she had gotten to PI for the 12:05 Warehouse show, but we missed each other. She had a great cast - Jake, Philip, Mary, Greg & Christine, and said the show was really good. I did not set the alarm, hoping to wake up around 8 or so. Instead I woke up around 7, sort of afraid that if I fell back asleep I would sleep much longer (simply setting the alarm seemed like too much of a bother, lol), so at 7:30 I got up. The express checkout was there and everything was ok. I took a quick shower, packed up my remaining stuff, had cappuccino and the last of the chocolate/vanilla pretzel for breakfast, and settled down to read some of the downloaded messages. Just before 9:30 I gathered my stuff, put ice in the cooler (leftover yogurt and I planned to bring a new Caprese Salad home later), dropped the laptop and digital camera with bell services, and went to the car to drive to Typhoon Lagoon. It was just before 10, and I spotted Ronda waiting near the entrance. She asked the nearby cm to let me join her in line, and gave me a virtual hug from a Disney friend (Billy). Billy & I have known each other online for years now, but so far our trip dates have not matched up...hopefully some day that will change. They let guests in, then held them further inside until official park opening. Ronda wanted seats in both the non smoking and smoking section, so I headed to nonsmoking (most of the park is nonsmoking, thank god - they have designated smoking areas for the smokers) and staked out 4 chairs right up against the wave pool. Ronda set up a chair or 2 over in some smoking section somewhere. There was never a question whether or not I would join her in the smoking section, lol - she knows I cannot stand cigarette smoke, but I respect her right to make the choice to smoke (away from me) if that is what she wants to do. It was HOT again, so I went in the water to cool off while waiting for her to get back. Eventually she arrived, and we headed into the wave pool to enjoy the waves. While we were out there, Diana and her mother (we just called her Mom - have no idea what her name really is) recognized us from behind, far away, lol! To use her words, Ronda was the very white person, and I was the itty bitty one in a bikini - and she was right. We met Mom, got their stuff put down on the chairs, then headed back to the wave pool. Eventually I sat on one of the walls there, which was a great spot. It looks like a wood railing after the rock, but really it is padded vinyl. When the wave comes in, the water splashes up all over you. The others came over and joined me - and when the first wave come in, Ronda got knocked over and carried away by the current! Luckily she was thrown towards me, and I was able to grab hold of her. Those waves are powerful, for sure! After fun in the wave pool - mostly sitting around talking, someone suggested the lazy river so we did a lap around together. I got separated - left behind on a slow tube, so when we came to the cave where you have to pass under the waterfall I just got out of the lazy river and walked up to the next entrance & got back in - just as the others were there. I enjoy floating around on the tube, but do not like water dripping or spraying on my head. After the first lap, Mom & I got out - Diana & Ronda stayed in for another round. I was hoping to get to the wave pool while the smaller bobbing waves were still going on, but just as we got there the huge waves started again. :( Mom went in, and I waited for a couple of them, then got out of the water to dry off. It was pretty hot sitting still, so I decided to dry off while walking around the park. By the time I made the complete loop I was dry enough to go get changed. I looked for the others, but did not see them, so I wrote them a note and left it in the bag on our chairs. Just as I was leaving I spotted Diana at the edge of the wave pool. She said Ronda was way out in the deep water, so we said goodbye and I headed to the restrooms to change into regular clothes. It was about 1pm, so I drove to the West Side and went to Wolfgang Puck Express for lunch. I bought 2 of the Caprese Salads and a cookie, then sat at a table out on the porch and ate most of one of the salads. I was able to combine the rest into the other container, and brought it home for tomorrow. On the way out, they had a girl giving out samples of different pizzas - I tried one, but I thought it was a bit too salty for me (I hate any salt at all). I drove back to the Boardwalk and went down to the Bakery. I bought 3 of the chocolate/vanilla pretzels - they freeze well, so 2 will go there and they may get me through until my next trip! I stopped at bell services to pick up the laptop, and was on the road at 2pm. Except for some torrential rain as I got near Ft Myers, it was an easy drive, lasting about 3 hours. I came home to sad news, but for a change it was not entirely unexpected. A dear friend - a fellow baseball season ticket holder - had passed away peacefully Monday morning. Her favorite nephew left a message that morning to let me know, but did not leave a number to reach him at. She lived a long life and despite being 71 or 72 years old she had the energy & spirit of fun of a kid - the rest of us would roll our eyes and tell the "kids" to behave when she & Chris would get going! She will be missed, but I am glad her battle with cancer is done. SUMMARY: Splitting the trip up into 3 separate trips I think made it seem especially short, even though I was gone a week. Unfortunately, there was no way around it, as I was not willing to give up any of the 3 different trips. Bringing along Mario worked out really well. He is a great kid, and he & Chris were able to hang out together. Our stay at Coronado was brief but enjoyable, and I really liked being in the Ranchos section. The Vero stay was great - having no rain both days was such an treat for a change! Having friends there made it a lot more fun, also. Back to WDW, staying at BW rather than OKWR was kind of fun. My heart still belongs in OKWR, but BW felt like a mini-vacation from there, and the studio was in great shape. I did hear construction noise during the day - not overly loud, and certainly nothing to be screaming for compensation over (I would hope nobody is doing that, but you never know, lol). Mostly I would hear faint beeps from the equipment - just loud enough to make me go check my beeper, lol! Seeing Kathy for 2 days instead of just 1 was a bonus treat, although I think she has spoiled me with that concierge stuff - and has definitely spoiled Chris & Mario (the bathrobe boys)! Hey, maybe the All Stars will upgrade us to their concierge level when we are there in a few weeks <g>! Finally, having a couple of out of town friends at WDW during my stay gave us the chance to spend some time together, and I continue to really enjoy the people (regular guests, actors & servers/line people) and the shows at the Comedy Warehouse. However, 3 nights was definitely not enough! DISAPPOINTMENTS:
MAGICAL MOMENTS:
My next trip wil be a very short one - just 3 days! Kathy & I are doing a quick weekend trip, just for the hell of it. We will be doing it low-budget, staying at All Star Music, but for only 2 nights we can handle the value resorts. The next long trip will be 2 weeks starting October 27th - a week at WDW and the 7 day Magic cruise. Thanks for reading, and until next time - Sue Holland wdw1972@aol.com Mail a Comment to Sue Holland |
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