Sue Holland - October 2002 - Offsite, Coronado Springs, Old Key West, Beach Club

Time of Year: Fall
Travel Method: Personal Car
Resort: Offsite, CSR, OKWR, BCV
Accommodations: Villa Vacation Home, Standard Room (varied depending on resort)
Ages Represented in Group: Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Veteran, Frequent, DVC Member
Comments: This is a typical Holland report on a twelve day trip to WDW. Sue stayed at several different resorts during the trip, and enjoyed the company of several folks that she's met online and at WDW over the years. (Note: As Sue spent a great deal of time at Pleasure Island and in other adult venues, on this trip, this report has some information that may not be appropriate for young readers.)


Sue Holland -- October 2002 -- Walt Disney World (Offsite, CSR, OKWR, BCV)

Who/When/Where:

Who: Sue (me), DVC member

Appearances by:

Leesa, Comedy Warehouse regular
Kathy, Nancy, Tracy & Tyger
Grand Villa roommates Gail (jdocter7), Maria (mepep84), Judy (judfud), Missy (missy3840)
Adie & Lisa, Carla, Leigh, Dee, Cheryl, Diana, Linda, Pat, Ronda, Shan, Cis, MaryElbow, & many more Fortress friends
Tom & Leanne, Kim, Greg (mad4wdw)
DVC friends Darla, Rich & Deb, Chris
Kathy & Den from radp (figaro)
Dates: October 31 - November 11, 2002

Travel Method: Personal car

Resort: Leesa's condo (first night), Coronado Springs (2nts), Old Key West Resort (3nts - Grand Villa), Beach Club Villas (5nts - studio)

Experience: Extremely experienced

INTRODUCTION:

This is a highly anticipated trip for me - one sure to be crammed full of fun with so many friends in town from all over the world. Many of them are people I've met before, but some I'll be meeting for the first time. This is such a terrific time of year to visit, thanks to the combination of near-perfect weather and the fabulous Food & Wine Festival - it's no wonder so many people I know will be here!

2 years ago I came to WDW at this time of year with a group of internet friends. Many of us are still in regular contact and decided to do it again in 2002. I decided it would be fun to get the grand villa at OKW (3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms - 2400 square feet of luxury accomodations) since there would be a group of us to enjoy it. The grand villa sleeps 12, but we're limiting it to 5 people, so we've got lots of space - it's not going to be like a hostel or a college dorm, lol! This way I of course have the master bedroom to myself, and everyone else has their own bed in one of the other 2 bedrooms, leaving the living room sleep sofa empty so we can truly use it as a living room rather than someone's bedroom. We invited the people not staying in the GV to come over one afternoon, which should also be fun. I decided to add 5 nights after the Grand Villa, because I really enjoy longer trips and this is the ideal time of year for me to be here. Since the new dvc Beach Club Villas is now open, I used the points I bought there to book a studio for myself. Since Typhoon Lagoon is closed I figured Stormalong Bay was the next best thing, and I only have access when staying at this resort. The nights before the grand villa were originally booked at Caribbean Beach, but got moved to Coronado Springs when CBR was closed for a food court rehab. It's just as well - I truly do not like that resort at all, but thought I would give it another chance. After visiting a friend there just before they closed, and eating dinner in the food court, I'm very glad we moved! I'll be staying at Coronado alone the first night, and then Gail joins me for the 2nd night.

Priorities for this trip fall into 3 categories - Comedy Warehouse, friends, and Food & Wine Festival. I plan to spend lots of time on all three! I'm also looking forward to Super Soap, although I'm disappointed that a couple of the most attractive soap stars won't be there for my ogling pleasure - instead they're sending all the youngsters (it's tough to ogle someone when he looks the same age as your son <g>). I can't wait to get back "home" to the Comedy Warehouse, and hope for many good shows. I'm a bit concerned because 2 of the regular actors will be in Hawaii during most of my trip, but will hope for the best in terms of who's subbing for them. The Food & Wine Festival offerings look terrific - I love the small portions and hope to try a few new things this year. The convenience from Beach Club Villas should be great, too!

The plans (subject to change) so far...

Thu 10/31: Meeting in Gainesville, drive to Orlando, Comedy Warehouse w/Leesa

Fri 11/1: Check in to Coronado Springs, Food & Wine Fest, Comedy Warehouse

Sat 11/2: Possible park, meet Leesa & Gail at CS, Boma dinner, Comedy Warehouse

Sun 11/3: Check in OKW, Epcot, Comedy Warehouse

Mon 11/4: Birthday - Happy hour in Grand Villa, Comedy Warehouse

Tue 11/5: MK, rollerblading?, Comedy Warehouse

Wed 11/6: Check in BCV, Epcot, Comedy Warehouse

Thu 11/7: MK, Food & Wine, Comedy Warehouse w/dvc friends

Fri 11/8: Stormalong Bay, Food & Wine, Comedy Warehouse

Sat 11/9: SuperSoap at MGM, Food & Wine, Comedy Warehouse

Sun 11/10: Stormalong Bay, Food & Wine, Comedy Warehouse

Mon 11/11: MK or Epcot, Food & Wine, drive home

DAY 1 THURSDAY OCTOBER 31, 2002:

Who: Sue, DVC Member

Leesa, Comedy Warehouse regular

Adie & Lisa, Tyger, Tracy, Nancy

Kathy (figaro) & Den

Plan: Meeting in Gainesville, drive to Orlando, Comedy Warehouse w/Leesa

Actual: My meeting ended at noon as planned, and it was an easy 2 hour drive to Leesa's. Mapquest worked really well for this trip! We hung out at the condo discussing plans, made a trip to Publix to pick some groceries for her (& something for the grand villa), then headed to PI. I had something that would melt in the hot sun, and was concerned that tomorrow would be a wasted day not being able to do anything until after getting my Coronado room at 3pm. However, Leesa mentioned that Kathy & Den had offered the use of their room to store my "stuff" and they'd give me a key so I could retrieve it after I was in my CS room - thank you, Kathy & Den! We got to Downtown Disney around 6 and browsed through the Marketplace for a while. Kids were trick or treating at the stores, and a cm tossed us each one of those Nestle Wonderball candy things.

As we headed back to the car we ran into Kathy (Figaro) & Den outside PI. We transferred my meltable stuff from my car to theirs, and entered PI together. Outside Comedy Warehouse cm Susan dressed as a gypsy in a nice costume - it turned out most of the line people and servers dressed up tonight. There was no costume contest, but guests were permitted to wear costumes if they wanted to - maybe 1/3 or less of the people did, from what I saw. We hung around by the waterfront, and Nancy came out to visit with us for a while. I went upstairs to check on the line and ran into some of the other regulars. As I was walking towards the stairs with Virginia we ran into Adie & Lisa! I had some business to take care of with them, so I got in line with them until I had to leave to get in the back door. While we were there together our friend Kerri called to report that our friend Andrea had given birth to Princess Ava an hour or so ago! Kathy travels in a wheelchair, which made the back door necessary for the first show as well as the others. I got back downstairs just in time to go inside.

We sat with Kathy & Den at the tables down on the floor. Mark Lainer was in town for a few days, and I was happy to see he was working tonight. Lisa & Adie were seated in long row, and Adie came down to talk to us until the show was ready to start. She mentioned she & Lisa saw the Lion King (theater - not the movie) in Ft Lauderdale last night and the concession had a large thick pretzel breadstick with a suggestive shape, and immediately both thought of me. It must just be because I eat at LeCellier so often <g>. The 7:20 cast was Mark, Mary, Todd, Chris & Jake. After the opening song Jake & Todd were storytellers telling "The Blue Dog", which was pretty bad. They did the name rhyme next, which Jake won - so they tortured him in Cliché! He had to guess that he was in a mormon church, and the saying was "If you look like your passport picture you probably need a vacation". It was very funny, and really saved the show. Jake at one point had the whole cliché, but he wasn't getting a couple of words right (3 syllables that formed 2 words) and he really struggled for a while. That sort of thing just makes it more entertaining, though. After the show I talked to Mark, and I'm not sure we ever made it outside before the next show - in fact I don't think we went outside until after 10pm tonight. Between shows we were just busy talking with friends and cm's and never made it out the door.

Tyger joined us for the 8:15 show. The cast was Todd, Jake, Greg, Chris & Mark. Greg rang the bell for a Should Have Said about stealing. Mark & Chris were working in a Kmart and Jake came in a Wynona Rider to shoplift - it was a funny scene! Jake & Chris then created a bizarre song about falling. Up Your Alley was next, but the audience volunteer pretty much killed it. The subject was magician, and the volunteer spent too much time trying to be funny (& failing). Mark was the host, named Chi Chi. Todd was a cheap magician named Chip - he was such a lousy magician he didn't get paid much. Greg was Arthur, a warlock. His character was patterned after Paul Lynde's character of Uncle Arthur on the old Bewitched tv series - a rather flamboyant type, and Greg played it well. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to offset the rest of what was happening on the stage (mainly the audience guy).

The 9:15 cast was Mary, Greg, Todd, Jake & Brian. They did Fill in the Blank with 2 audience volunteers. Mary & Jake did the scene, and although I can't remember what it was about my notes said it was funny <g>. Next up was a scene that would be interrupted to have a song in 3 different styles. Greg & Todd were the actors working on an assembly line making foxholes. They did an Indian song called "My name is Bufus", a gregorian chant called "We are so excited to be here at Chuck E Cheese" and yodeled "I never knew I'd be finding the lord at Chuck E Cheese". It was all hysterical - each song was terrific. After the show Mary came over to see me - she wasn't expecting me to be here, since I hadn't told her I was coming in a day early. We chatted for a while, and the others (Leesa, Adie, Lisa, Tracy, Tyger, Kathy, cm Lisa) were busy catching up. Nancy came in for a while, too. Everyone but me, Leesa, Kathy & Den left for the evening, and who comes in but Layden! Unfortunately he was just a guest and not working, but it was still nice to see him.

The 10:30 cast was Mark, Greg, Mary, Chris & Brian. The whole show (besides the opening & closing songs) was Conducted Story, and they did a super job! Chris was the conductor and the story was titled "Peter picked a pumpkin pie." Brian died by a cotton ball, but assigned each of the other 4 actors a certain word or style that they had to remain in for the entire death scene. Mary had tourette's syndrome, Mark was Fonzie from Happy Days, Greg was a sexy gay horror movie character, and Chris had panic. Those were all good choices, and it made for a very funny scene! Mary died next, by a purple pepper. She had an audience volunteer describe the positions each actor would be in at the close of the scene, then they had to develop the scene together so they would end in the right spots. Mark was face down on the floor, Mary was standing on 1 leg with her fingers up her nose, and the other 3 were holding hands and dancing around Mark's body. It was a lot of fun to watch! Greg died next, and did a dramatic soap opera death dying by a magazine. That left Mark to wrap up the story, which he did as a poem. After the show Mary came out and pointed out that Layden was here - she knows I'm a fan of his - and I told her I'd already seen him. Greg let us know he was done for the night, and would see me tomorrow night - so we said goodbye & headed outside to wait for the next show. He stopped again to chat while we were outside, and then left. The rest of us were talking & laughing & the time passed so quickly!

The 12:05 show featured Mark, Todd, Brian, Mary & Chris. They opened with a poem - "That sandwich is rotten." Next was This is Your Life, with Todd as the host. Usually this structure has been really funny, but tonight it was just so-so. The subject was a cm who works in Tomorrowland, and there just wasn't enough good information to work with. Having the right host is important here - if the host doesn't ask good questions the others don't have much to work with. They also did Forgotten Songs. Brian & Todd sang "I like to kick my cat", in what might possibly have been a mild gangster rap style. Mark sang a blues song as the blind Philip Morris - called "Stacy went to the supermarket for a llama (as opposed to Camels....cigarettes). The other song really stood out as being unusual - Mary sang "I've never eaten a shopping cart", about losing weight. The style was kind of like a nursery rhyme, and the audience had to sing the part that repeats - and each actor made up a unique verse in between. The repeating part was "I've never eaten a shopping cart. I've never eaten a shopping cart. For if I did I'd surely fart. I've never eaten a shopping cart". It may sound dumb, but it was a lot of fun, lol!

Next Mark rang the bell for Should Have Said, with Todd as a guy growing watermelon. The scene got pretty filthy before it ended, but it was funny. We said goodnight to a few people after the show, then the 4 of us headed to the parking lot. We'll have one more night with Kathy & Den tomorrow, before they return to Minnesota.

We got back to Leesa's condo, and talked about plans for tomorrow during the drive. It took until after 3 to get the report written and most of the mail read, but like my friend Missy says - sleep is something to do at home, not wdw <g>! We're planning to head to the parks in the morning, and have a busy day planned - so hopefully Leesa will have the energy (she was just online as I typed this - GET SOME REST, lol!).

The day was terrific! My meeting was no big thrill, and I was getting tired of work calling me after I got to Leesa's (mainly because I was expecting a more important call and didn't really feel like spending time deciding whether to buy 1 or more wheelchairs now - ugh). The evening made up for it though - it was great seeing so many friends and the other CW regulars! Finding Mark in town was an unexpected bonus, and I was very glad to have this extra night to begin my trip early!

DAY 2 FRIDAY NOVEMBER 1, 2002:

Who: Sue, DVC Member

Leesa, Comedy Warehouse regular

Kathy (figaro) & Den

Adie & Lisa

Plan: Check in to Coronado Springs, Food & Wine Fest, Comedy Warehouse

Actual: After being up until 4am I set the alarm for 8 and tried to get some sleep - I should have been exhausted, but was not tired at all. When it catches up with me, I'll try to take it easier then, I guess. I ended up waking up before 7, and finally just got up then. Around 8:15 I started telling Leesa what time it was - if we were to do everything we hoped to do, we could not wait to get started at 11am! I made some hot chocolate for breakfast, and did some online stuff waiting for her to wake up and get moving (she's more night owl - not a morning person). We ended up getting out of her place by 9:40, which wasn't too bad after getting home so late this morning.

Leesa stayed in the car while I went inside to check in. There was a line of around 8 families ahead of me - that's one thing I hate about the value & moderate resorts - the being herded in line like cattle to get your room! To my surprise they had rooms ready! They had me in Casitas, but after the last 2 attempts at staying in that section (in nonsmoking rooms that stunk like ashtrays) I asked the cm to find another section. She gave me Ranchos 6B and we drove over to move some stuff into the room.

The room was on the pool, and when we walked in immediately we noticed the disgusting cigarette stench! I was quite pissed at this point, and called the desk to let them know that this is the 3rd attempt in a row at staying here but being given a non-smoking room that smells like an ashtray! I told the cm he needed to either find me a nonsmoking room that people don't smoke in, or send me to another resort (I haven't had this problem anywhere except Coronado - and I doubt I will be back at this point. It's not worth the aggravation.). He found me a room in Cabanas 8B and offered to have bell services move us, but I said we'd move the stuff - just meet us at the new room with the new keys. They got there shortly after we did, and thankfully the room smelled fine! We've got a nice view of the lake, also (I'd reserved and paid for a waterview - to me a lake is better than some silly pool view). While we were in the smoky room Leesa started developing a rash, and it cleared up completely after we were out of that room - guess she must have had a reaction to the stink!

I drove Leesa over to Animal Kingdom and dropped her off after agreeing to leave our parks at 1:30 to meet in MGM Studios. She wanted to see the tigers and birds, and spend time taking lots of pictures, and had no interest at all in the Food & Wine Festival. I was dying to get to Food & Wine, hate birds, and would be climbing the walls after about 10 minutes of watching the tigers (love them, but not for extended periods, and not when Food & Wine is open <g>). So, it worked out best that we split up for a while since our interests & priorities were not matching. I drove over to the Swan and walked into Epcot from there.

It was a little after 11 and the Food & Wine booths were already open. It was almost deserted in World Showcase, which was really nice! People could walk right up to a booth and get their items with no wait at all, and even later when it got busier it was still never very busy. It'll be interesting to see how much busier it is on Sunday! In France I decided to try the onion tart for the first time, since so many people have raved about it. I had checked the recipe at home and found I liked the ingredients, so I figured I would like it. I was surprised it was such a large portion, and so cheap ($1.50) - plus it was absolutely delicious! I really loved it, and will have to have it again before the trip is finished.

In Morocco I got the white wine (Ksar blanc $2.00) and sat at a nearby table to update my notes and finish the onion tart. The weather was ideal - cloudy, breezy, and mid to upper 70's! I resumed walking around World Showcase, looking at the offerings from each stand, seeing a number of things that looked really good. I'll be glad when I move to Beach Club Villas, because then I can come in to the Festival and get one favorite for lunch, then return & get another for dinner before going to PI. I imagine I'll be drinking quite a bit of the wine during those days as well <g>. I passed the Andalucia Spain exhibit but didn't bother to go inside since I'll be back with other first-time visitors on Sunday and we may do it then.

I was disappointed that the wine seminars did not have advance information on the type of wine like last year. I really don't like red wines, and would not want to stand in line for a seminar, then be stuck in a 45-minute seminar if it was all red wines! Kathy & Den told me that with the seminars being held in the Odyssey they make guests line up outside in the sun and don't open the door until the start time. Last year people had seats & air conditioning in the waiting area. So, the wine seminars are looking less & less attractive to me at this point. I loved doing them with my friend Kathy last year, but we'll see if I bother with any this year.

I completed the World Showcase loop and decided to walk around again. This time I stopped in Spain and got their sangria ($1.75) - and loved it! It was just sweet enough for me. I sat on a bench in Mexico and people-watched for a while, then headed into Future World. There was no wait at Spaceship Earth so I walked on and ended up catnapping through that ride. When I got off it was almost 1:30 so I left the park to catch the bus to MGM Studios.

Entry here was very quick, and once inside I called Leesa to see how close she was to arriving. Her bus was just pulling into the parking lot, so I stayed on the Hollywood Boulevard area so she'd see me. Layden went driving by in a cart, stopping to interact with guests along the street - I think he was a movie star who has a movie coming out soon. Leesa arrived after that, and walked further into the park and came across the cart looping back. He had a female seated next to him, and we realized it was Jen Br! She waved to us, and nudged Layden so he'd turn & see us - they of course stayed in character as we talked back & forth briefly. I figured they were headed back in, but in reality they were returning to Hollywood Blvd to do a show with the other actors. Leesa & I sat at a table so she could rest, and returned just as the show ended - it figures! She was really worn out, and having some trouble, so I just wanted to get back to the resort so she could recuperate some before going out tonight.

We caught the slow boat to the Swan, and I left Leesa on a couch in the lobby while I went up to Kathy & Den's room to retrieve my stuff. The rooms on the first 4 floors have all been renovated, and they were on the 4th floor. I like it better than the room I had on an upper floor last December. The bed linens were oversized, and all white, which made the room look elegant. They weren't in the room, so I just grabbed my stuff and left. Kathy had invited me to bounce on the bed to see how soft it was, but I didn't want to mess it up, lol! I picked up Leesa and brought her to wait at the front entrance while I walked out to the parking lot to get the car. After picking her up at the door we returned to Coronado Springs.

Leesa was asleep pretty quick - hopefully she'll have more energy later. I updated the report and watched my soaps. The remote control here is one of the cheap ones where you have to advance one station at a time - a pain when you want to change from channel 9 to 34 and back <g>. Around 4:30 I went out for a walk around the lake and was gone about an hour. This resort is very pretty, and usually is peaceful. Right now they have a big hemophelia conference and they are running constant shuttles around the lake to bring people from their rooms to the main building. Having to watch out for 8-passenger golf carts whizzing by on the walking path was a little annoying. I browsed in the shop a little bit, and liked some of the resort log merchandise. They also have the Christmas clothing out now.

I got back to the room about 5:30 and Leesa was still asleep. I watched the local news and read some downloaded posts, then got changed into different clothes for the evening. Around 6 I woke Leesa up so she'd have a chance to wake up a bit before we left. We stopped at OKW to see if a package I was expecting had arrived, and it was there. My last weekend at home I had spent most of Saturday going through all of my pictures from Comedy Warehouse and narrowed it down to 12 good pictures that represented everyone in the current cast plus some of the favorites who used to work there. Using Ofoto, I created a 12-month wall calendar for 2003 and ordered one for myself and one as a gift for Adie & Lisa (major CW fans). There's one actor who works occasionally that Lisa cannot stand, so the calendar is 100% free of that person <g>. I've always been pleased with Ofoto's work, and expected the calendar to turn out well, but the actual finished product was amazing - better than expected! I love mine, and knew Adie & Lisa would love theirs. Leesa was drooling over it as well, lol!

We got back in the car & drove through Taco Bell to get Leesa some food, then parked at Downtown Disney. A quick visit to Ghiradelli got us a chocolate sample for dessert, then we returned to PI. I decided to bring the calendar in to show some of the cast, knowing Adie & Lisa wouldn't be there until later (I was planning to give it to them when we have lunch in Ft Lauderdale later this month). We stopped to goof around with Joe outside the club, then went downstairs and joined Kathy & Den at the back door. Kathy had brought me some delicious chocolate chocolate chip cookies - thank you! They loved the calendar, and by the time they finished looking at it the door was open.

The 7:20 cast was Matt, Brian, Mary, Chris & Philip. Matt opened with the phone, and got a person who was just awful. She was actually a cm at Animal Kingdom and she & her friend had rehearsed a story to give if they ever got the phone. Matt told them not to - just tell the honest answers. The lady kept changing her story, would be unable to talk because she was laughing too hard, and basically looked like an ***. She comes quite a bit, so she should have known they were going to somewhat slam her in their verses for being such a jerk. They did slam her a little, but not nearly as bad as they could have. Next Mary & Brian were storytellers telling "The Pink Bus" about their son who came out of the closet at age 5. They're sending him to an all gay Montesorri kindergarten that sends a pink bus to pick up the boys. The Storytellers structure generally doesn't go over very well, but this one was better than most. They also did Emotions, where Philip & Chris were working in a peanut butter factory and had to keep changing emotions. It was fast-paced and funny as usual. Emotions is almost always very funny! During the structure the actors noticed the lady from the phone was gone - evidently she & her friend left the show early. Brian teasingly told Mary it was because she (the cm) was upset over Mary's verse. When the show ended Mary came over to where I was sitting (2nd row of tables by the keyboard) to talk about the phone cm leaving early and how excited she was about her upcoming trip. As it turns out her trip starts a day later than I'd thought, so I'll have 1 more night (Monday) when she's working this trip! I showed her the calendar, and Matt came over to see it as well - they both enjoyed seeing the pictures and remembering some of the shows. We headed outside briefly and talked to Al (a regular) for the short period between shows.

The 8:15 cast was Philip, Chris, Greg, Brian & Mary. The opened with a poem called "I used the rubrick to grade my students' papers." Philip had to go backstage to look up rubrick, and they did a good job with the poem. Brian rang the bell in Should Have Said, where Mary & Philip were spelunking (sp?) in a cave full of empty coke cans. Next they did a musical, and it was very funny! It was about a CPA (Greg) who's client was Enron and his coworker Chad (Brian) turned out to be a cross dresser and the son of Martha Stewart (also played by Brian). They also did the scene change where each actor has a word to build a scene around. Mary had toilet paper, Philip had towels, Chris had shoes, and Brian had swimsuit. Overall it was a good show! Afterwards Greg came over to look at the calendar & was joined by Carol Stein. We stayed inside the entire time and when the guests were let in Tyger was one of them. We pulled up the chair we'd removed to make room for Kathy's wheelchair and invited Tyger to join us.

The 9:15 cast was Greg, Mary, Matt, Chris & Krista. Krista rang the bell in Should Have Said. Chris was a laboratory worker and Mary wanted to be her assistant but had failed her background check. It never really did very well, so thankfully Krista ended it pretty quickly. That's much better than letting it linger if something isn't clicking. They did Letters to the Editor, writing about hot dogs. Mary wrote to Sports Illustrated complaining about the poor food available at baseball games. Greg was Oscar Mayer, and dating a guy named Ballpark Frank - he wrote to People. Chris was Rosie O'Donnell writing to Pinball Journal to complain that pinball machines should have a shelf or some place to rest her hot dog. Next they did Styles, where Krista & Matt created a scene about bowling and they had to keep changing styles (disco, ballet, movie styles, even Cirque du Soleil). It was hysterical - one of those times when your face hurts from laughing! After the show Krista & Chris came over to see the calendar. I think everyone got a kick out of seeing themselves in there, and nobody minded their images being used. There are only 2 calendars out there, though! When we went outside Adie & Lisa were there, and so was Nancy. We chatted until it was time to go back inside. Before the show started I gave Adie & Lisa the calendar, and they seemed to really like it.

The 10:30 show featured Philip, Krista, Brian, Matt & Mary. Mary & Brian created as scene about quiet and Brian interrupted to make suggestions they had to incorporate. They did a good job. Next was the name rhyme game, which Krista won - so she got to be tortured in Cliché! She had to guess she was in a Bosnian grocery store, and the saying was "Drive it like it's stolen". It went very quickly but was fun to watch. After this show Mary was done for the night, but she came over to see if I'd given Adie/Lisa the calendar yet, lol! She suggested having the cast sign the pictures, so she took the calendar and over the next few days people can sign on their pictures. I thought that was a great idea, and so nice of her to offer!

Nancy showed up, ready for me to transfer custody of Leesa to her for the next 14-15 hours or so, and Kathy & Den were calling it a night. I happened to look over towards the exit and saw Maria (mpepe84) and Cheryl (cheryl1106) standing there so I waved them in and we all screamed & hugged & carried on. I had planned to skip the 5th show, but since they were here I decided to stick around. First I needed to get Leesa's stuff to Nancy, and say goodbye to Kathy & Den. Kathy & Den are so terrific - it's a shame our trips only overlapped by 2 nights, but that's better than the 1 night originally planned! We left PI, Leesa & I got her & her suitcase over to Nancy's car in the next lot, then I returned & met the others (Adie, Lisa, Tyger, Maria & Cheryl) at the backdoor for late show.

The 12:05 cast was Greg, Philip, Matt, Krista & Brian. This show was amazing - both incredibly funny but shockingly filthy at times. Greg opened with the phone and got what was probably the best/funniest person ever! It was a young guy who was laid off from his flight attendant job at American Airlines and went into the mortuary business. He now works embalming bodies and one day will become a funeral director. He was single, since he got dumped last week by his boyfriend. The boyfriend happens to be the morning DJ on a very popular Orlando radio station and is in the closet - until this guy "outed" him! When the actors did their verses (3 of whom are gay men) there were all kinds of comments about the guy liking them stiff and a couple of others that I'm sure aol would send me a nastygram if I repeated them here. Brian started the movement towards being filthy, and the others followed along - it was hysterical, but I hope they don't get into trouble for any of it. Next up was Storytellers, with Matt & Krista telling "Hallucinagenic Mom". Unfortunately, this was pitiful despite both Matt & Krista being so good at their jobs. I was glad when it ended! They did Forgotten Songs next. Matt was an Italian Tony Gaglioti who sang "My mother-in-law is a terrorist. Greg was a ghetto kid named Billy singing "Elvis lives in my sock drawer." Brian was a redneck singing "My beautiful cousin" on their wedding day (Krista was the cousin/bride). All of them were pretty good.

They played Schmeopardy with Krista hosting & doing her rapid talking. Philip was Abner Cadaver, a grave digger. Brian was a homicide investigator named Bannigan. Greg bordered on the obscene as Licky Charms, a worker in a Blowpop factory. He was playing to Krista's character, with lots of not very subtle sexual innuendo. He plays that really well, because he just takes it over the top and you can't help but laugh. Some of the other comments got pretty dirty, and Krista abruptly ended the game after Philip's question to the answer "cobwebs" was "What's between Janet Reno's legs?" We were dying laughing pretty much the entire show! After the show I teased Greg that it was nice knowing him <g>. He'd debated on whether or not to say some of the things he said, but when Brian started with his comments he figured what the hell, lol! It certainly made for an entertaining show! We said goodnight until tomorrow, and the 6 of us left the club.

As we left PI and were about to cross the street to the parking lot we were startled by the woman shrieking SUE??? SUE????? at the top of her lungs. I think it scared Tyger - she's been meeting a lot of my friends but so far they'd been pretty normal <g>. Anyway, the screamer was that tramp from New Hampshire called Krisi, who had been enjoying PI with Bay. We'd all been part of a trip together 2 years ago, and hadn't seen each other since. I remember Krisi combing her long hair with a cake spatula after it got wet on Splash Mountain, lol! It was fun running into them and we stood around chatting for a while, and introduced them to Adie, Lisa, Tyger & Cheryl. It sounds like they're having a fun trip so far!

Eventually it was time to leave, since it was getting really late! I dropped Maria off at the Swan on my way back to Coronado, ate one of the cookies from Kathy, and finished the report. By then it was 3am, and there was no way I was getting online at that point, so for a little while at least the reports will probably be posted later than you're all used to.

It was a fantastic day, full of many wonderful things. The smoky room was aggravating, but it got resolved. Food & Wine Festival was GREAT - I absolutely love it, and must make a fairly long trip at this time every year. The calendar was a highlight of my day - seeing that it had turned out so well, and seeing everyone's reaction to it. Comedy Warehouse was so good tonight, except for a few little pieces here & there, and seeing the shows with so many friends is unbelievably fun! Having Maria & Cheryl show up like that was a great surprise, too! Cheryl lives barely a mile from me, lol, but we have to come to wdw to see each other <g>.

Tomorrow is going to be a lazy day for me, and a chance to catch up on some of the missed sleep before moving into the grand villa with my wild & crazy roommates <g>.

DAY 3: SATURDAY NOVEMBER 2, 2002:

Who: Sue, DVC Member

Leesa, Tracy & Tyger, Comedy Warehouse Regulars

Grand Villa roommates Gail (jdocter7), Maria (mepep84), Judy (judfud), Missy (missy3840)

Adie & Lisa, Carla, KELLY <g>, Leigh, Dee, Cheryl, Diana, Linda, Pat, Shan, Cis, MaryElbow, Marti, Ronda, Leigh, Jean & many more Fortress friends

Denise (Tinybeetle from radp)

Plan: Possible park, meet Leesa & Gail at CS, Boma dinner, Comedy Warehouse

Actual: When I wrote the list of names above I left off a lot of people simply because I was too lazy to look them all up and type the names out. Tonight's dinner is for 32 or 36 people, for example, so I just listed the first names that came to mind. Now the ones who were not listed are threatening to hork (throw up) on me at dinner so I don't forget them <g> (most of these are moms who have lived through their kids horking at the wrong time or in the wrong place).

Ok, forget about any park visits today - they are not part of the plan. After going to bed after 3am I woke up (no alarm) around 7:45 but wasn't in any particular hurry to get up. After puttering around the room I headed towards Animal Kingdom Lodge, making a detour to the lovely (not) 192 to find gas. In retrospect it would have been faster to backtrack to the Boardwalk to get gas, but live & learn <g>. At AKL I ran down to Mara and got the yogurt/granola thing and brought it back to Coronado. It's really more than a single meal, but without a fridge here it was either force it all down or throw some away - so I forced it all down! It was delicious, as usual. I got yesterday's report posted and read my email while eating. One benefit to so many friends being here is the mail volume is somewhat easier to handle!

Around 10:30 I drove over to Premium Outlets to see if there was anything new worth buying at the Character Premiere store. I ended up getting a couple of things for myself and a couple of things for someone else. Back at the resort I changed into my swimsuit and started walking to the Dig Site. I ended up never getting there, though - instead I grabbed an empty hammock on the beach in front of my room and spent a couple of hours reading and enjoying the peace & quiet. I could hear some noise from the pool, including the music, but it was pretty nice having it off in the distance. Around 2pm I was back in the room and Leesa called to say she was almost there. The housekeeper was nearby so I put the Do Not Disturb sign out and jumped in the shower - Leesa knew to ignore the sign.

We hung out in the room chatting, waiting for Gail to arrive. She called from the front desk and then headed over to the room - it was great seeing her again after all this time! We caught up and chatted a short while, then she was off to meet others at the Magic Kingdom. I got changed and ready for the evening, and Leesa & I drove over to Animal Kingdom Lodge around 4:15. Soon the others starting arriving, and it was pretty chaotic with all these woman screaming & hugging each other (sometimes with one of the two asking "and 'who' are you?" <g> The Boma people wanted us there right at 5pm, so when it was time we headed for the stairs and elevators and went to Boma. There must have been 30-something of us and they had us going into an area that was kind of sectioned off. However, they also put other people in there, which was not so great for them! Nobody likes being near a large group! The table I sat at had 4 small tables (tables for 2) pus hed together and the cm told us we had to seat 6 people along 1 side. We said no freakin way, and insisted she allocate another small table in the area to our group. We crammed 5 in there, and it was kind of a pain since it was a booth seat. To get up to the buffet others had to get up and move aside to let you up!

Many people ordered drinks, but I stuck with water. Cis & Shan were staying here at AKL on concierge following some disastrous experience at the Grand Floridian concierge this morning. Cis came over and asked me what was the name of the wine I liked here, and I told her - figuring she was going to order herself a glass. Instead, she & Shan went to the concierge lounge and poured a glass of the wine into a styrofoam coffee cup, put a lid on it, and brought it down to me, lol! I ended up bringing it to PI and it lasted me 2 shows <g>.

We went up to the buffet, which at times develops a fairly long line. At other times it wasn't bad, though. I had a piece of the durban chicken with the spicy sauce, some delicious peanut rice, a half bowl of soup, and a chocolate mousse crunch thing. Although it was all excellent, the soup was the highlight! For a long time now my friend Kathy has raved about the coconut curry chicken soup and I've made countless trips to Mara to see if it was the soup of the day. I must have eaten gallons of the tomato bisque, which is what I fall back on when the soup of the day is 3-bean gumbo or some other undesirable flavor. Tonight in Boma - one of the soups was coconut chicken curry!!! They also had 3-bean gumbo, lol! The soup was every bit as good as Kathy said it was.

During dinner our waitress stopped me to say I looked really familiar to her, thinking I was a frequent Boma guest. It turns out when she was on light duty they put her as cashier in Mara, so she undoubtedly saw me for days on end buying soup or yogurt/granola things. Many people brought favors for everyone, and it was bedlam as everyone made the rounds to all of the seats to pass the stuff out. We ended up needing big bags to hold all of the stuff. I had wrappers printed for Hershey bars and wrapped almost 50 bars. The wrapper had a formally dressed arm holding a tent card that said "A Night at Boma & Comedy Warehouse, AOL/Fortress Meet, November 2, 2002." On the back it had a simple message from me. Other gifts included a mousepad, chocolate items, candles, window cling, note pads, imprinted pencil, disposable razor (for MCW's - if you don't know what that is, you don't need to know, so don't ask <g>), and several other items. Adie & Lisa had designed & printed t-shirts for everyone, which incorporated a lot of the items we've talked and laughed about over the past year or so. A lot of thought went into the gifts, and it was a lot of fun. Leesa never expected to come to dinner with some of my friends and go home with a shopping bag full of stuff, lol! During dinner everyone socialized at the different tables, so we were a pretty fluid group. Mary Ellen wrote a song to the tune of Friends Like Me, which very cleverly incorporated all of our names and some of the items that mean something to us. She mentioned friends who write trip reports, friends who hork, thongs hanging from doorknobs, Saturday night chats, and only 1 word that was really naughty <g>. She stood on the seat and belted the song out so we could all hear - she's got a great voice, and it was very funny (the lyrics).

At 6:30 it was time to leave for Comedy Warehouse! Missy rode over with Leesa & me, and we entered PI. I saw the family from Ft Pierce in line and talked to them for a while. Kelly & Marti arrived and joined us, and Adie/Lisa, Carla, Cindy & Pat arrived in time to be seated further back for this show, but the others didn't get there until the 2nd show. We were seated in long row, which was great. The 7:20 cast was Brian, Krista, Mark, Greg & Matt. Matt rang the bell in Should Have Said with Krista on her first day of a new job as a line crew groundman. They did Madrigal next, which was nice to see! Brian had "Batboy strikes again", Greg had "Cubs win the world series", Matt had "Whitney Houston beats up Bobby Brown", and Mark had "Peewee Herman poses for Playgirl". The each sang their title, then mixed up the words in those 4 to create new song titles. Emotions was next, in a funny scene involving Matt & Greg using a broom. It was a good show, and each structure moved along well and was funny. After the show I talked to Greg and gave him one of the candy bars I'd brought. Since it mentions CW I purposely brought enough for the entire cast and several of the other cm's who treat me so well.

Outside I ran upstairs to see who had arrived, and found almost 20 of the group in line!! They had all put on their Fortress t-shirts, but mine was out in the car. I stood near them to talk to them until I had to get back down to the backdoor where Leesa was waiting. Once we went inside and people were seated I went up to the rows (3 of them, lol) where they were seated and took some pictures and talked to people. It was such a blast having so many friends here tonight! I spotted Tracy & Tyger in the row right below a long Fortress row, and they'd already met everyone - maybe the t-shirts told them these were probably my friends. Before the show started I went to the end of each of our rows to let them know to let the other guests clear out and then stick around for a group picture on the stage after the show.

The 8:15 cast was Greg, Matt, Mark, Chris & Krista. They started with the name rhyme, which Greg won. Krista rang the bell for Should Have Said with Greg doing decoupage gifts for his family. Matt came in as his alcoholic father and Mark as the cigar-smoking little brother. It was a dysfunctional but fun family! Next was This is Your Life, and they picked Cis!! It was hilarious, and everyone in the club was laughing a lot - not just us. As soon as she mentioned being here with 30 ladies Greg (he was doing the interview) and the others knew she was from "Sue's group." Cis did a fantastic job on stage, and Greg was funny making fun of some of the things she said. They acted out her first kiss, which was with her husband when she was 3 years old on the playground. Her worst job was cleaning out puke pans (as a nurse) but the group got her attention and she corrected that to "horking" pans and the cast made sure they used the word hork quite a few ti mes, lol! They also played out a future scene where Cis encounters the bully named Tiffany that she hit with her metal lunchbox in 3rd grade. Cis makes me look like a giant, and is a sweet blonde little southern belle, so the idea of her belting anyone with a lunchbox is something we all found very funny - we've teased her about it for months. Next they did the Scene Changing structure. Matt had honesty, Krista had "likes to drink", Mark had "buy milk", and Greg had dictionary. Overall it was a great show - and of course the highlight was seeing Cis' life played out onstage like that!

After the other guests left the actors set up the stage for us and we took several group pictures with all of us plus the cast. We were a huge group, lol! I gave candy bars to the other actors & Carol Stein, and a couple more of the servers. The actors who didn't work last night commented that they liked the calendar - the calendars are backstage being signed by everyone.

We weren't sure if the others would make it in to the next show but they ended up being seated directly behind us in our row and the row across the aisle! It worked out great, because I could visit with them - and Tracy & Tyger were in there, too. The 9:15 cast was Greg, Brian, Joy, Krista & Philip. Greg & Krista did Storytelling, about a moldy door. They were a married couple and the sniping back & forth was funny - overall it was just ok though. It was better than Storytelling usually is, though! They did Forgotten Songs next. Philip was the barber from the Andy Griffith show, singing Be My Love. Greg & Brian were Hank & Frank, singing a hip hop song called Let's Go To Ireland Tonight - as 2 uncool guys looking for chicks. Krista came out as Saffron (a flower child, hippie-type) and sang Color My World about a drug trip. Each of the songs was funny.

They played Schmeopardy, hosted by Philip as Bob Headlookslikeanipple. Brian was a shrimp boater named Tiger who caught the shrimp one at a time with a tiny little net. Joy was an engineering student named Dusty, here on the college program working a custodial job as a sanitation engineer for $5.50 per hour. Greg was Milton Bradley, a tileman in the Scrabble factory. They did a good job, with Greg being the one with the funniest lines. After the show we talked to Joy & Brian for a while, then went outside. Leesa & I hung around talking with Tracy & Tyger, and Nancy came out to join us. The time flew by, and soon the door was open again for us to go back in. Tracy & Tyger went home, so we were down to just Leesa & me at this point. Greg was inside getting ready to go home and stopped for a hug goodbye & brief chat. Once the door upstairs opened he had to get backstage & not be seen. Carol Stein stopped by to comment o n the candy bar & calendar. Everyone seemed to really like the Fortress group, and enjoyed having them there. Dee in particular went on about how nice the ladies were! She said she hoped the ladies would come back again.

The 10:30 cast was Joy, Philip, Chris, Mark & Matt. They did a scene with Joy as a rich lady and Mark as her pool boy or butler. Matt came in as her frequently absent husband, just as Mark had stripped down and was about to have a fling with her. It ended with the discovery that not only had Matt been cheating on her with other women, there were men as well - so Mark suggested they both share him <g>. The scene was interrupted 3 times for a song, taking whatever was just said as the title. They did "There are many things I want" as a soul song, "I didn't tell her about the men" as a salsa song, and "I don't want you in that outfit" as a swing song. It was a funny scene, and the songs were clever. Next was an Up Your Alley about opthamology, with an audience volunteer and Chris as the host Lois Common Denominator. Philip was an old man with thick glasses and pants hitched way up above his waist - Pops McKenzie, the inventor of the eye chart. Matt was the blind Oedipus who had messed around with his mother and then poked his eyes out. Some of the stuff got pretty suggestive, but it was nowhere near as wild as last night! The audience volunteer didn't do much except laugh, but Philip & Matt were funny enough to carry the scene without him needing to say anything!

As we were leaving Mark started to come out from backstage and went back in to come out the door to see us outside. We knew this was the last night he'd be working until his next visit, so we exchanged hugs and said we'd look forward to his next visit. It's so nice to see the people who've left come back like this! We went to the car and I dropped Leesa off with Nancy at the entrance to the cm parking lot across the street, then drove back to Coronado. I was surprised Gail wasn't back yet, but she arrived shortly after I did. Evidently the hours at the MK were extended tonight, and they added a 2nd parade and the fireworks since she last checked the schedule online. Some of our mutual friends who were at the Boma dinner met her at MK so she had already heard that was fun! I finished writing the report so I could get online to post it in the morning, and we called it a night.

Today was yet another fabulous day. Sometimes I feel so lucky to have all this fun, but then I think I shouldn't feel lucky - we should all just expect it! Sure, crappy stuff happens too, but there's so much fun to be had! I enjoyed my relaxing day laying in a hammock on a white sand beach, but the evening plans were the best. Everyone was so great, and even the people who met for the first time "knew" each other. The meal was delicious and while it's not worth it for the quantity of food I ate, it was well worth it for the socializing! Comedy Warehouse was excellent, and I was thrilled that the ladies seemed to be really enjoying the shows. I wasn't really worried, but if we got the rare sucky show I would have felt bad dragging them in there! It was great getting our group photo to commemorate the occasion, and they got to meet the Tracy & Tyger they've read about for so long!

Tomorrow 5 of us move to the GFV (like with the MCW - you probably shouldn't ask) at OKW and then head to the Food & Wine Festival at Epcot! I can't wait!

DAY 4 SUNDAY NOVEMBER 3, 2002:

Who: Sue, DVC Member

Judy (judfud)

Maria (mpepe84)

Gail (jdocter7)

Cheryl (cheryl1106)

Adie, Lisa, Mary Ellen, Marti, Cis, Shan, Melissa & family, Tracy, Tyger

Plan: Check in OKW, Epcot, Comedy Warehouse

Actual: We were not meeting the others at OKW until 10am, so we didn't bother with setting the alarm. I woke up around 7:30, got in the shower, and Gail was up by the time I got out. She already had the hot water prepared for my hot chocolate and her coffee bag - thanks, Gail! We left the room around 9:30 and drove to OKW. After saying a quick hi to Angelo we were checked in quickly but the villa was not ready. The cm did tell me I got my requested building 43, and also said someone was in the unit last night so he doubted it would be ready before 4. We left the laptop and some of Gail's stuff with Angelo and drove over to Epcot.

We ended up parking pretty close, so we walked in. We had about 30 minutes to kill so we went to the Land and walked right on the Living with the Land attraction. By the time we walked back to Spaceship Earth we could see Maria & Judy waiting for us, and Adie came along (from the MK) while we were still there. It was now 11am so we decided to head for World Showcase instead of bothering with any rides. Lisa called to say she was in Epcot and we let her know which direction we were heading so she could go the opposite way and meet us. As we passed by Norway & China I spotted Kathy coming towards us! It was so great to run into her by chance like that, and the others who hadn't met her were glad to have the chance. We chatted for a while, then she had to get going - but I'll see her later in the week. Soon we found Lisa, and Cheryl also.

As we were walking and talking different people tried different foods. The quesadilla was a big hit, as was the chickpea & bacon pie. The root vegetable in Ireland was unusual but not bad. The Durban Chicken in Africa disappointed the people who got that - they said it wasn't nearly as spicy as it used to be, and not as good as Maria makes at home <g>. I'll try it later in the week and see if it's good or not. Lisa enjoyed the escargot in France and the rest of us got or shared onion tarts that were excellent. Judy had picked up a glass of wine in France, and I got one in Morocco. As we crossed the bridge to the United Kingdom we saw Mary Ellen, and soon Marti, Cis & Shan joined us as we stood around talking. We did a lot of that today - we'd be walking and see some of our friends so we'd stop and sit or stand chatting for a while. Mary Ellen, Marti, Cis & Shan left for their priority seating at Chefs de France, and the rest of us went to Future World and sent a few postcards from Innoventions.

When that was done we went to Test Track and rode it very quickly thanks to the single rider line. We were ready for another loop around World Showcase at that point, so we headed back to Mexico. By now the lines were considerably longer - it wasn't nearly as nice as this morning, but since we were in a group & were busy talking the time passed more quickly. I think if I was alone I wouldn't have bothered waiting, and I know not to come in this time of day if I want to eat while I'm alone - I'll come earlier or later. I got a quesadilla, and although it was very good I think the onion tart is better. We decided to ride the boat ride in Mexico, and had our own private boat. Adie & Lisa wanted to neck in the back seat, but since I was sitting in their row that put a crimp in their style. I offered to turn my back to give them their privacy, but they kept it a family ride <g>. We got as far as China before running into more of our friends, and sat talking for quite a while. We got a stranger to take a group picture of us with Lisa's camera. Eventually we continued on, this time stopping in Spain, which is directly across from Germany <g>. Adie got some apple strudel while Cheryl & I each got a glass of the sangria. She liked it too, and I was surprised to see they sell the whole bottle for only $5.95. That's absurdly low for Disney prices, lol! I'll be sure to buy a couple of bottles after I get checked in over at Beach Club Villas. Judy & Lisa got the rice pudding, which everyone declared awful.

Chris & Tim called me, and I talked to them for a while as we were walking. Cheryl had asked if Chris wanted to work for her husband weekend after next at a big boat show downtown, so I asked him & he said yes - so Cheryl called her husband to let him know. He'll be doing something food-related (grilling or selling sodas) and will earn quite a bit more than minimum wage, so he's excited. He's 16 now but doesn't have a steady job (yet) since baseball season ended in September. We continued walking, eventually leaving Epcot to get to OKW. I brought Gail with me but since my car was full of stuff Adie & Lisa agreed to give Maria & Judy a ride. Cheryl is staying at a timeshare place offsite, so she went there to get ready for the evening. They're all eating at Jiko tonight.

Gail & I got our stuff back from Angelo and drove over to building 43 to get moved in. I took pictures of the villa before it got that "lived in" look, lol! On our way up the stairs with luggage my cell phone was ringing, but when I got to answer it the call had gone to voice mail - grrr. Once inside I checked the message, and it was Maria saying the OKW people wouldn't give them the room # because they didn't know the last 4 digits of my home phone number. She recited my address including zip code to them, but they wouldn't budge, lol! She asked me to call them on Adie's phone - not realizing I don't have Adie's damn number! Instead I called the operator and asked for Lisa's name and they put me through to their villa - but they were on the phone! I left a message giving them the villa # so they could get their luxurious butts over here!

Soon there was a knock at the door, and Gail opened it thinking it was Maria & Judy, but it was Pat & her daughter Cara. I asked Pat how she knew what villa we were in, and she somehow got a cm to admit that if Pat guessed we were in building 43 that would be an excellent guess <g>. Once at the building she saw my car, and knew we had to be in 1 of the GFV's here. She tried the one next door, but nobody was home, and then tried our door. She looked around the villa, and Cara helped me bring in the rest of my stuff. Pretty soon Adie, Lisa, Maria & Judy arrived. Adie & Lisa are very close and they asked we please do all of our undressing & dressing in front of the windows because they can see right into our villa - Adie even had her binoculars with her! They all looked around, and I spotted Lisa trying to slip Maria her room key - but Adie was trying to slip her key to Judy at the same time. I'm not sure what I got myself into traveling with this crowd, lol!

Cis & Shan called so we invited their luxurious butts over as well. Adie & Lisa went home for some private time, and soon Cis & Shan were here. Maria took Cis up to the room she's sharing with Missy and taped her "Lesbian Love Lair" sign on the door! Soon Cis & Shan left, Pat & Cara headed for Epcot, and Gail got ready for shopping at Downtown Disney. I decided to take my chances on Mara still having a yogurt/granola thing so I'd have it for breakfast the next 2 days, and offered to get milk Maria needed for her coffee.

At Mara they had 3 of the yogurt things left - whew! I grabbed one, picked up milk for Maria, and met a really nice manager named David who took me into the kitchen area and showed me the production schedule for the soup of the day. They have 3 that appear 2 days a week - potato bacon, 3-bean gumbo, and chicken corn chowder. Sunday is the day for chef's choice, and today it was carrot ginger. He gave me a sample, and although I don't like carrots this wasn't bad. Time was wasting, so I thanked David & headed for the cashier to buy my stuff & drive back to OKW. The others were gone, so I had the great big villa to myself, which was pretty cool. Cheryl had made us a batch of ghiradelli chocolate brownies so I ate a small one and frantically tried to catch up on the trip report before I needed to leave for Comedy Warehouse. I haven't even really unpacked - it's been too busy today, but I may take tomorrow as another lazy day. The big group plans are meeting at MGM to ride Tower of Terror and Rock n Roller Coaster, followed by doing Millionaire. Since I don't ride either of those rides, and agreed to do Millionaire with my Millionaire fanatic friends on Super Soap day, I'm going to skip MGM.

I left for PI around 7:45 and ran into Tracy & Tyger in the parking lot. We entered together and got in line at Comedy Warehouse right behind Shan, Cis & Marti. Marti had done the counting for them, and we ended up in long row thanks to the great job she did <g>. Shan & Cis gave me a beautiful birthday gift - a Disney picture frame of WDW that also plays music! I'll put one of the group pictures from this trip in the frame and it'll make a terrific reminder of all the fun we've been having together here. I joked to Tracy & Tyger that this was pretty cool - getting into line and someone handing me a gift <g>, but really it was so sweet of them even think of my birthday on their vacation. Thanks again, Cis & Shan! Cis was telling me about meeting a guest at Epcot who reads the aol boards and mentioned recognizing Ronda's name and mine, so hello to Kim out there!

The 8:15 cast was Chris, Jake, Joy, Philip & Eddie. I ordered one of the new jalapeno cheese-filled pretzels they sell now, and shared it with Tyger. They're $3.50 and they're delicious - and I generally don't like jalapeno stuff. After the opening phone thing (with a kind of strange person, unfortunately) Joy rang the bell for Should Have Said. Philip was scooping out ice cream in a Baskin Robbins but had a hacking phlegmy cough caused by the trauma of his son's birth (Jake). It was pretty cute. Next they did Cliché, and tortured Eddie. He guessed they were in a basketball stadium and then had to guess the saying "It's too wet to plow on Thursdays." It was very funny, and Eddie really struggled with a couple of parts - which made it even more fun <g>. Finally he got it, and he practically dropped to his knees in thanks that it was over, lol!

We left right away and found Krisi waiting for me at the back door. She had arrived during the last show and asked cm Susan if I was inside, so she knew I was there. We all went upstairs & got in line, and were joined by Mary Ellen, Maria, & Cheryl. Adie, Lisa & Judy arrived a little later & were further back. We ended up being seated in 2 rows, around half way up.

The 9:15 cast was Brian, Philip, Chris, Eddie & Joy. They opened with a poem called "Gee, I like peaches & cream" and then Joy & Chris did storytelling. Their story was "Breaking Bottle" and it was pretty awful. This structure sucks too often even when the best combinations of actors are presenting it, so I really am not criticizing Joy or Chris when I say is was bad. If they created a song called Breaking Bottle together it would be so much better - it'd be shorter and there'd be music to add to the entertainment factor. With storytelling there is no music - it's just listening to 2 people talk, and it's hard to enjoy doing that for as long as they allocate to the story. It does make me glad when it ends, lol, but I cringe when I see them set up to do it!

They did Forgotten Songs next. Joy & Brian were great singing the broadway song Phantom of the Bathroom! Brian was the phantom and wore a toilet seat over his head. He lived in the toilet and watched her when she'd use the toilet (sounds perverted - hell, I guess it IS perverted, lol, but you take your chances when Brian is onstage <g>) and finally saw her face for the first time. Philip was the drunk Julia Child singing "Cooking in the kitchen" and then Chris & Eddie did a Gregorian chant called "Tuesday voting in church". They played Schmeopardy also, with Joy as host Alexis Quebec. Philip was Joe Sixshooter, a corrections officer in greater Kissimmee/St Cloud. Eddie was Jesse Daniels, a barrel maker for Jack Daniels' Whiskey. Brian stole the scene though as Tommy Twostep, a choreographer. It was a great Schmeopardy. The closing song was one of Cis' embarrassing moments. In college she'd gone to a 4-H Camp and after swimming changed her bottom half out of her swimsuit & into shorts, leaving her swimsuit top on. They went off and did some stuff, then came back to the pool and about a dozen boys they liked invited them to swim. Cis forgot she didn't have her bathing suit bottom on, whipped off her shorts and jumped into the pool in her underwear! A friend saw it happen, grabbed a towel, motioned Cis over to the side of the pool and wrapped the towel around her while screaming "You're just wearing your panties"! The cast did a great job with it, but they didn't get overly filthy!

After the show Krisi left us, so we were down to 12 people in line for the next show. I felt someone touch my back and turned around to find dvc friends Hugh & Arlene in line with their daughter and her friend. We chatted until the cm compressed the line & we had to move forward --it was nice running in to them! The 10:30 cast was Philip, Matt, Brian, Joy & Jake. They did Fill in the Blank with 2 audience volunteers. Brian was a dental hygienist, Jake was the patient, and the volunteers did a good job with suggestions.

They did Letters to the Editor, writing about perfume bottles. Philip wrote to Cosmopolitan, Matt to Playboy, and Brian to Maxim. They also did song styles, where they interrupt the scene 3 times to create a song. Joy & Philip were selling hoses and first sang a meringuey (sp??) song called "You have to buy the product from me". They also sang "I'm so ashamed" as a mariachi song and "It looks just like a garden snake" as a heavy metal song. The embarrassing story was about when Adie didn't read the pop tart package right and microwaved it for 3 minutes rather than 3 seconds - causing the poptart to explode, the microwave to open, and blueberry poptart to be sprayed all over the kitchen! They had fun with that one, and it was very funny! On the way out Lisa dropped off a bag with 5 of the Fortress t-shirts for the 5 actors who were working the show when they did This is Your Life with Cis last night. Matt got a kick out of that, lol! Then Maria went over to him and tells him how she was in the audience the night he came out and threw his pants out into the audience (he'd been teased for always wearing the same damn pair of pants over and over and over, lol, and when he was leaving CW to move to California he "retired" them before he left). Now that he's back I've noticed they've provided him with more than 1 pair of pants to wear <g>.

We went outside, and I'm not sure who might have stayed at PI because I wasn't sticking around for late show. I left with Tracy & Tyger since we were parked in the same lot. It was unbelievably nice having the short commute home to OKW instead of having to drive to Coronado! I hope I don't mind the commute to Beach Club Villas when I move there! It's really nice coming home to a beautiful grand villa, too! For the benefit of people who don't know, the grand villa has approximately 2400 square feet of space. Upstairs there are 2 bedrooms, each with it's own bathroom. Downstairs is the master bedroom & bath, and a beautiful living room, dining room (seats 8), and great kitchen - plus another full bath. There's the usual table & 4 chairs on the porch, and we've got a view of a lake with a fountain. Everything looks to be in great shape, too. I heated up some water and made myself a cup of cappuccino to enjoy while finishing up the report. Maria & Judy came home, and Missy came down from her room - I hadn't even known she was there! We chatted for a while, then they all went upstairs and I got in bed to finish the report. Adie IM'd as soon as I got online, being the first to wish me a happy birthday <g>.

Today was a fun day, and I did exactly what the plan said I'd do. I can't believe I spent as much time in a park as I did, but it was such fun wandering around with everyone. The GFV is fabulous, and I love that my friends are able to enjoy it with me. Comedy Warehouse with everyone was lots of fun too - I'm loving being here!

DAY 5 MONDAY NOVEMBER 4, 2002:

Who: Sue, DVC Member

Judy, Maria, Missy, Gail, Krisi, Diana, Linda, Ronda

Greg (mad4wdw) & Nicola

Cis, Shan, Marti, Cheryl, Kelly, Adie & Lisa

Tracy & Tyger

Plan: Birthday - Happy hour in Grand Villa, Comedy Warehouse

Actual: Since I wasn't heading to a park I decided to not bother setting the alarm. I woke up around 7:30. Missy & Maria were in the kitchen when I went out, so we chatted for a while. Gail was already outside waiting on her ride to a breakfast she was doing. I left the others enjoying coffee on the porch (in the style of Darla - they were pretending to be her) and got dressed for rollerblading. I drove to Ft Wilderness and skated for just over an hour. The path between FW and Wilderness Lodge seemed better than before - they've either repaved or resealed it I think. There wasn't much other traffic on the paths here, and the rollerblading was good exercise!

Back at the villa everyone was gone, so I threw a few things in the washing machine, heated water for my cappuccino, and put a chocolate chunk cake in the oven (snackin' cake - just add water). While that was going on I took care of a couple of work-related calls and returned a call to schedule routine service to my air conditioner, rather than waiting to do it after I got home. Some good news - my conference call scheduled for this afternoon has been canceled!

I decided to do my own version of a Darla imitation, and took the laptop out to the porch and got online from there while eating part of the yogurt/granola thing for breakfast. This time of year it's nice sitting out there, and we have a great view. However, that wasn't where I planned to spend my day, so by 10am I was in my swimsuit & headed to the pool over at Turtle Pond. On my way out I found a note taped near the door; it was from my "good" friends Maria & Missy, telling me that Judy had been throwing stuff around and calling me a bad name, but Maria & Missy cleaned up her mess because they know I like the villa to look nice <g>!

The pool was great - I mostly stayed on my chair reading, but spent some time in the water reading as well. It wasn't very busy, and the kids that were there were all well-behaved. Around 12:30 I went back to the villa to put the rest of my laundry in the washing machine and watch Port Charles while reading some of the downloaded messages from yesterday. Judy and Maria were the first to return, and we sat around talking about their day at MGM until Maria left for tea at the Grand Floridian.

I called Adie & Lisa to borrow their blender since we were planning to have 2 very different frozen drinks (mudslides and pina coladas). This way we don't have to wash the blender between drinks! They had printed me a special shirt for my birthday - "Sue's Revised Disney Daily Diet Checklist 2002" <g>. It lists all of the items commonly mentioned in my trip reports and has some funny extra touches (like lining through 3-bean gumbo soup and adding the word YUCK)! They even printed it on what they call a "girlie shirt" as opposed to a big 'ole baggy t-shirt - it looks more like something I'd wear <g>! I love it, and will wear it proudly tomorrow night - tonight I will wear the Fortress shirt since there will be a bunch of us.

Around 4:30 our guests began to arrive. We ended up with me, Judy, Linda, Diana, Gail, Missy, Krisi, and my friends Greg & Nicola from England. I received gifts of chocolate, including some English chocolates and a stuffed dog that says "I loooove chocolate" when you squeeze him! We had a fun time sharing stories of some of the funny things that have happened during the trip. Gail whipped up the pina coladas, and they were delicious!

Shortly after 6 people headed out for their evening plans. Some were going to have dinner at Olivia's, but I was too full of pina colada & chocolate to even consider that! Missy & Judy ended up taking the Trumbo Ferry to Downtown Disney to grab a light dinner and do some shopping. I updated the report and then drove to Pleasure Island early enough that I could do some shopping before it was time for Comedy Warehouse. While I was in the Christmas store I ran into Cheryl, Cis, Maria & Shan. When it got close to CW time I left to enter PI and they would be following after paying for their items.

As I came up the stairs next to the Comedy Warehouse I met David, and he asked if he should save me a seat. I decided to see the first show with him, and went upstairs to let the others know. Adie, Lisa & Marti were in line and it appeared they had counted well <g>. Kelly & her husband Alex arrived, and gave me a marshmallow thingy, lol! I talked to everyone briefly, then went downstairs to wait with David. I told him it looked like my friends might end up being seated with us - and that's what happened!

The 8:15 cast was Mark, Joy, Matt, Brian & Jake. Matt rang the bell in Should Have Said, for Jake in a scene about pantyhose. Jake wore the pantyhose on his head to rob 7-11 stores, and this time was bringing his son (Mark) along to start training him. Next was Story Telling by Mark & Brian telling "The Happy Poo Stick". Brian was the kid, Mark was the dad, and the end result of a fairly long but pretty funny story was Brian pooped his pants, put it on a stick, and Mark applied for & got a $500,000 grant from the govt to market these "poo sticks". Needless to say, with a subject like poop it got kind of gross at times, but it was nice to have this structure actually be funny for a change. Brian did a great job staying in character as the squirmy kid, and Mark was great as the dad who was disinterested in the kid until the money came rolling in.

They also did Actor's Nightmare, with it being Matt's nightmare. All actors except Matt read all of their lines from different scripts, and Matt had to make the scene make sense given what everyone was saying. It took place in a bank, had a lot of twists & turns, and was very funny! Matt did screw up though - he shot & killed all of the other actors on stage and then realized there was nobody to read from the scripts! Joy came out from backstage & stood there so Matt could deliver the final line to end the scene. Overall it was a great 1st show.

We went right back outside and were joined by Ronda, Linda, Diana, Missy & Judy - so there were 14 of us at this point. We were seated in 3 different rows - I was with the group in tech row. The 9:15 cast was Joy, Philip, Mark, Brian & Jake. They opened with the poem "My father grows the biggest Jersey tomatoes." They did Fill in the Blank with audience volunteers - Joy & Jake were building a jail for a dog in a pretty funny scene. Forgotten Songs came next. Philip & Mark sang the Andrew Lloyd Weber song called Crazy Gophers, about life in an office. Jake was a Davy Crockett-type character who sang "Fortress freaks are here to stay". Although they're all familiar with Fortress, they couldn't make the song about the fortress we know - it would come across like a private joke since the audience would be clueless, and they can't do that. So, Jake made it about Fort Sam Clemons. Brian & Joy sang a torch song called Table for One, and ended up meeting across the crowded room and going under the table to get to know each other better <g>.

They did Up Your Alley about haircolor, with host Jake as Alex with a French accent. Mark was Alberto Vo 5, Brian was Henry VIII the king of England who dyed his wives' hair after beheading them, and Philip was Mr. Fluffy (a hare). It was pretty funny. We went right outside after the show, and met up with Tracy & Tyger before all getting back into line again. It's so funny to see all of these people getting back into line for show after show, just like I do, lol! We were seated in long row, with some of our group on the 2nd row of stools.

The 10:30 cast was Matt, Philip, Todd, Mark & Jake. Philip & Todd created a scene about licking envelopes for the Libertarian party and were interrupted 3 times to sing a song. They did "Up high" as a polka, "The Groundwork" as a xylophone song, and "We could be on stamps some day" as a classical song. They struggled with this structure tonight. They played Schmeopardy with Philip as host Bob Headlookslikeanipple. Mark was Frank Zap, an electrical engineer who works the Main Street Electrical Parade. Jake was a juggler named Darnell who works at the Holyland Experience. Matt was a furrier named Pierre Lafite something. At one point Matt asked Philip if it was cold in here, and when asked why explained that Philip's head was getting bigger (the nipple). Mark lost it at this point and had to turn around to regain his composure <g>. It wasn't the best Schmeopardy, but it was pretty good. This was clearly the weakest of the 3 shows I saw tonight, and I wasn't interested in sticking around for the late show. We congregated outside the backdoor and since some of the people are leaving tomorrow there were lots of hugs exchanged. I walked out with Judy & Missy to drive them back to OKW with me. Some of the others were staying in PI longer.

Back in the villa we nibbled on some of the chocolates and went through a basket brought by Diana & Linda. We agreed on some meeting times & places for tomorrow, then I went to my room to finish up the report & get it posted. It was a nice quiet day - and I got some exercise by rollerblading. Relaxing around the pool and villa was nice too, and having "company" over for drinks was a neat thing to do - and to have room for everyone (can't do that at the All Stars, lol)! Tomorrow I'll spend some time in the parks - hit some favorite attractions in the Magic Kingdom and then go eat/drink at the Food & Wine Festival!

DAY 6 TUESDAY NOVEMBER 5, 2002:

Who: Sue, DVC Member

Missy, Gail, Judy, Maria, Cheryl, Ronda, Adie & Lisa

Plan: MK, rollerblading?, Comedy Warehouse

Actual: This morning I set the alarm, just to ensure I didn't oversleep and be late leaving. Missy was out on the porch when I got up, and by the time I showered Maria & Gail were up as well. We decided to have coffee/breakfast out on the porch, and Judy came down in time to join us. I finished the rest of my yogurt/granola thing, and I think the others had coffee and chocolate. Hmmm - how often am I the one with the healthiest food choice??

Missy, Maria & I were at the bus stop by 8:30 and inside the Magic Kingdom by 9. It was nice & uncrowded until about 10:30, and then it was like all hell broke loose in terms of the number of people entering the park. I can't even imagine arriving at that time! We headed first to Space Mountain and picked up fastpasses with a 9:40 return time. We decided to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad next, but stopped on the way to ride Peter Pan since there was no wait. Big Thunder ended up being broken, so we walked onto our own private boat on Pirates of the Caribbean.

By now it was fastpass time so we returned to Tomorrowland & rode Space Mountain, which is always fun! We then took a ride on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. Missy left at that point - she wanted to have lunch and wander a little bit before meeting Mears for the trip to the airport. Maria & I did the Haunted Mansion and then left the park. She headed back to OKW to meet Cheryl, while I took monorails to Epcot to meet Gail.

My connections were great - little to no wait at either monorail station. I was due to meet Gail at 11:30 by the quesadilla stand, and arrived just a few minutes early. Adie & Lisa were with her so we all toured together. We made the first loop - Gail got a quesadilla which she declared was excellent, and a glass of the watermelon juice. I'd heard that was good, but was surprised at just how good it is - it really tastes like watermelon! In Spain I got some sangria, Lisa got escargot in France, Gail got cheddar cheese soup in Canada, and at the California stand I got the vine ripened tomato & sourdough bread salad. That was excellent - I really liked it! I'm not sure if Adie got something while we were at different stands - she had been talking about the torn chicken on cabbage slaw from the Asia stand & may have eaten that. We sat in the shade for a while, then Gail left for MGM.

Adie, Lisa & I did the Figment ride, which we agreed is better than the last version but it sucks in comparison to the original. It was a break from the heat at least! After the ride we decided to do another loop, but mostly just walked without stopping to eat. Adie got some of the maple walnut fudge from Canada, and I was surprised at how good that was, too! It reminded me of maple walnut ice cream from my childhood. We decided to leave at that point, and walked to the Beach Club where they were parked. Back at OKW they checked to see if Maria & Cheryl were at our pool, but didn't see them. I returned their blender and went back to the villa to update the report & relax a while.

Pretty soon everyone trickled back in - Maria & Cheryl returned from the main pool, Gail came in from MGM and then Judy came from wherever she had been. Tracy & Tyger stopped by to see the grand villa - and loved it! I think they'd like to move in, lol, and I know I can count on them to use one of the bedrooms if I want to book it again <g>. Gail whipped up some pina coladas for us, and we sat around chatting for a while. Eventually Tyger had to get to work (in the Tapestry of Dreams parade), so they had to leave even though it was pouring outside! I loaded them up with the leftover pina colada mix, the chocolate chunk cake, and the Mickey soaps & shampoo out of my bathroom. The pina colada mix is delicious, so I'm glad it wasn't going to waste.

I got back online for a while, and watched the local news hoping to hear the rain was only temporary (it was). We drifted around between solitary activities and chatting with 1 or more people - just kicking back & relaxing. Gail decided to go to Olivia's for dinner and have another early night. Cheryl came & picked up Maria for their dinner at Flying Fish. Judy was going to Comedy Warehouse, but didn't want to go as early as I was going, so she arranged a ride with Adie & Lisa. I drove over to Downtown Disney early so I could spend more time in some of the stores

My first stop was the Marketplace, which was awfully busy for a Tuesday night! I identified some items I'll probably buy, but will wait until after I move to BCV so it's one less thing to be moving! I ran into CW regular David in the Marketplace and sat talking with him for a while, then continued on my way. I also went to the West Side briefly, and ran into my friend Marti who works for DVC! We visited for a little while, and then I entered PI to get to Comedy Warehouse. I was shocked to see how long the line was, considering it was not even 8pm yet! None of the others were there yet, and since I knew what time they were picking up Judy I knew they were going to be very far back. I let cm Joe know I was going to join David for the first show, and headed down to wait with him at the back door.

Once inside we took our seats at the end of long row, and Dee came over to deliver a birthday card from Nancy & Leesa! I let her see it, since it had a very hunky man on the front and inside <g>. When the other guests were let in I finally spotted Adie, Lisa, Judy & Ronda being seated pretty close to the top. I waved, and they saw that I was here - not that there was any question about my attendance, lol!

The 7:20 cast was Greg, Jen B, Brian, Jake & Karl. Karl is relatively new to CW - his contract has him working 3 days at CW and 2 at Adventurer's Club, unless they need more time at either place. This was my first time seeing him here, and I think he could potentially be very good. It's tough when they first start out, but he did better than some of the subs who have been subbing here a lot longer! Karl rang the bell in Should Have Said while Brian was making a fire to warm him & Jen in the woods. Jake came in as her crazy ex-husband, and Greg was their son that Jake hadn't seen in 15 years. He needed a kidney, so they got one from Jake's other son - who was half human & half coyote. It was strange, but it had some very funny moments.

They did This is Your Life next. They asked for someone who has an interesting life, and a guy at the end of my row went up there. Brian did the interview and asked about his first kiss - it was at age 19 (NINETEEN), with the woman he married 2 years later (met her online in a chatroom). Brian asked him if he was serious - first kiss at 19 - and the guy seemed to be telling the truth. They re-enacted them meeting online, although the guy said their version wasn't much like the real thing, lol! They replayed part of his wedding, which took place in the haunted hotel the story The Shining was set in. Looking to the future, they acted out a fight between him & his wife, who dislikes that he's always loaning his mother money (it appears mom lives with them - hoo boy <g>). Next they did the structure where each actor has a topic, and they create a scene for each one, then mix them all up. Jen had laytex glove, Greg had board game, Brian & Karl had milk & chocolate (don't remember who had what). It got a little more physical than normal, with Greg sprawled on the stage and Karl falling slowly over him. Overall it was a pretty good show.

When the show ended I went over to where Jim Roberts was standing and gave him a hug. David came over too, but refused to hug Jim, lol! We talked briefly, then David left to go home. Greg came out from backstage and came over to us by the keyboard, asking about my birthday and giving me a few more hugs before I left to join the others in line. Nobody had gotten in line behind the others, so I was able to be with them without trying to move in front of anyone! Maria & Cheryl had arrived, so we were a party of 7. After having the bigger groups earlier in the week, this seemed so tiny, lol!

The 9:15 cast was Karl, Chris, Jen, Brian & Jake. They did Story Telling, with Jake & Jen doing "Sloppy Dolphin". It was pretty sick - they threw up in the dolphin tank after eating bologna & croutons soaked in bourbon, the dolphins ate the vomit & all died even though Jake & Jen jumped into the tank and tried to revive them. Nothing like a happy Disney story <g>. They did Cliché, torturing Karl. He took longer to guess he was in a gay bar in Trinidad than he did to guess the cliché! It was given by Ronda - "Axe murderers make the best friends." He actually guessed it before clues were given for the last word - which meant we missed seeing what they would have done, lol!

We went out & got in line. Ronda was walking with a cane, and the stairs were a pain for her, so I asked Joe if the backdoor was an option since we were a party of 7. The limit is 6, but when there's heavy demand it can be less than that - first priority is given to the person needing assistance, and their parties will be split up if there are a high number of disabled people. I told Joe that was fine - we were in line and would most likely end up in long row, but I was hoping to let Ronda avoid all those stairs. Then, Joe decided what the hell - it was quiet, there were no other back door people, and he'd deal with it if the manager working tonight had a hissy fit. I asked if he was sure - if nothing else, we could have sent Ronda and 1 or 2 others down to the door, and the rest of us probably would have been seated in the same row based on where we were in line. Joe said to go ahead & go down there, so we did. I went inside to the bar & got rags to wipe off the wet bench so people could sit down and was glad to run into Krista & find she'd be in the next show.

We sat in long row, and Jim Roberts stopped to chat for a while (from the hallway) before he needed to be at the keyboard. The 10:30 cast was Greg, Jake, Krista, Karl & Chris. Under Krista's direction Chris & Greg created a scene where she was his divorce lawyer. It ended up that his wife's lawyer was Chris' son, and Greg's wife was having an affair with the lawyer. That caused Greg to lose it, and he was put into a straight jacket and taken away. Next Jake came out and created a song called I Love My Cow - a country ballad. It was very funny!

They played Schmeopardy, hosted by Greg as Milton Bradley. Karl was a bricklayer named Emil Cardamone (Adv Club fans have seen him as Emil Bleehall over there) who is building a wall separating NY from NJ. Jake was Milton Oxstad, who was fired from a job as a sales clerk in a Hallmark Store for rewriting some of the cards. Krista was an anthropologist named Nancy Man, and I could see her gearing up to do her rapid talking. Sure enough, she was rattling off words like you wouldn't believe! She & Greg really carried the scene, and it was a great Schmeopardy! After the show Greg brought me the calendars that had been signed by the cast. I gave Adie & Lisa's to them, and was going to leave mine for Mary to sign but decided it was better to bring it back next time since she won't be back during this trip. We said goodnight (until tomorrow - it's nice to be staying longer than usual) and our group stood around outside for a little while before returning to our resorts.

Maria & Judy came into my bedroom to see the calendar - we looked at it together and read the comments. It's a definite keeper, even after 2003 is done - some of the actors wrote really nice messages as opposed to your generic autograph stuff.

It seemed kind of funny that we only have 4 people staying in this grand villa tonight! That averages out to 600 sq ft for each of us <g>. I'll miss it, but staying here without having friends sharing it wouldn't be any fun. I finished up the report so it'll be ready to post after I wake up Wednesday morning. It was a good day - I didn't do the rollerblading, but added Food & Wine time at Epcot instead. Besides, it was too damn hot for skating today! Comedy Warehouse was much better tonight than it was last night - thank goodness! It's great to see Jen back in town, and to have Greg just starting his workweek.

Tomorrow I move to Beach Club Villas to begin the final segment of this trip!

DAY 7 WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 6, 2002:

Who: Sue, DVC Member

Adie & Lisa, Maria

Plan: Check in BCV, Epcot, Comedy Warehouse

Actual: This morning I woke up when the alarm went off at 7 - I'd forgotten to turn it off last night. I was eager to see the election results, but not pleased with the outcome. I showered & got my stuff packed up, putting it out in the car before it started to rain. I made some cappuccino and sat around with Gail, Judy & Maria in the grand villa. Randy from bell services came to collect Gail, Judy & their luggage, and after a brief stop at Adie & Lisa's Maria & I drove to the Beach Club Villas.

My studio wasn't ready, so I left a few things with bell services and we walked into Epcot. The weather was weird today - sunny one minute, raining hard the next, extremely windy at other times. It was only 10:30 so we had to go to Future World, and decided to stand in line for Spaceship Earth. It kept moving, so it wasn't bad. We browsed through the Art of Disney store, then headed for World Showcase.

This time we started near Canada. The first stop was at the California cart, where we got the tomato & sourdough bread salad and the polenta with goat cheese. We spread a napkin across the top of a trash can to create our dining area, and ate from both plates (don't hork Kelly --sorry I didn't warn you <g>). I found I like goat cheese, lol - everything was excellent. When we finished we cleaned up our "table" and continued walking around. We both got the white wine in Morrocco (didn't share a glass, so Kelly doesn't have to hork) and kept on walking. Maria got the creamy bacon & chickpea thing but since I didn't like it the other day I didn't share any of this one. In Spain we went through the exhibits - pretty ho-hum stuff. We looked in some of the Epcot shops, and then started a 2nd loop. In France we shared an onion tart and watched the entertainment (gymast doing Cirque-like stuff on a tower of chairs). I called BCV and was surprise d to find the studio was ready! We walked back over and brought my stuff in from the car. Bell services brought up what they had. I got the top (5th) floor as requested, and of course non-smoking. From the balcony I can see the Swan & Tower of Terror straight ahead, and France & America to my left. I unpacked and we hung out in the studio until about 2pm. Maria left to return to OKW to meet Mears and I called in for a conference call for work. When that was done I watched General Hospital, updated the report, and figured out what to do with the limited time available before meeting Tracy at Downtown Disney.

I ended up driving over to AKL and bought one of the last 3 yogurt/granola things for breakfast the next couple of days. I went back to BCV and this time parked over near the villas rather than walking all the way from the regular BC parking lot. Villa guests - rather than turning in to the self parking lot on your right, continue forward and there's another one on your left (or valet park the car - I don't, because I don't have the patience to wait for someone to bring it to me). After putting the yogurt away I left down the stairwell and walked into Epcot. There's a pathway that's really close to Int'l Gateway, but of course my room is at the furthest end of the path <g>. Oh well, walking won't kill me!

I headed left, starting with United Kingdom. In Africa I got the durban chicken, which was very good. It had plenty of spice, and I had to blow my nose when I was done eating it. I think last Saturday when my friends said it was so bland, that must have been just a bad batch or something. Next I stopped in Spain and got a glass of the sangria, along with a couple of bottles of it. I didn't have time for them to deliver it to the exit, so I carried it. They wrapped it up really well, put each bottle into a gift box, and then double bagged it for me. I continued walking and ran into Kelly somewhere near America, so we stopped to chat for a bit. It's nice to still run into friends, although it's really tapered off now that most people are back home already.

I continued around and exited at Int'l Gateway for the walk back to BCV. Climbing 5 flights of stairs while carrying 2 bottles of wine was a real treat - looks like I'll be getting plenty of exercise here, lol! I dropped stuff off in the studio and almost immediately left for Downtown Disney. I parked at PI since that's where I'd be ending my day, and walked over to meet Tracy at the Christmas store in the Marketplace.

We did some shopping, but Tracy wasn't able to stay for Comedy Warehouse. The Marketplace didn't feel as crowded as it did last night, although it was pretty busy. It was also pretty chilly tonight - brrr! I put my stuff in the car and entered PI around 7:45 or so. Clinta (Nancy's fiance) was working in the bar outside Rock & Roll Beach Club (which reopens this Friday) so I stopped to chat with him. Adie & Lisa walked by - Adie was acting all uppity and pretended she didn't see me standing there <g>. I introduced everyone and we hung out there briefly until Clinta had customers to take care of. We went up the hill and followed Marti's example of counting people in line (not sure where she learned that, lol) until it was our turn. We were seated in long row, so we did well (or so we thought - until the incredibly rude people were seated on the stools behind us). Adie & I immediately started jotting down our notes, which freaked out the guy sitting 2 people away from me, lol! He wanted to know what we were doing, thinking we were working somehow or doing something exciting. I explained we simply take notes to remember the details to write trip reports on travel boards - not as a job.

The 8:15 cast was Krista, Greg, Chris, Eddie & Jake. They started with the name rhyme game, which Jake won. Krista rang the bell in Should Have Said where Jake was the pilot & Eddie the navigator in a bumpy airplane ride. They did Madrigal next. The 4 songs/tabloid headlines were "Barbra Streisand working at Taco Bell", "Britney Spears wears clothes", "President Bush wears a thong", and "Macaroni & cheese cures the flu". They did a terrific job with it. Next was Up Your Alley about pottery, hosted by Jake as Clarence. There was an incredibly obnoxious twit from the audience who was the volunteer contestant with Greg & Krista. Her husband was a potter, so that supposedly made her an expert, and when Greg introduced himself as an assistant manager at Pottery Barn, she went off berating him for Pottery Barn not selling "real" pottery - gimme a break! Most of her other comments were crap as well - instead of just playing it like a normal person she h ad this whole high & mighty attitude coming across - which considering she wasn't even the pottery person was kind of funny. Greg's character ended up just acting disgusted by the whole pottery subject, after her tirade. Krista was Misty, a flaky type who uses pottery as therapy - she was quite funny!

A couple of unusual things occurred during this show - besides twit lady married to pottery man. First, during Madrigal Greg was conducting the other while standing on the floor in front of the stage. The 2 guests seated in the front row down by the keyboard got up & left in the middle of the structure! We were horrified that someone would be so rude as to walk out, particularly when they had to brush past Greg to get by, and the show was going so well! Greg waved to them as they left, but they didn't see him - cracked me up, though <g>. Then throughout the show the large group seated on the stools behind us would not shut up - they were having LOUD conversations as if there wasn't even a show going on! At times we were asking each other what was said by the actors because we couldn't hear over the idiots behind us! I shot them dirty looks, and at one point told the biggest mouth to Shhhh. If I'd seen a manager out I would have gotten them. I lat er found out the actors on stage also heard these people during the show! Anyway, this type of thing is very rare - usually guests don't get up & leave mid-show or talk constantly while the actors are working. When it does happen, it's almost always because the people are very drunk, and that seemed to be the case tonight - a large convention group had been there drinking before the clubs opened.

We left right after the first show & got back in line. I was freezing! I had long pants and a light jacket, but couldn't stop shivering. The wait between shows wasn't too long, but it felt like an eternity! We were seated across from tech row, and the 9:15 cast was Brian, Greg, Krista, Jake & Chris. There were many more drunk conventioners in the club, but at least they were quiet during the show. They did Conducted Story, with Greg conducting. It was called "Jobless Bum", and got very bizarre - even kinky. Jake died by massage therapy when Chris poured acid on his back rather than massage oil. Brian died next by a guy who'd argued with his wife about her wanting vegetarian food at the Magic Kingdom. Brian played the wife, the guy played himself, and the scene ended with Brian being killed by a hamburger. Chris died in Victoria's Secret. She was shopping for a padded bra, being helped by the 2 gay male sales clerks - Greg & Br ian. It was very funny, and she ended up dying from an allergy to her seashell bra. Krista then wrapped up the story in the form of a poem. They closed with an embarrassing story, and it was such a classy crowd the story was about this adult who threw up on his aunt's couch and pretended it didn't happen - but of course the aunt discovered it in the morning and the lovely person telling the story made it as gross as possible. We thought it was definitely disgusting, but it didn't really fit as an embarrassing story.

By the time the show ended I knew I wasn't sticking around for any more of the drunken crowds, and couldn't handle a 20-minute or so wait in the cold! I said goodbye to Jim Roberts since I won't see him again this trip, then talked to Greg for a little while. On the way out I stopped to talk to Jake also - his wife is due to deliver their first baby any day now. Outside I said goodbye to Adie & Lisa, who I'll see in Ft Lauderdale in 10 days! I left PI and while the commute to BCV isn't as short as going to OKW, it's not too bad.

After I'd gotten in bed to work on the report I heard fireworks - so I opened the drapes and went back to bed to watch some great fireworks over MGM while staying warm! When the weather came on, they said it was 60 degrees - yikes, to me it felt like much colder! I'll definitely have to bundle up more tomorrow night since it's supposed to be in the lower 50's!

I did everything on the plan today, and it was really a good day. I love this Food & Wine Festival being a short walk from my room, lol! I wish it would have been warmer tonight, and I hated the loud drunks at CW, but the shows were very good & I enjoyed seeing the cast. I probably would have put up with the drunks for 1 more show if it wasn't so cold - particularly since Jen B was coming in for her first show of the night. I'll have to read about it in Adie & Lisa's trip report.

DAY 8 THURSDAY NOVEMBER 7, 2002:

Who: Sue, DVC Member

Leesa, Tracy & Tyger - Comedy Warehouse regulars

Darla, Rich & Deb, Chris, Mel - DVC friends

Plan: MK, Food & Wine, Comedy Warehouse w/dvc friends

Actual: Amazingly, I was in bed by midnight last night, which is pretty early for me when I'm here. I didn't bother to set the alarm, feeling no desire to wake up early to rush outside to a theme park in the cold! I ended up sleeping until almost 8:30, had some of the yogurt/granola thing with my cappuccino, posted yesterday's report & read my mail, and was leaving the BCV shortly after 10. On the way to the car I met Kelly returning from MK with her daughter Lexanne. We stopped to talk for a while, and Lexanne was extremely well-behaved & patient with us (& cute, too <g>). If all kids were like this one, I wouldn't have a reputation as a kid-basher, lol! When I left Kelly I decided I'd make an attempt to go to the new Mall at Millenia, and if the traffic was bad on I-4 I'd just abort the mission and return to wdw property where I belong. It does kind of kill me to leave property - it's too much like the real world, I guess.

Traffic was light and the mall is impossible to miss (Conroy Rd - exit 78 off I-4). It's quite large, and absolutely gorgeous! I wish I'd brought the camera with me, because every inch of that place was so attractive. I went into the Unisa store and asked the handsome young man if Raymond was working - and he was Raymond. I told him I had a message from his mother - that she loves him, and he burst out laughing. His mom is a dvc friend of mine, and had put me up to this <g>. Anyway, we chatted for a while - he's the nicest person - not a stranger at all, even though we'd never met. He got such a kick out of a stranger coming to find him with that message <g>! We finally said goodbye, and I walked thru the rest of the mall before succumbing to WDW pulling me back onto property!

As I walked towards BCV I saw Deb walking towards me, and she said Darla & Rich were inside. I went inside to find them, and we had a mini-reunion! Once Deb returned from the car we all went up to my studio so they could see it. They're in studios also, but they're not ready yet. I grabbed my camera and walked over to Int'l Gateway with them. They needed to get their passes but were not entering a park today. They headed back to BC or BW for lunch, while I entered Epcot. I got the white wine in Morrocco and walked briskly around World Showcase. I really wasn't hungry, especially after drinking the wine. However, in Canada I got a piece of the maple walnut fudge, which is fantastic! I'd tried a taste of Adie's the other day, and loved it. It's even better than chocolate fudge. I left Epcot when I got back to the Int'l Gateway and ate the fudge while walking to MGM Studios.

As I entered the park I saw Jen Br doing Streetmosphere with another woman, and spotted a few others wandering around. I was hoping to see Layden at 2, and saw a guy who was in a similar costume to what I've always seen on Layden, but no sign of him at first. I sat on a bench to update my notes, wandered around a bit, then sat on a bench on the other side of the street - where the sun wasn't blinding me! Right at 2 the big group of actors came out, heading to the intersection to do a show. I spotted Jen again, and then saw Layden coming my way. He was dressed as a pirate this time, and greeted me in character then stopped & talked to me as Layden since nobody was close enough to hear. He's getting back into rehearsal to do Hoop Dee Doo Revue again - busy (& talented) guy! He went to join the others, and I walked over to watch the show. It was kind of a talent/glee club show - very cute & entertaining. Of course it's corny - this is Disney after all, but it was fun to watch. When it was over the actors all marched singing single file down the street & backstage.

I left the Studios and walked back to BCV, stopping to take a picture of the Christmas tree in the lobby. Up in the studio I watched General Hospital while updating the report, and thought about getting online but decided against it. I'll only be in for less than an hour, and didn't want to "waste" the local phone charge (I know it's only $.35, lol). Besides, I hadn't touched the messages downloaded this morning! My neighbors have a kid (or kids) who are extremely loud - screeching & screaming without any intervention from mom or dad. Most likely they don't realize their obnoxious noise travels to the neighboring unit, but at least the connecting door is way down by the entrance - past the kitchen. If it was in the middle of the bedroom like at OKW I would have been on the phone to them by now!

At 4 I left the studio to make another loop through the Food & Wine Festival. I'm certainly doing a lot of walking today, lol, but I figure I'll only get over there once tomorrow since I don't want to leave Leesa behind all day. Since I headed right last time, I went left this time. At the California stand I decided to get one of the tomato & sourdough crouton salads. It had a bunch of olives in there this time, including some that were chopped up and therefore a pain to remove (don't like olives). This is the 2nd time I've gotten it where it had olives, so I'm finished with it for this year. There are too many other good things to spend time picking olive pieces out of my dinner <g>. In Spain I got a glass of the sangria, and continued walking. I walk faster than I drink, so I sat at a table in France to drink the sangria before exiting through the Int'l Gateway. My dinner including the wine was $3.75 - and was plenty of food for me. Lunch was $3.25 including the wine, and breakfast was 1/2 of $4.29. If not for the Bye Bye Blues at the Comedy Warehouse, my day would have cost less than $10, lol - I can't complain about Disney prices!

I walked back to the Beach Club Villas and went to the car - calling Leesa to let her know I was on the way. She was in the shower when I got there, so I checked my email from her computer while waiting for her. As it got closer to 6 I rushed her along - since we had to meet friends prior to entering the Island. We were out of there pretty much at 6, and drove back to Downtown Disney. I was chomping at the bit to get back on property again - I hated leaving at all, but wanted to spend some time with her & she doesn't drive. She's spending the night on the sleep sofa in my studio tonight - the thought of having to make the trip to Kissimmee again after a night at CW is unbearable.

We arrived about 6:30, and Leesa thought we had time to hit Ghiradelli before meeting the others at 6:45, so we walked quickly over there and got a chocolate sample. We returned to the main entrance for PI and the others arrived right on time. We had Darla (iluvdvc), Rich (richym1) & his wife Deb (debkay), Chris (dznymom), and her mom Mel (dznygram). They're all dvc friends I've known for years, and they'll be on the cruise with us in February. I was using my DDE card to get a couple of 1/2 price admissions for Chris & Mel, so we got in line at the only open window. 10 minutes later we had not moved an inch, and the same guest was at the window, with quite a few people after him but before us. I suggested we walk down to the entrance by Planet Hollywood, since it was taking so long. We got down there and found none of the ticket windows open! I asked the cm at the open turnstiles and she said the main entrance was selling tickets. Arrgh - I wasn't about to have everyone schleppe back down there, and wanted to know when they'd start selling tickets here. One of the cm's took us over to guest relations and we got Chris & Mel's passes bought there. We thanked the cm - grateful to not be walking back to the other end of PI to stand in line again.

Once inside we went to the Comedy Warehouse and counted until it was time to join the line. Tracy arrived and joined our group, but Tyger didn't arrive until after the first show. We were seated in long row next to David, and the dvc people were very impressed with the seats. It was the first visit for Rich & Deb, and Darla had always had worse seats the few times she was here. Mel is hysterical - before the show she was being funny & complaining that "everyone's boobs are above the table - except mine"! She said the same thing happened when they went to Beaches & Cream - hers were the only ones below the table. I told her to just plop them on the table and not worry about it <g>.

The 7:20 cast was Todd, Krista, Jen, Brian & Eddie. I was hoping for a really good show for my friends, and knew with 2 subs in the show it could be iffy. They opened with the phone, which went ok, despite the actor spending a long time gathering information (that couldn't all be used), the song was cute. Next was the Story Telling, and I cringed. Jen & Krista told the story "The Dirty Ride". I thought it had potential when I heard the title, and saw it was Jen & Krista, but except for a funny comment here & there I really didn't like it at all. Next they did Emotions, which was great because it brought the show back to life. Brian & Eddie were working in a gas station, and it was a funny scene. They did Letters to the Editor about wrenches. Krista wrote to Martha Stewart Living, Todd wrote to Time, and Brian stole the scene writing to Popular Mechanic about wenches rather than wrenches. He may have been a little politically incorrect, but he was funny!

During the show there was a couple behind us and at least 3 times his cell phone rang and he carried on a conversation with whoever was on the other end - I couldn't believe it! His wife's phone rang once, too. How he could NOT turn the thing off or on vibrate after the first call is beyond me! After the show Tyger came in, and since we had a pass to bring up to 6 people in at the back door and the dvc friends were going through the regular line, we invited Tracy & Tyger to join us. There's a limit of 6 at the back door, and with the dvc friends we were 7.

The 8:15 cast was Greg, Todd, Eddie, Brian & Jen. The dvc friends were seated by the phone, so I asked Deb (server) if she could get word to Bruce (sound tech) to request their phone be rung <g>. He did it, and they made up a cute song about Chris' fabulous life as an air traffic controller. The whole information gathering process was quick, thank goodness! Todd rang the bell for Should Have Said, where Greg was a blacksmith, Ed was his apprentice, and Jen was a customer with a horse who only had 1 leg. They did great - it was very funny! Next was This is Your Life, with a woman volunteered by her husband! Greg did the interview, which he does very well. They acted out scenes from the woman's life - first kiss, partying with her kids, working delivering singing telegrams, and a look into the future. All the little scenes were funny - I've not seen a This is Your Life bomb yet! They also did Scene Freeze, where an actor starts a scene, then another comes in & makes it about a different topic, etc. Greg had animal, Todd had batteries, Ed had mountains, and Jen had tracheotomy. They did a great job - overall it was a terrific show - much better than the first!

The dvc friends left for the evening, but I think they enjoyed themselves while at the Warehouse. Tracy & Tyger went upstairs to get in line for the next show while I talked to Greg & then went outside to wait in the cold for the next show. I knew after the next show that would be the test of whether we'd last all night, as the waits between the last 3 shows are longer than the waits between the earlier shows. When it's cold, it can be a miserable experience. However, tonight I did have the sense to wear shoes & socks, jeans, and a sweatshirt with a long sleeve shirt underneath. I wished I had gloves though, and could have used another jacket - even though there were other guests in shorts & t-shirts, and of course girls in even less!

The 9:15 cast was Matt, Greg, Krista, Brian & Eddie. They did Story Telling, with Greg & Krista as a sparring married couple in therapy telling "Tall Table". I'll admit I feared it might be awful, but these 2 have a great chemistry together and the story actually went well! A lot of the success I think was due to subtle mannerisms and sniping comments, and also fighting with your spouse is something most people can relate to! Anyway, they really did a terrific job with it and it's the first time I've liked this structure. I still don't want to see it again though - I'd love to see them drop it.

They did Forgotten Songs, which were just ok. Eddie did a rap song called "I miss my boots", but he was missing his cat named boots who had died & now Eddie was wearing him as a hat. Kind of gross <g>. Brian & Matt sang "The lonely air traffic controller." Next they played Schmeopardy, with Eddie hosting as Alex Paycheck. This reminds me of the next rant - people who don't pay attention! Krista was setting it up for Schmeopardy, and asked for an usual occupation - saying to stay away from the medical profession, bathroom, etc. It's so tiresome how everybody thinks the funniest suggestion in the world is proctologist, gynecologist, the funniest scenes must take place in the bathroom or funeral home, and the funniest thing a person can be is gay. So, Krista specifies no medical profession, and some yahoo raises his hand and when called on says "breast surgeon". Krista is the best at dealing with people like that, though, and promptly put him in his place & refused to take the suggestion. Other people were yelling out equally inappropriate stuff, so I raised my hand and she immediately called on me - trusting that I wasn't going to be an idiot, too! I gave her a non-gay, non-bathroom, non-sexual, non-medical profession - wedding cake decorator. After that, someone else spoke up with stuff that wasn't offensive and the show continued. Matt was a zookeeper named Laura Winfield, who plays with her toy zoo animals at home. He was in a dress and had his pants rolled up above the knee - still wearing men's dress shoes and argyle socks, lol! Greg was Duncan Hines, a blind wedding cake decorator with a broken arm who was hired thru a diversity program. Brian looked hysterical as a sheep herder named Lan Olin, who was wearing a kilt not because he's Scottish, but simply because "I just enjoy the cool Kentucky breeze blowing between my thighs." He's sick - I like him a lot! Schmeopardy went very well - there were so many really big laughs, and not much time to recover between laughs! Greg's response to clapper was to clap his hands and then make a purring sound - it may sound stupid in the report, but it was funny in person. He had another good one - for the answer Best Buy, his question was "Who is Anne Heche"! Brian won the game with his question to the answer klondyke - "What's the genetic duplicate of Rosie O'Donnell"!

After the show we talked to Nancy outside, which helped take our minds off the cold. The 10:30 cast was Brian, Todd, Jen, Krista & Matt. While we were waiting for it to begin Leesa checked the schedule to see who would be performing, and came back to give me a single non-verbal clue about each person (generally some mannerism the person does frequently that's unique to him/her) - except for Jen she said "bouncing ponytail". There was no question in my mind who she was referring to in every case - we must spend too much time here, lol! When the show started there were some noisy people in the audience who wouldn't stop shouting out things when they weren't supposed to, and Krista ended up telling them to shut up. She was doing the phone thing, soliciting information from someone for the opening song, and these idiots where yelling out their own made up answers to her questions - very rude! They did Song Cue next, which is the structure where a scene is created and then interrupted for a song 3 times. Matt & Jen were in Peru with a burro - Jen was jealous that he liked the burro better than her. They sang "I'm sorry old friend" like Louis Armstrong - and Matt did a great impression! They did a cajun song called "You pay more attention to him than me". Towards the end the burro met another burro & was having sex, when Brian froze the scene - they sang a gospel song "I gotta love you like that?" It was a little kinky, but very funny! They did the name rhyme next, which Jen won. Gotta love the guy named Simon who raised his hand when they asked for the 4th time for someone with a 1-syllable first name <g>. Anyway, since Jen won, her prize was to be tortured in Cliché!

The Cliché was set in a trailer park, and Krista & Jen were fantastic as a couple of trailer trash women - it didn't take Jen any time at all to guess the location. The actual cliché took quite a bit longer - it was give by cm Rob, and she'll probably kill him when she finds out it was him. The saying was "It drives them nuts, oh when their butts go boom biddy boom badda boom." Since the whole last part makes no sense at all, it was especially hard for her to guess the cliché. Eventually she got it, and the show ended without a final song. It was another great show!

Outside I went walking around trying to stay warm, going into some of the stores, the restroom, etc. I went back down with Leesa about 10 minutes before the door opened. The 12:05 cast was Greg, Jen, Krista, Matt & Todd. They opened with a poem called "This Jack O'Lantern is making me thirsty." Next was Caller, where Matt & Todd started a scene and Greg would interrupt it frequently to get ideas from the audience. Matt & Todd were brothers in a women's prison for stealing bananas. They met fellow inmates Jen & Krista, and became 2 couples. Krista & Jen were the Judd sisters, but Jen later realized she was actually Barbra Streisand. It was strange, but it was funny. They did Up Your Alley next, with an audience volunteer. The subject was running, and Krista hosted as Mrs. Holden - with her cigarette & cocktail. Jen was Dr. Cardio Vascular, who discovered running will kill you by making you want to kill yourself when the running caused your boobs to stretch and sag, looking ugly. Greg stuffed a bunch of towels under his shirt and was Blumbo - a fat guy who weighs over 400 pounds and has been running for 3 days (down his stairs into a neighbor's who is baking cookies, for example). The audience guy was a young man who runs marathons in little over 3 hours - holy cow! The game was funny, but at times nobody had questions to ask - I asked one to keep it going, and usually I don't have to. During the first show, nobody was offering up emotions either - I ended up giving 3-4 positive ones, and a negative one, only because the actor was standing there in front of an audience without anyone raising their hand or shouting something out. It was kind of weird how that was a theme for tonight - I spoke up in 3 different shows because nobody else would, which thankfully is pretty rare!

We started to head out & Greg stopped us to say goodnight - he's so considerate! We chatted briefly and then walked briskly to the car. Driving back to BCV wasn't too bad, but I miss parking at my door like I can do when I'm at OKW. When we got to the studio we set up Leesa's bed and she read for a while and I finished writing the report, for posting later.

I didn't follow the plan exactly, but had a great day. I really enjoyed meeting Raymond at the mall, and seeing how pretty that place is. Food & Wine was wonderful, although I did a lot of walking in a short period of time! I finally managed to catch Layden in an entire streetmosphere "show", instead of just in passing. The shows tonight at the Comedy Warehouse (except for the first one) were terrific - it was worth staying up so late and being out in the cold!

Tomorrow is a lazy day - Stormalong Bay once it gets warm, and I'll be zipping through Food & Wine for some food and some wine <g> before returning to the Comedy Warehouse.

DAY 9 FRIDAY NOVEMBER 8, 2002:

Who: Sue, DVC Member

Leesa, CW regular

Plan: Stormalong Bay, Food & Wine, Comedy Warehouse

Actual: I went to bed around 3, and woke up at 7:30 - but I didn't get up to shower until 8. I made my cappuccino and finished the yogurt/granola thing. I'll have to get back to AKL later today to get another one for tomorrow since I'm meeting friends early at MGM. Leesa woke up around 9:30, and w