Sue Holland - August 2003 - Offsite, Old Key West Resort

Time of Year: Summer
Travel Method: Personal Car
Resort: Offsite, OKWR
Accommodations: Studio (OKWR)
Ages Represented in Group: Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Veteran
Comments: Generally, Sue would rather not be at Walt Disney World during the hottest part of the summer. However, it can change your perspective when a friend is in town and you can get the job to pay for it. But she still wasn't willing to take other people's kids to Universal.

Sue Holland -- August 2003 – Walt Disney World (Offsite, OKWR)

Note: As Sue spent 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.

Who

Sue (me), DVC member
Appearances by

Leesa, Comedy Warehouse regular
Wilmot Posse from Scotland - Larry, Jill, sons Gregory (16) & Edward (12)
Burroughs Clan from Florida - Tom, Leanne, Kim & Chris (14?)
Patty, Patron of the Arts
Chris, my son (almost 17)
Adie & Lisa, CW addicts from Ft Lauderdale
Fortress Members - to be identified later
Possibly Mike from Tallahassee - recently deflowered CW Virgin,
INTRODUCTION

When my friend Larry from Scotland announced plans to return to WDW this summer, I was torn between wanting to see him but at the same time not looking forward to spending my vacation time at wdw during the hot miserable summer. Yes, it's just as hot where I live in Florida, but I can be at work in the air conditioning and save my vacation time for when the weather is nice (& crowds are not as bad) <g>. I work for the health & human services agency for the State of Florida (DCF), and found out from our agency's comptroller that the national conference for him & his peers from the other 49 states would be held in Florida this year, and would occur during Larry's visit. Elwood (Comptroller) wanted to use me as a "Disney expert" at the start of the conference - basically sitting in a hospitality suite answering questions about WDW. Hey, as long as he's paying for my hotel & travel expenses and guarantees my evenings are free, I'll do whatever he wants during the day <g>! The conference starts Sunday night, so I'll work Saturday & Sunday afternoons. He suggested I might want to take a group of kids to Universal (gasp!) or Typhoon Lagoon later in the week (work time), but I'd rather walk barefoot over hot coals. No surprise to any of you - I'd rather return to work than be responsible (& have to be nice) for a group of other people's kids <g>! Friday night I'll stay at Leesa's since I'm meeting her at PI and will be driving her home, so I arranged for my 2 "free" nights at Hotel Royal Plaza to be Saturday & Sunday. If the Saturday dvc points weren't so high I probably would have just stayed at OKW the entire time, since moving can be a pain!

Once the conference work is done, I'll take Mon-Wed as my "weekend", so I booked Old Key West for Monday & Tuesday nights. This way I get to spend time with Larry & his family, and don't have to use any vacation time - plus I get 5 nights at Comedy Warehouse. My friends Tom & Leanne will also be there at the beginning of the trip, hopefully with their daughter Kim and grandson Chris. It's a tradition for the Hollands, Wilmots & Burroughs to have lunch together at LeCellier each trip, and we've scheduled that for Monday. My son Chris won't be there, however. He's working now and since his time at WDW is more limited it's not worth buying him a park pass to eat lunch <g>. He will be able to drive up after work on Monday and join me at Comedy Warehouse, and then use an old 1-day ticket for DisneyQuest with Greg & Ed on Tuesday provided that works into "Larry Live and Loud"s plans.

The past 2 Wednesday nights I made rather sudden trips to WDW for a night at the Comedy Warehouse. Since those were not "real" trips I only sent the report to the people who are most interested in those shows. Last Wednesday I was in Tampa on business and my friend Mike from Tallahassee & I came over for the evening. It was his first visit - always nice to deflower a virgin <g>, and he really enjoyed it. He'll be here to work at the conference (he works in Elwood's office), so hopefully he'll get back to CW at least once.

I haven't really made many plans beyond the LeCellier lunch and knowing I'll be at CW every night (with specific people some nights). My priorities are simply to spend time with Larry's & Tom's families, enjoy some favorite foods and I also hope to see other friends at various times. The parks are very low on my list of things to do, mostly due to the heat/humidity right now, but I'll probably venture in to spend time with friends - at least for a couple of hours <g>. Overall I think it will be a very busy trip, as there will be many different people I know there during my short stay.

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

Fri 8/01: Work, meet Leesa at Comedy Warehouse
Sat 8/02: Check in Hotel Royal Plaza, Conference work, Comedy Warehouse w/Larry
Sun 8/03: Conference work, Comedy Warehouse
Mon 8/04: Check in OKW, Epcot, Lunch LeCellier w/friends, Comedy Warehouse
Tue 8/05: Typhoon Lagoon or theme park, Comedy Warehouse
Wed 8/06: MK or AK, Drive home

DAY 1 FRIDAY AUGUST 1, 2003

Who: Sue, DVC Member
Leesa, Comedy Warehouse regular

Plan: Work, meet Leesa at Comedy Warehouse

Actual: I worked until 3 and then hit the road for WDW, arriving just before 6pm. I'll have a conference call to participate in on Wednesday morning, but hopefully that will be the only work I have to do except at the conference. People have commented how lucky I am to be here to "work" - and they're right! It may never happen again, but I plan to fully enjoy it while it's happening now <g>.

Once I parked the car I decided to just change clothes in the car instead of trudging off to a restroom - it actually worked out quite well - gotta love tinted windows! I called Leesa, and we agreed to meet in a little while. I walked over to the Marketplace and (hold on - don't be alarmed) stopped in McDonald's. They checked to see if the yogurt/fruit thing they sell has an ingredient Leesa is allergic to, as we were thinking of eating this for dinner. Luckily for Leesa, it's something she can eat. I walked down to Basin and today they had the salt scrub and sugar scrub back in stock. Donna on the DVC board had raved about the salt scrub and I was disappointed they didn't have any at all when I was here with Mike a couple of weeks ago. Donna was right - it makes your skin extremely soft & moist - I just didn't really care for the lemon/lime scent. I'll have to give it another try before I drop $26 for a jar of citrus-smelling salt, lol! Next I swung into Ghiradelli for a chocolate sample, peeked at the DVC booth in case Marti was working there, then wandered around the World of Disney. They had a few smaller girly shirts I liked, but I didn't buy any - it's just nice seeing something that would fit for a change, instead of the big 'ole tee shirts.

Back at McDonald's I got 2 of the yogurt/fruit parfaits and some ketchup for Lisa's fries. She finished reading her book at Virgin, stopped at Bongo's to buy her french fries, and was meeting me outside near Wetzel's Pretzels. As I walked the path under the bridge to Pleasure Island I saw 3 handsome guys coming my way - YES!! Of course I stopped to get hugs from the 2 big ones - Larry from Scotland and my friend Tom. Larry's cute younger son Edward was with them as well. Larry immediately noticed my odd combination of yogurt and ketchup - no doubt that provided him with material for his very funny trip report. We talked for a while, then I continued on my way to meet Leesa.

The yogurt parfaits were huge - bigger than we realized, so we decided to just split one and save the other for tomorrow. WOW - these things are delicious! I loved it - it just might be competition for my yogurt thing at Mara, but McD's will be so much more convenient while I'm staying at the Hotel Royal Plaza. We ate dinner then headed to PI, running into Philip on our way - I'm glad he'd be working tonight. We talked to Joe outside CW for a while, then Larry & Tom showed up. Eventually Tom's wife Leanne, Larry's wife Jill and their older son Greg showed up too - they got in line for the first show. Leesa & I joined Bob & Virginia at the back door just in time. We talked about Greg for a while before the show - just good stuff <g>. Before leaving on the trip I set my vcr to record his tv show that will be on Saturday (8/2) and again later in August. It's 10pm-11pm and again 1am-2am on TLC. If Hotel Royal Plaza gets TLC I'll probably leave CW early enough to get back to at least see most of it, even though it'll be on tape waiting for me at home.

Carol Stein was on the keys, and sporting a contemporary new short haircut that looks nice. The 7:20 cast was Mark, Matt, Krista, John & Lisa. For the old-timers, Mark used to work at CW full time and left in Feb 2001 to go to the Indy Jones show at MGM and then moved to California when Disney cut the number of Indy performances down to where they could fire one of the casts. He's back in Orlando now, and will be subbing at CW more often. I'd love to see him back full time, as he's really great. Tonight it appeared he was in for Brian, who normally works Friday but not tonight. Kelly - I'm sure he's saving himself for a fantastic series of shows when you're here in November!

They did Styles, where the scene has to be done in changing tv, theater, music & movie styles. Krista & Mark created the scene at the South Pole, where they were looking for penguins. He was going to cheat on his wife (who was at the North Pole) with Krista, but it didn't happen. They did a couple of songs --"I've got a scientific calculator" as a hip hop song and "You've tampered with nature" in the style of country. Next was Schmeopardy, hosted by Mark as Larry LongNeck. Lisa was Sheba Enu, a dog trainer. Matt was Johnny Castro, who writes commercial jingles. Every time Matt spoke it was in a jingle, which made it tougher for him. John was dressed as a girl named Janet Small but his real name was Jim Alison. He was a spy - dressing as a middle school girl to see what goes on in the schools.

The closing number was a blues song about a girl who hogs the bathroom, suggested by her sister (both teens). Overall there were some really funny lines in this show, but I wasn't crazy about it. However, the other regulars thought it was terrific, so I think it was just me <g>. After the show we talked to Mark for a bit, and then ran into Carol Stein's parents outside. I listened to her dad's latest joke, then it was time to go back inside.

The 8:15 cast was Matt, Krista, Chris, John & Lisa. They opened with the name rhyme competition, which Krista won. She chose Story Telling for the next structure. Chris was a teacher with an incontinence problem and Krista was in trouble for pointing out that she'd wet herself. The title was "Leaky Teacher", and it was actually pretty funny. They both did a good job, and the audience enjoyed it. Next Krista led the others in Madrigal. Here they each have a made up tabloid headline to sing, and then they mix up the words from each other's songs to create new headlines. The 4 starting headlines were "Three eared baby is born", "George Bush marries the pope", "Michael Jackson pregnant with J Lo's baby", & "Demi Moore caught kissing Bruce Willis". They did a great job - it was very funny! The closing number was a western ballad about a guy whose girlfriend has been constipated since Monday. He seemed like such a charming guy (insert heavy sarcasm) and she was sitting right next to him laughing along as he told everyone how it's killing him that she's passing gas but nothing else, etc. It was a bit much! However, they did a good job with the song even though bathroom humor can be a bit predictable. Overall I thought this show was much better than the first one - but I'm being told they were both good!

The 9:15 cast was Philip, John, Lisa, Matt & Mark. They did a funny opening number (from the phone call) with Philip doing a rather risque verse - enough to cause the eyebrows to shoot up on some of the others, but it was very funny. John & Lisa then created a Fill in the Blank scene in a spa. She was a customer who'd just broken up with her boyfriend, and John was the towel boy who wanted to ask her out. Matt came in as the cheating boyfriend, and he & John were really funny fighting over her. It was one of those crazy scenes where everyone is "on", and the clever lines are flying faster than you can keep up with - great fun!

Forgotten Songs was next. Matt & Philip were great as 2 sickly people getting a flu shot in "The nurse has a big needle". Lisa & Matt did an excellent job as 2 firefighters singing "Firegirl in love". The last song was a dud - it was called "Look out Steven King". John came out as Steven King, someone yelled "look out Steven King", and John fell to the floor dead. Next Lisa rang the bell in Should Have Said. Mark was cleaning a nasty bathroom his father-in-law Philip had messed up, because his wife Matt was too much of a princess to do any cleaning around the house. It was a hysterical scene, with the 3 guys just going nuts on stage. They closed the show with a blues song about expensive books in college.

We left after this show - it was starting to rain, there was a 30 minute wait for the next one, and I wanted to get a decent night's sleep. Today was a great first day! I'm glad I got to see Larry, Jill, Tom & Leanne even though it was pretty brief. CW was terrific, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the trip!

DAY 2 SATURDAY AUGUST 02, 2003
Who: Sue, DVC Member
Larry & Jill from Scotland, plus sons Greg & Ed
Kim (Tom & Leanne's DD) and DS Chris

Plan: Check in Hotel Royal Plaza, Conference work, Comedy Warehouse w/Larry

Actual: I was up around 7:30, ate some of the McD's yogurt parfait for breakfast, did some email, and was out the door to WDW shortly after 9. Hotel Royal Plaza is the big pink box-looking hotel next to Downtown Disney - home base for the annual Gayday celebration each year. I read Buddy's fabulous trip report (that he never finished) from a few years ago, and it was so cool to be walking past things he'd mentioned in his wild report, remembering the craziness going on at that time. Things were decidedly more sedate (dull) here today! I was able to check in right away, but no rooms were ready. I took my luggage and found the others in the conference room, and spent the rest of the morning on various conference tasks (stuffing bags, making bows for gifts) and talking to people. Some of them were total strangers but some were people I've spoken to on the phone or by email but was meeting in person for the first time. My room was ready as we were heading out for lunch, but I didn't move in until afterwards. Ten of us went to TGIFriday's over at Crossroads. Food was good, plentiful, and service was friendly. I had only mild convulsions over leaving Disney property - Puck's or Captain Jack's would have been more my style than an offsite place I can go to at home <g>. We had a nice time, though.

Back at the hotel I moved my stuff into my room. It's got 2 double beds, desk, a half-separate sitting area with a love seat and 2 chairs, stand-only balcony, and a decent sized bathroom. The room is definitely larger than the Disney value or moderate rooms - probably as large or larger than most deluxe rooms as well. The room is attractive, clean - but not Disney <g>. However, I'm not paying for it and my only free time will be at Comedy Warehouse, so it's fine to be here for a couple of nights. I doubt I'd choose it for a vacation, although if I didn't have DVC I might very well feel differently.

I dropped off my luggage and went down to the hospitality suite, stopping to check out the fitness center and pool along the way. The suite opens to a private patio next to the pool, which is pretty nice. It's also more attractive & tasteful than the Burt Reynolds Suite I was in at this hotel in late May. I spent the afternoon hanging out, talking to conference attendees and our staff here - not really about Disney, but what the hell! At 4 everyone cleared out to get into their rooms, so I decided to leave then as well. It had been very dark & stormy-looking for an hour or more, but the rain hadn't come yet. The pool area had been closed due to lightning, and they must keep it closed 45 minutes after the last lightning strike. The have a little kitchen timer they set, lol - not exactly high-tech, but I guess it works! With the weather looking so crappy I didn't want to go anywhere at WDW, so I returned to the room and got online for a while, hoping the rain would start and end before I went out to meet Larry & Jill. I even went down to the fitness center and used some of their equipment - had the place to myself. At 6:30 it was raining steadily (ugh), so I headed out with my umbrella to get the car & drive to PI. It would have been a nice walk if it had been dry & cooler outside!

After parking at PI I walked to the West Side to exchange the old single-day DisneyQuest pass for a newer version (and make sure it was still good). The cm printed a new pass that would scan in the turnstiles, and I was on my way. Chris will use the pass Tuesday. While waiting outside PI for the 7pm opening, a man & his wife stopped to admire my umbrella - wanting to know where I bought it, etc. Unfortunately since it was on sale at the local mall's Disney Store 5 years or more ago, I don't think they'll find one. They started walking away and turned back to ask if I was interested in selling mine, lol! It's not for sale, though.

Once inside PI I went up to Comedy Warehouse and chatted with Susan until the others arrived. Larry had forgotten his pass in the room, so he had to return to All Star Music to get it. Unfortunately, his room key is with his pass - in the room - so he had to make another trip to get Jill's room key in order to go get his pass. He missed the first show taking care of this. I was joined by Jill, Greg, Ed, Kim & Chris. Jamie was on the keys tonight.

The 7:20 cast was Christine, Philip, Jake, Lisa & John. They opened with a song about a middle school technology teacher from PA. The song was good, and Philip made a clever rhyme about none of the guy's students being Amish, but the audience just didn't seem to get it. I liked it, but had to explain Amish to Jill - they don't have them in Scotland. Philip & Jake did Fill in the Blank using 2 audience volunteers. They were at Mardi Gras, doing a lot of drinking, and the scene was fast-paced and extremely funny! Even when the volunteers slowed down a bit, Philip & Jake never let the audience stop laughing.

Up Your Alley was next, hosted by Lisa as Tamara Hicks, Miss Texas 1982. The topic was computers and they had a guy named Paul from the audience. They didn't realize it until it was too late, but Paul was drunk to the point he could barely function. At first we thought maybe he was just slow (a "bit of a dolt" in Jill's words <g>), but when the actors referred to him as "drunk" and "intoxicated" I figured they might be smelling it on his breath or something. At one point he argued with John, but luckily it didn't get ugly. Another time he just rambled incoherently. The other guests were John as Joel Braverman, an 8th grade student of the guy from the phone call earlier. Chris was an old lady named Paulette Playdoh, who believes computers are the work of the devil. She was very funny, and was clearly the star of this structure. She was a bit bizarre, linking common computer terms to have hidden sexual or evil meanings - but it worked. After the structure Philip gave Paul a CW button and told him to be careful on the stairs. The guy was staggering, but made it down without falling. He then stood for a long time putting the button his shirt, then tried going back to his seat but went to the wrong freakin' row! He was wasted - and thankfully wasn't back in the next show. They closed the show with a blues song about backseat drivers.

After the show I talked to Jamie for a few minutes, and Larry came in to join us. I talked to Dee also - she's as surprised as I am that Monday will be November already (fortress joke) <g>. Larry was tickled when I gave him a message from Greg, and that Greg remembered him. We went back upstairs & got in line again, but this time were seated almost at the top of the club. The 8:15 cast was Philip, John, Lisa, Krista & Jake. Jake & Krista did Story Telling, talking about the "Happy Spatula". It went a bit long, and was kind of slow, despite 2 good actors telling the story. Next John created a love ballad called "Church is long" from the musical "Pew, what's that smell?" He sang both the male & female parts of the song, while putting on and taking off a girl's wig.

Krista directed a 1-act play starring Philip & Lisa as a couple in the waiting room of an auto repair shop. Lisa had put jelly beans in the fuel tank in this short but very funny scene. They closed the show with a western ballad about a couple who had a LOT of things go wrong on their wedding day (priest was arrested before the ceremony, limo broke down, dj's pants were ripped, and their hotel room was given away so they slept on a bed in a storeroom). Except for the Story Telling this show was great!

I decided to leave after this show, despite things going really well. If I stayed for one more, I couldn't be back to the hotel by 10, and I really wanted to see Greg's show on tv. We made plans to meet tomorrow night, then I drove back to Hotel Royal Plaza. I stopped at the hospitality suite and made a kahlua & milk to bring back to the room. This hospitality suite is as good as a concierge lounge <g>! We've got every kind of liquor I've heard of, and many I've never heard of - plus plenty of food to snack on.

I finished up the report and finally at 10pm Greg's show came on. It was so wonderful to see and hear him after all these months, even if it was on tv! I spotted a couple of his friends in the show as well. In the show he was a guy who passed himself off as a wedding planner & got hired by the couple. From that point he had to scramble since he had no experience at all, and even lied about having his own company. As expected, the wedding was a success, and Greg did a great job. The show will be on again 8/9 at 3:00 pm eastern.

Today was a good day. I don't think I can really call it "work", but what the hell - usually it's so stressful I don't feel guilty at all having these 2 days count as time worked! Comedy Warehouse was great tonight, and hopefully the shows will be just as funny the next few nights.

DAY 3 SUNDAY AUGUST 03, 2003
Who: Sue, DVC Member
Larry & Jill from Scotland

Plan: Conference work, Comedy Warehouse

Actual: Despite getting in early last night, I waited to post the report until this morning since I knew I'd be getting up fairly early. I knew if I got online last night I'd be up later than I wanted <g>. So, I set the alarm for 7 and went down to the fitness center to workout before showering & getting ready for the day. The room has a coffee maker (they all do here), so I had my cappuccino and a piece of biscotti. If I'm hungry later I know there will be food in the hospitality suite.

I arrived at the hospitality suite at 10 and helped finish setting the food out. It was fairly slow for most of the day, with periods where I was the only one there (so I read the Sunday paper <g>). The 2 girls who were assigned to work went out to buy more food & drink. Except for the hour that I left to go visit with my friend Kathy (who is looking & doing great) I was in the suite all day until about 6:30. To my surprise - I absolutely LOVED being there! It was such fun talking to the financial officers from the other states, and although I didn't do an incredible amount of talking about Disney, I did help out a few people. Mostly though, it was just a nice social day - I'm kind of sorry to be leaving tomorrow. These people are all obviously very intelligent, but they're also friendly & fun. My friend Mike noticed I didn't have a lanyard with a nametag, so he had them make me one - and they doctored it up with a highlighter. It had my name and "Disney Expert", then down below it said "Ask me anything about Disney!!" It was pretty cute - and Mike went out and bought Mickey Mouse hand gloves for himself. What a nice day!

I stopped back in the room briefly and got online to see if there were any pressing emails, and then went down to the President's Reception. Several people had said I was welcome to attend, so I figured what the hell - it might be my last time seeing these people. However, I was invited to come back to the hospitality suite and socialize (not work) the rest of the nights I'm in town, so I may stop in briefly before Comedy Warehouse. The reception was casual attire (shorts & t-shirts) but was a very nice affair with tons of food & drink! They had a receiving line going in, and once inside there was a full (free) bar and a steel drum band playing. About 250 people were in attendance, and I was surprised to see tables, thinking this was a stand & mingle type of event. I soon saw the reason - the food was more than enough for a huge meal! Everything looked and smelled great, but it was just too much for me at that point - after nibbling throughout the day in the hospitality suite (peanut m&m's, cashews, sausages I wasn't interested in food so I didn't eat anything. I got a glass of wine but with talking I barely drank an inch out of the glass before I had to leave for PI. Oh well, I was glad I went and I picked up a scoop on something that just happened in our agency.

It was raining again as I drove to PI, but not as heavily as last night. Unfortunately, it lasted longer - not quitting until about 10pm. I met Larry & Jill for the 1st show (their boys were at DisneyQuest tonight). Carol Stein was on the keys tonight, and the crowd was pretty big for first show. They even seated people in the Alps - the section up high off to the side of the stage.

The 8:15 cast was Philip, Jake, Joy, John & Chris. They did Song Cue, where the scene is interrupted 3 times to turn the last line of dialogue into a song in some particular style. In this scene Joy & Chris were on the Titanic. Philip interrupted almost immediately (I swear they hadn't said 10 words between the 2 of them) and the first song was a Latin number called "It's gonna be a good night". They also did "Hey" as a classical song and "There's ice everywhere" in the style of country. Normally I really like Song Cue, but tonight I thought it struggled. The audience was enthusiastic and seemed to like it, though. Next they did Up Your Alley, hosted by Christine as Lois Common Denominator. The topic was shopping. Jake was Danny Stein, an old man who watches QVC and HSN. He kept telling bad jokes - lots of inside Stein (Carol) stuff, which was funny but even the audience who didn't get the inside stuff laughed at all of it, which means it was funny standing on it's own. John was Johnny Narc, a guy who works in a dept store catching shoplifters but says his store is really great because he hasn't caught a single person <g>. Philip was the Amazing Meta Morpho, a pyschic. I generally love anything Philip does, but I didn't care for this character, although overall the scene was funny. They did a closing song about a father & brother who snore, which was pretty funny. Overall it was a pretty good show, with a very good audience.

We went out & got back in line right away, still in the rain. The 9:15 cast was Philip, Joy, John, Brian & Chris. They opened with a poem - "Peanut Butter & Jelly", which was just ok. Brian & John created a very funny Fill in the Blank scene as 2 guys at the zoo. John was wanted by the FBI and Brian just wanted to live without pants in Uganda. Philip came through as different bizarre animals. They all did a great job on this one. Next Philip created a short rap song called Swiss Cheese - a really wild (classic Philip) song! They did Cliché next, torturing Christine until she guessed "Can't do it, broke the wagon down." It went pretty fast, but it was fun. The closing number was an embarrassing story, but nobody raised their hand so I volunteered one. I had to say it happened to me even though it happened to someone at the conference today. They did a great job with the song - about a person who wrapped the table skirt around her legs because she was cold, then forgot and got up to go somewhere and fell over in front of everyone. On the way out Carol asked if I was hurt, and I quietly confessed it wasn't really me - guess now I'm branded as the CW Liar.

I walked out with Larry & Jill to give them a bag of clothes Chris had outgrown. We pass some of his stuff down to their son Greg, giving him some American clothes. They checked out my (relatively) new car - after I bought mine they just had to buy TWO new cars, one of which is a jaguar. No wonder the man stays at the All Stars, lol! We made plans to meet tomorrow, then I headed back in to PI. I'd told Mary I'd be there for her first show, otherwise I'd have been tempted to leave then. The wait for the next show was long & boring without any friends in line. At least the rain had stopped, though.

The 10:30 cast was Mary, Chris, Jake, Philip & Brian. The opening number wasn't too great, and then Mary rang the bell in Should Have Said. Jake was a psychic & Chris was his customer, with Brian coming in as her dead husband and Philip as Amazing Meta Morpho again. It had potential, but never lived up to that potential unfortunately. They did Forgotten Songs next, which are almost always good, so I was glad to see that. Mary & Brian sang a love song called "The lint in my pocket", which turned out to be the best of the 3 (but not nearly as good as expected considering it was Mary & Brian - more like the "cream of the crap" rather than the "cream of the crop"). Chris was a traffic cop singing "Jelly Donut" and that was pretty bad. Jake & Philip came out not singing at all, but performed "Picking boogers" by picking their noses and flicking it at the audience and at each other until Philip died. Waaaaay underwhelming performance for those 2. I can't remember a time when I didn't like any of the Forgotten Songs, besides tonight.

Next they did Emotions, and in my opinion the show turned around at this point. Mary & Philip created a scene where she was his mom visiting him in jail. I thought it was very funny, especially compared to the first half of the show. They did a great closing song as well. So, the show struggled in the beginning but they pulled it together well for the 2nd half. After the show the actors exited out the back door and Mary came inside to wait for me. We visited until she had to go to the meeting the cast has before the last show. I headed out and drove back to Hotel Royal Plaza.

One comment about Saratoga Springs - based on my experience driving to PI from Hotel Royal Plaza, I am 100% positive that the commute from SS will definitely be worse than the commute from OKW despite SS being within site of PI. The traffic going in that direction is horrible compared to traffic going in the other direction, and the lights are a pain. I'll be sticking with OKW - unless Saratoga Springs has something extra to offer me to make up for the less convenient location.

Back at the hotel I found the front automatic doors didn't open. Thanks to the inspiration of a friend I've been working out regularly, so I simply pried the doors open with my bare hands. Tim's been calling me Wonder Woman, and even though I wasn't wearing the costume I was able to pretty easily open those big glass doors enough to scoot inside. I stopped at the hospitality suite and made a kahlua & milk to take back to the room, and ate a handful of pistachio nuts while I finished the report.

Today my diet sucked, with nothing but alcohol and junk, but tomorrow I'll have a real lunch at LeCellier! It was a really wonderful day, which I enjoyed far more than I ever expected. I've had a great time being here at the conference, and really enjoyed meeting all of the attendees from around the country. It's a shame it has to end, but I also want to see my friends tomorrow - and can't do both! I'm pretty sure I'll be back at the hospitality suite the next couple of nights - kind of like a concierge lounge that's down the road instead of upstairs, lol! I was glad to see Kathy again - lately our schedules have been out of sync, but at least we could squeeze a little time in today. It was fun being at CW with Larry & Jill - I wish they could be here for more of my trips, but considering they come from Scotland they do pretty damn well spending at least 4 weeks here every year! I enjoyed seeing Mary as well - and look forward to seeing her the next 2 nights.

I almost forgot to mention - the hotel has been very quiet, with the only noise coming from the fireworks at PI each night. I can see them from my room, too - the perfect view.

Tomorrow I'll set foot inside a Disney theme park, and spend some time with Tom & Leanne, Larry & Jill, Kim, Chris, Greg & Ed - should be fun! Tomorrow night is another CW night, this time with Patty and my son Chris, plus we'll see some of the Fortress gang and possibly a couple from the conference. Busy, busy!

DAY 4 MONDAY AUGUST 04, 2003
Who: Sue, DVC Member
Chris, my son (16)
Patty, Patron of the Arts
Wilmot Posse from Scotland - Larry, Jill, sons Gregory (16) & Edward (12)
Burroughs Clan from Florida - Tom, Leanne, Kim & Chris (14)
Pal Mickey Wilmot
Fortress Friends - Adie & Lisa, Kerri, Debby & Katherine (plus Paul, Caitlyn & Grumpy)

Plan: Check in OKW, Epcot, Lunch LeCellier w/friends, Comedy Warehouse

Actual: I got up when the alarm went off at 7, and within minutes the day started heading into the toilet! First I couldn't get online - the message said he communication port/modem was not working. I spent 30 minutes or so trying what I knew to do, to no avail. I took a shower, made cappuccino & had a piece of biscotti, and then David from work called me shortly after 8. It seems we have to produce some documents for an outside group (govt is public information) and they're asking for crap going back to 1999 - by Wednesday! This is going to be a pain, as the person I leave in charge isn't familiar with this type of stuff - ugh. When I get to OKW I'll call David & give him my fax number there, so I can look it over. I don't want to lose ½ or most of the day to computer repairs and stupid stuff from work, but it looks like I won't have a choice. Once I think Leesa might be awake I'll call her & see if she's available to check the laptop.

I finished getting ready and headed out around 8:30-9:00. It felt good to be back on OKW property, even though I enjoyed myself the past few days. Check-in went quickly but since the resort was sold out last night my studio was not yet available. I left the laptop with bell services, called work with the fax number, then drove to the Boardwalk. I was hoping to see the new Saratoga Springs models, but even though they are open now, they "can't handle" members coming over all day at any time to see them. Huh??? The cm was very sweet (young girl), but the bit about it being too much trouble to let us just walk through the model is a load of crap. She said I'd need to attend a member update and take a tour after that - no thanks. I'm not coming back to BW and spending an hour or 2 just to see the models.

I walked into Epcot, arriving about 9:30. It was incredibly hot & humid, even so early in the morning. I found a shady spot by Spaceship Earth to sit & sweat while I called Leesa about the laptop. We discussed a few options and agreed I'd call again around 1pm when she'd be more awake. Larry, Jill, Greg, Ed & Pal Mickey arrived just before 10 and we got in line for Spaceship Earth. I enjoyed the air conditioning, but was mostly thinking of what the fax from work was going to say, where I could find some of the information needed, etc - in other words, I might as well have not even been on the attraction! Next we headed to ride Ellen's Energy Adventure, or as Larry called it "Let's go do Ellen". Somehow that sounded a little strange, lol - something some other friends might be more interested in than me. Now if he'd said "Let's go do Alex Trebeck", then that would have been ok with me <g>. Oh well, I've digressed into smut-land so early in the day <g>.

We had a wait for the attraction to let us in, and found a bench against the wall to sit on once we got inside. They were only running the 2 sets of cars on the outside, but not the middle 2. Just as we were starting to move Patty called - craving the soup from LeCellier. I invited her to join us, and we agreed to meet at noon. Soon the phone rang again - thankfully I could barely hear it ring, so I don't think I disturbed anyone around me, and I was able to talk softly while bent over in my seat so nobody else had to listen to my conversation. This time it was Gail & Joel from Illinois (jdocter7). We may be able to meet briefly tomorrow, depending on where I am. The rest of the attraction was enjoyable - mostly the air conditioning and the big screen Alex Trebeck (he looked sooooo good when that was filmed). When we got out it was time to head to Canada for our lunch.

At LeCellier I told them our ps for 10 was now 11 people, and they had no problem with that. They said once everyone got there they'd seat us immediately. Soon Tom, Leanne, Kim & Chris arrived, and we moved inside to wait for Patty. Larry asked me how I was getting 11 people, and I realized I had been one over all along. I tried telling him I counted Pal Mickey, but I don't think anyone bought that! So, I let the LeCellier people know we were 10 again, and we went to our table. Patty knew all the names, but hadn't met anyone in person, and the others had an easy time remembering her name since she's only 1 person! It's tough coming in and being introduced to 8 new people for the first time. We had a terrific lunch - I stuck with the cheese soup and so did Patty. Other people had the soup, chicken sandwich, open faced steak sandwich, prime rib french dip, steakburger, and I'm not sure what else. Everything disappeared, so it must have all been good. The kids each got the chocolate mousse, but I passed - I didn't want to be waddling out of there. I used the DDE and the waitress picked the 6 most expensive meals to apply the discount to, which was nice of her. The rule is it can be used for up to 6 people, but sometimes they ignore that. We settled the bill and went back outside.

The Wilmots and Burroughs were headed to the Studios to ride RnR and ToT. Patty & I walked through part of World Showcase before going our separate ways for the afternoon. I'd called OKW from LeCellier and my studio was ready, so I got my stuff moved in there and picked up the laptop & fax. Leesa had suggested I give the laptop another try, just in case it was a phone line problem, and lo & behold - it worked! She was online & saw me arrive, so we IM'd a bit. I read the 9-page fax (yikes) and called work to give them my thoughts, and that ended that for now. Hopefully they won't call again tomorrow after a conference call on the project, but I won't put any money on that. I also got the agenda for my Wednesday conference call, and saw I've got the first item. Sure hope the cell phone works without interference! General Hospital was about to start, so I watched that while updating the report.

My studio is in building 14, right across from the Hospitality House. Ordinarily I wouldn't "want" to be in this spot, and never ask for it, but for this short trip I think it'll be the perfect location. It's quiet (no bus noise), and it'll be very convenient if I decide to go to the member update breakfast tomorrow morning, and then workout. I might use the pool, too - which is also convenient. It's too hot for the theme parks, and the little time I spent in Epcot might be the only park time I spend on this trip. The parks will be there still when the weather cools off!

After my soap I went to the fitness center and used some of their Nautilus equipment. Only one of the bell services guys was familiar, and he stopped to welcome me back home. I got back to the studio before it started to rain, and by 5pm it was pouring harder than I remember it raining all week. There was lots of lightning as well - not good weather to be outside in! Adie & Lisa had arrived, and I chatted with them online at some point before they went to dinner at Jiko.

At 6 the rain had stopped and it was actually comfortable outside (for a brief period). I drove to the Hotel Royal Plaza and found the hospitality suite hopping! I talked to some people there, mixed myself a Malibu and pineapple juice, and nibbled on a couple of small sausages. Tomorrow night the suite doesn't open until 9pm because they'll all be at a beach party in Cocoa Beach, so this is my last night to be here. It's been nice! Free drinks are always nice <g>. In true concierge style, I grabbed a bottle of water on my way out.

Chris had already arrived at PI so we met up and went to McDonald's to get him a filet of fish and a double quarter pound cheeseburger - yikes, talk about a heart attack in a bag! We ran into Adie wandering in front of a bus (luckily it was parked to unload passengers) and chatted with her. I left Chris at the PI entrance to wait for Patty and went inside to find the others and talk to cm Joe/Jose. Adie & Lisa had a bag of chocolate gifts for everyone - I got chocolate seashells from my fav chocolate store on their coast, and they gave Chris a box of the fancy chocolate & topping covered pretzels. Our fortress friend Debby was there with her cute daughter Caitlyn and handsome hubby Paul, and soon Kerri from the fortress and her hubby Bob (Grumpy) arrived. I chatted with Joe a bit, then ran into Chris & Patty as I was on my way to see if she'd arrived yet.

We were too big of a party to fit in a single row - not even long row. So, Patty, Chris & I sat on one side with regular David, while the others sat across the aisle. We found Katherine (another fortress friend) and her family up in the Alps and waved back & forth. Patty ordered a yummy drink on the new menu - called coco loco or something like that. Look for it when you're there! Soon the show started. The 8:15 cast was Mary, John, Philip, Joy & Brian. They did a good opening song about a really wholesome family. Philip then directed the others in a 1-act play called "My Pickled Lady". Joy was a rich woman and John was her man-servant, who happened to be in love with her. She'd pickled her ex-lovers, including Mary - who had been caught with the last ex. Mary regained consciousness and declared she wanted to marry John. The scene was just ok. Next Mary created a song about jewelry, and then the did Actor's Nightmare. It was Philip's nightmare, so he had to improvise all of his lines and make sense of the others', while they all had to read every one of their lines from different scripts. The scene took place on Wall Street and had some funny moments, but overall the show was just ok.

After the show Adie & Lisa gave Mary the t-shirt they'd made for her AIDS ride later this month. They did a beautiful job with it, as expected! We had a short wait for the next show, and the 9:15 cast was Jake, Joy, Philip, Mary & Brian. They opened with a cute poem called "I got stung by a bumblebee." Next was This is Your Life, which I don't see too often. Mary conducted the interview of a guy who just got out of the army. The rest of the cast acted out his first kiss (at age 10), and his first attempt at skydiving. These moments were somewhat exaggerated, and it was very funny! Then they looked to the future and acted out where the guy would be 10-15 years down the road, and that was great too. He said he hoped to have a tall blonde doctor for his wife, so Brian came out in a blonde wig and huge boobs and a medical coat! Brian towers over everyone else, so he was definitely a tall blonde.

Next they did Up Your Alley about rock climbing. Jake hosted as Patrick Stein. Joy was a Swiss rock climber who yodels - I missed her name. Brian was a long-haired rock star named Kenny who works in a 7-11 store. Mary was Sunset Kungpow, who sits on top of the mountain and gives advice to anyone who climbs up there. They closed the show with a western ballad about a guy who took over a talk radio station and began playing rock songs. Overall this show wasn't much better than the first, although the This is Your Life was very good.

After the show we took a Fortress picture on the stage, with Mary & Jake joining in. Everyone else was done for the night and left the club, while I stayed inside talking with Mary until it was almost time for the door to open again. There's a 30 minute wait between the previous show and the next one, which can be tough. When I got outside I found Adie & Lisa with Tracy & Tyger, so we talked until I had to get back in for the 10:30 show and they all left.

The 10:30 cast was Mary, Jake, John, Joy & Matt. They did Emotions with Mary as a doctor treating her husband Jake for a burn. Emotions is always fun, and I enjoyed this scene. Next was Forgotten Songs, which were better tonight than last night! Matt & John were 2 doctors singing about olestra in "Loose Stool". It was predictably gross, but still entertaining. Jake was really funny as a Klingon freak singing a country song called "Oooh baby baby." Joy & Mary sang about child custody in "Give me 7 years and I'll give you your kids back". Mary was married to Joy's ex husband and he had custody of the kids from that marriage. It was a clever idea, but kind of fell flat. The next structure was the dreaded Story Telling, with Joy & Matt as an amish couple trying to buy a house. Matt had several clever lines, but the scene dragged pretty badly. The closing song was about a woman whose husband had clogged up the hotel toilet and left the room before the plumber got there - she was embarrassed that the plumber would think she did it. Overall a pretty good show, but not as good as usual.

I drove back to OKW and found a note from Chris. He'd gone to the fitness center here and then decided to go back to the West Side to check on a cd. He was back at midnight, like his note said he would be. I finished up the report while he watched some cartoons on tv. I'd figured he'd sleep late tomorrow, but he's saying he wants to go to the DVC member update thing - which is fine.

Today was another great day, and I'm glad for whatever reason the laptop modem is working again! Lunch was great, with delicious food and wonderful company! Comedy Warehouse was fun as well, and it was nice to meet a couple of new Fortress friends as well as see Adie, Lisa and Kerri again.

Tomorrow I'm doing non-park stuff - I was serious about having no desire whatsoever to be traipsing through a theme park in this hot humid weather. Tomorrow will also be my last night at the Comedy Warehouse until the next trip in 3-4 weeks.

DAY 5 TUESDAY AUGUST 05, 2003
Who: Sue, DVC Member
Chris, my son (16)
Patty, Patron of the Arts
Wilmot Posse from Scotland - Larry, Jill, sons Gregory (16) & Edward (12)

Plan: Typhoon Lagoon or theme park, Comedy Warehouse

Actual: I was up at 7 for a quick shower before getting Chris up in time for the DVC Member Update at Community Hall. I brought my cappuccino with me, and stopped in the shop to pick up a copy of today's Sentinel since there is a big article about Mary & the ride, I was a bit wary, based on past experiences with the media being less than accurate, but this article was very good. Well, Krista may disagree, since a photo of Mary with Chris & Lisa listed their names as Mary, Chris & Krista <g>. Oh well, I was very happy for Mary that the article turned out well!

We sat through the member update, and had breakfast. There's not any significant new news we haven't already seen on the internet, and they did say the models for Saratoga Springs were open. I decided not to challenge that, lol. We didn't win any of the door prizes, but I did get a mouse pad afterwards. We checked out the fitness center but it was awfully busy and I didn't feel like dealing with it. I don't really know the equipment well, and don't want to be in there unless I've got the place mostly to myself.

Since there was time, we drove over to BWV to see the models, and this time had no problem since they were open 9-11am today. The DVC cm was funny - he started telling me how I could benefit by adding Saratoga Springs points and when I said I just added another 100 at Beach Club and told him what my point total is now he just shut up and gave me a high-five! LOL - he kept asking Chris "Do you realize how lucky you are - do you have any idea, can you really grasp what it all means??" I felt like telling him - Hey, it's MY dvc and I plan to still be around when it ends (as opposed to Chris inheriting it <g>).

The models are pretty. Think Beach Club Villas but with a different color palette. The layout & size is the same, right down to that oval booth in the kitchen. The colors are a muted green (seafoam or a little darker), the furniture is a dark wood, and it's very pretty. I can see myself renting a studio here once in a while. They won't have a model of the grand villa, since there will be so few of them. We got a Saratoga Springs pin for stopping by, and then were on our way.

We drove to Premium Outlets and picked up a couple of gifts in Character Premiere, then got Chris some clothes for school in the Addidas outlet. Somehow I resisted the lure of Timberland, but 1 pair of lesbian boots is enough for us hetero-types <g>. We were back to OKW by 11, where Chris watched tv until he left for DisneyQuest and I changed into my swimsuit and headed to the main pool to relax. I gave Chris money for food and gas to get home, and he'll just leave to drive home around 9pm tonight.

Believe it or not, with all my trips to OKW this was only the 2nd time I've been at this pool. It was pretty busy, and quite hot at times. Thank goodness for the cool shower nearby! Adie called from outside the MK and came over to chat for a while before eating some french fries for lunch and driving back to Ft Lauderdale. It was an unexpected bonus seeing her today. By 1pm or so I couldn't take the heat any longer, so I went back to the studio. They had some games going on outside Community Hall, but I didn't stay.

I took a nice long cool shower and finally felt clean again! I got online while watching General Hospital and talked to Patty a while. At 4pm the thunderstorms were going strong, right on schedule. I would have gone out, but with the heavy rain it was easier to just wait it out in the studio since there wasn't anywhere I really had to be. By 6 it had pretty much passed on through, so I got ready to go out. I'd been snacking on the chocolate Adie & Lisa gave me (hey, didn't want it to melt in the car tomorrow), so I wasn't hungry for a meal but thought it would be wise to find something small that was more substantial/healthy than chocolate. I left the studio around 6:30 and drove over to Pleasure Island.

As I was walking through the West Side I almost missed the Wilmots passing me. Luckily they called my name and pulled me out of the trance I must have been in, lol! Chris was on his way home already, so I joined the Wilmot posse for a walk to the Marketplace. First stop on the agenda was Ghiradelli for a chocolate sample (so much for "real" food). Young Edward wolfed his down in one bite and then was wondering if they'd believe he had a twin if he was to go right back in for another - a kid after my own heart, lol! Jill did some shopping for Ed in Team Mickey, while the rest of us browsed. Eventually we headed back to enter PI. The Wilmots went to Adventurer's Club while I went to chat with Joe/Jose outside CW before joining them. I hardly ever go to Adv Club, and although I respect that it's the favorite of many people on radp it just isn't my thing. It was nice tonight because it wasn't crowded yet most of the actors were out playing their roles. A little after 8 we went back to CW to wait for the first show.

Jamie was on the keys tonight. I ordered one of the Loco Coco drinks Patty had last night - Bacardi vanilla, Bacardi coco, dark crème de coco and cream - strong but tasty. The 8:15 cast was Philip, Lisa, Mary, Joy & Jake. They opened with a western ballad, which went well. The audience was very responsive and enthusiastic, plus the material was very good. They did Fill in the Blank with 2 audience volunteers. Mary & Philip created a scene about a man obeying his wife. Philip was down cleaning the floor, and I don't have notes on all the twists and turns the scene took but it was very good. Next was Schmeopardy, hosted by Philip as Bob HorseForANavel. He had a horse head sticking out above his belt, and every so often would jump around as if the horse was going nuts - it was pure Philip craziness <g>! The contestants were Jake as President John Adams, Joy as a circus trained engineer named Happy the Clown (drives the train), and Lisa was an indian named Sacajawia - a geographer who showed the white man her native land and watched him take it away. Overall this was a very good show - so much better than last night.

After the show Mary came over, and got to say hi to the Wilmot posse (she'd met them last year). The Wilmots left for the night and Mary & I stayed & talked for a while. When I got outside Patty was there, sitting on the bench with David. We were joined for the next show by Robby Piggott, who many of you would recognize from the Hoop Dee Doo Revue. He's not the Hoop guy who was in Fairy Tales, but he was in the first Chataqua Tonight I saw at this year's Fringe, and we've seen each other around several times. Anyway, Patty's known him for years, and he'll be starting as a sub at Comedy Warehouse later this month around the 18th. He'll still be at Hoop, but as he has time off he's watching as many shows as possible to help prepare himself - I hope he does really well. He's very talented, and seems like a really nice guy, and we can always use good subs!

The 9:15 cast was the same as the last show - Philip, Lisa, Mary, Joy & Jake. I think this is the first time I've seen the exact same cast 2 shows in a row! They opened with the poem "Squirrels Eat Nuts", which was fun. Next was Emotions, with an audience that just would not offer many suggestions for some reason. I gave a half dozen or so, but only when Jake called on me - I know they don't want the same person speaking again & again, so I left it his choice to call on me or not. Thankfully it was still a good audience, even though they didn't want to call out emotions <g>. Lisa & Philip created a scene about stealing ducks from the Peabody Hotel to put in a bathtub, while Mary & Joy kept having them change emotions. It was a good scene, but it went too long because the tech missed Mary's cue to end it. It took a while to get to another good ending point.

They did Madrigal, led by Joy. This was pretty short, but it was good. The 4 tabloid headlines to start were: 1. I had an alien baby 2. Nazi nun wins a war 3. J Lo breaks up with Ben and 4. Vampires fall in love with marinara sauce. The verse they ended up with was J Lo's baby is a nazi. Next was Actor's Nightmare, with it being Jake's nightmare. The others read from different scripts and Jake did an excellent job improvising his lines and making it seem like it was all written by 1 person. This is a tough structure, and quite often I'm left disappointed with the results, but this one tonight I thought was very good! The closing song was about a guy whose shorts were yanked down during a soccer game. Overall it was another great show!

After the show Jake stopped & we talked briefly, and then Joy & Lisa came to admire Patty's necklace. Patty left after this show, and then Chris called to tell me the September cruise documents had arrived (Patty is cruising with me).

The 10:30 cast was Mary, Jake, Joy, Lisa & Krista. They did a great opening number about a guy who lives on a farm. In Song Cue Krista & Joy were in line at an all you can eat buffet. Joy had recently broken up with her boyfriend, and Krista was giving her advice. They created 3 songs during the scene. "He paid for everything" was a Mexican brass song, "I go for it" was classic rock, and "Enjoy yourself" was an excellent jazz song. They did Up Your Alley about dealing poker, using an audience volunteer. Lisa was excellent as the host, but I didn't catch her name (Cindy something??). She had pink hair, big pink dress, and was just very "on" throughout the scene. Mary was Hoyle, an 8-year old who deals poker for her father's games. Jake was his Decklin character, and was consistently funny. The closing song was about a guy who had dental work and left a puddle of drool and blood on the pharmacy counter in front of a pretty girl - they did this as a western ballad.

It was nice seeing 3 strong shows, particularly since it was my last night here. Mary came out and waited for me, since she knew I wasn't coming back for the midnight show. I won't see her until after the ride, but I'll be here when she gets back home. I can't wait to hear all about it, and I'm so proud of her for dedication to this ride. She's definitely a special person!

I made the short drive back to OKW and finished up the report to get it posted before going to bed. The day didn't follow the plan, because it is too dang hot for the parks (for me). However, it was a really nice day and I was able to do a number of things I wouldn't have been able to do if I'd been in a theme park.

Tomorrow it's doubtful I'll do much of anything, because I have a conference call at 11. That doesn't really allow time to try to do stuff in a park and get back to OKW by then to retrieve my stuff, so I'll probably just sleep in as late as possible and then hit the road after the call - unless I have some brilliant idea by morning!

DAY 6 WEDNESDAY AUGUST 06, 2003
Who: Sue, DVC Member

Plan: MK or AK, Drive home

Actual: This morning I got up around 8, showered, and had the other half of yesterday's bagel toasted with some cream cheese. I can hear the buses after all, but it's not a negative thing for some reason. It isn't loud enough to be annoying; it's a pleasant reminder that I'm here at OKW. I won't request this building again, but certainly wouldn't be opposed to getting it again.

I did end up having a brilliant idea this morning. Since I'm pretty much unable to do anything before my 11am conference call, I decided to start driving home. I can pull off for the start of the call (at least the portion that's "all about me") and then resume driving when we move to stuff I'm not the lead person for. Since I want to workout and I have a baseball game tonight, this will give me time at home to hopefully upload some of the photos - starting with the Saratoga Springs model photos. So, I hit the road about 9 to start the drive home. I found a shady spot in Sarasota to stop for my conference call, stopped at my workout place, and was home by 2. I uploaded the Saratoga Springs photos to Ofoto, at the following link. http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=34p4jkm.ducru7j&x=1&y=-mg3fs5

The Comedy Warehouse photos will follow later - hopefully by the weekend, with a link sent out separately.

SUMMARY

I had a wonderful time, and was very lucky to have this trip! The business portion was much more fun than I'd ever imagined it would be, and I didn't even mind moving 3 times in 5 nights! It was great spending time with Larry & his family again, and Tom & Leanne's - we always enjoy out time together. Meeting/seeing more Fortress friends was a bonus, even though the time was brief. Comedy Warehouse was hit or miss at times, but I enjoyed being there every night. With a live performance you're bound to have a few clunkers every now and then. I only managed to find time for 1 of my favorite meals this trip, so I'll try to do more eating out next time.

The only negative this trip would have to be the weather. Most of that is pretty normal - in August it is supposed to be miserably hot & humid down here. The afternoon rains lasted longer than normal several days, though, which kept me from doing stuff a couple of times. If I lived up north I don't think I'd ever plan a WDW trip during the summer months unless there was absolutely no alternative! I'm fortunate to live close enough to visit every month, so skipping the parks this time was no big deal. I really can't speak to the level of crowds, since I didn't spend much theme park time. Comedy Warehouse was busier than normal - but I've noticed lately even when PI is almost deserted the Warehouse still has huge lines.

My next trip will be the week of Labor Day. I'll spend a night at Leesa's, 4 nights at OKW, then Patty & I set sail on the Wonder for 3 nights. It'll be her first cruise, so it should be fun to see the ship again through her eyes. The documents came yesterday, so we're all set now!

Until next time - thanks for reading.

Sue Holland