Trip Reports
02-20-2007, 10:50 PM
Sue Holland - December 2003 - Offsite
Time of Year: Holiday
Travel Method: Personal Car
Resort: Offsite
Accommodations: 2BR Condo
Ages Represented in Group: Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Veteran, DVC Member
Comments: Consecutive long weekends at Walt Disney World? There's nothing wrong with that, and definitely nothing suprising in it when it's Sue Holland. And what better excuse than a nice place to stay, visiting friends, and a big gathering of the Internet Disney community?
Sue Holland -- December 2003 – Walt Disney World (Offsite)
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/When/Where
Who
Sue (me), DVC member
Kathy (Figaro) & Den, my gracious hosts
Appearances by:
Leesa, Comedy Warehouse regular
Dates: December 5 - 8, 2003
INTRODUCTION
Originally I didn't have a trip planned for this weekend, and had no desire to make the drive so soon after the last trip (6 days ago). But, Kathy & Den are friends I usually get to see when our fall trips overlap and this year they had to move their trip to the first week of December. I was disappointed to miss them, but then Kathy wrote saying the friends they were supposed to travel with had backed out and she & Den offered the 2nd bedroom/bathroom to me if I could make another trip. There's no way I could take a week off from work but I did want to see them, so I decided to come up for a long weekend. I work enough hours per day to get my 80 hours in during the 2-week period even with taking a day off, so it won't really "cost" me any vacation time. I've driven past Vistana Resort and it looks very nice, so it'll be fun to stay there this time - although it will be strange to be staying offsite!
The only definite plans we made are for Comedy Warehouse Friday & Sunday, and to attend the big MouseFest event at the Dolphin Saturday afternoon. That should be a lot of fun, with many friends and several people I've "known" but never met in person. Some of my friends from Fortress will also be at WDW this weekend, so hopefully I'll see them at some point too. Kathy & Den & I hope to see the new Wishes fireworks at the Magic Kingdom Saturday night, but if it's really only going to be 40 degrees it's possible we might rethink that. So nobody is confused, this Kathy is not the Kathy who's been in several of my earlier reports. They both happen to use a wheelchair to get around, and they're both exceptionally nice/fun, but they're 2 different people. Hopefully I'll see "my" Kathy sometime this trip, but most of the time the Kathy in this report will be "Figaro" Kathy.
It's possible this report won't be posted as "live" as usual. I think Vistana might be operated by Starwood, and if so, they have an anal policy where they charge per minute for local calls if you're on for over an hour. Plus, I don't want to tie up the line when it's not my villa - so we'll have to see how it all plays out.
The plans (subject to change) so far...
Fri 12/5: Work, Comedy Warehouse
Sat 12/6: MouseFest, Wishes at MK
Sun 12/7: Comedy Warehouse
Mon 12/8: Animal Kingdom or Magic Kingdom, Drive home
DAY 1 FRIDAY DECEMBER 5, 2003
Who: Sue, DVC Member
Kathy (Figaro) & Den, my gracious hosts
Leesa, Comedy Warehouse regular
Plan: Work, Drive to Comedy Warehouse
Actual: After a busy day, I was able to leave work at 3 as planned and made good time driving to WDW. Despite what felt like heavier than normal traffic most of the way, I arrived before 6pm. I parked at Downtown Disney and decided to get a beef empanada from Bongos on the West Side, so I walked in that direction first. It wasn't very busy, and I ended up finding a Christmas gift for Tim at one of the shops before returning to Bongos. Once I got in line I realized I really wasn't hungry, and since the guy in front of me had a stinky cigar (usually I don't mind cigars) and the line always moves slowly here, I decided to skip the food and maybe get a latte instead.
I went to the Marketplace and picked up a peppermint chocolate sample at Ghiradelli, then browsed through a few shops. It wasn't terribly busy here, either. At World of Disney they were giving out samples of their colored hot chocolate - pink, blue, or purple. It tastes like ordinary Disney brand hot chocolate no matter which color you get, so I told the guy I didn't care which color he gave me. I got blue - very pretty, but unfortunately the Disney brand of hot chocolate really isn't all that great. It was kind of fun drinking the blue cocoa though <g>. After that I really didn't feel like a latte, figuring I could always get a drink at CW later, so I put Tim's gift in the car (it'll bug the hell out of him reading this but not knowing what it is - hehehe) and found Kathy & Den at the entrance to PI.
It was great seeing them again, and soon a cast member came over and took us in ahead of everyone else, saying we were the honored guests that night. We got our wristbands and they gave us plastic cups with the PI logo and a certificate with our names on it (magical moment). I'd never heard of them doing this, and it was pretty cool. Mostly it was nice beating the crowd <g>. We met up with Leesa, and soon it was time to go inside. Regulars David & Bonnie were there, confused that I wasn't sitting in long row - but for this trip I'll be at the tables on the floor where Kathy's wheelchair sits. When the show started Leesa & I were a little taken aback - these seats are so low & so close - Lisa opened the show and she looked like a freakin' giant, yet from long row she's very petite.
Jamie was on the keys tonight, and the 7:20 cast was Lisa, John, Matt, Mary & Krista. They got a lady named Ann from Texas on the phone to open the show - Kathy, Den & I were wondering if it was an Ann from radp, but I guess if it is, we'll see her tomorrow at the Dolphin. Next Krista rang the bell in Should Have Said, where John was a homeless kid collecting football cards. Mary came in as the mom and Matt as the dad. John wanted to run away from home, but since they were homeless he had no home to run from. Matt kept trying to steal the football card that was worth some money, while Mary & John just wanted Matt to get a job. It was a pretty good scene.
Mary asked for a suggestion and created a 60's song called Blowdryer. It was a weird song - her brother blew on her hair to dry it, and somehow she met a great guy as a result, and now was married. I enjoyed her voice more than the actual lyrics, but it was creative. Styles was next, where the actors have to stay in a certain style of theater, movies, tv or music until given a different one. John called the styles and Krista & Matt created a scene as a couple in Adak, Alaska. She ended up being the wife of his dead brother - but now they were a couple. It was pretty funny - fairly short, slightly raunchy, but fun.
After the show Mary came over and we talked to her for a while. Adie & Lisa tried calling me a couple of times between shows, but the phones kept cutting out. Eventually I got their voice mail and looked for them up in the line outside but didn't see them. Bill (Major Woody) from radp was in line and we exchanged greetings - then I went back downstairs because it was time to go in. He came down to chat once he got seated inside - I enjoyed seeing him again, and didn't expect to until tomorrow!
The 8:15 cast was Matt, Mary, Krista, John & Christine. They opened with a poem called "The kelp is stopping the boat propeller" and did a great job - I was especially curious to see what they were going to rhyme with propeller (feller). Krista directed John & Christine as a couple of candy makers (brother/sister) in a kind of sick but funny scene. John was awaiting the birth of his first child, but had been banned from the hospital for stealing rectal thermometers. He had stored 6 of them in his butt - and did quite a bit of physical humor when he fell to the floor, and later having to sit in the car without causing himself any more pain, lol. He also has seizures whenever anything stressful happens or is said, which is what caused him to fall down. It was strange, but they did a good job - including Matt as their supervisor.
They did the Name Rhyme game next, which felt out of place stuck in the middle of the show (in my opinion). I like it better as the opening number, although it's still enjoyable later in the show. Krista won, and for her prize she was tortured in Cliché. She had to guess she was in the fire dept of Ashville, NY and then figure out "That's the way the mop flops". They did an excellent job giving her clues so she got words that were close to the cliché, but sounded different. Eventually she had it all, but it sounded like gibberish until they worked with her to make sense out of the words. I like when they do that - this way the actor being tortured can't use logic to figure out what the next word(s) might be, so it's more fun for us!
After the show we cleaned up our row for the server, talked to Mary some more, and just enjoyed being there. Den said it was up to me how many shows we were going to see - I figured it was up to them, since I'm just tagging along on their vacation, but neither one of us wanted to leave just yet. I knew Mary was off the next show and then would be back in, and I wanted to stick around for that - so we agreed to stay for the next 2. If only all of life's decisions were this easy!
Before the next show Adie & Lisa had arrived, and came down to where we were and brought me a Christmas gift - biscotti from my favorite Italian market and chocolate from my favorite chocolate shop - both in Ft Lauderdale about 2 hours away from me. Bill came back down to join us again, and it was like being at a party or social event - it was wonderful! Another couple we know from CW came in & were seated next to us, too.
The 9:15 cast was Christine, Philip, Lisa, Matt & Krista. Matt & Krista came out to do Story Telling, and once again it was a good one. They were a couple telling "Indigo Hairbrush". Matt wanted to be a lesbian, in touch with his feminine side and interested in women. He'd been beaten up by lesbians on a recent vacation where he'd go up to them and announce he was a lesbian. It was a funny story! They did Scene Freeze next, which was pretty short, kind of dirty, and also funny. Philip had tanning, Lisa had skiing, Chris had jewelry and Matt had pony - all very wholesome suggestions, but just about anything is conducive to good smut <g>.
Song Cue was next, with Lisa & Philip in Caribou, Maine. He'd bought a hunting vacation package from here and was upset to find there was only 1 caribou in Caribou. That was the beautiful white caribou, played by Krista in a white rabbit jacket and antlers. They sang "Walk away" as an 80's rock & roll song, "The white caribou" as a classical song, and "What am I going to hunt" as a polka. It was very funny, and a good show overall. All night the shows just kept building and getting better, and there were some good audiences as well.
After the show Adie & Lisa stopped by, and Adie used a chocolate Christmas tree lollipop to officially declare Matt a lesbian. He was finally living his dream, lol! I might consider the lesbian lifestyle if they ever allow men to be lesbians - especially if they look like Matt (but older) <g>. Adie & Lisa left to go shopping - that makes sense for Lisa, but no sense for Adie. Oh well, I think she's hoping by not seeing many shows she somehow doesn't have to do a trip report for us, but I set her straight on that before she left the building!
Before the 10:30 show I talked to Sue & Dan from Ft Pierce, who were here for the weekend without Alan & Kelly. It was nice seeing them, too - it had been a while since I talked to them. The show opened with the phone thing and they got a real jerk this time. The person evaded the questions, tried to be funny (& failed miserably). Poor John was trying to get the information, and it was a struggle. Too much time had passed to cut the light out & ring another person, so he continued with these losers. When the cast did the song, they pretty much blasted them - Philip even called the guy an ***. The 10:30 cast was John, Philip, Mary, Matt & Lisa. The rest of the show was Conducted Story, led by Matt. The story was titled "I know how to dive", and as is usually the case the deaths are the best part. The other 4 actors have to tell the story without any hesitation or errors as Matt moves from person to person. Once an actor makes a mistake the audience shouts DIE and they then get suggestions and perform a theatrical death. They do this again with the remaining actors until only 1 is left standing - the winner.
John died first, but I think the audience was just blood thirsty. In my opinion he didn't mess up, and didn't even pause too long - but they killed him anyway. He was a servant polishing spoons (died by spoon). Philip & Matt came in as other servants, and Mary as the master of the house. Philip was hysterical doing pelvic thrusts with a british accent --very weird, but definitely funny to see & hear! Good thing Larry from Scotland wasn't hear to pick up Philip's technique (no offense, Larry - but Brits don't need to be moving like that <g>). Lisa died next, in a Should Have Said death in a jail. She seemed to have trouble getting killed - John died by having his throat slashed by Matt, and it wasn't even his death <g>. Eventually Matt cut Lisa's head off and put her head on John's body - John got up and declared "I'm so pretty". That left Mary & Philip, with Mary telling the story in the style of sci-fi and Philip in the style of a horror movie. Mary started talking and gave the story such a bizarre twist (the lead character scraped his face on the sandy beach and it caused a big glass contact lens to form across his face) that when it passed back to Philip he was speechless just long enough for the audience to yell DIE. He did a techno music death where he died by a poopy diaper in a kitchen. Mary then wrapped up the story in the style of Fill In The Blank, pausing every so often for the audience to yell out a suggestion.
The closing number was about a pet peeve of people who leave their shopping carts in the middle of the aisle. I just about died when Philip made his verse about white trash at Walmart, lol - I absolutely detest that store! We talked to Mary briefly after the show, then stood around talking a bit longer just the 4 of us. John stopped to say hi on his way out, and when we got outside we ran into Adie & Lisa cutting through PI. We paused to talk with them a while before eventually leaving PI. Leesa stuck around for the 12:05 show, but Kathy, Den & I headed to Vistana.
In the dark Vistana looks like a whole big bunch of identical-looking buildings. Most likely during daylight it'll be pretty, but it's impossible to tell in the dark. They've got a 2br/2ba villa on the ground floor in the nice section - at check in the people here tried to put them in the crappy older section but they'd done their research and knew they were supposed to be in this section. The villa is very cute, and pretty spacious. The furnishings & décor are nowhere near the quality of Old Key West, Beach Club Villas, etc - Kathy & Den said the same thing. There's a small but full kitchen, a dining room table that seats 8, good sized living room, and a screened in lanai. This unit is supposed to be ADA accessible, but that turned out to be a joke. Kathy noticed the peep hole was not down low where someone in a wheelchair could use it, and later showed me a number of other things that clearly are NOT accessible even though she's in a very basic wheelchair and can stand/walk short distances.
The bathroom in the 2nd bedroom was better equipped for her, so she & Den took that room - leaving the big master bedroom for me!! I felt bad taking that, but they were right that it makes no sense for them to take it if they can't use that bathroom. The master bedroom has a queen or king bed, chair with ottoman, big 2-person jacuzzi tub surrounded by mirrors, and a shower stall in the bathroom. The jacuzzi is in the bedroom rather than the bathroom. It'll be more than comfortable for my 3 nights here, and it seems very quiet here too. They showed me around the villa and we stood around talking for a while, before retreating to our bedrooms. I made some cappuccino and had a piece of the biscotti from Doris' (yummy). Den had called the front desk and found that local calls were free with no time limit because their reservation was thru RCI, so I'm all set for internet access. I got online and finished up the report, knowing we weren't heading anywhere early tomorrow.
Today was a fanatastic day, and a great start to the trip. I'm so glad I decided to come up when Kathy extended the invitation, as I really enjoyed their company and seeing other friends tonight. I think it's going to be a really fun weekend!
DAY 2 SATURDAY DECEMBER 6, 2003
Who: Sue, DVC Member
Kathy (Figaro) & Den, my gracious hosts
Plan: Mousefest, Wishes at MK (canceled Wishes in favor of Comedy Warehouse)
Actual: I ended being up until almost 3:30 last night, and was sleeping soundly until I heard Tim bellowing from the Nextel across the room. Remind me to turn it down or off tonight <g>! Something about am I freezing my something off up here??? LOL, I told him I didn't know, since I was SLEEPING <g>. Oh well, I'm never in bed at that hour - 8:45 so I wasn't really mad at him. I went out on the lanai - yep, it's cold today! The rest of the villa was dark, so I knew Kathy & Den hadn't gotten up yet.
Last night we'd talked about doing an early lunch at either LeCellier or Chefs de France before the big MouseFest meet, so I called Disney Dining to see what was available. Both were, so I booked Chefs de France for noon today and LeCellier for 12:20 tomorrow. I don't know if we'll actually make it to LeCellier tomorrow, but it's such a pain calling CRO or Disney Dining these days I figured I might as well make it while I had a live person on the phone. I took my shower (water pressure not great, but the shower stall is big enough for 2 people) & got dressed, then went out to make some cappuccino. Soon Kathy & Den were up, and we stood around chatting in the kitchen.
We left Vistana around 10:45 and valet parked at the Boardwalk. It was chilly enough to need my winter jacket, especially with the wind. We walked into Epcot and browsed around the France pavilion before making a loop of World Showcase. Just before noon we got back to France and checked in at the podium for our lunch priority seating. Kathy & Den had never eaten here before - hard to believe! Soon we were seated, and our waiter was very nice. This restaurant is so pretty, and although I don't get here as often as LeCellier, I always enjoy it. We shared the goat cheese & tomato tart, which was more like a flatbread pizza rather than the tart they had at the Food & Wine Festival. I like the festival version better, but this was good - and plenty for the 3 of us. For my lunch I got the onion soup; Kathy & Den each got the chicken crepe with goat cheese & other stuff in there. Everything was excellent, and nobody had room for any dessert.
By now it was 1pm, and time for the big MouseFest meet at the Dolphin. We walked over there, past the Beach & Yacht Club Resorts, and soon found the group. I was impressed & amazed - there were hundreds of people (I think they said 500) here and it was organized like a well-run convention. They had several of the guidebook authors in one part of the room, and several webmasters on the other side. Photos were taken, gift bags were passed out, name tags completed, and everyone was so friendly. I saw some people I knew would be here, and was happy to meet so many others who came up to me saying they'd hoped to meet me. I don't dare try to list everyone, as I'd be afraid of inadvertently missing someone - but I enjoyed talking to each person.
It was fun seeing some people I'd met before, like Shontell Crawford, Lori, & James from DVC, and old friends like Bill, John, & John the Larger. The lady on the phone at CW last night was in fact Ann from radp, and I got to meet her and chat for a little while. I was excited to see Deb Wills across the room and even more thrilled when she saw me, pointed & shouted that SHE wanted to meet me, lol! Sadly I missed Brian Bennett, who was the guy who brought me into MousePlanet, but I did get to meet Mike Scopa, whose column runs on MousePlanet on the Fridays mine does not. I also met the famous (and not very evil-seeming) Paragon, but didn't realize it until an hour later. Lori I'd met before - she's a new Comedy Warehouse fan, but Adventurer's Club is her real home. She was telling me how great Karl was over there, and she hates to see him at CW because the Adventurer's Club is where he really shines. I agreed with her - Adventurer's Club is clearly where he excels, doing a terrific job, and looking a lot more comfortable than onstage at CW.
After a couple of hours of talking to people, receiving gifts, posing for photos, and accepting an invitation to a wine & cheese party at the Boardwalk Grand Villa tomorrow night (pre-Comedy Warehouse), it was time for the LIB ceremony. LIB is the Loin Inspectors Board. Basically, men whose loins are worthy of display can be nominated (by men or women) to have their loins registered. They receive a certificate, and one day may get beaded, as they work their way up the loins ladder of distinction. Years ago I'd thought about applying when they were looking for more LIB inspectors, but chickened out. It's not that I don't like good slutty fun, but I knew the inspectors presented certificates to people outside of the annual ceremony, and I didn't want to risk having to present any of the guys at the Comedy Warehouse with a paper saying their loins were worthy of being displayed <g>. I was laughing with John the Larger (who prefers to be called John the Taller these days) that his LIB certificate was a bit risque since they used the name "John the Larger" - a little innuendo there. John might choose not to share this award with his church group <g>. The ceremony was good clean fun, and there wasn't any actual displaying of loins (darn it!). Den received his certificate, so Kathy will need to continue with regular inspections <g>.
We were fading at that point - so we walked back to the Boardwalk, got the car from valet, and drove back to Vistana. During the day this place is confusing. Every building looks the same, and of course we got lost finding our villa. Everything's much more crammed in than at OKW, too - it's not a spacious neighborhood at all. It's pretty, and if I didn't have DVC I might like it, but there's no comparison between the 2 in my opinion.
Back in the villa we had some of the strawberry orange juice I'd brought up, and started feeling each other out for how badly anyone wanted to see Wishes tonight. LOL, between the cold weather and the fact that the MK will be absolutely mobbed, it was a unanimous decision to change the plan and skip it this trip. We'll all be back again soon, so it's not like this was our only chance to see it. Den was grinning and suggested maybe we should go to Comedy Warehouse, so that's what we'll do - twist my arm <g>!
We all just relaxed a while, then Kathy made sandwiches for their dinner (I wasn't hungry, but I had some cappuccino with them). Patty called & I talked to her for a while, but it doesn't look like we'll see each other tonight. We left about 6:30 and drove over to Downtown Disney. In honor of Adie & Lisa I wore my lesbian boots tonight - but also because they'd be warmer than sneakers in this cold weather!
Parking at Downtown Disney was a nightmare! We circled the usual lot & found nothing, went to the next one & found nothing, went back to the first one and still found nothing - eventually ending up by Planet Hollywood. I'll be glad when things get back to normal, as this really sucks! The line at the turnstiles was very long, and they had just one of them open again, opening a 2nd one just as it was finally our turn. Tracy & Tyger were in line a couple people ahead of us, so I went to see them. When I got back, I found Cis, Kerri & Leigh (with Doug & Nat) were in line a little behind us. Once we got inside I saw Adie & Lisa already in line at CW - talked to them briefly, then I went down to the back door with Kathy & Den. I was surprised to not see Leesa there, but perhaps the cold weather kept her home tonight?
Once we were seated I talked to Kelly & Alan from Ft Pierce, who were seated in long row, then went up to the Fortress people's row until the show started. Jamie was on the keys again tonight. The 7:20 cast was Krista, Philip, John, Chris & Lisa. They opened with the phone thing and got a nice, ordinary person who simply answered the questions and let the cast create a funny song. How refreshing to not have someone trying to upstage the actors! They did Fill in the Blank with 2 audience volunteers, and one of them was Cis. Lisa & John were in a Krispy Kreme shop, with Philip coming in as a worker. John had embezzled money so they couldn't afford the regular fillings and were using monkey brains in the donuts. It was silly but funny - especially when John tapped Cis and she said "eyes" with her Alabama accent. John was taken aback because he thought she said "***" and changed it to donkey. The others told him about it backstage, and he was cool about it after the show <g>.
Krista came out to sing a Forgotten Song called "A Llama Christmas" about a humpless camel. Like last night with Mary's song, the singing was great, but the lyrics were secondary. Next they did a structure I haven't seen in a while, and almost always hated. Chris & Philip started a scene about brushing teeth, which transformed into several different physical actions/scenes before finally returning to brushing teeth to end. They each had some very funny lines, but overall I still didn't like it - it's just not entertaining enough & seems like a waste of their talent.
I chatted with Krista for a little while before heading outside to join the others. We talked to the Fortress gang and Tracy & Tyger, who were all leaving to go different places. Once we went back inside Sue & Dan from Ft Pierce were seated next to us - with Sue in a wheelchair! She'd had an accident at the Magic Kingdom today, and fell off a curb - ouch!
The 8:15 cast was Krista, Karl, Christine, Philip & John. They opened with a poem called "I had a cramp", and did a great job with it. Song Cue was next, with Krista & Christine working in the Pittsburg Pirates' baseball stadium. Philip came in as the very funny gay owner of the team or a skybox or something. I wasn't real clear on that, but it didn't matter. They sang a pop song called "Who threw that at my skybox", a rap song called "You're just as guilty as me", and a country song called "Damn". The scene was pretty good, and the country song was very funny. They also did Actor's Nightmare, where 3 actors read only lines from 3 unrelated plays, while Philip (it was his nightmare) has to make all of those lines plus the setting make sense. They were in a vet's office, where Philip had just started working. It was very funny - Philip did an excellent job creating the scene.
After the show I talked to Christine for a while, until the doors opened again. The 9:15 cast was Karl, Krista, Lisa, Philip & Joy. They did Emotions, which I almost always enjoy. Karl & Joy created a scene in a laundromat - he'd just moved out of his parents' house at age 35 <g>. They each had to continue the scene while rotating through various positive and negative emotions called by Lisa & Philip, and it was a lot of fun!
They did Holiday Forgotten Songs. Karl came out as Roy Disney to sing a song he'd written to go along with the letter he'd recently written - the song was called "Michael Eisner stole my Christmas". Philip & Joy were grandparents with 53 grandkids singing "Do I have to buy a gift for them?" and Krista came out with a big hair wig to sing "I've been sneaking around with Santa" until Lisa came out as Mrs Claus and shot her! Krista said Santa really wasn't all that great, but "what can you expect from a man in a red suit who only comes once a year", lol!
They did Scene Freeze next, which was also funny & fast-paced. Lisa had power washer, Philip had celebration (the town), Karl had furrier, and Krista had washing machine. It was a fun show, and we were all glad we decided to come here tonight instead of the Magic Kingdom! I talked to Joy after the show, said goodnight to the Ft Pierce family outside, then Kathy, Den & I left PI. We managed to get back to Vistana and find the villa without getting lost this time <g>. After discussing plans for tomorrow, we called it a night. I finished up the report & got online for a while, determined to get to bed earlier than yesterday.
We had a great day today. I'm enjoying Kathy & Den's company, lunch was delicious, and the MouseFest event was so much fun! It was a great opportunity to see so many old friends and meet some new faces to go along with the screen names. The weather was cold, but it wasn't horrible, and it was nice seeing so many friends & good shows at the Comedy Warehouse instead of being trapped in a mob at the chilly Magic Kingdom tonight!
DAY 3 SUNDAY DECEMBER 7, 2003
Who: Sue, DVC Member
Kathy (Figaro) & Den, my gracious hosts
Plan: Comedy Warehouse
Actual: Today should be a really great day, with many more things to do than what was in the original plan - lunch at my favorite restaurant, seeing one of my favorite friends, and attending a wine/cheese party in a BW grand villa before my last night at Comedy Warehouse for this trip.
I woke up around 7:30 but didn't get up until 8. The weather said it was 38 degrees outside, so I wasn't going anywhere until it warmed up considerably! After my shower I got online and just hung out in my room. Breakfast was cappuccino and biscotti, with a little piece of Kathy's delicious pumpkin bread (couldn't resist). I spent the morning chatting with Kathy (the other one - the silverback slut), catching up on mail & messages and waiting for it to warm up a bit outside. When Kathy & Den got up they came in to chat for a while, wondering what was going on at radp (not much since so many people are here <g>). They had a little breakfast, and I went out to sit with them. We got to talking & lost track of time - it was 11:45 and we had a priority seating at 12:20 at LeCellier!
We ran out of the villa and drove to Boardwalk in separate cars. Just as I climbed to the top of the hill Kathy & Den were pulling up to the valet parking, so we raced into Epcot together. Believe it or not, we drove from Vistana, parked, walked to Epcot, got thru security, and walked to LeCellier in 30 minutes - we arrived at 12:15 for our 12:20 lunch! We were seated fairly quickly, and had a great lunch. We all had the chateau st michelle riesling, then I had the soup, Kathy had the grilled chicken caesar and Den had the steakburger. Everything was great, and we enjoyed having a leisurely lunch with lots of conversation. After the wine came a lady came over to introduce herself to me - Peggy Sue from the dvctalk list! We've exchanged emails and both did a HAL cruise this summer, but we'd never met. She saw me come in and told her husband she thought it was me, but if she orders white wine, eats a pretzel stick & has cheese soup it's got to be Sue Holland! Once the wine & pretzel was confirmed, she came on over <g>. We had a nice chat, and it was such a pleasure to meet her finally.
After lunch we walked around World Showcase, and when we got back to International Gateway I headed out while Kathy & Den stayed in the park. I drove over to Kathy's ("my" Kathy - the silverback slut) office and visited with her during her lunch break. It's always great seeing her, and I'm thrilled she's doing so well these days. We had a fun but short visit until she had to get back to her job so she wouldn't be considered late. She's still working for DCL and the company tracks the cast members time very closely - I'm glad in my job I don't have to worry about that, but my job has plenty of other headaches <g>.
I drove back to Vistana and relaxed online for a while. Maria was asking me about my thoughts on Vistana (she stayed here once) and I realized I hadn't been out to really see it at all. When she got offline I decided to take a walk, being very careful not to get lost since I didn't have a map and this place all looks alike! I found our building is right next to 2 pools and 2 recreation buildings. The pools both looked nice, and one rec building had a full fitness center upstairs - very nice! Had I known this, I could have worked out during the past 2 days instead of doing nothing, and tomorrow I'll stop on the way home to workout at my place. They've got a room with pool tables, a tanning salon, sauna, massage room, arcades, a restaurant, and little store. I was impressed!
When I got back to the villa Kathy & Den had returned. We left for the wine & cheese party at the Boardwalk shortly after 6. Kathy had mentioned this morning that she read the event tonight was "resort casual" and I was very glad I'd brought something other than jeans to wear today! We valet parked at the Boardwalk and went inside where someone was waiting to check my name off the guest list and give us the room number of the grand villa. There were quite a few people there already, and it got quite crowded for a while. Kathy & Den had never seen one before, so I took them through it before it got too crowded. They were very impressed with how much more accessible this non-accessible grand villa was compared to the accessible villa they have in Vistana - go figure! The villa overlooked the Boardwalk, and everything looked like it was in great shape.
There were a couple of waiters serving wine and replenishing the food. The dining room table was attractively draped and had platters of fruit, cheese, and crackers/bread, along with a beautiful floral arrangement. Snacks were located in other areas as well, including the master bathroom <g>. It was good seeing Shontell again, and we agreed to make time to have lunch again soon since it's been a while. I got to talk to Deb Wills again, which was very nice, and spent time with Kitty & Rocky - both very nice people from radp. Laura & Lee had just arrived from California, and I was glad to meet them since I've enjoyed their trip reports for years. It was good seeing John Hayes again, and all of the other people I met or talked to again.
Both here and at yesterday's event I really enjoyed talking to the many people who wanted to share their thoughts on the Comedy Warehouse, after trying it due to reading about it in my reports for so long. The Adventurer Club fans are such a die-hard group, for me to be able to get any of them out of there to try Comedy Warehouse is quite an achievement - but I was never trying to lure anyone into CW! At the events I consistently heard high praise for the actors at CW, with people being amazed the cast is able to create such funny scenes, songs, etc so quickly and so well night after night. I agree - the cast is incredibly talented and if they didn't do such an excellent job I certainly wouldn't make all these trips to spend so many nights there. When I say in a report that a show or scene was just ok, or not that great, please keep in mind I'm most likely more critical than the average person because I've seen so many truly great scenes/songs at CW in the past.
That said, we eventually left the grand villa, after filling my wine glass one last time with a great pinot grigio. Everyone got a wineglass to keep, printed with the event name & date, and the 2 sponsor names - it was very nice, and a great idea! When we were waiting for the valet to bring the car up a woman spoke to me - it was Sue from Small World Travel. We'd emailed a few times years ago, and she knows several of my friends from fortress. It was fun meeting her.
We drove to Downtown Disney and found a parking spot pretty easily tonight. I let the cm at the Comedy Warehouse door know we were here, and which shows we planned to attend, then headed down to wait at the back door. Tonight Carol Stein was on the keys, and she stopped to chat before the show. The 9:15 cast was Joy, Philip, John, Jake & Christine. They opened with the Name Rhyme game, which was a great start. Jake won, so he directed the others in an Andrew Lloyd Weber musical set in a taxidermy shop, pausing to get ideas from the audience. It was called "Stuffed Turtle". John was a turtle who was killed while on his way to the mall to meet his date. Christine was the driver of the car that killed him, and Philip & Joy worked in the taxidermy shop. Later John was back as the female turtle waiting at the mall, and Christine felt so guilty she gave her winning lottery ticket prize to him. He used it for a bus ride to the Galapagus Islands. Overall it was a funny scene, but sadly it was the end of the good portion of the show. From here it took a dive and never recovered.
They did Schmeopardy, which has great potential but when it sucks it can really suck badly. Christine was host, and her character was just ok. John was a kindergarten teacher named Reese Ess (clever name), and he had some funny lines but not enough to save the scene. Philip also tried, as an alpaca farmer named Bob. Joy was a fish peddler named Trina - she spoke kind of softly and frankly I just didn't "get" whatever her character was supposed to be doing. There were lots of really bad puns all around, and it seemed to take forever to end. The closing song felt really rushed, as if they couldn't wait to get off the stage and start fresh next show, but most likely they were simply running out of time. It was a disappointing ending, but I knew they wouldn't let it affect the next show.
After the show a guests was being worked on by some paramedics. Evidently the guest had a food allergy yet ate at a restaurant that specializes in the food they're allergic to - not the smartest choice one can make! I was just glad it was a guest and not anyone who works at CW. Adie & Lisa came down before the next show - they'd just arrived for this show to bring something they had for Carol Stein. The 10:30 cast was Mary, John, Brian, Jake & Joy. John opened the show with the phone interview and got the worst drunken idiots I think I've ever seen here. It was a row of 7 or 8 nurses, and besides screaming they didn't have much to say. It took him a long time, but finally the 3rd person was willing/able to answer the damn questions. I felt awful for him - but he handled it well. When the cast created the song they were not exactly flattering to these idiots, which was pretty funny.
Jake called different styles of music, movies, theater & tv in a scene were Mary & Brian were on the moon. I don't recall exactly what they did, but did write down there were several clever comments but the scene was a little slow - not bad, but not great. Next they did Cliché, torturing John in a firehouse. The cliché was one I'd seen and written down for a night when they weren't able to get one from any other guest - "You are slower than a herd of turtles stampeding through peanut butter." Because it was long they made the clues easier than the night before, but it was still a struggle for John to figure it out because it's tough to remember so many words. It was very funny, and they did an excellent job. Overall it was a good show.
Adie & Lisa gave Carol her gift, then we talked for a little while before they left for the night. They were surprised I was sticking around for the 12:05 show because I generally hate that one (too late, audience sometimes too drunk). Since it was my last night and I knew Mary would be working the late show I figured what the hell - I'll skip Magic Kingdom in the morning and stick around to see her show tonight instead. Kathy & Den were agreeable - they're so easy going! Plus, they love Comedy Warehouse <g>.
We waited at the back door, and Mary came out to visit for a while before the final show - always nice to talk to her. Soon we headed inside for the final show. The 12:05 cast was Mary, Philip, Joy, Jake & Brian. Joy directed Philip & Jake doing nothing in a restaurant kitchen. Philip was Chef Bob and Jake was his stalker. It was a pretty funny scene. Jake led the others in a Madrigal, which wasn't as good as usual. The tabloid headlines were "Michael Eisner plans world domination", "Universal buys Disney", "Lisa Marie Presley knocked up by BigFoot", and "Nostradamus predicts end of world". Even when it's not a great Madrigal, this structure is still enjoyable, and fun to listen to.
Next they did Scene Freeze. Mary had "making someone fart" (thanks to a classy guy seated in front of us), Jake had Mark Twain, Brian had Kwanza, and Joy had Order of the Phoenix. With the fart suggestion, there wasn't any way to avoid a bunch of fart humor, and I was glad the audience was pretty small & sober! They closed doing All Right Now about Kathy's story of when she thought she was at a wine tasting and drank 4 shots of scotch. She doesn't drink much, and the 4 shots did her in for the rest of the day - it ended up being scotch in the wine glasses. Brian kept telling her she was a lightweight, lol.
After the show Kathy & Den talked to Jake & Brian briefly, then Mary came out to say goodbye. We headed back to Vistana, and we sat around talking until well past 2 a.m. They seem to read people really well, and I enjoyed their insights & perspective. I finished writing up the report and read my email, but decided to not post the report until later Monday. Day 4 should be really short, so I'll post the 2 days together.
Today was another great day. I know I always say that, but it's true! Every day up here is always wonderful, and it's got nothing to do with the theme parks <g>. I haven't done a single ride or attraction this trip, and don't plan to tomorrow. I'm really glad I got to see Silverback Slut Kathy, and the wine/cheese party was excellent. I also enjoyed my last day with Kathy & Den, and will be sorry to leave in the morning - they've been great hosts and I am thankful they invited me up.
DAY 4 MONDAY DECEMBER 8, 2003
Who: Sue, DVC Member
Plan: Animal Kingdom or Magic Kingdom, Drive home
Actual: It was another late night (after 3:30), so I didn't really care what time I'd wake up. I heard the people upstairs yelling to each other around 7, but fell back asleep & didn't wake up again until work called at 9:30. Yikes - that was much later than I wanted to get up, but that's life. I took my shower & got dressed, had some cappuccino & biscotti, then loaded up the car and drove to Premium Outlets for a quick visit.
It wasn't very busy, but I only stopped long enough to visit Character Premiere, where I only bought something for Chris. Since it was fairly late I decided to head home instead of doing any more shopping, so I was on the road by 11:30 or so. The drive back was uneventful, but so friggin' long & boring! I'm glad it's almost 3 weeks until I come back up, because I dread having to make the drive & put the miles on my car - but it's the only reasonable way to get up there and that's where I want to be <g>. I stopped to workout on the way home, then Chris took my car down to the carwash while I unpacked (it's the only way he gets to drive it) & finished up the report.
I've got a lot of photos from Comedy Warehouse, and I'll put some of them into an album and get the link sent out to the CW list during the next day or two. If anyone doesn't get those invitations and wants one, just let me know.
SUMMARY
I had a wonderful time this weekend, from start to finish. I'd previously only spent time with Kathy & Den a few nights at Comedy Warehouse during a couple of trips over the past 2 years, yet they invited me to come up and stay in their villa. It was very nice of them, and I enjoyed getting to know them better, although I knew they were terrific people. We ended up spending most of our time together, and it worked out great!
Other highlights include the MouseFest meet/greet on Saturday. Wow - I was impressed at the size of the gathering, how well organized it all was, and how wonderful everyone there was. I don't do the chats on any of the internet forums, so I thought I might not really "belong", but so many people came up to talk to me I felt instantly comfortable. It was a treat to meet Deb Wills finally, whose website I consider the best for Disney World information - and it was a kick to find she was equally excited to meet me, lol!
The Wine & Cheese Party was a first class event - no surprise, since Shontell played a big part in that. I love the souvenir wine glass, and use it often (not because I'm a wino, but because it's so special <g>).
Comedy Warehouse was lots of fun, and I really enjoyed spending a little time with many different people in the cast and friends who were in the audience for each show. The people there work hard to entertain us, and it's just a very comfortable & enjoyable place for me to be.
Meeting so many old friends and new faces was also a big part of the fun this trip, as always. I didn't really have time for the parks, but they'll be there on future trips so I didn't care. My next trip will likely have very little park time as well, since I'm not interested in fighting the crowds & long lines to ride any attractions, and I remember how awful it is during that week. I'll hit some favorite restaurants, some Comedy Warehouse shows, and spend time with friends who'll be visiting. At this point I'll start my trip either Dec 29 or 30, which will probably be here before I know it!
Until next time - thanks for reading, and best wishes for a Happy Holiday season.
Sue Holland
Time of Year: Holiday
Travel Method: Personal Car
Resort: Offsite
Accommodations: 2BR Condo
Ages Represented in Group: Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Veteran, DVC Member
Comments: Consecutive long weekends at Walt Disney World? There's nothing wrong with that, and definitely nothing suprising in it when it's Sue Holland. And what better excuse than a nice place to stay, visiting friends, and a big gathering of the Internet Disney community?
Sue Holland -- December 2003 – Walt Disney World (Offsite)
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/When/Where
Who
Sue (me), DVC member
Kathy (Figaro) & Den, my gracious hosts
Appearances by:
Leesa, Comedy Warehouse regular
Dates: December 5 - 8, 2003
INTRODUCTION
Originally I didn't have a trip planned for this weekend, and had no desire to make the drive so soon after the last trip (6 days ago). But, Kathy & Den are friends I usually get to see when our fall trips overlap and this year they had to move their trip to the first week of December. I was disappointed to miss them, but then Kathy wrote saying the friends they were supposed to travel with had backed out and she & Den offered the 2nd bedroom/bathroom to me if I could make another trip. There's no way I could take a week off from work but I did want to see them, so I decided to come up for a long weekend. I work enough hours per day to get my 80 hours in during the 2-week period even with taking a day off, so it won't really "cost" me any vacation time. I've driven past Vistana Resort and it looks very nice, so it'll be fun to stay there this time - although it will be strange to be staying offsite!
The only definite plans we made are for Comedy Warehouse Friday & Sunday, and to attend the big MouseFest event at the Dolphin Saturday afternoon. That should be a lot of fun, with many friends and several people I've "known" but never met in person. Some of my friends from Fortress will also be at WDW this weekend, so hopefully I'll see them at some point too. Kathy & Den & I hope to see the new Wishes fireworks at the Magic Kingdom Saturday night, but if it's really only going to be 40 degrees it's possible we might rethink that. So nobody is confused, this Kathy is not the Kathy who's been in several of my earlier reports. They both happen to use a wheelchair to get around, and they're both exceptionally nice/fun, but they're 2 different people. Hopefully I'll see "my" Kathy sometime this trip, but most of the time the Kathy in this report will be "Figaro" Kathy.
It's possible this report won't be posted as "live" as usual. I think Vistana might be operated by Starwood, and if so, they have an anal policy where they charge per minute for local calls if you're on for over an hour. Plus, I don't want to tie up the line when it's not my villa - so we'll have to see how it all plays out.
The plans (subject to change) so far...
Fri 12/5: Work, Comedy Warehouse
Sat 12/6: MouseFest, Wishes at MK
Sun 12/7: Comedy Warehouse
Mon 12/8: Animal Kingdom or Magic Kingdom, Drive home
DAY 1 FRIDAY DECEMBER 5, 2003
Who: Sue, DVC Member
Kathy (Figaro) & Den, my gracious hosts
Leesa, Comedy Warehouse regular
Plan: Work, Drive to Comedy Warehouse
Actual: After a busy day, I was able to leave work at 3 as planned and made good time driving to WDW. Despite what felt like heavier than normal traffic most of the way, I arrived before 6pm. I parked at Downtown Disney and decided to get a beef empanada from Bongos on the West Side, so I walked in that direction first. It wasn't very busy, and I ended up finding a Christmas gift for Tim at one of the shops before returning to Bongos. Once I got in line I realized I really wasn't hungry, and since the guy in front of me had a stinky cigar (usually I don't mind cigars) and the line always moves slowly here, I decided to skip the food and maybe get a latte instead.
I went to the Marketplace and picked up a peppermint chocolate sample at Ghiradelli, then browsed through a few shops. It wasn't terribly busy here, either. At World of Disney they were giving out samples of their colored hot chocolate - pink, blue, or purple. It tastes like ordinary Disney brand hot chocolate no matter which color you get, so I told the guy I didn't care which color he gave me. I got blue - very pretty, but unfortunately the Disney brand of hot chocolate really isn't all that great. It was kind of fun drinking the blue cocoa though <g>. After that I really didn't feel like a latte, figuring I could always get a drink at CW later, so I put Tim's gift in the car (it'll bug the hell out of him reading this but not knowing what it is - hehehe) and found Kathy & Den at the entrance to PI.
It was great seeing them again, and soon a cast member came over and took us in ahead of everyone else, saying we were the honored guests that night. We got our wristbands and they gave us plastic cups with the PI logo and a certificate with our names on it (magical moment). I'd never heard of them doing this, and it was pretty cool. Mostly it was nice beating the crowd <g>. We met up with Leesa, and soon it was time to go inside. Regulars David & Bonnie were there, confused that I wasn't sitting in long row - but for this trip I'll be at the tables on the floor where Kathy's wheelchair sits. When the show started Leesa & I were a little taken aback - these seats are so low & so close - Lisa opened the show and she looked like a freakin' giant, yet from long row she's very petite.
Jamie was on the keys tonight, and the 7:20 cast was Lisa, John, Matt, Mary & Krista. They got a lady named Ann from Texas on the phone to open the show - Kathy, Den & I were wondering if it was an Ann from radp, but I guess if it is, we'll see her tomorrow at the Dolphin. Next Krista rang the bell in Should Have Said, where John was a homeless kid collecting football cards. Mary came in as the mom and Matt as the dad. John wanted to run away from home, but since they were homeless he had no home to run from. Matt kept trying to steal the football card that was worth some money, while Mary & John just wanted Matt to get a job. It was a pretty good scene.
Mary asked for a suggestion and created a 60's song called Blowdryer. It was a weird song - her brother blew on her hair to dry it, and somehow she met a great guy as a result, and now was married. I enjoyed her voice more than the actual lyrics, but it was creative. Styles was next, where the actors have to stay in a certain style of theater, movies, tv or music until given a different one. John called the styles and Krista & Matt created a scene as a couple in Adak, Alaska. She ended up being the wife of his dead brother - but now they were a couple. It was pretty funny - fairly short, slightly raunchy, but fun.
After the show Mary came over and we talked to her for a while. Adie & Lisa tried calling me a couple of times between shows, but the phones kept cutting out. Eventually I got their voice mail and looked for them up in the line outside but didn't see them. Bill (Major Woody) from radp was in line and we exchanged greetings - then I went back downstairs because it was time to go in. He came down to chat once he got seated inside - I enjoyed seeing him again, and didn't expect to until tomorrow!
The 8:15 cast was Matt, Mary, Krista, John & Christine. They opened with a poem called "The kelp is stopping the boat propeller" and did a great job - I was especially curious to see what they were going to rhyme with propeller (feller). Krista directed John & Christine as a couple of candy makers (brother/sister) in a kind of sick but funny scene. John was awaiting the birth of his first child, but had been banned from the hospital for stealing rectal thermometers. He had stored 6 of them in his butt - and did quite a bit of physical humor when he fell to the floor, and later having to sit in the car without causing himself any more pain, lol. He also has seizures whenever anything stressful happens or is said, which is what caused him to fall down. It was strange, but they did a good job - including Matt as their supervisor.
They did the Name Rhyme game next, which felt out of place stuck in the middle of the show (in my opinion). I like it better as the opening number, although it's still enjoyable later in the show. Krista won, and for her prize she was tortured in Cliché. She had to guess she was in the fire dept of Ashville, NY and then figure out "That's the way the mop flops". They did an excellent job giving her clues so she got words that were close to the cliché, but sounded different. Eventually she had it all, but it sounded like gibberish until they worked with her to make sense out of the words. I like when they do that - this way the actor being tortured can't use logic to figure out what the next word(s) might be, so it's more fun for us!
After the show we cleaned up our row for the server, talked to Mary some more, and just enjoyed being there. Den said it was up to me how many shows we were going to see - I figured it was up to them, since I'm just tagging along on their vacation, but neither one of us wanted to leave just yet. I knew Mary was off the next show and then would be back in, and I wanted to stick around for that - so we agreed to stay for the next 2. If only all of life's decisions were this easy!
Before the next show Adie & Lisa had arrived, and came down to where we were and brought me a Christmas gift - biscotti from my favorite Italian market and chocolate from my favorite chocolate shop - both in Ft Lauderdale about 2 hours away from me. Bill came back down to join us again, and it was like being at a party or social event - it was wonderful! Another couple we know from CW came in & were seated next to us, too.
The 9:15 cast was Christine, Philip, Lisa, Matt & Krista. Matt & Krista came out to do Story Telling, and once again it was a good one. They were a couple telling "Indigo Hairbrush". Matt wanted to be a lesbian, in touch with his feminine side and interested in women. He'd been beaten up by lesbians on a recent vacation where he'd go up to them and announce he was a lesbian. It was a funny story! They did Scene Freeze next, which was pretty short, kind of dirty, and also funny. Philip had tanning, Lisa had skiing, Chris had jewelry and Matt had pony - all very wholesome suggestions, but just about anything is conducive to good smut <g>.
Song Cue was next, with Lisa & Philip in Caribou, Maine. He'd bought a hunting vacation package from here and was upset to find there was only 1 caribou in Caribou. That was the beautiful white caribou, played by Krista in a white rabbit jacket and antlers. They sang "Walk away" as an 80's rock & roll song, "The white caribou" as a classical song, and "What am I going to hunt" as a polka. It was very funny, and a good show overall. All night the shows just kept building and getting better, and there were some good audiences as well.
After the show Adie & Lisa stopped by, and Adie used a chocolate Christmas tree lollipop to officially declare Matt a lesbian. He was finally living his dream, lol! I might consider the lesbian lifestyle if they ever allow men to be lesbians - especially if they look like Matt (but older) <g>. Adie & Lisa left to go shopping - that makes sense for Lisa, but no sense for Adie. Oh well, I think she's hoping by not seeing many shows she somehow doesn't have to do a trip report for us, but I set her straight on that before she left the building!
Before the 10:30 show I talked to Sue & Dan from Ft Pierce, who were here for the weekend without Alan & Kelly. It was nice seeing them, too - it had been a while since I talked to them. The show opened with the phone thing and they got a real jerk this time. The person evaded the questions, tried to be funny (& failed miserably). Poor John was trying to get the information, and it was a struggle. Too much time had passed to cut the light out & ring another person, so he continued with these losers. When the cast did the song, they pretty much blasted them - Philip even called the guy an ***. The 10:30 cast was John, Philip, Mary, Matt & Lisa. The rest of the show was Conducted Story, led by Matt. The story was titled "I know how to dive", and as is usually the case the deaths are the best part. The other 4 actors have to tell the story without any hesitation or errors as Matt moves from person to person. Once an actor makes a mistake the audience shouts DIE and they then get suggestions and perform a theatrical death. They do this again with the remaining actors until only 1 is left standing - the winner.
John died first, but I think the audience was just blood thirsty. In my opinion he didn't mess up, and didn't even pause too long - but they killed him anyway. He was a servant polishing spoons (died by spoon). Philip & Matt came in as other servants, and Mary as the master of the house. Philip was hysterical doing pelvic thrusts with a british accent --very weird, but definitely funny to see & hear! Good thing Larry from Scotland wasn't hear to pick up Philip's technique (no offense, Larry - but Brits don't need to be moving like that <g>). Lisa died next, in a Should Have Said death in a jail. She seemed to have trouble getting killed - John died by having his throat slashed by Matt, and it wasn't even his death <g>. Eventually Matt cut Lisa's head off and put her head on John's body - John got up and declared "I'm so pretty". That left Mary & Philip, with Mary telling the story in the style of sci-fi and Philip in the style of a horror movie. Mary started talking and gave the story such a bizarre twist (the lead character scraped his face on the sandy beach and it caused a big glass contact lens to form across his face) that when it passed back to Philip he was speechless just long enough for the audience to yell DIE. He did a techno music death where he died by a poopy diaper in a kitchen. Mary then wrapped up the story in the style of Fill In The Blank, pausing every so often for the audience to yell out a suggestion.
The closing number was about a pet peeve of people who leave their shopping carts in the middle of the aisle. I just about died when Philip made his verse about white trash at Walmart, lol - I absolutely detest that store! We talked to Mary briefly after the show, then stood around talking a bit longer just the 4 of us. John stopped to say hi on his way out, and when we got outside we ran into Adie & Lisa cutting through PI. We paused to talk with them a while before eventually leaving PI. Leesa stuck around for the 12:05 show, but Kathy, Den & I headed to Vistana.
In the dark Vistana looks like a whole big bunch of identical-looking buildings. Most likely during daylight it'll be pretty, but it's impossible to tell in the dark. They've got a 2br/2ba villa on the ground floor in the nice section - at check in the people here tried to put them in the crappy older section but they'd done their research and knew they were supposed to be in this section. The villa is very cute, and pretty spacious. The furnishings & décor are nowhere near the quality of Old Key West, Beach Club Villas, etc - Kathy & Den said the same thing. There's a small but full kitchen, a dining room table that seats 8, good sized living room, and a screened in lanai. This unit is supposed to be ADA accessible, but that turned out to be a joke. Kathy noticed the peep hole was not down low where someone in a wheelchair could use it, and later showed me a number of other things that clearly are NOT accessible even though she's in a very basic wheelchair and can stand/walk short distances.
The bathroom in the 2nd bedroom was better equipped for her, so she & Den took that room - leaving the big master bedroom for me!! I felt bad taking that, but they were right that it makes no sense for them to take it if they can't use that bathroom. The master bedroom has a queen or king bed, chair with ottoman, big 2-person jacuzzi tub surrounded by mirrors, and a shower stall in the bathroom. The jacuzzi is in the bedroom rather than the bathroom. It'll be more than comfortable for my 3 nights here, and it seems very quiet here too. They showed me around the villa and we stood around talking for a while, before retreating to our bedrooms. I made some cappuccino and had a piece of the biscotti from Doris' (yummy). Den had called the front desk and found that local calls were free with no time limit because their reservation was thru RCI, so I'm all set for internet access. I got online and finished up the report, knowing we weren't heading anywhere early tomorrow.
Today was a fanatastic day, and a great start to the trip. I'm so glad I decided to come up when Kathy extended the invitation, as I really enjoyed their company and seeing other friends tonight. I think it's going to be a really fun weekend!
DAY 2 SATURDAY DECEMBER 6, 2003
Who: Sue, DVC Member
Kathy (Figaro) & Den, my gracious hosts
Plan: Mousefest, Wishes at MK (canceled Wishes in favor of Comedy Warehouse)
Actual: I ended being up until almost 3:30 last night, and was sleeping soundly until I heard Tim bellowing from the Nextel across the room. Remind me to turn it down or off tonight <g>! Something about am I freezing my something off up here??? LOL, I told him I didn't know, since I was SLEEPING <g>. Oh well, I'm never in bed at that hour - 8:45 so I wasn't really mad at him. I went out on the lanai - yep, it's cold today! The rest of the villa was dark, so I knew Kathy & Den hadn't gotten up yet.
Last night we'd talked about doing an early lunch at either LeCellier or Chefs de France before the big MouseFest meet, so I called Disney Dining to see what was available. Both were, so I booked Chefs de France for noon today and LeCellier for 12:20 tomorrow. I don't know if we'll actually make it to LeCellier tomorrow, but it's such a pain calling CRO or Disney Dining these days I figured I might as well make it while I had a live person on the phone. I took my shower (water pressure not great, but the shower stall is big enough for 2 people) & got dressed, then went out to make some cappuccino. Soon Kathy & Den were up, and we stood around chatting in the kitchen.
We left Vistana around 10:45 and valet parked at the Boardwalk. It was chilly enough to need my winter jacket, especially with the wind. We walked into Epcot and browsed around the France pavilion before making a loop of World Showcase. Just before noon we got back to France and checked in at the podium for our lunch priority seating. Kathy & Den had never eaten here before - hard to believe! Soon we were seated, and our waiter was very nice. This restaurant is so pretty, and although I don't get here as often as LeCellier, I always enjoy it. We shared the goat cheese & tomato tart, which was more like a flatbread pizza rather than the tart they had at the Food & Wine Festival. I like the festival version better, but this was good - and plenty for the 3 of us. For my lunch I got the onion soup; Kathy & Den each got the chicken crepe with goat cheese & other stuff in there. Everything was excellent, and nobody had room for any dessert.
By now it was 1pm, and time for the big MouseFest meet at the Dolphin. We walked over there, past the Beach & Yacht Club Resorts, and soon found the group. I was impressed & amazed - there were hundreds of people (I think they said 500) here and it was organized like a well-run convention. They had several of the guidebook authors in one part of the room, and several webmasters on the other side. Photos were taken, gift bags were passed out, name tags completed, and everyone was so friendly. I saw some people I knew would be here, and was happy to meet so many others who came up to me saying they'd hoped to meet me. I don't dare try to list everyone, as I'd be afraid of inadvertently missing someone - but I enjoyed talking to each person.
It was fun seeing some people I'd met before, like Shontell Crawford, Lori, & James from DVC, and old friends like Bill, John, & John the Larger. The lady on the phone at CW last night was in fact Ann from radp, and I got to meet her and chat for a little while. I was excited to see Deb Wills across the room and even more thrilled when she saw me, pointed & shouted that SHE wanted to meet me, lol! Sadly I missed Brian Bennett, who was the guy who brought me into MousePlanet, but I did get to meet Mike Scopa, whose column runs on MousePlanet on the Fridays mine does not. I also met the famous (and not very evil-seeming) Paragon, but didn't realize it until an hour later. Lori I'd met before - she's a new Comedy Warehouse fan, but Adventurer's Club is her real home. She was telling me how great Karl was over there, and she hates to see him at CW because the Adventurer's Club is where he really shines. I agreed with her - Adventurer's Club is clearly where he excels, doing a terrific job, and looking a lot more comfortable than onstage at CW.
After a couple of hours of talking to people, receiving gifts, posing for photos, and accepting an invitation to a wine & cheese party at the Boardwalk Grand Villa tomorrow night (pre-Comedy Warehouse), it was time for the LIB ceremony. LIB is the Loin Inspectors Board. Basically, men whose loins are worthy of display can be nominated (by men or women) to have their loins registered. They receive a certificate, and one day may get beaded, as they work their way up the loins ladder of distinction. Years ago I'd thought about applying when they were looking for more LIB inspectors, but chickened out. It's not that I don't like good slutty fun, but I knew the inspectors presented certificates to people outside of the annual ceremony, and I didn't want to risk having to present any of the guys at the Comedy Warehouse with a paper saying their loins were worthy of being displayed <g>. I was laughing with John the Larger (who prefers to be called John the Taller these days) that his LIB certificate was a bit risque since they used the name "John the Larger" - a little innuendo there. John might choose not to share this award with his church group <g>. The ceremony was good clean fun, and there wasn't any actual displaying of loins (darn it!). Den received his certificate, so Kathy will need to continue with regular inspections <g>.
We were fading at that point - so we walked back to the Boardwalk, got the car from valet, and drove back to Vistana. During the day this place is confusing. Every building looks the same, and of course we got lost finding our villa. Everything's much more crammed in than at OKW, too - it's not a spacious neighborhood at all. It's pretty, and if I didn't have DVC I might like it, but there's no comparison between the 2 in my opinion.
Back in the villa we had some of the strawberry orange juice I'd brought up, and started feeling each other out for how badly anyone wanted to see Wishes tonight. LOL, between the cold weather and the fact that the MK will be absolutely mobbed, it was a unanimous decision to change the plan and skip it this trip. We'll all be back again soon, so it's not like this was our only chance to see it. Den was grinning and suggested maybe we should go to Comedy Warehouse, so that's what we'll do - twist my arm <g>!
We all just relaxed a while, then Kathy made sandwiches for their dinner (I wasn't hungry, but I had some cappuccino with them). Patty called & I talked to her for a while, but it doesn't look like we'll see each other tonight. We left about 6:30 and drove over to Downtown Disney. In honor of Adie & Lisa I wore my lesbian boots tonight - but also because they'd be warmer than sneakers in this cold weather!
Parking at Downtown Disney was a nightmare! We circled the usual lot & found nothing, went to the next one & found nothing, went back to the first one and still found nothing - eventually ending up by Planet Hollywood. I'll be glad when things get back to normal, as this really sucks! The line at the turnstiles was very long, and they had just one of them open again, opening a 2nd one just as it was finally our turn. Tracy & Tyger were in line a couple people ahead of us, so I went to see them. When I got back, I found Cis, Kerri & Leigh (with Doug & Nat) were in line a little behind us. Once we got inside I saw Adie & Lisa already in line at CW - talked to them briefly, then I went down to the back door with Kathy & Den. I was surprised to not see Leesa there, but perhaps the cold weather kept her home tonight?
Once we were seated I talked to Kelly & Alan from Ft Pierce, who were seated in long row, then went up to the Fortress people's row until the show started. Jamie was on the keys again tonight. The 7:20 cast was Krista, Philip, John, Chris & Lisa. They opened with the phone thing and got a nice, ordinary person who simply answered the questions and let the cast create a funny song. How refreshing to not have someone trying to upstage the actors! They did Fill in the Blank with 2 audience volunteers, and one of them was Cis. Lisa & John were in a Krispy Kreme shop, with Philip coming in as a worker. John had embezzled money so they couldn't afford the regular fillings and were using monkey brains in the donuts. It was silly but funny - especially when John tapped Cis and she said "eyes" with her Alabama accent. John was taken aback because he thought she said "***" and changed it to donkey. The others told him about it backstage, and he was cool about it after the show <g>.
Krista came out to sing a Forgotten Song called "A Llama Christmas" about a humpless camel. Like last night with Mary's song, the singing was great, but the lyrics were secondary. Next they did a structure I haven't seen in a while, and almost always hated. Chris & Philip started a scene about brushing teeth, which transformed into several different physical actions/scenes before finally returning to brushing teeth to end. They each had some very funny lines, but overall I still didn't like it - it's just not entertaining enough & seems like a waste of their talent.
I chatted with Krista for a little while before heading outside to join the others. We talked to the Fortress gang and Tracy & Tyger, who were all leaving to go different places. Once we went back inside Sue & Dan from Ft Pierce were seated next to us - with Sue in a wheelchair! She'd had an accident at the Magic Kingdom today, and fell off a curb - ouch!
The 8:15 cast was Krista, Karl, Christine, Philip & John. They opened with a poem called "I had a cramp", and did a great job with it. Song Cue was next, with Krista & Christine working in the Pittsburg Pirates' baseball stadium. Philip came in as the very funny gay owner of the team or a skybox or something. I wasn't real clear on that, but it didn't matter. They sang a pop song called "Who threw that at my skybox", a rap song called "You're just as guilty as me", and a country song called "Damn". The scene was pretty good, and the country song was very funny. They also did Actor's Nightmare, where 3 actors read only lines from 3 unrelated plays, while Philip (it was his nightmare) has to make all of those lines plus the setting make sense. They were in a vet's office, where Philip had just started working. It was very funny - Philip did an excellent job creating the scene.
After the show I talked to Christine for a while, until the doors opened again. The 9:15 cast was Karl, Krista, Lisa, Philip & Joy. They did Emotions, which I almost always enjoy. Karl & Joy created a scene in a laundromat - he'd just moved out of his parents' house at age 35 <g>. They each had to continue the scene while rotating through various positive and negative emotions called by Lisa & Philip, and it was a lot of fun!
They did Holiday Forgotten Songs. Karl came out as Roy Disney to sing a song he'd written to go along with the letter he'd recently written - the song was called "Michael Eisner stole my Christmas". Philip & Joy were grandparents with 53 grandkids singing "Do I have to buy a gift for them?" and Krista came out with a big hair wig to sing "I've been sneaking around with Santa" until Lisa came out as Mrs Claus and shot her! Krista said Santa really wasn't all that great, but "what can you expect from a man in a red suit who only comes once a year", lol!
They did Scene Freeze next, which was also funny & fast-paced. Lisa had power washer, Philip had celebration (the town), Karl had furrier, and Krista had washing machine. It was a fun show, and we were all glad we decided to come here tonight instead of the Magic Kingdom! I talked to Joy after the show, said goodnight to the Ft Pierce family outside, then Kathy, Den & I left PI. We managed to get back to Vistana and find the villa without getting lost this time <g>. After discussing plans for tomorrow, we called it a night. I finished up the report & got online for a while, determined to get to bed earlier than yesterday.
We had a great day today. I'm enjoying Kathy & Den's company, lunch was delicious, and the MouseFest event was so much fun! It was a great opportunity to see so many old friends and meet some new faces to go along with the screen names. The weather was cold, but it wasn't horrible, and it was nice seeing so many friends & good shows at the Comedy Warehouse instead of being trapped in a mob at the chilly Magic Kingdom tonight!
DAY 3 SUNDAY DECEMBER 7, 2003
Who: Sue, DVC Member
Kathy (Figaro) & Den, my gracious hosts
Plan: Comedy Warehouse
Actual: Today should be a really great day, with many more things to do than what was in the original plan - lunch at my favorite restaurant, seeing one of my favorite friends, and attending a wine/cheese party in a BW grand villa before my last night at Comedy Warehouse for this trip.
I woke up around 7:30 but didn't get up until 8. The weather said it was 38 degrees outside, so I wasn't going anywhere until it warmed up considerably! After my shower I got online and just hung out in my room. Breakfast was cappuccino and biscotti, with a little piece of Kathy's delicious pumpkin bread (couldn't resist). I spent the morning chatting with Kathy (the other one - the silverback slut), catching up on mail & messages and waiting for it to warm up a bit outside. When Kathy & Den got up they came in to chat for a while, wondering what was going on at radp (not much since so many people are here <g>). They had a little breakfast, and I went out to sit with them. We got to talking & lost track of time - it was 11:45 and we had a priority seating at 12:20 at LeCellier!
We ran out of the villa and drove to Boardwalk in separate cars. Just as I climbed to the top of the hill Kathy & Den were pulling up to the valet parking, so we raced into Epcot together. Believe it or not, we drove from Vistana, parked, walked to Epcot, got thru security, and walked to LeCellier in 30 minutes - we arrived at 12:15 for our 12:20 lunch! We were seated fairly quickly, and had a great lunch. We all had the chateau st michelle riesling, then I had the soup, Kathy had the grilled chicken caesar and Den had the steakburger. Everything was great, and we enjoyed having a leisurely lunch with lots of conversation. After the wine came a lady came over to introduce herself to me - Peggy Sue from the dvctalk list! We've exchanged emails and both did a HAL cruise this summer, but we'd never met. She saw me come in and told her husband she thought it was me, but if she orders white wine, eats a pretzel stick & has cheese soup it's got to be Sue Holland! Once the wine & pretzel was confirmed, she came on over <g>. We had a nice chat, and it was such a pleasure to meet her finally.
After lunch we walked around World Showcase, and when we got back to International Gateway I headed out while Kathy & Den stayed in the park. I drove over to Kathy's ("my" Kathy - the silverback slut) office and visited with her during her lunch break. It's always great seeing her, and I'm thrilled she's doing so well these days. We had a fun but short visit until she had to get back to her job so she wouldn't be considered late. She's still working for DCL and the company tracks the cast members time very closely - I'm glad in my job I don't have to worry about that, but my job has plenty of other headaches <g>.
I drove back to Vistana and relaxed online for a while. Maria was asking me about my thoughts on Vistana (she stayed here once) and I realized I hadn't been out to really see it at all. When she got offline I decided to take a walk, being very careful not to get lost since I didn't have a map and this place all looks alike! I found our building is right next to 2 pools and 2 recreation buildings. The pools both looked nice, and one rec building had a full fitness center upstairs - very nice! Had I known this, I could have worked out during the past 2 days instead of doing nothing, and tomorrow I'll stop on the way home to workout at my place. They've got a room with pool tables, a tanning salon, sauna, massage room, arcades, a restaurant, and little store. I was impressed!
When I got back to the villa Kathy & Den had returned. We left for the wine & cheese party at the Boardwalk shortly after 6. Kathy had mentioned this morning that she read the event tonight was "resort casual" and I was very glad I'd brought something other than jeans to wear today! We valet parked at the Boardwalk and went inside where someone was waiting to check my name off the guest list and give us the room number of the grand villa. There were quite a few people there already, and it got quite crowded for a while. Kathy & Den had never seen one before, so I took them through it before it got too crowded. They were very impressed with how much more accessible this non-accessible grand villa was compared to the accessible villa they have in Vistana - go figure! The villa overlooked the Boardwalk, and everything looked like it was in great shape.
There were a couple of waiters serving wine and replenishing the food. The dining room table was attractively draped and had platters of fruit, cheese, and crackers/bread, along with a beautiful floral arrangement. Snacks were located in other areas as well, including the master bathroom <g>. It was good seeing Shontell again, and we agreed to make time to have lunch again soon since it's been a while. I got to talk to Deb Wills again, which was very nice, and spent time with Kitty & Rocky - both very nice people from radp. Laura & Lee had just arrived from California, and I was glad to meet them since I've enjoyed their trip reports for years. It was good seeing John Hayes again, and all of the other people I met or talked to again.
Both here and at yesterday's event I really enjoyed talking to the many people who wanted to share their thoughts on the Comedy Warehouse, after trying it due to reading about it in my reports for so long. The Adventurer Club fans are such a die-hard group, for me to be able to get any of them out of there to try Comedy Warehouse is quite an achievement - but I was never trying to lure anyone into CW! At the events I consistently heard high praise for the actors at CW, with people being amazed the cast is able to create such funny scenes, songs, etc so quickly and so well night after night. I agree - the cast is incredibly talented and if they didn't do such an excellent job I certainly wouldn't make all these trips to spend so many nights there. When I say in a report that a show or scene was just ok, or not that great, please keep in mind I'm most likely more critical than the average person because I've seen so many truly great scenes/songs at CW in the past.
That said, we eventually left the grand villa, after filling my wine glass one last time with a great pinot grigio. Everyone got a wineglass to keep, printed with the event name & date, and the 2 sponsor names - it was very nice, and a great idea! When we were waiting for the valet to bring the car up a woman spoke to me - it was Sue from Small World Travel. We'd emailed a few times years ago, and she knows several of my friends from fortress. It was fun meeting her.
We drove to Downtown Disney and found a parking spot pretty easily tonight. I let the cm at the Comedy Warehouse door know we were here, and which shows we planned to attend, then headed down to wait at the back door. Tonight Carol Stein was on the keys, and she stopped to chat before the show. The 9:15 cast was Joy, Philip, John, Jake & Christine. They opened with the Name Rhyme game, which was a great start. Jake won, so he directed the others in an Andrew Lloyd Weber musical set in a taxidermy shop, pausing to get ideas from the audience. It was called "Stuffed Turtle". John was a turtle who was killed while on his way to the mall to meet his date. Christine was the driver of the car that killed him, and Philip & Joy worked in the taxidermy shop. Later John was back as the female turtle waiting at the mall, and Christine felt so guilty she gave her winning lottery ticket prize to him. He used it for a bus ride to the Galapagus Islands. Overall it was a funny scene, but sadly it was the end of the good portion of the show. From here it took a dive and never recovered.
They did Schmeopardy, which has great potential but when it sucks it can really suck badly. Christine was host, and her character was just ok. John was a kindergarten teacher named Reese Ess (clever name), and he had some funny lines but not enough to save the scene. Philip also tried, as an alpaca farmer named Bob. Joy was a fish peddler named Trina - she spoke kind of softly and frankly I just didn't "get" whatever her character was supposed to be doing. There were lots of really bad puns all around, and it seemed to take forever to end. The closing song felt really rushed, as if they couldn't wait to get off the stage and start fresh next show, but most likely they were simply running out of time. It was a disappointing ending, but I knew they wouldn't let it affect the next show.
After the show a guests was being worked on by some paramedics. Evidently the guest had a food allergy yet ate at a restaurant that specializes in the food they're allergic to - not the smartest choice one can make! I was just glad it was a guest and not anyone who works at CW. Adie & Lisa came down before the next show - they'd just arrived for this show to bring something they had for Carol Stein. The 10:30 cast was Mary, John, Brian, Jake & Joy. John opened the show with the phone interview and got the worst drunken idiots I think I've ever seen here. It was a row of 7 or 8 nurses, and besides screaming they didn't have much to say. It took him a long time, but finally the 3rd person was willing/able to answer the damn questions. I felt awful for him - but he handled it well. When the cast created the song they were not exactly flattering to these idiots, which was pretty funny.
Jake called different styles of music, movies, theater & tv in a scene were Mary & Brian were on the moon. I don't recall exactly what they did, but did write down there were several clever comments but the scene was a little slow - not bad, but not great. Next they did Cliché, torturing John in a firehouse. The cliché was one I'd seen and written down for a night when they weren't able to get one from any other guest - "You are slower than a herd of turtles stampeding through peanut butter." Because it was long they made the clues easier than the night before, but it was still a struggle for John to figure it out because it's tough to remember so many words. It was very funny, and they did an excellent job. Overall it was a good show.
Adie & Lisa gave Carol her gift, then we talked for a little while before they left for the night. They were surprised I was sticking around for the 12:05 show because I generally hate that one (too late, audience sometimes too drunk). Since it was my last night and I knew Mary would be working the late show I figured what the hell - I'll skip Magic Kingdom in the morning and stick around to see her show tonight instead. Kathy & Den were agreeable - they're so easy going! Plus, they love Comedy Warehouse <g>.
We waited at the back door, and Mary came out to visit for a while before the final show - always nice to talk to her. Soon we headed inside for the final show. The 12:05 cast was Mary, Philip, Joy, Jake & Brian. Joy directed Philip & Jake doing nothing in a restaurant kitchen. Philip was Chef Bob and Jake was his stalker. It was a pretty funny scene. Jake led the others in a Madrigal, which wasn't as good as usual. The tabloid headlines were "Michael Eisner plans world domination", "Universal buys Disney", "Lisa Marie Presley knocked up by BigFoot", and "Nostradamus predicts end of world". Even when it's not a great Madrigal, this structure is still enjoyable, and fun to listen to.
Next they did Scene Freeze. Mary had "making someone fart" (thanks to a classy guy seated in front of us), Jake had Mark Twain, Brian had Kwanza, and Joy had Order of the Phoenix. With the fart suggestion, there wasn't any way to avoid a bunch of fart humor, and I was glad the audience was pretty small & sober! They closed doing All Right Now about Kathy's story of when she thought she was at a wine tasting and drank 4 shots of scotch. She doesn't drink much, and the 4 shots did her in for the rest of the day - it ended up being scotch in the wine glasses. Brian kept telling her she was a lightweight, lol.
After the show Kathy & Den talked to Jake & Brian briefly, then Mary came out to say goodbye. We headed back to Vistana, and we sat around talking until well past 2 a.m. They seem to read people really well, and I enjoyed their insights & perspective. I finished writing up the report and read my email, but decided to not post the report until later Monday. Day 4 should be really short, so I'll post the 2 days together.
Today was another great day. I know I always say that, but it's true! Every day up here is always wonderful, and it's got nothing to do with the theme parks <g>. I haven't done a single ride or attraction this trip, and don't plan to tomorrow. I'm really glad I got to see Silverback Slut Kathy, and the wine/cheese party was excellent. I also enjoyed my last day with Kathy & Den, and will be sorry to leave in the morning - they've been great hosts and I am thankful they invited me up.
DAY 4 MONDAY DECEMBER 8, 2003
Who: Sue, DVC Member
Plan: Animal Kingdom or Magic Kingdom, Drive home
Actual: It was another late night (after 3:30), so I didn't really care what time I'd wake up. I heard the people upstairs yelling to each other around 7, but fell back asleep & didn't wake up again until work called at 9:30. Yikes - that was much later than I wanted to get up, but that's life. I took my shower & got dressed, had some cappuccino & biscotti, then loaded up the car and drove to Premium Outlets for a quick visit.
It wasn't very busy, but I only stopped long enough to visit Character Premiere, where I only bought something for Chris. Since it was fairly late I decided to head home instead of doing any more shopping, so I was on the road by 11:30 or so. The drive back was uneventful, but so friggin' long & boring! I'm glad it's almost 3 weeks until I come back up, because I dread having to make the drive & put the miles on my car - but it's the only reasonable way to get up there and that's where I want to be <g>. I stopped to workout on the way home, then Chris took my car down to the carwash while I unpacked (it's the only way he gets to drive it) & finished up the report.
I've got a lot of photos from Comedy Warehouse, and I'll put some of them into an album and get the link sent out to the CW list during the next day or two. If anyone doesn't get those invitations and wants one, just let me know.
SUMMARY
I had a wonderful time this weekend, from start to finish. I'd previously only spent time with Kathy & Den a few nights at Comedy Warehouse during a couple of trips over the past 2 years, yet they invited me to come up and stay in their villa. It was very nice of them, and I enjoyed getting to know them better, although I knew they were terrific people. We ended up spending most of our time together, and it worked out great!
Other highlights include the MouseFest meet/greet on Saturday. Wow - I was impressed at the size of the gathering, how well organized it all was, and how wonderful everyone there was. I don't do the chats on any of the internet forums, so I thought I might not really "belong", but so many people came up to talk to me I felt instantly comfortable. It was a treat to meet Deb Wills finally, whose website I consider the best for Disney World information - and it was a kick to find she was equally excited to meet me, lol!
The Wine & Cheese Party was a first class event - no surprise, since Shontell played a big part in that. I love the souvenir wine glass, and use it often (not because I'm a wino, but because it's so special <g>).
Comedy Warehouse was lots of fun, and I really enjoyed spending a little time with many different people in the cast and friends who were in the audience for each show. The people there work hard to entertain us, and it's just a very comfortable & enjoyable place for me to be.
Meeting so many old friends and new faces was also a big part of the fun this trip, as always. I didn't really have time for the parks, but they'll be there on future trips so I didn't care. My next trip will likely have very little park time as well, since I'm not interested in fighting the crowds & long lines to ride any attractions, and I remember how awful it is during that week. I'll hit some favorite restaurants, some Comedy Warehouse shows, and spend time with friends who'll be visiting. At this point I'll start my trip either Dec 29 or 30, which will probably be here before I know it!
Until next time - thanks for reading, and best wishes for a Happy Holiday season.
Sue Holland