Trip Reports
02-21-2007, 12:43 PM
Sue Holland - February 2004
Time of Year: Winter
Travel Method: Personal Car
Resort: PCR
Accommodations: Standard
Ages Represented in Group: Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Veteran
Comments: Another short trip for Sue to avoid a five-month gap between trips to the Comedy Warehouse. As a side effect, with her third stay at the Pop Century Resort, Sue is narrowing down the best (for her, anyway), decade in which to sleep.
Sue Holland -- February 2004 – Walt Disney World (PCR)
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
Kelly, DVC member
Leesa, Comedy Warehouse regular
Dates: February 28 - March 1, 2004
Travel Method: Personal car
Resort: Disney's Pop Century Resort
INTRODUCTION:
Once again, this is a very short trip - shorter than I usually am willing to bother with. However, when it sunk in that I had a trip to WDW planned for mid-January and then not again until mid-May, I knew I did not want to go that long between Comedy Warehouse shows. So, I ended up booking a single night before the 3-day cruise earlier this month, booked this 2-night trip, and booked another 2-night trip in early April. Due to a long-anticipated Panama Canal cruise next month booking a longer stay was out of the question since I didn't want to miss too much work in such a short period of time.
Since this trip is over a weekend and dvc points are so high on weekends I decided to book at Pop Century for cash. The rate wasn't as good as earlier in February, but it made more sense then using the dvc points. Instead, I'll save the dvc points to put towards the Disney cruise in September with Patty. Checking in at Pop Century can be a nightmare, so I hope to hit the road early in the morning to arrive before most other guests and shorten my wait time. However, if it's too cold to enjoy walking around Epcot I may rethink that and arrive just in time for lunch. My friend Kelly will have arrived the day before (at Beach Club Villas) and we have a priority seating for a late lunch at LeCellier. Other than lunch, I have no specific plans for this day, besides meeting Leesa at Comedy Warehouse in the evening. Sunday right now looks like the warmer day, so I'll either head to Typhoon Lagoon (it reopens this weekend) or lounge by the pool at Pop Century. I'm registered in Kelly's studio, so I do have access to Stormalong Bay, but unless she's planning to be out there at the same time I doubt I'd bother making the drive to lounge around by myself. Sunday night will definitely be Comedy Warehouse - I prefer Sunday (thru Wednesday) over either Friday or Saturday. Monday morning I hope to visit the Magic Kingdom and do my favorite attractions there before driving home.
The plans (subject to change) so far...
Sat 2/28: Drive to WDW, Check in Pop Century, LeCellier lunch, Comedy Warehouse
Sun 2/29: Pool or Typhoon Lagoon, Comedy Warehouse
Mon 3/1: MK, Drive home
DAY 1 SATURDAY FEBRUARY 28, 2004:
Who: Sue, DVC Member
Kelly, DVC Member
Leesa, Comedy Warehouse regular
Tracy & Tyger, Comedy Warehouse regulars
Plan: Drive to WDW, Check in Pop Century, LeCellier lunch, Comedy Warehouse
Actual: Last night it felt really strange to be home, waiting until the next day to leave for WDW. Normally I'd be inclined to drive up after work, to get an extra night into the trip, but I knew if I did that I would end up at Comedy Warehouse and be up late recapping the shows. Plus, it was cloudy and gloomy here and I have a much harder time driving after dark - so I decided to be content with my 2 nights and not be greedy.
I got up my usual time as if I was going to work (5:15) and took my time getting ready, since I wanted to leave when it was close to sunrise. I was on the road a little after 6:30 and arrived at Pop Century just after 9:30. I was pleased to see only 2 families in line ahead of me, and was even more pleased when a room was ready! This time I'm back in the 1980's but in the opposite building (B). My room is on the first floor right on the Computer Pool, but since it's so cool I don't expect that to be a problem!
Since many guests had already left for the day, the parking lot had a few empty spaces - but I was dismayed to see car after car parked illegally along the curb because there is nowhere else for them to go! I think the other lot (furthest away) might be worth trying tonight, as I can then just walk through building A and around the pool to get to my room. It may be the lesser of 2 evils - parking in the next county vs taking the dreaded Disney buses!
After unpacking what little stuff I brought with me for 2 days, I decided to use my pedometer to measure the path I jogged on last month. To my surprise, round trip it measured out at 2 miles, which I think is overstated. These pedometers probably aren't as accurate as a tape measure, but since my longest one is 36 inches it's too much trouble to check the path that way, lol! However, it makes me feel good that I 'might' have jogged somewhere close to 2 miles without keeling over!
It was starting to warm up slightly - probably up to about 50 degrees (brrr) by now. I decided to check out Character Premiere over at the Premium Outlet, and figured it would be best to do it before heading to Epcot. Driving over there was really easy, with minimal traffic. There were a few items I liked, but I didn't buy anything since I haven't gotten around to wearing the last couple of shirts I bought there yet.
At last I was back on WDW property to stay, lol! I parked at Beach Club Villas and walked into Epcot via International Gateway. To test the pedometer I decided to walk the World Showcase loop, knowing it's 1.2 or 1.3 miles. Unfortunately, the reading I got was 2 miles - and eventually I figured out that my step length had defaulted to the original setting. I made another loop, but this time it came out less than a mile - grrrr. At this point I was getting irritated, so I quit walking and decided to go ride Spaceship Earth. I ran into Marti working at the DVC kiosk in Future World, and stopped to chat with her until a guest came along. Spaceship Earth was basically a walk on, and would have been a perfect ride except for the lady a few cars ahead who took dozens of flash photographs during the ride. Hopefully they'll all come out too dark to be of any value, since taking flash pictures in a dark rude is extremely rude. Luckily I was far enough back that I was more amazed at her stupidity & rudeness than bothered by it.
After Spaceship Earth I caught up with Marti and accompanied her on an errand inside the park before heading back for one more World Showcase loop before meeting Kelly at LeCellier. We were seated right away, which was really nice. We both just got the cheese soup, along with wine for me and diet coke for her. The breadsticks were disappointing this time - they seemed overcooked and got really hard within a minute or so. Usually they're nice and soft, so this must have been the end of a batch. We made do with the pretzel bread, which was the only edible one of the bunch. We could have asked for fresh breadsticks, but didn't bother. We had a nice lunch, and enjoyed catching up - we were there 90 minutes even though we only had soup, lol! We tipped the server generously, although nobody appeared to be waiting to take our table.
After lunch Kelly headed to Magic Kingdom and I went to Beach Club Villas to get my car and drive back to Pop Century. At the food court I ran into a cm working there who used to work at Pleasure Island and chatted with him while waiting for Nancy to come out of the kitchen. She & I had a quick visit, then I bought a chocolate chip cookie to nibble on throughout the rest of the day before walking back to my room. There wasn't anywere I needed to be until 8pm, so I updated the report and got online for a while. Leesa called when she got to Downtown Disney so we made plans to meet later and pretty soon I drove over there.
I parked at PI and went to the Marketplace to get the Ghiradelli sample and wander through World of Disney. The other day I couldn't find my Mickey wine bottle stopper, so I bought another one (which almost guarantees I will find the first one as soon as I get home <g>), and remembered to get the 10% off for being an annual passholder. After entering Pleasure Island I found Leesa talking to the cm outside Comedy Warehouse. We went into Adventurer's Club to stay warm, and ran into a couple of other regulars over there.
Around 8:15 we returned to the CW, where Jim Roberts was on the keys tonight. The 8:20 cast was Philip, Lisa, Chris, Matt & Brian. After the opening song Matt & Brian did Story Telling, with the story titled "The hot baby monitor". I pretty much missed it, since I was playing with the new camera - but from what I hear it was not one of the really good ones. This structure is tough, and throwing it out there as the first thing done in the first show (after the opening) seems risky since the audience is a bit reserved at that point. The new camera wasn't thrilling me at this point either - I'm undecided about it (Kodak EasyShare - 4 megapixel, 10x optical zoom).
Next was Forgotten Songs, and from here the show improved significantly. Brian & Philip were a couple of chefs singing about fat people at their buffet line, in "Where the hippos play." It might not have been very politically correct, but it sure was funny! Chris was a folk singer called Dakota Wyoming, singing "The underwear needs changing." Matt & Lisa came out as the couple who'd answered the phone at the start of the show, and sang "Hanging in the toilet bowl." They'd met at a party 6 years ago, but evidently were drinking too much to remember the details.
Scene Freeze was next, where each actor has a certain word or phrase and has to build a scene around that. They rotate between scenes quickly, and the physical positions can be quite funny. Chris had pollen, Lisa had 4 feet of snow, Brian had eating candy, and Pilip had hitting a tennis ball really hard. It was very funny, and overall it was a very good first show of the night. After the show I talked to some of the cast and joined up with Tracy & Tyger. T&T joined us for the next show - it was great seeing them again!
The 9:15 cast was Christine, John, Matt, Brian & Philip. They opened with a poem called "Arkansas is where Bill Clinton is from." It was very funny, although not very flattering to the Clintons <g>. I didn't realize Hillary is a lesbian, so it was educational as well, lol! They did Styles, where the scene has to be performed in a changing series of styles (from movies, tv, music & theater). John & Philip were identical twins who were annoyed with the other looking just like them, and then Matt came in as the missing triplet they never knew about (sold to a carnival as a baby). They did a country song about the missing triplet, and a blues song about wearing leather chaps. These 3 men were all superb - and played off each other so well my face hurt from laughing so much!
Next was Schmeopardy, hosted by Philip as Bob HeadForANippleRacquetHips - wearing a nipple on his head and 2 tennis racquets tucked into the back of his pants. Brian was a tobacco worker called Captain (smoker's cough noise), Christine was a spacy dry cleaner named Kate, and Brian was a very limber monk named Denny Dictine. Between Philip, Brian & Matt the banter and jokes were non-stop and sometimes pretty wild, but always very funny. Christine just stayed silent in her spacy character, at one point commenting that she'd fallen asleep for a while. It was a great Schmeopardy and an excellent show overall!
Leesa spent the break between shows talking to Jim Roberts, and I talked with Tracy & Tyger. When it was time to let the next show in, they headed home and Leesa & I went back to our seats. The 10:30 cast was Brian, Lisa, Matt, Joy & John. Brian opened, and got a drunken bachelorette party on the phone but he handled them well. The cast did a good job on the song about the girls, too - without being overly insulting. Most of the rest of the show was Conducted Story, which is one of my favorite structures.
Joy directed the others telling the story "The day the elevator got stuck." The story was good, and moved along quickly. Lisa died first, as a tourist in Florida getting killed by Matt as an alligator. The other actors were flitting around the stage as other Florida pests (Brian was the biggest mosquito I've ever seen). Matt died in a birthday rap song to a woman in the audience born under the sign of pisces. It sounds weird, but he did an excellent job with it. That left John & Brian, and Brian should have died a couple of times but the audience didn't react, and then John was left speechless and was killed. He did a funny Fill in the Blank death by lollipop, which included Matt as his wife and Brian as a kid at their daycare. Brian then did a great job wrapping the story up, using an audience volunteer to fill in the blanks for him. It was another very good show - and for me it ended a great night of Comedy Warehouse.
Leesa stuck around for 1 more show, and I drove back to Pop Century. As expected, people were parked all over the place in the lots I passed, but the lot way around the back did have some empty spots. I parked there, and hiked back to my room. I lost the aol connection while writing the report so I decided to skip getting back online until the next morning. Once the report was finished it was lights out by 1am.
Today was a really great day, thanks to the many friends with whom I spent part of the day. LeCellier & Kelly's company were great, and running into Marti was an unexpected treat. Leesa & I always enjoy Comedy Warehouse, but especially when the shows are as good as they were tonight. Seeing Tracy & Tyger again was great, too - we always enjoy seeing the CW shows together.
DAY 2 SUNDAY FEBRUARY 29, 2004:
Who: Sue, DVC Member
Leesa, Comedy Warehouse regular
Plan: Pool or Typhoon Lagoon, Comedy Warehouse
Actual: Just before going to bed last night I learned the morning temperature is expected to be 46 degrees - which definitely rules out Typhoon Lagoon for me! I can wait until it's much warmer. If it gets into the 70's I might enjoy the pool that's right outside my door, since if I get cool I don't have far to go to get inside. I got up around 7, posted the report, had some cappuccino and biscotti for breakfast, and watched the weather hoping it would warm up quickly <g>. It was only 45 degrees, but was expected to warm by early afternoon, and without the wind it should feel even nicer compared to yesterday. Tourists arriving today will have a wonder week weather-wise!
Around 8:30 I walked over towards the bus stops to catch a bus to Animal Kingdom but then decided to just drive my car. It was parked no further (in the opposite direction) than the bus stop, so it was no big deal. At AK it took forever at security thanks to one cm who insisted on seeing inside every zippered compartment in every backpack - while all the others just did the cursory glance inside. I finally moved over to one of the faster lines - the whole security thing is such a farce, and it's so annoying to have 1 cm doing the job so differently from everyone else.
Once inside there was a short wait for the park to open, so they held us up before the Tree of Life. Soon a bus with Minnie, Goofy & one other (forgot who) arrived and they did a little opening schtick - with Mickey up in the Tree of Life. I went to Dinoland first and was able to ride Primeval Whirl twice without having to get off since there was hardly anyone there. After that I went to Harambe, where a very nice cm let me enter the Pangani Trail through the exit since nobody was around and I was only interested in seeing the gorillas. Several were out, including Gus eventually. I played around with the camera, and am still less than thrilled with this purchase. I'll check the manual to see if it addresses my problem (pictures too dark), but since I ordered it thru Home Shopping Network and mistakenly threw away the boxes it was shipped in, I may be stuck with an expensive trinket if I decide I don't really want it.
I spent about an hour on the trail, then decided to leave the park. On this trip I'd realized some of my travel supplies were getting low, so I decided to make a trip to the Super Target in Kissimmee to pick up a few things including the non-perishable grocery items I'd need for the upcoming week. This will save me time Monday, and since Atlanta Bread is in that shopping center I brought back a ½ veggie sandwich for later. I love that sandwich, but we don't have an Atlanta Bread in our part of Florida.
Back at Pop Century parking was very easy with everyone gone to the parks. I changed into my swimsuit, grabbed some reading material and headed to the Computer Pool after canceling housekeeping service for today. It wasn't exactly a warm sunny day, but I walked around during the extended periods of heavy clouds and stayed on my lounge chair the rest of the time. Around 3 I was tired of the constant clouds and went into the room. I'd eaten my sandwich while out at the pool and now ate the wonderful sourdough roll the guy at Atlanta Bread gave me instead of a bag of chips - yummy!
I showered and got online for a while, then made a half cup of a new cappuccino I bought at Target today to make sure I liked it before bringing it on the cruise in a couple of weeks. I don't think I've commented on this yet, but my Pop Century stay has been very quiet. I walk out my door and I'm at the pool, yet I never hear any pool noise when my door is closed. The only noises I've heard have been the occasional flush of the turbo toilets, but even that seems kind of muted over hear (it was louder in the 50's).
Feeling the need for some exercise, I decided to go for a walk before the local news/weather would be starting. I got about 4 rooms away before rushing back to put warmer clothes on - shorts just didn't work while the sun was fading! After changing I had a nice walk - reading all of the signs along Memory Lane and just enjoying the peacefulness of the resort. I was back in the room at 6:30 and watched the local news before driving over to Downtown Disney.
At Ghiradelli the sample today was the carmelized almond square, which is my favorite. I got one and bought a caramel square for Leesa, then returned to Pleasure Island to find her. The beauty of being there so often and having everyone know us is I only have to ask a cm where Leesa is and they'll know <g>. I found her in the mask room in the Adventurer's Club, along with David. When the show started in there we left to go sit in the main salon. Hathaway Brown looked familiar, and when he turned around I saw it was Robby (former Hoop Dee Doo, now Adv Club and Comedy Warehouse)! He was extremely occupied by 3 young ladies who appeared to have the hots for him, but when he saw me he waved and mouthed a hello. The girls didn't let go of him, lol - and it was funny to watch him playing along with them. He is a cute young thing, so their reaction didn't surprise me at all. Next Karl came out, and stopped by to say hi. He's working full-time at Adventurer's Club now, as of yesterday. He does a really good job over here, and he said it feels like his home. I enjoyed seeing the familiar faces here, but I'm not likely to cut back on Comedy Warehouse time to be at the Adventurer's Club. No offense intended, since they're both terrific clubs. Oh, I also met Sheila from the internet here, which was a nice surprise. Thanks for coming over to say hi & introduce yourself!
We left for our "home" at the Comedy Warehouse and saw Carol Stein was on the keys tonight. The 8:15 cast was Philip, John, Joy, Brian & Christine. They opened with the poem "Tarzan swings in the jungle", but it lacked a half-naked man like the Tarzan show at Animal Kingdom. The lyrics were good, though <g>. Next they did This is Your Life, with Brian interviewing a woman who was celebrating her 30th wedding anniversary. They acted out her first kiss (age 5 on the playground), meeting her husband on a blind date, and her future retirement in 4 years. There were a few funny moments but mostly it seemed to lack any kind of energy - which is unusual for this structure. It's almost always very funny, even if the situation the guest is relaying doesn't seem funny at all on the surface.
Christine led the others in a Madrigal, which was so short Leesa & I both looked at each other in surprise when it ended. The tabloid headlines were "Trump goes broke", "Hilary divorces Bill", "Elvis on stage at Disney" and "Bush on the moon". It was good while it lasted, but seemed too short. Perhaps This is Your Life ran too long. They also did Scene Freeze, with the 4 topics being eating green beans, grow hair, algebra and Cancun. This one was just ok, too. After the show we talked to Christine for a while, then went outside briefly until the next one.
The 9:15 cast was Philip, Joy, Mark, Brian & John. The opening song was about a deadbeat student here with a girl he'd met outside. She'd hitchhiked down from up north, and her girlfriend obviously wasn't too sure about this guy. He was fairly drunk, and we couldn't see any good qualities in him, but they were good sports about being trashed in the opening song, lol! Emotions was next, which was funny as usual. John & Philip created a scene about John's hockey puck collection. Next Joy & Brian created a love song called "Smoking", which was full of sexual innuendo but using tobacco-related terminology. They were ex-smokers who now wanted to "smoke" each other - it was funny and the audience loved it.
They did a good Letters to the Editor scene about hemp necklaces. Joy wrote to Transworld Motorcross, Mark to Glamour, and Brian to Irish Dance Magazine. Brian was funny making jokes about the Irish and the Lord of the Dance type of dancing, but Joy & Mark were also very good with their letters. Next John rang the bell in Should Have Said. Mark was in a boardroom as Michael Eisner, with Philip as his sucking-up employee. Philip actually kissed his butt and licked his shoes - ewww! Brian came in as Roy Disney pretending to be Mickey Mouse, and eventually Mark/Eisner ran away. It was hysterical, and timely <g>.
After the show we talked to Mark for a while, and John also came over. We joked around a little - just having fun. Leesa & I went over to 8 Trax briefly before returning to CW for the next show.
The 10:30 cast was Brian, Mary, Christine, Mark & Philip. Philip led them in creating a play - actually it was creating, recreating, and recreating again <g>. The title was "The Hungry Cockroach". It started with Mark & Christine as a russian couple starving because a cockroach was eating all of their food but they'd taken a vow not to kill cockroaches. Philip didn't like the russian style, so he asked for a suggestion and had them start over in the style of Stephen King. That was too dark, so Philip decided the play should be redone in a different style, and they started over in a Dr Seuss scene, complete with rhymes. They were supposed to use Play Doh to solve the cockroach problem, but Mark turned it into Plato, boring the bug to death with philosophical big words. They wrapped it up in a musical finale in the style of Grease, which Mark then turned into Greece. It was a fast-moving play and it turned out really well.
Forgotten Songs was next. Mary & Brian were a married couple singing a love song (suggestion was Fu Manchu) called Few Man Chew. Mark did a short peppy song called "Oh my god my butt itches". Philip did an African folk tune called "Born again savages" while in the background Christine gave birth repeatedly. Afterwards Brian, Mark & Mary came out and did the "Oh my god my butt itches" again, made funnier by Mary messing up on the last word and saying "hurts" while the others said "itches" <g>.
Mary rang the bell in should Have Said. Philip was trying to fix his computer, and Brian came in as the annoying little kid next door. Brian fixed the computer very easily, noting that Philip had a lot of porn on there. Mark came in as Brian's dad, but we were told he wasn't the "real" father. It was a funny scene, full of dysfunctional characters! I stopped to see Mary before leaving, and thought about sticking around for the midnight show but realized that would be too late if I wanted to get to Magic Kingdom before it was crowded. Leesa was sticking around for 1 more show, and I drove back to Pop Century.
I actually found a parking spot in the lot next to my building, so I guess the resort must not be full now that the weekend is over. I finished and posted the report, and once again was in bed around 1. Overall it was another great day - I can't think of anything I would have done differently, although warmer & sunnier weather would have been nice!
DAY 3 MONDAY MARCH 1, 2004:
Who: Sue, DVC Member
Plan: Magic Kingdom, Drive home
Actual: I'd set the alarm for 7 again, but woke up a little early. I ended up with time to kill, so I got online while having breakfast of cappuccino and biscotti again. Around 8:15 I brought the rest of my stuff to the car and then waited at the bus stop for the ride to Magic Kingdom. The bus was at the bus stop, and although I had to stand I figured it was better to be standing on a bus than at a bus stop <g>. We seemed to have the slowest bus or driver on Earth, as I swear lizards were passing us! We still got to MK about 15 minutes early though, and had to wait for the pre-opening thing before they let people onto Main Street just before 9.
I went straight back to Space Mountain and got a fastpass for 10:10, then walked right onto the ride since not many people had gotten there yet. It was great! I wandered through Fantasyland and decided to skip Pooh for now since it actually had a line already. Peter Pan was a walk-on so I did that instead - and daydreamed about my next Hilton Head trip for some reason. My next stop was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, but it was having technical problems and was closed, so I went back to Fantasyland and this time waited in a short line to ride the Pooh attraction. It was also wonderful feeling healthy & strong again, after the last couple of trips, so I didn't mind backtracking so much. Pooh was cute, and then I noticed Snow White was open and had no wait so I rode that as well. I thought I'd read it was closing this past weekend for refurbishment, but I must have been mistaken.
By now it was time to return to Tomorrowland - it was just after 10 am. By the time I got there I was within my fastpass window and this time I got the front seat. I also got the exact same rocket as earlier this morning - #24. Don't ask why I chose to notice something as obscure as the rocket number, because I have no idea! After Space Mountain I took a ride on the TTA and then decided to leave the park. After a moderate wait the Pop Century bus arrived and took me back to the resort. It was 11:15 and I wanted to get a chocolate chip cookie to take with me, but didn't see any. I asked at the bakery and the cm explained they don't come out until 11:30. Ugh - that seems ridiculous to me. By 10:30 or 11:00 it ought to be early lunch, and cookies should be out instead of stupid donuts and danish! Of course, I think cookies are perfectly acceptable breakfast food, and lunch, and dinner - can't go wrong with a cookie!
I went for a walk to kill the 15 minutes, since I really did want that cookie! At 11:30 they still weren't put out, but I saw a tray of them at the bakery (still warm) and went over to buy one. That accomplished, I went out to the car and decided to make one more run to the Target and Atlanta Bread. After I left yesterday I decided I should have gotten something else in Target, but realistically that is only an excuse to try to justify the Atlanta Bread run! Here's where the adventure portion of my trip begins.
First I ended up on the wrong road, and didn't realize it for quite a while. Rather than being on 417 I somehow ended up on the Osceola Parkway toll road. It's a crummy road, and that was my first clue that something was wrong. Luckily I saw an exit coming up for the road the Target is on, so I got off there. Not knowing which way to turn, I first went to the left and drove a while before I realized it was the wrong direction - so I turned around in a parking lot and went in the other direction. Eventually the area was deteriorating and I realized I had been wrong again - so I pulled a u-turn and went back in the other direction again. Sure enough, the Target (which is in Orlando, not Kissimmee) and Atlanta Bread was just a little further down from where I'd turned around the first time.
I got my item at Target, then went to Atlanta Bread and found a big long line. They had 1 cash register open, and the girl wasn't very swift. The customers were worse - it was like pulling teeth to get their orders. I love the food here, but 90% of the time the service just plain sucks compared to the Atlanta Breads I've visited in Gainesville, Tallahassee & Miami. I ordered the other half of my veggie sandwich, had to wait for it, and when it was ready it was wrong. So, they had to redo it. Remind me to NOT leave Disney property for Atlanta Bread in the future!!! My $3.50 sandwich came with $2.50 in tolls and over an hour of my time - good sandwich, but not worth that <g>! It was after 1 by the time I got back on the road, and arrived home sometime after 4.
A friend who'd been with Chris IM'd to let me know he had tried to reach me & was worried when I didn't answer the phone (I must have been unloading the car). Hehehe - since teens at some point have their parents worrying where they are, it's kind of nice to have the tables turned <g>.
SUMMARY:
Although this trip was very short, I still had a great time and it kind of feels like I packed a lot in even though I spent quite a bit of down time just relaxing. My preference is definitely for longer trips, but that won't be possible for a couple of months.
I enjoyed my 3rd stay at Pop Century, and have decided that the 80's are the best section for me. I don't need to be near the food court since I only go there for cookies anyway, it's near one end of the jogging path in case I ever decide to do that again, and the parking lot most likely to actually have an available parking spot at night is located at that end. Although my room was right on the pool, I heard none of the screaming and noise until I opened the door to go out. I didn't hear any neighbors or people passing by either, even though I was on the ground floor. Even the turbo toilets seemed quiet. On second thought, maybe I need a hearing exam <g>.
Comedy Warehouse was terrific! I loved being back, but hate that it'll be another month before I'm back and it will be another short trip. With only being there 2 nights, I missed Krista entirely and only got to see 1 of Mary's shows - which sucked (not Mary or the show - the fact that I only got to see her once <g>). The photos from February are up on Ofoto now. http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=34p4jkm.b3bw7ei7&x=1&y=mvwhqi
The first 20 were taken with the old camera earlier this month, and the rest were taken with the new camera (Kodak dx6490) this past weekend.
It was great seeing so many friends on this short trip, both planned and unplanned. My next trip is the 10-day Panama Canal cruise on HAL starting March 13th, and then I'm back at Pop Century for 2 nights on April 3rd for a trip with Larry & family from Scotland, Tom & Leanne, and Kim & Chris.
Until next time - thanks for reading.
Sue Holland
Time of Year: Winter
Travel Method: Personal Car
Resort: PCR
Accommodations: Standard
Ages Represented in Group: Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Veteran
Comments: Another short trip for Sue to avoid a five-month gap between trips to the Comedy Warehouse. As a side effect, with her third stay at the Pop Century Resort, Sue is narrowing down the best (for her, anyway), decade in which to sleep.
Sue Holland -- February 2004 – Walt Disney World (PCR)
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
Kelly, DVC member
Leesa, Comedy Warehouse regular
Dates: February 28 - March 1, 2004
Travel Method: Personal car
Resort: Disney's Pop Century Resort
INTRODUCTION:
Once again, this is a very short trip - shorter than I usually am willing to bother with. However, when it sunk in that I had a trip to WDW planned for mid-January and then not again until mid-May, I knew I did not want to go that long between Comedy Warehouse shows. So, I ended up booking a single night before the 3-day cruise earlier this month, booked this 2-night trip, and booked another 2-night trip in early April. Due to a long-anticipated Panama Canal cruise next month booking a longer stay was out of the question since I didn't want to miss too much work in such a short period of time.
Since this trip is over a weekend and dvc points are so high on weekends I decided to book at Pop Century for cash. The rate wasn't as good as earlier in February, but it made more sense then using the dvc points. Instead, I'll save the dvc points to put towards the Disney cruise in September with Patty. Checking in at Pop Century can be a nightmare, so I hope to hit the road early in the morning to arrive before most other guests and shorten my wait time. However, if it's too cold to enjoy walking around Epcot I may rethink that and arrive just in time for lunch. My friend Kelly will have arrived the day before (at Beach Club Villas) and we have a priority seating for a late lunch at LeCellier. Other than lunch, I have no specific plans for this day, besides meeting Leesa at Comedy Warehouse in the evening. Sunday right now looks like the warmer day, so I'll either head to Typhoon Lagoon (it reopens this weekend) or lounge by the pool at Pop Century. I'm registered in Kelly's studio, so I do have access to Stormalong Bay, but unless she's planning to be out there at the same time I doubt I'd bother making the drive to lounge around by myself. Sunday night will definitely be Comedy Warehouse - I prefer Sunday (thru Wednesday) over either Friday or Saturday. Monday morning I hope to visit the Magic Kingdom and do my favorite attractions there before driving home.
The plans (subject to change) so far...
Sat 2/28: Drive to WDW, Check in Pop Century, LeCellier lunch, Comedy Warehouse
Sun 2/29: Pool or Typhoon Lagoon, Comedy Warehouse
Mon 3/1: MK, Drive home
DAY 1 SATURDAY FEBRUARY 28, 2004:
Who: Sue, DVC Member
Kelly, DVC Member
Leesa, Comedy Warehouse regular
Tracy & Tyger, Comedy Warehouse regulars
Plan: Drive to WDW, Check in Pop Century, LeCellier lunch, Comedy Warehouse
Actual: Last night it felt really strange to be home, waiting until the next day to leave for WDW. Normally I'd be inclined to drive up after work, to get an extra night into the trip, but I knew if I did that I would end up at Comedy Warehouse and be up late recapping the shows. Plus, it was cloudy and gloomy here and I have a much harder time driving after dark - so I decided to be content with my 2 nights and not be greedy.
I got up my usual time as if I was going to work (5:15) and took my time getting ready, since I wanted to leave when it was close to sunrise. I was on the road a little after 6:30 and arrived at Pop Century just after 9:30. I was pleased to see only 2 families in line ahead of me, and was even more pleased when a room was ready! This time I'm back in the 1980's but in the opposite building (B). My room is on the first floor right on the Computer Pool, but since it's so cool I don't expect that to be a problem!
Since many guests had already left for the day, the parking lot had a few empty spaces - but I was dismayed to see car after car parked illegally along the curb because there is nowhere else for them to go! I think the other lot (furthest away) might be worth trying tonight, as I can then just walk through building A and around the pool to get to my room. It may be the lesser of 2 evils - parking in the next county vs taking the dreaded Disney buses!
After unpacking what little stuff I brought with me for 2 days, I decided to use my pedometer to measure the path I jogged on last month. To my surprise, round trip it measured out at 2 miles, which I think is overstated. These pedometers probably aren't as accurate as a tape measure, but since my longest one is 36 inches it's too much trouble to check the path that way, lol! However, it makes me feel good that I 'might' have jogged somewhere close to 2 miles without keeling over!
It was starting to warm up slightly - probably up to about 50 degrees (brrr) by now. I decided to check out Character Premiere over at the Premium Outlet, and figured it would be best to do it before heading to Epcot. Driving over there was really easy, with minimal traffic. There were a few items I liked, but I didn't buy anything since I haven't gotten around to wearing the last couple of shirts I bought there yet.
At last I was back on WDW property to stay, lol! I parked at Beach Club Villas and walked into Epcot via International Gateway. To test the pedometer I decided to walk the World Showcase loop, knowing it's 1.2 or 1.3 miles. Unfortunately, the reading I got was 2 miles - and eventually I figured out that my step length had defaulted to the original setting. I made another loop, but this time it came out less than a mile - grrrr. At this point I was getting irritated, so I quit walking and decided to go ride Spaceship Earth. I ran into Marti working at the DVC kiosk in Future World, and stopped to chat with her until a guest came along. Spaceship Earth was basically a walk on, and would have been a perfect ride except for the lady a few cars ahead who took dozens of flash photographs during the ride. Hopefully they'll all come out too dark to be of any value, since taking flash pictures in a dark rude is extremely rude. Luckily I was far enough back that I was more amazed at her stupidity & rudeness than bothered by it.
After Spaceship Earth I caught up with Marti and accompanied her on an errand inside the park before heading back for one more World Showcase loop before meeting Kelly at LeCellier. We were seated right away, which was really nice. We both just got the cheese soup, along with wine for me and diet coke for her. The breadsticks were disappointing this time - they seemed overcooked and got really hard within a minute or so. Usually they're nice and soft, so this must have been the end of a batch. We made do with the pretzel bread, which was the only edible one of the bunch. We could have asked for fresh breadsticks, but didn't bother. We had a nice lunch, and enjoyed catching up - we were there 90 minutes even though we only had soup, lol! We tipped the server generously, although nobody appeared to be waiting to take our table.
After lunch Kelly headed to Magic Kingdom and I went to Beach Club Villas to get my car and drive back to Pop Century. At the food court I ran into a cm working there who used to work at Pleasure Island and chatted with him while waiting for Nancy to come out of the kitchen. She & I had a quick visit, then I bought a chocolate chip cookie to nibble on throughout the rest of the day before walking back to my room. There wasn't anywere I needed to be until 8pm, so I updated the report and got online for a while. Leesa called when she got to Downtown Disney so we made plans to meet later and pretty soon I drove over there.
I parked at PI and went to the Marketplace to get the Ghiradelli sample and wander through World of Disney. The other day I couldn't find my Mickey wine bottle stopper, so I bought another one (which almost guarantees I will find the first one as soon as I get home <g>), and remembered to get the 10% off for being an annual passholder. After entering Pleasure Island I found Leesa talking to the cm outside Comedy Warehouse. We went into Adventurer's Club to stay warm, and ran into a couple of other regulars over there.
Around 8:15 we returned to the CW, where Jim Roberts was on the keys tonight. The 8:20 cast was Philip, Lisa, Chris, Matt & Brian. After the opening song Matt & Brian did Story Telling, with the story titled "The hot baby monitor". I pretty much missed it, since I was playing with the new camera - but from what I hear it was not one of the really good ones. This structure is tough, and throwing it out there as the first thing done in the first show (after the opening) seems risky since the audience is a bit reserved at that point. The new camera wasn't thrilling me at this point either - I'm undecided about it (Kodak EasyShare - 4 megapixel, 10x optical zoom).
Next was Forgotten Songs, and from here the show improved significantly. Brian & Philip were a couple of chefs singing about fat people at their buffet line, in "Where the hippos play." It might not have been very politically correct, but it sure was funny! Chris was a folk singer called Dakota Wyoming, singing "The underwear needs changing." Matt & Lisa came out as the couple who'd answered the phone at the start of the show, and sang "Hanging in the toilet bowl." They'd met at a party 6 years ago, but evidently were drinking too much to remember the details.
Scene Freeze was next, where each actor has a certain word or phrase and has to build a scene around that. They rotate between scenes quickly, and the physical positions can be quite funny. Chris had pollen, Lisa had 4 feet of snow, Brian had eating candy, and Pilip had hitting a tennis ball really hard. It was very funny, and overall it was a very good first show of the night. After the show I talked to some of the cast and joined up with Tracy & Tyger. T&T joined us for the next show - it was great seeing them again!
The 9:15 cast was Christine, John, Matt, Brian & Philip. They opened with a poem called "Arkansas is where Bill Clinton is from." It was very funny, although not very flattering to the Clintons <g>. I didn't realize Hillary is a lesbian, so it was educational as well, lol! They did Styles, where the scene has to be performed in a changing series of styles (from movies, tv, music & theater). John & Philip were identical twins who were annoyed with the other looking just like them, and then Matt came in as the missing triplet they never knew about (sold to a carnival as a baby). They did a country song about the missing triplet, and a blues song about wearing leather chaps. These 3 men were all superb - and played off each other so well my face hurt from laughing so much!
Next was Schmeopardy, hosted by Philip as Bob HeadForANippleRacquetHips - wearing a nipple on his head and 2 tennis racquets tucked into the back of his pants. Brian was a tobacco worker called Captain (smoker's cough noise), Christine was a spacy dry cleaner named Kate, and Brian was a very limber monk named Denny Dictine. Between Philip, Brian & Matt the banter and jokes were non-stop and sometimes pretty wild, but always very funny. Christine just stayed silent in her spacy character, at one point commenting that she'd fallen asleep for a while. It was a great Schmeopardy and an excellent show overall!
Leesa spent the break between shows talking to Jim Roberts, and I talked with Tracy & Tyger. When it was time to let the next show in, they headed home and Leesa & I went back to our seats. The 10:30 cast was Brian, Lisa, Matt, Joy & John. Brian opened, and got a drunken bachelorette party on the phone but he handled them well. The cast did a good job on the song about the girls, too - without being overly insulting. Most of the rest of the show was Conducted Story, which is one of my favorite structures.
Joy directed the others telling the story "The day the elevator got stuck." The story was good, and moved along quickly. Lisa died first, as a tourist in Florida getting killed by Matt as an alligator. The other actors were flitting around the stage as other Florida pests (Brian was the biggest mosquito I've ever seen). Matt died in a birthday rap song to a woman in the audience born under the sign of pisces. It sounds weird, but he did an excellent job with it. That left John & Brian, and Brian should have died a couple of times but the audience didn't react, and then John was left speechless and was killed. He did a funny Fill in the Blank death by lollipop, which included Matt as his wife and Brian as a kid at their daycare. Brian then did a great job wrapping the story up, using an audience volunteer to fill in the blanks for him. It was another very good show - and for me it ended a great night of Comedy Warehouse.
Leesa stuck around for 1 more show, and I drove back to Pop Century. As expected, people were parked all over the place in the lots I passed, but the lot way around the back did have some empty spots. I parked there, and hiked back to my room. I lost the aol connection while writing the report so I decided to skip getting back online until the next morning. Once the report was finished it was lights out by 1am.
Today was a really great day, thanks to the many friends with whom I spent part of the day. LeCellier & Kelly's company were great, and running into Marti was an unexpected treat. Leesa & I always enjoy Comedy Warehouse, but especially when the shows are as good as they were tonight. Seeing Tracy & Tyger again was great, too - we always enjoy seeing the CW shows together.
DAY 2 SUNDAY FEBRUARY 29, 2004:
Who: Sue, DVC Member
Leesa, Comedy Warehouse regular
Plan: Pool or Typhoon Lagoon, Comedy Warehouse
Actual: Just before going to bed last night I learned the morning temperature is expected to be 46 degrees - which definitely rules out Typhoon Lagoon for me! I can wait until it's much warmer. If it gets into the 70's I might enjoy the pool that's right outside my door, since if I get cool I don't have far to go to get inside. I got up around 7, posted the report, had some cappuccino and biscotti for breakfast, and watched the weather hoping it would warm up quickly <g>. It was only 45 degrees, but was expected to warm by early afternoon, and without the wind it should feel even nicer compared to yesterday. Tourists arriving today will have a wonder week weather-wise!
Around 8:30 I walked over towards the bus stops to catch a bus to Animal Kingdom but then decided to just drive my car. It was parked no further (in the opposite direction) than the bus stop, so it was no big deal. At AK it took forever at security thanks to one cm who insisted on seeing inside every zippered compartment in every backpack - while all the others just did the cursory glance inside. I finally moved over to one of the faster lines - the whole security thing is such a farce, and it's so annoying to have 1 cm doing the job so differently from everyone else.
Once inside there was a short wait for the park to open, so they held us up before the Tree of Life. Soon a bus with Minnie, Goofy & one other (forgot who) arrived and they did a little opening schtick - with Mickey up in the Tree of Life. I went to Dinoland first and was able to ride Primeval Whirl twice without having to get off since there was hardly anyone there. After that I went to Harambe, where a very nice cm let me enter the Pangani Trail through the exit since nobody was around and I was only interested in seeing the gorillas. Several were out, including Gus eventually. I played around with the camera, and am still less than thrilled with this purchase. I'll check the manual to see if it addresses my problem (pictures too dark), but since I ordered it thru Home Shopping Network and mistakenly threw away the boxes it was shipped in, I may be stuck with an expensive trinket if I decide I don't really want it.
I spent about an hour on the trail, then decided to leave the park. On this trip I'd realized some of my travel supplies were getting low, so I decided to make a trip to the Super Target in Kissimmee to pick up a few things including the non-perishable grocery items I'd need for the upcoming week. This will save me time Monday, and since Atlanta Bread is in that shopping center I brought back a ½ veggie sandwich for later. I love that sandwich, but we don't have an Atlanta Bread in our part of Florida.
Back at Pop Century parking was very easy with everyone gone to the parks. I changed into my swimsuit, grabbed some reading material and headed to the Computer Pool after canceling housekeeping service for today. It wasn't exactly a warm sunny day, but I walked around during the extended periods of heavy clouds and stayed on my lounge chair the rest of the time. Around 3 I was tired of the constant clouds and went into the room. I'd eaten my sandwich while out at the pool and now ate the wonderful sourdough roll the guy at Atlanta Bread gave me instead of a bag of chips - yummy!
I showered and got online for a while, then made a half cup of a new cappuccino I bought at Target today to make sure I liked it before bringing it on the cruise in a couple of weeks. I don't think I've commented on this yet, but my Pop Century stay has been very quiet. I walk out my door and I'm at the pool, yet I never hear any pool noise when my door is closed. The only noises I've heard have been the occasional flush of the turbo toilets, but even that seems kind of muted over hear (it was louder in the 50's).
Feeling the need for some exercise, I decided to go for a walk before the local news/weather would be starting. I got about 4 rooms away before rushing back to put warmer clothes on - shorts just didn't work while the sun was fading! After changing I had a nice walk - reading all of the signs along Memory Lane and just enjoying the peacefulness of the resort. I was back in the room at 6:30 and watched the local news before driving over to Downtown Disney.
At Ghiradelli the sample today was the carmelized almond square, which is my favorite. I got one and bought a caramel square for Leesa, then returned to Pleasure Island to find her. The beauty of being there so often and having everyone know us is I only have to ask a cm where Leesa is and they'll know <g>. I found her in the mask room in the Adventurer's Club, along with David. When the show started in there we left to go sit in the main salon. Hathaway Brown looked familiar, and when he turned around I saw it was Robby (former Hoop Dee Doo, now Adv Club and Comedy Warehouse)! He was extremely occupied by 3 young ladies who appeared to have the hots for him, but when he saw me he waved and mouthed a hello. The girls didn't let go of him, lol - and it was funny to watch him playing along with them. He is a cute young thing, so their reaction didn't surprise me at all. Next Karl came out, and stopped by to say hi. He's working full-time at Adventurer's Club now, as of yesterday. He does a really good job over here, and he said it feels like his home. I enjoyed seeing the familiar faces here, but I'm not likely to cut back on Comedy Warehouse time to be at the Adventurer's Club. No offense intended, since they're both terrific clubs. Oh, I also met Sheila from the internet here, which was a nice surprise. Thanks for coming over to say hi & introduce yourself!
We left for our "home" at the Comedy Warehouse and saw Carol Stein was on the keys tonight. The 8:15 cast was Philip, John, Joy, Brian & Christine. They opened with the poem "Tarzan swings in the jungle", but it lacked a half-naked man like the Tarzan show at Animal Kingdom. The lyrics were good, though <g>. Next they did This is Your Life, with Brian interviewing a woman who was celebrating her 30th wedding anniversary. They acted out her first kiss (age 5 on the playground), meeting her husband on a blind date, and her future retirement in 4 years. There were a few funny moments but mostly it seemed to lack any kind of energy - which is unusual for this structure. It's almost always very funny, even if the situation the guest is relaying doesn't seem funny at all on the surface.
Christine led the others in a Madrigal, which was so short Leesa & I both looked at each other in surprise when it ended. The tabloid headlines were "Trump goes broke", "Hilary divorces Bill", "Elvis on stage at Disney" and "Bush on the moon". It was good while it lasted, but seemed too short. Perhaps This is Your Life ran too long. They also did Scene Freeze, with the 4 topics being eating green beans, grow hair, algebra and Cancun. This one was just ok, too. After the show we talked to Christine for a while, then went outside briefly until the next one.
The 9:15 cast was Philip, Joy, Mark, Brian & John. The opening song was about a deadbeat student here with a girl he'd met outside. She'd hitchhiked down from up north, and her girlfriend obviously wasn't too sure about this guy. He was fairly drunk, and we couldn't see any good qualities in him, but they were good sports about being trashed in the opening song, lol! Emotions was next, which was funny as usual. John & Philip created a scene about John's hockey puck collection. Next Joy & Brian created a love song called "Smoking", which was full of sexual innuendo but using tobacco-related terminology. They were ex-smokers who now wanted to "smoke" each other - it was funny and the audience loved it.
They did a good Letters to the Editor scene about hemp necklaces. Joy wrote to Transworld Motorcross, Mark to Glamour, and Brian to Irish Dance Magazine. Brian was funny making jokes about the Irish and the Lord of the Dance type of dancing, but Joy & Mark were also very good with their letters. Next John rang the bell in Should Have Said. Mark was in a boardroom as Michael Eisner, with Philip as his sucking-up employee. Philip actually kissed his butt and licked his shoes - ewww! Brian came in as Roy Disney pretending to be Mickey Mouse, and eventually Mark/Eisner ran away. It was hysterical, and timely <g>.
After the show we talked to Mark for a while, and John also came over. We joked around a little - just having fun. Leesa & I went over to 8 Trax briefly before returning to CW for the next show.
The 10:30 cast was Brian, Mary, Christine, Mark & Philip. Philip led them in creating a play - actually it was creating, recreating, and recreating again <g>. The title was "The Hungry Cockroach". It started with Mark & Christine as a russian couple starving because a cockroach was eating all of their food but they'd taken a vow not to kill cockroaches. Philip didn't like the russian style, so he asked for a suggestion and had them start over in the style of Stephen King. That was too dark, so Philip decided the play should be redone in a different style, and they started over in a Dr Seuss scene, complete with rhymes. They were supposed to use Play Doh to solve the cockroach problem, but Mark turned it into Plato, boring the bug to death with philosophical big words. They wrapped it up in a musical finale in the style of Grease, which Mark then turned into Greece. It was a fast-moving play and it turned out really well.
Forgotten Songs was next. Mary & Brian were a married couple singing a love song (suggestion was Fu Manchu) called Few Man Chew. Mark did a short peppy song called "Oh my god my butt itches". Philip did an African folk tune called "Born again savages" while in the background Christine gave birth repeatedly. Afterwards Brian, Mark & Mary came out and did the "Oh my god my butt itches" again, made funnier by Mary messing up on the last word and saying "hurts" while the others said "itches" <g>.
Mary rang the bell in should Have Said. Philip was trying to fix his computer, and Brian came in as the annoying little kid next door. Brian fixed the computer very easily, noting that Philip had a lot of porn on there. Mark came in as Brian's dad, but we were told he wasn't the "real" father. It was a funny scene, full of dysfunctional characters! I stopped to see Mary before leaving, and thought about sticking around for the midnight show but realized that would be too late if I wanted to get to Magic Kingdom before it was crowded. Leesa was sticking around for 1 more show, and I drove back to Pop Century.
I actually found a parking spot in the lot next to my building, so I guess the resort must not be full now that the weekend is over. I finished and posted the report, and once again was in bed around 1. Overall it was another great day - I can't think of anything I would have done differently, although warmer & sunnier weather would have been nice!
DAY 3 MONDAY MARCH 1, 2004:
Who: Sue, DVC Member
Plan: Magic Kingdom, Drive home
Actual: I'd set the alarm for 7 again, but woke up a little early. I ended up with time to kill, so I got online while having breakfast of cappuccino and biscotti again. Around 8:15 I brought the rest of my stuff to the car and then waited at the bus stop for the ride to Magic Kingdom. The bus was at the bus stop, and although I had to stand I figured it was better to be standing on a bus than at a bus stop <g>. We seemed to have the slowest bus or driver on Earth, as I swear lizards were passing us! We still got to MK about 15 minutes early though, and had to wait for the pre-opening thing before they let people onto Main Street just before 9.
I went straight back to Space Mountain and got a fastpass for 10:10, then walked right onto the ride since not many people had gotten there yet. It was great! I wandered through Fantasyland and decided to skip Pooh for now since it actually had a line already. Peter Pan was a walk-on so I did that instead - and daydreamed about my next Hilton Head trip for some reason. My next stop was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, but it was having technical problems and was closed, so I went back to Fantasyland and this time waited in a short line to ride the Pooh attraction. It was also wonderful feeling healthy & strong again, after the last couple of trips, so I didn't mind backtracking so much. Pooh was cute, and then I noticed Snow White was open and had no wait so I rode that as well. I thought I'd read it was closing this past weekend for refurbishment, but I must have been mistaken.
By now it was time to return to Tomorrowland - it was just after 10 am. By the time I got there I was within my fastpass window and this time I got the front seat. I also got the exact same rocket as earlier this morning - #24. Don't ask why I chose to notice something as obscure as the rocket number, because I have no idea! After Space Mountain I took a ride on the TTA and then decided to leave the park. After a moderate wait the Pop Century bus arrived and took me back to the resort. It was 11:15 and I wanted to get a chocolate chip cookie to take with me, but didn't see any. I asked at the bakery and the cm explained they don't come out until 11:30. Ugh - that seems ridiculous to me. By 10:30 or 11:00 it ought to be early lunch, and cookies should be out instead of stupid donuts and danish! Of course, I think cookies are perfectly acceptable breakfast food, and lunch, and dinner - can't go wrong with a cookie!
I went for a walk to kill the 15 minutes, since I really did want that cookie! At 11:30 they still weren't put out, but I saw a tray of them at the bakery (still warm) and went over to buy one. That accomplished, I went out to the car and decided to make one more run to the Target and Atlanta Bread. After I left yesterday I decided I should have gotten something else in Target, but realistically that is only an excuse to try to justify the Atlanta Bread run! Here's where the adventure portion of my trip begins.
First I ended up on the wrong road, and didn't realize it for quite a while. Rather than being on 417 I somehow ended up on the Osceola Parkway toll road. It's a crummy road, and that was my first clue that something was wrong. Luckily I saw an exit coming up for the road the Target is on, so I got off there. Not knowing which way to turn, I first went to the left and drove a while before I realized it was the wrong direction - so I turned around in a parking lot and went in the other direction. Eventually the area was deteriorating and I realized I had been wrong again - so I pulled a u-turn and went back in the other direction again. Sure enough, the Target (which is in Orlando, not Kissimmee) and Atlanta Bread was just a little further down from where I'd turned around the first time.
I got my item at Target, then went to Atlanta Bread and found a big long line. They had 1 cash register open, and the girl wasn't very swift. The customers were worse - it was like pulling teeth to get their orders. I love the food here, but 90% of the time the service just plain sucks compared to the Atlanta Breads I've visited in Gainesville, Tallahassee & Miami. I ordered the other half of my veggie sandwich, had to wait for it, and when it was ready it was wrong. So, they had to redo it. Remind me to NOT leave Disney property for Atlanta Bread in the future!!! My $3.50 sandwich came with $2.50 in tolls and over an hour of my time - good sandwich, but not worth that <g>! It was after 1 by the time I got back on the road, and arrived home sometime after 4.
A friend who'd been with Chris IM'd to let me know he had tried to reach me & was worried when I didn't answer the phone (I must have been unloading the car). Hehehe - since teens at some point have their parents worrying where they are, it's kind of nice to have the tables turned <g>.
SUMMARY:
Although this trip was very short, I still had a great time and it kind of feels like I packed a lot in even though I spent quite a bit of down time just relaxing. My preference is definitely for longer trips, but that won't be possible for a couple of months.
I enjoyed my 3rd stay at Pop Century, and have decided that the 80's are the best section for me. I don't need to be near the food court since I only go there for cookies anyway, it's near one end of the jogging path in case I ever decide to do that again, and the parking lot most likely to actually have an available parking spot at night is located at that end. Although my room was right on the pool, I heard none of the screaming and noise until I opened the door to go out. I didn't hear any neighbors or people passing by either, even though I was on the ground floor. Even the turbo toilets seemed quiet. On second thought, maybe I need a hearing exam <g>.
Comedy Warehouse was terrific! I loved being back, but hate that it'll be another month before I'm back and it will be another short trip. With only being there 2 nights, I missed Krista entirely and only got to see 1 of Mary's shows - which sucked (not Mary or the show - the fact that I only got to see her once <g>). The photos from February are up on Ofoto now. http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=34p4jkm.b3bw7ei7&x=1&y=mvwhqi
The first 20 were taken with the old camera earlier this month, and the rest were taken with the new camera (Kodak dx6490) this past weekend.
It was great seeing so many friends on this short trip, both planned and unplanned. My next trip is the 10-day Panama Canal cruise on HAL starting March 13th, and then I'm back at Pop Century for 2 nights on April 3rd for a trip with Larry & family from Scotland, Tom & Leanne, and Kim & Chris.
Until next time - thanks for reading.
Sue Holland