Sheri Niklewski - May 2004 - offsite, All Star Music

Time of Year: Spring
Travel Method: Personal car
Resort: Offsite, ASMuR
Accommodations: Standard
Ages Represented in Group: Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Veteran
Comments: Sheri's report is a bit unusual in that it covers two weekend trips she made in May; but if she hadn't she wouldn't have made the length of report we at MousePlanet have come to expect. Both trips were good, even with their weird (to me) tradition of going to Disney World over Memorial Day weekend.

Sheri Niklewski -- May 2004 -- Walt Disney World (Offsite, ASMuR)

The Cast of Characters

Me - Sheri (42) - the driving force behind any Disney trip, no matter how short or insane it happens to be - accountant at a manufacturing company
Husband - Rich (44) - he claims we've been to Disney World too many times but I don't see him saying no to anything I propose
We are Disney World veterans with our last trip being just the prior month for Easter. We live seven hours north in the northeast Atlanta metro area. Which is to say we're somewhere in north Georgia. Atlanta fits into conversation a lot better than "well, our address is Buford but we're closer to Brasleton" and have the person look at us like we have two heads. Since we're so close, we make many short trips during the year.

Dates - May 7-9 and 28-31, 2004

Introduction -

This report will combine two trips in one month. I have a feeling once it's done, it'll be a long report so be prepared. There are reasons for us driving seven hours one way twice in a month just to go to Disney World.

I was still new in my job but of course had Memorial Day off. For some reason or another, for the past three years since we moved to outside Atlanta, Rich and I have been at Disney World for Memorial Day weekend. It's usually a special time for us because it's right around our son's (Chris) birthday. He's grown and married with a stepdaughter (OK, Chris is only 22 years old but we were young when we married too) but we've shared so many special times at Disney World that I always feel a great connection with Chris while there. Memorial Day was a must.

I knew the Flower and Garden Festival would be going on and checked on Steve's site frequently to see the Flower Power series of concerts. Rich and I have enjoyed these very much in the past three years and look forward to the "oldies" groups. In fact, we've developed (well, me more than Rich) quite a following for some of them. Once the schedule was announced, I looked to see who was playing for Memorial Day.

Felix Cavalieres' Rascals. Steve had a link to the official website and I recognized quite a few tunes. Rich and I had never seen this group so we had to go see them. And then I happened to glance at the rest of the Flower Power lineup. Rich regrets I did that.

The Grass Roots were on for the weekend of May 6-9. Mother's Day weekend. I didn't want to take any time off of work (saving vacation and also trying to impress the new bosses that I'm a dedicated person). I proposed an insane Mouse Suicide Run of not missing any work and going for basically 24 hours to Disney World just to see The Grass Roots (and sneak in Off Kilter while I could). Since I play The Grass Roots in the car at every chance I get, Rich didn't think he could really say no so I put plans into place.

I do have to blame Disney World for my Grass Roots devotion. We saw them at the Flower Power series two years ago and then they were at a free concert here last year. After that, I became a fan. We have their Live at Last CD and it gets played just about every day. I'm not a groupie and follow the band around the country or anything but when they are "convenient", I'll see them. Sure, seven hours is convenient. Especially when it's at Disney World.

Admission -

The first weekend will be when we activate our Annual Passes. These were a gift from Rich's parents back in October. The in-laws combined Christmas and anniversary and gave us exactly what we wanted. I can't thank them enough. We didn't use them on our last trip since we still had days left on a hopper pass. But we wanted to be back as AP holders and this would start us off. I wouldn't have even considered such a short weekend trip for just a couple of shows but the APs kind of sealed it for me. We'll have the next 365 days after activation for use. So the Memorial Day trip is covered. And the Fourth of July trip, and the Labor Day trip, and the Thanksgiving trip.....

Accommodations -

For just about all our trips, we split the drive down into two days. We leave the night before after work, drive four hours and stay at a Days Inn south of Valdosta, GA. I make those arrangements through www.daysinn.com. I have their free TripRewards membership so I earn 100 points for every $10 I spend. I only have to spend $1000 to get a free night. Not a big incentive since I am dirt cheap and almost never spend over $50 for a hotel room (except at Disney World). But what the heck - I like the hotel and it's convenient and just what we need for a quick night's rest.

For the first weekend, we would only need a room in Kissimmee to sleep. We usually will spend more time at the hotel but not with a true Mouse Suicide Run. I looked at mousesavers.com for some help on extremely cheap accommodations. At the time I was deciding to actually do this, we still weren't 100% sure this trip would happen. It was a bit insane to drive all that way, start the Annual Passes, spend the money on gas, and it's all for a concert. We're in our forties - we should be more "responsible". But I checked anyway.

All of the really good discounted websites like expedia, priceline, and hotwire required that you immediately pay for your reservation. Out of those three, expedia was the best bet because you get to pick not only your rate but your hotel. But their prices were higher. I've used expedia before and have had no problems. Priceline was fine but you had to pick your level of hotel plus give a blind bid of what you wanted. You wouldn't know your hotel until after you paid and were locked in. I checked out websites that gave hints on what to bid for where you were going but gave up. It was like reading an instruction manual for how to program a DVD player. Then I turned to hotwire.

Here, you still don't know your hotel until after you pay but you know the level of hotel and the price before you submit anything. I had several choices from a 4 star place at $86 down to a 1 star place for $29. We didn't need much but there were options in between. Rich and I are simple people. Give me a bed, a shower, a bar of soap and a little thing of shampoo and I'm happy. I came home one day at lunch just a few weeks before the trip to see what was available.

After seeing the different options, Rich and I tossed around a 2-1/2 star place for $33 or a 3-1/2 star one for $46. Not a ton of difference in price but Rich wisely pointed out that we'd only be in the room Saturday night well after The Grass Roots concerts and that would be a late night. And we'd be gone by check out time on Sunday. So the 2-1/2 star place it is. I have never used this blind hotel approach before so I nervously went through with plugging in the payment options. This was like spinning a roulette wheel. What would be the outcome?

I hit the "submit" button and we were locked in. Then the hotel choice came up. The cats thought I was insane and I think Rich ran from the room. OK, it's not the Taj Mahal but it's the Clarion Maingate where we've stayed before. Perfect location for us and I really liked this hotel. Last time we were there, I got a specially discounted rate of $49 (they normally are around $69). So hotwire really paid off for me this time.

For Memorial Day, I kind of played Rich a little. We're going back to Disney World for July 4th (crazy idea but what the heck). I knew I wanted to be onsite for that trip because of the crowds. I got us into Pop Century then for the AP rate of $59. When I told Rich that same rate was available for Memorial Day he said that if I could get it to go for it. I think I hesitated about five seconds before calling Disney World back. This time, though, I asked for All Star Music. We hadn't stayed here since 1998 so we're due back. After a year, we're finally going to be back onsite!

So sit back and here goes the wacky Niklewski Disney May -

First Trip - The Mouse Suicide Run

Day One - Friday, May 7, 2004 - "The One That Wasn't Supposed to Happen"

The week wasn't going very well and I was eagerly awaiting Friday at 5:00. My company is in the middle of changing Controllers - who is my direct boss. The guy who hired me decided that he liked Seattle much better than Atlanta and was moving back there. His replacement was on board and getting trained. If you think having one boss is too much, try putting in a second for five weeks. Add to the mixture that these two men are as different as day and night and your brain has to do turn arounds when dealing with issues. Rich's car was acting up but we chalked that up to the increasing Georgia temperatures.

And then my computer died. When I left for work one morning, I did the normal shut down. When I came home for lunch, the thing was dead - totally frozen. No CTRL + ALT + DEL for this girl. No "let's just reboot". No "just shut the thing down". It was gone. Rich tried to revive her but nothing worked. It wasn't that big of a concern since Rich has a PC and I have my handy dandy laptop. We have everything networked but....

If the hard drive on my machine is gone, that means I've lost every single trip report I've ever written. I know, I know, I know. Backup, backup, backup. I had started a CD of the reports but I'm not very good with copying the stupid things on it. Our last trip was over Easter and I hadn't sent that one in so I might have to try again using what I've saved on the laptop and going from there. And all the wonderful prose that I wrote for this trip is gone. It wasn't Larry Wilmot great but it was passable. But these things happen, we go on.

So I'm kicking butt at the office, spending over $100,000 to get bills paid (I love spending other people's money) and my phone rings. We have caller ID and I saw it was Rich's number. And then the drama began. His car was in our home garage and not starting. Not even making noises like the battery died (a common thing with his car if he doesn't drive it much). This is what happened earlier in the week and he let it sit (managed to get into a Wal Mart parking lot so you know what he did with that time) and then she was fine after that. I have a silly habit of naming our cars and this one is Princess. Because she's Rich's baby and I've driven it but only when absolutely necessary. Other than Rich, I don't think any one else has driven Princess since he bought it in 1992. She's a 1989 Corvette convertible - red and very nice. However, she does need to be babied and she'd get the full treatment today.

After talking with Rich, he said we'd have to do all the errands he was going to do before we left. Nothing major - a trip to the bank for a deposit, and to the grocery store for snacks for the trip. I said I'd leave work a little early so we could do those things locally and then still head out on the road at 6:00. Rich said something about trying to start the car later.

That was about 2:00. A half hour later, I called Rich's cell phone. No answer. I took that to mean he had the car started and was merrily on his way for the errands. I called every fifteen minutes until he finally called me back. Princess had started and they made their way to the bank. And then to a package store. Where after Rich shopped, Princess wouldn't start again. Now, here's where the fun starts. Fortunately, this was about 2 miles from our house. Because silly Rich had forgotten his cell phone! And men don't carry a Day Runner with phone numbers in it. No, Rich relied on stored numbers in his phone. He couldn't remember my work number or cell number. He had to walk his sorry little butt all the way back home. Did I mention that the day was absolutely beautiful? For north Georgia in May. Temps in the high 80s, sunny, not a cloud in the sky? He arrived home totally soaked with sweat. He found my work number and called.

That was at 3:30. I had already warned both bosses I might have to leave early. I had one major thing to do for the week so I did that and headed out. Ugh on the Atlanta traffic even at 3:45 on a Friday afternoon. Nothing that bad so I was home by 4:15. Rich got in my car (she's named Jasmine and was our transportation for the trip, thank goodness) and we went to rescue Princess. Who wouldn't cooperate. So AAA was called for a tow. I had warned Rich that it could take up to three hours for this to happen but the person he talked to said the truck would be there by 5:25. OK, I can handle that. We were not sitting out in the hot sun so I drove us back to the house for a half hour to finish getting packed up and ready to go ASAP after the tow.

Shortly after 5:00, we went back to wait for the tow truck. And we waited. I had Rich call AAA again and he had to talk to dispatch. I cringed when I heard the one sided conversation - "well, will we get a discount for this? You have no time frame?" There was no evidence at all that a tow truck was even dispatched. I was, to say the least, livid. We had to make a choice. Was this trip even going to happen? We would have to eat up the hotwire reservation at $33 plus taxes but we could cancel tonight's reservation but only before 6:00.

Rich suggested I go back to the house and pick up our jumper cables (stupid us for not having these in any of our cars). So I did that and came back. Total success with getting Princess started! Whoo hoo! Because of the way we had to jump start Princess, I was parked close to Rich so he said I should back out and get going first. Let's chalk up another Niklewski dumb move. I didn't see Rich anywhere behind me so I pulled over. And the cell phone rang. Rich didn't even make it out of the parking lot before Princess died. So I went back and did the whole jump start thing again. Rich thought if he put the car in neutral or gunned it getting out of the parking lot, he'd be fine. But this time, I was going to follow him. Well, he cruised on into the next parking lot at Kroger because the damn car died again. So we did the whole routine again but this time let things work for about five minutes. Then he pulled out. And motioned to me to go around him. Because he had to coast back out of the lane and into a parking space. Princess was not in good shape. We ended up pushing her out of harm's way. Not good. No AAA coming, no solution, and the hotel reservation went bye-bye because it was now 6:00.

Rich and I had the same idea at the same time. The place where we were going to have the car towed to might know of a tow company. Rich called them and they said they would take care of it. At this point, the week and the day had gotten to me. I had enough. I went into Kroger and got myself an adult beverage and a Diet Coke for Rich while he dealt with phone calls. When I came out, the service center had arranged for the tow truck to come in less than a half hour and then AAA called and said it would still be another hour. I have always had great service from AAA but this was totally strange. And unacceptable. If I had known it was going to be three hours for a tow back at 4:30 that was fine. But to be delayed and delayed and delayed wasn't.

We were joined while waiting by another Corvette owner. Nice to have such great conversation in a hot Kroger parking lot on an early Friday evening. Just kidding. Right as the tow truck (from the service station, not from AAA) showed up, Rich's cell phone rang. The PC guy. I got to handle that one. Yeah, like I know all this stuff. Looks like my C drive can be saved and thrown onto some floppies (I had forgotten I had tons of digital photos on there too - I know, I know - backup, backup). But the rest relies on Rich finding some boot disks at home. He finally remembered the next day where he had those disks. Silly man. I also used this time to call the Days Inn in Lake Park and told them we'd be very late that night.

Princess was loaded onto the tow truck and we headed home. We were so not prepared for this, we were getting sunburned (it showed), and we still needed to drive four hours south for our trip. Not a great start to a Disney vacation. During the many trips back to the house, I had taken all the bags out to my car so we were ready to rock and roll. But the cats at the house (three of them) were so confused so we took some time and calmed them down and made sure we didn't forget anything. We got going around 7:00 which wasn't bad for what we went through.

We had already decided that dinner was going to be PB&J sandwiches and cheese and crackers in our nice safe room south of Valdosta. We went forward with that plan. Just an hour later. Rich drove us through Atlanta and with the later hour, it was uneventful. Around 8:00, I needed food so I grabbed a sandwich. These are the new Smucker's Uncrustible sandwiches. You buy them frozen and then just thaw them out for 30-60 minutes and they taste like you just made them yourself. Rich just drove. We stopped for a break and I offered to drive but Rich said he'd continue on for a while. He ended up driving the whole way. The week and the day got to me and I snoozed for a good long hour. I had to give kudos to my husband for taking the driving. I was about ready to just give up.

We got to the Days Inn shortly before 11:00 (thank you Rich!). The front desk was manned but we had to go over to the Night Window. That was fine. Our room was very close to the office but it was clean and quiet. A king bed, non-smoking room. It was heaven after the long week and the very long day. Of course, we were both keyed up so we stayed up until 1:00 watching Roseanne and Cosby Show reruns.

Day Two - Saturday, May 8, 2004 - "Disney provides top notch nature and entertainment"

Usually, I will be the little general and make us get up early and on the road for any Disney trip. This time, with the events of yesterday, we agreed that a 7:30 wake up call was for the best. I woke up at 7:28 without the alarm and immediately thought about turning the darn thing off. And when the bell did ring two minutes later, I knew Rich was feeling effects too. He asked if I was going to get ready first. He's always the first one in the shower. I contemplated just telling him to go back to sleep but realized if he spoke, he's awake. So I got up and got ready. He followed while I worked on the report for a while. Rich also got caught up on sports news via ESPN. We were ready to go by 8:30.

Check out was a breeze and we grabbed some mini cinnamon rolls and orange juice from the continental breakfast. It wasn't very crowded this time and Rich finally noticed they had other offerings. For what it's worth, there was bread and bagels for toasting, dry cereals, and fixings for instant oatmeal and grits (hey, it's Georgia). Not a bad deal for the price we paid. The only down side to this hotel is the shower curtain. It's very flimsy and flew around in the shower. The floor of the bathroom was extremely wet after we were done. I did fill out a positive comment card but mentioned that they need to invest in heavier curtains. I think a negligee has more heft to it than this curtain did.

We used the Shell station and filled up on gas before we ventured into Florida. The prices now are ridiculous and I had filled up Jasmine at lunch yesterday but we had no idea what the elevation of prices were going to do to Florida which is always higher than Georgia. At $1.78/gallon, this was a "bargain". But our girl was happy and full and we could continue on. For I think the first time in a Disney World trip, Rich did not go into the store for Diet Coke. He actually brought his own along and kept it in a cooler.

And why did we have a cooler? That's an interesting story in itself. We play trivia every Sunday night. We've been doing this for several years and formed friendships along the way. We have a standard team and we usually win (we are geeks, I know). Last year, I brought back some Disney things for the daughters of people there. Our teammate, Dawn, was a little miffed that we didn't bring her anything. So with this trip, I asked if there was anything she specifically wanted. She thought about it for a week and then said, yes, there was one thing she really wanted. A Disney World turkey leg. So our mission was to get a couple of turkey legs on Sunday and take them back for her. Hence the cooler for transportation. The only problem was that in our haste yesterday to get going, I didn't think to pack some Ziploc bags for the task. That was solved when I realized the plastic bag they give with the ice bucket would nicely hold a turkey leg. They come wrapped in aluminum foil but we obviously wanted something waterproof. I felt like MacGyver or something.

We were on the road a little before 9:00 which wasn't bad for the day. I started out driving and I could tell Rich was pretty bored being a passenger. He pulled out a Reader's Digest for the trip. I plugged in The Grass Roots Live at Last CD to get a dose of what I hoped for that night. That alleviated my boredom. Sorry but north Florida is not the most interesting place to drive through on I75. Once we got to exit 350, we stopped at the Disney Information Center which is sort of a traditional stop. Bathroom breaks and just a bit of the Mouse. There's a gift shop here and the Cast Member happily informed me that baby onesies were on sale (I had to explain to Rich what a onesie was). I had to laugh because my days of babies are over. Yes, I'll have other grandchildren one day but that's Chris' and Chandra's problem, not mine. OK, I'll spoil the kids rotten but then I can give them back and retreat to Atlanta (no Civil War pun intended).

Rich took the time to make a phone call to check on his car. The service place had called earlier and Rich attempted to call them back when we were on the road but the connection dropped. They needed permission to do a diagnostic on the car and the guy agreed with Rich that it must be something electrical or battery related. The dreaded word "alternator" was uttered and we both shuddered. That little sucker ain't cheap.

Rich said he'd drive the rest of the way and made the lame excuse that he's scared of how I drive on Highway 192. I made him admit that he's totally bored as a passenger. I didn't mind at all. My body was still trying to wake up! But once we got to Route 27, I did mind. I think my husband drives like a little old lady. He's very conservative. I really wanted to be behind the wheel. I said something about speeding up and he admonished me that he knew what he was doing. I told him about the little old lady thing. He just laughed and said "you know, that doesn't bother me a bit". I guess we arrived in Kissimmee a whopping five minutes later than if I had been driving.

When we were on the turnpike, we noticed that the sign indicating any potential traffic problems was lit up. Meaning you should turn your radio dial to a certain setting for information. We immediately turned off the CD and did that. Can you tell we deal with Atlanta traffic every day? We couldn't get the station in right away but eventually it did come in. All we could figure out was they were going to be doing guardrail installation starting Sunday. Does that really warrant the flashing yellow light for all the tourists on the turnpike? I thought that should be reserved for traffic accidents and things like that. Maybe I'm a jaded person with everything we go through back home.

We got to the Clarion by using Black Lake Drive which cuts behind Highway 192. Since we had stayed here before, I knew there was a back entrance to the place. Otherwise, we would have had to drive pass the hotel on 192 and then make a U turn to get back. That's fine but Rich hasn't driven Jasmine that much and he freaks on doing U turns (always asks "is it legal" - told you he was conservative). Rich was a little confused on why we were doing this but then realized the logic to it once we were in the parking lot. Did I mention he has little to no imagination?

I checked us in and was prepared with the confirmation from hotwire. This was my first time doing this and I was a little nervous. No problem at all and I wasn't made to feel like a second class citizen. It was shortly before noon and I hoped a room would be ready but was prepared if not. Sorry, no room cleaned yet. Check in time was 2:00 but we could take care of all the paperwork and just come back for our room keys later. I wanted to run down the road to that horrible Howard Johnson we stayed at last month and have those people come up here for some lessons in customer service. Here, we were even told about bus schedules to the parks, the pool area, and given vouchers for "buy a drink, get one free" at the pool bar. So far, this trip is looking up.

Here I'm going to insert something about my personality. If I have to be somewhere at a specific time, I fret. A doctor's appointment at 10:00? I'm there no later than 9:45. It was a joke when I was looking for a job. If I had an interview, I was leaving my house an hour and a half beforehand and sitting in parking lots waiting. So the fact that The Grass Roots concerts were scheduled was driving me nuts. Rich had suggested we go to MGM since we hadn't done that last trip. No, not for me. I had to be at Epcot. All day. That's where we headed. With Rich driving.

Did I tell you he takes no chances? I think he set a record for the slowest time going from the Clarion, which is an easy drive up Sherberth and onto Disney property, to the Swan. He got behind a Disney bus. A slow moving Disney bus. And he wouldn't pass it. Of course, it turned when we turned. And then it turned again when we turned. It finally went straight when we needed to turn left but then what happened? We got behind another Disney bus. Which turned right into the Swan before us. If we topped 30 MPH, I'd be surprised.

Right as we pulled into the parking lot, Rich's cell phone rang. It was the service station and I had the guy hold on until we got into a parking space. Talking on a cell phone and trying to drive with one hand some times do not mix. I kind of held my breath since I was only getting one side of the conversation. I had visions of dollar bills going out of our bank account. Then Rich said "so it was nothing major then?" I exhaled at that point. Just a power charge to the battery and a general clean up and it's good to go. Whew! Onto Disney World!

The day was a typical Florida May day. Sunny with no clouds. Temperatures maybe hit 90 but probably in the high 80s. I slathered on sunscreen and Rich did the macho "I don't need that stuff". I warned him about his neck and how it was still early in the summer but he scoffed. On the way over to Epcot, Rich did exactly what I expected him to do. He suggested pizza at the Spoodles take out window. I wasn't that hungry and didn't feel like pizza but I told him to get a slice for himself and we could sit and enjoy the day for a while. We did that in the shade, of course - I wasn't that stupid.

It was here that we got such a nice dose of nature. This is one of our favorite places to just relax. We watched a male and female bird gathering up bits and pieces for a nest. Right above where we were sitting was some venting for the air conditioning or something. I guess the birds wanted to start a family up there. So they would fly down to the seating area and pick up bits of sticks and then fly up and disappear into the vent. But the momma bird picked up this very long twig and couldn't figure out how to get it into the vent. She dropped it so many times. Then poppa bird tried it and wasn't successful either. Rich, the nature lover, wanted to break the twig up for them but we decided that it's nature and we humans should not interfere.

We also had a couple of love bugs flying around. Well, they always are two of them flying around. Joined. May is a love bug month in Florida. They are harmless but plentiful. It wasn't that bad this time.

While we were sitting there, a human mother carrying her about four year old daughter was trying to find a way into Spoodles. Which isn't open for lunch. She asked another guest how to get in but that lady didn't know. We intervened and asked what she needed. A bathroom. She was obviously in great need for the little girl. Who either had to go very badly or already had gone and needed to be cleaned. The nearest one I could think of was by the Boardwalk pool. I directed her. After she left, Rich said he would have sent her to the ESPN Club but it was probably better to go to the "public" ones. Which got us thinking - there really are no bathrooms marked along the Boardwalk. All the talk about going to the Boardwalk for night time activities and there are no easily accessible bathrooms?

With Rich being nourished for the time being, we headed again for Epcot. I was just a little excited since we were going to activate our Annual Passes! Huge whoo hoo! The lime green vouchers had been in our desk drawer since last October when Rich's parents bought them for us. We easily did the transaction at the International Gateway and we're now set for the next 365 days. Plenty more trips for us. Rich had a little trouble with the biometer and that might cause some problems in the future. I don't think his finger scan quite was set. I didn't have any trouble.

We had over four hours until The Grass Roots and Rich said magical, magical words. "I guess we should head over and see how long it'll be for Gary Sinise". That's who hosts Mission:Space. He's one of my favorite actors and is on my Laminated List. Rich knows my attraction to the man and suffers through my school girl pantings. I have to live with his Alyssa Milano attraction so it's paybacks. But I hadn't suggested this at all. But one husband did make his wife extremely happy.

(Side note: When I got back, I was telling someone about this little encounter. They had never been to Disney World and asked if I got to talk to Gary Sinise. Um, I really don't think Mr. Sinise hangs out at Mission:Space.)

We strolled over to check out the FastPass situation or the single rides line. We did check out the Flower & Garden offerings along the way. Just briefly because we knew we'd be making several walks around World Showcase today. The fountain was going off and they were playing the music from the Millenium Celebration. I think I embarrassed Rich when I started dancing around like the old Tapestry of Dreams parade. Rich pointed out the perfect T-shirt for him. Eeyore with the saying "Why smile - it only causes wrinkles". That's Rich.

Once over at Mission:Space, the FastPass return time at 2:00-3:00 which was perfect for us. Stand by time was 35 minutes, single riders was 30 minutes. Yeck on both of those. But there was enough time for a walk around the lagoon. Once we got out of Future World, we had to decide on a clockwise or counter-clockwise path. Rich claimed we always do counter-clockwise so he wanted to be a rebel and go towards Mexico this time.

We did stop in Norway and I pointed out to Rich the Soarin' building construction behind the Canada pavilion. I had mentioned earlier how people thought it would be obtrusive. Rich looked up and said "ugh, that looks horrible, they need to hide that". This from a very simple and unimaginative man. I think a fake billboard of the Canadian Rockies would be better than the top of the Soarin' building. What the heck happened to the idea of not screwing around with sight angles?

We didn't have anything specific in mind other than checking out Germany and United Kingdom for potential gifts for my departing boss. He's doing a six week vacation to Germany and Ireland after he leaves. He has relatives in both places. So we just meandered and poked around in the shops. We also checked out the Flower & Garden displays along the way. We have a big backyard and have been totally unsuccessful in getting anything to grow back there. Rich has tried everything. So when we saw the display for the perfect backyard, we couldn't resist. Hum.... a shade garden? We have a ton of trees back there, that might be an option. A water backyard? Yeah, but a ton of upkeep. And Georgia is in the middle of a draught and we're on water rations (second time in three years) so that's not good. Norway had some nice wildflowers that caught Rich's eye. Looked like weeds to me and our neighbors would probably howl but at least it's not bare ground. But I did remember the flower mix - Sonata mix. Have to find that somewhere.

By the time we made it to the American pavilion, our window for Mission:Space had opened up. We decided to just bypass the exhibits and just go all the way around to Future World. I had to check out the poster for The Grass Roots at the American Gardens Theatre. While we were discussing the group, a family came up behind us and were trying to figure out the songs the group was known for. Of course, Rich and I knew just about every one of them ("Midnight Confession" is their signature song). The family wanted to know how that one went. Rich made me, who can't carry a tune in a bucket, sing it! How embarrassing. But the father remembered the song and the mother said they had to come back for the 7:00 show. I think the preteen kids groaned.

We went over to the cart where they had the CDs and things for the different Flower Power acts. They had the same CD of The Grass Roots we have but we checked out The Turtles (saw them last year in Atlanta and surprising liked them). While we were doing this, Rich chatted with two ladies who were obviously enjoying the libations Epcot has to offer. Rich mentioned that we were there specifically for The Grass Roots. The ladies said they were there the night before and they thought Rob Grill (the lead singer) was "into himself". They also went through the entire lineup of Flower Power and told us which ones they liked and didn't like. Most of the negative comments were catty. I so wanted to leave but Rich is too polite. I finally said that I had a date with Gary Sinise and wanted to go. The ladies said they hoped to see us that night at the concert (even if they thought Rob Grill was stuck up). After we walked away, I told Rich that if we did see those ladies that night, I'd run the other way.

We walked all the way back to Future World and Mission:Space. The day was still very hot for early May. There was one quick stop in the United Kingdom for maybe some Irish things for my boss (Rich informed me later that I was thinking of the other Ireland so no merchandise for me). Anyway, we saw that The British Invasion had a CD available. We chuckled and Rich said he had to check out which Beatles songs were included. He brought over the CD. It was all cover songs of anyone except the Beatles! Quite funny.

We didn't hurry or anything and made it about halfway through our window for Mission:Space. We walked right in and were the next people to join an almost full loading area. FastPass is wonderful as we went past all the people in the stand by line and even the singles line was too long for us.

While we were waiting for the introduction to begin, a kid about ten or so started very loudly telling his parents that he didn't want to go on this - at all. Nothing could change his mind. After Mr. Sinise finished up his part of the intro and his lady friend starts going through all the warnings, the kid really got loud. The whole pod was laughing because the kid adamantly did not want to go on this. When the lady started reading off certain things that might cause a person to be uncomfortable on the attraction, the kid all of a sudden determined that he got motion sickness. It was hysterical - Lady "guests with motion sickness may experience some difficulties". Kid - "Yep, yep, yep, that's what I have, motion sickness". When the Cast Member came in to lead us out, the kid was ready to bolt right through her. She had to tell him he had to wait to leave until the right moment. That kid was out of there like lightening. At least his parents didn't try and force him onto something he obviously did not want to do.

We had a nice ride to Mars and for some reason, this ride bothered me a little more. Rich insists that if you put out your arms during the liftoff, you feel more Gs. I wasn't going to attempt it but he did sitting next to me. Seeing something out of my peripheral vision probably wasn't a good idea. I didn't feel nauseous or anything, just a bit off kilter.

After the ride, we checked out the video email booths. Usually, these are clogged up with kids sending multiple messages without realizing there are people waiting to send something too. But we saw a possible opening and waited for a boy about 10 or so finish up his message. He knew we were waiting and vacated the booth when he was done. Rich and I did a message to Chris. It was something with a funky music background and the little icon suggested we dance. Rich told me no but when the video was playing, I did anyway. Chris claims he never got the message. I think he did but was embarrassed to admit his mother has some moves (OK, I dance as well as I sing). We checked around and there was no one waiting so I sent off another one to Rich's mother. She got that one and said she appreciated it. I actually think she questioned the sanity of the woman who married her son.

By now I was getting hungry since I had passed on the pizza earlier. I know Disney World portions and with the day being so hot, I didn't think I could handle an entire meal on my own. So I thought Rich and I could share one of those true foot long hot dogs. And I kind of wanted to eat inside. I suggested the Electric Umbrella but nothing on their menu appealed to both of us - Rich wanted that whopper of a burger but I was interested in a sandwich but Rich and I share little common interest in those. Rich suggested the hot dog cart at the entrance to World Showcase over towards Mexico. That was fine with me as long as we went to the outdoor seating area in Mexico to eat the food. Rich can walk and eat at the same time, I can't.

But no hot dog. The Cast Member said he expected an order of them 45 minutes ago and they were running late (the person delivering the food, not the actual hot dogs). The CM suggested Electric Umbrella or the cart outside Test Track. Rich thanked him but told him we had just come from there and we weren't walking back. So we went counter clockwise around the lagoon checking out the Flower and Garden Festival things we had just walked by earlier.

On this walk, we passed by the ice cream place in France. I had the best laugh. A kid in front of us wanted to know "why are they selling that stuff here?" His mother murmured something I couldn't hear. And then the kid said "but that's icky". Then the mother said "it's crepes, not crap!" Le Crap Shoppe, courtesy of France, ladies and gentlemen.

I knew America had hot dogs and my stomach was really beginning to complain so when we got back there again, we took a break. Rich went in for a hot dog basket for us to share and a couple of good old American Budweisers. I sat outside at a nicely shaded table, took off my shoes and hat and relaxed for quite a while.

Now, here's where my personality analness on schedules comes into play. When we walked by the first entrance to the theatre, it was 3:30. The first Grass Roots show was at 5:45. There were already people lined up for it! Same with the other side. Now, I love The Grass Roots but I'm not standing in the hot sun for two hours just to get a front row seat. But I started freaking out about even being able to get into the stupid theatre. I told Rich I wanted to be back in America no later than 5:00. We have this thing that we do when somebody is doing something to exasperate us. We use the term that IMers know well - "rolls eyes". Rich said that phrase and I told him to humor me. I started obsessing with what we'd do if we couldn't get a seat, if we could actually get into the first show but had to leave after that and wait for the second show, etc, etc, etc. I know, totally pathetic. And it's not just because I wanted to see this particular group. I'm this way about many things.

But we had full stomachs and at least another hour to kill. So Rich suggested another walk around the lagoon and seeing any exhibits we had missed on the first fifteen walks around. Well, it seemed like we walked that much today. On this walk, the drawbridge was up bringing out the Illuminations floats. Earlier, Rich had heard a woman wonder why there was a drawbridge there. He almost turned around to tell her but then thought it would have been rude to admit he was eavesdropping. Way too polite.

When we got close to Norway, I had to tell Rich that I was getting overheated and really needed air conditioning. Rich suggested the Maelstrom. It had a twenty five minute stand by line but we had time to kill, said Rich. I said, we can do this but if we're not back in America by 5:00, you are a dead man. He said "rolls eyes". The air conditioning felt wonderful and we were on our boat in about fifteen minutes. A little boy in front of us went through this ride with his eyes as big as saucers. He kept looking backwards - I guess he was warned about the reverse of directions. We made it into the next showing of the film. We always stay for this - it's short and there's air conditioning. And here's some Disney magic. As jaded as people think of this film, we were surrounded by first timers. They absolutely loved this movie. I think one woman just sat there and said "wow, I want to go there now". Gives you a whole new appreciation to how other people view Disney World. We hustled through the shop at the end because I think every one before us had used the sample of Lalia on themselves. That place reeked! It's a nice perfume and all but it was way too much. Even the sun felt better.

Now we had to decide which was to go to get back to America. My biological clock doesn't tick anymore but boy the real one does. Rich said to continue on counter clockwise. I again said he would be a dead man if we didn't make it back to America by 5:00. He did "rolls eyes" again. Once we got to Canada, Rich wanted to reward himself for putting up with my compulsions and went for a Moosehead. No beer cart! How many times does that cart have to go in for refurb? So we just continued on to America.

Where I was not a happy camper. Much longer lines to get into the theatre (which is outdoors but halfway covered). I was not standing in line. Rich went into the counter service area for a beer for us to share while I pouted because he wouldn't ask what time the seating area would be open. He told me to ask myself since I was the one having a problem with it. We sat at the shaded tables in silence until I excused myself for a bathroom break. When I got back, I saw people being let into the theatre. We strolled right in and Rich got us great seats kind of with a tree in line with the stage but not with where the performers were going to be. There would be no one sitting directly in front of us. This would be my home for the next few hours.

In retrospect, I was being stupid for needing to be there so early. But that's just how I operate. Rich still teases me with my reactions and how everything worked out just like he thought it would. We relaxed and people watched. Our seats were not in the covered part of the theatre but the branches of the small trees were fine for us. I won't go into every single song The Grass Roots did but it was a great concert. The audience was encouraged to sing along and, I'll tell you, I certainly did. As loud as I could as requested by Rob Grill. Thankfully, no one could really hear me!

After the show, Mr. Grill stayed and signed autographs for anyone who wanted one. At this point, I understood what those ladies earlier had misinterpreted. Mr. Grill stays on the stage but kneels down for the signings. Those ladies wanted hugs from him and he was hesitant. Frankly, if the ladies were in worse condition after 6:00 than they were at 2:00, I'd refuse as well. No one left disappointed since Mr. Grill waited until everyone in line got his autograph.

It was 45 minutes until the next show and I wasn't going anywhere. I knew Rich would get antsy so I sent him off to see more Flower and Garden stuff. He's the nature lover anyway. I wanted to stay in my relatively unobstructed seats. I had my camera bag and cap on the bench next to me to save Rich's place. We really aren't large people - we, in fact, are quite small. This guy comes down the bench and, without asking if I was saving a seat, just starts shoving my stuff over towards me. As politely as I could muster, I told him that I was saving one seat. And then his wife says "if you move down there, the tree will be in your way". Which is why we picked those seats. No one in front, and no one wanted to sit to the left because of the tree. I certainly know a little secret for when we see the Rascals over Memorial Day weekend.

I thought I had a good seat until this lady sat down in the row in front of us. Over to the right. But she had the huge brimmed straw hat on. The sun was fading fast and she certainly didn't need it but she was oblivious to anyone behind her. Oh well, I made do with scooting over closer to Rich.

We expected the second show to be a duplicate of the first one but it was totally different. So I got to sing my lungs out to more Grass Roots songs. After the second set, Rich attempted to do more stuff in World Showcase but got waylaid by the Beer Curse. All he wanted was a simple Bud from the American pavilion. He has to go inside because there you get a 20 ounce one for the same price as the more convenient cart outside that has 16 ounce ones. Not only is he conservative and polite, he's cheap. But the so very important slip of paper that was placed on the tray inside for the counter people was blown off the tray. The beer came up and they had absolutely no clue as to what to do with it. So they just gave it to the next person in line who ordered one. Have you ever tried to get the attention of a counter service Cast Member when they are in the groove of moving food? It's like getting in the way of a mother lion feeding her cubs. Highly dangerous. Rich finally got someone's attention, showed them his receipt and was able to get a fresh cup of suds. That killed about 25 of his 45 minutes in between sets. He never left America.

For this set, we had a new father sit down on our left with his four month old daughter (joined later by his wife and another youngster). This guy told me that he "grew up" to The Grass Roots songs. Now, earlier, Rob Grill had introduced a very popular song saying that it was their first number one hit in 1966. I told Rich I was four years old and certainly wasn't listening to the radio at that time. So this guy had to be older than me. And he had such a young family. I'm a grandmother already!

Rob Grill had warned the audience that the third set would be a repeat of the first one. I didn't care. By the time this one was over with, I could barely speak. We contemplated staying for Illuminations (it was fifteen minutes for that to start) but Rich reminded me of the day we had yesterday, the drive, and the fact that we hadn't even unloaded the car yet. So we made our way back to the car via the Boardwalk. With no entertainment at all and that was a huge disappointment. What is up with the sporadic schedule here? Sure, some nights are more popular than others but come on, have at least one thing going on.

Rich drove us back to the Clarion where we easily got our room keys from the front desk (Howard Johnson, are you listening?) and unloaded the car. We actually made it up in one trip. We didn't have much but taking the laptop and the cooler plus a small bag for each of us made it a bit awkward.

Our room was fine for the price. No king bed but hotwire doesn't guarantee that feature and we didn't ask for it at check in. Functional, clean with some little extras. They had a shampoo that Rich likes so we used our own that we brought and took the unopened bottle of theirs home with us. We travel so much that we always have these small size bottles with us. And they gave us mouthwash! I gave a shriek of delight at that. Not for me but for my father-in-law. He and my mother-in-law travel more than anyone I know and Ed is a fanatic about mouthwash. Any time he can get these small size bottles, he's in heaven. I get great daughter-in-law points for including these things in his presents during the year.

So far, the hotwire experience was great but Rich dubbed this room, The Room No One Else Wanted. The air conditioning was loud. Not that bad, I've heard worse coming from our next door neighbor at home. But we had to have the TV volume up fairly high and we were afraid our neighbors here would complain. We didn't mind since it would keep out all the noise in the morning but it was still quite loud. We chilled for a while and tried to stay as awake as possible for Saturday Night Live. Bad mistake. This was quite possibly the worst Saturday Night Live I have seen in years. Even Jimmy Fallon was horrible on it. The Weekend Update segment usually is very funny and that was such a stinker. An hour of my time I can't get back.

Lights out around 12:30 and we fell so fast asleep with the long and hot day. But it was worth it.

Day Three - Sunday, May 9, 2004 - "The Great Turkey Leg Hunt"

I usually get less than six hours of sleep during the week at home and so my body was awake around 7:00. Well, my brain was awake, the rest of me was not willing to go or do anything. I dozed for a while and then finally got up for good at 9:00. I worked on the trip report while Rich took his turn at relaxing. He's the opposite of me - he sleeps in during the week and gets up early on the weekends. This was a treat for him. At 9:20, he cracked one eye open, I told him what time it was, and he went right back to sleep. Fine with me. Check out wasn't until 11:00.

Rich finally got up and ready to go. I followed him in the shower and then we lugged everything back downstairs. I checked us out and I imagine the desk clerk thought I was a bit strange. We had no charge on the room since we had to pay for it immediately when booked through hotwire. But Rich has this thing about returning the room keys. More politeness. Me, I'd leave the things in the room.

Back over to the Swan and we made sure the car was parked under a tree and with the windshield shade. We knew we'd be driving back around 2:00 and the interior would be extremely hot. The weather was a repeat of yesterday. We were doing very well with maintaining our heat factors but I did learn a very valuable lesson later on.

Every lady entering Epcot was given a flower for Mother's Day. Someone later said it might have been better to give the flowers out leaving the parks. True but I saw those flowers getting some special treatment throughout the day. I didn't see any being tossed on the ground or anything.

Our only mission at Epcot (besides Off Kilter) was to get Dawn her two turkey legs (she has an eight year old daughter, I'm sure she's meaning to share). It was around 11:30 so I figured the cart back in America would have the legs. It wasn't even close to opening. OK, now what? There was another cart near Test Track so we headed there. I think we walked around World Showcase about thirty times this weekend! Sure felt that way. Again, we didn't really hurry since we had plenty of time for the 1:00 show of Off Kilter. Once we got to Test Track, Rich murmured, "oh oh". That cart was closed too. By now it was after noon and there are no quick bites to eat at the carts? Doesn't this park open at 9:00? Aren't people getting hungry? So we chalked it up to experience and went over to Canada to get our favorite seats for Off Kilter.

There were plenty of Off Kilter fans there already. We sat in front of a woman who made several long Mother's Day cell phone calls and with each one, would tell the listener that she was "waiting to watch my band". An older couple sat next to us and I was a little concerned about the noise level and the rockness of the band. But then I heard the wife ask her husband, just a little bit excited, "are you going to request it?" The husband said, yes of course he would. I couldn't help but ask. What song? "Danny Boy". The couple said they request it every time they see the band.

Meanwhile, Rich couldn't sit still that long and while we were fine with walking back over to America (oh, my aching feet) after the show, he went for another walk for the elusive turkey legs. Dawn is a great friend and I hope she truly appreciates Rich because he went all the way over there and still no damn legs. The cart was now open but no legs in sight. But then someone else asked about them. Hurrah! Turkey legs! Fresh from the "grill". Rich got two and asked for them to be double sealed in foil. He had the two ice bucket bags with him as well as a plastic grocery bag too. Once the legs were secured, our mission was over. Rich performed admirably.

He made it back to Canada with about ten minutes until Off Kilter. We made room on the short benches to try and get everyone under the umbrella shade. When the guys came out, the older gentleman in our row went up and asked for "Danny Boy". Mark laughed and said "have you ever heard our version of it?" The gentleman said he had and that's why he requests it all the time. The set was great as always and we even got "Whiskey in the Jar" thrown in there.

And thus ended another great Disney World trip. It was short and sweet and wonderful. I had lots of moments of reflection on this Mother's Day. I had no choice but to listen to the woman behind us as she called everyone to remind them of the day. I didn't have to do that with Chris. It doesn't matter that he's 800 miles away - we're a part of each other every day. I honored my mother-in-law, my stepmother, and my daughter-in-law who is a great mother to my granddaughter. I think we should have more family days instead of individualized days.

We trudged out and over the Boardwalk to the Swan and the car. While doing this, I realized that even though we were shaded for most of the day, I was still hot. When we got to the Swan lobby, I was feeling a little strange. We made a bathroom stop and I took off my cap. That's when I had the revelation. Hats are great for keeping the sun off your face. But one thing I hadn't realized (since I almost never wear caps). Hats also act to retain your body heat! That's why they tell you to wear a hat in the house in the winter if you are cold. When I took off that cap, I thought I could see steam rising from my head. Lesson learned - wear a hat when in the sun, take off hat when inside or in the shade to let your head breathe. I felt so much better after this.

Rich took the first shift driving and we stopped for the ridiculous gas prices but sucked it up anyway. We had compared gas stations on the way in so we had a cheaper alternative picked out for the drive home. Then Rich had to have a McDonald's break so he ran in for some grub for the road. I stayed in the car and tried to tell myself that I really didn't have to go seven more hours and then get up for work the next day, right? Is the world that cruel?

About three hours later, I was woken up from a snooze (go figure) and Rich saying he really needed to take a break. We stopped and gassed up again so we wouldn't really have to do it again on the drive. This time we were at the relatively cheap (ha!) Georgia prices. I grabbed a bottle of water and some candies for the drive and then took over for the next two hours. Rich slept and I kept the music on the CD down a bit. I cheated and played Barry Manilow. More to lull Rich to sleep than anything. Actually, we both love Mr. Manilow so I wasn't denying myself anything. Once Rich had his rest, he said that when we hit Macon, he would take over driving. That's his way of saying "ain't no way in hell I'm letting you drive through Atlanta while I'm in the car". We did make it home right after 9:00. The cats seemed OK with our absence and we wound down by watching tapes of shows we had missed last week.

Onto bed and work the next morning. My final thoughts before lights out - only three more weeks and we'll be back.

First Trip Final Thoughts and Overall Impressions

I usually will do the bad experiences first but we really didn't have any, unless you count the Princess car stuff on Friday. That all worked out well in the end.

We went on this extremely short trip solely for the entertainment that Disney World has to offer. And does for no extra admission. Sure, driving seven hours one way, investing in a couple of hotel rooms, and having to eat out seems a bit strange for three thirty minute concerts from a band that was around in the late 1960s. But what the heck - you only go around once in life. And I will quote a Grass Roots song "la, la, la, la, la, live for today; don't worry ‘bout tomorrow, heeeeyyyyyy".

Hotwire.com will definitely get some of my future business for short trips. I was happy with the hotel choice and the price was great.

The weather was fantastic but I found out that it does take some time even for me to get used to the hotter temperatures this early in the "summer". I can handle Georgia July heat but not in May. It wasn't that bad and the key was realizing that I needed to slow down and get some air conditioning or something.

I thought Rich would not like the shortness of the trip but it was so successful that I don't think he'd ever question going again like this. Especially to see the entertainment like we did. When we got back, we found out that here in Atlanta, there will be two very special free concerts we can go to. And all because of the Flower Power series at Epcot. Paul Revere and the Raiders in July and the wonderful Peter Noone in August. Thank you Disney World for getting us into something we normally would have never noticed.

And then, three weeks later......

The Second Trip - Memorial Day Weekend

The Week Before -

I thought I'd finally have a Disney trip without car troubles but Jasmine's brakes needed to be replaced on Monday! There's some sensor that was malfunctioning so instead of getting a warning that the pads were wearing down, they just wore down right to the rotors. Not very good for taking a car seven hours to Disney World. But the girl now has new brakes and is fine. As our son would say "what is it with you and cars?" Actually, I'm kind of glad it happened so Larry has a car story for the trip.

I thought about our "plans" for this weekend. We really don't have anything definite in mind but since Rich wanted to go to MGM the last trip and I insisted on staying at Epcot all day, MGM was a must for this trip. The only things I really wanted to see were Twilight Zone, Rock N Roller Coaster, and Who Wants to be a Millionaire. And the last one wasn't a "must-do" but a "would like to do". A walk through One Man's Dream was also a possibility. With a lot of the closures and refurbs at MGM, there's not a ton there for us.

I threw this "plan" out to Rich for Saturday after we get there. We'd do our normal drive down and arrive to check in somewhere before noon but hopefully after the 11:00 check out time. I figured we could stay at MGM for however long we wanted, then boat over to Epcot, have a slice of pizza on the Boardwalk (you know that had to come into play somewhere, right?) and enjoy the night time entertainment. Rich didn't get enough of Randy the juggler on our Easter trip so we're hoping he's there on Memorial Day Saturday night. If not, we can enter Epcot for Illuminations.

And then Rich reminded me that the Rascals would be there. So Saturday might be a busy day with MGM, the Rascals, pizza, and Boardwalk entertainment.

For Sunday, Rich even said "I guess we'll be doing the Off Kilter marathon all day". Yep. But we do take time in between sets to walk around and do other things. The Flower and Garden Festival is still going on and there's lot of displays that we haven't experienced. By looking at the entertainment schedule, I saw we'd have a longer break in between the third and fourth sets so I thought about having a nice sit down meal. We haven't done that at Disney World for a while and we deserve something nice for ourselves.

I've been wanting to go back to the Biergarten in Germany but the distance from the Canada pavilion was too much. That left three options - LeCellier in Canada, Rose and Crown in United Kingdom, or Chefs de France in, well, France. The first two are favorites and I thought maybe we'd overdone them. Rich ate at Chefs de France once and while it was OK for him, it's not an overwhelming favorite. Since our time for the meal would be between 4:30 and 6:00, I tried for the lesser expensive (for Disney) lunch option. I booked the Rose and Crown for 4:40. At the time, I didn't know if we'd keep the seating but for the day before Memorial Day, I wanted something just in case.

Then I contacted our Off Kilter friend, Janis. We haven't seen her since last September and missed her on the past two trips. We'll spend Sunday with her at the Off Kilter stage. I invited her to join us for lunch/dinner (don't know which menu we'll get). She accepted which will be a highlight for the trip.

Rich and I also watched the weather. Since we're close to Florida, our weather here in Georgia is usually comparable. So hot and muggy seemed to be what we were going to experience. I learned my lesson last trip with the cap - I'll wear it when in the sun, take it off anytime in the shade. And we'll have to make a huge adjustment to what we carry in the parks to accommodate Rich. He has a tendency to sweat a lot. It runs in his family. He's not the worst one of the three guys - that would be his brother. But anyway, Rich wants to take a couple of extra T shirts so he can change out during the day if needed. So we'll carry a bigger bag (which I will make him take through security). I intend to take at least one pair of fresh socks with me. We'll also have a water bottle to be filled up for free at Disney water fountains. Most of what we want to do is outside and we want to enjoy it, not be hot and miserable.

I faxed in a room request to the All Star Music. I know not all resorts will honor a fax but I figured it wouldn't hurt. We don't require much. Non smoking is the only thing I will insist on but that's usually not a factor. I asked for a quiet room and if a king bed was available, that would be great. Other than that, we'll take what we get.

The Day Before - Friday, May 28, 2004 - "Adapt, Adjust, and Go Forth"

The best laid plans of mice and men. It's my new boss' first month end close on his own and naturally he wants to do well. Add to the mix that his European counterpart is arriving on Tuesday from Switzerland. And he was dealing with issues that should have been dealt with earlier in the year (that I knew nothing about) but weren't. So our little accounting department (just the two of us since the third person was closing up the month in Mexico) was swamped. I kind of knew that might be an issue with the timing of how May ended but was hoping for the best.

By 5:00, I knew I wasn't getting out of there any time soon. I was emailing Rich constantly with updates. We talked about all the different options. We tossed out the following possibilities:

1 - cancel the entire trip. Pros - none. Cons - we'd both miss Disney World and I'd be miserable.

2 - leave for Valdosta immediately whenever I got home. We might be checking in after midnight but we'd be halfway there. Pros - we'd be four hours closer, get some sleep in a bed, and continue on the next morning. Cons - we'd be paying $40 for a few hours of sleep.

3 - drive down the entire way on Saturday. Pros - it would take the pressure off of me having to rush out of work. Cons - the entire seven hour drive during the day on a holiday weekend, and we'd lose most of a day in the parks.

4 - my insane idea. I really am insane for even thinking of this and Rich is crazier than I thought for considering it. Leave our house after midnight and drive straight through. Pros - again, takes the pressure off me getting off work, we'd have even more time than expected on Saturday in the parks. Cons - we'd be driving all night.

After much discussion and debate back and forth, we actually went with option #4. That was decided after 5:00. I thought I had until 6:00 to cancel the Days Inn reservation but when I logged on to do that, the system said my window had expired. I tried to call the hotel directly but their line was busy. So I called the 800 number and explained the situation. Turns out the cancellation time was 4:00 but my request was put through anyway. Thank goodness.

I didn't get out of work until 7:00. So the decision to leave early the next morning was a good one. We would have had to rush around at home to get everything packed and then we wouldn't have hit Valdosta until after midnight. No time for relaxation at all.

I laid down for a nap around 9:00 PM with the intention of being on the road by midnight. Didn't happen.

Day One - Saturday, May 29, 2004 - "We Finally Get Going, A Brush With the Law"

I woke up at 12:30 AM. Rich was dozing downstairs but we got going and packed the car up fairly quickly. The cats were really confused by all the activity but they'd settle down and sleep for the night after we left. The cat sitter would take care of them for us. We (the humans) were on the road right after 1:00 AM. I started driving while Rich dozed/napped/slept as best as he could. I told him to think of this as an adventure. He said we were too old for shenanigans like this. Remember, he's the very conservative one.

For the first time in a very long time, I drove us through Atlanta. There was enough traffic still on the road but not that bad. I almost missed the exit for I675 since I'm almost never behind the wheel on this leg of the trip. But I just played tunes on the radio and listened to some CDs for the next three and a half hours. We were getting a little low on gas and I needed a bathroom break so I finally pulled off about a half hour north of Valdosta.

I choose a BP station that had a "decent" gas price. $1.92/gallon is still hard to handle but it was the best alternative. Unfortunately, we couldn't pay at the pump but we both needed to use the facilities anyway. The guy behind the register never broke out of his phone conversation to handle our transaction. Rich took over behind the wheel and I popped out my contacts and curled up for the next couple of hours. Then Rich needed to take a break and refresh his eyes. He debated driving with his glasses on but he hasn't done that in years so we thought it better for him to wear his contacts. We took a break at a rest area around 6:30. It was about a half hour to Ocala and I lamented that we wouldn't do our normal stop at the Disney Information Center since they don't open until 9:00.

Right after 7:00, this was the conversation between the two of us:

Me - "you're only doing 74 MPH? Jeez, you really do drive like a little old lady. I was cranking along at 77." (BTW - speed limit is 70)
Rich - "I don't do over 5 MPH over the speed limit"
Me - "how do you survive in Atlanta?"
Rich - "that's different. I don't want some North Florida cop pulling me over"
Me - "oh come on, they won't pull you over for a measly seven more MPH - I did that the whole time I was driving. Come on, go a little faster, we'll never get there."
Rich - "well, I might not want to do that. There's a cop behind me now."

Rich is now passing a car that's in the center lane. Rich is in the left lane. The car in the center lane panics with seeing the cop so he slows down. Rich easily passes and then moves over to the center lane. The cop follows Rich. And puts his lights on.

Rich - "$^&*%#^! Why is he pulling me over?"
Me - "maybe we have a light out or something"

Nope. The nice North Florida State Trooper told Rich he clocked him doing 81 MPH. Did he have a legal reason for not obeying the speed limit? Now, understand that Rich would NEVER go over 80. NEVER. And that he had the car's cruise control on and set at 74. Jasmine (the car) is only four years old and had just been checked out with the brakes and everything just the week before. No way the cruise control or speedometer was that out of whack. After Rich explained all that to the officer, the nice patrolman then said that there was a radar gun on the other side of the interstate that confirmed the 81 MPH (we didn't see any other car on the other side) and that Rich then slowed down to 76 MPH. How the heck does the cruise control do that on a flat stretch of highway?

With Rich's driver's license and insurance proof in hand, the nice patrolman went back to his car. I couldn't locate our registration and when I did, it was from last year. Just great. But then I dug through the piles of Disney World napkins in the glove compartment and found the right one. The nice patrolman came back and informed Rich that he only wrote him up for doing 76 and the ticket was $46. If he had ticketed him for doing 81, the fine would have been $122. And quite honestly, if that nice patrolman (I have to be politically correct during this whole thing) had given Rich a ticket for the 81, Rich would have challenged that in court.

For the next hour and a half, I had to listen to Rich go on and on about how bogus the whole stop was. And it was. I have no idea why that cop pulled Rich over. He was not even going 76, much less 81. And it's very suspicious that the two speeds were just 1 MPH over the five extra and the ten extra of the legal speed limit. And this cop probably figured Rich being from a north Georgia county wouldn't bother to try and fight a $46 speeding ticket. Rich is seriously thinking about going back and doing just that. He was so livid about everything.

And to rub salt into the wound, I was kind of laughing at the whole episode. Rich is the one that constantly gets stopped for things like this. He was pulled over in Yellowstone National Park at 11:00 at night with me, our son and a friend in the car. Rich, the eternal nature lover, was definitely not speeding. But because he was the only one on the road, he got pulled over. That was a warning. Rich was also ticketed for doing 58 MPH in a 55 zone in Western Nebraska. Meanwhile, we had piles of minivans and SUVs rocketing past us while Rich was tooling along at his "safe" 74. And I've never had a speeding ticket and I'm the one that really puts the pedal to the metal.

Once we got to the Turnpike, we saw something new they put up in the last three weeks. A modern day Burma Shave thing. Four signs that read, "oil and vinegar", "windows and bricks", "drinking and driving", "just don't mix". Kind of cute. Wish they would put more of those signs up instead of the "We Bare All" billboards on the way down. Even the Ron Jon billboard is a bit annoying.

We stopped on the Turnpike for another bathroom break. We usually don't stop this much but the incident with the nice patrolman delayed us a half hour. Mostly for Rich to try and explain things and then for the cop to basically explain that he wasn't listening to excuses. The rest areas on the Turnpike are nice but they only had a Starbucks and a Dunkin Donuts open and they were both packed. I did have to point out one guy to Rich. The guy had on a black T-shirt that said "Police" on it. I told him that he was being followed. Rich didn't appreciate my humor.

Rich drove us the rest of the way. Traffic increased tremendously as we got closer to Disney World. We took the back way onto property. When we pulled up to the All Stars security point, Rich and I both expressed concerns about him having to deal with someone in uniform. By this time, Rich was getting a little more relaxed about his "encounter". I was still busting a gut with Rich's bad luck. At least all Rich had to do was show a photo ID and we were on our way to All Star Music. Finally, back on site!!!!!!

I didn't think at 9:00 we'd have that long of a wait for check in since All Star Music has separate lines for check in and check out. I thought there were just two other groups in front of us. But it took so dang long for the other people checking in to finally get everything squared away. And then the groups in front of us decided that they would separately check in. Aargh! But we were helped within ten minutes. Not that bad.

We were helped by a Cast Member who started out just doing the process. She asked if we needed park maps and we declined and Rich said "we're veterans". Another Cast Member brought out balloons and gave a couple to each check in person. When that happened, our CM pressed the wrong button and the system thought we were checking out. She told us that and I said that the balloons probably distracted her. Then she smiled and said "well, why don't you take them for being Disney veterans?" and handed over a purple balloon and blue balloon! I told Rich he deserved them for the day he had already. So that had us talking to the CM about the "incident". After we were all processed, the CM said that if we knew the cop's name, she'd make sure Disney made him pay three times as much if he ever stayed there! Very funny. We were told that our room would be in Country Fair building 5. At least one request was being made - that building is the farthest out from everything. Good for us.

Our room wasn't ready (we didn't expect it to be) so we headed out to MGM for the morning. We did our normal park at the Swan thing and packed our bag with supplies. I needed the cell phone to call for our room number, I wanted the camera in case we saw anyone for the Star Wars weekend, Rich needed his extra T-shirts, etc. Rich carried the bag the entire day which left me feeling naked. I always have something to carry at Disney World - maybe not a big bag but at least a camera bag. Really strange.

We took the walkway to MGM and got to the gates a little after 9:30. Now I know why we don't do theme parks early in the day. The lines, the mobs, big ugh. Rich had the bag so he headed for security. Of course, I had to tell him to behave since these were cops. I got a very dirty look in return. I went towards the crowd free "no bag" line. Rich pouted and said that he always goes through security with me even though he usually doesn't carry anything. So we both went through the line. We were held up a little by this guy who cut right over in front of us with his huge backpack. Security doesn't take that long and we believe it's necessary. I just wish people would be a little more prepared with their bags, though. Unzip everything and understand that the guard will not touch the bag for the search - you have to open all the pockets up for them. Our bag was easy - one velcro close at the top.

The lines to buy tickets were extreme. And the lines to get into the parks were horrible. This is why we don't do parks this early in the morning! We found a turn style with a relatively short line but the inevitable happened. A guy was taking a stroller through and had to wait for the CM to come back and help him with the gate and putting the admission tickets in the slot. But we were finally in to a packed MGM. Oh well, we had figured on this but just didn't think we'd be here as early as we were. We had handled Star Wars weekends in the past (in fact Rich was wearing his hat from 2001) and they weren't a problem.

We did what 90% of the people were doing and headed down Sunset Boulevard for FastPasses. I told Rich we'd probably only get to do one of the two things and he said he'd rather do Rock N Roller Coaster. We did check out the stand by line for Twilight Zone. 60 minutes already. Over to Aerosmith. Where there were lines for getting FastPasses. Again, I don't understand why people have an issue with this whole system. Disney has even fixed the problem where you had to insert your admission ticket only one way. Now it's shove it in, take it out, get your FastPass and leave the area. Why is it that when people get their Passes, they wait right after the machines to discuss what to do next? That makes it highly difficult for everyone to exit. And here's the funniest thing Rich heard. A guy clearly did not understand the entire FastPass concept. The return time was 12:10-1:10. He thought that meant he came back at 12:10 and it would take an hour to get on the ride. He was asking a CM how they could guarantee it would only take an hour to get through the line.

When we had checked the wait time board, Star Tours was only 5 minutes so we headed over there. I wanted to check Tatooine Traders for Star War Weekend stuff for Chris. On the way, there was a special Star Wars show starting immediately at the old Superstar Theatre so we went in for air conditioning and a sit down. This was a film about the making of the first three episodes. It also showed some scenes from the first Star Wars series (which were episodes 4-6). That's really confusing if you are talking to someone who doesn't know Star Wars. Of course, such a person would have had to be living in a cave for the past 30 years. I knew these people were die hard Star Wars fans when the scene showed the Episode III title and people started cheering! But we did get to see some behind the scenes stuff for the new film that isn't due out until May 2005. All I can say is that George Lucas is a genius for his creativity. And I can't tell Chris anything about what we saw. That kid can't even watch the previews for "24" because it would ruin things for him.

After the show, we headed for Star Tours and all the madness for the Weekend. This whole area was mobbed with Star Wars characters and their fans. The stand by wait for Star Tours was now up to 35 minutes and the line was out into the street. Pass on that. We checked out Tatooine Traders which was mobbed too. I found a keychain with Walt Disney World and 2004 on it. It was only $3 and would be nice for Chris. However, checking out was a huge problem as they had one group of registers roped off. We thought we were entering correctly but it turned out to be the exit and we had fought our way through the shop and we'd have to fight back to the entrance and then check out and then fight back through the mobs to exit. It wasn't worth it for a $3 keychain. Sorry Chris but I think you would have agreed if you were there.

With that little experience, we both wanted something to eat and an escape from the crowds. We went to the back side of the park and saw the construction that's turning New York Street into whatever they are making it. I mourned the old Hunchback of Notre Dame stage which is now being covered up with a façade. One day I'll take Marlie (our granddaughter) here and tell her there once was a wonderful stage show here that was closed for no reason. She might believe me. We were in search of a beer and soft pretzel. It's become a tradition for us here. Well, I guess with the abbreviated Backlot Tour now, they have closed all the food areas back here. The nice shaded seating area is now a stroller parking lot. By now, I was getting close to meltdown since I hadn't had food in quite a while. I'm not a big eater but when I get hungry, I get hungry.

We remembered seeing pretzels on the menu at Min and Bill's so we headed right back to the middle of the park. On the way, Mickey Avenue was turned into Jedi Mickey Avenue. More Star Wars characters and fans. But less crowded. Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Play It was in the middle of a show so we passed on that. We saw what I thought were Star Wars characters walking around. It turns out it was a couple of kids done up in complete Star Wars costumes! Very die hard Star Wars fans.

Once at Min and Bill's, I realized that the pretzels here were stuffed pretzels. Not our kind of thing. I really needed food so Rich suggested the area down Sunset Boulevard. I didn't care, I wanted something to eat. I mentioned to Rich that the only place that had beer (which I needed too) was the turkey leg place. Dawn might love these things but they gross me out. One day I'll be brave enough to try one. I think they should make that an event on Fear Factor - contestants have to eat one of these while walking through a crowded theme park. But the place also had foot long hot dogs so Rich and I could share one of those.

I don't know what they put in these CMs drinks but it must be a slow motion pill. How hard can it be? There were three items on the menu - turkey legs which were in generous quantity and ready to go, hot dogs which were in generous quantity and ready to go, and potato chips. The only thing that required any special attention were the drinks. Putting sodas into cups and sealing them with a lid isn't that hard. It's so easy that McDonald's patrons get to do it themselves. But these two Cast Members had it down a science - a slow science. Then they had to walk the entire length of the counter to get a tray. Then they chatted with the kitchen help (their job was to put the turkey legs and hot dogs under the warm lights) and then the food was finally put on the tray.

We were at last at the front of the line. I had moved out of the line and could see the inefficiency of the whole system but I had to stay around because we were getting two beers and both people have to be there. Good policy but sometimes frustrating with standing in long lines. We were helped by Michael on the college program. I hope he studies better than he moves. Very nice guy, though. Rich ordered the hot dog and two beers. Michael asked who the other beer was for. I raised my hand. Then he smiled and said "and just how old is your daughter?" He was obviously kidding and I just laughed and said "yeah, right". Rich missed the whole encounter because he was annoyed at the slowness of all this. I think we were both extremely tired. Michael did his slow beverage service and then started the chatting with the kitchen help. I started chanting "put the hot dog on the tray, put the hot dog on the tray". It didn't help. But he finally made the mental connection and gave us our food.

Our luck was a little better in that we found a table in the shade. Next to the air conditioning unit and back from the street but we were comfortable. Rich and I split the hot dog. Actually, as hungry as I was, I should have told him to get two. But it hit the spot for the time being. We had some time to kill before our window for Rock N Roller Coaster opened up so we enjoyed the sit and the beers and some time off from the crowds. We talked about the drive down. The one thing we hadn't counted on was the feeling of grunginess. We hadn't had showers that morning and were in most of the same clothes from the entire day before. I had changed from my work jeans (love casual Fridays) into shorts but that was all. We knew the room wouldn't be ready and Rich later admitted he had hoped against hope that it would be.

We wanted to do more Star Wars stuff for Chris but it just wasn't going to be. Anthony Daniels, the only C3PO ever, was the featured guest that day. Maybe that had something to do with the huge crowds. Rich and I knew with the fan enthusiasm level that trying to do anything when Mr. Daniels was doing his public appearances was going to be prohibitive. Back in 2001, Carrie Fisher was here and I shudder to think of the crowds if she were to come back.

An older lady approached us with her grandson. A little hesitantly, she asked if we would mind her grandson sitting with us in the shade. We're only two people at a table that could sit eight. Of course we wouldn't mind! The grandmother said she would just stand but I invited her to sit too. See, us Americans usually don't share very well. No wonder we have a world wide reputation for rudeness.

We had a nice conversation with the woman. This was only her second time here - the first one being twenty years ago. She said her daughter loves Disney World and was making her third trip here this year. From Texas. They were waiting for the younger ones to come off Rock N Roller Coaster. We agreed that wasn't the best for Grandma! I told her about One Man's Dream and she said they would have to check it out. Something everyone could do together. She said Animal Kingdom was their favorite so far. They were doing Magic Kingdom the next day and she said that maybe they should have done that today. I just laughed and said that we avoid Magic Kingdom on any Saturday because it's mobbed. So they might have made a good choice. I did suggest they see Mickey's Philharmagic though. Rich said he hoped she didn't have her sights on It's a Small World since that's closed for rehab. She said that really was a favorite but she was looking forward on doing other things. Then her husband came back and said it was going to take a very long time for the rest of the family to get through Rock N Roller Coaster. They had FastPasses but that line was very long too. Bad news for us.

I told Rich if that was true, I'd rather just bag Rock N Roller Coaster and head out for Epcot. Rich said he really wanted a shower. I told him to hand me my phone and I'd call and see if our room was ready. Rich laughed and said it wasn't even noon yet. I said that miracles can happen. One quick phone call later and we knew we were in room 5631. Yes!

We finished with everything and were close to our window. We said goodbye (I love talking to people at Disney World) and headed over to see if Grandpa's dire picture was true. Unfortunately, it was. The FastPass line was way out the queue. Stand by was 75 minutes. We were hot, tired, sweaty, and unclean. No way we'd even enjoy the show. So Rich went over to the FastPass distribution lines (still pretty heavy) and tried to give our Passes away. It wasn't as easy as it sounds. Groups needed three or five. Or were suspicious about the whole thing. One guy finally saw what was going on and eagerly took them from Rich. At least those didn't go to waste on such a crowded day.

Fortunately for us upon exiting MGM, a Friendship boat had just pulled up and was disembarking passengers. The line was kind of long and we thought we'd have to stand but we managed seats across from each other. We waited a while for our return and there were lots of people who had to stand. Including a young couple that absolutely reeked of smoke. They were in between Rich and me so I couldn't confirm with him if that's what I was smelling. I actually got a headache on the ride back to the Swan. Once we were off the boat, I started to say "did you..." And Rich finished with "they reeked!" At least for today, we were in synch with each other. Maybe that brush with the law had something to do with it.

Rich drove us back to All Star Music and we were thankful we wouldn't have to deal with the dreaded person in uniform. Yes, jokes about law enforcement would enter into many of our conversations throughout this trip (and probably for the rest of our lives). Back to our room and if the location is any indication of Disney's idea of a quiet visit, well, this was it. One of the last rooms all the way out of building 5. We were loaded down with everything and had to use the elevators in the middle of the building since we were on the third floor. Thankfully, after this, we can use the stairwell that's right next to the room.

We didn't get the king bed but that's fine. Those rooms are set up for handicapped access so I'd rather the room go to someone who needs that feature more than we need one bed instead of two. We unloaded and Rich went in search of ice. I unpacked and Rich came back and crashed across one bed. If my husband is taking a long nap, then he's really tired! So I said I'd take a shower first and he could rest as much as he wanted. I also checked the room alarm clock. We've had experiences where someone has "kindly" left the alarm clock on for the next morning. True here and the clock time was way off. By an hour. So I reset everything and went to get clean. Pure bliss.

I went through the TV channels and settled on some stupid fill in movie called "Sidekicks". Really lame movie (starring Chuck Norris as himself) but it was something to watch. Rich was struggling awake and cleaned himself up for the day. Then he started to watch the lame movie and we both got into the silly thing. It's probably the most ridiculous movie ever filmed but we felt propelled to watch it. It finally ended at 4:30 so we headed out. We were angling for the 5:45 show of The Rascals so we'd have to hurry to see that. I was getting hungry again so I thought after the concert we could do the Spoodles pizza window.

We got into the car and were driving out when Rich says "err, Sheri, why does the clock say 3:38?" We checked our watches and determined that yes, indeed, it was just after 3:30. That alarm clock in our room was off by two hours and I just reset it for one hour. Poor Rich had thought we didn't have that much time to make the concert so he made himself get up from his nap. Total ugh and grr with the past day! The new plan became to get our pizza before the concert and then relax for the rest of the night.

In the room, we had decided that not much was needed to the evening so we were both bag free. Really weird. We parked at the Swan again and made our way over for pizza. We each ordered one slice (mine plain cheese, Rich's with pepperoni meat) and then some beverages. The slices of pizza here usually are fairly big for me and this one was no exception. I cut it in half. I finished the first half in record time and then demolished the second half. Rich was astounded and said he had eyed at least the other half. Not to be tonight.

After our dinner, we still had some time before the Rascals concert so we went into Epcot and walked around World Showcase clockwise beginning at the International Gateway and going around to the America pavilion. We got back there and found the same thing as three weeks ago with The Grass Roots - another line waiting to get in. Rich needed to take a break and I said if they opened up the lines, I'd go in and get our seats from the other time. While I was waiting, I talked to a couple of women who were amazed at the line and were worried that they wouldn't get in. Sound familiar from the first trip? I assured them it wasn't a problem. Oh, how I had learned! The lines were let in and I followed. To what I thought were our seats. I couldn't see the stage like I could before but I thought maybe The Rascals set up differently from The Grass Roots. Rich found me and informed me I wasn't in the right place. One adjustment later, we had our perfect seats.

The seating area filled up fast but we still had room around us. No one wanted to sit to the left of us because of the tree issue but there were still spaces to the right of me. Which, about ten minutes before show time became seating for a family. That was fine. But there was only space for about three people and this was a family of five. The mother loudly announced that everyone could just move on down to make room for her family. I looked at Rich and said there was no way I was moving. Just like last time - the tree would be in the way. That's why we sat where we sat. But fortunately, the father of the family realized there were seats directly behind in the next row so he split up the family and everyone was fine. In fact, for that family, it probably was better because they chatted throughout the entire concert. The mother, who sat next to me, didn't even know who the Rascals were. They were just taking a break from the day, I guess.

Rich and I were both surprised at just how many of the Rascals songs we knew. Of course, we knew the highlights but the rest were a treat. Very enjoyable concert and now this group goes on our list of acts to see in the future. In fact, the Rascals will be in the Atlanta area in June as part of our local oldies radio station free concert series. But we'll be in Ohio visiting The Kids so we have to miss them. But we are going to tell our friends who also enjoy this kind of stuff to definitely not miss the concert.

Now we had a decision to make. What to do. I hadn't slept since 6:30 that morning, Rich had an abbreviated nap (sorry, I must have misread my watch). A second Rascals concert at 7:00 was an option. I mentioned Illuminations but that would have meant sticking around until 9:00. The only other Epcot thing I wanted to do was check out the Lucky Cats at the Japan pavilion. These are good luck "charms". The reason we are going to see The Kids next month is for Chandra's (our daughter-in-law) grandmother's 80th birthday celebration. This woman is the kindest, dearest person and expects everyone to call her Grandma. Even Chandra's friends. I called her Hallie and Chris said he had no idea who I was talking about! But I thought a Lucky Cat to celebrate her family was in order.

I found the perfect Lucky Cat. A white one to symbolize happiness and good fortune. He's sitting in a basket and when I checked out, the Cast Member there told me the basket was for catching all the luck. The receipt is in the bag but this is a very inexpensive souvenir or present for anyone ($7.50). After this, we decided to head back to the room and just chill for the rest of the night.

On the way out through the Boardwalk, we checked the entertainment but no Randy, the juggler. Darn it. There's always the next time. The line for the ESPN Club was way out the door. I'm a sports junkie but there's no way I'd stand in that long of a line to watch a game. We talked about ducking in there tomorrow after Off Kilter and seeing some of the NASCAR race. If we did, we'd head to the bar area since that didn't have a line at all.

At one of our rest stop breaks, I had seen the weekend USA Today had some feature about Kasey Kahne on the cover. He's one of Rich's NASCAR drivers in our fantasy league. We wanted to get it but didn't have the change for it. Rich is newspaper addicted and hadn't had his fix yet today so the plan when we got back to the room was to get that paper as well as the Orlando Sentinal. Not quite sure the last one is a real newspaper but it's local. Once we parked the car, we made the trek to Melody Hall. Not a bad walk and the pools looked so inviting. We did well with the heat factor today. Temperatures were in the 90s so we had to be careful. We weren't out very long on any segment but realized that if we were going to be out all day tomorrow, we had to take precautions.

Here's the Rich Niklewski Newspaper Education Report of the trip. If you buy your newspaper from the stands outside Melody Hall (which is where the USA Today was), it's 50 cents. But if you buy the paper from inside the gift shop, you get charged sales tax so it's 54 cents. The Orlando Sentinal is not in the outside stand. I think that would have been a deal breaker for the cheapo husband but he wanted a Saturday paper so he had to pony up the extra pennies for the Sentinal.

We got back to the room and the air conditioning felt wonderful. I worked on the trip report for a while and Rich watched something on TV. After about an hour, I put a washcloth over my face since I was still hot and laid down on the bed. Two hours later, I woke up, took out the contacts and crashed for the rest of the night. Rich followed around 10:00 which is very early for him. I guess maybe we are too old for an adventure like this!

Day Two - Sunday, May 30, 2004 - "A Celtic Rock Band"

Well, Disney might think the location of the room is a nice quiet one and it really should be. But not when you have a little kid next door to you outside his room banging on the window repeatedly at 8:30 in the morning. I was already awake but it was so annoying. I let it go for a while hoping he'd get tired of his little game but after five minutes of it (where were the parents?), I finally opened our door, told him we had a Do Not Disturb sign out and he was kind of loud. He did stop but I really wanted to go over and ask his parents why they would allow him to do something like that.

Both of us struggled with waking up and getting ready. We really didn't have any plans in mind except Off Kilter for the day. We were meeting Janis and we hadn't seen her in a year. This was going to be a highlight for us since we like chatting with her about everything. I worked on the report and Rich decided to get a Sunday newspaper (told you he was addicted) and read it by the pool. That's one of his favorite things to do. I had a momentary panic when I couldn't find not only my Annual Pass but my driver's license, debit card, and room key that I had with it. Since we went bagless last night, I had these things in my shorts pocket. I was convinced they had fallen out. Turns out I had given them to Rich and he put them in his more secure pocket (velcro flaps). I must have been tired if I forgot that!

Rich had left the TV on ESPN but when they got into some special programming, I switched it over to the classic Disney cartoons. And I mean the classic ones. Rich was back sooner than I expected. He said that all the tables that had umbrellas on them were taken over by people in the pool who just draped their towels over entire sections. He couldn't even do what the grandmother from yesterday asked to do - share a table. So he came back to the room to read the paper. I went to take my shower and Rich put sports back on the TV. I realized that it was a lame discussion thing they do on Sunday mornings. The four guys argue way too much. I convinced Rich to turn it back to the Disney cartoons. Very glad I did that.

We set an 11:00 time to head out. We packed up our bag with Rich's shirt changes, a water bottle, my cell phone so I could call Chris once the NASCAR race started that evening, sunblock, washcloths for using during the day, and anything else we could think of to make the day of being outside in 90 plus degree temperatures a little more bearable. We've been here before during this time and it hasn't been that hot. Everyone agreed that this area of the country really didn't have a spring. It turned into summer way too quickly.

Right as we were ready to head out, the cartoon changed to "Lambert, the Sheepish Lion". We had to watch. This was one of Chris' favorite cartoons when he was little. Except he used to call it "Lambert, the Scheepisha Wion." That silly song the sheep sing to Lambert was sung many times in the car returning that videotape. There're lots of special Disney memories we have with Chris and being here and having this was very nice. (Side note: we mentioned this to Chris when we got back and he had no idea what we were talking about. When we see him next, we're taking the videotape with us and showing it to Marlie, his stepdaughter. Hehehehehe - paybacks are pure hell, Chris).

Then we headed out for the day and I remarked (quite foolishly) that it didn't seem that bad today. We put the top down on Jasmine and went back over to the Swan. I think we wore grooves in the road between All Star Music and the Swan. I was getting hungry again so as we were walking through the Boardwalk, I asked if we could check out the bakery for something to tide me over. We had the dinner seating at Rose and Crown so I didn't want that much. Actually, I was thinking about Chinese food at the Lotus Blossom Café in Epcot but didn't think Rich wanted what we consider a full lunch. Much to my surprise, Rich said he was thinking about something different - Chinese food from Lotus Blossom Café! So far, we're in synch for the trip.

It was a long and hot walk over for our food. My favorite here is the two egg rolls with tons of duck sauce. The Chinese wine compliments this very nicely. Rich's favorite was the pork fried rice. I say was because it's now beef fried rice. He accepted the change but begrudgingly. I want the Cast Members from the MGM turkey leg place to come over here and take lessons from these Cast Members. So efficient and friendly. The lady handling our food tray even pointed out where the condiments were. Michael yesterday didn't do that. We really enjoy eating here since we've never had bad service.

We sat at a table under cover and realized we were already getting sweaty. But we were prepared. I sampled Rich's beef fried rice and I think this might be a new favorite for me. I'm not a huge pork fan so his meal was always safe before. Not now. We kind of shared everything since every time Rich saw a portion of his rice with an onion in it, he let me have it. I graciously gave up a half of one of my egg rolls.

Then we made our way back to the Canada pavilion where we met up with Janis. I'm sure the people sitting there for the first show of Off Kilter thought we were crazy. Big hugs and "it's about time you're back" and "it's been too long". The only reason we know Janis is from the Off Kilter shows but we've become good friends. We got caught up with everything and we related the cop incident of yesterday. Janis said Florida is in the middle of a big "click it or ticket" campaign where you will get nailed if you aren't wearing your seatbelt. Maybe that's why we got stopped yesterday - the cop couldn't see if we were wearing ours. We never, ever drive without them. Not even to move our car in a parking lot. So he could have been disappointed when we saw we both had them on. Who knows but that cop will sleep better at night knowing he handed out $46 to someone.

Off Kilter's first set was great even though, for the first time we've been enjoying them, they had a substitute on the drums. After the set, I went to the Rose and Crown and changed my seating from two people to three people. Then I went into the Twinings Tea place. I love looking at all the tea things even though I don't drink tea. The tea cups are so delicate and pretty. It was nice to do this without Rich saying "why are you looking at that?" Plus, it was in air conditioning!

Back for the second set of Off Kilter which was good too. I still don't understand how these guys do what they do in long black sleeved shirts and kilts on such a hot day. While waiting for the next set, Rich wanted to walk around but I wasn't a fool. I asked if he could just pick up a wine in France for me if he got a chance. We also filled up the water bottle several times and made use of the washcloths for our faces. We moved our benches back under the shade as much as we could. Today was definitely a scorcher. Rich also took this opportunity to make a shirt change. But in the men's room. And here's where there's a big difference between men and women. Sorry but there is in this case. I would not have been embarrassed at all by taking out my washcloth in the women's room and washing down my face, my arms, my legs, whatever. In fact, I probably could have sold that washcloth for $10! But Rich wouldn't even think of doing something like that in the men's room. Male pride. I hate to tell you guys but you don't fool us - we know your weaknesses too. You can't read us but we sure as heck can read you.

The third Off Kilter was a bit, well, off kilter. Halfway through "Farewell Nova Scotia", the entire group broke down. The substitute drummer was just reading the music and doing a good job. But something happened to Mark's singing and he just started cracking up. So everything got all screwed up with the timing. But the poor drummer couldn't adapt which had everyone on stage trying to recover. I don't think most of the audience realized what was going on but we were laughing from where we were sitting and the guys kept looking over at Janis and that had them laughing even more. But they recovered nicely.

After this set, we had our seating for The Rose and Crown. Janis was confused when I initially invited her because she thought the entire place was closed for rehab. It was just the pub. They are making that completely separate from the restaurant. Which was probably needed since this is such a popular place. For both the pub and the sit down food option. I checked us in and went to the bathroom to wash down and cool down. I figured we'd be on the outside seating area so I wanted to be prepared. Janis came back in and said our buzzer already went off (I was told 5-10 minutes, it was more like two) and Rich was pacing waiting for me. The restaurant wasn't crowded at all and much to our surprise and relief, we were led inside for air conditioning! Whoo hoo!

We were seated next to a table with a large party (one restaurant that has at least one table for a group of eight) and they were quite loud. We could barely hear our server but we managed. The other group was at the end of their meal so we could endure. Rich and I ordered our standard of beer and wine and Janis had bottled water. For our meal choices, Rich and I really did a 180 and didn't do our usual. Janis had the fish and chips (which Rich will usually do). Rich decided on the bangers and mash but without the cabbage. Nothing green for my man, please. I went with the steak and prawns.

The three of us had great dinner conversation. We don't just talk about Off Kilter although that last set still had us laughing. The large group left so we could have a normal tone of talking. The food was great although my steak was huge and fat. And spicy. Very good but way too much for me. I didn't think Rich looked like he was satisfied with his bangers and mash (although he left a little mash on the plate) so I gave him some cow flesh. Cost here was $70 for the three of us.

Back to the Canada pavilion and we still had an hour for the next Off Kilter set. The air conditioning had helped out quite a bit and the sun was setting so we were getting Florida cool. During the last set, Jamie (the bagpiper) asked the audience to acknowledge the American veterans and to remember all those who had given the ultimate sacrifice for our country. He did say he didn't want it to be morbid or anything. No matter what the thought is on the current political situation, we can't change the past.

We said goodbye to Janis and then I realized that I had totally screwed up with the timing (again). Rich had said he wanted to see the Rascals again and I thought that was at 7:45. It was now 7:00 so I thought by the time we got back to the America pavilion, we be in perfect shape to get our seats before the show. Then I realized that no, the next show was at 8:15 so that meant an hour to kill. Rich thought I wanted to go back to the room and watch the NASCAR race (go back to the May, 2003 trip report to see what I thought about The Kids ditching Disney for a race - I've become converted since then). I was hungry yet again and asked about getting ice cream. Rich grimaced at spending more money. Rich thought I wanted to see Illuminations. The two of us went totally out of synch for the trip.

Rich needed a bathroom break and while I was waiting, I realized that Epcot was getting mobbed. Really mobbed. I didn't think we'd have much luck with the Rascals concert and people were already claiming spots for Illuminations. When Rich was finished, I said we could just go back to the room for the race but I wanted an offsite trip for supplies. Rich said we had enough. I didn't think so and I pouted. All the way back to the car. As we passed the Boardwalk ice cream place, Rich asked if I wanted to stop. I tersely told him "no". Way out of synch.

BTW - the ESPN Club had yet another huge long line out of it. We didn't even need to be in synch to realize that seeing the race in our air conditioned room was much preferable to standing in a half hour line.

Rich decided to appease me by going for a grocery run. Remember, I was still hungry. But he didn't take the best route and I was grumbling. Oh boy - we've been married 22 years and we still have these little spats. But it's healthy and we work it out. On the way back to the All Stars, my cell phone rang. I have those cute annoying rings that identify the caller. It was Chris. Right in the middle of a NASCAR race? Unfortunately, the bag was in the back seat, I was buckled down (see, we always wear our seat belts) and couldn't get it in time. So I called back. Chris said the race was boring - Jimmie Johnson was dominating (he's one of Rich's drivers too, damn it) but the important reason he was calling. How do I make kielbasa? He had the meat and the package said to steam it but he didn't think that was it. I gave him the extra step of then frying it. Then he knew what to do. Chris does the cooking in The Kids' house. Chandra is a little kitchen challenged. Works for them.

Back to the room for the race. Yes, Jimmie Johnson ended up winning but I picked up Michael Waltrip just for this race and he was second. Rich, who is known as Sir Bragsalot in our league got cockier.

We normally will go for the first show of Off Kilter the day we drive back home. With the heat, we decided not to attempt it tomorrow. We had the four sets today and that was just going to have to satisfy us until July. I was in bed right after the race while Rich stayed up a bit longer.

Day Three - Monday, May 31, 2004 - "Homeward Bound"

We both wanted to sleep in but by 7:00, I was awake but laid there thinking Rich was asleep. He later said he was awake at 7:30 but thought I was still sleeping so didn't get up! But by 8:00, I couldn't take it anymore so I got up to work on the report for a while. Rich followed and we agreed that we shouldn't rush home. Check out time wasn't until 11:00 and I'd rather be at Disney World than on the road. Rich showered and then went down to Melody Hall for a newspaper and a cold Diet Coke. Except the trick of getting drinks in the gift shop because they are cheaper is gone. Same price as in the parks. Oh well, he had to settle for his cans in the room. The man is never far away from a Diet Coke.

Around 10:30, we packed everything up (what little we had) and said goodbye to Disney World for this short, hot trip. Rich started the drive and we filled up at our new favorite BP station on Route 27. The prices were about the same as what we were paying in Georgia which was a nice "break". Still almost $2/gallon but what are we going to do? Not drive? Yeah, we really are spoiled Americans. (I just saw where gas prices in Great Britain topped at $5.79 so, yes Larry, I know I shouldn't complain.)

I was hungry and wanted what I call "sloppy goppy eggs". Just something with lots of grease on it. But Rich kind of grimaced at that and suggested we stop somewhere a little later and he could get an alternative to that. When we got to Ocala, he suggested somewhere at exit 350 which is where the Disney Information Center is located. But I reminded him that this exit isn't the best for anyone going north. Very congested at times. So we went to the next exit and a Denny's.

I wouldn't recommend this Denny's. The floor was in need of sweeping. Our server would have rather been anywhere else but there. We had barely sat down and she was asking if we were ready to order. Denny's has a rather extensive menu since breakfast is available 24 hours a day. I had to search for a simple two eggs and breakfast meat dish. Rich settled for a Moon Over Hammy which was basically an egg and ham sandwich. He said he felt like an idiot having to call it Moon Over Hammy. Our order was taken and that was just about the last we saw of the server. The manager brought out the food and it hit the spot. Then we tried to find the server for the bill. Rich finally flagged down the manager who brought it out for us. Rich said he wanted to give the tip to the manager instead of the server. Total damages here were around $12.

There was one funny incidence here. There was an older woman who was supposed to be manning the cash register. There was quite a crowd waiting to pay but she was in the back somewhere. Then she came up and took care of the first person in line. And then she wandered away again. I thought she'd be back since there was a big line. She was just lolly-gagging at the counter. Another manager saw the line and steered the woman back over and then stayed to operate the second register. I was laughing quite a bit at all this. Classic "senior moment". At least the manager was nice and was helping an older person maintain their job.

Rich said he was fine to continue driving and I warned him that I would nap for quite a while. The trip and a full stomach were having their affect on me. We tried to find an ESPN station since our Orioles were supposed to be on but I guess northern Florida doesn't have any coverage. So I napped and Rich listened to the radio. I woke up close to the Georgia border so we were going to take a break at the Welcome Center. There was a huge thunderstorm just before then. You could barely see out the windows. Rich proceeded very cautiously and I hoped things would break before we stopped. I didn't want to drive through a storm. Call me selfish. But it did clear up a bit.

I took over driving and we stopped for gas again at Georgia prices. The same as in Florida. Yeck. But we were then set for the rest of the drive. Now it was Rich's turn to sleep so I got the CDs going and got us up to Macon. I was fine to continue to drive but was getting very thirsty. I didn't have anything cold in the car and while Rich is OK with warm Diet Coke, I'm not. So I stopped at a convenience store for a fountain Sprite. Rich, of course, got a Diet Coke. Rich asked if I wanted him to "take us to the barn" and I gladly gave up driving duties through Atlanta. There wasn't that much traffic today but who knew what would lie ahead. It wasn't that bad at all but I'm still glad Rich did the driving.

Home to the cats where everything was well. The cats forgave us although we weren't forgiving for the treat one of them left on our bed. Paybacks can be hell for leaving three cats relatively alone for a weekend. Our cat sitter left a report card and gave us an update on the weather and things that happened while we were gone. Excellent service.

Second Trip Final Thoughts and Overall Impressions

We hardly saw anything of the All Star Music since we were way in the back of the resort. But that was fine because that's exactly what I asked for. We didn't need to be close to the food court or bus stops. We can let those rooms go to families who need them. I'm glad we were back on property because I knew I could expect good Disney service. It's very hit and miss with offsite places. Rich's only complaint was the shampoo/soap dispenser in the shower. I knew about it but with the late start, forgot. Rich cannot use body wash - he needs bar soap. He was fine with the facial soap from the sink but I should have brought a small bar from home. I usually travel with one just in case but didn't.

The weather was hot, hot, hot. Melting hot. We learned so much from the first trip so we were a lot more prepared for this one. Taking extra shirts for Rich was brilliant. We only had one water bottle and we shared the water fountain refilled bottle throughout the day. My cap came off any time I was in the shade. I also used a wet wash cloth to refresh myself. I forgot to take a Ziploc bag but remembered the great turkey leg MacGyver trick and used the resort ice bucket bag.

My appetite was roaring during this trip which is unusual when it's so hot. Of course, we did the normal Spoodles pizza. And now I have a new favorite at Lotus Blossom Café. I can taste that beef fried rice now. It's a must for Fourth of July. The dinner with Janis at Rose and Crown was very nice (and cool!). It's so special to enjoy a great meal at Disney World with friends that you met just because of Disney World. One gripe - I had to come back here and hunt for a place that sells unstuffed soft pretzels at MGM. It's the fruit stand on Sunset Boulevard. Who the heck would have thought to look there?

The only bad part of the trip was the bogus speeding ticket. And we now know our speedometer is correct because when we went through the south Georgia construction sites, I was doing 65 MPH and that's exactly what the readout said when I went by it. Rich is still debating going and fighting the ticket. I know, it's only $46 and it's a six hour drive one way but the man is still so ticked. It didn't help that his mother said to fight it.

The highlight of this trip was, again, the Disney World entertainment. I wasn't too thrilled with the Star Wars weekend crowds but it's a nice event for the fans. This has gotten bigger and bigger throughout the years. The Rascals did not disappoint and I wish we had the energy to see them one more time. Off Kilter was great as usual. We didn't do any attractions at all except the special Star Wars show. But that was fine because Disney World is so much more than the rides.

And In Conclusion

Most people I know - heck, all the people I know except my husband - think we were totally crazy for doing so much Disney World in one month. Especially with some of the obstacles we had to overcome. Would we have changed anything? No, we wouldn't.

This was a Disney World entertainment driven month. Simple as that. But we had so many other pleasant times as well. Rich had said that we were "too old" to do these kinds of things. I don't know but I think we lost a few years by doing this. Disney World is where you feel alive and free and you don't even think about the outside world. Sure, getting to Disney World was hectic both times but once we were there, we could laugh about things and get over them.

Next trip is Fourth of July. We're hoping to meet up with Larry from Scotland for some time with him and his lovely family (Jill, I admire you for your years with Larry). We'll be at Pop Century and I guess the place will still be standing since that's where Larry's also staying.

Feel free to email me with comments or questions. Just do the usual and put "trip report" somewhere in the subject line. With the virus I got, I'm really hesitant these days. I do have normal PC functions again (thank you Rich and the PC Guy!). Thanks for reading and have a great Disney Day.

Sheri Kiklewski