Florida Day 3: Friday, October 20, 2006

Today was all about Disney-MGM Studios.

The first thing I did was ride the Aerosmith Rock 'n' Rollercoaster, which MFP would not ride with me. He was so sweet and patient, waiting for me while I waited in an hour-long line to ride it. I sat in the very front of the rollercoaster with another woman whose hubby was also coaster-phobic...that was cool. It is an AWESOME rollercoaster, and it is totally indoors in the dark, so you don't know when you are going upside down.

Another thing we partook in was the Lights, Motors, Action! stunt show, where they show you how they choreograph car chase scenes in the movies, and they do them right in front of you. Very cool...and very LOUD! Let's see...what else did we do? We ate at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater, where the tables are shaped like cars and you sit in front of a screen showing cartoons and previews of old '50s sci-fi movies...very fun. We saw films and exhibits on Disney animation and the life and dream of Walt Disney himself. We went on the Great Movie Ride (where MFP's cell phone rang...ha ha) and on the Backlot Tour. And we saw Mickey and Minnie and other classic characters. I bought myself a Walt Disney World keychain and a lanyard pin for "Gloria" back in Glen Burnie.

I would recommend Disney-MGM studios to anyone. We loved it.

After going back to the condo to shower, we drove east on US 192 until we found the Checkers in front of Old Town, where we ate. Old Town kind of creeped me out. Lots of shady-looking people there, I thought.

I slept soundly, dreaming crazy dreams involving being on "Survivor" with two friends.

Day 2: Thursday, October 19, 2006

We woke up very early to attend the first of the not-fun part of our trip: the TIMESHARE PRESENTATIONS!! AAUGH! For now I'll refrain from saying what I think of the people who run these, but I will say that I do not know how they sleep at night. The 23-year-old who showed us the condos was super nice and pretended that he wanted to be our new best friend, and then brought out manager after manager to pressure us BEYOND BELIEF into buying. Some of these wastes of sperm and eggs were even nervy enough to say, "Well, you had the money to vacation here now, didn't you?" when we explained that buying a timeshare wasn't in our financial picture. Man, I would love to staple an American flag to their butts and mail them to Iraq.

Thankfully, that was over in the late morning, and we went back to our condo and had an early lunch (leftovers from Margaritaville), changed, and set out for Disney's Typhoon Lagoon, which we had some trouble finding once we reached the Disney property but found in due time. Typhoon Lagoon's main feature is its wave pool, across which a huge wave goes every five minutes or so, carrying everyone along with it. At other times, smaller waves go continually across the water. So much fun! Ha--I even had a "wardrobe malfunction" the first time a wave carried me. MFP and I didn't want to leave our stuff alone on the chairs, so we took turns going into the wave pool. Then I got into an inner tube and rode the lazy river around the perimeter of the park. Also fun. The only thing that stunk was that we forgot to bring our sunblock there, so we got a little roasted. We stayed until the park closed.

At the condo we showered and I dressed up for a night out at Pleasure Island. We drove to Downtown Disney, got into Pleasure Island and had dinner at an Irish pub (Raglan Road, I think, was the name) where there was a live Irish band and a Riverdance-type dancer. Very fun. Then we hit the nightclubs. The first club we went to was a trance-techno club, and their music was really great, but there were not that many people there so we left after some drinks and dancing. Then we went to a rock club where we played pool (MFP beat me of course--I stink at pool) and videogames and pinball while a cover band rocked the house. We then went to a retro-'70s and '80s club, but the dance floor was so crowded we couldn't get onto it. So after a drink apiece, we headed out. By the time we got back to the condo it was after midnight, and I slept soundly.

Florida Day 1: Wednesday, October 18, 2006

After getting up at 4:30 a.m., we were off to a rocky start when we were waiting for the light rail to BWI and MFP had to go back to the house to get his long pants, which he had forgotten to pack. But we made it to the airport by 7:10 for our 9:00 flight. The lines were not long, but, since I am such a genius, I accidentally packed my Coppertone Oil-Free sunblock in our one carry-on, causing it to be searched and the sunblock confiscated. (At least we had more sunblock in our checked baggage.) Our flight was on time and wonderfully uneventful.

Upon landing in Orlando, we picked up our bags, took the shuttle to the rental car place, and were "upgraded" from an economy car to a "standard" Dodge Stratus. It was silver and a nice car, but MFP, who was the assigned driver, didn't like it because the roof of the car hit just above his head. I guess the Dodge Stratus is for short people. We then stopped by the guest "welcome center" at the rental car place for directions to our assigned accomodations in Kissimmee. A pushy representative there offered us hugely discounted Disney tickets if we would only go to a timeshare presentation at his company the next morning. We naively took the bait (who can resist discounted Disney tickets?) and set off in the Stratus, stopping at Wendy's for lunch.

We made it to the office where we were supposed to go, and had to wait half an hour for them to come back from lunch. We walked around and explored. It was quite hot, and I took note of the cute little newts that made often appearances on the sidewalk. Finally we checked in, drove down the street to our condo, and unpacked. The condo was gorgeous, and made for about six people! And it had TWO bathrooms, a luxury our house does not have!

We showered, relaxed at the clubhouse pool and took a dip for a while, and then showered a second time. We located Universal CityWalk on the map and drove out there so that we could eat here. Universal CityWalk is so cool! So many restaurants, shops, a huge Starbucks, some dance clubs, and of course Margaritaville. Margaritaville is like the Hard Rock Cafe crossed with Don Pablo's on speed. Lots of tropical decorations, and Jimmy Buffett and other related videos constantly shown on the walls. And the food was really good! We were able to take some leftovers home for lunch the next day. They also had a live band that came on, sadly, just before we paid the check and it was time to leave.

We walked around CityWalk some, and then headed back to the condo to sleep.

(P.S. Route 192 in Kissimmee looks like Breezewood, PA with palm trees!) ;)