More Orlando schtuff...
So... after much ado - I made it to Orlando. I got to the Gaylord Palms Conference Center... $12.00 for parking later, I made it to the lectures. They were quite good... drabble about acute phase proteins, rhodococcus equi, and lawsonia intracellularis - and other unpronounceable stuff that I love to deal with.
I wanted to get "Foundation Celebration" tickets - it's their big to-do they do every year - but this time it was at Sea World. But... sadly... they were sold out. So I decided to head to MGM to check out the Osbourne light show... haven't been in a while and wanted to see how they had changed. Well, they have "after 4 pm" convention tickets to the park which are a bit cheaper than the regular all day ones. So I head to their store to get a ticket - their machines were down. No worries, they said, head to Disney and get them at the front gate. Well, MGM was closing in about an hour and a half - not worth it for 40.00 - IF I'd even make it. So I decided to go to Magic Kingdom, which would be open for another 4 hours and I could catch the parade AND the fireworks. So I decided to do that and made my way there. I drove up and freaked out that there was going to be an $11.00 parking charge - but nope! It's free!!! (what in Disney is ever FREE?!?!) So I get in there, get a good parking spot, get on the Monorail and go to the front gate. Get up there and get to guest relations - THEY DONT SELL THE CONVENTION TICKETS THERE!!! I was SO mad. I mean, I was SO close - and yet so very far away. I could even smell the ice cream cone I was planning on enjoying while watching the parade. DAMN THEM!!! I about cried.
I did try calling the Disney store at the convention center but they were, of course, closed. So I sadly made my way back to my car and decided then to go to Downtown Disney. I looked at some of the stores and then decided to go see a movie. Why not? LOL! I was torn between "Awake" and "Hitman" and "Enchanted". But my Timothy Olyphant crush won out and I went to see that. I texted my parents that if the previews before the movie were any telling, the movie was going to SUCK big time - but it really didn't. Although some of the accents were difficult to understand. Saw some unexpected faces - the creepy one handed guy from Prison Break and Desmond ("brother") from LOST was there too! I really liked Dougray Scott in Ever After - he's pretty good, but I liked the Ever After version of him better. The movie was interesting - it tried to be funny at points (at least, I thought it was trying to be funny) but it just didn't hit the mark. It was quite gory too - lots of guts and gore flying around. But all in all, not bad.
I saw this at one of the stores - it was AWESOME!!!
And these guys were outside the candy store... cool, huh?
Left Downtown Disney to get to my hotel - but I didn't know how to get here from there. I only printed directions from the convention center to the hotel. So, I called for some help... and finally was able to figure out that I needed 192. So I got onto 192 from the Disney World drive - but then couldn't figure out if I needed East or West. I needed to get to 4880 W Irlo Bronson Memorial Parkway (which, strangely enough, is 192). So, I get off going west and see a mile marker - 6. So I thought to myself, if the numbers go down, I'm good. Well, I saw a building number about a mile down and it was 7500. So I said, oops - going the wrong way (I hadn't seen a mile marker yet). So I turn around and go the other way - the mile markers were going UP. So now I'm all confused. But finally I found a Super 8 and pulled in - well, it was the wrong one (been there, done that before). There's 3 on this road - so I headed to the next one. It's finally the right one!!!
So... for all those traveling in Mickey-land - you might have to go East to get West and the mile markers go in the OPPOSITE direction of the street numbers!!! Duh!!! I R EDUMACATED here...
Anyway - I'm just finishing up mail and about to go to bed. This whole "normal" schedule thing is going to screw me up... or maybe I'm just training for the LAS VEGAS week-long marathon I'm about to get into!! LOL! (love ya Trish!)
So for now, adios! I'm off to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party tomorrow night (and yes, I ALREADY have my tickets!)
Karie =)
I wanted to get "Foundation Celebration" tickets - it's their big to-do they do every year - but this time it was at Sea World. But... sadly... they were sold out. So I decided to head to MGM to check out the Osbourne light show... haven't been in a while and wanted to see how they had changed. Well, they have "after 4 pm" convention tickets to the park which are a bit cheaper than the regular all day ones. So I head to their store to get a ticket - their machines were down. No worries, they said, head to Disney and get them at the front gate. Well, MGM was closing in about an hour and a half - not worth it for 40.00 - IF I'd even make it. So I decided to go to Magic Kingdom, which would be open for another 4 hours and I could catch the parade AND the fireworks. So I decided to do that and made my way there. I drove up and freaked out that there was going to be an $11.00 parking charge - but nope! It's free!!! (what in Disney is ever FREE?!?!) So I get in there, get a good parking spot, get on the Monorail and go to the front gate. Get up there and get to guest relations - THEY DONT SELL THE CONVENTION TICKETS THERE!!! I was SO mad. I mean, I was SO close - and yet so very far away. I could even smell the ice cream cone I was planning on enjoying while watching the parade. DAMN THEM!!! I about cried.
I did try calling the Disney store at the convention center but they were, of course, closed. So I sadly made my way back to my car and decided then to go to Downtown Disney. I looked at some of the stores and then decided to go see a movie. Why not? LOL! I was torn between "Awake" and "Hitman" and "Enchanted". But my Timothy Olyphant crush won out and I went to see that. I texted my parents that if the previews before the movie were any telling, the movie was going to SUCK big time - but it really didn't. Although some of the accents were difficult to understand. Saw some unexpected faces - the creepy one handed guy from Prison Break and Desmond ("brother") from LOST was there too! I really liked Dougray Scott in Ever After - he's pretty good, but I liked the Ever After version of him better. The movie was interesting - it tried to be funny at points (at least, I thought it was trying to be funny) but it just didn't hit the mark. It was quite gory too - lots of guts and gore flying around. But all in all, not bad.
I saw this at one of the stores - it was AWESOME!!!
And these guys were outside the candy store... cool, huh?
Left Downtown Disney to get to my hotel - but I didn't know how to get here from there. I only printed directions from the convention center to the hotel. So, I called for some help... and finally was able to figure out that I needed 192. So I got onto 192 from the Disney World drive - but then couldn't figure out if I needed East or West. I needed to get to 4880 W Irlo Bronson Memorial Parkway (which, strangely enough, is 192). So, I get off going west and see a mile marker - 6. So I thought to myself, if the numbers go down, I'm good. Well, I saw a building number about a mile down and it was 7500. So I said, oops - going the wrong way (I hadn't seen a mile marker yet). So I turn around and go the other way - the mile markers were going UP. So now I'm all confused. But finally I found a Super 8 and pulled in - well, it was the wrong one (been there, done that before). There's 3 on this road - so I headed to the next one. It's finally the right one!!!
So... for all those traveling in Mickey-land - you might have to go East to get West and the mile markers go in the OPPOSITE direction of the street numbers!!! Duh!!! I R EDUMACATED here...
Anyway - I'm just finishing up mail and about to go to bed. This whole "normal" schedule thing is going to screw me up... or maybe I'm just training for the LAS VEGAS week-long marathon I'm about to get into!! LOL! (love ya Trish!)
So for now, adios! I'm off to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party tomorrow night (and yes, I ALREADY have my tickets!)
Karie =)