Not much more to report on from WDW. We managed to fill in some of the gift gaps at Epcot World Showcase, which also let us see the big fireworks 'n' light show at the park closure. Kitten was a bit daunted by the light and noise at first, but eventually got seriously into it.

We got up too early yesterday, everything being pretty much packed the night before (and Margie working her normal magic to compress mass, if not weight, into far smaller suit cases than the local space-time fabric can normally support).

The flight was uneventful, save for my sending us off to the wrong concourse at Orlando (once, almost twice). We all three slept at various times on the plane, and woke up to the land of green-wet-sticky having turned to sere-dry-cool.

It was great to be home.

Well, we knew that sometime in the afternoon was going to be the official Gaming Group Gift Exchange. And that Sunday eveningish we'd be doing some Living Jungle stuff. Margie called Jackie from the baggage line, to discover that the two events had been conflated, for various reasons -- but that nobody had actually let us know that.

Which was okay, actually, and it turned out to be a bigger confab than I'd expected -- the Testerfolks, the Herreras, Stan, Dave & Lori, and, natch, us. Gifts were exchanged to adults (Dave G. had pulled my name, and made effective use of my Amazon Gift List, Margie got a fine new book from Randy) and to Katherine, Tristin and Justin.

Jackie had arranged for the food duties to be shared, so Margie only had to put together stuffing, whilst others brought over turkey, ham, potatoes, and more pies than you could shake a stick at.

It ended up being an honest-to-gosh holiday celebration at the house, tearing open gifts in the living room, eating a big turkey dinner in the dining room on the Christmas dishes ... it was really neat.

And then we did the Living Jungle game, and had fun showing off the dinosaur-related items we'd picked up at Animal Kingdom.

A late night, not helped by a certain Kitten getting up at 5 a.m., but overall, not a bad way to come back to town.

Filed under :: Food & Drink :: Gaming :: Personal :: Travel - WDW 02
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I had my obligatory Meeting With Someone Who Works For Me meeting here in Orlando this a.m., which was, of course, made far more enjoyable by the buckets o' rain that fell last night and this morning. Still, it was a fine meeting, and worthwhile even beyond its ability to let me expense my air fare.

Margie got to play, er, Mrs. Mom today, taking Kitten back to Disney/MGM. They saw that Playhouse Disney show, a few shows we didn't, and then lunch at the ABC Commisary (which she heartily recommends to single moms, due to the copious kids-eye-catching entertainment).

I met her back by the same Backstage Express restaurant, where we watched the same parade, and had the same fun time. Watching the parade right at the very beginning is a great way to guarantee attention from the marching characters, especially if you have a cute blond 2.5-year-old waving madly at them.

We left, then, taking the boat back to the Swan & Dolphin, where I'd parked the car.

The only other item of note was my dropping my camera in the parking lot, springing the little door for the compact flash memory. If I hold (or tape shut) the door, the camera works. Dagnabbit ...

Back home, set Kitten down for a nap, a bit of sifting through packages, a little vigorous exercise, a shower, more sifting through packages (one has not yet been delivered back up to the lodge), and plans made for the evening to head over to Epcot to do some last-minute shopping, dinner, and fireworks.

I've enjoyed the trip, but it will be good to be home. Even with people coming over tomorrow evening. And the Sunday. And our leaving for California Thursday night. And ...

My only regret from the trip was that our planned hook-up with Stacy and her family didn't work out. I'd really been looking forward to it, but circumstances made it not feasible, consarnit.

Oh, well. I'm already figuring out how I can make some plans to come back out here later next year ...

Filed under :: Job Jollies :: Personal :: Travel - WDW 02
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There is a special circle of Hell.

It looks like a nice enough place. Indeed, it bears a strong resemblance to a theme park, or a resort hotel, or busses going from one to the other.

That's what makes it insidious.

Indeed, it is exactly like all of those things. Only ...

... only there is a cheerleading competition in town, and no matter where you go, there are roving packs of prepubescent cheerleaders, shouting, chanting, screaming, squealing, and shouting and chanting again in case you didn't get it the first time, all of them shepherded by coaches who are either deaf or who have gotten so acclimated to the din that they don't realize how incredibly (not to mention obnoxiously) loud their charges are.

I hope I never go there again.

Filed under :: Travel - WDW 02
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A coworker of mine relocated to our Orlando office a year or two back. He frequently waxes eloquent about the warm, sunny weather.

I now know him to be a liar.

I know that Orlando is incessently rainy and overcast. Especially when you go someplace nice for dinner, like a fine Cuban restaurant called Bongos in Downtown Disney, and come outside from your dinner to discover the heavens have opened up. Again. Some more.

Filed under :: Travel - WDW 02 :: Weather
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We had our date night before last. After fobbing off the Kitten, we took a romantic boat trip down to Downtown Disney. We strolled along, wandered onto Pleasure Island, and became introduced to ...

... the Adventurers Club.

Too much fun to be had for anyone. Imagine a combination of the Enchanted Tiki Room with improv theater with the era of Indiana Jones with the Magic Castle with too much alcohol, and you begin to get an inkling of the evening's delights. Designed as a club for adventurers in 1937 (yes, the Pulp era), you are ushered from room to room for different shows, the walls all covered with the fine mementos and swag from trips to exotic places, some of which bears closer examination than the initial cursory look. The snooty butler, the saucy maid, the ditzy club president, the vain and dashing hero, the envious and boasting club treasurer, these and more all await your visit to the the Adventurers Club.

As I said, too much fun.

After about three hours, we realized we couldn't, alas, just keep sitting there, drinking and laughing. Eating was needed, too. So we sauntered over at 10:30 to the place where we'd had reservations at 8, the Portabello Yacht Club, for some fine dinner (and a bit of wine, too).

Then another relaxing boat ride back, where I cleaned up while Margie took the sitters back to their hotel room, and then the arms of Morpheus.

Pretty fine entertainment. KUNGALOOSH!

Filed under :: Food & Drink :: Love and Marriage :: Travel - WDW 02
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The posts related to our Walt Disney World 2002 trip:

1. A Mickey Mouse Vacation
2. Princess Brides
3. Dave's Five Rules for Walking Around a Theme Park in the Rain
4. Another Day, Another Stroller
5. We want ... product!
6. Magic Kingdom, Take 2
7. Best of Both Worlds
8. Night Out
9. Then, the Deluge
10. Rah!
11. Wrap-up
12. The real wrap-up

I've gone ahead and created a special category for collection (visible at the bottom of this post -- currently something like, "Travel - WDW 02"), so you can easily see the whole group at once.

Filed under :: Travel - WDW 02
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Margie was doing Official Business Stuff again today, so I took Kitten back to the Magic Kingdom. Tea Cups were the first and biggest hit. We went into Mickey's Toon Town Fair after it had opened, toured Minnie's house (twice), and the less interesting Mickey's house. Katherine declined to wait in line to meet Mickey, but instead wanted to play in the littel playground, followed by riding on the Goofy's Barnstormer roller coaster -- her first roller coaster, I believe, and a smash enough success that she wanted to go on it again.

We took the train around the park. Katherine, who had suggested it, found it boring.

We scooted out of Toon Town Fair (a pale shadow of the Toon Town at Disneyland's Magic Kingdom, ahem), and headed off to Adventureland. Perforce we must go through Fantasyland, which meant another ride on Dumbo. Eek.

As a side note, yesterday, during the Playhouse Disney show, the Stanley segment had Stanley wishing he could be a gorilla, so he didn't have to wash up all the time before bed. Dennis and the Great Big Book of Everything taught him that gorillas area actually very clean animals, and do lots of social grooming, looking for bugs in other gorillas' hair, etc.

So standing in line for Dumbo today, Kitten was up in my arms, and started picking through my beard and moustache. "What are you doing?" "Looky for bugs!" Cute, kid.

Since when did the little Timothy Mouse atop the Dumbo ride wield a feather, rather than a little whip? Or am I getting it confused with the Disneyland Magic Kingdom version?

We got our picture taken with Snow White, then trundled onward. If Dumbo was a must, then so were Aladdin's Magic Carpets. Kitten was getting pretty cranky, and I knew food was the answer. Unfortunately, nachos was the answer to "What food will Katherine apply more to her surface than to her stomach?"

A ride on the Pirates of the Caribbean followed. Then I discovered that she was enchanted by the talking bird in front of Pirates, so the obvious answer was the Enchanted Tiki Room which, even with its Newer, Glitzier, Updated Script (not as good as the Traditional Tiki Room the Way God Meant It to Be) was quite entertaining to her, and had her dancing around by the end.

We bought Mommy a Christmas present on the way back. Rather, I took us into the shops on Main Street, and Katherine wanted to be "outside!" I told her I wanted to find something for Mommy, so she immmediately beelined to something and said, "This one!"

"Are you saying this just so that I'll buy it and we'll go outside?"

"Uh-huh."

Well, we bought it anyway. Consider it Kitten's first gift to her mother.

Last night the KP folk Margie was attending with had their own very nice dinner at the Swan Hotel, so I got invited along, and Kitten was babysat by the 12 and 13 year olds of another coworker of hers. Well, that worked out so well, that they're coming over this evening to watch Kitten here at the room, freeing both sets of parents to go off dates for the evening, and saving me from paying $13.50/hr plus $8 travel charge. Yippee!

Filed under :: Parenting :: Travel - WDW 02
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I've discovered something very, very odd.

Some of our heroes are missing.

When you go through the various, ubiquitous, omnipresent gift shops here at Disney World, you find an amazing array of product. Indeed, no store has everything, though some have more than others, and there's always a chance of somewhere finding a particular Tigger shirt or Mickey mug that you haven't yet seen.

But, sort of like the thousands of varieties of vegetables slowly being commercially selected down to just a few varieties sold in supermarkets, you are SOL if you want to find something with a figure other than Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pooh, Eeyore, or Tigger on it. You can find the occasional Piglet, some Tinker Bell, a scosh of Grumpy (but none of the other Dwarves), the Disney Villains in their own segregated store, and that's, really, about it.

Oh, right now you can find a little Lilo and Stitch stuff. And some Treasure Planet stuff. But that's all.

Robin Hood? Fuggedaboutit. Roger or Jessica Rabbit? Never heard of them. Aladdin? Doesn't he hang with Princess Jasmine?

Well, yeah, you can maybe find some of the Princesses on different things. But it's very limited. Mary Poppins, sure, but none of the cute little penguins. Or chimney sweeps.

Some chracters make appearances in the parades, or in shows, or even rides and attractins, but never with supporting product. Belle and the Beast. Mu-Lan. A Bug's Life. Monsters, Inc.

Monsters, Inc.! Hell, they're still selling the frelling DVDs and videos in the stores! But can you get a shirt with, say, Sully on it? Hell no, at least not in the parks. I've asked.

The only exception is a bizarre, if understandable, one. Pins. Pin collecting and trading is big business for Disney (and strongly encouraged by them). So you can find pins of everything and everyone. All of the above, and more, are available on one pin or another. But a mug, a t-shirt, a tote bag, a poster, dinnerware, coat hooks, tattoos? Nada.

It may be that some of this stuff is available on the Internet. But if it's not, it sure would be nice if there were some sort of clause in the copyright laws that allowed folks to protect their intellectual property, but not if they refused to do anything with it. I, for one, would love to buy a Mu-Lan t-shirt (though God knows I've bought enough other t-shirts over the past week). I'd love to have a Jessica Rabbit coffee mug -- or even one with a Monsters, Inc. logo on it. Or a picture of Belle with her nose in a book.

The rule seems to be, if you see it right after the movie comes out, grab it, because it's likely gone for good. I understand that Disney has done that for years to keep their properties fresh, but I'm not sure the model works any more, in an era where it's tough to keep people's attention, and where gratification (and availability) has to be instant, to satisfy the moment's whim, lest the purchasing dollar pass you buy.

And, dammit, I want one!

Filed under :: Media Moguls :: Travel - WDW 02
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Today, I got to play Mr. Mom. Margie's conference began (complete with her moderating one of the panels, which I've no doubt she did smashingly at). So I got to get the Kitten dressed, get the Kitten fed, and take care of the Kitten for the day.

Had a blast. Mostly.

First on the agenda was picking up the rental car. Called them right after Kitten arose, and found out when their shuttle bus hits Port Orleans (Riverside). That let me time breakfast with Kitten. Went over to the front of the resort, stood in the port coche --

-- and waited. And waited. And waited.

I had, of course, gotten there fifteen minutes early. Margie will chuckle when she reads this, since it was equally likely I'd get there an hour early. I tend to be ... reiterative in the pad time I apply to trips and appointments.

So Katherine and I hung out, looked at flowers, chit-chatted.

Thing is, I could see the bus. It was parked, way out in the parking lot, not really visible from the front door of the resort, but visible from the sidewalk to either side of it, where Kitten and I walked back and forth.

I knew we were the first pick-up of the day. So clearly he had gotten there as early as I, and was just hanging.

As was I.

Finally, at 8:32a (per my wristwatch, its dial barely visible through the water condensed inside the crystal, a result of yesterday's raininess. Rrg.) he pulled up to the front. Katherine, who was waiting for the "blue and green bus" spotted him, and we piled on.

Off we, and another family from Port Orleans (French Quarter), went, to the fabulous Car Care Center, just inside the ticket booths for Magic Kingdom -- the Place Where No Bus Stops.

Except, according to the map that the generally too-cool-but-oddly-surly Euro-type who was driving the shuttle bus had given us, there was another National rental desk.

At the Swan and Dolphin hotels.

Where Margie is conferencing.

*Sigh*

So Joe Euro (who really was only missing an oddly held cigarette to finish the image of disdain-fishing-for-a-tip he had) dropped us off, and I picked up a car. Woo-hoo, a Dodge Neon, yeah. About as manual and basic a car as you can get with automatic transmission. Three-hundred-sixty-degree air conditioning and manual door locks. Not one for frills is our National.

From there, I drove to the Swan. That's because I had to meet Margie. That's because we discovered the camera was still in Margie's purse. Eek.

(Note to self. When going to amusement parks with a 2.5-year-old, you really need two camera-folk, one on video, one on still. Switching back and forth just does not cut it, since you miss the perfectly composed still while you have the video camera out, and the marvelously unexpected activity when you have the still camera out. And, yes, I know I can rip (crappy) stills from my video camera, and make (crappy) movies on my still camera, since both are digital. My note stands.)

Margie had, after my huffing and sighing and general pouting (against Fate, not against her), realized that we could simply meet up between a couple of sessions. And, it so happened, I was pulling into the Swan parking lot at 9a, right after her first session. She had her phone on vibrate, while at the meeting (the only proper thing to do), but had said she would check her messages and turn it back onto ring between sessions.

Ring. Ring. Ring. "Hello, you've reached the voice mail of Margie Kleerup ..." Damm.

"Turn your phone off vibrate, love. I'm in the parking lot, coming in."

That was easier said than done, since I managed to park as far from the entrance to the Swan as is physically and topographically and, perhaps, legally possible. Trudge, trudge, trudge, "Come on, Kitten," "Come on, Kitten," "Katherine, come on!" The Kyrie Eleison of our vacation.

The Swan and Dolphin were originally built and owned by Disney, but they were sold off, from what I understand, a while back. They still pseudo-carry the Disney name, and they certainly look like Disney hotels (with huge swans and dolphins, not to mention ginormous fountains pouring down the walls), but I understand they're a bit more institutional than most Disney fare.

I'd discovered the convention registration was, of course, in the Dolphin (another twenty mile walk), and was on my way over when Margie called. Since she was going from the Dolphin to the Swan (about a hundred yard walk), we agreed to meet at the Christmas tree.

Camera was exchanged, kisses likewise, and off she went. If, for some reason, Margie ever had to be the main breadwinner of the family, I've no doubt she'd do it with style, panache, and more success than I.

Off, again, to the car, the level of trudgery reduced by Daddy Carry. Back to the hotel, clean diapie, bag over shoulder, and, avante, to the bus depot, Robin!

While waiting to the bus to the Disney/MGM Studios, our park du jour, I called the recommended in-room babysitting service to arrange for Margie and my Fun Night Out, Bwah-ha-ha, tomorrow evening. The lady laughed when I suggested a time when we'd be back. "You only have to give us a time when you're leaving. Come back whenever you want. We've had some couples stay out all night!" Easy to say when they're charging you $13.50/hour, but, then, there is something to be said for throwing caution and credit rating to the wind.

I expect to be back by 11:30, nonetheless.

The only hang-up was giving my credit card number over the phone for the reservation. Ordinarily not a problem, except I was in a bus depot crowded with park-goers-to-be, and me without my Cone of Silence. I coped.

I also made reservations for dinner. Bwah-ha-ha. This should be fun.

We arrived at Disney/MGM in short order. This is the one park that we'd never been to, and, as a general evaluation, I'd say it's a lot of fun. It is reminiscent of Universal Studios, not surprisingly, mixed with Main Street USA from the Magic Kingdoms, only translated to a Bizarro Hollywood. It's rather disturbing, having seen the real thing, but still much fun. Much more in the way of "shows" than "rides," understandably, but good stuff nonetheless.

Passing up Hollywood Boulevard, we were accosted by a park employee -- er, cast member -- offering to take our picture in front of the giant Mickey's Wizard's Hat, which is the symbol for Disney/MGM. Odd, for a pair of Hollywood entertainment conglomerates to take on as a symbol a hat emblematic of power that runs away from its vain and immature wielder, nearly destroying everything before being barely brought back under control. Or maybe not.

Anyway, I blew off the photo op, and I regret it now, since there's no record of Daddy & Kitten's Day Out, except many pictures of Kitten (natch). I visited her on our way back out, but not only was Kitten sullen and tired (it does happen), but there's a hour-and-a-half delay between photo being taken and prints/proofs being available. A startling encounter with non-instant gratification.

We had about an hour before the Big Show We Had to Visit, the Playhouse Disney Show. So we went on the studio tour. Pretty standard fare of its sort -- streets of faux housefronts which look disturbingly familiar if you watched certain shows, views into workshops where folks are sewing, constructing, or otherwise fabricating Movie Studio Stuff, the required Tourist Bus Encounters Horrible Earthquake, Fire, & Flood schtick (which was actually quite well done, and curse me for not noticing that the video camera was on Pause), and, most fascinating (as always), the dead storage area of Props & Vehicles Too Big To Store Elsewhere, including aircraft from The Rocketeer, a Sail Barge and Snow Speeder from Star Wars, the Judge's Toon Destroying Truck from Roger Rabbit, the tank from Last Crusade, etc.

I want them. Badly.

By the time we were done, we had missed the next Playhouse Disney show, so we killed some time in a fun kid's playground based on A Bug's Life, and getting something to drink. Then off to the Playhouse Disney show, where we stood in line for twenty minutes.

It was, for kids or the parents who they make watch it, a pretty decent kiddy show, featuring Bear in the Big Blue House, Stanley, Rolie Polie Olie, and The Book of Pooh. The theater was just a big flat expanse of carpet. Everyone sat down, and about every five minutes the kinder were given an excuse to stand up and shout, dance, catch bubbles, etc. Lots of fun. It was odd seeing some of the bits (the traditionally, if abstractly, animated Stanley and the computer generated images of Rolie) done as 3-D solids and puppetry, but it wasn't bad, all told. And since I recognized most of the songs (having the Playhouse Disney CD, of course), it was good, leg-falling-to-sleep enjoyment. Pictures to, of course, follow.

Off, after that, to find something to eat. That ushered in about an hour of Cranky Girl. There was nothing she wanted to eat. What she wanted to do was push the stroller. She did not want Daddy touching the stroller in this process. Her pushing the stroller involved moving at 1/8 normal speed, running into a lot of people, and not knowing which direction she should go because she couldn't see her way.

At last, we compromised. I put her back into the stroller, she sniffled a lot, I looked for some place to eat, I went into the Disney Villains Store, she poited at a four foot long Kaa, and I bought it for her to carry along. Thus were we both mollified.

We finally ate, after much further looking about, at the Backstage Express. The food she'd eschewed before became what she wanted then. There is a lesson to be learned here.

Just as we were finishing up, sirens began to wail. It was the (inevitable) parade. But, hey, the gate they opened up from backstage to start the parade from was right next to the backdoor of the Backstage Express (coincidentally enough), so we could just step out and be the first folks to see anything.

The current Disney/MGM parade consists of various costumed characters on foot -- some Disney characters, other just thematic window dressing -- escorting various modified classic cars holding some Disney/MGM characters. Sort of. In fact, they were all Disney characters, except for Luke/Leia/Vader/R2D2, which is a 20th Century Fox/Lucasfilm property. Though there's a Star Tours right there in Disney/MGM, so I guess they've figured out how to make it work.

It was actually a cute parade, and Katherine was picked out for special waves and wanders-over by various characters, being the first cute kid on the parade route, literally. And I have to say, it was probably the most fun she had the whole time, since she suddenly was waking up and Seeing All Those Characters She Recognized, like the Playhouse Disney folks, or Snow White, or Ariel.

There was a Monsters, Inc. car, too. Amazingly, but not surprisingly, a real, furred Sully costume looks a lot faker than the CGI version.

After that, I ducked across the way with Katherine into the vacant Star Tours ride. They let her ride, even though the seatbelt being fastened hardly provided real restraint for her, and I think she had fun. We hit the gift shop afterwards and bought Too Much Stuff, including one shirt she won't be able to wear for two years. (This is a problem with letting me go off someplace where (a) there are cute things to buy for Katherine, let alone fun things for me to buy for myself, and (b) Margie's not around.)

By this time it was getting around three or so, I thought I could see through the rain forest in my wrist watch, and it was beginning to rain a bit again (the day had been sprinkling when Margie left, and a bit when we were picking up the car, but had been pretty dry since then). Over Kitten's loud protests, we departed, got back here, set her down for a nap (which, protests aside, she dove into with a passion), and set myself down in front of the keyboard ...

Filed under :: Cars :: Parenting :: Travel - WDW 02
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1. Nobody looks good in a rain poncho. Not even Raquel Welch. Well, maybe Raquel Welch, if it were just a rain poncho. Wet. Inside and out.

   Ahem.

   Where was I? Oh, yeah. Rain ponchos are intended to drape, and they do so with all the elegance of dropcloths, especially when you stuff a purse, diaper bag, shopping bag, fanny pack, camera bag, etc., underneath it. Just accept that you're going to look like a shambling mound and get on with life.

2. There is always a puddle, right there. No matter how carefully crafted the grounds, how expert the architects and engineers, there will always be a puddle between you and where you want to go. And your daughter will step in it -- wade in it -- stop still in it.

3. Umbrellas are a cruel joke. They keep the rain off your head. Usually. But that's it. The rest of you will get wet. Badly.

4. The ride you want to go on will be called because of weather. There is a 25% chance that the ride you really want to go on will be closed for repairs, refurbishment, or replacement when you arrive. Rain makes that spike up to 75%.

5. Every roof leaks. Especially the one you're in line under. And the leak is right there, where you're going to walk. Deal with it.

6. EXTRA BONUS RULE. There is no silver lining. While rain dramatically cuts down on the number of people at the park, you still don't see any more or go any faster. That's because (a) everyone half as fast slogging through the rain and puddles (see #2). And (b) everyone takes up the volume of four people because of umbrellas, ponchos, and other weather gear (see #1). So weather would have to reduce the crowds by 87.5% to make it any easier -- and if the weather gets that bad, they'll shut down the park (see #4)

Filed under :: Travel :: Travel - WDW 02 :: Weather
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