PlunderFest2005Day1

Who doesn’t look forward to the day when you get to sit at the computer and transfer your Rewards Dollars to your Disney Dream Rewards card, and then swap your regular, everyday, run-of-the-mill wallet for the special Walt Disney World wallet with the mouse ears logo on it? These rituals have come to signify to me that the time has come – I’m going to Disney World!

I had a number of chores to take care of in Fort Myers before I could be well on my way. After showering and loading the car, I hit the breakfast buffet for the last time, and my first mission was to gas up the Cobalt for the journey north and east. I wrote down the mileage on the car – 5,530. I then needed to reload my water supply for the week to come. Water is expensive on Disney property, which really irks me, so I like to leave the room in the morning fully loaded – one less bottle to buy in the parks. I also needed a USB cable because I’d managed to pack every kind of cable known to man, EXCEPT the kind that goes between three of my most important electronic devices (camera, Palm Pilot, and Archos drive) and the computer. I needed more sunscreen – you will notice that not once did I complain during the first part of this this trip (see TGFMHDA) about burning! This is because I was religious about applying the sunscreen, both often and generously, and I’d torn through a tube of Banana Boat SPF 30 in record time. Finally, I could not find my ear bud for the cell phone; I really thought I had packed it, but could not locate it among all the computer junk I’d brought with me. Well, they’re cheap enough, so let’s go get a new one while I’m getting the USB cable, and that will be the one that always stays packed with the laptop from now on.

So, where does one go for spring water in quantity, a USB cable, sunscreen, and a cell phone ear bud, all in one stop?

Yeah – the “W” word. I normally avoid Walmart like I do old boyfriends. I could go into a long diatribe about why I don’t want to contribute to the coffers of Walmart, but once I get on that roll, it would take all the bandwidth I have left on this web site to support it. So let’s just say I knew where the Walmart was, because I’d passed it often enough between the airport and the island all these years, and that I was practically breaking out in hives as I pulled into the parking lot. I really didn’t have time to stop at several different stores, and I didn’t know where there was a Target, so I just bit the bullet and went to Walmart. I have to admit that they did have a very cool USB cable – retractable, with multiple adapters for all manner of USB devices. My geek self was doing the happy dance of joy, until my corporate social responsibility self gave the geek a good smack in the head and told it to shut up. We may have to be in Walmart, but we don’t have to like it quite so much.

I was finally and truly on the road by 11:30 am. Coming from New York, I am accustomed to a 55 MPH speed limit; here in Florida, the speed limit is 70 MPH. I found out pretty fast that if the speed limit is 70, it becomes REALLY easy to do 80! It being a Sunday morning, I never encountered the horrors of I75 that I’d heard so much about – fairly flew up the highway, passing cows (thinking of Mariby) and creeks, and going over a few bridges with exceedingly pretty views. Somewhere around noon, I lost Gator Country 101.9 – well, that’s it for my semi-annual country music fix, until I move down here, I guess! I sure wish they’d start web casting.

Somewhere around exit 193 (or was that mile marker 193? don’t remember which sort of sign it was), my left hip raised its hand timidly and requested a break. Such are the trials of the arthritic. I found a Mickey D’s and walked a few laps around the parking lot, had a pee break, and bought a Happy Meal. The counter person always asks, “do you want the girl’s toy or the boy’s toy with your Happy Meal?”, to which I always respond, “Well, which toy is cooler?”, to which they invariably respond, “oh, the boy’s toy is cooler!”, so that’s what I usually get. I think it was some sort of space alien, or something like that.

Back on the road, I was starting to despair of ever getting to I4 – perhaps I’d passed it? Perhaps I was lost? Perhaps I should call Alan and find out if I was lost or not? Oh, wait… there it is! Man, that is a long-ass ride up I75, but now I know what to expect, so I guess next time I drive this route, it won’t seem so long.

Once on I4, I called Robin, one of my Disney geek pals, who lives in Orlando now, and chatted the rest of the way. I wish I’d thought of calling her sooner – it sure made the drive seem to go faster! Pretty soon, I was hanging up, saying, “Ok, I have to concentrate now, don’t want to get lost, see you in a few days!” You get to a point on I4 where there are multiple Disney exits, and it sort of doesn’t matter which one you take. But, you’d better pay attention once you do get on property, else you’ll find yourself taking the scenic loop around Disney World.

My plan was to find a gas station on property, gas up the car and get a carton of cigarettes, drive to the resort, check in, give the luggage to Bell Services, and return the car before 3:00 PM. I stopped at the first Hess station I saw, and it was coming up on 2:30 PM when I pulled into Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside resort.

Mercifully, there were no major lines, AND my room was ready! After check in, I buzzed outside and spoke to Bell Services, explaining the situation. No problem! Pointed out the car to the bell dude, and he drove his golf/luggage cart around and met me at the exit, whereupon I followed him around to the back entrance of my building. Gave him my room number and the bags and a nice tip, and he said he’d bring the bags up to my room for me.

On the way out, I stopped at the gate and asked the man in the booth the quickest way to the Car Care Center from there, and he gave me back-roads directions. Well, it WOULD have been quick, except I managed to get stuck behind a truck full of horses on the way, and they were going REALLY slow! I caught a glimpse of the Magic Kingdom entrance arch – it’s adorned with giant Mickey pumpkin heads.

Pulled into the car care center, collected my trash from the car, wrote down the mileage (5,745 – wow, it’s 215 miles from San Carlos Boulevard in Fort Myers to The Car Care Center in Orlando), and bolted into the office. Four minutes till 3:00 PM – woo hoo! When I came out, there was a shuttle waiting for me – double woo hoo!

Whew! The shuttle dropped me off in front of the resort, and I walked leisurely through the main building to the bridge, crossed the river, and approached my building from the front.

I wanted to freshen up and relax a bit before boarding the shuttle over to Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club for a few early symposium sessions. When I got to the room, there were my bags, all neatly stacked, but only one gallon bottle of water on the table. Hmmm, you don’t suppose the bell dude… yes! He put the other one in the refrigerator for me. What a guy! I noticed immediately that there was no ashtray in the room, so I called down to Mousekeeping to get one, and that’s when I saw the broadband connection on the night stand. Geeze what is it with these hotels all putting the broadband on the nightstand? Well, this is Disney, so I suppose I should be grateful that there’s broadband at all.

After messing around with pictures for a bit, I put the camera back in my bag, washed up, grabbed my conference credentials, and headed out to the conference shuttle stop, which was right in front of the luggage room. The conference base was the Swan and Dolphin hotels, with spill-over into the Yacht & Beach Club meeting rooms. I registered pretty late, so I wasn’t able to get a room at any of those resorts, nor at the Boardwalk, which would have been nice, because they are all walking distance to the meetings. Instead, the conference put me at POR. I heard that there were nearly 10,000 attendees at this conference! So, by necessity, they were spread all over 5 or 6 different resorts, and a steady stream of busses, operated by Mears, was provided in an endless loop between all the resorts involved.

Upon arrival, I checked in, got my badge activated, and was issued a lanyard and my conference materials (requisite el cheapo backpack laden with vendor logos, and filled with vendor propaganda, schedules, a CD with all the presentations on it, etc.). I then attended my first couple of sessions, noting with disdain that the free spring water provided was Perrier. Long ago, in another life, I was quite enamored with Perrier, but I have since developed a dislike for both the bubbles and the slightly salty taste. Although conferences usually offer a good opportunity to save on the spring water bill, this wasn’t going to be one of them.

By time I was done there for the evening, the sun was setting fast, and I walked into Epcot, snapping photos along the way. The moon was large and beautiful over the International Gateway. As I approached the security check, it would be the first, but not the last time I would vow to register early next year and get a room somewhere in the vicinity of the Boardwalk – I really hated schlepping that conference bag into Epcot with me!

I headed to France for my traditional first night dinner of French bakery stuffs. The ham and cheese croissants now sport shredded, melted cheese on the outside, too. I paired one of those with a glass of white wine, and got a boxed Napoleon for later back at the room.

After eating, I strolled back over the bridge, through the UK and Canada, to make my way back to the Epcot bus stops. I was not sure what time the conference shuttles stopped running, so the Epcot busses were the sure thing in this instance. When I got to the fountain square, the fountain show was booming! Quickly, I fished out the camera and started shooting. I had waited and waited, on two separate occasions, for the fountain show to kick off after dark during my last trip, to no avail. Now, I had my chance. There was so much light in the area, I shot it without a flash at all, and it came out better than I’d ever imagined it would!

After it was over, I realized that the moon was already very high in the sky now, but that I could probably still capture it behind the sprays of water if I got into the right position. Scanning around the area, I figured that the right spot was the patio of the Fountainview. Unfortunately, you either focus on the water, or on the moon, but not both. While not spectacular, I think these shots came out pretty interesting, and I’d be interested in trying again on a night when the moon was still on the rise, so it would be bigger behind the cascading water.

I was already running out of room on the card in my camera, and I was pretty tired too. But not too tired to take a cruise through MouseGear! I checked out all the Tinkerbell watches, and there was a new one that I really liked. Seems like a long time since I actually liked one of the new Tinkerbell watches – the one I was wearing had been purchased on Shop Till We Drop Day with Nieceling, in 2003! I greatly resisted the urge to purchase a very cool, orangey-colored Chip and Dale sweatshirt – I have so many “memorial sweatshirts”, it’s ridiculous!

I exited the park, and as I was approaching the Port Orleans bus stop, the bus driver was taking one last look before boarding and pulling away. I started running, and he saw me and waited. “Thanks!” I panted. “I been waitin’”, he replied. “Where ya been?” He had a big, old grin on his face.

As the bus pulled into the POR bus stop, I suddenly really felt the long day I’d had. I made my way slowly through the resort paths, listening to the clop-clop-clop and giggling of a family out for a moonlit horse and buggy ride. As I crossed the bridge, BOOM! – Illuminations ended, and I looked just in time to see the last burst in the sky.

I fetched my Port Orleans mug from the room (YES, from a previous visit – so sue me!), and went on a hot chocolate pilgrimage. Riverside has a better food court than the French Quarter, in my opinion, but the “streets” of POFQ are all flat. I had recently noticed, while I was out walking, that I have a hard time maintaining that ball-heel roll on the uphill, so I was looking for uphill opportunities to practice. Going over the bridges of Riverside made for several such opportunities, hence I took the long way back to the room, back and forth over bridges.

are an attendee – it’s how you know you’re there for a conference. I washed down half my Napoleon with the hot chocolate, storing the other half in the fridge for tomorrow evening’s treat.

Even though I was, by this time, extraordinarily beat, I still needed to unpack and iron something to wear for the next day, my first full day at the conference. I also needed to do the photo purge. It was after midnight when I finally crawled into bed, but that was ok – I was in Disney World, so how could it not be?