Photo TR: Robb, Elissa, and TPR in Florida!!!

I guess I will go ahead and post my text TR of this weekend, and everyone is welcome to see all the rest of my pics from the weekend on my website.

Day 1 - Travel and Universal Studios

Friday, March 17th, 2006

This entire report can be found at http://www.fyabulous.com/tprweekend

This weekend had been in the works for a couple of months before we actually got on the road. It was originally just gonna be me and my mom going for a couple of days. But then a bunch of people from Theme Park Review ended up planning a weekend together, so we altered our plans a bit so I could get together with them. It was just gonna be four days long, but since I hadn't gotten away for a weekend since early December, I was definitely needing a few days away!

I worked from 3pm-11pm on Thursday the 17th, and actually ended up leaving work about an hour early. The plan was to drive overnight and get to Orlando sometime in the late morning on the 17th. When I left work, I grabbed a Quarter Pounder and fries from the McDonalds near work and ate while I drove to my parents house. When I arrived, we packed up some cold stuff into the cooler, I got changed and we got on the road at about 11:00pm.

I drove for the first 6 1/2 hours, stopping only once for gas, and listening to my newly purchased Nano the whole time. At about 5:30am, mom took over driving, and drove the rest of the way to Ocala.

When we reached Ocala, we were both starving, so we stopped at a Waffle House for breakfast. I had a grilled chicken sandwich with scattered and covered hash browns and chocolate milk, and mom had some sort of breakfast platter that had three plates worth of food!

I drove the rest of the way into Orlando, having had only a couple of hours of not so restful sleep while mom drove. After getting a tiny bit turned around trying to locate our hotel, we eventually found it without too much hassle. I'd gotten an employee discount at a Holiday Inn right across from Magical Midway on International Drive. When I went in to see if I could check in early, not surprisingly I was told no, so we left and went to Universal for a bit.

We were very close to Universal, which was good except for the insanely horrible traffic on I-Drive! There is no turn lane on I-Drive, which means that people have to stop in the left hand lane to make a left turn, which causes people to swerve around them. Not to mention that the light that allows you to make the left hand turn that you need to make to get to Universal would only let out about 4-5 cars per cycle! We waited forever to make that turn! I'd love to propose a solution to all this, but I don't see what they could do to improve it since there doesn't appear to be a way to widen the road.

Once we got to Universal, the first thing we did was ride ET. I've always really liked this ride, and I especially love the smell of the building! After ET, mom and I went to Men in Black and waited in the single ride line (read: Sad and Pathetic line). My score was pretty average for me both times, around 350,000, and once we were done we headed off towards Jaws.

As I walked, my exhaustion really smacked me in the face, and I started to feel really bad. I'd been awake for about 24 hours at that point, excepting the two hours of not-so-restful sleep in the car, and had also worked a 7 hour shift and driven about 8 hours in that span of time! As we waited for Jaws, I started feeling a bit dizzy, and figured that I needed to find food, find water and find a bed pretty quickly or I was gonna be toast. So I waited until the ride was over and told mom that I was gonna have to go take a nap. We eventually decided that I would call her later and would come pick her up once I had gotten my nap.

As I walked out, I decided to jump on Mummy since the Sad and Pathetic line had no wait. I pretty much walked straight into the train, and was out before long. I found the car, and tried to make my way back to the hotel. Of course, whatever signs I followed to take me to I-4 took me to an entrance to 4 that was way too far away, and the next exit I could get off at was Sea World! So I ended up really far away from where I needed to be.

Once I finally made it back to the hotel, I got checked in, got our cold stuff into the fridge, and promptly laid down for a nap. I got about 2 hours or so of sleep, and I felt a lot better once I woke up.

I'd brought some White Castles from Nashville for my friend Soren since he'd just moved to the States less than a week earlier and had never had them, so the next order of business was to deliver them. I gave him a call and decided that I was gonna meet him in 20 minutes, which was a reasonable estimate of what the journey *should* have taken! Of course that's not how it worked, and I ended up taking about 40 minutes to get there because of the horrible I-Drive traffic! He seemed surprised that I'd brought him hamburgers as a welcome present, and we had a nice little visit before I had to go pick up my mom.

I ended up making my mom wait about half an hour for me because of the bad traffic near Soren's apartment, then traffic on I-4. Once I found her, we were both really hungry (she'd eaten a little something in the park, but I hadn't had anything since Waffle House that morning, at about 8:00am or so!). I suggested having Earl of Sandwich for dinner, and while in the Marketplace we could do a bit of shopping, so we headed off towards Disney. Once we got there, it was bumper to bumper traffic, and not a parking space in sight. The entrance that says "Marketplace" was blocked off, and once we entered near Pleasure Island, every single parking lot was blocked off! There was no way to get into the lots to find a space! We were both so tired and so hungry that we really didn't feel like parking near Cirque du Soliel (the only apparent open parking spots) then having to walk all the way to Earl of Sandwich and all the way back. So we left and decided on Taco Bell at Crossroads. Now, I love Taco Bell, but I'm not sure if Taco Bell had ever tasted so good as that night since I was *so* hungry.

Once dinner was wolfed down, we headed over to the new Walmart off 535 for a few things. Mom decided on some sort of chocolate covered sticky buns for breakfast, and while in the area, I spotted the most divine looking coffee cake ever! With cake in hand, I went over to the garden area in hopes that they might have some nice Crotons for sale, but they didn't have any.

Once we left, we went straight back to the hotel, where I showered and hit the bed.

Day 2 - Disney World

Saturday, March 18th, 2006

This entire report can be found at http://www.fyabulous.com/tprweekend/tprweekend2.html

My phone's alarm went off at 6:00am, after getting just about 5 1/2 hours of sleep. At least I felt decently refreshed. Unfortunately, my feet had already begun to develop blisters since I'd worn fairly thin socks the day before then walked around Universal. I was hoping that wearing thicker socks and different shoes wouldn't make them worse.

I'd called Peter the night before to make sure he was gonna be able to meet us to get us into Animal Kingdom that morning, and he said he'd be able to. So once I'd eaten breakfast (a turkey sandwich that was awesome!) we headed out to Animal Kingdom. We left at 7:00am in hopes that that would give us enough time to beat the traffic and get there on time. As luck would have it, we ended up getting there about half an hour early! So we stopped at a Walgreen’s and got another dozen bottles of water so we wouldn't run out.

When I arrived at Animal Kingdom, I found Peter quickly, then found the rest of the group. I saw Dave, Joe, Erik, Reed, Carlos and Will, and eventually Non-German Tom, Robb and Elissa arrived also.

Once we got through the gates, we bee-lined for Everest, where we all quickly grabbed Fast Passes then got into the standby line. There was basically no wait, so we didn't get a very good look at the queue the first time through. I rode in the next to last row, and thought it was an awesome ride! It was thrilling, but not too thrilling, and was extremely well themed. My impression of the ride is that it will satisfy the coaster enthusiasts, the Disney enthusiasts, and the general public all alike.

After the first ride, we all ran back around and got in line again. This time had a little bit of a wait, but not more than about five minutes, so at least we got a little bit better look at the queue.

The ride takes an onride photo, but I never really got to see mine! The CM standing at the preview area shuffled us away very very quickly every time telling us that we needed to go somewhere else to preview the photos, but of course, no one ever went to preview them! I bet they sell very few of those photos! I think sticking the photo preview area pretty much directly on the unload platform was a dumb idea to begin with!

After we were all done with our rides, we all headed over to Dinoland so Tom and Joe could get their credits on Primeval Whirl. Only the right side was open, so it was only one credit for them. Everyone rode except Elissa, who watched on from the sidelines. Next, we rode Triceratops Spin since there was no line, and eveyone appeared to have a good time there as well.

When we were done, we headed over towards Dinosaur, where Derek met up with us. Dave was quite excited to be riding Dinosaur, and we had just enough people to fill up an entire vehicle. We all also had a good time yelling "That's not our dino!" the rest of the trip!

Next up was Tough to be a Bug, which is always fun to watch new people react to. When we were done there, a few people stopped for soft pretzels and Cokes, and I gave Kevin a call while we were stopped. Everyone said hi to him, and it was great catching up with him for a second. Once we were all done, we headed back over to Expedition Everest, where Elissa's parents met up with us. A group of us did the single rider line, which moved very slowly for such a high capacity ride. Pretty much as soon as we all assembled together again, we rode using our Fast passes.

At that point, we thought about doing the Safari, but the line was a bit long, so we decided to head on over to MGM so as not to be late for lunch. We were all parked close to each other, so we walked back out to the parking lot and I got a ride over to the Studios from Joe. Again, once we arrived, we were all parked in the same row, and we all rode the same tram in. Once inside, everyone reassembled at the tip board by the fountain.

Soon, everyone handed over their tickets so some people could go get Fast Passes for Tower of Terror. While some people went, I stayed in that are and went into a gift shop with Elissa and her parents, and eventually went to get a frozen raspberry drink. Once everyone returned, it was time to head for lunch. The rest of the group had decided on Mama Melrose's for lunch, but Joe and I decided to take the more economical route and eat at the ABC Commissary. I had a fish and chips basket which was ordinary. The fish was almost more like fish sticks and the fries seemed a little old and not that hot. Wasn't terrible, but it used to be much better since I've had that same dish there before.

Joe and I had a nice chat during lunch, and once we were done, we decided to go over and ride Star Tours. We waited through one preshow, then when we loaded, the ride was never able to start, so we were brought back out and asked to watch the preshow again before we could get on another ride vehicle! Once we were done with the ride, I went to the restroom, and while I was there, Joe got a call saying that everyone was done with lunch. As soon as I was done, we headed back over to Tower of Terror to meet up with the rest of the group.

After just a minute or two everyone else arrived from lunch, and we all entered the queue together. I was very glad the everyone didn't give me the hard sell trying to get me to ride Tower of Terror like some people do! I waited all the way up until everyone loaded, then I took the chicken elevator down the the ground. When we were all done, we collected up all the passes again and sent a couple of people to go get Rock N Roller Coaster Fast Passes. Once we were all assembled again, we headed en masse over to Great Movie Ride. It was a tight squeeze, but we ended up fitting all of us into just two rows.

After the ride, we all went to play Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and a bunch of us did really well! Most of us seem to have been on the board at one time or another. There was only one guy in the hot seat through the whole show, so they only did one fastest finger round, and never had to pull anyone else out of the audience to play. Boo on him for actually being smart! haha At one point, they asked a question about the active ingredient in a drug, so all of us cheated and looked at Derek's keypad to see what he had chosen!

When the show was over, it was time to use our Coaster Fast Passes, but first we all went to get Tower of Terror Fast Passes for use later. Once we were in line, the line moved very quickly, and we probably didn't wait but about 10 minutes or so before being ready to load. We were all seated in the back half of the train, and just like in December, I still think it rode really well. A little jostling, but nothing bad. When we were done, remarkably it was time for the Tower of Terror Fast Passes, but this time, I opted to wait on some padded benches in the gift shop instead of going through the queue.

At this point, we all decided to split up, with Robb and Elissa going to their hotel for a bit, a couple of the locals going home to clean up before dinner, and the rest of us going to Magic Kingdom for a little bit before 'Ohana. I rode with Joe again, and we ended up parking just a few cars down from Erik, Will and Derek in the lot.

As soon was we entered, the prime directive was for Erik and Derek to get Dole Whips! They both seemed to enjoy them greatly, with Derek wolfing his down too quickly and getting brain freeze twice! As they finished up, we got in line for the Jungle Cruise, which had about a 20 minute wait. Our skipper was good, but the kids in our boat screamed through so much of the ride! Why would a parent let their child scream at the top of their lungs during a ride that someone is running??? And it wasn't just one but two kids, screaming at every show scene!

After the ride, we didn't really have time to do anything else, so we headed on out for dinner. We were almost the last ones to arrive so I didn't even get a chance to wash my hands before we had to sit down! There were about 18 of us or so, so we took up a huge table in the middle of the dining area. The chef came out and talked to me about my special request for the shrimp and said it would be no problem to make the shrimp with the wing sauce on it, and that he'd come back when it was time for dessert. As the food started pouring onto the table, everyone was eating like it was their last meal. It was a really awesome meal, and it was sooooo good. 'Ohana never fails to be a fantastic meal. I sat near Derek, Erik, Dave, Todd and his fiancée, Krista.

When everyone else's dessert came, I didn't get the bowl of ice cream I'd requested, and the chef didn't come out. A little while later, I flagged down a waiter and asked for the ice cream again and it was brought fairly promptly once they were reminded of it. But instead of the chef returning when it was time for dessert, he sent out a banana Crème Brule for me...yuck! I appreciated the thought, but I'd have appreciated a visit from the chef even more! They left it at the table anyway though, and I think Todd took a bite or two of it, but it sat there mostly uneaten.

After dinner, a group of a dozen of us headed over to Magic Kingdom to end the night since it was open until midnight. We ended up going in two different directions briefly, so the group I was with decided to go ride Goofy's Barnstormer so the creditless among us could get that credit. Once we got there, we realized that this was gonna be Soren's first US coaster credit! We all thought that was really funny! Not Everest, not Space Mountain, not even Primeval Whirl, but Goofy's Barnstormer! We had a fun time credit whoring the area, then headed into Fantasyland.

Snow White had no wait, so we decided to ride. The ride was uneventful except for when Erik dropped his camera bag and almost got decapitated! As we exited, it appeared to be raining, but the CM there was joking that Disney was just "watering their buildings" and that we needed to use an alternate exit. I guess they do this to prevent fires from fireworks fallout??? The rest of the group was assembling in front of Big Thunder when our ride was over, so we all headed over that way. Our ride on Big Thunder was great! We were all yelling and having a great time through the whole ride!

When we were done, the next objective was to try and fit all 12 people into one Splash Mountain log! Reed works in Frontierland, so it seemed like every CM he ran into knew him. We planned out beforehand who would sit with who, so we could ration out the small, medium and large people accordingly! Well, the ride was cramped, but hilarious and definitely the best ride I've ever had on Splash! We bottomed out the boat lightly a couple of times but we made it all the way through the ride just fine. After the ride, we were all completely drenched from the water cannon that sprays as boats go down the big hill. And the onride photo...priceless! Best onride photo ever, as far as I am concerned!

As we left with a half dozen on-ride photo prints to commemorate the occasion, we went to ride Haunted Mansion. Somehow Robb, Dave and I got separated from the group and ended up quite a few Doom Buggies back from them. Of course, having not had enough closeness yet for the night, we all rode in one Doom Buggy! There was so much hot coaster enthusiast packed into that one Doom Buggy that the lap bar wouldn't even fully close!

When we were done with Haunted Mansion, we wandered our way back into Tomorrowland, but the line for Space Mountain was way too long to humor waiting in. So we all rode the TTA instead. I still think that the TTA is my favorite ride at Disney...it's a great ride, plus it's very sentimental to me.

When our ride was done, most everyone was pretty much wiped out from the long day, so we all went our separate ways. Joe gave me a ride back to my hotel, and once I got there, I quickly showered and went to bed. By the way, my feet were basically toast by this point, with three blisters between them! I had one on the sole of my left foot (that never got any worse, thank goodness), one of my little toe of my right foot, and one that was lingering from the previous week. My work shoes had rubbed a bad blister on the side of my right foot, and then wearing shoes that had a seam right in that exact same place didn't help the blister to heal!

Day 3 - Universal Orlando, Magical Midway, Old Town

Sunday, March 19th, 2006

This entire report can be found at http://www.fyabulous.com/tprweekend/tprweekend3.html

I believe I woke up at around 7:15am on the 19th in anticipation of meeting the TPR gang at the entrance to IOA at 8:45. I ate another turkey sandwich for breakfast with a bit of the coffee cake, then I wrapped up both of my feet really well with duct tape in hopes that my blisters wouldn't get any worse. The plan was for mom to take the car the whole day, and if I needed it, we would discuss it later.

I arrived right on time at 8:45 and found most of the group already there. Once inside, our first stop was Hulk. Hulk is a nice ride, but nothing to write home about, really. The ride op there was a total beotch though! I had a bottle of water and Flat Kevin with me when I got in the line. I didn't put that stuff in a locker because I didn't think I needed to...I'd never had any problem leaving a water bottle on the unload platform and retrieving it after the ride. Well when I sat my water bottle out of the way on the top of the trash can, this is ride op was like "I have to throw that away now" or something, as though she was making it known that she had to punish me for bringing the water bottle into the line! She also gestured at Flat Kevin saying I had to either put him in my pocket or throw him away! No way in hell was I throwing him away! So I ended up smushing a couple of parts of him when I had to put him in my pocket for the ride. The rest of the time I was there, he went into the lockers any time we got the chance so as to avoid that again. Ride op on a power trip, I swear.

Spiderman was still closed, so we all walked through Seuss Landing on our way back to Dueling Dragons. We rode Ice first, then Fire, riding near the center of the trains both times. The more I ride, the more I can tell such a distinct difference between these coasters. They are both very good, but I clearly prefer Fire over Ice since Fire has airtime, which is next to impossible to find on inverted coasters!

As we passed it, we tried to get on Flying Unicorn, but it was closed also. Everyone then decided to ride Jurassic Park, but I opted to sit it out. That design of chute rides is not my favorite, plus I didn't really want to get wet that early in the day. I grabbed a bottle of water then stood in the viewing area, ready to get a great shot of everyone splashing down. So I waited and waited...then the boats started going through empty. And more and more boats started coming thorough empty until finally I called Robb's cell phone to ask what was going on! For whatever reason, they had to cycle the ride completely out, but he said that they were loading people then. He also said that they were the second boat that had people in it, which helped me to time the shot a little better!

Since we were already near Toon Lagoon, Robb and Tom decided to ride Bilge Rat Barges while the rest of us took up strategic posts around the ride to get pictures of them! Remarkably, they didn't get very wet at all, which has never been my experience with that ride! I generally end up soaked to the bone! As we waited for them to exit, we played in Me Ship the Olive for a little bit, then headed on our way once they were done.

The line for Spiderman was close to an hour, so we all decided to hit the sad and pathetic line. The wait wasn't too terrible, and me, Erik, Will and Robb all ended up in the same vehicle together anyway. When we were done, most of us went over to Cat in the Hat, then decided that it was time for lunch. Earlier we'd all looked at the Mythos menu, and most people seemed disappointed by it, so we all decided to go somewhere else. (I have *never* been impressed by the menu, so the menu changes are no big deal to me!). I had mentioned that mom and I were gonna go to Margaritaville, so everyone decided to go there.

We were seated relatively quickly, though we had to wait for my mom to show up, plus Erik and Will (who were delayed because Will had lost his newly purchased AP). Most people had drinks, a few people had appetizers, and the Cheeseburger in Paradise seemed to be the entree of the day! Everyone seemed to enjoy their meals (except Elissa, who had a tough time finding "Elissa friendly food" on the menu!).

As lunch progressed, Robb proceeded to collect up all the plastic palm tree swords that came with the drinks and meals, and harassed us with them all day. And somehow, over the course of the meal, I ended up with five huge pickle slices! Of course, everyone thought this was hilarious!

When we were all done with lunch, we went over to Universal Studios, entering through the gate near the old Nickelodeon studios. Our first stop was Revenge of the Mummy, where we had something creepy and strange happen! We were all milling around waiting for everyone to finish up putting stuff into lockers when this greeter/ride op guy spots Robb and Elissa. So he acts like he is sneaking up on them, he gets really close, then backs away quickly a couple of times, not ever saying a word! So we are all weirded out by it until he finally makes mention of TPR, but then says that he's not registered, and makes a few other random and weird comments. After a bit, he backdoors us onto the ride, the disappears! Strange! But I guess being a coaster op and having a TPR meet ride your coaster is like the ultimate compliment...like owning a small business and having Donald Trump stop by to spend money! I guess that's as good as it gets in that line of work! hahaha

As we stood around trying to decide what to do next, Elissa, Carlos and Derek decided to go try out for the Fear Factor show, while the rest of us went off in search of the Woody Woodpecker credit. Tom and Joe were the only two who decided to ride, so the rest of us waited for them. We sat in the shade and chatted, which was a nice little break from all the running around we'd been doing. After about a half hour, they emerged, and we all headed over to grab a seat for the Fear Factor show. Derek and Carlos hadn't been picked, but Elissa had been!

We got good seats that were almost to the top, and very close to the center. Her first stunt was to stand on this platform that was...I dunno...40 feet in the air? Then she had to hang on this little bar while the platform dropped out from under her. Of course she won it easily, so she got to pick her partner for the next round.

For the next stunt, she was suspended in the air in this harness thingy, and her partner had to fish beanbags out of an eel tank and she had to catch them in a bucket. They didn't win that one, catching only 3 out of 4 beanbags.

For the last stunt, she had to select three rancid octopi and toss them to her partner, and he had to catch them in a bucket. Alas, he only caught two where the other team caught three, so they were eliminated. The rest of the show was kinda lame, with the remaining man winning substantially over the remaining woman. They had to knock these flags off a wall, then climb into a car, start it, and knock more flags off of it while it hung in the air. He won with lord knows about 2 minutes to spare over the woman.

After the show, we were all about ready to head over to Magical Midway, but we decided to hit up the sad and pathetic line at Mummy one more time. I really really love Revenge of the Mummy, so there was no complaint from me! As everyone emptied out the lockers, one of the characters in the area came over and startled me, then stole Kevin away for a bit of menacing fun. When we were done there, we walked back out to our cars and all convoyed over to Magical Midway.

Once we were there, a small group of us rode the Star Flyer! I'd really been looking forward to riding it since it was unlike anything I'd ridden before. We all paid our $7, and climbed up on the flimsy looking support platform. At one point, Robb asked me to take a picture of the chains holding the chairs onto the ride, so I pulled out my camera and turned it on. Right then the ride started and I nearly panicked that I wasn't gonna get my camera off and back into my pocket before I was wanting to hold on for dear life!

The ride itself was great...it was unnerving being so high, going so fast. and being held in only by chain that should realistically be chaining a Chihuahua to bike rack while it's owner is shopping! I didn't find it particularly scary, but then I'm not afraid of heights, but I can see how it would be terrifying for some people!

When we were done with the ride, we went into the arcade to play for a bit. I got $2 worth of tokens and played a couple of games...just enough to get some vampire teeth! At Elissa's urging, I got a pair for Robb too, so I can only imagine how much he terrorized her with them later! After Robb was done tearing it up on Pacman, it was off to dinner. Joe had to leave at that point, so I bid him a farewell since I wasn't gonna be around the next day, then the rest of us headed to the New Punjab Indian restaurant.

I'd never had Indian food before this meal, but I was very glad that I decided to try it! My meal was fantastic, and all the stuff everyone else ordered looked great too. I got a dish (with an unpronounceable Indian name) that was chunks of chicken in a spinach and tomato sauce, served with rice. Most people seemed to order the chicken tikka, which came with large chunks of onions and peppers in it, so that's what I was expecting. But mine came in this little crock full of the sauce, and you had to ether dump out the whole thing onto the rice (would have been too much sauce for me!) or pick out the chicken pieces and put them over the rice. I'd gotten it "medium" spicy and it was just right. My nose was running by the end of the meal, but I wasn't about to die from the heat! We all had a great time chatting over dinner, and it was nice to get to know the people I'd just met that weekend a little better.

When dinner was over, everyone decided to go to Old Town in hopes of getting Tom's Windstorm credit. Erik dropped me off at my hotel so I could pick up our car and drive it over there, and then he and Will headed for home since they both had to be at work the next day. Once I got the car, I went over to Old Town where I found Tom and Robb being suited up to ride the Sky Coaster! Talk about something I'd never do in a million years! It probably took them the better part of an hour before it was their turn to ride, but they both seemed to really love it. As he left, Tom exclaimed that it was "Better than sex! Well, better than sex with Lou!" hahahaha

Afterwards, we went over and looked at the G-Force drag racing cars, and eventually Tom and Elissa decided to ride them. At $60 a pop, it looked like fun, but not *that* much fun! They got two rides, with each ride only lasting about 2 seconds! They have to make a killing off of that ride. They both seemed to love it though, and if the price ever comes down, I'd love to try it! While waiting for their ride, they played some God awful song, then started playing a Pink Floyd song. Dave got excited about it, saying that it must have been a mistake that they were playing good music there. Of course about halfway through the song, they played this "oops, we made a mistake" sound, then cut off the Pink Floyd and started up with another crappy song! It was so funny!

When they were done, we headed back to the Windstorm so Tom, Soren, Reed and Stacey could get their credit! Tom had already whored it up on the Dragon Wagon there, but Soren, Reed and Stacey all decided that they weren't *that* big of credit whores, so they passed on the Dragon Wagon! When I rode Windstorm, I thought it was a nice little coaster for it's size, and they all seemed to have a relatively good time on it.

Once the credit was had, we just wandered around for a bit forcing Tom to go into shops like "Union Jack British Goods". We also found some store that sold random framed prints of Cher! Pretty soon it was time for me to go, so I gave everyone hugs goodbye and made my grand exit. I was sad to see the weekend end, but at least I had the 12 hour drive back to Nashville to look forward to the next day...oh joy, oh rapture.

I was back at the hotel around midnight, where I ate some more coffee cake and packed up most of my stuff. I was in bed pretty quickly, with the alarm set for 8:00am.

Day 4 - Going home

Monday, March 20th, 2006

This entire report can be found at http://www.fyabulous.com/tprweekend/tprweekend4.html

The alarm went off at 8:00am, which was nice since we'd both gotten a decent night's rest before the drive home. We both finished up our breakfast stuff, and finished packing up what we had left. We ended up leaving the room around 9:00am or so, which should have put us back in Nashville around 8:00-9:00pm that night.

After a bit of disagreement about who was supposed to start out the drive home, I started. Mom was dead set against driving on I-4 at that time of the morning, eventhough there is only probably a mile or two of I-4 before the entrance to the Turnpike! I wasn't sure what the fit was about, especially since there was almost no traffic to be seen on I-4!

When we arrived in Gainesville, we stopped for gas, and decided to have Whataburger for lunch, eventhough we weren't terribly hungry at the time. We both had burgers and fries, and it was all either of us could do to finish them! They were great though...I *heart* Whataburger!

The next stop was for dinner at CiCi’s in McDonough, GA. I've eaten at this CiCi’s so many times that it's almost a tradition to stop there now. They had a new "macaroni and cheese" pizza out for people to try...it was ok, but was very chewy and doughy because of the pasta on top of the pizza crust. We also both went into the scrapbooking store next door to browse for a bit. I always seem to end up with a ton of stuff from there any time I go, but I never spend much money! I got a really cute piece of paper that says "Amusement Park" and "Roller Coaster" and all kinds of stuff all over it, so it will be the background for a scrapbook frame from this trip. I also got some cute Spain stickers that were on clearance, which will most certainly be used after my trip to Spain!

The rest drive was uneventful until we almost ran out of gas in downtown Atlanta! I spotted a carnival on the side of the highway and wanted to try to investigate, and see if they had any coasters there. So we quickly got off the highway and found the nearest gas station. A scary homeless man approached us for something, but I screamed at him, and that seemed to get him away from me momentarily. As we were done with the gas, it was starting to sprinkle and the skies were really dark, so we decided not to try and find the fair since everything would probably be shut down by the time we got there.

As we left Atlanta, the traffic was bumper to bumper for almost the next two hours! Of course, that made my right leg hurt horribly because I was having to be on and off the brake so much. And then just as soon as the traffic was thinning out, it started to downpour. And it rained...and rained...and rained...the deluge. It was so bad that we were all going about 30 miles an hour, and I drove that way for about another hour until my leg was hurting to the point that I couldn't drive anymore. So we pulled over at a truck stop to try and wait out the rest of the rain. While I was there, I spotted an internet kiosk, so I decided to pop in on TPR and see what was going on. I got about 5 minutes for a dollar, so I immediately went to the Florida weekend TR, and got such a kick out of seeing all the pics everyone had posted thus far. *So* worth the dollar!

After waiting there for about another 45 minutes, there was no apparent slow down in the rain, so mom took over driving. Luckily, we drove out of the rain as we neared Chattanooga, and didn't encounter any more rain after that. We got home around 11:00 that night, 15 hours after we started out. I packed up my stuff into my car and went back to my apartment, where surprisingly, everything was just as I'd left it (unlike my trip in December, when my apartment was trashed when I came home!)

Man, what a fantastic weekend I had! I could have taken those same four days and stayed at home, and I wouldn't have felt any better. But being able to get away for a weekend just let me reset my brain, and I felt a lot better when I got back. Sometimes, when work is stressing you out, that's all you need.

Awesome TRs. That was still the best trip I've ever taken to Orlando. I'll have to post my photos and stuff. Maybe next week, when I'm in NC.

dt

Nice report, Julie. Brings back so many fun memories of the weekend, as brief as it was for me. I'm heading down again this weekend and I doubt I'll have as much fun as I did with the TPR group.

BTW, where the heck is the rest of Tom's photos?!

Nice report, Julie. Brings back so many fun memories of the weekend, as brief as it was for me. I'm heading down again this weekend and I doubt I'll have as much fun as I did with the TPR group.

 

BTW, where the heck is the rest of Tom's photos?!

At least I will be there, so that will be about 1/10 of the fun of April. Tom is being lazy, or very very busy.

The unthinkable has happened...I've got more photos ready!!!

This was the Animal Kingdom day, where we whored Everest for a while in the morning, then got around the rest of the park that was worth a visit.

On leaving Animal Kingdom I discovered I had lost my Disney Pass, which left me in a foul mood for a while. Fortunately, guest services found my records later that day and sorted it for me. But there is a lack of photos from later in the day for which I apologise in advance.

Ok, here we go!

Elissa holds Robb back from the deliciously diet Coke.

His dance mat skills came in handy!

Grrr, I'm angry Robb at Ohana's! Gimme some meat on a skewer!

And a Rock N Rollercoaster one time only shot.

Here's an exclusive TOT shot.

Here's a few final shots from the time after I lost my pass.

There he is! That's our dino!

That's not our dino either.

That's not our dino.

Although for photographic reasons, only this one is in shot.

And look! It's two, yes 2 credits!

Everest was a really good ride, definetly worth a visit at Walt Disney World.

My papaazzi antics will be on DVD real soon!

This is Elissa.

BLURRY DROP SHOT!!!

The Yeti starting laying the smackdown.

So we went back!

Argh!!! End of the line! Go back! Go back!

Then it gets really dark...

You get a great view on the way up.

Maybe the angry Yeti wants some candy.

Aha, there's the big hill.

Hey, I thought the lift hill was bigger than that!

Here's our ride through the Forbidden Mountain.

Ooh look! It's Robb & Elissa being normal!

This was about the shortest that the line got all day.

I love how PC Disney can be!

But this is what we were really here for.

And the first characters!

First Disney park of the trip!

Thanks Tom! See everyone has been waiting for you photos because they totally rock!

Woohoo! Tom posted more pictures. Anyone want to wager if he'll have more done before I get back from Disney on Sunday night?

This topic will not die!!!!

Here's a few pics from the Universal Resort. Only got a few since I was enjoying myself too much that day!

NA NA NA NA NA!!! ROW 2 BOY!!!

This was a great ride, shame it was looking a bit faded.

So here we go! Duelling Dragons, pre-paint job.

Derek just wants more loops!

Seuss Landing, the awesome area for the young'uns.

Derek + Vertical Loops = OH YEAH!!!

Vertical Loop!!!

Zero-G!!!!!!

And here's the pretty damn Incredible Hulk coaster!

The weather was beautiful today.

GRRR!!! STOP STARING AT MY WIFE!!!

Ooh, somebody's feeling playful!

What's that Elissa?

Random mirror shot in Carlos's car.

Yay!!! Some kickass rides coming soon.

The long road home for Elissa. She still kicked serious ass though!

"Well, we lost because that guy couldn't catch!"

Then it was time for the squid tossing round.

And she beat everyone in the first event!

...because Elissa's taking on the guys!

She looks pretty concerned...

Crazy angle shot!!!

I queued with Joe for 30 mins to ride Woody.

Mummy!!! Someone please save Kevin before it's too late!

We then headed off the Studios.

Holy crap, that's a big hand.

But we still got the Cat in the Hat!

Sky Trolley was still being readied.

And an even faster Dragster ride!!!

But they also had an even bigger Skycoaster!!!

They had a big bungee ball.

Final stop of the day was Old Town.

It was mildly terrifying! Look out for that bungee ball!

At the end of the day, it was time for a few sepcial add-ons. This is the StarFlyer at Magical Midway.

OMG

I forgot that they hire hippies at Universal!

(see parking attendant below)

Nice photo update Tom.

See you in June!

Something Disney still doesn't allow - facial fuzz on their 'cast members.' What-ever.

OMG

 

 

I forgot that they hire hippies at Universal!

 

(see parking attendant below)

 

Nice photo update Tom.

 

See you in June!

 

There's still lots more to come yet Bill!

Here's a few shots from Epcot...

A great day at a great park. Shame it had to end, but I can't wait to come back!

Colour like no other.

More awesome fireworks.

I took a lot of pretty photos for your enjoyment.

This is the 'nations' part of the show.

The display was simply incredible. Puts every other firework show to shame.

No night at Epcot is complete without taking the IllumiNations firework show.

Spot the maniac.

Yummy, so nice to meat you!

This is why playing with your food is awesome.

Our chef was entertainment himself, and he's damn good with food too!

This restaurant was seriously cool. They cook all the food right in front of you!

Robb shows Joe the art of using chopsticks.

Mmmm, it's bright red and tasty!

Time for some more food!

The Japan area means only one thing...

...But this is still probably my favourite Disney park.

No credits for Elissa...

As was Mission Space.

Test Track was also totally awesome.

I could only go so long without putting this photo in!

We had to hit Soarin' first thing.

Attack of the giant golf ball!

By any chance, when the fireworks were giving did you feel the heat from the fires they set on the water? I remember last time i went, that fire was intense. I felt soo hot and it must have been atleast 100 ft. away from me. Disney is truely awesome.

Great phots Tom, this can only mean we're getting closer to the Uncle Bernie one's right?!

That was still the best trip ever to Orlando! I need to post my pics at some point...

dt

Great phots Tom, this can only mean we're getting closer to the Uncle Bernie one's right?!

Busch Gardens, Uncle Bernie's and Boomers are coming up tonight!

YOU WAITED 30 MINS. FOR WOODY WOODPECKER'S NUT HOUSE!

Last time i was there wait was about one ride's length so i rode it like 8-10 times in a row!!!

Here's the Busch Gardens photos from Tuesday 21st.

Shakira was awesome! Kumba was incredible, Montu was great until we hit the midcourse, Scorpion was short and sweet, Cheetah Chase was 'meh', Gwazi hurt a lot, and Python wasn't that rough!!!

Stupid midcourse! You can hide, but you can't stop killing the rest of the ride!

And here too.

Still good here.

Montu. African for "Coaster of two halves".

Elissa isn't teasing me. Because I got row 1!!!

We finally got around to Montu.

EXTREME CLOSE UP!!!

Close-up train shot!

Twisty twisty goodness!

This is one of my favourite B&Ms.

Kumba. African for G-FORCE!!!

It doesn't matter which side you take. They both hurt!

Duelling!!! OMFG!!!

Tiger side!

Lion side...

Gwazi. African for aneurysm.

Stanley Falls looking slightly moist.

The Congo River Rapids looking pretty wet.

TPR foliage enthusiast heaven!

And who's this???

Which TPR member is this?

I'll let y'all come up with a caption for this.

But it wasn't too bad!!!

Uh-oh...time to lose my Arrow corkscrwe virginity.

Maybe another time. My driving is way scarier than that.

Tarmac Rally. Whoo.

Please don't take this one out, BGA!

Now I have both Silverarrow credits!

Hey, she loves getting everyone wet too!

She loves getting wet.

Shakira is now going down on me.

Best part of the day - standing between Shakira's open legs!

Good capacity as well!

First drop was awesome in the back row.

Shakira baby!

Yeah the mid-course is pretty lame, but its still good if you are in the back row. Did everyone yell, "Silver Bullet" during that section?

Nice pics. I haven't had any bad rides on Gwazi myself (you did get both credits right?). I'm just about to leave for the UK (I guess Hot Lips is busy doing something else, and I'll be on Barbarella instead). I'm looking forward to the rest of your pics (and the pics that Robb promised months ago!)

And yes, I am writing this from the airport WiFi.