A Potato, a Lion, and a Yeti (or three)

[Tiresius]

About Me:
I'm a 25 year old Project Manager for a non-profit community service organization. I work 70+ hour weeks regularly in a high-stress, low paying environment. I totally love my job and wouldn't trade it for the world, but it takes a lot out of me every day. Vacations are few and far between, and much loved. My last WDW trip was three year ago with my DMom, and we went full-on commando and crashed by day 4 out of 5 trying to do it all. I went to DL in the summer of 2006 and had three full days to explore. I still tried to do it all, but with less overall to do, it was a little more relaxed and I enjoyed being able to repeat favorites. I did that trip solo (as I have done other vacations in the past), and loved the freedom to go and do whatever I wanted.

A little more background about this trip:
Last year, while traveling for work, I volunteered to give up my seat and got a free ticket for travel anywhere in the US. I wanted to use it to go somewhere far away and new, but circumstances kept destroying any great plans I made. Then, discounts came out for November dates, putting a trip well within my budget. Finally, work decided to give us all Veteran's Day off on Monday, Nov. 12th, giving me a very rare 3 day weekend.

My mom and I have a 4 day trip planned for December to see the holiday stuff. Only two park days (MGM and Epcot), plus MVMCP tickets, and a whole day just to look at resort decorations. No commando, no rides, just soak up the ambiance. Plus, we are going all out (for us) and have the dining plan, so we will be eating much better than our normal vacation fare. I'm really looking forward to this trip, but its still a month away, it will be at Mom's pace, and I needed to get away sooner!

Booking:
So, mid-October, armed with a desire to fly, free airline tickets, discounts, a three day weekend, and another trip planned only a month afterwards, I acted spontaneously and booked it. I only needed two nights, but Values were my only realistic options, and I want to experience as many different places as possible. I stayed POP last time, and am staying All Star Music in December, so it was between Sports and Movies. I don't care for Sports much, but neither would any future travel companion, while I could easily see Movies attracting future visitors. So, I picked Sports, where it was easy to get the nights I needed, Sunday night at a great discount.

Since I was flying for free, my choices were limited and I had to fly out of PHL at 6:10am on Saturday morning (Nov 10), and land back in Philadelphia at 10pm on Monday night (Nov 12). Made my days very long, so even knowing that I was trying to avoid commando as much as possible, two of my three days were going to either start super early or end super late. So how could I plan a fun, relaxing, amazing solo trip that didn't take away any of the pieces I would be doing in December?

Now, what's the Plan?
Well, I saw a Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas and totally fell in love with it, so spending an evening at La Nouba seemed like a great plan. Also, I'd be at MGM, Epcot, and MK the following month, but hadn't been to Animal Kingdom since all the fun new stuff had been added. I wanted to ride Everest and see the Nemo show. Plus, I had fallen in love with parades at DL and had missed the parade on my only other visit, so I was psyched to see the Jammin Jungle Parade. And, knowing that after December, it may be a while before I'm back, having never truly experienced DisneyQuest, it seemed like I should give it a chance in case it disappears soon.

So, how to put it all together? Knowing that it was the final week of Food and Wine, and Super Soap Weekend, I wanted to avoid crowds and stay far away from MGM and Epcot anyway. MK had an EMH till late on Saturday, but I knew that I would be up at 3am for my flight that morning and would never make it till midnight. So back to my original three. La Nouba only plays Tues-Sat, so since my stay was Sat-Mon, I had only one choice - Saturday. My flight was scheduled to land at MCO at 11am, so I figured that it was safe to assume I could get to my hotel and to DTD by 6pm for a show, since again, I'd never make it to a 9pm show. La Nouba - Sat 6pm. Flight - Hotel - DTD - La Nouba. Check!

Saturday planned, move on to the other pieces. Animal Kingdom had EMH Monday morning, but that would put DisneyQuest on a weekend. Plus, my magical express bus would mean I would still miss the parade at AK if I did that Monday. So AK on Sunday, 9 to 5, and DQ Monday as soon as it opened. That gave me a chance to have an early night Sunday to recover, and sleeping in Monday morning so I didn't have to make it to rope drop on an EMH morning. Plus, I could do DQ and get back for my ride to the airport. AK - Open to Close Saturday. DQ - Opening to 3:30 Monday. Check!

Food:
Last thing to plan was any special ADRs. In an attempt to avoid criss-crossing WDW, DMom and I planned our December trip to hit meals where we would already be, and since we were never going to AK or anywhere near it, we weren't able to plan for one of the places I was looking forward to the most. Ever since reading about it, I've wanted to try Boma. So, knowing that I'd be at AK until 5pm, it seemed the perfect chance to eat dinner there after the park and still be able to travel relatively easily. I thought, no way will I get anything. I'm less than a month out. Its a holiday weekend, Super Soap weekend, and Food and Wine, so there is no chance I'll get anything reasonable. But I did. Asking for anytime around 6 or 7pm, I was offered 6:50pm and took it. So, one special meal. Check!

The Final Plan!
Saturday November 10: Depart Home 4am. Fly from 6 to 11am. Magical Express to All Star Sports. Travel to Downtown Disney. Do some shopping. La Nouba at 6pm.

Sunday November 11: Animal Kingdom rope drop 9am. Stay until closing. Ride Everest, see Nemo, watch parade. Boma at 6:50pm.

Monday November 12: Sleep in. Disney Quest. Magical Express to airport. Fly 7 to 10pm. Arrive home by midnight. (and get ready to go back to work at 8am the next day).

Up Tomorrow (hopefully), How the plan played out... shoppers block, pool time, flight non-delays, unexpected crowds, and more on Day 1.

 

[buffalogirl]

Great start, looking forward to more details

 

[Tiresius]

To be fair, I did warn you all that I can work ridiculously long work-weeks, but this week was one of those hard weeks and I apologize that I didn't post when I said I would. I supervise/manage 15 individuals, 8 of whom had a major disciplinary or health issue that I had to deal with this week, on top of which I was attacked and had to deal with police, detectives, and safety plans for my employees. So... time to escape back into my vacation and get the story moving. I'll type the first installment tonight, and hope to get a bunch done this weekend. Stay tuned - I'm working on writing a fabulous first section!

 

[Tiresius]

Chapter 1: Getting There

Before I even arrived at the gates of WDW, my crazy, whirlwind adventure began. The week before my trip, knowing my work schedule, I thought I would get the laundry and packing done and out of the way. On a splurge, I had bought matching Disney character shirts for when Mom and my trip in December, but I couldn't go to WDW and not wear my snazzy new shirts! So I washed all the new clothes, laid them out on the bed, and tried to decide. I had 8 shirts and only 3 days to pack for. Which to pick?

Can't forget the bathing suit. Definitely need both shorts and pants. 4 different travel books even though I have the entire plan already mapped out. Wait, but I'll be leaving a northern state at 4am in November, I'll need a coat and hat and even gloves anyway, so its ok if its cold. Do I want sandals? Nah, I only need 1 pair of shoes (Oops! That was a mistake). Should I put in an extra sweatshirt? No! Leave that room for souveneirs (that one was a good decision). Extra socks, all my Mickeys from prior trips (I buy a very small stuffed Mickey on each trip as an easy remembrance of a specific trip. More on this later), of course the goggles. I wore my raincoat as a perfect layer last year, so why not? Tickets, Magical Express Voucher, paperwork, step by step plans, the whole red planning folder, in the backpack. Travel size liquids, packed in their little ziplock, also in the backpack. Ok, good to go!

Leaving my plane outfit out, I stashed my duffel and backpack for the week. Come Friday night, all I had to add were a toothbrush, cell-phone charger, and fiction book. I wasn't yet excited, since it wasn't real yet. Work work work work, then instead of coming home to crash, time to prepare for a trip. I realized that I had forgotten a very important detail - How to get to the airport?

Now, I live in a major city with plenty of public transportation options that I use all of the time. However, my flight took off at 6am, meaning I would have to leave my house at 3:45am to arrive on time, and there is nothing running at that point. Nothing. So, taxi it must be. Called a random company, having no expertise or experience with taxis, and pick a time a little earlier than I really need just to be safe. It only takes 20 min to get to the airport, but in case the taxi came late, 4:15 seemed reasonable. Taxi plan in place, time for bed.

But nooo, of course I can't sleep. I'm going to Disney World! Its midnight, and I have to be up at 3:45am, but I'm too excited to fall asleep. I must have at some point, because I wake up to what is not my alarm. Hmm, its 3:45, but that sound is not the alarm. Oh, shoot, its the phone. The taxi company said they would call when they were 5 minutes away, but this is too early. Yep, its them, and they say they are outside. Well, wait, I'm not ready, its 30 min too early. Oh, phew, I ask about this, and she says she has the wrong customer and he isn't really outside yet.

Well, now that I'm up and super alert anyway, might as well get ready. I gave myself half an hour to get up and dressed, knowing I wouldn't be hungry that early in the morning, but I was ready in only 10 minutes and regretting that I had sent the taxi away. My regret didn't last too long, as at 4:00am, I saw a taxi drive past with the right logos on it, so I went outside and he was looking for me. Yay! No more waiting, I'm on the way, albeit 15 min early.

$30 and 25 min later, I walk into the terminal. I am the only person anywhere in sight. There are no lines, nobody working the counters, and wait, no security station. I print my boarding passes at an empty kiosk and locate what must become security when it isn't 4:30 in the morning. Knowing there is nothing else to do, I just sit and wait. A few more people filter in, figure out the same thing, and we end up with a collection of three of us on the same flight to DC. We are flying US Air Express, which means teeny tiny planes and a teeny tiny terminal. Because of the small number of people and space to navigate (compared to the other 5 Philly terminals), turns out that security doesn't even open until 5:30am or later (despite the 6am departure time).

The three of us hang out for an hour, in an empty airport, just waiting for security to open. Airline, airport, and TSA workers start showing up and going through security, but we have to wait and just watch, while they hold us on the other side of the gate. Finally, they call us over and I make it through in record security time, since I was literally the second person security screened that day. Through that process, time to fill up the empty water bottle I always bring with me, since you can take it through security empty and fill it up free from the water fountain on the other side.

Now approaching 6am, I am starting to be very hungry, and my gate has changed twice already, so rather than find a gate only to be switched again, I grab a microwaved croissant sandwich from the only shop open. Even though our gate is finally settled, we have no pilot, and even weirder, there are still only the three of us original people waiting at the gate. Its 6:05 am, and no sign of anyone else. 6:06, pilot arrives, the three of us get on the plane 1 minute later, and in the next minute 1 more passenger arrives and the doors are closed. We take off less than 10 minutes late, with a grand total of 4 passengers on board. Yes, it is a small plane, but there are still more than 50 seats and only 4 people.

Although I was exhausted from my sleepless night and early morning, we landed only 40 min later (15 minutes early) and I had no time to sleep. Again, small plane, no people, so they didn't even bother with a gate. We walked down some rolling metal steps and took a shuttle bus to the terminal at DCA. One of my plane buddies was also traveling on with me to Orlando, so we walked a whole 15 feet to the gate next door to where we arrived and settled in for an hour and a half wait. This was the hardest time of the day. Its 7am, I'm soo sleepy, but I can't sleep, and I'm hungry again, but I already ate breakfast.

Not so lucky with the second flight being empty. It was a "completely full flight" although I had an empty seat next to me (the only free seat in the plane), so I guess I was still pretty lucky. Again, I tried to sleep, but I had to use the bathroom, and the aisle seat person was dead asleep, and I can't wake up strangers, so I was stuck. Not a huge problem, as we again landed early, 25 minutes this time. I made it to the Orlando airport by 10:45am and was now only a bus ride away.

Since I was only staying 2 nights, I only had carry on, and wasn't worried about luggage, so I skipped my way down to Level 1 (ok, I know I wouldn't have had to worry about luggage with Magical Express anyway, but it was still nice to not even worry if my bags had made it or not). Finding the counter turned out to be harder than I thought, although once I found the right level, the massive lines told me I had reached the right place.

I don't know what I was expecting, but there were a zillion people. I got in the first set of lines, which to be fair moved faster than I thought even though it switchbacked 4 different times. It still took 15 minutes to get through and on to the red carpet for entrance into the second line of the day. Since I was off to All Star Sports, I was lucky (or unlucky) enough to be in line #1, the longest of all the lines. All of the resort lines were all the way to the end of the tape, if not longer, so I guess it was a super busy day (since when I was dropped back off, there weren't really any lines).

Considering that I had to wait for three bus loads of people to be pulled from my line alone before I was at the front, a 30 min wait in line is probably not too crazy, but I was surrounded by a bunch of impatient people who wanted to get their vacations moving, so I started to be impatient. We were finally ready, with a bus available for my group. Although I felt bad for the massive lines of people left behind, they didn't pack the bus, and I had a seat all to myself.

All right! On the road, the last step in my journey to the mouse, whooppeee! We were on a Disney Cruise Line bus, and our TV's weren't working, so we had to listen to horrendous and very loud radio music (NOT Radio Disney, and not even family friendly). Still sleepy, I tried to focus on the scenery, and managed to see a turtle sunning itself and a huge gator in a lagoon off the side of the road. The excitement was growing around me, and seeing the gateway, I wanted to cry (that will come up a few times on this trip, but I'm not a crier. I can feel the desire welling up, but no tears, so this was an emotional moment for me and it surprised me). We drove past sign after sign for resorts and parks and all the cool stuff I wanted to see, but nothing other than signs. No towers, so castles, no giant silver domes. In fact, the only thing I saw other than road and trees and signs was POP Century, the site of my last hotel stay. So that brought up another emotional moment.

At last, the moment of truth! We pulled into the first parking lot, and like the WDW buses, we hit All Star Sports first. No more waiting, no more traveling. It was just a few minutes before 1pm, and I was here! Not yet having eaten lunch and only an hour into the afternoon, and my 9 hours of travel were over. Now what would I do?

 

[Tiresius]

Chapter 2: All Star Sports

When I left off, I had just been dropped off at All Star Sports and was ready to start enjoying my vacation. Well, step number one was to get checked in. I knew that it was much too early to assume that my room would be ready, but figured it was worth a shot so I didn't have to continue lugging my bags around. Despite the massive crowds at the airport, only a few people got off the Magical Express bus with me so the lobby was fairly empty. I was only the third person in the checkout line, so it was very quickly my turn.

I had a room-only reservation, so I had to pay off my room before I could learn anything about my room, but with my first charge on my Disney Visa approved, I got my snazzy packet of information about the resort, the parks, and my room location. I had no specific requests, so I was totally happy with my location on the second floor of building 10 - Touchdown! I must have been friendly or something, since even without me asking, the nice CM who checked me in made a phone call to find me a ready room then and there. I was at the back of the building, so away from all the football games being played among the huge icons, in a nice quiet shady area. But still very close to both the food/bus stops, and both pools. It was ideal!

But, before I get ahead of myself, remember back to my last meal at 6am in Philadelphia. At this point it was nearly 1:30, and despite the call of my room, the pool, and the rest of my plans, I was HUNGRY! So, bringing my bags with me, I set out to investigate the food options of the food court. Too focused on the hunger, I didn't really think much about what I wanted to eat and got in the shortest line, ending up with a greasy but satisfying chicken and pasta alfredo plate. Also snagged a refillable mug. I don't drink coffee or soda, so Powerade was really the only thing I ever used the mug for, but even that was a nice break from the water I drank the rest of the trip.

Hunger-beast soothed, now it was time to move along. I had read bits and pieces of rumors that some of the rooms had been refurbished, but I didn't know which ones. Seems I was in a non-new section, where the building and the room were obviously well loved, but more than adequetely clean. As I've mentioned, sports aren't really my thing, but the theming wasn't too in-your-face, and I could appreciate the theme without feeling overwhelmed.

But what to do? My plan called for an immediate trip to Downtown Disney, but I hadn't figured the weather would be so amazing. Philly was 40 degrees and miserable, so I had thought (wrongly) that it would at least be a little cold everywhere. Well, 70 degrees and sunny hit me as soon as I had gotten off the bus, and the pool was really calling me. The original plan had called for pool-time only once during the trip, but that was soon no longer the plan. I dumped my stuff in the room and changed lickety-split to get to the pool ASAP.

Here is where that lack of sandal packing kicks in... Thinking that I wouldn't be using the pool, I hadn't packed sandals, and now I realized that I would have to walk back from the pool either barefoot (ick) or get my only pair of shoes wet as a dripped and squelched my way back. Oh well, no choice now. Thinking to myself however - this may be the perfect excuse to have to buy something to wear for the rest of the trip.

I had two pools to choose from and could see both from the front steps of my building. I picked to turn left at random, taking me to the baseball (quiet) pool. Ahhhh. My vacation had finally come. Swimming is so relaxing, and I really am a kid at heart, so I totally understand how kids need a pool break or would rather be there than at the parks. 30 minutes in the pool and I had totally revived from my trip, from being up at 4 in the morning, from my long week at work. I felt like I could get back on a plane then and it would all have been worth it. The water cannon was a neat touch, and I had fun swimming through and under it (as I'm sure plenty of kids do, but I was slightly embarrassed that I had so much fun by myself and am NOT a kid).

Dripping my way back to the room, I changed again and set out to figure out my plan for the rest of the day. I had made general plans weeks earlier when I first decided to take the trip, but had brought all the books and maps on the plane, figuring that I could decide on all the details while I flew. Well, that hadn't happened, and now it was time to go, but the plan wasn't ready. So it was time to dig out all the planning aides and write it out on a single sheet of paper (no way was I dragging multiple books with me for 8 hours).

Shopping plans, Cirque ticket, Visa card, food ideas, long sleeves, and an empty backpack for purchases. Ready to go! Head out the door and off to the bus stop for the first WDW transportation of the trip. Downtown Disney, here I come!

Up next: Shopping, Cirque, and trying not to fall asleep.

I'm sorry this isn't the most thrilling report, but with no cute kids and no pictures, I can't pretend to be super exciting. I had a great time, and for those solos who like to read trip reports like I do, its realistic.

 

[OhMari]

Enjoying your solo trip. Thinking about it for next Sept.

 

[Tiresius]

Sorry it took so long to get back to the report, but with work and another trip upcoming, my DIS time shrunk. But now my plans for my trip in two weeks are almost done, and I can get back to the report. So here we go...

Chapter 3: Downtown Disney, Part 1

After leaving my room, I headed out to the bus lines. A little bit confused, since the Animal Kingdom and Downtown Disney signs had no ropes designating an area to stand, I waited on a nearby bench expectantly. I didn't have to wait too long, since a DTD bus arrived within 10 minutes and I hopped on quickly. There was only one other person getting on with me, and the bus was nearly empty, so I looked forward to an uncrowded day (I assumed...).

Well, 45 minutes later, having seemingly driven around the entire property 6 times (Ok, so we didn't really drive to that many places - only the other two All Stars on the way, but it did take a full 45 minutes) we finally arrived! I think I literally jumped off the bus, trying desperately to wake myself up. 45 minutes of driving in an empty bus is liable to make anyone sleepy, let alone my sleep-deprived, up for how many hours? self.

But, I was ready to go. It was warm, it was sunny, and I had shopping to do! First stop, Once Upon a Toy. The DIS is a dangerous place, it arms you with far too much information about neat things to do, and without it, I would not have spent nearly as much money as I did. In fact, I doubt I would even have gone into this store, let alone armed with a shopping plan. I am not a shopper. I hate and avoid shopping at all costs at home. But apparently you take me to Disney and I whip out the Disney Visa for anything. Ok, not ANYthing, but you get the drift.

I seem to be a sucker for things that you get to build or design yourself, so my first stop was the Star Wars area for a little lightsaber action. I'm a do-it-myself type of person, so I waited until the CM who was manning the area was helping another kid, at which point I had free reign over the other side of the display to pick and choose my pieces without unwanted advice. I am a mechanically minded person, so it only took a few moments of fiddling to figure out how to put the pieces together, test out a variety of looks, and decide on a simple, streamlined look. Fitted the crystals, light filters, and interchangeable knick-knacks together, and presto - ready to use Lightsaber.

Next stop, the land of the potato! Despite not being a shopper, I am a planner, so once I get something in mind that I plan to buy, I'm going to make sure I maximize my money's worth. Not much to maximize with the lightsaber, but the Mr. Potato Head pieces offer an interesting challenge. I think I spent at least 15 minutes just cataloging piece types in my head before even picking anything up. I knew that I needed to stuff the body first, so I found as many small, flat, or bendable parts as I could and managed to fit all of the possible arms, eyes, mouths, ears, and a few other things to put in his hands inside him. Then it was hat time. With the rest of the accessories already inside the body, my favorite parts could fill the rest of the box. I think I fit 8 hats in there with him. Only problem, no shoes. All of the shoes were gigantic and would never fit in the box as I currently had it, so he would have to be a one-pair-of-shoes kinda potato. Hats, he could change, but that one pair of black shoes that I was paying for separately, they would have to match everything (at least for now).

$50 in toys so far, and that's just for me! What other stores need to be explored? Well, the sunny weather (which shouldn't have been a surprise, duh) has turned out to be a problem for my shade-seeking eyeballs, so I think I need a hat. World of Disney, here we come. There has to be a perfect hat somewhere in this massive place! I think I walked through the entire store twice looking for hats that weren't of the baseball cap variety. See, I'm a big-brimmed hat fan, something that will cover the back of your neck and the top of your ears and cut down on the need for sunscreen. It seems that this style was only offered in the super-cheesy all white style that screams tourist or as a non-airplane friendly straw hat. At least for the first two trips around the store that is... I managed to find, hiding in the boys section, a kids hat that fit my head (I have a small head, what can I say), that didn't look like it was meant for my grandfather, and which I could put in my pocket on rides. Success!

What else am I in the mood for? Ah yes, crocs. Crocs have always been a mystery to me. Seems like its syrofoam, and why would anyone want to wear styrofoam shoes? How can they be substantial enough? Well, again armed with DIS information (and the cute little Mickey heads staring at me from the racks and racks of them), I had to try it. Hmm, black and stylish, cute mickeys, and ohhh, comfortable. Not sure I'm liking the strap in the back that pushes my toes out the holes, but I can see the appeal of such light weight. Oh, I'm already buying things here and standing in line, so what the heck. No more thinking, just buy them!

Last shopping item on the list, gifts for people at work. I have one co-worker who really wanted to come with me but couldn't afford to come, so asked that I bring back a cheesy pen. Not to be outdone, I wanted to bring her back TWO pens, which I set out to find. As a cat fan, it seemed like a fluffy pink feathered pen with one of the Aristocats (Marie?) would be fitting. Ah, and how about a classic Minnie Mouse that moves around when you click the pen up and down. Ok, two hits. Good. Time to move along..

After using my Disney Visa to get a nice 10% discount, I skipped my way out of the increasingly more crowded store. Stuck my Jedi pin from the lightsaber onto the brim of my new hat and off into the sun. Only, now its not as sunny and its definitely a lot more crowded. The Festival of the Masters seemed to be in full swing and the people were out to see it. I had only one more store on my agenda, so in the hopes of avoiding the growing crowds, I made my way over to the Lego store.

On my last trip, the lego store had been closed, so I didn't get to see any of the sculptures or fun moving peices outside the store, which I was really looking forward to seeing. I had no intention of buying anything (which I didn't), I just wanted to see it all. And see it I did. Not only did I get to see all of the fun stuff already being built, but as a part of the Festival of the Masters, they were building a giant R2D2 in the store. Directly outside, kids were being instructed on how to turn the small lego bricks into larger color coded bricks, which were then brought inside, inspected, and the kids got a neat certificate that they helped build the biggest R2D2. It was really neat to watch, and I was a little sad that I wasn't (or didn't have with me) a kid to build a brick myself. R2 was halfway built when I was there, so it would have been neat to see him finished. Maybe next time...

At this point, the crowds were obvious and I was done shopping. My backpack was full and heavy, and I had an appointment at the other side of Downtown Disney. Although I had originally planned to eat dinner before La Nouba, having eaten lunch at 1, I wasn't hungry again at 5, and figured I'd be better off later. So I took my time and enjoyed the stroll. Partly I had to take my time since I was grid-locked by the masses of people, but I did use the chance to take a look at the sidewalk chalk art and the booths of the artists. I wasn't at DTD to enjoy the Festival (although perhaps I should have been), so I didn't really stop at anything, but a quick look at things as I passed by was neat. I worked my way through pleasure island as well, where even though there wasn't anything to see, there were still masses of people, and into the heart of the festival. At this point, after shopping and being packed with people for so long with little sleep, I was getting a little cranky and just wanted to sit down. So, even though there was plenty of great free stuff to see, I focused on the giant white tent ahead. I knew that if I could only get past all these people, I could sit for a while and recover. So I picked my way around, through, behind, and sometimes even backwards if there was a clearing. And at last, I was there. My La Nouba ticket said arrive 30 minutes early, and I was right on the mark. 5:30 I handed over my ticket for scanning, walked up the steps, and sank gratefully into my chair.

Up next: I continue to fight off sleep at Cirque, the rest of my evening at DTD, and off to bed we go...