MeanLaureen
<font color=purple>Slam Dancer Extraordinaire<br><
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2001
- Messages
- 6,718
My first solo trip, the AK Pin Event and why I love the DIS so much - by me 
Well I got back last night from my first ever vacation by myself. DH Matthew so graciously allowed me to take a long weekend to get away on my own. I thought I would give you guys a run down of everything that happened.. the good, the bad, and the ugly!
It was my first time flying since 9/11 and also my first time flying solo. I really wasn't nervous about the whole thing but maybe a little on edge since I've never done this alone. Usually Matthew (aka guru of the airports) leads me around like a little lost puppy dog. I found a non stop flight to MCO with Airtran flying out of Newport News. Like a good little air traveler I showed up 2 hours early for my flight. Well, this airport is so small I could have shown up 20 minutes early for my flight and still had time for a potty break. When I went through security they looked really hard at my bag and yelled for a bag check (I expected so much since I was hauling 25 pounds worth of pins) The security guard took me to a table near a Green Beret armed with something big enough to blow a hole in an armored car 3 miles away. She opened my bag and started looking through my pin backpack. After page one she looked at me oddly and asked me if I had been collecting these things since I was born. I told her "nope, 2 years and I have a couple of thousand more at home... would you like to look in this bag underneath here?" pointing to another pin bag. She told me "No, you are obsessed - go get on the plane" 
After waiting for 90 minutes for boarding call I finally made it to my seat in the exit row (I always go for exit row.. lots more leg room and you hardly ever have to actually open those doors and help people jump out of the plane!) After everyone was on and seated something really cool happened. The captain of the airplane came into the cabin and asked for our attention. He welcomed us to the flight as usual and then asked to talk to us for a minute. Now I don't remember his entire speech word for word but you will get the gist of it from this. He told us to get a good look at him. He said that he, and only he is and ever will be in charge of this flight. If anyone else says they are taking over, they are wrong. He said he didn't believe anything would happen to this flight and that he has not heard anything could possibly happen. He told us then that his Daddy brought him up to be a realist and he wanted us to be prepared in case something did. He said that the men have a job to do. If someone threatens the flight they are to take their seat cushions, use them for protection and work together to take them down. Women are to hit the call buttons fast and furious and over and over. He said if he sees those lights going off that he would set the plane down on the ground as soon as possible. He assured us that his job was to protect each and every one of us. Then he said "God Bless America" and went into the cockpit. Everyone was kind of stunned at first but then applauded him. It seemed to bring the passengers on the flight together and more than likely calmed a lot of nerves.
An hour and 45 minutes later I landed in Orlando. By this time I'm dragging my 95 pound dufflebag behind me not caring if the bottom fell out. I was met by Donna (Gotanypins) in the lobby right past security. She must be psychic because she brought one of those little foldable wheelie things to carry my 110 pound dufflebag on. Donna is such a sweetheart. She drove me to a local Denny's where we had breakfast at 1:30pm Then she took me on to the Dolphin where I checked into my room. We went up to the 8th floor and found out I must have a reputation of being rowdy or something because they stuck me all the way on the end in the corner 
. Well that turned out to be a good thing because I had a large room with a king sized bed (all to myself.. neener neener Matthew!) and a long wall that was all windows overlooking the lagoon and MGM, right where Fantasmic is done. I threw my 115 pound dufflebag on the chair and got out my handy dandy GPA lanyard, loaded and ready to go. Only thing is, Donna had started looking out the windows and had become fascinated with a fish that she saw in the lagoon, 8 stories below us. You couldn't pry her away! I'm not sure but I think she is going to start renting a room every now and then at the Dolphin just to watch this fish..lol
Well, Donna eventually gave up on the fish and we decided to walk over to EPCOT. As we were walking over I wondered out loud if SuzanneB had gotten in yet. Needless to say, 15 minutes later at Pin Central I turn around and who do I see.. Suzanne! Dressed identical to me even! 2 shrill screams later and several hugs and there is now 3 of us wandering the parks in search of the perfect pins. We had reservations at Chef Mickeys that night for 16 of us (close knit small group, right? ) and of course there was the Contemporary pin meet starting at 7. We all walked back to my room so that I could get my pin bags and then Donna was going to drive us over there (did I mention how nice she is?) In the room Suzanne and I started trading pins and Donna went right back to her window to stare at the fish some more. After several phone calls from people asking where we were we finally called an end to the trading and headed to the Contemp. meet.
I have to say that Disney has done an excellent job with the meet. I was very impressed! Once there I met up with a lot of familiar faces and even someone I have talked to often but never met - Caroline/Lovingthemouse! (Hi Caroline!) Everyone headed over to Chef Mickey's when Lori's (Tink129's) blinky thingy went off. I sat at a table with Ed and Donna, Suzanne, Lori, Larry, Caroline and Roger, Scott(Yensid), and Amber (Buggin')and her mom. At another table there was Steve (Z & X's Dad) Cynthia (Jojoct), Lisa (Tiggersmom), Kathie (~Kathie), and I can't remember the last person.. don't hate me or beat me up because I've already beaten myself up for not remembering . An important lesson I learned is that Ed will pretty much do anything you double dog dare him to do, even if it involves dancing on chairs at Chef Mickeys. There was also a rumor that Steve was taking off with pineapples and had a gas problem and caused Goofy to pass out.. not sure what was going on there. Oh, another lesson.. never be on the other end of a two way radio with Ed.. 'nuff said. After dinner we went back to the meet which was still in full swing and met up with Lauree (Ismetoo) and Malcolm (Yardhaunter) and family. Dana (Glitterwings) Chef Manny and Michelle, Winnie.. the list just goes on and on. I think I got to bed that night around 1:30 am (I didn't think this was going to be a relaxing trip, did I? )
The next morning everyone everyone pretty much went their separate ways. I slept in until 8am and then got dressed and headed over to MGA. I wandered around the park just taking in the sights, trading pins, and helping out couples by taking their pictures for them so the could both be in the picture. I went back to the back lot area where they have all the false store fronts fashioned to look like downtown. I sat down on one of the stoops. There was no one around so I just watched the birds hop around and listened to the city noises. It was so relaxing. For the past 3-4 weeks, my health has taken a turn for the worse and I am going downill rapidly both physically and mentally. I had almost called off this trip at the last minute, ashamed at the condition I'm in.. I've lost half of my hair, my complexion is gray and most of the time I have to walk with a limp. After coaxing by Donna I came anyway. Sitting on that stoop I was glad I did. Yes, the trip was physically hard on me and I spent a lot of the time in excruciating pain, but mentally - it was just what the doctor ordered. For a brief time all the stress, worry and anxiety went away and it was great. Enough about that..
I decided to head back to my hotel to get some rest. On the way out I ran into Lori and Lisa who were heading into the park to ride some rides. They asked if I wanted to come (Man, how I wanted to ride the Rockin' Rollercoaster!) but I was so tired I had to pass. After I rested some in my room I received a call from Ed. He came by my hotel and picked me up (I'm telling you.. these guys are so nice!) and brought me over to the AK Lodge. There I got to see Robin (Perndwler) and meet Michael (Brer Rabbit) and Corey. It was Michael's birthday so we got to enjoy some delicious cake and watch the animals out on the savannah. Michael and Corey were at MGM earlier that day and had lost their digital camera. Luckily someone had turned it in to guest relations! Ed and I went over to pick it up for them before we headed over to the AK for the Pin-O-Rama. Umm.. Michael.. I don't know how those pictures got on your camera, really I don't
Once over to the AK, Ed and I checked in and got our freebies. We got a really nice pin bag that you can wear as a fanny pack along with the dinosaur Walt pin and a cool Continuing the Tradition pin. They also gave us the map and the completion pin so we didn't have to walk the entire thing to get it. We received drink tickets and 2 free tickets to play games to win pins. We donned our boas and headed in to meet up with the rest of the looneys..errr.. Boa Brigade I'm going to let Ed give the details of the event because so much went on that I'm afraid I'll forget something. Once into the event I called Matthew to say hi and let him say hi to the gang and then I called Jeff (AZJazzyJ) I spent about 90 minutes on the phone with Jeff and took him through the event by phone. He got a chance to say Hi to everyone.. and in Cynthia's case he got to say hi about 8 times..lol He even helped me pick out my egg in the egg dig. (fyi - don't let Jeff pick the color of the egg.. it's going to be purple and I didn't get the good pin..lol ) After Jeff's whirlwind tour of the event I headed over to the buffet where I got one scoop of macaroni and cheese and 2 bites of cake before everyone wanted to ride rides. (I'm not thinking I got my money's worth of food..lol) Once again.. I'm letting Ed describe this part of the event because it was just.. umm.. odd.
I think I got back to the hotel around midnight.. we were pretty much the last ones out of the park. Boy was I tired!
I was going to take it easy on Sunday.. really, I was. <Sigh> But I didn't I went over to AK first thing in the morning to do the map so I could send one to Jeff (Jeff.. stop reading this.. it's a surprise) I don't know how they do it.. that place is 115 degrees when the rest of WDW is only 80. Anyway.. I take my map and head right into the park oblivious of what I need to do (umm.. follow the hints and answer the questions you ding dong) So once I bought a clue and started heading the right direction, I ran into Cyn (Figment2) and Mary (Flitter) who were braving the heat for their maps. A little further on I ran into Cynthia (Jojoct) who, when she saw me, yelled HI JEFF! (I had to break it to her that I hung up with Jeff about 11 hours earlier..lol) She was one stop ahead of me but told me she would slow down a bit to see if I could catch up. At this time we ran into Linda (LJCwithnumbersthatIforgotbutshehasacuteskatingdaisyinhersignature) who assured me that the next stop was not the 143 miles that I anticipated but actually just down the path a bit. I hurried along, got my stamp, and then hurried to catch Cynthia at the next stop - The Africa Pin Cart. (Where Cynthia lucked out with a great find!) From there we walked together to the last couple of stops until I realized exactly how clueless I am. When I originally walked in oblivious to the world I completely missed the first stop. Now I had to go all the way back to the front of the park by the stroller rental to get the stamp and then back to the Island Merchantile to get the completion pin. I have to admit, the map and pins are nice and strike a close resemblance to what Jeff and I did with the Great Pin Adventure last August. At one point they were turning people away, telling them they had no more maps, but found later that they did have maps so there were some disappointed people 
I headed over to MK for Scoops pin talk. I got there early and lucked out and found him in the expo hall. I received 3 of his patented Heimlich Maneuver hugs - one for me, one for Matt and one to send back to Jeff.. not sure how to do that... anyway .. There was a big crowd for the talk and it was fun and informative as ever! Dana (Glitterwings) son received a CTT at the beginning and at the end Michael not only received a special Birthday CTT but was subjected to the off key singing of many obsessed pin collectors
After the seminar we decided to hit some rides. Ed, Amber and I went on Space mountain. I got the first car which was so cool.. and Ed got a close up and personal look at my hair..lol From there we went to Big Thunder where Ed insisted that I sit in front of him and Amber again. Now I know why. Apparently when you are sitting alone on Big Thunder you bounce back and forth very much so like a ping pong ball. Apparently this was so funny to them that they dragged me back on it for a second go.
After that it was on to the Haunted Mansion - FYI 3 adults do NOT fit comfortably into one doom buggy.
By this time I was about dead to the world so we walked back to the cars, said goodbye to Amber and her mom and Ed, Donna and I went back to my hotel where we ordered pizza and overly rich chocolate things. Donna didn't seem to care so much for dinner because all she wanted to do (To Ed's dismay) was look out the window at her fish (At this point she should have named him!)
Monday morning it was time for me to head home. I didn't have to leave for the airport until noon so I went over to EPCOT and took a few pictures since it was a beautiful day. They are getting ready for the Flower and Garden festival and the park looks beautiful! Donna met me there and we left for a quick stop at Downtown Disney before heading to the airport. I picked up a few souvenirs to make my 120 pound dufflebag even heavier. We ran into Michael and Corey again so we were able to say goodbye. As we walked out I had my first celebrity sighting. Donna and I walked past David Crosby. Cool, huh?
On to the airport with my 130 pound duffel bag rolling along behind me. Donna and I said our goodbyes and I rolled towards security. Of course when they saw my duffel bag through the xray machine they immediately called for a bag check. I was taken over to a little out of the way cubicle where the security guard asked me to take off my shoes. I looked at him puzzled since I wasn't sure I understood him and asked if he just asked for me to give him my shoes. He said yes, put them on the table. I thought about telling this guy he was a brave brave man for asking to see shoes that had just walked about 100 miles in 4 days in the florida heat but I figured he knew what he was doing
After rubbing all my stuff with some little cloth on a stick and shoving it in some machine he told me I could put my shoes back on and go. I got over to my gate with about 30 minutes left until boarding started. As I was sitting there I heard the gate attendants talking to someone on a 2 way radio. I heard them say "Davis" but I blew it off. Well.. imagine my surprise when I went up to the gate, they looked at my ticket, and they said to me - you have to step to the right please. 
So I go over to some other guards who take my 140 pound duffel bag, my jacket (hey, it's still chilly in VA) and my purse. The female guard frisks me and the male guard starts digging through my bags. He went into the front pocket of my pin back pack and pulled out my lovely dark green boa. He looked up at me with one of those "what the heck.." one eyebrow up in the air kind of looks. I turned a few shades of red and told him it was a Disney thing and not to ask. After he literally went through EVERYTHING and determined I was not a redheaded agent of the Taliban he allowed me to board the plane. Of course I was the last one on and everyone had to look at me weird because I was the chick pulled over to the corner and searched
Finally, I'm in my seat and relaxing only to find I'm directly in front of a family of 4 including a 3 year old that must have eaten the equivalent of 73 boxes of Sugar Smacks and a mother who for some reason thought everything was hilarious and laughed at a volume slightly higher than a sonic boom. It didn't fail.. every time I came close to dozing off it was either **WHAP** the back of my seat was kicked by the kid and I went flying into the seat in front of me or HA HA HA HA HA.. that is so funny Hanna (everyone on the plane knew that the kids names were Isaac and Hanna within the first minute of the flight)
I have to tell you.. Newport News Virginia never looked so good after that flight
So to sum it up, I would like to say that I learned a lot about our community here on the DIS and about all the people that make it such a special place. It seemed that no matter where I went in WDW I had a friend that I would run into. Someone that cared about me and seeing that I was okay and not so much as what pins I have and what they can get from me. It's a wonderful thing that these bulletin boards.. just a small amount of space out on the internet, has brought together all these wonderful people and helped us build friendships that I hope last a lifetime. I feel very lucky to know each and everyone of you on the Collectors board, my fellow moderators on this board and all the other moderators on the other 30 plus boards on this site.. I've grown close to all of you and I wouldn't trade if for anything. You guys are the best
Well I got back last night from my first ever vacation by myself. DH Matthew so graciously allowed me to take a long weekend to get away on my own. I thought I would give you guys a run down of everything that happened.. the good, the bad, and the ugly!
It was my first time flying since 9/11 and also my first time flying solo. I really wasn't nervous about the whole thing but maybe a little on edge since I've never done this alone. Usually Matthew (aka guru of the airports) leads me around like a little lost puppy dog. I found a non stop flight to MCO with Airtran flying out of Newport News. Like a good little air traveler I showed up 2 hours early for my flight. Well, this airport is so small I could have shown up 20 minutes early for my flight and still had time for a potty break
. When I went through security they looked really hard at my bag and yelled for a bag check (I expected so much since I was hauling 25 pounds worth of pins) The security guard took me to a table near a Green Beret armed with something big enough to blow a hole in an armored car 3 miles away. She opened my bag and started looking through my pin backpack. After page one she looked at me oddly and asked me if I had been collecting these things since I was born. I told her "nope, 2 years and I have a couple of thousand more at home... would you like to look in this bag underneath here?" pointing to another pin bag. She told me "No, you are obsessed - go get on the plane" After waiting for 90 minutes for boarding call I finally made it to my seat in the exit row (I always go for exit row.. lots more leg room and you hardly ever have to actually open those doors and help people jump out of the plane!) After everyone was on and seated something really cool happened. The captain of the airplane came into the cabin and asked for our attention. He welcomed us to the flight as usual and then asked to talk to us for a minute. Now I don't remember his entire speech word for word but you will get the gist of it from this. He told us to get a good look at him. He said that he, and only he is and ever will be in charge of this flight. If anyone else says they are taking over, they are wrong. He said he didn't believe anything would happen to this flight and that he has not heard anything could possibly happen. He told us then that his Daddy brought him up to be a realist and he wanted us to be prepared in case something did. He said that the men have a job to do. If someone threatens the flight they are to take their seat cushions, use them for protection and work together to take them down. Women are to hit the call buttons fast and furious and over and over. He said if he sees those lights going off that he would set the plane down on the ground as soon as possible. He assured us that his job was to protect each and every one of us. Then he said "God Bless America" and went into the cockpit. Everyone was kind of stunned at first but then applauded him. It seemed to bring the passengers on the flight together and more than likely calmed a lot of nerves.
An hour and 45 minutes later I landed in Orlando. By this time I'm dragging my 95 pound dufflebag behind me not caring if the bottom fell out. I was met by Donna (Gotanypins) in the lobby right past security. She must be psychic because she brought one of those little foldable wheelie things to carry my 110 pound dufflebag on. Donna is such a sweetheart. She drove me to a local Denny's where we had breakfast at 1:30pm
Then she took me on to the Dolphin where I checked into my room. We went up to the 8th floor and found out I must have a reputation of being rowdy or something because they stuck me all the way on the end in the corner . Well that turned out to be a good thing because I had a large room with a king sized bed (all to myself.. neener neener Matthew!) and a long wall that was all windows overlooking the lagoon and MGM, right where Fantasmic is done. I threw my 115 pound dufflebag on the chair and got out my handy dandy GPA lanyard, loaded and ready to go. Only thing is, Donna had started looking out the windows and had become fascinated with a fish that she saw in the lagoon, 8 stories below us. You couldn't pry her away! I'm not sure but I think she is going to start renting a room every now and then at the Dolphin just to watch this fish..lolWell, Donna eventually gave up on the fish and we decided to walk over to EPCOT. As we were walking over I wondered out loud if SuzanneB had gotten in yet. Needless to say, 15 minutes later at Pin Central I turn around and who do I see.. Suzanne! Dressed identical to me even! 2 shrill screams later and several hugs and there is now 3 of us wandering the parks in search of the perfect pins. We had reservations at Chef Mickeys that night for 16 of us (close knit small group, right?
) and of course there was the Contemporary pin meet starting at 7. We all walked back to my room so that I could get my pin bags and then Donna was going to drive us over there (did I mention how nice she is?) In the room Suzanne and I started trading pins and Donna went right back to her window to stare at the fish some more. After several phone calls from people asking where we were we finally called an end to the trading and headed to the Contemp. meet.I have to say that Disney has done an excellent job with the meet. I was very impressed! Once there I met up with a lot of familiar faces and even someone I have talked to often but never met - Caroline/Lovingthemouse! (Hi Caroline!) Everyone headed over to Chef Mickey's when Lori's (Tink129's) blinky thingy went off
. I sat at a table with Ed and Donna, Suzanne, Lori, Larry, Caroline and Roger, Scott(Yensid), and Amber (Buggin')and her mom. At another table there was Steve (Z & X's Dad) Cynthia (Jojoct), Lisa (Tiggersmom), Kathie (~Kathie), and I can't remember the last person.. don't hate me or beat me up because I've already beaten myself up for not remembering . An important lesson I learned is that Ed will pretty much do anything you double dog dare him to do, even if it involves dancing on chairs at Chef Mickeys. There was also a rumor that Steve was taking off with pineapples and had a gas problem and caused Goofy to pass out.. not sure what was going on there. Oh, another lesson.. never be on the other end of a two way radio with Ed.. 'nuff said. After dinner we went back to the meet which was still in full swing and met up with Lauree (Ismetoo) and Malcolm (Yardhaunter) and family. Dana (Glitterwings) Chef Manny and Michelle, Winnie.. the list just goes on and on. I think I got to bed that night around 1:30 am (I didn't think this was going to be a relaxing trip, did I? )The next morning everyone everyone pretty much went their separate ways. I slept in until 8am and then got dressed and headed over to MGA. I wandered around the park just taking in the sights, trading pins, and helping out couples by taking their pictures for them so the could both be in the picture. I went back to the back lot area where they have all the false store fronts fashioned to look like downtown. I sat down on one of the stoops. There was no one around so I just watched the birds hop around and listened to the city noises. It was so relaxing. For the past 3-4 weeks, my health has taken a turn for the worse and I am going downill rapidly both physically and mentally. I had almost called off this trip at the last minute, ashamed at the condition I'm in.. I've lost half of my hair, my complexion is gray and most of the time I have to walk with a limp. After coaxing by Donna I came anyway. Sitting on that stoop I was glad I did. Yes, the trip was physically hard on me and I spent a lot of the time in excruciating pain, but mentally - it was just what the doctor ordered. For a brief time all the stress, worry and anxiety went away and it was great.
Enough about that.. I decided to head back to my hotel to get some rest. On the way out I ran into Lori and Lisa who were heading into the park to ride some rides. They asked if I wanted to come (Man, how I wanted to ride the Rockin' Rollercoaster!) but I was so tired I had to pass. After I rested some in my room I received a call from Ed. He came by my hotel and picked me up (I'm telling you.. these guys are so nice!) and brought me over to the AK Lodge. There I got to see Robin (Perndwler) and meet Michael (Brer Rabbit) and Corey. It was Michael's birthday so we got to enjoy some delicious cake and watch the animals out on the savannah. Michael and Corey were at MGM earlier that day and had lost their digital camera. Luckily someone had turned it in to guest relations! Ed and I went over to pick it up for them before we headed over to the AK for the Pin-O-Rama. Umm.. Michael.. I don't know how those pictures got on your camera, really I don't
Once over to the AK, Ed and I checked in and got our freebies. We got a really nice pin bag that you can wear as a fanny pack along with the dinosaur Walt pin and a cool Continuing the Tradition pin. They also gave us the map and the completion pin so we didn't have to walk the entire thing to get it. We received drink tickets and 2 free tickets to play games to win pins. We donned our boas and headed in to meet up with the rest of the looneys..errr.. Boa Brigade
I'm going to let Ed give the details of the event because so much went on that I'm afraid I'll forget something. Once into the event I called Matthew to say hi and let him say hi to the gang and then I called Jeff (AZJazzyJ) I spent about 90 minutes on the phone with Jeff and took him through the event by phone. He got a chance to say Hi to everyone.. and in Cynthia's case he got to say hi about 8 times..lol He even helped me pick out my egg in the egg dig. (fyi - don't let Jeff pick the color of the egg.. it's going to be purple and I didn't get the good pin..lol ) After Jeff's whirlwind tour of the event I headed over to the buffet where I got one scoop of macaroni and cheese and 2 bites of cake before everyone wanted to ride rides. (I'm not thinking I got my money's worth of food..lol) Once again.. I'm letting Ed describe this part of the event because it was just.. umm.. odd.I think I got back to the hotel around midnight.. we were pretty much the last ones out of the park. Boy was I tired!
I was going to take it easy on Sunday.. really, I was. <Sigh> But I didn't
I went over to AK first thing in the morning to do the map so I could send one to Jeff (Jeff.. stop reading this.. it's a surprise) I don't know how they do it.. that place is 115 degrees when the rest of WDW is only 80. Anyway.. I take my map and head right into the park oblivious of what I need to do (umm.. follow the hints and answer the questions you ding dong) So once I bought a clue and started heading the right direction, I ran into Cyn (Figment2) and Mary (Flitter) who were braving the heat for their maps. A little further on I ran into Cynthia (Jojoct) who, when she saw me, yelled HI JEFF! (I had to break it to her that I hung up with Jeff about 11 hours earlier..lol) She was one stop ahead of me but told me she would slow down a bit to see if I could catch up. At this time we ran into Linda (LJCwithnumbersthatIforgotbutshehasacuteskatingdaisyinhersignature) who assured me that the next stop was not the 143 miles that I anticipated but actually just down the path a bit. I hurried along, got my stamp, and then hurried to catch Cynthia at the next stop - The Africa Pin Cart. (Where Cynthia lucked out with a great find!) From there we walked together to the last couple of stops until I realized exactly how clueless I am. When I originally walked in oblivious to the world I completely missed the first stop. Now I had to go all the way back to the front of the park by the stroller rental to get the stamp and then back to the Island Merchantile to get the completion pin. I have to admit, the map and pins are nice and strike a close resemblance to what Jeff and I did with the Great Pin Adventure last August. At one point they were turning people away, telling them they had no more maps, but found later that they did have maps so there were some disappointed people I headed over to MK for Scoops pin talk. I got there early and lucked out and found him in the expo hall. I received 3 of his patented Heimlich Maneuver hugs - one for me, one for Matt and one to send back to Jeff.. not sure how to do that... anyway .. There was a big crowd for the talk and it was fun and informative as ever! Dana (Glitterwings) son received a CTT at the beginning and at the end Michael not only received a special Birthday CTT but was subjected to the off key singing of many obsessed pin collectors
After the seminar we decided to hit some rides. Ed, Amber and I went on Space mountain. I got the first car which was so cool.. and Ed got a close up and personal look at my hair..lol From there we went to Big Thunder where Ed insisted that I sit in front of him and Amber again. Now I know why. Apparently when you are sitting alone on Big Thunder you bounce back and forth very much so like a ping pong ball. Apparently this was so funny to them that they dragged me back on it for a second go.
After that it was on to the Haunted Mansion - FYI 3 adults do NOT fit comfortably into one doom buggy.
By this time I was about dead to the world so we walked back to the cars, said goodbye to Amber and her mom and Ed, Donna and I went back to my hotel where we ordered pizza and overly rich chocolate things. Donna didn't seem to care so much for dinner because all she wanted to do (To Ed's dismay) was look out the window at her fish (At this point she should have named him!)
Monday morning it was time for me to head home. I didn't have to leave for the airport until noon so I went over to EPCOT and took a few pictures since it was a beautiful day. They are getting ready for the Flower and Garden festival and the park looks beautiful! Donna met me there and we left for a quick stop at Downtown Disney before heading to the airport. I picked up a few souvenirs to make my 120 pound dufflebag even heavier. We ran into Michael and Corey again so we were able to say goodbye. As we walked out I had my first celebrity sighting. Donna and I walked past David Crosby. Cool, huh?
On to the airport with my 130 pound duffel bag rolling along behind me. Donna and I said our goodbyes and I rolled towards security. Of course when they saw my duffel bag through the xray machine they immediately called for a bag check. I was taken over to a little out of the way cubicle where the security guard asked me to take off my shoes. I looked at him puzzled since I wasn't sure I understood him and asked if he just asked for me to give him my shoes. He said yes, put them on the table. I thought about telling this guy he was a brave brave man for asking to see shoes that had just walked about 100 miles in 4 days in the florida heat but I figured he knew what he was doing
After rubbing all my stuff with some little cloth on a stick and shoving it in some machine he told me I could put my shoes back on and go. I got over to my gate with about 30 minutes left until boarding started. As I was sitting there I heard the gate attendants talking to someone on a 2 way radio. I heard them say "Davis" but I blew it off. Well.. imagine my surprise when I went up to the gate, they looked at my ticket, and they said to me - you have to step to the right please. So I go over to some other guards who take my 140 pound duffel bag, my jacket (hey, it's still chilly in VA) and my purse. The female guard frisks me and the male guard starts digging through my bags. He went into the front pocket of my pin back pack and pulled out my lovely dark green boa. He looked up at me with one of those "what the heck.." one eyebrow up in the air kind of looks. I turned a few shades of red and told him it was a Disney thing and not to ask. After he literally went through EVERYTHING and determined I was not a redheaded agent of the Taliban he allowed me to board the plane. Of course I was the last one on and everyone had to look at me weird because I was the chick pulled over to the corner and searched Finally, I'm in my seat and relaxing only to find I'm directly in front of a family of 4 including a 3 year old that must have eaten the equivalent of 73 boxes of Sugar Smacks and a mother who for some reason thought everything was hilarious and laughed at a volume slightly higher than a sonic boom. It didn't fail.. every time I came close to dozing off it was either **WHAP** the back of my seat was kicked by the kid and I went flying into the seat in front of me or HA HA HA HA HA.. that is so funny Hanna (everyone on the plane knew that the kids names were Isaac and Hanna within the first minute of the flight
)I have to tell you.. Newport News Virginia never looked so good after that flight
So to sum it up, I would like to say that I learned a lot about our community here on the DIS and about all the people that make it such a special place. It seemed that no matter where I went in WDW I had a friend that I would run into. Someone that cared about me and seeing that I was okay and not so much as what pins I have and what they can get from me. It's a wonderful thing that these bulletin boards.. just a small amount of space out on the internet, has brought together all these wonderful people and helped us build friendships that I hope last a lifetime. I feel very lucky to know each and everyone of you on the Collectors board, my fellow moderators on this board and all the other moderators on the other 30 plus boards on this site.. I've grown close to all of you and I wouldn't trade if for anything. You guys are the best
