October 14, 1999

Well, I'm back! I had a great time at Disney, but I think my blisters have blisters. I'm waiting to do a full recap until I get my pictures back, but I'll give you the highlights now. First, let me say that Mary and Terry were great to take a vacation with because they are easy like Sunday morning.

During our flight down, we had a connection in Philadelphia. Our boarding passes said we only had 15 minutes to get from our arrival gate to our departure gate, so we took off running since they were in different concourses. Turns out our boarding passes listed the boarding time, not the departure time, so we got there and then stood around for 20 minutes. I hate airports. We were all excited, however, to get a full can of soda on the second leg of our flight, instead of just one glass. We still only got peanuts and we were all starving. Mary and I were considering mugging the family in front of us for their sour cream and onion potato chips and Ring Dings. It could've been ugly.

Once we arrived, we discovered that none of us had any small bills to tip the shuttle driver or the porter. Oops.

Our first day, Saturday, was spent at Disney/MGM Studios. I had never been there, and I really enjoyed it. It is, however, the most commercial of the parks I think. Every ride and attraction is set up to empty into a gift shop. That happens in some of the other parks, but not as consistently. I enjoyed the Tower of Terror, but it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. Jim correctly labelled it "The Tower of Moderate Apprehension".

That night we were going to hit the Magic Kingdom. We didn't want to waste a full day on it, since there were only a few rides we were interested in. As we arrived, I realized that I wasn't feeling that well. Jim and I decided to head back to the hotel and rest, so that I wouldn't be sick for the entire trip. Mary and Terry went into the Magic Kingdom, but it was so packed that they ended up leaving and going to Downtown Disney instead.

Sunday, we went to Epcot. We had made reservations to have lunch in the Mexican restaurant, which was awesome. The food was great and so was the atmosphere and service. We left in mid-afternoon and went back to the hotel for a nap. Then we went back that night and hit a few attractions, and watched the laser light show. We hadn't eaten dinner, so afterwards we went to Downtown Disney (the only thing open after 9 pm) and ate at McDonald's.

Monday, we went to Animal Kingdom. It was so hot that day. The sad part was, I enjoyed the manmade attractions more than the animals, and I love zoos. I will also say this: FastPass is a great idea. We left the park around 2, napped at the hotel, and then had dinner at Fulton's Crab House in Downtown Disney. The prices were exorbitant, but the food was really good. We spent the evening walking around Pleasure Island and then took a boat back to our hotel, which was pleasant. It was a nice last evening.

Tuesday morning, we went to the Magic Kingdom and went on the few rides we were interested in. We finished that at about 11 and didn't need to leave for the airport until 2:30, so we decided to go back to Disney/MGM for a few hours. After the Tower of Terror, the animation tour and lunch, we went back to the hotel and went to the airport. Our trip home was without a hitch. We volunteered to get bumped on the way home in return for a direct flight that got in an hour later plus free round trip airfare anywhere in the US, but it turned out they didn't need to bump us. Kind of disappointing, but it was good to get home.

Yesterday, I went to pick up the cats at the vet, caught up on my sleep and watched some of the TV shows I taped. I finished my Party of Five recap for Mighty Big TV (it's live now) and now I have to do the Real World one. So, see ya later! I will do a more detailed trip recap when I get the pictures in about a week or so.

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Iwin.com is one of those get free stuff, win sweepstakes, get lots of junk mail places.

Jim should note that Mr. Bungle, fronted by Mike Patton, has a new CD out.

MTV is trying to sell The Real World into syndication. Right now, it's just the first 4 seasons, but I'm sure they will all eventually be included. That's good news for people without cable, or in Canada!

I can understand ease of use, but I still don't like all-in-one machines, be they Mac or PC. Eventually, the user might learn something and want to upgrade themselves. Then what do they do? At least this PC has a disk drive and a real mouse, unlike the silly iMac.

More talk about skinny starlets. I still think Paula Devicq looks the worst of all of them.

I would consider going to see CSNY in concert, if only for Neil Young. But the closest they are getting to me is Toronto.

A Beastie Boys anthology? I'm there!

Some good points about West Wing - it really is 3/4 of a good show and I want it to go that extra 1/4.

The Interface Hall of Shame is interesting, and brings up some good points. Great for usability students.

Webmonkey got a redesign. I like it! I need to look at it more to analyze what they did and why, but first impression is good.