The One with the Evil Tower
Trip Start
Aug 03, 2007
1
9
24
Trip End
Aug 20, 2007
Orlando,
Florida,
United States
Sunday, August 5, 2007
001 - Hanging Out in the House
I was almost done getting ready when the owner of the Villa4UFlorida management company stopped by with her husband. I sat with Oreo in my room so she wouldn't bark and go crazy, and my mom and dad talked to them about the house and how grateful we were for them being able to find us a place to stay on such short notice. We paid them for the house, an additional $1700 on top of the $1500 we had already paid for the Loyalty Homes house, and they told us that if we needed them for anything we should give them a call. The woman even said that if we needed the location of a Wal-Mart at 3:30 in the morning, we shouldn't hesitate to ask. They were the nicest people ever! Yvonne at Loyalty Homes had shut her phone off and forgotten about us when we needed help regarding her crappy company, and here were these people saying we could call them at any hour of the night about a Wal-Mart! My mom and dad thanked them again before they were on their way.
002 - Hanging Out in the House
I was done getting dressed by the time they left, and I went out into the kitchen to have breakfast. Mom and dad had bought all different kinds of cereal and lots of spoons but had forgotten bowls! So I had a cup of chocolate Lucky Charms that morning, and bowl or not, they were good! Mike woke up soon after and also had a cup of cereal. We'd have to go pick up some bowls later on.
003 - Hanging Out in the House
At 12:30 mom and dad decided to take a drive down to the Loyalty Homes house. My mom's brother, my Uncle Marc, is a lawyer and he told us to go see if the key code to get into the home had been changed. If it had, then that would be the best thing for us because the company would have breached the contract by not letting us into the home. So they left and I passed the time by sitting out by the pool. We had a 3:50 advanced dining reservation for the Sci-Fi Dine In and I was still hoping to make it so I didn't bother going in the pool. I just put my feet in and listened to a bunch of the Disney songs I had on my MP3 player. It was nice and relaxing, and I took some pictures while I was out there.
004 - Hanging Out in the House
I had brought my cell phone out with me and after sitting out there for fifteen minutes mom and dad called and said that the key code to get into the home had been changed and they couldn't get in. I was so pissed off and wanted our money back NOW. Mom and dad called Yvonne and said that they were in the area and wanted to come talk to her. At first Yvonne kept hanging up on my parents as soon as she heard it was them and then she just ignored the calls, but eventually she stayed on the line and said that she could only meet with my mom and dad between 1:30 and 1:35. Yes, she couldn't be inconvenienced enough to give my parents more than a five minute window to meet with her. I hated her, I really did. I was even madder now because this was our one and only dad to go to MGM and we were already missing half of it. We usually don't get to the parks until late but this was getting crazy.
005 - Hanging Out in the House
I went back inside and called Disney Dining to see if I could change our Sci-Fi Dine In reservation to one of our free days. I was hoping we could get an ADR for a day that we weren't doing anything so we could switch our MGM day to then and just hang out and relax today. Nothing was available for the next two and a half weeks though, so I just sucked it up and hoped we would make it on time. If worst came to worst, we would just eat at the Back Lot Express where Mike loves the turkey sandwiches. I was really hoping it wouldn't come to that since the Sci-Fi Dine In was a restaurant I had always wanted to try and I was really looking forward to it!
006 - Hanging Out in the House
1:30 came and went, and mom and dad met Yvonne at the original home where she was even more rude and disgusting in person than she had been on the phone. She had a tiny little pen with a thermometer in it and she kept showing it to my parents, insisting that it said that it was 78-degrees in the house. That was always the magic number, 78-degrees. My parents kept saying that we have a much better thermometer and it proved that it wasn't 78-degrees in the house and even if it was, the thermostat was set for 68-degrees and if that's where we wanted it, that's where it should be. Of course we didn't want it at 68-degrees, that would have been freezing, but the thermostat had been set for that point for the past 24-hours and the temperature in the house still hadn't changed! Yvonne kept completely ignoring their complaints, though, and kept calling them ridiculous.Then my mom asked where she was from, and Yvonne simply rolled her eyes and said in the most snooty and snotty voice ever, "Not New York." NOT NEW YORK?! Obviously! Businesses in New York are professional and care about their customers. Yvonne could learn a LOT from New York. And it was comments like this that just further solidified what kind of people we were dealing with - unprofessional, incompetent, and childish ones. Mom and dad kept saying that by changing the key code to get into the home it was a breach of the contract but Yvonne didn't care. She just kept refusing to give us our money back or to even acknowledge just how hot the house really was. Mom and dad eventually couldn't deal with her stupidity and lack of business sense anymore, so they left and let her know that she would be hearing from our lawyers. My dad also told her that NBC News was doing a story on travel scams and inadequate businesses and that Loyalty Homes would be hearing from them soon, as well.
008 - Hanging Out in the House
They were home by 2:30, and I was fuming. Really, really mad. MAD. We called my uncle to see what we should do and he again said that it was a breach of contract to change the key code and lock us out of the house. So I called Yvonne back and told her just that. By refusing to give us our money back AND locking us out of the home, she had basically stolen our money which was a federal offense. This seemed to take her aback a bit and she asked what we wanted her to do. Um... give us our money back! She said that she couldn't do that but that Sue, the owner of the home, would have to give her permission to give us our money back. So ten minute later we got another call from Sue and immediately told her how offended we were by her hanging up on us the night before. She didn't seem to care, though, and she just screamed at us that the house was fine and we weren't getting our money back. Then she hung up on us AGAIN. It was INSANE! SHE WAS INSANE! UGH!
010 - Hanging Out in the House
I called Yvonne back and told her what happened, and again she said there was nothing she could do about it. I reminded her that we had sent HER the money for the house, it was HER businesses name on the contract, SHE was the one here in Orlando, so it was HER responsibility to do what she had to do to get us our money back. She refused and again hung up. So my dad called her back and in a very nice and calm voice said, "You know what, we want the new key code. We want to stay in the home now. We'll deal with the air-conditioning and it'll be fine. Can we have the new key code?" This rendered Yvonne speechless! After all the screaming and stressing out, all of a sudden my dad was just very calm and friendly and we were fine with the conditions of the home. This made Yvonne very, very nervous! After all the complaints and screaming, why did we all of a sudden want to stay in the home now? It had been dad's idea to try this little tactic and it worked. Yvonne was very suspicious and obviously didn't want to let us back into the home. But our contract was signed and stated that we had the home booked for the next two and a half weeks and if she refused to give us the new key code and let us into the home we could call the police right then and there and have them come with us down to the Loyalty Homes office to fill out a report.
015 - Hanging Out in the House
Yvonne told us that she was on the other line with Sue and that she would ask her about giving us the new key code and get back to us. Five minutes later she called us back and said that she had gotten disconnected from Sue and wasn't able to ask her. They had been on the phone perfectly fine until we asked for the key code and then poof, right when we asked about it they had magically gotten disconnected. They were both full of you know what. Yvonne told us that she would try to get us the code from Sue, even though Yvonne already had the code. She was the one who had gotten into the home earlier and let my mom and dad in for their little meeting. But whatever, just get us the key code soon and it'll all be fine!
018 - MGM Studios
At 3:00 we decided that we were only ten minutes away from Disney and we would make it to the Sci-Fi Dine In on time, so we got our stuff together and left. After this whole big mess I was definitely in need of some magic! It took us less than ten minutes to drive through the Disney gates and I was so excited! I let all of the stress from the night before just drift away and I literally had tears in my eyes. Disney, how I love you so... haha! We were pulling through the parking gates by 3:15 and the man there was the nicest ever. He smiled and waved and wished us a magical time, and that's exactly what we were determined to have. A magical time! We parked in the film section of the parking lot and there was a tram waiting so we hopped on it. Our first ride of the trip! Yes, I consider the tram a ride... I get a little over-excited while at Disney.
025 - MGM Studios
We walked to the turnstiles and they were empty. We scanned our fingers and were in the gates in no time. Yay, we were finally at Disney! We passed the tip board and all of the lines seemed pretty short, but Hollywood Boulevard itself was packed. There were lots and lots of people coming and going, but hey, as long as they weren't on the rides I didn't mind!
031 - Sunset Boulevard
We made our way down to Sunset Boulevard to see if fastpasses were available for either the Rock'N'Roller Coaster or Tower of Terror. When we turned the corner onto Sunset Boulevard it was GREAT to see the Tower of Terror looming over us. I love that ride and seeing it always makes it feel so much more real that we're actually at Disney. On my trip with school in 2001, it was the first ride we went on at MGM and I instantly fell in love with it, so it's always a symbol of our trips for me. What a great ride! We took some time taking pictures as we walked down the street.
033 - Sunset Boulevard
We went down to the Tower of Terror first and there was only a twenty minute wait. Mom and Mike don't like the freefall feeling so dad I and would have jumped onto the line right then if we didn't have to be at the Sci-Fi Dine In in ten minutes. I know they're usually flexible with ADR's but with it being the summer I didn't want large crowds to push back our ADR if we weren't there on time. We saw that the line for the Rock'N'Roller Coaster was huge and we should have thought and got a fastpass for that, but we jumped at the chance to get two Tower of Terror fastpasses with a return time of 4:50 - 5:50. We knew that we'd probably still be eating then but we also knew that they always honor fastpasses after the time listed, so we didn't worry about it.
036 - Sunset Boulevard
We then went over to the Rock'N'Roller Coaster and there was a hundred-minute wait. The line was huge! Dad, Mike and I all love this ride so it was now that we realized that we should have gotten three fastpasses for this ride, and dad and I could have just waited on line for the Tower of Terror. Oh well, there was nothing we could do about it now so we just used our other two tickets to get two fastpasses with a return time of 7:30 - 8:30.
039 - Sci-Fi Dine In
We then made our way down to the Sci-Fi Dine In. I have to admit that I had no idea where it was. In all the times we've been to MGM I never remember seeing it and so I had to look like a tourist and consult our guide map. Yes, everyone there were tourists but I was supposed to be the Disney expert... the one who didn't need the map! Mom, dad and Mike definitely gave me a hard time over that one but it was all in good fun. When I finally figured out that the restaurant was on the Streets of America we made our way down there.
040 - Sci-Fi Dine In
We found the Sci-Fi Dine In in no time and went to check in. They asked us if a limo would be OK instead of a car, meaning the cars at the back that are really just a regular four-person table instead of the two-to-a-seat convertibles in the front, and we said that it would be fine. They gave us a pager and said that it would be a few minutes before we were seated so mom and I went to go to the bathroom. Right when we turned to go, though, our name was called! Literally twenty seconds after we had checked in. Great timing!
041 - Sci-Fi Dine In
Our chauffer was a lot of fun and led us around the back of the set to bring us into the restaurant. Walking into the restaurant for the first time was the coolest thing ever. I knew what to expect but I had only told mom, dad and Mike that it was set up like a drive-in and they were so surprised by how realistic everything looked! Could the atmosphere in there be any more fun?! I loved it! I guess they have trouble filling the "limos" in the back of the restaurant which is why we were seated so quickly, but it wasn't a big deal. We actually liked it since now we could all face each other and talk.
044 - Sci-Fi Dine In
Right when we were seated our waitress came by with the menus and said she would be right back to take our drink orders. Mom and I told dad what we wanted and then we ran out to the bathroom. The bathroom here is shared with the restaurant next door but I have no idea what it was. Is it the ABC Commissary? Anyway, we were out of there quickly and were back at the table to find our drinks waiting for us - diet Cokes for mom and dad, a Sprite for Mike, and lemonade for me.
045 - Sci-Fi Dine In
A few minutes later our waitress came back for our order. We all already knew what we wanted because I have a habit of going on allearsnet.com and printing out the menus of all the restaurants we'll be eating at before we leave - I love having those menus in advance! We then spent the time taking pictures, taking in the sites, and watching the hysterical video clips on the big screen.
046 - Sci-Fi Dine In
While we waited for our food I also gave Yvonne a quick call. Of course she didn't have her phone on so I left a message about how two hours had gone by and we still didn't have the key code so I was just wondering what was going on. I said it in a very nice, calm and friendly voice. Half of it was because I wanted to sound as nice as possible to make them nervous after all the screaming, but the other half was because we were at Disney and nothing was bringing down my good mood!
048 - Sci-Fi Dine In
Our food came soon after and it was all so delicious! Mom and I shared the Reuben and the BBQ Chicken Breast Sandwich. The Reuben was corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and Thousand Island dressing on marble rye bread served with a pickle, and the BBQ chicken Sandwich was barbecue chicken topped with smoked Gouda cheese and crispy onion straws on a Kaiser Roll with a pickle. Since we were sharing I got the cucumber-melon salad and mom got the fries. Dad also had the Reuben while Mike got the Chicken Sandwich. The food was absolutely delicious. I had heard mixed reviews about the food here but I'm happy to report that we couldn't fault it at all. It was all just SO good! We couldn't decide on what was better - Mike and I liked the Reuben better while mom and dad liked the Chicken Sandwich. They were both really, really good, though. 
049 - Sci-Fi Dine In
The waitress brought us the check soon after we were finished eating. The desserts looked really good and I've wanted to try the Smores dessert they have at so many restaurants ever since we started going to Disney, but we were all just too full to get anything else. The bill came to $62 and we left a $13 tip. We were very happy with our experience at the Sci-Fi Dine In! The food was delicious, the service was attentive and friendly, and the atmosphere couldn't possibly have been any more unique or fun. We'll definitely be back! While dad and Mike waited at the table to pay the bill, mom and I ran back to the bathroom and I took some pictures along the way. We met dad and Mike outside five minutes later, where the cast members working at the podium of the Sci-Fi Dine In were all randomly singing and dancing. It was hysterical!
054 - Great Movie Ride
We were done eating by 4:30. Our Tower of Terror fastpass return time was between 4:50 and 5:50 so we knew we should head over there soon. On the way, though, we passed the Great Movie Ride and the line wasn't extending out past the door which we took as a good sign. When we went on the ride in the summer of 2005 the line had been so huge that it actually extended back out the front doors and we had waited an hour and a half to get on the damn thing. So we figured the line couldn't be too bad and we headed in. This was the first time that I had noticed that hand and footprints out front; those are so cute! As we entered the building my mom and dad asked the CM how long the line was and she said 20-minutes. Sounded good. I then went to take a picture of mom, dad and Mike by the entrance and right after I took it the CM jumped into the picture. I just missed her and it was so funny!
058 - Great Movie Ride
We walked through the front of the line and had to stop in the room with all the props, right near the Mary Poppins horse. We were in the big room with the movie clips within five minutes and we had to go through a good four cycles of the clips! It was fun, though. I love "Singin' in the Rain," I haven't seen "Alien" in forever, and now I want to see "The Searchers." Good stuff. 
059 - Great Movie Ride
When we were towards the front of the line I called Yvonne again and left a message about still not having the key code. Ten minute later I called again and Yvonne finally answered. I told her that we still didn't have the key code and she just laughed. I tried not to get bent out of shape, though, so I just said, "OK, well, we've been waiting for a while." Yvonne again laughed and then told me that Sue would be calling us. I told her to tell Sue that we were about to go on a ride and that she should call us at 5:45 and Yvonne said "Fine" and hung up. It pissed me off to no end that she had laughed when I asked her about the key code but we didn't take it too seriously. Yvonne was British and I decided that the next time she laughed at our requests I would just say into the phone, "Are you having a laugh? IS SHE HAVING A LAUGH?!" Hahahaha!! For anyone who gets that, you have the greatest taste in TV shows ever. For anyone who doesn't, check out "Extras" on HBO. The second season's starting soon and Ricky Gervais is a genius!
062 - Great Movie Ride
Anyway, we were on the ride soon and it was great! I love the Great Movie Ride. We have a lot of it on tape from our first trip in 1992 and I would always watch the tape over and over when I was younger, so it's always great to see it all in person again. We got the gangster scene and it was a lot of fun. The girl who took over our car was awesome! She was so in character and struck the perfect balance between seeming indifferent and completely uninterested in a bunch of tourists, and trying to be just the right amount of threatening. She was an awesome gangster! And the animatronics in there are so lifelike and realistic that it's almost scary. More than once I thought one of the gangsters shooting at us was a real person.
066 - Great Movie Ride
My favorite scene is always the Wizard of Oz one. That was one of my favorite movies growing up (wasn't it everyone's?!) and I love getting to live it, if only for a few minutes. I noticed a little boy in front of us who wasn't happy throughout the entire ride. In the Indiana Jones scene he started crying and he kept crying until we got through to the Wizard of Oz scene. But he was quietly crying with his head buried into his mom's arms. I wouldn't have even known he was crying unless I saw him. He did a lot better than me because in the video we have from the ride in 1992 all you hear is me SCREAMING! S-C-R-E-A-M-I-N-G! "I want to go home! When is it over?!" Haha, I cried on everything that trip!
067 - Great Movie Ride
I also loved the montage at the end of the ride. My dad and I are huge movie fan and it's fun to see how many we recognize or have seen. I noticed that they updated it a little and added scenes from Pirates of the Caribbean and Finding Nemo. I love the Great Movie Ride but it COULD use some updating. I'd love to see some new scenes added to the ride or it just changed in some way. Maybe with the overhaul they're doing of MGM next year they'll add some fun surprises.
068 - Tower of Terror
We were off the ride by 5:40 and of course I had two missed calls. I knew they were both from Sue... I just knew that she would FINALLY call us when we were on a ride and wouldn't be able to talk to her, especially after I had specifically asked her to call at a certain time. Typical. We made our way back to Sunset Boulevard to use our Tower of Terror fastpasses and on the way I called Yvonne and left a message saying that we still hadn't gotten the key code from anyone, and if we didn't get it by tonight we wanted to be compensated for the night since we were locked out of the home for a night we had paid for.
069 - Tower of Terror
On our way to Sunset Boulevard we stopped to watch some Streetmosphere. A lot of people rave about these street performers. but they're not really my thing. They're funny, but nothing to hysterically crack up over. They were still fun to watch for a while and I was amazed by their costumes! They're costumes were all made of lace and polyester and were long-sleeves and went up their necks. By now it was around ninety-five degrees out and I had no idea how they were able to breathe in those clothes! Oh man. Anyway, after a few minutes of watching the Streetmosphere we made our way down to Sunset Boulevard.
071 - Tower of Terror
When we got to the Tower of Terror there was only a twenty-minute wait listed which we thought was awesome for 6:00 on a summer night. We were about to show the CM's our fastpasses when my phone started ringing and dad answered. It was Yvonne and she didn't even say hello. As soon as my dad answered she said, "Sue doesn't think you'll be happy in the home so she's decided to give you your $200 deposit and half of your money back." Yay! Dad's idea had worked - just be completely nice and friendly, decide you want to stay in the house after all, after the screaming and stress they would wonder why we were all of a sudden wanting to stay in the home and they would be nervous about letting us back in and be forced to give us our money back! YAAAAY!!! Sure it was only half of our money but $900 was better than nothing. And after all the times that Yvonne and Sue had insisted that we weren't getting any money back we felt like we'd won. Finally!
074 - Tower of Terror
I was so psyched! Not only was I about to go on one of my favorite rides but we had just gotten half of our money back. I wasn't completely satisfied with half but things turned out a lot better than I thought they would. At least we'd get something back and be able to just be done with it. We took some pictures by the Tower of Terror before dad and I walked through the gates at 6:15. Our fastpasses were only supposed to be good until 5:40 but we knew that they always honor late fastpasses. As soon as dad showed his to the CM the CM said, "Oh, wow." Dad automatically said, "Yea, we're a little late, we got caught up at dinner." But the CM just said, "Your fastpass is upside down!" and turned it right side up. It was so funny! The Disney CM's are the nicest.
073 - Tower of Terror
Dad and I made our way through the empty line since there was no one in there. Once we entered the hotel we merged with the people in the standby line and we all got into the next pre-show. We definitely didn't need a fastpass... we were the only ones on the fastpass line and we wound up being in the pre-show room with the people who entered the standby line at the same time we entered the fastpass line. It was literally empty.
078 - Tower of Terror
We found a small line on the other end of the pre-show, in the dark boiler room where you board your elevator. We waited no more than five minutes before we were seated on the right side of the back row. Up, up, up we went and then down, down, down we dropped! I love this ride! The special effects are amazing as you make your way through the hotel and the random drop sequences are the best. You never know what to expect! And this time I didn't even get sick. I hadn't actually gotten sick in 2005 but I had gotten off with a headache. This time I was perfectly fine and I really, really loved the experience. Two thumbs up for the Tower of Terror!
080 - Rock'N'Roller Coaster
By now it was 6:30 and we still had an hour to wait until our Rock'N'Roller Coaster fastpasses were ready. Mike loves this ride; he always talks about it at home and says he hopes we get "Sweet Emotion" again since the song was so perfectly times to the ride in 2005. It's a favorite of Mike's, dads, and mine but we only had two fastpasses so I told dad he could use mine. I wanted to go on it but it wasn't a big deal. There would be other roller coasters to ride! We just didn't know what to do for the next hour. I love MGM but it's definitely my least favorite of the parks. There are a few things I love but not much there thrills me. Usually the Voyage of the Little Mermaid is a must-do, but even that wasn't a big deal this year since I had just paid $130 for a ticket to see The Little Mermaid on Broadway at the end of December with my grandma, aunt and cousin. We all thought Star Tours was one of the more boring simulators and Muppetvision 3D is fun but outdated. We were running out of options.
082 - Rock'N'Roller Coaster
We saw that the Rock'N'Roller Coaster had a sixty minute wait, and we had to wait an hour for our fastpasses anyway so we figured we might as well just wait on line. Then if any of us wanted to go on it again we could use the fastpasses. We got on line and waited and waited and waited. After twenty minutes we hadn't moved at all and lots of people were getting off the ride. We figured that maybe it had broken down or something, but we were all way too hot to just aimlessly stand there so we left the line. Right as we did the wait-time on the sign outside of the ride said that it had broken down. At least we hadn't waited for too long!
088 - Sounds Dangerous
We left the Sunset Boulevard area and really just wandered around. We walked around and watched some more Streetmosphere before we ended up near Sounds Dangerous. I had loved it with my friends in 2001 but we had all hated it and thought it was the biggest waste of time in 2005. We weren't planning on doing this but there was no line, the next show would be starting in ten minutes, and it was air-conditioned. So we got on line and for the entire five minutes we were literally the only ones there. That's when we decided that we were bored and really didn't want to see the show, so we left.
090 - Star Tours
We kept walking and eventually happened upon Star Tours. Again, none of us had liked it in 2005. We just thought it was slow and boring and pretty lame. But, we were there and there was nothing else to do so we decided to go on it. The fastpasses they were giving out were for only twenty minutes away and the line was thirty minutes long, so it would have made sense to get fastpasses, right? This was because mom doesn't like simulators and Mike and dad could both care less about going on it so we could use the two tickets we used for the Tower of Terror fastpasses and get two here, and someone would just come with me. No one wanted to bother with that though so mom got a drink and waited for us in the Back Lot Express while dad, Mike and I got on line.
092 - Star Tours
After twenty minutes we called mom to tell her that the line was longer than it had been posted and that she should come meet us so that we could at least all wait together in the air-conditioning. She met us and five minutes after that Mike started to not feel well. His stomach was really upset and I felt bad waiting there when he didn't feel good so we all got off line. This is becoming a recurring theme, isn't it?! Dad got us two fastpasses to use for twenty-minutes later and Mike ran into a nearby bathroom while mom, dad and I got a seat on a bench and I took some more pictures.
095 - MGM Studios
It started getting hot just sitting on a bench so mom and I got a seat in the Back Lot Express while dad ran into the bathroom to tell Mike where to meet us. Then dad got a Diet Coke for him and mom to share and a water bottle for me. Mike met us five minutes later and we all kind of just sat there. Mike didn't feel great, we were all hot and exhausted from having such a hectic night, and we weren't sure where to go from there.
099 - Back Lot Express
Right before our Star Tours fastpasses were good Mike really started to not feel good and he wanted to leave. His favorite ride at Disney is the Rock'N'Roller Coaster and he had been talking about it for months and months, and he wasn't feeling well enough to even go on it! I felt bad and really couldn't fault the kid for that so I kept our Star Tours fastpasses as souvenirs and we gave away our Rock'N'Roller Coaster fastpasses before we left the park at 7:10. We hopped right on a waiting tram and were back at the car in no time.
100 - MGM Studios
It seemed like we had gotten a lot done but in all reality all we had done was eaten dinner and gone on two rides. Normally this would have gotten me all bent out of shape, especially since this was our only MGM day, but I really didn't mind. We had some great food at the Sci-Fi Dine In, had the thrill of a lifetime on the Tower of Terror, and loved living the movies on the Great Movie Ride. It had been a good day. And for a day that seemed so relaxing, it was actually pretty hectic. After our ridiculously late night and all of the stress from Loyalty Homes, we all just wanted a break... and a good night's sleep!
102 - Dairy Queen
On our way back to the house we stopped at the Dairy Queen we had gone to all the time in 2005. It was in a shopping center right near Emerald Island. Mike waited in the car while mom, dad and I ran in. It was pretty empty, but we were still on line for a good ten minutes with only three people ahead of us because it takes forever to make those Blizzards! Dad got a Strawberry Cheesequake Blizzard, mom got a French Vanilla Coolata, and I got a Brownie Explosion, which was pieces of brownies covered in ice cream and hot fudge.
104 - Hanging Out Around the House
We were back at the house by 8:00. I took some pictures of the front of the house before I met everyone inside and we watched Big Brother. I'm way too addicted to that show... we all are! As we watched it mom played with Oreo and it was the funniest thing ever. Oreo's so cute!
111 - Hanging Out Around the House
When the show was over I went online to the Better Business Bureau of Orlando's site and saw that Loyalty Homes had two Refund Practices complaints filed against them. Go figure. We'll definitely be looking up the companies we rent from before we rent from them. When I was done with that we all played California Rummy. It's a vacation tradition to play California Rummy each night of a vacation. We make a tournament out of it and whoever has the most wins at the end of the trip goes home with "The Rep" and has it until we go on vacation again the next year. Game on! Mike won and we were done playing by 11:45.
109 - Hanging Out Around the House
I took a shower at 12:00 and braided my hair in my room while I watch another Fresh Prince marathon on Nick at Nite. That shows the best! I also brought the laptop into my room and just looked around online, checking my mail and my Facebook, and logging onto the Dis Boards.
113 - Hanging Out Around the House
I tried to go to sleep at 1:15 but I was awoken at 1:30 by a HUGE bug in my room. I saw it fly by and heard it flapping against the wall and I started freaking out! I have the biggest and worst bug phobia EVER. Ugh. I turned the light on to see that it was a HUGE cricket that looked nothing like Jiminy, and I ran to wake my dad up for him to get it. He did, and all was right with the world. I was asleep by 1:45. 
