Disney Meetings

Just got home from a bunch of meetings at Walt Disney World.

Having a meeting there is a double edged sword. Disney is pretty good at customer service so it's easy to be able to coordinate services there however there are so many families vacationing there that it also makes you really wish you didn't have to get stuck in meetings all day long.

We stayed at the Dolphin resort. This is supposed to be one of the more deluxe resorts on property however it's getting a little dated and maybe it's part of the dolphin name but everything just had that humid/musty smell that isn't that attractive.

We also were supposed to have our meeting rooms somewhat close together and two of our groups were way on the other side of the hotel so running between meetings and where we were having breaks and lunch was somewhat of a pain.

It's located pretty close to Epcot and the Disney boardwalk hotel so that made it convenient for our group to go out at night.

On Friday night we took the group of 40 people to Epcot. We boarded a bus and were wisked inside of Epcot behind the scenes. So the bus drove through the backlot and there was a little sign that said Morocco. We pulled in and were met by Jasmine and Aladdin as well as our Disney tour guide. They opened a secret wall and we walked through and were immediately at the restaurant which made us feel like we were on some special parade. I found it fascinating.

The food at Morocco was okay. I wouldn't say it would be somewhere I need to eat again. I had a leg of lamb. (Which I tried mostly because I've never had it before.) It sort of tasted like pot roast. It came with a lovely orange flavored couscous.

Then we went to the fireworks, which disney does very well. Our room keys allowed us to be able to ride the rides at Epcot until Midnight. Most of the Eco-ville staff didn't want to ride rides so I ended up wandering the park on my own.

A marketing manager I work with and I did end up riding Soarin' which is a hang glider ride first. He then wanted to take off after that. I enjoy that ride because with the extra wind they pump in and the way the ride moves it does make you feel like you are hang gliding.

I then rode Finding Nemo - which was a typical Haunted Mansion-type ride where you just get into a cart and it slides by the movies on the wall. Not very exciting.

I got my picture taken with Mickey and Goofy. And rode test track, which was fun.

Right next to test track was the newish Mission Space ride. They give you the option of Extreme or tame and so I picked Extreme. Of course this is the ride where a few people have died so they have a lot of reminders along the way that if you don't like enclosed spaces, spinning, have motion sickness, neck or back issues, that perhaps you shouldn't ride it. And they said that if you had second thoughts that perhaps you should opt to ride the less extreme version.

Then we got to the door and they said this - DO NOT CLOSE YOUR EYES. They also said do not look right or left as it will disorient you. Well closing my eyes was always going to be my plan if I hated it so now did I really want to ride in an enclosed space and not look right or left. And I thought "am I stupid for risking my life just to say I rode this ride" "What if I die?" Am I taking God's fate for my life into my own hands.

The group of strangers I was with in our "pod" all hadn't been on the ride either. We all looked at each other and got strapped in the spacecraft and I was assigned to be the "navigator" You are instructed to press buttons and steer the ship. Let's just say I'm not really a navigator.

The g-force of the ride and the images sure do feel like you are flying around the moon. I was glad I experienced the ride but I probably will wait awhile to ride it again.

It was almost 1 a.m. by the time I wandered back to the hotel and I had to be up and at 'em by 5:30.

We had our meetings all day on Saturday. Saturday night we went to downtown disney. We split our group of 40 into three groups because it was impossible to get reservations. The group I led ate at Gloria Estafan's Bongo's Cuban Grill. We had plantains, tostodes, yucca, and a whole bunch of cuban dellacies, and I ordered a cuban marinated steak. For dessert we had flan. It was a fun place but REALLY REALLY LOUD.

I didn't feel like staying up late. Although boy it was crowded because it was the last night of pleasure island (the island is being shut down and they are rebuilding an area of restaurants there.)

A board member and I walked to the other side of the park and went to the winnie the pooh store where I picked up a little something of a christmas present for my favorite niece. We took the bus back to the hotel and I think I was in bed by 11.

Our flight back this a.m. was at 7:30 and I got home by 11 a.m.

All in all it was a good trip. We learned a lot. Ate a lot. And boy, I'm going to need about a week to recouperate.