Saturday, May 17, 2008

Spending the day in Orlando...Home sweet 2nd Home



Today was great... I drove in my Pontiac Vibe (feels like a sportscar, compared to my Mom van) from Jacksonville to Orlando. It was about 2 1/2 hours, but such a great ride. Directions were easy to follow, and I didn't get lost...perfect.




As I pulled in to my "resort" complex, the sign said "Welcome JACON." Okay, if you know what JACON is, then you are way ahead of where I was. As I drove toward the lobby, I saw lots of people, pretty much ranging from 16 - 30ish, most dressed in crazy gothic clothes. Then I saw weird hair, fake animal ears, platform shoes, hand-made weapons, and fish net stockings. Yeah, I was really starting to wonder what the heck was going on...

I walked into the lobby, and was greeted by a vision of a couple hundred people, dressed the same way. There was a girl, roughly 16 years old, wearing an old wedding dress, white ripped fishnet stockings, HUGE white platform boots, and fake cat ears. The thing is, that there was "blood" all over it. Guys were dressed as girls, and...well, everything was just really weird.

I found out that JACON is the Japanese Animae convention. I was offered a free upgrade to a pool view and a king size bed. I learned, at least I'm guessing, that they were buttering me up for a long sleepless night of people yelling and screaming until 5am. This is the only time that I was pretty happy that Mike and Aristana were not with me. We definitely would have found a different place to stay. People were running around the grounds with fake weapons. I pretty much hid in my room unless I had a place to run to.

Let me talk about this place I stayed, a little more. In Orlando, I stayed at the Ramada Orlando Celebration Resort. It apparently is a three star resort. I'm not sure who slept with the person who decides on the rating, but the rating was definitely not made by checking out the facility. I saw some ratings for it on Tripadvisor.com, and was prepared for exactly what I got. The place looks like an old ghost town, trying to be revamped by eight year olds. Everything is old, the lobby has potential, but the rooms are not that great. I didn't even get a comforter on the bed! Just a sheet. Also, for being a three star resort, you'd think that you'd get a refridgerator and/or microwave in the room. Keeping in mind that the 1 1/2 star hotel I stayed at in Jacksonville had both... You have to pay $30 if you want appliances in your room! This place truly sucks! Also, if this resort has so many rooms available, why did they not feel the responsibility of boarding guests not involved with the convention, in an area away from everyone else? Argh... In being fair though, I believe this place was just recently acquired by Ramada...so hopefully they're planning on revamping the place. We'll see...

Anyway, I met up with Brady at Disney's Boardwalk Resort, later on in the day. It is always so great to spend time with him. We had dinner at the ESPN Club, where we got to watch the Brewers play the Red Sox. My two favorite teams...although I usually cheer for the Sox, I definitely have an allegiance to the Brew Crew. Unfortunately, the Brewers lost. We also got to watch "Big Brown" win the Preakness.

From there, we went to Jellyrolls...my FAVORITE PLACE IN THE WHOLE WORLD!!! We sang along to all the songs, and had a great time. I have always wanted to take my friends and family there, so it was great to go there with Brady!

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