All trip ratings are on a 1 - 10 scale: 1 the worst, 10 the best, 4 roughly equivalent to watching Jeopardy on t.v. with my mom.
12/25/04
Leaving Christmas Celebration early: 1.5
Realizing I was leaving to go to Florida: 9.5
Small plane to Los Angeles: 4
Wacky bus ride to "real" airport terminal on runway right next to planes: 1.25 (really scary at night!)
Flight to Fort Lauderdale being on regular plane: 9
Sleeping virtually entire way to Fort Lauderdale: 9.75
12/26/04
Arriving at Fort Lauderdale and seeing sun and Z: 9.5
Jetway not being traditional humid and hot: 3
Baggage claim at Fort Lauderdale not playing "Macarena" knock-off: 2
Baggage claim at Fort Lauderdale playing "La Bamba": knock-off instead: 8 -- Still very solid
Weather: 5
Temperature: 7 (Though felt cold)
Incredible Winds: 1.5
Shopping at Winn-Dixie: 5
Seeing and buying great-looking bakery sugar cookies: 9
Golf at Country Club of Miami West Course: 8
Being at CC of Miami for first time in ages: 9
Horrible Winds: 1
Making great run of 1-under for 4 holes between 8 and 11: 9.75
Seeing hole where hole-in-one made: 9
Taking 6 on the hole this time: 3
Z playing poorly: 2
Dolphins pregame tailgate: 9
Z not being able to start fire due to old coals and heavy winds: 2
Z running out of matches: 1.5
Finding and borrowing lighter fluid from nearby guys: 8
Fire finally starting: 9.5 -- mostly because it made me a lot warmer
Tremendous chicken and steaks: 9
Bakery sugar cookies: 9.85
Dolphins/Browns game: 4
Not finding tickets for a reasonable price before game started: 4
Z finally getting $55-face tickets for $15 each: 8
Getting into stadium just as Browns made it 7-7: 5
Knowing it'd take a miracle for game not to end 7-7: 2
Freezing winds inside stadium: 1.5
Needing to wear sweats in Florida: 1.25
Having good seats near the 50 yard line: 8
Excitement of game: 1.1
Knowing for sure game was going to Overtime to keep us in stadium longer: 1.005
Dolphins miraculously making field goal on last play of regulation to win game and send us home: 9.9995
Crashing, exhausted: 9.95
12/27/04
Waking up late after super-refreshing sleep: 9.5
Weather: 6
Temperature: 7 (Though felt cool still due to winds)
Heavy Winds: 3 (Thought not quite as bad as previous day)
Waiting fo Z to eat 2 slices of Pizza at Primanti Brothers on Oakland: 8
Realizing that the WAS a Primanti Brothers on Oakland: 9
Smell in restaurant: 9
Not eating cheese pizza myself: 2
Golf at Palm Aire Cypress Course: 8.5
Getting the great 2PM discount rate: 8
Heavy Winds: 2
Z playing absolutely terrible: 1.25
Z breaking a 3rd floor condominium
window on the 18th with an extremely long, extremely
wild drive: 8
It epitomizing his day: 8
Us hearing window break: 9
Us not seeing it break: 2
Older guy actually being in condo
when ball came through window: 1.1
Guy saying to Z: "Wow, you actually
hit one that long from the tee!?!": 9.975
Camera phone being there to capture
the moment: 9.5
Dinner and Drinks at Roadhouse Grill: 9
Upstairs Bar being closed: 2
Our "friend", bartender Scott, not being
there: 1.5
Us not getting free beer as a result: 1.5
Us being there during Happy Hour: 9
Our happiness as a result: 9.5
Z having a free appitizer card: 8
Them letting him use it to get large Sampler Platter: 9.5
Me actually half-remembering my dinner at the Roadhouse (for once): 9
Quality of dinner: 8.5
Me not needing to be "carried out of" Roadhouse: 9
Z somehow finding space to eat Dairy Queen Blizzard after huge dinner: 9.75
Being able to eat yummy Sugar Cookie upon return to condo: 9
Realizing/remembering how fast time flies when you're in Florida: 1.2
Crashing, exhausted: 9.75
12/28/04
Weather: 6.5
Temperature: 7.5 (Though still felt cool)
Fairly heavy winds: 3 (Not quite as bad as previous day)
Bringing car into Lexus Dealer for service: 1.00005
Car appointment time forcing us to delay Key Biscayne golf: 2.5
Z's "personal advisor" Victor taking a really long time: 3
The "Florence Barry incident": 1.00000000000000000000000000001
Florence Barry, wife of Sol Barry
and resident of Coconut Creek, Florida, commiting
Florida Traffic Violation 3-16: 1.316
Her backing up into front-right-side
of Z's car: 1.000000000001
Me being in the car when it
happened, seing it unfold, and being helpless to
do anything to stop it: 1
Florence initially being mad at ME
when it happened: 1
Dealership Manager telling Z what
happened before I had to: 8 -- Thank goodness
he did, Z wouldn't have believed me!
Police taking forever to arrive and
file report: 1.5
Camera phone being there to
capture the moment: 9.5
Golf at Palm-Aire Oaks Course: 8.75
Getting the great 2PM discount rate: 8
Heavy Winds: 2.5
Z playing absolutely terribly on front: 2
Me taking huge lead in Championship Cup competition: 8
Dinner at The Original Steakhouse: 7
Trying to find the place for an hour while both of us were starving: 2
Awesome sports-bar t.v. setup: 9
Fajitas: 7
Value-for-dollar: 6
Going to Hard-Rock Seminole Casino after dinner: 6
Traffic getting into casino: 1.25
Casino only having video slots and table poker: 1.5
Seeing end of outdorr jazz concert: 5
Beautiful outdoor restaurant and shop area: 7
Weather getting a bit milder: 7
Z letting out big "Ben and Jerry's!!" then eating ice cream: 8
Z running a toll because "I thought it said 'exact change' but it said 'exact coin' and I didn't have exact coin": 1.5
It being in the Lexus Dealership car: 5
McGuinness' Pub for a drink: 4
Crashing, exhausted: 9
12/29/04
Using exercise bike while watching t.v. in exercise room: 8
Having to cancel Key Biscayne AGAIN to go to car dealership: 2
Weather: 8
Temperature: 8.5
Fairly heavy winds: 4.5
Getting car back -- albeit dented -- and getting out of dealership for remainder of trip: 9
Golf at Inverrary East Course: 9
Z actually playing a bit better: 8
There actually being drama in the match between holes 13 and 17: 9
Me making key putt on 15 and going on to win: 9
Dinner at Shuck and Dive's: 9.75
Blackened chicken sandwich: 9.9
Jalapenos: 9
Black-pepper fries: 8.5
Spicy cajun sausage: 9.9
Shopping at Publix: 5
No bakery sugar cookies: 2
Seeing and buing good-looking peanut butter cookies: 8
Hearing ridiculous ending of BC/Kent State basketball game on Z's laptop: 9
Eating bakery peanut butter cookies before bed: 8.5
Crashing, exhausted: 9
12/30/04
Getting up early: 4
Knowing we got up early to go to DisneyWorld: 9.5
Ride to Disney World: 8
Z almost going through restraining barrier after paying toll (when it takes a moment for barrier to rise out of way) but somehow stopping soon enough not to hit it: 9
It raining a lot during ride: 4
Rain stopping and brilliant sun coming out before we got to Disney: 9.5
Getting to Disney 1.5 hours before BC/UNC Continental Tire Bowl kickoff: 9
Weather: 9
Temperature: 9
Not being windy: 9.5!
Long line to check into Pop Century: 1.5
Us blowing off check-in until later, then returning to no line later: 9
Us trying to find "Aunt Trudy" at Boardwalk, but failing: 5 -- we were walking around Disney after all
BC/UNC game at ESPN Zone on Boardwalk: 9
Game itself: 9
Strange BC fan sitting next to Z: 5
"Aunt Trudy" appearance: 9.5
Trudy giving us 2 free passes to the parks: 9
Trudy saying "I have to get back to work" about ten times, but then each time starting to talk to us and staying another 5 minutes instead: 9
Trudy completely not letting us watch the game, and 2 TDs being scored: 1.5
Trudy inviting us over to "Party Central" at her house: 9
Food during game: 8
Incredible fake Field Goal turning into BC game-clinching TD: 9.5
Z somehow buying ice cream immediately after game despite us having eaten and drunk a ton during game: 9
Him then complaining about small size of cone: 9.25
Camera phone being there to capture the moment: 9.5
Having a few free hours and park tickets, so going to Animal Kingdom: 9
Neither Z nor I doing well in roll-the-ball race game: 3
Z somehow not winning water-gun race game despite good performance: 5
Dinoland playground: 6
LH not being there to enjoy it: 2
Z making me see "It's Tough to Be a Bug": 1.75
Me surviving it, somehow, again: 9.75
Seeing "Festival of the Lion King": 9
"Fire" guy spinning flaming baton, walking on fire, etc.: 9.5
Weird waiter at Fox Sports Lounge in airport while waiting for Su and LH: 3 (reminiscent of 5/2003 Florida-trip -- see those ratings for details)
Su and LH finally arriving: 9.975
Them finally being in Florida: 9.975
LH being good: 9.9
Them being too late for us to get to "New Year's Eve a day early" at Magic Kingdom: 2
Late-night food at Pop Century Food Court: 8
Crashing, completely exhausted: 9.95
12/31/04
Waking up early to try to beat crowds a bit: 2
Actually beating the crowds a bit: 9
Weather: 9.5
Magic Kingdom: 9
Pirates of Carribean: 8 -- LH liked it
Splash Mountain for Su and Z: 9.9
Me not having to go on Splash Mountain: 9.95
Su and Z arguing about value of coloring books: 4
Enchanted Tiki Room Under New Mangment: 5 (LH liked it o.k.)
Mickey's Philharmagic: 9.5 -- Way better than we remembered, and LH liked it)
Popcorn: 7 (Smelled great, but didn't taste as good as usual)
Space Mountain for Su and Z: 9.8
Me not having to go on Space Mountain: 9.95
Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress: 4.5
Attraction Itself: 2.5 (LH did NOT like it at all)
Song "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow": 8.5
"Gram" winning the video game: 8
Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin: 8.5
Z getting first-ever victory against me and Su: 4
Child Care Center: 9
Su and Z getting Mickey Ice Cream Bars: 8
Going back to Pop Century for swim/nap when crowds got heavy: 9
Swim: 9.5
"Hippy Dippy" pool: 8
Water temperature: 9.5 (at LEAST 80 degrees)
LH really liking it: 9.5
Z sleeping through it: 2
Nap: 7.5 (average per person)
Su/Z/LH: 9.5
Me: 2 (I couldn't sleep, and made Su mad for eventually waking up both her and LH)
MGM Studios: 9.75
Big stage (special for New Year's Eve) with energetic DJ: 8
Almost losing Su/Z/LH near stage after running to get fastpasses: 2
The Osbourne Family Festival of Lights: 8.5 (LH really liked it)
Getting New Year's hats and horns: 9 (LH seemed a bit confused by this)
Dinner at Prime Time Cafe: 8
Food choices and quality: 8
Waitress Amanda and her "rules": 8
Short Lines for Attractions: 9.5
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Play It: 8.5 (LH liked it o.k.)
Me using "the technique"* and actually guessing correctly on the fastest finger question: 9.75
Somehow only ending up #2 on the leaderboard and not making the Hot Seat: 2
Voyage of the Little Mermaid: 8 -- LH liked it
Fantasmic: 9 -- LH liked it, but was getting sleepy
Su and Z getting great-looking ice cream at Scoops: 9
Twilight Zone Tower of Terror for Su and Z: 9.95
Me not having to go on Tower of Terror: 9.999999995
New Year's Eve Fireworks extravaganza: 9.75 -- LH seemed to like it
Main fireworks display: 9
Fireworks on the sides of us: 9.95
Crashing, completely exhausted: 9.95
1/1/05
Waking up early to go to tailgate: 3
Weather: 9.75
Shopping at Publix: 5
Actually finding Publix at The Crossroads: 8
Publix having neither sugar nor peanut butter cookies, and chocolate chip cookies having 'Butter' as #1 ingredient: 1.5
Tailgate before the Capital One Bowl: 9
Great tailgaters all around including "Karaoke" setup: 9
Excellent chicken: 9
LH being mostly good and even napping in her car seat for a while: 9
Mel and Lou being late: 2
Mel and Lou actually showing up at all before game: 8 -- I have to give them credit, this is not easy the morning after New Year's Eve!
Z and Lou finiding 6 tickets (face value of $70 each) for a
combined total of $60: 9.5
Capital One Bowl: 9
First three quarters of game: 8.5
Great fans: 8.5
LH being mostly good: 9
LH and Su "doing a Hal" and sleeping through the 3rd quarter: 9
Great LSU comeback, culminating in go-ahead TD with 42 seconds remaining: 9.5
Iowa somehow almost getting game-winning defensive-2-points on conversion: 9
Ridiculous Iowa bomb going the distance as time expired: 9.5
Us not being die-hard LSU fans at that moment: 9.5
Nap/rest after game: 9.5
Balloons and autographed picture from Minnie Mouse to Su being in room in honor of Su's upcoming birthday: 9
Going to "Aunt Trudy's" House: 8.5
Us actually finding house: 9
Z speeding by her lane twice: 2
Ridiculous huge hi-def t.v.: 8
Being paraded with food for dinner that I either couldn't or would never eat in a million years including ham, scalloped potatoes, greens, and finally deviled eggs: 1.25 -- I thought they were playing a joke on me!
Big plate of cookies being there for me to fall back on: 9.5
Trudy as hostess: 9.75
Early childhood education teacher: 6
Early childhood education teacher supporting Z's side of the coloring books argument: 9.5
Old fashioned bowling game: 8
Trudy having birthday cake for Su: 9.5
Trudy giving Su an ultra-dirty novel: 8
Kid in living room being really video-game knowledgable: 9.5
Getting back to hotel at 1AM: 8
Realizing/remembering again just how fast time flies in Florida: 1
Crashing, exhausted: 9.95
1/2/05
Waking up early again to try to beat crowds: 2
Actually beating crowds: 9
Having to check out of Pop Century: 1.25
Weather: 9.75
Epcot: 9
Su actually wearing birthday pin and getting birthday greetings all day: 9
Mission Space for Z: 9 -- "But it was too short"
Mission Space for Su: 7.75
Me not having to go on Mission Space: 9.99995
Seeing "The Jammitors": 9.5 -- Pure Disney Magic, and LH liked it
Having LH become a "Junior Jammitor": 8
Hot Pretzel: 5 -- Way too buttery, otherwise would have been a 9
Boat Ride across lake: 8 -- LH liked it
Japan "tin toy" exhibit: 4
Norway: 6.5
Maelstrom boat ride: 6 -- LH liked it
Z falling asleep during movie: 9
Mexico: 8
El Rio del Tiempo Boat Ride: 8 -- LH liked it o.k., but not nearly as much as I expected she would
The Living Seas: 6.5
Introductory Movie: 5 -- LH liked it o.k.
Turtle Talk with Crash: 8 -- LH liked it o.k.
Finiding Nemo fish area: 6 -- LH liked it o.k.
Z trying to pick up rays: 2
Imagination: 8.5
Imagination Labs Ride: 8.5 -- LH liked it
Honey I Shrunk the Audience movie: 9 -- LH didn't like it
Having to leave Disney World: 2
Having to drop Su and LH at Orlando airport: 1.000000000000000001
Realizing that at least Z and I still had some time left in Florida: 9.75
Drive back to Fort Lauderdale: 1.5
Half-hour backup before Yeehaw: 1.5
Hour bakup before Fort Pierce: 1.1
Finally getting back to Fort Lauderdale at 9PM: 9
Dinner at Zuccherillo's: 9.25
Crashing, completely exhausted: 9.75
1/3/05
Doing exercise bike in exercise room: 8.5
Exercise room somehow not having t.v. any more: 2
Weather: 9.95
Walk along beach with Z: 8 (though my calves and knees both hurt)
Pool water being way too cold for swimming: 2
Demanding to go to Orange Bowl Hollywood Beach Bash since we already had tickets: 8
Not finding parking after driving around Hollywood Beach for 45 minutes, so having to blow off Beach Bash: 1.5
Golf at Crandon Golf at Key Biscayne: 9.95
Being first ones out after 3PM discout: 9.5
Both of us playing fairly well: 9.5
Beauty and secludedness of course: 9.5
Playing partners Jean-Claude and Marie: 5 -- fairly slow players, plus Jean-Claude was a bit weird
Seeing two really large Green Iguanas: 9
Neither of them attacking or biting us: 9.9995
Finishing the 14th hole in complete darkness, in the still mild air, with the lights of Miami visible in the distance beyond the Palm Trees: 9.9995
Hearing Z explain to Jean-Claude and Marie exactly where they should buy a condo: 9.95
Winning Championship Cup: 9 (Would have been higher but it had long been decided)
Dinner at Shorty's Ribs: 9.75
Ribs: 9.9
Fries: 8.5
Onion Rings: 8
Seeing Z power down his ribs plus a few of mine: 9.9
South Beach: 8.5
Walk around The Clevelander and other clubs: 8
Icy frozen drink at Fat Tuesday's: 9
Waking up as Z pulled into the condo, not remembering leaving Fat Tuesday's: 9.75
Crashing, completely exhausted: 9.975
1/4/05
Sleeping late: 8.5
Weather: 9 (Still really warm, but wind picking up a bit again)
Walking around town: 9.5
Remembering again how fast time flies when you're in Florida: 1
Shopping at Publix for tailgate: 3 -- no bakery cookies to speak of
Picking up Mr. Leo: 5.5
Mr. Leo: 8.5
Long ride both before and especially after game: 3
Pregame tailgate at Orange Bowl: 9
Steaks: 8.5
Chicken: 9
OU fan next to us claiming to "walk on" our hot coals: 9
30-minutes leading up to Orange Bowl: 9.975
Camera phone unable to get much detail from 400-level seats: 3
Orange Bowl Game: 6.5
First quarter of game: 9.5
Remainder of game: 4
USC Band: 9
Halftime "Jam": 3 -- worst ever Orange Bowl halftime so far
Fans completely booing before, during, and after Ashlee Simpson's halftime performance: 9.5 -- too funny
Z making us leave a National Championship Game early: 4 -- I am kind of mad about this, but on the other hand, it was getting pretty boring and the wind was picking up
Begining to pack: 1.01
Knowing that another Florida trip was actually ending: 1.000001
Crashing, exhausted: 9.95
1/5/05
Packing and Cleaning condo: 1.2
Going to airport: 1.000001
Having to leave for home: 1.5 (0.5 added because I knew that at least I would get to see Su and LH again soon)
Missing connection in LA and then being delayed: 2 -- The real world is just not like Florida!!
Overall ratings:
Trip Overall: 9.995
Fort Lauderdale Section: 9.95 (Phenomenal, and improved as it went along)
Orlando Section: 9.9 (Incredible, just a bit too short)
Z: 9.9 (Would have been higher, but you made me leave the Orange Bowl early).
Su: 10+ as always... (but almost reduced since you were only there for three days)
LH: 10 (Great first-ever Florida trip effort!)
* - "The technique" for Disney's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Play It" attraction, is an algorithm for winning the fastest finger competition and making it to the Hot Seat.
The idea is that there are 500 people competing for the Hot Seat, unlike 10 on the actual television show. Because of this, many people in the audience are likely to quickly bang in four random keys, and at least one of them is likely to generate the correct answer in a very short time.
As such, you are better off just pounding four buttons as fast as possible without worrying about the correct answer. If you do so as fast as possible, you will likely be the fastest person who entered this combination. Since there are only 24 possible combinations of fastest finger answers, this should give you just below a 1/24 chance of getting into the Hot Seat.
This technique has been tried by us twice at the attraction. The first time we tried it, 2 of the 4 people successfully guessed the answer -- one of them being #1 and achieving the Hot Seat, the other finishing #3 (See Trip Ratings 10/03 for complete details). This time of the 3 people trying it, 1 successfully guessed the answer, resulting as #2.
Editors Note: As of 2007, the "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire" exhibit is no longer open in Disney-MGM Studios.
