2003-12-16 - 1:56 p.m.

Days and days have passed and I should really start writing more on my travel diary! You get back in the swing of life and things just fall by the wayside so easily.

I stopped writing when I was still discussing the first day of Super Soap Weekend. Sheesh, I�m taking a long time to write about two days!!! But I�m digressing yet again. :)

After we got our Fast Passes for our autographs, we headed out to find some fun while we waited. This was our first time at MGM Studios, so it was easy to get us turned around. The last time I was there, the only thing that existed was The Magic Kingdom. Of course, that was 1972�heck, even Scott Clifton didn�t exist then!! :)

We did a lot of walking and looking. We hit the Muppets 3D show (my feet had begun to ache and I wanted a break) and then afterwards we sniffed around the store right next to it. They were playing Muppet music, including Gonzo singing �I�m Going to Go Back There Some Day�. It�s really a fave of mine from The Muppet Movie. :) My feet were still aching, but I ignored them and found the CD that had the music. How cool! Jazz had a phone call on her cell, so she went outside the store to take it. While I waited for her, I sat down on the floor. I sometimes feel like a tremendously old lady!! :) This was one of those times. I know I�m dreadfully out of shape and Jazz is in her prime, but our ages seemed to stretch into chasms!!

When she came back in, I showed her the Kermit stuff I found and she though they were funny. I bought the Muppet CD and we headed out again. I was turned around rather quickly and we had to look at the map more than once, but Disney people were very helpful and nice. In fact, once we stood to the side to look at the map and a woman approached us and sent us in the right direction! How�s that for nice? I was very impressed at how clean and neat the place was, but that�s what Disney is all about. Going that extra mile was just par for the course. All I could think was: �Why can�t people do this everywhere?� Maybe then KD wouldn�t need metal detectors. Sigh! Anyway�

We headed back to the right number to get our autograph from Chad. �What?� you say. �The right number?� Well, there were stations set up all around the area with certain numbers on posts. Each person would be assigned to a certain number and your Fast Pass would tell you where to go at what time. Get it?? So we got a bit turned around � again � and had to ask several people how to get to the line. Turns out that the line was behind a building and not really noticeable right off. We were still a bit early, so we sat and waited about five minutes. They let us up halfway and I leaned against the rail as we waited. I was clutching my Scooby autograph book � I love that darn thing. When John gave it to me years ago, I had no idea what I was going to do with it, but now I�m thrilled with it! If I didn�t have a bound book, I�d lose them all. And it�s so cute, because I love Scooby Doo so much. Jazz asked me if I was going to have a picture taken with the stars. Initially, I said no. I�m still very uncomfortable about how I look. I wasn�t always heavy, and whenever I see a picture of myself, it�s always a jolt � and not a pleasant one.

We finally were able to walk through a hall, around a corner, and there he was! The people who had stand-by tickets were crowded behind a gate so they could take pictures at a close distance. Jazz and I were number three or four and I couldn�t help smiling. The atmosphere was so excited and happy that it passed on to me and I was in a great mood. When it was my turn I went to the little table and chair he was sitting at and said hello. To my surprise, he hugged me hello and was very nice to me! I wasn�t expecting him to snub me or anything, but the obvious kindness was really nice! I juggled my autograph book and finally got it open to a blank page. I asked him to sign to �Scooby� and he said he loved Scooby too. We discussed Scooby and he signed my book very nicely. When they took my camera for a photo, I didn�t even protest. I�m glad I got my picture taken with him, even though I look like a whale. :PPP Jazz was surprised I changed my mind�I was, too�but it�s better that I have memories than not. Speaking of which, I have to send Jazz her copies�I�m going to do that tomorrow! Must remember to get a box�

Anyway, we wandered around more, picking up pre-signed pictures and taking in the sights. Jazz wanted to go to a show called "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire - Soap Style" with Chad and Natalia Livingston (who plays Emily) as help. Jazz and I arrived early enough that there was one ticket left for "fast fingers" seat. I gave it to Jazz. :) While I stood in the crowd, waiting to go in though, I started feeling uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable. I felt sick and as if I might faint. I asked the guy there if there was any way I could go around the rope and sit, but he said no. He did see that I was rather pale and told me it would be fine to go sit in the handicapped place. I went and sat with Jazz. She was surprised to see me, but I was just relieved to get the hell out of that crowd. I think the crush of the morning really messed me up! Once we were allowed in, I sat directly under an A/C fan, which was heaven to me! To my surprise, I found I could play the game, too! I took a couple pictures of Jazz in the fast fingers seat, then we started the game. We weren't fast enough to participate, but it was a fun break. After that we kept seeing people with buttons saying, �I�m most like�� and a picture of one of the soap stars. Finally, I asked one girl where she got it. Turns out there was a place for Soap.Net and you took a little quiz on a computer and got a button. We set out to find it and spied it quickly. Before we went to the line, we saw that there was a room next door where you could have your picture taken with Mickey. We went through that line before and had our picture taken with Mickey as he was dressed in Fantasia robes. Very funny!! Then we went next door to stand in line. There was a big SOAPNET cutout letters in front. Jazz stood in the O and I took a picture. :) We joined the queue and the line moved rather fast. As we stood there, I saw flashes against the wall. I wondered aloud what was going on inside and Jazz and I speculated a while. We went through the questions, but the guy let us take any button we wanted. I took Nikolas�. :) We finally figured out what the flashes were! They would take your picture and insert it into a soap scene. Jazz and I both put ourselves in GH. It�s a picture of Sonny and Jason. I posed so my arm was around Sonny. Jazz was giving Sonny a kiss. Very cute. :)

It was time to get Rick�s autograph then. We headed out to the right spot, but unfortunately, his line-up area was in the bright and roasting sunshine. The official would only let a couple of us go at a time, but I wish they had let the people who were waiting get out of the sun. I was baking in a very short time. Jazz went first and I took two pictures of her, just for fun. When it was my turn, I went up to Rick and he exclaimed immediately about the Scooby book. I laughed and said I was a huge fan of Scooby and he said his son loved Scooby, too. I said, �Scooby, right? He doesn�t like Scrappy?� and Rick said, �No! He hates Scrappy!� I joked, �Scrappy is the Yoko Ono of the Scooby Gang.� I thought the poor man would fall over laughing. He loved that and asked if he could use it! I, of course, agreed. When it was time to get my picture taken, he put his arm around me, which I thought was very considerate. I looked like a messy cow, for goodness sakes. Then I went over to the gate and got a couple more pictures. He looked up and winked once just as I hit the button. So I have a strange looking winking picture of him now�

I was really flying by the time that was over. Two great encounters! What more could we ask for?? Jazz went into a store and I wandered off for a while and found a room that displayed villains of the movies. I took a couple pictures for a lark. I found Jazz after that and we stopped again for food. I get grumpy when I don�t eat. It�s not pretty. I�m amazed sometimes that someone doesn�t thump me. I try very hard to control it though. I didn�t want to hurt anyone�s feelings.

We walked around checking things out the rest of the day. We had to hang out because Jazz had another Fast Pass to see Alicia Minshew. She belongs to a group that is fans of Alicia, too. She�d made a mug as a present for her, but forgot it at the hotel! Well, she didn't really think she�d have the opportunity to see her. This was just a happy coincidence. The signing was for around 6pm, so we were there for a while. We took lots of pictures of stars we happened upon. As we were going down the street, I glanced over to the left and there was Tyler! It was roped off and the crowd was too huge to think of going around to get a picture. I took a few far off pictures. Jazz came up to see what I was taking pictures of and I pointed Tyler out. She took a picture or two back there. We had to call to the other guards to get the heck out of the way. They had the tendency to stand right in the way of the shot. So the guard would yell at them, they would scurry out of the way and Jazz would shoot. We convinced the guard to let Jazz slip up and take pix. Unfortunately, just at that time the security head wandered back and ordered Jazz back. Talk about bad timing!! Rats. We waited and when the woman left, Jazz dashed back up and took the picture! Ha ha! :)

As we walked along, I saw another crowd and edged close to see who it was. It turned out to be Michael E. Knight. He plays Tad. He really looked gorgeous!! He looked better in real life!! I took a couple pictures of him out of sheer shock.

We talked about the next day and how we hoped it would be a little more organized so we wouldn�t be killed again. I certainly hoped it!!! At last 6:30 rolled around and we went off so Jazz could get her autograph. She asked me to film her and of course I said yes, but asked that she give me a quick run down on her new camera. I didn�t want to mess it up. Well, I thought I got her instructions. Seems they ran out of my head the moment they went in!! I stood by the fence and waited for turn to come up. When she walked up, I realized I was pushing the wrong button and I couldn�t get her camera to work!! Horrified, I started calling her. First it was �Jazz!! Jazz!� but she didn�t hear me, so I tried, �Jo! Jo!!� Still didn�t catch it. So I tried once more with, �JAZZ!!! JAZZZZZZZ!!!!!!� Alicia heard me, looked up and said, �That�s �Special Agent� Jazz!� That was enough to catch Jazz�s attention and she showed me quick how to use the camera. What a relief!!! :) But I was amazed that Alicia knew Jazz�s online name! She explained to me afterwards that the group had made a photo album of sorts that they sent to Alicia. Since they included the original email, �Special Agent Jazz� was on there. Alicia remembered it and Jazz!! How cool is that??? But anyway, Jazz finally realized I was calling to her and she showed me the correct button quickly. Whew!! I would have really been upset if I didn�t get the picture for her.

After that we decided to head for home. I was tired and my feet ached. And I really needed a shower. The heat gets to me easily and I�d forgotten the Sharper Image personal cooler I�d brought with me. So we hurried out to the tram to catch a ride to the parking lot. I was tired enough that I didn�t want to walk out to the car. I kept looking for my green car, too. No, no, no. This was a silver rental! We hopped on just in time and away we went. Jazz suddenly said, �Hey! There�s Amanda!� and she was right! In the car ahead of us was Amanda! We yelled hello and tried to holler a conversation. We were meeting up on Monday and she would hang with us till Tuesday. It sounded like great fun and a welcome addition to our twosome. Then on Thursday, Jazz�s sister Debbie and their cousin Lisa would join us. I hoped I wouldn�t feel left out.

We collected the car and popped back to our hotel. Boy, did I need that shower! I think I stood in the cold water for five minutes just letting it run on me. At least you can�t run out of cold water!!! Afterwards, she took her shower and we changed for an Alicia Minshew gathering we were going to that night. I can�t remember if it was before or after the gathering�I think before�but anyway, two friends of Jazz�s (who had a room next to ours) came over to chat. They were at MGM Studios, too, and we discussed our days. They weren�t going back the next day, and were sad that they didn�t get some of the autographed pictures we did. I gave them the ones they liked, because I could get copies the next day, no worries. :) After that, we went to the buffet. I didn�t know anyone except Jazz and I felt really awkward, but I just got some food and tried not to worry on it. I kept my shoes off because my feet were still aching. After the gathering, we headed back to the hotel. And that was the end of the first day!!!

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