Orlando Convention Report or

Diaries of a Confused Canadian.

green rule

Thursday: I land on the pups (A "Go There" phrase if I ever heard one)

I anxiously arrive at the airport after having quadrupled checked my bags to make sure I have everything (swimsuit, sunblock, feather boa…check). Hopping aboard my small propeller (aaaiiiieeeee!!!) plane I am off to Boston, the first stop on my way to Orlando. After only getting mildly lost at Logan airport (don't these people believe in signs?) I hop my flight to Orlando. Two and a half-hours later (note: the woman behind me did not shut up the whole trip) I touch down in Orlando. Waiting for me is Den pups TC and Shazb. Hugs are enjoyed by all and we head off to find the car…we cannot find the car!

Eventually we find the car and head of to the hotel. At the hotel the game of pup spotting begins. First Den pup chakram88 is spotted (more hugging ensues), pup CPT Skip (or Skippy as I eventually start calling him) and several other pup are spotted. After depositing my bags in my room off we go to find Queen Laur. Once I pay homage to the "Go There" Queen (why she had me do push-ups on the bed I don't understand?) Den pups Union 405 headed off to TGI Fridays to chow down.

More pup spottings at the restaurant and numerous "going there" antics ensued. Once thoroughly scarring the staff at TGI's we headed off on our most important mission…hot tubbing <bg>. At the tub we run into more pups (surprise). Pup Maria and pup widow Maggie (a new phrase coined by Maggie). Laughs and Lick'em' Sticks were exchanged until security kicked us out of the tub. That was okay, we had to go rest for Universal Studios the next day.

 

Friday: Pups do Universal…life will never be the same.

Pups…pups everywhere pups. Friday was Universal Studios day and the pups started it out right…by scaring the other passengers on the shuttle bus. I'm not sure they will ever forget the chants of "pups…pups…pups." While traversing the numerous attractions at Universal, pup spottings were frequent and always interesting…especially when Sasha and Biscuit were involved <g>.

The attraction every pup had to see was the Xena/Hercules exhibit. Spotted inside was the BGSB which seemed huge in person (why is it so small on Gabby?) and various other memorabilia. I think there was some Hercules stuff but I wasn't interested in his leathers <g>.

As part of the Xena/Herc attraction selected audience members get to play centaur and gladiator with each other. Ooops that's supposed to read play centaur…silly me <g>. Pup Skippy (ne: CPT Skip) and Den pup TC got to play dressup and be a centaur. Fun was held by all at this point in the day…at least by those of us laughing our arses off in the audience.

After a fun filled day of stalking the Xena and Hercules look a likes in the park, it was time for a drink. Several pups found themselves at Meg's Tavern (or room 1239) where mudslides were in abundance (thanks to bartender Cruise). There were reports of a group of pups prowling the local bars…our intrepid SOAP reporters are on the case and will report back shortly. Our reporters also made mention of long lines of salivating pups outside room 1408. Word was that famous author Holly Wulfenden was spotted inside…we are still attempting to verify this information.

 

Saturday: Con day or Kevin Smith is SOOOOOOOO HOT!

As you can tell from the header I was most looking forward to seeing Kevin Smith…I was not disappointed <vbg>. He was funny, charming and very good-natured about the whole fandom thing.

I must mention Danielle Cormack or several pups will have me by the tail <g>. She was great. VERY energetic, looking very sexy in her skintight black dress and she was staying in my bungalow (but not my room…damn).

After the con the Den pups scurried away to prepare for video night and a very special surprise for all the pups. Merpups' Den Union 405 prepared a little skit for the pups in attendance. To read the script follow this link and be merry.

After the madness Missy and Llach provided the pups with a Q & A session that none of us will soon forget. Apparently Llach REALLY does get nosebleeds! Missy and Llach were kind enough to stick around after the Q & A to sign NUMEROUS copies of Tropical Storm for everyone. Of course we did kind of have them trapped, but we won't mention that <g>.

Pups then headed to the lovely presidential suite for cocktails and video watching. After all what kind of a convention would it be without Xena videos <bg>.

 

Sunday: Look out Mickey here come da pups.

Sunday morning Missy and numerous pups attended a character breakfast at the Grand Floridan where Missy was presented with a brick for the walkway outside of the entrance to the Magic Kingdom. After the presentation pups hit Magic Kingdom with a vengeance.

Claire Stansfield wowed the conventions crowd on Sunday and offered numerous spoilers for this upcoming XWP season. Among the juicy tidbits provided by Claire were…[NOTE: AT THIS POINT OF THE REPORT NIC WAS HIT WITH NUMEROUS CLUE X 4'S AND "CONVINCED" NOT TO DEVULGE ANY DETAILS BY TPTB]

Sunday night pups started to slowly return to their home Den's, but those who were lucky enough to be in the hotel bar for Karoke witnessed Kevin Smith singing "Yellow Submarine" with his fan club…I can now die a happy woman…I have seen everything <g>.

Monday: Goodbye, Farewell,…oh just leave already.

Yes it was finally time for this intrepid reporter to call it a vacation and head for home. After many tearful good-byes' (well I cried anyway) and careful packing of my MissyCon souvenirs I headed to the airport and back to the wiles of Canada.

'Til the next convention pups…ARRRRRROOOOOOO!!!!!

Additional pics available at http://merpups.webjump.com

Special thanks go out to the Orlando pups for putting on such a great con....creation who? They were the ones responsible for the shirts, badges and over all mayhem <g>. You grrls ROCK!


Disclaimer 1: If your picture appears on this page and ...well you don't want it to, send me a line (Nic) and I will remove it pronto.

Disclaimer 2: Although Llach did show her tattoo (and we have pictures) I will be a good little monster and not mention the "viewing."

Disclaimer 3: English major I ain't so deal with it <g>.

Disclaimer 4: If you've finished reading...read it again <smirk>. Or return to the conventions page.