Cheetaur February 5, 2018, 6:22 pm
OFF topic but can CD tell us about his trip?
Ah… Ok.
My trip down south went well (generally). There was a few hic-ups.
I did post pictures on my facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001785180020.
The trip started off leaving from the Ottawa area to fly to Toronto and then down to Orlando. Unfortunately the weather was COLD. So cold the plane had mechanical problems which left us on ground for over a hour and a half… (I know, cause I was able to watch a whole movie while on the ground).
This resulted in the plan arriving late in Toronto, literally getting there just as the pre-clear US customs closed. So I spent the first night of my tropical vacation in Toronto :(. Luckily I was able to book an early flight from Toronto to Orlando. SO after getting a couple hours sleep at the hotel the airline put me up in, I got back to the airport, cleared customs and flew down to Orlando.
When I arrived in Orlando, I quickly picked up my rental and drive to Cocoa Beach. I made it there and to the ‘I Dream of Yogurt’ shop with lots of time to spare. The meet and greet was small (I wasn’t expecting much of a show up), one fan (I won’t say names) came in, sat at the table across from me, had a yogurt and then said, “I guess CD wasn’t able to make it.”
I guess I don’t look enough like my drawing. Though I was drawing Jeanie on my portable Cintiq and had a Star Trek Comm badge on the table… so…. eh… I did say, “I’m was right here.” so hopefully the said fan wasn’t disappointed.
Over all there was a few fans who showed up, which was more then the ‘MAYBE one’ I was expecting.
I hung out with a fan in Cocoa Beach, checking out the town, and giving insights to the comic vs and it’s relation to Cocoa Beach. You all might not know this, but I’ve traveled to Cocoa Beach often for a number of reasons. Including getting ideas and inspiration for the comic.
After Cocoa Beach I went back to Orlando and enjoyed some of the sights. Mainly I went to ‘Disney Springs’ formerly ‘Downtown Disney’. Disney Springs was still in full Christmas mode, which surprised me as it was January. There was even a Christmas Tree themed walk, where they had Xmas Trees decorated in Disney theme… and blowing snow from a snow machine… Yep. I flew from Canada to experience snow in Florida.
I didn’t see any BIG attractions, mainly because I’ve seen them before, I’m single (no kids) and they’re EXPENSIVE. I did go to Medieval times… cause…well.. where else can you go to see knights beat the crap out of each other?
After a couple days in Orlando, I took a BUS (which I was rather disappointed in, cause they advertised much more then I got) to Miami. I spent a night at the Hilton Blue Miami hotel. Which features a hour long walk to Taco Bell (I really felt like Taco Bell, and Didn’t feel like spending a lot of $$$ at the hotel restaurant).
I met my friend who I was traveling with and the following day we were on the cruise boat.
The cruise was awesome! Highly recommend for any Trekie thinking about going on the cruise. The celebrities not only gave interesting shows. But roamed around the boat too. I got to personally talk and shake hands with to quite a few stars, including George Takei, Denise Crosby, Michael Dorn, Max Grodénchik, Armin Shimerman, René Auberjonois, Nana Visitor, Connor Trinneer, and some others.
I participated in Nightly Trivia, saw many shows and events, and relaxed in the sun on both the cruise boat as well on the pleasure planet (Island) Risa. 😀
I also hung out with Kenny Smith and his wife. For those who don’t know, Kenny Smith is Director, Producer, Writer, Editor, Executive Producer for Star Trek: First Frontier, which is a Hollywood-Quality-actual-actors-full-length-fan-Star-Trek-Movie. I saw the preview and some of the material. (I’m not usually a promoter of Fan-Films, but this one looked pretty good).
Well, I’d expand more on the cruise, but there was so much, I can’t really think of what to put beyond what I’ve already mentioned. You can check my facebook for picture of my cruise adventure, I know there’s not many(probably none) photos of myself. Mainly cause I’m behind the camera and not a big selfie person… But for those who REALLY want to see a picture of CD Rudd in full Star Trek Cruise mode…
