I Survived the Orlando NaNo Region Write-In

While I'm a Municipal Liaison for the Lakeland/Polk County region, it helps to mingle with the other Regions in the area to maintain good ties, and let fellow writers know that other regions are nearby that may offer the occasional freaky event.

For example, the Orlando group has been doing this 'Round the Disney World Write-In where they go on a Sunday - when it's not as busy - and then commute across the various resorts (the hotels and restaurants are open: the parks themselves are EXPENSIVE) to find places to sit and write and experience the Disney ambiance.

The other Lakeland ML, Michelle, suggested joining in since Orlando is just an hour's drive away, and it'd be fun to see the sights. I was curious how the event would pan out, and one of the things about Write-Ins is that it gets you away from homebound distractions.

So, I went.

You had to park at Disney Springs - the open shopping mall area - because it's FREE, and then boat across the resorts to the Port Orleans / French Quarter stop, where the Write-In starts. I was late getting to the park, and worse I got lost trying to find the boats, so I admit I was a little stressed out by the first stop.

They had 58 (!) people show up for this Write-In!

We then had to take a tour bus across to the Magic Kingdom gateway for the monorail ride to the Polynesian resort. I've been here before...

And those statues are something of a family in-joke. I'll tell more later.

I actually got a lot of writing done here, and there were decent seating places to rest awhile.

The next stop was the Grand Floridian, where they had a Cinderella/Prince Charming procession and dance-off, which was won by Olaf I believe.

This was me by the end of the day. I wasn't able to get any writing done at the Grand Floridian: too noisy, too overwhelming.

And a Grand Finale at the Grand Floridian, as the survivors posed in front a a Gingerbread House before we ate it for nourishment. (I am somewhere in the back, since tall people shouldn't be seen in group photos)

It was a crazy, hectic Write-In. While it was good to get out, and it was great meeting a lot of the Orlando krewe, it was a bit stressful trying to move from one place to another. I've been told this was double their turnout from last year, so it's likely the logistics for this event got overwhelmed. I hope when they plan this for next year, the Orlando MLs do two things: 1) ask a Disney resort (the Polynesian was the best of the three IMHO) if we can rent out a spot (if a shared fee is needed by attendees, make sure it's not costly) for the Write-In or 2) reduce the dependence on the bus services, which caused a long delay for one-half of the group.

I hope everyone who attended got some writing done, and a hearty good luck to everyone doing NaNo!