Yes, the handle does mean something. I worked as a Roadie for several touring acts from the late 70's through the mid 80's including Pink Floyd, The Jacksons, Rush, ZZ Top, Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson and my favorite The Doobie Brothers. I started as a lowly ground rigger and worked my way up to FOH.
While working as a Roadie I was able to complete my education and picked up some great contracts with companies like McDonald/Douglas and Grumman Aerospace. The big deal was working on the F-117A project while it was still "black" back at Tonopah. I continued working multiple contracts until 1992 when I "settled down" with IBM after the passing of my Mother. That lasted all of 13 months.
Next stop was the emerging casino industry in Mississippi and Louisiana. I opened three casinos in 1994 including Casino Rouge in my hometown of Baton Rouge. This gave me time to hang with my Dad during his last years which was terrific.
1998 brought me back to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi to help an old friend open the Imperial Palace in Biloxi. Things were great until my buddy quit leaving me to deal with the then dreaded Y2K issue. As usual I handled things and Y2K was a "non-event" for the business with every thing resolved well before deadline.
2000 also brought me to my "retirement". As a guy that never got married and never had kids disposable income was in great supply. I saved money with the express mission of taking the entire year of 2000 off.
Wouldn't you know it, The guy that never wanted to get married and have kids, meets a lovely girl and decides to buy a house and start a family.
Well, that guy should have stayed single but in the end the bad times were still pretty good. We split up in 2004 and I haven't looked back.
So, what does this have to do with Disney?
You see, a guy that makes killer money, has an erratic work schedule and is a big kid at heart takes a lot of trips to Walt Disney World. At one time I was keeping track and had over 365 room-nights at WDW in my own name. That didn't count trips when I tagged along with others.
My first trip was in June 1978 with the Mom, Dad and the five kids at Fort Wilderness. 11 days on Possum Path in a pop-up trailer with no air conditioning. Dad had a shoebox full of penny rolls. I was afraid to ask but a few days into the trip I noticed pennies lined up on the railroad tracks(the narrow gauge train still ran through the campground then). That night at dinner I asked about the pennies. He said he as making souvenirs for the "guys at work". Never figured out if he was pulling my leg. They still used tickets back then so getting people to give you their left over tickets before they left was crucial. Sometimes you could even score an E-Ticket.
The second trip was with a buddy for our "extra" high-school Senior Trip. We shared a campground trailer with two of my Sisters and a friend of my oldest Sister.
In 1984 we took our last "family" trip to WDW and stayed at Fort Wilderness again. It just seems so crazy to stay in a pop-up with no A/C to me now.
The 80's were significant for me because I had so much free time and money it was nothing to just take off to WDW and stay for a week or more. The addiction got worse in the late 80's when I went back to LSU to Finnish my education.
I had a Ford Aerostar van with four captains chairs. I would call up a few "girl friends" and tell them to get packed. I'd pick them up around 2AM then drive overnight to WDW usually staying at the Disney Inn or Contemporary. They'd usually wake up around 9AM to relieve me from driving and we'd make it in about 10 hours. We'd stay a few days then drive home and catch up on classes we missed.
A few of us even got together for a graduation trip in 1990. We stayed two weeks and had a ball. The girls would go shopping while the guys played tennis or golf.
I missed almost two years while my Mother was sick but after her passing I picked up the habit again quickly. I made a solo trip shortly after her death to honor her memory. I sat at the Fort Wilderness beach for many hours remembering all the great times we shared on vacation over the years.
The 90's were very hectic too. I accrued a lot of comp time working in IT for the casinos. This let me take many trips on short notice with other people headed to WDW.
One time, me and a girlfriend took her three young kids down and stayed at the Disney Institute. Since the area was so large we rented a golf cart for the entire stay. On the way home Cathy asked the kids what was the best part and all three chimed in "riding the golf cart". Man, we could have stayed at home at the Country Club and they would have been just as happy.
The last few years I've made fewer trips to WDW mostly due to fishing. Living on the Gulf has it's benefits and fishing is number one. One trip a year in October is my current mode.
Some trip highlights are...
When our departing flight is delayed after leaving the terminal, learning that the kid I fed several Mickey ice cream bars as a "special don't tell your Mom treat" the night before, is allergic to dairy products. It was an unholy mess.
Running into Michael Eisner at lunch then spending the rest of the day into evening picking his brain about everything Disney.
Having a buddy get a huge royalty check for producing a song on the Dirty Dancing soundtrack then heading to the Grand Floridian for a week on his dime.
Getting the entire group of people waiting for the monorail to "vogue" to Madonna back in 1990.
Hitting every one of the corporate lounges at Epcot during a single day in 1989.
Seeing Michael Iceberg during his last week at the Tomorrowland Terrace.
The "flag ceremony" at the Wilderness Lodge with my Nephew.
The whole family at the Fort Wilderness beach for the Water Parade in 1978. Had never seen anything like that before. Amazing.
Watching the 1984 Olympics with a crowd of people on a huge screen at the "Coconino Cove" in the Contemporary.
Opening day at Animal Kingdom was insane but a once in a lifetime experience.
Backstage tour of Tower of Terror during a refurb.
Demonstration of Soaring technology after hours.
Visiting Horizons the week before demolition started and the fond memories came flooding back.
Well, that's about it for now. See you around the forum.
ExRoadie
While working as a Roadie I was able to complete my education and picked up some great contracts with companies like McDonald/Douglas and Grumman Aerospace. The big deal was working on the F-117A project while it was still "black" back at Tonopah. I continued working multiple contracts until 1992 when I "settled down" with IBM after the passing of my Mother. That lasted all of 13 months.
Next stop was the emerging casino industry in Mississippi and Louisiana. I opened three casinos in 1994 including Casino Rouge in my hometown of Baton Rouge. This gave me time to hang with my Dad during his last years which was terrific.
1998 brought me back to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi to help an old friend open the Imperial Palace in Biloxi. Things were great until my buddy quit leaving me to deal with the then dreaded Y2K issue. As usual I handled things and Y2K was a "non-event" for the business with every thing resolved well before deadline.
2000 also brought me to my "retirement". As a guy that never got married and never had kids disposable income was in great supply. I saved money with the express mission of taking the entire year of 2000 off.
Wouldn't you know it, The guy that never wanted to get married and have kids, meets a lovely girl and decides to buy a house and start a family.
Well, that guy should have stayed single but in the end the bad times were still pretty good. We split up in 2004 and I haven't looked back.
So, what does this have to do with Disney?
You see, a guy that makes killer money, has an erratic work schedule and is a big kid at heart takes a lot of trips to Walt Disney World. At one time I was keeping track and had over 365 room-nights at WDW in my own name. That didn't count trips when I tagged along with others.
My first trip was in June 1978 with the Mom, Dad and the five kids at Fort Wilderness. 11 days on Possum Path in a pop-up trailer with no air conditioning. Dad had a shoebox full of penny rolls. I was afraid to ask but a few days into the trip I noticed pennies lined up on the railroad tracks(the narrow gauge train still ran through the campground then). That night at dinner I asked about the pennies. He said he as making souvenirs for the "guys at work". Never figured out if he was pulling my leg. They still used tickets back then so getting people to give you their left over tickets before they left was crucial. Sometimes you could even score an E-Ticket.
The second trip was with a buddy for our "extra" high-school Senior Trip. We shared a campground trailer with two of my Sisters and a friend of my oldest Sister.
In 1984 we took our last "family" trip to WDW and stayed at Fort Wilderness again. It just seems so crazy to stay in a pop-up with no A/C to me now.
The 80's were significant for me because I had so much free time and money it was nothing to just take off to WDW and stay for a week or more. The addiction got worse in the late 80's when I went back to LSU to Finnish my education.
I had a Ford Aerostar van with four captains chairs. I would call up a few "girl friends" and tell them to get packed. I'd pick them up around 2AM then drive overnight to WDW usually staying at the Disney Inn or Contemporary. They'd usually wake up around 9AM to relieve me from driving and we'd make it in about 10 hours. We'd stay a few days then drive home and catch up on classes we missed.
A few of us even got together for a graduation trip in 1990. We stayed two weeks and had a ball. The girls would go shopping while the guys played tennis or golf.
I missed almost two years while my Mother was sick but after her passing I picked up the habit again quickly. I made a solo trip shortly after her death to honor her memory. I sat at the Fort Wilderness beach for many hours remembering all the great times we shared on vacation over the years.
The 90's were very hectic too. I accrued a lot of comp time working in IT for the casinos. This let me take many trips on short notice with other people headed to WDW.
One time, me and a girlfriend took her three young kids down and stayed at the Disney Institute. Since the area was so large we rented a golf cart for the entire stay. On the way home Cathy asked the kids what was the best part and all three chimed in "riding the golf cart". Man, we could have stayed at home at the Country Club and they would have been just as happy.
The last few years I've made fewer trips to WDW mostly due to fishing. Living on the Gulf has it's benefits and fishing is number one. One trip a year in October is my current mode.
Some trip highlights are...
When our departing flight is delayed after leaving the terminal, learning that the kid I fed several Mickey ice cream bars as a "special don't tell your Mom treat" the night before, is allergic to dairy products. It was an unholy mess.
Running into Michael Eisner at lunch then spending the rest of the day into evening picking his brain about everything Disney.
Having a buddy get a huge royalty check for producing a song on the Dirty Dancing soundtrack then heading to the Grand Floridian for a week on his dime.
Getting the entire group of people waiting for the monorail to "vogue" to Madonna back in 1990.
Hitting every one of the corporate lounges at Epcot during a single day in 1989.
Seeing Michael Iceberg during his last week at the Tomorrowland Terrace.
The "flag ceremony" at the Wilderness Lodge with my Nephew.
The whole family at the Fort Wilderness beach for the Water Parade in 1978. Had never seen anything like that before. Amazing.
Watching the 1984 Olympics with a crowd of people on a huge screen at the "Coconino Cove" in the Contemporary.
Opening day at Animal Kingdom was insane but a once in a lifetime experience.
Backstage tour of Tower of Terror during a refurb.
Demonstration of Soaring technology after hours.
Visiting Horizons the week before demolition started and the fond memories came flooding back.
Well, that's about it for now. See you around the forum.
ExRoadie
