I went to Walt Disney World for the first time last month. I saw most all of what there was to see, rode what there was to ride, and played Baby Stroller Dodge 'Em incessantly. (The place is infested with children.)
However, I shan't give a full rundown of the theme park attractions I experienced, because, in all likelihood, you've been there yourself, read accounts, or seen the plethora of Travel Channel infomercials for the joint.
No, I've decided to share a few words about a facility at Walt Disney World that isn't quite as widely promoted by the theme park juggernaut: the Wide World of Sports Complex.
A little 'Net work reveals that the sports complex opened 11 years ago and is a 220-acre facility which hosts more than 170 amateur and professional events annually. Not long ago, it also became the spring training site of the Atlanta Braves, and it is the training camp home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
What lured me there was a Major League baseball game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Toronto Blue Jays on April 28.
This was the second year the Rays had traveled the approximate 90 miles east to Orlando to play a three-game set, a PR ploy to lure Orlando-ites over to St. Pete to see them regularly at Tropicana Field.
The hype kicked in about the time we arrived at the sports complex, around 5:30 that evening. A young woman approached me and asked if I'd like to win a new Chevy Malibu. I explained I wasn't from around those parts, but she said I'd get a voucher to buy the Malibu at my local Chevy dealer, should I win. There was also a free T-shirt involved, so I answered a couple of questions and got on the Orlando Chevy dealership's mailing list. (The drawing for the new Chevy Malibu was said to be a nebulous "future date -- not tonight.")
Meandering from there, we encountered the huge, inflatable, headless Rays jersey. It was pretty filthy -- and, as noted, headless!
I saw and examined the Rays' team Hummer; collected discount tickets for Rays games I couldn't possibly use; nearly met Raymond, the Rays mascot, which is a -- well, like most mascots, I don't know what he was; and would have gotten a Goofy bobblehead doll if not for egregious ageism on the part of the Tampa Bay Rays organization (you had to be 14 or younger to get one).
We browsed through the gift shop at the complex and had a pre-game dinner at the Sports Cafe adjacent to the stadium. The cafe had the ambience and menu of a typical sports bar, primarily a restaurant with a separate bar area and half a skillion TVs all tuned to ESPN (which, of course, the Disney Empire owns). It was mostly a family crowd on hand, but, as a radio DJ said about a trivia contest they were having before the game, "This contest is for the Rays and Blue Jays fans, who are all in the restaurant -- and the Red Sox fans, who are all at the bar."
I had purchased our tickets online weeks before, so we glided seamlessly into the stadium once the barcodes on our print-out tickets were zapped.
I was impressed immediately by the charming architecture and the intimacy of the two-level ballpark. It was sort of a Goldilocks feeling; smaller than any Major League park I'd ever visited, but bigger than Appalachian Power Park, without losing any of the better aspects of both in between (right-sized, if you will, or even if you won't).
Our seats were on the upper level (I couldn't find it in my heart or budget to pay $125 a pop for the box seats), but the view of the field was pretty darned good. The scoreboard wasn't one of those Jumbotrons at the big league stadia, but it sufficed, even shooting off fireworks after the national anthem was performed. And the concession prices were basically betwixt majors and minors.
The game itself featured one of the American League's best pitchers of recent seasons, Toronto's Roy Halliday, who threw a complete game, but still lost 5-3. (The Rays wound up sweeping the Blue Jays there and have not lost a game at the sports complex yet. Maybe they should relocate to Lake Buena Vista and lure their St. Petersburg fan base there.)
I was astounded by Tampa Bay's Carl Crawford, too. As part of the Rays' comeback, he swatted a straight shot into center field. "He could get a double out of that if he ran fast enough," I thought. Looking over to see if he was headed for second base, I was astonished to find he was already midway to third base. Last time I saw any creature move that fast, Wile E. Coyote was after him on an Acme catapult.
The game I attended drew just a shade under 9,000 fans. The first game had fewer people, ostensibly because the Orlando Magic was hosting a playoff game that evening, and the third game had nearly 9,500 fans. Bruce Springsteen was also in Orlando the night I went, so the natives had other entertainment options.
I've never had the opportunity to attend a spring training game in Florida or Arizona, but it was enjoyable viewing an MLB game in such a cozy setting. If you're a Braves fan, I'd recommend going in February and March (and taking me with you), or, if you're a softball player, it'd be quite a treat to play there.
I'm planning to go back sometime, hopefully in my newly won Chevy Malibu. After all, I think owning the Rays Hummer would be an unrealistic expectation.
However, I shan't give a full rundown of the theme park attractions I experienced, because, in all likelihood, you've been there yourself, read accounts, or seen the plethora of Travel Channel infomercials for the joint.
No, I've decided to share a few words about a facility at Walt Disney World that isn't quite as widely promoted by the theme park juggernaut: the Wide World of Sports Complex.
A little 'Net work reveals that the sports complex opened 11 years ago and is a 220-acre facility which hosts more than 170 amateur and professional events annually. Not long ago, it also became the spring training site of the Atlanta Braves, and it is the training camp home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
What lured me there was a Major League baseball game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Toronto Blue Jays on April 28.
This was the second year the Rays had traveled the approximate 90 miles east to Orlando to play a three-game set, a PR ploy to lure Orlando-ites over to St. Pete to see them regularly at Tropicana Field.
The hype kicked in about the time we arrived at the sports complex, around 5:30 that evening. A young woman approached me and asked if I'd like to win a new Chevy Malibu. I explained I wasn't from around those parts, but she said I'd get a voucher to buy the Malibu at my local Chevy dealer, should I win. There was also a free T-shirt involved, so I answered a couple of questions and got on the Orlando Chevy dealership's mailing list. (The drawing for the new Chevy Malibu was said to be a nebulous "future date -- not tonight.")
Meandering from there, we encountered the huge, inflatable, headless Rays jersey. It was pretty filthy -- and, as noted, headless!
I saw and examined the Rays' team Hummer; collected discount tickets for Rays games I couldn't possibly use; nearly met Raymond, the Rays mascot, which is a -- well, like most mascots, I don't know what he was; and would have gotten a Goofy bobblehead doll if not for egregious ageism on the part of the Tampa Bay Rays organization (you had to be 14 or younger to get one).
We browsed through the gift shop at the complex and had a pre-game dinner at the Sports Cafe adjacent to the stadium. The cafe had the ambience and menu of a typical sports bar, primarily a restaurant with a separate bar area and half a skillion TVs all tuned to ESPN (which, of course, the Disney Empire owns). It was mostly a family crowd on hand, but, as a radio DJ said about a trivia contest they were having before the game, "This contest is for the Rays and Blue Jays fans, who are all in the restaurant -- and the Red Sox fans, who are all at the bar."
I had purchased our tickets online weeks before, so we glided seamlessly into the stadium once the barcodes on our print-out tickets were zapped.
I was impressed immediately by the charming architecture and the intimacy of the two-level ballpark. It was sort of a Goldilocks feeling; smaller than any Major League park I'd ever visited, but bigger than Appalachian Power Park, without losing any of the better aspects of both in between (right-sized, if you will, or even if you won't).
Our seats were on the upper level (I couldn't find it in my heart or budget to pay $125 a pop for the box seats), but the view of the field was pretty darned good. The scoreboard wasn't one of those Jumbotrons at the big league stadia, but it sufficed, even shooting off fireworks after the national anthem was performed. And the concession prices were basically betwixt majors and minors.
The game itself featured one of the American League's best pitchers of recent seasons, Toronto's Roy Halliday, who threw a complete game, but still lost 5-3. (The Rays wound up sweeping the Blue Jays there and have not lost a game at the sports complex yet. Maybe they should relocate to Lake Buena Vista and lure their St. Petersburg fan base there.)
I was astounded by Tampa Bay's Carl Crawford, too. As part of the Rays' comeback, he swatted a straight shot into center field. "He could get a double out of that if he ran fast enough," I thought. Looking over to see if he was headed for second base, I was astonished to find he was already midway to third base. Last time I saw any creature move that fast, Wile E. Coyote was after him on an Acme catapult.
The game I attended drew just a shade under 9,000 fans. The first game had fewer people, ostensibly because the Orlando Magic was hosting a playoff game that evening, and the third game had nearly 9,500 fans. Bruce Springsteen was also in Orlando the night I went, so the natives had other entertainment options.
I've never had the opportunity to attend a spring training game in Florida or Arizona, but it was enjoyable viewing an MLB game in such a cozy setting. If you're a Braves fan, I'd recommend going in February and March (and taking me with you), or, if you're a softball player, it'd be quite a treat to play there.
I'm planning to go back sometime, hopefully in my newly won Chevy Malibu. After all, I think owning the Rays Hummer would be an unrealistic expectation.
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