Umm... yeah... I'm here for work....
Tired of the drama on JU this week? Sick of reading about this person leaving, or that person showing solidarity with Cause Against The Man #123? Then I hope you enjoy the next few articles I post this week as I chronicle my company-paid stay at.... DISNEY WORLD 
Late last year I talked to my manager about getting some security-specific training and certification to help me do better at my job. He agreed and I immediately set out to find what sort of cert I should get. My search brought me to the GIAC program run by the SANS Institute. Short of the CISSP, these guys had the certs you wanted to get if you wanted to work in IT security.
So I go to their site (http://www.giac.org/) and start browsing through their course offerings. Two jump out at me as good baseline courses. Sec 309: Information Security Fundamentals and Sec 401: Security Essentials. Well, I figure it would be best to start at the beginning and work my way up so I look at 309. Turns out that they didn't offer the course any time other than at their annual conference down in Orlando, FL (Disney World to be exact). So I talk to the boss and finally get the OK to take the training and travel down.
So the company agreed to send me down to stay at Disney World for training 
The conference lasts Feb 24th - March 4th. Class is Feb 25th - March 2nd. I'm staying at the Port Orleans Riverside Resort, located just north of Downtown Disney.
So, with the explanation of why I'm here out of the way... on to the first day at Disney and the SANS 2006 Conference
SANS - Day 1: The Detailed Report
Here's the quick run-down of my day on Feb 23rd:
1. I had a 7:15am flight out of Bradley Intl. Airport, which meant to get through security I needed to be there by 6ish. So I got up early and called for a taxi.
2. Taxi didn't take credit cards, so I had to run into the airport to find an ATM while he held my luggage hostage. Paid $50 for a taxi to the airport... highway robbery if you ask me, but the company is paying for it.
3. Security and boarding were simple and painless. I flew Delta Song, which I highly recommend to anyone who hasn't had the opportunity. They have individual TVs in every seat that gets 25 channels, has PPV movies, and video games My TV actually worked this time! (I have a history of malfunctioning TV units on airplanes)
4. The plane got in on time (10:00am) and when I got off I was greeted by 81 DegF weather with high humidity. Considering it had been below 20 DegF when I got on the plane 3hrs earlier, this was a VERY welcome change... even the humidity!
5. Get bags, go to rental car counter, get car. They ran out of the economy cars so I was upgraded to a 2005 Chevy Monte Carlote (sp?)... VERY nice car Zippy too!
6. Drive to Disney, go to wrong resort (there are two Port Orleans resorts, I went to the wrong one). Go to right one and get checked in. Unload bags and get situated by 12:30pm.
So around 1 I went off to Downtown Disney to see what sort of trouble I could get into. They don't do half-day tickets down here so I couldn't afford to run to a park for the rest of the day.
Keep in mind this is my FIRST trip to Disney ever. Yeah, first time to Disney is at 23, and I'm traveling alone... it's a bit odd. So since it's my first time, I have no idea what to expect or what to see.
Disney is THE tourist trap, it's an entire city essentially centered on draining you of every penny you have. Downtown Disney was full of shops and food stands that sell things for at least 3x their actual retail value. Needless to say after doing my souvenir shopping, I'm broke
Some really really cool things about Downtown Disney:
-A HUGE Lego Store People like Cordelia, Karma, and anyone who was reading my Lego Star Destroyer blogs know I'm a bit of a Lego freak This was a sort of mini-nirvana for me
-A massive arcade like none I've ever seen. Sure you have to pay $35 to get in, but once you're in the games and such are "free" Lots of cool stuff. I actually spent about half my afternoon/evening there. They had a few full-body games where you have to move around to win... like a boxing game, snowboarding game etc...
-Cirque Du Solei. While I can't afford to go in ($65 for the cheap seats), they have a permenant show at the end of Downtown Disney. I hear it's very very good.
-A million and one neat little Disney shops. I got little knick-knacks for my family and girlfriend while there... oh and I got a caricature picture drawn of myself
I ate at the Wolfgang Puck place, had a sandwich and a beer and then headed back to the hotel around 6, taking a pass on all the bars and clubs that would open in an hour. I was up at 4am, so I was pretty tired by this point. I went back to my room, watched some TV and fell asleep. Looking forward to the beginning of my Disney adventure!
Day 2: Epcot!