Braves spring training tips

I'm not going down to spring training this year, but if you are then I thought I would share some of my secrets with you. If anyone else has some tips then add them here. If you read this, try to click on the recommend button at the bottom so we can keep this post visable for the next few weeks.

• The AJC has a decent spring training guide and a travel article about spring training. A decent place to start.
  
• When choosing where to stay I would recommend ebay. No, you can't stay on ebay, but people sell their timeshare weekends on ebay. Last year I got a two bedroom, two bath with full kitchen and living room (and washer and dryer) for $599 for one week (Friday to Friday). I didn't have to sit through any seminar or anything, just straight up rental. Some friends came down and cycled through, and I had plenty of space to spread out for a week -- so much better than a hotel room. There are tons of timeshares around Disney, so this works out perfectly for the Braves spring training. And as a home base, you can still visit a half dozen or more spring training sites while still staying around Disney.
• Go to the major league games, but don't, don't, don't forget about the minor league fields. This is the best kept secret of spring training. You can buy a ticket to the back fields for $10 or so dollars a day, and it's worth every penny. This is where I met cbwilk last year, and where he gets 95% of his Braves autographs during the spring. You will be amazed at how accessible all the players are. You can walk right up to them and talk to them or get them to sign a baseball. During the early part of camp and the first half of March, the minor leaguers are just doing drills, so they start real early in the morning and are done by noon. This works out great because you can see them in the morning, then go over to the main field and watch a major league game. During the second half of March, the minor league games start, and you can sit in the stands on the back fields right alongside minor league players who, on days when thye're not playing, watch their teammates from the stands.
  
• The minor leaguers are there just about every day, so that's also something to do on off-days.
  
• Kissimmee is another good place to watch a game, and it's 15 miles from Disney. Catch the Braves on the road and the tickets are usually easier to get. They have good food at that stadium.
• Get spring tickets at Disney early -- believe it or not they sell out fast. Especially for the Red Sox, Yankees, and Cardinals.
  
• I believe the third base side is the sun side, and the first base side is the shade, but someone correct me if I'm wrong.
• The lawn tickets suck, unless you have rugrats who can't sit still, then it's awesome.
• A fun diversion that I did last time was to see a shuttle launch. Go here for a consolidated launch schedule from the Cape. There are a couple of rockets going up in March, and a shuttle at the end of February (but the shuttles are usually delayed once or twice). Make sure you get to the Cape early, or you won't get a good spot.
• I like to hit one of the theme parks when I'm down there. I like the Universal parks the best, and Disney's Animal Kingdom is also quite nice.