Radioshack had the answer.

I ended up going to 3 Radioshacks and I bought each one out of all the IR LEDs they had. I put 8 on a single ping pong ball.

The Result? Now I can see the ball, with the default IR settings, from over 12 feet away as a solid dot. This enables me to start programming some really basic cross communication between wiimotes.

Unfortunately, 8 IR LEDs take a hefty amount of power. I'm starting to look into high power, high mAH rechargeable batteries that can be carried. First that comes to mind is a laptop battery.

I've also orderd some 60 degree High Powered IR LEDs that are 940nm wavelength. That way I can get a wider angle, cover more of the ball, and have them brighter. The light output is 60mw rather than 15. In addition, they draw 1.4v rather than 3 and only use 100ma rather than 150ma.

They are on their way from florida, so next time I post, I'll probably have my LCD glasses instead of my LEDs.