| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 491.1 | Badger family spanning 95-96 | HYLNDR::BADGER | Can DO! | Mon Jan 15 1996 14:49 | 707 |
| The Badger's trip report.
Who: Ed & Deb 21+ parents; Amanda & Eddie 14 &13
Summary: about three weeks of sun, rain and fun. The biggest mistake made
was to not spend all nights on property. We are campers, and have not had
much experience with hotels/motels. The off property motel/hotels, and
those being chain-type outfits, were bad. There is no comparison between a
Disney room and an off-site room. I'd pay over twice the off-site rate to be
on-site. The reasons are quality, feeling of safety, and amount of activities
available to everyone. We found off site motels to be dirty, smelly, and in
poor state of repair. I am glad that we spent 9 days on property. We had
some strange weather. We knew the weather at this time of year, but there
was record rainfall, and cold. I still wouldn't go any other time of year.
This is not nearly as long as the mother of all reports, but I get windy for
me. The family has read and approved the contents. They were a bit concerned
when I mentioned anything negative, but not all things are positive, and if you
can learn by seeing what we ran into, all the better. I didn't focus a lot on
food.
We just lost a lot of weight before this trip, and didn't want to ruin our luck
too much while on vacation, although we did not want to diet during vacation.
We ate a lot off property even when we were on property as we found Disney
food to be expensive, and greasey. Better food could be had very close by on
route 192.
23-Dec. Saturday o'dark hundred [4:15 am]. Our friend come pick us up to
take us to South station to pick up the train. We had 5 suitcases and 5 carry-
ons. We had always made this trip by motorhome, so we never travel light.
All Aboard! the first change in plans is that Boston would not check the bags
in for Florida. So we had
to carry everything on. This turned out to be a blessing. A red cap saw all
the luggage and picked it up and us and preboarded us. This guaranteed that
we beat the boarding crowd and got seats together. With the bad weather
earlier in the week and Christmas rush, the trains were packed. The first
train
took us to Penn station in NYC. Penn station is dirty, ugly and strange to a
pack of country folks. Beggars were on us like fleas to a dog. Not to
mention those laying around on the floor. Luckily, there was a fenced off
area for ticketed folks to hide in. I did manage to take the kids out to see
the Empire State building.
There's something about a train.... We did do a lot of sight seeing from the
train. Pulling into NYC we
saw the Empire state building and Twin towers. And plenty of blight.
Something to see from the safety of a train, and something the kids never saw
before. The conductor was something of a tour director pointing out sights
along the way. In Washington, we saw the capital building, Washington
monument,
and Jefferson memorial. In Alexandria, we saw the Washington Memorial.
This was a nice time for night travel. There were a lot of Christmas lights
out.
Amtrak is no Disney. There were no great problems, but little ones. Like my
reading light was out.
They showed movies on the train, but my side of the train had no audio.
Their first solution was to turn off the video, but after a while they decided
it was better to only piss off half the train then the full train.
The end result is the conductor said that tough luck, too many people to move
anyone, not their job to fix the problem, get used to it. I think Disney would
have tried for customer satisfaction.
For the time you spend on the train, you do get to know your neighbors.
Likely ours were of the same political ideas, so the conversation was
interesting. It's funny to walk up and down the coaches to see how people
position themselves for sleep. Bar open till 12 midnight, plenty of people
take advantage.
I did get the Amtrak frequencies from the train personal so I could listen to
them on the way down.. It was funny to listen to some. One channel was
used for train self diagnosis while in route. It would periodically report the
condition of the train and how many axles it reported as having, train length,
etc. as it passed diagnosing points.
At 3:13 am we pass SOB, it is all light up, begging us to stop. I still think
they should stop for a couple hours so we could visit. But we do see the
lights. Then stop further down in Dillon. By 9AM on 12/24 we are in
Florida. Nope, no rest area stop for OJ, but they do serve fresh squeezed OJ
on the train. Very good. In fact we ate quit well on the train and it was a
positive experience. We were an hour late pulling into Orlando. Half hour
past the time I told Hertz to meet us. But they were there waiting for us.
On to the car and then to Days Inn & Suits on 192. We're tired and hungry.
early bed.
25-Dec. Christmas. Kids up early to open presents and off to my sister-in-
Laws place in Edgewater.
It looks like this is really going to be a white Christmas. The car is covered
with frost. I have to use my plastic room keycard to scrap it off the car's
windows. Need to buy a scraper.
Next stop is Manny's on Route 1 near Edgewater. A trip to Florida is never
complete without a trip to Manny's. It's a small gift shop that we always
seem to stop at. Don 't go a great distance out of your way just to stop in.
We had a nice lunch and then the first signs of trouble. My son locks the car
keys in the truck of our rental. We call Hertz, and since it is Christmas, and
they are understaffed, it's too bad. Luckily, we have Allstate motorist
insurance. We call them, and since it is Christmas and they are
understaffed... just
send them the bill and they'll pay it [they are supposed to locate help for
motorist in need].
We did find a local locksmith and he came right over. Demonstrated how the
car could be broken into in seconds with this homemade contraption. And
since its Christmas, $30. Need to buy a duplicate set of keys..
26 Dec. Tuesday Off to Sea World Day
Sea World has added a lot of new attractions since I went there last. It's
worth another look if you haven't been lately. Competition is good. The
employees measure up to cast members, the park is clean, and have some
interesting technological combinations. You could spend a couple days
seeing everything. They do offer a second day for $5.00 more. We didn't
have this built into our schedule, so we didn't take advantage of it. Worth
considering.
A bit of warning, the Shamu splash area. Believe them. We sat in the very
back of the splash area believing we were safe. after all, it's about 50
degrees out. they won't go out of their way to get everyone wet. nah. Then
we watch the whale line up on the other side of the audience area. I knew we
were dead. I try to get everyone to move out. No luck. Then the big one
lines up directly
in front of us. It was like a fire hose being sprayed on you . We were
soaked. we were ringing out water the rest of the shortened day. a bit of
good news/bad news. My son was given a ticket to one of the games. He
won. That was the good news. The bad news is that he won a stuffed animal
the size of a large whale. How we will get it home...It's a small world. I
was out shopping for food and ran into my boss at the local mall.
It's supposed to warm up soon...
27 Dec. Wednesday
A day of rest and shopping with a visit to Gaterland. Gaterland [rt. 441 near
Orlando] is OK, a bit pricey.
there's only so many ways you can present a alligator. And it was too cold
for them to want to do anything. And there is just so many times you can
bear to hear that they have a brain the size of a lima bean.
28 Dec. Thursday Universal studios.
Hey, no frost on the windshield - a regular heat wave! It reached 50 today.
Of all the discounts available, the Universal card gave the best deal. We gave
the other discount coupons to others in line. It's surprising to see people
buying any full price tickets anywhere. Anytime you buy admission, you
should be looking for a discount coupon. The universal fan club card also
brought us the best discount for our Hertz rental car.
Eddie and I rode Back to the Future. It was rougher than I had remembered.
Someone with a bad back surely should skip this one. They bounce you
around quite a bit, perhaps so you will ignore the plotless, sad film. If you
look other than straight ahead, you'll see the other cars moving around and
spoil the effect.
In Earthquake, both Eddie and Amanda were picked for grips. So they were
on stage for the earthquake demo. We ate over at the Hard Rock Cafe. We
got there about 12:30 and ate about 2ish. Nice meal, the cost for the four of
us was $65 [tip inc.]. It is rather noisy [music] and they did not have non-
smoking sections, although we were not bothered by smoke during the meal.
We had seen all the attractions in the morning. The crowds were large.
Universal is getting tired. They don't appear to be reinvesting money back
into it. An example is the earthquake ride. You can tell where everything is
going to major happen. The seams don't fit, the fire marks remain, it looks
old, and presented without steam. We'll probably skip this place for a number
of years before ever returning.
There were countless tour groups. White flags, yellow flags, and yes orange
flags and orange shirts.
29- Dec. Friday Wonders of Disney
Up early to get Eddie and Amanda off for their day at Wonders of Disney.
We have to drop them off at MGM. We tell the parking lot toll taker and he
waves us through. Seems like anyone could get away without paying for
parking here using this excuse.
Here's a description of their day from my son. There were 10 kids in their
group one did not speak English. He later got bit by a bee and left the
group. Their first stop was the building that Disney does auditions in. Both
of the children were in the showbiz magic program. The kids got to sing, act
and dance. Also they got to see the costumes get made, where all the wigs
were, and that most actors used wigs for uniformity in characters.
Off the TMK for lunch [on Disney]. Then into the tunnels. They pointed out
[among a lot of things] the sand bag storage area. They have only had to get
out the bags once, and that was during Andrew. Also Eddie questioned
about the castle and if it came apart for hurricanes, and was told only the top
spirals come apart for this purpose. They were then taken to see the floats.
They were told that the TMK road was soaked for a hour before the
fireworks for fire prevention. Then on to the Spirit of Pocahontas show.
They got to talk to the cast after the show and see how the stage operated.
Then on to a ride on Star Tours to fill in time. I was back at 3:30 to pick
them up.
While they were gone, Deb and I drove all around Orlando. I never realized
how long International Drive was. There is also a place with about a dozen
machines similar to newspaper dispensers that dispense coupon magazines.
Like I've said before, never buy anything down here without a coupon.
It was warm enough today to take off the jackets.
30 Dec. Saturday
A day of rest. Or nearly. It was hot enough for Amanda to go swimming.
Not a bad day at all.
We spent the rest of the day driving around and shopping. Went to a flea
market on rt. 192. We went off to look at Boardwalk and baseball on route
27 Down the road off rt. 4. It's gone. The big roller coaster, all the
rides, everything is gone. This is the last day in our 'suite' It has a
bedroom, living room, kitchen. the kitchen has a microwave, frige and two
burner stove.
They nickel and dime you. If you want dishes, pans, etc., then you have to
rent them. They provide an in-room safe and conveniently charge you $1/day
automatically to your room bill. TV coverage is bad. TVs are bad [perhaps
20 years old variety].
Now, if you've been wondering how I got this trip report done so soon, I'll let
you in on the secret: I took my laptop with me so I could keep in touch with
the office, and keep up to date with the notes.
As to eating out to date, there's been no stand out place, only average food at
average prices. On to the Disney vacation starting tomorrow.
31 Dec. Sunday All Star Resort
We got up early and packed. We were at All Star Music by 10 AM. We
checked in and were able to get into our room. Words can not describe this
place, nor any brochure. It's wild. And large. We were in the Broadway
section. The room is larger than I expected. Since this was the last day for
Blizzard beach, we headed over there. There was a light rain, but it was
warm. There were no people here. We had the place mostly to ourselves.
Certainly, no waiting for anything. A little later the sun came out and it
was a great day. The early rain most have scared everyone away. The kids went
down everything. I got suckered into going down the family raft ride. It
wasn't too bad until the sharp drop at the end when I was backwards. Eddie
was sitting opposite me in the raft [they are large] and he was facing down at
the slide through most of the turns. Wild ride. I guess I'd do it again next
time. Give me a year to forget this ride. About 2:30 the rains started heavy,
so we picked up and returned to the hotel. I had bought one of those
refillable mugs. They gotta loose money on that one.
Midnight came and found Deb and the kids soundly sleeping in bed. I went
out to center court along with everyone else that stayed at the resort, watched
the fireworks and laser shows. I was listening to the scanner and the parks
were mobbed. It cost an extra $90pp to be at Pleasure Island.
Listening to the scanner gives you another peek at backstage Disney.
Shortly after midnight someone was having a heart attack in Epcot. A bit
later a woman was having a baby in a Monorail car.
a fun filled night for all.
1-Jan Monday
Raining a bit this morning. We're not going into the parks today to avoid the
last of the crowds. The parking lot at ASR is filled with busses that are
being packed up with people going home.
We took the bus to TMK, it started to pour very hard. Took the monorail
over to the Polynesian Resort to have breakfast at the Corel Isle Cafe. I
wanted to try out the banana stuffed French toast I read about in a trip
report.
I didn't see banana stuffed French toast on the menu, but I did see Auntie
Kaui's Tonga Toast. This is sour dough stuffed with bananas and coated with
French toast mix and deep fried. Sounds like it could be the same stuff so I
ordered it. It was OK, but not the best breakfast I've ever had, and I
probably would not repeat. BTW, the OJ comes in a bottomless glass. I had
about 4 refills. Breakfast for the four of us cost $45. pricey. Not a place
I'd repeat. This was not a character breakfast.
after that we headed over to the Grand Floridian. I took the mono back to a
bus to pick up our car. It was raining to hard to bus hope for the family. I
returned with the car and we headed to Disney village to do some shopping.
So did everyone else. I talked with someone on the bus and they said TMK
was empty.
Everyone was at Disney village. It took a long time to get a parking space.
The stores, what is left of them, were mobbed. They tore down a lot of the
village during the rebuild. "World of Disney" is opening Fall of 96 and
promises to be the World's largest Disney Character superstore. Rainforest
Cafe will open this summer replacing Chief Mickey. They had a couple of
interesting spots in the walkways where water would burst up. A gentle kids
walkway and a more aggressive one to catch adults.
Toward evening the kids headed out on their own and Deb and I headed
toward Wilderness Lodge via bus then water launch. Wilderness lodge is big.
I'll take back what I said in my last trip report about it being ugly. It was
still raining hard. Too hard to look for our brick on the way. After we got
done at the Lodge, we headed over to Fort Wilderness via bus. First stop was
Trail's end buffertria so we could find out when the folk singer was going to
start. We never miss an evening or two with him during our stay.
He wasn't there. Trail's end turned into a regular sit down restaurant. We
head down to the trading post to do a little shopping. I find out from a cast
member that the singer was cut out of the budget. A big disappointment for
us. Disney is really going down hill in the campground. Also, they are
spreading their timeshare booths all over the place. They had a big booth in
the CG. I swear they'll be installing them in the bathrooms soon. It's
disgusting. I thought timeshare was bad off property. Disney is bringing this
venture to an al time low on property. Still raining hard we take the boat
form FW to TMK, then a bus back to ASM.
2 Jan Tuesday
Mickey calls at 6AM "gotta get going buddy, let's get up" EPCOT early
admission at 7:30 AM. We are in the middle of a bad storm, so we ignore
Mickey for a while. 3rd straight day of rain. about 7:30 it looks like it
will clear up. Weather forecast is not promising. But we head out. Bus to
TMK. On the way to TMK we come by an accident with one of the superbusses. It
appears as though it skidded through an intersection, then jackknifed and
ended up in a traffic island. Not damaged, and I don't think they were
carrying passengers. Our kids, now teenagers and not wanting to keep old
people's pace, nor go to EPCOT, split, we take the monorail over to EPCOT.
rain. We head for Spaceship Earth. Unlike the books that say go to the right,
bypass Spaceship Earth, we do opposite. You can easily do that when there
are no crowds. Low crowd week plus rain guarantee us run of the place. We
like the new ending of Earth, but are saddened by no Walter Cronkit and the
new music. We liked 'tomorrow's child'. the ending area has really changed.
They found a way to put slick Willie in the attraction. boo hiss. They also
made some PC additions to history. I guess it's OK to change history to be
PC. I'll let it be the exercise of the viewer to learn the changes least I be
called on not valuing differences. I went to make supper reservations and had
to go across the plaza. Same phone set up, different place. I could also get
timeshare information while I waited grrrrr.
Next off to Universe of Energy. Slight modifications. The beginning song
did not have any base in it, nor moving tiles. Wonders of Life next. We go
into the movie "making of Me" It's the first time for us. We were wondering
as the line ahead was full of kids. Very tastefully done. Then the rest of
Wonders followed by Horizons. Then the Last time to see the Current World
of Motion. It closes today. You can see the makings of the new construction
underway already.
Its about lunch so we head toward Mexico. bypassing Odyssey. I've never
seen this place open. Rain coat time again. We order Ensaldas set down and
the whole sky opens up. We were eating and it was like they were shooting
fire hoses down on us as we ate. And the rain stops. This becomes the drill
for the day. See how fast we can put on the gear, then take it off when the
sun comes out. We stop by the American adventure. "On Golden Wings"
can stir up the emotions. The Barbie show is gone.
When 5 PM comes we head over to the Biergarten for supper. This has
changed. You no longer can order your meal, you must have the [all you can
eat] buffet. They did not have the food that we would have ordered. Their
sample was like having a buffet at KFC and considering it American food.
The show was greatly reduced. The people who sat next to us came in, ate,
and left before seeing the show. This was another example of the
entertainment cutbacks we observed. Nothing that would grab first timers.
But noticeable things we come to expect and want when we return.
Last item on the agenda is seeing Journey into Imagination, my favorite
attraction. Thank God they haven't changed anything on this ride. Honey I
shrank the Audience line is the only line we see today.
My feet are wet. I need to get them dry. We head back to ASR. A tip or
two here: on wet days, take an extra pair of socks. And, take a hair dryer
with you. It could help dry out your shoes.
The kids finally check in about 9PM. They have been to every one of the
three parks and been on all major rides. TZTOT twice. They say I could
even take it. I hope, I've been wanting too, I'll see if I chicken out.
I notice Disney makes a big noise about the environment and caring. But I
guess a lot is just talk. Actions show that they continue to water with the
sprinkler system when we are getting record rain.
They have lit the parking lot over at Blizzard beach for the last two nights
even though it is now closed for the month, and there are no cars in the lot.
I know these are probably automatic systems, but if they really cared other
than lip service, they'd find a way to conserve.
Jan 3rd, Wednesday rest.
Goofy calls at 8:30 [In case your wondering, wakeup service uses the
characters to wake you up, and give you an motivational message, nice
touch]. We have breakfast in room. We brought a small cooler that holds a
quart of milk and a quart of OJ. We are not loosing money on these refill
mugs. Eddie takes our shoes down to a clothes drier and attempts to dry
them. I switch to my other pair of shoes. The sun is out! We take a bus to
TMK and attempt to locate our brick. We finally find it and take the
necessary photos and take the launch over to Discovery Island. After the
tour, we head over to Fort Wilderness to pick up our HDD tickets for 2 days
from now. Then onto Meadows trading post. A tip here is to check this
place out for discontinued Disney merchandise. They put t on sale at both
trading posts in the CG.
We bought the fixings for a picnic lunch and had one in the campground,
feeding the ducks the remainder of our lunch. We made instant friends.
From there, I took a bus to the market place and on into Pleasure Island. I
finally found a bus driver that will talk, the rest have been mutes up till
now. He wants to talk computers, I want to talk Disney, so we exchange
questions. I find out there were people on the superbus in the accident, but
none were hurt. Disney is trying to get out of those busses as they are not
working out. I did notice that they are experimenting with yet another type
of bus. It is two
busses in one, connecting in the middle. I don't know what routes they will
put that one on. At Pleasure Island, nothing but shops open, so I head back to
TMK to get pictures for our passes. Up till now we had operated on all old
passes. The person at Guest services takes the new passes I had and rips
them up giving me new ones. They are small and have a magnetic strip that
records your user id. There is no visible means of telling how many days are
left on the passes. To use, you insert the card into the turnstile, it reads
the card and spits it out the other side. The master database keeps track of
days used. For my own record keeping I plan on marking on the cards how many
days I've used Rain. 4th day. Time to head out to diner at Denny's on rt.
192. Nice supper. The kids go back to ASM to get rest for the next day, Deb
drops me off at Pleasure Island and she continues on shopping. I head for
Comedy Warehouse. 1st in line for the next show. And I get a seat front
row, stage left. Best seat I've ever managed to get.
After the show, I go over to Mannequins. I like this place, it is a place to
not miss. Tonight there were 5 techs managing the lights and sound. How they
get the lights to respond as if they were lasers is beyond me. I'd love to
have an hour at the equipment.
4-Jan Thursday TMK
Minnie wakes us up at 6 AM. We finish packing our bags, eat and call the
front desk telling them we're leaving, and that they need to get our bags over
to Wilderness Lodge. We then Drive over to Wilderness Lodge and
preregister. Take the Launch over to TMK Fantasyland is open early to
onsite guests. Amanda rides the Carrousel while Eddie goes for autographs.
The latest craze is to have them sign baseballs. Then off to Its a Small
world. We still Love it. Then Peter Pan, and since there is a few minutes to
kill, back to Small World. Then the race is on! The rope is dropped. I plan
on going on Splash Mountain [for the first time]. The kids tell me that you
have to run to get on. So we all run from Small World to Splash Mountain. Not
bad for an old man. We have only a 5 minute wait. It could have been
longer, I would have waited. The kids say it is no sweat, I can do it. I'm
not sure. Sure enough when we get to the logs, I get the front seat. I did
bring my rain poncho, which is very wise if you are going to be in the front.
The kids say there is a story line, I can't say, I spent the entire ride
waiting for the BIG DROP. It came. I waved down at Debbie who is safely
watching from the ground below. Then I look for the bottom. There isn't any.
Then it was all over. The Picture shows me looking down. I bought it so I
can prove to myself that I went on it. Ready for TZTOT? We do Pirates, then
Tike Birds,yes we still like that one. And this was the first time I actually
heard the audience sing with the birds.
Now over to Diamond Horseshoe Saloon. There are no reservations
anymore. You walk in, sit down, buy whatever you want [snacks, light
lunch] and you may hear a show. They vary them throughout the day.
Don't book on lunch here! a very small sandwich is $5.50. You couldn't fill a
2 year old with a $20 bill.
Nice show, but don't count on lunch. Next we head over to the Haunted
Mansion, then sat down to some Dole Whip. Perhaps it tastes better when it's
hot out. Now on to Mickey's Starland, then to TTA formerly WED people
mover. Park is now mobbed. We head back to WL to register. Head up to
our room and our luggage catches up with us. Plus some stuff we forgot to
pack up. Then off to Rambling brook for a light lunch followed by a nap.
They assign us a different room as our intended room is not ready. They had
put the other room number on our luggage tags. Boy, were we lucky that they
gave us the room we got when I saw the location of the other room.
Our room is large. In the entrance way there is a dresser, counter and mirror.
Then there is a large closet followed by an area that fits two suitcases
opened. The TV is inside a cabinet with a three drawer dresser. Then an area
with a table and two chairs. The bathroom is divided into an area with a
toilet and bathtub, and another area with a two sink vanity. There are two
queen beds. with a night stand in between. There is a slider that opens onto
a deck with two chairs and a table. We are on the fifth floor. We look out
onto the contemporary Hotel and TMK. Inside the lodge you overlook the center
where all the activity takes place. The huge fireplace raises up on one
corner. There are a lot of rocking chairs that you can spend a lot of time in.
After lunch and a rest we head out to MGM. We head into the Indiana Jones
show as the day we had scheduled to be in MGM, there will be a
cheerleading championship at the area so no Indiana Jones show.
We walk in and get right in, only problem is that it is standing room only and
the last show of the day. We end up staying, but not comfortably. Right after
the show we head for muppet 3d, but note no lines at Star Tours, so we walk
right onto the simulator. Then onto 3d. Deb's back has been bothering her so
she returns to WL, while we tour on. We do The Great Movie ride, it was
the end of the day and the CM didn't have much enthusian left. We walk
through the area that had the Christmas tree light display owned by the
Osborne family of Little Rock, Arkansas. The display has more than 2
million bulbs. We make our way down to the TZTOT There is a 20 minute
wait. I chicken out tonight. Maybe another day. We get back to WL, there
is a story teller in the lobby with a group of kids surrounding her.
5-Jan Friday
This is a rest day. I used it to explore the hotel and take pictures. Deb
does laundry. The kids go swimming. They have a game sheet listing clues to
hidden Mickeys around WL. We spend some time trying to locate them. If
you're in the area, ask guest services for the clue sheet. This is our 16th
wedding anniversary. It's also HDD night. We get over to FW about 3:30
and rock in the chairs until 5. Since they did away with the folk singer,
there is no warm-up. During the show, Eddie informs them that its our
anniversary,
so they get us up to dance while they sing "Let Me Call You Sweetheart".
Later in the show, I was chosen for Star of the show. Anyone who has seen
the show knows what piece that is. When we return, we find the hotel has
left a card and a basket of goodies wishing us a happy anniversary.
About 10 PM Eddie and I go swimming and into the hot tub. The pool is
great. The current is so swift it's nearly impossible to swim against. Even
if you're staying at another resort, you have to try this pool.
I look up the bricks of the other noters. We didn't find two , just could not
locate them. It's hard to locate bricks as they are not necessarily in
numerical order.
6-Jan Saturday
Mickey wakes up at 7 AM we eat a light breakfast in room. Deb and I head
out to EPCOT. Our first stop is 'Honey I shrank the Audience'. I never heard
Deb scream so loud. It's a good think the seats weren't full as she kept her
legs up on the seats in front through the rest of the show Then onto the
Land. This used to be Deb's favorite until they changed the boat ride. The
new Circle of Life movie is nice. We finish EPCOT with the Seas and head
out to MGM. We take the TGMR, then to the Pocahontas show. I never
knew Indians wore pantyhose. Deb's tired, so she heads back to WL for a
rest. I continue on to the backstage tour, and the Making of Toy Story. You
can skip this if you've seen anything about Toy Story on TV. The college
cheerleaders were in contest in the Indiana Jones area all day. I watched
some of the competition. Its a great show. I go by TZTOT. Maybe. I'll try
Monday. Maybe.
The kids had been on their own again today park hopping. They also went
back to the room for a nap.
I catch up with them and we go out to Denny's for supper, then Deb drops off
Eddie and I at EPCOT so we could try out the Indy Cars. I beat Eddie and
come in 1st place. We spend some time on the games, but find them very
lame. We go in for the tour of the future home theater. You can get a better
demo at Sears. I think Innovations is a waste.
With the exception of trips to Denny's, we have all been using the
transportation system with good luck.
Why drive when someone else will for you? It leaves you with greater
flexibility on where you can go next.
7-Jan Sunday
A day of rest. We get up late and head to Denny's for breakfast. Normally a
5-10 minute drive, it took us an hour today. This is the day for the WDW
Marathon. Most of the roads are blocked off. There we an expected 6,000
entries. We sure saw a lot of runners. Later, we saw a medal that each
person who finishes gets. It's nice. And it should be for 26.2 miles. If I
had only known about the marathon, I'd have run it. NOT. The detours did
prove interesting. We got to go behind TMK. See the back entrance to the
tunnels. Also we went by where the fireworks are deployed. I now know what
the kids mean when they reported that Disney soaks the roads for a half hour
before the fireworks. The area is just off the road and large. We go by the
monorail/train workstation. Along the way we saw several shirts that were
discarded as runners went on their way as well as the road littered with the
paper cups. We retraced the route after we got back and everything was
cleaned up. I could think of one moderator that might have liked getting one
of those shirts. I should have been think as we went by them in the first
place. We did a little shopping, and since it was raining [again], the
marketplace was full.
The only real bad thing about staying at the Disney resorts we've been in is
that maid service occurs very late in the day. If you go back to the room
early afternoon, you stand a good chance of being woke up for the maid to do
her work. This has occurred at both ASM and WL. I have seen the error in
my way. I should have spent the first week at ASM instead of being off site.
The cost would have been the same as the suite we had at Days Inn. With
that in mind, I have extended out stay at WL for an extra day.
I had been hoping that they'd tempt us with a reduced rate as they had when
Mike stayed here, but at least I got the same rate as the other days we stayed.
The ASM rate for us was $69, WL is $159.
They hold two tours of WL a day. We took the afternoon tour. They were
giving out basic facts like why they designs were as they are. That there are
728 rooms and 600 CMs in WL. They showed some more of the hidden
Mickeys. We went out to the smoke house for a tour and got samples of the
ribs. The tour also includes a trip to the roof observation deck, but it was
too windy so they wouldn't take us up there.
If you are staying at another resort, you might want to go over and get the
tour. They were holding the at 9:30 AM and 3:30 Pm. One interest piece of
info the CM also gave out was that Mrs. Eisner owns the catering company
that supplies food the CMs at WL. ?Keeping the profits in the family,
Micheal?
For supper, we went to Whispering Canyon Cafe. I didn't personally like the
food. You have to enjoy smoked, very smoked food/meat to enjoy. The
atmosphere was great. And they do have the water pistols. Trackr, the
waiter shot my daughter to make sure she was awake. We had the sampler.
This was all you could eat, but I did notice, everyone in the family had room
for desert [ a real indication of how well the family like the main course].
The bill, $95 for the four of us. Artist point cafe, also in WL features meals
for $20-$25pp.
8-Jan Monday, our last day in the parks.
We got up about 7ish and had breakfast in the room. First park today is
TMK and we take the boat over. It is cold, the coldest I've ever seen it down
here. The wind makes it worse. But we hear there is a blizzard back home,
so it isn't so bad afterall.
When you wander up main street, there are photographers that will take your
picture with the castle in the background [for a price-$9.40]. We smile for
the camera and head to Alien encounter. We haven't seen this yet. It's ok,
perhaps a D ticket. Then we head over to Dream Flight and COP, any where
to keep warm. The kids leave us to go to Space Mountain. We head on to
Mr. toad's Wild ride in get in Mat Badger's car. Then go onto TLK for it's
show. Nice. Now on to Pirates for one last ride. We've been watching for
hats to protect our ears. Didn't find any. The one ride I choose to bypass is
the Hall Of Presidents, I'll miss this one until the next election. We head
back to WL for lunch, hot coffee and a rest. The boat isn't operating as the
seas are too rough on Bay Lake.
The front desk left a message no our voice mail telling about extending our
stay for a reduced price. Unfortunately, we have no more days to give
Disney, but I call to get the reduced rate applied to my extension. This may
be a chancey tip for anyone staying on property at non-prime time. Make the
reservation for less than the time you are staying, then let them reduce the
rate to tempt you to stay longer.
Of course, if they are full, they aren't going to extend the invitation, and
you might not have a room, but at non-prime time, it might be worth the gamble.
After we rested, we take the bus to EPCOT - one last ride on the best ride at
WDW, Journey into Imagination. Then for a walk around the world with a
stop for a Funnel cake. Gotta watch out for those pigeons, they dive bomb
for those cakes. after the walk, we head back to the bus, and meet up with
the kids at the bus stop. They had done all the riding they wanted, and we all
headed back then onto supper at Denny's. This is beginning to sound like a
commercial for Denny's. It's just that it is close, economical, and basically
good food. After supper, we head back for a final shopping trip at the market
place. All day we have been trying to find hats with ear protection. All sold
out everywhere.
Eddie and I take a final swim in the pool and hot tub. We are alone. No one
else out at about 20 degrees.
Does make you move fast between the hot tub and hotel.
We never did get back to MGM, so I guess I'll have to wait until next trip for
TZTOT. Too bad, ya.
Nothing left now, just to do the laundry, pack up and head to the west coast.
We hear there might be a shuttle launch on Thursday morning, so we readjust
our schedule to be back on the east coast Wednesday night. We've never
seen a launch up close, so we want to try for this one.
This really concludes the Disney part of our trip. Deb has already asked me
when the next trip will be. A lot of construction going on. A lot of things to
look forward to for the next trip. And yes we will. I may have mentioned
some negative stuff in the report, but nothing that will keep us away.
I need to get back for a couple days before I start planning. We got a couple
days left on our 5 day super passes.
I think the orange shirts must only come out in force in the summer, cuase we
didn't get any strong visibility of those groups. I'll never understand why
people want to travel and live by the tour groups like we saw. We even saw
tour groups that communicated via radio and took movies of the group going
through the park. The Camera men would be out in front and the group
would go by them and wake at the cameras. Funny.
9-Jan Tuesday
We get up early and Deb does the laundry for the last time on the road. An
attempt is made at packing everything. No luck. We've outgrown out 5
suitcases and 5 carry-ons. Next stop is Tampa. We check into a [I'll not
repeat the name] motel. It looks nothing like the advertisement. When we go
into the room, we turn around and check out. They did give us our money
back, but we'd have left even if they hadn't. We head down the road and
check into a Day's Inn, figuring a National chain might be safer. The first
room they give us has a bad odor. The second one was tolerable. The Day's
Inn is within walking distance to Bush Gardens. After a short rest, we head
out looking for a department store to buy another suitcase. You have to see
our rental car. Or try to find the kids after we pack in all the luggage.
It'll be interesting to see where we stuff another suitcase.
10-Jan Wednesday
We get up and packup the car. There is no room left anywhere. We head
over to Bush Gardens.
Disney should be able to easily blow away Bush. Except for the
rollercoasters, and perhaps warmer weather. Bush has three rollercoasters
and is adding a forth. Kumba is billed as the largest and fastest roller
coaster in the southeastern US. It sure looks it. Eddie and Amanda go on all
three. Crazy kids.
We all do the Congo River rapids and the monorail. The Congo River ride is
interesting. 20 strangers sit down together. By the end of the ride 20 soaked
friends get off the ride. We also do the Quester, a simulator ride similiar
to Start Tours. Looks and feels like Star Tours. perhaps better than Back to
the Future. Its' permis is that you go with a professor to search for some
special gem. You fly, go below the earth, water. I expected to see C3PO
driving when they lowered the shield. One of the unfortunate things about
going off season is that many rides are closed 'to refurbish for our future
pleasure'. We had plenty of orange shirts and they also wore blue shirts.
Same attitude. Well, they perhaps spent more than me to get to this place.
Late afternoon we head over to the space [east] coast to get a motel for the
night in anticapation of the shuttle launch. I really should have had
reservations. We tried four chain motels and they were al full. We then
found a chain motel out by 95. It will remain nameless. Not a great place,
but we are tired, and want to be somewhat close. They say we will have to
go down by the shore if we want a better look.
Launch time remains 4:18 AM.
11-Jan Thursday
up at 3 AM to drive to get a good lookout for the launch. There are places
charging $5 to $15 to park by the shore to watch the launch. We drive over
to Dunkin Doughnuts for coffee and find a spot for free by HoJos in Titisville.
We are joined by others. A regular party develops. How can anyone
possibly drink at 4 AM? I have the only portable TV and the batteries are
running out. Several holds later and we get a great show. If you are ever in
the area for a launch you have to go watch one. and the view over the water
at night is something you can't describe. We go back to the motel for some
more sleep. At 9:30 we're packed up and ready to go. If we had had a better
motel, we'd have spent more time on the east coast, but decide to move over
to Orlando for the rest of the day and be ready to get rid of the car and hop a
train.
We decide to stay at TravelLodge on 192 near Disney as they have in-room
hot tubs and waterbeds. We could use a good rest before getting on the train.
They kids opt for Taco Bell, we go to Captain Nemo's.
We had a Maine Lobster and prime rib combination. The atmosphere was
fair, but the price and food were good. Captain Nemo's is located about 2
miles out on 192 in Kissimee.
Deb does a final load of laundry before doing the final packing for our trip
home. We hear we will meet another blizzard on the way home. We'll see
how our luck runs.
12-Jan Friday Time to head home.
Finally. We return the car to Hertz and get a ride over to the train station.
Trains are running late. Another bad ohem. A thousand 1st graders are at the
station for their ride on a train. Our train. Did you ever listen to a
thousand
kids in a large hallow type building? We now have 6 suitcases and 6 carryons
including the mammoth Wally the walrus that Eddie had won. Unlike the
promises, we can not check the luggage through to Boston. Only to NYC.
The train comes in, they show us to our sleeper car. I paid an extra $200 for
a 4 bed room for our trip home. Our second big mistake. They lead us to a
telephone booth size room. We could not even get the carry ons in. true. So
they upgrade us to a room the size of maybe two telephone booths. But we
could at least stow the carry-ons. But there was no way the four of us could
ride 243 hours in this room. And since we paid the extra $200, we were no
longer eligible to sit in the lower class coach [ours was considered 'first
class']
I negotiate with the head guest relations person to sit in coach with my
daughter until they fill up- they never did. Of course the porter in the coach
did not like the idea and he spend every minute trying to make our lives
miserable. There is something about a crew that can make or break a trip.
Not there are only three very small seats in the room, and they booked four of
us. Go figure.
There is nothing wrong with coach, when we go again, we'll do coach.
This was during storm time, our train gets 1.5 hours late. The only train
running on time was the train that we were to connect with in NYC. It was
on time, it even passed our train as we were headed up the coast. That meant
a longer stay in NYC waiting for a new train that was late itself. NYC was a
zoo with trains taking up the slack with air traffic delayed. We now had to
walk around with those 12 pieces.
And when we got on the train that was completely filled, I had to stow 12
pieces of luggage/carryons throughout out the car. The train running between
NYC and Boston is not nearly as comfortable as the long distance train.
But we do get home.
|
| 491.2 | quick highlights | CSC32::B_GRUBBS | | Mon Jan 22 1996 18:47 | 51 |
|
Just back last night, and my initial impressions follow. I'll be
writing a full trip report in the next week or so
1) "A Bazillion Brazillions" to quote one member of out party......we
experienced en masse attacks on every attraction by these groups. Whenever
we saw a flag hoisted above a large group of people heading where we were
going, we made sure to hurry up ahead of them. They could easily turn a
'no wait' to a 15 minute wait.
2) January crowds are amazingly light during the week, and much heavier
on the weekend. Satrudays when they do spectromagic the MK is a total
zoo. I recommend heading to Epcot on weekend mornings where the crowds
are mor manageble and only got to the MK for specific events like
spectromagic. To give you an idea of crowd differences, we rode Peter Pan
in less than 10 minutes on a Monday moring at 10:30am. That same ride on
Saturday morning at 10:30am was well over a 40 minute wait. Locals must
get a heck of a deal during off-season cause they show up in droves on the
weekend.
3) Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Resort was a great place to see
characters for dinner or breakfast, and the food was good too.
4) After 3 days of walking the path from the Contemporary to the MK,
and seeing people pointing out 'their' stones, I've decided to get
one for our aniversary wedding date, and then one for each new
child's birthday as they are born (first one is coming in May!).
5) Illimunations is nothing to sneeze at in terms of fireworks when
none of the other parks have them. We saw it three times and
enjoyed the fireworks portion more each time.....not to mention that
on a January weeknight you can have you pick of viewing spots
right up to 5 minutes before it starts.
6) The Mickey Mania parade is now steadfastly my favortie parade of
them all. Spectromagic is still neat, but who can argue with a whole
parade dedicated soley to the Mouse himself?
7) We waited for the most opportune day to go to Typhoon
Lagoon when the weather would be warmest. When we got their we found
out they heat the water in the slides, wave pool, and castaway creek so
that it doesn't matter. The water temps averaged 73-78 degrees the day
we went.
7) For you penny press maniacs there are now penny presses tucked away
in many little corners and shops in the Magic Kingdom. One really
unique one at the Tower of Terror presses a quarter....
|
| 491.3 | Quick Report | BRAT::STEVENS_M | | Wed Jan 31 1996 20:20 | 176 |
| January 25 - 29
Ramada Maingate
My wife and I
Reason for going: Indy 200 Race at WDW
I'm just going to touch on a few observations that I jotted down while
there this past weekend. I'm returning in April and I promise I'll do
a close relative to the Mother of all trip reports.
Anyway, here goes....
Flew Delta roundtrip (non-stop) from Boston to Orlando. On-time
service. Both flights the plane was full and they were looking for
volunteers to switch flights for a free roundtrip ticket. Both times
I couldn't get my wife to do it. Leaving Boston at 7:30am, the next
flight would have been leaving at 12:30. She wanted to get there.
Coming home it was a late flight and we would have had to stay in the
airport or get a room.
The speedway is close to the TTC so that you could park for the race
and then walk to the monorail or ferry to the Magic Kingdom or EPCOT.
The parking trying to leave after the race was pretty bad. If anyone
has been to or heard of the problems with trying to get out of the
NH speedway after the Winston Cup race, you'll know what this is like.
The other things with the track is that although the track itself is
permanent, the grandstands and toilets were not. My wife did not care
for that (neither did I really).
Food was an issue as there were no offerings for people watching fat
grams. Grease was definitely in vogue...Also, souviniers. Disney was in
charge of the souviners like T-shirts, pins, hats, programs, etc. Many
items sold out well before the day of the race. Race fans were not
happy about this. Even stuff in the park commemorating the race was
sold.
On the positive side, the staff was very ready to assist guests and the
production was first rate Disney. From comments that many were echoing
down there is that most will be back next year. They were also sure
that Disney would take care of the few glitches about parking, toilets,
etc.
Aside from that, my wife and I used the 4 1/2 days to scout around in
the parks in preparation for our family vacation. It was a great time
to figure out where to try to sit for the Toy Story parade, or to watch
the Fireworks and Tinkerbell at the Magic Kingdom. Which of the new
attractions to hit absolutely first with the kids, and which ones to
save for a shorter line. And even where to eat that they might enjoy
that we haven't tried before.
* The cast members seemed even more friendlier than I remember. I
didn't run into anyone of them that wasn't smiling and acted like they
were being bothered by a question. In fact they went out of there way
to help guests, including me with answers to questions about the
restaurants, attractions, et al.
* Big Thunder Mtn. is still closed and will be until early-mid
February.
* My wife was dissapointed in Alien Encounter. She had it built up that
she'd be terrified to know end, and when she survived she thought it
was missing something. I thought it was good, but I too thought it
would be more of a terrifying experince given the warning signs and
height limitations to get in.
* Honey I Shrunk the Audience is a must see. It far out does Captain EO
and the previous 3D's with the exception of Muppet 3D. It's good and
full of suprises that I won't tell. Small kids may find a couple of
parts frightening however.
* I like the boards in the Parks stating wait times and giving updates
as to when attractions would be open. This saves some time from trying
to run to an attraction to find out its a 45 minute wait and you have
dinner reservations in 30 minutes.
* The Pocahontas stage show was very good. I enjoyed it almost if not
as much as Beauty and the Beast. Nice production on this one. I'd
recommend it for all. The only negative - They have 2 trees that are in
front of the stage that may cause you to have an obstructed view. These
need to be moved and that was relayed via a suggestion to the cast member
who was ushering the crowd.
* They've added a small museum at the end of the Backlot tour.
Sponsored by the American Film Institute it carries movie artifacts and
displays, some of which were already on the tour. Others like Clark
Gable's original script from Gone With the Wind I hadn't seen before.
* The Toy Story parade was very good, but I wished it was a bit longer.
It was a fun one to watch. I would recommend getting to the curb and
getting a good view.
* Mickey Mania Parade - I thought this was the best parade I've seen
with the exception of SpectroMagic. However, this one is fun and upbeat
where I find SpectroMagic to be more formal and majestic. I like the
fact that more of the characters interact with the crowd and they are
not all perched on floats.
* Character appearances - I don't know if it was me or what but they're
were more characters everywhere than my previous trips. I saw Donald
Duck more in 2 days than in the 5 times I'd been there previously. In
EPCOT, Disney Studios and Magic Kingdom all of them, even Mickey
himself was out and about.
You know what's good about that too; watching kids from 1 to 92 light
up when they are with a character. It's truly one of the pleasures to
see.
* The Lion King in the Magic Kingdom was a bit dissapointing to us as
well. I didn't think it was on par with the Little Mermaid, and I would
not wait over 45 minutes to view it, although I thought the pre-show
with Rafikki was good.
* Innoventions was good, but the 4.00 to race on the Sega race cars,
and a long wait to try the Virtual Reality were downers.
* Spaceship Earth's update to the end was better than the original I
thought, but I to miss Walter Cronkite and Tomorrow's Child.
* I like the changes to Carousel of Progress. This was my daughters
favorite when she was eight our first time at WDW. They've updated it
with the new song and ending and it did not dissapoint at all. For
those hot days, this is still a cool place to relax and be entertained
while resting the feet.
* Food - We had two dinners in the Parks. One at Chef Mickey's at the
Contemporary and the other at the Norway Pavilion.
* Do Chef Mickey's...The food was better than average, the service was
great, and Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Chip and Dale entertain each
table. This was very good. We had 5:30 reservations on Friday and
it was not too crowded. A wide variety of food from Prime rib and Lamb
to Pork, Snapper and other dishes. Appetizers, and oh the desserts.
We also had the buffet at the Norway pavilion. This was a great way to
sample their food. It was good, but I know my kids would not
necessarily enjoy all of the food like peppercorn mackeral or
cold meat salad.
* The Comedy Warehouse was a lot of fun as well. The improv comedians
were very funny and it was a show that all audiences could enjoy. The
only thing I found was that I wish it was a little longer. I had a 20
oz beer and didn't finish it by the time I was served and the show ended.
Maybe I'm just out of practice too. 8^)
We also went into 8trax a 70's music bar and that was fun too. This bar
replaced the Cage, and still has the same interior. It did get croweded
by 10:45 or so in there.
Planet Hollywood was also pretty good, with just above average food and
a collectors dream of course for atmoshpere.
* My wife's list of top 5's:
- Tower of Terror - go on it...If she can take it anyone can, and
she loved it. I did too.
- Honey I Shrunk the Audience
- Chef Mickey's - see above.
- Splash Mountain and Space Mountain
- Mickey Mania Parade
I know it was short, but this was only a warm up for April.
Mark Stevens
|
| 491.5 | inappropriate device type | WMODEV::GAGLIARDI | | Fri Feb 09 1996 12:20 | 10 |
| Ed
Tried copy and got the following.
copy/l HYLNDR::user$3:[badger.disney]*.gif []
%COPY-E-OPENIN, error opening HYLNDR::USER$3:[BADGER.DISNEY]*.GIF; as
input
-RMS-F-DEV, error in device name or inappropriate device type for
operation
|
| 491.6 | repost of photos for .1 trip report | HYLNDR::BADGER | Can DO! | Fri Feb 09 1996 12:27 | 47 |
| an addendum to the trip report in .1 photos from the trip.
The Badger Family 1995-6 WDW trip photo album.
I took over 9 rolls of film on our trip. I don't have enough disk space to
share them all! But here are a few of our collection.
They are in .GIF format and can be viewed with a GIF viewer. They can be
found at HYLNDR::USER3$:[BADGER.DISNEY]
typical size is 40Kbytes each, the one large one is MKFAM at 200KB.
Quality was sacrificed to keep the size small.
These photos are for personal viewing only.
README.TXT This file.
ASMB.GIF All Star Music Resort. A view of the Broadway section.
ASMT.GIF It's the little details that make a stay at Disney worth the
price. This is a photo of the luggage truck. It looks like a
piece of luggage. It is used to transport luggage around the
resort.
BB.GIF Blizzard Beach. The BIG slide.
BRICK.GIF A photo of our brick in the Walk Around the World.
mickey.GIF A photo of Mickey hugging Eddie and Amanda at MGM.
MKFAM.GIF Disney has photographers that take pictures of you at the park.
This is the Badger Family with the Castle in the background.
Yes, it costs money.
POCO.GIF Pocohaunts talking with grandmother tree at the stage show in
MGM.
smount.GIF I'm in the log coming down splash mountain.
WLFP.GIF Photo taken from the 7th floor balcony looking down at the
fireplace in WL.
WLTP.GIF Eddie standing by the Mickey totem pole in Wilderness Lodge.
|
| 491.7 | Trip report for the Palmasons | SHRCTR::JPALMASON | | Thu Feb 15 1996 11:41 | 519 |
| 491.8 | Abrams Trip Report | 36722::ABRAMS | Curl up with a good CD-ROM | Tue Feb 20 1996 19:00 | 585 |
| Bill & Diane Abrams
T R I P R E P O R T
February 3 - 121, 1996
Veni, Vidi, Micki: I came, I saw, I Mickeyed.
A Brief Summary
---------------
This was a combination trip: Pleasure and Business, in that order.
Diane won her company's sales achievement award, which is an
annual event held somewhere fun, warm, or both. Her event was from
Wednesday through Sunday; we added Saturday through Wednesday on
the front end. Also, a friend from Diane's office, Karen, went with
us.
This trip report is organized as follows:
- A brief summary of our itinerary
- Topics of interest, including
- Weather
- Hotels
- Roadways
- What's New
- The 25th Anniversary
- Day by Day
The Trip in a Nutshell
----------------------
Saturday: We traveled and rolled in slowly.
Sunday: Went to Busch Gardens.
Monday: Took it easy.
Tuesday: Went to EPCOT.
Wednesday: Transition day, took it easy.
Thursday: Business meeting, then a Behind the Scenes Tour. A private
evening at the Magic Kingdom.
Friday: Business meeting, then afternoon at SeaWorld. Bagged out
of business dinners to have our Valentine's day dinner early.
Saturday: All day Magic Kingdom, sort of. Business gala night.
Sunday: Went home.
Flew USAir Rochester, NY to Orlando, through Baltimore each way.
The "nutshell": A 4 door Toyota Corolla from Hertz that just barely
fit the three of us and our luggage!
Stayed at Summerfield Suites in Lake Buena Vista for the first
4 nights, then at Disney's Contemporary Resort for 4 nights, in
a tower room, with a view of Bay Lake. The Contemporary was
paid for by Unisys!
Weather
-------
If you've been reading my trip reports over the past years, you need a
new hobby. You may also recall that I took my sister to WDW in January
of 1994, and my brother in January 1995. On both of those trips, Florida
hit a "cool" spell, even for a typical January. I figured the odds must
be with me for at least an average temperature this time... but apparently
February is a whole new ballgame. Florida had it's coldest temperatures
in threeee years. (see, I'm still shivering). The high Sunday
was 46, plus a wind chill in the teens. We toured Busch
Gardens that day! Monday, it reached 50, then Tuesday it
reached 55, Wednesday it was about 60, Thursday it was 65,
Friday it was 70. Only on Saturday was it in the 70's. On our
departure day, it actually felt warm in the morning for the
first time.
Hotels
------
The Summerfield Suites was convenient for us because it was
close to WDW, and had two-bedroom suites for a reasonable price
which was even better when they offerred Diane a travel agent
discount. There was a center Living Room with galley kitchen
behind it. A couch and a cushy chair, TV and VCR. Full size
fridge, microwave, stove/oven, dishes, dishwasher,
coffeemaker. Dinette table. It's a big enough area for four
people. Off each side is a bedroom -- one with king bed, one
with two doubles. Each has a closet and full bath, and a TV.
Be careful not to get confused with the Summerfield Suites on
International Drive -- be very specific about Lake Buena
Vista. It is located off the I-4 exit. Head north, past the
entrance to Disney Hotel Plaza Blvd./Crossroads Plaza. Continue
past the entrance for Vista Plaza, then watch on your right for
the Eckerds Drug store. Turn right toward the drug store, then
immediately make a left into the hotel. The hotel has a free
continental breakfast, a deli and convenience shop which is
open late, 24 hour laundry (good facilities), a nice pool, and
a jacuzzi tub at one end of the pool. It's within walking
distance of about a dozen places to eat, too. Buses run to
area attractions each day -- we saw a lot of people use these
buses.
The Contemporary is pretty much the same as ever, but with a
brand spanking new pool area. They were still doing some noisy
construction between the pools and the hotel, but a narrow
walkway gets you out to the pool and dock. The pool is almost
mickey shaped, but not quite. It has three main round areas.
There are two jacuzzis fit in to the plan. There is also a
modest water slide. It starts from a height of about 15 feet
so it's similar to the slides in other newer hotels at Disney.
We were given room 4304, which is on the 9th floor, facing Bay
Lake, about four rooms from the south end.
Roadways
--------
The Greenway extension is nearing completion. It will go from
its current end at International Drive South across the other
new road, cross over US192, wrap around behind Celebration, and
end with a new intersection on I-4 about 2 miles south of
US192. This will get a lot of traffic for the Airport and
points East off of I-4 and the Bee Line.
The other new road is a connector to WDW from Florida's
Turnpike. It starts at the Kissimmee entrance to the turnpike,
heads west parallel to US192 but to the North. It crosses over
I-4 and enters WDW just south of MGM Studios. It crosses World
Drive (and has a fairly full intersection with it) and
continues west to end at Buena Vista Drive between Blizzard
Beach and All-Star Resorts. In the not to distant future, it
will continue on a bridge across Buena Vista Drive and become
the main entrance to Disney's Animal Kingdom.
What's New
----------
Work is proceeding for Disney's Animal Kingdom (note subtle
name change...the original releases called it the Wild Animal
Kingdom, but everything we saw was just Animal Kingdom.)
The entrance is as I described above, and it stretches all the
way up to the "South Service Area" which is to the west of the
Car Service Center near the Magic Kingdom. Still scheduled for
1998, their first animal habitats will be ready for arriving
animals as early as this spring. More on how I know these things
later.
Disney's Coronado Resort is in progress. Ground clearing is
taking place along the North side of Buena Vista Drive between
World Drive and Blizzard Beach. This places it almost across
the Street from Blizzard Beach. It will be Disney's first
mid-priced convention hotel.
In EPCOT, GM's World Of Motion is recognizeable only by it's shell.
Inside it is gutted (you can see far inside the opening that
the carsused to go up). Outside there is a decorative steel
structure going up over the walkways out in front, and a thing
that looks like a track that circles the building at a heightof
about 30 feet, but departs from the building in back -- so that
it comes from and returns to an area which is behind the
building. Since we know that theme will be new car testing, I
am hopeful that it will be some kind of cool ride.
I got my first look at Alien Encounter...with no wait! One of
the convention events was a private party in Tomorrowland on
Thursday evening (more later.) The park had closed at 7pm and
we had it to ourselves from 8:30 to 11:30. I was sent with
someone else's husband to check it out first. We were seated
at the end of a row and so did not get the entire effect. We
tried to talk all the others on the second time, but only got
some of them (Diane not included.) This time we got the full
effect... ewgh. Overall it's a good presentation with a good
storyline. Listen for lot of puns in the video in the first
part. It seems to me that in crowded seasons the wait will be
incredibly long.
The Wedding Pavilion is done and fits in nicely with the other
areas on Seven Seas lagoon. While we were there, we saw a
wedding party somewhere among the resorts almost every day.
They were getting set up to broadcast Live! with Regis and
Kathi Lee. The week after we were there they did their show
with a wedding every day live from WDW. The production center
was in a meeting room of the Contemporary Resort. I
believe everything from the Wedding Pavilion was wired right to
that room and the producers sat there. From there the fiber
optic cables go to the Vista Communications Center and are
uplinked to the network.
Boardwalk resort is looking good...but it's hard to believe they
will open this summer. There's a lot to do yet!
If you're interested, there is a visitor center at
Celebration. We didn't get over there but if you want to go
then get to US192 just east of I-4. At the traffic light in
front of the Hyatt, turn right.
Disney's Old Key West Resort -- another new resort? No,
they've renamed Disney's Vacation Club and changed all the
signs. They are either trying to de-emphasize the membership
aspects or they needed to differentiate it from the other
vacation club properties.
The days of resort hopping for those of us who like to drive
around the roads of WDW may be drawing to a close. Security
gates are popping up everywhere. You can talk your way past
them if you want to go to a restaurant, or even it you just
want to look at the place they will let you in. But it's a
hassle. Here's where there are new gates: The road to
All-Star Resorts; The entrance to Old Key West, The entrance to
the Disney Institute. I imagine that we will see more of them...
The Shopping Village is still undergoing work, too. Beside the
expansion (most of which is to the west past the Theatre) there
is work in two areas: The former Chef Mickey's was torn down
and is being built from the ground up as a new Rainforest Cafe
(a celebrity chain restaurant). The center entrance (where
guest services used to be) is being rebuilt into a two-story
building which will house the new Disney shop and a a sports
shop.
Chef Mickey's has taken quite nicely to it's new home in the
Contemporary Resort Concourse. Both breakfast and Dinner are
very lively events. I caught the staff having their own lunch
and practicing games to play with kids. In fact, I caught it
on tape...until they caught me taping and started hamming for
me. Every 30 or 40 minutes, a recording announces that mickey
will visit soon, and then there's a 15 minute party with a
whirlwind visit from Mickey and Minnie. It's all very Mickey
Mouse Club like. I got to listen to it, oh, about 15,000 times
since it came up to our room all morning and all evening.
The Tour
--------
A late entry on the list of activities that were set up for the
Unisys convention was an "Innvations" tour. There was little
detail, so we asked them to find out more. When they got a
fact sheet, it looked remarkably like the full day "Keys to the
Kingdom" tour -- but an abbreviated version. We signed right
up. They took us to a conference room to brief us and give a
short introductory talk. We were two busloads, with two guides
to each bus so that there would only be about 20 people per
guide when out walking. We headed out to the South service
area, which is out to the west of the car care center. We
drove past the waste reclamation center (this is your cue to
say "No sh__!") which is three huge sheds covering curing
piles of dung. Oh, and about a million birds.
Nearby are the greenhouses. We had a walkaround stop there,
and saw all the topiary growing in progress. There are three
kinds: Stuffed, which are stuffed with a growing mixture like
peat moss and covered with vine-like plants; Formed, which are
grown in large pots and formed and trimmed to the wire forms;
and in place, which are trimmings made to already planted
bushes and trees. Oddly enough, nearly all the annuals planted
in WDW are supplied from outside WDW. There are millions
of them planted each year.
Next stop: Laundry. We went to the state of the art laundry
facility in the support area north of the Village marketplace.
This is also where the consolidated warehouses, Vista
Communications, and other similar support services are located.
We walked through an observation deck to see the end of a
shift. They process the resort laundry (sheets and towels) but
not food service linens. Also, All-Star Resorts have their own
laundry. It's a highly automated facility. Bags of linen are
carried on conveyors and washed and dried very quickly. A
300lb bag of towels gets dried in something like ten minutes!
Our next stop was the staging area behind the Magic Kingdom
which is located behind Splash Mountain. Here they store all
the parade stuff and also step off many of the shows. We saw
several dance practices in progress. We studied the floats and
costumes for Spectromagic -- the floats seem so cheesy and
fake, and the costumes are really heavy from lights, wires, and
batteries. The floats are extremely heavy on the bottom from
as many as a hundred car batteries for larger ones. The smaller
ones are usually modifed golf carts. Up close, they are simply
pieces of wood painted black (sloppily in some cases) and then
thousands of christmas lights with plastic reflectors are
mounted in them. The variations that are wired together are
activitied by simple timers or sometimes by radio receivers
that activate from transmitters placed at specific locations
along the parade route.
Our last stop was the parking lot behind Main Street USA on the
Space Mountain side. The backs of the Main Street buildings
contain some offices on the second floor. Security, for
example, is located on the second floor here. We, on the other
hand, went down...and into the Utilidors. It was so cool.
No pictures were allowed. The utilidors look very similar to
the corridors that connect buildings in large manufacturing
plants. They are about twenty feet wide with lots piping and
wiring trays mounted to the sides and ceiling. Also, there is
a large diameter pipe which is the centralized trash disposal
system. It runs every 15 minutes, and we heard its deafening
sound once. All that drink ice rattles down to a central
collection point.
We saw the entrances to many areas of the Magic Kingdom. At
one point our guide was showing us a cawalk to a door. "I know
it's hard to believe," he said, "but that's where Cinderella
goes to make her appearance. "That's a door to an elevator
which goes up to the castle." he continued. All that, as a
Cinderella walked up from behind him to head to that door. We
saw many other people on their way to or from their character
appearances, most carrying their heads. There are signs
everywhere to remind the cast members how to behave, and how to
prevent breakdowns in customer relations. We walked up some
stairs and out a door next to a shop across from the castle.
From there we walked down Main Street, and toward the green
fence near the Camera Shop. There's an opening there. If you
just walk around it, you are in the back lot where we parked to
go in. This was quite an experience.
The 25th Anniversary
--------------------
Speaking of extraordinary experiences, how about those plans
for the 25th anniversary? You haven't heard? Well neither has
anyone else. I asked a lot of people, and got the same
answer: It's a big secret. They must be making their plans
somewhere offsite to keep it such a secret. Finally, though,
there was a leak -- to the Orlando Sentinal. According to
several cast members, it was the first such article to be
written. Here are the highlights of what it had to say:
Headline: Disney to Kick off Gala Blitz
Subline: Newly acquired ABC figures prominently in the
company's plans for WDW's 25th anniversary celebration.
- They are planning an unprecedented marketing campaign for a
15 month celebration (October 96 to December 97)
- They hope to attract millions of visitors by inviting 100
million people (100 million is the number who have come to WDW
since it opened)
- WD Atractions President Judson Green promised the festivities
would outshine all previous celebrations
- The major blitz will start Labor Day, in New York, with the
start of a tour of a walk-through vehicle called the
Mouse-O-Meter. It will tour 25 top markets in the US and
Canada
- Reach 38 million households through mass mailings and online
services
- 21 weeks of TV advertising
- Special newspaper sections in 20 markets in October and
January
- A two-hour TV special in January
- Promos with ABC Stars
- Special programs on ESPN, Lifetime, and A&E Biographies
- A Good Morning America search for past visitors
- Promotions with partners Burger King (hey, where's my
brother? I have questions...) McDonald's, Coca-cola, AT&T,
American Express, Nestle, Kodak, and General Motors.
- Magic Kingdom: A homecoming parade and daily pep rally,
welcome back center, castle decorations, and an updated
Mickey's Starland.
- EPCOT: A new anniversary themed IllumiNations show (yay!),
updated Universe of Engergy, GM's test track thrill ride.
- MGM: Hunchback of Notre Dame stage show; Backstage tour
revamp for 101 Dalmations (huh?)
- A special media event Sep. 30 to Oct 3, including: 10,000
national and international journalists from radio, TV,
newspapers, and magazines; Celebrities flown in on a charter
flight; a downtown Orlando "thank you" parade; and an Orlando
Arena party with special guests (expect invitations to
President Clinton and Olympic athletes.) The 10,000
journalists is double the number that came to the 15th
celebration.
- Roy Disney will re-dedicate WDW in a re-creation of his
father's dedication 25 years ago.
- Fantasia's Sorceror Mickey is the mascot for the 25th
celebration
Other Details
-------------
A day by day version of events, observations, commentary, and anything
I can think of to make this thing at least ten pages....
--Saturday--
We flew USAir from Rochester to Orlando via Baltimore. We were lucky
to have an uneventful trip to get there -- another of the string of
East coast storms left 6 inches of new snow in Baltimore, and only
one runway was open. We slipped in and out before the crowds, and
the delays, arrived.
We picked up our rental car from Hertz. Many car rental firms have
moved off-airport in Orlando -- get the specifics before you arrive.
There is an additional fee tacked on to car rentals for off-airport
access to the airport. Apparently that shifts the costs to the
consumer -- lower rent, access fee charged to consumer. Diane's
name should have "been in lights" but they messed up our Priority Gold
reservation.
We didn't plan anything for our arrival day...we had lunch at the
International Drive Bertucci's (a treat for us, we don't have
them in Upstate New York), shopped a little, then went to check
in to the Summerfield Suites.
--Sunday--
We drove to Busch Gardens and spent the day walking and
shivering. Their hot chocolate wasn't very hot. They put out
hundreds of propane heaters which are tall, with reflectors at
the top to reflect the heat down at nearby animals or
restaurant diners (remember almost all food places use outdoor
terraces.) Many animals were kept inside for the day.
Admission was reduced because of the weather. It didn't take
long to get all the way through the park. They have a new kids
playground with giant climb-through mazes and stuff, and adults
are allowed, too.
Dinner was going to be at Planet Hollywood, but a
70 minute wait outside was too much to take, so we went to the
Fireworks Factory. Our collective opinion: Way to expensive
for what you get. Diane wanted one of their non-alcoholic
drinks make with alcohol. "Sure!" she said. We got charged as
if she ordered the non-alcoholic drink, $3.95, plus an
alcoholic drink, another $5.95. $10 for one drink?
We had a great dessert, though. We went over to the lounge in
The Beach Club Resort which is next to Ariel's. We ordered
coffee and desserts from Ariel's selections.
--Monday--
We took it easy. Diane's father and mother-in law came to
visit from their winter home in Hobe Sound, FL near Port St.
Lucie (East coast.) We paid for a room for that night for
them, took them to lunch at Whispering Canyon at Wilderness
Lodge, and to Dinner at the Cape May Clambake at the Beach Club
Resort. They were quite impressed by it all, since they had
only done the drive in, park, do the park all day, and leave
thing.
--Tuesday--
Our visitors left for home and we headed for EPCOT. We parked
at the Beach Club and went in at 11:00 when World Showcase
opened. We toured around the world and then into FutureWorld.
The food outpost that is located near the African themed shop
is now a Jamican themed food outpost. It has Red Stripe Beer,
and Jamaican style grilled meats. Yum. Next to WDW, Jamaica
is our favorite place to visit. We love the culture, music,
and food.
Speaking of Red Stripe Beer -- there's been a policy change
about alcohol. They now allow vendors to sell beer, wine and
drinks like dacquiris to be sold and consumed in the open
areas, not just in the restaurants.
We saw most of our favorites, and had lunch in the Land's food
court. In late afternoon we were heading out of FutureWorld
and found the Jamaican Junkanoo bus (one of their double
deckers) with a Reggae band on the top and a bar on the bottom!
Two guys were out in front dancing up a storm and trying to
drag the crowd into it, with limited success. But, a lot of
people stopped to enjoy it (like us) and I didn't see many
people pass by without entering a reggae-dance step at least
once...
We had an early dinner at Arial's. It was as wonderful as the
past times. I think this is the best restaurant at WDW.
--Wednesday--
Diane seems to have caught a bad cold. Probably our day
outside Sunday did it. We took it easy, did some laundry, and
checked out. We had lunch at Key Largo in Old Town, and then
headed to the Contemporary Resort. They had told us not to
show up before 2pm. Of course, hundreds of people had already
shown up and been checked in. We got into a tower room but
Karen got shut out and had to take a South Wing room. Our
resort check-in was done by Disney people in the convention
center lobby. It was an expedited check-in -- they didn't
explain much of anything, such as your resort ID, or where to
get your questions answered. I played tour guide to a lot of
people all the rest of the week.
Diane napped and I socialized the rest of the day. I joined a
group having lunch in the Concourse Steakhouse. I told some
stories about Brazilian Tour groups. To prove the point, I
asked the waitress for her opinion. She put on a strained
smile, and said "Nobody here is Brazilian, are they?" Then
she told us how many problems she has had during character
breakfasts. She said they follow the characters around instead
of waiting their turn at their tables. This took time away
from others who were waiting patiently.
We had a reception dinner in the convention center. How does
Disney do convention food? The same as any other hotel.
Mystery meats covered in cold sauces, large vats of ziti, an
assortment of mayonaise covered salads. A disappointment,
I'm afraid.
--Thursday--
Diane had a meeting this morning. I worked, or tried to.
Sitting in a tower room watching the boats zip along Bay Lake
did nothing to promote my concentration. I went to breakfast
at the Coral Isle cafe instead of the convention's breakfast.
When I ordered my Coral Isle Delight and English Muffin, the
waitress said "That's just what I would have ordered!"
For the afternoon, we had signed up for our Behind the Scenes
Innovations tour. This was the highlight of our visit. Other
choices included golf, tennis, and a special convention "After
2pm" ticket to one of the parks.
Here's something stupid: Instead of explaining the
transportation system and sending people who are going to the
parks on their way, they would hold up a sign in the Lobby:
"Unisys MGM/Studios" for example. Everyone would group up,
then the travel agency person would take them to the bus stop
and take the group on one or more buses. It was as if they
were doing this at Tokyo Disneyland where noone speaks the same
language or something. We, of course, just used our resort ID
and looked at the transportation map. Uhh, okay, forget the
transportation map. Just follow your nose. They redid the
transportation map using a giant triangular grid like you find
in the US Road Atlases. The trouble is, each point in the grid
has a cryptic set of codes to indicate what combination of
buses, monorails, etc. to take. I prefer the approach which
lays it out straight: You are at the Contemporary Resort. To
go to X, take the next bus to X. To go to Y, take the A bus,
etc.
--Friday--
Diane had a meeting again this morning. I pretended to work
again. For the afternoon, we had signed up for a visit to
SeaWorld. Diane has never been there. Of course, the best
shows were alrady done for the day. We saw the headline
attractions, including their new Arctic Encounter -- which was
up to Disney standards in my opinion. We finished with my
SeaWorld favorite -- The Hotel Clyde and Seymour Show,
featuring Sea Lions and otters in a show staged like a play.
It's very entertaining -- don't miss it if you go to SeaWorld.
Dinner was another convention dinner? Oh no it isn't. We
slipped out to have our valentine's day dinner early, at
Narcoosee's. I had lobster, Diane had the grilled seafood over
linguine. It turned out that the Magic Kingdom was open late
that night and had fireworks. When it was time, the lights
dimmed inside Narcoosee's (it's on the lake at the Grand
Floridian with a view of the Magic Kingdom.) Then the
background music for the fireworks was piped in during the show.
Shortly after that we watched the water pageant. Ahhh, now I'm
at Disney World...
--Saturday--
This day was all free to enjoy as we pleased. We were provided
a one-day park ticket which we used at the Magic Kingdom. We
went on the Jungle Cruise and got a guide who did a LOT of
ad-libbing! We also did Pirates, and Splash Mountain (it was
barely warm enough), and the Haunted Mansion. We were given a
lunch ticket (the same kind they used to give with resort
packages) good at sit down restaurants, so we went to the Coral
Isle Cafe. I had a wild thing -- a giant marinated mushroom
served like it was a hanburger with some roasted red pepper and
pineapple. For dessert -- what else? A coral isle delight.
Dinner was our gala night for the convention. They served us a
sit down dinner which was at least better than a buffet. The
entertainment was a medley of Broadway shows tunes done by
recent Broadway stars. They did tunes from Tommy, Man of La
Mancha, and a couple I didn't see.
--Sunday--
Time to pack already? We had breakfast at -- can you guess?
Okay, yes, the Coral Isle Cafe. Then we checked out and headed
to the airport. I dropped Diane and Karen at the departure
area and took the rental car to get gas and drop it off. It
took me 40 minutes. When I returned, they had just made it to
the ticket counter.
Our trip home was mostly uneventful. There were very bumpy
winds for our landing in Baltimore, to the point of being
un-nerving, but we made it.
Finito?
-------
We plan to be part of the 25th anniversary whether they want us
or not! We're making reservations for this December and next
July, at least. We'll buy annual passes when we go and try to
make the most of them. Hope to see you all at the Hoop-de-doo
next July!
Did I make ten pages? I think so...
|
| 491.9 | The Lowe's Trip Report | HASTUR::LOWE | Chris Lowe | Wed Feb 21 1996 18:07 | 376 |
|
Chris and Carmen Lowe
DisneyWorld Trip Report
2/3/96-2/9/96
This was our 3rd trip to Disney world. It was our 2nd time
staying on site. As this was off-peak season, we planned certain
activities on specific days (the only days they were available) and
let other activities float.
Saturday 2/3/96
The limousine service responded to the closing of Logan due to
snow and fog by asking us to be ready early. We made it, although
Chris just got out of the shower as the driver arrived @ 9:15 A.M.
Our flight was at noon and on schedule according to delta airlines.
We made it to the airport with time to spare. Once on the plane, we
got the bad news. Our flight attendants were on another plane and it
was late. We'd have a 15 minute wait. 20 minutes later, we pushed off.
Then more bad news. 170 MPH head winds. We'd be late arriving at Orlando.
We finally arrived at 4:00 P.M. 1 hour late.
We got our luggage, but could not find Sears Rent-A-Car. Well,
a quick call to our travel agency disclosed that Sears owns Budget. Sure
enough, Budget had our reservation and a few minutes later we had our car.
Thirty minutes later, we started seeing those road signs with the
big ears on them and we knew that we were getting close. A few signs later
and we were at the valet parking stand of the Wilderness Lodge. This is a
gorgeous hotel and the valets and bell hop service was first class.
We checked in, picked up all our breakfast tickets, discount book, and
resort passes, got a brief tour of the lobby and services from the bellhop
and were escorted to our room.
The view from our room was the courtyard and pool area (under
renovation), but we knew that 2 weeks ago when the hotel sent us a letter
and told us that we had full rights to River Country for our stay. Well,
we had length of stay passes, so we had that anyways.
Well, the first thing that we had to do was hit the Magic Kingdom
for the Spectromagic parade. It was only on for Saturday night, so we
grabbed the bus to the TTC, then took the monorail to the Magic Kingdom.
Once there, a quick bite of food was in order. We grabbed some fast
food pseudo-mexican in Adventureland. Then, we walked right into
Pirates of the Caribbean. This carried us until the parade. We staked
out our spot in Frontierland and waited for the parade. The crowds were
thin as the temperature was falling fast. We had un-obstructed views of
the parade.
After the parade, we walked back through Adventureland and grabbed
a boat back to the Wilderness Lodge. The boat trip is 7 minutes long, so
a few minutes later, we were back at our hotel.
Chris noticed a bit of a sore throat coming on, but refused to
let it dampen his spirits. (Heh.. Heh.. more to come...)
Now, everyone has asked, so let me get ahead of myself. Yes it
got below freezing 2 nights that we were there. Yes, we wore our winter
coat a couple of times. Yes, we did have warmer weather later in the week.
Yes, we did wear our shorts, and needed them.
Sunday 2/4/96
We decided to sleep in on Sunday. Once, we checked on the times
of Masses (Luau still has outside Masses when it's freezing). We decided
that we'd go off-site sometime today for Mass. Had breakfast at the
Whispering Canyon restaurant at the Wilderness lodge. As you've read else
where, breakfast is a fruit, muffin and bagel bar plus a skillet (as many
as you can eat) full of hash browns, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage,
waffles and biscuits with gravy. We decided that this was not a good time
to go on a diet!
After breakfast, we stopped at the mercantile and got some
postcards. Back to the room, wrote up a few postcards and Chris fell
asleep. (Remember that sore throat? ) Carmen woke him up a few hours later
and dragged him off to the Disney Village Marketplace. We walked around
in the cold temperatures and brisk winds and bought a few items. We did get
some salsa and scotch for that throat. We wandered through Pleasure Island
and past Planet Hollywood, but it was way too early for any activity here.
We drove off-site to Mary, Queen of the Universe Church for
6:00 Mass. Nice church. Big Church. Unusual name. Beautiful
Church.
Back to the Lodge, we ate at Artist's Pointe for dinner. Wow.
Wonderful meals. Carmen had the prime rib. Chris had the pork
(they were out of lamb). The local brew was very tasty as well.
Hmmm. 2nd day on site, and we've only been to one park for a
couple hours. We'll have to do something about that. Never got to
that salsa or scotch for that sore throat.
Monday 2/5/96
Chris woke up feeling.......great! Sore throat gone, no signs
of anything wrong.
We had reservations at the Land for a character breakfast. Our
package included breakfasts every day at certain restaurants, so we took
advantage of it. We took the bus to Epcot (and had it all to ourselves!),
and with 100 or so other crazy people, stood outside in the cold waiting
for the gates to open. Finally they did, and we headed for the land.
We had a similar meal to Sunday's breakfast (less the fruit/bagel bar)
and saw Mickey, Minney, Chip and Dale. We got autographs for our neighbor's
kids. (really we did, it was for them!) We got pictures of Chris hamming
it up with the characters.
After breakfast, we wandered around the Land. We took the
'Listen to the Land' ride, saw 'Food Rocks', then went to see
'Circle of Life'. All good shows.
Then we went to the Living seas. Did the usual. Saw the
manatees. Left for lunch.
Headed for Mexico. Got lunch reservations for 45 minutes
later. Did the 'River of Time' ride. Shopped at the stores
in Mexico. Did Lunch.
Made it the rest of the way around World Showcase. Stopped
everywhere. Bought everything.
Went back and did "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience". Great show.
Ended with Spaceship Earth. Didn't stay until Illuminations
because...
We had Hoop-Dee-Doo reservations @ 9:30 P.M. We took the
monorail back to TTC and then took a bus to the Wilderness Lodge. A quick
stop in the room to grab a 25% discount ticket for the show and we were
off. Bus direct to Pioneer hall from the lodge. Sweet! We bought our
tickets and waited in the cold for 30 minutes. Carmen had pity on the
portrait person sitting outside in the cold and tried to keep his spirits
warm.
Finally the doors were open. We were upstairs. We had Rob
(Bor) as a waiter. Folks, when you go the Hoop-Dee-Doo, you want this
guy as a waiter. Carmen can crack a pun with the best of them, but he
put her to shame all night. He is absolutely deadpan, and a great
counterpoint to the show.
The show was wonderful. They picked on Chris during the 'Where
are you from?' song. He said Massachusetts, that they shortened
to Mass. and rhymed it with.... "sitting on his ....chair".
After the show, another direct bus to Wilderness lodge. Did
someone say that the bus transportation to and from the lodge was terrible?
We found it wonderful!
Tuesday 2/6/96
This was our busiest (or longest) day at Disney. We started
with the Character Breakfast @ the Wilderness Lodge's Artist Pointe. Chip,
Dale, and Goofy visited us. This time both Carmen and Chris were in the
pictures. Pluto ignored our side of the restaurant. By his sudden
departure and reappearance (As we left), I suspect that he needed to find
a tree or a fire hydrant. Food was a bit better at this breakfast where
we could avoid the greasier stuff that had been at our previous breakfasts.
Chris had pancakes and Carmen had stuffed blueberry frenchtoasts. The
waitress was especially nice and brought us extra fruit.
After breakfast, we hopped in the car and drove to see the
All-Star Resorts. We had some friends staying there, and wanted to see
what they looked like. We never met up with the friends, but we saw some
'tacky' hotels. We won't be staying there! It turns out that our friends
didn't either. They checked it out and went offsite.
Then we went to MGM. We flashed our resort pass at the parking
attendant and got free parking (an unexpected benefit). Let's see, we did
Sunset Boulevard. We looked at Tower of Terror and said maybe later. We
did 'Little Mermaid' (first time). We did Star Tours. We ate at the Sci-Fi
drive in Theatre (again). We got out just in time for the Toy Story parade.
After the parade, we walked into the Indiana Jones stunt show. We kept
walking by the Great movie ride, but the line was 45 minutes every time we
went by. Went back to Sunset Boulevard and did the Beauty and the Beast show.
Looked at Tower of Terror again and said, "Not for me!". Hit all the shops,
bought all the souvenirs.
We left MGM and drove to EPCOT. Did the resort pass again and got
free parking again. Nice benefit. We called for dinner reservations at
Germany. Nothing available. We decided to walk there anyways. Five minute
wait and we were in. They've changed their menu. It's now an all-you-can-
eat buffet. The food was adequate, but Chris makes a better sauerbraten.
The spaetzle and red cabbage, on the other hand, were wonderful. The ("eine
grosse bier, bitte") (Chris had the large, Carmen the small) beer went well
with the dinner.
After dinner, we dropped back to the room to rest for a while.
It was Tuesday night, so we turned on the Disney channel and watched Inside
Out. Hey, the weather is in the 70s this week. (yeah right! It was
45 degrees outside at the time!).
About 10:00 pm, we put on our winter coats and went to Pleasure
Island. The resort ID (length of stay pass) got us in. We stopped at a
number of clubs. (Adventurers, Jazz, Mannequins). Finally, we went up to
the New Year's Eve countdown. We expected more of a production. At 30
seconds before midnight, some dancers come out, dance a little, sing a
little, do a countdown and it's over. There are some fireworks, some
confetti, lots of lights. But Carmen was right. It's a way to begin a
40th birthday celebration that Chris will not soon forget.
Wednesday 2/7/96
After the late night, we slept in. Chris went down to Roaring
Forks Cafeteria and grabbed breakfast. We did not cash in any breakfast
coupons this morning. We had breakfast in the room and left the room
around 10:30.
We took the boat from the Lodge to the Magic Kingdom. It was a
nice pleasant ride. Temperatures were warming up. All we needed was a
light jacket. These warmer temperatures brought the crowds out.
At the Magic Kingdom we started with Tomorrow Land. We started
with the People mover. Saw that Alien Encounter had 30 minute lines.
Dream connection was broken down. Transportarium was not admitting
people. We wandered towards Fantasy Land. We went to see "The Legend
of the Lion King" (30 minute wait), and then The Haunted Mansion. We had
lunch at the Liberty Tree Tavern. After lunch, the Mickey Mania parade
was forming. We stood at the hill in front of Splash Mountain to watch it.
As soon as it was over, we dashed for Splash Mountain and took the plunge.
As soon as we got out, Carmen was feeling poorly. The mustiness
of the atmosphere bothered her. We slowly made our way back through
Adventureland and Main Street hitting all the shops and buying neat little
items.
Took the boat back to the room. Cleaned up, dressed up and
drove to the Grand Floridian. We had 6:15 reservations at Victoria and
Albert's.
We drove to the Grand Floridian. We had 15 minutes to spare so
we looked around a bit. It's a nice hotel, but rather stuffy after the
relaxed atmosphere of the Wilderness Lodge. We were the 2nd couple to be
seated. Victoria (Melody) and Albert (Salvatore) were perfect. Victoria
was as animated as Albert was reserved. Both really knew food, the wine
and the answers.
We decided to take the wine pairings. Carmen started with a
cold appetizer of 'Norwegian Smoked Salmon Rolled in Chive Crepes with
Caviar Herb Cheese on a Fennel Vinaigrette'. Chris had the 'Applewood
Smoked Beef Tenderloin on a Chayote Slaw with a Roasted Red Pepper
Vinaigrette' Carmen won. The beef was un-inspired. They appetizers
were paired with Piper Sonoma Select Cuvee, Brut.
The hot appetizer we agreed upon. We both had 'Veal Napoleon
Layered with Julienne Leeks and Shiitake Mushrooms on a Creamy Vodka Sauce'.
It was paired with a 1993 DeLoach, Sauvignon Blanc. This dish prompted
some lively discussion. Chris suspected that the little red berries were
lingonberries. Carmen suspected currents. We asked Victoria, and she
said Red Tomato Currants (Score one for Carmen). The dish was topped with
crispy green strands. Chris thought that they were fried leeks. Carmen
thought that they were scallions. Albert was consulted. They were fried
leeks. (Score one for Chris).
Next the soup course. Carmen went for the 'Frog and Truffle
Cream with Cognac' Chris had the 'Lobster Consomme with Julienne Squash'.
Both were excellent. Chris asked Victoria how many chefs were in the
kitchen and if the saucier had made the consomme so clear. She said that
there were 3 chefs. The main chef, the saucier, and the dessert chef.
The main chef does the soups, not the saucier. It appears that we
asked the right question because a moment later...
Chef Scott Hunnell visits the table! He said that Victoria
and Albert told him that there were some knowledgeable diners in the
restaurant. We had a brief discussion about how he got the consomme so
clear (Egg Whites, and a 4 step process that he didn't detail). Chef
Scott asked us if we knew about the Chef's Table. We did, but wanted the
full effect first. He invited us to come back and visit him next time at
the Chef's table. He said that he'd even send his limo to pick us up.
Chef Scott wandered off and visited one more table before heading back to
the kitchen. A few minutes later, Albert delivered his card with Chef
Scott's phone number to call for seating. We inquired about and got standby
seating for the Chef's table for the next night. (our last at WDW)
Main course was next. Carmen had the 'Yukon Gold Potato
Crusted Florida Snapper on Wilted Baby Spinach with a Pineapple Beurre
Blanc'. It was paired with a 1994 Blasksberg Chardonnay. Chris had the
'Grilled Loin of Australian Lamb with Vegetable Risotto on a Mint Infused
Jus'. It was paired with a 1986 Marques de Caceres, Rioja (A merlot
blend, very nice wine). We asked no questions about this course as we
were too busy savoring every bite. It was flawless! Carmen does not usually
like red wines, but Chris thought that she might enjoy this one. Albert
overheard and brought her a glass and poured a little for her to try.
These folks are good!
Next was the cheese course. 'Royal Stilton with Burgundy
Poached Pear' It was served with a 1992 Warre's Vintage Porto.
Dessert was off the menu. Carmen had the white chocolate cheese-
cake and Chris had the chocolate raspberry something. Dessert was paired
with a 1994 Muscat Canelli, Paso Robles. Hey folks, after 5 glasses of
wine, you'd forget some details, too.
Finally, Victoria and Albert brought a small cake that simply
said "Happy Birthday, Chris" on it. They left us alone while Chris blew
out the candle. Of course, we had no room for it after all the food that
we ate, so they packed it up for us. As a final touch, Carmen got a long
stemmed red rose to take with her.
We sat and talked for a while. We took care of the bill and
gave Melody and Salvatore the big tip that they deserved. The meal was
wonderful, but they treated us better than any cast member did all week.
They had a lot of competition as everyone was great, but they were extra
special. P.S. We took the cake home with us on the plane and ate it for
dessert for 3 days. It was great!
Thursday 2/8/96
After the full night, we slept in. Carmen was beginning to
feel the effects of a real cold settling in. We went down to Roaring
Forks Cafeteria and grabbed breakfast again. We did not cash in another
set of breakfast coupons this morning. We had breakfast out on the patio
near the cafeteria. It was warm, pleasant, and we were both in shorts.
We made reservations for Japan in the event that the Chef's
table fell through.
After breakfast, we rented 2 bikes and pedaled over to Fort
Wilderness. We drove through the Wilderness Swamp Trail and got some
neat pictures of nature and a close up of an armadillo. An hour later
we turned in our bikes and stepped onto a launch for Discovery Island. We
toured the island and admired the resident population. We didn't watch
any of the prepared shows, but saw some magnificent shows put on by nature.
We took a launch back to the Lodge, and had lunch at the Whispering
Canyon. The day seemed really laid back and mellow. It might have been
the casual, low-key start or the feeling that the vacation was ending, but
we just didn't get into the antics of the waitresses in the restaurant.
We hopped on the boat to the Magic Kingdom again. We took the
train around the park. Chris says, "It's not Disney without a train ride."
We hit the shops again looking for any trinkets that we might have missed.
We hit Swiss Family Robinson on our way out.
We took the boat back to the Lodge and checked to see if we were
standby for Victoria and Albert's chef's table. We weren't. Luckily, we
had those Japan reservations.
Dinner at Japan was an experience. One of the other guests at
the table wanted "chicken, burnt black, no oil". She said this enough
times that Chris was getting annoyed with her, and the chef seemed to be
disturbed as well. The chef put on an uninspired performance.
We walked back to the Centorium to pick up a couple of shirts
that we had seen, then watched Illuminations from the connecting road
between Future World and World Showcase.
We were on the first monorail back to the TTC and the bus minutes
later for the Wilderness Lodge.
Friday 2/9/96
We got up and packed everything. We had a lot more to pack
than we unpacked! Carmen was sniffling a little from a cold that was
settling in. We grabbed our last breakfast coupons for Whispering Canyon.
After breakfast, we asked the bellhop to come up, left the room, checked
out, (our car was loaded by the bellhop and valet) and began the slow
drive away from Disney World around 11:00 A.M.
We drove over to the International Drive area, stopped at a
miniature golf park and got in 18 holes. Finally we drove to the airport,
dropped off the car, checked our bags and got on the plane. At 6:15, we
were back in Boston. After a circuitous route by our limo driver we
ended up home at 8:00.
Another Disney World vacation is in the books.
Next Time: (3-5 years)
The Disney Institute (3-4 days)
The Chef's Table @ Victoria and Albert's
The Wild Animal Park
|
| 491.10 | Amtrak makes good on their mistake | HYLNDR::BADGER | Can DO! | Tue Feb 27 1996 16:42 | 16 |
| another addemdum to .1 [gee I should have waited a couple months]
Just got a $225 check back from Amtrack for the cost of the sleeper.
They realized they goofed and gave back the money.
[reminder, they booked 4 of us into a sleeper that could only sleep/sit
2-3]
All I did to get the refund was to point out to them that they should
be more carefull when they book the sleepers, that the assigned sleeper
could no way accomidate the booking].
And, as a good will gesture, They gave us a $100 certificate good
toward any future Train travel. Perhaps they are starting to look
something like Disney. The only real beef I had with the train was the
sleeper, and they made good on that.
Roundtrip train for a family of 4 cost us $500.
|
| 491.11 | Not WDW but a Eurodisney Trip Report | COMICS::LUCKMAN | | Wed Mar 13 1996 09:38 | 139 |
|
The title of the `Trip Report' Notes have changed from `199x Trip Reports' to
`199x WDW Trip Reports'. Disregarding this I'm filing a trip report for
Eurodisney. Moderators, please move if you feel the urge.
March 8th was our wedding anniversary and I planned a trip to Paris for my
wife (Terri) and myself, I had considered Eurodisney but decided we couldn't
go without our daughter. Besides we were at WDW in October 1994 and are going
again in October this year. The whole trip was a suprise and Terri only knew
the destination as we crossed the concourse at London Waterloo for the Eurostar
terminal. On the journey she made comments about Eurodisney and I said there
were no fixed plans for the weekend and we could go if she wanted. No more
needed to be said.
We decided to go on the Saturday as the park would be open until eight in the
evening, when we arrived we were handed a leaflet saying that Main Street and
Discoveryland would be open until eleven. We headed on into the park and headed
up Main Street and through the castle. We stopped briefly to watch a street
performance of Snow White with puppets. We went on the Snow White ride (this
was closed when we were at WDW so I don't know if it is the same ride) then did
the Pinnochio ride (same format, like Mr Toad's Wild Ride at WDW) and Peter Pan
(same as WDW).
Next into Adventureland, we rode Pirates of the Caribbean which the start was
different to WDW but that may only be our recollections. We then joined an hour
long queue for the Indiana Jones ride. As you get near the front of the queue,
you see that the ride includes a full 360 degree vertical loop, Terri's face
dropped. She normally loves all the thrill rides but I think the unexpected
sight of this made her nervous. She still went on but insisted we did not sit
at the front, I found that sitting at the back the climbs and turns are so
steep you cannot see much of the ride, Terri saw nothing as she had her eyes
closed nearly the whole of the ride.
We then grabbed a drink and queued for the Thunder Mountain ride. The bulk of
the ride is on an island with the start/finish on the `mainland', this means
two trips through pitch black tunnels there and back. There is a good
unexpected drop where they take your picture. I rate this better than Thunder
Mountain at WDW.
We stopped for a bite at a western style counter service restaurant. Next stop
Phantom Manor. The door of the manor creaked open and a cast member put his
head round the door and asked the couple in front of us what they wanted in
French. I don't know what nationality they were but the whole repartie fell
completely flat as they didn't understand what he said. The ride itself is as
far as I recall the same as WDW in content but differing in layout.
We then crossed the park, briefly stopping for a look at the parade then
deciding to take advantage of the short queues and do Space Mountain. The decor
of Tomorrowland looks more futuristic than WDW's Tomorrowland which looks like
the view of the future 20 years ago. (I hate trying to explain time travel as
well). Space Mountain has a huge cannon mounted on the outside which is used
to propel you into space. From the outside you see a `train' at the bottom
which shoots up the cannon to the accompaniment of a deafening cannon shot.
You then see the `train' shoot from the top of the cannon at what must be
tremendous speed to reach the top that quickly, there is in fact another
train already halfway up the cannon but the effect is good. Actually the
acceleration is very good from the halfway point. The ride is superior to WDW.
The train takes two passengers abreast and does not vibrate as uncomfortably as
it does at WDW. Then suddenly in the middle of the ride you are thrown into a
360 degree vertical loop followed shortly by a corksrew which felt inclined
downward at about 45 degrees but at this point who could tell.
We watched Captain EO which had finished when we were at WDW. The cast member
told the audience that the film was in English but a translation to French was
available on the hedsets which were under each seat. As virtually the whole
audience bent down he said he was only joking. After Captain EO we did Star
Tours, the soundtrack of the film was in English but the robot pilot spoke
French.
Time for a rest, so we called at the nearest restaurant for a coffee and were
delighted when we found the restaurant seating was part of Videopolis, a
complex which has live stage performances and screened cartoons. We arrived just
in time for the start of the `Beauty and The Beast Stage Show' and also managed
to get a seat although people kept stopping in front of us on the walkway and
blocking the view, luckily the French group we shared the table were quite
vociferous and sent these people on their way.
We walked back to Sleeping Beauty's Castle and visited the upstairs where the
stained glass windows and wall tapestries tell the story. In the dungeon
is an audioamniotronic dragon.
Next stop was back to Fantasyland where we did Its a Small World. There is a
storybook boatride which had cameos from various Disney Features along the
banks, the Casey Junior train ride was closed. Alice's Curious Maze was
excellent, I love mazes and one with a Disney theme was the icing on the cake.
As a maze it was only difficult enough to be entertaining but easy enough that
young children could enjoy it without a feeling of being lost. All through the
maze you find characters from Alice in Wonderland, some animated. At the centre
is a small castle where you can climb up inside and look out over the maze.
Overlooking the maze is a huge Cheshire Cat with rotating plate eyes and at
night only the smile is illuminated.
The Illuminated Parade was due to start in about 15 mins so we made our way not
expecting to find a decent view, luckily as we arrived in front of the castle a
couple got up from a bench on the pavement and we leapt into their space. Once
the parade started we all stood up on the bench and had a perfect view over the
people in front. As soon as the parade was over we hurried round for a last ride
on Thunder Mountain before it closed at eight. We decided to go and ride Space
Mountain again but found a crowd of people at the entrance to the ride
listening to a cast member who was trying to explain in very broken English
that the ride was broken. We went and had a look at the 20,000 Leagues
attraction which is a walkthrough exhibition and not a ride like WDW.
We had to phone home to say goodnight to Charlotte so went to Main Street to
buy a phone card and find a relatively quiet phone wehere she wouldn't hear the
backround music. We then did our shopping in a nearly deserted Main Street and
had a bite and drink in the Delicatessen before leaving the park to make our
weary way back to the centre of Paris.
We skipped over lots of attractions which we would have done if we had
Charlotte with us or that we have done at WDW. I cannot get a grip on the idea
of having an itinerary, we much prefer to wander and visit attractions as the
fancy takes us. I realise we probably walk further and spend more time between
attractions but this way I feel no pressure to fit it all in. If we miss
something its a good excuse to go back again.
Overall Disneyland Paris lacks the `sparkle' of WDW. The general cleanliness is
not up to scratch in fact my wife said one of the toilets she visited was
disgusting (I intend to write to complain about that). The cast members do not
have the `Disney smile' and their humour is abrupt, and in some cases I saw,
almost intimidating. I can speak schoolbook French and get by but I still found
the language barrier to be intrusive on my enjoyment, I did however enjoy the
Beauty and the Beast Stage show in French. The gardens are not well maintained,
even allowing for the more seasonal influences, e.g. topiaries had large bald
patches, flower beds covered in cigarette butts.
Travelling from the UK I would not look at Disneyland Paris as a cheaper
alternative to WDW. The initial costs may be cheaper but the cost of food and
souvenirs soon removes that saving. Gifts cost at least 50% more than buying
the same objects at our local Disney Store and food prices are frightening.
On the plus side, most of the rides which have an equivalent in WDW were
superior at Disneyland Paris in some way, advances in technology or just
improving on what they've done before.
I think our biggest problem was the guilt of being there without Charlotte, but
we took her home plenty of presents despite their cost.
Richard
|
| 491.12 | Eastman Report | POWDML::EASTMAN | | Mon Mar 18 1996 14:42 | 171 |
| March 7th - 14th Carribean Beach Resort
Well, the first thing that comes to mind is that our limo was 40 min.
late. They were to pick us up at 5:15 a.m. March 7th and didn't
arrived until 5:50. I was in a panic!! We checked in at Delta at
7:15 (flight to leave at 7:30) We were very lucky our seats were not
sold. They had to deice the plane which took until 8:50 and then off
we were.
Florida was nice and warm but muggy. We got our rental car and headed
to the CBR. We couldn't get our bathing suits on fast enough. One
reason I wanted to go swimming was because I knew the weather was gonig
to get cold...........and it did.
Thursday night we had reservations at the Hoop De Doo Revue. That was
fun, both kids were laughing the entire time. (Todd is 7 and Lexie is
4)
Friday is was off to the Majic Kingdom. It was very cold and a
sweatshirt and wind parker was not enough for the kids. We drove and
parked in the regular parking lot and took the transportation to the
entrance. No problems at all. We waited until Adventure Land and
Frontier Land opened. Waited for 1/2 hour, kids getting very restless
and couldn't understand why we had to wait. My husband and Todd went
to Thundermountain and Lexie and I headed for the Country Bear
Jamborie. There were only 20 people there but Lexie loved the show.
The guys were waiting for us and we headed to the jungle cruise, no
wait, right on the ride. We then went to the Pirates of the Carribean,
no wait again, where is everyone ???? It was cold out though so that
was the only thing we could think of. Maybe people were waiting until
10:00 ish to come???? Anyway, we saw everything we wanted to so we
decided to go to Tom Sawyers Island. We spent time there since the
sun had come out and it was warming us up. We also had lunch there.
Before I forget, we did not have the stoller we brought from home, with
us. Big Big Big mistake!!!!! We learned real fast after that! A
must with a child that size and she'll be 5 in April.
We continued to walk around Disney. We had seen everything we wanted
before 11:00 so we decided to take a train ride. Ooops, lets get off
at this point because goofy was signing autographs! Lexie got his
autograph and forget about getting back on the train, she was a girl
with a mission now.............more autographs..........we got Minnie
Mouse, Captain Hook, and his mate (can't remember his name) Whew,
time to go, I believe it was around 3:00. Drove to the Crossroads
plaza and ate at Sizzlers. Wasn't impressed but the kids love it.
Friday: Epcot, very very cold morning. So cold it was winter coats
for the kids and thank goodness we had them. We waited for Epcot to
open and I noticed that Lexie had no socks on!!! Oh my gosh.......we
have winter coats on and she didn't put the socks on I had given her.
Naturally I felt like a bad mother not to have notice before we left
the hotel. First stop, buy socks!
We went in the silver ball (see, I can't remember the name already)
That was fun, then off to Body Wars. I can't believe how sick I
felt on that ride. And I was glad it was over but I was glad I
had experiance it too!
GE and the dinosaur rides were closed! Can you believe that? Those
were my favorites but we just went to Honey I Shrunk the Audience.
Word of advice that is in another note, which I didn't do, Have your
small children on your lap. Lexie was scared a few times and needed
to be on my lap the first time we jumped out of her seat. It was when
the cat turned into a tiger. Other than that, we all loved it.
We finished by seeing the Lion King Movie (right next to the Land) and
then the sharks. The kids loved that! (again can't remember the
name, aren't I bad??) Actually, we finished the front of Epcot
and then took our time walking around the countires. Went into Canada
for their movie, Lexie had fallen asleep in her stroller. We then
saw a cheerleader competition across from the America building. Lexie
was glued to that stage, she wants to be a cheerleader! That was a
nice rest, we were there for 1/2 hour.
On to Mexico and then Norway. Norway was a wait of 1/2 if not more. I
couldn't understand why that ride was so popular. We left Epcot late
afternoon and went to Crossroad again. This time we chose the Olive
Garden. We enjoyed it, and it cost approx. 45.00
Sunday we went back to the Majic Kingdom. Parked at the Polynesian
Resort and wished we had enough money to have stayed there. Well, I
wished, my husband loved Fort Wilderness.
We split up again, the guys went to Space Mountain and the Grand Prix
Raceway and Lexie and I went to Dumbo. We got on the second ride of
the day. Note: you must get there early!! Every kid wants to ride
dumbo. After that we went on It's a Small World, Peter Pans flight
and then Snow White's Adventure. Not once did we wait in line, again
Sunday was winter coat weather so who knows, but I am not complaining.
The guys found us and we went on Dumbo again. Lexie was dying to get
on that ride again and guess who went with her?? Todd!!! We waited
40 min. for that ride but we didn't mind since we had seen everything
we wanted for the day.
The next show was the Lion King (my favorite) We all loved it! We
then decided to take our time walking out of the park and stopped
at the Swiss Family Tree house, the wind was picking up and I thought
at anytime the skies would open. We then saw the Tiki Bird Show and
was bored with that one. My husband jokes that the one was his
favorite thing to see. (ha ha)
We left at 3:30 ish and were hungry enough for dinner. Yes, at that
time, we ate lunch everyday between 11:00 and 11:30 and being out in
that cold air made us all hungry. Back to Crossroad to the Red
Lobster. We had the best meal, and since it was so early, it wasn't
crowded at all.
That night, back to Epcot for the lazer show. We really loved it!
Monday: Rain Rain and more Rain. It rained so hard that I didn't want
to go to any parks but my husband thought it would be better if we
tried, so off we go to MGM! The ponchos we bought were useless here
since the wind was so bad it just blew the ponchos up and the beating
rain pounded your legs. Lexie must have stepped in a puddle, (another
bad mistake not to take her stroller, I thought we were smart) Her
feet were so wet that I have to buy her another pair of socks. I got
two small plastic bags and put those over her feet.
So, the guys went to the Tower of Terror which my husband did not enjoy
because he did not like the feeling of loosing his stomach. Lexie and
I went to the Ariel show. Wonder show! By then the rain did not let
up and lexie started to cry so the guys stayed and we went to the car.
After an hour, we decided to find daddy, and thank goodness they were
coming out as we were going in. We went to the 50's Cafe. What a fun
fun time we had. I loved it there! Well, after that we saw a few
more things and called it a day. That night we ate at Cozymeals.
The best Mexican Restaurant. My husband had sea bass wrapped in banana
peals. He said it was excellent.
Tuesday: Back to MGM, I had to go back and see what this place was
like in the nice sunny weather. I really enjoyed MGM. We did the
back stage tour, the movie tour, the soundstage, movie stage and
finally saw the Toy Story Parada at 1:00. After that the kids were
dying to go swimming (finally a day we could go) so we headed back to
the hotel and enjoyed a few hours in the sun.
That night we met my inlaws and cousins at their hotel (Knights Inn)
and went to Perkins for dinner.
Wed: Sea World here we come!!! The best time all week for the kids.
The LOVED this place and so didn't we. The most relaxing day and we
had shorts on!!! Shamu would not perform for the 1:00 show so we
tried to get into the 3:00 show. Didn't make it!! You have to get
to these attractions 1/2 hour early. Since Shamu did not perform
at the 1:00 show and the 3:00 show was packed, they decided to have
another show at 4:30. We made sure we were there at 4:00 and I am so
glad we stayed. What a great great show we saw. We sat in the splash
zone (last row) but never go wet.
Wed night, swimming for the kids and then we packed up since we were
leaving Thursday at 11:00.
Yes, I am going again, would I stay inside the park. Most likely not.
Unless I stayed at Fort Wilderness so the kids could have more space.
They were actually jumping from bed to bed and no no in our family.
The hotels near Crossroads looked wonderful and you could get some with
kitchnettes.
All breakfast meals were ate in the room since we had bought a
styraform cooler and bought milk, juice, cheerios etc. I had brought
bowls from home with plastic spoons.
Time to end this note, can't wait to go again!
Joanne
|
| 491.13 | ok, so it's a wee bit late. 8^} | CSC32::B_GRUBBS | | Sat Mar 23 1996 16:54 | 376 |
|
Who: Bert and Debbie Grubbs (Colorado Springs, CO)
Christa and Rich Campbell (San Antonio, Texas)
When: January 13 - 21, 1996
Why: Debbie was 6 months pregnant in January, snuffing out the original
plan of going in May 1996. Christa and Rich we had talked into
going their first time to WDW, so they agreed to come along if
we moved up the trip. The middle of January is a great off season
time to go.
Where: Econolodge Maingate Hawaiian (5 nights)
Contemporary Resort, AP rate, all share 1 room (3 nights)
How: American Airlines (free companion ticket)
Avis rent car
Bummers:Closed rides = World of Motion, 20'000 Leagues, Big Thunder Mtn.
Cold Weather toward the end of the trip
Deb couldn't ride everything because of being pregnant
Memorable Quotes:
"Are you dating my boss" - said to Christa/Deb because they wore Minnie
Mouse ears everyday we went to WDW
"Don't tease me you Fascists" - Colonel in Adventures Club
"Don't squat in the water when it's 40 degrees" - Rich as he looked
on while kids played
in the fountains at
Epcot on a really cold
morning
"A Bazillion Brazilians" - spontaneous eruption of this quote at
sight of large groups of people followig
colored flag bearers.
"Keep it up and we'll leave before the parade even starts!" - Bert (dad
practice)
"Gimme a 'W', Gimme a 'U', gimme an 'S', gimme an 'S, what does that spell?
BERT!"
used by Christa and Rich to try and talk me into
something I didn't feel like doing. Used on christa
everytime she refused to ride Splash Mountain
Saturday, January 13, 1996
Arose at 4:30 am to catch an early plane to DFW from Colorado Springs. The
plane trip was fairly uneventful, except for the "trick food". They had a
portable food cart outside the jetway door at DFW and you were supposed to
pick up a sack lunch out of it. Many people "missed the boat" so to speak
and didn't get anything to nibble on for the 3 hour flight. Bummer.
Arrived in Orlando about 3:30 PM and got in line for rental car. Avis took
forever to get through the line. By the time we did, our luggage had been
moved off the carousel and we had to claim it at the lost bag pickup. The
reason we didn't split up to pick up luggage is because the car was in my
name and they won't let anyone else claim the car and my wife was 6 months
pregnant and shouldn't try to manage the luggage alone. This sets the tone
for the remainder of the day!.
We were meeting another couple flying in from Texas later that day and decided
to check into the hotel and check out the rooms before they arrived. Rooms
were at the Econolodge Maingate Hawaiian just west ofthe main entrance. Some
rooms had been renovated and some had not. Our first room was a 'had not'.
It was particularly moldy smelling. So, off to the check-in counter, they
gave me 2 more room keys to go lookat. They were newly renovated for $8 more
than what we had reserved....worth the cost. By the time I got BACK to the
desk, swappedall the info, and got the luggage and got to the new room, there
was someone IN THERE! They had already rented the room. Back at the checkin
desk they managed to find 2 more renovated rooms close to each other and we
settled in. Ahhhh, the things you do to save $60 a night.
Our friends arrived on time and we picked them up about 7:30 PM. Went back to
hotel so they could settle in and unpack. Had dinner reservations at Cali-
fornia Grill atop the Contemporary Resort at 9:30. We arrive early and waited
at the bar. The place was busy and very nice. Every one had drinks except
Debbie. I was going to have the lamb but they were out so I had the rabbit
and Deb had the Roasted Chicken. Everything was excellent. Dessert was very
interesting. It was called a "Chocolate Wave". Imagine a large wave shaped
chocolate cookie crisp appearing to come out of the plate. It had white
chocolate frosting dribbled on the edge to simulate foam. Inside was
chocolate fudge cake, a scoop of dark chocolate ice cream, & 3 different
kinds of chocolate fudge. Service was excellent and the view of the lagoon
allowed us to watch the water pageant while we waited for our table. One of
the more pricey spots but worth it. It was 1AM by the time we got back to
theEconolodge.
Sunday, January 14, 1996
Up early to get to TTC by 8:00AM . Fast food breakfast at McDonalds
drive-thru. Our friends had to get pictures put on their 5-day passes but no
big deal, there was no line. Waited until monorails opened at 8:30. Got to
Mainstream and lined up at the rope to sprint to space mountain. Debs friend
Christa, is very afraid of roller coasters and "dropping rides". However,
she sprinted with us and was promptly ready to ride AGAIN after the first
time through. She would ride space mountain many more times on this trip.....
a TRUE convert! Deb missed out on her favorite rides this trip due to the
baby, but they'll be here next time around. Comment from her, "I think I
did better not having to stand in all the long lines for the big rides
because it let me go longer through the day without tiring out".
The rest of the day as follows:
Space Mountain
Extra-Terrorestrial Encounter
Ariel Tram to Fantasyland (Got stuck over Mad Tea Party for 20 minutes because
they had to take a car off the line)
Splash Mountain (again scared friend allowed us to talk her into riding,
enjoyed it but wouldn't ride again because of ending drop)
We wore jackets in the am because it was about 45 degrees in the early morning,
by noon we were getting warm and decided to get a locker. NEWS FLASH, they
changed all the lockers to be like Typhoon Lagoon, $5 per day with $2 deposit
refund. Lines were very long and slow. We decided to tie the jackets around
our waist and forge ahead rather than wastingtime in line for a locker.
On the way to the lockers we encountered the Happy Holidays show at
Cinderella's Castle, it was very cute, with all the characters dressed up in
holiday costumes from new years to Christmas. It had big song and dance
numbers with people and characters.
Then there was the Chocolate Incident. My wife and her friend decided to
have Mickey Ice cream bars. While we ate them on a bench outside the Jungle
Cruise, Debbie didn't notice that the chocolate was melting off the ice
cream and she ended up wearing most of it on her white jacket. The best
part was, we asked someone to take a picture of all four of us sitting on
the bench eating ice cream.....they never mentioned to herthat she had
chocolate all over her jacket. I bet they laughed all the way to
Frontierland.I know we did. Guess we're getting practice for the kid. 8^}
Next, we rode the Jungle Cruise and it would turn out to be the longest wait
in the park - 45 minutes. Had lunch at Columbia Harbor House then walked
through Fantasyland. All the rides were 40 minute or longer waits. So we
left and went to EPCOT. Everything, including the monorail over was pretty
deserted. We asked to ride in front of the monorail and were let in. We
had done it before, so knew to ask. Our friends thought it was a great treat,
as did we. We weren't so lucky later in the week, all the little kids knew
to ask and we didn't get to do it again.
At EPCOT we rode spaceship earth, Horizons, and most of us fell asleep at the
end of Universe of Energy. Everyone was tired so we went back to the hotel
for a nap. Refreshed, we had dinner at Bonfamilles at Port Orleans, toured
the pool area and went to Pleasure Island. This turned out to be Christa's
favorite spot. We spent a lot of time at the Adventurer's Club and saw most
of the shows over the week. This night we saw the Treasure Room, and the
Cabaret in the Library. Took in the New Year's Celebration and went back to
hotel. Deb commented that the Adventurers club has some really good non
alcoholic drinks (you know pregnant and not drinking).
Monday, January 15, 1996
McDonalds drive-thru again for breakfast. Were at EPCOT when it opened.
Everyone but Deb rode Body Wars, then we all saw Cranium Command, and all the
interactive stuff in Wonders of Life. Went back through Innoventions. The
electric car by Ford was getting a lot of attention, and the computer section
with lots of cool interactive stuff was pretty crowded too. Didn't care for
the other half of Innoventionsthat is nothing but video games.
Proceeded to Journey to Imagination and Honey I shrunk the audience. While
waiting in line, saw Dreamfinder and Figment live. Figment is a puppet and
was very mischievous. In Honey I Shrunk... Christa's "mouse" attack was
broken and we missed out on a good squeal, too bad. Side note: Some portions
of the Spaceship Earth didn't play on our speakers the first time we rode it...
later rides seemed to work just fine. Maybe I'm more critical, but I noticed
burnt out lights or things that didn't work just right more than ever noticed
before.
We had a snack at the Land Pavilion, rode the boat ride Living with the land
and then saw Food Rocks, and Circle of Life. By now its 3:30PM and we decided
to have lunch at Morocco. Walked right in. Love those Beef Brewats. I had
lamb and Deb had chicken couscous, finished it off with a pastry assortment
plate.
Toured France and saw movie Impressions de France. Our feet started to get
tired so we decided to save all the stand-up circle vision movies for another
time and took the monorail to Magic Kingdom. Had more Mickey Ice Cream.
Rode Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Snow White, Both sides of Mr.
Toad (they are different!). Space Mountain again. As you can tell off season
on a Monday after 5PM is a great time to go to the MK.
Went back to EPCOT for Illuminations and had Taco Bell take out for late
Dinner.
Tuesday, January 16, 1996
McDonalds again. Today was Universal Studios Day. Deb didn't get to ride
much. Since this is a high impact park, I'll note why we thought pregnant
people couldn't ride some of the rides. Deb was looking for any excuse to
ride something.
Hanna Barbara -- Has stationary seats so pregnant and "short" people can see
the cartoon at least. Deb said it was actually pretty good even without the
motion.
ET adventure -- Smooth ride but there are two sets of lap bars. The handle
bars for the bikes we remembered, but there is another set that really mashes
your stomach and legs. Deb was 5 1/2 months at the time.
Back to the Future -- For you who have ridden it, is there any reason to
explain this one? Its Rough rough. Deb usually doesn't ride this or other
simulators anyway, since they make her sick.
Jaws -- Couldn't really figure out a reason for this one. The boat ride isn't
rough, there aren't any lap bars. Maybe they're afraid the explosions will
scare the kid out of you. Deb didn't ride anyway just to be safe.
Earthquake -- You can go through the whole thing up to the "ride" at the end.
The subway car earthquake portion is pretty rough.
Kong -- Major lap bar! and fairly rough.
We had pizza for lunch at the Italian Restaurant next to Kong.
OK, Deb finally gets to do something besides hold our cameras and stuff while
we ride the rough rides 8^}. Saw Beetlejuice, Wild West stunt show, Animal
Actors ( they've added a new horse trick). Had dessert at pastry shop near
main entrance. Got a locker (still coin operated here). Saw Ghostbusters
show.
Standing in line for Alfred Hitchcock, Christa's husband Rich got picked to be
the "psycho". If someone in your group gets picked, everyone in the group
gets "star" treatment. You get all front row center seats, and you get
permission to take pictures while nobody else does.
We were getting tired, so we went to Finnegans and had drinks while waiting
the last 45 minutes on the stunt show. Park closed at 7.
Back to hotel, change and freshen. Deb was hungry (not full of beer like the
rest of us) and wanted to go to the Buffet at the Contemporary. It is still
a buffet but is called Chef Mickey's now. Called ahead for a reservation,
and walked right in (probably would have anyway). It wasn't crowded and we
go lots of attention from all the characters. Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Chip &
Dale. Dale was very mischievous. He put a straw in his mouth and blew
bubbles in Rich's water glass then drank about half of it...the Disney
manager type who was watching didn't seem too impressed even though we all
gave him a loud round of applause. Chip was literally rolling on the floor
laughing while this was going on. This was the best 'character' experience
of the whole trip!
Wednesday, January 17, 1996
Light day today, slept in, had McDonalds again.
Got to Typhoon Lagoon when it opened at 10:00. There were about 2 rows of
cars there when we arrived. Not crowded at all. Today and tomorrow would be
the two warmest days. Today was about 73 for a high. The water in all the
pools and slides is heated. The least warm is Castaway Creek, but the big
wave pool was very comfortable.
As we waited in the line for the front turnstiles to open I got to talking to
a CM roaming the crowd. Very untypcial CM, in that he was in his late 60's.
After we talked about stuff for awhile he asked us if we needed a locker.
"Sure". He gave us a free locker key. I noticed later as he talked to other
folks he was giving out free ice cream cards and things to the kids, or free
tubes, towels, and locker keys to the older folks.
Rode all the slides, several times. Knowone BUT me would ride Humonga
Cowabunga.....wusses. 8^} Pregnant women can't ride any of the slides, but
Debbie did enjoy the wave pool, Castaway Creek, and Shark Reef.
Went back to hotel to change and had lunch about 2:30 at the Wilderness Lodge.
Lunch has a salad bar, with chili and corn bread. Then they bring out a big
platter of fried chicken, bbq beef, ribs, and corn on the cob. The brownie
and ice cream dessert is so cheap you cant pass it up $1.50 per person and
its huge! Rolled ourselves out of there stuffed to the gills! Toured around
the pool area and went to the Village for some shopping.
Went back to Pleasure Island and the Adventurer's Club and Comedy Club.
On this night, the gate attendant took one look at Debbie in her maternity
dress and gave three free non-alocholic drink coupons that they normally give
to designated drivers. They weren't good for anything but normal juice or
cokes, but hey...free is free!
Thursday, January 18, 1996
MGM Studios
Rich & I rode Tower of Terror, but couldn't convince Christa to go on this one!
Deb and Christa stood in line to see inside the hotel and at the elevators,
they told the attendant they weren't riding and were shown to the waiting
area, kind of like the baby swap.
Saw the Little Mermaid Show, this is still one of the best shows.
Rode Great Movie Ride, Star Tours (no pregnant people),Muppet Vision, Indiana
Jones (the airplane had a problem and they couldn't do the explosions at the
end).
Saw the Toy Story Parade, bought our picture (the souvenir ones they take
when you walk in). Had lunch at the Prime Time Cafe then saw the Beauty and
the Beast show. Went on the animation tour, tram tour and walked through the
Honey I shrunk the kids playland. Saw the special effects tour/show. Did
some shopping and left.
Tonight we checked into the contemporary. We got a room in the east wing near
the pool. Everyone went swimming in the new pool and sat in the hot tub (just
Debs feet). Went out for pizza and beer while wives unpacked.
Friday, January 19, 1996
Started out at MK...how fabulously convenient of a walk from the Contemporary
to MK. Breakfast pastries on Main Street. Rode space mountain twice.
Tomorrowland Transit Authority (WEDway people mover), Dream Flight, Astro
Orbiter & Carousel of Progress. We got stuck in the Carousel of Progress.
Apparently a sensor didn't work and we were in the last segment (Christmas in
the future) it kept playing over and over and over. They tell you not to
get up and leave or the ride will do this, but you know how some people are.
They kept getting up and opening the exits so it just kept repeating....
Finally a ride attendant came in and escorted everyone out and reset the ride.
Went to Mickey's Starland and saw the show, but it was too crowded to see
Mickey in his dressing room afterwards. Decided to come back later in between
shows that had let out when the line would be shorter. Saw the Diamond
Horseshoe show for lunch, no reservations needed. I just love this show!
Next, we rode Small World, Peter Pan, walked through the Swiss family tree
house. Walked back to the front of the park for the Mickey Mania parade and
watched it from the main street train platform. I think that I like the
Mickey Mania parade better than any parade they do....that included
spectromagic. This one is so much fin with all the characters and all the
little (AND BIG!) clever ways they do things with the Mickey mouse parts.
After the parade we hopped the train to Mickey's Starland and got pictures
with the Mouse. Timed it when last of people in line were from the previous
show, but the next show hadn't let out yet (lucky).
Went back to Tomorrowland and saw Timekeeper, did some shopping and had
carrot cake on Mainstreet. Back to contemporary to relax until 7.
Drove to Beach Club to park and walked through the International Gateway to
EPCOT. Rode Maelstrom, saw Illuminations (very cold tonight). Rode boat to
Dolphin and had dinner at Juan & Only's.
Saturday, January 20, 1996
Breakfast pastries at MK. Didn't get there in time for early opening. Went
straight to Fantasyland and rode Dumbo. Always on the lookout for Tigger,
we spotted him while waiting in line for the Carousel and had pictures taken
with him. Went back and rode the Carousel, then Splash Mountain. Saw the
Enchanted Tiki Birds and the Haunted Mansion. Decided to have lunch at Au
Petit Cafe in EPCOT. Happened to catch the Merlin show by the carousel on
the way out.
Rode the Monorail over to EPCOT and caught the double decker bus to France.
At the Au-Petit we encountered the most obnoxious, rude, self-centered WDW
guest we've ever come across. She sat about 2 feet away and seemed more
interested in criticizing what we ordered, than talking to her husband. We
just glared at her and ignored her. Her husband probably didn't say anything
to her because he was finally getting to have lunch in peace. After lunch
went to the Patisserie for dessert. Rode the bus back to Future world and
saw Journey to Imagination and the Living Sea. Rode Spaceship Earth again.
By then everyone was getting tired, so went back to the room for about an hour.
Went back to MK for Spectromagic Parade. Got there about 45 minutes before
it started and it was packed. Did a little shopping and found a spot very
near the front exit in front of Tony's. As soon as parade was over, headed
by foot back to Contemporary and had late dinner at the Snack Bar in the
Contemporary, burgers hot dogs etc.
Sunday, January 21, 1996
Had breakfast at Chef Mickey's buffet. The character routine is pretty much
the same as dinner. I thought the breakfast buffet food was better than
dinner. Packed up and checked out of hotel and our took friends to the
airport. Our plane left much later in the day so we went back to the MK,
did some shopping and rode Peter Pan and Pirates of the Caribbean.
Plane left at 4:00 for return to Colorado Springs. There was NO FOOD
whatsoever on this 3.5 hour flight. The plane left about 1 hr late then
there was no time to get anything at DFW before the 1 hour flight to CS.
Luckily we grabbed a burger at the Orlando Airport when we saw the flight
was leaving late.
|
| 491.14 | days 1 through 3 with 4 through 8 to follow | XTATIC::CHILDS | | Wed Mar 27 1996 17:48 | 136 |
| Childs family: Wife Sue, daughters Ashley (11), Melissa (4) and son Joe (8)
with our friends the Urselo's: Joe and Carolynn and sons Mike (9) Joe (7)
Well as I was warned you just can't do it all which is great cause it gives us
an excuse to go back. We all had a blast except for the weather unfortunately.
4 days of the 8 were in the low 60's with a 20 to 25 mph wind making it feel
35 to 40 degress out. Fortunately we had packed extra sweatshirts and pants so
we survived. Disappointing though because the first two days were in the 80's
the last 2 days 75 or so and the 5 day forcast was 80 or better. Now to the trip.
Left Worcester Friday march 15th at 2:15 to catch a 6:00 flight. Flew out
USAIR (small planes imo) and the plan was to catch a light supper and get
on the plane that's why we left 4 hours early. Get to USAIR get the bags
check and lo and behold flight DELAYED!!! Waited for the plane to get out
of Pittsburg, didn't board till 7:15 and took off aroung 7:45. FLight was
ok some turblance. Kids were naturally entralled by the flight and most of
all the bathroom. What is it about kids and strange bathrooms? Arrived at
O.I.A. around 10:45 or so took a shuttle over to Value Rent a Car and wasted
an hour waiting to get a car. Tough wait considering there were like 6
people in line in fromt of me and 3 to 4 people working the counters. Anyways
I was informed that a midsize might not handle my 4 pieces of luggage and
5 people so I upgraded to a Mitsubushi Diamanti Wagon while the Urselos went
with the Galant that we had preorder also. They had to drop a piece of luggage
in the back seat with the kids. I was glad I upgraded. The Diamanti was a nice
ride and the Stereo was excellent with an equalizer standard. Found a great
station (100.3 FM) that mixed today's Alternative with some Classic rock which
was right up my alley especially cause they played more Jane's Addiction,
Pink Floyd, Tory Amos and Bush than Green Day (don't even remember hearing
them) Oasis and President of the USA who I like the other two could disappear
and it wouldn't bbother me in the least.
Got to the condo around midnight and fortunately I had called ahead to let them
know we were delayed and there was someone at the desk when we arrived. They
do keep someone on till midnight anyways then go to Night Auditor System (?).
We stayed at the Homewood Suites on route 192 about 5 miles from the parks.
I thoroughly enjoyed the place and would recommend it to anyone wishing to
save a few bucks by staying out of the park. Price was 79 bucks a night and
8 bucks tax. For that we got 2 double beds and a foldout coach. a small
kitchenette area with a fridge, stove and microwave. 2 Tv's and a VCR. We stayed
on the backside of the place in building 7. This was nice cause it was away from
the pool and lobby. I was warned the pool area can get loud and the pool is open
till 11:00 at night. The only problem for me was as a light sleep I4 was right
out the window about 150 yards or so away so when the traffic started to pick
up at 5am I generally didn't fall back to sleep. Not a real problem as I'm an
early riser anyways. Included was aContinental Breakfast everday with fruits,
breads, cereals, muffins, coffee, juice and milk for the taking buffet style.
Complientry USA Today newspapers in the lobby while they lasted. They also had
an afternoon happy hour (missed it everyday but 1) that had nancho, chips etc
with 3 different types of wine and a beer to help yourself to. They had a
health room with a Universal, Stairmaster treadmill and few other pieces of
equipment. A basketball court and a game room for the kids. Washing Machine
and dryers. Rooms were kept immaculate, housekeeping did the dishes as well
as the other duties. There was a coffepot in the room and coffee, tea and
mircowave popcorn was provided free. Plenty of towels and soap etc and no
problems with having enough hot water.
Necessary information: Homewood Suites Hotel
3100 Parkway Blvd.
Kissimmee FLA 34747
(407) 396-2229
(407) 396-4833 (fax)
THE PARKS:
Day 1 we went to the Magic Kingdom and got the Disney mode of opperation
imediately as we went to Space Mountain and waited about 40 minutes
to get on. It's amazing how deceptive the mazes can be. The ride was worth the
wait though as were most. Did some walking around got something to eat the kids
went on the Grand Prix racers while we waited for my wife and youngest to come
back from the Sky ride they had taken while we went on Space Mountain. Thanks
to our delayed plane ride my youngest it became painfully apparent wasn't going
to make it all day long and dad decide he would take her back to the hotel for
a nap. I had tried to talk the others into joining me but how do you tell 4 kids
that they have to leave the park in the middle of the afternoon? Anyways my
youngest and I got back to the park at 5:00 and met them on the other side of
the Castle. By now they were all beat and wanted to go home while the Melissa
and I were full of P&V. Anyways they stuck it out and we went on the Haunted
Mansion, Pirates of the Carribean, and It's a Small World plus stuck in a
45 minute dinner break before Spectromagic at 8:00. Man that was beautiful.
Worth the entire day imo. We then say Tinkerbell fly around the Castle and
the fireworks display start right after from the end of Main St. headed out to
the cars and back to the rooms.
Day 2 started with a Character breakfast at Park Faire at GF. GF was beautiful
to say the least the breakfast was good and plentifully with several types
of breads, muffins and fruit as well bacon, eggs, sausages, chesse blitnz,
waffles, french toast, quiche and a few more entrees as well. Kids got to
meet and take pictures and autographs with Minny, Goofy, Pluto, Chip and
Dale and Mary Poppins. We then split up and the Urselos went to Epcot and
we went back to the hotel changed and headed to Typhoon Lagoon. It was
mopped by this time of the day (1:30 or so) we fooled around in the Wave
Pool and did Castaway Creek. Unfortunately about 2:30 the clouds started to
roll in and because we didn't have decent place to sit we headed back to the
Hotel. Naturally before I even left the parking lot the clouds blew away.
It was ok though cause the pool at the hotel wasn't crowded. Unfortunately for
me the pool was heated. I'm a cold water man as I have a summer place just
outside of OOB in Maine. I did enjoy a dip in the jacuzzi though. Sunday nite
we just ate in the room as I had done some early morning shoppin up at
the PUBLIX market which was 5 minutes up 192 from our place. Thanks for the
tip on this place folks as it was much more reasonable than Goodies which was
right at the end of the Driveway into out Hotel.
Day 3 weather drops but we didn't really dress for it hopping that it would
get warmer later on in the day. we went to MGM. Did the the Great MovieRide,
got goosebumps at the end watching all the little clips from all these great
actors/actress and movies I have seen throughout my life. After that they
all went on StarWars while I took the little one for a stroll around the park
and a nap. After they got off our Star Wars, Joe Urselo (the dad) got right
back in line with me while the other went to get a seat for the Toy Story
Parade. The kids were a bit upset with the moms who decide that the kids were
going to see the parade instead of going on the ride with the dads. Waited
about 35 minutes but it wasn't bad with all the entertainment leading up to the
ride. Really enjoyed the wisecracking mechanical robot who was repairing other
robots. The ride was great too. We got off and I talked Joe into going over to
the Tower of Terror. I figured that most would be at the parade so we could
fly through. I was correct and Joe and I got on within 10 minutes. Fantastic
ride. I enjoyed the buildup story as much as the ride. We then went back to find
the wives and kids who we had made arrangement to meet just outside of
Muppets 3-d. Hung around for 10 minutes or so without finding them. Then I got
a brainstorm and checked out the Strollers and found ours so Joe and I went
got something to eat at the Pizza Palace (designed after the one in Toy Story)
which wasn't half bad or unreasonable. When they got out the Muppets we went
over and watched the Ace Venture show. It was ok but I'd have rather been
waiting in line for another ride. After the show Jow and I took the kids on
Tower of terror while the wives took the little one to the Beauty and the Beast
show. This time we waited about 35 minutes to get on the ride. The Kids loved
it. My oldest Ashley when they pulled us up to the top and opened up the door
had this look of fear on her face that was priceless. Naturally she wouldn't
admit it but I got the picture to prove it. For 10 bucks you can buy a memento
picture of your ride that they snap when they open the doors (I'm pretty sure
that's when they take it) cause that's when I looked over at her and saw the
look of fear that is also visable in the picture.
wow will finish later got to take a break!
mike
|
| 491.15 | continuation of Childs trip report | XTATIC::CHILDS | | Wed Mar 27 1996 19:33 | 153 |
| While we waited for the wives to get out of the Beauty and the Beast show we ran
into Mickey outside of the Sunset Blvd. Playhouse. The Kids all got autographs
and we got Pictures of the kids with Mickey.
To finish off day 3 we then went over to catch the 3:45 Indiana Jones Stunt
Specatcular. it was 3:30 or so, so needless to say for the veterns of WDW
anyways the 3;45 show was full. We were told that arounf 4:00 they would let us
in to wait for the 4:45 show. So we went to the bathrooms and got some snacks
e6etc. and waited. We went inside the ropes at around 4:15 and waited. The show
was great. Really enjoyed when they blew up the truck but they did waste alot of
time explaining the ork of stunt doubles and picking out volunteers from the
audience. It was pretty easy tell that one of the folks that they picked out of
the audience was actually with the show cause they picked on him way to much
and hwas quite funny when they were prepping the volunteers. He was really funny
when they used him to show how to take a punch from the Karen Allen double.
During this segment of the show was when they idenified. About 5 minutes after
the show when we were trying to decide whether to go on another ride or leave
the park when the skys opened up and drenched us. We had bought the parkas
though and because the wind wasn't bad they saved us. One of the best 5 dollar
bills my wife spent on the entire trip. We then went out to Pacino for dinner
not a bad Italian resturant. The food was good, the gravy (aka sauce) was ok.
I had fried Calamri as an appertizer. It was great. They batter was nice and
light the maranria was tasty and they actually left the bodies whole instead of
cutting them into rings like they generally do around here in New England. I had
Manacottis for an entree that were also good. They had a children's menu for
3.95. By this time Carolynn's mom and her boyfriend who spend the winter in
Naples had driven up to join us for a few days. So for 6 adults and 5 children
with the adults all having appertizers plus two bottles wines and other assorted
drinks the bill came to 175. Not to bad imo.
Day 4 found us returning to MGM. While the wives and oldest kids went on the
Tower of Terror I took my littest one and my son for a walk. Lo and Behold
there was Mickey again out side of the S.B.P. so I took Melissa to meet him
cause she had missed out the day before due to being at the B&B show. The line
was rather long probably about 45 minutes and Melissa took the opportunity to
sleep in my arms while we waited. This was good as it was just enough to keep
her peppy the rest of the day. We went on StarWars again, the wives did some
shopping, we caught the entire Ace Venture show this time (we walked up late
the day before). We then went back to the Pizza Palace for lunch. Earlier while
the oldest children, Joe and myself were doing StarWars the wives and the
Melissa went to the Little Mermaid show which turned out to be one of my wife's
favorite things of the entire trip. We then went over to the Magic Kingdom to
meet Carolynn's mom and friend. We split up here as the kids and other parents
went down to Space Mountain and other rides while I took Melissa on Dumbo. Dumbo
was for me the biggest disappointment of the entire trip. The young guy who ran
the ride was it's only saving grace. He was a card very entertaining. The thing
about it was that first off every traveling carnival or aumusement park has one
of these types of rides so after waiting 1 hour to get on to only get a 2 minute
at the most (I don't wear a watch) ride was a bummer. I then took Melissa on
the Carosuel. It was great one and we only had to wait 5 minutes. We then hooked
up with the rest of them and Wives, my son and Melissa went anf got something to
eat while Joe, his two boys my daughter Ashley and myself queued up for the
Extraterristoral. A major disappointment. A 45 minute wait for a joke of a ride.
If Eisner thinks this ride is scary he better think again. First off it's not
even a ride it's more of a sitdown in a theater where they story is basically
about intergallatic transprotation in the same vein as Star Trek's beam me up
Scotty that goes array. They're suppose to transport an alien and instead
transport a carnivories gargolye type of character who supposedly breaks out of
the containment chamber and flys around the auduence in pitch dark picking out
victims. They blow some air down the back of your neck and through your hair in
an attemp to make it feel like he's trying to eat you. You do it once for the
experience and that's about it and if you have to wait more than 15 minutes to
get on then I wouldn't even bother cause you also have to go through 15 minutes
of plotline buildup once you get inside the building before actually entering
the chamber. We then went on Dreamflight Snow White's Adventure, the Haunted
House again It's a Small World and Pirates of the Carribean again before heading
home. Things that I missed out that they did were Big thunder Mountain and the
Swiss Family Tree House.
Day 5 brought us to Universal. We went rather late around 12:30 and were only
going to spend 4 or 5 hours there as we had tickets for the hoopdedoo review
reserved. plus Universal was giving out free second day passes. We entered the
park and went on ET. Nice ride but rather a long wait as were all rides in
Universal especially Kongfrontation which tooks us 1 hour and 15 minutes to get
on. After ET went over to Back to the Future which was definately the best
ride of the trip. We waited about 45 minutes to do this one. It was especially
worth it for Joe and the kids cause we had to do a child swap on this one. So I
waited for the rest of them to take the ride, then when it was my turn I asked
if one of them could accompany me. They said ok I could take 2 then when they
saw it meant breaking up the kids they allowed me to take all the kids then
decided Joe might as well go with me so I could have help with all the kids.
After BTF we headed over to Jaws which busted just before we got in line. We
then went down and did Kongfrontation. Not bad but not worth the previously
mentioned wait imo. Throw in some skeebowl and other arcade games time out
for some eating and that was that and it was 5:30. SO baically 3 rides in 5
hours. If your a real stickler for getting your money's worth than definately
go off season. Also my son got pretty sick on this day so good ole dad
sacrificed the Hoop-dee-do review to stay home with the sick boy and the
littlest one as we decided that she'd never make a 9:30 supper. Took them
out to Macdonalds then drove around for about an hour before hooking up with the
Kash and Karry market where I could rent some video. They did have videos for
rent back at the hotel but the price was 6 bucks apiece and they didn't have
anything that interested my youngest kids. The other really enjoyed the HDDR
as John (Carolynn's mom's SO) a rather large man eas selected to join in. They
dressed him in tutu and he hammed it up to the max dancing like a balarina
and blowing kisses to the audience. The Audience loved him too from all reports.
Day 5 found us back at Universal earlier in the day. We went on the Hana Barbara
ride which everyone enjoyed. We then walked over and right into the
Ghostbusters' show. It was enjoyable. I especially like the "Kiss your Butt
Goodbye" warning sign on the ghost holding chamber. The Rick Moranis lookalike
was good. We walked around a bit then went over to BTF. Just as much fun the
second time around. The first time I rode in the fron and got the full view
of the graphics and got so lost and caught up in the ride that I never noticed
the other guys in thesame theater as well. I thought that we were in our
chamber. The second time around I rode in the back and noticed all the other
card in the theater. Also I found the ride in the back seat to be much bumpier
than riding in the front which was ok with me. Bottom line there's not a bad
seat in the Delorean. We then went to Fivel's Playland, eat got out kids
caricutures done and then went on the Nickelodeon tour. I really enjoyed this.
My son got picked out of the auduence to participate in one of the games they
played which made a great trip for him a super deleux slam dunk event. We were
very fortunate here because the two oldest kids had been bugging us to go Nick
and I had no idea that they had a tour until someone dropped a phamplet in the
John where I was and I read about it. Double lucky because we made the last
tour of the day. We then had resevationd for the Crab House located in the
Vista Center area of Buena Vista. Another very good resturant imo. They also
had a 3.95 child's menu. Joe and I both had Prime Rib that was good, my wife
had the best piece of swordfish she's had in years according to her and Carolynn
opted for Crabs of which they must have given her a dozen or so. Also they had
a seafood salad bar that was 16.95 as an entree or 7.95 as an appetizer as long
as you ordered an entree. I took it as an appetizer and then proceed to feed
all of the table off of it as it was all-u-can-eat. They had oysters,
cherrystones, crayfish, crab, shrimp and some type of marinated fish as well.
it also include unlimited garden salad of which I never bother with. Needless
to say we got our money's worth this night also as I took 5 trips to the seafood
bar and we all had a couple of drinks the entire bill and tip came to 150.00.
Don't know the exact bill cause I was out in the car catching the Basketball
game and trying to get Melissa to sleep.
Day 6 we went to Epcot what a beatiful park. From what I had read I expected
very little from Epcot and it turned out to be my favorite park. My only bitch
was that we left around 6:00 to meet the Urselos who had gone to MGM at MK. and
didn't get back for Illuminations. We did Spaceship Earth, went into Inoventions
for a while and then went over to the Land to catch the Circle of Life show
which was excellent. When we came out we skipped to boat ride tour downstairs
which was a great move on our part because most of the folks that came out of
the COL went right into a 45 minute wait for the boat ride while we went outside
and got a snack and then jumped into only a 20 minute wait for Honey I Shrunk
the Audience. Great move because when we entered the park there signs said that
there was a 50 minute wait to get on into the studio and when we came out the
line was better than half way down the street to the Living Sea. Atleast an
hours wait. The show was my favorite thing of the trip absolutely hilarious.
I won't go into any detail about it cause I'd hate give anything away. All I
can say is if you go to Epcot don't miss it!!! We then took a boat ride over
to France had pastry that was excellent walked back over and saw the O'Canada
show which was nice. Took the double decker bus over to Norway and did the
Malestrom about a 45 minute wait. went over to Mexico for some food and then
left for the Magic Kingdom.....
will finish with part 3 tomorrow..........
mike
|
| 491.20 | One more time, PLEASE! | CNTROL::SALMON | | Wed Mar 27 1996 20:04 | 6 |
| Mike,
Could you please enter this reply one more time?
JS
|
| 491.21 | Childs' family report final chapter | XTATIC::CHILDS | | Fri Mar 29 1996 12:19 | 89 |
| The plan had been to meet the Urselos in the back of Cinderella's castle every
hour on the hour starting at 5:00. We didn't catch up with them until 8:00. Of
course we didn't get there till 6:15 ourselves. Decided to stay near the castle
so we went on Mr. Toads' Wild ride. It was fun and I had a ball blasting my
son Joe. He sat up front with Melissa and I kept yelling at him about his
driving. He enjoyed it. After the wait and ride it was just about 7:00 so we
went back to Cinderella's. No Urselos. My decided to go do some shopping and I
took the kids on the Jungle Cruise. A long wait but it was worth as Captain
Ron was absolute riot. Talk about cracking lame jokes. A good host or hostess
can really be the difference on rides like this. I would have loved to have had
him over at Universal for Kongfrontation. We then walked right on to Small World
and then back out to Cinderella's to meet mom. Lo and Behold the Urselos show
up. We then go over and watch the Lion King show which wasn't too bad. Then we
went over to the Haunted House. While waiting in line we caught the 9:00 fire-
works. Which were good and a small payback for missing Illuminations. I had
told my wife all day that I wanted to get back to Epcot for it but by the time
we caught up with her after shopping and the Urselos there was no way we were
going to make it back to Epcot as SpectroMagic had started at 8:00 and was
running down Main St. We would never have gotten there on time. After the
Haunted House we decided to pack it up as we hadn't eaten much especially the
kids. Well we get out to front gate of the kingdom and the line for the Express
Monorail was all the way down the ramp and past the gate just about at a 90%
angle from where you pick up the Strollers. We needed to get over to Epcot.
Fortunately I guess not to many people were aware of this but the Monorails
to the Resorts also stop at the Ticket and Transportation area. We wait about
5 minutes for the Monorail to show up. Hop on a nearly deserted Monorail and
got to the area. Got off and hopped right on another Monorail over to Epcot.
So word to wise for other firsttimers if the Express Monorail is jammed take the
Resort Monorail. They run a little less frequently than the Expresses do but
are much less crowded. Unfortunately over once back at Epcot we ran into about
the only Park jerk of the week. We got off the Monorail headed for the tram.
The Tram was sitting there about a quarter full and my family and about 50 other
people were about 30 yards away when this knucklehead tells the driver they're
all clear. I yell over to him and he "says hey what you want me to do"? I
wouldn't have minded if they were running other trams and another tram was
sneaking up on them but they were the only tram running and it was 10:00 at
night. So I just picked up my youngest and we walked to our car. Went to
Mickey D's for a late supper and back to the room.
Our last day naturally the weather was fantastic! ;^(
Our plane wasn't until 3:00 but we figured we'd better get to Value no later
than 1:00. Checkout was 11:00 at the hotel and a breeze. We basically packed
early and sat by the pool crying about the great weather and leaving until
11:00. We then went over to Perkins in Buena Vista for breakfast which wasn't
too bad and was reasonable. The bill came to 39 and change for 9 of us which
wasn't too bad imo. We then stopped over at The Disney Marketplace for some
last minute shopping and then headed over to Value. Checkout at Value was
fabulous. The guy came over and spot checked the car for damage and to make
sure I had filled the tank. Once he was done with that he printed me up a
receipt and that was that. The Shuttle van was right there we hopped on and
got taken to USAIR. The shuttle drive was a nice guy and pretty talkitive.
To give us an idea of the changing weather of Florida he told us that 2 years
after he had moved down there it was 93 on christmas eve day and just 3 years
ago it was mid 20's. Told us of these 4 ladies who were there for 4 days and
had 17 pieces of luggage and 6 carryons for the plane ride home and hadn't
done any significant shopping! Checking in took us about 45 minutes we then
went and got drinks and boarded the plane. Nice trip home as the sky was
clear and we could see the coast line clearly. The Chesapeake Bay area was
beautiful from the sky. We start to pull into the Boston area and the pilot
tells us it's 34 degrees out and total overcast. Can't see how it could be
anymore of a downer coming home. Oh yeah I guess I can. We get in the van to
head home and we turn on the radio and Georgetown is getting blownout by
UMASS. Oh well if Georgetwon had to loose atleast they lost to the right team
but unfortunately the old office pool went right out the window with that
loss.
So anyways we had a great time, I'd do it again in a second but I think that
I would go off-season (sounds like october is best) and for a longer time.
We obviously missed so much. I'd also stay off property again if I go in
98 which is what we're talking about. Once my kids are old enough though to
go off by themselves, I think I'd drive down and stay on property. That way
the kids could use the disney transportation to get around and we all could
do a heck of lot more of the things we all want to do instead. For me that would
be to spent more time at Epcot. Before the trip I was thinking that Epcot would
be boring and my least favorite park and it turned out to be my favorite. Also
I think that staying on property would make it less stressful vacation by
cutting down on the running around. Even though the lines were long I quickly
found that both my family and I had no problems handling them. Especially with
the way they have the mazes setup you seem to be in constant motion even though
it takes you 45 minutes to get on the ride. Many of the new rides have
entertainment along the way and there's always folks to meet and talk with along
the way. Again thanks to all the veterans who's valuable information was very
helpful to us.
if anyone has nay questions that I might be able to answer feel free to send
me mail at cntrol::Childs or dtn: 225-4180
mike
|
| 491.22 | O'Brien Trip / Feb 24 - Mar 3 | MKOTS3::OBRIEN_J | Yabba Dabba DOO | Fri Mar 29 1996 14:01 | 401 |
| I'm including all costs from beginning to end. This may help those
who have never gone before plan expenses. I booked everything myself.
The O'Brien Trip Report - Saturday, Feb. 24 thru Sunday, Mar 3
Wally, Julie, Craig (15), Lauren (11), Kyle (5). Previous trips
staying on site, Apr '95 (Y&BC), Apr '94 (Y&BC), Jan '90 (CBR)
DC Limo from Merrimack, NH to Logan (RT $156 + tip). They used to be
only $120.
US Air R/T @ 3 Adults @ $268 & 2 Children's fares $168 ($1140)
N/S from Boston-Orlando (7:00am)/Orlando-Boston (3:00pm).
Even though Kyle is 5 I bought an umbrella stroller ($12) so I wouldn't
have to wait in an extra line. This was well worth it. We were able
to cover a lot of ground and he was still raring to go at the end of
the day.
Hertz Car Rental-I thought this was a PAIN in the BUTT, waiting for a
bus, then lugging our luggage on/off bus, only 1.5 miles from airport.
We had a long line to wait in about 30 valuable Disney minutes. The
Hertz agent that waited on me was almost insistent that I take out the
extra accident coverage. I told him I didn't need it as I had
insurance, he went into this spiel about how I would be "toTalLY
responsible" if anything happened, I still declined. Then he tried to
sell me the gas, said it was "much cheaper" if I did it this way, I
declined.
Car: Full Size, Taurus - $163 (9 days w/extra hour) includes all taxes
(this was with the AAA 10% discount and 1 car class coupon upgrade).
Fla tax is 6% and then there's a road tax of 2.05/day. Not much trunk
space for a full size.
Purchased annual passes last April, therfore got two trips out of them.
Good investment!
Stayed at the Beach Club - we think this place is great! Just love the
atmosphere, convenience to Epcot & MGM, and of course the pool. Only
downside is that the pool closed early (6:00pm) This was our 3rd time
staying here (Annual Pass holders' rate of $155 incl tax). Do not like
the Yacht Club side - too stuffy. I think this is because of their
convention center. Big Westinghouse Meeting going on that week - lot
of suits and people who looked like they were very serious and busy
working. I don't need to see that while on vacation. Only saw one
wedding this year.
We charged everything to our room. Each day carried only $20 into the
parks for stuff like the Ice Cream bars. We loved the Pocohantas bars,
chocolate ice-cream with caramel with chocolate coating (Yum), loaded
with fat, do not read the label. At least one bar/day, sometimes the
kids had two. I had all breakfast and dinner reservations made in
advance and had our days planned out on index cards. This worked for
us. We actually saw this couple in Fantasyland reading their Birbaum
Guide book, saying "what do you want to do, I don't know, what does the
book say". Read your book first don't lug it into the parks, just an
extra thing to carry.
Saturday, February 24th (Boston Foggy and Cold/Orlando Sunny and Hot)
Limo was 15 minutes late picking us up due to fog, highway wasn't that
bad, he had us there in 45 minutes. Boston was fogged in, didn't
really think we'd be able to take off, flight was scheduled to leave @
7:00am, left @ 7:30am. Hit lots of turbulence for most of the flight.
After take-off, Kyle was looking out the window, fog was so thick you
couldn't even see the wings! After about 5 minutes, Kyle says "I think
we're stuck!". Poor guy ended up getting sick. Arrive Orlando @
10:30am, gorgeous day, high around 87. Take bus to Hertz terminal.
Check in around 1:00pm room not ready no big deal we headed over to
Planet Hollywood for lunch. Walked right in, I had the Chicken Caesar
salad, Wally had the Shrimp Caesar, all three kids had the Chicken
Fingers (they're coated with Cap'n Crunch Cereal), both Wally and I had
a beer (3.75), Lauren tried one of their specialty drinks-Home Alone
($4.50). We enjoyed our lunch and looking at all the different movie
memorabilia. Total Lunch: $78 inc tip. Walked around a bit and then
headed back to hotel, room is ready - 1st floor, balcony overlooking
Spaceship Earth - great! Splashed around in the pool for awhile, get
dressed and head over to Magic Kingdom, open til 11:00pm. Drove over
and parked at Contemporary. (We did this every time when went to TMK).
They added a little access way from the Parking lot to the walkway.
The path is changed a little, and is now paved with all the Family
Bricks. There was a guard, he never once asked us for our resort pass.
Last year they were very strict on this, maybe it was the time of year.
TMK is a ZOO-Main Street is packed. All lines are @ least 45 minutes,
mobs of people pushing and shoving. Wally and I aren't ready for this,
we've been up since 2:30am and we're a little "edgie". Did only two
attractions - Mr Toad and the train. Walked through Mickey's Starland,
the playground and Barnyard are being renovated, no opening date. Left
the park before the Electrical Parade, figured we'd get a good nights
rest and start fresh in the AM, this was a good idea. Drove to CBR and
had pizza ($13) @ Old Port Royale, Lauren had Nachos. Hit the pillows
and asleep by 10pm.
Sunday, Feb 25 - (Sunny around 87)
Eat Breakfast in room, I brought breakfast snacks. Drive to TMK for
9:00am. No line more than 15 minutes, any that were longer than that
we decided to do another day. We did all that we wanted to.
- Train to Adventureland
- Splash Mountain (Kyle still about an 1" to short)
- Thunder Mountain (2x)
- Pirates.
Listened to the Steel Band outside Pirates. Goofy was there really
hamming it up, it was great. Perla and the other mouse (can't remember
her name) from Cinderella were dancing to the band, it was so cute.
Kyle got their autographs and we took some pix. The kids got ice cream
bars (4.50 for 3) This is a nice place to relax (and it is not to far
from the Dole Whip). Then Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan, Kyle & Wally do
the People Mover (I can't remember the new name) while me and the kids
go on Space Mt. Craig does SM 4 more times and Lauren does it 3 more.
While they're doing that Wally, Kyle and I did the Indy cars. We all
do the people mover, Craig stayed to do Alien Encounter, said it wasn't
that bad (kinda boring). The rest of us go back to do a little
swimming/sunning.
Early dinner 4:30pm @ Le Chefs de France - uneventful ($70 incl tip).
Kids meals $4 incl drink and ice cream. My sister loved this
restaurant, that's why we tried it. I wouldn't recommend it. We each
had a glass of wine, Wally had some kind of fish ($20) and there were
scallops on the side. If he were to take a scallop and toss it on the
pavement it would have bounced clear over SpaceShip Earth, I had
chicken in a pastry puff ($16). Kyle "love they way they talk". After
dinner walked over to Honey I Shrunk the Audience - no line walked
right in. This is a must see, but keep little kids on your lap, many
of the kids do end up crying. From there walked right on Imagination,
wanted to go upstairs but it was now after 7:00pm. Headed to Norway,
line is way to long so just walked around enjoyed the night air and
sights. Snack @ Beaches & Cream - Mud-slide yummy ($5). This fed 4 of
us. Had a drink in our room them walked back over to Epcot for
illuminations. Note: check which way the wind is blowing before you
pick your "viewing location", we had lots of smoke blowing in our
faces.
Monday, Feb 26 (Sunny High 80's)
Character Breakfast @ Cape May Cafe/Beach Club, Admiral Goofy, Chip,
Dale and guest Character Donald Duck. This must be something new - a
different guest character every day. Characters were a lot different
than the last two times we went. They seemed to actually being having
fun. "Goofing" with each person, maybe because the weather wasn't as
hot. This was an excellent buffet, only problem is Kyle is too excited
to eat, well actually we're all pretty excited. (13.50/adult
8.50/child)
Head over for the boat to MGM - fog is very thick, no boats running.
Surprised Disney doesn't have a fog horn! Had to wait 15 mins for bus
to take us there. Would've been quicker if we took the car. Turned
out to be a great day.
Another day with no wait, well actually Star Tours was 15 minutes. Did
Muppets 3D (the pre-show is new). I was getting a kick out of the guy
sitting next to me, he had the biggest belly laughs, Star Tours, Great
Movie Ride, Catastrophe Canyon, Beauty & Beast-love this show, first
time seeing it in the new theater. Craig ventured off on his own. He
went to check out the Tower of Terror, which had a wicked long line-he
didn't go on. We should have done Little Mermaid in the AM, cause now
the wait is 45 minutes. Decided we'd come back and do another day.
Watched Toy Story Parade. The parade is OK not very colorful, but it
was fun. The Pocahontas Show ended that Saturday we arrived, they are
getting that stage ready for Hunch Back. Also they cut the trees down
in front of this stage. I guess some environmentalists were pretty
upset with Disney, there was quite an article in the paper about it.
Disney said trees grew alot faster than they had anticipated and were
pushing up the cement. Anyways-
Late lunch @ Hurricane Hannah's - hot dog w/ fries ($4) - chz burger
with fruit ($4)
Swim @ the pool and enjoyed the sun. The water slide here is a blast!
I still can't believe they have the nerve to rent inner tubes,
fun-noodles, water guns (something like $3/hour).
Dinner @ Yacht Club Galley ($41 inc tip). I just had a salad 2 kids
had chicken tenders, Kyle had Spaghetti (kid's meals are 4.25), and
Wally had their chix pot pie and a wine. This was good. Took a
leisurely walk over to Epcot and watched Illuminations. Epcot now
sells beer/wine outside the restaurants, not sure if you can get a
mixed drink. Disney may be sorry about this one. We were really
grossed out when we left Epcot to go back to the hotel and saw two guys
(late 20s early 30s) relieving themselves on the bushes outside the
turnstile. There were restrooms just 10' away!
Tuesday, Feb 27 (Sunny, high 80s)
2 Muffins, 1 Danish, 3 milks @ Beaches & Cream (6.50). Wally and I had
cereal in the room.
Drove to TMK. Waited in the castle for the ropes to drop. Between the
echo of the excited kids (and adults) plus the TMK strollers on the
bricks, it sounded like the Castle was caving in, it was really funny.
Raced over to Dumbo, we were the second group of people to go on. All
of us did this 1 minute and 22 second ride (but who's counting). Did
everything in Fantasyland, where is everybody? This is great. Did
Haunted Mansion (2x), had to - no lines. Maybe it's me, but the rides
appear to be much darker inside. I wonder if this is to discourage
picture taking. From there do Thunder Mt, then Splash. Wally took
Kyle over to Pirates where he bought his Pirate Pistol. We did Splash
again, had to no lines. Met Wally at Pirates. Steel Band is playing,
I sat down to enjoy the gorgeous day and music when I see out of the
corner of my eye an opening door and out comes Pinocchio, Geppeto and
Stromboli. So much for that rest, I'm off and running with Kyle to be
first in line. Got Pinocchio's autograph, apparently no one noticed
Geppeto and Stromboli, so were first in line with them also. Lauren
and Craig take off to do their own thing at Tomorrowland. Wally, Kyle
and I do Haunted Mansion again, Mike Fink Keel boats. This was our
first time on the Keel boats it a nice quiet/restful ride, I would have
liked to ride the top. We met the kids after the Holiday Show. Great
show, we really enjoyed this. Took lots of pix. Go on Mr Toad (this
is Kyle's favorite), Lauren and Kyle did the Tea Cups. Saw Tweedle
Dumb, the mice, and the Wolf.
Lunch @ Cosmic Ray's Starlight @ Tommorowland. 3 hamburgers w/fries,
chef salad, chix soup 6 sodas ($31). If you're thirsty ask for your
coke with no ice (cokes w/ tax are 1.64), you only get 3 sips of soda
when they add ice. We liked this place. What's a pain though is there
are 3 counters, burgers/chicken/soup-salads. Kids meal (chicken
tenders) can be purchased at all 3 counters.
We all did the Indy Race Cars, Kyle really liked this. Wally and Kyle
went on Dreamflight while we went on Space Mt. Craig & Lauren were off
on their own again. We were going to go on Alien Encounter - no one
there! Some older kids behind us said that Kyle would be OK and then a
CM said she wouldn't take him on. There was no height restriction this
day and then later in the week we were going to go on and there was a
height restriction. So we did DreamFlight, this was fun and there was
never any line there. Then 3 of us watched the Mickey Mania Parade.
This is a GREAT parade. Really upbeat, we loved the music, skate
boarders, everything, a not to miss IMO. Back to the hotel for
sunning/swimming.
Went off property for dinner. Had a great dinner @ Romano's Macaroni
Grill at the Crossroads. Originally we were going to the Olive Garden
but there was a 45 min wait, so by chance ate at Marcaroni's it was
fun, great food and cheap 3.95 for kids dinners. ($49 inc tip). .75
you get a Caesar Salad that was fantastic. Also, if you order their
house wine ($3) you get 10 oz glass of wine. All of us enjoyed our
dinners here.
Wednesday, Feb 28 (Sunny - high 80s)
Breakfast in room. Off to Blizzard Beach. Morning was fogged in, but
decided we'd chance it. Arrived @ 9:30 and got our spot in line. I
had a coupon for 50% off/admission ($61-we're annual passholders).
Towels are $1 each and resort guests can use a child's lifevest
free-They hold your resort ID. We didn't bother with a locker. Sun
came out, sky was clear blue. Lifeguards do a little skit to pump
everyone up (kind of irritating after awhile) and what to do if a
"parent gets lost from their kid". Then the ropes drop @ 10:00am and
everyone dashes for their best spot. We had a blast. Again, this was
a day with minimum wait, did the family raft ride 6 times! Did the
Toboggan racers, even Kyle-he thought it was great, tube slides, mogul
tube slide (boring) but fun for kids under 10. There's also a great
kiddie area not as big as TLs though. What a blast, made a big
difference this year having Kyle a year older. The only real line was
for Summit Plummet, Craig was the only one brave enough for this "Wow
what a wedgie". They're building a new slide off behind the toboggan
racers. Didn't stop until 2:30 for lunch @ Lottawatta - 4 burgers, 1
hot-dog, fries, onion rings ($20). Stayed til closing 5:00pm, what a
fast day. We used lots of sunsceen and they now have more umbrellas
up, none of us got burned. We prefer BB to TL.
Only 4 of us for dinner @ the Yacht Club Galley ($40). Walked over to
Epcot for Illuminations.
Thursday, Feb 29 (overcast high 60's, cold rain off & on)
Another day with no lines, Craig and Lauren went off together. We did
Small World, Peter Pan, Snow White absolutely no one here. Dopey was
standing outside with not one person with him, unbelievable. Got his
autograph and pix. Then we did the Lion King, this is another must see
show, I don't know why but really enjoyed this much more than last
year. Met the kids after the show, they did Space Mt 3 times. We all
did the Carousel (this is a tradition now), Haunted Mansion, Thunder
Mt, Splash Mt (2x). Kyle and Wally did Pirates while we were doing
this. Craig stayed and did Splash Mt 5 more times. It was raining off
and on but no real big deal. Get in line for Jungle Cruise, didn't
look that long, if we had known never would've waited 40 minutes. We
didn't think this was worth any kind of wait, the CM script is really
corny. Now the rain has really started coming down bought 4 adult and
1 child poncho ($24 well worth it). Raining to hard decided not to
stay for the parade. All shows and parades go on unless there is
thunder and lightening. Drove to Pizza Hut @ Crossroads for lunch and
brought back to room. Dessert @ Beaches & Cream ($12) - A Banana Split
and a Mud Slide. The 5 of us couldn't finish all this. Yummy!!! Took
boat to MGM, again, no lines. Did Muppet 3D, Castrophe Canyon, saw
lots of characters on our way to Little Mermaid which we didn't do
since it was 45 minutes (we're spoiled, don't want to wait for
anything) and on to Tower of Terror. Just walked through to the
elevators (15 minutes). Craig is the only one who doesn't chicken out.
Lauren would only go if either Wally of I would go on. Waited for
Craig who said it's nothing, good we'll go on, too late - it's 7:00pm.
We'll try another day.
We liked Macaroni's so much we went here again ($45) and we all enjoyed
our dinners.
Friday, Mar 1 (Weather said low 70's felt cooler - rain off/on)
Garden Grille Character Breakfast - yuck, do not go here if you have a
cholesterol problem. It's an all you can eat, however it is a set
breakfast, strawberries w/ yogurt, cinnamon biscuits, sausage patties,
baked ham, wet scrambled eggs, cheese grits, scalloped home fries
(barf), biscuits with sausage gravy. My kids only ate the cinnamon
buns. Very hard to take pictures here not a very pleasant experience @
7:45am. From there did Food Rocks, and we all agreed that the Garden
Grille should watch this. Did the Land-the CM giving the tour was a
real drip, I'd skip this next time, Lion King, Living Seas, Honey I
Shrunk, not as much fun with long pants on, Space Ship Earth (not the
same w/o Walter Cronkite), did some of the hands-on and then Norway.
As the day went on I was still mad about breakfast, went to Guest
Services at the Beach Club and told them I wanted it taken off my bill.
She said she'd see what she could do. I had filled out a comments
card. She faxed my comments over to the manager of the Garden Grille,
he called me right away. I told him that when I made the reservations
I was told it was a "buffet" which is different than an all you can eat
set menu, he was very nice and did take it off my bill.
Drove to MGM did the Tower of Terror. Did the child swap. Kyle really
did not want to go on this. Wally went with Lauren and Craig. Wally
wasn't too crazy about this attraction. I thought it was great from
beginning to end. I think you really have to SCREAM as you drop so you
don't get that stomach in your throat feeling. The 3 of us did this
again. Kyle was POd cause while they were waiting the Pocahontas'
characters were around and his autograph book and the camera were in
Craig's backpack.
Lauren had a Hot Dog and coke @ Rosie's Red Hots next to Tower of
Terror (4.25), There's also an ice cream stand here, sell frozen
yogurt too. From there get right in to Little Mermaid, another great
show.
Character Dinner @ 1900 Park Fare @ GF $19.95 Adult/9.95 Child. We
love this buffet. Great salad bar, fresh fruits, hot and cold soups,
prime rib, ham, baked haddock, pork, seafood newburg, fettucine
alfredo, pasta, totellinis, two kinds of rice, potatoes and veggies.
They do have a separate island for kids - mini burgers and hotdogs,
pizza, PBJ sandwiches, pasta, macaroni/cheese, fish sticks and french
fries. The dessert buffet was just OK, not like it was in the past.
After dinner drove to TMK, the valet @ the GF gave us a short cut. TMK
open til 11:00pm, raining pretty hard but that didn't stop us. Did
Thunder Mt, pretty hard to keep your eyes open with the rain pelting
against our faces, but it was fun. Me, Lauren and Craig did Splash,
Wally and Kyle did Pirates and caught a glimpse of the SpectroMagic
Parade.
Saturday, Mar 2 (Cool and rainy, high 60s)
Drove over to check out the Wilderness Lodge. It's nice but not my
type of hotel. Noisy, dark and the smell of a lodge fire. I don't
need to be reminded of home. Checked out their breakfast but decided
we'd go to Coral Isle @ Poly for breakfast. This was terrific. Not
your typical Disney food - more like real food, you know cooked to
order. Kids breakfast - 3.95 inc drink. Regular menu were average
prices - 6.50 pancakes w/bacon, omlettes 6.95. Rode the Monorail just
to say we did it.
Went to TMK later in the day when the rain let up, basically went back
to see the MM parade, did a little shopping, the Disney Band was
playing in front of the Castle. Craig and Lauren went off to do Space
Mt again. Sun came out and it was a beautiful evening. Took the
monorail to dinner @ California Grill in Contemporary - the view is
spectacular up here. Awesome sunset! Just go up for a drink if you
can't do dinner. Restaurant is on the 15th floor. We had a great
time. They do have a kids memu (3 to 4.50 range). Their dinner memu
is set from week to week. Average dinner price 17.00, does not include
salad. Drink prices $5 - pretty reasonable. I had pork tenderloin
served with polenta, Wally Chicken with Shitake Mushrooms/potato, Craig
3 cheese pizza (he wasn't crazy about it), Kyle burger, Lauren pizza.
They ordered cherry cokes-they each drank two and then the waiter
brought over a carafe of cherry cokes and said if they finished it he'd
bring them a kids dessert, well they finished it. Home made cookies
and a rice krispie treat made with Trix (they called it sushi). We'd
definitely go back here. Ended up @ Epcot and watched Illuminations.
Sunday, - Mar 3
Requested late check out, they told us we'd have to be out by 1:00pm.
Breakfast @ Beaches and Cream - muffins & bagels. We wanted to hit the
Tower of Terror one more time. Drove to MGM, lines at turnstiles are a
mile long, Wally decides not to go in. Board says 45 minutes for ToT,
however we were able to do it 2x in 45 minutes. I would not want to
sit in the back row in the middle. The lady sitting next to me asked
if she could hold my hand, she was a wreck and swore she'd never go on
this ride again. Craig and Lauren go two more time. Saw Buzz and
Woody on the way out, but not enough time to wait in line.
Wally's got all last minute details ready to go. Our flight is
supposed to leave Orlando @3:00pm. Called USAir and everything is on
schedule. Stopped for gas, there are now two new Exxon gas station,
one across from MGM entrance and one down by Planet Hollywood. Got
lost on our way to Hertz, easy drop off. Bus takes us to airport,
they're calling our flight for boarding when they decide to announce
that we will now leave @4:30 since there are high winds in Boston.
However to keep checking back in 15 minutes because "we're leaving with
or without you". Not much around the US Air terminal to eat. Flight
left @4:30, got to Boston and circled for 1/2 hour. That was the
longest 1/2 hour of our lives. The woman next to me was a wreck, Kyle
ended up getting sick as well as a few other people on the plane.
Finally landed, picked up luggage and the limo was waiting for us,
zipped us home in 45 minutes. Boo Hoo - - when can we go back.
|
| 491.23 | Another long one, but.... | CAM::SCHIESSL | | Mon May 06 1996 19:09 | 153 |
| Who: Gary, Kathy, Courtney(6) and Jonathan(2.5) Schiessl
Hotel: Wilderness Lodge
When: April 30th - May 4th
Weather: Hot! 85-90 degrees each day. Plenty of sunshine with
just a few clouds. Very nice overall.
This was a spur of the moment type of trip. Since we had been at
Disney a year ago, we hadn't planned on going back so soon. However,
plans changed, and there we were.
We tried to get back into Port Orleans again this year, but all of
the lower priced hotels were booked. So instead we went with the
Wilderness Lodge. Price was $1,050 for the Classic package (3 night
stay with unlimited park access). We also ended up adding on one more
night at the Lodge so that we didn't have to change hotels for the one
night before we left. This was an additional $180.
Tuesday, April 30th
-------------------
We arrived at Disney at about 7:00pm after spending the day at Sea World.
Check-in went very smoothly. My wife checked-in while a porter took the
bags. I also had them valet park the car to make life a little easier,
although I found out later that parking it myself would also have been
very simple.
The Lodge is huge!! The main lobby is open all the way to the seventh
floor. There are two large totem poles there. Every night at about
8:15pm there is a nature exhibit where a person brings in 1 or 2 live
animals and displays them for the kids. Also in the lobby is a spring
which is the beginning of a stream that flows outside into the pool.
The porter was very helpful with the bags and very friendly. It seems
that all rooms have a balcony. Most have iron bars that you can see
through. Unfortunately, ours on the 6th floor did not. An adult could
look out over the solid wall at about chest level, but the kids had to
stand on a chair. At least we had a room overlooking the pool area.
That first night we ordered a pizza from room service. It was quite good.
The pizza, along with an order of cole slaw, cost about $20.
We strolled around the hotel for a while to check things out. The stream
from the lobby flows over a rock waterfall and then into the pool. There
is also a geyser which erupts every hour. They have a snack bar in the
lobby morning and night, and there is also a full-service restaurant (which
we did not try) and a separate snack area which serves hot food.
Wednesday, May 1st
------------------
We got a muffin in the hotel lobby and then took a boat from the hotel
dock directly to the Magic Kingdom. At first, the lines appeared quite
long, but as we got into Fantasyland, we realized that the wait times
were not bad at all. Certainly, it was nothing like what we experienced
last year during school vacation week.
We were into Its a Small World, Snow White, and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
in a matter of 10-15 minutes for each. We had to wait thru one showing
of The Lion King Adventure. Basically, very few problems. Even the
Haunted Mansion only took 15-20 minutes. We had made some sandwiches
for the day and ate those on the run. Basically realized that it really
wasn't worth the trouble. Ate at the parks the rest of the time.
We took the boat back to the hotel that night and let the kids have a
swim (can't remember where we ate that night). At 9:30pm each night
they have a light/music show on the lake in front of the hotel. This
was entertaining.
Thursday, May 2nd
-----------------
We had to get up early this morning to make the character breakfast at
MGM Studios. Caught the first bus at 8:00am and made it in time for
our 8:45am breakfast appointment. Saw Genie, Governor Ratcliffe, Jafar
and Miko at this one. Were disappointed to hear that Aladdin and
Pocahontas were to be found out in the park, not at the breakfast.
Food was good, and the characters were pretty accessible.
MGM was another pleasant surprise, and we were again able to get thru
different shows with little wait times. Saw Muppets 4-D, Lion King,
Indiana Jones, and a few others. Ate lunch at one of the concession
areas (burgers and fried, $20) and then left the park at about 3:30pm.
Went back to the hotel and had another swim for a little while.
We decided to have a special dinner, so my wife got a reservation at
the Coral Reef restaurant. My daughter loved this! Unfortunately,
my little guy fell asleep on the way there and missed most of dinner.
Although it is pricey, I felt it was worth it. The service was
excellent. Our waitress even went out and got our stroller for my
son since he was still sleeping. The food was great! I had Red Snapper
with spicey black beans and a horseradish sauce. My wife has the filet
mignon that was done to perfection.
We then spend a couple of hours in Epcot. Rode the boat ride at Norway
and watched Illuminations. This is the only big event happening at
closing time these days in any of the parks. It was quite good.
Friday, May 3rd
---------------
Dragged our feet after being out late the night before. Went to Epcot
again. The kids were out of it and made things difficult. The Living
Seas was a nightmare. They weren't processing people fast enough, and
once out of the movie, you were packed in like sardines waiting for the
Hydrolator. Then you had a massive crowd waiting to get on the people
mover on the other side. Not a pleasant experience. A fight almost
broke out!
Went to the Land, saw Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, let the kids play
in the fountains and walked halfway around The World before taking a
boat ride back. Finally visited Spaceship Earth before getting on the
monorail to head back to the Magic Kingdom.
At the MK, ate in Frontierland at a little restaurant next to the Bear
Jamboree. It was the best fast-food of the week. Barbecue Chicken
sandwiches and burgers.
My wife and daughter went on the roller coaster train ride there (can't
remember the official name) while my little guy slept again. We then
did some shopping on Main Street and headed back to the hotel. Again
stayed up late swimming and watching the lights on the lake.
Saturday, May 4th
-----------------
In the morning we got packed up and called the porter just before 11:00am.
I went with him while my wife took the kids swimming again. Got the car
from the Valet guy and loaded it up. I then parked it again until we
were ready to go. Swam until about 12:00pm, then changed clothes and
headed for the airport. It took longer to get there then I remembered.
Got to the airport exactly one hour before departure time. Dropped my wife
and daughter off with the bags while I returned the rental. There must have
been 20 people in line trying to check bags at the curb!! A real zoo.
I got rid of the rental car and met them at the gate with my son. Went to
get something to eat, but the service was so slow that by the time we got
it, it was time to board.
At least the flights were on time!
NOTES: We went back too soon. Should have waited a couple more years for
my son to get older and my daughter to appreciate it more. We
will definitely wait 3 years or so before going back again.
For the amount of time that you spend in the hotel, Port Orleans
was just as good as the Wilderness Lodge. The Lodge had room
service and a couple of other nice amenities, but overall it just
wasn't worth the extra money.
The crowds were so much better this year then last. What a
difference one or two weeks makes.
|
| 491.24 | The Anderson's Trip Report | POWDML::JANDERSON | | Fri May 10 1996 19:09 | 592 |
|
The Anderson Family trip report
April 7-19, 1996
Attendees: Phil, Jacqui, Gregory (10), Timothy (8), and Heidi (almost
3); My sister and her family (husband and three teens); my other sister
and my mom.
My mom and my one sister stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort while
my family and my other sister's family stayed in separate timeshare
condos at Westgate Vacation Villas in Kissimmee.
We drove (while the others flew) and left Leominster at 1:30 p.m. on
Friday, April 5. We went straight through and arrived in Orlando at
12:00 noon on Saturday, April 6. We thought the drive would be the
worst part of the vacation, but the kids were WONDERFUL in the car.
My daughter didn't start fussing until 20 hours into the trip (con-
sidering she was restrained to a car seat the whole time, we were
thrilled!). We did stop for meals and gas, but really limited the
"breaks" as we just wanted to get there.
Following is a brief log we kept in case anyone else is planning
a drive in the near future...:
Left Leominster 1:30 p.m.
Hartford 2:45 p.m. (81 miles)
New York 3:35 p.m. (144 miles)
Garden State Parkway 4:25 p.m. (192 miles)
4 $.35 tolls here
10-minutes gas break at 5:00 p.m.
New Jersey Turnpike
$2.40 toll
Delaware Mem. Bridge 6:45 p.m. (328 miles)
Dinner break 7-8:15 p.m.
Gas $18 at 339 miles
$1.25 toll 15 miles after bridge
$1 toll Ft. McHenry Tunnel
Virginia 10:00 p.m. (450 miles)
N. Carolina 12:45 a.m. (628 miles)
15-minute gas break at 2:45 a.m. in
Fayetteville N. Carolina ($20 for gas)
S. Carolina 4:00 a.m.
20-minute gas break at 8:10 a.m.
(7 miles from Florida) ($16 for gas)
50-minute break at 9:40
Arrive in Orlando 12:00 noon (1365 miles)
Upon arriving we checked into a hotel that AAA booked for us.
The hotel wasn't THAT bad, but the area was AWFUL! It was
the Best Western Orlando West - we don't recommend it!
Anyway, the kids played in the pool while we just rested up.
We hadn't planned on driving straight through, so we had no
plans until the next day. We decided to try our luck at
Chef Mickey's at the Contempory for dinner (when we called
that day for reservations, they said there was nothing
available but if we wanted to take our chances and just
show up we may get lucky). Well, sure enough after only a
45-minute wait, we got in. They gave us a beeper while we
were waiting so we were able to check out the shops and try
the monorail. Phil and I went to DW 6 years ago with no
children (:^)), but this was the first time for the kids.
Chef Mickey's was AWESOME!! It was such a great way to
start the vacation (thanks to a tip from another noter).
Mickey, Minnie, Chip, Dale and Pluto were there the whole
time. We thought our daughter would be petrified of the
characters, but she was like a commercial for Disney. She
LOVED Minnie and had her picture taken with all of them as
well as got all of their autographs (we purchased the books
at one of the stores while we waited to get in). We thought
the food was wonderful although we heard another couple on
the Monorail complaining about it. Hey, we're used to the
buffet at Ponderosa (yuck!) so we felt like we were at the
Ritz!! The food was very varied and plentiful and the
desserts were wonderful. It was $17.95 for adults and
$7.95 for children 3-11. Well worth it...
Sunday, April 7
Easter Sunday, the kids were thrilled to see that the
Easter Bunny found his way to our hotel room all the way
from Leominster :^)!
We got up early, checked out of the "dump" (yay!) and
headed to Epcot. We arrived at 8:25 and were allowed in
at 8:30 (stated opening time was 9:00). Spaceship Earth
wasn't operating for some reason, so we headed over to
the Land and got right onto "Living with the Land". The
kids were a little hesitant when they heard the thunder
from the rainstorm, but overll liked the ride. We then
went over to the Journey into Imagination Pavilion and
walked right into "Honey I Shrunk the Audience". Phil
and I thought it was absolutely the best. We loved it.
Heidi just buried her head in Phil's chest (which was
fine with us as we were afraid that one of us would
have to leave with her). Gregory hated it and Timothy
was skeptical...wouldn't admit to being "scared", but
didn't love it either! By far the best, in our (Phil
and my) opinions.
We then rode on "Journey into Imagination" with Figment.
Again, walked right on. The kids really liked this.
Next, back to the Land to the Harvest Theatre to see
the Circle of Life Movie. We had just missed this,
so we went downstairs and grabbed a danish and coffee.
Saw the movie after our break. Great movie about
saving the environment with Simba and others from the
Lion King. Great footage. All of us really liked this
movie.
From there we went to see Food Rocks (formally the
Kitchen Kabaret). Great show - my son loved Chubby
Cheddar! Again, no wait. We are convinced that
getting there before the crowd (along with the fact
that the "world" was at MK for Easter) helped us in
having no wait at all all day.
We then walked through the World Showcase. We saw Tigger
in the U.K. and Jasmine & Aladdin in Morocco (Heidi wouldn't
go near them - who can figure this out? She loved the
characters but "dressed up" people freaked her out...).
We also saw Meeko and the big guy from Pocahontos in front
of The American Adventure. We ate lunch at the Liberty Inn.
Good burgers there. There was some sort of Bicentennial
parade (short) with fifes and drums that we enjoyed as we
ate our lunch outside at the tables with umbrellas. It was
a gorgeous day.
We took the ferry back to Future World and went to Horizons.
We all enjoyed this pavilion. Next we went to Wonders of
Life and saw Cranium Command. We got a real kick out of this
and the pre-show was really good also. We didn't stick around
WOL as much as we would have liked to, but it was about 3:00
and given our long drive the day before, we all were getting
wiped. We decided to leave and go check-in to Westgate (Phil
and I stayed there in '90 and loved it - and it was even better
this time. The places are beautiful...). On the way out, we
noticed that Spaceship Earth was now open with a 15-minute
wait, so we did this before we left. This was good, except
that at one point where the chairs go backwards down a slope
the ride stopped for some reason. The kids were a little
leary - and it was not very comfortable (!), but we had a
good time...
Monday, April 8
Our plan was to go food shopping Sunday night and hit River
Country this a.m. However, we were too tired to do that so
decided that since the a.m. was going to be overcast we'd
stick around in the a.m. and head to RC in the afternoon.
We had never been.
We didn't realize how long it would take to get there! We
ended up not getting there until about 3:30, but I'm glad we
went (especially before going to BB and TL). It wasn't crowded
and was a "peaceful" sort of place. We all liked it - and
especially LOVED the "Arctic Dots" ice cream they sold there :^).
We went back to the condo and stayed in for dinner - my sister
and her family were next door so we enjoyed their company for
the night.
Tuesday, April 9
Were planning to go to TL at 10:00 but Heidi was ready for
a nap so our boys went with my sister and we (Phil, I and
Heidi) told them we'd catch up with them after lunch. We
went right on the Family Raft Ride when we got there. We
had a ball, however, Heidi didn't like it too much. We
played around in the wave pool and the Mt. Mayday (the boat)
started spouting off water and Heidi got scared. So, I
decided to take her to the kiddie area. On the way, we
found Arctic Dots (yes!) and decided to sit on a bench and
eat it while we watched the other children play in the kiddie
area. They had this cute little water slide where the little
kids got into tire-like tubes and went down a mini waterslide.
Heidi wouldn't try it, but I kinda wished I could have :^).
Afterwards we went to Chef Mickey's again for dinner. We met
my mom and other sister who had just flown in. We all had a
ball - and it was my birthday so they gave me a little cake
and sang to me. Fun place.
Wednesday, April 10
We spent the day at Universal today. Engaged again our tactic
of arriving before they opened and ran to E.T. Adventure as
soon as they opened. Walked right on. Great ride -
unbelieveably creative. Timothy thought it was awesome the
way E.T. said goodbye to each of us at the end of the ride.
Went to JAWS next - again walked right on. Great ride. One
thing that bothered me when we were there was the way they
advertise rides. They show a dog with his tongue on the
floor and a man standing on it for Honey I Shrunk the
Audience. That's not at all how it is. Also, for JAWS,
they show the shark taking a bite out of the boat. Again,
not even close. Smells like false advertising to me...oh well,
we really enjoyed both rides. My poor 13-year-old nephew was
on the left side of the boat right where the shark came out of
nowhere. We thought he might need to change his pants after
the ride - and not from getting wet:^).
Next we went to Earthquake - again no wait. Another goodie,
but not nearly as scary as I had anticipated. Kongfrontation
was closed :^(. Then onto Ghostbusters - this is where the
day went rapidly downhill. We waited 35 minutes for an
attraction that basically stunk with the exception of the
last 5 or so minutes. It really put a bad taste in our
mouths that we had waited so long and it wasn't even that
great. So, we went to Nickolodean and it had a 90-minute
wait! Well, forget that, so we went to the Animal Stage
show which was a good choice - no lines, no wait and shade!
We all loved this show - especially the kids. Next, we
went to lunch at Mel's Diner. We really liked this place,
however, the menu was very limited. By the way, if you pay
with AAA traveler's checks anywhere in Universal, you get
10% off! We didn't even know - the cashier just deducted
it. Nice treat! After lunch there was a great trio sing
oldies songs acapella. We enjoyed them for awhile. By now,
it was getting really hot and crowded so we headed to Fievel's
Playground to see if the kids could cool off. They had a ball,
but it was really crowded. We tried the Barney show after that,
but refused to wait in the ridiculous lines to see it so we
went to the Wild, Wild, Wild West Street Show which was a lot
of fun. However, there were some loud booms and bangs that
tended to frighten some youngsters. After that, the lines
were becoming unbearable so we decided to call it a day. My
sister and her family were staying, so Tim stayed with them
to see the Dynamite Nights Stunt Spectacular. They all raved
about that when they got home.
Thursday, April 11
I foolishly let my sister talk me into sleeping in and going
to BB after lunch. Well, we got there at 1:00 and they were
full!! So, we went to the CBR to check out my other sister's
room and they all rented water sprites (sorta like jet skis
but you sit in them and they go much slower). The kids had
a great time and we hung around the pool. Later in the day
we decided to try again at BB and got in at about 4:30. We
had the 5-day hopper pass so didn't have to pay. We floated
around Castaway Creek and played in the wave pool for awhile.
They closed at 6:00 but 1 1/2 hours was a good enough amount
of time for the kids to get a feel for the place. The boys
loved the "camp" place they had - lots of fun water stuff for
kids their ages.
Early to bed tonight to get ready for our first day at MK!
Friday, April 12
Got to MK at 8:30 and they didn't open until 9:00 - first
time I've seen them stick to their opening time! We staked
out our place near the Crystal Palace to run to Tomorrowland
to catch Alien Encounter. My mother and sister took the
younger kids over to Fantasyland while the rest of us literally
RAN with the herd to the attraction as soon as the rope was
dropped. It paid off as we made it into the first show - however,
we lost my sister in the meantime. She ended up in the line
for Space Mountain and didn't even realize it - it was pretty
funny.
Anyway, we get ourselves all situated and are psyched. The
ride starts and the tension grows - the glass breaks and all
of a sudden nothing is happening. We couldn't figure out if
it was part of the ride or if something went wrong. We kept
waiting for the Alien to jump out from somewhere and finally
the lights came up and they said that someone had become sick
and they had to stop the ride. They explained that they had to
reset the ride and it would take a few minutes but we were
welcome to wait. We did for a few minutes, but then got
worried that we'd miss the rest of the group as we were supposed
to meet at 9:30 at BTM. So, we decided to go. My brother-in-law
and nephew stayed. We met the others and walked right onto BTM.
I love that ride. Timothy thought it was the greatest. You'll
notice that I don't ever mention Gregory's reaction. That's
because he chickened out of everything! He had a great time
watching, however.
Next onto Splash Mountain where we had a 15-minute wait. I
can't believe I did it! I'm such a wimp and usually hate
those rides, but I figured I didn't come all the way to DW to
be a bump, so I went. I love the attraction itself - adorable
scenes, and really lasted a long time. I don't know why they
have to ruin it with that drop at the end :^)! We had to buy
the picture to prove to everyone we know that I went on it!!
Great fun!
Next onto the Jungle Cruise. We waited about 20 minutes.
Tim and Heidi really liked it - my sister's kids thought it
was "stupid"...
From there we went to the Diamond Horseshoe Revue. Had fun
there. One of the male singers put his cowboy hat on Tim -
he thought that was pretty cool...
After that we took the raft over to TS Island. We had lunch
at Aunt Polly's. It was nice, but I wish they had more of
a selection. We found that everywhere - very limited selection.
The kids had a great time exploring the Island - at last some-
thing Gregory liked!
We hit the Haunted Mansion on the way to meet up with the
others. We had about a 15-minute wait. Tim really liked
it - and the ghost at the end was next to him. He thought
that was COOL!
From there we went to get a spot for the Mickey Mania parade.
I STILL have that song bouncing around in my head! We all
loved the parade - especially Heidi - she loved seeing the
characters. And the boys loved the rollerbladers and bicyclist.
We decided to head home for a rest after the parade. Phil
stayed in the condo with Heidi and me and the boys went to
the pool.
We were going to the Electric Light Parade that night, but
my neice didn't want to go and neither did Gregory. So,
she babysat for him and Heidi and Tim got to be an only child
for a night! We were supposed to meet up with the others, but
we couldn't get by the parade to get to them, so we decided to
stay in Fantasyland and enjoy some rides. We did Peter Pan's
flight (first time - I really enjoyed that one) and Small World.
We grabbed a burger at the German restaurant there and then
did the Pirates and Swiss Family Treehouse on our way to stake
out a place for the ELP near BTM. We missed Tinkerbell flying
around the castle before the fireworks, but saw the fireworks
as we were walking.
Had a great spot across from Pecos Bill's. LOVED the parade.
Pictures just don't do it justice. RAN to BTM as soon as it
was over and got right on. Much better at night. Tim just
loved it. Took our time heading out and browsed through some
of the stores...
Saturday, April 13
Decided to get a full day in at BB before our passes ran out.
It was a perfect day and we got there when it opened so got in
with no problem. We had friends who thought they may be there
and unbelieveably, we ran into them. Had a nice visit with them
and had a ball in the park. Phil and I took the ski lift up the
mountain to go down the Family Raft Ride (I don't remember what
it was called) - but at the time we didn't realize that "Family"
meant more than two people. Needless to say, after waiting
about 10 minutes we saw a sign that said "at least 3 people to
each raft". Oops! And, being the wimps we are, we wouldn't
go down the other slides, so we had to WALK down against the
flow of traffic. Needless to say, we felt like major losers!
Later, the boys and my mother and I went down it. AWESOME ride.
I was bummed that Phil didn't get a chance to enjoy it. We
really enjoyed this place and decided to pay the next week to
come back again.
We went to 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian for dinner.
The hotel is spectacular! We weren't too impressed with the
Character Dinner, however. It seemed really impersonal. We
thought the food was better at Chef Mickey's also.
After dinner we went out on one of the porches upstairs and
caught the end of the Floating Electrical Pageant. I wished
we had seen the whole thing - it looked like it was good!
Sunday, April 14
Today we headed to Sea World. We started at the Dolphin Pool
to feed the Dolphins. Good idea - it was really neat. Then
we saw the Seal & Walrus show, the Dolphin show, the Whale
show (and the kids purposely sat in front - and boy, did they
get soaked!) and the Baywatch Stunt Show (is that the real
name?). They've acquired a playground since we were last there.
It was a great way to break up the day. The boys had fun
playing videos, and Heidi liked the playground. What she liked
most was the face painting. For $4-6 they have a stand with
all different choices as to how they can paint your face.
She picked out pink swirls and stars and looked like a princess
when they were done - she LOVED it!
That night we had dinner at the Luau at Sea World. We really
enjoyed it. The entertainment was wonderful...the food could
have been better, but was far from unbearable. They had a
Samoan Fire Dancer, who alone, was worth the price of admission.
He was unbelieveable.
Monday, April 15
Off to MGM today. We were allowed in at 8:30 (9:00 posted
opening) and ran to the V of the LM. We were disappointed to
see that the first show wasn't until 9:15. Not wanting to
waste time, we walked right into the GMR. I really love this
ride, but I had forgotten that it could be frightening to kids.
Two of my kids were terrified of the "shoot-out". Oh well, they
got over it and did enjoy other parts of the ride.
Back to the Mermaid. We were disappointed again to hear that
the first show was full :^(. We reluctantly waited for the next
show figuring that the lines would only get worse throughout the
day. Glad we did. Great show - and the visual effects are great,
as well as the misty rain, etc. Heidi was thrilled to see "the
Mermaid".
Next we went to see the Ace Ventura Street Show (which I could
have cared less about, but the boys got a kick out of it). On
the way, we saw the Muppetvision 4D was about to begin so we ran
in there first. What a great movie! I loved the two guys up on
the balcony (or whatever it was). They made it...I think Honey,
I shrunk the audience has better sensory affects, the MV4D was
more fun.
While we were watching Ace Ventura, my mom and b-i-l went to
save seats for IJ. When we got there, the place was packed.
People were giving them SUCH a hard time for saving seats.
One group literally pushed their way past my b-i-l to get
a seat. I don't understand some people. What's the big
deal? Does it make sense for 8 people to have to wait in
line when 2 don't mind waiting? It left them very frazzled
and leary for the rest of the day. Anyway, IJ was as usual,
great.
Next, to lunch at Hollywood & Vine. It was pricey, but had
an awesome salad with chicken. I loved it. Phil got their
ribs and loved them also.
Next we staked out a spot for the Toy Story Parade. We picked
a spot that would be easy to leave and run to the Theatre of
the Stars to see B&theB. It was HOT waiting for the parade.
We kept taking turns holding the spot and ducking into stores
to get cooled off. The parade was O.K. Nothing next to Mickey
Mania imo. The toy soldiers were pretty amazing, however.
Our plan worked as we got a seat for the Beauty show. I think
this place is much bigger than it was when we went 6 years ago.
Maybe not. But the roof is a major improvement! Good show -
very upbeat. Nice break.
After that we went to Superstar T.V. We all loved that one.
The boys really got a kick out of seeing the folks on stage
and then on a T.V. show. I don't think Tim every quite made
the connection, but Gregory was awestruck.
Then onto the Monster Sound Show. We hadn't seen this one
before. It was good - fun to watch the participants try to
keep up with the movie.
We then went to the Backstage Studio Tram Tour. We purposely
didn't warn Gregory about Catastrophe Canyon as we never would
have gotten him to come if we did. I was impressed with how
well he handled it. After he was over his initial fright, he
actually thought it was pretty neat.
We stopped at the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playground. This
place was GREAT. However, we didn't get to stay long as Heidi
was having so much fun, she failed to tell us that she needed
a bio break, and ended up wetting her pants. Bummer! It was
starting to sprinkle (rain) (no pun intended!) anyway, so we
were better off leaving. By the time we got to the parking
lot it was pouring. We were drenched. However, it was the
only rain we saw for the whole two weeks, so there was no
complaining here.
That night my mom and one sister came for dinner. My other
sister and her family had spent the day at Epcot.
Tuesday, April 16
Unbeknownst to us, this was our last day at the parks. We
had planned to come back on Friday and hit BB on Thursday,
however, Tim became very ill with a virus and we spent the
rest of the vacation (after today) in the condo :^(((((.
What do they say? Good excuse to go back! (well, not in the
near future unless we hit the lottery!).
Anyway, Phil, my mom and sister had signed up for a tour.
They would be gone from 10:30-2:30. I was gonna try and
wing it on my own with three kids...there were definate ups
and downs, as you can imagine!
Before Phil left for the tour, we took the horse-pulled
trolley down Main Street. What fun! We then went to FL
and rode the Carrousel, PP's flight and Small World. Phil
left and we (the kids and I) headed to TL to the Carousel
of Progress. We all loved it. Next on to the TL Transit
Authority. The kids got a thrill out of seeing SM inside.
Still didn't want to try it, however (along with their
wimpy mother!). We then went on Dreamflight. I had never
been on this. It was fun. My kids for the most part don't
like scary/fast/etc. rides so this was really their speed.
Next, on to Timekeeper. I remember liking the previous
movie better. I felt like the robots took away from the
beauty of some of the scenery. Also, we ended up waiting
about 20 minutes for this one. Since we hadn't had to wait
at all before this ride, that may have put a bad taste in
my mouth.
We then hit the Plaza Pavilion for lunch. We sat near the
railing and could see the show in front of the Castle. It
was neat to watch, but we couldn't make out the words, etc.
so decided we wanted to make sure we made the next show.
Oh yea, before we settled on lunch there, we hit at least
3 other places (Crystal Palace, Tony's (I think) and I don't
remember what else) before we could find something that my
picky eaters would eat. As people have mentioned before, the
food and selection have a bit to be desired.
We decided to go by the Castle and see if Cinderella was
in the lobby of King Stephans. She was! We waited about
20 minutes to get a picture/autograph with her. I was amazed
at how well she stayed in character. She was almost sicky
sweet (like Barney!), but it was the highlight of Heidi's
trip - to sit on Cinderella's lap.
We then picked out a spot to watch the show in front of
the castle. Across the street where the benches are was
a rope blocking of a bunch of seats with a "wet paint"
sign. One of the boys went over and felt the paint and
said it was dry. Sure enough it was so we enjoyed good
seats in the shade. I don't know what the name of the
show was, but it was the first time I had had the time
to watch one of them. It was spectacular. Wish I had
done a better job videotaping it, but was busy trying to
keep my eyes on the 3 kids, so did a little too much
moving of the camera.
It was time to meet up with Phil and my sis and mom in
front of City Hall. We stopped for treats in the store.
Here's where I decided I was crazy to attempt MK with
3 kids alone. The boys went off together to buy candy,
Heidi was in the stroller. I was paying for a ice
cream cookie sandwich. As I reached for it, Heidi somehow
turned around and leaned back in her stroller and it tipped
over backwards, with her fingers wrapped around the top.
She screamed like you wouldn't believe, I had melting
ice cream running down my arms, I couldn't see the boys
anywhere, and the clerk was trying to give my my change.
Boy, did I get some looks!
Anyway, we met up with Phil and decided to call it a
day. We decided to take the monorail back to the parking
lot as there was no line. I asked if we could sit up
front, and sure enough we were able to. A real highlight
for the kids.
After dinner that night we went mini-golfing at Pirates's
Cove. Cool place!
Wednesday, April 17
Phil, my mother and b-i-l headed to Kennedy Space Center
today. The kids and I decided to hang out by the pool today.
After dinner, we took a ride to Disney Village to buy some
souvenirs. The had some neat little play areas throughout.
Phil and the kids played around there, and the "girls" did
some shopping. First sign of Tim not feeling good.
Thursday, April 18
Planned to head to BB today, but Tim was up all night with
an upset stomach. My sister offered to watch him while we
all went, but we didn't think that was fair. I took Heidi
and Gregory to the pool for awhile while Phil caught up on
some T.V. (he was psyched!) and stayed with Tim.
My sister and b-i-l took my mom to stay with her friends
in Tampa. They left my neices with my other sister. They
decided to do Epcot. When they got back, my neices offered
to babysit while my sister and Phil and I went to Illuminations.
It was such a treat! We really enjoyed the break. And, as
most of you know, Illuminations was great.
Friday, April 19
Planned to have one last fling at MK today, however, Tim was
still really sick. So, we decided to pack up (as we were planning
on leaving that night). We were packed by 12:00 and Tim hadn't
vomited all day, so we decided to hit the road. There wasn't
any point in staying...we left Orlando at 2:30 p.m. and were
home Saturday at 1:30. So, it wasn't a great ending, but we
sure did have a ball.
|
| 491.25 | Trip Report Preview | POWDML::MACDOWELL | | Wed May 15 1996 00:57 | 24 |
| I don't have time for a full trip report now; we were down from April
25-May 6--but I did learn a couple of things that Ithought were worth
passing along asap.
1. Ariel's is currently running a promotion which gives you two hours
of free child care at the Sandcastle club while you are eating. The
children's dinner is also included. The promotion is good for up to
three children. It was written up in the Beach Club check in
materials, but you don't have to be staying there to use it. When I
made my reservations the WDW_DINE person did not know about it, but she
called Ariel's to confirm, and then called the Sandcastle to set it up.
2. At Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, and Tower of Terror, if you
have a little one who doesn't meet the height requirement, you can ask
for a certificate for a "Future Mountaineer"(I forget what the TZTT one
is called). The certificate tells them that they're eligible to ride
when they get big enough...and, at that time, presenting the
certificate will allow them to go immediately to the front of the line.
I got mine from the vendoe at the exit of Splash Mountain, the cast
member at the entrance to Space Mountain, and the bellman at the
entrance to TZTT. You need to ask-they do not automatically give them
out.
Susan
|
| 491.26 | Stevens' Trip Report | ABACUS::STEVENS_M | | Fri May 31 1996 14:56 | 911 |
| Who: Mark, Louise, Kelly (16), Matt (7) and Jon (1)
When: April 18th - April 27th
Stayed: Caribbean Beach Resort (Martinique)
Overview:
I'd have to say of all of my previous trips to WDW, excluding the first time,
this was my favorite trip. I think we experienced more of the parks, took
advantage of the resort and what it offered, and actually relaxed and enjoyed
being there more.
Planning was a big part of it. Using the notesfile, talking to Mr. Scopa, and
arranging a schedule was a plus. I'm not one to get down to the detail of
"let's be at Alien Encounter by 8:15am", but generally deciding what time you
wanted to go into the parks, what time you wanted to break for lunch, naps,
etc., was very helpful. Also, we encountered more people there than at any
other time we've visited. This was our 6th visit, and we'd never encountered
crowds like we had this time. So, we set our expectations that we probably
wouldn't get to go on everything 2 or 3 times, but made sure we visited
attractions that we had to see and experience, and then planned on times when
we'd go back. More than once it has been noted in here not to expect to do
everything within WDW. We picked out things we had to see and do, and went from
there.
Before I get into the daily detail of the trip, I thought I'd jot down
highlights and lowlights. Here goes...
Highlights:
* The ease of flying out of Manchester, NH airport and surprisingly the US Air
flights. Both on-time leaving the gate down and back and arriving before the
scheduled arrival times. Also, you do not have the hassle of dealing with
Boston.
* Planet Hollywood was very good once again. You must be careful when you go to
eat as far as what time you go, but the food and service was very good. I'd
recommend one of their pizza's. We stopped in around 2:00pm when we arrived. It
was right after the lunch crowd and before the dinner crowd. Waits were up to
as high as 2 1/2 hours to get in around the 6:00pm-7:00pm slot.
* Blizzard Beach was an unexpected pleasure. I prefer the layout there than at
Typhoon Lagoon. You have to try the Summit Plummet, but it does impact your
ability to sit for a few minutes at least.
* This was our best stay at the Caribbean Beach Resort. We took advantage of
the resort, the boats, the pools, the "Banana Cabana" for refreshments, and
the rooms. With a 1 year old, we decided well beforehand to stop for afternoon
breaks so that he could rest. That worked out great. He napped, the kids went
to the pool or to the boats, we rested or swam and were ready to go back to the
parks for late afternoon and evening activities.
* I had to list the weather as a highlight. it was spectacular. We didn't see
a cloud in the sky for the first 6 days we were there. It was sunny every day
with temp's in the mid to upper 80's.
* Chef Mickey's was again very good. It's fun, especially with the kids this
time, to see the characters ham it up. Chip and Dale were being mischievous
and put on a good show. Of course, the Mr. Mouse and Minnie were the biggest
hit with my kids. The food was very good, with a great selection. My wife got
to speak with the chef (my wife needed the recipe to the banana cream pie) who
told her just to write any of the resorts/hotels and they will provide recipes
for their various dishes. In the case of the pie, the recipe came from the
Polynesian resort, which discontinued that particular recipe until the chef at
the Contemporary took it over.
* Characters, Characters, Characters, and people acting in an orderly fashion
to get pictures and autographs. As I mentioned when my wife and I went down in
January, there seemed to be more characters and easier access to them. This
held true once again. They seem to be framing the characters around themes
within the parks more than I've noticed before as well. For example, in the
Magic Kingdom, Alice in Wonderland, the Mad Hatter and the Queen of Hearts all
were located near the Hatter's Tea Cup attraction. Captain Hook, and Smie (sp?)
were at the Riverboat dock (which was closed for renovation). Timon and Rafiki
were stationed in Adventureland near the walkway to Frontierland.
It also seemed that the characters were available longer as well. In each case
they were positioned under shade, and you had to notice them. You could easily
wander past say Timon and Rafiki looking for a Dole Whip without spotting them.
In each case however, people gathered in line, took turns and it made for a
calmer more enjoyable experience getting to the characters for a snapshot,
autograph or a hug. As my wife said, most people would rather wait in an
orderly line and take their turn for a picture or whatever, than have to fight
to jump at a character like a free-for-all.
By the way, Mickey Mouse is now located in the old Walt Disney Story theatre
on Main Street near Tony's. Groups of about 15 were taken onto the stage for
a personal greeting by the Big Mouse. The wait time was at most 15 minutes, but
there was Walt memorabilia to look at which was fascinating. Like the first
1 day pass to EPCOT when it first opened, or letters to Walt from President
Truman or other dignitaries or famous people. My 1 year old absolutely loved to
see Mickey. We had to go twice. He'll never remember it himself, but I got it
on video of him giving Mickey a big hug and kiss on the nose. you can't get
that at the Disney Store.
* The Dole Whip's were especially good. Maybe it was the weather, but the
pineapple sure tasted terrific! Rice Krispie treats with chocolate topping,
Kringle's in Norway also ranked right up there.
Lowlights:
* The time spent waiting for a bus to the Magic Kingdom from the CBR. It seemed
that there were 2 busses to the other parks to 1 for TMK. Staying in Martinique
we had the first stop, but by the time they reached Trinadad South they were
full. If you were staying in Jamaica, Aruba or Barbados you had to wait even
longer.
* The "knuckle" readers that Annual Pass holders must go through. The readers
were not working properly. I guess they've had problems with them off and on.
All Annual pass holders had to go into the specific lines for them. Now one of
the advantages for being an Annual Pass holder should be (INMO) should be
express entry. Nope. You were in line longer. Here's the scoop. As you enter
you feed your pass through the turnstile. Before it would allow entry, you had
to put your index and middle fingers into the reader. There is a knob inside
the reader that you'd split your fingers around and then wiat for the reader
to recognize your "knuckles". That's right knuckles, not fingerprints. By weeks
end I told them they needed to fix the machines to make it more streamlined.
Even the cast members seemed to agree it was a pain.
* Pocahantas is gone. The theatre is being redesigned for the Hunchback coming
this summer. That's disappointing. This was a good show too. Luckily I saw it
in January, but to close it for 4 months before another show?
* Queues at the gates to enter. I could not believe the back-up's to get into
the parks themselves. It was just very slow to get in.
* The wait times on some attractions were 60 to 90 minutes. With TMK open until
8:00pm only, MGM 'till 7, and EPCOT until 7:00 for Future World and 9:00pm
for World Showcase, the wait times really dictated what you would go on and
when.
OK, now for the rest of the story...
Dateline - Thursday April 18th 4:10am.
I'm up, but I wasn't sure if I had actually gone to sleep. To say that I was
excited about going was an understatement. After having loaded the car before,
I showered and checked the Weather Channel to get a glimpse of the weather in
Orlando. The forecast was for pleasant, warm weather in Orlando into Sunday at
least. That was good to hear after dealing with the snow just a week or so
before here.
My wife got up around 4:45 and we managed to get the kids to fly out of bed. I
think they were excited about going too. Into the car we went by 5:15 or so for
the 20 minute trek to the airport. We had decided to take our car and leave it
in the long term parking lot. For the 10 days it came out to be $45.00 to park
it their, with shuttle service to and from the terminal. Upon arrival, I
dropped off my wife and the kids and they checked the bags with the sky cap at
the curb.
I parked the car and took the shuttle back. We went right to the gate and
boarded. From past experience, US Air is not the best at leaving and arriving
on-time. However, we left the gate right at 6:25 bound for Philadelphia to
change planes to Orlando. We arrived in Philly right on-time, and proceeded to
the gate to catch our flight to Orlando. I was concerned about changing planes
given the fact that I had my one year old and that we brought a carry-on bag
with baby food, a stroller, back packs for both my seven year old and my
daughter, and two other carry-on bags. But it turned out to be just fine at
that point.
We took off from Philadelphia right on-time once again, and landed in Orlando
25 minutes ahead of schedule. Wow...I can get to WDW even earlier right? I left
my wife, daughter and the 1 year old to collect our baggage. We checked 5 bags
in Manchester.
As I'm in line at Dollar Rental Car, which by the way took about 25 minutes to
get to the counter and there was only 2 people in front of me, my daughter
stops by and says, "we don't have one of our bags, it's lost". US Air was
looking for it, but it wasn't here. It happened to be the babies bag with all
brand new clothes, so my wife was not happy. US Air said, we have another plane
landing from Philly in about 20 minutes, if it's not there we'll contact you at
the hotel. By this time I'm up to the counter. No hassle about not purchasing
insurance by the way. For some reason, it took my rep about 5 minutes to
process me through, while the other rep's were taking 10 minutes on each of
their customers. Anyway, my wife had asked for a sub-compact (Sentra) with a
baby seat. I had asked her if she was sure we'd all be comfortable in it. We
agreed that we wouldn't be driving it too far anyway, so it was fine. However,
the 96 Sentra does not have as much luggage space as our '91 did. So we had a
few things stuffed in the back seat on the floor on the way to WDW. No problem.
The car was a little bit beat however, with a couple of cigarette burns,
scratches, etc. I wasn't impressed although it ran just fine and new which way
to go.
Well, the bag was on the next US Air flight so we got out of the airport at
about 12:15. We were a bit hungry and talked about going a few places to eat,
but decided on Planet Hollywood. We got there, walked around a bit, then went
in. This was about 1:00 or so, so the lunchtime crowds were just leaving. I'll
bet we weren't to hard to spot. We had long pants, had no tan, and had all the
energy of someone who had not been to WDW for some time. We had a really good
lunch, enjoyed the atmosphere and then were off to the CBR to check in.
We arrived at 2:15 or so and after clearing security, we proceeded to the
Customs House. When you arrive at the CBR, you should have a copy of your
confirmation to show the Security officer, otherwise you have to wait while
they check on the system for you. No problem about checking in early either.
The cast member at the Customs House was Rob, who was very cordial and got us
in and out in less than 7 minutes. He answered questions, got us our room, and
our length of stay passes for the kids. The length of stay passes for 1 adult
and 1 child came out to be about $502.00 for 8 days. For those looking at the
Annual Pass and some added benefits they're very close when comparing should you
have an extended stay. The adult pass was in the $290.00 range, while the
childs was about $210.00.
Anyway, off to room 2605 for the next 9 nights. We got into the room (oh what a
feeling to be at WDW!). My wife decided to buy the cups (4) in the room for
the week. $5.95 a piece and was unlimited drinks at OPR. I logged a few miles
getting drinks for the week. I also bought a half gallon of milk for the babies
bottles. We had brought our snacks, baby food, etc. instead of going to a store
down there. I probably would go to a store down there next time. Anyway, a 1/2
gallon at OPR runs $2.25. I went through 4 during the time I was there.
After relaxing for awhile, swimming and lounging in the sun, we decided to take
a ride over to MGM. I found that taking the car in the evening avoided the
crowded busses and the waiting, especially with tired kids. That worked out
really well. We needed the TZTOT fix, and right around 5:30, the crowds had
begun to thin. After about a 15 minute wait we were in. Because of the 1 year
old we were doing "baby swap" on all of the primo attractions.
TZTOT lets you bring the child right in line (instead of meeting at the exit)
and into the library for the pre-show. Well, my 1 year old did fine. My 7 year
old, who was all set to go on, did not. It really bothered him to no end. I
wasn't going to argue or push him, so both boys went with me down to
the exit to wait for my daughter and wife. While their, I explained to my 7
year old that the film in the library only told the "story", and of what
happens. He said he'd go on it later in the week, but right now no. OK, no
problem. My wife and daughter come bouncing out and I get to go on again with
my 16 year old. What a ride...Try it.
After the TZTOT fix, we shot over to EPCOT for a snack and Illuminations.
We stopped at Spaceship Earth, which the kids enjoyed and then played around in
the new area inside what was the area for "World Key" and information in the
past. Illuminations was very good, the Kringle's and Rice Pudding in Norway
were equally fine and life certainly was good. Everyone was pretty tired by
this time so back to the CBR we went for the evening. We planned to get up
early with a wake up call from Mickey at 7:00 just in case we weren't up, and
visit The Magic Kingdom. After a stroll around the lagoon and a cool drink, I
settled in for the full day ahead.
Dateline - Friday April 19th 6:30am
I was the first one to rise. Everyone was just wore out from getting up early
the day before and all of the excitement. I showered and came out just in time
to pick up the phone and hear Mickey say "Let's get going. It's a great new
day!"
We headed over to Old Port Royal for a bagel or donut and then headed to the
Martinique Bus Stop for The Magic Kingdom. There were maybe a half dozen people
waiting for MK bus when we got there and this was about 7:55am. The first bus
that stopped was for EPCOT. Then the bus for MGM stopped. Now it is about 8:15am
Another bus stops. Another bus for EPCOT. There are now about 30 people waiting
for a bus to the MK. Another bus stops, but it is the "internal" bus for the
CBR. At 8:23am, a bus marked for the Magic Kingdom finally greets us. By the
time everyone got on, there were no places to sit for the next stop, which was
Old Port Royale. After picking up another 10 to 15 people at OPR the bus was
filled to capacity. We then proceeded right to the MK. the bus ride was about
15 minutes from the time we boarded.
My wife and I had to wait to go through the Annual Pass line. Of course
something wasn't working right with the readers so it was back up city. upon
getting in we headed straight for Frontierland and Splash Mountain. My 7 year
old now was tall enough to ride everything, and Splash Mountain was the first
thing he wanted to go on. No one disagreed with his choice. After about a 25
minute wait at the exit area my wife, daughter and 7 year old came off. I
swapped the baby with her, and then it was back on with my son again. He liked
it, but I think he was expecting something else. I on the other hand, enjoyed
it immensely. We took a look at Thunder Mountain which was now about a 45 minute
wait and decided to pass until later. We wandered over to the Country Bear
Jamboree and after a 12 minute wait we were inside for the show. I must say
I've seen the bears 4 or 5 times during my other visits and I don't think I've
seen the same show twice.
After sitting for a few minutes with the baby as my wife and kids went looking
into the shops I knew it was time for a Dole Whip. They didn't disappoint. Oh
was it good. And truthfully, I thought of everyone back up here and wouldn't it
be cool if you could get everyone down here at one time to eat Dole Whip and
talk about WDW right under the Swiss Family Treehouse.
We purposely passed by Fantasyland for the time being. Dumbo, Peter Pan, and
Snow White's Adventure were all 45 to 60 minute waits. Dumbo was actually up
towards 90 minutes. So we wandered into Tomorrowland. Alien Encounter was 90
minutes, as was Space Mountain. The baby had fallen asleep on my shoulder so
we went into Carousel of Progress, Dreamflight and then on the Tomorrowland
Transit Authority (formally the WedWay People Mover). I was curious to see what
my daughters reaction would be to the COP. This was really the attraction that
she loved most the first time we went down. She still sings "Now is the time,
Now is the best time...". We had talked about the changes and how they changed
the song back to the original and she knew what was coming. As we got out she
said she liked it still, but it wasn't the same without the old song. I too
liked the old song, but I also like this one. In the scene where they show the
first phonograph it would have been neat if they would have used the "Now is
the Time" song. Oh well.
By the time we were finishing up with the Tomorrowland Transit Authority it was
just after lunch hour. The Astro Orbitor was closed for "renovations" but the
cast member on duty said that was just temporary. Wait times for Alien and
Space Mountain were only getting longer so we decided to go have lunch. We
stopped off at Casey's Hot Dog stand on Main Street. They were good, and really
you got more for the same price as a Fenway Frank at the ballpark 8^). We then
strolled down Main Street USA to the Confectionery Shoppe for a treat to bring
back to the room for later. We poked around the shoppes for a bit then decided
to go back into Fantasyland. Checking the status board beforehand, which is
located near Casey's Hot Dog stand before the path to Adventureland, we had
most of our plans made for us by the wait times displayed. Jungle Cruise 60+
minutes, Dumbo 75+ minutes, well you get the picture. My wife wanted to stop to
see the show at the foot of Cinderella's castle, but the kids convinced her to
forget it for now because they wanted to do something else. We never got back
to see it. Friday was the last day of the show as they are replacing it next
month. Another disappointment was that SpectroMagic wouldn't be happening until
May 11th. From what we were told, they were doing maintenance to the equipment
and that because of the High School Grad Night on Friday, they wouldn't bring
them out for one night's performance.
We decided to give The Lion King a shot. Surprisingly, the wait was about 10
minutes before the pre-show. I had seen this in January when I was there and
wrote that I was disappointed. On the advice of Mr. Scopa, I went back in
with specific expectations. I must say that I enjoyed it the second time I saw
it. It was a good show. The entire family enjoyed it. The only thing is (and I
hope I don't ruin this for folks who haven't seen it) they play out Mufasa
dying, which even upset my 16 year old. She did not think that they'd leave
that in. I'm sentimental anyway so it chokes me up everytime I see it.
I asked a cast member what was going on with 20,000 Leagues. he didn't have
much info, on when it would be opening, but he did know that they were going to
work on the attraction, modernizing some of the features with the hopes that it
would be ready sometime in '97. There were no submarines inside the pool, and
it looked as if the bottom had been cleaned out of the seacreatures and such.
About this time it was time to go back to the CBR for swimming and a nap for
the baby. My wife stayed in the room with Jon, while we went to the main pool
outside OPR. I got a cold draft beer at the Banana Cabana (yes, Fenway Park
size and price) but I was on vacation sitting near a pool in 87 degree weather
so I did not care. it was really nice to just lounge around and rest for
awhile.
About 4:45pm we got back into the car for a trip to Chef Mickey's. My wife and
I loved this when we were down in January, and it did not disappoint. We did
notice that they were doing more work on the restaurant to spruce it up for
Mickey and the gang. They had added a wooden cutout of the characters against
the windows looking out at the Wilderness Lodge and the monorail tracks. They
also were putting up wires with toy wire walkers on them as decoration. Of
course Mickey, Minnie, Chip and Dale were all there to visit with. Goofy was
the entertainment for those waiting to be seated. The main courses were a
schrod dish, Steamship beef and Baked Ham. About every half hour the wait
people blow a whistle, and then everyone twirls there napkins to the beat of
a Mickey Mouse song. Everyone really gets into it...Anyway, my wife was a bit
tired after dinner and so was Jon so she wanted to retreat back to the CBR.
Kelly, Matt and I dropped them off and went back for "Fantasy in the Sky". We
caught Tinkerbell's flight and the fireworks then raced over to Tomorrowland
for a crack at Space Mountain. It was down to about a 15 to 20 minute wait so
we went on. Fun, fun, fun. Did again just for good measure.
It was getting near 10:00pm so we decided to head back for one more swim and
then off to bed. EPCOT was the next stop in the morning.
Dateline - Saturday April 20th 7:00am
Wow, everyone really slept well. Mickey woke us up again, but this time I
hadn't beaten him to the call. After we all got ready I went to OPR for coffee.
We had breakfast in our rooms from stuff we brought down. At about 8:15 we were
off to the bus stop. We waited maybe 5 minutes before we were on the bus for
EPCOT. We noticed there was a crowd gathered for the Magic Kingdom bus.
When we got through the gates, another 5 minute line and a hassle with the
Annual Pass "knuckle" reader, we went straight to Honey I Shrink the Audience.
My wife went in with my daughter and 7 year old son, while I stayed out and
enjoyed the sunshine with my 1 year old. He really got a kick out of the
"jumping" fountains. I got a kick just sitting outside the Imagination
Pavilion in bright sunshine. They were fortunate to walk onto the attraction,
because as they were in, the line had built from the doors to enter down the
path past the fountain that appears to be flowing up. We made sure we didn't
let out any secrets to the kids, so when they came out they were all a buzz at
how good the show was. of course, I'm not going to give away any of the show
now either.
We could hear loud music and cheering across the "pond" at the American
Pavilion Stage. US FIRST was having their national competition their that day.
High Schools from all over the U.S. participate in a robtic game of basketball/
hockey/soccer like competition. Each school is sponsored by a Corporation or
organization and they build these machines to play the games. The object is to
win the games, but they are also judged on engineering, design, concept, etc.
We decided to head down to World Showcase after traveling through Journey into
Imagination and my sons favorite Figment. After grabbing a Diet Coke in Canada,
and having the 7 year olds World Showcase passport stamped, we went poking into
the shops of the U.K. we noticed a couple of lonely characters all by
themselves in the courtyard there. Pooh and Tigger were just hanging out
with really nobody around. Well the 1 year old practically came out of his
stroller. He ran right over to the "tubby little cubby all stuffed with fluffy"
and I think wanted to bring him home. The 7 year old had gotten an autograph
book so he was chasing after autographs. We took all the photos we wanted while
a few more people finally noticed the characters and came over.
We skipped by France and Morocco for the time being to check out the US FIRST
competition. When we got there we noticed that the High School competing was
Nashua, NH. My daughter (a junior there) had to check out what was going on.
Nashua won it's match so everyone was pretty happy. Outside the American
Pavilion they have a small stage to the right where Mickey, Minnie, Goofy,
Donald, Chip & Dale and Pluto put on a little song and dance to an all American
salute. They then go into the crowd for autographs. The boys got a kick out of
it, and it was nice to sit down and relax for a minute in the shade. I noticed
a banner above the entrance that read to the effect; "See the debut of the new
American Adventure". I thought they had changed it once again, but that was not
the case. They were referring to the additional footage at the end with the
song. The kids didn't feel like staying to see the show, but we did convince
them to sit long enough to see and hear the Voices of Liberty perform. They
were again excellent. they sang "Oh Susanna", "America the Beautiful",
and "Shenendoah". It seemed short, maybe because of all of the noise from US
FIRST outside of the pavilion.
I forgot to point out, EPCOT was celebrating their Flower & Garden displays. In
various sections of the park, there were display's and mini-seminars about the
local plant life, including the various countries in World Showcase and
throughout the park. There was more Topiary everywhere. Each country had
topiary themes. For example, Beauty and the Beast was located outside of the
France pavilion. Pinhoccio outside of Italy, The Lion King in between Germany
and China. The flora looked outstanding.
OK, from the American Pavilion we stopped briefly in Germany. We were getting
hungry for lunch. I was leaning towards a beer and the German buffet, my wife
for Chinese food and the kids wanted Mexican. Guess who won...We ate at the
outdoor Cantina in Mexico. The food was OK, not great but OK. I was a little
disappointed at it. I had the combination plate of a burrito, enchilada and
taco. We then sailed through Mexico literally. I always liked this ride too. I
enjoy this one more than Maelstrom in Norway. From Mexico we shot over to
Horizons. After about a 4 minute wait (there was a steady stream of people
visiting the attraction) we boarded our car into the future. If you can dream
it...I'm going to miss this one. I don't see why they have to close it...My son
chose the underwater adventure. I loved the smell of the orange groves, and
watching the impression of the future from the 40's & 50's vantage point. I
didn't notice that when the man is in the barber chair the radio was playing
"There's a great big beautiful tomorrow..." until this last ride. It will
probably be gone by the time I get back again. Sigh...
Back to the CBR we went for more R & R. The temp was about 88 with a touch more
humidity, but who cares! We decided to head back to EPCOT with the car about
6:00. We caught a quick bite to eat at the Electric Umbrella which was fair. I
think I had a hot dog. US FIRST was holding their awards ceremony at 7:00 near
the giant fountain in between Innoventions. Getting into the park was even more
difficult this night. For some reason Disney did not open anymore gates. They
only had 6 or 7 in operation. Meanwhile, the lines were back out past the
ticket offices and near the street. After about 15 minutes and now the usual
issue with the "knuckle" readers we were in. My wife was curious where Nashua
finished as well as Central High School in Manchester,NH. which was sponsored
by Public Service of NH. the utility she works for. My daughter who is a
cheerleader for Nashua saw they were preparing a show with cheerleaders in it
and she too wanted to watch. Now to the me and the boys, this was like time to
go into Innoventions which we did.
Well the US FIRST awards stretched to 5 minutes before Illuminations and Disney
had to ordered them to end it. There was a big bottleneck near Innoventions
with people trying to leave the park, and people trying to get to see
Illuminations. We ducked into the Centorium Gift shop and looked around until
the crowd shrunk a bit. My son noticed Donald Duck and Goofy clowning around
the area just outside of the gift shop, but right near where you can get caught
up on news, weather and sports in the information area. There is also a small
room off of that where the characters greet you for photo's, autographs, etc.
Donald seems to be hard to get (I wonder why this is so?) and my son couldn't
leave without his John Hancock or, Donald Duck I guess.
From there it was back to the CBR to relax. My wife and I put the kids into
bed, and snuck out to the Banana Cabana for a drink and to relax. There were
quite a few people from NH. down there at the time, even some folks that my
wife worked with. So, we just hung out for a couple of hours, gabbed about how
nice it was down here, and about what we had done so far.
Dateline Sunday April 21st
Today we're off to MGM. We arrived right at 8;15am. It was about 8:35am when we
got through the gate. Did I already mention the problems getting into the
parks?
Today was an "early opening for on-site visitors" at MGM. My daughter commented
it looked as if all the hotels in Kissimmee were in early too ;^).
We strolled down towards Sunset Boulevard and checked out the status board.
TZTOT had a 75 minute wait. This was at 8:40am. The Great Movie Ride had a 10
minute wait so we headed there first. It wasn't even 10 minutes and we were
on the attraction. There are two "cars" that are operational. We asked to sit
in front, but had 1 too many to sit right near the "hostess", so we sat
directly behind her in the next row, but in the 2nd or rear "car". We had the
"gangsters" entertain us, while the first car sped through to the Western.
I noticed they didn't see any of the "gangster" goings on while they moved
through and we stopped. However when we came through to the westerns, we saw
the gunfight. No explosion however. If you've been through this ride before,
you'll know the parts I'm talking about. The kids enjoyed the ride, and we did
too, although I think I could stand to miss it one time if I had too.
From there we went to "The Voyage of the Little Mermaid". My wife's comments
were that she thought it too dark. I enjoyed it, in fact I think I'm in love
with a mermaid. Oh, I better not let my wife know...
We missed the next Superstar television so we walked down to New York Street,
and saw a bit of "Ace Ventura". Again, it was OK...
We traveled down to where the Pocahantas show was, and it was gone...Every-
thing was boarded up, and a sign said that "The Hunchback" would be
premiering in June. Too bad. This was a fine production I thought. I was bummed
that the kids didn't get a chance to see it...
It was getting near 11:15 to 11:30, so we thought we'd hit the Commissary early
so that we could stake out a place for the Toy Story parade. We used a 10% off
coupon in the back of the Birnbaum guide. I had a burger, my wife had the chef
salad, and the kids ate chicken fingers. Overall it was a good meal.
We had decided to camp out near Star Tours where the parade begins. That way we
could shoot down to Muppet 3D. We got a good spot right in the front and
waited for about 20 minutes before the parade began. This is a fun parade with
the soldiers, barrel of monkeys, and of course Woody and Buzz. The only thing
is that I wish it were a bit longer, but it is one you should not miss. After
the parade we got right in line for Muppet 3D. After about another 15 minutes,
we were seated in the theatre. It did not disappoint, although right near the
end my 1 year old decided he'd had enough. Unfortunately, my wife had to miss
the very end. I told her it didn't change since the last time we saw it. 8^)
After stopping for a drink and to feed the baby, we wandered back up near the
soundstages. Nothing was in production at the time, they just finished up the
pilot for "Tarzan" a new syndicated series. WCW wrestling was coming in the
first week of May to tape some "live" matches. There were lots of characters
stationed outside though. Snow White, Cinderella, Rafiki, Aladdin, Alice, Pluto,
the Fairy Godmother, Robin Hood, Minnie, Roger Rabbit and Tigger were all out
and about. It amazed me that everyone around was orderly and stood in lines to
greet the characters. You could see that most people were very relaxed and
enjoying the way it was going. Nobody cut in, no rushing, it was great. I could
tell that the characters seemed to enjoy it too. Because of the heat, they
usually stationed themselves under shade cover. My son had a field day with his
autograph book, and I couldn't remember when I saw so many characters available
at one time out in the park. I did get the $50,000 dollar question from my 7
year old after he had finished. He asked me if I knew if there were people in
the costumes. I pondered this a moment and told him "I've always believed they
were real, and I still believe they are."
Checking the board, TZTOT was down to about 20 minutes. Matt had said he was
ready so we decided to put him to the test. In we went. He decided to go on
with me after the baby swap. Louise and Kelly went on and we waited at the
exit. Matt was still a bit unsure but he was going on. Out they came, and in we
went. He really enjoyed it, but he still didn't like the pre-show in the study.
We hit Beauty and the Beast just right, and took in the show. It's still one of
the best productions. The end still makes a lot of people get watery eyes.
We then walked back to the backlot tour and got right on a tram. Matt, the 7
year old, remembered that Catastrophe Canyon was near the end of the tour and
couldn't wait to get wet. As the castmember said, "Those of you sitting on the
right side of the tram will get wet." As people scurried to change seats he
added, "Those of you on the left side of the tram will get soaked." It's fun to
watch the people in a quandary on where to sit to keep from getting watered
down. The tour was the same, but it was fun. I noticed that all of the effects
on Catastrophe Canyon were working, including the fire from the truck. The last
couple of times I noticed that some of the elements were not.
By now, it was about 3:00, so we decided to go back to the CBR for some R&R. It
turned out we stayed there the rest of the night. We were all pretty tired, so
we just relaxed and stayed near the pool and the beach at Martinique.
Dateline Monday Aprill 22nd -
Mickey again gave us the wake up call at 7:00am. By this time I had been up,
showered and gone for a cup of coffee at OPR. Today we were going back to the
Magic Kingdom. It was an early opening for resort guests that day. As has been
mentioned in here, it is probably better to go to another park when a
particular park has an early opening. It was packed once again...
We started off at the bakery and had a danish sitting out on the sidewalk at a
table right on Main Street USA. Imagine doing that every day? Boy I could...
We then went over to Alien Encounter. It had only about a 20 minute wait to
go in. My wife and I both wanted to go, the 7 year old Matt didn't want any
part of it, and my daughter was wishy-washy about going in. I went in first
and explained some of the attraction to her since I was there in January. She
was a bit nervous, so of course I led her right down to the front row when we
got in. I'd say I enjoyed it more the second time, but it is not in my top 5
attractions at TMK. My wife had taken the boys over to the grand Prix raceway
and got right on while we were inside AE. They were already back when we
exited. My wife and daughter went back in via "kids swap" and I took the boys
on a tour of the shops around Tomorrowland.
From AE my daughter went to meet up with a school friend who was also down at
WDW on vacation. We took the boys and got in line at the Astro-Orbitors which
were no operational again. Louise was going to stay with the 1 year old, when
the castmember told her she could take him on too. So I got the video ready and
up the elevator we went. My son Matt and I got into the "spacecraft" right
behind my wife and Jon. When the ride started I began filming all of the
surroundings and of course my wife and son in front of us. It was a lot of fun,
and the view is great up there. Matt really loves this ride. he says he's going
to be a pilot and I don't doubt him.
From there we traveled back by the Mad Hatters tea cups, where we saw Alice,
the Queen of Hearts and the Mad Hatter signing autographs and taking pictures.
Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum also showed up to join in the fun. That was another
thing about the characters and where they are in the parks now. It seems that
they are lining them up with the matching theme. For example, Alice, the Mad
Hatter, etc. were near the Mad Hatter's ride.
Walking past Dumbo, which was only a 60 minute wait we stopped at the stand
called "Lumiers". They have an orange ice that is really good, especially on
a hot day like it was on Monday. The temp's were near 90 degrees and the
humidity was up. The stand is right next to Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. That had
about a 50 to 60 minute wait as well.
We decided to stop at Peter Pan's Flight, which my wife really enjoys. I do
too, and the boys loved it. From there we went through Cinderella's castle
and noticed they took down the stage and cleared the front of the castle.
Remember, we talked my wife out of seeing the show in front of the castle? Well
now it was gone...
We walked back into Adventureland to check out the Jungle Cruise. 75 minutes...
Next? To the Country Bear Jamboree of course. Right in. This was the 6th or 7th
time I had seen this show and it was different once again. Jon slept through
it. My wife debated about getting a smoked turkey leg, but held off.
The boys took a vote and said it was time to try "Big Thunder Mtn Railroad".
For some reason the wiat was only about 15 minutes. You really have to watch
the queues and the times for waiting. You can hit some attractions just right
as we did. Others are packed...Be sure to pick your spots. Jon got a kick out
of watching the train go by, while Louise and Matt took the first ride. We then
swapped with the baby and Matt and I took a ride. As we were getting ready to
make the first hill, Matt told me that he noticed there were no "falling rocks"
on the way up. Sure enough, that wasn't working at the time. It is still one
of the top 5 in my opinion at TMK.
From there we jaunted over into Liberty Square to see the Hall of Presidents.
The Haunted Mansion had about a 30 minute wait, but we were too hungry for
some lunch. So we traveled back into Fantasyland and to Pinnochio's for lunch.
Matt had a hot dog I think, while Louise and I split a salad. The food was
good, not great, but good.
After lunch we walked back down Main Street USA and poked around in the various
shops. It was now about 1:45, and we wanted to stake out a place for the
"Mickey Mania Parade" at 3:00. We swapped turns looking into the shops while
the other one sat on the curb. There were two marching bands prior to the
parade, one from New Jersey I believe the other from Connecticut. Both were
very good. Both of the boys really liked the Mickey parade. Matt remembered the
Party Gras parade and said he liked this one better. Me too.
After the parade, we traveled back to the CBR. Into the pool to cool off. My
daughter and her friend who was staying in Fort Wilderness was already in the
pool. Louise then went over to have a hair wrap, after my daughter had hers
done. They use beads and colored thread to wrap strands of hair together. It's
really popular down there and both of the girls loved the look. I on the other
hand wanted a tattoo of Pluto...But that's another story. ;^]
We decided to head over to EPCOT after we had a pizza for supper. Taking the
car at night was a big plus. We parked right in the front couple of rows
everytime. When leaving we could get right out easily. This also saved us from
the massive crowds in line at the monorail or busses. Especially good with
tired little ones who don't want to wait.
Anyway, we spooked around Innoventions and then went up to Norway for dessert.
I think I had my fill of Rice pudding and Kringle's.
We then walked back down to Mexico where the Mariachi (sp?) band was playing
outside. They were dancing and singing...It was great. Audience participation
was extreme.
After dancing off our dessert we took in Illuminations. They are going to be
changing illuminations next year we were told. After getting right out of the
parking lot, we headed back tot he CBR to get some sleep. Tomorrow the plan is
to visit SeaWorld.
Dateline - Tuesday April 23rd
We left for SeaWorld about 8:15 or so. The traffic on Rte 4 was pretty heavy as
it was a work day (what's that?) and commuters were doing their commuting
thing. When we arrived the parking lot was quite empty. We had passes to get in
so the price was right. The park had been updated since my wife and I visited
in 1989. The crowds were not heavy at all.
We took in the Shamu show, the "Baywatch" water show, the dolphins, Artic
Adventure, the Sea lions and otters, well I guess you could say we saw it all.
Matthew really loved this place. he really got excited over seeing the various
aquatic animals. We thought it was very good, but Louise and I agreed that it
was something you'd see every few years. I would not go to SeaWorld on each
visit.
You could tell though, that the staff was making an effort to make the day as
enjoyable as possible. We had snacks really in the park, as we were going to
have dinner on International Drive. I did manage to go over to the hospitality
building for a cold draft sample.
All of the attractions were operating at SeaWorld, with the exception of a few
of the food locations. The prices were a bit lower than at Disney for food, but
not in the souvenir department. The shows were very good and entertaining.
From SeaWorld we traveled down International Drive to the Race Rock Cafe. It's
on the same lines as the Hard Rock and Planet Hollywood, with a racing theme.
Everything from cars, motorcycles, boats, you name it. The food was OK, I
wouldn't rate it as high as Planet Hollywood's but it was not bad. The service
was very good and being a race fan, I loved the place. We did have a minor
disaster as right after we left the restaurant we started driving back up
International Drive when my wife noticed she forgot one of Jon's bottles on the
table. We turned around and she ran back in. By the time she got back into the
restaurant, they had cleaned the table and said they threw away the bottle.
Well, she wasn't about to go into the trash so chalk up 1 bottle lost on our
vacation journey.
That evening we relaxed at the CBR. Kelly took Matt over to EPCOT to play
around more at Innoventions. Louise crashed with the baby in the room. I just
layed in a hammock on the beach with a cold drink and watched the fireworks
from Illuminations over the trees.
Dateline Wednesday April 24th
Day 7 of the trip found us planing strategy. we had decided to hit MGM once
again, and then depending on the kids, the weather and the crowds, swing over
to Blizzard Beach. Getting into the Disney MGM Studios after an empty bus ride,
continued to be an adventure. It still took almost 15 minutes just to get
through the gate. The knuckle readers were still a problem. That was a bummer
because for the past two days, they seemed to work well getting into EPCOT and
TMK.
We had also planned to hit the spots that we wanted to see one more time, and
to the places we did not get to before.
The first stop was to Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. I really think it's time
they changed this one. I've seen it several times, but I noticed things are
falling apart. One of the propellers on the airplane was only half there. I
wonder if they blew a piece of it off? Then there was no truck that gets blown
up as before coming into the marketplace. Some of the buildings and other props
looked a bit worn. There were definitely less explosions. The kids noticed that
right off. Louise thought that the show was a bit shorter too.
From there, we traveled down to Star Tours. Only a 5 minute wait and we were
on. this time I went first and Louise stayed with the baby.
After her ride, we traveled back over to Sunset Boulevard to check the TZTOT
wait. 75 minutes...Oh well, next time we come. We stopped off at the bakery
right across from the Brown Derby and had a couple Chocolate Chunk cookies.
The weather was nice, not as warm as the other days so we decided to head out
and catch Blizzard Beach.
We had coupons from the back of Birnbaum's book for free towels. We got a
locker, changed and it was off to explore. I really liked the place. I even
thought it was better layed out than Typhoon Lagoon. Things didn't seem to be
as far away as TL, but TL still has the best wave pool. The Summit Plummit is a
must. What a view from up there! You could see all of the parks and a lot of
construction. I forgot to ask a cast member at the top if the clearing of land
was to be the new animal park. But in looking towards the Magic Kingdom, half
way between Blizzard Beach and TMK was a large (looked like EPCOT size)
clearing where there was some heavy duty work going on. It was to the left of
TMK, on a line from EPCOT. Back to Summit Plummit. I went on twice. Be warned it
does beat you up a bit, especially on your back and rear end. You know when you
hit the water near the bottom. because you really feel it. It is kind of like
the same feeling if you fall down while water skiing. It's a great slide
though! The chair lift up is fun, but the wait can be long. There is lots to do
even with young kids. They have a more areas than TL for the small ones. Lots
of things to play on and in, the water. My 1 year old had as much fun as I did.
he even went with me on the lazy river too.
The family raft ride is a blast too. You can fit 5 or six in it (as long as
they meet height requirements. Jon was too small, so I waited for my turn. It
is a fun ride, even longer than the one at Typhoon Lagoon.
We left the base of Mt. Gushmore about 5:30 and headed back to the Caribbean
Beach. I really wanted to get cleaned up and head back to EPCOT for a "Marakesh
Express" in Morocco. So that's what we did. Again we parked right up front,
walked in and took a boat across the lagoon. With drink in hand we went over to
France for a treat (boy it seems like we eat a lot of junk huh?. Actually we
ate very well and watched the junk...)
We just hung out until Illuminations started and then it was off to the room
again for the evening.
Dateline Thursday April 25th
Tonight is Hoop-dee-doo review at 5:30. We're looking forward to that.
We took the bus to EPCOT and decided to catch the monorail into the Magic
Kingdom. Bad move...The bus ride was quick, the monorail ride was fine to TMK.
However, when we got out...It was packed. The monorail line into TMK was long.
We decided to go for the boat across the Seven Seas Lagoon. We had to wait for
the next boat, which was only about a 10 minute wait. By the time we got into
the Magic Kingdom, it was about an hour after we left the hotel.
Again, we spent the time going to the various things we wanted to hit once more
or what we missed the first time through.
Space Mountain wasn't too bad of a wait so we took in that once again. We also
went right into Dreamflight again. From there it was off to the Grand Prix
raceway. I wanted to video the kids from the bridge over the track. Got some
great shots of them.
We then went back into Fantasyland and right into Small World. We hadn't gone
on it as yet, so we had to take our turn. Jon really liked this one...I think
if he could have climbed out of the boat, he'd still be playing with the kids
in the attraction. From there it was a ride on the carousel and then down to
the Haunted Mansion.
The crowds were not as large on this day. The wait on the Haunted Mansion was
maybe 10 minutes tops. There were alot of schools having field trips though. We
got behind a high school class going into the Haunted Mansion. You know how
kids can be, a bit loud and obnoxious. Well a few were and they managed to
scare my 1 year old a bit in the dark.
After Haunted Mansion we went into Frontierland. Louise bought a smoked turkey
leg and we sat down in the rocking chairs near the Diamond Horseshoe and watched
the people go by. I gave Jon a drink of milk, and soon we were back on our feet
headed for Splash Mountain. Louise really liked the turkey leg. It was smoked
and tasted more like ham than turkey.
After Splash Mountain we caught Big Thunder Mountain, then headed into
Adventureland. The crowds were getting a bit larger as we made our way into
Pirates of the Caribbean. No problem, another 10 minute wait. We were hopping
to get on the Jungle Cruise, but the wait there was over 45 minutes. So, do we
get another Dole Whip and wait? Well we didn't wait but we did get a Dole Whip.
We strolled out to Main Street USA and noticed that the Oprah show was setting
up there. They were getting lighting and layouts ready.
It was just after 1:00, so we decided to head back to the CBR to let the baby
have a nap. Louise started to get a pain in her side, not bad but she could
feel it. I went to the pool with the other two while she and Jon napped. About
3:30 I came back to the room to change, then went over to the Custom House to
pick up my hoop-dee-doo tickets. I got back to the room about 4:00, as it was
about a 20 minute wait to get the tickets. I guess everyone just decided to
pick up tickets from Guest Relations at the same time.
We drove over to Fort Wilderness and got there at 5:05 for the 5:30 show.
Louise wasn't feeling any better, but she still was looking forward as was
everyone else, to the show.
In we went for 5:30. We sat upstairs center, right in front of the sound board
and next to the spotlight person. The show and the food was as good as ever.
Everyone loved it as usual.
It was off to EPCOT to relax and watch Illuminations once again. At this point
Louise was beginning to feel worse, so we cut it short and returned back to the
CBR.
Dateline - Friday April 26th
That night was a long one. The pain got worse, and about 5:00am she had had
enough. I called the front desk and told them my wife was having stomach pains.
They told us we had a few options. They could call an ambulance to take her to
the nearest hospital. Or is she could wait until 7:00am, they would notify the
clinic outside the park and they would pick us up in a van at 8:00. Or a doctor
could come directly to the room. Cost for the clinic, $65.00 cash, check,
credit card. For the doctor to visit in room, $95.00 same payment terms. She
decided that she could wait for the van (she's always looking for a bargain 8^)
and promptly at 8:10 someone was right outside to drive us to the clinic. I
don't recall the actual name, but it is associated wit the Orlando Hospitals.
She found out it was her gall bladder and that she would probably need an
operation when she got back to New Hampshire. The pain was gone, the doctor
said she probably passed the stone. She's now scheduled for surgery latter in
June.
Meanwhile, we told the 2 kids to go on over to EPCOT and walk around while we
were getting mom checked out. We had taken Jon with us. Well Louise was feeling
OK now, so we went over to EPCOT to see if we could find them. On the walkway
to Canada in World showcase we caught up with them. We sat down in the U.K and
had lunch, then swung over to the American pavilion for the American Adventure
one more time. We ducked in and out of the various countries and shops as well
as we made our way around World Showcase. So long for now EPCOT...
From there it was back to the CBR for a bit of a rest, while Matt and Kelly
went over to the Magic Kingdom to see the Mickey Mania parade. We gave them a
time when to meet them and met them at the Walt Disney Theatre where Mickey
Mouse now resides. We had stopped in the last time we were in TMK with Jon, but
I didn't have my VCR with me (dumb move). He really loves that mouse. He
couldn't wait to get to him. As we were in line he was trying to cut everyone
and run to Mickey. Today with camera in hand, I wanted to see if he would do it
again. He was a little tired, but he went right up to Mickey. He loved his
nose, and I think he considered chewing at it. But he gave him a big wet kiss
and hug and I got a treasure on tape. He'll probably never remember the moment,
but we will get to live it on film for awhile...In fact I may send this one in
to the Disney Magazine in their quest for Disney vacation videos.
Anyway, we met Kelly and Matt after the parade. Kelly was all excited because
Oprah Winfrey was in the parade. She had brought her whole audience to WDW,
along with some very special guests.
It was also Grad Night so there was no "Fantasy in the Sky" and TMK would be
closing at 7:00pm.
We said so long to the Magic Kingdom for this trip then headed back to the CBR
to swim and relax some more.
Dateline Saturday April 27th
Our flight back home (non-stop to Manchester NH) was at 12:30. I had scheduled
breakfast at 1900 Park Faire at the Grand Floridian for 8:30. We had a good
breakfast and fun with Pluto, Goofy and the gang. Said goodbye to Mary Poppins
afterwards then headed out. We stopped at the Wedding Chapel so my wife and
daughter could check it out. I told Kelly not to get any ideas until she's out
of college...
They had a wedding going on, so they couldn't go into the chapel itself. They
had over 85 weddings scheduled for the month of April.
We then took a drive around WDW, said our good-bys and then headed to the
airport. We arrived back into NH about 3:15 to 50 degree weather and a cold
wind.
Looking back, we didn't get to everything in this trip, but really whoever does
when they go. The most important thing was that we had fun, relaxed, and felt
magical every day.
It was a great vacation overall...Can't wait to go back, but it probably won't
be until March or April of '98. But, wishing on a star could get me their
sooner!
|
| 491.27 | Trip Report, May 1996 | BIGQ::SORRELLS | I'll just wait in the car | Fri Jun 07 1996 21:25 | 237 |
|
Who: Yours Truly; Judiann, his wife; daughter Janet (1.5);
our boy Jonathan (3.5).
When: May 25-June 2 (week of Memorial day)
Why: Business trip to Orlando May 28-31, cheap airfares,
and cabin fever after a nasty winter. Otherwise would
have waited until kids were a little older.
Pros: Kids love Disney Videos, etc., parents haven't been in many
many years.
Cons: Kids are young, need naps, can be picky eaters and are
sometimes impatient at restaurants. I had a full schedule
during the week leaving mom on her own with the kids.
Plans: USAir to Orlando Saturday ($82 each way), Avis rental ($192/
week), Holiday Inn Sunspree (onsite was pretty full by the
time we made plans), MKC discount on admissions.
Overview
This is written mainly for those of you considering going to Disney World
with young children. There's not an exhaustive review of things which have
been already covered. Our biggest hassle was eating out, something which is
not one of our kids' strong points.
It was fabulous to have an extended stay to enjoy things, even if I was
working during the week. We checked the various books and this file and came
up with general plans. Going straight to Fantasyland when the park opened on
a non-early entry day and avoiding the 60-minute Dumbo lines was the single
most important thing we gleaned from the books.
Expected big crowds but we got to the parks at or before opening every day and
skipped almost everything with a long wait. As such, there were some things we
didn't do or that only some of us got to do. The kids did get nap time every
day but got tired of eating out. We only kept the kids out until 9pm one
night, and they zonked out in the car on the way home.
I was very impressed that Jonathan did not scare easily, but I attempted to let
him decide what he did or didn't want to do. There were times when we had to
throw away the schedule to allow for "getting soaked in the fountain time".
Also should have done more frequent bathroom stops rather than asking kids if
they needed to go. Just do it.
It was more of a hassle to return to the hotel at midday from TMK, but it's
not bad from the other parks. Over to I-4, up 1 exit, the hotel is right
there.
We lost a hat, some sunglasses, and two sippy cups over the week, so be
forewarned. You might not want to spend too much money on items that are
easily lost, dropped, or tossed into the water by the kids.
I was disappointed that Mickey's Starland was closed: we had counted on that
area for our kids to attend. It should re-open this month. While the
stroller was a must most of the time, any kind of playground or activity to
get the kids out of the stroller (besides standing in line) was helpful.
Sunday, 5/26, TMK
The monorail looked crowded and we were heavily laden with stroller, etc., so
decided to take the ferryboat over. We were on main street by 9am and
followed our plan by heading straight to Fantasyland. Took in Dumbo, the
Carousel, It's a Small World, and Mr. Toad by 10:30. By then the area was
packed and it was really hot, so we skipped Peter Pan and Lion King and
took a break.
Headed over to the Teacups, saw Alice in Wonderland characters, and probably
did Mr. Toad another time or two, as this became Jonathan's favorite. Janet
napped through Tiki Birds; everything else in that area was packed, so we
skipped them. We decided not to go back to the hotel for a break. Made 4:30
character dinner reservation at Liberty Tree. Judiann went to the Hall of
Presidents while I watched the parade with the kids.
Jonathan later fell asleep in the stroller so we ducked into the cool,dark Main
Street Theater and I watched Mickey's Big Break 20 or 30 times while he slept,
Janet played, and my wife shopped. By this time it was almost time for
dinner. We were intercepted by Goofy on the way in and lost the hostess
leading us to our table. Jonathan loved the characters, Janet was scared if
they got close.
After dinner, did TTA. Jonathan and I explored Tom Sawyer's Island
while Judiann gave Janet some milk. We had fun but Jonathan kept seeing
the Thunder Mountain coaster and said he wanted to ride it. I said maybe when
we come back later in the week. Funny, considering that we had started out
with little kiddie rides just hours earlier. Now he wants to ride Big
Thunder.
Monday, 5/25, EPCOT
Arrived around opening time, did Spaceship Earth (perhaps a bit much for the
kids first thing). Over to Wonders of Life, where we watched Goofy about
Health (a rather dated cartoon in which Goofy learns that smoking, drinking,
partying, and stress is bad for you). Then saw Cranium Command, which was too
loud for Janet and a bit much for Jonathan. I'd recommend it for older kids,
maybe 6 and up, and adults. By the time we had a snack/bathroom break and met
Goofy it was after 11:00, so we headed to the World Showcase.
Rode Maelstrom with Jonathan, who was really upset that we didn't get wet. To
make up for it, we threw the plan away and let the kids play in the fountains
between FW and WS for an hour or two. (The Unofficial Guide has a humorous
passage on this place, something to the effect that the Disney Committee of
People Who Are Sitting On Sticks will probably review it and find that it's
far too spontaneous for a theme park, has no line, and should thus be
eliminated).
Judiann checked out Mexico while I watched the kids. She recommended El Rio
del Tiempo for later with the kids. Then she watched them while I checked out
the line for Body Wars (too long) and went and got dry clothes for the kids
from the car.
Finally changed and fed them at the Oddyssy Center. Then took the boat to
World Showcase. Ended up at America, where Judiann saw the show and I tried
to keep the kids awake for the upcoming character show. No luck, they were
ready for naps so I walked them around to a shady spot and they slept through
the show, the fife and drum parade, and an appearance by Pocahontas and Meeko.
I must admit I did wheel them over to Pocahontas, check to see if they woke up
(no), and took their picture with the characters anyway.
Walked back over to Future World, saw Living with the Land and Circle of Life,
then ate at the Food Court and took pictures with Timon and Rafiki just
outside Food Rocks. By now Jonathan is giving the characters big hugs and
Janet is, well, tolerating some of them if we are holding her. Called it
another early day since we had an early morning planned...
Tuesday 5/28, MGM
Technically, I am working today -- I have an afternoon short course so we go
early and get in by 8:30. We do the Alladin character breakfast, which was
not the best of ideas. Perhaps not the best time of day to expect the kids
to behave well in a crowded restaurant. Then over to the Little Mermaid.
This was the one time of the whole trip where we endured a 30-40 minute wait -
a tough thing to do with the little ones. I think they enjoyed the show,
however.
Next, over to the Muppet4D -- timed it well and walked right in 5 minutes
before the preshow started. Jonathan liked it and Janet put up with it but as
expected, did not wear the glasses. Stopped by the playground: Honey I Lost
the Kids, I think it's called (no line). Asked the cast member for the kiddie
section, but Jonathan was climbing on and over the walls so I took him over to
the other sections and we played in the maze of tunnels for a while. By then
it was time to go -- work for me and lunch/naps for the kids. Had to miss the
parade.
Back to MGM afterwards. Ate at the 50's Prime Time - again kids were not
on best restaurant behavior, but we survived. Did Monstersound (10 min wait)
and Backstage Tour (5-10 min wait). Kids did fine on both. By now it's 8:30,
and after an emergency bathroom stop Judiann said she would take the kids to
The Making of Toy Story if I wanted to try to get in TZTOT. I zipped over and
just got in by 9:00. Very impressive, ranking with Space Mountain as the
favorite adult ride. Never did get to do Beauty and the Beast - we really
didn't think the kids were up for the wait.
Wed. Work by day, babysitter and Pleasure Island by night. (Dinner at the
Contemporary -- Garden Grille first). I go to the men's room at Adventurers Club
and return to find my wife massaging a brick in front of 100 strangers. Hmmm...
Thur. Discovery Island for them, work for me.
Fri. Sea World for them, work for me.
Saturday, 6/1, EPCOT, at the opening.
Made dinner reservations for Mexico.
Started at Imagination pavilion, took turns on Honey I Shrunk the Audience
while the other parent amused the kids in the Pavilion. Very good show and
the Imageworks area was fun for the kids. Glad we beat the crowd here.
Then to the Living Seas. Had to leave the preshow for a bathroom emergency.
If this ever happens to you folks with kids, just ask for help. I was directed
though a back way to the Acquarium area restrooms just in time!
Did lunch in the Land (Timon appeared again), but had to duck out of Food
Rocks with Jonathan 2 minutes before showtime for another bathroom break.
Then to the fountains again. I visited Innoventions for a few minutes, then
Judiann had some time on her own while I took the kids for a change and naps
back at the hotel. Came back, did El Rio del Tiempo and shopped, and caught a
brief appearance by Snow White and Dopey in Germany. Headed home after a while
to get dinner for the kids.
Had another babysitter, so Judiann and I went back to EPCOT for Dinner in
Mexico, Judiann's appearance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno in
Innoventions, and shopping around before Illuminations. Then off to the
Monorail for TMK just in time for the Fireworks. Sacrificed Spectromagic for a
Space Mountain line which was still long (50-60 min) but worth it, and did
AstroOrbiters and Carousel of Progess right before midnight. Note that the
Space Mountain line would stop moving for 10-15 minutes at a time -- this
procedure happens late at night and is also described in the Unofficial
Guide's section on Space Mountain. Don't panic. They apparently empty out
the inside queues while leaving the line extending out the door.
Sunday, 6/2, TMK.
Back to Fantasyland and the Carousel, Mr Toad, Peter Pan (5-10 min waits that
early). The Lion King was having technical difficulty, so we put it off for
later. Janet fell asleep in Small World. Judiann did the Haunted Mansion
with Jonathan, who has yet to be really scared on anything.
Lunch at Pecos Bill's. It's after 11; if we wait any longer, the line for Big
Thunder (now 25 minutes) will be outrageous, so Jonathan and I discuss the ride
and the height requirement and he's up for it. Apparently they measured their
height in preschool, because he informs me that he is 41 inches tall! Over to
the ride while Janet and Judiann do Mickey's Railroad. Jonathan passes the
height requirement, an event which is almost as exciting to him as the ride
itself. He liked it but seems to think he also rode Splash Mountain since we
passed by it so often. Later, when I am pushing the stroller he requests Daddy
Toad's Wild Ride or a Stroller Coaster ride.
Time for naps - both napped in the Main Street Theater again. I spent their
entire nap time in line for Splash Mountain (60 min). I think if I had it to
do over I would wait until the kids were old enough to come along. Not that
it was bad, but I guess I expected a few more thrills and a little less Brer
Rabbit. Certainly a classic, but it would be better to do with the whole
family.
Met up with Judiann and the kids and saw the country Bear Jamboree before a
Character Dinner at the Crystal Palace with Pooh and Company. Jonathan and
Judiann did Pirates of the Carribean. Would have taken Janet on, but she
wanted to stay out and play with her Mickey/Minnie balloon. Then, one last
ride with Mr. Toad and a visit with Minnie. By now, Janet has fallen in love
with Minnie and Jonathan is tired of getting out of the stroller to line up to
see characters.
Then, off across the water and back to Boston the next day.
"This is your captain speaking - the weather in Boston is rain and
fog and 58 degrees."
Whew, back to reality.
|
| 491.28 | May 15-21 Trip Notes | WRKSYS::PURIS | | Mon Jun 10 1996 12:29 | 167 |
|
Who: Phil, Gail, Elizabeth (5.5), Kristina (2.5),
Paul & Jenny (my parents)
When: May 16-21, 1996
Where: Old Key West Resort (Vacation Club), 2 bedroom home
How: USAir, non-stop, Boston - Orlando
Why: First timers
Due to time constraints, this report is not extensive. However, I had
requested information in this conference from time to time, as well as doing
extensive reading of trip reports, etc. Finding the advice helpful,
I wanted to share my experience with conference participants and provide
learnings and opinions.
-- After reading various topics in this notesfile, I had good intentions
of booking all arrangements myself. In the midst of planning, I went back
to school in the evenings. This consumed all of my free time. I investigated
packages, and decided on an Adventure Vacation package through AAA. Package
included; Air, Lodging, Length of Stay passes, Mears motor shuttle from/to
Orlando Airport, a Disney Flex feature coupon, and a coupon book for
off-Disney attractions. We rented a mini-van for the week.
-- USAir flights departed and arrived on schedule. No lost luggage. Not
that I expected a lot regarding airline food, but I was still surprised
that breakfast consisted of a banana, piece of apple bread, and a container
of yogurt. We had requested children's meals, but I forgot to ask at
breakfast (maybe because the kids like bananas/yogurt). On the way home, I
did have to remind the stewardess. She handed us the adult meals until I
mentioned we ordered children's meals. She fished through the specials
and found the lunches marked for our kids. They consisted of peanut-butter
and jelly sandwiches, carrots, and cookies versus our "Italian grinders".
-- Rented through Avis. They are on-site at the airport, but the signs directing
you to pick up area are misleading. I ended up in the drop-off area and was
directed across the street for pick-ups. More confusion. There were Avis
pick-ups on both sides of this garage and intially chose the wrong side
for my pick-up. Finally, I found the right area. I was told the mini-van
was white, but the one in the designated space was teal. They mentioned
problems with their color-coding and assured me the vehicle I had was
correct. Upon departure, there was a problem. Their records showed three
different people with the van I returned. Supposedly, it was corrected.
Let's hope so!
-- We arrived at Old Key West around 1:00 in the afternoon. I was going to do
early check-in, grab our passes head to MK. But, the home was ready so we
headed over to our unit to unload the suitcases and look over the place.
Someone described the homes at Old Key West as awesome. I concur. We rented
a two-bedroom and they had every comfort of home and then some. The homes
consisted of; a full kitchen and combo living/dining area that had a couch
that pulled out into a queen size bed, one bedroom that had a king-size bed
with attached room that had a jacuzzi, off that room was bath with shower,
another bedroom had two queen size beds, with attached bath, lastly a
washer/dryer in a separate room. Depending on which floor you were on,
(ranged from one to three) there was a patio or covered porch with table
and chairs. There was more than enough room for the six of us. We had toyed
with the idea of adjoining rooms at different resorts, but never regretted
going the two-bedroom route. We made trips to Goodings (supermarket) at
Crossroads and ate the majority of breakfast & dinners in the home. Only
one phone message mentioning that Old Key West was a Disney Vacation Club.
Our home overlooked the Lake Buena Vista golf course. Other rooms overlooked
the canal that led to Marketplace, PI, and DL/PO. We could see parts of
Illuminations from our 2nd floor porch. I can't say enough good things about
this resort, and would not hesitate to stay there again.
-- We did the Character Breakfast at Polynesian. Minnie, Pluto, and Goofy were
the characters. We did the first available time, 7:30AM. It was not
crowded and the characters visited with us twice. It started getting crowded
when we left and it was apparent the characters would only be able to visit
once, at the later seatings. A word of advice which I hadn't heeded. Make
your meal reservations early in your planning. I waited and was able to
make reservations, but sometimes had to settle for a less desirable time.
Next time, I would plan my dining earlier and make the reservations.
-- A bit on the rental car versus Disney transportation debate, sometimes
carried on in this notesfile. Other than a couple of trips for groceries,
one outside trip, and a trip into MK the first afternoon, we used the
buses/boats/monorail to get around the properties. Very convenient and not
usually crowded. There was one time we had to stand on a bus. We had a late
meal at EPCOT and left around 10:00 PM, and the bus was full going back to
Old Key West. Buses left our resort for the various parks every 20 minutes
and dropped you off near the front gates of the parks. By checking out
bus schedules, and planning accordingly, I cannot see where using a car
saves time or is more convenient. This may not be true at other times of
the year or at different resorts, but during my visit, you could get along
nicely without a car. I thought about cost. There was a small grocery at
Old Key West. Even if they overpriced the groceries, I don't think it would
have equaled car rental for a week. Having said all this, I could not
definitively say which way I would go if faced with the decision to rent
tomorrow. I appreciated the flexibility to go off-site the couple of times
we wanted to...Food for thought.
-- Other miscellaneous ramblings...The weather was fine, low-mid 90's each
day, moderate humidity. It only rained on the day we left. The operating
hours started increasing at MK during our stay. We arrived on Thursday,
and MK closed at 7:00. They extended the hours until 10:00 PM on Friday,
from a scheduled 7:00 PM closing. Sat. was a 12:00 close. From Sunday
on, 9:00 PM was closing. EPCOT was open until 9:00 all nights. MGM until
7:00 PM all nights.
We spent a lot of our time in the Magic Kingdom, specifically Fantasyland.
We found waits to be in the 15-30 minute range, with Dumbo and Lion King
toward the longer range of waits. We visited Adventureland and found
the wait for Pirates and Jungle Cruise in the 15-30 minute range as well.
My kids were too young for Splash/Space Mountain so I cannot comment
on those waits. The longest lines were at EPCOT, a tie between Honey I
Shrunk the Audience and Spaceship Earth. These bordered on a 45 minute wait.
However, my wife and I were eating dinner at Mexico one evening. We arrived
at EPCOT around 6:00 PM and walked right into Spaceship Earth and Living
Seas. At MGM, we were there for opening and did the first show of Little
Mermaid, and then Muppet 3D. Lines were consistent with other parks 15-30
minutes being the average wait time, with exceptions like GMR which exceeded
30 minutes.
Closed attractions. In MK, Mickey's Starland, Liberty Sq. Riverboat, and
(the perennially closed) 20,000 leagues. In EPCOT, World of Motion and
Universe of Energy. I don't recall anything being closed at MGM.
I wondered how my 2.5 year old would do. She handled things surprisingly
well, considering the activity. A plus was that, other than a seat on
the plane, everything was free (under 3 yrs). A minus was she tired earlier
and my wife, especially, did a lot of carrying. We initially rented two
strollers, but my youngest spent more time out of it then in it. After that,
we rented one stroller. During the rare times they both wanted to be in the
stroller there was room enough for both to squeeze in. The doubling-up
only worked at MK/EPCOT, MGM has a different type of stroller that wasn't
conducive for two little ones. My 5.5 year old was just wonderful during
our trip and handled everything we threw at her. The looks on both kids
faces during Spectromagic, It's a Small World, Mickey Mania, or character
greetings was something I'll never forget.
-- After much reading and discussing with folks who gone to Disney, we went
down with two objectives. First, have fun and realize you can't see
everything. Second, we used this first trip as a learning experience. Yes,
we plan on going back. Some learnings and suggestions:
* Need to start day earlier, especially with young ones. The days
we were at the parks for opening proved fruitful. Got in lots of
attractions before the crowds and tiredness set in. The kids wanted
to go to the pool everyday. Going early allowed time later in the day
for unwinding.
* Worth mentioning again...make dining reservations earlier for optimal
seating times. At two different restaurants, I observed people trying to
be seated without reservations. They were turned away (nicely).
* The free guide maps, given out at the park turnstiles, had the schedule
information for performances and character greetings. We made good
use of these. I'll echo other opinions in here and suggest buying or
borrowing a Birnbaums guide, if you haven't visited before. This
guide would still be helpful if you visited infrequently.
* Unless your child has a particular attachment to a certain type of
stroller, I would not recommend hauling one down with you. To me,
it was worth the rental fee to avoid lugging something else through
airports, onto buses, etc. Our stroller was always there when we came out
of attractions, and we have some Disney dollars to use the next visit :)
* Mid-May seemed to be a good time for a few reasons. The weather was warm,
but not oppressive. The attendance was moderate. Most attractions were
open. The operating hours were sufficient for our kids ages. We stayed
late Friday night at MK for Spectromagic/Fantasy in the Sky. I do not
think they could have handled many more late nights, nap or not.
* Lastly, next time I would consider arranging something different than
the length of stay passes. They were for six days, but due to flight
times, you could not make full use of them.
Time to start planning for the next trip!
|
| 491.29 | Kutz trip 6/29-7/6 | STOSS1::KUTZ | St. Louis Sales Support | Mon Jul 08 1996 20:31 | 412 |
| Who: me, husband (Tom), Krista (9 1/2), Matt (3 1/2), brother-in-law
(Ben), his wife (Yvonne), Nicholas (8 1/2)
When: Saturday June 29 - Saturday July 6
Where: Caribbean Beach Resort - Martinique
Note: 1st trip to WDW for our family. The other couple had been to
EPCOT about 12 years ago.
Saturday June 29
We got off to a bad start. We had TWA frequent flyer tickets non-stop from
St. Louis to Orlando. Our plane was to leave at 10:05am. Before we even
got on the plane, the flight was canceled due to mechanical failures.
So we got on standby for the 1:10pm flight. While we were waiting to see
if we could get on the plane, the people were suddenly deplaned due to
mechanical failures. It was delayed about 2 more hours. We then got
seats on the 3:15pm flight. It was able to fly (safely) and we were only
about 20 minutes late leaving. If we hadn't gotten on that flight, I don't
know whether we would have been able to get to Orlando on Saturday.
Auspicious beginning to say the least!!!! Anyway, we were about 6
hours late getting to Orlando.
I had booked tickets for Hoop De Doo Revue (7:15pm show) on that
Saturday night. When we realized that we would not even get to the
resort, if we were lucky, until after the show, I called them from St.
Louis and asked if we could get out of paying for the tickets due to
the airline problems. It took a few minutes on hold but they were able
to cancel my reservations. That gave me many warm fuzzies about the
Disney people. I was disappointed we didn't get to see the show. We'll
just save that for the next time.
It took us about 1 1/2 hours to get our luggage off the plane. I'm
still not sure which flight it was on. The delayed 1:10pm flight
actually left about the same time as ours and we think our luggage was
on that. The 3 kids were going nuts at the airport waiting for the
bags. Not a good time for anyone!
We took the Mears shuttle service to the Caribbean Beach and that, at
least, worked properly. We got to the resort about 9pm. Our luck then
started to change. We needed 2 rooms for our group and I had asked
that we be as close to Old Port Royale as possible when I made the
reservations last December, hopefully in Martinique. Well, we got 2
rooms right next to each other, in Martinique, about a 20 second walk
to a swimming pool, about a 45 second walk to the bus stop and about a
3 minute walk to Old Port Royale. It was perfect!
Now about the resort. While we knew it was expensive because you get
all these other services (bus shuttle to parks, lots of swimming
pools, etc), we thought the rooms would be nicer. We decided the rooms
were OK but not much better than a Super 8. But I'm not going to
complain too much because the location was absolutely perfect. Also,
to hear that Mickey wake-up call was a real treat for my kids. I've
never seen them get out of bed so quickly at such an early hour.
We retired early so as to hit the early opening on Sunday June 30 at
MGM.
Sunday June 30
We got up and were waiting at the bus stop at about 7am and caught
probably the first bus to MGM. Once they filled the bus they ignored
all the other bus stops at CBR and headed straight to MGM. (I had
learned before leaving that Martinique is the first bus stop at CBR.)
We decided (or rather I demanded) that we follow the "Unofficial" tour
guide for MGM on this day. We saw/did Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Voyage
of the Little Mermaid, The Great Movie Ride, MuppetVision 4D, Honey I
Shrunk the Kids play area, Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, Monster
Sound Show, Toy Story Parade, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Backlot Tour,
Magic of Disney Animation Tour, Star Tours (in no particular order).
I had made lunch reservations before leaving home at the Sci-Fi Dine-In
Theater. I enjoyed this because it was nice and cool and the kids
really enjoyed eating in the cars. The food was edible. We didn't go
to DisneyWorld for the food so we didn't expect much. This meal was good.
Kids ate everything they ordered!
The weather was very pleasant this day. Being Sunday, we didn't see
much of a crowd until about 11:00 which was when we had lunch
reservations. Very Very enjoyable day! We were all pleasantly
surprised with MGM. We expected this to be our least favorite park by
a long shot and maybe it wasn't our favorite but it was a good day for
all. This was the only day we planned on being at MGM.
My nephew and I liked the Great Movie Ride the best. Everyone else
like the Star Tours best. The Hunchback show had opened only the
previous week and it was marvelous. The woman who played Esmerelda and
the man who play Quasimodo had wonderful voices. Since it was Sunday
when we took the Animation Tour, we didn't get to see the animators at
work but it was still interesting to see where they worked.
You don't do as much walking and standing at this park so we went from
about 7:30am until about 6:30pm and were not overly tired. But just to
get a good nights rest for the next day, we turned in early after a
dip in the CBR pool near our rooms.
Monday July 1
This was an early opening day for TMK. We caught the bus at 7am again
and were at the park close to 7:30am. The kids (and I) were most
anxious to do as much as we could. We went to Fantasyland first and
hit Cinderella's Carrousel, Dumbo, It's a Small World, Mad Tea Party,
Peter Pan, Snow White's Adventures.
Then we went to the newly opened Mickey's Toontown and saw Mickey's House
and Minnie's House and Donald's Boat.
We then did the Grand Prix Raceway in Tomorrowland.
Then we took the train over to Frontierland and ate lunch at Pecos Bill Cafe.
We had tried to make lunch reservations the night before at Liberty
Tree Tavern but it was booked so we just went to this place which is a
fast food place. Edible but crowded. We felt that we needed to get out
of the crowd for lunch time just to rest so this day was not as
restful as we had hoped.
We then went to see the Hall of Presidents in Liberty Square.
After that, I took the 3 year old back for a nap. Everyone else
decided it was time to see Splash Mountain and then come back to the
hotel for a rest. They waited in line for quite awhile and then saw
part of the Mickey Mania parade.
After we had rested for awhile and eaten some food in our room that we
brought, we headed back to TMK to see the SpectroMagic Parade (9pm). While
waiting for it to start, the 3 year old and I rode Mr. Toad's Wild
Ride.
After the parade we went back to the hotel.
This was a hard day on us because we weren't as organized as I would
like to be. It was hot and crowded and we didn't get a real rest for
lunch. The people who rode Splash Mountain were disappointed in it. If
they hadn't waited so long in line, maybe they would have liked it
better. The Fantasyland rides were enjoyed a lot by all the kids and
adults. The Hall of Presidents was wonderful. This and all other
robotics were well done, we thought. The SpectroMagic Parade was OK. I
understand it is to be retired sometime this year and I think that
would be a good idea. We had '2nd row' seats on the curb but the
people behind us and to the side of us made it a less than desirable
experience. They pushed and stepped on us and we had our noses in
their armpits and they had their rear ends in ours. Most unpleasant!
Plus it was really hard to get out of the park after this parade. We
obviously chose our seats incorrectly.
Tuesday July 2
We had a character breakfast reservation at King Stefan's Castle for
8:10am. They told us we had to be at the Castle at 8:00am to claim our
reservation. So, we caught the 7am bus and got to the TTC shortly
after that. We got on the monorail to TMK and to the gates about
7:40am. The people at the gates then said that they couldn't let us in
until 8am. There were about 25-30 other folks there in the same boat
as us so we waited semi-patiently. At 8am sharp they let us in and I
raced to the castle while the rest of the group walked at a more
leisurely rate.
They seated us almost immediately. The breakfast was good. The
adults got sausage, bacon, eggs, cheese blintz with strawberries,
pull-apart cinnamon rolls to share, fruit, Mickey Mouse waffle, hash browns,
orange juice and coffee. The kids did not get the sausage or the
cheese blintz. The hostess asked if we wanted anything else to eat and
someone at our table got more bacon and someone else got another
cheese blintz. Very nice service.
Then around came Cinderella and her prince, Snow White and her prince,
Sleeping Beauty and her prince and Belle. The costumes were wonderful
and each character looked and acted just like in the movie. My son and
I have always enjoyed Cinderella and my daughter has always enjoyed
Sleeping Beauty. The best was Cinderella who asked my 3 year old his name.
When he said "Matt", she said that this was her special name today and she
kissed him on the cheek, leaving lipstick marks. He was mesmerized. I
thought that was so cute. I did do a dumb thing and let Matt see his
face in a mirror. He promptly rubbed it off, much to my dismay! Snow
White picked him up and hugged him for the picture. Snow White even
had that goofy little 1930's laugh down perfectly.
Overall, this was a really pleasant experience.
We then took the monorail over to EPCOT. By this time it is close to
9:30am. Unfortunately, we decided we HAD to see the Honey I Shrunk the
Audience show first. We had to wait in line for about 1 hour and it
was HOT with no shade. After that we went to view Mexico and took the
boat ride there. Then we hustled over to Norway where some of the
group took the boat ride. We had lunch reservations at Restaurant Akershus.
The desserts at Norway (can't remember the shop's name) were
wonderful.
After lunch, my husband took Matt home for a nap while the rest of us
toured China (saw the 360 degree show) and Germany (saw the singers in
the Biergarten). Then my daughter and I went back for a rest while the
others continued their tour.
We all rested for some time and then my family went back to EPCOT to
see Canada (saw the 360 degree show), the UK and Morocco. We then met
the other family at the Rose & Crown Pub (where they were saving a
table) about 8:30pm to see the Illuminations show at 9:00.
After that we went back to the hotel for the night.
This was a VERY tough day. I was bit disappointed in the lack of shade
at EPCOT. A lot of walking. Very hot day. The things we did do were fun.
The Honey show was great! We all voted Norway as the best food. Great
service too. I had a problem with the 360 degree movies because I get motion
sickness pretty easily. I couldn't look at most of the movies. The
Illuminations show was great fun. My son didn't care much for the loud
fireworks. I didn't see much to get excited about with regard to the
laser part of the show. When they lit up each section of the World
Showcase and did the music from there, that was pretty.
Wednesday July 3
We had intended to go to a water park this day but when we realized
that would mean being at TMK on the 4th (with at least 65,000 other
folks), we changed our minds. We went to TMK this day. We got to sleep
a little bit later this day and didn't catch a bus until about 8:00am.
We did Jungle Cruise, Pirate of the Caribbean, Swiss Family Treehouse
in Adventureland. We did Astro Orbiter, Space Mountain, Grand Prix
Raceway, Timekeeper, Tomorrowland Transit Authority in Tomorrowland.
We had lunch reservations at Liberty Tree Tavern. We saw Mickey Mania
Parade. The dads and the big kids did Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
My husband and the 2 boys did 3 or 4 more rides in Fantasyland.
This was a fun day. Sad because it was our last day at TMK but packed
with action. The lunch was good, not great, but good edible food. It
was quiet and unrushed. We thought it was going to rain right about
the time we were going to lunch and thought that was perfect. So we
took our time (about 1 or 1 1/2 hours) so we'd miss the rain but it
never did. We did get stuck on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority when
it had a malfunction and had to walk off. We tried to see the Tiki Room
show but missed it.
Overall at TMK, we did very little shopping either day and the next time
I get to DisneyWorld, I'd like to do more of that at all the parks. I
didn't get to ride Splash Mountain or Space Mountain and I'd like to
ride those. The same for the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Country
Bear Jamboree and Diamond Horseshoe Saloon Revue. I wish we'd gone
over to Tom Sawyer Island and had taken the Skyway (we tried this twice
but weather had forced it to close). TMK met my expectations.
After resting for awhile, my brother-in-law talked one of the bell
boys into driving us over to Disney Village Marketplace for a couple
of hours of shopping. I ALWAYS enjoy shopping. He came back and got us
right on time. Boy, was I tired after spending the whole day on my
feet!
Thursday July 4
This was the day for the water park. I wanted to go to River Country
but the troops overruled me and we went to Typhoon Lagoon. I'm very
fair skinned as is my son so my plan was that we two would stay for
the morning and go back to the hotel in the afternoon. My husband and
daughter and the other family tan like crazy so they could stay out
for the whole day. As it turned out, the skies were very cloudy. We
got to Typhoon Lagoon at about 9:30 so we missed that first deluge of
people into the park. We decided to park near Ketchakiddee Creek (the
children's play area) and found lots of open space. I think the cloudy
skies chased away a lot of people.
Matt and I played in this area for about 1 1/2 hours while the other folks
rode the slides. They said these were quite fun.
About 11:00 we all caught some inner tubes and floated around Castaway Creek
twice. That was very enjoyable. I did get a life vest for my 3 year old and
had him sit on my lap while we floated.
Right after we got out, the dads and the kids went down to the wave
pool. They were gone only about 30 minutes when the skies opened up
and lightning came too. They cleared the pool. Since we'd been there
close to 4 hours, I decided it was time to take Matt home for a nap
while the rest of the people waited out the showers.
This was the only time that I felt the Disney bus service let me down.
We waited for a CBR bus at the bus stop for 20-30 minutes. Then 3
showed up at once.
The rest of the folks came back and we all rested and ate some Old
Port Royale food with the intent of taking a bus back to TMK for the
fireworks (9:00pm). At about 7:00, the rains REALLY came. It lasted
for an hour. We heard later that lightning did some damage at the
Orlando airport that night.
Anyway, about 8pm we went out to catch a bus to the TMK.
REALLY crowded roads!!! We did not want to use one of our park tickets for
just the fireworks so we intended to just stand outside TMK closer to
the water and watch. We got to the park only about 15 minutes early. The
fireworks went off as scheduled, however, earlier the storms killed the
sound system so no music to go with it. The fireworks lasted only about 15
minutes and were shot off from 2 or 3 places within the park as
well as an island out in the water. It was kind of fun to see
fireworks in the round. It ended too soon. This place is great to see
all the fireworks. Very good view. I assume we would have been able to
hear the music but since it was inoperable, I am only guessing at this
point.
We caught a bus back to the hotel and saw lots of traffic. I just
couldn't imagine spending a day at TMK with that many people!
While Typhoon Lagoon was fun, I was more interested in going to River
Country and then hopping over to Discovery Island with my son. I think
he would have enjoyed that. Oh well, next time!
Friday July 5
This was to be our last day at EPCOT. We caught the early 7am bus
again and started off doing Spaceship Earth, The Living Seas, Body
Wars, Cranium Command, The Making of Me, Coach's Corner.
Then we hopped over to see France and had lunch reservations at Chefs
De France. Good lunch. Good wine.
After lunch we saw Japan, USA (saw the American Adventure show) and
Italy. All this time, my daughter and nephew were getting their
'passports' stamped at each country and enjoying every minute of it.
Then we went back to Germany and the Biergarten for refreshments and
saw the singers again.
Then the kids discovered that water fountain that they can play in and
got soaked. So, my husband and I took the 3 kids back to the hotel
while the other couple visited The Land.
We all got cleaned up and went over to the Boardwalk Hotel which
had just opened a few days earlier. We checked out the lobby (very
pretty) and walked down the boardwalk to the new ESPN club as our
families are big sports fans. We had about an hour wait in the bar for
a table for food (we did not have reservations in advance). That bar
is about the noisiest one I've ever been in. In the meantime, it is
announced that there is a sports trivia contest to be held in the
restaurant on a stage. The dads made a beeline for this with the 2
older kids in tow as their fan club. Yvonne, Matt and I held onto the bar
table and just chilled. (The waitress was the surliest Disney person
we'd met in our whole trip.) Well, guess who won the contest!???!?! My
husband! Krista somehow thought her dad was going to win a car (I
don't know where she got that idea!!) but he did win an Upper Deck
shirt. We're going to hear about this event for weeks I'm sure!!!!
When we finally got seated just after the end of the contest, we found
a hitch in the restaurant. For the 7 of us, they put 2 little round
tables together. Unfortunately, one belonged to one waitress and the
other to another waitress. Both ignored us thinking the other was
taking care of us. The menu was VERY limited, about 4 things of which
we tried 2. The big hotdog was OK but the penne pasta was not too
good. We also thought the prices were too high for how much you got.
I think once they get the kinks worked out this might be a fun place
but it was a little too disorganized for my taste.
After this we just went back to the hotel and packed as we were
leaving the next morning.
Coming back home was pretty uneventful except that the flight was delayed
about 30 minutes and Matt just completely lost it on the bus back to
the airport. Too much fun in one week and he'd hit a wall. It was
good that we were going home.
Tom had been calling back to his work for messages every couple of
days and found out that his company's user conference is at
DISNEYWORLD next spring at the Dolphin or Swan (Matt kept calling them
the fish and goose hotels!). Can you believe that? We might have to go
down there the weekend before this event!!!
Overall, MGM was better than expected, TMK as right on track and EPCOT
was a little short (but not much). We had planned our trip not to see
everything but to do a lot of things. We didn't want to pack up a
group of surly tired people who saw everything but didn't have time to
have fun. We did just as much as we could stand then quit.
If we get to go again, there's a lot of things that I wouldn't do
again, a lot of things that I would do again and a lot of things I'd
do for the first time.
As adults we got tired but knew when to rest. The 2 older children did
really well. My daughter being a fish of sorts, would have liked to swim
more. My nephew loves trains and would have liked to ride the train things
more. My 3 year old (he turns 4 in about 1 month) did pretty well. We
always got a stroller for him and he stayed in it pretty well. He did
want to be carried sometimes though. While there were a lot of things
he couldn't do because of his height, there were quite a bit of things
that kept him busy. I don't think I would have taken him and enjoyed
things as much a year ago. He wasn't potty trained would be one
reason.
One of the accidental things that happened and turned out well was for
autograph sessions. I told my sister-in-law that I wasn't going to
have Krista get an autograph book. Waste of time. Gets put in a drawer
and never looked at again and we would have to wait in line for the
autograph. No fun. Well, we all wore hats and she happened to have a
pink hat that she started getting autographs on. Easy to keep track of
because it was always on her head and something that she can look at
when we get home (I think we'll hang it on her bedroom wall).
We saw lots of characters in the parks: Cinderella, Dopey, Maleficent,
Cruella de Vil, Goofy, Mickey, Minnie, Mary Poppins, Chip, Dale, the
British bad guy in Pocahontas whose name I can't remember, Pinocchio,
Timon, just to name a few. The best one for being in character was
Maleficent. She had a bantering session with my husband and was quite
good. Her makeup was incredible. It made her eyes VERY piercing and
spooky.
All 4 adults and 2 older kids wore fanny packs. We each carried our
own snack and juice box. (I carried Matt's.) I also had a pouch for a
water bottle that I would fill with ice each morning. This was very
much appreciated by everybody in the group. (Hint: I got a fanny pack
at Eddie Bauer that was great. Big and had this pouch for a water
bottle also by Eddie Bauer. I think it cost about $16 on sale.)
It was a great trip. I'd go back again anytime (although not TOO
soon). The next time I go back, though, I believe a shorter trip would
be in order, maybe 3-4 days. This conference was absolutely invaluable in
planning our trip.
|
| 491.30 | Wiedeman 1996 Trip Report | MIZZOU::WIEDEMAN | | Tue Aug 20 1996 17:59 | 302 |
|
Who: The Wiedeman's - Doug, Pat, Becky(18), Sarah(13), Matt(9)
When: July 23 thru Aug 02
Where: Disney's Old Key West Resort
(Sorry, this is kind of "dis-jointed")
After reviewing the options that we had in getting to/from
Logan, we decided to hire a van from Continental Limo of Hudson,
Ma. It was only a few dollars more than Fram-Logan bus for us.
We flew via USAIR, our flight left at about 7:45 and arrived in
Orlando about 11:00 am. It was the smoothest flight I have ever been
on.
After arrriving at the Orlando Airport we went to the National
Rental Car area (located in the Airport). Our car was ready.
We used National (reserved thru Disney about $135/week) because it
was located at the airport, Hertz is no longer on site.
The rental agent gave a choice of colors, since we were on
vacation we choose a PURPLE Chevy Cavalier.
As we were driving out of the Airport we were joking about how
a few years ago we got confused and drove halfway to Cape Canaveral
befort turning around.
Well, we got on the new Greenway and proceeded to follow the directions
that National gave us. However, the road signs and those directions
did not quite match so we ended up driving part way to Tampa.
On the way we saw a unique high-tension power tower shaped like
Mickey ears. We finally turned around and headed for WDW.
As we drove into the resort there was a sign saying "Welcome Home";
the kids got a charge out of that. I had arranged for express check-in
so I just went to the proper desk (and was informed that the room
was not ready yet) but I did not have to stand in line.
We strolled around the boardwalk and checked things out; it was
very peaceful and tropical. It was very hot (95) but to me it
was much more comfortable than it is in Mass during the "dog
days" of summer.
We proceeded to have lunch at Oliva's cafe. The food was good but it
was one of the noisiest restaurants I have been in; not because
anyone was unusually loud, it was because of the poor acoustics.
The room still was not ready so we took a ride to the Shopping
Village. We roamed around and discovered the new Rainforest Cafe.
It's a giant Volcano with smoke erupting out of it every so often.
It was open for a trial run for the people that worked on it.
It was really neat looking so we vowed to come back in a few
days. One of the clerks at the Village told me that you can
now use the MKC card for the 10% discount at all Village
shops.
The inside of the Rainforest Cafe is like a fantasy type of
rainforest...giant mushrooms, trees with a leaf canopy, thunderstorms,
robot animals, very unique aquariums. It was really neat. We had lunch
there with drinks and desert. The bill was about $60.00. There is
also an attached gift shop.
On the way back to OKW I noticed that there are several acres
of land dug up across from Typhoon Lagoon. I asked a bus driver
later what this was going to be. He said that this is going to
be an expansion of the Pleasure Island/Village complex. They
are put in some sort if circus tent looking building...more
shops, movies, clubs, etc.
He also told us that the new Fantasia Golf Fairway is quite
difficult to master (not the mini-golf but the 9 hole pitch and putt
course). We didn't go but we drove by, it is near the Swan and
Dophin.
We went back to Old Key West and the room was ready at about
3:30. This resort is beautifully landscaped to look like
Key West, a lot of palms and pastel colored homes. It is
literally built on a golf course. There is also a river that
goes to the shopping village.
We found our "home"; vacation club members we had spent our
points such that we could stay at a 2 bedroom. It was the size of
a small home. It was very nicely designed with a master bedroom w/
a king-sized bed, Jacuzzi room, bathroom. The other bedroom had
2 queen beds and a separate bathroom. We also had a washer/dryer
right in the home which was very convenient. We decided that next time
we could pack far fewer clothes because of this. There was also
a family room with a kitchen and dining room. It also had a balcony
overlooking the fairway. It was very open and light. Mickey was
carved-out in the railings.
All of this room really was convenient when my oldest daughter
became ill (more later on that).
We drove to Gooding's supermarket to stock-up on breakfast items and
snacks. We ate all of out breakfasts and two dinners in the home. That
did save a lot of time and money. After we returned we found the
pool near our place and took a short swim. I love that warm Florida
pool water; it was very relaxing.
The next day was a Wednesday and we went to the Magic Kingdom. We did
avoid all the park-early days. We took the busses for almost all of
our transportation. The system worked very well. None of the busses
were crowded and we never had to wait long for the next bus. The only time
we drove was when we went to places where there was not a direct bus
route (ie to Fort Wilderness for horseback riding, NASA, etc.)
We arrived at the MK at about 9:00 am. The crowds were just right;
I thought oh' boy just the way I like it. We proceeded to Tomorrowland
but there was a 1/2 hr wait for Alien Encounter so we thought we would wait
and come back. Sarah, Becky, and I went on Space Mountain (only a 15
minute wait). This was the first time for Becky. I think that this
ride was longer than when we went on it a few years ago. we all
liked it. Sarah got a real kick out of hearing Becky scream.
Sarah and I then went on the Astro Orbiters, no line.
The ride was real short but it was fun.
Next we went to the new "Time Traveler" 360 deg movie with
Robin Williams starring. It was quite entertaining and humorous.
No line to speak of.
Now the crowd was getting thicker and the line for Alien Encounter
was about an hour. I said we'll do it later.
A note about the crowds...the parks were crowded but it was not
unbearable. The people were all well mannered and polite.
We only saw a few Brazillian tour groups during our stay and they
were all well behaved. If you were flexible about when you attend
various attractions you can avoid most of the long lines.
We we then went to the Indy Speedway; short line and then on to
Fantasyland and rode Mr.Toad's Wild ride. We meandered through the
park and went on attractions where the line was short. The kids
wanted to wait until night time to ride the Jungle Cruise.
We had never done that before it did add a certain mystique to the
ride. The MK fireworks went off and we could see them from the
boat.
We visited the Tiki bird show and walked right in; it was pretty
full. I did not notice and differences in the show from a couple
of years ago. Next we did the Swiss Family Robinson's Treehouse.
For some reason the water wheels, etc were not running; it did
take away from the mood of the place. There was some trash that
someone threw in the tree and water.
BTW...all of the water fountains at the MK and Epcot (but not
MGM) had their coolers turned off...and incidently Disney is selling cold
bottles of spring water for $2.00 each at the drink "wagons".
At about 5:00pm we headed over via monorail to the Poly for
dinner reservations at the O'hana. I read about this in Birnbaum's
book and it sounded interesting. At 6:00 pm there was plenty of empty
tables so our hostess seated us after explaining how things
worked.
They really try to convey a Hawaiian atmosphere and everyone
calls you cousin. There is an open pit grill where most of
the food is barbequed. The chef made a big ball of fire
appear for us when we walked by. Everyone was very friendly
and the service was great. They first bring a large lazy-susan
type of thing to your table with exotic salads, sauces, and
appetizers. Then they start to bring out fully laden spears
of shrimp, ribs, pork, beef, etc, etc. They set the spear of
meat on your plate and they then push off a portion on your plate.
It's all you can eat. The food was very good and it was different
and very Hawaiian. We were stuffed by the time we left.
The bill for the 5 of us came to about $100.00 including
2 deserts.
After checking out the Poly (I always liked the tropical feel
there), we took the monrail back to the MK and watched most
of the Spectromgic Parade. We found a pretty good place,
right on the porch of Tony's Cafe. You are up higher and
the parade crowd is a few feet ahead of you on the sidewalk so
you can see the floats fairly well.
We had length of stay passes so we did go back to the MK
3 or 4 more times before we had to go home. I can't remember the
exact days. Sarah and I did eventually get into Alien Encounters
late one night. They did a good job of giving it a sinister feel.
It would be scary for most little kids; the effects were pretty good.
We also went to the new Toontown Fair. They have built a Minnie
House and you can actually sit on the furniture and play with
the kitchen appliances etc. Also, Donald Duck has a walk-thru
boat where you get gently squirted by various foutains. Goofy's
kid coaster was still under construction; looks like fun. The show
that used to be in the tent was not being performed, don't know if this
is permanently closed or not.
The one ride that seemed to have a constant long ride whenever we were
near was Splash Mountain. We could have avoided the line if we timed
our arrival differently....we bit the bullet and waited in line for
about 45 minutes. The wait was worth it.
On Saturday evening at 7:00 pm we had reservations at the Crystal
Palace for a Winnie the Pooh dinner for Becky's 18th
surprise B'day party. I'm glad we made reserv's, it ws full. The servers
were great, the buffet was very good with everything from
shrimp to prime-rib. They even had a kid's buffett w/ pizza,
etc. The waiters came over and sang happy b'day and gave her
a card signed by Pooh and Eyeore (also a cupcake and candle).
We really enjoyed this and we rated this as the best place
to dine at WDW for a family. The price for the 5 of us
with desert was about $100.00.
(The day after the birthaday dinner. Becky became ill with
a fever, etc. We drove her to the MediClinic on International
Drive. This is the one advertised by Disney. We had a short wait.
It seems like a good place, they are associated with the local
hospitals. She had an ear infection and a sore throat. They gave her some
antibiotics. She showed little improvement so we went
back on Thursday. Her ear infection was gone but her throat
was really bad (tonsillitus); so they gave her a different
antibiotic and this worked but we had to leave the next day for
home. So we did get a good 5 days in out of 10. We really had to
slow down for the last few days.)
Parts of the castle were being painted pink for the 25 year celebration.
It should look fantastic when they are done (like a giant birthday cake).
While riding the bus to the MK you could see the new auto
race track near the parking lot. It is big. I hope the
noise does not travel too far.
EVERY day produced good-sized crowds in all the parks but Sunday was
indeed less crowded than the other days.
On Thursday we hit Epcot. They have "screwy" hours now.
Future World closes at 8 pm. This had a lot of people annoyed
because it "forces" everyone to World Showcase early in the
evening. We would have like to visit more Future World attractions
at night.
We went directly to the Kodak pavillion but the line for
Honey I Shrunk the Audience was quite long so we came
back at about 7:00 pm. We only had to wait about 15 minutes.
This show was really good. You actually do feel like you
got shrunk. There a few surprises which I won't reveal here
because it would spoil it for first timers.
The GM ride looks like it will be a winner. The track actually
circles the upper part of the building at about a 30 deg angle.
Spaceship Earth not only has a new commentator but also when you get
off of the ride, you are in a new area sponsored by ATT. It's pretty
interesting. They have various family-sized communication booths and
a VR ride that can take your family on a ride through a network cable
(not great but, it's OK).
I would have liked to spend a few hours at innoventions but we moved on
to other attractions so we really only got a chance to do a walk-thru.
We did the rest of Future World including Universe of Energy, The Living
Seas, and Horizons. I noticed that they cut out most of the "steam" in the
dinosaur trip. My guess is that some people my "allergic" to it?
We also hit most of the countries in World Showcase. I made 3:00 pm
lunch reservations at Germany.They have a special Octoberfest lunch
buffet. It is really a cozy atmosphere in that it looks like you
are actually in a old German village. They also have Oompah music,
etc. The place was practically empty so they sat us near the
stage. We went to the buffet and when we got back to our table
there was another family sitting there also. We couldn't figure out
why they would seat anohter family at our table while there were
plently of empty places. This family was actually German and they
did not appear to speak English or did not want to. Anyway I finally
figured out that the waitress was trying to re-create the Octoberfest
atmosphere where large numbers of people sit at long picnic tables, etc.
We also checked out the new Boardwalk Resort. It is directly accross from
the Yacht and Beach Clubs. It was uncrowded when we were there. It does
resemble Atlantic City the way it used to be to a certain extent. They
even have some carnie style games ($2.00 each) and 4 person bike rentals.
There are many shops and restaurants with various themes. Quite nice but not
as tranquil as the OKW. Later Sarah, Matt and I found the Keister Coaster
pool slide at the Boardwalk resort. It is made to look like an old wooden
roller coaster; I'd guess it is about 100 feet long; easy to watch the
kids there. There is a lifeguard at top and bottom. The one on the top
was asking kids questions about the Olympics; if they answered wrong he
squirted them with a giant squirt gun and sent them down the slide.
Since Becky was ill this took the place of our Blizzard Beach visit.
We took a boat from Epcot to go to MGM. At MGM there was a large WCW wrestling
area out front. We did not see the matched but I think they were gonna be on
TV. We went to the animation tour and got to see the animators at
work; this was very interesting. We had been there in the past but
always on a weekend when no one was working.
We didn't do too much at MGM but, we had a great time. Sarah and I did get
to go on the TOT. We really enjoyed it. Disney's done a very good job
of creating atmosphere here. We actually were dropped twice, they pulled us
back up and dropped us again. It's interesting in that the speed is so
well controlled that you never really slam down in your seat; you just
kind of float. (Mike, we forgot to look up; what did we miss?).
The only negative thing that I noticed is that the cast members
are not "play acting" as much as they used to. I think they need
more training in how to convey the fantasy aspects of the parks.
Also, some rides only had one cast member running them.
Our flight back was delayed about 40 minutes due to weather.
It was a little turbulent but not too bad.
|
| 491.31 | The Ames Family Report | GRANPA::JAMES | | Tue Aug 27 1996 22:59 | 148 |
|
The Ames family; John (Me) Cathy (Wife) Chris (13) Elizabeth (8)
August 14 & 15 and August 20,21,22.
Just got back from two weeks in Florida. Had a great time. Miss it real
bad.
We spent five days at WDW this year. Broke it up between the two weeks.
Spent one night/two days the first week, stayed at ASR Music. Spent two
nights/3 days the second week at ASR Sports. IMHO the ASR's are merely
OK. Yea, it's Disney, so it has it's "magic" but it's just not the same
as the other resorts. You get what you pay for. And this was a cheap
vacation this year. FWIW I will never divide my time like this again.
I don't feel like I got enough Disney out of it.
We bought 4 day park hopper passes at the Disney store before we left,
MKC discount of course. Our first day we drove directly to the
Contemporary, flashed our reservation paper at the parking attendant at
the entrance and she waved us threw. Parked over by the walkway to MK
but the kids insisted that we ride the monorail. What the heck it's
their vacation too. Visited most of our favorite attractions, snacked,
people watched, snacked, crowds were moderate to heavy. Around 3:00 we
left to go check-in. Big Mistake - Seems like everybody was checking in
at this time, and only three castmembers behind the counter. Live and
learn. Finally got to our room, freshen up a bit, a quick walk around
the grounds to check it out, and back to the Contemporary for dinner
at Chef Mickey's. Since it was dinner time and we did not have
reservations I let my family off at the front door and told my wife to
run up and put our name in while I parked the car. Imagine my surprise
when I make it up to the resteraunt and there's no line and no family.
My son was watching for me from inside and came and got me. Can't
understand why this place was not crowded. The buffet here has always
been one of my favorites, add Mickey and company to the bill and I'm
one happy camper. The food was very good and the characters as
entertaining as ever.
After dinner it's back to MK to finish what we wanted to see and watch
Spectromagic. Our favorite viewing spot, the wooden box around the tree
in front of the shooting gallery in Frontierland, was wide open. Played
checkers and did some shooting to occupy the time before the parade.
This was the second parade so crowds were light, nobody stood in front
of us so we were able to sit the whole time, a welcome relief. The cast
members used masking tape instead of ropes to indicate the route. This
was done for all the parades, Disneymania and Toy Story. I said
something about it to a cast member as he walked by with his roll of
tape but he was working fast and there was too much noise so I did not
catch his reply and I was too tired to persue it anyway, sorry.
The next day we went to MGM. Spent the whole day, as we did not have
a room to retreat to. Saw everything but Indiana Jones. We all enjoyed
the Toy Story parade. Had late lunch at my wifes favorite, the Sci-Fi.
I had a really bad rueben(sp), the rest of the family enjoyed their
meal. Started to rain so we left before Sorcery. Made the long drive
back to Grandma's. My wife's parents live in Sebastian. It's on the
east coast almost directly across from WDW. It's about an hour and half
away. FYI, found out from previous trips that if you wait till the end
of the day, Star Tours is usually walk right on. This day was the same.
My daughter and I walked right into the sim as it was loading and there
were still empty seats during the ride. After the ride I asked the
castmember if we could just stay on instead of running all the way
around, she checked the line waiting to get on and since it was not
full she let us stay. Life is good.
The first day of the second week we drove directly to Epcot, cheated at
the parking lot by flashing our hotel card from the previous week. I'm
sure we would have gotten free parking anyway since we were to check
into ASR that day. Took our time here, again concentrating on what we
knew we wanted to do. Spent alot more time in Innoventions then we have
in the past, this place is pretty cool. My son came in first on the
race car sims, the one were you race against seven opponants. He was
full of himself for awile. We left Epcot around 2:00 to check into our
room and to hit Typhoon Lagoon for the afternoon/evening. I recomend
going to TL later in the day, we had been there three times before
but always first thing in the morning. This was the first time we went
in the afternoon and it was much less crowded. We wore ourselves out
with all the slides and the wave pool. Great time! Left TL in time to
get cleaned up and headed back to Epcot for Illuminations.
The next day was the last day for our passes. It has become our little
tradition to do a "Death March" on our last day. We start early and hit
all three parks, concentrating on our favorite attractions. Parades and
special meals are all done on earlier days. This last day is dedicated
to attractions only. First stop is MGM, my wife and son head to TZTOT
and my daughter and I head to Star Tours. I don't do drops so I can't
say first hand, but my wife and son say that they have added a third
drop to TZTOT. They say that last year there was one quick short drop,
then you went back up for the long drop. This year they said that you
went back up twice for a third drop. Anyone else agree with this?
Anyway, we meet at the front gate and head to Epcot. Hit our favorites
and head to the MK. Here we slow down to take in as much atmosphere as
possible knowing it's soon to be over. Caught the double decker bus to
the castle and into Tommorowland. Work our way around the park again
concentrating on what we really want to see. This week the park is
closing at 10:00 so about 9:00 we make our way back to Tommorowland so
my wife and son can ride Space Mountain. While they wait in line My
daughter and I hit Dream Flight (can't remember the new name) and TTA.
Do a little window shopping and get a drink. We found an empty bench
facing Space Mountain over by the Astro Orbitors and before long Mom
and son are back. It's now about 9:30, time for one last attraction.
The kids vote for Grand Prix (not my choice for last ride but I bite my
tongue). The line is fairly long and they are only operating one side
of the track. It seems to take forever to get to the cars. As I am
squeezing myself (6'2" @250lb) into my car I realize I do not have my
camera. I jump out and yell to my wife that I left the camera by Space
Mountain. They stay and ride, since they are already in the cars, I run
back to the bench were I know I left the camera. It's no surprise to
see that the camera is not on the bench. Now I'm really upset, this is
a very nice Minolta X700 with a Vivitar zoom lens. To be honest with
you, I'm more upset about the pictures than the camera. The camera can
be replaced, the memories cannot. I stop a castmember who informs me to
report my loss at City Hall. Go get my family and walk dejectedly to
City Hall. The castmember there was very nice and took down my info and
description of the camera. He then gives me the phone number to the
main lost and found and tells me to call there the next day. This is
not the best way to end your last night at WDW. I am miserable to say
the least. Really P.O.'d at myself for being so stupid. Barely say a
word as we walk back to the car. My 8 year old daughter brings tears to
my eyes when she takes my hand and says "Maybe a good person found your
camera and will give it back. I'll make a wish for you daddy."
Well, I now believe in the magic of Disney and the wishes of little
children. When we wake the next morning, I immediatley call lost and
found. After giving my name and a description of the camera I'm put on
hold for about three seconds and then told, "yes Mr. Ames we have your
camera." Unbelievable, I only wish that the person who found my camera
had left their name because I really would like to thank them. We drive
to lost and found, which is located in the kennel by the TTC, and pick
up the camera.
Ended our stay by going to the Beach Club for breakfast with Goofy.
This was our first time here and IMHO this was the best character
breakfast we have been to. Then we went to the Fantasy Mini Golf. BIG
MISTAKE, too hot and too challanging. This course is tough. I play golf
and this was just too much. Not fun at all. If you have small kids,
chose the Fantsasia mini golf, it looked like regualar mini golf. We
quit after nine holes and went to the Marketplace to shop. Then back to
Grandma's.
We had a nice time. Again, I will never split my time like this. We did
have daily thunderstorms but we remembered our ponchos.
Did not care for the pink Castle. My daughter liked it.
Can't wait till next year.
|
| 491.32 | Better late than never! | ASABET::SKAVICUS | Karen, IM&T, DTN 223-4392 | Tue Oct 01 1996 16:40 | 636 |
| 491.33 | An actual trip report from an actual moderator :-) | BOOKIE::chayna.zko.dec.com::tamara::eppes | Nina Eppes | Thu Oct 03 1996 23:16 | 239 |
| 491.34 | Oct 16-26 | ASDG::WATSON | Discover America | Tue Oct 29 1996 15:52 | 116 |
| 491.35 | | TNPUBS::F_SULLIVAN | | Mon Nov 11 1996 14:44 | 26 |
| 491.36 | Williams Family, Oct., Nov. 96 | FOUNDR::WILLIAMS | the salem piper | Mon Dec 02 1996 15:27 | 477 |
| 491.37 | re .36, How many Peter Pan visits was that? | HOBBLE::SWEATT | | Mon Dec 02 1996 23:00 | 1 |
| 491.38 | a long trip report from a first-timer! | CNTROL::STOLICNY | | Fri Dec 13 1996 17:19 | 395 |
| 491.39 | Woods Family Trip 12-16 Dec | ODIXIE::KWOODS | | Fri Dec 20 1996 15:00 | 119 |
| 491.40 | Bill Abrams Trip Report | DONVAN::SCOPA | | Fri Jan 10 1997 15:22 | 170 |
| 491.41 | The Conliffe Trip Report | DONVAN::SCOPA | | Fri Jan 10 1997 15:29 | 244 |
| 491.42 | A late trip report after being re-hired... | CSC32::M_ANTRY | | Wed Mar 26 1997 16:57 | 299 |
|
I've had the trip report since we went in May of '96 and upon returning
to Digital in Jan I knew that I had to get this in here.
And we are going again in Dec of 97!!!!!
This was entere as they were e-mails back to my office and some other
friends:
Who went:
Mark Antry
Lane Antry
Kimberly Antry (12 at the time)
Joined up later by Lane's Aunt Sue.
Mark's trip report
DAY 1 We boarded our first flight in SLC at 12:05am this (wed)
morning. The Delta aircraft was a Boeing 767-200 which is a wide
body so seating was 2-3-2 and it was rumored before hand that the
flight is not very busy sometimes. I think that they fly the aircraft
to
reposition it not because it is a big money making flight, but the
aircraft
that holds 300+ I think there was maybe 70 people on it. So once they
got the drink duties out of the way it was everybody find a row of
their
own and spread out and get comfy. The flight is a 2:45 minute ride to
Atlanta which is not bad and we got into Atlanta at 5:05am Atlanta
time. The flight from Atlanta was leaving at 6:50am so we had almost
a 2 hour wait. We boarded that aircraft to find almost the same
situation. This time it was an Lockheed Tri-star L-1011 with 2-6-2
seating and again there was maybe 70 people. This was only a 1 hour
flight down to Orlando. We got here at 8:00am and feeling just a
little
tired. We drove to Disney world and pulled into the Caribbean Beach
hotel on Disney property and they were having some computer
problems so they couldn't actually check us in so we went to a local
Mc Donalds and grabbed breakfast and just did some driving around.
We came back about 1pm and were able to check in just fine. We took
about a 3 hour nap and then went walking around the property. There
over 2000 rooms in the CBR complex with every cluster of buildings
having it's own swimming pool and sandy beach with hammocks, etc.
It is just beautiful down hear with all the greenery and it even smells
good. If you ever go to WDW spend the extra money and stay on
property, you won't regret it! We then caved in to Kimbery wanting to
swim so she played in the pool while Lane and I just relaxed. We then
came back to the room and then went and had dinner at Sonny's BBQ,
I just had to get my fix in!!!
Day 2 Trip report
Well we got up early and were on the road at 8am. Gee I don't think
we got enough sleep just yet to make up for the red-eye flight. We
headed in the direction of Universal Studios and stopped at a Central
Florida Information Center to get some discount tickets. We also got
some tickets for King Henry's Feast, a medieval dinner theater. We
then rolled into the lot at Universal and the crowd wasn't too bad. We
got into the park and found out the new T-2 in 3-D was just open in
fact it had only been open for 4 days. We waited in line until they
started the first show at 9:30am. Then about 2 min into the show they
had some technical problem and then made us all leave. We then went
to the Earthquake ride and then to the Jaws ride and others. We went
to the Animal actors show which I always get a kick out of. We had
lunch at Hard Rock Cafe and then went back to the T-2 show about
4:30pm. It was great, so good that Lane insisted we go back for a
second time. It is really a good show with a very neat effect at the
end.
We then came home and stopped by the groc store for dinner. They
have a very good deli and it is cheaper and better than going Out every
meal. We then were eating and heard some noises outside and went
out and looked and caught the end of the Illuminations show at Epcot.
Tomorrow day 3, Trip to Kennedy Space Center and Dinner at King
Henry's Feast! The weather today was not too bad, some overcast and
only a little bit did I think it was too hot!
Day 3 Florida Trip report
Well, today we slept in getting up at 8:30am and getting on the road by
about 9am. We were headed for KSC, Kennedy Space Center out on
the Atlantic coast. We first headed north toward downtown Orlando
to go buy the Orlando Executive Airport to see if they had any neat
pilot shops. It is a habit of mine to go by any pilot shops I can
find, it
is even a bigger challenge to find something that I need or don't have.
I manage to get a book and a trinket or two to come home with so
now I have that out of the way. I notice that the the rental prices
are
alot higher here. For a Cessna 2 passenger trainer in SLC it is $38/hr
and here in Florida it is $47/hr. Oh well. We got on the road to KSC
and got there right around noon'ish and signed up for the 1:15pm Blue
bus tour that takes you to the current stuff, shuttles. Whereas the
Red
bus tour takes to the older, Mercury, Gemini, Air force Space museum
stuff. We walked around and looked at things. It was fairly warm, of
course maybe being out on the coast didn't help. The astronaut
memorial wall was pretty neat. The whole thing pivots in two
directions so that it always has the sun reflecting from behind it. We
did the bus tour and got to see the shuttle that is getting ready to
launch on the 16th of may and the Vehicle Assembly Building, the big
tall building everyone has seen a picture of that has the 512' high
doors
on the ends. We then came back to the room for a quick stop and then
went to King Henry's Feast a medieval dinner theater where there is
lot's of noise, toasting, entertainment and all the chicken that you
want
is served in buckets. Anytime you need anything you must holler at the
top of your lungs, for example: "WENCH, MORE COKE AND
MAKE IT QUICK!!!!" We had fun there, Lane tried to get a date with
not only one knight but both of them. We then came back and
tomorrow will be picking up Lane's Aunt at the airport at 7:30am, she
is taking the new Delta Redeye that Leaves Las Vegas at midnight! Oh
boy!!! tomorrow I think she will be recovering so I think we will just
be going between each hotel just wandering and looking at each of
them. Sunday will start the Disney World Park work full swing!
Day 4 Trip Report (Saturday)
We got up at 6am to pick up Lane's Aunt Sue at the airport at 7:15am
and then came back with a last restock stop at the groc store before we
dropped the car off at the Car care center. We then came back and
wandered around to some of the other resorts looking to see how they
looked. We stopped at the Yacht and Beach club which is were we
stayed in '91 and also went by the Dolphin/Swan and the Wilderness
lodge, which really looks neat. The interior of the lodge is about 8
stories high and really looks neat. Reminds me of Fish Lake Lodge in
Central Utah. We then came back to the room about 3pm and
everybody crashed for a snooze. We seen some turtle's climbing up
out of the lake and rooting around in the sand like they were laying
eggs but I didn't see any eggs come from the Eggplant. We then went
to the Port Orleans resort for dinner. We did a smart thing. We got a
reservation when we got there and it was for 1.5 hr. so we had taken
our swim stuff so Kimberly went swimming. We had a nice dinner and
then back to the room. Tomorrow is MGM Studio's. It opens 1 hour
early for hotel guests so that is where we are going.
Day 5 Trip Report (Sunday)
Well we arose bright and early before the Ducks, Frogs and Rabbits
whom seem to hang around on the lawn around our room. We then hit
the Bus about 7:30 and were walking into MGM Studios about 8:05.
We headed right for the Hollywood Tower of Terror with a purpose.
We were going to hit the best first. We walked right onto the ride
with
less than a 5 min wait. Kimberly chose to sit this one out to see if
we
returned in tack after passing through the fifth dimension. The ride
was !!!GREAT!!! It takes you through some pre-show set up with
Rod Sterling and then into the service elevator (the ride) and you
wander through some stuff and then you drop a story or two and then
all the way to the top, 12 stories and they take your picture and then
whoosh down you go 8 stories for a brief second and then down the
other 4, then immediately you go back up the 12 stories with just a 1/2
second at the top and then down all 12 at once. YAHOO. We only
rode it 3 times today!!!!! We did the other rides, Star Tours, Great
movie ride, Muppet 3-D, etc. and then left the park about 4:30pm Boy
it was another scorcher I think it must have been the mid 90's. We
came back to the hotel, slept some and watched the Utah Jazz beat the
pants off Portland, what happened was Portland only playing with 3
players???? We then left about 7pm and went into Epcot to have
dinner and watch the fireworks, water and laser show Illuminations.
We had dinner in Great Britain at the Rose and Crown PUB.
Kimberly, Aunt Sue and I had Ye Old Fish and Chips and Lane had
Cottage pie, which was ground beef, mashed potatoes with cheese
melted over top. Our waitress was a lovely lass from the Isle of
whait(sp) named Sally-Ann. It was all good. We then walked right out
and watch Illuminations. IT was fun. We then just sat around to let
the crowds all leave and the busses get down to manageable before we
came back to the room. Looks like tomorrow is water park day. Lane
says she'll give me $100 if I ride the big speed slide!!!! NO
problems!!!! (I hope?)
Day 6 Trip Report (Monday)
Well today was a water park day. We got up and headed for Typhoon
Lagoon. We got there at the opening at 10am and found a piece of
sand to call home. Dropped our stuff off arranged some chairs and
then headed for the slides. We did the 2 tube slides first and then
did
the family raft trip with all 4 of us in one big raft, save your time
and
skip this one unless there is no wait. We went from there to the "storm
slides" which are the sit down no tube slide and we did all three of
them. The bad thing about them was that they wait so long between
each rider where I guess on the tube slides they figure they can run
you
closer together because you have the tube as a safety device or
something. We then went right to the speed slides where I climbed and
with shaking knees went right down. NO PROBLEM!!!! It really
wasn't that bad. We did the lazy raft around the park and then did
some time in the wave pool which was fun. We left the park at 4pm
and came back and showered and changed. We then went to dinner at
Pleasure Island at the Portabello Yacht Club. It was very good. We
then wandered around P.I and did two comedy shows which were very
good and the most popular. Then back to the room. Tomorrow,
Kimbery goes to a Disney Institute thing on her own and I guess we
are going to do the lands at EPCOT. Who knows what EPCOT stands
for???? Answer tomorrow!
Day 7 Trip Report (Tuesday)
Well we got up this morning early again, OK it was 7:30, but early by
vacation standards. We headed for MGM studios, we had to drop
Kimberly off for her Disney Institute event at 9:30am. Getting there a
little early we proceed directly to the Tower of Terror for a quick 2
rides. We even got a picture to bring home. We dropped Kimberly off
and then we headed for Epcot to wander through the World showcase
and see some of the countries. The world didn't open until 11am but
being a big garden festival in progress there was a sign for a 10am
tour.
Well we were a little late but seen the tour proceeding beyond the
ropes. I convinced the guy manning the ropes that we wanted to be
with the tour and we joined in. The tour guy welcomed us but was
curious why we didn't have name badges. Anyway as we learned
through the tour that I think this was a pay for in advance, oh well
We
got a guided tour through the world showcase while it was closed and
learned all about the flours and things in each of the lands. We then
went through some more things after to tour got out at noon. Then we
headed back to MGM to get Kimberly at 3:30 We did a late lunch at
the Sci-Fi drive in theater which was good and then we went to the
making of Toy Story show and then did the tower 1 more time bring a
total of rides on the Tower of Terror to date as six. We came back to
the hotel and did laundry. Tomorrow is going to be blizzard beach
where the speed slide is twice as high and twice as fast as the one at
Typhoon Lagoon. This one is 120' high and you go 60 mph. Oh boy,
no problem!
Trip Report Day 8
Well we got to sleep in again, got up about 8:30 and got ready and
headed for Blizzard Beach, their new water park. We got there about
9:15 and they didn't open until 10am. We got in and went to find a
place to call home base and dropped our stuff off. We then rode the
chair lift to the top and got on the family raft ride. The longest
fastest
family raft ride around. It was all of the that and above, it was
great
and lasted along time. We then figured we better hit Summit Plummet
before the lines got too much longer. So up, up, up we climbed all
120' of it. I went first, first to the bathroom and then off the drop
off.
Sitting on the edge with legs crossed and arms crossed across the chest
in the approved ride position other wise known as the coffin position.
I looked over the edge but all you can see is your toes hanging off in
space. So I gave a push and down I went, all 120 feet and 66 mph and
then you come to a stop. It was OK and fun but I don't remember
anything visual about my speed slide rides. I remember the sound and
the feeling but nothing visual, I can only think that I have my eyes
closed most of the time. Well I don't think I would ride it again but
I'm
$100 richer! YEE HAW We then rode some other rides, one of them
was a tube ride that was totally enclosed in the dark. Yaa Hoo We
then did some other tube rides that you could get a 1, 2 or 3 person
tube to ride. We did the 3 tube ride twice and it makes it feel just
like a
bobsled ride. But the temps made if feel like we were the Jamaican
bobsled team. Ya Mon! Anyway we came back to the room about
3:30 and showered and then went to EPCOT for a late lunch and we
ate at the German Biergarten and boy it was good with a little show
during dinner. We then wandered around EPCOT some and came
home just before the fireworks show to avoid the rush. Tomorrow is
MK day, Magical Kingdom.
Trip Report Day 9 (Thursday)
Well today was Magic Kingdom, this is what most think of as
Disneyland. We got there early because the park opened 1 hour early.
We made our way direct to Space Mt. and them came back to the new
Extra Terrestrial attraction. It was pretty good but then again there
are
better rides. We then moved across the park to Splash Mt. and the Big
Thunder Mt. railroad and then on to the haunted mansion. We then
wandered around the rest of the park and stayed around for the parade
at 3pm. We then rode the monorail around to the Grand Floridian
hotel to see how it was. We then went to Fort Wilderness campground
to go to the Hoopee deedoo review which was shall we say, Hoopee
Deedoo!!!! Back to the hotel.
Tomorrow is going to be mixed bag, nothing really scheduled.
Day 10 Trip Report (Friday)
Well next to the last day.... We started off by heading to MGM
Studios for, yup, ride number 7 on the Tower of Terror, now we have
been there and done that and even have the t-shirt. We went from
there to EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow).
We had Lunch in Norway which was very good. Alot of fish products
both cold and warm but the meatballs were good to. We continued to
wander around EPCOT and did some other stuff and then we came
home and headed off to Pleasure Island. We went to the Comedy
Warehouse one final time and then went and had a snack at the
Fireworks factory and then back out on to the street to watch them
ring in the new year at midnight, which they do every night and then it
was back home. Tomorrow Sat is going to be a Character breakfast at
the Yacht and beach club and then we are going to do discovery Island,
kind of a animal park on a little island and then do our souvenir
shopping and then head for the airport to catch our 6:30pm departure.
Ahhhhhh It's over! Goodbye Mickey!
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